#ahem i got a bit wild with tagging

[explorevenus]

something permanent ♡ yandere!leon kennedy x reader

nsfw (18+) - minors pls dni i will scream

this is a dark fic for a multitude of reasons. if any of the following bothers/triggers you, do not read: yandere!leon, stalking, kidnapping, drugging, corruption/training, forced daddy kink, noncon, forced breeding, body horror, gore, & blood

in other words-- DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT.

ahem. now that that’s over.

word count - 4.4k

description - nothing in leon’s life was ever permanent and his life circumstances made sure of that. over the years he was beaten down from a bright-eyed rookie police officer to a weary and angry shell of his former self. when a chance meeting brought you into his life, he knew what he had to do. he knew you had to be something permanent.

tags/warnings - yandere!leon, dark!leon, leon being patronizing and condescending and sickly sweet, fem/afab!reader, stalking, kidnapping, drugging, corruption/training, forced daddy kink, pet names (doll, sweetheart, princess, baby, puppy, etc.), noncon, forced breeding, housewife kink, body horror (spoiler alert he rips your IUD out with his bare hands), slight gore, blood, noncon, stockholm syndrome if u squint, dollification if u squint, descriptions of vomiting, no use of (Y/N)

a/n - ok i genuinely don’t know if anyone even wants this but i personally find it egregious how little yandere!leon content exists out there in this world because listen. i know a lot of people consider leon submissive and breedable but personally i believe this broken angry man just wants a sweet little thing to dote on and take care of to make him forget about the horrors of his life and he will stop at nothing to make that happen ♡ anyways. enjoy. and if it’s not ur cup of tea idc keep scrolling :^)

p.s. this is obviously a very canon-deviant, borderline crack fic so it’s not really established which leon this is outside of referring to the events of re2 being a long time ago, so go wild with your interpretation of that to read this as whichever leon is ur favorite ♡ i personally like to imagine post-re4 or infinite darkness leon !! ;w;

read part 2 here !! ♡

my masterlist ♡

my ao3 ♡

fic under the cut, thanks so much for reading and i hope u enjoy ♡

-venus ♡

You were slow to wake, which wasn't particularly unusual... as of late, but your body felt so heavy, like your muscles had dissolved into mush overnight. Consciousness gradually took its hold of you, and as it did, you began to realize that something seemed off. Different. Wrong, even. You peeked your eyes open, vision blurry with sleep, but you could see you were beneath your pink comforter, a plush of yours held closely to your chest, all normal so far...

But your walls aren't navy blue, they're white... They're supposed to be white--

You jolted wide awake, panic coursing through your weak body as you struggled to even sit up. That's when you noticed an unfamiliar, muscular arm draped over your waist, and that dialed up your anxiety about tenfold. It was hard to move, but you were able to turn your head enough to catch a look at the man it belonged to.

Strong, blond, maybe a bit tired in the eyes... maybe a bit familiar looking... but you were crying now, blurring your sight all over again.

"Shh, shh... you're okay, sweetheart, you're safe now," He hushed, holding you closely to him as you struggled. Smooching the top of your head, he spoke into your messy hair, "I've got you. I've got you, princess."

But... how? The last thing you remembered was tucking into your own bed, in your own apartment, and falling asleep there, how could you have possibly wound up in a stranger's bed with zero recollection of ever leaving yours? Your head spun as you tried and failed to fend off the unwanted affection with weak arms. His hold on you didn't dare budge as he continued to coo softly into your ear, to reassure you that you were safe, that he wouldn't let anyone, or anything, hurt you.

The anxiety stewing within you finally reached a tipping point, twisting your stomach into tight knots, and that's when you spoke your first words since you'd awoken. "I-I'm gonna throw up," You wept, clawing weakly at the covers and, well, at him, for freedom. 

Thankfully he was quick to act, scooping you into his arms as he sat up and rose from the bed, carrying you to the adjoined bathroom. When he turned the light on, you managed to get a better look at his face as you passed by the mirror, and it took you a second to recognize him, partly due to your state of delirium, but primarily because you only knew him very vaguely. You had only met him once at work many months ago, when he'd sparked up a conversation with you as you made him his coffee. After that, he became a regular at the café you worked at-- you remembered his name was Leon.

So why were you waking up in his bed, with your belongings lying around like you'd lived here the whole time?

Your knees hit the tile and you began retching immediately, flinching as he reached forward to collect your hair away from your face. Puking on an empty stomach is never a fun time, but your nerves were alight with panic and every time you reminded yourself of your predicament, a new wave of nausea would crash over you. He rubbed your back sweetly, but it didn't help.

Once the vomiting eventually subsided, an awful, hollow pain took place of it. Your thoughts were running at a thousand miles per hour. You didn't have the time to acknowledge it, let alone nurse it, outside of clutching your shirt at the waist. 

"Let me get you some water, babe," Leon said as he hesitantly stood from your side, eyeing you worriedly like you'd just fall to pieces if he let you out of his sight. "You poor thing..."

But all you could think about was getting out of here. "N-No, no, what time is it? I have to get to work--"

"I don't think so, sweetheart," He interrupted. "You're sick, you should be in bed."

"I'm fine," Much to the protest of your jellied legs, you pushed yourself up from the floor and fought through the head rush in an attempt to slip past him, but he simply caught you at the waist and brought you to a halt. Your ears were ringing, the room spinning around you, and you still weren't sure how to interpret what was even going on here. "L-Let go of me!" You cried out.

He simply hushed you, holding you tightly to his chest and petting your hair as you writhed, failing miserably to get him off of you. "Don't worry about work, okay? Just rest up and get better. I'll call them for you."

Your stomach sank even further-- what the fuck is happening right now? 

Despite your thrashing he managed to lead you back to the bed as gently as one would fine china, scooping you up into his arms so he could lay you down exactly where you'd awoken earlier. Your chest heaved with sobs as you shrank into yourself in an effort to get away from him.

His eyes left you for just a moment as he reached for the covers, no doubt to tuck you in-- in a split second decision, you seized that time to scramble out of his bed and break for the door. Sadly, as perhaps you should have seen coming, he was more than strong and fast enough to catch up to you, even caught off guard. As soon as your shaking hand made contact with the cool metal doorknob, he halted you where you stood with a bruising grip on your bicep.

You cried out, trying in vain to peel yourself away from him, but it was no use.

"Come on, silly baby, you heard me," He tsked, dragging you back toward the bed. "No need to be running off anywhere, especially on a sour stomach."

"P-Please--" You gasped through tears.

"I'm sorry, little one, but that's final," Leon hummed with a patronizing but oddly sweet tone. It was as if he were scolding a temperamental child.

He basically wrestled you back into the bed, enveloping you tightly in his arms as he laid down beside you. You struggled against his grasp, but again, it was absolutely no use. He simply pet your hair and pressed soft kisses along your cheek and jaw, attempting to soothe you with restraint and unwanted affection. 

You sucked in a labored breath, hiccupping, "Don't do this to me, please don't do this to me... I-I just wa-wanna go home, jus' wanna go h-home... Leon please--"

"Shh... oh, good heavens. You are home, princess," He mused, brushing away a stream of your hot tears with his thumb. "You'll see. Just relax and let me take care of you."

Nothing in Leon's life was ever permanent.

All he'd ever wanted was the American dream, to serve his community and meet a pretty girl to share his life with, to settle down in a big house with a fenced yard and two or three little Kennedys running around, maybe a dog. What he wouldn't give to come home at the end of a long day to his beautiful wife, belly swollen with his children, preparing dinner in the kitchen while the existing little ones play with their toys in the other room.

He would enter, slipping off his shoes with a relaxed sigh and a "Honey, I'm home!" to which the aforementioned little ones would rush to the door to hug him at his knees. He'd put one up on his shoulders while the other tugged at his hand, turning into the kitchen to give his beautiful wife a kiss. She would ask of his day and he would say it was good, but better now that he's home with her. With his free hand he would cradle her belly and ask "What's for dinner, you two?" to which she would reply "Your favorite," and as he smiled and thanked her with a kiss he would be silently plotting to thank her properly after the kids are asleep by fucking her full of his cum.

That was all he'd ever wanted. But, day after day after god forsaken day, the chance grew slimmer and slimmer until it had shriveled into something molecular. He didn't even get through his first day at the police station before everything went to shit.

Because of this, Leon began to lose himself over the years. He was no longer the bright-eyed rookie officer looking forward to his even brighter future. He was a broken man, worn down to the bone by years of death, plague, losing everyone he'd ever loved in one way or another-- Leon couldn't take the loss anymore. He wanted-- no, needed-- something permanent, something to give him even the slightest taste of that dream he once had.

When he met you, it wasn't even a question anymore. He knew you were the one. One way or another, he would have you.

He couldn't court you in the traditional way, of course-- it was too dangerous for you to be seen with him. After all, everything he'd ever touched had a way of turning to shit. So, it began with following you home after work so he'd know where you lived. Soon after that he would let himself in when you weren't home-- you weren't smart enough not to keep your key under the mat, furthering how sure he felt that you needed him to take care of you-- he would take little things of yours home with him just to have your scent around.

At first it was just little things like near-empty bottles of shampoo and stray pairs of panties from your laundry basket. Then it was sweaters from your closet, chewed gum and used flossers from your trash can. He'd pay close attention to your grocery lists and what you kept in your pantry so he'd know what kind of food you liked. 

When you did come home, he would sneak out quietly and watch you through your windows, familiarizing himself with your routine. The first thing you'd do when you came home from a long day of work was kick off your heels and change into something comfortable to do your yoga. After a while, you'd pull yourself up from the pink mat and cook dinner. After you'd eat, you'd relax with a book or a video game for a bit before taking a shower and changing into pajamas. Then, you'd brew yourself a mug of tea and retire to the bedroom for the evening where you'd watch documentaries or put on white noise until you eventually fell asleep.

At 7:00 a.m., you'd wake up in the morning and do it all over again.

All he could think about was what he'd do when he finally had you all to himself. Under his roof, you would never have to work another day in your life. Gone would be the days of pouring coffee and baking pastries for random idiots who treated you like shit. All you would ever have to worry about is being pampered, having your entire day to yourself, waiting for him to come home, spending all the money on his credit cards.

And carrying his children, of course.

So, as he held you tightly in his arms while you sobbed and begged to go back to that tiny apartment, all he could think about now was how to fix this. How to convince you he really loved you, how to make you feel truly at home.

The first few weeks were hard for him. Really, really hard.

You were refusing to eat, laying wide awake at night, swinging rapidly between sobbing, screaming and complete apathy. Sometimes he would come into the bedroom and catch you fiddling with the window, or attempting to circumvent the lock on the door by stuffing the mechanism with tissue. You would hit him, kick at him and spit in his face, even as you grew weaker and weaker with malnourishment, not that you really stood a chance before that anyway.

Still, it was hard to watch you shrink in your clothes. It was hard to see your cheeks hollowing by the day. It was hard to hold back your brittle hair while you'd vomit from the nerves, still trying to fight him off of you. It was hard to watch your body tense every time he entered the room.

Just when he'd began to lose hope, he discovered a neat little tool to help you behave. In some countries it was called "devil's breath." The slightest bit of powder could be sprinkled into your water, or over your food, or even into your clothes-- it absorbs through the skin-- and within minutes it would render you quite pliable. Leon didn't want to drug you, of course-- he liked you better when you were lucid-- but it certainly felt like a good place to start, a helpful tool to train you.

When he'd give you a dose, you would let him coddle you without incident. You would lay limp on his chest while he played with your hair and felt your soft skin beneath your shirt. You would allow him to spoon food or tip water into your mouth. You would let him dress you up like his perfect little dolly. You would blush and whimper and whine, and more importantly, not fight him, while he fucked you full of his cum, just like his dream.

There was just one problem-- after about two months of trying daily, it would seem his seed wasn't taking.

Your heart pounded in your ears as the sound of Leon's footsteps nearing the bedroom door grew louder. You glanced over at the clock-- it was 6:15. He was off work for the evening and you knew what that meant.

The lock clicked quietly before the door creaked open, revealing your captor.

"Honey, I'm home!" He smiled excitedly, approaching the bed with a glass of water in hand.

You knew it was for you. You knew he had done something to it. You also knew you didn't intend to drink it.

"W-Welcome home, daddy," You said in a near whisper, forcing a half-smile. While you had definitely lost the majority of the fight in you, that didn't mean it didn't nauseate you to comply with his wishes. "Did you have a good day?"

Tucking your hair behind your ear, he offered you the glass of water while he replied as he always did, "My day was fine, but it's so much better now that I'm home with you, princess."

You smiled at him like it was the first time he'd ever said it, taking the glass with a shaking hand. You stared at it for a moment before mustering up the courage to say, "D-Daddy, I don't want the medicine anymore. I don't think I need it, and it doesn't make me feel good."

"You don't want your medicine anymore, baby?" He asked, tipping your chin up to look at him. You shook your head, rounding your eyes to convince him that much more. "Well, alright, but you have to promise to behave for me."

Now you were nodding, a little bit too eagerly. It was sort of humiliating. "I promise, daddy, I'll behave! I don't want the medicine anymore. I promise I'll be good."

With a proud grin he took the glass from your hand and set it on the nightstand, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "That's what I like to hear, babydoll. You know, good little girls get rewarded..." His large hand spread over your thigh, inching up toward the hem of your baggy shirt.

You stiffened, but didn't push him away. He smirked, dipping his head down to kiss at your neck, large hand sliding up your shirt until he nudged it up enough to pull it off. You were bare for him now, save for panties, and given your experience with him you knew it wouldn't be long until those were discarded somewhere across the room. With a gentle hand at your shoulder he pushed you onto your back, your legs hanging off the side of the bed, and you were curious where he was going with that until he sank to his knees in front of you and began pulling your panties down.

Your eyes screwed shut, thankful that he couldn't see your face as he spread your thighs and greeted your cunt with a slow lick up the length of you. You gripped the sheets with white knuckles, pretty much holding your breath to keep yourself from kicking him away from you. His fingertips buried into the plush skin of your thighs to hold you apart as he began to eat you out more passionately, suckling your clit up into his mouth and lapping at your hole like he was starving.

If there was one thing you would give him credit for, it would be his skilled tongue. Perhaps he was crazy and obsessed, but he certainly knew how to translate that obsession into something that benefitted you both. You wouldn't have succumbed to it so willingly if he weren't at least good at it.

Still, it was hard to feel any enthusiasm. His attention might have felt good physically, but it certainly didn't feel good mentally. 

You flinched when you felt a fingertip prodding at your cunt. He pulled away just far enough to tsk, "Relax and let me make you feel good, puppy. You said you would behave for me."

"Y-Yes, daddy," You muttered, continuing to clutch the sheets as you tried to control your breathing.

His thick index finger sank into you down to the knuckle, almost immediately curling up to brush against the spongy spot within you that made you see stars. As much as you tried to fight it you gasped, quickly bringing a hand up to cover your mouth, but the sound you'd made hadn't slipped past Leon. You felt him smirk against your skin as he pressed sloppy kisses to your thigh, reaching up with his free hand to force yours away from your face.

"Don't be shy, princess," He spoke against the inside of your thigh, trailing kisses up to your clit. "I want to hear just how good it feels."

You whimpered, hips squirming into his affection, and he chuckled approvingly, bringing his mouth back to you fully to continue eating you out while he fucked his finger into you. Soon after his index finger was joined by his middle, and you keened as he reached more deeply into you than he possibly ever had.

He pumped his fingers in and out for a moment, alternating between lapping at your cunt and kissing your thighs, and just as the coil inside began to tighten he suddenly... stopped?

You waited for a second, catching your breath, expecting him to continue any minute. But he didn't. Instead, he took on a tone that froze your blood as he asked, "Sweetheart, what is this?"

Then, you felt a sharp tug at your insides that made you yelp.

"Leon!" You shouted at him in a break of character, attempting to scoot away from him, but he grabbed your hips to still you. "That hurt!"

Another tug. You cried out, trying as you might to snap your thighs shut and push him away, but he wasn't budging.

"You never told me you had an IUD."

"Well, I do, so stop yanking on it! It hurts--"

The next words out of his mouth truly fucking broke you.

"That just won't do. It's no wonder you're not pregnant yet."

You sat up immediately. "Pregnant?"

He ignored you, tugging at it again. You screamed.

"L-Leon, don't! I can get it taken out by a doctor, I swear, I'll get it taken out!"

He shook his head. "And wait even longer to knock you up, pretty girl? Not happening. It's coming out now."

You screamed again, thrashing in his hold. He withdrew from inside you for just a moment, pinning you to the bed by your hip while he reached for your panties on the floor and shoved them into your mouth to silence you.

"There, there, angel. It'll be over before you know it, like ripping off a band-aid," He hummed, pressing a kiss to your forehead as you screeched through the cotton. "I'm gonna give you my babies, I promise. Gonna make you a mommy, and we’ll be so happy."

Before you could properly react he forced his fingers back inside you, yanking at the device until you felt a sickening tear and the unmistakable heat of blood rushing out of you. You curled into yourself, wailing, gasping for breath through the panties in your mouth as he withdrew his blood-soaked fingers, holding up the gory IUD in the light.

"There you are, princess. All better," He smiled contently, discarding the device on the bedside table. "You did so good. You were so brave for me."

You were bawling, shrieking through your gag as your vision blurred into white. Leon kissed up your thighs before standing to unbuckle his belt, and he didn't get much further than that before the panic and agonizing pain got to you and you lost consciousness.

You woke up the next morning with your thighs sore and sticky with blood. You lifted the comforter to see a deep red pool seeping out from between your legs, and the more you started to wake up, the more aware you became of the pain. You were cramping terribly, sweating buckets, your ears were ringing and you felt weak. Leon had left for work already, so it was up to you to get yourself to the bathroom.

Your entire body was trembling as you stumbled out of the bed, dripping blood in a trail behind you as you dragged yourself to the bathroom and crawled into the bathtub. You peeled off your pajama shorts and panties, watching in horror as a mixture of thick blood and cum spilled out of you and ran slowly toward the drain. Once again, you began to cry. Obviously he'd had his way with you after you passed out, buckets of blood be damned.

Even with your foggy, staticky brain, you couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about the fact that he had no intention of taking you to a hospital, so there was really no telling what might happen with your profusely painful and bleeding sex. Thinking about how fucking screwed you were now without your IUD, your best defense against falling pregnant with your captor's child. Thinking about the fact that if he wouldn't even take you to a doctor for this, he must be expecting a home birth if you were to become pregnant, which you doubted he was qualified to handle and therefore had a very good chance to result in your slow, painful death.

You couldn't stand the shivering anymore, so you filled the bathtub with hot water. It felt nice, though it was rather gross that the water was stained a glassy rose color with your own blood, not that you really had the strength to care in the moment.

In fact, you didn't have much strength at all. It wasn't long before you found yourself losing consciousness once again.

"Fuck, princess, can you hear me?"

