#and then that night the MOMENT we got off the bus the tour guide shouted at us all to get off because the lights were already strong!!!!

[neversandnowheres]

northern lights and my best friend the minke whale

[marvelsbetch]

Peter Parker’s field trip. Part 1

Warnings: Trans!Peter, Spidypool, sex references, superfamily, transphobia, supportive avengers

Tony POV

I was in my lab waiting for Peter, my newly adopted son, to come home from school when Friday told me I had an email from Peters school. Turning to my phone I opened the email and was completely annoyed. The email read

'Dear Parent/Carer of Patricia Parker,

We are delighted to inform you that we have a surprise field trip for the student to none other than Stark Laboratories. The trip with be a residential starting on March 7th with a trip to Stark Tower, staying the night there with Mr Tony Stark-Rodgers and then having a trip to the Avengers Tower where we will have the opportunity to meet the Avengers and ask them questions. This is a once in a life time opportunity and we hope you allow your daughter to attend. Also, we would like to keep the trip as a surprise for the student so we urge you not to tell them the destinations of the trip.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs Robbins.'

I was livid. My child Peter is a boy. I do not have a daughter I have a son. I couldn't believe the nerve of this teacher so I stormed out of my lab and in to the main living area of the penthouse and saw my handsome husband lay on the couch watching tv. He looked so calm and collected but I feel this might change.

"Honey, I just got this email from Peters school that I think you should have a look at." I told him handing him my phone.

He looked confused at first but then the anger set in and by time my phone was placed back in my hand he had an evil smirk on his face. I had an idea of why he had that smirk but just to be sure I asked him,

"What's the smirk for?" I asked.

"Tell the teacher our son can go on the trip while I make a few phone calls. Nobody purposely misgenders my son and gets away with it." He is trusted before grabbing his cell phone and walking down the corridor to one of the training room. Probably going to blow off a little steam and anger. Might watch in a little while.

After a second I simply responded to the email stating'

I as Peters legal guardian allow my son to attend this field trip. Is there any additional information that we should be aware of?' It seemed like the appropriate response.

In all honesty I had Pepper invite the school to the towers as a reward for how well they did at the decathlon competition. I was not expecting to receive an email like this.

-5 hours later-

Peter arrived home shortly after the email incident and was greeted to everyone being in the room. Everyone being Me, Cap, Bucky, Nat, Banner, Pepper, Sam, T'Challa, Shuri, Rhodey, Wanda, Vision, Thor, Loki, Clint and Strange along with the Guardians on a Skype call on the tv. We told him it was a spur of the moment gathering as well all missed each other, not an entire lie, but in reality we were plotting to a) embarrass Peter as much as possible on the field trip and b) get back at the teacher for what they did.

We decided to order enough pizza for an entire 3rd world country and discuss Peter's school life as we ate.

"So Peter, has anyone been giving you trouble lately in School? You can tell us the truth." Steve, Peter's other father and my husband, asked.

"No everything just fine." He terribly lied.

"Come on kid. I've known you for almost two years now, don't try and lie. If there's anyone giving you any type of shit for whatever reason please know that you can tell us." I explained to him all of a sudden getting very serious. I could see him fighting with himself on weather to tell us something or not but decided not to as he then said he had homework to do and went to his room.

"So, he's either lying or the teacher isn't as bad as we think." Loki observed.

"No, he was lying. I could feel his conflict and pain in remembrance of what people have said to him. I'm not one for violence but someone needs to pay for what he's been dealing with." Wanda told us with tears in her eyes.

Cap and Barton walked over to comfort her and hopefully stop her crying. My blood started boiling, Wanda was a strong person and if what Peter's going through brings her to tears then that's a lot for one person to go through. What else has this teacher or student done? Why won't he tell us? Does he not trust us? That last question broke my heart.

"Baby, you okay?" I hear Steve ask moving towards me and holding both my hands in his.

"No. I'm pissed. I'm pissed at any one who hurt my son. I'm pissed at us for not making sure he knows he can talk to us. And I'm pissed at the world for making his go through all of this." I told him with tears coming to my eyes.

Steve pulled me close to my chest and held me tight. He stroked his hands through my hair as he tried to calm me down. I could tell he was mad to, we all were, but he was trying to hold it in despite everyone being here to essentially punish this teacher was his idea. Embarrassing Peter was mine.

"Right, so what do we do about this? I'm not letting anyone hurt my nephew and get away with it." Nat said sitting up and pulling a knife from who knows where to sharped her nails. That women scares me so much.

"How about we just drop in during the day and make sure one of us is always with him. If he has one of us always there and we make it apparent that we know and support him the I doubt even someone as bigoted as his teacher is going to say something. Then we can embarrass him when we're with him." Sam suggested.

"I like that. Where are we all going to be stationed?" Loki asked.

"Well if I speak to the tour guide I could get Banner to give them a lesson on Gamma radiation as the first. Then, Barton or somebody drops in. After that they will be taken to a different lab with Shuri and T'Challa. By that time it should be lunch where Thor and Loki could drop in and the guardians land near the level 7 outside cafeteria. Then we can have Sam drop some stuff from above like a water balloon or something and Bucky bake his favourite cookies to bring to him. After Lunch they're looking around some other labs where Shuri could also be along with Banner. I think they're also going to be visiting the training rooms so Nat, Cap, Bucky and T'Challa could be fighting and Wanda, Vision and Strange could be training their magic." I suggested feeling better now that we were planning this.

March 6th

-Peter's POV-

I was in Chemistry faintly heading the teacher, Mrs Robbins, drone on and on about ionic bonding and how it differs to covalent bonding. It was something I already knew so I didn't need to listen until Ned started hitting my arm. Turning to look at him he simply nodded to the direction of the teacher. I turned around just to catch two words that made my heart drop.

"-Field trip!" Our teacher cheered with a big smile on her face.

Field trip? To where and why?

"That's right, we have organised a surprise field trip for you all as a reward for how well you've all done on your recent exams. Only the top 20 student of the entire school will have the privilege of going. The destination will be a surprise but I will say to bring an overnight bag and money for food and such. You're parents have already got an email consenting for your attendance and the bus will be leaving at 8am tomorrow so don't be late." She further explained.

The whole surprise field trip thing made me nervous beyond all belief. I may not technically be a Parker anymore but the luck definitely followed me and the idea of having to go on an overnight field trip made me terrified. Also, our parents got an email. This means that either Dad (Tony) or Pops (Steve) knew about this probably weeks ago and didn't tell me, this only fulled my anxiety.

Soon the bell went signalling the end of the day and our temporary liberation from this educational prison. On the way out Mrs Robins pulled me aside. It confused me at first until she put our most recent test infront of me. My name circled in big red circles, I know what's about to happen.

"Patricia, you must stop this. You're name is not Peter, you're not a boy. You were born a girl and therefore are, there is no picking and choosing with what God gave you. You must understand this by now. This little joke has gone too far that you're name has been requested to change on our register. Get it through you're head that you are not a boy and you will go to hell for thinking otherwise. One more incident like this and you'll have detention for the rest of the year. Got it?" She basically shouted at me pointing to my circled name on the test.

"No. My name is Peter and I am a boy, I don't care what God assigned me because he got it wrong. I am a boy and my name is Peter as we have gotten it legally changed." I rebutted getting impatient with her ignorance.

"Don't speak to me like that young man. You have no right to change Gods idea and destiny for you. Just thing, you're a girl meaning you can have kids and spread God's message to others and have many kids. Just what God planned for all women." She told me trying to sound sweet but came off and incredibly patronising.

At this point I was too angry to listen to her bulls**t (Gotta keep it Steve friendly people) so I stormed out the room. She started yelling for me to come back to the classroom but I didn't listen and continued walking till I reached the car Happy was in to take me home.

I got in the car and started telling Happy about my day while playing classic songs on my phone such as Highway to Hell, You gave love a bad name and Living on a Prayer. He pretended like he didn't care but I could tell he was listening and hanging onto every word I was saying. I love that about Happy, he acts like he doesn't care but in reality he does and he does a lot. He once caught Flash saying stuff about me and threatened to hit him with the car, he almost did as well but we were running late to a meeting I had to go to with Dad. Of course that didn't stop Flash as he still likes to torment me daily but he now does it more secretly making it more bearable.

We soon made it home and I found all of my dysfunctional family,minus the guardians who were on a Skype call, sat in the living room watching a movie on the tv. I quickly set my bag down on the kitchen island and settled right next to Tony (Dad) who was cuddling Cap (Pops). Everyone was asking me questions about my day and school life in general. They focused mostly on if people were bullying on me. It worried me a little because as much as I know I can go to them, I don't want to because I know that if I tell them everything that's happened they'll kill people and I don't want that for my family. Half of them only just got pardoned and I don't want the governments to revoke that.

"Sorry guys but I got homework. The pizza was delicious, is it okay if I invite Wade around?" I pleaded with Pops knowing he's more likely to say yes.

"Yes but that door stays open hound man. Do I make myself clear?" Pops asked in a stern voice.

"Crystal." I responded before taking out my phone to call Wade, grabbed my bag and walked to my room.

"Hey Baby Boy, what's up?" Wade asked after picking up his phone.

"Not much, Pops said you could come around." I told him making him slightly squeal.

"Okay Baby Boy, I'll be there in 10 minutes. I love you." Wade informed.

"I love you to Babe." I said before hanging up with a smile on my face.

-10 minutes later-

I was sat at my desk finishing my algebra homework when I heard someone knock on the window. Knowing it was Wade I turned with a smile on my face and let him in.

"Hey Baby Boy, how was your day?" Wade asked making himself comfortable on my bed.

"It was fine, quite boring if I'm honest. We did get told about this residential field trip tomorrow though. Sorry I won't be here for most of the weekend. I'm sure my Dads will love having you around." I joked sitting on his lap and cuddling into his chest.

"It's fine Pete. I'll just have to savour our time together now." He said wiggling his eyebrows and kissing me passionately.

"My Pops said to keep the door open." I told him pulling away with a massive blush spread across my cheeks.

"Does that rule apply to your en-suite?" Wade asked.

"I don't believe so." I answered getting up from his lap and dragging him into my en-suite, which is where we stayed for the rest of the night.

To be continued...

[basicjetsetter]

Part I

♡ Pairing: Peter Parker x Black!FemaleReader

▹ Warnings: Mild Language, Triggering Content

▹ Words: 4.6k

▹ A/N: Buckle in. This is going to be a long ride.

“No way!” Your friend Manda squeals. “Those were the exact words?!”

You smoosh a frantic hand over Manda’s mouth and shush her, then slightly pop up from your seat to scope out the packed bus, making sure none of your schoolmates heard her outburst. To your relief, only a few close students glance over with little interest and barely anyone in a wider radius catches Manda’s words over the buzzing clammer of other conversations. Blowing out a satisfied exhale, you turn back to your friend, removing your hand from her mouth with a teasingly reproachful frown. 

“Tell the whole world, why don’t you?” 

She giggles, “My bad. But can you blame me? This is huge!”

Thrilled warmth floods into your cheeks from her enthusiasm. She’s right. This is huge, and you might have secretly sought this exact reaction because only Manda’s trademark, earsplitting squeal stamps news with the seal of authenticity. It’s real. You heard your Destined Words.

The same jitters from when you woke up this morning skitter up and down your spine, sharpening your senses to the max, making it easier to recall the words that floated into your subconscious—words from a bodiless voice. Your Soulmate.

I’ve got you.

Your mind handles the precious words like a porcelain tea set, carefully deciphering the voice pitch and attempting to match it to a face, knowing its efforts lie in vain because the words’ owner only becomes apparent when they speak them to you.

Some inner part of you distinctly translates the words into a comforting assurance, an assurance one might receive after coming home from a long day’s work and walking into the soft embrace of a lover. It weaves itself around your mind like a consoling safety net, painting an image of a lover better than you’ve ever imagined and everything you’ve ever hoped for.

You couldn’t have hand-picked a better day than today, Midtown High’s field trip to the MoMA, to gush over the words with Manda while admiring spectacular, thought-provoking art pieces. One of the perks of going to Midtown High is their fantastic field trips. You circled this Friday on your calendar at the start of the semester because while you loved being in a school centered around technological sciences, you were excited to study artists’ colorful, eclectic expressions and how their cultural personalities materialize in the stroke of a paintbrush.

“You’re so lucky,” Manda says, trying to pull off a pout. Her vibrant smile triumphs. “Only three days after you turn eighteen, and you hear your Destined Words. I’ve got four more months before I file a complaint.”

You sympathetically rub her shoulder, her oversized, long-sleeved denim jacket rough to the touch. “It’ll come. Just don’t wait for it.”

“Oh, I know it’s coming. I just want it to be something as cute as yours, you know.” She shudders, “My cousin Alonzo said his Destined Words were ‘Sure, whatever.’ Can you imagine that? Finally being mature enough for your Soulmate and that’s the first thing they say to you? I mean, sure, he and Tanya are super cute together, but ugh. Those words?”

You snicker, “Let me guess. You’re expecting a grand gesture?”

Manda nods with a dead serious face, though she could never truly pull it off with her full lips and Cabbage Patch Doll cheeks. She’d have a better chance at getting away with murder than intimidating someone with her cute little frown. “If I don’t hear the words ‘Where have you been all my life, you breathtaking, drop-dead gorgeous goddess,’ then I’m demanding a full refund.”

You blankly stare at each other for a beat before you crack, both of you laughing until your sides ache and you’re gasping for air, not caring for the teachers' hushes from the front of the bus.

“I just can’t believe I finally hear the words, you know,” you say as the laughs fade. “It’s like a fairytale come true.” You lean your head against the cool glass window, watching the placid cerulean waves come into view as the bus drives onto a bridge. “I wonder what they’re like, if I know them. If they’re nice. My mom says she already had a mega crush on my dad, so when he said the words, it already felt like they were together.”

Manda sighs dreamily. “I bet they’re cute. And super smart. Those words seem kind of thoughtful, too, so that’s a bonus. And, hey, don’t worry so much.” She gently knocks her shoulder against yours. “They’re going to love you.”

You weren’t scared that they wouldn’t love you. Everyone who finds their Soulmate never doubts that that is their person. What pins a tiny knot of anxiety to the pit of your stomach is how it will happen.

As a young girl, you spent countless nights dreaming of the sequential events leading up to the day you finally met your Soulmate, orchestrating the moment like a scene from all the rom-coms you binged. Your person accidentally bumps into you either in a hallway or on the bus or in the lunch-line, gazes deep into your dazed eyes, then declares their love for you with some cliché phrase before scooping you into their arms and planting a kiss on your expectant lips.

I’ve got you.

The sweet words drifting in your head do their best to ease away the anxiety. You have nothing to worry about. The meeting will play out the way you fantasized, if not better. All because of those words.

“We’re all gonna die!” Ned Leeds shouts from the middle of the bus.

All heads snap to the right windows. In an instant, densely packed bodies swarm from the left side to the right, sandwiching together to search for what Ned was staring at, some opening the windows and craning their necks for a better look. You grunt as someone digs their elbow in your ribcage to see more, and you tensely shove them against the back of the seats in front of you before peering out of your window.

It’s a sight no eyes could miss. A large, metal donut levitates in the clear sky, an obstruction not there mere seconds ago. You gasp in wonder, but not fear. Surely, the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes, will have this taken care of before the sun sets.

The bus driver, an old man with a smile as sly as a fox and pearly white hair, casually calls out, “What’s the matter with you kids?! You’ve never seen a spaceship before?”

“He’s got a point,” you shrug as Manda gapes at the driver with incredulous eyes, then rounds on you as you calmly sit back down. “We always get so worked up over these aliens, and nothing ever really happens. The Avengers got it handled.”

“You sure? Because that looks a little menacing.” Manda worries at her lower lip, anxiously sneaking peeks out the window. Many students stay plastered to the scene.

“Positive.”

✦ ✧✦ ✧

The appearance of the metal donut effectively sullies your experience of the MoMA. None of the tour guides thoroughly explain the paintings' and sculptures' meanings or historical relevance. Instead, they string together incoherent sentences about person, place, and time as they gape at the video feeds live-streamed to their phones. Even Manda stays glued to her screen, chewing on her lower lip so hard you're surprised she hasn't punctured it.

Fifteen minutes into the tour, aggravation chafes into you like sandpaper, rubbing your skin raw. You waited months for this trip. Months! You'd be damned if a few pesky aliens took this special day away from you. You weren’t afraid. You had no reason to be.

Fed up, you take matters into your own hands and stealthily break away from the group, tip-toeing back to an intriguing wall of paintings and observe it by yourself. 

One painting catches your eye early, drawing you to the middle of the wall to study it further. Its tag reads The Lovers, René Magritte, Paris, 1928, Surrealism, Oil Painting. There are two people, a man and a woman, painted with white cloths shrouding their faces as they share a seemingly intimate kiss. You lean in closer, noting the almost murky atmosphere and how it lends to the mystery of the kiss. What did Magritte want you to think when you analyzed this piece? What questions did she want you to ask? 

You derive two: Is love mysterious and complicated as the atmosphere suggests, or is it intuitive and straightforward as the veiled lovers suggest? And, would the love still be the same once they lift the veils?

Beep. Beep. Beep. All the phones in hearing range chime out three urgent trills, nearly ejecting your soul out of your body. Clearing your head with a shake, you pull your phone out of your back pocket. You don't even have to unlock it. The news alert flashes up like a hazard light. Tony Stark Missing.

You blink. What the hell is going on?

"Are you seeing this?" Manda whispers, sidling up to your side.

You nod, at a loss for words. Iron Man is missing? How? What happened? Did it have something to do with the metal donut? 

You blink harder and take another long look at the notification, hoping it was a typo or missing a few words, words like Tony Stark Missing Iron Man Suit. Hell, even Tony Stark Missing Cheeseburgers. Anything but what's on your screen.

Somewhere in the background, Mrs. Kramer, your Art teacher, roll-calls the students to the front entrance. "Okay, guys, time to cut the field trip short."

Your shoulders sag. This can't be happening. Is it really that serious?

"Peter? Peter?" Mr. Dell calls out, clenching onto a clipboard with shaking hands. "Has anybody seen Parker? Peter Parker?" he inquired, looking over the students' heads. A bead of sweat gathers on his forehead, even though there is virtually no heat in the building, and it's a breezy, 72-degree late-spring afternoon in New York City. "Where does this kid always sneak off to?"

Ned stuttered out, "He, uhm, Pe-Peter left early, sir. Family emergency."

"An emergency? Was it so important he couldn't at least notify the supervisors?" Ned bobbed his head up and down, keeping his eyes stapled to the floor in a manner that hinted at no further comment. Mr. Dell huffs, "Alright. But he's getting detention, and I have half a mind to put you in there with him, Leeds."

Ned's face screws up in a chastised grimace. "Sorry, sir. Won’t happen again."

Your eyes linger on Ned as he pulls out his phone and rapidly taps at the screen, probably sending a strongly worded text to his best friend, rebuking Peter for roping him into his antics and nearly earning him a week's detention. You don't know much about their friendship, but they appear tied to the hip at school. 

