#also nice to know you read the slideshow! Hope you liked it ^^

[e-adlirez]

hi! saw ur slideshow and have been reading thea sisters series recently online. do yk where i can get high quality online copies of the special edition thea stilton series (the atlantis bla bla stuff)? the ones i find are all rly bad quality and idgkjhfdghkfdg pls good quailty stuff pls. tysm.

Hiiii yes I do know some sources for you to read the books online :3

The one I use the most is this search in Archive.org. You may have to make an account if you haven't, but you should be able to access most of them. The PDF copies may vary (some of them may be choppy copies), but this will give you access to some of the non-English copies if that interests you. Most of the books are borrow-disabled and patron-only, but this compilation has all the special editions available for free, even for those without accounts, I think. Even so, it's more convenient to make an Archive account to browse the site methinks ^^

(You might have to do some insane digging to find some of the other books that aren't necessarily the special editions, but I'll leave that for another time)

The second source (though I will say the qualities of these PDFs are VERY up in the air) is this Drive that contains a huge selection of books from the Geronimo and Thea Stilton franchises as a whole. It's not the most up-to-date, but it is an option to consider. The special editions are under the Thea Stilton folder.

Those are the English sources I know of, feel free to ask me if you need more help ^^

[mssonepiece]

🩷High School Sweetheart🩷

🩷Chapter 1🩷

The Text?

Megumi Fushiguro x fem!Reader; Modern AU, no curses, cursed spirits or possession of cursed techniques; Reader and other characters are in college.

1.3k+ Words

Next Chapter

Dear Megumi, we've been friends since middle school and I've been thinking maybe it'd be nice to know if you feel the same way that I do about you.. I hope I don't regret this... I feel more close to you than any of our other friends and lately I can't stop myself from wanting to be around you all the time, it's okay if you don't feel the same. I love being your friend and I'm so scared to lose that because of this.

Looking at the message you typed out on your phone five minutes before you think of how this is the corniest text you've ever written up in your life. It would be utterly embarrassing to send this message just to be left on read or be told that your feelings are not reciprocated, making things awkward between the two of you. But you've felt as though you've had this crush on Megumi for so long that it's either shoot your shot and try to be something more or force yourself to stop hanging out with him in hopes to lose all romantic feelings toward him. Will that ever happen though? Would you be able to lose feelings even if you did ignore him? The more you think about the situation the more you feel like the text is a bad idea. Is it a good idea to ruin this friendship for the chance of something... more. Ding

~After The FaceTime With Maki~

You and Maki talked on the phone for a good hour and a half before you had to end it short for a bit of grocery shopping. You should have done it much earlier in the week, then you could have stayed on the phone longer. If you don't go today though then you will have nothing to eat tonight. On the way there you think back about what Maki told you over the phone. She of course had more to say about Mai, they've been living together for a year now in an apartment their parents pay for but Maki is the only one doing the daily chores around their house. You think that if you were her, you would have made Mai do more or move out way sooner. Maki of all people is surprisingly patient with her though.. at times.. It seems like she's also having the usual problems with her father too. They always seem to have some sort of dispute going on but today was particularly bad. He doesn't accept what college she has chosen to go to and is trying to have her drop out and transfer to the same college that Mai attends. Mai goes to a more high-league school but Maki has no interest in going to a school that is only to help her family's public image... It's that bad. Well her father called again pestering her this morning and when she declined for the hundredth time, he called the college board saying that Maki was very interested in transferring soon, even asking for her transcript. He's taking things too far, you can't help but feel bad for her. Wishing you could have talked to her more on the phone and carried on walking the short way to your local market.

The sun is setting, casting a beautiful blend of colors across the cloudless sky. On the side of the sky where the sun has already subsided, stars are starting to appear. Your feet slowly stop moving forward as you crane your neck up, getting a better view of the whole night sky. You could look at it forever but the awkward feeling of standing in the middle of a sidewalk was creeping up on you, making you take slow steps towards the market again. It's a silent walk other than the cars and people passing by. It's peaceful. Well until the sudden thought of wanting to share this moment with Megumi. Leading to a slideshow of thoughts. Your head felt like it was spinning and full of so much information that it just wanted to drop on the hard concrete ground.

The market doors seem to appear in front of you out of nowhere, arms instinctively reaching out to pull the handles. Maybe you've been a little in your head lately because of this whole Megumi thing but none of the choices of action are appealing. If you were to end up ruining your friendship with Megumi over some high school crush then you’re sure you could never forgive yourself. He’s always been there, mentally and physically. Ever since you first became close in middle school he has been the first friend you would choose to hang out with, even though he can be a bit of a bore sometimes he is good company. You could be sitting in silence together for hours, him reading a book and you playing a video game, watching a show, or sometimes reading along with him and neither of you would have anything to complain about. But if you carry on feeling like this without ever telling him then it would soon be too hard to even be around him anyway. It’s slowly becoming a comfort to have him just hanging around whenever you have something you need to do. You would have even asked him to come along shopping with you if you had not felt embarrassed by the whole text you wrote up earlier, and didn’t even send. The urge to text him now is strong but what to say isn’t coming to mind. You’re better off getting what you need from the market and going back home. Maybe then you'll be able to think of something to send him.

Setting the few bags of grocery’s down on your dining room table you finally take a deep breath for the first time in what seems like hours. Reaching back for your phone from the back pocket of your jeans, you open the messages app. 

After updating Kirara and texting Maki again about your crush situation, you decide it’s best to put your phone away for a bit while you make dinner. Choosing to ignore the fact that you told both of your friends you were going to text Megumi. But also sending a text to Nobara that will catch her attention, riling up her pho mo.

Your kitchen isn't very big, only having a small one bedroom apartment often doesn't come with much foot space. You still try to make it look nice with decor and furniture. Plants really have helped with brightening up your home, bringing different greens and yellows throughout your house. It makes you feel like your apartment is 'homey' and more livable. Everywhere you've lived before here never really felt like your own. Going from your family home, to a year long roommate situation, and finally now you rent your own apartment off-campus. It's such a different feeling knowing that you have the place to yourself and of course the responsibility of the bills will definitely make you feel that difference too. It's close to campus, just a short five minute walk. You're even able to stop by Starbucks everyday, you don't.. but you could. You basically live in the center of town so you can walk to most places with ease, making rent much more tolerable too when not having to pay for a car. You'll have to deal with your college loans later in life, but that's the least of your current worries.

Dinner is as boring as usual, chicken and rice. Anything that is quick and easy to make so that you can relax sooner. It doesn't take long to make the rice and start on the chicken. You start to feel like it would have been better to order food but it's all worth it when you get to sit on the couch with a steaming bowl of chicken and rice. Situating a pillow in your lap, then the bowl of food on top. You use your right hand to hold the bowl in place on your lap and the other to reach for the tv remote now that you're comfortable, turning on the television to Netflix most recent watches. Episode 13 of "Orange is The New Black" brightens the display from the dark loading screen previously there. You raise your hand to the spoon sitting in the white glass bowl and take a bite from it as the show starts. You hear a faint ringing of an iPhone from the kitchen but choose to ignore it til the end of the episode.

Masterlist

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list!

Tag List~ @m00nglad3-mp3 @we-loveebony

[gunilslaugh]

Heyo! Nice to meet you!

I've been a villain for a few months now and I just confess, I like Gunil so so much! He instantly became one of my favorite kpop boys since I began stanning. (He's just my type, what a unique and incredible man!) Originally I wanted to request around for more Gunil fics... But honestly I have no idea what to request specifically 😭 I just want to read more about him cuz my crush is big and fat 😂 but I racked my brains and couldn't come up with anything...

So instead, I've had this idea for an OT6 fluff, if it's alright with you! How would XH react to having a very smart and academical s/o? Like, someone who likes to read a lot (not only fiction, but also nonfiction, like science, psychology, philosophy, spiritual books or stuff about social studies) and who genuinely likes studying and learning! They like doing research on many many subjects of their interest (wether those are something as common as space or not so common like learning the biology of marine animals) and they're always spewing out random interesting facts about things 😂 Bonus points if reader also likes solving mysteries and playing puzzle games some people might find boring ( like crosswords or sudoku).

Yes, this is pretty self indulgent 😂 but I'm also just very curious 👀

You are totally entitled to refuse this request if you don't feel like writing it! No pressure 😁 🖤

Nice to meet you too! Welcome to the fandom. I hope that you enjoy your request.

All member ;^o-o^;

Summary: Xdinary Heroes' reaction to having an academic significant other.

WC:684

Warning:grammar

photo not mine credits to owner.

Gunil

Gunil really admires how academically driven you are. Thinks it’s cool how knowledgeable you are. If you're knowledgeable across many varying topics then he would call you a human encyclopedia. He gets really happy whenever you talk or rant about a subject that really interests you. When you tell him a random fact he actually tries to note down the information and remember it. Loves to watch mystery or detective shows with you while trying to figure out who the culprit is together. On the chance that he figures it out before you or he was right and you were wrong he feels very entitled to his bragging rights. 

Jungsu

On cold days he always makes sure that you’re wearing a beanie or that your hood on your jacket is up because you gotta protect that smart brain of yours. Jungsu would love to do crossword puzzles or other games like it with you. The members would tease you about being an old couple, but Jungsu would just shoo them away. Jungsu would try to learn some about your favorite topic so that he could talk about it with you. He’d write down the random facts that you tell him in his notes and at the end of the year he’d compile them all together. Almost like a scrapbook of memories, but with all the random facts you’ve told him.

Gaon/Jiseok

You were ranting to Jiseok about a topic that interested you. He jokingly told you that if you like it that much then you should create a slideshow presentation about it. It definitely caught him off guard when three days later you showed him the slideshow. He doesn’t tell you, but he now has it saved on his computer. Lovingly calls you a nerd. Really likes to watching sci-fi shows together with you. Sometimes there is part of him that wished he had the drive that you have about learning new things. He would tease you about playing a game like solitaire, but in reality he doesn’t even know or understand how to play.

O.de/Seungmin

Seungmin treasures how dedicated you are when it comes to learning about something. He thinks you are absolutely adorable as you’re hyper fixated on your laptop, researching a particular subject. Takes candid photos of you researching, might make one his wallpaper. Laughs whenever you randomly spew out a fact, not in a mean way of course. Your random fact spewing brightens his day. Especially if it’s something completely random like shrimps hearts are located in their head. Avidly watches mystery type shows with you and might end up being the more invested one funnily. 

Junhan/Hyeongjun

Junhan would love to have in-door dates where the two of you just read together. Sitting on opposite ends of the couch with your legs flailed across one another. Sometimes uses you as his personal internet. If he has a question about something he thinks you would know he’d rather ask you than actually look it up. Would try to race you in completing a sudoku the fastest. He really values your smarts and thinks that it’s really impressive how much wide scale information you have stored in your brain. He would send you things on topics that he found interesting and loves when you do the same back. 

Jooyeon

You’re not just any nerd, you are his nerd. When you randomly state a fact he would respond with a “that is something only a nerd would know,”. Even if he teases you about it he still likes whenever you do it. If it’s been a while since you randomly told you a fact he’ll ask you to tell him one. Honestly his day doesn’t feel complete without it. He would really enjoy having a sci fi, mystery themed movie night. You two would turn off all the lights and huddle together under blankets. Occasionally he wishes that he was as academic as you because he thinks it would be nice to research things together, but if he has no interest his brain refuses to hold new information.

[thewonderingbard]

Hello hello, what do you think the skeletons would be like as teachers? Your choice on who and how many <3

Thank you for requesting!

------------------

Undertale Sans - Vanilla

He would be a physics teacher

He does not mind students falling asleep in his classes.He also doesnt mind students eating in his class either as long as they share.Forgot a homework assignment?HA! He doesnt assign homework.Mainly because he does not want to be stuck marking MORE stuff.Is not strict at all.But can be quite scary when he wants to be.He lets student go to the toilet during class.He is pretty nice to talk to aswell if you have any problems and is funny in class.

Undertale Papyrus - Paps

A food technology teacher.

Allows students to eat what they make.If a student does something wrong in their food .DO NOT WORRY.As Mr Paps always finds away to an improve a dish.Makes tea and coffee for the student who have to stay after school for some reason.He also regularly takes student out of classes if he knows a student does not like a teacher or just to check up on them if they were not feeling well last period.He helps Papaya teach first aid.Student often go to him if there is an ongoing argument going on as Paps always manages to make people friends again no matter what.

Underswap Sans - Blue

A maths/PE teacher

He does both lessons!However in maths he doesnt really know what he is talking about , he just hopes the slideshow teaches the students he just has to read it out.In PE he is more in his element.He doesnt force students to take part in PE but atleast whats them to try once at what he is teaching.Students find him fun but are a hit scared of him when they heard him shouting at a misbehaving student,Blue has a scary shouting voice.Allows student to wear coats indoors.

Underswap Papyrus - Honey

A computing teacher

Do not worry if you have forgotten your password he will reset it for you! Is one of the chillest teachers in the school.He doesnt give homework and the class work he does is easy.He want to make sure his students understand what they are doing so he offers an afterschool computing club.(in reality it’s just playing games on the computers).He also doesnt mide students sleeping in class.He lets students in his room at lunch just so they can sleep.He also has the habit of giving out stickers to absolutely everyone.Students who are in his class leave with 5 stickers each.

Underfell Sans - Red

He is a cover teacher.

Red is the sub everyone hopes for because they know its going to be a fun lesson.He allows phones out ,students eating and sleeping ,students going to the toilet and wearing coat indoors.Most of the time he doesn’t even teach anything!He just sits there lying back on his chair and talking to students.When he does teach he make sure its something fun.If it is not than he will make it fun.Has been seen asleep in a classroom multiple times..

Underfell Papyrus - Edge

He would be a history teacher

He is one of those teachers where if you didnt choose his class that he is stricter with you.His students love him but everyone else hates him.He has a thing for scaring 1st years.In his class if you finish early he will allow you just to chat.He knows all the drama between every on.Inside and outside of school.HE may act strict but he is nice when he wants.If his class is tired because they had a tough PE lesson they he will put on a historical movie.He regularly uses mugs students have gotten him.He is the most strict teacher,you can hear him shouting at misbehaving students down the then hall. Have to admit if his class door is left open you can hear him teaching form down the hall.

Horrortale Sans - Seaweed

He is an art teacher.

1st years often find Seaweed scary at first before they realise that he is just a big softey. He has to be reminded constantly by students what he is doing but most studenst dont mind as he is a really kind teacher. He to has snacks in his classroom and is fine eating with students in his room as well.In fact in stead of saying “good morning” to students, he makes sure they have eaten and if they havent we he will give them a snack and some water.It takes him a bit to remember names but he eventually gets them.Student’s art hangs proudly around his room and he even takes them home sometimes.

Horrortale Papyrus - Papaya

He is an english teacher

He sometimes teaches classes on first aid. He is the nicest of all the teachers but he is really kind to those students who have illnesses and disabilities. In his room, there are draws with snacks and water if a student needs it. (He also has a draw full of pads and tampons just incase.)He allows students to eat in his room at lunch , becasue of this he knows all the drama that goes on inbetween students.In return he tells the students drama about the other teachers in the school. Cries when his students leave school. Papaya is the teacher you go to if you wanna go home early as he will just call your parents to make sure that is okay and if it is not you can just chill with him.

------------------

Based off some teachers from my school :)

-Morganna

[miru667]

hi there, miru ! it’s surely been awhile since i’ve visited your blog , and i was always shy to directly interact with you, but this time, i want to say a lot of things, and i hope you’ll find some time to read.

i remember how i stumbled across your account when i was 8 or so, around the time when you just started posting about the lorax and the fandom was growing up. at first, i simply checked your blog out of boredom as a kid since you were the only person i followed here, but later on, i really got interested and often would go back home from school and run to read your new posts, no matter what was it, just because i liked them, and i guess my little mind wanted to explore more about the fandom in general. (: i grew up wishing i was as “cool” as you, and really wanted to talk to you, but guess the unknownness made me nervous enough so i always brushed it off. and no matter how cheesy it sounds ,just going through your blog at least once a day helped me with most of my sad days. you were a huge affect to my childhood, and going through your page again after so long made me feel such a bittersweet nostalgia , i nearly cried catching up with things haha. you were the reason i found out about the lorax in general and joined the fandom , as well as inspired me to try drawing ( i remember using your art as a base when i was 12 ,,, but shhh, let’s keep it a secret (; )

it’s been so long since then, and sometimes it’s hard to believe how much i’ve grown up, as well as you did too. i’ll never forget these days when being a young kid i would try to redraw your onceler fan art , or make a small silly slideshows with your drawings to some goofy songs, LMAO. (i still have them, by the way… eugh. cringeee) and getting to spend my growing up surrounded by such an amazing fandom and amazing people like you has truly built me up as a person, and i couldn’t be more grateful i’ve found out about you back then, because i don’t know who i would be right now if i never did. thank you so much miru, keep going, be happy, and no matter how time passes by , you’ll always be one of my biggest inspirations, and i’ll continue looking up to you. <3

•

now , ending the cheesy paragraph above, i’m a little curious about some things, feel free not to answer them if you’re uncomfortable! i’m not pressuring you.

1 ; i’ll start off with a simple one. how are you doing, how’s life in general? (:

2 ; did you know that your small onceler height headcannon you’ve made back in 2013 is showing up on google as an actual height of his , making a lot of people (especially on tik tok. boy, they’re going feral over that fact…) believe it’s his canon height ? they’re actually saying it’s his actual confirmed height and etc. , so i was always wondering how does it feel to have your headcannon being considered by the whole onceler fandom as canon, haha. :D

3 ; speaking about tik tok, you mentioned you don’t have it at all. why don’t you try to get it, and post your art in there? trust me, a lot of people absolutely adore your work in here and considering the fact onceler fandom is apparently biggering again , that could be a nice idea , since personally i think you’re really underrated and deserve some more recognition (:

4 ; what’s your actual opinion on oncest? because honestly , i remember how people drooled over this ship to death back in 10s, however i was never really fond of it and,, you know what i meaannn, it simply didn’t feel right for me at all. (,: did you immediately start liking it since you have some art about it , and what are your thoughts about it now ?

5 ; how old were you when you joined the whole lorax fandom?

6; you obviously have a lot of good memories with the Onceler fandom , as i do too, but there is also some bad memories for me, and some that i wish i could completely erase from my mind haha. how is it for you? like, were there perhaps some situations that happened to you in the fandom that make you shiver in a pleasedon’tremindme way? i’d love to listen if there is some!

7 ; and , the last one. i literally have been a huge fan of your for awhile now , and i was wondering if you’d ever want to maybe ,, talk, y’know? and become friends , perhaps? ;;;;; i feel like i’m being too pushy atp ,but i’m still a little nervous so i’m sorry if i act weird,, (,: but either way, remember you’re amazing, and i hope you have a good day/night !!

thank you for reading my non-sense to the end, lol. i hope i didn’t take off much time <33

Omg,,,Q_Q?? Thank you for sending this message, I wouldn't have known otherwise that I've made such an impact on someone's life, like...it's truly humbling. You were 8?? 😭 And I was really the only blog you followed?? 😭 Back then I did not think about how others might've been using my blog; I myself had always been the one looking up to others, and here you were all that time looking up to me...I guess it's really magical, the way we don't know who in the world might be thinking about us. I hope you're doing well. Your slideshows are not cringe. Or rather, you were cringe and free, and I think that's wonderful.

For your questions then:

I guess I'm doing okay. I have friends who care about me, and I'm able to support myself with my job, so with those two things alone, I'm already very lucky.

If you mean this post: [link] I didn't make this headcanon! As you can see on the post, tumblr user torikabori made it, and I simply reblogged it. I think there's been a few fandom headcanons that have mistakenly been posted on wikis and tvtropes as canon, and I really wish it didn't happen that way, because I don't like misinformation being spread. I've said this before but if it's not in the Lorax DVD, or in any official interviews, or in any concept art, then it's NOT canon. Do not trust google, wiki, tvtropes, or word of mouth.

I,,, reallllllyyyy don't see myself getting into tiktok ;w; Having to be a slave to algorithms and numbers really turns me off, and I can barely keep up with posting on social media anymore. I've almost completely abandoned my instagram, and I'm half a year behind in posting my art to tumblr haha. So I wouldn't be able to keep up with tiktok anyway. Thank you for thinking I deserve more recognition though! 🥺

I think in the early years of the fandom I drew it because it was popular, but since then I've been more true to myself and I only draw what my heart desires now. So now I can say that I've never shipped oncest, though I've shipped onceler askblogs together before. And I'll always be a fan of 7212, though that's not the classic oncest we're referring to here. But I still support whoever does ship it, I think that's totally cool!

I was a young adult!

You are not alone, so many of us from 2012 have gone through bad times in the fandom at least once. For me specifically, it's been 11 years that I've been here, so do you think I could have avoided every single possible bad situation? ;) I won't be sharing any stories, but the onceler fandom would not be what it is today without both the good AND bad, I guarantee you that.

You can feel free to message me anytime you like! I'm not much of a talker since I'm often busy, and I rarely ever message first, but I'll always be courteous to anyone who messages me. As for friendship, I think it should just happen naturally, if it happens!

[lettersfrombeyondthegrave]

I watched 5 seasons of Gotham so you don't have to: a lore recap for Oswald and Ed

I'll be brief (I won't): I watched Gotham just for Oswald and Ed, roughly 68 hours of show and it was a lot.