You were trying to open your eyes, to twitch a finger, anything, but it was so hard.

"Shit. Stay right here, babydoll, I'm gonna get you some help, okay? I promise. I never meant to hurt you... shit...”

You heard some shuffling, pacing and possibly Leon talking to himself in the other room. You figured he was trying to decide whether or not to take you to a hospital. Part of you hoped he would and the other part of you hoped he would just let you die there. More than anything, you just wished you would have let him drug you in the first place so maybe you wouldn't be in this level of pain.

After what could have very well been 20 seconds or 20 minutes, Leon kneeled beside the tub and draped a cold washcloth over your forehead, reaching into the bloodied water to pull the drain. With what little control you had over your own movement you managed to crack your eyes open, which seemed to please him.

"Oh thank god... thank god, baby. I almost thought I lost you there," He huffed, voice shaking. "Listen to me closely, princess. Stay with me. I'm going to take you to a doctor but you have to be a good girl, okay? You have to be good for me and go along with what I say, even if it isn't true. I'm just doing what's best for you so you can get all better, okay?"

You nodded weakly. You weren't in any position to put up a fight, and all you really wanted was an end to the pain. Besides, he couldn't supervise you constantly at the hospital. There had to be at least some opportunity to tell someone what he'd done to you.

He somehow managed to dress you in some comfortable clothes of his, a soft black t-shirt that hung halfway down your thighs and a pair of black shorts with some little socks of yours to protect your feet. Then, he carried you princess-style out to the car where he bundled you up in the passenger seat and buckled you in.

As he pulled hurriedly out of the driveway, he made a phone call to someone.

"Hey, it's me... I need the best people we have in the infirmary, stat. I'm on my way now," He spoke sternly into the phone, white knuckling the wheel. "I'm fine, it's not for me, it's my girlfriend. It's a long story that I'll tell you when I get there, but she's bleeding pretty bad. I found her unconscious when I came home... I appreciate it, thanks. See you in 10."

Leon reached over the center console to squeeze your thigh in reassurance.

"You're gonna be just fine, princess. I'm gonna make sure they make you all better, okay?"

Your stomach sank. He obviously wasn't taking you to a hospital. From the sounds of it he was taking you somewhere he had a good amount of leverage, somewhere everyone knew him, held him in high regard and wouldn't dare challenge his word, let alone take yours over his. You slumped to the side, resting your head on the cool window with a quiet bonk. Leon was quick to ask if you were okay but you couldn't muster up a response. Your ears began ringing again and the world around you collapsed into tunnel vision.

part 2 !!

[blackdollette]

Hey, "high with Clyde" anon here (and high again, funnily enough). Smut you say? I've had a thought circulating in my mind recently. Going shopping for new clothes with Jack Thurlow and trying stuff on for him to rate while he sits all pretty on that couch they have there (y'know, that one that they have specifically for guys doing the exact same thing?) while you model for him. And for whatever reason - maybe his responses have been rather lacklustre and you want his....ahem, "enthusiasm", or maybe just cuz you're devious like that - you decide you wanna rile him up a little bit. So! At the next store, you grab like, the sluttiest outfits available unbeknownst to him, and then model them all for him, feeling all smug that he's practically drooling at you

And when he finally reaches his breaking point, the next thing you know, you got your feet behind your ears and his hand over your mouth so you don't get caught. 🤤 Idk, do with that what you might. ^^

you've done it again, anon 🙌🏽

"i get dressed to ride for you, baby." | jack thurlow

burning desire. - lana del rey

✮⋆˙ [tags] @faesucksass @lustkillers @angelsanarchy @mayathepsychic1999 @josibunn @livingdead-materialgirl@romanroyapoligist @oliviah-25@si1nful-symph0ny @auggiethecreator @vanlisbon@livingdead-reilly @imoonkiss @lankysimp @nom-nommmm1 @xxbl00d-cl0txx @k1ll3rh0rr0r @wildathevrt @mommymilkers0526 @greenxgloss @wild-rose-35 @areuirish

female!reader x jack

word count: 1.8k

contents: public sex, unprotected p in v, missionary position, creampie

“you’ve got 5 minutes to try everything on, you hear me?” jack called out as he sat on the small leather couch outside of your dressing room, brows furrowed as he crossed his arms and slumped into the seat knowing full well you were going to take your precious time trying on every single outfit. so much for a "fun" shopping trip.

inside the small room, you had an assortment of clothes in front of you, ranging from long flowy gowns to dark blue baggy jeans and designer sweaters. a top-tier selection of clothes but none of which were to jack’s taste. but you decided to test your luck anyway.

minutes later, you stepped out and stood right in front of him, wearing your first dress. “how’s this one, jack?” his eyes were downcast, looking at something on his phone. you tapped him on the shoulder, only earning half of his attention. “hm? it looks nice, dolly.” you pouted, moving your hand to his chin to make him look at you. “but you didn’t even look at it.” he moved your hand away, looking you up and down with an unamused gaze. “i said it looks fine. now are you finally done so we can get out of here?” 

you rolled your eyes, walking back into the dressing room and slipping off the dress. you picked up a skintight black dress that was so long it dragged on the floor. surely this one would grab his attention, you thought to yourself as you paired it with a white, button-up sweater. you put on a pair of light-brown heels that were hidden by the fabric, stepping out once again and patting his cheek. 

“what about this? is this one better?” you gave him a little spin, giving him a full 360 degrees of your body in the tight dress. he gave a little smirk in response. “yeah if you wanna look like a nun, i guess. is this the last outfit? i don’t think i can listen to the music in here any longer.” you huffed, discouraged at how nonchalant he was. “yes, im done.” you muttered, walking back into the dressing room to get back into your normal clothes.

you walked out of the dressing room empty-handed, leaving everything behind since none seemed to give you the reaction you expected from him. he took your hand, dragging you out of the store and back into the main mall. “good riddance,” he muttered under his breath. “can we go home now, angel?” your eyes scanned the assortment of stores surrounding you until they landed on one that would surely sell clothes that would blow his socks off.

you shook your head. “not yet, i just wanna go to one more store. please, just one more place?” you begged, staring up at him as he groaned. “only one more. you head on inside, i’m going to grab a coffee. i’ll meet you in the dressing room.” with that, he released your hand and let you go your own way. 

you dashed into the store, immediately pleased by the outfits in the display window. you wasted no time picking up everything you saw, picturing the look on his face when he’d see the clothes on you. you walked into the dressing room, starting to change into one of the outfits as you heard his voice.

“you in here, doll?” he said as he sipped on his hot drink, waiting for a response. “i’m here, jack. just gimme a sec, okay?” he nodded, immediately realizing that you couldn’t see his answer. he sat down on the seat in front of your dressing room, sighing as he scrolled on his phone. “this damn girl…” he whispered to himself. then he was interrupted by the noise of you walking out, standing right in front of him.

you didn’t have to tap him to get his attention this time. his eyes were caught by the shiny black thigh-high leather boots you had on. then his eyes traveled up, first landing on your dangerously short pleated skirt and low-cut tube top that showed just enough cleavage to make his breath hitch (this is the outfit). you placed your hand on your hips, looking down at him as he swallowed hard, immediately putting his phone down and gripping the seat.

“now i’ve got your attention.” you remarked smugly. “you like this one, jack?” you took the words out of his mouth, his cheeks covered in a bright pink stain as his mouth gaped open. he cleared his throat, nodding nervously as a stupid little smile tugged at his lips. “y-yeah, this one’s nice, baby. give me a little spin, will ya?” your face lit up and you twirled, making the skirt lift up just a little as your heels clicked on the ground.

jack squirmed, shifting his position so he was sitting with his legs crossed, suppressing a painfully obvious boner. you grinned triumphantly, happy that you could break his cold, hard exterior. you walked back into the room, making that sad that you were going away but excited to see that next set of clothes you’d have on.

minutes passed and jack found himself impatiently tapping his foot as his mind ran wild with thoughts of you wearing such intimate clothes just for him. his hard cock was straining against the rough denim of his jeans, making him groan quietly as he placed a hand on top of his bulge to calm the throbbing sensation.

his foot began to bounce on the ground with anticipation, and soon enough he couldn’t take it anymore. he sprung up from his seat, pushing the curtain of your dressing room to the side and popping his head in. “are you done in here?” you jumped slightly, startled. but jack’s eyes became as wide as saucers as drool began to drip down his lips. 

you stood in front of the mirror, wearing a small tennis skirt with a plaid pattern on it, paired with a white silky shirt that was more revealing than your bra. and your cute little feet in those white knee-high socks didn’t help the matter either (the outfit). “jack! i’m not done in here yet!” 

he walked into the room, approaching you with a lust-filled haze as you backed into the wall behind you. he closed the curtain of the room, pinning you to the wall and pressing his body into yours, his boner pressing into your stomach. you gasped, the heat of blood starting to pool in your core as he grabbed your face and pulled you into a very sloppy kiss.

“goddamnit, woman… you just know exactly how to drive me crazy, don’t you?” he grabbed your ass, lifting you off the ground and making you wrap your legs around his waist, your clothed, throbbing clit now in contact with his pulsating bulge. you moaned into his mouth as he kissed you again, this time using his tongue to tease yours with his gentle flicks.

your hips began to grind on his, desperate for even the smallest amount of pleasure to still your nerves. jack groaned deeply, whipping out his cock and pumping it quickly. you glanced down, seeing that his girth had nearly doubled in size because of how swollen it had gotten. he rubbed his leaky tip on your silky panties, feeling your wetness through the thin fabric.

you let out a shaky moan, grabbing onto his muscled biceps as he set you down on the wooden bench that was meant for clothing. he pushed everything else off, leaving room for only you as he pushed your legs behind your head, the wet spot on your panties much more conspicuous in this position.

jack bit his lip as he grinned from ear to ear. “that’s my little model…” he trailed a teasing finger down your cleavage until he got all the way down to your dripping wet cunt. he replaced his finger with his cock, getting off from the feeling of your wet folds hungrily attempting to swallow him.

“guess we should get these out of the way, huh?” he slipped his cock underneath the thin string that covered your pussy, breaking it away with a light tug. your breath became shaky as the cold air hit your grooling cunt. jack spat on his thumb, rubbing messy circles onto your clit as he lined himself up with your hole.

the tip slipped in effortlessly, along with the first few inches. you moaned quietly, making jack clamp his hand over your mouth. “it would be a shame if we got caught in here, wouldn’t it?” with a low groan, he pushed in the remaining inches of his rod, making your eyes well. with his jeans down to his ankles, his hips began slapping into yours.

your eyes rolled to your back on your head as the perfect curve of his dick made him reach nothing but your cervix. you felt your drool bubbling all over his hand as deep, heavy breaths escaped from his parted lips. his large cock abused and stretched out your tiny hole, much to his pleasure.

his fingernails dug into the back of your thighs as his balls slapped your asshole with every deep thrust. your hands found his wrist and forearm, gripping the skin tightly as a white-hot knot began to tie in your stomach. jack’s orderly thrusts quickly lost their composure as your muffled moans made his core boil.

strings on precum connected him to you each time he pulled out. he flipped his hair out of his face, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed back curses that threatened to break free. “s-shit… that’s it, baby… takin’ my cock so well…” 

your back arched as you ground your hips against his, desperately chasing the orgasm that was just in your reach. your gushy folds hungrily ate up his cock, making him toss his head back. “use my dick, angel…just like that.” you brought your fingers to your clit, sobbing into his hand as you felt yourself cumming all over him. he grabbed your hips, fucking you at lightning speed as his balls sagged with cum. in a matter of seconds, he was filling up your tight, swollen pussy with loads upon loads of his hot seed.

he pulled out of you, watching as his cum cascaded out of your hole like a milky waterfall. you panted breathlessly, slowly regaining your composure as jack tucked his cock back into his pants before getting you all cleaned up as well.

you put on your clothes, looking at the mess you two had just made in a public residence. but before you knew it, jack was out of the dressing room, carrying all of the clothes you tried on. you walked behind him quickly. “where are you going?” jack smiled back at you. “to the cashier. i look forward to my little model putting on a show for me every night.” he dumped the pile of clothes onto the counter, the cum-stained skirt above everything else like a cherry on top.

author's note: thank you "high" anon for the request! istg I rlly didn't mean for it to get so long

[ponds-of-ink]

Spoilers for what might be in FNAF Survival Crew down the line. You’ll only get a description and a link to the image in question (plus some spoilers in the tags), but yeahh.

TL;DR: Very cool Chica costume and a Bonnie outfit that’s making my William detect-o-meter go wild. You’ll see why in a second.

-

Okay, are you ready? Cool.

Plague Doctor Chica’s going first. Just so I can gather my thoughts a bit more.

And, yes, I’m not kidding. Chica has a Plague Doctor variant now. And she. Looks. Wonderful.

The detail in her outfit! The cool cane that is a separate model! The overall menacing vibe she has!! She might actually be my favorite Chica design now. Too bad she probably won’t get merch until the game actually comes out..

..And too bad I don’t have a proper segue into the other animatronic I really want to talk about: Burlap Bonnie.

Now, I could very well be wrong. There’s a very high chance of that, knowing my track record.

But I think this is our very first look at a William Afton model. Or it’s referencing a design for him that’s on the way.

The burlap head is yellow with a Springtrap-ish look to it, there’s a necklace that looks like it’s carrying a rabbits foot (which might be a trait carried from the FNAF movie), and the fact that it looks like a human apart from the obvious Bonnie feet.

If I am right (or at least close), then that means three things.

(1) William is a snazzier dresser than I gave him credit for

(2) William still has that “must keep rabbit mask on at (almost) all times” thing from the Silver Eyes. [And, as a result, I am suspecting there’s another reason besides keeping a low profile.]

(3) BIG BOY WILLIAM’S CANON TO THE GAMES, BABYYYY. 🎉🎉

*ahem* Sorry, got a bit too hyped there. It’s cool that one of William’s pre-MCI traits (I.e. being a lot pudgier) from the Silver Eyes might’ve been carried over. It’s extra cool for me, since I’ve drawn my own pre-MCI William with that body shape for a while.

Speaking of him, I guess I gotta go draw his possible new outfit. Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you did.

[rallamajoop]

Hi there!! Always really enjoyed the, ahem, spicier bits in your fics, and was wondering if you had any resources or insight specifically on writing threesomes? There are only so many ways to say 'cock' or 'thrust,' but when there's three of them?! If you answer this, thank you!!

Well, firstly, thank you for your kind words about my fic! I’ve been asked for smut-related-advice before, but I’m not sure if I’m the best person you could be going to for advice on how to write a threesome specifically. I’ve only ever written the one* myself, and it only had two cocks involved – and if your biggest concern is finding enough different ways to describe thrusting cocks (I assume you’re simplifying, but we’ll go with it for the sake of the argument), I’m not sure if you’re even writing the kind of smut that I could give much advice on. But for what it’s worth, here’s what springs to mind.

Choreography is certainly going to matter when you’ve got three different bodies involved (who’s doing what to whom, what position are they in, is this even physically possible on the furniture available and will my audience be able to picture it, etc), as will all the logistics and semantics involved in managing up to three different ‘hims’ and so many associated body parts. But that’s not going to be all that different to any other sex scene. To reiterate my usual advice on that front, though: do not resort to epithets, unless you can come up with something relevant to the relationship between the characters and/or what they’re doing. Go ahead and tell me ‘the larger man backed him up against the wall’ if the fact he’s physically imposing is something the back-ee is going to be aware of. But I really do not need to be reminded what colour hair anyone has, unless 1) we’re commenting on whether the carpet matches the curtains, or 2) it’s a hook up and they can’t remember each other’s names (and even then, I promise you there are better options). If unsure, less is usually more where epithets are concerned. You can use the characters’ names a lot before it really starts getting awkward.

I’d also point out that a sex scene featuring three cocks does not have to mean three-cocks-thrusting at once (I mean, can you even get all three going at once? Is someone fucking their own fist? …is the PORTAL GUN involved?), or even at all. It could mean A and B getting busy while C watches, or while C curls around A or B and whispers in their ear. Maybe B and C take turns on A, maybe B and C are working together to drive A completely wild (then maybe get together after A passes out?) Maybe A is effortlessly dominating both B and C at once. Or maybe C starts out watching, then B taps out and C tags in, then B gets a second wind and comes back for the big finale. Even if we are in an all-cocks-in scenario, I don’t want to hear about how-many-dicks-are-thrusting, I’m here for how much whoever’s in the middle is loving being stuffed full of cocks, or how overwhelming it is having character B inside them while they’re inside character C, or whatever else applies. Tell me about the rhythm: are B and C working in perfect, drift-compatible synchronicity ‒ is one of them setting the pace, are they trying to synchronise but losing it as they get closer to the edge? Don’t assume it all has to go smoothly either – a bit of awkwardness or humour can add a lot of humanity to the scene.

Really, though, what I’d most want shared about a threesome isn’t how many cocks are thrusting simultaneously, but what’s going on in the relationships between the three characters. A regular twosome only gives you one relationship to worry about, but a threesome will give you three, and they should all get some play. Is this an established relationship? If so, what’s special about this particular incident that makes it worth sharing? Are they trying something new? What does the way they approach intimacy tell you about the three of them, how well they know each other – what’s different about what the various players are like in the sack? Is A all over B in a heartbeat while C is a bit of a tease? Does A like to cuddle while B tends to pass out the moment they’re done? Etc.

At the alternate end of the scale from an established relationship, is this the first time any of them have had sex with each other? How did that happen? Are they at an orgy, have three friends all got high and one thing just sorta led to another, is it a game of truth-or-dare that got out of hand, did A and B stumble into a bedroom together only to realise a little late that C is already in there and has been really enjoying the show? The spontaneity of the situation could give you a wealth of options to explore! Or maybe A has hooked up with both B and C separately before and this is just the first time they’ve all got together at once? I never realised I could have this is a popular trope for a reason, and it could go double when there’s an extra person involved. Just what have I got myself into? could go double in a threesome too.

But a lot of the most compelling threesome possibilities will be some variant where A and B are an established couple, and C is joining them for the first time. Are A and B colluding to seduce C? Has C been pining over the both of them, but thought there’d never be room for a third? Has C been pining over just A and looking at B as the competition, only to discover in the heat of the moment that B might be the one they really wanted all along? Or is C genuinely not going to discover any new feelings about B, beyond the joy of learning they’re so very willing to share? Is A the one who’s been pining over C, but never realised B would be up for trying a poly arrangement? Is C here to just roll in and take over? Has B invited C to the threesome just to rub it in their face that this is the only way they’ll ever get to have A, but A is now realising that C was there waiting for them all along? There are so many possibilities to play with – and to me, that’s all so much more interesting to me than who-fucks-who!

I’d also emphasise that the fact you’re writing three relationships does not mean everyone has to be into everyone else, let alone equally into both of them. You can still have jealousy, doubt and competition between the parties involved, even in a relatively healthy three-way-relationship (and there’s nothing to say this has to be healthy). How do all those messy feelings evolve over the course of the scene? Are they resolved, reinforced, awakened anew? Anything’s possible!

