#and laurens just be so confused
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snacho-to-ur-nacho · 5 months ago
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immigrants
we get the job done
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blaithnne · 1 year ago
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Every Sonstansil Lauren makes it her mission to personally find, chop down and decorate the biggest Sonstansil tree she can find, entirely alone (except for the decorating).
Moving to Trolberg does not stop her, Mr. Ostenfeld has to call in sick to work because there’s a massive pine tree stuck blocking the stairwell.
It doesn’t even stop there, she starts volunteering to get other people trees too, and acts like it’s a personal attack when someone says they’re just going to get a synthetic one.
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cas-theghostking · 8 months ago
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I finally watched the hamilton workshop fully through and as much as I enjoyed it I'm genuinely so happy they changed some of the rhymes and rhythm. Cause yall, some of those weren't it. 😭. Like "You look... bad" bruh??? And also there's a lot more cursing in the work shop. I can see why they got rid of a lot if it because it puts more emphasis on times when they do curse. All things said, it was a fun watch.
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flightlesscipher · 17 days ago
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Ello🫡In the process of running thru the view askewniverse movies and 😳😳😳😳😳. Just finished watching chasing amy for the first time. What a fucking emotional rollercoaster that was. Especially now that it's almost 2025, I feel like that movie touched more touchy topics than I can count on my hands. I gasped way too many times at how many plot twists there were. I've never agreed and disagreed with multiple characters at the same time before. There was so much rawness and detail and depth I can't even process it all😭😭this is one of those movies that needs to be STUDIED..I feel like each scene and subject was so important, even the hidden easter eggs I probably failed to notice. I can't even describe what I'm feeling rn besides wow💀truly a case of if u know u know. Classic story of straight man falling in love with a lesbian that makes u wanna roll ur eyes at the idea but BOOM, multiple deep meanings come flying at u. As someone who likes to put their feet in other ppls shoes and understand why they may feel or act certain ways, I fr was so baffled at every character's back stories and emotional makeup. It's just a movie yet it's also a profound story. And the situation could've been a simple solvable one too, but bc of the human experience, it makes sense why it became so complicated. I feel like I need to throw up and cry at the same time 🤣 shit had such a unique strong blend of hate and confusion with love and PASSION. FUCKKK. Such a good lesson on why communication, emotional maturity, and respect is soooo important. I need a drink lmfaoo. And to watch this movie again after I take the week to process it. Feel free to tell me ur opinions as well if any other fans read this far😆sry 4 da yap..rlly big into movies like this with deep meaning. Impressed with how kevin smith can create movies with the same stoner, romantic loser, sex joke filled (normal tbh) style while so effortlessly dropping insanely deep meanings that changes the way u think.
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reyalvr · 6 months ago
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SHE’S MINE | 00
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CATCH ME, I’VE FALLEN IN LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
synopsis ┊ thrust into the spotlight, ken sato had easily become the next big thing tokyo had seen in decades. alongside his fame came the inevitable string of rumors, of which sprung forth scandals and discrediting information against his image. of course the obvious and most rational solution would be to address them like every other celebrity, but this was ken sato; nothing would ever be rational with him, which is how you wound up with a ring on your finger and the sato name in your papers.
genre ┊ fake dating, fake marriage, idiots-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, mild angst, chaotic fluff, smut
pairing ┊ ken sato x fem-PA!reader, ken sato x fake-wife!reader
warnings ┊ mild cursing, eventual smut, mentions of alcohol, all events in ultraman: rising take place a year after kenji moves back to japan, RUMORS isn’t related to anything that happens in this series
word count ┊ 798
author’s note ┊ YAY i finally wrote it! i really love the fake dating/marriage convenience trope and i’ve been itching to write it with kenji. this is highly inspired by one my favorite books of all time, terms & conditions by lauren asher! if you enjoy fake dating i highly recommend reading it. as mentioned at the top, this is only the prologue! i'll be putting out part one and the series masterlist asap hehe... as always, happy reading!
prev. | next
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SOMETIMES YOU WONDERED IF ANYTHING YOU SAID EVER STUCK WITH KEN. For the past year and a half, you had the supposed “dream life” that every assistant yearned for. It confused you, really, as you tried to ponder on what part of your job was envious. Were the late nights drafting NDA breaches so desirable? What about the press statements after altercations, were those résumé worthy? You let out a deep sigh as you watched Ken from the TV in his dressing room, crossing your arms as you sunk deeper into the couch.
He was on a press tour for his latest collaboration, his overconfident persona charming everyone left and right. You had to physically stop yourself from rolling your eyes when he used his signature flair to charm the show’s host. At least he was sticking to the script… for the most part. He wore the product, threw in a few adlibs, and of course, flirted. Be it a talk show host or a random photographer on the street, Ken always found a way to leave people smitten with him- save except you. 
It’s not like you were actively trying to hate him, he just made it so easy. At first you thought it was just some awkward phase, like he was just trying to adjust to working with a new team. But then he just kept doing the same things over and over again. A brawl with an opposing team member? Just another Sunday night. A rumor about having a fling with yet another supermodel? Sounds just about right. 
“I mean of course I have to thank my team,” Ken’s voice cut through your train of thought. “It was a dream of mine to play for the Giants as a kid, now I actually get to do it.”
Tone it down, asshole. You thought to yourself, noting the sarcasm laced in his words. Of course the general public wouldn’t have caught on, but you had no doubt his coach and the other players would. Then again, he’d been relatively untouchable because of his rank in the sports world. You poked your tongue into your cheek, shaking your head as you sat through the rest of his interview. The clock on the wall counted down the remaining time, the bright red numbers casting a reflection on the screen. Two minutes left, and all he had to do was to keep the act up…
…Until he didn’t. Nothing could’ve prepared you for what was about to happen next. 
“Now I don’t want to hold here any longer, but you know I have to ask it,” The host teased, almost like an overexcited child ready to tattle. “Any special someone back home?” 
Ken chuckled, just like he usually did when asked the question. “Cheeky question,” He paused and grinned, his eyebrow raised slightly as he shrugged his shoulders. “What if there was?” 
“Well, is there?” The host pushed, his tone eager to have the Ken Sato answer such a juicy question. He gestured toward the crowd before he continued. “I mean there are a lot of fans here today who would love to know more…” 
“Yeah? And if I said yes, then what?” He replied, his smile growing brighter and his eyes shining. 
The crowd cheered even harder, itching to find out the truth. You shared the same sentiments, trying to figure out what the hell Ken was up to now. Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, why didn’t anyone know about it? You stood up straight now, your right hand deathly gripping the remote. What the hell do you have up your sleeve, Kenji Sato? Your inner voice seemed to yell as you waited for him to speak up. 
“I mean only time will tell, yeah?” The host replied, leaning back in his seat. “C’mon Ken, it’s not nice to keep secrets.”
Ken mimicked the host’s moves, leaning back into his sofa chair as well. He shrugged his shoulders, licking his lips as he fiddled with his fingers. He bit the inside of his cheek, and though it was brief you caught it. You knew that look; his look of contemplation. Your grip on the remote was still taut as your breathing seemed to quicken the longer he waited. Granted it was only a few seconds, but those seconds felt like hours. 
He tilted his head slightly then, his eyes staring directly at the camera. It slowly zoomed closer to focus entirely on him, and he let out a small laugh before he finally replied. His gaze was strong, and it almost felt like he was actually looking at you.
“Yeah, yeah I do.” He finally said, throwing in a lovesick smile for good measure. “And she’s the best damn thing in my life right now.”
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reyalvr © 2024 … do not repost, alter, or steal my work.
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rafesfavgirl · 8 months ago
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the palm of your freezing hand — r. cameron
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part 1. part 2. this could technically be part 2 or 3, depending on how much of this little series you've read (or if you’re not into reading smut). either way, thank you for coming along for the ride. i hope you like it :)
❝ oh, goddamn my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand ❞
pairing: friend!rafe x pogue!reader
context: it's been three weeks since you found out jj cheated on you, and a week since you hooked up with rafe.
words: 1.4k+
warnings: fwb situationship, mean!jj (just for the sake of the story, we all know he’s BABY), bitchy!kie (again, just for the story—i adore her), jealous!jj, slut shaming, a little bit of angst, a little bit of blood and violence, fluff. rafe being a menace too, lowkey
you sat on a log at a party in the boneyard—one that you let john b and pope convince you to go to (you felt bad for icing them out for almost three weeks now when they weren't the ones who screwed you over)—staring out towards the ocean in a red bikini top and a pair of jean shorts, sipping on some beer that john b had brought over to you in a red cup.
he was now occupied talking to some blonde touron, sitting up in a tree, while pope talked to some other girl by the keg, and jj and kie chilled with a few other pogues, his arm slung around her shoulder.
so much for claiming to love you—he was just on his knees begging you to forgive him last week. and now, he was here with your best friend—former best friend, anyway. the two of them really had no shame.
pulling your phone out of your pocket, you begin to text rafe.
you: please tell me you're on your way.
rafe: miss me already?
you roll your eyes at his response. last weekend, after your break up with jj, you made the somewhat idiotic decision to hook up with rafe at a kook party on figure eight. you're still not exactly sure how it happened, but the sex was good, so you've kinda formed a sort of friendship with him in a way—with benefits, of course.
the three dots appear again, signaling that he was typing something else, and you wait for the message to come through.
rafe: turn around.
you furrow your brow at the text, but do as you're told and turn around, only to find a smiling rafe standing over you—dressed in a ralph lauren, short-sleeve, white collared shirt and a pair of khaki shorts.
"hey pretty girl," he greets you as you stand.
little did you know, jj was watching from afar, his eyes focused on the way you throw your arms around rafe's neck in a hug, while his hands trailed around your waist to press your body against him.
"what the fuck?" jj mutters beside kie, who snaps her head towards him.
"what's up?" she asked.
"what is he doing here?" jj felt heat rise in his chest, his eyes narrowing at you and rafe.
kie furrowed her brows at him in confusion before following his line of sight to you and rafe a good distance away, you playfully pushing against his chest with a giggle.
"shit," kie says. "i didn't see that coming."
"yeah that makes two of us," jj slams his empty cup down on the ground and stands up without another word, beelining straight for you and rafe.
"so this is why you wanted to break up," you hear jj's familiar voice fill your ears, but it wasn't sweet and sarcastic as usual—it was bitter.
you shift your eyes towards him, causing rafe to turn too, to see what or who had just pulled your attention from him.
"excuse me?" you asked.
"rafe cameron, y/n?" he snarled. "seriously? i thought you knew better than that."
"clearly i don't, considering i trusted you," you spat, causing a scowl to fall over his sharp features. "and by the way, we didn't break up because i wanted to be with rafe. we broke up because you cheated on me."
that makes rafe snap his head towards you—he knew that your relationship didn’t end on good terms, but you never really told him why. "he cheated on you?" 
"with kiara."
a scoff mixed with a snicker leaves rafe's mouth as he looks at jj. "you're an even bigger idiot than i thought."
"look, shut the fuck up, man, a'ight?" jj motions a hand at him. "this isn't about you. this is about you." he turns to you again. "you're really slutting yourself up for this asshole?"
"better than slutting myself up for a cheater," you retort. "and in case you haven't noticed jj, we're broken up. what's it to you if i'm hooking up with someone else?"
"and she is, by the way," rafe throws jj a wink and smirk. "you really fucked up. i mean, really fucked up. the way she feels bro? i don’t know how you coul—"
"shut up, man," jj was getting riled up now, a hand coming up to push rafe back, a deep chuckle falling from rafe's lips as he used both his hands to push jj back.
that's enough to push your ex-boyfriend to the edge as he comes at rafe, causing him to trip over a skinny log as both of them tumble onto the sand. the noise from the tussling only pulls attention from everyone else, john b and pope immediately running over to break the two hot-headed blonds apart.
you really had a type, huh?
"what did you do?" kie comes up beside you, along with a few pogues, kooks, and tourons—who had now formed a makeshift half-circle around the scene.
you look at her, more pissed off at her accusation than rafe and jj fighting. "what makes you think i did anything?"
"you usually always do," she says.
you cross your arms and scoff. "you're one to talk."
"and what's that suppose to mean?"
"it means you were supposed to be my best friend, kiara," you tell her. “and not only did you screw our friendship over, but you did it by fucking my boyfriend. no wonder sarah cameron dropped your ass.”
she purses her lips at you, upset by your mentioning of sarah’s name. “don’t act as if this is just all on me,” she argued. “you were the one who weaseled your way in, and stole him from me.”
“stole him?” you asked, taken aback. she was the one who set you up with him in the first place. “you’ve clearly reached different levels of delusional.”
“you think i'm delusional?" she spat, crossing her arms. "you're hooking up with rafe cameron. do you really think you'll get him to fall for a pogue like you?"
before you could even answer, rafe separates the two of you, bumping into you both as jj pushes him back, and you reach out to steady him.
"you think i'm scared of you, man?" jj shouts at him, john b holding him back.
rafe chuckles and wipes at the little bit of blood beside his now busted lip with his thumb. "i think you should be."
"get your fucking boyfriend, y/n!" jj yells, his eyes shifting from rafe to you.
"you got it," you nod at him with a smile, just to piss him off more—rafe wasn't your boyfriend, but he didn't have to know that. "you wanna get out of here?" you tilt your head up at rafe, who turns his head towards you and smiles. 
"lead the way, doll."
you do as he says, giving kie a small smirk as you walk past her and the makeshift crowd that had formed, everyone's eyes on the two of you.
"so… your boyfriend, huh?" rafe swings an arm around you and squeezes you to his side.
"chill, cameron," you laugh, pushing him away from you playfully. "i only said that to piss him off."
"so i'm just a toy to you then, is that what this is?" he asked, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips as you both stop by his truck.
"that depends…" you trail off and turn to face him, your back resting against the passenger door of his truck. "am i just a toy to you?"
"i'm not sure yet," he shrugs, honestly. "i wouldn't have just taken a bloody lip and sand stains on my polo for anyone though."
you giggle and bring your thumb up to swipe at the beige-colored stain on his white shirt. "yeah, sorry 'bout that."
"no worries," he shakes his head, his eyes locking with yours. "i can think of one or two ways you could make it up to me."
"oh, is that so?" you kink a brow at him. "because i can tell you right now i don't have a hundred dollars to spare for a brand new ralph lauren polo shirt."
he leans a hand against his truck, beside your head, and closes the distance between you. "and who said that's what i wanted?"
you tilt your head to the side, an amused smile on your face. "then what did you have in mind?"
"let me take you out on date," he says. "a real one."
part 4.
writing rafe being soft for the reader is literally my favorite thing ever.
reblogs and comments are deeply appreciated <33
click here to be added to my tag list!!
tags: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @immyowndefender @chiaraanatra
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meazalykov · 16 days ago
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abnormal
barca femeni x reader
summary: nobody can know this about you, not unless you wanted your career to end
warnings: alternate and unrealistic universe
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you’ve always felt like you didn’t quite belong, like there was a hidden thread connecting you to something no one else could see, relate to, or feel. 
ever since you joined la masia, you focused on one thing: football. your love for the game, the thrill of defending against the best forwards that other teams could offer, the camaraderie—it was everything. football grounded you. it gave you purpose when your reality felt so strange. 
strange because deep down, you carried a secret no one could ever know.
it wasn’t something you asked for. you weren’t bitten by a radioactive spider or hit by lightning. one day, when you were barely eleven, you kicked a ball across your backyard, and it didn’t just roll. it stopped. mid-air. it hovered for a moment, trembling, before flying back toward you. 
your jaw dropped. you tried again, staring harder this time, and the ball moved without you touching it. the fear and thrill of it coursed through you like nothing else.
at first, it was exhilarating, like a private joke only you were in on. however, iit didn’t take long for fear to creep in. this wasn’t normal. no one else could do this, at least not anyone you knew. you stopped experimenting when strange things began happening without your control—your mom’s coffee cup exploding off the counter when you were upset, a book tumbling off your shelf after a nightmare. 
you quickly learned to suppress it, to shove it deep down where no one could find it.
yet, as much as you hated it, you couldn’t deny it gave you an edge on the pitch. when you moved to barcelona and began training at la masia, your abilities became harder to ignore. you’d watch a ball curl just wide of the post and feel an ache to pull it back. 
you’d see an opponent break past you and have the urge to drag them back, not with your body but with your mind. 
you never let yourself. never once. 
well, almost never.
tonight, in the second leg of the champions league semi-final against chelsea, you broke your own rules.
the game had been relentless. chelsea’s attack was aggressive, and you’d been stretched thin keeping up with their pace. 1-1 on aggregate, and the clock ticking toward the 90th minute, the tension on the pitch was suffocating. the stadium packed, the crowd being loud with every touch of the ball, but you barely heard them over the sound of your heartbeat pounding in your ears.
lauren james cut around you with a burst of speed you couldn’t match. she was lethal tonight, her movements unpredictable, her energy endless. you sprinted after her, desperate to close the space, but she was already setting up her shot. you glanced toward cata in goal—she was positioned, but the angle was tight. if lauren’s shot was on target, it’d be almost impossible to stop.