While watching it I was like hey I don't want others to have to suffer like this and uh-

I ended up making 5 google slideshows to recap basically all the scenes of these two idiots and their lore.

Some parts are more recapped than others and every presentation is like 80 slides each but I swear there are lot of pictures (screenshots of the scenes which I have to go to another website to take to get 'em in HD)

So if you stumbled accross Oswald and Ed and you think ab watching Gotham just for them, you also have the option to... read a lot of slides.

The text of the slideshows is completed, the only w.i.p. is the screenshots of the scenes which I'll slowly work on

I'm also working on a list of timestamps for every (and I mean every) scene they're in, if you wanna watch them (even if you don't watch the show you should watch their scenes, the chemistry is nice and some are just very funny) also for ppl who wanna make fanedits and stuff but that google doc is still at the start so I won't share it yet

Hope this will help someone

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Bonus (wip)

If there are any problems, let me know

[damnfae]

˚✧₊⁎ their reaction to your aesthetic / outfit ˚✧₊⁎

chaotic academia

no gender specified, clothes are genderless.

featured creators: dream, sapnap and wilbur

this was requested by @corpiet ! i hope you enjoy. i put a song i thought would go nicely with the outfits

dream:

- he really likes how put together your outfits look but he knows you’re still pretty chaotic

- as you were about to leave for class you spilled coffee on your creme colored shirt, you panic, it also dripped onto the essay you had just printed for class. clay heard the cup drop so he walked in looking at your panicked expression.

- “clay! i just messed up so bad this paper is due today and-” you ramble, being a student wasn’t easy.

- you felt his hand rub your back after picking up the papers covered in coffee. “just relax y/n, go change your shirt i’ll print your essay again and i’ll drive you instead.” he smiled for reassurance.

- you froze for a moment and tilted your head, sometimes you wondered how he was always so put together.

- clay supports you in everything you do, suddenly you wanna drop out? that’s cool with him. as long as you’re happy he’s happy

- when you have finals coming up he helps you practice for them

- he puts his full attention into your interests!

- he isn’t a super fashionable guy but appreciates your fashion :)

sapnap:

- he’s the type to whistle at you as you walk into the room, also takes note of something different or new you have on

- probably bribes you to do your homework

- you sat on the gaming chair you had next to his “but nick i don’t feeeeel like it” you dramatically leaned back in the chair.

- he smiled and looked over at you, he was about to give in but he didn’t this time. “your whining won’t work on me, if you finish your thesis i’ll take you out to eat”.

- the smile on his face didn’t fall as you groaned deciding it was best to just go finish your work.

- when you put on a movie for him sometimes he just doesn’t get it

- “but y/n i don’t understand, how do you know what’s gonna happen? you’ve never seen this movie!”

- you turn to him in the comfortability of a blanket and some pillows “i read the book”

- he chuckled a bit “of course you did”

- you’re his little nerd <3

- he calls you silly nicknames in a nice way!

Wilbur:

- this aesthetic reminds me of him, you both are super alike

- wilbur puts his glasses on you and calls you his ‘mini me’

- he loves watching movies with you, he even debates if you both have different opinions

- “y/n i don’t see why so many women have been with scott pilgrim he’s not that attractive” you turned your head to look at him seriously.

- “michael cera is attractive!” you said looking up at your tall boyfriend, wilbur smiled and shrugged a bit.

- “would you choose me over michael cera?”

- “anytime” you smiled, putting your face in his chest for a hug.

- he knows all the best local cafe’s with amazing coffee and beautiful ambiance

- when he first saw you you were cramming down notes from a slideshow at a cafe, focused on the big midterm you had in a few hours

- if you’re upset and just can’t understand what you’re learning he sits with you and tries to help the best he can

- “just breathe y/n don’t fuss, i don’t mind explaining it over again”

[uglypastels]

Slide In // Frat!Tom

(a/n) I’ve never written this au before, in like a full fic i think, so i have no idea if this is good, but i had this idea in the middle of the night and yeah. I hope you guys enjoy. this may or may not have been inspired by a certain post @duskholland made about Tom and his mirror selfies <3 how amazing that he literally just posted one today lol

word count: 16.7k

warning: drinking, mention of drug use (weed), school, social anxiety, some smexy innuendos. i made some big last minute changes, so i hope its all coherent. 

DEEPFAVE: Liking a photo (or any post) from over a year ago.

It was a cloudy morning, and it was early. Really really early. Not even the birds felt up to it, it felt like. The campus was slowly awakening or going to sleep (depending on if you had been to last night’s Delta Kappa party, of course). 

It was cold, and the leaves fell off the branches with each huff of the morning breeze. The grass was wet from the previous night’s rain, and it soaked your ankles as you ran through the small grass field, in hopes to cut a bit off the distance to your lecture hall. 

It had not been your fault that you overslept. You had gone to bed early; your backpack was already packed for the next morning. It was supposed to be a relaxing morning, perfect for easing back into it after a week of sleeping in and celebrating the holidays. How could you have expected that your roommate would barge into your dorm at 2 am, still whoo-ing her drunk ass in the corridor with other wasted idiots? 

And it wasn’t like you were against all that partying and drinking. You would have gone yourself to the frat party, but it just didn’t sit right with you. A giant house full of intoxicated strangers- the anxiety running through you just thinking about it was making you shake. 

So, instead of “living a little”, as your older brother called it, you preferred to stay in bed most evenings, either watching Netflix or reading a book. Yet, still, you had been kept awake for so long last night that you slept through your alarm. What was supposed to be a calm morning turned out to be ten minutes of rushed panic. Eventually, you had decided to skip most of your morning routine, including breakfast, brushing your hair or even putting on a decent outfit. You ran out of your dorm, clutching on to your bag, phone and keys.

Your hair was reasonably alright. It was still in the braid you had made before going to bed, but a lot of hair had fallen out during your slumber. When you looked in the mirror though, you saw that it looked decent so you let it be. Not so much could have been said for your outfit. You kept on the same shirt in which you slept in, which was a slightly oversized grey graphic tee from a random indie concert you had been to ages ago. Unfortunately, it was so cold that you couldn’t just go outside in your shorts, so had to spend a precious minute slipping into a pair of sweatpants that were actually not as bum-looking as you had feared.

Luckily, the walk (or in this situation, run) to the lecture hall was short. So, you survived with only a thick sweater over your arms. 

And so, just like that, you were running through campus. The cold air was piercing your lungs as you inhaled deeply. Each breath started with this whistling sound, as you tried to ignore that pain, and ended in an exhale of a cloud of condensation. Maybe you weren’t in the best shape, but even this horrible experience would not make you sign up for the campus gym. No way. 

You could see the lecture hall doors, the wide wooden panelling already towering over you, and you slowed down. You were trying to catch your breath and composure. As always, the doors were heavy and to add to it, the wood could not handle the temperature, so it was even harder to open them. 

“Oh, let me,” you suddenly heard behind you, almost making you jump. The voice sounded familiar, but it wouldn’t click to a particular face just yet. 

“Thanks,” you breathed out as an arm extended from behind you, clad in a leather jacket, and pushed the door open with ease. You followed the arm up with your eyes and saw how it connected to an actual person. Yes, you definitely recognised him. But what was his name again? 

T- something starting with a T. 

He smiled at you politely, nodding the gesture for you to go inside. 

“Thanks,” you said again, before finally moving. 

“No problem,” he was walking behind you but quickly caught up to your side. You saw in his hand a Starbucks coffee, which almost made your mouth water. 

“Professor Dowling’s lecture, right?” he asked, before taking a sip. Your eyes unconsciously followed the movement as the need for caffeine was growing. 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah,” you shook your head, focusing on anything but the delicious rich smell that you could sense coming from the cup—dark roast. 

“Well, good to know I won’t be the only one late,” he chuckled. Troy? Was that his name? No. He didn’t look like a Troy. 

“We’re not that late,” you checked your phone and cursed internally, “only… nine minutes.” 

“Dowling doesn’t care if it’s nine minutes or nine hours. Late is late.” He took another sip. You had to look away before your stomach realised how empty it really was. 

“True, I guess. Well, it was nice knowing you.” You sighed as you had reached the second door leading to the lecture room. Ty raised an eyebrow. No, his name was definitely not Ty. What was it?!

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, Dowling is gonna kill us, isn’t he?” You explained, and he nodded in agreement. 

He was again the one to slowly and quietly opened the door, giving you insight into the room. You almost yelled out in excitement when you saw that the lights had been somewhat dimmed for a slideshow that the professor was giving. You have Tim (nope, not Tim) a knowing look and smile. You had been saved. Then, the two of you slipped into the room, letting the doors close themself. You saw a few people turn their heads as you walked by together, searching for a seat, but you didn’t think much of it. You would have looked too if someone dared to be late for one of Dowling’s lectures. 

Finally, you found an empty seat. Two, actually. It was in the back of the class, so you hoped that once the lights would go back on, Dowling wouldn’t immediately notice the addition of two more faces. The mystery guy, as you were too tired to think of more names and decided to give up, sat down next to you. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on, quickly putting it on the lowest setting of brightness. Just before he had opened it up, you noticed a few stickers. Between a few references from tv shows and movies, you saw the logo of Delta Kappa. You only recognised it because you had been seeing the logo on almost every notice board the last few days together with the campus-wide invitation for last night’s party. 

So he was a frat boy. 

You looked up to the side at him as you pulled out your laptop and notebook. The notebook was more for doodling than anything. But also to write down some more of the essential or just entertaining parts of the lecture, since you had come to realise that writing things down by hand helped you remember better. 

Your heart stopped beating for a second as you opened your laptop, praying that no embarrassing tabs were open or, even worse, you still had Spotify playing on full blast. But you could let yourself relax when the laptop just showed you your desktop. 

Right then, you could hear your stomach growl of hunger. 

“Here,” suddenly T, as you decided to call him for the time being, slid over his coffee to your small desk. You looked up at him in confusion. He had a cap on, so there was not much you could see in the dark shadow, but you saw his sincere smile. 

You thanked him before grabbing the cup. Since it was Starbucks, you hoped to learn his name finally. But instead, in black marker, was written “Holland”. Last name. Well, that was something.

_________________________________

“Thank you,” y/n said before grabbing the drink, taking a look at the name written on it, and taking a big sip of it, although she quickly pulled it away from her lips, her face distorted in a sour expression. 

“Sorry,” Tom apologised, “my hand had slipped when I was pouring in the sugar.” 

“Yeah, I can tell,” she whispered, still a bit disgusted, but it didn’t stop her from taking another large sip. “How can you drink this stuff?” 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Tom grinned. 

Times weren’t exactly desperate, in his case. 

The party had been a massive success. Everyone seemed to have had a great time, and this time, not even at the cost of any of the frat house furniture. Sure, some people might have thrown up in the cooking pans, but that could be easily cleaned up by one of the pledges. 

It all ended around 2 am, which was fairly early, but it was, of course, a school night. Tom remembered to drink water before going to sleep and woke up with only a mild headache. A few painkillers solved that pretty quickly. He got up, stumbled a bit over the mess around the house and was on his way to class. 

He was sure he would have made it on time if it wasn’t for his usual appetite and need for coffee. Yes, he could have made it at home, but for some reason, the coffee from that machine always tasted like piss. And Tom did not want to find out why. So, it had almost become routine for him to stop by the Starbucks that was on the way from the house to the lecture halls. 

What he had not expected was the giant line of customers inside. More people had felt the need for coffee after a wild night of partying. He recognised some girls, still wearing the same dresses they wore to the party. A few guys who looked like they were on the verge of death were sipping their drinks in the corner of the room. The two baristas were running around behind the counter, trying to make the drinks as fast as possible. As fellow students, they knew that there were a lot of people rushing to get to class, at least. 

Tom had even looked at his phone, checking the time before he decided to step into the queue. He had majorly misjudged the time it would take the baristas to make the few drinks before it was his turn to order. In the meantime, people would walk up to him, also recognising him from the party, to tell Tom what a great time they had last night. 

Finally, he got his drink and made his way over to the second station and poured in some sugar. For that extra kick of energy, but also, secretly, because he could not stand the bitterness of coffee. Then, it was really time to leave the crowd. Tom never really minded people and was definitely what you call a “social butterfly”, but there was always a limit. And the limit on a Monday morning was minimal. Even smaller, if you are still trying to get rid of a hangover. 

He had just reached the main square of campus when he saw the big clock. He was already late, so it wouldn’t do much to run. Professor Dowling did not care for excuses or how late you were, even if it was a second. So he could as well just take his time. 

Others had different ideas apparently.

Tom watched as someone ran across the grass, clutching on to their backpack. She stopped at the same door that he was heading for, so he got to have a good look first. The first thing he saw was the back of her head. Hair made up in a braid that was falling apart. A large black sweater, probably her boyfriend’s, was covering most of her frame. 

She was trying to pull open the door that had the word PUSH on them, but Tom didn’t say anything. It was early, and by the looks of her, not that he was judging, she didn’t have a great morning. 

When they had made eye contact, he recognised her from the lectures but did not think he had ever heard her name being mentioned. Professor Dowling loved interacting with the class, no matter how large, and often called out people to answer his absurd questions. She had never put her hand up to answer. Tom was sure of it; he would have remembered her name. 

It interested him to see her pull out, not only a laptop but also a notebook. Did people even use those anymore? Even the dim light he could see the words scribbled on the cover. The decorative style did kind of make it hard to miss it. 

Property of y/f/n.

So that was her name. Tom couldn’t help but smile to himself. 

Having already missed the first ten minutes, he tried his best to focus on the words of the professor, but some things just couldn’t go unnoticed. 

By the look y/n was giving his coffee cup, he could tell that she had not had any herself and the sound of her empty stomach as they sat next to each other only confirmed his suspicion. So, it only felt like the right thing to do to give her some. And the smile he got in return definitely made it worth it. 

His attention was entirely gone by that point, as he watched her open her notebook. It was filled with little drawings. Some were more distinct than others. There were the classic five-petal flowers and the single mysterious eye with no other entity attached to it—also a few little scratchy tornadoes and random filigree. Patches of just lines and different patterns filled up the corners and extended out to the middle of the pages. Tom also definitely recognised a few attempts at bringing back the Super S in there. 

But what also filled up the page were little characters. She must have drawn them during the lectures around Halloween because he recognised a little witch, stylised to the perfect amount of cuteness. There was also a cauldron of bats flying off to the side. 

Tom could have looked at it for much longer and still find some more doodles in there, but unfortunately, she flipped the page. This one was blank. She took out a pen and started to doodle mindlessly.

First, a straight line, to which she attached little ovals. Lightly, but the lines got darker, the more she went over it. Then she made some more lighter lines across it. It made him chuckle when he recognised what it finally was—a piece of wheat. The way she stopped drawing for a second, Tom thought that she had not realised what she was drawing either. It was just a random coincidence where a few lines suddenly could make up an existing object. Then she continued. 

From time to time she’d stop to make a note somewhere in the middle of the page, something that professor Dowling said that made her giggle. It was adorable to hear. 

“Now, this,” Tom could hear the professor say from his little podium, the two little words shook everybody in the room awake because those they were code for IMPORTANT. As Dowling kept on talking, y/n closed her notebook and pulled her laptop closer to type. Tom had to pull himself together to focus on the actual lecture.

Then the sound of her stomach pulled him out of that. That was followed by the whisper of an angry “fuck”. Tom looked over to y/n again. She was trying to type something out, but her shaking fingers kept pressing the wrong buttons. She was crumbling apart from hunger. 

Crumbling… 

Suddenly, Tom remembered. He leaned down to look in his bag, hoping it was still there. It was.

“Hey,” he nudged her side, making her look up at him once more, with caution. He grabbed the small pack of Oreos and slid them over to her desk. She looked perplexed. Then she pushed the, slightly flat-looking, cookies back to Tom. He frowned. 

“I thought I’m not supposed to be taking candy from strangers.” She whispered. Tom chuckled and pushed the pack of four cookies back to her. 

“Well, good it’s not candy then. Eat. I can tell you’re starving.”

Y/n looked at the Oreos, not sure whether to take them or not, but her stomach answered for her.  She opened her mouth, but then she closed it again and turned away. Tom understood it. It would have been the fourth time she would have said: “thank you”. By now, he got the message. As she opened the packet of cookies, Tom went back to listening to the lecture. 

_________________________________

You hesitated before taking the cookies. Were they some kind of prank? You knew how frat guys loved to pull jokes on everyone, even if they were no better than middle school hijinks or cheesy April fools clichés. But the silver packet, except that it looked a bit flat, seemed to be untouched. Most likely because of getting squashed by something in his backpack. 

You opened it and were immediately hit with the delicious whiff of chocolate. You took out one cookie and didn’t bother with the usual way of splitting it open to eat the filling first. You needed food. Now. Even if it were just four broken Oreo cookies. It was better than nothing.

Obviously, you were still hungry and in need of a proper breakfast, but the small snack helped you hold out for the rest of the lecture. 

But now that your stomach was sorted for, you had another problem concentrating. Your new, still unnamed, friend tended to type very loudly. At first, you looked over in a bit of annoyance, which made you actually notice his hands. There was nothing special about them. They were naturally just hands, but the way he moved his fingers across the keyboard… it made you look back in that general direction a few times more.

Probably because of all these distractions, the usual hour and 45 minutes felt much shorter. Before you knew it, professor Dowling was saying his goodbyes and everyone around you started packing up their things.

Needing to get some food ASAP, you packed up your things and practically ran out of the room. Only as you were nearing the cafeteria did you realise that you had never said goodbye to your snack provider. 

Shit.

_________________________________

“Hey, so I was thinking-” Tom was going to suggest grabbing a bite for breakfast together, being somewhat hungry himself, but when he looked up y/n had already packed her things and was on her way to the stairs, following the other students out the door. 

Tom sank back down into his seat. 

“Any problems, Mr Holland?” Tom’s head shot forward to see professor Dowling looking up at him. When he looked around, he saw he was the only one who had not started packing up. 

“No, everything’s alright, sir,” Tom said before getting up with his laptop. “Great lecture. Learned a lot... and stuff.” 

“Good, good,” Dowling said. His glasses were slipping off his nose slightly, so he pushed them back up with his middle finger. “I did not expect you to have heard anything, by the way you and miss y/n were chatting.”

The professor’s words made Tom’s cheek burn up as he pushed the laptop back into its place in his bag. That man saw everything.Suddenly he felt as if he was in middle school again.

“Try to not make it a habit.” 

“No, sir,” Tom said.

Dowling just nodded, meaning the conversation had ended and giving Tom permission to sprint out of the room. 

He wasn’t sure why he was in such a hurry. Maybe he was hoping to find y/n waiting outside the doors. He didn’t even know why he wanted to see her there. He just did. He had this urge just to watch her doodle in that notebook of hers. There was something so endearing about it. 

Alas, no one was waiting for him outside that door. Or even in the proximity of it. There was no one but groups of students making their way from and to class. 

Then, Tom realised that she must have run off to the cafeteria. Still, he decided against going there. As much as he wanted to talk to y/n again, he didn’t want to come off stalkerish. Besides, they’d have another class tomorrow. He could speak to her then. 

“Ayo! Holland!” Tom looked over to a group of people he recognised to be his friends. They were gathered around one of the large windows that was open in the hallway. He waved to them before making his way over. 

“What’s up, man? You looked like a lost puppy.” Jacob said. 

“No nothing, I just zoned out a little, I guess.” Tom shook his head, clearing it off thoughts of y/n. 

“Well, we were thinking,” his best friend and fellow Delta Kappa resident, Harrison joined in on the conversation, “There is this new bar opening next week. The… something- shit, what’s it called again?” He looked over at the rest of the group. 

“The Sterling,” it was Zendaya that answered. She was sitting on the window sill with both legs in front of her, not living much space for anyone else to sit. She had something between her fingers, and Tom could not make out if it were a regular cigarette or a joint. (The smell insinuated at nicotine, so that answered for itself.) The fact that they were on campus did not make much difference to them. She took a drag and blew the smoke out, before handing it to Harrison. 

“So, Holland, you’re in?” 

“Yeah of course.” There’s nothing like the hysteria of drinking yourself sick in some new dingy place across campus. A new one would open up every few months because its predecessor would get shut down after too many accounts of selling alcohol to minors. It had almost become a game for younger students to see how quickly they can destroy a business. Tom and Harrison had been record holders for a while. Five weeks. Tom wasn’t exactly sure how anyone could tell they were the reason for The Six-Ball to close, but it didn’t matter. (“With a name like that, they deserve to shut down,” Harrison had joked before ordering two Long Island Iced Teas.)

Now that they were of the legal drinking age, of course, maybe it wasn’t as fun to go to those shitty holes in the wall, but with the right people, they made it a party every time. 

“Nice! So-” Jacob started talking about how he thought the night had to go, but Tom was already zoned out again. Between Zendaya and Harrison, he had the perfect view of the small grass field. Some people had sat down there with their friends to enjoy the midday, but most people still considered it too cold to sit outside. But what Tom was looking at was behind the grass field. It was the cafeteria doors. He saw that large sweater again. y/n walked out, holding something that looked like a sandwich. Tom smiled to himself. 

“What are you smiling about?” He got nudged in the ribs by someone. 

“Oh, you know, the uhm-” he had no idea what the rest of his friends had been talking about to include in his lie.

