#also main fic is planned to only be like 9 chapters long

[mtndw-whteout]

Should I be thinking of one off fics for my au? Probably not!

Am I going to write them even tho I'm not finished with the main one? Absolutely!

[bittersuitejacobs]

• an unhealthy obsession •

{Nate Jacobs/Original Character}

Ophelia is no stranger to wanting. For most of her life it's all she'd been allowed to do, trapped on the outside looking in, window shopping for normal experiences. Ophelia is also no stranger to obsession. Books, movies, TV shows; a terribly ill child who never even had the chance to make a real friend, she took what she could from fiction. All she'd ever wanted growing up, the thing she obsessed over, was someone who could save her, from her life, from herself. Someone who could make her feel alive.

So when her attention is caught by a beautiful, awful boy with a saviour complex, Ophelia vows not to remain a stranger to him either, no matter the cost.

Ophelia may no longer need to be saved, but Nate Jacobs makes her feel so damn alive, so she will turn herself into the kind of girl he wants, needs, and obsesses over too.

• in which Ophelia and Nate are somehow not the worst things to ever happen to each other. •

Warnings: Explicit Smut, Mutual Obsession, Stalking, Manipulative Behaviour, Possessive Behaviour, Infidelity/Cheating, Drinking, Violence, Non-Consensual Drug Use & Sexual Assault, Childhood Parental Abuse (Medical/Psychological/Emotional). Chapters will contain specific warnings.

{ fic playlist }

+ IN PROGRESS +

[ Season One ]

1. spectacle

2. the slate cleaned

3. knight in shining armour

4. according to plan

5. unexpected ink

6. daddy's angel

7. a week of turtlenecks

8. like and subscribe

9. dirty little secret

10. praise kink

11. deja vu

12. little black dress

13. fight flight fawn freeze

14. the aftermath of violence

15. boot theory

16. i quite enjoy ruining your day

17. mutually assured destruction

18. detriments of the modern age

19. justly serv'd

20. sanctuary

21. paper stars

[ Season Two ]

22. resolutions

23. bpm

+ ...

[ Alternate Universe ]

cool for the summer

Nate's been best friends with Lee Chase for as long as he can remember, and Lee's little sister Ophelia has always been... there. The best thing about her is how easy she is to ignore.

But everything changes between them when Lee and his dad go to Fiji for the Summer before their Junior year, and Nate and Lee's moms decide to spend that time holidaying together up the coast, taking the rest of their children with them.

So now, much to Nate's chagrin, he's forced to share a bed with his best friend's sixteen year old sister, who he's barely even had a full conversation with before in his life. But he quickly realises that she's bolder than he gave her credit for. Maybe it's a good thing her brother's on the other side of the world.

Warnings: Explicit Smut, Possessive Behaviour, Underage Drinking, Ongoing Parental Neglect/Emotional Abuse, Compulsive Over exercising as a Form of Self Harm, Mental Healthy & Unreality Struggles. Chapters will contain specific warnings.

1. Reintroduce

2. Reinvent

3. Recontextualise

4. Reconfigure

5. Realise

6. Revitalise

7. Reiterate

8. Reconnect

9. Restring

+ ...

Posting of completed chapters for the main fic will begin in the next few days.

Posting of the AU will begin after Chapter 10 of the main fic and will alternate.

THE TAGLIST IS ALWAYS OPEN !

(just message or comment to be added; I'll add you to the taglist for both unless you let me know you only wanna be tagged for updates from one)

[eightmakesonebraincell]

[fic rec mlist] member x reader | maknae line

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only general themes and tags are listed - please read through the author's specific tags and warnings

both sfw and nsfw fics are included. minors please dni with nsfw fics and respect the age restrictions put into place by the writers (suggestive, smut, and trigger warnings are highlighted in red)

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nil author synopsis

last updated: 25 oct 2023

[whats-she-gonna-post-next]

So I just finished binding Trust Life by the absolutely amazing @chaiandsage (Hello, I am ready to be perceived now, I hope that I have done your story even the slightest bit of justice) and I just wanted to make a post both showing it off, and going through what I learned doing this bind because I did a few new things here and want to talk about it.

Also I'm not going to subject you all to this, so most everything but the final product here is going to be below the cut.

(Also so sorry that the photos aren't the best. I am... Very bad at photography, lmao)

Ok, so let's start off with some of the cool things I learned during this bind. Or, maybe not necessarily cool, but they are things I learned and I think that learning is cool!

First off, I learned how to download and add fonts to Microsoft Word, which while not interesting, does open up a whole world of fonts for future binds. Is it a little late in the game to have found this? Probably. But it is what it is. I actually downloaded a pretty good chunk of different ones, but the fonts I actually used were MF Love Dings for the heart motif dividers, which was a new download, and then a few standard fonts - Edwardian Script ITC for the title pages, Baskerville Old Face for the chapter headers, Book Antiqua for the chapter titles, and good old Garamond for the actual text of the novel.

Here is the divider and the title fonts. I just think they are neat.

Another thing I learned was how to make book cloth! I found these squares of white cotton fabric at a dollar tree and decided to give it a go. The way I did mine was by painting them first (a task in and of itself, and as you can see on the cover, did not turn out super even, but I love them nonetheless) and then I glued down a layer of tissue paper to give it a little stiffness and make it stick to the chipboard easier, it was a super cool process and I look forward to trying it again in the future now that I have done it once and have a better idea of how I can improve in the future

And now onto some of the other cooler parts of the process!

So I had a lot of fun doing the formatting, it's my favourite part of any binding process, I cannot tell you how many fics I have formated that I have yet to print out and actually bind because I enjoy the process so much (the answer is actually 5 that are completely formatted and ready to go, 3 that I am actively in the middle of formatting, 4 projects completed - including this one, which... may technically count as 3, granted 2 of them were gifts for other people - and 3 that I am planning on doing that I haven't gotten to start on yet. Oh, and a 5 part series that I have printed out but haven't actually bound yet. I have a problem, lmao.) As I mentioned, I downloaded a few fonts for this but it just ended up looking so good in the end. Here is what some of the inner formatting looks like (I did just take the screenshots from word, I thought it was easier than getting the pages in the book)

Something else! This was the first time I actually broke a single fic into multiple parts, and I do not regret it. Each section is fairly large on its own, so it would have been a monster all together. I gave them basically the same title pages and such, just used the main stories summary for all of them and copy pasted everything - work smarter, not harder - and kept the same format for the chapters and such. There were 2 obvious spots (at least imo) for breaking things up, those being at the end of chapter 24, and then again at the end of 57, if you know, you know. However, that made the divide be 24 chapter, 33 chapter, 9 chapters. I was a little worried about how that divide to affect the look of the books, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked out. Book 2 there is quite obviously the largest part (it's basically double the length of book 1) but book 3 was surprisingly long for being only 9 chapters and I think they look fairly cohesive together. I didn't realize how long the last nine chapters themselves were. The first and third ones are actually about the same size together as book two, which is pretty cool!

When it came time to put together the actual books, I stuck with my tried and true french link stitch, as I find it to be a sturdy stitch, and then used green, yellow, and red card stock for the end pages, I felt it thematic.

I'm super excited to have this as a physical book now, thank again to chaiandsage for allowing me to bind this amazing story and just for writing it in the first place! I read it like twice in the span of a month, and I swear I have read chapter 57 and 58 themselves way too many times to count. Not even going to mention the amount of times I read the last 6 chapters because I just love a good happy ending.

But yeah, I'm really happy how this bind turned out, I still have to put an actual cover in these - which I plan on doing, I have a friend who is going to help me with the cover design when they are free, so there will be an update at some point.

[screechthemighty]

This one goes out to the Found Family enjoyers. 😘😘 Also I just want to establish real quick since we have *checks notes* two chapters left...the main meat of the "time travel" part of this fic is going to be resolved over the course of THREE fics now. So we have Meryl and Wolfwood's journey back to July in this one, Vash's journey back to July in "moments until the crash" (which I will resume working on in earnest once I'm done with this one), and then a fic covering the new events of July that...I don't have a title for yet but it will probably be more Tombi lyrics. So yeah, just wanted to make that clear. Anyways, onwards!

the unknowable tomorrow | a tristamp fanfic part seventeen: meryl and wolfwood

content warnings: nail biting, body horror, religious/cult trauma, reality warping, suicide mention, abusive behavior (general knives cw)

works cited: one incident in this fic is inspired by an idea from "Low Profile" by spectre_anon, specifically chapter three. quotes are used from episode 10 of tristamp. incidents from trimax, especially vol. 1 ch 4, vol. 8 ch. 3, and vol. 9 ch. 1. song of the chapter: "piano man" by billy joel.

.

“We know you’re in here, Stampede!”

Well, this was a great way to start things.

Wolfwood kept his head on a swivel as he and Meryl moved through the warehouse. He wished there was somewhere else he could send her—this was an active firefight, and her “people shot” count was still at one—but he’d have to make do. Long as I get shot at more than her.

“There’s nowhere for you to run!” continued the voice. The guy sounded like a real asshole, the kind that would be a pain to deal with properly while keeping casualties low. Granted, he couldn’t have cared less about the casualties, but he didn’t want Vash on his case about killing. He didn’t want Meryl to see him pull the trigger, either, not after everything she’d said back…

Nope. Don’t think about that now. Keep moving.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked a new voice nearby. Wolfwood stopped, holding out an arm to block Meryl as he did. “I don’t think we want the police sniffing around here.”

“We’ll take him to the police once we get him. Just some upstanding citizens freeing the wastes from a criminal. No one has to know, yeah?”

Great. Not only was someone trying to get Vash for his bounty again, they were unscrupulous sorts themselves. Probably dumb as bricks, too, with the way Wolfwood’s luck had been going. As Wolfwood scanned the passageways between boxes, he spotted a brief flash of red and the blue-green of Vash’s prosthetic arm. It looked like he was trying to climb up onto a stack of boxes, probably to get a better view. Wolfwood hissed to get his attention. He had to hold back a flinch when Vash spun around with his pistol drawn—not just because he was fighting the urge to raise his own weapon, but because Vash’s quick draw was so damn fast. It was unnerving.

The radiant smile that appeared on Vash’s face when he realized it was them erased all the danger from him. Wolfwood smiled back, despite the tension eating away at him, and gestured upwards. When Vash nodded, Wolfwood ran over, Meryl close behind. They worked quickly: Wolfwood boosted up Vash, then Meryl, then jumped to grab Vash’s hand and let himself be hauled up. The height gave him a clearer view of the space. It looked like the warehouse had been carved directly from stone. It was the sort of cool, dry place you kept food before it was shipped. The haphazard placement of the crates and comments about the cops made Wolfwood suspect the original owners had either abandoned the place or been ousted by the new occupants.

“Are you hurt?” Meryl whispered.

Vash shook his head. “They’re really lousy shots,” he whispered back, “but there’s a lot of them.”

Great. “You got a plan?” Wolfwood asked.

“That’s the problem. They…”

Vash immediately shut his mouth as footsteps and voices grew closer. All three of them shrank down as low as they could. Wolfwood could feel Meryl pressing close to him, Vash’s hand on his shoulder. The weight of responsibility for both of them felt as suffocating as the fear of being heard by the men below.

“…don’t know why he’s bothering. There’s got to be easier places to steal from…”

Steal. Which in Vash’s case would mean steal back. And it would probably be too much to ask that it was something small that he already had in his pocket like last time.

“They took a Plant,” Vash whispered once the men were further away. “I need to get the truck she’s on.” Wolfwood bit back a sigh. Of freakin’ course. “I already have the keys. I just…”

They had to duck down and fall silent again when more footsteps went by. Vash settled for pointing in the direction they needed to go. In theory, they could make their way across the top of the crates. In practice, as much as people had a tendency to not look up, they’d be clear and obvious targets if they were spotted.

Better than trying to navigate on the ground, I guess.

“Someone’s gonna have to carry Meryl,” Wolfwood whispered.

“Hey - !”

“You gonna look me in the eyes and tell me you’ve secretly been a competitive long jumper this whole time?!” Meryl’s face went pink, but she didn’t reply. “No regular person could make some of those gaps. It’s nothing personal.”

“…fair,” she grumbled.

Vash smiled at her apologetically. “Here, climb on. I promise I won’t drop you.”

Wolfwood wasn’t surprised Vash didn’t drop her, but he was a little surprised how damn graceful Vash was about it. He could look like a bundle of flailing limbs even when he was pulling off impressive feats, but this time he was so focused that he made the trip across the maze of crates look effortless. Wolfwood couldn’t complain, though. That meant they had one less thing to worry about on a trip that was already giving him ulcers.

The vehicles were unguarded when they reached them. Wolfwood got to stabbing as soon as they hit the ground, pulling out his pocket knife and going for any tires that looked easily punctured. There were four bikes and three smaller cars parked next to a bigass truck that could only be holding the Plant, and even it was completely unguarded. He was going to question the intelligence of these people when he noted a loose charge cable next to the truck. They’d unplugged it, which meant it probably didn’t have enough juice to get anywhere far. “Damn it,” Wolfwood mumbled.

“I can fix this,” Vash said without hesitation. He pulled a bundle of keys out of his pocket—there had to be enough to cover most of the vehicles there, if not all of them—selected one in particular, and passed it to Meryl. “You be ready to drive when the battery is full. Nico, can you hold them off without…?”

“No killing,” Wolfwood grumbled. “I know.” At least he hadn’t really had to shoot anything since they last bought ammo. Less risk of it running out. “Just be fast, okay?”

They all took their places—Meryl in the driver’s seat, Wolfwood behind a nearby car for cover, Vash rummaging around under the hood of the car. Wolfwood wasn’t sure what Vash was doing and he didn’t have time to check. Someone was already approaching fast.

“Hey!”

Wolfwood’s first shot was just a warning, and fortunately drove the guy back to cover. It didn’t stop him from screaming, though: “He’s at the cars!”

Damn it. Wolfwood took a deep breath and focused down the rifle sights. No killing. Pretend it’s a take alive mission. Vash said they’re lousy shots, so they probably are…

That didn’t make the first sign of armed men any less harrowing.

Missing on purpose was just as hard as actually hitting them would’ve been. If he wasn’t aiming shots to drive them back, he had to aim for parts of the body that wouldn’t kill them outright. He knew how to aim with precision, sure, but his impulse was to go for the center mass. The torso was easiest to shoot, dropped a person quickly—both things you’d usually want in a situation like this. But Vash had asked him not to kill. So, he tried.

He didn’t exactly shed tears whenever a shot did hit—for example, when a bullet he meant to fire at the floor accidentally hit a guy’s foot, causing him to collapse to the floor in pain. Whatever, he’d live. Wolfwood would’ve moved on to a more pressing target if the guy hadn’t sat up and suddenly gone pale. Not from pain, not from realizing where Wolfwood was and that he could theoretically make a more fatal shot. He was looking at something over Wolfwood’s shoulder.

“What the fuck is that?”

Wolfwood risked glancing over his shoulder and froze immediately.

Vash was glowing. His plant markings were clearly visible, racing across his face in intricate patterns. His eyes were a more vivid blue than ever. It almost looked like his body was moving underneath his coat, flexing and stretching in ways a normal person wouldn’t usually move. Wolfwood even thought he saw something starting to sprout from his shoulder. Petals? Feathers?

I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be seeing this. What’s happening to him? What’s he…

Vash suddenly jerked his hands away. His body snapped back into place, so suddenly and sharply that it was almost more alarming than the changes had been. “Start it!” he yelped as he slammed the hood shut.

Meryl, fortunately, recovered faster than Wolfwood did. The truck roared to life. Wolfwood stayed frozen in place until Vash ran to his side and started dragging him. “Come on, we’ve got to go!”

His legs recovered before his brain did, carrying him into the car before anyone started shooting again. As Meryl drove them out, Wolfwood glanced at the car’s dashboard displays. The battery had fully charged.

Vash had done that. Vash had created power and recharged the battery. It felt like just the other day he’d been in that bathroom, small and explaining how he couldn’t create anything. Now…

Wolfwood stared openly at Vash. “That’s new,” he said.

Vash smiled sheepishly. Before he could explain, something shot off one of their rear-view mirrors. Wolfwood cursed; Vash was leaning out the driver’s side window fast as he could even blink, pistol aimed. Wolfwood leaned out the passenger’s side just in time to see a motorcycle trip as the tire gave out.

Guess I got that one. He aimed for the tires of the next one. It took a few shots, but it did finally slow down, veering off as the driver lost control. He heard the sound of another one tipping over and crashing. It went silent after that, aside from the sound of the truck they were driving.

“Is that all of them?” Meryl asked.

“For now.” Vash sat down heavily and started reloading his pistol. “They’ll probably try to catch up. We should get as much distance from them as possible.”

“Agreed.” Wolfwood sat down as well and rubbed his eyes. “Is the Plant okay?”

Vash paused, his head tilting slightly as he glanced over his shoulder. Wolfwood couldn’t look at his face too long; even with his sunglasses dimming the brightness of his eyes, he could swear he still caught sight of the Plant markings in his eyes. “She’s okay,” he said finally. “A bit rattled. Wants to be back with the others. But she’ll be okay now.” His shoulders slumped slightly as he smiled. “And I was on such a good streak of not getting into shootouts before noon.”

Wolfwood checked the car’s clock. Sure enough, it was almost 10 a.m. “…you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” Wolfwood said flatly. “I can only take so much.”

“All those cigarettes will kill you before Vash does,” Meryl retorted.

Vash started giggling as Wolfwood switched his glare to Meryl. “Sure, everyone gang up on poor old me.” He pulled out a cigarette and held out his hand to Vash. He felt the press of the lighter in his hand almost immediately. “Wiseass.”

He did roll the window down before he started smoking. He wasn’t a total asshole.

The matter of how Vash had managed to pull off what he’d done didn’t come up for a while—first because they were all still too frazzled to talk about it, then because Vash had to move into the back of the truck to calm the Plant down. That left Meryl and Wolfwood alone, but it seemed like neither of them knew how to address it.

You saw that too, right? What he was turning into? What did he look like to you?

There was really no way to ask that question without opening up a whole can of Eye of Michael worms. It was bad enough Meryl knew as much as she did; explaining their religious dogma and why it left Wolfwood with a queasy, about-to-be-struck down feeling would take energy he did not have. So Wolfwood kept his mouth shut and his eyes fixed outside, looking for any signs of trouble.

Shockingly, none came. He thought those idiots would fight harder for their stolen good, but maybe having their transportation taken out and seeing Vash transform into…that had given them second thoughts. He shouldn’t have looked a gift thomas in the mouth. Easy was good. Not having to shoot more was even better. But the silence left Wolfwood with too much time to think.

He’d catch a glimpse of the bruise whenever he glanced down, but when he actually looked, it was gone. He knew that something had changed in July…no, before July. Some event had tipped the scales of his guilt, made him so sick about abandoning Vash that he’d thrown all common sense to the wind and gone back for him. And it must have been something Vash had done; the more Wolfwood thought about it, the more he realized that a lot of his memories around Vash were hazy, odd, slippery as a worm larva trying to burrow back into the sand. Something had changed. Something…

Does it have to do with the Eye? Or…

A wave of nerves collided with the headache his mixed-up memories were giving him. Wolfwood took a deep breath and started chewing on a hangnail. He hadn’t been a nail-biter before Conrad had gotten to him; even then, it was something that only happened when things got really bad. He guessed all this time travel bullshit counted.

“Are you okay?” Meryl asked.

The hangnail came free with a slight stab of pain. The metallic, familiar taste of his own blood drew him back to the present. “Might have to ask Vash about what happened there,” he said finally. “I don’t think he could do any of that before.”

“I don’t either.” Meryl took a deep breath. “But it’s a good thing, though…right? Or at least not a bad one?”

Wolfwood glanced down at his ankle, at the wound that was never as bad as it should’ve been and the explanation he’d been too afraid to ask for. “Reckon it depends on what he does with it.” As long as he doesn’t waste something that special on guys like me.

They had to pull over eventually to give the engine a break. Wolfwood felt his whole body go tense as he and Meryl started to open the back of the truck. He was bracing himself for Vash to look like something else again, something bordering on divine. All he saw was the Plant wrapped up in her bulb and Vash sitting with his back pressed to the tube, head leaning to the side, out so cold he was snoring and drooling.

“At least he feels safe enough to rest,” Meryl said. “I still don’t know how he can sleep like this, though.”

“You get used to it.” Wolfwood tapped his knuckles against the floor. “Hey, Spikey. Rise and shine.”

Vash jerked slightly, snorting on his cut-off snore as his eyes opened. He looked around the space like he was trying to remember how he got there. “…that wasn’t a quick nap,” he said groggily.

“Yeah, doesn’t look like it,” Meryl said. “Do you feel okay?”

“Yeah, I’m…” Vash yawned and stretched. He could be freakishly floppy when he did, but it hadn’t bothered Wolfwood before now. Of course, back then he’d just thought Vash was like the one kid he’d known from the orphanage who had rubber bands for joints and dislocated his shoulder to use as a pillow. Now, Wolfwood half-expected Vash to unpop every limb and twist into a form that looked more like his sister’s.

And who cares if he does? It’s just Vash. You know him.

Wolfwood forced himself to remember the little kid at the start of all this, to imagine that kid chatting away as he stood up. “…always a little tired after electricity. Not sure what’s up with that.” Vash smiled sheepishly. “I hope I didn’t scare you guys too much.”

“No, of course!” Meryl said, maybe a little too quickly. “It was just…unexpected, that’s all.”

“Yeah, for us, you were just saying how much it sucked being specialized,” Wolfwood added—even though, for once, the time travel bullshit had nothing to do with his headache. “Guess you decided to do something about that.”

Vash laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. Something like that.” He turned around and started checking on the bits and bobs the Plant was hooked up to. “It’s been a lot to take in. Livio’s been really helpful…”

The name slammed into Wolfwood’s chest, nearly knocking the breath out of him. He had to force the next words out: “Did you just say …?”

“Oh! Yeah, I was going to tell you!” Vash turned to face him again, a bright grin on his face. “I stuck around after last time, just to keep an eye on things…I guess whatever you wrote to him worked, because he ran and hid when those guys came back. They really wanted him for some reason, but…” His smile looked a little pleased with himself, and a little embarrassed at the same time. “…guess they didn’t know a famous outlaw was in town.”

Wolfwood’s brain struggled to take all the new information in. “So…Livio’s…?”

“On Ship Three. I figured that was the safest place.”

He remembered, then.

He hadn’t even been on the ship five minutes and he was already itching for a cigarette. The entire situation was too weird. There was a spaceship in the damn sandstorm and he was on it, waiting for Vash to wake up from his dirt nap. He’d taken to twirling his lighter, drawing a few agitated looks from some of the ship’s occupants. He thought about actually lighting it, just to be a contrary asshole, but he wasn’t looking to get kicked out.

“Nico?”

The nickname nearly made him drop the lighter.

He was afraid to look. The whole situation felt so unreal; he was sure he was hallucinating. Brain damage, wistful thinking, whatever. But the sound of hesitant footsteps forced him to look up out of instinct, his body bracing itself for an attack.

An attack didn’t come. The figure stopped a safe distance away, staring openly. It had been ten years. He was twenty, maybe twenty-one, a grown man now. So much about him had changed: the broad shoulders, the sudden extra height (since when had he been the taller one, since when), the clean clothes, the overall vibrancy that he’d grown into. But he still wore his hair the same way–fair white and scruffy, half-pulled back now.

And he had the same golden eyes.

“...Livio?”

The smile was the same, too. That same smile he wore when the Tomas chicks ate out of his hand the first time, or when Wolfwood showed off his lighter tricks. He smiled like the world was a good place, like those little miracles were proof that everything was just and beautiful.

Wolfwood could almost believe that too for a second. He didn’t even protest when Livio practically tackled him in a hug. “I knew you were alive,” Livio said, his voice thick with tears. “I knew it.”

Crybaby, Wolfwood wanted to tease. Words didn’t come. He just held onto his brother with everything he had.

The full story came out after that. Livio was practically tripping over himself, excited to explain every little thing about the ship, the crew, the place he’d apparently been living for the past nine years. They had these things called Flora on board. He was working in the medical bay as an assistant. Vash came up a lot. Vash this, Vash that. Vash visited regularly and taught Livio how to fight and brought him back things from the deserts of No Man’s Land. Vash was the one who had brought him here to begin with, found him outside of Hopeland and brought him to safety.

Vash the Stampede had saved Livio’s life.

That fact cemented itself in Wolfwood’s mind the more he thought about it. That other version of Ship Three still existed, but it felt more and more like a hazy memory, an odd dream. Real and unreal. Maybe it had happened somewhere else, but it was being scrubbed away, replaced by a time when Livio was alive.

Then the rest sank in.

Livio was alive, his Livio was alive. There was no gunfight on the steam ship, no gun barrel pressed to Livio’s temple. The ship had still nearly hit Hopeland, turned there by Legato for whatever reason, but they’d been able to stop it. They still went to Ship Three…still left in a rush when Meryl and Roberto had been taken…except this time, no, no, they’d taken him, too, fucking Zazie had stolen Livio and Wolfwood had ridden into July City with his mind only half on the mission and half on popping that little worm freak’s head off with his bare hands…

But only half.

Because three people had entered that elevator and kept going down, two injured but alive. Because when the adrenaline had faded, when he’d finally managed to wrench his fingers off the trigger and remind himself that he couldn’t shoot Elendira, as much as he wanted to…

He could’ve followed the others down, but he hadn’t. He’d still taken the other elevator up with Vash. He’d still walked down that hallway, Vash just behind him.

What a load of a babysitting job this turned out to be.

“Wolfwood?”

His body jerked away from the sudden touch of Meryl’s hand on his arm. She looked worried. Vash did, too, but nervous at the same time. Like he had some idea of what was going through Wolfwood’s head…like he knew…

But it’s done now.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He could still remember Vash’s eyes behind those sunglasses. Soft, nonjudgmental. Kind.

Hey, Wolfwood? Thanks for everything.

Wolfwood tore his gaze away and ran.

Meryl shouted after him, but the sound quickly grew silent. Or maybe he just stopped noticing. His mind stayed fixed on one truth, one solid and fixed point in the mess that his life had turned into.

Vash the Stampede had saved Livio’s life.

And Wolfwood had given him up to Knives anyway.

.

“Wolfwood!”

Meryl’s brain was a scrambled mess. Vash’s confession had shifted in her memories, layering a blanket of new memories over what had once happened. No longer was the white-haired man a gun-wielding phantom who had fallen off the edge of the sand steamer, limp and lifeless. He was Livio—bright and smiling as he ran into Vash’s room to hug him tightly, introducing himself politely as they followed Luida to the Geoplant, shielding her and Roberto from Zazie even though they’d just met. The clashing memories were enough to make her feel woozy, but she knew that whatever Wolfwood was feeling had to be worse.

His brother was dead, and then he wasn’t. That was a lot bigger than a few scars and an absent bruise.

But before she could go after him, a hand gently rested on her shoulder. “Let him go,” Vash said. “I think he’s got a lot on his mind.”

Meryl looked up at Vash in surprise. He was staring after Wolfwood with a tight jaw and eyes that were starting to look teary. For a moment, Meryl’s attention was torn in two. Wolfwood was obviously upset, but so was Vash. She weighed her options, tried to figure out which of them would be more likely to open up to her. The deciding factor was knowing, deep down, who Wolfwood would want her to choose.

