#and the cat is totally pissed by it and declines and pushes her away and everything

[mono-socke]

'Party Hat' but it's Jeremy singing and the SQUIP is the cat

[imamotherfuckingstar-lord]

Let's Drink

Roronoa Zoro x Reader

Summary: Zoro fingers you, that's it.

a/n: MINORS DNI 18&OVER. smutty. fingering. domination. consented forcefulness (a little bit).

The large dining table was rumbling with plates and conversations, but all you could do was send daggers at the man across from you. Zoro was pouring himself another helping of beer, and you watched as he gulped the serving in one take. Alcohol poured a bit from the corner of his mouth, and you scowled, looking to Nami, pretending to join in her conversation with Robin. Yet, every few minutes your eyes would wonder back to Zoro and the way he was highhandedly pouring himself drink after drink. You weren’t sure why his relatively normal behavior was pissing you off, but it was.

“Keep staring and your eyes are going to fall out of their socket.”

Nami nudged you and smirked, giving a look to Robin; you ignored the two and stared down at your plate, forking around the delicious fish Sanji had cooked. Truthfully, you knew why Zoro’s mere presences was boiling your veins – it was his sheer inability to not be a stubborn bastard. He knew, God, he knew how much being around him was driving you crazy; you were practically a cat in heat. Zoro knew this and his answer to your obvious torment, was to sit back and enjoy the show.

“Is the food not to your liking?”

Your eyes snapped up from the plate to the handsome cook and you forced a smile. “No, it’s delicious, Sanji, I’m just not feeling well.”

His face fell and he immediately stood up from his seat. “Can I walk you to your room?”

Not even bothering to look at Zoro, you stood up and kindly declined his offer; telling him to sit down and enjoy the wonderful meal he provided the crew. He promised to bring you tea later on in the evening and you quickly bid everyone a goodnight before departing the kitchen into the aquarium room. The fish tank was full, and you stood by the glass to watch for a moment before you felt two strong hands on your waist.

“You really were going to let that creep cook walk you to your room?”

Zoro’s voice was low, and he stepped closer into your body, his hips pressed against you. He felt warm and you felt dizzy as his fingers skirted under the hem of your blouse. His skin was hot to the touch and a little sticky from the booze, but when they worked to unbutton your jeans, a moan escaped you.

“Put your hands on the glass.”

You did.

“Good girl,” Zoro whispered, tugging your jeans away from your waist; he slipped in his right hand into the front of your jeans and with his other hand, he brushed your hair to one side of your neck. Chills ran down your spine when his mouth pressed a deep kiss onto the side of your neck, just as his fingers pushed aside your panties. “You’ve been pissed at me all night…”

“Oh, you noticed.”

Zoro laughed lowly, biting down on your neck; his teeth on your skin sent a rolling sensation to the bottom of your stomach and when he started to caress your clit, you whimpered under his touch. He grinned, pushing his hardness against your ass – it was throbbing and large, you needed him, but knew the man all too well. This was just an appetizer to him; he was going to finish you fast and go back to drinking for a few more hours. He liked the idea of getting you wet and turned on, then leaving you to sit in your own arrival as you took your place next to him. He liked you there, because you were his girl, and everyone knew it.

Even Sanji.

Who he was totally going to kick his ass later for even suggesting that he walked you to your room, as if the two of you didn’t share a bed in your own private cabin – that euro trash. Annoyed now, Zoro turned aggressive and started shoving his dick hard against your ass, moving his fingers faster as you cried out. He laughed and brought his free hand to your mouth.

“Open up,” he demanded, shoving two fingers between your lips; you gagged but then held onto his fingers as he worked palmed your pussy. His calloused fingers felt divine as he massaged your folds, pushing his digits into you. You moaned against his fingers and the room grew silent, except the sounds of your slickness, wetness on Zoro’s fingers. “I don’t have all night…”

Zoro growled, pretending to be annoyed, but you knew better; he loved this shit. The teasing and roughness, he loved making you melt against his hand. He loved the way your body responded to his touch, the familiarity and comfort – you were the only person he had ever enjoyed this type of relationship with, and he loved that you were willingly to play along.

A perfect partner for him.

Moving your head back, his fingers fell from your mouth, and you looked over your shoulder to him. “Don’t be so weak, Zoro, can’t you make a woman come?”

Your point-blank teasing of his abilities had his veins hardening because he loved a challenge.

“Sweetheart, shut up,” he demanded, slipping his free hand up your blouse. His fingers wiggled under your bra, and he greedily pinched at your nipples; he was playing dirty, because he knew your body so well. Knew it would respond to your breast being touched and teased. Holding back a moan, you grew silent as his fingers dug deeper into your pussy. You started to jerk your hips forward, hitting the glass of the aquarium as he pinched your nipple and pushed his clothed cock into your bottom. He was large and pulsing, and your eyes rolled back as an eruption started to peak – slowly it climbed and grew until you were shaking violently against Zoro’s fingers, just as he bit at your neck.

“Fuck…” you cried, trying to hold it in as you rode the wave of pleasure. Zoro’s teeth pressed harder as your body slowed down and then before he could draw blood, he stopped, kissing your neck gently. He slowly removed his hand from your pants and from under your shirt, holding you up the waist as you recovered from the mess he made you into.

He smirked and kissed you under your ear, whispering that he loved teasing you. “I knew you needed this, after all the daggers you were sending me from across the table. Now, can I go drink in peace, brat?”

Taking a deep, calming breath, you zipped up your jeans and turned to Zoro. “I got what I wanted; you can do whatever you want now.”

Zoro grinned and pulled you by the neck to him; you stumbled into his body and his eyes narrowed. He held you by the neck as he pressed a firm and demanding kiss on your lips, his fingers moving up into your hair. He grabbed a handful and pulled you away from his kiss. Your eyes fluttered open, and he smiled, a soft and quiet one.

“Now come sit with me while I drink or else, I’m going to kick Sanji’s ass for making a pass at you.”

You wanted to point out that Sanji wasn’t making a pass at you, but instead you just smiled and agreed to join him back at the dining table. He nodded for you to follow but when he started toward the kitchen door, you grabbed a hold of his elbow and he turned. He looked whimsically handsome and stunningly strong under the aquarium lights; all you could feel was the bumping of your heart.

“I love you, Zoro.”

He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, but quickly grabbed your hand - with tenderness and affection. “I love you too, brat. Now let’s go drink.”

[katwriting]

Fic: Sound of your Heart

celebrity AU // chapter 3

In which Alec suffers, and Magnus has a ball about it. Oh, and there’s a first date too. 

word count: 5.4k (13.1k total) // Read on AO3 (or continue reading below)

Magnus was woken by the persistent beeping of his alarm, and the sound of raindrops splattering against his window. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back and threw an arm across his eyes. It was far too early for the world to require him being a functioning member of society.  

He was just about to drift off to sleep, when there was the familiar sound of rustling blankets. Magnus felt the mattress dip and a warm body settle next to his own – followed by the sharp sting of claws digging into his stomach.

Magnus' eyes shot open as he yelped in pain. "Chairman! I told you to stop doing that!"

He grabbed Chairman and carefully set him down next to him on the duvet, trying to send him his strictest glare. When Chairman just huffed and curled up next to him, Magnus shrugged and snuggled into his cat's silky gray fur. He would be a strict cat dad some other time.  

Instead of scolding his cat, Magnus dared to throw another glance out the bedroom window. The clouds were a depressing gray and didn't seem like clearing up anytime soon.

Magnus ran his fingers through Chairman's fur. "You don't feel like getting out of the house, do you?"

The cat's purrs only grew louder.

Magnus sighed again and pulled the Chairman closer to his chest. "Me neither, dear."

They stayed like that for a little while, Magnus burrowed in his pillows and duvet, the Chairman snuggled up against his chest. Awful weather aside, Magnus felt at peace. It had been a few weeks since the end of his tour and aside from writing songs and meeting with his team here and there, life had been surprisingly quiet. Magnus had adored being on tour – playing at a different city every night, soaking up the excitement from the audience, listening to them his songs – but he never felt as much at peace as in his own Brooklyn apartment on a rainy day. He didn't like rain, actually he resented it, but there was just something about enjoying a day in while the rest of New York had to face the floods that put Magnus at ease.

He was just about to doze off again when the comfortable silence in his bedroom was interrupted by his phone beeping. Grumbling something unrecognizable, he reached over and grabbed it, hissing when the bright screen hurt his eyes. It was just far too early for people to expect him to be a functioning member of society yet.

However, when he checked the name and message that had come in, his mood brightened and he quickly opened the message.

Got almost run over by a bike this morning and by the time I was at work my clothes were drenched. I hate rainy days.

Magnus chuckled, starting to type out a reply. He was pretty sure it would earn him a very snarky reply, but it was worth the trouble.

About ten days had passed since Magnus had run into Alec at the coffee shop again and they had exchanged numbers. For his initial text to Alec, Magnus had gone all out – and regretted it the second he had hit sent. But thankfully Alec's humor wasn't limited to conversations happening in person and he had replied with just the same amount of wit, and the same sarcasm that had intrigued Magnus about him in the first place. They had been texting back and forth since then, and talking to Alec had become an unexpected, but not at all unpleasant, new part of Magnus' daily life.

They didn't talk every day, but sent each other messages here and there. In doing so, Magnus had learned a lot about Alec. Not just that his sister's wedding drove him crazy or that he was dangerously close to killing Aldertree from finance on sight the next time he saw him. But also what kind of music he was currently listening to or that he'd had an aversion to peanut butter for as long as he could remember. Magnus now knew that Alec didn't quite get the hype around Marvel movies or superheroes in general. He'd practiced archery as a kid, had even won a few competitions. But thanks to his job and just life in general getting the best of him, he had not been to an archery range in quite some time.

And most importantly,  he absolutely, entirely, with every fibre of his being despised rainy days.

It's like the universe is planning for me to have a shitty day and wants me to KNOW it does.

Magnus could almost hear Alec grumble the words while he was probably sitting in his office, clad in a semi-dry suit and loaded with misery.

Don't be dramatic. It's not that bad.

No. It's worse.

Magnus chuckled, then dropped his phone onto the mattress to look at his cat, who had left his position curled up next to Magnus to pad over to the other side of the bed where he could look out of the window. Chairman didn't look like he approved of the rain either – he almost looked like he was frowning.

Still grinning, Magnus grabbed his phone, snapped a picture and sent it to Alec.

I think you have an ally in your aversion against rainy days, Alexander.

Alec's reply took mere seconds.

FINALLY someone who understands me. Also, nobody calls me Alexander.                                                                                                                                    

You better get used to it, then.

With a soft laugh, he put his phone onto his nightstand, then stretched one more time before pushing the covers off his body and getting out of bed.

+++

"All I'm saying is that this could be a really nice opportunity for you to get back into the game after your break."

"And all I'm saying is that I'll think about it. That's all I can promise at the moment."

Sighing, Magnus grabbed his coffee and took a sip. He peered over the rim of his mug at Ragnor, who was sitting on a chair next to him and going through a folder that seemed to be about to burst.