“I know,” Harrison said, lounging his arm across Tom’s shoulder to point in the same direction that Tom had been looking at. Tom froze up when he pointed straight at y/n with his finger. 

“Angela Pikowski.” 

“What?” It took Tom a second, but indeed, right in front of y/n, stood Angela with her own group of friends. She laughed at something, whipping her bottle bleached blonde hair across her shoulder. He understood too, how Harrison had caught her so quickly in his vision, for she had her jacket open and her shirt was pretty tight and low cut. How did that girl not catch pneumonia or some shit? 

“You ain't slick, bro.” Harrison patted him on the back. Tom, not wanting to get into it more than he needed, just grinned awkwardly. When he looked out into the square, Angela still stood there, but y/n was gone. 

_________________________________

The campus food was never that good, but it didn’t matter. The feelings of having actual food in your body felt so good that it might as well have been a five-course meal from a three-star Michelin restaurant. While, in reality, it was just a little bacon, egg and salad sub on stale bread. 

It did not matter. 

You enjoyed your breakfast as you walked down the path, back to your dorm. After that horrendous morning, and the pretty… interesting lecture, you were ready to lock yourself up in a room and do nothing but watch Netflix. And thankfully, due to having only one morning class, you could actually do it too.  

You said your polite “Hi”s and “Hello”s as you passed some other people you recognised from other classes. A bit hopefully, you were on the lookout for your (still nameless!) friend from the lecture. You really had to figure out what his name was. 

By the time you had reached your dorm building, your sandwich was gone. A part of you was still hungry, but you ignored that. You were probably just bored anyway. 

The dorm hall was basic in every way, from the carpeted grey floor to the plainly painted walls. But the inhabitants, of course, did try to give it some life. They hung up posters and banners, flags and lights. You reached the door that was decorated with a collage of different 80s glam rock artists and walked into your room. That college had been a little bonding experience with your roommate, Marie, during the very first week of Freshman year.

When you walked in, your eyes were immediately drawn to the lump on one of the beds. A groan erupted from underneath it when you switched on the light. 

“Ruuuude,” Marie yelled out. She came out from beneath the sheets. Her hair was bigger than ever, and you could see the mascara and eyeshadow stains under her eyes, and there was still some glitter on her. 

“You know, you should take off your make-up before going to sleep,” You said as you took off your sweater. 

“You know, you should put some on before leaving the house,” she said before diving back underneath her sheets. 

“Ouch,” you both laughed. But you couldn’t help but take a look in the mirror as you passed it. Maybe you could have used some concealer under your eyes, but it wasn’t that bad. Right? 

The room the two of you lived in maybe wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. You were definitely one of the luckier people in the building. Your room, after all, had just enough space for the two beds, desks and closets to mirror each other on each side of the room. You also went the extra way to put up some extra shelving on your side above the bed, since one closet was not enough. 

“Didn’t you have class this morning as well?” you asked as you sat down on. You could hear something coming from Marie that resembled an “Mhm”. Not in the talking mood, got it. 

So, in quiet, you pulled out your laptop and searched for something that did not look mind-numbingly dumb to watch, eventually settling for a show you had probably watched five times out of pure overwhelming of choice. After a while of moving around in your bed, you found a comfortable position at last and turned the show on, ready for a day of uninterrupted laziness. 

_________________________________

Tom got home a bit later than he had hoped. After making plans for the next night, his friends were determined to go out for lunch as well. What he thought would be just a quick grab-and-go, turned out to be a full two-hour lunch where they talked about anything and nothing. 

He loved the company of people, but not on Mondays. Mondays were his day to do nothing except for going to class, and Tom felt like he had already done too much. 

When he did get back, people were still busy cleaning the aftermath of the party. It had gone a bit wilder than Tom remembered. Some jackass had decided to spray paint one of the upstairs hallways, and the colour was not easy to get off. Luckily, it had become almost a custom for all the house members to lock their doors during a party. For privacy sake firstly, but like anything at Delta Kappa, it turned a bit into a game. 

The first two unlock their door, either if the person was too tired to stay at the party or wanted to bring a guest into their room, was obliged to do something horrible. It was up to the rest of the house to decide what. Fortunately for Tom, he had not been the first to unlock his door that night. That luck fell on poor Billy.

Even if it came to be so, the rule didn’t make sense because no one could check who the first one was to open their door and even if- it was not an official Delta Kappa rule. That meant that, even if the person got caught to be the first, they could simply deny the dare. They would be known as Head Chicken, of course, but there were worse things in life. 

Tom moved up the stairs, saying hi to a few of his roommates, feeling very lucky as one of the senior members of the house, he did not have cleaning duty. Most of that was up to the pledges anyway. 

He remembered when he had to do all those tasks and shit to get into the house. It was so stupid; he didn’t even understand why he chose to be in a fraternity, in the first place. 

He did think the other guys had gone a bit softer on himself and Harrison since at the beginning of it all, they had been chosen by the sorority of Alpha Zeta Zeta as the favourites. Still, some unspeakable things had been done that year. 

But now that he lived in a giant house with some of his best friends, it all felt like it was a bit worth it. He had a great time at Delta Kappa. 

One of the best pros, by far, was that he had his own bedroom. Spacious for everything he needed plus a bit more. A large, unmade, bed waited for him when he opened the door. That, and the happy barks of Tessa. 

“Hello, darling,” he bent down to pet her as she jumped to his knees. Tessa was the official mascot of the fraternity, but she had very early on found a great liking to Tom. It only took her a few days to get settled in his room, and from then on, she wouldn’t sleep anywhere else. 

Tom moved up to his bed, and Tessa gladly joined him. She patted down a circle before lying down with her head on his chest, letting out a satisfied huff of air. Even if he wasn’t comfortable, Tom had no way out anymore. He was stuck. With nothing else to do, he took out his phone and went through his notifications.

Some texts from Harrison and Jacob, a missed call from that girl he made the mistake of giving her his number. People were getting Wi-fi again because he got at least twenty different Snapchat pictures and videos from the party. 

What else there was plenty of, were Instagram mentions and tags. He went through the photos, smiling. It really had been a great party. Then, something popped up in his mind. 

Property of: y/f/n 

y/f/n

Could it be that easy? He could just search for her and hope to find her account. He typed it in. Her first name was already enough to get plenty of results. As always the profile pictures were too small to really make out a true identity, so he made his way through the accounts. 

He only needed three tries, though. The picture already resembled her, so with hope, he clicked on the account. 

This account is private. Follow this account to see their photos and videos. 

Tom sighed. Not so easy after all. Then he saw the bio. It was a bit vague, just a few random emojis. But what interested him was the Followed by and the fifteen mutual followers that she had. It couldn’t be anyone else. 

For some unknown reason, his heart was beating in his throat as he clicked on the blue Follow button and watched it turn grey. Now it was just a matter of waiting until his request got accepted. Or maybe denied. Who knows. 

_________________________________

Watching a show for the fifth time got a bit boring. You could still laugh at the jokes, but at the same time, you could also almost flawlessly quote it as the scene went along. So, a few episodes in you took out your phone and started scrolling through various app feeds.

Marie had fallen back to sleep since you could hear her snore in her bed. And you were falling asleep slowly too. It was so warm in your room, and your bed was so soft and comfortable. Your eyes were getting heavier by the second. 

Then a notification popped up, brightening up the screen in your hand. Half-awake, you tried to read it. 

(your account): Tom Holland (@tomholland2013) has requested to follow you. 

Tom? Your mind took a moment to process. Then the face finally clicked to the name. Tom! His name was Tom! 

Without much further thought you accepted the request and before you even put your phone down, you fell asleep. 

_________________________________

Not to sound desperate, Tom waited for a good half hour before rechecking his phone. He clicked on the Instagram app and the search icon. Her account was still the last one from the recent searches he made. Tom clicked on the account and, to his unexplained surprise, he was greeted with a gallery of pictures. 

He had noticed earlier that the count on top of the page said 53 Posts. Interested, he clicked on the first one. It was a picture of a coffee cup. It wasn’t tagged, but Tom recognised it to be from that café Le Moulin. He saw the distinctive black windmill on the napkin that could not be missed. 

He scrolled down. 

It was a selfie from last summer. The filter slightly enhanced her bright smile on the picture, but Tom could tell it was more to show off the warm atmosphere of her holiday destination. The next photo was from the same holiday, he assumed, of her and a group of friends. He recognised the girls from campus. When he tapped the picture for the tags, he saw their names. @tiffani.btx @bonne_marie @lucywithnodiamonds 

He thought to have spotted that Marie chick at the party. She was French if he remembered correctly. She was definitely a wild one. Might have even grinded up against him during one of the better songs that were played. 

There were some more selfies, solo and with friends, sunsets and landscapes. The picture quality got worse as he scrolled down. It matched with the timeline. People should not be keeping up their pictures from seven years ago, especially not with all those fucked up filters they used back then. Tom was, of course, one of those people. 

He scrolled to the last picture; it was of a dog—one of the cutest little labrador puppies. 

Out of nowhere, Tessa barked in her sleep, making Tom jump up. This sudden movement, in its turn, woke the dog up completely. Tessa kept barking. 

“Right, I think it’s time for a walk, what do you think?” He patted Tessa on the head as she tried to lick his arm. Tom got up and was about to leave his room when he realised he almost forgot his phone. The screen hadn’t turned off yet, so he looked at the puppy again. But something was off this time. Something had changed. 

The little blank heart under the image- it was now pink. 

He accidentally liked her oldest picture. 

_________________________________

There were two types of naps. Those that made you feel amazing and refreshed by the time you got up. And those that made you feel like you had fallen asleep on a bed of rocks. You felt even worse than before when you woke up. Your head was throbbing, and your bra had pushed itself into every possible part of your chest, making it that much more uncomfortable. 

“What time is it?” you asked Marie, but she was still asleep. 

The light of your phone almost blinded you, so you quickly put down the brightness. It was around four o’clock. Meaning you had slept for a good three hours. 

Besides the time, you checked your notifications. There were not a lot of them. A few spam emails, a few texts in a group chat you never responded too and… a like on Instagram? 

tomholland2013 liked your photo. 1 h 

You had to think back to the moment before your nap to remember that he had in fact requested to follow you. And you had accepted it. 

You clicked on the notification, and it sent you to the liked picture. To your surprise, it was the picture of your family dog, Spot. Your family had picked the name even though he was a completely yellow labrador, loving the irony. 

It was your first-ever picture, from over seven years ago. Had he been stalking your account? Why the fuck would he do that? 

Well, you thought, it was only fair if I do it too. So, through the like, you made your way over to his account. 

First thing you noticed was the number of followers he had. 15.7k How the fuck do people even get those numbers? Well, it’s easier if you’re a hot frat guy, of course. 

His profile picture was a mirror selfie, and clearly, it was his favourite composition, for at least five out of the first nine pictures in the gallery were the same style. All full-body reflections, with him holding the phone in his right hand, leaning his head a bit to look at the screen as he took the picture. His lips weren’t exactly in a smirk, but there was that cockiness in there. He really was feeling it, that was obvious. 

The first picture was a classic mirror pose- A black jacket and a black hat: the same outfit he had been wearing in class. You looked at the timestamp and saw that he only posted it an hour ago. Already it had dozens of comments and a low thousand amount of likes.

You scrolled down. A denim jacket and beanie in the mirror; a grey t-shirt and sweats in the mirror; a black suit in the mirror, the list could go on. There were other pictures, mostly from the frat house parties and other events where alcohol played a significant role. There were also the occasional front camera selfies. 

You couldn’t help but look at those a little bit longer. There was something about that small tight smile that he made that was so cute. In one of the more saturated pictures, with a deeper shadow, you noticed that his nose actually had a little bump in it, most likely from breaking it in the past. 

But just from likes alone, you could tell that the mirror was a public favourite. 

There was something about the confidence that the pictures portrayed that spoke to you.. He knew he looked good, and no one could deny it. Except, he looked so much better than good. 

It was interesting to be scrolling down his posts because it was like a trip back in time. At first, it didn’t wasn’t that obvious, just maybe a change in temperature during the year that was referenced through his clothing. Then it showed a bit more as his hair started to get shorter by each picture taken. It got shorter and shorter until his hair was not much more than a buzz. The reason for the drastic hair change was explained in the next picture. 

You had already scrolled down four years worth of pictures, and this one was of him (taken by someone else). Tom was standing in a victory stance on a grass field, which you recognised to be the campus square. He was only wearing boxer shorts and on his chest was painted, in bright blue paint, 𝜟K. Underneath the post, read the caption: Delta Kappa babyyy! with a bunch of other hashtags. One that was included was #deltakappapledge #initiated. Of course, it was during his pledge period. 

You kind of hoped that he had to do more than just shave off his hair because he didn’t even look half that bad. It even suited him actually. Hoping to find some more evidence of that embarrassing period, you scrolled on. 

The sound that came out of your mouth as you scrolled to the next picture was inhumane. Keeping to tradition, it was a mirror selfie. Behind him seemed to be some workout equipment, possibly from the campus gym, but no one would look at that. Everyone would be too focused on what was in the foreground. 

It was Tom standing in front of a mirror, chest glistening with sweat as his hair draped in front of his eyes. Instead of the usual pose, he stood sideways, showing off not only his flexed bicep as he took the picture, but also the outline of all his other muscles.

Completely forgetting what you were doing, you double-tapped the post. How could you not? Only a second later, did your monkey brain realise what you had done. You had made that exact same mistake as Tom. Except while he had liked a picture of a cute dog, you had made your mark on a shirtless selfie.

As the pure humiliation flooded over you, you threw your phone to the other end of the bed with a squeak. 

What’s done was done. 

_________________________________

Tom came back from the walk with Tessa after an hour. They both enjoyed a long walk around the park neighbouring the campus, just to then pretend like they were too exhausted and lay in bed the rest of the day. Well, Tom pretended. Tessa seemed legitimately tired. 

They went back to their position on the bed. Not sure what else to do, Tom got back to Instagram. There was no reaction to his accidental like yet. Not even a follow back from y/n. A bit rude but okay, maybe she hadn’t seen it yet? 

He shook his head. He didn’t like this weird side of him. Where had it even come from? Since when did he wait for anyone to respond to him? And they weren’t even having a conversation! 

Having nothing else to do, he searched through his phone gallery for a good picture to post. He chose one he had taken during lunch, on his way from the bathroom. It was still crazy that his friends wanted to go to a place where you needed to take an elevator to go to the toilet. 

He didn’t care for editing, so he went through the usual Instagram process of making a post, thought of some dumb caption and send it out into the internet. Soon enough, as if they had a notification on for his activities, the likes streamed in.  For the first few minutes, he tried to look through them, again hoping that y/n would be one of the likes or the heart eyes emojis in the comments, but quickly it became too much, and Tom couldn’t keep up. He still enjoyed reading the comments.

Of course, it was all one big ego boost. The praise and compliments, even if it was for something as shallow as his looks, definitely gave him a good kick of dopamine and all those other happy chemicals during the day. 

Tessa was snoring and drooling on his belly as Tom went through his timeline and explore page. There was not much exciting happening in peoples’ lives, but it made the time flow by faster. An hour had gone by probably when he decided to recheck his activities. His new picture already had a few thousand likes and was close to reaching a hundred comments.  He went through some of them and either liked them or responded with a matching emoji. 

But as he scrolled through the activity, he saw a like that was to a different picture. A rather old one too, just from the beginning of college. And who might have liked this picture? y/n 

She liked a workout selfie, huh?

With the confidence that the like gave him, Tom clicked on her account and the message button. He thought about what to send for a moment but decided against overthinking it and went with a simple- 

_________________________________

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Hi 

You looked at the notification for a while. He definitely saw you had liked his old picture. Was he going to make fun of you? Tease you how you had outed yourself for thirsting over him? 

But maybe he just wants to talk? You tried to sound optimistic to yourself. After all, he did like an old picture of yours too. You were kind of in the same boat.   

Putting all worries aside, you clicked on that damn nerve-wracking notification, and without much more thought send out the reply. 

(y/n)

Hey :) 

Before you could even send out the smiley, the message rose to reveal “SEEN” beneath it. Was this happening? Was it? You could see he was typing. 

(tomholland2013)

After stalking me you could have at least followed me back lol 

(y/n)

Right sorry just a lot of mirror selfies. Thought i’d seen everything there is to see 😂

(tomholland2013)

Rude Seen anything you like though? ;)

Uhhh, of course, you have. You liked it. A lot. But you weren’t going to give him that satisfaction. 

(y/n) 

No not really 

Quickly change the subject. 

So what are you up to? 

Good enough subject? 

(tomholland2013) 

Just lying in bed with Tess

Tess? Who was Tess? Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, he would have posted something on his Instagram, right? That’s what couples did? Unless it was just a one time fling. You couldn’t even call it a one-night stand since it wasn’t even night. 

Wait, why did you even care about that? You had literally only said hello to each other and shared a coffee during class. 

But the curiosity was gnawing at you.

(y/n) 

Tess? 

(tomholland2013)

Yeah, she’s falling asleep on my chest. Kinda tired her out lol

You looked at the text, unsure how to respond, or even if to do it. Was he telling you about his hookup?  It didn’t sound like the nice guy you had met in front of the lecture hall, and that gave you his leftover coffee and Oreos. Your face wrenched into a grimace, not sure anymore what to make of this conversation or of what had happened during class.

He was typing again. 

Wanna see? 

Jesus Christ, this was a mistake. You didn’t respond, but he still sent you a picture anyway. It was a timer, unfortunately, meaning you had to click on it to see what he had sent. But he could see you got the message and that you were online. The longer you took, the more prominent you would make it that something was wrong, and you didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had given you his coffee. 

The curiosity got the better of you once again, though, and you clicked on the little bomb. What popped up was almost what you expected- but at the same time, so not. Before your brain properly processed what you were looking at, you were scared that he had sent you an unsolicited dick pic, but it was the furthest thing from that. 

What you saw was a POV shot of his chest and legs. He was indeed lying on his bed. On his chest, however, was the head of a grey silver dog. “Tess” had her eyes closed peacefully as she slept on. 

Of course, it was a dog. 

You decided to be honest. For the benefit of the conversation, if anything. 

(y/n) 

Omg 💀 

(tomholland2013)

We just came back from a long walk, so she’s pretty knackered  What?  Did you think I meant something else? 

Embarrassment kicked in anyway. 

(y/n) 

No... lol 

(tomholland2013)

You sooo did lmao Jealous much ;)

(y/n) 

Of the dog maybe

(tomholland2013) 

Cause she gets to be here with me? 

(y/n)

No I meant it like  She’s so cute  I want one

(tomholland2013)

Relax  I was just messing with you  But if you ever wanna come over

(y/n) 

Maybe another time 

The response came out in a panic. Had he invited you for what you thought he did? No, there was no way he did. Besides, you couldn’t go to his house. You barely knew the guy- your mind kept on whirring about it. But the conversation continued.

Soon the sun had gone down, and it got dark outside, but the messages kept coming in. At one point Marie finally woke up from her hangover slumber. Drowsily she got up and headed for the shower with a towel and toiletries bag in her hand. Before she left, though. She asked you if you could prepare something to eat for dinner since she was starving. You being you, agreed.

(y/n)

Hey, I think I gotta go for a bit. Gotta make dinner for my roommate

(tomholland2013) 

What’s on the menu? 

(y/n) 

Probably spicy ramen? 

(tomholland2013) 

Damn. sounds good But can’t she make it herself? 

_________________________________

A part of Tom wanted to send another message. I want to keep talking to you. But that felt like a bit much. She was typing again anyway. 

(y/n) 

Because she’s still hungover from your party lol Thank for that btw 

(tomholland2013) 

You make it sound like i am personally responsible 

(y/n) 

Well your the only guy from DK i know so  you’re**  💀fml. There go my chances of an english degree 

(tomholland2013) 

Nah babe YOU’RE good ;)

 _________________________________

Your heart fluttered at the little word, for no reason. It was just a text message. He probably called every girl he texted that. Still, the sentiment was there. Also that winky face of his. Could he stop? 

He started to type again. 

(tomholland2013) 

But if you ever wanna meet the other guys, you really are welcome to come over. 

(y/n) 

I’m good thanks. 

Going to a frat house alone? You felt like that could easily be the start of your personal horror movie. It would absolutely crash at the box office, but that didn’t matter. And it was the second time he invited you to come over. If it was a hint, it wasn’t a subtle one. It didn’t stop you from doubting it.

(tomholland2013)

No need to be scared. They’re pretty chill dudes. 

It was cute how he could read your mind because you were undoubtedly scared, but what he probably did not think was that you weren’t interested in meeting any other frat guy because there was only one on your mind at the moment. 

(y/n) 

Maybe another time  ttyl? 

You had sent the last message in the hopes that he had as much fun talking to you as you did with him. You watched eagerly as the three dots danced around on the screen while he typed out his answer. 

(tomholland2013)

 Absolutely

_________________________________

Tom turned his phone off with a smile covering his face. He had just spent talking a good two hours to y/n, and he had to admit, he hadn’t had that pleasant of a conversation with anyone in a long time. It was just so easy to talk to her. It might be partly because it was only texts. But still, she was funny, sweet, and so pretty...

Unbeknown to himself, he was falling a little bit for y/n. Although, maybe he did feel it coming. The idea of getting another text from her made his face heat up. The idea of seeing her in class the next day almost made him… giddy. And it’s only been a day. 

