#There's a Truly Me doll who looks about as close as American Girl dolls can get to an OC of mine which is tempting | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

0nlythrowharrybeaux · 2 years ago

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Young American - Part 3

This one's a little bit of a filler before we get some real movement in the next part, which will also be the Halloween part! We're building the tension!!!!

WC: 7K

Y/N had always loved halloween since she was a child. However, this time around a dark cloud was cast over her usual plans as her parents were still very upset at her for her recent life choices and she was in no mood for a weekend of lectures. Of course, she didn’t want to miss out on the kids either, her nieces and nephews were the only kids she really liked and she didn’t want them growing up being told that she was too self-involved to come out and see them, like she and her cousins were told about her aunt Julie. It was obviously a lie because her aunt Julie never stopped sending cards and presents or texts/emails as she grew up. They had truly cut her off when she didn’t fit the cookie-cutter family image they wanted her to portray. That was one her big fears, that her parents would cut her off, so she was a bit hesitant to skip out on a holiday, even if it was just Halloween. She didn’t want them to interpret her skipping out on it as her intent to leave the family.

“Look doll, I know that having them feel disappointed in you is tough, but you’re a grown adult who makes their own life choices. They will eventually get over it, but sometimes a little space is good.” Her aunt offered some advice as they had some coffee at the table. It was Friday morning and she was debating on asking Auree for Saturday to Tuesday off to go see her family, but her aunt was right, sometimes space was the best thing.

“Yeah, I just don’t want the kids to think it’s about them, you know?”

“We can send them a little a little care package from the both of us. If we expedite it they can get it by Sunday.” She said and Y/N nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Y/N agreed, making her aunt smile sympathetically at her.

“So, are you doing anything this weekend?” She asked and Y/N bit her lip.

“Well, one of the girls from the shop is having a halloween party tomorrow, she invited all of us, but I don’t know.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because G’s not going and he’s like my only close friend there. I mean, I do get along with the others but it’s not like we hangout as often as G and I.” She explained and her aunt rolled her eyes.

“How are you ever supposed to make friends with them if you don’t hang out with them?” Julie posed an important and valid question and Y/N smiled bashfully.

“Just be nice to them at work?” She shrugged and her aunt chortled as she shook her head.

“Well, I say you go rather than sit here all night bothering me about the shows I watch.” She said and Y/N laughed loudly.

“You have bad taste in TV shows, OK?” Y/N teased and her aunt just rolled her eyes.

“I don’t need that judgmental energy around here this weekend, so please, go out to that party.” She insisted and Y/N giggled.

“Maybe. Or I can stay here and watch Teen Wolf with you…”

“Do not bring Teen Wolf into this.” She pointed at her with a smile and Y/N laughed.

“I must admit it is rather addicting.” Y/N mused and her aunt grinned, “Well as much fun as I’m having here I need to get to the shop.” She sighed and kissed her aunt on the head and dropped her mug in the sink before heading out.

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

Over at the shop, Y/N was going through the staff lounge. Fridays was their clean out day and she took great joy in organizing the fridge. She looked it at as an opportunity to play real life Tetris. Also, she could have some entertainment going on on the side as she cleaned up.

“Hey Y/N, are you coming to my party?” Vy asked, making her turn to see her coming into the lounge.

“Mmm, I think I will.” She nodded with a smile.

“Yay! I’m so excited for you to come!” Vy beamed with glee.

“Should I bring anything?”

“Nope, just your fun self! What are you dressing up as?” Vy asked her with a curious, yet excited glint in her eyes.

“I don’t know yet actually.” Y/N admitted, “I’m not really all that big on costumes, are you guys?”

“Hell yes! I’m gonna be Elphaba and I’m gonna be green and everything. My hubby’s gonna be Oz.” She elaborated.

“Oh my gosh, you guys do go all out!”

“Oh yeah! Most people will go all out at our party, so the crazier and more into it you get, the better.” She said enthusiastically and Y/N giggled.

“Alright, well thanks for the pointers.” She said with a smile and Vy just winked and headed out to confirm with the rest of their coworkers next.

Y/N was nervous, but excited to go to this party. Now she just needed to break it to her family that she wasn’t driving up to spend the weekend and Halloween with them. They surely would be a little bit upset at her decision, but she didn’t want to drive over just to have arguments about her life. Perhaps if things cooled off for a little bit longer the next time she visited would be less tense. She could only hope…

***********

When Vy asked Harry if he was going to the party he confirmed that he would show up and was wondering if anyone else was going. He felt that she would be able to somehow read his mind because he was actually just wondering if Y/N was going. He still was not over her kind invitation to join her, G, and Rosa for dinner the week prior. Internally, he was wondering if maybe she was softening up and willing to reconsider her decision to not even be friends with him. Now that he wasn’t being a dick, they seemed to get along really well. He decided to just find out when he got there, at least he knew that Rosa was definitely going, she had asked him what he planned to go dressed up and he had said he wasn’t going to dress up, which Rosa was against. When Vy told him how “all out” they went he decided that he should at least put something together, he had to own something he could repurpose, so that’s what he would be doing this evening, googling images about what he could potentially show up as.

“Hey Harry,” he heard and turned back to see Y/N behind him.

“Oh hey, what’s up?” He asked her.

“You have one of those fruit salads in the fridge and it’s supposed to expire Sunday, do you want me to leave it or throw it out?” She asked.

“Oh, you can toss it.” He said and she nodded and headed back to the kitchen.

Maybe he would just ask her directly if she was going to Vy’s party? He looked around and saw that Vy and G had some clients, Auree had an appointment soon and was over at the drawing tables, so he just calmly walked through the studio and into the lounge. As he stepped in he saw Y/N’s phone propped up against the fridge with Toy Story playing on the screen.

“That’s a good one.” He said and she glanced up and smiled.

“Definitely.” She agreed.

“Do you have a favorite character?” Harry asked as he went over to the coffee machine, where he would start preparing a fresh batch.

“Rex for sure. He’s such a drama queen.” She said and Harry chuckled, “What about you?”

“Definitely the Troll doll.” He said and she tossed her head back with laughter, which made him smile. She had a really contagious laugh, everyone had their quirks when laughing, but he really liked to hear her laugh. He didn’t feel he was all that funny, but she seemed to laugh at almost everything and it was endearing.

“Good one, I’ve never heard that answer before.” She giggled and he chuckled as he went to toss the old coffee filter.

“Yeah, he’s a cute little guy.” He said and she nodded in agreement, “Are you gonna go to Vy’s party?” He asked nonchalantly. He felt impressed and really proud at his seamless transition and she nodded.

“Yeah, I think I will. Sounds like it’ll be a fun time. Are you going?”

“Yeah, I just confirmed with her. I’m just a little stumped on the costume bit though. I’ve never been one for dressing up as anything. Growing up I’d just go as the pair or sidekick to whatever my sister’s costume was.” He explained with a little smile.

“Aww, that’s sweet though!” She pouted with endearment, “But I feel you… I like Halloween but the costume bit is always hard for me. Like I can’t justify buying a costume I’m just going to use once, you know?” She explained.

“Exactly!” He confirmed as if she was the only person in the world who had that same feeling. “Do you have an idea of what you’ll be going as?”

“Nope, I’ll need to see how I can reconfigure something in my wardrobe.” She said with a smile and he chuckled as he put in a new filter into the coffee maker.

“Right, same! Ummm, do you want another cup?” He asked her as he started scooping up some coffee grounds.

“Yeah, actually.” She said and he nodded and added in a little bit more of the grounds before putting things away, “Saw you have a tattoo on the books for this afternoon.” She spoke up and he nodded.

“Yeah, thankfully. I think I can do it in a session, but we’ll see how the client’s feeling about it, s’their first one. I’m easily gonna be the last one leaving today.” He explained, “Hence the late morning brew. Do you want to come shadow for a bit? It’s a little bit intricate so it might be good to see something like that. I can show you the design when you finish up here.” He offered.

“Yeah, that’d be cool actually. Thanks.”

“Yeah, of course.” He responded and then they fell into a comfortable silence until the coffee finished brewing and he left some for her before heading back out to the studio.

It was about 30 minutes later when Y/N joined Harry over at the drawing table he was at and her eyes went wide as she saw what he was working on. Displayed on the screen of the large Mac desktop computer there was a 64 tetrahedron with some traditional henna elements on its outer parts.

“A little bit intricate?” She asked him and Harry tittered at her comment, “Would you ever freehand this?”

“Hell no.” he chuckled, “I don’t prefer digital drawing, but this is too complex to risk a mistake.” He explained as he continued drawing on the connected iPad and his strokes were the also displayed on the larger screen before them.

“Oh really? I get it though, specially with something like this.”

“Yeah…like obviously I’m designing it but I feel like I’m not really doing it, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that.” She commented as he continued fine-tuning his design, “It definitely has its own challenges and tricks, like anything, but I really like it.” She explained, “I’m also a little biased because I make digital prints that I sell on Etsy.” She shared.

“Oh do you?” He asked as he kept working and she hummed in confirmation, “That’s cool. You probably have better programs than I do then.” He said and she giggled.

“Oh yeah, I’m kind of crazy about all of the updates and stuff. So where’s the client getting this one?”

“They’re not sure yet. Want to see a shoulder or back placement, so the size may change too. It’s also their first tattoo, so I think they really need to have a look before deciding.” He said with a chuckle.

“OK, so it’s probably safe to say you might be finishing this tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” He smiled and there was a beat of silence, “Obviously you have tattoos?” He said in slight question, sparing her a quick glance and she nodded, “Where?” He asked and she giggled.

“Well apart from my dainty little birth flower and the tiny snake I gave myself practicing…” She grinned and he laughed softly, “I just have one actually and it’s on my side. It’s kind of a big piece. The first half was just finished like two years ago?” She explained.

“Oh, shit. When did you start work on it?” He asked as he kept drawing.

“Right when I turned 18.” His eyes widened as she said that.

“Jesus! What took so long? Were you being a wuss?” He teased with a smirk and she scoffed.

“No. I mean, I was 18 when I started, Harry! I worked part-time at a Nordstrom and wasn’t a great sales associate so I was a little low on commission, hence low on funds. Then, I came out here for school and again, only worked part time on the campus. And then I started interning at my old job and they paid me less than when I was working on the campus so I just didn’t have the funds to complete it as quickly as I wanted. All my extra money was going to that, it was my birthday present to myself for those four years.” She explained and he hummed in understanding.

“Well, any plans for finishing it?”

“Yeah, of course. But I’m broke again so we’ll see when I get a chance to start it up again. Also had some creative differences with the artist who used to tattoo me, she’s also back in central cal as well, so it might be a while.” She giggled.

“You know, any of us can and probably would tattoo you for free, right?” He mentioned with a smile but he stayed focused on his task at hand and she sighed.

“It wouldn’t feel right…Especially now that I know what goes into it.” She giggled.

“It’s not like we’re always giving away free tattoos.” He said with a grin, “Or at least most of us…” he teased and she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, whatever.” She mumbled with a grin and he chuckled, “Well, I’ll come back over when your client gets here.”

“Yeah. You can make the stencil when they decide on a size. Sound good?” He asked and she smiled and nodded. He was trusting her with a stencil for one of his clients? Old Harry wouldn’t even let her breathe in their direction.

“Yeah, cool. Ummm, thank you.” She hummed still quite awestruck and headed off to see if Rosa needed help with anything. Auree came up to Harry to see what he was doing.

“Oh, that’s sick.”

“Thanks.” He smiled.

“How’s Y/N doing?”

“Good. Yeah, really good.” He reported, “We’ve been focusing on blackwork and traditional/neo-traditional stuff with color the past month. She’s really good at the fine line stuff, we got through all that quickly. She’s really comfortable with that since a lot of the walk-ins get little things like that.” He explained and Auree nodded, “And well traditional, she’s got it down now too. I think next we need to work on color a bit more though. Just color gradients and which needles are better for what and all of those technicalities of the style. She’s doing alright with it, but she’s a bit shy.” He explained and Auree nodded, “I think we need to have her working on slightly bigger pieces so that she really masters the shading portion at different scales.”

“Alright. Is there anything you see her gravitating towards or that she’s maybe not all that interested in?” Auree asked.

“Again, she’s really good with the fine lines and giving things that old fashioned textbook / vintage aesthetic, it’s pretty sick. She also likes the black and grey more. But I see her doing well with blackwork, Japanese, and the neo-traditional stuff.” He explained, “But again, with the latter she tends to be shy with the colors, so that’s why I want to work with her on that next. She mentioned that she gets a little nervous about bigger realism pieces, tribal, and cartoon styles though. That’s why I’m having her shadow for this piece I’m doing later.” He said looking down at the print he had and Auree nodded.

“OK, good. Has she tried any bigger realism on the mats?”

“No. I do see some of that in her portfolio and sometimes just when she sketches, but she hasn’t put it down onto a practice piece yet. I’ve seen her do tiny ones, like little animals and stuff on the mats and they’re fucking good. S’why I think we need to start increasing the scale at which she can work.”

“Well, I’m impressed she’s picking up multiple styles quickly. So this is what I’d like to see in the next few weeks. If you can maybe make up some tests to make sure she’s using the correct needles and inks for certain styles or techniques that’d be good. Definitely work on the color thing. I would also like you to have her draw about ten new designs, two small, six medium, and 2 medium/large sized in the styles she has down and we can have her post them and we can also post them on the shop’s instagram and have her tattoo them on clients to show mastery of the styles.” Auree instructed.

“OK, yeah sick. I’ll let her know later.” He assured with a proud smile.

“Perfect. Thanks, H.” Auree smiled and headed off towards the front, her client would be arriving soon.

When Harry’s client, Ria, arrived later in the afternoon Y/N walked them back to Harry’s station and she sat there listening attentively as Harry discussed the sizing options he thought would be good depending on their preferred placement. The client eventually chose the size that would go best on their back because they thought it would be a little less painful than their shoulder. With that, Y/N went off to make the stencil while Harry supervised and the client went back to the front of house/waiting area. With an OK from Ria after showing them the stencil it was time to start tattooing. Harry instructed Ria to get comfortable, so that’s what they did.

Being so experienced, he could still successfully tattoo Ria if they were to be in an unconventional position. But thankfully they decided to just lay on their stomach for it.

Y/N warned Ria that she was about to roll up the back part of their bandeau that was covering their chest and Ria just nodded in acknowledgement. Once that was out of the way Harry quickly laid down the stencil, pressed it down for a few seconds, and then peeled it carefully. As Y/N looked over the design on Ria’s skin she noticed something as he started getting his machine sorted to start.

Y/N stopped him and discretely pointed out to Harry that the client had a pimple in a spot where Harry needed to go over with the needle and he frowned as he squinted a bit to see that Y/N was right. So that led to Harry tactfully bringing this up to Ria and what issues could arise from this: the most obvious being bacteria spread, which possibly meant more acne appearing down the line or worst case an infection. This also meant more pain if the surrounding area was tender. And then he gave Ria the option of either changing the placement to the shoulder if they wanted to get tattooed today or they could reschedule for when the spot was gone if they were really set on the back placement. Harry was very thorough and kind as he explained these things to them, being that this was Ria’s first tattoo and ultimately, the client wanted to know his opinion on what other placement they could use on their back. So Harry wiped down the current outline and then talked about other possibilities with Ria over at the mirror.

Just looking at Ria’s face, Y/N could see that they didn’t seem all that convinced about changing the placement. So as they both headed back to Harry’s station Ria sighed with a frown on their face.

“I really like the original placement. I mean, I know you’ll do a good job regardless of where it I get it, but I don’t know if I want to switch it.” Ria explained to Harry apologetically.

“Hey, it’s your tattoo. You have to be convinced and like where it’s at. I’m alright with whatever you decide.” He assured with a smile and Y/N felt so bad now. What if he got mad at her again over this? She couldn’t help but think that as Ria thought it over for another moment.

“I feel so bad though. You already blocked off your time for this and if I had known that was going to be an issue I would have called before coming. I didn’t know it would mean you couldn’t tattoo me. I figured you’d skip it and ask me to come back another time.” Ria said with a frown and then a slight chuckle, which also caused Harry and Y/N to chuckle along with them.

“It’s cool, Ria, this is your first tattoo how would you have even known that?” He asked and Ria just shrugged and he smiled at them, “Don’t change it because of me. You have to be happy with it and if you’re not gonna be happy with the tattoo in a different place then we can wait.” He assured with a smile.

“OK, thank you so much for understanding. Again, I’m so sorry for this. But maybe when I come back I can bring my sister to hold my hand. She wanted to come but she couldn’t make it today.” They said looking to Harry and then to Y/N with a smile.

“Yeah! See, it’s not all that bad. You can have her be here as well.” He assured Ria before they slipped their top back on, “Rosa, the girl up front, can help you reschedule to whenever you think is best. I don’t believe I have any appointments for next week yet, so you have plenty of options that will work for you and your sister. Your deposit will still be held though, I hope that’s alright?” He asked and Ria assured him it was fine with a nod.

“Thank you again. And it was good to meet you. I’ll see you next week hopefully.” They said and Harry nodded and waved once more before Ria walked through the curtains and then he turned to Y/N.

“Good catch. I didn’t even see that.” He admitted to her as he sat on his stool presumably to start to tear down his set up.

“You’re not angry at me?” She asked and he looked up to her with a puzzled look on his face.

“Love- Y/N, sorry.” he corrected himself quickly but it completely threw her off, “Why would I be angry at you for a client having a spot on their back?” He asked.

“Well…” she giggled nervously, she had no other response because her brain was still processing “love”. This was a normal term of endearment for British people though. Love, darling, poppet, pet… force of habit. She thought to herself.

“God, I’ve traumatized you, haven’t I?” He asked with a pout as he shook his head, “I’m sorry.” He apologized as he looked at her.

“Don’t be, it’s alright. I just thought you’d be upset that you lost your tattoo for the day.”

“Are you sure it’s not trauma?” He asked with a bashful chuckle, “I know that I was a huge prick, but I don’t recall every instance in which I was a prick to you, so I’m just checking.” He added and she nodded.

“Yeah, I promise it’s not trauma.” She assured.

“Alright.” He smiled. Just then Rosa hurried in to see if Harry could possibly talk to a walk-in client and he nodded.

“I can clear Ria’s stuff up, you go.” She assured him.

“Thanks.” He smiled a very pretty and genuine smile that started to make a wave of warmth rush up to her face, so she just turned away quickly and got to clearing the stencils and gloves he had left at his station.

The day was finally at an end and only she, Harry, and Auree were left. It was the end of the month so Auree needed to stay later than usual to do some of the bookkeeping. Harry was still around because his walk-in ended up being a pretty decent sized piece and so he was just wrapping up. Y/N was waiting to ring the guy up and then get to cleaning up after him. Finally, he finished and the man was gone with a satisfied smile and a wave to her as she locked up behind him. She grabbed whatever cash was in the register to go take to Auree and then the tip the client had left for Harry.

“Hey Harry, from Pete.” She said extending a $50 bill to him.

“Oh shit! Thank Pete!” He joked and she giggled.

“Yeah.” She smiled, “Let me take this to Auree and then I’ll come back to clean up your stat-”

“Hey Y/N, do you have a minute?” Auree asked as she came into the studio and looked between her and Harry for a moment.

“I was about to take this to you and then clean up the station.” She said signaling with her thumb.

“I can clean my own station.” Harry said to Y/N.

“Have you been able to have that talk with her yet?” Auree asked him and Harry shook his head.

“Alright, good. C’mon, missy.” Auree said with a smile and Y/N suddenly felt extremely sick and nervous as they walked off and to Auree’s office, “Sorry if that sounded menacing I promise it’s not.” She assured Y/N, who now felt like she could breathe a little easier as Auree pushed the door shut. She then took the cash from her and set it on her desk before she leaned back as Y/N took a seat.

“OK, thank god.” She exhaled in relief.

“Yeah, you’re good. I did want to have a talk with you about something though.” She said and Y/N nodded, “Harry’s been in charge of all of your training and all that good stuff, how’s it going? How are you feeling?” Auree asked.

“I feel good. Obviously, there are a couple things I’m still getting the hang of, but overall I think it’s been going well.” She assured and Auree bit her lip for a moment.