“Are you okay?” Meryl asked.

Vash shook his head. His hand dropped off her shoulder as he turned and started closing back up the truck. “Nai founded the Eye of Michael,” he said. “I didn’t poke around too much, don’t worry. I just…had to know.’ He hesitated in front of the truck’s closed doors, his shoulders visibly tense even under his bulky jacket. “He’s the reason Nico was taken away. Nico, all those other kids…” She heard a soft thump as his head hit the doors. “He’s the reason I’m trying to learn more about my Gate.”

“To protect Livio?”

“To protect myself.” Vash wrapped his arms around himself tightly. “I took Livio off Ship Three for an away mission. He wanted to help more…he’s a good kid, you know? I didn’t know Nai was in the area until he showed up at the hotel. He’d seen us together, asked me if Livio knew what I am. Of course he does. I told him years ago. But when I told Nai that, he…grabbed my arm and I started to just…” He gripped his right arm more tightly. “…unravel. I was changing. I guess that’s normal, that’s something Independents can do, but I didn’t know that then. He knew. He knows how my own body works better than I do.”

Vash laughed harshly, tearfully.

“I couldn’t stop him. I was scared. He left me looking like a…a monster, told me to see if the humans accepted me then…”

Immediately, Meryl stepped closer to Vash. He flinched away from her at first, but after a few slow, deep breaths, he turned to face her. “So, uhm, I can transmit emotions and thoughts through touch when I’m like that,” he admitted. “So, I did scare Livio when he came back. But we talked things out. And he’s still my…” He laughed again, burying his face in his hands. “He’s more a brother to me now than my actual brother.”

Vash sank into a crouch. Meryl only hesitated for a second before hugging him tightly. She didn’t feel any emotions that weren’t hers, which was probably for the best. Her own growing anger was bad enough. “I’m so sorry, Vash.”

“I miss my brother,” Vash said. “I miss Nai. I love Nai. But the day he cut off my arm, he said he was Millions Knives now, and Knives…Knives has hurt almost everyone I love. He’s hurt me, and acted like that’s a good thing...he killed my…” He choked on a sob and hugged her back tightly. “I’m…I’m so angry at him. Meryl, I think I hate him. I don’t want to feel that way. I don’t…”

“I know. I know,” Meryl said softly. Even justified hatred didn’t feel very good. She knew from experience. “I’m sorry, Vash. I wish…”

She wished she knew what to say, what to do. But she was an only child and a normal human who would never have to deal with the kind of pain Vash had. All she could do was observe.

Again.

That terrible feeling of helplessness gripped her ribs, making it feel hard to breathe. Meryl pushed down her own urge to cry—even if at least some of the tears were sympathetic ones, it didn’t feel right for her to cry now—and started humming Vash’s song as she stroked his hair. It was all she had to offer for action. It didn’t feel like much of anything, not against the sheer mountains of pain Vash must have been feeling.

But to her surprise, Vash’s tears began to quiet. He didn’t hum along, but he still seemed soothed. His breathing slowed. His grip grew a little less desperate. Eventually, he pulled away from the embrace, wiping his tears away. “Thanks,” Vash whispered.

Meryl shrugged, suddenly unable to meet Vash’s eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“Don’t say that. You’ve done so much for me.” His fingers rested over the place she’d been burned during the Big Fall. “You pulled me out of the fire. You defended me. You listened. A lot of people can’t even listen but you do. When I’m with you I feel understood.” He smiled at her. “We’re not even the same species, so that’s kind of a big deal.”

It sounded so much bigger when he said it that way.

Vash stood up, dusting the sand off his pants as he did. “I know there’s no easy answers,” he said, “not to this. But it does feel a little better saying it all out loud.”

“I can see that. Hey, Vash?” There was at least one thing she could say, and it was something she was pretty sure Vash needed to hear. “I know you don’t want to hate him, but…hate and anger aren’t the same thing, you know? You’re allowed to be angry with him, even if you still love him. He has hurt you.”

Vash nodded. “Yeah.” Then, “Don’t tell Nico I said this, but at this point I’m not even mad at him for hurting me. Lots of people have hurt me by now. I’m mad that he acts like he isn’t hurting me. No matter what I say…” He sighed. “Other people have changed. So far…he won’t.”

That won’t seemed so heavy, as if Vash was starting to realize there may not come a day when Knives would. She wondered what that would mean for the future—a future that, so far, still seemed to lead to July City.

What else can I do?

Is there anything I can do?

“Will you be okay watching the truck alone? I want to try and talk to Nico about some things.”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” She had a feeling if no one had managed to catch up to them so far, they were in the clear. “Worst case scenario, I can always hit someone with it on purpose this time.”

Vash laughed and leaned over for one more hug. “That’s true.”

His laugh sounded genuine, and his steps weren’t so heavy as he went in the direction Wolfwood had gone. But Meryl still felt a tightness in her chest as she watched him walk away.

Wolfwood said he was twelve when he was taken, that he was about twenty-two now. Depending on how long it had been since their last portal, Vash could have anywhere from nine years to months until the day she met him in the future. Was that enough time?

Was there anything else she could do?

.

He’d smoked his way through the rest of a pack by sundown.

Wolfwood didn’t know why. They weren’t making him any calmer. His hands still shook every time he tried to light them. The sting when they burned all the way down to his fingertips or lips wasn’t harsh enough to be real punishment. He couldn’t even say he was doing it to kill himself faster. Any cancer cells the cigarettes might have spawned would be undone with the next vial. And there wouldbe another vial, and another, and one after that. Not because the orphanage needed him. Because he was a coward who couldn’t even die right.

Bastard, miserable piece of shit, you should’ve just let him kill you, a lot of people would be better off if you’d just…

He heard footsteps. Wolfwood didn’t have to turn around. He knew the tread of those boots by now, same as he’d learned Livio’s footsteps when they were kids. Wolfwood didn’t say anything. Couldn’t bring himself to.

“...Nai sends you after me, doesn’t he? Is that how we meet?”

Wolfwood flinched. He had this sudden mental image of Vash standing there with his gun drawn, aimed right at the back of Wolfwood’s head. He wouldn’t fight it if it were. He deserved that. He deserved worse. “Yeah,” he said, his voice a harsh rasp. “How’d…?”

Vash must’ve shrugged; Wolfwood could hear the rustling of his jacket, the soft myeh Vash would make sometimes. “I looked into the Eye of Michael after I found Livio,” he said. “It wasn’t hard to put together. The two angels sent by God kind of gave it away.” He huffed, sad or amused or both, it was hard to tell. “He’s always been dramatic.”

Wolfwood wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or scream. He tried to will that gun into Vash’s hands. Tried to tell himself that he wasn’t hearing softness in that stupid voice, again. “He got it in his head that you needed looking after,” Wolfwood said. “You were going to July anyway, but he wanted to make sure you got there in one piece. I volunteered.” It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t the full truth, either, but the full truth didn’t matter. Vash needed to know he’d volunteered. He needed to understand…

“Because they’d leave Livio alone if you did?”

Damn it, Vash.

Wolfwood glanced over his shoulder. There was no gun in Vash’s hands, no betrayed look in his eyes. “You said,” Vash continued, “you could handle it. That you wanted it to be you, not any of the others. I’m guessing they came back for Livio…”

“Stop.”

“...because they knew you two were close. Did they threaten him anyway?”

“Stop.”

“Say they’d leave him and the others alone if you…”

“Who gives a shit?!” Wolfwood was on his feet so fast it made him dizzy. The cigarette fell from his lips only half-smoked, but he didn’t care. “It doesn’t matter why I did it!”

“Of course it does - “

“No, it doesn’t, Vash!” Wolfwood wanted to grab Vash by his stupid jacket and shake some sense into him. He wanted to turn and run away. The conflicting impulses froze him in place, body tense and shaking. “Stop trying to justify this! Stop talking yourself out of being angry with me! You should be angry with me!”

“Why?”

“Why…” Wolfwood growled in frustration and rubbed his eyes. “What part of this isn’t sinking in? You saved one of the people I love most, and I handed you over anyway. That’s how I repaid you. I’m worse than low. You should hate me. Just…” He could finally move again, stepping forward to shove Vash as hard as he could. “...fucking hate me, damn you!”

Vash barely staggered. Wolfwood might as well have shoved a brick wall. At that proximity, Wolfwood had a full view of Vash’s eyes. He looked so deeply sad that it felt like a knife to the chest. But not the sorrow of grief or betrayal Wolfwood remembered from after Knives had cut his arm off. This was something else.

Empathy.

“Wolfwood,” he said quietly, “did you follow me back to Ship Three for Nai? Was that part of it?”

He could’ve lied. Maybe if he did, Vash would finally take the justice he deserved. But it would ruin him, too, so Wolfwood told the truth. “No. The job was done when all that happened. Contract fulfilled.”

“So…what I’m hearing is that you owed me nothing, not even on Nai’s behalf, and you…stayed with me for a week until I was let out of that cell? Held me when I was scared? You nearly gave up going home for me…because you wanted to?”

“Because I did owe you,” Wolfwood corrected. His voice sounded weak to his own ears, pathetic. “After what I’d done, I couldn’t just walk away. I’m already a monster, I couldn’t…” He took a deep breath. “It should’ve been someone else. You deserved better than me.”

Vash nodded. And then he smiled. “You know,” he said, “monsters don’t cry like this.”

Was he crying? When had he started? Wolfwood desperately scrubbed them off his cheeks, leaving smears of dust and ash instead. “Don’t,” he whispered again. “Please. Just…damn it…”

“I was mad at first, for the record.”

“Good.”

“But you know what I kept thinking about?” Vash looked away, staring out over the desert landscape. “For a long time, I’d look for Nai whenever I left Ship Three. All I wanted was for him to come back and apologize. If he’d just…” Vash’s voice broke; he shook it off and rested his hand on Wolfwood’s shoulder. “You came back for me. You’ve tried to make things better. My own twin won’t do that, but you have. And that’s why I forgive you for whatever’s coming. Because I want to. Because I know you’re not a monster.” He squeezed Wolfwood’s shoulder gently. “My decision, Nico. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

He didn’t deserve this. Nicholas D. Wolfwood didn’t deserve that kind of grace and he never would. But here was Vash, giving it freely.

His knees finally gave out. Wolfwood collapsed, forehead pressed to the sand. He apologized, over and over, for all of it. What he done (would do) to Vash. What he’d done (was doing) in the name of the Eye. For every drop of blood on his hands. He didn’t ask forgiveness, because he still didn’t feel he deserved it, but he’d burn alive if he didn’t confess how low he truly was. If he didn’t at least apologize.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

Arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close. Vash hummed quietly, that wordless tune he’d been using since he was a kid. Wolfwood didn’t have the strength to push him away, didn’t have it in him to reject that forgiveness. He still didn’t think he deserved it, but he wanted it. Absolution felt like pain medication after a long contract, like the first hit of nicotine, like Livio’s embrace on Ship Three. Like those fleeting moments when life felt beautiful and kind.

Eventually, he ran out of things to confess. Vash hadn’t let go; Wolfwood had long given up fighting against it. When he did pull away, it was only far enough to look Vash in the eyes. “He’s going to kill you,” Wolfwood said. It was the truth he’d been too afraid to say, but what consequences were there now? Livio was alive, so the future could be changed. Vash already knew what he’d do one day, so there was no more fear of judgment. What was the worst that could happen? “He’s got some crazy plan to wipe out humanity and he needs you to do it. He needs whatever it is you can do. Something about a bridge, I don’t know. They don’t tell me these things. But whatever it is…”

“He doesn’t care how much he has to break me to get it,” Vash finished. He didn’t sound surprised. “Because Knives knows best, right?” He laughed bitterly and shook his head. “And he probably thinks I’ll just go along with it.”

Wolfwood raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t need you to do it willingly.”

Vash sighed, pulling away fully to sit down in the sand. “No. I guess not.”

From that angle, Wolfwood could see how red and puffy Vash’s eyes were. “Geez, don’t cry over me…”

“I was crying about Nai, so don’t worry.”

“That’s worse.” Wolfwood huffed as he settled down himself, staring out over the wastes in front of them. “How old is…?”

Livio. How old was he now? How tall had he gotten? Did he still talk to his imaginary friend, ask for the same stories, cry at every big emotion, good or bad? Was he healthy? Was he happy?

“I have a picture. Do you want to see?”

Wolfwood’s heart leapt up into his throat. He had the new memories, of course, he had some idea of how Livio looked grown-up and untouched by Conrad and his needles, but a picture felt more real, somehow. Vash reached somewhere into his jacket and pulled out a photograph. It showed a Livio who looked to be in his teens, wearing the white clothes of Ship Three. The sleeves were a little short, so he’d probably had a growth spurt recently. He was grinning, holding up a tablet that showed he’d scored a 90 on something.

“That’s when he passed the exams to enter the medical program,” Vash explained. “The kids usually start their career training in their late teens. He’s sixteen now, so he’s started this year. He wants to be a doctor so he can go back to Hopeland and help the kids. And he wants to see you again one day.”

Wolfwood could feel tears forming in his eyes. He passed the photo back to Vash to avoid getting it wet. “Doctor, huh? Didn’t know he could handle blood like that.”

“He’s tougher than he looks. Actually…” Vash stood up and held out his hand to Wolfwood. “I can tell you about when he picked that path, if you want. But we should get back to the truck. Meryl’s probably worried about us.”

Wolfwood nodded and took Vash’s hand. “Yeah,” he said as he stood up. “Yeah, sounds good.”

They walked back to the truck side-by-side. Vash told Wolfwood about the dustlung outbreak that happened when Livio was thirteen, his second year on the ship. He hadn’t been in any danger, having already had it while he was at the orphanage, and he took advantage of that to volunteer with the kids on board. He’d spent weeks in quarantine, helping distribute medicine, telling stories, keeping their spirits up as best he could.

“They all loved him by the end of it,” Vash finished as the truck came into sight. “He probably could’ve started a child gang if he wanted to. They still think he’s really cool.” Vash smiled fondly. “He is, to be fair.”

“He always had potential. He caught a girl who nearly fell off the roof once. Never been prouder of anyone in my life.” Despite the deep ache in his chest, Wolfwood found himself smiling, too. “You realize that hiding out in Hopeland and fighting deacons counts as doing something stupid, right?”

“Maybe, but I don’t regret it. He means something to you. He…means something to me, too.” Vash’s footsteps slowed, his expression suddenly growing uncomfortable. “I’m not trying to replace you, I promise. He really does want to see you again one day. I’m glad he’s in my life, but I wish…I wish it was you.”

The ache in his chest suddenly had a name. Wolfwood had to take a few deep breaths before he could respond. “It’s…I’m not mad at you. Don’t resent you or anything. He’s doing better than most of us could hope for.”

Vash nodded. “You can still be upset about the situation. Even around me. I won’t take it personally or anything.

Maybe Vash wouldn’t take it personally, but he’d still feel Wolfwood’s pain a little too deeply. That was almost as bad as him taking it personally. “Moping about it won’t fix anything,” Wolfwood said. “I’d rather focus on the fact that he’s okay now.”

And he’d stay that way if Wolfwood had anything to say about it. He had two reasons to steer Vash’s future now. If Livio was dragged to July, that meant he was in danger.

I won’t let them hurt him again.

Should he tell Vash everything he was going to face? Would that be too dangerous? Meryl got out of the truck and started walking to them before he could decide. I’ll talk to her about it. She might know what to do.

“Are you okay?” Meryl asked.

“Better now,” Vash said. “Right, Nico?”

“I’m functional.” And hopefully he didn’t look too much like he’d been crying. “Do we know where we’re going? Don’t think just driving around is going to get us anywhere fast.”

“I do! I can navigate. We’ll have to keep moving so eventually someone else will have to drive…”

Vash kept chatting as he walked away, but Meryl hung back. Wolfwood thought she was going to say something to him; instead, she gave him a quick, one-armed hug before running to catch up to Vash.

Oh.

Maybe the gesture shouldn’t have been a surprise after their conversation last time, but Wolfwood still couldn’t quite believe it had happened. It was more grace and forgiveness that he didn’t deserve, and yet neither Meryl nor Vash seemed to care about that. They gave it freely anyway.

Three reasons, he decided as he followed the two of them. He had three reasons to fight for the future.

If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was fight.

.

Vash barely had to be bullied into sleeping first that night, which really spoke to how tired he was. Meryl was glad she didn’t have to fight him about it, and just as glad that it gave her a chance to talk to Wolfwood.

“Do you think we should tell him everything?” Wolfwood asked.

“I…” Meryl sighed. “I don’t know. It feels drastic, but maybe…”

Her hands clenched the steering wheel. She’d been thinking about the changed events of the future while the boys were gone. As it turned out, Livio’s survival hadn’t just influenced her later interaction with Wolfwood.

“What do you remember about July now?”

“Uh…lot of it’s the same, up ‘til we find you in the tower. Elendira hurt…” Wolfwood took a deep breath, but it wasn’t enough to hide the note of rage in his voice. “…Livio. And Roberto looked like he had some blood on him.”

“That’s his. Livio tried to be a distraction, so he got most of the nails, but Roberto…he still got hit. But not in his gut like before. Just his arm.” Which was still potentially bad. The words brachial artery and don’t want to mess with this her were thrown out there. But…

“Wolfwood, he was alive when I went back up for Vash.” Meryl felt her eyes start filling up with tears. “He still gave me the derringer, but he was alive. He and Livio were going to get out of the city together.”

“…Shit,” Wolfwood breathed. “Damn. We really did something, huh?”

Meryl nodded and reached up to wipe the tears away. “And that’s a good thing. I’m grateful, I really am. But I was thinking, maybe all of this…we can change things, sure, but what I’m worried about is that no matter what we do, Knives is never going to stop. We can make Vash realize what he’s like, we can save Livio and Roberto, but that doesn’t fix that Knives wants Vash back.”

“Right. Right.” Wolfwood groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If we convince Vash not to go to July willingly…

“And if no one is ever able to catch him for the bounty…”

“God only knows what kind of tantrum Knives will pitch.”

“Pretty much.”

“Shit.” Wolfwood rolled the window down and lit a cigarette. “So, we turn this thing towards July and put a bullet in Knives, then?”

“That’s not…first of all, can you even pull something like that off?”

“I’m about ready to give it a shot. Pun fully intended.”

“What happened to dying a normal death?”

“You know the amount of bullshit I’ve already done for my family? I can do one more thing. Killing an angel isn’t that far off from betraying one, if you think about it.”

“…okay, that would make a great quote,” Meryl admitted, “but the plan is still stupid.”

“You got a better one?”

Meryl glanced in the rearview mirror. Vash was still fast asleep, right down to the snoring and drooling combo. “The only person who can beat Knives is Vash,” Meryl said finally. “Maybe…we tell him the truth, if he wants to know it. And then we trust him to do what’s best.”

Wolfwood looked like he was about to bite his cigarette in half from how tight his jaw was. “He shouldn’t have to,” he said quietly. “Even if he’s capable of it…”

“We’ll be there for him no matter what happens,” Meryl said. “I think we’re a lot more capable of that than we are of fighting Knives ourselves.”

Wolfwood sighed out a cloud of smoke. “Yeah,” he said finally. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. Not happy about it, but I’ve barely been happy about the way my life is going for…” He paused, then counted on his fingers. “Most of it, so I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked.”

Meryl grimaced. “Well, hopefully you’ll have something to be happy about at the end of all this. Do you mind taking over? I need to write something down.”

Remembering dates took longer than she expected, and she had to ask Wolfwood for help a few times, but before it was her turn to rest, she had a timeline of what was to come written out. “So, we give him this, tell him some of what’s at stake…then it’s his call,” Meryl said. She rubbed her eyes and bit back a yawn. “Only so much we can do now.”

“Don’t remind me.” Wolfwood slowed the car to a stop. “We’ll do it in the morning. Get Vash up, then you get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Meryl went to open the door, but hesitated. “Wolfwood…earlier, when you said ‘family’…”

It was hard to tell in the low light, but she was pretty sure she saw Wolfwood blush a bit. “Listen, it’s your damn fault for letting me tag along this long,” he said. His words were defensive, but his tone had too much honesty in it. “That’s what happens when you feed strays. Everyone knows that.”

Oh.

Meryl stared down at her hands for a moment. It somehow would’ve been easier if he’d said he was in love with her or something. That she knew how to respond to. This felt…bigger, somehow. Maybe it was because of everything they’d been through together, or maybe it was because she knew how important family was to Wolfwood. Either way…

She was surprised to find she didn’t mind the idea.

“I’m glad I didn’t kill you with the truck,” Meryl said quietly.

Just like that, any awkwardness was gone between them. Wolfwood laughed, and Meryl started giggling along with him. “Yeah,” he said. He was smiling. It was one of the few real, genuine smiles Meryl had seen on Wolfwood’s face. “Yeah, I am, too.” Wolfwood nudged her gently. “Go on. Sleep.”

It took more effort to wake Vash up than it did to convince him to sleep, but eventually he took Meryl’s place in the passenger seat while she tried to make herself comfortable in the back. Despite the inherent lack of comfort that came with sleeping in a moving vehicle, she found herself dozing off quickly, lulled to sleep by the sound of the motor and the quiet conversation between Wolfwood and Vash.

It was strange to admit that she felt safe, but she did.

.

“Hey, can we talk?”

Wolfwood winced. That wasn’t the best way Meryl could’ve opened the conversation. Vash looked between her and Wolfwood with a confused expression. “Uh, am I grounded or something?” he asked.

“Why bother?” Wolfwood said. “It wouldn’t stop you from doing boneheaded stuff.” No, joking about this wasn’t going to make it any easier. Might as well just jump in. “It’s about your brother.”

And there went the mood, predictably. Wolfwood almost felt guilty, seeing the light go right out of Vash’s eyes, but it was a conversation they had to have. Better to just rip the rest of the bandage off. “I know we talked about some of this yesterday, but things with Knives aren’t going to get any better,” Wolfwood said. “People are going to get hurt. People are going to get killed. And I’m not saying that’s your fault, that’s all on him. But it would be on us if we didn’t warn you.”

Meryl nodded in agreement and held out the timeline she’d written the night before, carefully folded up into a tidy square. “It’s all here,” she said, “if you want to read it. Everything that’s going to happen in the future. We don’t want to force you, but we thought you should have the option. It’s up to you how much you want to know.”

Vash took the paper carefully, as if it were a live worm that might sting him at any second. “I’m the only one who can do something aren’t I?” he said quietly. “Not because it’s my penance. I just…am.” Wolfwood expected him to start tearing up again, but instead Vash just smiled. “How awful is that?”

Meryl hugged him immediately. Wolfwood joined in the embrace. Vash still didn’t shake, didn’t cry. “I have a few years, right?”

“Yeah,” Wolfwood said. “Yeah, you’ve got time.”

“Enough time to be a little selfish?”

“What’d you have in mind?”

“There’s a little bar in the place we’re going. No limits on the drinks this time. I want…” He gripped Wolfwood’s arm a bit more tightly. “…I want to have a few drinks with you. Play the piano again. Just be normal for a little while, you know?”

“I don’t think that sounds selfish,” Meryl said, “but it does sound like a good night. I’d love to.”

“Count me in, too,” Wolfwood said. “Think we can convince them to give us free drinks? We are about to be their heroes and all.”

“Can’t hurt to ask.” Vash pulled them both a little closer. “I’m so glad to have you both.”

There were still no tears in his voice, but the earnestness there hit harder than tears. He sounded young again, like the kid locked up and alone, desperate for comfort, happy to find it even in the company of a stranger.

But they weren’t strangers anymore. Wolfwood may not have meant to be so sentimental to Meryl’s face the night before, but he had meant every word.

They were part of his family now, for better or for worse. And he’d do what he had to for them.

.

It felt like a miracle that they made it into town without anything going wrong. The warm welcome they received felt even more surreal as a result. Vash looked just as taken aback as Meryl felt—which led her to wonder how many less-than warm welcomes he’d received lately—but he warmed to the treatment quickly. Wolfwood was much more closed off until a gaggle of kids started following them around, asking questions. He may have kept side-eyeing the adults, but he had no problem chatting with the kids.

“Oh, there was a hundred, at least,” Wolfwood said. He didn’t seem deterred when the claim was met with a chorus of disbelief. “That’s how many I counted.”

“It was ten at most,” Meryl interjected. “We wouldn’t have made it out if there was one hundred.”

“Sure we would’ve. That’s thirty…something each? We could take that many.”

Meryl narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t tell if there was a compliment hidden in the tall tales boasting—if Wolfwood really thought she could handle thirty-ish armed bandits solo—or if he was just messing with her. Vash interjected before she could think about it too hard: “It sure felt like a hundred.” He finished inputting something into the various machines the Plant was connected to and stepped back. “That place was so messy, you couldn’t turn a corner without running right back into someone – “

“Look!” yelled one of the kids.

The Plant was peering out of her bulb. While some of the kids shrank away at the sight, even more pressed forward, poking their heads through the railing that separated the guests from the equipment. “Easy, don’t trample each other.” Wolfwood scooped up one smaller child who was dangerously close to being squished by the railing and set her down next to him. “You’ve never seen this before?”

Meryl wasn’t surprised when the kids shook their heads. She’d only seen a Plant’s body in textbook illustrations before that day on the sand steamer. The Plant’s visible eye moved from Vash, to her, to Wolfwood. Did she recognize them? Had they met before, or did she know them through Vash?

“Do you want to say ‘hi’ to her?” Vash offered. The girl Wolfwood had moved nodded. “Here.”

The girl took Vash’s offered hand and walked closer to the tank with him. A nearby Plant engineer and a few security guards watched carefully. Meryl was a little surprised they hadn’t tried to stop them, but maybe they wanted to see where this was going. “Just put your hand right here,” Vash said. “She’s friendly. I promise.”

The girl pressed her hand against the glass with no hesitation, reaching up as high as she could. Her gaze was intense at first, but brightened into excitement as the Plant bulb opened more, giving a full view of the Plant’s face. One long, slender arm reached out as the Plant reciprocated the touch. The girl jumped up and down in place. “She’s smiling!” she said. “Do you guys see that? She’s smiling!”

“I told you she’s friendly,” Vash said. There was joy in his voice as he watched the moment of connection. “Anyone else want to say hello?”

In the end, every one of the kids, even the ones who’d backed away at first, came forward to touch the glass. Most just gave a simple greeting, a hi or a hello, but a few had more to say.

I think you’re really pretty.

Thanks for giving us power and everything.

I’m glad you’re back safe.

Every kind word made Vash’s smile grow more radiant—not necessarily bigger, but definitely brighter. Meryl could especially see it in his eyes, in the way they softened, taking in the scene as though it was everything he’d wanted.

And maybe it was. This was humanity treating Plants with kindness, appreciation. Everything Knives seemed to think would happen. This was just a small moment, but it was something.

There has to be more I can do in the future. I’m a reporter, aren’t I? I can use that to advocate for the Plants. No matter what changed about the future, that she could do.

I won’t let his faith in us be for nothing.

“I have never seen that happen with a Plant before,” said the Plant engineer as the last of the kids left and the Plant retreated back into her bulb.

“I think she’s glad to be back with her people,” Vash said cheerily. “Or maybe I have the magic touch.”