“Hey, man,” there came a knock on his door. “Better hide anything that would make it awkward between us cause I’m coming inside in 3-2-1-” 

“‘S all good,” Tom said right as Harrison walked through the door. 

“We’re gonna order pizza, what do you want?”

“Just the usual, I guess,’ Tom shrugged. Honestly, he didn’t really feel like eating pizza but to be the only one that wasn’t having any wasn’t a good strategy either. 

“Alright, then.” As quickly as he walked in, Harrison was also leaving the room. But he peeked his head through the door once more before actually walking away. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re good?” Harrison looked at him through narrow eyes.

“Yeah,” Tom answered as he prodded himself to sit up. “Why?” 

“I don’t know… Nevermind.” And with that, Harrison left to share Tom’s order. 

It was a rare occasion that all the house members would be at home on a night that wasn’t reserved for a party. That night, when it came to dinner, it was around 8 of them. Everyone was already sitting on the couches when Tom came downstairs to grab his pizza. He grabbed a chair and his box and sat down. A football game was playing on tv, and it made Tom roll his eyes. He still had no real idea of how football was supposed to work. He always preferred golf or basketball, or even baseball. 

The guys cheered at a touchdown or whatever but all Tom could focus on was his phone. He kept checking if there were any notifications from y/n. So far, there was nothing. She was probably busy, he told himself, not wanting to feel too disappointed. 

 _________________________________

“So who were you texting back then?” Marie said as she slurped on her noodles. You were playing around with your own portion a bit, not really in the eating mindset.

“Huh? No one.” you shook your head.  

“So it is someone. C’mon. Who is it?” She extended her leg to poke yours. She kept going until you finally gave in. 

“Just this guy from Dowling’s class.” you finally took a bite of ramen. 

“Aaand does this guy have a name?” Marie kept on asking. 

You looked up from your cup of noodles. “Tom… Holland.” 

Marie gasped, almost dropping her food onto her lap. “Tom Holland? As in Delta Kappa Tom Holland?’ you nodded your head yes. “No fucking way.” 

“What?” Not the most nuanced reaction, but it would do. 

“No way you have a crush on Tom fucking Holland.” You always noticed that when Marie cursed her French accent would show up again. Just the slightest bit. This time, however, what you stayed on was her statement. 

“I do not!” you said as your cheeks were heating up. 

“Ohhh, you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said ‘nobody’. Everybody knows that ‘nobody’ is code for either crush, boyfriend, or drug dealer. And I think we can exclude the last option.” you were going to protest, but you would have only been fooling yourself. 

“So, hypothetically, let’s say I do have a crush on him. Why did you scream out ‘No way’?” You bit your lip, a bit scared for an answer. 

“No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that.” Marie put down her ramen on her desk and came to sit down next to you on your bed. “I didn’t mean that you, like, don’t have a chance with him. Please, if anything, you’re too good for him.’ you both chuckled. “I just didn’t think he’d be your type.” 

“What, hot?” You raised an eyebrow to which she slapped your shoulder. 

“You’re being difficult. I mean, so… out there. You know, he’s basically the leader of that frat house, he always parties, always has stuff to go to. And you’re… well, pretty much the exact opposite. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Completely not. I just don’t want you to put yourself in any positions that you’re uncomfortable with to impress him or anything. Remember, you are too good for him.” 

“Thanks.” you hugged her from the side. “But don’t you think that it would be good for me to go out once in a while? Out of my comfort zone?”

“Sure, if you’re actually doing it for you. Not some guy.” 

“He is really nice, you know.” you smiled, remembering what had happened that morning. You went on telling Marie about it. 

“Oh, so he’s got a crush on you too, huh? That works out perfectly. ” She finally said when you were done telling your story. You looked at her with wide eyes. 

“What? Noooo,” you said, letting an awkward laugh escape through the no. 

“Fine, whatever,” Marie moved back to her own bed and grabbed her cup of ramen. “But I bet you that if you check your phone now, you’ll have at least one message from him.” 

You rolled your eyes again but grabbed your phone either way. And, fair enough, you had two notifications from ten minutes ago. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Heyy

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: I hope the ramens good

Holding in your smile, and ignoring the smart ass comments of Marie, you replied quickly. 

(y/n)

It was :)

_________________________________ 

The speed at which Tom checked his phone when he felt the vibration in his pocket could have caused someone severe whiplash. He responded to the text and got up. Ultimately, he had hoped that he could slip out the room unnoticed, but he never got what he wanted, did he? 

“Where are you going?” It was Dave that saw him get up. Tom stopped in his tracks like a little kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

“Just up to my room. Feelin’ a bit tired.’ He explained. This answer received several strange and confused looks, but Tom ignored those and just walked upstairs without saying another word. He plopped down onto his bed. Tessa was still downstairs under the table chewing on some pizza crusts, so he was finally alone. 

The texting continued through the whole night, and Tom had wholly lost the sense of time. He didn’t even feel tired. If it wasn’t for y/n saying that she was about to fall asleep, he wouldn’t at least. Like that, the windshield crashed, and he felt the fatigue from the hours of messaging and staring at a screen overwhelm him. He just about managed to send out goodnight before his eyelids were too heavy to open up again. 

_________________________________

The next morning you woke up feeling much better than either time the day before. Fresh and energised, with plenty of time to get ready before class started. Not that you really put much effort into how you looked for the morning lectures. It was more mental preparation. With enough time to eat breakfast, shower and brush your teeth, you felt excellent walking out the door. Dressed in a sweater that was warmer than two jackets and some loose jeans. With your bag over your shoulder. 

You always thought the walk from your dorm to the lecture halls was delightful. The path leading toward it was enveloped in a tunnel of trees, and during the end of the year, when the leaves were turning into their auburn and golden shades, it almost felt warmer than in summer. Because the harsh wind still kept up with its schedule. It blew in your face as you walked, rubbing against your cheeks. 

When you got there, the lecture hall was still relatively empty. Only a few other people had taken their seats. This was the crucial moment of choosing your seat. Against all your own instincts, you walked down to the bottom of the auditorium, into the fourth row. You had never sat that closer to professor Dowling’s podium, too scared you would be too easy to notice and called to answer a question. But something in you told you to be brave. 

Besides, you had the idea that Tom wasn’t eager to sit there either.

As much as those butterflies in your stomach fluttered at his mention, you didn’t want to talk to him now, not during class. You needed to pass this class badly and to do that, you needed to focus. Something you could not do with him sitting next to you. 

That’s what you told yourself. It was, of course, true, but the bigger problem was that you were scared. Tom sounded like a nice guy, a very good looking nice guy, but Marie’s words played in your head. He was from a completely different world. And it was a scary one. Why not keep a bit of a safe distance at first?

So, you kept your head buried in your notebook as people started to stream into the room. One by one, the seats around you were getting occupied—none of them by Tom, for better or for worse. 

_________________________________

It had taken Tom a while to find y/n. He walked into the room, thinking he had come in with plenty of time to spare, but as he was making his way down the steps, the professor was already making his way to the podium. Tom tried to look around the room as quickly as he could, but he could not see her. Where was she? 

Professor Dowling coughed loudly, indicating for everyone to shut up and sit down, so he could start the lecture. Tom took the first empty seat he saw. An aisle seat somewhere around the 8th row. The course started, but Tom’s eyes stayed on the seats, looking for that braid. 

It wasn’t a brilliant plan, because he had no idea if she had actually kept that braid in for another day. And she had not, in fact. He noticed her, sitting somewhere at the bottom of the class, as she grabbed her hair and was pulling it up into a bun. She did it so quickly, so smoothly, without ever letting her attention get away from her. Focused on the class. He could really learn something from her. 

And he tried to take a page from her book as he finally looked ahead of him to see Dowling write an entire essay on the blackboard. He cursed himself and quickly started to type everything over. His fingers went in fully automatic mode, and he had no more idea what the words he was typing actually meant. 

His mind had wandered off once again. He couldn’t stop feeling that disappointing pull at his heartstrings. He had hoped they could have had a repeat of yesterday. She apparently thought differently. Or maybe she had hoped he would sit next to her, but he was just too slow? 

The lecture went on forever, felt like. Tom’s fingers were cramping up from typing so much, and he could feel his back beginning to hurt in the uncomfortable chair. He kept stealing quick glances at y/n, hoping to catch her in doing the same, but she had not moved once. 

He had to get a grip. They had known each other for one day, spoken maybe ten sentences to each other in person. The rest was all through text. And nothing was the same via messages. Maybe all his feelings were coming from the entirely wrong place? Perhaps she was just polite, and he had misinterpreted it for casual flirting? Besides, there was that sweater of hers yesterday- what if she had a boyfriend? 

But a part of him still wanted to ignore all those signs and go for it. So, when the bell rang, and professor Dowling finally dismissed the class, Tom made sure he was one of the first ones outside. The large hall had two exits, so he stood against a wall, somewhere in the middle between both doors, hoping to catch y/n as she was walking out. 

The loud rumbling of thunder caught his attention momentarily. 

It was just a second, he swore to himself. But the second was enough to miss her. Somehow she had escaped him, nowhere to be found.

_________________________________

You had seen Tom waiting out in front of the room, and you felt horrible for walking the exact opposite direction. For the sake of your own feelings, you didn’t look back at any point on your way to your second lecture. 

As Professor Phillips spoke, you felt your phone vibrate. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: where are you? :) 

The little smiley made heat up in the cheeks, but you tried to ignore that as you typed out a response. You didn’t even click the notification to go to the app, just responded through the shortcut. 

(y/n): had another class

Another notification popped up not long after. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: wanna meet up later? 

(y/n): ngl I don’t feel well, will probably head back home right after

(y/n): but i’d love to chat

You shut off your phone, too scared to see the reply. Maybe it wasn’t the best move since you could not think about anything else for the remainder of the class. When you checked your phone again on your way back to the dorms your heart was lifted. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: of course. hope you feel better <3

_________________________________

Tom tried to think that she wasn’t avoiding him. After all, they texted almost every possible second that they had the time for the past week

They had talked about pretty much anything and everything. And it felt great. The way they spoke to each other, or at least Tom to her, was as if they had known each other for ages. 

Tom only wished he could do that with her from across a table, or a on a bench. Where ever, he didn’t care. He wanted to be able to look into her eyes as they talked and see her smile. Hear that lol and not just imagine it. 

Unfortunately, y/n was kind of giving him the cold shoulder in the real life. She ignored him during classes, and was gone before he could get the chance to talk to her. Whenever he asked if they could meet, she’d give him some reason she couldn’t. If it wasn’t for the fact that they had actually already met in real life, he had vary valid reasons to think he was being catfished. 

Another reason could have been that she sounded too perfect.

It was the next Tuesday already, and Tom was waiting eagerly for the lecture to end. It had been a full week and he had decided, while copying some of Dowling’s notes, that he would talk to y/n today. After class. 

Tomorrow would be the opening of the Sterling and he wanted to ask her if she wanted to come.Or at least to know if she wanted to hang out ever. If the truth came to be no, he would be fine with that. He respected that. He just needed to know. It wouldn’t take away from the fact how great it was to have someone to talk to, even if it was only through text bubbles.

The bell rang and Tom sprinted out. He kept his eyes on both doors as best as possible and finally saw her. 

_________________________________

“Hey, y/n!” you heard your name being called from behind you. It was from Tom. He waved to you so would come over. Taking a deep breath, you decided to wave back, but your legs were frozen in place.

You felt absolutely terrible for ignoring him and denying his various invitations to hang out or to go anywhere, but it was just too terrifying. You were scared of fucking it up. Of it to turn out to be one big joke. You had heard of frat guys using dates and hookups as dares and shit. You didn’t want that. You couldn’t let that happen.

But when you saw Tom smile at you, those worries suddenly disappeared and your legs moved without connecting to your brain. Suddenly, you found your spot next to him.

He had been leaning against the wall with one foot, his arms crossed. You decided to lean against it with your shoulder. Even though you had your sweater, you could feel the grizzly texture of the bare red brick. He smiled and mirrored your movement, so you were only a few inches apart. ,

“Hey,” he said, still with the smile on his face. 

“Hey,” you replied. 

Tom uncrossed his arms to brush his fingers through his hair. As you watched him do so, you couldn’t help imagine how it would feel to play with his hair. It looked so soft. 

“I just wanted to say,” he licked his lips. You were so close to each other that you could see how pink and chapped they were. Focus. “How much fun I had the past week. It’s bee really great talking to you.” 

“I had fun too,” you said. It really was nice talking to Tom. Especially now, standing so close to him, you could smell the coffee he had consumed that morning. Was it pumpkin spice? You felt stupid for not letting it happen sooner.

“Great, that’s- that’s really great to hear. I said great already, didn’t I?” He laughed, shaking his head, “Anyway, I was thinking: a couple of friends of mine are going to the opening of this new bar, the Sterling, it’s probably going to be a bit boring, but I thought, maybe you’d like to come? With me?” He looked at you with those big brown eyes. Your mind started racing a million miles an hour at his words. The fuzzy warm feeling that you got from looking at his smile was dispersing and setting in for anxiety.

He wanted you to go to a bar with him and his friends? Would that be considered a date? For the sake of your dignity, you decided against asking for clarification. It didn’t matter. You couldn’t go to some dingy bar with strangers, even if one of them was Tom. You could already feel your body heating up in anxiety as all the horrible scenarios played out in your head. 

You realised you had been quiet for a while and Tom was still looking at you hopefully. 

“No,” you blurted out. “I mean, I can’t. Sorry.” 

“Oh, that’s fine. Totally. Maybe another time? Or if you don’t wanna go there, we could go somewhere else?” 

“Uhh,” you couldn’t breath. All his suggestions were so sweet, but it felt too overwhelming to answer. Thankfully, the clock tower at the other end of campus rang and indicated the quarter of an hour. Your next class would soon start, and it was about a five-minute walk to get to. 

“I have to go.” you pointed back and started walking, but Tom grabbed your hand gently, just enough by your fingertips. 

“Sorry, I just- if you don’t want to hang out with me, that’s totally fine. You don’t have to pretend to like me, no hurt feelings. I don’t want you to-” 

“I do, Tom,” you told him with a compassionate smile. Then you looked back at the clock. “But I really got to go.” 

“Right, sorry.” he let go of your hand, and you ran off to your next course. 

 _________________________________

“Who was that?” 

As soon as y/n ran off, Tom heard the voice coming from next to him. Zendaya popped up out of nowhere, an unlit cigarette hanging between her lips as she leaned in the same spot y/n had. 

“Just a friend,” Tom shrugged. That’s what they were, after all. If even. He hoped he could describe someone he had mainly only spoken through texts with as a friend. 

“You sure about that?” Zendaya smirked. “Cause by the looks of it, she’s got you pretty hooked. You were basically begging her to go out with you, bro.” 

“Yeah, well, forcefulness isn’t exactly an aphrodisiac, is it?” he sighed then almost turned pale at the words he had said. Zendaya didn’t say anything, just nodded and took out her glittery lighter. 

“Could you not?” Tom pulled the cigarette out of her mouth before she could light it and put it in his pocket. “We’re inside, for fucks sake.” 

“Fine, but tell me who this friend of yours is.” She nodded her head back into the direction that y/n ran in. 

“I don’t really know. I mean I do, but- Basically we met last week before class. Then I found her on Instagram and DM’d her-” 

“You slid into her DMs? Bro,” she laughed. 

“Call it what you want, it was the only way of reaching her I had.” 

“Fine, so you like her, yeah?” 

“I guess.” Tom didn’t like sharing his feelings. It put him in this vulnerable position that he was not used to. Zendaya knew that, yet still she pushed him to do it almost every time they talked. 

“For what it’s worth, I think she likes you too,” she said. 

“How so?” he questioned hesitantly. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Zendaya had pulled that trick on him to date someone. And it had not ended well. 

“Well, body language for one, she felt comfortable enough around you to stand close to you, facing you; she smiled at your rants which, props to her, is hard to do.” 

“How long had you been watching us, exactly?” Tom asked a bit freaked out. Zendaya ignored the question.

“Believe me, she likes you. She’s just scared.” she pulled out another cigarette from her pocket, “also, taking a girl to a shithole like the Sterling for your first date? I’m glad she said no. Set some standards, man.” And with that lovely comment, she walked away. She didn’t have to see Tom flipping her off, she knew he would do it, and she replied lovingly in the same way. 

That’s what you got for being friends with psychology majors. 

 _________________________________

The first thing you did after walking out of your second class was to check your phone if you had received any messages from Tom. There was nothing. So you decided to message him yourself. 

(your account) 

Hey  Sorry I ran away like that  And basically anytime after class and making those dumb excuses not to meet up Just so you know I do really wanna hang out with you I’m just not really great with crowds or with places like bars and stuff And ive also never really been asked to go anywhere with anyone, like personally  Idk why im telling you this. I’m definitely rambling Texting is definitely easier than talking huh Sorry for all this 

It took Tom two minutes to see your messages and to respond.

(tomholland2013)

It’s totally okay. I get it And sorry if i made you uncomfortable with all that.  Can i come to your place tonight? Or how about we go to Le Moulin?

Le Moulin. You had been there before. You could do that. With trembling fingers of excitement, you replied

(your account) 

Deal. Around 7?

(tomholland2013)

Sounds perfect. See u then 

 _________________________________

Tommo: Hey guys, sorry but im gonna have to skip on tonight 

This short message was seen and very much not appreciated by his friends. None of the replies could be seen as appropriate for day-time television. Except for the one Zendaya had sent him through their personal chat. It was simple, 

Z: 👍

With the entire afternoon off, Tom made sure he looked somewhat decent for the night. He took a shower. Washed his hair and made sure it was extra soft. He wasn’t sure what y/n thought of it, but from past experiences, he knew that usually, girls loved his hair. Thinking about other girls was probably not the best mindset, though. Still, his hair did look really good. He brushed his fingers through it. 

It had not yet stopped raining, which was a bit of a problem, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind getting a bit wet. For the sake of it, he took an umbrella with him. Luckily it wasn’t very windy, so it actually came to good use. The walk from the frat house to the dorm that y/n said she lived in wasn’t too far away, and fortunately on the way to the place he had in mind to take her to. 

On his way over, he thought about what Zendaya had told him. 

Was y/n scared? Of what? 

They had talked about that kind of stuff briefly, during the weekend, and she and said that she suffered from anxiety. Tom just thought it was stuff like giving a presentation in class. He hadn’t even thought about the more social aspect of it. And here he was pushing all those things at her like going to some bar with strangers. Jesus, why did he have to be such a dumbass? 

The dorm complex had a buzzer system like a regular apartment complex, so he searched for her name on the long list, and pressed the button next to it. 

“Hello?” It was her roommate, Marie, that answered. 

“Hey, it’s Tom. I’m here to pick up y/n.” He could hear some indistinct giggling coming from the other side of the line. 

“Of course, c’mon up. But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit.” Next followed the buzzer, and the doors opened for him. The number on the button said 54, so he assumed it had to be on the fifth floor. When he walked up to the door with that number, he was greeted with a colourful collage of rock bands whose hair was probably more impressive than their vocal range, which said a lot considering Queen was on it. 

He knocked and waited for someone to open. y/n was the one to do it. She stood frozen in the door, only a towel wrapped around her body. 

“I thought we said seven?” she said, her voice a bit higher than usual.

“It’s quarter past seven!” Marie shouted out from inside the dorm. y/n cursed. 

“Shit, sorry, I lost complete track of time. Give me ten minutes, okay?” she held up a finger so he would wait here. Tom nodded and let her close the door again. He could still hear her yell at Marie as to why she had not told her she was running late, to which Marie only responded with hysterical laughter. 

“Holland?” someone in the hallway asked a few minutes later. Tom turned in the direction to see a guy with a head full of bed hair poke out of his doorway (which was covered in pictures of death metal posters and my little ponies). He stepped out in the hallway to reveal he was wearing nothing but a pair of tiny and tight briefs, leaving little to the imagination. 

“Oh hey… Crocker,” he called the guy by his preferred nickname. 

“Hey man, what are you doing here?” Crocker asked. The way his eyes were almost ruby red and the stench coming from his room, Tom presumed that the guy was higher than a kite. 

“Oh you know, waiting for a date, heh.” He said a bit awkwardly, pointing back to door 54. 

“Ah, getting some of that French jay nehsuh gwaa.” 

Tom looked confused. He wasn’t sure he had ever heard someone butcher a language that badly. Well, probably, but he didn’t remember it. He kind of understood what Crocker meant, though.

“No, I’m here for y/n. Not Marie.”

“Damn? Really.” Crocker started to giggle, which might as well just have been a side effect from whatever he had smoked up in his room. 

“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure how else to react. Crocker just shrugged and walked back into his room, smashing the door closed. Tom turned slowly, not sure what exactly had happened just then. And he turned right on time too, because the door of dorm 54 opened and y/n walked out. Wearing a raincoat over a sweater and jeans. She also had a pair of black ankle boots on. Tom could not help but smile at the sight of her. 

“Sorry about that,” she said, the nervousness in her voice was unmistakable. 

“First,” Tom spoke, remembering one of his earlier worries from days ago, “you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?” The question made her laugh.

“I very much do not. Why did you think that?” 

“The sweater you wore when we met. It had that whole stole-it-from-my-boyfriend vibe.” 

