#Me calling my mom every night to make fun of my “suitors���

[idontmindifuforgetme]

You guys don’t know how much yearning for Baghdad takes up of my mental real estate

[landorris4]

── ☆ fake it all

☆ Carolina is great at lying, it wouldn't be difficult to convince her family that she had finally started dating someone.

warnings: fake dating, minimal swearing words count: 4.8k

Carolina's POV

When you grow up in a playful family, you learn that ignoring is the best way to end teasing: the less attention you pay to a new nickname, for example, the faster it will be forgotten. It wasn't hard for me to ignore my uncles and my father's teasing me that I would never date because they would never let me, but it was hard to ignore my aunts pushing suitors at me all the time. That Christmas I was determined. I was going to change that once and for all. At least for one Christmas I would have peace.

I started putting my plan into action around the last week of September. I told my parents I was going out with my best friend, Alice, and then I didn't come home until the next day (which I never do, I always take Alice home after parties and we sleep in). My mom looked at me and winked at me in the morning, while my dad made sure I had breakfast with them before going upstairs to sleep in. They didn't get anything more than a "it was a great night" out of me. It had been a great night, anyway. I slept over at Alice's house and woke up with a start to her twin brother calling my name.

Alice and Lando Norris tend to fight a lot, over anything, but they love each other more than anything. The Norris family has 5 children, and all of them have welcomed me since the first time I stepped foot in their large home. Alice and I met in elementary school, and since then Lando has shared his sister's attention with me. He's not my biggest fan, but he gives me rides when I need them, and he always invites me to his races too. He's brought me home a few times while his sister was still asleep, which wasn't planned, but it was great for my lie-in.

During the month of October I went out every weekend, I was always hanging out with Alice or going to her house, but I pretended I was going out on dates. One time it was Oliver, Alice's older brother, who picked me up and that day I didn't go home, I slept at her house. Of course, for my parents, who only knew Alice and her two younger sisters, it was as if I had spent the night with a guy, on a date.

Lando noticed every time I showed up overdressed for a movie night with Alice and started to tease me about it, until I accidentally told him. We ended up becoming friends during this time, and one time when Alice was taking a nap in the afternoon, he and I watched a movie. With a little nagging here and there, I ended up blurting out that I needed to look like I was going on a date. He laughed in confusion and then I had to explain my foolproof plan. Lando then said:

── I already have some fun for the winter break.

I wanted to beat him.

(...)

── You're not going out today, young lady.

Fucked up. Everything fucked up. I slowly turned around and there he was, my father, watching me sternly. I was about to leave once again, today was Saturday and I was running away from the family barbecue that was going to happen here at home because of my mother's birthday.

── But dad, I can't cancel...

── Of course you can, it's your mother's birthday! ─ He looked outside through the door behind me ─ Look, he came to pick you up! Okay, no need to cancel anything, tell him to come in and join us, it was about time you met him.

── WHAT?! NO! I mean... it's not time yet, dad...

── It's about time, Carolina. Call him in.

I sighed and nodded, I would make him leave as soon as my father turned his back. Even though I knew my father would stand at the door until someone called him, it was as if he was daring me to bring Lando home. He wasn't going to be able to, though.

I walked over to the car but instead of opening the door, I knocked on the window. Lando looked at me confused and unlocked the doors again, thinking he had locked me out, but he saw that I wasn't even trying to open the door, so he rolled down the window.

── Thank you for coming to pick me up, but here's the thing: my dad wants my "boyfriend" to come in, today is my mom's birthday and all my inconvenient aunts will be here, so I tried to leave without being noticed, but my dad caught me. You're going to look scared, shake your head and drive off screeching as soon as I get out of the car, okay? ─ I barely finished speaking and turned around, going to the sidewalk and giving my dad a sad look, "it's a shame he's not going to stay" my eyes said.

However, I didn't hear Lando's tires screeching. In fact, I heard the car drive very slowly to the nearest space and park calmly. I looked in panic at the boy who was enjoying my desperation. He smiled at me and walked towards me, and when he got close he made sure to leave a kiss on my forehead and hold my hand, an amused smile on his lips as he whispered "this is the best winter break of my life". My father was surprised to see Lando Norris, Formula One driver, my best friend's twin brother, calling himself my "boyfriend". I couldn't blame him, I was surprised too. And angry.

── It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vince, I'm Lando Norris. ─ The dark-haired man extends his hand in greeting, my father smiles in his direction and accepts.

── You can call me Marco. So you're the one who's been kidnapping my daughter every weekend?

── Almost every weekend, Sir. When I'm not there, she watches the races with Alice.

I was shocked at how easily Lando Norris talked to my father. The man who swore he would scare the first boyfriend I brought home with a gun and a pitbull was now laughing about property brothers with Lando in my living room. Unbelievable. My father invited Lando to sit next to me at the table, instead of the place reserved for last-minute guests (far away from him, because he hated unplanned things).

My aunts? They were all delighted. They laughed at all his jokes and sighed every time he whispered something in my ear (every time he repeated that he was having a great time and that Alice would love the story). My uncles? The scoundrel won them over as soon as they found out he had a McLaren Senna. He even promised to come to the next event with the car to show them.

Next event, ha! As if I'd let him near my home and family ever again in the future.

── Honey, he's great! Better than all the boys I tried to introduce you to, congratulations. ─ Aunt Mery said

── Someone had to shut her up, ─ Aunt Rosa replied. My aunts laughed, while Mery made a face. She was definitely the most inconvenient aunt and her sisters made sure to make that clear to her.

Seeing my aunts praising Lando as if he were my boyfriend bothered me, and the scene where my uncle Peter was laughing with Lando at a joke my uncle Jeff made made me go crazy. I excused myself from my cousins who were now asking me how I knew him, and I left my mother explaining that he was my best friend's brother and ran upstairs to my room. I needed my little corner by the window just to watch the sky that was now darkening and the trees outside. Not all of my relatives had arrived yet and I was already figuring out how I would make an excuse for Lando to leave early.

Lando's POV

── Then I said "man, you have no idea!" ─ Jeff finishes his joke and everyone laughs, I'm sure it was out of politeness.

Carol's family was funny, they were very happy that the girl was "finally" dating and I felt very welcomed by everyone, I was having fun helping her with the charade. I looked for her in the backyard and didn't find her, I frowned at that. She was with her aunts and cousins until a few minutes ago, I'm sure.

── Excuse me, where is the bathroom? ─ I asked one of his cousins who was sitting on the couch. The boy didn't even look at me, he just pointed in a direction and I thanked him.

I didn't want to go to the bathroom, I wanted to find Carolina. I went upstairs trying not to make any noise and looked for her in the two rooms that were open, but there was no sign of her, until I heard something falling on one of the closed doors, followed by a curse in a language I didn't know. Portuguese, probably, since Carolina's family came from Brazil. I laughed to myself, realizing that this is a habit of hers that she doesn't even realize, switching languages to complain.

I walked up to the door and noticed a star sticker on it, I smiled knocking on the door and waiting for a response from the girl. I didn't get one, however, and just as I was about to knock again, the girl opens the door and looks at me confused.

── Are you tired of charming my family? ─ she asks, sarcastically, leaving the door open and returning to her place at the window, which she abandoned to attend to me.

── Not yet, but I'm tired of seeing you running away from me all night. It was supposed to be fun... ─ I replied, closing the door and walking over to her, sitting on the floor and hugging my knees, leaning sideways against the window wall.

── How did you find me? ─ she cuts the subject short.

── I put a tracker on you while you were sleeping during Mamma Mia 2 last week ─ I joked, and she looked at me mockingly. ─ I noticed you were missing and I made the excuse that I needed to go to the bathroom, then you dropped something and swore, then I heard and thought "that's my girl" and now we're here.

The girl lets out a sarcastic laugh and finally looks away from the trees outside.

── You're so convinced of this little lie that you're even calling me "my girl"...

── I didn't say that-

── Shut up, Norris. You fucked up big time today by barging in uninvited.

── Did I really do it? ─ I asked, standing up and tilting my head. ─ Or did I save you from hearing the question about boyfriends for another year?

── Big deal, now I'll have to hear questions about why you don't show up anymore and then I'll have to answer "oh, he wasn't my boyfriend" and then everything will go back to normal. You messed everything up, I had everything planned!

I thought about what she said. Well, I definitely didn't think much about it when I offered to be her fake boyfriend. I didn't offer, I basically imposed that I be her boyfriend, because I didn't give her a choice whether or not to go through with this plan. But I didn't do it with bad intentions, I just wanted to help her, and I thought it would be funny to pretend to these people that we loved each other deeply.

── I would keep going out, then a few days before Christmas my father would tell me to call my boyfriend, and then I would show up crying the next day saying that the boy ended things, that would give me at least two years without inconvenient questions. Then when it stopped working out, I would already have someone to start a real relationship with and then no jokes for the rest of my life. ─ the girl continues explaining her crazy plan.

── Or you can stop thinking about what it would be and have fun with me for one night. I didn't mean any harm, because you didn't tell me your plan before, but now I can help you have a good night and I promise to be the best fake boyfriend you've ever had. ─ I try to get around the situation.

(...)

I can't believe it worked. My half-assed speech really convinced her that it would be funny to lie to her annoying relatives. She made sure to introduce me to every new relative that arrived. Great-aunts, uncles, grandparents, distant cousins, and even her mother's friends. It got more fun for her with every pinch on the cheek I got, so I finally understood why she thought it was so cool to welcome guests. Okay, I deserved this torture anyway.

Now, all of her closest cousins were in the living room. Anthony, Julia, Henry, and Bruna were competing on their video game in a game of rip currents, and I'm pretty sure I heard Henry's ankle twist after one of his jumps. Carolina and I were sitting on the couch, laughing along with Liam and Marta, her other cousins. The girl had her back against my chest and my arm rested around her waist as we watched her cousins having fun, and it was such a natural position that we didn't even realize we were sitting that way.

── Have you been dating for a long time? ─ Marta asks, watching us as Liam switched places with Anthony and the new foursome chose the new map.

── 3 months!

── 3 weeks!

We answer at the same time and look at each other. Carol bites her lip before reformulating a coherent answer.

── We've been going out for about 3 months, but we've only been dating for 3 weeks. Lando is a little slow ─ she mocks.

── Hey! You're the one who asked us to take it slow, and look where we are! Not even a month into our relationship and I'm already part of the Vince family.

── At least the proposal was nice? ─ Anthony got into the subject.

── It was quite simple, actually. Carolina hates extravagant and public things, so I asked her in the ear at the London Eye ─ the girl looks at me a little surprised by the answer and smiles.

── And it was incredible, it couldn't have been more our way than that...

She watches me for a while before leaving a kiss on my cheek and snuggling into my chest again to watch the new round of the cousins in the game. I liked being like this with her, so close, even if only for pretend. I can't deny that I've felt an attraction for her since I was a teenager, but over the years I ended up forgetting how she made me feel.

In the past, every time she came to my house with my sister, I felt jealous. She is the only person who can steal all the attention for herself, and at first I was jealous. Then I grew up and watched her from afar, seeing how she acted and what was so interesting about her. My sister couldn't have been more right when she sometimes swapped me for her; she was the most interesting girl I had ever had the chance to meet. She cares about the smallest details, she is funny, she loves to talk about the things she loves, she has great taste in music, she likes to study different subjects, she is incredible.

Getting closer to Carolina these past few months has been the best thing I could have done in the weeks I was home. In addition to having her company at movies in the afternoon, I also gained a video game companion and a great listener, and now, I have gained a partner in crime.

── We're going, mom! ─ I hear Martha shout, getting up from the couch and grabbing her brother Liam's hand to say goodbye.

Time had passed so quickly that we didn't even notice. It was time to go and I didn't want to leave. After all the guests had said goodbye, Carol turned to me and just as she was about to open her mouth and say something, I turned around and offered to help clean up. Of course, Celina, Carol's mother, didn't want to accept my help at first, because according to her, "I don't want to bother my son-in-law", but I didn't take no for an answer and went to help clear the things that were left on the table.

At first it seemed like there wasn't much to clean, but after filling the dishwasher and still having a lot of plates and cutlery left over, we realized that it was more than expected. While her parents swept and cleaned the outside area, Lina and I were washing the dishes that were left over. I wash them, she dries them and puts them away. We continue like this in comfortable silence until suddenly I hear a low laugh coming from her.

── What was it? ─ I asked.

── It was a great night after all, thank you ─ she finally says. I smile at the confession.

── I always have good ideas! ─ I boast, handing her the last plate and turning to face her.

── Not always. It wasn't your best idea to paint Alice's face while she slept a few years ago ─ she pointed out laughing, putting away the last plate.

── I had no way of knowing she was allergic to that brand! ─ I exclaimed.

── Alright Mr. Cebolinha¹, owner of infallible plans.

I was confused by the nickname and she laughed before explaining that it was a character from a Brazilian comic book. She also promised to show me the cartoon version of that comic book and soon after we heard a loud noise on the balcony outside.

── Stay there! ─ we heard Celina exclaim when we arrived at the door. We stopped in the doorway to understand what had happened.

A bottle was broken outside and Marco was washing his bloody hand in the sink, while Celina tried to clean up the mess before anyone got hurt. Carolina and I looked around and when we realized that the floor was already clean, we went to help.

── Dad, I think you're going to need stitches, it won't stop bleeding! ─ Carol exclaims, seeing that the towel that was stopping the bleeding wouldn't stop turning red.

── I can take you to the hospital, if you want ─ I offer.

── No need, Lando. Let's do it like this, Marco and I will go to the hospital and you stay here with Carol until we get back, okay? ─ Celina proposes. Carol and I agree on the condition that we stay informed and I help Marco to the car while Carol gets their documents.

── Don't be funny to my daughter, Norris - Marco says seriously. I look at him confused. ─ I'm joking. Don't do anything I would do. You're a good boy, Carolina hit the nail on the head with you. But you've never heard me say that.

── Of course, if you ask me, we never had this conversation! ─ I join in.

While Carol's parents went to the hospital, the girl and I cleaned the yard and as we were throwing the last bag of trash away, Carol received a message from her mother.

── My father got 3 stitches in his hand and they're already coming back. She told you to sleep here because it's late, which I don't think... Never mind, it is, my Lord, it's already two in the morning! ─ She's surprised by the time and I'm surprised too. I didn't see the time pass.

── I've already returned home later than that after a long flight, I don't want to disturb you.

── It will bother me if you leave at this time. I'll get you some clothes and we'll find a place for you to sleep, come on! ─ She pulls me by the hand and I enjoy the warm sensation of her skin on mine as much as I can.

The girl enters her room and opens one of the last drawers of her wardrobe, she looks for something comfortable in the middle of the mess of women's and men's clothes there and hands me a pair of sweat shorts and a t-shirt.

── Here, these are my cousins' clothes. They leave them here in case they sleep, Anthony is bigger than you, but the clothes should fit - she takes a towel and hands it to me - You can take a shower in the bathroom at the end of the hall, I'll take a shower here-

I interrupt her, pulling her by the waist with a mischievous smile.

── Or you can go take a shower with me, to save water, you know? ─ I tease.

── Haha, you dream! Go on, Norris ─ she pushes my chest and frees herself from my embrace.

(...)

Carolina's POV

I had to admit: Lando was good at lying, but he was even better at flirting. Until he pulled me by the waist, I hadn't noticed his discreet flirting. Then, everything made sense. The whispers, the hugs, the kisses on the cheek throughout the day. It wasn't about our lie anymore, it was a hint of desire too, and he took advantage of the fact that he had the permission to touch me publicly. Jerk.

His nagging was his way of getting my attention, like a little boy in elementary school who's in love for the first time and keeps pulling the braids of the girl he likes. Ridiculous. Very immature of him.

But attractive. So attractive.

I can't explain why, but I'm easily attracted to funny and annoying people, more than to proper and cultured people. I like it when people make me laugh and forget about time. Unfortunately, I like it when people make me complain about something, because it means they're paying attention. I don't like being the center of attention, but I like people paying attention to me.

Lando did all of this and more: he won over my entire family on his first visit.

Now, as we sat at the window, watching the trees that lined the Vince property, I realized how much I wanted this. To have him around, to laugh about silly things as he distracted me from the fact that my father was coming home from the hospital, to smell his scent that even after his shower was still there somehow.

── Take a photo that lasts longer ─ he teases.

Giving an answer would be obvious, ignoring it would be predictable, so I did exactly what he said, I pulled out my cell phone and pointed it at him, taking a photo, which came out blurry because he moved at the time.

── You crazy woman, I was joking!

── It was really beautiful, too bad it got blurred.

── Do you think I'm handsome then, hm?

── I'm not blind.

── You're not bad yourself.

── I'm too much sand for your little truck!

── Really? ─ He comes closer, standing inches from my face.

── Bet.

Once again, I do something that surprises us both. I move towards him and press our lips together in a brief kiss. The shocked boy takes a while to respond, but when he does, he comes closer and rests one hand on my waist and the other on my cheek. What was supposed to be brief, now turns into a long kiss, which lasts until the air is gone from my lungs. With our foreheads still touching, I hear a noise at my door and automatically pull away from Lando.

My mother had already seen it, and now she was trying to sneak away, but she couldn't. I feel my cheeks flush immediately and then Lando stands up and rests his hand on the small of my back.

── Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb...

── You didn't bother! How is Dad? Is he better? Did he lose a lot of blood? What-

── He's fine, dear. I just came to check if you were asleep. Your father is already in the shower and will be sleeping soon, I'll follow in his footsteps. You should sleep, it's late!

── We were already leaving, Mrs. Vince, we were waiting for you to arrive with news ─ Lando says, his cheeks slightly pink from the sight.

── Well, good night, kids! See you tomorrow! And Lando, I already told you to call me Celina.

── Good evening! ─ we replied in unison.

── And sorry, Celina.

My mother closes the door, smiling at us both, and I finally let out a breath when I realize we're alone again. I run to the bedroom door and lock it, turning around ready to give a speech about how we can't do this again.

── Where were we? ─ Lando interrupted me, however. He pulled me by the waist and buried his face in my neck, giving me light kisses and feeling my scent.

── You crazy man, how embarrassing! It's the first time my mother has witnessed something like this.

── I hope she wasn't traumatized ─ he jokes and pulls me in for a kiss.

Kissing Lando was so right that it made me feel like the ground had disappeared and now I was flying around, aimlessly, just enjoying the scenery. Our lips were made for this, our bodies were made for this fit, his hands were made to be on my waist. Wait. Waist?

── Lando, not yet, okay? ─ I took his hands out from under my shirt, they caressed the bare skin of my waist and back, it was a good affection, but dangerous.

── I'm not going to do anything, beautiful. Not today, not until you want me to. I just want to kiss you a little more before we go to sleep and you wake up regretting it.

── I won't wake up regretting this, Lando! ─ I protested.

── You never know! ─ he laughs and pulls me into another of the many kisses we had that night.

At four in the morning, we finally went to bed and slept. I didn't wake up feeling sorry, but I was too embarrassed to face my parents.

── Did you sleep well, dear? ─ My father asks. He was too calm about the fact that Lando had slept with me for someone who said I would only date at 45.

── Very good, father. And how are your stitches? ─ I ask, pouring myself a glass of orange juice and offering it to Lando who quickly accepts it too.

── In place, for now. I didn't even want to go to the hospital, your mother was the one who forced me.

── Next time I'll leave you bleeding! ─ she exclaims, indignant.

── I hope there won't be a next time so soon ─ Lando is the one who comments, making my parents laugh.

My Lord, he really charmed them both.

Breakfast was oddly comfortable. Lando sat next to me and every now and then he would rest his hand on my thigh, but not for long as he soon began gesturing while talking to my parents, an adorable habit, I must say.

Damn. He was charming me too!

── Sorry, I have to go. I have to go to Woking tomorrow and I completely forgot to pack my bags, Alice is desperate to know where I am ─ Lando comments when my mother calls him to stay for lunch.

── I'll walk you to the door.

At the door of his car, Lando turns to me and leaves a loving kiss on my lips. I don't know what we have, or where we're going with this, but I want to keep going.

── Take them to the Silverstone GP next week, I'll love having my in-laws there ─ he jokes, with a hint of truth.

── Take it easy, Norris. You kissed me yesterday and you're already calling my parents your in-laws?

── I've been waiting a long time for this ─ he confesses.

In fact, I later discovered that he had been waiting for a long time for the opportunity to approach me. Alice didn't know, of course, she would have told me right away because she can't keep a secret, but her pilot friends knew and celebrated when they saw him walking with me through the paddock. He laughed embarrassedly, and I laughed at his desperation as he tried to hide his rosy cheeks.

He actually proposed to me by whispering in my ear on the London Eye, and it was perfect. He still blushes when my aunts fawn over him at family events, and he kept his promise to bring the McLaren Senna to the next family reunion, even taking my uncle Peter for a ride in the passenger seat, because according to him "there are only 500 in the world, so only 500 people can drive one of those machines." My uncle didn't even protest, he would have done the same.

In the end, it all worked out. The questions really did disappear. Before, they were "What about the boyfriends?" Now they were asking me, "Why didn't Lando come?" I'd never get rid of the questions, I realized, but I was okay with it for now.

¹Cebolinha is a character in a popular Brazilian comic books and strips, created in 1960 by Mauricio de Sousa. Always looking for a way to catch his friend's favourite toy.

[myherowritings]

welcome to the family

SUMMARY. After mistaking the guy on your lockscreen as your boyfriend, your grandmother knits him a sweater to welcome him into the family. Childe sees your tweet about it the next morning.

PAIRING. celeb!childe x reader

WORD COUNT. 1.0k

GENRE. celeb au, loosely based off a tweet

A/N. small drabble because i kind of got excited at the thought of celeb au childe o.o also like...have u listened to his english va sing those cheesy songs? i absolutely love it HFJKGHG pls enjoy xx sof

You weren’t a fan of the celebrity with the title Tartaglia, alias Childe, real name unknown to the public.

Definitely not a fan.

The only reason you knew even that much about him was simply due to social media blowing him up as the infamous white boy of the month. And from there his fame only grew. (Though you had to admit, he was at least more interesting than the previous other candidates.)

You weren’t a fan, but you couldn’t deny he deserved the recognition he received. His acting was pretty captivating, his singing voice pleasing to the ear, and his body... Well, his body...

“Earth to Y/N,” your mom called, drawing you out of your rapidly spiraling thoughts. You were visiting your family home for the weekend and you were currently in the living room with your mother and grandmother, watching bad reality TV and snacking on junk food. “You’ve been spaced out today. Too busy thinking about your boyfriend?”

Your eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”

Like most grandparents, your grandma seemed to have a special radar to let her know when her grandchildren had a potential suitor at hand. Just the mere mention of the word made her perk up. “Boyfriend?”

“Yeah! I don’t know why they were keeping it a secret from us, but I saw the picture on their lockscreen,” she whispered to your grandma conspiratorially, loud enough for you to hear. “He’s a cute guy with ginger hair.”

The picture on your lockscreen off a cute guy with ginger hair… You were only half-embarrassed to recall that it was a picture taken from Childe’s outdoor picnic photoshoot where the poses they made him do attempted to paint the image that he was there on a date with you. His clothes were casual and his smile was familiar.

You absolutely hated that marketing strategy but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t willingly fall for it each time.

But again, you weren’t a fan…

Oh, who were you fooling? You were halfway from breaking and making a Childe fan account if your dignity didn’t get the best of you.

“Childe? He’s—”

“Your boyfriend! My grandchild finally found love in this world?” asked your grandmother, teary-eyed as she completely ignored her favorite trashy reality show on the television to get a better look at you. “I’m so happy for you! This is so exciting.”

“Grandma, wait—”

“You have to bring him home and let us meet him,” she rushed on animatedly, giving you no time to squeeze a full sentence in. “No, before you do that, let me make him something for you to give to him! What size is his shirt? Is that a picture of him? Oh he looks nice and strong! I’ll knit him a turtleneck. You give it to him the next time you see him, okay?”

Your grandma ran to get her knitting needles and yarn, leaving a whirlwind in her wake as you stared open-mouthed at the spot she once occupied.

That was how you ended up going home the next day with a brand new turtleneck sweater your grandmother made for your non-existent boyfriend.

The situation was so bizarre, you decided there was only one thing you could do: Pull your phone out as you sat on your bed to tell Twitter about the events of your weekend.

— ✩ —

It wasn’t everyday Childe woke up to check what the top tweets of his tag were on Twitter.

Okay, that’s a lie.

