#Luci getting names wrong a lot is a thing

[hells-greatestdad]

//

Let it be known that in the discord RP that's been ongoing for over a month at this point, Lucifer initially thinks Vassago's name is Asaigo

(Vassago is that parrot demon in the Helluva Boss s2 trailer)

[tiredsadpeach]

I think we’re at a stalemate after that text which tbh is better than I tweet and then he tweets about being annoyed

[bountydroid]

Jealousy

Request: Can I please request a Cooper x Fem reader comfort angst romance where the sweet reader is infatuated with Cooper (she has a thing for older men)The sweet reader is always doing unnecessary favors for him, like secretly giving him discounts on rad away and supplies, taking care of dog meat, and getting him information on bounties. Until he brings along Lucy, misunderstanding the whole situation, the reader’s heart breaks thinking the worst and slowly stops trying and acting cold and distant, making Cooper notice that the only tolerable person he has ever known in this god forsaken world is ignoring him. (Feel free to add or change anything just pls feed into my delusions😭 I just want some hardcore romance with our cowboy) Also can u pls add that the reader also has a cute southern accent?

Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x f!reader

Description: As a wandering trader, you've made a lot of strange friends. Among them, Ghouls, but there is one in particular that is your favorite.

Notes: I hope I did this justice for you anon!

The Wasteland was brutal, and even you knew it was a bad idea to trek it alone, but you had a job to do. However, as you found yourself in front of your old friend Roger's home you felt like the Wastelands weren't all that bad.

"My name.. is Roger." You heard him repeating between snarls.

You stopped in your tracks outside the door. "He's turning," You thought to yourself as you rummaged through your pack looking for any vials of Radaway. You were all out. Sighing, you put your hand on your holster before slowly making your way inside to check on your friend.

"Rog?" You ask as you round the corner to find him sitting in the dirt.

"Oh hey," he said relieved. "My savior. Do you have any vials"

"I don't have any, Rog." You replied sadly.

"Oh." He whispered. "You should probably get out of here then. It's not safe for little girls like you to be in the Wastelands alone." He said sadly, leaving out the bit you both knew, you weren't safe with HIM alone. 

Before you could respond, you heard quiet footsteps down the corridor. "Who else is here?" You thought to yourself as your hand went back to your holster. Peaking your head around the corner you find none other than Cooper Howard and... a vaultie? You did very little to hide the confusion on your face as you looked between the two.

"Hey, you." You said to Cooper. "What are you doing here?"

"Could ask you the same thing, sweetheart." He responds, pushing the vaultie through the doorway and making his way to Roger.

"Hey Rog," Cooper greets him.

"Hey. Hey." Rogers laughs, relieved to see his friend. "Fancy seeing you here. You out for that bounty, too, huh?"

"Yep," Cooper responds as he knelt in front of his friend.

You all stand there in silence for a bit, listening to Roger snarl and whip his head around. 

"Oh, shit," Roger says between wails.

"How you feeling?" Cooper asks quietly, already knowing the answer.

"Oh.. you know," Roger replied. "It's hard out here. Dang smoothies can be so unkind. I see you got a smoothie of your own." He says as he looks over at the vaultie.

You also turn to look at the vaultie, a look of displeasure on your face. "A smoothie of your own." Repeating over and over in your head. You wanted to be his smoothie. You and Cooper never really started a relationship, but you thought you were heading in that direction. You gave him a generous discount on Radaway since you developed a little crush on him, and he would always spend more time than necessary with you whenever you crossed paths. He was always fussing after you and was always telling you how you were too reckless. In his eyes, everything was too dangerous for you. He knew how you felt about him, and you THOUGHT you knew how he felt about you, but this vaultie threw a wrench in everything. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn't like me." You thought to yourself while eyeing her up. You were so lost in thought that you could barely hear Roger snarling next to you. 

"You're turning," Cooper says reluctantly, his voice pulling you from your thoughts.

"Yeah maybe, maybe." Roger says on the verge of tears, "Maybe. Hey, you don't happen to have any vials, do you? Y/n is all out."

Cooper's eyes met yours as you nodded your head sadly.

"Just one little puff and I'll be back on my feet. You know I'm good for it." Roger pleaded.

"I'm sorry Roger I am all out," Cooper says, looking back toward his friend.

"That's okay. That's okay." Roger mumbles. "Though, um, you and y/n and your smooth-faced friend, you um... you might want to clear out before things get ugly."

You flinch as you hear Roger snarl again, each time he was getting louder and louder. You look down at your feet with tears in your eyes.

"I did okay. 28 years since I first started showing," Roger said looking between you and Cooper, before snarling again. "Oh, hell! Not as long as you though." He pointed proudly at Cooper, "You've outlasted us all. How long since you first started Wastelanding?"

"A long time," Cooper responds while shaking his head.

"That's a lot of vials," Roger said quietly.

"Well I've always been good at making money, Roger." Cooper exhales as he stands up. "Say, you remember how good food used to taste?"

"Yeah, BlamCo Mac and Cheese!" Roger says excitedly.

"Ice Cream and Apple Pie." Cooper countered.

Roger laughed, a real laugh. He was happy. "Apple Pie is not nearly as sweet as young Y/n's southern accent though." He says smiling up at you. "You know, my mom used to -"

Before you knew what happened, Roger's brains were all over the wall. You looked up at Cooper with tears in your eyes. You knew it had to be done. You knew it was mercy, but it still hurt. 

"Why did you do that?" The vaultie asked. "He was sick."

"He wasn't gonna get better." You responded dryly.

"You usually don't go all the way out here sweetheart, not on your own. What are you up to?" Cooper asks you as he picks up Roger's body and places it in a position where he easily access what he needs.

You don't respond. Between the jealousy brewing in your stomach at the vaultie next to you and the sadness about Roger, you couldn't find the words you wanted to say. 

"Stop. Stop Stop." The vaultie pleaded, "Please, I know it's hard out here but you don't, you don't have, you don't have to resort to... to..."

Before he could respond you quickly made your way out of the building for some fresh air. You could hear their voices inside, but you decided to drown them out by humming to yourself. You didn't need to see him take apart Roger, and you definitely couldn't stand the sound of her voice any longer. You knew you should get walking, you were low on supplies and they would be leaving the building soon. You didn't want to face them again, but it felt like there were bricks in your boots. As exhaustion hit you, you sat down in the sand and closed your eyes, losing track of time.

"Hey," You hear Cooper say as he puts his hand on your shoulder. "You good, sweetheart?"

'Fine." You mumbled out. "You and your smoothie should get going." The venom in your voice was loud and clear, but you didn't care.

"That's what got ya panties in a bunch?" Cooper laughed. 

You glared up at him in response. "Don't laugh at me, Cooper."

"I am taking her to SuperDuperMart. Not keepin’ her as a pet.” Cooper smiles as he offers you his hand. 

"Oh," You responded quietly, feeling stupid.

"What is SuperDuperMart?" You heard the vaultie ask, but the two of you completely ignored her.

"No one could ever replace you, sweetheart," Cooper says as he cups your face. 

You couldn't help the smile that graced your face at his words, and the blush that creeped up your neck.

He smiled when he noticed the way your eyes flickered towards his lips. 

"When I get my hands on some Radaway, I'll show you just how much you mean to me." You whispered.

"Lookin' forward to it." He whispered back.

The two of you were so caught up in each other that you didn't even notice the look of pure disgust on the vaultie's face as she watched your interaction. Some people may never understand why you like Cooper so much, but honestly? You couldn't give a damn.

Tag list: @sitkafay

[lives-in-midgard]

You Are In Love

Pairing: Evan Buckley x reader

Summary: When you're out with your friends you meet a handsome firefighter. After a while you go on a date and decide to keep your relationship a secret until something happens.

Word Count: 1200

A/N: Hey. This is part of the Buddie-August challenge. This also includes some characters from the Rookie. I hope you like it!

Divider made by @firefly-graphics

Buddie-August hosted by me and @buckys-wintersoldier

Prompt: Kisses

911 Masterlist | Main Masterlist

After a long shift at work one of your colleagues had the idea to go to a bar. You don’t often go to bars with all of them, but today you all finally had time. A lot has changed for you since you started working as a police officer at the Mid-Wilshire Station. You found a lot of friends there and you love your job.

“I’m gonna get a drink, would any of you like one too?” You asked the others.

“Could you get me another one of these.” Lucy said, pointing at her drink and you nodded.

“What about you Tim?”

“I’m good, thanks.” He said, smiling at you. When the others said they didn’t need anything, you made your way over to the bar. While you were waiting in line for drinks, a cute guy stood next to you and waited as well. Somehow he looked familiar to you, but you weren’t sure where you had seen him before. He smiled at you and then you suddenly remembered him. You could never forget that smile.

“You’re firefighter Buckley, right?” You asked and he chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s me. Wait and you are officer L/n.”

“You can call me y/n.” You said with a smile.

“Only if you call me Buck because that’s what everyone calls me.”

“Okay, deal.” You said and he had that sweet smile again. You talked for a few more minutes until your drinks were ready.

“See you around, Buck.”

“See you and be safe.” He said and watched as you walked back to your table. You handed Lucy her drink and sat down next to Tim again.

“Who was this guy?” Tim asked curious.

“Oh, just a friend.” You answered and Tim nodded. You and Tim have been friends and partners for a long time and over time he has become very protective over you. He always knows when something is wrong and is there for you as best as he can.

The next day you kept thinking about your meeting with Buck. He was so sweet and you hope to see him again. You didn’t think you’d see him again soon because just when you had an emergency call and had to call the ambulance, it was the 118 that showed up. You couldn’t really talk to him, but it was great to see each other again.

When you were grocery shopping and walking through the halls someone said your name and when you turned around you saw that it was Buck.

“Hey Buck.” You greeted him with a smile.

“Hey, good to see you.”

“I was wondering if you would like to have a coffee with me sometime?” He suddenly asked.

“Yeah, sure. How about I give you my phone number.” He nodded and pulled out his phone. You tipped in your number and he called you, so you had his number too.

Two days passed until you got a message from Buck. He asked if you were free tomorrow and you agreed to meet after work. At work Tim noticed that you were different, happier and more excited. He didn’t ask you about it, but it made him happy to see you happy.

The coffee date with Buck went very well. You talked about everything that came to your mind. You both really enjoyed it and had a great time. He asked you out on a date and that date turned into another date and suddenly you were in a happy relationship.

You had been dating for about three months now. Usually you were at his house or yours or sometimes you were going out. Favorite things to do together include cooking, watching movies, going to the beach and you enjoying it when he tells you a story from work and then you tell him some stories too. You’re very happy together and try to spend as much time together as possible, even if it can be a bit difficult due to your work shifts. Some people don’t think a relationship between a police officer and a firefighter is a good idea, so you decided to keep the relationship a secret for a while, which wasn’t always easy especially if you would see him on a call.

Today you have been called into a very difficult situation. You called for backup, but things quickly escalated, and you injured your left arm. Luckily, Officer Harper, Officer Nolan and Officer Bradford arrived at the right time to arrest the person. While Harper and Nolan arrested the person, Tim ran over to you and called an ambulance.

“Tim, I’m aright, it’s just a small scratch.”

“Let’s wait and see what the medics say, okay?” Tim said and put some pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. A few minutes later you could already hear the ambulance driving near you. When the doors opened you could see that it was Buck. As soon as he saw you, he ran towards you.

“Babe, are you okay? What happened?” He asked, looking at your arm. When you looked over, you saw that Tim had a confused look on his face.

“I’m okay, it’s just a small scratch.” You said again.

“Let’s go to the truck and I’ll take a look at it.” Buck said, placed his hand on your back and guided you to the truck. Then he removed the cloth from your wound and gently tried to stop the bleeding. You took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, babe.” He looked into your eyes and tried to smile at you. Then he looked back at the wound.

“The cut isn’t too deep, so it’s okay if I just bandage it.” He said and you nodded. Buck gently put the bandage over your wound and then gave you a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, honey.”

“Anytime.” He said, then Buck tucked a piece of hair behind your ear and gently pulled you into a passionate kiss. When you broke the kiss, you reached for his hand and smiled at each other.

“I have to go back to work.” You said after a few seconds, even though you didn’t want to say goodbye.

“Me too.” He said, looking over his shoulder to see his friends looking at you both with smiles.

“I guess they all know now.”

“They definitely do.” You said with chuckle. You noticed how happy they all were and then looked over at Tim who was as happy as they were.

“I think I have to go now. See you later.” Buck said and gave you a quick hug.

“See you.” You said, waving at him as you walked away. As you walked to your car, Tim was still standing next to yours and looked at you with a grin.

“Now I know why you’ve been so happy lately.”

“Yeah, Buck makes me really happy.” You confirmed and opened the car door.

You were glad that Tim and Buck’s colleagues now found out about your relationship, but you definitely want to meet them soon on a better occasion. Buck has told you a lot about them, so you’re very excited to meet them.

Taglist:

@cevansbaby-dove | @buckys-wintersoldier

@beaubbdoll

[dashing-disaster]

Bad Beer and Naked Rodents

Thank you @xmidhel for beta reading!

also on AO3

“You know,” Sal drawls, twisting the cap off another beer and handing it over, “for someone with an above average IQ, you’re dense as fuck.”

Tommy glares but accepts the bottle without protest. It’s his third. He takes a long sip and shudders. Bud Light. Why did Sal have to be such a fucking stereotype? But he was too tired to complain. He was too tired to do much of anything right now.

“He’s not wrong,” Lucy said to his left and Tommy directed his glare towards her instead. Like Sal, she wasn’t impressed.

“What? You know it’s true. There you are, genuinely happy for the first time in…” she pauses to think, “for the first time since I met you, actually.”

“Ever” Tommy supplies miserably, sinking further into the couch cushions. Something pokes into his right kidney and he reaches underneath himself, pulling out a small doll with messy blue hair, a pink ruffled dress and a … horn?

“Unicorn Barbie,” Sal exclaims and snags the doll from his hand. “Thanks man, you just saved this household a lot of sweat and tears. Look, babe, he found her!”

“Uncle Tommy to the rescue,” Gina says dryly, without even looking up from her laptop where she’s furiously typing some email that’s probably important and Tommy feels a pang of guilt at intruding on her peace and quiet unannounced at 9pm on a week day, Lucy in tow. He’s unable to dwell on it, however, because Lucy pipes up again.

“Let’s circle back here for a moment, your life was going great, you were happy, your hair was even starting to look good-“

“Hey!”

“Don’t interrupt me, Thomas. My point is, you got scared of commitment for three seconds and tell Evan Buckley, Evan Buckley, to go off to frolic on Grindr? I’m sorry, but do you know how stupid that is? Do you have any idea what happens to guys like Evan Buckley on Grindr?”

“Say his name like that one more time and I swear to God.” It comes out with far more venom than intended and he cringes internally. Why does he have to be such a bitch? It’s a credit to their love for him that none of his friends even bat an eye.

They’re not gentle either, and Tommy’s kind of glad about it. He doesn’t deserve gentle. Not now, maybe not ever again.

“What happens to guys like him on Grindr,” Sal asks curiously and then frowns. “And what do you know about Grindr?”

“My cousin wanted to try it out but he’s super paranoid about technology stealing his data, man’s still got a Nokia. So we set up his profile on my phone. He decided it wasn’t for him 10 minutes in but I kept the app and sometimes I go window shopping when downtime gets too long.”

“Why am I not surprised in the slightest,” Tommy mutters into his beer. Lucy is undeterred.

“Anyway, Gabe’s no hag either and similarly baby-faced as Buck so every time I open the app they’re on him in minutes. Seriously, it’s like The Walking Dead and some of the messages I get are borderline illegal. And don’t get me started on the dick pics. They’re not even nice-looking dicks most of the time.”

“Is there such a thing as a nice-looking dick? I’ve always found they all look a little like mole-rats.”

Sal, who’s been fiddling with Unicorn Barbie’s hair in a futile attempt to get out some of the knots pauses and makes a pitiful little sound staring wide-eyed at his wife who’s still neither looking up from her screen, nor is she pausing her aggressive typing, and Tommy’s both impressed and a little scared of that level of multi-tasking.

“Don’t worry, bud, Gi loves your dick. You’ve got three little monsters to prove it.”

Sal shoots Lucy a look so dirty Tommy almost laughs.

“I love the man attached to it. It’s still a mole-rat, though.” A beat of silence, then Gina looks up from her laptop for the first time in two hours, finding her husband’s eyes across the coffee table. “I love mole-rats.”

Lucy snorts, but Sal looks so pleased even Tommy has to smile.

“Still, though,” Lucy picks up the previous topic again, “are we sure it’s a good idea to throw Buck into a world of mole-rats and creepy old dudes wanting him to call them ‘daddy’?”

Tommy decidedly does not look in Sal’s direction. He loves Lucy and Gina but this is a topic one only discusses with one’s very best of friends.

“A world of disappointment, more like. Buck’s had Tommy now, anything else will just be a let-down.” The dirty grin spreading on Sal’s face tells Tommy he’s about to be in trouble. And he’s right.

“We didn’t call my boy here Nine-Inch-Nail in high school for nothin’.”

“Okay, first of all, that is such a lie,” the grin goes impossibly wider, “and second, I am not 9 inches, okay?”

Three sets of eyes wander down to his crotch and if it wasn’t these exact three people, Tommy would be so uncomfortable right now. As it is, he simply huffs and shoves a throw pillow into his lap, crossing his arms like a petulant toddler.

“I’m 8.6.”

Silence.

Then all three of them burst out laughing. He tries to hold on to his petulance, but he only lasts about ten seconds before the corners of his mouth begin to twitch and he finds himself joining in against all odds.

“As I was saying,” Sal hiccups after they’ve all calmed down again, “Buck doesn’t need any other mens’ mole-rats. He only needs Tommy’s giant mole-rat.”

Tommy groans.

“God, I hate you.”

Half past midnight Gina pulls the plug and throws them out. Sal tries to offer him the guest room, but he declines. As much as he loves his best friend’s daughters, he doubts he’ll can be Fun Uncle Tommy in the morning and he hates disappointing them.

As they wait for their Uber to pull up, Tommy feels strong fingers wrap around his wrist and a moment later he’s pulled into a tight hug.

“Don’t fuck up your life like that, Tom, not again. You were finally so happy. And I like you happy. ” Sal’s voice is quiet next to his ear, but there’s a softness to it that is usually reserved for his daughters. Tommy feels his throat close up and he buries his face into Sal’s shoulder.

“I just don’t know how not to, Sallie,” he admits and hates how forlorn it sounds.

How forlorn he feels.

“You trust him. I know it’s the most terrifying thing to do, believe me I do. But you gotta.”

Sal pulls back to catch his eyes, but keeps hold of Tommy’s shoulders.

“This man is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, Tom, and if you give up on what you have now, you will regret it for the rest of your life. But in order to keep it, you need to let him in and you need to trust him to know what he wants. It’s not your place to decide that for him.

And I know you want to let him set the pace, but you can only do that as long as you’re able to keep up. This relationship is about the both of you and if things are moving too fast, you have to tell him that. It’s not fair to either of you if you don’t.

And Tommy, you have to talk to him about your shit.”

Tommy opens his mouth to protest but Sal shuts him up with a shake of his head.

“No buts. Buck isn’t stupid. Do you really think he hasn’t clocked by now that you have trauma? I’m not saying you gotta tell him all of it at once. But you need to start somewhere.”

Sal pulls him back in roughly and presses a kiss to his temple.

 “I’ve seen the way that boy looks at you. He wants to take care of your heart so badly. Let him. Let him love you. All of you.

And if it all goes to shit anyway, you know that I’ll be right here. I always will be.”

Tommy bursts into tears.

It’s 3am when he finally finds himself knocking at the same door he closed behind himself for what he thought would be the last time less than ten hours ago.

It’s telling that it takes Evan just under half a minute to open it. It’s more telling that his eyes are red-rimmed, and he’s still wearing the same clothes.

Evan’s terrible at hiding his emotions, doesn’t even try to most of the time. It’s one of the many things Tommy loves about him.

Right now, he seems to experience all of them at the same time.

Hope, when he opens the door. Relief, when his eyes fall on Tommy in the hallway.

Hurt, anger, fear, concern, fondness, and finally back to hope.

He’s silent. Waiting.

Tommy takes a breath.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

They look at each other, the insecurity and fear hanging between them like a cloud of vapor, so thick Tommy can almost taste it.

But there’s something else, too. Smaller, more fragile, and yet persistent like a moth chasing the light.

It’s the same thing Tommy’s seen in Evan’s eyes earlier.

Hope.

For a time, neither of them moves, as if they’re scared, that if they do it’ll spook and leave them alone in the dark again.

A minute passes. Two.

Somewhere in the building a baby begins to cry.

Evan steps aside.

[drfleetflower]

The Arrangement

~Requested~

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Reader

Summary: Behind your back, your parents arranged for you to marry the President of Panem: Coriolanus Snow. You have mixed feelings and as the wedding continues, your feelings get even more mixed up.

