#and making a chip x Rebecca fic

[nwleon]

Chip: A girl is interested in me and I'm not going to ignore it!

Rebecca: Chip, I want you.

Chip: You want me to what?

Rebecca: I-um-uh

Chip: Already forgot? Don't worry happens to me all the time

(Chip leaves)

[softspiderling]

god, it's brutal out here | r.c.

summary:

“And yet you’re still thinking of your ex,” Barry finished the sentence, rubbing his chin. “Why don’t you get back together with her?”

“She doesn’t want me.”

“God, fucking Country Club,” Barry snickered. “You’re fucking dense.”

OR; 5 times your friends share their unsolicited opinions about your and Rafe’s break up.

pairing: rafe cameron x reader

warnings: mention of c*caine

word count: 5,4k

author’s note: the long awaited sequel of so obsessed with your ex! this can be read as a standalone fic, but there are little easter eggs hidden all over, which will be more fun if you read the first part! it's a little bit longer than I had planned, but there was no way around it. I hope you enjoy it so so much!!!!

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

I Wheezie

“Hey Wheeze.”

You had accepted the facetime without looking at your phone, keeping it rested on a shelf while you were halfway into your closet, trying to find a dress.

“Does Rafe have a new girlfriend??”

Pausing, you shut your eyes, letting out a silent exhale before you picked up the phone, giving Wheezie a wry smile through the camera.

“Nice to see you too.”

The girl only looked at you, unimpressed and her arms crossed. You sighed, running a hand through your hair, knowing you didn’t have a way out of this conversation. Grabbing your phone, you sat down on your bed.

“Yes, Rafe has a new girlfriend.”

“I knew it!” Wheezie shrieked, throwing her arms up, and you only shook your head in exasperation. The tendency for drama clearly was in the Cameron genes. Wheezie frowned, getting closer to your phone as she looked at you.

“Why am I more upset about this than you are?”

You bit back another sigh. “Because Rafe and I are broken up, Wheeze. He’s allowed to date other people, matter of fact, I’m really glad that he has moved on.”

“Bullshit!”

“Wheezie!”

Wheezie rolled her eyes, but she sat back down, crossing her arms over her chest again. “I don’t like her.”

“You don’t even know her,” you sighed, rubbing your temple, feeling a migraine coming on.

“This is crazy!” Wheezie exclaimed. “You and Rafe never should’ve broken up in the first place! Rafe is probably only dating her to make you jealous so you’ll take him back.”

You couldn’t help but snort at that, Wheezie clearly watched way too many rom-coms. She frowned at you.

“Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny, this is, like, super un-funny.”

“Because, Wheeze,” you started, plucking a feather out of your pillow. “This isn’t some 90’s rom-com where I see Rafe with Rebecca and suddenly a sad song is playing. This is real life. We are broken up.”

“I still don’t understand why.”

“Remember when we used to fight all the time? And I was just always sad?”

Wheezie was quiet, her lips still pursed. “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean anything. Couples fight all the time, doesn’t mean you just have to break up.”

“Yes, couples fight all the time and they don’t have to break up, but it was the right decision for me and Rafe,” you said, your tone final. Wheezie looked at you, her frown slowly smoothing down.

“If you say so,” she muttered, not quite convinced. She stared down at her chipped finger nails, before she looked up again. “Can we still talk?”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Of course we can still talk, why wouldn’t we?”

“I don’t know… I mean, you’re gonna find a new boyfriend and maybe he has a younger sister as well and then I’ll just be your ex’s younger sister.”

“Wheeze,” you said, fondly, knowing where she was coming from. You had been in her life for most of her teenage years, it must be weird not having you around anymore. “We’ll still talk, no matter if I get a new boyfriend or not, even if he has a cool younger sister, or even three.”

Wheezie smiled, rolling her eyes at you. “You’re so dumb.”

“Yet you still want me around,” you teased. “How about you, Sar and I go get some ice cream and then to the movies this weekend?”

“Sounds good,” Wheezie replied with a big smile. She paused when someone called her name from somewhere in the house, before she turned back to her phone. “I gotta go, Rose needs me. I’ll text you later.”

“Alright, Wheeze. Talk to you later, be good.”

Wheezie waved into the camera, before the facetime ended. Your smile dropped and you tossed your phone on your bed with a sigh, letting yourself fall back on your bed. Even six months after the break up it was still hard to talk about Rafe, and now that he had a new girlfriend, you thought it’d be easier to get over him, but all it did was hurt more. It didn’t help that Rafe was still texting you every now and then. Nothing scandalous, just small texts, but you never replied. You both agreed on no contact after the break up, because you thought it’d give you a better opportunity to heal. You should’ve known he’d break it. Picking up your phone, you unlocked it, swiping to your messages.

Rafe [11/30/23: 1:43 am]: couldn’t sleep. remember when we took out the boat at two am bc we both drank a red bull at ten?

Rafe [11/30/23: 11:22 am]: sorry, i was drinking. didn’t mean to text you. hope you’re doing good

Rafe [12/25/23: 2:44 pm]: merry christmas. it’s weird without you.

Rafe [01/01/24: 01:02 am]: happy new year’s.

Rafe [01/05/24: 9:56 pm]: are you really not gonna text me back?

Rafe [01/27/24: 3:07 am]: i miss you

Rafe [02/12/24: 12:05 pm]: saw you at the party last night. you looked so fucking pretty. took everything in me not to talk to you.

Rafe [03/01/24: 7:12 pm]: idk if you care or not, but i still wanted to let you know. i’m seeing someone

You never replied to any of the texts, knowing it was for the better. You could block him, but you never brought it over your heart to do so, telling yourself you wanted him to reach you in case of emergency, but deep down, you didn’t want to block him.

Just incase.

II Barry

“Want some C?” Barry asked as greeting, presenting Rafe a small baggie with white powder in it as soon as he walked onto the lot.

“Nah,” Rafe declined, already feeling jittery enough without it, “Won’t say no to a beer though.”

Barry let out a grunt, tossing the baggie on the table, disappearing inside the trailer. Rafe took a seat in one of the chairs, running his hand over his buzzed head, bouncing his leg nervously. He had needed to get out of the house for a while. Ever since Rebecca pulled the picture out of the drawer, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. Again.

Which is fucked up, really. He thought he got over you, he didn’t want to be the guy who thought about his ex while having a whole ass girlfriend. The door to the trailer opened with a slam, Barry exiting with two beer cans, handing Rafe one of them. The can was ice cold in his hands, and the cold liquid helped with his racing heart. He let out a sigh, rubbing a thumb over his eye brow. Rafe took another gulp of the beer, almost drinking the entire can in one go, while Barry watched him, assessing.

“You good?”

Rafe nodded, setting the can on the table.

“Yeah, jus’ stressed.”

“Work, or…?”

Barry trailed off without finishing his sentence and Rafe didn’t answer, wiping a finger over his jaw, which was clenched to the max.

Barry eyed him skeptically, leaning back in his chair. “How’s Mrs. Country Club?”

Rafe let out a loud sigh, tipping his head back, like he always did when he was annoyed with Barry.

“Barry, I don’t know if all the drugs you’re taking are starting to get to your memory, but we broke up.”

“Don’t be fucking rude,” he said, kicking Rafe’s chair. Not hard enough for it to tip over, but hard enough for Rafe to grip onto the arm rests, glaring at his friend. “How’d you know I wasn’t talking ‘bout your new girl?”

“Because you always call her Becky,” Rafe pointed out, giving him a look.

Barry shrugged, taking a sip from his beer. “You still know who ‘m talking about, so what’s the problem?”

“Problem is, it’s disrespectful. You know that’s not her name.”

“You’re still hung up on your ex while dating Becky, so who’s really disrespecting her?”

Rafe’s head shot up and the glare he sent Barry was deadly.

“Fuck this shit, and fuck you,” he snapped, pushing himself up from the chair, but Barry grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“Boy, sit down.”

Rafe scowled at him, before sitting back down, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child. He did not come all the way out to the cut to get called out like this.

“If you came here to be coddled, you went to the wrong person.”

“I don’t need to be coddled,” Rafe muttered with an eyeroll. “Just wanted to let off some steam.”

“So?” Barry snorted, waving his hands around. “Steam away.”

Rafe scoffed, scooting down in his chair, shaking his head. “Do you think I want to think of her? I fucking hate feeling like this. Bex is nice, and she’s hot. And yet-”

“And yet you’re still thinking of your ex,” Barry finished the sentence, rubbing his chin. “Why don’t you get back together with her?”

“She doesn’t want me.”

“God, fucking Country Club,” Barry snickered. “You’re fucking dense.”

“Nah, you don’t fucking get it, “ Rafe sneered, leaning his head in his hands. And he didn’t, not really. Which really wasn’t his fault. Rafe just didn’t want to talk about the break up with his friends. Physically couldn’t. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t told anyone why you broke up. Just made it feel all to real, he guessed.

“Nah, you’re right, I don’t,” Barry said, shaking his head. “All I know is, one day you’re all fucking sunshine and the next you’re more emo than that Friday girl.”

“What?” Rafe asked, lifting his head to stare at Barry in confusion.

Barry waved him off. “You know, that freaky girl from Netflix with the black lipstick.”

“Do you mean Wednesday?”

“Yeah, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the same to me,” Barry huffed. “Point is, life’s too fucking short to do things that don’t make you happy.”

“Bex makes me happy.”

Barry gave him a long, hard look, squinting his eyes at him. “Yeah, right. Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

Rafe stared back at him before shaking his head, finishing the last of his beer before crushing the empty can in his hand, declining to answer, because he knew he couldn’t convince Barry.

He wasn’t even convinced himself.

III Topper

top [05/03/24: 4:06 pm]: gonna be at alex’s later tonight with rafe and rebecca just fyi if you wanted to come

mrs. rafe [05/03/24: 4:57 pm]: k, thanks for letting me know

—— NEW MESSAGE ——

top [05/04/24: 1:37 am]: can you pick me up?

It was Saturday night, a little past your bedtime for a night in. You were getting ready for bed, exiting the bathroom when your phone buzzed in your hand. Lifting it, you read the new text, not quite believing he’d make you do this. What the fuck was he thinking asking you to pick him up? Shaking your head in disbelief, you typed out an answer.

mrs. rafe [05/04/24: 1:41 am]: topper no

Before you could put the phone away, your phone already buzzed with an answer, and you nearly didn’t want to read whatever lame ass excuse he came up with, your hand stilling when your eyes flit over his text.

top [05/04/24: 1:41 am]: please, i don’t want to get a ride with rafe and rebecca

top [05/04/24: 1:41 am]: she asked me so many questions about you and i can’t be around rafe rn or i’ll tell him

mrs. rafe [05/04/24: 1:45 am]: … fine

mrs. rafe [05/04/24: 1:47 am]: you’re so annoying

Cursing Topper and yourself for not going to bed sooner, you put on a sweatshirt and grabbed your keys and purse, typing out another text before you headed out of the house, getting into your car.

mrs. rafe [05/04/24: 1:49 am]: be there in ten

top [05/04/24: 1:50 am]: omg i owe you <3

Barely ten minutes later, you pulled up in front of Alex’ house, looking out for Topper, before you spotted him underneath a tree. You rolled to a stop next to him, giving him the most unimpressed look.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Topper groaned, getting into the car, shutting the door behind him.

You rolled your eyes, pulling off the curb without another word, driving towards Topper’s house.

“I’m really sorry for asking you to come get me, but Rafe was looking for me and I had too much to drink already to lie in his face,” Topper said, leaning his back against the headrest, shutting his eyes.

You desperately wanted to know what Rebecca had asked but you didn’t want to come off as the nosy ex, even if this was Topper. So as nonchalantly as you could, you asked: “What did you talk about?”

“Jesus,” Topper said, running a hand through his hair. “She asked me how you guys broke up and wanted details, too. Was super insistent, I was kinda scared actually.”

Okay, so just normal sussing out the ex, you could deal with that.

“What did you say?”

“That it was a mutual break up and I didn’t know why you broke up, just that you suddenly disappeared from each other’s lives.”

You sighed. That was the vaguest answer you’d ever heard.

“Why didn’t you just tell her why we broke up?”

Topper glanced at you, his brows knitted together.

“How can I tell her something I don’t know?”

“What?”

You slammed on the breaks, nearly sending Topper flying through the windshield because the idiot hadn’t buckled up, while you stared at him.

“What do you mean you don’t know why we broke up?”

“I don’t!” Topper exclaimed. “Rafe refuses to talk about it and you never told me either.”

“Because I assumed Rafe has told you! It’s been like six months!”

Blinking at Topper, it took you a few seconds to process, jumping when someone honked their horn at you, when you remembered you had stopped in the middle of the street.

“Shit,” you muttered, shifting gears to keep on driving, eyes flitting to Topper repeatedly.

“So…” he started. “Why did you guys break up?”

You gripped the steering wheel so tightly your knuckles turned white, letting out a deep breath. When you had left to come pick Topper up, you hadn’t expected having to tell him why you and his best friend had broken up.

“I was getting so worried about him. He was so stressed about the company every day, took home so much work and Ward was breathing down his neck to keep the numbers up. I told him that I thought he should take a step back, maybe take a break or something, tried to convince him of going on a trip or something, but the more I said, the more he seemed to be pushing himself into work. It got so bad that we were fighting basically every day, and it just wasn’t working anymore. It felt like we were going in circles.”

You cleared your throat when you felt yourself getting choked up, vision turning a little blurry from the tears in your eyes.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Topper exclaimed, patting himself down, looking for some tissues.

“Don’t worry about it,” you snorted, wiping your tears away with the sleeves of your sweatshirt. You were so wrapped up in trying to retell the break up, you hadn’t even noticed that you already reached Topper’s house. “I shouldn’t even still be getting so worked up over this after all this time,” you sniffed, turning your car off.

Topper looked at you, with that typical look on his face and you rolled your eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t believe Rafe hasn’t told you.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly? I think he might be in denial about it.”

You scoffed at him, shaking your head. Why was everyone so hung up over your break up?

“It’s been six months.”

Topper didn’t reply, his hand on the car door and you expected him to bid you good bye, but that was too easy.

“… Do you think you guys will get back together?”

“He has a girlfriend, Top.”

“Still. I don’t think that Rafe and Rebecca are gonna last very long.” Topper looked at you, pressing his lips together, before shaking his head. “Sorry. Thanks for coming and for getting me home. Text me if you need anything, okay?”

You nodded, giving him a small wave, and waited until he got out of the car, shutting the door behind him, before you turned your car on, pulling off.

“What the fuck,” you muttered to yourself, wiping the rest of the tears off as you drove home.

IV Kelce

“Kelce!”

Kelce looked up from the pool table, a smile growing on his face when he saw Rafe come down the basement, his friend wrapping an arm around him for a brief hug.

“Happy birthday, man,” Rafe said, handing Kelce a bottle of the expensive whiskey he always drank when he was at Rafe’s but too stingy to buy it for himself.

“Ah shit, you didn’t have to,” Kelce uttered, though his eyes were sparkling as he looked at the bottle in his hands. He handed the pool stick to one of the guys next to him, leading Rafe to the bar. He grabbed two glasses from the shelves, pouring Rafe and himself a good amount, offering one of the glasses to him.

“Cheers to you.”

The two clinked their glasses, before sipping on the whiskey. Kelce really enjoyed it, too, with the way he closed his eyes, and Rafe only snorted in his glass. Kelce peaked his eye open, shoving his friend fondly with a grin.

“Rebecca here?”

“Yeah, upstairs.”

Kelce hummed in thoughts, nodding absentmindedly. He stared into his glass, swishing the amber liquid around before he spoke up again.

“You know she’s here, too, right?”

Rafe tensed, knowing exactly that Kelce was talking about you, but he had expected it. Firstly, because you and Kelce had always been friends, and secondly because he had heard Sarah making plans with you to go together. Didn’t mean this felt any less of a punch to the gut. He really hoped he wouldn’t run into you, because he wasn’t quite sure what he’d do; all he knew was, that Bex wasn’t gonna like it. Rafe cleared his throat, forcing himself to sound nonchalant.