Ned's a nice guy. Reliant to a tee. You had the pleasure of partnering with him on an art project in Kramer's class a few weeks back, spending a considerable amount of time joking while diligently rendering an interpretation of Van Gogh's A Starry Night on a five-by-five foot canvass. During that time, he often complimented your paint-smeared overalls and your hair's ever-changing up-dos. He seemed like such a great friend to have.

Peter, on the other hand, is a tough nut to crack.

You only ever shared one class with Peter Parker. Spanish last semester. You remember him being too antsy for your liking, always checking his watch impatiently, answering questions too fast, bouncing his leg up and down, acting like he had someplace better to be and better things to do. His impatience never made sense to you until you heard some girls in the locker-room whispering about his Stark internship and how lucky he was to be working for the Tony Stark. 

When the internship suddenly halted, and Peter landed himself in the longest detention sentence you'd ever heard of, you started to take more notice of him only because he was around more often. He was sort of cute in a boy-next-door kind of way with his science pun tee-shirts and smooth, tousled brown hair. For a brief time, you fleetingly considered asking him to Homecoming, but the futility of such a question wasn't lost on you. He noticeably crushed on Liz Toomes, and you were confident Peter's pining for her meant destiny twined their paths.

But Liz is gone now, and there's a growing 90 percent chance Peter's set his sights on MJ. Brooding quirky girl ending up with boy-next-door, now that match made perfect sense, just like a rom-com, or even better, an 80's teen romance.

Manda tugs on your arm, her hands forming a shackle around your wrist. "Come on. They're getting back on the bus without us."

Sure enough, you two were nearly the last ones in the entrance, the remaining students filing out of the door. You rush after them and reach the bus doors right before they shut, huffing in unison. Manda doubles over and grasps her knees, heaving.

"Here," you gasp. "We're here."

Your driver tuts, swinging the doors back open. "Good thing you two made it in time. This bus waits for no one, not even me. Come on," he says, waving you inside. "Let's get this show on the road."

You trudge back to your designated seats, collapsing against the plastic covering as the adrenaline subsides, replaced with the forgotten dread of the trip's abrupt end. You lean over and peer out the left side windows when the bus rolls over the bridge again, surprise rattling ominously over your bones as you find the metal donut gone from the sky.

Where did it go? Did the Avengers get rid of it?

Your hand still clamps your phone. An annoying, slight tremble in your hands trips up your fingers as they try to type in your passcode, but you succeed on the fourth try. You scroll through your social media, hoping beyond hope that someone captured the Avengers' victory or something close to a victory, something that proves the news headline wrong. Stark's probably lying low, too beat down to show his face to the press.

The far-fetched lie makes you internally flinch. You don't know much about the guy, but you're more than a thousand percent sure Stark wouldn't hide from the press if he won anything.

A sinking horror clogs your chest as you obsessively watch clip after clip, onlookers recording some unconscious guy in a red cape being invisibly bound and trailing after the commanding hand of an elongated, greyish-blue alien. Spider-Man tries to get the red-caped guy back, swinging through the city and dodging billboards, his webs clinging to the departing ship's underside, Iron Man flying into the sky after them.

It’s bad. Oh, sweet heavens, it’s bad.

Maybe it’s not that much of a big deal. Yeah. Yeah, it’s probably nothing. The end of the videos suggested the Avengers gained the upper hand on the fight, so maybe, just maybe, the alien was fleeing—fleeing… with a captive. Hurtling off into God knows where with Iron Man and Spider-Man onboard.

It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. 

Your back flattens to your seat and your unseeing eyes meld to your phone, the thunderous beats of your heart stifling the rest of the world into silence. The air is thinning. 

Your ears are buzzing. 

A vice clenches your chest.

It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. 

The dubious mantra and vague words of your Soulmate blend into an all-consuming cacophony of words, gelling together in a chant of solace. 

It’s fine. I’ve got you. It’s fine. I’ve got you. It’s fine.

By the time the bus drops off the students at Midtown and you and Manda quietly walk in the direction of home, the mixture of affirmations fans away the panic settling around your chest, bringing back a semblance of your earlier confidence, or rather, what was left of it, which wasn't much.

Outside the apartment complex, an overwhelming amount of residents’ windows glow, most of them probably stuck to their couch, replaying the recent events on any major news network and speculating the whereabouts of our mightiest heroes.

It takes a while to dawn on you that you and Manda are the only ones standing outside. On the entire block.

Nothing stirs. Even the bodega on the corner appears closed for the day.

It's five o'clock on a Friday afternoon and there’s plenty of light left.

Emptiness pours out of every alley like ink spilling from a broken bottle, blotting the whole surface of the street with the absence of human activity. A tree's rustling leaves are so startling your breath locks up and you jump. Manda doesn't say anything, recovering from the sudden noise herself.

Leaving the deserted streets behind, you and Manda glumly walk up the steps of your apartment complex and up to your residence on the third floor. The apartment is eerily silent as you toss your keys on the kitchen counter and lock the door behind Manda.

"When are your folks getting back from their honeymoon again?" asks Manda, shrugging out of her jacket and toeing off her sneakers, leaving them propped against the wall by the door.

Habit controls your body as you open the fridge, grab two Sprites, set them down on the counter, then reach for the half-finished bucket of Red Vines from the top cabinet shelf. "Sunday morning, I think. They only have the weekend off. Want some pizza? I can call up Joe's."

"Please and thank you," she says, plopping down on the couch. The old thing croaks, its springs wheezing under the unwelcomed weight.

The maroon monstrosity is a family heirloom, dating back to your grandparents' time. Mom loves it, claiming it adds the right amount of character to the drab living space, knowing fully well that anyone with fashion sense would never describe any space she inhabits as drab. Dad is adamant that it's one spill away from handing in its resignation.

Picking up your house phone, you confirm, "Extra-large cheese and olives?"

You don't know why you ask. Ever since the inception of your infamous best friend "crash-overs," cheese and olive pizza starred as the staple meal: that, and a bucket of Red Vines your dad occasionally steals from. Maybe you asked for normalcy or maybe to confirm Manda's plan to stay for the rest of the night. What you do know is you don’t want to be alone.

She hums a distracted yes, turning on the TV and upping the volume to listen to Channel 10's news reporter recount the fight between Iron Man and the alien.

Though already burned in your memory, the images douse your body in bone-chilling fear.

You turn your back and dial in the order, not at all surprised that Joe's is still up and running. Once the employee confirms your order and promises a speedy delivery, you grab the drinks and candy and place them on the coffee table, ignoring the TV.

"C-can you turn it to something else?" you quickly pipe up as you sit next to Manda, unsuccessfully hiding the tremor in your words. "I don't think I can stomach the news right now."

"Yeah, sure." Slow and reluctant, Manda switches the input and goes into Netflix. "Anything you wanna watch?"

"Teen Wolf."

Manda groans, "Again? We've seen that a million times."

"Oh, come on," you groan back, playfulness strained in your words. "It's a classic. You can't say no to a classic."

She gives you a dour frown, one that still couldn't land an inch of seriousness on her amber-colored cherub cheeks, until she relents from the weight of your puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, but only because of Michael J. Fox. Next time, I'm picking."

Neither of you really pay attention to the movie or touch the pizza when it arrives. In fact, for most of the night, Manda scrolls through her social media, watching what you can only assume are today’s events. Sometimes she’d put the phone down when you politely asked, but it unfailingly ended up right back in her hands, so after a while, you stop asking. When the movie’s end credits roll around, and you dress into your pajamas, put away the remaining slices of pizza, and call it a night, both of you climb into your bed. She is still scrolling.

You try and force yourself into REM sleep, keeping your eyes shut until you hear Manda’s heavy breathing beside you. The clock on your nightstand reads 9:53 p.m.

Yawning, you curl up into a tight ball on your side of the bed and wish your mom and dad were here to help you get out of your head. Manda can’t do it when she’s so caught up in hers, and you don’t think you’d be able to tell her how scared you are. It’d only scare her more.

Tony Stark is missing. Manda would have screeched her head off by now if anything changed.

I’ve got you.

Yeah, but Tony Stark, the freaking Iron Man, is missing.

I’ve got you.

You can’t possibly understand how bad this is.

I’ve got you.

You audibly huff against the reassuring words, but they eventually do the trick in temporarily pushing the worry away, allowing you to fitfully slip into dreamless oblivion.

Seven hours later, you wake to a text from your mom. The sunlight is so bright in your room you lower your phone’s brightness all the way down, squinting at the small letters.

-Coming home early bbygrl. Dad says hi and he misses you lots hunny bun. xx

A titanic-sized weight lifts off of your shoulders—something you hadn’t even known was there until you re-read your mom’s text and verify the timestamp.

They’re on their way home, where it’s safe and you can all keep an eye on each other. Niagara Falls is just a six and a half-hour drive from here and Mom texted two hours ago, so they’ve got a couple hundred miles left. You don’t care about the distance. As long as they’re coming home, you’re fine. You can wait.

The morning’s activities in your residence pass into a weird déjà vu of last night. Manda is awake before you, sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal in her lap and the TV turned on to Channel 10, the volume slightly lower from last night. A bit peeved, you ask her to switch it to some cartoons while you pour yourself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

She goes back to scrolling on her phone, sparingly taking bites of her soon-turned soggy cereal. You perch on the arm of the couch, far away from Manda's screen, and munch on your cereal in silence. This whole situation sucks enough without Manda’s constant doom-scrolling, but her utter silence is wearing your nerves thin.

Three full episodes of SpongeBob play on before you heave tempered sigh and set your finished bowl of cereal on the table and face Manda.

“Do you have to do that?”

She doesn’t even spare you a glance. “Do what?”

Unbidden anger flows through you like magma spewing from a freshly erupted volcano, flaming into your veins and flaring your heart rate as you yank her phone away and toss it behind the couch.

Manda stares at you like you’ve lost your mind. She may be partially right.

“Why the hell did you do that?”

You scoff, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe I like talking to my friend once in a while. Maybe it’s mentally damaging to watch the same thing over and over and over again, and I was just trying to save you from brain rot.” You stand up and cross your arms over your chest, letting the rage propel your words. “Seriously Manda, give it a damn rest.”

“Why?” Manda crosses her arms too, glowering up at you, close to achieving a convincing frown. “Because you’re ‘positive’ nothing’s going to happen, right? It’s just aliens. No prob.”

You hold your tongue, waiting for her to air out all her frustrations because she’s right. She’s right to throw your words back at you. Yesterday morning you were totally sure of the Avengers, and not much has changed. You still firmly believe they’ll win whatever this fight is with the aliens, but you know scrolling through your phone for updates won’t do anything but boost your anxiety, like it’s doing to Manda.

When you think the coast is clear to speak, you lowly say, “I get it.”

“You get it? You get it? No, mama, you don’t get it. Because, see, if you got it, my phone wouldn’t be collecting dust behind your couch!”

“You needed a break, Amanda!” You shout back at her. “That phone’s never left your hand since you got here.”

She snaps her fingers as if she reached an epiphany. “Attention. That’s what it is. I haven’t given you enough attention today and you’re feeling left out of the spotlight. Newsflash, hon, the world doesn’t revolve around you. Other things are happening besides you hearing your Destined Words.”

“Wh-what?” you balk. “That… no, that’s not what this is about.” You’re not even sure where she even came up with the conclusion that you needed something as stupid as attention right now. Did she think you were that self-centered?

She cocks her eyebrow challengingly, “Alright, then tell me what it is. I’m all ears.”

“Me hearing my freaking soulmate has nothing to do with this! Nothing! And I’m not some attention-starved lunatic. Christ, Manda,” you roll your eyes, letting your hands fall with a slap against your sides. “It’s about you watching the news all day like… like this is the end of the world or something. We’ve gone through this. New York has gone through this. Alien attacks are nothing new, and I’m tired so sick and tired of you…”

You slow down, raising a soft hand to your chest—strange, tugging sensations sprout somewhere deep, deep down within you. So deep you're not sure it's actually there.

“Sick and tired of me what? What?” Manda pressed, the almost-frown lessening as your head tilts. “What’s wrong?”

You gradually shake your head. There’s no conceivable way to articulate what’s happening to you because it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. You feel… tingly, like every single hair follicle on your arms and legs rise, standing on high alert.

“Something’s not right.”

The tugging intensifies dully. You gasp against it, desperately clawing at the front of your shirt with the pads of your fingers, seeking to protect something tangibly nonexistent. It’s like someone’s fingers pinch a taut guitar string inside your chest, pulling on it with increasing pressure, pulling it further and further until it can’t move an inch, holding it the apex in a deathly promise that, with one final tug, the string will give.

I’ve got you.

Everything happens within a second.

You whimper out an anguished yelp as the string abruptly snaps.

Manda leaps to her feet and grasps your shoulders, begging to help.

Then, right before your eyes, Manda’s body begins to dissolve.

“M-Manda...? Amanda, wait! NO!”

She falls away into a pile of ash on your floor.

You drop to your knees, screaming.

And so does the rest of the world.

...

Part II

[j0eyj0rdis0n]

OH SHIT- | RH

I felt like the next oneshot I wrote had to be about Ricky since we were sharing our pictures of his bisexual bob last night lmao

Ricky Horror | 1,320 Words

It was the last year of Warped Tour and you were excited to see your favorite bands such as Motionless In White, Wage War, Ice Nine Kills, and Knocked Loose. You were out of your mind excited. So after the first show which was Knocked Loose, you were on your way to Wage War’s set. Wage War was awesome and one of their latest songs called “Stitch” really got you going. You were hoping they would play it today and you were ready to... Wage war...

You laughed at your own stupid joke as you walk towards the stage they’ll be playing at. None of your friends liked the same music you did so all of them turned down your offer to take them with you to the last Warped Tour. It was their loss and you didn’t care because this was going to be the best day of your life.

You get to the stage and there’s already a fair sized crowd gathered in front of the stage. You stand roughly in the middle of the crowd waiting for the band to make their entrance. The anticipation is fucking killing you! The butterflies in your chest are almost overwhelming. You feel the sun beating down on you. You knew it would be the worst idea to wear all black... You looked down at your black crop top mixed with black jeans and a heavy chain on the side. Your black and white checkered vans really showed your dedication. But still you decided this morning that to show your true alternative spirit you would suffer the heat.

As Chris Motionless says, “fashion over function!”

You supported that statement in full.

After about five more minutes of intense waiting you let out a scream when you see the drummer, Stephen Kluesener walk on. Next on is bassist, Chris, followed by Cody, Seth, and finally the man himself, Briton Bond.

You feel as if you’re going to pass out from all the excitement. 

The first song “Alive” starts and you lose your mind. This is fucking awesome!!

You’re headbanging along, even getting rowdy in the mosh pit. So when they close off the six song set with “Stitch” you know it’s your time to get down. You were going hard to the beat, eventually landing an elbow to someone’s face.

You immediately stop, feeling quite concerned. When you turn around you can’t even believe your eyes. You have to be dreaming. This man cannot be standing right in front of you right now... 

You rub your eyes and yet, the person in front of you hasn’t changed. He’s holding his face with a look of pain. 

It’s Ricky. Fucking, Horror. 

“I’m so sorry!” You shout over the music to him, gently guiding him away and out of the crowd. 

“It’s... Alright...” He groans as he takes away his hand, seeing blood.

“Oh shit you’re bleeding a lot... Let’s go take you to the medical tent.” You suggest as you help him along. You’re so embarrassed. You just elbowed Ricky Horror and might’ve broken his nose. He’s your favorite in the band and that just makes it so much worse.

He takes a seat and the medic looks him over, deciding that yes in fact you had broken his nose. He looks over at you with a half smile. 

“I’m so sorry! Is there any way I can make it up to-” He cuts you off quickly.

“Come to the show tonight and let me introduce you to the band.” He replies.

“What...?” 

“You heard me.”

You were dumbstruck. Why would he want you to come meet the band now that you’ve broken his nose?! He should be yelling at you. Telling you that you’re trash and that you need to fuck off. But no. He tells you to stay for the show.

“How will I see you after?” You ask.

“Go to the back of the stage and the guards will know.” He responds as the medic starts trying to align his nose.

You nod and wait for the medic to finish with him but he smiles and tells you to go on your way and go break someone else’s nose. You chuckle and make your way to the next show, and the next, and the next.

Finally the sun is about to set and you’re going to your final show of the night. Motionless In White.

You get there early and get to stand right at the barrier. You watch with a big smile as all of the members come on. Ricky’s nose had some sort of bandage over it and it looked pretty painful. You felt pretty bad about it...

Chris addresses the crowd before starting their first song, “Devils Night”. During each one of their songs you could see Ricky stealing glances at you. You tried not to pay attention as you go back to headbanging to the music.

As soon as they started playing “Soft” you were screaming every word. It was your favorite song and you had to show it somehow.

Finally for their last song on the set, they played “Eternally Yours” and oh my god where you so close to tears at that moment. You couldn’t help but scream every word to that song too. 

When the set ended and the guys filed off stage, you ran around the side, pushing through crowds of people to see Ricky. The guards stopped you from going back towards the busses. You tried to explain to them the situation but they were having none of it. You were about to walk away if it wasn’t for Ricky coming up and telling them that you were “with him”. You felt your heart flutter at those words. You knew it didn’t mean anything but it still made you feel good inside.

As you two walk back towards the busses you make small talk. First exchanging your name which he felt embarrassed he had to ask for since you two had already met. When you get there, Ricky helps you inside, him following close behind. 

All of the guys looked at you with quizzical looks, they were sweaty and tired but they all managed to look up from what they were doing to see you. You felt heat rise to your cheeks. They obviously thought you were some kind of groupie...

Ricky chuckles at the looks on their faces. “This is Y/N. She was the girl who broke my nose earlier.” 

You nervously laugh at his statement. 

The rest of the guys look at you with suddenly bright eyes, Vinny speaking up first.

“How hard did you smack him?” He asks excitedly.

“We were at the Wage War set and uh...” You pause, trying to think of a way to say this that makes you sound less careless.

“And she was moshing pretty hard. Then she elbowed me in the face and snap went my nose.” He smiles and wraps his arm around your shoulders.

The guys roar with laughter telling you that it was badass and how they wish they would’ve been there to see it.

A small smile cracks on your face when you realized it wasn’t all that bad.

You guys talk for hours, laughing and cracking jokes. Eventually they share their phone numbers and you felt like you hit some sort of jackpot. So as you say your goodbyes to them and step off the bus into the night, your phone dings and you pull it out, seeing a text from Ricky.  

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” It reads.

You glance back at the bus and he’s looking at you with questioning eyes through the bus window. You flash him a thumbs up and you see him start smiling like a dumbass. You laugh and turn around, making your way to your car.

Getting a date with Ricky Horror? No fucking way.

[papichriscnco]

Best Friends

You and Richard had been friends for years and in love with each other for just as long. Neither of you wanted to admit it, both scared that you would ruin the friendship. Truth be told, if you had admitted it when you both felt it life would have been much easier. It wasn’t that you had never had moments where you almost confessed to how you felt. 

About a year into the friendship, the both of you were incredibly drunk and dancing against each other. Your ass was teasing him just the right about and he spun you around pushing you against a wall in the club.

“I really want to kiss you right now.” he moaned.

“Do it then.” you spoke bluntly.

So you did. He kissed you roughly, purely sexual desire pouring from your lips onto the others. You both wanted affection but the alcohol blending with your long held desire made this entire kiss full of passion. 