Warnings: Angst, light fluff, arranged marriage, puking, allusion to intimacy, slight mention of drinking kind of

There will be a part 2!

WC: 2.3k

As the President of Panem, Coriolanus Snow was expected to have the best. The best housing, the best clothing, the best display of wealth and power, and more recently… He was expected to have the best wife. The idea irritated and concerned him, his mind swimming with memories of his failed relationship with Lucy Gray. He couldn’t- no he wouldn’t let himself be fooled again by a pretty face and an enchanting voice. He wasn’t going to tempt himself to fall into the vulnerable and aching embrace of love. But, of course, he couldn’t marry someone completely unappealing either. They would be a public representation of himself and a status symbol. It would be a difficult decision.

- - -

“This is an honor.” Your mother tells you in a soft voice. She tucks some of your loose hair behind your ear and you look down at the letter in your hands. 

“I know.” Is all you can respond with. You do know, but that doesn’t make the news any easier to swallow. Behind your back, your parents arranged for you to marry the president? You hadn’t really thought about marriage, and now you were expected to get hitched to Coriolanus Snow? Not only was he the president, but his family had a long line of power and success. The name Snow was a legacy of greatness, and it would soon be your name. 

It was presented as a choice, but you knew rejecting the proposal would be the wrong one. Your parents were successful, sure, but being the first lady would raise your family up higher than you could imagine. You couldn’t help but wonder why he picked you. 

Your mom waits, more impatient than not. You can tell by the way her knee shakes lightly and her eyes watch your face intently. “I’ll do it, mom.” You finally answer, a slight snip in your voice as you feel rushed to say that. It’s not like anything could change your answer, though. You didn’t need time to think, just time to process. 

Your mother quickly nods in response and, noticing your hostility, leaves just as quick. Likely to bring the good news to your father. You stay right where you are, mulling over this absurd idea. You were convinced as soon as you met Snow, he would laugh in your face, the whole thing a big joke. Or worse, he’d change his mind. How wrong you were…

---

You stepped out of the slick black car sweating, but it wasn’t the heat from the sun turning the car into an oven, the car had air conditioning. What else could you expect from a car the President of Panem owned? It was your nerves. And they got in the way of a lot of things. Impairing your judgment, slowing your movements and making them uncoordinated, you even tended to have trouble speaking properly. Anyone would think you were drunk. 

The driver, an Avox, helped you up the steps leading to the door of the President’s mansion, your skirt was tight and your heels high, doing nothing to help your shaking. Your mother insisted you wear her highest heels, a status symbol? You could manage if you weren’t having trouble hearing anything besides your own quick heartbeat. Despite your parents never being particularly comforting, you felt yourself needing their presence. Being alone made the whole thing that much bigger. 

But they would be at the wedding. The wedding that was set to occur in no more than three hours. The wedding that would be broadcast to all of Panem. The wedding to the man you hadn’t even met yet. The wedding that had your face pasty, your stomach twisting painfully, and your guts spilling out onto the clearly very expensive carpet of the entrance to the President’s home. Not good. 

You look up at the driver and other Avoxes that have suddenly flooded the room. You cringe but they all give you soft looks and some lead you away to get cleaned up while others stay behind to get the carpet cleaned up. That, or just throw it away and replace it, Snow could certainly afford it. 

You’re taken to a surprisingly normal sized room, the furniture dressed in delicately designed skins of floral patterns that look simple but if you looked close enough it was clear that a lot of effort was put into them. And you were looking closely, the whole of your attention on the threaded flowers as the Avoxes wiped your mouth and took your now lightly stained clothes. 

Soon, after you were washed and made into a clean slate, a couple designers you recognized from the Games came in to get you really ready for your wedding. They were stingy with your makeup, a soft and sweet look with colors that complimented your features nicely. Your hair was primarily left alone aside from some shaping to fit a veil. And then your dress… Your dress was not simple. It was decorated with exorbitant beads and jewels that you were impressed avoided looking tacky. You were in awe of yourself as soon as they slipped the dress on. Was that even really you in the mirror? You wouldn’t bat an eye if someone said it was all an illusion. Maybe this was just a strange dream. As they fit the veil into your hair you felt airy and light, like at any moment you could simply float away. 

As the weight of the dress finally settled on your shoulders you were hit with reality again and swallowed down the threat of another ruined carpet. The bouquet, filled with only white roses, was set in your hands and you hoped you wouldn’t drop it when making the treacherous trip down the aisle. Between the weight of the dress, bouquet, and veil, your heels wobbled as you stood. 

The stylists had you walk around the room a little bit, but it didn’t help you to be more steady on your feet. Either way, they seemed satisfied, at least you had yet to topple over. 

It was time. You wished time would move slower.

You closed your eyes as you were set in front of the two glass doors that were dressed with curtains, so you couldn’t see outside and no one could see in. These doors would lead you to your fiance. President Snow. You said the name over and over in your mind, President Coriolanus Snow, you still couldn’t get a grasp on the situation. Your heart was beating so fast you were worried you might actually have a problem. What if you just passed out on your way down the aisle? You take a deep breath.

You hear the Capitol anthem begin to play and take more deep breaths. You jump when you feel an arm link with yours. Sigh. You forgot your father was meant to walk you down the aisle. You give him a weak smile and he returns the gesture with a much more reassuring one and a squeeze of your hand. You turn your attention back to the doors and grip the bouquet firmly with both hands. 

The usual wedding song begins to play and two Avoxes open the door for you and your father. You put on a better smile than the one you gave your father, or you hope you do. Your breathing stops and your feet refuse to move when you look down the aisle and see the President. 

Coriolanus Snow was… Is there a word? Is there a word to describe the perfect man standing in front of you? Well, he would be standing in front of you, if your feet weren’t cemented to the floor. His suit looks similar to your dress in that it’s white and has the same beads and jewels, except it’s toned down. He had a white rose set in his lapel, matching your bouquet, and his blonde, curly, breathtaking hair was neatly styled. Deep breaths. 

Your father took the first step, forcing you to go with him. The closer you got to the beautiful stranger that you kind of knew, the tighter your chest got. The wedding song ended a few steps before you got to Coriolanus Snow and you felt embarrassed at how slow you were, but nothing about this event was helping you walk. Coriolanus Snow smiled at you as you took your space in front of him and if your father wasn’t still holding onto you, you would’ve toppled over from the way it made your knees even weaker. He gave a nod to your father and my father did the same and then the wedding was to commence. 

Coriolanus Snow’s hands stayed folded in front of himself, his eyes never wavering from yours, and you desperately hoped your blush didn’t show. He only finally moved when it was time for the rings. You had to hand your bouquet off because there was no way to carry that thing with one hand. You held out your shaking hand and Coriolanus Snow steadied it with his. His hand was firm and warm, soft and gentle. Your breath hitched and suddenly you felt on the verge of tears. You cursed yourself. What was wrong with you? You really needed to reel yourself in. This was a business arrangement, that’s all. You repeated the affirmation in your head as he slipped the ring onto your finger: a delicate ring with a simple band and single white diamond. 

Your turn. You held his hand and followed instructions as he had, slipping his simple band onto his finger. You take the bouquet back in your hands. 

Then the ‘I dos’. Coriolanus Snow first, then you. You surprised yourself when your words came out clear and unwavering. 

Then the kiss. The kiss. How had you forgotten about the kiss up until this very moment? The kiss. How did people kiss at weddings? You had only been to a handful and the memories were erased as you watched him slowly lean in. You were as still as a statue until he touched your chin and moved your head for you. You closed your eyes when you felt his breath fan over your cheek and soon his lips met yours in a chaste kiss. That one, much too short, second made your skin light on fire and the butterflies in your stomach flutter in chaos. His lips were just the right amount of plump and he used just the right amount of pressure. He was just right.

You blinked a few times when he leaned back, his hand leaving your chin and instead snaking around your arm. 

“Introducing to Panem: mister and misses President Coriolanus Snow!” The guests, crowd outside the wedding, and the people of Panem who couldn’t attend, erupt into applause and cheers. 

---

The ceremony is a blur for you. You try to throw the bouquet as best you can to the crowd who scream and almost tackle each other. You and Cor- your husband cut the cake, the two of you being very respectful. You dance your first dance… Your hands entwined, your other on his shoulder and his gripping your waist, his cheek resting against your forehead. He can probably feel how hot your face is as you sway lightly together. People make toasts, which takes a considerable amount of time. Family members and friends say their piece while other guests simply vie for the attention of the President.

Finally, you can go home. Well, technically you’ll be going to the President’s home, but it is yours now too right? Anyway, it was your new home. You get into a similar car to the one that took you here, except it’s white. Your husband helps you inside before entering himself. You copy him when he waves out the window at the crowd. Then the car is very silent. You occupy yourself by running your hands over your dress, trying to get it to lay flatter. Coriolanus Snow occupies himself by staring at you, his eyes sharp. 

When you arrive at the mansion, you’re helped out of the car and up the steps for the second time of what would be many. Coriolanus Snow’s eyes continue to follow you and you wonder if regret is already festering in his gut. Maybe you did something wrong? He had yet to say a word to just you. 

Once you enter the building though, he clears his throat. “Did you enjoy it?” He pauses and then continues when you don’t answer right away. “The wedding.” He clarifies. 

“Yes. Yes, I did. It was very grand.” You smile, nodding.

He smiles back. “Good… You’ll get used to that.” 

You continue to nod a bit longer than necessary as you look into his eyes, getting lost. He lets out a hum and looks away. “You must be tired. Would you like to head to bed?” He asks, holding out his arm to you. And you take it.

To bed. You would like to go to bed, but did he ask this earnestly? Would you really be sleeping? You reminded yourself this was a business arrangement for the millionth time. But even so, would he be expecting something? At some point he would want children for sure. So soon? It’s possible. 

You resisted the urge to chew on your lip as you two made your way closer and closer to the bedroom. Then, he stopped in front of the door to the side of the one you knew led to the master bedroom. “Here is your room. Mine is there.” He points to the two intricate doors. “You may knock if you need something, but ring for an Avox first, see if they can’t help you.”

Oh.

“Goodnight Y/N.” He smiles and orders a couple Avoxes to help you get ready for bed.

“Goodnight-” You fumble with his name and he raises one of his perfect blonde brows. “What do I call you?”

“Coriolanus is fine. Coryo in public.” He answers, by the way he says it, it’s not a request. 

“Goodnight Coriolanus.” You say softly, and then he heads to his room and so do you. 

[mj0702]

@helen-with-an-a wanted it... you all have to suffer

You hardly keep something from Lucy. There were a few times you didn't tell her things. The time you broke her favorite mug. Then when you started dating Georgia. Oh – and the time you got mint jelly all over her first Olympic Jersey. So you keeping something from her felt incredibly wrong to you. You didn't LIKE to keep things from her. But you also were a person that need to prove to yourself that you can achieve things without the name Bronze or without Lucy. That's why you kept all this from her. You were living in Barcelona now – Barcelona was your home. It was where your Family was. Lucy. Keira. Ona. Alexia. Mapí. All them spaniards (and Jenni the lanky half-Mexican from the bad area from Spain) you love more than life and that you would give your life without a second thought. So keeping one of the biggest thing in your life from your sister was hard. And it got significant harder once the others caught on that something was going on with you. You talked to Georgia a lot. You finished school in summer and you knew you just had to ask Alexia and you immediately would have a job at Barca but you wanted more. Yes, you were good at analytics and tactics but you wanted to help on a different level. So your girlfriend suggested you would start to train to be a physio but true to Bronze fashion you wanted more. You wanted what Lucy did – you wanted to study and you wanted to understand the human body and the movements and the muscles and the tendons and... everything.

So you looked up some courses at Unis in England when Georgia suggested you should probably look in Barcelona. Barcelona had excellent Universities and you did found something that would go in the direction you wanted so you wrote an application and to your big surprise you got accepted. You hoped that it wasn't because of the name Bronze but on the other hand you didn't really care when you opened the letter. You immediately called Georgia who was at training but called back ASAP once she saw the 31 missed calls from you thinking something has happened.

“Hola Cari” you heard Alexia entering the meeting room where you were hiding most of the trainings theses days working on your paper for “school”

“Hola” you squeaked and slapped your laptop shut panicked

“Are you okay Cariño?” the blonde raised an eyebrow at your weird acting

“Sí... mi bueno... mucho bueno” you nodded fast your hand still on your laptop

“We taught you better than that” Alexia huffed slapping the back of your head lightly “... what are you doing in here anyway?”

“Nothing” you answered quickly pushing the laptop a little away so Alexia couldn't snatch it away

“You weren't watching porn were you?” the blonde asked seriously still a little carefully

“WHAT??” you looked at her bewildered “NO!!”

“I mean I would understand....” Alexia said carefully “... you and Georgia... long distance”

“Oh ew...” you scrunched up your nose “.. please stop talking about... what I do or don't do with my girlfriend”

“Then what are you doing?” the blonde pushed again trying to grab your laptop

“Hello?? Privacy??!!!” you exclaimed jumping up from your chair pulling the electronic device to your chest as you took a few steps back to get some distance between you and the catalan

“Please..” Alexia snorted chuckling “... you should know there's hardly any privacy around this dysfunctional familia... how often did you walk in on Ona and Lucy now?”

“Yeah well.. I want my privacy now... so can you just leave?” you whined before you mumbled “... seven times”

“Cari....” the blonde said softly “... I don't know what you're doing but it's nothing dangerous right?”

“No... it's just something I need to do by myself” you said seriously

“If you need help you know you can come to any of us right?” Alexia said firmly

“I know...” you nodded “... I promise I'll tell you soon okay.. I just... need to figure it out myself first”

“Okay... I trust you that there won't be Police on the side one day trying to take you away” the blonde said “... if your sister asks... do Maps a favor and say you did indeed watch porn”

With that Alexia left you alone and you looked shocked at the door that just fell shut

“Hey Bubs..” your sister greeted you as you entered the locker room

“Hey” you grumbled back

“Woah... what's wrong Bits?” Keira now perked up from the opposite side giving you a once over if you sported any new bruises or wounds

“Nothing” you grumbled proceeding to stuff your laptop and some papers in your personal Barcelona Bag

“Bubs... talk to me” Lucy said softly when she came over to sit next to your cubby – yes you had your own cubby gifted by the Barca captains themselves

“What's there to talk... not an INCH of privacy in this godforsaken place...” you grumble subtly fixing the rim of your shirt

“What?” your sister said dumb folded not catching on

“Bitsy speak up... your sister doesn't get it... as usual” Keira said rolling her eyes already “knowing” what happened

“I have needs okay... my girlfriend is thousand miles away...” you looked at Lucy faking to be upset “... ALL of you should have been at training... ALL... yes ALL... except for Mrs. Alexia “I can do whatever I want because I'm La Reina” Putellas... SHE doesn't have to train... she's sooooo good... newsflash... your one touch is lacking”

“Woah whoa whoa whoa...” Lucy held her hands up in a calming matter “WHAT are you talking about?”

“I have NEEDS Luce...” you huffed

“What do you need? Can I help somehow??” your sister asked confused and you heaved

“She was watching porn Lucy... or a video from G getting herself off” Keira now interrupted dryly

“Oh my god!!” Lucy exclaimed shocked.. and disgusted.. but mostly shocked

“HA!!!” you heard Mapí exclaimed victoriously

“María” you heard a second voice smirking when Ingrid slapped her girlfriend and shot her a death glare

“NEVER say anything like this again” Lucy coughed after she gagged loudly “You are my little sister... you die a virgin because you don't HAVE a sex life”

“Oh but I...” you started nonchalantly

“Bitsy” Keira interrupted you in a warning tone “No”

“But...” you whined

“Do you really want me to come over and we discuss that in private?” Keira challenge you with a raised eyebrow

“No no... I'm good.... thank you” you said quickly when you got a glimpse of the clock

“SHIT... I'm late” you quickly threw the rest of your stuff in the bag and sprinted towards the exit just to get stopped by Alexia

“Late for what?” the blonde catalan blocked the door

“Not your business” you said getting slightly angry trying to push past her

“You really think you can push me over?” Alexia looked down at you crossing her arms in front of her chest

“I know your weak spot...” you said dangerously calm “... don't make me hurt you Alexia... let me go”

You and Alexia got into a little stare off before the blonde took a step to the side letting you hastily fly through the door

“You letting her leave? Alexia!” Lucy exclaimed confused

“Something tells me the Cari has some things to figure out” the catalan said softly

“Ehrm.. Amor?” Ona now speaks up being a little shady

“Sí?” Lucy looked at her girlfriend after she processed what Alexia said

“Please tell me you have the Car keys” Ona asked already knowing the answer

“No... I gave them to you...” your sister shook her head bewildered

“Yeah... about that...” her girlfriend scratched the back of the neck “... I think Bebita took them”

“WHAT???” Lucy yelled shocked starting to pull her clothes from her bag again looking for her car key

“No no no no no no” your sister whined after she reached the bottom of her bag “Noooooohooooo”

“She got you again Bronze?” Keira smirked evilly

“Shut it Walsh” Lucy grumbled as she fell down on the bench “... you can give us a lift?”

“Sure thing” Keira laughed “... but you better move your ass... you know I'll leave without you and just drive your girlfriend home.... and when we're at yours we pass the time by painting our nails and talk about your performance... the not on the pitch performance”

“You are an evil EVIL woman Walsh” your sister grumbled and stuffed her trainings stuff back into her bag

“Sorry for being late... got held up at... work” you panted entering the classroom now everyone looking at you

“I'll let it slide this time but only because you are one of the Best in this course” your Teacher Mrs. Hernandez looked at you strictly and then nodded her head towards your place and you quickly scrambled to sit down and pull out your papers and sat up your laptop “... and you can start with explaining your paper you better have finished since last lesson”

“Yeah.... about that... my... dog ate it” you scratched the back of your neck embarrassed

“Your... dog ate it??” the dark haired woman asked confused raising an eyebrow

Truth was... Narla didn't ate it. You worked on that paper and you finished it. In Munich. At your girlfriends apartment. On your second laptop. That was still in Munich.

“Yeah....” you tried to grin innocent resulting in a pained grimace

“How about we try the truth?” the woman asked fixing you with a glare

“Damn... you're just like Ale...” you mumbled but then cleared your throat “... I forgot it in Munich and my dearest is to... untechnical to get through me safety settings sooooo...”

“So you have time to go on holiday to Germany instead of studying?” Mrs. Hernandez asked

“No no no... I do study” you said quickly “... my girlfriend lives in Munich and no one except for her know that I'm doing this so whenever I know my familia is home I flee to Munich so I can have my peace and quiet and know one will see what I'm doing because... I don't want them to get involved before I passed this class”

“Now that's a reason I can get behind” the dark haired woman nodded understanding before she fixed you with a glare once again “... I want BOTH papers before next lesson starts on my desk in printed form”

“Sí... gracias” you nodded quickly already planning your next trip to Germany

“Aitana…” you said quietly

“Sí?” the small catalan asked confused

“I need your help….” you whispered looking around so no one would hear you “… I can offer you a deal”

“Aha” Aitana took a step back

“You teach me catalan…. I teach you English” you mumbled quickly

“I don’t need helping in English” the catalan looked confused

“You say things like “you work or no work”…. “ you deadpanned

“Yes… she was at every game” Aitana looked even more confused

“Firstly it’s rude and secondly it’s not English” you rolled your eyes “… sooooo… we have a deal?”

“Why you don’t need helping from Alexia?” the small player asked

“She’ll ask questions that I can’t answer right now….” you mumbled “… and you definitely need help with English”

“Okay…” Aitana shrugged her shoulders and that was the start of the most chaotic private lessons existing to this day.

“Bitsy... we need to talk” Keira said pulling you away after training a week later

“What? Why? I did nothing?” you said quickly a little scared

“Sit” the englishwoman gestured to one of the seats in the stands and you promptly sit down “So... what's going on?”

“Huh? Nothing?” you asked confused

“Bitsy... you never lied to me... okay once but that was technically okay since it was a surprise party” Keira said firmly “... so I'll humor you and ask again... what's going on?”

“Nothing I swear” you held your hands up in a defending manner

“For weeks now you're different... your mind is somewhere else... you hardly participate in pranks with them nutcases anymore... you fly an AWEFUL lot out to Munich... you spend hardly any time with Lucy, Ona, Alexia or me for the matter... so... what's going on.. you and G okay?” your “Mom” asked her voice showing a little concern

“Oh... OH...” you exclaimed “... yeah... all good”

“And???” Keira looked at you with that “go on”-look

“And nothing... all good” you smiled standing up for Keira to pull you right back down

“Y/n” she warned you and you know you are basically fucked

“I promise all is good... but..” you started with a little wince “... I can't talk about it... not right now... I promise everything is okay and I will tell you eventually just not... now”

“Okay...” the blonde said after she studied your face for a minute “... you know I trust you Bitsy and when you say you're okay I believe you... BUT.. if you got trouble I want you to come to me okay...”

