#already having an awful time i didn't need this on top of everything else

[jinxyjinxer]

˗ˏˋ FELL ˎˊ˗ being his crush he finally gets to fuck

⟢ characters : Jayce Talis

⟢ warnings : m!reader, mlm, top!jayce x bottom!reader, nipple play, anal, jerking off, takes place during jayce's education, bisexual jayce that fucks around because I said so

It was no secret to the students of Piltover's University that one of their most prestigious students, Jayce Talis, liked to mingle with not only the opposite sex but also the same one.

He was young and adventurous, not one to settle down with the first person that confessed their feelings for him, preferring to just have flings or friendships — if you can call them that — with benefits. Which did not mean by any means that he didn't have his eye on a certain someone.

Someone he thought of very highly.

Someone he imagined every time he would mingle with a person that wasn't them.

He did not think of the person beneath or on top of him, no, he only could think about one specific student that he had his eyes on — you.

With how confident he was around everyone else it must have been easy for Jayce to ask you out on a date but no, he took months to finally even just talk to you. But you liked him secretly as well, so it didn't take long for the two to go further than just meeting up to hang out.

"I'm sorry I- you just were so close and I thought you were about to lean in- I didn't mean to-", Jayce stuttered as he looked down at you, having you pinned beneath him on his bed. He truly was a fool in love.

The two of you had spent some time together in his dormitory room, just hanging out and talking about god and the world until Jayce suddenly kissed you. It wasn't like you didn't reciprocate it, the chaste kiss quickly becoming deeper and steamier, tongues fighting for dominance while he slowly pushed you down to lay flat against his mattress, placing himself in between your legs and hooking them around his thighs, his already hardening crotch pressing against your own, making a soft mewl escape your lips which led to what he just said.

But you didn't want to see any of his shy and flustered behaviour.

How come he was always so confident around others but when he's with you he barely gets a word out?

"Fuck me, Jayce. I want you", was all the words it took for him to regain all of his confidence he usually put on display.

Without hesitating a moment further, Jayce leaned down and captured your lips in a kiss once again, immediately going in and letting his tongue explore your wet cavern.

He was on you like a lion on its prey, devouring everything you had to offer him.

His hands swiftly glided down from your arms to the hem of your shirt, lifting it up and exposing your torso to him. Simultaneously his mouth began to wander, first kissing your jaw, then your neck and going down more and more until he had reached one of your nipples, taking it into his mouth, biting and sucking until he finally could hear that sweet voice of yours moaning his name so delightfully. But he wasn't done with just one, no. Once he was satisfied he gave the other nipple the same attention, his pants becoming unbearingly tight from how hard and turned on he was.

He then dragged his tongue across your torso until he reached the hem of your pants, unbuttoning them and pulling everything you had down so you'd finally lay in front of him completely exposed, your dick standing proudly and pre-cum drooling from your tip. Gods, how much Jayce loved this sight.

"You look... Divine", he said in awe, eyes fixated on your body, almost unable to draw away his gaze.

But the need to fuck you was bigger than the need to worship your body alone, after all he could do both at the same time. "Is it okay if we skip foreplay? I just wanna feel your hole around me", Jayce asked, almost begged, you, mind fogged by the immense need to fuck you senseless.

"I promise I'll make it up", he quickly added when you didn't respond which just elicited a chuckle from you, nodding and giving him the green light he needed to continue.

As quickly as he could, Jayce got rid of his pants and underwear throwing them into some corner of the room, his cock resting nicely against his toned abdomen, the tip red and leaking, twitching from how needy he was.

Not wasting more time than he already did he reached over to his nightstand, pulling out a nicely but decently decorated flask clearly full of lube of which he smeared a handful around his cock and between your cheeks and into your hole with a quick dip of his fingers.

His strong hands came down to grip your waist, pulling your hips up just enough so he could align his tip with your entrance, your dick twitching at the though of how his big and thick cock would feel inside of you.

You gave him a small nod, giving Jayce the last confirmation he needed to sink his throbbing erection into you, groaning at how tight and warm you felt around him, your walls snuggly fitting around him.

"Mhm, fuck...", Jayce cursed once he finally was fully inside of you, his eyes half lidded from pleasure and gaze filled with lust.

As much as he just wanted to move and fuck you, he knew how painful it was for you to take him without any preparation, so like the gentleman he was, he stayed still as best as he could, letting you adjust to his sheer size and girth as long as you needed to.

Once he knew you were fine and ready Jayce didn't hold back.

As soon as he moved his hips, he almost pulled out completely only to slam back into you again, making you moan out loudly and arch your back at how deep he was. Jayce repeated this over and over again, his thrusts becoming faster and harder with every time he slammed back into your tight hole.

It was almost embarrassing for him how fast Jayce felt himself near the edge of his orgasm. You didn't voice how close you were but he also didn't want to stop now so he just used one of his still lubey hands to jerk you off in the rhythm of his thrusts until the two of you came unison, Jayce having quickly pulled out prior to his organs, his seed and your own mixing and covering your stomach, chest and the sheets beneath.

[sinfulspencer]

Safe place

Prompt: After working on a hard case, Spencer takes comfort in your body. 

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Rating: angst, mature (18+, minors DNI)

Warnings: friends with benefits dynamic, dom/sub dynamic, Sub!Spencer, Domme!Reader, dirty talking, praise kink, light hair pulling, titty sucking, breast play, oral sex (fem!receiving, male!receiving), fingerfucking, rough sex as a coping mechanism, breeding kink, unprotected sex, creampie

Words: 4.6k

A.N.: Is it obvious that I have a thing for Sub Spencer? Also, a massive thank you to my friend @snixkers for beta reading this for me. This was written for @imagining-in-the-margins's FWB challenge.

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I wasn’t surprised to find Spencer on the doorstep at midnight.

He was drenched in water and the look he had on his face was obvious: he needed something to ease his mind, to focus on someone else for a few hours. His mind was a whirlwind of something that he wasn’t going to explain to me and he needed a distraction; a good one, at last.

“Everything okay?” I dared to ask

Spencer shrugged and stepped inside, closing the door behind his back. “Not really, but I don’t want to talk.”

I knew exactly why he came to me, his eyes immediately shifting on what he wanted. His gaze was focused on my chest and I nodded my head: fooling around with Spencer didn't seem such a bad idea. I had an intense day as well, and an orgasm or two would’ve definitely helped me ease the tension clearly clinging to my bones and my joints.

Spencer took off his coat and hung it behind the main door, then he followed me in the living room. I was wearing a boring pyjama but Spencer didn’t seem to mind, he needed something else that required no clothes on. Despite our agreement to have a close friendship with benefits, sometimes we didn’t really need the friendship part - like that night. We didn’t need to talk, we just needed physical comfort.

And I was happy to provide that for Spencer, especially if it involved his mouth all over my neck and my breasts to ease the tension in my own body.

“Do you want me to…”

I pulled the small ribbon on my chest and Spencer nodded his head, helping me remove my shirt without speaking. I knew what he wanted, but I needed to know that he was ready for it and most importantly, he truly wanted it.

Spencer caressed my shoulders with both hands, kneeling on the floor between my thighs as I sat down on the couch but close to the edge. My chest was pressed to his and Spencer was happy to feel my breasts against his body, his mouth already nipping and licking the bruises he had left a few days before on my throat.

The love bites all over my skin were fading, but Spencer could still see them and create new ones that he’d dream about for the rest of week.

“Do you want to do it in this position?” I asked

Spencer shrugged, his hands now moving down to my exposed chest. I couldn’t care less about wearing a bra because I was not supposed to have guests, but Spencer appreciated my bare breasts. He didn’t want to waste time struggling to open up a bra.

Sighing, I brought both my hands behind his neck. Spencer was beautiful, I had no reason to deny that, but he was also so troubled, so upset; I didn’t blame him. His job was awful and he was constantly bombarded with horrific videos, images and information about the worst crimes that humanity could commit. 

And somehow, he chose me as his safe place.

Spencer decided to come and find me each time he didn’t feel good, each time he felt too good, each time he just needed someone to be there for him - whether in a physical or emotional way.

“Bedroom.” Spencer whispered

Following him where he wanted to spend the rest of the night, I laid down on the bed and it didn’t take long for Spencer to lay on top of me. He had undressed so quickly I barely registered it. And once he was on top of me, he left kisses all over my collarbones, nipping at my throat once again while his hands caressed my waist and then the outside of my thighs.

His fingers were gentle across my skin, just like his lips - feverish kisses were peppered down my chest. Spence had his eyes open the whole time and I could see the desire flash behind them when I placed my right hand behind his head. My fingers snuck through his soft hair and I tugged on it, forcing him to look back at him. .

The lustful gaze he gave me was enough to bring a smirk over my lips.

His body reacted to my harsh tug easily: his cock hardened against my inner thigh, and I moved my leg to give him some friction. Spencer bit his bottom lip and his grip on my thighs became tighter, as he dug his fingers into my skin.

“Go on, sweet boy. Do whatever you want.”

Spencer stared at me and nodded his head. “Can I?”

I hummed, pulling on his hair again. “I said that you can do whatever you want. Go on.”

A soft whimper fell from his lips, a sound that I play in my head over and over when I pleasure myself all alone. There was nothing better than to hear Spencer whimper, moan and whine because of me, of my hands, of my mouth, of my cunt, of my body. It was enchanting to see how his body reacted to anything I gave him.

Propping myself on the plush pillows of my bed, I closed my eyes while Spencer struggled to set between my legs. He hooked his right arm underneath my waist to push my body against his. Spencer nuzzled his face against my chest and I ran my fingers through his curls, not wanting to hurt him any further. 

He deserved a motherly touch that night, a gentle caress on his face as he worshipped my chest with his mouth and his tongue. Spencer’s face was pressed to my chest and I bit my bottom lip when I felt his teeth sink into the soft skin between my breasts, leaving the first mark of the night.

“You’ve been so stressed lately, sweet boy.” - I whispered, - “But now you’re safe with me in my arms, in my bed.”

Spencer dragged his tongue from the bruise forming on my skin down to my right breast and I hummed softly, moving my eyes down to his face. He knew that I enjoyed having my breasts played with and what was better than giving someone physical pleasure while, in return, receiving both physical and emotional pleasure?

Spencer was a whore for my touch, but also from my voice and the honey-coated words that fell from my lips each time we were together. He loved when I sweet-talk to him after a tough case and that was exactly what I was going to do. 

“I have missed you so much today.” - I added, - “I’ve thought about you all day, how tired you must’ve been but now you’re with me. And that makes me so happy, sweet boy.”

The sound of my voice seemed to soothe Spencer, though the lust was clear in his actions. 

“Did you miss me, Spencer? Did you think about me?” I asked

Spencer nodded his head, his lips never leaving my skin. “All the time. Think about you, your tits, your cunt, how good you taste.”

It wasn’t strange to hear him use bad words, but it was endearing. Spencer was always so sensible, so delicate in the way he spoke but with me he just couldn’t care less. He was direct, dirty, disgustingly exciting and that turned me on more than I could explain.

“Oh, so desperate for me, sweet boy.”

Spencer smiled against my skin. “You know it.”

I fixed his hair when a curl attempted to fall down on his forehead and I sighed, waiting for Spencer to give in to his own desire. He was always careful when it came to me, terrified that he’d go too far and I appreciated that. When I opened my eyes, however, I saw an eagerness that almost left me breathless. 

Spencer was burning with a flaming desire. 

“What’s wrong, sweet boy?”

His lips quivered. “Can you.. please..”

Spencer pawed at my left hand and placed it upon my own breast. He was eager to have me in his mouth, but I had to offer myself to him and not the other way around. Spencer liked the image of me offering my body to him and I wasn’t going to complain; that image was exciting for me, too. 

Pressing my left hand underneath my right breast, I offered my chest to Spencer’s and his lips quickly closed around my nipple. His tongue rolled all over it, focusing on the tip before he started to suck on it slowly, lazily, gently. His face was pressed to your chest and his other hand was clinging to your waist now, still digging his fingers into your skin. 

He was clinging to your body like it was an anchor and he was lost at sea. 

“There you go, sweet boy. You always make me feel so good.” I reminded him

Spencer glanced up at me, but didn’t answer. He didn’t want to because that meant his mouth would’ve pulled away from where it was and he couldn’t have that. Oh no. Soft whimpers came from him as I closed my eyes again, enjoying the warmth of his tongue now pressing against my nipple.

The pleasure was slowly biting me from the insides, but I stayed quiet. It was a struggle to focus on his own desire, but I made it happen. I wanted Spencer to enjoy himself before ordering him to fuck me however he pleased to forget the miserable days we both had. 

Spencer rolled his hips against my leg and I felt his cock pressing to my inner thigh, leaving a trail of wetness across my skin. 

“Are you happy now, sweet boy?”

Spencer mumbled something. “Missed your tits.” 

I chuckled, running my fingers through his curls again. “Hm, I can feel that.”

He went quiet again after that to focus on the pleasure that sucking my tits and touching me all over gave him. Spencer used his other hand to massage my other breast and I moaned softly, guiding his mouth exactly where I wanted him to be. 

“Nobody can do this better than me, sweet boy. You know that.” I whispered

Spencer nodded his head, sucking on my right nipple before he pulled away and went to give his attention to the other one. A string of spit snapped back on his chin and he looked up at me, his cheeks bright red. 

“I wouldn’t want anybody else.” he replied

With his free hand, Spencer started to play with my right nipple while his mouth closed around my left one. His tongue began its torture, while his thumb and his index rolled and pinched my right nipple. 

“I know, I’m the only one who can take good care of you.” - I responded, struggling to hold back a moan when Spencer softly bit my nipple, - “Ah, ah. Careful.”

He nodded his head and gave me an apologetic look, before sucking on my nipple. Saliva was dripping down his chin and staining my chest, but I didn’t really care. All that mattered was that Spencer was happy, satisfied and horny. 

His tongue lapped my nipple over and over, before Spencer shifted to the other one. And again, he started his torture: he sucked, nipped, bit my nipple and caressed it with his tongue ‘til it was hard in his mouth. And it felt good, but it was also pure torture. 

“Nobody knows you the way I do, my sweet boy. So strong, so powerful, so smart outside but here in my bedroom…” - I smiled down at him, - “Here you are my helpless, eager to please and always needy for me sweet boy.”

Spencer whined and looked up at me, nodding eagerly - his eyes were full of lust and I knew that he was done with my breasts. He proved my point so easily as he pushed his body against mine again, his cock achingly pressing to my inner thigh.

“Let me take care of you.” - I stated, earning a positive response from him in the form of a moan, - “Lay back down for me, sweet boy.”

Rolling on top of him, Spencer laid down on the bed with his hands now clinging to my waist but his grip quickly slipped when I settled between his thighs. I needed to give him something more, I needed to pleasure him and also give pleasure to myself and I knew exactly how to do it.

From between Spencer’s thighs, I saw him close his eyes as he waited for whatever I was willing to give him. He was always so patient with him, so excited for a single touch from him. 

His naked body was glorious to look at and I felt blessed every single time he allowed me to see it. My hands travelled down his chest and they settled on his hips, while I admired his cock twitch under my gaze. It was hard and leaking, which prompted me to lean forward and take the tip in my mouth. 

Spencer hissed at the sensation and his eyes fluttered: he stared at me with his lips slightly parted and I smiled at him.

“What, sweet boy? Do you see something that you like?”

Spencer groaned in pleasure and fell back on the bed, his eyes now closed.. My fingers wrapped around the base of his cock and slowly I started to jerk him off while my tongue lavishly lapped at the tip. I was still resting back on my heels and focused my gaze on Spencer’s face, sucking his cock like I was meant to be doing.

There was nothing better than to please Spencer because the sounds he made just sent pleasure jolts straight between my thighs. It was enchanting to see Spencer react to the pleasure that I was bringing him with my mouth, with my touch, with my body. 

I flattened my tongue underneath the tip of his cock before I slowly pushed him inside of my mouth - inch after inch, I took him with the tears pricking in my eyes. Spencer released a strangled moan when he hit the back of my throat, feeling my cheeks close around his cock. Engulfed in the warmth of my mouth, Spencer snuck his fingers through my hair and pulled it so harshly that I almost cried. 

That felt so fucking good. 

Pulling away from his cock, spit coated my chin and I brushed the back of my hands on my cheeks to wipe the tears away.

“Did that feel good, sweet boy?” - I asked, my voice filled with delirious lust for him - “Did you like it when I took your pretty cock into my mouth?”

Spencer frantically nodded his head. “Hm, yes. Yes.”

He was staring at me with his lips parted and I gave him a small smile, before returning to focus all my attention on the most precious part of his body. His cock slid on my tongue and I sucked on it lightly, moaning softly when Spencer’s hand gripped my hair again. He didn’t pull my hair, but he was anchored to me as I moved my mouth up and down his shaft to slick it with my own spit. 

Spencer was a panting mess and I fucking loved it because it was all my fault. After all, he came to me for some comfort and I was bringing him more than that. 

“Stop, stop. Please.”

His voice caught me off guard and I quickly pulled away from him. My chin was covered in spit and my lips were red, bruised.

“Everything okay?”

Spencer nodded, breathing hard. “Need your cunt. Now. Please.”

Struggling to hold back a laugh, I nodded my head and moved to Spencer’s side. It was endearing to see Spencer completely out of his mind with lust - his hands roamed all over my body as soon as I was laying down on the bed and he could get on top of me, again. His mouth found its way to my neck and soon, his teeth sunk into my skin to leave marks that were making my knees tremble. 

 “Of course you need my cunt, sweet boy, but you have to prepare me first.”

Spencer didn’t waste any and he spat right between my thighs, on my cunt. It made me giggle: that was pure desperation to have me. Usually he took his time to finger me, to eat me out but that night he was just desperate to be inside of me. Collecting his own spit and the essence of my pleasure, he sunk two fingers inside of me and slowly scissored them to stretch me. It felt good, but what I needed the most was his cock - I was just as desperate as him.  

His mouth quickly attached to my nipple again and I gripped the bed sheets, whimpering.

“Fuck, Spencer.”

Spencer curled his fingers inside of me as he sucked on my nipple, torturing it with his warm tongue. I knew I was going to have little bite marks all around my nipples, but they were so worth it. 

My breath was rugged and I felt my chest tighten, a sign of my impending orgasm that I struggled to hold back. I placed my hand on his forearm and whispered to him to stop, which he immediately did. I didn’t want to come on his fingers, I didn’t want my pleasure to end there. 

I just wanted Spencer inside of me before I lost my mind.  

When Spencer pulled his hand away from my cunt, he used his fingers to smear my own wetness all over his cock. The sight was so erotic and dirty that I could’ve come if I wasn’t so desperate for Spencer’s cock. I needed someone to paint that scene for me so that I could hang it on the bedroom door. 

“Can I spend the night here?” Spencer asked

I nodded, not really wanting to kick him out after a good fuck. “Yes, of course.”

His lips twitched into a smile as he forced me to lay back down on the bed. His hands were gentle on my shoulders and when he leaned closer to my face, I was hoping that he’d kiss me but he didn’t. 

Another stupid rule that we set when we decided to become friends with benefits. 

I was starting to hate that fucking rule because Spencer’s lips were too pretty not to be kissed, nipped and sucked on. However, a kiss was definitely too intimate for me - especially if given during missionary or something. 

Weird, given the fact that I was allowing Spencer to be inside of me as deeply as he could, but that’s how we both felt with kisses. 

“Good. Then, I’ll wake you up with my tongue.”

Giggling, I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. “Oh, don’t threaten me with a good time sweet boy.”

Spencer positioned on top of me and with no hesitation, he slid his cock up and down my folds to gather more of my essence. I bit my tongue and stared at Spencer the whole time, admiring him - and he did the same. 

It felt like time had stopped every single time that our eyes met. 

But I couldn’t let myself go in such a way, so I forced myself to roll my hips and lift it high enough for Spencer to sink into me with no resistance. However, Spencer took his time to thrust inside - slowly, painfully slowly. Inch by inch, he filled me and I saw stars exploding right behind my eyes. 

Goosebumps rippled all over my arms and I released a strangled moan, throwing my head back when Spencer finally bottomed out. 

“I’ve missed your cunt, oh God.” Spencer whispered to me

Our lips were so close and I had to physically restrain myself from kissing him by scratching his back. My nails draw lines all over his skin and I didn’t really care if I made him bleed. I needed to calm down, to focus on the pleasure rather than the intimacy of the moment. 

I hated how each time we seemed to grow close to one another because feelings were extremely scary for both of us. I didn’t need to get caught up with them again.

Spencer melted against my body and he hid his face in the crook of my neck, slowly rutting inside of me. I closed my thighs around his waist and moaned softly, allowing Spencer to get all the pleasure that he could while also giving it to me - it felt wonderful to feel his teeth nipping at my throat and his curls tickling my skin. 

Despite his mouth pressed to my chest, I could still hear the low groans and grunts that came from Spencer. They were music to my ears. 

Spencer pressed me down onto the bed as he thrusted in and out of me, picking up his own pace. The position I was in, with my hips up in the air and Spencer kneeling between my thighs, was perfect - it had me tethering on the edge of pleasure and pain, a delicious limbo that I have learned to love with Spencer.

“God, sweet boy.. so good.” I whimpered

Spencer pulled away from my chest, leaving a trail of saliva between my breasts. He looked down at me as he kept thrusting in and out of me - a brutal, rapid pace that almost didn’t allow me to breathe right. I didn’t want to if it meant that Spencer was feeling all the pleasure that he could take from me. 

“You were made for me.”

I didn’t know if he was being serious or if it was just the haze of passion that blinded Spencer and made him dizzy, but it didn’t matter. His words were enough to bring me closer to the edge. Deep down, I was just like him - I basked in his praise, in the knowledge of my body being what gives Spencer pleasure. 

My whole body erupted with goosebumps and I dug my fingers into his back, whining his name over and over. Spencer had his right hand between my thighs, massaging my clit with the tip of his thumb, and his other hand on my knee. He was keeping me in place, watching me as I came undone underneath him. 

My orgasm hit me harder than I expected.

“Let me prove that to you, sweet boy.” I whispered in return to his words

Spencer knew exactly what I meant by that and his breath became uneven, his thrusts even harsher and violent. I didn’t want him to stop: the pleasure soon morphed into pain and I begged him for more. I started to roll my hips to match his rhythm, not caring that my whole body was shuddering with pain and pleasure at the same time. 

Every sensation was heightened, the pain was so strong that it quickly morphed again into a stinging pleasure that made it difficult for me to breathe right. 

“Come inside of me. Please.” I mumbled 

Spencer groaned at my words and soon, he was fucking me harder and harder into the mattress. His body towered on top of mine as he pushed down, almost crashing me against the soft mattress of my own bed. Spencer was hunched over me, his lips a little too close to mine as more moans and grunts fell from his mouth. 

I closed my thighs again around his waist, earning another whimper from him. He loved when I’d cage him against him, forcing him to fuck into me without pulling out - not even for a moment, not even for a second. Spencer kept whispering to me that he missed me, that he wanted to be with me every single night, that he couldn’t wait to come home and fuck me - and God, did that feel fucking amazing to hear. 

And when Spencer finally reached his release, I felt his warmth spill deep inside of me. I clung to his body with all the strength that remained in me and Spencer hid his face in the crook of my neck, again. 

His hot breath caressed my skin as he came down from his high, slowly rutting into me to feel all the pleasure that he could. His body was warm on top of mine as I released my grip from him. 

I was trembling, still hazy from my own orgasm. It was always a struggle to come down from mine and Spencer’s activity. I barely realised that he walked out of my bedroom to grab something to clean me up. 

“Are you sure I can stay here for the night?”

Spencer handed me a warm washcloth and I cleaned myself up as best as I could.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t you?”

He hesitated and I knew what was going through his mind, because it was the same thought that appeared in mine. I knew we had our agreement and the nights we spent in the same bed could be counted on a single hand, but still. 

“I don’t know. Maybe things can get… weird.” 

“They’ll get weird if we let them get weird.” I responded

Spencer nodded, running his fingers through his curls all messy. “Right.”

I decided to change the topic. “I hope you feel better now.”

“Much better. I needed this. I needed you tonight.” - Spencer said with a smile, standing next to my bed, - “I think our agreement might be the best I’ve ever made with someone.”

Chuckling, I got out of bed. “Hm, good. I’m glad you think so.”

Spencer followed me to the bathroom and we prepared for bed, though I felt his eyes burning on my skin the whole time. Exhaustion was written on both our faces and I craved my warm and bouncy mattress. I needed to lay down and rest my legs, my arms, every inch of my body.  