The next morning you were both afraid it would be awkward. You knew everything would be normal if you acted normal so you ran into his bedroom and jumped on him. Richard groaned, the hangover hitting him hard. He rolled over doing his best to ignore you and you just giggled.

“Ah, he’s playing hard-to-get. That’s cute. You weren’t last night.” you had teased causing Richard to laugh before attacking you by tickling your most sensitive areas.

The memory of his lips on yours was one that you had thought of often. The way his lips roamed your body as you danced and the excitement you felt when his lips pressed against yours. You had spent the entire night kissing and you would often get yourself off at the memory of how it felt to be with him in such an intimate way.

The next time there had been an incident, Richard had spent the day drinking with the boys. They had given him enough courage to go to your house and confess how you felt. He had a spare key to the house and snuck in knowing your family wouldn’t be home. He crawled into your bed hoping you would be home soon, he was so consumed by your scent surrounding him in your bed that he start to get turned on. He had thought about how often you would have gotten off in these sheets and he couldn’t help but palm himself. The only reason he had stopped was because you had caught him 

“What are you doing in my bed?” you asked confused.

“N-nothing.” he responded embarrassed. 

“You’re n-not ,um, w-wearing anything under that, are you..?” you asked shakily. Richard just looked under the sheets and shrugged. He placed the sheets back roughly and without thinking showing just how hard he was.You bit your lip looking at him, “want some help?” His eyes turned dark and you stumbled into bed with him. You had started toying with his pants when you smelt the alcohol on his breath. “You’re drunk.”

“So?” he had asked guiding your hand back. 

“I’m not doing this with you if you’re drunk.” you hopped out of the bed and in that very moment as you left him in a cold bed, he had lost the courage to confess how he felt. 

Instead he turned to you and asked, “Would you reconsider if i was sober?”

You rolled your eyes, left the room and shut the door.

You had never spoke about that day again. Richard got off in your bed on his own, put his jeans on and feel asleep. You found him a few hours later puking in the bathroom. 

You always tried your best to forget that day. It had confused you and you had wished he had explained himself. It was too awkward for both of you so you just acted like nothing happened. 

The worst memory you had was when you had decided you had had enough of Richard sleeping around and it was your turn. You had dragged some boy back to your hotel. You and Richard were sharing a suite and your rooms were next to each other. You had spent the entire night trying to be as loud as possible, you were sick of hearing the girls Richard had sex with scream and keep you awake so it was your turn. Richard had seen you leaving with the stranger and immediately followed you home. He wasn’t going to let his best friend stay with alone in a hotel with some freak! Well at least that’s how he justified it. The truth was he wanted to put himself through the torture of seeing you with someone else. He thought it would help him move on. This was the first time you realised Richard loved you as much as you loved him. As soon as you had orgasmed, the guy left. You were laying on your sheet naked and peaceful when you heard the door open.

“Did you forget something?” you asked expecting to see the guy who had just left. Instead you saw Richard, nostrils flared, body tense and he was just wearing his boxers. It was three in the morning so it didn’t surprise you to see him half naked. “Oh, what?” you had asked confused by his presence. 

You grabbed a sheet to cover yourself but Richard pulled it away, he grabbed your waist with one hand and picked you up. You had your body wrapped around him and instantly you were ready to have another man inside of you.

“You think you can just fuck some guy and I wouldn’t care?” he growled carrying you into his room. He threw you on the bed and pulled his shorts off. He looked at you naked sprawled along his bed and grunted. “I can see where he has marked you.” It had hurt Richard to see these love bites along your chest, your hand moved to your clit as you bit your lip watching Richard become a jealous animal. 

“Fuck Richard.” you moaned throwing your head back as your arched your body. 

Richard moved over to you, playing with your pussy, just as he went to push his fingers inside you and recoiled. 

“Did he-?” he looked at you with fear on his face. 

You were confused at first but realised he was asking if he had finished inside of you. You sat up, crawling onto his lap so that your legs were wrapped around Richard’s back.

“No. Of course not. No one’s ever-” your forehead was pressed to Richard, your noses nudging one another. 

Richard breathed a sigh of relief before kissing you roughly and passionately. You had both needed this moment together. 

“And he was protected?” he asked just as he was about to slip himself past your folds. 

You nodded. 

“Good. I want to do everything he didn’t do.” he moaned as he filled you up.You groaned softly, biting your lip to stay quiet. Richard chuckled at you. “I know for a fact that you can be a hell of a lot louder than that.”

You blushed and instantly your volume increased to be even louder than it was with the stranger. The next morning Richard had to leave before you could wake up. He wrote a note for you.

‘Best. Night. Ever.’

That was all you both needed. If you were never going to admit to your feelings than these moments were enough to get you through the pain. At least that’s how you had felt at the time. Things were different now. You were both reaching your breaking point and couldn’t take it anymore. You should have known things would end up in a big explosion. These little moments of sex, kissing and passion were enough for the first few years, but here you were crying in your room. 

Richard had left for tour and for the first time, he didn’t offer to take you with him. You had thought it would be a romantic gesture just before he got on the plane. A text saying, ‘I got you a ticket to meet us for tomorrow. Start packing.’  But nothing came and before you knew it he was a week into tour without sending you a single message. 

You weren’t sure what was happening with your friendship but you were determined to find out. So with some encouragement from your girlfriends, you were on a plane to wherever the hell he was in the world. You had told Joel, not trusting the others to keep it a secret and he was waiting for you at the airport.

“Thank gosh you’re here!” he exclaimed hugging you tightly. “Rich has been such a downer without you this time around. Always sulking!” 

You laughed. You were growing more and more excited that you would see Richard soon. He must have just been busy...surely that’s why he hadn’t spoken to you. Joel didn’t even bother booking a hotel room for you. Even though Richard had one bed, you both assumed you would bunk with him. At least for the first night. 

“Are we going to the hotel first?” you asked checking the time, “or do we need to go straight to the venue?”

“We have time.” he smiled.

Joel had given you a key to Richard’s room and you were so giddy with excitement, you waited outside his door jumping up and down to expel the energy running through your body. Slowly you inserted they key and wandered into his hotel.

“Guess who!” you shouted putting your bags down. Richard ran out of the bathroom looking at you shocked. You smiled greatly running over and hugging him but he was different. He was keeping you at a distance, hugging you for a brief second before pulling away. “What?” you asked confused, “I thought you would be excited to see me?”

“I-I am.” he comments looking anywhere in the room expect at yours eyes.

“But?” you retorted, anger lacing your voice.

“There was a reason I didn’t invite you to this tour.” he speaks softly knowing how badly you would feel a stab in your chest at his words.

“Oh.” you took a step back. “W-what’s the reason?”

He looked in your eyes for a brief moment but the pain he felt dragged his eyes away. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Just tell me.” you said chuckling to hide that he had already hurt you.

He sighed, “We’re friends, I don’t need to invite you to every tour. It ruins my vibe. Did you ever notice that I don’t get as many girls as the rest of the guys? It’s cause you’re always so close to me. It’s fine! I love that we are friends but I just wanted a wild tour.” 

You weren’t hurt, you were pissed, “We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.” your hand reached out and slapped him across the face. Your mouth moved in front of your mouth. You were surprised but you knew that it felt good. As you started to tear up, you realised this was the moment you had to tell him everything. “We can pretend all we want that we’re best friends but we’ve never been friends. We’ve always been more. We’ve always wanted more but we were too coward to admit it. So that’s why I’m here. I’m here to tell you that I’m in love with you. If you want to be friends well I’m sorry but I just can’t pretend anymore!” 

You turn around ready to leave and find some motel for the night expecting the hotel the boys were in to be booked out. You couldn’t even make it to the door because Richard spun you around, his lips pressed to yours before you could process what was happening. 

“I lied.” he commented when he pulled away.

“What?”

“I didn’t invite you because I was hoping that time apart is what I needed to get over you. Seeing you walk through that door made me so happy but I needed to be cold.”

“Why?” you asked skeptical.

“Because I can’t handle what we’ve been doing. Every tour, something happens between us that just crushes me more and more. I was trying to avoid that.” his hands were holding your face and he was looking in your eyes as he spoke.

“I can’t handle it either. That’s why I’m here to-”

“To tell me you’re in love with me.” he smirks.

“Oh shut up!” you grumble pushing his chest away.

“No come back!” he takes your hand bringing you towards him. “I’m in love with you too. Way more than you are with me.” he smiles leaning down to kiss you again.

[inventedbymelvin]

Ch.4: Advanced Learning

   ( Disclaimer: Sorry if this chapter is lacking or isn’t right in some places. I had a trouble figuing out how to end it properly but I hope you enjoy it anyways. Shout out to @kittykat-creations​ for the help when it came to accuracy about adhd )

 Once he got home, Melvin quickly went to the drawing board to draft his revenge. He surprisingly worked fast to draw and build his new invention in the garage, showing up for dinner and going to bed at a reasonable hour. His mother was more than glad to see he was in a much better mood.  At dinner he explained he had recived some good news and mentioned the field trip, handing her the slip to sign. Once everything was prepared, Melvin finally had a peaceful night's sleep. He wanted to be ready to surprise them and prove he's better than third place.     The morning of the field trip, all four stood in the morning fog as the monthly cut grass collected dew on it's leaves. Krupp stood with them, as he was chaperoning the trip. All of them had been given special jackets to go along with the trip and they could keep them as souveneirs. They also helped with the morning coolness and were fashionable.     Thirty minutes later, the bus arrived at a futuristic looking campus complete with everything the aspiring genius needed. The inside was sleek and clean as everyone's footsteps echoed through the shiny hallways. In the main office, they chatted while waiting for their tour guide. Krupp immediately took a seat and looked around at the much better kept school. Melvin seemed particularly better than the day before.

     "I'm glad you're feeling better." Harold patted his shoulder. "It's nice to see you back to normal." George smiled. Erica felt something was a bit off. The four had filled their backpacks with neccessary items like lunch, notebooks, pencils and paper but Melvin's seemed to have something more. She wanted to believe it was just a lunch box but she'd never seen the nerd carry one. He insisted it would ruin the value of collectable Advancimals merchandise.      Erica decided to pull the boys aside for a moment. "I think he's hiding something. It doesn't make sense he'd turn around this fast, usually it takes him a week to get over an A minus."      "He seems fine to me, much better than screaming at us all the time." Harold nodded his head in agreement with George's statement. "You're just being paranoid, he's fine. We'll all have a great time and he'll learn-" George was cut off as the guide entered the office and greeted them.      "You must be our winners! Erica I loved your idea to clean up our waters! Boys, it truly is important to laugh! And Melvin, you have a budding career in robotics! Of course, Mr. Krupp, hes clearly doing his job well to have amazing students." The tour guide woman said cheerily as she shook their hands. She was in uniform with a pencil skirt and blazer outfit matching the colors of the school logo.       After introductions she lead them to the first part of their tour, a lecture experience to feel like they're part of the school. Today happened to be a talk on Einstein's thought experiments taught by a young red headed girl named Max. Her record showed you could mix both imagination and smarts, having a positive reputation all around the world at the age of twelve!      Surprisingly George and Harold paid attention. They had expected a boring mumbling professor that only Melvin would understand but Max seemed to encourage thinking and daydreaming. During the hour while the two were highly interested in hearing Max speak, Erica took a chance to observe the other boy in their group. Meanwhile, Krupp took a seat in the far back and immediately took a nap. He didn't quite understand why Melvin wanted to be here so badly, but sleeping was easier than figuring that out.      Melvin simply took notes and was just as interested in the lecture. She was starting to think maybe she was expecting something too big. This changed when Melvin took a moment to check something inside his backpack, pressing a few buttons that seemed to be a code or as if he were setting something. Immediately she went to investigate, taking a seat next to him.      "Whatcha doin?" Erica casually greeted.       "Just checking something, it's not important." Her sudden interest seemed to annoy him, but it wasn't new that asking about any of his inventions or tech bothered him. "Do you think I'm going to do something?" He asked in return with some pain to his tone.       "Look Melvin, I'm not trying to hurt you. There just seems to be a record of you...overreacting alot."       "We already have a lecture in progress, I would respect you save yours for later." Despite his mask of cheerfully enjoying the trip, he was still getting over things. "I was answering a text from my mother." he took his phone out of his bag, showing the conversation. She felt a bit bad for her suspicions and returned to focusing on the lecture.        At the end of the day after an extensive and winded walk through the whole school complete with a science experiment demonstration, provided lunch break and complimentary themed stationary, the tour guide asked if there were any leftover questions about it all.      "Yeah! Why is this place so big! It took us all day to get around, and you don't even have those little golf carts!" Krupp complained for the upteenth time that day that his legs felt like jelly from walking so much. All the guide could do was offer him a bench to sit on and apologize for the strain.      "Remember! You all three hold potential for attending this school with your wonderful thoughts and inventions." She smiled.      "What makes certain potential less worth than other's then?" A familar voice asked.      "Oh! None of you are less than each other! It's just there's typically a rigourous evaluation process with many factors that include--" Her sentence was cut off as a mech was heard putting itself together and Melvin was being seated where it's controls were. It was typically smaller than his usual but big enough to still cause property damage. He had to make it portable after all. "--include's emotional stability...."     "I won't hurt anyone, I just want talk to the two who decided I got THIRD PLACE!" He grinned with a tone that sounds like he absolutely would hurt someone.       Melvin kept his focus on the tour guide. "Where are they?! I just want to talk!" "I don't think theyre around today..." She tried to keep her best smile, trembling as she spoke.      "Then GO GET THEM!"  his voice was magnified by the speaker in the controls.      "I'm afraid meeting them isnt part of--" She was cut off by Melvin walking down the hall with no choice but to look for them himself. She followed behind, stating that this was against the rules and asking for any form of help. Multiple students and teachers turned their attention to the commotion, as a small mech searched for two specific people. Max jumped a bit, associating sudden commotion with her run-ins with the corp even though they were no longer a threat.      Melvin however, kept wanting answers from staff until he either found them personally or got their names. After yelling at a few teachers, he finally got some names and stomped off looking for their office. Anything thrown his way was met with being destroyed or pushed out of the way. Doors were broken, walls were smashed in, and offices were invaded as he searched. Drones, other bots and the occasional attempt to power down his own invention slowed his mission but he refused to quit in his blind rampage. George and Harold immediately summoned Captain Underpants much to Erica's disbelief.      "Do you really think he's going to help us?" she sighed. "What other option do we have?" both boys shrugged. "He's fought Melvin before so it's easy to do again." Harold hypothesized based on very repetive data.      "I'm here too! Plungerina!" Erica held her arms out dramatically. "Don't you think calling me would work too?"     "If they need their toilets unclogged, we'll call you." George cheekily grinned, running off with Harold and CU to follow the sounds of hydrolics coming from the west wing.      Plungerina followed after them with an exasperated sigh, doubtful of their abilities.     Down the hallway, CU and the boys could hear Melvin unleasing his breifly contained anger at the judge's he now held in the mech's right hand. He sounded like he wanted to cry, being reminded of the shame. It seems the boys were a bit late but tried to talk some sense into him before any punches were thrown. The boys were dropped onto the robot's shoulders.     "We really hoped you wouldn't try this. Erica thought you would but--" George couldn't finish in time.      A metal fist slammed in the ground out of frustration. "I KNEW IT! YOU'RE JUST WAITING TO POINT AND MAKE FUN THAT I DIDN'T WIN!" He pushed them off his shoulders, both being before hitting the ground.     "Someone didn't wake up on the right side of the bed." Captain remarked as he held the boys by their collars.     "Well if he wont listen to us, maybe you can do something. Go try to stall him, we'll be right back." CU put the two down and flew in front of the robot waving his hand enthusastically. "You know, you don't seem happy right now, maybe a hug would--" The free metal hand slapped CU away like a bug as attention was turned back to his original targets. "Hey! That isn't how you treat a friend! I'll forgive you, but you have to stop--" He was swatted away again, only to return each time. This left Melvin with no choice but to drop the judges in a small cage as the nerd focused on trying to get rid of the soft boiled egg.     "I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIENDS! IT WAS ALL A CRUEL JOKE!" came from the speakers as Melvin failed again and again to catch the caped hero. "I TOLD THEM TO LEAVE ME ALONE! I KNOW THEYRE JUST GOING TO PROVE THEIR STUPID COMICS AND CAPED BABIES AND FRANKENSTEIN DOGS ARE BETTER THAN MY ADVANCED ROBOTS!" "Well actually--" Captain attempted to respond which gave Melvin time to grab him by his cape and toss him in the prison with the others. A screen showed up in the small space, the feed coming from the control.      "Now tell me WHY I won third place and not first, not even second!" He gave them a second to respond as he breathed in his inhaler. Angrily yelling took the wind out of him.      The two stammered in their response, baffled why a science fair winner had inprisoned them in part of his impressively built mech with a man that needed to put on pants. "W-well, it didn't prove anything...." The male mumbled.     "WHAT?!"     "It didnt.....prove anything...." The lady repeated her collegue's words. "Melvin, your robots are impressive but you can't win by impressing people. We chose the others as better because they studied something. We see robots every day, if you had put your robot to beneficial use...." She tried to be gentle as possible but no words could soothe the fiery child at this point.     "CHANGE IT!"     "We can't...our requirements said  the best would be judged by how it would provide insight or benefit--"     "IT DOES BENEFIT! TEACHERS CAN GRADE MUCH FASTER!"     "That's not..."      "THAT'S IT!" The robot's foot stamped the ground in response to the controller's actions before taking off to simply destroy things. In blinded rage, more walls were smashed on the way to a garden greenhouse. Other staff, students and teachers tried to help but were no use unless they wanted to risk being thrown in a growing prison now consisting of two students who attempted to use a drone, a body guard, Captain Underpants and the judges. He hopped out of the mech and ran in, sitting among the greenery. It was calming and alot better than the darkness of his room. The other three eventually caught up via a golf cart that was allowed on school property for security purposes, winded by running to find one. Krupp might've had a point about needing a little bit of transportation help.     "Where is he?" they asked in unison, as all pointed to the greenhouse.     "Wait, why didn't you get out, you can bend bars!" Harold asked.     "I couldn't leave my new friends! Jeremy was just telling me about his new favorite show!" The man mentioned as Jeremy(which was not his actual name) was shaking his head, clearly uncomfortable. The three ignored this and ran off.       They kept calling Melvin's name only to hear footsteps far off trying to get away from them. Even mentioning that he was safe with them only made all four run in circles. Eventually with no more unwalked paths, they met in the middle. With no other form of defense, he held out his inhaler as if it would do anything damaging. "THIS IS BATTERY ACID YOU TRAITORS!" Unfortunately for him, this only worked on evil clowns and not three school children.        "Please tell us what's wrong. Remember older you doing really dangerous things? We don't want you to do the same." She tried to be gentle but the mention of Melvinborg seemed to cause him pain.        "You DONT understand! Leave me alone!" He tried to back up but George and Harold wouldn't let him leave.        "Don't understand what?"      "Losing...losing is bad. Shame." For someone who used big words, he was at a loss for them now.       "Hold on Erica, he's....he's having a hard time with words." Harold backed away. "I was like this one time after school. A teacher couldn't help me with math and I couldn't find the words to explain myself." George backed away too, leaving Melvin free. Melvin looked at both of them nervously knowing Harold was correct. He had helped explain the homework better after Harold came home distraught from a teacher poorly understanding how to tutor him after school. He even made a better fidget cube when George complained he couldn't stim, resulting in a detention for going into a meltdown. Despite this, he still didn't entirely trust them right now.       After a moment of silence, they handed him a pencil and paper. "If you can't say it, draw it." George offered. This surprisingly interested their frenemy and he quickly went to work doodling a small comic of his recent nightmares and feelings. It felt kind of nice and he wondered if this is how they were able to handle emotions better.       Once he was finished, it was shoved into Harold's hands. When he was done he passed it off to George and after he was done, it was passed to Erica. She chuckled a bit, trying to hide it. The irony was very clear to her. "I think you're between two people who understand completely."       "Who told you we'd laugh at you?" George asked. His answer came in the form of the comic author grabbing it back and flipping to a page, pointing at a very square drawing of Melvinborg.        "He's gone, he can't hurt you." Melvin shook his head in response, pointing to his head.         "So.....you spent the whole weekened and Monday thinking you were a target?" Erica looked towards him. He nodded in response.      "What about our comic? Why'd you hate that?" On his phone, Melvin scrolled through pictures of various comic issues mocking him in one way or another, looking indignant at Harold. "Oh...right."      "We wouldn't do that to you now. You're...not always aware of social cues but it's not cool to make fun of someone's insecurity. We made you this to show you we cared." George handed him the comic to read. When he finally got to the end, Melvin hugged his friends, still a bit wary of Erica. Suddenly the two judges came in with CU following behind them. "How did you guys get out?" George asked in confusion.      "That bald man worried after a while about the small space and smashed through the bars allowing us to be free." He pointed to the visible broken jail just by the door.      "I forgot I was claustraphobic until someone mentioned it was cramped." CU grinned, going over to the boys and Erica.      "Let's forget all this happened, sometimes geniuses need a way to express themselves." They really didn't want to have to explain all this, since robot attacks were a frequent occurance in Piqua anyways. All of them nodded in agreement and headed to the bus.  Just as they left the greenhouse, water misters started spraying the plants and hit Captain on the way out, turning him back to Krupp. When getting back on the bus, he quickly said "DONT ASK" to the bus driver, Mr. Meaner who had spent the day napping. Melvin salvaged what he could of the mech with it's prison broken, noting to fix it later.        On the way home, he started to get his voice back too. "Th-thank you."  It felt weird to be nice.         "No problem, we just wish you told us earlier. You don't have to win everything to be good enough for us." Harold yawned.        "You're already good enough making cool stuff for us to 'borrow'...and--" The rest of George's sentence got cut off as he dozed on the way back. Melvin smiled. It felt kind of dumb to worry about nothing but at least they understood. He still wanted to win and be better than the others, but maybe losing won't hurt so much if it happens again.