"You know you could just use a computer, right? It would make the whole searching for that thing you scribbled onto a post it note you borrowed from an assistant and left somewhere in a conference room three floors upstairs a week ago thing a little easier," Magnus quipped, his lips already pulling into a smile. Ragnor was very much responsible for Magnus' success, but he was also a dear friend and just so easy to tease.

But before Ragnor could come up with an undoubtedly sarcastic reply, the glass door to his office opened and Catarina walked in, carrying a large cardboard box.

Taking in Magnus' smirk and her husband's exasperated features, she frowned. "What did I miss?"

"We're sending Magnus back to that lousy coffee shop he used to work at if he keeps getting on my nerves any longer," Ragnor grumbled, barely looking up from his notes.

Anybody else would have been intimidated by his behavior, but Magnus wasn't fooled. He had long accepted that Ragnor was just a natural grump and comments like that weren't to be taken seriously. Except if he was really pissed, but since Magnus' career had taken off, the number of times that Ragnor was genuinely angry at Magnus had declined significantly. Mostly because Magnus had actually started to listen to him. From time to time. When the mood struck.

Luckily Magnus knew that Ragnor would never take his antics personally. He had been an important mentor for Magnus since day one (and would not miss a single chance to tease him about that), but they both knew that underneath all their bickering lay a deep mutual respect and understanding for each other. It was part of what had made their both their working relationship and their friendship so strong since the beginning. The same applied to Catarina, even though Magnus and Ragnor's tendency to roast each other had tested her nerves in the past more often than not.

Almost as if she had heard Magnus' thoughts, Catarina took another stern look at them and let out a sigh. She took a seat next to Magnus on the couch and reached for his hand, her thumb mindlessly grazing over his skin as she took in Ragnor's discontent and Magnus' cheeky smirk.

"Magnus", she said, her voice infinitely kind and just a tiny bit scolding, "what did you do now?"

Magnus huffed out a laugh. "I didn't do anything. I just told your dear husband that I'm not really in the mood for a TV show appearance right now."

"More like that you're not in the mood for any TV shows anytime soon."

"It's not like I'm supposed to do any TV shows anytime soon," Magnus shot back. "A three months break from the public eye. That's what we agreed on."

Ragnor just opened his mouth to reply when Catarina cut in. "It is. And you're getting that time off, don't worry. But three months away from the public eye doesn't mean three months off work." She nodded towards the cardboard box she had brought with her. "Your new autograph photos came in and there's a lot of new fan mail too. Time to get to work, love."

Magnus flashed a smile at Ragnor. "I'm so sorry, dear friend, I believe we'll have to postpone this conversation. Not that I mind."

He then turned back towards Catarina. "Do you need me to start signing now?"

She shook her head. "Just make sure they are ready by the end of the week."

Magnus nodded. "Consider it done."

Signing some of the new autograph cards took a few hours that Magnus spent tucked away in a quiet meeting room in the Downworld Records headquarters. He managed to get a few hundred done and would have been faster if his friends weren't so terribly chatty. Catarina stopped by with coffee sometime in the afternoon, Elias from the reception desk paid him a visit and even Ragnor came to say hi at some point. Even Alec kept Magnus company, only through texts, but still.

Magnus kept signing until well into the afternoon, when his eyes were sore and his writs hurt. When he'd reached the point where he couldn't stand to look at his own face anymore, he decided to call it a day. He put the signed autograph cards back into the cardboard box, took the fan letters with him and made his way to the ground floor.

+++

Back at his apartment, Magnus fixed himself a glass of wine before sitting down on his living room carpet and taking out the letters Catarina had given to him. Reading fanmail was something he had always preferred to do in the privacy of his apartment. There was just something about these letters people sent him, something so personal that Magnus felt like taking his time was the only way to treat them right. He didn't read everything, of course. There was just too much coming in. But he tried. Lots of them were about how people felt inspired by Magnus, how he had inspired them to go after their dreams. Those always hit close to home, especially since it hadn't been so long ago that Magnus had been a struggling singer with a big dream himself. The least he could do, he felt, was give those people's words at least a fraction of the time and attention they had put into writing them.

A little while into reading the letters, Chairman joined Magnus in the living room and with his cat resting in his lap and his fans' moving stories to go through, the rest of the afternoon flew by. Magnus didn't even notice how much time had passed until, once again, the persistent ringtone of his phone drew him out of a particularly inspiring letter.

Without looking, he picked up, too busy with swallowing past the lump in his throat that the fans' story had left behind to check the caller ID. "Hello?", he said, voice slightly pressed. Emotional letters always got him.

"I swear to everything that is holy, I will kill Aldertree and not even try to make it look like an accident."

Magnus chuckled. "Hello to you too, Alexander."

"Oh, sorry. Yeah. Hi." Magnus heard some traffic noise in the background, and Alec cursing under his breath. "Anyway, I'm going to kill him."

Putting the letter aside, Magnus shooed the Chairman of his lap so he could sit up a little. "And why is that?"

"As if I would need a specific reason at this point," Alec scoffed before there was loud honking in the background and Magnus could hear him curse again, louder this time. "Great, now I stepped into a puddle too. I just got this suit dry cleaned, dammit! "

"Today is really not your day, huh?" Magnus said sympathetically, then took another sip of his wine.

Alec let out a sigh. "Yeah. You could say that."

"So. Aldertree?"

"I don't even know why I get angry about him at this point anymore. He's been sabotaging my work ever since I got promoted. I just try to ignore him most of the time, but he manages to get on my nerves every damn time. I just can't stand him, yet I can't do anything about it since I'm not running the company yet and he knows it. It's just so…frustrating."

A wave of sympathy rolled through Magnus. Before his career had taken off, and even now that he was where he always wanted to be, he'd had to deal with plenty of people who fit to that description. At least until he had learned which people were here to stay and which ones were only around as long as his fame was.

"Look, Alexander-"

Alec didn't let him finish. Or even properly start, for that matter. "You know what's fun?"

"I assume you're going to tell me in a second."

"Ha. Well, yeah.  Uh…what's fun is that I didn't even call you because of Aldertree, yet ended up ranting to you about him anyways."

Magnus huffed out a laugh. "I don't blame you. Awful people do tend to have that effect on us. Besides, I enjoy talking to you."

"Yeah, me too. The talking, I mean. I uh…I like that, too. That was kind of the point why I called in the first place."

"To talk to me?"

"No. Well, yeah, but also because I wanted to ask something."

Magnus chuckled. "I'm all ears."

"Look…I really enjoyed texting with you these past two weeks or so and I was kind of wondering if we uh…could hang out for real at some point?"

"Hang out? May I remind you, Alexander, that I don't just hang out with people." He swirled the wine in his glass. "But if this is your adorably dorky way of asking me out, please, go ahead."

Alec let out a slightly nervous laugh. "Yeah. That's kind of it. So, will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Stop being a tease, mostly. Also, go out on date with me?"

Magnus smiled and nodded, then remembered that Alec wouldn't exactly be able to hear that reaction. "I'd love to."

"Yeah?" Alec sounded genuinely surprised, like he hadn't expected Magnus' answer. "I mean, great! How does this Friday sound?"

Magnus smiled. "Friday sounds great. See you then?"

The relief in Alec's tone was impossible to miss. Magnus felt his heartbeat quicken at the realization. "Yeah. I'll see you then."

"Great! And Alexander?"

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favor and try not to kill Aldertree until then. I'm all for handcuffs, but I'd hate for our first date to be in prison."

Alec's gleeful laugh rung in Magnus' ears long after they had ended their call.

+++

"Magnus, hey!"

Looking up from his phone, Magnus turned around just to see Alec rushing towards him. "I'm sorry I'm late," Alec huffed, slightly out of breath and cheeks a little flushed. "I got held up at work by you know who and then came here as fast as I could."

Magnus smiled reassuringly, noting with a pleased feeling that Alec's gaze was raking up and down his attire. So the necklaces and open buttons had been a good idea after all.

"No problem, I just got here myself," he said, turning around towards the building that had definitely seen better days, but otherwise didn't give anything away about what awaited them behind the door. "So, Alexander. What exactly are we doing here?"

Alec grinned. "Let me guess – you googled the place, came up with nothing and it's been bugging you all week. Am I right?"

Magnus pursed his lips and raised a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. "I may or may not have been a little curious. Now, are you just going to keep making fun of me or are you actually going to tell me what we're doing tonight?"

Alec chuckled. "Impatient as always, I see." The chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh when Magnus just raised his eyebrows at him.

"Fine, let's stop keeping you in the dark. I actually didn't know this place existed until my sister told me about it about a week ago, and it's a bit of a long story, so why don't you just see for yourself?"

To Magnus' (not at all unpleasant) surprise, Alec underlined those words by gently putting a hand on Magnus' back and nudging him towards the entrance. And if Alec's hand rested there for just a little longer than strictly necessary, Magnus wasn't one to complain.

Magnus had gotten to know Alec a little better through their continuous texting over the past couple of days, and it didn't take even half an hour into their date for him to learn another three new things about him: He had a mediocre taste in style, a great taste in music and an excellent taste when it came to picking locations for a first date.

The initially dull looking building had turned out to be a cozy little art gallery that focused on all kinds of weird exhibits. Currently, they were showing an exhibit about the absolute worst the 80s and 90s had to offer in terms of music – also known as Magnus' secret guilty pleasure kind of era.

"I have to admit, Alexander, you do know how to pick an unexpected first date location," Magnus mused as he slowly walked through the exhibits' Pop and Rock of the 90s section after strolling through other sections for a while.

Alec, who had been doing a very poor job at hiding the fact that he'd been a little nervous about what Magnus might say about his first date idea, visibly relaxed. "You like it, then?"

Magnus beamed. "An exhibit about all the awful 90s music you will never hear me admit out loud I still love? I love this.

"Good, that makes one of us. Because I'm starting to wonder what on earth you find so fascinating about the 80s."

They had made it into a part of the exhibit where visitors got to witness some of the best of the 80s and 90s on their own. All they had to do was put on a pair of headphones and choose a song on one of the tablets that were mounted to the wall.

Magnus, who had already been busy picking up a pair of headphones, halted. He raised an eyebrow  at Alec. "I'll have you know that the 80s included musical legends such as Queen, Bon Jovi or Whitney Houston, Alexander."

"Yeah, I know that," Alec deadpanned, his tone being nowhere near serious. "I'm talking about the Cyndi Lauper and Wham! songs in here." He sounded like mentioning those artists alone personally offended him.

Magnus shrugged. "Collateral damage. There are so many better pieces to pick from. May I?", he asked, holding up the pair of headphones to Alec.

When Alec nodded, he slipped them over his ears and grabbed another pair for himself. Once they were both all set, Magnus turned towards the vast music selection and picked a song for the both of them.

As soon as the song started playing, Magnus couldn't help himself. He closed his eyes just as his body almost automatically started moving in tune with the music. Magnus had always had a hard time just sitting still when listening to a good song, especially when it was one of his personal favorites.