Not even Wolfwood and Meryl’s looks of alarm at the semi-confession were enough to knock the smile off his face. He was practically floating as they got settled into town and headed to the bar. Meryl kept bracing herself for something to go wrong, for people to decide that turning on Vash was worth the money it might bring them, but it didn’t happen. They were welcomed into the bar as heroes. As Wolfwood had hoped, the drinks were free. Meryl kept her own consumption to a minimum, and Wolfwood looked like he was holding himself back, too, even though he had more than her. Vash had more than both of them. He didn’t get falling-down drunk, but he was a lot less hesitant to get on the piano this time. His cheer made the lyrics of the song he was singing a bit surprising.

And the waitress is practicing politics as the businessmen slowly get stoned…

But she guessed that made sense in its own way.

Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone.

It was exactly the kind of normal night Vash had wanted. Meryl was hesitant to end it for him, but she was starting to nod off at the bar, and there was only so much alcohol Vash could consume before he got dangerously drunk. Wolfwood ended up preemptively carrying him, just in case he wasn’t sober enough to make it back. “Don’t whine to me if you have a headache tomorrow,” Wolfwood cautioned as they reached their motel room door.

Vash giggled. “I have a secret. Guys, I have…”

“Hold on,” Meryl said. She opened the door and let the boys in first before following. “Okay. What secret?”

Vash giggled again. “I process alcohol more efficiently than humans do,” he said in a loud whisper. “I probably won’t have a headache at all.”

Wolfwood rolled his eyes. “Showoff,” he said as he dumped Vash onto the bed. Vash’s giggles turned into full laughter. “At least tell me you’ve exploited that to win a bet or something.”

“Oh, yeah. I needed the bus money.”

“I’m only a little mad at you, then.” Wolfwood started yanking off Vash’s boots. “You should still get some sleep.”

“Mmm, yeah. Should probably head out early tomorrow.” Vash waited until his boots were off before he curled up on his side, grabbing one of the pillows and clutching it to his chest. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

Meryl tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t. She could only stare helplessly at Wolfwood as he put his hands on his hips and stared down at the floor, his jaw flexing as he mulled it over. Vash lifted his head to look at them. “Hey, don’t look sad,” he said. “I had a good time. And I think I’ll go back home after this. See everyone again…figure things out.” His head dropped back to the mattress. “It’ll be good for me, I think.”

“That’s a good plan.” Meryl sat next to him. He was still smiling, and it wasn’t the somber smile he wore when he was upset. He really did look happy, just tired. “We’ll be there in the morning to get you there, okay?”

“I know.” Vash’s eyes drifted shut. “Thank you, guys.”

Meryl started carefully stroking Vash’s hair. He didn’t seem to need the comfort; he was out cold in seconds. Wolfwood shrugged his jacket off and stood over the two of them with his hands in his pocket. He was wearing the clothes Vash had gotten for him. They made him look older, less like a child playing dress-up as an adult and more like the early twentysomething that he was. “Probably a smart idea to get out of here early,” he said quietly.

“I know,” Meryl replied.

“Still sucks, though.”

“Yeah. It sucks.” Meryl sighed and got up. “Almost everything about the situation he’s in sucks.”

Wolfwood nodded in agreement. His gaze drifted to the window as Meryl walked to their bag. She started her usual routine of checking what supplies they had. Wolfwood was low on ammo. That could be a problem in the future, though if they were leaving before even the shops opened, they might just have to deal with it. She should fill up their water bottles before she went to sleep. She…

The water bottle in her hands was suddenly in Wolfwood’s. “You sleep,” he said. “I’ll handle this.”

Meryl wanted to argue, but the sudden feeling of heaviness sweeping over her won out quickly. “Just be sure you sleep, too,” Meryl said as she stood up shakily. “We don’t know what’ll happen tomorrow.”

“Yeah, true.” Wolfwood grabbed the other water containers and started for the bathroom. “I’ll get us refilled and then right to bed. Promise.”

Meryl was barely able to get changed into something more comfortable before crawling into bed. She could see Vash in the next bed over, curled up and facing her. He looked so young and peaceful. She didn’t think he’d even looked so peaceful when she knew him in the past. The last thing she heard before drifting off to sleep was the sound of Wolfwood crawling into his own bed.

She hoped he slept well, too. Not just to face what the next day might bring. He deserved the rest.

They all did.

.

Vash, true to what he’d said, barely showed any signs of the last night’s alcohol consumption, aside from chugging a lot of water directly from the sink. Wolfwood wanted to be jealous, but he was too wrapped up in the big picture.

“Where’s your head at?” he asked as they finished packing up.

Vash shrugged. “Trying to focus on one thing at a time. I’ll make better decisions about Nai when I’m back home.” He glanced at Wolfwood. “If you don’t have to leave before…do you want to see him?”

His first instinct was to say yes. Even from a distance, even to see if Livio was okay for himself. But he had that fresh memory of Livio on Ship Three, clear and vivid as any of his old memories, even if deep down he didn’t really feel like he’d experienced it himself. He could hold onto that for now. Besides, for all the forgiveness he’d been given lately, he didn’t think he was ready. Didn’t think that he deserved to be in Livio’s presence again. When all of this was over, maybe, but for now…

“Probably better if I keep my distance. I appreciate it, though.” He gave Vash a light thump on the arm. “Just promise me you won’t let him reach your level of stupid decisions, yeah?”

Vash chuckled. “I’m trying. He’s got more common sense than me, but…well, you’ll have a lot to talk about.” He stood up and glanced out the window. The light outside was still orange, and the sounds of the early risers getting to their jobs were starting to filter through. “Maybe I’ll come back here one day. It doesn’t seem like a bad place.”

Hopefully, if he did ever come back, he’d receive the same warm welcome, or at least one of indifference.

They didn’t see many people on the street as they left, but the few they did were friendly enough. Stay safe, come back soon, all of that. Wolfwood still stayed cautious until they were out of sight. He’d heard about how quickly Jeneora Rock had turned on Vash when they needed the money. A repeat of that would ruin Vash’s seemingly good cheer.

The appearance of a portal not too far from town wasn’t enough to make Wolfwood feel any safer. He was almost hesitant to hand over his lighter, much as the item had started feeling like a good luck charm. “Straight home, okay?” Wolfwood said.

“Yes, Nico, I’m going straight home.” Vash pocketed the lighter, hugged Wolfwood, hugged Meryl. “And I’ll think about it. About…all of it.”

Meryl was slow to let go of him. “I’m really sorry,” she said quietly. “I know it’s a lot to put on you. If there was any other way, we’d take it.”

“I know.” Vash’s hand rested on her shoulder for a moment before he looked out over the horizon. “See you in the future.”

“See you, Vash.”

They lingered in front of the tear in the scenery, watching Vash walk away, whistling as he went. “He’ll get there okay,” Meryl said quietly, “right? If he were going to get into trouble, we wouldn’t be leaving right now.”

“I think so,” Wolfwood said. “It’s the after I’m worried about.”

Meryl nodded and looked back at the portal. “It feels different this time.”

He knew what she meant. Going through these doors had always felt like stepping through the unknown before. This time, he had a strange feeling that he knew what was on the other side of that door—or, at least, had a better idea than he had.

Vash only had about four years. That didn’t leave them with many incidents to run into.

“We’ve handled it all so far.” Wolfwood held out a hand to Meryl. “I’ll stay close.”

Meryl nodded and took his hand. “I will, too.”

And with that, they stepped through, another step closer to a future that was feeling more and more uncertain.

[royakahoshiart]

I want to hear about the vampire au :o

UAAAA YIPPIE!!!!

Spoilers for the fic under the cut!

I had this au for atleast 9 months by now... If you wanna read it here's the link on ao3!

So the AU is mainly Mitsukou, but i'm not planning on actually confirming them as romantic in the fic so everyone can enjoy it! It's very implied though. not at the start because they just met of course.

For now i only have this WIP and i haven't coloured it yet, sorry!

The Minamotos are of course a family of hunters, and are the main protectors of the town they live in.

Kou isn't very strong and has only killed three vampires with the help of his brother and feeling incredibly guilty afterwards. Mitsuba instead is a normal vampire like any. He lives in his own little town and in a house with Shijima and Akane. They where all invited in that house by Kako since they all remained orphans.

Aoiterukane ( aoi x teru x akane ) will be a thing in the fic! But you can take one of the three pairs more seriously than the other. Terukane, aoikane or teruaoi is up to you. Ill go for all though!

Now now i can't spoil the story but i can give you some of the characters!

Nene is a commoner who helps her parents in the fields sometimes and takes care of some crops with aoi in her garden. She is an apprentince of aoi's mother to learn how to sew.

Teru is a working hunter and he made a promise with a vampire, you'll be introduced to it in chapter 3 and in the future. he is engaged to aoi but for some reason likes akane more than his fiancee

Akane is a vampire in love with a girl of the village, Aoi.

Aoi is a simple girl and her family sells candles and clothes. she is engaged to teru but is in love with akane

Amane is from a family of butchers and thinks he is a human. Is he?

Tsukasa has run away from the village because he was suspected to be a vampire. he is and is now living with the other vampires.

Shijima stays in her room almost all day wanting to pursue the career of her long gone friend Mei.

Kako is an elder of the village and he is not suspected of being a vampire, so he pretends to go in the village to buy things as a old guy from another village.

Yako was originally from another village but when her human lover died she was suspected to having killed him and ran away to the village where mitsuba is.

Tsuchigomori owns a small library in their village and he also pretends to be a human to buy books and knowledge.

sumire is a florist in town, nene looks up to her

hakubo umh i'm still thinking

Now that's all i can tell! But all there characters will have their big important moment. I hope your favourite side of the story will be the Yugi's i think i made them pretty interesting!

Thanks for asking'!! :D anymore question on this or other au's are appreciated!

[alovesreading]

Constant Repeat | Part 10

Summary: Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.  

Word Count: 27.4k

Story Warnings: Throughout this series there will be suggestive talk, jealousy, cheating, alcohol and drug use, angst, smut.

A/N: Okay, you better buckle up because I'm telling you this trip is wild and real ride starts here. I'm giggling like an idiot typing this right now and realizing how this chapter perfectly falls on the start of June, what a way to start Pride month (happy pride month btw, love y'all my fellow queer babes xx), you'll understand why I say this when you read. Anyway I wanted to thank imagine-that-100 again because in this one, she gave me the incredible honor of getting my lovely Alice in here so I can introduce you to her and you can grow excited about the fic she's gonna be the main character of which is called 'Nightmare'. Alice is based on Heather from Pale Waves by the way! All I'm gonna say is that Alice is a fucking legend and when N eventually puts that fic out, y'all will die cus it's really fucking hot. I cannot wait for you to read this lol, remember the story warnings that are in the description of this story! (I think you can make out why I'm saying this right now) Enjoy!!!!!!

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 11 | Part 12 |

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

After spending the day before walking, it was obvious to Ella that she'd be sleeping in, but she had made sure to set at least three alarms in order to not miss breakfast time at the hotel restaurant. That hadn't worked though because she managed to sleep through them and wake up only thirty minutes before breakfast was over.

She'd rushed through the hallways to get there in time, barely having gotten presentable enough to show up at the place next to the lobby, but she made it regardless.

The lady who showed her to a table had been very obviously forcing a smile at Ella, making her wince and nervously promising that she wouldn't take long. And keep her promise she did, for she was done and back upstairs in her room getting ready for the day only twenty minutes later.

That day would have to be done without Alex, due to the band having a meeting at Domino Records in anticipation of the album coming out soon.

Ella had gotten a full update on it all from Flo, who had designed the cover art and the merch, and also helped the guys come up with a better name for the record than 'The New Black'. So 'AM'would be coming out in September, and only two months away from release day, things were busy for the lads.

When Alex suggested rescheduling the meeting, claiming they still had all of August to handle everything, Ella had turned him down with a laugh.

"Alex I won't have your label getting angry at you because you're pushing things back to hang out with me. I can spend the day with Bre and we'll see each other later—plus, didn't Jamie say we were all going to that pub tonight?"

Jamie had been adamant of going to this pub, somewhere Ella had no clue it was but looked pretty, and everyone would be following him to the place that night.

Just because of the plans the guitarist had already made for everyone, Ella had been conscious to take it easy that day. That's why she and Bre had walked around London, being mindful of not tiring themselves too much for the early afternoon, to then go back to Ella's hotel room and just chill about the place until they had to get ready to leave and meet up with the rest of the group.

Alex and Matt had picked them up from the hotel and taken them to the pub where Jamie, Katie, Nick and Kelly were already waiting.

Thankfully, the ride to the place was only fifteen minutes long so their friends weren't waiting for too long and when they got there, they could see they had bumped into a friend and been stuck in a lovely conversation with him.

Ella smiled at the sight of her friends, waving eagerly at Katie and Kelly who waved back just as enthusiastically when they spotted her by the door.

She walked over to the girls with Bre in tow and hugged them hello. She wasn't short in showering them with compliments since they looked stunning and they had done just the same to her.

Ella blushed and thanked them shyly, taking off her trench coat and placing it over the back of a chair to greet Jamie and Nick.

She silently made her way around the table and went to hug them, excusing herself when she interrupted the man she didn't know who was speaking with Jamie.

"So sorry to interrupt. I'm Ella, nice to meet you." She would've waited for Jamie to introduce her but the truth was that the lad was gorgeous and she had promised herself this trip would be the one to let go of the insecurities she'd been left with from her latest relationship and maybe put herself out there, even if it was just for some fun.

The guy waved her apology off with a smirk, one that fit his face so well it had Ella biting the inside of her cheek lightly, "Oscar. Nice to meet you Ella." He shook her hand delicately and let it drop slowly back down.

Everyone saw the way Ella had blushed, the girls had wanted to shriek at her reaction and the lads had wanted to giggle but they held themselves back. Alex, on the other hand, had wanted to pull Ella from Oscar's side because he only wanted to see her react like that to him, just like she had done many times the day before.

They all settled at the big table after Alex greeted everyone, Oscar included, Katie sitting beside Jamie, Nick and Kelly next to each other as well, Matt had his arm wrapped around Bre's waist as she sat on his lap despite having a free seat next to them, and Alex had Ella sat close next to him.

Soon enough, Ella found out Oscar was in a band called 'Pale Waves' and they'd been friends with the Monkeys for a few years. He had lazily pointed at the two other band members that had come with him and said that the third, who was their drummer called Zara, had stayed at home because she was ill.

Ella had barely caught that, because when Oscar had pointed towards the pool tables where his two other bandmates were, she swore her heart had skipped a beat.

There stood a man, waiting for his turn at the game but the one who had Ella hypnotized was this woman bent over trying to make a shot at a striped ball. Ella watched the smirk growing on her face when she made the shot with ease and watched as she stood back up straight, only losing her breath a little more.

Her black hair cut in a bob with the long bangs framed her face perfectly, and Ella appreciated her beauty deeply but what she was wearing had the American gulping at the sight. Her legs were on full show due to her short plaid skirt but covered in fishnets, her white crop top clearly showed the lack of a bra, she stood tall in her red heeled platform boots and her neck was adorned with a black leather collar that tied together with a metal A.

Suddenly, Ella felt so insignificant in her square neck green dress that covered up to her knees and her simple black chelsea boots.

But that feeling of inferiority died when the girl caught her staring and she had to make it seem like she was talking to Katie. It hadn't worked at all, because the girl's smirk grew bigger at the sight of Ella's flustered expression as she spoke to Jamie's fiance.

Alex had noticed her pink cheeks but had been in conversation with Nick and Matt, therefore missing what had happened, so he brought his hand to Ella's face and cupped her jaw just to feel how warm she was.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a tinge of worry. He knew she didn't do well in the cold and the last thing he wanted was for her to become ill whilst on holiday.

Ella gulped at the feeling of his hand on her face, so delicate and warm. "Yes, uhm–, who's that?" She shyly asked, pointing towards the woman with a slight raise of her chin.

Alex's gaze quickly fell on the other two members of Pale Waves and with a soft frown, he repeated what Oscar had said a few minutes before. "Oscar's bandmates."

She let out a small sigh, "I know– but, who's she?"

Alex missed the way Ella looked at the girl then, because he just had to roll his eyes as he was completely overcome with annoyance and anger towards the woman playing pool. He shook his head, not really wanting Ella to meet such an appalling person. "You don't wanna know."

That answer had Ella frowning, his face had completely fallen just at the sight of the girl and if that was Alex's reaction to just being in the same establishment as that woman, then she was intrigued about who she was and what her personality was like. She was curious to know about what had happened to make him react like that but she and Alex were brought back into conversation meaning she couldn't get answers just yet.

Matt and Bre came from the bar with drinks for everyone, placing a tray in the middle of the table. Breana had bought a round of shots for everyone along with their drinks, so that was the first thing they did to start off their night.

Ella winced at the burn of the vodka, quickly grabbing her old-fashioned to soothe her throat. Alex wrapped his arm around her waist, softly rubbing circles over her dress as he softly smiled in amusement at her reaction to the alcohol. The need to close her eyes so she could catch her breath again made Ella miss Oscar's bandmate making way to their table.

She opened her eyes and saw the lad waving at everyone and introducing himself to Bre and Ella.

"Hi, I'm Connor. Y'alright?"

Both of them greeted him sweetly and introduced themselves to him, falling into a quick small talk that was then interrupted as the mystery woman now came from the bar with two drinks in hand.

Ella felt her gaze burning on the side of her head from all the way there, that was the only reason she had noticed where she had disappeared to, and she'd had to turn back around slowly as she felt the blush creep on her cheeks again.

But then her platform boots hitting the wooden floors had Ella turning back around to watch her approach them. The girl took a sip of one of the drinks, the glass leaving her lips just a few seconds later and they formed a grin as she got to them.

"Well hello," The girl said but it wasn't to everyone, her gaze was stuck on Ella who grew hot under it and almost shifted in her seat. Alex's hold grew tighter by the second, and that was making her head spin too.

Ella was beyond herself at the way she was feeling about the woman so she could only mutter a quiet, "Hi." as she raised her eyes to return her stare, trying to smile at her without blushing but it was becoming difficult.

"I'm Alice." She said and offered her hand out for Ella to shake, "What's your name beautiful?"

That fully made Ella's cheeks heat up again—her voice was so sweet and her accent only made Ella's knees go weak—but Alice had barely a chance to see her flustered because Alex was quick to say through his teeth, "Fuck off Alice.", making Ella whip her head around to glare at him.

She had never seen him be anything but kind to everyone, and Alice had only said hello and introduced herself so there was no need for the defensive reaction.

Alice seemed to be used to it though, because she only raised her eyebrows at him, gave him an unimpressed, "Rude." and then turned back to Ella with a soft smile and asked again, "What's your name darling?"

Ella didn't know if it was the way Alex squeezed her waist after hearing Alice call her that, or if it was hearing Alice call her 'darling' that had made her squirm in her seat.

Nothing compared to the feeling in her tummy whenever Alex called her by that nickname but what she had just felt from being called it by Alice was the closest she could imagine it would feel from anyone else that wasn't the singer.

It was embarrassing how much of an effect a gorgeous woman could have on her but she would blame it on the lack of sex for the past six months and the instant attraction she felt for Alice.

"I'm Ella." The American finally answered, placing her hand on Alice's and praying she didn't feel how they had started to sweat.

"Well Ella..." Instead of shaking her hand, Alice turned it so she could lean down and kiss the back of it, "Lovely to meet you."

Ella wanted to say that it was a pleasure to meet her as well but after that, her words were completely stuck in her throat. Ella barely registered Alex's exasperated sigh at Alice's antics because she watched Alice notice her 'Pure Desire' tattoo on the back of her hand and how she seemed entranced by it, even if it was only for a mere few seconds.

Ella wouldn't lie and say that it didn't feel nice to see Alice acting like that towards her, especially when she seemed to really not want to let go of her hand and leaving her with a faint squeeze to it.

It had been so long since Ella felt anyone actually showed some genuine interest in her—she knew any flirting from Miles was a joke, and that the flirting from Alex wasn't something he actually meant—, that it had her feeling giddy and smiley.

"Oscar, wanna play the winner?" Alice offered her bandmate with the whole group watching her. "Hello everyone by the way. Looking gorgeous as usual ladies and I've missed you three." She added, only giving a smile to Nick, Jamie and Matt, completely excluding Alex from the greeting and even though Ella was still confused by it, she knew Alex had started it.

"Sure," Oscar stood up and then turned to his other bandmate, "Come on Connor."

"I didn't win." Connor hung his head a little, making Matt laugh at the bassist's defeat.

Ella's gaze was drawn onto Alice, she truly couldn't stop looking at her and when she let her gaze drop to scan her look again, she noticed her nipple piercings peaking through the thin fabric of her top. Ella almost groaned at the sight, her legs clenching together and biting her bottom lip.

Alice caught her looking again but this time Ella only gave her a big smile. However this might finish, I should go for it tonight, Ella thought then, with her mind made about Alice and what could happen. The night was young and she felt it was reciprocal so she could try to let go and have fun that night.

About an hour later, and after two more shots and a third old-fashioned in hand, Ella was well on her way to getting drunk. She was very tipsy, only a couple glasses left for her to fall over the edge of drunkenness so she made herself the promise of having a glass of water after she was done with her current cocktail.

Her eyes had been magnetized to Alice's figure, just like Alice's to hers because they had both caught each other staring a fair few times and the last one had ended with Ella blushing after Alice winked at her.

Ella went to the bar once she had finished her drink, promising Alex she was fine and was only going for some water so she could last a bit longer without getting absolutely shit-faced. Alex reluctantly nodded and turned back around to talk to Jamie and Katie once he saw her almost at the bar.

Alice had been waiting for the perfect moment to approach Ella so she could get to know her without being stared at by the rest of their friends and without Alex being an absolute prick to her.

So seeing Ella sweetly smile at the bartender and ask for a glass of water, Alice walked up beside her and greeted her again.

"What is the pretty lady drinking tonight?" Alice asked with a sultry voice that made Ella brightly smile.

"Got some water for now 'cause I refuse to get wasted and go back to my hotel room before midnight." Ella explained swiftly, playing with her fingers.

Alice hummed with a smirk on her face, "Awh baby, are you a lightweight?"

Ella giggled shyly, her already pink cheeks heating up even more at the pet name, "I have that reputation, yeah."

The Brit smirked at her, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

"Thank you, Alice." Ella replied with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Alice found it so adorable how easily she blushed but she didn't want her to stay quiet so she started to test the waters to see her chances. "You're not from here from what I can hear."

"The gossip or the accent?"

"The accent," Alice chuckled at her banter, "Quite like it, always been a sucker for an American accent."

Ella hummed softly and decided to just push through her shyness to flirt back with the stunning girl. "It's a British accent in my case."

"Is it?" Alice smirked, she wanted to keep talking to her just to see how she was once out of her shell. "Shall we go sit over there?" She pointed at a booth by a window, not too close to the bar but not too close to their friends either.

Ella nodded, "Sure. Let me get you a drink first though."

Alice just couldn't hold her tongue so she smirked to reply, "Spoiling me already? Was hoping you'd save that for later."

And she was pleasantly surprised when Ella flirted right back, "I'll have more left in me, don't worry."

Completely satisfied with her reply, Alice hummed and gave in, "In that case, I'd love a gin and tonic."

Ella quickly ordered and paid for Alice's drink, handing it to her once the bartender pushed it towards her and after a sweet 'thank you' from Alice, they made their way to the booth.

"Whereabouts in the States are you from?" Alice asked right after they'd taken their seats, sipping on her drink slowly as she waited for her to answer.

"Tennessee, but I live in Los Angeles."

"Ohhh," Alice let out in realization, "Is that how you know them then?"

Ella nodded with a soft smile, "I'm a production assistant in this company that has been working with them since 2011."

"Fucking hell. Two years dealing with them? I applaud you." Alice exaggerated a bit, knowing that they could be annoying but when it came to work they were professionals.

The American girl chuckled, "They're great. I love them, the four idiots."

"Yeah, but you know..." Alice pushed further, playfully. "Men."

"Ugh, don't even get me started." Ella groaned and that was enough to spark some curiosity in Alice.

"Oh no. Bad experience?"

Ella took a few seconds to think before answering, but even then she stumbled, "It's... complicated."

"Do you mind if I'm nosy and ask about it?" Alice was gentle, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

Ella was feeling very at ease with her though so she didn't find it hard to say, "I actually feel like a drunk rant about the whole thing will be great right now but I apologize in advance for oversharing."

"Nothing to apologize for, baby." Alice quickly reassured, smirking when Ella pressed her lips after being called by the pet name.

After taking a sip of water, Ella started, "So, my last boyfriend cheated on me. And I would love to say that the whole relationship was shit and it was the worst experience of my life but that'd be a lie."

That didn't make Alice feel better about the situation though, her frown deep as she commented on it with a stern, "What a fucking twat."

"Yeah..." Ella agreed, "Now, when I think back to it, I just get annoyed at how he played me. We had agreed on starting a family and trying for a baby at the start of the year and I was over the moon about it so imagine how shattered I was when his parents found him on a date with someone else when he'd told them he'd be out with me."

"You're joking..." Alice's jaw dropped at the brief story, for it sounded utterly devastating.

"He hadn't even wanted to tell me himself to start with so his parents called me to tell me themselves. Apparently they'd been together for a whole month by then." Ella winced as she thought back to it, still not believing that had happened to her.

"I'm so sorry, that's the worst fucking thing." Alice apologized like she needed to but then tried to bring her spirits back up joking with, "You should've fucked his dad. Or his mum, I don't discriminate."

Ella cackled and nodded, "Yeah, that threesome would've made him hate me."

Alice smirked, slightly satisfied by the subtle confirmation of the girl's sexuality. "Definitely."

The alcohol was already impulsing Ella to word vomit though, that's why she continued saying, "Now I have this awful feeling that every relationship I have will end up with me getting cheated on because the first one did it too."

And the British girl didn't miss a beat to reply, "I will batter him after I batter the last one."

"Oh it was a she." Ella felt the need to clear up, looking straight into Alice's eyes just to watch her reaction to the confirmation of her sexuality. "My first relationship. She was my best friend since we started high school but I'd always liked her, so we became girlfriends with two years left until graduation and we were gonna go to college together. Well, that was until she met someone else and fell in love with her, and then left me to go to college with that other girl."

Softly gasping at how cruel things had been to Ella, Alice said, "What the fuck? That is so unfair."

Ella could only nod, "I was left scarred from that one so I just didn't do relationships. Julian was my second official partner, everyone else in between was just a casual thing or a one night stand."

And that was enough for Alice to know that she'd make the night memorable for Ella, "You know what? Fuck them both. Tonight we're gonna have fun and we're gonna forget all about them, so let me change this," She grabbed Ella's glass of water and stood up from her seat, "For an actual drink. Tonight you're getting the treatment you deserve, baby."

Alice winked before leaving to the bar, leaving Ella to stay at the booth, fiddling with her fingers from how nervous she seemed to have gotten. It had been so long since she'd done something casual and she was so scared of fucking up.

No more than two minutes later, Alice was back with two gin and tonics. She left Ella's in front of her and sat back down across from her in the booth.

"Thanks very much." Ella's voice was shy, making Alice feel the need to relax her some more.

"It's nothing, Ella." Alice promised with that sweet voice of hers that had Ella already feeling some type of way.