“OK, great. I only ask because it was brought to my attention that maybe there were some big clashes between you and Harry.” She said and Y/N sighed as her nerves started to prick up, “I personally haven’t seen anything that concerns me but others around the shop have and before I have him delve deeper with you I wanted to hear from you about what could be going on.” She said more seriously and Y/N sighed again and shook her head.

“Honestly, there were big issues between Harry and I at the start. I think we just got off on the wrong foot or something.” She explained.

“You know that you can always talk about anything with me. I want to make sure that you’re all happy and that everyone’s getting along.” She said with a small frown.

“I was worried at first to say anything because well, he’s already an established artist and I’m just the apprentice and figured that the obvious choice would be to keep him over me and-”

“Oh my god, Y/N!” Auree frowned, “Just an apprentice? You’re apprenticing because Eddie wants you to be a permanent part of the team and he believes you can. We all do! You’re a very valued member of this team just as you are right now.” She said and Y/N smiled in relief.

“I’m sorry. I know, I was just nervous.” She said again.

“Don’t apologize. I can imagine that it’s tough to voice any concerns when you feel that you’re at a disadvantage. But you’re really not, you’re an essential part of the team. Is working with Harry an issue?” Auree asked and Y/N shook her head quickly.

“Not at all! Harry actually had a chat with me and apologized for everything that had happened. It was mostly just antagonizations and little petty remarks here and there and he took responsibility and I forgave him and we’ve been really good.” She said with a confident smile.

“Are you sure?” Auree questioned.

“Yeah, I promise. Last week G and Rosa went out to dinner and I invited him to eat with us and he did. It helped a lot with breaking the ice for work.” She said with a smile and Auree smiled too.

“I’m glad to hear that. I know Harry can be a little moody, but honestly it’s not OK that he did that. Do you want me to have a chat with him?” She asked.

“No, it’s water under the bridge. I think he still feels bad about everything and I get why he’s been moody and on edge. He practically uprooted his whole life for this and it’s been slow and it must be so hard and different for him.” She explained, “I don’t want to make him feel like I’m still upset with him and that he didn’t do enough to make up for what was going on before.” She said and Auree nodded in understanding.

“OK. And the person who told me, they just wanted to make sure you were alright. They did let me know that it could be nothing by now, but they just wanted to make sure.”

“I understand. But yeah, there are no hard feelings.” she assured Auree.

“Excellent. That was all, I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to continue working with him if things weren’t going well.”

“Thank you for checking. I truly appreciate it, Auree.” Y/N expressed her gratitude.

“Of course. And seriously, if anything ever happens that upsets you or even just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, please know that I’m here for you and that you are a Y/Nued member of our team, like everyone else who is here. That’s all.” She said with a smile.

“Thanks.” Y/N smiled as she stood, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Auree.”

“See ya.” She grinned as she walked her to the door and said one final good night and Y/N went to the lounge to grab her things and headed out through the back door. As she opened it up she saw that Harry was leaning on his car while scrolling through his phone and upon hearing the door he looked up.

“Hey, you’re still here?” Y/N asked.

“Yeah, I wanted to catch you before you left.” He said as he slipped his phone in his pocket, “Did Auree tell you about the training plan?” She shook her head.

“She ummm…” Y/N looked to the ground and then up at Harry, “Someone told her about our problems from before. She just wanted to know what happened and wanted to see if I still wanted you to train me and keep working with me. Also wanted to know if she needed to have a talk with you.” Y/N was honest with him. She didn’t want him to think that she was plotting behind his back or talking shit about him in case Auree still brought something up to him.

“Oh…” Harry mumbled and looked away from her.

“Yeah, it was a little awkward. I’m not sure who said what to her, but she kind of knew things weren’t good. I just want to let you know that I was honest with her, told her that we had a few squabbles and that there was tension but that you talked things over with me and we hashed it out. I just wanted to tell you what I told her in case she still decides to talk to you about it, but ummm, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.” Y/N said and Harry nodded with a small smile.

“OK, thanks for clearing that up.”

“No worries. I was kind of wanting to let her ream your ass, but eh…”

“Dick.” He chuckled and she giggled, “Well I might as well just tell you what I thought she was gonna tell you. She asked me for updates on your training and everything and ummm, i-if you want to continue working with me, Auree gave me the go-ahead on a few things I had in mind?”

“Yeah, I also told her I would like to continue working with you. By the way.” She added and he smiled.

“Good. That’s good.” He grinned, “So, I really want to focus on color next. I see in your practice pieces that there needs to be better gradients and you’re a bit timid with it.” She nodded, “We can also make sure you learn what needles are best for what techniques with colors and shading. I know you’ve been practicing on the fake skin with whatever, but it’s important you learn about the needles. The right tools can take a tattoo from great to outstanding.” He said and she smiled.

“OK, definitely.” She agreed.

“And we talked about some of the styles that you’ve excelled at and I mentioned that I wanted to see you practice bigger pieces and Auree has given the go-ahead for you to draw up ten new designs, 6 medium sized, two small, and two med/large for you to tattoo on clients.”

“No way?!” She squealed in excitement and he laughed along as she spun in a circle, “That’s sick! Thank you, Harry!” She beamed at him and he shook his head.

“Nah, you deserve it. You’re doing really well.” He assured and she smiled and then bit her lip with an excited look, “What?” He asked.

“Just a thought…would you say that Ian’s tattoo idea is large-ish sized?” She inquired with a grin and he let his head fall back in laughter.

“Not at all! He wanted his whole damn leg, no?” He recalled and she giggled and nodded, "But hey, maybe if you give him a call you can convince him to change placement or just to make it a little smaller.” He suggested.

“You don’t think I can do it how he wants?” She asked.

“No, you can definitely do it. I have no doubt about that! But it’s more of a money thing.” He explained.

“Right, duh. I forget I’m doing this all for free.” She giggled.

“Well, not just for the shop, but for you as well. That’ll easily be a 6-9 hour piece depending on how well he can take it since it was going to be his first.” He reminded and she hummed.

“You’re right… it was his first!” She recalled, “Well someday…” she shrugged and he chuckled and nodded.

“Exactly. And well, that was the news!” He said and she smiled.

“Definitely was great news, I can’t wait. I’m gonna start tonight! See you tomorrow!” She said excitedly as she rushed to her car and he chuckled, she was so eager.

“Alright, you do that! See you tomorrow!” He called as she unlocked her car and waved once more before settling inside and taking off. He then got in his car and bit his lip as he thought about the way she was so sweet. How despite their challenges she still wanted to work with him. If this was her “not being friends with him” then what kind of heaven-on-earth type of thing did she reserve for her friends. Harry found her attractive as it was, but seeing this side of her made him even more attracted to her and he didn’t want to drive himself down that path. He couldn’t. He needed to be good and not complicate or mess things up.

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

As Y/N sat in her bed under the covers, but propped up against the headboard with plenty of pillows behind her she kept hearing Harry’s voice uttering out “love” to her. She bit her lip as she continued to draw on her iPad, but it was on loop in her mind. She didn’t know where exactly this tingly feeling in her tummy came from, but she couldn’t ward it off. Maybe she felt flustered by him because she was finally getting to see a nicer side to him and she had never heard that term of endearment so causally before? Either way, she tried to keep drawing until it just plagued her mind so much that her creativity was being used to conjure up the memory again in her head. And with that, she decided to just go to bed.

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

Saturday was going to be a short day at the shop, they were going to close early because G was out, Vy was also out making arrangements for her party, and Auree was not going to return after her lunch break as she had to pick up her nieces from a school halloween party at 2pm and would need to watch them until their mother got off work at 7pm. She was telling everyone that five hours was too long for two children under the age of 9 to be in a tattoo shop and well it was true. Kids were a bit nosy and easily bored, they could get into things they weren’t meant to get into and get hurt, so it was best to just watch them elsewhere.

After Auree left it was just Harry and her on walk-ins with Rosa running everything up front - they would close at 5pm instead of the usual 9pm time - well actually on weekends it was midnight and every weekend they’d rotate who got to stay on that late. Y/N never got picked because she was only required to be there during the weekdays before opening to set up and during prime business hours. But she had come in on weekends before, it was just fun to be around and help out with other things as well.

They did have a few walk-ins during the afternoon, but she mostly spent her day working on her new designs and having Rosa and Harry look them over every now and again. The last couple hours were very slow and so they were hanging out in the front of the shop with Rosa and talking about what they would be going to Vy’s party as.

“What do you two mean you don’t know?!” Rosa gasped in shock after learning that neither Harry nor Y/N had a costume planned yet.

“It’ll be fine.” Harry assured Rosa.

“What’re you going as?” She asked Rosa.

“I’m gonna be Tokyo from Money Heist! I have the red jumpsuit and mask and all! I’ve been told I’m kind of her doppelgänger.” Rosa said with a grin.

“I’ve no idea what that is.” Harry said and Rosa rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, you’ll see though.” She said to him as Y/N giggled along as she stuck to her drawing. Harry wandered over and glanced down at her iPad to see what she was working on.

“I’m perfecting the jaguar from last time.” She said and he hummed, “It’ll be a good piece to practice color.” She explained as she looked up at him briefly.

“Yeah, actually. It’s sick.” He smiled, “Good job.”

“Thank you.” She responded with a pleased little grin, “So are we gonna see you loosen up a little tonight?” She teased and he chuckled.

“I’d say I’m pretty relaxed already.” Harry defended.

“Hardly.” Rosa cut in with a laugh and Y/N giggled along, “You worry too much, Harry! Just have fun tonight. Get drunk, make out with a stranger, get a new tattoo!” She said and Y/N giggled as Rosa spoke.

“Are those your plans for the evening then?” He asked with a grin.

“Fuck yes they are. I’m still bringing my friend tonight, but we’re pre-gaming before coming, so we’ll be nice and amped up when we arrive.” She said with excitement.

“You’re wild.” Harry chuckled as he looked to her.

“No, I am young and free.” She countered.

“Amen!” Y/N chimed in with a giggle making Rosa laugh and Harry to shake his head.

“Between the two of you I’m gonna be more stressed out than I have been in my life. Gonna come dressed up as a babysitter.” He said and Rosa rolled her eyes.

“Ha-ha, real funny.” She sang sarcastically, “But don’t worry about us, we’re big girls, we can take care of ourselves.” Rosa said and he then turned to Y/N to see her smirk down as she continued her drawing.

“You ladies sure about that?” He asked with a grin.

“Oh yeah, Styles.” Y/N responded with a smile but she didn’t even bother looking at him.

Harry was not really a party person, but he was even more excited for the party now that he knew Y/N was definitely going. Rosa was right though, he’d been very uptight because of stress and change and so many other little irritants and challenges that came with his cross-continental move. He desperately needed to have a night of freedom and fun and possibly debauchery. He also wanted to try and earn Y/N’s trust back! Maybe if they interacted more in this casual setting, and with a little bit of liquid courage, he’d be charming and nice enough that she’d maybe consider letting him in just a little bit more than she had. He was trying to be patient, but it was just hard to when she was so…fucking cool. Regardless of what really ent down Harry was determined that it was going to be a good night.

----- Taglist -----

@sunshinemoonspostss @anotherdudetteinthisworld @matildasatellitellite @sad-avocadocado @sunflovverharry @cherrysulewski @daphnesuttonon @gurugirl @angelqueen99 @slutfortigertattoo

Let me know if you want to be added!

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steve-rogers-ruined-men-for-me · 4 years ago

Text

Teach Me

Summary: Bucky’s worried about you overworking yourself at your teaching job.

Warnings: some swearing, cute couple shit

Words: 2014k

A/N: this is my first full fic! I’ve really missed writing just for fun and I have a few more fic ideas and hc ideas in the works! please please please comment and let me know what you think!

No matter what, you always came to bed when Bucky did. Sometimes you stayed up on your phone or reading but you always at least sat on the bed with him. He knew that you had a big week coming up, with your principal coming to observe you, midterms drawing closer, and your students struggling with the new curriculum the district was imposing.

You were a high school English teacher and Bucky had met you when your school had put on an assembly about the history of the Avengers. He had noticed you in the back of the auditorium, wearing a soft blue dress and encouraging your students to ask him questions about his prosthetic. He shyly asked Tony to see if he could contact the school later and get your number. He had rolled his eyes at him and had walked up to you and asked in plain English, “The Manchurian Candidate over there wants to take you to dinner. If I set up the reservation and promise to make him show up, will you go?” Your jaw had dropped and you had numbly agreed. James Buchanan Barnes wanted to go on a date with you? Despite your doubts regarding the reality of the situation, you showed up outside the quiet Italian restaurant and the rest was history.

Bucky smiled at the memory of you dressed in a red silk jumpsuit with your hair braided back. You looked like a modern version of the girls he flirted with during the forties. Only, back then, he had been wondering how to get up their skirts but now he was more concerned with taking his time getting the jumpsuit off your gorgeous body. He felt a twitch between his legs and, smirking, shook the feeling off. He padded down to the kitchen, thinking you had gotten hungry. When that search yielded no you, he wandered through the rest of the downstairs. He noted that your car hadn’t left the driveway and checked the calendar on the fridge to see if he had the opening shift at the mechanic’s tomorrow (he mercifully did not). But he took note of how small your writing was on your to-do list for Monday.

Feeling a pang in his chest, he remembered how he had begged you to let him have your full attention on Friday and Saturday. While you’d reveled in your domestic bliss, by noon on Sunday, you had been buried in your office with your laptop, surrounded by books, papers, and highlighters. Smiling to himself, he realized where you were. He headed up to the attic loft, converted into your office. The walls were a soft gray and the couch the two of you had bought for your tiny first apartment was squeezed against one wall.

Bucky’s heart tightened as he saw you sprawled on the couch, wrapped in one of his massive flannels. Your desk light was on and the desk was messier than he’d ever seen it. Your blinking phone alerted him to the fact that you’d set an alarm for midnight, but had been so tired you’d slept through it, a given considering you were working yourself to the bone and it was two a.m. Afraid to ruin your organizational system on your desk, he returned the pens and highlighters to the little decorative cups you kept them in, saved every file you had open on your laptop before closing it, and pushed the papers in imminent danger of falling onto the floor farther back on the desk.

Content that he had lessened the burden of cleaning you’d have to do tomorrow, he crouched next to the couch. Gently smoothing a stray hair out of your face, he whispered, “baby...come on, get up, let’s go to bed.” You opened your eyes slowly and then jerked upright, sending your phone flying and Bucky scrambling backwards.

“What time is it!” you cried, frantic. You ran towards your desk, frantically pinging your phone from your Apple Watch. Your clock on your desk blinked back 2:05 a.m. at you. Bucky picked up your incessantly beeping phone and handed it to you as you slumped in your desk chair, head in your hands.

“I just wanted to get this stupid assessment plan done,” you whispered. You hugged his flannel tight around you as tears started to fall. Bucky turned your swivel chair so you were facing him as he knelt in between your legs. You dropped your upper body and rested your forehead on his shoulder as you sobbed. The weight of turning in grades, making assignments, checking in with your students to make sure they were doing okay, it was weighing on you. Bucky had noticed you sleeping less and drinking more coffee but hadn’t truly realized the toll it was taking on you. Kicking himself for making you spend time with him instead of alleviating your burdens at work, he pulled you out of the chair to sit between his legs, curling you into him and rocking gently. After a few minutes, you tilted your chin up and scooched back. Sitting criss cross between his legs, you cupped your chin and closed your eyes.

“I don’t know what to do, Buck,” you said sadly. You tugged on a loose button on your sleeve, looking like a lost puppy. Bucky knew how much you adored teaching and how much you loved your students. You were always baking treats for them when they did well on exams, buying bagels so that they could eat breakfast, and extending deadlines for the kids who worked. He knew that the American school system had changed since the 1940s and when you had shown him what you had to teach in a week and just how much time and energy went into lesson planning, he almost formed his own teachers union to advocate for you.

When he found out your dismal salary, he had to take a walk. He spent an hour with Tony railing against your pay and the administrators who punished you for the test scores of students that you had no control over. Tony sat him down after an hour of not being able to get a word in edgewise and finally pledged to harass the local school boards (and the Board of Education if they would call him back) about raising teacher salaries. Bucky had walked home to you pouring over birthday cards your sixth period juniors had given you because they’d gotten a tip that it was your birthday. (Peter helped Bucky hack your Google Classroom). He felt a wave of pride come over him as he looked at you, his selfless girl, thrilled that she was having an impact on the kids she loved the most. You getting so down on yourself broke his heart.

“What’s wrong with your assessment plan?” he asked, intertwining your hands with his. You looked up angrily. “What ISN’T wrong with it is a better question!” you cried. “The district made the test up and it’s on a fucking scantron because what fucking isn’t these days and it’s not taking into account the fact that school is not the main focus for so many of these kids that have to fucking work and help support their siblings and all they are is numbers on a fucking piece of paper that tells you nothing about the effectiveness of my teaching or the district’s ability to educate them as a whole!” Bucky blinked rapidly as you huffed. You didn’t get angry very often, but when you did and you started to monologue, he understood why you received a distinction with your English degree.

“Baby,” he started gently, “can I ask you something you may not like?” He knew that you were a planner and that the odds were you were beating yourself up about a task that had taken your coworkers thirty minutes to do. You always wanted to do right by your kids but if you didn’t start sleeping and taking care of yourself, you were useless to everyone, including yourself. You looked up at Bucky through teary eyes.

“Are you going to ask me if the plan’s done and I’m just being picky?” you asked in a small voice. Bucky stood up, taking you with him. He pressed your frame against him, putting your arms over his shoulders and resting his hands on your waist. He stayed to sway slightly, trying to lull you back to sleep and to try to help quiet your mind. “I wouldn’t say picky I just...look. I’m being selfish. I want you to come to bed with me. I want you to play with my hair and whisper that you love me when you think I’m out cold asleep,” he gushed, noting the slight blush that crept up your cheeks. “You are incredible. Your admin are literally fucking stupid, doll. Nothing you do will change that. You are trying your best and if you think that your kids won’t benefit from the 12 different plans you’ve cooked up, then you’re crazy. Your kids don’t need a version 13, baby. They need you whole, in one piece, and ready to fight for them if they need.” He kissed your forehead, trying to ease your creased brow. Giving in to his ministrations, you sighed. You thought about how this plan should’ve probably only taken an hour. But then you rewrote the plan for the week based off of if your kids took a lot of time on the test, a little time, got anxious during it, caught on fire during it, committed larceny during the test and you had to contact the police. You knew it was overkill but you also knew that budget cuts were coming, contracts were up at the end of this year, and you and Bucky were saving to buy a house instead of living in a condo forever.

“Buck?” you whispered. He lifted his chin off your head and looked down.

“Yeah, doll?”

You felt the exhaustion settle into you all at once. “Can we go to bed?”

Picking you up and putting you in a fireman’s carry, Bucky held you the whole way down to your bedroom. He pulled out a shirt of his for you to sleep in while you brushed your teeth and rinsed off in the shower. He walked in right as you were towelling off and he slipped it over your head with ease. He offered to blow dry your hair but you declined, favoring slipping into a warm sleep with him. He cuddled you close, forgoing asking you to play with his hair in favor of trying to hug all the pride he felt about you into your body via osmosis. Your head was resting soft on his chest, one arm curled protectively around his torso. His metal arm was tucked up and around your shoulders, keeping you comfortable. His flesh hand caressed your arm around him to remind you that he would always be there for you. He loved you more than anything. As your breathing evened and his hand on your side rose in gentle time with your breath, he decided that he was going to call Tony tomorrow. He knew a few people who owed him from his time as the Winter Soldier and if they didn’t want their dirty laundry exposed, dammit he was going to make someone in the district fix the stupid test until it worked how you wanted it to work. He hugged you closer to him, giving you one final squeeze before he started drifting off to sleep. He slipped into a dream where he was a professor and you a naughty schoolgirl and he had just convinced you to bend over to pick something up behind his desk when...a loud snore from you jolted him back to the reality of his exhausted teacher girlfriend wearing his baggy shirt, with hair going every which way. There was no plaid skirt here. Only love and admiration. Bucky kissed your temple and willed sleep to come again.

#buckybarnes #bucky barnes headcanons #bucky x reader #buckybarnes x reader #bucky barnes fluff

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desertdollranch · 4 years ago

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The Little Red Tree House

This adorable playhouse belongs to my mother and her dolls. It was a gift from her sister and nephew, who are both talented woodworkers.

This is based on Kit’s tree house from her retired collection.

