#Yesterday I messed up and tidied a bunch

[elizabethrobertajones]

Have you kissed the catboyfriend today?

[joelalorian]

Fall Into Me - Chapter Six: And I Knew My Heart Wasn't Mine

dbf!Joel x f!reader

Summary: Joel is hanging on by a thread as a single father to a tenacious 10-year-old Sarah. Feeling like he's drowning, like the world is about to spit him out, he needs some help before he breaks in half. At your dad's insistence, you show up in his life and change everything.

Story is inspired by the song Fall Into Me by Forest Blakk. Chapter titles will be lyrics from the song.

Word Count: 3.8k

Chapter Warnings: Explicit, under 18 take a hike. No outbreak AU. Lots of feelings, confusion, and self doubt. Two idiots falling in love. Finally some smut-ish stuff. Dry humping on the couch. Joel is his own warning. Tommy keeping it real. Age gap of about 9 years (Reader 24/25, Joel 33/34). No use of y/n. Reader has a nickname used only by her dad.

Dividers by the wonderful @saradika-graphics

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Chapter Five | Main Masterlist

Sitting at the kitchen table on Sunday morning, you reviewed an email on your phone from the Texas Education Agency. Relief washed over you. The State Board finally approved your certification after jumping through a million hoops, just in time for your upcoming meeting at Sarah’s school.

Yet another step closer to finally feeling like an actual adult contributing to society.

“Morning, Spud,” your dad greeted as he walked into the kitchen in search of his morning coffee. “You’re up early. Did you have fun with Sarah yesterday?”

“I figured I’d seize the day and all that. I had a blast yesterday! Sarah is so smart, and Joel was really nice, as always,” you replied, playing down quite how much of a roll Joel had in making the day so enjoyable. You still couldn’t believe how things worked out.

Joel Miller, dead sexy single father, liked you, wanted to be with you. Little morsels of doubt tried to weasel their way into your mind, trying to make you question what was so special about you that a man like Joel would be interested in. You shook those thoughts away, resolving to believe that you deserved someone like him, someone who liked you for who you were and not who they wanted you to be.

“He comes from good stock, that Joel,” your dad interrupted you’re wandering thoughts. “Not sure what happened with Tommy, though. Musta been dropped on his head as a baby or somethin’.”

“Dad!” you laughed, shaking your head. “There’s nothing wrong with the guy. He’s young, single, and unburdened by responsibility. I imagine you were like that once upon a time.”

“Musta been so long ago I can’t remember,” he replied, hip checking you into the counter when you stood to place your glass in the sink. “Watch yourself there, Spud.”

“Jeez, thanks, Dad,” you replied with an amused eye roll. Your dad watched as you tidied up your little mess from breakfast and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“You know, Spud. You’d do well to find a man like Joel. He’s a really good guy. Shame he doesn’t date. All the women go crazy over him.”

Your dad kept going on about Joel’s aversion to dating, but your mind froze on that one simple statement – you’d do well to find a man like Joel. You tuned back in just in time to hear him say, “He needs to settle down with a girl like you. Someone smart and responsible who’ll still give him a run for his money.”

Practically bursting with the urge to admit that you and Joel just officially started seeing each other, you curled your lips between your teeth and just nodded. You promised Joel you’d wait a bit before mentioning anything to your dad and you planned on keeping that promise. “He should be so lucky to find someone like me,” you sassed finally.

The day carried on as you spent some quality time with your dad watching TV and lounging around. It was refreshing and relaxing, reminding you of times past where the two of you spent a bunch of time together.

The urge to text you plagued Joel all day Sunday, distracting his attention from the football game until Tommy finally snatched the phone out of his hands and hid it.

“Enough, brother. You’re like a lovesick fool checking your phone every five fuckin’ seconds. You just spent the day together yesterday. Give her a little breathin’ room,” Tommy chastised. “Women like a little mystery after all.”

Flopping back into the couch cushions with a huff, Joel crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t want to play games with her, Tommy. None of that aloof, hard to get bullshit.”

Shaking his head, Tommy waited until a commercial break to turn to his brother again. “I’m not sayin’ to play games. I’m just sayin’ you don’t need to be up her ass 24/7. You’ll see her every day this week. It’s ok to build up a little healthy anticipation today.”

Joel knew his brother had a point. He just couldn’t help himself. It’d been so long since he felt like this about someone – if he ever really did before – and it was messing with his head. Berating himself for not even kissing you yesterday, Joel wanted to at least text with you today. It felt somehow wrong to not talk to you.

Then again, you hadn’t texted him either.

Tommy made a valiant effort to distract Joel from his thoughts, talking statistics about the game and the players, anything to get the guy talking. It only worked for so long before Tommy couldn’t take it anymore.

“Alright, how ‘bout this. I’ll take Sarah for a dinner and ice cream date tomorrow so you two can spend some time alone. Get a little action in and maybe that’ll help you get your head out of the clouds.”

For the first time in hours, Joel’s face lit up. “You sure?”

“I wouldn’t offer otherwise,” Tommy replied. “You two need to figure out if there’s something there and you can’t do that with a ten-year-old hanging around all the time. Not unless you want to scar her for life.”

Joel nodded, reaching out to take his phone back. Before letting go of it, Tommy grinned. “I already texted her for you. You’re welcome.”

Ripping his phone out of his brother’s hand, Joel scrolled through his text messages to find what Tommy sent you.

JM: Hey sweetheart. Netflix and chill tomorrow?

He only knew what that meant because of Tommy and you had to know that wasn’t something Joel would say. “Jesus fucking Christ, Tommy!” Joel growled, his ears turning red from what you must think. He was about to really lay into his brother for overstepping when you responded.

You: Netflix and chill, huh? Sounds like my kinda date 😉

Not expecting that response, Joel chuckled. Maybe Tommy knew exactly what he was doing after all.

“Like I said, you’re welcome,” Tommy teased when he saw the goofy smile on his brother’s face.

Joel ignored him, proceeding to ask you about your day. The two of you texted back and forth well into the night until it was time for bed.

Climbing between the cold sheets of his large, empty bed, Joel wished you were there with him. He could already imagine you there, falling asleep together after a romp or two, waking up next to you in the morning. It sounded like heaven to him.

Hmm, maybe he could Netflix and chill his way to convincing you to spend the night tomorrow.

You didn’t know what to expect when you walked into Joel’s house Monday morning, but it certainly wasn’t a flustered Joel, knelt on the floor, staring down at a mess of pancake mix surrounding him and Sarah giggling her little heart out at the breakfast table.

“What happened here?” you asked, hands on your hips and eyes surveying the damage. “Did you have a fight with the boxed pancake mix.”

“He really did!” Sarah exclaimed, still laughing. “It went everywhere!”

“I see that,” you replied, grinning at her before turning back to Joel.

He stared up at you with wide, sad eyes and shoulders slumped. “I couldn’t get it open and then it just…” His arms spread wide, gesturing at the powdery mess on the tile in such an endearing way. You couldn’t stop your smile from growing wider.

“Go finish getting ready for work. I’ll get Sarah some cereal and clean this mess up,” you directed, gently pulling him to his feet and around the mess.

“You shouldn’t have to clean up my mess, sweetheart,” Joel replied, pulling you in for a hug. You could tell the warm press of your bodies together made him feel better and you basked in it as well, not minding the bit of pancake mix that transferred to your clothes.

“Don’t worry, I got it. Now git!” One hand swatted at his ass playfully as he rushed out of the room. “Now, what kind of cereal do you want, nugget?”

Fifteen minutes later, Joel returned to find the mess gone and you running a mop over the tile to wipe away any last remnants of the pancake mix disaster. Sarah already finished her cereal and was upstairs brushing her teeth before it was time to head to school. When you put the mop back into the bucket, Joel crept up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He pulled you close until your back was flush against his chest.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he breathed in your ear, sending a flood of goosebumps down your arms. Joel pressed his lips to the spot just below your ear and left a trail of kisses down your neck. The feel of his lips on your skin exceeded any expectations you had, and a contented sigh left your own lips.

With a hurried tenderness, he spun you around in his arms, the mop forgotten as it nearly fell out of the bucket. Faces close together now, your eyes drank in every detail of him from the richness of his dark brown eyes, the curve of his nose, the purposeful stubble of his beard, and, finally, to the fullness of his bottom lip. You could feel his eyes doing the same, drinking in every bit of your face before tilting his head impossibly closer.

“I’m going to kiss you now, ok?” Joel murmured; lips nearly pressed to yours already and you hummed in approval.

After all the weeks of mutual pining and self-doubt, Joel finally kissed you. It started as a soft press of lips and quickly morphed into an overwhelming need to devour each other when his tongue teased along the seam of your lips, begging entry to deepen the kiss. Teeth knocked together and tongues tangled as you tasted each other – somehow, the taste of coffee was suddenly appealing when it came from Joel’s mouth.

Hands wandered – his over your curves and yours into his luscious, dark curls. Joel’s hair felt as silky as it looked, and you had been itching to get your fingers in it from the moment you met him.

The sound of Sarah’s footsteps bouncing down the stairs broke the two of you apart, breathless, and dazed.

“Wow,” Joel murmured, struggling to remove his hands from your waist.

You smiled up at him, equally unwilling to remove your fingers from his hair. “Exactly,” you whispered, stepping back with your hands at your side just as Sarah entered the kitchen.

“I’m ready!” she declared excitedly and you both grinned at her cuteness.

“Okay, nugget. Let’s head out.”

Heart melting in your chest, you watched Joel and Sarah do their morning routine of saying goodbye. The love between the two of them was so strong it was like a tangible thing you could hold in your hands. Nostalgia washed over you as memories of your own childhood, moments like this with your dad, flooded your mind. What you had with your dad, what Joel and Sarah had together, was a connection that would never fade, only grow stronger with time.

Briefly, you wondered if your evolving relationship with Joel would affect that connection, interfere with it in anyway. You couldn’t move forward with him if that was the case. Some woman showing up and changing the dynamic between you and your dad would have upset you as a child and you refused to be the cause of any upset Sarah felt.

When the two of them stepped back from their hug and grinned at you, any question about your place in their dynamic washed down the drain. You felt nearly dizzy with relief when Sarah quickly said, “Give her a hug, too, Daddy,” and shoved him as hard as she could in your direction.

With a chuckle, Joel gave in to Sarah’s demand, wrapping his arms around you. The broadness of him surrounded you, enveloping you in warmth and a sense of security you’d not experienced before. Was that what love felt like?

“Have a good day, darlin’. I’ll see you later,” Joel’s deep voice was but a whisper in your ear, his lips just grazing your earlobe. “I’m looking forward to tonight.”

Warmth raced up your neck to your cheeks and you squeezed your thighs together in anticipation of what you hoped would happen later. “You have a good day too, Joel. Be careful, ok?”

“Always, darlin’.” He winked as you led Sarah out the front door to your car.

The journey to Sarah’s school started off quietly, Sarah bopping along to the music on the radio as you navigated the morning traffic. Your thoughts wandered to what you should wear later when Sarah startled you with a sudden question.

“Are you my dad’s girlfriend now?”

She asked the question so nonchalantly that you weren’t sure how to respond. Would she be upset with whatever answer you gave? Was there even a right or wrong answer? What did she want to hear? Mind racing, you settled on asking Sarah a question in return.

“Would you be upset if I was?”

Tilting her head side to side a few times, the little girl contemplated her answer while you held your breath. She turned to you with a smile so big it scrunched up her nose. “Nope! It’d make me really happy.”

“Really?” Your eyebrows were nearly at your hairline.

“Uh huh. You’re the coolest and prettiest. My dad would be lucky if you were his girlfriend,” Sarah admitted with all the confidence and knowledge of a ten-year-old. Another head tilt and she added, “So, are you?”

Equal parts amazed and grateful for Sarah’s acceptance of the idea, you opted for honesty. “I mean, I don’t know,” you shrugged. How could you explain what you had to a 10-year-old? “We haven’t talked about naming it yet, but we did decide to see how we like being together. Does that make sense?”

Sarah gave it a moment of thought. “Yeah, I think so. It’s kinda like how you’re a teacher, but not officially until you get the job, right?”

You laughed at the comparison with a nod. “Exactly. I’m as good as your dad’s girlfriend, we just haven’t made titles official yet.” You pulled up in front of the school and it was Sarah’s turn to get out. “Now get going, nugget. Have a good day!”

The little girl bounced out of the car, calling out to one of her friends. Just before you pulled away, you heard Sarah tell the other girl that you were her dad’s not-yet girlfriend.

The day absolutely dragged. Joel could swear that time went backwards every time he looked at a clock. It didn’t help that every single subcontractor gave him a hard time about something today.

The roof trusses arrived six weeks early and the sub refused to take them back even though the damn things would rot before they got to the roofing phase of construction. The company he rented the extra backhoe from wanted to raise their rates in the middle of his contract. The list went on and Joel ran out of patience three hours ago.

The only thing holding him together was the thought of you. Spending time with you. Kissing you. Touching you. Burying himself inside you… He adjusted himself with a sigh. Damn, he needed to put those particular thoughts on ice before he got himself riled up. The workday was shitty enough, he didn’t need the guys giving him a hard time about an untimely chub in his pants.

Finally, Joel had enough of everyone’s bullshit and called it a day, leaving his foreman in charge of the worksite.

“Off to doll yourself up, are ya?” Tommy teased as Joel headed for his truck. Gesturing in the general direction of Joel’s crotch, he added, “You remember how to use that thing? Make sure to clear out the cobwebs and use protection!”

“Jesus, Tommy,” Joel grumbled, climbing into his truck, and driving off. He knew his brother was only teasing, but Joel was nervous enough as it was. He didn’t need Tommy getting in his head. He did have a point about protection, though.

A quick stop at the convenience store to grab a box of condoms, Joel made it home before you and Sarah. Putting on some 90s rock, he jumped in the shower, putting in the extra effort to tidy himself up down there. He wondered if you preferred pubic hair or not. Fearing he was getting way ahead of himself, Joel opted to just trim his down and hoped for the best.

By the time he finished trimming his facial hair and tousling his curls, you and Sarah were downstairs, working on her homework. As he walked down the stairs, Joel could hear you encouraging his daughter to think the questions through and congratulating her when she got the answers right. His heart grew three sizes watching how you were with Sarah. You held his whole world in the palm of your hand and treasured it like the precious cargo it was.

Joel was falling so hard for you. You were quickly gaining the power to destroy him.

“Hi Daddy!” Sarah called out when she spotted him in the doorway. “We just finished my math homework. Can I play in the backyard?”

He set up a tire swing on the large live oak out back a week ago and it quickly became his little girl’s happy place. “Of course, nugget. Come give your old man a hug first.” Bending down, Joel swept Sarah up in his arms, biceps stretching his shirt sleeves as he swung her around in a circle. Sarah’s laughter echoed through the room, and you smiled sweetly at the pair of them.

“Uncle Tommy’s coming to take you out for dinner and ice cream in a bit. Ok?” Sarah nodded when he settled her back on her feet and raced for the sliding door. Once she was out of sight and earshot, Joel turned to you. “Come ‘ere, darlin’,” he said, voice deep and velvety.

Your body followed his command without conscious thought, so great the need to be in his arms. “I thought about you all day,” you admitted, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Me, too. Could hardly focus on the job thinking about you and spending this evening together.” He tightened his arms around you, head bending to seal his lips to yours. When your lips parted at his prompting, Joel teased your plush bottom lip with his teeth. “It’s like a tasty little gummy worm,” he teased. “I could nibble on it all day.”

You moaned into his mouth, the little breathless sound music to his ears.

The kiss deepened until you were licking into each other’s mouths, hands wandering and grasping for purchase on any piece of real estate you could reach. Neither of you heard the front door open or the footsteps approaching the kitchen.

“Am I interrupting somethin’?” he asked cheekily as the two of you sprang apart, disheveled and gasping for breath.

Joel ran a hand down his face, closing his eyes for a moment to gather himself. “Excellent timing as always, brother.”

“Y’all just couldn’t wait five more minutes, could ya?” Tommy’s grin a mile wide as he teased. “Lemme get the nugget out of here before you two scar her for life.”

You tucked your face into Joel’s shoulder bashfully when Tommy slipped through the sliding door. Joel groaned and wrapped his arms around you. “Don’t mind him, darlin’. He just likes to bust my balls.”

Ten minutes later, after some hugs from Sarah and more teasing from Tommy, you and Joel were alone. Taking your hand, he led you to the couch. He hoped you didn’t notice that his rough palms were sweaty with nerves. You were abnormally quiet, and he wondered if you were nervous as well.

Seated a few inches apart, the tension became too much. “What are you in the mood for?” Joel asked, breaking the silence as he pulled up Netflix on the TV. He barely logged into his account when you suddenly straddled his lap.

“Hi,” you said when he stared at you in surprise. “You know what I’m in the mood for?”

“What?” He barely got his mouth to form the word, his brain short circuiting with you in his lap. His grip on the remote loosened, yet neither of you cared when it fell to the ground.

“You.”

There was a moment where you both froze, each waiting for the other to act first. Then the tension snapped, and Joel’s lips crashed against yours. His tongue danced along the seam of your lips until you opened them to let him in. Tongues tangled in a never-ending dance as your hips tilted, grinding down on him. Joel was uncomfortably hard in moments, pressing up against your warmth.

His hands were everywhere, fingers tenderly tracing the structure of your cheekbones, down the curve of your neck, along the swell of your breasts. They finally settled, grabbing handfuls of your ass to pull you impossibly closer. You moaned into his mouth, hips bucking in search of more friction.

Gasping for breath, Joel tore his mouth from yours, his hands urging your hips into a rhythm as you dry humped him. His mouth left a trail of scorching kisses down your neck, eliciting a wave of goosebumps to flow down your arms. Your hips rocked, gliding across his hardened length and Joel swore he could feel your wetness breaching through the layer of clothes separating you.