"You can call me Ellie." She offered her quickly, it was weird to hear someone who wasn't from work call her Ella now.

Alice smirked and stood back up from the booth, grabbing her drink with her left hand and extending her right out to Ella so she could stand up too. "Ellie, let's go dance then."

But that had Ella hiding into herself, "M'not a great dancer."

"I seriously doubt that." Alice insisted, wiggling her fingers which finally made Ella take her hand and let her pull her up from her seat.

"We can dance when I have more alcohol in me." Ella negotiated, knowing she was too sober to dance in the middle of the pub.

"Should we get some shots then?" The singer suggested with that mischievous smirk of hers.

A smirk that Ella matched as she thought, "I probably shouldn't, 'cause it gets me quick but I'm feeling some tequila shots right now."

Alice hummed, amused at the information. "You're looking for trouble."

"Maybe I am." Ella flirted this time, before taking a sip of her drink with her eyes still on Alice's face.

"I like that." Alice winked at her, "How about some shots and playing pool to warm up?"

That sounded like a solid plan to Ella so she eagerly nodded, "Sounds wonderful."

"Alright, go get a table and I'll get us some shots."

Just like Alice had told her, Ella stood by the chosen table after setting it all up. She was leaning on the table as she watched Alice and Matt talking by the bar while they waited for their drinks, but it soon seemed to have turned bitter as Alice's smile changed to a frown that made Ella want to go over and fix whatever had happened.

"Was Matthew annoying you?" Ella had been quick to inquire once Alice was back beside her.

Handing her a shot glass, Alice shrugged with an eye roll, "He's being a dickhead."

"Typical Helders." Ellajoked before raising her glass and clinking it with Alice's to take it.

Ella winced at the taste, going straight back to her still half full gin and tonic to make the tequila burn subside a little bit.

"Do you know how to play?" Alice asked, grabbing her cue and already itching to start playing.

Ella scoffed playfully, "'Course I do."

Alice laughed and said, "Alright." letting her go first.

But halfway through the game, when Ella was missing shots consecutively, Alice had noted her poor form. "You're doing it wrong."

"Why?" Ella asked, slightly defensive.

Alice went to stand behind her, pushing her back down so she was still bent over the table and she could fix her stance. Alice had smirked at the position though, her brain going places already. "If you keep leaning like that then you're gonna mess up your shot."

The Brit leaned her cue on the side of the table and used both her hands to grab at Ella's hips and reposition them. "Keep your hips here, and don't slump over the table like that." Her hands softly fixed her shoulders, making Ella smile at the touch. "There we go. I thought you knew how to play." Alice teased with a smirk.

But Ella took the chance to flirt a little bit, "Maybe I needed a little help." wiggling her ass a little bit before hitting the white ball to shoot at a striped ball.

"Well, I don't mind helping some more." Alice's hands were still resting on her hips as Ella stood back up straight.

With her back pressed to Alice's front, Ella leaned back to say, "Sure you don't."

And Alice didn't let up when she squeezed her hips and whispered in Ella's ear. "I truly don't, but I'm still gonna win."

Ella laughed once Alice had left her with the ghost of her touch on her skin, and turn after turn, she was growing fonder of the singer's company.

Between giggles the game ended and just like Alice predicted, she had won and left Ella to play the next game with Oscar, making her way to the bar to get a new drink for herself.

Alice only let her eyes leave Ella's figure when she had to order her drink, turning back around to look at her bent over the pool table as she giggled over the things Oscar was saying. She wanted to hear exactly what the guitarist was telling her but the music was louder than the chatter.

Ella stood back up and met Alice's gaze with rosy cheeks and a soft smirk, mouthing "I'm winning" proudly to her.

Smiling brightly, Alice winked at her and mouthed a "Good job." back to her, before turning around when the man behind the bar handed her drink.

Alice thought she'd let Ella have some fun by herself, only so she didn't feel suffocated by her flirting because she truly couldn't be fucking it up with her.

So she walked to the booths on the other side of the room, to the one that gave her the best view of the place where Ella stood with Oscar, and it wasn't a surprise that a certain someone had beat her to the best seats in the house.

She smirked at the thought of pushing Alex's buttons, especially knowing that Ella seemed to be very important to him and how she had completely gotten her attention the whole night. Alice could see the fact eating away at Alex's insides.

"Your friend is fit as fuck," Alice sighed as she dropped herself into the space beside Alex, "Thank you for bringing her... Here, and to my attention."

"Stop flirting with her." Alex immediately scorned, "You're making her uncomfortable."

"If I'm making her uncomfortable then you're fucking Einstein." Alice shook her head, sarcasm thick in her voice, "She's flirting back or are you blind as a bat and can't see that woman blush?"

He scoffed, his patience wearing thin already, "She doesn't deserve to be played about by the likes of you."

"Christ Red, I'm already sick of the sound of your voice." The feeling is mutual, Alex thought but before he could even say it out loud, Alice continued, "And it's rude that you think I'm trying to play her about. I'm genuinely interested."

Alex didn't care to believe her words, still pushing for her to stop her behavior. "She's just had her heart broken and she doesn't need you to-"

But Alice had had enough, "To what, Alex? To break it again? To use her? Why do you automatically assume I'm going to be a bitch?"

"Because you are a bitch."

Alice let out a dry laugh at his attempts, "You can do better with your insults, Turner."

"She's only just herself again and I don't want you fucking that up." And truly he didn't want Ella to get hurt, he'd do anything in his power to avoid that but he was biased and in denial, not wanting to see how Ella was reciprocal to Alice's intentions.

"Very noble of you Red I've gotta say. But I have absolutely no intention to hurt that stunning woman." It was one of the very unusual times that Alice didn't use sarcasm when speaking to Alex, her words screaming honesty but the singer was seething seeing it all unfold in front of him.

"Stop trying to fuck her too," was the only thing he could say, completely ignoring Alice's tries to make him understand she wasn't playing the American girl.

She was completely fed up then, so she just said, "I think she wants to fuck me too, so why would I stop?" to mess with him a bit more, have him more angry at the fact that the night was simply not going how he'd expected.

Alex groaned in response, his hands coming up to rub his face in frustration. He desperately needed a smoke but if he went outside after this talk, he knew Alice would take Ella back to hers in a second and there'd be nothing he could do about it.

"I've never seen you so defensive. Not even over Arielle when I used to flirt with her." Alice was taking the opportunity to continue annoying him, but at the same time she was trying to find some answers, just so she could use the information to her advantage in the future.

Alex didn't give her the pleasure though, only glaring at her with murderous thoughts running through his mind. Alice brought the worst in him every time.

"What's that look for?" She teased, knowing she'd break him in no time. "Ohhh, you like her don't you?"

"Fuck off Loveless." He cursed through his teeth, really grasping tightly the last bits of patience he had left.

Alice rolled her eyes, truly amused at the fact that he kept trying to tell her what to do. "Oh Red, you've already told me and I didn't listen to you the first time so I definitely won't be now. Save your breath."

"Do you ever just get fucking tired?" His question was hostile, his gaze matching the tone.

"Not really." She purposely answered knowing that it would make him want to scream in frustration, "Do tell, how long has it been since you've liked her?"

"Shut up Alice." She truly didn't need to know, because the true answer was gonna be enough for Alice to laugh until the end of time over his 'lack of game'.

But she wouldn't budge, now she was just purely curious to know the real answer because it seemed like it'd be an entertaining story. "C'mon, let's try and be civil once." She kicked his feet under the table, only getting him to grumpily shift his legs away from her.

She laughed as Alex gave her an ultimatum for her to stop trying to get an answer. "We're not going to sit here talking about my feelings Alice. We're not friends."

"No we're not. But Christ, I'm jealous you've been her friend for so long. Since 2011 she said, you fucking lucky bastard." She really couldn't believe he had seen a girl like that for two years and not tried to make her his girlfriend.

"Please stop." He begged, making Alice's eyes widen.

"Damn you beg for this woman. You're down so bad." 'Please' was a word she never heard coming from Alex, so this meant it was very serious for him.

"Loveless, I'm being serious." His eyes narrowed as he glared at her once more.

That only had her trying not to laugh, "Don't threaten me with a good time Alex."

"Kill me now." Alex sighed, looking up to the ceiling as if begging for lightning to strike him down.

"Don't tempt me." Alice pushed further, fully just jumping on everything he said because he put it so easy for her to get him angry.

Alex was done with it so he just said what he wanted to say, not caring about what Alice may think, because he was finding her cruel—not just to him but to Ella—and he hated it. "Don't, because I know exactly what you're doing and you know it's working so just please stop."

Alice frowned, not really understanding what he meant. "What is it that I'm doing?"

"You're trying to fuck her to get one up on me for our little vendetta we have against each other. You're trying to get with her to annoy me. And yes, it's working." He stated like it was obvious, a patronizing look on his face that made Alice want to punch it right off.

Alex watched as the singer visibly deflated then, her eyes got less hard and some emotion he'd not seen in her before seeped through the cracks. But before he could comment on it, Alice's hard expression came back, "It pisses me off how you think I'm such a stone cold bitch. I have fucking feelings too, I just don't when I talk to you because you're always a cunt to me."

Her glass landed with a loud thud on the table in front of them but it wasn't loud enough to hide her scoff, "I'm not a monster Alex. I'm not trying to use her. Especially in any way to get back at you."

Alice's playful smirk had long left her face, making Alex start to panic inside thinking about what he should say to make it better, maybe even try to apologize. If Alice had paid attention to him, then she'd seen the cogs turning around in his brain, smoke coming out of his ears with how hard he was trying to make it up to the singer but when Matt came over to check on them—knowing they had a reputation to ruin each other's nights from their arguments—, he took it as he'd been saved by the bell.

Thankfully, Matt had been a sort of mediator between them because about five minutes later, when they were back alone, they stayed there in a comfortable silence rather than the awkward one before.

So they continued watching Ella playing. Their eyes followed her every move, which were ever the slightest bit calculated since Ella had caught them and could feel them staring at her.

So, with a mischievous mind very much induced by the alcohol in her bloodstream, she slowly leaned down to pick her glass from the floor, making a show of her barely covered ass and swaying it to the sides slightly, just enough for them to notice but for everyone else to take it as a normal thing.

And if that wasn't enough, when she came back up, she made sure to stroke up and down the cue she was using to play. Her fingers flexing around it, her tattoo stealing the spotlight and drawing their eyes in.

"Fucking hell." Alice hissed quietly before biting her lip and taking her own drink to have a long sip of it as she looked away from the American. Her brain was racing with thoughts that had her eager to get the night moving.

As Alex was the only one who could hear it, he looked at the singer and breathlessly asked, "What?" as if he hadn't seen that too, as if he hadn't had to bite his tongue and clench his fists to not groan.

"I want that Pure Desire tattoo wrapped around my neck like a pretty necklace." Alice said truthfully, not really wanting to keep it to herself because it was Ella and she knew now that he'd agree. "Take this choker off me and give me her hand."

Alex hated so badly that it was Alice saying it, he didn't want to share Ella with anyone, much less with the woman he hated. "Oh my fucking��god Alice."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Oh don't tell me you've not pictured exactly the same thing. Just because I'm the only one ballsy enough to say it out loud."

"Come on," Alice nudged his shoulder with hers, "Admit it."

"Loveless." He told her like a warning.

Alice leaned in a little closer, prompting him again, "Admit it, Red." And only to see his reaction is that she allowed herself to think of a dirty scenario, "You've definitely thought about that hand around your throat, probably around your dick too, but knowing your lyrics, the throat one probably has you finishing in seconds when you think about her."

"You're being loud." He warned once more.

"And there was no denial in sight. Kinky bastard." She raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him to admit to having done that. But he was quick to avert his eyes and look back to the pool tables. "Don't go all shy, she's hot. Why wouldn't you want her? I know I do."

He still gave her silence as an answer and that was enough for Alice to know it all. Alex was so easy to read, and having received nothing but hostility, indifference and defensive comments from him, it was easy to know when he felt the complete opposite towards someone.

They watched as she made her last shot, making it perfectly and she jumped in her spot in celebration. Oscar laughed at her actions, his smile staying on his face because Ella was just so adorable to him. So he took a step towards her and in one swift motion pulled her in by the waist, making her crash into his chest and fling her arms around his neck for stability.

Oscar had seen the two staring at Ella for a while, so he found his friends' eyes and smirked at them in an attempt to tease them.

Oscar's smirk only grew bigger when Alice and Alex flipped him off at the same time, the jaws locked and their stern looks on him as he swayed with Ella in his arms and squeezed her tight before letting go.

"How you nearly fucked him I don't know." Alex quickly reminded Alice, trying to see if that'd push her away from trying anything else tonight.

"We were very drunk and my standards were lower."

"You sure?" He back chatted, without missing a beat and the way her face fell in annoyance.

"You're a dick." She sighed, her 'Alex Turner tolerance' levels were running very low, "I'm sorry but out of me or Oscar, who would you rather take your friend home?"

"Can't believe I'm saying this but you." He felt sick just admitting that aloud.

She hummed in satisfaction, "Exactly."

Ella moved to hang the cue she'd been using, hearing Breana call her over from the table the group was still at. So she walked in a slow pace over to her best friend, smirking at the attention of Alice and Alex she could still feel.

Alice sighed in content, watching Ella's legs peeking out from the fabric of her dress, her ass so perfectly hugged by it. "She's so perfect from every point of view... Just one look from her is more than enough for me to believe god is real and she's just as gay as me." She backtracked on her statement and felt the need to clarify, "God, I mean, not Ella. I know Ella is just as gay as me."

Alex shook his head, trying not to give her the pleasure of hearing him actually laugh because he'd found that funny, focusing on the way Ella got to Bre and hugged her from the back and over her shoulders.

They could see Breana had ordered some sort of dessert, but they weren't quite sure what it was. It didn't matter though, because watching Ella take the spoonful that the model was offering her was far more important, and it had them completely entranced when the whipped cream that was over it fell out of the corner of Ella's mouth and down her bare neck.

Ella laughed, struggling to swallow between the chuckles and Breana, who was trying to wipe the sweet from her neck with her finger, couldn't do it correctly due to how she couldn't stay still from the laughter.

A few seconds later, Bre had managed to wipe most of it with her index finger and offered it to Ella as a joke to lick clean but that was exactly what Ella needed to have the two people who were gawking at her, completely lose it.

So Ella stuck her tongue out to lick Breana's finger from base to tip and then wrapped her lips around it to sink her mouth on it. It got even filthier when Ella's eyes met theirs and she let them roll back in satisfaction.

Both Alice and Alex were struggling to breathe. In the middle of that Alice's head had fallen on Alex's shoulder and she'd fully groaned into his neck. Alex was going into overdrive, and Alice felt herself getting worked up from the whole thing.

"That was thigh-clenching-ly hot. Fuck me..." And Alice wasn't lying because when Alex distractedly dropped his gaze down, he saw her thighs pressed together and he had to hold himself back not to groan in response.

But Ella wasn't done, not when she'd just seen them react that way. She had made it seem like she'd gotten distracted by Jamie and Nick laughing at Matt's comment on Ella trying to steal his girlfriend, but she'd been watching the two out of the corner of her eye.

That's why, to seemingly keep the joke going in front of the lads, she asked Breana to lick the rest off her neck and her best friend did just that.

Alice wanted to be Breana so badly in that moment, to have Ella sit on her lap as she licked her neck. Alex tried not to moan when he saw Bre purposely start sucking on Ella's neck and Ella's mouth opened slightly in pleasure.

"They're gonna start shagging on the table!" They heard Nick yell, Matt was separating the American girls as everyone laughed their asses off, especially when they pointed at the small bruise already showing faintly on Ella's neck

Alice had been sure she'd be shagging Ella later, but that just made her a thousand percent sure that it'd be one of the best decisions she'd make. "I won't fuck her against the shared wall, don't worry." She stated, even though she certainly knew that'd happen, because all she wanted to do now was fuck Ella in every corner of her damn flat.

Alex stood up then, completely done with her, still breathless from the whole situation and just wanting to go home so he could properly get off to the thought of Ella. "Time for another drink."

"I'll have a Negroni Sbag–"

"Wasn't asking if you wanted one Loveless." Alex leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Especially if you fuck my Ellie."

Alice smirked up at him and whispered back, "I'm going to make your Ellie cum on my tongue."

Alex pretended the image hadn't made him want to burst right there. He was sure he'd hate Alice even more after that night because of how much he'd be thinking about them both. And it was awful of him, he knew, but how could he not. That made him also want to kick himself in the head because it wasn't only Ella involved, it was Alice of all people. Fucking Alice.

Alice downed whatever was left of her drink, taking the empty glass with her until she reached Ella's side and wrapped her arm around her waist.

"You're a tease, aren't you?" Alice whispered into her ear, making Ella shiver in her hold.

Ella played innocent, "Me? What makes you say that?"

But Alice could see straight through her and if she was right about her suspicions then it would be a very fun night. Alice hummed, letting her hand drop slowly and then grabbing a handful of Ella's ass and squeezing it, making Ella whimper softly only for her to hear. "I'm very observant."

Ella had enough alcohol in her to fully be blunt and not care that she was in public and in front of all their friends so, with her eyes filled with lust, she said, "And are you liking the view?"

"Very much." Alice replied looking at her hungrily and not being able to hold back any longer.

Alice quickly placed her glass on the table and grabbed Ella by the neck to pull her in and kiss her. It was a hungry kiss, and neither of the girls cared to be seen, if anything Alice thought it'd be better for everyone in the place to know she was the one taking Ella home. Alice believed she was the only one in the place that could treat her the way she deserved.

Ella's arms wrapped around Alice's shoulders, making sure to tangle her fingers on the singer's hair and pulling her in impossibly closer. Alice had one of her arms around Ella's waist, holding her tightly to her chest, and her right hand was still wrapped around Ella's neck just like she'd wanted to do all night.

Now, Alice wanted to test her theories, so she put some more pressure around Ella's neck to see if she was truly into it and when the girl moaned into her mouth, allowing their tongues to taste each other, Alice felt like the luckiest woman alive.

Their kiss went on until they ran out of breath, pulling away as they panted, not even caring about how their friends had all gone silent. All the girls could focus on was the big smirks on each other's faces, certainly satisfied by the kiss.

Somewhere in the background they heard Matt saying "Fucking hell, they were eating each other." but they couldn't be arsed to say anything back because Alice was now rubbing circles on Ella's neck and she was enjoying the touch way too much.

Ella's gaze fell on Alice's swollen lips and that only made her want to taste them again so, letting one of her arms drop from around her shoulders to her waist, Ella pulled Alice back in for another kiss.

Alice moaned as she felt Ella's tongue instantly teasing her lips so that she could open them up for her, making Ella grip her waist tighter and pushing her hips against Alice's. That only made the British girl tighten her hold around Ella's neck, and that's when Ella knew that if she didn't live in a different continent, then she'd do anything to feel Alice's lips on hers all the time.

This time they didn't kiss for long, because now their friends were causing ruckus and they'd rather not have them ruin the night for them by being loud and forcing them to leave early. Not that it would be bad for them, as they could get down to it sooner but they both knew they wanted to stay and enjoy each other's presence a little more at the pub they were in.

So Ella left a bunch of pecks on Alice's lips, which made Alice truly melt at how fucking adorable she was.

When Alice let her hand drop from Ella's neck, she noticed once again the bareness of it, so she undid her own choker and wrapped it around Ella's neck instead.

Ella bit her lip, feeling Alice's fingers brushing the skin on the back of her neck—it was such a simple touch but she was suffocating in the tension between them, it had her tummy fluttering.

Alice finished locking the leather piece, and leaned backwards to see it in all its glory around Ella's pretty neck. "Definitely suits you better." She said, her mouth watering as she thought of marking her up all over. "That feel alright?" She asked, just to make sure Ella was comfortable.

But Ella made her breath hitch in her throat when she whispered, "Kinda wish it could be tighter."

And once again, Alice just couldn't help herself. She deeply groaned as she hooked her finger on the A that tied the choker together and pulled Ella in to attack her lips again. Thankfully, seeing that the two girls had been ignoring them all, their friends had gone back to what they were doing and left them to it.

They were also thankful for the music in the place, loud enough so it could drown the moans they were letting out into each other's mouths.

Alice brought one of her hands to tangle in Ella's hair and pulled on it ever so roughly to make her whimper. Ella had left the hand that was on Alice's waist drop to grope her ass, fingers roughly kneading the barely covered flesh, and the singer stopped the kiss to let out a breathy moan that had Ella smirking.

Alex had come back from the bar right after Alice had put her choker on Ella and he found it a miracle that the glass he had in his hand didn't shatter from how tight he was holding it.

He knew Alice was determined but how he wished she'd set her eyes on someone else because seeing all that was just making his chest twist in a knot. He had imagined tonight going so differently: getting to have a drink with Ella and chat to their heart's content, dancing around with her, sharing smokes and maybe taking her back to his just so they could cuddle.

The longer he thought about it, the more his anger towards Alice bubbled inside him.

He got to the table right when the girls let go of each other, not before Ella gave Alice's ass another cheeky squeeze, making Alice laugh and leave a kiss on her neck. Rolling his eyes, he started gulping down his drink, making a mental note to make it a double next time he went to the bar.

Ella went to sit with Breana again, leaving Alice to chat with Oscar and both conversations seemed to be about the same topic.

Bre kept teasing Ella, and she could only blush as she said how much she was looking forward to later in the night. The model had hugged her tightly and shaken her in her arms, making Ella giggle away.

And Alice watched all that with a loopy smile on her face, matching the one on Alex's face who was looking at Ella's happy state with pure adoration. Yes he despised seeing it be because of someone else but her happiness was contagious and he couldn't help feeling warm inside whenever she smiled.

It was about ten minutes later that someone from the staff had pulled the projector screen down in the corner of the room and set everything up for karaoke. A handful of people ran to the book to pick a song to perform.

They all suffered three very drunkenly performed songs and a decent rendition of one of the best ABBA songs. And as a man very passionately sang an Adele song, a tipsy Ella who had been peer pressured into participating stood up to grab the song book.

If it wasn't for the alcohol and Alice's gaze on her, she would've done anything to avoid it, but then she found a song she loved by one of her new favorite artists that had her brightly grinning and quickly telling the man in charge of the songs what it was that she'd be singing.

When the man singing Adele was done and stepped out of the small stage, Ella grabbed the microphone with shaky hands. Everyone at the table whooped and cheered, wolf whistled and clapped seeing her walk onto the stage, making her blush.

The song started, she was deeply regretting agreeing to it until her eyes landed on Alex's and he nodded at her encouragingly, giving her thumbs up and smiling wide at seeing her on stage for a change.

Ella smiled back at him, scrunching her nose and in no time she started singing along.

She had a sweet, hush voice that sounded amazing even when she was drunk. People at the pub started cheering for her as she'd been so far the best to perform. But it was when she got to the chorus that her eyes met Alice's and she just had to put on a little show for her.

Fuck yeah, give it to me, this is Heaven, what I truly want

Ella sang teasingly, making sure to get a little breathless to accentuate how she wanted to be chanting that line, Alice crossed her legs to aid the ache between them.

Alex had let out a groan, one that left his throat without him wanting to. If he closed his eyes every time she sang that line, he could paint a picture in his mind that was enough for him to cum in his pants at any second.

It was in the second verse that Ella leaned onto the railing that separated the stage and stared right into Alice's eyes as she sang.

In the land of gods and monsters

I was an angel looking to get fucked hard

Ella sent a wink Alice's way and the singer bit her lip, eyeing her up and down with a hungry look on her face.

And after that look, Ella just filled up with this confidence that had her hips swaying and really feeling every line of the song.

Alex was quite literally dying in his seat. His heart was going a thousand miles per hour, every movement of Ella's body getting branded to the forefront of his mind. But all of Ella's attention was on Alice, making him want to scream.

Alice had made a point to be the loudest once Ella got off stage and she was pleased to see Ella go straight to sit on her lap and give her a quick kiss.

"That was so embarrassing." She'd said in Alice's ear.

Alice shook her head, "You did amazing, baby. T'was fucking hot."

Ella gave her no time to react when she cupped her jaw and kissed her hard. Ella's hands cupped her jaw eagerly and Alice's arms pulled her impossibly close, and because of how she'd forcefully pushed her hips into hers, Ella had moaned at the friction.

"God– Please, sit on my face." Alice said under her breath, already obsessed with the noises Ella made.

Ella's thighs clenched together, "Thought you'd never ask." was what she said back and Alice would've taken her right there if she could've.

Another hungry kiss started, their tongues meeting straight away making them dizzy from want but it was cut short because of the person who was now on stage quite literally screaming 'Living On A Prayer'. Ella rested her forehead on Alice's and they both started laughing into each other, absolutely loving the way the night was turning out to be.

Alex was forcing himself to focus on the butchering of the Bon Jovi song, just so he could keep the little sanity he had left.

He was sure it'd be worse once he'd go home and had to try to find sleep whilst he knew that the girls' would be shagging next door. He would just have to try and stay way longer just to avoid arriving at his flat.

A few more people went—including Katie and Breana who had sung 'Head Over Heels' by Tears for Fears—, and after a fair fifteen minutes, Ella had stood up from Alice's lap so she could go sing.

When Alice got on stage, Ella wolf whistled at her, earning her a wink and a blown kiss. Alex felt himself dying a little bit when he watched Ella's massive smile on her face at that. Jealousy was such a weird feeling, his chest tightening at the sight of her happiness and knowing someone else was the reason for that, was killing him.

And it only became worse when Alice's chosen song started and the people around the place started cheering for her as she sang straight to Ella.

So one, two, three

Take my hand and come with me

Because you look so fine

That I really wanna make you mine

I said, you look so fine

That I really wanna make you mine

He wanted to be the one making Ella blush as she giggled by having a song basically serenaded to her.

Well, I could see you home with me

But you were with another man, yeah

I know we ain't got much to say

Before I let you get away, yeah

I said, are you gonna be my girl?

Alex drowned his thoughts in whiskey, staring at a giddy Ella hypnotized by Alice. It was painful to see not only their group of friends enjoying the performance but everyone in the establishment cheering and singing along, clapping and hyping Alice up. That only had the singer more confident to lay it on thick on Ella as she sang to her.

Once Alice was done and off stage, seeing Ella so eagerly kiss her had Alex standing up from his seat and going to the bar.

He ordered himself a double whiskey on the rocks, downing it faster than he should've and ordering another one right away. He sat at the bar until the karaoke stopped and even though his ears hurt, he wished the obnoxious noise was still there so he could distract himself from his thoughts.

Once he was finished with his second drink, he made sure to get a third one and when he got it, he went back to sit at the booth he and Alice had been sitting at earlier when watching Ella.

Time had moved quicker than he could process as he wallowed in self pity in a corner and, in a moment when her attention wasn't completely taken by Alice or the rest of the group, Ella made her way to him.

She was truly elated, the night had turned out better than she'd ever expected and to find someone she actually wanted to fuck, who she felt so comfortable with already, was a massive win to her.

So Ella let herself drop beside Alex with a happy sigh. He turned around quickly, knowing it was her from just her scent, and smiled softly.

"You okay sweets?" She asked with a soft frown on her face, the last time she'd seen him was when she was on stage during karaoke and he'd been smiling so she wondered what had happened for his mood to fall down completely.