“I figured, yeah.”

“That okay?” Kelce asked, and Rafe was starting to get annoyed, rolling his eyes. Why was Kelce questioning him about you on his damn birthday? He tried to dampen his anger though, not wanting to ruin the night.

“Yes. It’s your birthday, man.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Rafe knew he did a shit job of hiding his emotions, and Kelce eyed him suspiciously.

“I don’t get you guys,” he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You got a new girl, but you still haven’t gotten over your ex, clearly, but every time I mention her, you act like it’s the worst thing in the world, but neither of you have said a bad word about the other.

Rafe scoffed, though his heart started to race at the thought of you talking about him. He wondered what you had said, if you cared enough to ask about him, or if you had long moved on.

“Are you ever gonna tell me why you guys broke up?”

“Maybe next time.”

Kelce gave him a wry smile, knowing this was Rafe avoiding the topic again. He lifted his head when more people starting coming down the basement, curling his hand around Rafe’s shoulder to give him a squeeze.

“I really hope you figure it out bro, because this right now is not it.”

He then excused himself to welcome the new arrivals and Rafe gripped his glass, before downing it in one go.

“Alright, who wants to get destroyed in a round of pool?” he asked, clapping his hands together as he approached the pool table. Anything to stop himself from going upstairs to look for you.

V Sarah

“Oh my god, I thought you were gonna keep talking to her forever!”

You gave Sarah a look. She hadn’t even waited a minute after you left Rebecca on the couch before she started talking about her.

“I don’t have a problem with her.”

Sarah groaned, linking her arm with yours as to not lose you in the crowd that has formed in Kelce’s house. You were glancing around, hyper aware that you could run into Rafe any second, but you didn’t want Sarah to notice.

“I don’t understand how you can be so chill. Did you not see the picture she had in her purse?”

You sighed, brushing your hair back over your shoulder. Was this ever going to stop? “Sar, please.”

“Hello?? That was super freaky.”

“Maybe she was just cleaning up and wanted to throw it in the trash and forgot it in her purse.”

Sarah laughed dryly, shaking her head. “Bullshit! Admit that you find it weird.”

“Okay, maybe it is a little weird,” you admitted. “But don’t you do things that are a little weird sometimes? Maybe she’s just a little insecure. Which I wouldn’t blame her for, you’re so mean. Shouldn’t you try and be her friend or something?”

“Why? She’s not gonna be around much longer anyways, and I already have a friend.”

You rolled your eyes, fishing your keys out of your purse to unlock your car. Again with the sentiment that Rafe and Rebecca weren’t gonna last much longer. You decided against deeming that statement with an answer and got into your car, with Sarah getting into the passenger seat.

“Do you want to grab some burgers?” She asked, buckling up, like you hadn’t just told you that your ex and his new girlfriend weren’t gonna last.

You gave her a look as you tossed your purse to the back.

“What do you mean do I want to grab burgers? I thought you wanted to leave because you’re meeting John B early in the morning.”

Sarah blinked at you, before she reached out to give you a shove on the forehead. “I was lying so we could get away, stupid.”

“Oh my god,” you groaned, starting your car as Sarah protested.

“What? I was getting weirded out by you being all besties with Rafe’s new girlfriend. I don’t even understand how you can be so nice to her knowing she’s all up on your man.”

“Pray tell, who’s my man again?”

“Don’t even,” Sarah huffed. “You guys dated forever, I know you still love each other. And let me tell you one thing,” she said, raising her eyebrows at you. “If you got a new boyfriend? Rafe would not be this nice to him like you were to Rebecca.” With that, Sarah crossed her arms over her chest, settling back against her seat.

You only sighed, starting your car in silence.

“Do you want to get burgers now or not?” you asked, extending a peace offer while looking over at Sarah. She glowered at you, before nodding with an eyeroll.

“Yes.”

BONUS + I Rafe

“I did, at the party last night… She said she’s happy that you have me, that she was worried about how you work too much.”

Rafe pushed the pasta on his plate around with his fork, too engrossed in his thoughts to even think about eating. He didn’t even notice how Dennis had stopped talking. Rafe looked up from his plate, only to see Dennis look at him intently, an amused grin on his face.

“Sorry, were you saying something?”

“I was saying a lot, but you seemed like you were on a completely different planet,” Dennis noted, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Rafe winced, putting his fork down.

“Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.”

“I can tell,” Dennis mused. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Something like that.”

Rafe sighed, leaning back in his chair. Ever since you broke up, Rafe has been assuming that you didn’t care about him anymore, that you had long moved on from him and your relationship. He thought that you resented him, blamed him for the break up, which was honestly the main reason why he went back to the dating scene so quickly; to get over you. But hearing that you still cared about him? Enough to be nice to his new girlfriend and even ask about him? He wondered if there was still a chance for him and you to be together again.

If it weren’t for the fact that he already had a girlfriend.

“Can I give you some unsolicited advice, son?”

“Do I have a choice?” Rafe asked with a wry grin and Dennis only let out a belly laugh, shaking his head.

“Rafe, most relationships these days end because of your own ego, from both parties. No matter how big the fight or problem seems, will it really be that important in hindsight?” Dennis asked him. “How long have you an your girl been together? Almost 5 years, no?”

Rafe nodded, not daring to correct Dennis. He had never outright told him that you had broken up in the first place.

“See, that’s half a decade. I can assure you, in another half, you’re not even gonna remember this fight.”

Yeah, I don’t know about that, Rafe thought.

“Do you love her?”

Turning his ring on his finger, Rafe let out a soft exhale, before nodding. “Yeah, I do.”

“See. Problem solved.”

Rafe lifted his head to grin at Dennis.

“Thanks. Is it okay if we cut today short?”

“Sure,” Dennis said, waving Rafe off when he reached for his wallet. “Lunch is on me. Go get your girl.”

“I will,” Rafe promised, pushing his chair back to stand up. “I just gotta take care of something else first.”

BONUS + II You

You were staring at your phone, text thread with Rafe open. It was Saturday night; you and Sarah had went out to a small beach party. Sarah had gone to fill her drink back up and you had used that time of solace to overthink. About Rafe.

For the past few week, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. And you blamed your friends for it, really. First Wheezie, then Topper and then Sarah? Somehow all of them said that the break up was the worst idea, and even though you had always second guessed the choice to break up, this was the first time you actually actively regretted it.

The way Sarah seemed so sure that Rafe and Rebecca weren’t going to last long. Maybe you were wrong and they weren’t as happy as you thought. But then again, it wasn’t any of your business, was it? Who were you to put your nose into their relationship?

God, you shouldn’t be doing this.

“How long does Sarah need to fill her drink back up?” You muttered to yourself, finishing your vodka soda and burying the cup in the sand next to you, when you heard foot steps approaching.

“Finally! I was about to send a search group out for you!” you exclaimed, standing up and dusting the sand off your lap. “Seriously, how long does it take for-”

You froze when you turned around just to see Rafe standing in front of you, instead of Sarah. Swallowing thickly, you blinked at him, caught off guard.

“Rafe, hey,” you said, opting for casual. “Sorry. I thought you were Sarah.”

The corners of Rafe’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, I could tell.”

You looked at him, sighing a bit wistfully (mostly) internally, before you shifted on your feet nervously. “It was nice to see you,” you said, and it was true. “But um… I think I’ll go look for Sarah.” You gave him a small smile, before walking towards, and then past him.

“You’re still worried about me.”

You let out a startled laugh, pausing mid-step to turn back to him. “What?”

“You told Rebecca that you were glad that I had her and that you worried I work too much.”

“Of course I’m still worried about you,” you huffed, brushing your hair back. “You can’t be surprised about that.”

Rafe looked at you, and you could tell that this was news to him.

“Rafe.”

Rafe let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead. “You didn’t reply to any of my texts. I thought you were mad at me or somethin’.”

“I didn’t reply to any of your texts because we said we’d do no contact for a while.

“Still,” Rafe muttered, kicking a rock. “I didn’t think it would be so easy for you-”

“And because you were happy with Rebecca, do you think it’s easy for me to see you with someone else?”

“I broke up with Rebecca last week.”

“What?!”

Mouth agape, you stared at him and Rafe only rubbed the back of his neck. “She… Wasn’t what I wanted.”

“Oh,” you only said, letting out a soft exhale. “I’m sorry about that.”

Rafe sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His gaze was trained on the floor for a bit, before he lifted his head to look at you.

“I want to try again… I want us to try again.”

“Rafe…”

You swallowed thickly, your eyes wide and you didn’t move as Rafe took a step towards you, reaching for your hand. Your fingers were cold in his but they quickly warmed to his touch, and the way he laced his fingers with yours, felt all to familiar.

“I love you. I never should have agreed to breaking up. It was arguably the second stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“And what’s the stupidest?” you asked, corners of your mouth lifting.

“Not listening to you when you were just trying to help,” he answered, looking down at you, so vulnerable like you hadn’t seen him in a long time. “I rearranged my schedule at the company so I could take on less work, take more time off and relax. Take the time to get us to where we were before it all went shitty.”

Your heart was in your throat as you listened to him talk, unsure what to say.

“Rafe, I don’t know… “

“Baby, please,” he begged, squeezing your hand. “Do you love me, still?”

You scoffed. “That’s not fair.”

“Why? Because you do?”

“Of course I still love you,” you mumbled, looking up at him through your lashes. “Do you know how hard it was for me to ignore your texts? To see you with another girl, so happy?”

Rafe shook his head, lifting his hand to tuck your hair behind your ear. “I wasn’t. Not really.”

You let out another sigh, looking at the way your hands were intertwined, how your heart had stopped racing, before you nodded, looking up at him. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

A smile spread across Rafe’s face, so big it was so uncharacteristic for him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

It was like that word switched a flip inside of him, as he grabbed you by your nape gently, to kiss you, slotting his lips against your, and as your lips touched, it felt like you were finally home again. You only pulled away to breathe, both of you staring at each other like you couldn’t quite realize this was happening.

Sarah [05/11/2024: 10:45 pm]: (sent to 4 contacts) [picture attached: blurry photograph of you and Rafe kissing at the beach]

Topper [05/11/2024: 10:46 pm]: thank god.

Kelce [05/11/2024: 10:51 pm]: FINALLY!

Wheezie [05/11/2024: 10:59 pm]: !!!!!!

Barry [05/11/2024: 11:02 pm]: read at 11:02 pm

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

author's note: sooo.... what are we thinking?

[sweetbuckybarnes]

Steve's Sister, the love of Bucky's Life

Pairing: 40s!Bucky x Steve's Sister!Reader

Summary: Y/N Rogers was Steve's twin sister and the one girl that Bucky Barnes truly pined for.

a/n: This is the first Marvel/Bucky Barnes fic that I have written, so please be nice :)

Something that wasn't known to the rest of the world, is that Steve Rogers had a twin sister. Y/N Rogers. She was both the exact opposite and the same.

Bucky Barnes knew her for 30 minutes and fell head over heels - he took her to his prom for crying out loud! Despite when he went out with Steve, there was a different dame on his arm every time - he would more often than not, go round to the home of the Roger's, sweet talk Sarah Rogers. And always offer to take Steve's sister dancing.

She would either be reading a magazine (if it was the beginning of the month...), or she would be altering a new dress that she was given Sarah that she made at the garment factory, or she would be helping out washing other peoples clothes.

He would always be leaning on the doorway, give her the grin that would make any girl crumble to their knees, and ask her when she would let him take her dancing. She would always, always answer "James. You're my twin brother's best friend, it wouldn't be right,"

Which would always chip a little bit more away from his heart, and then Steve would stand behind him. Complain about Bucky hitting on his sister and they would leave.

"Would you stop that with my sister?" Steve would ask him, as they walked to the dance hall.

"You know I want to marry her, right?" Bucky would answer, making his feelings well known, but Steve never believed the feelings that Bucky held for his sister.

💍💕💍💕💍💕

Then, Bucky was given his papers. The first person, apart from his Ma and his sisters, was Steve's sister.

"Hi, James. Steve isn't here," She told him, once she had opened the front door.

"I'm not here to see Steve, I'm here to see you, doll," Bucky told her, causing her to scrunch her eyebrows. He held up the envelope to her. "I got drafted, Y/N,"

Y/N's eyes raised in shock. "Oh my, Bucky," it wasn't often that she called him by the nickname that everyone he met would call him. "When do you get sent out?" She asked him.

"Next week," he tells her, watching as her eyes teared up. They both sign at the same time.

"You doing anything the night before you leave?" She asks him, Bucky looks up, after putting his orders back into his jacket pocket.

His eyebrows crinkled a little. "No, why?"

"Howard Stark's doing some kind of Expo on Saturday, you wanna take me?" She offers, causing Bucky's eyebrows to go from a little bit crinkled, to halfway up his forehead.

"You're letting me take you out, properly?" Bucky asked, watching a smile growing slowly on her face - and she nodded. He had been asking almost weekly since he took her to his prom - and now he was finally getting to take her out properly.

💍💕💍💕💍💕

"Doll!" Bucky called to the girl he was seeing tonight. There was a massive grin on his face, his hand waving high above his head.

Steve looked over into the crowd, the only person he recognised, was his sister...

"You're taking my sister?" Steve asked, looking up at Bucky.

"I'll have you know, she asked if I would take her," Bucky told him, as they finally joined Y/N and a friend of hers that would be going on a 'blind' double date with Steve. "Hello, you," Bucky leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Aren't you the most stunning doll I have ever seen,"

Hearing Bucky talks to his sister this way, made Steve realise that Bucky had never been joking about marrying his sister.

Maybe he was being 100% serious...

💍💕💍💕💍💕

2014.

Bucky visited the Captain America exhibit that sits in the Smithsonian Museum, which caused more memories to come flooding back. His ma, Rebecca, Steve.

Y/N Rogers.

The girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The girl he still wants to spend the rest of his life with - even though looking at what he had done since he fell off the train and was captured by HYDRA.

Sat among the belongings that once belonged to Steve and himself in the 40s, was a very small corner, about his doll.

It even held her diary. Bucky didn't like the idea of reading her diary, that was until he noticed the date of her diary entry

Dear Diary, James is going to Europe tomorrow, and I let him take me to the science expo tonight. Once he told me that he would be leaving, there might be a chance that he wouldn't come back.

I decided to let him take me out, come to terms with the feelings that I knew were swirling around in my head and my heart since I met James Buchanan Barnes.

My only hope is that Bucky comes back safe and sound, maybe we can build something when he gets back. Have some kind of a happy ending...?

She had feelings for him? She wanted to spend her life with him... Then he looked at the plaque that sat on the wall next to Y/N's S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform and her diary.

Y/N Rogers was the fraternal twin sister of Captain Steve Rogers. She was one of the few people that kept both the Captain and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes out of as much trouble as possible.

After the loss of her friend and her brother, Y/N joined forces with Agent Peggy Carter and helped form S.H.I.E.L.D.

6 months after S.H.I.E.L.D. was formed, Y/N was mysteriously lost on a trip back to Brooklyn, flying over the Bermuda Triangle.

Herself, her co-pilot and 2 passengers were presumed missing. 20 years later, in 1981, the four were legally classified as dead.

Bucky felt his heartbreak in the final paragraph, the girl he had always dreamed of, had been declared dead.

💍💕💍💕💍💕

2023.

Stood on the edge of the forest, watching as Steve picked up Thor's hammer (which Bucky never really bothered to remember the name of), with one hand, the case holding the infinity stones in the other.

Clicking a button on his wrist, and he was encased in the time travel suit.

Once Steve was gone from the platform, the entire world around Bucky disappeared, he knew exactly where Steve would be going once the hammer and the stones were dropped off. He would be going back to the 40s, to spend his life with Peggy.

Bucky knows how heartbroken Steve was when Peggy died, it's the grief that he had been dealing with once he found out his doll was classified as dead.

He knew Sam and Hulk/Bruce were talking.

"I know time travel is dangerous but is it possible to turn Steve into a woman?" He heard Sam say.

What the hell is he talking about? A... woman.

This wasn't just any woman. It was his woman, his doll, his girl. Y/N Rogers.