Fuck, how he wanted to taste you, get high on your sweet nectar. He knew, just knew in that primal way, that yours would be the best pussy he ever tasted. His cock swelled impossibly harder at the mere thought of burying his face between your legs.

“Jooooeeelllll.” His name coming from your luscious lips in a drawn-out moan caused his own hips to buck up into you, hitting just the right spot to make you both see stars from the friction alone. His mouth sucked little marks into your neck, leaving his left ear exposed to your mouth as crooned, “I’m gonna come, fuck. You’re gonna make me come in my panties, Joel.”

“Fuck, darlin’. Come all over me, pretty girl. I want to see you fall apart from grinding on me like this. Drench those panties.” Joel sat back a little, just enough to watch your face as your orgasm swept over you. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen, eyes rolled back in your head, mouth hanging open in a silent ‘o’ as you trembled above him, delicate hands clenching the meat of his shoulders for balance. A little sheen of sweat dusted your hairline. Fucking beautiful.

Joel was absolutely certain he could feel you drenching his pants as you came, your breath finally coming back in a sharp exhale. He had never been so turned on in his life. Watching you come apart for him, feeling it seep through the layers of clothing became too much. For the first time in his adult life, Joel Miller came in his pants with a desperate whimper.

tbc

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[ibuprofen6720]

girlfriend promised two days ago (thursday) she'd do the dishes. after i, on tuesday, had done nearly every dish in the house after theyd been sitting for almost two weeks. since the last time i did almost every dish in the house. the last time she has done dishes at that scale is, no joke, DECEMBER.

she didnt just say she'd do them. she promised. i didnt make her. we made a deal, her idea. i go to walmart before work on friday and buy her spraypaint and she does all the dishes. thursday night we make this deal. after i ask her to do all the dishes. she makes a deal with me. "i know i didnt do all the dishes today (thursday) but if you go to walmart tomorrow before work i promise i will do them all tomorrow"

get home from work, no dishes done. today, she got out of work! didnt have to go in! was off the whole day. went to an estate sale, spraypainted a bunch of shit, did laundry, tidied a bunch of things that she messed up in the first place (thats her number one contribution to the household. reorganizing her shit and mixing my own shit into it when i dont want it. and tidying rooms she has fucked up. super helpful thanks) amd the front porch? she tidied and rearranged the front porch for some reason? she forgot to eat and DID NOT DO THE FUCKING DISHES. yesterday she glued coffee stirrers to her dollhouse walls after work, COMPLAINED TO ME ABOUT HOW TEDIOUS IT WAS, AND DID NOT DO. THE. FUCKING. DISHES.

I AM DONE. I WANT OUT. I AM SO FUCKING SICK OF THIS SHIT.

tonight, when she said "pizza time?" and then didnt do any god damned thing to facilitate us eating the fucking pizza, i went ahead and did it. and started eating. and she got sad. asked me the thousand razor blade tipped question of "are you annoyed at me?" and i said yes. wrong answer. no is also the wrong answer btw. anything is the wrong answer. i need to be perfectly satisfied with everything alice is doing at all times, and in fact praise her for all of it, or she has some sort of meltdown. my life is so fun.

[keefwho]

January 08 - 2024 Monday

10:46pm

5.5/10

This morning I did some general tidying of my room since I had a bunch of things just laying around and out of place. I also vacuumed so now my room looks very clean. For breakfast I reheated some leftover soup from yesterday and it was delicious. Daisy also did that for lunch and hers was good too. I watched another episode of Bojack while eating.

In stream I tried doing some gestures of people standing to warm up since I often struggle with simple standing poses. For today's commission I kinda messed up while trying to make the pose more dynamic and started over 30 minutes in. It went more smoothly from there. There were 9 concurrent viewers today but they weren't chatting.

After stream I did my workout. I watched 1 and a half bojack episodes during that. I took my shower and made beefaroni with a granola bar and pear cup afterwards. Since Trevor keeps asking me to play Valheim which I have been down for but always busy, I decided to play with him for about 40 minutes while I ate lunch. He invited me to the small server he hangs out in with his friends. We covered the basics of the game before I had to leave. It was pretty chill because I wasn't being guided with a heavy hand like is common when someone invites me to play something. Also the call was calm, everyone there seems to be chill and not yelling or interrupting each other.

Today's request was for Fiya and he wanted me to draw his Braixen character being given a blunt. I finished it pretty quick. I did a little bit of lolligagging but ultimately kicked myself into gear quicker than usual because I'm tired of wasting time. I did a couple sketches of ideas I had written down, one of Kumatora and one of Zelda. They turned out okay so I tacked them onto my ideas Trello. I don't think either of them will do good numbers but it's a personal challenge of mine to try and do my ideas some kind of justice.

I was listening to XQC while working and when I was done I was going to switch to yoga. As I did, he started reacting to a Nexpo video I really wanted to watch but I abandoned that so I could get my yoga out of the way. Today's was about syncing your breathe with your movements more attentively than usual. I struggled to do some of it because of how generally sore I am but I got through it. After that I settled down and worked on my secret project some more. I realized like usual that I failed to have a solid plan going in and it's setting me back so I may have to iron out my idea more before I continue. it might mean a little bit of redoing but probably not too much. Daisy became free while I was working on that so we called and worked together a tiny bit. She put on a Jerma compilation and I stopped working since I was tired. I just watched the video after that. Then she showed me a Dennis compilation from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia because he looks/acts like Jerma. I made a rice a roni cup for dinner and put some chicken in the oven while we watched an episode of She Ra. Then she went to bed.

In bed she read me 2 chapters of Howls Moving Castle which was cozy, I needed something gentle like that. Then I played Neopets for her. She has been rustling and making noises a lot tonight as I've been doing my nightly routine. I also grabbed a cheese wheel and some crackers as a snack before bed because I don't think I've been eating enough to keep up with my recent activity. I am so sore, tired, and hungry.

Today was alright. I went through the motions like usual and felt relatively unengaged. This morning however I actually enjoyed drawing for at least a little bit. I think engaging in different activities over the weekend gave my brain a firm break from 2d creative work. In the evening I felt like I was boring or bland on account of being so tired and unengaged. I didn't have much to say.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

What social media they are on like tumblr, Twitter etc and what they post about the most. Also,their Spotify wrapped mood

(Headcanon Masterlist) (Full Masterlist)

Oooooh this sounds kinda funnnnnn!!

Arthur has like 2 accounts on each of the normal ones. One business account which he doesn't actually control himself, but he keeps an eye on (because if we're staying as accurate as we can, Arthur inherited some big deal company from his rich dad), then his private ones, which are honestly a mess. They're so wholesome though, pictures of family and friends and the sports games he's at and the beers he's drunk. He uses Instagram the most, but will occasionally post on Facebook just because it was sort of normal when he grew up, even though it isn't as popular now. His Spotify is always like... kinda but not really niche modern rock-pop (Shawn James, Kaleo, etc) plus slightly older classic rock because it's what he grew up on (Foo Fighters etc). BUT there's always a healthy dose of like... Taylor Swift in there. They're just such feel good songs and he likes a good jam sesh!! Though tbh he doesn’t have music on that often, just in the car or if he’s cleaning/tidying. It’s gotta be quiet when he’s working.

Gwaine posts absolute SHITE on his snapchat story. He has Insta and posts occasionally but like... it's very rare, SC is definitely his go-to. His stories are always blurry pictures/videos of him or one of his friends doing something absolutely WACK. Man has ADHD and his music taste is... varied (me? Projecting? Yeah, probably). His playlist changes slightly every single day and his Spotify Wrapped Mood is like... an equal mix of everything. He's got anything from Frank Sinatra, to One Direction, to Kaiser Chiefs, to My chemical Romance, to Birdy, to The Hoosiers, to Queen, to Adele, to like... Franz Shubert. Also a lot of Disney music, some from movies he hasn't even seen yet. Really, there's no one mood or pattern to his music taste, it's just whatever gives him the most joy in the moment, until he grows bored of it and moves on to something else.

Elyan's Instagram is neat and lovely. It's mostly pictures of stuff he's made in the forge (it doubles as a business account I suppose), but there are pictures of himself doing interesting stuff or out with friends or with his sister sprinkled in there as well. He technically has a FB account but... he literally never uses it. His profile feed is just people wishing him happy birthday year after year and him going "Thanks!🥳" in the replies. He has SC, but doesn't use his stories much, mostly just uses it for the news and to talk to friends. Elyan listens to classical music whilst he works, just because he knows if he gets distracted by singing, then he'll make a mistake or hurt himself. But outside of work he'll listen to anything, he isn't too picky, though he has a preference towards kinda modern (sometimes pop-ish) rock (30 Seconds to Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, Papa Roach, Cage the Elephant, The Killers, X-Ambassadors etc). So yeah, his Spotify Wrapped like... most popular, will be a whole bunch of classical music interspersed with songs like Ain't No Rest for the Wicked or From Yesterday.

Whilst Leon has an Insta, Sc, FB, he doesn't really use any of them. He goes on them every so often to see what people are up to, but even that is rare. The only time he'll EVER post is to wish someone a happy birthday, or if he's out with friends, then there'll be a lovely group photo or two. The man LIVES on music (me?? Projecting again?? It's more likely than you think) and it's on basically twenty-four seven if he can get away with it. Cleaning, tidying, cooking, reading, even working; he'll have music on if he's able to. His Spotify Wrapped is a real mix, but he’s definitely in like... the top 1% of Frank Sinatra listeners. Man’s got style. He also has an appreciation for Florence Welch.

Percival is similar to Leon in that he has all the socials but doesn’t really use them much, only to spy on his friends if he hasn’t heard from them for a while. He doesn’t really listen to music either. I mean, he’s not going to complain if it’s on in the background, but he doesn’t really care what it is as long as it isn’t like... shitty rap (Stormzy and Eminem are exceptions, he kinda likes them. Though, again, would never choose to put them on). He doesn’t even have Spotify, he listens to music off Youtube if he really feels like putting something on. I really feel like he’s more of a sports-on-the-tv-in-the-background kind of guy to be honest.

Lancelot doesn’t have any social media except like... Whatsapp, because it’s necessary for the group-chats, and Snapchat, purely so he can keep an eye on what Gwaine and Merlin are up to when he can’t supervise them. Man listens to like... old classics (again, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, etc), mixed with modern, pop. Like pop pop. Taylor Swift and One Direction and Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry and Imagine Dragons. He also doesn’t have any shame, it’s good music, he enjoys it, and everyone thinks it’s really sweet so they leave him alone. His Wrapped is mostly Happy :D

Mordred is like Leon in that he’s a lurker; he has all the socials but rarely uses them. The occasional group photo with friends or maybe a slightly blurry sunset. Sometimes he’ll forward Gwaine’s wack ass story (it’s Merlin skating on top of a bank or... trying to catch a pigeon in the London Underground or... something) to Lancelot or Leon with nothing but the comment “wuu2 atm because👀” just to watch the chaos. Man listens to classical music and Taylor Swift. That’s it. No in between. His wrapped in basically the same every year, bar maybe an extra piece of classical that he’s discovered and Taylor’s newest album.

Gwen has Insta and SC and posts fairly often on both, she doesn’t spam though. SC is for cute birds and nice views and food and stupid photos with her friends. Her Instagram is slightly more curated, with really lovely photos and pretty sounding captions and stuff. Though when I say “lovely photos” they’re still just of day to day stuff; photos with friends/Elyan, animals, beautiful views. They’re just less blurry and more put together than her Snapchat stuff. She listens to a lot of upbeat music, but upbeat music from any generation, so her Spotify Wrapped Mood is always mostly happy, but the actual music is a real mix.

Morgana has TUMBLRRRRRR!!!! SHE’S A TUNGL TRASH QUEEN AND WE ALL KNOW ITTTTTT!!! Really though, she has a couple of blogs, and NO ONE would ever guess that they belong to the same person. Her main is like a feminist/general human rights blog, and it’s really popular, really well put together, really informative, and just all round cool as hell. Her side blog is a MESS she shit posts daily (mostly whatever wack thing has come out of her brother, or one of his friends’, mouth), and reblogs all sorts of stuff. It’s just where she keeps her stuff, ya know? But again, it’s really popular. Oh, yeah, not one single person in her real life knows any of this, not one. In terms of other socials, she’s like a mix of Leon and Gwen: she has all of them, doesn’t use them that often, but uses them well. He personal Insta is public and has quiet a lot of followers but like... it’s still just a personal, she doesn’t preach or model or anything (well... not deliberately anyway). She listens to cool, slightly niche music. Slightly niche but not really niche, anyway. She shares Leon’s love of Florence Welch, but she also likes Laura Marling, The Civil Wars, The Amazing Devil, SAYGRACE, Christine and the Queens, etc. You know, niche but not niche.

Merlin.... has socials?? But only because Gwen made him, and he doesn’t use them. He somehow ended up logged into all of Gwaine’s accounts on his phone so when he very rarely feels like posting shit he has to add like -Merlin at the end of it, otherwise people get very confused. So yeah, somewhere, in the middle of Gwaine’s messy as HELL Insta feed (or on the private SC story called “Merlin’s” that only people he likes among Gwaine’s billion friends can see) there’ll be “Saw a duck quack quack -Merlin”. It’s very... odd. But also the two of them act like they have no idea what they’re talking about if anyone else brings it up. My guy has headphones in twenty-four seven. He has a speaker in every room. He made be a technophobe, but when it comes to music he is ON it. His music taste is HUGELY varied, and occasionally he’ll just... discover a song that’s incredible and make all his friends listen to it (anything from The  Barden Bella’s version of Cheap Thrills, to Voces8 version of Frank Tichelli’s Earth Song, to Salamander Street by Callum Beetle, to Touch by Sleeping at Last, to the Daft Punk Remix by Pentatonix). He Spotify Wrapped is WILD.

Gaius doesn’t know what a social media is and he doesn’t care to. He listens tot he radio. Because he is old.

~

Hope you enjoyed gang!! A LOT of this is just me projecting lol. Also, any and all of the music mentioned in this should be listened to immediately :D

[chasingpj]

𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞

"Bye, for now, puddles."

pairing: percy jackson x child of hecate!reader

words: 6,220

warnings: a little angst, missing a meal, death of a parent, i believe that is all.

timeline: post sea of monsters

if you want to be tagged every time I update this story, click here

a/n: hi hi! I'm so excited to finally get this chapter to you guys. I'm sorry this literally took a month. i was taking two writing-intensive courses this summer and i was just burnt out. i hope you enjoy it!

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten

A grunt escapes you; your contorted body weighs down the top of your suitcase as your damp fingers slip off the metal zipper. The unforgivingly humid weather provokes the heat of your efforts, adding to your discomfort. There’s urgency in your fingers, your frustration growing at each failed attempt to close your suitcase.

“Y/n! Hurry up!” Atticus shouts from outside of the Hermes cabin. As the zipper slips out of your grasp once again, you throw your head back in annoyance, hand coming up to push away wisps of hair that fall on your face. A familiar chuckle comes from the corner of the room, grabbing your attention from the wooden ceiling. Connor sits on the side of his bed; his comic book forgotten beside him as you fussing over your suitcase seems to be more interesting to him.

“It’s not funny,” you grumble, sitting onto your heels.

Connor rises from his bed, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk. He kneels by your suitcase, “It’s kinda funny.”

The corners of your mouth almost curve up, but you stop yourself, opting for a roll of your eyes instead.

“What the hades do you have in here?” The tips of his fingers turn white as he pulls on the little piece of metal. You shift your weight to the corner he works on, but it helps him as much as it helped you earlier.

“My brother’s left a bunch of books behind, so Lou Ellen and I split them up. She’s taking half, and I take the rest. We’ll study them and then exchange notes.” A hum of acknowledgment comes from Connor’s lips as he inches the suitcase closed.

“You guys are a bunch of nerds.” You squint at the other with a playful offense, and he laughs at your hardened features. “I bet you guys study more than the Athena Kids,” he teases.

“There’s a lot to learn,” you say simply, watching as he brings the zipper to the end. He leans back on his heels, and you move to take in the half-empty cabin.

The sight of the Hermes cabin being this tidy was foreign. There aren’t any sleeping bags on the floor; the belongings of your many cabin mates didn’t clutter the walls or the corners of the room as they usually do. It’s funny. There are always complaints of the cabin being too small, but it appears bigger without the mess.

��Will you and Atticus visit throughout the year?” Connor’s expression is hopeful. As the last day of camp approached, Connor’s wishes of a full cabin all year round became more apparent. The shift from a max-capacity cabin to a half-empty one must be a tough transition for social people like Stoll Brothers. If it were you, you’d be counting down the days of everyone’s departure.

You ruffle his brown locks, “we’ll probably stop by for, maybe, spring break?” Connor’s hopefulness begins to sag, and you frown. Spring break is pretty far from now, huh? “Depending on how mortal life treats us. You know, we might be back soon,” you add on quickly, hoping to lift his smile.

Though you wish to go home, you’re dreading all the supernatural activity you’ll have to deal with once you leave. Your father works tirelessly to protect the house, but entities always manage to get in. And if they can’t, they don’t mind hanging outside.

The hopefulness that faded from Connor’s face restores, and he gives you that famous mischievous smirk. “Well, I hope the ghosts bother you guys enough to come to visit early.” His tone is playful, but you can tell he meant some of his words. You laugh hesitantly and nod, rising from your suitcase.

“I’m glad you’re that eager to see us again.”

You thank him as he leans down, lifting the heavy suitcase from the ground for you.

“Y/n!”

“I’m coming!” You tug on the handle, glancing at Connor. “The year will go by fast, and soon this cabin will be bursting at the nails with new unclaimed people. Atticus, Lou, and I included. Anyways, you have your brother. You guys will find something to entertain yourselves.” You nudge him as you make your way outside.

“Yeah, you’re right. You will write to me, yeah?” Connor asks.

