#also where’s my dad marc at huh?

[embracethemadmess]

I miss Marc Spector

[milaisreading]

hiii!! I've been reading your latest updates and I really loved your the toddler ones, can you please make one where the manager was with their nephew and the child looks like a mix of them and Sae, and Sae meet them while they were out and went with them throughout the day and even went to the zoo acting like the parents, and then came the paparazzi posting the news that their already married with a kid. I really want to see the boys reactions since their overseas

Author: Lmao the idea took me to out! LOVED IT! Here u go and I hope u like it! Thanks for the request 🩷

Warnings ⚠️: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open.

⚽️Blue lock belongs to:Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

One thing (Y/n) cherished a lot was her time off, not only will she have time to recharge and do whatever she wants, but also will have time to visit her older step-brother and his family. Ever since he left Japan to work in Portugal and got married there, (Y/n) only saw him during the holidays. They were pretty close growing up and it stayed that way to this day. So the 2 weeks break she got from the Bastard München team she used to fly out to Lisbon and spend her time with her brother, sister-in-law and her little nephew. Today (Y/n) took the little boy out and planned a zoo trip, some arcade games and dinner.

"Aunty! Can we please get ice cream after this?!" The red-haired boy asked (Y/n), who tightly held his hand as they walked through the crowd of people.

"Huh? Sure thing, Marc but you have to listen to me and not let my hand go, alright?" (Y/n) asked as the little boy nodded his head quickly. The older smiled at the redhead and finally got to the less crowded part of the sidewalk.

"Will we see lions there?"

"If course! A big, big family of lions!" (Y/n) grinned as Marc cheered. The girl smiled at the 4-year-olds reaction, but it was soon wiped off of her face as she felt someone grab her shoulder.

"What the?!" (Y/n) turned around and hid Marc behind herself as she looked at the person in front of her.

"Hey, sorry for scaring you. I didn't want to yell across the street and get unwanted attention."

Recognizing the voice, (Y/n) sighed in relief as Sae took of his mask and gave her a small nod.

"Sae-san, I didn't expect seeing you in Portugal of all places." The girl said, relaxing as Marc looked up at the redhead.

"Wah! You are Sae Itoshi! I am a huge fan!" The little boy exclaimed as he ran to hug Sae's leg.

"Marc, don't do that! It's rude to hug people out of nowhere." (Y/n) started scolding the boy, but Sae interrupted her as he crouched down to look the boy in the eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, Marc. Do you want to be a football player too?"

"Yeah! I want to play forward like you! My dad will enroll me in a club in two years!" Marc cheered, excited to that one of his idols was standing in front of him.

"Really? Do you have a favorite club?"

"Bastard München!" Marc said, causing Sae to raise his eyebrow.

"And why that?"

Marc grinned and grabbed (Y/n)'s leg while puffing out his chest.

"Because my aunty is their manager!" The said girl blushed a little and picked Marc up and Sae stood up straight.

"Ahh... that shouldn't really be your sole reason, Marc." (Y/n) told the redhead.

"Why? It's a good reason!" The boy pouted as Sae spoke up again.

"He is right, the reasoning is pretty good."

"What?" The girl wondered as Sae moved closer.

"I mean, you as a manager in Bastard is enough of a reason to like the club. I will tell you a secret, Marc. I am a fan of Bastard too, thanks to your aunty." Sae said, pretending to whisper it as Marc cheered. (Y/n) was meanwhile blushing a little from those words.

"A-ah... you flatter me too much, Sae-san."

"Not enough, in my opinion."

'Why is he so nonchalant?!' She thought as Marc waved her hand around, catching both of their attention.

"Can Sae-san please come with us today? Please, aunty." The boy gave the girl his usual puppy eyes and (Y/n) groaned.

"Marc, I am sure Sae-san has better things to do-"

"I really don't." Sae interrupted, getting the attention of the duo.

"I just finished an interview and am pretty much free for the rest of the day. Where are you two going?" Marc cheered at that, saying how they plan on going to the zoo.

"Are you sure we won't be a bother?" (Y/n) asked as Sae nodded his head.

"Yeah, let's go then. The zoo might get crowded again." The redhead told her calmly and she nodded her head. Putting Marc down, the boy hugged Sae's leg again. Before (Y/n) could scold him tho, the football player took the boy's hand.

"Shall we go?" Sae asked and (Y/n) nodded her head.

'I need to tell my manager to cancel those interviews for today.' Sae thought as he took his phone out.

'He is really good with kids and always so relaxed.' (Y/n) thought, smiling a little.

"I have unbelievable news! No sir, this is for the headliners!" The man who interviewed Sae just mere minutes ago said as he saw the interaction between the football player, (Y/n) and Marc.

"Yes, it's about THE Sae Itoshi. Listen, I will bring you the pictures and you will see what I mean." The man said, quickly following after them.

"Giraffes! Look!" Marc yelled excitedly as Sae lifted him up to get a better look at the animal. (Y/n) smiled and took a picture of the two, making sure the animal was in it too.

"They are really cute, Marc. There is even a baby over there." (Y/n) pointed excitedly as the boy turned to look at it.

"You want to take another picture?" Sae asked as (Y/n) shook her head.

"You probably had enough of that for the day-"

"I don't mind. Just take a picture." Sae said gently and she thought over it for a moment.

"Don't think too much about it, I am fine with you taking pictures."

"A-alright." (Y/n) answered, flustered with how he worded it. She took the picture and Sae put Marc down and she approached them.

"Do you want to see the lions next?" (Y/n) asked Marc and he nodded his head, grabbing the girl's hand.

"Let's go!"

Chuckling Sae followed after them, neither noticing the same reporter taking pictures of them. But aside from the reporter, a few football fans recognized Sae from the distance. Both shocked at the sight of the player with a redhaired kid and the Bastard München manager.

"Are they dating?"

"They could be married too. Look at the kid." The boy said to his friend, who inspected Marc's hair.

"Oh shit! It looks eerily similar to Sae's..."

"Maybe that dating rumor from a year ago had some truth to it..." The two said in sync.

"So, where do you want to go and eat?" Sae asked as they left the zoo while he held one of Marc's hand and (Y/n) held the other.

"I think there is a nice restaurant nearby, based on my research. They also have a cute playground for kids." Marc's eyes lightened up at that and Sae nodded his head.

"Did you have a weird feeling that we are being watched?" (Y/n) asked as Sae looked around in confusion, shaking his head.

"Not really. But enough of that, did you think about the offer?" (Y/n)'s breath hitched and she looked at Sae, who was sporting a serious expression.

"About that... I don't know..."

Sae sighed and nodded his head.

"Alright."

'I will wait, even if it takes years.'

"Say, I will be leaving for Madrid tomorrow evening. Want to meet up for breakfast?" Sae asked as (Y/n) thought the offer over and nodded her head.

"Sure. The hotel I am staying has a restaurant, the food is pretty good, we can meet up there." She suggested. The older Itoshi said nothing as he nodded his head, satisfied with how the day was ending.

The next day Sae arrived at the said hotel and immediately felt like something was off. Everyone at the reception was looking at him oddly and were whispering when (Y/n) joined him. While both were used to those things, due to their club connections, this was pretty off.

"Am I wearing my clothes the wrong way?" (Y/n) asked Sae as they waited for their meal. Sae took a sip from his coffee and shook his head.

"No, but it is weird how many people are looking at us..."

Just then, a waitress approached the two, clearly nervous as she held onto her phone.

"E-Excuse me..." She said.

"Yes?" (Y/n) said calmly, nudging Sae who still held his stoic look.

"Can... we were asked to take a picture of you two? It's not really everyday we have guests of your status here."

"Our status?" (Y/n) raised her eyebrow.

"Sure, but please make it quick." Sae sighed as the waitress quickly nodded her head and snapped 2 pictures.

"Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Itoshi. By the way, you son is really adorable." The girl said as (Y/n) spat out her drink back into the cup. Flabbergasted, Sae watched the girl walk off and both were left to look at each other weirdly.

"What was that about?" Sae wondered as (Y/n)'s phone rang. Recovering from her shock she took the phone and looked down at the display.

'Ness? Why is he calling?' (Y/n) thought as she took the call.

"H-hello-"

"Where is he?! Where is the bastard unable to use a condom?!" Kaiser's loud yelling boomed through the phone and (Y/n) flinched a little.

"What? Who? And why are you using Ness' phone, Kaiser? Where is he?" Sae furrowed his eyebrows as he observed the scene.

"Ness is currently passed out thanks to your beloved hubby." Kasier growled.

"Hubby? Who? I didn't even have a boyfriend yet-"

"Ja ja, now where is he?"

"Who?"

Kaiser sighed from the other side and tried to speak up more calmly.

"Sae Itoshi, where is he?"

"Sae-san? He is here-"

"Give him the phone. And you will have a talk with the PR team for this once you come back."

"About what?" (Y/n)'s eyes widened and she nervously looked at Sae.

"You secretly marrying Sae and him not being able to control himself. Or better yet, wear a condom. The news about you two having a lovey-dovey time with your son yesterday is all over Germany." (Y/n) chocked on her spit and Sae got up from his seat to check on her.

"Are you alright? Give me the phone?" The redhead said.

"Kaiser, that was my nephew-"

"Is that Itoshi?! Give him to me!"

(Y/n) let out a groan as Sae took the phone from her and she put her head in her hands.

"Everything will be alright. Calm down." Sae said calmly as he kept on ignoring Kaiser's yelling.

Bastard München...

"Why is Kaiser yelling on the phone? And what even happened to Ness?" Isagi asked Noel, who was on the phone texting someone.

"Yukimiya, come help me lift him up." Kunigami called the brunette over.

"Kaiser is yelling at Sae right now and Ness passed out when we got a call from our PR team."

"What even happened? It can't be bad enough for Ness to pass out." Hiori comments as Kurona stared at Kaiser, who was switching from English to German.

"And what does Sae have to do with this?"

"Apparently Sae and (Y/n) are married and have a kid. A reporter in Portugal caught them yesterday." Noel explained as he showed Isagi an article. Kunigami and Yukimiya froze in their spots, causing Ness to fall on the ground again.

"What?!" The two exclaimed as Isagi went to grab Kaiser's phone and talk with Sae himself. Hiori and Kurona had completely opposite reactions. Kurona went completely numb while Hiori went to throw up in a nearby trash can.

"What's with all this yelling?" Gagamaru raised his eyebrow while walking into the locker room.

Barcha....

"Now... I know you two are mad..."  Lavinho said from the other side of the locked door, flinching as Otoya tried to kick it open again.

"We are not mad~" Bachira answered and Lavinho rolled his eyes.

"Listen, shit happens. So what if Sae married (Y/n) and they have a kid together-"

Lavinho cut himself off as Otoya kicked the door harder.

"At least he took responsibility-"

"He should have stayed away, simple." Otoya said back in malice, and Lavinho could only imagine the expression he had on his face.

"Please let us out, Lavinho. We won't do anything."

"Bachira... you went into rage and nearly kicked someone unconscious."

"So what?!"

Lavinho facepalmed, already knowing that the match between Barcha and Madrid will be even more hostile than needed to be.

Ubers...

"No Oliver, you can not drop kick Sae. I already told you that."  Snuffy said as he glared at his 4 Japanese players.

"Great, then I can-"

"No Baro, also not kick a ball to his face. Can you stop crying, Niko? So what if (Y/n) gave birth to Sae's kid-"

"Don't even finish that sentence! We are grieving!" Aryu said, now crying along with Niko. Snuffy rolled his eyes as Lorenzo kept Oliver and Baro from escaping.

"We should honestly forbid you 4 from leaving Italy." The coach commented.

"He touched our manager, we are allowed to beat him up for that!" Baro argued.

"Well, he didn't do anything illegal. Sae is her husband now-"

"Lorenzo, shut the hell up! Don't say such blasphemy!" Oliver cried out as he fell on the grass field.

Manshine...

"I am kind of offended they didn't tell us anything. Their child looks cute tho!" Chris grinned as Chigiri cried into the table.

"I agree with you, Chigiri. You think they will invite us to their anniversary? Oh, I have so many decoration ideas."

"I rather you break my right leg. What's the point of playing anymore? What's the point of living?" Chigiri cried out.

Meanwhile in the medical room Nagi was slowly waking up from his slumber while Reo was calling someone.

"What happened? What day is it? Did we win the World Cup?" Nagi asked as he sat up. Reo looked over at his friend and shook his head.

"Today is Friday, we didn't win the World Cup yet and an article came out of (Y/n) and Sae being married and having a child." Reo explained as Nagi nodded his head.

"(Y/n) and... Sae have a... child?" The albino asked as his eyes slowly widened. Reo nodded his head and watched as Nagi fainted again.

'This is like the 3rd time...' The purple-haired boy thought.

"Hello, Reo what did you need?" A woman's voice was heard from the other side.

"Hey mom, I have a question for you."

"What is it?" The woman yawned.

"How would you feel if I married a widow with a child?" Reo asked, sounding serious as ever.

"What?!"

"Just asking, hypothetically."

PXG...

"Shidou, give me my phone back!" Karasu sighed as he put his pants on, watching as the younger Itoshi chased Shidou around, who held his phone as he laughed.

'This is like kindergarten.' Karasu thought as the phone in question started ringing.

Shidou looked at the display and grinned.

"Oh! It's your mom, Rinnie!"

"Give me my phone, you imbecile!" Rin yelled as Shidou shook his head.

"Nah, this is what you get for not passing even one ball to me." The blonde sighed and answered the call, putting it on speaker.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"What?! Rin, is that you?!" The boy bit back a groan and chose to answer as Karasu and Shidou watched the scene in amusement.

"Sorry mom, what did you need?" Rin asked.

"I need you to pick the next possible flight to Portugal!"

"Why Portugal?"

"We are going to meet your nephew and our grandson!" His mom's words nearly caused Shidou to drop the phone as all three stared at it in shock.

"Nephew?! Did Sae knock someone up?!" Rin asked as Karasu held back a gasp.

"Not someone! It turns out my baby got married without even telling us and has a child with the girl. Your father is trying to reach him but he isn't picking up."

"Married?! Who?!" Shidou yelled, quickly covering up his mouth after that.

"Who?!" Rin repeated.

"Remember your manager in Blue Lock, (L/n) (Y/n) was it? Well her! Oh! They look so adorable! And the child even has Sae's hair color!" His mom gushed as Karasu's jaw dropped along with Shidou's. Rin's body meanwhile shook with rage as he calmly took back his phone and went to take his stuff.

"Yeah... I am on my way there." Rin said as he held back a scream.

"Good! Give Sae a hug from us! We will be there as soon as possible too." With that his mom ended the call and he walked out of the locker room, leaving his two shocked teammates behind.

"I sure will... it will leave him breathless." Rin murmured, hitting a nearby wall.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

June 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I really adore the family/household dynamics in this show. All the relationships between siblings are so well executed. All the tension and sub text and covert glances in the first “modeling” sequence was so good. I really want to watch the BL within this BL. Bruce is THE BEST. Jeng shutting down everyone with a cool few words is genius (especially given the curt sharp flat way he speaks Thai). Why does nobody have parasols or sun hats or sunshades or sunglasses or anything? I’m actually not mad about seeing an attempted reunion with the ex, bc we are getting to see both that (and how) they once were good together, and also the cracks that drove them apart (and will not allow them to ultimately be together a 2nd time around). I do feel sorry for Jeng, he moved too slowly and lost the 1st round. The captions were not good in the trunk seen, but trust me it was totally hilarious. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - I finally figured out why I am so tense around this show. In openly taking to task and challenging the soulmates trope, this narrative is telling viewers not to trust it’s core trope - which means we cannot trust the main couple to end happily, nor can we trust those characters who believe most strongly in fated mates (Pat & Mai). This means I, personally, not only can’t rely on an HEA but (as someone who also does not believe in soulmates) I am not entirely sure I even WANT an HEA. This has NEVER happened to me before. It makes me uncomfortable because that’s a core part of my identify with these shows. I mean, good job La Pluie, but also.... huh. Back to this ep: Uh oh. The crush is obvious and the soulmate knows what’s up now. The sex scene twist was v interesting, v gay, and v unusual in a BL. Unfortunately it’s still a BL so the faen fatal just HAD to appear. Will there ever be one out of Thailand where this trope doesn’t show up? Next week is the tried & true uke damsels off into the woods alone. Sigh. 

Our Skyy 2 (Bad Buddy & 1k*) eps 12-16fin - Jimmy, baby, why so hot in an engineering smock? Please have mercy. Aw, Marc is back in yet ANOTHER BL. Definitely the current record holder for most BLs at any one time. (His filming schedule must’ve been insane at the beginning of this year!) PatPran are still great, and their eps this had me hooting with laughter (startling the cat). I forgot how much I enjoyed this show and cast. (Ohm looks great with longer hair, but also he’s lost a lot of weight. I hope he’s OK.) OhmNanon give pitch perfect LTR energy. Throwing EarthMix into the, erm, mix is fun if awkward. NO SINGING. 2 damsels in the forest! Also PatPran = geniuses at mock fighting. So much flirting. It was all quite adorbs. But me-thinks Chief & Tian have been eating moonlight chicken. Full review below. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 3 of 10? - was enjoying it up until the last bit, why so digusted by smooches? Bad GMMTV no green tea for you. Trash watch here! Rollercoaster about to go DOWWNNNN. 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - I still only like the high school characters + Dome (WHY so gorgeous?). Is he a magical spirit too? Also, the subs were well off kilter. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 10 fin -��God they’re so cute. This show used the manga as a storyboard, so I knew the “crisis of faith over possibility of loss” would happen. Still in live action this felt tonally off. While understandable given Yutaka’s character, and ultimately particularly important for the dad and a relationship with the family, I don’t know we needed it in this BL. The book does have a better ending second scene, but it wouldn’t be possible to do it on screen easily. Ultimately, this show had a simple, touching, quiet end to it. That’s very like the show as a whole. I did love it - it’s been top of my list all along. Full review after the special airs. 

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 8 - I LOVE IT SO MUCH. IT IS EVERYTHING. SHUT UP I AM FERRIL FOR THE BEAUTIFUL CITY BOY AND THE YOUNG FARMER. Come on. Korea. SRS? Plus some language play? I just go die now. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 7-8 fin - Man this was a difficult show for me. I know we’re supposed to identify with HanJoon but I really felt for YooJae. I’ve been in his position more often than I care to count, and it’s terrible to lose a friend because they caught feelings and you did not. It’s an awful thing to hold a friendship hostage on condition of a romantic relationship. Especially if the other person is not sexually interested in you! All that said, the boyfriend ep was okay. Not sure I believed in this relationship, but it was cute enough. The final ep was (how do I put this?) a loser. We spent a lot of time with terrible home lives and then a semi happy for now final scene? Whatever. Full review below. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 6 of 12 - somehow I keep missing this one, I’ll catch it next week. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - I think the Taiwanese boss is my favorite character. Japan rarely (if ever ) trots out the faen fatal trope. I mean I named it with a Thai word for a reason, it’s not from origin yaoi at all. Yet still there she is. Sigh. This show. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 1 of 6 - RL Studio (Stupid Boys Stupid Love) bringing us yet another high school set VBL. It’s actually not bad. I see a lot of common faces whom I’ve enjoyed in past VBLs. 

It’s Airing But ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly in English and set in LA so I’m not bothering but the first one did drop.

Ever After (Pinoy ????) - I got nothing. 

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I? (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

Boys Love Omegaverse (Japan ????) - honestly tho? Who tf cares? You’ll still tell me if you find it, because inquiring minds... Irony of this airing at the same time as Takumi-kun. Full circle much, Japan? 

Tin Tem Jai Special (Thai ????) - honestly I checked Gaga & iQiyi in my territory (craptastic hotel) and neither had it listed so I quickly gave up. I mean OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE Lee Long Shi in a bathtub, who wouldn’t? But... 

Just because I didn’t watch the special doesn’t mean I can’t gank Lee Long Shi wearing nothing but soap bubbles for you. 

I’m not a monster. 

Ended This Week 

Our Skyy 2 final 4 eps thoughts: This was an interesting combination, and don’t get me wrong I very much enjoyed it, but it felt like the story was carried by PatPran’s characters while the setting and narrative followed an ATOTS arc - ultimately disjointed. OhmNanon are so bold and vibrant they’re too stark a tonal contrast to EarthMix’s more refined and elegant approach, so for me the screen presences and the style of story clashed. It was like a bouquet made up of tulips & roses: they are both flowers and they’re both pretty, but I feel like they actually belong in different vases. Still, enjoyable. And I got a crying kiss. Always makes me happy. Definitely the best of this bunch, and probably the best Our Skyy (and I genuinely loved both the NLMG historical installment and SOTUS.) 8/10 

Star Struck. A friends to lovers story that felt more friends to tolerant yet disinterested partner. It was more about challenges with parents and class strife. I would’ve been disappointed if the show hadn’t come out of nowhere so I had no expectations. But as KBLs go, don’t bother. 6/10 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting:

6/15 Tokyo in April AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Gaga) 8 eps - Based on a yaoi, this is a reunion romance that takes place in an office. Japan does Our Dating Sim? Yes please.

Still Coming - June 2023

6/22 About Us but Not About Us (Pinoy movie from 2022 on Prime) - A professor grieving the loss of his partner meets an ambitious literature student.

6/24 Why You (Khmer BL ????) - Billed as a horror romance, not sure if this is a movie or a series where it will air... nothing except that it exists.

6/24 Tie The Knot AKA Under the Same Sky (Pinoy movie on Prime) Trailer - I guess Prime is coming for our Pinoy BL? From OXIN Films (Rainbow Prince), announced for 2022 based on a true story, Briggs's family runs a bridal business but he has never had a chance to fall in love until he meets Shao, a groom to be.

6/25 Dinosaur Love (Thai iQIYI) Trailer 5 eps - from Ultimate Troop about a uni student, Rak, whose partner cheats on him with Rak's best friend. This gives bad boy hazer Dino an opportunity to hit on Rak at last. From The Yearbook people so I will not watch this as it airs. After Remember Me? Never again with them.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Bruce is so damn fantastic in this show.

Consent comes in all different forms. (both Step by Step) 

Fight fight fight!

Sex sex sex blow job! (both La Pluie) 

Smartest boy in the show. 

Not enough InkPa... never enough. Never never never! 

Love the suit.

All from the Our Skyy 2 BB + ATOTS cross over. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? IVE’s I Am

[dribs-and-drabbles]

#BADBUDDYREWATCH

Ep 2

I think this is absolutely one of the best opening scenes in any show. It's perhaps a cliché montage but they do it SO WELL.

I forgot to say on my last post but the music for this series is FANTASTIC and if you want to know what all the tracks are then check out @veorulfr

I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE PAT SNIFFED HIS FINGERS!

I also can't believe it took me until episode 6 to notice the colours of Pran's phone 😂

I love that it doesn't even enter Pran's mind that Pat might be the guy who invited him to look at the moon together on the rooftop when he gets there. He's so distracted by Pat even being there that he doesn't stop to question the mere possibility that Pat might be his mystery date. I guess he presumes that the other guy knows who he is rather than being like him - unaware of the other person's identity. Pat's ignorance can be forgiven a bit because he thinks it's a girl...but still, they're the only ones there at 21:00 and neither of them make any attempt to join any dots. 😄

And I love the linguistics of "The one you're waiting for is me" from Pran, as opposed to what he could have said: 'I'm actually the one who lives in room 439, not some girl'. The latter is more - 'you've misunderstood who this person is and mistakenly didn't realise it was not only not a girl but actually your long time rival, me' - whereas the former is more of a statement of fact - 'you don't realise it yet but I'm the person for you'. Whether this is how it is in the original Thai, I don't know, but from an English perspective, I like the subliminal messgage in what Pran says.