This was released in 2008 as a tie-in product to Kit’s movie, and so bears more resemblance to the treehouse featured there. It was first introduced in the short story “Kit’s Tree House”. In the story, Kit is longing for a tree house, after her plans for one were derailed when the wood was needed instead to build an addition onto the house to hold more boarders. But Stirling gets some free wood scraps from a boarded-up store, and he and Kit’s dad build her a tree house. It’s nothing near as fancy as Kit had hoped for, but in the end she makes it work.

My mom liked the concept of a doll-sized treehouse, but didn’t want to pay scalper prices for it, which is common for items that had a limited run and were retired years ago. American Girl’s version is also a little smaller than she’d like; she wanted something that would hold more than just two dolls.

This is what it looked like until I arrived for a visit with my parents. My mom wasn’t sure how she wanted to paint or decorate it, so she asked for my input. I suggested red with white trim, to make it look like it might have come from weathered scrap wood used to build a barn, sort of like it was in Kit’s story.

Jojo and Sierra pitched in to help paint! What we did was paint it a bright red color, then very lightly go over it with a big brush dipped in white paint, to give it that weathered antique look.

Then we painted the trim white, left the roof unpainted, then stained and varnished the two pieces of wood that make the balcony.

Here it is all finished!

While this was originally supposed to be Kit’s tree house, my mom isn’t quite sure yet how she wants to incorporate Kit’s furniture or decorate it like Kit and Ruthie might like. By the time I go back in a few months to visit again, she’ll probably have it decorated for them.

So in the meantime, this will be Rachelle’s cool little hangout!

Rachelle is Sierra’s cousin who is the same age as her. She was thrilled to have her cousins come from New Mexico to Arizona and visit her during spring break. They had tons of fun playing in the house and getting it looking just right. (Rachelle is a Truly Me #56 customized with a #32 wig).

Keep reading to see the interior lights and decor!

The nice thing about this tree house is that it’s open in the back.

This makes decorating and posing dolls inside very easy.

Rachelle let Jo bring the furniture in and get it all set up (she’s athletic and so is pretty strong!).

The table in the corner is an off brand that came from the thrift store. The little bureau is another thrifted find. The lantern on top is a WellieWisher accessory and the cactus is a candle. The hobby horse in the corner is homemade, and so are the posters. On the left is a constellation map and on the right is a vintage Saguaro National Park poster. The park is pretty close to where Rachelle and her family live, so she’s been there lots of times!

And Licorice the cat likes to visit and nap in the tree house too.

On this wall is an easel from Taryn’s (Maplelea brand) collection. The shelves are a thrift store find, and on top are Rachelle’s dolls Addy and Luciana. To the left is an art print I found on Pinterest. And the rug is I think a woven placemat.

For lighting, right now the tree house has a string of blue fairy lights.

At night, they moved all the stuff to the balcony and set up their sleeping bags!

The nice thing about sleeping out here is that they can be as loud and boisterous as they want!

#DIY #kit's treehouse #doll crafts #doll furniture #tree house #dollhouses #american girl dolls

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vashti-lives · 2 years ago

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Yes, this is one of the big things that really stands out to me as I've watched you post things is that Mattel has taken some kind of non obvious cost cutting measures? Like looking at those new Samantha outfits the poly satin really really brings down what is often a technically good design, but I don't think the choice to use poly satin purely comes down to cost. I suspect if you went looking you could often source better fabrics at the same price-- or better even.

In the old days I'm really confident that the team/teams designing outfits worked very closely with the team sourcing fabric-- and quite possibly this was basically all the same team. You probably had give and take between designing clothes and sourcing fabric for those designs and finding really good historically accurate fabric at a good price and then designing something around it. I imagine it was more often the former than the latter, but I deeply suspect that the latter also happened.

These days I suspect there is no one working in the AG line who is doing any fabric sourcing whatsoever. People do research and design outfits for AG and then elsewhere in Mattel there is someone sourcing fabric for all their doll lines: barbie, and disney princesses, AG, a dozen other lines I'm ignorant about, all of it. AG is probably at best an afterthought. So then after the design process AG people have to sort through all of this incredibly general fabric-- most of which is completely inappropriate-- and pick stuff that god willing is at least semi-plausible. I think that's why they've released so many dresses that are pastel satin, it's like, basically the only thing that Disney Princess and American Girl might both be wearing.

And then this gets compounded by the fact that girls are aging out of dolls faster than they used to-- in the 90s AG was very explicit that parents should really wait to buy their girls the dolls until the books are at their reading and comprehension level. This meant the target age for the dolls was in the range of 8-10 years old. Today companies absolutely cannot discourage parents from buying these dolls for their kindergartners. By eleven many girls are no longer play with dolls much, definitely not publicly in a way that would heighten brand desirability.

A nine year old might buy into the idea that historical accuracy over frills is a bonus but a six year old will not. So I'm sure those ugly as hell pastel poly matte dresses are super popular and sell super well, further disincentivizing Mattel from bothering to source as much historical fabric when they can just send over their princess leftovers. Its cheaper, but not really because the fabric is inherently cheaper, it just cuts how many people they have to pay to design American Girl Dolls.

I also think the lower target age is why the books got cut so drastically. I was really shocked to hear that not only were the new dolls only getting two books, but they'd cut the existing books. That was baffling to me at first because the books already existed, its not like they cost that much to produce. But now that I think about it its making more sense, when the target audience is now much younger you can't push books above their reading level and changing the books to be kindergarten appropriate would be too obvious and make people mad. So instead you de-emphasize the books altogether and cut back on the historic stuff and do more generic dolls.

Aaaand this will for sure kill the brand because once its mostly about generic 18 inch dolls there's no reason to buy a $115 dollar doll for your kindergartner that has to be ordered online when you can go to Target and get an Our Generation doll for $25.99. Is the Target doll worse quality? For sure. Is it really worth an extra NINETY DOLLARS for a generic AG doll? Absolutely not. The entire point of AG dolls was that you were getting something you couldn't get anywhere else that had like, actual educational value behind it.

Why would you buy this?

When you could buy this?

Is the first doll nicer? Yeah, is your six year old niece Ava gonna notice? No. Not if she doesn't have both dolls in her hands, and maybe not even then. And Veronika has a cuter outfit.

Thanks for the AG content! I can't stop thinking the difference between how good and bad so many of these new or old outfits look is fabric choice! The fabric looks much cheaper and shinier on so many of the new ones which makes them seem inauthentic. Also for doll clothes, it helps to pick fabrics that have a much softer hand than their real life counterparts since it has to drape over such a small frame. You can tell a lot of the recent designs don't do that and appear awkwardly stiff.

yeah there's a lot of moments when it looks like they're going for a historic detail but it doesn't quite work on a doll-size scale. Inaccuracies for that sort of thing I can forgive!

#you can't really make the dividing line for the changes pre and post mattel #because frankly for a long time mattel ran the company almost exactly as it had been run before #i was shocked to find mattel bought AG in 1998 #that was way sooner than i had assumed #at this point mattel has owned AG way longer than pleasant company did #also this got kind of out of hand

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figonas · 3 years ago

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Twilight Re-watch Notes Pt. 1 - A Contest for the Worst Movie Quote in History

I'd like to think I'm funny so please enjoy my scene-by-scene notes from a recent Twilight Saga re-watch.

Hey Catherine Hardwicke, opening with the death of an animal was probably not the best choice but go off I guess??

There is a lot of general Bella awkwardness that I'm skipping over here but the scene in gym class is so horrifically, painfully uncomfortable that I almost passed out from the second-hand embarrassment.

Jessica trying her best to be fake nice to the human embodiment of a crumpled soda can: "Aren't people from Arizona like....really tan"

Bella with all the cadence of a child who just found out Santa isn't real: "yeah..I guess that's why they kicked me out"

Mike clearly just trying to get his dick wet: "HAHAH you are funny"

no mike she is not.

I'm not gonna go into the biology class scene because god knows tumblr has beaten that particular horse to death. BUT the scene in the administration office immediately after that is a TRIP. Edward has one of his most dramatic lines here when they won't let him switch classes: “I’ll just have to endure it” ?!?!?!?!?!?! This is INSANITY, he sounds like he's going to burst into tears like Edward please chill you aren't even being a little subtle.

I will never get over Bella trying to put Ketchup on her burger and then just???? giving up???? when it doesn't come out after she limply shakes it approximately once.

“HOW YOU LIKIN DA RAIN GIRL” Is our first contender for the worst and most unnatural line in movie history, and trust me there are plenty more.

Bella accusatorily saying “you were gone” to Edward as if this dude who she met for approximately 30 minutes 2 weeks ago owes her even a PALTRTY SCRAP of an explanation about anything???????

Actually, this whole scene is a horrific nightmare of awkward intrusive conversation:

“You’re asking me about the weather” HOE WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GONNA TALK ABOUT YOU DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER

“hey did you get contacts” WHO JUST ASKS THAT?!?

and of course; “it’s the fluorescents” [RUNS AWAY]

Charlie and Bella have the only organic-sounding dialogue in the entire movie. Any awkwardness they have is BELIEVABLE father-daughter awkwardness and not like "I'm being forced to film this against my will" awkwardness like every other exchange in this film series.

Bella asks Edward ALL OF ONCE about him saving her from the truck and Edward gets so haughty and smug thinking that Bella won't figure it out

“you’re not gonna let this go are you?” “no” “then I hope you enjoy disappointment” [storms off] MY DUDE LITERALLY 2 SCENES LATER SHE FIGURES IT OUT IN 3 GOOGLE CLICKS

“I had an adrenaline rush, it’s very common you can google it” contender number two for the terrible dialogue award.

Edward saying “if you were smart you would stay away from me” AFTER HE APPROACHED HER LIKE FUCK OFF [skeleton throwing its own skull gif]

Kstew got a lot of flack for her performance in this movie but when she has a good partner to exchange lines with she SHINES. The scene with Angela and her at the beach where she tells her to ask Eric to prom is GOOD. EVERY scene with Charlie in THIS ENTIRE FRANCHISE is GOOD. It is nothing but pure misogyny that Rpatz didn’t catch any flack for his truly, horrifically awkward performance

I cannot believe Stephanie thought it would be a good idea to have Edward save Bella from potentially getting gang r*ped like I get it girl is about the drama but still this is just a TOOOUCH too far

“your hand is so cold,” WHO SAYS THIS TO SOMEONE THEY BARELY KNOW COMPLETELY UNPROMPTED???

SHE TRIES TO REFUSE CARRYING BEAR MACE WHEN SHE WAS ALMOST R*PED NOT 4 HOURS PREVIOUSLY LIKE SIS CARRY A KNIFE?!?!?!?!?

The “you’re impossibly fast & strong” monologue is so bad I want to barf

“I’ve killed people before” “doesn’t matter” BITCH YES IT DOES WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

“MY OWN PERSONAL BRAND OF HEROIN” IS SO BAD. Like we all recognize how bad this is right? Especially when one considered the target demographic for these films, i.e. teenage girls, have NO FUCKING FRAME OF REFERENCE FOR THIS WHAT.SO.EVER.

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb” YOU’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR ALL OF 3 SECONDS I CAN’T WITH Y'ALL. AT LEAST THE BOOK HAD SOME BUILD-UP JESUS GEEZUS

Who thought this meadow scene was a good idea, they need to be sent straight to hell. WHY ARE THEY LAYING DOWN LIKE, SIT MAYBE?????? IT’S SO WEIRD AND UNNATURAL THEY LOOK LIKE DOLLS I HATE IT

The scene where they get out of the car and Edward puts his arm around Bella while Spotlight by Mutemath plays in the background is TOP TIER teen drama bs and I love it. Far and away the best shot in the movie apart from The Baseball Scene(TM).

I will never get over the fact that Edward's bitch ass rats Bella out for already eating when she comes over to meet his family. BE FUCKING COOL EDWARD FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, GOD!!!

Esme is too pure for this world I can’t deal with her, & Emmet waving the knife is my favorite thing in all 5 of these movies

Why tf are Alice and Jasper fucking off doing god knows what in a tree and not helping with dinner like everyone else? Y'all ain't special even Rosalie is helping

Esme talking to Rosalie “Clean this up..now” I LOVE YOU BE MY MOM

Earlier they talk about the fact that vampires don’t sleep BUT the first thing Bella says when she walks into Edward's room is “no bed” girl we know what you after you ain't slick.....

WHAT IS THIS DANCING SCENE IN HIS BEDROOM IT’S HORRIBLE TO WATCH and I want to find whoever thought “well I could always make you” was a good line for Edward to say and slap them directly in the mouth.

“hold on tight spider monkey” excuse me while I VOMIT

Mike offering his opinion on Bella dating Edward HOWEVER justified is automatically invalidated by A. his own romantic interest in Bella and B. the fact that he has also know Bella for all of 10 minutes & has no bearing on her personal life whatsoever

THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THIS MAN HAS BEEN COMING INTO HER ROOM AND WATCHING HER SLEEP THIS IS RED FLAG CITY LIKE BELLA WATCH A TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY OR READ THE NEWS FOR FUCKS SAKE

THIS FRANCHISE HAS THE MOST HORRIBLE KISSING SCENES IN MOVIE HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN HEAR LITERALLY EVERY BREATH, EVERY AWKWARD PRESS OF LIPS. You're telling me THIS was the best take of this???? CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW AWKWARD THIS WAS TO FILM

The whole scene when Bella is telling her dad about her date with Edward is absolutely god tier. Charlie snapping the barrel of the shotgun closed, him motioning that he has a halo on, asking her if she still has her pepper spray. BILLY BURKE LIFTED THIS MOVIE UP AND TRIED SO HARD TO CARRY IT ON HIS BROAD, MUSTACHIOED DAD SHOULDERS, WE STAN

WHERE TO START WITH THE BASEBALL SCENE:

Supermassive Black Hole in the background, Alice going AWF with her pitching, Rosalie getting all pissed when Bella says she's out and Emmett yells "c'mon babe it's just a game" like the puppy dog of a person (vampire?) he is, CARLISLE WEARING A SCARF WHILE PLAYING BASEBALL, I WILL NEVER EMOTIONALLY RECOVER FROM JASPERS BAT TRICKS, EMMET AND EDWARDS LAUGH AFTER CRASHING INTO ONE ANOTHER.

A TRULY IMMACULATE MOVIE SCENE. This scene isn’t long enough

“My monkey man” might be the worst line in this movie, I’m so torn between which one is the worst. Also, I'm just now realizing that this is the second time someone has compared a loved one to some type of monkey and I really don't like it.

Bella's defeated “I can’t hurt him” breaks my heart every time. AND FUCKING BILLY BURKE pulling out his acting chops with Charlie’s poor little broken sounding “I know I’m not that much fun to be around we can do more stuff together” & “I just gotcha back” LIKE LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SCENE HURTS ME ON A PHYSICAL LEVEL AND I AM ENTITLED TO FINANCIAL COMPENSATION

I know I've skipped over a lot but it's just a lot of like star wipe level montage of nonsense, so we are mOVING ON to what is possibly the biggest plot hole I've never recognized before now: How in the hell was James planning on luring Bella out if he didn’t find that videotape of Bella's mom looking for her????? Or was he just going to bust up in the holiday inn, metaphorical guns blazing & toss Bella out a window???

This fight scene between James & Edward is VERY poorly choreographed and you can practically see the stunt wires pulling on their clothes but no one is surprised..this is Twilight after all.

Who the fuck starts the fire in the ballet studio if Carlisle & Edward are with Bella, Jasper and Emmet are holding James's arms and Alice is ripping his head off???? Esme and Rosalie aren't there so the only explanation is that Emmett's power Stephanie never told us about is his ability to start small, controlled, indoor bonfires with his mind.

If Bella was losing blood from her femoral artery it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that she would have been cognizant enough to tell them her hand was burning + THERE’S A BIG ASS BITE HOW DID THEY MISS IT???

Let Me Sign is such a good fucking song. Actually, while we're on music every song on every Twilight Saga soundtrack SLAPS. At least 1 department at Summit Entertainment was staffed with competent people. (side note, why the fuck do I know the studio by name that made this movie. I need to go lie down)

Bella acting a damn fool in the hospital bed like clingy much

CHARLIE IS SUCH A GOOD DAD FUCK!

The Edward/Jacob beef is so dramatic at prom can you both chill for 5 minutes we haven't even gotten to y'alls bullshit yet that's not until New Moon.

Bella really thought this mfer was gonna turn her at prom in the middle of the dancefloor??????????

Flightless Bird American Mouth. That's it, that's the bullet point

Victoria coming to prom, like we stan a dramatic bitch.

I will almost CERTAINLY post my New Moon (Extended Edition) notes in a few days. & yes I do have notes on the entire franchise.

#I had a lot more but I cut it down #a lot of my extra stuff was just talking about RPatz slipping inexplicably into a Spanish accent from time to time #no one seems to notice #but I fucking do #I hear the way he says 'so you're worried' and want to caCKLE OUT LOUD #I'm not nearly as funny as I think I am but ask me if I give a fuck #baby I will subject you to my poor humor #Twilight #Twilight Saga

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xbaepsae · 4 years ago

Text

can you blame me | part one

“You feel guilty for many reasons. You’re guilty for making your best friend question your loyalty. You’re guilty for not telling him about your new job. You’re guilty for every thought you’ve had about Taehyung because you know that it would kill Jeongguk if he knew.”

[american football player!taehyung x reader feat. best friend!jeongguk]

genre: slight rivals to lovers!au, high school football!au, angsty-ish

word count: 9.1k

rating: pg-13

a/n: i loved writing the first part of this fic so much! i also really love the whole football player x cheerleader trope (even though i am not athletic at all lol). already can’t wait for you guys to know what happens next. enjoy! xoxo

This feeling never gets old.

Maybe it’s the crowd, or the stadium lights—or even the brisk late summer air; all you know is, Friday night football is exhilarating. For as long as you can remember, you’ve breathed this sport. Your father had football playing on the television every weekend of your childhood; and when you picked up cheerleading in middle school, the sport became a part of you.

Of course, you still don’t understand every play the team makes, but you don’t need to. Your job is to cheer your players on—especially the one with the tousled, dark hair and bright eyes.

Jeon Jeongguk also picked up football around the same time you did cheer. Your father was ecstatic to know your best friend loved the sport equally as much. You can’t even recall the amount of times your father has pulled the boy aside to talk plays. After all, Jeongguk was the quarterback and team captain of the high school football team, and your father always wanted a breakdown of their plays.

Sometimes, you wonder who the real best friend is. But as you feel his eyes search for yours on the field, your position is secure.

You’ve known Jeongguk since diaper days. Since your mothers grew up best friends, it only seemed natural for the two of you to become close. Also, your birthdays aren’t far apart; so, there were many shared childhood celebrations.

Now that you’re thinking about it, you can’t imagine your life without the boy. Obviously, everyone thinks the two of you should date. It would be something organic since he’s the quarterback and you’re head cheerleader. Actually, it would be kind of perfect—like destiny. However, the thought of being in that kind of relationship with him repulses you. Thankfully, Jeongguk feels the same way.

You continue to feel his gaze penetrate your peripheral. Normally, you would look; but you’re searching for someone too.

On the other side of the field, your heart stutters for half a beat when you see him. Kim Taehyung is turned away from you, but you make out the number on his uniform—and all his glory. You wouldn’t say you like him; after all, you don’t really know Taehyung at all. However, despite this, you can’t deny your fascination with him. Plus, you’ve stalked his Instagram account enough to know he is so your type.

Unfortunately, your mild fantasy falls short when you feel a hand wrap around your arm.

“Earth to my best friend.”

You would know the grip anywhere. “Yes, Jeongguk?”

“You’ve been spacy all day. What’s wrong?” he asks, and you finally turn to face him. His helmet’s off, and sweat’s dripping down his forehead.

“Nothing,” you offer a smile. “Just excited for the rest of game, that’s all.” It was halftime.

He smiles. “Yeah, we’re going to crush the other team. We’re already ahead by a touchdown.”

Looking at Jeongguk, you search his eyes. It was one thing to dislike a team that rivaled your own, but you knew that your best friend’s hatred extended far beyond that. You don’t remember when or where it began, but he and Taehyung couldn’t stand one another. It was kind of funny, considering they both attended the same football summer camp for four summers.