Cocks aside, a threesome is always going to mean more moving parts to juggle (figuratively, if not literally). The mechanics of who-does-what-to-who are definitely going to matter, but if that's all that's going on in the scene, I'm likely to end up checking out pretty quickly (YMMV on this, of course). The narrative, subtext, emotional impact ‒ what the players are learning about each other or themselves over the course of the scene ‒ that's what's far more likely to make or break a sex scene for me, and that's going to stay true regardless of how many characters or how many cocks are present.

* I did also recently sent my beta a fic I jokingly described as 'a steamy-Ethan/Chris/Heisenberg-threeway' ‒ but only if you take 'threeway' to mean 'an argument that rapidly devolves into violence.'

[farenmaddox]

Got tagged by @dandelion-stuff-and-fluff to talk about music.

6 songs I currently listen to a lot:

"Road Head" by Japanese Breakfast: actually I've listened to the entire "Soft Sounds From Another Planet" album a couple of times lately, but this song made it onto a playlist I've been listening to while researching for a paper this week so it's getting played a lot.

"Time Machine" by Autoheart: IDK, I really like Autoheart and this song is fun to shout along to while doing housework. This whole album is great.

"Found Out About You" by the Gin Blossoms: I was feeling nostalgic as all hell, what can I say?

"Suddenly" by Børns: I've been listening to the "Dopamine" album on repeat for like 2 years straight, and suddenly Børns has new songs? Hello.

"The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace" by The Amazing Devil: listen. LISTEN. I'm never NOT listening to the Amazing Devil, you have to understand this. "The Horror and the Wild" album changed my life and I'm not kidding. The Amazing Devil is the Only Band Ever. (The rest of this post doesn't exist.) Anyway, this is my favorite song from the "Ruin" album which is difficult because a) that entire album is So Fucking Good, and b) this song is 9 minutes long and makes me feel like I'm letting someone pummel me in the chest the whole time.

special mention lyrics: "But where you see weakness, I see wit / Sometimes I fall to pieces / Just to see what bits of me don't fit"

ahem.

"Good in Red" by the Midnight: guys, if you're reading this, this is your new blorbo song. Trust me.

special mention lyrics: Kill your demons, kill 'em dead / In your mirror, in your bed / In your heart, in your head / Don't you look good in red?

I heard we're getting the band back together. I'm tagging @zelinxia <3

[lazyboycentral]

I completely forgot that Best of Super Jrs started today and I’m trying to catch up. I’m only halfway through today’s card and not much has been spoiled for me, so here are some heavily-dated thoughts on what I saw so far:

- Seeing Clark Connors join Bullet Club and go full heel was a bit of a shocker to me, but he pulls off the bad guy look very well (that hot pink he’s sporting is lookin good too, ngl). I think this move was just a way to get rid of that “wild rhino” schtick he got into when he graduated from Young Lions, which I wholeheartedly support. “Big horn energy”…lol. Lmao, even.

- It’s cool to see Ryusuke Taguchi do some “serious” wrestling against Taiji Ishimori. He’s great as a comedy wrestler and had lots of fun moments teaming up with Clark Connors last year (especially since I ALMOST got to see Connor’s bare ass…maybe next time), but it’s great to see that he can hold his own in an actual wrestling performance. Interested in seeing more from him.

- I didn’t expect much going into the KUSHIDA vs DOUKI match. I don’t know much about KUSHIDA, and I do kinda like DOUKI (he’s the only one out of Just 5 Guys I like…yeah, not even SANADA). But I see why KUSHIDA is a fan favorite now. This match was great, seeing these two do reversal after reversal after reversal. Definitely the most exciting match I’ve seen so far.

- As much as I wanted Francesco Akira to win against Master Wato (mostly because Akira is a precious little man and he’s just so goddamn cute and I love looking at his precious face jfc), I’m actually glad Wato is off to a strong start at BoSJ. I feel he was sorta pushed into the background all last year, being mostly featured as a tag partner to some…*ahem* “bigger names.” Wato is a great wrestler and I really want to see him in more singles action going forward. At the very least, he’ll have some time to shine during Super Jrs.

- So I haven’t seen Speedball Mike Bailey in action on BoSJ yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing how he does in New Japan. I’ve been watching some of his stuff in the indie scene; he’s a bit of a dork IMO, but he’s got charisma and talent. Maybe he’ll become a wrestling darling out there much like Alex Zayne was last year. That’d be neat.

And…that’s all I saw at the moment. Like I said, I’m trying to catch up, and with a new card starting in basically a few hours as of this post, I’ll be even further behind. Keep those gifs coming.

[midnightbears]

If you are taking requests i think it'd be real sweet to see gyomei let himself be taken care of for once!! (sweet or not ifyaknowhatimean-) hes just so gentle it makes me wanna cry or hug him or [REDACTED] OR ALL THREE!!!

✿ softly, sweetheart, you excite my whole being.

#STARRING: himejima gyomei. ft. fem!reader

#TAGS: suggestive themes?? help i genuinely don't know if i should consider this nsfw LMAO because there's no mention of weiner or lady parts :( shy gyomei awe. established relationship.

#NOTES: I SWEAR YALL JUST GET IT.

"flower—hah—t-that's enough..."

you are earnest in your objective. your husband's ears are turning a soft shade of red, and you can feel his skin flush beneath your fingertips. perfect. his labored breath makes a smile stretch across your lips; sharp, loud swallows follow his faint pants, and if you move against him just right, a mix between a groan and a growl arises from the deepest part of his ribcage. ugh, impeccably done.

wow, you are so good at this.

gyomei prided himself in being a perceptive man, usually being able to tell from your body language what you... ahem, wanted from him during passionate nights. but this? you got the poor man confused! you were ravishing him in kisses and feather-light brushes but forbidding him from letting him touch you at all by pushing his hands away whenever they tried to wander a bit too low.

he was towering over you as you sat on his lap, your attention having been focused entirely on him for what felt like hours. your fingers traced gentle patterns across his chest, exploring the hard planes of his muscles through the thin fabric of his robe. you could feel the tension in his body, the restraint he was practicing to honor your wishes, and it only made you want to tease him more.

"flower," he groaned again, his deep voice vibrating against your lips as you kissed your way up to his neck. "please, let me—"

"shhh," you whispered, placing a finger against his lips. "just let me take care of you tonight, my love. you've always been so good, so giving. let me do this for you."

his eyes, despite having no visible irises or pupils, were now filled with a storm of emotions—desire, frustration, and a deep, abiding love. you could tell from the way they crinkled, from the way his eyebrows furrowed. you felt a rush of pride knowing you could elicit such a reaction from him.

you shifted slightly, and his breath hitched. the sensation of your body moving against his was almost too much to bear, and you could feel his self-control fraying at the edges.

"you're doing so well, darling," you murmured, your voice soft and soothing. "just relax and enjoy."

gyomei's hands clenched into fists at his sides, the muscles in his arms taut with the effort of keeping them still. you knew how much he wanted to touch you, to hold you close, but this night was about showing him how much he meant to you. it was about letting him feel cherished and adored, much like he did with you twenty-five out of the twenty-four hours of the day.

you continued your ministrations, your lips trailing hot kisses down his neck and across his collarbone. every touch, every caress, was designed to slowly drive him wild with desire. and oh, you could feel it. his breathing grew more ragged, his body trembling beneath your gentle onslaught.

"you're incredible," you whispered against his skin. "so strong, so handsome. i love every part of you."

a shiver ran through him at your words, and he let out a deep, guttural moan. you could feel his resolve weakening, and it only spurred you on. you wanted to see him completely undone, to show him that it was okay to let go, to be vulnerable.

finally, unable to resist any longer, gyomei's hands moved to your hips, gripping them tightly. you allowed it this time, knowing he needed the connection, the grounding. his touch was firm, almost desperate, and it sent a thrill through you.

"please," he rasped, his voice thick with need. "i need you."

you smiled, a sense of triumph and tenderness swelling in your chest. "then take me," you whispered back, giving him the permission he so desperately craved.

in an instant, his restraint shattered. his hands roamed over your body as though he was branding you with fire, pulling you closer, his lips capturing yours in a sizzling kiss. the gentleness you had been lavishing upon him was now met with a fervent passion as he claimed you, his body and love enveloping you completely and shrouding you in a cloud.

you leaned back from the sheer force of the kiss, and your husband took his chance to capture the curve of your neck with his lips, his breath hot and ragged against your skin. the sensation sent shivers down your spine, and you could feel your own resolve beginning to falter under his intense touch. his hands, once so hesitant, now moved with a purpose, exploring every inch of your body with a fervor that left you breathless.

"my strong husband," you whispered again, your voice breaking with emotion, arms winding around his strong neck. "who treats me so well, makes me feel so loved…"

your words seemed to ignite something deep within him. his kisses grew more urgent, his touch more insistent. regular words couldn't express how much he loved you, so he had to channel it in some other way. you could feel the heat radiating from his body mingling with your own, and you squirmed under his hold.

as you leaned back further, your husband followed, his lips never leaving your skin. his hands moved to cradle your back, supporting you as he continued his passionate assault. you gasped, your own hands finding purchase on his broad shoulders, nails digging in slightly as you surrendered to the overwhelming sensations.

"gyomei," you breathed, your voice a mere whisper against his ear. "i love you."

"i love you," he said, "more than anything."

with those words, he leaned in again, capturing your lips in another searing kiss. this time, there was no hesitation, no restraint. just pure, unadulterated love and passion. you felt yourself melting into him, his hips now perfectly slotting over yours.

© midnightbears on tumblr, july 2024. please do not repost to another platform, plagiarize, translate, use for AI-related purposes or claim as your own.

[transman-badass]

I got a bit excited talking about my fiction earlier in the last post... But uh. Runner Owen is my main project! It's a gothic fantasy series set in a Victorian inspired world of eternal night, with a running romance subplot between the protagonist, Owen, and the two main villains. Owen is a trans man detective, who becomes an official detective called a Runner eventually. It's a rather dark, being gothic and all. Expect thrills and chills and lots of secrets being uncovered, whether they should be or not.

My other project, the one I'll be working on this month, is a side project to Runner Owen: a fantasy western titled The Last Lawman in Fort Lostblood. It's a... Short story? Novella? We'll see. I hope to get it written, edited, and ready to be published this month, if possible! It may not be possible. But I'm gonna try! I want to get five short stories written by the end of the year.

Last Lawman is about Owen, 20yo deputy in the half abandoned ex military base, Fort Lostblood. He's the only one left, the other two deputies having died from accidents and the sheriff of old age. Wrangling a wild west in a world of eternal night is hard enough. Then the vampire outlaws show up. Owen teams up with the handsome but corrupt Knight Ranger Aurum to save the town and everyone in it. It's got a lot of action but also maybe some, ahem, spice in it. We'll see if I actually write that ending when I get around to it...

Runner Owen in general does have some dark subject matter, slavery being the most prominent in the classic (main) timeline. I tag and add content warnings to everything as best I can when discussing it and other possibly triggering things. I'd say some people would consider this story, and probably the various spinoffs, problematic and y'know what? I'm okay with that. I'm writing gothic fiction, for gods sake, it's supposed to be a little problematic. But I won't go into a rant 😅 that'd be rude

Let’s get to know your main story! Tell us a little bit about it!

[racingliners]

F1 Re-Watch 2013: Round 3 - China

I am FINALLY picking up my 2013 watch through again. This was always going to be a chilled out thing but just have no had the headspace lately bc of various life things constantly kicking me in the teeth 😭

Anyhow, despite still being early on in the season we’re already nearing the end of races I haven’t seen at all, but I obvs still know the main bits of what happened (Fernando winning, Seb and Lewis battling for P3). So, let’s finally jump in!

gonna say it again, the old F1 intro my beloved

also also this was the first race post Multi-21 (I did start this re-watch out of order, if you’re wondering why Malaysia is the first post in my tag) so I assume we’re going to get some spicy comms (or an attempt, since it’s Crofty and Brundle)

also also also, I legit miss Shanghai on the calendar. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but we had some really good races there, it’s a really good track.

aaaaand starting grid: Lewis on pole, Fernando in 3rd, Dan in 7th in a Toro Rosso, Jense in 8th Seb down in 9th... Jev in 15th 😭

(god it feels SO WIERD seeing Rosberg on the grid as a driver, does not compute)

lol Webber starting from the pits bc he ran out of fuel in quali.

oh, this was Lewis’ first pole for Merc 🥹🖤

[Formation Lap]: Helmet watch: I loved how Lewis’ yellow helmet with the red and green accents had a blue, green and amber multichrome visor to match. (Yes these are the important things that we discuss here at racingliners.tumblr.com)

Just F1 culture things: the mad dash of mechanics and engineers running from the grid to the garages.

“Whatever way round it was it was still a [Red Bull] 1-2 in Malaysia” oh we are getting some spicy comms after all 

Helmet watch 2: Seb’s red helmet is v pretty

[Start/Lap 1]: Lewis having a v zoomy start, we love to see it

While Raikkonen got dropped by both Ferraris

Meanwhile cars going three wide in the midfield bc insanity

oh no Force India on Force India violence at the last corner

[Lap 2]: Webber makes his first stop, inch resting

Man, the ever constant of Lewis and Fernando racing against each other

[Lap 3]: Lewis 8 tenths up on Fernando we love to see it

Livery watch: of the many iterations Team Enstone have raced under, the black and gold Lotus livery is very much one of my favourites (Pink Alpine will always be superior though)

[Lap 4]: damn Fernando really caught up with DRS

Seb finally making moves and passes Dan for 8th

[Lap 5]: ...not both Ferrari’s getting past Lewis on the main straight. what the DRS

meanwhile Seb got past Jenson, and passes Rosberg at the hairpin for 7th

[Lap 6]: and one of the Force India’s has a broken rear wing, and Mercedes just did a double stack

This race went from 0 to 100 very quickly

oh shit the Force India’s brakes are now on fire

Team Silverstone’s no good very bad Chinese GP

oh no it was Gutierrez who just ploughed into the back of him. whoops.

[Lap 7]: Alonso pits

I am barely paying attention to tyre compounds with all the demolition derby shit going on

aaaaand Lewis back to being the fastest on track. noice.

cut to Jev v Bottas for P11. ngl it’s very wild watching these races back knowing how some of these guys careers have unfolded a decade later.

(Jev’s a double FE World Champion, so fuck you Marko)

ahem back to racing

also hi Pastor Maldonado

[Lap 8]: Oh my god Hulkenberg is leading the race after all the pit stops and carnage what the fuck

but more importantly Seb P2 and Jenson P3 🥰

in reality Alonso is the net race leader bc everyone in front of him is yet to stop I’m just living in delusion

[Lap 9]: whoops some drivers allegedly used DRS in a yellow flag zone, that was silly

[Lap 10]: ngl, I really miss it when we had a legit mix of possible strategies (in this case a 2-stop vs a 3-stop). Pirelli make better tyres challenge

[Lap 11]: What is a polar bear (Di Resta) doing in Arlington, Texas?! (5th place).

Good for you though Team Silverstone I love you Team Silverstone

Livery watch: the glossy metallic blue with purple accents rbr I MISS YOU

[Lap 12]: of rip not Fernando being 1.6 seconds faster than Seb on his new tyres 😭

anyway now I’m finally paying attention, the soft and mediums were the tyre compounds for this race

[Lap 13]: Seb and Rocky team radio interactions my beloved 🥰

[Lap 14]: How the fuck is Hulkenberg still leading????

Meanwhile Alonso is just cutting through the field like butter fvhaeudhu. He’s up to 4th

[Lap 15]: lol rbr pitted Seb to get him out of Hulkenberg’s dirty air and he pits anyway

but Seb jumps him in the pits!

the devil works hard but RBR mechanics work harder

NOOOOO WEBBER CRASHED INTO JEV

back to back races of Red Bull on Red Bull violence. oof

“How does the car feel?” “Not too bad” HIS FRONT WING HAS BEEN SHREDDED

[Lap 16]: oh not Raikkonen going into the back of Perez

both incidents happened at turn 6, what was in the water in the lake in the paddock?

aaaand cut to a slow moving Webber (and a depressed looking Adrian Newey)

[Lap 17]: Oh shit there goes Webber’s right rear tyre, just... rolling across the track

[Lap 18]: Meanwhile, Jenson is in first so I think we should just stop the race and call it a day

There has been SO MUCH GOING ON

[Lap 19]: “Should they remove the car? It’s not on the racing line” My lord jesus christ IT’S ON THE TRACK CROFTY

Obviously you can’t see me as I’m typing this but I’m looking into the camera like I’m on the office

They haven’t moved the tyre either it’s just sat on the grass run off, that is NOT SAFE MY DUDES

[Lap 20]: Meanwhile Massa and Rosberg pit again

And Seb up into P5 🥰

“Button leads the race” STOP THE COUNT

“Alonso catching Button but he cannot pass him... Jenson Button doing a fine fine job” I love this song

[Lap 21]: ...nvm Fernando took the lead going into turn 1

It was wonderful while it lasted, considering the 2013 McLaren car was painfully average

Rosberg pits again???? I wondered why they cut to a bemused looking Merc pit wall

[Lap 22]: The synchronised Merc and Lotus pit stops *chef’s kiss*

Lewis comes out in 9th but considering the massive pace difference between old and new tyres he should be back on the top 5 pretty soon

[Lap 23]: oop Rosberg retires with a mechanical fault

mild shock, I just about understood when Jenson said over the radio. He didn’t sound like static for once

and Lewis overtakes Dan for 7th

[Lap 24]: Jenson pits for his first stop, and Fernando for his second

...Jenson and Grosjean under investigation for using DRS in a yellow flag zone 🤦‍♀️

Braincells boys, braincells

[Lap 25]: anyway hiiiii Bono

Just Lewis things: collecting fastest laps like pokemon

[Lap 26]: And Fernando moved into P2.

...and now he chases down Seb

man this race is just peak 2010′s F1. Fernando racing Seb and Lewis, Lewis chasing down Jenson (and Jenson’s car not being completely shit for once). Raikkonen just vibing and somehow being faster after he got a broken front wing and nosecone

also while I haven’t had my obligatory “TEEEEED” reaction, he is in the pitlane living his best life.

[Lap 29]: And Lewis passes Jenson on the main straight.

and we have passed half distance!