“No, I haven’t had anyone to steal clothes from in a long time.” she shook her head. Tom extended his hand for her to take, which she gladly did. It felt amazing.

“So what will you be ordering?” 

“Ice cream,” Tom answered, almost matter-of-factly. 

 _________________________________

“Ice cream?” you asked to make sure you had heard him correctly. He nodded in agreement. “Don’t you think it’s a bit cold for that?” 

“No.” He said bluntly, which really sold the case for you. You were on your way again.

You could hear the rain pound against the main door before you even reached the ground floor, and it only got harder and louder the nearer you got. Tom, being a true gentleman, opened the door for you, but you were a bit hesitant to walk outside. 

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” he let you hold the door so he could step through the threshold and push open the umbrella. You noticed it was a Delta Kappa umbrella. They really made merch of everything. As he put the umbrella up, he extended his arm for you to intertwine yours through. Then, you walked. 

Though it was relatively early, the sky was pitch black because of how early the sun set those days and the dark clouds that had been pestering the sky that entire day. Not a star was to be seen. The rain tapped heavily against the umbrella, and you tried to stay as close to Tom as possible. The excuse, of course, was to not get wet but really you wanted to enjoy the warmth that he was giving off. At one point you had changed position from just having your arm over his, to him wrapping his arm over your shoulder. 

You walked down a brightly lit path, so you could see everything around you. The trees, the cars passing by, the building. So, when you saw the little café at the end of the street, you squealed. 

While there were plenty of bars, pubs and clubs to go to around town, so there were restaurants and cafés. And while restaurants really weren’t your thing, you loved to sit in one of the cosy coffee shops with a cup of tea or coffee and read a good book. Another fun thing about all those places was that they were very internationally orientated, speaking to the wide variety of students that the university had. Le Moulin was of course based on a Parisian café. You had actually found it together with Marie, in hopes she could have something that felt a bit closer to home. Though it didn’t come close to the real magic of the French capital, it still had plenty of its charm in it. Not to mention, the pain du chocolats were to die for! 

Yet, you had never actually had ice cream from their menu. 

You still weren’t sure if today would be the day for it. By the time you wear under the little entrance roof, you were freezing, and so was Tom, visibly. 

“Are you still sure about the ice cream?” you asked him as he closed the umbrella.

“Hot chocolate?” he suggested, suddenly fluent in your love language: chocolate and hot drinks (it was a very simplified version of said love language). 

This time Tom got to be the real gentleman as he let you walk inside first. He dropped the umbrella in the stand, together with a few others. When you looked around the café, you saw that a few more couples were enjoying the cosiness. A sweet melody was playing from the speakers. The rain had also softened outside, and together with the vintage sounds of guitar and vocals, it gave the perfect atmosphere for the night.

You had barely stepped inside when one of the waiters walked up. He smiled and said: “Your table is ready,” which surprised you, but Tom took you by the hand, and you both followed the waiter to one of the tables next to the wall, where one side had a couch instead of the usual chairs. You sat down first, taking off your jacket. Tom was going to sit opposite you, but now it was your turn to grab his hand. 

“Slide in.”

He smiled and sat down. He probably didn’t need any convincing and just wanted to hear you say that you wanted him to sit next to you. You didn’t mind that. 

“Should I prepare the order?” the waiter asked as you made yourself comfortable, again confusing the hell out of you. 

“Actually, scrap that. We’ll have two large hot chocolates.” Tom said. 

“With cinnamon!” you added. 

“One with cinnamon.” Tom corrected. The waiter nodded and walked off. 

“Don’t like cinnamon?” you quizzed, to which Tom shrugged. 

“It’s alright, just not a big fan.” Both of you looked around the room. You had never been in the café at night, so you hadn’t even realised that the walls were covered in soft gold lights, giving it all that much more the feeling as if you had stepped into a fairytale. 

“I didn’t know this place took reservations.” 

“I’m not sure either,” Tom replied, you noticed he had his arm draped around you again, “I just called to be sure.”  

“Really?” That split you up into two. Your heart skipped a beat at the thought that he had made a special call to the café to get, probably, the best seat in the house. On the other side, you were freaking out for a few reasons. He had put in quite the effort in an almost last minute notice of plans, while you were fifteen minutes late. That was embarrassing enough. And this reservation basically put you in a spotlight for the entire business, which was really not ideal. You didn’t want to be noticed. 

“Hey,” he whispered and squeezed his grip around you lightly, “everything okay?” 

“Huh? Mhm,” you nodded your head and smiled, trying not to think about how the waiters might be judging you. 

“I saw you had posted a picture from this place on your Instagram, and I used to come here a while back, so I thought it would be cool, but if you don’t like it-” 

“It’s perfect,” you made up your mind. In the end, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. You felt safe, sitting on the little couch, next to Tom. 

Soon after, the waiter came back with two mugs of hot chocolate. When Tom ordered large ones, they delivered. The mugs might as well have been cereal bowls, topped with a peak of whipped cream and cocoa powder, and a cinnamon stick in your cup to distinguish the two drinks. 

“Et voila!” the waiter put the cups down. You thanked him, and he was gone again.

There were spoons, but you decided to stir your chocolate with the cinnamon stick. 

Still with his arm around you, Tom took his mug up to his lips. With the feeling of having him so close to you, you wondered what this really was. What if he just wanted to be friends and spend some time with you? Had he noticed how sad and lonely you were, and did he want to take his pity out on you? Were you a charity act for him? God, you hoped not. You really really hoped not.

“Tom?” You looked at him, to see his eyes dart in your direction. His top lip was covered in whipped cream. You gestured it to him, slightly giggling, and he wiped it off with the back of his hand. How was someone that hot, so adorable? 

“You were saying?” he said, putting the mug down on the table in front of you.

“I was just wondering,” Be quick, get it over with, you’ll feel better when you say it. “is this a date?” 

“Do you want it to be? It doesn’t have to.” He added the second part quickly after.

“I- I think I do,” I smiled. Though he had just put his mug down, he picked it right back up, you did the same.

“Then a date it is.” You clinked cups. Still, something felt off. You were holding the cup up to your lips, but just far enough not to be able to drink from it. Your eyes glazed over as you focused them on the mural in front of you. It was of the Paris skyline. With the Eiffel tower in the middle, the Arc de Triomphe a bit to the left, on the other side stood the two symmetrical towers of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was probably geographically inaccurate, just good enough to keep everyone who had never been to the City of Love satisfied. 

“Okay, something’s up.” Tom brought you back to the date. “What’s wrong? And, please, be honest.” 

“I don’t know,” you huffed out a laugh. “But before you start to freak out, it’s nothing to do with you, I swear.”

“So, you kind of know what it is about.” he raised an eyebrow. He had a point. If you knew what it was not, it meant you knew what it was, indeed. 

“I, uhm,” suddenly you felt very much aware of everything and everyone around you. Were they listening? “Well, I really want to apologise for being so distant outside of Instagram.” 

“There’s really no need for that, darling,” he said. “I understand it, and should have been a bit more considerate. I should have realised sooner that bars and shit aren’t your cup of tea.. or hot chocolate.” 

You both laughed. 

“Yeah,” you were smiling, but the word came out a bit as a sigh, conveying your all the troubling thoughts that were going on in your brain.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Tom saw through it. You bit your lip, not sure how to say it. You didn’t want to say it. He would probably think you were a joke. Besides, all those people around. Some of them from your school. They could probably hear every word you were saying.

“Do you maybe want to text it to me?” he suggested with a kind smile. You hadn’t realised when he had moved, but he had let go of your shoulders, and his hand was now on top of yours. His thumb moved slowly over your skin, reassuring you that, whatever it was, it was okay. 

How you hoped it was. 

You grabbed your phone and started to type out your message, taking a deep breath before sending it to him. You heard the vibration in his pocket, and with it, your heart skipped with anxiety. Tom kept holding on to your hand as he took out his phone and read the text. His eyes shot wide open. 

“Wait, really?” 

 _________________________________

“Never?” he asked, to which she bit her lip and shook her head. 

No, it wasn’t possible. 

“How has no one- nooo,” 

“It just… never got far enough- No, I mean, ugh,” she finally took a sip of her hot chocolate. Tom had to admit that it was cute how that was her go-to frustration action. She wiped off the whipped cream from her lip. Tom couldn’t stop looking at them, they were just so perfect. He wanted to feel her, to taste her. He wouldn’t even mind the taste of cinnamon that would have remained on them. 

“There was just never a guy that made me think, oh yeah, I want to kiss him,” she said after another sip of the hot chocolate. 

“So, you’d want to kiss me?” 

“Shut up,” she said glaring, but just to hide the big smile on her face. 

“Sorry, I just can’t believe you’ve never been kissed.” She flinched a bit at his words. “I don’t mean it in that way. You shouldn’t be ashamed of never being kissed. Sometimes it happens early on, sometimes it doesn’t. If it wasn’t for my pledge, I don’t think I would have had my first kiss till last year.” He confessed. y/n looked at him with eyebrows that had a twist of disbelief in them. 

“Yeah, right.”

“I swear,” Tom laughed, putting his hands up. “So really, no judgement here.” Then he leaned in to whisper into her ear, “and I definitely won’t mind breaking you in,” He couldn’t keep a straight face saying it, and neither could she. He had thought it would make her nervous or flushed, but she just slapped him on his arms teasingly. 

“In your dreams, Holland.” 

“Fuck, I hope so.” That made her freeze, just for a second though. “Shit, too much?” He asked, afraid he had finally taken it too far with his inappropriate humour. 

“No, you’re good.” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, allowing Tom to do so as well. 

“See, just because I’ve never been kissed, it immediately puts me under this label of being a prude or something, but I’m really not. I’ve just- had a really shitty love life.” Or just a complete lack of it.

“Well, I hope to change that.” He leaned in again and pecked her cheek. That finally got him the flushed reaction he had hoped for. 

“You already did.” 

 _________________________________

Your hand moved up to your cheek, hovering above the area that he had kissed. You felt like an idiot, but with Tom, it didn’t even feel like a bad thing. 

“We’ve known each other for less than two days, and I can already tell you, you’re way up there in the list of good dates.” 

“Way up there? Give me stats.” He nudged on. You thought for a second. 

“At least… top ten.” 

“Top five? Oh C’mon, babe, I think I’m a bit better than that. Not to toot my own horn, of course.” 

“Top five.” You said, ignoring the butterflies that had escaped in your stomach. He glared at you. You glared back, keeping your eyes on each other for another moment until he had dipped his finger in his hot chocolate and pressed it against your nose. You blinked in confusion. 

“That just moved you down to number six.” 

“Well, shit.” Tom leaned in and licked the whipped cream off your nose. As disgusting as it should have been, you burst into a fit of giggles, hiding your face in his chest to not disturb the rest of the restaurant. While you were trying to calm down, you felt Tom kiss the top of your head a few times. 

Finally, you sat up again. 

“Top three,” you stated. It was good enough for Tom. For now. 

You drank the rest of your drinks in the best silence possible that could be kept as both of you kept laughing at each other. Finally, the mugs were empty. Tom paid for everything and let you take the lead to walk outside with the umbrella. When you opened the door, however, you saw that the storm had now passed over into a light drizzle. You kept the umbrella closed. 

You were already letting yourself get taken up by the rain when Tom was outside. You thought he would come to join you, but he stayed under the little roof, watching you with a big smile. 

“Not afraid of the rain, are you?” you asked. “Or are you made of sugar?” 

“All I can say is, come and find out for yourself.” You were already a few steps away, so you hopped over to him, took his hand and took the final step, so you were touching chest to chest. His other hand found its way on your hip. You saw his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips. You smiled and pulled him in closer, making you take a step back and exposing him to the weather. 

“Mutherfucker!” He gasped, not having expected that. “Ohh, you’re good.” 

Before you knew what was happening, he had picked you up by the waist and spun you around. You squealed from surprise before the both of you started laughing again. Eventually, he had to put you back down again, and your eyes widened in horror when you saw him walk to a large puddle. 

“No, Tom! No, no, no.!” He put you down right next to it. Probably an inch from the water edge. 

“C’mon, I’m not that mean.” he pouted. 

“Nah, you’re a softy,” you poked his cheek. He grabbed your hand. 

“Oi, I wouldn’t go that far.” then kissed the tip of your index finger, which you had poked him with a second before.

“Too late, I guess.” 

“You sure about that? You’re still really close to that puddle babe. We wouldn’t want any… accidents!” He gripped you by the waist again, and the sudden movement made you feel like he was gonna throw you down into the puddle. You shrieked but soon felt his arms still around you and no parts of your body were soaked (only moderately wet from the light rain) or on the ground. He was still holding you. 

“You never answered me,” he said, his sweet laughter was gone, and his eyes were on your lips again. 

“Answer what?” you kept looking at his face as a whole, taking in every detail. The way his nose scrunched when droplets of rain well on it. How one of his eyebrows was more bushy and irregular than the other. The dimple in his chin, his freckles- everything. 

“If you wanted to kiss me.” 

His golden-brown eyes were so warm, even in the dim street lights at night. His wet hair was sticking to his face, but framing it so nicely. His jaw was sharp, it didn’t seem like it should be real. 

“I do.”

His lips. Though thin and a bit chapped, they still felt so soft. The sweet taste of chocolate, mixed in with the rain that had fallen in the few moments that you stood outside. His hands cupped your cheeks, pulling you in closer to him. It felt so good. So right. 

You pulled away but with no idea how much time had gone by. His stands stayed in their position, his eyes searched yours for a reaction. Nothing came from it since you were still in an emotional daze. 

Tom chuckled. 

“Fuck, I should have slid into your DMs sooner.” 

“Way to ruin the mood, Holland.”

“Oh, you love it.” He said before pulling you into another kiss. 

The END

> song played in Le Moulin: Rendez-vous sous la pluie (Jean Sablon)

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed

> please leave a comment or ask with your thoughts. i love reading them and let me know if you want to see more of this au cause i really enjoyed writing it :)

> if anyone has a comment about how it had only been a day since they met etc. i wrote this 15k story in the span of 24 hours. i wish i could have added more to it but at this point, i am physically and emotionally exhausted and do not want to make it even longer. 

>masterlist and link to taglist in bio

tagging:

@definitely-not-black-cat @artemisiaarm @nerdyhockeygirl @miraclesoflove @justasmisunderstoodasloki @thefridgeismybestie @m19friend @creative-happenings @parker-holland-osterfield @fanficparker @fanficscuziranout @peterparkoure @xxtomxo @happywolves81 @captainbuckyy @tra-gicx @qxeen-of-hearts @varshavisuu @kangaroobunny @petersunderoos96  @the-lost-fairy-tale @nerd-domland @sleepybesson @rissa067 @the-queen-procrastinator @scarletteclipze @screeching-student-unknown  @spiderrrling​ @captainpeggy40 @tomhollanders2013 @miraclesoflove @playinonaloop @queenoflostspirits @roses-hxlland @hereiamhereigo @sunnydays0803 @averyfosterthoughts @moorehollandplz @beiroviski @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @peterparkerbabyyy @multifandomlover21 @lmaotshollandd @badbitchydecisions @tikapollak @awesomehritz​ @madzleigh01​ @oh-what a beautiful-parker @taciturnspidey​ @quaksonhehe​ @mountainsforwords​ @harryfobter @peepeeparkerr @viagracex​ @ethereal-beauty-p​ @slytherin-chaser​ @worldoftom​ @moonysoftt​ @peeterparkr​ @wazzupmrstark​ @saintlavrents​ @peachybloomss​ @blissfulparker​ @chloecreatesfictions-archive​  @fallinfortom​ @bitchydecisions​ @okokimfreakingoutahh @cicicantblog​ @musicalkeys​ @joyleenl​ @multifandomdoodles121 @awkwardfangirl2014​ @marvelouspeterparker​

[btsmosphere]

Crossing Paths - drabble from the Crossfire universe

request from @excusemyuwus -

I remember Tae said he had a crush on her while working on that project so now I kinda want to see his pov of that time and how he was holding being around his crush lol, not gonna lie gangster Tae all nervous bc he like someone is something want to see (also imagine how much the guys would tease him uwu)

tumblr ate your ask when I tried to answer it, sorry! this is the only part I had copied, but if it ever resurfaces, I shall answer there. for now it is still refusing to cooperate so I am posting like this! (update: the ask just returned, it is here)

~pairing: taehyung x reader ~word count: 1.4k ~pre-relationship, fluff, angst, slice of life, mafia au, college au ~rating: g ~warnings: vague mention of gang activity, this is a gang au after all, but it’s not particularly prominent

~a/n: thank you for your great request! this was so nice to come back to, I am so sentimental about this series as my first bts fic🥰takes me back to when I was just getting into bts… it felt hard to do it justice! because of this, sorry it took me a while to write, but I wanted to do it well, and again I kept the theme of making my ‘drabbles’ wayyy longer😅final big thanks to the site being frustrating and eating drafts and such🙃🙃but here it is, finally seeing the light of day! I hope you enjoy it x

“I can tell something’s on your mind, Tae.”

Jimin stared coolly at his friend. Looking over his shoulder guiltily as he unlocked the door, Tae found the other boy with his hands in his pockets, looking expectant.

All Tae could do was shrug as he elbowed the door open, heading to ditch his bag.

“Hey, Jimin’s right.”

A light flick on Tae’s forehead made him startle, looking up to find Hobi grinning, though his head was tilted to one side in question.

“What is it?”

Jimin’s shoulder nudged his own as they sunk into the sofa.

Tae checked his phone.

“It’s just a project for class, don’t worry about it,” he pocketed his phone, ignoring their gazes, “I gotta meet with my partner in an hour.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t staying that long anyway,” Hobi slumped down too, having helped himself to a drink from the fridge, “I’m on watch with Yoongi across town.”

As the discussion turned to this week’s jobs and deals, Taehyung rested his head back against the sofa. The sounds of his friends’ conversation was like static. Instead, he was picturing the scene in class earlier, as the slideshow was flipped to show the project partners on the screen.

Tae hadn’t been too fussed, idly playing with his pen lid as he searched for his name. But when his eyes fell on it, he sat up straight.

Having only bumped into you a few times in class, he had never expected his heart to be hammering quite so hard as he quickly scanned the room for you. Sliding his things away, he had walked towards you as everyone began to file out, meeting you halfway as you did the same.

Leaning against a desk to keep his jittery hands occupied, he grinned at you.

Your returning smile, he noticed, was much more nervous, only flickering into existence for a wavering second. The two of you had only a brief conversation to sort out when you would meet, before you had practically scurried away.

His eyes had lingered on you as his smile slowly sank.

Unconsciously poking his tongue against his cheek, Tae wondered if you were afraid of him.

“Hey!”

A finger clicked sharply in front of his face. He blinked back at Hobi’s grin, Jimin bursting into laughter at his side.

“Just a project, my ass,” Hobi shook his head, dumping an empty bottle on the coffee table, “don’t wanna be late, do you?”

A radiant smile was tossed over his shoulder as Hobi left the room, front door clicking soon after.

Sending his best friend a knowing look, Jimin also gathered himself to stand.

“Have fun tonight, yeah?”

He winked. Tae protested, shooting up from the sofa with an affronted look.

“So it is a special someone?” Jimin giggled.

“You’re impossible,” Tae grumbled, trailing after him to the door, “it’s just a project, I told you.”

Jimin hummed in a way which made it very clear he didn’t believe him.

“Don’t scare them off, tiger,” he remarked, stepping outside.

Tae’s shoulders slumped. He was certain that was just what he had already done.

“I’m busy tonight. And my house isn’t free, so I can’t have anyone showing up here.”

Namjoon chuckled across the line.

“All this for a college project?” Clearly he had heard about this from the others. “If you could lend Kook some of your commitment to school, that would be great,” he teased.

Sighing, Tae spun around to survey the road outside his window, ruffling his own hair.

“You’re very funny, but I need to go. See you tomorrow.”

Tae was certain he would never hear the end of this from the others. It was true that he had firmly set aside time for your meeting today, even if it was only for a minor college presentation. But it was important to him.

He knew that this was the only time he would get together with you, and though it would end as soon as the presentation was given, he couldn’t help but want to make the most of it. At your last meeting, he had been largely distracted by the dizzying height of your apartment, leaving him shying back from any windows.

So this left you with his house today instead.

Arriving soon after Tae’s phone call, you were both soon seated on his floor. Though you mostly worked in quiet with occasional, quick conversation, it was not awkward. Your legs lay close together under the coffee table as you scribbled away diligently on its surface.

Glancing over the lid of his laptop as his fingers hung idly, Tae sighed. Watching as your pen swirled across your notebook, he let his eyes drift across your focussed features.

He swallowed as he did so, teeth tugging his lip. A light frown came over your features. He couldn’t take his eyes away from your lips as your pen lifted to your mouth, resting between your teeth as you mulled the work over, eyes flitting about the page.

Eventually, the lack of tapping at his keyboard must have got through to you. You raised your head.

Too late to divert his gaze, Taehyung cleared his throat and muttered a proposal for a break. Eager as well to put your work aside, you clambered from the floor to join him at his offer of a drink.

Moving through to the kitchen, he made casual conversation, asking after your dad. Last time there had only been a brief meeting, as he met Tae at the door before you hurried him away.

Picking up on his offer to chat, you teased Tae for his fear of heights, giggling over how he had screwed his eyes shut whenever he had come within sight of the view from your windows.