If no one knew it before, it became obvious that they hated one another freshman year. It was Kim Taehyung’s school homecoming, so your team was playing on his turf. Maybe it was the advantage of playing at home, but they won. However, no one ever talks about the win. If anyone asks about that homecoming game, the only thing talked about is the fight between Taehyung and Jeongguk.

No one at your school talks about it though—at least, no one is supposed to. There is speculation as to who started the fight first, and what it was even about, but no one knows. The only people that know are the two who participated. It’s been three years, but Jeongguk still won’t tell you what actually happened.

Although the game was a bust, there was some good that happened. After all, it was the first time you had a good look at Kim Taehyung in person. Prior to that game, you had only heard about him from Jeongguk. And everything he said about Taehyung had been bullshit because when you saw him play, he was amazing.

Like Jeongguk, Taehyung is also the quarterback. In a way, you can understand their hatred. You don’t know what the root of it all is, but you know that it must suck for them to be constantly compared.

“If we win—which we will—party at Hoseok’s house,” Jeongguk continues, which brings you out of your mini daydream.

“Again?” you mock-roll your eyes.

He laughs, “What? His parents are fucking loaded, and they’re out of town again. It’s not like I make him host—he wants to.”

“I’m just teasing. I like Hoseok’s house anyway,” you say. “But the real question is, are you going to get wasted and crash there? Or get wasted and I drive you home?”

“I’ll just crash there,” he says with a shrug, “but thanks for the offer anyway. Why don’t you just sleep over too?”

You stare at him with a raised brow. “Uh, I can’t just sleep over with a bunch of guys?”

“I’m going to be there,” Jeongguk retorts like it’s so simple.

“Yeah, like that excuse is always going to work with my dad.”

“The man practically worships the ground I walk on,” he smiles, and you laugh because it’s basically the truth.

After a few moments, a sigh leaves your mouth. “Well, if you get recruited to play college football…yeah.”

Playing college football is the only thing Jeongguk worries about these days. You know that he’s more than good enough to get recruited, and everyone else knows this too. It’s just the matter of if he truly believes it as well.

As you watch your best friend mull over your words, you feel the sensation of being watched raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Without even thinking, you turn towards the other side of the field. Instantly, your gaze meets Taehyung’s.

By now, you are positive he knows who you are. You’ve never had a conversation with him, much less formally met him. Jeongguk would never allow that to happen. Yet, you feel a strange connection to him—like magnets are pulling you towards him. As if Jeongguk can sense this energy too, he follows your eyes.

You break from the gaze first and turn to your best friend. Within seconds, his eyes harden. “Kim won’t know what hit him.”

***

Unsurprisingly, your school wins and Jeongguk celebrates by parading you around the field on his shoulders.

This is actually a tradition the two of you have, which started sometime during sophomore year. By that point, the boy was finally a little taller than you and could lift you a little easier. Of course, now, he towers over you.

When he finally puts you down to grab a shower, the other girls on your team pull you over in their little huddle.

“Oh my god, you’re so lucky to have Jeon wrapped around your finger,” Sohee whines. “I would kill to have him treat me how he treats you.”

“Like a rag doll?” you laugh, bending down to collect your pom-poms off the grass.

Sohee rolls her eyes. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah,” Lou pipes up, “are you sure that the two of you don’t have a thing? I’ve never seen him treat any girl like that—and June dated him.”

“Thanks a lot, bitch,” June teases sarcastically.

You roll your eyes at all of them—they just don’t get it. “Please, the day I start to fall for Jeongguk will be the day hell freezes over. You girls just don’t know; I’ve known him since we were babies. He’s like the brother I never had.”

For a second, the urge to admit that someone else occupies your thoughts sits on the tip of your tongue. But you refrain from saying anything because as much as you love your team, all of these girls have big mouths. If they knew you were interested in the enemy, it would be the scandal of the year. And you’re trying to stay away from drama at all costs.

“Anyway,” you change the subject, “are you all headed to Hoseok’s?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” the all say in unison.

Ten minutes later, changed and makeup freshened up, you make your way towards your car. As you pull out of the parking lot, with all of you cheer girls following behind you, you notice that a few other cars linger in the lot; cars you aren’t familiar with. As you drive by the cars, you slow down and realize that it’s Kim Taehyung and a few of his teammates. But they’re not alone; a few girls surround them as well.

Never have you been more thankful for tinted windows, because you hit the gas the second his posse turn toward you and make your way off school property. As you near Hoseok’s house, you wonder why Taehyung and his friends were still lingering at your school. If anything, you thought they left the second the game ended. But all thoughts of him fade when you pull into a massive driveway.

Even though you’ve been at this house more times than you can remember, it still leaves you shocked that someone you know lives here. Jeongguk wasn’t exaggerating when he said Hoseok’s parents were loaded. They are business tycoons or something, and never take a day off—that’s why they are never home.

After parking your car, you link arms with Sohee and walk inside the party.

“Let’s party motherfucker’s because we fucking won!” Hoseok shouts the second you make your way through his front door. In one hand, he holds a red cup; in the other, a half empty bottle of Don Julio. And without needing to be told twice, everyone cheers. When he notices that it’s you who walked through the door, he holds the red cup out. “Cheers, pom-pom queen!”

Even though you don’t care too much for tequila, you oblige. You can still operate under one shot anyway. Hoseok pours a bit of Don Julio into the cup and you nod, “Cheers.”

After downing the smooth liquor, Sohee and the rest of the girls follow suit. As they take their respective shots, you make your way deeper into the crowd of people. In just a few minutes, you find Jeongguk drinking a beer with Park Jimin.

“Good job tonight, Park,” you say when you’re within hearing distance.

Jimin turns at the sound of your voice, a slow—albeit smug—smile stretching across his face. “Thanks—couldn’t have made all those touchdowns without good ‘ole Jeongguk here though.”

“Nah,” Jeongguk shakes his head, “it was definitely a team effort.”

You watch at they both begin to faux banter about who carries the team, and all you can do is roll your eyes. Boys. You leave them to continue their battle of masculinity and walk through the rest of the house. You’re not surprised that majority of the school is here—everyone loves a good post-game party.

Walking into the backyard, people turn away from their conversations to say a brief hey or what’s up—that’s a perk of the title of head cheerleader you carry. Though, you don’t really care for the attention at all. If anything, you would cheer regardless whether or not popularity came attached with it.

Being a cheerleader isn’t as glamorous as the movies make it out to be. The sport makes you automatically more prone to injuries, and practices are often so intense you don’t have time for anything else. But, you wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.

Someone calls your name; and when you match the voice to the face, you smile instantly. Standing off to the side, with a red solo cup in his hand, Min Yoongi looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but here. And you think it’s absolutely hilarious. “Having fun?”

He huffs before rolling his eyes. “At least there’s free booze.”

“Oh, come on, don’t act like you don’t secretly love these parties.”

“Mmm,” Yoongi takes a sip of whatever is in his cup, “sure.”

If Jeongguk is your longest friend, Yoongi is your second longest friend. You met the boy back in elementary school. Even back then, he was a little punk. He sat behind you in class and threw disgusting spit balls into your hair. When you had finally had enough of his little act, you threw an equally disgusting—though much larger—spit ball right back at him.

You both ended up in detention, your first and only offense in school, and you forced him to become your friend. Well, more like you threatened to make his life a living hell if he didn’t stop annoying you. Somehow, it worked because Yoongi is still in your life. And he hasn’t complained, so that has to mean something. Right?

“At least tell me you were at the game,” you say.

“Wouldn’t miss you and Jeongguk prancing around the field for the world.”

Did you mention that you forced him to be friends with Jeongguk too? The two of them aren’t as close as you are with either of them, but they are amicable and respect one another.

“Even though the other team lost, they were pretty damn good—especially the quarterback,” Yoongi continues and your heart jumps a little at the mention of Taehyung.

“I thought you don’t speak football,” you tease to hide your sudden spiked heartrate.

He shoots you a look, “But I do speak talent.”

You can’t deny that. Yoongi did have a penchant for reading people in that way. There was one time he discovered some random SoundCloud rapper, AugstD, and messaged him saying that his music was great. Not even a week later, the rapper blew up. Maybe it was simply a coincidence, but Yoongi likes to give himself credit for that.

“Well, okay, mister I speak talent—what was so impressive about Kim?” you ask; however, before Yoongi can answer, there is suddenly commotion all around you. Everyone begins running inside like a herd of gazelles being chased by a lion.

“Hmm, wonder what’s got everyone going crazy,” Yoongi sips his drink.

The same thought crosses your mind and you’re about to let it slide, but Lou comes running out the door. She has the strangest expression on her face, and you run to meet her halfway. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh my god, you’ll never believe who just crashed the party,” she says, completely breathless. When you don’t seem to give her the right reaction, she rolls her eyes, “Fuck—it’s Kim Taehyung.”

Your traitorous heart is immediately thrilled with the idea of being in close proximity to Taehyung. And behind you, you feel Yoongi coming closer, “What are they doing here?”

Lou shrugs, “Beats me. But you need to come inside—now!”

That’s when it clicks in your head—why everyone rushed inside, why Lou seems so panicked. For a moment, you let your thoughts drift to only Taehyung that you completely forgot the most important thing.

“Oh no, Jeongguk.”

“Exactly,” Lou sighs before pulling you into the house.

Walking through a packed crowd is surprisingly easier than you thought it would be. Then again, Lou is a force to be reckoned with. And when everyone notices who is trying to push through, and they see you, they give you space. For once, you’re thankful for that.

As you get closer to the front of Hoseok’s house, you can feel tension piercing the air. Everyone is so quiet, and you hear Jeongguk before you see him. The tone of his voice sends chills down your spine; you realize that you’ve never heard him like this before. Gone is the bubbly boy you call your best friend—this is a man out for blood.

Lou leads you straight to the front door where everyone has formed a large circle around Jeongguk and Taehyung. But before you approach them, you look at who else decided to crash the party.

Standing on either side of Taehyung is none other than Kim Seokjin and Kim Namjoon. They were called the Infamous Kim’s for a reason—Taehyung and his friends had a reputation. And you saw them on the field earlier; they played hard, and you knew they could fight even harder. You just hope it doesn’t come to that.

Where Seokjin and Namjoon flank their quarterback, you notice that Jimin and Hoseok have done the same to Jeongguk. This looks like a scene straight out of a movie.

“Why are you here, Kim?” Jeongguk asks, arms crossed over his chest. “Came to lose again?”

The crowd gets a rush out of that, but Taehyung doesn’t look phased. Actually, he looks more amused than anything. “Maybe we let you guys win—haven’t you ever played chess before? You might’ve knocked a pawn over—or even the knight—but my King’s still intact.”

No one reacts to that statement, but you can tell that your best friends is heated from the way his shoulders are squared. Before Jeongguk can do anything reckless, you walk behind him and touch his arm.

He tenses for a moment before relaxing and turning to face you. “Hey.”

You offer him a quick smile, and then muster up the courage to look straight ahead. First, you meet Namjoon’s hard gaze and then Seokjin’s. Finally, you look at Taehyung and his dark eyes have you drowning. He is so close, yet so far; under his scrutiny, you feel like he can see all of your deepest darkest secrets.

“Didn’t know Jeon needed a girl to fix his problems,” Taehyung smirks.

Why did you have to be so attracted to him? He was such an asshole. “Girl has a name, thank you very much.” Someone yells you just got burned, dude and you try not to crack a smile. “And I think you need to leave.”

“Want me to leave that bad?” He doesn’t look away from you; in fact, he has the audacity to give your body a once over. Unfortunately, Taehyung has a damn good poker face; so, you don’t know what he’s thinking.

“Yes, please—with a cherry on top,” your words are laced with sarcasm and he’s smart enough to catch it.

Finally, he looks away and a slow smirk stretches across his face—tongue sticking out of his mouth and everything. “Don’t stress, we didn’t plan on hanging long anyway.”

“You shouldn’t have come in the first place,” Hoseok pipes up, and you remember that it’s his house after all. “You know, I could have you arrested for trespassing.”

“Under what legal pretense?” Namjoon laughs. “Do you own his house? Oh wait—no, your rich daddy does. And actually, if we’re talking about legality here, we could have you all arrested for underage drinking.”

That comment sends everyone into a frenzy. You know Namjoon isn’t stupid enough to call the cops because they wouldn’t risk themselves getting into any mess; also, you know that they wouldn’t dare jeopardize their potential to play college football. All of these guys wanted a taste of the big leagues.

“Just get the fuck out of here,” Jeongguk says through his teeth. “I don’t have time to deal with your shit.”

“See you on the field, Jeon.” With that last statement, Taehyung, Seokjin, and Namjoon leave—slamming the front door behind them. You release a breath you didn’t even know you were holding as Hoseok announces that the party is over.

Some people whine that the night just begun, but you know that everyone on the football team is tense from what just happened. Even you don’t think that you can enjoy the night after dealing with Taehyung, and you kind of like him for some reason. So, you can’t even begin to imagine how Jeongguk is feeling.

As soon as everyone files out—including all of the girls on your cheer squad and Yoongi—the only people remaining are you and the football team. You don’t even know why you’re still here, but one look from your best friend forces you from leaving. It wasn’t your place to meddle in football rivalry, but you supposed that you were kind of caught between two sides. Though, no one but you knows this.

“Well, that fucking sucked,” Jimin is the first to say anything in the tense atmosphere, and a few of the others nod in agreement.

“Understatement of the century,” Hoseok rolls his eyes and then turns to you. “But who knew you had balls to talk to Kim Taehyung like that.”

You shrug, “How else was I supposed to react? I mean, he had no right to be here in the first place.”

“Remind us to never get on your bad side.”

“You guys have nothing to worry about.”

Silence follows your words, and you realize that everyone is waiting for Jeongguk to say something. All eyes are turned towards their captain. For a moment, you are reminded of how your best friend commands the room—the power he exudes.

“We aren’t playing them for the rest of the season, so I’m not worried about Kim Taehyung and his rat pack,” he finally says, and everyone visibly relaxes.

Until Jimin pipes up with, “Unless they make it to playoffs too.”

A dark shadow is casted on the team again and the look Jeongguk gives him would make anyone wish to dig their own grave. Jimin quickly apologizes and things appear to go back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get right now.

The guys continue talking and everyone agrees that they’ll resume the party tomorrow—somewhere else. They don’t want to risk another run in with Taehyung and his teammates. After everyone helps Hoseok clean his house up a bit, they begin to leave too. Jimin ends up deciding to crash here, and you suspect that Jeongguk will too. However, he surprises you.

“Can you give me a ride home?”

“Sure.”

As you drive the short few minutes to his house, he’s awfully quiet. It’s a type of quiet that has you worried, so you ask him what’s on his mind.

“The next time I see him, I’m going to punch him.”

You’re startled by the venom in his words. “Why?”

“Did you not see the way he looked at you?” Jeongguk sounds disgusted. “A fucking prick.”

Was it wrong that you felt strangely giddy at the thought that Taehyung looked at you? You know that Jeongguk hates him, but your potential feelings for the other quarterback are definitely making this rivalry difficult. Why did you have to crush on the enemy?

“I doubt you’ll be seeing him anytime soon,” you say to appease him, but the comment makes you kind of sad. “Their school is in a different town.”

“Still,” he sighs. “I really hate him.”

You wish he didn’t.

***

The next week at school, everyone pretends that the party at Hoseok’s didn’t happen.

No one dared to bring up the mess that night turned out to be. Everyone pretended that the party hosted the day after, at another player’s house, was the actual winning celebration. And like everyone, you did the same. Or you tried too.

Every now and then, you thought of Kim Taehyung and his imposing presence. You were still angry at yourself for the interest in him. If Jeongguk found out, you’d be so dead. But it wasn’t like anyone knew anyway, and you were going to keep it that way. You would take it to the grave if you have to. Besides, it wasn’t anything more than fascination.

As football season continued, cheer practices weren’t getting any easier. But they were becoming lessened since your team recycled a lot of old routines. Besides, as much as you love cheerleading, but it isn’t your endgame. Cheering on the team is great, but—if you’re being honest—you’ve stuck with the sport for Jeongguk’s sake.

And your dad got free tickets to all the games, which you guess is a perk.

However, even as demanding as cheer practice is, you were already one month deep into the school year. And this mean that you were one month closer to college; because of that, your mom approached you with a suggestion.

“Honey, you know your father and I love you and want to support you in any way we can,” she begins, “but if you want to go to that hotshot university on the other side of the country, you’ll probably want to start looking for a part-time job.”

You understand where your mom is coming from—college really was super expensive. And you did want to get into your first pick school. So, it only made sense to start making some money. You were lucky enough to be an only child, but your parents couldn’t support you forever. The reality was you would probably need a job in college too. Why not start now?

So, to take your mind off school rivalry and a super-hot—but arrogant—boy, you start looking for a part-time job. Realistically speaking, you could only work at most three nights a week. You still had cheer practice every other day and football on Friday nights. Not to mention homework and finishing college apps. It would be a rough next few months, but you knew it’d be worth it.

The only place that ended calling you back was a little diner at the edge of town. And during your interview, you’re sweating bullets from nerves.

“Have you ever waitressed or done anything in the service industry?”

There was no doubt the bald-headed man in front of you was terrifying. He introduced himself as A—you weren’t sure if that was actually his real name or if he was just messing with you. “No, sir, I haven’t.”

“Have you ever had a job?” he asks, raking through your empty resumé.

You shake your head, “No, sir…I’m still in high school and I…and I cheer for my school.”

“Cheer,” A sounds rather unimpressed. “Your schools and your devotion to football. You know what, girly?”

“What?”

“This diner here is on the edge in-between two towns—I don’t want that damn football rivalry to cause trouble up in here, do you hear me?”

You don’t know what to say. All you can do is nod and offer a smile. “Of course.”

The man mumbles something unintelligible before raising his eyes to yours, “How many days a week can you work?”

“Three, maybe four—mostly weekends.”

He tells you that works, something about only needing a part-timer anyway. You’re completely fine with that. You still needed to balance school and your social life. Would you even have one after this? Hopefully you wouldn’t have to work too many Saturdays.

“When can you start?” he asks.

“Tomorrow?” you offer. Tomorrow would be a Tuesday—you didn’t have practice.

“You best be here by five o’clock on the dot,” he says, beginning to get up from his seat. Did you just get the job? “I don’t tolerate tardiness.”

You begin to get up as well, “Of course, sir—”

“Also, stop calling me sir—makes me feel damn old. Just call me A.”

“Okay…A,” you say rather awkwardly. “I’ll be here at five on the dot.”

Before you head home, A directs you to the manager, Minji, and she runs you through the basics—like what you have to wear and bring, etcetera.

“We’ll go through basic training once you get here at five tomorrow but remember to dress comfortable…and wear things you don’t mind ruining. You’ll be getting dirtier here than you’d like—trust me,” she says, and you must make a face because she laughs. “Don’t sweat it, dear; the tips will make up for it.”

When you get home, you let your parents know you got the job and your mom celebrates by making your favorite dessert. During dinner, they ask you about the interviewing process and the staff. You don’t exactly lie, but you omit the stuff about A—you don’t want your parents to be worried about who was running the diner.

“Your mother and I will have to come see you in action soon,” your father says, and you awkwardly laugh.

“Please—if you’re just going to come and embarrass me, I’d rather not.”

“We would never embarrass you, sweetie,” your mother says, and by the blinking of her eyes you know she’s lying. “Anyway, have you told Jeongguk about the job yet?”

Honestly, you haven’t even him that you were looking for anything. So, no, you definitely haven’t told him about your new job. “Not yet, he’s busy with football so…I haven’t had the chance.”

Utter bullshit. He literally texted you before dinner asking if you wanted to catch a movie tomorrow night—you had to decline. Making up some excuse about having a paper due. You don’t know why you’re scared to tell him about the diner job. Maybe it’s because you know he’s going to want to swing by; and with A’s words swimming in your head, you don’t want to risk anything.

“But I’ll let him know,” you continue.

“Yeah, that boy and football…that final play on Friday was crazy—” your dad begins his daily rant about football, and you tune him out.

For once, you don’t want to think about that.

***

“You should’ve come to the movie last night.”

Jeongguk blocks your way in the hall, so you have no choice but to give him attention. “Was it good?”

“Surprisingly,” he starts, “it was—though, Hoseok was screaming within the first five minutes.”

“I would’ve come just to see that,” you laugh.

“How was your paper? You never texted me back last night.”