[stellar-alley]

Everfalls

•Chapter 17•

This is based off of the artwork by oceanteeeth on Instagram! Also shout out to my Beta super.rose.cosplays!

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

(Summary: The Losers attend the school's annual field trip to a small island. What possibly could go wrong?! )

~

The next morning Richie drove the two Ancestors to school in time to meet up at the required time before the bus leaves at 6.

“What animal schedules a school trip at 6 am?” Richie groaned as he parked at his normal spot in the school parking lot. Once the engine was off Richie finally turned to look at Eddie but quickly glanced down at their hands that were intertwined on the console between them.

After the fight and Richie’s terrible impressions, they eventually made up; they both mentally agreed that they can’t risk separating at this point, especially with the trip in literal hours.

“Well we’re here, we can’t bail now,” Eddie shrugged as he looked from Richie, out into the rising sun over the horizon. “Come on, let’s go puppy.” Eddie requested with a smirk as he opened his door, nearly took a step out before he looked over to Richie for help, his big doe eyes shining in the morning sun.

Richie smiled warmly before he hopped out, went to Eddie’s side and took his hand in his to help him down. “M'lady,” Richie said as Eddie stepped down beside him.

In response he got a slap on the shoulder, “Trashmouth” Eddie playfully rolled his eyes. He grabbed his bag from the back and stepped aside to allow Richie to retrieve his own before they closed the trunk and made their way towards the school.

The rest of the Losers could be seen by the bleachers not too far away from where the teachers were rounding up all the other students who were going on the trip.

“Sup Losers!” Richie called out as he and Eddie approached the others.

“Hey Rich, glad you could make it.” Bev shot him a smirk as she took a drag from her cigarette.

“I don't think any of us have ever seen you up before 8.” Mike joked, he turned to Eddie and asked, “Did you have to lure him out of bed with like a 6 shot of coffee?”. Mike didn’t make jokes like that often, but when he did, they were good.

Richie let out a bark of laughter and slapped his thigh, “Aha! Mikey gets off a good one. No but seriously imma pass out on the bus wake me up when it’s time to go home”. No one was sure whether he was being serious or not…

It was a miracle that all of the Losers were conveniently going on this trip. It was an English trip that was always accompanied by the Creative Writing class, which was taught by Mrs. Stuart. So Richie, Eddie, Ben and Stan were all in English together while Bev, Bill and Mike took the creative writing class.

While they awaited for further instructions from their teachers, the teens talked about random gossip they’d heard recently or rant about family/school life. Almost everyone had something to add, almost. Bill nodded and looked interested, yet he never spoke, well unless he was spoken to but everyone got the vibe that he wanted to be left alone (which was correct). So he stood slightly behind Stanley, so close that the taller boy could feel Bill’s heavy sigh on the back of his neck. It sent shivers down Stan’s spine.

When it was time to line up to get onto the bus, the Losers were the first in line. It allowed them to get the luxury of the back seats. Bill claimed the window seat of the second last seat, Stan slid in beside him, the two boys almost immediately fell asleep, Bill head rested on Stan’s shoulder while Stan’s rested on top of Bill’s. Mike claimed the seat behind them, the back seat. He sat on the edge with his feet in the aisle to face his friends. Richie and Eddie took one back seat while Ben and Bev claimed the one in front of them.

Everyone got settled and ready for the hour (or so) ride ahead. Suddenly, Ben whipped out Uno, things just got interesting.

~

“Don’t you fucking dare do it” Eddie glared daggers at Richie who slowly placed a pick up four card on top of the privious Uno card.

“Fucking hell!” Eddie swore as he tossed the rest of his cards down onto the pile.

Richie couldn’t hold back his laughter as he watched Eddie fume and sulk in the corner. Ben and Bev joined in as they sat on their knees and leaned over the back of their seat and into Eddie and Richie’s area.

“Wanna play another round?” Ben inquired as Eddie shook his head.

“I’m tired- plus if this ass hat pulls another plus 4 card out I’m going to kill everyone on this bus, then myself” Eddie said in a joking tone.

Once Bev and Ben were turned around and settled back into their seat, Eddie leaned his head against the window and his hands on his knees.

Neither of them could deny the fact that they both felt a little claustrophobic on the bus, their Ancestral sides craved to break out and run free. They felt too big for their bodies, like their skin was stretching and their bones were aching.

Richie examined the other Ancestor, the morning sunlight made his freckles shine like stars in the night sky. As much as he wanted to count each and every one of them, his attention was caught by something that rippled over Eddie’s hand. He looked down and noticed how the veins on Eddie's hands, the ones that usually go unnoticed, were dark, almost black. As if someone had injected a black ink like iquo into his veins. Richie quickly slapped a hand over Eddie’s.

Eddie’s eyes snapped down to the hand that Richie held. “It’s okay Rich, it happens on the full moon sometimes. Usually not this early on in the day but- later on it’ll get worse. For the both of us” A grime wave passed over Eddie's eyes as he looked at Richie.

Richie shook his head, slowly, and carefully took Eddie’s hand in his and lifted it up to his face where he kissed the back of his hand, black veins and all.

Eddie blushed, leaned forward and buried his face into the crook of Richie’s neck. Richie wrapped his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and held him close. “Get some shut eye, we’ve still got a ways to go…”.

~

“Okay ladies and gentlemen” Mr Brock said as he stepped off the bus, ahead of the students. “Woah one by one” He instructed as the students began rushing out of the bus.

The losers were the first ones on, that mean they would be the last ones off. Seeing the cliffs, the long green grass, the water that came with the salt in the air, Eddie and Richie were dying to get out and be one with nature. Their extra energy had them bouncing in their seats as they waited for the line up to slowly make its way out of the bus.

“Tag” Richie whispered into Eddie’s ear the moment he stepped off the bus. Immediately afterwards he started sprinting away from the bus, his Ancestral blood pumping through his veins, a certain weight lifted off their shoulders as they ran out in the open. Richie had ran in a circle around their group of students before Eddie quickly caught up and slapped his back-

“Boys calm down!” Mrs. Stuart, called out with a small glare.

Richie halted, Eddie ran into his back. They both turned and giggled like little school girls. “Good one Rich, getting us in trouble before the tour even starts” Eddie mumbled as Richie elbowed him back in response.

Soon a representative from the island came to talk to them and explain how they’d go to the main castle and that’s where they’d meet the tour guide. During that time, Riche took a moment to survey his surroundings.

The wind blew in soft bursts through the tall lush grass on the outskirts of the small city, which consisted of the main building, which could’ve been called a small castle by the way it looked from the outside. Not only was it a castle but it also dubbed as a hotel. But there were also about 20 houses and some general stores. Beyond the main city area, the grass flowed out onto the gravel beaches and into the white waves. Farther out, down a hill there would be ruins of the original city that once laid there. All that was left were tunnels, caves and cement foundation.

“Now this would be a cool place to spend a full moon…” Richie’s voice drifted off as he imagined it in his head.

“Hmm sure” Eddie replied without taking his eyes away from the teacher who was speaking.

“Seriously though! Imagine it, running wild in the ruins, frightening the villagers” Richie jokes. Eddie rolled his eyes, Richie sighed, “Okay what about the beach? You can’t say you haven’t imagined spending a full moon out by the water” he reasoned as he looked at Eddie straight on.

Eddie’s arms that had once been crossed were now down by his sides, “Even if I did, it’s not like we can, our safest option is to just spend it with your dad. We cannot risk getting caught, not now” he huffed.

The wolf knew the rabbit had a point, but he couldn’t help thinking what it would be like to live like the Ancestors had before, at one with nature.

~

“So if you would kindly follow me into the lobby where you will be introduced to your tour guide for today” The man explained as he led the group through the little town area that separated them from the castle.

All the students oowed and awed at the old fashioned buildings that sat on either side of the road they walked on. Everything was made out of red burgundy bricks, wooden rooftops and white fences.

“It is kinda cool…” Eddie mumbled to Richie.

The group approached the castle and noticed the professional looking lady that stood on the front steps. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming to our quaint little island of Balmoral” The lady held her arms out to welcome the students before she continued her speech. “This island is protected by the ocean on all sides, the only way of accessing it is during the day while the tide is low. So our time is short, that’s why I’m so glad we get to have you all hear for the limited time between high tide, shall we begin?”.

“That’s what I was saying! Come on Eddie spaghetti you really need to start listening to me-“ Richie was cut off when he ran into Eddie who was walking infront of him, but had ubrutly stopped. “Woah what’s up spaghetti-“

“Shut up trashmouth” Eddie hissed, his eyes wide, body frozen in shock. Before Richie could question him further, Eddie took a few swift steps and practically hid behind Richie’s taller figure.

“Shut up- Shut up shut up!” Richie turned to face Eddie who shrank back, away from Richie touch. His voice was low and anxious, he was almost shaking as his eyes finally met.

“Woah what’s going on. Eddie talk to me” Richie whispered low enough for only Eddie to hear. To comfort Eddie, Richie reached his hand out and placed it on the back of the other’s head, sliding his fingers under Eddie’s beanie and into his hair. He felt Eddie physically melt into his touch

Eddie hesitated before he Began, “T-That lady is-“.

“Everything okay?” Mike asked with concern as he came up from behind them.

“A-Asthma” Eddie gasped as he started waving his hand around as if he were gesturing for someone to give him something.

Richie rapidly clued in on what Eddie was gesturing to. He did that dance when you check your pockets, he tried his inner jacket pocket, outer jacket pocket, amd both of his pant pockets. Then hre remembered where he kept it and leaped to open his bag’s back pocket. Quickly he yanked Eddie’s spare inhaler from the pocket, shook it rapidly and handed it to Eddie.

The rabbit barley had any time to question why Richie had it before he popped it in his mouth, one pump, two pumpes. Finally his breath slowly began to return.

“I-I’m okay” Eddie breathed, releaved to be able to have his breath back.

“Always prepare, right Rich?” Mike clapped him on the back, shooting him a proud smile before he went to catch up with the rest of the Losers who were at the front of the group. Stan had noticed Eddie’s little attack and instead of leading the rest of the group towards the ancestors, he suggested they go towards the front to hear what the tour guide had to say, in hopes that they wouldn’t notice what was happening.

Eddie and Richie stayed behind as they turned to face eachother.

“What the hell is going on?” Richie demanded with a serious tone.

“Me? Why the hell do you have my spare inhaler? I knew I lost this thing!”.

“I took it to be prepared for exactly this” Richie said.

Eddie began theoriesing, “But my asthma never fucking acts up anymore so why-“.

Richie sntached the inhaler out of Eddie’s grasp and shoved it back into his pocket, “OKay I was worried? Sue me. What the fuck happened in the first place?”.

It was almost as if Eddie had forgotten what he’d seen only minutes before. “That lady, the fucking tour guide, is in the council-“

“WHAT!” Richie exclaimed, catching everyone’s attention in doing so. The students, teachers, and the lady tour guide all turned to stare at the all too shocked teenage boy and his smaller, feistier boyfriend. “What do you mean this was Shakespeare's summer cottage! That’s so cool” Richie joked as he forced a laugh. Thankfully his shitty performance made everyone feel awkward enough to look away as the tour guide continued her introduction.

“Jesus trashmouth” Eddie groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Not the time Kasbrak, you've got some explaining to do” Richie rubs the back of his kneck as he closes his eyes in hopes of rubbing away the emarrasment he just endured.

“That lady is Elizah Brightmoon, she’s the leader of the fucking council” Eddie stressed.

Richie raised his eyebrows, “What? How the hell is she here?” He interrogated.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? What are we supposed to do! If she sees me I’m as good as dead. And we both know they wouldn’t mind that” Eddie glanced away, behind Richie’s shoulder to look at the tour guide, Elizah. She was explaing the plan for their day.

“Call your parents they must know what to do” Eddie waved wildingly at Richie who proceeded to search for his phone.

The teen found his phone in his inner jacket pocket and quickly dialed his dad’s mobile number which Went had him memorize when he was a kid. His heart nearly stopped when he heard the beep and a robotic voice tell him that he’s ‘Out of range of any cellular towers’ and that he should ‘please find the nearest cellular tower to continue your call’.

“Shit, I don’t have service” Richie groaned as he ran his hand over his snapback, carful not to reveal his wolf ears.

“What does that mean?” Eddie lifted an eyebrow as he had yet to grasp all of the human’s concepts of technology.

“I-I can’t call them. We’re on our own” Richie realized.

“Now if you’d follow me then we can begin our tour of the castle” Elizah began as she moved into the castle. The group slowly followed behind her, Richie and Eddie shared a look or worry before they tilted their heads down and followed behind everyone else.

~

The tour actually went fairly well, once they were shown the main lobby of the castle, Mr Brock split them up into two groups, one group went with Eliza while the other went with Mr Brock and Janet, one of the other tour guides who was, according to Eddie ‘some random lady he didn’t know’.

By the power of lucky, or magic, Eddie and Richie were put into the group led by Janet. Aside from the two being nearly overwhelmed by worry, they were actually kinda able to enjoy the tour with their friends.

First Janet led them through the castle, citing off random facts about its creation and the builder. Which The Losers mostly listened to, Rich and Bev made jokes about what the creator probably really did in each room, Eddie complained about how dirty everything probably is (and worried about the whole council thing). Ben, Stan and Mike actually listened and tried to take notes. Bill tried to as well but he couldn’t help but notice how tense Richie and Eddie had become.

Sure things were tense between Eddie and Bill (Richie too, even though Bill didn’t know Richie’s secret, he was still on edge), but it was as if they made a mental agreement to stay on opposite ends of their group and keep to limited conversation if any.

Before they left the castle, Janet showed them around the lobby. The room was massive, and very fancy. White tiled floors, high ceilings with intricate designs made of gold and silver. In the middle was a massive crystal chandelier that hung elegantly from the ceiling. In the main area of the lobby there were couches and love seats for people to sit or wait, the main desk, and in the back there was an almost museum like set up.

The tour guide held her hand out to show off the display cases infront of her as she led toe group towards the back of the lobby. “Here we have our artifact sections. Everything here had an important part in Balmoral’s creation, from the first shovel that broke dirt to the last weapon that was used as defense” Janet paused in the middle of the mini musem to allow the students to wander and look at the artifacts.

There were about 10 display cases that house various items, shovels and pickaxes as Janet described, as well as old knives, daggers, rusty old guns. But one gun in particular caught Bill’s eye, it looked newer, cleaner and shinier. A familiar small patch of rust around the mussel.

Old memories flooded his mind as he recalled the various times his father had sat him down and told him his latest and greatest story from the most recent hunt. Bill’s lips unconsciously curved into a grim smile, his eyes became a little wateryer as his hand brushed overtop of the glass casing. It couldn’t be, it can’t be…

A hand landed on his shoulder, breaking Bill out of his thoughts, “You okay Big Bill?” Mike asked curiously.

Bill quickly wiped at his eyes, catching any tears that might have managed to escape during his emotional moment. “Yep, yep. A-All good” Bill nodded, turning away from the case to face the rest of the group.

“Wanna go check out the murals?” Mike inquired, already steering Bill in the direction of the paintings.

After the castle Janet showed them outside through the big glass doors in the back of the mini musem. From there she took them around the fields surrounding the town. Mr. Brock gave them a mini lecture of the history behind the island and it’s original purpose while the students listened and took notes as it would help with their final project. The teacher explained that the final project would have the students do a presentation on one of the town’s famous stories that they’ve picked up on the trip. Balmoral was famous for various pieces of lore and make believe creatures, so the students had a lot to choose from.

The group was already sat outside so when the teacher announced it was time for lunch they simply opted to stay outside and eat on the lush grass by the water.

“Guys I’m kinda feeling a little uh homesick, might go on a walk, anyone want to join me?” Richie urburtly stood up.

“Yeah, love to” Eddie pipped up.

“OKay good, thanks, bye guys” Richie waved and they were off before anyone else could get a word in.

“Well that was normal” Beverly noted as she took a bit of her sandwich.

Stan inhaled and let out a loud sneeze, “Allergies”, he brushed it off.

Bill kept an eye on the two who were walking away from the group. He leaned over to Stan “Keep an e-eye on the-them, something isn’t ri-right” He whispered.

Stan shook his head, retrieved a kleenex from his pocket and whipped his nose. “What do you think is wrong?” He inquired.

“I-I don’t know” Bill lied. Sure, he didn’t knew exactly what Eddie’s intentions were but he knew for sure that he wasn't human. He saw it with his own eyes! That day at the sleepover, ears like a rabit, the night before, eyes as blue as ice. He’s literally seen Eddie transform into a rabbit.