panic gripped you. time seemed to slow as lauren struck the ball, the power behind it undeniable. 
before you could think, before you could stop yourself, you did it.
you reached out—not with your hands, but with your mind.
the ball veered sharply, impossibly, skyward. instead of heading toward the goal, it soared over the crossbar and into the crowd. the stadium fell into a stunned silence for half a beat before erupting in confusion. even lauren looked bewildered, turning to stare at the ball’s trajectory with disbelief written all over her face. 
for a moment, it seemed like everyone thought the ball had gone in—it had been that close. but when it didn’t, the tension shattered.
you took a deep, shaky breath, your chest heaving as the adrenaline surged through you. your head started to throb, the telltale sign of your powers taking their toll, you didn’t care. the ball hadn’t gone in. barcelona still had a chance.
it was cheating, but there were no rules about telekinesis in fifa.
cata quickly reset the play, kicking the ball back into action, and you forced yourself to focus, to push the incident from your mind. as the minutes ticked down and the final whistle blew, signaling extra time, you couldn’t shake the feeling that someone might’ve noticed. 
had anyone seen you? surely not—it wasn’t like you’d waved your hands around or made some dramatic gesture. you didn’t need to. your mind was enough. still, doubt bit at you.
the game ended with barcelona scraping through by the skin of their teeth. the celebrations on the pitch were euphoric, your teammates swarming each other with hugs and screams of joy. you joined in, smiling and cheering, but inside, you were terrified. 
what if someone asked questions about lauren’s shot? what if there was footage? would people think it was just an awkward miss, or would they start looking at you?
you brushed it off as best you could, but the thought lingered for weeks.
it wasn’t the first time you’d used your powers, and you knew it wouldn’t be the last. every time you did though, the stakes felt higher. what if someone found out? what would happen to you? would you be banned from football forever? would they test you, experiment on you, torture you? the idea made your stomach turn.
months later, during the new season, you came dangerously close to being discovered.
it was a quiet afternoon after training, and you were alone in the locker room. your water bottle sat on the far bench, just out of reach. you were tired, your muscles aching, and without thinking, you let your guard down. 
you focused on the bottle, willing it toward you quickly. it wobbled for a moment before lifting off the bench and gliding through the air, landing softly in your hand.
the relief was instant—until you heard voices. the locker room door swung open, and aitana and fridolina walked in, mid-conversation. you froze, the bottle clutched tightly in your hand, your heart racing. had they seen? you glanced at their faces, searching for any sign of suspicion, but they didn’t even look at you. 
they just kept talking, grabbing their bags and saying goodbye to you like nothing had happened.
you exhaled slowly, your hands trembling as you shoved the bottle into your bag. it was too close. far too close. you promised yourself, again, that you’d be more careful. you couldn’t risk it. no matter how much you trusted your teammates, no matter how much you wanted to share your secret, you knew you never could. 
this power—it wasn’t just a quirk. it was dangerous. it wasn’t just about what might happen to you if people found out. it was about what you could do. the temptation to use it in games, to bend the odds in your favor, was always there, lurking in the back of your mind. and the more you used it, the more the headaches grew, like your body was warning you that this wasn’t natural. 
you couldn’t stop. not entirely. 
for all the fear and doubt, for all the secrecy and guilt, there was something intoxicating about it. the power. the control. the ability to change the outcome of a match, to make the impossible possible. it was a part of you, whether you liked it or not.
as you sat in the locker room that day, alone again, you wondered how long you could keep it hidden. how long you could keep balancing on this knife’s edge, between the life you’d built and the secret that could tear it all apart.
you didn’t have an answer. for now, you’d do what you always did.
you’d keep playing. keep winning. keep pretending everything was normal.
and hope, desperately, that no one would ever find out. 
masterlist
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goldfades · 7 months ago
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★ YOU AND ME, WE'D BE A BIG CONVERSATION─── PB⁵ (part 1/3)
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❪ requested -> "paige x famous!reader (singer, actress, up to u) inspired by endgame by ts where p reveals that r is her celeb crush in an interview and a few days later theres a vid of r responding to it saying shes been obsessed w paige lately / its such a big deal bc r has been involved in a lot of romantic drama lately so everyone is kinda iffy abt her rn, causing her to put up a tough guard. but p sees thru the facade when they start talking and allows her to be herself, making r fall even harder 🥹 " ❫ for my disco nonnie!
─ warnings | gossip, a lot of drama and random ass names (sorry i get confused when i don't name them), mention of panic attacks, hurt to comfort, pretty sure nothing else?
⇨ missing out on updates? check out my wcbb masterlist!
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"Y/N L/N, ONE OF the biggest names right now in the music industry has found herself at the center of yet another romantic scandal involving her ex and now, reportedly a new lover."
The 22-year-old pop sensation, who recently topped the charts with her latest single, was spotted last night leaving an upscale Los Angeles restaurant with actress and heartthrob, Camilla Harrison. The two were seen getting into the same car, sparking rumors of a budding romance.
This sighting comes just weeks after Y/N's highly publicized breakup with fellow musician Lauren Marie, with whom she had a tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship for over two years. The split was reportedly mutual, with both parties citing busy schedules and the pressures of their careers as contributing factors. However, sources close to the couple suggest that Marie was unhappy about Y/N's close friendship with Harrison, which began on the set of her recent music video where Marie made a cameo appearance.
"Y/N and Cam have undeniable chemistry," says an insider. "They've been spending a lot of time together, and it's more than just a professional connection. They're trying to keep things low-key, but it's clear there's something more than friendship between them."
Despite the drama, Y/N continues to thrive professionally. Her upcoming album set to release in the next couple month, is already generating significant buzz. Critics are calling it her most mature work yet, with deeply personal lyrics that reflect her recent experiences.
Meanwhile, Harrison, 26, known for her roles in blockbuster films and her good looks, has remained tight-lipped about the rumors. Her publicist declined to comment, stating that Marie is concentrating on her upcoming film projects.
──
"Okay, next question," the reporter smiled as she scrolled through her phone as Paige gave a tight-lipped smile toward the camera. "Oh! Found a good one, okay. Who is your celebrity crush right now."
"That's easy!" Paige laughed as she glanced toward the reporter. "Y/N L/N, she's beautiful and insanely talented,"
The room filled with laughter as the reporter raised an eyebrow, clearly delighted by the response. "Y/N L/N, huh? That's a popular choice these days, a lot of people are big fans. Have you met her?"
Paige shook her head, her cheeks slightly flushing. "Nah, I wish. But I'm a huge fan of her music. Every song is a masterpiece and I'm not usually into pop,"
"Interesting," the reporter leaned forward, intrigued. "You know, there are rumors about Y/N's love life all the time. How do you feel about all the speculation surrounding her personal life?"
Paige shrugged, maintaining her relaxed demeanor despite the stupid question. "I think it's tough being in the spotlight like that. People forget that celebrities are human too. Everyone deserves a bit of privacy, I'm more interested in her work and what she brings to the music industry rather than whoever she's dating."
The reporter nodded, appreciating Paige's perspective. "Absolutely. It's refreshing to hear someone focus on the artistry rather than the gossip!"
──
"Okay, quick. Who's your celeb crush right now, other than Cam," Bowen Yang, grinned at you, raising an eyebrow as the audience laughed, eagerly awaiting your response.
You laugh (and decide to ignore the comment about Cam), feeling a slight blush creep up your cheeks. "Oh, come on, Bowen, you can't put me on the spot like that!"
Bowen leaned in, his grin widening. "Come on, Y/N, the people want to know!" He pointed to the crowd as they cheered, causing you to put your face in yours hands.
You then take a deep breath, pretending to think hard. "Fine, if I have to choose... I'd say Paige Bueckers. She's incredible on the court, and I've seen some interviews with her ─ she seems like such a cool person."
The audience erupts with loud cheers, causing both you and Bowen to laugh. Bowen's eyes widen, clearly delighted by your answer as he clapped. "Ooh, scandalous! Paige Bueckers, I love that! Have you met her?"
You shake your head, smiling. "No, not yet. But I did see a clip of her saying some really nice things about me recently. It was super sweet."
Bowen's face lights up with excitement. "She was practically gushing over you, this is perfect, we need to make this happen. Maybe you could collab, I don't know how but uh, if anyone could make it happen, it's you."
"Thank you, I think?" You laugh, nodding. "Totally, we'll see what happens."
Bowen turns to the camera, his enthusiasm infectious. "You heard it here first, folks! Y/N and Paige Bueckers, the crossover we never knew we needed but now desperately want!"
The audience erupts in applause and cheers, and you can't help but smile at the idea. Bowen turns back to you, his tone shifting slightly more serious. "Alright, before we wrap up, I have to ask ─ how do you deal with all the attention and rumors about your personal life? It seems like you're constantly in the spotlight."
You take a moment to gather your thoughts, caught off guard by the serious question. "It's um, definitely challenging at times, but I try to focus on the positive aspects. I love making music and my fans. As for the rumors, I just remind myself that I can't control what people say or think. I stay true to myself and the people who really know me, and that's what matters most."
Bowen nods appreciatively. "Wise words, Y/N. And that's why we love you so. Thank you so much for being here tonight."
"Thank you for having me," you reply, genuinely touched by the support.
"And that's Y/N L/N!"
The crowd erupts in cheers as you genuinely smile, happy for the support, waving toward the audience.
──
"Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast I'm Lila, and today we've got a lot to talk about. Y/N L/N is at the center of yet another romantic scandal, and there's even a new twist involving basketball star Paige Bueckers. Let's dive in!" Lila said, her enthusiasm palpable.
"Yaya, so excited," Maya chimed in, adjusting her headphones. "So, Y/N was spotted last night leaving an upscale LA restaurant with actress Cam Harrison. They got into the same car, which has everyone buzzing about a possible new romance."
"Yeah, and this is just weeks after her very public breakup with Lauren, I think that's her name? It's been a whirlwind, to say the least. But honestly, I think Y/N is handling it all pretty well. She's focused on her music, and she's just living her life. What's your take, My?" Lila asked, leaning in slightly.
Maya sighed, her skepticism evident. "I don't know, Lila. I get that she's young and living her life or whatever, but it feels like there's always some new drama with her. First Lauren, now Cam Harrison? It's starting to look like a pattern."
"But that's thing, with being in your early twenties. Figuring out what you want, who you want to be with? I mean, she's also incredibly talented and driven. Her new album is generating a ton of buzz and it hasn't even been released yet," Lila countered, her voice full of admiration.
"Sure, but it seems like she's always entangled in some romantic drama. Maybe it's just the nature of fame or whatever, but it can also come off as messy. And now, with Paige Bueckers gushing about her in that interview, it adds another layer. I just hope she’s not stringing people along," Maya replied, her tone annoyed.
Lila nodded, annoyed at Maya's words but maintaining her supportive stance. "I get where you're coming from, but did you see Paige's reaction? She was genuinely excited about Y/N. It was sweet. Plus, Y/N responded so positively on the SNL interview. I think it shows she's got a good heart and she's just navigating her way through a complicated life!"
Maya hesitated for a moment as she glanced at the camera, then continued. "I mean, look at Taylor Swift. She's known for her string of high-profile relationships and breakups, and it hasn't always been received positively. It feels like Y/N is heading down a similar path- What?"
"Come on, Maya!" Lila glared at her, clearly displeased. "Comparing Y/N to Taylor Swift isn't fair. Taylor's faced a lot of unfair criticism for just living her life and expressing herself through her music. Y/N is her own person, with her own journey. She's navigating her twenties in the spotlight, and that's not easy."
Maya just shrugged as she glanced toward the camera, before adjusting her mic. "Well that got awkward, moving on..."
──── COMMENTS
sela 🐾 | is she wrong though... love her music but why'd paige gotta get involved too? ♡ 108
↳ l/nslover | cause they like each other???
↳ 🦕 | has bro ever heard of a pr relationship 😭
↳ ari! | THEYRE NOT EVEN TOGETHER YET BROOO😭😭😭
sarah™️ | LILA GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE BROOOO 😭😭 i never liked maya tbh this is just a weird ass take ♡ 1.7k
kayla 🎀 | listen as a y/n girly i also understand maya's point of view cause.... shes kinda for the streets ♡ 879
↳ ™️ | dont call yourself a """"" y/n girly """""" if ur gonna say she's for the streets??? the fuck??
⭐️ | i was understanding maya's pov up until she started saying all that taylor swift bullshit, they're two separate artists LET US LIVEEEEEEE ♡ 2k
josie may | hardest watch of the day 🥲 maya u let us down with that dumb ass take
──
"I just kinda... wanna disappear for awhile," you confessed, your voice quiet as you pressed the phone to your ear. "Don't know why this keeps happening, you're the only that can... help me through it. Sorry if I woke you up-"
It happened again ─ over the last couple of months (ever since you'd broken up with Lauren) you'd gotten pretty severe panic attacks. You were told by everyone on your team to just stay off social media and what had you done... exactly the opposite of that.
"No, no, I was awake anyway, promise," Paige's voice echoed through the phone. You heard shuffling through the phone as you sniffled, sighing. "And I don't mind, like at all. I meant what I said, I'm always here for you,"
Your heart swelled as you managed a smile, as tears began to build in your eyes. You and Paige had only been talking a month and she already understood you more than anyone had in what felt like forever. Her steady presence was like an anchor in the storm of your life.
The constant media scrutiny and the aftermath of your breakup with Lauren had left you feeling alone, but Paige’s calming influence was slowly becoming your safe haven.
"I just... I don't know how to deal with all of it. The rumors, the pressure, it's all so overwhelming," you admitted, wiping away the tears that had started to fall. "Half of it, it isn't even true."
"Hey, it's okay, I know, I believe you," Paige's voice was soothing, almost like a warm embrace over the phone. Even the smallest affirmation from Paige made you feel all okay again, even if it was just for the moment.
"You're not alone in this. We can figure it out together, step by step."
That part made your lips twitch up in a smile, feeling yourself relax again. You took a deep breath, feeling a bit of the tension ease from your shoulders. "I just feel like I can't breathe sometimes. Like the walls are closing in, y'know?"
"I get it," Paige replied softly. She'd know about it all too well, she'd been through it herself plenty of times. "Sometimes it helps to focus on the small things. One step at a time, remember? Have you tried any of those breathing exercises I taught you?"
You nodded, even though she couldn't see you. "Yeah, a little. They help, but it’s hard to remember in the moment."
"Next time you feel a panic attack coming on, call me. Anytime, okay? We'll get through it together," Paige's voice was firm, reassuring. "You don't deserve the shit they give you, like at all."
"Thank you," you whispered, feeling a surge of gratitude. "I don't know what I'd do without you, P."
"You don't have to thank me. I care about you, and I wanna help. Plus, I like hearing your voice," Paige added with a light chuckle, trying to lift your spirits.
You couldn't help but smile at that. "Me too, especially your cute tired voice."
"Cute, really?" Paige laughed through the phone and you swore you felt like your whole world felt even again. "But uh, if you do really wanna disappear you can always come to Connecticut."
The thought of escaping the relentless spotlight, even for a little while, sounded like a dream. "Really?"
"Yeah, you can stay with me for a bit, if that's uh... what you want." Paige explained through the phone. "My friends are super chill and it's always a fun time, if you ever wanna come. Think about it?"
The idea of spending time with the basketball player you'd quickly become enthralled with, seemed almost like a dream. And getting away from LA and all the madness that came with it sounded heavenly, you were going to give Connecticut a thought.
You sighed, feeling a warmth spread through you that had been absent for far too long. "Yeah, I will. And Paige?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. Really."
"Anytime, Y/N. Sweet dreams."
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luvergirl-866 · 1 month ago
Text
something like love
part - 1
pairing - paige bueckers x azzi fudd
word count - 4.1k
c/w - language
a/n - hi!! i am so so excited to be posting my first ever pazzi fic (and also my first post on tumblr!) she’s a cute little fake-dating rom-com for yall, and i hope you enjoy reading it as much i enjoyed writing it! updates will probably be inconsistent but im gonna do my best lol. lmk what yall think!! (edit: side note, this is obviously all fiction! i’m sure paige’s mom and step-dad are perfectly good people irl, lol)
“Will you go out with me?”
When Paige asks this question during their weekly lunch date, Azzi is so taken aback that she almost chokes on her Chipotle.
“Shit, you good?” Paige asks, concerned, handing Azzi a napkin to cough into.
Azzi waves her off, swallows, and croaks, “What?”
“Hm?” Paige is staring at her nonchalantly, like she didn’t just ask what Azzi heard her ask. “Oh, that. Yeah, will you?”
“I don’t—“ Azzi shakes her head. Is she being messed with? It feels a lot like she’s being messed with. “Paige, you’re my best friend.”
“Exactly.”
“I didn’t know you…had, like, feelings for me.”
“Huh? No!” Wide-eyed, Paige shakes her head violently. “No, ‘course I don’t.”
Azzi’s stomach clenches—not in the good way it sometimes does around Paige—and she thinks Paige could’ve bothered to sound less disgusted by the notion of her having feelings for Azzi. “Funny, P.”