We returned to my bedroom and we laid together in silence. I didn’t want to break the quiet bubble between us, I was constantly worried of always saying the wrong thing - I didn’t want to scare Spencer off. I was staring at the ceiling when he grabbed my hand and brought it up to his mouth, leaving kisses all over my knuckles. 

“You’ve been strangely sweet today.”

“Is that so weird?” Spencer asked

I chuckled, turning to the side to face him. “Oh no, it’s not weird. I just wonder why.”

He pulled me closer to his body. “I just missed you, that’s all.”

“Remember that you can always come here when you need me.” - I reminded him, laying my head on his chest, - “It’s a safe space.”

Spencer pressed a kiss on top of my head. “Your cunt is my safe space.”

I went quiet for a moment, not knowing if I could laugh. Spencer was dead serious, or at least his tone was. And when I look up at him, he had that usual annoying smug smirk that made my knees tremble every fucking time.

I bursted out laughing. “You’re disgusting.”

Spencer rolled his eyes. “Well…”

“But you’re a good fuck so you’re excused.” I added

I leaned my head back on his chest and took a deep breath, enjoying the warmth of his body flushed to mine. Spencer ran his fingers through my hair and soon enough, I drifted off to sleep. 

Spencer considered my body his safe space, but he was mine as well. 

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[lovelytsunoda]

9 to 5 (what a way to make a living) // logan sargeant

summary: its y/n's first day of work at her new job, and logan is trying his best to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

pairing: logan sargeant x girlfriend!reader

warnings: logie bear being the bestest boyfriend ever.

author's note: no logan fic will ever quite match 'jolene', but in the same spirit, here is another logan x dolly crossover event :)

she had taken the clothes out of her closet the night before, the dress pants hanging from the bedroom doorknob, silk shirt pressed over the back of her desk chair. she had been so nervous the night before that it had taken two melatonin to knock her out for the night.

which is why logan felt so bad for needing to wake her, but if she was going to make it to the first day of her new job on time for nine am sharp, she couldn't sleep in any longer.

"princess." he hummed, gently shaking her shoulder. he could smell the toast from the kitchen, hear the soft hum of the morning show he had put on the flat screen tv. "its time to wake up. its your first day of work."

"no, fuck off." she whined, smacking logan's hand away. "i don't wanna go. you have more than enough money for both of us."

logan knew that was true. he'd been born with the metaphorical silver spoon, but that didn't mean his dad didn't make him work for it, and that he wasn't still 'working for it'. it was just in a job that was more highly paid than anything else on earth.

he also knew that y/n would go insane sitting around the house all day with nothing to do, so it was important that she went to work, found a purpose and made new friends. that she socialized with other people once in a while.

"come on, you're getting up. go have a quick shower, i'm making breakfast, and they're interviewing ryan gosling on kelley and mark this monring."

begrudgingly, she sat up, her hair tangled and her face marred with red lines from the imprint of her pillowcase. "i hate you."

"no you don't." logan laughed. "shall i go finish breakfast, or do you need me to stay here and make sure that you get out of bed?"

_____

logan was in the kitchen, listening to the morning show hosts play 'stump mark', and frying up the flattened breakfast sausages. the table was already set, laid out with fresh flowers, a large stack of toast, a glass of ice water and three small heart-shaped chocolates.

everything needed to be perfect.

he had even taken the day off to make sure that all the household chores got done, and that his beloved could relax when she got home.

she emerged from the bedroom, hair still damp but curled around her shoulders, the silk shirt hugging her torso. silver hoops dangled from her ears, and logan thought she looked beautiful.

"awe, logan. you made me breakfast?" she sighed, hands over her heart.

logan grinned, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table. "and lunch. and i made you a hot chocolate to go, and packed your purse with all the essentials. i'm also working from home today, so if there's anything you think of during the day that needs to be done and starts making you anxious, shoot me a text, i'm sure james won't mind if i'm only half present in a meeting."

her heart felt full, her skin warm. she took a bite of the breakfast logan had prepared to buy herself time to think of a thoughtful answer, one that meaningfully encompasses just how much this gesture meant to her.

"logan, you're too good for me."

in a world of crappy boyfriends, and ones that are sweet and funny and kind yet unattractive (and the ones that look stunning but act like pieces of crap), how did she end up with a man like logan? a one in a million, authentic, rich, athletic, funny, charming, caring boyfriend?

"no i'm not." logan grins, hugging her from behind and placing a soft kiss to the top of her head. her hair was still damp, and smelled like her pumpkin spice shampoo, even though it was the middle of spring. "you're too good for me."

"can i trust you to make dinner as well, or will i come home to a burned down house?" she asked slyly, turning to face her boyfriend, still twirling a piece of bacon around her fork.

logan laughed. "babe, i think i can handle it. kyle is gonna come over, we'll get the barbecue out and make an afternoon out of it. the panthers are playing today!"

he was so excited, she almost didn't want to ruin it by reminding her lover of what happened the last time he invited kyle over to barbecue something. they were fishing charred brisket out of the pool weeks later. having the kirkwood boy over at their house just opened a whole new pandora's box. one that she was always happy to be a part of.

as long as she wasn't cleaning up after them.

feeling her eyes on the back of his skull as he crossed to the other side of the table, logan relented. "we're not making brisket today! just a simple steak roast."

"sure. you say that now, but once you and kyle start drinking, you overestimate yourselves." she jokingly jabbed back.

"don't you have to go to work?"

"don't remind me! i'm hoping they'll forget i was supposed to start today."

________

at long last, and at the moment she was dreading the most, she was ready to leave for work. her purse was slung over her shoulder, packed thoughtfully by her boyfriend to contain a small bottle of sodastream water with berry flavoring, a fresh lip balm, her allergy medication, a printed map of directions to her office, and her car keys.

she paced the front hall nervously, resisting the urge to scrunch her shoulders and tuck her hands away into the sleeves of her trench coat.

she could do this. she was about to be a working woman. this is why she went to college.

but her bed was so warm, and that book on her nightstand really needs reading. and she's two episodes away from the finale of big little lies-

"stop looking for reasons not to go." logan sighed, hands in the pockets of his adidas pants as he leaned against the doorframe. "you're going to do great, princess. they'll love you."

"how are you so sure?" she asked quietly, avoiding his eyes as she brushed a few errant strands of hair out of her face. "what if i get there and i'm bad at everything, or my supervisor hates me and i get fired and it takes me years to find another job-"

"babe, babe. calm down." logan soothed, resting his hands on her shoulders. "look at me, pretty girl. you are brilliant and funny and smart, and way more emotionally intelligent than most people give you credit for. your worked hard for this degree, and you earned it. if they don't love you there, that's their loss. any boss would be lucky to have you. you graduated on the dean's list, for god sakes. you will do just fine."

she wanted to believe him. she really did. but there was still a small voice in the back of her head that just kept going on about what-if's.

logan pulled her in for a hug, gently running a hand up and down her back.

"you are going to do wonderfully. and if you don't? i will be your sugar daddy while you find a new job."

he wasn't serious when he said it, and he knew he had said the right things when y/n began to laugh in his arms.

"don't say that. now i'll never go to work. i'll just lie by the pool with my book and make googly eyes at the pool boy while you do all the work. you know, like all rich couples." she giggled, pulling away so logan could see her face, and fully tell that she was joking.

"i love you." logan said, cupping her face with one hand, leaning in to kiss her softly. "i'm so proud of you, you deserve this job more than anyone i know."

"i love you too, logie bear. and please try not to burn the steaks."

TAGS:

@magnummagnussen @libraryofloveletters @thatsdemko @sidcrosbyspuck @httpiastri @twinkodium

@clemswrld

@userlando

[talaok]

I need angry love confessions in the rain with Pedro pleaseee

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x reader

warnings: angst with happy ending, and no context whatsoever just feels and my overdramatic writing

a/n: im not sure this is what you meant but this is what my brain decided on

"y/n stop!"

"No!" you yelled now, fully yelled, screamed at the top of your lungs, because fuck this, fuck everything, you were tired, you were fucking exhausted and you were done being kind.

Rain was falling like splinters of glass shattered all over the concrete, you could still hear the sound of laughter from the bar and his heavy footsteps behind you, so you fastened your pace, your makeup melting underneath the water falling from the sky and your dress drenched, but all you needed to do was run

"y/n wait a fucking second!"

"fuck off Pedro!" 

But his hand was already on your wrist, that never-dying feeling only he ignited still inevitably, annoyingly there.

"Listen to me!"

"No" you said, still turned away, like a child throwing a tantrum

"It's not what you think"

You could have run, you could have freed yourself from his hold and ran to the main street to catch a cab home, but you didn't, for some god-forsaken reason you had turned.

"I hate you" 

You could already tell what he was about to say from the look in his eyes, that fucking look, and those fucking words

The same ones you would have killed to hear just a day ago

"I love you"

You clenched your teeth, shaking your head

"yeah well good for you," you said "It's too late" you shook his hand off of you "you know it's too late"

"but it's not" he breathed "It's never too late, y/n I fucking love you" he sighed, his hair a wet mess all over his forehead "please, just-"

"no" this time tears almost spilling out together with your words "You've had all the time in the fucking world to say that. I've waited for you for a fucking eternity, for you to say that to me, for you to mean it... so no Pedro, you don't get to do this now" you cried "You don't get to say that you love me and make everything else go away, that's not how it works. It's too fucking late."

And so you turned, your back to him, an empty street, blurred by the tears staining your sight, in front of you,

I did the right thing

I deserve better

I don't need him

I just need to get home

"I'm sorry"

He was in front of you, his eyes glimmering, his chest heaving

"I'm sorry y/n" and in his voice was everything, the pain, the pleading, the desperation 

"I'm sorry," he said again, one of his knees hitting the ground "I'm sorry" and there went the other.

He was kneeling in front of you, taking your hands in his

"I'm sorry about everything, about making you wait, about how I treated you, how I let everyone else treat you... I'm sorry I didn't know sooner, except of course, I've always known" he paused, looking up at you as if you were a god with the power to take his life away in the blink of an eye, and perhaps at that moment you were.

"The truth is- the truth's that I'm a coward, that I'm an asshole, that I'm million different awful things that I'm sure you know better than anyone," he said "but before everything, before everything, I'm yours" he breathed, "my heart is yours, only yours, because I long for you, every moment of the day I miss you y/n, I think about you, I dream of you- you- you are everything y/n, You are my everything"

The thunderstorm around you was only getting worse, but all you could feel now were his hands grasping yours, and his words melting your heart.

"And I understand if you don't want to forgive me, I do, but I just- I needed you to understand... I needed you to understand that when I say that I love you I mean it, that without you I'm lost, that this feeling for you, this- this god awful, scary feeling isn't going anywhere, and no matter what you decide here now, I will always, until they bury me six feet under... love you more than life"

And what to do? What to do when he was right there, kneeling before you in the pouring rain?

What could you have done, what could anyone have done, with their heart racing and their brain a mess, but do the same?

So you knelt, you dropped to the ground to him,

and this time, he was there to catch you, your tears mixing with the rain as you finally felt his lips on yours.

[singmyaubade]

Forget-Me-Nots

James Potter x Female!Reader

A/N: Hi there! I haven't written in a while, but this idea just struck me, and because I've been struggling with writer's block, I really needed to write it. In a way, it's my salvation. This is the first series I am starting, but I will be finishing and starting others.

IB: The Other Zoey by Sara Zandieh. (This movie so good by the way).

Summary: James could never forget a love like yours.

Warning: It may contain swearing and soon-to-be smut.

There were three things that you couldn't stand.

One was really cold classrooms, which not only made you sleepy but also made it difficult to concentrate on your studies. As a result, you started carrying a jumper with you everywhere you went.

The second was being sick; you detested missing out on opportunities and activities due to circumstances beyond your control, as well as how awful it would feel and how little you could do about it.

Three was crying,

Since fifth year, the idea of crying had both repulsed you and made you dislike how vulnerable everything was, as well as when someone felt sorry for you.

Of course, others could cry in front of you and you would give them comfort but you didn't want people to see you in pain and you making it everyone else's problem.

It wasn't right in your book.

But those were the three things you absolutely despised. They were all simple things you could avoid if you truly tried and you had for years.

But if we wanted to add a bonus point,

You would add James Fleamont Potter.

Quite ironic to hate "The Golden Boy,"

It was one of the most funniest cliches that even you could think of.

The girl who basically had no friends or social standing versus the most popular guy in Hogwarts.

Sounds about right.

But the reason that you couldn't include this in the things you couldn't stand is because it was complex. It wasn't simple and it wasn't something that you could easily describe nor avoid.

You couldn't say that you weren't being immature but what James had done had completely indescribably affected you.

To be fair, it was in fifth year and you were now on your seventh year which means the hatred is pre-historic but when 'The James Potter' cheats on you with Jade Davies AKA the girl you despise that has bullied you since first year,

It gets pretty intense.

Since then, you had refused to talk to James and he let you have your space.

Unfortunately, it didn't mean that Jade would stop bullying you but it only meant that she had more material to bully you with but James did his best to help you avoid her by distracting her when you came by or kissing to distract her.

But you weren't thankful for his gestures, you wished nothing but a quaffle to be shoved up his ass in all honestly.

Then again, it was all so long ago and you wanted to let it go and just have fun for your last year.

Which is why you attended the first Quidditch game of the season.

You were practically freezing, hugging your cheeks with your palms. It was especially cold and you forget to bring another jumper to top over the one you had now.

There was loud cheering all around you as you heard a few chants for James as you saw him dive for the golden snitch.

At the same time, the quaffle came fast in the same direction, colliding with James's head.

He went into instant unconsciousness as he was about to dove straight in the ground.

The crowd went silent as James fell in the air but it felt like he was already moving in slow motion.

Your instincts kicked in as you stood and grabbed your wand from your boot "Arresto Momentum!" You yelled, pointing your wand at him as his movements slowed and he hit the grass floor lightly.

You gasped as everyone watched you, their mouthes agaped but a small part of you only cared if James was okay.

You heard people yelling and whispers asking if he was okay and parts about how you had saved him.

But it wasn't your problem.

You grabbed your bag, moving from the stands as you made your way to the castle. Your feet rushed over to your dorm, trying to make it there as fast as you can.

"Y/N!" You heard someone yell as you looked behind you to see Lily.

You looked ahead of you, trying to rush faster and then Lily said, "You saved him," She panted as a few seconds of silence went.

"It wasn't intentional," You responded, rolling your eyes.

"But you did it instantly," She replied, "You saved him," She looked at you as if she was trying to figure you out.

You stuttered, "Y-You said that and shouldn't you be with him?" You questioned, trying to keep your composure.

"You should come with me," Lily said.

"No, that's a bad idea," You declined, "Jade should already be with him," You cleared your throat, setting your book bag on your shoulder again.

"They aren't together," Lily mentioned, "He wants to see you,"

You raised your eyebrow in confusion, why would James want to see you?

"Lily I don't think-" You tried,

"You must!" Lily responded.

"But-" You tried again.

"You have to," Lily sternly said.

"If I do, will you leave me alone?" You asked, her face lighting up as she grabbed your arm dragging you into infirmary.

You both entered the infirmary, surrounded by hospital beds. You looked around at other sick students as Lily dragged you over to where James was laying.

Sirius, Peter, and Remus were around him, quietly talking as you approached him.

He had a harsh, purple bruise on his temple that was the size of your hand and a bandage wrapped around his head.

"James, I got her for you," Lily said as James groaned, blinking to take a good look at you, his eyes still squinting from the light and how much his head hurt.

"Baby," He sweetly said, a wide grin appearing on his lips as he squinted.

Baby.

He hadn't called you that in so long.

You flinched, trying not to show how taken aback you were in order to not freak him out but you were. You looked at the three boys in front of you but they were equally confused too.

"Potter, have you lost your-" You said as Lily elbowed you, earning a hiss from you.

"Play along," Lily mouthed, making you even more confused.

"But-" You were about to speak before Lily pushed you in front of James.

"Um, are you okay?" You asked, looking at him awkwardly.

"I'm amazing now that you are here," He said, smiling.

"Oh that's great!" You fake excitingly said.

"I missed you so much," James took your hand, rubbing it as your face was hit with surprise, "I heard you in my dreams," He dreamingly smiled.

"That's nice," You awkwardly laughed, "You should sleep, your head is probably pounding," You said, patting the back of his hand as he only caressed yours.

"Stay with me?" He asked, drifting into drowsiness.

You looked around at his friends as they urged you to say yes, "Sure," You sighed.

James's eyes closed as you laid his hand next to him on his bed. You watched at how pretty he looked sleeping, his eyelids fluttering but that was before you snapped into reality.

"What is going on?" You asked sternly, crossing your arms.

"Well," Sirius was about to start but Remus continued for him.

"James had called your name on the field after you performed that spell for him," He explained, making you blush, "And he wouldn't stop calling your name until the nurse gave him a drowsy potion,"

Your eyebrow raised, why was James Potter calling for you out of all people? You couldn't help but question the entire thing.

"And why was he calling my name?" You asked.

"We don't know," Lily answered.

"Well, I can't be with him when he wakes up," You said, looking off.

"You have to," Sirius answered, "Prongs can't be stressed out, it will only worsen his brain and he will end up like a pound of sausage," He said, confusing you.

"Great analogy but I really should be-" You started as you were interrupted.

"James!" Jade yelled dramatically, running over to him, "Oh will he make it?" Jade asked, fanning herself as the group rolled their eyes.

"He will be fine," Remus said.

"But I think seeing you will make it worse," Sirius added with a smile.

Jade scowled at him before looking at you, "What is she doing here?" She furiously said.

You were about to speak before Lily did it for you, "He called for her,"

"No he didn't," Jade laughed, dismissing the ridiculous thought.

"But he did," Peter said as Jade has a disgusted look on her face.

"Well I'm his girlfriend so I'm sure he will want to see me," Jade boasted as if she only cared about the label and not the fact that James had truly gotten hurt.

"You guys have been broken up for six months," Sirius scoffed.

"I would prefer on a break," Jade corrected, glaring at Sirius.

"Okay well, this has nothing to do with me," You said, trying to move past Jade but she blocked you.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jade asked.

"Moving out of the way so that you can coddle James and kiss his boo boo's away," You mocked.

"Honestly, I keep forgetting that James chose me over you, it's actually quite hilarious," Jade smirked as you rolled your eyes.

"Congrats on being easy, it's one of your best accomplishments," You insulted, trying to move past her but failing once again.

"Nice of you to assume that James was only with me because I'm "easy," She gaped, causing you to step back.

"Seriously bugger off Jade," Sirius defended.

Jade kept going, "Or are you sure it's not because I'm better than you in everything I do and that James couldn't stand to be with you for another second with your daddy issues and a failure at everything," She aggrieved.

Your eyes watered as Madam Pomfrey came in, "Oh Mr. Potter must have a lot of admirers," She joked as you only smiled in return, "Which one of you is the famous Y/N?" She asked, looking between you, Jade, and Lily.

You spoke, "I am,"

She smiled at you, "He had been calling you for ages, what a beautiful girlfriend he's got,"

"I'm actually not his-" You started but the nurse kept going.

"Mr. Potter will be fine but a few things are jumbled in there" She said, checking his vitals, "It's best if he isn't stressed out or confused because it could only make matters worse," She finished, looking at all of you.

You all nodded in reply, "Other than that, he is good to go tomorrow morning but he can only have two visitors tonight," She mentioned, exiting.

"Y/N, you should stay with him," Peter said shyly.

"I don't think-" You started before you were interrupted.

You were getting tired of being interrupted.

"No, James would wanna see me," Jade almost yelled.

"You will only give James more brain damage, Y/N stays," Lily spat, clearly annoyed by Jade.

Jade huffed, "I will be back in the morning," She stomped away.

"We'll leave you to it," Remus said as Sirius smirked, leaving with the group as Lily squeezed your shoulder before exiting too.

You sat on the chair next to James's bed, wondering how you got in this situation in the first place.

And then you wondered how you would get out of it.

[blushk1tten]

I’ve really got a craving for some angsty but ends with fluff Schlatt recently… would be great if you could do some xx

i love a good hurt with comfort. enjoy!

you already weren't having a great day when you got back from grocery shopping. traffic had been terrible, people at the store were just rude, and on top of it all, your car was making a grinding noise that definitely meant expensive repairs were in your future. all you wanted was to put away the groceries, then spend the rest of the day cuddling with schlatt and the cats.

"jay," you called, looking around for him so he could come help you carry the groceries in and maybe take a peek at your car. "can you help me?"

when you got to his office, you went to see if he was recording when you heard him through the door. "shit, i have t' go. i think i heard her. i'll see ya later, jess. i'm looking forward t' tonight,"

your heart was beating quickly. maybe it was a business call, but something seemed off. then, schlatt said something that made your heart freeze and drop into your stomach. "god no, she doesn't know. i doubt she'd be happy about it."

typically, you trusted schlatt with your whole heart. you'd been together for almost five years, after all, and had seen each other through thick and thin. what you heard though, sounded odd. it almost sounded like he was sneaking around with this jess behind your back. surely, that wasn't right though. so, you knocked on his door and called his name again, pretending you heard nothing.

"jay, are you busy?"

the door opened after a moment, revealing your boyfriend with a bright smile on his. "i'm never too busy f' you, doll. what d' ya need?"

once you explained that you needed help with the groceries and with figuring out what was wrong with your car, he quickly sprung into action. it put you at ease as you followed him. schlatt truly was an amazing boyfriend. he would never cheat on you with someone else. you were just having a bad day.

as you and schlatt took in the groceries, you explained what was wrong with the car. then, while you put everything away, he took a look at it. after a few minutes, he came back in and pressed a kiss to your cheek. "some of your wheel bearings need replaced, doll. they look awful. i have t' go, so i can pick some up and replace them f' ya."

that awful, aching feeling returned to your chest and stomach as the words "i'm looking forward to tonight" echoed in your head. still, you decided to play clueless. "i was looking forward to some time with you and the cats tonight. what are you doing?"

"i'm catchin' up with some of the otk guys over dinner."

your heart sunk further at the lie. furthermore, it was only four in the afternoon, far too early for dinner. "will you be home soon?"

he shook his head. "no, i'll probably be home late. we have a lot to catch up on, ya know?"

a soft "oh" left your mouth, and you nodded as he went to put his shoes on to leave. "i guess i'll see you later."

schlatt came back over and pressed another kiss to your cheek. "i'll see ya later, doll."

with that, he rushed out the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts. you didn't want to believe it, but it truly did seem like schlatt was sneaking off to meet up with this jess.

tears welled in your eyes as you finished putting away the groceries, and they began to spill down your cheeks once you settled on the couch. this week was supposed to be your five year anniversary with schlatt, and now instead of looking forward to it, all you could feel was a pulsing ache in your heart. rather than continuing, it looked like your relationship may be coming to an end.

"jambo," you rasped to the cat, sniffling and petting him as he curled up on your lap. "what am i supposed to do?"

he just purred in response. after all, he was only a cat. still, he brought you some semblance of comfort as you sobbed on the couch. "if we break up, i'm taking you and the other guy with me."

time seemed to pass slowly as you waited for schlatt. eventually though, it was almost ten o'clock, and he still hadn't returned. so, with red, puffy eyes, you gave up and went to lay in bed with the cats. you even managed to fall asleep, exhausted from the emotional turmoil of your day. it wasn't until the next morning that you woke up, eyes fluttering open to see schlatt already awake and playing clash on his phone. he grinned when he saw you.

"good morning, doll." he murmured, leaning over to kiss you.

instead of accepting his kiss, you quickly jerked away and sat up, scooting away from him on the bed. he looked hurt as you did that, brows furrowed in confusion. "doll, you okay?"

you could feel the tears welling up in your eyes again, and decided to just confront the issue. "did you have fun with jess last night?"

for a moment, schlatt seemed confused. then, his eyes widened. "oh my god. it's not what you think, baby. i promise."

"really," you rasped sarcastically, tears beginning to run down your cheeks. "what isn't what i think? the phone call i heard, the lie you told me about otk, or the part where you were gone over six hours yesterday?"

"any of it," he promised, looking desperate as he turned to his nightstand and began to scramble through it. "jess is a custom ring maker in dallas. i had to drive there yesterday to pick up your engagement ring,"

that made you freeze, looking up at schlatt in shock. you couldn't even speak as he finally pulled out a pair of socks and unwrapped them, revealing a black velvet box. once he opened the box, you were stunned to see the ring of your dreams. it had your favorite cut, metal type, and style, and was clearly made with care and attention.