[Lap 30]: And Fernando takes the lead

“It’s Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen for the top 3″ damn Brundle’s third eye was wide open (spoiler alert, that’s our podium just with Lewis and Kimi swapped round)

[Lap 31]: that is a very tragic sight of Raikkonen passing Jenson with his very broken nosecone

[Lap 32]: Seb makes his second stop, but he still has to run the softs

and he’s already moving back up into 6th place

[Lap 33]: ...and now into P5

He is zooming 

[Lap 34]: Oh the old tyre strategy graphic!! I did not know I missed it until I saw it, it’s way easier to follow all the different strategies if they just have all the tyres drivers have ran thus far on screen 😅

[Lap 35]: Not Seb being 2 and a bit seconds faster than Jenson 😭 (a combo of 2 stop vs 3 stop, and it being the 2013 RBR vs the 2013 McLaren)

[Lap 36]: and unsurprisingly Seb passes Jenson for 3rd

The current race order being Fernando, Lewis, Seb, Jenson and Raikkonen

[Lap 38]: And Lewis makes what I think is his final stop

He comes out in 6th, behind Ricciardo

[Lap 39]: So Fernando has to stop again, but he has a decent gap over everyone else. Seb and Jenson who also have to stop again less so

“What’s the situation in the race?!” Ted is me and I am Ted. mainly because I started this after 10pm my time

Lewis once again collecting the fastest lap. Purple really is his colour.

‘Use of DRS in yellow flag zones for cars 1, 2, 7, 17, 19 and 23 will be investigated after the race’ I had to pause bc I couldn’t stop laughing.

That’s an awful lot of paperwork, the stewards are booked and busy bc Jenson and Jev were already on that list

so about a third of the grid potentially doing something very unavoidable. F1 is a Serious Sport™️

[Lap 42]: Anyway, Fernando makes his final stop, and only comes out in 2nd behind Seb.

[Lap 43]: And he once again passes Seb going into turn 1, so just second and third to sort out.

[Lap 44]: Raikkonen passes Jenson for 3rd at the last corner

[Lap 45]: ...and Lewis passes Jenson for 4th a few corners after

seeing your fave driver go from 3rd to 5th vs seeing your other favourite driver get into 4th

[Lap 46]: 10 laps to go

[Lap 47]: “No need to push” “I’m not pushing” Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso. rguheuraghu

Fernando Alonso certified menace to society

[Lap 48]: Seb (2nd) and Jenson (5th) still haven’t stopped yet, so they’re either leaving it as late as possible, or going to try extending to a two stop. 

[Lap 49]: ah nvm Jenson’s race engineer said they were doing one more lap before stopping 😅

also YIKES the soft tyres sucked that much this race if they only want to do 7 laps on it

[Lap 50]: and Jenson finally pits for the soft tyre, he comes out in 7th place

[Lap 51]: Jenson passes Massa for 6th 

and he’s setting purple sectors 🥰

[Lap 52]: Seb makes his third stop for softs, he comes out in 4th

*5 Laps remaining klaxon*

and apparently Jenson’s tyres are already dying 😭

Pirelli you can and will meet my fists

[Lap 53]: meanwhile Lewis is close to Raikkonen, but not close enough to try a pass

[Lap 54]: ✨Seb fastest lap✨

and Di Resta pits which promotes Jenson to 5th

oh jeez the amount of marbles off the racing line, they could legit make a whole set of tyres, the track is literally black where they’ve all gathered

[Lap 55]: Seb closing in on Lewis at a huge rate of knots

last lap spice you say? 👀

[Lap 56]: the gap has gone from 5.2 seconds to 2.0 seconds in about two laps. whew.

A Lewis and Seb battle is the superior battle, you cannot change my mind

although Lewis is caught up in a train of traffic, which is allowing Seb to catch up even more.

[Finish]: Fernando wins, can we cut to Lewis and Seb please

MASSIVE LOCK UP FROM LEWIS

oh jeeeeeez it was a drag race to the line and I think Lewis got him by a front wing end plate. WHEW.

Final Top 5: Alonso, Raikkonen, Lewis, Seb, Jenson

Oh jeez that race was actually really decent! Normally I hate strategy races BUT in this case it made things genuinely interesting bc there was a good split of drivers using the 2-stop or 3-stop, and most importantly it gave us some decent battles and made the results somewhat unpredictable! And the last lap chase of Lewis v Seb was SO GOOD. It literally wasn’t over until the last lap, and it being between Lewis and Seb was just even better, and podium or not Seb had such a great comeback drive from what I think was a brake issue in quali the day before. And that’s before you get into all the stuff going on at the start... WHEW.

Easy 8 out of 10 race, next one is Bahrain!

[lokischocolatefountain]

Just finished reading separation, [I know I already reblogged it, but I felt the need to explain the emotional roller-coaster I went through and figured it would be best to explain it here]

Ahem... THE ANGST DURING THE FIRST HALF OMFG! 😫 HAD ME ON EDGE! and then him SCREAMING "FUCKING TELL ME" I had to pause and recollect myself bc lord have mercy that did something to me (I don't know what nor can I say if it's good or bad 🫣)

But seeing Javi being worried/concerned that he fucked up AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IN WHAT WHY... I was sobbing, screaming, crying, pulling my hair out. Heart breaking, to say the least 😭

I LOVED them communicating, and Javi wanting/needing reader to open up and communicate with him but still not forcing reader into doing so... again sobbing and crying while screaming 😭

Reader telling him the reason why she left and him not being able to say/do much because it's not something he can control but still trying to comfort reader 🥺

And last but not least [I could rant about this fic, but alas I won't]

“You like this, don’t you?” He asked, lowering the register of his voice the way she liked as he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You want me to possess you, to hurt anyone who would want you that way I have you. You like that I can be a dangerous man.”

That, my friends... that was FUCKING HOT 🥵

All this to say, I LOVED LOVED LOVED everything about this fic! I love how you write my beloved Javi 🥹🫶🏽

I would love to be added to your tag list 🙃 I hope you have a lovely day/night 🫶🏽 and you'll be hearing from me again when I either reread all your fics or when a new fic comes out 🤪

That is all from me. I just needed to let everyone know that I am OBSESSED with this fic and would recommend it to everyone 😌 [it is 4am and I'm feeling bold, so for the first, I will not be posting anonymously... 🫣]

Stay safe, healthy, and hydrated ❣️

First of all, I love your url. It’s perfect and hilarious 😆 Secondly, THANK YOU for the reblog and this beautiful comment. I love when I’m taken on an emotional rollercoaster so it’s cool to know that I wrote something that was an emotional rollercoaster haha.

Ngl, the “fucking tell me!” wasn’t supposed to be that way, I just meant it to be angsty. But then I went back to read it after your comment and now I’m like 👀 It just reminded me of how hot he is when angry (like in the scene where he’s yelling at a guy trying to find Helena). I want him to scream at me 😩 and that’s all I can say without being sent right to horny jail.

Javi is a soft, gentle, kind man despite everything he has seen and done. And he has this strong sense of duty and doing the right thing. Combined, those characteristics would make him want to be a good husband. He cares for everyone deeply and he starts caring fast. So someone he marries would have all his care and love and respect. He would want to treat her right and make her happy, but he can’t always do that because of his job and because he’s only human. Humans make mistakes. But he’s not one to forgive himself. He’ll keep a ledger of his faults and go over them repeatedly. So when someone he loves leaves out of the blue like that, his instinct is to blame himself. He goes over the ledger, try to figure out what exactly he did wrong this time and when he can’t figure it out, he just feels worse.

I think he can’t bear it when people cry. Because he cares. So even though he wants answers more than anything, he stops his pursuit quickly to hold her and comfort her.

Yessss I’m glad you enjoyed that part about him knowing how she likes that he can be dangerous. That part is a bit of a self-insert, tbh. But can ya blame me? Irl, I would never go for someone who shot people (and got shot at) for a living but since it’s Javi and he’s not real, I can let my worst fantasies run wild. And wanting someone something I know I shouldn’t want… that’s 🥵🥵🥵

This comment is the best thing ever and it makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. Thank you thank you thank you sooooo much for this. I’ll keep it in mind to tag you in my future Javi fics. And I’m excitedly waiting to hear from you again 💜

[karmawonders]

You got me at the whole "giant game of tag throughout the entirety of the world of teyvat"

May we please, I am begging, be blessed with a fic based on this wonderful idea because I am yearning this sounds amazing!

🌸Omfg I had the hardest time formatting this so I’m sorry for the delay anon!🌸

I did a combination of fic and headcanons for this, I hope it’s alright!

Totally sped through this, so the ending is a bit lackluster. You’ve been warned 🙃

Post contents/warnings: General Genshin “sagau” style AU. Genshin cult AU. Religious themes. Mentions of injury to reader. Being hunted. A bit of angst

Teyvat Tag

You were upset, yes. Your favorite characters, no, people, had hunted you down and tried to kill you. If it wasn’t for the spirit of Teyvat, you would be hella dead. Like you just woke up here one day, it's not like you died and got isekai’d here! At Least you're pretty sure. You might have died in your sleep, a bit unceremonious compared to the truck-kun route, but still!

When you saw all of the people begging, crawling on their knees, sobbing for some form of forgiveness, honestly, you weren’t sure if you wanted to give it to them. I mean, you were a god and you had gotten in touch with your “godly powers” aka the user interface of this world. A couple of sweet madames as offerings and flowers, all going directly to your inventory, wasn’t exactly a great medium for forgiveness of what they have done. I mean? Someone tries to kill you mercilessly and you are handed just handed a roast chicken? Accompanied with a sobbed sorry? Yeah,it didn’t quite feel adequate enough.

Sure you had a shit ton of stuff now! It didn’t really mean much though when you didn't exactly want to spend it on any of them though. I mean, what good is all these treasure hoarder insignias? You aren't going to ascend anyone with them after everyone hunted you down like a wild animal!

You were sitting atop of Venti’s giant statue in Mondstat, ignoring everyone down below. You had sat there for a while, passing time through the UI, letting time for word to get out that you were atleast showing yourself in a public area.

You had an idea, an excellent one at that. They had chased you around like a wild animal for weeks, and you figured it would be funny to return the favor. Ofcourse, in a game of tag.

The question here was did you chase them around? Or did you use your newfound powers to make it impossible for them to catch you this time around? Maybe both?

It didn't matter, the 3 archons who shamelessly tried to kill you, and the vision holders of each nation, had gathered between the statue, crying. It was kinda getting annoying.

Using your powers, you quietly floated down to the earth, just above reach from any grabby hands who wanted to use you as a snot cushion. Ahem, venti.

You ignored the callings and sobs of everyone.

“Your grace! We are so, so sorry!”

“We didn’t know it was you! Please enact revenge on us, its only fair!”

“Please forgive us, we are fools!”

Yeah, you really are idiots. CHasing down someone who didn’t even know what crime they were commiting.

Once this game of tag was over, you should probably enact some laws or something to prevent that happening again. But that didn’t matter right now.

Mustering up courage and a booming voice, you tried to act as “Godlike” as possible, explaining this proclamation.

Any vision holder and archon could hunt them down once again, this time under the guise of a game of tag. Those who tag you shall be forgiven. Archon tag you? Their respective nation and people shall be forgiven. A single holder? They and 2 other people. Non vision holders could help, however it was there job to provide any assistance they could to you, if you need it.

They were all so confused, honestly you wish you had captured their expressions with a camera or something, it was an upgrade from faces filled with hate and bloodlust.

You told them all this, made sure the three archons nodded in understanding, and pulling up your map, you smiled, telling them the game had begun.

It was a few days before anyone actually located you, and to your surprise, it was Klee! You hadn’t teleported out of Mondstat, you figured it would be best to be a bit fair to only teleport once after an escaped encounter, and only within the nations that persecuted you so.

So here you were, backed into a corner by the little arsonist, smiling happily at the game. She was young, so she didn’t quite understand the severity of everyone's actions, but she was enjoying this new game and chasing you regardless, and honestly, you were as well! It was fun, dodging her, running around, laughing all the while.

(to be clear, this time you had help of the UI telling where “attacks” were coming from, as well as a infinite stamina you could use. Hey, you weren’t going to let yourself be completely helpless this time!)

Oh, you could just imagine the look on everyone's faces when they learn that Klee was the first person who got to try and tag you.

“Your Grace!” Klee breathed, hands on her knees panting, about 20 feet away from you. “You are sooo fast!” She looked up, smiling brightly. “You really are the best!”

You thanked her, her smile fueling your ambition to make this game be infuriating for the archons and others who mercilessly tried to kill you. She continued talking.

“Me and Dodocco didn’t understand why everyone was so pent up before, but this game is super fun! I’m glad I got to play with you!” You shook your head, realizing that she thought that from the beginning this was all just a game of tag. That was probably for the best. “Although, it is getting kinda dark now, Master Jean is gonna be upset if I stay out for any longer. Thank you for playing with me Your Grace! I love you soooooo much!” She waved before starting her skip back towards Mondstadt, and you couldn’t help but laugh. Opening up your map, you decided to head over to Liyue, seleccting a waypoint close, but not too close, to Liyue Harbor. No doubt this area would be flooded with people as soon as Klee got back.

The second person you ran into was Xiao, who found you pretty quickly.

You admit, you were a bit worried about him getting you, but with a a bit of fiddling with your UI, you figured out how to make it a “quick time event” like old video games you used to play, just as a means to balance out his insane speed.

Xiao's brows were incredibly furrowed and focus during your entire encounter, only saying once how He, and the others, were incredibly sorry for the sins against your divinity. It almost made you wanna call off the game of tag, but when he lunged at you, almost tagging you, you decided against it. What cheap tactics he employed against you was almost hilarious, thanks to the UI you could tell where he was going next, etc.

It took longer then you wanted to admit, but eventually he slumped over, exhausted. “You are a formidable opponent, You Grace.” He shook his head, trying to catch his breath.

You sat down too, not to close to him, so that you could still get away if he decided to try and be sneaky again.

Opening you inventory, you saw that you, out of everything, had Almond Tofu. Had Xiao given you this as an offering before? Probably. Carefully, you scootched over to him, handing it to him before immediately regaining your space. Luckily, he didn’t try anything funny.

You didn’t expect soft tears to fall from his eyes, him hunching over crying gently. He told you how much he loved you, and how much you helped him in his time under Osials rule, and more. You honestly wanted to comfort him, despite the game of tag going on and him trying to impale you.

The whole of Teyvat, especially the nations that did not try to kill you, found the entire thing quite enjoyable. Those from the other nations couldn't help but see themselves as superior for not trying to kill you, despite the fact that they totally would have. Oftentimes you found yourself sleeping in “NPC” villagers, offering you things, their apologies, and more. You didn’t exactly care, to be fair. It was nice to meet the “NPCS” of Teyvat though, the majority of them were really good people.

Here are some crack headcanons cuz why not

You, on the edge of Starsnatch cliff, Jean and other Knights of Favonious blocking your exit. “You are trapped, Your Grace! Surrender, so that this game of cat and mouse shall finally be over!”

You, mulling your options, before having a total “Y/N” moment, falling backwards of starsnatch cliff into the waters below. (Teyvat is obviously going to make sure your fine)

Cue Jean screeching as you wave from the water below, the water carrying you off gently towards Inazuma.

Kayea walks over to Jean, smirking at our antics. “Aren’t you going to go after them? I didn't know you were such a slacker.”

Other ideas/rots

You, sprinting down the streets of Inazuma city “casually”, everyone mouth agape as you carry bottles of dango milk, the Raiden Shogun right behind you, shouting something about the Glory of Inazuma and having dango together.

Diluc absolutely refuses to participate in the game of tag. He does, however, let you use Dawn Winery as a safe haven if you need to rest/etc, and he is more then willing to spar with pesky Knights who wont let you rest. He is quite proud actually he is able to provide this for you, and anyone with half a brain cell can tell. He always was a devout worshipper of you afterall.

You and Klee enjoy running away from Jean, the two of you even teaming up occasionally, Diona offering help as well. The kiddos basically become some of your strongest allies, across all the nations. Diona would yeet waterballoons with her tail like how she uses her special, slowing them all down.

Zhongli wants to try and tag you? No can do, Qiqi is guarding you and zhongli doesn’t quite want to fight a child. Though qiqi would totally square up. Come at me grandpa!

Sayu would totally teach you her ninjitsu arts so you could both sonic the hedgehog around and away from people. Yae Miko finds it hillarious, and is almost wants to join in.

Honestly, there are a ton of different directions this could go in. I feel that just teaching Teyvat different games would be fun in general. Capture the flag, red light green light, etc.

Anyway I thought these were a couple of cute ideas! Lajshsjskwla

Remember to drink water !

[sepia-mahogany]

I was tagged and here is mine! And I’m tagging @kelssiel​ @rynne​ @briapia95​ @persefone88​ @lemmeshleep​ @lionhxartxd-blog​ @makoshootsthesky​ @prouvarian​ @plan-d-to-i​ @iruze​ @meliorismmint​ @wuxien​ @tasogarebridge​ @chilianxianzi​ @everythingeverythinggoes​ @magiccatprincess​​ @coffeefordage​​ @all the bunnies and whoever else wants to!

I was tagged by the lovely @callipigio to do this cute witchy picrew

(i started a new chain because that one was already long)

(i wish I was as stylish as her)

I'm tagging @vrishchikawrites @auspiciouscandy @whiteflowercrimsonparasol @ladypfenix @elvenqueensandladyflowers @cannibalgremlin @chai-chahiye-yr @mathi-cql @orion-flux @sienne-k @origami-penguin @themagnusbane

@ all the bunnies and whoever else wants to do!

[sofiahahaaa]

HEY NEIGHBOR - Tom Holland x Reader

Description: Reader is new to LA, trying to get her start as a screenwriter. She finds out on her first night in town that she has some famous company in her apartment block, and she never seems to be on the right terms with him.

A/N: So, I had this idea, and I requested it from a writing blog I really like, but I can’t force them to write anything, so I decided… finals are over, I should just write it myself! And this way– I HAVE TOTAL CONTROL. Anyways– I haven’t published any of my writing since my PJO series… which is still incomplete. AHEM. Let’s not talk about it, I don’t have the motivation to finish.

 Alright. So. This is not a writing blog, but I do enjoy writing! So I will do this! For myself! And everyone else who reads, of course. That is to say, it's been a while, but I hope you enjoy!

Warnings:  18+ some cursing, mentions of sex, and a little bit of angst. Fem!Reader, sick hurt/comfort, heavy alcohol use, possessiveness/jealousy. Girlboss reader.

Wordcount: 12.6k

Pt 1. WELCOME

I brushed my hair back as I waited for the front desk to hand me my new keys. My nerves had me picking my hands raw. 

This was it. I was in LA, lo and behold, and I… had no plans. I should’ve made plans.

I bit my lip anxiously, trying to tune out the annoying clicking of someone’s keyboard. Don’t be stressed. It’ll all be okay.  

Finally, the meek man at the front desk popped back up, his wild blue hair flying everywhere. He stuck out his hand awkwardly, key dangling from his dirty fingers.

“Here you go Ms… ms…” He looked positively in pain as he tried to remember my name.

“Y/N is fine. Just, um–” I grabbed the keys and picked up my bag again. “Which unit?”

“Unit– uh– 320.”

“3rd floor?”

“Um– yes. Yeah.”

“Okay, thank you, Mr. Laurence.” I said, glancing at his name tag. The guy was certainly a hot mess. I hoped I didn’t look that way. 