“I’m for real.”
Azzi frowns. “Actually?” Paige nods and Azzi wrinkles her brow, confused. “So you wanna go out with me but you don’t feel…like that about me.”
“Were you even listening earlier?” Paige playfully rolls her eyes, sitting all casually in her seat with her legs spread like she has the biggest dick on campus. Azzi usually loves it when she sits like that, but now she’s too annoyed and confused to appreciate it. “I was talking about my mom.”
“Oh.” To be fair, Azzi stopped listening a while ago, when Paige was still talking about the hot electrician that fixed her leaky sink the other day. She wasn’t aware the conversation had taken a more serious tone. “Sorry, I spaced. What were you saying?”
“I was saying she and her fuckass husband invited me home for a few weeks this summer…” Paige waits, but it doesn’t ring any bells, so she sighs and continues. “They told me to bring Josh.”
Azzi scrunches her nose. “Eww, why?”
“Because…I haven’t really, like, you know…” Paige tips her head to the side, “told them we ended things.”
“Paige,” Azzi sighs.
“I know! I know. Just, I dunno.” Paige sighs, and Azzi knows she’s trying to act chill about it even though she likely laid awake last night thinking about it. “It’s hard, y’know? They’re not like my dad’s side, they’re not like your parents. You know what they did after I told them…” Paige glances surreptitiously around the restaurant, even though they’re far away from campus and not very likely to be recognized, “everything. And if I told them about Josh and they suspected something, I don’t think they’d let me see Ryan and Lauren again.” Her eyes are wide, now, and she’s doing that thing she does when she gets mad, pinching her bottom lip between her fingers.
Paige and Josh were never actually a thing, by the way. Paige doesn’t swing that way and she’s known it for a long time. But she came out to her mom over the new year, and that phone call had ended in a seething Paige at Azzi’s door, yelling and cursing while Azzi listened, and a broken one in her bed that night, crying herself to sleep while Azzi stroked her hair.
So a couple months later Paige recruited their closeted gay friend, Josh. And they became each other’s beards, pleasing her mom enough that she could stay in contact with her younger siblings. That is, until Josh found a nice boyfriend and Paige was left hanging.
Azzi tries to come up with something to say, something comforting, but she’s not sure there is anything to say.
“And I hate them for that,” Paige goes on. “But as long as Ryan and Lauren are still kids, my parents can still keep them from me. And it sucks they’re holding that over my head but there’s not a lot I can do about it.”
Azzi offers a sad little smile, letting her silence urge Paige to go on, even though she can tell it’s hard for her.
“So, anyway,” Paige sighs, sitting back in her seat, “when Josh ended it, I didn’t wanna tell them, because I knew the calls would stop coming, the support. And so whenever they asked about him, I’d be all, oh, yeah, he’s doing great, just busy. Just bullshitting my way through it.”
“And you’ve been doing this for the past two months?”
“Umm…” Paige looks down at her fingers, counting on them, then furrows her eyebrows. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“Okay…” Azzi leans forward on her elbows. “So how does your weird question come into all this?”
“Don’t say no right away,” Paige says, giving her this knowing look she hates.
Azzi narrows her eyes at her. “We’ll see.”
Paige reaches over to whack her and misses. “Lemme explain, damn. So, when they called me last night and invited me to come home with Josh, I was like, oh, shit. And I thought of ways I could handle it.”
“Uh-huh…” Azzi watches with wary eyes as Paige bends to rummage through her book bag. “Paige, tell me you’re not—”
“Let me introduce you to…” Paige keys up her laptop and then turns the screen toward Azzi with a wide smile, “Boom!”
“Oh my fucking god.” Azzi buries her head in her hands.
“No, bro, listen! It’s lowkey impressive!” Paige taps the screen. “It’s titled Game Plan for my Summer Visit to my Fuckass Parents, featuring Azzi Fudd. By Paige Bueckers.”
“Good Lord,” Azzi says, taking a peek at the PowerPoint in front of her. When has Paige ever gone to such lengths as to create a PowerPoint before? This must really be serious to her.
“So, listen carefully.” Paige taps the screen again; it changes from the title slide to one labeled ‘First (and worst) Option’. “I put the worst part because it’s true, but it’s also a lil rhyming moment.”
“Right, okay. Just keep going, please.”
“So, this is the first option that came to mind,” Paige starts, glancing down at the screen. “This is the option where I ghost my parents and refuse to come see them at all.” She taps the screen to a pros and cons slide. “As you can see, I mostly only came up with cons.”
“Yeah, because it’s a terrible idea.”
“I know. So then we have option two.” The next slide is labeled ‘Option Two (mid)’. “I put the mid part because—“
“I get it.”
Paige shoots her a look. Azzi playfully kicks her under the table. “Go on.”
“Okay.” Paige nudges Azzi’s foot with her own, but her attention is back to the laptop. “This is the scenario where I let my parents think that Josh and I are still together by telling them that I can come to Montana, but that Josh can’t. It’d be pretty easy, and as you can see here…” she clicks the screen, “there’s an even ratio of pros to cons.”
Azzi nods sagely. Sometimes, her best friend takes a while to get to the point, and Azzi learned a long time ago that waiting it out is the best way to go.
“But there is this one big con: I can’t keep lying to my parents forever. So this option is pretty much a way to procrastinate on telling them the truth. Which takes us to the last option.”
This slide is titled ‘Third Option (THE BEST)’ along with a few muscle emojis tacked to the end. A headache forms at the base of Azzi’s skull.
“This is where my awesome idea comes in.” Paige gives her a very self-satisfied smile. “Instead of Josh, I take you with me to Montana and we pretend you’re my girlfriend for two weeks. Literally a genius idea.” She leans back in her seat, nodding assuredly to herself, and Azzi can’t help but smile because she really loves this girl. Despite how bat-shit crazy she is.
“P, I don’t—“
“Hear me out.” Paige clicks to the final slide. This pros and cons list is mostly pros, and Azzi spots many love-emojis sprinkled throughout. “We pretend we’ve been dating since beginning of March. They know you’re my best friend; we’ll pretend that after Josh broke up with me, you and I bonded and fell in love or some shit. My parents won’t be happy, but I’ll already be there with you so they won’t kick me out or nothing.” Paige frowns. “Probably.”
Ok, so, Azzi absolutely hates to admit it, but this does actually make some sense. Not that she’ll ever say such a thing out loud.
“And then they’ll realize we’re totally in love and I’m happy and even if they hate gay shit they just want me to be happy, because I’m their kid.” Paige says this last part less like a fact and more like something she’s trying to convince herself of. Azzi can’t help but feel bad for her.
“Okay,” Azzi says slowly, watching Paige tuck away her laptop. “That’s your plan.”
“Yep.”
“I’m seeing a few plot holes.”
Paige waves her off. “It’ll work. No plan of mine is gonna fail, trust.”
“And why should I help you?”
Paige gives her an easy smile, and Azzi sort of hates how confident she is. “Because I’m your best friend in the whole world and you love me.”
Azzi raises an eyebrow.
“C’mon, Az. What is there to lose?”
Azzi sighs and almost says something stupid like I’m in, but this isn’t just one of those things that she can help Paige with without thinking twice. It’ll be two weeks of torture, pretending to date the girl she’s secretly in love with while being surrounded by her homophobic family, and then having to come home at the end of the two weeks and pretend she never got to experience a glimpse of what it’s like to be with Paige in the way she’s always wanted.
It sounds like hell.
Azzi sighs again, ready to say no, but when she looks up Paige is staring at her with something more vulnerable than before, open in the way she bites her lip, her arm reaching across the table like she’s wearing her heart on her sleeve and waiting for Azzi to take it.
Azzi takes her hand, instinctually, and says, “Okay.”
She is so fucking gone for this girl.
————————————-
They don’t talk about it for two days after that. It’s not that they don’t get the chance, or that they don’t see each other—they go to the gym together both days—it’s just that neither of them seems to have the guts to bring it up. And why should they? It wasn’t too scary while they were having the original conversation—nothing too big or threatening or, god forbid, real—but as soon as Azzi stepped into her dorm after that lunch, she realized just how much she fucked up by saying yes to Paige’s crazy idea.
It would be an understatement to say that talking about it is the last thing Azzi wants to do at this point.
Paige, however, seems to have other plans, as she usually does. When she storms into the living room—where almost every single member of the UConn women’s basketball team is doing homework—she makes a beeline for the seat beside Azzi on the couch and whispers, “Hey.”
Nika leans up from the floor to poke Paige with her pencil. “No chit-chat, we’re working.”
Paige glares. “What, I can’t talk to my best friend?”
“Shh,” hisses Aaliyah, barely pulling her eyes from her laptop.
Paige flips her off even though Aaliyah is too immersed to notice, and then she turns her attention back to Azzi, bumping their knees together. “Can we talk later?”
Azzi pretends to be focused on studying. “Mm. About?”
“About…” Paige glances around furtively, “y’know.”
Yes, Azzi does in fact know, but she really wishes she didn’t. “What’s there to talk about?”
“Oh, I dunno,” Paige says sarcastically. “Specifics? Rules? Details? I prepared a whole new PowerPoint.”
“So that’s what you’ve been doing the past couple of days.”
“Yeah, turns out I love PowerPoint.”
Azzi finally cautions a glance up, and Paige is looking at her, completely serious. The eye contact seriously messes with her ability to make sound decisions.
“Okay,” Azzi relents. “As long as you’re quiet for the next forty minutes, we can talk.”
Paige, dutifully, doesn’t say a word for the rest of Azzi’s worktime, letting everyone study in peace. And that’s how Azzi ends up in Paige’s bedroom an hour later, perched on the edge of her bed while Paige struggles with her laptop.
“Okay, fuck this,” Paige says after extensive fiddling. “My stupid fucking PowerPoint isn’t loading. What the hell.”
Every bone in Azzi’s body wants to take this as a sign from God, the fact that this PowerPoint isn’t working, that they’re not supposed to do this. She wants to walk out of the room—and this agreement—for good. But Paige is her best friend and Azzi had always been too loyal for her own good, so she sighs and says, “How about we just talk about it? Y’know, like normal people.”
Paige frowns but closes her laptop regardless. “Okay. So.”
“So…”
“First off,” Paige says when Azzi doesn’t continue, “I just felt like I should probably say sorry for dragging you into this.” Paige scratches the back of her neck, always a little awkward when it comes to apologies. “I know it’s a lot to ask for.”
Azzi blinks, startled. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, well…” should she back out? If she were going to, now’s her chance.
Azzi looks down at a scab on her knee. “I mean, that’s okay.”
Paige shifts in her seat, the stool creaking underneath her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve had to help with one of your ridiculous plans.” Azzi goes for lighthearted but knows it falls flat under the weight of what she’s going to have to do.
“Okay.” When Azzi looks up, Paige is staring at her suspiciously. She wonders just how bad of an actress she must be for Paige, the same Paige who hasn’t yet detected Azzi’s somewhat obvious, six-years-long crush on her, to see right through her. But then she just shrugs and continues, aloof like she always is. “So then I wanted to ask you about what you think we should do about…all this.”
“…Okay?”
“I was thinking we should get into the, like. The specifics.”
Azzi rolls her eyes. “Paige, just tell me.”
Paige gnaws at her lip until it turns white and Azzi starts to worry it might bleed, but then she says, “We need a sex timeline.”
If Azzi were drinking water, she would have surely spit it out.
“A what?” she asks, sort of incredulous. Paige has said a lot of crazy things before but nothing quite like that.
“Okay, my bad, weird way to put it.” Paige grins as if all of this is funny to her. “What I mean is we need a story to tell my family, our friends. Like, why did we start dating? When was our first kiss? What’s our song? Have we, you know…gone to the penthouse and freaked it?”
Azzi throws herself back onto the bed. Paige’s bed. Which she is just now realizing is probably going to be the bed that many of these fictional events are going to take place in. “Paige.”
Paige is giggling now, which is endearing because Paige doesn’t giggle often. If only it weren’t at Azzi’s expense. “We need to figure it out, for real! People are going to ask questions.”
“People are not going to ask those kinds of questions.”
“Um, excuse me.” Paige stands and walks over until she’s at the bed, pulling Azzi’s legs off the edge playfully. “Have you met our friends? KK’s not shy with that shit.”
Azzi’s ankles instinctively go around the back of Paige’s thighs, but she’s in a certain mindset due to their current conversation and the casual gesture suddenly seems much less innocent than usual. She unwraps them, pulling her legs from Paige’s grasp as discreetly as possible. “So we’re planning on telling them we’re dating, too?”
Paige shrugs. “Yeah. You weren’t?”
“I don’t…” Azzi straightens up as Paige sits beside her, their hips touching. “We spend every day with them, P. Don’t you think it’ll be hard to keep up the act that much?”
“Yeah, probably. But that’s also why I wanna do it.” As usual, Paige sounds completely sure of herself. “We only have a couple weeks until Montana and I wanna make sure we get enough practice acting like a couple.”
Azzi still feels uneasy about the whole thing, but Paige is right—they can’t get onto a plane as best friends and get off it a convincing pair of girlfriends.
Azzi’s face heats at the term. Girlfriends. But that’s what they’ll be, isn’t it?
“I was thinking we’ll tell them next week,” Paige says. “We’ll ask them to hang out and then drop it on them that we’ve been dating since March.” Paige must recognize the look on Azzi’s face, because she puts a hand on her knee—which does absolutely nothing to help. “Is that cool with you?”
Azzi can’t say all of the things she’s thinking right now, so instead she settles for, “Yeah, no.” She pauses, her feet on Paige’s fuzzy carpet, and decides this will be the last time she lets herself doubt this.
“I think that’s perfect.”
————————————
One week later, three Saturdays from the end the school year, Azzi sits with a bowl of popcorn in her lap feeling like she might hurl.
“Why are you acting so weird, Fudd?” KK asks, and Azzi startles at her name, looking at the freshman who’s sitting on the floor in front of her and giving her a weird look.
“Leave her alone, Camera,” Paige says, settling into the couch next to Azzi. “What movie we watching?”
They are all crammed into a dorm, as they often are, excited for a chill team movie night in the midst of finals season. Little do the girls know, they will be getting entertainment from more than just the movie tonight.
“No, KK’s right,” Ice says, scrolling through Netflix on the TV. “Azzi’s been acting super weird.”
Azzi, somewhat offended (she thought her acting skills were pretty decent) looks around the room for help. Instead, the girls all just nod their agreement.
Paige nudges her and raises her eyebrows, and Azzi knows exactly what that look means.
“You don’t have to tell us what’s up if you don’t want,” Inês says from her place on the other side of Azzi, dipping her hand into their shared popcorn. It almost makes Azzi want to back out.
Almost.
Putting on her bravest face, Azzi nods and turns to face their friends. “Paige and I have something we’d like to tell you.”
There’s something odd about the silence that follows this, the way the girls on the floor look at each other before turning their bodies to face the couch, the stragglers sitting in the loveseat and at the dining table leaning forward almost imperceptibly.
Azzi tenses up as she is suddenly under the scrutiny of eleven other girls. How is she going to lie to them? How is this ever going to work?
Paige, through some form of best-friend-telepathy, senses Azzi’s struggle and places a comforting hand on her back. “I can say it.”
This isn’t what they practiced, but Azzi is too grateful and too distracted by the hand on her back to worry about going off-script.
“We’ve been wanting to tell y’all for a while,” Paige says. “But we also wanted to just keep it to ourselves for a little bit.”
It sounds so natural, and effortless, and Azzi can feel herself slipping into this role for the first time. She pretends the hand on her back is more than friendly, the nerves in her stomach are something other than guilt, the things Paige is about to say are true.
If one good thing is going to come out of any of this, it’ll be this feeling of contentment that Azzi will get to have, at least for a little while. And maybe she’s okay with that.
“Do you guys remember that party we went to a couple months ago?” Paige asks. Her nails scratch over Azzi’s shirt, making her shiver.
“Yeah…” Nika says at the table in the corner. Aubrey rests her chin in her palms, looking suspiciously like she’s trying not to smile. For some reason, Ice and KK are clutching each other’s hands.
“Well, when Azzi and I got home we just decided to stay together in her dorm…” Paige trails off like she’s hesitant to continue, and half the girls lean closer to them while the other half look a little too relaxed. Ice is now glaring at KK, who’s…beaming?
“Something happened between us that night.” Paige looks at Azzi now, and even though this is what they were supposed to do the look in her eyes still takes Azzi’s breath for just a moment. She has dreamed of Paige looking at her like this for years, and now it is finally happening, and Azzi thinks she would do anything to make this all real.
Paige opens her mouth to continue, but before she can, KK jumps to her feet and squeals, and Ice throws the remote on the ground with an angry, “Fuck!”
Azzi and Paige both startle, and Azzi loves the way Paige’s hand fists up her shirt in surprise, but then the notices that all the other girls don’t seem surprised or confused at all—rather, they all seem to be having similar reactions to KK. Nika and Aubrey are even singing something, and Inês has jumped up from her spot beside Azzi to join the others in what looks a lot like a celebration. Why are they all chest-bumping each other?