I can't get over how brave Pran is in all this - openly saying things like "Are you my boyfriend?"; "Do you still want to see the moon with me?"; and "Thank you so much for the dumplings". I guess his philosophy is to be so overt with it that Pat can't possibly guess that these things are exactly what Pran would like.

Look, I know that picture on Pran's dorm wall is there because of the architectural 'design' of it...but that's a lot of blue existing in Pran's space...and it's seen a lot in a scene where Pat is outside and Pran gets teased for it by his friends (even though they don't know it's Pat)...just sayin'... Oh! And then, of course, Pat's dad brings a big ole bit of red into Pat's room in the next scene!

I just love the way Pran goes into Pat's room gunning for a fight but gets completely thrown when Pat actually apologises and tries to be accommodating. It's easier to bicker about things than to find a solution to their problems. And finding a solution requires them to be genuine and open with each other, which Pran isn't quite ready to do yet with Pat. Or he's not quite ready for Pat to do that with him. So he turns it back into a bickering match because that's their 'safe space', it's all they've known really.

Also, I don't think this has ever been mentioned but I do find it funny that there's no way in hell that Pran is actually hiding under Pat's bed because it is way too low to the floor...they must have mocked up a 'bed' for the shots of his face. Maybe the show's budget didn't extend to making sure they had a bed high enough.

I've often thought the Thai word for 'responsibility' sounded like the Thai word for 'like', so I finally looked it up and it is in fact the same word: to like = ชอบ | chôp; and to be responsible = รับผิดชอบ | ráp pìt chôp. Huh. Linguistics is cool.

@casualavocados Similar to Marc in ep 1, I can't help but to wince when watching the fight scene in ep 2 because of how Jimmy whacked his head on the bus stop sign.

[zackcollins]

when i first heard your heartbeat || jack campbell

masterlist

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! I’m deep in the feels for a certain goaltender. So, uh. That’s why this exists. As for the premise of the story, I absolutely plead the fifth. I say as a Canadian citizen living in Canada where the fifth amendment doesn’t exist. Anyways. Since I have to answer the question, I want the reader to be me so fucking badly. Happy? Alright. Now that that’s sorted. GIF credit to marc-andrefleury!!

Warnings: This fic mentions infertility and miscarriage. It’s nothing graphic, promise! It’s just mentioned as a way to further the storyline. But I’m warning about it because I know how much some people struggle with it or have struggled with it. If you need to avoid it, I completely understand and no hard feelings, okay?

Word Count: 2.4k+

Title: Lady by Brett Young

Additional: The reader is feminine this time! Or, well. The reader is anyone that has a uterus and can get pregnant! Because I specifically mention the reader having a uterus but men can have uteri too (*gestures at myself*). So, do whatever you will with that. I do call the reader a feminine term (Ms.) but it’s only when being called back to the exam room. So, you can still probably imagine yourself in the reader’s position if you have a uterus but aren’t feminine. Okay? Okay. I hope everyone enjoys this!

Sitting in the waiting room, you noticed that Jack was bouncing his left leg up and down and fidgeting with his hands. You placed your hand on his knee; he stopped bouncing and fidgeting immediately, slotting one of his hands over top of yours as he looked over into your eyes. You shared a soft look, no words being exchanged in the process. The two of you had been together long enough to be able to reassure the other with only looks. You still smiled when Jack asked if you were alright.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, guiding Jack’s hand up from his knee to kiss the back of it. Jack smiled fondly, brushing a stray piece of your hair behind your ear. You hummed in appreciation as you fell back against the waiting room chair. “Just a little nervous. You?”

Jack nodded, linking your ankles together in front of the chairs. You smiled, dropping your head against his shoulder; he brought his arm over and draped it across your upper back and shoulders. “Yeah, same, flowerbud.” Jack placed a kiss to your temple, squeezing you gently against him. 

Taking your hand, you ran it over Jack’s knee in an attempt to soothe his ever apparent nerves. You looked up at your fiance, noticing a thankful expression on his face. He nodded briefly to affirm that he was thankful before he pressed another kiss to your temple. You swung your interlocked ankles back and forth, chuckling when you heard Jack huff an amused breath above you.

“That nervous, huh?” Jack’s question came out sounding more concerned than anything. It even came out sounding more like a statement than a question, if you were being honest. All the same, Jack ran his arm comfortingly along your upper arm and helped you in your effort to swing your ankles.

“This is a big thing, bud,” you said, sighing and running a hand down your face. You glanced up at Jack and noticed that he was looking at you with concern. You smiled softly, patting your fiance’s chest. “Of course I’m gonna be nervous. Who wouldn’t be? I promise I’ll be fine once we get in there though. Okay?” Jack went to respond but he closed his mouth when the door beside the reception desk swung open and shut with a resounding thunk. 

Looking over, you saw a nurse standing there. She was holding a clipboard and appeared to be scanning the paper that was clipped to it. After a moment, she turned to face the seating area, clutching the clipboard to her chest.

"Ms. (Y/L/N)?" The nurse looked around the room. You noticed that the only other people there were a teenager and his mother. The teenager was playing on a Nintendo Switch and the mother was doing some work on a tablet computer. 

You swallowed thickly as you lifted your head from Jack's shoulder and unlinked your ankles. Standing from the chair, you grabbed Jack's hand and guided him off of his own chair. Jack gave you a quick hug before he walked with you across the room to where the nurse was standing. The nurse raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't say anything as she led you and Jack through the door and back into one of the rooms.

Once you were in a room,the nurse closed the door and instructed you to lay on the examination table. Jack quickly stood beside you, grabbing your hand without having been asked. You mouthed your thanks as you rolled the hem of your shirt up to your ribcage, squeezing your eyes shut in the process.

You heard the nurse walk across the room and heard the chair on the side that Jack wasn't on creak as the nurse sat down. You swallowed nervously, wlibg yourself to open your eyes and look at her. When you did, she was holding the ultrasound wand and a bottle of medical gel. You swallowed again, looking over at Jack. Jack nodded, running his thumb across your knuckles in an attempt to soothe your nerves.

"Are you ready?" The nurse asked, popping the top on the gel bottle. When you nodded, the nurse squirted the gel on your stomach. Shivering, you tried to recoil from the feeling of it on your skin. The nurse chuckled as she clicked the bottle closed and placed it back in the basket attached to the ultrasound machine. "Sorry. I probably should've warned you that it was going to be cold."

"No, it's fine," you said, sighing in annoyance. "It wasn't that bad anyways."

When you looked up at Jack, you could tell that he was trying his best to bite back a laugh or a smartass remark. You took your hand and swatted your fiance on the elbow, smirking when he huffed in defeat. You also cast him a stern, although soft at the same time, look to tell him to behave himself. Jack simply chuckled and gave a half-assed smile in response. You rolled your eyes as you looked back at the nurse.

She didn't seem to have noticed what had happened because she was looking at the ultrasound machine. She appeared to be pushing buttons and trying to find the right settings to get it to work. She pressed a few more buttons before nodding a moment later, turning to you and grabbing the wand again.

“Alright,” she said, adjusting herself in her seat so that she was in a better position to use the wand on your stomach. “Are you ready to get this show on the road?”

You heard Jack scoff as you chuckled, nodding along to what the nurse was saying. “Yeah. Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“What about you, dad?”

“I’m the baby’s dad, not her dad,” Jack replied, sounding a little confused at that assumption.

The nurse sighed, shaking her head as she placed the wand on your stomach. You took your hand, patting Jack’s elbow sympathetically looking at him with just as much sympathy. Jack tilted his head in confusion, raising his shoulders, lifting the hand that wasn’t holding yours, and contorting his face into a look of confusion to express that he had no idea what the hell was going on.

“Jack, bud,” you said, looking up into your fiance’s eyes. “That’s what she meant. She would’ve said grandpa if she thought you were my dad.”

“Oh,” Jack mumbled. You saw his face wash over with a nice bubblegum hue as he looked between you and the nurse. “Sorry. I’m nervous.”

“It’s fine. A lot of first time parents are.” The nurse looked up from where she had been moving the wand along your stomach and turned to the ultrasound machine. She pressed a couple of buttons and it brought up the sonogram image of your uterus and the baby inside of it, though there wasn’t really much to see because you weren’t that far along. The nurse pointed to the screen and circled her finger around the tiny black and grey image of the baby. “There’s your little one. I’d say you’re about eight to ten weeks along.”

You felt tears prickle the corners of your eyes. Before you had a chance to wipe them away, you heard Jack sniffle from beside you. You looked over and saw that he was already crying, tears streaking gently down his cheeks. That sent you over the edge, making your eyes open up and leak tears down your own cheeks. Jack brought your hand up and kissed your knuckles while running a thumb along the pulse point in your wrist. You shivered because the sensation of crying mixed with the sensation of him touching your pulse point was nearly too much to handle.

“Would you like to hear the baby’s heartbeat?” The nurse cut in, making you and Jack both look over at her. 

You looked up at Jack; Jack nodded fervently, a large smile present on his tear stained face. You turned back to the nurse and nodded, wiping away some of the tears on your cheeks. “Yeah. We’d love that.”

The nurse smiled as she turned to the ultrasound machine to press a couple of buttons. There was the sound of static for a moment then the nurse moved the wand and the faint sound of a beating heart could be heard through the speakers on the machine. You looked up at Jack and Jack looked down at you. Both of you burst into tears as you listened to the sound of your unborn child’s heartbeat. It was so surreal because you had tried to have this baby for the last four years. Four years of failed treatments. Four years of negative pregnancy tests. Four years of miscarriages. Four years of anguish had finally led up to this moment. A moment where you got to hear the heartbeat of a baby that was growing inside of you. A baby that was as much a part of you as they were a part of Jack. It was almost too much for you to handle. And, judging by the look and tears on Jack’s face, it was almost too much for him to handle as well.

“Do you want an .mp3 file of the heartbeat?” The nurse put a reassuring hand on your hip. “Hearing it obviously means a lot to you.”

“Yes, please, oh my god,” you and Jack blurted at the same time, tears falling harder down your cheeks as you both looked at the nurse.

The nurse nodded, taking her hand away from your hip. She pressed a button on the ultrasound machine and you heard a beep that was much the same as that of a voicemail recording. After a few moments, the beep sounded again and the nurse turned back around and pressed the button again. It was at that moment that she set the wand down and handed you some paper towels to clean your stomach off. You thanked her as you wiped away the gel that was left, tears starting to subside. When you were done, Jack took the paper towels and threw them away in the garbage bin across the room. When he returned, the nurse was typing something into the machine. When she was done typing, a second or two passed before you heard your phone chime in your pocket. Pulling it out, you saw that the nurse had emailed you the .mp3 file she had just recorded. You felt the tears starting to ramp back up, but Jack placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder calmed you down enough to stop you from crying again.

“Alright. That should be it for today,” the nurse said, clasping her hands together. “If you need anything, give the office a call. Otherwise, I’ll see you in two months for your next appointment.” You and Jack nodded as the nurse reassuringly patted your knee. “Take as much time as you need to gather yourselves. There aren’t any more appointments until after lunch.” With that, the nurse stood from the chair and walked out of the room.

Jack looked at you, bending down and placing a soft kiss to your forehead. You grabbed his wrist and soothed your thumb along his pulse point. You revelled at the fact that Jack shivered at your touch, finding it a small accomplishment because he wasn’t usually one to get flustered like that. When you ran your thumb along the pulse point again, he shivered again, proving to you that he was just as overwhelmed by this whole situation as you were.

Without saying a word, you unlocked your phone and opened up the email app. Bringing up the email from the nurse, you clicked the .mp3 file and downloaded it onto your phone. Once again, without saying a word, you made a few changes to the haptics and dropped the phone in your lap. Looking up at Jack, you nodded down at the device, squeezing your eyes shut nervously.

“Why don’t you text me what time you guys play tonight, I accidentally deleted it from my calendar when I put in this appointment.” If that was a lie, Jack didn’t need to know.

Jack nodded, pulling out his own phone. After a moment, you saw him typing away on the screen and then heard him send the message. A moment later, you heard your phone go off. Looking up at Jack, you saw him frozen in place, his own phone dangling to the side of his hoodie pocket. He carefully slipped it inside before he wrapped you in a massive hug. The next thing you heard was your fiance sobbing into the crook of your neck and felt his body vibrating against you. You brought your hands up and ran them soothingly along his back, mumbling sweet nothings softly into his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

When the phone went off again after you hadn’t cleared the notification, Jack stepped back and wiped his eyes with his hoodie sleeves. He looked down at the phone and then up at you. You saw a small smile on his distraught face. You took your hand and interlaced your fingers with the fingers of one of your fiance’s hands. Jack smiled a little more fondly at that, squeezing your hand. You squeezed back, running your hand along Jack’s elbow.

Jack heaved a heavy sigh before he looked back down at you, a fonder expression on his face. You ran a hand along his elbow again, smiling just as fondly in return. Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your temple, brushing some of your hair aside with his free hand. You hummed, leaning into the touch.

“I can’t believe I finally get to be a father,” Jack mumbled, voice marred by how hard he had been crying. “I’ve waited my whole life for this. Waited four years with you. And all those years were worth it because I finally got to hear my baby’s heartbeat. Something I thought would never happen. And it’s happening with the love of my life. Can you believe that?”

You felt suddenly overcome with emotions as you sat there. You dropped your head against Jack’s chest; Jack took his hand and cradled your head, carding his fingers through your hair. You hummed softly at the sensation of his finger against your scalp. It felt nice to have something calming in all this chaos.

“Yeah, I can believe that,” you said, voice somewhat muffled by Jack’s chest. “Because all of it’s happening with the love of my life too.”

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Wed 24 Feb ‘21

It’s around the world with Liam Payne day again!! Today in his weekly FIFA and music podcast, he and cohost Jaydee Dyer interview a couple of Dutch guys; goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen and musician Lukas Graham, who know each other, as did last week’s guests, which is cute. Liam and Lukas trade stories about starting singing professionally as children (Liam-- “I had a crush on the choir teacher”), fame at early ages (Liam-- “It can be tough, it can be massively overwhelming” and “the weirdest gig I ever did was for 110,000 people and I don’t think I even noticed it was that many people because I was so stressed out by what the hell was going on at the time”) and being young dads which Liam is ready to chime in about at length, but there’s also a long segment of talk about weddings in which the other guys talk about their weddings (2 of them) and being engaged and looking forward to having a wedding (1 of them) and Liam contributes only “well I’m not married!” and, again, “I’m not married!”. Huh, well okay! Plus this highlight-- Lukas being like, no I think as a famous person it’s easy to be open and honest, its harder if you lie cause then you have to keep track of what you said and you mess up. Liam: “oh, that’s what I’m doing wrong!!”

Lukas comments on how Marc is always playing to crowds where “half the crowd is against you” and he and Liam never have to deal with that and Liam is like welll actually… “I’ve been heckled in foreign languages,” he says, “I didn’t really tour for the last couple of years... I’ve kinda just been doing different corporate gigs and different festivals. Sometimes when you turn up to places there’s a lot of angry young men there who don’t like me very much. I once turned up at this one gig… and the guy was like DJ-ing before me and I knew that my set was half quicker songs, some slow songs and whatever else... and I’m like oh my god can this guy get off the stage quickly because the more he pumps them up the more anticlimactic the middle of my set is gonna be. And it must have been a crowd where I just didn’t really see it coming and it’s like, the crowd was like 90% male. So I got on the stage... and they started heckle me in a foreign language so I thought, well, this one is just for me.“ Poor Liam! Good times overall though, and I feel like Liam is kind of hitting his stride and getting more comfortable being on that side of the interview process which is neat and also I appreciate that they’ve changed the format to have snippets of the songs they’re talking about (each week the footie players pick songs of their lives and talk about them) in the podcast.

Everyone else is laying low and being MIA but I just saw an ad for a conversation between Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama, so we do know one thing Niall is up to at least, being super excited about that!

[saltymiraculer]

Ceremonial Kisses (Part 1 of 3)

Part 2

So I decided to try my hand at the “Marinette, the princess of China” trope and see how I did! Tell me what you think?

Also, the first chapter is going to be fluffy, the second chapter’ll have a sprinkling of salt, and the third chapter will be a mix of piles and piles of salt and some fluff. Be warned!

.

“I’ve got a big, big, big announcement for you today, class!“ Bustier chirped, clapping her hands to get their attention. “China’s princess will be coronated in a week and a half, the day she turns 18, as many of you know, and one class from the school will be selected to travel to China and watch the ceremony. Guess which class it was?“

“Uhhh…Mme. Mendeleiev’s!“

“Ooh, M. D’Argencourt’s? They’ve wanted that trip for weeks!“

“No, class, it’s ours! In three days, we’ll board the plane to Asia and have a few days to sightsee and explore, then attend the coronation on the second-to-last day!“

“Wow! Why our class?“ Kim asked.

Marinette knew exactly why. Marc had told her that the entire school was sick of Lila’s lies and wanted to enjoy the coronation without her butting in in the middle of the assembly to tell a ‘story’ about herself.

But she couldn’t just say that.

“You know, I actually know the princess,“ Lila said, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “But her identity is being kept a secret for now. That’s how we landed the trip!“

“Wow, Lila!“

“That’s amazing!“

“So cool of you.“

“They know that’s stupid, right?“ Alya stage-whispered, earning a glare from Lila’s new puppy–more commonly known as Kim. She shrugged. “I’m just tellin’ the truth!“

Alya, who was now her only other supporter next to Nino (and technically Adrien, but she’d discuss that later–it was very complicated), had decided to Google Lila’s name during a sleepover and found…some rather incriminating Facebook posts.

After that, she was 100% team Marinette and an amazing friend, along with Nino, who had decided that he needed a theme song. No one knew why.

But they loved him anyways!

So while Bustier was rattling off facts about Chinese emperors and kings and queens, Nino was showing them his latest idea to expose Lila.

“Okay,“ he started. “First, we go to China. Then we do our sightseeing and shit, and then. I did some research, and we can ask the princess questions if we’re with a national news channel. Alya’s blog counts. For real, we can talk to the princess of China. And we ask her if she knows Lila.“

“Brilliant plan, Nino. I wonder how the princess will react to a few teenagers in the middle of a crowd of famous people.“

Nino frowned. “The princess is only, like, 17. She’ll probably notice us, Als.”

“Oh, that reminds me, your birthday’s on the same day as the coronation, Marinette! Weird, isn’t it? That you and the princess have the same birthday?“ Alya asked, pulling out her phone and swiping through something.

“Huh, yeah. You’re right. Maybe we can invite her to my birthday party?“

“Ooh, the wiki page says she likes custard buns, and I’m not sure how they know that,“ Nino chuckled. “but make sure to stock up on those.“

“Noted,“ Marinette said drily as Bustier turned to them with a condemning look on her face. “Alya! I hope what you’re doing on that phone relates to the lesson!“

“China’s princess’s identity is being kept a secret because the last two were sent death threats, dangerous items, highly innapropriate items, and several other things that prompted them to not reveal the princess until it was necessary.“

“C-correct, Alya. Good job.“

“Nice!“ Marinette mouthed, high-fiving Alya, who flipped her phone around to reveal a website about the princess.

                                                           -🌸-

The final bell rang as several of the students cheered. One school day until the trip over, three more to go. Alya swung her bag over her shoulder and bumped Marinette’s elbow. “We goin’ to your place to hang out?”

“Yeah, my dad’s out anyways and mom closed the bakery for the afternoon. let’s go!“ Alya took Nino’s hand and walked the short distance to Marinette’s house. They entered and immediately felt something off.

Ah, there it was.

Sabine was leaning over the counter with a cup of very strong-smelling peppermint tea beside her. She was rubbing her temples and muttering to herself in rapid Mandarin.

“Maman? Are you alright?“ Marinette asked worriedly. Alya and Nino stood by the door–they had only seen her like this once before, when her cousin had been run over and killed.

“Yes, dear, everything’s okay, it’s just–there’s something I need to tell you.“

“Oh, no, did something happen to someone?“

“No, no, everyone’s just fine. I can’t not tell you without there being serious problems.“

“So what is it? What’s so important you had to close the bakery?“

“You’re the princess. China’s princess. The one nobody knows about.“

“I’m what?!“ Marinette screeched, grabbing at her hair. “I’m the heir to the throne of the most populated country in the world, and you waited until a week before the coronation to tell me?!“

“Holy shit.“ Alya and Nino said simultaneously. Sabine stared at them, likely just realizing they were there.

“Oh. They know now, too. Perfect, that’s just what we need, a reporter knowing who–“

“Maman! Alya wouldn’t tell a soul, I know she wouldn’t.“

Sabine turned to Alya. “I’m sorry, dear, I’m just stressed. With that trip to China in a few days and all that, we’ll have to close down the bakery for about a week.”

“And we never close down the bakery.“ Marinette finished, putting a steady hand on her mom’s shoulder. “But I know just the person to run it while we’re gone.“

As she was about to say who exactly would run the bakery, Nino backed into the door, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. My best friend…holy shit.“

“Nino, I know this is a lot, but we’ll have to stay calm,“ Alya said, grabbing his hand. “So we don’t spill her secret. That’s top priority, all right? Don’t–tell–anyone.“

Nino sighed. “Sorry, babe. This…“ he turned to Marinette. “Do you have any cookies?“

Marinette grinned and led them into the kitchen. “Of course! Chocolate chunk or raspberry frosted?“

“Raspberry, all the way!“

“There’s the Nino I know!“

After a quick cookie interval, Marinette pushed her plate away and sighed. “Anyone up for an impromptu sleepover? You all left a bunch of your clothes here the last few times.”

“Marinette. If you know us, you will know our answers.“ Alya said solemnly.

“Hell yeah. Wanna go choose which terrible rom-com to watch this time?“

They ended up settling on The Kissing Booth, one of Marinette’s personal favorites (”To lighten the tension, you know?” Alya had said. “Although the tension in here probably weighs the same as an obese hippopotamus at this point.”) and made a bowl of caramel popcorn, with a tiny bag of sea-salt Skinny Pop for Nino.

“Sugar on popcorn is a crime, man. I ain’t touching that.“

“You’ve tried it once, Nino.“

“Yes, and I hated it. Is there anything else to be said?“

So they spent the next two hours in a blanket fort that was made almost entirely of throw pillows laughing over Elle and Noah and Lee being idiots, with a few highlights such as the iconic “Ninth grade skirt, eleventh grade body” scene, where Alya snorted and said “You know, Lila’s skipped so much school, might as well be ninth grade brain, eleventh grade work.”

“Too true,“ Nino agreed. “The other day, she called Chloe’s mom Aurora Bourgeois. That was a pretty major mess-up.”

“Shhh! Let’s just watch the movie!“ Marinette said, effectively quieting them down.

They watched the rest in silence with the usual laughs., ending up falling asleep halfway through the second movie, snuggled up on their respective couches. Marinette mother shook them awake the next morning, telling them to take showers and eat breakfast and get dressed and for god’s sake, Marinette, finish your homework.