He kept going until a gentle tap on his shoulder dragged him out of the last bit of the song, just as the singer's voice started to fade off. When he opened his eyes, he realized that Alec had been watching him, leaning against the wall, headphones long forgotten and a gentle smirk on his lips.

"Don't You Forget About Me? Really, Magnus?"

Magnus shrugged. "That is 80s music as well, Alec. Not so bad after all, is it?"

Alec chuckled. "You sure know how to sell it."

Alec reached out and pulled the headphones off Magnus' head, setting them back onto the hook where they'd taken them from. "So what other not-so guilty musical pleasures are you hiding?"

Magnus laughed. "My dear Alexander, that is a story for a second date."

It took them another while to finish their stroll through the gallery. Most of it was due to Magnus, who could talk about music for hours and sure made use of that trait during their date. But Alec didn't seem to mind, he patiently listened to Magnus' stories and threw in an anecdote of his own here and there, proving that it hadn't been just talk when he'd said he had a bit of an interest in music as well.

After they had made it to the end, Alec went to retrieve their coats and met Magnus in the entrance hall. "So? Did you like the exhibit?

Magnus beamed at him as he reached for his jacket, his fingers brushing against Alec's as he took it. "I told you already, I loved this. Your lack of appreciation for guilty pleasure music isn't going to change that."

Alec smiled back at him, and this time it reached his eyes, too. He looked…hopeful, Magnus thought. "Great. I was actually kind of nervous since you know, first date usually means drinks or a movie or whatever. But I figured since you mentioned you're into 80s and 90s music, this might be up your alley."

"Definitely. Thanks for bringing me here. However, now that you mention it," Magnus said, glancing at his watch, "drinks don't sound so bad right now."

Alec grinned. "I was hoping you would say that. Come on, I know a place."

Alec led them to a bar not far from the gallery. Thanks to it being a Friday night, The Hunter's Moon was packed, but they managed to secure themselves a small table tucked away in the corner. The place wasn't big, yet buzzing with energy and excitement, the latter being due to the stage about 30 feet away from Alec and Magnus' table. For now, it was empty, but a microphone and guitar seemed just to be waiting for someone to start playing.

When Magnus asked Alec about the empty stage, Alec just smirked and muttered something about patience. "But you'll like it, promise."

He ended up being right. Alec had just taken off towards the bar to get their first round of drinks when a young woman walked on stage, waved to the audience and started tuning the guitar. There was a moment of excited silence before she started playing a rendition of James Bay's "Hold Back The River", singing along in a soft voice that slowly grew more powerful as the song went on. Magnus was fascinated immediately, so much that he almost didn't notice Alec had gotten back from the bar, drinks in hand.

Alec chuckled as he pushed Magnus' drink into his direction, their fingers brushing together briefly. "I assume you like this place?"

The woman had reached the first chorus and while her voice had been soft and melodic, she switched gears to a much more powerful tone as the song went on.

"Are you kidding? I could listen to her all day", Magnus said and laughed. "I haven't been to an open mic night in forever, but I'm just realizing what I've been missing out on."

Alec nodded and smiled. "This is one of my favorite places. It's a bit of a commute from my apartment, but the music makes it all worth it. I admire these people, actually. It takes courage to just walk up onto that stage and sing your heart out, not knowing if people are going to like it or not."

"That it does", Magnus mused, before realizing the words had actually slipped out. "I mean, I can imagine that it does. These people must put their heart and soul into these performances," he added quickly, just as the woman on stage put all her energy into the final few lines of the song.

Surveying Alec's expression carefully, Magnus kept an eye out for any signs that he had managed to blow his own cover. When Alec didn't show any signs of suspicion, Magnus breathed out and turned back towards the stage and grabbed his drink. Relieved, he raised his glass towards Alec. "Anyway. To us. Thanks for bringing me here, Alec."

Alec's gaze was warm when he looked at Magnus. "It's my absolute pleasure."

Magnus' martini clinked against Alec's beer bottle, and the sound made Magnus oddly hopeful. Things had been going well so far. Alec had been attentive and funny all night and there hadn't been a single moment of awkward silence. Even better – Magnus was having a genuinely good time.  He didn't quite trust the warm, comfortable feeling in his stomach just yet, but it seemed like they were ringing in a rather special kind of night.

And judging from Alec's soft smile and the warm expression in his eyes whenever he caught Magnus looking at him, Magnus wasn't the only one feeling that way.

+++

"…and that's why I am pretty sure that next time I go to Peru, the people at airport security won't be as tolerant as they were last time."

Magnus finished his little story with a smirk and a flourish and his free hand. The other one had been tucked into Alec's for the past couple of minutes. Alec had grabbed it to pull Magnus aside and out of the way of an approaching group of pedestrians. He hadn't made any attempts at letting go since, and Magnus was going to be damned if he was going to make him do so.

Magnus almost found it odd how well Alec and him got along even though it was only their first date. But then again, he couldn't bring himself to care.  Their evening had gone way too well for that. Throughout the night, Magnus had realized that all the funny texts and spontaneous phone calls in the world didn't even come close to spending time with Alec in person. Magnus had had a good feeling with Alec since they had first run into each other at the coffee shop, but the longer the evening went on, the more Magnus realized that his gut feeling about Alec had been right.

Talking to Alec, laughing with him, was easy, effortless. Alec's gaze was warm, his laugh contagious. He was still a lot more on the quiet side than Magnus, but the longer their date had gone on the more Alec had opened up. He'd stood a little closer, let his gaze rest on Magnus a little longer, nudged him here and there to underline his point while telling a story, or gently brushed his fingers against Magnus' as he reached for his drink. They had been small gestures, easy to miss, but Magnus had noticed anyway.

His own skeptical mind had blamed it on the cozy bar and the music in the background at first, but even now as they were strolling through the streets, Magnus felt as comfortable with Alec as he had been the entire night. That feeling had only grown stronger when Magnus' weird story from Peru, sometimes a bit of a dealbreaker on any first date, had made Alec only laugh with no signs of him being weirded out.

"You got yourself banned from an entire country. Why am I not surprised."

"What can I say, Alexander – I am a man of many talents."

He took another few steps on the sidewalk, then almost tripped over his own feet while trying to dodge a lamppost. It was only thanks to Alec's quick thinking and even quicker reflexes that Magnus didn't end up falling flat on his butt in the middle of the street.

Alec chuckled. "I suppose almost breaking your nose because you walked into a lamppost is one of those?"

"Fine, it wasn't one of my best moments."

"It's okay. It was actually pretty adorable."

"Adorable, huh?"

"Yeah," Alec mumbled, his hand brushing against Magnus' once again.

This time, Magnus didn’t think twice. In one swift move, he closed his own hand around Alec's, holding it in a light grasp, just tight enough to feel connected but still light enough for Alec to pull away if he so desired.

There was a pause, a beat of silence. Magnus breathed in, was about to pull his hand back, when the grip of Alec's hand suddenly tightened and he interlaced their fingers.

Magnus breathed out, his shoulders relaxing. He looked over to Alec, and caught him looking right back.

As their eyes caught, Alec's gaze drifted to their interlaced fingers and Magnus saw a smirk pulling at his lips. Alec bit his lip, then looked back up at Magnus. "Okay?"

Magnus let out a soft laugh, just barely audible, barely more than a breath. He returned Alec's smirk, his gaze reassuring. "Absolutely."

They kept walking for another while, for longer than it would have been strictly necessary to get to the next subway stop. Some of the time they spent talking, but most of it in comfortable silence. Magnus didn't mind either – he was more than okay with their little detours, as they meant he didn't have to say goodbye to Alec just yet.

Eventually though, they made it to the subway stop and came to a halt, turning towards each other. Magnus felt an odd sense of déjà-vu, similar to the last time they had seen each other and had been forced to say goodbye too early.

Judging from Alec's smirk, he'd had the same thought. "I guess this is where we part ways, again?"

Magnus chuckled. "I guess so."

Alec reached out for his other hand, his fingers softly grazing over Magnus' skin. "I had a really good time tonight."

Magnus squeezed Alec's hand gently. "So did I. Care for a second date sometime soon?"

Alec's gaze was as warm as the smiles he'd sent Magnus throughout the evening. "I'd love that."

Magnus beamed at Alec. He had just a couple of minutes left until he needed to catch his train, but he just couldn't bring himself to head off just now. The night had been too special. Instead, he stepped closer to Alec, closing almost all of the distance between them.

"Alright, Alexander," he muttered, voice barely above a whisper. "I'll see you soon then."

He took another half step closer and felt Alec's breath brush against his face. Pausing one more second, he waited if Alec would pull away. But just like earlier, when he had reached out for his hand, Alec didn't. So Magnus took one more half step to close the distance between them and dropped a kiss on the corner of Alec's mouth – just shy of his lips.

Squeezing his hands one more time, Magnus slowly backed away. He was just about to turn towards the subway station and head home when Alec's voice made him turn around once again.

"Magnus?"

"Yeah?"

"You call that a goodbye kiss?"

A sly smirk pulled on Magnus' lips, matching the one on Alec's face. "My, my Alexander. How brazen you are," Magnus mumbled. He stepped closer to Alec again and rested one hand on Alec's waist, the other on his face before leaning in again – for a proper kiss this time.

[thejilyship]

Cherry Pie

Jilytober diner au

I don’t remember how many votes this one got, but it was a lot and it also got my vote, so here it is. A baby monster drabble/one-shot 

wc: 4.5k 

ff.net | ao3

James was almost positive that his head was going to split open and the contents would just spill right out onto the concrete. After a night out with the lads and having consumed more alcohol than he cared to recollect, he needed a good meal and a lot of water after the night he’d just had.  

They’d just finished up with Peter’s stag party, and while Sirius had tried to get them to stay out later, James had been glad when Peter declined, because James didn’t want to be the only one who vomited. Damn Peter and his taste for fruity beverages that had too much sugar. And damn Sirius for telling him that he had to keep pace with him all night. Sirius didn’t care what kind of alcohol they were drinking, he always drank a lot of it.  

He was stupid. He didn’t have to keep pace with Sirius, and he knew that. But he did it anyway, and now he was paying for it. And he would keep paying for it until next week probably.  

He was also not headed home like he should have been doing. Instead he was walking toward a diner that was miraculously still open. He didn’t know that there were any 24-hour diners near his place, and that was probably a good thing, since he would have gone in too often at three am if he had known.  

He pushed the door open and a small bell chimed above his head. He quickly turned to look up, making his head and stomach swirl in protest and he had to grip the door handle for a moment so he didn’t fall over or get sick.  

“Oh no,” Someone said from across the restaurant, and James assumed they were talking to someone else until he heard footsteps coming in his direction. He opened his eyes, not having realized that they were shut, and looked up to find himself face to face with perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She looked angry, but that did nothing to detract from her beauty, and nothing to stop him from staring at her either.  

“You can’t come in here this late and get sick. I’m not paid enough to clean up after drunks.”

“Drunk?” James asked, doing his best to stand up and show her his most charming smile. He ran a hand through his hair, knowing that it had to be absolutely atrocious, but he had always thought he looked more dashing with his hair in total disarray anyway. “I am not some drunk. I am a hungry, customer.”