Finally, Azzi finds it in herself to speak. “Guys, what…?”
KK kneels to wrap her arms around a sulking Ice and looks at them both, eyes glimmering. “Whatchu mean, what?”
“I don’t…” Paige releases Azzi’s shirt, her hand falling to the seat behind her. “We haven’t even finished telling you yet.”
“Are y’all actually this dumb?” KK asks, before squealing in Ice’s ear and then throwing herself onto the couple on the couch. “Ugh! I’m so happy for you two lovebirds.”
“Lovebirds…?” Azzi asks, but the room is too raucous for her to be heard and when she looks at Paige, all she gets is an equally confused head shake in return.
“My babies are growing up,” Aubrey says, wiping an invisible tear, and Aaliyah comfortingly pats her shoulder.
“Baby,” Amari says, smiling at the both of them, “we have known.”
“Uh,” Paige says, thrown off for once in her life. “How?”
“Because y’all are the most obvious fucking couple in the country,” Ice chips in. She is still pouting, even with Ayanna patting her on the head and Jana rubbing her shoulders.
During the past week, Paige and Azzi have been dropping a few hints here and there in the hopes that they could almost ease their friends into it before telling them, to make things more believable. But obvious? Obvious enough for all of them to know? That’s a stretch.
Apparently thinking the same thing, Paige laughs awkwardly, trying to regain some semblance of control over the situation. “We thought we were pretty good at hiding it.”
“Yeah, right.” Caroline flicks Azzi’s forehead good-naturedly. “KK and Ice have had a bet running for, like, six months now.”
At this, Azzi tenses up, and Paige turns to her, gives her a cautious, confused smile. “That long?”
“I started the bet, of course,” KK pipes in. “You two are so in love.” She sighs dreamily and then nudges Ice with her foot. “You owe me my five-hundy, girlypop.”
“You didn’t even actually win, this doesn’t count,” Ice grumbles. “We made the bet six months ago and they only started dating in March. And also, I thought they’d be way too pussy to tell us yet.”
Paige perks up at this, her unusual awkwardness gone as fast as it came. “Hey! I ain’t pussy about nothing!” and KK chimes in with her own protests of, “Girl, boo! It does too still count, you’re just a sore-ass loser!”
Azzi can’t bring herself to say anything, because their teammates believed Azzi and Paige gave been dating longer ago than this arrangement was even brought up. And that means they must have seen Azzi’s feelings for Paige, and whatever the other side of that is, and they don’t really act like a couple, do they?
“Anyway,” Ice continues, a little less pouty now, “I totally thought I’d have to walk in on you two fucking or something before you ever really came clean.”
Azzi squeezes her eyes shut. Paige’s fingernails dig into her back a little bit.
“I actually can’t believe none of us have walked in on them fucking yet,” Nika muses, and the room quiets down a little, everyone mumbling their assent.
“Maybe they’re celibate,” KK reasons, then fixes them with a look. “Are y’all celibate?”
Paige laughs, and then bends close to Azzi’s ear and mutters, “Told you so.”
For the rest of the night, Azzi’s neck is hot.
This might be more complicated than she thought.
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blaithnne · 2 years ago
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Seeing Waddles’ sketchbook post and Kiki’s Lauren doodle comic in such close proximity made me think like god. If Kaisa and Johanna already have this sitcom ass confusion over Hilda IMAGINE the extra layer of Johanna having another daughter
Like, Kaisa is already mortified when she learns she inadvertently flirted/set up a date with Johanna’s daughter, and Johanna has a field day teasing her about it and ends up talking about Lauren a bit in the process and does so in such a way that Kaisa, understandably, assumes this is the same daughter she spoke about before.
Blue hair? Check.
Makes friends easily? Well she seemed to organise that date pretty quick so, check.
Always getting into wacky mishaps? she pretended to be her mother so she could set her up on a date, take the god damn check.
Bonus points if in attempt to make Johanna happy Kaisa tries to take a parental role with her daughter. Who is a grown woman
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leqonsluv3r · 10 months ago
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heyy could you do some hcs abt re4 leon having a crush or dating a dso secretary? love your wirting sm <33
boss!re4 leon kennedy
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—re4 leon!kennedy x dso!secretary reader, a headcanon list
masterlist taglist
an: jesus, i’m reading terms and conditions by lauren asher, so the timing of this request is perfect. thank you anon <33
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boss!leon kennedy who has high expectations when he hires you. thinking you’ll be different then the secretary’s before.
boss!leon kennedy who watches you arrive 5 minutes late on your first day, messing with your clothes and getting started on the tasks he asks. he doesn’t usually let his secretary’s be late, gives them hell for it. but for you he’s letting it go.
boss!leon kennedy who finds it hard to focus sometimes when you come into the agency, your heels clicking and snapping him from his reports like a siren sound.
boss!leon kennedy who always lets his eyes linger on your legs whenever you wear a skirt, letting his eyes linger a little too long. he swears one day he’ll fuck you with a skirt on, he almost promises himself.
boss!leon kennedy who likes the way you giggle at stupid jokes and things that are said around the office. he even cracks a few when he stops by your desk outside his office, just to hear your sweet laugh.
boss!leon kennedy who takes time memorizing everything you like. making mental notes for all the things you love and hate. just because he’s interested in anything involving you.
boss!leon kennedy who drives you home late one night. he wouldn’t dream of you paying for a taxi or walking, not a beautiful girl like you and not in the city late at night.
boss!leon kennedy who steals glances at you in your pretty work attire as he drives you home, listening to your brief talking of the stressful workday and all the people you had to deal with.
boss!leon kennedy who makes sure that all the stressful people come directly to him instead of you. not wanting to stress you out or make you cry (heaven forbid), he couldn’t bear the sight of that.
boss!leon kennedy who asks you to be his date to the agency’s annual banquet. telling you it’s just a work date, but who is he kidding? he just wants to see you dressed up in something that’s not a tight blouse or skirt for once.
boss!leon kennedy who picks you up two days later at your place. having the address memorized from when he dropped you off that one time. he watches you walk out in a dress that leaves little to the imagination.
boss!leon kennedy who introduces you as his date, shushing you when you try to tell them that your his secretary instead. and he loves the way your brows furrow in confusion as you look between him and the agency’s finest at the banquet.
boss!leon kennedy who practically sends glares in other men’s directions, daring them to even try and talk to you. he doesn’t trust other men, not with what’s soon to be his.
boss!leon kennedy begrudgingly agreeing to dance with you as you drag him to the banquet halls dance floor. your arms slung around his neck and his hands hesitantly on your waist. your perfume like an aphrodisiac to him, hints of vanilla and coconut wafting into his nose as you two say on the dance floor.
boss!leon kennedy who drags you out afterwards and takes you to a conference room in the banquet hall. before you can protest he presses his lips against yours and you return it, immediately getting the subtle hints he’s dropped this evening.
boss!leon kennedy who peppers kisses along your jawline and grinds his erection into your hips as you kiss, your hands pulling greedily at his hair and letting little sounds slip. he sits you on a table and keeps devouring you.
boss!leon kennedy who pushes your dress up as you lay back on the table. he takes his time teasing and devouring you, making you whine and grasp at his hair like a tether. the prettiest sounds falling from your lips as he makes you moan and chant his name.
boss!leon kennedy who doesn’t care if there is a banquet going on outside the door, he’s going to fuck you regardless, give you what you both so desperately want.
boss!leon kennedy who fucks you with intention, letting you accommodate to his size as he smothers kisses and hickeys to your jawline, moans slipping from your lips as he fucks you faster.
boss!leon kennedy who, afterwards, makes an excuse that your feeling ill to everyone and takes you back to his place.
boss!leon kennedy who helps you take off your ruined makeup from the sex at the banquet and brushes out your frazzled sex crazed hair. he even gets you one of his large t-shirts to sleep in. loving how the fabric drowns out your frame.
boss!leon kennedy who swears you’ve ruined all other women for him. he’ll never be the same again, he swears it. he presses kisses all over and guides you to the bed.
boss!leon kennedy who tells you that he likes you, wants to be with you. despite his stoic persona is nervous and just wants you all to himself. and when you agree, wanting him back. he feels like he won the lottery.
boss!leon kennedy who falls asleep with you, in his bed in his t-shirt, feeling like the luckiest man ever in the world. not just because he’s your boss, but because your his now. and he’ll never let you go.
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an: you guys are so creative. your requests never fail to blow me out of the water. reblog, like and my asks are open :)) a one shot will be up later this week. promise. i love you guys sm, mwah, kisses xx.
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russo-woso · 9 months ago
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Would you please do an Esme Morgan x reader, where her teammates are meeting her girlfriend for the first time. Maybe Esme's teammates are prepared to be protective of Esme and give R older sister speechs until it turns out she's just as soft and sweet as Esme.
I told you | Esme Morgan x reader
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Summary Esme’s teammates meet you for the first time and realise you’re just as big a softie as Esme is
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
“So Es, when are you going to bring your secret girlfriend to meet us?” Alex’s scouse accent filled the food hall as the Man City girls ate their lunch.
“I’ve managed to get her tickets to the match against United next week.” Esme replied and all the girls smiled, knowing they could finally meet you.
You, the girl who Esme couldn’t stop talking about.
“I can’t wait to sit down and talk to her. She best be ready for it. I’m gonna tell her that if she ever hurts you or a single hair on your head, she’s dead. I know I’m known for breaking my own nose, but I’m also just as good as breaking other peoples’ noses.” Alanna spoke up and a light hum of agreement was heard throughout the team.
“She’s dead if she hurts you.” Jill agreed, a stern and serious tone in her voice.
“She is so sweet, please don’t scare her away. She means so much to me. I can’t lose her.” Esme defended, a smile appearing as she thought of you.
“As long as she treats you right, then it’s fine.” Steph added and all the girls nodded in agreement.
“She does, I promise. Tell them, Hempster.” Esme commanded, knowing Lauren had met you since Lauren and Esme shared a house.
“She is. She’s just like Esme.” Lauren stated before adding more in. “They’re perfect for each other.”
“We’ll see.” Alanna
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“Hi, baby.” You greeted Esme as she opened the door.
“Hi Y/N bear.” She responded, bringing you in for a hug and a kiss.
“I bought these for you.” You told her, showing her the bouquet of flowers. “And I also bought this for you. I walked past it in tescos and I thought of you.” You explained, showing her the small stuffed teddy bear.
“Thank you so much, baby.” Esme said, nearly in tears at your thoughtfulness. She pecked your lips once more before letting you walk in.
After a movie and cuddles on the sofa, Esme tensed up remembering the conversation with her teammates earlier.
“Y/N, baby, you know you’re coming to my match on the weekend?” Esme started and you hummed in response, pressing a kiss to her head. “I told my teammates and they really want to meet you. Of course, it’s up to you. And you don’t have to give me an answer now but it’s—”
“Es, take a breath, love. It’s fine. I promise. I love you and if getting to love your means I have to go through your teammates, then tell them to bring it on. I love you so much, Esme, and that means that I’d do anything for you.” You told her, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before placing a soft kiss on her lips.
“And by the way, the whole team thinks you’re going to hurt Esme so be prepared.” Lauren laughed as she watched the whole thing from the other couch.
You just looked at Esme, confusion written on your face, as Esme shrugged whispering that she’d explain it to you later.
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After an eventful Manchester derby, the nerves started to kick in as you waited to meet all Esme’s teammates.
To city’s luck and pure talent, they won the derby 3-1, managing to get the ball past Mary Earps 3 times.
As soon as the match ended, Esme made her way to you.
“Essy bear, you played so well. I’m so proud of you.” You said, enveloping her in a hug.
“I only played 15 minutes.” Esme pointed out, a smile wide on her face, identical to the one on yours.
“I know but you didn’t let any balls past you.” You told her, taking a piece of grass off her forehead, and kissing the place it was in.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” Esme admitted and you rested a hand on her cheek, gently rubbing your thumb over it.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now where’s them teammates of yours? I’ve been preparing myself to take them on.” You joked and Esme let out a soft giggle, taking your hand in hers as she led you down to the pitch.
“Y/N!” Lauren cheered as she spotted you walking towards the team.
“Hi, Hempster. Well done on the win.” You said to her, bringing her in for a hug.
“Thanks, Y/N.”
“Hempster, don’t go stealing my girlfriend now.” Esme warned as you and Lauren still hugged.
Esme tickled your sides as you laughed and clung onto Esme.
“Es, stop it.” You giggled, as Esme planted kisses on your face.
“Why? Can I not kiss my gorgeous girlfriend?” Esme asked, a grin taking over her face.
“Of course you can but not when you’re all sweaty.” You said, placing a final kiss on her lips.
The whole team watched from afar, realising that they were all wrong about their thoughts.
You really were another Esme.
“Gonna introduce her, Es?” Chloe asked, and Esme nodded.
“Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Y/N. Y/N, this is the team.” Esme introduced you and you smiled at the whole team.
“Hi everyone. I’ve been so excited to meet you all. Esme’s constantly talking about all of you and it’s so nice to finally get to meet the people she’s been talking about. Congratulations on the win as well. It was such an exciting match to watch.” You said, a smile on your face the whole entire time.
“Maybe I won’t be breaking your nose any time soon. It’s nice to meet, Y/N.” Alanna greeted and your eyebrows furrowed at her statement.
“Breaking my nose?” You asked, confused.
“I thought you were gonna be some drug dealing alcoholic that was gonna break Esme’s heart.” Alanna explained casually and you nodded in understanding.
“I can assure you that I’m not. And before you all have talks with me, I’m not going to hurt Esme. I’d rather die than ever hurt Esme. Esme is my whole heart, I couldn’t be without her.” You told them all as Esme’s heart warmed.
“I couldn’t be without you either, Y/N.” Esme said, leaning down to place a kiss on your cheek.
“Right, we get it. You two are madly in love. It’s nice to meet you, Y/N, welcome to the team.”
“I told you she was another Esme.” Lauren spoke up, grinning at her teammates.
You had a huge smile on your face, and so did Esme.
You had been welcomed into the team although you couldn’t kick a ball to save your life.
And Esme was so happy that you had been accepted by her family, and the fact that she had you in her life.
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cassiesc0rner · 2 months ago
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Impurities VI
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Synopsis: You're the new girl at East Highland High, your only goal is to get through school. Until you come across Nate Jacobs
Genre: slight fluff, suggestive
Pairing: Nate x fem!reader
Warnings: manipulation, lying, jealousy, consumption of alcohol, mentions of weed, Imk if I missed something
Song rec: doin’ time - ldr I lauren - men i trust | the color violet - tory lanez | outwest - jackboys | private landing - don toliver
WC: +7,1k
Other parts: previous part, next part
A/N: Thank you guys so much for being so patient with me I really appreciate it, a special thanks to @lilyrachelcassidy for proofreading, and helping me with this part💋 and also thank you 💿 anon for the ideas you gave me in your asks ᥫ᭡
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A few days have passed since Nate and Max's encounter, and to Max's dismay, Nate was now involved in the planning of his birthday. It wasn't only weird for you, because you felt like Max was scared of Nate, it was also extremely uncomfortable for Max, who felt like he was walking on eggshells.
The three of you sat together in a nearby café, as you went over the final details for the party. You couldn't help but notice that something was off. Something about the way Max avoided looking at both of you, and the way he sometimes stumbled over his words when he explained something.
He wasn't like this when you two met up alone. He was funny, constantly cracking jokes, talking to you normally and he was full of enthusiasm. He wasn't this nervous or quiet and reserved.
You tried to ignore the feeling, reminding yourself that this was for Nate's birthday, and that everything should be easier now that he's in on the plan. But you just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
You glanced at Nate, who looked as calm as ever. But something about his calmness made you suspicious, because you were sure that Nate was really perceptive, always paying attention to his surroundings and the way people behaved.
He wasn't oblivious, so why didn't he ask Max what's going on? Did he simply not care, or was he still mad because you met up behind his back? Did they have a fight you didn't know about?
You felt like, every time Nate said something or disagreed with something Max said, Max got quieter and agreed with him.
It made you feel weird, and you just wanted the meeting to end as quick as possible, so you could escape the tension and be alone with Nate. You remembered thinking about hanging out with both of them when you met up with Max for the first time.
But this is not how you imagined it.
"What do you think about that?" Nate suddenly asked, as he placed his hand on your thigh, the touch pulling you back to reality. You looked back at him, as you tried to remember what they were talking about.
When Nate saw the confusion written all over your face, he continued "Max and I were talking about who we should invite, and I said that we should only invite a few people from the team, the cheer squad and some of the other popular students."
You nodded along, trying to catch up "That sounds good.. but don't you think we should also invite those, that aren't necessarily popular?" you asked nervously.
The popular crowd always used to intimidate you.
No matter which school you went to, the popular kids would always make you uncomfortable. Whether it was because they saw everyone else as below them, or because they bullied everyone who dared to disobey them.
You didn't really interact with any popular kids yet, except for Nate, Maddy and Max, and you were absolutely scared about what the others might think of you.