Bill couldn’t stop replaying the events from last night in his head. ‘Where I come from, if he isn’t from here then where the hell is he from? There’s this council, and they rule above all else. After I saved him, they came in. Apparently I had ‘gotten to close’ and ‘revealed our secret’ These must be pretty fuking important secrets if they would kill an innocent man just to keep them hidden.

My dad didn’t do anything, he just wanted some time away from the hecticiness of the Denbrough household, is that too much to fucking ask? Now Eddie, my only fucking lead might be a dead end! And if he isn’t to blame then who the hell is? Some fucking council?

He snapped out of his thoughts when a hand touched his own. What Bill hadn't realized was that his fingers had curled into fists, tight fists, white knuckles and all. He slowly released his fists when Stan rested his own hand on top of them.

“You okay?” Stan asked curiously, his big blue eyes as pure as ever.

Bill sighed, his shoulders sagged, “F-Fine”. Stan leaned away from Bill and sneezed again.

~

Their day was almost over, they only had one place left to go which was Shakespeare's cabin, but that’s when Stan sneezed into his elbow. When he looked at the sleeve of his grey cardigan he noticed the disgusting looking mucus that now sat on the material. Not even a minute later Stanley stumbled over his own feet, he reached out to grasp Bill’s shoulder and even out his center of gravity.

The sudden touch ripped Bill’s attention away from the two ancestors and he re-focused it on Stan, who was now leaning up against him. “Are you oh-okay?” He asked, worried.

Stan looked up into Bill’s eye as he wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulders for support. “I’m fine Bill… I’m fine” Stan mumbled, his voice almost too mumbled to understand. A moment later he snapped his head away from Bill and proceeded to vomit all over the nice tile floor of the castle’s lobby.

Word Count: 3855

What happened to Stan? Will he recover from whatever he has? What will happen to Eddie and Richie as the full moon approaches? Will Elizah find out about the two runnaway Ancestors?

Find out next Friday on Everfalls!

I hope you guys liked this chapter and are excited for what's to come! Cause trust me- it's goooood. So take a seat, stick around for a while, and enjoy the ride.

That's all from me, until next time

So Long and Goodnight

~

[Taglist]

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Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

[perfecting-procrastination]

Hotel - Zabdiel (Part 2)

I am sooo sorry guys that I took so long, I thought I would have loads of time but I have been at work nonstop and have been feeling ill lately tooo. I have plans for a 3rd one and I’ll try my best to get it done as soon as I can! Anyway hope you like this part 2, I love being a tease so I hope the ending doesn’t kill you guys ;). 

Word Count: I don’t know mate fucking long 

Warning: 18++

"I don't believe you, you are lying to me. THERE IS NO WAY Y/N!" Victoria said in shock, processing what she just heard come from your mouth. You laughed, "Its hard to believe but yeh, it happened and he wants to see me later too". Victoria was in so much shock she had to sit down and take a moment. Whereas, you've been sat on the bed ever since Zabdiel left, you could barely stand after what just happened. That orgasm literally sent your legs into jelly. "Well, what are you going to do? How are you going to act later?!", you went in a daze and thought [She was right how am I supposed to act, like what am I expected to do after hes left me like that]. Victoria then shouted "WAIT SHIT I'VE JUST REALISED SOMETHING", scaring the shit out of you. "Jesus Vicky, quiet down haha" you uttered. "Sorry, I just realised that if we go backstage which is probably where he is going to take us. Does that mean I am gonna meet them too. Do I have a chance with some Ecuadorian dick, because YES PLEASE" Victoria said with a devious grin on her face. "To be honest if Zabdiel can finger me in my hotel room then anything is possible. So.... GO GET YOURSELF SOME ECUADORIAN DICK B", you screamed with enthusiasm [Vicky deserves to get some action after her dickhead of an ex anyway]. You both laughed and carried on chatting about tonight and what could happen, the excitement was unbearable and you both just wanted it to come sooner. 

A couple of hours later...

"Right are we ready to go, we need to get there early if you want to get a good space in line" said Victoria rushing me in the process, as usual. You started doing your final checks in the mirror, placing your hands on your waist and turning to the side to see if your outfit makes you look big in the mirror. You tend to get like this before you go out, you worry about your figure most days as you are not shaped like most girls. You were curvier and thicker for sure, and it sometimes took a toll on you. [I really hope he likes the outfit, I hope he doesn't forget me. There is gonna be so many pretty girls there, I could get easily forgotten surely]. You place your hands on the dresser looking up at the mirror in front of you, [Ergh fuck sake why do I do this to myself]. Victoria could see you were getting lost in your thoughts, "Y/N are you okay?". You took your hands off the dresser and faced towards Victoria, "Yeh, I'm alright. I guess I'm just nervous. I should be happy and I definitely am but what if he doesn't even bother talking to me at the show. Like I know this is obviously just a hook up but like still. Ergh I don't know what I'm saying" you sighed. Vicky walked closer towards you and placed a hand on your shoulder, "Sis, lets recap okay. Zabdiel De Jesus came in your room fingered you, without asking for anything back or even to do more stuff. Then after asked for YOUR number. He obviously might not be completely head over heels for you right now cause he obviously doesn't know you well enough but maybe tonight might give him that opportunity. So don't bring yourself down, cause tonight might be the night sugar. Just have fun because that's the most important thing." Victoria said with a wink just after. A smile began to spread across your face as you realised that Victoria was talking some sense. "You're right, I am a beautiful curvy woman and Zabdiel would be dead lucky to have my fine ass tonight. I'm gonna show him who's in control tonight" You said with a flick of your hair. Victoria and you began to laugh and head for the door. You were excited and fully confident for tonight's event. 

In the Queue...

"They are gonna walk past any second now, I CANT FUCKING WAIT GIRL" Victoria screeched in excitement. You were having so many thoughts going through your mind that all you could do was respond with was a fake smile. The bus arrived and the door slowly opened. [Jesus hes about to come out, fuck fuck fuck]. Joel firsts walks out and is rushed through with security, he takes photos and hugs a couple of lucky fans on the way. Erick then steps out with Christopher closely followed behind him. Christopher gave Victoria a little wink in her direction on his way inside, it nearly caused Victoria to drop to the floor but she managed to get herself together. Then walked out Zabdiel and Richard, [God Zabdiel looks so hot, this is difficult. I just want to take him somewhere and rip off all his clothes]. While Zabdiel and Richard were walking inside, you see Richard whispering into Zabdiel's ear. They looked very engaged in a conversation, until you see Richard look over at you and say to Zabdiel "¿Es ella?". Zabdiel looked towards him and nodded his head, "Damn, she nice bro" Richard said with smirk. Zabdiel laughed in response, then finally his beautiful brown eyes made contact with yours. His stares were always so intense, it consistently made you weak every time you looked into them. You bit your lip as you felt the heat between your legs get damper. He moved his eyes towards your lip, all he could think about was those pretty lips wrapped around his dick and the image could not leave his mind. "Zabdiel, come on man" Richard shouted while grabbing Zabdiel in his direction, causing the loss of eye contact between you and him. You sighed, [God, I  just want to fuck him already]. "I saw that, you two were vibing and he DEFINITELY wants a piece" Victoria said while nudging you. You laughed and responded with "Mmm I hope so haha". 

30 mins later...

You and Victoria began to approach the security and the ticket desk, After security check your bags and you both walk towards the desk. The lady behind the desk looked away from her computer and towards us, "Hello, could I see your tickets please". You look through your bag and quickly pass the tickets over to the Lady, "Here you go". She looked through at the ticket and scanned the barcode, the lady then looked shocked as she saw something pop up on the screen. She paused for a minute and signalled a guard to come over. Victoria then faces towards you with a panicked look. The lady then looked back at you both with a smirk, "Well girls it says here that you have been granted VIP and backstage passes. So let me give your wrist bands and ill let George here from security take you backstage. Does that sound Good?". A smile spread across both of your faces followed with a more than compliant nod to her response. She placed the wristbands on both of your wrists and you follow the guard. You noticed other fans watching you go somewhere else with a guard, some either assumed you were in trouble or a new possible groupie for CNCO. But only you and Victoria knew which one you both were going to be and the excitement was only building as you got closer and closer to backstage. You then finally arrived at a room and the security opened the door for you, "Here you go girls, there's refreshments inside and someone will come over soon to give you a tour". You both smiled and Victoria responded with "Thank you George! You've been great". He then walked away and you both walked in the room. It was stylish and it had some sick food and drink, so you were both pretty content. "Oh my God I can't believe were here. it does not feel real at all" you say still astonished from all of the events of today to where you are now. Victoria grabs your shoulders shaking them and saying "GIRL, you can fucking say that again". You both giggle while moving towards the sofa to sit down and have a chat while you wait for the backstage tour guide. 

10 mins later...

*knock, knock* You both look up to notice a lady standing there with 2 lanyards in hand, "Hiya girls, my name is Lisa and ill be showing you round. Are you ready for the tour?". Victoria and you smiled and walked over to Lisa to introduce yourselves. After you all got acquainted, you both were given your lanyards and followed Lisa around the building. She showed you different sections behind the backstage area, showing where the guys chill and explains to you what they do before a performance to get psyched up. You both were looking all around, eyes wide taking in all the scenery. "God its so big in here" Victoria observed. It really was huge and they was so much going on behind stage, and none of it looked easy to deal with. You really do forget how hard the staff and the boys must work to make the performance so perfect. You then uttered, "It really is, Jesus". "Si, mi preciosa", the words were whispered into your ear from behind by a low deep voice. You turn around instantly to see that beautiful tall blonde god, and you couldn't help but smile. You were trying to hold in your inner crazy fan girl but it was hard. You look up to him and whisper, "I've been waiting for you". Zabdiel bites his lip and says "So have I". He looks behind you and then look backs at you. You look at him confused and question "whats wrong?". He then smiles back at you and says "I think Christopher likes your friend". You furrowed your brows and turned around to see Victoria giggling with Christopher, who was flirting majorly with her. You then feel a light squeeze on your hand, you turn around to look at Zabdiel "Cmon I want to take you somewhere, we can leave them in peace". You turn to him with a mischievous smile and a raised eyebrow, "Oh yeah where do you want to take me". Zabdiel sends a wink your way and pulls on your hand, leading you down a hallway. He then reaches this door that labels 'Staff only', he drags you in and closes the door. You look around and notice a desk and some boxes around. [Must be an extra office or something?]. While your eyes were wondering around the room you hear the sound of a click and turn around to notice Zabdiel locking the door. “Planning to kill me?” You said with a smirk. Zabdiel laughs and comes up real close to you “Hmm well you’ve been killing me all day, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since our last meeting.”. You look up towards him and flutter your eyelashes, “Why is that baby, do I make you hungry?”. Hearing those dirty words come out of your innocent mouth made Zabdiel go crazy. And you were right, he was HUNGRY and he wanted you so bad that he was struggling to contain himself. Zabdiel picked you up causing you to instantly wrap your legs around his waist. The whole movement was quick and it all fitted perfectly like you two were meant to be connected with one and another. He moves you towards the wall and starts kissing you hungrily, he wanted you and he couldn’t wait much longer. You ran your hands through his beautiful blonde hair, giving it light tugs at points. Making him moan slightly, Zabdiel began moving his lips down your neck while gently squeezing your thighs. A few moans began to escape your mouth only exciting Zabdiel further. You then pulled Zabdiels hair back, causing him to look back at you with a surprised look. You move your lips slowly towards his ear and whisper “It’s your turn, papi”. You hop out of his grip and shove him against the wall. Zabdiel looks at you in shock, not quite sure what is happening as he is normally the one being dominant. But he most definitely is going to roll with it. You lower your self down and get on your knees. Zabdiel then moves his hands downwards to undo his belt, you then slap his hand off. “Ayy mami, what was that for” he responded. You look up at him while slowly undoing his belt and say “I’m in control this time, not you”. This made his eyes go wide with desire, he wasn’t used to this feeling but he sure did love it. Your eyes were finally met his boxers, you slowly shimmied both his jeans and boxers down. You knew Zabdiel was going to be big but god you weren’t expecting that. It only made you even hungrier for him that your mouth began to water. You positioned one hand on the base of the shaft and placed light kisses on the tip. You then moved those kisses up and down the shaft just to tease him further. Making Zabdiel moan uncontrollably, “Nena, por favor. Stop teasing me”. You look up to him and mutter “Do you want me bad baby, do I make you weak?”. He moves his head back and nods. You look disappointed, “use your words, otherwise I stop” you demanded. He looks at you with his mouth open in shock, “I want you so bad it’s killing me”. You smile deviously and move your mouth onto his tip and start slowly swirling your tongue around it. You start moving your other hand up and down his shaft, creating a steady pace. Zabdiel was losing his mind he was struggling to function with all that you were doing. His dick began to pulsate and you could tell he was getting increasingly closer to reaching his high. You began to pick up the pace and move your mouth all the way down his base, so far that the tip was hitting the back of your throat. Tears started to fall from your eyes and Zabdiel was on the edge. His hands were intertwined in your hair and he was tugging hard only making you wetter. “I’m about to cum baby, fuck” Zabdiel moaned. You went in harder, constantly swirling your tongue around as you went up and down on his big shaft. He was so close, but then you suddenly removed your swollen lips from his member. He looked down at you disappointed, wondering what your next move was. “En serio? I was so close princesa” Zabdiel huffed. You smirked deviously back at him and then stood up, removing your jeans and unclipping your bodysuit in the process. You tugged on his shirt leading him towards the desk and hopped on it. You opened your legs, granting zabdiel access. You opened your eyes really wide and look towards Zabdiel, “I just really want you to fill me up papi”. He didn’t think it was possible for you to make words that sound so dirty sound so innocent. But he definitely loved it, Zabdiel grabbed your thighs and brought you in closer. Zabdiel aligned his hard cock with your dripping core, he slowly pushed the tip on the outside of the entrance. Earning a moan of pure frustration from you, “Please papi, Fuck me”. Zabdiel could tell he was driving you crazy so he decided to take it further. He moved his hand up to your throat and lightly applied pressure, “mami, you need to be more patient. Can you do that for me?”. His hand around your throat while his tip was just sitting at your entrance was destroying you. You needed him and you needed him now. You tugged at your bottom lip and nodded your head. Zabdiel then slightly moved only the tip in, stretching you out instantly. It was just the tip but it was almost enough to send you into an orgasm. 

*buzz* *buzz*

Zabdiel and you looked at eachother wondering where the sound came from. You both noticed the sound coming from his phone which was on the floor. Zabdiel removed his tip from you leaving you empty and extremely frustrated. He picked up the phone and noticed it was Richard calling. “Que pasa Richard?” he mutters. You couldn’t hear clearly what he was saying but he didn’t look very impressed for sure. He pauses, “Okay okay I am coming now”. Zabdiel then hung up the phone and looked towards you, “I have to go nena,  we need to prepare for the show”. Zabdiel began to put on his boxers and jeans. You look at Zabdiel disappointed, “erghhh okay, please tell me we are going to have the chance to continue this later”. Zabdiel laughed and came up close to you, he lifted up your chin with his finger and whispered into your ear “I am not finished with you yet mami”. Zabdiel then opened the door and paced over to the boys to prepare for the concert. You got up and got dressed. You felt so frustrated but you knew you had to wait for Zabdiel. You wanted him so badly and this day has been nothing less of a surreal experience. You exhaled and opened the door, going towards where you last left Victoria. Hoping to find her somewhere backstage. But truly the one thing that was on your mind was Zabdiel.

[crystalwillow]

Friendbound

Hello my loves! I just wanted to pop in here with a little note before you read this fiction. I had originally planned to make this a two part fiction to post on two different days in one week but then I realized that I’m not going to be able to do that just due to the fact I am so back logged with fiction ideas and stories to work on for Wattpad so I’ve done my best to try and make it a good one part read and maybe sometime in the future I will comeback to this idea and do a part two/sequel where the girls vacation. I also just want to say that I’ve lost my tag list for people who wanted to be tagged in this, so I am just going to have to hope you see this at this point aha. I am also going to address the fact that if you don’t see yourself being mentioned much in this fiction or having little dialogue, the reason for that is me not knowing your characters personality or pronouns and not wanting to portray or address them in the wrong way.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this fiction and if you have any constructive criticism that you feel I could take on board to apply into my future fiction writing please comment it and I will be sure to make a note of it as I will take it happily to improve upon my writing skills.

Much Love,

tyrilsnightbloom xoxo

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are coming upon our decent, please buckle your seatbelts and follow all safety procedures told to you at the beginning of and during this flight. Once again we are coming upon our decent to JFK airport in New York City, New York. We hope you enjoyed your flight with us. Thank You for choosing America Air!" the pilot of the aircraft said as the flight descended from the air into the airport.

A few minutes later and the plane has safely landed and unloaded it’s passengers, all of them entering the bustling JFK airport to baggage claim to get their bags. Once they had collected their bags some people grouped together as they headed outside to look for someone holding a sign reading "Pixelberry Winners" chatting excitedly amongst themselves. "Where are they?" one of the young women asked looking around excitedly, "over there!" another exclaimed, and they grabbed their suitcases rushing over to the people holding their sign. "Names?" the man spoke with no tone. "Uh. I'm Kay" one girl said nervously, "Angela" the next said holding her hand up "And I'm Yuri" the last spoke as the man checked them off of the list and they stood over with another young woman to the side. "Hey" Angela smiled holding her hand out, "Hi... I'm Tia" the young woman said shyly as she shook Angela's hand. The 4 young women waited, by their car for the last 2 winners of the competition to arrive. Once they did they all piled into the waiting mini bus and were taken to the hotel they would be staying at. Shortly after that they had checked into the hotel they were in the restaurant, ordering their lunch before going to settle into their rooms, ready for the tour around New York the next day.

It was early the next morning and the fans had all gathered round a couch in the lobby of the hotel waiting for their tour guide. After about 25 minutes a smiley woman approached the group with someone who has very distinguishable purple hair with her “Hi! Are you guys the group of Pixelberry winners?” she asked cheerily, with a smile. They all nodded enthusiastically and jumped to their feet. The cheery lady introduced herself as the tour guide and led the girls to the mini bus, they would be taking round the city to see all of the sites from Bloodbound. The tour went smoothly, and the tour guide even brought the girls some street food from a vendor that is rumoured to be frequented by the BloodBound crew. Towards the end of their tour the main tour guide spoke up. “Now I’m sure y’all are excited to try and run into one of the vampires. And I’ve seen you looking at my apprentice weirdly all day today so… Jade… why don’t you reveal your true self to the people here today.” She beams as the woman with purple in her hair that has been on the tour all day too slowly takes off her disguise, revealing herself to be Lily Spencer, the fans gasping excitedly. “Hey guys! It’s been such a pleasure to meet you today and get to show you some of the sites we had the pleasure of visiting during our crazy journey. Now obviously I’ve stayed in the bus because it’s been daytime. But now that it’s dark out… Who wants to come to one of the coolest places in New York with me and meet the rest of the gang?!” she asks excitedly. “I’d love to but I’m tired and need to get some rest after today.” Morgan said with an apologetic look, Cassy agreeing with her and hopping back into the mini bus so they could be taken back to the hotel safely. Everyone else however excitedly agreed to go along with Lily, awe struck by her up close beauty and excited to meet everyone else. “I wonder what Amy is like in real life?” Yuri asked, “I hope she as much a gem as she is in the books and movies” Angela replied. “psshhhh. Forget that, I want to witness Jax’s abs. front row seat!” Tia exclaimed, Lily turning and smirking at her. “I like you already” she grinned, fangs poking out a little.