Oh, that. You make up a lie about staying up most of the night. “That’s why I didn’t have time to text you back.”

In reality, you were at the diner until 11 o’clock. You were supposed to get off at nine, but Minji and the other staff needed help closing since someone called out. Besides the exhausting night, you really liked working at the diner. The other workers were nice enough, and the best part was that no one asked you about football or any of that stuff. No one had any preconceived notions about you or the crowd you associated with.

“That sucks. What class was the paper for again?”

“History,” the lie slips easily through your lips.

Jeongguk seems to think about that for a moment. “Really? Because I know you have that class with Jimin and he didn’t mention anything about a paper being due today—I mean, if he did, wouldn’t he have been pulling an all-nighter last night too?”

Shit. You forgot you had that class with Jimin. He sits in the back, so it slipped your mind. “Did I say History? I meant Psychology.”

“I know you lied.”

Your best friend was many things, but he wasn’t stupid. As other students scramble to get to class before the bell rings, you feel frozen on the spot. Jeongguk hits you with a look that fills you with guilt. But before you can offer an explanation, the warning bell rings—meaning, you have a minute to get to class before you get points taken off.

“I’ll explain—meet me after practice later?” you ask him.

“Coach has us doing an extended practice since it’s mid-week. You can come to the field after you get done with cheer,” he offers, and you agree before running off to class.

You slip into History just as the bell rings. With a relieved sigh, you walk to your seat—but not before you catch Jimin’s eyes and send him a scathing look. He visibly shrinks and mouths an I’m sorry as you sit down.

As class goes on, you barely pay attention to what your teacher is talking about. Instead, you think about how you shouldn’t be mad at Jimin. After all, how was he supposed to know you lied to Jeongguk? You two weren’t that close—not close enough for him to cover for you in that way. First and foremost, his loyalty was to Jeongguk.

Your loyalty should be to him as well.

The second class ends, you catch up to Jimin and apologize. “I forgot that we had this class together when I talked to Jeongguk last night.”

“You should just be honest with him, you know? Whatever it is, Jeongguk doesn’t care.”

“I know,” you say. “Sorry for putting you in an awkward position.”

Later, when you walk into Psychology, you settle into your seat beside Yoongi and bang your head against the desk. After a moment, you lift your head up and he sends you a weird look. “Are you good…?”

“No,” you’re honest with him. You never could lie to Yoongi. “I’m in hot water with Jeongguk.”

“What happened?”

You face him, “I got a job.”

Yoongi lifts a brow, clearly surprised by your words. “Really? I didn’t peg you as someone to get a part-time—especially since you are kind of busy.”

“Same,” you reply. “But my parents want me to start making money for college.”

He hums, “Let me guess, you didn’t tell Jeongguk?”

“In my defense, my first day was literally yesterday.”

“But why did you tell me and not him? Not that we aren’t close, but still—he’s your best friend, right?”

“Because I hate letting Jeongguk down,” you admit. “That mixed with the diner I work at; I feel like it would be a mess.”

Yoongi frowns, “Don’t tell me you work at the diner on the edge of town.”

For the first time in his conversation, you narrow your eyes at him. “And what about it?”

“You do realize that since it’s located where it’s at, both towns come and go as they please.”

“Yeah,” you nod, “the owner—A—mentioned not to get football involved there, which is a part of why I haven’t told Jeongguk anything.”

“I get that, and it makes sense—especially with how volatile the dude can be,” Yoongi says just as your teacher walks into the classroom.

However, you frown at his words. “What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is,” he spares you a glance as the bell rings, “if Jeon Jeongguk rules this town, the other side of that diner you work at—the other town—is ruled by Kim Taehyung.”

***

To say that practice is rough would be an understatement.

“Where’s your head?”

You turn to Sohee, “Sorry—it’s been an off day.”

“Clearly,” Lou butts in, “and coach is making us pay for it—so stop being distracted so we can leave already.”

“Yeah, I’m already late for my appointment,” June complains as the whole squad gets back into formation.

Sohee smirks, “Your dick appointment?”

“With who?” that snaps you back to reality.

“No one.”

You furrow your brows, “If it’s someone on the football team, don’t bother. Apparently, they have an extended practice today.”

“It will be an extended practice for you girls too if you all don’t stop yapping it up!” your coach practically screeches, and you immediately plaster your fakest smile.

As coach blows her whistle, you tumble into a cartwheel and land perfectly onto your feet. But that isn’t enough to appease her, and she makes you all perform the routine from the top. Luckily, the routine is short; and everyone does their part flawlessly, thank god, so practice officially ends.

The entire squad rushes into the locker room and fights for a shower. Rather than insisting on a shower first, you reach for your phone. At the top of your notifications is a text from Jeongguk.

4:05 PM | Jeongguk: still in practice

You don’t bother responding since you know that he probably doesn’t have his phone on him. Besides, the message was sent forty minutes ago; if anything changed, he would’ve messaged you again. When a shower opens, you sink your body underneath the hot water. You let the water wash away all the pent-up stress you’ve been holding—half of which you didn’t even realize you had.

Once you’re clean, you grab all of your things and make your way towards the football field. Lou catches you on her way out and asks you where you’re going.

“Jeongguk,” you reply. “I have to talk to him about something.”

She wiggles her eyebrows, “Okay.”

You ignore her suggestive expression. “Yeah. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Don’t have too much fun.”

“I doubt watching a bunch of dudes tackle each other will be.”

Lou narrows her eyes playfully, “Oh, come on. There’s nothing hotter than a sweaty football player.” Immediately, your mind flashes to one player in particular. Lou catches the quick shift in your face and laughs. “See.”

“Ha-ha,” you collect yourself. “Get out of here.”

She bids you adieu, and you go out into the sun. For early autumn, it was still pretty warm. You like the warmth, but you also can’t wait for those chilly autumn nights—Friday night football in sweater weather is the best.

As you near the field, you hear the team before you can see them. From afar, they sound like a herd of animals being groomed by a whistle. In a twisted way, you suppose that’s actually the case. Their coach must really be on them today because the whistle keeps going off. You can already picture their exhausted faces in your head—especially Jeongguk’s.

And you’re right.

Walking right into the stadium, you take a seat on one of the lowest bleachers and watch as their coach grills them. Dead center in the middle of the group is your best friend; and not surprisingly, he looks annoyed. However, the second he realizes you’re here, some of the negative energy seems to lift off him.

In fact, he looks like he’s about to walk towards you. The second he takes a step towards the bleachers, you hold up a hand for him to stop. You mouth stay, and thankfully he doesn’t try to come any closer.

A few minutes turns into thirty and thirty turns into an hour. By this point, you’re half asleep and ready to go home. Even though you’re tired, the team is still going hard at drills and throwing balls around. The sun has also started setting, casting the field in gorgeous golden hour. But despite the picturesque scenery, you really have to pee.

Realizing that your bladder comes before your comfort, you get off and catch Jeongguk staring at you. You point to the field bathrooms, near the parking lot, and he seems to get the idea. After you empty your bladder, you’re ready to give their football coach a piece of your mind. You’re tired, hungry, and you bet everyone else on the field is feeling the same way.

You’re close to the field, only behind the bleachers, when a figure comes out from the shadows. Jumping back, you’re about to scream when you realize who it is. “Kim Taehyung?”

He stands about ten feet away from you, hands shoved into his pockets. Dressed in dark jeans and a simple t-shirt, he looks too good to be true. “And you’re Jeon’s girl.”

“Again, I have a name,” you roll your eyes. “Also, what the hell are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t size up the enemy?” Taehyung runs a hand through his hair—which was still damp—and you can’t help but wonder if he just got out of practice too.

“You do know that practices are confidential, right?”

He takes a step closer to you, “If that’s the case, then why are you watching?”

“Because I go to school here,” you say and take a step back. He was beginning to make you dizzy. “And you don’t. So, you should leave before someone catches you.”

When he doesn’t say anything back, you reiterate that he should go. But Taehyung only stands there, staring at you. There’s no doubt your heart rate is escalating; but instead of focusing on that, you ask him what’s his issue is.

“Nothing,” he replies.

“Okay,” you frown, “I think I just heard their coach say practice is over, so you really should go.”

In the distance, a whistle blows three times, so you know you were right. Taehyung briefly turns towards the field before looking back at you. “I don’t want to get Jeon worked up anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You don’t get a reply because he turns around and walks away. Without even saying goodbye. What the hell? Why are you even thinking that? Shaking your head of all thoughts about Taehyung, you make your way around the bleachers and come face-to-face with Jeongguk.

His presence makes you jump. “Shit. You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he steadies you, “didn’t mean to.”

“Are you guys done? Your coach sure seemed like he was grueling you guys,” you say.

“Tell me about it,” he groans. “He really made us bust our asses out there.”

You crack a smile at his agony, “Well, if it helps, I had an awful practice too.”

The two of you laugh for a moment before reality sets back in. You grow quiet under Jeongguk’s scrutiny. A deep sigh leaves his lips before he asks, “What’s really going on with you?”

Well, you see, I am kind of interested in Kim Taehyung—yes, the guy you hate. And he was actually here, like not even five minutes ago. Do I know that he’s an asshole? Yes. Do I know the history you two have? Yes. Do I still want to be around him for some reason? Yes. “Umm…I kind of got a job.”

That truth is easier to admit.

Jeongguk’s eyebrows raise, “How do you kind of get a job?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “Okay, fine, I do have a job.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…”

“So, were you going to tell me?” he asks.

You nod, “Eventually.”

“Why do you have a job?”

“Why is it so hard for everyone to believe?”

“So, you’ve told other people before me.”

You’re exasperated. “Only my parents and Yoongi.”

“Why did you tell Yoongi before me?” Jeongguk’s more upset than you thought he would be. Why is he so upset?

“Jeongguk, I literally just started working yesterday—yesterday! Why are you so angry?”

“Because I thought I was your best friend and we’re supposed to tell each other everything,” he says, and guilt begins to eat you up inside.

You feel guilty for many reasons. You’re guilty for making your best friend question your loyalty. You’re guilty for not telling him about your new job. You’re guilty for every thought you’ve had about Taehyung because you know that it would kill Jeongguk if he knew.

“You are,” you reaffirm him. “I only told Yoongi about the job because I told him I lied to you. And I only lied to you because I didn’t want you to worry about me—because you always worry.”

“What? I can’t worry about you now?”

“I mean, you can; but we aren’t twelve anymore, Jeongguk. I can hold my own.”

He sighs, “I know that. Look, I’m sorry for making you think that you couldn’t tell me, okay?”

“I’m sorry too.”

Jeongguk opens his arms wide for a hug, and even though he’s sweaty—and definitely stinky—you fall into his embrace anyway. For a brief second, you can understand why girls like him so much. His hugs are really great, but it truly feels like you’re hugging your brother more than anything. “Where are you working?”

You pull away from him, “At the diner on the edge of town.”

“Okay,” he says like he still doesn’t believe you have a job. “Why are you working?”

“Because of my mom. Her and dad are helping me with college, at least a little, but she wants me to start earning so I can pay for most of it myself.”

“Wow—your parents sure aren’t letting you get off easy, huh?” he laughs. “Maybe I should start working too.”

You bust out laughing, “Yeah, especially since your parents already put your older brother through college already.”

“I think they’re betting on this football thing to work out.”

Immediately, you sober up and take in the sudden shift of emotion. “You’ve been having recruiters come out to watch you since last season.”

“Still,” he sighs.

“You’re damn good,” you tell him with the hopes that he really understands. “You’ll play in college, so stop worrying so much.”

You don’t know if your words appease him, but your best friend manages to smile—that has to mean something, right? After a moment of silence, he lets you know that he should probably go back to the locker room already. “The team is probably wondering where the hell I went.”

“True.”

“Thanks for telling me the truth,” Jeongguk says, holding out his right hand. You roll your eyes before extending your own. The two of you do your “secret” handshake—the handshake you both created in middle school.

Doing the handshake results in another eye roll, but you also can’t help the endearing smile that graces your lips. “Why do you always insist on doing this stupid handshake?”

“Because this stupid handshake is epic and a symbol of our everlasting friendship.”

“Ha, okay,” you chuckle. “Whatever you say, Jeongguk.”

***

“Rumor is you’re a cheerleader at your school.”

Looking up from your notepad, you stick your pencil behind your ear before turning towards the voice. “Yeah, so?”

Behind you stands another waitress—her name is Cara—and you know that she goes to the same school as Taehyung. You only know this because every shift you’ve worked with her, all she does is talk about how hot he and the rest of the players on the team are. You totally agree with her observation, but it still irks you that she seems to know him better than you do.

“So, you must know Jeon Jeongguk well, yeah?” she asks. Oh, that’s what this is all about?

To you, it’s obvious she has no idea how close you actually are to Jeongguk. This was a good thing; if she knew you were his best friend, it would be over for you. “I mean, I guess…yeah. At school, everyone knows him.”

“What is he like?”

Oh god. “I don’t know…he plays football? Every Friday night? I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“Like, how is he at school? I’ve heard all the rumors about him, and I just want to compare him to Kim Taehyung,” she bats her eyelashes.

“Umm, you do know that they have this intense rivalry, right?”

Cara laughs, “Duh—that is all anyone ever talks about at school.”

You look around for an excuse to get out of this awkward conversation. Looking over her shoulder, you see her tables. “You know what? How about we talk later…I think they need you over there.”

The second Cara turns around, you make a run for it. You walk behind the counter and send a distress signal to Minji. She gives you a funny look and just laughs. “You’ll get used to Cara.”

“I’m not sure about that,” you say as the diner door chimes. Minji greets them before you can say anything, and lets you know that the person sat down in your section. “I’ll be back.”

Walking over to your section of the diner, you approach the stranger who just sat down in a booth. They’re seated back facing you, so you have a split second to prepare yourself. In your head, you settle for the basic hello-how-can-I-help-you introduction and pray that you don’t make a fool of yourself. Once you reach the booth, you pull the pencil from behind your ear and get your notepad ready.

“Hello, how can I help you?” you ask on cue, flipping your notepad to a clean page.

“You know, it’s not very polite to not look at the customer while you talk to them.”

“Excuse me?” you ask as you look up and meet the person’s gaze. You blink a few times to make sure he’s really in front of you right now.

He smirks, “Hey, Jeon’s girl.”

“Kim Taehyung,” saying his name out loud sends chills down your spine. “And for the thousandth time, I have a name.”

“You know what I realized?” he asks but doesn’t give you a chance to respond. “This is the third time we’ve met, but you haven’t told me your name yet. Some would say that’s a little rude.”

For a second, you don’t even know what to say to him. If you weren’t stupid, you would think that he was flirting with you. Or was he actually flirting with you and you’re just too stupid to realize? Before you can say something you’ll regret, you tell him your name. “Also, how can I help you?”

“How long have you been working here?” he asks, and then slowly adds your name as if it was an afterthought.

“Like a week,” you tell him. “So, not long at all.”

“Interesting. I frequent this place—only when I don’t have practice, of course. I assume you only work nights you don’t have practice as well, right?”

Are you really having another conversation with Kim Taehyung right now? “Yep.”

He picks up your short, clipped answer and frowns, “What? Not happy to see me?”

For some reason, you intrigue me; so obviously, I’m ecstatic. “It’s just a little weird, you know. We just met and I’ve seen you on three separate occasions in the same month—anyone would be weirded by that.”

“Because you’re Jeon’s girl?” Why does he keep referring to you as that?

“What’s with you and calling me that?” you ask, tilting your head to the side and leaning your weight on one side of your body.

Taehyung mimics your movement, a smirk stretching across his lips. “You’re dating him, aren’t you?”

It takes a moment for his words to set in; but when they do, you’re overcome with laughter. The throw-your-head-back-hit-yourself kind of laughter. You laugh so hard you almost fall over from the sheer force of overwhelming humor. Through the tears in your eyes, you see him look at you like you’ve lost your mind. Thank goodness there aren’t too many customers inside the diner at this hour.

“Are you okay?”

Once you finally compose yourself, you take a deep breath and flatten your lips. “Just peachy.”

“You going to tell me why you reacted like that?” he asks.

“Why do you think Jeongguk and I are together?” you ask, crossing your arms. “Why does everyone seem to think that?”

Taehyung narrows his eyes, “You mean you two aren’t together?”

“Jeongguk is my best friend—not my boyfriend. I’ve known him since we were babies. He’s like a brother to me.” You don’t know why you’re over-explaining, but the words just seem to flow out of your mouth. “We don’t like each other like that.”

“Are you sure about that?”

It was your turn to narrow your eyes, “What are you insinuating, Kim Taehyung?”

“I think one would have to be blind not to see the way Jeon is protective over you,” his lips stretch into an almost smile, though you notice it doesn’t reach his eyes. They remain aloof as ever. Why was it so hard to read him?

“I think you’re reading into things,” you retort. “Jeongguk only feels that way because he has this older brother complex—though I’m the older one in our duo.”

Turning your attention away from his unreadable face, you look back at the notepad in your hand and repeat your earlier question. Taehyung replies simply that he’d like a strawberry shake, which surprises you a little. The second you jot down his order, you quickly excuse yourself and practically run back to the counter.

Once you’re behind the safety of the counter, you expel the breath you’ve been holding and sink to the floor. He thought Jeongguk was my boyfriend. The thought swirls through your brain and makes you dizzy. It was both equally hilarious and strange that Taehyung had this notion. But what thrilled you even more was that he knew you were single.

“Why are you on the floor?”

You look up and meet Minji’s concerned gaze. “Huh? Oh—I’m just…” you panic. “…just admiring the…floor.”

“Uh huh…sure,” she says, “so it’s not because of that cute boy over there.”

“What cute boy?” You play dumb, but Minji only raises a brow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about…also, he ordered a strawberry shake.”

“Are you going to make it?”

It was your turn to raise a brow, “Uh…I’m merely a waitress at this establishment, Minji.”

“Come, I’ll teach you,” she practically drags you off the floor. “So, on slow nights like these, you can make them yourself.”

Minji does as she says and teaches you to make the most delicious looking shake you’ve ever seen. It even has the whip cream and cherry on top; it’s perfect. It’s also huge—and you wonder for a moment who in the world could even finish a monstrosity like this.

When you finally bring it over to Taehyung, a brief moment of—what appears to be—joy flashes across his face. The expression takes you aback; it’s weird to see him so unrestricted like that. But as quickly at the emotion comes, it leaves after you blink. And the Taehyung you’ve encountered these last few weeks returns. “What took you so long?”

“Oh, please—I was barely gone five minutes,” you huff, setting the milkshake on the table.

“Five minutes too long.”

You suppress the need to roll your eyes. “Whatever. Enjoy your milkshake.”

For the rest of the night, you don’t speak another word to Kim Taehyung—not even as you watch him finish his milkshake or when you bring him his check, and especially not when he brushes against you to leave the diner. What a werido, you can’t help but think. You have no idea what his problem is, but you just hope that he’ll leave you alone.

However, that little nagging voice in the back of your mind likes to remind you of one issue to that sentiment: you kind of like him, still.

Curse your heart for feelings things.

#armiesnet #btsbookclub #bangtan bookclub #taehyung fic #v fic #bts fic #bangtan fic #kpop fic #taehyung #kim taehyung #can you blame me #angst #xbaepsae

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morganclaire4 · 5 years ago

Text

“Treated Right”

Summary: Chris shows the reader how she should truly be treated.

Warnings: None.

A/N: I write in first person, it’s just easier to me. I’m also fully aware that Joe Johnson, the real director, is not a true jerk. It was again just easier. Also, the reader is from the Texas. I’m from the south and I thought it added something🤷🏼‍♀️

Somehow, at the age of twenty-two, I was hired as one of three director’s assistants for “Captain American: The First Avenger.” Each of us had different jobs, but mine I felt mine was definitely the best. I was the line of communication from the director and producers to the actors, mainly Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, and Hayley Atwell. But like all jobs there was a small down side, mine being the jerk of the century in my boss, Joe Johnston. The upside to this job heavily out weighed the down though, I met my best friend and boyfriend, Chris Evans.

I was first hired after the casting and such. My first day meeting the three stars, I would closely work with, was in a meeting. Chris, Sebastian, and Hayley were all brought to New York to go over a few changes in script.

They all came in and sat down in the conference room. Chris looked around. “Is there any coffee any where?” He asked.

