#and Zay is his usual hilarious self

[sisterswithafangirl]

New Joshaya Fanfic

Ok, yes I know its 2021...... BUT! Who would read a new Joshaya fic if I published the one I’m workng on??? I cannot guarantee that it will ever be finished in a timely manner, but I got 21 chapters written (AND IM NOT EVEN HALFWAY DONE!!!) ANd I need motivation to write it, so if anyone would read it I would love to know... please... I’ve improved a bunch since I was 15 when I started writing, and i gotta know if I really have improved or if its just rose colored glasses

[chalkrevelations]

So, Episode 7 of Word of Honor, and where to start? No, I’m kidding, I know exactly where I’m starting, which is with some recognition of what a great job this show does of developing 98 percent of its multitude of characters, because the first two things I’m going talk about this week aren’t even Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing OR Wen Kexing’s thirst (AKA, the three main characters of the show).

Well, I guess I’m really starting with the usual warning – this is a re-watch and so there are SPOILERS here, not only for this episode, but for most of the show. Scroll away and come back later if you’re trying to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

SO, I mean, come on. Of course I’m starting with the Smartest Man in the World, who has finally shown up in this episode, and I’m reminded once again what an actual cinnamon roll, too good for this world, Cao Weining is. He’s maybe the single completely good character we meet  – even Chengling wants to burn down somebody’s house at one point because he’s mad. But Cao Weining is almost too good to be true – and yet, there he is! Living his best life, being good, eating good, falling in love, and refusing to let his beautiful, clever, fierce girl’s neuroses come between them. I love him, y’all. And not just because he instantly falls in love with A-Xiang when he happens to see her beat up a bunch of drunk bro assholes in the inn where he’s having a quiet little lunch by himself before she storms into his life like a purple whirlwind. But let’s do think about this from his perspective, yeah? And let’s remember it as we watch the progression of their relationship, as we wait for the revelation we know is coming, and as – many eps down the line – he learns the truth of her. Cao Weining’s first experience of A-Xiang is someone who’s brave and capable, who defies outsized odds to come to the rescue of those in need, who doesn’t allow women and girls to be abused, who expects proper behavior from the representatives of the jianghu, and who is absolutely fearless in demanding just treatment and never even thinks to be intimidated when she faces unfair censure from an authority figure. This is the girl WKX raised, y’all. This is a girl who embodies everything Cao Weining has been taught to believe in as a cultivator. And this is the girl Cao Weining sees every time he looks at A-Xiang. Maybe, just maybe, this is the truth of her, and Cao-dage sees and understands it from the very first time he spots her, and anything else he’ll learn about her is really extraneous. (Hmm. I wonder what other relationship we’ll eventually end up seeing that kind of dynamic in, where someone truly knows you and believes in you, so everything else is unimportant?) Also, Cao Weining tells A-Xiang she’s very beautiful, and how many people do you think have ever told her that before in her life? He asks why he would want to fight and hurt her, and how many people – particularly men, given where she grew up – have ever told her that before? He buys her lunch – twice, because the first round gets cold. Remember a few episodes back, when WKX asked her who the second cutest person in the world was, and she responded that it was someone who would buy her a meal? Well, here he is. For bonus points, it is hilarious how badly WKX responds to Cao Weining’s very existence after ZZS points out the pair of them having a toast at the same inn that WKX and ZZS have stopped in WKX has dogged ZZS’s footsteps into. Poor Cao Weining doesn’t even get the shovel talk – although to be fair, he doesn’t get the full-court Ghost Valley Master press, either, so WKX must have been holding back somewhat – he just gets told to get out, before WKX grabs A-Xiang by the ear and delivers some scathing commentary on her taste in men, like he didn’t immediately fall for some rando who was tits out, drinking himself to death in the gutter.

ANYWAY, from the Smartest Man in the World, we’re going to move to Han Ying, My Beloved, who we see interacting with the Five Lakes Alliance again, this time in the person of Gao Chong, leader of Yueyang Sect and host of the upcoming Heroes Conference, da-ge of the 5LA. I had honestly forgotten we got to see so much of Han Ying this early on. What strikes me here is that this is a guy who I actually could believe is the second-in-command of Tian Chuang at what is it? 21 years old? When he’s doing his job, and ZZS is nowhere around for him to make pining puppy-dog eyes at, he’s focused and determined and a bit forceful and somewhat threatening and, frankly, appropriately arrogant for the job he’s been sent to do. He’s also wearing a cloak with a mini-Collar of Evil. He comes off as, dare I say, a capable leader of an assassin organization and a guy who’s able to do a proxy flex for his boss without looking completely ridiculous - which puts him one up on Duang Pengju, omg that asshole, and also makes me feel a little better about how I want ZZS to wreck him (or I guess, technically, him to wreck ZZS, because I’ve never seen a character (except Marcus Flavius Aquila, THANK YOU for your service, Channing Tatum) who put off such subby service-top vibes. WHY is there not more Han Ying/ZZS on AO3, fandom? I thought better … worse? … better? … of you.) When Gao Chong claims the Glazed Armor is a myth, Han Ying basically calls this older, respected zongzhu a liar and gets up in his face before refusing a dinner invitation and sweeping out in his mini-Collar of Evil with a credible “PAH.” My boy has layers, y’all.

What else? We start out the ep at Luo Mansion, a wedding scene, and I’m struck by how the Ghost Valley colors match traditional wedding colors, here. I’m thinking about how A-Xiang’s wedding dress won’t be red (and I think green was more common during the Tang dynasty?) although all the decorations will be, and I’m thinking about how we have this wedding as a book-end to that wedding, and I’m thinking about how it’s interesting that a girl who was raised in the Ghost Valley and protected by the Department of the Unfaithful meets a man who’s going to be so faithful to her in the same episode as this wedding with/of the dead. Ghoul, who’s one of the attendees from the Ghost Valley, also remarks that the red makes him hungry, so there’s a meat reference to throw into the thematic basket, I guess. (Also, hey. Ghoul is played by the same guy who’s Sun Yongren in Killer & Healer.) Lovelace (ugh) briefly menaces one of the Department handmaidens before Luo Fumeng shows up, and I think she’s Yun Zai or Hong Lu, one of the two maids that A-Xiang rescued from him, although I’m not positive, because her hairstyle is so different and hides a lot of her face, here. So, we’re all attending the “wedding” of Mu Yunge, the apparent fuckboy who got got a couple of episodes ago as bait for Ao Laizi when Changing Ghost got his hands (briefly) on the Danyang Glazed Armor. We did see a brief scene with Yunge in the last ep, when he woke up tied up in bed, being menaced by someone who appeared to be his dead lover – who hanged herself while pregnant with their child – but turned out to be Beauty Ghost using a face-masking technique similar to ZZS’s disguises. In the interim, Ghost Valley has kidnapped 10 cultivators as his wedding party, and – this is the important plot point – that includes Deng Kuan, head disciple of Yueyang Sect. We get to see some of Beauty Ghost’s ruthlessness here, as she carries in the dead woman’s memorial tablet draped in a red cloth – how’s that for some foreshadowing (my f’kn HEART) – to set it down in the “bride’s” place before Yunge is forced to bow three times. (Dead girlfriend was a Mo from Broken Arrow Manor, and I … am not sure if that is significant or not. Is she possibly related to Mo Huaiyang? Does anyone know which sect is associated with Broken Arrow Manor?) Beauty Ghost also kills two of the 10 “guest” cultivators for talking without permission as she explains the next event to them – cage match. Only one of them gets to get out alive. Deng Kuan, the best of them, apparently, pleads with everyone to not let themselves be divided, but we can all guess how this is going to go. I guess maybe he’s the other completely good character we meet, but he sure is a punching bag. He ends up the last man, sort of, standing, as he kills the final other person in self-defense, but not before getting stabbed, and he goes down and is out for the count.

