#and now half the airport is trying to check into the hotel at once so who knows when ill finally be able to sleep :(

[matthewswifeee]

Surprising Matt On Tour

In which Matt and his brothers start the verses tour, this is the longest that the two of you have been away from each other in a long time so you decide to surprise your boyfriend by going to see him on tour. . . .

Its about half way through the verses tour and the boys have a show in Chicago tonight. I decided a few day ago that since I had a few free days that I would go surprise Matt on tour. I packed up everything that I needed to go and headed to the airport. I go get my bag checked and head through security and now I'm just waiting to board the plane. The flight wasn't to bad but as soon as I got to the hotel it started to snow. After I get settled in I hurry to get ready before the show starts. I put on a fitted cropped long sleeve blue shirt with a pair of blue jeans and my black Ugg's. Then I do some light make up and pull my hair half up with a blue bow matching my shirt. Then before I leave the hotel I send Matt a text.

Good luck tonight I love you <3

I get to the venue while the boys are doing their first meet and greet of the night and I text Tril to come get me. He comes and lets me in then takes me to one of the rooms backstage. "Only a few more people in line so they should be back soon" Tril lets me know before going back to what he was doing to prepare for the show since he was preforming with them tonight.

A few minutes pass and I can feel the nerves in my stomach getting more intense as I hear the three familiar voices getting closer. The door opens making me turn around to face them and Matt immediately engulfs me into a huge hug picking me up off the ground as I wrap my legs around his torso. "No way you're real" Matt says as we pull away but he still holds me. "I wanted to surprise you" I say then he leans in for a kiss and puts me back on my feet letting me also greet Nick and Chris.

"That's going in the vlog" Nick says holding the camera. "Kid trampled me to get to her" Chris says making us all laugh. "Ok guys six minutes till show time" some guy with a headset tells the boys before exiting the room. "Have fun, I love you" I say kissing Matt once more before he has to go out on stage.

The entire time the boys were out on stage Matt just kept on looking over at side stage smiling, where I was standing watching them. The lights were hitting him just right, enhancing all of his best features. Making me even more infatuated with this man. I cant wait till after the show when we can actually spend some time together.

Matt ended up wining tonight's show and after his two brothers crowned him he walks over to side stage and pulls me out there with him. "Thank you to my amazing teammate and of course my good luck charm" Matt says pointing over at the girl he chose to be his partner tonight and pulling me close to his side. "I LOVE YOU" he yells at me into the microphone before pulling me in for a kiss. "You are crazy" I say pulling away and smiling at him. After the boys were done on stage and Tril performed a song at the end they had one last meet and greet to get through before they were officially finished with their Chicago show.

The meet and greet didn't take to long maybe another two hours or so. "Hi my sweet girl" Matt says hugging me with sweat pouring down his face. "You need a shower" I say scrunching up my nose teasing him and I watch him playfully roll his eyes. "You love me, sweat and all" he says wrapping me in a tight hug.

We all pile up on the tour bus and drive to the hotel since we're not going to their next show until the day after tomorrow. "We have our own room" I whisper to Matt and watch the look in his eyes shift to a look I know all too well. His hand tighten on my leg just above my knee as he bites his lower lip a little and I lean my head on his shoulder.

We arrive at the hotel and everyone is frantically trying to get off the tour bus and into an actual bed since they have been sleeping in bunks for a majority of the tour. Matt shoves his phone charger and a few other items into my purse before grabbing his suitcase from underneath of the bus. "Do you guys wanna get dinner, there's a smash burger like two blocks down" Chris asks Matt, Nick and I. "We're good" Matt says speaking for the both of us. "Yea I'll go just let me put my shit in the room first" Nick responds.

I lead Matt up to our room, he quickly throws his suitcase in before taking off to get a shower. While Matt's in the shower I open up his suitcase and reorganize the mess that he has made of it. I take out a pair of pajama pants and a white tank top, knowing that's what he will want to wear. I the take out his deodorant and hair brush from his backpack and place it on top of the clothes. After I'm finished situating all off Matt's things for him I decide to get changed. I peal off my jeans first since they were getting uncomfortable. As I'm bent over rummaging through my suitcase looking for pajamas I feel hands on my ass making me slightly jump at the sudden contact.

"You had these on all night" Matt asks as he traces his fingertips over my blue lace thong. "How about" he starts as he twists me around to face him, making me drop everything that was in my hands, "We get these off of you" he says continuing his sentence. "Jump" he instructs and I do as he says, wrapping my legs around his waist as he grips my ass tightly to hold me up.

He gently places me down on the bed and connects our lips. "You have no idea how much I've missed you" Matt whispers making me smile. He pulls my shirt over my head and quickly unclamped my bra that matched my blue panties. "You are so beautiful" he says kissing me once more. He then carefully slides my panties down and removes the towel from his waist as he hovers over top of me on the bed.

"I can't wait to be inside of you" Matt says trailing kisses down my neck. "I'm gonna make you feel so good baby" he says squeezing my ass as he continues kissing down my neck, earning breathily moans from me. "I need you" I whine at him with my arms wrapped around the back of his neck. I then see him grab his wallet off the night stand, assuming to get the condom that he always keeps in there. I look over and see a look on his face. "Fuck" he mutters throwing the black wallet back on to the night stand.

"What's wrong baby" I say sitting up to see what the problem is. "I never put a new one in here from when we used it last time, when we were at the cape" he says obviously irritated. "It's fine we don't need one" I say rubbing his arm. "(Y/n) I love you but we don't need a baby yet" he says. "No it's ok I started taking birth control a couple moths ago" I say and I see his face return back to his normal lustful gaze as he smashes his lips back on to mine.

"I cant wait to slide right in and see how good you really feel" Matt says kissing down my neck. " You are so perfect" he says as I feel his hands travel down between my legs. "Are you ready sweetheart" Matt asks as he rubs his tip between my wet folds. "Yes Matt please" I moan. He slowly slides into me all the way and begins to slowly thrust.

"God you feel so good" Matt moans making me want to cum right there. " Mmm Matt" I moan loudly as he continues moving at the soft slow pace. "Look at me baby" he says grabbing my jaw and making me look him in the eyes. "I love you so much princess" he says as I moan underneath of him. "I-i love yo-you" I moan barely being able to get out the words. Matt wasn't just having sex with me tonight he was making love and he made sure that I knew it.

"M-matt I th-think im" I try to tell Matt that I'm about to finish when all the sudden it came over me all so fast that I wasn't able to finish my sentence. My legs started to shake and feel weak as I became an even louder moaning mess as Matt continues to chase his own high. "Where do you want me to cum" Matt asks barely being able to contain himself any longer. "Please please please cum inside of me baby please" I beg him and after a few more soft slow thrust I feel him fill me up with his cum.

"You were so good" Matt says laying beside me and pulling my naked body onto his making me smile. "When did you get on birth control" he asks. "Like four months ago, after that one time when the condom broke and we had that scare" I respond. "A nd you didn't tell me... I could've been feeling how wet you really are and how good you actually feel" he says making my stomach flip, I love when this man praises me. A nd with that we both fall asleep tangled up in each other.

[goldenngt]

First Post!

Hi guys this is my first imagine/ blurb ever so pls be kindddd! I hope you like it and lmk any thoughts I would love feedback!!

Here goes…

—————————————————————————

Prompt:

He comes home later than he planned and your asleep on the bed in lingerie

Long distance relationship, finally meeting again

You and Jude had planned a night at a really nice hotel for your reunion. You hadn’t seen him for weeks and figured a hotel would be a nice change. His plane was supposed to arrive at 11 and it would take him an hour from the airport. You ordered dessert from room service pre-emptively for the two of you, and had rose petals that you scattered from the door to the bed. The excitement ran through your body, you missed him too much. You kept glancing at the clock tryna gauge how long it would take him to get there, once it hit 11 you put on the lingerie set you bought for this occasion, a lacy hot pink set that made your boobs and ass look crazy. Then you hear a ding from your phone, Jude’s picture popped up, but your heart dropped as he says his flight got delayed and he’s no clue what time he’ll get there. You decide to lay down and watch some tv, trying to stay awake but eventually let your droopy eyes fall and carry you to sleep.

It’s around 3am and Jude finally gets off the plane. He grabs an Uber and is at the hotel within a half hour but he knows you're probably asleep as his texts go unread.

He reaches the hotel and checks in at the desk, grabbing his key and rushing to your room on the 25th floor, he knows you’re asleep but he still can’t keep his excitement in at being able to hold you and lie next to you for the first time in weeks.

He finally gets to your floor and walks to the door trying to open it as quietly as he can. The lights are on but he can hear your slight snore making him chuckle to himself. He drops his bag down and takes off his jacket to get comfortable before he lies down with you. Finally he peaks around the corner to see you sprawled out on the bed, lying face down in nothing but your lingerie, making his eyes bulge out of his head. He was not expecting this, making him even more mad that’s he’s so late.

His eyes land on your ass, and he can feel his bulge growing. He groans to himself “fuck me”, you’re so hot and he missed you so much. His bulge grows painful as he thinks about all the things he wants to do to you. But for now, he’s tired, he’ll take sleep as long as it’s beside you.

He quietly undresses, taking of his shirt and trousers, till he’s only in his boxers. Turning off the lamp, Jude crawls in bed next to you, making sure to cover you with the blanket. You stir in your sleep from the movement and he can’t help but smile from your furrowed brows.

“Baby is that you?” You ask, your voice croaky from sleep, the frown still glued to your face, as you squint your eyes open.

“Yeah baby it’s me” Jude chuckles, shuffling closer to you and placing a gentle kiss to your nose.

Your eyes flutter open, with a tired smile, you shuffle even closer, wrapping your leg and arm around him, stroking up the side of his torso. “I missed you”, you whisper, “what time is it?”

“It’s late, go back to sleep baby, we can catch up in the morning, I missed you too, but now I just wanna hold you yeah?” He pecks your cheek and admires your closed eyes and how soft and sweet you look in your sleep.

You nod, sinking into his embrace and nuzzling your face in his neck

Stay tuned for part two where I will attempt to write smut hehe 😈

[jaewriteshi]

Invisible String

Summary: They say childhood best friends never fall apart. That the invisible string tying them together is unbreakable. But what happens when love tangles itself in between?

Maeve wanted to chase the stage. Jeonghan wanted to escape his fate. But not all dreams fit into the same future, and not all love stories end with a happy ending.

And as the final note fades, she wonders… Did he ever hear the words hidden in the melody?

Matching: best friend!yoon jeonghan x idol!reader

Genre: ANGSTTTT, fluff if you squint

Note: indented parts are flashbacks, this was written by 2023 me dsauihdjkns (its basically covered with webs)

____________________________________

The interview started with me singing one of the tracks in my album “Invisible String”. 

Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs

Were there clues I didn’t see?

“Why can’t you just say who you like!” I said before chasing after him He then stuck his tongue out, trying to hide the smile that’s plastered in his face. 

And isn’t it just so pretty to think

All along there was some, Invisible string

NOTIFICATIONS: ❦: Let’s go somewhere far away from here. “You basically kidnapped me,” I said, making our way to our bus seat.  “No it isn’t, you agreed at the idea of leaving home” he replied with a grin while settling ourselves in a comfortable position.  “What is your problem?” “School. You?” “Parents.”

Tying you to me?

I opened my eyes after hearing the instrumental ending, seeing how the staff clapped their hands as well as the host. 

____________________________________

FLASHBACK TO 12TH GRADE:

“Gosh Jeong, when you mentioned you were thinking about going somewhere far away, I didn't imagine it to be to JEJU ISLAND SPECIFICALLY.” I exaggeratedly yelled, flailing my arms like an insane person. Which I am at the moment. Around 1 and a half hours ago, Jeong texted me if I wanted to go on a trip with him. Here we are, standing right infront of Incheon Airport with just our backpacks with minimal packing. Apparently, it's my fault for agreeing to it when we have our finals next week. 

Jeonghan and I have been best friends since diapers, literally. Our mothers were considered “half-sisters” from their high school days till now because of their close bond, which led some to wonder if they were related. Automatically, from the moment I was born, I’ve always had a companion by my side. Until I got older, I had no idea he would be a pain in the ass. 

I guess you could say that the name “Yoon Jeonghan” is very well known around the campus, if you think it was because of his charming looks and grades, well you’re in for a treat. 

“YOON JEONGHAN GET BACK HERE!” A teacher yelled while chasing a very familiar brown-haired man, attracting many student’s attention as well. I was supposed to be in my 3rd class by now but my curiosity got the best of me. I walked over to the parking lot, seeing people gathering around.  Oh god. Mr. Hudson’s car came into view—covered with glue and confetti, topped with pink glitter—making me snort, what a classic. I saw Jeonghan run past me, winking at me. One of my friends approached me asking, “It makes me think about how in the hell you and Jeonghan are still friends?” “I have no idea.”

I have no idea indeed. “Well where did you expect us to go? Didn’t you look out the window to see where we were going?” 

“I FELL ASLEEP” 

“Oh, not my problem. Now come on, we might miss our flight.” He said rushing inside, while I had a hard time catching up with his steps.

Being friends with him is very unexpected, like the way he pulled out my passport out of his bag once we reached the check in desk. Or maybe the way he managed to sneak out of their house without Auntie suspecting anything. Or maybe the way he got us a hotel to stay in once we landed. Or maybe the way he had extra cash with him, which means he had been planning this for some time now. 

“How did you even manage to do all this? I mean, even my passport? Are you kidding me?” I plopped on my bed, I’m highly impressed he managed to get a hotel room with the view of the beach.  “I have ways” he faced me with a grin on his face, Oh how much I wanted to smack that away so many times, “Let’s go out? I remember passing by a few shops earlier.”

In a span of just 2 hours, we managed to do some shopping (mostly me, making jeong my butler by holding my shopping bags) and food trips every now and then. Here we are sitting on a table just right by the beach, eating our ice creams. He broke the comfortable silence, making my heart skip a beat for the first time, as he said “I’m really glad I’m here with you.” I smiled at him but as I was about to share a heartwarming moment, I realized… 

“OUR PARENTS ARE GONNA KILL US” I said, making me stand up from shock. I started pacing back and forth thinking about the possibilities my mom would do once she found out. I didn’t notice how distressed Jeonghan looked as well, trying to interrupt me from my rambling. He then got annoyed and pulled my arms making me clash into his body, staring into his eyes.

“Don’t worry, they know. I just wanted to have some alone time with you”

____________________________________

FLASHBACK TO COLLEGE, 1ST YEAR:

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME EVE! AFTER EVERYTHING YOUR FATHER AND I'VE BEEN THROUGH, YOU DECIDED NOT TO TAKE COLLEGE?” My mother said while furiously walking towards me, I swore I saw smoke coming out of her nose.

“You didn’t let me finish-”

“I didn’t let you finish because that is the finish! What else do you need to tell me!”

“You didn’t ask me why I don’t want to-”

“Then why?!” I rolled my eyes at the way she interrupted me, have you no manners?

“Because I want to pursue my dream of being an Idol-”

“YOU DON’T WANT TO GO THROUGH COLLEGE BECAUSE OF-” “Yes! Because I want to follow my stupid dream!” I cutted her off, I swear I’m so done with putting up with her attitude. Both of my parents looked at me, shocked.

“I want to do something I finally want, something I enjoy doing! You always pressured me into doing some job I don’t want to do! It’s a waste of time for me to be honest, by the fact why did I even have a chance to live when I couldn’t make my own decisions because my mother really had to control my life just because hers wasn’t perfect!” I said while walking towards her, as if I was threatening her. 

My mother wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Always struggling on how to live, almost surviving in this society. While my father’s was the complete opposite. An only son of a CEO, making him the next heir of the company. It’s like a Wattpad Story. Them being arranged marriage because of a deal their families made, having to live in a lie that’s written on paper. Having to live in the same house, with no love shared together. Having to fake a happily perfect life. 

Jeonghan’s no different. His parents pressure him way too much in taking law because “it’s a family tradition, dear” that the first born has to carry on. He was more suffocated than I was. My mother and his were like the evil stepsisters in Cinderella, marrying a man for their position. Funny how the story went downhill. 

She slapped me. My own mother slapped me. My father stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. He was never a talker, maybe that’s what I hated about him. “How dare you say that” My mother gritted her teeth, almost locking her jaw. “I said what I said” while rubbing my now red stained cheeks, glaring at her. “Get out” ok when I said that shit was going down, I never expected this. 

“What?”

“I said. Get. Out” My mother said while staring at me, no pain evident in her eyes.

Silence then began to surround the house. I broke it first with a giddy-

“Fine!” I then rushed to my room, taking my already packed luggage below my bed. Finally, it’s finally happening. 

“Wait. What?” My mother said, making me stop in my tracks as I was already standing at the door.

“What do you mean ‘what?’, you told me to get out so I am” I said the obvious. 

“Yea, but I was expecti-”

“Expecting me to do what? To beg on my knees for me to stay? I scoffed. “You really are pathetic” closing the door, not even bothering to say my farewells. Before I shut the door, I heard my father’s voice finally coming out, shouting at my mother for the first time as he blamed her. What do I do now? The only person I could run to was…Him. 

_______________

Song Playing: Mine

You were in college, working part-time waiting tables

Left a small town, never looked back

I rang the doorbell of an apartment as I awaited an answer. I was freezing. I just really had to take a bus that's heater is broken. 

“Eve?” A familiar voice erupted behind me, making me flinch at the sudden sound. “Oh, you’re here” I said while sniffing my now red nose. I probably looked like Rudolph.

“God, you’re freezing” He said as he hurriedly opened the door, rushing me to sit on the couch and wrapped me up with blankets. 

I chuckled at this sweet behavior. “Do you need anything?” “No, but thank you” I smiled genuinely. He then made hot choco while trying to make a conversation by asking me how I was doing. 

I hadn't seen Jeonghan in a long time, and that was new to me. Even though we stayed in touch via chat, we never honestly discussed why he left home. He suddenly disappeared and messaged me saying he had an apartment in Busan. Yes, I did travel to Busan via bus. That is five hours. lacking a heater. I'm assuming it was for the exact cause as I was.

I was a flight risk, with a fear of fallin’

I saw him glancing at my luggages before making his way to me. “So, tell me” he said while handing out my drink,  I whispered a small ‘thank you’ before tasting the beverage. I’m surprised though at how he managed to make Hot Choco when he doesn’t even know how to cook rice. He raised his eyebrows before taking a sip, signaling me to start on why I was here. 

I placed my mug at the console table beside me. “I need a place to stay,” I said. “Why?” “They kicked me out, because of some passion I wanted to  follow” I rolled my eyes. 

“You’re still going on about being an Idol?” I nodded, in despair. “Then why are you here? Shouldn’t you start auditioning now?” I know. “I just want to save up some cash first” I made an excuse.

I suppose it was both true and an excuse, though. I first needed a few bucks since I knew that if I started off with nothing, the expenses in Seoul would kill me. And maybe also because I wanted to see him. A peaceful silence enveloped us as we just stared at the wall in front of us, snuggling into each other’s warmth.

Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts

“I missed you” We said simultaneously. Making me feel the oh-so-well familiar beating of a heart whenever we had moments like this. 

I say, “Can you believe it?”

As we’re lyin’ on the couch

I looked at him, also seeing him staring at me. Making me realize…

The moment, I can see it

I love the person I trust the most, the person I always think of when I'm at my lowest, the person I think about when I hear the words 'sweet' and 'loving', the person I would make exemptions for. My Best friend. 

Yes, yes, I can see it now

__________________________

NOTE: Maeve is now 20 years old

He cracked a smile as he faced me. "What?" "You look ridiculous," I do. I'm digging through his stuff while seated on the floor, and I have a ton of items attached to me. Wearing his hair clips he used to use when he had his long hair, his green puffer vest when we used to go camping, checkered scarf, and a white bucket hat. 