“Crap, crap, crapcrapcrap! Nino, we’re going to be late if we don’t get ready fast!“ Alya shouted as Marinette ran up the stairs to change. “Can I use your shower, M?“

“Sure!“ was the muffled reply.

After about 10 minutes of running around and shoving waffles in their mouths, they grabbed their bags and ran off to school.

They burst through the door in the nick of time, the bell ringing just as they plunked down their things.

Bustier wasn’t there five minutes into the class, so they started talking.

“Marinette, you have to listen to Nino’s latest track, it’s–“ Just as she was about to describe Nino’s latest track, a bouncy-ball the size of a walrus snashed through the wall, nearly taking off Kim’s head.

There was a cackle from outside. “I am Gradack! You will all feel the same sorrow that I did!“

                                                          -🌸-

The fight was over relatively fast, and everything was calmed down and restored before their next class. Turns out Chat Noir didn’t show, so Marinette had to ask Alya for assistance.

In hindsight, she probably should have picked a better place to transform.

“Tikki, spots on!“ After she transformed, she was about to go to Fu to get one of the Miraculous, when she heard a strangled gasp.

“…shit.“

“My best friend is the princess of goddamn China and Ladybug? What the fuck?! Who are you? How did I not know? When did–“

“Alya, I know the feeling, but you can’t tell anyone. Got it?“

“Nino?“

“Well,“ Marinette paused to think. “Yeah, I guess. I trust him enough. Now, take this and transform!“ she tossed Alya the hexagonal box, and after a quick transformation, they ran off to defeat the saddened graduate of an akuma.

As she said, it was an easy fight.

They comforted the victim with four minutes (each) to spare, then ran back to the locker rooms to transform back.

                                                   Time Skip!

It was the morning of the flight to China, and she was ecstatic. Of course, she had to get up at 3:45 in the morning, but it was worth it–the flight took off at six in the morning, of course.

She could see the logic of wanting to arrive at 12:00, but she would’ve much preferred a red-eye.

Then she wouldn’t have had to stay up all night reading, because no way in hell would she just wake up at 3:45 in the morning.

The alarm would’ve had to go off for hours.

But back to the morning, she poured herself a sasquatch-sized mug of coffee, with about a gallon of cream and enough sugar to put an entire city of diabetics into shock, she started getting dressed.

Trudging around and haphazardly pulling out shirts, she finally decided on a simple red-and-orange flannel, a white t-shirt, and a pair of cropped jeans.

The she downed the rest of her coffee with an apathetic “Bottoms up!” and slapped her cheeks.

She grapped her suitcase and walked outside to where her mother was typing away on a laptop in the pitch-black night.

“Mom, why are you up?“

“Because I have to drive you to the airport, that’s why. And no alarm would be able to wake me up at 3 in the morning.“

“Preach. I’m ready to go, so can we get in the car now?“

After driving to the airport and saying goodbye to her mom, she walked into the airport and immediately saw the group of sleepy teens (and a certain disheveled teacher) leaning on their suitcases, trying not to fall asleep.

Nino and Marinette were already there, their eyelids drooping. The only person who looked properly awake was Sabrina, who was–inevitably–holding a saucer out to Chloé, who was sipping from a teacup.

Alya rolled her eyes and walked over to Marinette and Nino. “Who’re we missing?”

“Kim and Rose. They’re carpooling, so they should be here any minute.“

Just as Marinette had said, a few seconds later, Rose and Kim walked into the airport. Kim was still wearing pajama pants.

                                           Another Time Skip!

“Marinette.“ Alya groaned, shaking Marinette’s shoulders. “Marinette, wake up, we’re here.“

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open. “No. Five more minutes.”

“Everyone else is already off the plane!“

“Shit. Let’s go!“ Marinette said, jumping up, grabbing her purse (which she had recently learned concealed a kwami) and scrambling out the door.

Alya picked up the mini-backpack she now carried (which held Trixx, cookies, and some grape jelly) and followed her out the door.

Almost as soon as they stepped off the plane, they heard a loud wail.

“Great. She’s back on her bullshit.“

“I just can’t believe she would steal that, Lila! It’s so unlike her!“

“M-maybe, but there’s p-proof! Look!“

“Oh, great, what did we do this time?“ Alya asked exasperatedly. They watched as Lila held out the remains of–from what they could see from a meter away–a sketch of an orange mermaid gown with a black lace collar, ripped into quarters and laid out on the ground.

Marinette gasped beside her.

“That’s your dress, isn’t it?“

A small tear made its way down Marinette’s face. “It was going to be for you,” she said softly.

Alya threw her arms around Marinette and rubbed her shoulders. “It’s okay, sweetie. Once you’re princess, we’ll sue her for all she’s worth.”

Marinette detached herself from Alya and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Alya.”

                                                         -🌸-

Nino stormed up to where Alya and Marinette were standing with a furious expression on his face.

“That fox,“ he seethed. “that bitchy little fox of a liar stole your drawing.“

Marinette chuckled wetly. “Yeah, we know.“

“Are you okay? I know how important they are to you.“

“I’m fine, Nino, and o–who the hell are you?“ A man in an oddly formal suit was standing next to her, holding out a small red envelope.

Marinette plucked the envelope from his fingers, opened it, and read the contents. She looked up and nodded at the suit-wearing guy.

“Good. In that case, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I’m going to need you to come with me.“ Alya and Nino immediately stepped in front of her in a protective shield.

“She’s not in trouble, is she?“

The strange man looked surprisingly amused. “Not at all–but you might want to come with us, too. You as well, headphone-boy.”

Nino put a hand on his chest and gasped in offense.

“Nino. He’s going to drive us to the palace. You’re coming, too, ya doof!“ Nino made a noise of realization and followed them out to where a black limousine was waiting.

They climbed in and drove off.

About five minutes into the drive, he moved his foot to the side, accidentally kicking a black box.

Just as he was preparing his final goodbyes, it sprung open, and inside was a junk food lover’s heaven.

“Dude.“

[multi-fandom-freak0221]

If Your Done With Embarrassing Me On Your Own Won't You Go Ahead and Tell Them

Oh my god y'all have just blown me away. I was not expect so much positive feed back. I was screaming so much I could not Believe how much you guys liked that. And so many people are asking to be tagged in the next part thank you guys so much. Also can I just say moving from Google Docs to Tumblr was a bitch to do and I hated it. But y'all inspired me so much that I decided to just go ahead and type it up on tumblr and move it to Google Docs afterwards.

This part's title is from "Impossible" by Shontelle. The song in this part is "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy

This is Part 2 of my fic based on @misashabunbun 's Love of Three.

Part 1

Tagging List (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I NEED ONE.):

@thestressmademedoit @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @lizziejay @indecisive-mess-named-me @captainmac6 @luveverything12 @kris-pines04 @brokenwordsarehard2

To say Marinette was busy would be an understatement. Between working with Luka and Uncle Jagged producing her album as Neon Titanium and her friends insisting that they help heal her brokenheart she felt like she was caught in a whirl wind. But it was nice she had fun. Luka and Uncle Jagged knew how to turn the hard work of producing music into a fun experience while still being efficient. And her friends they had her laughing harder than she laughed in while and smiling brighter than their resident sunshine child. They did everything they could think off.

She went shopping with Chloe and Kagami. She watched horror movies with Alix, Nathaniel, and Adrien. Marc and Luka let her rant to them which turned into a crying session which then turned into a meditation session. And on top of that her and Peter hung out as well. Whether they just worked in silence together on their respective projects or they were pranking Uncle Tony, kwami did she have fun renaming the protocols on the Iron Man suit. Soon Peter easily fit his way into her group of friends abd he fit in perfectly. Everyone got along with him.

But he wasn't the last to join their ragtag group. Everyone was shocked when Felix Graham De Vanily came to their group offering Marinette condolences on her lost engagement. He was sincere and courteous so of course no one was surprised when Marinette invited him to join in the currently planned game of dodgeball, except maybe Felix himself. But nonetheless he joined in the competition and found himself hanging out with the rest of the group as well. Soon his cold off-standish demeanor was traded for sly smirks and slick humor that nobody caught at first except Marinette and Peter who would laugh openly at his responses.

Soon enough Felix was a part of the group and felt comfortable letting his guard down. It help that they didn't treat him as the Graham De Vanily heir or Adrien's asshole cousin. They treat him like Felix, the boy who while very proper cried watching Big Hero 6. Also the boy who slam dunked on Adrien without breaking a sweat. Yet he still is the master of backhanded compliments and insulting people with a smile and having them thank him. He could truly be himself and he was thankful.

And while he easily was getting along with everyone, anyone with easy could see he had a soft spot for Peter and Marinette in general. It was in the way his face would soften when looking at them. Or the way he would smile when Marinette would get excited over something. Or the way he always paid attention to Peter when he was geeking out. It was the way he softly teased them over their height, Marinette being the shortest of the group and Peter only being taller than Marinette and Alix. And everyone knew Marinette's heart was still healing, so it came no surprise when Felix and Peter started dating. And while everyone was happy for them no one, but Marinette herself missed the looks of longing both boys would send towards her.

Believe it or not Felix was not the most surprising addition to their friend group. No the last addition came soon after Marinette formally did an interview after too much press took notice of Damian Wayne's fiancee being seen for the first time in almost a year, in New York of all places.

She remembered Uncle Tony setting up the interview with someone he trusted. She was glad that this was only an interview as Damian Wayne's (ex) fiancee and not MDC or Neon Titanium. She can only imagine how big a deal it will be when she reveals. But that was future Marinette's problem. Present Marinette had to focus on what to say without giving too much details because no matter how much he deserved it, she didn't want to throw Damian to wolves like that. She settled on saying that she was going through some things and no longer was content in Gotham. She claimed that she decided it was in her best interest to leave, but she didn't want to make a big deal about which is why nothing had been said until now.

The interview went well and everyone accepted her answers. It was released about a month after she left Damian and two weeks since Peter and Felix started dating. She still got news alerts for Gotham so she was waiting with baited breath for her interview to reach the Gotham, but it never seemed to. No announcements from WE or the Wayne family in general. She couldn't say it didn't hurt that no one even realized she was gone yet. But what hurt more was when 2 weeks after her interview she got an alert from Gotham Gazette saying the Damian claimed they set a date for their wedding. She cried that day. How could he not even notice she was gone? Was he so used to lying about her and their relationship that he didn't even give a second thought to what he was saying any more? And while she despaired, she relished in the fact that her friends did not let her be alone. Her face was buried in Peter's neck, she was sat on Felix's lap, Chole was threading her fingers through her hair, her feet laid over Peter legs and settled on Marc's, Adrien sat on the floor in front of Felix a hand rest on her back and everyone gathered around as close as possible trying to physically reassure her. Luka was even humming softly. She appreciated all the love amd support she had and soon she was feeling much better. Eventually it turned into a puppy pile napping session and if she ended up curled up between Peter and Felix? Eh, nobody said anything.

It was these series of events that led to their newest and by far strangest addition to their friend group. Here it was, two days after Damian's announcement and here in front of her stands no other than Jonathan Kent, Damian's best friend.

"Hey, Mari. It's been a while, huh?" She could admit Jon looked nervous. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes and how his hand was rubbing his neck. But him bring nervous did nothing to calm her nerves about why he was even here.

Marinette took a deep breath and drew as much of her inner Ladybug as she could. "Why are you here, Jonathan?"

Jon flinched at how she used his full name. "I'm so sorry, Nette. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. You were my friend too. I should have checked on you. Damian was such a good liar, I never knew. I should have known but I didn't and that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you." Jon took a deep breath and finally met her eyes before speaking again. "But I'm going to do better, Nette. Whatever you need just say the word. Even if it means leaving. When we saw your interview Dad told Uncle Bruce to make sure his family was in order especially his youngest. He didn't give any details and Uncle Bruce got offended. I guess he did end up talking to Damian, but Damian doubled down on his lies and his family is believing him. But I know better because I saw what you said and I know even that wasn't the whole truth. So I want you to know I'm on your side."

Marinette was silent for a minute she study him and his words. The way she was looking at him made Jon feel like his whole soul was being judged, but he didn't dare look away. He needed her to know he meant it and that he was truly sorry for not being for. After a minute that felt like hours Marinette smiled softly at him. "I could always appreciate a hug from a friend." She held her arm open and Jon surged forward and hugged her tightly lifting her off the ground.

Marinette giggled a bit before he set her down. "Thanks, Jon for being here for me. I know Damian is you best friend-"

"He lost that right when he decided to lie to me repeatedly for his own benefit." Jon looked uncharacteristically upset at the fact.

"Well if you're in need of some more good friends, I know a group you should meet. Come on, we're about to have a pool day. I'm sure I have some swim trunks I've designed that you could probably fit. "

After they changed intl their respective swimwear, Mari led Jon to her Uncle Tony's pool where the rest of her friends were already waiting. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my friend Jon. He's in need of some good company."

Those who recognized Jon looked up surprised before see his nervous fidgeting and hearing Marinette's last sentence before nodding in understand. It was Peter who spoke up first. "Well any friend of Mari's is welcome with us. Come on we were about to play chicken fight!" And just like that their pool party was in swing. The played a couple pool games and had some snacks before Marinette decided to play some music. Soon a familiar tune was playing over the speakers.

When Rome's in ruins

It was Chole who started singing along first sitting laying on one of the pool chairs. In between Alix and Kagami.

We are the lions

Free of the colosseum.

In fields of poison

We're anitvenom

We're the beginning of the end.

Soon Alix was singing the next part as Chloe finished the first part.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

It's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Luka was quick to pick up the chorus while trying to get everyone to join in with him.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

While everyone was distracted with singing Luka had Adrien and Jon sneak with him behind the girls in the pool chair. Each of them grabbed one and threw them in the water. Luka grabbed Kagami, Adrien grabbed Chloe and Jon grabbed Alix.

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As everyone else's singing tapered off into laughing, Marinette picked up the next part solo as she walked to the diving board and climbed up.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered

Run it up the flag pole,

She ended her singing with a cannonball into the pool. Peter picked it up from his place in Felix's arms.

We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

He sung his verse looking at Felix the whole time, who scoffed jokingly when Peter winked at him, but gave a him a kiss after he was done singing. Marc and Nathaniel picked up where he left off dueting together.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

And it's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Soon everyone was singing along again to the chorus playing around splashing each other.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

Soon everybody had calmed down slightly singing a little quieter. Marinette her self was floating on her back towards the center of the pool. Smiling at all her support around her.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As the song ended Jon was the first to speak. "What the fuck is in the water in Paris that makes y'all so talented?"

Peter laughed as he easily agreed, "That's what I said!"

Adrien chuckled at the Americans in their group antics. "To be fair, Felix is from London and Kagami is from Japan."

"Still! That is crazy. And Marinette I never knew you could sing like that!" Jon looked over towards the bluenette, his eyes softening at her.

Marinette giggled. "Neither did the rest of the world until Neon Titanium featured in Luka's last single."

"What?!" Jon exclaimed. "You're Neon Titanium?! I loved that song! Nette you're even more amazing than I thought."

Luka threw his hand up saying "Here, here." Making Marinette blush as all her friends joined in on complimenting her.

About a 3 weeks later, Marinette found herself working on a dress for her debut as Neon Titanium which uncle Tony insisted she do at a gala he's throwing. Which she suspects he's throwing just for her to debut because there was absolutely no gala planned before.

That was what she was doing when Jon, Felix, and Peter found her. It didn't take long for Jon to fit in with group. And with how often he stayed with them in New York instead of going back to Metropolis, no one was surprised when he started dating Peter and Felix. Marinette was happy for them even though it seemed like everyone was in happy relationships but her. But she knew she still had some things to work out before returning to the dating scene.

As they approached Marinette paused her sketching to look at her friends. "What's up guys? You needed something?"

The 3 boys looked at each other before Peter spoke up. "Yeah, actually. We wanted to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "We like you Marinette. A lot. And we would love for you to date us."

Marinette could feel the rejection on her tongue, but before she could say a word Jon cut her off.

"Let us finish first Nette. Please. After we're done you can tell us to never bother you again, but just let us get this out." Jon pleaded at her. Marinette just nodded and let them continue.

"We all like you a lot," Felix started his words very sincere. "But we all know that your still healing. We only told you because we thought it would be fair for you to know."

It almost seemed as they had planned and rehearsed for this because Peter effortlessly picked up after Felix. "We're not trying to guilt you into dating us because at the end of the day it is still you decision. And we know it may be some time before your ready to even consider dating us, but we're willing to wait."

Jon grabbed her hands as he prepared to finish them out. "We just want you to know how amazing we think you are. We'll be beyond lucky if you decide to date us when you're ready to make that choice. And until you are we're still your friends and we'll continue helping you heal and be better how ever you want us to. And if you decide you don't see us that way we'll still be some of your closest friends because having you in our lives is a blessing Nette."

Soon they all seemed to be holding one of her hands as they finished what they had to say. Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face, but the big smile she had eased away their worries. She pulled them into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back.

"You guys are the absolute best friends a girl can have." She smiled at them gratefully. "You're right that I'm not ready yet, but when I am, you guys will be the first people I consider dating. Promise. Now do you guys wanna see the designs I'm considering for my reveal?"

As the boys gathered around Marinette for her to show them her sketchbook she thought to herself with a smile.

I might not be quite okay yet, but with all the great people I have on my side, I know I will be soon.

[writingsfromhome]

Nuclear Family V

Part Five: Some Things Never Change

A/N: I’ve reread and rewrote and finally wrapped this up! It got really long because I didn’t want to drag it into another part, but I did include an epilogue--I couldn’t help myself. Hope it lives up to the expectations! And thank you x100000 again for reading along <3

Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V

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

The next morning, we sit down together and soothe Charlie's worries. Harry holds my hand at one point and we play the best acting gig either of us have ever played as we pretend there's not a ginormous unspoken trilogy between us. Charlie's tentative at first, but when Harry pulls her onto his knee and whispers something to her. She breaks into a giggle and hugs him. At least that was patched over, I think. But when Harry meets my eyes over her head, I look away. Some things might never be patched over.

I’d set up a play date this morning, thinking Charlie might have needed a distraction. It also gave me time to pack our things without her to distract me or feel the emotional baggage I was packing up too.

I had planned to find an air bnb, waking up at 7am to start searching. But when I updated Marc after he asked what I was doing that evening, he insisted we stayed with him. We’d lived together before, and he was almost always at work, so it gave us enough space.The best part was he lived in the same building as Harry; it was almost too perfect, and when I’d asked Charlie she was totally on board. Spending time with Marc while being able to take the elevator to see her dad sounded just sounded like her play place had expanded.

After Charlie leaves, and I’m almost done packing, I look for Harry to talk. I find him toweling his hair after his shower. He had to head out for shooting today so I needed to speak to him before he left or else he would think I slighted him. He notices me in the foggy mirror and turns, and I try not to find the towel tied around his waist distracting.

“Hey, so...I’ll be out of your hair today...no pun intended.” I laugh lamely after he continues to stare at me blankly. Okay, maybe his towel was more distracting than I’d like to admit. And this was an awkward conversation when we had so many unspoken things between us. “Um, so I found other accommodations finally. So we’ll move out and it’ll be like we planned initially?”

“Huh?” Harry freezes, arms in midair.

“I don’t know why it took me this long to find another place,” I blabber on. “But I think yesterday was kind of a wake up call? I shouldn’t have stayed this long anyway and-”

“Wait, Y/N, stop. You’re leaving?”

“Just the flat,” I finally look at him, he looks stony. “We’ll actually just be a few floors down staying with Marc, so it’s kind of perfect.”

“Marc?” A flame lights itself in his eyes, usually the colour of a spring field, they’ve now turned into a field of ashes as he realises what I’m saying. “You’re moving out? To Marc’s? Because of yesterday?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said.” I try to remain calm, but it’s hard when he’s acting like this. “Harry, yesterday just made me realise I’d lost sight of the horizon or whatever. We were never supposed to live with you for this reason! We knew when we planned this that it would complicate things. I was just so obsessed with making Charlie’s birthday perfect I didn’t look for anywhere else, and her birthday was basically disastrous so that was useless. Now you can live freely, Miranda can come and go-”

“Oh and living with Marc won’t confuse Charlie?” Harry demands.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what that mean Y/N. You’re being a bloody hypocrite-”

“What?!” I can’t keep the calm anymore. “I’m a hypocrite?”

“Yes! You! You think Charlie seeing Miranda and me together would confuse her yet you’re taking her to your boyfriend’s house-”

“Who said anything about my boyfriend--and how dare you sound so judgemental about that! Sorry I didn’t get the memo; Harry can have a girlfriend but Y/N can’t! She’s got to be the single virgin mother all by herself!”

“That’s not what I said!”

“No, I think it’s what you were trying to say! Being so fucking judgemental about my love life. This isn’t my fault! I’m not asking you shit, Harry!”

“What the fuck Y/N!” Harry whips the towel he was using for his hair onto the ground. My heart beats erratically in my chest; the last time we fought like this it was because I’d told him I was pregnant and it had ended really ugly. But the way he got under my skin, as hard as I wanted to be the mature one, I couldn’t. “You don’t have to be so bloody sarcastic all the time! I just don’t understand how living with Marc will be any better!”

“Marc’s barely every home, and he’s lived with us before, it’s worked out fine. Charlie adores him-”

“Oh yeah I bet she does! You would’ve loved it if Marc was her father yeah? He’s always had a thing for you, even when we were together. Now’s your chance to be a perfect little family with Marc!”

“I did not say that, don’t put words in my mouth-”

“Oh, but I think that’s what you were trying to say,” Harry mocks me. He’s a ball of rage as he stalks towards me. “I don’t understand your obsession with this guy and why he’s so close to Charlie!”

“You know Marc! We’ve been friends with him for-wait why am I defending myself? This isn’t about that!”

“Well I think it should be!”

“Where are you going with this Harry?!” I shout, putting my hands out to his chest as he continues walking towards me, as if maybe I could shield myself from his growing fury. “I don’t want to fight! I’m just trying to do what’s best for Charlie. And for us.” 

We stare at each other, uncomfortably close, chests heaving as the fire crackles low.

“Well, too late for that.” He says, but the snark is gone. “I’ve finally got Charlie living with me and you’re taking her away.”

“I-I’m not taking her away.” My voice rises immediately. “Don’t you dare say I’m taking her away!”

“You are!” He says stubbornly.

“What the fuck do you expect? You want me to stick around so it’s you, me, and Charlie? You want me to stay here and be miserable, have our kid be confused about what’s going on with who?”

“I don’t want you to be miserable, I just want us in one place!”

“We’re not this perfect little nuclear family you have in your head! We can’t be!”

“Not when you’re bringing the nuclear into the family,” Harry mutters immaturely.

“Oh my god, what’s wrong with you?!” I want to pull my hair out.

“What’s wrong with me is you’re taking away my daughter from me!”

My blood was just boiling now. I get in his face, “Harry, do you not remember that you never wanted us? You had the option to stay with me, while I was pregnant with Charlie. You had the option to hold your daughter the day she was born. You could’ve had all of it. Every step of the way! You chose not to, you let me go, you-you told me I could go...” I break off suddenly, so I didn’t sob as the memories rush back. I told everyone I was over it, I had processed it. But when Harry rejected me, he also rejected Charlie and I never got over that.

Harry hears my breath hitch, he backs away from my outstretched hands and I let them drop.

After a heavy silence, Harry speaks up: “Y/N I’m sorry. I heard what you said yesterday. I was up all night just thinking about it...”