"Who is that?" He heard the Hulk/Bruce ask.

"My doll," Bucky says, watching her turn around, her glamorous waves reminded him of the first and only time he took her out. However, the dress she had one not from the 40s (so Steve obviously went to the 50s, so that he didn't distrust the timeline too much) and a fuller underskirt.

She was just as beautiful as she always was.

"James,"

[utterlyinevitable]

Hi! I really like your fics! Especially 'The Conference'. I have a fic request: Ethan x MC revealed to only the gang - not the whole hospital. It's totally fine if you don't do it! Thanks for considering my request! 💞

Sorry for taking a million years to get to this. Also sorry that it’s trash ♥

Telling Friends

Paring: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Rebecca Lao) Rating: T+ Summary: It’s sometime after the toxin incident and Becca tells her roommates about her budding relationship. Though one of them has some issues with it... Trope: Fluff, People Find Out About Them; Platonic Gang 

________________________________________

Becca walked carefully into her apartment, immediately greeted by the sweet aroma of chocolate chip muffins and the sight of two of her roommates on their hideous, thrifted yellow couch that makes this place a home.

“Oh, good. You’re all here,” She sighed with a contented smile as she kicked off her shoes.

“Think we should be more shocked you’re here,” Jackie retorted, barely looking up from her phone.

Normally Becca would roll her eyes or respond with something snarky, but not today. Today the roommates had something to talk about; all of which revolved around why she’s barely been home lately.  

“Where’ve you been?” Elijah added, the whites of his teeth sparkling in the midday sunshine peering through the window.

“And in yesterday’s clothes,” Jackie followed up. 

“That’s what I wanted to talk about.” 

Becca dropped her bag and coat by the door before bounding across the room to take her place on the sofa between her two friends. 

“There’s something you guys should know. And I need you to keep it secret.” She glared pointedly at Jackie. 

“Did you pull a heist without us?”  

Elijah added, “Yeah because if so, no, I will never forgive you.” 

“No. I would never. It’s just…” Becca trailed, moving to settle further into the cushions. She took a deep readying breath. Exhaled. And continued; “Really sensitive and important, and I don’t want to do anything to screw it up. But I also don’t want to keep sneaking around…” 

“Are you back with Raf?” Jackie questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Since he kind of imploded his life for you?” 

After the incident, Rafael Aviero broke things off with his childhood sweetheart because of the lingering feelings he still harbored for her. Now he wasn’t moving away, he didn’t have Sora, and he didn’t have... 

“Um… no,” Becca responded, looking down at the cushion. 

Before her guilt could set in fully, the room erupted in a high-pitched, delighted squeal. 

“Oh my god!” Sienna rounded the kitchen island quickly, her battered hands clasping around the wooden spoon, “Really!?” 

“What?” Jackie asked at the same time Elijah questioned, “What’re we missing?” 

The two girls locked eyes and Becca made the slightest of confirming motions. 

Becca took a deep inhale, eyes never leaving Sienna’s. The absolute delight in her best friend’s dark eyes were giving her all the courage she needed. “I’ve been spending a lot of time at Ethan’s. We’ve been dating for a while.” 

“Since when?” 

“The memorial, basically.” 

“Shit,” Jackie lamented. “I’m happy for you, Bec. But damn” - a coy smirk appeared on her lips - “No wonder that guy’s been friendlier than usual.” 

“Finally!” Elijah exclaimed in a rush of air, like it was a breath he’s been holding in for far too long. All three pairs of eyes were on him. “Sienna and I caught Dr. Ramsey leaving the morning after her hearing.” 

Jackie’s jaw dropped past the floor and into the basement. 

The rest of the gang brought her up to speed on how that ended up happening and how no one knew Ramsey slept over, and of course the unfortunate ending to that tale.  

“How’s that going to work?” 

“Strictly professional at the hospital.” Becca affirmed the sentiment with a flippant wave of her hands and the smallest of smiles. “Nothing’s going to change.” 

“Except for how soft he is around you.” 

“He’s not soft on me. If anything he’s harsher with me because of our relationship.” 

The roommates talked more about the logistics of her relationship and how often Ethan will be staying over. Jackie set some ground rules for that, to which Becca rolled her eyes and agreed they would never ever have sex anywhere other than her bedroom when in the apartment. 

When the conversation waned Becca asked; 

“I was thinking about inviting him to Thanksgiving. Unless that’d be weird?” 

Elijah chuckled, “It’ll definitely be weird.”

Sienna waved him off and grabbed her friend’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We’d be happy to have him, Becca.” 

The two girls shared a moment. It wasn’t a question that Sienna was overjoyed at Becca’s happiness - this was everything they’ve been dreaming about happening since early intern year. Though there was something quite bittersweet - Becca got a second chance with Ethan, while Sienna will never know what could have been. In their tightened grip neither could forget Danny. 

Becca’s lips parted, about to whisper condolences and affirmations that things are going to get better. But Elijah spoke first;  

“Getting to know Dr. Ramsey will be a real treat. Think he’d be down to watch the MCU in succession?”

As she turned towards him a broad smile took over Becca’s features. “As long as there’s scotch I’m sure he’ll be fine.” 

“I can’t believe you’ve been sneaking around with him.” Jackie lamented once more.  

“What’s Dr. Ramsey even like outside the hospital? He doesn’t seem like fun.” 

“Ethan’s a lot -” 

Aurora emerged, cutting Becca off with a disbelieving, “You’re dating Dr. Ramsey?”  

Something in her new friend’s tone threw Becca off kilter. So much so she threw up walls as quick and high as could be, ready to defend defend defend. She was afraid of her friends not taking to the news and Aurora’s tone really confirmed Becca’s worst fears. 

“Uh, yeah,” was all she could respond. 

“Gross. I’m happy for you but... gross. Are we forgetting he dated my aunt for years?” 

“Oh shit. Yeah,” Elijah muttered from the sidelines.  

Quickly Becca added, “They were never serious.” 

She was going to say ‘in love’ but thought better of it. She loves him dearly and knows he feels the same way, but they haven’t said it yet. The first time she uses that word next to his name it should be to him and him alone.  

The retort was swift and icy, “Are you?” 

Aurora didn’t anticipate the answer, she knew her friend and thought this was just another one of her impulses. Becca had a tendency to bounce from interest to interest, heart to heart; and after everything that’s happened recently maybe she’s just finding comfort in the man who kept her alive. 

Both sets of deep coffee-colored eyes met, both Aurora and Becca’s features schooled so stoic and unwavering in their position. A simple “Yes” dancing off Becca’s tongue. The word accompanied by the splendid thought that Ethan Ramsey was hers. 

Aurora Emery didn’t miss the tug of a smile tugging at the corners of Becca’s mouth.  

“Fine,” she conceded. “I’ll support you, but this is weird as fuck.”

***

Later that evening Aurora was in her room, sitting on her bed with a textbook in her lap. A knock sounded from her ajar door, and not a few seconds later Becca’s head peeked through the crack.  

“Hey, can we talk?” 

Aurora shut the book. “I think we need to.” 

She shifted on the bed to make room at the foot among all her papers. 

Once settled, sitting cross-legged, Becca broke the small flits of tension. “I’m sorry this is weird for you.” 

“Thanks.” Aurora forced a small, reassuring smile. “I’m sorry about the outburst. I don’t know enough about your relationship to comment.” 

“I don’t know enough about their relationship,” Becca admitted shyly. She fiddled with her hands in her lap. “Ethan doesn’t really talk about it. Just that he appreciates and respects the fuck out of Dr. Emery.” 

“Aunt Harper didn’t talk about it either. All I know is what I’ve overheard and saw. They go way back - I remember them together before I got into med school.” 

They let that sink in for a moment. Becca chewed on her lip as she mindfully ran through the semi-apparent timeline. “So this is weird,” she stated. 

“Really weird,” Aurora agreed with a chortle.   

Some more time passed by on a pause. The two amicably working through this oddity in their lives. Both their thoughts taking them in many directions. Though Becca’s moving further and further into territory she knew Ethan never wanted to wander back through. 

“Was he around a lot?” she finally asked in the smallest of voices. 

If Aurora picked up on her friend’s insecurity she didn’t make it apparent.  

“Sometimes,” she began. “He’d spend some holidays and milestones with the family. I don’t think he ever enjoyed it. A bunch of doctors eating and drinking all the time, everyone knows how much he hates spending time with colleagues.” Aurora tried to brush the last remark off as a joke to lighten the mood. 

She could see the ghost of a smile hanging on Becca’s lips.  

“He went for her.” It wasn’t a question  

Aurora simply nodded. 

“He’s a good guy,” Becca sighed. She looked up at Aurora with the most lovestruck look the young Emery has ever encountered. Right then and there she knew that this certainly was not one of her friend’s whims. It was, and had, the power of a whole new universe. 

“What the two of you see in him I’ll never know,” Aurora scoffed in feigned mockery. 

Becca was just about to comment - to say just how much of a different man Ethan was to Dr. Ramsey - when Aurora added; 

“But you shouldn’t worry about me, you should probably talk to Bryce.” 

Becca’s eyes went wide and her jaw stiffened. 

If anyone was going to address the other blatantly obvious elephant in the friend group, Aurora realized, it had to be her. Might as well kill two birds with one stone whilst they buried the hatchet. 

“We all know you’ve been hooking up for a while.” 

If words could kill Aurora was certain she just decapitated Becca. The poor girl went stark and ghostly. It was as if she hadn’t even considered telling her booty call she’s seeing someone else. 

Aurora trailed, “I don’t know exactly what went down but...” 

Neither wanted her to break Bryce Lahela’s heart.   

___________________

@openheartfanfics @choicesficwriterscreations 

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[shakespeareanwannabe]

Strange Comforts

Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia x OC

Summary: A sequel to ‘Protective Instincts’ and a prequel to ‘Best Laid Plans’ (I wish I could link them here but I’m still figuring that stuff out). With T-minus 10 weeks to go before the baby arrives, Pope discovers that it’s the little things in life that bring the most comfort. *This one’s not based off clarke’s wonderful headcanons, but it’s set in the same universe so that’s where the credit goes!*

Warnings: Pregnancy fic, swearing, references to smut, references PTSD, references to therapy

A/N: Hi everyone! This is part three of who-knows-how-many of my Dad!Pope series. I’m still looking for a series title, and I’m trying to figure out how to create a masterlist for this so I can put them in order for y’all. I hope you enjoy! I loved reading your comments for the last two! Please let me know if you want to be tagged in future installments!

***

“…and, unless someone else wants to share, I think we’ll wrap up for today,” the kind-eyed therapist addressed the group of veterans, shooting a small glance towards Pope out of the corner of his eye.

True to his word, Santiago had been attending group therapy sessions for the last six months, his first session taking place exactly a week after Bex had told him the good news. Will had highly recommended this therapist, having gone to see him himself when his fiancée had left him, and hoped he could shed some light on Pope’s issues so that he wouldn’t walk out on his pregnant girlfriend next time things got hard.

And Pope had been attending the sessions. Listening to what other veterans said, the issues they were going through, it helped. Sure, both Frankie and Will had been fairly vocal about the problems they ran into while trying to adjust to civilian life, and Pope knew that Tom had had massive difficulties when they forced him to retire, and Benny’s issues were plain to see even if he didn’t talk about them, but those were his friends, his brothers, his family. They had all seen the same shit, so, clearly, they would have similar issues. But hearing random strangers, Marines, and Rangers, Navy and Military and Air Force men and women speak about seeing IEDs everywhere, and drinking to forget, and panicking at the sight of blood was…strangely comforting. The only problem was that Pope could never bring himself to speak.

He wanted to. God knew he wanted to. He needed to be okay. For Bex and the baby, for Frankie and Charlie and Mateo, for Benny and Will, for Molly and the girls, and, most importantly, for himself. So he could stop feeling like a major fuck up in every aspect of his life, so he could feel deserving of the life he had inexplicably been blessed with. But whenever he would try to open his mouth, he froze. How could he possibly talk about the shit he had done in the name of freedom? Was there a way to talk about his instincts shutting his emotions down without coming across as a cold-hearted bastard? Why did his tongue stop working whenever he tried to talk about how deathly afraid he was of screwing up this baby’s life, Bex’s life, their life together as a family? How deathly afraid he was that he had already screwed up Frankie’s, Will’s, and Benny’s lives? How he had nightmares of when Tom had died?

Santiago used to think he was a brave man, but now he felt like a coward. He could face down armed sicarios and terrorists without batting an eye, but he couldn’t talk about his emotions to save his family. It was complete and utter bullshit in his mind.

“Alright everyone, I’ll see you next week,” the therapist dismissed the group and Pope shot to his feet, beelining towards the coffee station.

Everyone else stood around talking, chatting about their daily lives or the weather or whatever, but Pope focused on mixing his coffee. He used to take it black, but then Bex started teasing him that only psychopaths took their coffee black, so he started mixing milk and sugar in instead. He liked it, but he needed it to be perfect.

“You actually drink this swill?” the therapist came up behind him and chuckled.

Pope cracked a smile. “I’ve had worse.”

“Haven’t we all,” he murmured. “Question Mark.”

Santiago shook his hand. “Pope.”

“You’re Ironhead’s friend, right?” Pope nodded. “Damn…he’s told me some of the crap you guys have been through. Sounds like holy hell.”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Shit, man. No wonder you don’t talk during these meetings.”

Pope felt himself flush. “I mean…you know…”

“Hey, it’s fine. This is a no pressure situation. You just had me curious is all. Either you get people who don’t stop talking, or people who never talk in these sessions. But you…you always look like you want to talk but think better of it.”

Pope shrugged. “It’s like you said. Holy hell. Got used to not talking about the bad stuff.”

“So, what changed?”

Pope smiled softly, his eyes taking on a far-off look. “My girl’s pregnant.”

“Congratulations, man,” Question Mark slapped him on the shoulder.

“Thanks…” Pope shook his head slowly, sadly. “I almost screwed it up. Hell, I’m half convinced that I did, and this is all a dream. But when she told me…”

Question Mark was already nodding. “All of your training went haywire? Started imagining the worst?”

Pope cocked his eyebrow grimly. “Basically.”

The therapist nodded understandingly. “I get that. Same thing happened to me when my wife got pregnant with our third. Despite the other two being great kids, something about my last tour made me think that I’d screw the pooch with the new one. Checked myself into a hotel for a few days and drank myself silly until my brother-in-law showed up and told me that my kids were asking about me. That sobered me up pretty quick.”

Pope grinned grimly. “It was my buddy Catfish for me. Called me and reamed me out, and if Ironhead has told you anything about Fish, you know that he’s not the type at all. But it shook me enough to get my ass back to my house and beg for her forgiveness.”

“But you still sometimes think it’s all a dream?”

“I always thought guys like me don’t get the happy ending.” Pope sipped his coffee and shrugged. “But I’ll take it and run with it. She’s the best thing in my life. I’m not gonna let her down again.”

Question Mark smiled and dug into his pocket, pulling out first his wallet, then his card from his wallet. “Listen, Pope. I know how it can feel trying to talk to a room full of strangers. It sucks sometimes. If you ever want to chat, just one on one, give me a call. I’d be happy to help.”

Pope sucked in a deep breath and took the card. “Yeah, man. That would be great. Thank you.”

“No worries, man. Just, do me a favour?” Pope nodded. “Remember that you deserve this, okay?”

With a final clap on the shoulder, Question Mark moved away and began chatting with another member of the group.

Pope guzzled down the rest of his coffee and threw out the cup, heading home after a successful session.

***

Bex giggled to herself at the soft sounds of cursing and arguing emanating from the spare bedroom as she stirred the pitcher of lemonade.

Frankie, Benny and Will had come over to help Pope put together the furniture for the nursery and, based on the echoes she was hearing, it was not going particularly well. She had abandoned her rocking chair in favour of making the team refreshments after Benny had let loose a string of impressive swear words in two different languages. At approximately 30 weeks pregnant, laughing as hard as she did while listening to Ben swear himself blue in the face just made her have to pee, so she dismissed herself knowing that if she didn’t she would have to endure a lifetime of teasing.