“I promise Kei.. that's just something I have to do on my own... FOR me” you said seriously and Keira nodded slowly

“Okay... just promise me you didn't get pregnant or married... Lucy would get a stroke” Keira smiled slightly

“PREGNANT????” you screeched causing several heads to whip in your direction making Keira burst out laughing

“BUBS???!!!” Lucy yelled over shocked

“NO!!!! NO!!!!” you shook your head panicked as your sister started to come over to you and Keira

“You know she's gonna make you do a test right?” Keira wheezed out when she saw Lucys face

“I'm not pregnant” you squeak out your sister now coming up resting against the railing her eyebrows raised

“Then you won't have anything against taking a test right?” Lucy looked at you

“Told you” Keira bursted out laughing again

“You can take a test” you grumbled sinking lower in that uncomfortable plastic chair

“I'm pretty confident I'm not the one who just yelled Pregnant over the whole pitch...” your sister said in a matter of fact voice “... Alexia is already on her way to get one”

“I'm NOT taking a pregnancy test” you glared at Lucy

“So... you have something to hide then” Lucy poked your ego

“No... but I'm not supporting your stupidness” you shot back while Keira nearly fell of the chair clutching her torso laughing

“You are in a very.... difficult age Bubs....” your sister started slowly “... your hormones...”

“GOOOOOD” you groaned “... please stop.... Keira.... make her stop”

“Oh no... this is very entertaining” the blonde laughed at the uncomfortable look on Lucys and the disgusted look on your face

“You just take the test Bubs and we're good” Lucy said shrugging her shoulders not really wanting to have this conversation

“Luce... I'm NOT pregnant...” you said seriously “... G is good but not THAT good”

“Oh gooooood...” now your sister groaned while Keira interrupted into a new round of laughter

“Hey Alexia” you strolled up to the Barca capitan after a gym session several weeks later

“Yes Cari?” Alexia breath slightly labored as she wiped her face with a towel

“What are you doing next Thursday??” you asked slightly nervous

“Nothing I think... I have to check my planner but I don't think I have anything planned why?” the blonde catalan said after she thought about it for a second

“Could you and Olga maybe... be there...” you asked quietly pulling out a scrunched up piece of paper with an address and a time scribbled on it

“Ehrm... okay... can I ask why?” Alexia looked confused as she took the paper from you

“Just.... it's something important to me... so... please?” you shuffled nervously from left to right

“Okay... okay we'll be there” the blonde smiled softly feeling the nervous energy radiating from you “Thank you... casual chic... or just chic.... whatever you feel like” you mumbled quickly before you basically run from the gym

“Oh Cari.... what have you done now?” Alexia huffed lightly as she watches you leave and started to collect her things

“Luce??” you yelled as soon as you opened the door “Ona?”

“Living room” you heard your sister yelling back

“OKAY” you yelled back kicking your shoes down the hallway

“Why do you two always have to yell?” Ona groaned

“Love language” Lucy shrugged and grinned “…. When she yells I know she’s okay”

“Sooooo….” you said a little carefully

“Sooooo?” your sister asked sitting on the couch Onas head in her lap

“You free next Thursday?” you shuffled around nervously

“Think so…. Why?” Lucy looked at you expectantly

“Just… be there at 7” you said quickly and threw another scrunched up piece of paper at them and quickly made your exit

“Bubs” your sister yelled after you while Ona unfolded the piece of paper that hit her on the forehead

“What is it?” Lucy looked down on her girlfriend

“It’s an address” the catalan said confused

“I swear if she caused trouble and that’s a court date…” your sister grumbled

“It’s the Universities address” Ona said as she looked up from her phone as she googled the address

“University?” Lucy asked bewildered

“Yes…” the blonde showed her girlfriend the screen

“What the… BUBS??!!!” your sister yelled

“She’s not home!!!!” you yelled back from your room

“Stop being a Twat and get your ass in here” Lucy groaned

“No….” you whined

“Y/n Tough Bronze” your sister hollered

“Lucy… let her be…” Ona said softly “… it obviously took a lot for her to ask us to be there – so don’t squeeze informations out of her”

“I just want to know what’s going on….” Lucy defended herself

“Lucia…” the catalan warned

“Yeah okay…” your sister huffed

“Hey Kei….” you said appearing out of nowhere next to the blonde English woman

“Jesus Christ” Keira exclaimed shocked clutching her chest “DON’T do that”

“What?” you looked confused

“Don’t appear out of thin air like this” the blonde exclaimed

“I literally walked down the sideline… not my fault you don’t pay attention to your surroundings” you shrugged

“I was talking to Vicky” Keira throws her arms in the air

“Not my fault she’s not paying attention to your surroundings” you waved off

“What do you want pest?” the blonde rolled her eyes

“Next Thursday… 7PM… be there” you fished another paper out of your pocket just as scrunched up as the ones you handed out before

“And why would I want to be there?” Keira ask confused

“Just… please?” you said shyly

“Okay” the blonde huffed knowing by your reaction that it was important to you

“Thanks Kei” you smiled

“Always Bitsy” Keira smiled back softly

“You ready Babe?” Georgia asked fixing the tie around her neck

“I can’t do this…” you said panicked pulling on your robe

“Stop” your girlfriend said firmly grabbing your shaking hands

“I can’t G… I just can’t… everyone will be there…” your breathing labored

“Breath….” Georgia said calmly

“You don’t understand” you started again just to get interrupted

“… you are nervous… I do understand that… but you worked so hard… you sacrificed so much…” your girlfriend talked lowly “… you showed that even off the pitch you come out on top… you are the best of the class… I am so proud of you and everyone else will be too”

“But what if they’re mad I kept this from them…” a new wave of anxiety hits you “… Lucy gonna be so mad”

“Baby…” Georgias voice strict “… no one is gonna be mad… not Keira… nor Ona… and definitely not Lucy… you worked your ass off and you deserve it more than anyone”

“I need to hold a SPEECH!!!! A SPEECH G!!!” you squeak

“I know…” your girlfriend smiled softly “… and you’ll absolutely smash it”

“IN CATALAN G!!!” you screeched

“And you learned to speak catalan from the best…” Georgia smiled

“I…. guess….” you calmed down slightly

“See… you are prepared… and pretty…. So so pretty” your girlfriend smiled pressing a soft kiss to your lips

“I don’t…” you started

“No… we will go there… you get your diploma and then we leave… we getting a pizza at the shop down the road and then we celebrate your bachelor degree” Georgia said keeping her voice soft

“Pizza sounds good” you mumbled

“See… we just quickly go and pick up that piece of paper and get pizza” your girlfriend shrugged smiling and gently pushed you towards the door

“Alexia …” Lucy said surprised “… what are you doing here? What is this? You know what this is?”

“Cariño invited Olga and me…” Alexia looked at her teammate “… and no… no idea”

“Kei… do you have…” your sister turned around having spotted her ex

“… no idea” Keira interrupted Lucy rolling her eyes

“Then what are we doing here?” Lucy asked bewildered

“You’re here to support a person that’s important to you and you are important to her…” Georgia said appearing next to Keira “… she’s fucking nervous as it is so all of you pull it together and support her”

“Where did you come from?” your sister looked at Georgia pure confusion on her face

“From the champagne stand over there” your girlfriend pointed to a little bar with her glass “… it’s free and I thought… Eeh.. why not”

“Spill Stanway” Lucy growled getting upset

“Not in a million years…” Georgia snorted “… you’ll have to wait and see… I don’t know what your plans are but I’m going to me place now”

“I can’t believe she ignored me…” your sister started as Keira started to snort

“… you growling at her like a toothless puppy?” Keira asked “She knows you’re all bark no bite by now Luce”

“I am intimidating!!” Lucy exclaimed

“Yes Amor… so intimidating” Ona smirked and started to follow Georgia

“I AM!!” your sister shouted after the group

“I am” Lucy mumbled to herself now trotting after the others finding her place

“I can’t believe…” Lucy said shocked looking up to the stage where you were currently holding your speech in catalan

“…. She pulled that off?” Georgia helped out

“That she really …. she got a bachelors degree now…” your sister said in disbelieve

“She worked her ass off for it…” your girlfriend hummed “… the amount of times I found her at the kitchen table in the morning fast asleep on her papers… she really worked for it Luce”

“I… we… we all would’ve helped…” Lucy whispered given up already trying to understand what you were saying due to it being catalan “… why didn’t she say anything?”

“She was scared she could fail and that you’d be disappointed in her…” Georgia said remembering how often she herself tried to get you to talk to Lucy “… she said if she did fail no one but me would be disappointed”

“What a truck load of bullshit” Lucy grumbled

“I know… it still doesn’t change the fact that she wants to meet your goals Lucy… you are so fucking important to her…” your girlfriend said lowly “… the thought she could fuck up nearly broke her”

“Can you two shut up… I’m listening to the Cariño speech” Alexia sneered from two seats down

“I don’t understand anything anyway “ Lucy shot back

“Maybe if you’d listen you would’ve noticed her saying that she couldn’t have done it without the upbringing you provided her with because you taught her to fight no matter the outcome and that everything she achieved was because of you being her role model” Alexia said her voice low

“She did?” your sister asked perplex

“Yes….” Ona said tears in her eyes “… yes she did”

“But I…” Lucy looked around for help

“You showed her the world Lucy… from the moment I met you two it was clear that you were HER world… you just never realized how much…” Keira said softly “… none of us could ever reach the podium she holds you on… you two always were more than just sisters… you two always had something special”

“I…” your sister was at loss for words as you ended your speech and received your diploma smiling widely

“You are her everything Luce…” Georgia smiled clapping her friends back “… just like she is yours”

“Sooooo…” you slandered up to your girlfriend “… about that pizza….”

“Yeah I think we can kiss that idea goodbye…” your girlfriend smirked nodding behind you

“So proud of you” you recognized the voice of your sister as she pulled you into a bone crushing hug “so fucking proud”

“Lucy…” you groaned your voice strangled “… need air”

“Lucy” Keira warned “… no killing tonight”

“I’m just proud!! Can’t I be a proud sister for once?” Lucy asked flabbergasted still holding onto you tightly

“Air” you squeak out hitting your sister wherever you could reach her

“Amor…” Ona said softly prying Lucys arms away from around you “… others want to be proud too”

“I have first proud right!!!” your sister said

“Yes you do and you already showed her how proud you are” the small catalan said softly while you where holding onto your girlfriend coughing hard

“But not enough” Lucy said confused

“Plenty enough” you wheezed out as Georgia patted your back softly

“We need to celebrate” your sister suddenly exclaimed

“I already…” you started but get fixed by a glare from Keira, Alexia and Ona “… haven’t planned anything” you said quickly

“Mhm…. Thought so Bits…” Keira said eyebrow raised “… you know the tradition”

“Keiraaaaaa… come ooooon” you whined immediately knowing what she implemented

“Oh no… it’s tradition” the blonde smirked

“What?” Alexia asked confused

“Every time Bitsy came home with good grades at the end of a school year we would celebrate it and she was given the honor to pin it on the fridge” Keira smiled

“I’m not in middle school anymore” you continue to whine

“Oh I don’t care… university is school… you have good grades… tradition it is” the blonde English woman shrugged her shoulders and you knew you lost the battle – and the war.

“Ugh… so unfair” you huffed

“I’ll let you have a second cheat day this week Cari… this achievement is reason enough to eat whatever you want” Alexia pulled you into a side hug

“So generous” you grumbled “… you do realize I can eat whatever I want whenever I want”

“Oh I know Cariño…” the catalan smiled and you saw you were close to the magical line that would make her snap “… I also know you wouldn’t dare to do that because you knew I would let you run laps until your lung comes out”

“A second cheat day sounds amazing” you squeaked

“Thought so” Alexia smirked pinching your cheek

“Come on Bebita…. Let’s go home” Ona smiled grabbing your hand softly

“But G comes too…” you said as you let Ona pull you along

“Of course…” the catalan smiled and that’s how your bachelor’s degree ended up pinned to Lucys and Onas fridge making Lucy smile proudly every time she saw it.

Y/n Tough Bronze – Bachelor in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences

[diazsdimples]

Do you have any buddie fic recs that is a /must/ read for Buddie shippers ( sorry I don't ship Bucktommy 🥹)

Boy do I ever!!!

honey, when you call my name - @hippolotamus (Explicit)

"Eddie witnesses the Buck/Lucy kiss, has himself a little panic, and decides to do something about it when Buck does his Buck thing and won't stop pushing Eddie's buttons" It's spicy, it's sweet, it's packed full of feels and there was not a dry eye in the house!!

Whatever may come (your heart I will choose) - @hippolotamus (Mature)

"The Story of Eddie and Christopher Diaz" The number of times I yelled at Hippo while reading this,,,, it is incredible!! 30 chapters of Buckley-Diaz family feels, Eddie's heartbreaking backstory and FUCK if I could read it for the first time again, I would!

James Bond AU Series - @princessfbi (Teen & Explicit)

James Bond AU with 007 Agent Eddie Diaz and Buck as Q. Incredible. No notes. Read them back to back in one sitting, and then read them again immediately after. No prior knowledge of James Bond needed (cause I sure didn't have any) but be prepared to have the sudden urge to go watch all the films.

Kink Club AU Series - @princessfbi (Explicit)

"Canon compliant one shots where Eddie works at a Kink Club as a side hustle and meets Buck there before his first shift in 2x01." This series is insanely good. 5 perfect fics of the boys and BDSM, it is incredibly hot, full of feels and just.... yeah. Incredible. Please do read the tags before each fic though, especially if BDSM isn't your thing.

because we'll all arrive in heaven alive - @neverevan (Explicit)

"During a search and rescue, Eddie disappears without a trace, leaving Buck to grapple with the sudden possibility of a life without him." I was literally on the edge of my seat with every single chapter release. It's SO angsty and delicious and absolutely incredible, and I think also very feasible for what could happen in canon should Timothy ever decide to be as mean (affectionate) as Newbie was by putting the boys through this.

Out Of Order, Still In Line - @neverevan (Explicit)

"When Buck finally gets to the Clinic, the long awaited release doesn’t seem to come; cue Eddie to the rescue." One of the first Buddie fics I read and it altered my brain chemistry a little. Lord have mercy. It's just ... you gotta read it. Like, Jesus 🥵

My Blood on Your Skin (My Rose on Your Snow) - @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Explicit)

"When Eddie needs cash and fast to take care of Christopher, his LAFD Academy buddy suggests a job as a bouncer at Elysium - an exclusive sex club in downtown Los Angeles. Eddie doesn't care what goes on there, so long as he's paid, but he finds he cares a lot bout the club's enigmatic owner, Evan Buckley, and it's not long before the two of them are violating every boss-employee rule in the book. But there's something different about Buck and the club, something not quite... human. If Eddie wants to keep Buck, he's going to have to delve into the world of immortals, and all the risks that implies." Honestly I think the blurb says it all. I read this at my cousin's wedding (literally just before the ceremony and during the reception fsdkjdfs) because I literally couldn't put it down. Incredible Greek Gods integration and so. fucking. hot. Sorry Caleb, I hope your matrimony is holy but this was so worth it.

stuck now so long, we just got the start wrong - @daffi-990 (Unrated at present)

"Probational Firefighters Evan “Buck” Buckley and Eddie Diaz meet on a call which ends with them at odds with each other. As the months roll by, they keep running into each other on the job, much to Eddie’s dismay and Buck’s delight. Can they put aside their first opinions and misunderstandings and allow the seeds of friendship, and possibly something more, to take root?" This AU has been eating me alive with snippets for the last few months and the chapters are FINALLY being published!! Stay tuned for weekly updates about our idiots being - well - idiots. Daffi has written them so well and I don't think I could yell louder about this one if I wanted.

Cow Eyes - @theotherbuckley (General)

"'Eddie's in hospital and Buck tries not to break down' fic except its actually just a cute silly little fic" Exactly what is says on the tin. Cute, silly, fluffy and entirely adorable. High!Eddie is fucking hilarious and Worried!Buck has my whole ass heart. Love this fic, have read it many times, will read many times more

Both Blade and Branch - @cal-daisies-and-briars (Mature)

"The chances of being struck by lightning twice are incredibly minute, but Buck still manages to pull it off. During a double date with Marisol and Natalia, nonetheless. Eddie manages to resuscitate him, but as Buck recovers from yet another trauma, Eddie can’t help but notice there’s something very different about him. He’s not quite sure what version of Buck he got back." Orpheus and Eurydice vibes but somehow more heartbreaking because it's the Boys? Literally every chapter I was gobsmacked and the fact that I couldn't read it in one sitting due to Life™️ was frankly criminal.

what humans do - @gayhoediaz

""…and the thought that she had just escaped death by such a narrow margin made me realize the intensity of my feelings toward her.” Eddie swallows. “‘What’s the matter?’ I couldn’t tell her, so I kissed her instead,” Buck goes on, and since Eddie’s eyes are focused on the page, they drift ahead a little bit, and the next few lines have him swallowing once again, taking his hand back to brace himself against the mattress as he slowly starts to push himself up to sit. “Kissing is what humans do when words have reached a place they can’t escape from. It is a switch to another language. The kiss was an act of defiance, maybe of war. You can’t touch us, is what the kiss said. ‘I love you,’ I told her, and as I smelled her skin, I knew I had never wanted anyone or anything more than I wanted her…” Buck trails off when Eddie reaches for the book, gently luring it out of his grasp. " One of the best getting together fics I've read. So sweet, so hot, full of feels, and also just very 🤯 in many places. Just insanely well written and perfect imagery.

Also I have a small list of authors whom I love dearly:

@spotsandsocks @exhuastedpigeon @wildlife4life @thewolvesof1998 @thekristen999

@steadfastsaturnsrings @watchyourbuck @fortheloveofbuddie @rainbow-nerdss @bidisasterevankinard

@aroeddiediaz @jesuisici33 @wikiangela @loveyouanyway @kitteneddiediaz

@actuallyitsellie @dangerpronebuddie @loserdiaz @elvensorceress @underwaterninja13

@smilingbuckley

Literally anything these wonderful people (and the authors of the above fics) have written is well worth a read. I would rec all of their words and make individual recs for all their fics but I fear I simply do not have the words.

I might also humbly suggest some of my fics, which you can find here! Happy reading!!!

[morlao]

Breaking your own

rules

▪︎Isaac Garcia x fem!reader

▪︎Y/N Howard, Jackie's younger sister

Things have always been tough for you. As the youngest Howard girl you were constantly compared to your older sisters Lucy and Jackie.

Lucy the popular sunshine that everybody loved and Jackie the perfect girl who already had her plans for the future figured out and worked very hard to reach them.

Don't get me wrong, you loved your sisters with all your heart but sometimes you wished that they - especially Jackie - wouldn't set the bar so high. You were always only "Jackie's sister". Even your teachers referred to you that way.

Since the accident it had gotten so much worse. While it was obvious that you were breaking apart, Jackie had much more self control. While she studied even harder, you could barely concentrate.

When you heard the message that you and Jackie had to move to Colorado to the Walter family, you couldn't deny that you felt relieved.

Starting a new life with the Walters also meant leaving this comparism behind. Or at least most of it. You could start over new. No teachers who acted like your way of grieving was wrong and no uncle who told you what your parents would have wanted you to be.

~ ~ ~

You immediately liked Katherine and George when you first saw them as they picked you up from the airport. They made you feel so welcome. One could only hope that the boys were just as nice as they were.

Well... they weren't. At least not all of them.

You hadn't even entered the house when you heard someone shout. "Watch out!" You could just jump out of the way when a boy with a skateboard zoomed by.

"That's Lee." George explained.

Right after him chased a little boy, almost bumping into Jackie.

"Be careful, Benny!", George shouted but you were pretty sure the boy didn't hear him - and if he did, then he didn't care.

George led you into the living room where two boys were sitting on the sofa playing video games.

"Boys, that are Jackie and Y/N Howard. Girls, that are Alex and Isaac."

The boys greeted you both with a smile. The way Alex looked at Jackie made you grin widely. Seemed like this could become interesting.

Meanwhile your attention was on Isaac and for a couple of seconds your eyes met. He looked very handsome with his dark hair and his laid-back look.

Isaac grinned and raised his eyebrow and quickly you looked away. You didn't want him to think that you fancied him. Because you didn't. You were not looking for a flirt or even a relationship. You just wanted to forget about the accident and start over new.

George smiled. "Okay, let's continue the tour." He showed you the kitchen, where you met Will, Nathan and Danny and the living room where Parker was playing Hockey.

Wow, you didn't expect so many of them. It would definitely take you some time to remember all the names.

At last he lead you in the garden to the pool and to a smaller boy with a camera. A blonde guy was just getting out of the water, grinning as he saw you and your sister. He put on a total show, acting like he was the best looking guy in the whole universe.