"Yes darling, I'm fine." He gave her a tight lip smile that she instantly knew was forced.

She shook her head, "You don't look it, sweetness. Come here." She opened her arms for him and Alex sighed.

He stared at the A around her neck, held by the leather band of the choker and he wished with everything he had that it was A for Alex instead of Alice. Ignoring the growing jealousy inside him, he accepted her embrace and relaxed instantly by nuzzling in the crook of her neck.

She giggled at the tickling feeling from his hair, which made him only do it more in order to hear her laugh louder. His hand managed to go around her side to tickle her there and that's when she dropped her arms to cackle as she tried to push him away from her.

"Stop, stop, stop. I'm too drunk for tickling." She pleaded, really feeling like she'd fully pee herself from laughing with her state.

Alex stopped, opting for properly wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer into his side.

"Are you having fun?" He asked softly, only she was able to hear him from how close she was to him.

Ella showed a loopy grin, her eyes closing at how wide it was, "Lots."

"I'm glad, darling. You deserve it." He was being honest, because despite how he hated everything that had gone on—except for this very moment—, he was so damn happy she was happy.

She cooed, letting her head fall on his shoulder. "Gonna make me cry, sweets. Remember I'm an emotional drunk."

He chuckled and left a kiss on top of her head, making her skin erupt in goosebumps. "You're a clingy one as well. You'll be asking for cuddles in a bit."

And he was about to suggest taking her back to his so they could cuddle all night, a last attempt to stop anything from happening between her and Alice, when aforementioned suddenly appeared beside her and pounced on Ella's lips.

Ella leaned back into Alex due to the force and the lack of space, and since the singer had his arm around her waist, he was stuck between the seat and Ella's body.

He tried his best to avert his eyes, not wanting to watch the way Alice's tongue disappeared into Ella's mouth but what he couldn't do was mute the noise so he fully froze when Ella let out a loud moan at the taste of Alice.

A moan that earned her one from Alice and soon enough both of them were whimpering messes which had Alex completely going insane.

Alex tried pulling his arm out slowly but Ella kept leaning back, meaning he was more trapped by the second. He watched around him in search of any type of help, he needed a way out, but everyone was still at the table, so engrossed in the conversations that he couldn't even catch anyone's attention from where he was.

He cursed in his head, fully panicking as Ella continued to lean back into him and now resting on his chest, Alice starting to bend over on top of her. And then the girls' hands started to wander and Ella's right hand disappeared under Alice's top. He could see her fingers inching closer to Alice's nipple and he knew that if he didn't get out of there soon, then he'd be in serious trouble.

So Alex cleared his throat loudly and continuously, enough times to have them separating with their chests heaving and cheeks flushed. Not as flushed as his, but definitely giving him competition.

Alice held her hand out for Ella to grab, which she accepted instantly and watching Alice go over to the table to grab her coat, Ella turned around slightly to apologize.

"Sorry sweets. I'll see you tomorrow?" Ella tried meeting his eyes to see if their plans still stood, but it was a failure.

Alex could barely meet her eyes as he nodded his head. "Yep. See you tomorrow, darling."

Ella gave him a tight lip smile that he missed but he was left with the picture of Alice helping Ella put her coat on and then intertwining her fingers with Ella's as they waved everyone goodbye.

"Have fun Eleanor!" Oscar yelled suggestively as the couple of girls walked away.

Ella was gonna flip him off when Alice beat her to an answer, "Oh she most certainly will." She assured, to then make a V with her fingers and stuck her tongue out through it to flick up and down in a quick motion.

They heard their friends laugh behind them, Ella's cheeks bright red as they walked out but her heart leaped on her chest from anticipation. 

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The walk back to Alice's was about fifteen minutes long which she'd find short in any other circumstance, but standing right there with the need to have Ella to herself had her deciding to just take a cab back to her place.

Only a few minutes later the girls were sitting inside a car, the red light on and the lights flashing as they drove the city's streets.

"So I hear you're in a band?" Ella started the conversation, feeling Alice rubbing her hand tattoo with her thumb.

She nodded, giving Ella her undivided attention, "I am."

"What do you do?" Ella asked, her words a little slurred, and she felt slightly bad for forgetting what Oscar had said she did earlier.

But Alice smiled amused, "I sing."

"Like Alex?" The American grinned, forgetting how both singers seemed to hate each other.

"Yes, but I'm better than him," Alice stated confidently and when Ella laughed a little she added, "I'm sexier too."

Ella hummed softly, not really knowing if she could fully agree on that because if she took a moment to think about it, then she'd greedily choose them both.

"Why does it seem like you two don't like each other?" She felt the need to ask.

"That's because we don't... At all." Alice didn't hesitate to tell her.

The information confused Ella because she truly couldn't understand why Alex couldn't stand such a sweet and funny girl like Alice.

"Can I ask why?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know why to be honest with you." Alice told her truthfully, "The first time I met him he was horrible to me for no reason. And then it progressed to what it is now... Always getting under each other's skin."

"He's not a bad person, I swear." Ella felt the sudden urge to defend her best friend, maybe even give Alice another view on him that could make her try to change her mind. "I've actually never met anyone nicer... He's the one who got me through all the shit my ex put me through, got me being myself again."

"I'm glad he's got a soft spot for someone. Nice to see some human qualities come through" Alice only smiled back, her eyes clearly wandering around Ella's face, which made her blush. "And it's really fine that it's not for me. We get under each other's skin, it's entertaining a lot of the time to be honest."

Ella got lost staring at Alice's features, half a minute going by before her brain caught up with what was said so she offered a solution, "Maybe if you spent time together then you both could-"

But Alice shook her head with a sad expression on her face. Only sad because of not being able to give Ella the outcome she wanted in the situation. "We're going on tour together the rest of the year and the next baby, and we've just done a festival run together. I can't see anything changing. And I've already tried with him and nothing's ever come of it. So I'll just have to learn to live with him."

"You're touring with them?" Ella asked with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

"Pale Waves supporting Arctic Monkeys across America and Europe and festivals in Australia. Can you believe it?" Alice smiled sweetly at her, really appreciating her obvious elation at the news.

"I feel bad that you're touring with them and I've never heard your music." Ella's voice sounded very apologetic then, as she played with Alice's fingers.

"Don't worry baby," Alice waved off, letting go of Ella's hand to let her own wander over her knee and slowly up her thigh. "You'll get the best seats to any and all shows. I'll be very pleased to see your pretty face there."

Ella blushed harder then, letting her head drop slightly. Feeling the urge to tease Alice back, she let her hand brush over her fishnet covered thigh, and let her fingertips ghost over the tattoo she had there. 'My Mind Makes Noises' it read, and if she focused enough, Ella could see the goosebumps breaking out on Alice's skin from the touch.

"It's the title of my first album." Alice told her with a small smile.

Ella's fingers kept tracing the words as she asked, "Your first?"

"Yes, I'm writing my second now." The singer nodded, trying not to react to the tingles that Ella's fingers were causing her to feel go up her thigh and reach her center.

"Nice." Ella smiled but she couldn't help but wonder, "Why 'My Mind Makes Noises'?"

"Mental illness, baby." Alice chuckled as a joke, but she went on to explain, "I'm okay now but I struggled with how I looked and what my body looked like when I was younger. Wrote the song Noises about it and 'my mind makes noises' is the first line of the song."

"Proud of you for getting through it." Ella smiled, fully resting her hand over her thigh then as she made a mental note to remind Alice as many times as she could just how fucking drop dead gorgeous she was.

"Thank you Ellie." Alice smiled back at her, her hand coming over Ella's and tracing her hand tattoo again.

For a brief second, Ella felt bad that she was flirting with the singer when she'd just told her about her personal trauma. So going a little shy, she withdrew her hand from the singer's thigh and put it back down on her own.

This however was written all across Ella's face and Alice could already read her like a book. So smirking a little, Alice picked Ella's hand up and placed it back on her thigh over her tattoo, then crossed her legs trapping the American's fingers so she could keep her there.

Ella's mouth opened up slightly, her breath shaky when she met Alice's gaze. The action made her lean back into the seat as she cursed under her breath. "Fucking hell."

Alice smirked at the effect and she was grateful to see they only had a few blocks left to get to their destination.

It was all a blur from the moment they got off the cab to when they made it upstairs and into her flat. Their minds were quickly shaken up by their lips clashing again as soon as the door to Alice's flat closed behind them.

"Fuck." Alice cursed on Ella's lips, "I can finally have you all to myself." She inhaled deeply through her nose, so glad to be in between four walls meaning that she could freely drop her hands to grab Ella by the ass and push her hips into hers.

Soon enough, after Ella's coat had been thrown onto the floor, they were on the settee. Ella's legs on each side of Alice's hips as she straddled her. They couldn't stop kissing each other, only when they were overcome by the friction of their hips meeting and they couldn't stop moaning into each others' mouths.

Ella was drenched already and Alice hadn't missed that, not when Ella's dress was bunched all the way up to her hips and she had a full view of her cute lacy thong already ruined. Alice let one of her hands in between their bodies to push Ella's underwear to the side and rub her clit with enough speed to have Ella whimper and stop kissing her.

"Alice–" Ella was barely able to say, breathless from the kiss and now her fingers.

And Alice had loved how she said her name so much that she went ahead and dipped two of her fingers into Ella, slipping so easily inside of her because of how wet she was.

"All this for me?" Alice asked teasingly as she slowly pumped her fingers in and out of her.

Ella could only softly moan at the stretch of Alice's fingers inside her, feeling so much better than her own after so long of having had to get herself off.

But since Alice didn't get an answer, she stopped her movements which made Ella whimper in despair. And in a desperate attempt to continue with what had been happening, Ella lifted her hips up and back down Alice's fingers, fucking herself on them.

Alice groaned as she watched her fingers disappearing inside Ella's cunt and when she looked back up, she noticed Ella's eyes rolling back in pleasure.

She didn't let her have fun for much long because she took her hand away and before Ella could even protest, Alice gave her left ass cheek a hard spank, leaving her to let out a gasp that turned into a moan.

"You need to answer." Alice scorned, a smirk on her face when she watched Ella's dilated pupils focus back on her.

Ella nodded desperately, missing the feeling of her fingers inside her, "Yes, baby, all for you." And in an attempt to get some mercy from Alice, she connected their lips again with need.

Alice knew exactly what she wanted Ella doing first, so without breaking the kiss, she guided Ella's right leg in between hers and forced her hips down onto her tattooed thigh. Alice's hands gripped at Ella's hips tightly, guiding her to move on her thigh, to ride it until she came.

Ella hummed in pleasure, biting Alice's bottom lip as she pulled back and letting it free after a few seconds. That had Alice squirming in her seat, her leg accidentally shifting in between Ella's legs, making the American girl cry out in pleasure.

Watching Ella ride her thigh was a picture Alice wouldn't forget in a while, her soft sounds echoing in her brain and making her want more from her. So when Ella fell forwards, caging Alice between her arms as she rested them on the back of the couch, Alice took advantage of the skin she had right there to bruise.

Her choker stood perfectly in place still and that only encouraged Alice more. She started kissing her way down her neck and started her attack on her chest. Alice sucked love bites on Ella's tits, biting her nipples softly over the fabric of her dress and that only made Ella move faster on her thigh.

Ella got increasingly louder with the more sucking Alice did, and it turned into desperate whimpers when Alice found that spot right over her collarbone at the base of her neck that made her go absolutely insane.

The rhythm of her hips grew erratic and messy, Ella's moans falling straight into Alice's ear and she couldn't do anything else other than encourage her to reach her climax.

"That's it, good girl." Alice said against her neck, leaving a trail of pecks as Ella got louder, "Come on, baby, I wanna hear how good you sound when you cum."

Alice's hands went to grab harshly at Ella's ass, helping her with her movements and it was her touch along with her words of encouragement that had Ella tipping over the edge and trembling as she orgasmed on top of Alice.

The singer watched her in awe, taking a mental picture of her pretty face scrunching up in pleasure, continuing to help her shaky hips as she came down from her high.

Ella let her forehead drop on Alice's shoulder, her shallow breaths loud as she tried to get oxygen back in her lungs, her legs still shaking slightly besides Alice's thigh.

"You look so fucking pretty when you cum, baby." Alice started, leaving open mouthed kisses on the side of Ella's neck which was on show to her.

When Alice licked a bold stripe up her neck and started sucking right under her ear, Ella's breath hitched on her throat and that had her coming out of her trance.

She sat back up straight, dipping her head to give Alice a brief messy kiss and then saying, "Let's go to your room, Allie." as she carefully stood back up on wobbly legs and offered her hand for Alice to take.

Alice wasted no time, intertwining their fingers and dragging Ella towards her room.

Once inside, Ella quickly pushed Alice onto bed and dropped to her knees right in front of her. Alice felt herself grow breathless in anticipation, her cunt dripping at the sight of Ella so innocently staring up at her through her lashes.

But Ella wanted to tease her, so she got a hold of one of her legs and slowly took one of her red boots off, making sure to kiss from her ankle up to a few inches above her knee, really making it feel like she was going to her inner thighs but leaving right when Alice got her hopes up.

She repeated the process with the other leg, this time teasing her a bit more and licking her inner thigh up until she was close to the edge of her underwear.

Alice watched as Ella's head disappeared under her skirt, but whined when all she got was a couple of open mouthed kisses over her clothed core.

Ella pulled back to take Alice's fishnets off, so painfully slow that almost had Alice wanting to complain—she only didn't because she was enjoying Ella's methods, it turned her on impossibly more.

The American got on the bed then, straddling Alice and slowly pushing her backwards so she was fully laying on the bed. Alice cupped her jaw and brought her in for a kiss, another steamy one that had their breaths shaky in no time.

Their hips met once again, over and over, the friction so good that it made them stop kissing just so they could moan into each others' mouths. But Ella wanted Alice to cum under her first, just so she could also fully see how she came undone without being distracted by chasing her own high.

Ella's lips trailed down Alice's neck, slowly starting her attack on the singer's neck, leaving open mouth kisses and softly sucking her skin which earned her soft moans from Alice.

It was when she got to her clothed chest that Alice got louder, as Ella licked over the fabric on her nipples and then blew on the wet spot, sending surprising shocks of pleasure down Alice's spine.

"Ella, fuck–" Alice could barely mutter.

Ella did that for a minute, Alice felt like she was agonizing already and she was surprised at the confidence Ella had to tease her like that.

Soon, she started lifting Alice's top until it was off her and forgotten somewhere on the floor of the room.

Seeing Alice's nipple piercings made Ella moan as she bit her lip, "So fucking stunning, baby." She complimented before leaning in to suck her tits, purposely leaving her nipples abandoned to her touch.

Alice squirmed under her, and when Ella's fingertips started to ghost over her inner thighs up until they got to her cunt but never touched her like she wanted, Alice started rolling her hips as if that'd help her.

Chuckling, Ella kept her teasing going, this time abandoning Alice's legs to softly touch all over her chest and abdomen as her mouth stayed busy marking her up. And Alice could feel herself going insane when Ella's fingertips faintly rubbed on her pebbled nipples, feeling all the heat going down in between her legs.

Her breaths grew shallow when Ella took it a step further and used her fingers to pinch her nipples. Alice was whining in a high pitch, feeling a new type of pleasure that had her head spinning. And it only got more intense when, after kissing up the side of her neck, Ella found Alice's sweet spot right under her ear.

Mixing the feeling she got as Ella intently sucked on that spot she loved so much and the way her fingers kept pinching and twisting her nipples, Alice felt herself fastly reaching her orgasm.

Ella knew it, from the way she sounded and how ragged her breath had gotten. The more obvious sign was Alice's hand dropping between her legs to help alleviate some of her frustration in that very spot.

But Ella was quick to stop her, letting her skin alone with a pop and taking the hand she'd been using to play with Alice's nipples under her skirt.

Her left hand went to pick up the work she'd been doing and her right one dipped right into her cunt, pushing Alice's underwear to the side.

"Needed me right here?" She teasingly asked her with a massive smirk on her face.

Alice's face contorted in pleasure at the feeling of Ella's fingers filling her up and curling inside her. "Yes– Ella, baby–"

She continued pumping her fingers in and out of her, her thumb rubbing her clit as well and her other hand still playing with her nipple.

"What is it Alice? What do you want, babe?" Ella's mouth opened slowly as she watched Alice quickly approaching her climax. So to help more, she changed her fingers for her mouth to suck on her nipple and that was enough to have Alice lose it.

"Oh fuck!" Alice cried in pleasure, "M'gonna cum, gonna cum!"

Ella hummed enthusiastically with her mouth still sucking Alice's tit, and the vibrations from that were the thing to push her to her orgasm.

Her fingers pumped in and out of her in a constant pace that she kept up until Alice couldn't take anymore and pushed her hand out and away from her cunt.

Ella let go of her tit with a pop, smiling down at a dazed Alice who was trying to get her breath back, and the little she had managed was taken away once more when Ella brought her hand up and licked her fingers clean.

Humming in pleasure, Ella felt herself clenching around nothing as the taste of Alice's arousal fell on her tongue, "You taste so damn good."

At that Alice wrapped her hand around Ella's neck and pulled her down to kiss her. She moaned, tasting herself on Ella's tongue, already thinking about the infinite ways she wanted to have her.

It was a brief kiss because of how breathless Alice was, but Ella took the chance to gather more of Alice's cum on her fingers and bring it up to her lips again. Once again she moaned as she wrapped her lips around her own fingers and tasted Alice on her tongue.

Alice watched it all in adoration, in complete awe of just how erotic it all was. Her mouth went dry when Ella dipped her fingers back down to gather more of her slick but this time telling her to, "Open up." so she could taste herself.

And how could she just not oblige when Ella was looking at her with those hungry eyes. So Alice wrapped her lips around her fingers and sucked them clean eagerly, moaning around them to then release them with a pop.

That made something in them unleash, desperately kissing again as they got rid of their other clothes. They both stood up from the bed and while Alice shed herself off her skirt and underwear, Ella took off her dress along with her bra and thong.

"Keep the collar on. I love seeing you branded as mine." Alice said, eye fucking Ella as she stood so perfectly naked in front of her.

The comment had gone straight in between Ella's legs so she basically threw herself at Alice, both of them falling back on the bed with shrieks that turned into giggles that they swallowed into a kiss.

Maybe if they hadn't laughed so loud, they could've caught the sound of the next door neighbor arriving home.

Alex had slammed his front door closed, dropped his keys on the little table he had by the entrance and toed his shoes off. He was drunk and knackered, already dreading the fact that he'd had to come home earlier than expected because his mind was too distracted to focus on the rest of the group, growing too bored of hearing their chatter and of mindlessly drinking so he felt the urge to leave.

In retrospect, he probably should've walked home just so he could waste more time and avoid hearing anything, but he had been truly just craving his bed and unfortunately his cab had taken way less than anticipated.

He was glad to hear absolute silence once he got to his room, wishfully thinking that Ella wasn't enjoying whatever Alice was doing and therefore it was all completely silent but, as he took his own clothes to get in bed, on the other side of the wall something completely different was happening.

"I meant it when I said I wanted you to ride my face." Alice reminded her, making Ella's ache between her legs grow.

The girls wasted no time going further up the bed and getting comfortable. Alice started a devastatingly slow trail of love bites on the insides of her thighs, making Ella breathe shallowly in a matter of half a minute.

Another excruciatingly long minute went by, Ella feeling every bruise that Alice was leaving in her wake, before she could finally ask her to go where she needed her. "Allie, baby, please– I need you."

The British woman smiled hearing her plead, "Come here then Ellie." She encouraged, and Ella didn't need to be told twice.

She slowly came down to have her cunt hover over Alice's mouth and a loud moan left her throat when Alice licked from her entrance to her clit and then sucked it harshly, making her see stars.

"Alice!"

That noise had made Alex freeze one foot away from his bed. He stayed there for a minute, trying to sharpen his hearing to see if it was real or he was imagining it but his questions were answered when he heard the unmistakable voice of the girl he fancied screaming the name of the girl he hated.

"Oh fuck! Alice!" Ella cried out, Alice fucking her with her tongue as she very quickly rubbed on her clit was making her go absolutely insane.

A minute later Alice changed her tongue for her fingers, seeing how Ella was practically dripping all over her face, being able to easily fit three inside Ella and then letting her mouth give her clit all the attention.

Ella's right hand quickly tangled in Alice's hair, pushing her closer to her center and tightly pulling at it encouragingly, her hips moving erratically on Alice's face and the whole thing had Alice humming in pleasure—Ella shaking over her as she got closer to her orgasm.

It only took Alice's fingers going faster and sucking harder on her clit for Ella to fall forward to grab a hold of the headboard as her legs trembled beside Alice's head.

Ella loudly moaned Alice's name like a chant, followed by profanities that were barely understandable as her orgasm left her completely breathless.

Alex's mouth and throat was dry, all he could feel was pure jealousy and himself growing hard in his boxers as he sat there on his bed with his back leant against his headboard.

He wished he could be the one hearing all that in his ear and not through the bloody walls. He wanted to be the one making Ella fall apart under him, yet he had to know it was Alice doing that.

His blood was boiling out of rage, his body extremely hot from how turned on he was thinking about the whole situation. But he'd have to be strong this time, so he let himself close his eyes and ignore the way he was dying for some release.

That didn't work though, not when his eyes stayed open as he stared at the darkness in his room and minutes later was startled by another round of moans from the girls.

Alice was already overly sensitive, only slowly recovering from her last orgasm, when Ella had cum all over her face. Watching Ella come undone on top of her had Alice clenching her thighs together, it had been such a pornographic view that had her wishing somehow she could replay it second by second, over and over in the future.

Not wanting to waste any of Ella's sweet taste, Alice had lapped at every bit of her arousal she could get, making an overstimulated Ella cry out as her tongue continued working on her cunt.

She only stopped when her whines got louder and Ella desperately shifted to go back down and straddle Alice again, "Jesus fucking Christ," She watched her slick all over Alice's chin and neck so she just couldn't help but lick it all up for her and then catch Alice's lips in a hot kiss.

It wasn't the long kiss Alice had wanted it to be, because Ella desperately wanted more of Alice and she just couldn't wait longer. So she kissed down Alice's body, making sure to suck more bruises on her skin and enjoying every sound the singer made under her.

But Ella just needed to have a taste of her again, so in no time she dove between Alice's legs and started eating her out.

Alice's back arched off the bed in pleasure. Her center had been aching from just watching Ella that the feeling of her tongue flicking at her clit and lapping at her entrance had Alice not able to control her whimpers.

"Ellie, oh my–" She shivered as she grabbed a hold of Ella's hair and pulled on it tightly as she fisted it to bring her closer to her cunt.

Feeling Alice so desperate already made Ella the more needy to make her cum hard so she went up to Alice's clit and wrapped her lips around it to suck on it as she moaned into her.

The sucking and the vibrations made Alice's legs shake and instinctively close around Ella's head.

That had Ella smirking to herself, changing her mouth to use two of her fingers to quickly rub at the singer's clit and making sure to lick all of the arousal that had wet the top of Alice's inner thighs.

Ella made sure to look up to see Alice's face, and that was just a portrait she wished she would have captured with her camera. Sweat was making her face shine and her makeup the slightest bit messy, her cheeks and chest were flushed, chest heaving and littered with bruises that were already darkening.

She was proud of her work so she went back to finish her task, but when she let her eyes drop again to Alice's cunt and saw how she was clenching around nothing, Ella groaned.

"Where are your toys Allie?" Ella asked, knowing there was no way she wouldn't have a wide variety of them.

Alice couldn't answer, not when Ella kept quickly rubbing on her clit so when Ella realized that and stopped, Alice whined in complaint before answering, "Second drawer, over there."

A satisfactory smirk appeared on Ella's face when she opened the drawer and she was met with being right about her suspicions. She tried making a quick decision but there were many toys to choose from and she was feeling indecisive.

That was until she heard Alice mewl in the background and when Ella turned to see her, she was playing with herself. Ella couldn't even find it in herself to warn Alice not to continue doing that because she just looked so fucking gorgeous desperately trying to reach her climax.

In a quick decision for a safe bet, Ella grabbed a dildo and made her way back to the bed.

Alice let her hand fall from her center and raised on her elbows to look at what Ella had chosen. Ella looked her right in the eye and brought the toy up to her lips, to spit on it and once it had dribbled down the length of it, she sank her mouth down on it.

Alice swore she died seeing her like that, as if she couldn't get any fucking hotter. And for a second a cursed thought ran through her mind, of how she'd love to watch her fuck someone else and if she was desperate enough for that show then she'd definitely choose her next door neighbor to be the third in the party.

Out of convenience, of course.

Ella broke her out of her trance when she kneeled on the bed between her legs and prompted them to open further. Bringing the toy to Alice's entrance and teasing the tip in and out of her.

"Baby, please–" Alice begged breathlessly, "Don't tease, Ellie, please."

Her wish was her command so Ella pushed it slowly inside Alice, letting her jaw drop as she watched it disappear inside her with ease. Alice moaned loudly at the stretch, which got easier when Ella's thumb came to rub soft circles on her clit.

"You always take it so well, don't you, gorgeous?" Ella started properly fucking her with the toy, slowly picking up the pace, "And here I thought you couldn't get more beautiful."

The 'thank you' Alice had wanted to say died down in her throat when Ella leaned back down and started sucking her clit again as she continued to use the dildo on her.

"Fuckkk– Ella!" Alice mewled as her back arched in pleasure. One of her hands went down to tangle on Ella's hair, while the other started playing with her own tits.

Alex tried his hardest to control himself but, at the end of the day, he was still human so his hand traveled down his boxers and he slowly started faintly touching himself.

He was well aware the one screaming was Alice but, as he closed his eyes, picturing what could be going on on the other side of the wall was driving him mad.

Alice bit her lip harshly, the pain feeling almost null compared to the heavy pleasure she was feeling, and the stronger the waves of pleasure came, the more she'd bite on her bottom lip.

Ella tutted when she noticed Alice going silent and stopped her sucking to scorn her, "Uh-uh, I want to hear you."

Alice was so focused on the tightening feeling in her belly that she barely heard her so Ella used her free hand to spank her clit, making her jump and drop her hand from Ella's head. Alice yelled from the sensation that pushed her closer to her orgasm and Ella smirked satisfied from it.

"You liked that? Yeah?" Teasingly asked Ella, rubbing slow circles on Alice's clit.

Alice hummed and it sounded almost like a purr, so Ella spanked her again and the gasp that Alice let out turned into such a sweet moan that had Ella needing to hear more of her like that.

Ella hoped the use of a choker meant more about Alice, so she brought up her right hand and wrapped it slowly around Alice's neck.

A massive smile broke on Ella's face when Alice made eye contact with her then only to let out a guttural moan and roll her eyes back in pleasure. So Ella tightened her hold, feeling Alice moan even more under her hand, and continued fucking her with the toy.

Wrapping his hand around his cock, Alex found himself already leaking precum and he groaned, applying a little more pressure around himself. Soft strokes was what he was relying on as he got harder in his hand to the sounds of the girls shagging. He was biting his lip, only letting out soft hums of satisfaction but when he heard Alice yell at Ella to go faster, he let himself moan out loud.

"I'm so close! Faster– faster, please!" Alice begged, feeling herself so close to reaching her high.