“Of course. I’ll send you snacks that you can’t buy at the gas station.” Connor’s arm pumps back to his side, hand in a fist as he hisses a “yes.”

The corners up your mouth hesitantly pull up as you push open the cabin door, finding Atticus and Travis talking on the porch. For the past week, the anticipation of your departure was killing you, but now that it was time to leave, you feel gloomy.

You knew the cause of your heavy heart was the uneasy tone of your going. Living day by day with the intention of moving on was hard. Because every time you look at their newly occupied beds, the sinking feeling in your chest returns. Every time you find yourself wandering in the forest, the memories of your often chaotic magic lessons flood your mind. You remember when Alice misaimed her wind spell, shooting Alabaster far into the trees. While you all rushed to check on him, Alice burst into tears because she was convinced she killed him only to approach a laughing Alabaster who shouted, “Right on!”

Every time you were in the Arts and Crafts center, you remember how you, Sage, and Lou would do Tarot Readings for the campers and how you would argue with the Apollo kids when they insisted your tarot cards are as honest as fortune cookies.

At the armory, you remember how Ambrose ran into James so hard, he stumbled and knocked down half of the shelves of weapons.

In the courtyard, you remember how Ernest, horrified by heights, produced the highest pitch scream he possibly could as he rode a pegasus for the first time under the persuasion of Alabaster.

All these memories, whether hilarious like your spell mishaps or bittersweet like when you and your sibling’s group hugged around Sage when she cried about her abusive stepmother, held a special place in your heart. Because the times where you laughed and cried together reminded you of the genuine bond, the family that was ripped away from you overnight.

“We'll see you guys soon. We should go. Argus will leave without us," Atticus says, relieved that Argus is still waiting for you on top of Half-Blood Hill.

“Have a safe trip, guys,” Travis says, patting Atticus’s shoulder before reaching out his arm and giving you a short side hug. You grab your things, hastily saying a final goodbye, and soon, you and Atticus are trudging up the hill.

Your free hand pats the pocket of your shorts, calming your worry of forgetting the necklace at the cabin. What rests in your pocket is a raw tourmaline crystal, now smooth with the help of Beckendorf, encased in a silver spiral cage.

You and Atticus carry protection crystals all the time, and they help with staying out of the radar of monsters and entities. After hearing Percy’s many stories of monsters bothering him, you figured he couldn’t be too cautious. Then after finding a spell in Alabaster’s many books that can dim down a demigod scent for a while, you decided to make him an enchanted necklace to wear.

You pack into the truck with Atticus right on time. Atticus sits in front of you, chatting away with Cecil as you make yourself comfortable in the back row with Ambrose. You frown; among the three other campers in the van with you, Percy isn’t one of them. Argus peeks into the back, doing a rough headcount. Great, now you’ll have to wait until next summer to give it to him.

Right, when you were going to chastise yourself for not giving him the necklace yesterday when you were done with it, a distant voice shouts, "wait!"

Argus halts in the middle of closing the sliding down and turns around. He shakes his head with disapproval while opening the door all the way, revealing out of breath Percy.

A smile widens across your face as he gets into the back seat with you, and you nudge Atticus’s seat.

"See, I told you we wouldn't be the last ones here.” You side-eye Percy, seeing the corners of his mouth pull up in amusement.

“Some people just don’t know how to get to places on time, huh?” Atticus says, and his eyes flicker to Percy before giving you a wide grin.

“Didn’t sleep in today, firefly?” There is a playfulness in Percy’s voice, and you smile proudly,

“Nope, not today.”

“It’s a miracle,” Percy mutters, loud enough for you to hear, and you scoff. Atticus snickers and nods in agreement.

“We were supposed to gang up on him, not you two on me.” You stick your tongue out at Atticus, and he returns the action.

“It’s more fun making fun of you,” Atticus teases.

“Rude,” you mumble with a slight smile on your face. The two boys chuckle, Atticus turning more into his seat to tell Percy something about a new Marvel movie. Excited voices fill the van as the other boys join in the conversation, and soon they are debating if Batman is really a superhero or just a rich guy in a suit.

You had to admit, as the conversation became more passionate, you were pretty entertained, but as you catch sight of Camp Half-Blood growing farther in the distance, you’re reminded of the ache in your chest. It’s only a temporary leave, but when you return, things will never be the same, and the false hope of your siblings returning has been proven to be foolish.

☆’.･.･:★:･.･.’☆

Following a ghost dog while weaving through the hustle and bustle of Grand Central is almost impossible. Atticus’s hand is latched to the straps of your bookbag as you move through people, trying not to roll your eyes at the way Ambrose turns to bark as if he was reprimanding you for being too slow. Easy for him to say when he can walk through walls and people.

“Track 28,” Atticus reminds you as your eyes find the number written on the tan bricks of the high walls. You make a sharp left towards the entrance of another hallway, ignoring the groans of a grouchy bystander that you may have cut off. The next hallway you enter is a lot less crowded than the main floor, and you slow down your pace.

“Where do you guys live again?” Percy asks as he jogs up beside you. He had insisted on walking you guys since his train departs in the same station.

“Sleepy Hollow.” Percy scrunches his face as if he recalls something, and you smile, waiting for the question everyone asks when you say you live there.

“Have you seen the headless horsemen?” Percy asks, half-joking. A snort leaves your throat, and you look at Atticus, who’s equally amused.

“Oh yeah, plenty of times.”

“Really?” Percy asks, his eyes wide with surprise, and you laugh.

“No.” Your response makes his face drop comedically fast, and Atticus bursts into laughter. “It’s just a story, but there’s a lot of history there, so the place is crawling with ghosts. We’ve met the guy who wrote the story, though,” you mention.

“No way,” Percy squints his eyes in disbelief.

“I’m serious! Atticus and I take walks in the cemetery sometimes. We leave drachmas on the graves of newly passed people, so their venture into the underworld is smooth, but some people like to wander.” You shrug. “Washington Irving is one of those people.”

“Cool,” Percy says with such enthusiasm that it makes you smile. Ambrose turns around and barks again, standing at the golden entrance that leads to the grey tunnel lit with fluorescent white lights where your train waits beside the concrete platform.

“He always rushes us,” Atticus complains, and Harvey lets out a coo that sounded close to a groan as if he agreed with him.

The marble floors turn to concrete as you enter the tunnel. The blue and silver train on your left hums as it sits dormant in its station. Ambrose trots ahead, peaking into the doors and windows to find an empty cart to occupy.

As you follow a few feet behind him, your fingers fiddle with the necklace resting in your pocket. You’re regretting not giving it to Percy earlier because, for some reason, the idea of giving it to him now was more intimidating than if you had done it earlier on the bus.

Ambrose decides on a cart, and Harvey jumps off Atticus’s shoulder, squealing happily as he follows the hound while completely ignoring a worried Atticus trailing close behind.

"I, uh, made this for you," you sputter, the words coming out fast like vomit. Your fingers pull out the crystal necklace abruptly, and you put it in the palm of his hand. "It's black tourmaline. It has protective qualities; good at keeping negative energy, negative auras, things like that. I put a spell on it to dim down your demigod scent for a while, so you catch a little bit of a break. It'll last for a few weeks, maybe a month or two if the spell caught on well."

You bite your lip as Percy studies the necklace resting in his hand. "Wow, really? Thank you, Y/n. This is great.”

Nervous, you shift on your feet under his bright, smiling orbs. "It's no problem. After everything that happened at camp, I think it’ll be good for you to have one.”

Percy nods, his features softening all of a sudden, and he shifts. “Thanks for protecting me,” he says, and you feel heat rush to your cheeks. “Getting rid of that thing became more than you expected. I felt bad that I couldn’t help. Swords aren’t really useful when it comes to demons, huh?”

A small laugh of agreement leaves your lips. “It was nothing. I wasn’t going to let you be tormented by that thing if I could help it.”

An announcement echoes in the hall, reporting the departure of your train in a few minutes. You glance over, catching Atticus, Ambrose, and Harvey with their noses practically pressed against the window as they witness your interaction with Percy. The amused smirk on Atticus’s face makes you roll your eyes; he’s definitely going to tease you when you get on the train.

"I should go.” You face Percy again, catching him securing the necklace around his neck. The stone rests a few inches under his camp half-blood necklace. "Thanks for walking us here. Be careful getting home."

"You too…” he trails off, noticing your brother looking out the window. For a second, he seems as embarrassed as you do and a nervous chuckle leaves his lips. “Your brother is waiting."

“He’s so annoying,” you complain, and Percy’s next chuckle doesn’t sound as hesitant this time. "Well, uh, bye, for now, puddles,” you tease, butterflies dancing in your stomach.

"Bye, for now, firefly."

You both awkwardly wave at each other before you turn around, getting on the train with Atticus. With your gaze fixed on the floor, you plop into the seat next to him. You don’t even need to look to know he is smiling teasingly at you.

"How cute,” he teases, nudging your shoulder repeatedly with his own.

"Ew, shut up.” You shove at his shoulder, your nose scrunching as he flails his arms against yours as if you were fighting. Atticus chuckles and a string of sounds come from your familiars as they join in to tease you, and you couldn’t help but laugh too.

☆’.･.･:★:･.･.’☆

The suburban streets of your neighborhood are filled with the chirps of birds and bugs and the sounds of cars that pass every once in a while. There isn’t much conversation between you and Atticus as you trudge up the hill leading to your dead-end street.

“Gods, I hope we can get inside without being seen,” you manage to say through your heavy breaths, lazily holding on to the handle of your suitcase as it rolls behind you. Ambrose’s nose nudges the back of your knees as if to encourage you, but it’s more cute than helpful.

“There’s no way that we are. Janie and Celia are always sitting on the neighbor’s porch.” You grunt in acknowledgment, knowing that Atticus is right. The neighborhood ghosts are friendly enough, but their company can be annoying.

As if on cue, you hear a delighted squeal from ahead the moment you reach the top of the hill. Two ladies wave their handkerchiefs in the air a handful of houses away.

Celia, the tallest of the two, wears a steel blue dress with a high neckline and a big bow tied on the base of her neck. She has a jacket button closed over her corset with a frill at the end of her sleeves. Her skirt is floor-length and complete, with ruffles cascading down its entirety. And, of course, no one can miss the high-crowned hat decorated with fake flowers, bows, and crimped fabric as it all sits on top of her blonde hair in an intricate updo. Janie, her sister, wears the same style of dress and headpiece only in a burgundy red. The resemblance between the two makes it clear that they’re siblings close in age. They have the same high pinched noses that jut in the air; both of their faces are regal like those in renaissance paintings.

You’ve seen them around for as long as you can remember. They were two sisters who died of scarlet fever a year before their first courting season, which was a big deal according to their constant moaning and groaning about it.

You look ahead, your expression blank as if their high-pitched voices didn’t fill the streets and they weren't racing toward you with their skirts in their hands.

“My word! It’s the end of summer already?”

“Atticus, you’ve grown taller!”

“What a handsome boy! Y/n, your shorts are too short, don’t you think?”

“It’s quite bizarre how such clothing is acceptable these days.”

“How beautiful you’d look in a gown like ours!”

“Where’s Alabaster?” Janie asks, attempting to circle her arm around Atticus’s, but he raises his arm to push back his damp hair to avoid the contact. She scoffs at his rejection and sighs.

“Alabaster was sweeter to us than you guys!” Celia pouts. Your heart sinks a little at the mention of him. Of course, they’d ask about him, and of course, your father will ask too.

Gods! Your father will ask about him.

You had forgotten you’d have to break the news today. These past few weeks, you debated whether or not you should do it by letter, but it felt wrong. It was only right that he’d find out in person.

“We know you can hear us,” Janie huffs.

“I hope dad doesn’t work late tonight. Do you think Grandma will be waiting for us?” You ask. As annoying as it was having spirits follow you, it was a little fun ignoring them when convenient for you. Atticus nods,

“Probably-”

“No one’s home,” Celia cuts in, and Atticus pretends to shoo a bug away to conceal that he paused from her interruption.

“But I don’t think dad is going to take long. He said his last lecture ended at three,” Atticus continues, and you nod.

‘I hope grandma came by to visit. I missed her.”

“I just said no one’s home.” Celia snaps, and you press your lips together to hide your smile.

Atticus sighs. “I know, I’m dying for those moon cookies she makes us.” At the mention of those cookies, your stomach grumbles. You hope Celia was wrong because you’re suddenly craving your grandmother’s cooking and her company. Her funny stories and voice that’s always a little too loud for the indoors never fails to cheer you up. As short and frail as she is, her voice and personality could fill a room.

“Me too,” you say shortly.

“Hello?!” Celia waves her handkerchief in your face, and you persisted in ignoring her. Suddenly, a sound of disgust comes from Janie as she brushes off her skirt.

“Y/n, retrieve this monster of yours!” She squeals as Ambrose bites the fabric of her dress, tugging on it with a growl.

“Damn this dog,” Celia shouts, attempting to shoo him away, but yelps in surprise as Ambrose snaps his jaw shut near her hand. “Get this thing under control! Y/n!”

Your hand comes up to cover your smile even though the two are shuffling behind you and a stifled chuckle comes from Atticus. The sound of Janie’s heels on the concrete becomes louder as she rushes beside Atticus again, and your smiles drop. The sight of your house comes into view, and you tilt your head confused; your father’s car is parked in the driveway.

“You said no one was home?” You say out loud, and Celia gasps beside you,

“Now you speak to me?” She snaps, halting as you approach the fence. She stands tall, hands folded in front of her elegantly as Janie’s expression is gleaming like a child on Christmas. “Your father requested to keep it a secret, so I obliged his wishes. He canceled his last lecture today to make you both a meal. What a lovely man.”

Your hand finds the latch for the white picket fence as you smile at the familiar narrow victorian-style house ahead of you. A path of cobblestone leads you to the brick steps of the small porch.

Your home sticks out from the more modern American houses that surround the area. It’s an antique, a snippet of history, as your father likes to say. The house is a russet brown only because the bricks are so old they’ve darkened in color. The house accents such as the window trims, porch overhang, and columns are copper, and the hipped roof has brown tiles that look like fish scales. Beside the porch, the bay windows from both stories stack on top of each other, and above the porch roof is the dormer that’s a part of your bedroom.

Gods, you’re yearning to be in your room. You just want to pull out your Murphy bed from the wall and bury yourself in your sheets. The idea of being in bed puts a pep in your step, and you are careful to avoid the salt ring that surrounds your house.

A butterfly passes by your face, flying to the bunchberry bushes your father has planted in the front garden. Among the grass, there are various flowers and herbs that your father grows in the summer. You’ve inherited many things from your father, but his green thumb isn’t one of them. He takes his gardening seriously while you can barely keep the cacti in your room alive.

“Enjoy your meal! Come talk to us one of these days. We missed you two!” Janie shouts after you as you make your way up the stairs. You turn around, Atticus smiling at them.

“We missed you, girls, too,” he says as if he didn’t want to admit it. Janie squeals something about how handsome his smile is, and you scoff, amused as you grab the doorknob.

Once you push the door open, you're hit with a rush of deja vu. The history channel plays faintly in the next room as you take in the home you’ve missed dearly.

There are two bookshelves against the wall on your right, a wide ledge with pillows under the bay windows. A messy coffee table filled with letters and stacked with books sits in front of the comfy reading nook, letting you know that your father was recently hanging out there.

There is a brown mahogany staircase that ascends upstairs to your left, and right beside it is the altar for your mother. A statue of her rests in the middle of the rectangle table covered in a black table cloth. On top of it lies the many offerings for your mom. Herb-dressed candles burn beside bowls of fruit, bouquets, a crystal enamel wine glass filled with alcohol, feathers, and other things. You ignore the altar as you put down your stuff beside the door, following Atticus as he takes off his shoes.

“Kids?” You hear your father call enthusiastically from beyond the foyer, and you persist forward into the entryway ahead of you.

“We’re home!” Atticus announces as he enters beside you. Ambrose barks making a beeline to the right and behind the kitchen counter. He jumps on your father with so much force he stumbles back.

“Gods! Why does he look even bigger?” Your father exclaims through a laugh, fixing the round glasses that threaten to slip off his nose as his other hand grips Ambrose’s paw. He yelps in surprise as Harvey's claws rest on top of his head, clinging to his hair to steady himself.

The warmth and smell of home fill your senses as you catch your dad’s gaze. “Well, come here! Are you going to hug your pops or what?”

You rush over with Atticus. Both of you hug your dad tightly on either side of him, and you smile as he presses a kiss on your temples. “I missed you guys so much!”

“We missed you too!” The smile on your face falters as he looks up, scanning the archway as if he was waiting for someone else. You shift, not ready to be faced with the question, and you peer around his body to look at the food on the stove behind him.

Your father notices your interest, and he chuckles. “Come on, let’s eat. You guys came right on time.”

You shuffle through the kitchen with Atticus, making your way to the rounded table at the end of the kitchen.

“Dad, what have you been up to?” Atticus asks teasingly, and your father perks up.

“I've done a lot of things to keep me busy. I volunteered to teach summer classes while you were gone. I’m reading this book with a fascinating perspective of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in Rome. It’s an amazing read; I highly recommend it. Though, I don’t quite agree with it.” Your father hums thoughtfully. “Oh! And I bought gnomes for our garden! And the thrift store had this little house and this old lady figurine! I put it on the porch. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but she’s the official guard of the door," he declares proudly. "And…” He twists and turns before heading to the bookshelves in the living room area. He grabs something from the shelf then he showcases a cartoon Dobby bobblehead with wide arms. A high-pitched cackle leaves his lips. “It completes our collection!”

“Woah! Where did you get it? We went to three different places for it, and we couldn’t find it.” Atticus matches your father’s excitement, and you snort at the two.

“I went to a mythology convention in Boston a few weeks ago. There was a game stop across the street from the center, and I thought, ‘why not?’ I went in, and I saw this little guy by the register.” Your father is giddy as he nudges the head and watches it jiggle in his hands.