"i have the text messages to back it up too," schlatt's voice was shaking as he passed you his phone as well. "i was going to propose on our anniversary."

sure enough, as you went through his messages with jess, it was a bunch of back-and-forth over your favorite things in a ring, what your ring size was, and updates and critiques on the crafting.

you felt horrible as you looked up at schlatt. meanwhile, he looked pale and panicked as he held the ring box, waiting for you to speak.

"so, when you said you were looking forward to tonight, and that i didn't know and wouldn't be happy, what did you mean?" you asked quietly, still a bit confused.

"jesus christ, that sounds horrible. no wonder you thought i was doin' something," he muttered before speaking up. "i was looking forward to getting the ring so i could finally propose, and we were joking about the price. i said you wouldn't be happy if you knew how much i spent."

"how much did you spend?!"

"not important," schlatt immediately glossed over that question and scooted closer to you, eyes earnest. "what's important is that you know i love you, and that i'd never cheat on you."

more tears started to streak your face, and schlatt put down the ring box to gently brushed them away, "i'm sorry," you rasped. "i shouldn't have doubted you."

schlatt shook his head. "if i heard that call and caught me in a lie like that, i'd doubt me too. i'm sorry for hurting you so much, doll."

you shook your head, moving so you were curled against him as he pulled you into a hug. "i forgive you."

the two of you stayed that way for a while, him pressing soft kisses to the top of your head, until he finally spoke up again. "this isn't exactly how i planned on proposing, but since you've seen the ring, doll, will you marry me?"

you nodded against his chest, looking up at him with teary eyes, this time of joy. "yes, jay. i will."

schlatt leaned in to kiss you on the lips this time, then pulled away and picked up the box again. afterwards, he took the ring out and put it on your ring finger. it fit perfectly, and both of you couldn't help but smile at each other.

"i love you." you murmured as he rested his forehead against yours.

"i love you too." he replied softly, his brown eyes full of adoration as he looked at you.

"now will you tell me how much you spent on my ring?"

schlatt chuckled, and leaned in to kiss your lips once again. "that's one secret i'll happily keep from you."

[lucy90712]

reader x pedri where pedri gets taken care of/sleepy and tired

Today has been a long day my boyfriend Pedri had to leave the house quite early this morning as he had an away game this evening so I had to wake up and say goodbye and wish him good luck. The team played really well and they got a good win which I wish I could've been there to see but I can never really go to away games as I have other things to do at home. The one thing I try and always do is stay up to greet Pedri when he comes home even if it's late I like to see him to either congratulate or console him based on the result. Every time he tells me not to stay up but I know he likes it when I'm there to greet him at the door. 

Tonight's game was a champions league game so the team have a bit of a longer flight but I got a text around 20 minutes ago from Pedri telling me he's on his way home. That means he should be home any minute now at nearly 3am and hopefully we can both go to bed because I'm exhausted so I can't imagine how tired Pedri is. I heard a car pulling into the driveway and our security cameras confirmed that it was Pedri which I knew it would be but I always have to check. It took a few minutes but eventually I heard the front door opening so I got myself up to greet Pedri, as soon as I saw him I could tell he was exhausted and a lot more than usual. His eyes looked really tired and he didn't seem to have any energy left as he dropped his bag on the floor and nearly fell over taking his shoes off. 

"Hey love congratulations you did so well out there" I said 

"Thanks it was good to play again" Pedri said coming over and putting his arms around my waist and his head in the crook of my neck 

"You should've gone to bed it's late and you have work in the morning" Pedri said still attached to me

"You know I like to wait for you to come home plus I can't sleep knowing you are on your way home how about we go to bed now though I can tell you are really tired" I said 

Instead of letting go of me so we could go to bed he only held onto me tighter. Pedri can be clingy sometimes but I've never seen him this clingy usually he just wants my attention for a bit so we will cuddle but right now it seems as though he won't survive if he's isn't attached to me. I know it's because he's tried and in the morning since he's had some sleep he won't be this clingy but I kind of love it. We don't often get much time together sometimes so it's moments like this that I love to just soak up but we can't stand here all night because Pedri's right I do have work in the morning and he clearly needs sleep too. 

I felt awful trying to escape his arms but I knew he understood because he didn't put up a fight instead he just grabbed my hand and we walked upstairs together. I got ready for bed hours ago but Pedri still needed to brush his teeth and get changed so I left him to do that while I sorted his stuff out for him. Usually when he gets home after an away game he leaves his bag by the door and deals with it in the morning but tonight I decided I'd just do it for him. All I had to do was put some things in the wash and put away everything else which didn't take me too long. While putting things away I noticed that Pedri had one of the matching bracelets we got when we first started dating from a tourist shop as a joke. Of course I still have mine too but I didn't realise that he took his with him to games and that just melted my heart as he's secretly such a sentimental person and no one else gets to really see that side of him. 

By the time I had sorted everything out and went back to the bedroom Pedri was already in bed but he had sorted out the pillows on my side of the bed and had the covers prepared for me to just get in. I crawled in and straight away Pedri put his arms around my waist and cuddled into my side moving around until he was comfortable. Most nights he likes me to sleep nearly on top of him but sometimes he's a bit more cuddly like tonight and I love that. Pedri is always taking care of me just in general but especially when I've had a long day and I'm tired so getting to do the same for him feels really good and I feel like I'm finally getting to give back a fraction of what he does for me. 

As much as he’s tired he won’t go to sleep until he knows I’m settled and ok so to get him to go to sleep I started running my hands through his hair. He loves when I play with his hair and scratch his scalp it nearly always sends him to sleep. As soon as my hands touched his hair he tucked his head further into my neck and I could hear his breathing slow down as he finally let himself relax. Pedri was right on the verge of falling asleep but I still felt him gently kiss my neck as he realised he hadn’t kissed me goodnight which he does every night. 

“Goodnight love you” Pedri whispered 

“Love you too now get some sleep” I whispered back kissing his head 

Within minutes he was lightly snoring but I stayed up for a bit longer making sure he was sleep before I too went to sleep to get a few hours sleep before I have to get up for work. 

[ottpopfic]

“Good morning Mr. Valdez” Leo greets, eyes soft and hands playing over Jason’s neck and shoulders like he can't get enough of him “That was quite a wake up”

Mr. Valdez. That's him now. It shoots something right through Jason, joy and pride and excitement, sharing the name. And not just any name, Leo’s name. A name he gifted to Jason, wiping clean a past he never wanted and replacing it with love and family. It's all Leo has left of his bio family, nothing else of his mother and her love aside the necklace that refuses to melt, and he gave it to Jason without a second thought.

They barely talked about it when it came up, if they should share a last name. All it took was the careful worry of the Grace legacy and Leo was offering it up. No tension, no hesitation, no concern of how Jason could tarnish the word. Just the easy love and the excitement of Jason belonging even more to him

And now for everyone to call him that, for his husband to call him that, Jason can feel the stars in his eyes as he looks down at the amazing man beneath him. How did he get so lucky?

Their friends and families were probably correct about them vacating the Way Station for some kind of honeymoon, the Way Station doesn't have room service and Jason has just decided he's not letting his husband out of bed today

“Are you getting all puppy possessive again” Leo laughs at his blown-out expression

“I married you” Jason breathes in awe

“That you did” Leo’s smile is so so soft “I married you back”

“Your mine, forever”

“Oh mi cielo” he takes Jason’s face in his hands “I already was”

Jason kisses him, and kisses him and kisses him. He kisses him until natural oxygen is hard to draw in and he has to make his own to feed into his husband, breathing into him just as much as he takes his breath away. Its desperate and claiming and Leo gives back as good as he gets, his own breath going heated against Jason’s lips and becoming visible between them. It would burn if Jason didn't run so cool, so instead he just licks into his husband's mouth and does everything in his power to drink him down

“Can I have you again?” Jason asks, suddenly needy when they break apart

“Again?” Leo pants winded

“Please again” he's sucking hickeys into the unblemished skin of his Leo’s neck, the barrier of ‘I don't want to be chewed up in our wedding photos’ now lifted “Wanna get you there again”

“Yeah sure yeah okay” Leo slurs back, voice catching with each mark Jason decorates him with “stuffs in the bags”

Jason lets himself have an excited happy wiggle before he demands Leo to “Stay”, clambering out of the big bed to Leo’s protest of “I'm not the one who's a dog here!”

Jason finds the lube in record time, mostly because it's a brand new giant bottle right on top. The kind with a pump spout that has a note attached with a ribbon that says nothing more than ‘Have Fun ♡ - C.’

“She did not!” Leo cackles after Jason tosses the bottle at him, untying the ribbon so it doesn’t get gross and laughing his head off as he rereads the note. He flings the fabric, note and all, out of the way as Jason crawls back into his space still giggling as he kisses him again

“There's this too” Jason shows the rose made out of condoms that was under the lube, it sends Leo back into hysterics

“Oh my god Georgie drew shit on them” Leo laughs as he unrolls the rose. True to his word there's little cartoon Leo and Jason’s on the wrappers in his sister-in-law’s style “we can't use these there a work or art”

As cute as he is laughing at their weird family, Jason wants all of his husband's attention right now. Jason shoves his head between where Leo is using both hands to hold the string of condoms, nosing his way in so he can get at his clavicle. He facens his mouth there immediately, with both teeth and suction, in the way he knows will always get a delicious little noise out of Leo.

Leo's mirth is broken off with the desired groan, one that makes the back of Jason’s brain purr. He doesn't need to look to know that Leo has tossed aside his distraction as one hand slides into Jason’s hair and the other grips his bicept to hold on. Jason turns his face ever so slightly so he can press a kiss into the entry point of Leo’s lightning scar

“You got me I'm here” Leo reassures, the call and response natural after so long, and Jason just starts up the smallest trail of Lichtenberg figures that creep up Leo’s neck. He follows the rougher patch of skin until it tapers off, and then he keeps going all the way to Leo’s mouth. By the time he's made it there to lock their lips together Leo is putty under him, just as he should be

“M gonna finger you” Jasons says when he pulls back a breath “that okay?”

“So okay” Leo agrees and then drags Jason back down to kiss him again

[darlingchronicles]

Oh, Schroeder...

pairing: jj x fem!pianist!reader

summary: a piano prodigy had captured the eye of jj ever since they were young, but their friendship is constantly up and down. she claims she's interested in piano and piano only, but (un) fortunately the heart wants what it wants.

word count: 18.8k (tad of a slow burn)

content warnings: drinking & drug use, angst if you squint, cursing, crying, miscommunication-ish, reader being kinda cold, anxiety, "original songs" are mainly by Taylor Swift, all songs linked

loosely inspired by Charlie Brown's "Schroeder and Lucy" 

Enjoy!

"OH, SCHRODER!"

The girl had barely sat down. Her sheet music wasn't on the music desk. Her favorite ballpoint pen hadn't been laid in front of it, ensuring the AC didn't blow the pages. Her fingers hadn't been cracked or stretched out. Her iced matcha with almond milk hadn't even begun to condense.

She let out a sigh.

Beginning piano at just two years old had certainly captured much attention of the young girl and as she grew, she adapted to the name of "prodigy" that had been placed on her. With that name, she had gotten everything from people who wanted to see her "succeed" or at least appear to care about her in order to up their appearances. Everything from a brand new piano to music classes with composers and pianists from Juilliard and entry to every performance she wanted to see was given into the palm of her hand.

Everything.

Including two free periods at the beginning and at the end of her school day in the music room in order to practice. She had barely brought up the suggestion to the Board of Education of Kildare, the ones receiving paychecks from the government because of her interest in the arts and was the reason for funding in the school, and she already had a cleared out schedule in her hands.

The room was to be spotless and cleared out for her.

And only her.

And yet that didn't stop people from disturbing her.

"Yes, Maybank?" She said refraining from calling him "Lucy", but a minor laugh made its way to the end.

It wasn't even nine in the morning. She was surprised he was up that early as he spends most of his time in art sleeping in the back. Not that she takes notice or anything. She's at the table next to him and he snores a little. And it wasn't like she could ignore him - not like they were friends, but they weren't enemies.

Frenemies.

"Aw shucks, how'd you know it was me?" He jogged up the steps onto the miniature stage that was implemented in the music room.

"Well no one else bothers like you do in the morning. So," She slammed down her sheet music on the top of the piano, letting the sound echo before replying with a sarcastic smile, "lucky guess."

"Didn't know I was so important to you." JJ leaned against her piano, crossing his ankles and his arms. She wanted to whack his backwards hat off his head.

"Believe me, you aren't. And now you are just bothering." She huffed, placing everything in order before massaging her hands. When she noticed that he stayed put, like always, she rolled her eyes, "Don't you have algebra right now or something?"

"Something." He shrugged.

He always did this. He always came in, unannounced, and tried talking her up and distracting her. She'd understand if he was trying to get out of class or just wanted a quiet place to do his homework or escape a few teachers (she'd done the same herself) but he purposefully came in to talk to her. Sometimes she enjoyed the company to fill in the moments of isolation. Sometimes she was more annoyed at it when she needed to work. Such as that particular day.

And no pointed finger at the door, no retort or comment on how he was bothering her, and not even a threat to complain to the Principal about his intrusion scared him away. If anything, it only caused him to come around more often. If he wasn't there her first period, he was there her second. If he didn't show up in the morning, believe that he will be there in the afternoon for her final two periods. He'd chew gum loudly, blow on the trumpets to try and get her to mess up her piece or make paper airplanes of sheet music lying around and throw them around the room.

And she needed to work that day, so only God knew what he was going to do to distract her that day.

Once he'd even had the audacity to climb on the piano and lay on it. He had done it once and only once because that was the day that she actually coaxed him off the piano with a sweet smile and eyes before grabbing onto his shirt and dragging him out of the room and told him that if he did it again she'd personally see to it that he's stuffed into the piano and left there for the weekend before slamming the door in his face.

He still came back the next day, still bothering, but sitting on the floor this time.

She narrowed her eyes at him as he tapped the sleek black with his index figure. He took note of her silence before following her eyes to his finger and his posture against her instrument, silently chuckling before stepping away with his hands in the air.

"Don't shoot me."

"Believe me, I stop myself every single day." He winked at her, shiny eyes looking at her, and she could only roll her eyes and place her hands on the keys, "Don't bother me and I won't drag you out of here again. I need to actually practice today."

Oh she needed to practice. Her recital at the Kennedy Center was her top priority. She couldn't deviate from her plans to practice.

"Yes ma'am."

Another roll of her eyes (maybe the apples of her cheeks heated up, but she'd never admit or check that) and she began to play. Her warm up always consisted of three songs - one from a classical composer, another from a movie and the final is a popular song that she converted into a ballad. Every musician, athlete and gambler she knew had a system and this was hers - the number three. Three warm-ups to get her started for the day.

That particular day, she chose Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.14 in C-Sharp Minor, which she had claimed to be one of her favorite pieces to play. She found it soothing although the song did sound daunting to the common ear. The notes were smooth and crisp to her ears that she had played it nearly every time she had to perform. The music so raw and emotional.

"Why do you play depressing songs? I thought pianists were supposed to be lighthearted." His voice cut through her piece halfway through, making her miss a note. She continued, ignoring the blond boy, "Then again, you're uptight enough that I'm not surprised by your music selection. Do you ever play rock music on that thing? Maybe some Fleetwood Mac or Meta-"

She stopped playing abruptly and turned her head, noticing that he was laying on the floor near the edge of the stage, only a couple inches from her, "Beethoven is one of the greatest composers to ever exist." She hissed, not feeling friendly at the moment he insulted one of her favorite composers, "His music changed people's perception on what music can be. Unpredictable and emotional." She saw red for a moment, "Do you ever hear yourself and think "I should shut up" when you don't know something? Hmmm?"

He looked up at the ceiling in false thought before shaking his head, "So that's a no to both our questions."

She almost smiled, but only deadpanned, "I should lock you out."

"Oh you see, but you've tried that already." He threw up his hands in the air, "Just can't keep a jailbird out."

"Oh this is a cell?" She hummed. You would know what a cell is, don't you?

"For you, yeah." He shrugged, looking around for second before whistling lowly like he always did, "But hey, what a girl wants what a girl wants. I can't explain your mind to you."

"It's not a cell, now shut up." She snapped at him before turning back to her keys.

Taking it that she wasn't going to get far with Beethoven, she turned to her second soundtrack. She let her keys play the beginning notes to Mia and Sebastian's Theme, a song she had fallen in love with however heartbroken she had been at the end of the movie. She had seen the film with her best friend friend, Sarah, and hadn't noticed a tick she had until Sarah pointed it out. She had been pressing her fingers down on her knees as if she was playing the song in real time.

As the song came to its fast crescendo and decrescendo, a snap of fingers hit her ears.

"See now that's all lovey dovey and heartaching-y and I don't know if you're trying to foreshadow anything, but maybe don't play the ending to that."

"Do you even understand what foreshadowing means?"

"Not in the slightest sense." He smiled brightly before laying down on the floor with his arm as a pillow. "I'm bored with all this slow music."

"Oh, am I boring you?" She grumbled, pulling out her third set of sheet music, hoping to not get interrupted. He's usually tolerable when it came to his unwarranted visits, but today, she was neither interested in his jokes or his presence and he seemed to feed off of it. Her recital was in June.

It was nearing the end of May and the clock was only ticking.

"Oh you? Never. Maybe your depressing music, but never you. Your voice is music to my ears."

"Once more," She sighed, "Shut. Up."

She didn't wait for a reply and began playing her final warm-up song. Her pop songs usually came from Sarah, who had challenged her to play something she usually wouldn't. Sarah had chosen Shawn Mendez's In My Blood, and surprisingly she enjoyed it. Especially the chorus. Her fingers flew back and forth, playing both the melody and the "lyrics" portion. She had almost made it to the end when the sound of a can opening brought her out of her trance. She accidentally hit the keys hard on her unfinished notes and whipped her head to the boy on the floor. He wasn't looking at her, only drinking from a can of Monster before glancing at her hardened state and her whiten knuckles.

"I didn't say anything."

◇ ◇ ◇

Many believed because she was a piano prodigy that she had nothing else she wanted to do. And you'd be right. There was nothing else for her that she wanted to do. Not a single thing as she grew up. Everything revolved around her talent - natural, God given, incredible and undeniable talent. If it were art or soccer or anything, but an instrument, she would have been treated equally with a bit more praise than others.

But piano was an instrument that took years to master and it didn't help that she was a girl. A girl with much smaller hands than those of grown men who played at the same level of her, if not lower. Piano was not kind to those with smaller hands and she learned it the hard way. She always had to reach and strain her fingers in order to play smoothly. Her skin tore, became sore and she had consistent nights with ice on her tan skin.

Because of it, every adult gave her special treatment. She was a one of a kind pianist. She picked up on notes perfectly - she had perfect pitch. She learned songs in only a few hours, even the most complex ones - she had a solid memory bank for music. She never complained about her hands being sore or being tired of playing - she was resilient. She was a young girl from the Cut with a talent that would bring her out of the depths of poverty - she was given a gift.

Praise came to her from every direction ever since she was young. And it worked to her advantage. From a young age, she was invited and paid to play at recitals on the main land, eventually growing to paid trips to play with a group of equally gifted children and orchestras. She got to know people and use their connections to make other connections in order to create opportunities for her and her family.

She loved piano and it loved her back as it created opportunities for her to grow. However, every gift has a cost and one has to be willing to pay it.

For her, it was the payment of isolation.

Through her traveling since she was five and her constant hyper fixation on what could bring her from the bottom to the top, she skipped out on what being a kid really means. Fooling around with friends never came. Going to the movies and watching back to back movies never arrived in time. Creating lifelong friendships never had it's destination called.

The piano prodigy never built friendships and soon decided she couldn't have them.

The few times that she did try and create them, she was met with peculiar stares and judgmental glares. No one truly knew her, so why should they let her get to know them? Those from the Cut became jealous that she had a one-way ticket to Figure Eight and those from Figure Eight only saw a girl from the Cut who got lucky enough to climb up the social ladder, but she'd always be from the other side of town. She had her foot in both worlds, but was rejected from both.

Too much of a pogue to belong on Figure Eight and too much of a rising-kook to belong on the Cut.

Sure she had a few people who she'd say hi to, share the homework with, sit in class with, text to see how they're doing and happy birthday to, but never anyone to truly fit in with.

That was until she met Sarah.

Sarah Cameron was a kook. She was one of the kookiest-kooks that the prodigy ever got to know, but she soon took the title as best friend. The day they met was when they were thirteen - around eight to nine years after she began performing on Figure Eight for charity events and some other events that could be related to Midsummers. She had just played and decided to go hide in the hallways of the country club so that no one would bombard her. Her mom was off chatting with some adult that would hire her to play for a private party. She was enjoying the new-found life that she was being provided by her thirteen year old daughter. The prodigy couldn't blame her - with the money she was earning and even with the amount taken to be put into her savings account, they were on track to move to Figure Eight by the time she's seventeen.

And just as she had sat down, there was the sound of footsteps hitting the floor. Hard. As if they were running. She turned her head and saw a girl, around her age, who came dashing down the hall, grabbing the prodigy's hand, pulling her down the hall with her. She had no clue what was going on, but she ran. As they dodged party goers in the lower level hallways and staircase, she found herself laughing with the dirty blonde girl.

Soon they were near the beach and laid flat on the sand. Their breaths were hard and rapid, but laughs soon came out. Her name was Sarah Cameron and she had been running from her older brother, Rafe, because she had messed with his hair one too many times that day. Thankfully, he stopped chasing the moment she had pulled the prodigy up from the floor and with her. After that, the two girls chatted on the beach. Although she didn't know much about gossip, people or fashion choices, Sarah was friendly, open and accepting of the piano prodigy.

She even wanted to know what it was like being a piano prodigy at such as young age. Sarah said it sounded lonely and for once, she brought herself to agree with her.

And after that Sarah decided that her new friend would never be alone again.

Skip three years later and the two sat together by the pool on a Saturday afternoon, the sun going down earlier than usual, and listened to each other. Unfortunately the money that had been and was being collected by her recitals wasn't enough for her to go to the Kook Academy, so she went to the general high school, away from Sarah. With their school work and outside hangouts and recitals, they only hung out in person every weekend and the occasional weekday, but they were always texting and facetiming.

And there was something constant in all of their calls since they began high school.

She huffed, kicking the water, "All the time. He always has be in that room, opening a can, commenting on my song selection, making paper airplanes and throwing them around the room or talking his ass off. I can't stand him sometimes."

"So I've heard." Sarah chuckled. "I can't believe he hasn't given up yet. It's what? Almost junior year?"

"Yeah." The pianist grumbled, "And nothing I do gets him to leave when I need him. Yesterday, he told me my song choice was depressing and boring. Beethoven is one of the greatest composers to ever exist. I should have thrown him out of the music room the moment he said that. Heck! My middle name is Elise, like Fur Elise. Beethoven's music is phenomenal. What does he know about classical music?"

Sarah almost laughed, "Nothing. Trust me. He listens to music with John B when they're fixing up the Druthers. It's all rock, rap and old school music like Fleetwood Mac or Billy Idol." She grabbed her cup of soda from her side, "Why don't you just tell on him or something?"

"Tried that." She admitted, "Freshman year. He got detention and came back with even more fervor than before. It's like it fueled him to be even more annoying. After that, I just decided to not add fuel to the flame." Part of that was true.

Maybe she liked him around sometimes.

"Well there is the other theory."

The girl's head whipped in the blonde's direction, "You're still on that?"

She shrugged, "Hey, it's classic textbook for boys. Annoy the person you like in order to get their attention. It may be unwarranted and may have undesirable outcomes, but hey, they get your eyes on them." She tapped her best friend's shoulder, "And JJ is a person who likes attention, especially from girls. You go against that. You focus on your work and work only."

"Yeah well," She grabbed Sarah's cup, taking a sip, "he's not gonna get it from me. That's for sure. I'll just lock the door again." She handed back the cup, "And on an unrelated note, I have my recital next month and I need you to RSV-"

"Done."

"Great. I'm still trying to decide on a few songs. I know I'm going to play a piece from Beethoven, but they've been telling me that original pieces would attract more of an audience. They're trying to get me more into originals than ever now. I have a few, but I'm not so sure. I'll send you some pieces for some feedback. I also need an outfit-"

Sarah listened to her best friend chatter about her recital. It would be on the mainland and it'd be one of her biggest yet. And while she was happy for her, her mind wandered back to JJ Maybank's constant desire for attention. Even if she didn't admit it, she knew that her friend liked the attention she got from the boy. If she really didn't want him around, she would have already found a way to keep him away. She would have gotten him suspended or had his schedule changed so that they never crossed paths again. Maybe the attention did annoy her at some moments, especially, when she needed to practice, but during their art and history classes (which they had together) she didn't seem to mind it, due to her lack of complaining. If Sarah knew it, she knew that JJ definitely knew it too. And maybe that was why he kept going. She never truly pushed him away, more so keeping him on a thin line that he couldn't push forward. Like a piece of music that she had written down, but never played.