Traffic made the ride from the airport to my new apartment building about an hour long (double the time it should’ve been), and  after a 2-hour plane delay, I was just rushing to make sure I got here in time to meet the moving guys. I hadn’t had a chance to check that I still looked… presentable.

I lugged my carry-on suitcases down the hallway and up the stairs (elevator wasn’t working) until finally, I found my apartment. Man, having to make that walk all the time would not be enjoyable.

I shuffled around in my bag for about a minute trying to find the damn keys, which I couldn’t have possibly lost already– oh, there. 

Finally, with a satisfying clunk, I slid the keys in and unlocked the door, opening it to take in the wonderful smell of… apartment. It was so plain. A fresh start. This was a good sign.

My boxes were already there, complete with a little note. Guess I didn’t make it to meet the moving guys. It was alright, though– everything seemed to be there. And because it was just a one-bedroom, there wasn’t really a ‘wrong’ place to put the boxes.

This, I could work with. I moved around to set my bag down on the counter, taking in my new digs. It was surprisingly nice for how cheap the rent was. Relatively new doors, modern appliances, barely a sign of ceiling stains from water leakage. There had to be something wrong, right?

Just then, I heard a loud crash from next door. Hmm. Maybe that was the issue.

I shrugged it off and started tearing open boxes. It was such a small apartment; I didn’t get why my mom insisted on me hiring moving guys. I told her that if she wanted to keep all my stuff from my old place, she could just hire the moving guys to come to her house. The apartment wasn’t furnished yet, but it wasn’t like I had to keep my old stuff. I liked the idea of starting anew. 

Alas, my mom is the kind of person to always get what she wants, so thus, the moving guys were hired, and now my apartment was already full of stuff, and I had just arrived.

I had only torn open 2 boxes by the time my phone started ringing, lighting up with my mom’s caller ID. I left the stack of books I was trying to organize and picked up the phone. “Heyyy sweetie…”

“Hi mama. What’s up?”

“Well, I figured you were all settled right about now and that I should call you to make sure you’re doing well!”

“Actually, mom, I just landed.”

“What? But your flight was for 11 am!”

“Yeah, but it was delayed from Phoenix.” I paused, holding my scissors between my teeth as I looked for my bedding box.

“No! LAX is such a nightmare– I can’t believe I have to fly through there every time I want to see you.” My mother huffed, hard to read but hopefully in a playful tone. 

“It’s not so bad.” I tried to interject, but she left me with silence. “Okay, so it’s pretty bad. Anyways, I’m just unpacking some stuff before I go out to dinner.”

“Dinner? Do you have plans with someone? Not a date, right?” My mom already sounded worried.

“No, mom. Just me. I mean dinner, like… Chipotle. Not a fancy dinner.”

“Oh, okay. Well, stay safe!”

“I’ll try.” I hung up before she could carry on the call. Seriously, the sun was almost setting and I had barely fixed the apartment.

I had been at it for what seemed like hours, blasting my favorite music and unpacking things at rapid speed. I wasn’t new to unpacking, either. My old job in sales and marketing had me traveling all the time, so I was in and out of my old apartment every other day. It was probably why I could never hold down a relationship. It was sad and lonely, but it paid really well, especially since I was straight out of college. 

Finally, with enough savings, I had decided to pursue my true dream in Hollywood: writing stories that so many people around the world would see. My work, on the big screen.

It was risky. My employer was shocked when I handed in my two weeks; I think because he had basically given me everything I could ever ask for. Sure, I felt bad, but it wasn’t like they relied on me 100%. And I wanted a change, quick.

So here I was, arranging chairs at the countertop and throwing my old throw pillows on my old couch. Shiny new apartment, shiny new city. Exhilarating. 

All of the sudden, I heard a loud knock at my door, sending me out of my unpacking haze. I rushed to the door, straightening out my shirt and trying to hide my sweat stains. Ah shit, my hair.

Whatever: I don’t care if my neighbor sees me like this, it’s going to happen a lot more.

I opened the door wide, immediately shocked with who was on the other side.

“Tom… Holland?” I took a deep breath and blinked hard. I had to be seeing things.

“That would be me.” He smirked a little, straightening his cuff.

“Sorry, are you my neighbor?” Why did Tom Holland live in a moderately priced apartment building– not to mention one that was decently far away from anything significant?

“Well, I do live in the apartment unit right next to yours, so I suppose I would be.” He was being… snarky.

I couldn’t lie, he was attractive– I was a huge fan of Spiderman and, well, how he plays Spiderman, but I’d never expected him to be so… uppity. No, that wasn’t the right word. He wasn’t posh, necessarily. Just had an air about him that made him seem superior to you. I was sure he could be perfectly sweet if given the chance, but with me– he would never get the chance. I’d make sure of it. I’m going to be working with celebrities all the time if my career takes off; so, I have to learn to speak to them– like normal people. Right. Just some practice for the big leagues.

“You suppose?” I said, mocking his accent. He made a face.

“You got me. I’m British,”

“Funny.” I held in an actual laugh, knowing that just a chuckle from me would boost his ego through the roof. “But in all seriousness, is there a reason you came over? I know you are a star and you know, you have such a busy life–”

“Oh, if that’s how it is–” He made like he was going to walk out the door. I bit my lower lip and decided to have some restraint.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m being rude. Why did you choose to grace me with your presence on this fine day?” He turned back to me, resting his arm on my door jamb.

“Well, I know you’re new, but the blasting of music… you gotta keep it down. We have thin walls here, darling.”

I swallowed a gasp when he called me darling. LA is absolutely surreal. “Oh… I see.” I pouted, “You don’t like my taste in music?”

“It’s not the music, love. It’s your singing. It’s like in the shower, except we can hear you. And you don’t have range.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ouch! You think you can do better?” I instantly winced, remembering he had a history on the West End. Stupid.

“I definitely can.” He was still smiling, though– so, no harm, no foul.

I raised my hands up playfully. “Okay, I surrender. I’ll stop singing– but the music is staying on.”

“Actually, I do have a date over right now– so could you turn it down? Or… put in some headphones?”

I could feel my heart beating. A date? So he wasn’t… flirting.

Or maybe he was. Maybe it was a casual thing with his… date. 

“A date? Didn’t know you were dating anyone!”

“Well, it’s not exactly public. We are thinking of moving in together, however, so I suppose you should meet her as well.”

So it was serious. There go my chances. “Any other secret roommates you want to tell me about?”

“Actually, yeah. My brother Sam is living with me right now. He’s quite the chef, so maybe you could come over for supper in the future.”

“I might; I’m not exactly financially equipped for gourmet, so a free dinner is appealing.”

“You’re a funny one. Alright, well–” His apartment door came open, the girl who I assumed was his girlfriend poking her head out the door.

“Babe? Are you coming back to bed?” She whined. Yikes, wouldn’t have taken him to end up with this kind of girl.

“Soon, sweetheart. I’m introducing myself to the new neighbor.” He explained, eyes tired.

She stepped out of the doorway, and thankfully she was dressed. “Hmm,” she moaned lightly. Does his girlfriend always make sex sounds when speaking casually? She was eyeing me up and down, eating me up with her eyes. “She’s pretty,” she said, a hint of jealousy in her eyes. Jealous? Of a girl he just met? “Are you sure she’s not some crazy fan?”

“She’s right there, baby.” Tom reminded her. “And I doubt she’s ‘some crazy fan’. She seemed genuinely surprised that I was her neighbor.”

“Who even is she?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Tom replied. She shrugged. Seemed like… a brat. “Okay– actually, I don’t remember your name– please tell me I haven’t asked yet.”

“No, you haven’t. My name’s Y/N, uh, L/N.”

“That’s a pretty name,” he said almost without thinking, then immediately looked guiltily at his girlfriend. Apparently, that’s exactly what she was looking for, because she was pouting at him for making that comment. “Um, but– the prettiest of all, the queen of my world right here– her name is Emily.”

“Nice to meet you, Emily.” I stuck out my hand to shake hers, but she neglected to return the shake. I let my hand drop to my side and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Well then. Tom, Emily, nice to meet you both. I’ll turn down that music for you. We can… catch up soon.”

I dropped back into my apartment, sitting on the floor, defeated. That girl was… toxic– but I couldn’t get involved. It was someone else’s relationship. For now, I would have to focus less on the hot neighbor, and more on the journey ahead of me.

Pt 2. REFERRAL

“Yep. Yep, got it. No, it’s totally fine. Yep. Okay. Bye.” I hung up the phone in frustration. Another rejection. Nobody would hire me with no experience and the wrong degree. All of the work I had done independently was nothing in this kind of industry. I slumped face down onto the floor, my face hitting the cold wood.

“AHHHHHHHHH,” I screamed in frustration. 2 weeks of nothing but rejection and tears. The stress was building up, and my part time job at the Starbucks down the street wasn’t paying the bills. “FUCK!” I screamed again, kicking the ground as hard as I could without hurting myself.

I had been laying there, crying, for a couple minutes, when I heard a knock on my door. I didn’t answer it. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.

“Y/N?” Ugh, it was Tom.

You know, being neighbors with Tom wasn’t all I had hoped it would be. I had barely spoken to him since the night you’d met, save for a couple interactions on the way to get the mail or take out the trash. I’d almost seen his girlfriend more than him, and everytime she saw me she gave me that horrid catty look. She was… the worst, to put it lightly.

Oh, and the sex. No, not with him. Him and… Emily, just going at it. If anything, I guessed Tom was staying with that nightmare because the sex was good. Sometimes the moans coming through the walls were so loud that even my sound-blocking headphones wouldn’t block out that shit. That paired with the sound of the bed hitting the wall made me want to jump off the roof of the building.

Tom went silent, and I sighed, hitting the floor with my forehead again. Then, I heard the door creak open. Before I could sit up to protest, Tom spoke. “You left it unlocked.”

“So you just walked in?”

“Being a friend, I wanted to see what was wrong with you.” He shrugged.

“Gee, thanks. Besides, what makes you think we’re friends?” I shot back, genuinely upset.

Tom mocked being hurt. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I could tell you, but you have to answer my questions first.” 

“Okay, sounds fair.”

“Is your girlfriend going to barge through that door in a second and kill me for speaking to you?” I sat up fully.

“I don’t… think so? She’s away at the moment. And why do you say it like that?” Tom had a small frown scrawled on his face.

“She���s… I’m going to be honest with you, because I honestly couldn’t care less if you hate me. She’s a nightmare. She’s so rude. I can’t believe you’re– actually, I’m not going to finish that sentence.” This time, he seemed genuinely shocked.

“I didn’t realize you felt that way.” I couldn’t decipher whether he was disappointed or just upset with me for being so blunt about it.

“Of course not. We’ve barely spoken.”

“Yeah… yeah. Okay, you said ‘questions’. What are the other ones?” He sat down on my couch, kicking one of his legs over the other in a weird cross.

“Why did you come over?”

“Because you were screaming. It was really loud– and distracting.” He crossed his arms.

“Oh nooo, me losing another job is so devastating to you, oh noooo.” I rolled my eyes.

“Apologies, but did you say… another job?” I was ready to blow up on him right then and there, but I held it back in my throat.

“Been having some trouble getting a job with practically no experience.” I coughed out, blinking away my emotions.

“What do you do?”

“I’m trying to get a job writing for a show or movie… or, anything.”

“I know a lot of writers,” he said, and I interpreted it as him being boisterous.

“Yeah, that’s great news for me.”

“No, no– ugh, I mean, I might be able to connect you to someone, and like, maybe you could assist or something.” He tried to explain.

“Or something.” I hummed.

“Yeah, if you’re interested, I’ll submit your resume to some of my colleagues. I’m sure they won’t mind taking a look.”

“Why are you doing this?” I was surprised by his sudden interest in helping me.

“Don’t want you to keep crying.”

“That’s… sweet.” He held up a wary hand.

“Because it’s loud, and I am trying to get some rest.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Will you please keep it down?”

“Yep. Sureee. No problem.” I slumped my shoulders again.

Without another word, he had left my apartment, leaving me with the most confusing rollercoaster of emotions waiting to come crashing in. I had almost forgotten I was suppressing them. I just took myself to my bed to cry softly, making sure to not disturb him. Life is messy. What is wrong with me? Why do I have to rely on my stupid hot actor neighbor to get a job? And… why am I crying?

I hope he can’t hear me. Wouldn’t want that to interrupt his wonderful sex life.

Pt 2. Alternative: Tom’s POV

I had been trying to find an excuse to talk to the new girl for so long, it was really wearing on me. I felt like every time I intentionally ran into her, she was in a rush to leave, even though she was always in her apartment. She literally only left for work, and that was less than half the day; so why did she avoid me?

I knew Emily hadn’t exactly made the best impression on her, but she was just intimidated by the new, pretty face in town. I had been really impressed by how she was able to keep up banter with me without shaking. It was so refreshing.

And now she wouldn’t talk to me. 

I hadn’t even gotten her number– I mean, we did live next to each other– but I never got the chance to invite her over to dinner with Sam. I didn’t even know if she’d be interested.

So, when I heard her cry out like she was in pain at 10pm, I had to check it out. I was dying to at least have a conversation with her.

When I walked in, she just looked so defeated. I felt really bad. I had to fix it, right?

She just… made it so hard to be nice. I knew it was all fun and games, but this was dangerous. What happens when I cross a line? We weren’t close enough for me to know where that line is.

So there I was, stepping in and out. And that’s when I hear that she is trying to be a writer. I don’t tell her, because I don’t want to get her hopes up, but there’s a writer’s position open on the next project I’m working on, and it’s a big one. It would look great on her resume.

So I mention it, act like I’m being a decent person, and leave before I get ahead of myself and start spewing nonsense about wanting to be her best friend in the whole wide world. Finally in my apartment, I danced around the room erratically, so crazy happy that I had a conversation with her, despite it being… neutral, to say the least.

When I finally settle down into bed, resting comfortably, I hear quiet sobs coming from the other side of the wall. It takes me a second to remember that Emily isn’t here; her crying was a regular occurence. It’s Y/N who’s crying. I take a second to listen, hearing that she doesn’t stop, she just keeps sobbing quietly. I hear a soft thud, and muffled sniffle.

“Fuck.” She says softly. Then she starts crying again.

Wow. Did I… make her cry? 

But– I tried my best to be nice, and I practically opened up her future to success in one conversation! Way to be grateful.

I should be nicer. It was probably something I said. Or something Emily said. She just doesn’t know how to control herself sometimes. I’d leave her– but the sex is magical.

I was bordering on wanting to have her move in and wanting to break up with her entirely, and it stabbed at my nerves every time I went to bed with her. I felt guilty. I can’t keep my life so unstable with a woman I can’t see myself with in the future. But… at the same time, she’s… my cure to loneliness.

What to do, what to do.

And how to sleep, since Y/N won’t stop crying? Not that it’s that loud, but I can’t sleep knowing I’ve caused her that much pain.

Finally, the crying subsides, and I hear light snores. So she’s sleeping. That’s good.

Pt 3. BREAKFAST

I climbed out of bed the next morning feeling weak, like I had a hangover. My mouth was dry and my face was red, but there was no alcohol involved. In fact, I remembered everything vividly.

I had to push it down. If Tom had done what he’d promised, there would be an offer on the table… or, a rejection. So I just had to wait. I decided I would treat myself after finding a spare 20 in my coat pocket, heading to town to grab a bite of breakfast to eat. As I walked into the Rising Sun Eatery, however, it seemed that… someone else… had the same idea as I did.

Tom and Emily were sitting at a table at the far back of the restaurant, Tom hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses and a hood. It didn’t matter, though. I recognized Emily clear as day with her platinum blond locks that reached her backside, and her flashy pink talons, which I liked to imagine were a reflection of her true personality. It looked like Sam was also there, currently engrossed in his phone.

Immediately, I shrunk down, asking for a table outside. Emily wouldn’t see me anyways, she was facing the other way. I was just on my way to be seated when, unexpectedly, someone yelled my name. I swiveled around, scanning the room for anyone else who could’ve said it. Some people were looking around for the cause of the commotion, but no possible perpetrators, except for– well, Tom, who was waving his hand over for me to join them.

I felt like I was obliged to join after that, so I apologized to the hostess and awkwardly made my way over to their table. “Hi… guys.”

“Y/N! This is my brother, Sam– he’s in town for the next two months or so while I get a start on this new project– he’s my, uh, personal chef and brother!”

“Hi Sam, pleasure to meet you,” I stuck out my hand, and he thankfully shook it, smiling at me kindly. He seemed a little meeker than Tom, perhaps– a spray of freckles and a shyer smile.

“Pleasure is all mine,” He replied, beckoning for me to take the seat across from him, which, naturally, was next to Emily. She smiled, poison dripping from those glossed lips.

“Y/N, right?”

“Emily, dear, don’t be silly. You’ve met Y/N, several times I believe.”

“Oh, yes, how could I forget? The pretty one next door.”

“Thanks Emily. I don’t mean to intrude on you guy’s brunch, so I’ll just head out if that’s alright.”

Tom bit his lip uncomfortably. It was hard for me to figure out whether he did that because he wanted me gone or because he wanted me to stay. I mean, he did call me over, so it would be weird if he wanted me gone– but perhaps he had a lapse in judgment and had only now remembered that his girlfriend hated me with a burning passion.

Sam, oblivious to this whole affair, put away his phone. “Nonsense, Y/N, I would love to get to know you! We’ve been neighbors for so long and I haven’t even had you over for dinner!”

“Oh, that’s alright. I’ve got a busy schedule, anyways.” You saw Tom quirk his eyebrow at you and you sent him a challenging look right back. What gave him the right to judge you for not leaving the apartment?

“Still, I’d love to have you. How’s Friday night sound?”

“Uh…”

“But Sammy, I won’t be avail Friday night!” squealed Emily. I lifted my head.

“Friday? Friday sounds great.”

“I’ll be there too,” Tom added. I almost immediately regretted my choice, looking away from Tom’s penetrating gaze.

Emily was still pouting, but I liked seeing her so upset. Almost made up for how mean she was.

The waiter dropped by with their dishes, noticing me at the table. “Oh, pardon miss, I didn’t realize you were seated here as well! Do you have an order?”

“Um, no. I’m alright.”

“What? Y/N, it’s lovely here. Order something.” Tom insisted.

“I don’t want to spend your money on my food. That wouldn’t be right.”

“I do it all the time for Ems here; it’s not a big deal.” I tried to ignore his comment about Emily always letting him take the check and just shook my head.

“No, that’s okay.”

“Okay then. Everything alright with everyone else?”

“Delightful, absolutely delightful.” Tom hummed as he took another bite of his pancakes.

Sam looked at me with sad eyes. “If you won’t spend Tom’s money, will you at least have some of my omelette? I promise I don’t mind.”

Knowing he wouldn’t give up, I surrendered. “Sure, I’ll have a couple bites.” Emily huffed, rolling her yes, and I tried to ignore it. Sam forked over almost half his dish before I had to stop him, “Whoa, not the whole thing! You still have to eat.”