Soon they were arriving at the spot where Lily was taking them, “Yo Lilz!” a voice shouted out and she turned to the 4 fans who had come with her, “you ready?” she smiled, and they nodded nervously. Lily led them to the booth and sat down with a smile. “Who are these people?” Kamilah asked clenching her fist, ready to defend herself. “Kamilah relax. It’s 4 of the lucky 6” Lily said softly, placing a gentle hand over Kamilah’s. Not long after Adrian and Jax appeared holding trays of drinks, “Oh. We have company?” Adrian asked as he slid into the booth next to Amy, sliding his arm round her waist and kissing her temple gently. “ah! Cuutteeee.” Kay squealed, causing Adrian to blush lightly. Jax brought over 3 chairs and placed them round the table. “I could only find 3 spares.” He said as he placed the final chair. Tia was occupied on her phone, reading through something, and smiling. Jax turned to try and get her attention but froze and choked on his words, this caused Tia to snap her head towards the commotion, “are you okay?” she said with a worried arched brow, looking at Jax who nodded and took a few moments to compose himself. “I was going to say, you can take my seat if you want to. I could only find 3 spares and I don’t mind standing” he said, “Oh.. th-thank you. That’s incredibly kind of you” she blushed as she took the seat. “No worries” he smiled. Lily got to gossiping about the latest Fangbook drama. The fans sat talking quietly amongst themselves, “Anyway, I don’t believe we’ve been acquainted.” Adrian smiled at the fans, Lily started introducing them one by one. The fans waved and said one fact about themselves as Lily introduced them and soon they were conversing with the group laughing and having fun. It was a little later on and the chatter had died down and every one was either talking quietly in pairs or checking their phones. Tia looked over at the dance floor and got up heading towards it. “Wait for me! Amy come on!” Lily called out as she shot up from her seat at the table, grabbing Amy’s wrist and heading to the dance floor with Tia. Kamilah and Adrian stayed sat at the table chuckling at the 3 starting to dance and slowly the other 3 fans, Angela, Yuri, and Kay joined them, letting themselves loose and making the wildest of shapes with their bodies. At some point Tia was at the bar getting another drink when Jax walked up beside her. “Oh hey Jax! You okay?” she asked happily. “No.” he answered grumpily making her frown, “what’s wrong?” she pouted, and he suppressed a small smile creeping onto his features and looked at her, “I can’t figure out how you’re so beautiful” he replies, “Oh..” Tia blushed as she picked up her drink sipping on it to try and hide the blush a little. “That’s cute.” Jax commented quietly causing Tia to blush even more and her legs turned to jelly so she took a seat at the bar and Jax sat with her for a little while. Soon Tia made her way back to the dance floor and Jax followed her. Back in the booth Adrian and Kamilah were keeping a close eye on everyone, when 2 of the fans came back to the table with Amy. “Hey babe? I’m going to walk these two back to their hotel and then head home myself. You coming?” she asked Adrian, who emptied his glass and then smiled “Yeah, sure.” He gave Kamilah a hug and then left with Amy and the two fans, leaving Tia with Jax, Lily and Kamilah.

Later that night around 4:30am, The 4 left at the bar were ordering one more drink to have before leaving when there was a sudden smash across the bar from them, Jax stepped forward cautiously drawing his sword whilst Kamilah unsheathed her daggers, her stance matching Jax’s, whilst Lily stayed close to Tia, protecting her from anything that may come their way. Soon a man skidded across the floor and stopped nearby Tia’s feet. “Oh my god.” She gasped quietly and looked at Lily. Nobody knows what happened, but the next thing that everyone knew was a fight had broken out. “Lily! Get Tia to safety! If anything happens to her…” he trailed off as he fought off three men advancing toward him. Lily grabbed Tia’s hand and led her out of a back exit. “The safest place for you right now is your hotel room. Follow me” Lily spoke urgently as she took off into the night away from the club. “Lily!” Tia exclaimed as she tried to keep up with her as she parkoured through the streets of New York. Finally, out of breath Tia caught up with Lily in the hotel’s lobby at the elevators which pinged open and Lily pulled her inside. “Which floor?” she urged. “Four” Tia answered breathlessly. The elevator whirred taking them to the fourth floor, Tia swiped her rooms key card on the door, and they went inside. It was about an hour later and there was a knock on the door. Still awake Tia walked through the door and looked through the little spy hole, seeing a rattled looking Jax. She opened the door at the same time another door just a couple down from her room opened and Kamilah came creeping out. She smiled at Jax knowingly and went on her way, Jax stepping into Tia’s room. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I’m tired.” She replied and got back into bed. “Oh… yeah I forgot you’re…” he said feeling suddenly awkward. Soon there were more knocks on the door. “ugghhh.” Tia groaned. “I’ve got it.” Jax soothed and answered the door and was received with a bunch of squeals. “Omg I knew it was him at this door!” Kay exclaimed “Who’s room is this anyway?” Angela asked. “I believe it’s Tia’s” Yuri said trying to keep her cool. “So Jax. You interested in her?” Angela asked, the three waiting as they looked at him for an answer expectantly. “So what if I am?” he asked, “It’s cute when you try to be all broody.” Yuri commented. Jax shrugged it off, “So… can Tia, Lily or I help you 3 lovely ladies or….” Jax asked, letting the question linger. “Well we were actually going to ask if Tia wanted to sleep in with us. We’re doing a big slumber type party.” Kay smiled confidently. “You may have to come in here if you want to do that.” he whispered, hearing the change in Tia’s breathing. “She’s sleeping” he elaborated. The three girls nodded and went to grab their blankets and pillows, before returning to Tia’s room. “Right, I’ll leave you girls to it then.” He smiled politely, motioning to a now awake Lily to follow him and together they left going out into the night. “Goodnight girls. It was fun getting to know you today. I look forward to spending more time with you!” Kay whispered, not wanting to wake Tia. “Goodnight” Yuri and Angela whispered back as they laid down closing their eyes and falling asleep.

Over the next two days the fans hung out getting to know each other and following on each other so they could stay in contact after they leave New York. On their last day they were wondering the streets of New York when Kay spotted Lily and Adrian walk into a juice bar. “Let’s go in there.” She pointed and they all headed inside and waited in line behind Lily and Adrian. “So.. why are we here?” Yuri asked. Recognizing the voice, Lily spun round. “Oh my gosh! Hey, you guys!!” she exclaimed and hugged them all tightly. “Lily let the poor women breathe” Adrian chuckled as he moved forward in the line. Lily smiled brightly as she took her spot back next to Adrian. “How have you been? New York’s treating you well I hope?” he questioned “Yes, we’ve had so much fun!” Angela responded excitedly, “It’s sad we have to leave tomorrow.” Tia pouted and she put her phone away. “It’s your 4th day here already?!” Lily asked and Tia nodded “Man. Jax is going to be crushed…” she said defeatedly. “What?” Yuri asked curiously. “Jax has been…” she trailed off, looking at Adrian who looked at Tia with a tender look. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Tia asked as they moved forward. “Jax is a little lovesick. And it appears to be for you.” He said looking distant. “OOOOOOOOOOOO” the other girls said teasingly as Tia blushed. “Jax is in love with Tia! Jax is in love with Tia!” Angela and Kay teased causing Tia to blush. “well.. I… he is…” “Shut up! You like him too!” Yuri exclaimed. “Shhhhhhhh” Tia urged, blushing harder and clasping her hand over Yuri’s mouth. Adrian chuckled as he walked up to the juice bar and gave his order to the cashier. “What are you going to do?” Angela asked.

“What do you mean?” Tia asked back.

“Well are you going to see him before we leave?”

“What? No! he’s a busy man. He doesn’t need badgering by someone like me.”

“What?! Are you crazy girl!!! Give me your number and I’ll get him to text you.”

“Lily. Don’t trouble the poor girl.” Adrian chuckled slightly as he turned round from the counter. “What? Jax likes her and she likes Jax. Why not set the wheels in motion for a fantastic relationship?” Lily defended. “Lily.” Adrian warned, “Fine.” Lily sighed and turned around to help collect the juices before they said goodbye and set off.

Later that night, all the girls apart from Cassy and Morgan were gathered in Kay’s room, sharing pizza and their favourite fizzy soda. “So, are you really going to just leave Jax hanging?” Angela asked Tia, taking a bite from her pizza slice. Tia swallowed her bite and took a sip of her drink, doing her best to avoid the question. “Tia?” Kay asked causing her to sigh. “Yes. No. I don’t know. He’s a great guy but we leave in the morning.” Tia explained. “And? That doesn’t mean you can’t exchange social media ats or something and talk.” Yuri chimed in, “But I’m going to be thousands of miles away and he’s too cute to have a relationship from that far away.” Tia pouted as there was a knock at the door. “I’ve got it” Angela smiled and answered the door. “Amy!” she exclaimed and gave her a hug. “Hi! Can I come in?” Amy smiled back, “Yeah sure!” Angela chirped and stepped aside letting her in and closing the door behind her. “Ooooo. I smell pizza” Amy grinned hungrily. “Take a piece we have enough” Kay said happily. “Thank You” Amy said as she took a piece and sunk her teeth into it, “MMMMMMMMM, that’s SO good.” She mumbled as she chewed. The other 4 girls resuming to eat and sip their soda. “So… I came here to give you all something” Amy said, breaking the silence as she reached into her bag, pulling out necklaces with the girls initials on. “Awww Amyy” the girls all said happily as they gathered round Amy giving her a tight hug. Amy returned the hug and as they all pulled away there was another knock at the door, which Kay went and answered. “Yeah.. just a second.” She said quietly then came back the main living area of the hotel room, “It’s for you Tia.” She smiled as she returned to her seat. Tia got up and went to the door, surprised a little when she saw Jax standing there. She hadn’t expected to see him again before she left. Which is how she wanted it to be in a way, so it was easier for her to leave. “Jax.” She whispered after a long moment of silence of the two staring at each other. He smiled softly at her before speaking.

“I um… wanted to. No, needed to see you before you left.”

“But why?”

“Because as cringey and cheesey as this is. I’ve caught feelings for you. You’re beautiful Tia.”

“Jax.”

“No Tia please. Let me finish… As you know I mostly hate lovey dovey stuff. It makes me mad because I’ve never been able to know what it truly feels like to have it and wanting it has only caused pain when women have run away after finding out who I really am. But you know. You know who I truly am, and you still flirted with me the other night. You made me feel… normal. It’s a weird feeling being here confessing I like you when you’re leaving in a few hours, but I knew if I never told you then you’d be the one who got away. You probably will be anyway but at least this way I can get some sort of peace knowing that you know how I feel about you and… I can only hope you feel the same about me. I also wanted to give you something to remember me by. I went to a friend and got this fast-tracked to be custom made for you but um… I want to give you this.”

“Oh… Jax this is…” Tia gasped as she reached her hand out delicately taking the keychain from Jax’s hand. “It’s beautiful” she smiled softly

“It’s a Daisy. I chose it because of what it symbolizes.”

“What does it mean?”

“In general it symbolizes purity, innocence and loyal love.”

Tia smiles at the keychain before looking at Jax and giving him a hug. “This is really thoughtful. Thank you” she spoke into the crook of his neck. He returned the hug, squeezing tightly as if he never wanted to let go. Which he didn’t but he reluctantly parted from Tia and gave a small smile. “Could I come and wave you goodbye tomorrow?” He asked. “Of course.” She smiled in response. “Then good night beautiful.” He said leaving with yearning in his eyes. “Good night Jax.” Tia said softly, stepping back inside and shutting the door, going back to her seat in the main living area. “Tia has a boyfriend!” Yuri squealed as she entered the room, Tia smiled and blushed as she took her seat. For the rest of the night until Amy left and they went to bed the girls teased Tia about Jax occasionally and talked about business and stuff with Amy. Getting a feel of what life was really like for them as vampires in New York.

Early the next morning the girls were at the front desk of the hotel checking out when someone tapped on their shoulders. When they turned round they saw Kamilah who smiled at them brightly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much girls but I heard you leave in a few hours so I thought I’d swing by and take you to the airport and give you a copy of my book to take home with you as a parting gift.” The girls smiled and graciously accepted the lift to the airport and their gift from Kamilah. When they got to the airport they went through the standard procedure before settling in seats near their gates waiting for their departures to be announced. But before they broke off from each other they had one last group hug and promised to keep in contact with each other. Cassy, Morgan, and Kay were the first ones to have their departure flights called, followed a few minutes later by Angela’s flight being called. Tia was sitting at her gate reading through Kamilah’s book when someone cleared their throat making her jump and drop the book. “Darn. Now I’ve lost my page.” She cursed quietly as she picked it up. “Sorry bout that.” Jax chuckled as he sat next to her. The two got to talking whilst Tia waited for her flight to be called. They laughed and joked and eventually followed each other on Pictagram, agreeing to stay in contact. It felt sudden and too soon but Tia’s flight got called along with another and she stood up unwillingly and put her hand on the handle of her suitcase but Jax took it and wheeled it to the gate for her, giving her one final hug before she left. As she pulled away from the hug she pecked Jax’s cheek making him freeze for a moment before braking out into a smile. “See you later Tia.” He grinned as he turned and swaggered away. Before heading through her gate tunnel she spotted Yuri. “BYE YURI!! SPEAK TO YOU SOON” she shouted across with a wave and Yuri waved back with a matching wide smile and the two got onto their planes settling into their seats ready to touch back down at their hometowns. Wondering when they would all be able to meet like this again, but Jax was also on Tia’s mind as her plane took off down the runway and ascended into the sky. They may not know when but they did know that they would all have to meet up again soon and vacation together and make more amazing memories to last a lifetime.

[benhardyisdaddy]

traveling affairs - part 1

MASTERLIST 

BenxReader

(omfg this is so long im SORRY also this is based off of the idea from mama mia 2 where she finds out the guy is engaged, but i made it my own so i hope u guys like it??? i wasn't really sure what i was doing but its super fluffy, yet obvi angsty @ the end OH AND the main character y/n is set to be an american cuz i needed that for the story plot lol ok ily all byeeee) 

Word Count: 6,340 

Traveling has been your passion ever since you can remember. Going from place to place and meeting new faces was pure passion for you. Being far away from home felt like home. So when you decided to leave home once more and make your way to England, everyone shook their heads at you.

“She’s leaving again.”

“She’s too wild for her age.”

“She needs to find a good man and settle down.”

All of these whispers seemed to be all around you constantly. It was almost deafening to you. There was a reason why you loved to be away from home and that was it. The plane ride from your home town to England took far longer than you had expected, but that gave you time to think about everything you had planned. You had successfully rented a room at a hotel for your week long stay, so you were prepared for that. You couldn’t wait to travel to a pub or finally see the Big Ben. Some would call you crazy to travel all by yourself, but you call it brave. You could handle yourself in any situation, so you know you’re okay.

It had been hours and hours until finally the pilot pops on over the intercom and speaks to tell you all that you would be landing in five minutes. You click your seatbelt on and brace yourself. The plane swoops down as the wheels slide on the pavement. You close your eyes and take deep breaths. For the amount of times you’ve flown, the take off and landing still freaked you out. The plane slowed down and eventually comes to a complete stop. It takes several more minutes, but you’re finally off of the plane. You make your way inside and retrieve your luggage as it spins around the carousel. You were officially in England and you couldn’t of been happier. You walk outside and spot a cab driver standing outside of the car. He looked at you and smiled.

“Are you waiting for someone?” you ask politely, dragging your luggage behind you.

“No, ma’am. Would you like a lift?” he asks sweetly, as he rushes up and helps you with your bags.

You tell the driver your hotel’s address and he begins driving. You look out the window at beautiful almost historical looking buildings pass by. You couldn’t believe you were here. You finally arrive at your hotel and go to pay the driver, but he puts his hands up fast.

“No, ma’am. This was one was on me. You just enjoy your stay.”

Your heart swelled up at how sweet he was. You thank him over and over as he helps get your luggage out. You had that certain charm about yourself. People were drawn to your light and you couldn’t help it. You make your way up to the hotel’s building and spot a payphone right next to the door. It was 10pm here, which means it was 5pm back home. You quickly add your coins and dial a number back home, making sure to use the right numbers.

“Yes, I’m okay. I got all of my stuff.”

You were on the phone with your worried mother as she continuously asks you questions after questions.

“Are you sure it’s the right hotel? How did you get there? Did you take a cab? Was it a male driver? You should’ve took the bus!”

You roll your eyes at her protective attitude, but smile. Her being worried made you happy that someone cared. Your mother continues to babble in your ear as you peek over to your left. Some people had walked out from the hotel and were all standing around and laughing. They looked almost intoxicated. Your eyes land on a handsome blonde man with the brightest green eyes you had ever seen. His cheeks were slightly pink from drinking and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. You continue to stare at him as your mother speaks.

“Uh uh. Yes. Okay. Okay. Yes. Uh huh.” you say, not really listening to her.

As you’re staring at the man, he looks over to you. His face slightly falls as he catches you staring. You almost gasp as you look away suddenly. You feel your cheeks flush hot as you continue talking to your mother. You have no idea, but the man is still staring at you, a smirk pressed on his face. He watches you until you say goodbye to your mother.

“Okay, mom. I have to go get checked into my room. I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

You say your final goodbyes and hang up the phone. You take in a deep breath and grab your luggage as you look back over to where the man was. He was still looking at you and smiles wider when your eyes catch his. You quickly smile and hurry to make your way inside. You walk up to the counter and begin getting checked into your room. You’re stood at the counter and feel a presence next to you. You look over and the blonde man is looking down at you, his arms resting in front of him.

“Hi,” he says.

You smile up to him and gently laugh.

“Hi.” you reply back.

His eyebrow goes up a bit when he hears your accent.

“Not from here, huh?” he asks, smiling.

You shake your head as the women hands you your room card. You quickly thank her and turn around to face the man.

“Was it my accent?” you teasingly ask him.

He laughs and nods his head. He watches as you begin walking away slowly, struggling with rolling your large luggage. He rushes up to you quickly.

“Would you like some help?” he asks, hoping you’d say yes.

You freeze and look at him up and down, wondering what his intentions were.

“You want to carry my luggage up to my room?” you ask, almost shocked.

The man just nods and awkwardly smiles, not knowing what to say.

“Are you going to murder me?” you bluntly ask.

His eyes go wide a bit as his face falls. He shakes his head fast.

“No, no, no!” he says over and over again.

You can’t help but give up your seriousness and laugh at him. He looked to freaked out.

“I’m joking.” you tease.

The man’s face lightly lights up as he laughs with you and nods his head.

“I would love some help actually.” you say as you let go of your luggage and begin walking to the elevator.

The man watches you quickly stroll away as he grabs your suitcase and rushes to catch up with you. You smile to yourself as you hear him hurrying. You press the elevator button and wait for it to get to you. There were fifteen stories in this hotel, it might take a moment. You’re stood facing the elevator as you feel his eyes on you. You fight back a smirk as he opens his mouth to talk.