You hated guys like him. Way too self-centered and way too arrogant. Unfortunately you noticed the way Jackie looked at him. She tried to hide it but she was clearly faszinated by him.

"Come on, Cole! Don't be such a show-off!", Nathan said, rolling his eyes.

Living here could definitely turn out to be exciting.

~ ~ ~

A few days later you woke up to laughter and Jackie's screams.

The door flew open and she stormed in, covered in a towel. "I can't believe it! I can't believe they did this!" She walked over to the mirror and looked at her hair totally in panic.

Still very sleepy you rubbed your eyes and got out of bed. "Did what? What are you talking about?"

"They put bleaching in the shampoo!" She was close to tears. Her hair had now quite a lot of blonde strands that looked like somebody had drawn them with a paint brush. In other words, it looked horrible.

However, Jackie still wanted to go to school. Perfectly ambitious as always. She managed to take George's Baseball Cap and hid her hair with it, it didn't really match her style but better than nothing.

When you came home from school you walked right into a very angry Katherine and a bunch of boys who looked absolutely pissed.

"What's up?", you asked curiously, almost regretting it as Isaac sent you a deathly glare.

Lee lowered his voice. "Your sister is a sneak. She told Katherine what happened today."

Jackie, why... you sighed heavily before running up the stairs to your room. You couldn't believe that she told Katherine. You stormed into your room and walked straight up to her desk where she was sitting and doing her homework. "Why did you do that? You know that you just ruined your chance to be accepted by them, don't you?"

Jackie frowned, clearly not agreeing with you. "What else should I have done? Just accept it and act like it didn't happen?"

You shook your head, grinning. "No way, let's give them a taste of their own medicine. Let's see if they go to school with... let's say... pink hair."

You spent the next two days preparing everything for your revenge.

Jackie was not really helpful, in fact she seemed like she wanted to stop you. "Please, Y/N, don't do it. They were grounded, I think that's enough."

"Fuck no!" You had a plan and you were going to go through with it.

While the others were having their dinner you sneaked into the boys rooms and put hair dye in their shampoo. Lee, Isaac, Cole, you got them all.

No wonder that the next day you were woken again by screams and laughter. Excited you kicked off your blanket and jumped out of bed.

Who has been the first to fall into your trap? Hopefully Cole! You couldn't stand his arrogant behaviour and you also didn't get why your sister seemed so faszinated by him.

You opened your door and couldn't help but laugh. Isaac had just come out of the bathroom, a look of horror on his face. Most of his hair was bright pink. It was hillarious!

The only negative thing about it was, that the other boys were now warned. They would for sure control their shampoo before using it.

"New York is tougher than I thought", laughed Cole, eying your sister as she covered her mouth, trying not to laugh too hard.

"I'm sure that wasn't her", said Nathan before he turned towards you, "It was you right?"

Isaac's eyes widened as he also turned around to look at you.

You leaned against the doorframe, grinning. "Don't underestimate me, Garcia!"

Isaac POV:

Wow, he couldn't deny that he was impressed. He had branded you a popular spoiled girl, a city girl who got everything she wanted, daddy's little darling. Guess he was wrong. You were tougher than you looked.

He eyed you as you stood there laughing. He definitely had to be careful. You were not only beautiful you were also not afraid of standing up for yourself and messing with the boys.

A little smile escaped his lips and he ran a hand through his hair. "Good one, Y/N"

You raised your head proudly.

Long after you disappeared into your room he still stood there, grinning.

Your POV:

The following days you were extremely careful, looking out for Isaac's revenge.

You showered at 4 in the morning so that you didn't cross paths and used freshly bought shampoo. You locked your room and sat as far away from him as possible during breakfast and dinner. Except for "Good morning" you didn't really talk to each other.

To your surprise he knocked at your door one afternoon. "Hey, Y/N, wanna play videogames together?"

You turned around, closing your maths book. "Do you really think I'm this stupid?"

He blinked. "What?"

"If you want to play a trick on me, you have to try harder. I'm not following you in the living room. I bet you have some slime that falls down on me when I walk through the door."

Isaac looked at you perplex. "Nope, I just want to get to know you better. You seem cool." He grinned. "But that's an incredible idea!"

"No pranks?" You raised your eyebrow and Isaac nodded. "No pranks, I promise."

The two of you got along surprisingly well the whole time. Isaac had some snacks and drinks prepared and he showed you his favourite video game.

After a few initial difficulties, things didn't go so badly anymore. "You're not as bad as I thought."

You took another bite of chocolate. "And this from the mouth of Isaac Garcia. I feel honored."

"Yes, you should!"

Since then the two of you often met for video game sessions. He wasn't as annoying as you thought. In fact he was really cool and fun to be with.

Jackie still didn't like him and gave you a disapproving look whenever she saw you together. You didn't really get what her problem was. She was the one who constantly hung out with Cole! Isaac was a saint compared to him.

~ ~ ~

In the last few weeks you were also starting to spend more time with Lee.

He soon grew to be one of your closest friends. (You really thought it was necessary to have a best friend who isn't a close friend to your sister. You wanted your own life after all and not just a cheap copy of your sister's)

How this friendship with Lee started? Well, being the daughter of the famous designer Angelica Howard could be hard. Everyone expected perfection, even if they didn't say it explicitly. Most of the activities you did were only because they would look nice on your CV.

At the Walters' house you had the chance to finally choose hobbies that you really liked. So you wanted to try skateboarding.

One afternoon when the majority of the Walter boys were out to watch Parkers match you took Lee's skateboard that was leaning next to the door.

It took a few attempts until you were able to stand on it without holding on to the wall. Getting around with it was even more difficult. Again you fell to the floor.

How did Lee make it look so easy? You were glaring at the skateboard as you heard a chuckle behind you.

"That looked painful."

You turned your head and saw the Garcia brothers standing there.

Isaac walked towards you and offered you a hand. You took it and he helped you to your feet.

Blushing you rubbed the back of your neck and smiled at Lee apologetically. "I'm sorry for taking your skateboard, Lee."

To your surprise Lee didn't seem angry at all. "You wanna learn it?"

"Sure"

"Okay, I'll teach you how"

Lee wasn't that good at explaining, his teaching methods were more like: I show you how easy it is by driving around and beeing absolutely cool and then it was your turn and you made an absolute fool of yourself (which Jordan captured on camera - thank you very much!).

Isaac's POV:

He couldn't stop smiling. The way you tried so hard not to fall off, your hands stretched out, looking for balance.

Soon he found himself watching you practise everyday and it wasn't boring at all. He enjoyed watching as Lee told you what to do and he even offered to give you a hand when you tried to make turns.

You were a fast learner - or at least faster than he himself when Lee tried to teach him some tricks.

"You're getting better and better", Lee said, clearly proud of himself as a teacher and proud of you, his student.

"Soon you'll turn into a real skatergirl", grinned Isaac and you gave him the brightest smile possible.

He stared at you, feeling his heart racing in his chest. Yes, he couldn't deny it anymore, he had fallen in love with Y/N Howard.

~ ~ ~

Your POV:

Lucy's Birthday. You had feared that day since the accident. And even though Jackie tried to act tough and strong you were pretty sure that she struggled just as much as you did.

While the others left for school in the morning you pretended to be sick and stayed in bed till afternoon, staring at the ceiling.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you" Your words were quiet, your voice shaking. "Happy Birthday dear Lucy, Happy Birthday to you."

Tears streamed your face as you whispered her name. Again and again. Lucy.

Jackie never wanted to talk about her or your parents. It had been months since you last said her name. It left a bitter note on your tongue.

Abruptly you sat up. You needed to get out, you needed to stop thinking about her.

Making sure that nobody saw you, you sneaked in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of vodka. Katherine had tried to hide it, not knowing that you watched her.

The bottle in your hand you left the house, walking towards the barn. The loft seemed like the perfect place to get wasted. In any case better than your room since you didn't know when Jackie would come home.

You climbed up the ladder and sat down on the floor, your feet dangling above the ground.

Lucy. There weren't enough words to describe how much you missed her. Her spirit, her energy. You had always felt closer to her than to Jackie - not that you didn't love Jackie but she was always so perfect that you felt like you couldn't keep up with her. Lucy on the other hand was popular and outgoing just like you. For her school wasn't the number one priority. Her grades were good but not perfect.

"Hey" Isaac's voice snapped you out of your daydreams. "What are you doing up there?"

You held up the bottle of vodka. "Celebrating!" Your voice cracked, sounding drunk already.

Isaac rised an eyebrow. "What are you celebrating?"

You shrugged, taking another sip. You didn't wanna talk about Lucy, you didn't even know if you could say her name without bursting into tears. "My miserable life?", you suggested.

Isaacs expression changed from slightly amused to worried. He climbed up the ladder and sat down next to you. "Are you okay?"

The question was so absurd that you bursted out laughing. "Yes, yes I'm totally fine!" You handed him the vodka and without taking his eyes off you, he took a sip.

You didn't want to think about anything. Not about Lucy, not about your parents not about school.

You needed something to distract you, something better than alcohol. In New York you always went partying with your friends when you felt like your world was falling apart. Here in Colorado you felt more lonely than ever. Maybe you just needed to feel alive again.

Without thinking about possible consequences you grabbed Isaac by the collar of his shirt, pulled him towards you and kissed him.

Isaac's POV:

Was this a dream? Was this really happening? Did you maybe just kiss him because you were drunk? Did you really want this?

His heart was pounding violently in his chest as he felt your hands in his and your kisses against his lips. He pulled you closer towards him, leaning against you.

He had wanted to kiss you for a while now and even though he mostly seemed so confident, he hadn't found the courage to tell you.

He asked Lee about you once or twice, trying to find out if you liked him too but either Lee didn't knew it or he didn't tell him. What cheek! What else was a brother for, especially when he was best friends with the girl Isaac loved?

His kisses became more passionate. Hugging you and spreading soft kisses on your neck, he whispers: "I'm in love with you."

You giggled, kissing him. It would definitely be best if you didn't show up for dinner.

Isaac actually hadn't thought that you were so heavily drunk, he only noticed it when you two tried to climb down the ladder again.

You giggled, trying to keep your balance what nearly gave him a heart attack. It almost took you twenty minutes.

Isaac grabbed your hand and dragged you towards the house. "Please be quiet!", he begged you while trying to get a glimpse where all the others were.

Had they already gathered in the kitchen, ready for dinner? "Lee!" He whisper-shouted as he saw his brother and signaled him to come outside.

"What's wrong, bro?"

Isaac only gestured towards you, while you were trying to stand on one leg, giggling and blabbering.

Lee stared at you in shock. "Holy shit! She looks totally drunk."

"She is", Isaac confirmed. "We need to get her to her room before Katherine sees her!"

"What if Jackie tells her? She's always trying to act right, remember."

Isaac bit his lip. That was right. Jackie had already proved that she was a sneak.

"We bring her in our room", Lee suggested, "Nobody will notice and we can take care of her until she feels better."

Okay, that sounded like a plan!

"I'll distract the others!" Lee hurried back into the kitchen, making sure the others didn't come out.

Isaac kneeled down in front of you. "Hold on to me. I'm gonna give you a piggybag ride"

You wrapped your arms around him, laughing. "I bet that's fun!" You talked loudly, way too loudly.

Isaac heard Katherine's voice. "Was that Y/N?"

"I don't think so!", Lee answered quickly, trying to block the door, "She said she would be home very late. She has to prepare a talk for literature class with one of her friends - I guess her name was Grace."

He kept talking and talking while Isaac hurried up the stairs, carrying you on his back. There wasn't the right word to describe how relieved he was, when he finally entered his room and laid you down on his bed.

Your POV:

As you woke up the next morning your head was aching. You tried to sit up but stopped in the middle of the movement - and not just because you felt you might need to throw up due to the drinking yesterday.

This wasn't your room. You took a look around, wondering how you got here.

Isaac was lying on the floor next to you. The other bed on the other side of the room was empty. Lee had already left.

Was it already this late? Damn, you didn't want anyone seeing you sneaking out of one of the boys bedroom, especially when you still felt that you were about to throw up. You were sure that they would assume the worst.

Your memory of yesterday was very vague. In fact you only remembered drinking and... oh shit, snogging Isaac. Damn, why did you do that?

It's gonna be so weird sitting next to him during lunch and dinner and seeing him basically the whole day because you lived together.

You covered your face in embarrassment. Okay, stay cool. It was just snogging. Just snogging. You were pretty sure it didn't mean much to Isaac either. He always acted like the cool boy with his leather jacket and his macho posturing.

Slowly you started to stand up and grabbed your shoes that were lying next to the bed.

Isaac moved. You must have woken him up by accident, because he grumbled softly to himself and sat up. His hair looked like a mess but it suited him surprisingly well. "Morning, Y/N" He smiled at you and leaned in for a kiss but you backed away shocked.

"What are you doing?!"

Isaac hesitated, clearly confused. "Well... after last night I thought..."

"You thought what?", you snapped, regretting how harsh it sounded as you saw how hurt Isaac looked.

"I thought we were... we kissed, I told you I loved you..."

Your face starts to burn. "You WHAT?!"

"Don't you remember that?"

"No!" You gathered your stuff and stormed out of his room, not caring anymore if somebody saw you.

All you wanted was to get away from this situation as soon as possible. You had never been good at expressing your feelings or solving conflicts. You were only good at running away.

You ran towards the room that you shared with your sister, threw the door open and stormed inside.

Jackie let out a surprised squeak. "Y/N, you scared me to death"

You kicked the door shut and threw yourself on your bed.

Jackie didn't seem to notice how upset you were. She was lost in her own chaos. "I did something very stupid", she whispered after a few minutes of silence.

You looked at her in surprise. Jackie and doing something stupid? These were words that you normally wouldn't put in one sentence.

You walked over to her and sat down on the egde of her bed. Only then did you notice that she looked just as hungover as you felt. Was she also drinking? "I'm pretty sure what I did is way worse" you said, trying to cheer her up a little bit and offering her a guilty smile.

She shook her head, half smiling, half crying. "I went to a party with Cole and I... I was drinking way too much... I almost kissed him in front of Erin and the whole group... and when I came home and Alex tried to be there for me, I tried to kiss him too."

You looked at her in disbelief. You had never thought that she would ever do something like that.

She leaned over to you and pulled you into a hug.

"Hey, it's all gonna work out, okay?" You rubbed her back soothingly. "Seemed like you took a break from being the good and perfect girl."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. Then a thought crossed her mind and she looked at you questioningly. "Y/N, you said yours would be worse...what did you do?"

"Oh" You blushed a deep shade of red. "I was snogging with Isaac."

"YOU WHAT?" She stared at you wide-eyed.

"I was drunk, way too drunk... I just wanted some distraction from thinking about Lucy and then... it just happened..."

"How much did you drink? And on top of that Isaac?!"

You knew that she couldn't stand him, especially since his prank on her. "Jackie, please, I don't want to talk about it, not yet."

She nodded even though you could see that there were lots of questions swirling around in her head.

Since you didn't want any lunch, Jackie forced you to at least go down for dinner. The Walters were already sitting at the table when the two of you came in. Isaac stared at you angrily. You avoided his gace and sat down as far away from him as possible.

~ ~ ~

Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving that you wouldn't celebrate with your family.

You tried to keep busy in order not to think about it.

While you were helping Katherine in the kitchen, Isaac and Lee got ready for their video call with their dad.

Lee picked out a black shirt and even a tie. It was cute to see him so excited as he asked you at least five times if he looked good and if his hair was fine.

"You look amazing", you told him with a big smile, brushing aside the single strand of hair that hung in his face.

Lee nodded excitedly and hurried outside the room.

Isaac still seemed to be angry with you as he walked right past you without even looking at you. He didn't bother dressing smartly but you still thought that he looked very handsome. He always did.

"Can you prepare the vegetables, Y/N?", Katherine asked and handed you the bowl and the different ingredients.

Danny was responsible for the dishes and they looked really amazing. He even let you try a single bite of it. Delicious.

Katherine turned towards you. "Do you know when Jackie comes back?"

"She didn't tell me." Secretly you suspected that she would try to join the fiest as late as possible. That's just the way Jackie was. Acting strong and pretending everything was fine when really she was hurting.

The door flew open and Lee stormed inside. You had never seen him this angry and hurt before.

You jumped to your feet, almost dropping the little bowl of Vegetables. "Lee, what happened?"

Lee didn't answer. Instead he opened a bottle of wine, ready to get wasted.

You turned towards his brother who has just entered the room, looking just as unbothered as he did before. "Isaac, what's up with Lee? What happened?"

He turned around, glaring at you. "Don't act like you care. I know you don't."

His words hit you like a knife. You could feel the others staring at the two of you and your cheeks started burning. "What? Of course I care! How can you say that?"

"Okay" He raised his hands defensively but his expression said 'whatever'. "Guess you do care about Lee then."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, you know that exactly! You played me like a toy and you couldn't have cared less about it!" He stormed out and you were so bewildered that you just stood there not knowing what to say.

It didn't help that everyone was staring at you, their faces asking clearly "What happened between you two?"

Avoiding to look at them, you ran out of the kitchen and up to your room. Why did he say that? You didn't play him, did you?

Nevertheless his words hurt you deeply, deeper than other people's words normally did. He seemed to hate you and you... you missed spending time with him. Did you have feelings for him?

You shook your head fiercly. When you moved here you had decided that it would be better not to rush in a relationship. Especially since you still struggled with the loss of your family. You needed friends, not some drama about boys.

~ ~ ~

The great bonfire, the party everyone was waiting for.

Of course you also couldn't wait for it. A party! Amazing! Finally some distraction!

You got ready with your sister and your friends. It was hard talking to Jackie alone the past few days. Since she and Alex started dating, he was always around, barely giving you two some sister time.

Originally you had planned to spend the whole party with her and your friends but then Alex and Cole started making their usual drama about who gets to be with Jackie. Pretty annoyed you walked off - which Jackie didn't even notice.

Lost in thought you stood in front of the bonfire, staring into the flames.

"Y/N" Lee walked up to you, a worried expression on his face. "Are you okay?"

You didn't want to ruin his evening so you forced a smile and tried to forget about Cole and Alex' drama for once.

You poked Lee in the cheek and grabbed his arm. "Yeah, I really like the party. You know... the partys in New York are totally different from here."

A soft smile escaped his lips. "What are they like? Tell me about it."

"Well..." How should you describe the feeling, the unique style, the atmosphere? To be honest the only comparism that hit you was: "They are just like Jackie."

Lee raised his eyebrow, looking confused but curious. "What do you mean 'like Jackie'?"

You shrugged. "They are perfect in every way. Glamorous even. Everyone is wearing beautiful dresses and drinking fancy cocktails with straws. They are talking about their dreams and their plans for the future. Most of the people I know have already figured it out." It often felt like you didn't belong there.

Lee watched you attentive.

"Most of the parties I went to were organized by students in order to get extra credits. They seemed like a ball for a princess." You couldn't help but laugh. "I prefered the clubs. Dancing like tomorrow didn't matter and like nobody was watching. I have only been there twice." As a minor it was hard to get in, but Lucy had always found a way.

Lee looked amused. "And now you're here, playing beer pong and standing around a huge bonfire. No cocktails, no glamour."

"Yes, it feels like two different worlds."

"Which one do you prefer?"

"Honestly? This one here. No need to be perfect, just having fun and being yourself."

He chuckled and you took a sip from your drink. "By the way...have you seen the others? I want to convice Jackie to play beer pong against me. That could be my one and only chance to be better than her." Also she needed distraction from the Alex and Cole drama.

You stood on your tiptoes, searching the crowd for familiar faces. You turned around and you saw them, right next to the fireplace. Your heart clenched.

Isaac and one of the cheerleaders. The girl looked amazing. Of course she did, all cheerleaders did.

Don't cry. Don't cry. Damn, you could feel the tears in your eyes.

Lee stroked your back comfortingly. Hell, you were angry.

So goddamn angry, but not at Isaac or the girl, you were angry at yourself. You've had your chance and you pushed him away. Guess you deserved this.

Isaac POV:

He laughed as the girl in front of him said something about the party last weekend. He didn't pay attention what it was, honestly he couldn't care less.

Every now and then he stole glances over his shoulder to make sure you had noticed him and were still watching. I mean, what was the purpose of making you jealous when you didn't see it?

Yes! You were close to tears! He couldn't help but feel happy about it. After all it meant that you liked him, didn't it?

Lee was standing right beside you, his arm around your shoulder. Isaac's smile froze.

"Hey, are you okay?", the girl asked him. He didn't even remember her name.

"Mh? Yeah, yeah I'm fine." When he looked in your direction the next time, you were gone. Panic started to rise within him. Had he gone too far? Was it a horrible plan?

"I'm sorry, I have to go", he told the cheerleader, not caring that he interrupted her. Well, her story wasn't very interesting anyway.

Without waiting for her response he hurried over to his brother, looking around if you were anywhere near him. "Bro, where is she?"