“You’re too kind, but ever since I got into culinary school, all I’ve been doing is eating. I’ll be fine.”

I took a tentative bite of the omelet, then a bigger one. Wow. “Um, this is really good.”

“Heavenly, right?”

“Yeah… no kidding–”

“Just between you and me, my omelet is better. But this will serve.”

“I guess I’ll just have to try yours,” I shrugged, and Sam smiled.

“Finally! You’re in a good mood!”

“I was before!” I protested.

“You were not!” Sam chuckled, wiping egg off his lip. “I really like you, Y/N. You seem very kind.”

“And you seem very wise.” I joked back, finally laughing. You saw out of the corner of your eye that Tom was leaning back in his chair, furiously typing something. You ignored it, focusing on conversing with Sam, who was quite a racket.

“Hmph,” Emily whined softly. Nobody paid her any mind, so she did it again, but louder. When everyone ignored her again, she spoke up. “Tommykins, who’re you talking to?”

“It’s work stuff,” He said, brushing her off, still totally engrossed in whatever he was typing.

“Tommy, what kind?”

“What?”

“What kind of ‘work stuff’? Why are you so worked up, babes?” She said in a cutesy high voice, making me wanna stick a hand down her throat.

“It’s nothing. You’re never interested in whatever I’m working on, you won’t be interested in it now.”

“Tommykinsss,” Emily dragged out, finally making a grab at Tom’s phone. He snatched it back, and she made another grab, this time looking serious. “Tom. What the fuck? What are you working on you little asshole? Huh? You can’t keep secrets from me, I’m your one and only. Hand over the phone.” Tom looked like he was in pain, but he submitted to her, handing it over.

I gave him a concerned look, but quickly changed it to disgusted. I can’t believe he just lets her walk all over him like that.

“What. The fuck. Is this?” Emily cocked her head, holding out his phone. I couldn’t read it from my spot but it looked like an email.

“Ems, it’s an email dear. Just a little referral. Networking.”

“Yeah? Just a little ‘referral’. Why does it say ‘Cherry’?

“It’s my next project, love.”

“Yeah, duh. But why does it say Cherry and her name?” Emily hissed. Tom swallowed, red rising in his cheeks. He was so hard to read. Was he angry, embarrassed? She was obviously causing a scene, and making me very uncomfortable.

Sam raised his hands up defensively. “Who’s name?”

“It says here. ‘Addressed: Joe and Anthony Russo and the writing team. During the current production stage of Cherry, I would like to make a referral to a new friend of mine who is new to the scene in LA. Below is listed her resume, credentials, and information. Please consider having her added to the team, as I feel she could be an interesting added perspective.’ And below that, name of referral.”

“Yeah?” Sam pushed.

“Y/N L/N.”

“What?” I said, eyes wide.

“Yes, you little boyfriend-stealing bitch, he referred you to his new team. Which he’ll be working with for the next year. So, he wants to spend time with you for a year, huh?”

“No– I don’t think that was it, I just am really struggling– and he, um, probably just felt bad.”

“Yeah,” Sam piped up, “as a member of the writing team, Y/N isn’t going to be working that closely with Tom at all. It probably isn’t as it seems.”

“Tom?” Emily asked accusingly. He looked defeated, his eyes holding her with regret.

“I referred her to them because I believe she would be a good fit.”

“How do you even know that?” Emily pestered. How does he know that?

“I read one of her scripts. She’s a talent.” Tom explained, but sadness laced his voice. He read my script? Why?

“I’m not putting up with your womanizing shit, Tom. It’s me or her.”

“What? Emily, that’s so unreasonable.”

“You heard me. Either you retract your statements of recommendation and bar her from working on this project with you, or I leave you.”

“But… this is her livelihood. It’s her job. I can’t just take that away because you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous! I’m being perfectly reasonable about my boyfriend prioritizing me over some– some crazy bitch!” Emily exploded, getting up from the table. “You have 24 hours to decide.” She stormed out of the restaurant, drawing eyes to the table.

“What the fuck?!” Tom said, to nobody in particular. I held my head in my hands, ready to cry.

Sam looked so taken aback; he just patted my arm in sympathy and watched her leave. “Tom, there are too many people watching. We should leave before the paparazzi arrive.” Tom was shaking his head in bewilderment.

“Okay. Y/N, need a ride?”

“No thanks.” I let them leave and then started my lonely walk home.

I wished this had never happened. Why did I have to leave my cozy suburban finance job for the big city? Why did my dreams have to revolve on everyone around me being sane?

Pt 4. CHOICES

This chapter is written from Tom’s perspective. In the future, chapters will start being shorter and switching between the two a lot. I hope this is not too confusing.

When we got back to the apartment, I was still in shock. Sam had been rattling off on me the whole ride down about how I was a bloody idiot for trying to make things with Emily work.

“Tom, seriously. What was that? She’s mental, talking to you that way– giving you an ultimatum. You know what the right choice is.” Sam declared.

“Do I? We were so serious about moving in together. We had a future.” I said, hope still lingering somewhere in the distance.

“Key word: had. And besides, things change. Or, in her case, they don’t. Don’t lie, she’s been like this forever. You can’t have a girlfriend who’s a jealous mess over any girl that you come across! You're adored by millions, it’s in the boyfriend application.”

“Sam, don’t talk about her like we aren’t together.” He was being so… frustratingly off it. He’s my brother, he shouldn’t take a side. He should support whichever side I take.

“As far as I’m concerned, you aren’t. Not like this. Don’t be a prick. Y/N is bloody brilliant. She’s so sweet and… genuine. Nothing like Emily. If anything, you should be dating her.” That did it.

“Sam, will you fucking SHUT UP about dating– for another 24 hours, I am with Emily. And, who knows. Maybe after that. Just– fuck– don’t mention Y/N. I feel guilty enough.”

Sam groaned. “You never learn.”

“Pipe down, too, okay? She can hear us.” I added. Sam rolled his eyes, leaving the room with his middle finger right up. 

“Fuck right off, mate. If you don’t stand up to Emily, I’m gonna release your phone number to the masses. Bite that one off.”

I sighed loudly, crashing onto the bed. Why, why, why.

Pt 5. OPPORTUNITIES

I sat alone in my living room, wondering why on earth life had me collide like this. I was just hitting wall after wall. A week since Emily had started that huge scene, a week since I’d spoken to Tom. Not a text. Not even in the hallway. It was so quiet, I almost thought he’d moved out. Until I heard the noises. Those god-awful sex noises.

So they were back together. Right on– and I had no job. Again. I couldn’t believe Tom, betraying me to… stay in that nightmare situation. God has no mercy on me– and I am going to go homeless by the end of next month. Maybe mom would let me move in with her again.

I rubbed my hands across my face, holding back a loud cry that I wanted to let out. I knew Tom was home. He made a racket coming in. It was so late at night… why? Why was he disturbing the peace so late at night?

I opened my phone again, surprised to see there were text messages. And they weren’t from my mom. 

Unknown Number

Hi, this is sam. ~9:46am

Please get back to me ~12:04pm

Can we meet up for dinner? ~3:57pm

Okay I don’t know if you aren’t seeing these or if you’re ignoring them but we need to talk. ~8:12pm

Hi– I didn’t see them. We can call, or you can come over. ~12:02am

I’ll come over. ~ now

You opened the door to Sam’s light knock and saw him looking kind of ghastly.

“Hey Sam, what’s up? What’s… is something wrong?”

“Uh, Tom doesn’t know I’m here. So if we could… is there a place where he can’t hear us?” Sam asked, looking around anxiously.

“Um, not really. But we can be quiet. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been really sick these last couple days, and usually Tom helps me get better when mom’s not around; like with soups and stuff, but I don’t know what’s going on with him. He hasn’t been around at all. I collapsed next to the sink when I went to… the restroom,” he flushed.

“It’s okay, we all do that.”

“And I, um, I was crying for him to come… and he never did. He showed up so late, that I had already made it back to my bed, and when he saw that I had really badly cleaned up my, uh, vomit, he just got really angry at me and hasn’t spoken to me since. He was so drunk, and… and, I know I’m such a big baby for needing him to take care of me, but I’m really sick and I just… hic! … need my brother.” I felt a surge of panic and sympathy towards Sam, so despite his kind-of stained clothing, I pulled him into a tight hug and held him there. He let out a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, buddy. He has no right to treat you that way– everyone gets a little helpless when sick. You can stay over here until you’re better, I don’t trust you alone over there, what with Tom acting the way he is.”

“I’m sorry ms. Y/N. I’m… hic! … so sorry,”

“Don’t be. You’re fine, bud. Just relax and I’ll get you settled on my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“You don’t have to! It’s okay…”

“In the words of someone very wise, ‘nonsense, you must stay!’ Trust me buddy, you’ll be better in no time with doctor Y/N on the case.”

He smiled weakly and allowed me to lead him to the bed, instantly snuggling up under the covers. “I can’t sleep,” He muttered softly, and I sat up next to him.

“That’s okay. I’ll stay until you do.”

“Don’t you want to ask me about Tom?”

“And why would I want to do that?” That was exactly what you wanted to do, but you couldn’t, because your priority was keeping Sam safe.

“Because he’s being weird and you barely know why.”

“Okay, you got me. I do want to know. What happened?”

“He sent in the offer anyway. Broke it off with Emily. She took everything the first day, told him it didn’t matter; she never liked him, she was cheating, and left. She literally hasn’t said anything since. He was so bummed, naturally, because that was super hurtful. But he knew he had to do it.”

“So he’s gone out drinking to what? Pick up chicks? Rebound?”

“That, and he never heard back from them about your referral. They’re not working closely yet, so it’s purely digital contact, and he’s done all he can to get you the job. And radio silence from them.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know how to react. He… he put himself forward for me when I thought he’d abandoned me… and he’d still lost everything. He didn’t even have the satisfaction of knowing he did a good thing; knowing that I had a job now. This was because of me and my shitty writing. I made him hurt, with my shitty writing and my shitty experience and my shitty communication with his crazy ex. He probably hated me so much for tearing his life apart. Tearing him away from a girl he could've loved for forever.

I was the mistake.

“Y/N, why are you crying?”

“‘M not. You’re seeing things.”

“Y/N, it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, it is. It’s my fault, and now Tom hates me. And he's drunk. And he yelled at you!”

“I yelled at him first.”

“For what?”

“When she gave him that ultimatum, I told him to shove it up his arse and just cut her off. I said… a lot of things, actually. And I got really mad at him. Called him some names.

“Oh, Sam…”

“I had only met you but I knew you were some kind of national treasure. I wasn’t going to let my idiot brother choose his lunatic girlfriend over you getting a job of a lifetime.”

“But I didn’t get the job.”

“They haven’t rejected you yet, Y/N.”

“But haven’t they? It seems like a sign. I should move back to the suburbs, start a family with some unassuming upper-middle class gentleman, and forever work in finance or as a housewife.”

“Since Tom said they were good, I went and read the scripts you wrote. They really are good, you have talent. You’re meant to be a writer, Y/N, and no one can take that away. This is just a speed bump. You have great things ahead.”

“Thank you… Sam, for the speech. You’re probably right. I can get through this. But, can Tom?” I waited for Sam to say something ridiculously optimistic, but then I saw he had fallen asleep, a small bit of drool leaving his mouth. I tucked him in tightly, then hopped off the bed to rest on the couch.

We’d talk tomorrow.

Pt 6. SICKENING

This chapter is written from Tom’s POV.

When I woke up, my mind still felt hazy with the memory of the night before. I felt the edges of my thoughts tickling my head, making me dizzy.

God, I hadn’t had a hangover this bad since Haz’s 20th birthday.

I felt instantly as if I was going to throw up, so I stopped trying to lift myself up and just breathed. 

I knew I had brought a girl home last night… Shay? Ray? I didn’t remember at all. She wasn’t there, but I had to tread lightly in case she was in the main room. Sam would probably be bothered if there was a strange woman while he was trying to prepare breakfast, if he was even doing that since I went off on him.

I hadn’t really spoken to him lately, but I’ve been busy– not that there are any pressing projects or filming, but I’ve had meetings here and there. He was sick, but he just kept leaving stuff everywhere! I mean, I’m a busy man. I don’t have time to take care of his sorry ass when he gets a little fever.

I finally cleared the spots in my eyes enough to lift myself out of bed, taking a stroll to the main room. Oh, she was gone. Thank god. I hated having to put up with the girls who didn’t understand this was a one time thing.

Just to clarify, I’m not usually a… one-night kind of person. But I’ve been bloody miserable since Emily left, and a man has needs. LA is the kind of place where I can get my needs fulfilled.

I checked my phone for messages. I still  felt a twang of sadness when I saw no notifications from Emily, but… it had to happen.

Or maybe it didn’t. Clearly, the Russo’s didn’t care much for Y/N’s writing, despite me thinking it was amazing. And Y/N hadn’t spoken to me either, so I had just lost twice. Three times? I was too bogged to count.

Seeing as Sam wasn’t up yet to cook, I might as well take him to breakfast on the town again. He’s been wanting to try this place near the pier that has weird crepe flavors. Maybe I’d humor him.

I knocked on his door loudly, “Sam? In the mood for a bit of a walk?”

No answer. Hmm. Well, it was my apartment. I opened the door, which, to my surprise, was unlocked, and peered through. He wasn’t… there.

That’s weird. He usually texts me if he’s going out someplace.

I open up my phone again to see if I missed anything. Huh. Nothing since… yesterday? Asking me to buy him Nyquil. So he was still sick? He really shouldn’t be out and about, then.

Sam, where r u? ~ 9:17am

Can u respond pls, trying to make brunch reservations. ~ 9:22am

Are u coming? ~ 9:23am

Sam. ~ 9:46am

Hello? Are u dead? ~ 10:12am

I was honestly shocked. What the hell had gotten into him? Immediately, I dialed up mum, wondering if she knew. “Mum, do you know what’s gone on with Sam?”

“Sammy? He is alright, isn’t he?”

“Well, I can’t find him and he isn’t responding to my texts, so ‘alright’ doesn’t cover it about now.” I said, now slightly panicked.

“Hmm. I did get a call from him the other day. He seemed sad. Are you treating him well, sweetheart?”

“I am housing and feeding him, no?” I sighed. “Okay, just, tell me what he told you on the call.”

“Well, he expressed the feeling that he wanted to return to England. I don’t think he was having a very good time. He also seemed sick, so I told him that if he had to come home, at least get better first.”

“He wanted to go home?”

“That’s what he said,” my mom seemed perplexed at how I was acting. “Why, is it the first you’ve heard of it?”

“Actually, yes. It is. If you don’t mind, mum, I gotta go. Don’t put out a missing persons report for another 24 hours, alright?” “‘Course, sweetie. Well, if you do find him, tell him to call me. Alright. Bye, love.”

I hung up, sweat beading on my forehead. Holy fuck. Sam ran away. God, what a childish move. 

And before you go thinking I’m a bad person– of course I was worried! But sometimes you have to put logic first, and in this case, my logic says: Sam’s gone and lost his marbles.

I mean, where would he be? He’s not exactly stacked with cash, and LA hotels are not cheap. There’s no way Emily would allow him in her apartment; not that he’d want that. Hmm. He was sick, so maybe he took a visit to the doctors? There is a 24 hour clinic close by that he could’ve walked to.

I didn’t really think he was so sick that a clinic would be necessary, but knowing it was a possibility sunk into me coldly.

So I rushed to the hospital and asked them to look for records of Sam visiting.

“Sir, it does look like we have Sam Holland in our records from today, around 8 am. He’s since left, though.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I’m afraid we are not allowed to disclose any personal details of any of our patients.”

“I’m his brother, for fucks sake!” I had lost it at this lady. Who did she think she was? “Fine. Just tell me: did he come in alone?”

She looked taken aback at how I had just blown up on her, but she quickly composed herself and pursed her lips. “I really shouldn’t be telling you anything.”

“Please, please– just tell me who he was with, if– just tell me!” I was on the verge of tears. Angry and sad and guilty ones. My face stung with emotion.

“I believe it was a girl. Same age.” That was an awful description if I’ve ever seen one.

“Anything else? Hair color, eye color?”

“I don’t recall. In any case, that would be too much information to give someone,” she paused, scrutinizing me. “Even you, Mr. Holland.”

‘Ugh. Whatever,” I said, leaving the hospital. I refused to believe that Sam was actually hurt, but where on earth could he be? What girls did he know? I was fairly certain he didn’t have a girlfriend, and as far as I knew, he wasn’t too close to anyone from his work. Who would know where he is?

In a last ditch attempt, I doubled back from my apartment door. I locked eyes on the one next to it. I remembered Y/N and Sam had gotten along quite well at that disastrous brunch… and he had later defended her, even against me.

He probably wouldn’t be with Y/N, but it was worth it to ask.

Was it?

Ugh, I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her. I had let her down, let myself down, and worst of all, she probably hates me. 

But I had to, for Sam.

I knocked twice, then stepped back, holding my breath expectantly.

I heard a weird shuffle going on in the apartment, a small yelp, and the sound of a large object falling.

She opened the door, looking fresh out of a magazine. How did she manage to look good on mornings like these?

Then again, she hadn’t gone through the hell I’d been through.

“Sorry, I fell off my chair,” She explained, finally looking me in the eye. I could see her eyebrow tweak downwards, and I already knew I had upset her.

“My apologies– I didn’t mean to, uh, startle you.”

“Um. Okay,” she started, her line of sight trailing her right. I swallowed, and she snapped back to focus. “Sorry, is there a reason you’re here?”

“My brother, Sam. I can’t find him and he’s not answering his texts.”

“Ah,” She nodded slowly.

“Do you know where he is?”

“Can’t say I do.”

“I really, really need to find him. Please, do you have any idea where he might be?”

She looked deep in thought, her hands fumbling around together. “I might not, but I think that if he went to these lengths to avoid you– sorry, to escape you– I think he probably just wants to be left alone.” Her face was right below mine, but she was not small. She was almost frightening. 

“And how would you know anything about what HE wants?” I yelled, finally letting the walls crash down.

“I’m just saying– I don’t think it’s a smart idea for you to pursue this; I’m sure he’s safe.”

“You don’t know that. I’m his brother, I need to take care of him and I said I would and I was doing just fine and I’ve fucked up and he’s gone.” I cried, holding the collar of her shirt in my hands. She was shrinking. Oh no. She was scared of me.

“Please, Tom– let– Tom, let go I can’t–” I instantly released her, tears in my eyes.

“I’m sorry,”

“Tom, what the hell? Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m– I’m not, I promise. I’m so sorry. Please just help me find him. Please help me find my brother.”

“I don’t think that it’s the smartest idea, Tom–”

“Please! What– what if he got kidnapped, or hurt, or– I mean, I don’t know! He was in the hospital, they told me! And I don’t– what if something’s really wrong?”

“He’s fine, Tom. He’s fine.”