Meanwhile, cut to Zhao Jing and Shen Shen drinking and gossiping at an inn on the way to Yueyang. Shenshen – Shenshen – continues to bemoan Chengling’s uselessness, and also talks about the torture the other Zhang family members underwent just in time for Chengling to overhear in the hallway, so thanks a lot for even more trauma, Shenshen. Zhao Jing is so sad about it all, y’all. He’s just so very very sad, can we just stop talking about it, Shenshen, because you’re making him sad, and he’s just going to let Da-ge figure it all out, OK? Uh-huh.

Fourth plot thread of the episode is ZZS skulking around, following Chengling, trying to convince himself that this kid is safe now that he’s turned himself in to gone to live with the 5LA, even as ZZS spots Tian Chuang spies in the ranks of the Yueyang disciples and among the dumpling vendors on the streets outside. ZZS follows the dumpling vendor, gives him a code phrase and almost gets his head taken off by a Scorpion blade for his trouble, before stabbing Dumpling Man in response. WKX picks this exact moment to wander back into ZZS’s orbit, taking the chance to flirt as Dumpling Man spits up blood and dies in the alleyway, because of course he does. WKX tsks, accuses ZZS of being cruel, and quotes some poetry about fair faces and poisonous hearts, which - like all of his poetry - has a double meaning, because which of them is he really talking about, ZZS or himself? ZZS notes that WKX is openly wearing the (Danyang) Glazed Armor because of course he’s looking for trouble, but WKX loosens his stays and clutches his pearls and replies that he couldn’t possibly be looking for trouble – him? Philanthropist Wen? He’s not a merciless killer like ZZS. Whereupon ZZS finally says out loud what he’s been clearly thinking since he started going on about what an awful person he is in the LAST EPISODE, which is why the hell don’t you stop following me around, then? There’s some more flirting, and WKX continues to follow ZZS around, and ZZS takes note that WKX is obviously flaunting the Glazed Armor out in the open, and then there’s a little sleight of hand when Famous Pickpocket Fan Bu Zhi, oh noes! Steals WKX’s Glazed Armor right off his belt when he isn’t even looking! before WKX continues to follow ZZS around, conveniently into the same inn where Cao Weining and A-Xiang are having lunch. After WKX attempts to chase him away, we discover Cao Weining has had his wallet stolen. WKX deploys his Sadness Eyebrows to convince ZZS to turn over his wallet to pay for Cao Weining’s and A-Xiang’s lunch. ZZS – who does an admirable job of refusing for a bit – finally caves, and WKX orders lunch for everyone, on ZZS. Now all we need is Chengling, because the fam is not complete without Goldbean.

[yuniesan]

Heroes of Tomorrow, Heroes of Today - Chapter Five

Heroes of Tomorrow, Heroes of Today

Synopsis: Riley is the daughter of Tony Stark, but no one knows who she is. Her life has been a lie for her own protection, so when she strikes a deal with her father in six months the world would know. How hard can that be? Well when you’re going to a school where your teachers had once betrayed him, and the one guy you might like hates your father, well everything just becomes a complicated mess.

Or How I mixed two of my favorite universes and made Tony Stark a better father than his own father ever was.

[Previous Chapters]

A/N: Sorry for the wait, but do you have any idea how hard it is to write an abstract for a Master's Thesis?? Because I sure as hell didn't until last month when I was in tears over the fact that I couldn't get it right I finally got it right and my thesis project has been approved, and so today I got the chance to finish this chapter. Hopefully now that my thesis paper is underway it means I have more time to write this. Plus I was writing my novel which is only half finished but will have to be put on a slower schedule so I don’t go crazy.

Chapter Five – Sometimes all you need is a swift kick in the head

Riley saw the moment her father rushed out of the room, her heart was pounding in her chest because she knew that he was having a panic attack. He hadn’t had one since a few months after Siberia, she had worked with him to get them under control because he hadn’t wanted to seek advice on it. So, she worked with Vision on figuring out ways to keep him from having a panic attack but also she worried about him having a heart attack from the stress. She loved her father more than anything and she worried about him. She was about to stand up but she felt Peter place his hand over hers, it was his way of saying that she couldn’t.

It was at that moment that she hated the fact that no one knew she was Tony Starks daughter, she was ready to jump out of her skin because she couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything and it sucked.

“Geez, what’s up with Stark,” Lucas said from across the table. “Did he have to make lunch so dramatic?”

“What’s up with you man, what do you have against Tony Stark?” Zay said and Riley knew that it had to do with the fact that Zay had grown up with Uncle Tony in the same way she had Uncle Rhodey. They were family and family stuck together no matter what.

“He’s an arrogant, self-serving, egomaniac who would rather think of himself than his own company, or his own team,” Lucas said. “Why do you like him?”

“Considering he’s my father’s best friend, my godfather, and my surrogate uncle, yes I freaking like him, and you shouldn’t judge someone based on what you read in the news,” Zay said standing up. Slamming his hands down on the table he got close to Lucas and smirked. “Let me guess you’re a fan of the great Captain America, well your hero isn’t all that great either, but I can look pass everything he’s done and work to understand him better instead of being bitter towards the man.”