Lee nodded in the direction in which you had walked off. "She wanted to be alone. Guess your brillant plan backfired."

Damn, he was right. But still he didn't regret going through with it. At least he knew now that you liked him because what other reason could your reaction have? "Did you tell her?"

Lee was clearly offended by this question. "About your plan to make her jealous? No, I promised not to, remember? Damn, just go and talk to her! You act like a seven year old!"

Lee's words made Isaac's face burn with shame. He was right, wasn't he? He really acted like a little kid. Hoping he hadn't messed completely with you, he followed you.

Your POV:

You turned as you felt someone walking up beside you. Isaac. His pretty cheerleader was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey" You forced a smile, pretending that everything was fine. You were getting better at it lately.

Isaac looked at you, worried and maybe also a bit guilty. "Is everything okay? I saw how sad you looked when you walked away from Lee."

You shook your head, smiling. "Oh, it's fine." Damn, talking to him was harder than you thought. Why was he suddenly so nice to you? He has been ignoring you or glaring at you for days, maybe weeks, and now... he left this pretty girl in order to talk to you? That boy really was a mystery.

"Look, I'm fine, Isaac. Why don't you go and have fun talking to that cheerleader girl. She seemed to fancy you." You didn't mean to sound this annoyed and bitchy.

"But I would rather talk to you, Y/N", Isaac said and suddenly he looked even more guilty. His face burning bright red he rubbed the back of his head. "I just talked to her... to make you jealous."

What? You couldn't help but stare at him. Your heart did a somersault out of joy. The relief you felt... did that mean that you liked him?

Your silence seemed to make Isaac feel insecure. He lowered his head. "Sorry, that was a stupid idea... it's okay if you don't like me."

"No that's not..." you hurry to say, "I'm sorry for what happened that day in the loft and for the way I behaved afterwards. I should have apologised way earlier." You avoided looking at him and stared into the pitch black night instead. "I didn't want to get emotionally involved... it wasn't sure how long Jackie and I would stay here after all. It wouldn't be fair to start a relationship and then move away a few weeks later."

Isaac laughed and you looked at him bewildered. "What's so funny about that?"

"Well... everything. You say a relationship wouldn't be fair but what you did is even more unfair! You made me fall in love with you, you kissed me and then you ran away and acted like it didn't happen. Like it wasn't a big deal."

You didn't know what to say. He was right and you knew it. But that didn't matter now. He just confessed to you! Your heart felt like dancing in your chest.

"Why don't you give it a try, Y/N?" His voice was soft, almost sensitive. He took your hand, his thumb gently stroking the back of your hand.

You didn't know what to answer. Should you tell him that you were afraid your uncle would take you back to New York and that saying goodbye to him would be even harder? That you tried not to get too close because you were never good at showing your emotions? That you were afraid you would hurt him again because that's just the way you were?

A thought crossed your mind. Starting over new, that's what you had wanted when you came here. You wanted to leave the old Y/N and all her problems and insecurities behind and use the chance to become someone new. Maybe this also meant giving Isaac a shot. You liked him, so maybe you should stop running away. Maybe you should break your rules of not getting too close to someone while you were here.

You stepped closer and reached out your hand to touch his cheek. His eyes widened with joy. Slowly the two of you leaned forwards, your lips touching in a sweet and gentle kiss. He seemed restrained, almost fearing you would change your mind and pull away again. To prove to him that you wouldn't run away this time, you pulled him closer and intensified the kiss.

For a moment you forgot everything around you, you only concentrated on the feeling of his lips against yours and his warmth. When you slowly start to pull away, you couldn't stop smiling.

"We don't have to rush things. And I promise I won't show you off like a trophy in school." He chuckled, clearly thinking about the way Alex and Jackie acted - all touchy and totally embarrassing. It was so gross walking through the hallway and seeing them snogging in front of everyone.

"That's very good to know", you smiled back. Your decision was right, you could feel it deep inside you. Isaac Garcia was worth breaking your own rules.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[muffinpink02]

Co-Host

Leah and Lucy have never got on. An event they both attend brings them a little bit closer. Do they start to see things eye to eye? God I hate summary's.

Chapters 1 of 4 part 2 here

Warnings - Smut, all the good stuff

Lucy is a friendly person, she gets on with most people she meets. She’s easy going, she isn’t an in your face kind of person, she keeps herself to herself. She’s respectful to others, and even if she didn’t agree with something, she would still be able to get along with the person in a friendly manner.

But there was one person Lucy didn’t get on with, and her name is Leah Williamson.

Lucy and Leah’s dislike for each other started a couple years back. The hatred started when they first played against each other in Leah’s first over 21’s game.

The girls had never officially met prior to the game. Though Leah had already heard about Lucy, she was becoming a known name within women’s football. Lucy had a couple years on Leah, and if Leah was honest she was a bit nervous to play against her. She had heard how good she was and how hard she was to get past on the pitch.

It had gone half time and the game was getting to Leah. She had barely touched the ball and when she did, the defender was always hot on her heels. Lucys team was up by 3.

7 minutes into the second half and Leah finally had possession of the ball. She was clear, nobody was in her way. She could see the goal keeper trying to work out where she was going to shoot. She could practically taste the goal, until she felt a strong body next to hers. Lucy was able to get the ball back with no issue, she hardly even touched the blonde. Lucy cleared the ball away, and Leah lost it. She didn’t think about what she was doing. She tackled Lucy, hard. She knew the ball was gone. She could have easily stopped herself, but her anger got the better of her. She went in hard with her right foot, against the defender’s shin.

As soon as she heard the brunette cry out she regretted it. Lucy was rolling on the floor, holding her leg, she could see the pain in her face. She knew it was a stupid thing to do. The ref blew her whistle and held up a red card.

She heard the boo’s from the crowd. She then felt someone shove her, it was Jordan Nobbs. “What are you playing at?” She was in Leah’s face now, pure anger in her voice.

Her own teammates got in-between them. The ref came over and told Leah to leave the pitch. It all happened so fast. She could feel the dread in her stomach. She looked again at the brunette. She saw tears in the defenders eyes, the medics were beside her in seconds.

Lucy had to miss two games because of the injury. And she never got an apology from the girl. Leah was suspended for 3 games.

After the game Leah’s manager didn’t hold back. She told her how stupid it was, how it affects the team, even how she could have ruined the other players life with an injury, and everything else to make her feel bad. Even a few of her team mates made a few comments. Lucy had played with these girls in previous teams so they probably had some kind of friendship with her.

Since then they couldn’t stand each other. For Lucy it was the sheer lack of respect Leah had for her. Leah knew she did wrong that day. The shame of what she did turned into embarrassment, that then turned into anger and resentment towards the defender.

Over the years it always got heated on the pitch when they played against each other. There would be a pull of the shirt here, and stepping on an ankle there. It was a known fact that they couldn’t stand each other. Some people joked that they needed to have it out in the boxing ring.

—————-

“Yeah the green looks good!” Georgia was on Lucy’s phone screen, the girls decided to FaceTime each other to get the approval of what they were wearing for the charity event.

Lucy and many other players had been invited to a charity event in London. It was a charity to help children get into sports all over the world. A lot of big names were going to be at the event, so she wanted to look good. Thankfully some of the England squad were going, it was always easier at these things when you knew a few faces. She messaged Georgia, Ella, Alessia and Keira to see what they were wearing. And that’s how she came to have Georgias face on her phone.

Lucy stood in her floor length mirror, looking at herself. She knew she could rock a suit, but dahm she looked good in this one. “Yeah I think I’ll go with this one.” She pushed her glasses back up her nose and smiled at herself.

She took a few photos and sent them to the group chat with Georgia, Keira, Alessia and Ella. She got responses quickly.

Ella - Yessss Bronze!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥 FITTT

Georgia - 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 DRIP

Keira - Nice!! 👌 ❤️

Alessia - Love it Lucy!!! You look good 😍😍

Lucy was happy to get the approval from her friends. They also sent their outfits photos, to which they all looked good, and Lucy hyped them up just the same.

A few hours later Lucy was in her home gym. The brunette was working out a sweat on her punch bag. Thats when she got a call from her agent. She pulled off one of her gloves straps with her teeth. She answered it, loud speaker on.

“Hey Lucy! Can you talk? Is it a bad time?”

Lucy breathed hard, wiping the sweat from her four head with her arm. “Hi Lisa, no, all good, I’m just working out. What’s up?”

Lisa sounded weird, like she was excited but there was a slight off tone to it. “Oh, great. Well I was just calling to let you know the organisers at the charity event wants you to announce one of the awards.” 

Lucy wasn’t surprised by the request, she was an ambassador for a charity herself.

“Yeah, sounds good. It’s not a long speech is it?”

“No, no. Just a quick award, the usual..”

Lucy could hear there was something else in Lisa voice, she had heard it before when giving Lucy bad news. “What’s wrong Lisa?”

Lisa waited a few seconds before answering. “They want you to present the award with someone.”

Lucy scrunched her face in confusion, why would that be a problem?

“Right, that’s fine? Isn’t that what happens most of the time? Who’s it with?”

Lisa once again fell silent. “….They want you to do the award with Leah Williamson.”

Lucy stopped mid stretch.

“Are you serious? Please tell me you’re joking? Why would they do that?”

Lisa scoffed, “Probably to make it seem like even they can bring two mortal enemies together with the power of charity.” Lucy could hear the sarcasm in Lisa’s voice.

The brunette shut her eyes in frustration and took a deep breath through her nose. “Well I’m just gong to have to do it, I don’t need to talk to the girl.”

Lisa sounded relieved. “Thank god. I’ll tell them you’ll do it. It’ll be fine, you don’t need to be best friends. Anyways, I’ll let you go, I’ll send you more details once I have them.”

Lucy started to fit the boxing glove back to her left hand. “Okay, sounds good. Talk to you later.”

Lisa ended the call. Lucy went back to her boxing bag. At least she’ll have something to focus her anger while boxing now.

2 weeks had passed and tonight was the charity event. Lucy was getting ready in her room. She had gone for light natural make up and was rocking her green suit with a clean white vest top that showed off her abs through the thin fabric and a pair of white Nike air max to finish it off. Her hair in her signature bun.

She was trying not to think about the fact that she was going to have to share the stage with Leah tonight. The last 2 weeks the her teammates had joked about the situation. They even had bets on who would win in a fight, Lucy was more than pissed that 4 of the girls on the team actually picked Leah.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when a text came through.

Alessia - outside x

Lucy had a car picking her up for the event, luckily Alessia lived close by so they were able to go to the event together. Lucy took one more look in her mirror and made her way outside. She was more than relieved to have Alessia with her. She opened the door to see the striker in a beautiful gold dress.

“Hey Luce! Oh my god, you look even better in real life! I love the suit.”

Lucy smiled, she loved it when Alessia hyped her up, it always seemed so genuine.

“Thanks Russo. You look stunning, gold really suits you.”

Alessia smiled at the compliment, she actually seemed shy from the comment. “Thank you Luce. I’m looking forward to tonight, there’s going to be an after party!”

Lucy smiled at her teammate, she loved how enthusiastic she was being, it made her think tonight wasn’t going to be too bad. They chatted all the way to the event, even taking some selfies. They arrived to a sea of photographers, flashing lights everywhere. Lucy would never get used to this part of the job. Photo shoots she could live with, but this was always a whole other world. She was just thankful to have someone with her.

She felt Alessia touch her back. A gentle reminder that she wasn’t alone. They made their way through the sea of flashing lights. They finally caught up with their teammates. They grabbed a sofa area before they could sit at their assigned seats.

Ella was sitting next to Lucy on the sofa, she nudged Lucy with her elbow. Lucy turned to see why Ella was bugging her. She smirked at Lucy and nodded her head to the direction in front of her.

“Eh up, it’s your co-host Bronze. Wow, she looks hot.”

Lucy looked in the direction Ella had nodded to, and she was right. There stood Leah, she was chatting to a TV host Lucy recognised but couldn’t tell you the name of. Lucy screwed up her face at the ‘hot’ comment. “Oi, whose side are you on? You can’t say she’s hot.”

Ella laughed and looked back at the blonde “Na sorry Luce, she does look hot, you have eyes, you can’t say she doesn’t look good.” The other girls had now taken interest in the conversation and looked around to see for themselves.

Keira was first to comment. “Oh yeah, she does look good. I knew she was fit but wow.” Lucy curled up her lip in disbelief. “Erm, sorry did we forget we don’t like her?” A smile crept of her face and the girls and Lucy laughed.

She did take a look at the blonde herself and the girls weren’t wrong, she did look good, Lucy could easily admit that. Leah was wearing a black dress that hugged her at the best bits, a high opening at the top of her thigh, exposing a bit of skin, and gold heels to finish it off. Her hair was down and straight. Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off her.

They were finally able to sit at their assigned seats. All the girls were together, with a few other names on their table. Ella was making small talk about football with Rylan Clarke and Lucy and the others stayed on their phones. They had been to events like this before and they could be a little boring, so no one judged you for having a scroll through your phone.

Lucy had a few glasses of Prosecco to give her some Dutch courage. It’s not like she was shaking in her seat with nerves but it always made it easier having a few bubbles in you, she also wasn’t sure how this was going to go with Leah. They hadn’t even acknowledged each other since they arrived.

Half an hour later a member of staff came to collect Lucy. The girls wished her luck. She was feeling fine, the alcohol was definitely helping, she wasn’t drunk but felt warm and light. She was ushered back stage where she found Leah already waiting. The blonde gave her a tight smile and nod, Lucy returned it. She couldn’t help but notice how good the blonde looked. They had at least 5 minutes before they had to walk on stage. Lucy was listening to the other presenters on stage, trying not to make it anymore awkward than it already was.

“I can’t do it.”

Lucy turned around to a pale looking Leah. She looked like a deer in headlights

“What?”

“I can’t do this, I’m freaking out. God I knew I should have just said no.” Leah was starting to panic, she could feel her hands shaking.

She bent forward hands on her knees the girl looked liked she was about to be sick. Lucy gingerly stepped forward to Leah, she put her hand out to touch Leah’s back but thought better of it.

Leah wanted the floor to swallow her whole, she couldn’t believe she was having a breakdown in front of Lucy. Of all people.

Lucy wasn’t really sure what to do. She didn’t know Leah, she didn’t have the best relationship with the girl. Now she was having a meltdown, moments before they were meant to be on live television. She would be more than happy to go out alone if she needed to.

Leah stood up she looked like she was about to cry. For some reason seeing Leah close to tears stirred something inside of the brunette. She didn’t like the girl but she didn’t want to see her like this either.

Leah could feel her eyes watering, she was in full panic now.

“Leah it’s okay. You can do this, you’ve had bigger audiences than this, this is nothing for you.” Lucy was sure that would be enough.

Leah puffed out her cheeks, a tear falling from her eye. “God, sorry, I can’t believe I’m crying in front of you.” Lucy couldn’t believe Leah was this nervous. Their history was pushed aside for a moment.

Lucy took Leah by the shoulders. Leah was clearly taken aback by the touch and tensed up under Lucy’s hands. “Hey, look, I know this isn’t the easiest of things, I get it. I hated doing things like this before. But you are Leah fucking Williamson, one of the best football players out there, what do you have to be nervous about?”

Leah wiped her eye and chuckled. “Wow, I did not ever expect to hear those words come out of your mouth.” She could feel Lucy’s strong hands on her bare skin. She was close enough to smell her perfume. It smelt like a perfume Leah had of her own. The touch distracted her for a split second from her worries. She also couldn’t believe Lucy had said she thought she was a good football player.

Lucy smiled, she was happy to see she got the girl to laugh, Lucy once again couldn’t help but notice just how beautiful the girl was up close. She felt her tension leave her shoulders.

“Yeah, well don’t get used to it. Look, if you want I can do all the talking, you can read out the winner? Or you can just come out? I’m easy.” Lucy stepped back, letting go of the blonde.

Leah sniffled and took a deep breath, dabbing the corners of her eyes lightly, trying not to mess up her make up. “Could you maybe do the talking, and we read out the winner together?…If thats okay?” Lucy couldn’t help but notice how weak her voice sounded.

“No, that’s all good with me. Don’t worry you’ll be fine. Just breathe through it.” Lucy gave her a small smile.

Leah gave her a genuine smile back. Before any more could be said a young girl from the stage crew came over, with a headset on. “Hey ladies, okay, your cues will be in front of you on the projector with your names. Make sure to smile and no swearing.” She smiled and ushered them over to the side of the stage. She looked to be listening to someone in her ear. “I have Lucy and Leah now, they are clear to go.” Lucy then heard their names being called out on the speakers by a pre recorded voice, the lady smiled and gestured for them to go on stage.

Lucy started to walk, she could hear the audience clapping. She then felt a hand hook around her arm. Lucy looked around to see Leah attached to her. Leah smiled at her almost pleading her not move her arm away, she clearly needed the support.

Leah didn’t realise she had reached out to Lucy. She needed to feel something close to her, she needed something to ground her. Lucy smiled and carried on walking, she pulled Leah closer to her without thinking twice. As soon as Lucy pulled the girl closer, Leah felt like she could breathe again.

Lucy read out all the script, like she said she would, still feeling Leah attached to her arm. They read out the winner together, still noticing how small Leah’s voice was. They congratulated the winner and walked off the stage, Leah walking close by her side.

Another crew member came over, with a headset on his head. “Well done guys, could you follow me please.” They followed the young boy back stage and back down to the floor. Lucy was first to get to her table, and before she could do or say anything, the boy ushered Leah back to her own table. Leah looked like she was about to say something but was quickly rushed by the crew member.

Lucy stood with her back to the table, she watched Leah go to her own table. She turned to see her teammates were staring at her like she had grown two heads.

“What?…is there something on my face?” Panic set in thinking she had done something embarrassing. She slowly sat down, eyes still on her, but no one was talking.

“What’s wrong? What did I do? Did I say the names wrong?”

Ella spoke first. “What was that about?” She nodded her head towards Leah’s table. Ella smiled. “Are you two best friends now?”

Realisation kicked in. Lucy laughed. How was she going to explain this? She wasn’t going to go into detail about Leah’s meltdown, friends or not she wasn’t someone who would talk about someone else behind their back. “She just needed a bit of help. No big deal.” The girls looked at each other, a few smiles and lost looks on their faces.

Georgia laughed. “Well, you looked good together.” The girls all laughed, Lucy laughed with them.

For a split second the comment had Lucy’s mind wonder to what it would be like to be with Leah in more ways than one.

She was interrupted by her thoughts when Keira jumped in. “You did well up there Lucy.” Keira smiled a genuine smile at her and raised her glass. Alessia was pouring Lucy a new glass to drink. The girls all raised their glasses. “To Lucy!” Shouted Ella. They all cheersed and took a drink from their glasses.

“Awww thanks guys.” The girls went into their own conversations. Lucy looked around the room, spotting a few famous faces she recognised, another part of the job she still hadn’t gotten used to. She turned to the right of her, and caught a pair blue eyes watching her. Leah’s blue eyes.

Leah quickly looked away, trying her hardest to act like she hadn’t just been caught in 4k.

Lucy looked back at her drink, smiling to herself as she took a sip of her Prosecco.

Leah kicked herself internally. She had been watching Lucy for a while, and she knew she should have stoped after the first 5 minutes, but she couldn’t help it. When Leah first saw Lucy tonight, she had to pick her mouth up from the ground. Lucy looked really fucking good in her green suit. Leah could see Lucy’s 6 pack through her fitted white t shirt she could have sworn she dribbled. Then seeing her up close backstage didn’t help, she made her more nervous than she already was.

She felt like she could still feel Lucy’s hands on her shoulders, she made her feel so relaxed, just the touch alone calmed her breathing. Don't get her wrong, she knew Lucy didn’t like her or even looked at her in any other way than an enemy. But Leah could still appreciate a good looking woman when she saw one, and she thought that every time she had the pleasure of seeing Lucy. On or off the pitch.

The awards finished and the girls made their way to the after party all in one car. It wasn’t far from the first event. They pulled up to a bar that had a night club underground. They jumped out of the car and were escorted straight in. The DJ was already playing the right kind of music to get you dancing. They were escorted to a reserved table with a few different bottles of drink in ice. They poured what they wanted and made themselves comfy.

More people started drifting in from the charity event and the bar become full. There were a few other girls from different teams on the dance floor. It was mostly athletes at this event as it was a sports charity, so Lucy could spot a few of the other girls out. She also spotted a certain blonde in the middle of the dance floor. Looking a lot more calmer than she did earlier. Ella and Georgia decided they wanted to dance, they made their way to dance floor but not without dragging Lucy down with them.

The girls laughed at Lucy pretending to not want to go, but Lucy didn’t put up a fight, she was the first the start dancing once they got to the dance floor. The other two joined them and all 5 of them were dancing under the strobe lights. After a half hour Lucy made her way to the toilets. She felt the effects of the alcohol hitting her a bit more, after leaving the hot room of bodies.