Joe immediately said, “The girl-“ he looked at me, “is on her way to get some. Just tell her what you’d like.” I wanted to roll my eyes and scoff, but I kept it to myself. “The girl? Really? I have a name.” I thought to myself. I just smiled at the three stars and nodded. Chris wanted a medium coffee with two sugars and whole milk. Sebastian wanted a large black coffee. I almost gagged. “Who can drink that?” I thought. Hayley asked for a water. Joe wanted his usual. I wrote everything down and headed down to the small coffee cart in the lobby.

Marisa was the young girl who worked the coffee cart and she was kind of my only friend some days. I handed her the paper with the order on it. We made small talk while she fixed the drinks.

“Y/N, I’m out of whole milk.” She said as she fixed Chris’ coffee. “Really?” I whined a little. “What do you have?”

“2% milk, half and half, almond milk, and vanilla creamer.” She listed them off. “I don’t want to just put something in Chris Evans’ coffee. What if he notices?” I panicked a little not wanting to get further on the bad side of my boss.

“Well I can put those four in small cups and he can pick, them it’s not your fault.” Marisa thought of the idea. “That could work!” I perked up. She fixed four small cups with each and labeled them.

I returned to the conference room with what looked to be eight drinks. Before having a millisecond to explain, Joe jumped on me. “Eight drinks! Are you incompetent?” He shook his head. Chris and Sebastian both looked at each other as if they wanted to say something.

I passed out the drinks, Chris’ last. “Mr. Evans, the coffee cart was out of whole milk.” I stated as I placed his coffee down. “These four cups have different options, 2% milk, half and half, almond milk, and vanilla creamer. I wasn’t sure which you would like.” I said smiling.

“Thank you, very thoughtful.” Chris smiled at me. “I’ll take the half and half, and please just call me Chris.” He said. I nodded and handed it to him. Chris fixed his coffee then I cleaned up the trash.

As I was throwing away the extra cups, Joe looked at me. “You can go sit in the hall now.” I turned and looked at him. I nodded and grabbed my small bag and exited. Chris and Sebastian exchanged yet another look. I closed the door and sat on a bench in the hall for the next two hours.

Two hours later, Hayley exited the room followed by Sebastian then Chris and Joe. He glared at me. “You’re done for the day.” He said coldly. I nodded and began to put my laptop away. Joe said his goodbyes to the three stars and walked back into the conference room. Hailey and Sebastian did the same and went for the elevator. Chris leaned against the wall and watched me pack my things. I looked up at him and smiled.

“You know, you don’t have to take that from him.” He stated. I laughed and stood up. “But I do. He’s my boss and if I said anything back, I would end up fired.”

“You could at least remind him that you have a name.” Chris said. “You do have a name right?” He raised his eyebrow.

I laughed and blushed slightly. I couldn’t help that he was attractive and quite the flirt. “Yes, I do have a name.”

“And your name would be?” He stood up from leaning on the wall.

“Y/N” I said with a smile.

“Hmm, well see I think that sounds much better than ‘girl’.” Chris said. “How about you join me for lunch, Y/N?” He asked.

I raised my eyebrow. “You want ME to join you for lunch?” I was shocked.

“Yes, I would like to show you how a woman should be treated.” Chris stated. I blushed five shades of red.

“Ok.” I giggled and put my bag on my shoulder. He smiled and began walking with me to the elevator. “I know a great little cafe.” Chris said.

We left the Marvel offices and began walking. Talking to Chris was easy and it just flowed. We made it to the small cafe and were able to get a table outside. It was beautiful day. We sat down and our conversation just continued to flow.

“So what did you do to end up at the end of Joe’s anger?” Chris asked. I just shrugged. “You’re guess is as good as mine.” I said taking a bite of my sandwich.

“How’d you even know about this place? I’ve lived here for four years and didn’t even know it existed.” I asked changing the subject.

“My sisters are travel gurus and they know all these little places that aren’t super crowded in just about every city.” Chris explained. I laughed softly and nodded.

“Hey, I see that coming in handy.” I smiled at him. I couldn’t help but stare just slightly at him. The way his eyes shine and the way he smiles.

The waitress came with the check and I fully intended on paying for my half of the meal. It wasn’t a date, or at least I didn’t think it was. I reached into my bag to grab my wallet.

Chris raised his eyebrow at me as he accepted the check. “What are you doing?” He asked as he placed his card in the book.

“I’m going to pay for my half of the meal.” I stated mater-of-factly. Chris laughed and handed the waitress the check. He gave her a look and she escaped to run his card.

“Chris, I’m a big girl. I can pay for my food.” I said.

“I know you can, doll.” Chris said with a smile. My cheeks flushed red at the sound of the pet name. “But I wanted to treat you like a real woman should be treated.” He reached across the table and laid his hand over mine. “I understand working for someone who’s not easy to deal with, it happens a lot in this business. That being the case doesn’t mean you deserve to be treated in such a crude and harsh way.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his kind words. Before I could give my response, the waitress returned with his card. He put his card away and pocketed his wallet. We stood and I figured we would part ways from the small cafe.

“So as I continue to treat you like a real woman, which way is your apartment? I’m now going to walk you home.” Chris stated. I could not help but laugh softly at how confident his statement sounded.

“It’s this way.” I said smiling as we walked out of the restaurant and headed down the street.

“So, you’re from Massachusetts, right?” I asked Chris as we walked.

“Yeah, Boston to be exact.” He smiled proudly. “And you are from?” Chris raised his eyebrow and gave me side glance.

“Well, I’m not from around here.” I laughed.

“Oh, I can tell.” He said. “That accent is definitely not one of a Yankee native.” I couldn’t help but laugh, I thought I was doing a pretty good job at covering my accent.

“Alright, alright, you got me!” I smiled “I’m from Texas.”

“Texas?” He said looking at me as we stopped at a cross walk. “Well I will give it to you, I definitely would not have guessed Texas.”

“Well then, where would you have guessed then?” I asked, quirking my eyebrow up and finally letting my accent become more natural.

“I don’t know, maybe somewhere south but definitely not that south.” Chris laughed. I blushed and smiled.

“Yeah, well I’m just a southern belle.” I said exaggerating my southern accent. Chris laughed as we continued our walk to my apartment.

After a few more blocks, we made it to the lobby of my apartment building. “Thank you, Chris!” I smiled up at him. “You definitely showed me how a woman should be treated.”

“That’s good, but I’ve got one more thing to show you.” He said with a smirk.

I raised my eyebrow at him as he stepped closer. He slowly reached his hand up and rested it against my cheek as he leaned in. I knew it was coming. I raised up on my toes just slightly and met his lips. I rested my hand against his chest. As cliché as it sounds, our kiss was electric.

I pulled away as my cheeks turned red. I looked up at him with a soft smile. “I’m not complaining, but why?”

He laughed and smiled down at me. “Because you, Y/N, are absolutely stunning, you’re obviously very smart and talented. You also deserve to be treated with respect and like the woman you are.”

I think I almost melted as I listened to him. “So if it’s ok with you, I want to take you out on a date.” Chris said. “Not like what we just did because I get the feeling you didn’t think that was a date.” He laughed softly. “Like a ‘pick you up at 8, wear something nice’ type date.”

My cheeks were still red as I nodded. “I’d really like that.” I smiled up at him. Chris took my phone from my hand and put his number in my contacts.

“I’m in New York until Wednesday morning. I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at 8.” Chris smirked and handed me my phone. “And wear something nice.” He winked and started walking away.

#chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans fluff #chris evans #chris evans fandom #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans one shot #chris evans imagine #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers #captain america fluff #captain america imagine #capatian america #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel icons #mcu fanfiction #mcu cast #mcu universe

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susiephone · 4 years ago

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my big gay folklore narrative

This is my best construction of the folklore narrative, specifically the Teenage Love Triangle. While some of these connections are obvious, some are just me going full Pepe Silvia and interpreting the characters in ways you may disagree with. And, again, this is super-duper gay. (Yes, James is female in my mind. I know a lot of people point out it can be a girl’s name -- which it can, so valid -- but I personally like to imagine she’s one of like 20 Jessicas or Ashleys at their school and goes by her last name. Either way, it works.)

Our story is set in a small town in Pennsylvania in the late 90s/early 2000s, and it concerns four girls: James, Betty, Inez, and August. I will do this story roughly chronological order, but due to the nature of the album there will be some jumping.

seven

When Betty is young, things at home aren’t easy. Her father is abusive and she doesn’t feel safe there, but she does have solace in a childhood friend of hers. Her friend does her best to protect her (“I think you should come live with me, and we can be pirates, and you won’t have to cry, or hide in the closet”), and they love each other very much.

Sadly, her friend moves out of Pennsylvania with her family when they’re young, and because this is pre-internet, they lose track of each other, and years later, Betty’s friend only half-remembers her -- but she still holds a fond place in her heart. (“And even though I can’t recall your face, I still got love for you.”)

cardigan / exile / august / betty

I’m lumping these four together because I think they all happen in the same year or so, constantly overlapping each other.

Flash forward to high school. By now, Betty’s father has left her and her mother, which is for the best, but the whole ordeal was pretty traumatic. (“I knew you, leaving like a father, running like water.”) She’s bisexual but closeted, and James is one of her classmates. James is a rebellious tomboy and it’s basically an open secret among the adults (and most of their classmates) that she’s probably a lesbian, but she’s still closeted. (“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything.”)

The two girls become close friends, and eventually begin kissing and holding hands in private, but both are too scared to go further, or to come out and say that they really care for each other. Betty tries to broach the topic multiple times, but James brushes her off.

Finally, Betty plucks up the courage to suggest she and James go to the spring dance together, as a couple, and let the chips fall where the may.

James, in true disaster lesbian fashion, freaks the fuck out and says “no,” even claiming it was only a fling to her. Which is total crap, and deep down they both know it, but Betty’s really hurt. The night of the dance, James has a change of heart, realizes she needs to take a stand and show Betty how much she loves her (“Tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy”), so gets all dolled up and she goes to the dance... and sees Betty dancing with a guy. (“I can see you starin', honey, like he's just your understudy. Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me. Second, third, and hundredth chances, balancin' on breaking branches. Those eyes add insult to injury.” / “I hate the crowds, you know that. Plus, I saw you dance with him.”)

Hurt and angry, James leaves. Betty follows, and they have a massive fight; James accuses Betty of using her, while Betty calls her a coward. (“You never gave me a sign.” “I gave so many signs!”) They call things off and it’s miserable.

While James is walking home from the dance, August, a classmate of theirs who’s out and proud, offers her a ride home. (“High heels on cobblestones” / “I was walking home on broken cobblestones, just thinking of you when she pulled up like a figment of my worst intentions. She said "James, get in, let's drive.”) Soon, this turns into a fling. Being with August is a nice distraction, and helps James fully come to terms with the fact that she’s gay, but she desperately misses Betty. However, when Inez finds out August and James are a thing, she mentions it to Betty, who responds by avoiding James altogether.

Unbeknownst to James, August is really falling for her. August, meanwhile, is aware that she’s a runner-up to who James really wants, but she hopes that eventually James will see her the same way she sees her. (“For me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all. Canceled plans just in case you'd call and say, ‘Meet me behind the mall.’ So much for summer love and saying ‘us,’ ‘cause you weren't mine to lose.”)

But summer ends, and James breaks things off with August, determined to get Betty back. She works up the courage to go to Betty’s party, ask forgiveness, and rekindle their relationship; for real this time. (“Will you have me? Will you love me? Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends? If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings? I'm only seventeen, I don't know anything, but I know I miss you. Standing in your cardigan, kissing in my car again. Stopped at a streetlight, you know I missed you.”)

mirrorball

I like to imagine “mirrorball” is told from the perspective of Inez, the school gossip. James claims “you can’t believe a word she says most times,” which I take to mean that she has a bit of rep, and is known to exaggerate. I think Inez is one of those girls who became the girl who’s up in everyone’s business because she wants people to like and pay attention to her, but doesn’t think she’s impressive enough on her own. (“I can change everything about me to fit in.”) And, to an extent, it works. When something happens, people look to her to get the dirt. Whether the story she circulates is true is an entirely different matter. (“I can show you every version of yourself tonight.”)

The result is, well into adulthood, Inez has a reputation for being a “people person,” but deep down, she feels like she’s faking it. (“I’ve never been a natural; all I do is try, try, try.”)

the 1

This song is from August’s perspective years later, when she’s all grown up and looking back at her fling with James. She’s doing good these days, dating people and living her life, but she does think back on what could’ve been. She’s not bitter, but she does wonder how life might’ve turned out if James picked her instead of Betty. (“It would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one...”)

hoax / peace

These two also take place at roughly the same time, as Betty and James finish high school as a couple and finally truly grow up. (“Our coming-of-age has come and gone. Suddenly this summer, it's clear, I never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near.”)

Between the reactions of people around them, both of their insecurities, Betty’s history of people hurting her, and James’ impulsiveness, things aren’t easy. (“I could never give you peace.” / “Stood at the cliffside, screaming, ‘Give me a reason.’”) However, neither are willing to call it quits. (“Don’t want no other shade of blue but you.”)

So, things aren’t all rosy right away. But they resolve to make it work. (“All these people think love’s for show, but I would die for you in secret.”) It takes a long time, but I like to think that eventually, they do.

invisible string

This could be seen as being from either Betty or James’ perspective, years later - once they’ve both fully grown up and their relationship has matured. It talks about how past bad relationships led them to each other. As we’ve seen, both were with people who weren’t right for them - but it all eventually led to them being able to be together. (“Were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”)

the last great american dynasty

This is totally irrelevant to the love triangle, but how fun is it to imagine this song as one of Inez’s many wild stories? As an adult, she’s making bank, and still drawing controversy everywhere--and loving it. (“I had a marvelous time ruining everything.”)

#folklore #teenage love triangle #the teenage love triangle #gaylor #betty #kaylor #taylor swift #abuse cw #suicide mention cw

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marvella15 · 4 years ago

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Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 7: Shall We Dance

• Something I didn’t consciously realize about this film until reading Hannah Hyam’s book is that Astaire and Rogers don’t dance together until nearly an hour in. That hasn’t happened since Gay Divorcee. What was anyone thinking??

• Shall We Dance suffers from a lot of extra crap that it didn’t need, such as extraneous characters, far too many interruptions in the Astaire and Rogers relationship, and a bunch of weirdness like life-sized dolls, life-like masks, and backbending ballerinas. The film also has a lot of wasted potential, including a great score and songs by George and Ira Gershwin.

The Gershwins were already well acquainted with Astaire and Rogers. The duo had first met when she was starring in the brothers’ show, Girl Crazy, and Astaire was brought in to help with choreography. Rogers was close friends with George and even dated him. Astaire had known the brothers prior, having starred in a few of their shows with his sister, Adele.

• Our characters/actors: Peter “Petrov” Peters (Fred Astaire), Linda Keene (Ginger Rogers), Jeffrey Baird (Edward Everett Horton), Arthur Miller (Jerome Cowan)

• Around the time I was first really into classic Hollywood films, including these ones, my family and I adopted a new dog. I annoyed my parents to no end by suggesting we name him Peter P. Peters. Don’t know why I latched onto that name but I did.

• Even in the massive portrait of Petrov, you can see Astaire has his fingers curled in rather than fully extended.

• Astaire’s ballet attire lets us once again see just how skinny he is.

• Always loved how Peter does a little tap at the rhythmic sound of his name and birthplace: Pete Peters, Philadelphia PA.

• Rogers’ cardigan with all of its baubles is truly awful looking. It will only be out done by a terrible floral dress she wears later.

• I do however like that she shoves her handsy stage partner into a fountain. Why are men constantly the worst?

• “And why must there always be a kiss at the second-act curtain?” is YET ANOTHER example of these films trolling us. Not once up until this point has any act of an Astaire/Rogers outing included a kiss between them.

• Linda’s disinterest in even meeting Petrov is based on the assumption that he’s a “simpering toe dancer.” While that’s incorrect, she’s not wrong that he is indeed another man who has seen a picture of her and wants to tell her he can’t live without her. So she gets partial credit.

• If Peter wasn’t totally smitten before, Linda’s jab, “It’s just a game little American boys play” gets him.

• As a mixed race number, “Slap That Bass” is incredibly unusual for the era. Astaire was a great admirer of African-American dancers and was strongly influenced by Bill Robinson and John W. Bubbles. I love the blend of all of the voices in this song.

• The dance portion of “Slap That Bass” gives Astaire a chance to show off more of his innovative mind and choreography. He dances in time with the sounds of the ship’s engine and compels the camera to follow him across and up the vast set. The dance is also special in that we have behind the scenes footage of Astaire rehearsing, thanks to a home video shot by George Gershwin.

• Peter making Jeffrey believe the boat is rocking may seem a bit unbelievable but having been on a large ship myself, sometimes you don’t realize it’s rocking until you see other passengers weaving or a giant chandelier swaying.

• I usually skip most if not all of Jeffrey and Arthur’s scenes together. They slow down this film soooo much.

• Like in all of their films, songs are sometimes heard in the background before the actual musical number they appear in. But because this film is scored by the Gershwins, there’s an array of shorter pieces of music that are all their own, such as the whimsical score heard while Rogers and then Rogers with Astaire are walking her dog.

• The dog Peter borrows to give himself an excuse to talk to Linda hits his bark cue perfectly and looks extremely happy about it.

• I would love to know what exactly Astaire and Rogers are talking about while walking her dog. Maybe they were given lines that were then not recorded or maybe it’s improv. But it seems very natural.

Rogers did say that Astaire was a wonderful conversationalist and was adept at talking while dancing, something she noted most men couldn’t manage.

• Wow do I love it when Rogers gets to be extra sassy

Peter: “Isn’t it wonderful being here tonight like this? Still on the same boat together.”

Linda: “Oh, I seldom change boats in mid-ocean.”

• “Beginner’s Luck” is such a charming, fast song that Astaire delivers wonderfully. He hardly seems to take a breath.

A jazzed up version of “Beginner’s Luck” is the song Peter tried to dance to in Paris but the record kept getting stuck.

• Something this movie fails at is letting Linda and Peter’s relationship continue to progress before throwing more obstacles in their way. We know from the gossip of the ship’s staff that they have been spending a lot of time together. When we see them, they are having a relaxing evening that’s incredibly domestic: sitting side by side on the deck while she knits and he smokes. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see more of this part of their relationship?

• Why on earth did Peter think sending Jeffrey to fix the false baby rumors was the right decision? Jeffrey can’t handle a single thing.

• Infuriated at the rumors that she’s married to Peter and pregnant with their baby, Linda tries to call him. “Operator! Get me Mr. Petrov. What? Don’t you dare congratulate me!”

• The theme of this movie is supposed to be the blend of dancing and music styles. Peter’s ballet and Linda’s jazz styles are one example, George Gershwin’s varied score, which switches from jazz to waltz to foxtrot to classical, etc, is another. But it’s a fairly weak concept that doesn’t quite land and reportedly, neither Astaire or Ira Gershwin was wild about it.

• I love the new version of “Slap That Bass” that plays as Peter and Jeffrey enter the rooftop club.

• When Rogers sings “They All Laughed,” she is singing to an off-screen Cary Grant, her friend and sometimes date who was visiting the set at the time.

She is also wearing a dress with a horrible pattern. It’s supposed to be floral but it always makes me think of amoebas. Maybe it looked better in color?

• Astaire clearly has fun during the part where Peter hams it up a bit with his ballet next to Linda’s tapping.

• In some ways, “They All Laughed” is reminiscent of “Isn’t it a Lovely Day.” They’re testing each other, trading glancing as they see whether the other can keep up with the increasingly complex steps. Until now, Linda didn’t know Peter could dance this way so her surprise and amusement unfolds slowly as the routine progresses. But he has been grinning since the start because he’s hoping to win her back through this dance.

• This is another duet where it takes a long time before they touch. The first physical contact is just her executing a series of spins with the help of his fingers. And it’s during this part that Rogers finally breaks into a wide smile.

• When he spins her up onto the piano the first time, she happily waits for him to retrieve her. And when he spins her into a seated position and upright again a few times don’t miss how he looks at her with a wry, slightly mischievous smile.

• The Linda doll is so creepy and not lifelike. Who was fooled by this?

Also, Arthur is terrible. Jeffrey is terrible too but he’s an idiot so I’m more willing to let it slide.

• Peter walking out of Linda’s bedroom in the morning in his robe right in front of her fiancé while she is in her negligee is pretty funny.