“Well that’s wonderful for me,” I retreat into the comfort of sarcasm.

“No--you were right, I didn’t want commitment. I was bloody afraid of it. I was listening to everyone who said if I had a kid, my career would be over. I wanted to stay young, and I just let you deal with it by yourself. I was selfish and I wish I could go back and change everything.”

“Well that’s not much help now; you never once said any of this to me! You moved on--don’t deny it. I saw you in the tabloids, the media. You don’t think I kept track of you? I loved you! You’re the father of my kid, and while I was up on less than an hour of sleep trying to get your 2 month old to stop crying at 3am, you were out partying with models and getting smashed.”

“I couldn’t-I just spiraled-”

“Well it’s nice that your spiraling looks so much like partyingl” I roll my eyes. “Mine looked like crying in the bathtub with my ears ringing, and covered in baby vomit.” I cross my arms. I had held it in for four long years, it was about time I snapped, and I guess this was it.

“Y/N.” he turns away from me, rubbing his face. When he turns around, his heart is on his sleeve. “There were so many times I would pick up my phone and type in your number, just to hear your voice. Just to ask you about Charlie--it ripped me apart that I wasn’t there. That you weren’t here, with Charlie. You’d send me pictures of her and I would get so excited to see what she was up to, what new thing she learned...”

He breaks off, his face now shining with tears. He walks up to me and holds my hands, my heart tugs and I know I’m crying too. “Y/N when I held her for the first time when she was a few months old, and she looked up at me and smiled. I didn’t even know I could love like that. So I changed Y/N--tell me you saw me doing anything reckless after that first visit. I made sure I grew up so I could always be there for her. And you. But you never talked to me. You were always so cold to me and I was scared to break the ice. So I just let you raise her without me, not realising what I was missing out on. I fucking missed all of it because I was just trying find the perfect words to get this off my chest and I never found them.”

“Harry-” I sigh. “You could’ve tried. But...you moved on though. You have a girlfriend-”

“I had to try to move on,” he explains urgently. “You barely spoke to me. I’d ask how you are and you wouldn’t always reply, our texts were only about Charlie. You never invited me over when I was in LA. I thought you didn’t care about me so I had to move on, and the way we ended things I didn’t blame you! I let you know I would be there for Charlie--but I had to move on because I didn’t think we would ever have another shot.”

“I didn’t know what to say to you when you came over Harry. The way we left things before I moved back home, It was awful.” I whisper. The words he’d said, the things I said, the broken glass and just hours of fighting. Then the panic attacks and crippling fear of not knowing what I was doing with my life. It was easy to let it harden you, rather than invite it back in.

“The way I let you leave...was awful.” He agrees. “So I’m asking you now to stay Y/N.”

“And do what?” I ask, didn’t he get it? “Sit around while your girlfriend is over all the time, have her pop in with her own key while I’m only just woken up looking like a troll? Let you kiss me in the dark when she’s not around? Have her ignore me like I’m not even there?”

Harry has the decency to look embarrassed, dropping my arms. He sighs, and looks at me with regret. “This is balls up.”

“Yeah, I know Harry. That’s why I’m finding other accommodations.”

“I don’t like it’s with Marc.”

“I don’t care Harry, you don’t have any say over who I stay with.”

“But Charlie-”

“She can stay with you when she wants,” I agree. “I know you’ve got a shoot all week so it’s a good week to be out.”

“I like coming home to you two.”

“Harry,” I warn him. He couldn’t afford to speak like this when he had a girlfriend. I didn’t want to fall for him again. He made it hard not to.

“I don’t like it but I can’t stop you.” He concedes, arms crossed over his chest. I skim over the bare flesh, taking in the ink that Charlie loved to ask a million questions about. He notices me looking and I catch the cocky grin on his face.

“I’m looking at the ink,” I say, even though I didn’t have to defend myself.

“I know,” he shrugs but the grin stays on his face. I roll my eyes and head back to finish packing but he pulls me back to him and suffocates me against his bare chest. “I’m sorry, for then. For now. Forever.”

He lets me go but he keeps his arms around my waist. I look up at him and for the first time in a long time, I see my old Styles. Confident, determined, and a little cocky. The one I fell hard for.

“Noted,” I say, not giving in this easily, I still had to process this whole conversation and figure out what this thing between Harry and I meant.

A low chuckle bursts out from him as he stares down at me. “I miss you,” he says.

“I’m right here,” I say, stepping back so he lets me go. I leave him with a smile on his face, not ignoring the way he said he misses me. Without even realising it, my feelings of resentment had begun to slip away. But I still knew space would be best for both of us.

***

It’s Thursday evening, Charlie was with Harry having dinner at his mum’s place. Marc’s edition is officially in printing and he’s home at a decent enough hour that I put aside my work and share a glass of wine with him.

“Sounds intense,” Marc says to me after I give him the details of mine and Harry’s fight. Since then, we’d have breakfast as a family once but I did text him beyond just talking about Charlie. Pictures, memes, old memories, the occasional pointless text. It was sort of nice having him in my life again.

Charlie was going to work with him tomorrow, and she was so excited about that. It gave me time for alone time, and to catch up with Marc.

“It was intense, it felt like the old Y/N and Harry.”

“Uh oh. I don’t miss them,” Marc huffs. “You’re a lot nicer now, and he’s not as much of a cocky bastard anymore.”

“Wow, tell me how you really feel.” I tease. But he was right, back then I was young and sassy and I wasn’t afraid to let the world know. Marc and I had met when he reached out to me to write an article for his magazine and it was a coincidence that Marc and Harry knew each other from cover shoots. Marc used to be a photographer.

“I like this Y/N better,” Marc leans into me, his voice deepening. “She’s kind and strong and gorgeous, and the best part is she lets me kiss her.”

He pauses in front of my face and I lean the rest of the way in to let him know he could. That’s all the signal he needs. Our drinks abandoned, we quickly move into the bedroom and I can’t believe I forgot how good it felt to be wanted like this.

***

The next time I’m in Harry’s flat, I’m picking Charlie up. She stayed with him, but Miranda had surprised him by showing up early right after her flight landed. His short text made me get up there right away, after what happened the last time Charlie saw Harry and Miranda together, I wasn’t sure if she would misbehave.

But oddly, she’s mostly quiet.

“Did you have fun?” I ask Charlie, as she eats her cereal slowly. Her back is to the hall Harry stands in and it was a good thing as Miranda drapes herself across him. Unfortunately, I had to see it; I guess she got the memo that Charlie knew what was going on, and she was okay with it--or as okay as a four year old could be.

“It was so cool mom,” Charlie says. “There was so many rooms and one was space! It had the moon and there was a castle and they made the explosion sound and...” Charlie explains in no sensible order everything she saw at the studio, and I listen to her spill out her excitement but every so often my eyes drift to where Miranda shamelessly reunites with Harry. It makes my stomach turn. Especially after the conversation we had. I wasn’t an idiot, I knew Harry wasn’t going to rearrange his whole life because we’d finally had the Talk about what happened between us all those years ago. It was just watching them, and knowing that that was Harry moving on. From me...when I never fully moved on from him. It was pathetic, I know.

“Have you had coffee yet?” Harry asks a little while later after he’s unhooked Miranda’s claws from him and made his way to the kitchen. Charlie is slowing down her speech but when Harry appears she launches into more questions about set and when his “movie” would come out (it was a music video).

“No, I saw your text as soon as I woke up.” I say, between Charlie’s breaths. IT seemed she was going to be a while. “I could use a cup.”

“I heard you’re staying with Marc,” Miranda suddenly comes up and sits at the table, addressing me. “He’s a nice guy, I’ve worked with him in the past. Easy on the eyes too.”

“I’m right here,” Harry holds up my empty cup and looks pointedly at her. She winks and I nearly vomit.

I smile instead, “Yeah. He’s a really good friend, and Charlie loves him. And he lives downstairs so it worked out really well.”

“Yeah,” she smiles. This was the most she’s said to me since she got here. I watch as she glances at Harry who’s making my coffee the way I like it. “I heard you two are really good friends.”

Yeah...” I didn’t like what she was insinuating. I look up at Harry but he’s suddenly very interested in the sugar. “I can do that.” I grab it from him and make sure to glare at him as he passes it to me.

“We should do like, a double date.” She suggests. “Harry, don’t you think that would be fun? You and me, Y/N and Marc?”

“What about me?” Charlie pouts.

“You and Gemma!” Harry looks at me. “I forgot to mention, Gemma wanted to take Charlie out, spend some time with her while she was in London.”

“Perfect!” Miranda sounds almost too excited. It makes me suspicious.

***

When I tell Marc about the double date, he’s more than eager to attend. I know he just wanted to annoy Harry. I was nervous what this all meant.

But somehow I find myself standing with Marc in front of the restaurant while I try to prepare myself for whatever the evening held for us. Marc eventually just grabs my hand, winks, and pulls me in even though I wanted to just stay outside for a bit longer. Maybe a lot longer. Maybe just never go in.

As dinner goes on, things grow more and more awkward. Miranda is chatting up Marc about their old shoots, Harry grows more irritated as Marc receives all the attention, and his eyes track Marc’s hand any time it’s near me. I knock back my wine, as does Harry. Miranda continues to chat up Marc, and I inhale the food when it finally comes simply because the whole situation was stressful.

“The food’s good here,” I comment but only Harry hears me over the other conversation at the table.

“I always wanted to take you here,” Harry comments. “It has the best victoria sponge I’ve ever had.”

“You know I hate victoria sponge,” I scrunch my nose.

“I know!” Harry laughs which seems to get the table’s attention. His laugh usually did, as I’ve said. “That’s why you have to try it, you’ll finally like it.”

“Like what?” Marc asks.

“Victoria sponge,” I cringe visibly which makes him laugh.

“I think she loves cheesecake too much, right?” I know Marc is remembering the night I came to his house after a big fight with Harry, he’d bought a cheesecake for his then-girlfriend but I’d cried into it and finished the whole thing in one sitting. He’d had to improvise with cupcakes the next day. I still feel bad about that.

“Y/N is a cheesecake fanatic,” Harry says a little aggressively.

“Cheesecake’s way too fattening,” Miranda says absentmindedly, not realising what she was implying.

When the table grows awkwardly silent, Harry tries to come to her rescue. “That’s when you know it’s good food.”

“Touche,” I tip my glass just to have an excuse to have something to do and...well, drink.

At the end of the night, Harry asks if we want to go back to his place. I say no as Marc says yes and because he had the louder voice that’s what we do. I shoot him a dirty look but he only winks at me. He was having way too much fun.

Harry excuses himself and joins us in the Uber late. In his hands is a box with victoria sponge.

***

“Do you think he knows I’m not your boyfriend?” Marc asks later that night. We’d drank another bottle of wine and everyone was a bit more...vocal than before. What started out as fun stories from our younger days, quickly turns into passive aggressive comments as Harry stared a hole at Marc’s hand on my thigh, and Miranda stared at Harry staring at Marc’s hand on my thigh. She’d asked to speak to him midway through and now they were arguing in another room where every so often we caught some of their argument.

“You can’t even take your eyes off..............a bloody cake? You didn’t even think to.........I don’t get it!” That was Miranda.

“Thinking too much..........stop........of course I love you.......Charlie’s mom!” and that was Harry.

“I just knew this dinner would go like this,” Miranda says loudly.

“So you’re testing me now?” 

“Yes Harry, that’s obvious isn’t it Y/N?” Marc comments beside me.

“You’re having too much fun,” I lean my head back and sigh against the headrest.

“I have a stressful job, I don’t go out often. Can you blame me for being mildly entertained here?”

“Ugh...yeah okay me too.” I look over at him and he laughs. I hated the tension it was causing between Harry and I but I couldn’t help the small petty satisfaction of showing Miranda up after she tried to steal the show at dinner tonight. “What happened to the flight attendant you were seeing?”

“She took a flight out of London and never called me back?”

“Poor you,” I pat his shoulder. “We’re just not cut out for relationships are we?”

Marc shakes his head solemnly. I sigh, the alcohol making me more melodramatic than I was. “We’re finding my ex and his girlfriend arguing, entertaining. Who am I?”

“This is why we get along,” Marc leans into me, he smelled good. “Two boring people, getting our petty kicks with other people’s drama.”

“I think this is kind of my drama too,” I groan.

"Then I guess it’s kind of my drama too,” Marc says happily.

“You’re serious,” I say, leaning my head back against the sofa again, too tired to say anything else.

“I always have your back,” Marc says and I open my eyes just as he nuzzles a kiss against my exposed neck, and Harry walks into view.

“Harry,” I sit up and Marc jolts up as I nearly knock my head into his. Harry looks roughened up, his hair lays every which way as if he ran a rake through it. His face is flushed yet he stares at Marc like he wants to pop his head off.

“I’m really sorry, I’m going to have to call it a night. Miranda is...we have to talk and-”

“Yep, yep, we’re out.” I don’t need to be asked twice. Neither does Marc. Marc heads immediately to the door but I pause by Harry.

“Sorry...” he apologizes again. He looks like a lost puppy which is what makes me press a quick kiss to his cheek.

“We’ll talk in the morning. Gemma is dropping Charlie off around noon.”

“Okay,” Harry looks over my head to Marc, who is opening the door to give us some privacy. He looks back at me, searching my face for something. “I didn’t want the evening to end like this, it’s just...complicated.”

“I get it,” I cut him off, and more gently say again, “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes please,” he mumbles. Even though Harrys’ done this to himself, I can’t help but feel a little bad. I pat his arm and turn to head out with Marc. Harry could get himself out of the mess if he wanted.

***

I don’t hear from Harry the next morning, before I pick up Charlie, he leaves me a cryptic text that we should probably not go over today. Charlie and I spend the day exploring London some more instead, although she’s tired in a few hours so we end up picking up Marc after work and enjoying dessert by the river.

I still hear nothing on Saturday morning, Charlie asks about Harry and I lie saying he way busy. It’s only around noon that a haggard Harry shows up at Marc’s door. I was helping load the dishwasher so Marc answers the door. It’s the loud shout from Charlie that alerts me to the guest.

I pass Marc on my way to the door, he just raises his eyebrows to say yikes and it’s an understatement when I see him. Messy hair, a five ‘o clock shadow, and he looks like he hadn’t slept.

“You look...rough.” I say while Charlie sits on his back. I almost want to tell her to be fragile with him with the way he looked.

“It’s been a rough couple days.” He comments, his voice scratchy. “I need to talk to you.”

“Charlie, love, go inside for a bit? I’ve got to speak with your dad.”

“Aww,” she moans as Harry helps her dismount.

“I’ll play with you later little monkey,” Harry tickles her and she squeals as she runs away. His eyes follow her with a smile.

“So...” I step into the hall, tilting the door behind me.

“I think Miranda and I broke up.”

“Ah,” that made sense. “What happened?”

“She...it’s so complicated. Why are women so complicated?”

“Woman here,” I point to myself and raise an eyebrow. He shakes his head and sighs.

“Apparently she...set up that double date so I could see you’d moved on. Except, according to her, the way I was acting made her realise she was never going to measure up to you. She...she wanted me to choose between you and her, I told her...” he gulps, leaning against the opposite wall for some support. “It wasn’t the same. You were Charlie’s mum, we would always be in each other’s lives. She made her peace with it but this morning when I woke up I don’t know...I don’t know what I said. She was just gone. She isn’t answering her phone. I thought we were okay, we made up yesterday but today...I don’t know.”

“Wow,” I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t think she would actually ask him to choose. And now she went AWOL. “Do you know where she might be?”

“I went to her place, her roommate said she thought she was with me. I just don’t want her to do anything rash.”

“Sorry, Harry.” I look him over, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Before I could say anything more, Charlie zips outside with the drawings she had done at the museum. She just wanted his attention, and as he takes them from her he smooths his face over and gives her all the excited feedback she wanted. I slip inside and tell Marc we might head up for a bit.

Harry hesitates before letting us in. The place was a mess. Things are strewn about everywhere. A broken lamp sits near the entrance.

“Woah,” I say.

“Woah” Charlie echoes me with more emphasis.

“Ehm,” Harry scratches his head. “I...was trying to find something.”

“You shouldn’t be so messy dad,” Charlie immediately begins walking to her room, like she always belonged here. A small part of me is already sad for when we had to leave.

“Sorry love,” Harry cracks a grin and we exchange a glance.

“D’you need help...?”

“No, come sit. I’ll pour us a drink.”

We sit in the kitchen, sipping our wine in silence. Charlie plays with her toys in the back, a comforting background noise.

I reach my hand out eventually and brush Harry’s hand on the countertop. He looks over at me, zoning back into the present. His smile is small and sad, dimmed and broken like his lamp. I thread my fingers through his and squeeze for comfort. He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it and I try not to look as affected by it as I feel. He lets go after he kisses it.

“Thanks for being cool about this, I didn’t know who to go to.”

He looks so lost, and upset. I want to comfort him but there are no words I can say to do that. I open my mouth to try to say something anyway, but the familiar sound of his front door opening interrupts me before I can.

“Harry?” Miranda’s distinct voice carries over. Harry shoots out of his chair and goes to meet her. I watch on, out of view as she hugs him and apologises. “I just needed to clear my head. Then I got a taxi and ended up near my mum’s. I think I drank too many mimosas. I don’t know Harry, I brought an apology drink...”

She trails off as she spots Charlie laying down with her toys. She looks towards the kitchen and I look away quick enough to not see if she’d seen me or not.;

“I didn’t realise you had...guests.” She says slowly, slower, I can tell her words slur together. She really did have too much to drink.

“My...Charlie came up, her mum’s just in the kitchen.” Harry says, his words loaded with unspoken meaning.

“Oh. So I leave for a few hours and you invite them back.” My eyes bug out as I realise Miranda was planning on rehashing it right here. I get up and move towards Charlie but unfortunately I have to pass by them to get there.

“I was supposed to see Charlie yesterday, I didn’t know where you went! You weren’t picking up I just invited them up-”

“My phone died!” Miranda pushes Harry away and I move quicker towards Charlie, urging her to go play in her room but she stays on the floor stubbornly.

“Miranda please love, let’s not start this here again. Charlie-”

“What about me Harry? I haven’t gotten any attention from you for weeks! I thought we agreed yesterday-”

“They’re just here for the month! I never get to see her Miranda stop being unreasonable.”

“I don’t know why I thought coming back here was a good idea!” Miranda shouts. I pull Charlie up but even she’s frozen in spot watching Miranda. “You’re just never going to love me the way I want to are you? I’m never going to compare against...her. Them. Whatever!”

Harry tries to soothe her but she throws him off again, dropping her bottle to the floor with a thud. She turns to me while I back away to the bedroom with Charlie. “This is what you wanted isn’t it? Him all to yourself? This is why you came here all along? I bet your air bnb didn’t even have a bloody issue! He never wanted you in the first place! Newsflash: he has a girlfriend! Me! Not you-”

“Miranda! Enough.” Harry says and she shuts up. I scoop Charlie up and take her to the room but she starts crying because she dropped Oreo in the living room. I go back for it and Miranda is shouting at Harry, either she was too drunk to care or she was at the end of her stick. Or both. But when she starts to swear Harry tries to move her outside.

“It’s not like she can hear over how loud she’s fucking crying!” Miranda shouts. She really was having this breakdown here, but I pause. I wasn’t okay with her talking about Charlie like that, and I watch as Harry freezes over as he feels the same way.

“Miranda. That’s enough.” He says seriously.

“I’ve had enough Harry,” she’s on the verge of tears. I shuffle back to the bedroom and quiet Charlie down but as soon as she does the shouting gets loud enough that we can hear.

“Why is she yelling at dad?” Charlie asks, her nose red from crying.

“She’s...upset.” I say lamely.

“She shouldn’t yell at him,” she says quietly.

“Sometimes, when you’re that upset it just feels like you have to yell. But you’re right, we shouldn’t yell at each other. They’ll be okay.”

Eventually they quiet down and I feel like a prisoner stuck in the room, wondering when it was okay to leave. Charlie feels the same way because she eventually opens the door when I’m distracted and heads out.

“Charlie,” I whisper from the room but she doesn’t come back. It’s oddly quiet out and when I peep through there’s nobody actually there. I strain my ears and maybe hear them in the bedroom. I guess he’d convinced her to move location.

There’s a feeling in my stomach, like a hard seed rooting in place and pulling up the dirt as it sprouts up into my chest. I suddenly just wanted to go home, back to LA. It felt so complicated here, and I know Charlie felt at home with her dad but I was just a traveler passing through here. London, felt like a home, but it wasn’t my home. And the feeling forces me to sit down on the edge of the couch. Charlie notices my expression and hovers nearby, eventually climbing up beside me and leaning her head on me. I pull her into me and try to work my way out of the funk I found myself in, turning on the TV just so I didn’t have to suffer in silence.

When Harry eventually comes out with Miranda, I’m making a snack for Charlie who stays seated in front of the TV, eyes glued to whatever was on. I try not to think too hard about why they both looked freshly showered, about what this meant for us all. Miranda sits on the couch and Harry hovers over them all watching. From my view in the kitchen, the feeling from before creeps back. Harry catches my eye just then and raises his chin, is everything okay. I smile reassuringly, it takes everything in me to fake it, before resuming my slicing.

I had to get over Harry, I think. On some level, I was still holding onto him and not dating anyone because I continued to compare everyone to how he made me feel. I was vulnerable living with him, I’d made up some version in my head of a family while I lived here and I watched Harry in his fatherly role. Some part of me hoped it would come true. But watching him with Miranda and Charlie like this, he didn’t need me. I was just a past dream, one that felt good to indulge in. Miranda was clearly his future.

“Charlie,” I call her name once I’ve cut up her snack. I stay in the kitchen, where I watch Harry touch Miranda’s shoulder reassuringly. I watch them make up and then watch as she leaves. Harry doesn’t once come into the kitchen, and I try not to show how gutted I feel.

***

I don’t hear from Harry for a few days. Charlie decided to sleep over for a few days, and I’m more than fine with it as I work to meet some upcoming deadlines. Marc pops in and out of his apartment, we have a few meals together but mostly I let myself get lost in my work. Charlie comes up every so often, but she spends most of her time with her dad. With only one week left here, I understand. I didn’t want to be around him, and make it harder for me to move on.

With less than a week to stay, Charlie asks me curiously as I put her to bed,

“Is Uncle Marc your boyfriend?”

“What?” I stare at her, where was that question coming from? Marc and I made sure to keep our distance whenever she was here. “Why would you ask something like that?”

“I dunno. Dad said you cared about Marc.”

“Dad said what?” I breath deeply. For someone who was calling me a hypocrite he outright told Charlie Marc was my boyfriend? “Marc and I are just good friends honey, like you and Carrie. I don’t know why your dad said that.”

“I like Uncle Marc,” Charlie says as she grows sleepy. “He’s nice.”

I grind my teeth, why would Harry say something like that?

I go back to the living room where I was working on an article, Marc sits opposite me working late too. But no matter how many times I read what I wrote, I can’t focus. My mind spins asking why Harry would tell Charlie something like that.

“Where are you going?” Marc asks as I get up suddenly.

“I’m leaving Charlie asleep here,” I pick my sweater off the couch and slip it on. “I need to talk to Harry.”

“It’s 12am,” Marc puts his laptop to the side. “Ohh I see. You don’t have to use code with me love.”