You think of what your grandmother’s reaction would be if she saw all the things he bought on his trip to the thrift store. She’d definitely complain. She always said that even growing up, your father had a liking for knickknacks. On your shelves and counters, there are always little trinkets lying around. It even extends to the walls, a variety of paintings and diagrams are neatly hung beside each other. From the state of your house, it’s clear your father is a maximalist in its purest definition.

“Wow! That’s awesome!” Atticus reaches out his hand for it as your father brings over his entire collection of Harry Potter bobbleheads, the toys huddled in his chest before he places them on the dining table. “The whole gang can hang out with us for dinner.”

“I hope they like pasta,” Atticus comments, lining them up as your dad retrieves the pan of food.

Your stomach grumbles at the sight, and you’re quick to serve yourself as Atticus and your Dad talk about anything and everything. You guys discuss what your grandmother has been up to, how your father’s classes were going, which led your father to ramble so much he formed a tangent on top of another. The conversation was going so well that you were sure he wouldn’t ask about your summer, but you had assumed too soon.

“So enough about me! How was Camp?” Your father chirps, and you shift in your seat.

You smile with confidence to hide the wariness you felt. “It was great!” You figured if you keep your answer short, you could move past it quickly.

“Yeah, the usual. Fun as always,” Atticus adds.

Your father’s eyes flicker between the two of you, and the first thing he notices is the way your smiles don’t reach the rest of your face.

The clanging of metal utensils on glass plates fills the room as the both of you fixate on your food but neither take a bite. The camp was never a touchy subject. The sudden unwillingness to speak about it makes his eyebrow cock up in suspicion. His eye averts to the empty dining chair beside you and the dinner place settings that remained untouched. Alabaster was supposed to join your return home. At least, that’s what he had assumed.

“Did Alabaster decide to stay at his foster home?” There’s caution in his tone, and he’s taken aback at how both you and Atticus tense up. The clings of metal halt abruptly, and slowly, you move to glance at your father.

“Dad, something happened at camp this summer.” Now, it was your turn to have a tone laced with caution. Alabaster lived with you for months and quickly became a part of the family. Your father saw him as his second son, and you were afraid to break the news that he may never see him again.

“What happened? Did he get into trouble?” You frown at the sudden edge in his voice. Atticus shifts beside you,

“He took the others to go fight for the Titan Lord.”

“What?”

“Mother came to speak to him and told him that it was best to fight for the other side since their chances are better,” you say slowly. “They left at the end of July. Only Atticus, Lou Ellen, and I stayed at camp.”

Your father’s expression darkens, grief written all over his face. “And you haven’t seen them since?”

You shake your head, not wanting to delve into the details. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again in a while and not in the best circumstances.” Your father nods, understanding the implication in your words. “Mother promised that she’d take care of them if they fight for the other side. I didn’t want to go; it wasn’t right.”

“That must be why everything is rotting,” your father mutters more to himself. You furrow your eyebrows.

“Rotting? What’s rotting?”

“Our offerings to your mother,” he clarifies. “All the fruit I leave on her altar goes bad in a few days. The flowers wither quickly too. The garden, in general, hasn’t been doing well either. I didn’t understand why.”

Your focus returns to your plate. Suddenly, you weren’t that hungry anymore.

She must be angry, you think to yourself. A part of you wanted a sign from her to let you know if she was bothered you didn’t join. When the sign didn’t come, you assumed she didn’t care; that, in a way, you were dead to her. It didn’t dawn on you to ask how the altar or the garden your father dedicated to her was doing.

“Can I be excused?” You strain, your face a little hot, and you’re not sure if it was from your anger or from the tears you’re blinking away.

“Of course.” The warm smile on your father’s face fails to budge the dread you’re feeling. “You can be excused as well, Atticus.”

You miss the way your father and Atticus exchange looks as you stood up. There wasn’t a verbal agreement, but Atticus stands up tall, determined to make you feel better. He trails behind you, and suddenly, he slings his arm across your shoulders. “You know what’s one of the things I missed at camp?”

“What?” You ask, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in your chest.

“Beating you at Tekken,” Atticus teases. Your lips curve slightly; his playful nature manages to brighten up your mood a little bit. “Let’s play. I’ll go easy on you, but I’m sure you’ll still lose regardless.”

“You’re on,” you nudge him, and Atticus chuckles, walking ahead of you and up the stairs. Your hand grips the railing, and you walk up a few steps before halting, and your eyes find the front door.

“You don’t get it!”

“I don’t.” You shrugged, amused at the way Atticus’s eyebrows knitted in disbelief. He ignored you, grabbed the remote, and played the Star Wars movie again. You groaned, seeing the slanted letters move up the TV screen. “Atticus! I can’t watch this!”

“Why not?!”

“Well, first off, my dyslexia won’t let me read that quickly, and if a physically written prologue is needed before a movie… it’s not a good movie!”

“How dare you!” You threw your head back as a laugh bubbled in your throat. The exasperated look on his face was too funny. You had no desire to watch these movies, and you figured if you bothered him enough, he’d give up trying to show them to you. The shrug of your shoulders made him scoff. “Just watch it!”

A huff left your lips, and unwillingly, you returned your gaze to the screen. Suddenly, a hollow knock came from the front door.

“It’s late,” you said, but Atticus was too caught up in the beginning battle of the movie to pay any mind to you. Rarely did you get visitors, definitely not past midnight on a Friday. Cautiously, you rose from the couch and moved toward the door.

Rain erratically hit against your curtain-covered windows; the wind and cold made the walls around you creak as they adjusted. Whatever waited for you at the door, you just wished it was a person, not a weird ghost or monster. Your finger latched on the side of the curtain, allowing you to peek through the glass of your front door.

A gasp left your lips. Alabaster, soaked from the ruthless rain outside, was the last person you expected to see. But even though you didn’t expect him, you had an inkling as to why he was here.

Hastily, you unlocked the door and flung it open. “Al?” You sputtered; his green orbs were surrounded by tired eyes and puffy skin.

“He died this morning,” he strained. Your expression softened, and before you could say anything, Alabaster stepped forward and hugged your shoulders tightly. The raggedness of his breath, the shutter of his body, sent your chest a weight of sorrow. You couldn’t imagine being in his shoes and losing your father to a long battle with cancer at 14. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes; the person you looked up to the most was breaking down. You never thought he would need your help for anything, but it seems that you were wrong. “I’m sorry. You guys live the closest to me, and I didn’t know where to go-”

“It’s okay,” you interrupted. “Oh, Al, I’m so sorry,” your voice cracked, hands rubbed his back as a sob left his lips. A creak of a floorboard caught your attention, and you turned to see a confused Atticus emerging from the living room. With a sad look, he understood what happened, and soon his expression was mimicking yours.

“I’ll wake dad and get clothes,” he said, then rushed upstairs.

Your father didn’t even hesitate to help Alabaster, opening the doors of your house to him. In his greatest time of need, the three of you stood beside him, and overnight, he had a place in your home and in your heart. The three of you spent so much time playing video games, getting into trouble around town, learning magic. All the good times you and Atticus shared with him, were they really worth throwing away to fight with Kronos? You realize now that his departure was never only a betrayal to the camp but to you, Atticus, and your father, and you couldn’t help but think perhaps, you guys didn’t mean as much to him as he meant to you.

A shaky sigh leaves your mouth at the thoughts persistent to ruin your mood. The desire to leave camp was to avoid all the things that reminded you of your siblings, but now that you returned home, you realize that running away isn’t as easy as you thought.

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if your username is bolded that means i can’t tag you ! you probably have your visibility settings on!

[kryptonitejelly]

A very busy weekend as always, I was finally able to do some household chores in between playing with my toddler, go shopping for clothing for him, with the husband and write a little bit on my WIP's. I actually still need to finish the first fic I started to write, got distracted by writing about our beloved Hangman (that one I published) and some new ideas that popped up in my head 😄 I'm such a mess 🤣

How has your weekend been sweetheart?

- ☕

the weekend is always too short. this reminds me, i need to do some chores / tidying today.

😂 it’s okay, that is just all of us basically - attempting to finish wips but getting distracted by other ideas..

it was alright! i slept till 11am yesterday, which is extremely out of character for me, because my body clock gets me up by 7/8 everyday. i guess i was just dead ass tired this week.. was supposed to hang out with a bunch of friends on friday night but a few of them were hit with covid so that didn’t happen, i went for a run and did some work instead (boring i know 😂) just hung out with my boyfriend in saturday and had an errand / lazy kind of saturday and today has just been breakfast with my parents / shopping / my usual sunday run….. and i guess some chores to finish sunday off.

yes i know this sounds like an extremely boring weekend 😂

[nancypullen]

If You Build It...

Okay, autumn will come whether I decorate for it or not but I’m a huge believer in manifesting what you want. That’s why my home is currently filled with pumpkins of every size and color and it has spilled out onto the porch. Or maybe it started on the porch and crept inside. Either way I’m fine with it.  I was swapping messages with a friend last week and she asked if I’d gone all out with Halloween decor this year.  I replied that, sadly, I hadn’t.  Partly because I downsized my Halloween stuff when we left Tennessee, and partly because we won’t be home this year to greet trick-or-treaters.  Then I looked around and realized that I might have fibbed a bit.  I didn’t go all out, but my toned down autumn celebration is still pretty generous.  Oh, I don’t have tombstones and cobwebs and witches out, but this did show up beside the already decorated front door.

And I put a bunch of stuff on the entry table until I figured out where to put it...and it’s still there.

What a jumble, but that’s where it’s staying.

I’ve got it tucked into kitchen corners...

and on window sills.

It’s on either side of the tv cabinet and on the tabletop.

Yeah, I know that bread bowl needs some filler.  I’m working on it.  Most of what I’ve put out was just in the first Halloween tub that I could reach in the garage, so I used what I had.  I did purchase this pillow when we drove into the big city of Dover and I was able to attend church (by church I mean Home Goods).

I love it! That’ll stay out until I decorate for Christmas.  The pumpkins generally do, I pack away the spooky stuff on November 1st and brace myself for the crazy holidays.

BUT....far better than anything I placed inside the house is what Mother Nature is doing outside.  I glanced up as I was pounding a sign into the ground and had to stop and just breathe in the changes.

 "Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons." - Jim Bishop Isn’t that the truth?  The light is golden, the leaves turn gold, copper, and scarlet. Even the air loses its heaviness - if I could find a perfume that smells like autumn, I’d wear it.  There are red leaves on the driveway under and around the car and I refuse to sweep them up. I love crunching across them to get in the car.  If you look left from our porch the street lamp is surrounded by color and when it comes on at dusk it makes the tree glow.

Yesterday afternoon I sat on the porch (another hot mess of mismatched fall decor) and watched leaves flutter to the ground.  It was restorative,  better than a massage or a nap.

I started tidying up the flower beds and I tried to shove my witchy weather vane into the ground (see her in that corner bed?) but I couldn’t get her straight.  I’ll need someone with more upper body strength to do it.  Luckily I’ll have a house full of those people this weekend.  She’ll be flying straight by Friday. But who cares about a wonky witch when you’ve got these colors? 

Hopefully this is the last time the yard will look so scraggly.  We arrived too late to do much about it this summer.  There’s a guy coming on Friday to aerate and seed, hopefully after a long winter’s nap we’ll have a velvety lawn next  season.  Yes, we’re those old people. So there you are, that’s where my head is on this beautiful Thursday in October.  Matt is arriving tonight and I’m hoping he beats the bad weather that’s on its way. I’m also hoping the storms don’t blow away all of the color.  Even if we lose some leaves, it’s early yet - this is just act one.  Autumn’s glory hasn’t peaked yet.  I’m going to enjoy it until the last leaf has dropped from the very last tree. Only then will I surrender the pumpkins. Alrighty, off to the grocery store for me. Yesterday I stripped all of the beds and gave everyone fresh sheets. Today is about food.   I’m just making a pot of chili tonight since I’m not sure what time Matt will actually arrive and whether or not he’ll be hungry.  I’m going to throw together a breakfast casserole for the mornings, have some fruit and yogurt available, sandwich stuff for lunches, probably some chicken on the grill another night. Keeping it simple. Jamie is bringing something delicious for Friday night’s dinner so I’ll just make a salad and dessert for Friday. Easy peasey!  My list for the store isn’t long so maybe I can get in and out in record time. More time for leaf gazing, right? I’m outta’ here. Stay safe, stay well, make sure you stop and smell the pumpkins. (Okay, doesn’t work as well as roses, but you get it.)

Nancy

[firespirited]

i had a 6 hour panic attack yesterday and decided to power through it and not worry anyone. I started out by making a bunch of smart decisions, thinking ahead for this and that, listing and ticking off chores and then spiralled and spiralled. Eventually i realized my neck was starting to do the shooting pain again, did the smart thing: took some drowsy stuff, put on some episodes of Leverage and tidied messy doll hair.

Very soothing to be in my element and know what I can repair, holding kindness in my hands.

anyway today i’ve woken up with a massive headache but clarity on the various chores for the week ahead which means not staying at the computer where I can zone off to where my brain starts catastrophizing.

I have no carer for at least a week, I knew she wasn’t well around wednesday of last week as she was looking grey and a little snappy but she insisted she was fine. She has the plague, fever and small headache but otherwise asymptomatic thankfully. Turns out she only masks at our place. I can’t even. We’re getting tested later this week, cancelled all appointments. But like I only just got movement in my shoulders back so this is going to be rough. And last week saw a breakthrough in not getting adrenaline spikes from unmasked people but the call was coming from inside the house and it messed me up. It happened suddenly and subconsciously, as the phone call happened I felt that winded - “hit by a truck” - post adrenaline comedown - weak in the chest - thing I used to get from CPTSD and that just got worse, sort of like wading through deep water that gets thicker and thicker.

I’ll keep you updated and post photos of the dolls later. I gotta go do food prep.

[uswntxfootball]

all smiles here (jackie groenen x photographer!reader)

focusing on your new job turns out to be a hundred times harder after seeing the smiley dutch midfielder..

word count: 2343 ish

——

today was the day.

here you were, 22, fresh out of college and about to step foot onto the dutch training pitch for the first time and start your new job.

last night you had spent hours fretting over tiny details, making sure your cameras were charged and ready, your lenses were wiped clean, and that everything was nice and tidy.

you had planned to wake up extra early, making sure you had time to get everything situated and set before practice began.

that was the plan.

that’s.. unfortunately not what happened.

in your excitement, you had forgotten to set an alarm, which led to your current predicament, biking as fast as you can, racing through the dutch streets.

you glance down at your watch, narrowly missing a parked car as you do so.

you arrive at 7:58, just in the nick of time.

seeing that the team was already out stretching, you throw your bike down with a crash and run onto the field.

the crash of your bike hitting the pavement caused a few heads to turn your way, with a certain number 14 taking particular interest in your entrance.

blind to the commotion you caused, you laid your camera bag gently down along the side of the field (amongst the other photographers), then bend over unceremoniously, trying hard to catch your breath.

considering you had biked 5 miles in 10 minutes, you were spent, forgetting all your excitement in the process.

when your heart rate had somewhat slowed, you began setting up your equipment, and quickly the nerves and excitement arose once again.

you picked up your camera and took a photo of the closest player to test lighting (that player being sari van veenendaal), all the while internally screaming that that was the fifa 2019 best goalkeeper while doing so.

disregarding how much of a mess your morning was, the next hour went splendidly.

you managed to get a few shots of miedema with gorgeous lighting, photos that your manager undoubtedly would want to publish later on.

few photos were “unusable” (you were pretty damn good at your craft), and your camera roll was soon flooded with a wide variety of individual and group pictures.

at this point you had almost gotten all the players individually, your task being to get each of them by the end of practice, which was coming up shortly.

you snapped a few pictures of wilms, grinning widely when you see how well they turned out.

scanning quickly through the list of players, you sigh with relief when you realize you only have one more player to take photos of, #14.

you scan the field with your camera quickly and your breath promptly catches in your throat.

jackie was laughing at something daan was saying, her smile gorgeously on display.

you couldn’t help but stare, your hand lowering the camera as you forget the task at hand.

but how could anyone blame you?

she was, without a doubt one of the most gorgeous people you had ever seen.

her gaze meets yours suddenly, you let out a squeak of surprise in response and fumble your camera, breaking eye contact as you lunge forward to catch it.

you let out a sigh of relief when you grasp it, cheeks blood red at your actions, the older photographer next to you letting out a chuckle as he shook his head.

“kid you gotta be more careful.”

you nodded and smiled at him kindly, before shaking your head quickly and resuming to the task at hand.

with the ten minutes before the end of practice, you took, in total, one photo of jackie.

this was a disaster.

you just kept getting lost staring at her, this time through the lens of your camera, so starstruck that you forgot to actually take pictures.

you let out a sigh as you began thinking of an excuse for your boss later.

~~

walking into the locker room, jackie rolled her eyes at jill’s words.

“but did you see her jacks? that new camera girl is..” jill letting out a low whistle to finish her statement.

“i mean i’m taken but i have to agree she is pretty cute” daan said, popping into the conversation.

soon whole the locker room began chatting about this “new camera girl”, and jackie couldn’t help but blush.

she had to agree with everyone, you were absolutely adorable, and watching you almost drop your camera upon seeing her only solidified that.

jackie was brought out of her thoughts by jill who, very loudly, pointed at her and said:

“oh. my. god. you like her.”

jackie swatted jill’s hand away.

“shut up no i don’t.”

“oh my god she’s blushing she totally does,” daan squealed.

the locker room was soon buzzing with excitement over jackie’s new crush, filling the air with:

a lot of “omg jackie!”

and

even more “ask her out!!”

with jackie of course very adamantly denying such a proposition.

even through all of the teasing, jackie couldn’t help but hope that she would see you again tomorrow.