“You’re not a customer yet. You’re hardly even in the diner actually.” The waitress put a hand on her hip and waved her hand at him in a shooing motion. “And I’d rather you didn’t come in, honestly.”

“Oh I’m a customer. I’ve already decided what I’m going to eat and everything.”  

He watched her shoulders droop and realized that he must not look nearly as charming as he thought he did if she wasn’t swooning over him already.  

“Fine. But if you look like you’re going to get sick, I’m going to drag you out of the diner myself, understand?”  

“Crystle.” He held up his hand in the a-okay gesture and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Sorry, I thought you were going to say, ‘Do I make myself clear’ but then you didn’t.” He shook his head and then started into the restaurant, toward the counter, though he had to side step her in the process.  

Fucking hell she smelled good. Like cherry pie and something that reminded him distinctly of Christmas at his parent’s house. One of those smells from when he was a kid though. The ones that instantly made you feel all nostalgic. James was a rather nostalgic person anyway and so he sighed and plopped himself down on one of the stools at the counter and spun himself around so he could rest his elbow on the counter. It was quite a graceful thing for a drunk man to accomplish.  

“I used to have a cat,” He said, looking at the waitress. “Her name was Chester.”  

She hardly glanced at him, and he was expecting at least two follow up questions, but all he got was a flip of her notepad and a semi-glare.  

“What can I get you?”  

“You don’t want to know why I named my cat Chester? Even though she was a girl?”  

“No. What can I get you?”  

“Water please. Lots of water. And a burger. Some chips. Do you have cherry pie? You smell like cherry pie.”  

Again, she made no comment and just set her paper down and walked off in the direction of the kitchen. “Burger and chips!” She called into the doorway and James heard someone in the back of the diner call back. Lily turned around and picked up a glass and started filling it with water.  

“I thought my cat was a boy when I got her. She was this big, orange, fluff ball of a cat and Chester just seemed to fit.”  

“I hope you remember this conversation tomorrow when you’re sober.”  

“Chester was great, why wouldn’t I want to remember her?”  

“Why didn’t you change her name when you found out that it was a she?”  

She turned around and started toward him. He looked for a smile, but there wasn’t one. She was humoring him, but he didn’t mind.  

“Lily,” He read her name tag and the waitress’ brow creased.  

“You named her Lily?”

“No,” He shook his head. “That’s your name, right?” He nodded to her nametag.  

She set the glass down in front of him and nodded. “That’s why it’s on my nametag.”  

“It’s a lovely name,” He said, “And I couldn’t change the name of my cat because she was a Chester, it didn’t matter that she was a girl.” He shrugged and then picked up the water and started taking a drink.  

“Don’t drink it too quickly, I’m still worried that you’re going to get sick. ”

“It’s nice of you to worry about me,” James smiled at her, but then when he went to set the water down, he almost spilled it. He would have spilled it if Lily hadn’t reached out and stopped it from falling over.  

“Don’t make a mess or I’ll have you clean it up.”  

“Oh, if I make a mess, I’ll insist upon cleaning it up.” He assured her, chuckling a bit. “Fuck, I don’t remember glasses being so hard to set down.”

“You’re drunk, remember?” And he could have sworn that she almost smiled at that. He just laughed again.  

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” He thought about taking another drink but he didn’t want to spill the water and have Lily stop with her almost smile.  

“I’ll go and get the pie for you.” She said.  

“Wait!” He said, stopping her from turning around. “I want to wait to have the pie. If you bring it out now, I’ll just eat it because it’s here.”  

“And then you’ll get sick, won’t you?”

“It’s my stupid mate’s fault. It was his stag party tonight and we let him pick the drinks... because you know, it was his stag party. But he likes the sugary, fruity drinks, which taste good, but you can’t drink too many of them.”

“But you did anyway?”  

“Oh definitely.” He nodded.  

“Well then you’ll find no sympathy here.”

“I don’t want your sympathy, I just want you to smile at me again.”  

“I don’t think that I’ve smiled at you,” She tilted her head and James could see that she had a few freckles along the bridge of her nose.  

“You almost smiled at me though and I’d like for that to happen again.”  

“You really are drunk, aren’t you? Like, really drunk?”  

“It was the vodka cocktails that did me in.” He lamented, letting his head rest against his shoulder. She nodded at him and then picked up a rag. He watched as she walked out from behind the counter and started wiping down the tables in the diner. All of them were empty, he was the only customer here at the moment. He wanted to say something else to her, but he figured she might have walked away from him so that she didn’t have to talk to him. He could wait until she came back.  

He needed a minute anyway, a minute to talk his stomach into behaving and to talk his head into not pounding so much. He didn’t even think his headache had anything to do with the alcohol, just Sirius’s horrendous rendition of Somebody to Love. Fuck his friends were dumbasses.  

Though so was he, and he was very aware of that as he continued to teeter back and forth on the stool instead of heading back up to his apartment that was less than a block away. Eating was a good idea, but he didn’t need to be here to do that. And at home, he couldn’t piss anyone off but himself. And it wouldn’t even be his right-now-self, it would be his hungover-self tomorrow morning. And the hungover-James of tomorrow was already going to be pissed at the right-now-James, so why not piss him off a bit more instead of upsetting the pretty waitress?

Lily came back a few minutes later, before James could talk himself into leaving and just as the cook called out that James’ order was complete. She walked back to get it and then set it down in front of him. “Here you are.”  

“Thank you,” He nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose before he sat up straight and picked up his burger. His stomach should have recoiled at the thought of eating a burger, but it didn’t. He took a large bite and sighed, “This is amazing.”  

“Should I bring the rubbish bin over just in case?”  

“Oh no,” He shook his head and took another bite. “If I’ve made it this long without... well then I should be good. Especially now that I’ve got food. Thank you though.”  

“Of course,” She didn’t walk away this time, “So what’s your name and how long have you known this mate of yours?”

“I’m James,” He said, holding his left hand out to her. He didn’t realize that it was his left hand, but Lily did another almost smile as she shook it. “My mate Peter is the one who is getting married. But Sirius is the one who got me drunk. Remus told me that I was going to hate myself in the morning, and he’s usually right about these things, but I didn’t listen to him. I’ve known all of them for over a decade.”  

“That’s a long time.” Lily nodded. “Was it a huge party?”  

James shook his head. “Nah, just the four of us. We went to a few different pubs that we haven’t really frequented since we were in uni, and we just had a blast. I’m terrified if Sirius ever decides to get married because his stag party would murder me. Twice. And then I’d have to do myself in to get rid of the hangover that I’d be suffering with a month after the fact.” He shook his head. Lily gave him another almost smile and he grinned at her.  

“What about you? How has your night been?” He asked, setting his burger down so that he could reach for some sauce to put on his chips.  

Lily shrugged one of her shoulders and pulled her drink out from under the counter, taking a sip before answering him. “It’s been alright I suppose. The night shift is always interesting. And I suppose I should apologize for trying to swat you out of the store, but you aren’t the first drunk to wander in and the last one did make a mess.”

James made a face, but didn’t pause in eating his chips. “I would have thrown me out too, no apology necessary.”  

“Thanks,” She nodded.  

“Do you normally work the nightshift?” She shook her head.  

“No, I don’t like to stay up quite as late as this shift requires, nor do I like being pretty much alone with anyone who happens to come in off the street. But my friend Benjy was desperate and I know the cook, so I agreed.” James nodded.  

“I’m not normally up late,” He ran a hand through his hands and then picked up his glass of water. “I was in bed by nine yesterday,” He chuckled. “I suppose that’s what happens when you get a stupid bloody job that gets you out of bed at five in the fucking morning.” He narrowed his brow in frustration, but then quickly his face became apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear like that.” He hadn’t realized that he’d already sworn, or that she hadn’t seemed to care.  

Lily laughed and James felt the sound travel down his spine. That wasn’t an almost smile, that was a real laugh and that was better than a smile. At least he thought it was, but then she looked at him and she was smiling with all her teeth for a moment and James wasn’t sure if he’d just been electrocuted or if she was a witch and had just placed him under a spell.  

Though, he supposed that there was no reason that it couldn’t have been both.  

“I don’t care if you swear. This is a diner and it’s past two in the morning. You can say whatever you want.” She waved her hand and then tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear. It had fallen out of her plait. “It’s not like there are any kids wandering about.”  

“That’s true,” James said, still feeling a bit slack-jawed. “So, I can say anything I’d like to?”  

“I don’t mind.” She shrugged her shoulder.  

“You have the most beautiful laugh I have ever heard.”  

She opened her mouth and then closed it. “You’re drunk.”  

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth.”  

She looked him over for a moment and then shook her head. “You want your pie now?”  

James nodded and pushed up his glasses again. “Do you make the pies?”

“No, of course not. I’m just the waitress.”  

“You mean The Waitress. You’re not ‘just’ anything.” He hoped that he’d emphasized the proper words and finished off the last couple bits of his burger while she was fetching the pie. When she came back, she set it next to him and then took his glass to refill.

“Do you do this often?”  

“Do what?” He asked, picking up his fork and trying to decide where he should get the first bite of the pie from. Sometimes he liked to eat if from back to front, the crust was one of his favorite parts of the pie.  

“Do you just show up at random diners and flirt with whatever waitress is there?”  

“No,” He narrowed his brow and looked up at her before he looked back at his pie and slid his fork into the flakey crust. “I normally make myself dinner, unless I go out with friends or order in. Alright, I normally order in, but I’m not normally a fan of going out by myself. I only came in here just now because my flat is on this block and I saw the picture of the burger hanging in the window while I was trying to walk home.”  

“Are you lying?” She asked, tilting her head.  

“No,” He took another bite of pie. “But if you already think that I am, saying that I’m not won’t change your mind.”

“That’s true.”  

“So?”

“So?”

“Do you think I’m a liar?”  

She bit her bottom lip and James just about fell off his chair. At least, in his head, he almost fell off his chair. In reality, he just froze in place. “No, I suppose I don’t think that you’re a liar.”  

He cleared his throat. “Well that’s a relief. It would be harder to get your number if you thought I was a dishonest man.”

“I would be very difficult then.”  

“But now?”  

“Now?” She grinned at him.  

“How difficult would it be now?”  

She chuckled and looked down at her hands before looking back up at him. “I mean, I suppose it wouldn’t be all that difficult now.”  

“Well that’s a relief.” He finished off his pie, wondering why diner pie was always so small. “Because I’d really like the chance to try this again when I’m not completely shit-faced.”  

“That is, if you don’t change your mind once your sober.”  

He narrowed his brow and clicked his tongue. “I really don’t see myself changing my mind about you. Unless I found out that you were secretly a serial killer or in cahoots with The Master.”  

“The M- well no, I can promise you that I’m neither of those things.”  

“That’s good. Then I won’t change my mind.”  

“I’m not convinced.”

“You will be.”  

“You don’t want to know why I’m not convinced.” James had been assuming it was some self-conscious bullshite, but she was still grinning at him and there was a sparkle in her eye that wasn’t there a moment ago.  

“Why aren’t you convinced?”  