It was everyday.

He had an image to keep, after all. And it interested him to know what others had to say about him, despite how bad that might actually be for his state of mind.

Childe didn’t like deceit, but showing some parts of himself to only some people and other parts to others wasn’t lying. It was self-preservation. Everyone had a persona of sorts, and he preferred for his to be intact. What was the point of showing everyone every side of him?

He knew who Childe and Tartaglia were. He knew who Ajax was. As long as he knew, he’d be alright.

Was it a lonely path? Maybe. But it paid well and made his family proud. What more could he ask for?

Acting may not be as cool as being, say, a toymaker as his younger brother would proclaim, but at least he got to travel the world and explore places he never could’ve before. And the cute fans of his were also a definite bonus.

Childe continued scrolling through his phone when he stumbled upon a tweet that seemed to be gaining numbers quickly. It was posted only a few hours ago last night (his time, at least) by what looked like a personal account.

@y/n: Y'ALL WTF my mom saw my lockscreen (which is a pic of childe) and told my grandma that he was my bf and then my gma got so excited she knit him a WHOLE SWEATER and told me to give it to him. how could i break her heart and tell her he’s just a celebrity i like omg

@y/n: here’s a picture of the sweater she knit. isn’t it adorable? i almost feel too bad to just wear it myself though hjfkhg [Attachment: 1 Image]

A surprised chuckle escaped his lips as he looked at the picture of you holding the cream-colored turtleneck up, the large sleeves covering most of your body in the photo. You were right. The sweater did look adorable. As did a certain little fan of his who was also featured in the image.

Without giving it a second thought, he began to type his reply.

@TartagliaOfficial: Why wear it yourself? Didn’t your grandma say it’s meant for me? :( It’d be a shame to disappoint her.

In only a matter of minutes, he refreshed the page and found your name in his notifications. For some reason, he felt a rush of adrenaline flow through his veins as he waited for your tweet to load.

@y/n: am i being punk’d or r u asking me out???

Childe laughed to himself, exiting the tweet thread so he could click on the private message icon on your profile.

This would be fun.

[nyaacatboy]

so i'm currently in my bridgerton brainrot era specifically when it comes to s2 and lately i have been Thinking of a kanthony slightly-to-the-left-of-show-canon (i haven't read the books nobody sue me) au in which anthony, instead of being like "this is the year i find a bride :|" is going "this is the year that i Perfectly Head-Of-Household my sister's courtship & marriage" bc he fucked up so thoroughly with daphne that now he's thinking. time for take 2 with eloise. i'll get a wife when none of my sisters are debuting that year. kate is doing the same thing as canon but well. the tension is a bit different.

this of course means that anthony is Heavily Supervising eloise (violet in the background going "dear, i think you're suffocating her") while continually affirming that he is NOT on the market at the moment thankyouverymuch. his expectations of helping eloise range from worst case "she hates me forever & becomes a spinster" to best case "she marries really well and it's a credit to the bridgerton name" with a begrudging middle ground of "me and mom will wear her down enough to get married next season." so obviously, eloise is not going to get away with writing the names of authors on her dance card. oh no. oh no no no. anthony is introducing her to every single guy with the hopes that eloise is picky enough to pick a good one, he just has to get her in the range of the husbands she's picking. there is still the kanthony morning ride meet cute of course i'm not messing with perfection.

so, at the first ball, anthony has FINALLY gotten eloise corralled into filling up her dance card and she is dancing with some eligible young lord that anthony personally despises for Petty reasons but he's Not Making Daphne's-Courtship Errors Again So She Will Dance With People And Maybe Have Fun. he's watching her like a hawk from the edge of the dance floor because if there's one thing eloise is good at it's sneaking off. when, to his left, he hears a familiar voice say "It appears your matchmaking skills are as deficient as your horsemanship."

it's kate, who is also watching edwina dance and sizing up who she's dancing with. anthony, of course, has some clever retort about how less-suitable partners make the suitable ones look better by comparison. and they're off, trading gossip about everyone in the ton loud enough for everyone to hear in a series of complicated and increasingly stupid arguments about who would be better with who because of what pedigree and accounts and ugh. pen is sitting at the wall behind them hastily taking mental notes for lady whistledown.

this continues, of course, after that first ball. i imagine that anthony drops his whole "marriages don't need love" thing then, but him and kate are on good enough terms for it to be a friendly argument rather than a Horrific Dealbreaker. besides, she's not evaluating him as a husband, just as someone to talk with while she supervises her sister's courtship. they are exactly as stupid as in canon, but with a fun twist of actually going through courtship rituals with one another without realizing it. and doing so publicly, might i add. however, they're insistent on the fact that they are simply friends, nothing more throughout all of this. the reactions of the people around them start as "you're friends? i thought you hated each other" and evolve into "are you sure you guys are just friends." there are a ton of fun scenarios i imagine, esp with violet and anthony.

violet: where are you off to at this hour? it's so early.

anthony: i am going to call on the sharmas before eloise's suitors arrive. miss sharma has informed me that indian tea is inherently better than british and i should like to see if her claim is true.

violet: is that not the girl you were arguing with at last night's dance? i thought you would be sick of bickering with her by now.

anthony: well, i hope that this visit will put our argument to rest. good day, mother.

it is several weeks later that violet fully puts together the pieces that her son, who is apparently "off the market," talked with a girl all of the night and called on her the next morning.

meanwhile edwina is actually wise to what the hell is going on here bc she's not blinded by a crush on anthony (being the season's diamond just means you have a braincell ok) and so is teasing the living hell out of her sister for having the viscount as a suitor. i picture the sharmas being asked to dinner for similar, bullshit reasons. "oh you must see how eloquently gregory speaks latin if you are to judge my means of running a household miss sharma" "alas i would be remiss to dine at a house with a cook less gifted than the danbury's, i think i will be fine staying at home lord bridgerton" "well tell me your favorite dish miss sharma and i shall have our cook prepare it. if it is not to your liking you may assist me in hiring a new one." etc. etc. etc. yaknow. foreplay.

at some point in this endeavor, they are insulting each other as usual and kate says something insulting about his brothers. which, well, anthony is well aware that they're annoying little buggers, but he's the only one who gets to call them that. so he talks them up like nobody's business, and, just to drive the point home, suggests that they would each be suitable for edwina. after all, the family already has one diamond, why not two? kate says she'll give them a chance with her sister provided that they are not too much like their brother. i think it would be extremely hilarious if anthony tried to pressure his brothers into dancing with edwina, especially because i think colin would just run for the hills after what happened with marina while benedict would be like "you fucking hypocrite. i will do it for three bottles of brandy." (anthony, desperate to wipe the smirk off kate's face: "deal.")

so now as far as they are concerned, there is perfect plausible deniability for them to be spending so much goddamn time together (like half the town hasn't caught on already lmao). this of course means edwina is extremely sick of her sister's shit. also, by this point (pre-aubrey house stuff), eloise has figured out how to game the stupid dances through a combination of dancing with her brothers & the few noble men she can tolerate , foisting anyone she doesn't want to dance with onto penelope, and pretending to enjoy small talk while stuffing herself with food & drinks so that it looks like she's socializing. anthony (a complete fucking dumbass) is convinced that he's made a respectable lady out of eloise and lets his guard down a little bit.

lady danbury has been talking with edwina and knows exactly what is going on. she gets violet to announce that anthony is looking for a wife like in canon (although it is later in the season). he is immediately mobbed with debutantes & spends part of a ball miserably dancing. once he manages to free himself he runs over to kate, pulls her aside, explains the situation, and asks her to dance with him because she's the only interesting lady to dance with here. so, they dance and violet and lady danbury watch.

violet: i don't know why you thought announcing that would make anthony more willing to court, he's back with that sharma girl again.

lady danbury: yes, that means it's working.

violet: what do you mean it's-

*insert kate and anthony dancing in the most get-a-fucking-room, how-do-you-make-a-dance-this-formal-horny way*

violet: oh. OH. i see, lady danbury. we must see how this progresses.

yeah so they just dance with no one but each other for the rest of the dances. it's extremely fucking annoying to everyone because anthony's not giving anyone a chance and him and kate are using it somewhat as an excuse to spy on their little sisters more. eloise and edwina know what's up and keep exchanging looks across the dance floor as kate and anthony helicopter-older-sibling them. i imagine then that getting the sharmas to aubrey hall is a sort of mutual scheming thing. eloise lies that benedict and edwina are getting on well (they dance with one another once a ball to keep kanthony off their asses but edwina is really not interested in art movements and benedict is not interested in marriage) and so it would make sense for them to be invited to aubrey hall. anthony agrees & sends out the things. cue aubrey hall shenanigans. anthony and kate keep going off alone together, and they are way too stubborn to realise that at this point most people think they're engaged.

anthony: i am going to show lady sharma around the grounds some so that she can better understand her poor pall-mall strategy.

violet: oh, not without a chaperone i hope.

anthony: mothER, i am twenty-nine years of age, you can trUst that i have no intention of interfering with miss sharma's HONOR

*the entire table shares a look*

lady danbury: very well, but when people are here for the country ball you should ensure that they do not get the wrong idea.

bee sting, midnight library meeting, etc. they are horny motherfuckers indeed. violet asks anthony if he wants his father's engagement ring to give to kate, he unconvincingly tells her that she annoys him and he has no intention of marrying her. violet just gives him a Look. anthony says he will take it in case one of his brothers decides to declare their intentions. violet lets him knowing full well that her son is an idiot.

at the ball, kate dances with *gasp* someone else, leaving anthony to pine from across the dance floor as he dances with some debutante. he pulls her aside afterwards, asking if the dance was to her liking (in an extremely Jealous manner, of course). they bicker their way into the library, where they have a lovely damning sexually tense almost-kiss. daphne walks in on them as before, but anthony "i hate having emotional conversations" bridgerton simply decides that he is going to dance the night away with kate about it. he avoids her like the plague.

daphne: ah, brother, there you are! i wish to talk to you about a private matter, would you join me in the-

anthony: ms sharma i believe they are playing a quadrille next, is that not one of your favorite dances?

kate, not entirely sure what is going on here: it is indeed, i can't believe you remembered such a detail about my personal tastes, especially when it pertains to dancing. i thought you danced with me out of necessity, not desire.

*you can imagine the flirting and sexual tension that goes here*

basically, by the end of this trip they have both realized their feelings and are trying very hard to tamp them down. of course, penelope can't resist a good scandal, so the next edition of lady whistledown is heavily about them literally dancing the whole night together. finding eloise a husband has completely slipped from anthony's mind, so she is no longer foisting suitors onto pen but just plain running away from them as usual. pen has her Observation Time back and oh god. she writes them for filth. eloise hands anthony the lady whistledown with a shit-eating grin on her face and watches as her older brother is thrown into a rage about how he does not love her. were popcorn a thing in this era all of the bridgertons would be eating it as they watch anthony frantically deny any affections for kate while getting more and more unhinged.

cue a bridgerton-danbury Damage Control Dinner, where after all the awkward "how do we salvage this" conversation is done kanthony manage to sneak away to make out because. yaknow. it's Them. i think the boating scene and the falling-into-the-water bit should happen as in canon because. well. they don't exactly have wet t-shirt contests in the regency era. edwina's the one who tells kate not to stare though. then of course, several more sexually tense balls in which kanthony are now Determinedly staying apart from each other and eyefucking from across the dance floor. this does not deter lady whistledown although she cools it a bit. they still haven't properly talked about their feelings, but at the first ball of "let's remain separate" they certainly have a Talk. a heated talk.

at one of the soiree's, the queen is watching for whistledown & eloise sneaks off, getting caught with theo and of course. the queen threatens, eloise tells pen, and anthony decides he has the brilliant idea to distract people from him and kate that is holding a ball. no one shows like canon because eloise betrayal. so. um. yeah. Terrace Scene Time. basically proceeds like canon from here on out with the exception of we see the kanthony wedding because i want to see the kanthony wedding. that is all good night.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Zuko x female reader series: Part Three

Now aware of your feelings for Zuko the tension between you grows until Zuko is whisked away from you following a trick of Azula’s. However your time in the fire nation without Zuko is made eventful by a command from Ozai concerning you and Zuko. The tension peaks when Zuko returns to you and changes your friendship permanently.

Part One here

Part Two here

Part Four here

Part Five here

Part Six here

Tagged: @creation-magician​ @kaylove12​ @taeeemin​ 

Your POV

"Well what about the war general’s son?" You mother asked holding up a photo of a boy barely a man. You made a face and she sighed "y/n you can’t dismiss every suitor without even giving them a try” and you sighed. "I can try". "What was that?" your mother asked raising an eyebrow. "Nothing" you called back but she'd heard. When your father died you’d become the head of the family, the future hope for your fathers legacy. With no male heirs or uncles the burden had fallen to you to lead your mother and little sister. You’d have been more than happy to pick up your father duties in the royal navy, or even just working for the royal fleet but you were high born and a girl, that was not your place according to the fire nation. The best way to serve your family was for you to marry as soon as possible. When you married your husband would get your father’s titles and could pick up responsabilities at the navy again. The thought made you furious, you’d be undoubtedly more experienced than your husband for the role but your place would be in the home. There was nothing you could do to change the laws but that didn’t mean you had to abide by them. Your plan was to delay marriage indefinitely and so had rejected every single suitor suggested. Your mother was getting angry at you but you didn’t care. Ozai had offered you many things to pay for the loss of your father, the great General Zhao, but you only asked for one thing. The option to choose when and who you’d marry. Ozai begrudgingly complied and his word was law, your mother couldn’t force anything on you. You smirked as she packed her photos of potential suitors away, her weekly visit a failure like always, when she paused "what about Zuko?". You froze "what about him?". "Well would you accept him as a suitor?". 

So many things made you uncomfortable about what your mom had said. For one thing you still hadn’t sorted out your feeling about Zuko. You knew things had changed after that night in your room and could tell Zuko felt it too but didn’t know how to proceed with the situation. You’d always just seen him as a friend and prided yourself on being able to be close with Zuko and not feel any romantic feelings but now it was all different and that made you angry at yourself. How many times had you boasted about your relationship to everyone? Sworn you were just friends and took pride in yourself for being an example of strong male/female friendship. And now you were a cliche who liked her best friend. What bothered you even more than your confused feelings though was your mother’s attitude towards Zuko. All through Zuko’ s banishment your mom hadn’t said Zuko’s name once. As soon as he was banished everyone had turned against him. Even Mai and Ty lee didn’t dare say his name, everyone acted as if he had just never existed, everyone expect you. You’d mentioned him whenever you felt the need, a past memory, a reminder Azula wasn’t the only heir, a comment about this beings Zuko’s favourite food, anything and everyone ignored you for it. Your mom would always go quiet ignoring you if it was in public but in private she’d scold you and send you away to the navy where you were less watched, where you were less of a problem. She’d turned against him and written him off and now he’d returned she was acknowledging him again. Even suggesting him as a fit for you. The audacity made you feel sick, Zuko was not a possession they could use. "No" you said firmly and your mother paused "you wouldn’t accept Zuko? Y/n he’s the prince! and you have to admit you two have always gotten along". "Ow now you remember who he is?" you asked sarcastically "weird, you didn’t recall who he was for years and now...poof, you remember" you smiled sweetly "strange how that works huh?". "Y/n..." your mom rolled her eyes but you headed for the door. "Great session mom same time next week?" and pushed the door open making it hit the wall. "You’ll have to pick someone eventually" she yelled after you and you rolled your eyes.

You went to the training rooms to try and get some of your anger at your mother out and after firebending for an hour felt better. You wiped your face with a towel before realising you’d missed a single target. You kicked your foot out and a jet of fire flew from your foot and destroyed the target. You felt better and were getting ready to go back to the world when you heard clapping. You turned to see it was Zuko and smiled instinctively. You always smiled when you saw Zuko but now, now you also got this excited feeling in your stomach, almost a nervous feeling to be around him. "I don’t know what that target did to you but you sure showed it who’s boss" Zuko smirked coming to stand behind you. "I did didn’t I?' you smiled turning around to examine your shot and Zuko nodded placing his hands on your shoulders. You pretended not to notice and realised this was happening a lot lately. To be fair the physical contact had always happened, it was normal for friends to rest against one another or link arms, but now you noticed it more and it definitely felt more deliberate. So the pattern went Zuko would initiate contact with you in some way and you’d both pretend not to notice, apart from the light blushes or lingering looks. “You okay?” Zuko asked “i heard your mom’s weekly visit was today”. You groaned and Zuko laughed “forget i asked”. You sighed “can we do something, anything apart from talk about her please?” you begged turning to face Zuko and he smiled. "fancy some food? My treat?". “Can we order in to your room?” you asked “I don’t want a run in with my mom”. Your mom had left straight after her meeting, there was no way you’d run into her, the truth was you liked being alone with Zuko. He was always less guarded in private, less aware of prying eyes but now...he wasn’t just happier in private he was...different. The only way you could think to phrase it was he was bolder now, he’d flirt with you openly in the privacy of your shared presence and you knew it was wrong considering he was taken but you enjoyed it and thought he did too. Zuko’s eyes flashed and you knew he knew your mom had left too, he knew this was an excuse to be alone but like you’d been doing he pretended not to notice. “Of course” Zuko smirked and you both managed not to blush.

Your meal devoured you flopped onto Zuko’s bed full and unable to move. “Why does it always taste better then you have someone bring it to you?” you asked and Zuko smirked looking down at you “I have no idea”. You relaxed next to one another in content silence before Zuko sighed “y/n we need to talk”. You frowned hearing the seriousness in his voice and panicked. Did he know you liked him? Did he think what you’d been doing was wrong too? Was he going to stop seeing you? He stood up pacing and you looked up at him. “What is it?” you asked and Zuko looked at you nervously. "I might be gone for a few days". "Gone?" You asked "where?". "Ember islands". "The one we went to as kids?" you asked smiling slightly at the memory "why are you going there?". "That same one” Zuko nodded smiling too before looking away “well father wants me and Azula out of the way so he can talk to his councilmen but y/n it’s not just us, Mai and Ty lee are going too". You tried not to react to the fact he was almost warning you he’d be spending time with Mai. She was his girlfriend so this didn’t bother you, you knew you had no right to feel angry, and so you smiled. "and you’re worried i’ll feel left out because your sister didn’t invite me?". Zuko frowned and you laughed coming to stand infront of him "Zuko i don’t care! If Azula wants to leave me out that is fine by me". "Are you sure you’re not upset?” Zuko asked “because if you are I can refuse to go" and you laughed. "If Azula’s way of getting back at me is not inviting me to a party i am cool with that" you smirked “I’ll be fine without you I promise”. Zuko nodded but sighed "damn i was hoping you’d forbid me from going". You chuckled "i mean everyone would believe that, i have you whipped". Zuko raised an eyebrow but didn’t deny it "yeah I suppose you do" he agreed and the tone of his voice made you blush. "Don’t you forget it" you smirked patting his chest and you saw him glance from your eyes to your lips, his eyes darker suddenly and his pupils bigger. He was so close to you he could easily lean frowards and kiss you. You didn’t think you’d pull away if he did, you knew you wouldn’t. “Y/n, I...” he trailed off as wanting to tell you something but he didn’t carry on. Tension was thick in the room and the silence didn’t help. Zuko?" You asked as he blinked shaking himself out of his daze “what were you going to say?”. Zuko looked at you before looking away rapidly “nothing, it doesn’t matter, I should probably start packing”. You nodded and turned in the direction of the door recognising that as a dismissal, but looked over your shoulder as you went to see Zuko was frowning to himself, almost as if he was having an internal struggle with something. You reached the door and Zuko paused "I don’t know how long we’ll be there but I’ll be going first thing in the morning". You nodded "well safe travels and have fun, you will be missed ow fire prince" and bowed mockingly. Zuko smirked but you also saw a blush on his cheeks "good to know" he nodded "i’ll miss you too". You couldn’t help smile as Zuko said that and saw the blush on his cheeks grow. “I’ll see you when you return” you smiled and walked out of the room, feeling his eyes burning into your back as you walked away.

Four days later

Zuko had been gone for four days now and you were embarassed at how much you missed him. You forgot how boring the palace was without him and blamed your loneliness on your new crush on the prince. If only you’d not fallen for him you’d be fine without him, enjoying some alone time but no...you were wondering when he was coming back, what he was doing, if he was doing it with Mai... You wondered about him and Mai a lot and it made you angry. You’d known the flirting with Zuko was wrong but you’d argued you’d always had a flirty relationship so that was nothing new but the being jealous of Mai was new, the protectiveness of Zuko was new, the resentment at them spending time together was new and you hated it but couldn’t seem to make it stop. You knew Azula had purposefully invited Mai and not you to get you out of the way, to give Mai and Zuko alone time. But you had no right to be angry over that!  Zuko and Mai had more romantic history than you, a point you’d always made very clear, so you had no right to be jealous. They were dating for christ sake! You had absolutely no right to be territorial over Zuko. But that didn’t stop you from being.

You groaned driving the thoughts from your head when there was a knock on your door "lady y/n Firelord Ozai wishes to speak with you". "Firelord Ozai?" You asked shocked and the maid nodded "yes". "Now?" She nodded and you rushed to get ready. In all your life, even during the talks after your father’s death you’d barely been in the man’s presence let alone spoken with him privately and with no obvious reason. Confused, nervous and a little scared you followed the servant to Ozai’s council room and were let inside. "Firelord Ozai, lady y/n" a footman announced and Ozai nodded "good leave us". The man bowed and left the room. "Y/n take a seat" Ozai said gesturing to a long empty table and you took one near him but not too near, you’d never liked the Firelord. Ozai carried on writing and you frowned confused, why would Ozai send Azula and Zuko away to be left alone but request to speak to you. Finally he set his brush down and fixed his cold eyes on you. "I have summoned you here to tell you about a development concerning my son". Your heart skipped, had something happened to Zuko? Was he okay?. “Zuko...is he alright?” you asked worried and Ozai glanced at you a small smirk appearing at your tone “he is fine”. You let out a large breath of relief and noticed Ozai watching you. "y/n do you remember when your father died i promised you would be compensated for his sacrafice?". You nodded "yes Firleord Ozai". "Well today is that day" he told you "i plan on making the announcment when Zuko returns but thought I would tell you while he’s away". "Announcement?" You asked. "Yes of the engagament of you and my son" Ozai told you proudly and you gaped. "Your family has been an ally to the crown for decades, your father sacraficed himself for it and you yourself commited many years to our naval reserves. You’re a talented fire bender and i owe your father this, it is something we discussed when you were children but i will see it happen now i finally can". You were still silent staring and Ozai finally looked at you "need i even ask the insignificant formality of your acceptance?". You frowned "pardon?". "You and my son are close i assume this will be good news for you both, well especially any girl in your position but considering circumstances I trust Zuko will not object ". You blushed, Ozai was more perceptive than any of you thought "but your son is involved with another girl instead...Mai". "Ah yes Ukano’s daughter, well she is high ranking but not enough plus she’s not even a bender, that is not good enough for the throne so Zuko and her would never work, my son knows that and you need not worry the girl can be sent away as soon as the announcement is made". "No i don’t want Mai banished just...this will be hard to explain to her and Zuko, they may not be happy. Plus you promised me I would have a say in who I married when my father died". Ozai narrowed his eyes "i do not care for the girls happiness and as for Zuko’s..I think I have been very kind in choosing you for him. As for our agreement” he spat “even dead your father’s wishes outrank yours and I know he would want this” Ozai glared leaning forwards towards you. “The point remains though that marriages are alliances y/n and i expect you and Zuko to act the part of loyal firenation nobels and accept this with no resistance, refusal is not an option you will do this, do you understand?". Ozai’s word sent your blood boiling. Of course your dead father’s wishes were respected more than your own, did you really expect the Firelord, the man who burnt his son and used his daughter as a weapon, to keep his promise to you. You’d been naive but you wouldn’t be again, first things first you had to get out of this room. You swallowed and stared at him "you will make the announcement soon?". Ozai nodded "when my son returns from the Ember Islands, i will give you time to tell him first". That calmed you somewhat, you could tell Zuko and work out a plan before it went public. It would he okay. "Thank you Firelord" you said bowing and Ozai nodded dismissing you. You rushed from the room and paused thinking over everything, the intensity of what you’d just been commanded to do. The anger you felt was still raw and you cursed the Firelord. Ozai seriously wanted you and Zuko to marry? That was insane! True you liked Zuko and honestly thought he liked you but marriage...letting the scenario play out in your head you realised it’d be a good way to get what you want. The only person you could stomach having control of your navy would be Zuko, plus there was no suitor you wanted, Zuko was the only person you’d ever felt strongly about, marriage to him wouldn’t be awful, much worse matches had been made than this...but you quickly scolded yourself out of these thoughts. It would be insane for you and Zuko to agree to this, to be forced into this willingly or not. No, you’d have to work fast and tell Zuko as soon as he got back, you’d find a way to defy the Firelord over this, alone that would be difficult but with Zuko’s help...anything was possible.