~~

you arrived earlier the following day, much much earlier, so much so that no other photographers had arrived yet.

you set your bike nicely against the rack this time, taking your time to admire the nice day as you lay your bag along the edge of the field.

you take a quick look at your watch, 7:17, and upon seeing that no one was around, picked up a soccer ball you found in the corner of the field.

having played a little bit of high school and college soccer, you juggled the ball around a little bit and then attempted to score from midfield.

you hit the ball right into the corner of the net on your second try, jumping up in excitement, when you hear someone speak behind you.

“for a sports photographer, that wasn’t all that bad.”

you turn around abruptly and let out a small squeak of surprise when you’re greeted by the very girl who had enchanted you the day before.

she lets out a dazzling grin before putting out her hand and saying:

“hi i’m jackie.”

“i- uhm y/n” you mumble, eliciting a giggle from the dutch girl before you.

you wipe your palms against your jeans quickly and take her hand, trying to desperately ignore the sparks that shot up your arm from the contact.

an awkward silence followed for the next few seconds, until jackie spoke.

“so, y/n, do you want to kick a ball around with me before people get here?”

“i’m, uh i’m not that good i mean i played a little in high school and college but like just for rec teams and i mean you’re on the national level so like i’m i don’t know i should probably just stick to photography i hope i didn’t offend you i’m just not that great and i yeah.”

you stop your rambling and blush, hoping she can decipher your message through your jumble of words.

jackie just lets out a laugh and your heart melts a little at the sound.

“i can take a few pictures of you though if you’d like?” you offer, hoping to spend a little bit more time with the midfielder.

“i would love that.” jackie says, letting out an even larger smile if possible.

for the next fifteen minutes you took dozens of photos of jackie, all the while learning about her life in manchester and belgium, how she broke a bike on the way to practice once, her dogs, and other snippets of her life.

you honestly couldn’t believe that this girl, this incredibly attractive and funny and just stupidly gorgeous girl was talking to you.

it was 7:50 when the other players arrived, jill letting out a whistle and yell when she saw who was already on the pitch.

“get it jackie!”

the other players cheered as well, letting out wolf whistles when they saw the two of you.

jackie got up but before she left she turned and gave you a hug then saying:

“sorry about them. they’re quite an obnoxious bunch.”

you let out a laugh and the two of you parted ways as practice was about to begin, your heart beating so fast you were afraid it would burst.

~~

“y/n.”

your boss let out a sigh as he took his glasses off.

“why are there 864 photos of jackie groenen in your camera roll?”

“i- i dont know” you stammer.

“this isn’t what i meant when i said you took too little of her yesterday.”

you flushed a deeper shade of red in utter embarrassment.

if your conversation with your boss was any indicator, practice was a disaster.

it wasn’t the players or practice itself.

it was you. your gay mess of a self.

but you just couldn’t help but trail the midfielder for the entire practice, your lens (and eyes) never leaving her.

it was only at the end of practice when you looked through your camera roll when you’d truly realized just how many photos you had taken of her.

each and every page filled with pictures of the number 14, her smile as bright as the day.

in your defense, you had taken quite a few fantastic photos of her, though there was one that was your favorite in particular, with the sun shining at the midfielder at just the right angle, illuminating her eyes and leaving her smile with its signature glow.

and of course that was the photo that caught your boss’s eye, despite his disappointment of today’s “turnout”.

and of course he wanted to publish it immediately.

and of course jackie saw it. and posted it. and tagged you in it.

where did she even get your handle from?

~~

it was sort of an unspoken agreement between the two of you, with both arriving early each practice to spend time with one another.

each time there’s jackie, always smiling and always gorgeous, and each time there’s you, always bumbling and always blushing and always tripping over your words.

and occasionally your feet.

but jackie only saw it as endearing, and continued to talk to you even when you were making a fool out of yourself.

eventually came the time for the netherland’s first matchup against a team, that team being estonia for the euro qualifiers.

you were brimming with the excitement at attending your first match as a photographer, and you arrived extra early match day to set up and get a good spot on the field.

“well if it isn’t my favorite photographer.”

you spun around quickly to spot jackie in her full kit, a blush promptly forming on your cheeks and your heart skipping a beat upon seeing her.

somehow you managed to reply:

“well if it isn’t my favorite player.”

this was your first time saying something that remotely resembled flirting with her, clearly catching the midfielder in surprise, as her face flushed a bright red a second later.

“i’m offended. i thought i was your favorite player.” daan said, appearing behind jackie, who stood frozen.  

you rolled your eyes.

“hate to break up the love fest though, but we’ve got a game to play.” daan said, tugging on the arm of an even redder jackie groenen.

after they left, you continued setting up your equipment, checking lighting and just making sure everything was all set and ready for the game to start.

and boy was it a game. 

in short,

the netherlands absolutely destroyed estonia.

in a huge 7-0 victory for the netherlands, there were an abundance of great photo opportunities, and you got them all.

goal scoring shots and celebration shots, everything.

you however, did let out two very loud cheers when jackie scored, once in the 26th minute and again when she completed her brace.

you had forgotten how empty the stadium was in your excitement.

each time you shouted the dutch girl, blushed, met your eyes and grinned before being pulled away by a teammate, who said something that sounded a lot like:

“your girlfriend’s here cheering for you.”

but in general,

you had expected the dutch to win.

you had expected daan, jackie, sherida, aniek, and katja to score as much and as well as they did.

you had even expected that you would embarrass yourself in some way during the match.

what you didn’t expect however, was for jackie groenen to come running at you after the match.

you were packing up your equipment when you saw the dutch girl approaching, and you opened your mouth to congratulate her on the brace and win.

but before you could get a word out,

she pulled you in by the camera straps around your neck and kissed you.

you stood, frozen, as if you couldn’t believe what was happening (because you really couldn’t).

jackie had started to realize you weren’t reciprocating and began to pull back when you came to your senses.

you kissed her back, hands moving to her waist to steady the two of you.

it was everything you wanted a first kiss to be, passion fueled and full of sparks, her hands moving from your chest to cup your cheek.

jackie was the one who pulled away first, a smile plastered on her face much like the one that had drawn you to her that very first day at practice.

you pulled her in to kiss her again, forgetting that your camera was still looped in front of your chest, only noticing it when it was in the way of getting her closer to you.

you pull back with an annoyed huff and gently take the camera off, turning to drop it on the bench behind you.

“go out with me sometime” you say when you turn around again.

jackie’s face just splits into a sparkling smile.

“i thought you’d never ask.”

[marvel-m-lee]

Pranks, Horns, and Tony

Warning: Tickle Fic, birds, spiders, pranking,

Ppl: Loki, Tony, You

Words: 2254

Summary: You and Loki are known fir your pranks, and your both left alone in the compound together whole the avengers are on a mission.

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It was another day in the compound, you had been living with the avengers for almost a year now and seemed to get along with the very mischievous God Loki.

You were both quite young- well sorta. If he were a human he'd be a couple years older than you but that's fine, you both got along splendidly.

You would read books together, play pranks together, be on each others sides and he'd always be there for you even if he wouldn't show the other avengers. Though they all knew you both had a special bond, Thor especially knew because whenever he'd take you to asgard or Loki to Earth you'd both have bright smiles and go somewhere to cause havoc.

Thor didn't really mind though, it just meant he'd get to bombard you both with tickles afterwards.

Yesterday Loki and Thor had come to visit again and would be staying for a couple of days. You and Loki caught up a little and read your books whilst keeping each other company. Today is when the true mischief would start, all the avengers would be going out and you and Loki would be left alone in the compound for a couple of hours so you both were planning pranks for the others.

"Alright y/n, we'll be back in a couple of hours. Don't burn down the house while we're gone okay?" Steve teased as he gave you a hug.

"Yes, and Brother, do not cause any havoc." Thor told Loki, only to be answered by a shrug and a smirk.

"Brother I'm the God of Mischief, what more must you expect?"

"Well then when we come back I'll be the God of Tickles, shall I, dear brother?" Thor asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Loki's face became a rosie red and crossed his arms whilst rolling his eyes.

You stood next to Loki and smiled at Thor with your hands behind your back, "we'll be good, have fun!" Thor nodded and all the Avengers left the compound for their mission.

Both you and Loki waited for there to be a silence that rang through the compound once everyone would have been gone. After a moment you both smirked and turned to one another.

You brought your hand to your face and showed Loki your intertwined fingers to show your face promise, Loki's smirk increased as he saw it.

"Ready to cause some mischief?" You asked him.

"It's in the name" he replied as you both began to run down the halls yo your first target.

You arrived at Bucky's room and looked around, "So, what's the plan here?" You asked the mischief maker himself. Loki walked around the somewhat messy room and found his way to the bed.

"A magnet, a large one. We'd place it under his bed and once he comes back and gets ready to sleep, in the morning he wouldn't be able to get out of bed!" Loki exclaimed, both of you began the process, both with large smirks on your faces.

Loki used his magic to lift up the mattress and keep it in the air whilst you both grabbed a large magnet from Tony's spare parts and placed it under the mattress bed. Loki then placed the mattress back on and the sheets were already messed to so he surely wouldn't notice?

Yeah, I don't know why Tony had a large ass magnet either, let's move on.

You and Loki both snickers at the idea of the prank and moved on to another victim.

For Sam you both collected a bunch of birds and locked them in his closet- with breathing holes obviously. One had pecked at Loki's hand causing him to curse which made you burst out laughing.

Steve's closet was now filled with a bunch of Rock concert shirts and IronMan shorts to pin the blame on Tony, Tony usually was in prank and tickle ears with Steve anyway so it wasn't that hard to believe he'd done it.

You both didn't dare do anything too crazy to Black Widow, so you both just stole a jacket each. She had incredible taste that woman. Loki stole a green jacket with some sort of fluffy collar and you stole a (f/c) leather jacket.

Clint's prank was the simplest, you both sprayed this fart spray into the vents and it STANK.

You both liked Bruce, well Loki wasn't as much of a fan but you all enjoyed reading so Bruce was safe from your havoc.

Wanda's room was all tidy, it smelt wonderful and honestly was your favourite room so you both decided to just put some spices in her bed to make her sneeze.

Vision's room was safe, only you'd both left a piece of gum next to his table with a note attached saying; 'Try this, Bruce and I were working on it. -Tony Stark'

Thor's room was one of the messier one, but he'd taken Stormbreaker out with him rather than Mjölnir, and by some sort of mirical you had all found out you could actually lift the weapon, so you took it and hid it away in a close vent that smelt of farts.

Turns out Clints prank was the most deadly as the whole place started to stink up making both you and Loki gag, and burst out with laughter.

Peter wasnt actually on the mission, nor was Scott but it was a Friday meaning they'd both be coming over for movie night. Plus Peter would be staying the weekend so why not torture him? Even if they were some of your best friends, they werent safe from the mischief makers.

You came up with the idea of hiding spiderman Peter's room, you were terrified of them though so you made Loki do so.

"Wait so Parker's afraid of Spiders?"

"Yeah, I don't really get it either-"

"Pffft, here you want a spidey y/n?" Loki chuckles whilst taunting, shoving a spider in your face as you screamed and jumped into the wall.

"LOKI PISS OFF!"

Loki howled with laughter and placed the last spider down. You both left and did the same with Scott's room but rather than spiders you placed all the ants you could find on his bed.

Last but not least Loki lead you to Tony's Lab where he would be working on all his suits and other personal projects. Its not the main lab but it wasnt too far off, just smaller and more personal so that he could work at night or alone.

You both entered while snickering to yourselves, it had been an hour and a half since they'd all left and you both should gave at LEAST 30 minutes. But hoped you'd have an hour. It wouldn't take long anyway.

"So what's the plan?" You asked Loki.

You both saw an IronMan head on his desk and smirked at one another, knowing that would be your target. Maybe jello inside the helmet? Maybe slime? Maybe hiding it? Repainting it?

"Here, I've got these horns that we can lazer on the front" Loki smirked while taking out two golden horns like his own on his head but separated to be put on a helmet.

You didn't really mind it was a mainly Loki thing, it just meant he'd get in trouble and not you for this. You werent per say throwing him under the bus, but you werent gonna bring it to his attention.

You both walked over to get ready to melt a horn on each, Loki grabbed some sort of tool and started the first one. You stood behind him and watched over his shoulder, you admired the small things,about how Loki's greesy hear was tired up into a man bun before he'd started working on it, and how he squinted one eye to concentrate with his tongue sticking out. It made you giggle.

"I'm almost done..." you watched as he'd almost finished it, both of you concentrating hard on the hand ship.

"Oh hey kiddo's"

You both jumped out of your skin, Loki fell off the chair and part of his hair came out, laying on the floor he turned to see who was talking, you on the other hand jumped and slowly turned around with a nervous smile.

The one and only Tony Stark stepped out of his suit, adjusting his watch as he stepped out.

"So, what are you both up to?" he asked, his lips scrunched inwards and his hands on his hips.

Both of you were silent until Loki began getting up and dusting himself off.

"Nothing, we were just about to leave" You noticed something about him, Loki that is. Something seemed different, and rightly so. You glanced behind you to see the real loki grab the helmet but sink down so he couldn't be seen.

"Oh good, I really cant have you both in here, off you go then."

Tony dismissed the two of you and you both left for ths door, and while he wasnt looking Loki diverged into his clone again but now holding the helmet.

Right before the two of you had reached the door, his suit came speeding past and covered the exit.

'Shit' was the only thing you could both think of. Neither of you turned around to see where or what the billionaire was doing, but you heard him.

"Wait a moment, wheres my helmet? Oh and Loki,I think you left something" Loki and you both turned around, Loki with his hands behind his back,obviously hiding something. Tony stood right in front of him,holding the other horn to his face with a wide smirk.

Quickly the suit begins you both snatched up the helmet and yourself as Tony pounced on the God of Mischief, his hands at his sides, wiggling his fingers all over.

Loki yelped and began lightly chuckling at the fingers that were tickling him, trying to step back but only into closed doors. He tried to use his hands to block the attack but Tony was having none of it.

"Sir I have the helmet and y/n, it seems they were moulding the horns onto it." Friday explained.

"Ohhh, so you were doing something? I thought you were the god of mischief? Not the God of lies?" Tony taunted, as he squeezed the puny gods sides, then quickly moved to a death spot, his hips. Squeezing tightly and vibrating his hands and fingertips causing Loku to fall down the wall with laughter.

"NoHoho!!!! Damn it StArarK!!!!" Loki yelled as he tried to force Tony's hands off him. Though he was incredibly weak from the torturous tickles.

It was a usual sight, Thor was usually tickling his younger brother for some reason or another, its what older brothers are fir though right? Loku would become a blushing screaming mess but he'd never learn. Same goes for you though, everyone in the compound knew your little weakness and would use it against toy for anything. Your laughter was just too cute!

As Tony abused Loki's sides and hips, he ordered Friday to put the helmet on the desk and tickle you. You squealed because as much as you enjoyed tickling, you couldn't never stand it when the robots tickled you. It was rare but in cases when Tony needed an extra set of hands, well he got em'.

The suit held you up and began using a vibrating simulation Tony had recently installed on the hands for some reason and placed them on your ribs whilst holding you in the air. And as this tickled you, because it did t seem like enough the suit also used it's big fingersto scrape and squeezed the insides of your armpits.

You kicked and squealed at the top of your lungs, trying to escape. Somehow being held in the air seemed much worse, and the vibrating cause you to laugh harder and harder when random electric bolts went through your skin.

After around 15 minutes Tony had both you and Loki in piles of laughter on the floor, weak and begging. Well you were begging, Loki was threatening.

"LEHEHET OFFFF! HAHAHHH IHIGIM GONNA KIHIHILL YOU!"

"Okie Doki horny. First let me do this and I'll let you go."

Tony lifted up Loki's lime green shirt and blew the largest raspberry right above his belly button. An inhuman screech came from Loki as he curled in on himself and howled with laughter from ghostly tickles and squeezes.

"As for you" Tony taunted as he walked over to you, you were not on the floor, twisting and turning to get away from this oncoming attack and the tickles. The suit held your hands above your head as Tony brought up your shirt to reveal your belly button.

"PLEHEASE DONT TOHONY!"

Tony looked up at you and smirked, "We all know you love it" and blew right on your belly button. Your laughter went silent and you melted into the floor as both let off.

Tony laughed at you both in giggly messes on the floor.

"I came back early, and the others will be back soon too. So I suggest you both go clean up your messes before you get something worse" Tony suggested as he walked over to his desk to suspect the iron helmet you'd worked on. You and Loki had now recovered- partly- from the attacks and took in what he said.

But it was too late, everyone heard birds chirping and Sam screaming.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

[fairefolked]

sorry i’m rlly annoyed rn and need to rant. we have a house inspection today and we’ve known about it since last week. i spent most of yesterday tidying up the lounge room/office/living area bc granted that was my mess and it needed to be cleaned and like i’m up at 6:30 today bc my bedroom and ensuite are still a mess and that’s fine bc that’s on me they’re literally my areas. why i’m pissed is bc the kitchen is a fucking mess and it’s not just my mess and tbh i left it bc i wanted to see if my housemate was going tk help with the cleaning and shit bc it’s literally the most commonly used area and bc i had cleaned the rest of the place. when she got home yesterday i could hear her tidying up her room and shit which is great like do ur thing, but she moved a bunch of shit from her room to the kitchen but didn’t bother cleaning it. this morning bc she’s on the early she did a bunch of stuff in the kitchen and didn’t bother putting anything away or making an effort, like bro we have A FUCKING INSPECTION TODAY. and like we have recycling which needs to go to the basement (which she needs to go to to get her car) and tho some of it is mine she didn’t fucking take it down. and like fine i didn’t say anything bc when i’ve lived in share housing in the past it’s been like a thing where u don’t rlly need to say anything that some duties are shared and cleaning esp at inspection time is shared. and this has been happening for weeks where i’m not the only one to make a mess but i’m the one expected to clean it? like for example one of our rubbish bags was getting full and it was mostl full of her empty zaraffas cups and shit and it was starting to stink up the house and i kinda left it bc while i had contributed some most of my rubbish was in my room, but no instead of taking it down she starts a new rubbish bag and then one day i apologised for the mess in the lounge i had created and promised i would clean it and she was like “it’s fine just make sure u take the rubbish out” like it was some sort of unspoken agreement that the rubbish duty was my responsibility. and ok granted there have been a few times she has cleaned the kitchen but since i’ve moved in here i feel like i’ve done more of the cleaning than she has and i hate cleaning and never fucking do it. i’m just fucking pissed bc i haven’t wanted to say anything about it bc i didn’t wanna burn bridges or create drama and i was worried she’d bring up the times the kitchen was a mess and she cleaned it but i’m starting to lose patience and question whether i wanna live here anymore

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.18|Brittana

A/N - Just a little something that yall might find some comfort in today so I’ve written a short epilogue. I’m not usually one for fluff, but I figured we might need it. I’ve always considered writing as something I can do to uphold Naya’s legacy because Santana is apart of that legacy and here, she’s always living her best life.