As she left the toilet stall she was met with Leah’s blue eyes staring back at her in the mirror. She stoped in her tracks for a quick second and made her way to the sink. Leah seemed to be doing something with her make up. She gave a small smile to the girl, and received a tight lipped smile back from Leah, it looked like it hurt her to do it.

Leah nearly dropped her lipgloss when she saw Lucy in the mirror. Lucy was making Leah nervous anytime she was close, she didn’t even have to be talking to her. Just her presence alone was enough.

Lucy wasn’t sure if she should really say anything, it felt more awkward than ever, she preferred it when there was a mutual hatred. The thing is Lucy didn’t hate Leah, she thought she was rude, a bit of a show off but she never hated her. She respected her as a football player, she was being honest when she told Leah she thought she was one of the best. However, if Leah was still going to be cold towards Lucy, even after earlier then she could simply fuck off.

Leah’s brain was in over drive trying to think of something to say. Her mouth became completely dry. She kept glancing at the brunette. Hoping to strike up any conversation.

Lucy gave herself a once over in the mirror before finishing up, and made her way towards the door.

“Thanks.”

Lucy’s paused in her tracks, hand on the door. Did she just hear that right? She turned to see Leah facing her. Lucy raised her eyebrows. She heard Leah but she wanted her to say it again. “Pardon?”

Leah looked at her shoes, clearly finding it hard to resist an eye roll. Lucy smiled internally. Leah looked back up at the defender and took a big breath. “Thank you for earlier. I’m - I’m not the best with all that stuff. Sorry you had to do it all.”

Lucy was shocked, she didn’t think she was going to get a thank you from the girl. She knew that must have taken a lot for Leah, she wasn’t going to gloat or be a dick about it. She smiled at the blonde in front of her. “That’s okay, I could see it was bothering you, it’s nothing.”

Lucy’s smile was becoming a big weakness for Leah.

Leah looked like she relaxed a little, and looked back at Lucy. “Also, sorry for holding on to you. I don’t really know what happened there.”

Lucy smiled her brilliant toothy smile, almost verging on flirty. “Ah that’s okay, don’t apologise for that, I didn’t mind.”

Leah smiled at Lucy with a shy smile, Lucy once again noticing how naturally beautiful the girl was. An awkward silence fell over them. Leah pushed her hair back behind her ear, looking around the room. Lucy was about to do them both a favour and wish Leah a good night but Leah wanted to keep talking.

“I like your suit by the way. Green really suits you. It goes with your eyes.”

Fuck, fuck. Fuck….why did you say that.

Lucy didn’t expect that, and she must have made that clear on her face. Leah looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. In one way Lucy liked seeing Leah squirm, it wasn’t something you saw often on Leah, it was just fun seeing her little pretty face go into panic mode. She’d seen Leah pull a few of these new faces tonight, and she was secretly loving it.

Lucy smirked, and she made sure it was flirty this time. She looked Leah up and down with just enough tease in her eyes. “Erm, thank you. I didn’t know you were looking at me so hard.”

And for the second time that night Leah was a deer in headlights. “Erm - I - I -, sorry, I just like your suit…and I saw your eyes were green, and - and… yeah, wow.” Leah looked like she was about combust. Lucy couldn’t watch her crumble anymore.

Lucy gave out a low chuckle. “Chill Leah, I’m joking. Thank you. You look really, really nice tonight, that dress is beautiful on you.” Lucy knew what she was doing, and was loving what it was doing to Leah.

Leah gave a small laugh, clearly feeling a little shy, from Lucy’s comment and her own comments. She pushed her hair back once more behind her ear. “Thank you.”

Silence fell over them again, Leah grabbed her bag and pointed towards the door. “I better go, the girls are probably wondering where I am.”

She walked towards the door and Lucy opened it for her. She could smell Leah’s sandalwood perfume, a lot like the one Lucy where’s. Lucy watched as the girl walked past her.

“Oh thanks.” Leah smiled shyly up at Lucy.

Lucy smiled back. “No worries.”

She watched the blonde go past and couldn’t help but have a cheeky look at her arse. She knew Leah had a good arse, but she only ever saw it before in football shorts, the dress was doing wonders.

The night went on. Lucy was with her small squad, all the girls was having a good time, many pictures were taken. Lucy posted a few to her story. She posted a picture of her alone, pouring a drink. Her abs were noticeable even through her white T-shirt. She knew she looked good, she knew her stomach looked good and yeah, she wanted to show it off.

Lucy would be lying if she wasn’t trying to look for a certain blonde in the crowd, but she hadn’t seen her since their toilet encounter. To say Lucy wasn’t a bit confused with the night would be an understatement. To be honest she didn’t hate the change in dynamics, she didn’t really like the rivalry between her and Leah. She hated that the press would even make it a topic to write about.

The night got later and the guest started to leave. The girls also called it a night. They had a car waiting for them outside. The event team had booked rooms for the girls at the hotel back where the charity event was held. It was 2 girls per room and Lucy got the long straw of having her own room.

On the way back to the hotel Lucy scrolled through her insta. She noticed a new name on her notifications. She smiled at her phone, seeing Leah Williamson name pop up. She had liked her latest post.

“Aye up, who’s got you smiling?” Georgia was sat opposite Lucy in their taxi.

Lucy looked up at Georgia, she really was like an annoying little sister sometimes. She closed her screen phone, but Keira had already seen what she was smiling at. Lucy smiled and shock her head. “Nothing, just a funny meme.”

Georgia wouldn’t drop it though. “Oh what a liar! Who is it then?”

“Erm you have a cheek.” Keira jumped in. “Wasn’t you flirting with that netball player all night? Shall we talk about that?”

Georgia smirked, and suddenly the view outside was more interesting than the conversation. All the girls laughed including Georgia.

“Mate, you are so red.” Ella laughed at Georgia. The girls started talking about the night and events that happened, questioning Georgia on her affairs.

Lucy caught eyes with Keira and thanked her with a smile. She loved the girls but they could definitely be relentless sometimes.

They finally arrived at the hotel. The girls got in the lift giggling at something Alessia said. They were all a little drunk, nothing too crazy but the drunk kind, when the most stupid thing is the more hilarious thing.

“Right, this is me. I’ll see you guys in the morning for breakfast.”

Lucy was on the floor below her teammates.

“Noooo, let’s keep this going. Drinks in my room.” Georgia pleaded.

“Night Luce, see you tomorrow.” Keira looked stressed to be sharing a room with Georgia.

“No way, I’m off. Good luck Keira. Night all.”

The doors shut on Georgia’s protest.

Lucy walked the hallway to her room, she turned the corner to see a woman standing with her back to her. As she turned around she was met with those blue eyes again. Once again those blue eyes were in a state of shock.

“Oh my god, what are you doing here?”

Leah couldn’t believe her luck. Katie decided to bring a girl back to their shared hotel room. She saw the sock on the door and nearly lost her shit. She couldn’t complain too hard though, she had done the same thing 2 months ago to Katie and she didn’t complain.

Seeing Lucy in front of her was a bit of a shock. She seemed to bump into the girl a lot tonight. Seeing Lucy made her feel lots of different things, she couldn’t put her finger on just one. But excited was definitely the first word she could think of, but why was she here?

“Going to my room?” Lucy said it with a tone of sarcasm. Lucy wasn’t that shocked to see Leah, most of the hotel was booked for the events guest tonight.

“What are you doing here? Why you standing in the hallway?”

Lucy walked towards her room. Leah was clearly stressed about something, she nodded towards a door down from Lucy’s. It had a sock on the door nob.

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “Oh. I see, who you sharing with?”

Leah put her arms around herself. “McCabe.”

Lucy nodded her head. “I haven’t seen that in a while.”

Leah pulled out her phone. “I’ll just have to book somewhere else. I can’t be asked to get into anything with her.”

The next words out of Lucy’s mouth wasn’t thought through, they came out before she even realised she said it.

“You can stay with me?”

Leah was the one to raise her eye brows this time. She clearly wasn’t expecting that from Lucy. She didn’t want to assume anything either. Lucy doesn’t like her like that, she was just trying to be nice. She probably just felt bad. But she could still feel the butterflies in her stomach.

It felt like a lifetime of silence before Leah replied. Lucy never had so many silent conversations in her life before tonight.

“No, god. I don’t want to put you out. I’ll just wait in reception or something.” Leah put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, clearly annoyed at the thought of waiting around.

Lucy once again feeling bad for the blonde in front of her tonight, this was becoming a habit.

“No, come on. Why would you do that. I’m sure there’s a pull out sofa in there. You can go to your room when she’s done.”

Leah looked at Lucy. The brunette couldn’t work out the thoughts going through her head. She opened the door with the key card. “Come on, I won’t bite. Unless you like that kind of thing.” She winked at Leah and gave her one of her flirty smiles. She couldn’t help it.

Fuck, Leah nearly lost her legs. Lucy flirting was not something she thought she’d ever be in the presence of. The wink alone made her squirm.

Leah finally laughed. She rolled her eyes and walked toward the now open door. Lucy held it open for her. Lucy was having deja vu once again tonight.

It was a nice room, it had a king size bed and wall length windows that was over looking London. Lucy’s suitcase was in the middle of the room. Lisa would have got that there for her.

Lucy walked towards the windows, she loved the city at night. She turned around to see Leah standing in the middle of the room, looking lost.

Lucy cleared her throat. “So, how was your night?” She sat on the sofa near the window. She didn’t really know what to do with herself. A couple of hours ago Lucy was dreading having to share the stage with Leah, now she was standing in front of her in her hotel room. She seemed to have shared a lot of different moments with Leah tonight.

Leah played her with fingers. “Erm, yeah, bit of a weird one. But, it was good. Yours?”

Lucy chuckled, she had a feeling Leah was referring to all of their encounter’s tonight.

“Yeah, weird is one way of putting it.”

Silence fell over them once more. Lucy didn’t really understand it. Leah was so vocal on the pitch. She had seen her in action plenty of times. Even after matches, in her interviews she was confident and wanted to talk about her thoughts on the game. But the women in front of her seemed, scared.

“Shall we see what the mini bar is offering?”

Leah let out a breath. “Please.”

“Good, something we can agree on. Do you want to sit, get comfy.” She watched the girl take off her leather jacket and sat on the opposite side of the small round table.

She found a few bottles of small spirits and plenty of mixers. Even 4 bottles of small Prosecco. Thank god.

“Okay we have, spice rum, vodka, gin and some Prosecco, what do you fancy?”

Leah was looking out the window. “Oh erm, rums good for me. Thank you.”

“I’ll join you with the rum I think.”

Lucy started making their drinks. Just as she was finishing up, music started playing in her ears. She was confused, she looked over at Leah who had a timid smile on her face.

“Sorry, I connected my phone to the speakers. Do you mind?”

Lucy carried the drinks over to the table. “Oh no, not at all. We’re having our own little party.” She sat down opposite Leah, handing her, her drink. Leah took it, her fingers touching Lucy’s quickly. She thanked her with a small voice.

“So, please tell me this is as awkward for you as it is for me.” It was probably the drink in her system that allowed Lucy to have the word vomit, like she did earlier when she asked Leah to stay the night.

Leah laughed loudly. A genuine belly laugh, Lucy once again noticing the girls beauty was, especially when she laughed or smiled. Lucy smiled, she was glad the girl was laughing and not throwing hands.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m feeling it too.” Leah pushed her hair back behind her ear and took a sip of her drink.

“Look, I know we’re not the best of friends but you can chill. I’m not going to start having a got at you or anything.”

Leah’s a confident person, she’s confident in her football, she’s confident speaking her mind, she’s very confident with flirting and getting what or who she wanted. However Leah wasn’t great at public speaking but, when her agent told her who she’d be presenting with she changed her tune quickly.

For a while Leah has had a crush on the brunette, well since she kind of laid eyes on her. She wasn’t in love with the girl, she had eyes she could appreciate a good looking woman. She also respected Lucy a lot, as a person and footballer. But she never made it obvious, she kept the angry front up as it was much easier than being turned down by Lucy. For some reason Lucy made her nervous and tonight it really showed. She didn’t expect Lucy to be anything but cold towards her as that’s how it had always been. So when the girl was being kind to her back stage it threw her completely off, she couldn’t keep up the coldness towards her, she just nervous instead.

Leah took another sip of her drink, watching Lucy over the rim of her glass. It was the first time Lucy felt like the deer in head lights.

Leah cleared her throat and sat back in her seat a small smile on her face. “Yeah, sorry. I’ve been on a bit of edge today.”

Lucy nodded her head. She could understand, these kind of event days could be a lot. Press, photographers meeting so many people.

“Yeah I get it, you don’t have to explain yourself.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Lucy wasn’t expecting that question.

“Not that I’m complaining, but we’ve never got on. You hate me, but you’ve been nothing but nice to me. I don’t get it.”

“Firstly, I don’t hate you Leah. Yeah we’ve never got on, but that’s because our first introduction to each other wasn’t great.”

Leah winced at that. Lucy wasn’t saying it in a harsh tone but what she was saying was true.

“I don’t know if you even remember but I never got an apology from you and it’s just kind of been tense since then. But I don’t hate you. I really respect you as a footballer and what you do for your club.”

Lucy took a long swig of her drink.

Leah’s shoulders slumped, she looked down at the floor, Lucy could see she felt bad.

“Well, I know it’s been a while since our first game but would you accept my apology now?”

Lucy smiled. “Yeah. Yeah I would.”

Leah smiled an easy smile back. “Lucy, I’m genuinely really sorry for how I acted on that first game. In all honesty I was terrified to play against you. I lost my temper that day and I was childish and stupid. I have regretted everyday since then that I didn’t apologise to you sooner.” She sat forward in her chair and put her hand on Lucy’s thigh. “I am truly sorry for how I acted that day, and every match we’ve had together since. I really am sorry.” She finished with a deep breath.

Leah took a long swig of her glass, finishing her drink.

Lucy was shocked at the sincereness of Leah, she could tell the girl meant it.

Lucy smiled her famous smile and raised her glass towards Leah.

“To new beginnings.”

The blonde smiled back, more tension looked liked it left her shoulders. She raised her glass.

“To new beginnings.”

They clinked their glasses together.

Lucy took a drink from her glass, looking at Leah over the rim of her glass. Leah looking right back at her. It became quiet again but it didn’t feel awkward. “Hang on, you need another drink.”

“I do. It’s okay I’ll make them. Same again?”

Lucy handed Leah her glass. Fingers touching once again. “Please.”

An hour later and 3 more drinks in. The room was worm. Leah’s music was still playing. It felt like an intimate party between the pair of them. The girls were a lot more comfortable now. Lucy had taken off her suit jacket. Leah had taken off her heels. They were now sitting on the small sofa together. Their knees kept knocking and touching one another but nobody moved to give the other space. Both girls belly laughing over something Lucy said.

“And that’s why I don’t eat pickles anymore.”

Leah wiped a tear from her eye, and put her hand on Lucy’s thigh. “Oh my god. I can’t believe it. That’s so funny.”

For the 100th time that night, Lucy caught herself staring at Leah. She couldn’t believe this time 12 hours ago she was dreading being near the girl, and now she was cracking jokes with her.

“God, I can’t believe I’m actually sitting in Lucy Bronze’s hotel room at 1 in the morning.”

Lucy put her hand to her own chest and faked a gasp. “Sorry? What’s so wrong with being in my hotel room?”

Leah laughed. Her hand still on Lucy’s thigh. “No, not like that. I know a lot of girls that would kill to be me right now.”

Lucy snorted. “Nope, you’ve hurt me Leah. I’ve done nothing but help you today and this is what I get.”

Leah squeezed Lucy’s thigh, laughing. “No. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. I swear.”

Lucy couldn’t help herself, her flirty smile came out to play. “Oh is that so? So you do want to be in my hotel room at 1 in the morning, are you one of the girls you’re talking about?” Lucy took a sip of her drink laughing in her glass.

“Maybe.” Leah bit her lower lip, before raising her own glass to her mouth, still giggling.

The girls were tipsy at this point, but not drunk. They knew what they were saying was dangerous but not enough to get them in trouble.

Lucy wasn’t going to stop the flirting, she liked this new dynamic between them. Lucy had been checking Leah out all night, and Leah wasn’t innocent either.

“I bet McCabe isn’t even in there. I bet you put that sock there. You just wanted to be in my room.” Lucy laughed.

Leah now faked a fake gasp. “Right, I’ll go then you clearly don’t want me in your room. I’ll see if she’s done.”

Leah went to sit up but Lucy grabbed her by her waist pulling her back down. “No, don’t go.”

She fell half on Lucy’s lap, half on the sofa, face on, half straddling Lucy’s thigh.

Both girls laughter slowed down. Lucy still had her arm around Leah. She slowly looked up, face to face with the blonde. She no longer looked like a deer in headlights but more like a cat that got its milk. The air became thick. They had been playing on the fine line of flirting most of the night and now she had Leah sitting in her lap.

Leah was the first one to lean forward. Lucy kept her eyes on Leah’s blue ones, and slowly lowered her eyes on Leah’s glossed lips. Licking her own subconsciously. The only other time Lucy had been this close to Leah’s face was at a match when things got heated. Now that took a whole other meaning.

Leah looked at Lucy for any kind of sign to stop. Lucy could feel it. She gave Leah the smallest of nods. The blonde closed the gap between their mouths slowly.

Leah’s mouth tasted like vanilla and mint, Lucy instantly loved the flavour. Leah’s lips felt so much softer than Lucy could have imagined, and she had imagined them a lot tonight. She let Leah control the pace of their movements. The younger girl moved back slightly, just inches away from Lucy’s mouth. “Is this okay? Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m fine, are you? Do you want to stop?”

“No, not drunk and I definitely don’t want to stop.

Lucy nodded, and leaned in to Leah’s lips, she was already missing the feeling of them. The blonde girl shifted her body so she could straddle Lucy properly.

Lucy snaked her hands up Leah’s now bare thighs, her dressed had hitched up to her waist, giving Lucy all the access she wanted.

Leah pushed herself forward and placed her hands behind Lucy’s head, pinning her to the sofa. The brunette squeezed Leah’s thighs causing her to gasp. Lucy took the opportunity to push her tongue deep into Leah’s mouth causing the younger girl to moan.

Lucy could feel Leah smiling into the kiss. Lucy had kissed a few girls in her time but there was something about kissing Leah that made her head spin, every move she made was perfect. She felt her tongue caressing her bottom lip, sucking it into her own mouth. Lucy could feel herself getting wet.

Leah had control over their movements with the position she was in. She started to grind her hips into Lucy’s, this time Lucy was the one to gasp. Leah began to kiss down the brunette's neck, Lucy was more than willing to let Leah take her as she pleased. She slowly kissed every inch of Lucy’s neck before she moved to her throat, sucking hard on one spot. Lucy’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, pleasure taking over her.

“Fuck, Leah.”

If Leah’s tongue felt this good on her neck imagine the other places she would feel better at. When Leah was happy with the mark she left on Lucy’s tanned skin she took one long lick, gliding her wet tongue up Lucy’s neck, gliding to her ear. Lucy’s hands squeezed Leah’s thighs again, not being able to control her movements.

Leah was loving the control she had over Lucy, Seeing the older girl melt for her just over her kissing was making her ego grow ten times over. Leah gasped from Lucy’s touch once again, her strong hands close to where she needed her most. She moved her hands from the sofa into Lucy’s dark hair, pulling her head back with a gentle tug. Giving her full access to her mouth.

Lucy easily let Leah control her. The blonde took the opportunity to lick into Lucy’s mouth. Lucy loved the movements Leah was doing with her tongue. Her hips grinded up into the blonde, Leah smiled down devilishly at Lucy.

Leah was dominating the kissing, Lucy’s head was spinning. She started to rub her thumbs dangerously close to Leah’s very wet underwear. Leah released Lucy’s hair and started to grind with more purpose, though she had nothing to grind on. Lucy could tell she was becoming frustrated, she glided her right hand up to Leah’s toned thigh. She felt the fabric of Leah’s underwear, she could tell it was lace straight away. Her personal favourite.

She lowered her hand right where Leah needed her, she could feel the heated damp patch between her legs. Leah let out a moan from the first touch. Lucy studied Leah’s face, she was even more beautiful up close. Leah started to grind on Lucy’s hand, trying to get any friction that she could find.

Lucy didn’t want to waste anymore time, she wanted to feel Leah, she pulled her underwear to the side and glided her fingers through Leah’s soaking wet lips. The younger girl let out a glorious moan, her hips grinding harder. Lucy couldn’t believe how wet Leah was already, it made her head grow 5 times the size. She glided her finger up to Leah’s clit, and gently back down, wanting to explore the girl above. “Someone’s wet.” Lucy’s voice was low and cocky.

Leah whimpered, hearing Lucy talk in her like this was sinful, hearing the teasing in her tone. Feeling Lucy touching every part of her sensitive flesh was driving her mad. Leah didn’t want to lose the control over their rhythm, she wanted to be the one in charge but that was slowly slipping.