If anything, Sarah suspected that it wasn't only JJ who had a crush.

But that was just her opinion.

And Sarah Cameron was usually right.

She may have been right this time.

◇ ◇ ◇

Another week, another tug of war game between the pianist and surfer boy. It was a beautiful spring, almost summer, morning - school was almost at its end and she was dying for school to end. No more distractions. More time to rehearse for her recital. It was the next month, as she had told Sarah, but she was getting more jittery as the days passed. According to her manager, Margie, this was going to be her highest paying recital yet. More of an audience. More expectations. And the more she got, the more popular she became. She was already being recognized nationwide and they wanted to extend it internationally. Margie was trying to get some British, French and Spanish reps to come and if they did, it could extend an invitation to come schools with scholarships - just as Juilliard did - and maybe paid trips to perform. Even if they didn't, people from California and New York were coming down to see her perform solo. It was only a fifteen minute time slot at the end, but her body was beginning to recognize how much she needed to succeed and she felt her anxiety levels beginning to rise.

And JJ Maybank interruptions were not helping. And his last comment on her music taste and his song suggestion (a song by Alt J?) actually had her consider throwing him out of the room. He wasn't particularly annoying at first, but then again it was JJ.

His attention be damned if she messed up her recital, her biggest paying one yet.

And although she could have rebutted, she didn't. There always was a pull that told her to fight, to reply and give him the reaction he wanted. It was as if they were magnets and she was either pushing and he was pulling or she was north and he was south. To forces fighting to land on top.

But she had to let it go for now.

Instead, she put away her stack of warm-up sheet music on her red folder. Red was for warm-ups, green was for classical, blue was for originals, orange for everything else and purple was for recital practice. She decided on blue because Margie kept telling her that originality sells along. That and classical music. Plus it was like writing whatever she wanted.

And a little secret of her own, she liked to sing. And she could actually do it too. But not in front of people. No way. She could play piano and let people focus on the music, while looking around the room or silently speaking, but if she sang, eyes would be on her immediately. So singing was off the table, but she found that writing lyrics that went along with music helped her write better and quicker. She'd sing in her head while playing.

She had multiple songs lined up, but she found herself focusing on one she had titled Champagne Problems. Her entire idea was based on the idea of a failed proposal and admittance that it was her fault - kind of reverse of what one would usually hear. No failed marriage. Just a failed proposal. She had some lyrics written down, but not a full song.

She played for a few moments before writing a few notes down and repeating the process for a full ten minutes. She hadn't noticed, but she had begun to hum and sing lightly under her breath. She especially liked the chorus, but she found it repetitive. Without lyrics, it wouldn't be as interesting.

Maybe I should cut it short. Just the chorus and the bridge. Short like a rejected proposal.

"What song was that?" Her ears perked up to JJ's voice, which was filled with curiosity.

Her response was instantaneous, "One you don't know."

"Nice." He quipped, turning towards her, pulling his knees into his chest, watching as she pushed a piece of hair behind her.

Surprisingly, JJ didn't speak anymore, but instead let the pianist write and mess around with her instrument. He didn't feel the need to interrupt nor did he want to interrupt. She was so concentrated. Her bottom lip was captured by her top teeth, signaling her fixation on what she doing.

"Damn it." She mumbled. It's definitely too repetitive. Maybe changin- but that wouldn't work. Would it?

"What?"

She glanced down to the boy, who was watching her, "Nothing. Just trying to figure out how to make my song less repetitive."

"You wrote a song?"

She paused her writing.

Okay, one thing to note about the pianist and JJ was that they actually talked a lot in person. Sometimes online whenever she posted on her story something about her recitals or she'd post herself playing the piano in some grand room or opera house and he'd comment or reply with some joke or quip about her getting famous or something of the sort that she'd reply back with a sarcastic or lighthearted joke. And they were frenemies (as she deemed it, she didn't know what JJ thought) but she didn't think she could trust him with something that personal, something so close to her that only few people knew. He'd probably just think it was stupid writing songs that she didn't even sing outloud.

"No." She mumbled and tried to swallow the fear that was beginning to form in her stomach.

"Huh."

"What?" She glared.

"Nothing." He shook his head, grabbing his phone and his backpack. He stood for a moment, the two of them staring at each other for a moment. Neither of them looked away and it was almost as if neither wanted to. She felt her heart quicken, mistaking it for a feeling she was all too common with, before the she looked away. "Nothing." He repeated, "Nothing, just...sounded good."

The pianist didn't say anything, only watched as he left the room, like he usually did around that time, but she felt something else biting her stomach. He was able to leave the room, glancing back at her only to see her eyes planted on him and not on the piano as she usually did.

He grinned, seeing her curiosity about his response. He winked and headed out the door.

And it was about ten minutes later when she looked back at the now closed door when she mumbled, "Thank you."

◇ ◇ ◇

As the weather turned from spring to summer, the heat came as strong as it could. The chill spring wind was being replaced with the humid Kildare summer air. Unfortunately, the Cut was victim to it as ACs didn't work, fans were old and opening windows wasn't an option most times. And you can't just go swimming in the marsh or driving to the beach at two in the morning because you're sweating in a tank top and shorts in your bed. Due to this revelation, the pianist tried to visit Sarah more often during these times - the rich loved their air conditioned homes and boats. And it was the day after her and JJ's strange moment that school was called out because t was unable to hold students due to the heatwave coming through.

Free day for the Kildare High School students.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Sarah as her school had enough funding to hold over fifty ACs in the school 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, when she woke up drenched in sweat and in desperate need to practice in a comfortable area, Sarah offered her home. Neither she, her dad, Rose, Wheezie or Rafe, who was a Senior at the prep school, would be there, but Ward Cameron welcomed the pianist into their home constantly and agreed to let her come by that day and any day she needed.

The only issue was getting there in the first place.

She had to walk due to her mom taking the car to work and couldn't call her to come get her. While they had money due to her accomplishments, there was always something happening. Either the AC wasn't working, a light went out, or anything else that happened, they had to be prepared. Always vigilante. Always checking off boxes twice.

So she had to brave the elements.

She put on a blue sports bra and white button up over it (keeping it unbutton of course) and jean shorts that were loose enough that it wouldn't bother her while walking. She grabbed her bag, remembering putting extra clothes, knowing she'd get cold in the chilled house before running out.

She hadn't made it to the bridge that separated the Cut from Figure Eight and she was drenched in sweat. Her hair was up, water nearly gone and her white button up would have been thrown into the backpack if it wasn't her only protection from the sun's devious rays. She was melting.

"Someone save me, please." She choked out, trudging through the heat. "Only you, Kildare. Only you."

A high pitched whistle hit her ears with a bang. The girl jumped back, only to see her blond boy in a van and not some stranger ready to kidnap her, "I would ask if you're delusional, but I think I have my answer."

"Jeez!" She put a hand on her heart, "You scared the crap out of me. Don't do that!"

"I can see that." He chuckled, driving slowly on the abandoned road, "What I can't see is why the hell you're out here in this heat. We're in a heatwave." He took the hat he had off his head and plotted it on her head.

She would have hit him with some sarcastic retort and tore off his hat from her head that gave her much relief, but she had no energy for it, "I need to practice. My house is crap. Heading for the Cameron's." She wiped her forehead, feeling agitated by the sweaty hair sticking to the nape of her neck. "Why are you out?"

"It's hot, sunny and the waves are perfect according to the report." JJ looked forward for a second before saying, "Get in."

"What?" She choked out, but it was out of confusion, not suspicion as it would have been if she was cognate with her mind.

"Get in." He repeated, "I'll drop you off nearby. I'm getting John B from a house job anyways."

Once it registered in her mind, she didn't reject the offer. She ran to the other side and jumped into the passenger's seat of the van, "Thank you." She wheezed out, leaning back in the seat the moment she buckled up.

"No problem." She thinks she heard him chuckle, but she couldn't be so sure at the moment.

They drove with the windows down and the breeze did miracles with her pending state. Five minutes into the drive, she was wide awake and conscious. She finished up her water and leaned back as she watched the Cut pass by. She, then, turned to JJ, and immediately noticed that he was shirtless.

Glistening tan and freckled skin with muscles flexing with every breath and spark of movement.

She shouldn't have stared for as long as she did and if you asked her about it, she'd deny it. But hell, she couldn't deny that he was attractive. With or without a shirt, but at that moment, his shirtless state was definitely affecting her more at the moment. She'd hadn't denied it in her mind that her annoying fucker that liked to interrupt practice sessions was attractive - fuck it, he was hot - but now that she was face to face with one of his attractive aspects mixed with the delusion of the heat...all rational thought was gone.

"So I was thinking." He turned his head and she pulled her face together as if she wasn't ogling him.

She snapped back into her sarcastic tone, "You do that? Never would have guessed."

"And I was thinking you could expand your music taste." He ignored her tone, "There's a whole world out there that isn't classical music that could apply to your piano playing."

"Really? This again?" She groaned. "Sorry that I'm not into whatever the heck you listen to. Piano playing is delicate, but strong in its chords."

"I have no idea what that means, but you could totally change your mojo." He replied as if he believed in what he was saying.

"I play classical and the occasional movie score. Okay?" She quipped, rolling her eyes, "It's what people want to hear. Not Metallica or Red Hot Chili Peppers."

"Nah, people want to hear music. Something with soul and meaning behind it. Not just instruments." He explained, "Do you even like what you play?"

"Of course I like what I play." The half-truth slipped out with ease, "And even if I didn't, I don't get paid to play what I like."

"But you could." He pointed out.

"No, I couldn't. When you get hired for a job, you do the job or else you get fired. I'm pretty sure you understand that."

"You don't get it." He turned up the radio. An upbeat song was playing. Michael Jackson. "If you were able to convert songs like these onto the piano, you'd have a bigger audience. I promise you that and Papa J never fails in his assumptions."

She thought for a moment, ignoring the fact that he called himself "Papa J". If she was able to convert those songs into piano themes, she would have a bigger audience. But it's not easy. There's so much practice that goes into doing things like putting Beat It into piano formation. It's not impossible, but it'd be difficult. Out of his mind, but...he wasn't wrong.

"C'mon! What'd it take you to do it?"

"Answer a question for me."

"Shoot."

"Why do you keep come into the music room to bother me? You've been extra annoying lately." Bingo. He'd never give into the question. "You tell me that, truthfully, and I'll convert any song you want into a piano ballad or something."

His eyes narrowed. JJ wasn't a guy to open up about his feelings or about the reasons he did things. He usually just did it and then thought about it later if he even thought about it again. He's impulsive. Never has a reason for anything.

"Gets me out of homeroom."

"I said truthfully." Her voice took a playful tone, which caused JJ's eyebrow to lift up, "You skip either way."

"I don't know. I never really thought about it." He shrugged. "I guess..." He shifted again. He was uncomfortable. She could see it as clear as day, "You're easy to be around."

He didn't say more.

She blinked, not able to find the confident nature she had only moments ago. He didn't answer her question correctly, but it caught her attention. She was easy to be around? Lately, she constantly glared at him, told him to shut up, and dragged him out of the room once. She wouldn't consider herself "easy" to be around even when she wasn't doing any of those things. Especially in the music room. She was her most uptight in those moments. She didn't care who she hurt as long as she got her work done. Her target was mainly JJ - and now thinking about it, she felt bad. Yes, he annoyed her, but she felt shameful of her behavior.

"Easy?" She scoffed, "I wouldn't call myself easy."

He clicked his tongue, "That's my fault." He admitted, "You're easy to get to when you're working."

"So you admit that you do it on purpose?" They stopped at a stoplight and he turned to look at her. And she knew. She just knew that he did. She also knew by his expression that he was getting a kick out of her just figuring it out, "You little shit."

"Glad to know you just picked up on that." He teased and she almost had the decency to push him out of the car, "Now what song to pick."

"You don't get a song."

"What?"

"You lied to me first."

"Oh come on!" He complained, hitting the gas again when the light turned green. "You can't take that back. I get a song."

She couldn't get over the fact that he was whining about getting a song played by her. He looked kinda cute actually.

"Fine!" She rolled her eyes. "You get one song, any song, as long as you keep your bothering to a minimum and I'm talking the most JJ minimum you can give me. Deal?" She held out her pinkie.

"Really?" He asked, almost missing how she used his name for the first time, and she nodded with a confidence that should have been hilarious in any other situation. "Deal." He wrapped his pinkie around hers. "Original."

"What artist is that by?"

"You."

She paused and deadpanned, "I don't write songs."

"Look who's lying now. You said any song, therefore I get a song by you. I already have a name for it." He put his hand out in front and moved it across the air, " "The Ballad of JJ". Upbeat. Nothing fancy. Something like Bohemian Rhapsody."

She shook her head, "Do you even know what a ballad is?"

"Sounds cool. So, why not?"

This kid will actually kill me.

"Fine. You win. "The Ballad of JJ" it is." And he smiled like he won a million dollars.

He dropped her off at the front of the house, watching her disappear into the house with his hat still attached to her head. And while she did practice, she allowed herself to begin to write for the blond boy, who wasn't so annoying today.

Or really any day.

Not that it mattered.

Right?

◇ ◇ ◇

What JJ had said bothered her.

A new audience.

She scoffed.

Based on ratings and statistics, people enjoyed classical music over anything else. Covers of pop or rock songs didn't fit the mold nor did they get high ratings. Maybe on youtube they did, but not for live concerts.

And it was like he was challenging her. Challenging her to try something new. As if she was afraid to do it. She scoffed at the thought.

Afraid?

She wasn't afraid.

She'd show him.

◇ ◇ ◇

"That was excellent!" Margie Jones clapped her hands. "Truly wonderful. I have no words other than magnificent."

Her mother joined in, "I've never heard you play something that energetic before. It's mostly mellow. Is it original?"

She nodded proudly, "Yes, it is. Got some inspiration. It's not fully done, but it's getting there."

"What's it called?" Margie asked, pulling out some files, but still with a wide grin.

She opened her mouth to reply, but the words couldn't come out. Her one piece of music that was the light of her mother and Margie's life at the moment was orchestrated because a boy had her write it. Not just any boy. JJ Maybank. Her annoying (ex-annoying) music room bother. It wasn't exactly The Ballad of JJ, just an alternate verison of it (she felt like it was personal to the point that only the two of them could hear the original),but it was similar enough to be connected to the song titled in her blue folder with his name. However, she couldn't have it leave her mouth. Weird.

"Oh, I don't know yet. Like I said, it's just coming to me in pieces, so I'll figure it out in a bit. It's just one of my originals."

"Excellent." She nodded, "More originals open more doors for your solo career without any orchestra or becoming back up for a band. More money for us." She clapped her hands, "And this is good because I got news that the scouts from France and the United Kingdom are coming."

She gasped and stood up, "Really?"

"Yes and because of this, you'll be performing for a longer bracket. I talked to the managers and everyone I needed to and they agreed that instead of a fifteen minute time slot that you'll take on an hour time slot. Thirty minutes for the first half, a ten minute break, and then your final thirty minutes. With this you'll have to do a setlist that I'll need by next Friday. We only have three more weeks."

Her heart dropped.

Her mother clapped her hands, "Wonderful. How about the pay?"

"Because she's bringing in the scouts for the entire program, not just the orchestra part, I negotiated for her to get triple for her section plus her original fee for her part in the orchestra."

As Margie and her mother spoke, they hardly noticed the sixteen year old girl sitting on the seat by the piano, turning pale by the moment. She had never done anything more than twenty minutes straight of playing. Now she has to do an hour with a set list and most likely originals that she had never tested before. Plus the orchestra. That would be two hours of straight playing.

She didn't know if she wanted to do it.

She was a performer. She had played in front of a hundred people before, but this was a concert hall in Washington D.C. Hundreds of people and staff. Now scouts for her future in music. For more time than she had been used to. With original music she had never tested. She was performer, it was her job.

But they hadn't asked her if that was what she wanted.

Her breath felt heavy and her chest began to heave. Her body didn't feel in control of anything. She hardly said anything as she excused herself to the bathroom. She closed her eyes as she slid down the luxurious bathroom wall and tried to level her breathing. She flexed her hands back and forth, trying to stop the shaking.

She was a performer. She had to do this. She had to do more. She had to take the job. She couldn't say no. She was a performer. Performing was what she did. It was her job. Her future. She couldn't say no. She had to for the money. A better life. More for her mother. More for her. She couldn't say no.

But she really really wanted to.

◇ ◇ ◇

That weekend, she stayed as close to Sarah as she could. Distracting herself from the reality that she would have to do something that was holding her heart down. She didn't understand it. So she ignored it.

A tale as old as time.

Sarah sensed something wrong, but didn't say anything. She knew she'd come around eventually and she'd give her space until then. So, she suggested that they go to the beach and get acai bowls at the Playa Bowls nearby.

The two girls walked arm in arm and got their bowls and sat by the docks, watching early tourons and kooks and pogues alike spend their Saturday with their friends or family. From the docks, she watched people surf on the waves as if it was second nature.

She didn't know how to surf - another downside of piano being your life - but she liked watching it. She found it interesting how people were able to move their bodies in a way that allowed them to move with the ocean's ripples. She believed it was similar to how her fingers meshed with the keys of a piano and became one with the instrument. However, that was only one part of her body. Surfing was control over the entire body to not go flailing around. She admired the people who could do it.

Sarah chatted to her as she nodded along and allowed her to speak. She felt like she was in 2nd grade again when she hardly ever spoke. She only spoke when she had something she needed to say, but no coaxing would get her to open her mouth. It wasn't until around middle school that she started speaking full sentences to people. Even then, she was only chatty around people she was comfortable around such as Sarah Cameron or her mother. And she only wanted to listen that day anyways.

And as she watched the waves, she noticed one person surfing as if his life depended on it. Flips and turns and going through waves and making it to the end. She began to observe him up until he came up to the beach. That was when she noted who it was.

She turned her head before he could spot her, but she heard a classic high pitched whistle. She turned back and noticed JJ, staring right at her with his hand lifted in a hello. She couldn't help, but smile and wave. His friends, who she recognized as John B and Pope Heyward, turned to her as they began to nudge JJ around, teasing him. He swatted them away.

A nudged on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned to Sarah.

"What?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh Schroder." She teased, "Don't leave Lucy hanging by the piano all day."

"What are you on about?"

"Gonna play dumb? Okay, Schroder, I'll play Linus." She put her finger up, closing her eyes as if she were the comic character, "'No problem is so big or so complicated that you have to run away from it.'" She opened her eyes, "Running away isn't the answer even if you think it's yours. I should know. I do it a lot."

"I'm not running away." She took another bite from her bowl. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Okay." She hummed, "But don't be surprised when Lucy decides to stop waiting by the piano and goes out to become a psychiatrist that you meet in twenty years wondering "what if"."

"What in the actual hell are we talking about now?"

◇ ◇ ◇

She didn't hear her alarm. Two weeks had flown past her like sand falling out of her dry hand and she had been pushing herself everyday to practice playing nonstop. Finishing a handful of originals and practicing complex songs that made her hands cramp from how much she pushed. Staying up late nights was all too common for her. Missing her bus and a ride from her mom was not.

Everyone looked up at her when she entered the door. She feels like she came to school with no pants and mix and match shoes by the way everyone looks at her. Miss Prodigy is never late, never tardy, never disheveled, never not perfect. This was a sight: her hair was brushed, but was covered by a red hat, the bags under her eyes could carry bricks, her shirt collar was half up, her socks were different colors and her shoe laces were untied.

"Sorry." She mumbled to her history professor, handing the pass that the office lady had signed with the same amount of shock.

She walked to her seat and sat down, taking out her textbook and notebook. The shock had passed and whispers ensued as the class continued. She noticed the stares, but she just fixed her collar and payed attention to the lesson. It wasn't as if the other ten of them didn't come in late every other day in worse conditions.

From behind her, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned slightly to her left and saw JJ quickly passing a note to her. He sat in the next row but two seats behind her. She grabbed it and turned back around before opening it discreetly.

Didn't know prodigies came in late. Sounds like a crime. You look like crap also.

She scoffed lightly before grabbing her pen and scribbling down her response before tossing it over without so much as a whisper. And it just kept getting passed back and forth.

You sure do think of me a lot to know it's a crime. And yeah I know I look like crap. Thanks, Lucy Shit I didn't mean it like that. Like you look tired. You know like the little alien in Lilo and Stich? I have so many questions, but do you mean Stitch? I know I'm shorter than you, but you don't have to stoop to that level. You just called me Lucy from the fuckin Peanuts comics so I think it's fair game You've called me "Schroeder" since freshmen year. I think it's bound time I respond correctly. I've been scattered brained lately. Can't remember to hold my tongue. Oops Or wear your own clothes. Nice hat. Where'd you get it?

She touched her head, pulling down the hat that she had grabbed from her desk only to realize who's it was. She heard him chuckle behind her and she put up the bird in the air, waving it in his direction, not daring to look at him.

The bell rang within the next ten seconds, signaling for her next period, which she knew she was going to skip. She packed up her items and before she could head for the door, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Truly amazing fashion choice. You get it at a boutique or something?"

"Ha ha. Very funny." She rolled her eyes, "I would give it back to you, but my hair did not cooperate this morning so I will be keeping it at the moment."

"Looks good on you. Not better than me, but close enough." He said as they walked out of class together.

It was a stupid compliment, and he was teasing her, but she still felt the apples of her cheeks begin to burn and she rolled her eyes, shoving him slightly with her shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get to class."

"We both have art next." He pointed out with his thumb at the classroom door.

"Not me." She sang before heading down the hall to the stairs towards the first floor. The sound of hard boots followed her, "Class, Maybank."

"I'm good." He shrugged, "Where we going?"

She rolled her eyes, but she didn't command him away. In fact, she couldn't bring herself to even if she needed him gone. Something about his presence lately had been calming to her, even if he was as calm as a hurricane. She'd felt in the car the previous week, when she saw him at the beach that weekend and even now as her anxiety began to peak for being late.

He made her feel like everything would actually be alright. (It confused her for a moment before she shook it off).

"Music room. I need to practice." She said, taking a moment to yawn. She covered her mouth, "A lot of practice."

"You keep saying that. What the hell's got so much of your attention?" She noticed his tone, but kept her observation to herself.

"Recital. Big one."

"And?"

She sighed, "Recitals make me money. I get a lot from it. I play with the Virginia Orchestra and they have their annual recital event. Because I'm part of it, a lot of people come. Some from New York. Others from Los Angeles and other places. It's a big deal." She pulled the music room key out of her pocket, "I got news that some scouts from Europe are coming to see me. It's next week, so pressure's on."

"That's amazing." He complimented as she swung the door open.

"Thank you." She shrugged as she headed for the stage, "It's just that I have a bigger time slot now so-" She didn't finish her sentence as she dropped her bag and began to pull out her blue folder.

"You don't seem so happy about it." He grabbed a chair that was on the stage already and pulled it so it was right next to her. "Don't you like playing?"

She nodded, "I do. It's everything to me." She pulled out her pens, "I just never played for two hours straight before. It's new."

"Hours?" He blinked, whistling lowly at the thought of playing piano for hours.

"I play for an hour with the orchestra and then an hour solo." Candor began to spew from her mouth, "I've never played solo for an hour in front of scouts before."

He didn't speak for a moment and she glanced at him. He nodded slowly, as if he began to understand why she was killing herself the past month. Why she stopped joking more and more with him and began to be stricter and cold to him. She was nervous.

"No wonder you've been such a buzzkill." He laughed, "You're anxious."

"I guess," She fiddled with her hands, "I'm not nervous. It's more like a feeling that I can't do it and that I'll disappoint everyone if I'm not shiny enough." She couldn't control her mouth. It just came out. She had told some of it to Sarah, but nothing like she was now, "I'm the main income in my home and now this is paying triple for my set, which could get us closer to getting out of the Cut, but-" She laughed, but it was more pained, "And I would have done it either way, but they never asked me. Just threw it in my face and I think I sound like an ungrateful brat for saying that because these scouts could eventually be my ticket to some great music school or job in the future. I just...wanted to be asked for once." She looked up at JJ, who had gone quiet. She blinked and sat up straight, turning back to her music, "Sorry. I'm ranting."

JJ reached out, hesitantly, but put his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay to be anxious and like so much is on you. It is. You don't have to apologize. And you're the artist. They should have asked you."