“How would you know–” I was cut off by the sound of another person in the apartment. “Do you have someone over?” Something in my brain starts throbbing, rage filling my senses.

Y/N winces. “Not really.”

“Not really? What does that even mean?!” I feel helpless. In so many ways.

“I can’t– Tom, no. I can’t.” She moved to go back inside the apartment, but I held her arm tightly. “Tom, ow! What the hell? Stop–” Apparently, too tightly. Then the door opens all the way. It’s Sam.

“Tom, what the hell are you doing to her?” I release her arm and panic rises in my chest.

“What– what is going on?” I ask demandingly. Sam looks livid. Is he mad at me? And why is he not wearing a shirt? What the hell is going on between them?

“You shouldn’t be here.” Sam says coldly. I notice he still looks ill; his nose is reddish and his skin is really pale. Y/N is holding her arm and wiping away a tear. What have I done?

“Are… are you guys together?” I say, my heart beating really fast. They did hit it off at brunch. Maybe a little too much.

But then, Sam shakes his head. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you.” He’s scowling. At me. “I came over because I have no friends in this shithole, and when I was relying on you to take care of me while I was sick, you left for the bars.” Sam was still so angry.

“Yeah, and unlike you, I cared about your brother enough to take him to the doctor to get checked out. He has a minor case of the flu, paired with pneumonia. Didn’t know that, did you?” Oh god, and Y/N too.

“I really didn’t mean to. I’m just very overwhelmed right now.”

“So overwhelmed, yet you can still bring home girls? It’s not like you, Tom. I’m staying here until you fix whatever is going on.” Sam spat, placing a solid hand on Y/N’s shoulder.

They went back inside, and I heard the click of the lock almost immediately. How did this happen?

Pt 7. NEWBIE

“Hi Sammy,” I called as I got home from work. Since the devastatingly slow pace of my writing career, I had taken up being a contracted marketing advisor to some small companies. It paid, but not as well as I would’ve liked. Still, Sam was working on his degree and had two part-time jobs on the side, so he was finally helping pay rent, and the load taken off of my back was huge.

In the month and a half since he stopped living with Tom, he had permanently moved in and I had rearranged the already cramped living room to fit a futon/bed for him. He bought a cute little divider so he had his privacy in the early mornings, but besides that, we pretty much shared the same space.

Tom hadn’t texted me at all. I didn’t know what had gotten into him, but I knew he needed to sort it out on his own. Besides, I knew deeply that he was probably hurt from how I had caused his breakup, and nothing would change that. I was a failure, and I had dragged Tom down with me.

“Hi, Y/N. I prepared dinner for you. It’s sitting on the counter, but I need to go to the bathroom real quick.”

“Thank you so, so much. Man, I’m starved. Work was a nightmare today.”

“You can tell me all about it,” he bounced up and down on his heels, “once I pee! Eek!” I laughed and settled down at the table, where I found he had prepared the exact dish I said I had been craving! He really seared the Korean beef to a perfection for an amateur, and the sauce was the perfect mix of tangy and sweet.

“Do you like it?” He said as he left the bathroom, beaming at me.

“Yes! It’s perfect. You should make it more often.”

“I think I will– believe it or not, it only took me like 10 minutes to cook, not counting how long the sauce had to sit.”

“Awesome. Alright, so how was your day?”

“It was lovely! So, you won’t believe it, but I think…” I continued to gobble up the dish as Sam rattled on and on about his day, which sounded super chill in comparison to mine. He was one of those people that really liked the praise of other people, and everytime I smiled at one of his jokes, or mentioned something that he had said to me in passing, he would just light up. I was always taking mental notes to keep him on his toes. And happy, most of all.

Just as I was going to fish out my phone to take a picture of the sun setting behind the Commerce Tech building, loud rock music started blaring. I looked around the apartment for my speaker, wondering if I had accidentally turned it on, but Sam had it already and it was off.

“Do you think it’s Tom?” I asked him.

“WHAT?” Oh, he couldn’t hear me.

“I SAID, DO YOU THINK TOM IS PLAYING THE MUSIC?”

“NO, I DON’T THINK SO– IT’S COMING FROM THE OTHER WALL.”

“ACROSS THE HALL?”

“NO, OTHER WALL!” He pointed towards the wall that faced him and I nodded my head.

“I’M GOING TO GO OVER AND ASK THEM TO QUIET DOWN.”

“OKAY!” My head was ringing with the loud percussive noises. Jesus, did these people know they lived in an apartment?

I had just made it to the door that was sourcing me with enough decibels to break a wine glass, when I stopped in my tracks. Damnit.

“Hey, Y/N,” he said tersely, his chest heaving with a breath.

“Hi. I was, um, just going to–”

“File a noise complaint with the new neighbors? Yeah, me too.”

“They’re new?”

“Yep. Big douchey bachelor dude. Came knocking on my door the first night he arrived asking if I had a spare beer.”

“You did, didn’t you?” I knew he was still getting drunk on occasion– I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.

“Well, yeah, but you don’t just go on asking a man for his beer.”

“Are you going to knock or what?”

“Um, yeah. I’ll knock,” Tom stood back as he waited for their response.

“So, not a good impression of him?”

“No, not anything like yours,” Tom said offhandedly, but I caught it. 

In the past month or so, I’d had lots of time to mull over some things– like how the last time I spoke to Tom, Sam had said that we weren’t a thing, and then said ‘I wouldn’t do that to you’. I knew, of course, that this implies Tom had a thing for me, or something similar. But if that was the case… Why did he treat me so poorly? And why had he made so little effort to make it better?

“I seem to remember our first meeting was a little less orthodox than most. And that it quickly turned… unenjoyable.”

“If we pretend Emily was never there, it was pretty decent.”

“I can’t pretend she doesn’t exist.”

“Why not? I do.” I went silent. He wasn’t happy, I could tell. It pained him, maybe, to see me.

“How has he still not answered the door?” I asked, exasperated.

“Well, as you well know, I’m not a stranger to just opening it anyways.”

“Oh, I do recall that quite vividly. You are… strange.” 

“Whatever.” That seemed to have struck a chord with him, so I kept it in my mental no-no’s box. He went to open the door, revealing the inside of the new tenants apartment to be… horrendous.

There were about 50 people in this tiny-ass studio, all laughing and throwing shots, and none of them seemed to care at all that they were causing quite the cacophony.

“Yo, is that Tom Holland?” One of the drunk party goers shouted, and Tom immediately ducked his face down.

“Nah bro, you’re so high right now! Tom Holland doesn’t go to parties with us.. Heh,” his equally-drunk friend responded, clapping his hands really loudly. Tom rolled his eyes.

“What, are you what they say you are? Do you not enjoy parties?”

“Not these kinds of parties, Y/N. Come on, let’s get the idiot who owns this place to keep it down.” Tom grabbed me by the wrist, which sent me back to the last time he had done that. I shook my head and tried to wash out the discomfort, and even though I didn’t see him look, he still loosened his grip as he led me through the crowd.

“Alright, party people! Is this the best house warming party or what, Double G style?” A beer-bellied man with a fizzing bottle of beer in one hand and a girl on the other yelled out to the crowd. 

“Wow, Mr. G, this place is popping– the deposit must have been cray!” One of his scummy friends said, right before slapping his girl on the thigh.

“Wow. This is revolting.” Tom said, shaking his head.

“Yeah. I’m beginning to see why you don’t like these kinds of parties. I, myself, don’t enjoy being sexually assaulted– and I doubt she does.”

“These people aren’t exactly classy. They don’t care about how she should be treated. Let’s just get out of here.”

“So, Mr. Good Guy, you treat women with the utmost respect?”

“That’s how I was raised, darling.” Darling. Tom never stopped, did he? We had finally made it to Double G, and he was currently eyeing me up and down like a toy.

I snapped my fingers in his face. “Hey, eyes up here. I’m your new neighbor, and I’d like to request you keep it down.  We have thin walls, you know.” Tom raised his eyebrow.

“That’s my line,” He whispered in my ear.

Ignoring you, he faced Tom. “So what, she your broad?”

“Sorry, broad?” I asked incredulously. What was this, the 1950’s?

“She’s a woman, an independent one, and her being ‘mine’ is frankly revolting.”

“Okay, I see you’re into this ‘politically correct’ stuff, yeah? I mean, is she your girl? Because if she is, tell her she should really be dressin’ it up. She’s like a 2 dressed like this, but showing a little more skin? I’d tap that.” Tom made a face.

“It doesn’t matter. Turn the volume down, or we get an official sound violation set up.”

“Bro, what’s your damage? Just quit tryna stop the party and wear headphones or something!”

“It’s shaking the walls, mate. Just turn it down.”

“You’re really getting on my nerves, neighbor. I’ll turn it down, on one condition.”

“What?”

“You let me feel up that girl of yours.”

“What? Hell no.” Tom said before I could step in.

“Then no deal, homie.”

“Turn it down, or you’re getting in legal trouble.”

“Whatever, dude! Get out of here!” One of ‘double G’s’ friends said, splashing their beer at Tom. Tom stepped back reflexively, and it hit another girl right in the chest. She started hollering, immediately rushing forward at the dude, slapping him. She threw something, which in turn caused someone else to throw something, until pretty much everyone was fighting each other.

“Jesus, Y/N, let’s get out of here.”

“I’ve never agreed with you more,” I replied as we squeezed by to leave. As we stepped into the hallway, Tom held up his hand to stop me from saying anything.

“I don’t wanna waste any more of your time. I’m going to leave– just don’t bring this up with Sam, okay?”

“I was just going to thank you for standing up for me back there,” I said sheepishly, watching his eyes droop.

“Look, it’s nothing. And sorry for letting them believe I was your boyfriend or… whatever.”

“Again, it’s fine. I’m thanking you.”

“You shouldn’t,” he sighed, turning his head away so I couldn’t look him in the eyes. His lips tightened. “I’ll be on my way.” I didn’t know what to do, so I let him leave. The music had shut off completely, which made me think someone had broken the speaker. Thank god.

With that, I headed into the apartment to try and sleep.

Key word: try.

“Hey, Y/N, wait–” Sam said before I entered my room. 

“Yeah, Sam?”

“I um… didn’t mean to overhear your conversation with Tom outside but–”

“You heard that? Oh, man. Um–”

“No, I’m not gonna ask you about it– I mean, I am, but you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“Do you… have feelings for Tom?”

“Well, no. I mean, I don’t think so.” I bit my lip. I really didn’t think I had feelings for Tom– I mean, I spent a lot of time thinking about him, but it was mainly to worry about him not liking me. Sam met my eyes and narrowed his.

“Okay. Yeah,” Sam looked down. “Are you totally… sure?”

“Maybe? Oh god, please don’t make me have a crisis right now.”

“I’m sorry– I shouldn’t have asked, it was out of place.”

“No, it’s fine. There’s no harm in that question. I just don’t dwell too much on it. I haven’t had a relationship in forever, and now that I’m kind of settled– it might be a good idea.” I smiled at him. “So, if anything, I thank you for reminding me.” Sam let out a chuckle.

“You don’t let anything get to you, huh? How do you do that?”

“I let things get to me, I promise. I just… don’t show it as externally so others realize.” I let out a tight smile, but my eyes were sad.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at me. “I hope you feel better, then.”

“I hope so too,” I laughed sadly, blinking a lonely tear away.

“Okay, goodnight, Y/N.” He hesitated, then looked me in the eyes and held out his arms to bring me into a hug. I accepted gratefully and threw my arms around him tightly, wiping my tears on his hoodie.

“You smell… so bad.”

“Thanks, Sammie.”

He let go of me, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “I love you and you deserve everything.” He said earnestly, staring right at me. I swallowed a sob and shook out a reply.

“Not everything. I don’t deserve you.” He shook his head and let out a chuckle, then turned to go to bed. I took a refreshing breath.

Sam was too kind. And to think… with the way we met, I never would’ve expected this to happen. For us to become friends, for him to live with me.

I thought happy thoughts as I lay myself to rest that night, thoughts that were louder and much nicer than Tom’s grunty snoring.

Pt 8. ACCEPTANCE

This chapter is written from Tom’s POV

I couldn’t rest that night. Not after… seeing her. I had dreamed of talking to her– making up for ruining everything. I had dreamed of finally getting her number. Finally being real, certified friends.

I was so desperate for Y/N to like me. It was pathetic, frankly. Maybe I just had the love to spare after the devil herself left me in the ice.

Too much love. Too little to love.

I sat at my dining table, eating another sad takeout meal whilst scrolling pointlessly through Instagram. I missed Sam’s awesome cooking, and I missed Sam.

A part of me wanted to burst through their door and declare that I cared about them and that I wanted to not be lonely– but I knew these things couldn’t just be… left behind.

So I’ve been cowering. Like that’s the answer.

There were 2 weeks until filming for Cherry started (finally. I’m so bored, sitting at home doing nothing.) I’ve yet to visit my mum, but I haven’t been missing her as much as I usually do. Maybe it’s just because I’m occupied missing other people at the moment.

And still no email from the Russo’s. It almost pained me more to not have heard anything. You would think I would at least get a rejection. Now all I had was false hope and hopeless sadness.

And it was all my fault.

It was already noon. If I went out in a couple hours, I could be brainlessly drunk with a girl on my arm by sunset.

Somehow, I felt I didn’t want to do that tonight. After my short encounter with Y/N the previous night, I felt fresh. Not fulfilled, exactly– but I remembered what was wrong. And how… sleeping around wouldn’t help a thing.

This whole situation was killing me slowly. I could hear Y/N’s laughter through the walls, and it was pure torture. My brother probably had something frying on the pan, and they were probably watching her favorite trashy TV. Why couldn’t that be me?

Why am I so stupid… How did I let her go like this?

It wasn’t that I was obsessed with Y/N. Or in love, or whatever. But… I was single. She was single, as far as I knew– and… well, she’s amazing. Maybe that’s too enthusiastic. It’s just– her. She’s so brilliant and pretty (no, beautiful. That’s the proper way to describe a woman.) and… God, she is powerful. The power she had over me… not that she forced anything over me, but I would willingly follow her to the ends of the Earth. She had an air about her that made me want to pledge myself to her side forevermore.

Oh god, maybe… I am obsessed. Maybe… in love? God, that’s a concept. But, I barely know her– kind of, I mean– I can hear her uneven breaths when she has a late night. I know she’s been having trouble sleeping. I know she cries too much to be truly happy. I know she curses a lot when others aren’t around, and that she watches Mean Girls religiously. I heard her explain to Sam that it was her favorite movie, and though her scripts are considerably more deep and riveting than… Mean Girls… she still gets emotional defending it. I know that she thinks Love Island is ridiculous (it is, but I love it. So shut up.) but will watch it if Sam begs enough. I know she hasn’t talked to her dad in ages but speaks to her mom nearly every other night. 

I know her. We don’t know each other. In her eyes, we are basically strangers. If I wasn’t such a fucking weirdo, I wouldn’t know all these things. These private, private things.

These things can’t be dwelled on, though. Especially when she ignores me and hopes I’ll stop existing.

She never said that. But it feels like she did– her cutting me off was so painful to me. And for what?

For what…

I had been resting on the couch, for a large amount of time, I think, contemplating things I could do to get my mind off my loneliness. Things that didn’t involve drinking the night away and forgetting 5 hours of my life.

Then, there was a rapid knock on my door. Really quick and sharp. And it was relentless.

“Hello? Hello? HELLO?” I shouted at the door, too unbothered to remove myself from my comfortable spot on the couch.

“It’s me, you idiot! Open up!” An assertive voice said. Y/N.

I nearly hopped out of the couch in anticipation, scrambling to get the door open.

“Sorry I don’t leave it open for unsuspecting strangers,” I coughed, as the door opened all the way.

She rolled her eyes at me, looking almost pissed, but seemed to remember something. Her whole face lit up, in the most perfect way…

Ugh. God. No more gross love-bird stuff. “What… is it? Why are you so– happy?”

“I got a job!” She exclaimed, holding a fist up to her chest in victory. I took a second, and smiled for her. I suppose I should be happy. And if getting a job meant she would speak to me again, I guess it wasn’t so bad that I failed her the first time around.

“That’s wonderful.”

“You aren’t as excited as I thought you’d be.”

I sighed, then fixed myself with a faulty ‘ecstatic’ face, taking a look at her. “Is this better?”

“Oh, come on– I mean, I’ll be working with you, and it’s– well, you got me the job!” I cocked my head.

“Wait– the job you got is my job, as in the job I– as in Cherry– like, that job?”

“Yes! That job!” I raised my eyebrows in surprise and fought back the urge to scream ‘THANK YOU!!!’ to the heavens.

“Oh my god! Um, wow! Congratulations!” Without thinking (at least, not very hard), I took a huge step forward and pulled her into a crushing hug. She was stiff for a second, not expecting it, but just as I was going to pull away, she hugged me back.

I felt like a great weight had been lifted off of me, and it was all thanks to this job offer going through. If only they’d accepted it earlier.

“So… you don’t hate me anymore?” I said softly, trying my best to ignore the way her hair tickled my nose as we still embraced.

“What?” She said, confused. Oh. Shit. I really should’ve kept my mouth shut. I pulled away and rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, searching her eyes for what she was thinking. “I didn’t… hate you.”

“But you… you didn’t speak to me after brunch. And we had that argument about Sam. And… I thought that I didn’t get you the job.”

“After brunch, I thought you had gotten back with Emily. I was so upset that you would choose that… nightmare over… well, me. I know that sounds so shallow but I– well, you didn’t. You put me first, in the end. I just didn’t know.” She lowered her eyes. “Sam explained everything to me, anyways. The only reason I was mad with you is because of how poorly you treated Sam. He was just looking for his brother to take care of him, and you went off drinking when he needed you most. And when you… came to speak to me… you were really different. Scary.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She held her wrists carefully, seemingly remembering what happened. God, don’t think about it. Or you might change your mind. “I just… instantly bonded with Sam. And you… well, you never came to me. At all. It was devastating. I thought you blamed me for losing Emily and I thought you resented me for everything that had happened.”

“I don’t. I never did.”

“Never?”

“The only thing I resented was everything I had lost.” You. I can’t say that, though. “I didn’t blame you for it. It was my decision.”

“It wasn’t exactly free will.”

“Not quite. But you weren’t at fault and it would be unfair for me to say you were.” I explained to her, begging for her to look me in the eyes again. For me to be met by those kind eyes would cure everything. Right there.

“I can’t believe we haven’t spoken to each other. All we needed to do was speak.” She said in exasperation.

“It’s rather ironic.” I said, a small smile finally breaking from my lips. And it wasn’t acting this time.

“Not quite the word. I think you’re thinking of ‘theatrical’.”

“Perhaps.”

“I’ll think about making this into a story.”

“Would you really?” I hoped she wasn’t kidding. I would read it.

“It wasn’t a promise,” she raised her hands playfully, and I had a sudden flashback to the first time we had met. When she had done the exact same thing. And here we were, almost two months later, and yet our relationship had barely budged in any direction. All these ups and downs and we were back to the start.