“Tell me what you want.” Lucy was kissing Leah’s neck as her fingers kept playing with her velvet lips, slowly circling her clit every few seconds.

“I want you inside, fuck me. Please.”

Lucy’s fingers were soaked with Leah’s own juices. She slid a single finger in with no resistance. Fuck she felt good.

Leah moaned low into Lucy’s ear, the brunette was loving every second of hearing the girls moan. She added a second finger. Leah was tight, she could feel her pussy walls pulling her in. She started to pump, moving with Leah’s hips. It wasn’t the best position but she would make it work. The blonde was panting hard into her neck. Lucy thought Leah was beautiful before, but seeing her like this was something completely different. She looked like a work of art, a work of art getting fucked.

“Do you know how good you look Leah?”

She kept pumping. Leah lifted her head looking down at Lucy. Her muscular arms were on show, watching her flex from each stroke made Leah’s pussy walls flex, and Lucy could feet it.

Lucy snaked her other hand up to Leah’s thigh, moving past her thongs and straight to her swollen clit, making small circle motions. Leah’s mouth gapped open, Lucy couldn't but stare at the girl above in awe.

“Oh my god Lucy, don’t stop. You feel amazing. Don’t stop.”

Lucy didn’t once take her eyes off of Leah, she was mesmerised by the sight. She took a quick bite of Leah’s neck, causing Leah to whimper. “I got you Leah, I won’t stop. You feel so good, you’re so fucking tight.”

Leah loved Lucy’s words, she could feel her own legs shaking. She could feel she was close. She leaned down and kissed Lucy hard. She wanted to feel her lips when she came.

“Kiss me Luce, don’t stop kissing me.”

Lucy didn’t complain. She kissed Leah back just like she asked, she could feel Leah getting close, she didn’t once stop her movements.

Leah was feeling the glorious coil in her stomach. Lucy’s tongue was deep in her mouth, sucking on her tongue. Leah felt like she couldn’t breathe in the best way possible, she was surrounded by Lucy. She started to make short little gasps, her climax was just on the cusp. Leah took control of the kissing and sucked in Lucy’s tongue, causing the girl to moan in her mouth. It pushed her over the ledge she’d been sitting on all day.

Leah moaned loud as she came. Her pussy flexed against Lucy’s fingers, her body shook hard. Her mouth was still attached to Lucy’s lips. Lucy watched Leah like a hawk, making sure to follow every movement to help guide her orgasm.

Leah’s eyes were closed, she leaned her four head against Lucy’s, breathing hard. When she finally opened her eyes, she was met with dark green ones staring back at her. A shy smile crept on Leah’s face. Did that really just happen?

Lucy slowly pulled out of Leah, the blonde groaned from the loss. She sat back, on Lucy’s legs.

But Leah wasn’t done there. She took Lucy’s hand that had been in-between her legs, she saw her two fingers glistening with her juices. She slowly raised Lucy’s hand to her lips, gently kissing them with her swollen kissed lips. Lucy’s breathing quickened, she knew what Leah was going to do and she could feel herself getting wet.

Leah gently licked Lucy’s wet fingers, gliding her tongue, making sure Lucy could see every inch of what her tongue could do. Lucy didn’t blink. She didn’t want to miss a second of this. Watching Leah’s long tongue glide across her skin was magical.

“Fuck…” Lucy breathed out.

Leah slowly sucked in Lucy’s fingers, she was showing off for Lucy, she wanted to be the one in control. She was loving that Lucy looked like she was about to melt on the floor. She looked down at the brunette, she looked so fucking good, her once neat her was now tussled, her white vest top had ridden up just a bit so you could see the bottom of her abs. You could see her muscular stomach through the white vest top as she breathed. Leah was in a trance looking at the brunette.

She released Lucy’s fingers with a loud pop. She slowly climbed off her thighs and stepped back. She unclipped the back of her black dress, it fell to the floor around her feet.

Lucy’s mouth gapped open.

The brunette had seen glimpses of Leah’s stomach when on the pitch. She knew she had a stunning body but she’s always wondered what the rest of her looked like. The thing is Lucy had a little secret. She had crushed on Leah for a little while. It was a weird feeling to crush on your ‘enemy’ she brought out the best and worst parts of Lucy on the pitch, and it had caused Lucy to want to know the girl more. In many different ways. But to have Leah Williamson standing in front of you, in nothing but a pair of laced black thongs and a a see through bra to match, was breathtaking.

Leah sunk to her knees, in-between Lucy’s spread legs. She reached for Lucy’s trousers unbuttoning them, bitting her bottom lip. She tugged at Lucy’s trousers, trying to make a point that she needed them off. Lucy’s brain finally caught up. She stood up to remove her bottoms but Leah got there first. She slowly dragged her suit trousers down to her ankles, her girl boxers following right behind.

Lucy was wet.

Leah was proud.

She had Lucy Bronze, a woman that so many players looked up to. So many players were intimidated by, standing in front of her, soaking wet for her. Her chest swelled. She gently started kissing Lucy’s thighs, she could hear Lucy breathing above her. She guided Lucy to sit back on the sofa, she got herself comfortable in-between Lucy’s legs.

Lucy couldn’t believe the sight in front of her. Leah Williamson, on her knees for her. She was about to burst, she could feel her stomach tensing from anticipation. She had definitely imagined Leah like this a few times.

Leah kissed Lucy’s thighs some more, wanting to tease her just a little bit. She looked up to see Lucy looking flustered. Just what she wanted. Though, she was just as excited as Lucy for this moment, she didn’t want to wait anymore. Leah stroked her tongue right up to the crease at Lucy’s thigh. Lucy’s body jumped at the touch.

Leah leaned forward to Lucy’s lips, she could see her lips were coated in her juices. Leah’s own mouth watered.

Lucy could feel Leah breathing on her. The younger girl took a long, slow lick into Lucy’s cunt. She moaned at the taste. Her new favourite flavour. Lucys head fell back on the sofa. She was painfully turned on, her pussy was throbbing.

Lucy was more wet than Leah realised. Her tongue was met with her honey like juices. She swallowed the mouthful that gathered on her tongue. She couldn’t get over how good she tasted.

Leah lapped her up, wanting to feel every bit of Lucy on her tongue. The brunette was in heaven, it felt like Leah was on every inch of her. Caressing every spot.

Leah leaned back on her heels, Lucy’s juices still attached to her mouth, creating wet string between both Leah’s lips and Lucy’s lower lips. The blonde stuck out her tongue, greedily tasting Lucy’s juices, breaking the wet string attached to her wet mouth.

“You taste so good Luce. I could eat you out all night.”

Lucy could have came from the site alone, she hoped the image would burn in her brain.

Lucy let out a low chuckle, she brought her hands up to the blondes hair, she gently pushed some of her hair behind her ear. Leah couldn’t believe how delicate Lucy was being towards her, even in this position.

“I would gladly have you in-between my legs all night. Leah, you don’t know how good you like right now. On your knees for me. Do you know how beautiful you are?” Lucy’s voice was low and full of lust, but also sounded so loving.

Leah smiled at Lucy. She felt more bare than when she stripped. She kept her eyes on Lucy’s as she went back to her pussy. She traced her tongue into Lucy’s folds, she could feel the brunette getting wetter. Lucy slowly laced her hands into Leah’s hair. Leah moaned at the contact, she wanted to please Lucy so badly. She captured Lucy’s swollen clit into her mouth sucking it gently.

Lucy hissed in pleasure from the action. She wasn’t going to last long but she was shocked that she even got to this far. Her hips started to grind into Leah’s mouth, she gripped tighter onto Leah’s hair.

Leah was more than willing to let Lucy take control to reach her climax. Lucy’s breathing become rough, her hips kept grinding into Leah’s mouth. Her legs began to shake.

“Leah, ….Leah, I’m so close. Don’t stop. Your tongue feels so, so good!” Lucy nearly shouted the last words. She pushed Leah’s face deeper into her pussy, needing her exactly where she wanted her. Leah wasn’t going to stop, she would go all night if she could, well if Lucy would let her. She sucked and licked Lucy’s clit, loving every sound she pulled from the brunette.

“Fuuuck, I’m coming. Don’t stop!”

She came hard onto Leah’s tongue. Her head fell back against the sofa. Eyes closed. Leah continued her movements, she could feel Lucy’s juices flowing into her mouth. She never stopped.

She was still grinding into Leah’s mouth, ridding out her orgasm as much as she could. She could feel Leah’s tongue all over her cunt. She loved how good Leah was making her feel. She stopped her movements and slowly took her hands out of Leah’s hair she looked down at the girl in-between her legs. She had Lucy’s juices dripping down her chin. Her hair was disheveled. She looked beautiful.

Lucy leaned forward, cupping Leah’s chin. She couldn’t help but smile at her.

“That was amazing. You are amazing. Fuck.”

Leah felt herself blush. Lucy’s words did something to her.

“Thank you, you’re not too bad yourself.”

Lucy chuckled. She brought her hand from Leah’s chin into her hair and guided her to her mouth. She kissed Leah deeply, her tongue roaming hers. The kiss made Leah’s pussy throb.

“I’m gonna shower, do you wanna join me?”

Lucy voice was low.

“Yeah. That would be nice. Oh but I haven’t got any clothes to change into.”

Lucy gave Leah a lustful smile. “You won’t need any.”

Leah was definitely dripping now. She got up quickly and dragged Lucy towards the bathroom stripping off her remaining clothes as she did.

[cheshirebitch]

ℕ𝕠𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤

(Alastor x Angel Dust’s Sister!Reader) pt. 2

It really has been a long time, huh?

( previous ) -> ( next )

I have never seen Anthony look at me like that, as though I’m the villain destroying his life. But, last I checked, he was the one going by the real villain that actually did take his life. It was purely distasteful with his choice of name, let alone the fact that was his porno name. What was so wrong with his actual name?

“Listen toots, I didn’t want to ask you for help. We didn’t have any other choice.” The venom spat back at me made my eyes narrow at him. What the fuck is his problem? All of this attitude is not how Anthony would talk to me. It felt like this whole new persona was taking over who he really is. I wanted to rip him apart, but not in front of these people. I can’t let everyone know my weaknesses, even if they pretty much all knew tiny parts.

“I get that. So I’ll ask again, what did you need help with?” I seethed through my teeth, feeling the watching eyes of all his friends. I only tensed up at my own attitude when I remembered Alastor and Lucifer were here too. I rolled my eyes closed and took a deep breath in and out before having an eerily calm aura surrounding me. Knowing I wasn’t going to get an answer out of the pissed off porn star brother, I looked towards Charlie. I could tell I made her nervous, shivers running down her spine before she straightened herself out and answered me.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard that we- uh-“ She glanced back at Lucifer who was wide eyed back, shrugging slightly as a response.

“That you,” pointing at Niffty with a smug smile, “killed the great and Holy Adam? Yeah, hard to miss when it’s being broadcasted on every device in hell.” I crossed my arms, smiling. It was really amusing to see Lucifer step in with his slip up of phrasing. Alastor also put on a good show by standing against Adam. I never expected him to actually take on such a powerful Heaven icon.

“Yeah, well, we need help with reinforcement in case the angels decide to retaliate.” She nervously fidgeted with her fingers, Lucifer watching me with anticipation. They all were, really. I was honored they considered me for help against heaven. Pretending to be debating it, I took long strides between Lucifer and Alastor.

“With all things considered, that’s a lot of my members being potentially killed for you. What do you have to offer me to make it worthwhile?” My hand started to glow pink, flexing my fingers and watching Charlie. Lucifer couldn’t make a deal with me or that’ll make more problems, only leaving Charlie and Alastor. Not like Luci would ever make the trust between us obvious. It would be a poor move if he wants to keep his weaknesses unknown. Alastor would rather drop dead than to be on a leash of someone else, though I have a sneaky suspicion it’s because he’s already on a leash. I should ask him about it next time we have one of our talks. Also, I already knew what they were going to sell to me but I can’t just make an assumption with it.

“We will make sure Angel Dust gets redeemed.” My eyes light up pink, turning around to look at Alastor. He held his hand out casually, opposite of how Charlie held hers against her chest. What a bland, and predictable, deal offer.

“Alastor, baby, I already knew that. We both knew that.” I winked at him. “So, what else?” His smile strained, despite it appearing to become more entertained. I read him like a book. It wasn’t very hard since he loves to hide behind a smile, saying it made things more intimidating. I’d like to think it’s more so the idea of being able to bottle those emotions he loves to hide.

“What else? Darling, I think it’s more than reasonable for that to be a big deal.” He smiled his sharp teeth, my eyes watched them carefully. A sneaky feeling crawling up my spine as my eyes stuck like a magnet to him. That’s when Lucifer pushed Alastor’s arm down, rolling his sleeves up, walking towards me. He stuck his hand outstretched towards me, trying to intimidate me with a hard stare. I just smiled in response, awaiting for his deal. I guess they really are desperate if Luci won’t even let Alastor and I pretend to hash out this deal. It was already mutually understood what he was going to offer was more than just that. He was just toying with the rest.

“We will get your brother into heaven, and you.” My smile froze on my face. I couldn’t get into Heaven. No matter how hard any of us tries, I’ll always be stuck here in hell. That fate was sealed long ago. My hands have been permanently stained red and black from how many lives I selfishly took after the death of my two siblings. My hands crossed tightly behind my back as I pondered harder over what he was promising.

I don’t think I want to go to Heaven. I couldn’t place why but something small was trying to tug me to decide to stay in hell.

Something small. The idea of being in heaven with my two younger siblings was bigger. Hell, maybe even the forgotten sibling will be there too.

“Can you even make deals, Luci?” I purred out the nickname in a taunting manner, giving a small moment of silence between us. Since he wanted to air out dirty laundry, I’ll give more hints to how close we actually are. But, he definitely didn’t think he could make a deal either. Charlie tried reasoning with him while Alastor watched from the sidelines, an odd look in his eyes. They flickered to Lucifer before narrowing with displeasure. I guess someone doesn’t like sharing friends.

“I guess we will see, won’t we La Morte.” He was struggling to remain professional. Neither of us wanted to act like this. This was all just a show for our professional standpoints, but I hated it. I’ve had to act professional and put together all my life, no matter how hard I fought against my father to create a life for myself and my siblings who wanted out. That’s all any of us wanted. Lucifer was a good guy despite the title he carries. His daughter is also an amazing girl. I would have agreed to do this either way. But, too many eyes were watching in this moment, too many windows and vulnerability to be spotted for our soft realities of each other. My hand gripped his as pink and gold clashed together.

“You got a deal, Satan.” My smile turned poisonous as I gripped his hand. My magic branded his palm with a pink heart, healing itself just as quickly into a scar. I felt the searing pain of a tally mark etch into my back, ignoring the feeling and refusing to let it slip out that it even happened.

“Anyways, enough with the professional talk. If we are going to be a team, call me by my name. I’m (Y/n).” Whether they could tell or not, my smile was genuine when I reached to shake hands with Charlie, Lucifer still rubbing his hand where the heart was branded onto him. Alastor watched heavily, something else pulling the weight of his stare on me. There’s no way he knows about the reciprocating brand mark. What can he notice that I don’t have hidden?

“Your name is really beautiful! I’m glad I don’t have to call you Death every time I refer to you now.” Charlie smiled genuinely back. Trying his best to make it sound like he has never called me by my name before. My eyes raked over his figure, understanding it’s a secret he wants to keep.

“Well of course, any friend of Anth- I mean Angel Dust, is a friend of mine.” The sibling sense kicked in before I even had to turn around. Anthony just rolled his eyes at me. Quick movements led to my shoe being thrown at Anthony’s head, smacking him hard enough in the face to send him backwards.

“Che cazzo!” (What the fuck!) My head snapped 180 with my body facing Charlie still. Through a clenched jaw and wide wild eyes, I lectured Anthony under my breath.

“Schialla, stronzo.” (Chill out, Asshole.) He immediately stopped, slouching against the wall. Anthony muttered under his breath but at least it wasn’t as disrespectful and obvious. Husk found it amusing enough to stifle a laugh with Vaggie.

“So, what’s the war plans?” I beamed, excited to get murderous for a good cause. Those exorcists killed a lot of my people, pissing off my whole team and myself tremendously. That was our family they were murdering brutally, just so they could have their sick fun and somehow remain in the sky. That was something Charlie and I could get along with.

“About that…” Lucifer awkwardly smiled. You’ve got to be joking. They have nothing? My eyes glanced at Alastor, who was still staring at me. I narrowed my eyes on him, silently asking “you serious right now?” to which he looked amused and shrugged. Bastardo, it’s your skin also being risked here.

“Okay, what do I have to work with here?” Charlie reappeared with a stack of papers and dropped them into my hands. I blinked a couple times, gazing through the words scribbled on the papers. These were lousy attempts at battle plans or any sort of war plans.

“I’ll revise these and have them back to you soon. I do request to have somewhere nearby for me to stay, along with my members. Fifteen minutes away isn’t a good distance, doll.” Observing Charlie’s timid behavior. Lucifer peered behind his daughter, gauging my reaction to everything. I had my work cut out for me but any excuse to be involved in Anthony’s life again was something I was willing to risk everything for.

“Consider it done. Let’s take a stroll so I can show you where it’s at.” Lucifer snapped his fingers and excitedly held his arm out for me to take to walk with him. He was always trying his best to put on a front, but I know he’s still struggling. I mean we still meet and talk about ways for him to mend the broken relationship with Charlie. But, it feels like another negative energy was coming from where my other ally stood. When I turned to Alastor, his eyes were still locked onto my figure, wide and slightly terrifying. The look alone ran a chill down my spine. Why did it feel more exciting than terrifying?

“You coming?” Lucifer glanced backwards towards me, forcing me to peel my eyes away from the enticing ruby set still locked on me. Instead, my eyes met the pale yellow and glowing red set. The tension felt high, pushing me to leave immediately.

“Yeah, of course. Just taking the place in since I’ll be staying here, and potentially dying here.” I laughed sadistically as Lucifer frowned and elbowed me.

“Not funny. There is no way myself, or any of us, will let something happen to you. Unless you get redeemed, too.” He winked trying to sell the confidence he could get me into heaven with my brother. I doubt it, but no harm in trying.

Following down the hall, around back, there was a warehouse building directly behind it. It mirrored the looks of my warehouses that have been distributed in my territories. I could easily move a little over half of my people within this building, comfortably. The smile slowly dragged across my face before I could stop it. Lucifer was smiling back at me, satisfied.

“Che bello…” (How beautiful…) My whole body relaxed, feeling almost unnatural. I didn’t know how to handle how I was feeling at all. All this weight that’s been pushing down on my shoulders just lifted enough for me to breathe, to relax. No one has ever done something this tremendous for me. I could feel tears brimming my eyes, ripping me out of that relaxed feeling. Instead, it was replaced with a sense of dread and need to feel that relaxed again. Lucifer was smiling softly, hand snaked around my waist as he waited.

“You want to go see the inside, (Y/n).” A small smile remained as I allowed his arm to remain, feeling natural and familiar, but so wrong.

“We can’t keep doing this, Angel. We both know that!” Lucifer was having one of his episodes again. The thoughts of Lilith coming back any second, just to see him fucking some other girl and actually leave him type of thoughts. Not that I could ever understand what he’s going through and show sympathy, but rather I’m getting tired of fixing what I didn’t break.

“Listen, Luci, I know.” He stopped. In the poorly lit room, I could see his eyes glowing and a faint outline of his body shape standing on the opposite side of the bed. He knows what’s coming.

“What do you mean?” His eyes pierced mine. A hard stare swimming with all sorts of emotions. Panic was in the center of the tornado.

“Luci, we can’t keep having the same conversation every other day.” I sighed as he remained frozen in fear. One wrong move and I can destroy everything.

“I know you still love her. Nothing could ever change that. You have spent all of eternity together, created a beautiful daughter, ruled over hell. It’s not something you can just fix in seven years, and I never expected you to.” His eye twitched as his black hands started to curl in, making fists. I watched carefully how his breathing was now heavier. I didn’t want to make a bigger mess but I can’t mindlessly try and heal him again, no matter how badly I wanted to.

“What I did expect was some sort of progress to prove that you were learning to let go and love me.” It felt selfish how I was wording it, but my own abandonment issues were strangling me. It hurt to breathe and my vision was blurring. He huffed out, about to deny everything I’m saying.

“I know you love me, but not as much as Lilith.” My eyes froze on Lucifer in panic. Merda. (Shit.) I said her name.

“Don’t you ever say her name. Especially not like that. If she loved me, she wouldn’t have disappeared, abandoned me or Charlie. You don’t know anything.” I knew he didn’t mean it at the moment but my mom taught me one thing, never let a man tell you twice he doesn’t want you.