She looked at him with appreciation. A thought sparked her mind and she turned to the folder, "Oh, um, I have your song. Well part of it."

"Oh?" He leaned forward, seeing lines and song notes both scribbled and written over. The Ballad of JJ was written at the top of it, "How's it coming?"

"Halfway done. I just need to figure out the ending."

"Play it. The muse needs to know what's being created." She rolled her eyes at him, but complied. She had been able to get through the entire half she had before he spoke again, "I like the whole crashing part."

"The what?"

"The way the playing gets loud and wild, I mean. I don't know how to speak music."

She laughed, "You're a wildcard, Maybank. If it was about you, might as well get loud." He paused, but she hadn't noticed, "Now I'm thinking for it to start off loud and maybe end loudly, but I'm not so sure. Maybe it can mellow out or-"

JJ only nodded, feeling a smile creep up his face. He reached out and pulled his hat, that was on her head, down so that it covered her face. She pushed it back up, shoving his shoulder before smiling and going back to writing music.

And there it was.

Air shifted.

Something was changing.

Maybe their frenemies ways were turning more friendly than they both expected.

◇ ◇ ◇

Within that week, whenever she could, the pianist would sneak off to the music room, hoping to pack more and more time into her playing. And more and more she did, JJ Maybank followed. He'd come in, less distracting than usual after she had told him about the important recital. and sit down next to her on a separate chair or lay on the floor. He would comment here or there, but he left her be for the most part. When she wasn't looking, she could feel him staring at her. She'd then hit him with her foot or glare at him and he'd just laugh and the cycle would repeat.

And then there were moments where she wasn't sure if she should be feeling the way she did.

The moments where time would stand still as they stared at each other. His blue eyes meeting hers and the small smile she'd give him as he brushed his hair out of his eyes and smirk. The moments where she'd take her eyes off her sheet music to stretch her hand and catch JJ's puppy-like eyes following her every move. The moments where she'd pack up and he'd hand her the sheet music and their fingers would touch ever so slightly, making her heart jump a few octaves.

There was one day that week when he brought her a Monster, saying that it'd give her energy like him. She didn't think he needed any energy drink to be the way he was. He was high off of life. She drank it and by the end, she was practically running around the room. The jitters left her and she was just left with the energy rush. She said out loud that it actually helped.

"If you think that's helping, just wait for weed. Bring you right up."

She hadn't been big on drugs or usage because she needed to focus, but she thought that maybe it would be a good idea to try for some creative juices. She held it off until after the recital though. She didn't need some sickness to hit her. She didn't know if weed even caused sickness, but she wasn't going to risk it. The two made plans to smoke together after her recital - weirdly enough she trusted JJ to be the person she smoked with for the first time.

JJ also helped with his ballad. He helped her navigate what he wanted in the song and she was nearing to finish it. (A part of herself was nervous if he would like it).

She didn't know if she should have done it, but had asked Margie was an extra pit ticket. She didn't know why. It was for a friend? She didn't tell JJ.

It was Friday when Sarah decided the pianist could use some fun. She would have rejected the offer, but the recital wasn't until that following Monday. And according to JJ, she deserved a break. So, she (surprisingly) said yes to the kegger that was being thrown on the beach. Sarah had personally taken care of the outfit - a white tube top and colorful skirt that fell to her knees. Sarah dressed similarly in order to have her more comfortable and also because it got desperately hot during the day.

The two girls made their way to the beach by foot and made it around sunset. The girls stayed together the entire night, drinking from cans instead of solo cups, and chatting on pieces of wood. Kooks and pogues alike were there - it wasn't touron season yet, so it was just Kildare kids. No trouble was stirring up, so it was calm as people drank and smoked whatever they had on them before passing it on to their friends. Girls and boys chatted each other up, some couples fought at the farther end of the beach, some made out near the fire that was starting up while others swam in the ocean or sat with their friends.

At some points, people would say hi and boys would come up and chat up the two of them. Sarah was more likely to entertain than the prodigy ever would. She didn't like their dark hair and dark eyes or the way they would try and shoot out jokes. She just watched the ocean, seemingly ignoring them. Soon enough, a kook from Sarah's school - his name was Topper which was weird as hell - and by the way he sat by Sarah, he was there to stay.

"I'm gonna get another drink." She said and Sarah nodded while the boy chatted her up. Sarah nodded and said if anything, she'd come running.

She walked to the coolers, where closed drinks were. She wasn't stupid enough to take from the "punch" bowl or 2 liter soda bottles that had been opened. She neared the coolers, noting that many of them had water in them.

"Hey!" Someone called out her name and she turned her head, seeing John B Routledge calling out to her. She walked over, "What's up, Miss Prodigy?"

Oh he was tipsy. Not fully drunk, but he was getting there based on his loud volume.

"Hey John B." She chuckled slightly. "I'm doing good. How's it going?"

"Not bad, not bad." He raised a tap he had in his hand, "Want one?"

It is closed, she thought. And one isn't bad. Right?

She nodded and John B filled up a red solo cup half way before tossing it over to her. It was mainly foam and however bitter it was, its coldness soothed her.

"So uh, how's you and J?"

"What do you mean?" She wiped her mouth with her wrist and looked at the boy. She gestured for more beer, the coolness had filled her dry throat and warmed her stomach.

"I mean, I'm surprised you were able to tie the man down. He talks nonstop about you as if his life depended on it." He said. She had a feeling that JJ didn't know that he was saying that, "So you two are like-" He put his hands together and before he could continue, she shook her hands.

"Oh, no. Me and J...we're not like that." She chuckled nervously, "J's a good friend, but he doesn'-he would never- I mean you know." She drank more, hoping it would help more. She wasn't stupid to the insinuation, so she looked up, "Umm, does it look like that?"

John B rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly growing nervous, "I mean, yeah. Especially with these last few days. You two are always together at school."

She thought for a second. Maybe...

"Well, I didn't mean to make it awkward or anythi-"

She waved her hand off, "Don't worry about it. Sarah's called him Lucy one too many times for me to not notice." She surprised herself with the candor.

"Lucy?"

"You know. Schroeder and Lucy? The Charlie Brown comics?"

John B laughed loudly, "I can't get that out of my head now. I have a new nickname for him. I can totally see him in the little blue dress, and waving his feet in the air and-" He kept laughing, "Thank you seriously. He won't get me to shut up."

"Glad to be of service. He's annoyed me one too many times." She finished the cup, "Is he here?"

"Uhhh yeah. He's somewhere over by the fire."

"Hmm." She placed the cup in the trash by the tables, "I'll pay Lucy a visit."

"Go get em', Tiger."

She threw a thumbs up and walked closer to the fire.

Okay, she wasn't dumb. She knew what John B was saying and what Sarah was saying with the Lucy comments. She knew how it looked and before it would have inconvenienced her, maybe made her mad, but it didn't. In fact, it excited her. Could it be that JJ liked her? Like really? A boy she may possible totally liked actually liked her back? I mean, she's had boys who liked her before, but they weren't anything like JJ. He was funny, charming, annoying and a total nuisance at times, but she always liked it.

At a kegger in the middle of the night, searching for the boy who had captured her heart, she came to terms with what she had been hiding for over a year.

With a mind that was not sober, in fact tipsy from her lack of consumption in the past, she decided that she'd tell JJ. She'd tell JJ that she was sorry if she ever made him feel unwanted in the music room because she wanted him there. She wanted him to come and annoy her and tell her what he thought of her playing, of her original pieces. She wanted to teach him about Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms and listen to his song recommendations. Maybe he'd teach her how to surf. Maybe he'd want to go to her recital. She had a ticket prepared for him like she had for Sarah. She could play his ballad. She'd tell him how she wanted to him that summer coming up because then she'd get to know more about him - filling her brain with more about him because he made her feel like she wasn't just a prodigy or someone who only played piano. He made her feel like she was human, like she was girl who had more. She'd tell him that she liked him more than just a friend. She'd tell him that she wanted to be with him if he'd have her.

And he had given her all the signs, so she wasn't saying it out of the blue. He had stared at her. Carried her bag. Didn't mind that she still had his hat. Was considerate of her. Made her laugh. It all pointed to one conclusion. Just like Sarah had said. There was one theory as to why he always bothered her and in the middle of the night, during a kegger, with people talking and a fire burning, she decided that it was one she'd consider.

Maybe JJ Maybank liked her. She wouldn't know unless she asked.

But she knew.

The piano prodigy liked JJ Maybank.

And maybe he'd like her too.

She had made it to the fire when she spotted a glimpse of blond hair. Her heart picked up a beat as she came closer, only for it to drop to her stomach when she saw what he was doing. Another girl, who she had known as a pogue and lived on the Southside, was touching his shoulder and he brushed his hand against her hair. He was staring at her like he had stared at her that morning. He leaned forward, saying something in her ear, causing her giggle and shove him a little

It was a tiny thing. Miniscule. She still could have gone up to him and told him and maybe the night's ending would have been different. But it made her blood boil. He had always given her attention, but she hadn't considered that he gave other girls the same attention as well. She had heard about JJ Maybank's notorious history with girls - his endless list of makeout sessions that girls swooned over, his mysterious hookups and his knack for making girls fall to his feet. She hadn't judged him because everyone had their "things" that they did, whether proud or not.

But if she wasn't the only one he was giving attention to, who else was there?

Yes, the green jealousy monster came to haunt her. Maybe it wasn't fair. She hadn't been interested before, but she had shown signs too. RIGHT? She had stared back and laughed and flirted a little without her knowing. She wrote him a song! But he was there, with another girl, touching her, laughing with her and he would probably kiss her by the end of the night.

JJ had said before that her music was sad and depressing and emotional. That's because the composers were. Artists, writers, composers, poets and the like were tied to emotions. It was how the most heart wrenching, beautiful and one of a kind art was made. How Shakespeare wrote about doomed romances. How Beethoven wrote Fur Elise. How Van Gogh painted with such originality. How Louisa Mae Alcott wrote a story about four sisters. How Taylor Swift wrote in a way that made poetry come to life through music. How she wrote songs.

And as a pianist, she agreed.

She was emotional.

She was strung by her emotions constantly. It was why she responded angrily when JJ bothered her. Why she cried in the bathroom when she felt used and ignored. Why she spiraled when she felt anxious. Why she tried to ignore her feelings in the first place because when she was emotionally attached, she hyper fixated.

Her emotions controlled her.

And it was why she turned around and let the tracks in the sand be the only proof that she was ever there.

Whatever confidence, whatever hope, whatever beautiful thing she had felt for the boy was shattered like a chandelier falling from a ten story building. The pieces, whatever was left, would be hidden in the back corners of her mind, collecting dust for the rest of eternity.

Her sober mind knew that it probably wasn't completely fair for her to get angry. It wasn't like they "talked" or flirted outright or kissed or anything of the sort. He had a right to go off and be with who he wanted. He wasn't tied to anyone.

But it didn't stop her from feeling the way she did.

She was angry. First at JJ for being with someone else. For making her feel like she had been led on. For making her distracted. For filling her up with hope. For giving her attention that she thought was only hers. For making her feel like she had a piece of him that no one else did.

She was angry. Secondly, at herself. For allowing herself to get distracted when her music was what she needed to focus on. For allowing her mind to be filled with teenage ideas of love and boys. For believing that someone actually liked her for her. For thinking that JJ may have been hers.

She was stupid to think those things. Irrational. Irresponsible.

She walked away from the party, walking down to the Cameron's home to get her bag that she had left. The streetlights were the only thing lighting her path and it was there that she felt the first tears of anger fall onto her cheeks.

It wasn't fair to him. For her to be angry for something he didn't know he did.

But she really wanted to believe that he liked her and her only.

So on the sidewalk, in the middle of the night, alone, the pianist cried out into the dark for a boy that she held close to her heart. She would allow herself to cry once and once only.

Before stuffing it in the farthest corner of her hardened heart, locking it away forever.

◇ ◇ ◇

He's liked her since they were in elementary school. Truthfully, he never looked at girls until he was in middle school. Boys thought girls were icky and girls thought boys were gross, but there was always something about her that intrigued him. She was the quiet one, sat in the back, never talked to anyone and usually ate lunch alone on the field they had. That was if she was there. Out of the 250-ish days of school, she had been there less than 100 of them.

Piano prodigy they called her. Girl with a gift. Marvelous. A wonder. A bunch of words that he knew a lot of his classmates got jealous of. Even him at one point. All because she could touch keys in order to make music.

She was hardly ever there - always on Figure Eight, on the mainland, in New York, Washington D.C or any other place that required her presence. But when she was there, it was as if she was a ghost. No one talked to her. If they ever looked at her, it was with jealous envy.

He didn't know why he liked her so much.

The one time she spoke to him, it was during the one rare moment when they had to work in pairs for music class. They got to choose their pairs and while he would usually pair with his new best friend of 2nd grade, John B. Routledge, he made a beeline to the pianist. She looked at him, tilting her head, as he asked if she wanted to be partners. She merely nodded his head and let him pull up a seat next to her desk. It was music class and anyone else, even John B who had paired with the new kid named Pope, thought he was in it for an easy 'A' as did anyone who was partners with her. The pairing up was to help each other with piano playing on the little keyboards.

She had been flawless with her rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star", but he had been a mess of a player. Wrong key every two notes and wrong note every key. He semi-expected her to laugh at him, but she didn't. Instead, she stood behind him and put his hands on the keys and guided him through the motions. She never said anything, only used her hands to help him. It took a whole class period, but he was able to do the lullaby as easily as she did by the end. He shyly thanked her, although he didn't know because he was never shy about anything as a kid. She nodded and while they waited in line to go to lunch, he kept on yapping.

He eventually figured out why he kept talking, but at that time, he was oblivious. He eventually said that he probably won't be a pianist like her when he's older since he's too hyperactive to be sitting down playing songs. He stopped mid-sentence when he saw her smile.

"You're a wildcard, JJ."

The class was led out of the room and before JJ could ask her what she meant by that, John B caught up with him and was pulling along the new kid with him.

A wildcard. Something with unpredictable behavior. Uncontrollable. Unkempt. Wild.

They never really talked after that incident, but he always watched her. In class. When they passed by in the halls. When she played at their 5th grade recital. The middle school play rehearsals. Their short interactions around Kildare. When she was on the news. She was always somewhere and anywhere she was, it caught his attention whether he wanted to pay attention or not. Always a thought in the back of his mind.

As he got older, he hated that she had some hold on him. She didn't do anything and neither did he, but he just liked her. Her. Her work ethic. How she found a way for herself. How she practiced day and night to get better and better. Her confidence in what she did. Her concentration. He liked her because she was just her and unapologetically so.

And when high school came around and she began to attend school more often, he found himself in the music room, escaping his pre-algebra class when found her there. The more he skipped some classes, he would escape to the otherwise empty music room. She was there for her first periods and her last periods. So he sometimes found himself in the room with one other person occupying it. The first time, he sat in the back as she practiced. If she saw him, she didn't say anything. The second and third time, he sat closer - seeing if she would say something. She merely glanced at him while fixing her sheet music and continued with her practice. Nothing moved her. Nothing shook her. She was still and commanded with everything she did.

And eventually he began to make some noise. Open a can of Monster. Take leftover sheet music and make paper airplanes that landed on or around her. He even blew a trumpet once. She never said anything, only glared and handed him the airplanes back, pointing her index finger to the back of the class. The more he seemed to bother, the more attention he got from her. The more she looked at him with her focused eyes, the more he wanted them on him.

And eventually, she became more vocal with her dislike and her annoyance. She'd tell him not to do something and he noted that when he began to push her, she pushed back. Soon their bickering became a common thing to do.

At first, he had to admit that he was trying to get her to dislike him, so that whatever little crush he had on her would disappear as her dislike grew. He wanted her to look at him with malice that maybe he'd grow some too. But instead, it had the opposite effect on him. Her dislike grew, but his crush only grew. Whether he bothered her or not, she never told on him (only that one time at the beginning of Freshman year) and used her words instead of her fists to tell him to stop bothering. And he did. Usually. By the time of the beginning of Sophomore year, he had accepted that he did like the pianist.

He liked her a lot.

He liked her hair and how she fiddled with it when she grew restless or anxious. How her short fingers moved across keys and flexed ever so delicately. How her eyes were as expressive as her face. Her shorter figure that always demanded she look up to him when she spoke. The smiles that told him that she enjoyed being with him. Her hands too. Delicate and soft.

Oh yeah, he liked her a lot.

But now her resentment had grown into a full grown hate and he didn't blame her for any of it. He didn't even have to speak for her to glare at him. So he toned it down. Only making playful remarks with some sarcastic crack at her and it seemed to work. She was less aggressive with him and he even caught her smirking a few times. He'd made the rare notion of messing with her outside of class, but he wasn't met with the harsh stare or tongue of malice, but instead with a similar joke or a narrow of playful eyes. He swore he even saw her look at him a few times during history and art.

But now came the interesting million dollar question.

What now?

He liked her. He was sure that maybe she felt the same way, but then the doubt sinked in. What would she have with him? She was future a pianist in some famous band or orchestra or would become a solo artist or whatever in New York or D.C or heck, even in the United Kingdom or France. She was destined for more.

And him?

Some punk from the Cut who never had more than fifty bucks in his pocket. Wasting his life away at keggers, fights, weed and barely passing his classes. He'd go out with almost every girl who caught his eye. He'd never been in a committed relationship. He didn't even know if he wanted that. He didn't go out with girls to forget her because he wasn't a boy waiting for a girl. But that wasn't the full truth. He couldn't forget her because she had made her mark. She had imprinted herself like a golden tan on his mind - forever a reminder that there was some amazing girl out there that liked Beethoven and Mozart, who enjoyed drinking iced matchas with almond milk and writing music, who could push back as much as you pushes her, who had a confidence that others would pay for, who shined like a bright star whenever she played. She was everything he wasn't.

So, what would she have with him?

Easy.

Nothing.

She would never look at him the way John B said he looked at her. She would never willingly want to hold his hand or spend every waking moment with him or go to the beach to watch him surf or spend time listening to him talk about fishing or surfing or rock music.

That was the thing of dreams.

So he went out with other girls. He continued on with his life as if she hadn't completely flipped it around.

But then things began to change within that last month. She was more playful, nicer even to him. She still had the ability to give him hell if she wanted to and if he decided to push, she'd push back. But their friendship grew and flourished. All because he finally let his guard down and allowed her to drop hers without judgment. She responded to him as much as he responded to her.

So, he knew that if he shook the boat too hard, she'd obliterate it.

They were similar that way.

But she wanted him around. She even complied with writing The Ballad of JJ. She called him "wildcard" as she had done before as a kid. She smiled at his with a kind of sparkle that almost made him kill her in order to feel it. And for once, he had hope, but what was hope if, again, she was destined for the stars and he was stuck on Kildare just like his old man and every man in his family beforehand?

If he tried hard enough, maybe he could deserve her.

Or maybe he would never and he would merely be a song that she wrote as she went off into the world.

Either way, he was done waiting.

He decided that at a kegger he went to. He was sitting with a girl he knew from school, flirting and talking, when he realized he didn't want to do that. The pianist was plaguing his mind and all he thought about as he flirted and touched the girl's hair is how much he wanted to be with her. Did she like keggers? He never saw her at them? What would she wear? Did she drink? Does she like dancing?

Questions that went round and round when he stopped and realized what he had to do.

He was done waiting.

Because it was stupid. Waiting. Hoping. He was a doer. If he got rejected, that was it. He would live. He would go on with his life. He wasn't going to keep pining. If he ruined a friendship, well, he's ruined worst things.

It was stupid to tell her how he felt. It was stupid to ask her out. It was stupid to believe that she would say yes.

However, he believed in his personal philosophy.

Stupid things have good outcomes all the time.

◇ ◇ ◇

He just hadn't realized how stupid he had been

◇ ◇ ◇

It was Sunday, the day before the recital and she's determined to avoid JJ at all costs after Friday night. She had told Sarah about what happened and she immediately told her to come over. She offered to pick her up, but she just wanted to walk. To think. To find closure within. She semi-regretted it as the June sun began to beat on her.

She believed the world hated her because she would have never believed that she would have run into the very boy she was trying to avoid on the day after he accidentally fractured her heart. She was walking, ten minutes away from the Camerons, when she heard her name being called followed by a short but hight pitched whistle.

Driving the same van as before (which she know knew as the "Twinkie" as John B called it) JJ Maybank slowed down his driving near the girl he had caught feelings for.

"Hey, what you doin'?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

"Walking," She replied, her tone mimicking the same unimpressed one she had at the beginning of May when JJ came around to the music room.

"I can see that. Very nice walking." When she didn't respond, he cleared his throat, "So uh, where you going?"

"Camerons."

"Cool." He cleared his throat awkwardly. The one word answers were not normal after their week of delight. "Is everything okay?"

"Peachy." She folded her arms and kept walking, never putting her eyes on him.

Shit, JJ thought. If she was pissed off, he couldn't ask her out. And if she was pissed off, there was something wrong. So, he made a risky move and quickly (and illegally) parked the car and ran up to her. His hand caught her arm and she turned around, pulling her arm out of his grasp as if he had burned her.

"What?" She asked.

"What's wrong? You can tell me if something is wrong." He reminded, "We're friends." He winced internally. Probably not the best phrase to say as he's about to ask her out, "Is it the recital?"

"Friends." She mocked and turned back around.

He didn't relent and decided to push, "What's wrong with you?"

"A lot of things. Thanks for the reminder." She chuckled dryly before digging her hand in her tote bag, "Oh and here." She tossed it to his hands.

He caught the item, noticing that it was his hat. He furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding.

"It's yours." He said, falling into pace with her, handing it back, but her hand pushed back.

"It's yours. I don't want it."

"Wait, wait, wait." He finally stood in front of her, blocking her path. "What's happening? Did I miss something?"

"Nothing. Just giving you your hat back." She tried to move to the side, but he blocked it with his body.

"No, no. You're doing something else."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No!"

"Yes!" He shouted back.

"Fine!" She relented. "I don't want to see you. I don't want you around. I don't want your hat. I don't want you in the music room. I don't want you near me. Okay? Okay." She shoved him to the side, but before she could even take a step, he grabbed her bicep and pulled her close, close enough that she could smell sea salt and smoke on him.

"What the hell are you saying?"

"I was stupid enough to actually believe that you liked me, but I guess you like every single girl on the damn island." She tried to pull out his grasp, but he held on tighter. It didn't hurt, but her heart did.

"I d-"

"If you did, you wouldn't have been with that girl at the kegger. If you did, you would have said something by now. You can go out and be with as many others as you want but you don't have enough interest to tell me?" She scoffed, "You've distracted me enough. You made me feel so stupid for thinking that you liked me and I was even more stupid for thinking I liked you back." She tugged at her arm, but JJ was like a statue, staring with his mouth parting. "I don't have time for you and I don't want to make time for you anymo-"

It happened quickly.

She almost didn't process what he was doing when he did it until she was doing it with him.

His mouth fell onto hers as his other hand pulled her in by her waist. His hand fell from her bicep and instead cupped the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair as he kissed her. He tried to put every ounce of feeling into it - the passion and yearning he felt, the desire and burning. His mouth was soft, but demanding.

She felt all her anger and her malice fall as his mouth moved. The thoughts in her head flooded away as she pulled him in closer by his black button up. Her left hand held on tightly to his shirt while her right hand was flat on his chest, as if deciding whether to push him away or not.

His mouth almost pulled away, but she finally responded and allowed her mouth to open, allowing their kiss to deepen. They were breathing into each other's mouth, desperate to stay connected to one another. His teeth nibbled at her lip to which she pulled at his shirt even tighter. A chill ran down her spine as her body began to heat up more and more from their closeness. Not even the sun and its direct rays could have created the amount of heat between them.

JJ was in complete euphoria as their kiss went from soft and slow to burning and passionate as if they were speaking with their lips and lips only. His tongue teased her lips and her mouth opened slightly, allowing him to make his entrance. If they weren't in kook public, he would have pinned her up against a wall or a car in order to allow more room for movement.

And maybe it would have gone farther if her brain didn't zip back into rational thought and pulled away. Their breathing was rapid and heavy as they stared at each other, unsure how they got that far. She was silent, unsure how to respond to a sudden and stolen kiss.

JJ, not usually one to talk about his feelings, untangled himself from her, taking a step back before placing the hat that she had tried to return on her head.

"Keep it." He huffed out before walking back to the Twinkie and driving down the street.

The kiss had confirmed what both of them suspected and now knew.

Their feelings were real and reciprocated.

However, it didn't make anything else clear.