“Because you’ve completely embarrassed yourself in front of me tonight. You’re going to wake up tomorrow and never want to show your face in here again.”  

“I haven’t gotten sick.”

“Yet.”

“I won’t get sick.”  

“We’ll see.”  

“And I’m not going to be too embarrassed. I mean, you have agreed to give me your number, so I couldn’t have embarrassed myself too much.”  

“No, I haven’t. I just said that it wouldn’t be too difficult for you to get it.”  

James pressed his lips together and tried to think back to what he exact words had been, but she was still smiling at him, and between that and the alcohol, he would just have to take her word for it. She could say anything and he would have no choice but to take her word for it. “Right,” He relented. “Well then, my apologize. I did not mean to be presumptuous.”  

“I know, if you were being presumptuous on purpose, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’m not even sure presumptuous is the right word for that. You’re just drunk.”  

“You’re having too much fun with my being inebriated.”  

“Possibly. Though all I’m really doing is constantly reminding you of the fact.”

“I assure you madam, I do not need to be reminded. I’m well aware.”

“Are you talking like an English Gentleman on purpose, or is that just what’s happening now.”

“I am an English Gentleman, my lady.”  

“You sound Scottish to me. At least you did earlier. Now I’m wondering if perhaps you live in the queen’s basement just for fun.”  

“I am Scottish,” He nodded. “And the queen would never let me live in her basement. Though I did get to visit the royal household once on school holiday in year ten.”

“You went to one of those posh preppy schools, didn’t you?”  

“It’s not my fault though, so please don’t hold it against me.” He put his hand over his heart and made sure to talk with an extra thick Scottish accent. Lily laughed again and he smiled up at her.  

“You know, I suppose it’s not normally the fault of the children who get stuck in those schools.”

“It’s entirely my parent’s fault.”  

“And what did they do that to you for?”

“Something about wanting me to be pretentiously educated.” Lily laughed again and James ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he could do this all night. Sit here at the counter and make Lily laugh. He’d quite like to.  

“Well did they accomplish their goal?”  

“Yeah, Oxford afterward and now I’ve got one of those poshy, grownup jobs that makes you want to drill things into your head.”  

Lily didn’t laugh at that though, she just narrowed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Though her biting her lip had an entirely different effect on him than before.  

“You shouldn’t do something if it makes you want to drill things into your head.”

“Oh,” He started shaking his head. “No, I mean, I suppose it’s not quite as bad as all of that. I can be a bit over dramatic when I’m drunk,” He smiled and she nodded. “And when I’m sober if I’m being honest.”  

“What is it that you wanted to be when you were a kid?”  

James had to think about it for a moment, the alcohol and her lip biting to blame for any hesitation, “I think I wanted to be a football player for a while. I also wanted to be a teacher.”

“At one of those posh schools?”  

“No, like a primary school teacher at a regular school. Where I could also be a football coach. That’s sounds nice.”

“Why didn’t you become that then?”  

“Didn’t really seem to fit in with everything else.” He shrugged, wondering why they weren’t joking about pirates anymore. Had they been joking about pirates? He couldn’t remember, but they could be. “What did you want to be when you were little?” He asked, before she could comment on his answer.  

“I wanted to be a ballerina.” She grinned. “But then I changed my mind when I was seven and decided that I needed to be a zookeeper. And then I wanted to be an astronaut. And then a doctor and then a reporter and then and then... I’ve never really been able to make up my mind.”

“Well why are we meant to have it all worked out by now anyway? Why can’t we change our minds? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not knowing.”

“Sure, but you only think that because you hate your job. If you loved your job, you’d be preaching the opposite. That’s how it always goes.”  

“It shouldn’t be how it goes.” James picked up his water and took a few drinks, hoping to help clear his head. If only it worked that quickly. Though now that he thought about it, his head was much clearer than when he had walked in.  

“Are you getting tired now?” Lily asked, leaning over the counter, her chin resting on her fist now. His eyes snapped back to hers. He hadn’t realized that he’d zoned out.  

“Why would you ask that?” He tilted his head and Lily chuckled.  

“Because I agreed with you a moment ago and you didn’t really seem to hear me.”  

“Damn. I get the feeling that you’re not going to do that all that often. I should have been listening.”  

“Well if you hadn’t drank so much...”  

“You keep taking the mick, but if I hadn’t drank so much, then I wouldn’t have wandered in here so late. And then where would we be?” Lily pressed her lips together for a moment and James thought that he might get lucky, that she might agree with him again. But then she pulled out a grin that he’d yet to see.  

“If you hadn’t wandered in here, then I would be having a much quieter night.”

“And you’re really going to stand there and pretend that that’s what you want? A quieter night? I mean you probably didn’t want to have to deal with my almost getting sick, but would you really have preferred that I never walked in.”

“You’re putting a lot of stock in your drunk flirting skills.”  

“Well why shouldn’t I? My sober flirting skill are insane. If I wasn’t drunk right now, you might have already agreed to marry me.”

“Marry you? Really?”  

“Really, really.”  

“Does your self-confidence also skyrocket when you’re drunk?”

“No, that’s another side effect of the posh schools I went to.”  

“Ah, almost forgot about those.”  

“Really?”

“Nah, not even a little bit.”

“I was wearing antlers earlier. That’s not posh.”  

“It’s a shame I missed the antlers.”  

“You like antlers?” Lily shrugged.  

“Maybe.” The door to the diner opened and a small group of people walked in. James didn’t know what they were doing here at three thirty in the morning looking perfectly sober, so he looked at Lily, “Students. They’re here a lot.” She grinned at him before turning her attention to the new arrivals. She knew their names and regular orders. James wondered if perhaps there would come a time when he had a regular order in this place, and Lily knew it.  

James drank the rest of his water while he waited for her to put their order in and watched them go and sit at a table and start talking a bit too animatedly for this hour of the night- morning? He really needed to go to bed.  

“It’s nearly four now,” Lily said when she walked back over to the counter. “Believe it or not, people are going to start showing up soon.”  

“Well at least I don’t have a job that makes me get up this early.”

“You always looking for the bright side of things?”  

“It’s not fun to always be looking for the bad stuff.”  

She opened her mouth and then closed it again and nodded. “You’re right. You also need to leave.”

“You’re kicking me out?”  

“Tell me you aren’t fighting to keep your eyes open.”

“I like what I’m looking at, why wouldn’t I fight to keep them open.”  

Lily laughed again and started picking up his dishes. “I work the dinner shift tomorrow. You can come round six. That’s when my break will be. ”

“Do I get your number yet?”

“You’ll get it if you show up tomorrow, how’s that?”  

James smiled at her, doing his best to be his most charming. “That’s more than fair.” He still didn’t want to leave, but he knew he should before he fell asleep on the counter. He had already embarrassed himself enough for one night.  

“Alright, alright. Up you go, your legs still work, right?”  

“Yeah, they still work.” James laughed, standing up and then reaching up to fix his glasses again. He pulled out his wallet and paid for his meal. “I’ll see you here, tomorrow at six.”  

“If you still want to.” She reminded him.  

“I’ll be here.” He put his palm against the counter and leaned forward. “Right here, in about fourteen hours.” Lily smiled.  

“Alright. You going to bring your antlers?” James snorted, a hand going up to his hair as he turned toward the door. He leaned against the door with his back, and paused to look at her for a moment. The brilliant green eyes, the messy bun of red hair, the freckles on her nose and the dazzling smile. His heart was excited and his stomach was in knots and he couldn’t wait for six o’clock tomorrow.  

“For you? Anything.”

[dark-gothic-lolita]

Omg so it just hit me that one page (loooong time ago) where juvia was posing and it said "some like it hot" is totally navia! Bc ya know fire is hot so juvia is saying she likes natsu! Lmao oooohhhh a navia promt maybe?

A/N: It’s like prompt central around here! I totally remember which cover you’re talking about, but I don’t remember the number! AAAAAH, I soooo had to write this one! DEFINITELY a prompt! ENJOY!

Pairing: Navia, Yes, again

Some like it hot

Oneshot

Gray was horrified. Absolutely horrified.

Juvia had just rejected him.

What the hell kind of sick plot twist was this? Was he maybe in a nightmare? There was no way that this was real. No, he refused to believe it. Juvia hadn’t rejected him, he was just thinking of the worst, that’s all.

Juvia was standing there, right in front of him as she looked at him with a confused expression. Was he okay? He had invited her out on what sounded like it was a date, but Juvia had to decline. She thought he would have been able to notice by now, that she wasn’t into him anymore. The stalking? Finished a long time ago. -Sama at the end of his name? Completely unnecessary. The constant blubbering when he didn’t acknowledge her? Over it. The obvious jealous? Stupid!

“Ano, are you okay, Gray?”

Oh, she’s also stopped talking in first person too.

Gray shook his head to get rid of all the confusing thoughts inside of his head. He had to play it cool and make it seem like he wasn’t shocked that she said no. He just had to now find out why in the hell she said no to him when it had practically been her dream for him to say yes to her. Maybe he took too long. Erza had told him that it’s rude to keep a girl waiting, especially one who was so in love with you.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine!” His voice came out weak and he had to stutter for him to get his voice back. This doesn’t happen to him.

“I was just, surprised you know? I just thought…”

He couldn’t even bring himself to continue that sentence because then it would sound like he was degrading her down to some pathetic and desperate girl, which she was far from. Now. Wait, that was rude of him to say, even if it was in his own head.

He watched as Juvia shifted her weight from one foot to the other. That made him look down at it gave him another reason for his brain to short circuit.

“Just what the fuck is she wearing?”

He couldn’t lie, it was an extremely hot day which made him not even want to fight with Natsu because he just wouldn’t be able to take it if he got doused in those flames. The sun was already beating down on his back with no mercy, having Natsu’s flames would actually make him combust.

That also meant that Juvia was standing right in front of his very eyes with a white bikini top like Cana usually wore and a blue sarong skirt. One side was hitched up and out peaked one of her sexy toned legs that made him gulp. She wasn’t even pale like she normally was. The sun had been shining for weeks and he had noticed that she had basked in it a lot more than usual, giving her an amazing tan.

He was pretty sure that the sun was also the very thing that made him delirious and actually made him ask out Juvia. It must have made her delirious too, because she rejected him. That must have been the explanation, she was just too hot!

“Maybe if I cool her down, she’ll be in her right state of mind!”

“Is it too hot for you or something? Do you need me to make it rain on you or something? You also look…constipated…”

Gray jumped out of his thoughts once more and stared at the girl in horror. He looked WHAT?!

Juvia looked like she finally got it. Her face morphed into one of pity as she spoke again.

“Oh, are you surprised that I said no? Well you see, I’ve moved on. Not to say that I won’t remember you as my first love and I’ll forever be thankful that you made me see the sun and that I joined Fairy Tail through you, but I’ve now matured and I’m a different woman from the young girl that I used to be. If you include the years that we were frozen for, I pretty much chased you for almost 13 years of my life. We’re 23 now Gray, of course I wasn’t going to wait forever…”

She trailed off, as if she had suddenly said too much, but she was okay with that. She had gained some sort of closure by talking to Gray about why she doesn’t like him in that way anymore and a load had been lifted off of her shoulders. Like she had said, she’ll always remember him as her first love, doesn’t mean she was now in love with him.