Of course, Tae tried his best to roll his eyes at you, but the smile dragging the corners of his mouth refused to be suppressed.

He poured your drinks. When he turned away to put the cartons back in the fridge, he took a breath, trying to settle himself. Why did he feel so flustered?

Squaring his shoulders a little more, he turned back, only for his hand to catch one of the glasses. It clattered against the surface, barely leaving time for him to jump back and avoid being splattered with its contents.

You hopped from your seat, ready to help.

Swallowing down his shock, Tae scratched at the back of his neck to hide his slightly trembling hand.

“Don’t worry,” he quickly muttered, flashing a nervous smile as he gathered towels and set to cleaning up.

Soft laughter followed from you. Still, you reached across to help.

Righting the glass and taking one of the cloths to clear up, your hand came concerningly close to Tae’s own. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the countertop, his cheeks warm even as you finished and he was rooting in the fridge again for a refill.

You seemed miraculously unfazed by his flailing, though, he noticed as you finally settled beside each other sipping your drinks.

“So it went well?”

Jimin nudged a reluctant Tae, eyebrows wiggling all the time.

“Yes, fine,” Tae groaned, trying to shrug him off.

Jimin did stop, but only in favour of staring at his friend with doleful eyes.

“Don’t be like that. You’ll see her again. You literally share a class!”

“It’s nothing like that,” Tae refuted.

He even halfway believed it.

You had got on well together, but surely not more than could be expected of most classmates? He sighed a little as he thought of it. It had been fun, but there was no excuse to spend any more time with you.

Besides, sparing one night to work on a project was a little different to becoming friends, or even more…

There was a reason the bangtan boys stuck to themselves.

But as he reminisced, he knew he had a soft spot for you, even if it should come to nothing. The project was over, the presentation given, but he still remembered the way you bounced with excited relief after you had finished talking to the class. Your face was glowing as you high-fived him with a grin, the work having paid off.

There was still a hint of nervousness though, and you had only given a timid smile and a small ‘see you later’ before heading out of class.

And that was the end of it.

But Tae smiled to himself. It had been fun, and he knew he wouldn’t be sorry if you ever crossed paths again.

Thank you for reading! Reblogs and comments super appreciated always!!

Taglist: @aianloveseven​ @preciouschimine​ @un2-verse​ @ddaechwita​ @taegularities​ 

[koolkat9]

Hey, do you have any GerEng recommendations

And I have read all of teethoarders lovely writing

Ooooh okay!!!

There is @/iship2muchshit who goes by IMAGI_nation over on ao3. She tends to write GerFra and Fruk, but she does got some GerEng in there and the best GerFruk out there. But you asked for GerEng so here are their GerEng fics, all sweet, but also humorous!

Falling in love with a stranger because he did not send you a dickpic is setting the bar quite low to be honest. (as you could assume it's a bit mature, but nothing explicit). It's very funny and really shows Ludwig and Arthur being the awkward dorks they are. Unfortunately, she hasn't updated it in awhile, but she's still hard at work on other fics.

The Great Eurovision Betrayal. It's a fun read. They get tipsy together, watch Eurovision, kiss the whole shebang!

How a forgotten USB stick made Francis' day. This is actually a prompt I suggested using one of my favorite dialogue tropes (don't know if that's the right word?)

Arthur likes tall blondes. What a way to start a relationship! That's all I'll say.

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Then we've got @/infusions-and-truths though I think you've already heard of them. They've done some GerEng stuff to and I love their writing a whole bunch:

So... I brought a Zoo? A cute little fic with Ludwig holding a cute bunny.

Rest your hands my dear: Soft affection, one of my favorite things!

What the Fae Queen Wants: This is based on a fairy au someone in my GerEng server shared and we discussed. Basically where a human Ludwig gets spoiled by his Fairy Queen lover Arthur while also making sure Arthur behaves.

Make Notes Out of Love AU: I don't explore it often in my own writing, but I love to see a rivalry fic with Lud and Art.

This one doesn't have a title, but it's a really cute chessverse fic. They love to make chessverse au GerEng stuff and I love that!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some other fics from mutuals of mine:

You Look Cute When You're Tired: Just some cute fluff with a tired Ludwig!

Maybe Tonight Wasn’t So Bad: Very cute nyo GerEng! Dancing the night away!

Two men on a couch: A fluffy sick fic! What more can I say?

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And here is a few others not from mutuals of mine:

Das Perfekte Geschenk: Just a cute little holiday fic with Ludwig trying to surprise Arthur.

A Break from Work: Ludwig needs a break and Arthur will make sure he'll have one. Same author as the previous fic listed.

Weihnachtskeksen: Another fluffy Christmas fic! Just some cute Christmas morning stuff.

Telling Scary Stories in the Dark: Some fluff as the two share scary stories!

An Englishman under a tree: Some more Christmas fluff, because Christmas is their holiday.

Warmth: Some cute Ludwig mumbling in his sleep.

Night Like This: I'm so sad this fic got discontinued, but this fic is so well written and the dynamic and au idea is amazing!

Here We Go Again: Dramatic, sad, but also sweet.

We Were Alive Together: Sad ending, but super cute slideshow of their relationship.

The Telephone Rings: Also sad, but with a hopeful ending of healing together.

This one doesn't really have a title, but its a cute mermaid au and I love it!

Another one with out a title, but it's a very nice hurt/comfort fic about the mental toll it is to be a nation.

And I think that's it. It turned out longer than I expected. I'll have to re-read some of these now!

[piplupod]

Some online class tips, from someone who suffered through the worst online anthropology class in existence and somehow got the highest scores in class despite despising everyone in it and the teacher herself:

- set a designated Class Spot to go to, so you can Go To Class and the bad classroom vibes will be contained to that one spot

- sorry teacher, my browser keeps crashing whenever I use my camera so I have to keep it off :)

- chime in once per class and you won't have to worry about your participation grade, even if all you do is read out a part of the slideshow- don't worry about being active in every discussion unless you want to

- make a calendar with all your deadlines, then make another calendar where you designate a day to work on every project at least two days before the deadline. For big papers, separate them into outline, first draft, and final draft days, and get started a week and a half ahead of time. This way you can pretty consistently dedicate only two hours a day max to schoolwork and still have extra time before the deadline if you need it

- the above sounds scary when ur neurodivergent and deadlines aren't real, but having a physical thing you have to check every day helps make them more real, and also I like to set a timer to do something physical that marks Study Mode Time and take a five minute break every twenty minutes (I have ADHD)

- don't be afraid to email your teacher for help. Seriously. Even if it's something like "hey I fucked up my time management and it's entirely my fault but now I have three days to write two papers and I don't know what to do and I don't want to fail your class", your teacher just wants to see you do well. They'll help you figure it out. It's a big difference from high school.

I hope this helps!!

dear god thank you anon lmao, that absolutely helps. i'll read this over again when we are actually awake and have taken our meds (have to wait another hour so we don't move them around too much all at once, trying to get it so we'll be taking them before class eventually), so probably at the half hour lunch break, but thank you again right now! super cool of you to send this, really nice of you, thanks

[sleepysnk]

Team Player: Chapter Seven

Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.8k

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

The past four days had been slow for Eren and (Y/N). All the two have been doing is communicating ideas to help improve his teamwork, of course it was a lot of Eren disagreeing or saying it wouldn't work. (Y/N) assured him that it would help, and it would also give him some time for his ankle to heal. 

It wasn't the easiest convincing Eren of all people, sometimes he didn't want to listen, but (Y/N) would tell him in the end it'd be worth it and he shouldn't be complaining, because it gets him nowhere. 

Here they were, sitting in class talking about everything. 

"How else could I change it? There aren't many ideas!" Eren complained, shrugging his shoulders. 

(Y/N) sighed, rubbing her temples. "Look Eren, we'll figure it out soon. Just help me with this," she replied, scooching her chair closer to him. "Look this up for me please," she added, looking at the website she had jotted down. 

Eren sighed in annoyance and opened his laptop to the slideshow. Most of it was already done by (Y/N), because of their deal. It was itching at Eren at how much he wanted to change about it, all of it looked so fancy, and he just wanted to restart. 

"(Y/N), Eren, how is the project going?" Professor Ackerman asked, approaching their table. 

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh.. it's going well!" she replied, smiling nervously at her professor. 

His face remained stoic as he shrugged. "I hope it goes well, this is worth your grade. Keep up the good work," he replied, walking towards another table. 

(Y/N) sighed with relief as she turned towards Eren, who had a giant smirk on his face. 

"What?!" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. 

He chuckled a bit. "Oh nothin', you seemed so scared of Professor Ackerman over there. You looked like you were gonna fall over," he said, smirking again. 

(Y/N) felt heat grow onto her cheeks. "I wasn't scared! He's just a hard teacher to pass, that's all. God, shut up!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. 

Eren laughed again, smirking in the process. "Whatever you say princess," he replied in a teasing voice. 

She looked at him again with an annoyed expression. "Will you shut up with that nickname? It's so gross! Ugh," she said, turning her face away.

"Is that why your face is all heated up? I can tell, but nah I like that name for you. It's funny," he said, chuckling. 

(Y/N) gave him the middle finger, covering her face. "Can we just focus?" she asked, rolling her eyes. 

Eren leaned back in his chair. "Yeah fine… but we need to figure out ways to improve my 'teamwork' or whatever," he said, looking towards her. "We don't have much time until the championship game," he added.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows and turned towards him. "When is that game?" she asked, nodding her head. 

"I don't know, my coach never exactly knows those dates until we win the game," he replied, sitting up. "I'm certain it's soon so we have to get something done," he added. 

She nodded, looking at her phone. "How about tomorrow I come by your dorm, we can do this idea. It may work," she said, looking up at him. 

"At my dorm huh? (Y/N) I never took you as that type," Eren said, smirking. 

She smacked his head, causing him to almost fall out of his chair. "Can you not? I'm trying to explain, and I'm not talking about that stuff. Just wait until we hangout," she said, rolling her eyes. 

He rubbed the side of his head. "Okay fine! I was just messing with you," he said. 

She sighed. "God you're a pain in the ass," she said, looking back towards her laptop.

Eren crossed his arms. "Whatever you say (Y/N)," he replied, looking around the classroom. 

"Class is over! Be sure to finish your projects," Professor Ackerman yelled. 

Eren and (Y/N) stood up, exiting class together. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" she said, nodding her head. 

He smiled. "Yeah! Do you need my dorm number?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets. 

She looked on her phone. "Yeah I actually do," she replied. 

Eren took his phone out, going to send her a message. "There ya go!" he said, looking down at her. "It isn't too far from yours," he added. 

(Y/N) looked down at his message. "Yeah, it's pretty close actually. I'll probably come by around 6 or 7, because that's when my classes end." she explained, putting her phone into her pocket. 

He nodded. "Sounds like a plan!" he said, going in the opposite direction. "See you tomorrow," he added, turning to walk away. 

(Y/N) smiled, shaking her head as he walked away. Who knew he could be such an idiot, but cute at the same time? She hated thinking Eren was attractive, but she couldn't exactly say he wasn't charming. His brunette hair tied up in a bun, his hands, his height, those piercing green eyes, the cologne he wore, and those broad shoulders. 

God, why was she thinking of him that way? It's Eren Jaeger. The asshole who ruined her reputation. 

(Y/N) pushed the thoughts out of her head, and made her way back to her dorm. She silently prayed that tomorrow would be a good day, and hopefully Eren doesn't act like an ass towards her. 

-

The next day seemed to fly by for the two, Eren didn't have practice so he had a bunch of free time to get ready for (Y/N) to come by his dorm. For some reason, he felt extra? He re-did his bed which was out of the ordinary, he took a shower, he even put on extra cologne. 

It was out of the ordinary for sure, Eren never usually got this ready for someone. He usually would just leave things the way they are, but it felt different. 

Weird how he got extra for (Y/N) out of all people, the two never got along before, and it surprised Armin when he mentioned it. Armin stated that he should be thankful for her help, and he should feel blessed that a person like her even agreed. Considering what happened three years ago. 

Eren was laying on his bed, the time on his phone reading 6:38 P.M. Eren remembered that her classes went a bit later, since she was a smart student. She was similar to Armin, having classes at weird hours of the day while others just did the usual morning to afternoon classes. 

His phone suddenly vibrated. He grabbed it, opening the message. 

(Y/N): hey um, are we meeting up? I just wanted to ask.

Eren: yeah we are, you can come by rn.

(Y/N): okay great! i'm on my way.

Eren sighed sitting up to fix his hair, he tied it into a messy bun, and sprayed some cologne on as he waited for her to arrive. His mind wandered to what ideas she had to fix his teamwork skills, was it the project? He didn't have any idea what she meant. 

A sudden knock came from the door. Eren stood up, making his way over and opening it to see (Y/N) standing there with her backpack. 

"Hey.. come in," he said, moving so could enter his dorm.

(Y/N) entered and looked around his dorm. "Nice dorm," she said, smiling a bit. "I'm going to finish the project first then we'll get onto my idea," she added, putting her backpack down. 

Eren shut the door and went to his side of the bed. "Alright.. sounds cool," he replied, crossing his legs on his bed. "Are you sure you don't need help?" he asked. 

She looked up from her laptop. "Yeah I'm fine.. just give me a few minutes," she replied, opening her folder and grabbing her paper. 

Eren looked at the slideshow as she edited it and added information. He watched the way her eyes squinted or the way she chewed her lip, Eren couldn't help but stare. She looked kind of.. cute.

"Eren! I need you to look at this really quick," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

He shook his head, going to look at the slide she was at. He read through the information she put, he looked back up to see her eyes on his. 

"Does it look fine?" she asked, nodding her head. 

Eren leaned back against the wall. "Yeah! That looks fine, but are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked, raising a brow.

(Y/N) crossed her arms over her chest. "Do I need to remind you of the deal? Trust me Eren I got this, just sit back and let me finish this." she replied, looking back down at her laptop.

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Okay fine.." he mumbled, looking around the room.

Within a few minutes she finished the rest of the presentation, she felt satisfied with the project. Hopefully Eren wouldn't pull what he did freshmen year and fuck it over, that's why she decided to submit it as early as she could so no new changes could be made without the professor noticing. 

"Alright.. done!" she said, closing her laptop. 

Eren sat up and clicked his phone off. "So what now? What did you want to do?" he asked, nodding at her. 

She looked over at him. "So I know this sounds odd.. but it's a good way to help with your teamwork. Do you mind if we clean your dorm?" she asked, grabbing her backpack.

His brows furrowed. "Clean my room? How is that going to help me?" he asked. 

She sighed. "It involves teamwork if it's the two of us and there are a few ways it helps. It helps communicate, share ideas, and it can be useful," she replied. "Trust me, it was either this or we go find people to play football with." she added, taking out some trash bags. 

Eren looked at the stuff on his bed. "If you say so.." he mumbled and stood up. 

The two began to clean his side of the dorm, (Y/N) was a bit surprised seeing how his side wasn't actually that dirty, but it still needed a lot of work. Eren was tossing out some garbage that was under his bed, while (Y/N) sorted through his dresser and table. 

"You got ibuprofen as your pain killers?" she asked, holding the bottle. 

Eren looked over and nodded. "Yeah that's what the nurse gave me," he replied. 

She chuckled a bit. "No wonder you aren't healed, these are baby painkillers. You need some Tylenol," she said, putting the bottle back onto the dresser. 

Eren tossed the bag of garbage onto the floor, he tossed a few things off his nightstand and put them onto his bed. 

"Should I do my bed?" he asked, looking over at (Y/N).

She looked over at it. "Furniture first! Your bed should be last," she replied, turning back to his dresser. "Eren, can you give me the cleaner?" she asked.

Eren grabbed the cleaner and walked up behind her. She turned around and her breath hitched, she forgot how tall Eren had gotten. His breath slightly fanned over her face. 

"Here," he replied, going back to his nightstand. 

Her heart raced a bit. She turned back to his dresser and sprayed the lemon scented cleaner onto it, she wiped it up and tossed it into the garbage bag. 

(Y/N) began to place back some of the items on his dresser, she looked at the different football trophies he had or the photos of his family. She vaguely remembered the mention of a sister, Mikasa was it? She placed the frame back onto the dresser and turned towards Eren. 

He was on his phone watching something. 

She walked over and grabbed it. "Come on! Let's keep going," she said and put his phone on his dresser. 

He sighed in annoyance. "Why is this so hard?" he asked with a whine. 

She crossed her arms over her chest. "It isn't that hard Eren. You're just lazy right now," she replied. "Come on, let's do your bed." she added and walked towards the end of his bed. 

He stood up and threw the sheets off his bed. 

"Someone's aggressive," (Y/N) said, picking up his comforter. 

Eren rolled his eyes playfully. "I just wanna get this over with," he replied, walking to the other side of his bed. 

"Here.. tuck this in on your side," she said and flipped the sheet towards him. 

Eren grabbed the ends of the sheet, lifting the mattress a bit as he tucked the sheet under it. (Y/N) did the same. 

Within a few minutes his bed was made and his side of the dorm was clean. Eren was surprised at how clean it was, it hadn't been this clean since he first moved in three years ago. He felt a bit tired from all the cleaning. 

"Toss me my phone," (Y/N) said and walked towards Eren. 

He handed the cellphone to her, she opened her timer app and nodded. 

"What?" Eren asked and raised a brow. 

She smiled a bit. "I timed this whole thing.. we got it done in less than an hour," she replied, showing her phone to him. 

He raised his brows in surprise. "Damn.. it takes me usually about an hour or more," he said. 

(Y/N) giggled a bit. "See? That's what I was trying to teach you. Working with someone else can get things done quicker, and we did organize a lot of your stuff which shared ideas," she replied. 

Eren fully understood what she was trying to do now, it didn't seem so bad afterall. 

"That makes a lot of sense," he said, chuckling a bit. "But uh.. thank you for helping me with my room," he added and smiled at her. 

She couldn't help but admire his nice smile, his teeth were pearly white. "O-Oh! Yeah totally, it was no problem." she said, looking away as her cheeks heated up. 

They sat there for a while, staring at each other. 

"Uh.. I should get going. It's getting pretty late," (Y/N) said, breaking the silence between them. 

Eren blinked a bit. "Oh yeah totally.. um, do you want me to walk you back? It can be dangerous you know," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Yeah sure.. that'd be nice," she said and grabbed her backpack off the floor. 

The two stood up, Eren put his slides on and followed (Y/N) out the door. He exited the doors of his residence halls with her, she shivered a bit as the cooler air hit her skin. 

"Cold huh?" he asked, laughing a bit as he watched her attempt to warm herself. 

She smiled a bit. "Yeah.. I kind of miss summer," she replied and looked down at the ground. 

Eren nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I miss it too but I love fall, it's football season." he said and smiled at the thought of the sport. 

They got to the residence hall that she stayed in, Eren opened the door for her and watched as she made her way inside. Eren followed her down the hall to her dorm, he remembered her number like the back of his hand. 

She stopped as she got to the door. "Well I hoped helping you did something," she said, smiling a bit. 

Eren chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah it did in a way," he replied, staring down at her. 

They stared at each other again. Something inside Eren was tempting him to do something to her, not something bad, he was tempted to..

"Thanks for walking me back. It means a lot," she said, breaking Eren out of his thoughts.

He shook his head. "Uh yeah! No problem, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, nodding his head. 

She smiled. "Yeah totally, be careful. Don't fall," she said, giggling a bit. 

He rolled his eyes playfully. "I haven't fallen yet, but thanks for the concern princess" he said, chuckling at her nickname. 

(Y/N) slapped his arm and opened her dorm door. "Shut up," she said and laughed. 

"Alright whatever, see ya" Eren said, waving at her.

"Goodnight," (Y/N) replied, shutting the door to her dorm.

Eren sighed as he left her residence hall, he was tempted. He was so tempted to just lean down and…

Nevermind. 

(Y/N) lied down on her bed, she couldn't get Eren out of her mind. Yeah it was normal to think of him usually, but this was different. She thought of him on a daily basis, she was kind of disappointed to see him leave her dorm. She wanted him to stay for some reason. 

Something in her wanted Eren around.

tagging: @ererokii @eremiie @callmepromise @katsuhera @moomii-hime @luvrboykento @flam3bird @thicmitten @simpforerensattacktitan @daughter-of-the-stars11 @mariardgzn @basket-flower-chick @just-a-little-sad @chayauwu @sofi-yeager @ryan249057 @bell0214 @lunamoonawatcher

[dakotacrisis]

Cherry Blossoms (4)

And I am back in time for another update right at the end of pride month. Plan was to get this whole story posted during the month but that did not happen. Oh well, people are still gay in July. Just a whole lot less corporate pandering.

As far as things with Kagami and Marinette are going...well...plans go awry fast.

Read on AO3

---

Adrien was not joking around with what he called Operation Cherry Blossoms. A.K.A. Operation Get-Marinette-To-Fall-In-Love-With-Kagami. He had even called in reinforcements. When Kagami showed up at his house as he requested Alya was also there with a full slideshow presentation prepared. They went over Marinette’s likes and dislikes. Her favorite things and places to go.

There was even a theory discussion about Marinette’s sexuality and why she never seems to fall in love with anyone. The long standing belief was that she was possibly somewhere on the Ace spectrum but that was a whole other thing to get into. Right now they were working with the hope that Marinette did want to experience romantic love and hopefully that romantic love spread to girls. They all knew Marinette wasn’t straight but she never gave them a definite title so the mass consensus was that she was at least bi.