In fact, everything felt more complicated. She was angry at him for "leading her on" after she saw him with another girl. He was angry at her for not wanting to see him because of a miscommunication. She was angry at herself for not letting him speak and clear everything. He was angry at himself for being with another girl because now it fucked up everything with her.

But it didn't stop their minds from wandering to the same question.

What now?

◇ ◇ ◇

Sarah swore that she had never been friends with a dumber person. She may be a prodigy, but man, was she stupid sometimes. JJ had kissed the living daylights out of her, gave the hat back and she was doubting everything now. It was clear to Sarah - he was telling her that he liked her and that he was sorry.

But her best friend didn't see it that way.

In a way, she didn't blame her. She wasn't use to the dramas and the mind games of relationships, situationships or friendships that weren't friendships at all. And she knew that she was embarrassed by her outburst. So she allowed her best friend to wallow the day away.

The day of the recital, Sarah got an idea. It was risky and could backfire, but she knew that if she didn't do it, her little prodigy would never resolve this thing on her own. She was too focused on her recital that she couldn't take a break to think about the blond boy that had been pining for her.

The prodigy was near to leaving when Sarah snuck away from her, past her father and Rose who were speaking with the pianist's mother, and outside to the Druthers. She knew one person who could help and she was placing all her bets that he knew what was going on.

"John B." Sarah said, "We need to talk."

The boy put down the bucket and hose that he was using and wiped his hands with a cloth, "What about, Sarah Cameron?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Unless JJ didn't fill his very best friend in." John B shook his head and Sarah sighed, "Look, she's embarrassed. She didn't mean to blow up at him. She doesn't know how to apologize."

"Tell me about it. JJ doesn't know how to apologize either. And the fact that he wants to apologize is something you don't hear everyday."

"She likes him. A lot." She smiled softly, "She wouldn't be all frazzled and upset if she didn't. So," She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, "Let's give them hope."

"A ticket?" He asked.

"To her recital tonight in D.C." She sighed, "I don't know if he's gonna make it or want to go. It's a long five hour drive or train ride, but if he wants to go, it's there."

"I don't know." He shrugged. He'd never really seen JJ like that. Quiet. As if he thought too much that he couldn't even speak. "It could complicate things more."

"She was going to invite him on Friday." She admits, "She had the ticket in advance."

And with that he sighed, knowing that he couldn't take an opportunity away from his best friend, "No promises, Sarah Cameron."

"Wouldn't expect anything less."

◇ ◇ ◇

She pulled on her dress once more. It was a beautiful dress that had been bought by her mother, but she did feel kind of warm in it. The bow in her hair matched it and so did the shoes. She had been dressed in a simple black dress beforehand, but this one was made of velvet, and was longer in length than when she played in the orchestra and pockets.

Pockets!

Her performance was more important, she guessed.

But her mind was anywhere, but her performance.

Through the ferry ride to the mainland to the five hour limo ride to the concert hall - the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts - her mind was occupied with JJ Maybank.

"Oh great!" Margie barged into her dressing room, "You're on in ten. Let's get going."

She nodded, sitting up from her vanity, glancing once at the hat that was sitting on it. It was like her was actually there, assuring he that she'd be okay. She reached her hands out for a moment, but hesitated.

Margie called out her name once more, impatient by the door.

She followed Margie out the room.

The concert hall was full and from her view from the stage when she played earlier, she could see a few people she knew. A few senators. A couple congress men and women. Directors of universities. A professor from Juilliard that she had studied under when she was nine. But there were some she hadn't known, but knew from their posture and the way they took notes that they were either scouts or people of importance.

She was prepped and ready, but began to breathe heavily. She could do it. She could do it. She knew she could. The anxiety told her she couldn't, but she tossed them aside. She couldn't do anything, but play now. Whether she had boy problems or not, whether she just had her first kiss less than 48 hours before, she was a pianist first. She put her first love first before anyone else. Her future first.

But having him there would have been better.

She stood at the corner of the stage, breathing more steadily as her announcement was made. A round of applause followed and she walked elegantly on the stage. Her shoes clicked against the clean and slick floor as she made her way to the sleek black piano. She moved her dress aside so she'd sit comfortably. Her sheet music was out for her as a guide, but she knew she wouldn't even have to look at it.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

She put her fingers on the keys and played her first piece. As written on the program handed out for her time slot specifically, she played it as tribute to herself. And down she went on the list for her first section - classical and somber.

Fur Elise - a tribute to her middle name and her favorite composer of all time. La Campanella - at only the age of eight, she played this piece during her first live performance in Lincoln Center. I Wanted to Leave - an spectacular original piece by our composer. the inspiration came during a late night practice session at her home when she decided to write her own music. it is one of her first original works. Mists - one of the most challenging parts of her journey was learning to be spontaneous with her music. much like Beethoven, Iannis Xenakis' work inspired her to try less regulated music and explore the chaos. Cardigan - this original song took over two years to write. her inspiration for this piece was the idea that when one is young many believe that they know nothing. her song explores the highs and lows of both the piano and life, showing that she does know more than others believe. She dedicates it to her five year old self. Gymnopedie no 1 - going back to her roots, she plays one of the first songs she's ever memorized. she dedicates it to her mother, who encouraged her to play from day one and to her father, who once told her she'd play for audiences around the world.

The first set of thirty minutes ended as soon as it started. She was given a loud applause and she gave a small curtsy, a spotlight on her, before the curtains enclosed the stage and the lights turned on for the audience. She let out a breath as Margie, her mother and others came towards her, catering to her. Someone gave her a water bottle, another brought her lotion for her hands and another with a small towel to dab her forehead.

"Beautifully done, honey." Her mother kissed her head. "Your last piece made me remember the first days when you kept playing it. Drove your father and I crazy."

"Thank you, ma." She smiled.

"Okay, okay. Costume change!" Margie sang. "I have to go check up on your audience."

Quickly, she was rushed to the back and put on another outfit. It was a dark blue dress made of tulle. It was airy and light compared with the black dress that had made her feel suffocated. It was off the shoulder with tulle frills. She was thankful as long sleeves combined with hot stage lights did not combine well. Her shoes were replaced with Mary Janes. It was relief to her sore ankle that kept rubbing on a sharp part of the heels she was thrown into.

She received a text from Sarah as her black bow was replaced with a gold hair pin that kept her hair back. She congratulated her on her performance, saying that there was a lot of positive feedback. The pianist smiled for a moment before, replying with a smiling emoji, before thanking her hair stylist. For a moment, she was left alone to give herself some room to breathe.

Alone was the damn hat.

She picked it up. It felt intimate now. Touching the hat from the boy she liked and who liked her back. The hat that he had told her to keep after he kissed her for the first time. She couldn't help, but smile.

That boy made her crazy.

She had been distracted and pissed before, but now, all she felt was acceptance.

When she got back to OBX, she'd make things right with him. Maybe he wouldn't forgive her and she'd accept it. Maybe he would decide that he didn't want to be with her and she'd accept his answer. Whatever the ending would be, she'd be thankful for the hours of attention he gave her and the feeling of being cared for. He deserved her explanation without yelling because he had been nothing but good to her.

Maybe she'd always like JJ Maybank. And she was okay with that thought.

A knock on the door came and so did a ding from her phone. Margie barged in, calling her for her last thirty minute set. She nodded before standing up. She glanced at the hat.

She followed Margie out of the room.

The same process repeated.

Deep breaths. A last sip of water. Another announcement and she was off onto the stage. She sat on the stool, but before she put her hands on the keys, she placed JJ's hat on the empty space to her left, hidden from the audience's view. She had hidden the hat in her black dress' pocket, but without any pockets, she put it to her side. She smiled for a second before placing her fingers on the keys.

"Why do you play depressing songs? I thought pianists were supposed to be lighthearted."

She paused.

"There's a whole world out there that isn't classical music that could apply to your piano playing."

Her mother and Margie would probably kill her later. It was stupid to deviate from the plan.

But if there was anything JJ Maybank taught her: stupid things have good outcomes all the time.

She turned in her seat, gesturing to the stagehands for a microphone. Margie and her mother stared from the sidelines, slightly freaking out. Realizing she wasn't going to play without a microphone, she was quickly handed one by a stagehand. She tapped it, making sure it was on before, turning to the audience.

This is so stupid, but here we go.

"Uh, hi, everyone. Thank you for being here today. I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing with a microphone if I'm a pianist." She chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not going to sing. I'm not total singing potiental, I promise you," A round of laughter, "and it's not what you came here for. You came for piano and I promise I'll give you that, but I've changed my mind about something." She took a breath, "I will not be playing the complete set that is written on your programs. I've realized a common theme in my playing tonight and someone who I care about recently told me that, um, there's another world that doesn't contain classical or melancholy music that could be applied to my talent. And I didn't believe in it before, but I do now.

"I believe in it now because I experienced something I never have before and I am very grateful for it because it has expanded what I once believed. It has challenged me and brought me to what I now believe and want. I thank that person for telling me that. I...I wish he was here tonight" She let a beat pass before sitting up straighter, "Which is why I will be changing up the setlist tonight. In honor of changing my way of thinking and thanking the people that have impacted my life in many different ways. I hope you still enjoy it."

She turned back to the piano, sliding the microphone into the holder that was already on the piano.

"This first one is to my best friend, Sarah Cameron. She's in the audience. Hi, Sarah." The audience chuckled a little, "This one's for you. For being my best friend and for choosing me during our rocky years."

She didn't play the setlist chosen for her. She played her own. And in each song, she explained the meaning behind it. Something she had never done before, but felt right in doing so.

Later, when her performance went viral online for her unexpected change of plans, Margie would have her write up the reasons for the songs she chose to post online with a deeper thought process.

The Climb - a song for Sarah Cameron. my best friend. we watched the Hannah Montana movie a million times at her house and at mine and we always sang it together. we know the journey is tough, but with each other, we're never alone. i adore her. she helped my journey so much that i had to start with her. Viva La Vida - it was one of my favorite songs as a kid. i used to sing it all the time. i liked the history behind it. the fall of a famous king. i played it once for my mom and she recorded me without knowing. i think she still has the tape. Sweet Nothing - this song is original. i wrote it when i was struggling with being alone. it began when i was in elementary school and i finished it the summer before freshman year. i wrote it in order to convince myself that one day i'd have people in my life that would want nothing from me, but myself. i never played it because of how personal it was and i didn't think anyone wanted to hear something sweet and about me. thankfully, someone changed my mind. Don't Stop Me Now - the person who told me there was another world of music i hadn't tapped into was right. after that conversation, i decided to try it out. simple to see if he was right. i decided on this song by Queen because my dad loved the song. i know he was smiling when i played it. it was so upbeat and fun to play that i forgot i was on stage. Never Grow Up - okay, okay, i had to. yes, slow songs are my forte. at the time, i didn't really have other original upbeat songs, but i thought this was the sweetest to play. again, it was another song to myself. it was to my younger self, who didn't know where she'd end up. it was a apology to her, to tell her she still had time to be a kid. it's my apology to her for growing up too fast. i hope she can forgive me. Left Hand Free - so the same person who told me to explore other world told me randomly that a song by Alt J would be perfect for me. i rolled my eyes at the time, but i decided to play it. it was like a little inside joke as i'm pretty sure most people in the audience didn't know what i was playing. it's kind of like the theme song of OBX, where i'm from. my gift to you from paradise on earth.

By the end, she hadn't realized that her time was almost up when the stage manager gave her the five minute warning sign. she nodded and picked up the microphone again.

"So I don't have much time left, but if you're still here, then thank you for still being interested." She laughed, "But uh, for this last song, I want to play something that I actually wrote for someone else. It was my second time writing something for someone else in such fashion. It's called The Ballad of JJ No.2 . If it sounds weird, blame his parents for naming him JJ because that wasn't me." The audience laughed, "It's part two because the first part is for him and him only. This second part, however, I can share with the rest of you because I don't think it's much of a secret." She turned back to piano and put the mic back in it's slot before picking up the hat and placing it on her head, "And to JJ, thanks for being a wildcard."

The Ballad of JJ No. 2 - so JJ is actually the boy who told me the quotes that I mentioned during the recital. he was my friend at the time (more like frenemy) but during the second half of the recital, i just thought back to him and how he was right. the reason i wrote the song was because he answered a question for me and i had to write a song for him in return. he was the one who titled it "The Ballad of JJ". he actually helped me write the first part. i decided that since his name was in the title, it might as well be a song about him. the first part is up and down and all around. wild. just like him. and sorry to all who want to hear it, but it's for JJ's ears only. the second part i wrote as an "alternate" version and it was the one i shared with my manager, mom and best friend when i was testing out originals. it was unfinished at the time, but i completed it on the way to the recital actually. i didn't know i would perform it, but i'm glad i did. his second ballad was what i felt about him. wild. electric. passionate. enchanted, it was everything i felt for him in a song that i couldn't say in words at the time. if you're reading this, i know you're going to tease me, but thanks for challenging me, J. it's the best thing i've ever written (also know that you're never getting your hat back. it one hundred percent mine now and you're the only one to blame).

The last note rang and she let out a breath. It was done. It was out in the open. No denial. No pauses. No hesitation.

(Later on, that one specific part of the recital went viral for her "love confession". It was all anyone could talk about for a couple days. No one outside of the OBX knew who "JJ" was or how he got her to write not one, but two ballads about him. She found it funny how everyone thought "JJ" was her boyfriend, when in reality, they weren't even together. At the time, at least.)

Claps and shouts rang through the concert hall. She stood up and as she did, so did the audience. A standing ovation she received for her performance. She walked to the edge of the stage and gave a final curtsy. She stood for a moment, taking in the cheers and approval for her performance. She hadn't failed, but she didn't care for failure at the moment.

She did something new.

A whistle came from the audience.

She knew that high pitched whistle anywhere.

She scanned the audience, hoping she wasn't dreaming, but couldn't find the person anywhere.

In the first box on the right, Sarah Cameron was waving frantically. The pianist's attention was soon caught and she scrunched up her eyebrows as Sarah rapidly pointed downwards to below the box she was in. Her eyes followed and landed on a boy with messy blond hair, blue eyes and a dopey smile on his face.

He was there.

Before the curtains could close properly, she ran towards the side of the stage where she barreled through the stage crew, her mother and Margie as she made her way out of the backstage. Her shoes hit the ground hard as she ran with all her might. She didn't have to go far because as soon as she saw the door that led to the audience's front row, it swung open so hard that it hit the wall with a bang.

"JJ!" She shouted, catching hit attention. She stopped short once she made it in front of him, "How...why...I-" She had run so fast that she was out of breath, panting.

"Sarah gave me the ticket you saved for me." He said, "Well she gave John B the ticket, who gave it to me almost two hours before your performance. I had to take a train to get here and I didn't see everything, but I made it during the beginning of your second round."

"So you heard-"

"Everything? Yeah," He grinned, "Really ballsy changing your music at the last minute. Did not expect that."

She shook her head with a laugh, "I just knew.I had to. I have to like what I'm playing. Like you said." Her breathing had become more regulated, so she spoke clearer, "I'm sorry I blew up on you. I wasn't being fair to you. I was angry and jealous and a complete ass to you. I'm sorry." She confessed and it was like a weight lifted off her shoulders, "I really like your attention, but I really really like you."

JJ replied with, "I'm...sorry too. I should have told you earlier instead of fucking around and ignoring what I felt for...you." He cleared him throat, "When I'm around you it's like...it's like heavy and like," He moved his hands around his chest, "It's like my heart wants to implode and just like...just...wow! You know?"

JJ had never been good with communicating his feels. Especially to the girl he's liked since elementary school. He was never good with his words, but he was good with his actions. That's why he kissed her. Saying everything he couldn't in action. But even then, he tried his hardest to say what he felt. And she saw that fully. She had trouble saying it too. That's why she played it instead - it was a love note to him that she couldn't say out loud.

"It's like...fireworks or like the freaking butterlies. Ever since we were kids and now I just..." He took a breath, "I really really reall- I never thought that you would even look at me. You're you and I'm me. I'm a reck and you're just-."

And the more hand movement he had, the more he made her smile. A bright one that said everything he needed to know. He noticed and stopped speaking. He knew she knew. No words could say what he felt, but every action said it for him.

So, he reached forward and pulled his hat down so that it covered her face, "Nice hat. Where'd you get it?"

She pulled it up, meeting his eyes, "Some guy I wrote a second ballad for."

"Oh yeah?" He took a step forward.

"Yeah." She nodded nonchalantly, "Don't know what he thought of it though. He hasn't even heard the first one fully."

JJ looked amused, chuckling as he looked to the side, "Oh he liked it. So much so that you can play both of them on your first date with him."

"Oh really?" She tilted her head to the side, with a teasing smile, "He won't try and distract me, right? Throw a paper airplane. Blow a trumpet. Crack open a can of Mons-"

Her sentence didn't even get to finish as JJ only shook his head with a wide smile and pulled her into a kiss. She smiled, knowing that her rambling would caused that reaction. His body pressed up against hers, molding into each other as if they were made for one another. His strong arms eloped around her, one around her waist and the other around her neck. She put her hand onto his shirt, pulling him closer as her other hand ran through his hair.

Their first kiss was matches and gasoline being poured together. Their second was thunder and lightning. Same passion, different area. The first was destructive based on two opposite forces. The second were merely nature, two forces that worked together.

Both beautiful in their own categories.

Her hand tugged on his hair and his tongue slipped into her mouth. Their noises were drowned out by the clamor outside the door. Her fingers trailed his jaw and his throat. His stroked her waist, causing her stomach to erupt in butterflies.

More. More. More.

It was all they wanted.

More as everything ran through them. The wants. The desires. The love. The fire. The passion. The need. The unexplainable euphoria that ran through their bodies and into their souls - their souls that spoke to one another in this one moment.

He smelt like sea salt and smoke. He tasted like sugar. He felt like fire. His hands like water as they drowned her in sensations that she hadn't felt before, but would die to feel over and over if it was him causing it.

She smelt like old books and flowers. She tasted like sweet chamomile tea. She felt like velvet. Her presence, her entire being, was like the salty air of the beach - consuming every part of him until he desired nothing more than to stay in that moment forever.

"So that's a yes?" He pulled away abruptly, eyes sleepy and hands shaking.

"Shut up and kiss me."

And he did just that.

◇ ◇ ◇

thedarlinglore: you'd be dead if you took a shot every time i used the word "maybe". it should be illegal with how much i used that word. it took me three days to write this and one to edit. it took me out of my writing slump. might make a part 2. thank you mr.maybank ❤

[novasintheroom]

Just some thoughts I wanted to share with someone, but I feel like Barista Vash has a fifty fifty shot of being a nightmare or a blessing to work on shift with. 

This all depends on what he's tasked with. Cashier? You better be thanking the man, because you bet his smile and friendly attitude has people eagerly handing in tips. These tips coming from doting mothers or grandmothers who think he reminds them of their child/grandchild, or people who melt under his warm voice asking "Will that be all? :)". Vash has definitely has gotten shy or confident slides of pieces of paper with people's socials or phone numbers. He takes the time to give them a quick polite message letting them down easy. Back to cashier duties, the man is smart (as much as some of us tend to forget sometimes). Calculations for change are easy, and tech issues with the machine in general are simple fixes for him. Great employee overall, coworkers love him for his clear and loud voice for orders, along with the added bonus of big tips at the end of the day for everyone. 

Vash is the one making the drinks?....Can't he run the register today?....No? You better pray. See, Vash isn't bad at making drinks. Not at all actually, everything he makes is delicious, and it's made in a timely manner. It's just...There are times where he might not be. You can not tell me Vash has never slipped and fell while the floors are wet, or burned his hands several times on a coffee rush. He lets out a cartoonish YEOUCH, or whimper that has a few patrons looking his way, whenever he does. Definitely hums while he makes drinks on a slow days, maybe a little twirl or hip bump while he closes the fridge. Vash has definitely has an embarrassing moment or two, where it's a slow day, he takes the opportunity to eat the last delicious cranberry pastry...only for a customer to come up and ask for said pastry while his cheeks are full. Even with his slip ups, his coworkers are silently grateful when he's working during a sudden rush. The man can concentrate and get drinks out fast with precision, and is on top of making sure that there are enough items for drinks. You won't ever feel like you need to break down and cry, while making a drink, because you ran out of oat milk. 

Now leading back to Vash's admirers, he may have plenty of them. But he only has eyes for one person. If you're a regular, the days he knows you'll be coming in, the man is on fire. On top of everything, bright smiles that never falter, he is ready for you. Which may lead to him being exhausted by the time you arrive. Once, you hadn't arrived yet and he took his break, only for someone else to take your order and make it....He didn't show it, but Vash was depressed for the rest of the day. Lingering glances and wiping down a counter that was already spotless while you were enjoying your drink. If you ever come with someone, he might take the bold risk to ask "Oh and who's this? :)" during your small chat as you order. Just in case, he just wants to be safe. His fear is for your answer to someday be along the lines of, "This is my partner!". Regardless of his fear, he's slow to make any moves. One, he's working. Not the most romantic place to flirt if he's trying to make drinks for a mother and daughter waiting on their chai lattes. Two....you can't really tell when he does flirt? He's always friendly and warm to all customers. Plus if you confront him on the one liners or doodles on your drink, he (stupidly) dismisses it with a "I just had time :)" or excuses it as a way to cheer you up on a rough day. It might be....a while before he makes a real move, so maybe you should start thinking about ways to take the first step?

Aw I love this anon! Barista Vash is such a cute AU idea!! I would personally take SUCH a long time to get up the guts to ask him out, bc 1-he's working, and I'd assume he's happy and kind with EVERYONE and 2-I'm shy as all heck.

I hope everyone enjoys this!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!<33

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: Why Ray x Mew is Doomed to Fail

This show is consistently catching me off guard and I LOVE that. I was not expecting this to come out of the fallout, mostly because I didn't see Mew ever choosing this. But here we are. As soon as the final scene of Ray and Mew dancing at Yo's bar came on screen, I was wildly uncomfortable. Something felt so inherently wrong and off-kilter with this image. So let's discuss why.

Resigned Acceptance VS Active Choice

Let's be clear firstly; Mew hasn't chosen Ray. The entire exchange between them is Mew doing calculations in his head. And what he concludes is if someone loves you far more, then you don't lose out. Logically it's a far easier and safer proposition to try. (Whereas with Top, who was supposedly so out of Mew's league, has now caused Mew a tonne of insecurity because of his betrayal). Ray can't hurt him because Mew has never regarded Ray as suited for that spot.

It's with an air of resigned acceptance (and an obvious lack of any enthusiasm) that Mew accepts Ray's pursuit of him. Like a lukewarm shrug, 'Yeah. I guess. I suppose. Why not.' Right now Mew needs a distraction and here is his perfect opportunity to appear as if he's 'moved on' already. That he's unaffected. Mew is only doing all of this because he's hurting. If Top hadn't cheated, his stance on Ray would still be unwaveringly firm.

This also serves as an ideal way to punish Top. Top's reason for cheating was thinking (wrongly) that there was something going on between him and Ray. So why not rub that in his face and actually have something going on now to spite him? Top's worst nightmare manifested.

Mew Playing Mew 2.0

I had a really strong feeling this episode that Mew was trying to emanate Ray, especially with his new look. Bit by bit, Mew is denouncing everything that once made him who he was. He's trying to embrace the opposite end of the spectrum and his closest point of reference is Ray.

Ray isn't responsible. Ray is impulsive. He has everyone else taking care of him. I think in some ways Mew may envy Ray at times. The luxury to be reckless, spontaneous and have people around you to pick up the pieces. To test run Ray's 'fuck it' mentality for a change and forego accountability is freeing, it's seductive.

However, Mew 2.0 is just Mew playing 'dress up'. It's a costume and a form of armour but nothing more. Mew is not coupling up with Ray as his authentic self (and ultimately the 'self' that Ray fell in love with). The man Ray loves VS the man Ray is now dating are two different people. There's already a layer of falsehood sandwiched between them.

Ray's Glorification of Mew

In Ray's eyes, Mew can do no wrong. The way that Ray sees Mew is faultless, blemish-free, almost saintlike. Mew is his saviour and Ray holds him on a incredibly high pedestal. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on anyone who is the subject of this adoration.

When we love someone, what we really desire is to be seen for all the things that makes us painfully human. The things we hate about ourselves; the ugly, the unsightly, the flaws - for someone to know us at our very worst and still love us despite all that.

Ray's opinion of Mew means he can never truly appreciate who he is as just another person who has his faults and shortcomings. It also means Ray is likely to look to Mew to have the answers, to share his wisdom and that's just not always going to be the case.