1 day later

You got word Zuko and Azula were on their way back to the capital and would arrive late, likely the middle of the night. It was annoying you couldn’t see Zuko until the morning but part of you was also relieved, you still didn’t know how to tell him what Ozai had planned for you both. You’d gone over ways to tell him but the thought terrified you. There was nothing you could do about it now so prepared to go to sleep when there was a knock at your door. Annoyed you grabbed a robe incase it was someone too important to see you so under dressed and opened the door. Zuko stood there in his travelling clothes, clothes and hair disheveled but he smiled brightly at you. "Zuko" you said suprised "i didn’t expect to see you tonight i heard you'd be back late and figured you’d want to rest after the journey". Zuko shrugged "we did but i don’t want to sleep, i’m not tired so figured i’d come and find you. But if this is a bad time I can come back in the morning...". "No it’s okay" you smiled letting him into the room. Zuko hadn’t even gone back to his room to change, he'd come straight here. Something must be bothering him. "How was it?" You asked trying to subtly dig for what was worrying him. Zuko shrugged "boring, how was it here? Anything interesting happen?". Ow your father announced our engagement and i have no idea how to get out of it you wanted to say but instead you asked "have you seen your father yet?".  Zuko shook his head "no why?" and you went quiet. How did you tell him? How did you make it not awkward when it was such an odd topic? When you didn’t reply Zuko frowned "y/n?". "Nothing" you said faking a smile "now i’m not letting you off that easy tell me all the details, how many boys did Ty lee ensare, how many children did Azula make cry? Every detail". Zuko seemed to know you were putting something off but smirked and complied. His story wasn’t a happy one, the holiday sounded awful, when Zuko talked about his mother and the memories there you rested a hand on his arm, wishing you could hug him but knowing he wouldn’t want to feel pitied. Zuko ended his story and sighed "so i wish i’d have stayed here with you" he concluded and you smiled. Zuko rested his hand on your leg as he said it and you paused confused but Zuko didn’t even seem to notice. You shrugged figuring it was my accident but as time passed still his hand didn’t move away. "What’s wrong?" you asked aware Zuko was still tense, he hadn’t told you everything. "Nothing" he sighed and you raised an eyebrow "i’m not dumb Zuko tell me what’s wrong". Zuko sighed deeply and you paused taking a guess, there was only one topic Zuko wouldn’t want to discuss with you.  "Mai?" you asked and he nodded meeting your eye. "All we did the whole trip was argue! I got her a shell...she didn’t like it! I got her ice cream and she got annoyed i dropped it on her, i told her to open up more and she told me to leave her alone and dumped me...". You frowned managing not to feel excited as he said that "so are you two...". "No we made up i guess" Zuko sighed "but it didn’t solve anything between us! We just did it to sort it out, i didn't do it because i wanted to! I did it because everyone expects me to be all loved up with Mai but i’m not". You frowned unsure what to say, if to comfort Zuko or encourage him to give it another chance with Mai, but Zuko carried on. "Is it supposed to be so difficult?" Zuko asked you "i try and try with Mai but i don’t know what to do...what she wants me to do or even what she likes apart from me, do you think that’s right?" Zuko asked you before frowning "wait is it weird for me to ask you this?". "Why would it be weird?" you asked pretending you didn’t know and Zuko blushed "well because were close and i know you and Mai haven’t always gotten along". You rolled your eyes "i like Mai Zuko, it’s you who needs work out how you feel about her". "So you don’t think it should be difficult?" Zuko asked picking up on your tone. "I knew it!" he cried "it shouldn’t be so damn hard, it not like that with you, you’re easy". "Excuse me?" you asked and Zuko smirked "i just mean, i know you" he smiled at you "i know everything you like, love and hate, i know a thousand things we can talk about and i feel so comfortable with you" he smiled at you lazily his hand still on your leg "with you it’s just...effortless" Zuko told you and you swore internally. He was making it very hard for you not to notice how you felt when he said things like that, to remain impartial in this conversation. You couldn’t even disagree which made it worse, everything Zuko said you felt too. Every single boy you’d met in the fire nation was never like Zuko, you never had this chemistry or ease with them like you had with Zuko, none of them compared to him. None of them could make you laugh like he could, smile like he could, as comfortable as he could and it really was effortless. You knew now that wasn’t just a friendship, you wanted Zuko and it just seemed right, you just fit.  As if reading your mind Zuko looked at you "if only you liked me then we'd both be sorted" with a signature royal smirk that made your heart skip. Fuck it you said in your mind and kissed him, leaning across the sofa and crashing into him in the blink of an eye. Zuko kissed you back before realising what he was doing and he pulled away "y/n what...i didn’t say that to make you kiss me". "I know but i do like you Zuko, i think I have for a while I just didn’t realise it, but when you say stupid shit like that i can’t" you sighed "i can’t hide it from myself anymore Zuko" and he nodded "then don’t" and kissed you again. You felt like you were exploding but in a good way. You’d worried kissing Zuko would feel weird considering how well you knew him but it was amazing. In fact it seemed to make it better, even more personal and meaningful and it felt so right. You could sense Zuko felt that too by how passionate the kiss was becoming. You didn’t want to break away for water, for air, for anything. Zuko drew you closer onto his lap and you complied anything to get more contact. Anything to not have to stop this. Your brain was a mess, there was a small part of you brain trying to not get so carried away with this but it lost power as Zuko’s hands started traveling up your torso. You knew you should stop this but when Zuko whispered your name while kissing your neck you felt your stomach tense and didn’t care what you should or shouldn’t do anymore. You pushed Zuko back hard making him fall onto his back on the sofa. He looked up at you confused before you leant over him and resumed kissing him just laterally now. Zuko seemed even more eager than you and as soon as you gave up some dominance Zuko grinned and flipped you suddenly so you were below him. "Y/n..." he murmered hovering above you “do you want this...I do but are you sure you want me like this?”. You leant upwards to kiss him slowly in reply, lingering and savouring every bit of it and Zuko blinked in a daze as you pulled away. “What do you think?” you asked gazing up at him. Zuko’s face grew into a smirk and he leant back into you...

----

So that’s as close to smut as i’ll get but yeah you can imagine what happened next..... 😉

Where I live 16 is the age of consent so no shady deals here. Thanks again!!

[definitelyseven]

deal | four (m)

summary: when your step-mom unexpectedly offers you a deal you can’t resist, you decide to give her a taste of her own medicine by seducing her potential suitor, Im Jaebum.

one (m) | two | three (m) | four (m) | five | six (m) | seven | eight (m) | nine | ten | eleven | twelve (m) | thirteen | fourteen | fifteen | sixteen | seventeen - final |

Every night since you’ve moved into the house, you’ve dreamnt about him. How many times did you have to dream about him fucking you before he actually does? You groaned into your pillow before sitting up in your bed. After last night, you were sure there was more than sexual tension between you two. He cared about you - how you felt and what you thought of him. The only question was did he care because you were Eunbi’s step-daughter or did he want something more?

Instead of your usual workout at the gym, you decided to go for a swim, to calm yourself down. You were sexually frustrated and was not up for the teasing. As you got closer to the pool, you noticed him. You tried to leave, but it was too late, he already saw you. 

“Y/N, join me?” he called. 

“Fuck,” you mumbled under your breath. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to swim.” 

"Come on, it’s more fun to swim with someone.” You shake your head and walked away from the pool. “Ah! Help! My leg is cramping,” you heard him scream. You quickly ran back to see Jaebum struggling in the middle of the pool. Not thinking much of it, you take your robe off and jumped in to save him. As you got closer to him, he stands up in the pool. 

Motherfucker wasn’t hurt.

“That’s not funny!” you said splashing water in his face. “I thought you were actually drowning!” 

“How else was I going to get you in the pool?” Jaebum said swimming away. You followed him for a full lap before stopping again. 

“Okay now that I’m in the pool now. What do you want?”

“Why so cold, princess?” he smirked while trapping you in between his arms and the edge of the pool. 

You weren’t trying to be cold to him on purpose. You were just sexually frustrated and needed a proper fucking. 

“Sorry daddy, just cranky from the lack of sleep,” you teased back. He chuckled lightly before moving closer to you. You reached your hand out in front of his chest, stopping him from getting any closer. “Careful daddy, any closer and you might do something you’ll regret,” you warned him. 

“And what would that be? Another naughty gym session?”

“You remember?” you asked shocked. “Why did you pretend not to remember me the first night I moved in?”

“What was I suppose to say in front of Eunbi? Yes, I know your stepdaughter. We actually fucked at the gym,” he retorted. “Now that we got rid of the elephant in the room, we should stop this game.”

“It’s kind of fun, don’t you think?” you teased, wrapping your arms around his neck. 

“We can’t do anything.”

“Did I say we were going to do something?” you pulled him closer to you. He says he can’t do anything, but his arms instinctively wrapped around your waist. 

He laughs, “You want to get me in trouble.”

“Well you’re not trying very hard to avoid it.”

Before he has a chance to refute, you both hear Eunbi call. He quickly pulls away from you and swims off. You watched him get out of the pool and head towards her direction. He gives her a kiss on the cheek before walking off to get changed. You thought she was going to leave with him, but she doesn’t. Instead she heads towards you. You get out of the pool and grabbed your robe, putting it back on. Feeling her come up behind you, she grabs your shoulder, turning you around to face her. Before you could even complain about her touching you, you feel her hand slap across your cheek.

“What the hell?” you said holding your cheek. “What was that for?”

“I have eyes and ears everywhere,” she said holding up her phone with a picture of you and Jaebum dancing intimately at the party last night. 

“Is that what you did to my father too? Eyes and ears everywhere...God, you’re a psycho!” you complained, still rubbing your cheek to alleviate the burn.

“I don’t know what games you’re playing, but we had a deal. You don’t want your $20 million dollars?” she asked crossing her arms in front of her chest.

You chuckled at her, “You know what I was thinking, $20 million is a lot of money, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ll be getting.” 

“You’re trying to blackmail me for more money?”

"Not exactly,” you smirked. 

You were going to make her pay for everything she did to you, including this slap. 

“Then what?” 

“Why help you become Mrs. Im, when I can be too?” you said watching her eyes widen in fear. 

“You bitch!” she said raising her hand to slap you again. You stop her this time, grabbing a hold of her wrist. 

“If you think for a second that I’ll let you lay a hand on me again, think twice,” you threatened. “At first I only wanted to give you a hard time, but now,” you chuckled. “Now, I’m going to make you wish you never asked me for help!” you said swinging her arm away from you.

“I’ll kick you out of the house,” Eunbi glared. 

“Go ahead,” you whispered before pushing pass her. You were never the type of girl to steal another woman’s man, but this was different. 

She deserved it.

She stole your father. She stole your inheritance. She stole everything from you and now you were going to steal everything back. 

Your father would probably never approve of this. He would probably tell you to let it go, it’s in the past, but you couldn’t. 

After the incident at the pool, Jaebum started avoiding you around the house. Whenever you walked into the same room as him, he would leave. You tried talking to him, but he wouldn’t even give you the chance to say anything. Eunbi found this amusing, knowing what you were trying to do and failing miserably at it. Even during dinner, Jaebum paid no attention to you. He didn’t even look at you. 

As you were preparing for bed, you hear a knock at your door. “Come in!’ you said hoping it was Jaebum. 

“It’s actually funny to see you try to seduce Jae,” Eunbi said. You rolled your eyes, ignoring her. She stops behind you, watching you through the mirror. She removes her robe and reveals her half naked body - she was only in a bra and panties. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” you asked, shocked.

“I wanted you to see the marks on my body; the ones that he just made,” she smirked while walking closer to you. You saw the hickeys on her neck and the bruising on her hips. “When I get pregnant, there will be nothing you can do to make Jaebum like you. You know how loyal he is.”

“Get out.”

“Good luck failing,” she laughed, leaving your room. You won’t lose to her. She will regret this - regret everything. 

Frustrated - mentally and sexually, you went down to the wine cellar to get a drink. You looked for the most expensive bottle of liquor and poured yourself a glass. Hundreds of scenarios ran through your mind on how you can get revenge.

After your fourth glass of whiskey, you hear the door of the wine cellar open. You turned to see Jaebum making his way down. 

“You’re avoiding me,” you said feeling buzzed.

“I’m not avoiding you,” he said walking pass you to look for something to drink. Jaebum sees the opened bottle of whiskey on the table and pours himself a glass.

“Yes, you are. Did Eunbi say something?” you asked walking towards the couch on the other side of the room.

“No, does she have something to say?” he said taking a seat on the couch. You turned to face him, shaking your head. The distance between the both of you was only a coffee table’s length away. “What are you doing down here, drinking alone?” he asked taking a sip of his whiskey. 

“I was bored and feeling lonely,” you whined. You slowly made your way towards him, making him shift in his seat. You smirked. “Can I ask for a favor?” you whispered, leaning towards him.

“What is it?” he asked, sipping his whiskey again. You pushed him slightly back onto the couch and straddled his lap. “Y/N, we -” 

You interrupt him, “Shh...don’t say anything, don’t move.” You take the glass out of his hand and chugged the rest of the liquor before setting it down on the table. He watched as you untied your robe, slipping it off your shoulders, and revealing your half-naked body.

“Y/N...” he gulped, eyes roaming up and down your body. You were wearing a set of lingerie that was one size too small. You were going to discard it, but thought it may come in handy one day - today was the day.

“I’ve been so lonely lately...can you help me, daddy?” you whispered in his ear, moving your hips against his thigh. You could feel your core moisten at the friction. Jaebum gently lays his hand on your hip, playing with the hem of your panties. You wrapped your arms around his neck for support as you continued to grind your hips on his thigh. You leaned your forehead against his, lips close to his. You could see the bulge in his pants become more prominent. “If you want to touch yourself, I won’t tell,” you said inches away from his lips. 

“I think this is in the way,” he said pulling on the straps of your panties. You smirked, getting off his lap. You turned your back away from him and slowly removed your panties in front of him, revealing your ass. His hand reached for your bare thigh, roaming his hand up to your hips. You grabbed onto his hand, turning back around to face him. 

Stepping out of your panties, you made yourself comfortable on his lap again. “No touching, remember? I don’t think Eunbi would be too happy about you touching.”

He chuckled, “I don’t think she’ll be too happy about any of this.”

“But we aren’t doing anything wrong...you aren’t touching me,” you whined moving your hips once again. The rough pattern on his sweatpants rubbing against your clit made you moan. Jaebum reaches inside his pants and began pumping his cock. “Daddy...” you moaned again, bouncing up and down his thigh. “Show me your cock,” you begged. Jaebum doesn’t think twice. He takes his already hardened member and continues to pump it in front of you. You drool at the sight of his red and already dripping cock. You licked your lips wanting a taste of him. “If only I can have a taste,” you whispered in his ear. 

“Fuck baby...” he said breathing heavily as he picks up his pace. His other hand holds onto your hips, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Lay down for me and play with yourself,” he demanded. You got off his lap and laid down with your legs spread. You reached for your core, rubbing the juices up and down your own folds as he watched you closely. He hovered over you, pumping his own cock. 

You craved his touch, wishing he would fill you up with his cock. You rubbed your own clit, slightly pinching it as you moaned in pleasure. “Fuck baby, you look so good like that,” he said before gathering the saliva in his mouth and then spitting on your clit. The feeling of his warm spit hitting your pussy made you even more needy. 

“Daddy...” you moaned rubbing his spit all over you pussy. You needed more. “I want you,” you said to him. 

“I know baby...I want you too.”

You inserted a finger inside your own pussy, pleasuring yourself. You thrusted your finger in and out of yourself, spreading your legs further apart for Jaebum to watch. Your other hand reaches for your clit, rubbing it vigorously to chase for your own high. “Cum for me princess. Let me see your pussy clench on your own fingers.” With a few more pumps, you feel your pussy clench on your fingers.

"Fuck, I’m cumming,” you said releasing your own juices onto your fingers. Jaebum’s eyes never leaves your body. He watched your face contort in pleasure and your pussy glisten with juices. You take your fingers out of your pussy and bring them up this mouth. He open his mouth and sucks the juices off your fingers. You could see Jaebum was close to cumming. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were shut tight. His mouth was slightly ajar, gasping for air.

“Open your mouth,” he demanded. You got on your knees in front of his cock, opening your mouth wide for him. Within seconds, you hear him moan, and his hot seed squirts in your mouth and on your face. He groans until he calms down from his high. “Fuck...” he said breathing heavily. 

“Mmmm...” you moaned tasting him. You showed him the cum you had collected in your mouth before playing with it. You take his cum out of your mouth and down to your pussy, gently rubbing his cum all over your swollen cunt. He wipes the excess cum off the corner of your lips with his thumb before sticking it in your mouth to suck. Still on your knees, you looked up at him sucking his fingers. He smirks at how well you played.

“No one can know about this,” he warned before getting off you. He put his cock back into his pants before helping you back into your robe. 

“Don’t worry, our secret is safe,” you said before leaving the wine cellar. 

Even though you didn’t get to touch him this time, at least you got to taste him. You were one step closer to having him and based on what happened tonight, you both knew this couldn’t happen only once. 

[sweeethinny]

The Duke - Chapter 5

I took a while to update, I thought about quitting sometimes, I won't lie, but, I started reading fanfics and books about Monarchy and regency era theme, and all my creativity came back.

Thank you as always, @theroomofreq who is very kind to me and helps me beta this story And to all my friends who need to listen to my crazy ideas

AO3 | FF.NET | SIYE (soon) 

| G. W |

It was barely dawn when that newspaper fell on the Weasleys' door and the elf caught it. It was like every other day, well rolled, with the ink still fresh, full of gossip, important news, and political speculation, in addition to that malicious hint that they introduced in the news, to be just mean to some stupid Viscount that was stolen - and deserved it - or a newly decorated Marquis who married a woman who struck him - and who also deserved it.

It was just another normal day.

Or so it was meant to be.

As soon as Ginny came down to breakfast, she felt that something was different in the air, or maybe it was the fact that her brothers and mother were on top of her father to be able to read the newspaper page too.

‘’Good morning.’’ She called, but no one paid any attention to her. ‘’What’s so important? Did we find a gold mine?’’ Ginny stood next to Ron, needing to tiptoe to read the main and most eye-catching story on the front page of the newspaper.

'’The - yet - Duke and Duchess of Godric’s Hollow, James and Lily Potter, open the doors of their country house, for the first time in 20 years, for the fiftieth Dueling Party.

Check out more information, and the guest list so far, on page 13.’’

‘’Were we invited?’’ Ginny asked, wanting her father to leave that page right away where showed a picture of the couple in front of their huge country house, with the two of them not looking so happy to pose for the camera.

‘‘We were.’’ Ron confirmed, still looking at the newspaper. ‘’I think… Did Mr Potter go crazy?’’

‘’Ron! Don't say that!’’ Molly slapped his son on the arm, scolding him. ‘’Arthur dear, do you know why… this? Lily's authorizing something like this to happen?’’

''James had talked about applying some measures at Godric's Hollow and some changes but ... I didn't imagine he would host the Dueling Party ... I mean, they have a pretty big list of guests.'' Father said, still standing at same page of the newspaper.

‘’I heard they think they know where their son is.’’ Fred said, a little quietly, as if saying something terrible.

‘’Lily will die looking for that son.. I don’t blame her, of course, but… It’s been almost 24 years, how does she think she can find the boy? Only Merlin knows who took him, where they took him…’’ Her mother put her hand on her chest, facing Ginny. ‘’We need to find you with a new dress.’’

‘‘No mom, please.’’ Ginny denied, looking back at the newspaper. ‘’But what if he’s really alive? How will they find him? Is that why they’re having the party this year?’’

‘’James says the boy was born with a brand.’‘ The father clarified. ‘’But I don’t know if that’s why they decided-- ’’

‘‘-- I’m sorry.’’ Henry’s voice interrupted Arthur’s, and the man bowed to everyone in the room. ''Mr. Weasley, I think you would like to accompany me.'' The man did not look at Ginny, as if he was afraid to show too much, holding a torn piece of paper tightly and having his left forearm grated and dirty. Had he fallen?

'‘Of course, Mr Figg. Excuse me, love.’’ Arthur kissed his wife respectfully and then followed Henry out of the dining room. Ginny almost ran after them, knowing it seemed to have something to do with her, just from the way Henry avoided looking at her.

She hated it when they made her look like a damsel in distress who couldn't distinguish fire from ice.

''Ginny, we will see this afternoon about your dress, and Ron, we also need to decide on new clothes for you ...'' Her mother continued to talk about the duties they would have for the next few days, but all Ginny could pay attention to was in Henry walking away. His cloak was torn in the back and it looked like he had just arrived - which was strange, because he never left in the morning, always preferring to go out in the afternoon when Ginny was at tea time with her mother, or at night, at dinner time. Henry always said that in the morning, it was the time that crazy people wake up and make a mess.

He looked over his shoulder after her dad turned the corner of the hall and disappeared towards the office, but he also followed the path before Ginny was able to have any appropriate reaction.

After his intrusion, and the delay for her father to return, Ginny had to be taken care of by another Auror (she was told that Henry needed to go to his office), and nowhere was Thomas as gentle and nice to her as Henry was. 

All morning, Ginny felt like she was being followed by a ghost, in silence for all the hours that passed, a little disconcerted that Thomas didn't like talking to her like Henry did - even though sometimes it was just yes and no - and when she had to leave the house to keep her mother company on the way to the center, Ginny was excited to at least hear different voices.

''Does Mrs. Potter know that I need to bring Mr. Figg?'' Ginny asked, looking at the windows they passed, daydreaming about those colorful and well-sewn dresses.

Even though her father was a Viscount, Arthur had been decorated one after the other 10 in front of him died, so there was not much inheritance for them to benefit from. They weren't really poor, Ginny could still choose a dress sewn by a top dressmaker on special occasions, but she knew that the family had far more limitations than other families who had a wardrobe all made just for them.

‘’I wouldn’t like you to bring him,’’ The mother started, raising her gloved hand as if she already knew that Ginny was going to interrupt her. "It's always quite threatening when he stays behind you wherever you go, and maybe that's what limits gentlemen to ask you out." The younger redhead bit her cheek, swallowing the urge to say what prevented men from getting close to her was that she was seen as crazy. ‘‘But your father would never let us leave the property without him following, so… Yes, Mrs. Potter already knows that Mr. Figg will be with you.’’

‘‘I thought they didn’t throw parties anymore.’’ She commented quietly, smiling at a lady who was looking at her a little terrified, pulling her little daughter aside when Ginny passed.

Ah, London hospitality, always so pleasant.

‘’We all thought so.’’ Molly spread the fan in her hands, fanning herself because of the heat that seemed to be almost deadly. ‘‘But it looks like Mrs. Potter is tired of leaving the doors closed.’’

‘’I don’t remember visiting their house.’’

‘’You first came right when you were born, we introduced you to them. We have a picture of you and little Harry in the crib.'' Her mother sighed, stopping in front of the shop for hats, gloves and other accessories (not as chic as the one on the top street where jewelry was sold) and smiled at Ginny . ‘’Let's go in, I want to see if we can find some hats for you. Maybe there is a suitor who captures your heart during the Dueling Party.’’

[...]

‘'The Dueling Party …’’ Ginny repeated, rereading the news for the tenth time. ‘’Do you know what they say about this party?’’ She asked, looking over her shoulder at Thomas, standing behind her, while she was dining alone.

He denied. Ginny snorted, annoyed by the silence.

‘’Do you know where Mr. Figg is?’’ It was a lot more fun to have dinner with his company.

‘’No, Miss.’’

‘’Do you know when he comes back?’’

‘‘No, Miss.’’ Ginny turned to the untouched plate in front of her. Her father had spent the day outside, just like Henry, Ron had gone out with Fred somewhere, and her mother had already gone to bed, saying she was having a headache from the heat. She sighed, alone.

Thomas was married, not that he told her, she had seen the ring in his hand, and Ginny hoped he would be more talkative outside of work, or she would send her condolences to the poor woman who was married to a ghost.