Ella listened to her straight away, letting her hand wrap even tighter around Alice's neck and picking up the pace with her left hand as she pounded into her with the dildo.

In no time, Alice's legs started shaking uncontrollably as she came with loud moans of Ella's name, 'baby' and pure gibberish. Ella had her seeing stars as she kept pumping the toy in and out of her with a slightly slower rhythm but kept her hand wrapped tight around her neck.

Alice was getting so overstimulated that she felt the tears pricking her eyes, her legs ached from how they wouldn't stop shaking and she felt like she was about to explode.

But that was exactly what Ella was looking for, so she took the dildo away to solely focus on her clit then, rubbing on it as fast as she could, wanting to see if she could do what Ella had in mind. Ella kept her relentless pace until Alice was cumming all over her again, squirting all over Ella and herself.

Alex died a little hearing how loud Alice had gotten, and thinking about what Ella could be doing for the singer to be almost screaming her name made him fail at trying to stay quiet. He picked up his pace, smearing the precum down to make it more comfortable for him and he fully just pictured them two in front of him, having fun as he watched.

He grew hotter hearing Alice's sounds continue until they ended in her choked up words asking Ella to stop.

"No more– Can't– Can't take more." Alice chanted over and over, making Ella loosen her hold on her neck and start rubbing Alice's thighs soothingly while leaving pecks on every inch of her skin.

Alice was gasping for air, absolutely mind blown by what had just happened and despite wanting to get rid of the mess as soon as possible, she had to show Ella the appreciation she deserved for all that.

"You..." She started, reaching out to get a hold of one of Ella's hands and pulling her up to her, "You are a fucking dream."

The singer attacked Ella's lips hungrily, and it was messy as she still was trying to catch her breath but that only made it better, because it was a clear sign that they were enjoying each other that much.

"That was so fucking hot, Allie." Ella said between kisses, having to hold herself back from going down on her again.

"You're skilled," Alice smirked, breaking the kiss and wrapping her hand around Ella's neck, "Only a few people have been able to make me do that."

Ella laughed, the noise vibrating under Alice's palm making her squeeze tighter and causing Ella to moan.

"As much as I love your hand around my neck, we need to clean this mess." Ella was quick to say, pecking Alice's lips in between words.

Alice agreed, trying to stand up along with Ella but she plopped back on bed when her legs were too weak to do it without help.

The American girl laughed as she offered her hand out for Alice to hold, which she appreciated and stood up slowly.

"I can take the duvet over to your washer while you clean up, if you want." Ella offered, pulling Alice in by the waist and rubbing circles on her lower back.

The singer leaned in to give her a soft kiss and nodded, "Okay. It's the last room at the end of the hallway." She pointed out the door and to the hallway on the other side of the flat.

With a kiss, Ella left Alice to get cleaned up in her ensuite whilst she balled up the duvet from the bed and walked to the laundry room.

It was good for Alex that they had left the room, because if they'd stayed then they would've definitely heard his grunts as he replayed all that he had heard like a broken record in his head as he continued to get himself off.

He was so close when he noticed the silence, and maybe it was that which had made him snap out of it. Realize what he was doing and just how wrong it was.

The next ten minutes were filled with an internal debate that had Alex wanting to pull his hair out of his head. One part of him told him that he'd done that before and why would it matter if he did now, so desperate for relief, and the other told him he should be a bigger person and learn to have better self control.

His inner monologue was rudely interrupted then, by a loud gasp and all Alex could do was let his head hang as the girls started back up again.

After going to the bathroom, Alice had made her way back into her room and seeing her drawer still open, she let herself choose what she was gonna use next on Ella.

The singer was tired but she needed one more from Ella, one more look at her face while she fell apart for her, one last taste of her sweetness.

So when Ella walked back into the bedroom, feeling so bare only wearing Alice's choker, and saw Alice standing there with a smirk and four things in her hand, she bit her lip already feeling herself getting flustered again.

"Thought we were going to bed." Ella blushed as she approached Alice, shy steps but eyes brave as they scanned her up and down with lust.

"I need you to cum for me one more time and then we can do whatever you want, baby." Alice raised her eyebrows, putting the things on the bed to turn around and pull Ella into her by her waist.

Ella hands came up to cup Alice's face, "How do you keep getting hotter by the fucking minute?"

Alice leaned in softly laughing, "I could ask you the same thing."

Kissing again, Alice walked Ella backwards until she was sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbed two of the items to start her plans.

Alice started making her way down, sucking down Ella's neck and chest—really enjoying her whines when she played harshly with her nipples—, leaving open mouthed kisses on her tummy and bruising more of her thighs.

By the time Alice came to where Ella wanted her most, she only got to feel the blow of her hot breath over her because Alice wanted to tease her this time, wanting to hear her truly desperate.

In her hands, the singer had two leather wrist to thigh cuffs, meaning that once they were on Ella, she'd have her legs up and wide open at Alice's mercy.

A few minutes later, that's how Ella ended up with her feet plated on the bed and her knees up, her wrists pressed on her thighs and her legs open to show her glistening cunt to Alice.

Her mouth watered at the sight, the need of having a taste of her before everything taking over and making her dip down to intently lick up and down her core.

The whole setting had Ella already whimpering, being so exposed to the singer made her shiver from lust and looking at the vibrator and the new dildo beside her was only making the ache between her legs grow.

The vibrator coming alive with its buzzing made Ella squirm in her place in anticipation, an action that Alice noticed, making her smirk.

"Are you ready, baby?" She crawled back to Ella with the white buzzing object in her hand.

"Mhm," Ella mewled, "Yes, Allie."

It was excruciatingly slow that Alice moved the vibrator down to Ella's cunt, so much so that when it finally came to meet her clit, Ella gasped loudly.

Like he'd come alive, Alex heard it and only was able to curse his poor luck for a few seconds, because when more moans that Ella was letting out came through the walls, he didn't have it in him to stop himself.

He fully spat on his hand this time, imagining Ella actually doing that to him and wrapped his hand around his length under his boxers.

He was getting harder the more he got to hear the sweet sounds Ella made and it was so much better than he could've ever pictured in his head all those times before. Nothing compared to the real thing. He couldn't imagine how fucking good they sounded falling in one's ear.

Alice had increased the intensity of the vibrator as she started sucking on the dildo she'd chosen for Ella. Getting it ready for her—not that she truly needed it though, because she was already dripping and messing the sheets.

When she pushed it inside her, Ella let out a chesty moan that was followed by the most earth delicious moans Alice had ever heard.

"Oh fuck! Al–!" She couldn't even finish Alice's name and that caused a reaction on the other side of the wall.

Alex would describe those moans as earth shattering. Hearing a clear moan of her saying his name had made him fully lose it. That 'Al' kept replaying in his head and in the background all the sounds she was letting out.

Without them knowing, the three of them were moaning almost in a harmony. If it wasn't for the loud buzz of the vibrator then they could've heard rather quietly Alex's low groans as he fucked his fist to the thought of Ella.

"Ella, darl– F–fuck–" He choked out, desperate to vividly picture her in bed with him.

But Ella's legs were trembling as Alice teased her by keeping the vibrator on her clit for a few seconds, taking the dildo away from her, and then taking the vibrator away to fuck her fast with the long toy.

It was agonizing, feeling so full one second with the ghost of the vibrations, to feeling empty and clenching around nothing as her clit got intensely stimulated.

"Baby I'm so fucking close!" Ella yelled desperately, a loud cry leaving her when Alice still took the dildo out and away from her.

Ella couldn't even touch herself to help, it was impossible for her to bring her hands up and tease her own nipples without pulling her legs all the way up—she was definitely not that flexible.

Alice was enjoying her desperation so much, it made her want to take it to another level. That's why she upped another level and dropped the dildo on the side to curl three fingers inside Ella, knowing that'd get her instantly.

"Fuck!" Ella screamed, feeling Alice hit that spot perfectly and her vision clouded because it was just too much along with the vibrator on its strongest level. "Right there! Right the– Al– Ah!"

And then it came crashing down on them.

Ella got whiplash from how strong her orgasm had reached her, her vision blinded as her legs shook and she squirted, feeling herself spasm around Alice's fingers.

Alex's quick motions pumped himself to an intense climax that had him cumming all over his chest. All he seemed to know was Ella's name, as that was the only thing that came out of his mouth as he came.

Alice was drenched in Ella's cum, as it had all splashed over her arm and chest and that was enough for her to match Ella's noises. She desperately reached for her face, to kiss her messily and feverishly.

After that, everyone disappeared into their bathrooms. Alice and Ella shared a shower while Alex stood alone under the waterfall.

Alex cleaned himself with the sounds replaying over and over in his mind. Alice and Ella got carried away and their shower ended with Alice cumming on Ella's fingers once more.

He had already been in bed for fifteen minutes trying to force himself to sleep when, on the other side, Ella and Alice came back into the room and discarded the dirty sheets for new ones to get some sleep.

The girls were giddy as they got under the fresh sheets and scooted closer until they were cuddled into each other. Alice's head nuzzled in Ella's neck with their legs tangled together and their arms wrapped around each other.

They were certainly aware of the next level of intimacy that meant but they couldn't be arsed, they were enjoying each other's company and they wouldn't keep themselves from it just because of how it may look like. Ella and Alice were both glad to be on the same page.

Alex, on the other hand, was dying inside just thinking about how he'd have to see Ella after all that and how he, no matter how hard he'd try, would never forget the night. 

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Alex thought he was dreaming when he heard Ella's soft moans reaching his ears. He squirmed in bed and continued to sleep when suddenly Alice's soft sounds came in to mix with Ella's.

He held his breath trying to gather his hazy mind, still attributing the noise to his imagination not having recovered yet from last night's events but then Alice loudly moaned Ella's name and Alex's eyes shot wide open.

Groaning in misery, Alex let his head fall back on the pillow and hid his face there begging in his head for it to be over soon.

His silent prayers weren't answered though, only a few minutes later—which had been painfully long, five minutes had felt like fifteen—the girls on the flat next door only seemed to be growing louder.

Alex stayed there sprawled over his bed with jealousy filling every cell of his body as he tried to focus on that awful poking in his chest to ignore how the noise was making his lower belly tingle and his dick to twitch in his boxers.

What had happened last night was a lapse of better judgment and he was trying now to hold onto every bit of self control he had left.

He had contemplated blasting music to drown it all but that'd give away the fact that he was in fact listening and he knew that if Ella found that out, she'd be mortified. So he suffered in silence for the next ten minutes, as they gasped for air and chanted each other's names accompanied by lots of profanities.

It was too painful, not only because his chest felt tight but he felt his body responding to it all subconsciously and he hated it, so once they got quiet he escaped to his ensuite.

The shower Alex took was freezing cold. He stood there, shivering under the waterfall for a while until he felt himself calm enough to be able to get out. His movements were slow as he got ready for the day, brushing his teeth and brushing his hair with his fingers, deciding to just let it air dry while he waited for Ella.

Choosing something from his wardrobe had been painfully slow because he was sure he could hear faint noises coming through the walls again and trying to find out if they weren't just the ghosts of what he'd heard earlier kept distracting him.

That was until the high pitch whines came loudly through the walls to knock all the air out of his lungs, like a punch to the gut.

Pulling up his trousers quickly, Alex almost ran out of his room and it seemed like the noise wanted to follow him as he heard all of it walking out of his bedroom.

The singer could breathe again when he got to the kitchen, the noises long lost in the hallway and it seemed like they had stopped because even if he'd left the door open, he couldn't listen to them anymore.

There was only so much Alex could take anymore so he decided to ignore it all despite one part of him begging to pay attention and give into his carnal desires.

This day was meant for him to accompany Ella to buy a dress for the wedding since she hadn't had the time for it back in LA, and not only that but she'd thought it'd be better to buy one in London rather than being worried about the gown being ruined from having to be cramped up inside her suitcase.

Alex had agreed with her when they videocalled a few days before her flight and he promised her that he'd be taking her to buy her dress. He was excited for it, the prospect of spending more time with her was always something that elated him but it being in a place he knew so well and she was so foreign to made it the more special.

Now, after last night, Alex wasn't sure when it would happen but like he had promised himself merely a minute ago, he would ignore it all and act like nothing had happened so with hope that she'd be coming over to his in a bit, he started making breakfast. For himself and for Ella.

He was softly singing under his breath as he cooked some sausage, serving two plates and then he moved onto making some scrambled eggs. The only thing that could be heard then was the sizzling of the eggs cooking on the pan, but after he finished them and served them, the silence that overcame him became dangerous for it gave way for the now loud again noises from the girls to creep up through the hall and softly reaching his ears.

Alex stopped as he turned with the two plates in hand, slowly bringing them down to place on the kitchen island, really unsure of how to feel anymore. He was just utterly confused at all the reactions his body was giving to the whole scenario.

Once again, he reminded himself to ignore it so he grabbed himself a fork and knife and started eating, his brain only trying to think about what was in front of him to not go absolutely insane.

But that only worked for so long because the girls, now getting closer to their climax, had started getting louder and more restless meaning their cries of pleasure were just filthy begs and it was making Alex's head short circuit.

Dropping the utensils on the countertop, Alex hunched over almost defeated. He was breathing heavily and in his mind praying for self control and patience. Since that wasn't working because the noises were making his breaths become more shallow, his hands came up to his head and his fingers tangled in his hair to pull on it with frustration.

He was going insane now, he really was.

And Alex thought it couldn't get worse than it already was, when he heard Ella clearly encourage Alice, "Cum for me, baby, c'mon." followed by a loud mewl.

He let his head drop on the cold surface of the kitchen island, fully defeated as his thoughts were spinning. A groan came from the deepest pit of his chest, one of pent up frustration that he knew he wouldn't pay attention to for his own sanity.

"Fuck my life." Alex muttered under his breath when he heard the girls clearly reaching her orgasms, hands holding onto the sides of the countertop like it was gonna ground him somehow.

He was almost scared to see Ella later, afraid that after all that he'd just ask to have her like he wanted to so badly. Every bit of his being was just aching to have her, and Alex didn't know if it would be the right time to play his chances.

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About an hour went by and it was surprisingly quiet after everything that had happened the night before and in the morning. That had been a relief to Alex who had gotten to finish his breakfast counting to a thousand multiple times to try and get his shit together again.

What he didn't know was that Ella and Alice had gone to make breakfast after that second round he had heard. They'd gotten decent first, going to the bathroom to freshen up and Alice lended Ella some clothes for her to leave with—Ella had shyly asked after seeing her chest and neck all marked up on show with the low neckline her dress had.

Ella walked through Alice's kitchen with gray joggers and a 'My Mind Makes Noises' jumper on. The singer watched her in awe through the corner of her eye as she grabbed some mugs to make some coffee for the both of them.

"You look amazing in that." Alice threw the compliment out as she focused on frying some eggs, pieces of bread toasting on the little oven by the stove.

Ella looked down at herself and her new outfit, "I'll give it a listen tonight."

Alice smirked at that promise, "Hope you enjoy it, baby."

Ella walked up behind the singer as the Keurig made their coffees, wrapping an arm around her waist and said into her ear, "It's you singing so I definitely will." Alice bit her lip at Ella's actions, a little harder when Ella left her with a squeeze of her ass and a kiss on her neck.

The British girl was fast making breakfast, almost done at the same time as Ella had placed the coffee on the counter and got utensils for them to use.

"Do you want me to drop you off at Alex's?" Alice asked Ella casually, placing a plate right in front of her as she sat on one of the tall chairs.

Ella was truly confused at the sudden question as she was completely unaware of Alice and Alex's housing situation. "Huh?"

"Are you going to Alex's?" Alice changed her inquiry slightly this time, walking over to sit next to her.

Ella watched as Alice took her seat and ripped a bit of her toast to dip on the runny yolk of the fried egg, "Not now... I'm going back to the hotel first."

"Oh well." The singer shrugged nonchalantly, "He lives next door, that's why I'm asking."

"What?" Ella's face went pale, looking at Alice with wide eyes like it was her worst nightmare come true.

Alice chuckled looking at her face, "He lives next door... I thought I told you."

And Ella shook her head with a frown to remark that Alice in fact hadn't told her, "Fucking hell." She cursed under her breath, flashbacks of the night before and this morning coming to the forefront of her mind and she felt herself burning up from head to toe.

"What's wrong baby? You've gone all red." Alice teased, one of her hands resting over Ella's thigh, where Alice now knew she had her 'Divine feminine' tattoo and squeezed slightly.

Ella squirmed a bit under her touch, her cheeks growing even hotter. "Do you think he heard us?" She genuinely felt like she'd die if he had, because it had already been embarrassing that he knew she'd gone home with someone but him hearing her was making her burn inside and out.

Will this ruin things? Will this make things awkward? She had no idea but now she was spiraling about it all and she just couldn't help but think about every little thing this situation would entail.

Alice being so calm about it was what brought her back from her thoughts, "I couldn't care less to be fair."

"Fuck..." Ella mumbled, staring at her plate with a shocked expression.

"I mean," Alice squeezed her thigh once more and when Ella turned to look at her, she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "If he did, he's lucky 'cause I don't think I'll ever want to hear anybody else now."

Ella blushed under her gaze, still feeling so affected by the way the singer would smirk at her. "Stop." She brought one of her hands to cool down her cheeks, Alice's smirk getting bigger at that.

"I love it when you go all blushy on me." Alice remarked and then she leaned in to kiss Ella one more time, which the American girl welcomed with a smile.

After the brief soft kiss they shared, the girls went back to eating breakfast and they made small talk about what they were doing in their current jobs, getting to know each other a little bit better. Alice had heard all about Ella's aspirations and Ella had listened to everything Alice had been getting inspired from for her next record.

Without really noticing, an hour had gone by, and when Ella noticed it was about to be noon, she told Alice she had to leave.

They were both gutted to know this was the end of it but Alice a bit more, especially by knowing that Ella would be going to Alex and he'd be the one to spend time with her for the rest of her stay in the UK.

After having loaded everything in the dishwasher, Alice walked over to Ella and pulled her into her by her waist, "Remind me why you can't stay," The singer brushed a strand of hair behind Ella's ear and with her gaze taking in all of Ella's features, she bit her lip at the memories of all that had happened in the past twelve hours. "I wanna fuck you all day."

Ella grinned at Alice with her cheeks heating up, she could tell Alice was being completely honest and that was one of the things that she liked about her because it gave her the confidence to say "I would love that." back to her, which was exactly what she was feeling.

It was hard to compare how honest she could be with Alice than how cowardly she felt even admitting to herself anything to do with Alex, because with Alice it was something casual and it was always easy with girls, but Ella knew deep inside her that Alex wasn't meant to be a casual thing to her. It was either all in with Alex or nothing. But that would only happen in her dreams, she'd much rather keep him as her best friend than try to become more again and it ending poorly like it had before.

In another life, if Ella hadn't been hung up on Alex already, then she would've tried to pursue whatever had started with Alice, because Alice was lovely and funny, and she was the type of girl anyone would be lucky to have in their lives.

The American girl smiled, bringing one of her hands up to cup Alice's jaw softly, "But I need to get a dress for the wedding."

"Can't you do it some other day?" Alice pouted, it was playful as she tried to see if there was any chance Ella would change her plans.

But Ella didn't budge because she really needed to get the dress, "Wedding's in three days and today's the only day we've got no plans."

Seeing how Alice's pout stayed on her face, Ella brought her in for a kiss. A slow one that just felt like it settled it all, a silent thank you and a goodbye.

They savored every second of it, trying to enjoy the time they'd shared until the very last moment. Alice hummed against Ella's lips before pulling back. "Don't go back to the States without saying goodbye, alright?" Her thumb rubbed soft circles on Ella's cheek.

"Promise." Ella replied with a sweet smile and pecked Alice's lips one last time before stepping out of Alice's hold to get her things which were merely her phone and the dress she'd worn last night.

With the dress draped over her arm and her phone being pocketed in her coat she had just put on, she made her way to Alice's front door. Alice was already standing by the door, watching Ella's slow steps with a smirk. She was glad Ella also didn't want it all to end.

When Ella got beside her, Alice softly opened the door but stopped Ella with a hand on her wrist before she could go out to the hallway. "Don't forget I'm always a text or a phone call away." And this time now walking up to her and getting a look of the empty hallway that led to the rest of the flats, including Alex's, Alice added pointing at the door that was his, "A door away as well."

Ella blushed when Alice winked at her right after that and nodded, "Definitely noted."

"Bye Ella." Alice squeezed Ella's wrist softly and let go of her hold.

"Bye Allie." Ella said after one last look at Alice.

Ella walked into the hallway and walked over to what Alice had pointed to be Alex's door. She had expected Alice to close the door right after she left but, out of the corner of her eye, Ella could see Alice was there waiting to make sure she'd gotten inside Alex's flat.

Three knocks were left on the door and only a few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a smiley Alex.

"Hi, Al." Ella smiled brightly at him, hearing then the soft thud of Alice's door closing.

"Hi, darling." He greeted almost breathless, she looked stunning despite wearing Alice's merch and now it seemed like every time he'd look at her, the memories of the previous night and the early morning were going to haunt him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, letting her come in and closing the door behind him.

She sighed and very genuinely answered, "Tired and in a desperate need of another shower."

He tried biting his tongue about it all but his mouth played with him when he let out a "Reckon you enjoyed yourself then?" without meaning to.

Stopping in her tracks, she cursed through her teeth, "Oh, fuck–" And almost wincing, she turned to see him and ask, "Did you hear us?" She was begging he hadn't, because if he had then there was no way she could look him in the eye for at least a week.

"No, no." Alex shook his head and her soul came back to her body. He walked past her, and it was easier for him to lie when she wasn't seeing his face, "No– I, erm, I passed out right when I got home and only woke up a little ago."

"At what time did y'all leave?" Ella asked curiously, she didn't even know when it was that she had gotten to Alice's but the last time she'd seen the clock it had been a bit over three in the morning, and that had been before her and Alice got in the shower.

They got to the kitchen and she stood by the marble island, resting her belongings on one of his high chairs. Alex seemed entertained by what was on his kitchen stove, so she barely heard him recount very briefly the rest of the night, "Everyone left about fifteen minutes after you but I stayed for another hour or so."

She hummed trying to calculate at which point of the night that would've been and nodded once she gave up trying to come to a conclusion since all she was getting was flustered by the memories. "Right."

Wanting to change the subject as his brain was aggressively reminding him of the night before, he asked her, "Are you hungry?" turning to see her with a plate in his hand filled with the food he'd prepared.

Ella looked at him with her lips pressed together, hating having to turn him down by saying, "Alice made me some food actually..."

A small "Oh." fell from his lips, and he froze with the plate in hand before he could manage to form a proper sentence, "There's some more here if you want."

"That looks amazing," She admitted because it truly did and just because she felt bad for leaving him last night, she gave in and said, "Some more food is not gonna hurt anyone..."

Alex gave her a sweet smile when her words reached his ears and placed her plate right in front of her, quickly getting her utensils to eat with. As she had before, Ella enjoyed the meal he had prepared and wasn't shy to give him praise for it. It was really good so it wasn't long until she was done with it and she was calling Alex out for not letting her do the dishes.

"Stop it, I'll wash this quick and we can go to get the dress." were his last words on the matter and he took care of the task with a grin on his face seeing Ella let her arms fall by her sides in defeat.

"Okay but we need to go back to the hotel first though." She truly wanted to shower first, before she could even think of going out to try on clothes. "Can't go out shopping looking like this." Her hands waved briefly down her body to emphasize the state of her.

Drying the freshly washed dishes, he agreed, "Yeah, it screams 'walk of shame'." He quipped, snickering which earned him a roll of her eyes and an annoyed sigh.

Her response was a simple, "Idiot." as she shook her head. He laughed at her while he sorted his dishes back in the cabinets and once done, he dried his hands with a kitchen towel.

"Alright," He glanced around his kitchen to see where he'd left his phone, finding it and pocketing it, he looked back up at her and instructed, "Let's go then before the shops get too crowded and we don't find anything."

Alex had already been ready for the day so once Ella picked up her stuff from the high chair next to her, they left Alex's flat. And thankfully, his place wasn't far from her hotel so they got there in less than a fifteen minute walk.

Once inside her room, she left all that she was carrying sprawled over her bed, really not caring for the mess at the minute as she just wanted to freshen up. The singer found comfort in lying on the bed as well, his head resting on the pillows.

He watched her as she yawned behind her hands before letting him know she was "Gonna take a quick shower now." adding a "If you don't mind." just to check if he had any other plans he had to get to.

But Alex shook his head with a blissed expression at the soft pillows under his head and the silence in the room. "Absolutely not, go ahead." He replied with a soft smile on his face that she gave him back.

Before she left for the ensuite, she wanted his advice, "What should I wear?" Crouching down, she opened her suitcase and was met with multiple articles of clothing all rolled up, "Needs to be easy to put on and take off since I'm gonna be trying shit on all day."

His eyes were closing but his mind was still with her in conversation so trying to be helpful, he thought about it for a few seconds and came to the answer being, "A skirt?"

He hadn't sounded so sure but she nodded in agreement, "Oh, yes. And with a sweater so I'm not freezing to death." It had been quite cold as they walked back, and she was certainly grateful Alice's clothes were quite thick and cozy.

Alex only hummed in response and she took out the clothes from her case, trying to be the quickest she could be as it was already about to be eleven in the morning.

"Okay, I'll be right back." She informed and in his hazy mind, Alex managed to nod.

The water pattering on the floor of the shower lulled Alex to sleep, Ella took her time to shower and pamper herself after what certainly felt like a very long weekend, slowly putting her clothes on. And once she had dressed herself, despite the loud noise even with the door closed, the hair dryer she used didn't manage to wake him up.

When she left the wet room, she walked into the small hallway that connected it to the room which had a floor to ceiling mirror that showed her reflection back to her and the sight made her gasp.

That was enough to wake Alex up then, blinking multiple times he was able to get himself the slightest bit awake to ask, "What's wrong?"

The answer Ella gave flew straight past him as she let out a low whistle and said, "Fucking hell, it's gonna be really awkward trying on dresses today." and continued to watch herself in the mirror.

"What was that?" Alex inquired again, his brain not being able to process what she'd said just yet.

But when she walked back into the room and stood in front of him, she reiterated in a different sentence, "The skirt is not gonna do..." and that was what made him look down to her bottom half to see what she meant.

Her inner thighs were littered in purple marks and the view alone made his eyes shoot open, "Holy shit, Ella." He cursed loudly, his jaw dropping more the more she showed him the insides of her thighs a bit better.

She looked down at the lovebites and chuckled to herself, feeling her cheeks heating up, "Yeah, I know."

"What the fuck?!" He cursed out loud again, his brows furrowed.

"She's a little vampire." Ella joked trying to make the situation a bit less awkward, because he seemed really taken aback by it.

What she wasn't expecting was for him to start saying, "I'll have a chat with her when I get ho–"

She stopped him before he could continue with a firm, "No, you're not."

"But she–" The singer tried to fight, yet Ella wouldn't have it.

Shaking her head and with her cheeks tinting up redder, she admitted, "Alex, I loved it when she was marking me up so there's absolutely nothing to complain about here."

Ignoring the way that statement had felt like a knife to the chest, he gave another argument to back himself, "Well she needs to learn to control herself."

Sighing, she pursed her lips and added, "I'm pretty sure I left her looking the same or maybe worse." so he could stop with his need to cause a fight between himself and the girl.