“Just a sec!” she called out as the doorbell rang.

Slow and steady footsteps descended the stairs as a call of “I got it, babe!” echoed down the hall. Rebecca came around the corner with her tray of lemonade and potato chips as Pope handed over a few crisp twenty-dollar bills to the pizza delivery guy.

“Thanks man, you have a good day,” he smiled as he closed the door.

“Mmm, what’d you get?” she inhaled deeply. She’d gotten pretty lucky with the cravings so far, but she would not deny that pizza sounded pretty damn good.

“Got us a meat lovers, got you a pepperoni and pineapple since I know you’ve been on a sweet and salty kick lately.” Pope opened the smaller box to reveal the steaming, cheesy pizza and Bex felt her mouth begin to water.

“Have I told you today how much I love you?” she asked, placing her tray of snacks on top of the pizza boxes Pope was holding out to her.

He smirked at her, his eyes drifting up and down her body slowly. “You told me several times this morning, but I’ll never stop you from saying it again.”

Rebecca felt herself flush at the memory. Those second trimester hormones had hit her hard and seemed to be lasting a good long while, and Pope was certainly not complaining. His girl was stunning. She was always stunning to him, but that primal part of his brain told him that she was even more stunning when she had a belly full of his baby. Her bump was prominent, her tits were bigger and more sensitive, her skin was glowing, and that alpha male voice inside his brain crowed every time he woke up to her beautiful face and growing belly that it was all because of him. He had knocked her up and, thank God, she had decided that she loved him enough to want to raise a family with him. She was achy and uncomfortable, but she loved him and wanted his kid, and that meant more to him than he could ever say. Luckily, with the influx of hormones the past few months, he had been able to show her instead.

He watched as she slowly climbed the stairs, taking care to stay a few steps behind her just in case.

“How’s it going up here anyway?”

Pope groaned. “I don’t get it, baby. I can field strip any gun you put in my hands blindfolded. All of us can. How the fuck is this stuff beating us?”

Bex giggled softly as she entered the nursery and absorbed the scene in front of her. What she wouldn’t give for her phone right now so she could take a picture. Benny sat in the middle of the floor, looking like he was about to cry; crib pieces scattered around him. Will was leaning against the wall with a tired hand over his eyes, a half-assembled dresser beside him. Frankie was sitting in her abandoned rocking chair, cap pulled low over his eyes. He looked like he could be asleep, if only his leg wasn’t bouncing up and down anxiously.

“Soups on, fellas,” Pope announced, prompting the team to abandon their projects for paper plates piled high with pizza slices and tall glasses of lemonade.

Bex smiled fondly at her family as Pope, Benny and Will sat against the far wall underneath the bay window, the three men examining the assembly directions for the crib like they were preparing for a siege.

Frankie held out his hand to offer her the rocking chair but she shook her head. “If I sit in that thing any longer, I feel like I’m gonna turn into a grandmother instead of a mom.”

Frankie cracked a small smile. “Fair enough…” he scanned the room quickly before meeting her eyes again. “Do you want me to go grab a chair from the kitchen?”

Again, she shook her head. “The floor is good, Frankie.”

“You sure? I can—”

“As long as you promise to help me up when I inevitably need to pee, I’m positive,” she chuckled.

“You got it, kid,” Frankie held her hands to help her gently lower herself onto the hardwood floor before throwing himself down beside her. “How ya feeling?”

Bex shrugged as she bit into her deliciously sweet and salty slice of pizza. “You know, I’m actually alright. I know I’ve gotten pretty lucky, but I thought this whole pregnancy thing would be a lot tougher.”

Frankie nodded kindly as he chewed on his own slice. “I remember how Charlie was when she was pregnant with Mateo,” he reminisced. “Couldn’t sleep more than ten minutes at a time, constantly had to pee, had to wear these ugly compression socks. She handled it like a champ for the first 30 or so weeks, but by the time he was finally ready to make his entrance, we were both ready for her not to be pregnant anymore.”

“Yeah, she mentioned that,” she murmured. When Frankie had raced over to calm her down after Pope had left, one of the first things he said was that he and Charlie would be there for them, no matter what. And they had been. Charlie in particular had been Bex’s lifeline. She had been so kind and understanding, helping Bex get set up with an OB/GYN, lending her pregnancy and parenting books, and just letting her bitch and cry whenever she needed a female shoulder to cry on. “She said she got to a point where she would’ve given anything to just get Mateo out.”

Frankie nodded. “Oh yeah,” he sighed. “The week before he was born, she was not sleeping. Her emotions were all over the place, she wasn’t hungry, she couldn’t sit still, and she would get angry at me for the littlest things. It got to the point where I didn’t recognize her anymore, you know? Like, where did the woman I love go?”

Bex reached over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. “That must’ve been tough.”

Frankie shrugged. “Like I said, she handled it like a champ. And I sure as shit wasn’t about to complain when she was in labor for the better part of three days.”

Bex whistled lowly. “Three days…Jesus…”

“I’m sure it won’t be that way for you,” he backtracked quickly, playing with the back of his cap as he ducked his head. “I dunno the statistics or anything but…”

“Hey, hey, Frankie, chill. It’s okay.” She pulled his hand away from his hat and ran her hand up and down his arm. “You feeling okay, Frankie? You seem…on edge.”

Frankie looked across the room at his brothers, deeply entrenched in the assembly directions, before sighing. “She’s pregnant again,” he whispered.

A bright smile crossed her face. “What? Oh my god, congratulations!” She reached out and wrapped her arms as best she could around his shoulders.

“Thanks…” he sighed.

“Do you…did you not want another baby?” she asked, confused at his dismal attitude. Frankie had been the one to talk Pope off the cliff, telling him how great fatherhood could be. And it was clear through his interactions with Mateo that he was an amazing father. He was one of those dads who flourished under the responsibilities of parenthood, who saw taking care of their child as a joy and a privilege, not as a job or as babysitting. If there was one thing Rebecca knew for sure, it was that Francisco Morales was a family man through and through, so she was a little surprised at the dread in her friend’s eyes. She had expected Frankie to be more…enthusiastic about having a second baby.

“Of course, I do, Bex, I just…” Frankie groaned, doffing his cap for a moment to run a stressed hand through his hair before redonning it. “I’m making jack shit right now at work, and Mateo is almost three, and the pregnancy was so rough on Charlie last time…I just…I can’t let my family down.”

Charlie shuffled herself closer and wrapped her arm around Frankie, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. “You won’t…” she murmured softly. “Yeah, this kid was unexpected but you and I both know your wife. She wouldn’t be having a second kid if she didn’t want one. Plus, you both know what to expect now. Hopefully she’ll have an easier time this go around, but you also know the signs and what kinds of questions to ask. And yeah, Mateo is young, but that’s okay. You guys can start teaching him responsibility early and, if they both end up being too much, call Benny to take Mateo.” Frankie cocked his eyebrow and Bex laughed. “Well, I was gonna say call Santi, but we’re gonna be a little busy ourselves. Benny’s energy can match a three-year-old easily though.” Frankie chuckled and wrapped his arm around his best friend’s girl. “As for money,” Bex shrugged. “I know Santi could use some help managing the security firm. He wanted you to partner with him anyway, and he’s still holding out hope that you’ll join him, so why not?”

Frankie nodded slowly. “I could help him out a couple of days a week and still teach flying lessons. Yeah, that could work. I’ll talk with him and see what he says.”

Bex chuckled as she shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not gonna be much of a conversation, Frankie, trust me. He’s been hoping you’ll take him up on his offer. Don’t tell him I told you, but he’s missed working with you.”

Frankie smiled softly as he watched Pope grab Benny in a headlock while Will shook his head slowly. “Yeah, I missed him too.”

Bex shifted again and Frankie stood, gently helping her stand, recognizing the signs immediately. The two watched the MMA fighter and the security firm director wrestle on the floor for a minute before Will was able to separate them.

Bex turned to Frankie and smiled. “If you really missed him, can you do me a favour?”

“Anything for you, kid,” he smiled back at her.

“Stop fucking around and help them build the damn furniture please. I know you put together all of Mateo’s furniture on your own, so please, put them out of their misery.”

Frankie’s loud bark of laughter startled everyone. He wrapped his arm around Bex and gave her a quick squeeze. “Sure thing, kid. Hey, idiotas! Let’s get moving. We want this stuff ready before the baby’s first birthday, okay?”

***

Pope sighed contentedly as the golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the dust particles dancing in the air. These moments were quickly turning into his favourite nightly ritual.

The radio droned lowly as he sat in bed, dressed in a pair of shorts, with Bex sitting reclined against his chest. He had just finished applying coco butter to her skin, and now his hands were resting gently on her belly, waiting for their kid to make their presence known.

Bex took a deep breath, allowing the air to escape through her lips as she cuddled further down into bed, resting her head just above her boyfriend’s heart. She loved these moments too, when it was just the two of them. No museum breathing down her neck, no art classes to teach, no security emergencies calling him away from her. Just the two of them, bonding with the baby that was nestled safely within her.

Sometimes, Santiago would talk to the baby when they sat like this. He’d tell stories about his childhood, about their relationship, about the kid’s future aunts and uncles. Sometimes, he would play classical music on his phone and direct the speaker towards her belly. Sometimes, he would talk to her, sharing his thoughts and fears, tell her about the things that he wanted to do with their kid when they were old enough. Most of the time, he would just hold her in silence and wait for the kid to kick or roll inside of her so he could feel it.

“The nursery looks really nice, babe,” she mumbled drowsily, wincing slightly as her skin bulged out against Pope’s palm, the outline of a tiny foot appearing for a brief second.

“That’s all you, sweetheart,” he replied, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple as he soothed his hands up and down her swollen stomach. “The Hundred Acre Woods theme is stunning.”

Originally, Rebecca had wanted a jungle theme for the nursery, but Pope had borderline begged her to do something else, literally anything else, that wouldn’t remind him of crouching in the Colombian jungles next to Tom the day before everything went to shit. So, he hadn’t complained when she announced that she was going to Disney-fy the kid’s room with a mural of the Hundred Acre Woods and all of Christopher Robin’s friends.

“I made it pretty, you made it functional,” she yawned, shifting slightly to lie on her side, her left arm wrapping around his side as she nuzzled into his chest.

Pope snorted. “Yeah, once you convinced Frankie to stop being a prick.”

Under Frankie’s direction, all of the furniture was put together in less than an hour. The solid oak crib, dresser/changing table, shelving unit and rocking chair pulled the room together nicely, and the white bassinet sat in the corner of their bedroom, waiting to be put to use.

Rebecca smiled sleepily. “Not my fault you three didn’t notice that the one dad in the group was sitting around twiddling his thumbs.”

Pope grinned down at her. “We make a pretty good team, huh baby?”

She lifted her droopy eyes to him for a moment and smiled brightly at him. “Forever and always, my love.” She ran a gentle hand over her belly and sighed happily. “You’re stuck with me now.”

It suddenly struck Santiago how badly he wanted that to be true. What wouldn’t he give to wake up next to this beautiful woman every day? To be allowed to love her and spend as much time in her presence as possible? To raise their child together and be a family? To grow old with her by his side?

He ghosted his hand down her side and gently picked up her left hand, running his thumb over the knuckle of her ring finger as she drifted off to sleep.

“Not yet I’m not, mi amor,” he whispered. “But I want to be. If you’ll have me.”

He gently shifted them down the mattress, curling up behind her and resting his hands lovingly on her belly as he settled in to sleep, taking comfort in the knowledge that everyone he loved was safe in his arms that night.

Tags list (open): @darksideofclarke, @writefightandflightclub, @eternallyvenus, @rae-rae-patcha

[picturesmadewords-blog]

We can fly - a Teddy & Billy ficlet

Hello, fellow Young Avengers fans! This is my very first non-reblog post on my all-new tumblr that I decided to create for my writings - if and when I get to write more, that is. The thing is, I used to write a lot until a few years ago. I was very active in my country’s Harry Potter fandom and wrote tons of Remus x Sirius stories. But, as I got older, I abandoned writing more and more… until this summer, when I couldn’t take it anymore: I had too many scenes and characters in my mind to let them sleep there forever, so I decided to start writing again. We’ll see how this goes.

I wanted to try something with my absolute favorite Marvel characters, Teddy Altman and Billy Kaplan. Being a gay man who was a teenager when these two first came bursting into comics, I owe a lot to them. And I have tons of little scenes and snippets with them floating around in my head, so here we are. My first post is a ficlet set during the events of Young Avengers v1, specifically right after Teddy’s mom’s death. On the day of her funeral, to be more precise. I’m sure this has been done before, but I really wanted to give shape to my version of it. It’s not much, but there’s a lot of heart in it and all the fluff I need to survive the horrible world we’re currently living in.

As I said, this is my first real piece of writing in years, so any kind of comment is welcome. I just want to see if I still have something worthy to say with my writing. It’s also my first piece of writing about Marvel characters AND my first piece of fiction in English. English is not my first language, so ANY kind of comment about style/form/possible grammar mistakes is highly appreciated.

Now, onto the fic!

Title: We can fly

Fandom: Young Avengers (Marvel comics)

Characters: Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman, Jeff Kaplan, Rebecca Kaplan, Eli Bradley

Rating: G

POV: Billy (first section), Teddy (second and third sections)

“Call me, man. Whenever you want. Don’t ride this out alone. Neither of you should.”

Billy nodded. He stared deeply into Eli’s eyes and saw something unexpected there. He hadn’t seen Eli cry at the funeral, he didn’t think so. But the boy’s eyes were now shiny. If he hadn’t cried, he looked like he was about to. That wasn’t something Billy was used to. That look of defeat in his teammate’s eyes. In his friend’s eyes. Those eyes said so much more than “I’m sad because my friend’s mom died.” Those eyes seemed to say that now it was real. Not that Billy thought Eli hadn’t taken it seriously from the first moment Nate appeared in his life, but what they had gone through, the terrible, scary things they had gone through, weren't enough to prepare them for this. Losing someone, actually losing someone. Billy saw Eli's love for his grandparents in those eyes. He had seen the fear of losing his own parents in his own eyes that morning, when he had briefly looked at himself in the bathroom mirror.

And then, something else wholly unexpected. Eli hugged him. He pulled him close and hugged him and hugged him. When he let go, Billy had no idea how to react. He smiled faintly. The kind of gratitude he was feeling for Eli couldn’t be expressed in words.

They were on the doorsteps of his house. The sky was grey and there was a chill in the air. “Like in the movies,” Billy thought. “There’s always bad weather at funerals.”

Eli looked at Kate, who was waiting for him outside. He gave one last friendly smile and left. Kate waved at Billy and, once they were out of sight, the boy closed the door.

He turned to the living room. He was facing the back of the sofa, which was placed right in the middle of the room. The sight of the messy blonde hair visible just above the back cushions made his heart jump a little. “Man up, Kaplan. Man up,” he kept thinking. He closed his eyes, took a heavy breath and walked towards the sofa.

“Hey.” Billy tried to put on his best comforting smile. Teddy was sort of slouching on the sofa, his head low, his hands dangling between his legs, his black tie loosened. The plate Billy had prepared for him still lay untouched on the coffee table – a sandwich, some chips, a small portion of some sort of casserole one of his aunts must’ve brought. Glancing at it, Billy suddenly recoiled at the smell of food lingering in the house, as if he had only noticed it now that everyone had gone.

He sat on the sofa next to Teddy. The boy looked like he was somewhere else, somewhere far away, where hopefully he was still a happy teenager with a beautiful boyfriend and a loving mother, and not an alien prince with a dead parent who had lied to him his whole life.

Billy leaned on his shoulder. He enclosed Teddy’s huge frame with one arm, or tried to. And then the most exquisite, the most heartwarming thing happened. Billy had feared anger, tears, coldness, all things that would have been natural and that he would have faced with strength and perseverance for his boyfriend’s sake. He had not expected Teddy to melt into his embrace, his lovely face burrowed into Billy’s neck, his arms tight around Billy’s waist.