The day had been quite boring, even after going out with her mother - which resulted in her buying a new hat - her father had sent a Patron with strict orders not to leave the house. Not even to fly. So Ginny spent the afternoon reading, knitting, and even pruning some flowers. All without saying much, since Thomas seemed to hate any human interaction.

At first, Henry was like that, too, quietly, until he seemed to feel sorry for Ginny's loneliness (and his own, since he was 24/7 by her side), and they started talking and she was even able to convince him sit at the table with her when no one was attending dinner.

But today, even after Thomas has been with her a few times, he still seemed to completely ignore the warmth and preferred to remain silent, leaving Ginny talking to herself.

When she thought about starting dinner - even though the chicken looked pale and the potatoes didn't look so appetizing - she heard footsteps toward the dining room, and before she could understand who was coming in, his voice boomed through the quiet room; ‘’Mr. Thomas, you can go to your home. Thank you very much.’’ Henry bowed to her a little. ‘’Good night, Miss Weasley, forgive me for being late.’’

‘’Good night, Mr. Figg.’’ ’Ginny had to bite her cheek to avoid the smile that wanted to break her face. The other Auror bowed to her and left the room, looking even relieved of an unknown tension that weighed on his shoulders. ‘’He doesn’t seem to like me very much.’’ She continued to look at the door through which the man had disappeared.

‘’If you want to know a secret,’’ Henry spoke softly, and approached her a little. ‘‘I don’t think he even likes himself.’’ Ginny laughed, her chest seeming to burn with that feeling of comfort that the man gave to her. It was always so simple to be around him, even when they were around several people and Henry was not allowed to give his real opinions (he would never give them, anyway, but Ginny knew that when it was just the two of them, he could be one little less judicious)

‘’May I know where you and my father have been?’’ She gave up on dinner, turning entirely to Henry and putting her arms on the back of the chair, resting her head there and staring at him curiously. ‘’It was a very boring day.’’

‘’Sorry to leave you, Miss.’’ Like a great gentleman he was, he nodded politely. ‘’But unfortunately I can’t tell you where we went. You’ll have to ask your father.’’

‘’And will he tell me?’’ She tried hopefully.

''I do not think so. Sorry.''

‘‘It’s not your fault.’’ She shrugged, only then really looking at him. Henry was still as he was yesterday; his slightly old and crooked glasses made his green eyes even bigger, Auror's clothes were so tightly buttoned and without any wrinkles that Ginny was embarrassed about her dress, which had a slightly worn hem. But unlike yesterday, she realized that his left hand was bandaged. ''What happened?''

‘’Ah… problems.’’ Henry shrugged. ‘’Another time we can discuss this, but I don’t think it is an issue for a lady who… still needs dinner.’’ He looked over her shoulder at her untouched plate - which now seemed to have gained color and life.

‘’Have you eaten yet?’’ Ginny turned around, slicing the chicken and smiling eagerly for him to sit with her.

''Already, Miss. Sorry.’’ Ginny could even hear his sad smile.

"But sit still, you know I hate to eat alone." She helped herself to the wine, having to bite her cheek again to keep from smiling and bursting into words she swallowed all day, when he sat in front of her. ‘’Can I ask you just one thing?’’

‘’For sure, Miss.’’ Henry seemed to want to disagree when Ginny spilled wine in his glass, but said nothing.

''Your bruised hand, the disappearance for the whole day, and the bloody story... has to do with me?'' She said, filling her mouth with a good forkful of chicken, peas and puree, staring at Henry with a pink color on his cheeks and he looked away from hers for a second.

‘’Yes, Miss.’’ He sighed, looking tense. ‘’But I’m not allowed to say more than that.’’ And then Henry pointed his finger at the walls around them, silent, and then at his own ear.

The walls have ears.

Ginny could not contain the reaction of bulging her eyes and looking at the large window beside them, which showed the entire backyard of the dark and lost yard in the darkness of the night, the trees making a lot of noise, as well as the wind whistling in the small openings of the glass and some old wood.

Henry was still staring at her, his green eyes almost seemed to enter her mind.

‘’What was I doing when I got the scar on my leg?’’ Ginny was alarmed, placing her hand on the wand at her waist, and the other holding the knife even stronger.

‘’You went up on the roof to save a cat, and when I thought was safe and tried to go up too, you slipped and cut your leg on a loose tile.’’ She blew out the air she seemed to be holding. ‘’I’m glad you remember to ask this, but it would have been too late,’’ Henry said, without taking his eyes off her. ‘’You have to do this when I arrive, not after inviting me to sit.’’ He warned her, his eyebrow dark and cut in half by the scar, rising and arching.

‘’I would know if you were an impostor.’’ For some reason she couldn’t take her eyes off him, feeling her chest burn and her hands tremble. And unlike any other time this happened, it was as if her magic was more controlled rather than totally insane inside Ginny.

‘’Miss didn’t seem so sure of that.’’ Henry didn’t seem bothered to look her in the eye either.

‘’I just doubted it. But I would know.’’ She didn’t know how, but something inside her said she would know.

‘’I’m happy that no imposter would take my place.’’ Henry smirked. ‘’I would also know how to differentiate you from an impostor.’’ And then he looked away at the window, and Ginny’s chest seemed to almost break without the pressure that was building there.

She even managed to fill her lungs with air.

| H. F |

‘’If you allow me to ask..’’ Ginny started, as they walked to the place where they were training duels. A place that Mr. Weasley had built after the clearing, where no one would get hurt or end up drawing much attention. It was not respectful for girls born in good families to know the art of dueling.

It was another day, nearly seven in the morning when Henry had to wake Ginny up so they could train the duel. After yesterday's threat, it would be necessary for her to be more than prepared if he could not defend her alone - but he was training even more so that it would not happen.

‘’Where do your scars come from? The one you have on your forehead. I mean.'' She pointed with her gloved hand at his forehead, almost touching where the lightning-like scar was marked on his skin.

‘’It’s too bloody a story for seven in the morning. And for a lady like you.’’ He kept up his education, already seeing the hut they haven’t visited in a few months, trying to ignore the feeling of failure due to having to make a woman like her, needing to learn the art of dueling. Dueling with an auror, to top it off, and not with figures he would transfigure, as he did for the boys who had been a tutor a few years ago.

No Auror learned to duel as Ginny Weasley needed to learn.

Women usually - if they learned to duel - did it with transfigured birds, wooden figures, and sometimes, if it was very necessary, the teacher would participate or call another woman who also trained, so that they would duel.

Ginny was dueling with an Auror who could do this even with his eyes closed, and who had already killed so many men that he almost needed a third hand to count how many.

''Well, if I'm asking for the story of your scar, I'm wise enough to know that I'm going to hear a bloody story.'' Henry opened the wooden hut door for her to enter first, and the smell of damp wood and dust entered their noses. Sunlight passed through broken planks and windows, and the lack of furniture (or what was left over and already broken) caused their voices to echo.

‘’They tried to kill me when I was a kid.’’ He didn’t have to look at her to see her eyes bulge, instead he walked to his usual place and started getting ready for them to start dueling.

‘’Who would do that ?! This is ... This is horrible!’’

‘’I know, Miss.’’ Henry never doubted that. ''But you would be astonished at how many crazy people there are.'' He saw her getting ready across the room, taking off the cloak, gloves and hat that her mother insisted she really wear, even inside the property.

‘’How did you get out alive?’’ Her brown eyes looked a little horrified and a little angry, as if she wanted to protect him. Henry wanted to laugh at the concern of a Viscount's daughter, at a poor man like him. In no dream or hallucination would a woman so above him look at him and speak as she did, always so friendly, seeming not even to notice how foolish she left him.

Henry was only above the bourgeois and, obviously, the miserable and squib (a class that his mother, unfortunately, belonged to), and by very little yet. If it weren't for sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time, Henry would never know what it was like to step inside the Auror Department.

‘‘My mom saved me.’’ He said, simply, but Ginny was still staring at him absurdly. ‘’In fact, she’s not my birth mother… My birth mother died at the hands of the Death Eaters. But she has looked after me since one of the Death Eaters tried to kill me, and here I am, safe and sound.’’

''I've never seen a spell that left a scar.'' She approached, eyes fixed on Henry's forehead, and her bare hand touched his skin, making him shiver and make him walk away in fright, as if her touch burned his face. ‘‘Sorry.’’ Ginny blushed furiously, still looking more scared, withdrawing her hand.

'’It's okay, Miss.’’ Henry swallowed, the wand in his hand shaking slightly, as if the magic wanted to explode out of it at all costs. ‘’And, I don’t know how I came out with just a scar. Maybe my magic saved me.’’

‘’Yeah… maybe it is.’’ Ginny now looked into his eyes, looking a little too serious, the brown eyes that Henry thought were so beautiful, seemed to carry a mountain of feelings that she would never let out. At least, not for him. ‘’Come on… let’s train.’’ And then she turned her back on him, the purple robes making her look like a witch from a Muggle fairy tale. Her hair tied tightly in the braid made her look a little more challenging than she usually was.

Henry knew he would never find a woman more beautiful than she was, and he cursed himself for thinking of her that way.

‘’We’re going to start.’’ He had to breathe deeply, before getting back in line and starting.

They bowed to each other in a sign of respect - if there was any respect in a duel - and then raised their wands.

Ginny and Henry had already dueled a few times, much more than a lady should, and he knew that she was really good and that if they accepted women at the Auror Academy, she would be even better than most the men who worked there. But whenever they dueled, Henry felt that electricity running in his wand, making it difficult to keep the spells for a long time, as if his wands refused to duel.

The magic was out of control - that's why Mr. Weasley had a hut built away from everyone and empty - and he could see the intensity of her magic almost greater than his. There always seemed to be something missing to make his strengths equal, and Henry thought that maybe it was the fact that he always feared for hurting her, while Ginny was instructed to use all her strength.

‘’Expelliarmus.’’ He whispered to himself

‘‘Estupor.’’ Ginny also spoke in an almost lower tone than Henry, and then the spells dueled, and the electricity almost looked like it was about to kill him. His arm was shaking, and the strength of the spells facing each other made the boards tremble and the rest of the entire furniture began to want to dismantle.

But for some reason Ginny lost her focus, and then Henry's magic won and her wand flew into his hands, just as her body stumbled over the furniture behind her.

He also lost his balance, and had it not been for the table well placed behind him, he would have been shamefully thrown back.

‘’I heard a noise.’’ She said, startled. ''I saw someone passing by, behind the house.'' And as if all the strength was suddenly recovered, Henry stood up and looked behind him, through the gaps in the wood where all you could see was the forest.

‘’Are you sure?’’ He asked, already casting a protective spell around them and throwing her wand at her, walking towards her and keeping her behind him - even though she insisted on going to his side.

''Yes. I saw someone. It wasn't a deer or anything. It was a person.’’ Henry’s magic trembled again, and just for safety, he cast three more protective spells around them, and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the house. ''Don't let me stay behind, someone can hit me from behind and you won't even see.'' She complained when he once again put his body in front of hers, stamping her feet next to Henry, who was looking at the forest silent around them.

‘’Miss, you will stay in the circle of protection, while I will see if there is anyone, understood?’’ He stared at her, the taste of blood dominating the palate with the idea of ​​yet another crazy men trying to kill her.

''But I--''

‘’--Don’t make me petrify you. And I will. ’’ Henry didn’t even give her time to complain, throwing more protections around her, stepping out of the circle and preparing to grab another idiot who tried to get close to Ginny.

Yesterday morning Henry had found a miserable boy, doing the dirty work for wealthy people, bringing with him a cursed Ginny doll and a letter detailing exactly what they would do when they caught her. Henry didn't even like to remember the fury that surrounded him when he read what they intended to do. Not even over his corpse, would anyone touch her.

They were starting to be more creative now. It was the second cursed item they tried to get to Ginny.

Making sure she was still safe - and she looked furious in the circle Henry had created - he started walking around, looking at the sides of the house and a little way through the trees, but never losing sight of Ginny, who was so well protected that he could barely hear her voice.

But maybe Henry should have paid attention to what she was screaming, or trying to scream, because when a spell tried to hit him and ricocheted away, he knew it was she who was protecting him, and that they were with visitors. But he saw no one.

Turning to her, even more furious, Henry felt protected once again, seeing that Ginny was also surrounding him with protective spells, and he made the sign that she needed to leave. He told her to Apparate, but Ginny stayed there, denying it while Henry felt his protective sense scream inside him.

Better him than her.

He hid behind a tree, still feeling protected, and concentrating on the image of Ginny and her mesmerizing eyes, Henry struggled to enter her mind, as they had trained exhaustively. But it always seemed easier with her.

''Apparate out of here.. Now.''

He ordered, even though that part of the Forest was strangely quiet. Had they given up?

‘’Not without you.’’ She snapped in his mind, and Henry wished he could shake her shoulders.

‘’You are more important than me.Get out. They won’t see you, you’re protected.’’

''Not. Without. You.''

Henry took a deep breath and looked behind the tree, looking for whoever it was, wondering what he would do with that stubborn woman. There was no more noise, no spell shining, everything was silent. Which was even more dangerous.

They wouldn't come and just shoot Henry and leave without even fighting. But he was not staying to see.

And if he could bet, he knew it was more dangerous for them to stay there, waiting for them to come back. They had done this once, killed a deer as a threat, so Henry knew there must be a dead animal somewhere nearby.

He would send a patronus to Robards.

'’Apparate to our safe place. I will meet you there.’’ He spoke to her, still in mind.

‘’Do you promise to go?’’

‘’I’m right behind you, Miss.’’

[beermanoftana]

little lady bird [sebastian stan]

a repost, originally posted in my former writing blog

relationship: sebastian stan x female!reader

warnings: swearing, none; mistakes here or there

request (anon): Hi darling, can i request something where the reader and Sebastian are married and have a baby girl so she visited the set of endgame and show everyone his little lady and obviously everyone adores her, like Anthony making fun because his baby girl is such a copy of Sebastian and Chris being such an uncle also Scarlet and Elizabeth 😍🙈 Thanks 😘😘

notes: i really hope i got this good. i’ve been writing and re-writing some parts and although i am honestly happy with how this turned out, i’m hoping anon would like it, too.

summary: evelyn stan is taking the hearts by storm

Ever since you and Sebastian Stan got married, not once have you visited him on set. But now, you were missing him badly and your little daughter, Evelyn, would cry whenever she realized her daddy wasn’t around.

One night, you were alone in your bed, craving for your husband’s touch, when you heard the cries of baby Evelyn. Immediately, you rushed to her side and began to feed her some milk. She was two years old, already sleeping in her own room with protective barriers, or railings, around her bed.

“I know you miss daddy,” you said, rocking her from side to side. “I do, too, Ev. But he’s got to work and so does mommy.” You work as a teacher nearby and you drop off your daughter at your mother’s place during the day. You also liked knowing that Evelyn would be pretty close to her grandmother.

“I promise, when daddy’s work is over, we can finally spend some time together…I hope,” you said with a sigh. Sebastian’s work has begun to take a toll on him. And you were happy that he was living his dream, but you wanted to spend time with him, too. For him to spend time with your daughter. Evelyn needed her father just as much as you needed your husband. “He’ll be back and we’ll spend some quality family time together. I promise. You’ll see, Evy.”

But you knew you needed to do something. And quick.

Evelyn was getting restless without the attention of her daddy. And if you were being honest, so were you. Being alone sucked. And although you loved your daughter to the littlest bits and pieces of life, you couldn’t spend every single moment with just her.

Sebastian was only supposed to be gone a few days for the Avengers Endgame film. But there were so many delays that he’s been gone for two weeks already. That was definitely much more than the family bargained for.

He would call and message and video call you everyday, getting to see Evelyn play and sleep, whatever time he would catch her in. Evelyn would also reach for the device that you would be using when she would see her father. She would call out the name she calls him with and Sebastian would answer with his sweet, but gruff, voice.

“There’s my little lady bird,” he would say when she would see the little girl. He got that nickname when he realizes that Evelyn would sometimes sing with the birds outside your house. “Little lady bird, how are you?” And that would mark his and Evelyn’s conversation that were filled with nonsense, but still, you would record those moments with another device, just because you loved seeing father-daughter moments.

But what could you do to be able to see him again at this very moment. ‘Maybe I can go on set,’ you thought. You’ve heard of other families visiting their loved ones on set, so why couldn’t you? ‘I can get a few days off of work. Of course I’ll bring Evelyn, that’d allow mom to spend some quality time for herself, too. Yeah, I think that’ll work.’ And so you went inside your room, leaving the door open in case Evelyn needed you, to think of ways on how you can get inside the set. You did have one idea that surely wouldn’t fail.

So here you are, at the set of Avengers Endgame. With help from Sebastian’s agent, you managed to get in without any worry. Even Evelyn seemed to know where you guys were, she had an excited look in her eyes and she was facing the front rather than your chest.

“There he is,” the agent said, pointing out your husband. He was busy chatting with Elizabeth and Anthony. They were filming what they said is a wedding scene. “Would you like me to bring you guys to him?”

You shake your head. “No, it’s alright. I’d like to surprise him.” You thank the agent. With a heavy huff, you whisper to your daughter what she should do. When you reach Sebastian, he had his back turned to you.

As if on cue, Evelyn reaches out for her father’s back and cried out her name for him in a cheery, longing voice. Sebastian jumped before turning around to face you and the baby. “Evelyn!” he exclaimed. He gently cradled her face before kissing her. “My baby.” You clear your throat and smile. “And my other baby,” he said, laughing. He brings you in for a hug, careful not to squeeze the little girl in the middle. “I’ve missed you two. I can’t believe you’re here!”

You let go of him and fix Evelyn’s position on your hip. “Why?” you teased. “You hiding something from us, Mr. Stan?”

“As a matter of fact, Mrs. Stan, I am,” he replied. Your eyes widen a bit but he laughs it off. “You’re not suppose to see the ending, doll. How can it be a surprise when you watch it during the premiere?”

You roll your eyes. “You’ve already told me that it’s a wedding scene.”

Anthony and Elizabeth, who have been watching the exchange, take this time to their advantage. They’ve already met you, but not Evelyn. After they greet you, with Elizabeth giving you a half-hug, Anthony asked who the little bundle of joy is. “She looks exactly like you,” he pointed out to Sebastian.

“She does, doesn’t she?” you confirm. Chocolate brown hair, piercing blue eyes..same shaped nose, thin lips. Evelyn was a carbon copy of her father. “Seb thinks she looks like me.”

“No offense, y/n,” Anthony started, and you’ve already waved your hand as if saying “none taken”, “but she looks exactly like Sebastian Stan. Look at that! You can cover the rest of her face,” she used his hands to conceal some of the features of the baby from afar, “and all you see are her eyes, it’s very Sebastian! Very Winter Soldier.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Okay, yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“What’s her name again?” Elizabeth asked. “I heard it earlier but I want to make sure. I don’t want to call her by any other.”

“Evelyn,” Sebastian replied. “Her name is Evelyn Stan.”

“Lovely name,” Elizabeth commented. “May I hold her?”

“Of course,” you said and you hand your daughter to the now red-head actress. “She’s not very fussy. She’s a good girl,” you tried convince her. Although Elizabeth is obviously good with children, you can’t help but list the qualities of Evelyn…it’s a proud mom thing. “She likes you.”

Elizabeth smiled “Oh, I hope so.” She rubbed Evelyn’s back and cooed, “Aren’t you the cutest baby ever? Oh yes you are, baby Evelyn. You’re a very beautiful baby.”

“She’s going to break hearts one day,” Anthony remarked. “And hopefully she doesn’t get her heart broken, you’re very good with guns on and off set.” He patted Sebastian’s shoulder and laughed. “But count me in if you ever need back-up.”

Sebastian smirked. “You love her already.”

“Of course!” Anthony had no reason to deny it. “She’s a very beautiful girl, made by two gorgeous and amazing people, she’d just be as awesome. Plus, she looks like you.” He laughed.

“Oh, she’s such a sweetheart,” Elizabeth said. “Look, she’s already asleep!”

“Shh,” Sebastian hushed, “she’s a very deep sleeper but who knows what will wake her up. This is a crowded area.”

Just then, Chris and Scarlett appeared from behind the three actors. Chris immediately noticed the baby and gasped. Scarlett had to look past Chris just to see the baby. Scarlett gasped as well, her hand covering her mouth.

“Oh, she’s adorable,” Scarlett said. “She’s no doubt Sebastian’s.” This earned Sebastian a “ha!” from Anthony. “What’s her name?”

“Evelyn,” you replied. “Ev or Evy for short.” You shrugged.

“Little lady bird, too,” Sebastian added. “Though that’s my nickname for her. It might feel weird if others call her that, too.” He shook his head. “Nevermind, don’t call her that.”

“Little Sebastian might be good, too,” Anthony joked.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t that the horse or donkey, I forget, from Parks and Recreation?”

Chris laughed softly. “That’s Lil’ Sebastian. There’s a difference.”

“We are not calling Evelyn a nickname after a horse,” you said, “it’s like calling Renesmee Nessie, like she’s the Loch Ness Monster or something.”

Elizabeth laughed, though she tried to keep her volume at the minimal. “I didn’t know you were a Twilight fan.”

You rolled your eyes. “Am not. I just remember watching that part.”

Chris asked if he could hold Evelyn. With your permission, Elizabeth handed the baby over to Chris and you smiled at the thought that Chris was very good with kids. Evelyn must have felt the shift because she woke up. You and Sebastian made a face, scared that she’d make a fuss. But Chris rocked her and she leaned her head on his chest as if she was listening to his heartbeat.

“That’s amazing,” Anthony said.

“You’ve always been a children person,” Scarlett chimed in. “It’s a gift.”

“Children are so innocent,” Chris said, “they’re God’s gift.”

Sebastian smirked. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“I can’t help it,” Chris chuckled, “your baby girl is going to be the death of me.”

“Aww man, not you too!”

“Aren’t you glad that you’ve got people on your side when it comes to your daughter?” Anthony rested his arm on his friend’s shoulder. “I mean, come on, dude, you’ve got to admit that’s already really cool.”

Sebastian pursed his lips in thought then nodded. “It would be fun to scare off her suitors when she’s got a dad and two uncles guarding her already.”

“Oh, don’t talk about her growing up yet!” you groaned. “I want to enjoy my time with her.”

“Pretty soon, she’ll be going to prom,” Chris Hemsworth appeared, joining in on the conversation. “Oh, she’s a wonderful little gal,” he said when he laid eyes on the girl Chris Evans was holding. “Sebastian’s?”

Robert joined in and nodded. “Obviously. Look at those eyes, very piercing shade of blue.”

“Thank you for your input, Hemsworth,” you whined. “Now all I can think of is her growing up into a lady already. Ugh, she’s only two years old, guys! Let her live a little bit more before she starts worrying about boys and dating!”

“Or girls,” Scarlett added, shrugging her shoulders.

“Or girls,” you repeated and you see Scarlett smile.

There’s a tiny sound coming from young Evelyn and everyone turned to see her yawning. Chris Evans handed her back to Sebastian and he, in turn, hugs her close to his chest. “God I missed her so much.”

“We both missed you,” you said, smiling at the sight of them. You take out your phone and capture the moment. “Picture, everyone!” You walk back a bit and everyone poses for the photo. “One…two…three…everybody say ‘cheese’!”

“Cheese!” they obliged.

When everyone but you and Sebastian dispersed, you give him a small, soft smile. “When are you coming back?”

“As soon as possible. But I have an idea. Why don’t you two stay here with me first? I’m sure you took some time off from work.”

“I did, yeah. Our bags are still packed in the van, we were hoping we could stay in your hotel.”

“Babe, you’re my family, of course you’re staying in my hotel, in the very same room.”

You laughed. When your laughter died down, you looked at the sleeping baby in your husband’s arms and sigh. “How did we get so lucky?”

Sebastian grinned. “How did I get so lucky? My queen,” he gestured to you with his head, “and my princess, the little lady bird,” he lifted her a bit. “You’re both so beautiful, so amazing, I can’t live without either one of you.” He leaned down and said, “I love you, y/n.”

“I love you, too,” you said.

[misterewrites]

Annabeth and the First Date

Hello everyone! E here hoping you are all staying safe and sound among these trying times. Remember to take care of yourself and others. 

I’m back with a collab! WOO! My good friend @hains-mae and I have teamed up to bring you some good times and what better way to celebrate the very conflicted feelings I have about Percy Jackson being made by Disney (Looks at the Artemis Fowl Trash fire) then by writing about it!