You didn't dress like them, you didn't act like them, and you were well aware of the looks some of the girls gave you, when you walked hand in hand with Nate, not to mention the chuckles and giggles that would follow sometimes.
You weren't sure how you're supposed to spend more than five minutes in the same room with them. You didn't expect Nate to be by your side the entire time either, of course he would want to talk to his friends.
Nate pretended to think for a moment as his gaze sharpened "I'm not sure, baby.. I don't want a bunch of randoms at my party. I mean what if they cause problems?" he reasoned calmly.
You nodded understandingly before you responded "No, you're totally right.. It's just I really think, it might be a good chance for other students to feel included too, you know?" you explained carefully.
Nate didn't give a crap about the 'normal students' and he felt like you shouldn't either. Sure, some of them were your friends now, but he couldn't help but feel like you both were above them.
He couldn't tell you that though, you would get the wrong idea of him. "Fine.. I mean you can invite your friends too, it's just that I don't know the other students. I'm not.. excluding them or anything just because they're not popular. I just know the popular crowd way better, and most of them are cool." he explained
"Right Max?" he asked as his gaze wandered back to his teammate. Max nodded "Yeah, they're super chill." he quickly replied, as he looked at you –but not for long, way too scared that Nate might misinterpret it again.
You nodded understandingly "Alright, thank you for letting me invite my friends.." You smiled at Nate, who smiled back at you as his thumb rubbed over your thigh. "But there are some people who definitely aren't welcome, like Maddy and Cassie, and their friends.. They're just bad news." Max nodded in response.
"Are you sure they'd even consider coming in the first place, though?" he asked softly, to which Nate shrugged "I'm sure Maddy and Kat wouldn't, but Cassie... I mean fuck, she still used to text me everyday until recently." Nate scoffed.
That was new.
Why didn't he tell you about that? You furrowed your brows as you looked at Nate "What do you mean she still texted you until recently?" you asked, completely bewildered. Nate just shrugged nonchalantly "Why didn't you tell me?" you added.
Nate sighed "Because it's not important, I don't care about what she does." He reasoned. You nodded "Okay, but I think it's important. I mean, she's clearly harassing you.." you responded.
Nate wasn't sure how to feel about this side of you. He's seen you jealous before, but you never verbally showed it, so this was new to him. "Well, what am I supposed to do? I already blocked her, but she still calls me with an unknown number.." he defended himself.
The truth was, he didn't exactly block her.
He was seriously scared that Cassie would approach you one day, and tell you everything that happened between them, or him and Maddy.
That's why he was scared to block her at first. He even tired threatening her not to do it many times, but she had nothing to lose and he knew that.
"Maybe I should talk to her." you mumbled grumpily. Nate immediately shook his head "No absolutely not, you're not gonna talk to her, alright?" he declared, his tone more serious "Cassie's fucked in the head, you can't talk to her, who knows what she'll do.." he reasoned.
"Then it's even more important that I talk to her, because she clearly didn't listen to you." Nate sighed again "Y/n, please.. can we just not talk about this in front of Max?" he asked, his tone just the slightest bit annoyed. You shook your head "No, I'm actually glad he's here, I'd love to hear his opinion."
Max swallowed harshly. He was so glad he wasn't a part of this discussion so far, and now he had to give his opinion on something like this, while Nate was right in front of him.
"Um.. I'm sure if Nate says he handled it, you shouldn't have to worry." he shrugged. You sighed "He clearly didn't handle it if she still calls him."
Nate liked how much you cared about him, and how furious you seemed to get, just because another girl was texting and calling him. But he also felt weird because his girl was trying to take care of his business, when it should be the other way around.
Nate looked back at Max as you continued "I mean, calling your ex with an unknown or hidden number is so.. creepy. Especially if you bombarded them with texts for literal weeks." you explained.
"She's gonna stop eventually, it's really not that deep." Nate reasoned casually. "No, you don't get it. Do I have to remind you how angry you got when you found out Max and I were meeting up behind your back? How is this any better?" You suddenly blurted out.
Max was so sure he couldn't feel more uncomfortable at the beginning of your meeting, even when it became gradually worse, but now he was sure it was still possible.
He looked at Nate with fear in his eyes, sure that he was probably about to get mad at you, when he saw that cold look in his eyes for a split moment.
Nate looked back at you "You can't compare that. You literally lied to me when I asked you who you're meeting up with, I didn't lie to you about Cassie." he said, his voice slightly lower than before.
"Yeah, and instead of trusting me, and letting me handle something, you forced the truth out of me." you retorted sarcastically. Nate didn't like your tone at all, and he wanted to assert himself "Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry for caring so much about you, and wanting to know the truth, jesus.."
You squinted your eyes at him, because that's exactly what your mother would say, when she tried to make you feel bad for something she did. You were sure that Nate didn't do it with any ill intent, and that he probably just did care a lot, but you couldn't help but notice the similarity.
And Nate seemed to notice that you were thinking about what he just said, just by the look on your face "That's literally something my mom would say in an argument." you pointed out, before raising your hand in defeat. "But, hey, I get it, you're worried and we both made mistakes. But please understand that I don't want Cassie to harass us."
Nate nodded understandingly, calming down just slightly, once he heard the sincerity in your voice. "I'll take care of it, don't worry, alright?" he said, as he stroked your cheek gently. Despite not wanting to let him go that easily, you couldn't help but smile and lean into his touch.
He knew this would work, it always did when you were to disagree with him.
"So, where were we?"
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A few days had passed after you two met up with Max, and with the birthday party just two days away, you were more than glad the stress of planning everything was over.
You even found a birthday present for Nate.
You recently went to a jewelry store nearby, where you came across a silver bracelet. It was classy, but not too extravagant which meant he could wear it all the time. You even decided to pay some extra money to get the initials of your first names engraved into it, just to make it even more special.
You were sure you'd be broke after Nate's birthday, since you also had to buy something to wear to the party.
Which is why you were at the mall right now.
When Nate asked where you'd be going after school and you told him you'd look for something to wear to his birthday, he immediately wanted to come along, to help you choose.
But you wanted your outfit to be a surprise, and you definitely wanted to impress him and show him that your sense of fashion changed for the better.
You entered one of the many stores in the mall and immediately felt somewhat.. strange.
You were so used to going shopping with Nate, that it felt strange to enter the shop alone now. It felt like your social anxiety got even worse now that you were alone with all these people in the store.
You wished you were invisible.
It was hard to understand why you felt this way, because you were so sure that you missed going alone, with your earbuds in, trying to ignore everyone else around you. But now you wished Nate was here with you, holding your hand and almost dragging you along with him when he found something new for you to wear.
You didn't like how dependent you were on him, because you didn't want to burden him in any way. Just because you were together didn't mean you'd have to be glued to each other all the time.
But the urge to call him and tell him to come right now was immense. Especially because Nate told you that you could call him if you want him to pick you up from there.
You tried to calm down, and turned the volume of your music up, before taking one last deep breath, and walked further into the store, deciding to check the dresses out first.
Once you saw the rack of dresses, you instantly knew you had to get one since you were sure Nate would want you to wear one.
However, upon further inspection, you noticed that they were all either short, see through, or both. You were used to wearing skirts on the shorter side, so you decided that choosing a short dress wouldn't be that bad.
Not to mention, that you were sure the other girls would also wear something that would show a lot of skin. You didn't want Nate to look at them, and be sad that his girlfriend didn't dress nicely.
You took three different dresses, and made your way to the dressing room.
Once you closed the thick lilac curtain, you sighed feeling relaxed now that you were truly alone. You tried each of the dresses on, looking at each and every angle.
Then you finally decided to wear the last dress you put on: A sultry black satin dress, which had a more sexy look compared to the others. It was also rather short and contained two strings next to the waist, which you could use to adjust the length of the bottom.
You missed wearing darker clothes, and this dress was the perfect opportunity to do so, while also making Nate happy.
You made your way over to the cash register, trying to calm your nerves as you prepared what you were going to say to the young woman. Usually Nate always handled this kind of stuff, and you never had to say anything to the cashier, except for a 'bye' once Nate was done.
But you had to get used to it, you didn't plan on letting Nate do everything for you in the future.
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"Where are you going dressed like this?"
You were just about to leave for Nate's party when your mother interrupted you.
It wasn't just the fact that you wore a short dress this time, no. You were well aware of the fact that you looked like you were about to go to a club.
You adjusted the length of your black dress on one side earlier, causing the dress to expose one of your thighs. You also decided to wear some simple, matching black heels, which you wore to one of your dad's company parties, as well as the YSL bag Nate bought you.
And yeah, maybe you also wore more makeup, and smelled like you bathed in perfume, but today was an important day after all.
"I'm going to Nate's birthday party.. I already told you." You rolled your eyes, not ready to have yet another discussion with her, just because of the way you dressed.
"Yeah, of course you are.. why did I even ask." Your mother scoffed, to which you rolled your eyes. "Your dad and I have to talk to you.. either now or when you're back." she announced.
You tilted your head and looked past her, your eyes landing on your father who was sitting in the kitchen. You gulped, scared of what they were about to tell you.
"Fine, just tell me tomorrow.." you said. Sure, you were curious about what they wanted to tell you, but in case it would ruin your mood, it would be better to find out after Nate's birthday.
You didn't want to be pissed on his special day. Also, you and Max worked so hard to make this day perfect and you wanted to enjoy yourself. Not to mention that you couldn't possibly hide your feelings from Nate.
Your mom nodded in response "Alright," she eyed you up and down in a disapproving manner once more, "have fun at Nate's party." she added coldly, but you didn't miss the undertone.
You subtly narrowed your eyes at her before leaving. Now you were sure whatever it was your parents wanted to tell you, would put you in a bad mood.
You were well aware of the fact that they disapproved of your relationship with Nate, and it was safe to assume that they were about to try to separate the two of you.
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"Max, where are the balloons?" you shouted across the huge living room "Um.. I think they're still in my car, I'll get them just gimme a sec!" he yelled back.
You two were currently decorating the living room, since the party was about to start soon. You told Nate explicitly to let you two handle the decoration alone.
Which obviously irritated him again.
Not really because he was scared that you'd cheat on him, it was more the fact that Nate had no control over what the two of you would be talking about. What if Max would come clean with you, and tell you everything Nate said to him in the locker room?
Nate knew deep down that Max probably wouldn't do that, or that it might only happen if you would confront him about it. But since you didn't have any suspicions in the first place, he was sure you wouldn't ask.
Not to mention that Nate could –and would– ruin Max's life in return.
Once Max returned from his car, you started pumping them up together. "I'm so glad almost everything went well." you sighed. "What didn't go well?" Max asked as he furrowed his brows.
"Actually, the most important thing.. It's not a surprise anymore." You replied "But that was his fault, not ours." you added jokingly. Max nodded in return, contemplating whether to ask you about what happened or not. But his curiosity got the best of him.
"How did he find out by the way? You never told me, you just texted me that he knows." Max asked carefully, yet with a hint of a chuckle to keep the conversation as lighthearted as possible.
You sighed in return "He.. got mad at me. Apparently he saw me get into your car after school, and he thought I was cheating on him." you rolled your eyes.
Max chuckled nervously "Oh.." he was so glad that Nate didn't approach him first, because he definitely wouldn't have listened to Max. Hell, he'd be glad if he'd even still be alive afterwards. "Yeah, I was so sure he didn't see me.." you frowned.
Max was also sure he couldn't have possibly seen you.
Because when your lessons ended, Nate still had one lesson left. So how was he able to see you get into his car when he was sitting in his classroom?
The only possible time when he could've seen you two together, was maybe at the mall in case he rushed there after school for some unknown reason. Or... when he drove you home..
Goosebumps broke out on his arms at the mere thought of him following you around. Sure, Nate was possessive, but that possessive? "Yeah, same..." He added as he played around with the balloon.
"But.. why did he think you're cheating on him?" Max started again. "Probably because I lied to him about going to Mia's place." You explained, "He basically had to force the truth out of me." you joked.
Max suddenly looked up from the balloon in his hand. "He forced it out of you?.. How?" He asked hesitantly, not sure if he wanted to know what horrible things he put you through in order to get you to speak.
This time you looked down at the balloon in your hand. You didn't want to think about it, you knew he was just scared and acted out on it. "Oh he just... kinda lost his temper.." You responded softly.
Max cursed himself for actually caring. He shouldn't be this close with you, even if he had no romantic intentions with you.
Nate made that very clear.
But he just couldn't help but feel incredibly bad for you. "He didn't hurt you.. right?" he chuckled drily, his eyes scanning your expression.
You quickly shook your head, chuckling as well "No, Nate wouldn't hurt me.. he just got angry and hit the wall.." you trailed off.
Sure, that's what happened, but you definitely left out a few things. The fact that he said a lot of condescending things, and pushed you against said wall, for example.
Max noticed that there was more to the story, simply by the way you were fidgeting with the balloon. But he decided not to press any further, since he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Plus, he could already tell that Nate probably berated you.
"Jesus, that sounds pretty rough.. I hope you're okay now." Max responded to which you nodded "Yeah, everything is fine now, don't worry." you reassured him.
Just as Max was about to say something, you were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. You didn't pay attention to the time as you two decorated everything, so you didn't notice that it was that late already.
You looked at Max, as he stood up and went to open the door. You were praying that it was one of your classmates which you invited earlier this week. But once you heard multiple voices, which all didn't belong to any of your friends, you started to feel on edge.
Max came back into the living room with three other girls and two guys. You smiled at them as you greeted them. You noticed that the girls were part of the cheer team.
You haven't really talked to any of the girls from the cheer team before, but you were sure that Max was close to them. So the thought of just sitting there while they all chatted and laughed, made you feel extremely anxious.
But to your surprise, they were friendlier than you thought. Once they entered the room they greeted you, the girls even complimented your look, despite them looking just as good.
And as you chatted with them, the time seemed to go by so much faster. Until everyone arrived and it was finally time for Nate to arrive.
It wasn't a surprise party anymore, but you demanded Nate to only come once everyone arrived and you finished decorating.
You looked into the mirror in the hallway once more to check if you still looked as good as you did when you left the house.
You quickly grabbed your purse and refreshed your perfume before fixing your dress a little bit "Y/n, Nate just pulled up in the driveway!" Max whisper-yelled. "Coming!" you responded.
You asked Max if he could buy a cake for today and luckily he found one. He even refused to take your money when you wanted to pay for it.
You placed a few candles onto the cake, ready to welcome Nate with the cake in your hands. "Did you light the candles?" You asked as you quickly jogged into the living room. "I'm on it.." He said, as he and another guy from the football team lit the candles.
You heard the thud of Nate's car door, and looked back at the candles which were finally lit. Then you quickly took the cake into your hands while Max made his way to the door, opening it before Nate could ring the door.
Nate's eyes widened in surprise, as everyone said "Happy birthday!" in unison. But even despite the fact that there were about 40 people in front of him, his eyes landed on you, his beautiful, gorgeous girlfriend who smiled so lovingly at him.
And then his eyes were fixated on your dress.
And the way your current position allowed him to catch a glimpse of your chest "Make a wish!" you pushed him, as if the candles were waiting to be blown.
He chuckled, before closing his eyes and quickly thinking of a wish. Then he blew the candles out, and everyone cheered.
And still, he only spared them a quick glance and a smile before putting his focus back on you, and making sure to place a kiss onto your lips. This again caused some of the guys to roar once more.
"Thank you guys for coming, I really appreciate it," Nate finally spoke. "and thank you, for planning all of this with Max." he smiled down at you, as he cupped your cheeks. "Can we get a round of applause for my beautiful girlfriend?" Nate added, which caused you to shyly nudge him.
And as if on demand they started to applaud you.
It always fascinated you how much influence Nate seemed to have over almost everyone. No matter what it is, they'd literally do anything if he demands it. You couldn't help but wonder what caused everyone to just blindly follow him like that.
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After a few minutes, the party finally got started. Hip-Hop music was blasting through the speakers, and some of the students already made their way to the kitchen, grabbing bottles of liquor and cups, ready to mix their drinks.
Some other students were simply sitting in the living room while chatting and laughing, some were outside smoking. And you were left with Nate who just smirked at you.
You chuckled once he stayed silent "Why are you looking at me like that?" Nate scoffed "Have you seen yourself? You look fucking amazing." he reasoned, as his hands made their way to your waist.
"Can't believe you chose that dress..." he added, as he paid attention to how the material felt under his hands.
"I'm glad you like it.." you smiled.
"Shit, I don't just like it, I love it." he confirmed.
"I wish I could take it off though.." he added as he looked down at your cleavage. You shyly glanced around, hoping no one saw or heard the two of you. "Can we go outside for a moment? I still need to give you your present." you smiled proudly.
Nate furrowed his brows. Did you really buy him something? After you must've spent so much for this party already. "What present? I thought this party was your present already." he chuckled.
You shook your head "Nope, I got you something." Nate blinked at you, seemingly at a loss of words. "Come on, I wanna give it to you!" you exclaimed as you grabbed his hand and pulled him outside.