Thinking of you all today 💙

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut!

Once again, Brittany finds herself standing alone in her bedroom surrounded by boxes. It’s a little weird seeing her room looking so bare, but this move doesn’t drudge up the same kind of mournful feelings the last one did. This time there’s excitement, there’s anticipation, there’s –

“Hey B,” Santana gives a little tap at Brittany’s bedroom door. “Need a hand?”

Brittany turns to find Santana giving her that same soft grin she has come to adore. She’s leaned against the door frame, clad in her jean cut-offs and a plain t-shirt, and Brittany’s never been so enamored.

“What?” Santana’s grin widens.

Brittany smirks, “Can’t I check out my hot girlfriend?”

Santana rolls her eyes although her cheeks flush, “Smooth as ever.”

“You know it,” Brittany winks before she goes to zip her suitcase. “You’ll be happy to know that I’ve finally finished packing my room. It’s been a super productive afternoon.”

Santana sputters out a laugh as she glances around Brittany’s bedroom. The walls are bare aside from a couple framed pictures Brittany couldn’t find it in herself to take down. The desk by the window is neat and tidy for once too, but what makes Santana stop are the two gold crowns hanging off of one of Brittany’s football trophies.

“Not taking these?”

Brittany turns to find Santana pulling one off and putting it on. She looks just as regal as she did on Prom night and it makes Brittany’s heart feel so full. She can’t help but reminisce at how beautiful Santana looked all done up – she really took her breath away that night.

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Brittany teases, “Too bad Quinn will be at Yale. I’m sure she’s going to miss the constant reminder that we won instead of her and Mike.”

“I can still text her,” Santana quips as she takes off the crown and sets it down where she found it. She goes back to looking around the room again, “It doesn’t look like you in here anymore.”

“Yeah,” Brittany sighs as she looks around too. Her eyes settle on Santana and she begins to grin, “But it’ll be so much fun decorating our own place together. It’ll look like the both of us.”

“True,” Santana grins, “I can’t wait.”

“Me neither!”

“I can’t believe how fast the year went by,” Santana mentions, “It feels like just yesterday that I was jumping off swings with you.”

“You mean head-butting me?” Brittany jokes.

“That too,” Santana laughs, “And now we’re off to college…together.”

“Not just yet,” Brittany reminds her with a pat to her suitcase.

“That’s right,” Santana nods to it, “That everything?

Brittany looks down and smiles, “Yup!”

Santana eyes the lone bag warily, “You’re only bringing one?”

“We’re only going for two weeks,” Brittany replies with a giggle, “You’d be surprised how much I fit in here. Bikinis don’t take up that much space which is a plus.”

She looks to Santana again hoping to see a smile but instead she finds her worrying her bottom lip. It makes Brittany chuckle as she closes the distance between them. Once she’s close enough, her hands land on Santana’s hips.

“Don’t stress,” She tells her sweetly, “That defeats the purpose of a vacation.”

“I’m not stressed,” Santana shrugs, “I’m just wondering…if I packed a little too much now?”

Brittany only giggles before pressing a kiss to Santana’s lips.

“You’re cute,” She says.

Santana only sighs through her smile, “Can you tell I’m a little nervous?”

“A little?”

Santana pouts, “This is my first big road trip. I didn’t want to forget anything.”

Brittany wraps her arms around Santana, holding her close, “I’m sure you’ve got everything and if not we can always buy stuff. You know Florida does have a mall, right?”

Santana was a little hesitant about joining the Pierce Family on their vacation back down to Florida for Summer break because she didn’t want to intrude on their family time, she’s so considerate like that. Brittany couldn’t imagine spending two whole weeks without her though, even Pete and Whitney begged for Santana to go.

Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to show her around Brittany’s old stomping grounds and most importantly, take her to one of her favorite places. With all of that taken into consideration, Santana couldn’t find it in her to deny Brittany this. She also didn’t mind getting out of Lima for the Summer, beats tanning by the pool alone.  

“Babe, this is going to be great,” Brittany says earnestly, “It’s going to be relaxing and we’ll get to spend so much time together doing all kinds of fun things. It’ll be exactly what we need before we have to leave for Columbus, because you know once we get there it’ll be all work. I’ll have to start football training again and you’ll have cheer conditioning.”

“You’re right. Ohio State doesn’t mess around,” Santana nods as she begins smiling again, “This’ll be great. I’ve never been on vacation like this before.”

“Neither,” Brittany grins before grabbing her suitcase again. “Let’s go. We’ve got a lot of road to cover.”

\\

Brittany and Santana decide to drive Santana’s car down to Florida ahead of Whitney and Pete who are catching a flight a couple days later. They take several pit stops along the way, making sure to snap silly photos by all of the state line signs so Santana can text them to Maribel and Hector to keep them updated on their adventure so far.

It probably takes them twice as long to make the trip, but it’s well worth it when Brittany gets to watch Santana’s eyes brighten as they finally cross the Florida state line.

“It’s so much different than Lima,” Santana says as she stares out the window at all the passing palm trees, their fronds waving hello in the warm breeze as they drive by.

Brittany only glances over with this cheek-bunching grin before she’s back to concentrating on the road ahead.

\\

A while later, they pull up to the rental Whitney organized and this time Brittany’s the one who’s in awe.

“No way!” She exclaims as she triple checks the address her mom gave.

“What is it?” Santana questions.

“I used to point this house out all the time when we lived here,” Brittany tells her, “Pete and I called it the Unicorn House because of the pink shutters and the baby blue door. We always thought it was so cool, the most colorful house on the beach. I had no idea it was a rental!”

Santana smiles, “Well let’s go check it out.”

Relieved to stretch their legs and really start their vacation in the sun, Santana and Brittany make quick work of unloading the car and moving everything inside. Just like Brittany figured, the inside of the house was just as cool as the outside. All modern fixtures, colorful artwork decorating the walls, but the real attention-grabber was the view.

“Wow,” They said in unison as they approached the back sliding doors that led out onto the terrace. It was nothing but white sand and clear blue water.

“Let’s open it,” Brittany says and goes to pull open the glass door. There’s a light breeze and the scent of saltwater. Brittany smiles into it; she can’t believe how much she’s missed this.

Lima’s been great to her, it’s the place she met the most perfect girl ever, but this place will always hold a special spot in her heart too. As she glances to her side at her girlfriend, her smile grows because now she gets to share it with her too.

“What do you say we make a quick run to the shops so we can have breakfast out there?” Brittany suggest with a grin, “We can unpack and stuff later.”

“Sounds awesome,” Santana replies, “When’s your mom and Pete flying in again?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Brittany says as she gives a little tug at Santana’s shirt, “We’ve got the whole place to ourselves until then.”

Santana’s grin widens, “Even better.”

\\

They decide to load up on fresh fruit, because after so many hours of fast food and gas station snacks they are dying for something healthy. Together they walk the aisles hand in hand, stopping every so often to add something to the basket Brittany carries.

It’s not their first trip to the store together, but it feels different this time knowing that it’s just them. Everyone they know is back in Lima, so doing something like grocery shopping together in Florida makes them feel so grown up and independent.

For a second, Brittany wonders if this is what it’ll feel like once they move away together for college. She’s sure the novelty of it all is bound to wear off the more they do it, but for now she leans into the excitement of it. The thought makes her feel giddy inside because she can’t picture herself doing such a routine thing with anyone other than Santana.

“Should we get anything else?” Santana wonders after adding a punnet of blueberries to the basket.

Brittany looks at their haul so far and shakes her head, “Nah. We can just order take out later if we want?”

Santana nods and they make their way to the check out lane.

\\

Back at the rental, Santana’s in the kitchen getting all of their fruits washed and cut up when Brittany reappears clad in her bright pink bikini.

“Okay! Your turn,” She calls out as she makes her way into the kitchen.

Santana does a quick glance up to reply then does a double take when she sees what Brittany has on. Her jaw drops at the sight and she nearly cuts off a finger!

“Woah,” Santana says in time as her eyes rake up Brittany’s tone figure, “I was not prepared.”

“Should I put on a shirt?” Brittany jokes.

“No, no,” Santana’s quick to respond, “No shirts. You can stay just like that.”

Brittany blushes as Santana continues checking her out. It makes her feel warm all over and a little confident too because usually Santana’s the one getting her worked up. It’s a nice change when the tables are turned.

“So, you want to go change and I’ll finish here?” Brittany asks.

Santana’s still staring as Brittany comes closer. She doesn’t even blink until Brittany’s tapping at the bottom of her chin with this smug grin on her face.

“Hmm?” She hums, “What?”

“Do you want to go change now?”

Santana smirks as she pulls Brittany in and pins her against the counter, “It’s not really the first thing on my mind right now.”

“Oh?” Brittany’s grin turns devilish.

Santana bites her bottom lip as she plays with the knot at Brittany’s hip. “The extra football training you’ve been doing is really paying off. Like I’ve always thought you were the hottest girl to ever walk the surface of the Earth, but damn.”

“Go change,” Brittany tells her with a giggle. “We’ll never get to the beach at this rate.”

“Fine by me,” Santana teases as she wraps her arms around Brittany’s waist and starts littering her neck with soft kisses. “Like so fine by me.”

Brittany struggles because having Santana’s lips on her is always kind of like kryptonite, but her desire to experience Santana’s first trip to the beach outweighs spending the rest of the morning wrapped up in bedsheets. Call her crazy, but they’ve got all day to mess around meanwhile the sun’s only out for so long.  

“Baby, as good as this feels,” Brittany sighs as she pulls away. She stares down at Santana lovingly, “I really want to take you to the beach first. Just you and me.”

Santana cutely pouts and it has Brittany giggling.

“Come on,” She says with a little pinch at Santana’s side, “I think it’ll be worth it.”

“I think it opens up lots of opportunities to be a tease,” Santana complains jokingly.

“Good thing we won’t be far from here then,” Brittany winks in return.

\\

Once Santana finally got changed, she met Brittany back in the kitchen where the blonde had packed a bag with their breakfast and a couple bottles of water along with their beach towels. Brittany had her sunglasses sitting atop her head, her long blonde hair free from its messy bun from earlier.

“Ready?” She asked excitedly.

Santana only grinned as she reached for Brittany’s hand to hold and together they made their way down the wooden terrace steps until their bare feet met warm sand. Brittany was already headed for the coastline, but Santana stopping held her back. She turned, wondering if Santana forgot something, when she realized it wasn’t that at all.

Santana never felt the feeling of sand between her toes before.

A smile formed on Brittany’s face as she watched Santana wiggle her toes. It was only for a moment, a little excited squeak of a giggle escaping the brunette before she looked up again – ready to go. Brittany only wrapped her arm around Santana’s shoulders, kissing the top of her head as they started to walk again.

Picking the perfect spot was always something Brittany took pretty seriously, but on this section of the beach – any spot was perfect. They were just far enough away from the popular areas so it wasn’t too crowded where they were.

“I’ve never seen water so blue,” Santana admires as she stares at the crashing waves. “Beats the lake in Lima.”

“Definitely,” Brittany chuckles.

They end up laying out their blanket a few yards away from the water so they don’t have to walk very far to get in. While Santana smooths out the blanket, Brittany sets down their bag and starts to pull out their towels and breakfast.

Together, they sit side by side and share from one bowl Santana found in the kitchen. It’s a mix of all the fruit they picked up earlier and with their feet in the sand and the sound of the waves and seagulls in the distance they’ve never felt so at peace.

“Is it true that you have to wait thirty minutes after eating before you can swim?” Brittany wonders aloud. She’s resting back on her elbows, her legs outstretched but she’s still too far away to touch the water.

Santana shrugs, “I have no idea. Probably should though just to be safe.”

“True,” Brittany grins as Santana lies back too.

She’s already starting to tan and Brittany can’t take her eyes off of her. It’s almost like this is too good to be true and she finds herself reaching out to touch just to make sure.

\\

Once their thirty minutes are up, Brittany’s on her feet trying to coax Santana into the water but who knew she’d put up such a fight?

“We didn’t come all this way to just sit in the sand,” Brittany teases as she tugs on Santana’s hand, “Come on.”

“That water is about to be cold as hell. No thank you!”

“Hell isn’t cold, Santana.”

“You know what I mean,” Santana then gets up when she finally breaks out of Brittany’s hold, “Now way I’m getting in.”

“But it’s not even cold,” Brittany replies although she’s not really sure since she hasn’t tested it for herself. “Why are you picking right now to play hard to get?”

“You haven’t seen nothing yet!” Santana jokes before taking off.  

Brittany laughs the whole time as Santana ducks and dodges her advances until Brittany’s speed finally does her in. Soon she’s got Santana cradled in her arms bridal-style, carrying her towards the water like she weighs nothing.

“Britt! Brittany! Don’t you dare!” Santana chastises between laughs, “I don’t want to get my hair wet!”

Brittany only stomps her way through the water, “Who goes to the beach and doesn’t want to get their hair wet? That’s silly, San!”

“Me, that’s who!” Santana giggles but she stops putting up a fight and just wraps her arms around Brittany’s shoulders.

Their faces are so close with the way Brittany holds her that their noses brush when the blonde suddenly looks to her. Really, she’s checking if Santana’s actually being serious because if so then she’ll happily take her back to shore but if not it’s fair game. Instead though, she gets sidetracked by the brilliant smile she wears and how beautiful she looks with her hair down.

“I won’t get you wet if that’s really what you want,” Brittany says innocently but there’s a mischievous glint in her eye too.

She’s standing still waist-deep in the water and Santana’s butt is barely touching the surface. Brittany does her best to hop so that the incoming waves don’t splash her which is pretty nice of her with all things considered. She could totally be that person and drop her without a second thought.

“Well, when you say it like that…” Santana starts to smirk.

Brittany lets out a laugh before she leans in for a kiss.

It was meant to be a distraction, but it ended up way steamier than she intended as she slowly  sank to her knee so that they both dipped below the surface. She could feel Santana’s teeth sink into her bottom lip from the initial shock of the water temperature but then it was soothed by her tongue gliding over the nip.

“See?” Brittany teases, “Not that cold.”

Santana only rolls her eyes as Brittany adjusts her hold. She goes from cradling Santana to having her straddle her lap instead. It’s a much riskier position than before, but neither of them complain.  

As they get acclimated to the water, they slowly move from kissing to playfully splashing at each other as they wade around. They go back and forth like that for awhile until they move back to the shore to get their tan on.

“I’m having slight regrets that we’ll be going to school in Ohio,” Santana mentions awhile later as they lie on their stomachs, “Must be nice living close to a beach.”

Brittany grins, “So you’re liking your first trip then?”

“Baby, I love it,” Santana replies happily and leans over to kiss her cheek, “And I love you.”

“I love you too,” Brittany coos before she gets to thinking, “If you love it that much we can always transfer down here? I’m pretty sure there’s a few schools here that would love to poach me. You too.”

“So tempting,” Santana chuckles.

\\

They lie like that for awhile longer before the sun gets to be a little much and they head back to the rental.

It’s one of Brittany’s favorite feelings, that tiredness after spending the day at the beach, and she coaxes Santana into the shower with her to get rid of all the sand and saltwater. Despite finally getting each other this close without any barriers between them, they’re both too tired to actually make any moves.

Instead, they take turns standing underneath the cool water and washing off any residual sand.

Afterwards, they slip into something loose and tumble into bed with a yawn. They don’t even bother getting under the sheets first, their sun-kissed skin still warm from the shower. The just cuddle up to one another and doze off within minutes.  

\\

Hours later, Brittany awakes to Santana tracing her finger along the bridge of her nose. She blinks away the last bit of sleepiness and looks around the room, surprised to see it drenched in hues of orange and gold from the setting sun.

“I think you might’ve gotten sunburnt,” Santana mentions softly, “Your cheeks are a little pink.”

Brittany touches them bashfully, “Yeah. They do that after I’m out too long. Doesn’t hurt though, I put on sunscreen before.”

“Okay,” Santana smiles as her hand moves to rest on Brittany’s hip.

The blonde looks to the window, “What time is it?”

“Almost eight.”

“Shit,” Brittany curses, “I didn’t meant to sleep for that long.”

“It’s okay. You were tired,” Santana replies as she starts circling Brittany’s hipbone, “Hungry?”

There’s a familiar rasp in Santana’s voice and it has Brittany leaning in ever so slightly. She knows that tone, she’s been quite familiar with it since the night she won a championship title with the Titans. It’s come to be a favorite of hers.

“Starving,” Brittany smirks.

Santana bites her lip, “Good.”

“We can order a pizza,” Brittany husks as she slips her thigh between Santana’s, “I know just the place. They’re notorious for taking way too long but the pizza manages to always be hot still.”

“Perfect,” Santana smirks before she’s closing the distance.