So we kinda just threw whatever at the AU wall to see what we wanted to do and we both settled on this college style au. It’s not completely fleshed out but the idea I have is everyone are still demigods and they still get trained but they don’t really go on quests or fight monsters until they’re 18 years old because the monsters get more of a challenge and street cred than just killing children. Yeah we just wanted to do a college style au.

So this story is Annabeth’s first date. She’s 17, in college and doesn’t know Percy but they both know Grover. I like to think that Camp Halfblood is still a thing and she’s been training since she was a child like canon but in that one year in between coming of age and not being a target, a lot of demigods go to school as a last taste of normalcy and maybe to get motivation not to die. 

Yeah we just went for it.

So Percy and Annabeth of 17 and they don’t know each other. They haven’t done their first quest.

so enjoy! stay safe, social distance, masks! not optional and I’ll see you soon with the next one. Have a great week everyone!

17 year old Annabeth Chase was not happy with her most recent life choice.

She would’ve scolded herself for using less than stellar vocabulary but between being seated alone amid a sea of smiling, joyful couples and her date now officially 30 minutes late with no word of his arrival, she was not in a great mood.

“Go on a date they said” She mockingly murmured under her breath “It’ll be fun they said. You need to get your head out of a book, it’s not healthy.”

Annabeth scoffed: How was reading a book not fun? Her mother, Athena, prided herself on knowledge. Knowledge was the single most important foundation in life and with knowledge all things were possible.

She grimaced as she blew a strand of her curly blonde hair out of her face, disliking the increasing embarrassment she felt about being stood up.

Her mistake was putting too much faith in the Aphrodite dorm rooms. The self proclaimed matchmakers had been hounding her relentlessly since the first week of college and while she had done a fantastic job avoiding their interest (if she says so herself), eventually they set their efforts upon her single life.

“Shouldn’t have caved” Annabeth frowned as she rubbed her arm awkwardly.

She could’ve outlasted them. The librarian already banned the lot of them from the library and Annabeth knew plenty of secluded spots where no one could find her for hours. Admittedly, though, it was getting more difficult when they began ambushing her in pairs: Outside her dorm, outside her classes, in the cafe where she loved to study. For people who never once did their homework or cared about things outside love, they were surprisingly vicious.

One date. That’s the agreement she negotiated with them though she could tell behind their wide smiles they were planning on multiple suitors in case this one did not work out.

“I didn’t even want to go on this stupid date.”

Annabeth sighed, unable to hide the disappointment.

Despite her better judgment, she actually was looking forward to this date. Maybe it was the idea of finding someone to talk physics or classic Greek to. To have intellectual debates and spend time with.

To not be lonely anymore.

She placed her head glumly in her hand.

She even dressed up for the occasion.

Annabeth was the definition of practical. Her usual attire consisted of shirt, shorts, jacket if it was cold and hair tied up in a messy ponytail tucked under her Yankee’s hat (go Yanks!). She wasn’t at school to impress anyone. She was there to learn and fight off the occasional monster.

She knew that was the real reason she felt foolish: She bought into this. Like everything she had ever done in her life, Annabeth threw herself completely and utterly into the challenge of a first date.

Her normally messy, unkempt blonde hair was tastefully curled and pulled back into an elegant (But still practical) ponytail. She wore a long black dress that shimmered every time she moved with a matching shawl and black simple flats. She had even swallowed her pride and asked Silena (the only Aphrodite child she ever trusted) to help her with her make up.

“I should just go….”

“Annabeth?”

Annabeth blinked, completely caught off guard and mortified someone recognized her in this fancy restaurant until she noticed the familiar brown curls under a tacky beanie.

“Grover!” Annabeth beamed happily, giving her satyr friend a quick side hug “It’s good to see you!”

Grover Underwood was an old friend of Annabeth. They had met when he was sent to bring her to Camp Halfblood safely and they had been close friends ever since. Though between Grover’s job of disguising himself as a human and bringing demigods back safely and Annabeth starting college, the two hadn’t seen each other in a while.

“What are you doing here?”

Grover scratched his goatee nervously “Working, you know.”

Annabeth gave knowing nod and raised eyebrow as she scanned the room.

“The cook” Grover’s voice dropped to a whisper as he hunched closer “I’m certain he’s a demigod. I’m here to keep an eye on him.”

Grover stood to full height once again and smiled “So what are you doing here?”

Annabeth fidgeted under his gaze “I...well...I decided to take a break from my studies.”

Grover looked unconvinced “In a fancy restaurant in an equally fancy dress?”

Her cheeks burned brightly “Grover, don’t you have work to do?”

Grover’s nearly popped out of his head, his legs thrashing so wildly about Annabeth was scared he was about to take off in a scamper “OH YOU’RE RIGHT! Umm, can I take your order miss?”

Annabeth finally noticed his well dressed attire: A nice collared shirt (With the collar anxiously chewed upon) black slacks and loafers with a little notepad and pencil at the ready.

“Oh.” she muttered as it clicked into place “OH! Y-yes. I would like to order the burger and some water please.”

Grover scrawled his friend’s order and bolted for the kitchen, moving with an unusual but panicked grace.

Annabeth chuckled to herself before the loneliness fell upon her once more.

“I might as well enjoy myself so this night isn’t a complete failure.”

20 minutes later

“Umm, excuse me? Is this seat taken?”

Annabeth scrawled furiously upon her napkin, mumbling under her breath about the possibilities of X.

“….Hello?”

“If I carry over 47 and I...”

“Look, I’m not going to stand all night and talk to air.”

The table shook unexpectedly and knocked the studious girl out of her brainstorm.

Annabeth blinked “Wait, are you talking to….me?”

Annabeth could feel her cheeks turn a bright pink as she caught sight of the person in front of her.

He was roughly her age with long dishevel jet black hair swept to one side as if he just gotten back from a walk on the beach. His eyes were shimmering green, the kind of green only the ocean could muster. His smile was mischievous yet playful, one you would often find on a troublemaker. He wore a dark blue collared shirt that was freshly pressed and a rather cute tie with seashells. His hands were stuffed anxiously into his black dress pants as he waited for an invitation to sit.

“I...” Annabeth began.

“Are you Annabeth?” The stranger asked quietly, glancing to one side uncomfortably.

“Yes” she answered slowly “Yes! Did...”

“Grover” The strange answered simply “he called me over. Said he you might want some company.”

“Grover?” Annabeth tilted her quizzically before realization hit her “Grover!”

She whirled around to find her furry friend spying through the kitchen porthole.

Grover let out a frighten bleat before ducking out of sight.

Percy. That’s who was in front of her. Grover had called Percy.

Annabeth knew about Percy for a few years now though she never met him officially. He was another demigod Grover brought to Camp Halfblood and one the young satyr was determined to have her meet.

Annabeth managed to dodge meeting the mysterious Percy Jackson through her busy schedule but it seems Grover had finally gotten his way.

“Percy, right? Grover’s talked about you alot”

But never mentioned how cute he is.

Percy scratched the back of his neck “Yeah that’s me. I live close by and Grover said you were feeling down so...”

Annabeth rolled her eyes “He figured he send you to cheer me up?”

Percy shrugged “I’m pretty sure he just wanted us on a date. I can try to cheer you up. No promises though”

Despite herself, Annabeth giggled “At least you’ll try right?”

Percy gave a goofy grin “For pretty girl like you, why not?”

Annabeth’s blush worsened “Well take a seat and let’s see I can bore you away. I tend to have that effect on people.”

“Nice try Wisegirl but I’ll have you know nothing is more boring than sitting in a class for an hour with no idea what’s going on and no escape.”

“I’ve never had that problem” Annabeth beamed proudly.

Percy playfully waved her off “Yeah yeah, you’re super smart. So you’re gonna be my tutor?”

“Whoa whoa whoa” Annabeth grinned impishly “I never agreed to that.”

“You said you never had a problem in class, I have the attention of goldfish. Sounds like you need to tutor me.”

“So you have seaweed for brains?”

Percy grimaced “It’s the tie, huh?”

Annabeth nodded, trying to stifle a laugh “Really gives it away Seaweed brain.”

“It’s my mom! Thought it be cute or something” Percy groaned unhappily.

“I like it. It is cute in a geeky sort of way. Marine biologist?”

Percy gave her a confused stare.

“Your major.” Annabeth clarified.

“Oh” Percy grinned sheepishly “Nah, way too easy.”

“Too easy because you’re smart or….?”

“I am not smart.”

“I dunno. Obtuse maybe.”

Percy shook his head “No idea what that means.”

Annabeth snorted cutely,covering her face in embarrassment before staring daggers at Percy. Percy put up his hands innocently.

“Everything going well?”

Grover appeared, a well cooked and delicious burger in one hand and a fresh out of the oven blue pizza in the other.  

Annabeth opened her mouth but Grover cut her off “Customer’s choice.”

Annabeth just nodded as Grover set down their plates.

“So” Grover began nervously “Not going to kill me?”

Percy gave a noncommittal shrug while Annabeth answered “Jury’s still out.”

“Oh, I hear someone calling me. Coming!” And as quickly as he came, Grover vanished.

Annabeth eyed the strangely bluish hue of the pizza Percy was digging into, unsure what to make of the odd choice.

“I like blue” Percy answered bluntly “Sue me.”

“I guess I’ve seen stranger.”

“Ha ha wisegirl. Just for that, we’re getting ice cream after.”

Annabeth smiled softly at the idea.

“That would be the worst seaweed brain. The absolute worst.”

[hms-chill]

Mother’s Day

Summary: Six snapshots of three Mother's days across the years.

2005, Edinburgh, Scotland Henry's got his mum's hand in one of his and a massive picnic basket he'd insisted he could carry in the other. Bea and Philip have run ahead, and Henry's starting to envy their freedom, but he refuses to make their mum carry a picnic basket on a day that's supposed to be all about looking after her. But then he feels a hand in his hair, and another taking the basket for him, and he turns to see his dad, an easy grin on his face and his guitar slung over his back. "Look at you, all grown up and helping your mum. Were you good for her today?" Henry beams. Arthur's been out on a set for hours; he's still got bits of makeup on his face and some product in his hair. Henry thinks it makes him look like a superhero. "I was really, really good!" "Is that right? Cat, was Henry really, really good today?"

"He was," Catherine says, grinning. "All three of them have been wonderful. They were all big helps getting things ready for our picnic."

Henry grins, and newly freed of the weight of the picnic basket, he runs up to join Philip and Bea while his parents share a kiss above his head. Catherine calls to them to stay within eyesight as the family make their way out of Holyrood and up toward Arthur's Seat. The kids fall back a bit as it gets steeper and they get tired, but they make it to the top of the Salisbury Crags and Arthur lays out their picnic while the kids pick flowers, Bea and Philip handing their considerably larger boquetes to Henry so that he can be the one to present them to their mum. After dinner, Arthur gets out his guitar and plays, cycling through some of Catherine's favorites and teaching the kids "Loch Lomond" so they'll be ready when they visit the loch tomorrow. As it starts to get darker, they pack up and finish the climb to the top of Arthur's Seat, and Bea takes pictures of their parents, then a PPO takes pictures of their family as the sun sets behind them, and Henry is so happy he can hardly believe it. 2005, Washington, DC Alex is awake first, and for a second, he's not sure where he is. It's brighter than his bedroom, with whiter walls and a window without any real curtains yet. But then he rolls over, and June is still asleep in a twin bed across the room, and the cars outside are too loud, and it all comes back. They're in Washington, DC. They're visiting their parents for Mother's Day, and they're going to see all the places they work, but first, he and June have something planned. He hops out of his bed and into hers, shaking her awake despite her grumbles. "June! June, June, June. Get up, get up, get up. We have to make breakfast!" Their dad has promised to help them if they need it, but Alex and June decided last night that, at eight and eleven, they're grown up enough to do it themselves. Alex has been helping his dad pour and flip pancakes since he could reach the griddle, and June's been sitting on the counter pushing oranges into a juicer for as long as he can remember. Between the two of them, surely they can put something together. When Oscar comes in, he finds the kids in the middle of a whispered, but very heated, discussion about what exactly the instructions on the side of the box mean. They're both furiously mixing their own pancake batter in different bowls. June's looks better, but Alex refuses to give up. Oscar just laughs, and he helps fix Alex's so that it looks right, and then Alex shapes and flips pancakes while June makes orange juice and Oscar makes bacon and coffee. June finds a tray and she puts a yellow rose on one corner to make it look pretty. Once everything is assembled, Oscar disappears upstairs to make sure Ellen is actually in bed when the kids come to "wake her up" with breakfast in bed. She's been awake for a few hours at least, answering emails and drafting meeting agendas, but she can climb back into bed and let the kids think they've surprised her. Oscar snaps a picture of the three of them, Ellen grinning with a kid under each arm and the breakfast laid out in front of her, and it all feels perfect. 2020, London, England

Mother's Day is rainy, but that feels right. Henry writes a card for his mum, and they all have lunch together, but it's not right. Mother's Day used to be a day Arthur would always make sure he wasn't working, and he'd plan them something fun and exciting to do. But now, Catherine doesn't want to visit the London Eye or go to Holyrood or even take them to the V&A. She just wants to have a nice family lunch, so they have one, and Henry takes the barbs from Philip and his gran so that he doesn't ruin things for his mum. She wants them to get along for the day, so he doesn't fight back. He sits, and he's civil when Philip suggests casually that the public might be excited about a new royal suitor, and how great it would be for their public image if either Henry or Bea started dating. Henry sits quietly while his gran hints that he's been taking a bit too long to decide what to do with himself, and Philip all but outright says that he should be enlisting soon. He sits, and he eats his food, and he resists every urge to fight back or argue.

But after lunch, when their mum's back in her room and Philip is headed back to Anmer, Henry and Bea find their way to the music room. Bea gets her guitar, plucking out a few chords of "Loch Lomond" as Henry settles on the other end of the sofa with his phone. She hums what should be the lyrics "I'll be in Scotland afore you/ but me and my true love will never meet again", and Henry pretends he doesn't know the words. A few minutes of quiet chords later, he looks up from his phone to say, "hey, Bea? Happy Mother's Day. I... I know you didn't really ask for any of this, but I'm... you've been sort of a mum for me for the past few years, and I... I really appreciate it. I love you."

She puts down the guitar to hug him, and he asks, "do you think Mum will get better?"

"I'm... I'm not sure. I hope so. But we've got each other, alright? Whatever happens."

He nods, and that night, they sneak out together to eat Jaffa cakes and Cornettos in a courtyard outside the V&A. Bea brings her guitar, and she plays their parents' favorites, and Henry hopes that wherever their dad is, he's doing something special to help their mom feel loved.

2020, Washington, DC

Alex and June are planning on a traditional Mother's Day, one where they make their mom breakfast and she pretends to be surprised. But Alex is mid-pancake when Ellen appears in the kitchen to grab a muffin and tell them both she loves them and she's sorry, but something's come up and she's got to take a video call. She'll be ready for breakfast as soon as she can be, and she'll meet them when she can.

After an hour, Alex and June eat cold pancakes with warm orange juice alone. June's trying to be happy, but her mouth is doing that thing it does when she's disappointed, but not surprised. Alex is used to that look being directed at him after ignored texts and too-late nights. But it's Mother's Day, and they should be happy, even if their mom is busy. So he picks off the thorns and tucks the yellow rose behind her ear, then he steals her coffee and pancakes to put them on the tray and carry everything out to the Truman Balcony, June following him with half-hearted complaints. When their mom and Leo join them half an hour later, they've saved some pancakes and juice, and Ellen gets to spend at least half an hour as a mom before she's called back to the presidency, Leo promising her a nice dinner if she can find time in her schedule.

At least it's better than last year. Last year, Ellen had been pulled away from breakfast the moment she'd sat down and had been busy for the rest of the day. June had been upset for the rest of the day, and Alex had had to try and keep her company, at least, and the whole day had been hard. Mother's Day has been hard for the past few years, more about finding a semblance of family time than about actually celebrating their mom. But they've found some time today, and June's still smiling, and Leo looks proud and their mom doesn't seem to stressed. So, all in all, it could be worse.

2025, London, England

Tradition demands that they invite Mary to their Mother's Day brunch, so she is invited. She comes, and Alex thinks it might just be to spite them. But after the brunch, she's complaining about her joints. She goes back to Buckingham, and the Fox-Mountchirsten-Windsor children are urging them all into a van, sharing conspiratorial glances and grins as Philip talks to a driver and Bea pulls out a blindfold.

"Mum, we've got a surprise, so we're going to blindfold you after a bit, alright?" Catherine laughs and agrees, and Alex looks at Martha, who looks just as surprised as he is. Philip reveals a blindfold for her, too, arguing that since she's pregnant, she's technically a mother and deserves to be celebrated as one. Catherine agrees immediately, grinning at Martha. So, an hour and a half later, the moms are being blindfolded, but Alex is free to look out the window as the ban pulls into a small seaside town. They drive through it, stopping to park near a beach. Henry takes his mom's hands and Philip takes Martha's as Bea hands Alex a picnic basket, and they make their way to a picnic table on the beach before the blindfolds are removed. Catherine sees the picnic basket, and she grins.

"We... We thought maybe we could go for a hike, since that's what we always did growing up," Henry says.

“It’s not a long one, but Mazzy, if you’re not feeling up for it we’ll stay in town and enjoy the beach, or we can only go part way,” Philip says.

“Happy mother’s day, Mum. It… it’s good to have you back, and we love you,” Bea tells her.

"And you too, Martha. You're the best decision Philip ever made," Henry says, and Philip nods, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek, then the baby bump just starting to make an appearance against her shirt. They have a happy lunch, one where they're not all being careful to do things just right or keep an uptight grandmother happy. Then, Martha feels alright to hike, so she and Philip join them. They take things slowly, resting at a halfway point for Bea to play guitar and the six of them to take a break, Philip making sure Martha's doing alright and Henry passing out some of the treats Alex's family sent with him. And it's good. It's really, really good.

2025, Austin, Texas

Alex wakes up early on Mother's Day in his childhood home, wrapped around Henry in a bed that's probably too small for the two of them to share. He can hear June's alarm from across the hall, and he knows it's time. He presses a kiss to Henry's forehead, then gets up and meets June in the hall, both grinning. This is the first Mother’s Day where they get Regular Mom instead of President Mom, and they’re going to make it the best Mother’s Day yet.

Breakfast is routine by now; Alex starts pancake batter while June squeezes orange juice, then moves on to cooking eggs and bacon as Alex flips pancakes on the griddle. Henry wanders into the kitchen, talking on the phone as he wraps his arms around Alex. The coffee's ready, and there are three stacks of pancakes: blueberry, chocolate chip, and plain. Their mom will take one of each, and Leo will refuse anything but plain while Alex takes chocolate and June does blueberry. Alex wonders which one Henry will pick, thrilled that his boyfriend gets to join them. He's not sure who decided that England and the US should have different Mother's Days, but he's glad.

"Good morning," Henry says, hanging up and pressing a kiss to Alex's forehead.

"Morning. Things going alright at the shelter?" Henry's arranged to have moms who can't be with their kids visit the youth shelter today, to love the kids a little extra and get loved themselves. He’s left Pez in charge of it, and apparently, it’s all off to a good start.

When breakfast is ready, June brings over the tray with servings of eggs, bacon, juice, and coffee, complete with the yellow rose. Alex adds a plate of their mom's favorite pancakes, then he and Henry grab the rest of the food and bring it to their mom's room, where it's been Leo's job to make sure she actually relaxes this morning. She'd jumped into charity work the minute she left office, and they've all agreed she deserves to take a break for once. She doesn't know it, but she and Leo are going on vacation tomorrow, and he and the kids are refusing to let her bring any work with her. She’s been working for eight years straight; she deserves to relax for a bit.

She pretends to be surprised about the breakfast as the kids find spots around the room to settle down so they can eat together. Ellen's relaxed for the first Mother's Day in eight years, and she's going to spend the whole day with them for the first time in ages, if ever. They're planning on a day in, full of card and board games. Alex is going to help her grill for dinner, and they've all made a pact not to wear anything but pajamas all day. And, for the first time since she was president, Alex is convinced it's going to be a good Mother's Day.

On AO3

Notes:

Earlier today, I was like "yeah I kinda want to write a parent fic but I don't know", and then the discord chat (especially Gina over at @saltfics) was like "DO IT" and so I ignored my final essay and did this instead. -

Want to support the Hannah Makes Art fund? You can tip me a ko-fi here!

[escapingpost]

Five Things Cho Seungyoun Knows About You

Sequel to “Five Things I Know About Cho Seungyoun”

PG-13

1.) You were losing eye sight.

“Give me back my phone.” You sternly say.

“Can you not check Instagram for at least one hour?” Seungyoun towers over you and any other effort was futile.

You curse, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Seungyoun lowers your phone from above him, knowing fully well that you were right. “I bet you can’t go one day without your phone.”

“ ’Course not.  I have this common case of being a female and I need it for emergencies.” You snatch your phone away from him.

“Emergencies, huh? Wanna make a bet?” Seungyoun smirks, “I’ll follow you the rest of the day and make sure you stay safe. You let me hang on to your phone and you can’t use it for any reason.” Seungyoun pauses to think, “Actually, maybe for your mom, but that’s all.”

You think about his weird proposition. No, the weird part was not losing your phone. It was Seungyoun following you for the rest of the day. You and Seungyoun already followed each other, everywhere. “What’s in it for me?”

“Whoever loses has to do one thing the other person wants.” Seungyoun crosses his arms.

You return his smirk, “Are you ready for clubbing part two? This time, we can invite all your friends.”

Flashbacks of the night in Itaewon scares him on the spot. He was not ready to becoming your packing mule again.

You slip your phone in his pocket, “Starting now.”

And the determined look on your face was indescribably attractive annoying so Seungyoun forgets how to use his common sense for a few seconds and repeats what you say. 

2.) You don’t need a man to complete you. There wasn’t even a you to complete.

There was something off when you made bets with Seungyoun. You had this willpower to always prove him wrong and you always won.

After baiting you with multiple text messages from a certain someone, or the occasional instagram post from your favorite celebrity, it was already the end of the day.

The end of the day usually ended at Seungyoun’s house or studio. Neither of you questioned it.

“I’ll let you know my wish a later time.” You are sitting on his reclining chair in front of his mix table.

“Hangyul texted you.” Seungyoun handed your phone to you, admitting defeat.

You open the text message as Seungyoun pretends to accidentally catch a glimpse while playing with his mixer.

They were merely two text messages, but you could already tell how much, for lack of a better word, game Hangyul actually had.

hey, how are you?

Okay, small talk sucks. its really hot, how about ice cream?

You look at the time it was sent and see it was several hours ago.

“Wow, how desperate. Two consecutive text messages.” Seungyoun says under his breath.

You give him a look because he was one to talk.

sorry for the late reply, I had a bet with-

sorry for the late reply, is it too late

sorry for the late reply, i couldn’t use my phone

You let out a huge sigh.

Seungyoun watches you struggle with answering back and places his hand on your head, “Just answer with whatever, he’ll take anything. Trust me.”

You realize Seungyoun has been looking the whole time and turn off your screen.

"No.” You crinkle your nose, “Hangyul’s too dangerous.”

Seungyoun gives you a confused look, “I know he looks a little angry sometimes, but he was actually trying to catch frogs the other day?”

You half laugh, “That’s not what I meant.“ Your gaze on Seungyoun is too long for both of you not to notice.

But, this was a reoccurring action. Both of you had no idea how to exactly bring these up: The longing looks, your constant need to think about him, and his constant need not to picture you in his studio completely nake-andstoprightTh!erebigguy.

3) You’re not his best friend. He is your manager.

In which, Seungyoun needs to start getting paid because the amount of people that contact him with your name was unbearable.

At first, it was harmless because most of the time it was his own friends asking him if you were with him or if he could relay a message to you.

It was not until a stranger asked about you that he realizes that you were very much available.

“Hey, you’re Seungyoun, right?” A guy who looked like he attended the same school came up to your manager best friend.

Seungyoun nods and scans the almost familiar face, “Oh, you’re in one of my classes.”

“Name is Choi Byungchan.”

Seungyoun looks around waiting for something to happen. He did not have to introduce himself, so he was in a confusing position.

“I guess I shouldn’t beat around the bush. Are you close?” Your name comes out of Byungchan’s mouth quietly, but with purpose.