After two years, I had finally moved into my own apartment, whereas Jeonghan had only recently moved into his own home. We’re currently unpacking the boxes scattered on the floor. When I said ‘we’, I meant me going over his stuff being completely distracted while he fixed his clothes in the closet. 

Nothing much changed in our relationship, including the feelings that I kept from him. Since we were often together, I had to conceal the loud thumping in my chest whenever he behaved charmingly more than a friend. 

"God Jeonghan, you're being too dramatic!" I shouted angrily at him. He calmly led me into his apartment to my assigned room, "No, I'm not," he responded. "He's a coworker of mine," I mumbled. I worked part-time in a restaurant close to Jeonghan's workplace for a while. My coworkers and I had planned to stay up all night drinking tonight, but someone had to spoil our plans. As if we didn't have shifts the next day, we were already at the local bar dunking the familiar taste and burning feeling of alcohol. I mistakenly sent a message to Jeong when I intended to ask one of my friends to pick me up.  “You still don’t even know them yet” I could feel how he’s holding back from screaming at me.  His voice was firm, but there was an underlying emotion I couldn't quite place. Frustration? Fear? Maybe something more. "Jeong, I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself." I rolled my eyes, stumbling slightly as I tried to get up from the bed where he had sat me down. He caught my wrist gently, stopping me. "I never said you were. But I know you, Maeve. You let people in too easily. You trust too fast. And that guy—he looked at you like you were something to win." I scoffed. "And what if I want to be won? What if I want someone to chase after me for once, instead of always being the one left behind?" His grip tightened for a second before he let go. His jaw clenched, his face unreadable. "You're not something to be won, Maeve. You're someone to be cherished." My breath hitched. For a moment, I let myself believe that his words meant something more. That he meant them. But then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning away. "Just... be careful, okay?" And just like that, the moment was gone.

____________________________________

Years passed. Life moved forward in its messy, unpredictable way.

I got my first break in the music industry. A small entertainment company took a chance on me, and before I knew it, I was training, recording, performing. The dream I had fought for—the one I had left home for—was finally in my grasp.

And Jeonghan was still by my side.

Through late-night calls, surprise visits, and quiet moments between our separate busy lives, he remained a constant. My anchor in the chaos. My best friend.

But best friends weren’t supposed to make your heart ache.

Best friends weren’t supposed to make you wish for something more.

____________________________________

The night before I left for my first world tour, I stood outside his apartment, my fingers hovering over the doorbell.

My heart was racing. I needed to tell him. Before I left, before it was too late, I had to let him know.

I knocked.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and there he was—hair messy, eyes heavy with sleep, wearing that same green puffer vest I had once stolen.

"Maeve? What are you—"

"I'm leaving tomorrow." My voice was barely above a whisper.

He blinked. "I know. I was going to call you in the morning. Wish you luck."

I shook my head. "No. I mean, I'm really leaving, Jeong. For months. Maybe years."

A shadow crossed his face, but he quickly masked it with a smile. "That’s amazing, Maeve. This is everything you wanted."

"Yeah." I forced a laugh. "It is."

Silence stretched between us. The words I wanted to say caught in my throat, tangled with fear and uncertainty.

Don't let me go.

Tell me to stay.

Tell me you feel it too.

But he didn’t. Instead, he pulled me into a hug, his arms warm and familiar. I closed my eyes, trying to memorize the way he felt, the way he smelled, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek.

When we pulled away, he smiled. "Go make the world fall in love with you, Maeve."

And that was it.

____________

The lights of the stage felt too bright. The audience, the cameras, the interviewer’s voice.

It had been years. I left, we had no connection afterwards, and life went on. I chased my dream, just like he told me to. But some nights, when the world quieted down, I still heard his voice in my head.

I still saw his smile in the spaces between my memories.

I still felt his absence in every song I wrote.

The interviewer’s voice pulled me back to reality. “If you had the chance to say something to that ‘someone,’ what would it be?”

I swallowed, fingers tightening around my phone.

“I’d say…” My voice cracked. I let out a shaky breath, smiling despite the tears welling in my eyes. “I hope you’re happy. I hope you found what you were looking for.”

The audience clapped, oblivious to the weight of my words.

Oblivious to the fact that, after all these years, I was still trying to let him go.

I stood backstage, the echoes of the applause fading. The final notes of the song played through the speakers, the lyrics hauntingly familiar.

Like oceans and engines, you can't keep up with me  You're holdin' my hand but you don't understand So goodbye, for now

I closed my eyes, letting the melody wash over me.

You never knew, the bridges burned, I let the fire just bathe me.

And just like that, the invisible string that had once tied us together was gone.

[hungermakesmonsters]

Catch Me If You Can

Chapter Twenty-Three

Plot summary : When your friend interviews for a position at Anvil, you have a chance encounter with Billy Russo. He takes you for coffee and, by the time you’re done, Billy decides he’s anything but done with you.

Pairing : Billy Russo x Reader

Story Rating : R 

Chapter Rating : R - the usual

Warnings : [This is a fic for 18+ only, minors DNI] The usual smuttiness and some very vague violence. Please check the warnings on each chapter if you choose to follow this story. 

Word Count : ~5.1k

A/N : Reader has a theory about why Billy followed her to Mexico...

CHAPTER ONE | CHAPTER TWO | CHAPTER THREE | CHAPTER FOUR | CHAPTER FIVE | CHAPTER SIX | CHAPTER SEVEN | CHAPTER EIGHT | CHAPTER NINE | CHAPTER TEN | CHAPTER ELEVEN | CHAPTER TWELVE | CHAPTER THIRTEEN | CHAPTER FOURTEEN | CHAPTER FIFTEEN | CHAPTER SIXTEEN | CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | CHAPTER NINETEEN | CHAPTER TWENTY | CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE | CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Chapter Twenty-Three

After Billy’s arrival in Mexico, things took a strange turn and, for the longest time, you couldn’t say why. Once he’d made his apology to you on the balcony, you decided to go shower and give him some time to apologise to Karen for crashing your vacation. Billy was reluctant to leave you alone, presumably because he wanted to shower with you, so you had to all but force him out of your room, telling him that you’d meet him and Karen later, once he’d sorted everything out with her. 

When you were finally alone, you took a long shower, thinking over everything that had happened. And, the more you thought, the worse you felt about everything. 

Of course you were happy to see him - you didn’t think there would ever be a time when you wouldn’t be happy to see Billy - but there was something about him being there that just didn’t sit right with you. You felt like you should have pushed him for more, that you shouldn’t have just accepted his apology the way that you did.

Did he not trust you? Did he think you were going to fall into bed with someone else? Or did he think that being away from him would help you notice all the issues in your relationship, all of his issues? 

Ultimately, you weren’t sure. It didn’t make sense.

He’d put it down to impulse control issues - you should have called him on that, he knew that you hated him hiding behind that - and this definitely wasn’t that. This was planned; he’d booked a flight and a hotel room, he’d driven himself to the airport and gone through security and gotten on a plane. It wasn’t some spur of the moment lapse in judgement. 

The more you thought about it, the more convoluted everything became. Maybe he really was just there because he missed you and because he was worried. Maybe it was just that simple and innocent. But, as you’d told him, you felt smothered. And, now, it was making you feel out of control in a way you hadn’t felt since Scott.

You took your time getting ready to meet Billy and Karen, giving one word answers to texts, agreeing to meet them at seven for food and, even then, you were five minutes late.

They were already waiting for you and, from the looks of it, had been there for a while, with half-finished drinks in front of them. Karen smiled at you and Billy fell silent as you approached and took a seat.

“You’re happier than I was expecting you to be about all this,” you looked at Karen, trying to figure out why she was so accepting of Billy’s presence on your girls only vacation.

“Well, the way I see it, if he’s here,” she nodded towards Billy with a smirk, “he’s not pissing Frank off and it’ll give Frank some time to consider his priorities.”

“You know, you could just ask Frank to move in with you, right?”

“Wait-wait-wait,” Billy shook his head in disbelief, “you actually want to live with Frank? Why?” You slapped his arm and earned yourself one of those trademark Billy Russo smirks, as if he was so proud of his little joke. “Oh, this is perfect. Please, let me be the one to tell him?”

“Why would I do that?” Karen asked, obviously about as impressed with Billy as you were.

“Because he’s been on my ass for months about settling down, and turnabout is fair play?” Billy answered. 

“He’s been on your ass because you spent years fucking every woman in New York and, now that you’ve finally found one that’s willing to put up with you, Frank doesn’t want you to screw it up.” Karen answered back.

“I don’t know if I’d say I put up with him,” you tried your best to sound serious, barely biting back a smirk, and earning yourself a nudge beneath the table from Billy’s foot. You gave him a fond sort of smile and Karen gave a snort.

“Okay, if you two are going to start getting all lovey-dovey, I’m going to need a lot more to drink...” she joked, making a point of turning her attention to the menu while your gaze lingered on Billy.

It was always so easy to forget all your doubts and worries whenever he smiled at you like you were the only other person in the world but, now, you couldn’t help but wonder if it was a deliberate action on his part to make you simply accept the fact that he was there. A suspicion that only seemed to grow when he pulled his phone from his pocket and he tried to suppress a frown, a look that you’d seen on his face several times while he and Frank had been looking for the security threat that had turned out to be the private investigator sent by your ex.

He was trying to hide something.

“What’s wrong?” You dared to ask, your imagination already starting to go to some pretty dark places.

“Nothing. It’s fine,” Billy answered, forcing a smile, his eyes flickering to Karen for a split-second. 

“Frank giving you a hard time?” Karen offered.

“Yeah,” Billy shrugged, like it was nothing.

You dropped your eyes to the menu, trying to decide if you were being paranoid or if there was something going on, something that they were trying to keep from you. It didn’t feel like paranoia but, for the life of you, you couldn’t even begin to guess what sort of thing the pair of them might be trying to keep from you. Except -

No. No. 

You felt ridiculous the moment the thought popped into your mind; Billy hadn’t followed you to Mexico to propose. That would be insane.

But, it would explain all the secrecy and weirdness.

Fuck. What would you even say if he did propose? You hadn’t even known him for half a year - you couldn’t marry a man you barely knew. But, you loved him and the thought of spending the rest of your life without him was unbearable. And you already knew that Billy wouldn’t take a rejection well - if you told him no it would probably end your relationship.

Once the thought was in your head, it was hard to shake it. So much so that you spent the rest of the evening thinking about it, equal parts excited and terrified even though you had no real evidence that that was why Billy was there. You tried your best to keep up with the conversation, but you were distracted, stuck on that one little idea.

After eating, the three of you headed to a little bar that overlooked the ocean but, still, your mind was elsewhere.

“This place is nice,” Billy said, letting his gaze wander out over the water before his attention turned back to you. “Maybe we could stay a little longer? Make a real vacation of it?”

“You know I can’t,” you told him, looking to Karen for support who was, conveniently busy looking at her phone. “I’ve got to sign my contract with The Bulletin and I need to finish packing up the apartment so I can move in.”

“I’m sure they could email you the contract over, and I could hire movers for you?”

“We can go on a proper vacation some other time, I can’t just drop everything and -” 

“Karen, you’re on my side, right? Don’t you think she needs a real vacation?” He looked at Karen and, for a moment, she seemed a little uncomfortable being dragged into your argument but then she shrugged and looked your way.

“You have had a pretty stressful couple of months,” was all she dared to offer, but it was more than enough to cement in your mind that there was something strange going on.

“Exactly,” Billy agreed.

Not wanting to argue in front of Karen, you let the conversation drop with little more than a shrug and muttered promise to consider it. You had another drink before deciding that you were tired and were calling it a night. Billy took that as his cue to finish his drink and, after the pair of you walked Karen back to her room, he led you to the suite he’d booked for himself.

The second the door was shut and you were alone, Billy had you in his arms, kissing you with an eagerness that never seemed to fade. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his shoulders, holding him tight.

“You okay? You seemed a little quiet tonight,” he asked softly when the kiss finally broke, brushing a stray strand of hair away from your face and tucking it behind your ear.

“I’m just tired,” you didn’t like lying to him but you weren’t sure what else to tell him, and you hated yourself even more when he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Do you want to go sleep?” He asked you so tenderly that it made your heart ache, looking at you like you were the most precious thing in the world to him. “We can just curl up in bed and -”

You cut him off, your fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck, and pulling his lips back to yours. As confused as you were by everything that was going on, it didn’t change how you felt about him, especially not in sweet and tender moments like that one. And it definitely didn’t change how much you wanted him. 

The kiss was all the sign Billy needed and, as you kissed, he awkwardly started to lead you through the suite and towards the massive bed while his deft fingers unzipped your dress and slid it down your body. Meanwhile, your own fingers clumsily helped rid him of his shirt.

A laugh slipped between your lips when he suddenly lifted you and practically threw you onto the bed in nothing but your underwear. You bit your lip, watching as his pants dropped and he crawled onto the bed, smiling that big stupid smirk that got you every single time. Moments like this were what you loved the most about being with him; his desperation gave away how much he wanted you, while his playfulness reminded you how no one else got to see this side of him.

Billy Russo was yours. Just yours.

(And, honestly, if he’d asked you to marry him at that moment, you would have agreed without hesitation.)

His lips pressed to your cheek as he climbed on top of you, kissing one side of your face, then the other. Then he kissed the tip of your nose, drawing a soft laugh from you, and his eyes seemed to darken at the sound. Finally, he kissed you again, parting your lips with one stroke of his tongue. It was a slow, teasing kiss, the kind that left you breathless and craving more, craving everything. 

Everything moved at Billy’s pace, even when your fingers started to press into his back, urging him on. He lingered against your lips like he was trying to commit every little detail to memory before moving on. His lips followed your jaw neck before slowly moving down the column of your throat, kissing and licking before scraping his teeth along your skin causing you to squirm beneath him.

Down, down, down, he went, and you knew exactly where this was heading. He always made such an event of going down on you, as if he enjoyed it just as much as you. Kisses trailed down over your collarbone to your chest where, following a few awkward movements and a little more laughter from you, Billy removed your bra. Again, he took his time, enjoying running his lips and tongue over your breasts, teasing your nipples, causing them to pebble. His eyes flickered up to see yours as he started to suck on one of the hardened peaks and you heard a low groan from the back of his throat, a sound that seemed to resonate between your thighs.

Then he moved again, his kisses following the faint scar that ran down your stomach, his fingers hooking on your panties. He gave you another look as he trailed his tongue around your navel, making you squirm again, getting more and more desperate for him with every passing second.

Without warning, he tore your panties from your  body.

“Billy,” you whined, barely holding back a laugh, “you need to stop destroying all my panties.”

“Maybe you should just stop wearing them,” he smirked.

Your lips parted, ready to offer some withering retort but, before you could get the words out, his hand slipped between your thighs and he finally touched you. Instead of words, a soft sigh left your lips.

His touch was featherlight, the tip of his finger running through your folds and finding you desperately wet for him. Billy looked at you again, watching your every reaction as his finger slowly teased you, coating it in your slickness before, just as softly, pressing it to your clit.

“Billy -” you said his name like a plea, like you were begging, praying for him to do more, “- please...”

The way he licked his lips caused you to tremble, your whole body seeming to heat up just from that one little gesture. And, while you were distracted by his mouth, he took the opportunity to slide his finger into your eager pussy. A moan slipped out, your eyes still stuck on his, watching as he finally lowered his head between your thighs.

By the time you felt his tongue against you, you were so sensitive that you couldn’t hold back another, louder moan. Fingers slipped through his hair, urging him closer, wanting him to devour you. But still, he moved slowly and purposefully, knowing exactly what he was doing to you.

A second finger joined the first, offering you some slight relief, but it was nowhere near enough. He was driving you crazy, completely insane. His tongue circled and lapped against your clit in time with the slow thrust of his fingers between your trembling walls, as you pulled his hair and tried to grind yourself against him.

“Billy...” you finally broke, your voice an awkward whimper.

He lifted his head and your breath caught at the sight of his lips, glistening with your arousal. For a moment he waited expectantly, his fingers still keeping their slow pace.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He asked as innocently as he could while holding back a smirk.

“Stop teasing me,” you begged.

“But it’s so much fun,” he answered back, causing your toes to curl. Reaching behind you, you grabbed a pillow and swung it at him, catching him on the side of the head and earning a laugh from him that had you grinning. God, you loved him so much. “Alright, fine... always so needy for me...”

He grumbled and pretended to complain for a second before lowering his head and pressing his mouth to your again, his touches and movements quickly becoming more pronounced, so much so that you weren’t sure how long you’d even last. Your hips lifted off the bed and your fingers fisted his hair tighter the closer you got to falling apart. Every breath you took was punctuated with a moan, with his name. Until, finally, you came on his fingers, against his greedy tongue, your thighs trembling and tightening around his head.

Once he was sure you were completely finished, Billy lifted his head and slowly slipped his fingers from your body, the grin on his lips telling you that he was proud of himself. For a moment you found yourself just staring at him, at his smug smile, before dropping your head back on the pillows and starting to laugh.

That seemed to be Billy’s cue to move back up the bed, laying himself beside you.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

“Nothing,” you told him, gently cupping his cheek and running your thumb over his lips, “I just love seeing you happy like that.”

“You make me happy,” he told you, making it seem like some secret confession, some dangerous piece of information. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, of course you do,” his lips kissed your thumb and, again, you found yourself thinking that thought, wondering why he was really in Mexico. After this little moment, a marriage proposal didn’t seem quite so crazy anymore.

“Bet I can make you happier,” you muttered softly, urging him onto his back as you crawled on top of him.

You slipped his boxers down enough so that you could sit with his erection between your thighs, lightly running your hand up and down it, and watching his reaction. You’d never get tired of watching his gaze fill with that barely contained wanting or the way his lips would part as his breath got shorter.

“Now who’s being a tease?” He finally broke, his hands on your legs, lightly squeezing your thighs.

“Now who’s being needy?” You retorted.

Billy didn’t respond, save for a huffed laugh, but it was more than enough to make you move. You held his cock steady as you lifted your hips, your gaze catching his, watching as his eyes slowly dropped down your body to watch as you sank down onto him. Your breath caught and you moved as slowly as you could, enjoying the feeling of every last inch of him inside you.

Once you’d taken him all, you rolled your hips softly and managed to draw a desperate groan from Billy, and you decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Your movements were slow and delicate as you took his hands and placed them on your breasts, intent on teasing him until he broke and begged for mercy, just like you had.

Minutes passed, and you could tell just from looking at him that he was barely holding himself back, that he wanted more than the slow rise and fall of your body atop of him.

Your back arched and a shiver ran down your spine when his hands slid down your body, from your breasts to your hips. His fingers gripped you and, for a moment, you let him help guide your movements, setting a faster pace. You let him take what he wanted, let him take control. Until you realised that he was doing it, until you realised that he was taking what he wanted rather than begging for it like you’d had to.

Smirking down at him, you took hold of his wrists and pinned them above his head before returning to your slower, more teasing pace. 

Leaning down, you ghosted your lips over his, pulling back when he lifted his head to try and kiss you. He pulled against your hold on him, and you pressed harder against his wrists in response, trying to keep him restrained. You leaned again, doing the same, earning a frustrated grunt from Billy when you denied him what he wanted. He struggled again, this time with a little more force, forcing you to use all of your weight to keep hold of him.

And, that’s when you heard it; that sharp little gasp, that almost panicked sound.

There was a flicker of something on his face, something that matched the awkward breath, something uncomfortable and anxious, something that almost looked scared.