\\

The next day, they have a bit of a sleep in due to their…activities carrying on pretty late into the night. Free house to themselves? Of course they couldn’t pass up the opportunity, but they’re well-rested and get up to do a tidy of the house before going to pick up Pete and Whitney from the airport.

Again, Brittany feels that same feeling from the day before when she and Santana were out shopping for breakfast. She can’t help but notice how easy it is for them to fall into such a domestic routine. It makes her feel so grown up, like it was just a couple weeks ago that she was graduating and sure she’s always been pretty independent but it’s different with Santana by her side.

When they get to the airport, they’re only waiting for a little while before Pete’s excitedly waving at them with Whitney trailing behind him. There’s hugs all around when they finally meet before they make their way to baggage claim.

“Did you have fun on the plane ride over?” Santana asks Pete.

“It was okay,” Pete shrugs, “Kind of bumpy but mom let me play games on her phone.”

“Nice,” Santana grins.

“Yup! Did you have fun driving here? Wait, did you guys go to the beach already?” Pete asks as he looks to his sister, “Britt’s cheeks are pink.”

Brittany’s eyes widen, “Uh…”

“We might’ve gone for a little bit,” Santana admits and watches Pete start to frown. He was pretty adamant about them waiting for him but Santana’s quick to recover, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t go again today! You’ll have to check with your mom first.”

Pete’s face fills with a mega-watt smile, so similar to Brittany’s it’s crazy.

“She’ll totally say yes,” He tells Santana, “Mom loves the beach too!”

“Sweet,” Santana grins.

“Alright, we just need to pick up the rental car and we’re out of here,” Whitney says as Brittany follows behind with Pete’s little suitcase.

“You didn’t have to rent a car,” Santana tells her, “I told you I was okay with sharing mine.”

“You’re too kind, honey,” Whitney smiles, “But I’m sure you girls will want to explore the area too.”

Santana just nods as Brittany comes up beside her, their fingers twining so casually.

“Speaking of rentals,” Brittany mentions, “I can’t believe you got the Unicorn House! It’s so cool.”

“We’re staying at the Unicorn House?” Pete asks eagerly. Brittany nods to him and he just about combusts, “No way! That’s the coolest house on the beach!”

“Totally,” Brittany winks, “It’s even cooler inside. Just you wait and see.”

\\

They all head to the rental house and it takes everyone no time at all before they’re making their way out to the beach. Everyone except Whitney who runs to the store for snacks and something to eat for dinner because apparently they can’t have pizza two nights in a row despite Brittany and Pete’s protesting.

Again, it’s nice to just lounge in the sun and cool off in the water whenever they want. Pete’s here too while Whitney’s at the store and Santana watches adoringly as he and Brittany toss their favorite football back and forth.

“Babe! Come play with us,” Brittany calls out to her as she tosses the football to Pete in a perfect spiral.

“Yeah! Come play, Santana!” Pete chimes in.

“I’m fine getting my tan on from here,” Santana answers then starts to smirk at Brittany. The way her muscles tense whenever she throws the ball or how her arms flex, it leaves Santana’s mouth dry, “The view’s not so bad either.”

Brittany lets out a laugh as she readies for Pete to throw the ball back. She’d have to agree about the view though, hers isn’t so bad too with Santana laid out in her maroon bikini on their beach blanket, skin glistening with sweat. She swallows dryly as her thoughts start to wander to the night before.

“Britt!” Pete shouts, “Look out!”

Brittany looks up and catches the football just in time before she’s thumped in the head with it. Good thing her reflexes are as sharp as ever!

“Careful baby,” Santana smirks before she’s rolling onto her stomach to even out her tan.

Brittany only narrows her eyes playfully before she’s throwing another perfect spiral in Pete’s direction.

\\

Once Whitney joins them, Pete goes from playing with Brittany to splashing in the shallow water with their mom. Brittany sits alongside Santana where they both share a bag of chips and watch Pete’s splashes get bigger and bigger.

“You’re so cute with him,” Santana mentions.

Brittany raises her brow, “Speak for yourself.”

Santana lets out a disbelieving laugh, “Right.”

“You are,” Brittany urges with a bump to Santana’s shoulder, “He loves spending time with you. Not as much as I do, of course.”

“Of course.”

“You ever wish you had a younger sibling?” Brittany wonders.

“God, no. Never,” Santana jokes before softening, “But seeing you two kind of makes me second guess it. Then again, Pete’s cool so you’re lucky.”

“True,” Brittany giggles. There’s another pause before Brittany speaks up again in a softer tone, “Thanks for coming out on this trip with us. I know you were a little iffy at first, but it wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” Santana replies with this smitten little grin on her face. “We should totally make this an annual thing.”

“Coming back here?”

“Yeah,” Santana nods, “It’s like our reset button. No matter how busy or crazy it gets wherever we are, we can always come back here and just – reset. It would be nice.”

Brittany starts to smile. Santana mentioning doing something every year means she anticipates them being together for a really long time which duh but making plans like that in advance makes it all feel a little more real. She always thought her strong feelings might’ve been a little exaggerated since they’re young and love always feels so all-encompassing, but then Santana goes and says something like that.

This love, it’s bigger than she thought. Maybe it’s even one of those forever kinds of love and that kind of thinking makes Brittany happier than ever.

“We can totally do that,” Brittany agrees before she leans in for a chaste kiss. She can feel Santana smiling too against her lips and she’s never felt more complete.

Whatever this upcoming year plans to throw their way, whether it be on the field or in the classroom or even at home, Brittany’s totally ready for it.

Because together, well…anything is still possible.

[caxsthetic]

Querencia

Oikawa Tooru x F!Reader

(n.) a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are most authentic self.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. 500 MASTERLIST .* :☆ﾟ. ───

With a large bowl full of popcorn, a little girl, not older than six years old, sat in the living room with her legs crossed. Her eyes focused on the television in front of her, munching the light snack as she waited.

"Mom! It will start in a minute!"

She shouted, informing her mother who was currently sweating due to heat in the kitchen she was in. The little girl shouted for you, her mother that would do anything for the whole family.

"Let me just get this cake out from the oven!" You shouted back, arms trying to get the sweat off from your forehead. With carefulness, getting the tres leches cake out from the oven. Your nostrils twitched, wanting to devour the freshly baked sweets,

"Mom! Dad's appeared!" The shout made you panic, resulting in you almost dropping the cake. Thank god having a hyperactive daughter made your reflexes quite good.

You calmed down when the cake was steady again. Letting out a long sigh, you compose yourself before putting the cake neatly on the kitchen island. With ease, you take off your apron from your body, hanging it on the spot beside the fridge.

Your eyes scanned the kitchen once again before leaving, making sure that everything was under control. When you were sure that there would be no fire, that’s when you strod to the living room, your husband’s voice filled the whole room.

“What took you so long, mom?” Your daughter asked you once you sat beside her, she leaned her body towards you immediately, mouth still munching the snack that you prepared for her before.

“The cake, my princess.” You wrapped one of your arms around her tiny frame. She fed you some popcorn as the two of you looked at the figure who was now being interviewed, “Oohhh! What do you think about dad’s suit today?”

Your daughter squinted her eyes, and you already know what her answer would be when you saw her scrunched up her nose.

“Dad should go with a darker shade of green,” She stated bluntly, watching her father laughing at the television for something that the interviewer said, “Really, with that chartreuse color, he looks like trash.”

You choked on the popcorn when you heard the nickname, making the poor girl panic when you started to cough repeatedly. When you didn’t stop coughing, she immediately got down from the couch, running to the kitchen.

She’s back in seconds with a glass of water in her hand, you grabbed the glass immediately, gulping it down until the bottom of it. Your daughter giggled at how tired you look,

“Trash? Did you just call your father trash?” Your voice was like a dagger to her, but an amused look in your eyes made her know that you were just joking around, “Let me guess, Uncle Hajime?”

“Yes!” She climbed back to the couch, sitting on your left thigh, “I mean, dad’s suit looked like trash on him.” You hummed, acknowledging your daughter and gave her a little peck on the side of her head.

“So, who would be the one that loves to ramble about their own family?” The interviewer asked the whole Japanese Nationals Volleyball Team in front of them, “I mean, most of you already had someone in their life, right?”

“Let say we are all proud of our own family,” The black haired middle blocker stated, body leaned forward a little as a cheeky grin appeared in his face, “But Tooru was the worst, he couldn’t get enough of his wife's attention!”

“Eww,” Your daughter voiced her thought all of a sudden, “I suddenly remembered that one time in the locker room! Bwergh~ I want to puke,” You blushed immediately, closing her mouth with your palm to shut her up.

It’s not that you and your husband having sex in the locker room or something. It was just an intense making out. But of course, knowing your daughter just saw her parents almost devouring each other like that, it’s not really a sight that you wanted her to remember.

“Well, I mean… How could I not not asked for her attention?” Oikawa winked at the camera, knowing well you must be watching him through the television at home, “She’s been with me through everything. Knocking some sense on me when I started to be irrational, putting up with my trashy act, patience enough to follow me anywhere… AND, deliver a child that I love so much…”

“See? This is what I mean,” The middle blocker cackled, “He’s just a hopeless romantic! Either for his wife, or her daughter.”

“He’s saying the truth, Kuroo.” One of your husband’s teammates that used to be his biggest rival, voiced his opinion, “Oikawa was very vocal indeed, sometimes I wonder how could his family survive his antics.”

“I want to bury myself sometimes,” Your daughter voiced her opinion too, making you chuckled at how sinister that sentence was, “Dad was just that bad with his pun.”

“Oh my god,” Kuroo clenched his chest, fakely gasping when he heard the opposite hitter let out a sarcasm, “The Ushijima Wakatoshi? Blessing us with a sass?”

You chuckled at the interaction between those adults on the television. They were just like a bunch of children that were trapped on an adult body. Then your eyes fell to your husband who smiled longingly for a split second, a smile that he rarely shows in his earliest life.

He’s a man full of passion, especially when it comes to volleyball. In his life, it was hard to find someone who could match his pace. So somewhere along the line, he dropped his wish to have someone who would stay with him forever with how much he spent time with volleyball.

Then you came and proved him wrong. You were always there, attending all of his practice and shouting his name on every match he had. Even though he never noticed you for the first two years in high school, you were glad that you could be in his life at the end.

Or in his case, he was glad that he caught you putting milk bread and some supportive letters on his locker on one particular morning.

Dark circles evidence under his eyes. It was still morning, but rain was already wetting the street, making him have to run or he would be completely soaked by the time he arrived at school.

At first, he wanted to go straight to the gymnasium, practising his serve. He felt like he wasn’t good enough, making his team fail to go to nationals. For numerous times already, defeated by none other than the Shiratorizawa.

But since the main building was closer from the gate, he directed his feet to stride there instead. It was still early, the sun barely peeked through the clouds. And the fact that it was raining, making the poor sun hiding again from the sky.

He pouted, realising how soaked his whole uniform was already. When he got into his locker, he would immediately change his clothes after putting his bag there.

Though, he didn’t expect to see a girl standing in front of his locker. He immediately hid behind another locker, peeking a little to see what the girl put inside.

He widened his eyes when he saw milk bread and a letter on her hand. She opened his locker, and didn't actually put the bread inside at first. Letting out a sigh, she arranged the stuff on his locker, muttering about how messy it was.

She was grumbling under her breath, but then she giggled, shaking her head and just tidying up the mess that was in front of her. When she’s done, she puts the milk bread and the letter, closing it immediately.

He saw how the girl closed her eyes and prayed for something that he was curious about. Then she left, skipping inside the main hall towards the classroom.

The brunette even forgot that his whole uniform was still wet. But his mind was now full of the girl. He walked silently towards his locker, opening it up and unfolded a turquoise paper inside his locker.

“You did so well in the match yesterday! You played like a pro and no one should say otherwise! Everyone in the school was so proud with how good our volleyball team is, and you always bring the best side of your teammates. I hope you know that someone would always watch your back. Thank you for all of your service!”

By the time he was done reading the letters, tears streamed down his face. Touched by the support that he got from the mysterious girl with enchanting hair.

He folded the paper, putting it inside his bag. With a milk bread in hand, he walked towards the gymnasium while eating the sweet milk bread that he loves so much.

The sky was bright as he walked, orange colour tinted his face that was now plastered with a genuine smile. He didn’t even know who she was at the time. But if it could make him feel like this now, he wondered what would happen if he finally acquainted the girl.

That time, he was sure he didn’t want to let her slip through his fingers. And so, he would do anything to keep her in his life.

“I am home~!” Oikawa slammed the front door open, making you and your daughter jolted at the sudden burst, “Where’s my queen and my princess?” He took off his shoes, wondering for his little family.

The two of you were now seated inside the kitchen, waiting for him to walk there. You tried to hold your own giggle since you were holding a cake on your hands.

Your husband called out to the both of you again and again, before finally stood in front of the kitchen. He put his hands on his hips, having his back turned towards you.

The little girl, who was now a little bit tired with how slow her father was, decided to clear her throat, resulting in the brunette to whip his head to the kitchen, now knowing where the two beloved humans in his world are.

A wide smile slowly creeped into his face, dark chocolate eyes lit up immediately at the sight that was now unfolded in front of him. You were standing there, with a proud smile on your face, while the little girl brought some bowl in her tiny hands.

“W-Whoa!” He walked up to the two of you giddily, kissing your forehead for a few seconds before kneeling down and hoisted your daughter up to his embrace, “Care to explain what my two best people in my life doing while I am gone?”

You put the cake on the kitchen island once again, cutting it into some small pieces so it would be easier to put on the bowl. A smile never left your face as you heard your husband talking with your daughter, he deadpanned when she told him his suit was like trash on him.

It was a sight that you would always keep inside your heart, him interacting with the little girl he could proudly call his daughter. He was always good with Takeru for as long as he lived, so you knew for sure that domestic life suited him.

"You are not doing something whacky while dad's gone, right?" He booped her nose while he asked with a serious tone, "Your mother right here has enough with me, don't make her run away~"

"I am a good daughter, thank you!" She said with a smug on her face, "While on the other hand, dad seems to make mom worried when you were home late due to practice~!"

"Ouch," You giggled, that was sure to hit a sore spot on your husband's heart. He pouted and just sigh when he realised that his daughter spent too much time with his best friend while he's away for some volleyball tournament.

You walked towards them, eyes glinting with happiness as you thank the deity to ever give such a wonderful husband and an adorable daughter.

“Tooru,” You put your hand on his shoulder, making him stop talking as he almost whined about how cruel his best friend was to make his daughter calling him trash, “Go take a shower first, my king. Then we can eat the cake together.”

He nodded, making his soft brown hair jiggled a little. Squatting down, he made sure that the little girl on his arms hopped down safely on the ground,

“Alright, don’t start eating before me, okay!” He was always energetic, you could only shake your head at his antics before plopping down on the stool. Your daughter who was touch starved for your affection, asking for you to pick her up.

“Hug!” She could be so sarcastic and mean, but the fact that she was just a six years old girl was really showing at the moment. You hoisted her up, putting her to snuggle into your lap.

She was beautiful, having the soft brown hair that your husband had. Her dark eyes shone every time she looked at her father and mother, always warmed your heart since you could understand that she loves the two of you so much.

“I want to cuddle with mom a little while,” She mumbled, wrapping her tiny arms on your figure, “Dad will be done in minutes and I am sure he will be begging for your attention.”

“Pfft, that’s true,” You ruffled her hair, making her smile immediately, “But you are not that different from him. You always cling into me too.”

“Is that bad?” She blinked, making you squeal inside with how adorable she looked right now, “I guess I am really his daughter then!”

The two of you just sat there silently, engulfed by the sweet aroma from the cake. Occasionally, you would find here looking at the cake, ready to enjoy it since there were like three different kinds of milk inside the cake.

“Mom,” She called out, and you answered her with a gentle hum, notify her that you were all ears, “Why you married dad?” You were surprised to hear the question, it was unexpected and downright random.

“Ah, why, huh?” You stare into the empty spaces, a longing look could be seen inside your eyes while you remember as much memory that you could gather, “Mom fell in love with how hardworking he was, you know?” You tightened your embrace a little, a faint smile plastered on your face, “Then as we grew closer, I fell deeper with every little side that I found inside his beautiful facade.”

Your daughter wanted to snort at the words beautiful. But then, seeing how happy you looked right now, she decided to keep it inside. She wouldn’t lie, her father was famous as a heartthrob. Though, the whole world knows who owned his heart already.

She wrapped her arms up to your neck, nuzzling there in your warm embrace as she was grateful to have parents that love each other, to have a family that were caring and thoughtful.

Overall, she was just grateful to be born in this world. Six years, and she already felt like she was the happiest kid alive. She couldn’t wait for more to come, hoping that the two of you would always stick together, just like today.

The air was hot and humid today, sweat dazzled on your skin as you sat in the apartment that your boyfriend rented. You didn’t know anymore what makes you produce a lot of sweat all over your body. Either it’s from the heat of the summer, or the fact that you were sitting here, with news that you were afraid might bring doom on your relationship.

You sat on the balcony, closing your eyes as you tried to arrange the right words. Biting your lips, your eyes fell to the beach in front of you. A lot of people were occupying the sandy terrain. They were all smiling and laughing, enjoying each other's company.

The wave soothing your mind, it was the only sound you were focused on at the moment. And with your mind all over the place, you didn’t hear the sound of the key being turned, a sound that should notify you that he was home.

You tensed up for a second when you could feel his arms wrapped around your neck. It only needs a moment to know to whom the arms belong to. You could feel his lips at the crown of your head, sniffling the scent that your hair pervade.

Your right hand slid into his arms, caressing it gently while your eyes still closed, feeling a lot better, like you finally got the courage to talk to him. You turned your head a little as he gave you a little peck on your lips.