Seungyoun makes an “o” with his mouth and lightly hits the boy’s shoulder, “We’re pretty much best friends. Why?” Seungyoun watches Byungchan hesitate.

And Seungyoun is only smart when it comes to your social life so he figures out exactly what Byungchan was getting at. He assures Byungchan that you were a chill person and to sit next to you in class next time.

Seungyoun gave one look at this handsome, tall boy and knew nothing was going to happen.

This was not the final instance.

“Song Yubin? I don’t know him that well.” You clasp your hands together, “He’s that guy that joined one of those survival programs, right?” He was well-known around campus just for that. 

Seungyoun nods with a blank expression on his face.

“You better not be joking.”

“I was confused too.” Seungyoun says it out of spite and “just because”. “He seems like the type of guy to date someone humble, delicate, and sweet.”

You smack his shoulder, “Are you saying I’m none of those things?”

Seungyoun sees your expression change with this popular guy possibly having interest in you, “I’m just the pigeon sending you his note, okay?”

Yubin was a little more courageous than Byungchan because he actually gave Seungyoun a note with his number to give to you.

Just like Byungchan, Seungyoun gave it to you with no hesitation.

At some point, Seungyoun knew he had to carry around business cards that had his name in huge letters attached with Underpaid Best-friend Secretary. He would put an e-mail where they can contact him. Maybe he could make your merchandise.

The cherry on top was Lee Jinhyuk. Just when Seungyoun thought your suitors could not get any better, the student body’s president personally comes to find Seungyoun.

“So, I heard you were dating someone.”

“No, we’re not dating. We’re only best friends.” Seungyoun says like a broken record.

Jinhyuk grins, “So I’m guessing you know what I was going to ask?”

Jinhyuk and Seungyoun were not complete strangers like the others, so he assures Jinhyuk that he would ask you.

“Are you having fun play cupid or?” You were surprised Seungyoun would call you at night just for this.

“I promised him that I would ask you before I gave him your number.”

“Is he. Well what. Are you.” You try to find a way to start your sentences because Seungyoun was practically offering every guy out there to get rid you you? Yes, it did make you want to raise hell, “Would you trust him with my number?”

Seungyoun does not hesitate to say yes because the guy was the student body president and a well-rounded leader.

You were grateful he could not see your facial expression over the phone, “Okay, tell him to call me when he’s not busy.” 

4) You had plans. You will have plans.

Seungyoun figured everything would die down after Jinhyuk, but he had the best wake up call when he found out that you did take one of his suggestions.

The part that made him angry and betrayed was he had to hear it from the winner, himself, Lee Hangyul.

“My bad, I thought you guys were really close.” The perfect skin, two to eight hair-part ratio, and collarbone charmer was rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Yeah, we’re best friends.” Seungyoun said it a million times before, but he was more than glad to repeat it a few more times for Hangyul to hear.

Hangyul slowly nods, now rubbing his arm.

“When did you guys even hang out?” He tries to remember the exact days you could have betrayed him to go on a date with Hangyul.

“About a month ago?”

Seungyoun’s expression was calm. Too calm.

“You good?” Hangyul has never been this itchy before, as he scratches behind his ear.

Seungyoun furiously nods his head, “I have to go, but this was a good talk.”

“Ah.” Before Hangyul could say anything, Seungyoun was out of sight. “Best-friends, huh.”

younie: How can you do this to me?

NOT MY Bestfriend: ..?

younie: I was going to make business cards for you.

In your years of friendship, you knew when the conversation turned into one you could not comprehend, it was best to call him.

“Yes, this is betrayed and disappointed, how can I help you?”

“What did I do?”

“You know, you are playing the victim card really well.”

“Cho Seungyoun!”

“How was your date with Hangyul?”

The lines goes quiet and all Seungyoun hears is a soft, “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I was gonna tell you, if it came up in conversation.”

“So, never?”

“It’s hard to bring up the fact I went on a date with one of your close friends.”

“Hangyul seemed to bring it up just fine.”

Just like that, you were quiet once again. You wait for him to talk, but nothing. “I’m sorry for not telling you.”

“You’re bad.” Seungyoun did not have to heart to say anything worse.

“I’ll make it up to you?” Your tone of voice was sweeter than usual.

“Like what?” And Seungyoun bought into it as quick as lightning.

“Lets do something tomorrow?”

“You said you were busy.”

“I’ll just cancel. Its fine.”

Seungyoun wanted to agree because he needed to see you so you could talk to him about your date, but a little voice called out to him in the back of his head.

Ask her what plans she was going to cancel.

He had a inkling of your answer, but for world peace he asks, “What were you going to do tomorrow?” in the best nonchalant way he was capable of.

Your silence was just enough of an answer.

“My god, you have another date with Hangyul?”

“We can hang out the three of us, like the club!” You quickly respond.

“You mean, I can third wheel you guys?”

“Seungyoun, please. You were the one who introduced me to him.” Your voice was soft.

You were right.

And some other people were right about Hangyul. too.

Now, Seungyoun’s board of advisers (ie: Seungwoo, Wooseok, Yohan, Dongpyo) were at a split decision whether or not he should crash your date accept your invitation.

“No, you better not third wheel. That’s so pathetic, hyung.”

“Go for it. That is your best friend right there.”

“When you end your friendship with Hangyul, I’m not hating him because you hate him.”

“Hey, all’s fair in love friendship and war.”

In the end, he was the deciding factor.

5) The two of you have plans. 

“Hope you didn’t mind.” Seungyoun puts his arm over Hangyul’s shoulder.

“Of course not, we’re all close friends. “ Luckily, Hangyul naturally looked for the positivity in awkward situations.

“Of course, he minds.” You glare at Seungyoun and take a shot of soju.

Hangyul chuckles, “Just a little.”

Seungyoun removes you from Hangyul’s side like a crane and attaches himself next to the troubled boy.

You give Hangyul an apologetic look, “Sorry about my annoying friend.”

Seungyoun does not know if it was because you omitted the “best” in best friend, but the caveman had to invent fire sooner or later.

In Seungyoun’s case, not only did he light a fire somewhere, he also learned how to hunt for his prey.

It was that realization that everyone was waiting for and wherever his board of advisors were, they felt the urge to text him all at the same time.

The late bloomer has finally caught up?

Whatever you do, don’t pull her wrist. That is not an actual romantic action and only deserves a restraining order.

Hangyul will understand.

She’ll follow you out no matter what. I know it.

And all of them were one hundred percent correct, so the two of you ended up separating from Hangyul and were arguing in one of the alleys near the restaurants and businesses.

The God of Dramatic Hollywood Scenes cued the rain and the two of you were fighting about Hangyul, Seungyoun’s messy studio causing his insomnia, your social media addiction, Seungyoun’s wet bangs in the rain, and any other petty card you two could throw at each other.

Then, Seungyoun has your back against a dirty wall with his lips pressed against yours because that was the only way the two of you could hear each other in the loud rain. He feels your hands curl on the edge of his wet shirt and he waits to be pushed off, but you tip toe even closer to him.

He pulls your waist closer to him so you two could exchange warmth, but you only gasp giving him a passage to that beautiful mouth, leaving you breathless. And Seungyoun was rude the whole night from crashing your date to making Hangyul drink too many soju shots, but it was your turn to be rude back.

You snake your freezing fingers up under his shirt and onto his warm skin, earning a low growl from him, but he does not detach himself from you.

Seungyoun knew anything other than soju made you too drunk, too quickly so he banned other alcohols indefinitely.

However, the two of you only had soju to drink for the night so Seungyoun either had to ban soju or ban you, as a whole.

But, the combination of you and soju tasted so sweet, so he was going to make an exception for that night.

Final

[takemealivelh]

One Night Stand - M.C.

Part 1 || 2.6k | | Georgia works in the same hotel 5SOS is staying in. || Mentions of alcohol and sex || FEEDBACK IS ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

PART 2

The hotel was always warm inside, the long sleeves of Georgia’s uniform kept her skin hot and sweaty. She liked to step out into the crisp morning after her night shift. Stuffed belongings in a gym bag and a thin cardigan on her body, Georgia’s mouth watered at the thought of a blueberry muffin from the coffee shop across the street. It was something to look forward after eight hours of sitting on the front desk, waiting for guests to show up -mostly drunk- after a night out in the city.

Georgia liked her job, even if it was extenuating at times. A five-star hotel paycheck was not an easy earning.

7 am, she waved goodbye to her coworkers, the ones who were clocking in for the day. As she made her way to the wide glass front doors, Georgia stopped in her tracks when she saw the multitude outside.

“Look out!”

“I think I see them!”

“Step back!”

“That’s not them!”

There were two security guards blocking the entrance. A camera crew was hanging outside, interviewing the crowd that grew bigger every passing second. The hotel had a habit of booking last-minute reservations for important people. Management didn’t believe in telling their workers beforehand. They wanted to avoid any gossip that could end up in a commotion.

Nevertheless, they were often outsmarted.

-

“Hey.”

Samuel, one of the security guards, propped up from the slouched posture he’d been in since the night before. “Are you alright, G?”

She adjusted the gym bag on her shoulder, eyes hooded with exhaustion. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

The parking lot was on the other side of the hotel. Georgia had walked past the dining hall, through the kitchen, and down the storage room stairs. Her nights were lonely. She’d grown accustomed to the empty chair next to her. The staff entrance was right between two shelves, stocked with perishable goods.

Smiling at the older man through the guard hut’s glass, her curiosity grew.  “Who’s staying?”

“Band.”  Samuel reached out to press a button, the thick Ghanaian accent rolling off his tongue. He let the gates glide open with a sweet smile, and Georgia walked through the lugubrious underground, right up to where he was working. “Don’t know ‘em, but my granddaughter likes ‘em. She’s going to the concert tomorrow night.” The older man leaned back in his chair, reaching for a cup of coffee. Thick glasses fogged up behind the steam. “It’s a number and a season, I think. She calls ‘em… 5SOS?”

A lump hard to digest threatened Georgia’s throat.

“I’m in a band, y’know?” He’d smiled across the two pints of ale. A playful yet awkward look on his face, toying with the bracelets on his wrist. They’d been sitting across from each other since the match had started. Man United 1. Liverpool 0.

She felt her hands become slimy with sweat, the reminiscing was too strong.

“Is that true or just a tactic?” Her fingertips were already aching to touch him. She’d slid them towards him, brushing against the skin of his forearms.

The noise around them was nothing but a buzz easy to ignore. Groups of friends wearing their teams’ shirts, downing pint after pint and screaming at the screen that hung above the bar. Yet, neither Georgia or the blushing blonde sitting across from her, had seemed to care.

Her ears grew red, heating up as she replayed the scene in her head.

“Nah, nah, I’m not one to lie. I play the guitar.”

His lopsided smile still made sporadic appearances in her mind. After all this time.

“Hello? Yes, okay.” Samuel spoke into his walkman and leaned forward again. “Step out, G. The van’s coming this way.”

The gates slid open. She heard the engine before seeing the lights of the van.

“Do you always travel in a bus?” Georgia had asked him while stepping out into the night. He’d suggested going to a motel since his bandmates were hanging out in the bus. She was living with her mom and sister at the time.

“Not always,” he’d shrugged, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his jacket.

The night air was cold, the steam of their breath visible with every word they spoke. He’d wondered if she was always fun and light when keeping a conversation with someone she was about to sleep with. They both knew how the night was going to end.  

“Why? D’ya wanna see it?” He’d quirked an eyebrow, cheeks flushed in a pretty pink. “Do you like being watched?”

Georgia had laughed and shoved his shoulder, making him stumble into a bush.

“Hey!” His laugh echoed through the empty street. “Play nice! I’ve still got this wrapped up.”

Two years ago, she’d met Michael by coincidence.

Before she had started working in the hotel, Georgia helped one of her friend’s mothers at a tattoo parlour. A receptionist on weekends, a college student the rest of the time. The guitarist had been charmingly nervous when paying for his newest ink. An undecided blunt flirt.

“Come on!” He’d giggled as he propped his freshly tatted forearm on the desk. Slick, black lines looked glossy under the plastic wrap. Georgia had thought they looked cool, wondered why he had chosen that specific design.

She tried to suppress the grin that threatened to take over her face. There was something about his uneven confidence that made her curious.

“One drink won’t hurt.”

His smile had been devastatingly tantalizing.

Georgia waved goodbye to the security man and walked up the few steps leading to the street. The van stopped a few feet away from her. Loud music drowned any other sounds coming from inside the car.

She wondered if Michael would recognize her, if he would remember her at all. Their date had been fun, fast and frenzied. He had left a permanent imprint of himself in her memory. Part of her was hopeful that she did the same to him.

The driver stuck his head out of the window, reaching for the signing sheet Samuel was handing him.

Green eyes met hers through a half-opened window in the backseat. The laughter inside the vehicle came to a stop.

“Georgia?”

-

Her face was still flushed with embarrassment when she reached the front desk at 10 pm. She hadn’t been able to think of anything else during the day. Michael’s eyes had been so expressive, he had been so surprised. Her name on his lips had lulled her to sleep at 10 am and had woken her up at 8 pm.

The motel she had suggested was only a few blocks away.

“What are you? A regular?” He’d joked. Michael’s smile was hazy. He was a bit drunk but mostly, he was aroused.

They stood behind the traffic light, in the middle of the corner, waiting for it to turn green. “Yes.” Georgia had rolled her eyes at his question. A few cars drove past them, loud pumping EDM music whooshing with them. “They have a special room for me and my suitors.” Georgia turned to Michael, “they give me a robe with my name embroidered on the back. Like I’m the MVP or something.”

Her teasing smile was definitely her best feature.

Michael had liked her. She was funny and clever. Her joy inspired his own.

He’d reached an arm out and let it snake around her waist, pulling her close enough to press a clumsy kiss on the corner of her lips. “You have a pretty name. Bet it looks good on that robe.”

-

The wheels of her chair creaked against the wooden floor. 1 am. The reception was quiet.

Empty.

Usually, when big artists were staying in the hotel, there were no other reservations to make. Security guarded the front doors. The only people with a press pass were allowed inside.

Georgia was bored. Even when the phone rang with an angry guest on the other side of the line, she found something to be amused by. She wasn’t one to break when others got judgemental. Georgia had learned it a long time ago; the best way not to let bitterness under your skin, was to chew it and make a funny face.

5SOS had returned to the hotel only a few minutes ago. She hadn’t even caught a glimpse of them. They’d gone up straight through the elevator, but she recognized their presence, knew the riot outside would keep going for about an hour or two.

She wondered if she’d be able to sneak a ten-minute break. The night was warm enough to be pleasant. The thought of the pool on the courtyard was too tempting.

“Those guys can sure eat.”

Georgia looked up from the computer screen, snapping out of her thoughts. She’d been double-checking inventory and reservations for the next month, or at least that’s what she felt like she should have been doing. The bell boy stood on the other side of the desk, pushing his black curls off his face.

“I had to do three trips. They gave me a good tip, though.” When he saw Georgia’s confused face, he laughed and fished for something inside his trousers’ pocket. “The band, G. I’m talking about the band.”

“You’re close friends now?” She twisted her bottom lip into an inquisitive smile.

“Sure,” her co-worker rolled his eyes before placing an envelope on the desk, in front of her.  “The blonde one, I think he’s the guitarist, said to give you this.”

The cream-coloured paper suddenly held the weight of the world. Georgia recognized the stationary. She’d received countless of them throughout her time working on the front desk. Congratulations, suggestions, complaints. This one did not have any of those inside, and she knew that.

Georgia thanked her friend and told him to go find a harmonica he could play once the band let him in. He laughed at her words and told her to adjust the collar of her uniform. “That ink is spilling, G.”

Her boss had been quick to let her go with the handsome blonde. “Have fun,” she’d said.

Georgia had followed her date out of the parlour and down the stairs. There was something about his energy, rather clumsy and comforting at the same time. She hadn’t met anyone like Michael before. Someone confident, cocky but in a self-conscious way. A daredevil that doubted his words too often.

“You got any tattoos?” Michael had asked her as they left the small building. Avoiding a few cyclists that were crossing the street. “What am I saying? Of course, you do. It’s part of the job, innit? Or a perk, right?”

The six-o’-clock sunset lit his eyes and Georgia thought he was absolutely beautiful. “Well, I’m an idiot then,” she laughed, “because if free ink is a thing, then I don’t have any.” She shook her head, reaching a hand up to her forehead, shielding the light from her eyes.

“And you work there? That’s kinda ridiculous.” Michael pushed his denim jacket sleeve down to cover his new tattoo. “Don’t you want one though?”

Georgia hummed for a moment, “I kind of want one here,” she pushed her red t-shirt to the side, revealing her collarbone. “But I don’t know what I want it to be, if that makes sense. I haven’t found one I want to commit to, ya know?”

Michael had stared at the exposed skin, “a feather,” he’d said.

“What?”

He thought her laugh was the cutest thing in the world. “I don’t know!” He laughed along with her. “You seem like the kind of person who likes their freedom. I know nothing about you but... I don’t know... You remind me of a bird. Is that weird?”

“Yes, that’s weird!”

Michael laughed and gestured to their left, “I saw this cool pub on my way here. Wanna go?”

Georgia rolled her eyes and pushed her hair behind her ears, “you’re weird, Michael.”

Once the bell boy had left, Georgia readjusted the collar of her shirt. The blue-ish feather tattoo on her collarbone was one of her favorite things about her body. She had surprised herself by getting the tattoo Michael had suggested, two weeks after their encounter. Somehow, it had felt right. As if Michael had given her the push she needed.

The envelope only had her name written on top of it. No room number, no remittent, no smiley face, no angry face, no nothing.

Her fingertips felt electric when she picked the piece of paper. She was eager to read what Michael had written. There was a chance that it was nothing, but she doubted it.

Somehow, when she read his words, sloppy and sharp-edged, she wasn’t surprised.

Funny how you look exactly the same, but you cut your hair.

You look good.

Is it weird to tell you that now that I’m here?

I miss talking to you?

-

3 am.

She didn’t feel the water splash around her ankles when a body sat next to her.

“And it is you.”

Michael’s eyes were as bright and as expressive as she remembered. They were kind and honest, and the dimmed neon lights of the ten-feet-wide pool gave them a wonderful glow.

Georgia was surprised to find herself so at peace. She didn’t have the urge to jump on him, to either hug him or kiss him. She wasn’t embarrassed like she’d been earlier that day.

This, sitting next to him, felt right. It felt homely.

The night wasn’t quiet, there were a few pubs near the hotel. She and Michael had the incessant soundtracks to please their ears. She liked the detail because it reminded her of where they’d gotten acquainted.

“It is you.” Georgia teased back. She smiled at the man next to her.

He was definitely a man now. Black jeans rolled up to his calves, his bare feet dangling in the water, a confident posture throughout his spine, a beautiful stubble covering his cheeks and chin, a beanie to keep his head warm.

“Are you allowed to hang out here during working hours?”

His voice was gruffer than two years ago, but the tone to his vowels felt clean. Michael had grown to be confident in a shy way. It suited him. Much better than the self-conscious charm.

Georgia shrugged and let out a sigh as she pulled her legs off the water. “Not really.” She smiled at him, hugging her knees against her chest. “But this specific spot is not covered by the security cameras and I’m on my break.”

“From a tattoo parlour to a 5-star hotel. That’s a step-up.”

“Don’t you play Wembley in two days?”

Michael rolled his eyes. The bursting wit hadn’t faded.

“I think I’ve missed you, too.”

They’d tripped their way through the front door of the motel, they’d stumbled upon their words when getting a key. Michael’s arm was holding her close to his body for as long as they weren’t inside their room. He thought she would run away if he didn’t cling onto her.

“Where’s the robe? You lied to me!”

Michael had laughed as he laid on the twin-sized bed of room 7. The walls were of a faded burgundy color, the thick curtains were closed and they had one bathroom with no soap or towels or shower. Or robes.

Georgia had chuckled at his comment, quickly stripping her jacket off her shoulders and pulling her shirt off, tossing it somewhere in the room.

“You want me in a robe now?”

“God, no!” He had almost begged, sitting up, leaning his back against the headboard, against the wall. He wanted her on top of him. He wanted her to straddle him and kiss his aching lips while he touched every single bit of exposed skin. He wanted her.

Georgia had seen the eagerness on the blonde’s face. How he tried to stop squirming on the mattress. His hard-on was noticeable through the fabric of his pants.

As if she’d read his mind, Georgia plopped on the bed and crawled up to him. Her lips close enough to his ear to whisper “go on, take your shirt off.”

---

PART 2

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[counttotwenty]

TWW Fantasy Season 8:17 Like Being Pecked to Death by a Duck (Act 3)

Act 3 Interior-Lou's office Wednesday evening 8:00 pm Lou sat at her desk looking through the new pages Otto had just finished laying out the President's vision of how to shore up the American education system. "This is good stuff. Really good stuff," she nodded approvingly. "It needs a little polish but the basics are good." "Thanks," Otto said. Then with a smirk "And I mean thanks." Lou rolled her eyes. "Don't start, Junior." "I'm just saying, I told you that with the correct motivation we could get this thing knocked out in no time flat." "I hope you don't think we're gonna keep this up," Lou scoffed. "Just till we're through the State of the Union." Lou looked at him skeptically. "Wait....let's just say all important speeches and leave it open." "Otto," Lou warned, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up a little. "Admit it," Otto wheedled, "you're having fun." Lou carefully schooled her features. "It's not altogether unpleasant." "And no one's getting hurt," Otto offered. "We're consenting adults." "Let's not forget I'm your boss." "Luckily I like being ordered around," Otto waggled his eyebrows. "Get out of my office. Get back to work." Otto laughed and headed for the door. "I'm finishing up the press release on the water standards bill but later on I wanted to map out the Social Security section of the State of the Union."