You let go of his wrists instantly and Billy took the opportunity to roll you and place himself on top and in control of the situation. Looking up at him, you wanted to say something, wanted to ask if he was okay but, before you could find the words, he was kissing you and driving his hips into yours, taking what he needed from you.

Neither of you lasted more than a couple of minutes. You came first and Billy followed after, leaving you body panting and sweat-slicked. He buried his face against your neck, panting for breath while you could still feel him throbbing inside you. Your fingers ran through his damp hair, your mind still racing over that moment, that one small instance of panic that you’d managed to cause.

“You okay?” You finally managed to mutter, your words little more than a whisper in his ear.

For less than a split-second he tensed, then rolled away from you. “I need a shower. Wanna join me?”

“No, Billy, I -”

“Alright then,” and, with that, he stood and made his way to the bathroom, leaving the door open in case you decided to change your mind.

You didn’t change your mind. In fact, for the first thirty seconds, you were content to just lay in bed, thinking about sleep. But that thought was still in your head, and you had to know for certain. So, as quietly as you could, you got up and started to look through his things, trying to find something that might tell you why he was in Mexico. (Trying to find an engagement ring.)

Over the sound of the air con, you didn’t notice that the shower had stopped. And you didn’t notice Billy standing there until he spoke, catching you rummaging through his suitcase.

“What are you doing?” He asked from the bathroom doorway, a towel around his waist, chest and arms still dripping.

“I was -” you paused awkwardly, feeling your cheeks start to warm, “- looking for something to sleep in.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” he stepped towards you, pointing out a tee shirt that had been left on the nightstand of your side of the bed. Thankfully, he didn't sound angry, just confused. “What were you really looking for?”

“It’s stupid,” you sighed. “I was being stupid.”

“Tell me,” he stopped just out of arm's reach, taking in the sight of you, of your embarrassment.

“I was looking for an engagement ring,” your gaze dropped and you felt like such an idiot.

“An engagement ring?” Billy repeated. “Why would you think -” he cut himself off with a shake of his head. “Is that what you want from me?”

Was it? No. Well, maybe yes but - fuck, you hadn’t even known him a year, you weren’t even living together yet. 

“No, that’s not - I just want to know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going on with you,” frustration filled your voice. “First you show up here, and then -”

“I told you already, I came to Mexico because I was missing you. There’s nothing going on with me.” He interrupted. 

“Then what was that in bed?” you dared to ask, even though something told you that you shouldn’t.

“What was what?” And you could tell he knew exactly what you were talking about.

“You looked like you were about to have a panic attack in the middle of sex, Billy.” You put it as bluntly as you could, knowing that it would do neither of you any good if you dragged things out.

“That’s not what that was and that’s not what we’re talking about right now.”

“You never want to talk about it.”

“Because there’s nothing to talk about,” his arms folded across his chest.

“You still don’t trust me, do you?” You asked, hating to make it about yourself, but the realisation hurt too much to keep it to yourself.

“It’s not that. Sweetheart, I trust you, it’s just...” he couldn’t seem to find the words. You gave him a moment, gave him a second to think, to breathe. “It’s complicated. It doesn’t matter.”

“I can handle complicated, Billy. My life isn’t exactly simple, is it?”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” and the words hit you like a slap, the implication clear as day.

“Is that what I am to you? A burden?” 

His eyes found yours the moment the question left your lips, his head shaking. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what, Billy? I just want to understand,” you practically pleaded with him. “I love you and it kills me to see you like that - it kills me to know that I’m the one causing it.”

“No, sweetheart, no,” he cleared the distance between you in a heartbeat, pulling you into his arms and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “It’s not you. I promise it’s not you. I’m just - I’m still figuring out how to be who you need me to be.”

You pulled back a little, needing to look at him, confusion written all over your face. “I don’t need you to be anything, Billy. I just want you to be you, why is that so hard for you to understand?”

“You don’t even know what you need,” he answered back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You were just searching through my things looking for an engagement ring.”

Your cheeks started to heat again and you felt like an idiot. He was right - at least, you could understand how you might have made him feel. But that wasn’t the point. He kept hiding things from you. There was something going on and you knew it, but he still wouldn’t tell you what. And what had happened in bed just added to your confusion.

Your lack of response had Billy sighing, sitting on the edge of the bed and running a hand over his face. He looked exhausted, and that was something else you blamed yourself for.

“Can we talk about this in the morning?” He offered and it seemed like the sensible thing to do.

You were both clearly tired and nerves were frayed, continuing the conversation now would only result in someone saying something that they didn’t mean and you didn’t want that.

“Okay,” you relented but, instead of moving towards the bed, you made your way to where your dress had been discarded and started to pull it back on.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m going to go back to my room -”

“Why?”

“I just need some space, Billy,” you explained, turning back to him once you were, mostly, dressed again.

“So you’re walking out on me?” He didn’t move from the bed but the look on his face made your chest ache.

“No, that’s not what this is,” you cleared the distance between you and placed a hand on his cheek. “I just need some time to think about some things and - and I think you do too.”

“I don’t need to think about anything. I know what I want,” he told you, his hand covering your own and holding it against his cheek.

“Then you need to think about why you’re here and why you won’t explain it to me,” trying to keep the frustration from your voice. “I know you missed me but this isn’t that, Billy. You’ve survived a few days without me before.”

“It’s not important, it’s -”

“It’s important to me, Billy, and maybe you need to think about that too.” Before he could respond, your hand moved to cover his lips and you pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’m not walking out, I’m not leaving you, but I do need some time alone. But I will come back to you. I’ll always come back because I love you, okay?”

The hesitation was noticeable before he finally nodded and you pulled your hand away from his lips.

“You look exhausted, Billy. Get some sleep.” Then you turned and started towards the door before he could think to try and stop you.

You heard a muttered goodnight from him as you closed the door behind you. A thousand different emotions waged war inside you and, by the time you reached your own room, you didn’t know what you were feeling anymore; embarrassment, frustration, anger, sadness. Billy had managed to make you feel almost everything all at once.

There was no chance of sleep that night, not when all you could do was think about everything that had happened and the fact that you still didn’t understand why he’d needed to follow you to Mexico. Eventually, you mind settled on something that you’d said to him - you needed space.

That was what this vacation was supposed to be in the first place; space, some distance from Billy so you could think. But, since you couldn’t have that space here in Mexico, you decided that you might as well try to find it back in New York. 

You checked the flight times and arranged a taxi to the airport, trading in your ticket for an earlier flight. But, you knew you couldn’t just leave without saying anything, so you wrote Billy a note and asked a maid to slide it under his door a couple of hours later.

Billy,I’m going back to New York. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first, but I need some space. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get home and I’ll be ready to move in with you. I’m not leaving you, I just need a little bit of time on my own. I love you so much, please don’t worry about me. Tell Karen I said sorry.

You turned off your phone and, before you knew it, you were on a flight back to New York. Of course, you knew he was going to be pissed but you needed him to understand that you felt smothered, like you had no space - you needed him to understand that before you moved in together.

The flight was uneventful and you even managed to sleep for a few hours, and the taxi ride home was quick. You didn’t think to turn your phone back on until you were back in yours and Tammy’s apartment, ready to crawl into bed for a few more hours of sleep before getting up and making a start on the packing. There were dozens of missed calls waiting for you, along with texts and voicemails, all seeming increasingly frantic.

With a sigh, you hit play on the first voicemail.

“Don’t go back to New York,” Billy’s voice sounded panicked, worried even, “I’m sorry, I’ll tell you everything. Please, just come back to the hotel.”

The next was from Karen and it was much of the same, confirming your suspicions that she knew why Billy was really in Mexico.

As the next message started to play, there was a knock on the door. Given the early hour, you assumed it would be a delivery for Tammy, so you headed towards the door as the next message started to play.

“Sweetheart, please, you can’t go back to New York, it’s not safe,” but the warning came far too late.

You pulled the door open and, before you could think to even gasp in shock, a gunshot rang out.

Everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Four

END NOTES :  ... sorry. I know... I know... i hate the 'everything went black' ending too. But yeah... I don't even know, I just hope you're all enjoying the drama. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and reading, I appreciate you all so much!! Hope you have a wonderful day!

If you want adding/removing from the tag list let me know (I know it’s not working for everyone - if it’s not working and you don’t want to miss a chapter, I post every Friday around 7:30pm gmt)

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[runningincircl3s]

Nothing Ever After

Noah Sebastian x Reader x Vinny Mauro

Chapter 4

no chapter warnings! also i’m aware i’m missing a lottt of the guys out such as aj and logan and the other miw guys we see in rick's vlogs AND IM SORRY i just don’t know them well enough to include in the story :) just pretend they’re there in the background somewhere doing something stupid

i rewrote this chapter three times :/ also i'm trying to figure out a posting schedule... i'm thinking fridays and mondays :)

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“Jeez, it was only three hours but my ass really hurts!” Folio moaned, as everyone was stood waiting to collect their luggage. 

The flight here was nowhere near as bad as the guys’ London flight which you were grateful for. You were sat on an end next to Jolly, who was almost left behind by Matt on the way to the airport. In the end, Ash couldn’t come, to which Noah seemed quite upset by, but he had a family emergency so everybody understood. So it was just you, Bryan, Matt, Nick, Nicholas, Jolly and Noah in the end.

“I’m so tired.” You groaned, leaning against Folio, “I would’ve fallen asleep on the plane if it wasn’t for Jolly humming to some songs the whole way here.” 

“Hey, is that yours?” Matt asked and reached out for your suitcase, checking the name tag. 

“Dad Omens are back,” Bryan chuckled, “oh there’s Ruffilo’s!” 

You were stood around for about half an hour collecting your suitcases, and of course Matt’s came out last. When you finally passed security and made it out of the airport, Noah got a call. 

“Guys, it’s Chris,” he said before answering, “Hello?”

“Hey, I just got your text! Where are you guys?”

“We’re outside now, waiting for the cab to take us to the hotel. Where are you?”

“We’re on the bus on the way to the hotel, hey why don’t I ask if we can come and get you?”

“Are you sure?” Noah raised his eyebrows.  

“Of course! We should have room for you guys, you won't have to worry about trying to fit all your things in a cab!” 

“You have a point there… We don't have a bus until tomorrow because we changed our flight at such short notice, so if you don’t mind...” 

“Of course not! We’ll be there in no time.”

“Thanks, man.” Noah said with a smile, hanging up. “Chris is organising for them to pick us up so that should only be about 20 minutes.” 

“Only?!” You frowned. 

“The time will pass, we’ll be in our rooms in no time.” Noah smiled as he stretched his arms.

“Oh shit the rooms!” Matt’s eyes almost bulged out of his head, rushing to reach into his pocket for his phone. “Noah why the fuck did you change the flight. This has messed everything up!” 

“Why is it my fault? I didn’t think you guys would’ve wanted to rush around tomorrow when we landed and have to set everything up in one day without a break. I was prioritising us for once, now that we’ve got the money to do so.” 

“Yeah but we’re not made of cash, Noah! We’ve budgeted for this whole tour and just about made it so we don’t lose any money-”

“Matt…” Noah tried to interject. 

“So I’m sorry if I was actually being realistic!” 

“Matt-” He tried again. 

“I’m just sick of this shit every time we go on tour! There’s always something that goes wrong and-”

“Matt, if you'd shut your mouth for two seconds I was going to tell you I called the hotel the other night and extended our stay. Our rooms are booked for tonight too.” 

Suddenly, Matt was silent. Everyone else stood around in silence as Noah ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. 

“So I hope you got the fucking numbers right this time.” Noah said before sitting down on the ground by the edge of the road, stretching his legs out. 

Matt looks on his phone to check the booking, but makes a puzzled face. 

“Wait…” He frowns, “there’s… 7 of us, that can’t be…”

“What?” You ask, your tone coming across more harsh than you intended. 

“I cancelled Ash’s room when he called… but he was supposed to share with Noah- Fuck!”

“What does that mean?” Nicholas asked. 

“I have 3 rooms booked.” Matt explained, “one of them has three smaller beds- that was for me, Jolly and Bryan. Then there was 2 with 2 double beds, which was for Nicholas and Folio and the other one for y/n as it was all they had available”

Unbeknownst to you, Folio gave Nicholas a smirk as he suggested, 

“So if theres no other way, Noah could either share a bed with Ruffilo again or stay with y/n?” 

"Just when I thought our bed sharing days are over," Nicholas chuckled, "it would make sense to share the room with y/n though, wouldn't it?"

“I guess that works,” Matt said, “But only if you’re happy to do that, y/n? Otherwise I’ll ask the motionless guys, I don’t think Justin's sharing with anyone?” 

“Is that okay?” Noah asked, looking up at you.

“I guess,” you smiled, “It should be okay, it’s only for two nights, right?”

“That’s right, tonight and tomorrow, then the night after that we’re on the bus, baby!” Matt clapped, earning a groan from Folio. 

Noah’s phone vibrates on the ground, and as he picks it up he realises it’s from Chris. 

“Hey, Chris just said they’re a couple minutes away, we better start walking down.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“It’s so great to see you again! I've been counting down the days to this tour.” Chris grinned as he helped load the bus with the suitcases and bags. “How are you guys?” 

“Tired,” Matt says, handing him another bag, “our flight got delayed by a couple hours so we should’ve been here sooner.” 

“That’s the joys of travelling, my friend.” Chris smiles, and you wheel your suitcase over to him, “oh, I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m Chris,” he says, extending a heavily tattooed hand towards you, “I shout and sing for Motionless in White.” 

“Great to meet you!” You grinned, “I’m y/n, I’m a photographer. I guess you could say I’m Bryan’s apprentice for the next few months, I’ve never toured before so I’m here to get some experience and learn some things.”

“No way! Wait…” Chris looked at Bryan and Matt and then back to you, “Our photographer can’t join us until the third date of tour, so if you’re available I’d love to steal you, or even Bryan if you don’t feel ready yet?” 

“Really?” You looked between all the guys, as if to ask for permission, “I’d love to! Once I know what I’m doing, of course!” 

Everyone began to get on the bus, greeting the other guys who were currently either playing a game or on their phones, except for two guys near the back who were talking to a camera. 

“Guys I have solved our photographer dilemma!” Chris proudly announced as he got onto the bus, “Y/n’s filling in for the first three days!”

“Hi.” You smile awkwardly as you follow behind Chris, the first guy you spotted had bright green hair and was tall! Perhaps even taller than Noah. 

“I’m Justin, great to meet you.” He says as he sits down with a bright smile, “how was the flight?”

“It was bearable,” you said, sitting down opposite him, “are you the… bassist?”

“Yep!” He nodded. You wanted to say you recognised him from another band, but you felt rather embarrassed that you couldn't remember the bands name...

“Cool! I don’t really know much about your band, I’ve heard a few songs and they’re sick! I know there’s also a Ricky…” 

“That’s him! The one with the camera.” Justin pointed to a guy with short black hair, the one who had the camera which he was now pointing at a guy with brown hair with red streaks, who somewhat resembled Timothee Chalamet. “Rick thinks he’s a youtuber, he vlogs our tours and posts them if he can be arsed to edit it. If he asks you for an update, say no and get away as soon as you can!” He laughed.

“Okay,” you smile, “thanks.”

“There’s also… you've met Chris, that’s Ryan over there! The handsome one talking to Noah, he plays guitar. And then there’s Vinny, the one sat with Rick, he’s our drummer boy, aren’t you Vin?!” 

Vinny looked over and when you thought he was about to say something, he held up his middle finger instead. 

“I should also mention Ricky plays guitar, he does vocals on some songs too, and so do I occasionally.” Justin adds, and so far you were growing quite fond of him, “So you're a photographer?”

“I guess-”

“You guess?” Bryan laughed as he sat down beside you. “You wouldn’t be here if you ‘guessed’ you were, you’re sick, y/n. Give yourself some credit!” 

You smiled, looking down at your hands in your lap. 

“Guys, I’ve accidentally gotten us invited to this party at a club tomorrow night,” Chris announced to the bus, “Does anyone even want to go? I don’t think I’ll go but-”

“Hell yeah,” Vin nodded, “can I DJ again?”

“I mean you could ask. They might not approve of your DJ name though.” Rick laughed, putting his camera down. “I’ll probably sit this one out, I have shit to do.” 

“I’ll go,” you smile, “it’s been some time since I’ve had a night out. Bryan, you'll come too, right?” 

"Yeah why not!"

“Are you sure this is a good idea? We play our first show the next day?” Noah asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.  

“No one’s making you go,” you tell him, “I think it'll be fun... You’ll come too, won’t you, Folio?” 

“Yeah, sure!” He grinned. 

Eventually, it was settled that Ryan, Vinny, Folio, Bryan and you would all be going to this party. You couldn’t help but notice that Noah seemed quite pissed on the way back to the hotel, he didn’t look up from his phone once, and didn’t even bother to join in the conversations everyone was having. 

Once you got to the hotel and got off the bus, Noah handed you one of your bags, but he took both his and your suitcases and you both began to walk up to the entrance.

“Are you sure you’re alright to share a room with me?” You asked, breaking the silence and Noah furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Yeah I guess, why are you asking?” 

“You just seem a bit pissed off, that's all. It better not be because I’m going out with the guys tomorrow night.” 

“It’s not, that doesn’t bother me. I’m just tired, we have a lot going on in the next few days, well months even. I've been around people all day and I just want to go to sleep.” He sighed, following your lead into the hotel. 

Once you got checked in and made it to your room, you immediately took off your shoes and threw yourself down onto the bed you would claim as yours.

The first thing Noah did was take a shower, and as he came back out of the bathroom- wet hair, bare chest, nothing but his chain and a towel wrapped around his hips- he reached for his phone, before plugging his charger in and sitting down on his bed. 

“Hey, I should add you to our group chat,” he says, replying to a message that was sent, “if that’s okay with you?” 

“Yeah, that’ll be great, I’ll have all the guys' numbers then.” You said, getting up from the bed and heading to the bathroom to wash your face, brush your teeth and get changed. 

Whilst you brushed your teeth, you got a notification which you assumed was a text from Chris, judging by the profile picture. You went into see who was in the group chat, you guessed Justin was the guy in the picture with his wife and daughter, yet you were still unsure about the others as their pictures weren't of them and seemed quite confusing- especially the one of shadow the hedgehog?

As you walked back to your bed, you noticed Noah had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a black top. You quickly averted your gaze ang got under the covers, all of a sudden feeling quite cold. 

“Are you going to sleep? Do you want me to turn off the light?” He asked, looking over at you. 

“Yeah, please.” You mumbled, trying to get comfy.

Noah reached over and switched the lights off, whispering a ‘goodnight’ as he did so. 

After what felt like almost half an hour, you still couldn’t sleep. Your mind just wouldn’t shut off and it was starting to become too overwhelming. 

“Noah… are you still awake?” You whispered, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep.  

“Yeah, what’s up?” 

“I can’t sleep, I can’t stop overthinking,” your voice started to crack, feeling tears begin to fill your eyes, “could you… lay with me, maybe?” 

He didn’t answer, but you heard him get up. He climbed under the covers with you and put his arm out. You cuddled up to him, listening to the gentle pat of his heartbeat as you rested your head on his chest. 

“What have you been thinking about?” He asked softly, playing with your hair. 

“Everything, I don’t feel like I should be doing this, Noah. I don’t feel like I deserve this. People work their asses off and get nothing, and I’ve just been handed this all of a sudden!”

“Hey, hey, don’t start to doubt yourself." He whispers, "How many years have you been doing photography for? From what I’ve heard you’ve worked your ass off too! Just because something like this has been given to you doesn’t mean you haven’t worked for it. You deserve it as much as anyone else, okay? You wouldn’t be here right now if the guys and I didn’t like your work or saw potential in you.” He says, comfortingly rubbing your back as your bottom lip quivered once more, but you tried your hardest to hold your tears back. 