Riley knew that Zay had said those things for her own benefit but Riley couldn’t believe that she was hearing something from Lucas who knew nothing about her father. She knew her father had kept up the appearance of being that billionaire playboy, but in reality, he had been so busy raising her, or making sure that no one knew she existed that in the end that image had faded, and he let it fade even though he was seen leaving a party with one or two people with him, but after Afghanistan he usually just went home to create things. Life with her had been different than what the public wrote about, it was an act he put on for the benefit of everyone else.

“Can you believe him,” Lucas said looking over at her and she couldn’t hold back a sneer as she stood up and walked off.

“Don’t say anything bad about Tony or Iron Man,” Peter said as he walked off.

“What’s it to you people,” Lucas called after them.

“When you learn the truth, it might hurt more than you believe,” Ned said before joining his friends.

Once the four of them were out of the cafeteria Riley ran as fast as she could to where she knew her father would go. His workshop inside of NAF wasn’t as big as the one at home, he made sure that all of his own inventions, including Iron Man stayed at the house with the exception of the one he kept near him but any tech he made for the Avengers stayed on site.

Rounding the corner inside of the main building, she rushed down the stairs towards the workshop. Since Peter was with her most people would think that she was with Spiderman but they were actually with her. She saw her father slumped over his work bench, hyperventilating while clutching his chest.

“Guys, give me a minute and I’ll let you in,” she said and waited until they all agreed. “Fri, blackout the windows I don’t want anyone to see.”

“Sure thing Riley,” FRIDAY said before she closed the door and walked towards her father.

“Daddy,” she said feeling small because she couldn’t help him. She walked towards him slowly making sure that she didn’t make any sudden movements. Once she was close to him she slowly placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. It took a few minutes before his breathing evened out.

“Hey,” he said and she could tell that his voice was hoarse from trying to breathe.

“How are you feeling?” she really wanted to know what triggered the attack but she didn’t ask.

“Sorry about that,” he said before pulling her into a hug.

“Dad you were having lunch with Captain Rogers, I hoped it would be easier if you were around him, that’s why I offered the ultimatum but if it’s not going to be alright maybe we can hold off on telling the world.”

“No, it wasn’t that, Steve was fine it’s just that… Riley your training team is headed up by Barnes isn’t it.”

“Yeah, I was placed there this morning,” she said wondering where he was going with this.

“The Winter Soldier… his other personality, although it’s gone, he still has to live with what he’s done, but it’s also the fact that he killed your grandparents.”

Riley’s mind started working overtime thinking about the ramifications of knowing that her grandparents hadn’t died in an accident but by the hands of James Barnes. And now he was training her.

“The panic attack was because of me,” she said shocked at thinking that he was afraid.

“Riley, I don’t want you hurt, I was afraid that he was going to take you away from me and that’s the last thing I want to happen.”

“Don’t worry too much, if he tries anything I’m pretty sure that a compound full of people will stop him. I think what you’re more afraid of is that I’m too weak to handle myself but dad, seriously I trained with you and Happy, I have a bunch of little projects that I’m pretty sure could kill someone because I’m not a hundred percent sure if they’re going to work, plus I’m your kid… and I doubt anyone would want to face mom’s wrath if I got hurt in any way.”

“I wouldn’t want to face your mother if anything happened to you, she’s scary when she’s angry, hell it’s one of the reasons why she’s so good at running the company.”

She nodded at him and smiled before she pulled him into a hug. “Feel better?”

“Yes, now is the rest of the gang waiting outside or did they create a distraction.”

“They’re outside.”

He smiled at her before standing, she noticed that he was a little shaky on his feet for a moment. He walked over to the door and opened it as three teenage boys fell to the floor.

“Really smooth guys,” he said smiling at the boys.

Riley was glad to have friends like them, but now she had another problem and that was that one of her teammates didn’t like her father and the reasons why had mostly to do with the fact that they were obsessed with Captain America.

“Off to class with the bunch of you,” her father said smiling before hugging her and sending her off with the rest of her friends.

Peter put one arm around her shoulders, and the other around Ned’s, so she put hers around Zay and the four of them walked off. With friends like them she didn’t need anyone else, especially someone who would bad mouth her father. Although Isadora is okay in her book and she wouldn’t mind getting to know the other girl.

“I wonder if I could come to this school full time,” Peter said out loud making Riley laugh.

“What you don’t want to go back to your other world?” she said smiling at him.

“Well not really, I love it there and I’m happy being Spiderman and all, but I guess the back and forth would get a little bothersome after a while.”

“Don’t pick, plus your Aunt would probably kill my dad for keeping you away so much, especially since I’m pretty sure she knows that you’re Spiderman,” she said smiling at him. “Now off you go, you and Ned both have class over there this afternoon.”

She pushed him off, her father had made sure that the two would be taken into the city by Happy on most days. They also have a bus for the few students who traveled back and forth, which was only about ten including Peter and Ned. They were in a good school and her father was very much aware of that even though he found it hilarious when Peter needed to do homework instead of being a superhero.

“I swear I’m never sure if you two are flirting, or acting like you’re flirting,” Zay said as they walked off towards their next class. It was a history class taught by her public persona’s father, though at the school no one knew that they only thought that they had the same last name.

“No, we’re not flirting… I don’t even know how to flirt,” she said trying to divert any attention Zay was trying to put on her relationship with Peter. “I’m pretty sure it’s only a platonic friendship Zay not romantic.”

“Yeah keep telling yourself that,” he said as they walked into the room and came face to face Mr. Matthews.

“On time,” Mr. Matthews said. “Not bad, especially since last time I taught a class with you two in it you were ten minutes late consistently.”

“Well we’re trying to be good,” she said smiling.

“Yeah especially since the last time you were trying to be good you blew up the science lab,” Zay said making her push him to the side.

Lucas couldn’t believe it, why had the four of them reacted that way, just because he didn’t like Tony Stark. It wasn’t until Zay said that Stark was his godfather which meant that someone was close enough to Stark to name him the godfather to his kid. They had gotten along so well, and now he felt stupid because of what he said.

“You know Riley is a good person, and from what I saw of Zay, Peter and Ned they’re all good at what they do but because you can’t let go of this weird hatred you have for Stark you might lose a part of the team we need to be a part of,” Isadora said rolling her eyes at him.

Farkle looked up at them. “Didn’t your Aunt Peggy tell you to stop hating on the man?”

“Yes, but then that whole civil war happened.”

“Lucas, whatever happened at that airport has nothing to do with us, we don’t know what happened, we don’t know the reasons behind it but in the end you have done nothing but hate him and now it’s going to cost you the team we have to build,” Farkle said looking him in the eye.