• Peter and Linda’s nice day out is just further proof that this movie should’ve spent more time on the two of them together rather than breaking them up every few minutes.

• “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” is a fun song, though Astaire gets most of the good words imo. However, Rogers does do an extra affectation to some of her lyrics and that makes them funnier.

At one point when she’s singing, he turns to her and for just a moment his face goes soft in that way it does sometimes when he looks at her.

• Some film historians have labeled this dance as not that great when compared to other Astaire and Rogers numbers. But I’ve always found it very enjoyable and innovative. While Gene Kelly probably takes the gold medal for dancing on skates in It’s Always Fair Weather, Astaire and Rogers did it first, did it well, and deserve some extra credit for a duet on skates rather than a solo.

Rogers also deserves some extra credit since the idea to dance on skates was supposedly hers. And probably deserves even more credit for doing this dance on skates while also in heels.

• For some reason I really enjoy that they perform this number in their hats and street clothes. It’s so informal and feels like something you do on a fun date.

• Throughout this dance, Peter continues to be the playful one, as he’s been in their interactions in the film, and Linda is the more serious one who needs to be coaxed into having fun. Maybe this is why Astaire frequently glances at her and even spends long seconds watching her at different parts as they move into the next series of steps. Rogers is more reserved in her expressions but whenever they are face to face, she appears happiest.

A few times she looks triumphant, leading me to wonder if they or she had finally nailed a section that was giving them or her trouble.

• Can’t say for certain but I swear she almost falls when they do the backwards steps. She just baaaarely snags his hand in time.

They had to film this dance something like 150 times so I imagine there was more than one time where at least one of them did indeed fall.

• The circular dance they do leading up to the end is based on a dance Astaire and his sister made famous in their time on the stage.

• Apparently the grassy bank they tumble onto wasn’t padded so those fake grimaces of pain aren’t that fake. Their exchange after the tumble feels very much like married banter to me:

Peter: “Yes, it was my idea.”

Linda: “Have you any more of them?”

Peter, exaggerating: “No.”

• They’re such a good match:

Linda: “Peter, you’ve got to marry me.”

Peter: “Why, Linda, this is so sudden.”

• Oh 1930s Hays Code humor. The cop who overhears their conversation thinks she’s pregnant and pressuring the father of the baby into marrying her. Hurr hurr hurr.

• Heh:

Linda: “I beg your pardon but what are grounds for divorce in this state?”

Clerk: “Marriage.”

• It will never make sense to me that a dance was not planned in this film for “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” It’s a truly lovely song. I know Astaire and Rogers will dance to it more than ten years later in The Barkleys of Broadway but it’s just not the same.

It’s also a good reminder in the film that Peter has legitimate feelings for Linda and she does for him but they’re far more conflicted. Though he must sense he’s hooked her in a bit since he becomes very aloof once they return to the hotel in the stupid hope of making her want him more? Idk, men are dumb.

• “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” carries special poignancy because it became a form of consolation to Ira Gershwin after his brother suddenly died two months after this film was released.

• Oh Linda’s face when she walks in to see Peter with the loathsome Lady Tarrington is so sad and crestfallen. Ever thought you and your crush were finally on the same page only to find them canoodling with someone else?

Although, she could’ve knocked first instead of just walking straight into his room…

• The ballet portion of the finale is weird and unappealing in every way. Harriet Hoctor was known for the backbend dance she does in this film. Maybe it was something spectacular in 1937?? but it doesn’t hold up.

One thing I’ll say about Astaire’s duet with Hoctor, it’s a great chance to see him in a romantic duet with someone other than Rogers and notice how different he acts. No secret smile, no lingering looks, no whispered words, no soft expressions.

• “Shall We Dance” is another upbeat song that deserves more than being featured in the remaining few minutes of the film. Their dance is far too short but wonderful all the same. Her delight when he finds her always makes me smile. She also executes some impressive full length lunges that I couldn’t do at this moment much less in a dress and heels in the middle of a dance number.

For a few seconds, his fingers press into the exposed dip of her spine in yet another example of Victorian hotness.

• And so we finish film number 7. Shall We Dance underperformed at the box office and wasn’t a critical darling. Everyone, the actors included, started to feel the magic was coming to an end. Coming up next is a film I pretty much never rewatch: Carefree.

#fred astaire #ginger rogers #shall we dance #classic hollywood #old hollywood #fred and ginger #astaire and rogers rewatch #all astaire/rogers gifs without credit are mine

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hairup-squareup · 3 years ago

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Cupid’s Kiss| Chapter 1: A French Phenomenon

Title: Cupid’s Kiss

Summary: True love is something hard to find. That’s why at Cupid’s Kiss Matchmaking they strive to find you your soulmate and get you your happily ever after, no matter the cost is.

Word count: ~3.3k (this chapter)/~3.3k the whole book

Ships: HallDoll (Jaida Essence Hall/Nicky Doll), Gottlux (GottMik/Olivia Lux), CrystalAvalon (Symone/Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd), Jankie (Jackie Cox/Jan sport), Rosenali (Rose/ Denali Foxx)

Tw: mentions of death, divorce and rehab

“Welcome to New York City, The current time is 1:32 am, and the temperature is 19 degrees Celsius for my Europeans on the flight and 66 Fahrenheit for my Americans. Maybe one day you’ll smarten up and use Celsius like the rest of the world.” This sarcastic response from the pilot brought a chuckle and smile to Nicky’s face, as she packed up her sketchbook into her carry-on. With a sigh, she sat back waiting for the rest of the plane to disembark.

“Is she ever going to get off the fucking plane!” Mik rested his head on the handrail, pouting like some little kid. He kept watching as person after person left the arrivals gate and reconnected with their people. WHY WAS NICKY TAKING FOREVER?!

“Well so you don’t die of boredom Mik, She just arrived at security.” Brooke looked up from her phone at the young boy sitting in front of her on the ground. She let out a soft laugh before sitting down beside him, “ Raja and Liv are probably on their way back with coffees.” Brooke smiled as she spun the young boy’s hair in her fingers.

“Why did I have to come again? I am an adult.” Mik huffed as he looked the Canadian in the eyes. Brooke gave him a slight shove before standing up and going back to the bench she was on, Mik following a few steps behind.

“Because last time Raja and I went to go pick up an associate, We came back to the office a wreck and you and Olivia half-naked.” Brooke didn’t look up from the email she was writing. Mik opened his mouth to go say something but closed it realizing that Brooke had a point. Though he did love his girlfriend a lot, the two just had miraculous bad timing.

And Speaking of said girlfriend coming around the corner emerged the perky auburn-haired girl Brooke had mentioned, along with Brooke’s tired silver-haired business partner. Raja smirked handing Brooke one of the two coffees in her hand. “Remind me not to let you bring people in from out of the country again.”

“Didn’t you tell Manila that when she put my name on the table?”

“Yes, But you weren’t over seven hours away. Plus I brought you on as a replacement when Manila left anyways.” Raja smirked looking at Brooke, who was still focused on her phone. “As well as the fact you are so much better at the finance stuff than me.”

This caused Brooke to look up from her phone, kind of puzzled. “That’s because I am one of the few people you’ve hired that can actually do fucking math. If you didn’t have me you would probably be running around hooking people up for fucking free Raja.” She smacked the older woman’s chest as she let out a chuckle.

“I’ve offered to hook you up multiple times.” Raja smiled as she took a sip of her coffee “I have a 100% success rate, and I can find you the perfect girl. I mean look at the two down here.” She motioned to the two making out in front of them. Brooke broke out laughing at the two younger adults in front of her hitting Mik on the back of the head. This didn’t stop the two from making out, it just caused Mik to flip off Brooke.

“Madame Hytes?” a voice came from the entrance of arrivals causing all four to turn their heads to face the arrival’s gate. Standing there was a blonde thin girl with a bright red shoulder bag tossed over her shoulder. Brooke smiled as she went over to her friend and smiled as she wrapped her arms around the French girl in front of her.

“Mlle Nicky Doll, je suis content que votre vol se soit bien passé. (Ms. Nicky doll, I am happy your flight was safe.)” Brooke smiled as she took her friend’s hand. The two exchanged a laugh before Nicky handed her suitcase to Brooke.

“Brooke, dois-je parler la langue de merde (Brooke, do I need to speak the shit language)” Nicky stopped before turning to her friend, who was currently trying to stop herself from laughing too much. She just kept looking at all the people passing her as Brooke was leaning on the suitcase. “Brooke?”

“Yes. Yes. Nicky, you’ll need to speak English. I am the only one who knows french.” Brooke barely got out before taking a few moments to regain her breath. She adjusted herself turning to Nicky giving her the nod that she was all good to go, linking hands with the French model. Nicky nodded kinda shy to meet the other three at the bench, but willing to follow her friend’s lead. Brooke leaned over right before they reached the trio at the bench and whispered “The younger ones have a lot of energy I’d like to warn you on that.”

Nicky nodded in response as both Mik and Olivia rushed u like eager puppies to her, they both seemed speechless. “You look amazing!” Olivia’s eyes were like stars at the sight of Nicky, who just smiled and nodded, giving awkward glances back at Brooke.

“Guys, This is my friend Nicky Doll from Paris. She’s going to be here to help you all out with the love scene.” Brooke smiled at the trio as she stepped aside to showcase her friend.

“Bonjour. Thank you all for having me, I’ll be happy to work with you all.” Nicky smiled at the group. Raja stepped out from the group to stand in front of Nicky and taking a look at her new hire up and down.

“Well, Ms. Doll. We are happy to have you join the cupid’s kiss matchmaking family” Raja smiled as she opened her arms to the French model in front of her. A genuine smile appeared on Nicky’s face as she hugged the older woman tight. For once she felt like she belonged.

=============================================================

The next morning came like a bullet train. No one in the office was prepared to come into work. “Man people are getting desperate, how can we find matches for some of these?” Gigi entered the office looking at a folder in her hands before sitting down at her desk, sprawling the open folder across her keyboard. “I mean Symone, come take a look at this one.” She motioned for Symone to come and join her at her desk.

Symone pulled her coffee mug out from under the machine and took her time heading to her childhood best friend’s desk. “Crystal Methyd, what kinda name is that?” Symone chuckled as she rested her chin on Gigi’s head. She flipped through the folder or at least tried to, stumbling on a photo of this said culprit. “No!” Her hand flew to cover her mouth at the sight before her.

“SHE HAS A MULLET!” Gigi’s jaw was touching the floor at this sight of an androgynous being with a full El DeBarge still mullet giving a quirky smile. Gigi looked the photo up and down. “ I mean they are kinda cute.”

Symone stopped for a second before looking at her friend, trying to comprehend what she just said, “Gi, you are not falling for the person with the mullet. Are you?”

“No! I just said they were cute! It’s like the comment you made about Joey last month!”

“Everyone thought that twink was cute! Well everyone except you, but that’s ‘cause you’re a femme who’s not attracted to other twinks.”

With that comment, Gigi took the folder and whacked her friend in the stomach. Causing Symone to laugh as she walked away back to the staff room.

Jaida looked at the other girl as she entered the staff room. “Gigi simping for a client?” She chuckled, handing Symone a sugar packet. Symone gave a slight sigh before pouring said sugar packet into her coffee.

“It was going to happen to the best of us. It always does” She smiled looking at the young girl at the desk through the giant glass window. Gigi was still going through the file and seeing if she could find anything on Crystal Methyd. This caused the two in the staff room to simultaneously take sips of their coffee, with soft smiles emerging. “Speaking of love, how are you and-”

“Rock? Didn’t work out. She moved back to San Francisco for work and we both agreed a long-distance relationship wouldn’t be the best for our mental health. We both agreed to stay friends though!” Jaida smiled at her friend who put a hand on her shoulder.

“Shall I start adopting you a cat? So you can start your long life as a crazy cat lady?” this exact comment is what made Jaida leave the staff room and go start heading to work.

Symone chugged the last of her coffee before sitting down at her desk and logging in on her computer. As much as she loved working at a matchmaking office, helping people get their happily ever after, it kinda made her see how lonely she truly is. Maybe she should put her application in to find someone, that could easily be a solution.

“Head in the clouds hun?” The sweet voice of Olivia Lux whistled through Symone’s ears breaking her trance. She turned to face her coworker, a smirk on her face as she was met with a naïve joyful smile. “Mik and I picked up donuts before work and I just wanted to offer you one.” Olivia stuck the pink box in her hand out to Symone.

Maybe a donut will help clear her head, She smiled as she grabbed a Boston crème out of the box. “Thanks, Liv, I don’t know how you can stay so happy all the time.” Symone chuckled as she took a bite of the donut, turning her focus back up to the girl in front of her.

“Well I know it’s the fact we’ve got someone new joining the team today.” This exact comment is what caused Symone to almost choke on her donut, as well as catching the attention of the whole office. Everyone flocked to Symone’s desk like a bunch of seagulls around a piece of bread.

“Someone new?” Jackie emerged from her executive office, approaching the small group that’s now crowded around Symone’s desk “Raja didn’t say anything about someone new.”

“Well, Raja, Mik, Brooke, and I picked her up from the airport last night or this morning. Time is very confusing.” Olivia looked around at everyone surrounding her. “Donut?” She lifted the box, offering it to those around her.

Everyone started whispering about the new hire; it was rare to get a new hire at Cupid’s Kiss, so everyone was naturally curious. Olivia turned to Mik, who gave her an encouraging thumbs-up. “All I know is her name is Nicky and she’s from France.”

“She’s like a model, some friend of Brooke,” Mik spoke up to be the focus off of his girlfriend.

“Who’s a model? Cause I don’t remember paying you all to stand around to chat about some model” A voice came from the back of the group causing almost everyone to jump facing the owner of Cupid’s Kiss, Raja Gemini. “Come on guys, we’ve got happily ever after's to make.” She laughed as everyone dispersed from Symone’s desk to their desks or the staff room.

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“Nicky, we’ll be late.” Brooke reapplied her red lip as she watched the other girl stumble out of the other bathroom in her apartment. She sighed before adjusting Nicky’s cardigan. “I told you that you didn’t have to dress fancy.”

“Yes, you did. But I want to make a good impression.” She looked up at the Canadian before reaching over her grabbing the car keys from behind Brooke. Nicky quickly spun around as she left the apartment “come on, I’m driving.”

“In hell, you aren’t!” Brooke chased after her friend. “You don’t even have your American driver’s license. I’m driving Salope.” She laughed as she motioned for her friend to drop her keys in her hands.

Reluctantly Nicky hands the jeep’s keys back to Brooke. “I’m surprised you have yours, Chienne.” She huffed as the two entered the elevator.

“I came here after we graduated from Visages. Worked with the New York City Ballet for three years, that’s where I met Sahara. Then we had an accident in the theatre, which crushed my ankle. And then Sahara’s ex-fiancé got me this job.” Brooke’s tone was kinda embarrassed and serious. She never really felt comfortable talking about ballet with anyone except Nicky, who noticed the posture shift. “ A lot of people died…. I got out lucky. I miss Sahara, I miss Kennedy, I miss all the girls.”

The rest of the elevator ride was dead silent. Nicky didn’t know how to respond, she just put a hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “But you’ve got me. And that’s not changing, I promise.” Brooke gave a soft smile to her friend, Nicky surprisingly knew what to say to make her feel better.

She chuckled as Nicky squeezed her hand letting her know it was okay. “That comment isn’t going to get me to allow you to drive my car.” She laughed as they entered the parkade

“Va te faire foutre, connasse (Fuck you, bitch)” Nicky smiled as she flipped Brooke off, chasing her to the jeep.

“You know you Europeans drive on the wrong side of the road!”

“And? You Americans use the wrong temperature.”

“I’m Canadian!”

“You are living in America, so you are American.” Nicky laughed as she watched Brooke start to drive the jeep out of the parkade. She hadn’t felt this relaxed in years, her best friend made her feel like that.

The car ride was interesting, definitely not like Paris. Very much a slower and angrier drive, Brooke cursed the taxis around them at least ten times in the first five minutes they were on the road. When Nicky said the car ride was slower than Paris, she meant as slow as a snail in molasses in -40 degrees temperatures.

So when traffic came to the 4th stall in ten minutes, she thought it would be a good spot to ask Brooke something. And to possibly stop Brooke from ramming the taxi in front of them. “Brooke?”

Trying to hide her obvious road rage, Brooke slapped a smile on before turning to her friend in the passenger seat. “Yes, my dear?” Her tone was though still sweet, was still filled with anger.

“Do you think the others will like me?” This question almost made her laugh. Was Nicky serious? Of course, the others would like her, this group was the most accepting group Brooke knew. She knew for certain they’d like her.

“Ms. Nicolette Doll,” Nicky cringed at the use of her full first name. Brooke knew only to use it when she was either mad at Nicky or teasing Nicky. “You are a gorgeous French model with a heart of fucking gold. you wish for everyone you meet to succeed, even if you have a fucking hard shell. Trust me, they’ll love you.” She smiled as she cupped Nicky’s face “I mean look at Liv and Mik, they adored you when they first saw you. Hell Raja even let me fly you in just so you could work with us. So if anyone has an issue with you, they can suck my ice-cold Canadian ass.”

Nicky was almost brought to tears, with how protective her friend was. The words of confidence resonated with her, as a soft smile fell on her face. She was kind of a loss of words so she just squeezed Brooke’s hand, letting her know thank you. Brooke understood the sign and gave a soft squeeze back, “now I gotta make a call, looks like we’re going to be running late because SOMEONE DRIVES SLOWER THAN A MOOSE IN -40 DEGREES IN NUNAVUT!” And with that Brooke went back to cursing out traffic.

=============================================================

“Look if we can get the mom in rehab before the trial next month it’ll look like she’s willing to fix herself without any court-mandated therapy.” Lagoona huffed as she tossed two files on her legal partners’ desks. Jan stopped spinning in her to get a look at the papers, she looked up at Lagoona slightly confused.

“You think she’ll willingly do that?” Jan asked as she flipped through the file, she was meant with a shrug in return. Lagoona was about to open her mouth before she was cut off.

“It’s the only way she’ll get any form of fucking custody over the kids.” Rosé said as she entered the main office three coffees in hand, passing them out to the other two girls before sitting down at her desk. “Jan, you’re still in contact with Brita?” She asked with a tone as if she already knew the answer. The brunette nodded still slightly confused, looking between the blonde and redhead.

“Good, give her a call. I’m sure she and Ms. Widow should be able to take the mom.” Lagoona nodded before starting to type a number in her desk phone as well, “I’ll call the mom. See if she can come down so we can explain the situation. Rosie-“

“I’ll get the paperwork done as usual.” Rosé smiled as she cut her friend off giving a small salute to her friend across the room. The three shared a nod before splitting up to do their separate tasks.

Rosé knew the routine, get the paperwork ready for when the client agreed. She had it down to a science at this point, she could almost get it done in 2 minutes, depending on if the printer wanted to jam or not. She quickly logged into the computer and had the file selected ready to click print till her phone scared the shit out of her “Fuck!” She watched as the file started to duplicate and duplicate and duplicate.

Begrudgingly she grabbed the phone off the desk placing it on her shoulder and under one ear. So she could fight the computer while taking the phone call. “Bloo Sport and McCorkell family law. Hope to bring a voice to the voiceless, I’m Rosé how can I help you….Brooke, please tell me you didn’t total another taxi….Because it’s happened at least seven times now… don’t you have your boss’s phone number so you can call her yourself?… there’s something called voice mail… NO, I AM NOT GOING OVER TO YOUR SCAM AGENCY!… it is and you know it… throw in an actual picture of a fucking moose this time AND NOT one you found online, then I’ll do it… you owe me Hytes. Bye.” Rosé huffed as she hung up the phone turning to the other two, both very confused by the conversation.

“Rosie, everything okay?” Jan tilted her as she approached her friend. She grabbed the chocolates on her desk and placed them on Rosé’s desk before backing away cautiously, almost like she had just placed food in front of a dangerous animal.

Rosé pulled her head out of her hands locking eyes with Jan, whose smile turned to fear. “Jan, you wanna go across the hall and let them know Brooke and Nicky got stuck in traffic?” Rosé watched as her friend nodded excitedly already writing down what Rosé had said getting ready to leave the office. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

And within seconds Jan was out of the office. Lagoona placed an arm on Rosé’s monitor as they watched the door swing, “you know she just wants an excuse to see the cute girls.” She looked down at the now smirking Rosé.