Nate was still dumbfounded, trying to guess what you could've possibly bought him. "Close your eyes and extend your hand." You grinned. Nate scoffed before he complied.
You quickly pulled the small gift box out of your purse, before softly placing it in his hands "You can look now.." you whispered. Nate slowly opened his eyes and inspected the gift box, before looking back at you "Y/n, you really didn't have to do this. I'm sure the party was expensive enough.."
And he really meant it.
He knew that Max also paid for some of the stuff, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want you to spend that much money on him. He was the man in the relationship, and he should pay for your things, not the other way around.
He already planned on paying you back, giving you princess treatment, taking and eating you out, the list was long.
"I know, but I don't care if I spend money on you for once. It's your birthday after all, and today should be your special day." You smiled, and he couldn't help but lean down and press a slow, loving kiss onto your lips.
You kissed him back softly, before Nate looked down at you and caressed your cheek "I don't deserve you.." he whispered softly as he frowned.
You shook your head in response "I don't deserve you, Nate." you responded, as your hand stroked Nate's. "You've done so much for me, it's only right I treat you good too for once."
Nate knew he was right. He didn't deserve you.
But he just had to be selfish and keep you all to himself. He was sure you two were meant for each other in a way, and he'd try his best to make you happy.
"Come on now, open the present!" you urged, excited to see his reaction. He chuckled in return before finally turning his attention back to the box in his hand. He lifted the top and looked at the bracelet inside.
Then he removed it from the box and inspected it further. "Do you like it..?" you asked nervously. When Nate didn't respond and just continued to inspect the bracelet, you added "I actually... engraved something into it."
Nate looked at the silver rectangle-shaped charm, which indeed had their initials engraved. Nate swallowed harshly as he just stared at it for a moment.
While his silence was a sign of adoration and appreciation, you took it as a negative sign, maybe he didn't like it, or it was too much that early into your relationsh- "Y/n..." he said softly.
You looked up at him "Y-yes?" Nate averted his gaze from the bracelet back to you "Fuck.. I don't even know what to say..."
Nate recently thought about buying promise rings for you two, but he didn't want you to think things were moving too fast, so he decided to wait.
But your present just showed him that you felt the same way about him. He couldn't help but feel proud as he looked at you "That's probably the best present I've ever received. Thank you so much.."
He opened the bracelet and tried to put it on, as fast as possible. When you noticed how he struggled however, you chuckled "Come on, let me help you.." Nate held his hand in front of you, and you instantly closed the bracelet. "I'm so glad you like it." you finally squealed in excitement.
Nate chuckled before wrapping his arms around your waist and leaning down to press kisses all over your face, and neck.
God, he needed to be inside you.
"I love you so much, princess," he whispered into your ear. "Can't wait 'til we're all alone later, so I can show you just how much I appreciate you," he rasped, which caused your eyes to widen in both excitement and shock.
"Is that a promise?" you asked shyly "Of course it is." He smirked in return. "Let's go back inside, and get something to drink, yeah?" You nodded in return, as you followed him back inside.
Nate made a beeline towards the kitchen, your hand in his as he pulled you through the crowded living room. "So... I assume you never really drank any alcohol before, right?" he asked as he opened Max's fridge.
You nodded slowly "I had like.. one glass of champagne at one of my dad's company parties.." you stated, hoping he wouldn't think you're too boring "Cute." he chuckled "But I'm gonna show you the real stuff now, I'm sure you'll like it."
Nate placed a cup in front of him before he grabbed a bottle of bacardi, and poured some of it into the cup. Then he placed the bottle back onto the cabinet and grabbed some pineapple and coconut juice, also pouring some of it into the cup.
He himself grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured it into his cup, not bothering to mix it with anything. Once he was done, he handed you your cup and smiled at you. You excitedly looked into the cup, and took a sip of it.
You furrowed your brows, since you expected it to taste a lot like alcohol, but for some reason you could only taste the juice. "Wow.. you're a pro at mixing drinks." You smiled "It barely tastes like alcohol, right?" he smirked, to which you nodded.
Nate took a sip of his cup as well, his facial expression barely changing as he drank the vodka. "Can I try yours?" Nate smiled in return "You can, but I'm not sure if you really want to." he held his cup invitingly towards you, before you grabbed it and took a small sip.
Your face almost immediately contorted as you shivered. Your stomach started to heat up, as you felt the hard liquor run down your throat. "Ugh.. How can you even drink that with a straight face?" you asked.
Nate couldn't help but laugh at how innocent you were as you looked up at him, completely confused. "You just get used to it when you attend a lot of parties." he reasoned.
You shook your head "I don't think I can attend enough parties to make this taste fine.." Nate chuckled, as you took a few large sips of your own cup, to make the taste go away.
Then you placed your cup down onto the counter "You want me to mix you something new, before we go back to the living room?" Nate asked, once he noticed your cup was almost empty.
You contemplated for a moment before finally nodding "Sure, as long as it's not just vodka.." you joked. Nate smiled before reaching for your cup.
While he was busy mixing you a new drink, you couldn't help but think about what he said earlier. You were anticipating whatever Nate would do to you later. No matter what you two did so far, it always felt good and he paid so much attention to your pleasure.
You noticed however, that he was holding back sometimes, maybe because he was scared to hurt you, or afraid you'd judge him. You weren't sure.
You were hoping that Nate would let go tonight, and fully trust you. But no matter what would happen, he promised to appreciate you tonight.
And you knew that Nate always kept his promises.
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Nate and you made your way back to the crowd as the loud music blasted through the speakers. some students were dancing, some were chatting, and some were downright making out.
Nate walked over to the couch, before plopping down next to one of his teammates, who was clearly in another world judging by the look on his face.
Nate smirked, as he patted his lap invitingly. You shyly sat down, not putting your full weight on him until he pulled you closer towards him. The smell of weed filled your nose and you scrunched your nose in return.
"Yo.." he slurred, as he held what you assumed to be the source of the smell in his hand. "Is that your first one tonight?" Nate nodded towards the joint in his hand. The other guy shook his head "Nah, probably my third." He mumbled before taking a drag.
Then he held it towards Nate, offering him a hit as well. Nate hesitantly took the joint out of his hand before taking a drag.
He wasn't sure how you'd react to him smoking, maybe you'd think bad about him, or dislike it. But once he noticed you were just raising your eyebrows at him in surprise, he was sure you didn't.
"Didn't know you smoke." you said teasingly, which caused him to chuckle. "Yeah, I mean I don't do it regularly of course.." Nate defended himself before taking another drag, and passing it back to his friend.
"Why? Do you mind?" he asked nonchalantly, wanting to make sure you really didn't mind. You shook your head "No, as you said, you don't do it everyday." you replied.
To be honest, you were curious about what it felt like to be high, but you were way too nervous to try it. Everyone perceived it as something dangerous, and your parents warned you, telling you it’s a dangerous drug.
It was already exciting enough to drink properly for the first time, and so far you didn't really feel much. You just hoped nothing bad or embarrassing would happen to you.
Nate paid close attention to your cup, encouraging you to take a sip from time to time. And whenever it was empty he'd ask if you wanted a refill.
After your third refill you started to notice the effect of the alcohol. You were currently sitting next to Nate, since his friend decided to get up at some point.
Nate observed you well enough to notice that you were starting to get tipsy. He was surprised it didn't happen earlier since you were so new to drinking.
But it didn’t bother him, he knew there was enough alcohol left to get you absolutely drunk. "Everything alright?" he asked, placing his hand on your thigh to get your attention.
You slowly looked over at Nate and nodded with a content smile "Yeah.. what about you?" you asked, visibly tipsy. Nate chuckled "Yeah me too. Is your cup empty? You haven't tried malibu one yet." He added.
You chuckled in return "Malibu.. sounds fun, I'm in." you quickly emptied your cup, and hummed afterwards. Then you held your cup towards Nate, your moves uncoordinated.
"Don't you wanna come along?" he asked as he got up. You pouted and shook your head "I like the couch, it's comfy." you mumbled before leaning your head back onto the headrest.
Nate actually would've preferred it if you would've come along with him. He didn't want to leave you on your own in your current state.
He didn't trust the other tipsy or drunk guys around you, who knows what kind of ideas they might get. He sighed "Alright, I'll be right back. Stay here okay?" he said sternly, but the tone didn't reach you "Yeah sure.." you smiled, as you closed your eyes.
As Nate rushed into the kitchen, you lost yourself in the music which was blaring through the speakers, as the bass vibrated through your body. And before you knew it, Nate already returned with your cup in his hand.
"Wow, you were so quick." you exclaimed as you tried to sit up straight again "Yeah, didn't want to leave you alone here." he explained, trying to sound neutral.
Your eyes followed his every move as he sat down next to you again. Your gaze completely fixated on your boyfriend. You still weren't over the fact that you got so lucky to be dating him.
You couldn't help but stare at him as the dim party lights illuminated his face. He looked so pretty while he took a sip from his cup, before licking his lips. Everything about him was mesmerizing.
Your eyes trailed down from his face to his shoulder, then to his muscular arm which held the cup in his hand. You wanted nothing more than for Nate to manhandle you. You blamed it on the alcohol, as if you didn't also have these thoughts when you were absolutely sober.
"You still there, Princess?" Nate asked, as a smirk threatened to make its way to his lips. Nate felt your gaze burn into his side, and when he looked at you he instantly knew what kind of look that was.
"Mhm, why?" you asked before taking a sip from your cup. "Mhh, is this the malibu drink you were talking about?" Nate smiled as he nodded "You like it?" you took another large sip before answering "Yeah, this might be the best drink I've had tonight." you said.
Nate chuckled before leaning back against the sofa. When you remained quiet for some time, Nate glanced over at you, noticing that you were still staring at him "What's wrong, hm?" he asked as he turned towards you.
You giggled in return before averting your gaze back to the cup in your hand. "Nothing 's just.." Nate waited patiently for you to continue "You just.. you're really hot.. you know?" you finally responded.
Nate chuckled in response, "That so?" he asked before leaning in closer "What's so hot about me, hm?" You swallowed, because even that was hot.
"Where do I even start," your speech seemed to have become more slurred by now "you're so, so tall, your voice makes me feel things I didn't know I could feel."
Nate raised an eyebrow at your bold confession, not used to you being so open about your thoughts with him, but also loving every second of it. Then your free hand moved towards his arm, slightly squeezing at his biceps "And your arms.. hmm.. so strong." you giggled.
The way you talked to him made him want to ditch his own birthday party, and take you home to have you in every way possible. Nate leaned in even closer "My arms huh?” he teased, slightly flexing the muscle below your hand. “What else, Princess?” He asked, his tone almost teasing as he was genuinely curious.
You smiled, your heavy lidded eyes glued to his face. “Everything about you is hot.” you confessed, the alcohol clearly loosening you up. “Your jawline,” you breathed “your eyes– the way you look at me sometimes.”
You felt a shiver run down your spine once you noticed, that Nate was giving you the exact look you just mentioned. “The way I look at you.. How exactly do I look at you?” he asked, “I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like… you only have eyes for me,” Nate hummed in response.
“like you own me.” you pointed out, too amazed to stop the words from slipping out. Nate raised his eyebrows ever so slightly, pleasantly surprised by your words. “Like I own you, huh?” he murmured, his voice low enough to make your stomach flip.
He leaned in, his lips nearly brushing the shell of your ear “Maybe that’s because I do.” he whispered, his hand slowly moving to rest on your thigh, and his grip firm enough to make you gasp.
You felt a wave of heat wash through your body. The alcohol in your system seemed to make things even more intense than they were already, everything around you felt blurry, but his touch and his words were crystal clear.
He pulled back slightly, just enough to meet your gaze “Do you like that? Knowing you’re mine?” he asked, as his thumb stroked over your exposed thigh. As if on autopilot you felt yourself nodding.
“Yeah?” he pressed, loving the way he clearly affected you. Before you could answer his hand slid further up your leg “Good,” he said, his voice low and commanding.
“Because you’ll always be mine.”
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✎Holy shit this took way too long, but here it is. I’m currently working on the next part and hope that I can finally add hyperlinks again since it hasn’t been working for a week now. As always I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I’d like to thank you all for reading and supporting me throughout this truly awful time.♡
- Cassandra
Taglist:
@lilyrachelcassidy, @endless----love, @sophsss867, @jennnsthings, @digitalpup444, @vividfleur, @tsofo26, @lunalvrsblog, @sunshinedaisy21 @cc13723things
179 notes · View notes
etherealstar-writes · 11 months ago
Text
I WANNA BE YOURS | LIONESSES X READER | PT 9
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pairings: lionesses x reader
summary: in which you're accidentally added to a random group chat, not knowing they're all actually famous footballers, and obliviously end up having many of them competing for your love and attention.
part: nine
part one here
✦ ——— ✦ ——— ✦
You were seated on the couch with your best friend, Dani, in her apartment with bowls of snacks stacked in front of you guys. Dani was the one currently obsessed with the women football since England was hosting the Euros, and would be the one spamming you with edits.
She'd begged you to come tonight to watch the quarter finals with her with England versing Spain. And you'd finally given in, hoping to finally get cultured and then flex off to the group chat that you finally knew the names of more players other than just Lucy Bronze.
And so here you were, your eyes glued on the tv screen as the National Anthem had ended and the match was about to start. Your eyebrows had furrowed in confusion when the line-ups had been displayed for a few seconds before the kick-off whistle was blown. The last names of the Lionesses were somehow familiar, but before you could dwell on it more, it went away.
"Okay so," Dani began, pointing to the different players as the match began. "The blonde one with the number 8 on her back is Leah Williamson, my personal fav, and the captain of the team."
You nodded along.
Leah Williamson. Seems familiar.
"And then the one in goals is Mary Earps. There's Lucy Bronze with the number 2 on her back and Mille Bright next to Leah with number 6. Over there running is Keira Walsh and she has 4 on her back."
Your eyebrows furrowed again when you heard the name Earps and Bright, but decided to ignore it.
"Right there is Lauren Hemp with 11 next to Fran Kirby who's 14, and that one is Rachel Daly with number 3 on her back."
Nahhh, it couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Leah, Earps, Bright, Kie, Lauren, and now Daly?
"Oh, and that's Stanway with the ball. She just passed it to Meado!"
Hold on.
Your eyes widened. "Meado?"
"Yeah, Beth Mead. We call her Meado." Dani nodded, glancing at you and saw that you had a shocked look on your face. "You good?"
"Wait, so would Stanway's first name be Georgia by any chance?" You questioned.
"Yeah, you guessed it right!" Dani laughed. "It looks like my edits are helping."
You forced a smile on your face and nodded along, but internally you were screaming. You grabbed your phone and googled all the players on the football squad including the subs, noticing the resemblance to all the names on the group chat.
Leah Williamson. Georgia Stanway. Ella Toone. Alessia Russo. Beth Mead. Lotte Wubben-Moy. Niamh Charles. Lucy Bronze. Mary Earps. And it went on. Some had only spoken once but you had seen their name.
While Dani was focused on the game, you were lost in your own thoughts. It all seemed like a big joke right now.
The times they'd be in the gym and would be training together. The photos they would send on the chat where they were in what you now realised were their football kits, and the football games they would pass off as a bit of fun. And the fact that Lucy Bronze had commented your post.
It all made sense when you thought about it.
These past few months you'd been chatting with them, you'd thought you had gotten to "know" them better, but really you knew practically nothing because they'd continued to hide about who they were and would change the topic when you did try to bring it up, all while knowing basically everything about you.
And suddenly, you felt very stupid and very played, as well as kinda betrayed.
✦ ——— ✦ ——— ✦
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liked by danisterling and 140 others
yourusername: me raiding all of dani's snacks while trying to understand football. england national football team or national diving team? who knows 🤷‍♀️ is it coming home lionesses?
danisterling: it's coming homeeeee ↳ yourusername: let's hope so
laniangelo: maybe you'll get lucky and another of them will see this post and you can finally become a wag ↳ yourusername: new fear: unlocked
chasejackson: looking flawless l/n 😩 ↳ yourusername i know 😌
✦ ——— ✦ ——— ✦
THE NATIONAL DIVING TEAM
the imposter well done on the match girls! you guys played great loved the goals toone and stanway
elton
thank you so much y/n!
stairway ahh thank you y/n really appreciate it wait .... HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT ITS US
neev oh no
the imposter have fun messing around with someone else and hiding your identities from them! xx
the imposter left
meado what were you guys expecting? you were literally going to be on tv playing football she was bound to see and find out soon you should've told her sooner
stairway we messed up didn't we?
willybum yeah
neev we gotta fix this
the REAL karate kid how she probably hates us
elton i got an idea
✦ ——— ✦ ——— ✦
leahwilliamsonn started following yourusername alessiarusso99 started following yourusername ellatoone started following yourusername stanwaygeorgia started following yourusername niamhcharles17 started following yourusername lottewubbenmoy started following yourusername lucybronze started following yourusername 1maryearps started following yourusername and more started following yourusername
✦ ——— ✦ ——— ✦
part ten here
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iheartambss · 11 months ago
Text
Rescue
Clarisse La Rue x Fem!ApolloCabin!Reader
summary; an Ares cabin member breaks the rules and ties reader up and Clarisse saves them
warnings; swearing, violence, blood, fluff
an; I hope this was what you expected. We 🫶 protective Clarisse. Gender neutral pronouns are used btw! I stole the “angel” nickname from symp4nat cause i like it and i think it’s so cute and she probably would call reader that. Also if you’d like to listen to the song while reading there’s a link below :)
Rescue by Lauren Daigle
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Ever since the day you arrived to camp, Clarisse bullied you and you two never got along. Today is yet another game of capture the flag and you’re on the blue team and Clarisse is on the red team which is obviously the opposing team. You watched as Clarisse was talking to the rest of her team to strategize and tell them the plan and just hoped you’d get out of this alive, as you always did. “Let the games begin!” Chiron yelled and you immediately followed Annabeth and Percy into the woods.