“I think you need to talk to Sharon and get all of the facts before you keep digging yourself into this hole you want to be buried in,” Isadora said before standing up and walking away. Farkle following her giving him an I’m sorry look before walking away. They had afternoon classes, so he wouldn’t be able to talk to any of them including Sharon until later.

The thought that he might have messed up a new friendship so quickly was bothering him throughout the day. The afternoon classes were normal courses, history, math, science even a literature class, but he hadn’t paid attention in any of them. Especially since the moment he walked into his history class and came face to face with Riley and Zay who both ignored him and continued their conversation. When classes were over for the day he sat outside on the lawn and just thought about everything including his Aunt Peggy.

Why had she told me not to judge Stark? Was all he wondered but he couldn’t find an answer.

“Hello Lucas,” someone said from behind him. When Lucas turned around he was faced with his childhood hero, behind him was Sharon looking at him with a look that he knew all too well, she was disappointed in him. “You know I heard that you had a disagreement with your team already.”

“Yeah well, it’s only the first day who knows what will happen next,” he said realizing that he won’t be able to be happy and hero worship that man with a pissed off Sharon in the background.

“I had a disagreement with my team once and in the end it cost me more than I could have wished, it cost me a friendship with one of the only people I knew I could trust, all because I had kept a secret from them. I acted in a way that wasn’t befitting of Captain America, and now I have to work twice as hard to repair that friendship.”

“So, what is the lesson here sir,” Lucas said looking to the man he had admired all of his life.

“The lesson is that maybe you should let go of whatever anger you have that’s causing this rift and learn grow from these new friendship, who knows you might learn something,” he said standing up. “Also know that sometimes if you can’t let go, it’ll cost you your team and maybe even your life.”

When Captain Rogers walked away Sharon sat down next to him and smiled for a moment. They didn’t say a word to one another for a few minutes before she spoke up.

“Do you know the reason why Aunt Peggy wanted you to let go of the hatred you have over Stark?” When Lucas shook his head, she continued. “Well not many people know this, because it’s not public knowledge, it’s not even in the SHIELD files, but Aunt Peggy was Tony Stark’s godmother.”

Lucas’s head shot up the moment Sharon had said those words he didn’t know what to do with that information.

“The only reason I knew is because well, she left me a long letter, I found it after she had died, after I had helped three fugitives, after everything that had happened during the whole civil war fiasco. The letter wasn’t for me though, it was for the one person none of us thought to invite to her funeral, the one person she had helped raise and when she got sick he had been the one to make sure that she got the best care even if he wasn’t around.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought you might want to know, I read the letter before I gave it to him which was an invasion of privacy, but since she had left an entire trunk of things for Stark I was curious about it all. I betrayed someone who was supposed to be a part of our family all because of a blind trust for Captain America. Aunt Peggy was loyal to both and she would have probably taken them both by the ear and yelled at them. They were her family, even though she had a whole family in us, but no matter what she loved every one of us in her own way.”

“Why would she keep that from us thought?”

“Because Stark asked her to, after the death of his parents,” Sharon put her arms around him and hugged him. “You can’t be mad at family.”

When she left Lucas felt as though he had been given something he would have never known in the first place. It wasn’t a mystery to solve, it was the legacy of his life, and the hate he held for someone.

Tony worked in the NAF workshop for an hour before heading to his office to have his afternoon conference call with Pepper over designs for Stark tech products as well as anything else she wanted to throw at him. It was a good thing that the conversation was happening over a holoscreen because the last time they had done it face to face she had actually thrown something at him for saying something inappropriate during the board meeting.

When he sat down he noticed that he was ten minutes early, so he checked his emails to clear them out. There were request from foreign governments for missions, Hydra missions he needed to approve, and request from Fury for helicarrier upgrades. Even though Fury was no longer the director of all of SHIELD, he was in charge of any missions that Tony didn’t want to handle himself, of course he used the helicarrier as well as several agents to run the missions. Hill split her time between the two, but Tony had allowed her to work from the air since he knew how close she was to Fury.

Three emails had been flagged by FRIDAY for him to read and he couldn’t help but smile at them, one was from Harley, no doubt it was an angry email because his mother had denied his chance to enter the Academy.

From: Harley Keener <potatogunmk2@gmail.com>

To: Tony Stark <tonystark@starkenterprises.com>

Subject: What the Hell Man, I thought we were connected

Hey Stark,

Seriously, why did you listen to my mother, you know I wanted to be there. But when I asked her she was angry and sent me to my room for being an evil little shit and trying to plot on running away without her permission.

We’re connected you and me, remember, so why didn’t you stick up for me with her. So what if I got a D or two, it’s not my fault… not entirely… okay maybe it was but what does it matter if I get a D in gym class.

I’ll get you so help me I will.

Harley

 Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes, Harley’s mother didn’t want him going to the Academy because he had gotten two D’s on his last report card. Tony understood and told her that if Harley raised his grades he would rethink the kid’s entry into the Academy. It had been the most adult conversation he had ever had, and he knew that she was doing it out of love for her son.

 From: Tony Stark <tonystark@starkenterprises.com>

To: Harley Keener <potatogunmk2@gmail.com>

Subject: re: What the Hell Man, I thought we were connected

Harley… Harley, Harley, Harley

If you want to survive at the Academy you need a B+ average in Gym, or else you won’t survive the training. Trust me I saw the kids after a morning of training with Captain America, and four other agents, you can’t survive that if you can’t keep up.

If we were connected you would have known that you needed to keep your grades up, you promised me that you would show up with a spotless report card. But in the end, you didn’t keep up your end of the bargain. What should I do with a sixteen-year-old who won’t take proper orders… not even from your own mother.

It was her decision not mine, so go fight with her over this. You need parental permission to join the Academy, REMEMBER or were you hoping that I would ignore that part just for you?

Try again squirt

Tony

 He knew that Harley would throw a hissy fit from the email alone, which he was waiting for especially since the kid had wanted to get into the academy as much as anyone else especially when he had floated the idea to him. His mother had heard and thought it would be a good idea but once he had received his grades from the last semester the woman had been pissed and she had a right to be. So Tony said that if Harley would raise his grades by the beginning of next year they would rethink his entry, but they weren’t tell Harley this because he would only raise his grade to go to New York.

The next email was from Mama and Junior Barton’s both of which he had smiled at since the kids had taken a liking to him especially after Barton Senior had gone and joined Team Cap during the Accords and all but abandoned his family, and blamed Tony for it as well.

Laura had sent the email along with a picture of the kids all together on vacation over the summer to one of Tony’s private islands. Considering Barton wasn’t in the photo it meant that he had taken it not knowing that Laura would send it to Tony. He couldn’t help but smile at the group.