“I need to tell you something, Tooru.” He raised his eyebrow a little, wondering what was the cause of your serious tone, “Would you sit beside me?”

“Of course,” He didn’t wear any of his facade at the moment, so you could see how nervous he was as he sat on the chair beside you, turning it a little so he looked straight at you, “What is it, my queen?”

There he goes, rolling the nickname that you two shared since the two of you started to become an item. It always brings a butterfly in your stomach to flutter even harder as he said it.

“It’s uhm…” You took a deep breath, and he sat there, still worried, “Do you know that I love you so much, right?” He was silent, but then gave you a little nod. You avert your gaze to the ground, afraid to see his expression, “And well, I never planned this to happen… But Tooru, I-”

“P-Please, don’t do this.” You jolted to hear his plea, “Please don’t say that you were going to leave me, please… Anything but that.” Your mouth agape as you lift your head to look at him.

His dark eyes were glossed with tears, “Did I spend too much time on volleyball? Goodness I-” You immediately pulled him to your embrace, showing him that it’s not the topic that you were going to blurt out, “Don’t leave me…”

“I would never,” You cooed at him, kissing his forehead as your hand stroked his hair delicately, “Now, I am going to tell you what is happening.” Hearing that, he straightened his posture, looking at you straight in the eyes.

You took a deep breath, extending your hand at him for him to take. He was confused at first by your gesture. You closed your eyes, guiding his hand towards you, spreading his palm on your stomach.

“What-” You opened up your eyes, terrified to see his face scrunched up in disgust or horror.

But instead of any of that, he looked at you with his jaw dropped and tears brimming in his eyes, “I- Am I going to be a father?” He questioned you, voice as soft as fleece.

When you gave him a nod, that’s when he broke down immediately, “Oh my god, I-” He stood up, cupping your cheek as he smiled, “I am going to be a father, (Y/n).”

“Yes, Tooru.” You bit your lips, tears streamed down on your face as you were so relieved with how he reacted, “You are going to be a father indeed.” His eyes lit up, he walked towards the railing of the balcony,

“I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER!!!” He shouted, making you laugh at how happy he looked right now. A lot of other people who were playing on the beach looked up to your apartment, clapping and congratulating the man.

He turned his face towards you once again, but he stood there, “Oh! And one more thing guys,” He extended his hand, asking for you to stand beside him. You comply, walking there with a wide smile that you couldn’t contain any longer.

Oikawa turned his whole body to face you, eyes scanning your face as you stood there with confusion written on your facade. Then he started to kneel down on one knee, making you gasp when he suddenly had a velvet box on his hands.

You put your hand on your mouth, trying to compose yourself but to no avail. Your eyes were focused on the man who kneel in front of you to even realise how almost everyone on the beach turned their camera on, focusing it on the couple.

“From the first time I read your letters that you gave to me, I know for sure I want to keep you forever.” There’s a longing look in his eyes as he reminisces the first time he ever saw you, “And since then, I am glad that I have you through everything.” He bit his lips, trying to hold his tears for now, “Hell, you even followed me here, (Y/n)! Who else would even do that for me?!”

You were snorting by now, his face was so comical as he said it, “So, I might not be the best husband, or even the best father, but…” He trailed off, taking one last deep breath, “I promise I would never leave,” His fingers were trembling as he opened up the velvet box, “Would you bear my last name and stay with me forever?”

“Say yes, mam!” ���Woohoo, you go Tooru!” “Please say yes!” “I am one hundred percent sure she's going to say yes.” “Aww, look at them.”

“You know you already knew the answer, right?” You teased him, making him snort as he stood up, “I love you now,” He leaned in to kiss you as your hand crept to his cheek, “And I will love you forever.”

You closed your eyes once his lips touched yours. People on the beach were shouting with so much joy at the sight, happy to see the couple they adore looked so happy.

While his lips still moulded with yours, he gently slipped the ring into your fingers. It was the start of the new journey, the start of something incredible. Something, that you wished would last forever.

The creaking of the bathroom door woke you up from your daydream. There with a turquoise shirt and dark green boxer, stood your husband who was ready to plop down beside you after a long day.

He slid under the blanket, wrapping his arms around your waist, wanting you to be the big spoon for today.

“Tired?” You stroke his hair that was now sprawled on your chest, “Your teammates teasing you non stop?” He grumbled under his breath, pouting as he recollected the event from today’s afternoon.

“Well, Tetsu wouldn’t stop bickering and teasing me.” He huffed, annoyed with the rooster head, “And today’s fighting was tiring too!” You giggled as he let out a long sigh, “I couldn’t believe I need to fight with my own daughter for your attention.”

The air was cold today, but when the two of you bathed in each other embrace, everything felt so warm with how much love the two of you radiated for each other.

“You know that I love you though, right?” You kissed his forehead, he gave you a faint smile as he absorb the words inside his heart, “I love you now,

And I will love you forever,”

The two of you completed the sentence together, knowing well about the phrase that you always share for each other. He looked up, eyes blazing with adoration as he still couldn’t believe that he would have a life like this.

A life where there was you, a wife that always cared and understood all of his antics. A life where there was the little girl who was now asleep in her room, the girl that he would protect as long as he lived.

He moved his body, caging you between his arms as he looked down at you. There’s no lust in his eyes, just pure love, agape. He leaned in, touching his lips to meet yours as the two of you shared a kiss that would be forever imprinted in both of your hearts.

All his life, he believed that no one would want to be with him, knowing how he prioritized the sport that he loves so much over anything else. But you knocked inside his heart, telling him that it was possible to have someone by his side.

He deserves the love, he deserves to have someone who would be there on every path he took. And as the two of you drowned by the immense feelings the two of you radiate, he knew he wouldn’t want anyone else but you,

The one who proved to him, that everyone deserves to have someone who would stay.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*     ༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶    *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

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[pbandjesse]

Last night we had such a beautiful view of the moon. But tonight, when there is a once in 600 year event, we have complete cloud coverage! Of course! I don't actually care but it always happens doesn't it?

I could not for the life of me sleep last night. I would eventually, but I was up for to long. I was to hot. I was to cold. I was tangled on my sweatshirt. It sucked. It was not a good time.

So waking up was not fun either. I told Mike I would come in early. And I wanted to move the car out before 8 so I wouldn't have to worry about tickets. Not that that seems to have started again, but just in case. I got dressed and felt cute and James packed me a snack before I left.

I would stop to get mcdoanlds. And would enjoy my breakfast in the parking lot. I met John as I was heading in. And then found Mike, who showed me what I needed to do for the outreach tomorrow.

I am very nervous about the outreach. Like I know it will be fine. But I am still scared!! But I had things to do. I drilled out holes in the cardboard boxes the kids will do the project in. It didn't take a super long time, but it did take time. And my arm still hurts from whatever I did to mess it up yesterday.

I did the first half and went to check in with my coworkers. I asked to do the tour in the order I like, and they were both nice about it. I had to do back to back tours. And honestly, it went great. But my voice was very raw at the end.

They were a great group though. 3rd graders. I was very surprised how large the group was. But it was fun. I enjoyed my first group a lot, and my second group was also great but they interrupted me a lot and my voice was cracking. The teacher got them to stop but it was really just because they were excited so I wasn't to upset.

I did have a little panic when I couldn't figure out where my 3rd group was. But I had the schedule backwards in my head. So I actually had a little break. I had my snack and watched some videos. And then went to get set up for their scavenger hunt.

It really is the easiest program. They did a good job working together, but I was surprised that they had so much trouble understanding the questions (one question was like "what is this thing?" and they came and asked me if the year they wrote was the right answer) but it was nice watching them try their best.

I checked a bunch of the answers at the end. But once they were done I headed back up to the maintenance office to keep working on my boxes.

Once I was done Phil and Mike helped me bring everything to my car. I moved my car to the door and it was a very tight fit but we got all 68 boxes in the back of my crosstreck. I am nervous about getting them into the school tomorrow but James was able to get the folding wagon we have in the car so I wont have to make to many trips I hope? I am really unclear how this is going to go. It will be okay, but it is nerve-wracking. New things always are.

I headed out of there and went home. I was excited to see Kim. She is moving into a new place and it was so nice giving her a hug. James was coming down to change the laundry over and then Nick was there and we told our little engagement story and Nick was like. This is the best story. It was so cute.

When I got upstairs I realized my bracelet was missing. And I am super sad about it!! Me and James have been matching for months and it just sucks that I lost it. I know I had it during my tour because I was fidgeting with it. I texted Mike to be on the look out for it. But I am super sad. James says its okay but it almost feels disrespectful? I don't know. Just sucks.

I had things to do though. I did some tidying. And then worked on some prints for the market. They were coming out a little funny at first but I got a handle on the pressure. James printed some things we needed for the bear sale. And I made sure the boxes we use are packed with everything we would need to make things run smoothly. I hope. I am excited. I hope people come and want to make bears.

SweetP was being very naughty and bad today. Knocking things over and biting. James thought it was because it was since out. So I opened the windows and the fire escape for him. But he kept attacking me and was just not being nice. We tried playing. Throwing handfuls of treats. Chasing him. It took forever for him to calm down. No idea what he issue was.

I would hang out in James's room while they worked. Played animal crossing for way to long. But I redid our museum area and Im super happy with it. I also build a new cemetery and Im really pleased. I based it off of Green Mount, with its castle like entrance. And now that castle gates are an option, it seemed perfect.

James made us tacos for dinner. We decorated a room on happy homes together. And I laid on the couch watching tiktoks until I wanted to take a shower.

My psoriasis is very bad right now. I exfoliated and medicated and tried to make it feel a little less awful. So far so good.

My allergies are not great, but I will be okay. I can at least breathe, even if Im a little gross. It is going to be very cold tomorrow. There is a storm out and it is taking away the 75 degree day and giving us a 45 degree day. I have an outfit picked but I might have to swap it for something a little cozier. We will see.

Wish me luck on my scary program. I will have to come right home after but I do have a long break in the middle. So that's nice. James will need the car right when Im done work though because they are going to a concert with Evan and their cousin for a late birthday. I am really glad they can do this. They deserve good things.

Sleep well everyone. Take care of yourselves!!

[lolas-writings]

Hello loves!! I have an actual fic to share with you and not a few hundred word drabble like usual ^.^ 

I know y’all like rarepairs as much as I do so I’m introducing you to a new one today! I wrote a cute IidaCamie fic yesterday for Camie’s birthday as well as to celebrate the occasion for the @iidacamiebigbang that I’m a mod for hehe. You can find the fic on AO3 here or you can just read the fic below. And if you find this rarepair interesting, please feel free to check out our Tumblr or our Twitter. Enjoy! 

~~~~ 

“Babe?” Camie calls out as she walks through the front door of her and Iida’s shared apartment. The door clicks softly as it closes behind her, eliminating the light from outside and casting their apartment in a blanket of shadows. 

The lights are out, all except for the lamp edging the boundary between the foyer and the living room. Odd, because Iida should be home by now and he always complains about not seeing well when it’s dark. 

“Tenya?” Camie calls out again, letting out a huff when she gets no response. She pouts as she removes her shoes and sets them to the side, noticing Iida’s worn sneakers are in their usual space, perfectly symmetrical to each other and perpendicular to the wall. If his shoes are here, then where is he? 

The soft thud of socks on wood flooring echoes through the apartment as Camie ventures further inside. She passes the lamp and the lighting gradually grows dimmer, urging her to turn to the wall on her left and search for the light switch. Before she can flick it on, however, a blue piece of paper stuck on the wall beside the switch catches her eye. 

‘Look on the coffee table :)’ it reads, written in Iida’s distinct penmanship. Camie smiles at the note and takes it off the wall, folding it carefully and tucking it into her pocket before she turns around. The coffee table stands directly behind her, and after her eyes adjust to the low lighting, she can make out a perfectly wrapped yellow box resting on top. 

“Aw, babe, you shouldn’t have!” She calls out playfully as she approaches the present. She’s lying, of course, because it’s her birthday and she deserves to be spoiled. Something, luckily, Iida is surprisingly good at. 

The blue ribbon on top comes off first, followed by the tape holding the yellow wrapping paper around the box together. It comes apart easily, meticulously, a careful calculation on Iida’s part to leave the wrapping paper in one piece for reuse later. What a dork. 

After unwrapping the box, Camie carefully lifts the lid and immediately squeals when her eyes land on what’s inside. Soft black fabric, fuzzy and soft and two sizes too big, but that’s how Camie likes her sweaters. Hanging off of her shoulders and bunching up around her hips, just like how Iida’s sweaters fit. 

She reaches in and pulls the sweater out of the box, unfolding it and admiring the clothing more fully. She first saw this sweater four weeks ago in the window of her favorite mall store while on a date with Iida. Oversized, extremely fluffy, and with the word, “Baddie,” written in white across the front. Exactly her kind of style, and she would have dragged Iida into the store to get one for herself if they hadn’t been on their way to meet up with their friends. Iida really does pay attention. 

As she fawns over her new sweater and considers putting it on then and there, another blue note catches her eye, this time from the bottom of the box. ‘Now go check the kitchen :)’ this one reads, another silly smiley face signing the note. This note, too, gets folded and tucked into Camie’s pocket before she ventures to their kitchen, fluffy sweater in hand. 

This time, the box is blue with yellow ribbons. Similarly sized and wrapped, the only difference being the color swap. She sets the sweater on the counter beside the box before tearing, not literally, into this present. 

Inside is white, a stark contrast to her sweater. When she reaches in to pull the new article of clothing out it feels rougher, like denim, and sure enough, when the fabric unfolds she’s staring at a new pair of strategically ripped white skinny jeans. Something that’s been on her To-Buy list for ages. She squeals again and hugs the pair of jeans close to her chest. 

Just like the first box, at the bottom lies another blue note. ‘You know, your shoes look a bit cluttered. There’s a random box taking up their space…’ Camie can’t help but giggle at this particular note. Knowing Iida, he probably took this opportunity to subtly tell her to start organizing her shoes better. Maybe she will, after all the thought and time Iida spent arranging this birthday scavenger hunt. You know, for a day or two before the chaos resumes. 

Camie pushes that thought aside as she returns to the entryway of their apartment, opening the door to the closet where their shoes and heavy coats are kept. On the floor, in the midst of her mess of a shoe collection, is another box. Smaller than the previous two, but wrapped just like the first with yellow paper and blue ribbons. 

Camie sinks to the floor and sets the sweater and jeans on the ground beside her. She doesn’t even bother taking the time to sit properly before reaching into the closet and pulling the box out, making quiet work undoing the wrapping paper and ribbons. 

The box itself is not plain and wordless like its predecessors. This box clearly has the logo of Camie’s favorite designer shoe brand slapped on top, bold and proud. She wastes no time ripping the lid off to reveal what’s inside. 

Black ankle boots with a chunky heel and studs on either side of each shoe. The same shoes she saw a random woman wearing in line at the grocery store two weeks ago. Camie remembers enthusiastically asking the woman where she got them, how much they cost, are they comfortable, and all the important questions, but Iida had stood wordlessly beside her observing the different pastries that were on sale that day. At least, that’s what she assumed, she had no idea he was listening in on their conversation. 

This time, she doesn’t squeal; she laughs, wholeheartedly and unabashed, the sound echoing off the walls around her and surrounding her in her own disappointment. She really must stop secretly chastising Iida in her head for seemingly not paying attention. 

She sets the shoes on the floor beside the sweater and jeans, freeing up her hands and allowing her to pull the now empty shoebox completely from the closet and into her lap. Just as she suspected, there’s yet another small blue paper with a note written on it. ‘I hope you don’t mind, I tidied up your dresser and vanity.’ She smiles again and folds and tucks the note into her pocket with the other two. After replacing the lid on the box, she retrieves her clothing and shoes and makes her way to their bedroom. 

The room is dark just like the rest of the apartment, the only light source being the lights surrounding her vanity mirror. It’s enough to illuminate the single box resting perfectly centered on top, wrapped in blue paper and yellow ribbons. 

She approaches the vanity soundlessly, the carpet muffling the sound of her footsteps. When she’s standing just in front of the vanity, she sets the rest of her treasures delicately on the matching chair before setting her sights on the newest box. 

Just a few tugs on the ribbon here and a few flicks of her nail to the tape there is all it takes for the wrapping to fall away and reveal the box within. It’s plain again, like the first two boxes, but smaller like the third. And just like all of the previous boxes, the lid comes off easily and reveals another treasure inside. 

A sleek, shiny leather newsboy cap rests inside, a stripe of white across the bill standing out against the inky blackness of the rest of the cap. She’s never seen this item before, surprisingly, but it falls perfectly within her style choices and even matches the rest of the outfit… Oh. Oh, what an absolute dork her boyfriend is. 

“So?” A deep, familiar voice pipes up from behind her, startling her into dropping the hat back into the box. Camie huffs and turns around to glare at Iida, putting her hands on her hips. 

“You so need to stop doing that.” 

“Doing what?” Iida smiles and leans against the doorframe. “Giving you birthday gifts?” 

“Being a total stalker.” Camie tutts and crosses her arms, a pout on her lips that juxtaposes Iida’s poor confused expression. It’s almost funny how he’s remained too dense to recognize her jokes after all these years. “I’m kidding, Tenya.” 

Camie covers her mouth to suppress a giggle when Iida lets out a relieved sigh. He’s too serious sometimes but it never ceases to be absolutely adorable. After tapering down her short-lived giggle fit, Camie walks over to Iida and throws her arms around his neck, pulling him down just enough to give him a quick peck on the cheek. 

“You are superbly a dork.” 

Iida’s cheeks flare red at the attention, but he reciprocates Camie’s hug without a second thought, his arms wrapping soundly around her waist. “Maybe, but you love it.” 

“I love you, idiot.” Camie rolls her eyes but doesn’t bother pulling away from their hug. 

“Hm, that too.” Iida hums and places a matching kiss on Camie's cheek, causing them both to smile. “Happy birthday.”