“It’s over, Lucifer.” I moved slowly to the door, refusing to turn my back to him and his eerie glowing eyes in the dark room, shutting the door quietly and carefully behind me.

During my walk back, it felt like a walk of shame. Opening and closing my door as quietly as possible to my office, sliding my back down the door. There is where I sobbed for hours, grieving a relationship where I actually felt loved, relaxed, and free from the impact my father has held on me all my life. This is where I vowed to never allow myself to get emotionally attached again.

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(As always, the characters belong to their owner and the story belongs to me. If you have any requests or ideas, send them over! I love to hear feedback! I will also gladly try to write things for my supporters! I have put a LOT of research and planning into this series! I also researched Italian to try and make it as real as possible! Thank you for the love and I hope y’all have a great day! <3 :)!)

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Tag List:

@pooka167 @serenity-songbird @readergirlstuff @nishayuro @lovingyeet @genderlessdude92 @slytherin4ever @random-3455 @mo-0-o @lucifers-silhouette @sadnessiscoldtea @idonthaveanameforthisacc @marxo5 @emonerdwinchester @macehysteria @tsukiko26

Tagged who I could, some it wouldn’t allow :(

[sepublic]

Interesting that pop culture portrays Van Helsing as an experienced, seasoned vampire hunter, when it's pretty clear in the novel that this is his first go around with the whole thing, his first confirmation they actually exist, and in other words he's basically winging it and hasn't necessarily thrown a punch in his entire life (Which means he can’t just throw hands with Dracula, he needs research and backup to organize the perfect trap where they won’t be instantly killed). VH doesn’t always know what’s going on, he’s figuring things as he goes along; Like yeah he's HEARD of vampires, but it's never been anything prominent to him.

If anything, his past with vampires is probably similar to a lot of readers; Familiar with the concept, knows some of the details but not all of them, and definitely presumes them fake. He sees something going on with his patient and is like Haha damn that's just like a vampire, wouldn't it be crazy if... And then he slowly starts settling into conspiracy theory mode when more and more dots show up to conveniently connect, as he does the obligatory Protagonist Searching Stuff Up bit and realizes Mein Gott!!! It might be a vampire!!!

But then at the last second VH reminds himself, Now hold on, have I actually SEEN this vampire??? But it won't do anyone harm if I added some garlic flowers, right...? And then it just gradually escalates from there into full-on paranoia and dread that vampires exist and VH needs to desecrate the dead, and then he finally gets confirmation when he sees an Undead Lucy. What the fuck.

I think there's an argument to be made that Van Helsing was doubting himself just as much as Seward and the others initially did, if not more so, and he can’t even talk to anyone about it; So there’s an elation where you finally talk to others and realize it’s really happening, you’re not crazy.

This just ties into the theme of recording that which you did see, which is indisputable, because it’s evidence and proof. So you can be certain you aren't totally insane, and can distinguish facts from assumptions and theories if necessary; Especially when one needs to consider other explanations for the same symptoms. There’s a relief confirming what is and isn’t real to dispel self-doubt, like there was for Jonathan, who also suffered from Dracula’s gaslighting distorting his perception of reality.

I think all of this makes Van Helsing's actions and secrecy a lot more understandable when handling Lucy; If you hired a doctor and he suddenly started bringing up vampires, you might be inclined to think he's insane, doesn't know what he's talking about, and has read too many vampire stories and probably believes in 'alternative' medicine. Van Helsing still has an image and reputation to uphold here, and if it's gone, he can't actually be there to help Lucy if he turns out to be right.

That isn't to say he isn't without critique, especially in later portions of the novel, but you can kinda see where this underdog stance of "I'm right and the others around me are wrong" gets vindicated and thus develops into a bit of arrogance later down the line; Particularly, in presuming his disagreements with Mina to be no different than his secrecy with Seward and Mrs. Westenra.

In the end, VH could be described as a character who wonders if he's in the novel Dracula (compared to Jonathan who knows he's in a horror story of some kind but can't name the genre), but then has to remind himself this is reality... If this is a story, it’s probably just some medical drama. And when VH does accept he's in the novel Dracula, he assumes his character development and the lessons he learns are straightforward.

[touratoura]

TV Show idea: A Christian woman named Juliet moves into a new neighborhood, hoping to find a husband and have a child. After moving into her new home, she goes to meet her next-door neighbors - and is horrified to find out it’s a loud, party-girl, dirty mouthed black lesbian named Maggie Dalene and her smart, CEO girlfriend Mary (played by Laverne Cox). Juliet does everything she can to try and turn them to Christ. She does it both forward and subtle. While she does this, she also meets and falls in love with a man named Paul, and starts visiting the local orphanage to bring the kids there to faith.

The main plot points of the first season:

Juliet’s (failed) attempts to convert Mary and Maggie. They keep running into each other. Maggie goes the opposite way and tries to get Juliet to relax a little. Juliet is especially concerned when Christmas comes around and they bring out the Menorah.

Juliet meets three triplets at the orphanage named Jesus, Emmy, and Susej. Susej is the only girl. Juliet tries to get the three Jewish kids to convert, but they refuse. She also tries to get Emmy to go by his full name, Emmanuel - but he finds it stupid.

Lucifer and Abbadon (Lucy and Abby) are a gay gender-unconforming couple who have extremely random jobs everywhere. They seem to be working everywhere. Cashiers, fake-Gucci boot sellers, librarians, janitors, shelf restockers, anything. They’re there. No one else mentions it. It drives Juliet insane. She finds the idea of them being feminine men disturbing, but she can’t call them anything but Lucy and Abby as she refuses to say the Devil’s name. She also finds Abby being black disturbing.

It’s often hinted at that Susej is the Antichrist. And by hinted at I mean she’s always staring piercingly into empty space, whispering threateningly, and is always there when things go wrong. Also her eyes occasionally go black and she starts floating and speaking ancient curses. Juliet is terrified. No one else notices.

Jesus is friends with a group of 12 boys from the orphanage, named Peter, James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Judas I, Matthew, Thomas, James A, Bart, Judas T, and Simon. Jesus goes by Jeezy-boi. The others go by Peezy, Jazzy, Jozzy, Azzy, Pheezy, Jewzy, Meezy, Teezy, Jameezy, Beezy, Yeezy, and Seezy. They’re all played by 12-year-olds, except Yeezy, who’s played by a Kanye West-lookalike. It’s never remarked upon. He talks like Kanye.

Juliet tries to get Mary to turn to God. She will often compare her to her “namesake”, Mary of Jesus fame, to show her the “right side”. Mary takes none of it and points out that Mary and Jesus were Jewish. Mary is very no-nonsense when it comes to these things. Mary is heavily implied to actually BE Mother Mary as she knows things the church doesn’t.

Paul keeps accidentally calling Juliet Jennifer. She doesn’t notice. He’s often drunk and rude to waiters and retail workers. Juliet is too, mind you. He hides his phone and yells a lot. He complains about Juliet’s decision to “wait until marriage”, but doesn’t mind her being anti birth control.

At the end of season 1, Juliet gets married to Paul. He barely gets the vows right at the wedding. Mary and Maggie go out for an unknown trip. There’s a time skip of a few months. Maggie and Mary are celebrating outside of their house, because Maggie just won a Noble Prize in Chemistry. Maggie is yelling “I won! I won!” Juliet smiles and says, “No. I won.” She’s holding a baby in her arms. Maggie paused for a moment and responds “No baby, I won. Paul’s gonna leave yo ass in 3 seconds. You gon have to raise that baby alone. And who says we ain’t got kids?”

Jesus skates by on a skateboard with a cowboy hat. He tips his hat to them as he passed. Emmy is running behind him in a pink skirt. Juliet places her baby down momentarily to talk with them, as Susej comes up and starts whispering to the baby. It nods, and she smiles, before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. She reappears behind Mary. End of Season 1.

This isn’t a prompt but I would gladly accept criticism and more ideas. And characters. I’m open.

[horsesource]

@lungfuls There are nonspeaking authors I would definitely recommend for insight into nonspeaking ways of being and meaning making—Tito Mukhopadhyay, Amy Sequenzia, Ido Kedar, Emma Zurcher-Long, DJ Savarese, Lucy Blackman, and Naoki Higashida are some of the “big” names. But of course there are plenty of nonspeaking people who will never learn to write (maybe because of physiology, maybe because they’re interested in other ways of making meaning!), which I think is a crucial point a lot of facilitated communication advocates conveniently ignore..

My perspective on autism starts with the standard observation that "normal" human subjectivity is mediated through language and cultural concepts and conventions, which sets us apart from other animals. This symbolic realm of communication relies on absence, not presence (linguistic meanings point to more linguistic meanings, not directly to the world) and on exchangeability/translatability (we can use different words to "mean the same thing")

What sets autistic subjectivities apart, specifically nonspeaking and minimally speaking autistic subjectivities, is that these subjectivities lean heavily on signs rather than symbols. What differentiates the two is that signs have a concrete referent ("smoke means fire" being a primary example). It's not that autistic subjectivity isn't mediated by language at all, but that's it's mediated in radically different ways, ways that attend to the capacity of language to "mean" outside of conventional reasoning. "Normal" children grow up and have their subjectivity increasingly mediated by symbolic concepts. This is helpful in many ways--when driving a car, for example, it's helpful to not be fully attuned perceptively to every little thing that's going on, or else you'd crash the car. You need a certain distance from what is real—you’re driving a giant machine extremely fast through the world! But with that said, long story kinda short, I think normative symbolic reasoning has hypertrophied to a point where a lot of "normal" people feel like living dead (our "world" is so linguistically mediated that we feel detached from presence). And on the other hand, there are a lot of speaking people with immense amounts of anxiety who feel like there is something wrong with them because they are unable to adequately wield reason to "get on" symbolically. And I think that without recognizing that our ways of making meaning/having our world mediated through language have become ill, it's pointless to try to point to individuals as if they have faulty mechanisms for meaning-making.

My line through this is that I was “late-diagnosed” with autism “level 1” (formerly Asperger’s) and I was reading everything I could get my hands on trying to make explanatory sense of autism. I felt a sense of symbolic belonging through the category of autism for a few months or something. But I quickly became dissatisfied with this, because I felt alienated from both sides of "the spectrum"--I'd never met a nonspeaking person, and I still felt incredibly anxious talking to speaking people diagnosed with autism, even though these were supposedly people I shared an identity with. So, I started working with nonspeaking autistic people. And what I found is that it is a tremendous relief to realize that there are ways of being with people that involve direct presence, ways of being with people where I'm not half-elsewhere trying to wrack my mind for reasonable words to respond to them with. People who sing and chirp more than they talk people who talk through hand rubs and nose touches and forehead presses. To me, what autism is are the aspects of humanity not entirely captured by the symbolic, as well as the aspects of the symbolic that can't be exhaustively explained through symbolic means (the feeling of poetic rhythm for example)

[repulsiveliquidation]

La Princesa

[Ona Batlle x Reader] Part 1.5 of [She's going to be okay.] [Royalty] [Angel in the House]

Days with La Princesa!

“Patri! Help me with the cake, will you?” you yell through the house. Lucy is helping Kiera bring out the hors d'oeuvre as you were tasked with the massive cake Alexia had gotten. Ona’s mother insisted on having dinner with everyone so a large table was set up outside. The whole team was here, some of your England teammates had made the trip too since the party was during Christmas break.

Speaking of Ona, she was sat on the back porch with a virgin margarita in hand chatting away with Alessia, Ella and Grace. Leah was helping set the table as Georgia fanned away at the barbeque. There wasn’t a quiet corner anywhere, everyone buzzing since the announcement of the baby’s gender. La Princesa was the talk of the town, Ona’s hand rubbing her belly affectionately every time anyone spoke about her. It was a new habit, one that you had many pictures of on your phone.

There were steaks, seafood and piles of vegetables as everyone helped themselves to all the food. You were cutting up some steak for Ona (because she’s the OG La Princesa) when Mapi cleared her throat at the end of the table. Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes when she stood up, signature grin on her face. This couldn’t be good.  

“I would like to propose a toast to our team mom and dad. Y/N, you take care of us and make sure we’re okay. You notice things that many people would simply ignore. You’ve been there for us more than we deserve. Ona, you’re always ready to help any one of us at the drop of a hat. You are the sweetest person I know, I love you for that. The two of you are perfect together, no need to thank me for setting you two up. But because of that I propose we name La Princesa after me. Thank you, I love you both, ¡Salud!”

“As touching as that was Mapi, we are not naming our daughter after you.”

“A middle name will do.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, okay! We have presents to open, cake to eat! Let’s head inside!” Leah called, ushering everyone inside as the girls began to quickly clean up. Once everyone settled inside, you helped Ona on the couch beside you, wrapping your arm around her shoulders as she leaned into you while everyone else brought over their presents.

“Are you okay, darling?” you ask her, kissing her forehead softly as you rub her arm.

“Sí, she’s been kicking a lot. I’ve also needed to pee too many times today.”  

“Our little footballer. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, mi amor.”

“Are you sure I can’t convince you of just one name; we are Spanish, she can have several names.”

“No, Mapi!” you both yell at her, Ingrid yanking her to the kitchen to help serve the cake.

//

“Oh Patri, it’s adorable!”

“How did you even get that?”

“Mamí, Esto es perfecto!”

“Girls, I didn’t think they MADE these!”

You heard Ona and the girls opening gifts in the living room. You were putting away all the extra food in the kitchen when Alexia walked in with another dish. She smiled awkwardly, being quiet. You didn’t push it, wiping your hands and moving the containers into the fridge. Suddenly she cleared her throat and you turned to look at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ona told me.”

“What exactly did she tell you?”

“That you wanted me to be La Princesa’s godmother.”

“Oh, yes. Do you want to be?”

“It would be my greatest honor. But, why?”

“When we were thinking about it, only you came to mind. Don’t get me wrong, I would die for all those girls out there and I know they would do the same for my family. But I know without a doubt that if something happened to me, my girls would be safest with you.”

“You are my family too, I will protect them with my life; I promise you.”

“I love you, Ale. You’re a sister to me, I don’t think you understand how important that has been to me over the years.”

“And you for me, hermosa. I love you too.”

//

“Baby? We’re home, love.” You shook Ona softly and as she woke, you walked over and opened her door for her. She climbed out slowly, feet swollen and aching from being on them all day. She was too stubborn to ask you to carry her, walking gingerly into the house. You were grabbing stuff from the boot of the car when you saw her walking slowly. You put everything down and walked up beside her, gently picking her up into your arms. She giggled and held onto you as you walked into the house with her and laid her in bed. She kissed you cheek and whispered an accented “thank you,” before you walked back out to grab all the gifts and bags from the car. Dropping them on the dining table to be dealt with tomorrow, you walked into the bedroom to find Ona already asleep again.

Chuckling, you slowly take her shoes off and slip your jersey she was wearing off before pulling on one of your hoodies over her small frame. It swallowed her but she snuggled into it anyway. You make quick work of yourself, changing into shorts and a sports bra before climbing into bed behind her. She searches for you in her sleep, reaching out and holding onto your arm as she goes back to sleep. You smile fondly, hand rubbing soothing circles over her belly and whispering “I love you girls,” before falling asleep yourself.  

//

“That’s not the right one.”

“What do you mean, this is exactly what you sent me to get.”

“No, I wanted the blue one, this is red.”

“Angel, you asked for red.”

“I remember asking for blue, Y/N.”

You sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat. Ona was having a bout of crazy cravings that began at 3 in the morning. She sent you to the shops to look for Chips Ahoy (a/n don't ask, they are my current obsession.) the other night but they didn’t have them so you bought a different kind and put it on a plate for her with a glass of milk like she requested. She took one bite and knew they were wrong, immediately starting to cry.

“Please Mi Reina, it’s late. You have a checkup tomorrow, we need to sleep.”

She sniffled, “But I wanted Chips Ahoy.”

“I know baby but all the stores I went to didn’t have them. I’ll go look tomorrow and buy them for you, okay? Please darling, you need to sleep.”

“You better buy all the Chips Ahoy you can find, amor or it’s the couch for you.”

“Yes, your highness.”

//

“Love, please stop moving.”

“You try sleeping with a literal football inside you kicking like there’s no tomorrow.”

“When we have a second baby. What can I do for you?”

“Talk to her please. She always calms down when you do.”

You throw the covers off and move over to lay between her legs. You can just about see her face above her belly. She's smiling, eyes sparkling as she watches you talk to the baby. You rest your head on her thigh, left hand holding Ona’s, right hand rubbing her belly softly.

“Hello princess, it’s Mama. I’ve missed you, you’re getting so big already. I had a pretty good day at training, met all your aunties too. They can’t wait to meet you, you’re going to be the most spoilt little girl out there. Now, mami is trying to sleep okay? She needs her energy so we can see if you’re being a good growing girl tomorrow hm? Can we put your striker skills to the side and let your beautiful mother sleep? That’s my girl. I love you, I can’t wait to meet you.” You kiss her belly softly, leaning over and kissing Ona too.

“For your information, she’s going to be a defender.”

“Please darling, she’s already showing signs of being a wonderful striker like me.”

[maarigolds]

Lucy, Lockwood and George, after everything.

(show edition. I'm not going by book canon for this one, so don't worry about spoilers)

At 21 or 22, Lockwood is the first of them that starts to lose his talent.

Which makes sense, since he's the oldest. At the beginning he refuses to even acknowledge it, but Lucy and George figure out what's happening soon enough. For a while he's just ashamed and angry and sad all the time. Then it gets better: Lucy and George get him trough it. He also calls Kipps, and they talk for hours, both coming out of it feeling almost at peace (Kipps has gone back to school and is talking about wanting to become a teacher. Which Lockwood feels like should surprise him, but actually doesn't). 

Lucy is next. It breaks her heart a little (because of skull and all other type 3s) and it scares her a lot. But then she realizes how soothingly quiet the world can be at times, and lets herself think that maybe she will be alright. 

George is last. And the thing is, even though it saddens him to lose the one thing that connected him to ghosts, mainly he's relieved. He's been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while, and now that it has, he's ready for whatever may come next.

The jobs get more and more rare as they hear, see and feel less and less. Lockwood knows he could hire new kids to replace them, but in truth he doesn't really want to. Perhaps Lockwood & Co. can be laid to rest at last: after all, they've already achieved more than he ever dreamt. So the next time a client calls, he informs her they've shut down and gives her the name of an up-and-coming independent agency he's heard great things about. He only feels mildly guilty about it. 

Even if they're technically not his employees anymore, George and Lucy stay. They don’t talk about it, but the idea of moving out of Portland row and living lives that aren't intrinsically intertwined feels wrong to all three of them: they're a family, after all, and nothing has to change about that.

Still, they need to make money somehow. So they muse about going far away from London, opening a bakery, living in a small house by the sea. But in the end they stay, both in the city and line of work they're used to. Because they do belong there, it's undeniable. George, of course, goes into ghost research and becomes a leading voice in the field, discovering new ways to help agents all over the country. No one is surprised, but everyone is proud. Lucy one day shows up at Barnes' office to ask him about becoming an inspector. It's the last thing either would have expected, but when he asks her why, she says it feels like the best place to be to help kids like her. To stop people like Jacobs. So he gives her a job. She's determined to change things from the inside. Barnes thinks that if someone could, it's her. And Lockwood... well, it takes a while for him to figure it out. But one evening Lucy comes home talking about a kid left deeply traumatized by a job gone wrong, and suddenly he knows. The next day he calls the bank to open up a pro bono clinic for agents and ex agents in need of psychological treatment. After less than a week they already have their first client. 

Slowly but steadily, it becomes their new normal. 

Lockwood sets up a study in the room on the stairs and works mainly from there. George, on the other hand, works at a lab in the City: he is the first to leave in the morning, but he always comes home soon enough to cook dinner. Lucy keeps slightly more irregular hours, and sometimes her job keeps her away for longer than she'd like. But then again she occasionally gets to come home to the adorable view of the boys fast asleep in front of the tv, so that's good.

One day Flo brings them a stray cat she found while working: they name him Donut and spoil him way too much.

Lucy starts gardening. George grows a magnificent beard (Lockwood is not jealous of it). The fridge breaks down and they have to buy a new one. Airf's son replaces him at the shop. They put up a hammock in the backyard, and spend their vacations piled into it. Mrs Burke from across the street knits them all hats for Christmas. Lockwood adds new framed articles on the walls and new knick-knacks on the bookshelves. 

He's not sure when, but one day 35 Portland Row stops being the home his parents left behind and becomes his home. Their home: his, and Lucy's, and George's (and Donut's. And Kipps' when he comes over for lunch on Sundays. And Flo's when she swings by using her own keys. And Barnes' when he stays for tea after long work days).

So they keep going as they have, day after day, year after year, slowly growing older. Wounds heal and scars fade. The sun shines through the kitchen windows on summer mornings. The smell of persian food fills the air every evening. Old rapiers get dusty in the umbrella stand. There aren't any ghosts between their walls, both real and metaphorical.

Everything is alright.