“What?” I’m confused but it clicks a moment later. “Marc don’t be so immature I just need to talk to him about something he said to Charlie.”

“I won’t wait up, don’t worry. Charlie’s fine here.” He resumes working on his laptop and I don’t even bother correcting him. I fly out of the apartment and up to Harry’s. I didn’t care if he was sleeping, I needed to speak to him. I do a quick knock before fiddling with my key, entering the space just as Harry comes into view.

“Y/N?” Harry’s sleepy face stares at me for a beat, his eyebrows furrowed. And suddenly faced with a shirtless Harry, I realise I could have walked in on him doing anything. I didn’t really think this through--Miranda could be over. Shit.

“We needed to talk,” I close the door behind me and stand up straight, ready to lay into him.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. It couldn’t wait.”

“Come in, I guess.” He steps back and I walk into a brighter space, he follows behind.

“Why would you tell Charlie that Marc was my boyfriend? Or we were seeing each other?” I jump right in.

Harry must still be sleep-confused because he sits down on an armchair and stares up at me trying to piece my sentence in his head. My hands on my hips are fists as I wait impatiently.

“I didn’t tell her he was your boyfriend.” He starts slowly. “She just asked why we weren’t hanging out like before and all these questions about--well you know Charlie. So I said it was complicated; we cared about each other but you cared about other people too like Marc.”

“Why bring Marc into this? She doesn’t know anything.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Harry gets defensive. “I was just trying to break it down to her.”

“So you brought Marc and me into her mind as someone I’m with--the reason why we weren’t hanging out like before? As if Miranda and you isn’t excuse enough?”

“Well, not anymore?” He squints up at me.

“Well...why not anymore?” I didn’t follow.

“Y/N...” He stares at me, searching my face as if I was lying but I don’t even know what I would be lying about. I raise an eyebrow. “Miranda and I broke up--that day you were here and she came in, we broke up, I thought you knew that. That’s why Charlie was staying with me for so long, I wasn’t going anywhere.”

“Y-you broke up?” I was stunned, the way it looked to me, they had made up. “Charlie knew?”

“I don’t know. She just thought Miranda wasn’t coming around. I don’t know if it was worth explaining to her.”

“Oh. Wow,” I sit down on the couch, digesting that Harry and Miranda actually broke up that day. All this time I thought he was quiet because they were back together, but he must have been getting over the breakup. And I didn’t even ask him how he was--he must think I was- “Harry I had no idea, I would’ve....done-or said something. If I knew. I’m sorry.”

“I thought you were just staying out of it,” Harry chuckles to himself. “I didn’t realise you didn’t know.”

“The breakup was so...civil. I couldn’t tell! Can you imagine if we broke up like that all those years ago?”

That makes Harry laugh. “Maybe we would have made up quicker.”

“Maybe,” I whisper, playing with the ring on my finger. My mind races as the last few days make a lot more sense. But the only question that lingers on my mind was, why Harry didn’t try to make his move. If all those words he said over the last few weeks were true--why didn’t he try to talk to me? The only thing I can come up with was that he wanted to stay friends. It would get too complicated. “Well, now that that’s cleared I should probably go.”

I stand up as Harry does. He clears his throat, looks up at me like he wants to say something. I wait a moment, and when he doesn’t the awkward starts to settle.

“Sorry for waking you,” I say, trying to signal that I was now leaving.

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs it off. “But...aren’t you mad that I told Charlie?”

“Uh, yeah. Kind of,” I try to figure out where he’s going with this. “But, given your circumstances, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Oh c’mon Y/N,” There’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Don’t give me that. I don’t need your pity-forgiveness.”

“Fine,” I cross my arms playing along. “If that’s what you want, I don’t forgive you.”

“Good. I want to earn my forgiveness.” Harry says, and it sounds like he’s saying one thing but meaning another.

“Okay well, I’ll think of something.”

“I can think of a few things,” he says with a twinkle. I can’t help the laugh that bursts out; he was making me nervous.

“Like what?” I impulsively ask, fuck it I tell myself. If I couldn’t flirt with my daughter’s single dad what was the point, right?

“Hm,” he takes the few steps between us and flashes me a charming smile. “I could get on my hands and knees and beg, or” he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and his finger traces the curve of my ear down to my neck, his movements slow and his finger dipping borderline dangerous. “I hear jewellery can work.” he taps my chest but just as quickly his hand moves up to cup my face, his thumb brushing my lips, “or I can cook you your favourite meal and watch you enjoy it or...” I keep my eyes on him, trying not to give in, but as soon as he moves his hand up into my hair, I close my eyes without meaning to. He knew my favourite feeling was his fingers in my hair and even now, it was no different.

“Or what?” I whisper, eyes still closed, too afraid of what I’ll see if I open them.

“Look at me,” He whispers. I swallow, he says it again and I finally open my eyes. He’s not even hiding what he wants, but he is holding back. “I don’t want to force you into anything, I want you Y/N...but I know you’re with Marc so if you want me to stop I-”

“Harry,” I cut him off. Marc was right, he really didn’t know--that must be why he left me alone. And now in the midst of this heat, I had to tell him--I’d only played myself: “Marc and I aren’t together. We got together a few times but we were never actually...together.”

“Wait.” his hand leaves my hair and I want to snatch it back. He takes a step away, his eyes flitting at he thinks. “So this whole time?”

I shrug.

“This whole time, you just let me believe you and him...”

I try not to look too guilty as realization dawns on him. When he steps towards me again, his mouth is curved into a smile. And one might think it’s a nice smile, but the look in his eyes, I knew he was gearing up for something, because now he knows I let him believe Marc and I were going out on purpose. And I was going to pay.

“Okay, okay so I can explain,” I hold my hand out but he just keeps walking until I stumble back into the couch I just got up from. He leans over me, and a giggle bursts out from nervousness. “Harry really, I-”

“You let me believe,” he grabs the hand I have raised and envelops it in his, taking away my only defense. “That you were going out with Marc? just to bother me?”

“Well,” I’m at a loss for words as I look everywhere but at his face. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“A little too well,” he murmurs. When I give in and look at him, I'm a goner.

“I'm sorry,” I say. “Really I-”

“You’re not getting away with it that easily.”

“What happened to forgiveness? We can mutually forgive!”

“I’m not that kind of person,” he says. Before I can respond he’s somehow managed to lift me up and sling me over his shoulder.

“This-Harry!” I try to wriggle out but his hands are iron clad on my legs. His apartment floats upside down as he carries me. “I’m sorry! C’mon! This is cruel and unusual punishment! I-”

The breath is knocked out of me as he lays me down on the bed, we look at each other for a moment and then his face cracks into a grin, “Last time I checked, you were into cruel and unusual punishment.”

I laugh, “That was four years ago love, a lot can change in 4 years.”

“Hm,” he leans over me and I crawl up the bed until my head hits the pillow, as he follows. “But some things never change, do they?”

“No,” I stare into his green eyes. They shine with unadulterated joy and adoration. My stomach swarms with butterflies like I’m a teenage girl, like I was Y/N so long ago, excited the hot guy from the party took me home. I hold his face in mine and kiss him with the same joy and adoration. “Some things never change.”

“I love you Y/N,” he says into my neck. I push him up to look at him, he says it again and I can’t stop grinning.

“Are you going to make me wait?” he raises an eyebrow. “Is that my punishment.”

I shake my head, “I think we punished each other enough the last few years.”

He nods in agreement, “That’s deep.”

“So’s my love,” I push the cheesiness which always got him to laugh. He laughs now too, and I feel the small thrill of being the one to do that. “I love you”

“Phew. Now let me kiss you,” he pulls my shirt off effortlessly and our lips meet in the middle, missing each other already.

And as we press into each other, relearning every inch of the other, catching up for all those silent years, we just fit together like we were absolutely made for each other. And truer words didn’t exist: some things never change.

Epilogue

[lady-lilly-gray]

Thots on Gabriel Agreste

Is this the correct beginning ???

Too many questions already

Awe look at Adrien taking care of his stepmom dad's assistant

WAIT are Marc and Nath going to get their miraculous this episode ???

Ugh I missed my gay boys so much

The analogy that Adrien is a damsel in distress is absolutely iconic

No but Adrien in a dress

SABRINA

Alice queen [re: I meant Zoe I don’t know why I wrote Alice]

Chloe what !!!! Why does she care

They really said "we're gonna force the adrichloe content again so y'all stop shipping her with Sabrina", huh

WHAT just happened

Whoever did the English subs needs to check their pronouns (but like as a French speaker that's a VIBE like hell if I know who this is referring to, just match the pronoun to the gender of the noun forget the subject)

Ngl I kinda love the Zoe pretending to be as bad as Chloe trope

Marino 2: electric boogaloo

She really got away with that huh

Feck

Wtf is this party Gabe

Oh Chloe you genius

Felix absolutely just gave Gabe the fake how does he not even suspect that

Ok ok ok that makes more sense

OH I hate it

But also genius

Oof being left alone with your ex

They're BOTH idiots it's animaestro all over again

Ok so does Gabe have Amelie's ???

Ok I hate Felix but he's also the only one with brain cells he literally saw the paon broach and went "oh" even though PLAGG literally ignored it when he broke into the safe

They really said 'Felix is a sentimonster AND FELIX KNOWS' and I think that’s really sexy of them

Gabe you literally just revealed yourself because he didn't tell you where he saw the broach

Ok ok ok I KNOW I know that "il ne m'arrive pas à la cheville" being translated as "he doesn't come close to my ankle" is just an idiomatic issue, but it has THOROUGHLY undone me [it means “he doesn’t measure up to me” if you were curious]

FELIX

genius

He cut the pants as a marker

This evil genius what a funky little dude I love him

But why are his cuff links so sharp ??

This got so chaotic so quickly

DOES KAGAMI KNOW

CHAT NOIR TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE !!

Ugh I wish this was a two-parter there was so much potential that they passed up !!!

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 38

One more til Heroes Day! So I'm really happy with how this turned out. I think adapted it well. Though this didn't need as much changing as a few of the others. Also the nickname Luth that Anatis gives Leatherback. It is actually another name for the Leatherback turtle as it is sometimes known as either the Lute Turtle or just the Luth. Yep, I did my research. Anyway, hope you peeps like this chapter :D Keep an eye out because I'm able to start work on Ikari Gozen so that should be out by the weekend if I keep going on this little roll I have :D

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Chapter Thirty-Eight: Anansi

"Look at them go," Adrien grinned as Nino and Alya danced around the living room. He had managed to sneak out of the house with Kagami again, who nodded as she watched them. Ivan and Mylene were sat next to them on the sofa and Rose and Juleka were curled up next to each other. Marinette was sat at the kitchen island, next to Luka, who was writing a song. He would occasionally glance up to see what was happen but was mostly focused on his song. Not that anyone minded. They all knew that's how Luka was. Sadly, Nathaniel and Marc couldn't make it, due to having to finish the next comic of the Adventures of Anatis and Lady Noir and neither could Chloe or Alix but that was ok. They would hang out with them on the weekend. Alya and Nino slid across the ground before finishing the dance with Nino posing like a ballerina, causing everyone to laugh. The screen on the TV told them that they had beat their high score.

 "Nice!" Nino grinned, happily. "Ok, who's next?! Adrien, Kagami... you up for it?"

 "Oh, you guys know I have two left feet," Adrien laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "What about... Marinette and Luka?"

 "Adrien, I'm more clumsy then you," Marinette pointed out, making everyone laugh. "Besides, he's writing,"

 "I'll say. Poor Luka will end up with a flying Marinette as a dance partner," Alya grinned cheekily, causing Marinette to gasp before they both began to laugh. "How about you and Mylene, Ivan?"

 "Sure, we can give it a try," Mylene smiled, getting up as Ivan nodded. The two of them began to dance as the door to the apartment opened as Alya's older sister, Nora, came in and glanced around.

 "I didn't know we were having a gathering of fly weights today," She mumbled before dumping her gym bag on the floor as she looked around.

 "Nora!" Alya gasped as she looked at her. "Is your match over already?"

  "First round! Totally knock out!!" She grinned, holding her arms up before lowering them and pulling Alya over to her, hissing something at her before straightening up and glancing at everyone. "I recognize Cappy and Baguette but who's the rest of the gang?"

 "Oh, I'm Adrien," Adrien smiled before gesturing to Kagami. "And this is Kagami,"

 "It's a pleasure to meet you," She replied in her calm voice, making Nora rise an eyebrow.

 "Uh huh," Nora nodded before glancing at the rest of the gang. "And who's the emos and the pink one?"

 "I'm Mylene and this is my boyfriend, Ivan," Mylene smiled as Ivan waved. However, Nora didn't look impressed as she glanced at them. Rose grinned at her.

 "I'm Rose! It's really nice to meet you!!" She gasped as Juleka played with her hair.

 "Juleka... um... I'm Rose's girlfriend..." She mumbled, quietly as she twirled Rose's hair in her fingers. Nora nodded and turned to Luka, who was scribbling down some notes. Noticing Nora in front of him, he glanced up as Juleka cleared her throat. "That's my older brother Luka,"

 "Hmm, don't seem like much to me," She replied, making him frown before gesturing to herself. "The name is Anansi! Like a spider,"

"I prefer Ladybugs over spiders," Luka muttered quietly, making her frown but everyone else giggle. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "Just saying,"

 "Well, no one asked for your opinion on it, Tips," She stated before walking over to the fridge. "Anyway, what are you all still doing here this late? Shouldn't you be heading back home? Don't you have school tomorrow?"

 "We're waiting for it to get dark," Alya stated as Nora took out a carton of milk and began to drink it. "It's the world cup fireworks display tonight and we're going to watch it from the Place de la Concorde Ferris wheel!"

 Nora spat out the milk and turned to face Alya, causing everyone to glance at them.

 "Oh no! Baguette and Cappy can go with the rest of your little gang if they want but you are staying here!" She declared, pointing at Alya before crushing the cartoon and crossing her arms as she gave her best stern look. "It's far too dangerous!"

 "But Nora... I mean Anansi... you can't do that!" Marinette gasped, causing everyone to agree.

 "Yeah, no way, dude," Nino gasped. "Alya has to come with us,"

 "Yeah, we're not going without her," Ivan added, making Nora frowned deeply. 

 "Look, Sis, I appreciate you worrying about me and all but I'm not a little girl anymore," Alya gasped, causing Nora to face her. "Besides, Mum and Dad are cool with it and we've been planning it for a while,"

 "I don't care. You're not going," Nora declared before shaking her head. "There's been way too many akumatized peeps in Paris recently. Literally just a few days ago, you were captured by that weird musical one. Desperate or something,"

 "Desperada," Luka pointed out, making her glare at him. "Again, just saying,"

 Nora rolled her eyes and ignored him, turning back to Alya.

 "Just look at how many times you've been in direct danger," She pointed out, making Alya frown as she remembered. It had been quite a bit. "So you're staying home safe and sound period!"

 "That's ridiculous! The twins were akumatized right here, at home!"

 "Well, that never would have happened on my watch!" Nora growled back, slamming her fist on the table. Luka flinched a little and grabbed his notepad, putting it in his bag before moving over to where the rest of the group were. Marinette moved over to him and asked him if he was ok, getting a nod of him. Not that Nora noticed. "I won't let anyone mess with my family!"

 "You mean like the other day in the square?" Alya pointed out, making everyone look at her as Nora looked nervously. Luka frowned a little before turning to Marinette.

 "I'm a little afraid to ask what happened," He mumbled, getting a nod of agreement from Mylene and Rose. Alya sighed and pinched her nose as Marinette glanced around nervously.

 "What happened?" Adrien asked, causing Marinette to look over at him.

 "Well, we came across a man handing out flyers..."

 "And Anansi here thought the man was akumatized and wanted to turn me into a banana zombie," Alya stated, glaring at Nora.

 "Uh... well, how was I suppose to know that it was a stupid costume?!" She pointed out before turning around and holding out her hand. "Anyway, what if the ferris wheel stopped working because some akumatized dude decided not to pay?"

 "Uh... that's not how akumatizations work..." Luka mumbled, causing Nora to spin and glare at him.

 "Oh and I suppose you're the authority on akumas, Tips?!" She growled, making him frown but he bit his tongue. He would love to turn round and say 'well, I should know since I'm Anatis' but he couldn't reveal his identity plus that would be petty. Funny but still petty so he remained quiet, making her smirk before crossing her arms. "Once you flyweights can actually defend yourself, like me, we'll talk about it,"

 She then proceeded to show off by kicking and punching the air.

 "Well, it doesn't matter because Anatis and Lady Noir will save us if there's any problems," Marinette pointed out, causing everyone to agree. Nora rolled her eyes and glanced over at her.

 "And what if Miss Whiskers is chasing a mouse and that beetle's been sprayed with bug spray," She pointed out, causing Luka to frown and take a quiet breathe. It took all of his strength not to point out that they weren't really those animals but he could imagine Lady Noir trying to catch a mouse. Knowing her, she would probably keep as a pet instead of trying to eat it... unless she got hit by Malediktator again. Then she would probably try and eat it. "What you gonna do then? Rely on Cappy to protect you?"

 "Well, I'll try," Nino gasped, causing Nora to laugh.

 "That's sweet but who's gonna protect you when you fail?" She grinned, pressing her finger in his chest. He frowned and glanced down but to everyone's surprise, Ivan stepped up.

 "Hey, leave him alone," He gasped, making Nora look at him. She ran her eyes over him, clearly not impressed. "If it came to it, I'll protect my friends!"

 "Uh huh," She grinned. "The only thing you've got going for you in your build but build isn't enough. You need strength and speed. Think you got that, Big Guy?"

 Nora laughed, causing Ivan to growl a little.

 "I do anything to protect my friends!" He declared, making her nod.

 "Alright, Alya can go out with you guys..." She stated before walking over to the table and placing her elbow down on the table. "If you or Cappy can beat me in an arm wrestle.. you know since you two are so determined to protect everyone,"

 "Please, don't arm wrestle on my account," Alya sighed, clearly embarrassed by Nora's actions before she looked at her. "Nora, I don't need to be protected,"

 "No offence, Nino but you're not strong enough to go against Anansi," Adrien pointed out, making Nino frown.

 "But neither is Ivan!" He pointed out, making Ivan also frown.

 "But if we don't go soon, we'll miss it," Marinette gasped, looking at her friends. "We have to do something,"

 "Forget it," Alya sighed, looking down as her shoulders slumped. "You guys go without me,"

 "Huh?" Juleka gasped as Rose gulped like someone had destroyed the color pink.

 "No way!" She gasped, causing everyone to stare at her. "We're not leaving you behind!"

 "Yeah, you're our friend so you should come with us," Mylene nodded, causing Nora to snort as she laughed.

 "That's all cute and all but Alya ain't going unless one of you flyweights beat me in an arm wrestle," She grinned, causing Marinette to grin as she got an idea. She caught Luka's eye, who gave her a knowing smile. 

 "You'll honor that if you're beaten no matter what right?" He asked, making her glance at him.

 "Yeah, I'll honor it, Tips," She grinned, clicking her neck. "Not that I'll need to though. None of you have a chance,"

 "Ok, Nino? You wanna go? Or should Ivan?" Luka asked, causing Nino to rub his neck nervously but Ivan stepped up and sat down. He wasn't sure what the two bluenettes had plan but he trusted them. He took Nora's hand and nodded. She grinned as Adrien stood by them and held out his hand. 

 "Alright! In position!" He called, causing everyone to gather around. He lifted his hand as the two looked at each other. "Ready... set.... go!"

 He swiped his hand down, causing Ivan to try and move her hand. Nora yawned but then her eyes widen as he managed to move it, causing her to push against him. His arm returned to it's position before Luka glanced at Marinette, who grinned in a mischievous way.

 "Oh no! An akuma!" She gasped, pointing at the window and causing Nora to look that way. Seeing a chance, Luka grabbed Ivan's hand and pulled it downwards.

 "And the winner is Ivan!" Adrien called out, making Nora look back.

 "Huh?!" She gasped, making Marinette gasp.

 "Oops, it was just a fly... my bad," She grinned, causing Ivan to grin and get up. He gave Marinette and Luka a knowing look but didn't say a thing as everyone grinned. "Come on, guys, let's go. If we leave now, we can get there on time,"

 "You're a bunch of cheaters!" Nora growled, slamming her fist on the table and causing everyone to flinch before she pointed at them. "There's no way I could have been beaten! If I hadn't been distracted, I wo-"

 "You said you would honor the agreement if he won regardless of what happened and he won," Luka pointed out, causing her to glare at him.

 "Stay out of this, Tips! Or I'll crush you!" She growled, causing Alya to pinch her nose.

 "That is it, Nora!" She shouted, making everyone look at her. "You lost the challenge so deal with it! I've had it with your overprotective, big sister smothering! I'm going out with my BFFs and I don't care what you think! Alya out!"

 "Uh... we should all go too...." Luka pointed out, causing everyone to nod and begin to leave but not before Nora hissed at them. The gang left outside and began to head to Place de la Concorde before Nora decided to intervene again. Alya turned to them and gave them a smile.

 "Thanks guys for sticking up for me," She smiled as they walked over. It didn't take them long to get there but as soon as they did, Rose grabbed Juleka's hand and rushed over to the wheel, causing most of them to follow but Luka, who decided to go over and listen to a street musician who was playing. Alya gently nudged Marinette and gestured towards Luka before heading up into the wheel. Marinette walked over to him, causing him to look down at her.

 "Aren't you gonna join the others?"

 "Nah, I've been on the Ferris wheel before plus it was Alya's idea. She wants to film them for one of her blogs," She replied, making him nod. "What about you?"

 "Fireworks aren't really my thing," He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I kind of just came along because I get to hang out with you... and everyone else too... you know it's not very often we get to hang out with Kagami or Adrien so yeah... plus Juleka and Rose insisted I come by,"

 "Yeah," Marinette nodded, smiling a little at his comment. "Well, I'm glad you came along. I like hanging out with you,"

 "Really?" He asked, looking at her with a little surprise. She smiled and nodded, making him smile back before she gently nudged his arm.

 "You're my friend, Luka and I like spending time with my friends," She smiled, causing him to smile back as the fireworks went off. She looked up and waved at Alya and the rest of their friends who were currently riding the Ferris wheel. However, she stopped and frowned, making him frown as he looked at her. She looked confused and a little pale.

 "Marinette, are you ok?" He asked, making her glance at him before she frowned.

 "I thought I just saw-" Before she could finish her sentence, people began to scream and run away from the Ferris wheel. Both teenagers glanced over and gasped as they saw a super villain crawling on the wheel and covering it in webs like a spider would before it glanced up at them and hissed. "Um... Luka, I think we should run...."

 "Agreed..." Luka stated back in a way before jumping out of the way as the spider spat webs at them. She turned towards Marinette, stalking towards her. Luka frowned and glanced around. He noticed a store selling hula hoops and ran over. He grabbed one and looked around. His luck vision lit up another store and the hula hoop. He smirked and threw it at the tent, causing it to bounce off the material and fly over to the villain. It landed around her arms and distracted her enough for him to run over and pull Marinette to her feet. The two of them ran off as the akuma tried to break free from the hoop. They went down into the metro before stopping as they let out a breath. Luka straightened up and glanced at her. "Are you ok?"

 "Yeah," She nodded before gently kissing his cheek. He blushed a little before clearing his throat.