“So what brings you here?” he asks, not knowing what to say.

You look to him quickly and then back to the elevator and shrug.

“Adventure.” you respond and say nothing more.

You were vague with all of your answers which made the man almost more crazy about you. He nods and looks away. The elevator finally makes its way to you as the doors swing open. You step inside, followed by him. The doors shut as you hit the button for floor twelve. The elevator rises up as you two awkwardly stand in there and say nothing for a moment.

“Well, you’ll enjoy your time here. It’s beautiful. Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to see first?” he asks.

You look over to him and smile. Man, was he beautiful. Your heart fluttered as you continue staring at him.

“I, uh,” you start. “As cheesy as it might sound, I really want to go to an actual pub.”

The man’s face lights up at your words and suddenly the elevator door opens up, revealing your floor. You walk off and begin heading towards room 1215.

“Not cheesy at all! Pubs are amazing,” he starts.

You get to your room and quickly insert the key to get it open. You whirl around to face him and freeze.

“Ya know, it’s okay if you say no. You don’t know me, but I was thinking…” he continues to babble on nervously and you could tell. “Maybe I could show you around? Like your own free personal tour guide. I know the best pub in town.”

You think for a moment at his idea and sweetly smile to him. He seemed like an okay guy. He hasn’t tried to rob you yet and he seemed genuinely kind. Your mother would kill you for doing this.

“Okay.” you say, reaching down to grab your luggage. “I’d like that.”

The man smiles half shocked that you said yes. He runs a hand through his hair and nods as he backs away from you, excited. You smile as he finds words to say.

“Okay, cool! So, how about tomorrow? I’m sure you’ll be jet lagged, so we can go to the pub later, yeah?” he asks.

“How about seven?” you ask, sliding your luggage inside of your room.

He nods and bites his lip as he keeps backing away from your room.

“Seven it is!” he says.

You smile and are about to enter your room when you hear him shout after you. You turn around fast and watch him walk back up to you fast.

“Wait! I don’t even know your name.”

You grin and open the door up wider.

“Y/n,” you say.

He holds his hand out for you to shake. You take it instantly.

“Ben,” he says. “Nice to meet you, y/n.”

You smile and continue to shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ben.”

He smiles as your hands fall. He begins walking back to the elevator as you watch him.

“See you tomorrow at seven, y/n!” he calls out to you.

“See you tomorrow at seven, Ben!” you call back.

He steps into the elevator and looks at you with a wide smile as the doors close and he’s gone. You exhale and shut your room’s door and lean against it. You hadn’t been here for even three hours and you already had plans with a cute guy.

***

The second your head hit the pillow that night, you were out. You slept from midnight all the way until 4pm the next day. That Ben guy was right, jetlag kicked your butt. You awake from your slumber and look around. You forgot for a moment where you were, but suddenly remember the plans you had for tonight. You stretch widely as you glance over at the clock next to your bed. You had plans at seven and it was four right now. Four!? You jump from bed and scurry around to get everything around for tonight. You still had to iron some clothes, take a shower, fix your hair, do your makeup and eat a little something all in three hours. You scramble to retrieve some clothes from your luggage. You opt for a pair of your favorite jeans and a rocker tee you loved. You set your leather jacket on the bed as you hang the clothes up in the bathroom. You turn the shower on super hot, allowing the steam to naturally lift the wrinkles from your clothes. Two birds with one stone.

You take the fastest shower in your whole life and jump out quickly. You do all of the essentials as you then get dressed. You throw your hair up into a ponytail and slide your jacket on. You finish your makeup and slide your boots on. You look to the clock as it reads 6:35pm. You would’ve been done a lot earlier if your hair had cooperated better and if you hadn’t spent so much time on your makeup. You grab your purse and feel your stomach growl. You remember that the hotel offers a free cafeteria for guests so you grab the room key and make your way downstairs. You arrive on the first floor and look around. Delicious aromas catch your nose as you follow the scent. You enter the small cafeteria and spot a tray of croissants. You make your way towards them and begin nibbling on the flaky crust of one. You were nervous knowing that Ben would be here soon to retrieve you. You were nervous about what the night would hold for you. You were nervous about everything. As you’re deep in thought, you hear your name being called.

“Y/n!”

You look up and watch as a literal angel named Ben strides up to you with the biggest smile on his face. You place your pastry down and wipe your hands off. You stand up and smile back at him, holding your purse close to yourself.

“You look…” he starts, looking you up and down. “Wow.”

“I hope that’s a good wow.” you tease.

He smiles and nods his head.

“It’s a very good wow.”

Your cheeks flush at his compliments as he holds out his arm for you. You stare at it for a moment, before realizing what to do.

“Shall we?” he asks.

You intertwine your arm with his as the two of you begin walking. You catch a glare from the girl at the front desk as she stares at Ben all dreamily. You giggle to yourself as you make your way outside. It was a beautiful evening. Ben walks to the curb and raises his hand as he whistles high. You watch him impressed as a cab pulls up quickly. He opens the door for you and holds his hand out.

“After you,” he says.

You thank him as you slide inside. Ben tells the driver the address and you all begin driving.

“So,” you start. “What makes this pub the best?” you ask, curious.

Ben looks to you and smirks.

“Because I go there, of course.”

You laugh loudly as he laughs with you.

“It really is about the people though.” he explains. “Everyone there is like family. My best mate Joe owns the place. Could you imagine an American owning their own pub? It’s mad.” he teases.

Ah, an American like you. You wonder how he enjoys it so far. You could picture yourself living here honestly. It was a lot homier than you expected. The cab ride wasn’t long at all as he pulls up and stops. You go to pay the man, but Ben argues that this was his idea, so he gets to pay. You sigh and accept. He slides from the car and holds his hand out to help you. You stand up and look up at the tiny pub in between two other shops. It looked old and rustic and you were already in love. Ben watches as you stare up at it and smiles.

“Ya know, it’s even better inside.” he teases.

The two of you walk inside and instantly music is heard. There aren’t a bunch of people here and that makes you feel almost better. There’s a man behind the bar as a few others sit at it. Some people are in the back corner playing pool. Ben smiles to someone and walks to the bar. He leans forward and shakes hands with the man behind it. He looks back to you and waves you over.

“Joe, this is y/n. She’s from the states like you.”

You look to the man and my god, was everyone this guy was associated with beautiful? You blush as Joe looks you up and down and smiles.

“Nice to meet you, y/n. It’s nice to finally hear someone speak my language. Half the time, I don’t even know what these guys are saying.” he teases, causing Ben to playfully hit his arm.

“Oi!” says Ben. “Rightfully rude.”

The two of them laugh as another man swirls around on the bar stool to look at you.

“Oh, Gwil, this is y/n. Y/n, Gwil.”

Okay, this guy apparently only befriended good looking people. This is ridiculous.

“Nice to meet you.” you quickly say.

“Alright,” calls out Ben. “Let’s get this girl a pint. She needs it.”

Joe turns and begins filling up a glass mug as he slides it on the table for you.

“On the house.” he says, winking.

Your heart flutter as you take the drink and watch as the rest of them get one. Ben looks to you and holds his glass up.

“Cheers.” he says.

“Cheers.” you all say back.

You begin sipping on the drink and are surprised how delicious it is. Before you know it, your head is tilted back and you’re finishing off the drink. You take in a breath and look around. Their eyes are wide as they watch you, their drinks still full. You felt embarrassed as they looked at you as you shyly smile. Suddenly they all burst into cheers and you laugh.

“Did ya see that!?” asks Gwil, impressed.

“I’ve never seen anyone drink one that fast! You, my friend, are a legend.” says Joe.

You smile at all of them as Joe gets you another pint. For the rest of the evening you laugh and talk with the boys, sharing stories about yourselves. You mention how you want to go see the Big Ben, but before Ben can say anything, Joe does.

“Oh, I can go take you to see it! It’s amazing.”

You smile at him and nod, half disappointed that Ben hadn’t of said anything.

“I’d like that.” you say truthfully.

Ben half frowns as he gulps some more of his drink. By the time Joe was closing the bar, you were wasted and couldn’t stop laughing, but so were they. You said goodbye to the boys and set a time with Joe the next day. You two would go earlier in the evening, so you can explore more places. You and Ben stumble outside as he calls a cab once more. The two of you were talking nonsense and laughing. You slide into a cab that pulls up and give them your address to the hotel. Once you arrive, Ben gets out with you. He tells the cab to hold on as he walks you inside, your arm intertwined with his. You step into the elevator and close your eyes.

“You didn’t have to walk me all the way to my room, ya know.” you tease.

Ben half laughs and nods.

“I know. I wanted to.”

You look to him and smile. His eyes were a bit glossy, making the green really pop. The two of you stare at each other until the doors open up. You both walk out and head to your room. You dig through your purse and find your key. You open your door and turn back to Ben.

“Thank you for making my first night amazing.” you mumble.

Ben smiles and takes a step towards you.

“Well I’m just glad you said yes.” he says. “I had fun.”

Ben steps even closer to you and you freeze.

“Me too.” you whisper.

“Maybe we could do something together again.” he says, stepping even closer.

Your faces are inches apart and you can’t look away from him.

“I’d like that.”

Ben then slowly leans forward and presses his lips to yours. You slightly moan against him as your lips begin moving even faster. His hand comes up to your face and cups your cheek. You kiss for several more moments until you both break apart to catch your breath. Ben places his forehead against yours as you both smile.

“Goodnight, y/n.” he whisper.

“Goodnight, Ben.”

And with that he lets go of your hand and walks away towards the elevator. You shut your door and lean against it, placing your hand on your heart. Was this really happening? You’ve barely been here a day and you’re already starting to catch feelings for someone. You cover your face and exhale. You were drunk and needed sleep. You had to be up early.

***

You were waiting outside of your hotel as you spot a car pull up in front of you. The window rolls down and it’s Joe. He has sunglasses on and is smiling widely.

“You ready!?” he asks excited.

You giggle as you run around the car and slide inside. You can’t believe you finally get to go see the Big Ben! You’ve dreamed of this moment for forever and it was finally happening. Joe looks over to you as you stare out the window. He smiles and looks back to the road.

“So, you travel a lot?” he asks.

You look to him quickly and lean back against your seat.

“I try to.” you say. “Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to explore the world.”

“That’s really awesome! Everyone should be able to travel to at least one new place in their lifetime.”

You nod in agreement.

“Was your dream owning a pub in England?” you ask, curious.

Joe laughs loudly and shakes his head.

“I moved down here for my best friend Stella. I met her back home and she got really sick, but she’s better now. But when it was time for me to go back home… I didn’t want to.”

He looks to you and you’re staring at him with a serious expression as you listen closely. That’s exactly how you felt now. You didn’t want to go back home and you’ve only been here two days now. You look away almost embarrassed that you were staring and nod.

“That’s how I always feel.” you admit.

You drive for several more minutes until the giant, beautiful clock comes into view. It’s almost noon, which means it’ll go off soon. Joe looks around and rushes to find a place to park. When he finally does, you hop out and rush to the sidewalk next to him. The two of you quickly get the green light to cross the road and you do. You slowly walk up to the clock and stare up at in in amazement. Suddenly, it begins chiming. The noise is loud and amazing. You smile as you look up at it and Joe watches you, smiling as well. The two of you then begin walking around and admiring it even more. Suddenly, Joe gets a call and has to answer it.

“Hello?” he asks, turning his back. “Stella, what’s wrong?”

You remember him speaking about her and look up to admire the clock even more.

“What do you mean? It’s okay, he’s probably just in a bad mood. Okay, I’ll be there.”

He hangs up and looks to you with an apologetic smile on his face.

“I’m so sorry to do this, but I have to go help my friend.”

You smile and shake your head fast.

“No, that’s so okay! I saw what I wanted to see and I can die happily now.”

Joe half laughs as the two of you walk back to the car. You make your way to the hotel as Joe constantly apologizes.

“Joe, honestly, it’s okay. You helped me see what I’ve been wanting to see since I was little, so thank you. Really.”

Joe smiles as his heart flutter. He reaches out without thinking and grabs your hand.

“Maybe we could do something together again?” he asks.

You smile to him and smirk slightly.

“Maybe.”

And with that, you jump from the car and walk inside, but not before turning around and smiling at him. You make your way to your room and decide that you want to have the rest of your day be relaxing and lazy. You watch TV for a while, take a bubble bath, write in your journal, call your mom and by seven, you decide to order room service. Your food arrives and you munch on it in bed with your fluffy white robe on. When you’re finished, you lay down and watch more TV until you fall asleep.

***

The next morning you decided that today would be a shopping day. You get around and begin walking down the busy streets. You walk past shops and make your way inside. You buy little trinkets and admire the beauty in them all. You meet some interesting people and absolutely love it here. You spend almost all of your day just exploring the town. You grab a quick bite to eat and decide to call it a day when it hits 4pm. You make your way back to your room and place your bag of goods on your bed. You’re about to change out of your clothes when your room phone rings. You look at it confused as you walk up and slowly answer it.

“Hello?”

“Y/n! Ah, good, you’re home.”

It was Ben.

You smile and sit on the bed, your stomach getting butterflies at his voice.

“Ben, hey!”

“Hey, so, I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight? I know the best Italian restaurant in town and would love to show you.”

You smirk and raise a brow, your heart lightly beating faster.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” you teasingly ask.

Ben fumbles for words as he nervously finds an explanation, but fails. He exhales and half laughs.

“I, uh, guess I am.”

You giggle at his timid response and nod to yourself.

“I’d love to go to dinner with you. Italian cuisine sounds perfect.”

You can practically hear him smiling over the phone.

“Okay, awesome! I’ll come to you, in, let’s say, an hour?”

You look at your clock and once more nod.

“An hour it is.”

You both say goodbye as you begin cleaning yourself up. You search through your bag of stuff you bought and retrieve a new dress you had gotten. It was black and flowy, complimenting your figure. It had spaghetti straps that were long and thin, revealing a portion of your back. This time, you opted for your hair down. You fix up your makeup and are all ready to go. It’s been almost an hour as you make your way down to the lobby. You got stares from people as they pass by. They were admiring how beautiful you looked, but you still shied away from them. You stand in the lobby for a moment, before you watch Ben walk in. He’s dressed up in a black suit and he looks gorgeous. His eyes open wide at the sight of you. He slowly walks up and looks you up and down.

“You look…” he starts. “Wow.”

“I hope that’s a good wow.” you tease like you had that first night with him.

He laughs and nods his head, holding his hand out for you.

“I’s a very good wow.”

The two of you make your way outside as you slide into the cab that’s waiting. You talk about seeing the Big Ben as you all drive. The cab stops and you look out the window at a beautiful restaurant in front of you. Ben helps you out of the car and holds your hand as you walk in. Jazz music plays in the background as the smell of pasta fills the air. The sounds of forks hitting plates and wine glasses clinking together was music to your ears. Ben walks up to a podium and gives the women his name. She grabs some menus and quickly brings you to your table in the far back corner. It’s slightly dimmed as a candle is lit in the middle. A basket of bread waits for you as someone walks up and pours complimentary wine. You both thank them as you sip on the sweet drink. You look around and admire the design of the place. It was as if you had left England and entered Italy. Ben watches as you glance around.

“Beautiful, yeah?” he asks, placing his menu down.

You look to him and nod.

“Very.”

He watches you for a moment before taking another sip.

“So why do you really like traveling? I believe you’ve always wanted to do it, but there has to be more.”

You look to him fast and your heart drops. You sadly smile at him for a moment, before looking down at the drink in front of you.

“When I was ten, my father passed away suddenly.”

Ben’s heart breaks for you. He wasn’t expecting that.

“He was my best friend. He had been the one that encouraged me to take risks and travel. I guess I sort of use traveling as a way to get away from the bad memories my home brings.”

You feel yourself wanting to cry, but you don’t. You feel a hand slide over yours and you look up to Ben staring at you.

“Your father sounds like a brilliant man. I can tell the kind of person he was, because I can see it through you.”

This time, you let the tears fall.

“I’ve never told anyone about my father before.” you admit.

Ben feels almost special in a way now.

“Well I’m glad you did.”

You look to him and smile as the waiter walks up to take your order. For the rest of the evening, you and Ben shared even more stories about each other. You both laughed loudly at the wild ones he had to share. You drank a bunch of wine and ate a bunch of delicious food. When it was time to go, you almost dreaded it. You wanted to sit here all night and talk to him. You quickly stood as he held out his hand for you again. You smile and take it as you both walk outside. He gets another cab and you begin driving back to the hotel. You both get out and make your way to your room, without really speaking. When you finally get your door open, you turn around and thank him.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you wanted to go.”

You smile to him and watch as he looks to the ground quickly.

“Goodnight, y/n.” he says.

But before he can turn around to walk away, you grab his arm and pull him back to you. You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him deeply. His hands fall to your hips as he rubs them up and down. You break the kiss to catch your breath.

“Would,” you start, leaning your forehead on his. “Would you like to come in?” you ask.

Ben smiles widely and nods.

“I’d love that.”

He leans back down and attaches his lips to yours once more. You back up inside your room as he slams the door closed with his foot.

***

You wake up with your naked body tangled around Ben’s. Your head is pressed to his chest as his arm is slung over yours. You blink your eyes awake and feel his gentle breathing. You smile to yourself as you peek up at him. He looks so beautiful asleep, his mouth slightly open. You slip your figure away from his grip as you find a shirt on the floor. You quickly slip it on and make your way to the bathroom. 

You look to yourself in the mirror and clean up your face a bit. You smile at yourself and walk back in the room. You walk to make some coffee and quickly notice someone calling Ben’s phone. The name was Stella. You freeze and think back to Joe telling you of his friend named Stella, who he moved here for. That couldn’t possibly be her, right? You ignore the phone as you grab the coffee pot and begin filling it with water. Suddenly, your room phone rings, causing Ben to stir in his sleep a bit. You quickly rush to it and answer in a whisper, not wanting to wake him.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry for waking you up, but have you seen Ben?”

It was Joe. You look over at his sleeping figure and your cheeks turn red as you remember everything that happened in that bed last night.

“Um, yeah. Joe, he’s, uh… He’s here with me right now…” you slightly stutter embarrassed.

There’s a slight pause for a moment, almost making you believe he had hung up.

“What do you mean he’s there with you right now?” he asks, serious.

“We went for dinner last night and he, well, came back to my place.” you awkwardly confess.

All you hear is Joe exhale over the phone.

“Is something wrong?” you ask quickly.

“Y/n,” starts Joe. “Ben’s engaged to Stella. You remember my friend I was telling you about? I… I didn’t realize there was anything between you two. He’s engaged.”

You look to Ben fast and your heart drops. He’s engaged? He’s engaged! An engaged man took you on a date. An engaged man slept with you. An engaged man made you fall for him. The phone slowly slips from your hand as it falls. You hear Joe calling out for you, but no response. The line goes dead as you walk up to the side of the bed.

“Ben.” you say loudly, causing him to stir awake.

He looks around and blinks a few time before settling on you. He smiles widely and stretches as he yawns.

“Morning, beautiful. Hope you’re not too sore.” he smirks.

Your stomach turns at his words. He quickly realizes the sad and angry look on your face. His face falls as he sits up.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, almost nervous.