After a while of walking, you’re the first to speak up. “You guys think we'll run into Clarisse?" You ask as you continue following behind Annabeth. "I hope not," Percy says immediately, looking around nervously. Annabeth nods saying, "Knowing her we might.” "Where are we even going Annabeth?" You ask, looking around. "Wherever fate takes us," Annabeth says simply. Percy stops walking for a moment, shocked by Annabeth's answer. He continues to follow you and Annabeth mumbling, "This girl's going to get us killed."
Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy's comment. "I'm going to get us killed? At least I can fight," she muttered under her breath, not looking back at him. You continued to walk forward, your senses on high alert for any signs of danger. Suddenly 3 Ares kids surrounded the three of you. You got in a defensive position, sword in hand as you glared at the Ares kids, "Where's your princess?" You said, referring to Clarisse. Percy followed your lead, getting into a defensive position as well, looking at you confused, "Wait who?"
"Y/N's talking about Clarisse," Annabeth says as she points her sword at one of the Ares kids. Percy mumbles a soft, “Oh.” Leo smirks as he pointed his sword at you, "Clarisse isn't here so don't worry your pretty little head," He said in a slight mocking tone before looking at Ruby and Cole, his half siblings, "You two take care of Newbie and Nerdbrain." Ruby and Cole nod before Ruby lunges at Percy with her sword while Cole does the same to Annabeth. You pout at Leo, "Bummer, I was hoping l'd get to finally beat her ass. I guess I'll just beat yours instead," You said as you waited for Leo's move.
Leo chuckled as he watched Ruby and Cole engage with Percy and Annabeth, "Well aren't you feisty?" He said before lunging at you with his sword. You dodge the attack before swinging your sword at the Ares boy. Leo quickly dodged the swing of your sword before lunging at you again. He knew you were good, but he was confident in his fighting skills as well. "You fight well, but not well enough,” He grins as he continued to attack you. You narrowly missed another one of Leo's attacks, your heart racing from the adrenaline. You countered his next strike, your swords clashing loudly.
"You're not so bad yourself," you said, trying to keep up with his relentless assault, "I'm better though." Leo smirked, his eyes never leaving yours before he lunged again, aiming for your side this time. You quickly stepped back, avoiding the blow but losing your balance in the process. You yelp as you fell back, accidentally dropping your sword, "Fuck." Leo took advantage of your momentary loss of balance and kicked your sword away from your reach. He grinned wickedly, his sword pointed at your throat. "Now, who's the better fighter?" He challenged with a sneer. You roll your eyes, "Oh fuck off Leo."
"Y/N!" Percy yelled from the distance, sounding worried. Leo turned toward Percy's voice, "Ruby, Cole, keep those two away!" He ordered before turning back to you. He then grabbed some rope and started tying your hands together. "What the- Leo you know this against the rules," You hiss as you struggled against the boy's hold. Leo ignored your protests and quickly finished tying your hands together, pulling it a little too tight for comfort. He smirked at your struggles. You glared at the boy, struggling to get your hands out, "If you need to tie me up to handle me then you obviously suck ass as a warrior,” You spat.
Leo chuckled darkly, "Oh, I don't suck sweetheart, I just like playing dirty." He grabbed your bound wrists and pulled you closer, his sword still at your throat. Suddenly someone roughly pulled him away from you, pushing his shoulder, "Get the fuck away from them," Clarisse hissed. You looked at Clarisse in shock, you didn't expect the Ares girl to help you at all. "You alright angel?" Clarisse asked, glancing over you to make sure you were uninjured, frowning when she saw a gash on your arm. "U-Uh... yeah, I'm ok." You said softly, clearly confused by Clarisse's sudden protectiveness over you.
"Good," Clarisse replied then she turned back to Leo, glaring at him, "What the fuck do you think you're doing? You think you can just tie someone up like that?" She stepped closer to you, her body language subtly protective as well. Leo looked at her confused, "Why the hell are you protecting this Apollo kid Clarisse?" Clarisse scoffs like it’s obvious, "Because you fucking tied them up and it’s against the rules," She said harshly, her eyes hard as she glared at Leo. "Let's get you untied," Clarisse said, turning her attention back to you. She knelt down, carefully cutting the ropes with her spear, making sure not to hurt you further.
As she worked, she glanced at Leo, her expression cold and unyielding. Once your hands were untied, you rubbed your wrists as an attempt to sooth them. You looked up at Clarisse to see her holding out her hand to help you up and give her a confused look before taking the girl’s hand. “Thanks," You mumble. “No problem," Clarisse replied, still holding onto your hand until you were standing. She looked at Leo once more, sighing softly before letting go of your hand then sound of the conch shell rang out signaling the end of the game.
Percy ran over to you, "You ok?" You look at Clarisse with a raised eyebrow before looking at Percy and Annabeth, "Yeah I'm good." Annabeth walked over to you, "That's a pretty nasty cut on your arm." You look at your arm, "Oh shit... I didn't even realize." Clarisse grabbed your arm and took a quick look at it, a concerned expression on her face. "Let me take a look at it, it might need some medical attention," She said, glancing at the others as if to say that it wasn't too serious. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, clearly confused as to why Clarisse was being nice to you.
You looked at Clarisse, a bit skeptical but you nod nonetheless, “Uh... sure." Clarisse stepped closer to examine the cut more closely. "It's not deep, but it's bleeding a lot. We should clean it properly and maybe wrap it up to prevent infection," She explained, her voice surprisingly gentle. Percy and Annabeth looked between you and Clarisse, trying to figure out what was happening. You nodded, butterflies erupting in your stomach as you heard how soft her voice was. "Alright, let's head back to camp," Clarisse suggested, gesturing for you to follow her.
She turned to Percy and Annabeth, "I can clean it up there and maybe get something to stop the bleeding," she added, her voice still calm and collected. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other confused once again then looked at you. You shrugged then followed Clarisse as she started walking, Percy and Annabeth right behind you. When the four of you got to camp, Percy and Annabeth parted ways with you and Clarisse saying they had to meet with Grover. Clarisse grabbed your wrist gently, making you blush and led you to the infirmary. "Sit," Clarisse said, guiding you to a stool near some medical supplies.
She retrieved a clean cloth and some disinfectant, carefully cleaning the wound on your arm. Despite the pain, you couldn't help but notice how gentle her touch was. You silently observed Clarisse, taking in her appearance. You noted how the girl's eyebrows furrowed when she was concentrated and how the girl's hair framed her face perfectly. As Clarisse finished cleaning the wound, she applied a thin layer of antiseptic ointment, ensuring it covered the injured area completely, making you wince and Clarisse mumble an apology.
Her gaze met yours, holding it for a moment longer than necessary. "It's not that deep but it'll probably scar," she said, her voice lowering slightly. You nod as you blush softly before clearing your throat and looking away from the Ares girl, "That's great...I guess." Clarisse nodded, her fingers lightly grazing your arm as she applied a clean bandage over the wound, making you inhale sharply. "There. It should be alright for now," Clarisse said softly, her eyes still on your face. You nod once again, blushing more as you felt the girl's eyes still on you.
You hoped Clarisse couldn't notice your blush, "Thanks. You didn't have to do this." "I know, but I wanted to," Clarisse replied, her voice barely above a whisper. She glanced at the door, as if making sure you both were alone, before leaning in closer, not noticing the way you sucked in a breath, "Look, I know we don't exactly... get along, but I just wanted to help.” You could feel how fast your heart was hammering in your chest due to how close she was, "Y-Yeah... thanks," You said, cursing yourself as you stuttered.
"You're welcome," Clarisse responded, her voice barely above a whisper as she leaned back slightly. Despite your rough past, Clarisse felt herself blushing as well, hoping you wouldn't notice. You look up at the Ares girl, taking in her appearance once more and you can’t help think about how beautiful she is. Your eyes flickered between the girl's eyes and her lips. As Clarisse noticed you staring at her, she couldn't help but blush even more, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering madly. Despite the constant arguments between the two of you, she felt pulled towards you in an undeniable way.
Without thinking, Clarisse leaned in closer, her lips brushing against yours, making you let out a muffled noise of shock. It felt like electricity at first-a spark igniting between the two of you. You returned the kiss, bringing a hand up to cup the Ares girl's cheek softly. Feeling your soft touch against her cheek, Clarisse's heart raced even faster. She deepened the kiss, her hands finding their way on your waist, pulling you closer. Suddenly breaking the kiss, Clarisse looked into your eyes, her heart pounding in her chest. "I- sorry," she said softly with a shaky voice.
You looked at Clarisse, silently for a moment before pulling her in for another kiss. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise but soon closed as she felt your lips pressing against hers once more. This time, she returned the kiss, her hands gripping your waist tighter. You broke the kiss and rested your forehead against Clarisse's with a smile. Blinking back the surprise, Clarisse felt her heart skip a beat as she looked into your eyes. She couldn't help but return the smile, feeling a warmth spread through her chest, "I like you." You laughed softly, "Yeah I figured since you kissed me."
"Right..." Clarisse replied, her cheeks flushing slightly, “Will you be my girlfriend?” You smile saying, "Yes” before pulling the Ares girl into another kiss. As your lips met hers once more, she brought her hands up and gently cupped your face, deepening the kiss. Percy walks in, "Hey Y/N, how's it goi-" You both quickly pull away and he looks between you and Clarisse with wide eyes, "I'm not even going to ask...”
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wildrangers · 3 months ago
Text
Book Lovers // Quinn Hughes
Word Count: 5K
Summary: Quinn x fem OC author
Content: prolonged meet cute, flirty banter, fluff. Truly, I saw the clip of Quinn sharing he's a reader and knew I had to write something based on that.
Quinn took a deep, contented breath as he perused the shelves before him. He had a rare day off and was doing one of his favorite fall activities: book shopping.
Normally, he just went to Chapters or Barnes, depending on what country he was in, but he’d decided to explore a new place. He’d been discussing books with Lauren, the new social media manager, and she’d ranted about how they and Amazon were “destroying local markets and harming author profits.” Most of her argument had gone over his head but he took away enough, so here he was at Thomas’ Tomes–the closest locally-owned book shop to his apartment. He figured that was as good a place to start as any and it certainly didn’t hurt that it was a block from his favorite coffee place. 
Which is how he found himself, pumpkin spiced latte in hand, soaking in the relaxing energy of the cozy shop. He’d already selected a few historical fiction novels and was scanning the mystery section he’d just entered. He pulled his phone out, scanning his notes app for the title Lauren had recommended. She’d said it was pretty gruesome but he figured he could handle it…probably.
“Can I help you?” a voice nearby asked, startling him. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Are you sure a mystery book is a good idea?” 
His gaze rose to meet warm, golden brown eyes filled with amusement. “What do you mean?”
“It’s broad daylight in a public setting and you almost dropped your PSL because I greeted you.”
“You didn’t scare me, I was just in my own world” he argued, but felt his cheeks pinkening. She really had set off a fight or flight response just by doing her job.
“Of course” she replied and he couldn’t tell if he was being sensitive or if there was a teasing glint in her eyes. “My offer still stands.” 
“I’m sorry what?” he asked, confused and scrambling to keep up. 
“To help you find something…preferably a book. I don’t know how much help I’d be beyond that.” 
“Oh sure, yeah, thanks” he mumbled, setting his stack of books down on the table next to him so he could more easily show her his phone screen. “Someone recommended this book to me, do you have it in stock?”
He caught a whiff of something earthy and relaxing as she leaned closer, her eyes scanning the note. “Ah, yes we actually have a display over this way. Theo’s a local author.”
He picked up his items and followed her, moving much quicker than he anticipated having to to keep up as she weaved through the store. “Have you worked here a long time?” 
“My whole life essentially” she chuckled, throwing a grin over her shoulder. Just as she turned back, they passed a window that set her red hair aflame in the midday sun. 
“Oh, yeah? No labor laws then?” he teased, he hoped, successfully.
“I mean, I basically harassed my parents to let me stock shelves or talk to customers. Now I’m slightly less enthusiastic about inventory.” 
He laughed at her light tone, drawing to a stop as she did. “Wow, is this a series or something?” he asked, taking in the full display. 
“Well, the one your girlfriend recommended is the first in a new series” she answered, pointing it out. He was about to correct her but she continued quickly, “And the sequel isn’t out until early next year, so you’ll be waiting a bit for answers. Maybe start with this one?” she suggested, pointing out a title with the fewest books available. 
“Only a couple copies left, it must be popular. Have you read it?” 
“More times than I can count” she huffed.
“You’d think if you kept rereading it’s because you enjoyed it, no?” he chuckled. 
She simply shrugged, turning fully to meet his gaze, “Well, what’s the verdict? I do feel the need to warn you, these books are much closer to horror than just a normal mystery or thriller.” 
“Why does no one think I can handle these books?” he sighed in mild annoyance, grabbing the one she’d recommended off the shelf. 
“You just don’t seem like a horror enthusiast, that’s all.” 
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Do you want me to answer genuinely?” she responded, eyebrow quirked in a challenge he couldn’t help but rise to.
“Sure but if you hurt my feelings, can you at least give me a discount?” he joked and she snorted out a laugh.
“You’ve got yourself a deal” she smirked, offering her hand to shake on it, which he did. He wasn’t at all surprised when her handshake was firm and she maintained eye contact the entire time. “Well, you have two historical fiction books with you and that was the first section you went to when you walked in.”
“You were watching me?” he laughed, earning him an eye roll.
“It’s 11AM on a Tuesday, there’s not much else to do,” she replied, gesturing to the otherwise empty store. “Plus, it’s a fun game to play when I procrastinate on doing actual work. Anyway,” she emphasized, closing her eyes briefly to seemingly get herself back on track. “Once you found those, both of which are part of long, ongoing series, you debated going left to nonfiction or right to mystery. My guess is, you normally would go pick out some biographies, maybe some historical nonfiction or even, oh, maybe some kind of ‘how to maximize yourself’ guide. How close am I?”
He felt his cheeks warm from pink to scarlet, “I mean, close but that doesn’t mean I can’t also like mysteries…” he argued weakly. 
“True enough, who’s your favorite thriller writer?” The long silence was answer enough so she continued, “If you want, you can go pick out a nonfiction book and I’ll throw the thriller in for free.”
“You don’t have to do that, my feelings weren’t that hurt.”
She shrugged, “I can’t in good conscience let you pay for that book, you must have done something to piss off your girlfriend.”
“My coworker, actually” he corrected and her eyebrows rose. “What?”
“What did you do to the poor girl?” 
“Nothing! I even took her suggestion to shop locally.” 
“Our hero” she fake swooned and he rolled his eyes, making her laugh. “Fine, how about when you’re done you bring up your haul and I’ll throw in a surprise? I feel like you’re making it a pride thing to buy the book now.”
“Color me intrigued, we have another deal” he replied. “My name’s Quinn, by the way.” 
“Dora” she replied but a loud snort erupted from near the registers. “Fuck off, Richie” she snapped, turning away from him to seemingly go yell at whoever laughed at her.
Quinn tried to relax back into the calming routine of ambling through a bookstore but he kept hearing her voice and couldn’t focus on much else. He grabbed a biography Jack had recommended, both dreading and eager to be teased by the redhead.
“Don’t let her manipulate you into buying that garbage” the guy, presumably Richie, called as soon as Quinn was in his line of sight. 
“I’m doing no such thing! Tell him, Quinn” she replied, cheeks flaming red in annoyance, her golden eyes fierce with indignation. 
“My coworker actually recommended this author. A different book but still…” he shrugged, placing his other selections on the counter. He noticed her eyes appraising his selections and the quick, amused quirk of her mouth before she whirled to focus on Richie. 
“See I told you!”
“I’m sorry for not believing you” Richie said, seeming sincere to Quinn’s ears but Dora’s eyes narrowed. “It’s just that Theodora here often tries to swindle impressionable young men to improve her book sales.” The heavy emphasis on the girl’s full name made Quinn pause. 
“Wait a minute…” he blinked rapidly, processing this new information. “Your family owns this shop, right? Thomas’ Tomes?” 
“...yeah” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring daggers at the giggling Richie. 
“And when you gave your name as Dora, he laughed. And this book, it’s written by Theo Thomas. And he just called you Theodora, which I think means you wrote this?” he questioned, feeling proud of himself for putting the pieces together and a little embarrassed it took him so long.