From: Laura Barton <mamabarton@resliant.com>

To: Tony Stark <tonystark@starkenterprises.com>

Subject: Thank you

Hello from the Bartons,

Thank you, Tony, for letting us use your island getaway for some family bonding before the beginning of the school year. The kids loved it, and I hope you like the picture even though Clint refused to get in it the moment I said I was going to send it to you. He’s still being a stubborn ass, even though I’m pretty sure he’s forgiven you for well everything. Sadly I told him that I haven’t forgiven him, but that’s what marriage counseling is for.

Coop wants to join the Academy but I told him to wait until his sixteenth birthday so that I could have him for a few more years. So now he’s training everyday he even joined the soccer team to build his stamina. I’ll send you a video of his first game of the year.

Lila, well she wants a unicorn and for you to have it sent to her, I don’t know how I feel about that and please don’t spoil her and build one. She also wants you to visit more often because you haven’t come back since Clint came home and she’s not happy about that.

I know you told me in confidence about… well you know and I’m glad you did because it explains a lot but maybe you should tell the team. I want them to forgive you fully about everything that has happened. Although I do want to kick my husband’s ass, especially now that he keeps talking about going back to teach at the Academy.

I guess he just misses everyone, who knows, but I don’t want him leaving his family so I’ve refused several times already.

Stay healthy Tony, give my love to everyone there.

Laura

 He couldn’t help but smile, after the whole Accords fiasco he had made sure that the Barton’s would be safe even without Clint there. They had gone on the run forgetting that they had a family and Tony couldn’t bring himself to forgive Clint for leaving his family, because Tony himself couldn’t leave Riley like that. No matter what they said about him and the Accords he knew that they couldn’t run around blindly acting the way they did, he made sure Ross wasn’t involved anymore but it was their fault for not stopping long enough to actually talk.

He sighed giving up with the argument inside of his own head. What’s done is done and it doesn’t matter anymore. The Accords now protected the Barton’s, they protected Riley, and Zay, who were all kids of superheroes, and that’s all that mattered to him.

 From: Tony Stark <tonystark@starkenterprises.com>

To: Laura Barton <mamabarton@resliant.com>

Subject: re: Thank you

Hey Laura,

Tell the kids I miss them too, and maybe they can visit in a few weeks when everything is settled, or maybe for Christmas? My house is huge and can fit all of you and a small army, plus I need help decorating this year.

I’m glad you all had fun on the island, I rarely use it so I didn’t mind letting you guys go. Tell Birdbrain to get his head out of his ass. If he wants to uproot you guys for something that isn’t about taking care of you then go ahead and kick him right where it hurts. If you decide that you do want to move closer to the Academy and let him teach, I have an empty plot of land not too far from here, I know a few good movers who would literally move your farm from where it is and plot it down no question. You wouldn’t have to pack a single thing, they would literally take the whole house.

Tell Lila that I can’t give her a unicorn… well not yet, but I’ll work on it as long as you approve, maybe for Christmas?

Tell me what you want to do and I’ll do it, plus I know Clint just misses Nat, and that could be why he’s desperate to come here. The ball is in your court.

Love,

Uncle Tony

He closed out the emails as Pepper’s face appeared in front of him with a smile on her face, he was afraid of what she had to say when she smiled.

“Hey Pep, I sent you the designs this morning so tell me what you think, come on hit me with it,” he said smiling back.

“I think, that the great Tony Stark is being responsible, more responsible than usual and as scary as it is, I’m 90% sure that it has something to do with that kid of ours,” she said smiling. The room was monitored by FRIDAY so he wasn’t scared about talking about Riley.

“Yeah well she’s a good influence, we should have a family dinner this weekend, or a barbeque with Happy, Rhodey and Zay.”

“About Rhodey,” she said and he could tell she was blushing because her freckles came out more when she blushed. “Um… we’re kind of… well he asked me out and I said yes.”

“My two best friends are dating without me knowing? I’m wounded Pep… Wounded.”

“Not my fault he was supposed to tell you last night but he didn’t and I yelled at him this morning about it, but anyway is it alright?”

He thought about it for a moment and realized that he didn’t really care, “You can date whoever you want Pepper,” he smiled. “So, dinner this weekend?”

“Yes, dinner is fine.”

The two spent another hour discussing R&D for S.I. and the technical aspects of creating another Stark Expo except using inventions from students from all over the world. It wouldn’t happen until the Spring but he wanted to try it out and possibly find more bright young minds to join the SHIELD recruitment program. Once they were finished with that, they quickly went over other things that hadn’t been a part of the original email before hanging up.

The day was almost over and he had never been so exhausted in his life.

Steve had thought about what he had said to Sharon’s cousin and realized that maybe he should have a conversation with Tony about his panic attack. Steve hadn’t realized at the time that the attack had happened after he had told him about Bucky training the new recruits. He didn’t know why it had been triggered by that but he knew that Tony wasn’t completely alright with everything, they were getting there but it wasn’t 100% yet.

“FRIDAY, where’s Tony right now?” he asked as he walked down the corridor.

“The boss is in his office right now finishing up a conference call with Ms. Potts,” FRIDAY answered. “Shall I inform him of your inquiry?”

“No, I’ll just knock on the door, thanks.”

Steve stopped by the cafeteria and grabbed the largest coffee he could, he thought of it as a peace offering, as well as a sandwich because Tony hadn’t eaten anything when they were at lunch and although he knew the genius could go hours without eating he wanted to make sure he didn’t collapse from hunger. When he reached Tony’s office he stood there for a minute remembering how their last conversation went. Maybe they were getting better, he wasn’t sure but he was going to keep trying, no more running.

He knocked on the door before opening it to see Tony grimacing at a bunch of paper work on his desk.

“Need help?” he asked smiling.

“Not really, it’s mostly done, it’s just that I ran out of coffee and I haven’t had any in a while, so I’m going through withdrawal right now,” Tony said which made Steve smile.

“Well I brought some with me,” he said holding out the cup watching at Tony’s eyes lit up eyeing the cup with the kind of lust Steve was sure people gave their lovers. “You get the coffee if you also eat this sandwich.”

“Yes, just give it here,” Tony said inhaling the hot drink without flinching.

Steve put the sandwich down in front of him and sat down. “I thought that we should talk a little.”

Tony stilled for a moment before putting the cup down, “I’m not going to talk about the panic attack, it happens… well not recently, the last one happened months ago, but anyway, I have it under control so pick a different topic.”

“Okay how about dinner,” Steve said without thinking.