For now, Ray may be basking in the awe of living his ultimate fantasy but I don't think he'll be able to cope with the reality being less than perfection. Of Mew being less than perfection. You've set Mew up to fail, and you've doomed this relationship to fall short of the spectacular grandeur you may have conjured in your head.

This pairing is fundamentally not on equal footing. Mew is vicariously living through Ray like some rollercoaster ride to hedonism. Ray is a means for him but not a destination.

[chanswhxre]

hiiii🌾🤍🌹

I loved your sugar daddy felix smut...andddd i would like to ask(when you can,and if you want) you to do a sugar daddy felix x fem reader breeding kink,size kink ,praise kink a little bit of daddy pet name and felix calling th reader "sugar"(like a pet name!!🌟♥️) And at the end when reader finds out that shes pregnant and tells felix,he asks her to be his wife and they become husband and wife!!

Thank you!!!love you♥️🌾💋

-mimi

a/n: i've been busy lately so sorry if it took a while, mimi. i tried to put everything in your request, i really enjoyed writing this one. thanks for requesting, i hope you like it! xoxo -jan ♡

Birthday Special

✩ masterlist ✩ requests ✩ kofi ✩ add to taglist

♡ Please read this before engaging with me and my content

♡ Pairing : sugar daddy! felix x afab reader

♡ Genre : smut

♡ Word count : 3.1k+

♡ Warnings : 18+ nsfw, explicit sexual content, oral sex (f & m receiving) cursing, size kink, breeding kink, unprotected sex (wrap before u tap), creampie, pet names, the use of daddy in sexual act

❗️minors, ageless, and blank blogs that will interact with me or my work will be BLOCKED.

Today was a very special day for you. The day you've always looked forward to, your birthday, and Felix, your sugar daddy had something planned for the two of you. Before you met him, you'd just spend your birthday with friends or your family. You visited your family yesterday and promised your friends you'll go out with them on the weekend when they're free from work.

You were excited about the plans today, Felix told you everything is a surprise but as always, you can tell him anything you'd like to do today and your wish will be his command. It's always been like that for the past 5 years. Each year, a different surprise.

You had just arrived in Italy via his private jet and you're currently in a private car that was going to take you to the hotel that he owns there. He owned a chain of luxury 5-star hotels and resorts all over the world and apparently, this one was rated as the most romantic hotel to stay in during vacations or honeymoons in Italy. This was only the second time you'd come to visit it but the first time to actually stay in it. As you entered one of the most luxurious lobbies you have ever set foot in, the manager greets you with a smile and some champagne while a bellboy unloads your luggage.

"Good morning, Miss." the manager greeted. "Shall I lead you to your room?"

"Yes please." You said and took a sip of your champagne. You still couldn't believe your eyes, the lobby was huge with shiny, marble floors and elegant black, white, and gold walls, and the whole place was lit with a large, beautiful crystal chandelier. Everything is beyond expectations when you finally arrived in your room, the top floor suite, their biggest room and surely the most expensive one. You were welcomed by a spacious living area with velvet couches and chairs, elegant paintings on the walls, and a lot more expensive furniture.

"Mr. Lee will be joining you in the afternoon. If there's anything else you need, please do not hesitate to call." The manager said before he left. The bellboy also left your luggage by the door then you closed it. You explored the entire room, it had a small hallway that led to the bedroom and the bathroom, you entered the bedroom first, greeted by the king-sized bed and a balcony that overlooked Milan. It was already beautiful with sunlight, imagine if it was evening and all the city lights would probably look like stars. The bathroom didn't disappoint as well, it had a large bathtub, a jacuzzi, and a long marble counter with a hugely lit mirror. You couldn't help but be in awe of the place.

Felix texted you shortly saying that you could explore the hotel and use its amenities while waiting for him and so you did. You went to the hotel's spa, got a relaxing massage, ate a lunch at the restaurant, and went to the garden. It was truly a luxurious experience. After dressing up for your date with Felix, you stayed and enjoyed your tea in the garden when someone suddenly covers your eyes.

"Guess who." He says in a low, familiar, voice.

"Felix?" You said and you felt him smile by your ear. He laughs and then takes his hands off and walks in front of you.

"Happy birthday, my sweet sugar!" He greeted you with his sunshine smile. You quickly stood up to wrap him in your arms.

"I missed you, you know." You pout.

"I know, darling. But hey, I got you something." He smiled and gave you a little paper bag with a familiar jewelry brand logo.

"Thank you." You smiled and opened the velvet box containing the most beautiful diamond necklace you have ever seen in your entire life and probably the most expensive one yet. "Wow. This is..wah..I'm speechless!"

"Do you like it?" He bit his lip.

"Of course I do! It's beautiful." You said.

"Let me put it on you." He offered and he walks behind you to put the necklace on. He then kisses your cheek when he hooked it. "Perfect. Now, let's go shopping."

He took you to Via Montenapoleone to shop. The luxury shopping street of Milan where it is home to the biggest designer and luxury brands. One thing you liked about shopping was the unlimited budget you had because it's a special day but mostly, when Felix comes with you, he isn't that bored little puppy just following your tail, he's actually very interested and insightful. He picks out clothes for you, accessories, makeup, and lingerie that he thinks would look great on you. He's very involved that most of the time you forget that he's not your boyfriend but your sugar daddy. He picks mostly pink items because that man is absolutely crazy for pink items on you. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without women ogling at the handsome man.

"I like this one. Try it on for me please?" Felix said as he handed you a pink, silk dress and you obliged. His mouth dropped when you tried it on and immediately bought it for you to change into with a new pair of luxury brand heels. He even surprised you with a bag he bought from another store while you were busy trying on outfits. He literally is the best. After bags and bags of new clothes, shoes, accessories, and more, you both went to a 3 Michelin star restaurant that is owned by his brother, Minho Lee. You had a reservation in a private balcony of the restaurant which had a very romantic mood to it. You didn't expect to meet his brother there but you did. A fine, handsome young man just like Felix but older, you shared a few conversations while he leads you up the stairs and he recommended you their top dishes and personally offered you a bottle of wine before he leaves the two of you.

You and Felix ordered dinner, you took a sip from your glass of wine and took in the beautiful view beside you which is the city, and in front of you, which is Felix.

"Had fun today, darling?" He asked.

"Yes. I did. One of the best days ever." You said and you clinked your glasses. The appetizer was then served and you were already 3 glasses of wine in. A mischievous thought entered your mind while you took a sip. You took your shoe off and then ran your foot along his legs, Felix almost choking on the soup. He looked at you suspiciously but you blinked at him innocently. As he drinks his glass of wine, you couldn't help but stare at his adam's apple bobbing up and down, you just wanted to kiss him and mark his neck right then and there since it's been two weeks since you last saw each other.

The main course was served and you both savored your meals then your birthday cake was served, the staff sang you a happy birthday song and you blew your candles happily as they all clapped. You took the first slice of cake with white frosting. As you both ate, you purposefully ran your foot again on his leg making him look at you who was licking the thick, white frosting on the spoon while staring straight into his eyes. Felix cursed at the sight and stood up from his seat and walked to you, his cock was semi-hard and you could quite see the bulge it was forming in his pants.

"You've got frosting on your mouth, sugar. Let me clean that up for you." He said and his next move surprised you. You thought he was going to wipe it with his thumb and then lick it but he straight up licked it from the side of your mouth. He smirked when he saw your face, frozen in shock.

"So sweet." He said, his voice lower than usual it was sexy but it wasn't like you not to get revenge so without a thought, you pulled him by his collar and smashed your lips into him which caught him off-guard but quickly caught on. You pulled back breathlessly.

"Your lips taste sweet too." You smiled, eyes still closed.

"I wonder what else would taste so sweet." He smirked.

After paying for the meal, you both went back to the hotel. Felix couldn't wait and was already peppering you with kisses and marks while on the elevator. Once you arrived in your room, you found your way to the bedroom. Felix quickly discarded his clothes and you did yours. Once your dress hit the ground, Felix's mouth hung agape seeing you wear a new baby pink lingerie set with ribbons. His knees went instantly weak and his dick hard once you wore the cat ears you placed on the bedside table.

"Like what you see, daddy?" You looked at him seductively as you crawled onto the bed.

"Fuck, sugar. And here I thought I'll be the one giving surprises for today." He growled as he discarded his pants leaving his underwear on. "Can't wait to spoil you some more tonight."

You lay down as he positioned himself between your legs, his hard bulge in contact with your soaking wet heat. He kisses you, his tongue swirling with yours as you tangled your hands in his soft, dark hair. His hands travel to your right breast, index finger circling over the clothed nipple making it hard. You moaned into his mouth when he started grinding on you.

"M-more." You whimpered, the friction not enough to satisfy you.

"You look so cute and sexy in this but you look sexier without it." He says as he unclipped your bra. "Keeping the ears on though."

Soon enough, you were both naked. He trailed kisses on your neck and collarbone and even with gentle bites and sucking, you were sure it was going to leave marks. He caressed your boobs, he loved how his big hands perfectly cover them. He licks your nipples and gave them equal attention and you could feel the tongue flicks on your hard nipples down to your core. He licked his way from your boobs down to your dripping cunt. He glides his tongue upwards to your clit making you shiver, he holds your thighs in place as he laps at your pussy and then circled his tongue around your sensitive bud which made you moan more loudly than usual.

"You taste so sweet like sugar. I'm getting addicted." He moaned. He then sucked your clit which made you see stars and you could already feel the familiar knot building in your stomach.

"Fuck. Just like that. Please, daddy. I want to cum." You whined as you get closer and closer to your climax.

"Such a good little girl for me, saying please and calling me daddy." He said. "Cum for me, sugar."

He hungrily licked and sucked on your sensitive bud as he slowly pushed a finger in. He quickens the pace which pushed you to the edge and it all came crashing down on you. He could feel your walls contracting around his fingers as you rode your orgasm on his tongue.

"Thank you, daddy." You sigh in bliss but still aroused.

"Such a good girl for me." He said and caressed your hair with his clean hand.

You lifted yourself up and pushed Felix to lie down. You gave him a quick kiss before lowering your head to his aching cock. He looked at you with pure lust and anticipation and then you wrapped your hand around his cock. Your hands were cute and tiny around his huge, thick, hard cock that you could barely wrap your fingers around it which turned him on even more, and with the ears, you looked like the perfect little kitten you are. You gave him kitten licks, tasting the salty precum first before taking him inside your mouth. He couldn't fit inside fully that's why you had your hands assist you. As you bob your head up and down, your hands moved in sync making his eyes roll to the back of his head. He tangled his hands in your hair, pushing you to take him deeper into your mouth but a little gently not to destroy your small throat.

"Come sit on my cock now, darling." He said while he sat up to lean on the headboard and you obliged positioning yourself on top of him and slowly sinking on his cock. You screwed your eyes shut while you were shaking with him stretching you out to the fullest. "That's it, sugar. Take daddy's big cock in."

There was a little pain at first due to the stretch but then turned to pleasure once you started moving. His hands found your tiny little waist and started helping you move up and down, moans and profanities spilling out of each other's mouths. His mouth finds your nipples again, circling his tongue and suckling on them while you roll your hips on him, another orgasm approaching. He felt your cunt tighten around his cock and he knew you were close and with your walls fluttering around his cock, he knew he wasn't gonna last long. He flips you over in a second and your back was now flat against the soft mattress before he slams his cock into you at a brutal pace, hitting your g-spot in the process.

"S-so good." You whimpered and clenched his dick. He felt your cunt getting tighter pushing him closer and closer to the edge.

"Fuck, sugar. You want my cum, yeah?" He pants, thrusting deeper and harder.

"Want your cum inside so bad. Claim me, breed me." You moaned and locked your legs around his waist.

"Shit. You really want daddy to fucking breed you, yeah?" He said and that made you clench around his cock, with one last thrust, he comes deep inside you, strings of hot cum filling you up nice and full. He kisses you one last time before pulling out and immediately stuck his two fingers inside you before his cum could leak out of you.

"Fuck daddy, yes I'm cumming!" You screamed as he fingered you, curling his fingers upward to hit that sweet spot inside of you.

"That's it, sugar. My good girl." He praises you while you creamed all over his cum-covered fingers.

You close your eyes in pure bliss as Felix went to get tissues to clean you up before he carries you to the extravagant bathroom, relaxing in the jacuzzi then doing another round and giving you mind-blowing orgasms all night long.

A few weeks later after that amazing night with Felix, you started to feel a little unwell. You stopped your travels for a while to rest but you felt worse than ever even after resting for a few days, you went to the doctor to get yourself checked. You haven't notified Felix yet, seeing that you might just be experiencing over-fatigue from the new workout routine you've been trying out and there's nothing too alarming about it but when you got yourself checked, the doctor told you your symptoms aligned with pregnancy. You even ordered two pregnancy tests in the lab and it was all positive.

You froze in shock not knowing how to react. You went home and thought about how you would tell Felix. There was something stated in the contract about this that in the case you get pregnant and he's the father, he would actually give child support but first he needed to run a paternity test to confirm. You abided by your contract terms of not seeing or sleeping with anyone other than him (for health purposes) so this baby is no doubt his. You couldn't sleep thinking about when and how to tell him about this and how he would react. Your phone buzzed and it showed a message notification from Felix.

My Sugar Lix 💗 Do you have plans tomorrow evening, sugar?

You Just staying at home. Why?

My Sugar Lix 💗 Let's have dinner tomorrow. I'll have my driver pick you up at 6. See you xx

And the opportunity presents itself.

The next day, you had gotten ready with your best outfit and everything. His driver picked you up promptly and you arrived at your favorite restaurant. It was surprisingly empty, Felix must have rented the whole place but what for? The two of you dine here often but he never rented the place out. You gulped, getting more nervous as you approached the lone table that was neatly decorated with petals and candles. Felix stood right there and kissed your hand. He pulled your chair out and you thanked him before you sat down. He jogs to his seat, smiling dearly at you. The two of you enjoyed a nice candlelight dinner. You gathered up your courage before speaking.

"I have something important to say."

The both of you froze as you said the words in unison.

"Go ahead." Felix gestured.

"No, you can go first." You said, trying to delay the inevitable. He shook his head.

"Now, that wouldn't be very gentleman-like of me now, would it? It's always ladies first in my book." He said. Well, he's not wrong. Of all the principles he sticks to, he never forgets this one and when you inhaled deeply, you just let the words flow out of your mouth.

"Felix, I'm pregnant." You said.

The moment of silence was deafening, his mouth hung agape with the shocking words that you just said.

"It's yours. I promise. We can take the paternity test stated on the contract or we can have an abo—" Before you could finish what you were saying, he ran up to you and hugged you before kissing you sweetly on your forehead.

"Sshh...I believe you, darling." He said before getting down on one knee which confused you more.

"Wha..what are you doing?" You asked him.

"I have been meaning to ask you something. I've planned it a few months ago." He said and pulled out a small, velvet box from his pocket.

"I'm totally confused.." you said, looking around all anxious. Is this what you think it is?

"Y/N, my sweet sugar, the light of my life for the past five years. I never knew I could meet such an amazing person after completely giving up thoughts about love and relationships but, I found someone I can see my future with, have kids with, and live a happy life with. Y/N, will you let me spoil you for the rest of your life?" He said and opened the small box, and there it revealed a beautiful, round-brilliant diamond ring that looked like it probably cost more than all his precious cars in total. "Will you marry me?"

Those four words were ringing in your ears. You knew you had fallen for this wonderful man a while back but you didn't know he did as well. So, without second thoughts, your answer is

"Yes!"

↳ reblogs, feedback, & comments are highly appreciated. it motivates me and it is the lifeline of my blog. To everyone who read and left a like, comment, and reblogged especially with text, thank you so much 정말 감사합니다 ♡

↳ requests are open click me !

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⇁ love, jan ♡

[tiredistic]

"Sweet Evening"

pairing: Cady Heron x Regina George x Janis Imi'ike

words: 2k words! (2,006)

content warning: Smut, Strap, Language,sex, smut, porn with no plot, Eating out, Poly relationship, Sex tape .. Fluff to follow

summary: This is just smut paired with a smudge of fluff.

a/n: Hiii guys, the long awaited 1K special is here. Uhm first time writing smut for a audience so like.. I apologise. I also don't know what content warnings would specifically apply but basically everything in there is in the fic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading, it was taking me soo long, any feedback is appreciated. If you like this sorta fic, lmk if I should write more. >.<

Regina was laying in bed, as one does on a Saturday morning. Just in a white tank top and Janis's underwear. Her loves were up and about doing whatever queers do so early. She didn't really care at the moment. Her phone was so much more interesting, how else was she going to shop online, cyber bully, or post to her socials?

Cady and Janis were in the living room, they were chatting about lunch or something. The blonde stopped paying attention when they started geeking about some school club.

Regina was so drowned in her device, that she didn't even notice when they snuck into the room.

Then Regina heard a faint countdown, before she was tackled, her phone snatched- she was buried under her girlfriends.

"What are you two doing?" The blonde asked, suspicion evident in her voice. She wasn't used to this situation, she felt the intimacy and tension in the air yet she was being covered- essentially being pushed to the bottom.

"Let us please you baby.." Cady whispered, lust laced in her voice, just enough to get Regina going. She crawled on top of Regina's chest, smiling down at her.

Regina enjoyed the tag team foreplay, Cady whispering in her ear, kisses on her face, while Janis massaged her lower abdomen. It felt so good gosh she was getting lost in their world.. their trap.

Cady lifted up the hoodie she was wearing (Janis's hoodie), to reveal she was naked under, she threw it to the side, landing somewhere.

Cady's body radiating in the light was so captivating, Lord she could just stare at it all day. Regina didn't even notice the absence of the brunette until she saw her re-enter the room.

"Like what you see?" Janis was standing in the doorway. She was wearing the purple strap-on, it was 8 inches with a slight curve. perfectly adjusted, lubed up and ready to go.

Regina thought she was going to watch as Janis fucked Cady with the strap-on, yeah, that would have been her ideal evening. Safe to say she was quite off. Still, she was smiling ear to ear in eagerness. She couldn't wait.

"You're smiling a awful lot for somebody who's about to get pounded" Janis giggled, strolling up to the bed.

" huh." Cady and Janis internally laughed at how fast Regina's face changed. Since Regina was the one who was using the strap all the time, she never got to really feel it inside her. This was probably what they were talking about in the living room.

"It's okay Gina, we're gonna take care of our princess.. of course if you're okay with it." Cady caressed Regina's cheek, using her favourite pet name. Regina couldn't resist, they were touching her in all the right ways.

"yeah, yeah go ahead." Regina, her face red, dang how'd she get so lucky. She felt as the boxers and the tank were taken off of her, slowly, making her whine. Cady moved to Regina's stomach, starting to grind on it slowly, her sex easily sliding along since she was so aroused.

"So freaking cute.." Cady breathed, her hips rutting on Regina's stomach. Cady was holding onto her shoulders for support as she pleased herself.

The blonde felt the tip rub along her hole, gosh it looked smaller than it was. Her hips bucked up at the feeling, she needed more.

"More." It sounded like a plea, but she meant it as a demand, she wanted more attention.

Cady sliding on her tummy was already turning her on so much, she was just painting Regina's stomach with arousal. Her moans fill the room.

"Just give it to me.." the blonde moaned, her arms trailed up Cady's body.

Janis chuckled before slowly sliding it in, letting Regina adjust to it's size. It felt so different, it was stretching her hole and she liked it. She moaned at the feeling, her back arched and her eyes rolled back.

Just that was enough for Cady to speed up grinding on Regina faster, her nails digging into her shoulders as her eyes shut as her moans radiated off the walls.

"such good girls.." Janis praised them, she started to slowly move inside Regina, making the blonde curse loudly.

"Oh my shhitttt!" Regina screamed. Despite dating many frat boys back in her straight era, she never let them touch her pussy. I guess it was queer foreshadowing. So that made this her first time of penetration, and it felt so fucking good.

"fuck- holy fuck, i'm coming." Cady whispered her breath hitching as she came, her body twitching after she released. She slid off of Regina to catch her breath temporarily.

Janis pulled Regina's ass to the edge so she could get a better position, she put her legs up and held her still.

Janis started to thrust faster, she felt the harness rub along her it felt amazing. The sounds filling the room were adding to the tension, the moans, the scattered breaths. It was all so much, she closed her eyes in pleasure, her head leaning back as she slammed the strap into Regina.

Regina's eyes were fluttering, her hands gripping the sheets, pleas and moans falling out of her mouth. Her cunt clenching down on the silicone. She was going insane, her mind going blank because of the pleasure.

Cady enjoyed the scene in front of her, her loves were so passionate. She whipped out their secret personal camera, which was full of their best moments.

She hit record, watching as Regina bottom out for Janis. She pet Regina's hair, admiring her face filled with lust. She crawled around on their bed, capturing every angle. "so fucking hot..." She whispered, rubbing Regina's stomach, her wetness still present from earlier. She captured the strap exiting and entering her hole, fuck it looked so cute. She stroked Regina's clit in a fast circle, making the blonde gasp and arch her back.

"Holy- holy shit i'm coming!" Regina squealed, the sheets were being gripped for her life. She squirted all over the sheets and the purple cock. Janis slowed her thrusts so she could ride out her orgasm. The wet sounds filled the room as her voice hitched, her eyes shutting in bliss.

Cady loved the way Regina was twitching from the orgasm, it had to be the hardest one she ever had. She was in awe, the girl somehow found a way to be effortlessly hot in every situation.

They all caught their breath for a while before deciding it was time for round two.

"Ok baby.. put that mouth to good use yeah?" Cady said, mounting Regina's face. One thing Regina was good at was using her mouth, especially for talking shit and eating out her girls.

She started by kissing Cady's inner thighs, trailing her way up to the sweet spot. When she got there, she gave it a nice long lick, making Cady shiver, grabbing onto Janis's hand for support. Janis took hold of the camera so Cady could focus on the pleasure.

"So good Cady, your taking her so well.." Janis praised, interlocking their fingers. kissing her face, gently.

Janis started to move the strap again, making Regina grip Cady's waist as she moaned into her cunt.

The blonde was eating, and eating with passion. She teased the hole, as her chin softly bumped her clit.

Cady's voice hitched in her throat before a lengthy moan slipped from her lips. She felt Regina's tongue enter her, it felt so filling.

Regina felt Cady's hole clenching on her, it was getting so tight it was harder to move, but she persisted. She was licking and eating it like a dog, lapping her up.

Janis started to grind on Regina's hips, the strap barely leaving her, hitting her perfectly every time.

"Oh fuck- oh fuck-" Regina broke from Cady's hole to moan at the feeling, it was taking over her again.

"'Gina.." Cady moaned, sitting further on Regina's face, "Don't stop," she gasped, "Eat my pussy. Make me cum.." Cady was grinding slowly on Regina's face, she felt as the tongue entered her again. She felt as Regina's hand crept up to rub her clit and holy shit did it feel good.

Janis grabbed Cady's face with her free hand, pulling her into a passionate kiss. Janis was getting close, the harness sliding on her clit, making her release come much sooner.

Janis broke the kiss, The lustful look in Cady's lidded eyes did something to her. She put the camera down, and gripped the sheets to further pay attention to the harness giving her pleasure. The faster she went the better, so she was really hammering into Regina.

Regina felt the tip hit her G-spot rapidly, her eyes shut, she felt herself gripping the toy. She was lazily licking at the redhead, her mind starting to fog. Her release is just around the corner.

Cady felt just as close, she was fucking herself on Regina's face. Her body was sweaty as she held onto Regina's waist for her dear life. Her mouth was agape as whines and moans slipped from it with ease.

"Come with me." Janis moaned, detected their upcoming orgasm. She was hammering that cock into Regina, she felt as her legs started to twitch.

"I- i'm gonna come! I'm gonna fucking come!" Cady squealed.

"Come for me."

Janis watched as Regina's back arched, her nails digging into Cady's skin. She saw as Cady's head slumped as she froze on Regina, her hips slowing to a slow grind, The blonde felt her clench down on her tongue. Then one final thrust, Janis slammed the strap as deep as it would go. The harness's friction makes her also release. The room was filled with long cries of pleasure.

Janis chuckled when she saw Regina soak the strap in her honey. Regina was licking up Cady, who was still twitching and catching her breath.

"Such good girls." Janis praised,

"All you baby." Cady kissed Janis's cheek, crawling off of Regina.

"That.. that was amazing." Regina dazed, her face covered in come.

"You were such a good girl.. took Jans so well.." The red head whispered, placing a kiss on Regina's forehead, brushing her blonde hair out of her face.

Janis took off the strap, placing it off to the side while she went to set up a bath. Janis first carried Cady to the bath, giggling coming from the bathroom. While Regina was dozing off already, to no surprise since she was really sleepy after sex.