 "Uh... I need to g-go find Juleka and the rest... they might be in danger..." He mumbled, making her frown. He thought she would argue with him but to her surprise, she nodded. Both of them knew that arguing would be pointless anyway. Marinette played with her hands a little.

 "Just... be careful ok?" She asked, making him nod.

 "I will," He replied before he ran off. As soon as he was out of sight, Marinette rushed over to the steps of the platform and headed down them, away from prying eyes. She opened her purse and Plagg flew out, stretching a little before he glanced at her.

 "Did you have to wake me from my nap, Dollface?" He asked, causing her to nod.

 "Sorry, Plagg but Paris is in trouble again," She replied, holding up her hand. "Plagg, Claws Out,"

 Plagg yelled out a little as he was sucked into the ring before a green light engulfed Marinette, transforming her into Lady Noir. She jumped out and ran up the stairs, just in time to see the Ferris Wheel roll away and Anatis chase it. She ran over and caught up with him, causing him to glance at her before pointing ahead to the two lion statues. She nodded and took out her baton before extending it and throwing it at them. It landed perfectly in their mouths and stopped the Ferris Wheel. The two of them rushed over and helped everyone get off it.

 "Thank you, Anatis and Lady Noir," A woman gasped as they got off, causing Anatis to turn to his partner.

 "I'm glad you turned up when you did," He smiled before throwing his yoyo around a car and dragging it over to the wheel. He placed it so the wheel was leaning on it and grabbed Lady Noir's baton before jumping back over to her and handing her the baton. "Not sure how I would have stopped it if you hadn't turned up,"

 "I'm sure you would have worked something out," She grinned, taking it before glancing up at the wheel. "But there's one booth missing from the wheel?"

 "Yeah, the spider took it just before I got there," He replied before taking out his yoyo and throwing it. It wrapped around one of the flag poles on a building. "It was this way,"

 He swung off, causing Lady Noir to jump up and follow him before they jumped down and landed near the booth. Juleka was stood shaking, jumping as Anatis and Lady Noir landed near them. Luckily, Kagami and Adrien were stood with her but Rose and the others weren't there. 

 "Anatis," She gasped, rushing over. He frowned at her panicked expression. "It's Alya's big sister. She took Rose!"

 "Who's Alya's big sister?" Lady Noir asked, frowning as Kagami walked over.

 "It appears that Nora has been akumatized," She explained, making both heroes frown. "She took three victims. Alya, Mylene and Rose. I imagine she took them because they are the 'weakest' in her eyes. While we know Alya can defend herself, Nora considers her weak as she is her little sister. As for the other two, I'd say that's pretty obvious,"

 "Nino and Ivan went after them," Adrien gasped. "Juleka was going to join them but we told her to stay here and wait for you two,"

 "A good suggestion," Anatis nodded. "Stay here. We'll rescue your friends,"

 "My brother, Luka, is also missing... I don't think Anansi got him but I haven't seen him," Juleka gasped, causing Adrien and Kagami to nod.

 "And our friend Marinette," Kagami added in, making Anatis frown.

 "Luka is fine. I ran into Luka on my way here and told him to hide in Tuileries Gardens," He mumbled before frowning. "But I haven't seen Marinette..."

 "She's ok!" Lady Noir gasped, making everyone look at her. "I also bumped into her on my way here. She was hiding by the metro station but I advised her to hide in the platform. Anyway, we should try and capture us a spider. Stay here and be safe, kay? Annie, let's go,"

 "Right," He nodded before the two heroes jumped away and followed the trail of webbing. The two of them heard a yell and frowned as they saw Ivan flying across the sky. Anatis threw his yoyo to create a web and caught him in it before letting him down. He jumped over and landed next to him as Ivan got up. "Are you ok?"

 "I'm fine, Anatis but my friends are in real trouble," He frowned, glancing over to the Arc de Triomphe. Anatis glanced over and frowned as he saw a huge web between it's arc. He took out his yoyo and zoomed in. Alya, Rose and Mylene were trapped in the middle with Nino next to them, making him frown. He put it away and turned to Ivan.

 "Stay here and leave this to me and Lady Noir," He ordered, making Ivan frown. "I promise we'll get your friends back,"

 "But Mylene... she's so special to me, Anatis," He muttered, looking a little love stuck before he shook his head. "I won't let anything happen to her,"

 "And I admire that but I wouldn't forgive myself if you got caught so please stay back," He ordered again before swinging towards the spider's web with Lady Noir. Ivan frowned and chased after them. The two heroes landed in front of the spider and took out their weapons as Anansi glanced at them and smirked.

 "So it's two vs one now?" She asked before holding up her six arms and bouncing side to side. "Fine by me! Round two!! Fight!"

 She threw a punch at Anatis, who dodged and ducked. Lady Noir jumped up to hit her with her baton, causing her to punch her into a car before she swung at Anatis. He dodged and backflipped over to Lady Noir, who was rubbing her jaw as Anansi laughed.

 "On the floor already? We just started," She laughed, punching the air a few times. Anatis landed by Lady Noir and offered her his hand, helping her to her feet before he lifted her chin to check for an injury. He was honestly worried that her jaw had been broken.

 "Are you ok, kitten?" He asked, concern covering his features as he gently touched her jaw. She blushed a little and gently pushed his hand away, making him frown a little.

 "I'm fine, Annie," She grinned, making him look relieved before they turned round. Anansi was bouncing around, punching the air as she waited for their next attack, causing Anatis to frown. "Where do you think the akuma is?"

 "I'm thinking it's in her head gear," He mumbled, causing Lady Noir to frown a little.

 "I agree but she's so strong that I don't think I can get close enough to destroy it," Lady Noir admitted, making Anatis frown but he nodded never the less. "Got any ideas?"

 "How about a change of plan?" He suggested, making her to look at him. "I'll distract Anansi and you rescue the prisoners,"

 "Of course, that might distract her enough for her to drop her guard and for you to restrain her,"

 "Exactly, then you use your cataclysm to destroy her head gear," He grinned but he suddenly pushed Lady Noir out of the way as Anansi threw a car at them before picking up another one.

 "Ding, ding, ding. Bell's ringing!" She declared, holding it above her head before she threw it at them. "Round three! Fight!"

 They jumped out of the way, causing Anatis to dive at her and try to kick her. She blocked and tried to get a hit on him before he blocked her attack and moved under her arms before wrapping his yoyo around her legs and pulling her down. She caught herself and threw her fists at him but he grabbed them and used them as leverage to land a kick to her face before backflipping down and dodging another one of her attacks. Seeing Anansi busy fighting Anatis, Lady Noir to the chance to jump and begin to climb up the web but her hands got stuck on it. She frowned and tried put her hand free, only for her other hand to get stuck once she had free the first.

 "Seriously," She gasped, pulling that one free and trying to climb up but her feet had gotten stuck too. She tried to pull free but she ended up rolling on her back and getting completely stuck. She tried to pull away but was completely stuck. "Uh... Annie! I think I've gotten myself into a sticky situation,"

 "Looks like I've already got a catch," Anansi laughed evilly as both her and Anatis looked up at Lady Noir before she turned her attention back to Anatis, who was spinning his yoyo. "You'll be next, Beetle,"

 "I don't think so!" He declared, blocking her hits with the yoyo before throwing it at her. She moved her head to the side and grabbed it before spinning him around and throwing him away from the web. He hit a car and bounced off it, rolling on the floor. He groaned and looked up, trying to get up but found his foot stuck on some of the webbing. Anansi smirked before jumping up onto the web and stalking up to Lady Noir. Anatis frowned and tried to pull his foot free as Lady Noir to tried to hit her with her baton but Anansi grabbed it and threw it aside. It landed by Anatis just as he got his foot free. He grabbed it and looked up as Ivan rushed over.

 "Anatis, are you ok?" He asked, helping the hero up. 

 "Yeah but I'm gonna need some help," He declared, glaring up at Anansi. He hooked Lady Noir's baton to his belt and threw up his yoyo. "Lucky charm!"

 He caught the candle and rose an eyebrow as Ivan watched him.

 "A candle? What are you gonna do with that?" He asked as Anatis glanced around. Nothing lit up so he glanced back at it before his eyes widen in realization. "Anatis?"

 "Of course... but I don't have time to do that," He muttered, glancing up at Lady Noir.

 "Well, maybe I could help," Ivan suggested, causing him to look at him. "Uh... I mean... Nevermind... I'm not exactly a hero... I tried to save Mylene and my friends but I'm not strong enough..."

 "Ivan right?" Anatis asked, making him look at him and nod. "Been a hero isn't about how strong you are. It's about determination and courage,"

 He took out Lady Noir's baton and held it out to him. 

 "We can't let Anansi get Lady Noir's miraculous," He declared, placing it in Ivan's hands. "Use this to defend yourself and distract her from getting the ring. I won't be long,"

 "Alright, Anatis!" Ivan grinned before turning to face Anansi as Anatis threw his yoyo and swung onto a rooftop. He ran across it as fast as he could then jumped off the edge and swung through the city. He landed in the ally near Master Fu's and detranformed, catching Tikki before rushing Master Fu's shop. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could and burst through the door, causing Master Fu to look up startled.

 "Luka?"

 "Master, Ivan won't hold off Anansi for long," He gasped, holding his knees as she sucked in a breathe. He looked up as Master Fu gasped. "She has Lady Noir caught in her web and she's able to get her miraculous,"

 "We can not allow that to happen," He gasped, getting up as Luka gave Tikki a macaroon. He moved over to the phonograph and put in the combination as Tikki began to eat the macaroon before taking out the miracle box and placing it in front of Luka. "Luka Couffaine, pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you this mission,"

 He opened the box, allowing the draws to pop open as Luka glanced at them.

 "Choose wisely. Such powers are meant to serve the greater good," Master Fu stated, causing Luka to nod and reach out for one of them. "Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the miraculous from them and return it back to me. Do you have one in mind?"

 "I need a protective miraculous..." Luka mumbled, glancing at all of them yet none of them called out to him. He glanced to the side and noticed Master Fu's bracelet before pointing to it. "That's the one I need, Master... uh... that's if it's ok with you and Wayzz?"

 "I'm fine with it as long as you are," Wayzz nodded, causing Master Fu to smile and take it off.

 "Do you have someone in mind, Luka?" He asked as he held to Wayzz, who disappeared back into it before handing it to Luka. Luka picked it up and walked over to the draws before taking out one of the small boxes and placed it inside.

 "I think I've found just the right person," He grinned before placing the box in his pocket and bowing to Master Fu. "Thank you, Master,"

 "Good luck, Luka," He replied as Luka rushed out. Once back in the allyway, he re-transformed and jumped up onto the rooftop before heading back to Arc de Triomphe. He got there just as Anansi threw Ivan across the sky again. He swung by and caught Ivan, landing on the roof with him. Ivan let out a sigh of relief.

 "Thank you, Anatis," He smiled, leaning against his legs. "I thought I was gonna be toast then,"

 "No problem, Ivan," Anatis nodded as Ivan straighten up.

 "Did you get what you needed?" He asked, causing Anatis to nod.

 "CATACLYSM!" Lady Noir shouted, making both boys look over as she glared at Anansi, who growled and flipped back. She placed her hands behind her and closed her eyes, making Ivan frown.

 "What's she waiting for?" He asked as Anatis frowned.

 "For Lady Noir's transformation to drop," He replied before turning to Ivan and gesturing for him to move. They jumped down to a slightly lower roof but it was one that took them out of the sight of everyone. Once they were on it, Anatis turned to Ivan. "I'm gonna need help to defeat Anansi so are you still willing to do anything to help save your friends?"

 "Of course," Ivan nodded before glancing at him as he reached into his yoyo. "Why?"

 "Because I need you to be a hero," He replied, taking out the box and holding it out to Ivan, who blinked in surprise. "Ivan Bruel, this is the miraculous of the turtle that grants the power of protection. You will use it for the greater good,"

 "Me?" Ivan asked, pointing to himself. Anatis smiled and nodded, causing Ivan to smile back and take it. He opened it and jumped a little at the bright green light that circled around him. "Whoa,"

 Anatis smiled as Wayzz formed and looked at Ivan, who blinked in surprise.

 "Hello. My name is Wayzz,"

 "Uh... I'm Ivan...." Ivan muttered in a shy manner before looking at Wayzz. "Are you like a genie or something?"

 "Oh, no. I'm a kwami," Wayzz explained as Ivan listened. "I can't grant wishes but I can give you super powers,"

 "Once the mission is done, you must return the miraculous to me," Anatis stated, causing Ivan to look at him while he put on the bracelet. "Can I trust you?"

 "Of course, Anatis," Ivan nodded, making both Anatis and Wayzz smile.

 "Then all you have to say is Wayzz, Shell on," Wayzz explained, causing Ivan to nod before he took a deep breathe and held up his arm.

 "Wayzz, shell on," He declared, causing Wayzz to be sucked into the bracelet, charging it up. Feeling the energy build up, he stomped on the roof and pushed his arms out, causing a green energy to creating his outfit. His main suit was a forest green with brown sides and he had armor across his chest that resembled a turtle's stomach. His gloves were brown and matched his boots but his transformation wasn't done yet. The green energy burst from the center off his chest, creating an emblem that resembled a turtle's shell attached to a harness that was green and brown in color. On his back was a shield that also resembled a turtle's shell. The energy traveled down his arms, leaving a gray strip in it's place before causing green spikes to burst from his gloves before he pulled down a pair of goggles over his eyes. At the same time, the blonde tuff of his hair turned a forest green, completing his transformation. He glanced down at his hands and turned around as he checked out his new look. "Whoa... this is so cool..."

 "Don't get carried away," Anatis stated, making Ivan face him. "Normally, I'd give you a whole brief but time is of the essence today. We need to save Lady Noir and the others before her transformation drops. To that, we'll need your power and mine,"

 "How do I use mine?" Ivan asked, following Anatis as he climbed back on to the higher roof. 

 "You'll need to lift your shell and use the magic word, Shell-ter," Anatis explained, glancing around. "It will create a force field around you for roughly six feet and is basically indestructible but before you use your power, I need to use mine. Lucky charm!"

 He threw his yoyo up in the air and caught the boxing gloves that were created, causing Ivan to frown as he looked at them.

 "You're not going to try and fight her, are you?" He asked, worried as Anatis looked around in his luck vision. Ivan lit up, followed by the Arc de Triomphe then finally Lady Noir.

 "Why not? It's a simple plan after all," He grinned, hooking the gloves onto his belt. "I need you distract her while I make us a boxing ring and then when the time is right, you'll need to protect all of us. Can you do that?"

 "Uh... I'll try my best, Anatis," Ivan nodded, causing Anatis to smile at him as they dived off the building and ran towards the web. "So are your plans always this crazy?"

 "Well, this one is pretty simple compared to some of my other ones," Anatis replied as he took out his yoyo. Ivan nodded and threw the shield at Anansi, causing her to jump down and land in front of them before holding up her arms.

 "Change of pet? You replaced your kitty with a turtle?" She asked as Anatis grinned at him and Ivan caught his shield.

 "What can I say? I love animals but I'm not overly keen on spiders!" He replied, throwing his yoyo. Once again, Anansi moved her head to the side and grinned at him. 

 "You missed,"

 "Did I?" He replied, grinning before Ivan dived at her, getting her attention. Anatis ran around them, wrapping his yoyo's string around the pillars of the Arc de Triomphe as Ivan fought against Anansi, giving her as good as he got. He used his shield to block her attack and protect himself before landing hits as well. Anatis jumped over the string and put on the gloves once he had finished making the ring. "Anansi!"

 "Huh?" She called out, causing Ivan to jump back as Anatis grinned at her before he pointed one of his hands at her.

 "I challenge you to a fight," He grinned, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him. "One match. You win, I'll surrender my miraculous but if I win, you free your prisoners,"

 She remained quiet for a second, causing Anatis to continue.

 "Come on, what have you got to lose?" He asked, making her look at him. "Lady Noir's only got a few minutes until she transforms back anyway,"

 A purple butterfly mask appeared around her eyes, causing her to shake her head.

 "Don't worry, Butterfly man," She stated to Hawkmoth before clicking her neck. "This nasty bug is no match for Anansi... alright, bug boy, you're on,"

 She walked over to the middle and held out her arm. Anatis walked over and tapped his fist against it. Anansi smirked at him as Ivan took out Lady Noir's baton.

 "I'll devour you, little nasty bug," She declared as Ivan hit his shield, signaling the beginning of the fight. Anansi charged at him, pulling her arms back. "One hit will be enough,"

 "You can't punch the wind," Anatis replied back, dodging her hit before jumping over the other side of the ring. She growled and ran back at him, punching him. He ducked and slid over before backflipping out the way as she tried to punch him again. He jumped over to another side and grinned as she cornered him.

 "It's over!" She shouted, throwing her fist at him. Only for him to duck and roll out the way before flipping back to his feet as her fists hit the pillar, cracking it. 

 "Not by the looks of it," Anatis replied, holding up his arms, causing her to growl and face him. "So much for that one punch huh? Course it would be nice for you if you could actually land one,"

 "Why you?!" She growled, trying to punching him again but he moved around, dodging her hits as he continued to back chat her. "Shut up!"

 "Why? Having trouble doing two things at once?" He asked, jumping back and landing by another pillar. She growled and charged at him, throwing her fist but he jumped out of the way again, causing her to growl as the pillar cracked. "Missed me,"

 "Uh! Stay still!" She growled, throwing fists at him again but once again, he dodged and she hit another pillar cracking it. She turned around and dived at him again but he flipped out of the way. She growled again as he did. She threw her weight into the next punch but he ducked and stepped out the way, causing her to crack another pillar.

 "Wow. All those hits and you didn't hit me once," He grinned, bouncing on his toes. She yelled out and threw more hits at him but none of them hit. "Missed me! Missed me again! Wow, Anansi, you're really bad at this!"

 "Why you?!" She growled, kicking him and grabbing him. She threw him onto the other side of the ring and landed before stalking over to him as he leaned on the rope. Ivan looked extremely worried as he did. "You can't win this, Nasty Bug so just give up and give me your miraculous,"

 He laughed a little as he glanced up at him.

 "You wish," He grinned, pulling back on the rope and causing it to cut into the pillars. It was enough to causing it to collapse. A piece of brick fell and caused Anansi to dive out of the way as Anatis took off his gloves and fixed them back on his belt. He then grabbed his yoyo and pulled back the string, freeing the Arc de Triomphe. Ivan rushed over as Anatis placed his hands to get. He jumped onto it and Anatis pushed him up, causing him to land onto the web. He climbed over to the girls and Nino as Anatis threw his yoyo and pulled himself up onto the web, moving over to Lady Noir. "This is where we need your power. Everyone, get ready,"

 "Shell-ter!" Ivan called out, throwing his arm up while holding the shield. A green light burst from it, creating a ball of force field around them and cutting them free from the web as they fell to the ground. Nino grabbed Alya and Ivan held Mylene. Anatis caught Rose and Lady Noir, making sure no one was hurt as the Arc de Triomphe fell around them.

 "Everyone ok?" Anatis asked, getting nods of everyone. "Excellent,"

 Ivan lowered the forcefield as Lady Noir dusted down her ears before grinning at Anatis.

 "Are you creating a zoo?" She asked before a fearful expression appeared on her face. "Wait! You're not placing to replace me, are you?"

 Anatis opened his mouth to answer but before he could, Anansi broke through the rumble and growled, running towards Anatis.

 "You cheater!" She screamed, going to throw her fist at him but Lady Noir kicked out her feet, causing her to fall on the ground and before she slammed her hand onto her helmet, destroying it and releasing the akuma. She stood up straight and flicked her braid with pride as Anatis smiled.

 "Thanks, Kitten," He grinned before taking out his yoyo and capturing the akuma. He released the now purified butterfly before throwing up the boxing gloves. "Miraculous Ladybugs!"

 The gloves burst into the magic ladybugs before swarming over Paris, fixing everything their path. Anatis smiled as Anansi turned back into Nora and looked around confused. 

 "The beetle and Miss Whiskers?" She asked, looking around. "What's going on here?"

 "You were akumatized but everything is ok now," Anatis stated, making her look at him in surprise before he knelt down. "Look I know you were just trying to look out for your sister but she's not a little girl anymore, Nora..."

 "I... I know..." She mumbled, looking to the side. "I just worry about her you know,"

 "I get it," He smiled, standing up and offering her his hand. She took it and he helped her onto her feet as Lady Noir's ring beeped. She gasped and nervous waved before running off, causing him to look at her. "Lady Noir!"

 She stopped and looked at him.

 "You know you're irreplaceable," He smiled, making her blush before she ran off. Ivan was stood with Mylene but before he could say anything, Alya squealed and held up her phone.

 "This is a first for the ladyblog! A brand new hero!!" She gasped, moving around him and causing him to blush a little from the attention. "So what's your name?!"

 "Uh... I'm...." He looked towards Anatis, who was smirking with his arms crossed. He gave him a nod of approval before Mylene cleared her throat, making everyone look at her.

 "Um... you call call yourself Leatherback... as in a Leatherback turtle... they're a vulnerable species you know and your suit looks like one... so maybe you call name yourself after one..." She mumbled, making him smile.

 "Leatherback... I like it..." He grinned, making Anatis smirk. 

 "Come on, Luth. We need to get going," Anatis grinned before saluting Alya and the video. "See ya, bugheads,"

 The two heroes ran off and jumped onto the building before disappearing into the city. The two of them dropped down into an ally and Ivan called off the transformation before taking off the miraculous and handing it back to Anatis.

 "Thank you for choosing me, Anatis," He smiled as Anatis put away the miraculous. "If you need help again, just let me know,"

 "Thank you, Ivan. It means a lot," He smiled before throwing his yoyo and disappearing into the rooftops. Ivan smiled and ran off to find everyone else. Anatis grinned as he looked down before swinging off into the city to return the miraculous.

 ~Later That Night~

 Luka gasped as he heard the sound of something been knocked down, causing him to frown as he got up. Tikki was still asleep as was everyone else in the boat so he carefully moved through the living area. He moved up the stairs and carefully sneaked onto the deck as he heard the person move by. He frowned as he saw their silhouette before grabbing one of the guitar cables and throwing it at them. They hissed and caught it as he turned one of the stage lights, causing the person to gasp and fall over covering their eyes. He quickly moved over and blinked as he saw Lady Noir.

 "Lady Noir?!" He gasped, rushing to turn off the light as she got up and dusted herself down. "What are you doing here?"

 "I came to see if everyone was ok. I've already checked on the others but I was worried... about... you..." She mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. He blinked in surprise. "I know Anatis said you were safe and it's not that I don't trust him cause I do. I trust him with my life and I don't think he was lying... I was just worried..."

 "About me?" He asked, generally surprise. Part of him was afraid that she had worked out his identity. "Well... not that I'm not grateful cause I am but Lady Noir... it's 3 am..."

 "Yeah... I couldn't sleep..." She grinned, cheekily. He chuckled and shook his head.

 "You know my friend, Marinette, is exactly the same," He replied, failing to notice her panicked expression. "Do you want me to get you a dish of milk or would you prefer some tuna?"

 "Ha, ha. Very funny," She stated before tapping her finger against her chin. "Though some cream sounds really nice,"

 "Only cream we have in is Irish cream and that belongs to Ma," He replied, making her shake her head. "Are you ok though? I know you said you were worried about me but you've never turned up here before,"

 "I guess... I guess today's akuma kind of hit close to home in a way..." She replied before letting out a sigh. "Not that I should be bothering you with this. God, Anatis would probably tell me off if he knew I came here today,"

 "Hey, I don't think he would and isn't it better to talk to someone then bottle it up?" He asked, making her smile at him before sitting down on some of the boxes. He sat next to her. "So what's on your mind, kitty-cat? Did you know the akuma?"