“I know,” you whispered, “it just… I don’t know, it doesn’t feel real. This is all I’ve ever wanted and now it’s within my reach.” 

“I know, angel,” he sighed, “But things can go as quickly as they come, so stop doubting yourself before I send you home!” You could practically hear the smirk on his face, and you gently smacked him as you moved your head so you could look at him.

“Could you... maybe stay here with me tonight- you haven’t got to hold me or anything... I just haven’t stayed so far away from home for like 10 years and-”

“Of course, but only if you actually shut up and let me sleep.” He said, rolling on to his side to hide his smile. 

“Noah!”

“Goodnight, y/n.” 

You rolled your eyes as you turned to your side, no longer trying to conceal the smile on your face. Maybe he was right, maybe you did deserve this.

As you let your eyes fall shut, you imagined what tomorrow would bring. You imagined what it would be like to get to know the guys from the other band, you imagined what it would be like to get out on the stage...

And before you knew it, you were fast asleep.

——————————————

i’m SO excited for the next chapter! :)

@rumoured-whispers @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @lma1986 @thisbicc @dominuslunae @miss570 @miamore0570 @jilliemiw86

[kydrogendragon]

Relationship: Dream/Hob, Johanna/Rachel

Rating: Gen

Words: 1356

Warnings: None

Ao3 Link

For square D1 of the Dreamling Bingo. Masterlist can be found here.

"Now boarding group three at Gate B12. Please have your boarding passes ready." The announcement clicks off and Johanna stands up, carry-on rolling over the airport linoleum as she walks. She nods to the attendant, readily handing over her boarding pass with a sigh. People slowly filter into the plane, the flight attendants greeting each person with a nod and a hello. Already she's transferred over from the three and a half hour flight from Los Angeles and the two hour hop from Atlanta to New York. And now she's preparing herself mentally for the long flight back to London. And she didn't get paid enough for business class either. After going above and beyond for those Hollywood snobs.

Fuckers.

She shuffles through the narrow hallways into the middle of the giant 787. The overhead compartments are already starting to fill up, but thankfully there's still some room above her seat. Johanna stashes her bag up onto the shelf and slides into the ever-shrinking airline seat.

There's a middle-aged man to the right by the window and, with luck, the seat by her will stay empty like it was when she checked-in so she can scoot over.

She watches and waits, letting her eyes rest as the rest of the plane slowly boards and settles in. Unfortunately, someone slides in on the aisle seat, so she's wedged in the middle. Odds are she'll be sleeping the whole way through. Should be any moment now before they start taxing and then she can—

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize in advance but it looks like we'll be experiencing a brief delay before taking off. Thank you for your patience."

Motherfucker.

Johanna groans, rubbing her eyes as a slow grumble rolls through the rest of the plane. Christ above, she hopes it's just a simple five, maybe ten, minute delay. Knowing her luck so far though? She'll be here, crowded between two strangers, for an additional hour.

Shaking her head, she pulls her phone out and plops her ear buds in. She scrolls through her music as the man beside her pulls out his tablet. It's bright and there's no privacy screen on it at all, so when he pulls up his email—an in-progress one too—it's clear as day from her seat so you know she's gonna read that shit. Might even be entertaining.

"Dear Dream," it reads. This is already great. Dude's got a penpal with a killer nickname. "All stories return to their original forms, right? You know, when I first landed there in Los Angeles, I thought for sure the week would just drag on and on, like all the other business trips would. Thought maybe I would liven things up with trying some new sushi joint since there always seems to be a new one each time I go.

But then I saw you. You, standing in the lobby of the same hotel I was staying at. Of all the hotels in LA. What were the odds? I'd heard you'd moved down there with Calliope all those years ago. Wasn't sure if you were still there, though. Would it be bad if I said I always hoped you were? So something like this might happen?

God, I just wish I had run into you the first day I landed and not with just three days left. It wasn't enough. It's never enough. This damn trip was for business as you knew. Filled most of my days with meetings and hours in the office. I'd gotten used to it after all these years. Even all the time on planes and trains I'd gotten used to. But this time, I don't think I'm ready to head back to London.

Dream...I'd rather be off this plane and back on your doorstep, back in your home. Back to hearing your voice and seeing your smile. But I don't think that's what you'd want. You'd said so once before when I tried to offer it to you. Threw it back in my face and then I never saw you again until today, ten years later.

Do I pretend I don't still love you? Do I push you away instead? Like you had me? To save my heart? I said a lot of things those days and none of them were what I meant. Not truly. Not fully.

Maybe I should just let things be and give you your space. I just got you back. Even just if it's as distant friends. So...it was good to see you, Dream. I wish you the best.

- Hob"

Jo can tell by the abuse of the backspace key that there's a heart balanced on how his words are perceived. The man—Hob— has typed that fourth paragraph there four times now in the ten minutes that they've been sitting here. He finally lands on a version devoid of all passion, all longing. Until it's pared down to just a basic "Good to see you again, let me know when you're in town! We'll have to meet up" type email. Even she, one who knows well the risks love poses, feels a bit sad at that.

She tilts away, her heart sinks in her chest. You'd think, by the time you start showing gray in your hair you stopped dealing with this kind of shit. This...hurt. The uncertainty and not knowing which way to move, what to say, or what to do. Jo hoped that by the time you get through your twenties, things like that would be old news.

She would have thought that kind of heartache was meant for the young, but you're never too old to hurt, it seems.

Doesn't bode great for her. Her mind wanders to Rachel. To all the things she should have said. To everything she did say instead. She should call her when they land. She owes her that at least.

"Alrighty there passengers. We've been cleared for taxi. Please buckle your seatbelts and put your phones and other electronic devices away and in airplane mode. Thank you for flying United. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for takeoff."

The man beside her hits send and turns his tablet off, stowing it in the mesh pouch on the seat in front of him. He settles into his seat and closes his eyes. Jo can't help but feel a twinge of pain for the passion that this Dream might never know.

Johanna passes out shortly after the plane takes off and thanks whatever gods are listening that she wakes up as the plane begins its descent. Might be the longest she's ever slept in the past month if she's honest.

The man with the broken heart beside her flutters to life as the wheels touch down on the tarmac. He stifles a yawn and rubs his eyes before beginning the process of putting his belongings back into their rightful homes.

It's raining outside. Classic London. At least she knows she's home.

The plane comes to a stop. The pilot sends them off with a farewell and a thank you. People stand, shuffling about, claiming their bags and suitcases. And eventually everyone leaves the craft.

Hob follows the crowd as they all make their way to the baggage claim. She wonders, as she watches him from the back of the pack, what Dream's answer will be, why this Hob kept his cards so close to his chest that even he couldn't read them. What was it about their history, their meeting in LA that gave him such pause when he so clearly wanted to tell Dream all the emotions he kept bottled down.

She might never know. Odds are she won't ever see this man again. London's a big city, after all. She supposes in the end, it doesn't matter too much the why of it all. She'll never know why he kept the honest truth from the other guy, but maybe she can learn a bit from it. Maybe she can still save things with Rachel.

But Dream, if you're out there, just know this: in the rough draft he loved you.

[janicho88]

When It All Falls Apart -Chapter 6

Pairing- Jensen x ex!Padalecki Reader

Word count- 2,454

Warnings- Some language. Drinking, dealing with a breakup. Angst, If I missed something let me know!

A/N-Sorry for the last chapter, but you all had to know it was coming. A little off canon, SPN ended after 10 years. We still got all the characters in during that time though. Thank you to @writercole and @leigh70 for your help with this. You two are amazing!!

Summary-Y/N Padalecki loved acting on Supernatural.  Working alongside your older brother and your boyfriend, but after ten seasons the guys have chosen to hang up the guns.  Now the three of you are moving on to other projects, but that’s all that needs to change right?  While you have moved to Austin to be closer to your family and boyfriend, Jensen is working elsewhere.  Distance is only the start of your troubles.

Series Masterlist

Walking out of Jensen’s apartment building you hail a cab to take you to an airport hotel.  You manage to keep yourself together until you check in and close the hotel room door behind you. This weekend really couldn’t not have gone much worse.  You don’t bother changing out of your clothes before you collapse down on the bed in tears.

Back in his apartment, Jensen is pacing the floor and keeps looking at the door.  ‘What the hell just happened,’ he thinks to himself,  ‘there is no way things have really been as bad as she thinks.’ Grabbing the half full bottle of whiskey off the counter he takes it to the couch where he drops down in the corner spot.  By the time he passes out, the alcohol is much closer to the bottom of the bottle.

You aren’t able to get much sleep Sunday night and you get yourself over to the airport before 5 am.  Just in time to find out your flight has been delayed because of the incoming storms.  Sitting down in an empty area near the terminal, you pull your hat down further to help hide your face.  The black clouds and claps of thunder are very fitting of the current turbulence you feel in your heart.  

It is a few hours late, but the plane is finally ready to board.  With the layover in Atlanta, you should be arriving back in Texas around 3pm instead of 11:30am.  Maybe no one will notice you’re coming home too early then.  You aren’t really up to rehashing everything with Gen and Jared when you get back.  You didn’t think you would be able to, but you manage to sleep most of the way to Atlanta, making that flight feel much shorter.

Your family isn’t expecting you for a few more hours, so you take a cab back home instead of calling one of them to pick you up.  Thankfully, no one is home when you arrive.  A half an hour before your flight is supposed to land, you text Jared that you are back early, and have a ride home.  You’ve had a little bit of time now to try and make yourself presentable enough to face them, without giving anything away.

Jared and crew arrive home a short time later with some pizza, and you join them in the dining room.

“How was the trip?” your brother asks, around a mouthful of food.

“Okay.  Toronto’s a nice city.  Saw the aquarium, CN Tower, and did some shopping.”

“How’s Ackles? Is he ready to come home?”

“He’s okay, really busy.  I don’t know.  He seems to be having a good ole time up there,” you don’t notice the bitterness in your answer, but Jared and Gen do.

“Tom,” Gen turns to her son, “why don’t you go play in the living room?”

“Okay,” the little guy doesn’t take much persuading.

“How are you and Jensen?” she asks once Tom is gone.

“We’ve been better,” you answer vaguely.

“Did this trip help at all?”

“It’s made where we stand pretty clear.”

“That’s good right?” you brother questions.

“Where is that?” Comes from Gen.

You clean up your spot and set your plate in the dishwasher, on your way out of the kitchen you pause and turn to face them briefly.  “We broke up,” you announce before disappearing upstairs.  Before you shut the bedroom door you hear Gen yelling.

“Jared Tristen Padalecki put that phone down now!”

“I’m going to…”

“Do nothing to interfere in this.”

You aren’t surprised when there is a brief knock right before Jared enters the room.  He walks around the room for a moment before sitting down across from you on the bed.  “So what happened?”

“I was right, our relationship has run its course.”

“What did he do?”

“Jared, you know I love you, but I’m not letting you put yourself in the middle of this.  Some relationships just don’t work out.  Jensen’s life and mine just don’t fit together anymore.  He has a lot going on, and I just don’t have a place in his life.”

You see your brother clenching his jaw working over what you said, you continue before he can say anything.  “The two of you are best friends, what happened between him and I shouldn’t change that.  Please don’t let it.”

“I told him if he ever hurt you, I would kick his ass.”

“I believe that, but I’m asking you not to.  You also told a few of my exes that, and never followed up, don’t start now.”

“First time for everything,” he mumbles.

“I wish things didn’t turn out the way they did, I really do Jare.  I guess it’s better to realize it’s not going to work out now then before things go any further.”

“I don’t understand how this happened, I know Ackles was crazy about you.”

“Was, " is the keyword in that sentence.  Can you please just drop it?”

He comes over to give you a hug before leaving the room.  When he opens the door, Gen is standing on the other side.

“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have to stop Jared from doing anything crazy,” she says as she walks in.

Jared gives her a kiss before he leaves and she joins you on the bed.  “Seriously, are you okay?  I know you won’t bring Jared in the middle of this.”

“No, this fucking sucks,”  you tell her as you start to cry again.  She moves next to you and wraps you in a big hug.

“I’m so sorry sweetie.  I’m here for whatever you need, let it all out.”

“I really thought he was my forever, ya know.”

“What happened this weekend?”

You go on to tell her all about your time in Toronto, ending with the breakup.  “I think a part of me is always going to be in love with him.  Right now, I can’t even think of seeing him again just knowing how hard it’s going to be.”

“It’s going to sting for a while, but you’re going to get through it.  You have friends and family that are going to be there for you to lean on.  You said it yourself, the way things have been lately, you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

The two of you sit together a little bit longer before she has to go deal with a shouting Tom.  You turn the television on to try and distract yourself before going to sleep.  Maybe Bones will help with that.

Up in Toronto, Jensen’s day hasn’t gone off much better.  He is awoken by the ringing of his phone.  Leaning up from the couch he makes the mistake of opening his eyes and the bright sunlight is not welcomed by his hangover.  Closing his eyes he tries reaching around for his phone before finally locating it.

“‘Lo,” he answers.

“Bloody hell, are you still in bed mate?” Karl asks on the other end.

“Never made it there, what’s up?”

“We were supposed to meet for breakfast ten minutes ago before going to work on this scene. Jack, Anthony and Erin are already here.  I take it you aren’t going to make it.”

“Fuck.”

“Think you might have already done that last night with your girl.”

Jensen lets out a dry laugh while holding his head. “I’ll meet you at the studio.”

Forcing himself from the couch, he makes his way to the kitchen for some water and pain pills.  Drowning those he attempts to get himself ready for the day.  Grabbing sunglasses and a hat before leaving the apartment he stops for a greasy fast food breakfast on his way to set.

He is the last one to arrive, everyone else is standing at the back of the room waiting for the choreographer in charge of this fight scene to finish getting ready.  Eric is off to the side going through notes with the director.

“Where’s your better half?  She comin around for a tour today?” Karl asks, looking around.

“She’s gone,” Jensen says lowly before taking a drink of his coffee. 

“I thought she said her flight was this afternoon?”

Jensen just shrugs.

Karl takes a minute and studies the man who has become a friend to him.  “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Jensen walks over to a chair and sits down by himself waiting for things to start.

They have been given instructions for this scene yesterday and today,  some of it has even been demonstrated. They go through the first rehearsal, and there are some mistakes all around.  By the fourth time, it seems to be mostly Jensen who is struggling with it.  They call for a break and Karl takes him off to the side.

“I’m going to ask this one more time.  What is going on?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s a load of shit.  You’re fucking awful out there, and you smell like a damn brewery.”

Jensen sighs and turns away running a hand down his face before looking back to his friend. “Y/N left me last night.”

“To go back home?  We’ve got less than a month left of filming now, before long you’ll be back home with her.  Or hop a plane to go see her this weekend.  Pull it together, mate.”

Karl starts to turn back around, but the next sentence from Jensen stops him.  “No, she left me.  Said I was an asshole and she couldn’t take things anymore.  Or something like that.”

“I’m sorry.” 

Jensen just nods, “let’s try this again.” 

It takes a few more tries, but they all finally get it down the way Kripke and the director want it.   As they are all grabbing their things, Karl goes over to talk to Jensen, but Eric beats him to it.

“I heard what you said to Karl.  I think you and I need to talk.”

Jensen doesn’t say anything as he follows his boss and long time friend out of the room and to his own trailer.  Eric waits for him to open it up before following inside.

“What’s going on?”

“I thought you said you heard what I said to Karl?” Jensen retorts as he grabs two waters out of his fridge.

“I did, and I also talked to a very upset Y/N last night at the restaurant.”

“I’m sorry she bugged you to bring her along.”

“She didn’t, I ran into her in the elevator.  Why didn’t you bring her, or invite her along?”

“She isn't part of the cast.”

“I know this group and they include friends and significant others when they go out if someone is in town.  Have things really gotten that bad between the two of you?”

“That’s what she seems to believe.  I thought we were fine.  Things have been busy, I don’t see her much, but I didn’t think it was anywhere near as bad as she seems to.”

“You were putty in that girl's hands the first time you met.  Took you long enough to act on those feelings.  Watching you last night, today even.  I don’t think she is too far off from her claim.  Maybe this role is getting in your head a little bit.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jensen questions him with a glare.

“Think about it.  You were actually so pissed off that I brought her along last night, you made her leave.  The guy she used to date, would have gotten up the moment he saw her, had his arm around her the whole night showing her off to his friends.  I’ve never known you to be upset at seeing her.”

Jensen doesn’t respond to that.

“I remember walking by you facetiming each other in between scenes if one of you wasn’t on set, even before you started dating.  I barely hear you talk about her now, let alone talking to her.”

“No phones on set policy here, remember.”

It’s Eric’s turn to roll his eyes.  “You’ve been a friend a long time, and I would hate to see you lose probably the best thing that has ever happened to you, because you are being an idiot.”

“She left me.”

“When you go home after filming wraps, and you have a chance to get your head out of your ass, you might want to buy some knee pads.”

“What for?”

“You’re going to have a lot of groveling to do.  Before she left, she asked me to keep an eye on you, she still cares about you.”  Having said his peace Eric walks out of the trailer.  

The door doesn’t stay shut for long, Karl is coming in next.  “So what happened?”

“Eric talked to Y/N last night, apparently he seems to see her side.”

Karl stares at Jensen before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “I mean what happened with you and your girl?  I was a little surprised she left the restaurant.”

“I told her she shouldn’t have made Eric bring her.”

“So you were just going to leave her home alone?”

“Why is everyone so caught up on that?  It was a cast get together.”

Karl holds up his hands.  “So she left because you made her go home?”

Jensen starts pacing his trailer.  “Why is that everyone’s hangup here?  Everything I do is for us, yet she can’t see that.  I work hard so that we can have a good life.  She says we never talk, that’s not true. Then she tells me she doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.  I don’t know what more she wants from me.  All I do is for her.”

Karl is quiet for a minute, “this about forgetting her birthday?”

“I didn’t forget, I just didn't realize it was June already. Besides, I made that up to her already.”

“I see, she seemed like a great girl.  Sorry, things didn’t work out for you two.  Do us all a favor tonight, we got some big scenes to film tomorrow, try and keep it sober.”  With that Karl makes his exit also.

Jensen throws his bottle of water across the trailer in frustration.  Grabbing his bag he heads out to the car to get out of here and back to the apartment where no one will give him any more shit tonight.

Despite Karl’s earlier remark, he pulls a beer out of the fridge as soon as he’s out of the shower, he finds himself in the bedroom staring at the picture of the two of you on his nightstand. ‘How the hell did we get to this point?’ he thinks to himself as he drowns the bottle and tips the picture down.  The sight of your smiling face hurts too much to see. 

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 7

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[all-the-things-2020]

Late Night Talking - Chapter Twenty

Summary: The wedding.

Rating: PG

Word Count: 4350+

Notes: It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to Dieter and Emily, but maybe there will be some one shots down the road. For now, they’ve reached the end of their romantic journey.

Tag list: @rhoorl @avastrasposts @readingiskeepingmegoing @runningmom94 @gwendibleywrites @weho2kcmo

Time flew by. Before I knew it, the wedding was upon us. We’d rented a block of rooms at a hotel in Santa Barbara for everyone coming in from out of town: Sam and her family, Freddy and his, Dieter’s dad and his wife, Aunt Helen and Uncle Jeremiah. Everyone else would drive to the house in Malibu where the wedding was being held.

”You need to calm down,” Dieter told me the night before everyone was due to arrive. “Oladele has triple checked all the travel arrangements and she’ll be at the hotel to help them all check in. You don’t have to do a thing except breathe.”