"OUT!" Cut to: Interior--Sam's Office Sam heard a soft tap on his door and looked up to see Ainsley standing in the doorway. "Your assistant isn't at her desk," she said, still not entering the office. "Come in, come in," Sam urged. "I could use a break." He pushed aside the papers he had been reading and stretched in his chair. "Tough day?" Ainsley asked as she slid into one of his visitor's chairs. "Not tough so much as incredibly frustrating." Sam rolled his head from side to side. "I don't seem to have done much today except hurry up and wait. You?" "About the same," the blonde sighed. "I was just down in the Mess having a snack." "Did you miss dinner?" "No." Sam laughed. "I should have known." "Yes, you should have," Ainsley smiled. "Any word on the Kazakhstan explosion?" "We're still waiting. The sun's up and they finally have the fire under control so hopefully it won't be more than few hours." "Still no chatter about an attack?" "None." "That's a good sign." "It is indeed," Sam agreed. Ainsley noticed him mindlessly fiddling with a velvet jewelry box on his desk. "What's that? Someone's Christmas present?" "What? Oh this," Sam stopped fiddling and placed his hand on top of the box. "No, it's actually a present that got returned to me." "Returned? Who would...oh" Suddenly the dime dropped. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have butted in." "No, it's ok. It was Lauren of course. I gave it to her the night of the Halloween party. And she didn't so much return it to me as she left it on the table when she went back to California." "She didn't like it?" "I have no idea. She never wore it. She said it reminded her of everything that was wrong with our relationship." "Everything that was wrong?" Ainsley had a feeling Sam needed to talk but she didn't want to push him too far. "I knew she was unhappy with me when I bought it. I knew I hadn't been focusing as much on our relationship as she wanted me to. So I did the thing stupid men have done through the ages. I bought her an expensive gift thinking that would take care of the problem." "Sam," Ainsley sighed softly. "Don't beat yourself up." "I'm not really. I've just been trying to understand where I keep going wrong." He flashed her a sad smile. "This is two failed engagements for me now." "It's not all your fault," she assured him. "You're right. It's not. But it's partly my fault." "Have you come to any conclusions?" "Lauren said I changed once we got to DC. That I wasn't the same guy I was in California. And looking back, I realize she was right." "We all go through changes, Sam." "I know. But I've finally figured out that there are two actually Sams. There's lawyer Sam, and there's politician Sam." "And they're different people?" "Very different. Don't get me wrong I loved my law firm work but it was very different from what I do here. I was able to turn it off at the end of the day." Sam laughed ruefully. "I used to be able to leave the office and an hour later be sitting in a restaurant having dinner and my latest case was the farthest thing from my mind." "But you can't do that here." It was a statement not a question. "No, I can't." "It's possible to have both personal and professional success. Look at Josh and Donna." "I know it's possible. I think the problem is that I always seem to find a woman to get serious about when I'm lawyer Sam and they don't like the changes that occur when I turn into politician Sam." "Are you thinking about turning back into lawyer Sam to facilitate your love life," Ainsley teased. "No. Sitting here--in this office--even on days like today when I feel like I'm being pecked to death by a duck--I know this is where my passion lies. This is exactly where I want to be. I went back to the law to lick my wounds after I lost the Congressional race but no matter how many times I tried to convince myself otherwise, it wasn't where my heart was. That's why it didn't take much arm twisting for Josh to get me back." "Ok then, I think I know what you need to do," Ainsley said determinedly. "What's that?" Sam smiled. "You need to find a woman who will fall in love with politician Sam." "Is there one hiding around here somewhere? She'd almost have to be. It's not like I have much spare time to go out and find her." "You're preaching to the choir, Mr. Seaborn." "Ah come on. A girl like you must have straight laced, daddy approved suitors lined up around the block. You're probably beating them off with a stick at the RNC meetings." Ainsley snorted. "But you see, this is where you and I have a similar problem, Samuel. Those men are enamored of Republican good girl Ainsley Hayes." "Not bad girl Democrat fraternizer Ainsley Hayes?" Sam smirked. She rolled her eyes. "Working at the White House the first time around changed me. For the better I think." "Me too," Sam said softly. "When I went back out into the private sector I realized that a) there is nothing as exciting as working in politics and b) those people are never going to allow me to change. They still expect me to be the old Ainsley and I'm just not her anymore." "We're a pair aren't we?" "We are indeed. Like two peas in a pod." "Hey," Sam said, brightening considerably, "why don't you take the necklace?" "Don't be silly, Sam. I can't accept that." "Because it has ex-fiancée cooties?" "No. Because it's far too extravagant." "I thought you just said we're like two peas in a pod?" "We are." "Then this is my Christmas gift to my podmate." Ainsley looked skeptical. "It's not like I can return it," Sam argued. "It's been too long. And it's not like I have anyone else to give it to." "What about your Mom," Ainsley suggested. "She hates my taste in jewelry." Sam opened the box and turned it towards her. "Well that's silly because this is one gorgeous necklace," Ainsley admitted. "It's yours." Sam closed the case and pushed it across the desk towards her. "Does this mean I have to go out and buy you an insanely extravagant Christmas gift," Ainsley asked as she picked up the box. "No, but it means you have to go to the Santos' New Year's Eve party with me so people don't cast those 'poor Sam' looks at me all night." Ainsley pretended to think about it. "If I must." Cut to: Interior-Josh's office "Ron Butterfield is here to see you," Margaret said. "Send him in." Margaret waved the lanky Secret Service Chief into Josh's office then left and closed the door behind her. "We got an all clear on the white powder," Ron said without preamble. "We're not sure yet exactly what it was but we know it wasn't any sort of toxic agent." "That's good," Josh said. "You already briefed the President?" "I gave him the all clear but no details. I'll have a full report on your desk before morning." "Sounds good, Ron. Thanks." "No problem." Josh noticed that Ron showed no intention of leaving. "Is there something else?" "I just wondered if you'd thought any more about what I said earlier." "What you said earlier?" "About women liking...." "Ron?" "Yes." "All due respect, and with full knowledge you could kill me before I could get to the phone, get out." "I'm just trying to help." "I'll add the suggestion to the pile." "I'll make sure everyone gets word of the all clear," Ron smirked as he turned to leave. "Thanks, Ron." Cut To: Interior-Lester's Office "One down," Lester sighed gratefully as he hung up the phone. "Josh says we got an all clear on the anthrax thing. We won't know exactly what the substance was for a few hours but we can announce that it was definitely not toxic." "Excellent," Annabeth said as she munched happily on a bear claw. "That's certainly a relief. Though I was eating all these calories at least partly on the theory that if it was something bad I wouldn't die with salad on my breath." Lester laughed. "What?" "You know...what if you have to go through eternity with the taste of the last thing you ever ate in your mouth. Would you really want that to be salad? "I guess not," Lester agreed. "Of course now that we know it's nothing I'll have to spend an extra hour in the gym every day for a month. Oh well. It was worth it. These bear claws are fabulous. Any word on Kazakhstan?" "Nothing yet." Lester nearly got whiplash from the conversational shift. "So you're not calling a lid?" "Nope. Though you know.... " he teased. "What?" "This whole Kazakhstan thing could be very dangerous. If it all falls apart we could be standing on the brink of World War 3. "Well then we have no choice," Annabeth said grimly. "I better run down to the mess and see if they have any more bear claws?" "Exactly. And I'll call the White House gym and ask if they can open an hour early for us for next month." Cut to: Interior-Josh's Office "Hey, Martin. What's the word," Josh asked as the Mansion Manager entered his office. He stood close to the door, worrying his fingers nervously. He was much less comfortable in front of Josh without Donna's beaming smile to give him courage. "We've got all the lights back on," he started. "I kinda noticed that," Josh said, pointing to his desk light. "All the wires have been rerouted and we don't expect to have any more problems." "Great." "Everything should be perfect for Matt Lauer's visit tomorrow morning." "Good, because that's the most important thing we have going on in this building tomorrow," Josh said sarcastically. "Stop torturing Martin, Joshua," Donna said as she entered the office from the hallway. "Everything back on track, Martin?" "Absolutely, Ms. Mo...err...I mean Donna," he blushed. Josh cocked an eyebrow. "I was just telling Mr. Lyman that all the wires have been re-routed and all the lights have been checked and everything is good to go." "Thanks, Martin. We appreciate all your hard work today. It's really gonna pay off when the First Lady gives Matt Lauer the tour tomorrow." Mark beamed. "It was my pleasure. If there's nothing else you need from me I'll be going." "Have a good night," Donna smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow." As Martin left the office Josh stared at Donna incredulously. "We appreciate all your hard work today," he said in a bad imitation of Donna's voice. "I was just being nice." Josh looked dubious but came out from behind his desk and wrapped his arms around her anyway. "Did you need something?" "I came to say goodbye and to see if you knew when you'd be home." "I have no idea. This Kazakhstan thing is still up in the air. Hopefully it's nothing but if it's something everything is gonna explode fast and I'll need to be here. It'll probably be a late one." "That's ok. I have a bunch of presents to wrap." "Oh damn. I wanted to help with that," Josh said with mock disappointment. "Very funny." Donna kissed on the cheek. "I'll see you when you get home." CUT TO: Interior-Josh's Office Continuous After Donna left Josh closed both the door to the hall and the door to Margaret's office. He took a few deep cleansing breaths. He could do this. He was used to dealing with some of the most powerful people in world and bending them to his will. This phone call shouldn't scare him at all. Then why were his palms so clammy? He wiped his hands on his pants and reached in his top drawer for a breath mint. He sat up straight, made sure his desk was tidy, then picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello? Mrs. Moss?" "Josh, I'm so glad you called back," she said happily. "Let me put you on speaker." "Hi, Josh, " Gary Moss's voice boomed across the line. "Hello, Mr. Moss. I'm glad to get a chance to talk to the two of you together." He decided to dive right in before anything went wrong. "As you both know I love Donna very much. I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about her and I want to ask her to marry me. It would mean the world to both of us if we could have your blessing." "Oh, Josh, of course you have our blessing," Marjorie sniffled.

"I've never seen my little girl as happy as she is when she's with you," Gary added. "I'd be honored to

have you as a son-in-law."

"Thank you," Josh said, fighting back the lump in his throat. "That means the world to me. I haven't asked

Donna yet so I'd appreciate it if you could keep my secret until I do."

"Of course we will dear," Marjorie said. "Do you have any idea exactly how you're going to propose yet?"

"No," Josh stifled a smile. "Do you have any suggestions?"

END ACT 3

[let-it-raines]

Betting on the Bullseye (Part 11)

Summary: Emma Swan loses a bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush to be her date to her office's annual fundraising gala. Killian Jones is that celebrity crush. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost. What she doesn't expect is for him to say yes

Rating: Mature

A/N: Have I ever told you guys how awesome I think you are? Because I really do think that!

We’ve got some more fluff and some conversations and a baseball game. And in the next chapter, we meet the friends...dun dun dun :D

AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

Tag List: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @wellhellotragic​ @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91@branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @galaxyzxstark @lifeinahole27 @andiirivera @ultimiflos @hollyethecurious

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Oh my God,” Emma groans, swiveling in her desk chair and burying her face in her hands, hoping that if she doesn’t move away from the desk that maybe Ruby will get up and walk away. When she doesn’t hear any movement, she peeks up, opening an eye to see Ruby still sitting in the chair in the corner with an absolute smirk on her face. “Are you five years old?”

“No, but I just saw your boyfriend slobber all over you in your office like you two are horny teenagers, so I really think I’m the mature one in this situation.”

“First of all,” she begins, sitting back in her chair and tugging at the loose strands falling out of her bun, “it was not slobber. He is not a dog. That would be disgusting. Secondly, why the hell were you in my office? I feel like you’re never down in the therapy center.”

Ruby shrugs before she blows on her nails, the picture of nonchalance as always. “I don’t have a session for thirty minutes, and I wanted to see your sex glow.”

“You get creepier by the minute. Mary Margaret is obviously the better best friend.”

“Hey, rude,” Ruby scoffs, throwing the pillow she’s holding over at her only for Emma to catch it. “We are both equally good best friends. I am the fun one who convinces us to do things like skydiving or barhopping, Mary Margaret is the mom friend who doesn’t let us go home with creepy guys, and you, my little Swan, are our brutally honest companion who, despite your sometimes prickly exterior, is a wonderful mix of both me and Marg. And come on, how can you get better than being like me?”

“How did you manage to turn that from a quasi compliment about me and Marg to it being about you?”

“I’m a woman of many talents.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She turns to her computer, logging into her account and waiting for everything to boot up so she can answer the emails that she’s sure have come in since last night. “Why the hell do I have emails from people past midnight? Who is working at midnight and thinks, ‘huh, I want to come visit a children’s center?’”

“People who don’t sleep,” Ruby answers, getting up from the chair and perching herself on the side of her desk, the hem of her dress falling over her knees. “Speaking of that, I want to talk about how you didn’t sleep last night and still have this whole glow about you. You look refreshed, except for this whole hair situation thing you’ve got going on.”

“It dried all on its own and when I brushed it out this morning, it was like a frizzy bush. So the messy bun it is.”

“It looks like sex hair.”

“It is sex hair.”

“Ha,” Ruby laughs, slapping Emma’s shoulder, “I knew it.”

“Well, obviously, Rubes. My boyfriend just came into town after me not seeing him in weeks. What were we going to do? Have him sleep out on the couch after a quaint dinner full of small talk? Maybe a little handholding?”

“I bet you did all of that too.” She rolls her eyes, trying to keep her lips in a straight line. “Maybe.” “You know, I only ask because I’m the entire reason that you’re getting some. The world should thank me.”

“How the hell is that?”

“You met him because of me.”

“I got drunk and lost a stupid bet. You just happened to be…less drunk than me.”

“And then I picked your suitor for the night, who is now your suitor for…awhile? I’m not sure if we’re talking, like, the Nolans type of relationship or the Bachelor type of relationship.”

Her face immediately heats and she squirms in her chair, adjusting herself and suddenly finding a junk email about a sale on cars the most interesting thing in the world. She does not want to answer Ruby’s question, or statement really. She knows her answer, but saying it out loud seems like it’s too much too soon. She feels…a lot for Killian, her feelings teetering so close to love that she could easily be knocked over and fall head first in if she’s given the right push, but she doesn’t want to admit it too soon. She’s not sure where Killian is in that whole regard, but it’s not something she’s actively thinking about. They’re working how they are, and there’s no need for her to think otherwise.

It’s like what Killian told her this morning, just before Ruby apparently saw him “slobbering” on her, he makes her happy. It was cheesy and made her cringe a bit, but then she saw the emotion in his eyes, heard it in his voice, and she realized how sweet it was, how sweet he is. Killian’s had some screwed up things happen to him in the past, things that make her blood curdle that anyone could try to take advantage of a man who’d do anything for anyone, and he still has the ability to be that kind, if not a bit self-loathing when he doesn’t need to be.

Not that she has any right to call someone out for being self-loathing.

She pretty much has that one in the bag.

“So what’s lover boy doing while you’re working?” Ruby asks, obviously sensing that Emma did not want to talk about how long she thinks her relationship is going to last.

It’s forev…nope. She’s not going to even think it. That’d be crazy.

“I’m not sure. I gave him some suggestions on places to go, so he might go explore the city a bit on his own. But honestly with how tired he was, I’m thinking he’s going to go back to my place and crash before doing a bit of work.”

“Sounds like a hell of a vacation.” “I have Netflix and food. What more could he ask for?”

Ruby eventually has to go do actual work, as does Emma, her day passing by at a snail’s pace with little more to do than twiddling her thumbs and cleaning out her desk drawers. Some days are like this, slow and steady, something to do coming in every few hours, while others are nonstop, making her feel like she can never get a moment to breathe. If it were a perfect world, those days would blend together to make a day where she’s never overwhelmed or underwhelmed. To quote Gabrielle Union in 10 Things I Hate About You, she would just be whelmed.

(That movie came on twice in a row the other night, and she was too lazy to get up and find the remote to change the channel.)

But the world isn’t perfect so the rest of day goes by achingly slow with nothing to do, and like it’s some kind of karmic payback for her complaining about her day on Tuesday, Wednesday is a nonstop day that has her so frazzled she forgets to eat lunch and doesn’t realize it’s far past six thirty in the evening, nearly an hour and a half after she should have gone home, until there’s a knock at her office door and Killian’s standing there in a suit with two cups of coffee in his hands.

Oh shit. They were supposed to go out tonight. That’s what they’d decided on when she got home from work yesterday. He’d spent the day catching up on emails and reviewing new scripts even though he apparently promised himself he wouldn’t look at anything new for at least a month. So since he didn’t explore Boston last night, especially with the way they stayed in bed continuing to make up for lost time, they were supposed to tonight.

But she screwed it up.

She groans, throwing her head down against the desk and hiding her face in her arms, hoping that she can somehow go back in time and meet Killian back at her apartment when she was supposed to.

“I am so, so, so, soooo unbelievably sorry. Ah, fuck, I’m really late, aren’t I?”

“Well, you were supposed to be home two hours ago, so yeah, I’d say the fact that you’re still in your office means you’re pretty late.”

He doesn’t look angry or disappointed, the smallest of smiles gracing his face, and she wonders how the man who is on time for literally everything could somehow not be irritated with her.

She’s irritated with herself.

“How pissed are you at me?”

He hums, taking a step away from the door and making his way over to sit on the edge of her desk, his thighs spreading out and gray pants tightening with the movement. That’s not distracting at all. Nope. She doesn’t find the muscles in his thighs in any way attractive. She’s also a liar. “Well, I wouldn’t say pissed is the right word. I’d say more concerned.” “Why?”  

He hands her the coffee then, and she notices the cups are from Iron Bank. He must have gone back there instead of going to Starbucks or something. “Because it’s seven, Swan. And I know you like your job, but I don’t think you like it enough to stay here because you want to. Not when you have a devilishly handsome date waiting for you, especially when he got all dressed up for the occasion.”

Killian’s waggling his eyebrows and smiling down at her, his hair coiffed up in a way that makes her know he put some effort into it, which only makes her feel worse. Obviously Killian doesn’t take as long as she does to get ready for a date, but still. He was at her apartment getting ready and waiting for her all while she was trying to understand why her Excel programming decided to glitch and malfunction and make none of the numbers align.

She feels like an awful human being.

“I’m sorry,” she whines again, saving the program and exiting out, figuring that she’ll fix it in the morning. She’s got to fix this now. “What time is our reservation?”

“At eight.”

“Okay,” she sighs, getting up from her seat and straightening out her pants, “if we break, like, every traffic law or maybe just make a run for it, we can get me home to change and then get there in time. Of course, if we just went to, like, one of my usual places we wouldn’t even need a reservation. So maybe if we don’t make it to Sorellina’s then we can do that. Or we can go and be late and hope they don’t give up our table, or I’ll just wear what I have on. This is fine, right?”

Killian chuckles, not even moving from his perch on her desk while she’s gathering up all her belongings, running through the scenarios again. Before she gets the chance to walk out the door, Killian grabs her wrist, pulling her closer so that she stands in between his splayed knees. Before she can even say anything, he’s pulling her wrist up to his lips and kissing right under her palm. Her eyes flutter closed at the touch, the contrast of the softness of his lips and harshness of his whiskers causing her skin to tingle the slightest bit. She didn’t realize how quickly her heart was beating, how heated her face was, but she can feel it all now as she cools off.

“Swan, calm down.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just…I’m sorry.”

“Love, do not apologize again.”

“I’m – never mind.”

He smiles, running his thumb back and forth over her wrist. “You lost track of time at work, something you do all of the time. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just a dinner reservation. I don’t care if we miss it. But luckily for you, I called and traded it out with someone else for a nine o’clock one.”

“You could have told me that before I felt like the worst person in the world, KJ.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have seen you sweat.”

“You’re not a kind man.”

“Never claimed to be.”

Traffic takes forever, the roads on the way back to her apartment seemingly staying at a standstill for over forty five minutes, but they do eventually get back to her apartment. Luckily, she washed her hair this morning, even curled it a bit, so all she really has to do is slip out of her blouse and pants and slip into a black dress she’s had for years. It’s a little tight, looks more like something she’d wear out to a bar, so she throws on her red leather jacket and favorite ankle boots to look a bit nicer. She knows that she has time to redo her hair and makeup, but all she does is flick on another line of eyeliner and reapply her lipstick before heading back out into the living room where Killian is typing away on his phone.

“Okay, I’m ready to go, though I think we might actually be early now.”

He looks up at her then, his phone dropped into his lap while his lips part and his eyes trace up and down her body. A shiver runs down her spine, something that happens a lot when he’s around, and she reminds herself that they absolutely have to go out tonight. She’s not messing this dinner up again.

“You look – ”

“I know.”

“And you say I’m cocky, love,” Killian laughs, looking back down at his phone and typing a few things in. “I’ve got an Uber coming to pick us up in five minutes.”

“I can drive.” “Aye, I know, but this way we don’t have to worry about parking or if we have anything to drink.”

“I like the way you think.”

It’s a relatively cool night as they wait outside for their Uber, so she’s glad that she grabbed her jacket, but they’re not outside long before loading up into Devin’s car as he takes them across town to Sorellina’s. She’s been in more Ubers than she should for someone who likes to drive herself places, but Devin is definitely the quietest driver she’s ever had. He doesn’t say much, just asking how their evening is going while they chat in the back, but she does notice him continuously looking back at them through his review mirror.

She has no idea why until they’re pulling up outside of the restaurant, and he asks, “Hey, are you?”

“Yeah,” Killian answers, quickly sliding out of the backseat and holding his hand out for her so that she can easily get out of the car. Maybe he is the gentleman he claims to be. Okay, so he definitely is. “Have a good night, mate.”

Before they go inside, she grabs onto his jacket sleeve, tugging at him to look at her. “Hey, is it okay that we’re out? I didn’t think about people recognizing you.”

“It’s fine, love.” He leans down and kisses her, making her forget her worries for the moment. “As long as you’re okay with the possibility of people seeing us together, I’m fine with it.”

“I’m fine with it too.”

“Good.”

Despite being fine with it, she does notice how Killian’s reservation is for a booth in the back, the lighting not as nice as it is everywhere else in the restaurant. But whatever works for him works for her, and she really doesn’t have any complaints about tonight. It might be a nicer place than she usually frequents, but that’s not going to keep her from having a nice time.

She gets a lasagna, though it’s definitely got a fancier name than that on the menu, while Killian gets gnocchi, which she definitely would have pronounced wrong if she had ordered it. Maybe she needs to expand her palate a little bit. But it’s fine for tonight. The food is good, the wine great, and even though she’s never been one for fancy restaurants, she finds it doesn’t matter when you actually like the person who’s sitting across from you.

Maybe that’s been the problem.

Or maybe the prices.

Probably both.

Definitely both.

“ – no, no, I’m serious. I won the spelling bee when I was in primary school. I was quite the little academic. Top five in my class, too.”

Killian’s been telling her all about his academic prowess and all of the clubs he was in when he was younger. He played a green bean in a play about how eating your vegetables is important, and she thinks that’s where he got his penchant for healthy eating. And maybe why he’s such a good actor.

“Who knew you were such a little genius, KJ?”

“I did. My entire life.”

She rolls her eyes, taking a sip of her wine to hide her smile. “So why’d you never go to college…or university? That’s what you call it, right? I know you moved here when you were eighteen to get away from…everything, but I bet you could have gotten a scholarship. That’s what I did. And a hell of a lot of student loans.”

Killian takes a sip of his rum before reaching up to scratch behind his ear, his lips ticking up on the right while his eyes squint. “Eh, it was the money, the fact that I didn’t know what to do. Liam had busted his arse to pay for me to live after he managed to get me into his custody, and I didn’t want to burden us anymore. I was good at manual labor, so if I hadn’t found the set building job, I think we would have both worked in construction. I like being able to work with my hands.”

Oh. She didn’t think of that. She should have. She went through doing it all on her own, worrying about finances and how to live, and she should have known that Killian did that too. She knows enough about his childhood to know how rough he and Liam had it for a few years. But sometimes the words just slip without her thinking.

“I’m sorry that I asked, if that brought up bad memories of something you didn’t get to do.”

“Hey,” Killian soothes, reaching across the table and twining their fingers together, his palm warm in hers, “it’s fine, love. It’s not a sad story or something I’m ashamed of. It’s my past, and I kind of like my job situation now. I don’t think I would have gotten it if I’d studied somewhere.”

“What…what do you think you would have studied? Hypothetically speaking.” “Then? English. Would have been dirt poor for my entire life, but I would have liked to have been a teacher. Now? Definitely acting. I’m pretty self taught, but the academic in me likes to always know more, to be learning.” He squeezes her hand before releasing it and moving it back to his side of the table. Sometimes she sees little flickers of darkness behind the brightness of his eyes, but he either hides it well or truly doesn’t let his past affect him too much. “But I don’t regret anything, Swan. I spent too long being bitter, and I’m not going to complain about how Liam and I made it here. Though, I would take having my mum back.”

“She’d be proud of you.”

“I’d like to hope so.” He smiles softly, almost sadly, and it breaks her heart like it does every time she thinks of Killian losing his mom, someone he very obviously loved with his entire being. “She’d love you. You remind me of her, actually, and not in some kind of weird, psychologists would study it, way.” “Well that’s good to know,” she laughs, messing with the leftover food on her plate so that she has time to process all of this. She kind of wishes she could have met his mom, too. Mostly she wishes that she was here for Killian. And Liam.

She may have never known her parents, may not know anything about them, but Killian knew his mom. He grew up with her and had to watch her die when he was ten. She can’t…she can’t imagine. But at the end of the day, she and Killian have both been left, abandoned by people who were supposed to love them and be there for them, so they understand each other. And she’s known that from the night they met when he shared with her that he’d been in foster care for awhile, something people don’t know.

He trusted her from the beginning, and that’s not an honor she takes lightly.

Oh God, she’s kind of thinking like him now.

“I just mean that you two are both bloody brilliant with huge hearts and a quick wit. And, you know, the ability to knock me back down to earth when my head gets a little too big.”

“So all of the time?”

“Aye, so all of the time.”

“All of the time, KJ.”

After they get the bill, she and Killian walk outside and wait for their Uber, not really wanting to walk around the area. She can feel the wine buzzing through her the slightest bit, not anywhere near enough to be drunk, but definitely enough to be a little wine happy. Killian wraps his arm around her waist, tugging her a little bit closer so that she can rest her cheek against his shoulder.

“You know, darling, I don’t think I tell you this enough, but I think you are phenomenal.”

“Hmm, I feel like you should just tell me that every day. You may not need to have an inflated ego, but I certainly can.”

“I’m serious, Swan. You’re a badass. The life you’ve made for yourself, all by yourself, it takes a strong woman to do that, and you deserve all of the credit in the world. And in case no one has ever told you, I’m proud of you.”

Oh shit.

She wasn’t expecting that. Not at all. Not in the slightest. And she’s not going to cry. This was supposed to be dinner, a night out that’s fun, not something that’s going to make her cry. But she doesn’t think anyone has ever told her that. Maybe Mary Margaret and David, but she’s not sure right now.