“Oh…I understand. I’m sorry I ignored your emotions for so long and practically led you on. You didn’t deserve that. I’m happy that you’ve moved on. Guess it’s my turn now.”

He laughed awkwardly and Juvia laughed with him, though her’s wasn’t really an awkward laugh which made him feel like they were going to be okay. He hadn’t ruined their friendship, which was good.

“It’s so hot out today, I feel like going to Ryuzetsu land.”

He was trying to make conversation, but Kami knows how hard it is for him right now. How could he just pretend like everything was fine after he just asked her out and she shot him down from the high that he was feeling?

“Wow, is that what she felt on a daily basis? That is low, I guess karma really was waiting for me then. I’m such an idiot.”

“Actually, I think Erza said she was going to round up a group of people who wanted to go. Personally, I like it hot, feels nice and toasty. Not a fan of the cold, makes me wear all my wooly clothing and then I can’t tan wonderfully like this. I mean look at me!”

She then gave him a slow twirl and Gray could feel his mouth salivating. She really did tan wonderfully. She looked bronze and he decided that she deserved to be out in the sun every waking minute.

“I think me being in the rain for a good majority of my childhood just ruined my skin complexion and made me very pale. I’m not complaining though. Natsu-kun!”

Juvia had seen Natsu enter into the guild with his exceed. He looked up and grinned at her. Happy whispered something into his ear which made the fire dragon slayer blush and swat the cat away. Happy flew over to Carla to give Natsu some space before he came to pester him and Juvia at a later time.

“Hey Juve, icicle. Hmm, maybe not so much an icicle now, maybe a melting popsicle.”

Natsu laughed at his own joke as Juvia tittered next to him. Gray grew frustrated as he couldn’t help but punch Natsu on the shoulder. With Natsu being so close to Gray, he could suddenly feel the hot flames that Natsu gave off and it was almost like it was attacking him. It pissed him off.

“Erza was thinking that we all go to Ryuzetsu land. Please Natsu-kun, don’t fight anyone, okay? It took a lot to get you off the banned list, as well as a lot of the guys from various other guilds! Well actually, they were easier to get off the list because they all blamed you.”

Natsu cackled at the memory of what he had done all those years ago. Even though he was 23 and had matured a lot more than his 17 year old self, he was also a lot stronger. With all that fire magic within his body, he was practically a walking time bomb, waiting to destroy something.

Juvia gave him a look that told him she didn’t find it funny and he just laughed and kissed her forehead. Gray’s jaw dropped as the two of them forgot that he was even there, standing next to him. Did he see that correctly, or was he now hallucinating thanks to Natsu’s magic heat?

“I just don’t want the place to be destroyed before we go on the couples slide, okay? I’ve had enough of going down it with the wrong people.”

Gray wanted to scream, he really did. When in the FUCK did this happen?! Where had he been?!

Natsu placed both of his hands on Juvia’s bare waist and pulled her into him. He too was shirtless today, nothing bothering with his usual jacket. Not because he was too hot, just because he wanted to be.

Gray watched as Juvia’s breasts pushed up against Natsu’s chest and his eyes couldn’t pull away from the scene in front of him. They were definitely fucking with him. This was no longer a hallucination, he was right in thinking that this was a nightmare. Just what is happening?

“I promise Juve, we’ll get to go on the slide. In fact, let’s make it the first thing we go on we get there, okay?”

Juvia made a noise to show that she was happy with that answer and Gray watched as she tiptoed and tilted her head, as if to ask Natsu for a kiss on the lips, which he happily gave to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they pulled each other closer until there was no space. Gray finally found the will to turn his head when he realised that this was all real and no, he wasn’t in the middle of a nightmare. He flinched when he could hear them.

“Okay, I’m going over to Erza to tell her that we’re ready to go as soon as possible. Do you want to eat first?”

Gray turned his head back around when he thought it was all clear, but now Natsu was whispering something into her ear. He had what looked like a devilish expression on his face as Juvia’s now bronze face turned a little pink.

“Natsu-kuuun.”

Gray had to step in at this point.

“OKAY! Let’s keep it PG okay?”

The couple jumped and Juvia’s blush deepened before she pulled away and hurried off to Erza. Natsu licked his lips as he watched her scurry off before he looked at Gray. He knew that the ice mage was confused. Gray had gone off on a really long job one time as he did a solo mission in the mountains. That was the time that Natsu and Juvia started hitting it off and boom! They were a couple!

The dragon slayer patted Gray’s shoulder as he smirked at him. Gray turned his head towards him, an annoyed expression on his face.

“What?” Gray managed to hiss out. The heat was definitely getting to him now, he needed to freeze something.

Natsu just shrugged his shoulders with a little laugh before walking away. He decided to mess with Gray a bit. He had noticed that Gray was starting to like the water mage, even though her feelings had faded away a long time ago. He had to make it clear that even though they were friends, he had to show him that Juvia was no longer single. Natsu’s smirk grew wider.

“Some like it hot, ice Princess.”

A/N: That was definitely a lot of fun to write! I wrote it more from Gray’s perspective and I didn’t realise how great it was going to be! But yeah, this was another prompt that someone threw at me and I think I caught it! Hopefully however threw it at me will remember that they did because you guys are all anonymous!

Lolita-love,

Lolita-chan

[jawllines]

OkAY SO THIS IS THE GUARDIAN ANGEL (KIND OF) ONE SHOT I STARTED A LONG TIME AGO LEMME KNOW IF YALL ARE INTERESTED IN IT

The night air was cold despite the earlier onslaught from the sun, enough so to riddle Y/N's skin with goose pimples and pebble her nipples to stone. A near icy feeling bench isn't the best spot for a college student at midnight on a Saturday, but she was trying to catch the last bus to her apartment after closing at work, so her seating options were limited. It was either this bench or take her chances sitting next to a suspicious looking puddle on the ground, and she'd much rather her bum freeze off than get anywhere near it.

See, the thing is, Y/N needs to start saying no to people. Truly, it is probably her worst attribute -- a lack of  a backbone when it comes to sweet old women who waddle about and run bakeries. Miss. Mandolin is just as saccharine as any cupcake, and gave her a raise last week, so declining was not an option, especially finding out that if she didn't then Miss. Mandolin herself would be the one closing. However, while that same sweet old woman is tucked away cozy and warm in her bed, and Y/N has become a distant relative of an icicle, she is mad regretting being so softhearted.

Her day hadn't been all too hard, just some bread baking and cake icing, but she feels proper dog walked. She'd been there since 9AM, working two shifts because she agreed to it last week and past her really hates present her, apparently, because she'd even agreed to come back tomorrow night as well. It's fine though, she does need the money, and when she gets to work it's not so terrible, it's just the thought of working that taunts her mercilessly.

So all she wanted to do with the rest of her night is to eat the muffins she took with her and pretend not to smell the copious amounts of pot they're undoubtedly smoking next door. Then maybe watch TV with her laptop on her belly and pass out like that, or flop down on the floor and sleep for a few years, or even just digging into her sheets not bothering to adorn herself in pajamas, just stark naked in her bed because she couldn't be arsed to put anything back on. The thought of sleep is just so lovely, really, all nestled in the covers with the whir of her fan going and the steady thump of the cat who lives above her freaking out and running back and forth and back and forth all throughout the night. She'd like to cuddle her stuffed bear tonight as elementary as it sounds, but his fur was soft and nice to rest on, and Y/N had no human to cuddle so he was the second best thing.

These pleasant thoughts are cut short when the lamp post above her begins to flicker in the most ominous fashion; first only slightly, like a hint that the bulb is about to give out soon before it's light drops out to nothing but a dim glow, then comes back, then repeats, and makes a terrible horror movie esque buzzing noise with it. It's then her brain processes that the street she was on was basically deserted, no sign of people or cars anywhere, not even with the strip of clubs and bars just a few blocks away. The wind picks up only to ruffle the trees leaves and make things even creepier, and Y/N's now hesitantly looking down each street to see if there were any headlights coming her way.

"Well, this stinks." She says it to herself, only to have some noise other than all the eerie one's surrounding her. Now that she's hearing all these noises though, even scarier ones start manifesting in the once quiet air and she's proper spooked, tucking her arms further around herself. Just a little while longer right? It's only. . .only 12:15, and the bus should've been here at 12:00 but that's fine, maybe it's a little late.

If it could be a little less late that would sure be fantastic, but beggars can't be choosers, and a bummy light plus some weird wind are just every night occurrences that Y/N shouldn't be scared of.

What Y/N should be scared of, however, is the black blobby mass materializing in front of her, hissing like a snake, glooping into a human form with beady eyes and a sickening grin. That's something to be frightened of, surely, like total horror movie material that she was not expecting and Y/N squeals like an old school Damsel before scurrying up. "What the -- what the hell?" She gasp as it slithers a hand in her direction and she dodges it, stumbling a little ways away from it even if it meant leaving the little light that was left.

"Say, you can see me?" It's voice is distorted and sounds like there's mush in it's mouth, but she can make out the words, nodding slow, her face screwed up and a gross, slimy tongue falls out to lick around it's lips, "That makes this even better! So much tastier when you're scared."

Did she just hear him right? Tastier?

A sweat builds on her neck despite what had previously been such a frosty feeling night, and as it's gloopy, gloppy hand is trying to reach out for her again Y/N tosses her heavy plate of muffins right at it's face before pivoting on her heel and taking off in the other direction. This was 100% not how she expected nor wanted her night to go -- this was something for story books and movies only, and she didn't want to be the opening scene because that character always gets written off early on. If her life wanted to start being blockbuster worthy why couldn't it have been a proper romantic comedy or something? Why a gross looking creature that she's running away from with her springy cupcake ended work headband on (which were totally overrated and outdated, but Miss. Mandolin loved them so she wore it despite herself)?

Her flats bound against the ground with sharp clicks that echo in the streets, and she doesn't need to look back to know the thing is just about nipping at her heels. It has to be a dream, doesn't it? It feels so real but not real all in the same breath, mostly how the cool air is hitting at her cheeks. So refreshing and enlivening, it's confusing her greatly, and she isn't quite sure what to do. If this is a dream, she could stop running right now and she would probably be consumed by black matter but wake up all sweaty necked in her bed. If it isn't a dream, then she gets consumed and that's it, done-zo, outta here, no more Y/N for anyone. And let it be noted, if she dies because of some weird, drooly, droppy skinned creature she's going to be so fucking pissed off.

"Slow down, Sweetheart, let's have a little fun." It growls and Y/N presses herself onward, holding the strap of her purse tightly to her and feeling it bump on her thigh.

"Shut up!" She shouts at it, before a slimy hand is wrapping around her ankle and tripping her up, sending her to the ground.

The next few moments were in slow motion.