“He’s solved the mystery! Maybe he can handle your book after all, dear sister” Richie teased. 
“I was going to tell him!” Theo argued, grabbing a pen and opening the book. “That was the surprise, Quinn, now you have a signed copy of the book. You’re welcome, you can thank my asshole brother for ruining the reveal. I also signed a copy of the one your coworker recommended, can you pass it along to her? On the house.” 
“Are you sure?” Quinn questioned and she nodded, shifting to ring up the rest of his purchase. 
“Theo, stop” Richie huffed, shifting her away from the till. “You need to stop procrastinating and finish that last round of edits, they’re due within the week.”
“It’s just garbage anyway, you said so yourself” Theo replied mopily, sitting down on the stool next to the register.
“Oh come on…” Richie sighed, pausing his scanning to give his sister his full attention. “I was just messing with you. I know the sequel’s giving you a hard time but you’re at the finish line now, just a few more days of work then it’s out of your hands. And you’re an incredible, if worryingly grotesque, writer so I have every faith it’ll be amazing.”
“Did you hear that, Quinn?” Theo asked, grinning widely. “He finally admitted I’m a good writer.” 
“Oh fuck off, you guilted me into it!” Richie replied, grabbing the debit card from his outstretched hand. “Quinn, right?” 
“...yeah?”
“Quinn, can you please take my sister anywhere other than this shop? The cafe, the movies, a strip club? I literally don’t care, she’s driving me nuts.” 
“Richie! I’m sorry, he’s kidding, he knows that would be a weird, rude thing to request of a total stranger.” 
“A total stranger you’ve been flirting with…” he mumbled and Theo jammed her elbow into his side.
“Here, let me walk you out…” Theo said, grabbing his bag of books and rapidly leading him away from her brother. Once the cool fresh air surrounded them, she turned quickly towards him. “I am so sorry, Richie thinks he’s funny when he’s really just weird.”
“I have two brothers, I get it” Quinn assured her, reaching to grab the bag from her hands. “It was nice to have someone sign something for me for once.” 
“Do you sign things for people often?” she questioned, confusion evident in her eyes as she scanned him, trying to place who he may be. 
“Most nights yeah” he chuckled shyly, embarrassed by his comment. “Forget about it though…”
“No, no, I’m curious now” she smiled, head tilted in appraisal. “Not an author, I’d know you already. You definitely don’t give off musician vibes…but I don’t think I’ve seen you in anything either so not an actor. Who are you really Quinn? Here I was feeling bad for putting you through the ringer for my own amusement back there and you were a celebrity the whole time.”
“I wouldn’t go that far” he laughed anxiously, running his hands through his hair. 
“Well you’re either someone of import or completely delusional and just handing out signatures to people on the streets, so which is it?”
“I’m a hockey player.”
“...okay, and?”
“We’re in Vancouver.” 
“Yes, I’m aware.” 
“This is a huge hockey city! You don’t know the Canucks?”
“I don’t live under a rock, of course I do” she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was raised in a bookstore though so sports aren’t high on my list of interests.” 
“Are they on your list at all?” 
“Take a wild guess, Quinn” she replied sarcastically. “I guess you’re a big deal then?”
“I mean, I am the captain…”
“Is that normally what gets girls interested in you?” 
“Damn, tell me how you really feel” he answered, averting his eyes and trying to play off how the quip hurt him. 
“Hey, I’m sorry” she replied, her voice gentle as she tugged softly on his coat sleeve “That’s not how I meant it. I guess I’m just surprised you felt the need to try to impress me when I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out since I walked over to you in the shop.” 
He was briefly stunned into silence, causing her to rapidly continue, “Oh god, I’m leaving. I hope my book doesn’t traumatize you and I’m sorry for assuming you were trying to impress me, that was weird and presumptuous of me.”
It was his turn to grab her sweater sleeve lightly, “Can I have your number?” 
“Are you sure you want it? I’m clearly an expert at putting my foot into my mouth…” 
“I’m 100% sure but only if you’re interested. There's no pressure.” 
Theo reached into the shopping bag, adding her number to her signature before returning it. “Text me when you finish chapter eight, not a minute before okay? You need to know what you’re getting into here.”
***
Theo sighed, finally closing her laptop for the night but not before catching the time: 1AM. She’d procrastinated most of the day before forcing herself to do the one chapter she’d promised herself she’d get done. She was confident in the overall story but she felt like a single thread was missing that would lead to the next book’s central plot. Should the apparent villain be more gray and get a redemption arc? Or should she double down? Or maybe…her phone vibrating across the desk stopped her obsessing.
Respectfully, your mind must be a truly terrifying place. What the FUCK was that twist?
She smirked, butterflies tentatively taking flight in her stomach at the unknown number’s text.
I’m sorry, who is this?
How many men do you secretly sell your book to, sign said book with your number, and give detailed instructions on when they can use that number?
At least three today that I can think of, so any additional information would really help.
It’s Quinn.   
Ah yes, the biography and historical fiction lover! What twist are you referring to? 
I think if I typed it out I’d get flagged by an FBI agent or something…that was gruesome
I tried to warn you…
Take my advice, try harder with your next group of guys
I’ll do my best. I suspect the more I’d try to warn you off the more you would have dug your heels in though
Nah, I don’t have a competitive bone in my body 
Of course, my bad. Will you finish the book or is it too much? You can always give it to your girlfriend
*Coworker. I wouldn’t be texting a beautiful girl I just met if I was in a relationship
How charming and reassuring of you!
Are you always like this?
Like what?
Chirping
…I’m sorry what?
You don’t know what chirping means? That’s disappointing given you're a writer, Theo… 
Please, enlighten me
Chirping is a hockey term for when you’re ribbing someone. During a game, guys will chirp or make fun of each other to get under their skin. 
Are you saying I’m getting under your skin?
I’m saying I feel like my brain has to work overtime to keep up with you
That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me
That can’t possibly be true
As she mulled over what to say next, the three blue dots popped up so she paused until his response appeareed
Can I ask you a forward question? 
Shoot 
Are you free tonight? 
Are you asking me on a date?
Not quite, I’m asking you to come to my hockey game 
And why’s that?
Because you’re clearly smart and cute and have a twisted mind that I’m curious to learn more about. But you gave me a warning, so asking you to go to my game is mine
Ah, so since you passed my test you want to see if I can pass yours?
If you want it to be a challenge, sure. I just think it’s fair for you to get a glimpse of my weird life before I actually ask you out. Just like how you showed me a glimpse of your weird brain. 
Challenge and pre-date screening accepted. Where do I go and when? 
Which is how Theo found herself weaving through the crowds at Rogers Arena. Quinn had offered to get her a second ticket so she’d have company but she figured it was fair she went it alone since he was game to read her book. How terrifying could a hockey game be in comparison to a brutal serial killer story?
Quite scary, it turned out. The crowd was electric, the arena was sold out, and the noise was deafening. She’d never admit it to Quinn but she did watch some basic hockey rule videos on YouTube so she wouldn’t be totally oblivious. By the third period, she felt settled into the rhythm of the game and was actually enjoying it a bit. Especially when a fight broke out and she could cheer for violence against a random man she didn’t know alongside thousands of people. There was something very cathartic about the experience. 
It also turned out that Quinn, in this world, is a big deal. She’d immediately noticed that a huge percentage of fans were wearing his jersey. And as the team warmed up, Quinn had traded a puck for a piece of candy causing the teenage girl to scream in hysterics afterwards. It was both bizarre and fascinating to watch given she’d met this random man the day before at her family’s store. Maybe she should have asked for a signature, it probably would sell for a pretty penny…
A roar from the crowd pulled her attention back to the ice and her heart dropped to her stomach. Fights were a lot less fun when you knew and had budding feelings for one of the guys involved, especially when who he was squared off against had almost half a foot on him. To her surprise and relief, Quinn could hold his own, using speed to his advantage. When they both fell to the ice before finally being separated, she took it to mean it was a draw but the crowd screamed like he’d single handedly won the championship game, even as he was guided off the ice by the officials. There was less than three minutes left in the game so she hoped that was why rather than that he was hurt. She worried her lip between her teeth as she pulled out her phone.
Idk if you’ll see this before the end of the game but are you okay?????
She sighed as the minutes passed, the final buzzer sounding without a reply, so she stood to leave with the tide of people. Just as she tucked her phone in her pocket, she felt it buzzing insistently with a phone call. 
“Quinn, are you okay?” she asked without greeting him. She was focused on his answer but noticed a few fans within hearing distance whip their heads towards her at his name.
“Yeah, sorry I jumped right in the shower after the major.”
“I don’t totally know what that whole sentence means but I’m relieved you’re alright.”
His warm chuckle through the phone made her toes curl. “Did I scare you off?”
“I’m offended you’d think so” she replied but if he’d been with her, he’d easily tell she was a little shaken by the experience. 
“If you say so, Dora…” he teased and she laughed loudly, accidentally drawing more attention her way. “Can I take you out for a drink then?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. I’m currently in a sea of your most devoted followers though so I’ll need some help finding you.” 
He stayed on the phone as he guided her through the arena to the parking deck where he’d meet her shortly, only hanging up once she confirmed she was at the right car by reading his license plate number back to him. She scrolled through her phone while waiting but she felt eyes on her. She couldn’t help but be a little uncomfortable at the thought that these strangers knew Quinn’s car or at very least understood players would be emerging into this section of the parking garage. As a lifelong Vancouver resident, she obviously knew how hockey-obsessed her city was but she never thought much about these details.
She heard male voices approaching from the opposite direction of where she’d come so she tucked her phone in her purse. Quinn emerged with a tall blonde, their two heads bent together in serious conversation. When a young boy approached, they both paused, kneeling down to greet him and sign his jersey. They repeated the motion a few times before excusing themselves from the small crowd that had formed. 
“Hey! How’d you like the game?” Quinn asked, briefly pulling her in for a hug.
“I really liked the fighting until you were involved, then it was less fun” she admitted, smiling to greet Quinn’s companion. “I’m Theo.”
“Elias, good to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your night and maybe help Theo into your car before loading up, yeah?” Elias suggested and she felt her brows furrow. Quinn quickly glanced back towards the small group of people and her eyes followed his, noting that several phones were out and seemingly recording everything.
“Thanks man, drive safe” Quinn replied, placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her to the passenger side “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine” she replied despite her confusion and frazzledness. He must have seen it on her face though because he quickly unlocked the door and helped her in. A moment later he was in the driver’s seat, backing up and speeding through the parking deck. 
“I think this is the longest silence I’ve experienced in your presence” Quinn mused at the long, but not uncomfortable, quiet that had settled.
“I’m sorry that was just…”
“A lot? Too much? I can drop you off if you’ve changed your mind, I get it” he nervously filled in.
“Quinn, stop,” she laughed. “That’s not what I was going to say, it’s just a lot to process. I really thought you were trying to, like, gas yourself up when you said people wanted your signature daily but the girl you gave a puck to almost burst into tears afterwards” 
His cheeks flamed a deep crimson which she found wildly endearing, “Yeah, it’s a lot to process for me and it’s my life.” She took in his tired eyes and the dark circles beneath them. 
“Why don’t we go back to my place? I have a full bar cart and you seem like you could use some quiet” she offered. 
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Quinn, I extended the invitation, of course I’m sure. Just take the left at the next light.” 
She guided him through the city to her apartment, allowing silences to stretch while he seemingly decompressed from the game and its aftermath. Contrary to his initial impression, she was comfortable with quiet and enjoyed when someone’s company didn’t require constant banter and attention.
“Here, park in this spot, my neighbor’s away this week so no one will care if you're there.” 
He did as instructed and she went to open the car door, nearly knocking him with it, “Jesus, Quinn! Did you sprint over here? I can open the door myself, you know…”
“I didn’t sprint, I just moved quickly. And I know you can open the door, I just wanted to do it for you” he mumbled and she smiled at his nervousness. 
“Well, thanks and I'm sorry for almost injuring you. It seems like something that could really fuck with your job.” 
“Just a little” he chuckled, offering his hand to help her out of his truck. She took it, enjoying how warm and calloused his fingers felt against her own. He went to remove his grip but she squeezed his fingers in a silent request to keep holding on, which he did. 
“This is a great spot” he complimented as they rode the elevator up to her floor. “I guess the writing’s really working out?”
“I moved in about a year ago. I’d been doing pretty good but then my most recent book, the one your coworker recommended, kind of blew up. Which is great but also has made getting the sequel done a bit stressful” she admitted, reluctantly releasing his hand to unlock her door. 
“Why’s that? Wouldn’t the success kind of add to your confidence?”
“It did, for a little, but if this next one tanks then it just proves it was a fluke and then what?” she questioned, flicking on the lights. “Penny!” she called, squatting down to pet her beloved dog. 
Penny wiggled into her body, pushing her over and onto the floor making Theo chuckle. “Settle down, it’s only been a few hours.” 
“She’s beautiful” Quinn complimented from behind her, closing the door as he stepped inside. Penny was immediately investigating him, sniffing his hands as her tail wagged excitedly. “What a sweetie. You said her name’s Penny, right?”
“Yeah, short for Pennywise” Theo elaborated as she stood back up to slip her shoes off. 
“Of course, how silly of me to not make the connection” he chuckled. 
“I mean, I’m named after a horror novel character so I had to continue the family tradition with my own child” she explained, making her way towards the kitchen. 
“Are you really?” 
“Yeah, Theodora from Haunting of Hill House. Richie was named after Tozier in Stephen King’s It.” 
“That makes your choice of genre less surprising.” 
She laughed and shrugged, “What can I get you to drink?”
“Honestly? I don’t really drink, I just wanted to see you tonight since the game didn’t scare you off.” 
“I tried to tell you, I don’t scare easily,” she teased. “I don’t really drink either. Hot cocoa?” 
“Sounds great, thanks” he replied and she busied herself getting the ingredients together. “Seriously though, what did you think of the game?” 
“Like I said, it was fun until I worried you were hurt, then it was significantly less enjoyable” she answered, handing him a warm mug. “Want to hang in my library? Your book taste is questionable but I still think you’ll enjoy my collection.” 
“Why is my taste questionable?” he scoffed but followed her down the hall. 
“It’s just very…dude bro-y.” 
“How elegant” he teased and she rolled her eyes. 
“Maybe not elegant, but accurate, no?” 
“Whatever, Dora” he grumbled and she laughed.
“Is that going to be a thing? You call me by my least favorite nickname when I annoy you?”
“To be fair, it was you who offered that name up.” 
She sighed, sipping her drink and settling into the couch in her study. She watched as he slowly made his way around the room, every wall lined with books from floor to ceiling. “This room is incredible.” 
“Thanks” she beamed, genuinely thrilled at the compliment. “It’s kind of my pride and joy, aside from Penny, of course.” 
“I can tell,” he replied earnestly, settling beside her. “There has to be some nonfiction in here, right?” 
“Sure, if you’re into true crime, psychology, forensics, and/or mental health memoirs.” 
“I actually really enjoy psychology, it’s helped my game a lot.” 
“Really?” she asked and couldn’t hide the surprise from her tone which earned her a light glare. “I just meant that hockey seems much more physical than cerebral.”
“Oh it’s super mental actually” he argued and she nodded her encouragement for him to continue. “Okay so tonight for example. I didn’t have to drop my gloves and fight but doing so showed my team that I have their back and the other team that even though I’m smaller, they can’t push me around. Since I’m a quieter guy, I choose my actions carefully to kind of speak without speaking if that makes sense.”
“It does but you’re not small, silly. Not that it would matter even if you were but you’re not.” 
“I’m hockey small” he corrected and she didn’t know enough to argue. “Oh, another example. When a player is approaching the goal, they have to strategize what they can physically do while also anticipating the goalies expectations. Which is hard because the goalie is doing the same thing. So, it becomes really strategic in addition to the skill you need to play at this level.”
She nodded, genuinely intrigued by this new element of the game she watched tonight. He must have taken her silence for boredom because he quickly continued, “I’m sorry, I can be a bit of a hockey nerd.”
“Don’t be sorry, it honestly makes the game more interesting to me to think of it that way. Plus, I already knew you were a book nerd, what’s one more level of nerdiness?” 
He rolled his eyes and she laughed, lost in their deep blue. The air shifted between them, tension developing where there had been none. She set her mug down, eyes dipping to his lips and back up. She really wanted to know what his mouth would feel like against hers. 
“I come with a lot of baggage” he admitted quietly and she shrugged. 
“Don’t we all?” she asked, matching his quiet tone. She couldn’t help herself from raising a hand to gently trace the curve of his cheekbones. “I really like looking at you” she mumbled before she could think the comment through. 
He chuckled softly, covering her hand with his own, “I really like looking at you too, weirdo.” 
She grinned at his response, closing her eyes as his mouth finally met her own. 
A/N: Sorry for the cut to black, I'm debating if I want to continue with this OC so let me know what you think! It's my first OC in a very, very long time so sorry if the grammar is wonky in spots.
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