Teddy was big, much bigger than Billy’s slender figure, and yet he looked so small and fragile in Billy’s arms. All the boy could do was to rest his head on Teddy’s shoulders, feeling Teddy’s breath close to his chest, so warm, so soft through his white shirt.

They stayed like that for several minutes, in complete silence. There were no tears, no words of comfort, just two boys tangled together, Teddy safely hidden in Billy’s arms, Billy slowly stroking Teddy’s back.

A sound coming from the kitchen. And, a few seconds later, Jeff and Rebecca Kaplan standing in the doorway, both looking tired and much older than Billy ever remembered. Billy didn’t even try to let go of Teddy, he had no intention of letting go, parents or no parents. If anything, he held Teddy even closer, a sudden, overpowering sense of protectiveness washing over him. He’s mine and he needs me and I will hold him for the rest of my life if that’s what he needs.

“Billy, son, we’re going to your aunt’s to bring the hellions home,” Jeff said with a sweet smile. “But before we go, your mother and I need to speak to you boys.”

At that, Teddy jerked up. He didn’t let go of Billy’s waist, though, as he looked at Billy’s parents. “Mr. Kaplan, Mrs. Kaplan… I am so grateful, I will leave as soon as…”

“Hush, dear,” Rebecca said warmly, as she approached the sofa. Her hand reached Teddy’s forehead and she half-stroked, half-brushed his hair. Teddy smiled as Billy felt a sudden surge of love for his mom.

“That’s what we wanted to talk about,” Jeff said, stepping forward himself. His wife put a loving hand on his chest, and he put an arm around her shoulders. Billy smiled at the gesture.

“Billy told us that you have no living relatives,” Rebecca said tentatively, careful not to hurt the boy any further. “Now, mind you, we don’t want to force anything onto you, but…” she paused and sighed. Billy felt his heart skip several beats. He also felt Teddy slightly trembe in his arms. “We don’t, and as soon as you’re eighteen,” the woman continued “you will be able to choose what is best for yourself. But right now, if you want, Jeff and I were thinking that it would be our pleasure to have you with us.”

Billy was beaming. Teddy looked at the couple with wide, shimmering eyes. “We’re sure that there will be some legal stuff to take care of, which we will do once we’re all a little rested,” Jeff said, sitting next to his son. “For now, though, consider yourself our guest. Tomorrow we’ll fix the guest bedroom for you, and Billy here will help you make it your own with a few Pokémon posters or whatever you kids like nowadays. I really hope you will come to consider this your home, in time.”

Billy couldn’t keep it all in any longer. He let go of Teddy, turned to his father and hugged him, whispering “Thank you,” in his ear. Teddy sat motionless, incredulous.

“As for tonight,” Rebecca started, with a voice that exuded both motherly affection and practicality “we thought you could… sleep in Billy’s room.”

Teddy’s eyes widened even more. Billy, having let go of his father, jumped up to embrace his mother. Rebecca put a hand forward, making her son wait for his thankful hug. “This is a one-time thing, young men. Don’t make a habit of it. It’s only because the guest bedroom needs airing and,” she sighed. “And I guess we could all use a little affection and caring tonight.” She let Billy briefly hug her, then tightened her wool cardigan, as if a sudden shiver had passed over her.

“Your mother can’t wait to get the boys back from your aunt. Imagine being that desperate for affection,” Jeff said, getting up from the sofa and walking towards the front door to get his car keys.

Billy chuckled. So did Teddy, through teary eyes. He had met Billy’s bothers and both he and Billy knew that wanting those pests back was the act of a woman desperate to bring life back to what was, at that moment, a very grim house. They both couldn’t wait.

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

Hours later, as if in a dream where you wander from place to place without any rational reason, Teddy found himself sitting on his boyfriend’s bed. A stylized cartoonish Captain America was staring at him from the heavy bed cover. He looked up, admiring Billy’s model replicas of all the major spaceships from Star Wars, hanging from the ceiling, while a glance at Billy’s desk revealed several action figures and statues of Thor and the Scarlet Witch, all of different sizes and some of them sporting costumes that Teddy recognized from an era of the Avengers that went back to before either he or Billy were even born. Taped to the wall behind the desk, he saw some pencil drawings, mostly of Billy’s winged headgear.

Teddy never thought he would ever find someone who was as big a nerd as he was. Billy couldn’t quite name every single Doctor Who companion from the 1950s onward, not yet, so he felt his nerd crown was safe for now. But still, Billy was a threat.

A wonderful, wonderful threat. He started fantasizing about spending entire afternoons playing computer games and swapping comics with Billy in the comforting space of the room he was now in. Watching their favorite shows together, while holding hands or spooning on that bed, which was thankfully big enough for the both of them. Stealing kisses when they were alone, stealing more than kisses whenever possible. And maybe, one day, building a life of their own, together.

His mind was full of all those incredible thoughts. He forced himself to focus on them. He willed them into his mind, fearing that he would soon wander back into the darkness. He knew that there would come a time when he needed to go back there. To mourn, to cope. But not tonight.

Tonight, he felt like he was given a second chance at life. And he wanted to take it and make it his own.

“I don’t think my PJs will fit you.” Billy’s voice, coming from the walk-in closet, startled him out of his haze. “But maybe this old jersey… it will be a snug fit.”

Billy came into the room holding a faded football jersey and a pair of shorts. “Not that I will complain.”

“I could make myself a little smaller,” Teddy said, taking the clothes from Billy’s hands.

“Oh, right. Please don’t. I really don’t mind the bulging muscles.”

Teddy laughed. He knew what Billy was doing. He was playing right along his little fantasy of “this is just a sleepover with your boyfriend, it’s not like your mom is dead and not even your real mom.” He loved him even more for that.

Teddy took off what remained of his funeral suit. He had tossed the jacket over the desk chair as soon as he had entered Billy’s room, and the tie was dangling from his neck, completely loose. Billy had turned around to get the spare pillow from the closet and, when he turned back, he found Teddy wearing only the Bionic Woman boxers he had bought for him on eBay.

“Oh come on now,” Billy half-whined, admiring his boyfriend’s sculpted chest and incredible legs. Not to mention Lindsay Wagner’s cotton face hugging Teddy in all the right places. God, that was wrong. What was he thinking when he bought those boxers. “Put that shirt on before I decide to completely destroy my mother’s trust in the both of us.”

Teddy smiled, putting on the shorts first, then the jersey. It was a snug fit and he had to shrink just a little to even put his muscular arms through the sleeves, but not so much as to avoid the tight effect that Billy had hoped for. He loved teasing Billy like that.

Billy was flushed. He swallowed and playfully threw the pillow (now fitted with a fresh Lion King pillowcase) at Teddy, who caught it and held it close to his chest.

“Oh, can you feel the love tonight, baby,” Teddy commented in the most suave voice he was capable of.

“You are such a dork.” Billy went back to the closet, while Teddy jumped on the bed, resting his messy golden hair on his new pillow.

“You know,” Billy’s voice came from the closet “if you feel up to it, if you’re not too tired or anything, the brats have this junior league soccer game tomorrow, I don’t think mom had time to pull them out of it. It will most likely be a total bore, but it might do you good to get out and OH MY GOD NO.”

Teddy jumped up, scared half to death. Billy’s screaming had felt like a well-placed punch in his guts. His mind immediately went to the worst possible scenarios, which flashed in his mind one after the other in a matter of milliseconds. Something had fallen on Billy’s head and he was injured. He had slipped and fallen and had really hurt himself. The Skrulls were back for him. Kang the freaking Conqueror was hiding in Billy’s walk-in closet.

“Billy! B, what’s wrong?” he yelled, worried. The Kaplans still hadn’t come back from Billy’s aunt, what could he do now? The thought that both he and his boyfriend were superheroes never even crossed his mind. That night, he felt like a kid who was in desperate need for somebody to look out for him.

“Nothing, nothing.”

Billy’s apparently calm voice made Teddy calm, too. Still confused, but calm.

“It’s nothing but oh my God this can’t be happening.”

“B?”

“Okay, so, apparently,” Billy’s voice, still coming from the closet, had assumed that tone that Teddy had come to recognize as bitchy Billy. “Apparently…” Billy continued “I only have three pairs of PJs. And the one I wanted to wear tonight, the one I wanted you to see me in, a nice, simple, elegant light grey thing that my grandmother gave me for Hanukkah, well, it’s in the wash. Which leaves me with two unspeakable options.”

Teddy half-smiled, still puzzled. “Okay?”

“Yeah, not okay. Not really. But here goes nothing.” Billy came out of the closet and Teddy had to blink a few times to fully understand what he was seeing.

Billy, all messy dark curls and hot red cheeks, was wearing a pair of light blue PJs. The shirt was a little too tight and the pants, which, Teddy assumed, were supposed to come to his ankles, were a couple of inches short of reaching them. And the pattern. Oh, the pattern.

It was small cartoon cowboys.

And cowboy hats and little white clouds and bright green cacti. Teddy was suddenly reminded of Andy’s room in Toy Story, before the arrival of Buzz Lightyear.

“Oh my God,” Teddy cried, grinning like a maniac. “That is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” He jumped from the bed, covering his smiling mouth with a hand. “You are the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

Billy blushed furiously. “The thing is, I haven’t really grown that much since I was twelve so I still have these old things lying around and…”

Teddy shut him up with a kiss. He cupped Billy’s face and kissed him and kissed him, Billy standing on his toes, his thin arms embracing Teddy’s waist.

“I love you and I have to take a picture,” Teddy said, coming up for air.

Billy’s eyes became two enormous saucers. “You… wouldn’t dare…” he said slowly, stepping back from his boyfriend.

“Please please please I have to immortalize the unthinkable cuteness right before my eyes,” pleaded Teddy, already grabbing his phone.

“No way! No way!” Billy laughed.

“I promise I won’t show it to anyone! It’ll be just for me!” Teddy wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Would you really deny me this, tonight of all nights?” He looked at Billy with his best beaten puppy stare.

“Oh, that’s low,” Billy sighed. He opened his arms, defeated, and gave Teddy the sweetest of smiles as Teddy took as many pictures as possible. Yes, he was going to keep them for himself. Well, maybe one could find its way to Kate and Cassie. Maybe.

Of course Teddy knew that Billy could’ve just worn a T-shirt or something. He didn’t know if the adorable pajamas were chosen intentionally or not. But he did know that his boyfriend was the most incredible boy to ever walk (or, occasionally, fly) the earth and he had, once again, made him smile on one of the worst days of his life. He knew, right then and there, that anyone who could make him laugh on a day like that was someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

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

“Tired?” Billy asked, when the excitement over the PJs was over. They were lying on Billy’s bed, side by side. Teddy was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Billy was staring at Teddy.

“Exhausted,” Teddy replied. He turned his head towards Billy, a faint smile on his lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here. For being you,” Teddy whispered. He had tried to avoid it, but he felt the darkness getting closer and closer. He reached a hand and stroked Billy’s cheek.

Billy closed his eyes, enjoying his boyfriend’s loving touch. He leaned closer to Teddy and rested his head on Teddy’s chest, listening to his heart, getting drunk on his scent. “Is this okay?” he asked.

Teddy snorted. “Are you kidding? This is perfection.”

Silence fell over them. The room was mostly dark, only an old Mickey Mouse lamp illuminating the desk with all its action figures. Teddy closed his eyes and listened to the soft hum of Billy’s breathing.

“B?” he asked, with a wavering voice. “Am I going to be alright?”

Billy frowned, but didn’t look up. “Give yourself some time, babe.”

“But I mean…” Teddy continued, slightly hesitant. “When we get older. If… when we get to be adults together. My life’s so fucked-up. How can I… what kind of… man could I be? What kind of… father could I be…”

Billy’s head jerked up at those words. “You’re going to the most amazing dad. You are selfless and caring and goofy and you can shape-shift into all sorts of funny animals! Are you kidding, our kids will love you.” Billy paused, realizing what he had just said. “Yes, I did say our kids because I’m not going anywhere, T. Oh, and I want a small army of brats and I hope each and every one of them is as impossible as my brothers so we don’t get lazy in our old age.”

“Oh, God,” Teddy chuckled. After a silent pause, he added “I hope you are right. I just want to be free from this… this fear of failing and… and falling into dark thoughts. Dark places.” He wiped a tear that had made its way across his cheek.

Billy had rested his head on Teddy’s chest again. “Don’t be afraid of falling, T. It’s natural. It’s human. Neither of us might exactly be human human, but you get my point. Don’t be afraid. Because, if you fall, I will pick you up. Always. I will always be there to pick you up and lift you up, just as I’m sure you will be there for me.” Billy felt Teddy’s arms tighten around his shoulders, and he burrowed his face into Teddy’s chest. “We can both fly, if we can’t lift each other up, who can?”

Teddy smiled.

There was a long pause, which Teddy interrupted just to whisper “Goodnight, my sweet cowboy.”

“Goodnight,” Billy replied, grinning. He paused for a couple of seconds, then added “Hey, can I sleep like this?” holding Teddy even tighter for emphasis.

“You have to sleep like that,” Teddy replied, then placed a delicate kiss on Billy’s curly head.

Silence fell into the room once again. Both boys were half-asleep, when Teddy spoke up again. “Hey, what was on the other pair of PJs that was so terrible you went with cartoon cowboys?”

Billy snorted and hid his face in Teddy’s chest even further.

“Smurfs.”

Teddy grinned.

He definitely had something to look forward to.

[a-splash-of-stucky]

Let’s Have Another

Pairings: Bucky x Reader || Steve x Natasha

Summary: Bucky gets broody.

Warnings: Fluff. Implied/referenced smut. Possibly mild language.

Notes: For @bucky-plums-barnes‘ writing challenge. Congrats on 8k, my darling Gen! My prompt was #28: “Can we have another baby.” This is in bold somewhere in the fic.

My Masterlist

——————————

“Sarah—honey, no! Don’t eat that!” Steve cries, leaping up from the picnic blanket and rushing over to the kids. He scoops his one-year-old daughter into his arms and shoves a finger into her mouth, trying to dig out the…whatever it is she ate. Natasha watches on, an amused smile on her face.

“Honestly Barnes, your daughter is a bad influence on my child,” she sighs, twisting her head to fake-glare at you and Bucky.

“Becca?”, Bucky gasps, feigning surprise, “Our daughter is an angel, Tasha, she would never do something like that,”.

“Uh…yes she would,” you say, casting a knowing smirk in Natasha’s direction.

“Babe!” Bucky groans vexedly, “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I am simply, on the side of truth,” you say solemnly, plucking a chocolate chip cookie from off his plate. Bucky shakes his head and mutters something about goddamn traitorous wives under his breath.

It’s the first official day of summer, which means that the four of you (and the little kiddos) have come out to the park for a relaxing picnic and some fun in the sun. Your two-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is up to her usual mischief, chasing after pigeons, trying to teach Sarah how to do tumble-turns and generally being her boisterous, fun-loving self. Now that the foreign-substance-in-mouth crisis has been contained, she and Sarah are begging Steve for piggy-back rides.

Steve doesn’t need much convincing. He’s a softie at heart.

Bucky’s watching the girls play together with a distant look in his eyes, a gentle curl to the corner of his lips. He’s deep in thought, and you have a feeling you know what’s on his mind. Deciding to leave him to his own devices, you turn your attention to Natasha, who has balanced a bowl of fruit salad on top of her bump and is currently chowing down on a piece of pineapple.

“So how’re you feeling?” you ask, leaning over to steal a slice of watermelon.

“Fat,” Natasha replies, sighing heavily. “I swear I didn’t get this big this fast with Sarah,”.

“Excited to have two under two?” you tease, poking her ribs gently.

Natasha groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Please don’t remind me. I’m preparing myself to live a life without sleep,”.

You chuckle, shifting yourself so that you can rest your head on her shoulder. “Yeah, well, good luck with that,”, you say, “And tell me how it goes. I think my husband over there’s gonna want to try for a second one soon,”.

“Goddamn super-soldiers,” Nat grumbles.

——————————

The evening routine comes and goes with little incident. Once dinner is over, you busy yourself with the dishes whilst Bucky whisks Becca away for her bath. Through the baby monitor, you can hear him reading to her to sleep, his voice soft and gentle in a way that makes your heart twist with pride and adoration.