”I know,” I said, sitting on the floor of the bedroom surrounded by a pile of shoes and jewelry, staring up at the long, flowing cotton dress that hung on the back of the door. It was embroidered with silver flowers and had been fitted precisely to my body. 

Dieter sat down beside me. “Whichever shoes you wear, whatever jewelry you wear, you’re going to look amazing,” he said softly. “You look like a fairy princess in that dress.”

“I know,” I said again. The dress was a vision, just fancy enough to be a wedding dress but casual enough for a day at the beach. Dieter had a matching outfit of loose fitting white pants and shirt. We would look beautiful next to each other.

”So stop worrying and just pick what feels right on the day,” he said. “Take all this stuff with you to the hotel and let Sam and Leila help you decide.” He kissed my ear. “It’s going to be fine.”

”I don’t want fine, I want perfect,” I said. “That’s the problem.” I leaned into him. “I am trying my best not to become a bridezilla but I can see why women get like that. We only get one chance to get it right.”

”Think of it as a live performance,” he said. “You prepare and rehearse and then once you’re onstage, you have to go with the flow. You never get the same performance twice, even if nothing goes wrong. It depends on the vibe of the audience, the temperature of the room … there are so many variables you can’t control. So just memorize your lines and get out there and do it. Then walk away. Off to the next thing.”

”But what if I mess up? What if I trip on my hem or one of us drops a ring or a seagull flies over and craps on us?” I had already envisioned a million disastrous scenarios that could ruin the wedding.

”Then we laugh and carry on and have a great story to tell,” he said. “It’s just our friends and family. They already know we’re idiots.”

********************************************************

Aunt Helen and Uncle Jeremiah were the last to arrive at the hotel. Dieter and I had already checked in when they got there. “They insisted on riding the airport shuttle,” Oladele told me over the phone. “I had a private car ready but your aunt insisted it was ‘too expensive.’”

”That sounds about right,” I replied. “Tell them we’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.”

”They really cut it close,” Dieter said, glancing at his watch. “The rehearsal dinner starts in half an hour.”

“Technically we don’t need them for the rehearsal part,” I reminded him. “They can go up and unpack and then join us all for dinner.”  We had a conference room booked for a quick rehearsal with the justice of the peace, followed by a private dinner for all the family members.

We were in Dieter’s room for the moment, since Oladele still had some things for the wedding to put in my room. I’d offered her extra pay for being a de facto wedding planner, but she’d politely declined. “I am your assistant, Emily. This is my job,” she’d said. “Besides, this is much more fun than my sister’s wedding in Lagos. If this was a Nigerian wedding, I would charge you six times my usual pay and a bonus on top.”

I took one last glance in the mirror to make sure my dress and hair looked okay. I was wearing a wrap dress that showed a bit too much cleavage if I didn’t get the safety pin in the right place, and my hair was reacting to the saltier beach air by frizzing up. I hoped the stylist could turn that frizz into fashionably beachy waves in the morning.

We went downstairs to find Aunt Helen trying to insist they didn’t need a bellhop to ptake the luggage up to the room. “Jerry and I are perfectly capable of carrying two suitcases,” she was telling Oladele.

”I know that,” Oladele said patiently, “but the hotel provides the service for the convenience of its guests.”

”Let him take the bags up, Aunt Helen,” I said, stepping in to give her a hug. “This way you and Uncle Jeremiah can spend more time with us tonight. Tomorrow is going to be so busy.” I looked her in the eye. “I’m glad you could make it.”

”We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she replied. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. It had been a rough few months for her. In March, Sarah had developed preeclampsia and had to have an emergency cesarean. She’d nearly died and the baby had been in NICU for a while. To top it all off, it was another girl and Sarah had fallen into postpartum depression, wanting nothing to do with her latest “failure.” Aunt Helen had stepped in to help with the girls, while Sarah’s husband concentrated on getting her better.

”Just relax and enjoy yourself,” I told her quietly. “Everything’s taken care of. You deserve it.”

”Listen to her,” Uncle Jeremiah said. “You’ve been doing too much.” He laid his hand against her back and I realized for the first time that despite his frosty exterior, he really did love her.

Dieter had hung back a bit, but now he jumped in. “So let’s head to the conference room,” he said. “We’ve got a little play to rehearse.”

**********************************************************

As we walked into the conference room, I felt Dieter stiffen beside me. “What?” I asked. He nodded toward Freddy’s family, where an older man and woman were talking to the kids. I took Dieter’s hand and marched him right over there.

“Uncle Deet!” Derek cried. “Grandpa and Grandma are here!” 

“Relax your jaw,” I whispered, giving Dieter a little jab with my elbow. He worked his jaw from side to side and took a deep breath.

“Hey, Dad,” he said, sounding almost, but not quite, convincingly casual.

”Dieter.” Josef Bravo was an older version of Dieter and Freddy, with more lines on his face and a bit less hair. “It’s good to see you, son.”

Dieter smiled tightly and introduced us. “Welcome to the family, Emily,” Josef said. He flicked a look at Dieter before turning to the woman beside him. “This is my wife, Victoria.”

”Vicki, please,” she said. She was a bit taller than me, with hair that had once been blonde but was transitioning to silver. Not too much makeup, just enough jewelry. She wasn’t plain but she wasn’t fighting aging, either. “Victoria is way too stuffy.” 

We shook hands and there was an awkward silence as we all looked at Dieter, who was suddenly fascinated by the carpet. We were saved by Oladele, who entered the room and clapped her hands twice.

”Everyone,” she said. “I need Dieter, Emily, Sam, and Freddy over here for the rehearsal. It will be quick. Then we can eat. Please, everyone, take your seats.”

There were a few rows of folding chairs set up with an aisle down the middle. Oladele directed us, playing the part of the justice of the peace. It felt more like an army drill than a wedding rehearsal.

”Dieter and Freddy, you are first down the aisle. Stand there. Now Emily and Sam. Good. Stand there. Now Sam and Freddy step back, Emily and Dieter step forward. Good. The justice will say a few words, then Dieter says his vows, then Emily says hers, the justice asks ‘Do you take’, Dieter says ‘I do,” Repeat for Emily. Justice pronounces you married. You kiss. Then back down the aisle. Sam and Freddy, you follow. Then everyone else can rise and follow to the reception area. And … that’s it. Let’s eat!” She clapped her hands again and headed for the long table the hotel staff had set up.

“She wouldn’t last a day in Hollywood,” Dieter quipped as we walked toward the table. “On time and under budget. No one would be able to believe it. Heads would explode.”

Dinner was a small buffet. Everyone was tired and there were kids, so keeping things simple and easy was the most important factor. Unfortunately, Oladele had me at one end of the table and Dieter at the other, so we were limited to eye contact and smiles for the duration. Sam was seated on my right and Aunt Helen on my left, so I tried to carry on two completely different conversations at once. By the end of the meal, my neck was sore from swiveling back and forth.

”Okay,” Sam said as we were getting up from the table. “Time for the bachelorette party!”

That was not on my agenda, and I gave her a funny look. “Well,” she said, “more like ‘hanging out with the maid of honor in your hotel room for a couple of hours’ but ‘bachelorette party’ sounds more festive, doesn’t it?”

”You scared me for a moment.” I glanced at Aunt Helen. 

“Chickie, I would never do that to you,” Sam said. “Now let’s ditch the men and the kids!”

Leila joined us. “Vicki offered to keep an eye on the kids,” she said, slipping her arm through mine. “Dieter and Freddy and their dad are going to have a mini bachelor party.”

”Is that a good idea? I mean, Dieter and Josef …”

Leila patted my arm. “Freddy has it covered,” she said. “They’re going to have a couple of drinks — non alcoholic, of course — and play cards. It’ll be fine.”

I looked across the room, where Dieter was standing next to Freddy and Josef. He winked at me and mouthed, “Have fun.” I relaxed. He was going to be okay.

”Okay, then ladies,” I said. “Let’s go have a sensible period of recreation before  turning in early. We have a big day tomorrow!”

Sam shook her head. “How you landed a movie star, I’ll never know.”

”I know,” Leila said. “It’s because he’s a dork. Underneath the sophisticated party-boy image, Deet has always been a big goofy kid. I got the mature one.”

My room was filled with supplies for the morning: the dress, makeup, my shoes and jewelry … everything except the flowers, which would be delivered straight to the beach house. The three of us flopped onto the bed.

”Are you nervous?” Sam asked.

”Kind of,” I admitted. “I just don’t want anything to go spectacularly wrong.”

”Like what?” Leila asked.

”Like Dieter and his dad getting into an argument, or me tripping on my dress and falling down.” I sat up and gestured at the shoes arranged neatly on the floor. “I need a bit of a heel or the dress is too long, but we’re walking on sand so it can’t be too high. And do I wear an open sandal type or a pump? Life was a lot easier when I only owned three pairs of shoes.” I’d collected more fancy shoes in the last year with Dieter than in my entire previous life. Most of them had been chosen for outfits I’d worn at events and I’d only worn them once.

”I say you go barefoot and just hold the hem of your dress up,” Sam said. “Solves all the problems and you’ll feel like a lady out of an historical novel, crossing the moors while trying not to muddy your petticoats.”

”If I go barefoot, then Dieter will want to go barefoot, too,” I pointed out. “And I told him he can’t wear his Crocs, either. So I have to wear shoes.” I sighed. “And then once I’ve chosen the shoes, I have to make sure my earrings and necklace will go with them.”

The only expensive jewelry I owned was the engagement ring itself, and the gold wedding bands that were still in Oladele’s keeping until she gave them to Freddy to hold during the ceremony. The rest of my stuff was costume jewelry, although I’d worn some real stuff on loan a few times. It always made me nervous. 

“I think these will go with anything,” Leila said, handing me a small box. I opened it to see two glittering diamond earrings. “You need something borrowed, and those were my mother’s. She wore them at her wedding, and I wore them at mine. And so will Sasha, if she chooses to get married.”

”Thank you.” I couldn’t say much more than that without bursting into tears. 

“Those are borrowed and old, so I’m in charge of blue and new,” Sam said. She handed me a small bag. Inside was a sapphire blue silk garter. “I know it’s cheesy and you aren’t going to do the whole tossing the garter shtick, but you can wear it under your dress and it’ll be a little secret.” 

“Chickie, I love it,” I said. “Both of you … you are amazing.”

We hugged each other and then got down to the serious business of talking smack about our men.

*******************************************************

My alarm went off and for a moment I toyed with the idea of turning it off and rolling over to get more sleep. Sam and Leila hadn’t left until well after midnight and we’d broken into the minibar at one point. Then I remembered it was my wedding day and I was instantly fully awake.

A knock at the door precisely ten minutes after the alarm went off was Oladele with hot tea and croissants for breakfast. “Rise and shine,” she said, looking neat and tidy as usual. I ran a hand through my hair and tied the sash on my robe a little tighter. 

We were soon joined by Sam, then Leila and Sasha, then Aunt Helen and finally Malinda, the stylist. I felt like a giant Barbie doll as everyone offered her opinion on my hair and makeup and accessories. Sam voted for a “sexy” aesthetic, while Aunt Helen lobbied hard for “demure.” In the end, Malinda ignored everyone and did her own thing, which landed almost smack in between the two extremes. 

“Oh, chickie,” Sam said when Malinda finally stepped back. “You look beautiful.”

I walked over to the mirror and took my first real look at myself. My hair fell in gentle waves, threaded with a few pearls strung on silver wire. My eyes were subtly accentuated and the diamonds sparkled on my earlobes. “Whoa.”

”Whoa is right,” said Leila. “Dieter is going to cry when he sees you.”

”He will not,” I said, although I was pretty close to tears myself. 

Sasha laughed. “Oh yeah, Uncle Deet is going to cry for sure. I better text Dad to make sure he has a handkerchief for him.”

Oladele clapped her hands. “Okay, ladies, let’s go get dressed ourselves. The cars will be here in one hour.”

Malinda packed up her things and the others hurried back to their rooms. All except Aunt Helen.

”You’d better go change,” I told her.

She waved her hand dismissively. “It won’t take me long. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

”Aunt Helen, I appreciate it but you don’t have to take care of me. Relax, enjoy the day.”

”Your mother would have sat with you,” she said. “I’m just filling in for her.” She took a deep breath. “My own wedding was in the temple. None of my family was allowed to be there. It was a sacred thing but I didn’t get what you and Jamie got to have.” She took my hand. “I know you don’t need ‘the talk’,” she said, “but I do have a bit of advice for you about being a wife.”

Here it comes, I thought. Be obedient, modest, yadda yadda yadda.

”The secret to a successful marriage is to always let him think it’s his idea,” she said. “A good man is easy to please. Let him think he’s getting his way most of the time, make sure he has his little comforts: favorite foods, let him control the TV remote, that sort of thing.”

”So basically treat him like a giant toddler,” I said, stifling a laugh. If only she knew!

”Pretty much,” she said. “I’ve been lucky. Jerry and I have our own spheres of influence, you might say. He goes to work, handles the finances, legal stuff. And I take care of all the house stuff, the family stuff. I know it seems antiquated to you, but it works for us. Figure out what works for you and Dieter, and then make him think it was all his idea in the first place.”

”I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on that,” I told her. We had already settled into a working routine with Dominic as far as the company went and I was finding my groove. I was a natural organizer and planner — not as skilled and unflappable as Oladele — but I could see the connections between things that others overlooked. I had the plans for the Dieter Bravo Foundation sketched out: arts programs for underfunded schools; after school programs focused on performing arts and related skills; career guidance for kids who wanted to follow their passions instead of just looking for “something that pays well.”

”Okay, then,” Aunt Helen said. “I’ll leave you alone now. Take the time to breathe, because once you leave this hotel room, the day is going to fly by.” She kissed my cheek and left. I took a deep breath. This was it. I was at the top of the incline, and the roller coaster ride of the rest of my life was about to begin. But for a moment — a precious moment — everything was still. Everything was quiet. And Dieter was waiting to join me for the plunge.

***************************************************

“You ready, chickie?” Sam was beautiful in her long blue sundress. She had the bouquet in her hand, a frothy thing of daisies and baby’s breath and cosmos and lavender that looked like a spring meadow. 

I took one last look in the mirror. I wasn’t wearing a veil, but I had a crown of rosebuds and daisies that made me feel like a fairy princess. I made sure it was on straight, then transferred my engagement ring from my left hand to my right. “Ready,” I said. 

We walked outside to the backyard of the beach house, which had a small gate that opened directly onto the beach. Everyone was already in place. An onshore breeze fluttered the cloth draped over the temporary bower where the justice of the peace, a stolid middle aged woman with a streak of purple in her hair, stood waiting with a smile on her face. And in front of her, just to one side, stood Dieter.

His shirt collar was unbuttoned, of course, and the salty air played with his curls that refused to be completely tamed. He looked both scared to death and ready to burst into laughter. I felt the same way inside.

I followed Sam down the aisle between the folding chairs where our friends and family sat. Dieter’s eyes were shimmering, and I fought back my own tears. I didn’t want to ruin my mascara for the photos.

The justice welcomed us and the ceremony began. It was real and surreal at the same time. I felt the breeze off the ocean, tasted the salt in the air, heard the gulls crying overhead, smelled the tang of kelp and fish and sunblock, but at the same time, it was like it was happening to someone else. I was an actor on a stage, lost in a dream. I didn’t want to wake up.

When it was time to exchange our vows, we turned to face each other and Dieter took both my hands in his. 

He went first. “I’m going to cheat a little and quote Shakespeare. ‘Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service.’ That’s from The Tempest, and I can think of no better way to explain how I knew almost from the start that I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. And then there’s Sonnet 116: 

‘Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken’

My love for you will never falter, never waver. This is the vow I make to you, to be here always, through all the ups and downs that life can throw at us.”

His voice faltered a bit at the end, and then he smiled that radiant smile that always made my heart swell with happiness. 

I had to pause and take a moment to compose myself so that I wouldn’t start crying before I spoke my own vow. 

“I call your Shakespeare and raise you Pablo Neruda,” I said. He laughed quietly. “‘But I love your feet because they walked upon the earth and upon the wind and upon the waters, until they found me.’ You found me, and I found you, against all the odds. It was mere chance that we were in the same bookshop at the same time and in that moment of chance, our lives were forever changed. And now I don’t know what I would do without you. As Neruda said, ‘Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter.’ I want to always have your laughter, your tears, your deepest conversations and your silliest flights of fancy. I vow to be always by your side, no matter what, in all things, serious and silly, whatever comes our way.”

Now there were tears standing in his eyes, too, so I didn’t feel quite so bad. The justice of the peace asked us to bring out the rings, which Dieter took from Freddy. We said our “I do”s and exchanged rings. Dieter’s hands were shaking a bit as he slid my ring onto my finger, and mine weren’t exactly still as I slid his ring onto his finger. The justice of the peace pronounced us husband and wife and just like that, we were married. 

”Great performance,” Dieter whispered as he leaned in to kiss me. His lips were gentle and sweet. 

“I had the perfect scene partner,” I replied. Then we turned toward our guests and led the march back up the aisle to the backyard, where the party was ready to start.

**********************************************

The reception was laid back. There was music from someone’s phone, hooked up to the Bluetooth speakers that dotted the backyard, but no real DJ. There was a buffet of appetizers and little sandwiches and other finger foods, so there was no seating plan. Dieter and I had a small table to ourselves, but everyone else sat where they pleased, danced when they pleased, and ate as they pleased. 

At one point, Freddy did stand up and offer a toast. We all raised our glasses of champagne or sparkling cider as he said, “To my brother and my new sister in law. I hope your life together is as beautiful as the two of you are.”

We posed for photos next to the cake, and cutting the cake, and feeding each other bites of cake. We posed with Freddy and Sam, with all the kids present, with all the family members … 

“Is this what being a model is like?” I asked Dieter. He’d done some advertising shoots before. 

“This is way better,” he said. “There’s food and I can make faces if I want to.” He stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes.

”That one is not going in the photo album,” I told him. He just winked. I had a feeling there were going to be two albums, one “official” and another one full of candids. 

Late in the afternoon, as kids were falling asleep and people were starting to drift away, the photographer led us down onto the beach. “Take off your shoes,” she said. “I want some shots of you walking barefoot through the surf. Barefoot on the sand. Just carefree and summery.”

As we walked, hand in hand, Dieter leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Remember that first time we went to the beach together? And I found out you didn’t know how to swim?”

”Yeah,” I said. “We saw that corgi and ate snow cones.” I turned to him. “If anyone had told me at that moment that we’d end up married, I’d have laughed in their face.”

”Not me,” Dieter said, shaking his head. “I knew it from the start. You know, I picked today for the wedding because it’s the anniversary of our first date. Of the night I knew this was going to happen.”

”You just wanted to make it easier to remember both anniversaries,” I said.

Dieter stopped walking and put his hands on my shoulders. “No, that’s not why. It’s because I promised Freddy I’d wait a year to see if I still felt the same. And I do. I couldn’t wait a day longer than necessary.” He kissed me and I completely forgot about the photographer, and the last of our guests, and anyone else who might have been watching. Nothing else mattered in the world but the two of us, together, as we were meant to be.

[asp1990]

Day 20: Sunday January 19th, 2025 [Final Day]

Breakfast: konbini coffee & snacks

Lunch: dry aged wagyu steak meal set

Dinner: veggie teriyaki noodles

Steps: 14,621

Last day post! Deciding now to trek out to Nara was the best decision we could make. We woke up at 8:30am and had ample time to shower and negotiate our packing situation. Yet again, I was thankful for packing my mini suitcase inside my larger one as it allowed us a bit more grace in fitting in all of our goodies.