 "Yeah... I can't tell you how but yeah, I do..." She replied, nodding. "And it's not like I'm emotionally invested in her you know but if she got akumatized then anyone can and I worry that maybe one day, Hawkmoth will claim someone really close to me and I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my cool like Annie does. You know he's so strong and brave. If I had been the one choose to take down an akuma like Princess Justice, I don't know if I could do it,"

 "I think you're stronger then you give yourself credit for," He smiled, making her look at him and blush a little. "And Anatis is lucky to have a partner like you,"

 "You think?" She asked, looking over at him. Her ears twitched a little as she played with her braid before she looked to the side. "I think it's the other way round. I'm the lucky one to have Annie as a partner, which is kind of ironic since I'm never been that lucky..."

 She let out a little sigh, causing Luka to frown a bit.

 "You sure you're ok?"

 "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," She grinned, nervously. "Just having self doubt again. Honestly, I don't think I could do this whole hero gig without Annie,"

 "Really? Cause I think you do a great job," He smiled, making her blush. "You're both really good heroes and I think you'll could do this 'gig' as you put it solo but the point is you don't have to. You have Anatis's back and he has yours,"

 "You understand this quite well," She grinned before tapping her chin as she made a thinking face. "Say you're not one of the other heroes, are you?"

 "Me? Oh no... I'm not..." He gasped, a little surprised as she cackled. "It's just... well, it's like been in a band right? Like Kitty Section... you've got me on guitar, Juleka on bass, Ivan's our drummer and Rose sings... each one of us can play on our own easily. Probably do good as well but we work better together. It's like our individual songs come together and work in sync with each other. The drums help keep the timing of the song going but the bass keeps the rhythm. The guitar brings it together and acts like a glue and the lyrics breathe life into it... on their own, these things are good but together they create something amazing. I guess that's how I see it with you heroes. Alone, you both are good and can save people but together, you become a powerful melody that gives people hope and save the whole city. However, for that melody to be heard, it requires both of you so you say you couldn't do this hero gig without Anatis but I think you're wrong. I think you would be a hero even if you didn't have the miraculous,"

 "Really?"

 "Yeah... the miraculous is like an amplifier and you're the melody that is played. In your every day life, you play your melody on an acoustic guitar. It's loud enough to be heard but sometimes people miss it but when you become Lady Noir, your melody is been played at full volume on an electric guitar but it's the same melody that's been played. The only different is that it's been amplified and played a full volume. It's still you but just played in a different way,"

 "Wow..." Lady Noir gasped, looking at him with amazement. He gasped and rubbed his neck as his neck. "That actually makes a lot of sense. You're really wise you know,"

 "I dunno," He mumbled, looking to the side shyly. "Music just makes sense to me,"

 "Yeah? So I'm guessing you're a musician then?" She asked, making him smile and nod before he yawned. 

 "Sorry," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes a little. 

 "Oh no! Don't be! I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm gonna get going so you can get some sleep," She stated, jumping up. She went to walk away before she stopped, causing Luka to look at her. "Thanks for listening and talking to me..."

 "Anytime, Lady Noir," He smiled, making her smile back before she jumped off and headed into the city. He smiled and shook his head as he went back inside. "Silly kitty, you're my best friend. I couldn't do this without you,"

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

Next Chapter: https://ultra-sassyduck.tumblr.com/post/637262678330589184/miralcous-rise-of-anatis-39

[fleurlibelle]

CARMINE 🧛  | 🎵Count on me🎵

▸ 39 start | previous | next

After a long chat, they are leaving Winden Beans Cafe, 2 pm.

Eris: Oh, shoot! The appointment is in an hour. Are you coming with me? Noah: Sure, count me in! Eris: You are a darling for coming with me. Did I tell you how much I love you? Noah: It's been a while. [snickers] But how much do you love me, babe? Eris: [looks at him] To the end of the milky way and back. Noah: That’s quite a distance, girl? Eris: Actually, my love is infinite. But since infinity is hard to describe, it is easier to visualize love in something more tangible, right? How else can I express that you love so much? Noah: [smiles] That is the realist in you! You try to grasp love and put a label on it. You also attempt to visualize love. You limit your feelings. Why do you do this? Do you fear to lose me? You do, right? Because so far, you lost almost everyone who loved you and you loved. Life goes on, Eri. Just say when you feel infinite love. If you miss the chance to tell, you may regret that you did not say what you truly felt. Everyone wants to hear they are loved endlessly, right? Look, my love for you has no boundaries! You can always count on me. Whenever you feel lost? I will be your light and guide you. Because I know you would do the same for me. So, tell me. What do you feel for me, babe?

Eris: [convinced] Okay, Dr. Casilias. See, this is some deep shit. All I know is that you are my hero. You are younger, but wiser than I am. I know I'm complicated, but you are the only true love of my life, and yes, I love you infinite. Noah: [smiles] I knew you could do say it. That was not so hard, right?

Both laugh.

Eris: Would your boyfriend mind if I borrow you tonight for a movie night and steal some cuddles from you? Noah: [giggles] It will be fine. A movie night sounds great. So Movieflix with cuddles it is tonight, huh? Eris: You had no other plans today? Noah: Not really, all good. I only need to call him and let him know that I am not coming home tonight. Eris: [surprised] Home? Wait, since when do you live with him together. Did I miss something? Noah: We just moved in recently, like last weekend? Eris:  You did not tell me. Where does he live? Noah: He used to live in Twilight Grove, but he lives now closer to Windenhaven. Marc moved to Westbanks. He owns one of these towers in the uptown area. He suggested that I move-in there with him. It was a spontaneous and short-term decision. I was too excited, sorry for not telling you. Eris: He is indeed all over your head, sweetheart! Did you forget to tell me? Noah: I would never forget you, darling. But I admit, in the heat of the moment, it slipped my attention. I will message you whenever something changes from now on, deal?

Eris: You better do that, or else I need to have a serious talk with your man. Noah: [smirks] I bet he would love to see you being protective over me. Eris: [smiles] Yeah, he should watch out what he is doing to you! I’m a beast when it comes to my friends. You must preserve your independence and self-reliance in this relationship. You cannot lose yourself therein, or you will lose your love, who loves you for who you are. I will fight him if he tries to steal my Noah! Just that you know. Noah: [amused] Really? Now who is the Therapist? But I see what you mean. Again, you are really on the wrong train here, sweety. It’s not like that at all.

Eris: [points finger at Noah] I need to meet him first and I will give you my final thoughts about him. Oh damn, I think we should head to Mr. Eddelton’s office. I’m nervous about what will happen there. I don’t know why my mum and dad did that with a trustee. I guess, I will find out soon. Do you think they left a letter for me or something like that? I would love to read something even it’s written, I miss them so much, Noah. Noah: Don’t be nervous. I’m quite sure they did leave a message, and today you will find out what it will be. I will be there with you. You won’t be alone. Eris: You are my safe haven during stormy seas, Noah. Thank you so much. Noah: All other grounds are sinking sand but not that one solid rock that I am, okay? I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, Eris!

Eris: [wistful] I am truly thankful to have you in my life, Noah. Without you I would be so alone. Noah: You never will be alone, darling.

Windenhaven = Windenburg, Twilight Grove = Forgotton Hollow, San My = Westbanks 😊😏

[artzychic27]

Francoise-Dupont Performs Be More Chill- Rehearsal

More Than Survive

Adrien, without thinking, said ‘Mariiiii’ instead of ‘Christiiiiiine’, and would never live it down

When Alix wrote Boyf and Riend on Adrien and Nino’s backpacks, she got the idea to do the same with Marc and Nathaniel’s after rehearsal

Nino was actually listening to reggae on his headphones while singing (Turns out he likes it)

Kim and Alix nearly dropped Marinette when they carried her over to the sign-up sheet

Alix: STRAAAAAIGHT!

I Love Play Rehearsal

Marinette broke out into giggles a few times while singing this

Marinette: I also have a touch of ADD!

Nino: She actually does.

Instead of making the weird noises, she just did a backflip off of her chair, much to everyone’s shock

The Squip Song

Instead of going in the boy’s bathroom, Adrien and Alix go in a unisex bathroom

Alix did the rock and roll stage slide when she sang ‘ITS FROM JAPAAAAAAN!’

Alix needed a lot of water after singing that

Two Player Game

Nino and Adrien held hands a few times during the song, and Nino kissed his cheek when he sang ‘Is it really true? I’m your favowite person?’

Nino: Uh… No homo?

Alix/Rose/Juleka: Yes homo!

Nathaniel: Total homo.

The Squip Enters

Adrien may have blushed when Marinette held his hand while he was screaming

Marc and Nathaniel accidentally bumped into each other when walking through the mist from the fog machine

Adrien: You look like Calum Worthy and Rain Dove

Nathaniel: Our default modes. You can also have us set for Ruby and Sapphire

Marc: Tweek and Craig

Nathaniel/Marc: Or Yaoi boys with cat ears and tails

Be More Chill (Part 1)

Marc sang the first verse

Nathaniel died when Marc called Adrien ‘Boo’

Nathaniel’s commanding voice when he told Adrien what to do reminded him of his dad

Marc: Everything about you is so terrible (I didn’t mean in, you’re amazing)

Nathaniel: Everything about you makes me wanna die (Not you, you bring me life)

When picking out clothes, and Adrien picked out the girl shirt, Marc resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he had the point out the shirt was for girls (Screw gender roles!)

Instead of Madeline being French, she’ll be American

Nathaniel: Hey, Hamlet. Be More Chill

Do You Wanna Ride?

Adrien has to admit, Mylène made an amazing Brooke

Be More Chill (Part 2)

Nathaniel: Jeremy, you cant just listen. You have to obey.

And at that moment, Marc knew… That he was definitely a bottom

Adrien cried a little when he repeated Marc and Nathaniel’s words. They paused so everyone could comfort him and tell him he’s wonderful

Sync Up

Marc: You can’t lie to us, Jeremy.

Nathaniel: We’re inside your brain!

Kim and Alix were mostly doing finger guns and fist bumps when they sang

Mylene: I’m sure digging this new look, hella retro, and totally rad! That was English!

To make Optic Nerve Blocking happen, Max used a remote control to make the prop lockers move in front of Nino

Adrien: Feeling crisp and high and clean! And head to play rehearsal with Mari!

Marc: *Facepalms* Straight people.

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into

Marinette poured her heart out during this song

Her backup singers kept trying to get them to move closer together

All they could think was “COME ON! KISS!”

Adrien may or may not have blushed again when she sang ‘I guess a part of me likes to talk to you.’

Then he died when she sang ‘Is… Jake.’

More Than Survive (Reprise)

Once again, Adrien said ‘Marinette’.

The Squip Stalks (Instrumental)

The actors were just enjoying the eerie melody

Upgrade

Mylène: Isn’t the sun on the bleachers just bitchin’?

Surprisingly, Marinette didn’t kill Mylène when she and Adrien kissed

And Ivan didn’t want to mangle Adrien

Nathaniel: Now it’s time to go all the way and more!

Marc: … Fuck.

When Kim and Marinette were singing their parts in Upgrade, Adrien got just a little jealous when he saw Kim holding her hand, and dipping her

Marinette: I’m tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am (She cried a little at this)

Loser Geek Whatever

It took all of Adrien’s willpower not to laugh or cry when singing this

To do Optic Nerve Blocking, they turned the lights off, then Nino ran offstage, and when the lights came back on, he was gone

Halloween

Mylène instead went as a sexy mouse

Kim as Lil’ Romeo

Marinette as Juliet

Alya as IT

Aurore as a sexy baby

Alix as Jason

Adrien as a cyborg

Marc and Nathaniel as Anime villains

Jeremy and Jake’s Dance Off: Adrien is an amazing break dancer

Alix was twitching and flailing her arms throughout the entire party, screaming for Mountain Dew Red

Do You Wanna Hang?

Aurore is a major lesbian, so doing this with Adrien just made her feel weird

Adrien was a little uncomfortable, so Aurore kept the touching to a minimum

Adrien: I can’t move my feet.

Marc: You’re welcome.

When Aurore made Adrien drink from her bottle, Marc and Nathaniel, having no idea how to speak Japanese just spoke Spanish and Yiddish

Kagami would be giving them lessons later

Michael in the Bathroom

Nino was wearing the CREEPS shirt, but with red letters

Adrien died a little inside when he called Nino a loser

Nino: I’m having my period!

Alya: … Take your time, honey!

Nino had everyone crying when he sang Michael in the Bathroom

It took all of Alya’s strength, and her friends restraining her to not run up on that stage and hug her boyfriend

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (Reprise)

When Adrien asked if she would go out with him, Marinette was squealing and nearly said “YES! I LOVE YOU!”

But she kept that to herself and said her lines, while trying not to facepalm over and over

Smartphone Hour

Alya was actually on the Ladyblog when she was singing Smartphone Hour

Aurore got a little tongue-tied when she said ‘I’m sorry Jeremy made out with me at the party, but it was totally his fault, and let’s not let boys ever come between us again, okay?”

Alya: Hey everybody, have you heard? Rach set a fire, now go spread the word!

Alya’s vocal range had Nino blushing like crazy

Pitiful Children

Once again, Nathaniel got a nosebleed as Marc sang. Just wait until the night of the show when Marc would be wearing the outfit Marinette made

Marc and Nathaniel held hands most of the time

Adrien is a huge fan on BMC, but he still has no idea how the SQUIPS got in Rich’s locker

Alya forgot where she put her Mountain Dew

Kagami played her SQUIP

During the instrumental, Marc and Nathaniel’s backup dancers/singers were Kagami, Juleka, Rose, Chloe, Sabrine, Ivan, and Luka

The Pants Song

Adrien felt kinda badass when he called the student playing Mr. Heere a loser.

He imagined the student was his dad

After hearing the song for the hundredth, there was one thing on Adrien’s mind… He wanted Mr. Heere to be his dad

Instead of burning the momentos, Nino just cut them up

Student: Do you love him?

Nino: Yea- NO!

Student: Huh?

Akuma Class: Huh?

Alya: Say what now?

Adrien: … As a friend, right?

The Play

Marinette cried a little when Adrien (As Jeremy), implied that there was something wrong with her

Marc: I anticipated your resistance.

Nathaniel: … Fuck, I’m a bottom.

Sabrina played Mylène’s SQUIP

Ivan played Max’s SQUIP

On her cue, Alix skated across the stage screaming ‘I NEED MOUNTAIN DEW RED!’

Nino: MICHAEL MAKES AN ENTRANCE!

That immediately had students screaming and cheering

The fight scene between Nino and Adrien was a little awkward because they kept getting in weird positions

Nathaniel: … Gay?

Marc: Gay.

Chloé played Kim’s SQUIP

Aurore and Mylène held hands as they sang

Rose and Juleka played their SQUIPS

Alya: I know what you’re doing, Michael. I know what everyone’s doing! ALL THE TIME!

Nino got a nosebleed when she grabbed him by the front of his shirt

Everyone was a little out of sync when they said “I just feel so connected to you guys right now.”

Luka, as Marinette’s SQUIP, walked her over to Adrien and winked at the blonde

Marinette surprisingly didn’t stutter, have a breakdown, or scream when she told Adrien she loved him

And it was at that moment, Adrien started having feelings for Marinette

After Marinette drank the Mountain Dew red, the students just screamed and did some dramatic thrashing on the floor

Once again, Marc spoke Spanish, and Nathaniel spoke Yiddish as their characters were defeated

Voices in my Head

Instead of saying ‘I’m totally Bi.’ Alix said, ‘I’m totally Ace.’

Marinette: Who did yours look like?

Adrien: Two gay guys. Yours?

Marinette: Rocker boy.

When Marinette and Adrien finally kissed, this got the actors into a frenzy

Alya: … Okay. The song’s over.

…

Kim: Guys? We’re done.

Nathaniel: Rehearsal’s over.

Max: Hey. *Snaps his fingers* Hello?

[whitewolfmoving]

Going For Gold || Bucky Barnes Mixed Martial Arts AU

Summary: Bucky made his choices long ago, now he has to live with the fallout. Can he return to the life he once knew? Can he mend the heart of the girl he left behind? Can he be a better man than he used to be? [Modern au] [Mixed Martial Arts au]

Trigger Warnings: lots of swearing, Bucky Barnes being a whole ass idiot, mentions of character death, mild detail of injuries, arguing, flashbacks, PTSD, alcohol and prescription drug use (non-addictive)

Word Count: 1817

Chapter Warnings: swearing, arguing, mentions of alcohol (non-addictive)

——————————

Chapter Two: Go To Hell

Bucky sat on the bench outside of Serenity’s office; she hadn’t been happy to see him. Could he really blame her, though? After everything he put her through? He sighed, absentmindedly rubbing his left shoulder, it always seemed to ache more when Bucky was nervous. He tried not to flinch as he listened to Serenity Corbyn tear Steve Rogers a new one.

“Please, please tell me what I saw out there was a fucking ghost! Or— or a figment of my imagination!”

“You know I can’t do that, I can’t lie to you.”

“You ‘can’t lie to me’, huh? Bullshit! You lied to me about where you were yesterday.”

At that, Bucky perked up. Steve lying to Serenity? Impossible. Steve Rogers didn’t possess a dishonest bone in his body when it came to that girl. Bucky and Mikey had done all of the lying when it involved Serenity as kids. Yet as a general rule, asking Steve Rogers not to lie was like asking a dog not to lick its own butt, it couldn’t be done.

“What do you mean I lied about where I was yesterday? I told you, I left work early so I could help Nat prep for dinner with Peggy and Marc. That way you could focus on closing the gym.”

“Then why’d she call me at 5:30 asking if I knew where you were? You left at 3:15 to be home by 3:45, Steve. You lied to me.”

Bucky worried his lower lip between his teeth. Ah, there it was. That’s where Steve had made his mistake. Sure, he’d left work at fifteen after three, but it wasn’t so he could be home by 3:45. No, he’d taken a detour, and that detour was to meet up with Bucky. Steve had parked his pickup right next to Bucky’s Harley, overlooking the old mill. The two of them had spent the better part of an hour and a half shooting the shit, reminiscing about high school, discussing the reasons for Bucky’s absence when Mikey died. Sure, correspondence was a two-way street, but it’s not like Bucky had made an attempt to reach out to Serenity either. Not once. And Steve wouldn’t let him forget it.

“Ren, I—”

“You were with him, weren’t you?” The way she’d said it—accusing Steve so easily—cut through Bucky like a jagged knife, carving his heart out through his stomach. God, she really hates me.

Steve sighed, defeated. “Look, can we talk about this later? After work? I’ll tell you everything you want to know then, I promise. But he’s home, Ren, he’s back and he’s here. And he came to see you.”

“Because you asked him to, right? Because you told him he should stop by, didn’t you? Because Bucky Barnes isn’t capable of making one simple decision for himself, oh no, he needs Saint Steve’s permission.”

“You know that’s not fair, Serenity.”

“Not fair? I’ll tell you what’s not fair, Steven. Having my best friend abandon me two weeks after graduation, that’s not fair. Having the man I would have moved heaven and hell for not showing up when my brother died, that’s not fair. He didn’t call, he didn’t write. Not once. My entire world was crashing down around me and taking me with it, and he wasn’t here! That’s not fucking fair! Don’t tell me I’m not being fair. Don’t you dare stand there and fucking defend him to me, because I don’t want to hear it.”

Bucky stood as the office door swung open, turning to meet Serenity’s pissed off gaze burning holes into his skin. He swallowed, unsure of what to say. He’d known this was a bad idea but he’d also known Steve was right, avoiding Serenity wasn’t a luxury he could afford.

“I’m only going to say this once so listen well. Whatever he promised you’d find if you showed up? I don’t have it for you, I’ll never have it for you. Coming here today was a waste of your time and mine. Got it?”

Serenity’s words were a punch straight to Bucky’s gut; they’d knocked the wind out of him with no hesitation, they’d snatched the ground from beneath his feet with no remorse, they’d taken everything he knew about life and turned it upside-down right in front of him. He was free falling with nowhere to land.

“Tasha and I are going to my dad’s tonight. We’ll be out late, don’t wait up.” This she’d directed at Steve over her shoulder before disappearing down the stairs.

Bucky stared after Serenity’s retreating form. He wanted to go after her, everything in him was screaming at him to follow her down but he couldn’t get his body to move. He was stuck.

+

Bucky Barnes was an idiot, but Bucky Barnes was also pretty intelligent. Especially when it came to his best friend.

He and Steve had met when they were five, met Mikey and Serenity a year later, and the four of them had been inseparable ever since. Bucky knew Steve like the back of his hand. He’d sensed something was off about the tall blonde when he’d appeared behind Serenity earlier that day. The way he planted himself at her back, staring Bucky down as if she needed protection from the soldier. Bucky knew there was something more to the story, something else that Steve hadn’t told him when they met up the day before. After witnessing the fight between him and Serenity, Bucky was sure of two very important things. One, was that he was going to have to work his ass off if he wanted to get back in Serenity’s good graces and two, was that Steve had lied to him, too—he wasn’t dating Natasha like Bucky had been led to believe for the last four years. Steve was dating Serenity, and he’d knowingly set Bucky up to have his heart shattered in front of everybody in the gym.

“Hey, Buck, you want a beer?” Steve asked, breaking through Bucky’s analysis of the day’s events.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks,” Bucky replied. “Hey, Stevie, can I ask you something?”

Steve sat down on the couch next to Bucky and handed him one of the two beers he’d fished out of the refrigerator. “Sure, pal. What’s on your mind?”

“When were you going to tell me you’ve been seeing Serenity?”

Steve choked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“When were you going to tell me you’ve been seeing Serenity?” Bucky repeated, fire settled in his ocean blue eyes as he took a sip of his beer. He’d sit there and quietly wait for Steve to make his move, he’d sit there as long as it took to be sure that he was given the truth. Steve was stubborn, Bucky was more so. How could his best friend lie to him like that? How could he bring Natasha into it like that? And how could Serenity just go along with it like she had no idea?

“Buck, y-you got it all wrong,” Steve said slowly. “Serenity and me, we— I—”

“How long?”

“What?”

“How long, Steve?”

“How long what?”

Bucky slammed his beer bottle down on the coffee table with enough force to startle the man next to him, if he hadn’t been paying attention. He’d held everything together while they were at the gym, he’d watched Serenity go about her routine as if Bucky hadn’t been there. And he waited, waited for his friends to come clean. But they never did.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Rogers. How long have you two been seeing each other? How long were you going to let me believe you were seeing Nat? Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? Think I wouldn’t catch you in your lie, huh? And while I’ve been countries away, you’ve been shacking up with Serenity behind my back for four fucking years!”

“I highly suggest you watch your tone. We aren’t shacking up, Buck. We’ve always lived together, you know that. And what was I supposed to do, huh? You weren’t here, you left her, Bucky. You know, Serenity didn’t even let herself cry over you? She told me and Mikey that she didn’t need to because if you could leave just like that, clearly she didn’t mean as much to you as she thought.” By now Steve was standing, pacing back and forth in front of the coffee table. He refused to meet Bucky’s gaze. Both of their tempers flared; Steve’s in defense of Serenity, in defense of the truth Bucky had yet to know. And Bucky’s because out of all the people he trusted never to betray him, Steve had done just that. He was sure his and Serenity’s relationship hadn’t gone cold before Steve swooped in and played the hero, and worse than that, neither of them had thought to tell him.