“Are you asking me out on a date? I didn’t know Captain America swung both ways?”

The moment Tony had said it he could feel his heart pound in his chest, he wasn’t sure about his feelings towards the other man but it was something he wanted to explore. Instead he talked quickly to deflect from what was happening.

“No Tony, a team dinner this weekend.”

“Oh, well the answer is no, I have a barbeque with Pep and Rhodey.”

“Why can’t it also be a team thing? We need to recalibrate after being… well after everything that’s happened.”

He watched at Tony’s face went through a few emotions as he thought about it, “What if we invite a few recruits.”

“It’s Peter, isn’t it?”

“Yes, because he’s coming over anyway and so are his friends so you can’t object to it.”

“Fine, the kids will keep it from turning into an all-out fight.”

“There will be a fight,” Tony smiled at him. “It’s the end of summer, I’m getting the water guns out and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, it’s tradition.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile, it felt so normal, almost like it had been before the Accords, before Ultron, when they had all been friends.

“Fine but you’re not allowed to put anything weird into the water guns,” he said smiling.

Tony grumbled as he started eating the sandwich. “You know I wouldn’t mind having dinner, just the two of us one day,” Tony said before taking a sip from the coffee cup.

Steve couldn’t believe it even as the genius smiled at him, he really couldn’t believe it.

“If we use it to talk about getting pass everything that happened I’ll be willing to go to dinner with you,” he said hoping that the blush on his skin wasn’t noticeable.

“I was thinking more along the lines of dating, I realized recently that I haven’t been on a date in a while, but whatever floats your boat Cap.”

The smirk on Tony’s face told him that he was serious, and Steve choked on air trying to get his bearings in control. Tony had asked him on a date because he thought that Steve had asked him on a date. Was this progress? He wondered but wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“Fine, next Friday,” Steve said as he got up. “I’m sure I can trust you to pick a place to go to, or should I?”

Tony looked at him shocked as if he hadn’t known that it would work which meant that Steve all of a sudden had the upper hand over this arrangement.

“You pick,” Tony said. “Now leave so I can finish the rest of this,” he said gesturing towards the pile of paperwork.

“See you tomorrow Director,” Steve said before walking out of the room and rushing off. He wasn’t sure what he had just done, but now he knew he had a date with Tony.

[seriestrash]

London’s Calling

1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 

Chapter Eight: Tagged

Word Count: 3237

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

Back in New York on the night of the party that upset Riley, Lucas sat on his sofa with Zay at the opposite end. It was 3pm and the two Texans were settling down to watch a baseball game whilst Riley was settling into the awkwardness of the party. 

Zay threw a handful of popcorn in the air and it rained down over him, only a few kernels actually landing in his mouth. Lucas chuckled and brushed off the bits that fell on his lap. Zay started rambling on about something but Lucas’ attention dropped out when his phone buzzed. It was an Instagram notification saying Riley was tagged in a photo. 

Lucas looked at the candid photo of Riley. He wonders what she’s doing, it looked to him like she was at a party. Lucas clicked on Finn’s profile, surprised to see it wasn’t on private he looked at a few of his photos. 

“Luke, are you even listening?” Zay cleared his throat. 

“Do you think this guy is attractive?” Lucas asked still focused on his phone. 

Zay gave his friend a quizzical look, wondering if he even realised what he’s just asked. Lucas however didn’t seem to register his friends look, instead he just flips his phone screen around for Zay to see, showing him the post he was looking at. 

Zay looked between the phone screen and Lucas a few times. “I’m not sure what the right answer is here...” Zay chuckled nervously. 

“That’s Finn, he’s Riley’s friend in London.” Lucas flipped the phone back to himself. 

“That’s Finn?” Zay’s eyes widened and he scooted closer to Lucas, grabbing at the phone so he could see it too. 

“Yeah, normally his profile is on private,” Lucas said, “He must have taken it off...” 

“You’ve checked before?” Zay asked amused. 

“No...” Lucas lied. 

“If you wanted a photo of him why didn’t you just ask Maya?” Zay questioned.

“Why would Maya have a photo of him?” Lucas was confused. 

“Hello? She’s Riley’s best friend,” Zay scoffed, “What was the first thing I asked when you told me you met two girls on the subway?” 

“For photos,” realisation crossed Lucas’ face, “But we’re guys... Do girls do that? 

“I almost guarantee you they do,” Zay held back his smirk. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucas shook his head, getting back to the point. “I couldn’t have asked Maya because she would tell Riley.” 

“So?” Zay raised a brow. 

“Riley would think I was jealous,” Lucas said as if that should have been obvious. 

“You are jealous.” Zay matched his friends expression. 

“Maybe, but she doesn’t need to know that,” Lucas said. “Has Riley mentioned him to you. Finn, I mean?” 

“A couple times,” Zay nodded. 

“Really?” Lucas asked quickly. 

Zay nodded again, “She hasn’t to you?” 

“Not really...” Lucas mumbled. “Do you think that means something?” 

“You think she likes him?” Zay asked not believing it. 

“I don’t know..” Lucas stared at the phone again for a moment. “I know we’ve been finding it hard to talk lately but when we do it’s like we brush around the details of things.” 

“You think she’s hiding something?” Zay’s interest was completely peaked, forget about the baseball game. 

“I think maybe she’s not telling me the whole truth...” Lucas admitted. “Maybe she likes Finn and is too scared to tell me?” 

“I don’t know, but instead of all this guessing you could... You know... Ask her?” Zay gave his friend a knowing look. 

That’s where the conversation turned to something other than Riley but the idea of her moving on lingered in the back of Lucas’ mind long after the baseball game was over and long after Zay left that evening. 

Lucas was distracted throughout dinner and evasive whenever his parents tried to find out what was wrong. 

After turning in for the night Lucas continued to be restless in bed. Really what he wanted was to call Riley but it was around 10pm which was 3am for Riley and he wouldn’t dare wake her. Lucas managed a couple hours sleep but woke again around 2:30am. He took out his phone and opened Riley’s Instagram, he looked at a few of the photos, all of which he’s already seen. She hadn’t been posting much since she went back to school. Lucas brushed this off as being busy with homework and what not but then he realised he doesn’t even get sent the extra photos anymore. Why?

Another forty-five minutes pass and Lucas is still awake. He looks at the time and works out it would be around 8am for Riley. He spends another fifteen minutes contemplating if he should call her or not but ultimately he gives in. 

Back in London Riley snoozes comfortably in her bed after an hour of crying that finally put her to sleep. It’s her phone ringing that causes the brunette to stir. She reaches for it at smiles at the picture of Lucas that flashes on her screen.