First there was a burst of wind that nearly knocked her over, like a car might have zipped past them but she knows no car was in sight nor heard beyond very distant noise of the highway. Second an arm wraps around her waist just before she smashes her face into the concrete, warm and firm, making a small 'umph' come out of her unintentionally. Then suddenly with a bright flash of white light Y/N sees from behind her eyelids, the hand at her ankle is gone and she's dangling in midair around this arm of an unknown assailant. She doesn't know if this is good or if this is bad, but she feels her consciousness slowly fading in little fizzling bubbles that disperse quickly and she's sinking into nothingness, almost, it feels like falling asleep but also something completely different.

"Pain in m'arse." She hears someone grumble, and then she's out like a light. '

                                                                         .                      .                     .

"A woman obtaining beauty at such a high degree as yourself deserves this pastry for free," Y/N rolls her eyes listening to her Charlie (her coworker) try is hand in wooing someone while she sweeps up crumbs and the paper from straws up into the dustpan, "Make sure you come back soon." She doesn't have to watch to know he sends her off with a wink and Y/N waits for the door bells to jingle before starting up.

"Why do you keep trying to court girls using free goodies?" She asks for what might be the hundredth time, standing up with a huff and tilting the dustpan into the bin, "They'll see you as nothing more than a sweet mouthed push over."

He pouts at her, leaning over the counter with his face lying in his palms, "Don't be like that cutie, I know your jealous over all these people swooning over me but there is little I can do. I'm a hot commodity don't you know?"

"Hot commodity my ass," she grumbles, "Maybe in a crypt."

Y/N's just being a grump and he knows that -- Charlie has never once doubted his looks, even when Y/N's tries to bring him down a few pegs, so he doesn't take her all too seriously. Instead chuckling before reaching out as far as he could and whisking the broom from her hand, "What's got you in such a temper today, Pet? Your neighbors keep you up all night with their music?"

If only it were that simple, she thought to herself. Truth be told, Y/N doesn't know why she's in such a mood. When she woke up this morning she was in pajamas and a few face wipes were scattered on her bedside table like she used them because she was too lazy to wash her face. Her head was pounding, her stomach growling, and a throb in her ankle that was so unbearable she stuck in bed most of the morning until she could coax herself out to get a pain pill. Bits and pieces of the dream she had the night before come to her in confusing, fuzzy bursts and memories of how she got home are lost to her in a doughy mess. Somehow she'd gotten to her bed, she just wishes she could remember the steps it took to get there.

She just felt weird today, really, and maybe that was making her a little harsher, so she shrugs at Charlie before mumbling, "M'sleepy." And he coos at her.

"You're just adorable when you're all grumpy-like, Cutie." Charlie had always been a flirty little bugger, but his cool façade had crumbled to Y/N when she witnessed him cry over a TV show, so his charms fell useless on her. That doesn't stop him from going at it, however, because he's her best friend and likes to tease and Charlie's form of teasing gets mushed with his flirting a lot, including drenching her in pet names until she resembles something of a river soaked rat, "How about I close tonight and you skedaddle on home?"

Y/N shakes her head, sighing heavily, "Not a chance. Last time you closed we got robbed --"

"Oi, you make one mistake and nobody lets you live it down!"

"And besides," she continues, swinging through the door to get behind the counter so she could hook the broom and dust pan up and grab for the mop, "You've got your Econ exam you need to study for."

With a hearty huff, he flops into his arms,  "I don't want to!" His whines come out muffled by his skin, "It's like a foreign language, honestly, and the professor is shit. Plus the --" there's a jingle of the bell at the door and his head snatches towards the side, a big grin tugging at his lips as he straightens himself out, "Well what brings a beauty like you in here?"

Y/N scoffs lowly -- damn playboy can't even keep his mind on his work for a second.

As she tunes out Charlie's wooing of the customer, Y/N tries to make sense of last night again. Even though it's muddled and puddled, she still would like to know how she got home but between leaving here and waking up this morning, she remembers nothing. Eight hours just lost. . .that's never happened to her before. She walked out of the store, locked the door, got to the bus stop. . .what happened after the bus stop then? She remembers being cold. . .was the bus late? Did she end up walking home? The latter wouldn't be so surprising seeing as her legs burn like she took part in some sort of physical exertion last night. There was. . .if she pushes past the fog in her head there was something -- something scaring her? Or was that a part of her nightmare last night?

Aish, this is too much!

"You come back now!" Charlie calls and it brings Y/N back down to the present, watching him flop back over himself and moan sadly, "Who cares about Monopoly and Cartels anyways?"

Y/N guesses it can't be helped now. She got home safe, was all that counted, and besides the pain in her ankle there was nothing out of the ordinary when she woke, so really she should be able to let it go. What does it matter how she got there, she got there which is the important thing. She just needs to live in the present and not think about last night. Like -- last night? Who is she? Never heard of her -- like that.

So instead she turns her attention back to Charlie, "You need to care because I'm booking on mooching off of you for the rest of our lives, so I need you to be a hot shot business man. Got it?"

Charlie peeks up to her, grinning, "Got it, Cutie."

                                                                              .                     .                  .

Y/N is getting a mad sense of Deja vu, as she sits shivering on the park bench again.

The light above her begins to flicker, and Y/N feels uneasy.

The bus still hasn't shown up and it's fifteen minutes past midnight.

This is a horror movie waiting to happen, isn't it?

She's terribly tired, and now she's all snuffled from the air. Holding herself in her arms as if to gain some warmth from it, but it doesn't help as much as she would like. So she shakes and shivers and curses the damn bus driver who is taking their good ol' time making it to her stop. Granted she usually isn't the one who closes so she doesn't normally have to take this bus and she's not sure how the times work here, but the bulletin board posted says it should be here by 12 like all the other busses around town.

Huffing, she slouches more in the bench. This freaking stinks -- honest to goodness she doesn't even think the money is worth it at this point; freezing her bits off by herself on a dark, empty street with a crummy light post light. At least she's gotten to take some goodies home, so they sit in her lap on a plate and her stomach grumbles to remind her the last time she ate was before her shift, which started around two this afternoon. She swears as soon as she gets home she's going to get all cozied up in her bed, steam something online and shove these muffins down her throat. Her only class tomorrow is at 4PM, so she should be fine to just do as she pleases for a little while tonight.

A sigh of content is about to leave her lips when she hears something like a hissing sound, and her brows furrow. That couldn't be a snake, could it? They never really show themselves anywhere apart from untouched fields and in the thick of he woods, so it wouldn't make much sense for it to just be hanging around. With brows furrowed, she looks around for it -- where could it be? She stands up so she can bend down, looking beneath the bench and into the tufts of grass.

While she expected to find a snake, instead she sees a sickly face staring back at her, with eyes two red slits and it's skin slimy, dropping around him.

Oh yeah.

Before she could buckle down to scream, an arm slips beneath her stomach and heaves her up easily, "For fuck sake," the mysterious person utters, "Two nights in a row with this?"

Y/N doesn't know if he's talking to her or to the thing, just dangling off his arm and watching the gross guy seep from beneath the bench and build himself up back to a human form before them. So this wasn't a dream? This was what she forgot happening last night wasn't it? Or was this just a reoccurring dream she's destined to have forever?

"If you'd stayed out of it, it would've only been one night." The creature has mush mouth again, but it's still easy enough to make out it's words and it's intentions of doing away with her.

Brows furrowing, she shoves her head up, "Hey, I resent that, I could've gotten away if --"

"You," the person holding her utters, and his voice sounds awful familiar, giving her a squeeze from his arm around her waist, "Keep quiet. This bus stop doesn't even run anymore, and who goes to the same spot where something tried to kill her?"

"Oi, I thought that was a dream in my defense! Honestly, I didn't even know most of it happened -- wait a minute, who are you?"

"Just be quiet for a mo' yeah? Close your eyes." Y/N doesn't know why she feels compelled to listen, but she shuts her eyes as she's told -- skewers them closed so she doesn't have to see that gross thing again, and once more, with a bright flash of light that dazzles beneath her closed eyelids and a grunt from her savior the hissing sound is gone. When she opens her eyes again, the gloopy gloppy guy is also absent, which is good, and the arm around her loosens so her feet hit the ground again and she straightens herself out.

Finally she goes to take a look at him, and he's got a hoodie on and he's facing away from her, "Ya' aren't allowed to know who I am." He answers her before she can ask again, which makes her frown.

"Says who?"

"Says me," he rejoins, "Go home now, and be quick about -- hey!"

Y/N had snuck behind him and tugged his hood down because there was no way she was just going to let him mosey on off without having some inkling of an idea of who he was. When she's met with the makings of curls her brows furrow, because theirs only one head like that she knows of and there was absolutely no way it was him. He's like famous and whatnot -- has better things to do than save wimpy college students who keep running into monsters.

But when she swings around to confirm that it definitely isn't him, she gasps, mouth falling open wide and eyes bulging from her head. Y/N doesn't mean to squeak, but she does, and it's very well about to turn into a shout in shock because oh my fucking god!

His hand -- Harry Styles' hand -- smacks over her mouth, muting whatever could have come from her, "Shush, shush, shush!"

"You!" Her grumps are muffled by his palm, "You're --"

"I know who I am, Love, you haven't got to say it." He sighs, eyes shutting, "Christ, this is just great innit?"

They stay like that for a moment, Y/N only blinking owlishly at him while he mutters angrily to himself. This is Harry Styles -- a guy she's idolized since she was just a wee lil middle schooler, in eighth grade with a terrible fashion sense and poofy hair -- standing in front of her with his hand on her face, after saving her from some weird thing. What was he doing out here so late? How did he know what to do with that creature? Why was he being so short and tetchy like she'd done something wrong?

This was all so weird and she had so many questions, but he didn't seem to want to answer any of them and she's trying not to give him heart eyes as they stand, but if she is she really can't help it. It was too dark to make out all his features, but the lamp post gave just enough light to shadow his jawline and the curve of his nose. Surely he was sculpted for the gods, and it was a little hard to stand in his presence, especially when he had this smoldering gaze looking past her. As untouchable as he looked in pictures, he looks even more untouchable now -- feels even more untouchable, despite them 100% touching.

His eyes flicker to her own and somehow hers feel as if they grew even wider, "You will go home, and forget of this, yeah? Pretend tonight didn't happen." Gently, he releases her but Y/N stays put, brows furrowed greatly.

"Well I can tell you that that isn't going to happen at all. I have so many questions --"

"And I can answer none of them right now, so please listen to me. It's not safe for you out here."

Y/N would fight it again -- really she would, if not for the thumping of her heart and a voice in the back of her head pleading with her to listen to him. He looks so tired, like he hadn't slept properly in weeks and for some reason she feels like it might be her fault. The least she could do was just go home, be safe like he apparently wanted. And when she gets home she would try and sort this out in her head, maybe do a panicked gleeful squeal into her pillow, and sit on her hands to keep from texting Charlie immediately.

So with a sigh, Y/N peels back the saran wrap on her plate of goodies and reaches for an iced lemon cookie in the shape of a butterfly, holding it out to him. Harry looks at her suspiciously, eyes squinting, "Take it," she urges him, "As a thank you for saving me."

"I save your life and you give me a cookie?"

She grabs his hand with a huff and shoves the cookie into it, "Don't be a jerk and eat the cookie, I made it myself."