“Guys,” Kagami stopped them, “This is all very thoughtful of you but isn’t this a little weird?”

Alya paused her presentation to turn to her. “What about this is weird?”

“You are literally showing me a presentation on what Marinette is like. I know what she’s like. I don’t need to know that her third favorite ice cream flavor is Very Cherry Chocolate Swirl. I need advice on how to get closer to her so that I’m not stumbling over myself trying to talk to her. The fact that I am nervous enough to stammer around her is baffling to me. I never hesitate to go for stuff that I want but with Marinette...I…”

Adrien sighed. “We know and you’re right. We need a different approach. Giving her a Marinette quiz isn’t gonna help her win her over.”

“Fair enough,” Alya closed out of the powerpoint with a small frown. “What should we do then?”

“Well we can go over the different tactics we used to try and woo Marinette.” Adrien shrugged, “They didn’t work obviously but there was stuff that we did that she liked. Ironically enough she really liked getting flowers in my experience.”

“Yeah, doing little stuff like buying her favorite candy or sending her pictures of cute hamsters worked when I was trying to flirt with her.” Alya said.

“Okay, this is good, tell me more about this kind of stuff.” Kagami started taking notes on her phone.

“She appreciates when you plan something.” Adrien said, “I planned this big day together where we went to a bunch of places I knew she loved to shop, got lunch at her favorite cafe, and topped it off with seeing a movie she had been raving about. She really seemed to love it. Of course while I was trying to flirt and stuff she was only seeing it as a nice day out with a friend.”

“That is a dangerous line to walk,” Alya sighed, “You could plan the most romantic date ever and she would only be able to see it as a friendly gesture if you aren’t straight up with her about your intentions. I love her to death but the girl is so oblivious it actually hurts.”

“So how am I supposed to flirt with her without making it obvious that I am in love with her?”

“You can’t really. That’s the problem.” Alya said.

“Then why are we even here? If she’s too oblivious to notice someone is flirting with her and she gets spooked when someone is upfront with their feelings then how am I supposed to get anywhere with her?” Kagami asked, flabbergasted by this never ending cycle of pining and failure that was the pursuit of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“Schemes. Romantic schemes. Like they do in romantic comedy movies.” Adrien said proudly.

Kagami turned to Alya, deadpanned, “Is he serious?”

“I think you two are underestimating how well this can work.” Adrien pulled up his own powerpoint presentation titled, Romantic Comedy Schemes and Why They Worked.

“Oh sweet baby swiss cheese,” Alya sighed, “Adrien, I told you this wasn’t a viable plan.”

“Hear me out!” Adrien pleaded.

“Fine!”

“Seriously?” Alya gaped at Kagami, “You want to actually hear this boy list off how the note cards from Love Actually was the ultimate romantic gesture or some crap like that?”

“It’s not like I have a whole lot of options.” Kagami threw her hands up, “It’s either romantic comedy shenanigans or trying to flirt with Marinette on my own. Neither seem viable but at least this one is less likely to make me puke up flowers. Go ahead, Agreste. Let’s hear your attack strategy.”

“All right!” Adrien beamed as he clicked to the next slide, “Let’s start with the proper setting.”

---

Kagami could not believe that she was doing this. She had agreed to it but it still seemed ridiculous. No. It didn’t ‘seem’ ridiculous, it ‘was’ ridiculous! This whole plot Adrien concocted with the help of Alya and a watchmojo top ten list of most romantic movie dates was utterly insane. If Kagami wasn’t desperate she would have said no. But she was. She was desperate and in love and desperately in love with the most wonderful yet naive girl in the world.

Adrien was walking with Kagami towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Right into the belly of the beast. Adrien kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder as they got closer. Kagami balled her hands in the fabric of her jacket. She can do this. They stopped outside the bakery and Adrien turned to her.

“You okay? You got this?”

“I’m okay. I can do this.” Kagami nodded, “And you’re sure this will work?”

“Only one way to find out.” Adrien said, “Quick cough, make sure there’s no loose flower petals that are gonna come popping out.”

Kagami grabbed her handkerchief and coughed into it a few times but no petals came up. They were good for now at least. She stuffed the hanky back in her pocket and followed Adrien into the bakery. It was fairly slow at this time and Marinette was standing by herself at the counter and flipping through a magazine. Kagami’s stomach flipped upon seeing her and she could swear she felt that tickle in her throat again.

Adrien ushered her forward with a hand on the small of her back. “Hey Marinette,” Adrien greeted her cheerfully, “Working hard as usual I see.”

“Oh hey guys,” Marinette smiled at them. She slid her magazine away. “What brings you by?”

“Well Kagami here wanted to order a custom cake for an upcoming special event and you know more about this stuff than me so I figured you could help us out.”

“Of course, I love assembling custom cakes,” Marinette pulled out a large binder from behind the counter. “First thing is first, how many people does this need to feed and what is your budget?”

“Budget is unlimited,” Adrien handed her his credit card, “and you can get all of the rest of the details from Kagami. Unfortunately I cannot stick around. I have a photoshoot I gotta run to but you two have fun. Kagami, get my card back to me after alright?”

What? This wasn’t part of the plan! Adrien was supposed to stay! He wasn’t supposed to leave her alone. Was this his plan all along? Oh she was going to kill him later! That hopeless romantic airheaded jerk was gonna have Kagami’s foot so far up his butt her foot would stick out of his mouth by the time she’s through with him.

Adrien patted Kagami on the top of her head and whispered into her ear, “Relax, you’ll be fine.” He bid the girls goodbye and left without another look back.

“Okay then,” Marinette was completely unperturbed by Adrien sudden departure, “Let’s get started on that cake.” She turned around to shout to the back of the bakery, “Mama! Can you come run register? I gotta help take a cake order.”

“Sure thing sweetie,” Mrs. Cheng came up to the front, “Oh Kagami, how nice to see you again. Are you ordering the cake? We’ll be sure to put it at the top of our list just for you.”

“Thank you,” Kagami said. She followed Marinette back through the bakery and into the apartment stairwell.

“We’ll have more privacy here,” Marinette sat down on the step, “Now how many people was this going to serve?”

“Uh…” Kagami racked her brain. She really didn’t need an actual cake. She wasn’t even that big into sweets. Adrien was paying for it too so she didn’t want to go overboard. Since Adrien was paying for it she supposed she could just assemble something she thought he would like and give it to him and Alya as a sort of thanks for helping her out. “Two people.”

“Smaller cake then, alright,” Marinette jotted down the information, “Did you want something like a tart or a cake?”

“Cake.”

“One or two layers?”

“One.”

“And specific shape? We can do a circle, rectangle, square, we can even do a heart if this is for something or someone special.” Marinette giggled. “Or maybe you just think little heart shaped cakes are cool.”

“Circle is fine.” Kagami choked back the petals in her throat trying to escape.

“And what kind of flavor were you thinking for the cake? We have lots of different options.”

“Uh...vanilla?”

“Simple, classic, love it.” Marinette continued on. “And what about filling? We have a lovely cherry filling that I think you would adore. I know how much you like cherry and we do use real chopped cherries in the filling.”

“Sure,”

“Great. I gotta know, what is this cake for? Adrien said it was for a very special event you were planning. What’s going on?”

“Oh it’s nothing really.”

“Come on, tell me, I’m curious,” Marinette scooted closer with her chin resting in her hands, “You said it was for two people. Is this maybe for a romantic date you have planned?”

“What? No! That’s not--” Kagami tried to back away but her back was already pressed into the stair railing, “Definitely not a date. This was--this was um--” Quick Kagami! Think of something! Anything! “Actually,” she said, “This was supposed to be a present for Adrien but then he offered to pay and I couldn’t tell him that it was for him cause it was supposed to be a surprise so now I’m kind of in a box about it.”

“A present for Adrien?” Marinette asked, “That’s sweet. Why are you getting him a present? Is there some sort of anniversary coming up?”

“No. I just thought it would be a nice gesture since we’re good friends and all.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

“Well that is just wonderful.” Marinette said, “If this is for Adrien then maybe we want to change the filling to passionfruit. I know that’s his favorite. Did you want to do that instead?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.” Kagami breathed out in relief. Dodged that bullet.

The girls spent the rest of the time constructing the perfect cake that they thought Adrien would like. It wasn’t the most romantic setting but it did give them ample time alone. Kagami hadn’t even noticed how fast the time was flying by as their conversation kept drifting from the cake form to other topics. At some point they had started leaning on one another with tears in their eyes as they laughed about a croissant eating contest Marinette’s school had put on and the disastrous results that ensued.

“I am telling you,” Marinette took a moment to breathe, “We had no idea where she was putting them all. Alix just kept downing croissant after croissant like she was pac-man. For someone so small she has a huge stomach.”

“I bet that angered Kim to no end.” Kagami laughed.

“Oh you have no idea. Poor guy was trying so hard to keep up but just couldn’t do it.” Marinette shook her head. She laid down so her head was resting in Kagami’s lap. “I need a minute. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I can scarcely breathe.”

“Me either.” Kagami’s hand automatically went to Marinette’s hair and started running her hands through it. “How did we even get to this point? I’m fairly certain we were trying to create a cake for Adrien before this.”

“We were,” Marinette closed her eyes under Kagami’s attentions, “I’m just using you as an excuse to not have to wait on customers. That’s why I keep prolonging this.”

“And here I thought you just enjoyed my company.”

“I do. I love hanging out with you.” Marinette sighed, “I love it even more when you play with my hair. I feel like a little kitten getting lovies and pets.”

“You would make an adorable kitten.” Kagami said. The urge to cough came upon Kagami and she tried to swallow it back. It was a miracle she hadn’t dissolved into a coughing fit while she was laughing earlier. Marinette’s eyes were closed so hopefully she wouldn’t notice.

Kagami gave a quick cough to clear the petals but they were stuck and weren’t coming loose from such meager means. Crap. She tried a few more tiny coughs but it was only aggravating her more.

“You okay?” Marinette sat up, “Allergies again? Or do you just have a tickle in your throat.”

“I’m fine,” she turned away as her coughing got more violent. Stupid flower petals! Stupid disease! Marinette ran a hand up and down her back to ease the ache.

“Are you sure you don’t want a glass of water?”

“Water would be good,” Kagami answered in a hoarse voice. At least with Marinette gone she could get these petals out without her noticing. Marinette ran off to get her some water and Kagami started coughing hard hoping to dislodge the petals quickly before Marinette got back. What Kagami did not count on was Marinette being so darn fast and racing back to their spot with a water bottle in hand just as Kagami got the petals out. She had a hand clamped over her mouth with the petals settled in her palm.

She closed her fist around the petals and stuffed her hand in her pocket to hide the petals. “Thanks Marinette,” Kagami took the water.

“No problem, oops, you got a little something there.” Marinette reached a hand out and plucked something from Kagami’s chin. Double crap! One of the petals must have gotten stuck to her chin.

Marinette turned the petal over in the light. The recognition of what it was hitting her and the realization settling in as she put the pieces together. The cough. The petal. There was only one explanation.

“Oh dear,” Marinette frowned with worry, “Kagami? Are you alright? Please be honest with me, do you have Hanahaki disease?”

There was no point lying now. Marinette already knew. Might as well get it over with and end the suffering now.

“Yes,” Kagami pulled the petals out of her pocket, “I have for a while now.”

“Oh I am so sorry!” Marinette cried out, “I know how much that sucks. It’s such an unfair disease.”

“I am painfully aware,” Kagami scoffed, “At least they’re small.”

“Pretty too,” Marinette handed her the petal back. “So you have an unrequited love?”

“Big time.”

“Have you confessed?”

“No. That’s why I’m here. This, ordering the cake, it was supposed to help in some way. It seems silly now. I’m usually so upfront with people about what I want and what I feel but this whole ordeal has thrown me for a loop.” Kagami kept her head down. She didn’t want to see Marinette’s face when she rejected her.

“I see,” Marinette pulled her in for a hug. “It’s okay, Kagami. I don’t think it was stupid at all.”

“You don’t?”

“No.” Marinette pulled back  far enough to look in Kagami’s eyes, “I think telling someone how you feel over a delicious cake is a swell way to go about it. The fact that you are going to all this trouble for Adrien is so heartwarming.”

“Adrien?” Kagami looked at her confused. Why was she talking about Adrien… “Oh sweet baby swiss cheese,”

“Was this Alya’s idea?” Marinette asked, “She says that a lot so I figured that’s where you picked it up. Alya is great, always prepared for everything. Might go a little overboard but she’s a good person to go to for stuff like this.”

“Marinette, about Adrien--”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him anything.” Marinette hugged her again, “This will stay just between us. And do not worry about the cake. This one is on us. We will make sure it is perfect for your confession date, whenever you have that planned. Adrien would have to be insane not to fall in love with you.”

“Uh huh, this whole thing is so insane.” Kagami muttered. Operation Cherry Blossoms just got a whole lot more complicated.

---

(First) (Previous) (Next)

[immortalcoelacanth]

Smile for Me Oneshot (Reader x Habit): Make Love, Not War

*crawls out of my writing slump*

I live, and bring forth new reader content! This was inspired big time by a fellow Smile for Me fan I met on Discord, so if you're reading this know that this goes out to you!

Word count: 2563

Summary: The last thing you wanted to do was fight Habit, but you had no choice! Unless…

Thinking back to what Kamal had warned you about when you had first expressed an interest in confronting Habit and his scheme, you were not too sure what to expect. You had assumed the towering man would immediately be hostile, that some sort of fight might break out, a fight of the verbal and mental sort rather than physical, and for you to use your wits to secure victory.

But, toothfully-

…

That gas Habit had hit you with was definitely making thinking significantly tougher than usual at the moment. 

Truthfully, you had been hoping, praying, that you would be able to get out of this without hurting anyone, or being hurt in the process. Hoping that everything would go according to plan. 

Of course, entering Habit’s office and getting gassed, being knocked out, and waking up restrained in some dentist’s chair was the furthest thing from the plan. Essentially being powerless as you were forced to listen to his rambling, only able to nod or shake your head was also something you had not planned for. To see him so… unhinged, to quote Kamal, and so menacing, it was… 

Sad.

It made you sad to see him like this, especially with what you knew about his past. Those diary entries, and that slideshow-

The abuse.

You could see what Kamal meant. Habit’s soft spot, something that drove his horribly twisted need to “help” people, was fading. If you took too long or hesitated, it would be too late. 

And you did not want to think about what too late would mean, and what you would have to do.

Once Habit left, you made your move and broke free, even though it meant using your teeth to get out. 

You… you were going to repress this moment to the furthest corners of your mind, the sight of Habit looming above you in the gloom, the numbness that gave way to panic, fear, and sorrow. The tears that had bubbled up in the corners of your eyes.

 It was a good thing you had dental insurance, too.

After acquiring the mirror and managing to hit the buttons in front of you, occasionally missing due to the lingering dizziness from the gas, the restraints popped open and you were free. From there, it took no time for you to get the door open and stumble out into the lobby-

Directly in front of Habit. 

You honestly had no clue who was more surprised at your sudden appearance, you or him, but the shock you both experienced quickly wore off as a frown crossed Habit’s face. 

“You… You Flower Brat!” He spat as he stepped towards you, his shadow engulfing you. 

Why did he have to be so tall?!

Instinctively, you raised your hands and took a step back. Okay, okay, you had to do something. You had to get him to stop, to calm down, to snap him out of his angered state. Unconsciously, your gaze wandered over to the various signs plastered over the walls. You did still have that glove-

No, no! The last thing you wanted to do was resort to violence! You did not want to hit him!

Knock him onto the fragile, glass balcony behind him… 

You shuddered in horror at the thought of such a horrible outcome. 

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Just before confronting Habit you had conversed with Jerafina in the Lounge, and gained a very special item in the process. An item that could definitely prove to be useful in this situation. 

So, without warning, you jumped up and kissed Habit. 

It was, thankfully, a gentle kiss. Your lips brushing against his jaw, the only point of his face you could reach even with your jump. You were just so short and he was so… so tall!

And bright red. 

Indeed, the moment after you kissed him, a brilliant blush consumed his face, frown vanishing in an instant. He took a step back in shock, giving you some welcome space, due to the unexpected gesture. 

You… you had kissed him. Not hurt him, insulted him, or done anything cruel to him. 

No vengeance for all the cruel things he had done to you, said about you. 

His mood immediately took a dive as he recalled all the hurt he must have caused you, as well as his employees, the people he was responsible for taking care of and helping. The Habiticians, too, must have been hurt by his actions. He took a step back and looked towards the ground, long fingers knitting together. 

He couldn’t, wouldn’t, look you in the eyes. 

He was too scared to see what he might find. Was that kiss the last of your compassion? Your empathy? Would you mock him? Hurt him much like his father had-

“Flower,” He began, voice shaky as beads of sweat began to roll down his face. “I… You want to stop fighting, yes?” 

You quickly nodded your head, hopeful that you had managed to get your point across. All that was left now was to talk everything out and get Habit smiling again!

“I… see.” The dentist nodded. “Flower, I am… confuzzed. I do not know what to say-”

He cut himself off and let out a quiet, tired sigh. “Perhaps it... would be best if you left. I won’t bother you again.”

Oh, there was no way you would allow things to end like this. Habit was still sad, still hurting, and you refused to stop helping him until you managed to cheer him up. So, you strode over to him and quickly shook your head. 

He would have to carry you out if he wanted you to leave. 

Habit looked exasperated by your refusal and quickly pointed at the open door that led to the lobby. “Out-”

Deciding to take advantage of the gesture, you quickly reached out and tugged on his arm, still shaking your head. He did not move, you were far too weak to actually pull him around, but hopefully it was enough to help him understand that you wanted to talk. Slowly but surely, you managed to navigate Habit towards the ground where you both sat down beside one another. He still looked confused, but at least he had stopped trying to kick you out. 

From your spot on the ground, you carefully pulled on Habit’s arm once more, encouraging him to slowly lay down, his head resting in your lap, his hat falling off in the process, not that he seemed to care about it at the moment. His hair was so soft, so fluffy, but you managed to wrangle your urge to run your fingers through it. He looked up at you in confusion, and you smiled warmly at him while tilting your head to the side. 

A compassionate smile that you hoped conveyed the words you wish you could say, but knew he would never understand. 

It’s okay, you’re safe with me, I promise. 

I won’t hurt you.

You can talk to me.

It was as if a dam broke the moment he saw your smile. Words rushed out of Habit almost faster than you could comprehend, but you were able to keep up. Stories about his childhood, his family, and his pain. The coherency of his speaking fluctuated, and there were times where he started speaking in Russian before switching back to English, but your attention never faltered. 

You nodded, and expressed concern, and occasionally pat the top of his head to help him calm down. 

“Thank you, Flower. It’s nice two be able too talk.” Habit mumbled as he looked up at you. It was obvious he was doing better than before, more stable and calm, but he still was not happy. 

You pouted in annoyance as you tried to figure out a way to cheer him up. You knew you were getting close to what he needed, the conversation had definitely helped, but you just needed a bit more oomph! 

Unfortunately for you, you were unaware of Habit’s amusement towards the endearing and adorable expression on your face. He had never seen such a look before, and it made that smile on his face grow just the slightest bit larger. 

“Flower cutie…”

Immediately a blush took over as you looked off to the side at the compliment. This was unfair! He couldn’t call you that, especially with that almost-smile on his face! He was the one who was adorable, not you! 

Instinctively, flowers started to sprout out of the top of your head, as they always tended to when you were very happy, embarrassed, or startled. Several daisies popped up, petals unfolding and swaying in the momentary breeze. Habit chuckled at your reaction, causing the last flower to bloom. 

Pop!

It resembled a typical lily, although there were some differences. The petals held more of an orange and yellow hue, and seemed to smell nicer than the rest of the flowers. The scent was not overpowering, but it was calming, and while you were unaware of the significance of this new flower, Habit was not. 

He sat upright in surprise, oblivious to you jolting backwards and nearly falling over. By the time you managed to resettle yourself he had turned so he was facing towards you, a hand stretched out in your direction. His eyes were focused not on you, but on the flower sprouting from the top of your head. 

His Lily...��

You were quick to let out a cough, snapping him out of his dazed state. He blinked a couple times before looking down at you, clearly trying to figure out what to say. You looked up, tilting your head to the side and causing the flower to sway in the process. 

Flower… flower… oh, that’s right! 

You held your hands up, before quickly rummaging around in your bouquet. With all the chaos, interactions, and people you needed to help you had completely forgotten about planting the Erythronium seed Millie had given you. It was tooth shaped, which made it seem like the seed had a connection to Habit, especially since Millie had found it in the Habitat. Upon locating the item, you grinned victoriously and held it up for Habit to see. 

His jaw dropped, unintentionally exposing far more teeth than you wanted to see. You suppressed your winced and quickly thrust the item in his direction, your intentions clear. 

Take it.

As though he were handling glass, Habit carefully accepted the seed and looked it over, a gentle, genuine smile crossing his face. 

He looked so cute!!!

“Do you kno what this is?” Habit asked. You shook your head and tilted it to the side to show your interest, and the dentist was quick to answer your unspoken question. 