When he’s put Becca down, Bucky comes into the living room and flops down on the couch, legs sprawled wide, creating the perfect space for you to lie in. You collapse on top of him with a muted oomph, resting your chin on his chest and burying your nose in the soft fabric of his hoodie.

“Hey there,” Bucky murmurs, metal arm encircling your shoulders, the flesh one disappearing beneath the hem of your shirt so that his hand rests against your skin.

“You’ve been quiet today,” you tell him, “Thinkin’ ‘bout something?”.

Bucky makes a noncommittal humming noise, but doesn’t reply immediately, just continues to draw random patterns at the small of your back. You close your eyes, allowing yourself to relax into the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

“Can we have another baby?” Bucky asks hesitantly.

You crack one eye open to find him looking at you with a bright, hopeful gleam in his pupils. “Bucky,” you sigh quietly, “We’ve talked about this, remember? Only when she’s two,”.

“But Becca’s almost two,” he whines.

You snort. “If by almost, you mean in four months, then yeah. Almost,”.

“Oh, but babe!” Bucky begs, “Didn’t you see her with Sarah today? She’d be such a good big sister—,”

“—regardless of what age she becomes a big sister,”, you interrupt. “I ain’t budging on the two-year thing, Barnes,”.

“Four months doesn’t make that big of a difference—,”.

“Bucky, it’s not just about the time!” you cry exasperatedly, pushing yourself up into a sitting position and crossing your arms over your chest. “Becca is my little baby. I want to give her my full attention. I want to watch her grow up. If I get pregnant now…I’m not going to be able to fully enjoy my little baby. She’s gonna be three before I know it. You know how fast the time has gone,”.

Bucky sighs, taking your hand and interlacing your fingers together, using that to pull you back against his chest. “Okay, sweetheart,” he says, stroking your hair. “We’ll wait,”.

“And it’s not just that,” you continue, motoring on as if he hadn’t spoken, “I—my body needs time to recover. They recommend two years at least between kids, y’know? I mean, if you’re gonna come clean and tell me that you got the goods to carry a baby, we can start right now, but—,”.

He chuckles heartily, “Okay, okay, point taken. Your body, you get the final call, I ain’t gonna push you,”. A brief pause, then, “But we can have another baby, right?”

Your groan, lifting your head from its resting place over his heart so that you can look at him properly. “You do realise how much work two kids are, right? Why don’t we let Nat and Steve go through it first?”

“They’ll suffer for our benefit,” Bucky hums, seeming to agree with your suggestion. “But, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll stay home more. I wanna spend more time with my best girls, anyway,”, he adds, planting a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Mmm…we’ll see about that,” you mumble, knowing full well that Bucky will probably be itching for a mission after only a month. His cabin fever gets pretty bad.

“So we can have another—,”

“Oh for god’s sake, Barnes,” you growl, smacking him on the shoulder, “Yes, we can have another baby, but we start trying in four months. Think you can keep it in your pants that long?”

“Nope,” Bucky replies immediately. “Not when I got a hot wife like you, sweetheart,” he teases.

“Oh my—oh!” you yelp, when, without warning, Bucky sits up, loops his arms around you and gathers you into his lap.

“Can we at least practice now?” he asks, ghosting his lips down the column of your neck, forcing you to take a shuddery inhale.

“You’re insufferable,” you mutter, even as you tilt your head to the side to give him better access.

“I know,” Bucky quips, nipping your skin impishly. “It’s why you love me,”, he adds, giving your rump an affectionate pat.

“Yeah?” you breathe, raking your fingers through his shaggy hair. At his jerky nod, you lean in closer, letting your lips brush the shell of his ear and your warm breath to fan over his cheek. “Wanna remind me why else I love you?” you ask huskily, subtly grinding into his lap to reinforce your message.

“Darlin’,” Bucky drawls, slipping his hands under your skirt and drawing them up the sides of your thighs, “I thought you’d never ask,”.

—————————— Permanent tags: @feelmyroarrrr @rda1989 @bidianaprinxe @lumelgy @hollycornish @youtubehelpsmesurvive @knock-around-meg-blog @amour-quinn @onceuponahiddleston @aquabrie

Tagging T&C || Send me an ask if you want to be added/removed from the list!

[beebomeebo]

Nerves pt. 2

Type: smut

(A/N) Hey, guys!!! I wanted to write a story that was broken up into many parts and because my best fic so far is Nerves, I thought I would continue it! I really hope you guys enjoy it!!! & a HUGE thanks to @ultimate-top-trash for giving me ideas and keeping me motivated. Sorry this is so long, I got lost in the story

Warnings: unprotected sex, hickeys, small tiny slap, annoying character, !!cute Tyler!!, a tiny bit of angst at the end, cursing, VERY LONG

Pairing: Tyler Joseph x Reader

Word count: 9.5k

PART 1

It has been about a month since Tyler and I’s first “tutor session” and we had another one planned for this weekend. Thinking about being alone with Tyler always got me excited. Not just because when we’re alone, “things” happen but because I can be myself around him. He always cracks jokes and never fails to make me laugh.

A faint buzz pulls me from my thoughts. I pull my phone out of my pocket and read the message:

Tyler :)

Hey! Wanna catch a movie after school today?

I smile at the text knowing that he actually wants to hang out with me. I quickly reply:

Yeah! I’m down!

I finish packing my backpack and sling it over my shoulder. I say goodbye to my mom and practically skip out the door to wait for my bus.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

It wasn’t long before Y/N replied to my text. I barely let my phone vibrate before I hurriedly yank the screen toward my face to read her reply:

Y/N :P

Yeah! I’m down!

Fuck yes! I thought. I was so excited I almost left my backpack in my room while walking out of the house. I run back inside and grab it and sprint back outside and practically throw myself in the car.

Hoping I get there before Y/N, I pull into the student parking lot and park my car. Grabbing my stuff, I quickly walk towards the piano room, a little earlier than usual.

Once there, I notice that the door is locked and the lights are off- which was unusual because Mr. Pike, the piano teacher, was usually here early in the morning. Being a teacher assistant in one of his classes, he trusted me with a key to the classroom. So, I unlocked the door and turned on the lights, taking in the wooden scented air. I glance down at my watch and realize Y/N won’t be here for another ten minutes. I decide to work on a song I had been writing for a couple days now. I soon lose myself in the chords of the piano.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

I met up with Tyler in the piano room before school like I have for the past week.

“Hey Mr. Magic-hands,” I laugh while entering the classroom. He had already set up and started playing.

“Will you quit calling me that?” Tyler asks slightly annoyed, keeping his focus on the music sheet.

I chuckle as I take my seat next to him. I notice the music sheet that was painted in messy notes and scribbles. “What you doing?” I turn my attention to him.

Frustrated, he replies, “I’m trying to write a song but I can’t get this melody down.” He plays a few notes but it quickly turns sour.

“Can I try?” I ask.

“Sure, but I doubt you’ll get-“ Before Tyler can finish his sentence I’m already testing out the melody he has written down, only changing two notes. Once done, I look to Tyler for approval. His jaw falls slightly as he stares at my fingers, puzzled.

“What? How?” He questions urgently.

“Well, instead of a G note here, I played an A note. And instead of a C note here, I played a G note,” I explain, playing the melody slower this time. “Try it.”

Tyler begins to mimic my movements and soon plays the notes beautifully. “Yes!” Tyler shouts in triumph. I laugh and applaud him.

“Maybe you should be the one teaching me,” Tyler jokes while changing the notes on his music sheet.

“Maybe I should,” I tease. “Let me hear the rest of it.”

Tyler’s tan face shifts to a red tone. “I-I don’t think that it’s done yet.”

I laugh. “I don’t give a shit. Show me what those magic hands can do!” I root Tyler on as he plays bits of the song he had written down. I noticed there were small words scribbled into the margins. Grabbing the paper I hold it up to my face to get a better look. “What’s this? Are these lyrics? Do you sing?” My excitement mixes with my words as my body perks up with energy.

Tyler immediately snatches the papers from my hand, shushing me. “Will you keep it down? I can’t even sing that well.”

I scoff. “Bullshit.” I nudge his ribs lightly. “C’mon! Sing for me Piano Man! Sing!” I tease him.

“Stop it!” Tyler laughs as he tries to avoid my nudges.

We soon start a full-on tickle war. I eventually run off and hide on the other side of the piano, keeping the instrument as a buffer zone between our bodies. Tyler chases me around the piano and into the pool of desks. Laughing I take a sharp turn down one of the aisles and Tyler begins to jump from desktop to desktop to catch up to me. Eventually, his arms wrap around my waist as he finally catches me. I lose my balance from all the laughing and crash into the floor; Tyler follows as all his weight was against me. We both start laughing uncontrollably on the floor.

“You cheated!” I blurt through laughter.

Jokingly offended Tyler retorts, “I did not!” He wraps his arms around my waist before I could get back up and make a run for it.

“Mr. Pike?” A voice from the doorway catches both of our attentions. A girl stood in the doorway and stared at us. “Is this a bad time?” The girl asks reluctantly.

“Oh, no. You’re fine,” Tyler says jumping onto his feet and helping me up before brushing himself off.

“Is Mr. Pike here?” She asks.

“I haven’t seen him yet,” Tyler answers, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Oh, I was going to ask him for help.” She begins walking out disappointed.

“Well, maybe I can help,” Tyler offers before she can completely disappear.

Shocked, the girl stammers, “A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah! I’d love to help,” He says as he clears off the piano. He sticks his hand out for a handshake and she takes it in hers.

“Rebecca.”

“Ty-“

She interrupts him, “I know who you are. You’re the best student in the class!” She beams a flashy smile.

I stick my hand to introduce myself but she keeps her attention focused on Tyler as she takes a seat next to him, pressing her leg against his.

“Oh, so you’re in sixth hour?”

“Yeah! I sit right behind you.” She giggles.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable in the situation I turn to Tyler and say, “I think I’m just going to head to my first period and get ahead.” I grab my backpack and make my way toward the door.

“Y/N! I’ll see you in class, right?” He shouts behind me.

“If you’re lucky,” I shout back, disappearing from their sight.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The classes before my piano class always seemed to drag out way too long. The dismissal bell finally rings and the teacher shouts something about finding the homework online. I weave my way through the sea of students while trying to make it to the piano classroom before Tyler. We had made it a race a couple weeks ago and the winner got bragging rights the entire day. I successfully sprint into the room before Tyler. I triumphantly take my seat that is only two down from his. I strike a cocky pose as I wait for Tyler to walk in. I soon see Tyler trip into the classroom. As he immediately perks up, he spots me and slouches his shoulders.

“This one doesn’t count!” Tyler pouts, sliding into his seat and trying to catch his breath. “My teacher kept me for a little.”

I roll my eyes. “All I hear are excuses.” I cockily check my nails as if I chipped them.

“Where’s your friend?” I raise an eyebrow at the empty seat behind Tyler. He turns around and shrugs.

Suddenly a squeaky voice grabs our attention. “Hi, Tyler!” Rebecca waves excitedly to Tyler. He flashes a friendly smile back.

She basically talks his ear off as her words fly out of her mouth, “Thanks so much for helping me this morning. You were so helpful. Oh, and that song you were writing sounded beautiful- I especially loved the lyrics.”

I raise an eyebrow at her words. He showed her the song?

I decide to text Tyler:

So, looks like you have an admirer lol

He looks down at his phone and rolls his eyes.

“Speaking of helping me, do you think you could come over and tutor me after school today?” She’s practically bouncing in her seat.

Tyler’s gaze moves from her to me to back to her. “I was actually going to see a movie today with Y/N.”

Rebecca doesn’t hide her disappointment at all as her body slouches back in her seat. Then her face lights up again. “Well, what about tomorrow after school?”

I look over to Tyler and we make eye contact; I can tell by the look on his face that he had no clue what to do. I turn my head and take a sip of my water, giving him a “you’re on your own” look.

“Uh, I gue-“

“Great! It’s a date!” She cuts him off.

I almost spit my water out on the kid in front of me. This catches not only the attention of the kid in front of me, but Tyler and Rebecca. I harshly swallow the rest of the water. “Sorry,” I apologize, “Wrong pipe.”

Rebecca glares at me through cold eyes and I glance over to Tyler as he’s laughing his ass off. He almost falls out of his seat at one point. I chuck a piece of paper at him to get him to stop.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

After sixth period, the rest of the day dragged on way too long. I couldn’t wait to hang out with Y/N. All I could do all day was dream about her Y/H/C framing her face and her full lips.

The final bell rings and my energy shoots through the roof as I throw everything into my backpack and make my way to the piano room. I shoot Y/N a text:

Hey, I’m in the piano room. :)

I begin to play games on my phone while I wait for her to arrive. Not even a minute later I see a figure walk into the room. Reaching for my stuff I ask, “You ready to go?”

“Where are we going?” I finally look up to see who the figure was.

“Rebecca?” I look at her confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I forgot my book in here.” She says, obviously nervous. She quickly grabs the nearest book and holds it up.

“That’s a class set.” I chuckle.

“Oh,” she says, trying to laugh it off. “Oh! I remember! I left it in my locker.”

I nod my head expecting her to leave but she just stands there.

She finally breaks the awkward silence, “Hey, do you think I could get your phone number?”

Mad at Y/N for not getting here sooner I reply, “Sure.” I spell out the digits as she punches it into her phone. “Thank you! I’ll text you later!” She giggles and finally leaves the room.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

As I approach the piano room I see Rebecca skip out of the room. She makes eye contact with me and shoots me a judgmental look. I enter the room confused. “What did you do?” I tease.

Tyler rolls his eyes as he gathers his stuff. “I gave her my phone number.”

“Dangerous,” I whisper. “You ready?”

“Very much so. Let’s get out of here,” He says offering my arm. I accept and we walk towards the student parking lot together.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“What do you want to eat?” Tyler asks scanning the menu.

“Tyler, it’s the movies. You eat popcorn at the movies,” I retort.

He smiles at my teasing. “Yeah well, what if I’m allergic to popcorn?” He raises an eyebrow at me.

“I’ve seen you scarf down a whole bag of freshly made popcorn in Mr. Pike’s class, dude. You’re not fooling anyone.”

He laughs, showing his bright teeth. “You’re right.”

“Next,” the kid behind the counter shouts as the person in front of us removes themselves from the line. Tyler gives the cashier our order and pays for it. He grabs our drinks as I grab the popcorn.

“Butter?” I ask.

“Obviously,” Tyler replies. “I’ll go find our seats.”

I pretty much drench the popcorn in butter, shaking the bag to make sure that the fatty liquid seeps all the way to the bottom. When I’m satisfied with the amount of butter I make my way to the theater.

I enter the dark room and search for Tyler. I suddenly see someone waving at me. I happily make my way up the stairs to greet the boy. I throw a few pieces of popcorn into my mouth as I sit down.

“Fatass,” Tyler jokes as he reaches for the bag.

“Lover boy,” I tease and he rolls his eyes.

As if right on cue I see an overly excited girl quickly bouncing her way towards Tyler.

“Tyler!” The girl squeals.

Tyler takes in a deep breath before plastering a fake smile on his face to greet the girl.

“Hi Rebecca,” He says unenthusiastically.

“I’ve been texting you.” She quickly sits in the chair next to Tyler.

“Oh,” Tyler says, obviously looking for an excuse. “My phone died.”

“That’s ok.” She directs her attention to the previews as Tyler and I exchange a look.

I finally speak up, “So, Rebecca, who did you come here with?”

“No one,” She replies flatly.

I sit back in my seat and realize this is going to be a long night.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

About thirty minutes into the movie, Tyler pulls that stupid fake stretch so he can put his arm around me. And it’s obvious that Rebecca doesn’t like that because she complains about being cold and asks if she could borrow Tyler’s hoodie. Tyler sighs and hands his jacket over to her. Once it’s fitted over her she tries to snuggle up against him.

“I’ll be right back.” Tyler gets up quickly.

“Where are you going?” Rebecca asks quicker.

“Bathroom.”

Fuck. Now I’m alone here with Crazy Bitch.