With this she pivots on her heel, taking a deep breath before starting on her way home while keeping her freaking out to a minimum and inside of her head.

"Oi," he calls from behind her, "You're walking the wrong way."

        .                                .                               .

It'd been two weeks since it had happened and within those two weeks Y/N has successfully not made any sense of it. She'd been over the main points again and again and again, but this was harder than analyzing Shakespeare her freshmen year of high school. Nothing connected in any sort of way: a scary blobby man, Y/N, and Harry Styles was just not a trio easily explained apparently, and it was annoying the fresh hell out of her. Y/N liked having answers to things. Mysteries and fantasy were only fun in tv shows, movies, and books, but when it comes to real life and her life she liked definitive proof and explanation, but this current happening was null of any clarification.

She'd not told Charlie about it, because knowing Charlie he would brush it off as a dream just as she had at the beginning. There was no way this could be a dream though -- not when a bruise is formed around her ankle, the yellow icing butterfly cookie was missing on her platter of sweets, and the buzzing warmth inside of her from meeting Harry Styles in the flesh. Despite his snappy tone with her, she still felt all muddled and tender on he inside. Those weren't feelings you could just (italicize this) make up.  . .meeting your idol was something you remember, and she remembered that.

Even though it made not a lick of sense, she remembered. The first night too, had even come back to her in blurry splotches of someone lugging her along and up the steps. Bleary eyes opening for a moment at the feeling of someone swiping her face with a cleansing wipe and shushing at her to close her eyes again, "S'fine, Moppet, go to sleep." Blankets being tucked around her body, the pillow being repositioned, and though she had listened and closed her eyes as requested, she could feel a tender gaze peering at her.

Though that really doesn't help her case in the slightest, about not understanding what was going on. How he could show up so suddenly, when she could've sworn she read he was in London. How he got rid of that thing. . .that completely not human thing, and how he did it with one arm occupied by her. It was driving her batty, not having answers and he hadn't seemed so open about giving any to her.

And I can answer none of them right now, so please listen to me. It's not safe for you out here. (italicize that)

He'd looked so tired when he said it, and she felt genuinely bad. That's why she let it go and skipped on. . .it felt like she was at fault for him being so worn out, but how could she be? Sure, two late nights were rough, but she didn't look half as sleepy as he did and she had been on her feet for more than seven hours each time.

It was annoying -- so freaking annoying!

Y/N huffs through her nose, stepping up to the same bus stop she'd been those two nights. The sky was painted an orangey pink, navy seeping in through the East threatening the town with darkness. She knows it's pretty dumb to go to the same spot where she had previously been in danger, but she figured that maybe Harry would show up again and she could get him to explain some stuff. Or maybe he wouldn't, and the past week has just proved she was on the verge of a psychotic break, but she was shooting for the first scenario.

So she toes at a patch of grass near the bench, taking a look at the street she was on. People here were sparse and the street didn't look any less creepy than it did at midnight, but she felt a little better than she did that night given that she wasn't half awake and she had hid pepper spray in her bag in case things got rough. Plus there was the small comfort knowing that if the creature showed up again then maybe Harry would show up too to save her, which would be nice, because that's why she's doing this in the first place.

With a hearty sigh, she plops down on the bench and leans back into it.

She'll wait for a while.

                                                                                    .                           .                          .

"How long were you intending to wait, Pet?" A voice startles her eyes open which she hadn't realized she'd shut, knuckling at one eye while looking towards who she'd been waiting for. There he stood in a light, heather grey hoodie without the hood pulled up -- she guesses since the cat is already out of the bag with her knowing who he is, he isn't going to bother covering it up. "Closing your eyes in a place like this. S'almost like you're askin' for trouble."

She blinks at him, rising to a stand, "It's you."

"Well, what? Were you waitin' for the other guy?"

"Not funny," she grumbles, "I-" She's got questions. . .she's got plenty of questions but she can't figure out which ones to ask, or how to ask them.

[evellyynn7]

A Night in Another Life

                  I woke up to an annoying alarm clock that read "6:20"It was time for me to wake up and start another day of boring school at lakeside high. I always end up encountering rude people or teachers that don't do they're job and mark me absent for no reason. But today was different.. I opened my eyes to a whole new room! I noticed I was sleeping on a bigger and more comfortable bed then my original bed and everything was so aesthetically pleasing. My closet was opened and inside were so many cute clothes and shoes, along side was my other necessities and cute decor. I also heard yelling downstairs coming from 2 teenage boys. I was so curious that I got up and got dressed cause I didn't want to look lazy in front of 2 random guys

As I walked down the stairs I was shoved my Cameron Dallas! "Oh my gosh!" In my head it hit me and I realized I was in my dream world! So I went along with it "Sorry liv, watch where ur going next time" Cameron joked and then ran off laughing with Grayson "Kids! Stop playing with the football in the house! I've said this many times so your both grounded!" My new mother Alice took their laptops and football for the day and told us to eat breakfast She reminded me a lot of my other mom. I walked to the kitchen and poured myself some cereal and observed everyone, still trying to get a feel of it all. Everyone was all talking and seemed to busy to even notice me until my dad spoke up and asked why I was being so quite "Hun, what about you? Your really quite this morning, did you not sleep well?" My dad asked me looking concerned "Yea dad I'm fine I'm just tired" I smiled to him assuringly "Mom how much longer do we have to do these family Tuesday breakfast things" Grayson asked with some lack of care for the whole family thing. "Until you kids show some interest into our family.. especially after what happened with hannah's parents" mom said seemingly distracted "Yea yea mom we get it just don't remind us about her, we know the story" Cameron said

"Okay I should be going to school, I'll see you guys tonight" I said but got cut off by my dad who reminded me of my cheerleading practice I left the house and went into my black g wagon. I looked absolutely gorgeous in my car and my body was sooo hot!!! i had a toned stomache and arms and thighs. i was wearing cute clothes and just felt so confident in myself.

I picked up my friends alex and Jessica, Betty would meet us at school cause he mom was always skeptical of me "a teenager driving her precious daughter " around so we always just meet up. "Hey bitch!" Jessica jumped into shot gun and seemed super happy this morning "Heyyy girl!" I turned up the volume of my aux cord to clout 9 and we were jamming in the car on our way to alex's As I got out of the car to greet Alex's dad.. (like I have to do every morning cause he's strict) his dad greeted me with a smile and muffin which I declined and just got alex and went to the car He wobbled in the back with his cane and we drove off to school. As we entered the zoo we call liberty high school, I saw Bryce, Zachary, Justin, and Monty by the lockers checking me and Jessica out as we walked in. All I could hear were cat calls and in the back of my eyes I could see Bryce and Zach playing around as if they were hitting us from the back

"Ooo damn babe your looking good today, I'm totally down to bang if your up for it" Monty said coming towards me and cornering me to the lockers. I felt so uncomfortable and he could tell but seemed to like that so he got more aggressive pushing himself on me more, it was obvious I didn't like it. All of a sudden I heard a deep voice and firm hands pull off Monty. "Hey what the hell man!" Monty turned around almost about to hit the older looking guy until he noticed the age difference. He said fuck you man as he was about to leave but then Dean started talking firmly to him. " this doesn't look like mutual young man, why don't you leave this pretty girl alone and run along" dean said with a nice grin, he looked so hot but what was he doing here?

I looked at the handsome stranger and couldn't help but blush and feel myself get closer to him. His body was nearly touching mine and his scent was intoxicatingly good I could also feel his hand brush against mine as he looked up at me concerned

"How are you? I noticed him making you uncomfortable and wanted to check on you, you gotta watch out for guys like that cause they love to play with pretty girls like you." He said with a small grin

"My name is Dean... I mean Mr. Winchester." He said the second part more nervous cause he knew he messed up with saying Dean.

"Hi I'm Olivia, are you a new teacher here?"

"I'm actually the new toilet scrubber" He started laughing and began speaking again quickly after

"I'm totally kidding I'm the new science teacher"

I laughed at his joke and asked what room he's teaching in, he said room 537

"I actually have that class 5th"

"I'll see you in my 5th period class then ms Olivia, I have a lot in store" he winked and walked away. I watched him walk away and damn it was hot! His hot body and toned ass in those work pants looked amazing!

Before he walked in his classroom he caught me looking! He gave a small chuckle and then closed his door.

Suddenly I felt someone grab my ass and whisper in my ear.

"Just cause he got in between us then doesn't mean he can stop us after school."

"Monty! What the hell?!" I shoved him back but he quickly grabbed my hand and pushed me on the lockers with his body. His hands roamed under my shirt and he was squeezing my boobs.

"Monty get off!!"

He just kept pushing himself on me and kissed my neck very hard, I felt him grow hard under me since his body was literally glued to me. Suddenly the bell rang for class and the principal came walking down the halls

"Shit! I'll be finishing this after school" Monty winked and rushed off. I felt sick but somehow I kind of liked it... what was going on with me?? I walked to my first period and went through the day happily until 5th hit, then I became so excited I rushed to class.

As I walked in the class was empty.. guess I was a little too eager.

"Hi Olivia, how was your other classes?"

"It was great thanks" as I stood next to him talking he became so interested in me. His stare was strong on me that I could almost feel his eyes on my body but he was also such a great listener and actually cared. The class started filling up and I had to grab a seat but with that he said

"My class should be your favorite by the end of today" he smiled and went to the podium. I took my seat and some kids were staring like they knew something I didn't. I started feeling nervous or uncomfortable so I asked Jessica who had this class with me and sat in front of me.

"Hey why is everyone staring at me?"

She looked at me and examined my neck.

"Maybe cause you have a big hickey on your neck.. how did you get that you don't even have a boyfriend?" She looked at the teacher and back at me noticing I was pretty early for class today.

"No way jess! I wouldn't! That's the teacher cmon!" I said already knowing what she was thinking

"Well everyone here is probably thinking the same thing.. okay if it wasn't him then who did you hook up with during school?"

"No one I swear!... wait omg I remember Monty getting really aggressive with me in the halls, I tried to push him off but he was too strong" I told Jessica but she got pissed and was angry at Monty the whole time in class, sending him dirty looks since he had that class too. After class Mr Winchester told me to stay after (like any usual teacher student bond in movies)

"So how did you like your first class mrs Martinez? You seemed very interested"

"It was great I just don't understand how the chemical bond between certain atoms can connect" I said flirtingly cause I knew the answer I mean I was the smartest kid in that class, just wanted some extra help if you know what I mean.

"Oh if you want I can help tutor you"

"Olivia!!! Your gonna be late for practice we have a big pep rally tomorrow!!" Chloe yelled at me seeming stressed.

"Chill chloe it's not the end of the world I'll be right there."

"No now!!"

"Sorry Mr Winchester looks like a certain cheerleader is asking for me... I'll take you up on that offer later" I winked at him and left feeling him stare at me as I left.

As I walked into the locker room to change I saw the girls already dressed and talking so I decided to hurry up. I had a nice body but even then I still would take my time take off each article of item at a time but this time I was rushing so I was only in my bra and underwear until suddenly I heard a scream. It