Her smile drops when she realises it would be the very early hours of the morning in New York so Riley worries something is wrong and answers quickly.

“Lucas?” Riley says with a hint of panic in her voice, “It’s so early for you, did something happen?”

“No, no, oh sorry, no,” Lucas apologises quickly.

“Oh good,” Riley lets out a breath of relief. 

“Did I wake you?” Lucas asks now being the one who’s worried. 

“Kind of, but I’m glad you called.” Riley says genuinely, “What’s up?”

“I couldn’t sleep and we haven't had the chance to speak in almost two weeks so I thought I might be able to catch you now..” Lucas says. Riley notices he seems off, not his usual self.

“Is there something particular on your mind?” Riley repositions herself into a spot of comfort in bed.

“No,” Lucas says quietly, “Just wanted to chat.”

“Okay,” Riley says softly. If he didn’t want to open up yet that was fine. Riley was just happy to hear his voice. “What do you want to chat about?” 

“So you went to a party last night?” Lucas asks trying to be casual. 

“How did you know?” Riley is almost defensive. She worries Maya spilled the beans about her kiss. Oh no, the kiss, Riley thinks to herself. With the worry of something possibly being wrong with Lucas she forgot about it but with the mention of the party, the guilt and pain of last night comes flooding to the front of her mind. 

“I just saw you tagged in that Finn guys photo,” Lucas answers. 

Finn. “Oh yeah. Finn has been pestering me about his famous parties since I arrived in London so I finally caved. I left pretty early though, I wasn’t feeling it..” Riley tries her best not to alert Lucas of anything. 

“Did something happen?” Lucas asks worried. 

“No, of course not!” Riley lies, “It was really fun but you know me. I’m more of a quiet get together kind of gal..” Riley giggles nervously. 

“Okay,” Lucas says not completely convinced. “So I haven't heard much about this Finn guy... Are you two close?” 

“Sorta,” Riley shifts in her bed uncomfortably. “I’ve told you he’s the son of mom’s partner at the firm and he’s in the year above me.” 

“Mhmm,” Lucas mumbles his agreement that he knows this already. 

Riley’s still worried Lucas knows something more about last night. Maybe not the full details of it but she decides to talk things up. Turn things into a positive rather than how negatively it actually went. The last thing she wanted was for Lucas to pity her or even worse, get angry. “I mean, even though he’s older we seem to get on quite well, even his friends have become my friends despite the age difference.” 

“Well there’s a year between you and I,” Lucas states, “We get along just fine.” 

“I know,” Riley lets out a soft giggle, “It’s just, with them being apart of the senior program and all... It’s kind of a big deal for me.” 

“Oh okay.. I’m glad you’re fitting in well,” Lucas says quietly, “Told you they’d love you.” 

“Yeah,” Riley matches his soft tone. “Anyway, enough about me. We talk about me all the time,” Riley laughs quietly, “What’s new with you?”

“Nothing really, same old stuff…” Lucas says.

“Absolutely nothing?” Riley asks, “New York is the exact same as when I left it? Nothing new to report about school?”

“Well, a couple days ago a new girl started in our year.”

“A new girl?” Riley’s interest is peaked, “Is she nice?”

“I don’t know, I haven't spoken to her,” Lucas admits.

“Maybe you should,” The words leave Riley’s mouth before she even understands what she’s saying. 

“You think?” Lucas asks confused. 

“Of course.. I mean you know first hand how daunting being the new kid can be-” 

“So do you now,” Lucas added. 

“I guess so,” Riley laughs. “Anyway, maybe you guys should make her feel welcome because I know first hand how rewarding befriending the new kid can be.” 

“You think knowing me is rewarding?” Lucas smirks. 

“Shut up,” Riley laughs with an eye roll to herself. 

Before Lucas could say anything else his father grumbles something about getting off the phone at this ridiculous hour. Lucas calls out a respectable, “Yes Sir.” and turns his attention back to Riley. 

“What was that about?” Riley questions. 

“Whoops,” Lucas whispers into the phone, “I woke up my dad. I have to go, I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Riley smiles to herself, “Get some sleep.” 

“Night, Riles.” Lucas says. 

“Oh and by the way,” Riley says before he hands up, “I guess knowing you has been sorta rewarding.. or whatever..” Riley says in a mocking bashful way. 

Lucas chuckles quietly, adds a simple, “ditto.” and hangs up the phone. 

Now, wide awake, Riley springs from her bed to get some breakfast. Just as she enters the kitchen where the rest of her family were already gathered the intercom buzzes. It’s Finn. Riley panics silently for a moment. If she tells him to go that would spark questions with her parents but if she lets him up then she’s forced to confront him. Ultimately Riley’s incessant need to portray her unwavering happiness won out in the end and Riley ends up alone in her room with Finn. 

“Riley, I’m so deeply sorry for how I acted last night,” Finn opens with an apology. “I was inebriated and I know that’s no excuse but I misread the situation and I’m so, so sorry.”  

“Finn, do you like me?” Riley asks as she shifts on her feet. 

“Of course, you’re hilarious,” Finn wears a wide grin. 

“I mean, like like me,” Riley lowers her gaze, “Is that why you tried to kiss me?” 

Finn grows increasingly uncomfortable and rubs at the nape of his neck, “I mean you’re great but I was thinking - in my cloudy mind - that it would just be fun, ya know?” 

“Okay,” Riley nods. Slightly relieved that his actions didn’t come through because of harboured feelings for her. “I’m just not a fun kind of girl...” 

“I completely understand and I am truly sorry for upsetting you last night.” 

Riley could tell he was genuine but she couldn’t help but feel like her trust was betrayed and even though she believes Finn is a genuinely nice guy he’s been tainted in her eyes. Although, Riley does forgive him and they agree to remain friends and to an extent they do but Riley keeps her distance at school, which results in her spending more lunches alone. Riley knew in her heart that she could probably fix her isolation situation with a little persistence with her peers but as she sits on a bench outside, looking around at the school she’s not warmed up to, Riley realises she doesn’t want to fix it. She just wants to go home.

☏ ☏ ☏ ☏

“Rain,” Riley mutters to herself. Not like the droplets that fall from the sky and calms Riley’s soul. No, Rain as in the beautiful bombshell that transferred to Abigail Adams High from LA and Riley feels like that’s all she’s heard about for months.  

Lucas listened to Riley when she encouraged him to reach out to the new girl and he also implored their friends to do the same and three months pass since the first mention of Rain and it’s been drizzling down on Riley ever since. 