"Fuck." He cursed through his teeth, hiding his closed eyes behind his hands like he was in pain.

Ella tried to get answers then, ones that she hadn't managed out of Alice, "I still don't get why you don't like her, she's one of the sweetest girls I've ever met." And she truly meant it. In her head if she got along well with Alice then there was no reason for Alex not to get along with her.

Alex wasn't help at all for Ella to try to solve the mystery because he only shrugged and meekly answered with, "Maybe you're biased because you've fucked her."

Without missing a beat, Ella replied in the same tone, "In that case, maybe you need to fuck her too." She had been guilty of picturing the scenario of the three of them in bed the night before, when the thought of him flashed in the forefront of her mind in a moment of pure ecstasy.

"Eleanor." Alex warned with a firm voice, his face stoic as he stared at her like he was begging her to be joking.

"Alexander." Ella copied with the same tone but a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips as his anger was becoming amusing to her.

"Don't ever say that again." The singer warned, as if it had been the single worst most awful thing someone could've ever told him.

"What?" Ella threw her arms up defensively, "She's good." Her cheeks warmed again and the sight made Alex sigh exasperatedly.

"Just find something to wear and let's go already." He was growing impatient and he wanted the view of the love bites Alice had left gone for they made a bitter taste rise up his throat and coat his mouth with it.

She chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say boss."

He let out an involuntary snort at her remark, unable to not react to her, "Shush you dickhead."

Going back to her suitcase, Ella ended up picking up a long brown wool skirt that reached her ankles and went to the bathroom to change into it. Her white sweater stayed on and over it came her long brown trench coat.

After quickly tying her converse on, they left her hotel room and went straight to Harrods where Alex said he knew she would find something. 

She had scolded him when they stepped out of the taxi and the first store she saw was Valentino with a couple stunning dresses she could wish to buy on a random afternoon. He only laughed and reminded her that it was a dress for the wedding and that she was allowed to spend her money on it if she ended up loving it—not that he was going to let her buy it but she didn't need to know that—so with that mindset they began to look for it.

It was a hit or miss in the many stores they had visited, the first few she had been far too wary of the cost of the pieces and by the time she had convinced herself it was okay, she hadn't found anything she was completely set on for her to spend an obnoxious amount of money on.

That was until they stumbled into a boutique that gathered many designer clothes into one place and the dresses she had caught through the window looked to die for.

When they went in, a lovely woman called Rose greeted them by the door and took them inside while asking a bunch of questions so that she knew what the pair were looking for. Once Ella told her she was looking for a dress to wear to a friend's wedding, Rose effortlessly guided them to the ones she knew would be wedding appropriate and that Ella might like.

From the looks of them, Ella chose a few to try on and Rose guided her and Alex into a private changing room. Thankfully, inside was a curtain that separated the actual changing room with the small lounge area in which Alex would be waiting.

Taking her time as she slowly put the different pieces on, Ella tried on the first three dresses she had chosen but none of them had her swooning. Alex on the other hand found himself at a loss of words and oxygen every time she drew back the curtain and stepped out in a different gown.

The first one had been a champagne off the shoulder dress with a slit on the side that showed her right leg perfectly, but it was exactly that which made her discard it. The second was a strapless plum dress which had a beautiful mermaid silhouette but it was just that which made her struggle to walk, plus the top kept falling down so she had to hold it up when she walked out to keep it in place. The third was a black one shoulder dress made of tulle which made it puffy and she truly felt like a princess with it but it was far too big for her to be comfortable in it all day at the wedding, she had been already sweating figuring out how to put it on.

The fourth one was a deep red low v neck dress which cinched at the waist and from there draped down a lovely flowy train. It looked amazing on her, it was light and the shape of it was beautiful and flattering but she found herself pursing her lips at her reflection which showed her fully exposed and very marked chest. Her tits looked great hugged perfectly by the fabric but the love bites littering her skin had her trying not to laugh at herself for caring so little about it the night before when she had a wedding to go to in a few days.

At least she was grateful it didn't have a leg slit for her bruised thighs to show and with amusement clear on her face she walked out, "Well this is not gonna do, is it?"

It was a rhetorical question, she already had seen the annoyance in Alex's eyes that he knew Alice had left those and a part of her was hoping it was the product of jealousy, but thinking of it like that would hurt her if she found out that wasn't the reality so she had been pushing the thought away.

Before Alex could compliment her on how stunning she looked, there was a knock on the door of their private room that snapped Ella out of her thoughts. She was well aware of her marks so she tried to escape back behind the curtain before anyone could walk in but Rose beat her clumsy steps as she came into the room right when Ella was only managing to turn around.

"How are you liking them?" The woman asked enthusiastically and when she saw Ella's figure being hugged by the red fabric, she just had to say, "Oh let me see that one!"

Ella winced at her tone because it was so sweet and genuinely excited to see her wearing the dress so she just couldn't say no. Bad time to be a people pleaser, she scorned herself before slowly turning back around so she could face Alex and Rose.

The loud gasp Rose let out was enough for Ella to hide her face behind her hands, feeling her cheeks burning under her fingers, and Alex to laugh out loud. The singer watched as Rose all but counted the bruises on her skin and then switched her surprised expression for a teasing grin, "You're gonna have a good time covering all those up."

Hearing the smirk on Rose's voice, Ella shook her head still hiding behind her hands so the, "Oh my god, this is so embarrassing." she said came out muffled against the palms of her hands.

The woman directed her gaze to Alex then, completely unaware of the actual story behind them, "You went hard on her didn't you?"

Ella dropped her hands, ready to correct her but she only managed a, "He d–" when Alex interrupted, being a bit louder than her as he said, "I did but I'll help her get rid of them later." He looked so smug with a hand on his chin and a smirk on his face, it made Ella lock her jaw because if she didn't it would've dropped.

Rose giggled at the pair, "That's gonna be lots of ice you'll use." But once again, Ella's real explanation was stuck in her throat as the woman beat her to it, but luckily changed the topic of the conversation, "How did you like the ones you've already tried on?"

"This one was too big." She pointed at the second one she'd tried after clearing her throat, and very truthfully admitted her opinion about the other three, "And the other ones I just don't feel like I love them."

Rose hummed completely understanding her, "This one looks stunning on you though. But I feel like–" She cut herself off to have a small think and after a few seconds of staring at Ella's silhouette, a spark lit up in her brain, "Okay wait, I know just the one to bring you. I'll be right back."

Ella barely managed to say, "Thank you!" to her when Rose walked out of the room, but when the door closed behind her, she instantly turned to Alex to scold him.

"Why would you say that?!" Her mind was in a mush, she was so embarrassed but seeing him so proudly admit to that was making her head spin.

Her thoughts were stopped abruptly when the singer shrugged and raised a brow to set his argument down, "Would you prefer to explain how someone else did all that whilst you're out with me buying a dress for a wedding that you told her we're going to together?"

Ella didn't know why she felt so defeated and recognising that reaction from herself made her feel pathetic. She tried to hide it as best as she could, turning around to go back behind the curtain and look at herself in the mirror again, "Well if you put it that way." She replied, brushing her hands down the smooth fabric of the gown she had on.

"Saved you the awkwardness." Alex added proudly, eyebrows raised as if telling her he had been the one to make the situation better.

But Ella poked her head out the changing room and with a frown, she whisper-shouted, "It's still awkward!"

He giggled at how mortified she looked, it was so funny to him that she'd react like that when she had no need to. "You are making it awkward, she was joking about it."

"My face is burning." Her hands came up to cup her red cheeks, sighing at the cold of her fingers against her face.

"Wouldn't be the first time today, darling." He retorted playfully, and that earned him a lovely middle finger peeking through the side of the curtain which had him laughing out loud.

A few minutes later, in which Alex had been lost in his phone and Ella had been lost in her thoughts, Rose knocked on the door again with a stunning blue gown hanging on her arms.

"I think you'll like this one, but I'll keep looking for some more." The woman said handing Ella the piece of clothing and once the American girl had thanked her for it, she left the room again.

The dress was heavy in her arms but it felt fresh and it had the prettiest floral detailing embroidered with the same color of the gown so it looked more like texture than a pattern. It had spaghetti straps and a delicate scoop neck, what she wasn't sure about was the excess fabric on the back of it so without wasting more time, she went back behind the curtain.

A minute went by, Alex impatiently waiting for her to come out because she had gasped a few seconds before. He was about to ask what it was that she was gasping about when she let out an excited, "Oh sweets I think this one's it."

With his knee bouncing up and down, he bit his bottom lip before saying, "Let me see."

Alex was met with silence for another half minute and when he called her name, she only answered with a quiet, "Wait a second."

But he wasn't feeling that patience anymore, so very eager to see her, he instructed her, "Come on out already, you can't say that and then leave me hanging."

Ella's voice came out struggling as she replied, "It's only been less than a minute and I'm trying to fix the back but I can't reach it."

Knowing that he only itched more for her to come out, so he offered, "Come out and I'll help." Not without adding a "Hurry." at the end.

"You're really impatient." She sighed defeated as she couldn't get the extra fabric out when it was stuck right on her lower back where the zipper was. Taking him up on his words, she came out from behind the curtain, mindful of her every step to not step on the bottom of the dress, "What do you think?"

Alex choked on his words seeing her in that dress, his mouth opening and closing only letting out a "Wow." before he could gather his thoughts and finally say, "Darling you look gorgeous and that doesn't even cut it."

"Shut up." Ella rolled her eyes not wanting to take the compliment herself so she complimented the look of the gown, "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful." He agreed, nodding enthusiastically like a little kid, "You look stunning."

Ignoring the way his words made her stomach flip, she turned around to show him the back of it for it was her favorite part of the dress, "I'm obsessed with the back of it." And he was too, it was a backless dress so her back was on full show, the fabric sitting tightly on her lower back and the extra fabric draping lusciously around the low cut.

"Help me with this bit, it's stuck on the inside." She said and he knew exactly what she meant so reaching to untuck the fabric that had gotten stuck on her lower back, his fingers grazed her skin and she shivered under his touch.

A low, breathless, "There we go." fell from his lips, entirely satisfied by her reaction to his touch.

She hated that she had so obviously reacted so her "Thanks." came out choked.

Walking a few steps back to the changing room, she fully opened the curtain so she could see herself in the mirror without having to go back in and she turned slightly to see how the dress looked from different angles. "So... this one?"

"You're the one who decides that darling, you looked stunning in all of them but this one's just... wow." Alex was truly at a loss for words, she was effortlessly stunning. Her hair had been put up in a quick bun so there were many strands sticking out of it but she looked beautiful with her messy hair and she was walking around in her long gray socks which she had laughed about how they looked when she lifted the bottom of the dresses up to walk.

Alex grew mesmerized by her everyday it seemed like and it was something that surprised him. He didn't want to think too much about it, scared of messing something up and hurting her like he had in the past. He just had to live only being friends with her. Best friends. He'd rather have that than absolutely nothing, he loved her too much to let go of her that easily.

Rose's knuckles thudding against the wooden door interrupted his thoughts and when she came in and saw Ella practically beaming in the dress, she smiled and nodded in approval.

"I love this one." Ella confessed, giddy about having found the perfect dress for the wedding.

Rose was proud of her vision, "I knew it. That was just the right one."

So the American girl walked up to her and gave her a tight hug, "Thank you, it's truly perfect." She said into the woman's ear, letting her go after a soft squeeze.

Alex was entranced by her beauty and her kindness, but he was brought back when Rose turned to him and tauntingly asked him, "What do we think, Mr Dracula?"

"Think she looks absolutely breathtaking." He answered genuinely, the biggest smile on his face as his gaze went up and down Ella again.

"At least you didn't attack her back." Rose chatted back, seeing Ella's fortunately love bite free bare back in the reflection of the mirror.

The singer was feeling very smug about Rose thinking it was all him so playing more into the situation, he cheekily replied, "We shall see about that."

Which earned him a firm "Alex!" from Ella, one accompanied by her wide eyes at his confidence to just say that in front of the woman.

But Rose laughed hard at that, patting Alex's shoulder as she got some air back into her lungs, "Oh I love you two," she stated before inhaling deeply to completely regain her posture. When she straightened back, the woman turned to Alex and kindly inquired, "Want me to ring you up while she changes?"

Ella was about to say no because she wasn't going to allow Alex to buy her the dress but he practically jumped to his feet as he said, "Yes, I'll go with you and she can change."

Rose nodded and exited the room, completely unaware of the hard glare she was giving Alex who was pretty much ignoring it as he got his phone from the coffee table beside the loveseat he had been sitting on.

"Alexander." Ella started with her voice firm to try and get him to look at her.

But when he turned, a mischievous grin was adorning his face, and when he replied, "Eleanor." in a playful tone, she knew whatever she'd say would fly right over his head.

"Don't." She warned with a serious face, her hands already frantically trying to undo the zipper of the dress so she could quickly change and beat him to it.

He played dumb first, asking a silly, "What?"

She wasn't having it so trying to remind him of what they had talked about before she came, she said, "What did I tell you?"

There had been many occasions in which he had suggested taking her to many places and when she had jokingly said 'well you'll let me pay this time right?', he had swiftly averted the question and continued with listing his plans. So she had made sure to remind him every other time that when she came to visit, he wouldn't be allowed to spend money on her. That had been broken already when he showed her around London and she had been determined to not let it happen again.

But her reminder didn't work because Alex continued playing dumb about it, this time taunting her by saying, "I don't really remember right now darling, head's scrambled by the view." Giving her a wink before he stepped closer to the door.

She took a step forward to reach out to him, getting a hold of his wrist, "Told you I would–"

Alex interrupted her before she could repeat what he clearly remembered she had said many times before. "I really have to follow her 'cause it'd be rude to make her wait." He wasn't gonna listen to her in this one, not when he had the means to make her happy gifting her the dress she'd loved.

The singer took another step with her hand still clasped around his wrist and she quickly caught up right behind him. "Alexander David Turner." She said through her teeth when he didn't stop and had a foot out the room.

Knowing he had won already by being out of the private room, he smirked and pointed out with a tut, "Eleanor Hayes you can't leave the fitting room with the dress on."

Ella pursed her lips, exhaling through her nose completely frustrated, "I'm gonna fight you."

He was enjoying seeing her like this way too much. "Would love to see you try." He dared, taking advantage of her hold to pull her in by her forearm and leaving a quick peck on her temple.

"Have fun!" He said with exaggerated enthusiasm, leaving her all flustered and annoyed, still wearing the dress.

She had been huffing around while changing back to her clothes and when she came out of the changing room with a frown and the chosen dress in hand, Alex had the opposite expression on his face.

Rose took the garment from her with the sweetest smile which made Ella feel guilty for her lack of one so trying to make herself look at the positive outcome of it all, she smiled back as the woman packed it up in a perfect box with a bow tied around it and placed it in a bag.

Ella had been trying to keep up her act with Alex, thanking him reluctantly at first and biting her tongue to give him the cold shoulder as they walked out of the shop and back onto the streets of London.

But that had only lasted so long when he pulled her in by the waist and pressed a bunch of kisses on her cheek.

"Oh c'mon darling, don't be angry. I wanted to buy it for you." Alex defended himself quickly, his eyes trying to look for hers but she was forcing herself not to look at him.

Her gaze stayed ahead as they walked a few more steps but he wasn't gonna have her silence any longer so he stopped in his tracks, forcing her to stop with him and turning her around so her front was pressed against his.

"Are you not gonna talk to me now?" He pouted and when her eyes flew up to the sky, he cupped her jaw to make her look at him.

There was nothing aggressive about his touch, it was how delicate his fingers were on her skin and his gentle gaze on her that made her slowly melt in his arms.

"You just don't listen." She started with a defeated sigh, "I didn't want you to spend money on me again."

He thought about it then, something to say to twist her arm, "Can't this be your very late birthday gift?"

"You gave me a ticket back home." Ella reminded him with an eyebrow raised.

"That was from all of us, this one is just mine." He negotiated, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips when he saw her face fall in slight amusement at the loophole he had managed to find.

"You're insufferable." She decided then, shaking her head at how proud he looked to have caught her with that.

"You love me." He fought back, the corner of his eyes crinkling the harder he smiled.

Humming, she gave in and agreed, "I unfortunately do." playfully trying to get that ego of his down.

He scoffed and it made her giggle, "I'm kidding." and throwing her arms around his shoulders, she added, "Thank you sweets, love you."

Leaning back, he looked down at her and left one last kiss on her cheek, squeezing her waist before letting go and once she was back beside him, they continued their walk back to the hotel.

A few minutes passed, people watching and talking about the upcoming big event. Their talk about Nick getting his tux with the lads brought him to pointing out a fact that made him warm inside.

"You know this is perfect." Alex vaguely started, trailing off long enough for Ella to ask what it was and with a tilt of his chin pointing to the bag which contained the dress she'd just gotten, he explained, "My suit is blue too."

Gasping, she turned to him, "Awh! We're gonna be matching!" Ella scrunched her nose at him, "How cringe, I love it."

Alex snorted at her response but agreed, "Matt's gonna take the piss out of us."

"Definitely, but I bet everyone will be matching with their plus one." She pointed out, wishfully thinking that it would be that easy to escape Matt's taunting.

He hoped that logic worked too and whilst they were on the subject of the wedding, he mentioned again the plans for that day, "I'm picking you up early that morning, by the way."

Ella groaned, already dreading having to wake up at an ungodly hour to start getting ready. "Yeah, don't remind me how early though."

"I know, weddings shouldn't be that early." Alex wholeheartedly agreed, almost every wedding he had attended would've been awful for him if he wasn't surrounded by his friends—only being in their presence made him able to look past how long they lasted and how unnecessarily stressful they were.

"It's an actual crime." And then she thought about how late the reception could be but found relief at the silver linings, "At least there's a free bar."

He chuckled and nodded, "I can already imagine the hangover."

She grimaced at the thought, "S'not gonna be pretty that's for sure."

"I'll take care of you, don't worry, darling." He promised, holding her closer by the arm she had hooked on his.

"I'll take you up on that, sweets." Ella replied with her eyebrows raised like challenging him to keep up to his words, which he definitely would.

But then the singer reminded her of the real trouble approaching them, "Tomorrow's what you gotta be worried about."

The next day would be the parties thrown for the bride and groom, she called them bachelor and bachelorette parties but she'd gotten cultured about them being called stag do and hen do over in that side of the pond.

"Matt and Bre being in charge of the parties is making me nervous." She admitted very honestly as she had tried many times to get something from Breana but miserably failed at it.

Alex hadn't been successful in getting information from the couple either so he felt the same way, "Haven't managed to get anything out of them so I share your worries."

Ella sighed, only being able to imagine the trouble the next night would bring but wishing aloud, "It better be fun."

He decided to tease her a bit and with a low voice said, "But at what cost?"

"Don't." She cut him off before he could set off more nerves in her and nudged his hip with hers, "That only makes me even more scared."

He giggled at her, noticing they were already close to the hotel she was staying at and wanting to spend the last few minutes they had together on a better note, he decided to settle her down a bit, "I know we won't be together but Florence will take care of you since I know Bre is gonna be too gone to do it herself."

"Awh I love Flo!" Ella almost jumped in her spot at the reminder of his childhood best friend's attendance, "I'm excited now, I can properly party with her."

They had been talking about properly going out at Glastonbury, trying to align their schedules so everyone could join and there had been a few dates thrown around but nothing confirmed, nothing that couldn't be solved when she would see her again then and the thought of making plans with her and the girls was making Ella excited.

She had been brainstorming more about that shoot she had in mind and she couldn't wait to properly set a day and a meeting place for them all to bring the vision to life. Ella was properly giddy about it for they were all stunning and the shoot was going to be in a style she had been waiting to try for a while.

Alex's memories came back to him of every time he'd partied with Flo since they were teenagers and he smiled at them, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the girls would have the best night together. "She's amazing company, you're gonna have the best time."

Ella hummed, even more excitement bubbling up inside her and with hopes up to the ceiling, she replied, "I'm counting on it, Turner."

The girls all together and away from the lads, partying the night away in celebration of the bride sounded like a perfect night and, despite going into it blind, Ella just couldn't wait to see what that night would bring.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

A/N: I don't exactly remember how me and N came about the talk about how insane it would be if Alice and Ella bumped into each other and had Alex absolutely seething but it ended up in me writing this and all I can say is I blacked out, I was fully possessed lolllllll! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a whiplash of emotions from now on tbf but it's gonna be really fun. Hen do is coming next and so is the wedding... heheheh. Thank you for reading and see you in two weeks!!!!!! xx

Taglist: @imagine-that-100 @red---moon @kennedy-brooke @faveficz @indierockgirrl @ladydraculasthings @moonvr @unwantedlovergirl @eaglestar31 @nikisfwn @funniestpersoninnyc @andrearroe @justacaliforniandreamer @alexturnersgf69 @yourorganiccigarette

[theowritesfiction]

Thank you for tagging me, @juniperhillpatient! You know how we fic writers always enjoy an opportunity to talk about ourselves and our writing! 😉

20 Questions For Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 15

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 3,355,310

3. What fandoms do you write for? Avatar: The Last Airbender for the past few years, but I have also written for Life Is Strange, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Baldur’s Gate fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. the burning ring – I guess not surprising because it’s the oldest of my azutara stories, and also it’s set in the canon-verse, which always gets more clicks than any AU. 2. the white lotus gambit – my ATLA Pai Sho modern AU story. I’m actually quite surprised that this story did so well because I expected it to have very niche interest, I mean who really cares about kids playing Pai Sho… but it was about so much more than Pai Sho. 3. Azula’s kitchen nightmares – shockingly my current WIP is already up to third place in this metric, which really blows me away because I haven’t been posting it *that* long. But I’m happy that readers have resonated so well with this kitchen nightmares inspired wild weirdness. 4. The raging maelstrom – one of my zutara stories, but with a very dark katara and rather bittersweet ending. I don’t really think about this story anymore, but like… it’s still there, I guess. 5. The pit of snakes – sequel to the burning ring, enough said 😊

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes, almost always, unless someone is just being rude then I will just freeze the thread and ignore them. Or if someone comments on a story that’s like 5 years old and I can’t figure out a way to respond because I have forgotten what the story was about. Also, I don’t plan to ever disable guest comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? From fics currently posted on Ao3, I guess that would be the raging maelstrom. Katara sacrifices herself at the end because she sees it as the only way to atone for some of the awful mistakes she’s made, so that’s a bittersweet ending at best. I have a Dragon Age fic of 4 short chapters on ffn that’s way angstier, though. It’s called the price of immortality, and it involves my blood mage Warden sequestering herself away in Warden’s Keep together with her lover and requesting a bunch of prisoners be sent to her from Denerim. It’s all a part of an experiment to attain immortality by brewing a potion from lyrium, Andraste’s ashes and the blood extracted from the prisoners. However, she runs out of prisoners just before attaining her goal. Care to guess what happens to Zevran (her lover)? Yeah, turns out price of immortality is sacrificing your humanity and going batshit insane.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Eh, most of my fics have very happy endings, certainly the Azutara ones. Personally, my favorite is probably the once in a blue moon ending (WLG sequel), because it was from an unexpected POV and set 30 years in the future, and I liked how it allowed me to celebrate the accomplishments of all the main characters. It’s just too bad that not many people saw it.

8. Do you get hate on fics? not really. I got a lot of hate on the raging maelstrom, because there are some zutara fanatics who really hate anyone writing toxic zutara. They see it as secret kataang supporters undermining the validity of their ship. I’m glad that Azutara fandom appears saner, although that’s probably just because we're fewer lmao.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Occasionally. I used to write either F/M or F/F, but if I were to write smut again it would surely be all F/F. I just have very inconsistent mood when it comes to smut. Sometimes I like to include it, but for a while now I just haven’t felt any real urge to write anything smutty.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Yeah, I write fusion fics which is just transplanting the characters of one property into the setting of another property, where they replace the characters of that setting. I’m not sure I have written a proper crossover according to its definition.

11. there is no question 11 apparently 😊

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Someone once started translating my Mass Effect fanfics into French. I thought they were insane to even try, and they gave up after like 3 chapters.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not really, I’m not sure that would suit me well, creatively I work better on my own.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Well, I can’t really say Azutara because I’ve been writing fanfic for a very long time, and they have been my focus for only the past 3 or so years, but lately, certainly they have been at the center of everything I write.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don’t have anything like that. If I want to finish something, then I just do it.

16. What are your writing strengths? I have no idea, honestly. I guess I’m good at writing banter? I like to think I’m reasonably versatile and there’s nothing I’m amazingly good at, but also nothing I’m painfully bad with. My stories usually have a little bit of everything.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I know I’m bad at writing action scenes, but it’s just so hard to motivate myself to apply greater effort when action really bores me. Sometimes I also struggle with descriptions and setting the scene, just because English is not my native language and it can sometimes be hard to find words to properly describe what I envision.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Well, I sort of did that for my Mass Effect fic, even if it was just a Russian admiral running around screaming ‘Suka Blyat!’ XD I don’t know, there’s a time and place for it, I guess.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Baldur’s Gate 2. Really showing my age there *cry*

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? oh that’s so hard to choose. Like, the amount of plotting and research that went into White Lotus Gambit was… a lot, and I loved the result. But then again, the effort to make the ATLA characters fit into the Life Is Strange universe, the crazy amount of very detailed outlining done for that fic, and the crazy codependent Azutara… yeah, I would have to say it’s corners of the world our mere prologue

[classicequinox]

Fic FAQ: Where your love has always been enough (for me)

Hello, I thought I'd compile the most frequent questions I've been getting for this fic here for easier viewing/in case you have the same question! :) WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND

Do avoid reading if you're not up to date with the current chapter, or if you'd rather wait and see how things go as new chapters are released!

1. How old are all the children? Their ages will of course increase with time since this fic spans so many years, but as of chapter 19 (Shouto's birth):

Touya: 10 Fuyumi: 6 Natsuo: 4 Shouto: 0

Keigo: 9 Emiko: 9 Geten: 6

Hana: 10 Tenko: 5

There are some differences from canon since this fic was planned long before all the children's ages were confirmed in the manga!

2. When is Hawks going to appear ? As of chapter 23: very, very soon...

3. Is Touya/Hawks going to be a thing? Yes, they most definitely are! Don't worry I wouldn't be so evil as to tag them for only that angsty DabiHawks scene set in canon :')

4. When is AFO going to do something/why isn't All Might doing anything about AFO? No, I haven't forgotten that AFO exists (and neither has All Might) but unfortunately, there are only so many plotlines that can be actively followed at once :') Let's just say, AFO is up to his usual scheming behind the scenes and All Might is actively dismantling various of his organised crime units.

(That being said, we should get a little preview of AFO in a couple of chapters from C23!)

5. Is Izuku going to make an appearance? Definitely!

6. Are any of the Todoroki children also from Enji's canon timeline/going to travel back in time from the future? Unfortunately not, for 2 main reasons:

1) It's a little universe breaking since the way the branching timelines work, even if the kids travel back, it'd be this AU timeline's version of them who would travel back rather than their canon versions (who would still be stuck in their sucky canon childhood with canon Endeavour)

2) It'd make for a whole story of its own that wouldn't fit into this already very giant fic :')

BUT on both those notes, I'm very willing to break the universe's space-time rules and explore the delicious feels in a spin off! It's still a long way to go (I'd probably want to complete the main fic first), but I imagine any of the kids (Dabi, anyone?) would have a pretty interesting reaction to being thrown into this AU

Feel free to let me know which characters you'd most like to see in that scenario :)

7) How long will this fic be? Good question :') While my headcanons stretch out across the kids' childhoods and deep into their teenage years and beyond... in the name of good storytelling to avoid bloating this fic too much, this story will likely end pre-canon, albeit with a long canon era epilogue.