After Janis carried Cady to their second (more clean at the moment) bedroom, she went to put Regina in the bath. Regina was so sleepy, Janis could only watch as she struggled to stay awake for her bath. 

Then Janis carried Regina to the extra room, placing the sleepy girl in Cady’s arms. The brunette went to take a shower and clean up the other room before deciding to come back. She cleaned with speed and precision, taking just a while to relax in her shower. She felt the soreness already setting in, something she decided she’ll deal with in the morning.

It was maybe an hour later when she finished cleaning up, showering, throwing on a silk robe, grabbing some water, she finally made her way back to the room. She smiled warmly at the scene, Cady up reading a novel while Regina layed on her tummy. Gosh she was so fucking lucky.

“Thank you baby, this was great. I love you” Cady kissed her on the cheek, taking a sip of water. “Come lie down, you deserve it.” She added, patting the empty space next to her. Janis snuggled up close, she felt loved.

Regina was knocked out, dead asleep. She was even snoring, which wasn't a thing she did often. Janis listened to it like a melody, a sweet melody. Cady was playing with Janis's hair, holding both of her girls in her arms as they all cuddled.

It was such a nice evening.

[misc-obeyme]

With an extremely lazy mc, that can be worse than belphegor in that aspect yet is always on top of what they need to do.

Homework? Finished, Chores? Done, Pranks? Happened. Yet they haven't seemed to move from their spot in the last 7 hours.

It's later revealed that it's just them using magic but entertaining nonetheless

Hi there, anon!

This was fun to write, I have to say. I mean, if I could just use magic to get everything done, I absolutely would.

Thanks for the request!

brothers reaction to lazy GN!MC who gets everything done with magic

Warnings: none!

Lucifer

Previously thought there was no way anyone could be lazier than Belphie… but he's surprised by how close you get. At first he's annoyed, but then you somehow get everything done anyway? And then he's just confused.

Confused… but also suspicious. How are you doing that, MC? He wants to lecture you so bad, but he can't since you actually do everything you need to do. Secretly a little worked up about it, but he's trying to keep his cool.

That essay he knew was due for your class tomorrow isn't just finished, it's well written, too. The dishes it was your turn to do are all washed and put away. And yet you haven't moved for hours.

Figures it out when he falls for one of your pranks. Because he can see how the prank was done with magic. Confronts you about it directly. Go ahead and pretend you don't know what he's talking about. It'll drive him crazy, especially since you haven't actually done anything wrong and he can't actually prove that prank was yours.

Mammon

Amazed. He's just shocked that you're able to do everything while actually doing nothing. How is it that all your homework and chores are done when you haven't moved?! What is going on here?

Asks you to teach him your ways even before he knows you're just using magic. He's imagining a life of never having to do homework or chores ever again. He'd be able to spend all his time partying or finding a way to rake in the Grimm. Ya gotta show him how ya do that, MC!

Mammon is in awe of all your perfectly executed pranks, too. Doesn't even mind if he falls victim to one considering how good they always are.

Doesn't figure it out. He'll only know you were using magic the whole time if someone tells him. If you tell him yourself, he'll pretend he knew all along. Now teach him all those spells.

Leviathan

He's amazed, but he's also suspicious. There's no way you're able to stay on top of everything like that. You can sit with him and play video games all night while your homework somehow still gets done. Something is up with that.

Doesn't care too much, though, so he doesn't try to figure out what's going on. Your ability to do your homework and chores isn't his concern. Let Lucifer worry about it.

He's just happy that you have more than enough time to spend with him, watching anime or reading manga or playing video games, etc. Let's be real, Levi has different priorities.

Only figures it out when he asks you to help him clean his room, which has gotten a little cluttered. You proceed to assist with magic and that's when it clicks. Of course! Everyone knows what a good sorcerer you are, MC! He can't believe he didn't realize it sooner!

Satan

It doesn't really register at first. He just knows that you're very efficient at getting things done without being busy at all. Assumes you have a strict time management style to keep yourself on track. That's certainly the most logical explanation, right?

Eventually realizes that you are in fact quite lazy, though. The fact that you haven't left the couch in hours makes him a little antsy. Don't you have things to do, MC?

Make him really crazy by just smiling and saying you've already done everything you needed to do that day. Tell him all about whatever homework, chores, and pranks you've done in the time you've been sitting on the couch.

He does figure you out pretty quickly, though. Satan is smart and he can tell that you're doing magic over there, even if nobody else seems to realize it. He's impressed. Why shouldn't you use magic to accomplish everything? Your skill as a sorcerer allows you to do it, so why not?

Asmodeus

Complains about how lazy you are. He doesn't care about your homework, chores, or pranks. But MC, you really should be more diligent about your skin care routine. Do you even use the products he gave you?

Show him your half empty product bottles and watch his expression go from surprised to happy to confused. He's thrilled that you're actually using what he gave you, but… when? How? He's never actually seen you use them?

Keep your secrets, Asmo likes how mysterious you are. Always sitting around, always doing nothing, and yet everything is somehow still done. How interesting! You're like a little puzzle he needs to work out.

He does, eventually. He really wants to make sure you're doing what you say you are, so he spies on you to see what you're up to. Won't figure it out until you actually use magic to apply the various skin care products. Now he's onto you. He's another one who's going to be impressed by your clever use of magic.

Beelzebub

Doesn't notice how lazy you are, but does notice that your stuff still gets done. His instinct is to help you out, so he might try to do some chores for you only to find that you've somehow already done them? How did you do that? He's confused.

This is going to go on for a while. He's going to notice your stuff is done, but he's just gonna go ??? and then move on with his life. He's not worried about it, though it is a little mind boggling.

Assuming you're sometimes on meal duty, though, that's when he's going to make the connection. If you use magic to make meals and they turn out really good, he's going to want to know how you're doing it. He's going to notice that you somehow get it done without even going into the kitchen? MC, please explain. He needs to know where your food supply is coming from.

In the end, you likely just tell him about it yourself. You go ahead and use magic to make him snacks. He's so thrilled, but he's not going to ask you to teach him. He's just going to ask you to make him food all the time. You're really good at magic, after all.

Belphegor

Annoyed at first. How dare you surpass him in laziness? This isn't something he actually cared about until he realized that some of his brothers were saying you were lazier than him. Hey. MC. This is his thing, you know?

Turns out he's too lazy to actually pursue any kind of rivalry with you about this. So instead you become partners in crime. If you're sitting around for hours, you can be sure that Belphie will be by your side, probably asleep. He's happy to keep you company.

Figures out what you're doing pretty fast. Since he's with you all the time, he sees that you're using magic to get everything done. Starts trying to get you to do his stuff, too. You get to decide if you're going to or not, but if you do, then he'll never leave your side again.

Especially fond of your pranks, particularly ones aimed at Lucifer. Will never give you away. The others might ask him how you do what you do, considering he's spending all his time with you. But he'll never tell, so they'll have to figure it out for themselves.

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[steveshairychest]

Strawberry Kisses

(For @steddie-week day 2 :] Bittersweet/Angst)

"I can't stay here anymore." The words taste like ash in Eddie's mouth and he takes a swig of the beer they're sharing to wash it down.

Steve doesn't say anything, he just nods and nods and nods and when the tears slip from his eyes and roll down his cheeks, Eddie has to grip the bottle tighter in his hands to stop himself from reaching out, stop himself from comforting Steve and wiping his tears away.

"You don't want me to come with you, do you?" Steve's voice cracks as he finally meets Eddie's eyes, a sad smile pulling at his lips.

It hurts. It hurts so much because it's not what he wants. Eddie wants to take Steve with him and show him the world, but he knows he has to do this for himself. He needs to start over. He feels stuck. He needs to figure out who he is, and he needs to do it on his own.

And Steve knows this. He's seen it in the way Eddie's been stashing money away and slowly cleaning out his room. Seen it in the way he's started drawing away from Steve. He was waiting for it to come, waiting for Eddie to man up and just tell him. And even though he knew it was coming, it still felt like Eddie had reached into his chest and crushed what remained of his already bruised heart.

"I need - " Eddie starts but Steve cuts him off.

"You don't need to explain anything to me. Just tell me when you're going." He tries to smile, tries to pretend that he's happy for Eddie, but the wobble of his bottom lip gives him away.

Eddie sighs and puts the nearly empty beer down beside him; they're sitting on the couch on the front porch of the trailer, their knees pressed close together. He'll miss this. He looks over at Steve, who runs a shaky hand through his hair while breathing out slowly. He'll miss Steve.

"Tomorrow." Eddie says softly.

Steve crumbles. He rests his elbows on his knees and buries his face in his hands to try and muffle his broken sob. Eddie lifts his hand to rub soothing circles on Steve's back but pulls it back at the last minute. He'll just make things worse. He needs Steve to hate him. Needs Steve to yell and scream at him to make leaving easier.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." The broken wails tearing from Steve's lips cause Eddie to bite his lip and swallow back his own sobs. "Steve, I-I'm sorry." When Steve lifts his head and meets Eddie's gaze with his red, puffy eyes, Eddie can't stop the tears anymore. "I'm sorry." He says again because he doesn't know what else to say.

He knows what he's done is awful. He should have told Steve weeks ago when he first decided he was going to leave Hawkins. He should have given Steve time.

Time to forget him. Time for Steve to move on so that when Eddie packed up his van and drove away, he wouldn't be standing in the driveway crying.

They don't talk for a while. They sit in the afternoon sun sniffling and wiping away any remaining tears. They lean heavily against each other; Steve's head on Eddie's shoulder and Eddie's cheek pressed against the top of Steve's head.

"It was fun while it lasted." Steve says quietly, his hands fiddling with the rip in Eddie's jeans.

Eddie laughs softly, new tears pooling in his eyes as the reality that this is over, this is it, hits him. "It was fun, really fun."

"Do you remember when we got kicked out of that diner?" Steve moves in closer to Eddie so that they are pressed as close as possible. It almost feels normal, almost feels like nothing has changed. The way Steve's hand shakes as he pulls at the loose string on Eddie's jeans reminds Eddie that everything has changed. And it's his fault. "You laughed so hard, you spilled both of our milkshakes and then you stole all the paper towels from the bathroom to try and clean it up, but you just spread the mess around."

Eddie laughs, really laughs. The movement jostles Steve and causes him to sit up, there's a small, sad smile on his lips as he says, "I remember we got home afterwards and our clothes were covered in strawberry milkshake and you said you were sorry for ruining our date. But I didn't care because I hadn't laughed that hard in years. I think about that first date every time I eat anything strawberry flavoured."

"And I'll still remember and cherish the memory when you go." The smile Steve gives him is bittersweet, and Eddie can't stop himself anymore. He reaches out and pulls Steve into a soft but desperate kiss that tastes like the salt from their tears and the strawberry milkshake from their first date.

[intoanotherworld23]

Pick Your Battles X

Pairing: Reader x Bradley Bradshaw

Warnings: Some swear words and a minor smidge of a fight

Summary: Bradley broke your heart when he accused you of betraying him, and you haven’t seen or spoken to him since. Until you are both called back to Top Gun to help with a dangerous mission that nobody’s ever attempted before

✨Please do not copy and paste my work or steal my work or publish my work as your own I will have you reported✨

Part 9 Part 11

You didn't think your heart could have broken any more than it already was. The look on Bradley's face when she said she was pregnant was one of shock and disbelief. You just stood there with your mouth partially open and a ringing in your ear.

Bradley was yelling something at her but you ran for your stuff. Grabbing everything you needed and ignoring Bradley the whole time. Even as he tried to grab your shoulder you shoved him off, and headed out the door.

Crying when you got in the car and the whole time when you drove home. Thinking to yourself what you were doing wrong in your life to deserve this. All these secrets and lies were emerging from the ground only to drag you down with them.

Bradley was relentless in trying to reach you. Calling and texting to the point that you had to turn your phone off. There was no way in hell you were going to talk to him right now. That was the final nail in the coffin for him.

It wasn't like you could completely avoid him since you still had to help train for the mission. It was going to be very awkward and uncomfortable, but you were determined to put on your brace face. Not let him know how destroyed he has left you.

Walking into the room you saw everyone already there. Including Bradley. His eyes burning holes into your body begging you to just look at him for a second. He was dying inside to talk to you and to have you ignoring him was hurting him.

Shuffling your papers on the desk but not even bothering to read them. Only needing something to distract you from looking at the man you still loved. All you could hear was the light chatter in the room.

Hangman was glancing between you and Bradley with a huge grin on his face. The he found it odd that the two of you didn't say anything to each other let alone even look at one another. Leaning back in his seat knowing something happened, but not knowing what.

"Good morning doll." Hangman spoke lifting your head up to look at him.

"Morning Bagman." Giving him that same smirk squinting your eyes at him.

"I've got a question for you." Straightening your self up not liking where this was going since the last time you were around him he outed you in front of everyone. "Simple question I promise."

"And what is that exactly?" Cocking your head to the side as he crossed both arms over his chest.

"Are you seeing anyone?" His question definitely surprised you as you just stared at him.

"It definitely won't be you." Phoenix chimed in a scatter of laughter rang across the room.

Bradley also smiled at Phoenix saying what he couldn't. Leaning forward in his chair as he watched this interaction unfold. He was nervous as to what you were going to say to him. You were pissed and wanted to get back at him, and if that meant talking to Jake then so be it.

"Was I talking to you?" Hangman turning his head to look over at the girl who was glaring at him.

"No but we all know what you're going to ask her next." Everyone else in the room stopped what they were talking about to listen what was going on.

"You don't know what I'm going to ask her." Smiling showing off his pearly white teeth loving how easily he got under her skin.

"No I'm not seeing anyone." Answering fighting the urge to look over at Bradley whose eyes hadn't left yours since you walked in.

"Well then how about that date darling?" His attention turning back to you this being his second time he's asked you out.

"Nope." Popping the p as you answered quicker than he would have liked.

"Aw come on just one date." He pushed pouting his bottom lip as you tried to conceal your giggle. "I'll be on my best behavior."

"Not every girl wants to get with you dude." Fanboy chimed in agreeing with Phoenix.

"I know this one does though." He wasn't backing down at all. "She just can't admit it."

Bradley couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. All he wanted to do was stand up and shout that you were his. A part of you wished he would stop what was going on, but you knew then it would reveal something was going on between you two.

Hangman looked out of the corner of his eye to see Bradley's reaction. He was suspicious before but now those suspicions were confirmed judging on his fists in his lap, and you two weren't talking. So of course he had to swoop in to stir the pot.

"Yeah it's still a no." Shaking your head as you smiled at him.

Before he could say anything else the admirals walked in with Maverick right behind them. Maverick gave you a warm smile as he started speaking about what todays training was going to be. Hangman kept his eyes on you for a minute before focusing on Maverick.

Bradley couldn't take his eyes off you not for one second. Watching as you moved back and forth on the heels of your feet. Biting your lower lip every once in a while then looking down at your hands. It was something you did when you were feeling anxious.

It was hard not to look over at him when you knew he was staring at you. Not knowing if you wanted to hug him or punch him straight in the face. Feeling the tears rise when you thought back to last night at his place. Clearing your throat to keep those tears from falling and sucked back into your eyes.

"Alright we'll start with Phoenix, Bob, Coyote and Omaha." Maverick pointed to the pilots as they nodded in confirmation. "Get suited up and we'll see you on the tracks."

Everyone got up to leave the room but you stayed behind to once again stare at the papers in front of you. Placing both hands on the desk as you leaned your body forward. Breathing in and out slowly as you tried to calm your nerves down.

The tension was so high in that room you could have cut it with a butter knife. If it wasn't for the others in the room Bradley would have probably cornered you to talk to him. Thankful that the only reason you had to see him was because of the training.

You already knew Bradley was seething at the fact Hangman asked you out. A part of you wanted to say yes just to spite him, but you knew it would be the wrong thing to do. Not wanting to use Hangman like that. You weren't that kind of person.

"Something on your mind doll?" A voice breaking you from your thoughts looking up to see Hangman approaching you. "You looked very deep in thought."

"Yeah I was." Gathering the folders into your arms. "Least till you walked in."

"Everything okay between you and Rooster?" His tone had no concern or genuine curiosity, but one of mocking.

"Do you even really care?" Frowning at him as he was standing directly in front of the desk.

"No I really could care less." Answering honestly as he shook his head. "So back to my question earlier."

"Jake come on." Groaning as he came around the desk to stand directly in front of you.

"Just one date doll I promise you won't regret it." Lifting up his finger with a hopeful look on his face.

"Why should I go out with you?" Hangman had you literally cornered not even realizing that you were walking backwards your backside hitting the wall.

"Because I'm the best that there is." He smirked at you as you rolled your eyes at him. "At least better than someone else."

It was a jab to your heart when you knew exactly who he was talking about. Visibly wincing at his words. Hangman chose not to say his name, but you both knew he was right.

"Fine one date." Smiling so widely like the Cheshire Cat.

That's when you suddenly felt him pressing himself against your body. Looking down at your lips before back into your eyes silently asking for your permission. Contemplating whether you should or not. Nodding your head as he pressed his lips against yours.

Hands on your hips as he kept your body close to his. Surprisingly he was a very good kisser he was gentle but yet dominant at the same time. Massaging his lips against yours debating whether he should be using tongue or not.

Hating to admit that his lips felt nice, but you hated the fact you were willing to kiss someone like Jake just to get Bradley out of your thoughts. Feeling guilty for allowing him to be so close, but also remembering what's happened over the last twenty four hours.

Moaning into the kiss was enough permission for him to push his tongue past your lips. His hands moving to cup both sides of your face as yours wrapped around his waist. Things were becoming far more heated than you were expecting, but you also didn't want to stop.

"Get the fuck off of her." Bradley shouted as he grabbed the back of Hangman's shirt throwing him off of you.

Standing up against the wall with wide eyes and raw lips as Bradley and Hangman stood chest to chest. It was like watching the nature channel as two lions faced off to fight over who was alpha male.

Bradley looked beyond pissed at what he was witnessing. To see someone who he cared for and loved so much kissing someone he absolutely disliked made him see red. He had noticed you didn't follow everyone out of the room so he went to go check on you. This was the last thing he expected to see though.

"What's your problem Bradshaw?" Hangman was provoking him as he looked him up and down.

"You. You're my problem." He sneered at the grinning man.

"Boy I've sure do got you rattled." He quickly looked over at you still standing against the wall. "Is it because of her?"

"Leave her alone." Bradley warned but it just egged Hangman on.

"Didn't seem like she wanted me to leave her alone." He clicked his tongue referring to the intimate kissed shared between you two.

"She doesn't know what she wants." Bradley said making your glare over at him.

It was true though your emotions were all over the place, and you wanted to feel everything else to numb the pain you were feeling. If Bradley hadn't broke your heart with the news of his ex pregnant girlfriend you wouldn't be caught dead kissing Hangman.

"Oh I get it now." He looked between you and Bradley with a knowing smirk. "Something has happened between you two."

"Shut up." Bradley's face was red as he clenched his hands by his side.

"What did you do?" Hangman asked cocking his head to the side. "Break her little heart."

If only he knew.

"I said shut up." Bradley seethed spit flying out of his mouth.

"You don't have to worry I'll take very good care of her."

Next thing you saw was Bradley's fist landing into Hangman's jaw. The blonde haired man went flying back from the sudden impact. Closing your mouth with your hand as you gasped. Bradley stood there with his hand still in a fist ready to punch him again.

Running over to Bradley he thought for a minute you were going to him. Instead you went over to Hangman to check on him softly touching his jaw making him wince nodding at you that he was going to be okay.

"What the hell is wrong with you Bradley?" Screaming at him with wide eyes and an angry outraged look on your face.

Bradley didn't want to disappoint you any further than he already did. He hated to see how upset you were with him. He wished right now that he could take it back. It was already too late you were moving further and further away from him, and he couldn't get a hold of you.

"Bradley's just a little jealous that's it." Hangman answered as Bradley just stood there.

"Come on we gotta ice that." Wrapping an arm around his waist as he lifted an arm to place around your shoulder.

Giving Bradley one last look before you helped Hangman out of the room. Bradley just stood there looking at the hand that punched Hangman. His knuckles already turning red from the impact the sting become evident on his skin.

Watching as the two of you walked away he realized how much he had screwed up. He had to make things right with you no matter what it took. He couldn't just let you walk away out of his life like this.

Not that Hangman didn't deserve to get punched, but you were mad at the reason why he got punched. Bradley had no right to be angry at you kissing someone else when he got another girl pregnant.

"How's the jaw?" Asking Hangman as you placed the ice bag on his jaw carefully.

"Eh it's nothing." Shrugging his shoulders as he held it there.

"Been punched a lot before?" Teasing him making him smile with a wince.

"I've had my fair share of fights."

"Doesn't surprise me." Shaking your head with a laugh.

"You still want to go out tonight?" He asked hopeful.

"Yeah sure." Nodding your head as you looked over to the doorway hoping Bradley would come through, but he didn't. "As long as you promise to try and not get punched again."

"Now that I can't promise." He joked making both of you laugh.

"Why did you ask me out?" Asking curiously as you looked down at the ground. "Why do you want to go out with me?"

"Because I find you stunningly beautiful and sexy." He started off making you roll your eyes at him. "Also I wanted to apologize for being an asshole before."

"I shouldn't have said what I did it was completely wrong of me." He admitted which surprised you because he was actually being sincere.

"Damn right it was." Agreeing with him making him chuckle at your response.

"I was being an asshole I'll admit that."

"At least you can admit it." Nudging his shoulder as he looked over at you.

"So what is it with you and Bradshaw huh?" He asked making you roll your eyes.

"Yeah we're not discussing that." Shaking your head swerving around that subject.

"I get it I'll just have to find out for myself." He bit back with a grin making you snap your head at him as he laughed. "I'm kidding I'm kidding."

"Do you want me to punch you as well?" You threatened as you lifted up your fisted hand a playful tone behind your voice.

After several minutes of small talk the both of you decided to leave considering training wasn't over. Not knowing what Hangman was going to say to everyone when they see his jaw and Bradley's red knuckles. Hopefully people wouldn't ask too many questions.

Your mind was all over the place distracted over everything that's happened in less than twenty four hours. It was almost too much for you to handle right now. Not even paying attention to the pilots as they flew the practice course. The only people you did was Bradley and Hangman.

Wondering to yourself if Hangman was asking you out simply to piss off Bradley. Even if that was the case you felt Bradley deserved it, and needed to realize just how badly he had messed up with you.

"Care to explain?" Maverick asked soon as training was done looking over at him confused. "Why Hangman has a nice little shiner on his face?"

"I have no idea." Shrugging your shoulders an innocent look on your face. "Does it surprise you though?"

"No he probably deserved it." He chuckled thinking about it you on the other hand knew exactly why he was punched. "Wonder who punched him."

"Doesn't matter." It came out ruder than you intended but Maverick didn't seem to really notice.

"You okay?" He turned to look at you genuine concern written across his face.

"Yeah I'm fine." It wasn't true though.

"Everything okay with you and Bradley?" It was like he could sense something was going on and was determined to find out.

"Yep." Looking away from Maverick so he couldn't tell you were lying.

"What time should I pick you up?" Hangman interrupted before Maverick could push further on his questioning.

"Um I don't care how about 8?" Pursing your lips as you looked at him.

"Perfect I'll pick you up." Hangman smiled leaning forward to kiss your cheek before turning away.

Maverick was extremely confused as to what he just witnessed. Standing there with a shocked expression and his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. He had so many questions to ask but he was literally left speechless.

Standing there awkwardly avoiding the look Maverick had on his face. He was border lining between disappointed and angry. Never did he expect you to ever go after someone like Hangman. He was the last person he thought you would ever give a chance.

"Y/N." He started to say with a heavy sigh.

"Maverick please spare me the lecture right now." Putting your hands up speaking before he could say anything more. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Waving goodbye you took off down the hall not bothering to look back or anything. Just wanting to get in your car and get ready for this so called date. You just hoped you weren't going to regret it in the long run.

Pulling your keys out of your purse you looked around for a brief second when you saw Bradley standing by his bronco with a stressed look on his face. Noticing he was on the phone with someone and it looked like he was yelling. Scrunching your eyebrows as you stood there for a minute listening in, but you couldn't hear anything.

Bradley felt like someone was watching him turning to face you staring at him. He offered you a small smile before he got into his bronco. Shaking your head you got into your car as well taking off down the road.

Feeling a little bit nervous as to how tonight was really going to go. Knowing that this night could either end really well or terribly bad. Right now though all you wanted was Bradley by your side to tell you what to do.