Riley was almost certain that there hadn’t been a single conversation she’d had with one of her friends back home that didn’t bring up the new girl in some way. 

Zay openly admits how fine she is and how her immediate acceptance into the cheer squad tickled his cheerleader complex. 

Farkle and Smakle both expressed their shared surprise when Rain joined the science club. 

Even Maya went on about how cool Rain was. The one person who remained ‘indifferent’ to the new girl was Lucas. Riley was unsure if he was trying to spare her feelings or not on the odd occasion that they did get a chance to chat. Which, is something that bothers Riley more than her apparent jealously about Rain and it’s not just her lack of communication with Lucas it’s her lack of communication with everyone. Riley was lucky if she had averaged three calls in three months from each of her friends. Even texting was a rare thing now. 

Riley sits at the end of her bed with all of this is weighing on her mind when a FaceTime request flashes on her phone. Riley’s grin grows wide and she answers, her smile only getting bigger when Maya appears on the screen. 

“Peaches,” Riley says almost relieved. 

“Hey, honey,” Maya swivels in her desk chair. 

“How was the school trip?” Riley asks knowing she would have only just gotten back. 

“They hotel was icky, I’m just glad to have my phone back,” Maya yawns, “How are you?” 

“I’m good,” Riley nods, giving her usual positive response. A notification flashes at the top of Riley’s screen and she clicks it immediately when she see’s its a post notification for Lucas, or a tag notification rather. 

“Hello?” Maya asks waving her hand in front of the camera as she tries to get Riley’s attention. 

Riley clicks back to Maya and gives her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Lucas was tagged in a photo...” 

“The one with Rain?” Maya asks. 

“Yeah, have you seen it?” Riley questions. 

“Mhmm,” Maya bops her head, “Rain was asking me for caption approval.” 

“So are you guys like.. close?” Riley chews on her bottom lip. 

“Kinda,” Maya shrugs, “She’s cool.” 

Riley gently nods and stares past the screen in thought. 

“I don’t think Lucas, likes her if that’s what you’re worried about...” Maya adds cautiously. 

“What?” Riley gets defensive, “Why would I care about that?” 

“Because it’s Lucas..” Maya gives her a sympathetic look. 

“I’ve been gone for eight months now,” Riley says as if that’s no big deal. “I’m over Lucas. We’re just friends.” 

“Okay,” Maya says not buying that for a second. 

The two get back into catching up but the conversation drifts back to Rain and Riley starts one of her long winded rambles about how pretty she is and how fake glad she is that the new girl is fitting in so well and then it turns to obvious jealously which turns into crazy talk. 

“R for Rain, R for Riley,” A gasp escapes the brunette. 

“What are you talking about?” Maya scrunches her nose in confusion. 

“I’m being replaced, right down to the first letter of my name!” Riley says completely serious. 

“Okay,” Maya chuckles amused, “Are you replacing Farkle with Finn?” 

Another gasp exits Riley, with wide eyes she replies, “They are both rich.. Maya, what if the universe is trying to fill in the blanks?” 

“No!” Maya groans, “I was joking. You really have to stop YouTubing those conspiracy videos.” 

“They’re so addicting,” Riley chews on her thumbnail briefly. 

“They give you nightmares,” Maya pulls her phone closer to her face so Riley got a zoomed up view of her knowing glare. 

“That was only once... a night for a week,” Riley chuckles nervously, rolling onto her stomach. “But seriously... Do you think people like her more than me?” 

“What does that matter?” Maya asks, “You’re Riley, we love Riley. That’s never going to change.” 

Riley can only mumble something inaudible to Maya. 

“You’re still thinking about the R thing aren't you?” Maya coaxes her head. 

“Well, it can’t be a coincidence!” Riley gets amped up again. Springing up into a sitting position.

“Her name is Lorraine,” Maya states, “Rain for short.”

“Oh,” Riley says quietly. “Maybe when we talk about her we can call her Lory, to make me feel better.” 

“Whatever you want,” Maya shakes her head but is always amused by her best friend. 

“Lory and Lucas...” Riley says quietly, “No, Maya that sounds better-” 

“I thought this wasn’t about Lucas?” Maya gives her a knowing look. 

“It isn’t,” Riley lies. “I just don’t want like the idea of being replaceable...” 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Riley. You’re one of a kind remember?” Maya grins, “No one is replacing you.” 

Riley wears a small smile. The Skype on her laptop ringing breaks her attention from FaceTime with Maya. 

“It’s Lucas,” Riley says being able to make out his display picture from her bed. 

“Ha Hurr,” Maya says in a snippy tone for him taking away from her call time with Riley. 

“Love you,” Riley says innocently. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Maya swats the air in front of her, “You too.” 

With that playful note they hang up and Riley leaps for her laptop to answer Lucas’ call before he hangs up. 

“Hey,” Riley waves, her video chat slightly lagging. 

“Hi,” Lucas’ smile is small but warm. 

“How was the trip?” Riley asks casually, “I saw you tagged in Rain’s photo...” 

“You did?” Lucas asks quietly but doesn’t let her answer. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Kinda.” 

“Really?” Riley’s heart starts pounding faster in her chest. “Did something.. happen.. between you two?” 

“No, nothing...” Lucas avoids Riley’s gaze, even through the computer. “Yet..”

“Yet?” Riley’s voice is almost a whisper as if Lucas had just confirmed every worry she’s had these past three months. 

“She kind of asked me out…” Lucas says quietly.

“She did?” Riley is surprised at first and has to force her words out, “What did you say?”

“I don’t know.” Lucas states.

“You don’t know what you said?” Riley laughs nervously.

“No,” Lucas joins in the nervous giggle, “I said I don’t know, that I’d think about it.”

“What’s there to think about?” Riley asks.

“You…”  Lucas answers hesitantly.

“What about me?” Riley questions.

“Would it be weird?” Lucas asks, “If I said yes.”

“Not for me, of course not,” Riley wears a huge grin. “Lucas, all I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy.”

“So you and I would be okay if I said yes?” Lucas asks.

“Of course,” Riley grins, “Why wouldn't we be?”

“Okay, good,” Lucas wears a look a relief. “Hey Riles, I should probably go.”

“Sure, speak soon okay?” Riley grins one last time before they end the video chat.

Riley closes her laptop and flops down on her bed. What was that Maya said about not being replaced?

End Note: Sorry this chapter took so long! I was never planning on adding the Lucas + Zay part, more just alluding to the photo tag being on his mind but I wanted to lengthen it for you guys. 

There isn't many more  chapters left. Hopefully they’ll be out sooner rather than later!

As always I ask for reviews, feedback etc !! :)