Projected total chapter count (subject to change): ~30-35

Before I get a lot of screams and angry yelling: I do still intend to flesh out and post those headcanons I mentioned as stories in the same series. Whether as a single actual slice-of-life sequel or multiple character-focused fics or a mix, I haven't yet decided, but there's that!

--- Feel free to ask if you have questions that aren't listed here! :)

[magpiefngrl]

whats the easiest thing you find to write and the hardest? And why do you think that is? e.g dialogue, action, description, flashbacks, letters, chapter titles (LOL), smut, etc?

Hello!

Chapter titles LOL! They can be hard, right? I only ever used chapter titles in 9 ½ Days and they were locations, but I'm actually using them in my original romance. They're not super imaginative or whatever, but my instinct says to come up with a title for each chapter, and so that's what I do.

OK so easiest things for me to write:

--dialogue. Idk if "easy" is the right word, because I do spend a ginormous amount of time revising it. It's A. a very important aspect of writing for me, B. something I always notice in other stories whether good or bad, and C. I'm pretty pleased with my dialogue in many fics and I consider it a strength of mine. So, Idk if I it's an easy thing for me to write, or simply something I care a lot about and so I don't mind the effort required to get it right.

--descriptions. I enjoy writing descriptions and making a setting evocative and vivid. I often see people on tumblr say that they struggle with them, but for me it was never an issue. Idk why this is an easy thing for me. Possibly because when I went backpacking a long time ago, I'd write regular emails to a list of friends and I'd have to describe where I was? (it was before social media, so no insta or facebook with the uploading of images to show what a destination looked like. No cheating. I had to rely on words.) Perhaps that was good training. I was away for months. I also love creating atmosphere and mood in my stories, and descriptions are a way to do that. I enjoy them--maybe it's as simple as that.

Hardest things for me to write:

--plot. Ugh. UGH. U G H . I'm mostly a pantser, I discover the story as I write, which is often a joy (I was so surprised at how some of my stories developed), but it's also, very often, a nightmare. I think I'm getting better at coming up with plot, but it's not something I do easily.

--exposition. I do wonder: does anyone find this easy? Exposition is such a fkn nightmare. There's zero joy in this lol. Figuring out how to let the reader know necessary information in an organic way, at the moment they need it, without overwhelming them with details or underwhelming them so they're lost, and to make it as seamless and invisible as possible: this is so fkn hard. And it's something fanfic doesn't really prepare one for, so I've no skill for it.

Hard but enjoyable challenges:

--voice. When I get the right voice for a story, the words flow. That isn't particularly hard. The hard part is coming up with it. Figuring it out. Involves a lot of trial and error.

--the relationship progression. 9 ½ Days took forever to write, precisely because it required taking two people who hated each other in chapter one and gradually, organically, slowly but not too slowly because I wasn't planning to write 200k, making them fall in love. It's tricky. I've read publ. romances where this falls flat. Either they get together too quickly or too slowly or too abruptly. One day they're at each other's throats, the next they're in love, and you feel you missed a step or a chapter or something. In fandom, many fics often begin with the two characters already in love with each other, but that means the most significant part of the romance has happened off page. It's not something I'm interested in writing. I mainly write romance these days, so nailing a good relationship progression is my main challenge, but one that interests me.

Thanks for the ask!

ask me about writing

[dwaekkicidal]

Announcement Post! [im still alive fuckers!!!]

red is most important if u dont want to read it all <3

im feeling much better now :) I'm not sick anymore + i caught up (for the most part lol) with my class so im gonna try to start posting again!

~ just a slight warning/update of sorts: the only things that I plan to post during September are my two ongoing series: Sharing is Caring + The Incidents (the last 2 chapters of it i hopee)!

other than those^, i will probably occasionally post only soft/hard thoughts or drabbles becauuuuuuse:

1. I have a collab coming later this week!

@bbokicidal and I will be writing Hybrid!Skz Headcanons 9/5-9/8, so please go look at their post and vote for 4 of the boys you would want to see!!! (we might do the other four later on if you guys like the first set hehe)

andd

2. I'm officially starting to prepare for Kinktober :3

I'm gonna post 12 Fics: 3 fics a week and will have "a couple" of main kinks per fic (8 'x member' fics, 2 threesome 'member x reader x member' fics, and 2 member x member fics) I'll release the masterlist post for this sometime soon with more info! <3

unrelated psa under the cut (for requests)

in summary: my inbox is always open, but i will not be (and have not been) responding to full requests for a while. u CAN send hard/soft thoughts instead <3

this also reminds me,,, i never made a blatant post about it but heres a friendly reminder that my FIC REQUESTS are closed!!! they have been for over a month now & ive updated all my important posts to state that theyre closed, but I've still gotten some requests in my inbox 😭😭

I am ONLY taking thoughts right now (aka things i can write as short headcanons or drabbles), if you word something like its a request or straight up specify that you want a fic, i will be completely ignoring you for god knows how long (probably until after novemeber if im being honest with you)

anyways if you've read this far hi, i love you, make sure you drink water <3 i have some reposts queued while i work on everything :3

(and maybe a han hard thoughts + hyunjin soft thoughts coming soon hehe... maybe)

[lord-aldhelm]

Thank you @bagheerita for the tag! I only have one fic so far, and it is kinda still a WIP… so not sure how I can answer any of these without getting repetitive lol! :D I am also not really a writer; I am definitely an artist but just write for myself... But I will try my best.

How many works do you have on AO3?

Only one at the moment (Springtime in Saltwic)! I actually started writing it a year and a half ago, but made the decision to publish it a couple of months ago. It is technically done, but as I am releasing it one chapter at a time I am taking the chance to make some minor edits. I am planning on a second fic once this one is done, but it will probably be even longer than the current one so no timeline on that yet.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

At the moment, 94,685, but the finished fic will have probably closer to 115K (maybe more, I just added a chapter lol!)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Last Kingdom. I have never written a fanfic before, ever, in my entire life. I felt overwhelmingly compelled to write for this one though.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I just have the one, so...

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YES and I LOVE comments! Even if it is only a few words, it makes me feel like it was worthwhile to publish my fic. I almost gave up at one point because I had no interaction on my fic, but I got one wonderful comment and it gave me the courage to continue posting chapters, so it really makes so much of a difference. I don't think readers really understand the impact that a single comment makes on your self-esteem.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Again, only the one so far, and it is not completely published yet so... no spoilers!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Same as above! :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't yet, and I hope I never do...

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Um, not exclusively? I like to craft slow burn type stories, and I will include an intimate scene if it is indicated but that is not the main point of the story. I am not against it, I just don't like to write that kind of stuff.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't and don't think I will since that kind of genre does not appeal to me personally.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of. Although I really doubt anyone would bother with mine tbh.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again not that I am aware of. I mean, I haven't done so myself, but I know one of my readers does not speak English so they probably translated it for themselves (I would assume).

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope. Although that might be fun!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Aethelflaed x Aldhelm has consumed me; and is the only ship that has really inspired me to write. I have had other ships but not been into them enough to want to write anything.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The story I am currently publishing (Springtime in Saltwic) was torn apart and rearranged about 4-5 times, and the original story that I was planning on telling was dropped for the one I am writing now (it was a post Season 4 story). I like the one that I ended up writing, so I don't think I will ever publish the original version; not that there is really much left of it after it has been cannibalized by my current one.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I am not really sure, since I have not been doing this for very long. But I like writing character development and backstories, motivations, introspection, that kind of thing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I hate writing conflict, even though I know it will resolve. When I got to that point in my story, I really had to power through it. I also am not so good at sensory descriptive writing. I know some people are so amazing at really bringing you into a scene with amazing visualizations, but I am more of a get to the point kind of person when it comes to writing, so I have to learn to try to include those.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I personally don't like it, and I would not do it unless there was no other way to say something. I hate how you have to get some kind of explanation or look u some word, and it takes you out of the story. Unless it is done elegantly, which is difficult.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I mean, again this is my first fic so...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I guess the one I am writing now? I wrote it entirely for me, as a way to get the daydreams out of my head so they would stop driving me insane. Never really intended on writing a story in the first place, it just sort of happened!

No pressure tags: @thelettersfromnoone @mrsarnasdelicious @emilyhufflepufftlk @aethelreds @gemini-mama

[joycieillustrations]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you to @the-reading-lemon for tagging me over on my main blog and also for encouraging me to get back into fic writing in the first place ❤️

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

A humble five! Though I plan on writing many more.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

158,634, of which 112,023 belong to Ex libris

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, I just write for House of the Dragon, though I do have a couple of unfinished Gallifrey fics (and a few more that are unpublished) that I really do want to continue some day.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I only have five, but in order they are: Ex libris, Salt and Smoke, Office Hours, Causal Sequence and Stress Fractures

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Generally speaking I do not, though not because I’m not grateful for them! I have checking OCD, which I’m still trying to understand and develop coping strategies for, and unfortunately one of the ways it manifests is repeatedly checking emails, messages, texts, etc. to make sure that I haven’t ‘done something wrong’. It might sound dramatic, but it usually takes me a day to recover from the anxiety spike of just posting a chapter and I don’t have the energy to also deal with the repeat compulsions I would have if I responded to comments too, especially as I feel that if I respond to one, I should respond to all! Instead, I like to leave a note at the beginning of each chapter to let everyone know how much their comments mean. I really wish I could engage more, but currently this is what I can cope with!

In the last year, I’ve only responded to one comment and that was because I found the tone of it rude and upsetting and I wanted to let the author of the comment know.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Bold of you to assume I’ve finished a fic. Currently the one with the angstiest content is probably Salt and Smoke, though I promise the ending will have a happy note!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, not finished, but I think Ex libris will have by far the happiest ending - after all, we all know Corlys and Rhaenys are married with two children at the start of House of the Dragon!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. I have the best readers ever and I get such joy from seeing both familiar names and new ones in my comments! I’ve only received one bit of hate thus far, which I think is pretty good innings.

9. Do you write smut?

I do indeed! My smuttiest one thus far is my modern AU for Corlys and Rhaenys, Office Hours, though there is a sex scene in Salt and Smoke and I have plenty of scenes up my sleeve for distant chapters of Ex libris and future fics too ;)

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not really, other than some oneshot AUs I have planned - Corlys and Rhaenys as Han and Leia, for example.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I’m aware! I only started writing fic again about a year ago, so maybe it’s a bit early for fic theft. I have had my art stolen though!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven’t, though I would consider it the absolute highest honour! I’m a translator myself (German to English) and I know how much love, time, and brain power translation takes, so if it ever were to happen, I would be the happiest fic author out there!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Other than plotting out an elaborate HP fic with my best friend when I was 11? Not really, though Office Hours came about after throwing some AU scenarios around with my friends, so they definitely helped inspire that one.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Currently it is obviously Corlys x Rhaenys, but I’ve adored Han x Leia for as long as I can remember. Twelve x Missy also dragged me back on to this website, so definitely have to give them kudos for that.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

About 10 years ago I made a very basic Romulan conlang for a school project and, while I was doing that, plotted out a fic focused on Sela, the half-Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar from TNG, so that I could see the language used in context. I think I only ever wrote a couple of thousand words, but it would be cool to take this relatively small Trek character and build up the world and culture of Romulus around them, especially since we now have a lot more material to work with since Star Trek: Picard aired.

16. What are your writing strengths?

My dialogue gets mentioned a lot in my reviews, which makes me really happy! I think it comes from doing a lot of theatre and listening to a lot of audio dramas! For me, there’s nothing more satisfying when you’re writing fic than when you read through what you’ve written and you can hear the rhythm and cadence of the actor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Making my sentences overly wordy or overly complicated. It’s something my teachers pointed out to me at school, I have a tendency to meander before I get to the point!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I actually do this already for my House of the Dragon fics! I love, love, love High Valyrian and it’s so fun to sink my teeth into a new language (especially as, seeing as it’s a conlang, there’s way less pressure to be perfect all the time). I did a degree in linguistics, so it’s been a blast from the past dusting off these old skills and learning about grammatical concepts I haven’t used before (such as the vocative, locative and comitative cases). I’ve never been so thankful I suffered through three years of Russian because it’s given me such a head start when it comes to a highly inflectional language like HV!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Like most people my age, it was HP. I wrote mostly about Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa: what can I say, I love a messy, mildly incestuous family.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Ex libris, though Salt and Smoke is very close to my heart. Ex libris has just grown into this absolute monster of a fic - I originally thought it would only be seven chapters! - and I’ve learnt so much in the process.

I am tagging @backjustforberena and @youleavethetardisbrakeson and you, the reader, if you’d like to have a go answering these too! 🥰

[senblades]

9, 22 , 13 and 6!

[cracks knuckles] alrighty! great timing, as I just finished writing chaper 62 for fftsr HAHA

6. the word that appears the most in your current draft

The top word in my doc for chapter 62 is, apparently, "Shadow". Unsurprising, I guess lmao (followed by "Ren", then "Haru", then "Okumura" (gee golly I wonder what the chapter is about))

9. start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

hmm...... well, if we're saying Faith for the second run, then like- eight, nine months (holy hell)? I posted the first chapter on October 5th 2023, according to ao3, and I had built up a buffer of chapters starting about two weeks prior.

But, I had also started writing my big 'ol planning "what the hell is even happening in this fic" doc a few weeks before that, so I guess- shit, ten months?

Buuuut if we're talking "completed fics", then my one shot Reflections took... I guess a few days total? Spread out, of course, but it's only around 3k, so it only took so long because i needed the prose to be as flowery as possible HAHA

13. a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

[puffs out my cheeks] okay here's the thing, the persona brainrot is strong, and when I say "brainrot" I tend to mean "hyperfixation", and in the case of persona, I mean "hyperfixation that has and will last for a very long time". Sooooo I guess my cop-out answer is "Persona 3 or 4", because like. I have a long fic idea for the former and a two-shot idea for the latter HAHAHA

Buuuuut if I had to pick another fandom that I would write for.... Ace Attourney? Or, as is likely, something will come and blindside me down the road

or, y'know what? Left-field answer: Octopath Traveller. HAHA I honestly really like the two games and the anthology style. Alfyn... my boy.... I would write a one shot for you

22. do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

oh definitely... I was so nervous posting the first chapter of fftsr.... I posted it at like. 11pm, and immediately went to sleep so I could stop thinking about it lmao

but! now, it's kind of like.... since fftsr's chapters are relatively short (kinda), I always get worried that people will jump the gun with stuff in the comments, when it's just a situation of "this will be explained in a later chapter, but that chapter might be three weeks from now", y'know? There's also morality stuff occasionally- fftsr is honestly pretty tame in that regard, with things that people could yell at me for, but, well, Akechi is one of the main characters, so sometimes I'm a little afraid people will argue with me on stuff hahaha

getting over it? ummmm I just like. stop feeling emotions for a while HAHA a terrible answer, I'm sure

ty very much for the ask! <3 <3 <3 this felt like and interview it was very fun HAHAHA

[jinn-mori]

20 Questions For Writers

@pencilofawesomeness Doing this because why not

How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 17 works as of this post. There is a good chance that there will be many more. Pencil, I envy you and all your brainchildren.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

I am at a grand total of... 119,898 words. Holy cow! I'm willing to bet most of that came from AHC.

3. What fandoms do I write for?

Whatever piece of media I'm hyperfixating on at that point in time, though I do try to keep myself from writing too many multi-chapters. My main fandoms are Bleach, Fairy Tail, and Jujutsu Kaisen with what I write though I do plan on writing some stuff for NNT and Hellsing.

4. What are your top fics by kudos?

5. Apocrypha (Bleach) - 98 kudos

4. Dear God (Bleach) - 121 kudos

3. Just In Case (Bleach) - 204 kudos

2. A Hollow Crown (Bleach) - 413 kudos

A Wisteria To Our Eternity (Jujutsu Kaisen) - 581 kudos

Three of my top five fics are AiIchi. Wasn't surprised that AHC would be up there since it's kind of my HTTYDS.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. There are times where I can't figure out how to respond to a comment to I just kinda leave it be. Other times, I could respond because I want to know the audience's thoughts on a chapter or they mention liking this or that and I want to know why. To me, what helps improve writing is understanding not only how something works but why it works. For example, why do so many people like my characterization of Aizen in A Hollow Crown? What about his characterization makes people like him? Or I go to the comments when I need ideas and running around in my own head doesn't do the trick. Hell, I'll even leave it in the author's notes if I'm having trouble with a plot point and could use some audience feedback.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'd say Ich bin verlore since it was a one-shot about longing for something you'd never have and wondering if what you did have was the real thing or not. Also, it's a Berserk fic so angst is inevitable.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

If we only include multi-chapters, then it could only go to A Hollow Crown since it's my only completed multichapter. And I'd say is a quiet sort of happiness, setting up for events to come and giving some characters a sense of hope. If we include one-shots, then I'd give that one to Dear God since it's an ending on a hopeful note where things can only really go up.

8. Do you get any hate on fics?

Nope! Hasn't happened to me.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

It's all yaoi smut. I tend to keep things from going into dub-con territory as smut where the consent isn't exactly clear is a squick for me. Any smut I write is between two or more adults, as I find writing smut of underage characters to be... ew.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I plan to write some. I've got an NNT x TOH fic I'm debating writing, one that's a big ol' fandom crossover inspired by Fear and Hunger 2: Termina. Another one I have in mind to write is this Bleach x Seven Deadly Sins that's moreso the world of NNT with the characters of Bleach (like pencil's Genshin x NNT fic).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, and I hope I never get one stolen.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, though I'd love to take a crack at translating my own fics. Gotta get in that translation practice somehow!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I do have a lot of ships, but I wouldn't quite say I have a favorite. I've written the most for AiIchi but I'd love to write for some others. Also, I'm someone who is more on board for found family fics or fics just focusing on the bonds between people.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Someday, I will return to my WIPs and finish them! Or I'd like to. To be honest, I have sooo many in my head that I need to put to paper.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd say character analysis. Several people have said that I'm good at breaking down a character and seeing what makes them work and then putting them into a fic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

This is more of a personal nitpick with myself, but I feel like I struggle with making my chapters long enough. How do I get myself to write longer chapters? I wanna write longer chapters, dammit.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

You're asking this from the world languages major! I love adding that in... well, when it makes sense. If I can use it to add some spice to a character or give hints about them *cough* AHC!Grimmjow *cough* then I'll go right ahead. Ya just need to do it in a way that makes sense both in and out of the story to where readers can get the gist of it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Fairy Tail! Demons x Dragonslayers is my oldest fic and first wrote it on Wattpad but started its rewrite on when I started cross-posting it on AO3.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

It'd have to be A Hollow Crown and by extension its series Hollow Moon . Yes, DxD is what started my fanfic journey but it was A Hollow Crown that really kicked it off. It also started my obsession of 'what if Aizen but good but he was still Aizen'.

Get tagged bozos: @johannepetereric , @averiina , @skullywullypully , @backwardshirt

[blackhairedjjun]

flowers of every color | writer's behind the scenes!

some stuff about my writing process for the fic! be warned that if you haven't caught up yet, there are spoilers

tagging people who liked and/or replied my interest check post: @agustdiv1ne @mazeinthemoon @txtistheloml @kyaneosprincess @teletubbiesssss @banggyu0308

these are pretty long so i'm putting them behind a read-more hehe

story planning:

while we've gotten plenty of yeonjun in prince outfits over the years, the main inspiration for this fic is yeonjun's opening outfit in act: sweet mirage! i saw that and was like "oh man he would be SO DASHING as a prince 😍" and just went from there

if you've been here from the start, you might know that i didn't originally plan make a series! i just word-vomited the first chapter (well, what became the first chapter) directly into tumblr's post editor because the thought of prince!yeonjun wouldn't leave me alone, especially after seeing a few other prince/commoner and prince/servant fics floating around lol. chapter 1 is also the only chapter made using tumblr's legacy editor rather than their new one (which is also why the cover pics are one big edited photo and not 3 separate photos, i couldn't figure out how to get 3 photos to line up in the legacy editor).

i honestly did not expect people to read chapter 1 but they did!! and they liked the idea!! plus even after writing chapter 1 i STILL couldn't get the idea out of my head so i decided to write it as a full story. i've written plenty of oneshots before under my (non-kpop) ao3 account, but this is my first multichapter series! so i opened google docs and made a quick outline of the story's main events.

the original outline for foec had 6 chapters + 2 endings, but as i wrote the story, i realized that more detail and scenes were needed than what i initially outlined! chapters 3 and 4 (ball preparations + the ball / gazebo dance scene) were supposed to be one chapter. chapters 5 and 6 (y/n hanging out with the chois + getting caught + punishment + intro of arranged marriage) were also supposed to be one chapter. chapters 7-9 (end of friendship, reconciling with soogyu, y/n & beomgyu talk) were also supposed to be one chapter!

i actually started writing the bad ending first before the good ending -- my reasoning was that if i were the reader, i would want to save the good ending for last so that i could end the series on a positive note. i was very surprised when people voted for the good ending first in the poll LMAO also as far as i'm concerned, both endings are canon in a "branching timeline" kind of way. they are both the real ending! i do have a soft spot for the good ending but also i love angst too much to not write a bad ending haha.

honestly most of the story beats from my original outline made it into the final fic! the biggest change has to do with queen hwayoung's and princess ajin's roles in the story (more on that below).

character notes:

when i was first brainstorming i really wanted to include both taehyun and hueningkai in the story as well, but i struggle with writing ensemble casts and choi line + y/n (+ the supporting characters in the castle) were already enough for me to handle. soobin and beomgyu were the easiest for me to incorporate into the story since they have the same last name and i could go "oh in this universe they're part of the same royal house hence the same last name" HAHA. i do imagine that the house of choi princes are also friends with tyunning (kai does get alluded to in chapter 9), but they're off doing their own adventures.

some of little moments in the fic were inspired by actual things txt have done in variety shows! yeonjun, y/n, soobin, and beomgyu playing cards in chapter 5 is based off to do ep. 53 where they also play cards. soogyu playing badminton in chapter 8 is inspired by gbgb era idol human theater where they played a little badminton by the pool. and there are a lot more small character quirks that are inspired by gifs or fancams i've seen of them haha.

queen hwayoung and princess ajin were originally not supposed to be part of the story! my original idea was the have the arranged marriage subplot be heard secondhand by through advisers so that it feels like an invisible force pulling yeonjun away from y/n. but i needed to make the threat of the arranged marriage stronger and ended up writing the scene with queen hwayoung in it for chapter 6.

princess ajin especially was a late addition -- originally she was never supposed to appear at all, never visiting the castle and only speaking through her mom / royal advisors, so there was that threat of yeonjun being married off to someone he's never even met. but after looking through the feedback of chapter 6 i realized that i kinda-sorta accidentally made setup for her oops. people were wondering what she'd be like, and it would feel too anticlimactic to never have her appear in the story, so i wrote her in. which i don't regret because i did enjoy writing her big scene in chapter 10!

speaking of which: a friend of mine asked what happens to princess ajin, and honestly i wanted to give her proper closure too! but i couldn't find a way to fit it into the story in a way that felt natural. if you ask me though, she gains some level of political independence from her mom (represented by her visiting the castle in the good ending). she still marries for political reasons, to a prince or nobleman who is also in it for the politics, and at first they treat their marriage as a business partnership. eventually they grow close and form a devoted "i'd do anything for you" bond -- not necessarily romantic in nature, but caring in its own way. (i'm describing a queerplatonic relationship basically)

tbh i don't have the energy to write another multichapter right now, but i would love to see spinoff fics for soobin and beomgyu or even taehyun and kai as princes in their own kingdoms! so if you're reading this and you want to do it, you have my blessing <3

flower notes:

while some chapter titles were planned around a specific flower representing the events & progression of the story, others were not (because of the chapter splits i talked about earlier) and i just chose whatever flower was in it lol. the planned chapter title flowers are: yellow roses (ch2), pink roses (ch4), sunflowers (ch5), striped carnations (ch7) , purple hyacinths (ch9), red roses (ch10), daffodils (GE), and white lilies (BE). the unplanned title flowers are: irises (ch1), lilies of the valley (ch3), red and purple zinnias (ch6), sweet peas (ch8).

i mostly used this website as a reference for the language of flowers, BUT i also double check with one or two other websites to make sure i'm getting an established flower meaning and not something made up! when i started fic planning i made a list of flowers with meanings that fit the main story beats and character progressions, then picked the ones with the most established meanings (i.e. supported by multiple "language of flowers" websites) and/or the ones that were appropriate for the growing season.

even though i wrote a disclaimer not to pay attention to botanical accuracy re: seasonal flowering times, i originally envisioned the fic to take place over the spring. then when it got longer, i imagined it taking place over spring and summer, so i tried (keyword: tried) to choose seasonally appropriate flowers or flowers that bloom year-round. this is hard for me because i live in a tropical country. i have never seen a lot of these flowers in person because they don't grow in the climate here, and i have no idea what a four-season year feels like. so i decided not to put time-of-year markers in the fic and leave the season ambiguous, and added that disclaimer about the flowers' accuracy.

an example of this: chapter 9 is named after purple hyacinths. i first decided on this back when the story was only supposed to take place during the spring, since hyacinths are a spring flower. i considered naming it after hydrangeas because they mean something like "thank you for understanding" (i.e. y/n going "thank you for understanding what a hard position i'm in" to yeonjun), and also because they're one of my favorite flowers. but i wasn't sure about their seasonal appropriateness since some sources said that they bloom during early summer so i changed it to hyacinths. BUT THEN the fic got long and i started imagining that the later chapters take place in the summer SO the hyacinths ended up being seasonally inappropriate after all! and hydrangeas would have been more appropriate! especially since txt literally has a song called hydrangea love out aarghhh noooo but anyway it is what it is

other flowers that didn't make the cut + their meanings: sweet william (gallantry), alstroemeria (friendship or devotion), freesia (friendship, thoughtfulness), white tulips (forgiveness, consideration, respect), thyme (courage, strength)

other notes:

the key lime pie in chapter 6 is based on a real pie that i ate at my friend's house when i visited her there and i thought it was the most delicious thing i have ever eaten. in the original draft it was a lemon tart!

i wanted to keep this series strictly sfw, but i did consider making both the good and bad endings have suggestive, fade-to-black scenes. for the good ending, the suggestive part would have involved y/n in yeonjun's room the night after their speech / before waking up together. for the bad ending, it would have happened when yeonjun visits y/n's quarters. i didn't write them bc i... am not good with anything suggestive or nsfw klsadjfklasjd

I COMPLETELY FORGOT BUT Y/N'S FATHER WAS ALSO IN THE AUDIENCE FOR THEIR SPEECH IN THE GOOD ENDING... i have no excuse for not writing him in other than I Forgot. i am so sorry but please imagine he was there

--

that's all i can think of for now! if you have other questions about foec or my writing process please please feel free to reply to this post or send an ask <3