She’s barely able to even tell herself that sometimes, even if she is damn proud of herself.

And then another thought comes to her, the very one that was teetering on the tip of her tongue that she was trying to push down, and it nearly takes her breath away. She thinks she loves him. No, she does love him. She…expected it in a way, but really, in no way could she have ever expected this, expected him.

In no way could she have ever expected herself to even want to love again, not after everything, but she’s here and weirdly, she’s not scared of it.

Okay, so maybe she’s a little terrified, but the voice that’s telling her to run away is oddly quiet. Maybe it’s replaced by the sound of Killian telling her he’s proud of her.

She turns in Killian’s embrace and wraps her arms around his neck before capturing his bottom lip with her mouth, feeling the softness and warmth that always accompanies him. He gasps a little when her lips move, almost like he wasn’t expecting it, and she smiles into the kiss, not able to help herself from her teeth clanking against his before she moves back in with fervor, trying to let him know how she feels even if she can’t say the words yet, if she wants to hoard them and keep them to herself for now.

For tonight at least.

“Hey, are you, um, Liam Jones, who ordered the tan Toyota Camry with Madeline driving?”

She pulls back a bit when a girl yells at them from the restaurant’s driveway, her face red enough that Emma knows she’s been watching them for awhile. Oops.

She’s not at all sorry.

“That’s us,” Killian laughs, quickly kissing her once more before pulling back from her.

“Liam Jones? That’s definitely not your name.”

“Aye, I know, but this way if I ever get a bad review, it’s under Liam’s name.”

“But it’ll still be under your account. I don’t think that’s – ”

He dips his head and kisses her again, making her almost lose her balance on the sidewalk. “Aye, I know that’s not how it works, Swan. Let’s just get in the car and hope Liam doesn’t get a bad review from me not being able to resist you until we get back to the apartment.”

“I think the bad review might be worth it.”

-/-

“So who are we playing tonight?”

“The Orioles. If you’d come, like, a week and a half later we could have watched the Astros, but nooo, apparently you have schedules and things like that.”

“I mean,” Killian begins, wrapping his arm around her shoulder while they walk down Van Ness, the sidewalk crowded with people heading toward Fenway, even if tonight isn’t a big game, “I do occasionally have to work. Meetings and such. And family obligations.”

“Excuses, excuses.” She reaches over to pat his back, rubbing up and down in circles. “Have you ever been to a baseball game?”

“Aye, I’ve been to several Dodgers’ games.”

“Okay, better question. Have you ever been to a baseball game and not sat, like, behind home plate?”

“Are you asking if I’ve ever sat up in the cheap seats?”

“Yep.”

“Well, believe it or not, I was once a poor young lad.”

“From a poor family.”

“I don’t think Bohemian Rhapsody is really the song to quote here.”

“Okay, go on, go on.”

“So Liam and I, when we first moved to California, would go and buy the nosebleeds for the Dodgers, and go a couple times a summer. Yeah, we could have just watched on TV, but there’s only so much time you can sit in a small apartment with your older brother who was very hot and heavy with his girlfriend.”

“Elsa?”

“Oh no, this was long before Elsa. Liam was quite the ladies’ man when we first moved here.”

“Really now?”

“Oh yes, think about it. A British transplant fresh out of the Navy with those stunning Jones looks.”

“You’re either conceited or confident. I can’t decide.”

“Maybe a bit of both.”

They get to their gate, Emma pulling up the tickets on her phone and scanning them before going through. She thinks Killian gets a few weird looks, but he’s got on his aviators and a hat, which is obviously not a complex disguise or anything, but he says that it works, which is a really weird thing for her to think about. She sometimes (all of the time) forgets what he does for a living, or really, the consequences of what he does, even if that is how they met. But then they’ll be out and he’ll tug his hat down on his forehead or, like the other night, make sure their table is in the back corner of the restaurant.

After going through security, they wander around in the concrete halls, passing by all of the food and souvenir stands until they find the staircase to lead them to their seats. Only a few people are in their area, the stadium mostly empty, but she didn’t really expect anything else. She’s been to enough of these games to know that some games just are pretty empty. But it is Friday night, so as the first few innings go by, the score staying steady at one run a piece, people begin to filter in, the red seats slowly being filled with people as the sun sets over the stadium, coating the Boston skyline with pink clouds and a red sky that would almost look creepy if not for the way that there’s still light blue mixed into sky.

She looks to her left where Killian is holding up his phone, very obviously taking pictures of the sunset over the stadium.

“You are so basic, KJ.”

“Basic and getting a picture of this sunset.” He turns to her, holding the phone right in front of her face in what she knows is an unflattering angle. “Smile, love.”

“No,” she groans, covering her face and letting her hair fall in front of her eyes. She should have never taken her sunglasses off. “That’s going to look gross.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Killian laughs, pulling back and flipping through the photos where she pretty much looks like the girl from The Ring with a double chin and only one eye that opens, “I think these look pretty good.”

“Delete those.” “Oh no, I’m keeping them forever. Might even post them online.” “That is a threat that I do not like, and I will unfollow you. That’s one less like on your artsy pictures of your food.” “Oi,” he reaches over and pinches the skin on her inner thigh, “that was one time, and you won’t let it go.”

“You stood up over the table and turned your flashlight on to get good lighting.” “It was a good breakfast.”

“Sure, babe,” she laughs, placing her hand over his on her thigh. “I know you’re just a basic girl on Instagram.”

“Well, in that case,” he yawns, dramatically stretching his arm over her shoulder and yanking her closer, “let’s take a selfie.”

“Oh my God, you are so not smooth.” She can’t stop laughing, is sure that her face is heating from the constant movement, but that doesn’t stop her from leaning her cheek into his and smiling while he holds the phone up and takes several pictures. “But I like your basic girl tendencies.”

“Good, and now I have photos so I can scrapbook my big trip to Boston.”

“Stop,” she groans, burying her head in his shoulder while his entire body shakes in laughter underneath her. He is not going to make a scrapbook. That would just be…ridiculous.

“Never. You want something to eat?”

“Obviously, yes. I thought about just waiting until afterwards so I didn’t spend the money on the overpriced cheeseburger, but I want the damn overpriced cheeseburger.” She gets up from her chair, pulling her shorts up and making sure her sweater is still tucked in. “What do you want?”

“I was going to go get it, Swan.”

“Nah, my treat, KJ. You can stay here and watch this riveting game. There’s so much happening.”

“You say that and something will definitely happen while you’re gone. And I’ll just eat whatever you’re having, but with a water.”

“How do you know I wasn’t going to get a water?”

He taps his forehead, smiling up at her so that his eyes crinkle. “I just know.”

She rolls her eyes before grabbing her purse and maneuvering her way out of their row of seats, apologizing to everyone as she steps over them and blocks their view. There’s a concession stand just outside of their gate, so she quickly slides into line, pulling out her phone and scrolling through Instagram. Maybe she’s a basic girl of Instagram too.

There’s a picture of Leo at the top of her timeline. He’s holding a sign saying he’s going to be a big brother. She likes it, laughing under her breath. Maybe they’ve all fallen into the trap of being basic. It’s whatever. She likes the cute pictures. As she continues to scroll, she sees a hell of a lot of pictures of her old classmates from college standing in front of colorful murals, cheesy captions with them all, as well as one from Victor where he’s posted all of the used coffee cups in his office. Kind of gross but whatever. He works weird shifts.

And then suddenly there’s a picture of her. Well, kind of her. Or at least her hair. Her face is buried in Killian’s shoulder while he smiles at the camera. It must have been when he was taking the pictures and she couldn’t stop laughing. When she slides to the right, there’s a picture of the stadium with the sun setting over it. It really is a good picture.

KillianJonesOfficial: She knocks my (red) sox off.

Her cheeks immediately blush while she likes it, knowing better than to click on the comments. They talked about how things with them would likely go public the more they go out, and she said she was fine with it. She doesn’t necessarily like it, especially if there’s going to be the occasional person following her around, but she also doesn’t want to have to hide away in her apartment when they can go out and do things like this.

Though, Killian probably shouldn’t have posted this while they’re at the game. That doesn’t seem like a good idea.

She eventually gets to the front of the line, ordering their meals and waiting for them to be made until she’s got all of the junk food she needs (she’s definitely going to have to go for a run in the morning) and is making her way back up the stairs, hoping that she doesn’t drop everything while navigating the small aisles.

“Thanks,” Killian says as she hands him his tray and his water, holding down her seat so she doesn’t do something klutzy like fall on her ass.

“Mhm,” she hums, popping a fry in her mouth. As good of a time as she had at dinner the other night, this is her kind of date. “So, um, I see that you’re stealing my jokes for your captions.”

“You are not the only one to ever say that joke.”

“It was still my joke.” She eats another fry as Martinez hits a homerun, something finally happening in the game. Everyone around them cheers, a few wolf whistles thrown around, while music plays over the speakers and the hit is replayed on the jumbotrons. “But I’m glad I make you write cheesy captions. Aren’t you worried about people coming to find you, though? Isn’t that a thing?”

“Aye, but those girls down in front of us have been sneaking pictures of me all night. I figured it was just a matter of time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, love. I’m having a bloody good time even if this is the most boring game I’ve ever been to. I was expecting more from the team who beat my Dodgers for the World Series.”

“Ah, I get it now. You’re just salty that you lost.”

“Damn straight. I was at the game.”

“And things just make all the more sense.”

The game finishes a little before nine, most everyone having cleared out already, so as a breeze washes over the night, they make their way back to the parking garage she parked in a few blocks over. Most people are beginning to settle into bars and pubs, a Friday night just beginning for most, and when she suggests that they go to a pub, Killian almost falls out on the sidewalk talking about how his ass hurts from sitting in tiny plastic seats for three hours and how he absolutely cannot sit on anything that’s not a soft cushion. When she teases him about thirty-three hitting him early, he doesn’t say anything, stretching his legs out only for his knees to pop…and then to pop again when he settles down into the passenger seat of her car.

She doesn’t say anything then, just silently reaches over and pats his thigh while they wait in traffic to get out of the garage. He grabs her hand only to put it down and reach over to take her left wrist in his hand, quickly kissing the inside of her wrist. She doesn’t know why he does that, but she’s noticed it over the past week. It happens about as often as he reaches up and scratches behind is ear, and it makes something inside of her flutter. She’s not sure if anything in her body is supposed to flutter, but something does.

Maybe one day she’ll ask him why he does the wrist thing.

Maybe one day she’ll tell him she loves him too.

Once they get away from Fenway, the traffic thins out and it’s a quick drive home, Emma easily pulling into her parking space in front of her apartment and grabbing her bag of work clothes out of her backseat before unlocking the front door of the building and taking the stairs up to her apartment with Killian behind her.

“I’m going to go take a shower, okay?”

Killian nods as he settles himself down on the couch, and she quickly makes her way into the bathroom, turning on the shower and waiting for it to heat while she strips away her clothes and tosses them into her hamper. It’s been a long week, and as much as she loves having Killian here, she hasn’t gotten nearly as much sleep as she usually does. She really likes her sleep.

It’s probably the fastest shower of her life, just a quick rinse off of the sweat and grime collected at the game, before she’s hopping out and wrapping a towel around her chest and in her hair so she can wash her face. She usually does a face mask once a week, and she’s definitely neglected that this week and can already feel herself breaking out. So she slathers on the cream, covering herself in the green mask before sliding on pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt.

When she walks back into the living room, she plops down next to Killian, who is watching Live PD for some reason. Kind of weird but it’s whatever. One of her favorite things about him being here are discovering his weird tendencies that she doesn’t get to see when they’re apart.

“How was your shower, Jim Carrey?”

She turns to look at him, and he’s smirking at her, his lips ticking up to the right while his eyes slant. “What now?”

“Jim Carrey,” he repeats, waving his hand in her face, “you know, like the Mask?”

“Oh my God,” she groans, having to restrain herself from hiding her face in her hands so she doesn’t mess her mask up while it dries, “I knew I should have stayed in the bathroom until I wiped it off.”

“Yeah, that was a horrible mistake on your part, love.”

She chuckles, leaning down into the cushions and watching someone get pulled over for driving without a license or a license plate, which is definitely not a smart move. She lets out a large breath, her stomach extending with the movement. Another thing about Killian being here is that she’s eating a hell of a lot more and going to the gym less.

And sex only counts a little. She’s not going to be one of those weird people who says their gym is the bedroom. Like, why are there people who not only think that but who feel the need to share it with others?

“Do you want to get up and go running in the morning?

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“Are you still going to be wearing that mask? Because I’m just not sure I can be seen with you looking like that.”

[mrsmess]

Meta season4 - part 3

Ted Koppel’s big night out - Paris being hilarious. And a little iffy.

Lorelai waits for an excuse to accept Jason’s date invitation. Rory and Lorelai gets to participate in a school tradition that feels very authentic, academic party traditions are the weirdest. Emily asks about Jess, and potential suitors of Lorelai’s, giving Lorelai a good chance to admit to thinking about Jason which she of course doesn’t take.

I love Richard and Emily, but they are crazy. Richard should have obviously have told Emily about keeping in touch with his ex and Emily obviously shouldn’t be jealous about it. And Emily blames Lorelai because she herself is crazy. That’s crazy!

So ultimately the relationship between Lorelai and Jason sets sail through the power of spite, so entertaining. And they go on a chaotic date that reminds me of THIS post.

Rory sees Paris and Ashton making out. Yuck.

The nanny and the professor - “And scene.”

Possibly the best scene in the entire series and the only thing it needed was Lauren Graham.

The interaction between Rory and Lorelai in the kitchen is fricking awesome too. So much fun. “I didn’t cheat on Dean with an old guy.” She admits she cheated, it’s admitted, canon, just fyi.

The irrelevant rivalry between Michel and Tobin leads to the wonderful scene between Lorelai, Michel an little Davey.

Lorelai and Jason are cute together. Yay! But poor Cyrus. And Jason turns out to have a few issues, that mainly adds flavor to the character, but considering Lorelai just sort of goes with it (sleeping in the guest room) it kinda makes me wonder what the point of it is.

Lots of newspaper and Doyle stuff in this episode. Looove that. Paris prioritizes her secret relationship over her newspaper ambitions. Rory is upset over it. Her level of anger even matching the one to come in Nag Hammadi. Then she ends up in Ashton’s class.

The clamor and the clangor -  The church bells are restored. Lane’s band gets the gig at CBGB. This is a very good episode.

Omg Rami Malek!!!

Rory feels targeted by Smiths guy but is jumping to conclusions. The guy calls our girl Madeleine Albright as an insult, like an idiot.

Luke and Lorelai breaks my heart, and makes me laugh. Luke doesn’t want to owe her anything and sweeps her driveway to be able to tell her that. Sucks to be him. It’s snowing, and traditional magic ensues; “Wanna break the bells?” “I’ll get my toolbox.” And the scene at the church! Perfection. “You’re passing judgement on you living together by not living together!”

And then:

“Oh thank god! Carry on!”

Lane shows up at Yale and Rory’s immediate reaction is she has to call her mom. Lane’s secrets are out. Mrs Kim discovers them. Lane’s been lying to her mother for long, since the cookie monster entered her life. It’s understandable, a moment’s honesty can’t change that, but it’s the only way to start. This creates too big of a divide for them at present however.

“If I woke up and you were gone i would have a fricking heart attack.” This is the absolute loyalty that overrides everything else Lorelai has for every other mother except her own. She feels it for Mrs Kim, she winds up feeling it for Liz, but not Emily. Or maybe she feels that way because she did what she did to her own mother. Sort of a compensating thing.

A family matter - This episode really is intended to be connected to Nag Hammadi, through its’ timeline, and storylines. The firelight festival is a day away, and Liz shows up, disturbing Luke’s life further.

Paris is unable to apply her usual brutally honest tactic on her own life and break up with Jamie, something Rory takes by the horns and makes her do.

Jason continues to be a hilarious mess even if he sounds like a surfer when speaking japanese. He and Lorelai takes turns sneaking around telling their friends and families and the latter makes an effort (sort of) to tell Emily who can’t even take the idea of them seriously.

Coop shows up with Jess and his broken down car at Luke’s which leads to a brilliant, but not a little bit painful reunion between our boys, where they pick up exactly where they left off; mid-fight.

Lorelai and Rory find Jess in the backseat of his car and Lorelai’s parental instinct kicks in, she goes and talk to Luke, which obviously pays off: He leaves the key and the apartment for his nephew.

Nag Hammadi is where they found the gnostic gospels - I’m not touching this with a meta stick. Can’t. I’ve written fic about it instead :)

[definitelyseven]

deal | five

summary: when your step-mom unexpectedly offers you a deal you can’t resist, you decide to give her a taste of her own medicine by seducing her potential suitor, Im Jaebum.

one (m) | two | three (m) | four (m) | five | six (m) | seven | eight (m) | nine | ten | eleven | twelve (m) | thirteen | fourteen | fifteen | sixteen | seventeen - final |

The wind was especially strong today. It seemed like on the days you decided to go out, the nights were extra cold. You and your best friend, Minju, were standing in line to get inside the new club that just opened.

“Why is it so cold?” you whined. 

“Hoes don’t get cold,” Minju smirked, smacking your butt. You cursed yourself for wearing a deep v, mini dress that barely covered your ass. Your outfit garnered a lot of attention, catching people stare at you in every direction.

“How is there so many people at this club already?” you asked her.

“The club owner is one of Korea’s top producer. A lot of celebrities will be here tonight,” she squealed. The both of you waited for what seemed like forever before the line started to move and people started going inside. Everyone turned to look at the car that pulled up next to the entrance, hoping it was some kind of celebrity, but it wasn’t. It was Jaebum’s car.

He steps out of the car, looking handsome as ever, alongside with two other men. “Jaebum!” you called for his attention. You told Minju to wait in line for you as you walked up to greet him.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“You’re not the only one that’s allowed to go out,” you said raising your eyebrow. “You have your fun, and I have mine.” Jaebum chuckled, nodding. “Help me get in.” He glances over at the long line before looking at you. “You don’t want me to catch a cold, do you?” you pouted. He stares at you; up and down, before running his finger over his lip. 

“It’s like you’re begging to get a cold with that outfit,” he teased. 

“Please...” you begged again, tugging on his blazer.  Jaebum waves down security and tells him to let you in. “Thanks baby,” you smiled before grabbing Minju out of line. You followed Jaebum and his friends in the club. 

“Have your fun, but be safe,” he warned looking down at you as he pulled your body close to his before giving your ass a squeeze. You jumped at the sudden affection, hitting his chest in response. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be safe daddy,” you whispered in his ear before walking away with Minju.

“Who was that?” she asked. “He’s hot.”

“I’ll explain later, but drinks now,” you said pulling her towards the bar. By your 5th shot, your cheeks were burning and you started to feel the alcohol kick in. You pulled Minju to the middle of the dance floor with you.

You glanced over to the man who had slip his hands around your waist. He wasn’t bad looking, but you didn’t want to dance with him. You grabbed the stranger’s hand and pushed it away, hoping it was a good enough signal for him to back off. 

But it wasn’t. 

“Come on baby, don’t play hard to get,” the man whispered in your ear. You moved your head away from him and stepped back.

“Don’t touch me,” you said disgusted. 

“You’re begging to be touch with your ass moving like that,” he said reaching for you again. 

“Fuck off,” you said walking back to the bar. Minju quickly followed behind.

“What’s wrong? He was good looking,” she said waving the bartender down.

“I’m going solo tonight.”

“Could it be because of that guy that helped us in?” she asked elbowing you. You bit your lip, non-responsive. “I knew it!” she jumped happily.

“Relax,” you tell her while handing her a shot of tequila. The both of you chugged it and slammed the glass on the table. 

“Y/N...” she whined. 

“No...” you looked at her in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you invited your boyfriend!”

“Don’t be mad,” she pleaded. “He’s here! I’m going to find him. Be careful!” she said before walking off. You scoffed, brushing off how your friend just ditched you for her boyfriend. 

You looked around the club and see Jaebum in the VIP area. He had his arm wrapped around a very pretty woman. Her hands stroking his thigh, her body pressed close to his, laughing at everything he said. You rolled your eyes annoyed - every women in this club wanted a piece of him. 

“Can I buy you a drink?” You turned around and saw the man that was groping you on the dance floor.

“No, thank you. I was just leaving,” you smiled subtly before walking away. 

He grabbed your hand, “I’m sorry, I just want to buy you a drink. Please...” he begged. “One drink.”

“Okay, one drink,” you don’t know why you agreed to drinking with him - maybe because you wanted him to stop bugging you. You walked with him towards the bar and patiently waited for him to grab you a drink. Your eyes kept wandering over to Jaebum’s table. He was certainly having his own fun. He didn’t even bother to look for you.

“Here you go,” the man said handing you a drink. “I’m sorry again.” You took a sip out of the drink, before setting it down on the table. It tasted weird, kind of bitter. “What’s a pretty lady doing by herself at the club?”

“I’m not by myself. I’m with a friend. She just stepped away,” you said taking another sip of your drink. You bit your inner cheek, soothing your tongue on the roof of your mouth from the bitterness. 

“That dress looks so good on you, baby. It makes me want to do things to you,” he said leaning in. You put your hand out in front of him, stopping him from moving closer. 

"Do you want me to pour this drink on you?”

“Okay okay,” he said clinking his glass with yours. You took another sip of your drink again. The more you drank, the thirster you felt. 

“I don’t feel so good,” you groaned, rubbing the temples of your head. 

“What’s wrong baby?” he said holding you up. 

“I think I feel sick...” you said trying to leave to get some fresh air. You felt his arms wrap around your waist, but you were too weak to push him away. Your legs went limp  and your body started to feel numb, shivering at the breeze outside.  “I need to get a taxi,” you whimpered. 

“It’s okay, baby. I got you,” he said in your ear. You felt him nibble on your ear, his hand reaching under your dress. 

“No...” you whimpered. “Stop,” you said trying to push his hand off your leg.

“Shh baby...” he said, sucking on your neck. You tried to push him away, but you couldn’t. It was like all the strength in your body was being sucked away. “I’ll take good care of you.”

You couldn’t do anything, but beg for him to stop. You hear your dress tear as you start to whimper, pleading for him to stop. You collapse onto the floor as you felt his hand rip off you. Your vision was blurred, but from a distance, you see two men fighting. 

--

The feeling of something coming up your throat woke you up. You sat up too quickly, feeling thick contents rush up into your mouth. 

“Here,” you hear someone say running towards you with an ice bucket. You released the contents in your mouth to the bucket before groaning. Your throat felt hoarse from the acidity of the vomit, tears falling from the side of your eyes. You looked up to see Jaebum.

“What happened?” you said laying on the headboard of the bed. 

“I told you to be careful,” he said handing you a glass of water. “That dick spiked your drink and you had no idea. You could’ve -” he stopped himself from speaking. “You’re okay now.”

“I-I didn’t know,” you said with tears in your eyes. He sighs moving closer to you. Jaebum strokes your head, gently wiping the tears that were collected in your eyes. 

“The doctor said you’ll be fine after throwing it up. Drink more water,” he tells you, bringing the glass towards your lips. Your stomach churned, not taking in the water. “Drink more,” he whispered. 

“Where am I?” 

“Hotel. I didn’t want to bring you home in this state.” You looked down at your ripped dress, pulling it down to cover your exposed thigh. “Please don’t tell me you were going to hook up with that guy.”

“I wasn’t!” you explained. “I don’t even know why I agreed to drink with him. I was stupid!” 

Jaebum sighs, “Don’t get with just any guy because of me. I’m not worth it.”

That was never your intention. You weren’t going to sleep around because of him, because he wasn’t paying attention to you. You weren’t that type of girl and he didn’t know that. 

“I would never.”

“Good, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said helping you out of the bed. He walked you towards the bathroom and sits you down on the toilet before handing you a makeup wipe to take off your makeup. You watched Jaebum draw you a bath, putting in rose pedals, and soap to create bubbles. “I think the waters good.”

You nodded, standing up in front of him. He watched you carefully as you removed your dress in front of him. “Join me?” you asked, standing in front of him in only your panties. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jaebum said clearing his throat. 

“I just want some company,” you said holding onto his hand. “It’s just a bath,” you said helping him out of his shirt. He didn’t refuse. You tossed his shirt across the bathroom floor before reaching for his sweatpants. 

a little note from jennie: hi lovely readers! sorry for not posting during my usual days last week. i’ve been feeling unmotivated, and spent more time on this chapter than i should’ve. hope you enjoyed this one. :)