An explanation about the Tooth Lily, the importance of the flower, and how challenging it could be to grow it. It dawned on you that perhaps the reason why the Tooth Lily had bloomed atop your head now had to deal with that kiss you and Habit had shared… 

Something that you wanted to do again. 

You blushed once more and looked off to the side, quietly frustrated with how emotional you were being at the moment. You were just so… so flustered! The fact that Habit was so cute, and warm, and how safe you would feel if he wrapped his arms around you-

Pop! Pop! Pop!

As more flowers bloomed, you hid your face in your hands to hide from your shame. You were faintly aware of Habit shifting so he was sitting a bit closer to you, that bubblegum smell growing stronger. Curious as to what he was doing, you looked up-

Just in time for Habit to plant a kiss on your forehead. 

Immediately, another Tooth Lily bloomed and you swore you were going to pass out with all the blood rushing to your face. However, before you could respond and attempt to get back your dignity, the sound of the door to the lobby opening caught both your attention. 

Kamal had, apparently, decided to check up on you, probably since you had been with Habit for so long and to make sure nothing bad happened. You appreciated the compassionate gesture, even if it did nothing but make you feel more flustered. 

It seemed as though he was just as flustered as you were, a blush appearing on his face as he started to sweat. Habit was silent, appearing to be completely stunned by the appearance of his ex assistant. 

“Erm, uh,” Kamal stuttered as he retreated back to the lobby. “I’ll just be waiting out here for you guys! T-Take your time!” 

As Kamal vanished from sight, kicking up a trail of dust in his wake, Habit let out a distressed noise and reached towards him, as if trying to get him to come back. Of course, by the time he moved it was far too late for Kamal to have noticed his gesture. Like a wilting flower, Habit visibly drooped in disappointment and sorrow. Concerned, you reached out and took hold of one of his hands, rubbing slow, gentle circles into the back of it. 

“... I hurt so many people.” He said after a couple moments of silence, sounding completely worn down and exhausted. “Kamal, Wallus…” 

He nervously picked at his sleeve with his free hand, his anxiety growing. Would any good come from him apologizing? Kamal had to hate him at this point, and even if you seemed to be alright with him, the kissing certainly helped to soothe those fears, who knew if the same could be said for everyone else? 

You frowned to yourself. He was starting to spiral again, losing that light you had seen in his eyes. Apologies were definitely going to be awkward, but they needed to happen, for the sake of Habit and those he had hurt. 

You pushed yourself up so you were standing in front of him and held out a hand. He appeared confused for a moment before slowly placing his hand in yours. Rather than pulling him up like he expected you would, you turned his hand over, palm facing up, and slowly traced letters into it.

Letters that formed words.

Words that made a sentence. 

I’ll help you.

His eyes went wide as he looked up at you, stunned at the offer. You were quick to trace out more words, internally agonizing over how long the process was taking. Perhaps when you got out of here you could encourage Habit and the others to learn a bit of sign language since nodding and shaking your head only went so far. 

Or at least carry a notebook around to write in.

Everyone deserves to be happy, and that includes you. You might not be able to fix everything you did, but apologizing is a good place to start.

You gestured for him to stand up as well and then pointed towards the lobby. Kamal had been hurt the worst out of everyone and was the most deserving of an apology, so he would be the best person to start with.

As Habit stood up to join you, you leaned forward and pressed one last kiss against his cheek, your touch spelling out one final sentence. 

I believe in you. 

And in the end your belief, your support, was what Habit needed most. 

                                     xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I, like the reader, am an immense simp for Habit hugs, but then again I just crave hugs in general XD

I hope you all enjoyed reading!

- ImmortalCoelacanth

[imgoingtohellsofuckit]

Hope Can’t Fix Everything

Jasper x Human!Reader

Warnings - Angsty, mention of blood

Summary - Jasper finds his mate, but it’s not all perfect.

Jasper Hale never planned for his life to go this way. He never planned to become a vampire or to live for eternity. But he always went along with it. No matter what fate tossed at him. Because he had hope. Hope guided him through all his years. It lead him to Alice who took him to the Cullens. Hope brought him a undead life he finally could be okay with it. But something was missing. His true love. He saw Emmet and Rose. Carlise and Esme. Edward and Bella. But he still was alone. He couldn't believe it. How could fate screw him over again. But even when it looked like fate forgot him. Alice reminded him to remember to have hope. To trust fate to bring him who he's looking for. And one day it finally died.

"Is this seat taken?"

Jasper's eyes moved from his paper to the person before him. They were beautiful. Absolutely stunning. They have no right to be this perfect.

"Hello?" They ask, "is it taken?"

"Uh no," Jasper says softly, "it's free." They smile lightly.

"Do you mind if I sit there?"

"No... I mean no I don't mind you can sit there," He says panicking lightly. They chuckle.

"You're cute," They say, "my names Y/n L/n. Yours?"

"Jasper Hale," He says softly.

"Jasper Hale," They say, "that is a nice name. You got lucky your parents loved you enough to give you a cool name." He chuckles lightly.

"I like your name," He says.

"Thanks," They say, "I hated it growing up. But it grew on me."

"Alright now that everyone is settled lets get started."

The feeling in Jaspers chest revealed it right away. This was his person. This was his mate. And to think they were just right there. So close. He felt excited for what was to come. But he was also terrified. He knew nothing about this person. But he knew one thing about them. His mate was human. Which made this about a hundred times harder.

When Jas got home that night Alice practically tackled him to the ground.

"Well?!" She exclaims.

"I found them," Jas says, "I found my mate."

The rest of the family looks wide eye at the boy. Happy for him. Sure but confused.

"Slight problem though," He says.

"What type of problem?" Bella asks.

"They are human."

This was something they weren't prepared for. Even after Bella and Edward. They always assumed that Jasper would end up with another vampire. Mostly because of his trouble with humans. But still it's not like he could change it now.

"So their human," Bella says, "so. I was human."

"Yeah Bella is right," Alice says, "they are your mate. You are destined to be together."

"Yeah Jasper," Emmet says, "you've been waiting for them for over a hundred years. I'm sure that a pulse isn't enough to stop you."

Jasper with his families' encouragement suddenly felt a lot better about the situation. He has his mate. The person he is destined to spend the rest of his life with. And they are right here. He'll do this right.

The next day he was waiting for them in his last class. Excitedly watching as they stride across the room to take the seat next to him.

"So why are you taking AP Environmental Science?" They ask Jasper, "what made you choose a class 9 other people choose?"

"I like science," He says, "and I wanted to study something new. What about you?"

"I'm a hippie," They say simply, "metal straws no plastic. Pure vegan." Jaspers smile drops lightly. His mate was a treehugger? He suddenly didn't know about this. "I'm totally kidding. My mom is a Environmental Lawyer and she signed me up for the class." He chuckles lightly.  "This class is a joke. You're lucky you joined halfway through it. Mr. Jones has been making us teach ourself since day one. So that fun little slideshow demonstration yesterday- don't get used to it."

"He doesn't teach?" Jasper asks, "why?"

"He's going through a divorce with his wife who also happens to be the Honors Anatomy Teacher," They explain, "since they filled for the divorce he's just been sitting at his desk sulking."

"Thats a shame," Jasper says.

"Yeah for our ap scores," They chuckle, "but don't worry I'll add you to the class group chat. What is your phone number?"

"Uh here," He says scribbling it down then handing it to them. They smile wide.

"Perfect," They say, "I'll add you to it. You'll get everything you need in it. Plus we have study sessions all the time and you get all the info for it in there."

"Thanks," He says, "thats awful nice of you."

"Anything for my fellow prisoner," They say, "besides without us there is no way you'd pass." Jasper chuckles. His mate moves to open their laptop and start working on something the teacher had sent for them. "So you have a big family?" They ask, "the ones who I always see you with right?"

"Yeah we were all adopted," He explains, "thats why-"

"You guys have people dating each other," They say, "I mean it's the talk of the school. The first interesting thing to happen in Evergreen since our prom queen killed our prom king."

"That happened?" Jasper asks.

"Yeah well that's what everyone thinks happen," They tell him, "I mean they never found a body and well Cassie and her family left town three days after Camden went missing. Anyways it happened a year ago. So now everyone's focus is on you guys. The Cullens."

"We are pretty used to it," He says, "we are a weird family so when we move to a new town we tend to get plenty of attention."

"Do you move a lot?"

"Uh kinda," Jasper answers, "just depends."

"Your dads a doctor right?" They ask, "what causes a doctor to move a lot?"

"We go where they need more doctors," Jasper answers, "apparently you guys were in some pretty desperate need." They chuckle.

"Yeah you can say that," They say, "we have a really small hospital so when Cassie's mom left we were down a doctor. You'd be surprised how bad losing one doctor is in a town like this."

"I can imagine," He says, "I mean it's a pretty big deal when you have one doctor."

"Tell me about it," They say.

The bell for the class rings signaling the end of school. They smile over at Jasper brightly. Then looks down to their phone. Jasper feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and smiles lightly.

Unknown- It's Y/n! Can't wait to get to know you

"If you need anything feel free to text me," They say.

"Hey Y/n lets go!" Some girl calls from the door.

"Yeah alright," They call to their friend then looks back to Jas, "I'll see you around Jasper."

As they move off Rose moves to Jaspers side with a smirk.

"They are cute," Rose says, "you should get on with it."

"Yeah sure," Jas says, "I'm trying okay."

The next couple days it seemed to go smoothly. They'd hang out at school text all night. It felt like everything was going right. So on Friday he decided to step it up a bit.

"Okay do you have any plans for tonight?" Jasper asks them.

"Uh no," Y/n says, "why? Wanna take me out on a date?"

"If you'll have me," He says, "a movie?"

"Sounds great," They say, "got any movie in mind?"

"I was gonna let you pick," He says. They move pulling their phone up. Then nod.

"Alright there is this horror movie called Until Sunrise and apparently its terrible," Y/n tells him, "we have to see it."

"You like horror movies?"

"I love horror movies," They tell him, "even more than that I love terrible horror movies. Ya know the ones that make you question if the writers were on bath salts while making them." He chuckles lightly. "If you don't like horror movies we have other options. But if it's just cause you're scared don't worry you can hold onto me for support."

"No that sounds great," He says, "do you need me to pick you up or do you just want to meet there?"

"We can meet. I'll see you there Jasper."

So he heads home to get ready. Explaining to his family that they were going to a movie. Bella tries to give him some tips for how modern human girls like their dates. Rose immediately tells Bella that Bella has no authority to talk because she was weird.

"I know what girls like-"

"Yeah from like 12 years ago," Rose says, "seriously think about it. Times have changed. Humans have changed since then."

"Okay so just be yourself,"  Alice recommends.

"He can't be himself his mate will run for the hills," Emmet says, "no you've got to be cool."

"Ignore him," Esme says, "just relax. Read the room."

"And remember to breath," Bella adds, "when you stop breathing it freaks people out. And blink."

"I remember to blink," Jasper says.

"No you really don't," Rose says, "so remember to do that."

"You should get going," Alice says, "you don't want to be late."

So He got to his car. As he drove he couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly nervous. What if he messes this up? What if he drives them away? Oh god. Suddenly his didn't know if he could go through with it anymore. But when he saw them sitting outside the theater staring up into the sky waiting patiently.  It all melted away. He climbs from his car heading towards them.

"Hey Y/n," He says.

"Hey Jas," They say, "you look nice."

"Thank you," He says, "you look beautiful." They smile lightly.

"Thank you," They say, "wanna head in?" Jas nods. Y/n moves lacing her fingers in his. The movie is terrible. Honestly. The two end up laughing through most of it. However Jas being able to hold their hand. Cling to them. It makes it the best date he's ever been on. It's one of the only dates he's ever been on.

One date turns to two. Turns into dating. It's going amazing. But he feels guilty.

"You still haven't told them?" Rose asks him carefully, "Jasper you have to tell them."

"I was planning to tell them," Jasper says.

"No you weren't," Edward says.

"Get out of my head Edward," Jasper says at once, "I'm tryin it's just. I don't want to ruin this ya know."

"If you don't tell them then you'll ruin it regardless," Emmet says, "I mean you can't not tell them."

"I know I know," Jasper says, "I'll tell them soon. Tonight. We have a date."

Before they can keep hassling him he leaves to go prepare for his date. His partner had talked him into going swimming in some lake. He didn't really care much for the later but when they suggest skinny dipping well he couldn't exactly say no to that.

He meets his partner at the lake. They are already in the water. Though apparently in a swim suit. They smile widely at Jasper as he makes his way towards them.

"Hey!" They call, "I was gonna wait but the water is really nice."

They move slipping out of the water to meet Jasper. Pulling him into a soft kiss.

"Come on," They say leading him into the water. He tosses aside his shirt then kicks off his jeans. Jumping in the water in his boxers. The vampire is thankful that the lake was shallow. It only went to chest meaning no awkward sinking of being the rock  solid vampire. They pull Jasper into another kiss. "I've missed you," They say as the break the kiss, "I'm not one for teen romance bullshit but... You are different."

"Well we were meant to be," Jasper says, "fate. Right Darlin?"

"Right," They say, "you are so right." They move kissing Jasper's jaw. "You are always talking about Fate. It's like you've been looking for me." They pull away from Jasper to sink into the water. Swimming away from him. Jasper smiles. If only they knew. The two move around the water playfully. He scoops his mate in his arms and playfully dunks them under the water. They come up laughing.

"Oh I'll get you for that Hale!" They scream. They splash the vampire with full force. He seems unfazed so they try again this time jumping on Jaspers back. He moves a little to roughly and knocks them back into the water.  They simply laugh for a second before they make a pained face. Then suddenly the smell of blood fills Jaspers senses. "Oh shit. I think I stepped on glass." Jaspers eyes shift to black. Pain and hunger filling him. His partner climbs from the water gentle moving to their pile of clothes hoping to address the wound. Jasper stares at his mate. Trying to keep himself in the water. Trying to relax. But the smell. The bloodlust rising in his stomach.

He moves towards his partner. Jumping to pin them down. They were shocked. Confused as to why this was happening.

"Jasper what are you doing?" They ask slightly startled. They start to move. But Jaspers firm grasp keeps them pinned down. His mouth opens. His fangs showing clear as day. Y/n tenses looking at her partner in pure terror. He looks like an animal. A monster. "Jas! Jas! What are you doing?!" They are thrashing under him. Trying to push him away. "Jasper get off of me!"

Jasper leans to his mates neck. His teeth scraping lightly.

"Jasper stop! Get off me you're scaring me!"

The boy moves starting to bite but before he can sink his teeth into her he's yanked off. He see's Edward and Emmet holding him back as he growls lightly.

"Jasper! Jasper stop!" Edward yells.

But he doesn't calm down until he sees his mate in Bella's arms sobbing violently. He feels his mates terror. It's suffocating. All his hunger melts into guilt and regret. What did he just do?

"Babe," He says softly. He moves yanking away from the two men.

"Get away from me!" They shout, "I don't want you anywhere near me you freak!"

"Darlin just let me explain-"

"No Jasper we are done!" They shout, "I don't want you anywhere near me."

"Darlin I-"

"You freak!"

Disgust. Thats all that's radiating from them. He watches as Y/n leaves. Bella walking with her. He ruined it. He lost his chance at his mate. He ruined his own life. All his hope for nothing. He could hope that in time they will let him back in but his hope can't fix anything. This time- hope isn't gonna be enough.

[ayoyoungg]

Thoughts on TPN Season 2 finale (Ep. 11)

Warning: Mild manga spoilers ahead. Mild as in I have read the manga, but it’s been awhile since I read the manga, and I have not gone back to re-read to fact check sorry not sorry. Also, I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum since some people may still want to read the manga (which YESSS, I definitely encourage you to :D), but some things are too big to leave out.

I specified ep. 11 because talking about the whole season would be wayyy too much. Honestly, I just wanted to come on here because this final episode was a roller coaster ride and I needed to say something. Each moment of this episode felt like 2 steps back, 1 step forward (and yes, I do mean in that order).

TW: mentions of character death/ suicide (only in the 2nd bullet point)

Let’s go:

Episode starts off with the “standoff” against Peter Ratri. I mean I’m glad that they didn’t convince Peter to leave for the human world with them. That would’ve made nooooo sense. But I couldn’t help but wonder if his flashback was really necessary. One, it was a bit frustrating to get more context about the Ratri clan’s role in the LAST EPISODE. Two, this season really did everything it could to take away from the role of William Minerva and detract from Peter Ratri, so it was kind of like why should we care now. I dunno, it just felt like the decision Peter and the Ratri clan made shouldn’t have been summed up into like 3 minutes. ON THE OTHER HAND, I see how it was “necessary” for what was to happen next.

Peter’s death was done better in the manga. I was honestly surprised the anime used the same method, since the context of the scene differs from what occurred in the manga. Also, prior to this episode, the anime had been rather tame with any gruesome scenes. Tame as in there were very few deaths and any deaths were quick, none of the main characters were killed. There was some discussion about how this season lacked the horror/thrill from season 1 and many battle scenes were also left out of the season. Therefore, people wondered just how dark this season would get, it seemed like they wanted to focus more on the kids. So even as a manga reader, I was still very shocked when Peter killed himself. Also, he did that in front of a bunch of kids, and they just continued on, like wasn’t that a scarring image???? I dunno, this is getting too long, but basically with the direction the season was going, I was shocked. Like am I dumb for thinking they would have toned it down???

Also, quick pet-peeve, personally thought it was weird for Peter to continuously refer to his brother as William Minerva. It would’ve made more sense to me if he referred to his brother as James. I’ll just assume this decision was made to show how Peter’s perception of his brother at that point was only of the illusion/character that James made (Peter had them kill William Minerva, not James Ratri)

WHY did they show the Queen and other nobles??? At this point, I got my hopes up thinking “Maybe there actually will be a 3rd season? Maybe we will still get Goldy Pond and other arcs, just in a different order?” It really felt like they were setting up for a whole new chapter (not at me getting excited)......

The BEST part of this episode was Ray’s speech to Isabella (and the other moms) and the decision for Isabella to go to the human world. Hands down best part and what should’ve happened in the manga.

Wasn’t sure whether to be in awe or upset that the gate to the human world looks like Goldy Pond. On one hand, it makes a lot of sense narratively. On the other hand, it kind of made it hurt more that we didn’t get the Goldy Pond arc. It would’ve been so much cooler after seeing the initial Goldy Pond.

SO, maybe this is from me not totally understanding what happened in the previous episodes, but I thought the Grace Field kids were split up amongst the other large farms, and then they decided to gather ALL the kids back to Grace Field -> they have all of the farm kids (even those from other farms)......Yeah, that may just be me missing something or not totally getting what’s happening. They kind of fix it by explaining how Norman also left some kids + there are the other farms like the mass production ones.

While I’m not the biggest fan of Emma/Ray/Norman + Lambda kids (minus Vincent) staying behind, I’m open to the change. HOWEVER, it bugged me that Don & Gilda didn’t also stay behind. I mean it made sense for Don & Gilda to go to the human world as the older kids BUT thematically I think it would’ve been better for Don & Gilda to stay behind as well. It’s kind of a point that Don & Gilda constantly have to make about their roles in the group, and them staying behind would have reminded me of when they led the search for Mujika (manga). 

Also was a lil disappointed that Phil didn’t get to stay behind either. Just because it was so heavily alluded to that Phil was very smart & perceptive for his age + that he would have a big role. This kind of goes along with the small part of me that hoped for a season 3 with, I dunno, a smaller cast of Emma, Ray, Norma, Don, Gilda, and Phil.....was I hoping for too much

The decision to split up felt like a “more correct answer” to have the main trio go off and do stuff while everyone else stays safe. I suppose it’s easier to believe that everyone manages to survive when they’re all in the human world vs staying in a “safe shelter” in the demon world. I think this decision was also to further push the emphasis on the main trio.

Commence the slideshow....*sigh*

The montage of the kids in the human world was fine. Personally really liked seeing the kids get on a school bus (but they’re like lil geniuses so I think that’ll be interesting), Don & Phil on the subway/train, one of the moms (?) having a kid (that one really got me). But I was kinda sad to see the kids growing up, although I suppose it does make sense. A part of me wishes we got to know just how much time went by (but it’s not that major)

I don’t really get why they still showed Tifari and the Seven Walls. The promise was barely mentioned in the anime. With the direction this season went, I think they could have just had the group going around with Mujika, sharing her special blood, and then shown confrontation with the Queen & nobles. The adaptation already cut out other things, so I think it would’ve been fine to forgo showing Emma talking to Tifari. That scene also detracted from the whole journey it took to even find Tifari, so it was really a shame for it to be “included” but only be a snapshot of the moment.

For the sake of the direction of this season, they really could have just ended it with all of the humans going to the human world (while Mujika, Sonju, and the demons from that village change the demon world). This would have allowed the final escape at Grace Field to have been spread into 2 episodes rather than just 1.

Ends with a Phil & Emma hug. I mean that’s always nice. Kinda wish we got to see Phil in action and maybe doing something......I’ll stop my grumbling

jk. They totally missed the opportunity to do that anime thing where they play the opening/ending song during a moving moment. Like when the group split up, they could’ve played one of the songs while showing a montage of the kids in the human world + ending credits. And then after the song, we get the others returning + Phil & Emma hug.

TLDR: I’m fine with some changes, and could see the direction they were trying to go in, but what this season ultimately suffered from was EXECUTION. The pacing and the plot just....weren’t it chief, along with many other questionable decisions.