We checked out at 11am, left our luggage at the hotel, and went for a stroll through the Shinsaibashi shopping mall… again. We visited the Pokemon store… again. We then walked for 20 minutes to visit the Namba Yasuka Shrine, which is famous for its dragon head design. We took a few photos but the line to make an offering was huge, so we decided to get some lunch instead. A very quick visit!

We walked back towards Dontoburi for lunch - I’d found one last place off my list for us to try that Google suggested was “not as busy as usual” so we were hoping we wouldn’t have to queue. As soon as we lined up a waitress came and showed us a message on her phone that said “the queue is for 1 hour. We can guide you to our sister restaurant with a similar menu” so we said sure! We ended up a few doors down at a beautiful restaurant called Kitan Hibiki Yakiniku & Steak. We were seated upstairs where the grill round table was fully occupied, so we got to sit at the bar all by ourselves. We enjoyed two beautiful ‘dry aged wagyu steak meal sets’ that had steak over rice with egg, miso soup, pickled veg & soba noodles. Delicious! We enjoyed a long lunch and decided which last touristy thing to do. Morgan suggested karaoke or a maid cafe but both felt a bit off for the middle of the day on a Sunday. I suggested one more “sky high” view and Morgan agreed. I booked tickets through Klook and we caught the train to Harukas 300 Observatory.

Once out of the station we tried to follow signs to the observatory but it was very confusing! We got a lift up to the fourteenth floor and were confused again. We followed signs with a blue bear covered in clouds on it but that stopped suddenly. Infuriating! Finally we found the damn ticket desk and there was no queue, so we went right up. Phew!

The observation deck was beautiful and second highest to Tokyo Skytree that we visited at the start of our trip. The sun was shining bright and it was so hot we had to remove our coats. We could see the Donki Ferris wheel that we’d ridden and Osaka Castle in the distance. We stayed for about half an hour before needing to head off. We did some shopping (surprise, surprise - there was a mall underneath) for one more souvenir for Morgan’s mum that he’d struggled to find. We then caught the train back to our hotel. We collected our luggage, charged our phones and booked a taxi to the train station that was where our connecting train would be if we took PT the whole way. We were worried about taking bulky luggage on the subway during peak hour and wanted to be on the train as little as possible.

We got to the train station at 5:20pm and luckily it was a station with elevators. We went up to the platforms easily and accidentally boarded a pre-booked train with comfy seats and room for luggage. We sat down, heard the PA announcement say “please have your tickets ready to show the conductor” and promptly jumped off at the next station. Whoops! Luckily the correct train arrived 4 mins later and it wasn’t packed at all, so all anxiety about being an inconvenience was alleviated. It took 30 minutes to get to Kansai International Airport.

As soon as we walked through the doors to the international terminal it was chaos. No lines, no rules, and a whole lot of confused looking white people. Morgan hadn’t been able to print or download our boarding passes so we were already at a hurdle. It took ages to queue for luggage tags, the conveyer belts weren’t working and both our bags were overweight. It took us an hour to check in properly. When it was finally our turn, we were too tired to exit the line and reorganise our luggage, so we had to pay $124 for 8kg of excess. We then made it through security and customs without any issue and had time to have a final sake in the departure terminal before boarding.

Our flight was huge - 3 rows of 3 across and very full. I took a sleeping pill and hoped I’d be able to snooze during our 7hr flight. I sat between Morgan and an elderly woman, Elizabeth, from the States who was very ready for a chat when I was ready for a snooze. Thankfully we both dozed when the lights went off. The woman behind me incessantly poked me in the back when reaching things from her seat pocket, which was frustrating, but otherwise a smooth ride.

We arrived in Cairns at 6am. It was nice to be back in Aus. The customs guy made fun of my for filling out my declaration form in purple pen (it was the only one I had) but let it fly. Then on to Melbourne!

I had the most wonderful time in Japan with Morgan, but am desperately craving my own bed, clothes not from a suitcase, being able to cool, warmer weather & our cat. This was a trip of a lifetime though! 🇯🇵🍜⛩️

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 14 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad + fanfic updated till chap 27

ATLANTA VERSUS TOUR DATE

The day had finally come: Lily and Alex were meeting the Sturniolo Triplets. Although it hadn't been long since they both started watching their videos together, they had been happily expecting this day for the past few weeks and in only a few hours, they would see them. Their flight would take less than two hours which meant that the girls would arrive on time to start queuing. Given that they were going to attend the Meet & Greet with the triplets before the show, they were supposed to arrive around noon which was perfect for them: their plane was landing at ten o'clock, it would take them an hour to go to their hotel from the airport and the venue was easy to go to by walking.

Although they had woken up at half past five, the two girls couldn't feel tired as the excitement was filling their brains. They were currently packing their clothes while dancing to songs from their collaborative playlist that was playing upstairs.

"Alex," Lily called from her room. "Which team colour are you gonna wear?"

"I mean, as a Chris girl I should wear orange but in case I feel a last minute decision, I packed all three colours".

"That's actually smart, thanks. I'm gonna do the same". Lily replied as she added an orange tank top and a purple sweater to the blue shirt that was already in her suitcase.

Luckily for the girls, they were only leaving for a couple of days which meant that they didn't have too much luggage with them, except for the "just in case" clothes that were mandatory for every trip – what if one of the girls suddenly was on her period or peed on herself everyday? As they finished packing, they didn't have anything else to do and decided to directly head to the airport so they could take their time through security and maybe have a small breakfast.

~~~

Atlanta, here they were. The sun was out and the excitement was high as Lily and Alex were leaving the airport to look for a taxi that would take them to their hotel where they would get ready for the show.

Once they arrived at the hotel, the girls checked in and went to their shared room to change.

As Lily was scrolling through Instagram, she stumbled upon Nick's Instagram story and let out a gasp. Alex peeked her head through the bathroom door and asked what was happening.

"I hadn't seen Nick's story," Lily started while rummaging through her suitcase. "He said to pull up to the Atlanta show in purple so now I wanna wear purple for him!"

As she found the purple sweater that she had packed earlier this morning, a smile grew on Lily’s face. This was truly one of her favourite articles of clothing and she wasn't regretting at all to have brought it with her. To confirm her loyalty to Nick’s team, Lily even asked Alex to try and draw some bats with her purple eyeliner.

Alex had decided on her favourite triplet’s team: Chris’s. She put on an orange crop top with a black heart on it and hoped to draw his attention with a deer themed headband she had found at the airport. To not exclude Matt by not having his colour on, Lily and Alex chose to wear blue jeans in order to express their support for him as well.

When they deemed themselves ready, the two Sturniolo Triplets fans left their hotel room and started getting to the venue which was luckily close by walking. When they arrived, they noticed that not many people were here until they realised that they were actually looking at the VIP queue and not the regular one. Indeed, the people who only had general admission tickets wished to come early to still get the best view possible even though they would be at the back of the venue.

Lily and Alex smiled at a few girls they passed and joined the end of the vip queue where they belonged, thanks to Alex’s brother who had managed to secure “Diamond Package” tickets. This meant that the two girls were going to meet the triplets before the show, get to “small talk” with them, take a group picture and finally see them again after the show in the backstages. They were forever thankful for this experience and knew to find the best birthday present for Alex’s brother when it would be his time to get older.

~~~

People were finally getting into the venue as it was time for the small talks to begin. Alex and Lily didn’t care to have been amongst the last ones to have arrived – only a handful of fans were behind them – as they were not in a rush to meet the triplets. It would still happen nonetheless so they simply used their waiting time to relax and be the least nervous possible. Although usually very emotional, Lily and Alex were surprised with the way they were handling the situation when they entered the venue and could see the triplets from afar. Turns out that their mind was just not accepting that it was real which therefore tricked their brain into thinking that it was a normal hangout with absolutely not famous people they admired.

When it was the girls’ turn to go meet the triplets, Lily let Alex go first just to see the excited smile on her face as her best friend walked up to Chris. The youngest triplet welcomed Alex with a hug and asked how she was doing. Lily exchanged a quick glance with Alex and watched them talk before the two took pictures together and it was time for Lily to take Alex’s place who then walked to Chris.

“Hi, how are you?” Chris asked as Lily came up to him.

“Heyy, I am feeling great! How is your day?” Lily replied as Chris pulled her into a hug.

“Great as well, your friend was funny,” Chris laughed. “She was close to freaking out but saw you being all smiley at her and immediately calmed down.”

“She’s so cute,” Lily said as she quickly looked at Alex who was talking to Matt. “Girl is meeting her fave and she’s caring about me.”

“Glad to know I'm at least one of yours’ favourite”, Chris joked as he had noticed Alex's orange outfit and complimented her on it

During their quick chat, Chris signed a photocard before taking pictures with Lily. She thanked him before saying goodbye and moving to Matt’s table.

“Hey,” Lily said with a sudden soft voice as she was kind of intimidated by Matt.

“Hi there, how are you?” Matt asked with a soothing voice to make her comfortable, which worked.

“It feels surreal to meet you guys but such a great experience so far, are you good as well?”

“Yeah I am too.”

Lily didn't know why she ever thought Matt would be the hardest to talk to as he was actually the kindest human being. She thought about how calm he was and was impressed with the way he was able to do all of those shows despite his anxiety.

“Sorry my friend and I are not fully clothed in blue but we wore blue jeans to show appreciation and support for the sharks!” Lily explained as she put her hand on Matt's shoulder.

As Matt quickly looked at it, Lily thought she had done something wrong and removed her hand when Matt had only been surprised by how outgoing the girl was. It was refreshing to see someone close to his age – he assumed – that was acting like she was friends with all of them.

“You're good, don't worry.” Matt reassured Lily with a genuine smile. “Pictures?”

Lily nodded and Matt thus took their pictures after signing the photocard like Chris had done. They then said goodbye and it was now time for Lily to meet the last triplet as Alex went on the side to wait for her.

“Helloo! How are you doing?” Nick joyfully asked.

“Hi, I’m awesome! How are you?” Lily was reciprocating the same energy which Nick looked happy about.

“Great as well.” Nick pulled Lily into a hug before double checking her makeup. “I. Absolutely. Love. The. Bats.”

“Thank you! My best friend, whom you just met, drew them for me. I had to show everyone who I’m rooting for. And I love you guys’ outfits by the way, I didn’t tell the others but you’re all showing your colours today.”

Nick thanked her for noticing and complimented her again on her makeup while he signed the photocards. Nick then offered to take pictures to which Lily agreed.

“We both do photography but I trust you so much more to take a decent selfie.”

“No problem, don’t worry I got you,” Nick replied with a smile as he took multiple selfies and 0.5x pictures of him and Lily.

“Thank you so much. I’ll see you later, bye!” Lily waved at Nick before joining Alex who was waiting for her a few metres away.

The two girls directly hugged and fangirled about how nice the triplets were, as well as how easy it had been to talk to them – despite the stress felt from the security hurrying them to move.

“Girl, I managed to record you and Nick!” Alex excitedly said. “So cute, you guys seemed to vibe a lot.”

“Yeah, he is such a mood. Love that guy so much.”

They kept talking about their first VIP experience as they moved towards the line that would allow them to take group pictures with the triplets when the small talks were over.

While waiting, Lily and Alex got to meet another pair of best friends a bit younger which led them to immediately wanting to adopt the two middle schoolers. The line was starting to move when the four girls were exchanging about their favourite videos. They didn't see the time passing by as it was almost time for the two duos to have their picture taken.

“Which pose do we wanna do?” Lily asked Alex.

Because the girls had two tickets allowing them to take pictures, they had decided to both be in each instead of having their own solo picture with the triplets after asking if it was possible.

“Hmm, we can do one with hearts and then let them do whatever they want for the second?” Alex suggested an idea which Lily agreed on.

For the second time today, Lily and Alex hugged the Sturniolo triplets. Lily took this opportunity to give them the friendship bracelets she had made a few days prior as she wasn't sure whether she could have given them during the small talk – she had seen that most people gave their gifts during the group picture time and preferred to do the same. As they thanked her, the brothers asked how the girls wanted to pose. Given the colours that they were wearing, it felt obvious that Chris would be on Alex's side while Nick would be on Lily’s and they asked Matt to be in the middle. They all did hearts with their hands and Alex then told Nick, Matt and Chris to choose for the other picture. They all simply decided to smile and Lily held up a peace sign as her signature move which made Alex smile at how her friend could never take multiple pictures without making a peace sign in at least one of them.

The girls then thanked the triplets and they all told each other to enjoy the show. They left the photography area and were guided to the pit so that they could wait until the show started.

Dads. People's dads were currently on stage with Nick, Matt and Chris. It felt hilarious in the moment as no one had been expecting the triplets to switch up who they were bringing with them on stage. It had only been young fans until that point and seeing three grown adults enjoying the games was wonderful in Lily’s eyes. The girls had a pretty good view due to their VIP tickets and Lily could see Alex’s smile stretching to her eyes, which made Lily even happier to be able to share this moment with her.

Although Matt had won the popular vote and the painting game thanks to his teammate Mark, Chris took the lead during the Trivia game and was ready to win his nth basketball game. Then, as it was time for the last game of the show – Jenga, Chris was on the verge of victory and it got confirmed when Matt, once again, knocked down the tower. As the show was over, there was a round of applause for the triplets’ teammates and the coronation of the winner started. Each team received a medal and took pictures before Chris eventually got crowned for the fifth time since the tour had begun.