We both sit in silence as we watch the movie. Every once in a while, I can see her glare at me as if checking me out. I feel a buzzing in my jeans and I pull my phone out to see a text from Tyler:

Meet me.

I notice Rebecca trying to read my screen so I quickly shove my phone back in my pocket and look back at her. She whips her head back to the movie screen but I keep looking at her. She finally makes eye contact with me.

“What?” She says rudely.

“You’re crazy.” I quickly stand up and leave her alone in the theater before she could say anything else.

As I exit the movie to look for Tyler I’m pulled to the side.

“She’s fucking crazy, dude,” He whispers in a panic.

“I’m fully aware,” I respond.

“We need to do something about it. Look how many texts she’s sent me since school ended.” He flashes his notifications at me to display an abundance of texts and calls. “28 text messages.”

His phone buzzes in his hand. “29.” I laugh but Tyler shoots me an unamused look. “Let’s just leave her and go back to your place or something.”

“She had my hoodie,” Tyler mentions.

“I’ve got this.” I hand him my purse before making my way back into the theater.

I build up the courage to go up to Rebecca who has her arms crossed. “What do you want?” She spits.

“Uh, yeah, Tyler is throwing up in the bathroom and he just wants to go home so can I get his hoodie back?” I ask.

“No,” She replies flatly turning her attention back to the movie.

“Why?”

“Because you’re just trying to come in between me and Tyler.”

“Um, what?” I nearly choke on my own spit.

“Your little mind tricks won’t work on me.” She begins to stand up and walk towards me aggressively. “You can try and deceive Tyler but you can’t fool me.” I can tell she’s trying to get in my face but due to her height- or lack of- she looks up to me.

“Look, can I just have the jacket or not?” I ask, done with her bullshit.

“No, but what you can have is this.” She raises her hand and quickly brings it down on my cheek. The whole theater turns around at the loud smack.

I nod my head and laugh. “Ok.”

“Yeah, fuck you,” She threatens.

“Oh sweetie,” I laugh. “Tyler already did that.” I turn around before she could do anything else.

When I exit the theater, Tyler begins to panic.

“What the fuck happened to your face? What happened?” He reaches for my face.

“Oh, she slapped me,” I said nonchalantly. Tyler begins to panic more. “I’ll tell you about it in the car.”

We walk as fast as we can to get to Tyler’s car. Once inside and safe I tell him the whole story.

“You told her we fucked?” Tyler’s voice kicks up a few notches as he abruptly stops at a stop sign.

“Yeah,” I begin to regret my words.

Tyler pauses. “Did she at least look pissed?”

“Hella pissed.” We both laugh.

We continue to joke about Rebecca and how her and Tyler and destined to be together. After we calm down I begin to lose myself in the radio.

“You know,” Tyler speaks up, “I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend today.”

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah but that kind of got ruined,” He laughs nervously.

“It’s ok.” I smile.

Tyler smiles back and for a moment I feel at peace. Until a vibration from Tyler’s phone breaks the feeling. I pick up the device. “Rebecca’s calling,” I point out.

“Let it go to voicemail.”

I obey and let the call expire before reading the endless amount of texts that she sent him.

“’She slapped me’? Really? She thinks that’s going to work?” I laugh putting his phone back into the cup holder.

After a few minutes of silence, Tyler pulls into my driveway. Tired as hell, I wave goodbye and head inside, ready to sleep all this crazy drama off.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

Making sure Y/N got into her house before I drive off, I finally decide it’s time to block Rebecca’s number. I click open my home screen and click on her info. Before finally blocking her number. The silence afterward felt peaceful. I continue to enjoy the lack of notifications from my phone and arrive home.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*NEXT DAY*

I trudge into the piano classroom before school. “Morning, Tyler.” Mr. Pike greets me through his computer screen.

“Morning, Mr. Pike,” I reply as I take a seat and lay my head on my desk.

“Long night?”

“Too long.”

“Want to talk about it?”

I can’t help but spill all the stress that has been bubbling inside me; from wanting to wait for the perfect moment to ask Y/N out to Rebecca being insane.

“Rebecca? The one that sits behind you?” Mr. Pike questions.

“Yes, I really don’t want to have to deal with her or put Y/N through that,” I explain.

“I think it’s about time that I change the seating arrangement anyway, don’t you think?” He laughs.

“Really? That would be great. Thank you so much.” My body relaxes.

“Just don’t mention that it was for you and act surprised.” He winks.

Just then, Y/N walks in. She looks exhausted.

“You ok?” I ask as she takes the desk next to mine.

She digs her face into her arms, grunting. I playfully rub her back as she takes a nap.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

I groaned in protest at the starting bell. I glance once more at Tyler and smile. He was working on his music again. He was so cute when he was focused. I couldn’t help but watch as Tyler pulls his bottom lip between his teeth.

“It’s considered rude to stare,” He finally says.

I grunt in response. “I don’t care.”

“C’mon, I’ll walk you to class.” He packs his things up and offers his hand. I take it, grabbing my own backpack and walking with laced fingers through the hall.

“So, what are you going to do about tonight?” I question as we approach my classroom.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll come over.” He winks making me chuckle. “I’ll figure something out.” He plants a kiss on the top of my head. “Don’t die,” he jokes as breaks away from me.

“No promises,” I reply as I enter my classroom.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

I was both excited and anxious as fifth hour crept to an end. Sixth hour meant I got to see Tyler, but with all the drama that Rebecca had been causing just in the last day, I was dreading being in the same room as both of them. The dismissal bell rang and I didn’t even bother trying to race Tyler. When I got into the classroom, Tyler’s seat was empty. I shrugged my shoulders, taking my seat and burying my face in my phone. I kept hearing snickers around me so I lift my head to see where they were coming from. I wasn’t surprised to see a group of girls that Rebecca, who was wearing Tyler’s hoodie that she stole, was talking to was staring right at me. I flash a sarcastic smile and turn back to my phone. When Tyler finally enters the room the peanut gallery erupts in laughter. Not noticing the swooning girls, Tyler slugs over to his desk. We exchange tired looks and turn back to our phones.

They were laughing at me, weren’t they?

The text from Tyler pops up on my screen.

Both of us, actually.

I reply. I can hear Tyler scoff.

“Alright class,” Mr. Pike booms over the class chatter. “We have new seating arrangements.”

Mr. Pike directs everyone to stand on the edges of the class. Tyler and I exchange looks and he tries to cover up his excitement with fake surprise.

“Did you ask him to do this?” I whisper as we watch Mr. Pike seat the class. He calls on three students before calling on Rebecca to sit in the desk that was right in front of his.

Tyler replies as if acting offended, “What? I had nothing to do with this.” He gives a devilish smirk and winks.

I roll my eyes at his charming smile. Mr. Pike continues to read out the seating arrangement, placing me and Tyler closer to the back; this time, our seats were directly next to each other's. I try to conceal my excitement as the class starts.

Throughout the class, Rebecca kept glaring back at me and Tyler.

“Rebecca, is there something interesting in the back of the class?” Mr. Pike interrogates, standing directly in front of her desk. Her head whips forward to look up at him.

“Uh, no Mr. Pike,” She responds.

“That’s what I thought. Now, you all know that the bi-weekly performance is this Friday. I hope you all have been practicing.” Mr. Pike explains as he takes his seat at his desk.

“Shit,” I mutter.

Tyler leans over and whispers, “I guess I’m coming over then?”

I laugh and push him back into his seat. “If you’re lucky.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

Near the end of eighth hour, I decide to text Y/N.

What time am I coming over? ;) :P

Almost immediately I get a response:

My house will be empty from 4 to sometime tomorrow night. So, pack an overnight bag because I haven’t practiced at all.

I smile down at the text, eager for the clock to turn to 4 o’clock already.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Once the bell rings I nearly fly out of the room, almost forgetting my work. I yank the assignment from my teacher’s hand and weave through the crowd of students, making my way to the student parking lot.

As I’m driving home I can’t help but replay our first tutor session; the way her jeans shaped her backside perfectly and how adorable she looked in her baggy sweatshirt. The way she tied her beautiful Y/H/C up in a ponytail drove me crazy. I always loved it when Y/N wore her “lazy clothes.” It was mostly on Monday’s I saw her at her most comfortable state. Other than that, she usually just wore skinny jeans, a band tee and a pair of vans or converses.

I finally pull into my driveway and turn my car off, heading into my house.

“Hi, honey! How was school?” My mom calls out from the living room.

“Boring,” I reply quickly. “Josh invited me to sleep over and catch a ride to school tomorrow,” I announce as I jog up the stairs and throw my door closed before she could say anything else. Glancing at my watch I notice that I only have about an hour to get ready. I decide to take a shower and then change my clothes.

I swiftly strip myself of my clothes and hop in the shower, turning on my music on the way in. I don’t spend long and I quickly hop out. While trying to dry myself off I frantically search for an outfit to wear. I decide to throw on a fairly nice button up and leave untucked from my black jeans. I throw a hoodie and an extra outfit into my backpack. As I slip on my shoes I glance one last time at the clock: 3:54. Perfect.

I grab my car keys and jog back down the stairs, waving my mom goodbye and heading out the door.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

I practically throw the front door off the hinges as I zoom past my parents in the living room and sprint down the hallway into my room. Different articles of clothing scattered the floor and my sheets on my bed were hanging off the edges. I devise a plan to fix all of it in the shortest amount of time. After about seven minutes of cleaning, I take a step back and scan the room one last time before deciding it was clean enough. I glance at my alarm clock and notice I have about an hour until Tyler comes over. I decide to browse Tumblr and Youtube for a little bit.

After about half an hour my mom knocks on my door telling me that they’re leaving.

“Ok, mom,” I shout through the door. “Don’t die.”

Soon after I hear her car pull out of the driveway and I’m left in my house watching cat videos.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Around 3:55 I get a text from Tyler letting me know that he’s on his way. I smile to myself and shut down my computer. I make my way into my bathroom to do one last check before Tyler arrives. Running my fingers through my hair I imagine what tonight will be like; cuddling and watching Netflix, ordering pizza and just chilling in bed. The ring of the doorbell pulls me out of my thoughts. Excitement bubbles in my stomach as I approach the front door. I take a deep breath as I reach for the doorknob. When I open the door, Tyler flashes a wide grin and I can’t help but stare at the way his eyes crinkles a bit. I notice he’s wearing one of his “nice shirts” and I notice how the sleeves are just a tiny bit too tight, showcasing his muscles a little.

“Can you let me in? It’s a little cold out here.” Tyler pulls me out of my thoughts.

“No, I’m going to make you sleep out here,” I tease standing out of the doorway so Tyler could enter.

“Where should I put my backpack?” Tyler asks scanning my house as I close the door behind him.

“You can just put it in my room,” I say as I walk towards the kitchen.

“Yes, because I have your house memorized from the many times I’ve been here before,” Tyler drowns his response in sarcasm.

I shoot him an unamused glance and hold my hand out to take his backpack; it was lighter than usual. I walk down the hall and drop the backpack just inside the doorway. I then turn back to Tyler. So, what do you want to do first?”

“Wasn’t the point of this whole thing for me to help you practice for the performance on Friday?” Tyler raises an eyebrow.

Clicking my tongue, I reply, “Yeah, I guess it was.” I turn on my heels and head back into my room.

Tyler follows, taking in the room when his eyes fall onto my keyboard. Almost as if he was in a trance, Tyler almost floats to the board; he runs his fingers across the black and white keys. “This is a nice keyboard,” He finally speaks.

“Yeah,” I breathe, “I got it for Christmas.”

Tyler sits down and begins to play a few notes. I join him and watch as his finger dance over the keys. He seems to lose himself in the music and I can’t find myself to not stare at how concentrated he is. When his song ends, he beams a proud grin.

“Ok, so practice,” He breaks the silence. “Let me see your music sheet.” I nod and stroll to my backpack and snag the paper from my folder; holding it out to Tyler, he takes the sheet and examines the notes. “Go ahead and play,” he says while placing the music on the stand.

I begin playing and finish a lot sooner than I expected. I look to Tyler for approval.

“Are you sure you haven’t practiced this before?” He quizzes me.

“Well, maybe like once but not as much as I should have,” I reply.

He narrows his eyes at me. “You played the song flawlessly.” He trails off. “That’s talent.”

“Or I just have a really good teacher,” I joke, nudging his ribs. We both share a laugh. “So, what do you want to do now since I’ve mastered the song?”

Tyler gives a devilish smirk and glances at my bed. “I know something we could do.”

I look back at my bed and get the hint. Looking back at Tyler I return the smirk.

“BLANKET FORT!” We both yell at the same time as we break into a dash towards the bed. I cut off, running toward the closet where we kept extra blankets and pillows. Tyler hobbles out of my room with arms full of sheets and pillows. He almost knocks into me on his way into the living room. I swoop up all the materials I was physically able to acquire, waddling my way towards Tyler- who was already setting up pillow walls. I toss my load on top of Tyler’s that he dropped. I take a moment to watch Tyler set up blankets on top of pillows; he strategically drapes different blankets around different angles. And for the first time in a while, I felt like a little kid again.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

It felt like I was a little kid again, throwing pillows across the room and building something straight from my imagination. The blanket fort ends up stretching from the TV to the couch to the dining room- which was located between the living room and the kitchen. We draped one of the blankets over the TV and made a mini couch out of pillows so we could enjoy Netflix inside the fort.

“This isn’t half bad,” Y/N exclaims, throwing the last blanket to complete the fort.

My excitement bubbles. “It’s so cool!” I dip my head under to take a view inside. Y/N joins me as we tour our temporary living space. We end up on the mini couch and browse through Netflix. We decide to watch a horror movie. About halfway through, I notice that my stomach is beginning to hurt.

“Hey,” I say turning to Y/N. “Are we going to have dinner?”

“I can order pizza,” She replies.

I nod and she pulls out her phone to call the pizza place. I pull out my phone to look up the number but Y/N puts up her hand to stop me. “No need,” She puts the phone up to her ear, “I have them on speed dial.”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

About the time the movie ends, the doorbell rings. Y/N has to army crawl under the fort to reach the front door due to how low the blankets droop. She excitedly swings the front door open, nearly knocking the fort over. She quickly signs for the pizza and closes the door. Crawling back under the fort, Y/N nearly drops the box a few times. I grab the box from her as she takes her spot next to me, pressing her thigh against my leg. As soon as I open the box up Y/N is already grabbing for a slice. I give her a look.

“What?” She asks innocently, shoving the tip of the pizza in her mouth.

I can’t help but laugh at how adorable she looked. “Nothing,” I replied.

We continue the last bit of the movie and flip on Youtube. We begin to watch funny fail compilations as we finish off our pizza. After the feast, I begin to feel sleepy so I decide to stretch my arms out a little bit. As they’re coming down I “accidentally” wrap my arm around Y/N’s shoulders. She giggles but cuddles up to my body. A part pops up where the video shows a guy breaking his ankle and Y/N spins her head from it, tucking it into my chest. I laugh, tracing my thumb in circles on her arm. I pull her tight against my skin and plant a gentle kiss on the top of her hair.

“Is it gone?” Y/N reluctantly asks.

I turn my attention back to the TV. “Yeah, it’s gone.”

A relieved sigh escapes her lips as her head lifts back up. She keeps herself pressed against my body as her legs tangle with mine, placing one hand behind my back and one on my chest. She fixes her head into the crook of my neck. After a little, I notice Y/N begin to shiver slightly. I gingerly begin to rub my hand up and down her arm and with the hand that’s on my chest, she traces circles.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

My entire body shrivels at the exposed bone. I instinctively whip my head away from the gore, shoving my face against Tyler. Memories of broken bones from my childhood pop up and my heart picks up speed along with my breathing. Tyler, sensing my discomfort, traces circles on my exposed skin. My body calms, melting into the warmth he gives off. When he lays a kiss in my hair all the bad thoughts disappear. For a quick moment, my mind trails off imagining myself pressed against Tyler’s bare chest, his bronze skin under my fingertips. A sudden crack from the TV pulls me from my thoughts.