“Exactly that’s why I sent her.” She let out a soft laugh before turning back to the blonde beside her. “I’ll get you that paperwork in just a sec”

#rpdr rpf #rpdr fanfiction #rpdr

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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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Praise Me Up (Gigi x Nicky) - moonshot

A/N: moonshot here! thank you for the anon who suggested the gigi/nicky rivarly prompt! I had so much fun writing this, basically 4.1k words of Nicky driving Gigi insane while some of the season 12 (and some special guests) are in for the ride! Please feel free to let me know what you think of it! - moonshot

Gigi knew she was the perfect candidate for the promotion. That was until she found out Nicky Doll, the infuriatingly stunning model-tier beauty from the French branch of the company and recently had moved to NYC, was also being considered for said promotion.

At first, she wasn’t bothered at all when Nicky came to the office permanently. One could say she was almost excited to have someone else so verse in high fashion, as the older blonde had worked for the lengths of Vogue Paris. Gigi had always thought that the foreign woman would bring an added layer to their already impressive fashion editorial.

That was until Gigi realized how much alike they really were, flaws and all.

And the realization came pretty much during the first time she was officially introduced to Nicolette Doll .

The American blonde was well known around her office for being an avid make-up enthusiast thanks to her former job as a make-up artist prior to joining Needles & Co., arguably the most notable fashion editorial in the nation, the year before, so it was almost a given that her colleagues would ask her for advice, especially Heidi from the Closet.

Cue to her blonde wannabe-Broadway star Jan calling Gigi over to her desk to ask for advice for a special night out with her girlfriend.

“Gigiiii, you have to help me! I don’t know which lipstick to match with my eye look for tonight! It’s Jackie and mine’s anniversary, I can’t do my usual nude lip, I want something more… fancy?” The New Jersey woman pouted, half whispering not to have said girlfriend hear the conversation from the desk booth down the row.

“What’s the eye makeup you’re going with? The usual purple, lilac moment?”

Jan nodded, “Yeah, you know me. Do you have something in mind that could work with that?”

Gigi stood quiet for a moment, her mind running through all the various possible combinations, “Well, I would go with a-”

She was interrupted by a sultry accented voice, “I’d suggest a dark nude color with some coral undertones, I got one from MAC, it’s called Stone, I can let you borrow it if you want”.

The long-haired blonde squealed in joy, “Oh my god, that would be great, Nicky. You’re a lifesaver!”

The fashionista turned around to see who was the supposed ‘live saver’. She was met with the brightest icy blue eyes she had ever seen, framed by an impeccable soft smokey eye. A pair of pouty lips accentuated by a fiery red lipstick smiled at her in an almost mischievous way. Short blonde hair, perfectly styled, completed the editorial worthy look.

“I don’t believe we have met before,” she extended her hand, covered by a sheer black glove, “Nicolette Doll,” the French woman squared off Gigi’s slender figure from head to toe, “you can call me Nicky. I got transferred here last week. Genevive Goode, I suppose? I heard a lot about you from the others”.

Gigi shook her hand firmly, a fake smile on her face, how much she hated when people used her first full name, “Yeah, that would be me. Gigi is fine. If I’m not mistaken you have worked for Vogue Paris, right?”

“You’d be correct, it’s thanks to Miss Chachki’s kind words on my behalf that I was able to get a position in this editorial. I’m sure you’ve heard of her”.

Of course , Gigi had heard of the legendary Violet Chachki, her idol ever since she had found her passion for fashion.

“I sure have,” the younger woman didn’t let any of her inner discontent come through on her face as she continued to speak, “well, I hope you are finding our office to your liking”.

Nicky smiled back, a glimpse of something Gigi couldn’t quite understand in her gaze, “So far I’m liking what I’m seeing, chérie,” she commented, quickly turning to Jan to let her know to remember to give her the lipstick before her attention went back to the blonde in front of her, “I can’t wait to work with you, miss Goode”.

“Likewise,” Gigi simply replied as she watched the French woman walk down the room to what she assumed was her new desk.

She was definitely not looking forward to working with Nicky.

As the months went by, what was driving Gigi insane was the fact that, besides herself, everyone seemingly beamed after the French beauty.

Jan - and Jackie by proxy - had already gone out multiple times to the karaoke bar down the street from their office with the blonde woman, only to have them talk about it the following day while they sipped on their steaming cups of coffee. Gigi had learned that Nicky was not only gorgeous but also a phenomenal singer because of course, she was.

The older blonde had become Jaida’s, her desk neighbor, go-to party girl for the free drinks Friday nights at the local queer club. A position that use to be Gigi ’s. Granted that the dark-skinned beauty still asked her to come out with them but never in a million years the young fashionista was going to get caught going to the club when Nicky was also involved.

Hell, even her own best friend, Crystal, had grown fond of the foreign woman, much to Gigi’s displeasure.

“Oh, c’mon! She isn’t that bad at all! She actually complimented my makeup!” She proclaimed excitedly, twirling a long strand of her brown mullet around her index finger.

Gigi looked up from the stylized drawing of her latest dress idea with furrowed brows, “Crystal, she said you look pretty for someone who paints like a clown ”.

The brown-haired woman’s expression didn’t change, if anything, her smile had just gotten bigger, “Still, she said I’m pretty!”

“Ugh!” the blonde went back to her drawing, mindlessly filling in the drawing.

“Honestly, Gi… you should give her a chance. You two have a lot in common!”

“That’s the problem! It’s basically like looking at a copy of me! I bet you that if I shaved my head, she would come in the next day sporting a bald head and call it being avant-garde!”

Jaida butted into the conversation, having just come back from the bathroom, “Girl, don’t you dare go bald. That Halloween look as that damn robot still haunts my nightmares,” she added from behind the sitting blonde before taking a closer look at Gigi’s drawing, and chuckled, “Nice drawing of Frenchie”.

“What?” The young blonde looked down at her drawing, this time paying attention to what she had drawn. It did look an awful lot like a stylized version of Nicky.

“Fuck!” She whined out, quickly crumpling the drawing and tossing it to the other side of the office.

It was as if the universe was against her when the piece of paper landed just in front of Nicky as she walked into the room. She bent over and picked it up, quietly examining the drawing. She swayed her hips as she walked towards the trio, a smirk on her face.

“Chérie, if you wanted me to model for you, you could have just asked,” she said with a wink before walking to her desk, prompting a laugh from Gigi’s two close friends.

The fashionista groaned loudly, a blushing creeping on her, “I hate everyone!”

Thinking back to the day when Miss Needles called into her private office on the 12th floor, Gigi knew something was up when she was forced to share the elevator with Nicky on the way up. She was tempted to close the door on the older woman but she had been too slow. What a pity.

“Which floor?”

“12th”.

Gigi tensed her jaw for a moment as she pushed the button before resting her back on the wall. The ride was awkwardly silent, neither of them thrilled to strike up a conversation as they went up.

“ Toi t'es bon qu'à planer, ouais je sens t'as l'seum, j'ai l'avocat ”.

The older blonde has seemingly had enough of the silence as she quietly sang in what Gigi assumed was French. She would never admit Nicky’s singing was actually as good as Jan had boasted her to be.

“ Entre nous y'a un fossé, toi t'es bon qu'à faire la mala ,” the French ran a hand in her short blonde hair, eyes closed as she waited, that smirk Gigi detested flashing on her lips.

Before Gigi could say anything, the familiar sound of the elevator doors opening filled the small space. Nicky gestured to her to go out first, “After you, chéri”.

The younger blonde scoffed, quickly exiting the elevator and making her way to the door of her boss’ office, not waiting for the older woman.

She gently knocked three times and waited for a reply.

“Come in”

How she was tempted to close the door on Nicky’s face, again.

Gigi entered the office to find Miss Needles standing up, looking out the window to the New York skyline. The statuesque woman turned around with a bright smile on her face that surely contrasted with the intense sharp makeup she was wearing.

Working for Aquaria Needles had been a pleasant surprise for the young fashionista. She was a little over a year older than Gigi and yet, at 24, after working in her teen years as a runway model, she had already taken over her mother’s role as editor in chief while the matriarch of the Needles family had decided to step down from the spotlight for a while.

Gigi had gathered quite the respect for Aquaria, who was truly a 180° from her stoic, almost spook-inducing mother, Sharon. However, she knew not to get on her bad side as she was still a Needles, after all.

“Oh! You’re both here already, that makes my job much easier as I can explain myself just once,” she started as she sat down in the expensive-looking faux leather chair, “please take a seat, we have a lot to discuss here!”

The two fashion queens of the office sat down, keeping their bodies as far from each other as possible, neither really trying to hide their discontent for each other.

“So, as both of you know, May is coming up and so is our annual special issue for the Met Gala. Now, I’ve been keeping an eye on both of you as you two are our best designers,” Aquaria continued, her bright blue eyes staring intently to the two women sitting in front of her, “Miss Hytes-Mateo has recently announced that she is transferring to our branch in LA in a couple of months time, which means the position of creative director will need to be filled up”.

Gigi’s eyes widened, which had been the promotion she had been looking up to ever since joining the team as a mere intern two years prior. She had to have that.

“And this is where you two come into play, for the next month leading up to our May issue, I’ll be regularly checking with both you two and Brooke Lynn to determine who is the best candidate for the position once she’s gone. Have I made myself clear?” Aquaria finished up, waiting for a reaction from either of them.

Nicky was the first one to speak up, “It’s an honor to be even considered for such position, Miss Needles”

The editor in chief smiled, her hand waving in front of her, “oh please, you can call me Aquaria, Miss Needles reminds me too much of my mom. Anything you’d like to add, Gigi?”

“I’ll make sure to show you that I’m the perfect candidate for this promotion,” the younger woman replied, she wasn’t going to let that French blonde take her spot.

“If you don’t have any question, I think we can call it a-”

Aquaria was interrupted by the door opening. The two designers turned around to see a short petite woman peeking in the room, her long blonde hair perfectly framing her face.

“Sorry to interrupt, Miss Needles but your mother just called and wanted to remind you that she is expecting you to have lunch with her tomorrow at noon,” the woman said with a soft voice.

Gigi turned back to the editor in chief, not failing to notice the blushing cheeks on the young woman’s face. Everyone around the office knew about Aquaria’s crush for her assistant, Miss Heller (she could still hear Widow’s voice, “It must run in the family! Didn’t her mother meet her current fiancé because the woman worked for her? Miss Thunder, was it?”).

“O-Oh okay, thank you for reminding me… but I told you to call me Aquaria, Brianna”.

“And I told you, as much as I want to, your mother won’t let me, Miss Needles,” she replied playfully before turning her attention to Gigi and Nicky, finally noticing the duo, “oh, sorry for the interruption. Goodbye!”

She closed the door behind her, leaving a quiet Aquaria, staring at the door.

After a minute of silence, Nicky cleared her throat, waking Aquaria up from her own thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah okay work, we are done here! Both of you, enjoy your day. I’ll be sure to let Brooke Lynn know you are ready to start,” the editor excused them, turning her chair around to, once again, stare at the beautiful skyline.

The two designers exited the editor’s office in silence, walking up to the elevator. Gigi nervously tapped her foot as they were descending back to their floor.

As they reached their floor, she felt a hand grab her wrist, “may the best woman win, chérie”

That was the only thing Nicky said before leaving Gigi alone.

She sure planned on winning.

For the following month, if Gigi had thought Nicky was insufferable before, now that they were officially competing against each other, the French woman was downright perfect in everything she did. Nicky with her stupidly gorgeous frame, impeccable style, and sultry voice. And those sheer gloves, those goddamn gloves.

If Gigi did something that earned her praises from Brooke Lynn, there would come Nicky Doll with something that was just that much more innovative, bringing the spotlight on herself. It was driving Gigi insane. The younger blonde was desperate to find something, anything , that she could use against the older woman.

The young blonde sat quietly as she elaborated her next move to bring Nicky down, her close friends chit-chatting next to her.

“Girl, I think y’all two should just fuck it out!”

Gigi rolled her eyes at Jaida’s suggestion for the nth time. Everyone in her friend group had caught onto the fact that she despised the French designer and mercilessly teased her about it.

“Not this again! I don’t like her, Jaida,” she replied with a dead-pan voice.

“Who said anything about liking her? You can cut the sexual tension between the two of you with a goddamn butter knife!” Widow commented with a knowing look, the blonde promptly ignored it.

“Bet 20$ y’all fuck by the end of the month,” Jaida announced, getting a laugh out of the Missouri women.

“I bet 30$ they fuck by the end of the week ,” Widow added, always in to poke fun at the young tall fashionista.

“Oh God! Fuck you both!”

“Chile, girl, save that for Frenchie over there,” the dark-skinned beauty chuckled out.

Gigi simply rolled her eyes again, her attention shifting its focus from the conversation to a particular blonde that was standing across the room from her.

She furrowed her brows. She hadn’t realized that Brooke Lynn had come down to their floor. Nicky was talking to her with a smirk on her face. Something she had told must have been so funny as the Canadian laughed out loud. The French woman touched the taller woman’s arm and it looked like she was… flirting ?

The younger designer inhaled sharply. How dare she?

Gigi quickly got up from her seat, ignoring the confused looks on her colleagues’ faces. She walked over where the two women had been talking, clearing her throat before speaking up.

“ So sorry to interrupt but may I have a word with Miss Doll right now? It’s urgent,” she faked a smile but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Oh, sure. We’re done here anyway. Thank you so much, Nicky. I’ll reserve a table at that restaurant then. Have a good rest of the day you two” The tall Canadian replied before making her way to the elevator.

Gigi didn’t lose any time as she grabbed the older woman’s wrist and walked both of them to the nearest free storage room, closing and locking the door behind her. If they were going to talk, she didn’t want anyone interrupting them.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing? You flirt too now? Is that what they teach you in France?” the young fashionista’s voice fully expressing her anger.

For the first time since they had met, Nicky was speechless and confused, “ Pardon ?”

Gigi scoffed, “Oh, now you play dumb? Do you think I didn’t see you flirting with Brooke Lynn just a minute ago, getting all touchy? Talking about going out to restaurants? Are you that desperate that you’re going to sleep with her for this promotion?” She let out all at once while the short-haired blonde stood in silence.

She had an unreadable expression on her face. She opted not to reply, instead, she slowly took off her gloves, placing them on one of the shelves.

“You are absolutely un-fucking-believable. I wasn’t flirting with her. If you had even just once got out of your head, you would have realized how desperate you sound right now,” she answered calmly, slowly walking up to Gigi, who was in return backing up, “She came up to me to ask for my opinion on which one was the best French restaurant in Manhattan, as she wanted to surprise her wife for their anniversary”.

The younger blonde gulped, suddenly feeling the tie around her neck suffocating. She found herself trapped between the wall next to the door and Nicky’s body, the distinct smell of her Chanel n°5 perfume going straight to Gigi’s head.

The French woman took her tie in her hand, toying with it as she further pressed their bodies together. She slid one of her thighs in between Gigi’s slender legs. The latter can’t help the soft moan that escapes her lips.

“You know what I really think of you, uh?” Nicky put her hand underneath Gigi’s chin, forcing her to look her in the eyes as she spoke, “You’re just a mommy’s girl, wanting to please everybody, having them say how much of a good girl you’ve been, isn’t it right?” The French woman let her hand down the younger girl’s body, reaching the single button on her blazer and unbuttoning it.

Gigi shivered as she felt the cold air hit her bare chest, Nicky’s warm hands making her feel even more the temperature difference.

“That’s why you think you hate me, but, chérie, you’re just scared of me,” she continued, her slender fingers grazing on the erect nubs on her chest while her naked thigh pressed harder against the clothed core, “Scared that someone might be better than you and get that praise you desperately need. You want everyone to think you are this perfect little bitch who is better than everyone else. That facade doesn’t fool me, I see right through it. You still have so much more to learn, you have no idea, chérie”.

The younger woman whimpered as she felt Nicky’s lips press down hard and bite the pulse point on her neck, her knees almost giving out on her if it wasn’t for the older woman’s thigh keeping her in place. The short-haired blonde smirked as she traced the very evident mark she had just left with her tongue, her mouth slowly making her way up to Gigi’s ear.

“That’s for thinking I would sleep with Brooke Lynn for the promotion, salope ” she growled out before biting down on the earlobe. The American gasped loudly, inadvertently jerking her hips forward, causing even more friction between her center, covered by her favorite tailored pants, and Nicky’s thigh. She froze at how good it felt, something she hadn’t felt in months.

The French woman didn’t lose any time in pressing herself harder against Gigi’s body, her mouth ghosting over the younger woman, “Oh, won’t you look at that, uh? Fucking yourself on my thigh? That eager to prove you don’t need my hands,” she pinched one nipple and palmed roughly the other exposed mound, “or my mouth to come?” She taunted her, biting the other woman’s lower lip, “well, then, be my guest, chérie ”.

Gigi moaned as Nicky kissed her roughly, the short-haired woman’s hands never leaving her chest. The younger girl brought her arms around the other designer’s neck as her body started to rock her hips against Nicky, melting under her touch.

“If I knew it only took putting my thigh between your legs to shut your pretty mouth up, I would have done it the first day I came here,” the French woman mocked her as she focused on leaving more marks on Gigi’s pale skin, flushed by the pleasure she was receiving. She felt Nicky’s skirt ride up as she fastened her thrusts against the naked tanned skin.

“F-Fuck you ,” Gigi managed to let out only to be met by a laugh from Nicky.

“Already am, chérie,” she commented, as she left another hickey on Gigi’s sensitive spot on her neck.

As the friction got greater and as she grew hotter, Gigi could start to feel her heat and wetness seep through her pants, wetting Nicky’s skin in return.

“You’re so close, aren’t you? So desperate to come all over my thigh?”

The younger designer was at a loss of words, her heart pounding so loudly as she could feel herself being moments away from her release, she could only nod.

“Well, then, be the good girl you are and come for me. Let them hear how much of a salope you are for me, uh?” Nicky finally whispered in her ear, as she met Gigi’s thrusts.

The American woman gripped tight onto the other woman’s blouse, not caring if she was crumpling the fabric. The intense orgasm washed over her, her legs trembling, her breath hitching as she tried to recover.

Nicky backed off, looking down to the thigh that was now glistening with a light coat of sweat and Gigi’s wetness. She ran two fingers over it before bringing them up to her own mouth, keeping eye contact with a flustered Gigi as she licked them clean.

The younger designer was trying to catch her breath when she saw that same stare she had when they first met in Nicky’s eyes. The older blonde took a longing gaze all over Gigi’s still exposed skin.

She smirked, “À bientôt, chérie”

She took her sheer gloves off the shelf where she had placed them, quickly putting them back on before turning to unlock the door and left.

Gigi blinked a couple of times, trying to register what had just happened. She looked down on her own body, realizing she would have to change after the mess she did.

“ Fuck! ” she muttered before buttoning back up her blazer and making her way to convince Heidi from the Closet to let her change into one of the outfits they kept around for the magazine photoshoots.

She came back to her desk 20 minutes later, trying her best to look as if nothing had happened, which turned out downright impossible as soon as Jaida saw her.

“Hey, what’s with the midday outfit change… wait, is that what I think it is? Oh my god! Y’all did it!” she exclaimed in shock before turning to Crystal, who had walked over, “Damn it! Girl, you were right, they couldn’t last the day”.

The mullet-haired woman rejoiced, “Yay! 50 bucks for me!”

Gigi shot her a look, “Crystal?!? You betted against me too?!”

Her best friend shrugged her shoulders, “What? I need money to save up for the eventual future One Direction reunion because I KNOW it’s real!”

The young designer shook her head, she was never going to see the end of the teasing. She opened one of the desk’s drawers, grabbing her color correction palette and her favorite full coverage concealer.

As she worked her way around her now colorful neck, she looked up to meet Nicky’s icy blue eyes. She scoffed when the French blonde winked at her, however, the smirk on her own face betrayed her.

The American woman crossed her legs. It was just the beginning and Gigi knew it, but now she didn’t mind the competition. If anything, it added some French flavor to the plate.

But first, she had to google what the fuck did ‘salope’ meant.

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #nicky doll #jaida essence hall #crystal methyd #widow von du #jan sport #aquaria #brooke lynn hytes #miz cracker #gigi x nicky #cisgirl au #office au #smut #moonshot #submission #s12

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