As Nick was concluding today’s show, Matt threw his shoes into the crowd which made all the fans cheer. Finally, Chris asked for everyone to call out Tril’s name. Tril – also known as YSB Tril or Trilly – was the triplet’s friend and a singer who had been invited to do a small concert at the end of some of the shows as he was living on the East coast. While Alex knew a couple of his songs, Lily had no idea that he was going to be here today but the two girls enjoyed it as the atmosphere was incredible.

~~~

Both the show and concert were over, but it wasn’t time for Alex and Lily to go back to their hotel room as they had backstage access and were currently being guided there where they would see the triplets for the third time today.

“That shit feels kinda sketchy for real”, Alex started. “But after everything we’ve experienced today I don’t care like– we could be kidnapped or murdered, I can die happy.”

“Damn bro, I wish I could say the same but we only lived twenty years so I hope we get a bit more”, Lily objected while laughing.

They were now waiting in line to go talk to the triplets and realised that they were the last ones, which made them hope that they could maybe get more time as no one would be waiting behind them. When there were only a handful of fans left in the room, Lily and Alex were called to start a conversation with any of the brothers. While Alex directly went to Chris to congratulate him on his victory, Lily decided to go see Nick as she saw that Matt was still talking to two girls.

“Nick heyy! How’s it going since earlier?”

“Bats girl hi! Awesome and you?” Nick was absolutely digging Lily’s energy.

“Quite sad purple team didn’t win but I got to meet you guys so that’s enough for me. And I got your merch so I’ll remember this forever!” Lily unfolded the purple shirt to show it to Nick.

“Great choice, I obviously approve,” Nick nodded as he took the shirt to sign it. “Are you still in need of a photographer?”

“Oh my god yes, a hundred percent still trusting your skills.” Lily laughed as she gave her phone to Nick so that he could take pictures.

“Thank you so much,” Lily said as she got her phone back and hugged Nick. “I hope you enjoy the last shows and that you win at least one more time!”

“Let’s hope so yeah, byye!”

The two new best friends waved at each other as Lily went to take Alex’s place with Chris while the blonde walked towards Matt.

“Hi again!”

“Hey, have you realised now that you should have chosen the same team as your friend?” Chris teased as he pointed to his crown.

“Hmm,” Lily feigned to think. “Maybe but I have faith in Nick, he gotta come back.”

“Fair enough but I won’t give up easily.”

Lily felt really happy that Nick and Chris were able to remember fans they had met earlier and that they were still as outgoing as they were before the show even though they must feel really tired. As Nick did, Chris took pictures of him and Lily before she thanked him.

“If you win tour, I’ll name a dessert for you at my café”. Lily said as she extended her hand to Chris.

“Bet”, the youngest triplet agreed as he dapped Lily up and hugged her quickly. “Gotta taste like orange, remember?”

Lily nodded and laughed as she bidded Chris goodbye before going to where Matt was standing.

“Hi Matt!”

“Hey, everything good?”

“Yeah, how about you? Still the most popular I saw?”

“Always, I guess it’s easier for people to dress in blue.” Matt reasoned as most people did own more blue – it being a primary colour – compared to purple or orange.

“I promise next time I’ll come in a full blue outfit!”

“You’re coming to see us again? Which show?” Matt asked as he felt comfortable talking to the girl.

“Well… I don’t know yet but I’ll try to get tickets for at least another show because I need to enjoy another one with my friend!”

It was true, Lily now wanted to find tickets for one of the Florida shows she had failed two months ago with her friends. She was thinking that the dates being so close now meant that she might have more chance at getting resale tickets, which always happened right before concerts for instance.

“Good luck then, and I hope to actually see you supporting me if you guys do come back. Also, don’t hesitate to bring other gifts.” Matt playfully said.

“Oh yeah, did you see the one we brought?”

“Yes and it looks incredible to be honest, can’t wait to get it from the box when we leave”.

Matt was being a hundred percent genuine as he thought of the picture he had seen on Alex’s phone. She had made a painting depicting the triplets as Pokemon trainers, each with a pokemon of their team colour next to them. Matt had a Piplup, Nick had a Sableye and Chris had a Buizel at his side. Lily was amazed with Alex’s talent and had always found her artstyle breathtaking, whether she was painting abstract things, landscapes or people.

“I hope the others like it as well, she was so happy to paint this for you!” Lily was Alex’s first fan since the blonde became interested in art towards the end of middle school.

“Well it was nice to see you again”, Matt started saying goodbye as he was going to take Lily’s last pictures of the day. After he did so, he and Lily hugged for the third time today. “Get home safe and have a good night.”

“Thanks, you too Matt.”

As Lily and Alex had indeed been the last fans in the backstage area, the three brothers guided them back to the exit before saying a definite goodbye and thanking them for coming.

“Wow,” Alex started as she and Lily were outside the venue. “I don’t know how to describe today.”

“Magical, unreal, amazing?” Lily rhetorically asked. “I’ll never forget that day.”

Alex agreed and the girls began to walk back to their hotel. When they arrived in their room, they ordered food and Alex went to shower while Lily immediately grabbed her computer. The brunette had grabbed her camera so that her friend would think she was going to look at the pictures she had taken today, but Lily actually wanted to look for resale tickets so that they could go to another show.

After twenty minutes, Lily had managed to find someone who had been reposted on Instagram by sturnioloteam and was wanting to sell two Silver tickets for the Orlando show as she couldn’t go anymore. Lily had just sent a message to the person and closed her computer as Alex was done showering, meaning that Lily could go while waiting to get a reply.

When she got out of the bathroom, Lily was surprised at how quick she had received an answer and was delighted to see that it was positive. The girl, although living in Orlando, was not able to go see the Triplets as she got sick with her sister who was supposed to go with her. She was selling the tickets for almost half of the original price as she just wanted someone to enjoy the show instead. Lily immediately replied that she was buying the tickets and the two girls agreed on the sale.

It was happening: Lily and Alex would go see the triplets for a second time in Orlando. However, only one of them would be aware as Lily decided that she was going to surprise her best friend with a secret road trip in three days – it was enough time to prepare everything. In the meantime, Lily would obviously still try to find tickets for maybe one of the two other shows in Florida as they wouldn’t be that far from home in any case – at least they were in their state.

“By the way, please send me your pics from today when you’re done editing them.” Alex interrupted Lily’s daydreaming. “I know your cam is a thousand times better than my phone.”

“Of course babe, we can look through them together so that I can edit your favourites in priority.”

This was thus how they spent their evening: admiring Lily’s pictures of the show and eating the most delicious fries they ever had. Now, only a few more days remained before the girls would live almost the same day once again and this time, a pleasant twist would be added to the Versus Tour experience.

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[charlesandmartine]

Friday 3rd April 2024

We awoke in our Pretoria hotel room to the sounds of the city. All day long the minibus taxis operating like buses ply their route in and out of the grid system of roads tooting their horns indicating there are spaces aboard. People gather at what seems as spurious places and climb aboard with minimal or no apparent hailing of the vehicle.

We had our fill of the inclusive breakfast and some perhaps non-inclusive muffins which went down well at lunch. The people we've met have all been so nice, polite and interesting. Our little waiter this morning insisted that he couldn't serve us with an Americano coffee, but could manage an Africano!

The Southern Sun hotel we were guests at were very helpful and allowed us to check out later than usual at 13:00. This gave us time to go look some more at this lovely city. So we stepped out into the cacophony that is Africa walking a km or so down to Church Square; a good starting point to see what there is to see in Pretoria. We blended in well I'd say; Ray-Bans in place, big map in left hand, smelling of sun screen, bright teeshirt, shorts, oh and white. In the time we were out, we saw no other white people! Our incognito took us eventually to the Palace of Justice where Nelson Mandela was tried in 1963. Just to be sure of our facts we asked some crime prevention officers sitting outside the building if this was the Palace of Justice. They looked blank for a moment and gave the only safe answer they could think of, I don't know. We looked for the Tourist Information office which according to the map and endorsed by the big brown sign should be in the corner of Church Square. A helpful chap suggested we try the big building behind us. Once more we were met with total astonishment at such a suggestion that there was a TI anywhere in the vicinity. So we folded the map up and made our way back towards the hotel. We watched a little band of what seemed to be blind street performers doing the African singing bit. We dug deep into the remaining pile of Rand notes that probably collectively amounted to fifty two and a half pence, and gregariously chucked some in the waiting pot enjoying the extremely jolly rhythmic singing. Next I find myself in the place I had earlier successfully avoided having my shoes cleaned and polished. Without warning my left shoe suddenly was engulfed in white foam perpetrated by a very helpful fellow carrying a can of spray polish. Now what options do you have when one shoe has all the attributes of a snow ball and the other retains the hue of the dusty outback. The process had to continue and the fellow appeared quite satisfied with the result, at least until I proffered some more of this toy money they have here. Too small he said despite the fact that his labour had been unsolicited. We came to a common understanding as I exercised my sparkling shoes quickly down the road in the general direction of the hotel. What an enjoyable taste of Africa!

ps Yesterday when we arrived at our hotel we sat outside by the pool and could not help overhearing a very long instructional call a 'Life Coach' was making to a client. He explained that he was extremely excited and passionate about being part of this person's journey as he transitions from being a man to a woman and to help shape their vision regarding how they saw themselves in five years time and what sort of man they might be looking for, but all that starts from within themselves! He went on and on and on and there were times I couldn't quite hear it all as I searched for a bucket! He did also mention his book quite a few times throughout the conversation.

pps We positioned ourselves by the pool again hoping we would receive some more essential information from the 'Life Coach'. Sadly he wasn't here today so lesson two will be missing from my portfolio.

ppps Just spoken to Phil Spencer in Johannesburg airport. We complimented him on his excellent program.

[reysim]

Saturday May 3/ 2025

We landed in Xi’an just before 1:00 am. But we couldn’t get out of the plane because authorities had to do some kind of health inspection! O M G! They removed and quarantined four passengers. One seated near us. No other information was made available to us. Then, after a half hour delay for this, we disembarked.

Next, we went through 3 security scans and filled out 3 entry forms. But they didn’t let us go through the last step because the airline had reported the wrong information. The airline reported that our next flight was to Russia the next day, even when we showed our ongoing tickets a week later to Singapore. The officials didn’t believe us and probably thought we were Russian spies. It took us 45 minutes of waiting before the officials could confirm that we would now be allowed to continue through immigration.

Then, I was worried that I would have a problem with my fingerprints like the last entry. Thank god nothing happened.

Our hotel offered us a car pick up so we asked one of the customs officers to call the hotel for us. We wandered around the airport for another half hour trying to find the right door to exit to the pick up area. Once outside, we waited, and no car showed up, so we again tried to get someone to help us, since none of our phone apps were working. Eventually, a man showed up and took us to a huge bus and said this would take us to our hotel, but at 3 AM in the morning, we didn’t believe him and he didn’t understand our English. Luckily, a family showed up going to the same hotel. So we all got on board and ended up in the right place. The family was going to Russia the next morning! I wondered if they had been labelled as going to Singapore and had experienced the same problem as us. It is very likely that the airline transposed our respective information.

After sleeping in and checking out late from our airport hotel, we took the train system into the city centre. We enjoyed seeing several young girls and boys dressed as popular animation characters and many older teens made up in traditional costumes.

We checked into our hotel by the Muslim Quarter inside the city walls for the next five nights. Our hotel is in the busy narrow street full of street food restaurants, filled with people, tuk-tuks, and even the occasional car trying to squeeze through!

We walked to the great mosque. They let me in without ticket because I covered my hair right away and looked Islamic. Simon bought a ticket. We took lots of pictures. We walked back through the Saturday night market and narrow alleys. Vendors were selling anything and everything you could imagine. Before we got back to our hotel we had foot massages.

[umichenginabroad]

Welcome to the Basque Country!

Week 1 (first half)

The trek from Michigan to Spain was definitely an interesting series of planes, buses, and cars. I left DTW for a late night flight to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. I've never been on a super long flight before, so eating dinner and breakfast on the plane was a pretty cool experience. Would rate both meals a solid 8/10 (the chocolate-filled breakfast pastry was fire). AMS was a busy and BIG airport, but they're very efficient and have a lot of amenities for travelers. The bathroom situation is the only thing that I would say I didn't like, just because I spent so long trying to figure out how to flush the toilet and ended up clicking random buttons until it worked...a very classic new traveler moment. Besides that, I secured my stroopwaffles and was on my way to the Bilbao airport. On that flight, I ended up sitting next to a girl around my age who turned out to be from San Sebastian! She was returning to Spain after being in the United States for a study abroad type of program, which I thought was a funny coincidence since I'm just starting mine. From BIO I hopped on a bus to San Sebastian's city center, and along the way I was so amazed at how different the elevation is compared to what I see on a day-to-day basis in Michigan. At some points we would be so high up that my ears started to pop, and at other times I was looking out the window and barely even seeing the tops of the hills/mountains. Another thing I didn't really expect is the amount of forestry literally everywhere in the region. It makes for a really pretty landscape and is very interesting to see the houses and buildings interspersed through the mountainous areas in these thick groves of trees. By this point, I was already falling asleep but needed to make it through one more taxi ride until I could finally collapse!! I successfully called over a taxi, and immediately had to start using my Spanish with the driver. For a second I forgot that I was in a country where the primary language was something different than English, but once I knew he could understand what I was saying I became more comfortable talking with him. He was a super nice guy who pointed out different areas of the city that I should check out while driving me to the hotel (I never got his name but he's my hero for real!). After about 14 hours of travel, I bet you're wondering how it felt to hit the bed. Welllll, I dropped my things off in my room and then took off to take a walk around the city since I got a crazy energy rush and beat the jetlag (for now). On a normal Friday night at home, the streets and roads would be pretty dead and without much activity. That's the complete opposite of how it was in San Sebastian throughout the city. There were families with their kids, couples, groups of friends, performers, and just people everywhere out eating food and socializing. I loved it! In a way it makes you feel connected to everyone else because it's so lively and energetic. Overall, my first night in a new country was 100% a win.

When in San Sebastian, you get used to seeing signs or buildings in either Spanish or Euskara. I learned from the peer mentors at the University how Euskara is commonly used by the locals, that it's taught at home by parents or at school along with Spanish, and even that to work in the Basque country, it's necessary to know how to speak the Basque language. I was wondering if I could learn it but, unfortunately, it's a very ancient language that's influenced others like Spanish or French, but hard to pick up because it's so complex. However! Learning words or phrases isn't out of the question, so a new challenge of mine is to see how much Euskara I can fill my brain with before leaving. When we were doing an activity with the PMs I was listening to them speak what I thought was Spanish, thinking to myself like how do I not understand them at all??? Did my brain just flip out and now all my years of Spanish were for nothing?? To my relief, they explained it was Euskara and I felt soooo much better that I wasn't tripping. Below are some pictures of the streets we've walked through that show a little bit of the Basque language, along with a very famous hotel (the Maria Cristina), and an ancient thermometer/barometer!

It's very common here to relax and enjoy while eating, which hey, I'm not complaining and always down for some good foods. The first day of our program, we were taken out to this super amazing spot on a cable car called Monte Igueldo. The view overlooked the entirety of San Sebastian, which was nothing short of absolutely breathtaking. We had lunch at a restaurant near the top, and I had my first taste of highly anticipated...paella! Between the seafood and meat paella, I would have to say that the flavor was stronger in the meat one. It's definitely worth all that everyone says about it, along with the famous sidra (cider) of the basque region. Cider is so crazy popular here that sometimes locals will drink it in place of water for their meals. At first, I didn't get the hype, but after visiting the Cider House for another one of our events later in the week, I see it now. I'm gonna take a minute to talk about the Cider House because it was a really cool experience and I think there should be more places in the states like it. Basically, it's a big social event where different courses are served throughout the evening, such as cod, steaks, salads, chorizos, fish soups, etc. along with drinking cider that you get from these huge barrels and talking with other people who are there at the same time. It was a nice bonding moment with the peer mentors and also with the other students as well! Another type of social event is the pintxos, similar to tapas. There are a TON of combinations of these finger foods, ranging from something small like a ham croqueta to actual fried octopus. I know that there are so many food posts from a bunch of other bloggers, but I've gotta hop on that bandwagon and at least show a few pictures. SIDE NOTE! The coffee here is super strong and super fire. I don't want to hate too hard on Ann Arbor coffee, but the automatic coffee machines in the duderstadt do not compare to the ones they have here. First off, the prices are cheappp, and secondly the flavors and options are superior. I've featured several different foods here: the pintxos that I've tried so far, the paella, a chicken milanesa, and a café con leche XXL. Spain EATS with the food game.

So far, I've had a great time exploring the city, talking with the locals, trying different things, and seeing how the culture in Spain compares to that of the United States. We've been doing so much everyday, but I can't fit all of it in just one post so I'll be doing a second half of week 1 coming soon! Thanks for sticking through this looong post (I like to ramble sometimes so you're a trooper for making it to the end). The pic below is of me and some of my friends at the top of Monte Igueldo!

Agur! (Goodbye in Euskara)

Emily Dobao

Biomedical Engineering

IPE San Sebastian, Spain

May 26th, 2024

[orcashiki]

Day 0

I don't like airports. I don't like traveling. And yet, I find myself, once again, in the airport to go to another country.

I'm always really stressed about the trip until I'm past security and the plane is in the air. Then it's a magical void unbothered by time and space where I dive into the world of games, or in this case, draw a million things and then some.

Despite being a mostly empty flight, somehow I scored a window seat with another passenger next to me. He asked to be moved to the row in front so we could each have a whole row to ourselves, though.

I took Japan Airlines for the first time, and their food is okay. Apparently you can get miso soup as well, but I declined each time in anxiety. I'd like to try it when I fly back. I've always wondered if airplane food being bland in general is due to the altitude. Something about higher altitude requiring more salt? Don't quote me on that, though. It's pure conjecture on my part.

I've decided I prefer window seats now. I used to grab middle seats because I didn't really need to leave my seat, and I wanted to avoid getting up to let people out. Then a couple flights ago, two people of larger stature sandwiched me into half of my seat. Thankfully it was a domestic flight, so it was only 6 hours, but ever since I've tried to get window seats instead. If the person next to me decides to spread and take my space again, there's a bit more space at the window. The view is also very pretty.

At baggage claim, the security dog beelined to my backpack. They asked me if I had any fruit or meat products, and I told them there was only a breakfast blueberry muffin from the airport... When I took off my mask later at the hotel, I got hit by a wall of blueberry. The blueberry muffin must have had some really strong stuff, since my backpack still smells like it.

On the plane I was using English, but I told myself to talk to people in Japanese starting from customs. The customs people all spoke very clearly, as did the airport train clerk. I managed to get to my station without too much trouble, although as always I was very scared that I might've gotten on the wrong train.

When I reached the hotel, the doors were closed. I called front desk over the intercom, and a man picked up and said... something.

My mind blanked.

I defaulted to English, "Hi, I have a reservation..."

There was a pause, before the man said, "check in?" in a heavy Japanese accent.

And I was in. He went to find an employee who spoke English, and that person was very polite while walking me through everything. He also answered all of my strange foreigner questions as I looked around the apartment with wide eyes. The appliances still look a bit like black magic to me, but I'm sure I'll get familiar with them eventually.

[beeanddoddi]

saturday the 6th of january

11:02am (local time)

so after literally no sleep since like yesterday morning and a night squeezed between two cracks from two single beds pushed together, in a room that was too cold, with horribly painful leg cramps that lasted all morning, you could say that I'm a little bit grumpy. I'm exhausted. as much as I've loved being overseas and exploring-- in fact I've had the time of my life-- I'm tired and done and I want to go home to my cat and my bed and my dog and my best friends. that's the thing about traveling, you're bound to feel homesick when home is so comforting. safe to say I'm am thoroughly homesick.

anyway we woke up at 2:30am to leave our hotel at 3am to depart on our domestic flight at 6am to land in Ho Chi Minh at about 8-8:30am to the board another flight (this time international) where they won't transfer our luggage for us and we have to go through all the boarder security in the 2 hours before our flight home.... THEN we have a 4 hour drive home.... yeahh I'm looking at being awake for over 30hours... (I don't sleep well on planes). so yes I'm irritable and grumpy. man I hate airports.

on a different note, the city was so different at 3am. so quiet, so eerie.... it was very strange. also the smog lay over the city in a thick cloud like the clouds of fog we get at home in winter.... it's crazy.

after a very smooth and on time flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh we arrived only an hour and half before boarding for our next flight to home.... that should be enough time if we had done all the international transfer stuff in Hanoi and not at the other end. we got to the international terminal and it was PACKED... like there was no way we're were getting our luggage in the gate on time nevermind get through the longest line of immigration I have ever seen.... finally we got up to check our luggage in and guess what?! My dad's and my visas expired because of some stupid glitch in the system and so they couldn't check us on until we went to security and paid the stupid fucking fine for their mistake! omg I was furious and terrified... so me and my dad walked off to get things straightened out -- we'd overstayed our visa that was just facts and there was nothing we could do but pay the fine and try and catch this flight. dad had to go all the way back and out of the terminal to get cash to pay this fine and our gate was closing for our luggage... we weren't getting on that flight. plan B was for mum and my little sister (who's visa's were fine) to catch this flight and me and dad to find another one home when all this was sorted. but with some very angry looks they got their stupid money and put our bags on as "last bags" (I'm not sure they'll make their way home if I'm honest...) and fast passed us through immigration and security. now I'm already furious about this but I'm even more furious because there were dozens of other families and travelers that took the same connecting flight and are on this flight home and almost all of us were running late because of their horrible horrible planning! ahh it's so frustrating and I feel like I need to punch someone and it might have to be the immigration guards which might make me more of a criminal than I already am.

even though all this is just absolute bull shit and I'm incredibly angry at the flights and staff and immigration and my own government for stuffing this up, overstaying your visa often means you're not allowed to go back to that country... me and my dad may never be allowed back into Vietnam because of a stupid mistake.... and as a traveller and already having been her once and still needing to explore more.... not being allowed back just breaks my heart... I'm a traveller who's not free to go where she'd like to explore. what a deviating end to a wonderful trip....