Steve stopped pacing and carded a hand through his short blonde hair. He chanced a glance at Bucky. “We never wanted to hurt you, Buck.”

“I was right, this whole time, I was right. She didn’t wanna see me. Why’d you tell me to come buy if she didn’t wanna see me?”

“You don’t get to blame Serenity for this. You walked away, you left her behind. When she felt like she couldn’t go on after Mikey died, I was there for her. I held her every night while she cried, while she begged me to let her die, too. And when she was ready to, I helped her put those pieces back one by one.”

Bucky’s arms hung at his sides, he clenched and unclenched his fists. Finally, he looked up, meeting Steve’s gaze. “Do you love her?” When Steve cocked his head to the side confused, Bucky elaborated, “Serenity. Do you love her, Steve?”

Steve nodded, considering his next words carefully. “Yeah, I do.”

Bucky squared his shoulders, eyeing Steve with rage in his eyes. “Then pick one. Her or Nat. But you can’t have them both.”

Steve reeled back, feigning disgust at Bucky’s implication. “I know.”

“Tell Serenity about Natasha. If you don’t, I will.” Bucky grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch and marched toward the door. He’d rode with Steve after closing the gym, leaving his Harley just inside the back gate. He wasn’t about to ask him for a ride back to his bike, he was far too prideful for that. 

“Hey, at least let me give you a ride back to the gym.”

“No, thanks. You’ve done enough.”

“Come on, Buck. It’s the least I can do,” Steve offered, reaching for his keys.

“I said you’ve done enough. Go to hell, Rogers.” Bucky stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door shut behind him. He knew exactly what he had to do to get Serenity back…

Bucky Barnes was getting back in the cage.

——————————

A/N: Finally, chapter two is live! I’m so sorry it too so long to post tonight, I kept getting distracted. Whoops.

Uh... can we talk about the DRAMA?! #sorrynotsorry 😬

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated and encouraged. Leave a like, comment, and reblog if you love it!

-Auri <3

[inkribbon796]

Birthdays for a Business Man

Summary: Dark has had birthdays of all sorts, sometimes he works the whole day through, other times he gets to enjoy it with his family.

A/N: It’s Dark’s birthday, I was planning for angst and got fluff instead. Also Author as a child strikes me as someone who you could point at and go: “that one right there, that one’s going to be a serial killer”.

~::~ Ten Years Ago ~::~

It was cold and Dark had someone else who was disappointingly not Marc in his cellar. It was another unfortunate soul that had not only tried to steal from Dark directly, but had the gall to be annoying while he did so.

Unlike the heroes like Jackie and Silver who could get away or weather more than a single stab or slash from Dark’s aura, this man was boringly human. Dark had initially thought the man would die before he was dragged into the cellar. But he was happily surprised.

The man screamed in terror as Dark dug the knife into the arm of the chair. “You miscalculated,” Dark smiled, practically tasting the fear in the air. It was sweeter than any saccharine treat or wine. “You assumed I would give mercy. That you could run from me.”

“Please, I’ll do anything,” the man begged. “I just need more time.”

“You had your time,” Dark sneered, holding his face so that his nails were cutting into the soft, human flesh of his chin and cheeks. In the distant background he could hear arguing upstairs but he trusted Wil to handle it until he was done. “I hate chasing my prey, and you are wasting time I could be using on other ventures.”

The stairs at the top of the cellar creaked.

“Daddy!”

The man’s head turned to the cellar, confusion breaking through his pain and fear a bit.

Dark internally cursed and slapped the man to at least save some of his intimidating appearance. Even if it would have been more than a fleeting laugh to make the man think he had a chance, allowing his newest target to live was officially off the table.

The Entity turned to see one of the children he and Wil had adopted running down the winding staircase. Yan was full on sobbing as she ran down the stairs, she almost tripped but Dark’s aura caught her.

“What have I told you,” Dark growled. However, when Yan stopped, she was staring up at him with large dark brown eyes, Dark sighed. “What happened?”

She let out a loud, distressed sob and started pulling at something stuck and twisted into her hair. Clearly whatever was in her hand disgusted her. Yan was clearly upset and frustrated.

“Here,” Dark offered, pulling her hand away and Yan immediately shook out her hand, stomping her feet a bit. Immediately Dark noticed there was a sizable piece of chewed gum waded and it was almost fused with her dark, wavy hair. “Who did this?”

“Artie put gum in my hair,” Yan sobbed loudly. “And I didn’t do anything to him.”

“She’s a fucking liar!” Arthur spat as he stomped down the stairs. “She stomped all over my notebook with her muddy feet.”

Dark groaned, “Somehow, Arthur, I doubt it.”

The Entity grabbed the two children with his aura and pulled them back up the stairs. The instant he was at the top of the stairs he looked around. “Wil! If I don’t see you here, posthaste I will burn your bow ties!”

Wilford was running in as if Dark had already set the man on fire. “What happened?”

Dark just stared at the sizable glob of gum in Yan’s hair.

“Oh,” Wil commented, he held his arms out. “Come here, princess, I know just the thing to get that out.”

“Never give the children gum unless I’m there to supervise them,” Dark ordered, keeping Arthur close to him as he passed the still hiccup-sobbing Yan over. It was just to keep the two of them separated. “Obviously they can’t be trusted with it.”

“I didn’t give them gum today,” Wil frowned, his mustache twitching a bit. “Did I?” 

Before Dark could reprimand him, Wil was talking with Yan as he headed to the pantry and promised to make her hair as good as new. He grabbed a jar of peanut butter and headed towards the upstairs bathroom.

Arthur was looking away angrily, gripping his arm tightly, clearly angry.

Dark took a deep breath, “Show me your notebook, where is it?”

“It’s mine,” the young author spat angrily.

“Yes, I know, show me the notebook,” Dark responded firmly.

Arthur glared at him, his face scrunching up angrily, before stomping into the main living room and picking up his red notebook, but protectively cradling it to his chest.

Dark knelt down and silently held out his hand, quietly waiting for Arthur to surrender the little spiral bound.

Arthur shifted on his feet, looking away, “I want it back.”

“Wouldn’t dream of anything else,” Dark told him, his tone still firm.

Holding it out, Arthur stayed close as Dark flipped through the book. He didn’t concentrate on what Arthur had been writing. The boy treated his notebooks like a creative project sometimes, and a private diary other times. Dark wasn’t about to invade the boy’s privacy to settle the dispute. He’d come to Dark when he trusted him.

Quickly flipping through the book, Dark saw that there was half a muddy footprint on the corner, hardly the malicious footprints that Arthur had claimed. But on the edge of a page, in Arthur’s messy scrawl was the phrase: “Yan has gum in her hair”.

Dark looked at those words, “Huh.”

Glancing back at Arthur he asked, “Who gave you the gum? I know you didn’t chew it yourself.”

“I don’t know,” Arthur shrugged. “It just showed up.”

“You made gum appear in your sister’s hair?” Dark asked.

“Yes?” Arthur answered.

“Show me,” Dark ordered, holding the notebook out. “Put gum in my hair.”

“What?” Arthur looked confused, and a touch of fear.

“I can’t have you stick anything in your siblings’ hair, so this will have to do,” Dark told him and summoned a pen. “If you want we can try with something other than your notebook if you don’t want to use it.”

Arthur took the pen and on the back of the front cover Arthur scribbled down: “Dark has gum in his hair”.

At first Dark didn’t feel anything, but after a second or two he felt something faint tangle with his own aura, brushing the top of his head. Dark fought all reflexes to bat at it. He reached up and sure enough there was a mass of chewed gum in his hair. Arthur was staring at him with a bit of nervousness.

What Dark did do was reach out and tangle his aura with the new faint aura, trying to manifest it but it wasn’t strong enough. Arthur startled a bit, trying to look around to find something. Dark chuckled and let it go, his aura began to smooth into his hair to carefully pull the gum from his hair and dump it into the nearest trash can.

“Come with me,” Dark led Arthur to the counter and grabbed a set of post-it notes. He also grabbed one a strawberry ice cream popsicle out of the fridge and set Arthur on top of the counter. He held out the popsicle, which was quickly accepted.

Dark slid the post-it notes over, smiling, “give my suit polka dots.”

“Why?” Arthur asked, popping the popsicle out of his mouth.

“Because I need to know if it’s the notebook or you,” Dark told him.

After a bit of fumbling with the popsicle, Arthur wrote: “Dark has a pink and green polka dot suit”.

“Really?” Dark grumbled as his suit changed, a half-second faster than the last time. Dark felt that weak aura gripping around him like thousands of tiny hands. “Those colors.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Arthur asked, a bit of his attitude starting to come back.

“Look at them,” Dark motioned to his suit as his aura was starting to strip the colors from it, leaving the polka dots and the pink’s lighter hue was still visible. “Try and turn it back.”

Arthur frowned but wrote: “Dark has a black suit again”.

Dark’s suit began to lose the polka dots, and Dark resisted the urge to mention the fact that his suit had actually been a dark blue. But it was the thought that counted.

“Magnificent,” Dark commented, Arthur seemed to stiffen a bit with the sudden and honest praise. “How long have you been able to do this? It’s incredible, do you know if any of the others can do things like this?”

“No.” Arthur’s answer was too quick, clearly desperate to keep being the center of positive attention.

“Right,” Dark smiled, his attention going back to the stairs. “Would you appreciate a little practice?”

Arthur’s eyes widened, “Can I turn Illy’s tongue into a slug?”

Dark’s twin souls started screaming in alarm.

“Arthur,” Dark used his aura to force the boy to look into his eyes. “You will not use this on your siblings ever, do you understand?”

“Come on,” Arthur huffed. “He deserves it.”

“No, I’m serious,” Dark demanded firmly. “I don’t care if you alter all of Egoton, but you will not use this on any of your siblings or Wil. Do I make myself clear?”

Arthur scowled, “Fine.”

“Good,” Dark smiled. “I’ll be checking on them. But for now would you like to use those wonderful powers of yours in a constructive manner?”

The Entity gestured to the basement stairwell.

“But only you and Dad are allowed in the basement?” Arthur reminded.

Dark rolled his eyes, “You and I both know that no one follows that rule.”

“Really?” Arthur squirmed a bit in excitement.

“Your power is a gift, and you need to cultivate it to the fullest,” Dark smiled, taking him off the counter.

“Can I hurt him?” Arthur asked inquisitively.

Something in the depths of his twin souls roiled in uncomfortable concern at that question, but Dark didn’t dared show it on his face. “Just don’t involve your siblings.”

“Can we go?” Arthur began jumping in place.

“Yes we can, my little author,” Dark smiled, Arthur taking Dark’s hand and pulling him towards the stairs.

~::~ Present Day ~::~

Dark sighed as he walked into his office, Wilford following him and talking. Dark had a new coffee mug in his hands he’d been given from Yan for his birthday. The mug read, ‘Boss Bitch’, in huge red letters with a crown over the top. Illinois had given him a neatly arranged box of cursed jewelry from a recent expedition, and Bim had given Dark a new black suit. Then Wilford had literally pushed Bim into giving Dark a hug that both of them thought wasn’t genuine, and was uncomfortable at best.

“It’s your birthday, old chap,” Wilford reminded. “Don’t you think you should spend it somewhere other than this drab and depressing place.”

“I have a lot of work to do,” Dark reminded, “tonight my schedule is clear.”

“Crummy way to spend your birthday,” Wil pouted.

Dark noticed the three boxes on his desk. He hadn’t noticed them when he walked in initially. One was like an envelope made of newspaper, Yancy’s obviously. Another was a deep red with golden trim on it with white and yellow trimmed ribbons, and a third made from parchment paper that had what looked like a short handwritten story on it. Dark could barely recognize Arthur’s messy scrawl. It had turned from Arthur’s previously nigh-illegible scrawl to a flowing cursive script that was still a bit hard for most people to read.

And Dark was going to have to learn how to read it all over again.

“Oooh~” Wil leaned his head over Dark’s shoulder. “Do you have an admirer?”

“It’s from the boys,” Dark answered, carefully unwrapping the box so he didn’t rip the paper. Inside a plain brown box was a small black ledger, an exact duplicate to the one he already had, a folded note resting on it.

“Oh, how nice of them,” Wilford smiled. “Good timing too, your old one is looking a little full up.”

Dark skimmed over the note, reading:

For the man who has everything,

Try to catch your blood on these pages instead of the original.

He who sees, but is blind

“What a nice note,” Wil smiled, resting his cheek on Dark. “Who wrote it?”

Dark pocketed the note, “Arthur, you remember him, he liked to write.”

Recognition bubbled up in Wil’s mind, “He was a fun boy, is he done with that mission?”

“Nearly, he’ll be home soon,” Dark promised, stepping away from Wil to sit at his desk. “Hopefully sooner than scheduled.”

“Excellent,” Wilford clapped. “Once you finish opening your gifts we should go for a drive, haven’t gone on one of those in ages.”

Dark just stared at him, in his head he could remember “ages ago” — last month — when he’d been in a car with Wil that quickly turned into a car chase where Dark had been gripping onto the hanger attached to the car door. “Maybe, that depends.”

“On?” Wil wiggled his eyebrows and mustache. “I can be persuasive.”

“Give me three hours and my day is all yours,” Dark smiled, turning his chair towards his desk. “That will let me get some work done.”

“How about,” Wil turned Dark’s chair back around to face him, “we make a little deal?”

Dark rested his chin on his hands, “Really?”

“What type of person would I be if I didn’t get you your birthday present?” Wilford winked, grabbing Dark’s tie and leaning down for the kiss. One of many Dark would receive that day.

[duker42]

I got inspired by Family Matters! how about where Levi and s/o noticed how sad Marc has been lately and they confront him about it. he said that Rachel is going out with this guy and they knew how much he loved her. Marc also said that he got bad vibes from him too, but didn't say anything to her or else it'd look like he was trying to break them up. they try to comfort him as best as possible. one night they heard banging at the door and they opened to see Rachel all beat up. they quickly-

💜Bad Vibes💜

Levi watched as Marc poked at his dinner, pushing the meal around his plate. The frown on his son’s face wasn’t normal and he looked at Y/N to see that she noticed his unusual behavior as well.

Liam had already finished his plate and had asked to be excused, excited for extra time in the tub to play with the new bath toys he had picked out the other day. Levi smiled for a moment as he heard the ruckus coming from his bathroom, knowing that before going to bed, they would have to dry the floor from the extensive pirate battle that was currently being waged from the bubble filled sea.

Marc sighed as he stabbed a carrot viciously, like the vegetable had wronged him. Levi saw Y/N’s subtle nod and decided it was time to pull whatever had been bothering the boy for the few weeks out of him.

“The carrot didn’t hurt you, why are you so angry at it?” Levi asked, arching an eyebrow as the boy was ripped from his thoughts to look up at his dad.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” Marc mumbled, looking back down at his plate.

“Marc, honey, what’s wrong?” Y/N prodded gently.

Marc looked up at his mom. “It’s stupid.”

Y/N gave him a level look. “It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you. What’s going on?”

Marc sighed again, resigned and somewhat happy to get it off his chest. “Rachel, she started seeing this one guy, Tim.”

Levi and Y/N looked at each other, they knew the boy had feelings for his friend. He just hadn’t worked up the courage to tell her about it yet.

“Thing is, this guy...I don’t like him at all. Not because she’s dating him. Well, not just because of that. He....I get bad vibes from him. He’s not good for her. But if I say anything, I’m just going to look like a jerk who’s trying to break them up. I don’t want Rachel mad at me or thinking I’m like that.” He looked back and forth between his parents. He had a slight blush on his face, admitting that Rachel dating someone bothered him, but he knew his parents would understand where he was coming from.

Levi sat back and looked at the young man who care about his friend. “You should always listen to those feelings.” He said finally.

He held up a hand. “But....I wouldn’t say anything to Rachel about it right now. You’re right in that.”

Y/N gave a small nod of agreement. “Honey, we both know you care about Rachel a lot. I’m sure she’s figured out you like her a bit more as a friend. But, I think you’re right for not saying anything to her without some sort of proof other than bad vibes.” She added.

Levi cautioned his son. “That’s not to say that you don’t keep an eye on this guy. If he gives you that feeling, don’t be rude. He will make a mistake soon enough. Then you go to Rachel with your impressions of the boy. But remember that she is in that first stage of infatuation most likely, don’t let your jealously get in between your friendship with her.”

Marc nodded and sighed again. “I’m trying, mom, dad. It’s just so hard not to pull her away from this guy every time he’s around. But I don’t want her to be upset at me.”

He down at his plate, happier now that he had told them what was going on. He brought the carrot back up to his mouth, chewing and swallowing before addressing them again. “Thanks, you always know what to say.”

~~~~~

A few days had passed, Marc had looked a bit happier. The boy’s natural good mood showing back up and he had reported that his friendship with Rachel was still going strong, despite the other boy’s attempts to monopolize her time.

They were in the living room, Liam already in bed because of the late hour when they heard someone beating on the front door.

Levi got up to open to door and gasped when he found Rachel on their doorstep, her face was bruised and swollen, her lip busted and a gash above her right eye.

“Marc!” He called as he pulled Rachel inside and wrapped his arm around her waist to support her as she sagged against him.

Her words were slightly slurred from the bruises. “Mr. Levi...”

“Hold on, kid. Marc’s coming. Let’s get you inside.” Levi murmured as he flipped the door lock and started gingerly walking her towards the living room.

Y/N and Marc were wide eyed when they rounded the corner and saw Rachel. Marc rushing up to the pair and scooping Rachel up into his arms.

“I’ll get the first aid kit.” Y/N rushed upstairs to get the medical supplies while Levi headed to the kitchen to get some rags and an ice pack.

By the time his parents had come back into the living room, Marc had Rachel’s jacket off, revealing a number of bruises up and down her arms. Hand prints were someone had grabbed her, marring her pale skin.

Levi’s eyes narrowed on the marks as he moved over to help Marc set Rachel down on the sofa, being careful to avoid hurting her further.

“What happened?” Marc demanded as he pulled Rachel against him gently.

Y/N came back into the room with the medical kit and immediately took over, sitting down on the coffee in front of the battered girl and setting out the supplies.

Rachel winced as Y/N dabbed at her cut lip before answering. “Tim....I broke things off with him. He’s been pushing me to.....do things that I wasn’t ready for. Getting really angry about it.”

Levi’s scowl intensified as he shared a look with Y/N. He knew exactly what kind of things she was talking about and the idea of someone laying hands on the loving girl because she wasn’t ready for intimacy pissed him off beyond belief. He never approved of hitting a woman, let alone because wanting to wait.

He never could have imagined putting a bruise on Y/N when they were starting out because she hadn’t been willing to jump into bed with him. Even at his most ruthless, he always respected women and treated them with respect. This Tim shit needed to be taught some manners.

“Where did he do this?” Levi asked, his voice low and intimidating.

“My mom is out of town. He came over tonight. It was just supposed to be to watch a movie.” Rachel started crying, her voice breaking. “He got so angry, yelling at me that I was a tease, that I deserved this because everyone knew what coming over to watch a movie really meant.”

Marc’s face was a picture of anguish and rage, mirroring what his parents were feeling. It could have gotten so much worse, the results even more traumatizing for Rachel. Getting beaten by her boyfriend was going to be bad enough to overcome.

“I got away and ran here. It was the only place I could think of. I knew I would be safe here.” Rachel whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Levi and Y/N glared at the poor girl when she said that. When she shrank back under the hot glances, they both sighed and tried to relax their expressions. Y/N beating Levi to the punch.

“Don’t you dare apologize Rachel!” Y/N scolded as she put a butterfly bandage over the now cleaned cut.

“We are happy you came to us. We are angry at this jackass that thought it was alright to hurt you, not you.” She said.

“He just....he kept hitting me, screaming that I tricked him.” Rachel sobbed, leaning against Marc as he held her close with shaking hands.

Levi felt the familiar burn of rage swell up inside him. “Marc, you and your mother take care of Rachel. I’ll be back.”

He turned and walked to the front door. He grabbed his keys and slipped on his leather jacket. The door slammed shut and the three people awake in the house heard the squealing of tires as Levi shot out of the driveway.

~~~~~

The house was quiet when Levi opened the front door again. The living room light was still on. He shut and locked the door, and slipped the coat from his shoulders. Removing his shoes, he hung up his keys and padded silently into the room where he had left wife and son in charge of a battered Rachel.

The grim satisfaction on his face melted away when he saw the occupants of the couch. Marc was laying on his back, his arms around Rachel as she practically laid on top of him. She was still bruised and injured, but seemed to be at peace as she slept on his son’s chest.

He smiled at the sight of the slumbering teenagers. The night had taken it’s toll on them, and he moved over to grab a large throw to cover them. They might be a bit awkward in the morning, but for now, holding each other was both of them needed. He brushed the hair that fallen into Rachel’s face away as he looked down at the girl that he considered a daughter. She was safe with Marc, and from the expression on his son’s face tonight, he was going to let her know exactly how he felt as soon as she recovered.

A small sound from the doorway made him look up. Y/N was staring at him with an appraising look. He saw her eyes float down to the battered and bloodied knuckles of his hand. She gave him a nod and jerked her head towards the kitchen. She didn’t say a word, just turned and walked away, confident he would follow her.

There was a cup of tea sitting on the kitchen island when he walked in. Her own cup beside the opened medical kit. She didn’t comment on the wounds on his hand, she knew where they came from. What had caused the marks adorning his skin.

“He was still there?” She asked, surprise in her voice.

“Motherfucker was waiting for her to come back.” Levi spat out. The boy was older than he had realized, putting Levi completely at ease with kicking the shit out of him.

“You didn’t...?” Y/N asked, knowing that Levi had been beyond furious when he left.

Levi gave a scowl that put her at ease. “He was still conscious when I left him. Broken nose, ribs and perhaps a few broken fingers. It was a hell of a tumble down the stairs.”

Y/N hummed as she cleaned the cuts and applied the antibiotic cream to his hand. When she was done, she moved and laid her hand against his cheek lovingly. “I called Kristie. I told her what happened and convinced her not to try to come back tonight.”

Levi nodded, knowing that the girl was going to stay here, wanted her to stay here. He had grabbed her phone and locked up the condo where Kristie and her daughter lived after kicking the shithead out.

“She had gone on a spa retreat with her sister. I told her to stay, that we had her and that when Rachel woke up, I would have her call her.” Y/N said.

Levi pulled Rachel’s phone out of his pocket and set it on the island. He looked at his wife and saw her move a bit closer to him. He draped his arms around her lower back and tugged her forward, bringing her in between his knees as he set his head against the curve of her neck.

He sighed as he felt her lean her head against his. Y/N knew what he had done, approved of it even. He was protecting his family and that included Kristie and Rachel. His words were muffled against her skin as he commented. “I hate that those bad vibes Marc had turned out to be right, but I’m glad Rachel knows she can come to us.”

Y/N smiled as she pulled back slightly to look at her husband. ”Ackerman men are loving and protective. She knew that, just like I know that.”

Levi pulled Y/N against him for a kiss. He would always protect those he loved.

**All other stories in this AU are labeled Modern AU -Levi Family**

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