I realized with a start that I wanted to make things clear to her. I reached out a hesitant hand to cup her cheek, and rather than push me away, she allowed me to step closer to her. “Is this okay?”

“My hot neighbor just made physical contact with me. I’m not sure what’s okay anymore.”

“Are… we okay?”

“We always were.” She smirked playfully.

“Okay.” I parted my lips, feeling her nose in a whisper of a touch against my face.

“Okay.” She closed the gap between us, her kiss a reassuring gesture that she was ready for our next adventure, and she was leaving the old one behind.

A loud creak sounded, followed by the disruptive clink of a wine glass meeting the floor. “In the hallway? Really?! Get a goddamn room…” I heard Sam huff, before closing the door on us again. There we stood, alone and in each other’s embrace, finding some security in our relationship for the first time.

[luimagines]

Subject 10-Mulan Link

You have now gained the accesses file page of the chain links case number #19835 Corrupted heroes for Subject #10

Current state: Safe

legal name: Link,last name unknown

Nicknamed: Mulan 

Biological age: unknown

Chronical age: unknown

Hieght: Unknown

Weight: unknown

Visiting accesse time for subject Zero: Must be planned ahead of schedule time in order to have private meetings and clerance from head chief researcher Queen zelda and level 5 personal clerance

Physical description: Subject 10 is a short haired Hylian woman who wears a green tunic and knight gear armor.They have a well built muscular body and a ferret that rests around thier neck as well as scars and cuts around thier body.The most noticeable scare they have are three little cuts under thier chin and a long vertical cut across thier right cheek.

Information: Subject 10 first arrived at the castle carrying subject zero and subject 11 bloodied and badly injured with a broken arm and serveral fractured bones as well as stab/slash wounds.They came in as duplicates of four identical versions of subject 10 dressed variouse colors such as brown,cyan,yellow and green.Only one of the 4 sets had arrived at the castle with subject Zero and Subject 11 while the others fought off to keep back the “chain” while back up knights and town gaurds were deployed to apreheand them.Subject 10 is not placed under any containment but is required to come to the SCRPP research site to have check ups and testing as well as recorded interviews with research personales.Subject 10 refuses to have to go anywhere without her ferret campaion so all interviews and meetings are held with subject 10′s ferret either on the site with them or curled around subject 10′s neck.Subject 10 is in current possesion of the master sword and four sword as well as veriouse other items from the group(but not all for research purposes and other classified resons).They are to be informed of any drastic procedures that are to be done to any of the known subjects and participats of case file #19835.Subject 10 is one of the only subjects out of all the links who dose not show a red essence seeping out or show any signs of agression or possesive behvaiors for subject Zero. Research is still going underway to find out a way as to why it is and if blood or dna samples can be exracted from subject 10 in order to find a cure.

[interview recoding of subject 10 #1]

Dr.Jean: Now beining case file number #1983 dash 1 subject 10 interview of the anomalie the Curropted Heros. Time started at 10:89. Interview researcher personale Dr.Jean, tag number 893 of site 13 room A14.

Dr.Jean: Ok,lets start.Rember at anytime you start to feel uncomfortable we can stop the interview,alright?

Link: ok..

Dr.Jean: ok,lets start off with something simple.Subject 10 can you please state your name?

Link: Mulan.

Dr.Jean: I am sorry,let me clarify I meant your real name.

Link: oh,right..its uh,its Link.

Dr.Jean: Good,can you state your last name as well?

Link: I dont have one.

Dr.Jean: Are you sure? No documnets? Family? Anyway to file for one?

Link: Yes,I am sure.I dont have one.Thats it.

Dr.Jean: Right,right, *ahem* can you tell us how long you’ve know the links?

Link: We had all know each other for about a year and a half, and today would have been our second year together if…you know,had things still been normal with everyone.

Dr.Jean: how did you meet these people to begin with?

Link: I was out exploring the outskits of the forests behind my house one day and saw a bright light,so i got curiouse and followed it.I found a portal and went through it.I was transported to the guredo desert and wondered a around for a bit before I found the chain.it turns out the portal took me to a diffrent time period and there was some time,dimentional stuff going on and we were all gathered to fix it or something.

Dr.Jean: How did you meet subject Zero?

Link: Subject Zero? oh,do you mean [redacted]?

Dr.Jean: Link,please reframe from saying subject Zero’s real name during this interview.

Link: Fine.

Dr.Jean:thank you,pleas contiue.

Link: We first met them a few months after lucky came when [ audio connection has been temperarly lost]

Dr.Jean: Intresting and how did you feel about Subject zero?

Link: I didn’t think much of them, I thought that they were ok.they were kind of nice and everyone liked them,so I did too.But there was something just…off about them.

Dr.Jean:Off like what? Did you distrust them?

Link: no,no,no not distrsut or anything like that…just that something was not right…there was  just something…..something WRONG with them,I dont know how to describe it, they were just not normal in a very bad way.But I ignored it and didn’t think much on it. I think they were just…diffrent.

Dr.Jean: Why did you help them escape?

Link: Because it was the right thing to do.I wanted to get them out of a situation where they were held captive and also keep the others from killing each other on who got to keep them.Its not that complicated. besides it my fault for not stopping this sooner.

Dr.Jean: How?

Link: What?

Dr.Jean: How do you think it was your fault?

LInk:[sighs] its…it was all right there I didn’t want to see it,I knew everyone was starting to act a little wierd but I didn’t want to take it that seriously,I didn’t want to think badly about my fami-friends..my friends…Until one day when they had gone completly overboard and uh…..I had found some of them beating down on a man after they were flirting with..with subject Zero…and to say that they looked like they were thugs when they were doing it would be too much of a understatement…They looked like they were having a good time doing it too.I swear when I saw them that day at the allyway they were not the heros I knew and travled with and as faw as i was concerned they were strangers-no,not even that,they were monsters…And the look on thier faces when I yelled out to them and they turned to me…it was like they were going to kill me right there and then……[Inhales heavily before exhailing shakingly] they weren’t normal….thier eyes….I don’t think I can really ever forget those empty vacant looks..it was like someone els was there…Since then things had started to get worse.

[suject 10 begins to pet her ferret at this time seeming to find comfort in it from thier stress]

Dr.Jean: Who were the ones that were there at the time of the incident?

Link: it was…I think Twilight,Four,Sky and Wild were all there.

Dr.Jean: Even Sky?

LInk: Yeah, him too.I rembered the second I started yelling and taring a new in asshole for them he just came up from behind the group and started to try to “calm me down” and explain how the shit I just saw wasn’t what it seemed like and yadda yadda yadda,typical gaslighting you know? But I wasn’t going to fall for some shit like that so I got the man out of there and to a medic, payed for all his expenses and reported them to Time and Warriors. Honestly I was so pissed off and in shock about it all that I had finally started notice and realize more and more things that were wrong about the group that I use to just keep ignoring.I still didn’t try to do anything serious about it though until the end of our journey.

Dr.Jean:What did you mean by noticeing things?

Link: …….just things….and looking back at it now should have been obviouse red flags but I never pressed for them.I think the first time I did it was with Wsrriors but he kept brushing me off saying things like “everyone is just protective of [redacted]” or “that you are looking way too into this” and when he did listen to me he would tell me that he’d keep a closer eye on the group.I suppose you can take a guess that, he did not, in fact, keep up the promis that he made.

Dr.Jean: did at any point in your adventures feel,were attempted to or successfully attacked or harmed by any members of this group during you adventures before the escape?

Link:No-well I mean yes but…[  exasperated sigh]…yeah….yeah there were a few…ok maybe a lot…But I guess the one that really stuck with me was when,uh,when Time held me up against a wall and tryed to cut my throat during a heated argument about…..them.

[Subject 10 reaches over to rub on a faint cut across thier neck]

[the ferret circles closer to her neck nuzzling it head into hers in an attempt to comfort Link]

Link: Aww,its ok little guy,I am fine right now.Don’t worry fluffy.

Dr.Jean: i am sorry if its too much but what was the argument about?

Link:…….

[subject 10 stays silent for a few minutes before speaking again]

Link: It was about if we should kill subject zero.

Dr.Jean: Then do you think we should kill subject zero?

[subject 10 stops petting fluffy and stares at the doctore without giving an answer for several more minutes]

Link:[a shallow exhale leaves thier mouth] …….I……..I….

[the sounds of sirens and alarms going off]

Annocemnet :There is a containment breach in the D -12 containment building floor,please all personels and staff go to the evacuation exits and safety rooms while special elit force knights handle the situation.Subject 4 case 19835- 1,2,3 and 4 cololrs have all escaped.If you see him or any of the colors they are to be neutralized and brought back to thier containment cells.All other staff do not ingage unless -

Dr.Jean: oh Hylia,looks like we’ll have to cut this short and we have to hurry and-wait where are you going! The safety room is this way! Link!

Link: [distant and muffled]I know,I just need to go out and kick a few stobbern little butts back in thier cells first-!

Dr.Jean: Link the elit knights can handle it you don’t have to-Link!! Link! Sir Link! Lin-!!

[audio ends here]

I am doing wind next

This is long, so I'll react as I read.

oh SHOOT THEY RAN!!!

MULAN USES THE FOUR SWORD!!

[REDACTED]?!?!!?

LUCKY!!!

AUDIO CONECTION TEMPORTARILY LOST!?!?!?!?!?

THEY GONNA KILL A GUY-KIL MULAN!!? SKY IS GASLIGHTING!?!?

TIME CUT THEM?!?!?

MULAN GONNA KILL SUBJECT ZERO!?!?!?

THEY ESCAPE!?!?!? THE COLORS ESCAPE!!!!

MULAN GOES TO FIGHT?!?!?

MY GIRL!!!!

OH MY GOD

[eveenstar]

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒

𝙰 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝟸 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪɪɪ

Summary: After the meeting with Dutch, (Y/N) the time-traveler, decides to take a look around the camp while trying to convince herself this was not a dream but reality.

Tags/Warnings: Nothing to add.

Note: Back again from the dead with another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Well, this was awkward. You couldn't hope to be in a worst situation than this (well, you kinda could) but hey, at least they seem to believe you, right? What else to think when somebody drops out of the sky in the middle of your "home"?

“Well, Miss (L/N), from what you told me and the gang…You’re my great-granddaughter?” Dutch asked, his hands grabbing one of his books while he took a seat on his bed.

“Yes, sir.” The girl stood awkwardly on the tent’s entrance. She didn’t know what else to do, what, hug him? She didn't even know he existed before that old, strange lady appeared in her life. For her, Dutch was nothing but a stranger and maybe he thinks the same of her.

“It’s…nice to meet you. A very interesting experience.” He sounded almost content with it, but also a bit shocked by his voice. “I hope your life is better than, you see, ours.”

The girl let out a nervous laugh. Almost immediately covering her mouth after it. “I’m actually being hunted down by the government. Me and my group, we…did some things they didn’t agree with.”

“Oh. I see. A revolutionist?” Dutch looked at her, his gaze made her feel a bit intimidated.

“Yeah, I guess that’s one way to call it.” How would she describe what a hacker was or the modern technology? Well, (Y/N) did take parts in a few riots so perhaps revolutionist was a appropriate term to call it on the 1800s. But she wasn’t so sure about that. The life she left behind, James and the others, everything she knew was...well, not dead, but non-existing now.

“Don’t be so nervous, Miss.” The man said in a gentle tune. “I promise you, none of us will bring you any harm.” He stood up, slowly caressing her arm.

“Thanks.” She returned a kind smile, but was it the truth?

I wanted to go back that exact time, I didn't want to be there anymore. From all the movies and tvshows I'd seen, messing with the past doesn't go well, never. So who was I to tempt fate?

"I have a few more questions for you, but you need to rest. Must've been hard getting here." Dutch guided you outside and handed you some stuff, probably to make your own tent. You really hoped there weren't many bugs out here. "I'll let you get settled first."

You nodded, before taking a few hesitant steps towards the "light" (or, in this case, a fellow tree a bit distant from the others). You didn't want to bother anyone, so you began making your little forth underneath a tree and next to a few rocks. But, not that you haven't gone camping before, but this was harder than it looked. It's like your own house was fighting against you. Things kept falling or getting in the way, and nothing was going according to plan. A frustrated sigh escaped your lips.

"Need some help?"

You flinched at the voice and turned around to meet eyes with, by your memory, Javier Escuella. He was taller in person. That's all you had to say, for now. He had a soft yet deep gaze on his eyes, but if we're being honest, he looked threatening. He raised an curious eyebrow by how long you were taking to answer his simple question. You nodded, then chuckled nervously and waved around the "tent" you were building.

"I'm having a bit of trouble here."

With a better set of hands, your little fort was finished in just two hours. This felt different, y'know? Surreal to say the least. Few birds were singing, the horses in the background, the wind blowing through you, the nature, the sounds of people talking, a life you've never known. Not like this. It was kinda similiar to the life you and your friends had, the only difference being: You didn't held camps in the wild. Like Dutch, you were the leader of your group, and James was your right hand. Maybe you did resemble him a bit, just maybe. Now you were here, talking and interacting with people that in your time, were long gone. You were changing history, the past, everything. Was this the right choice?

"Are you okay?"

"Sì," You immediately looked at him, "Sorry, kinda drifted off a bit."

Javier stared at you in confusion, "Drifted?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry hah. I got lost in thought."

For your delight, Javier laughed at it before excusing himself and leaving you there to your own miserable mind. Your bed felt heavy and rocky, but it's better than nothing. You had no idea what to do now, should you go meet the others? Well, they certainly thing you're strange. Mary-Beth seemed to like you, and she could become your first friend here! Keep the hopes up, (Y/N), you're definitely gonna need it here.

"Ahem, hey Mary!"

"(Y/N)! How was the meeting with Dutch?" She paused her book and glanced over to you, while patting her hand next to her. "Come, sit!"

"It was alright," You replied almost robotically. Your mind was empty to any functional thoughts.

"This is like a fantasy book. You came from the future to change the past, and met a long lost relative." Mary-Beth almost had stars in her eyes while thinking about the "amazing" story of yours. For as amazing as it sounds, it really wasn't something that cool once you experienced it. You felt out of place. "Tell me, how is the future?"

Your mind ran through all the memories you have, every information, every place, every moment now lost in time.

"It's...harsh, unfair and cruel. Like it always has been, I suppose."

"It can't be that bad, surely." For as much as the media likes to portray the modern age as a fairy tale, it's more of a terror genre. You remember the cruel things people had told you over the years, how your dreams were not realistic enough, "become a doctor!" everybody said.

"They don't care about us. They don't care for people like you and me."  Jamie told me once. I wonder how he is now. I miss everybody, especially those late nights when we used to sing our hearts out and dance as if there was no tomorrow. It's too late now.

You gave her a small smile, "Not always."

She returned the smile, happily.

"So what's wrong with you, you old fool?"

A tall, bearded man drunkly limped towards someone older, Hosea Matthews, and spoke in a way that the older man didn't seem to like one bit. Hosea didn't even spare him a glance,"Go sleep it off, you drunken baffoon."

Bill Williamson, as you know remembered correctly now, stepped closer to Hosea and stared at him, almost as if he was daring him to repeat it again, "Excuse me?"

Like the winds change the tides, Hosea got up in a swift movement and pointed his gun at Bill, who fell to his feet. "I've excused you quite enough! Go sleep it off, is that clear?"

Bill hurriedly got back on his feet and stepped back, hands in the air with, what you could call, a frightened look on his face (which changed to angry after a few seconds).

"Okay!...Okay."

The few people that were present either got back to whatever they were doing or didn't even mind the occurence in the first place, like it was something normal to happen around here. You excused yourself and made your way to Hosea, who was sitting on a wooden table. You wondered where they got all this stuff, including the tables. Did they make them? Steal them? You rolled your eyes at the thought of the gang going to a local bar and stealing all of their tables.

"Uh, hello!" You greeted and took a seat in front of him. "I don't think we've been properly introduced, I'm...Well, you probably alright know who I am." You chuckled.

"Hosea Matthews, " He looked at you with a serene look on his eyes. He reminded you of those elderly folks you'd meet around town who were incredibly nice for their own good. "Have you been handling this alright? I know how this gang can be sometimes."

"I haven't had the chance to meet everybody yet, just Dutch, Mary-Beth, Javier and you, sir."

"Well, all in due time. You can come to me if you need anythin' else."

"Thank you, I'll make sure to remember it."

Hosea was like a father to me, or for most people in the gang. Wish I'd met someone like him before. He was a good man. I remember, when I first met him, that I thought he'd ask me plenty of questions about the future. To my surprise, he didn't. I think he wanted me to have some space, process everything that's happened so far. I miss him the most. Apart from Arthur, and Dutch. Who lost his way.

When I arrived, I had to make up my mind. I had to compose myself because this was about to be my new life, "for now" , I thought. I was ready to face this reality of time-traveling and the way things worked in that era. I was foolish. So, so foolish.

[little-leech-boy]

AHDGEIFHI H I HI- got tagged!!!!! In a thing!!!!!!! By both @rkgk-arts and @itsbluesaint!!!!!!! Wild!!!!!!!!!!

So *ahem* rules are Tag 9 People you would like to get to know or Talk with more, so uh yeah! Let's get down to the nitty gritty of post! I'll put it under a read more cuz I talk a lot and if some of yall ain't interested, I'll spare u the scroll.

Last Book Read:

I uh, can't really remember which book I picked up last, the name at least. SO instead I'll you a book I last read to the fullest! Which I believe to be Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston.

A cheesy one definitely, I mainly picked it up cuz I had some... heavy hitters in my library and I wanted to just have a chill one I can read, though I was definitely back and forth on it cuz book reviews are literally the most polarizing things ever holy shit. As for the book itself, I thought it was ok, it did its job as a chill read and I was entertained! Nothing in particular to write home about, except maybe the premise, and the way the author handled that concept was a bold ass move. So overall, 4.5/10 I don't feel anything in particular for it but I appreciate what it did regardless.

Last Movie Seen:

So uhhhh.... last one I watched in full was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness... and I didn't like it? Please don't kill me but, I just think it kinda flopped narrative wise, and i had some problems with the choices the writers made in regards to America and a liiiiil bit Wanda, and the Illuminati... yeah that one was a weird one. It kinda felt like they were biting off more then they could chew in terms of all the ideas they had for the movie, felt unorganized, especially when they were forced to cut some of those ideas short in order to pad for time. So a 3/10 for me, the theater I watched it in had their volume fucking blasted, so when that sound guy opened his mouth... not fun.

Last Song Heard:

This one is nice n short! Cast Me a Spell by Mili and Promise of Wizard. Funky existential magic song, what can I say? 7/10

Now onto the TAGGING part... here we go!

@allieebobo ..... I know no one else I'd like to speak to more

I could just tag random people but given the rules that doesn't sit right with so I'll uh, just end it here

Thank u for tagging me!!!!! Sorry if this was a bit anticlimactic