so a couple hundred dollars poorer, having become an international criminal, maybe having lost our luggage, running on maybe 2 hours of sleep in the last 32 hours, rage and an absolutely shattered heart and probably leaving this beautiful country for the very last time... I'm going home.

bye bye Vietnam, thanks for having me.

[pensat-i-fet]

Wrong player, right time: Part 1 (Pablo Gavi, Pedri x Reader)

Part 2

**Hi! 😊 So...I was asked to write some sort of love triangle and while I liked the idea, I thought I could do something a bit different. Hopefully you like it. And because this ended up being so long, it’s divided in two. The next part will be posted tomorrow so not a lot of waiting 😉 Enjoy!! ❤️**

Word count: 5177

Masterlist

Wattpad

“I got a present for you”.

Your mum’s words made you look up. “Why?”

“For passing your exam. And it kind of is related to that”.

You frowned slightly, smiling at the same time. Last year, you decided to retake a few classes to get a higher grade and study the major you really wanted to study in university. It had been a crazy decision to many but you were sure of it and it paid off. You got the grade you needed and were accepted at the university in Barcelona.

“Ok, tell me!”

“You are going to Barcelona this weekend. I want you to be able to know the city better and to see the area where you’ll be living”.

“Mum! Oh my God!”

Getting up, you ran to hug your mum.

“And…I might have gotten a ticket for the football match too”.

“Stop! You’re the best! Thank you!”

“You’ve worked hard and deserve it. Once you start the uni year, there won’t be time for much fun”.

There was no time to waste. It was Wednesday and your flight was on Friday, so you needed to pack everything and start planning. You had been to Barcelona before but never for too long, so this was a great opportunity to familiarize yourself with the beautiful city.

The weather was supposed to be good, so you packed a lot of cute summery outfits. The sun didn’t bless you with its presence as often in your home city of Santander, so it was also something else you could enjoy during the weekend.

You barely got any sleep the night before your trip and after checking you had your boarding pass and your ID about seventy times, you made your way to the small airport.

The flight was quick and soon you found yourself on your way to the hotel you would stay at the next couple of days. You pretty much threw the suitcase on the floor and went out again to see the city.

And that was how you spent the Friday and Saturday in Barcelona, trying to see as much as you could and visiting the student residence where you were going to live once you moved there.

Sunday was going to be your last full day there but it was also the most exciting. Finally, you were going to visit the Camp Nou. Actually, you visited it as a kid but couldn’t remember being there. But now it was time to fully enjoy the experience.

The atmosphere was incredible. You usually went to watch matches when Racing de Santander played at home but your main team was Barça. And, funnily enough, a former Racing player was now playing for Barça. You had met him a few times but doubted he would remember you. Players met so many people every day.

“First time?”

“Pardon?”, you asked, turning to look at the man on the seat next to yours.

“You look like it’s your first time here. And like a kid in a toy store”.

“Yes”, you laughed. “I’ve been wanting to watch a match here my entire life”.

“Well, let’s hope it’s a good one”.

While it wasn’t the match of the century, it was quite entertaining. Barça went 2-0 up early and got to play a bit more relaxed after a couple of not-so-great results.

The second half meant a few players you didn’t get to see up close before were now playing near the area where you were sitting. One of those players was the famous Gavi. You couldn’t lie and pretend you weren’t one of those girls who thought he was really cute. But the one you liked the most, Pedri, was injured. So it was a bummer you didn’t get to see him play. Oh well, Gavi was a good substitute.

“Gavi! Look at all the space those defenders are leaving near the box. Use it!”

You didn’t even realise you were yelling. You never did. And it’s not as if the rest of the fans were quiet but Gavi was very close to your seat and heard your words.

“Ok, coach!”, he said, looking at you and smiling at your surprised face.

“I…”.

“You’re blushing”, laughed the man that had introduced himself as José. You had been chatting a bit during the match.

“I feel so silly. I never realise they can hear me. I’m too used to screaming at the tv”.

That only made him laugh more.

A couple of minutes later, the ball fell on Gavi’s feet again and the defenders left the same space you had warned him about before. And he took the chance to run to the box and give a pass to Lewandowski that gave Barça their third goal.

Everyone got up to cheer and when you finally sat down, you saw Gavi walking towards you, a big smile on his face.

“Thanks for the heads up!”

“Eh…you’re welcome?”

José’s laugh could probably be heard back at your parent’s house. God, you were so embarrassed.

The match ended with a 3-0 win for Barça and you couldn’t be happier with that result. It was the perfect ending to your weekend. But…there was more that was going to happen before you went back home.

“Someone wants to talk to you”, said José.

“Who?”

You looked at where he was pointing and saw Gavi walking towards you while taking his shirt off. He gestured for you to get closer so he could give you the shirt and you walked almost not believing what was happening.

“For me?”

“Yes. We wouldn’t have scored that third goal without your advice. I’ll tell Xavi that if he needs some help, I know the right person”.

You giggled, blushing. “I’m free for the next match if he needs me”.

“I would love to see you on the bench. You wouldn’t be as far from me then”.

Not knowing what to say, you extended your arm to get the shirt. And once you had it, Gavi left to join his teammates.

“He was flirting with you”, said Jóse, making you blush even more.

You put the shirt on your face, trying to hide. But it was too late. The cameras had seen it all.

                                   **

Gavi expected you to post something about getting his shirt on Instagram, so he kept checking the photos he was tagged in on social media…but nothing. You were nowhere to be found.

He was used to hearing things yelled at him at the matches. Often insults and usually it was men who did it. So when he heard your voice, it caught his attention a bit more. And what you said actually made sense. He had noticed what you pointed out and was thinking about telling his teammates to try and take advantage of that defensive weakness from the other team. But it was hearing you say it that made him do it before he even told the others. He wanted to impress you.

What he didn’t want was for the entire country to know about the interaction but he should have known better. All eyes were on him at matches and, of course, the cameras had picked up everything that happened.

“El día después”, a football programme that had been created before he was even born was very famous for their section “Lo que el ojo no ve” (What the eye doesn’t see). They usually caught funny moments of the matches and put them together in a video. People loved that. And this time, they found the best clips for it at the Barça match. They filmed all of your interactions with him and subtitled them.

Gavi was rewatching the video in the training ground with some of his teammates, and they all teased him when the guy who was next to you told you that Gavi had been flirting with you and you blushed and hid your face. He hadn’t seen that when it happened and it made him smile knowing you seemed to like him too. But still, no post on social media.

“She’s gorgeous”, said Pedri.

“I know”.

Gavi couldn’t stop smirking and daydreaming about you showing up at the next match.

“What are you all doing?”, asked the other Pablo, Torre, when he got to the dressing room.

“Watching a video of Gavi’s girlfriend”, said Ferrán.

“You have one? I didn’t know”.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Pablo. Don’t listen to them. But come watch the video”.

Gavi played the video again and when the camera showed you, Torre asked him to pause.

“I know her”.

“You do?”, Gavi couldn’t believe that. He might be able to find you after all.

“She’s from Santander, like me. I saw her at all the Racing matches”.

“Do you know her name?”

“No, but….”, he took his phone out and went on Instagram, “I took a lot of photos with her and she tagged me on Instagram when she posted them, so we should be able to find her”.

“I love you, Pablito”, said Gavi, kissing his teammate’s head.

“Save the kisses for her, bro”.

It took longer than they expected but there it was, a post you made on Torre’s final match for Racing. Gavi took a screenshot of it so he could send you a message later. But if you were from Santander…well, that complicated things a bit but it didn’t make anything impossible.

He spent some time looking at your posts and then had to go to training. There was time to keep stalking later. But when he finally got home and went to check your profile, it was private. That was odd.

                                  **

The last thing you expected after your trip to Barcelona was for a video of you to go viral. When you were sent the youtube clip, you couldn’t believe it. And the comments…they made you want to never check your social media again.

But then you noticed a lot of notifications on your Instagram. How on earth had Gavi’s fans found your profile? It was too much. So you privated your profile and removed all the new followers you got. You were just a normal girl and didn’t want to be involved in any drama.

Your mum found out what had happened and invited you to go out with her to stop overthinking. You turned the wifi and data off and forgot about all of it.

But then you got home and the wifi connected to your phone and one of the notifications caught your eye immediately. Why was Gavi sending you DM’s on Instagram?

[Pablogavi]: Hi! Sorry about all the drama that the video has caused. You ok?

How did he find your Instagram? But it was really nice to see he actually cared.

[You]: Hi! I’m alright, don’t worry. Thanks for asking.

[Pablogavi]: Let me know if you need me to say something on social media or whatever.

[You]: I will, thanks.

[You]: How did you find my Instagram?

[Pablogavi]: Torre recognised you on the video and helped me find you.

[Pablogavi]: Does it sound stalkerish? 😶

[You]: A bit 😂

[You]: But I’m glad you contacted me.

How had your life become so surreal so quickly? All because of a silly comment you couldn’t help but scream.

[Pablogavi]: Feel free to be the one who contacts me if you ever come back to Barcelona.

[You]: I’m moving there soon. For uni.

[Pablogavi]: Best news you could give me 😀

“Who are you talking to?”

Your mum’s voice startled you and made you almost drop the phone. “Nobody”.

“Right. Why were you blushing and smiling then?”

“Just watching some funny videos”.

You didn’t normally keep secrets from your parents but what were they going to think if, after what they saw on that video, you told them Gavi was flirting with you on Instagram?

So you didn’t tell them but kept on speaking with him. And you kept thinking about going to Barcelona before you had to move there…so you could see him. You had seen some comments online about how you had made your account private right before he started to follow you and that worried you. As exciting as talking to a cute football player was, you didn’t want people harassing you because of it. And now it seemed like so many people had already decided you were his girlfriend.

“Will it be ok for me to go to Barcelona this weekend?”, you asked in the middle of dinner three weeks after your previous trip.

“What for?”, asked your dad. “Do you need to do any uni stuff there? I thought you could do it all online”.

“Yes, it’s not uni related. I just wanted to go again and…meet some friends and stuff”.

“You have friends in Barcelona? Since when?”

Your mum was suspicious and for a reason. The way your face got all red while you were lying to them didn’t help.

“Honey, we might not use social media but we aren’t dumb. And when people talk about your daughter, you listen. Is it Gavi that’s invited you to go see him?”

“Yes, but it’s not what you think”, you rushed to say.

“We weren’t born yesterday. Of course it is what we think it is. But…you aren’t a kid anymore. We can’t forbid you from going and you’ll move there soon anyway. But please be careful”.

“I always am”.

“We know”, said your mum, holding your hand. “You are smart and we trust you. Do we trust a football player’s intentions?”

“We don’t”, answered your dad.

“Keep trusting me, then”.

                                    **

“Someone’s happy…and in a hurry”, said Pedri, sitting down next to an already dressed Gavi. “I’ve never seen you get ready so fast”.

“I’ve got plans”, smiled his friend.

“I can guess which type of plans”.

“My Santander girl is coming to Barcelona again”.

“I still think she’s too pretty for you”.

“Don’t be jealous, Pepi. She’s an only child but we might find a pretty cousin for you or something”.

“Is she staying with you?”

“No, she’s staying at a hotel but we have a couple of dates planned. And she might change her mind about where she stays after that”.

“Or she might run back to Santander after talking to you for more than 10 minutes”.

Gavi laughed and left the training centre to go find you. The taxi was waiting for him already.

Once at the train station, he tried not to be recognized but it was always a lost battle. It was while taking some photos with a kid that he saw you.

“Sorry guys, I have to go”.

You were looking around and smiled when you finally saw him.

“Hi”, you said, hugging him. “So good to finally see you in person”.

“Yeah, same. Should I take you to the hotel so you can leave your suitcase? Then we can go grab some food”.

“Sounds good”.

You did just that and soon found yourself walking around Barcelona, on your way to a restaurant that was great, according to Gavi. Well, at least you were learning about where to eat for when you moved there.

The food was great. The rest of the date…it wasn’t his fault. Or yours. But there was no spark. The excitement you had felt while you texted was gone. And he was feeling the same way. Well, that was disappointing.

Gavi had planned on trying to ask you to go to his place after dinner but what was the point? He wouldn’t be surprised if you actually ran away home like Pedri had said.

And when you got to the hotel, you buried your head in the pillow, feeling so stupid about how wrong it all went.

                                  **

“Someone isn’t looking so happy today”.

“Stop”, said Gavi, putting his hands on his face.

“What happened?”

“The date was a disaster, Pedri. A disaster!”

“What did you do?”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“You’re more likely to mess up”, he shrugged.

“It’s just…there was no connection. And it’s not as if she isn’t an interesting person”.

"Or gorgeous”.

“Yeah, that too. But we just felt so uncomfortable in each other’s company. It was so weird”.

“Are you seeing her today? Maybe things change”.

“Well, I have to see her. She is here because of me, I can’t just leave her alone. But…could you maybe come with us?”

“I don’t want to third wheel”.

“It wouldn’t be that. Just, I don’t know, maybe having someone else there helps”.

Pedri didn’t want to tell his friend but the only reason why he accepted was a very selfish one. He wanted to meet you. Every time Gavi mentioned you or showed the boys a photo of you, he cursed his back luck. Maybe if he hadn’t been injured, it would have been him who talked to you at the match.

You were waiting for your “date” to arrive, checking your phone nervously. Maybe the second date would be better than the first. There was some hope.

But then you saw he wasn’t alone and that confirmed he had a terrible time with you too. You tried to see who it was he was with and then realised it was Pedri. The player you actually had a crush on.

“Hi. Do you mind if Pedri comes with us today?”

“No, not all. Hi!”

You tried not to be too obvious but could tell Gavi was looking at you funny. And when Pedri smiled at you, you just knew you were blushing.

“Nice to finally meet you”.

“Nice to meet you too”.

Soon, it was Gavi that felt like he was third wheeling but he didn’t really mind. It wasn’t as if his friend was trying to steal a girl he had a chance with from him. It was clear you two were not meant for each other, but maybe Pedri could be a bit luckier.

“Sometimes I feel like I just signed for Barça because of the beach. I wouldn’t be able to live in Madrid or somewhere without a beach”.

“Same”, you laughed. “I can’t wait to visit all the beaches here. It’s going to make me feel less homesick”.

“Pedri can show you his favourite one”, said Gavi, making you both look at him. Had you forgotten he was there? Kinda.

“That’d be nice”, you said.

“The one near his house is really pretty. Why don’t you go today? The weather is great”.

Pedri looked at his friend, a bit confused. But when he saw the way he raised his eyebrows, he got it.

You quickly finished your dinner and made your way to Pedri’s house, where he parked his car so you could then walk to the beach.

“Sorry about today”.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“Well, Gavi sent you to babysit me and you probably had other plans. It’s just…I guess he could tell it wasn’t working between us or whatever. You didn’t have to look after me. It’s fine”.

“I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do”.

You looked down, biting your lip. And feeling all the butterflies you expected to feel with Gavi but that never showed up.

The silence that accompanied you while you walked on the beach wasn’t a bad one. It was nice.

“I like to sit there and just look around. It sounds a bit boring, I know”.

“We could do that”, you said quickly, not finding the idea boring at all.

“Come, I’ll let you sit on the comfiest stone”.

That made you laugh.

“It’s a shame you and Gavi didn’t work. He was very excited about seeing you”.

“Yeah. I guess it happens”.

“You could still be friends when you move here, though. He’s a good guy, he’ll be happy to help you with whatever you need”.

“Can I ask for your help too?”

“Of course”.

Sitting there with him was making you feel a bit more bold. Having a crush on someone you didn’t know personally could lead to disappointment when you got to spend some time with that person. But with Pedri…it was the complete opposite.

“You know. I had a crush on a Barça player but it wasn’t Gavi”.

Pedri looked at you after that comment, frowning.

“Torre?”

“What? No, why would you…”.

“Well, he’s the one who recognized you. And he mentioned you asked him for photos a lot. I just guessed”.

“Do you want to guess again?”

“Can I get a little hint? Blonde or brunette? Spaniard or from another country?”

“I’ll give you the best hint. No way you don’t guess right after that”.

He turned to look at you when you didn’t continue talking and you leaned to kiss him. You could tell he was surprised at first, but he responded to the kiss quickly.

“Can you guess now?”

“I might need another one of those hints…”.

You laughed, moving to kiss him again. Yeah, he didn’t disappoint.

"Does this count as stealing my friend's girl?"

"I don't think so".

"Good".

                                  **

Your final day in Barcelona was spent with Pedri and it was perfect. You kept making promises to each other but you weren’t stupid. The summer holidays were coming and you wouldn’t be with him. So you decided to not try and date until you moved to Barcelona in August. Mostly to save yourself the heartbreak if you opened Instagram one day to see him with another girl while on holiday.

Your parents didn’t buy that nothing had happened with Gavi when they saw the way you looked when you got back home. And after some pestering, you told them what really happened.

The holidays were pretty uneventful for you. And by the time they were almost over, you just spent your days packing your things and getting ready for the big move.

[Pedri ❤️]: will you be in Santander next week?

What an odd message. You had been texting non-stop but you didn’t expect that question now.

[You]: yes, why?

[Pedri ❤️]: I’m coming to see you 😉

He what?

[You]: you don’t have to. We’ll see each other in Barcelona soon.

[Pedri ❤️]: I want to see you. Is that ok?

[You]: of course. I just didn’t expect you to come to see me here.

[Pedri ❤️]: I’ve been dying to see you since the day you left.

And you had been dying to see him since that very same day too. So you planned his little trip, still not believing this was happening.

“Hey!”, you waved at him at the airport, feeling overwhelmed by his presence.

“Don’t go all shy on me now, mi amor”, he said, hugging you and not caring about the looks you were getting from people. “Missed me?”

“Maybe a little”.

“Liar”.

More people started to look at you, recognising Pedri. So you took him to your car to drive him to his hotel.

"My parents want to meet you", you blurted out, afraid of scaring him.

"Ok".

"You're ok with it? I mean, we aren't even dating officially but…you know, they just want to take the opportunity of having you here to talk".

"Yes, it makes sense. And you keep saying we are not dating but that's not how I see it".

You looked at him quickly before looking at the road again. "How do you see it?"

"To me, we started dating the day we met. We are just waiting until we live in the same city to see each other often and I guess do more couple stuff".

"So should I introduce you to my parents as my boyfriend?"

"It'll probably be nicer for them to hear that than calling me the guy you hooked up with once because you actually didn't like my friend".

The laugh that came out of you scared you and you gripped the steering wheel tighter while trying not to laugh more.

But on that first day, you didn't see your parents. You spent the whole day with your boyfriend and if that was an indication of how life was going to be in Barcelona, you couldn't move there fast enough.

Pedri charmed your parents too when he met them and you could tell they were a bit less worried about letting their daughter hang out with a football player.

"I'll see you in…10 days", you told Pedri when you took him to the airport. He started preseason the next day.

"10 loooong days. I might not survive".

"You'll be fine", you hugged him tightly, not ready to let go. "I'm the one who will struggle".

"We facetime every day, ok? I need to see your pretty face".

You nodded, kissing him before walking to the security area with him.

"See you soon".

                                  **

Your dad was helping you take the last box from the car to your room when you heard screaming in the hallway. Was this going to be a daily occurrence?

"It's Pedri! And Gavi!"

"Oh no…".

You got out of the room and saw your boyfriend walking towards your room. He had promised to help with the moving but ended up having to stay longer for training. But there he was, and Gavi was there too, making every girl in the building go insane.

"What are you doing here?"

Your dad told them to get inside the room and closed the door, so people wouldn't see you.

"No kiss?", he asked and then looked at your dad. "Sorry?"

But your dad just shook his head and Pedri gave you a quick kiss and hugged you.

"Did you bring Gavi here to see if I had changed my mind about who I liked?"

"So funny".

"I was brought here for my muscles", said Gavi, flexing said muscles.

"You are here because I have to drive you around and I didn't want to waste more time going all the way to your house".

"I can help anyway".

When everything was in place, you decided to leave. Your dad wanted to take you to dinner before leaving. And now both Pedri and Gavi were invited to that dinner.

On the way out, you tried to keep your distance from your boyfriend, not wanting to create rumours on your first day there. But the problem was that it was Gavi who walked by your side and that didn't create a rumour. It only made the one that already existed bigger.

Some of the girls took photos of you two walking together and laughing and posted them on Instagram.

"Ok then. You can't visit me if this is what's going to happen".

"You ok?"

You nodded, not feeling sure about being ok. You were dating one person while everyone seemed to think you were dating his best friend. It was…weird.

And it wasn't the last time something like that happened. You started to go to every Barça match at home, wearing your Barça shirt but not showing the back. So, of course, everyone assumed you were wearing Gavi's.

It got to the point where you didn't want to post about the matches. Your account was private but someone was clearly posting your photos with other accounts and you didn't know who it could be. So no posting was the solution. Every time you posted with Pedri, it was stories for your close friends. And those were never leaked, thankfully.

                                  **

"What happened?", you asked one of the girls that lived with you when you got there and saw all the people on your floor.

"A pipe burst and we have no water. And the water messed something up and half of us have no electricity".

"Huh…we can't stay here, then".

"Where are we supposed to go?", she asked. "Not all of us can go to our rich boyfriend's mansion like you will".

"Whatever", you rolled your eyes and went to your room to pick up some clothes and your books.

"Say hi to Gavi from me!"

You were still shaking your head when you closed your door.

"Hi! You're on speaker. I'm driving to the stadium".

"Sorry. I've got no water or electricity at my place. Can I stay with you until it's back?"

"Of course", said Pedri, not doubting his answer for a second, which made you smile. "And for the record, it wasn't me who did whatever it's that happened just so you stay with me".

"Don't believe him".

"Hi, Pablito! And don't worry, I don't believe him. I'll see you after the match, ok?"

"Looking forward to it".

"Good luck boys!"

                                    **

After the match, you waited for the boys near Pedri's car. They didn't take long to get there and you hugged both of them to congratulate them for the win. But your boyfriend got a longer hug.

"Sit behind him", said Pedri when you walked to sit behind the driver's seat, his seat.

"Why?"

"So I can see you while I drive".

"Oh my God", Gavi was rolling his eyes and Pedri glared at him.

But you did as he said and he started to drive. You could also see him better like this so you weren't going to complain.

When you were getting out of the stadium, you saw all the fans waiting. You put your hood on and tried to hide from all of them but they were surrounding the car.

Looking up from your phone for two seconds, you saw all the people trying to get a good look at you.

"It's her", you heard them say, "the girl Gavi is dating".

"See? I told you they were together".

You saw Pedri's jaw clenching and Gavi told him to drive so they wouldn't make you uncomfortable. He turned to see if you were ok and dozens of phones were out to film the interaction.

"Oh my God, he's so sweet looking after her", was the last thing you heard before Pedri drove past all the fans.

"Sorry about that", said Gavi.

"It's ok".

But you knew it wasn't ok. Because your boyfriend didn't say a word the whole drive to Gavi's and barely acknowledged him when he said goodbye.

You quickly moved to the passenger's seat and tried to get his attention but he wasn't in the mood.

"Are you ok?", you asked him when you got home.

"No, I'm really tired. Tired of everyone thinking my girlfriend is dating my friend".

"Who cares what they think? It's just because of that video. But you know the truth. We know the truth".

"What truth?", he said, raiding his voice. You had never heard him speak like that.

"What do you mean?"

"The truth about how you two spent weeks flirting and then you came here to be with him?"

"Are you for real?", you couldn't believe him. "You know how that ended. Why are you bringing that up now? I'm here with you, am l not?"

"Maybe you should just go with him. Everyone seems to think that".

"I don't think that".

But no matter what you said, he wouldn't look at you. It was breaking your heart. So you left…and there was only one place you could go to.