“Is it gone?” I ask, scared that the thoughts will come flooding back.

Once Tyler tells me it’s clear I pick my head back up. I cuddle up to him, making my best effort to feel as much of his soft skin on mine. Snaking my arms around his body, I loop my legs with his.

My attention can’t stay focused on the video as my eyes wander up and down Tyler’s body. I keep remembering the events that took place on our first tutoring session. Does he even like me? Was that night just a one-time thing? Well, if he doesn’t like me, why is he cuddling with me? I think to myself.

“Hey, you ok?” Tyler’s voice yanks me from my thoughts. He leans his head away so he can see my face. I quickly look up.

Shaking off my anxiety I answer, “Yeah, I’m good.” Our eyes meet and I lose myself in his chocolate brown eyes. He swats away a stray hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. His fingertips dance along my cheek bone and down my jawline, leaving a trail of warmth. I study the features of his face before Tyler wraps his hand around my ear, caressing my cheek. He gently pulls my face towards his and our lips meet in the middle, locking in a passionate embrace. His lips were just as soft as a month before. My body screams for more of his touch as I roll on top of him. Tyler’s free hand grazes down my back, lying flat on the small of it. The kiss promptly heats up, turning into a battle of sloppy and hungry dominance. Tyler’s hand laces into my hand, gripping onto the strands and pulling my head to one side; his kisses fall off my lips and trail down my cheek, over my jawline, and onto my neck. He gingerly nips at my sensitive skin. A whimper slips from between my lips as Tyler’s teeth grasp at my neck. My hands wander his chest and my fingers fidget with the buttons of his shirt. Tyler connects our lips once again as I finish unfastening his shirt. I hungrily attack the boy’s neck as I shove his shirt open, exposing his chest. My hands explore the tanned skin as my teeth grab at the sensitive skin on his throat. A groan escapes Tyler and his hands wander down to the hem of my shirt. I break away from him, allowing for the fabric to be stripped from my body. Tyler’s pink lips ambush my own as he presses my chest to his. I run my hands up and down the sides of his ribs, feeling the curves of his fit body. My fingers wander down to the belt loops of his jeans as I grind my hips against his lap, creating friction between us.

Tyler smirks through the kiss and rolls over, pinning my back against the pillow couch. He sits up, his head brushing the blanket roof. The blanket becomes untucked as it falls around his face. I giggle as Tyler gives a defeated sigh. I sit up the best I can to move the fabric from his face. Once I’m able to make eye contact with him again, I give an amused smile. He mimics and presses an energetic kiss to my lips, bouncing off me and hurriedly crawls back under the fort and disappears into the hallway. I roll my eyes as I follow him. At the end of the fort, Tyler pulls me to my feet and pins me to the nearby wall. He urges my wrists to the wallpaper as he attacks my lips.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” He whispers against the kiss. With his chest pressing against mine, I press my hips to his.

I whisper back, “So have I.”

His hands drift down to my butt, giving it a quick squeeze before lifting my leg around his hip. With my hands free, I wrap my arms around Tyler’s neck, pulling him closer. He takes a slight step from the wall and sweeps up the other leg, holding his free hand under my butt for support. I slightly jump to wrap my legs tightly around Tyler’s waist, keeping myself close to him. With my body in his arms, Tyler makes his way into my bedroom. He fumbles getting to my bed, nearly dropping me a few times. He attempts to throw me onto my bed but loses balance and topples on top of me. We both laugh before resuming our previous business.

“You’re so beautiful,” Tyler whispers against my lips. He then breaks away from me, standing next to the bed. He begins to unbuckle his jeans but I push his hands away, sitting at the edge of the bed. With his crotch only inches from my face, I look up at Tyler- his eyes are dark and half-lidded, and his hand pets the side of my face. I maintain eye contact as I pull his zipper down and shove his jeans off his hips. A caged erection stretches from between his legs and I palm it in my hand. Placing sweet kisses above the elastic band of his boxers, I slip my fingertips under the hem. I hold eye contact with Tyler while I pull his boxers down to his ankles. He sharply inhales through his teeth before stepping out of the clothing that was pooling around his feet and kicking it to the side. My eyes finally land on his exposed erection. It’s just as big as last time. I smile up at him and take his member into my hand, pumping it up and down his shaft. Tyler’s eyes fall closed and his head tips back as I pick up speed. I slow down and kiss the head of his erection, earning a moan from Tyler. His hand twists into my hair on the back of my head, gently urging my face closer. Obeying his wishes, I wrap my lips around his cock and slowly begin to bob my head. Tyler gives a load groan when I hollow my cheeks and shove more of him into his mouth; his grip on my hair tightens as his hip buck into my face. I pick up speed and with the length I can’t take in my mouth, I pump my hand around it, giving small twists.

“Oh, fuck,” Tyler groans. I can feel his member begin to twitch in my mouth. He quickly pulls himself out of his mouth and I look up to him, confusion flooding my face. “I don’t want to cum just yet.”

He crouches down to meet my face and connects our lips in a passionate kiss, pushing me back to the center of the bed. I take my hair out of the ponytail before resting my head on one of my pillows. Tyler’s lips trail down to my neck, sucking at my sweet spot. I groan, pressing my hips up against him, hoping he’ll get the hint. Tyler chuckles darkly, only sucking harder. The hunger grows as Tyler’s kisses wander down my collar bone and over my breasts. He reaches around to unhook my bra, pulling the straps from my shoulders and flinging the clothing across the room. Smiling darkly, Tyler takes up one breast in his hand begins kissing the other, sucks and biting at the nipple. My hands find his hair and my nails dig deep into his shoulder. Still sucking on my breast, Tyler’s hand plays with the buttons on my jeans, eventually pushing the fabric to my ankles. Tyler breaks away to see my panties. He licks his lip and pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth. He hooks his fingers around the thin part and drags the lacey fabric down my legs to expose my core. Tyler pauses for a moment, shifting himself on his knees and propping himself on his ankles to enjoy my exposure. I spread my legs a bit wider for him, showing that my body is all his. Tyler’s eyes eat up how wet my core is and he chews at his bottom lip. He smirks back at me before easing himself on his stomach and propping my leg up on his shoulder. He leaves hot, sloppy kisses on my inner thighs before hovering over my entrance. My hips roll, begging for any friction Tyler can give me. A chuckle escapes his mouth before he presses his fingers around my folds. I moan at his touch and this fuels Tyler to slowly slide one finger inside me. My moan grows louder, still hungry for more.

“You look so sexy, Y/N. I wish I could keep you like this forever.” Tyler’s hot breath washes over my core, sending shivers up my spine.

“Play your cards right and you can,” I moan back, my head buries into the pillows. Tyler presses a smirk against my folds and his tongue plays with my wetness.

My breathing hitches as I race to grab Tyler’s hair. He spends no time picking up speed and my hips roll to the rhythm of his tongue. Tyler holds on to my leg to keep me still and circles my sweet spot with his thumb. A mixture of moans and his name escapes me as a warm fuzzy feeling begins to wash over me.

“Tyler, don’t stop. I-I’m going to c-cum,” I stutter as my body begins to shake.

Tyler picks up speed, flicking his tongue across my clit. His fingers hastily pump in and out of me, curling inside to hit my g-spot. As I’m sent over my edge, Tyler moans against my lips and my hips buck against his face. I plethora of moans fill the room as Tyler lets me ride out my high.

Tyler crawls back up to meet me. He roughly kisses me and I can taste myself on his lips. I wrap my legs around his waist and flip us over so I’m straddling Tyler’s hips. I bend down to give Tyler a hungry kiss before reaching between both of our bodies and grasping his member. Looking deep into Tyler’s eyes I ease myself around his length. As I slowly slide down him, we both let out a moan. Tyler grips onto my hips as I set my hands on his chest for support. I quickly kick up the speed, letting my body bounce up and down. The faster I bounce, the more I feel Tyler fill me up and soon enough the familiar fuzzy feeling pools in my stomach. Tyler groans a mixture of expletives and my name, encouraging me. He begins to buck his hips upwards to get deeper into me and I can feel my orgasm creep closer quickly.

“You’re so big, Tyler,” I moan nearing my climax. Tyler slams me down one more time before I’m sent over my edge. My back arches and my head falls back as the cool feeling pulses through my veins, stretching from my stomach to my fingertips. Once my orgasm slows to a stop I slump over Tyler but he keeps a hold of my hips, sloppily thrusting into me.

“I’m almost there, baby girl.” Tyler’s voice echoes along with the sound of slapping skin. I slam myself back against his lap and Tyler’s breath quickly hitches as his body begins to twitch. His arms wrap around my body, pulling me close against his skin as I feel him fill me up. I grind my hips against his member, letting him ride out his orgasm. “Fuck,” He whispers in the crook of my neck.

I bury my face against his shoulder as I attempt to catch my breath. He keeps his hold around me tight as he sweetly kisses my neck. I giggle, sitting up enough to find his face. I give a wide grin.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

All I can think about as I stare into her Y/E/C eyes is how much I like her, how beautiful and funny she is. I loosen my hold on her so I can caress her face. Her cheeks redden and she clings onto my wrist. Our lips connect in a loving kiss before she breaks away.

“We should probably get cleaned up,” Y/N giggles.

I help her off of me and follow her into the bathroom. I lean against the sink and admire her as she starts a shower. Once she decides it’s warm enough she steps in and I join. We clean each other off and I enjoy the sight of water running down her body. I pull her into a loving embrace and she gives me a quick peck before going back to clean herself. When we both clean off, Y/N stops the shower and we hop out. I race to snatch the towel before she can. Y/N crosses her arms against her chest and pouts.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I drag my words out. “Did you want this?” I point to the towel that’s wrapped around my hips.

“Yeah. I did.” She rolls her eyes before stomping off to find another towel. I chuckle, watching her curves bounce at every step she makes. I re-enter her room and dry off my chest and hair. Searching for the remote I hear Y/N come back.

“It’s on the nightstand.” Her voice fills the room.

I turn my attention to her bedside table and grab the remote. I jump onto her bed and start to flicker through the channels.

“Uh, uh.” Y/N says from the bathroom. I look towards her to see what she’s disapproving of. She looks me up and down. “Go dry off more and get your pajamas on,” She scoffs.

I stick my tongue at her before lifting myself back onto my feet and heading for my backpack. I fish for my pajamas that I brought and quickly slip into the soft fabric. When I turn back around, Y/N is already in hers with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

“Is that my hoodie?” I ask, noticing that the hoodie looked familiar and was a little too big on her.

Y/N giggles. “Maybe.” She crawls into bed, unwrapping her hair from the towel.

“You look hot in it,” I say joining her.

She cuddles up to me and I wrap my arm around her. My heartbeat slows for the first time in a while and I feel completely happy. “Y/N, I really like you.” The words escape my lips. Y/N looks up at me, looking at me like she was trying to figure out if I meant it. After a while of searching my face, she smiles. She holds my cheek and brings her lips to mine sweetly.

“I really like you, too,” She whispers, pressing her forehead against mine. We both break into a smile and I kiss her again passionately.

“Cool.” I smile as she sets her head back on my chest.

After a few episodes of Law and Order, my eyelids become heavy and I drift to sleep.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV* *NEXT MORNING*

I wake up to the smell of cooking. As my eyes adjust to the light of the room I feel around for Tyler. I notice that there is an empty space where Tyler was. I groan, not wanting to get up. Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed I glance over to the alarm clock. 5:44. Why is he up so early? School doesn’t start for another hour and a half.

I make my way down the hallway and through my living room- that was now clear of the fort from the previous night- and into my kitchen. I notice a figure standing at the stove with their back to me.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” The figure glances over their shoulder to smile at me.

I give a sleepy smile back. “Good morning, Tyler.” Leaning against the frame of the kitchen I admire how Tyler makes breakfast.

After a while, Tyler passes me with two plates- not before planting a kiss on my forehead- and I follow him into the dining room. I take my seat and cross my legs as Tyler places my plate in front of me. Before Tyler could even sit down, I was already attacking the food on my plate.

“Slow down, girl,” Tyler laughs.

I pause and jokingly slow down my pace a lot. Tyler rolls his eyes and strikes up a conversation. We talk about what we dreamt about last night and what classes we have today.

“How are you feeling?” He asks as I finish the last bit of eggs I had on my plate.

“Well, my legs are kind of sore,” I reply

“What? Why?” He asks, the questions drowned in concern.

I shoot him a look.

“Oh,” He clicks his fork against the plate and blushes, “last night.” He awkwardly laughs.

Once finished with my breakfast I stand up. “Well, I’m going to get dressed for today.” I peck Tyler on the lips before taking my plate into the kitchen and placing it into the sink. I then head towards my room to get ready for the school day. I throw on an old band shirt and some skinny jeans from my closet. Then I head into the bathroom to put on the minimal amount of makeup I usually put on and brush my teeth. As I apply my mascara, I hear Tyler shuffle through his bag for his clothes. I make my way back out to my room and catch Tyler in the middle of changing.

As he slips on his shirt he flashes me a smile. “You’re so cute.”

All I can do is roll my eyes. “You might want to hurry up,” I say pointing to the clock.

We both throw on our shoes and pack our stuff. I skip out the door to hop into Tyler’s car, quickly plugging the aux chord into my phone so I could play my music. As Tyler starts the car, my music begins playing through his sound system. Tyler plants a kiss on my forehead before pulling out of my driveway.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It only takes about ten minutes before we pull into the student parking lot of our school. I keep my music blasting as Tyler parks his car. As he hops out I finally unplug my phone and shove it into my back pocket. I grab my backpack from the back seat and skip up to Tyler to lace my hand with his. We tell funny stories about our childhood all the way to Mr. Pike’s room.

Tyler unlocks the door and flicks the light on. We both throw our things next to the piano and start organizing his room for the start of the day. Once done, I notice that I didn’t pee before I left the house and my bladder was screaming at me.

“I need to go to the bathroom real quick,” I say, already making my way out of the classroom.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*TYLER’S POV*

As Y/N leaves I begin to work on the song I’ve been putting together. Not that while later I hear someone come back into the classroom. Without looking up from the piano keys I say, “Well, that was quick.”

“What?” The voice said.

Confused by the higher pitch I turn my attention to the figure. My face falls into a slight panic.

“Hi, Tyler.” The bubbly voice says.

“Uh, hi Rebecca…” I reply reluctantly.

She takes the spot on the stool next to mine, pressing her hip to mine. I try to scoot away from her but she keeps closing in on me. “I thought you were supposed to come over last night. You weren’t answering any of my texts or calls.”

Avoiding eye contact I reply, “I got grounded.”

Rebecca pauses. “Is that a hickey?” Her question snaps.

Shit. I try and cover the bruise but she shoves my hand away. “It is!” She exclaims.

I quickly get up and grab my backpack. “Look, Rebecca, you’re really creepy and I just didn’t feel comfortable being alone with you.” I tuck my head down and try and walk away but she grabs my wrist.

“Wait,” I stop at her sudden change in tone. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t know how to control myself and it was wrong to question you like that. I just think you’re a really cool guy and I really want to hang out with you.”

My heart sinks at her words. I felt like an ass. “It’s ok, we all do things we regret.” I sigh.

She looks up at me with hopeful eyes. “Really? So, we’re cool?”

“I guess.”

She immediately perks back up. “Thank you. Could I uh, have a hug?”

“Ok,” I say, opening up my arms. She tightly wraps her arms around my neck and I gently pat her back. “Ok, well I have to go see one-“ I try to say as we break away but I get cut off.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

*READER’S POV*

I wash my hands and grab a paper towel to dry them. As I walk back to the piano room I can’t help but replay last night. The way Tyler looked at me and held me, it made butterflies flutter in my stomach.

“Hey, sorry, Ty. There was a fight near the bathroom.” I turn the corner into Mr. Pike’s room.

I notice that Tyler wasn’t alone. Adjusting to the sudden light difference I suddenly stop in my tracks. Expecting Tyler to be playing the piano, I instead see his arms wrapped around a girl and his lips on hers. My heart drops into my stomach as his words “I really like you” replay in my brain over and over again. My face scrunches up and my eyes begin to blur with tears.