“You’re engaged.” you barely whisper, but he hears you.

He freezes and says nothing. He’s frozen as you continue to sadly stare at him.

“Her name’s Stella and you’re engaged to her. Is that true?” you ask.

Ben’s quiet a moment longer until he gently nods his head yes. You gasp as you cover your mouth and turn your back towards him. You felt disgusting, knowing you had just slept with another woman’s fiance. Ben jumps up from the bed and rushed over to you.

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you! I don’t love her, y/n. I feel more with you over these past few days, then I have with her for four years.”

Four years. You close your eyes and tense your jaw.

“Get out.” you whisper.

Ben takes a step back at your demand.

“You lied.” you say, looking at him as tears pool in your eyes.

He looks absolutely heartbroken, which almost makes you feel bad, but you push that feeling away.

“You’re engaged and yet we…” you close your eyes and exhale, feeling almost sick. “Get out.” you say again.

“Y/n, please. You have to believe me. Her and I aren’t working out and she knows it.”

You look to him fast and begin to get upset.

“Is she still wearing the ring!?” you ask loudly.

Ben thinks for a moment then slowly nods.

“Then get out!” you shout, as you walk over to the door and open it up. Ben grabs his stuff and slowly walks into the hallway.

“I’m going to prove to you just how much I really do like you, okay? I promise. You’ll see.”

Ben’s eyes are watery as he walks away from you. You shut the door and began sobbing. You were so angry at him and yourself. You look around your room and rush around, picking up all of your stuff. You didn’t want to be here any longer. You wanted to leave and go home. You pack up all of your things and get around. You buy a ticket for home and take a deep breath. You were packing up your last item when your phone rings. You thought it would be Ben, so you were skeptical to answer, but you did.

“Hello?” you ask, tired.

“Y/n?”

It’s Joe.

“I’m so sorry about everything. I didn’t realize the two of you-” he starts.

“No, Joe. It’s okay. I had no idea about any of this, so thank you. I’m, uh, I’m actually leaving to go back home today. I just bought a ticket.”

You hear Joe almost gasp.

“You’re leaving today?” he asks shocked. “You still have a few days left though.”

You nod and feel tears starting to fall once more.

“I know,” you say as your voice breaks a bit. “I just need to go.”

“Y/n, wait!” he calls out, before you can hang up. “I have an idea.”

***

It was nearing dark when Ben frantically arrived to the pub. He storms inside and spots Gwil sitting at the bar, sipping a beer. He rushes up and looks around.

“Have you or Joe spoken to y/n?” he asks, worried. “I need to tell her something important.”

Gwil looks at him and frowns.

“Mate, you didn’t hear?” he asks.

Ben furrows his brows a bit and shakes his head.

“Y/n left back to the states and Joe went with her.”

Ben felt as if he could fall over. You left to go home and you took Joe. Ben stumbles as he catches himself. Gwil stands up to make sure his friend is okay.

“Ben, you alright?” he asks concerned.

Ben nods and looks around once more.

“Who’s- Who’s watching the pub?” he asks.

“Joe left me in charge. Ben, are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been through a lot today.”

That he has. Ben nods and sits down, his eyes still wide in shock. You left. You didn’t even tell him goodbye, but why should you have. Joe went with you. Joe. He was so confused and angry at himself.

“I heard what happened earlier,” starts Gwil, patting Ben on the shoulder. “Breakups, especially with fiances, are hard. You’ll meet someone like Stella one day.”

Ben looks to him and sadly nods.

“Yeah,” he starts. “One day.”

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[littledarlinwrites]

Black Velvet Miniseries

Part 1: Kickstart My Heart

Black Velvet Miniseries Masterlist

Rockstar!Bucky Barnes x Photographer!Reader

Word Count: 3287

Author’s Note: This is for @kentuckybarnes 3K Writing Challenge. Hannah, thank you so much once again for allowing me the chance to participate and giving me the idea of a Rockstar!Bucky, without you this never would have been written. Also, special thanks to my wonderful beta reader @lokissoul for reading this over and reminding me not to get so stuck in my and be more confident in my writing, you’re a doll! Also, a final tag for @star-spangled-bingo for my Rockstar AU square. 

Summary: The Avengers start their first tour after making their big break. They say Rockstars never die, but is that true? Will the band recover after having it all to nearly losing their lives in one night?

Warnings: I don’t want to give anything away, but there is a car/bus accident scene in here, and therefore a bit of angst. Let me be clear that nobody dies though. Emotional Bucky.

They had it all. The crowd was wild, they were covered in sweat, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You’ve all been great tonight! Let’s hear it for everyone that helped put on this show though!” The crowd erupted into cheers that shook the floor beneath Steve’s feet. “Remember to tip the wait staff and don’t text and drive!” Steve bade the crowd his goodnight parting words before walking off the stage. The rest of the band was backstage packing up their instruments and wiping the sweat off their faces. The post-show adrenaline was pumping through their veins and they felt untouchable. They had been working so hard for this break, and the pay off tasted sweeter than they thought possible.

“That was awesome!” Clint exclaimed pumping his fist that was gripping a broken drumstick. His face was still beat red from the exertion of playing his heart out on his drum set. Bucky chuckled at the man’s antics before speaking up himself.

“That was more than awesome, man. I’ve never felt more alive!” Bucky said jumping to his feet after closing his bass guitar case.

“Alright guys, hate to kill the vibe, but we’ve got to get a move on tonight so we can get to the next venue and beat traffic!” Pepper said while directing the crew and answering questions. A chorus of groans followed her statement.

“Guys, I’m sure Pepper wouldn’t mind the party continuing on the bus, where there are two fully stocked mini bars I might add!” Tony spoke up before kissing Pepper on the cheek. Pepper managed the band, and Tony worked lights and tech, but they worked together on getting everybody to one place.

“Anyone touch my vodka and I’ll bash your head in with my guitar.” Natasha piped up, her arms wrapped around Bruce, but loosening their hold.

“Don’t worry my Song Bird, I already hid it,” Bruce said smiling. Natasha wrapped her arms around him tightly again before pulling away to pick up her guitar and head towards the tour bus to snag the shower before anyone else did.

“Hey Tony, is there any mead in those mini bars?” Thor secretively asked with his guitar case slung over his back.

“Bottom shelf, buddy.” Tony tells him before Thor walks away nodding to him with a smile. Clint joined him as the crew hauled away his broken down drum set, talking to Thor about the third song in their set.

“Looks like it’s you and me pal.” Steve spoke to Bucky as they began making their way to the bus.

“I’m with you ‘til the end of the line, pal, but tomorrow night we are getting dates.” Bucky said with a chuckle, causing Steve to break out into a laugh.

“Let’s go before they drink all the booze. You know Thor is a bottomless pit.”

“I still swear that guy isn’t human with his tolerance.”

As Steve and Bucky joined the others on the tour bus drinks were thrusted into their hands by Tony. Clint and Thor were still avidly talking about the set they had just performed. Natasha was sitting beside Bruce, her hair still wet and eyes glued to her phone to mess with the playlist that was booming through the speakers. Tony pulled Pepper over to the couch and pulled out a deck of cards and motioned to Steve and Bucky asking if they wanted to play. Considering the male to female ratio, and the fact that the women there were spoken for they played a different version of strip poker, instead of stripping they would drink. Steve had a surprisingly good poker face, much to the chagrin of Thor. Natasha had the best poker face, while Bruce had the worst. So far Thor and Bruce were tied at how much games each of them lost. Natasha and Bucky were tied at how many games each of them won. Clint was texting on his phone not even paying attention to the game any longer. Pepper was talking to the driver about where they had to go next and the itinerary for the next couple of days, and Tony and Steve were trying to out-maneuver the other. Eventually Tony threw down his cards in frustration.

“That’s it lady and gents, I’m out for the night.”

“Sounds like someone’s tired of getting their butt kicked to me.” Steve said, not quite under his breath, mockingly. Tony shot Steve a dirty look and began to open his mouth when Pepper sat on his lap completely halting his train of thought. Bucky clapped his hand on Steve’s shoulder before announcing that he was heading to bed before he got dragged into another game. Clint seconded him and followed Bucky to the back of the bus and claiming the bottom center bunk. Tony began feeling drowsy from the alcohol in his system and decided to make his leave.

“Pep’ honey, I’m gonna go grab a bunk in the back, join me?”

“As soon as we cross state lines, shouldn’t be too long now. Save me some room?”

“You betcha.” Tony hums to her before giving her a kiss goodnight and making his way to the bunk that was sounding cozier by the second. Steve helped Pepper clean up the poker game and various empty glasses. Thor was reading a book on one couch while on the other Natasha was running her hands through Bruce’s hair, who had fallen asleep on the couch beside her. Beside Pepper at the sink Steve spoke up while rinsing out some of the glasses..

“I know I’ve thanked you before Pepper, but we wouldn’t be here on this tour bus without you. I don’t know how you manage to deal with us all sometimes, but I just want you to know that we all appreciate it.”

“Thank you, St-” Pepper was suddenly cut off from a resounding bang from the back of the bus and the bus then lurching violently forward throwing Steve and Pepper off their feet and to the floor. The bus slowly came to a stop on the eerily silent highway.

“Everyone okay?” The tour bus driver shouted out while checking his rearview mirrors before looking behind him into the bus.

“Uhm, I don’t know. What the hell was that?” Steve spoke up as he helped Pepper to her feet. Pepper looked around before making her way to the back of the bus. Steve walked up to the bus driver.

“Looks like a semi behind us, must have hit us. I’m gonna step out and see how bad it is and call 911.” The bus driver said before letting himself off the bus with his phone in hand. Steve turned around when he heard a blood-curdling scream that made his blood run cold. He ran to the back of the bus where Pepper stood frozen. Clint was trying to guide her out of the bunk area when Steve noticed the thin line of blood coming from his ear and panic shot through his veins. Steve looked into the bottom right bunk that was at the very back of the bus and what he saw made his heart stop. Inside Bucky's bunk was not only Bucky, but part of the semi that crashed into the tour bus. A very pale Bucky laid in his bunk knocked out and his left arm was missing. Steve reached out two fingers to his best friends neck looking for a pulse. His hands were shaking so much he almost didn’t feel the faint pulse, but when he did he let out a sigh of relief. Steve began pulling his belt from his waist before carefully climbing over bucky and using it as a makeshift tourniquet to keep Bucky from losing anymore blood. Steve knew from his mom being a nurse that no matter how much he wanted to get his best friend out of there that he had to leave him there for the paramedics, otherwise he could risk paralyzing Bucky if he wasn’t already. Steve took a deep breath and did the hardest thing he’s ever had to do in his life and turn his back to Bucky. He took a step forward and looked into the bunk that caused Pepper to scream. Tony laid there with pieces of shrapnel in his chest. For the second time that night Steve reached out with two fingers to find a pulse. Tony’s pulse was also faint, but it was still there. At that moment Steve heard the sound of sirens quickly approaching and prayed that his friends would get to a hospital in time.

With Bruce in front, Natasha road with Pepper in the back of the ambulance carrying Tony to the hospital while Thor took the front and Steve and Clint road in the back of the ambulance that carried Bucky. Before Steve knows it, they’re at the hospital and Bucky and Tony are rushed back into the OR while Clint is ushered to the ER and the rest are left in the waiting room. Steve sits in the chair wringing his hands. Staring at them. He can’t help but be disgusted with the amount of Bucky’s blood that is still on them. He gets up and heads to the restroom to wash them and scrubs them until they are raw. He walks back into the waiting room and eye’s the group. Natasha had headed to the ER room that Clint was in to check on him. Thor was pacing the room. Bruce was outside smoking a cigarette, a stress habit he had quit a couple of months ago, but tonight it was back in full swing. Pepper sat in the corner crying constantly looking up at the clock or the doors every time she heard a shoe squeak across the shiny tile floor. The hospital had that sterile smell hanging in the air that made Steve’s stomach lurch. He took a seat, put his head in his hands, and waited.

An hour and a half later, Clint and Natasha join them in the waiting room. Clint silently takes a seat beside Steve and leans forward to put his head in his hands. Steve looks to Natasha having noticed the devastated look on Clint’s face. Natasha fixed the grimace from her face and took a deep breath before she spoke, leaning into Bruce for comfort.

“The accident caused Clint’s eardrums to rupture. That’s why there was blood, he uhm, he’ll need hearing aids to be able to hear again.” Bruce wrapped his arm tighter around Natasha to comfort her. Steve shook his head before putting a comforting arm around Clint’s shoulders. Clint looked up at Steve, and he saw his bloodshot eyes. The night seemed like it would never end. Another hour and a half later, a doctor still in scrubs walks out of the OR doors. Everyone’s heads lift up and their stomachs fill with dread. In this moment they would find out the status of one of their friends. And they weren’t ready for the news if it was bad.

“Barnes family?” The doctor called out. Steve raised to his feet and made his way over to the doctor. He felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

“Is he-” Steve clears his throat as he trips on the words. “Is he okay, doc?”

“He no longer has a left arm. He’ll have to stay in the hospital for at least the next two weeks as he recovers. He’s gonna be in a lot of pain, however, he should make a full recovery. As soon as the nurses get him situated in a room one will come out and take you to him. He wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t fastened their belt as a tourniquet. I’m not gonna sugar coat it, he’s got a long road ahead of him, son.” The doctors noted somberly before walking away. Steve lets out a breath he’s been holding and his shoulders drop slightly from all the tension he had been holding in anticipation. Natasha walked up to Steve to see what the doctor had said fearing the worst.

“He’s okay.” Steve managed to croak out before tears of relief shed down his face. Natasha wrapped her arms around him while shooting the others behind him a thumbs up to let them know Bucky was okay. The sigh of relief from the group was audible, and as the doctor said, a nurse was out shortly taking Steve, Natasha, and Clint to Bucky’s room. Another painstaking forty-three minutes later another doctor walks out of the OR.

“Stark?” The doctor called out looking around the room.

“Uh, yeah, that’s uhm, that’s me.” Pepper spoke up clumsily.

“He made it out of surgery fine and we were able to remove most of the shrapnel. There are a few pieces left behind that were too difficult to risk removing so he’ll have to get regular doctors visits to keep an eye on them, but other than that he should make a full recovery. A nurse will be out shortly to let you know where his room is.” Pepper let out an audible cry of relief at the news, throwing her arms around Bruce in a hug. Thor wrapped his arms around the both of them.

Steve sat on Bucky’s right at his bedside listening to the strong and steady beat of Bucky’s heart. He could hear Clint tapping his fingers to the steady rhythm against his legs, he didn’t know if Clint could hear the loud beeping or if it was a result of him watching the heart monitor. Everything was sinking in for Steve and he was exhausted. However, he couldn’t wrap his mind around how fast things had changed in an instant. Steve didn’t know what they were going to do for once in his life.

The next couple days passed by in a blur. Tony was the first to wake up, and Pepper couldn’t stop crying when she saw him open his dark chocolate brown eyes. Another day later Bucky woke up only to be sedated when he started panicking when he saw a doctor and noticed his missing arm. He slept for another day before he woke up again. Steve was more prepared for his reaction this time, and was the first person he saw instead of some stranger. When Steve explained to Bucky what happened Bucky started crying. He didn’t like crying in front of people, but the weight of everything seemed to crash down around him. Everything they had been working for was gone. He couldn’t play his bass guitar anymore, Clint couldn’t hear, Tony would be living in fear that a piece of leftover shrapnel could kill him one day. Bucky couldn’t even begin to wrap his mind around the fact that his arm was gone. The phantom pain taunted him and was a constant reminder that he would never be the same. Eventually the doctor got him set up with a special type of physical therapy for amputees. They called it mirror box therapy, basically Bucky would complete physical therapy in front a of a mirror to re-map neural pathways in his brain so his mind could register that his limb was no longer there. At first it just seemed like another cruel reminder to him. He hated looking at himself in the mirror now.

Once Bucky completed his physical therapy his doctor talked to him about a new arm. There was an experimental program for a prosthetic that would allow Bucky to have some feeling and potentially be able to play his guitar again. Bucky jumped at the opportunity and the doctor put him in contact with Doctor Shuri who would have the new prosthetic fitted for him and would help him adjust to his new life style.

It took Bucky a bit to get used to his new arm, but it didn’t lack dexterity and the first day with his new arm he locked himself in his room in the apartment he shared with Steve and practiced strumming on his guitar. It was clumsy at first, he often pressed down on more than one chord when he didn’t mean to. He almost gave up until Steve suggested plucking with his metal arm and putting the fret in his right. It took some adjustments, and Bucky had to get his guitar re-stringed so the strings would be in the correct order again, but slowly he regained his first real sense of normalcy. It took months, but eventually the guys in the band started practicing again. Clint had to adjust the sensitivity of his hearing aids a couple times, and Bucky fumbled more than he’d like to admit, but eventually the band hammered out the basics of covers of songs they knew by heart that helped them get noticed, and some original songs of theirs.

When the first anniversary of the accident came they had a bonfire on Clint’s farm in upstate New York. They sat around the fire talking about life and eventually talking about the shows they played. They missed it. They missed playing in front of a crowd. They missed the adrenaline after the show. By the end of the night, they called up Pepper with their decision that within six months, they would be back on the road. They had been practicing, that had healed, and they had the workings for a new album. Steve had dealt with the accident by not only writing music, but drawing up album artwork that at the time he thought would never see the light of day.

The following week the band met up at the studio and locked themselves away for 3 weeks working on the new songs until the album was finished. Pepper began contacting and booking venues. The band was worried that with the accident happening so soon after their break into the industry they may have slipped off the radar. That was until the most esteemed rock music magazine contacted Pepper when they caught buzz that the band would begin playing again. Shield magazine had interviewed the likes of Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin, and countless others that the band looked up to. The magazine wanted to send out an interviewer and photographer to their first show to get their comeback story. Pepper granted them access, and the band was simultaneously more excited and more anxious for their first show. Bucky was a bundle of raw nerves. He was terrified that people would look at him differently with his prosthetic, or that he would fumble and screw up the show in front of a huge audience considering the show had sold out the day tickets were released. The night of the show Bucky thought he might actually throw up on stage. Steve had to give him a pep talk to calm him down.

“You’re gonna do fine Buck. You’ve put in countless hours practicing and dare I say, you may even sound better now than you did before. You got this man. Either way, I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.” Steve told Bucky with his hands on his shoulders. Steve knew how insecure Bucky was about his arm, always covering up the black and gold-toned prosthetic.

“Thanks punk.” Bucky replied to Steve after taking a deep breath. Bucky pulled his bass out of its case and slung the strap around his right shoulder. He practiced a few runs to calm his nerves before plugging his bass into the amp. Each of the band members took one last look at each other heading on stage for the first time since their lives had changed twice in one night.

Tags:

@letstalkaboutsebbaby @itsbuckysworld @caitfairwrites @xxloki81xx

[brookylnboy]

Happiest Place - Part 3

Y/N: Again sorry for inaccuracies. Also this is probably gonna be more parts then necessary but I love Disney World soooooo if no one tells me to stop I will not. Hope you enjoy!

Mara ended up beating all of you in Toy Story Mania, which was all that mattered because you lost track of Heads Up winnings and all started giving out clues to whomever was guessing. Chris was amazed that she won and by 300 points. “I’m the best aren’t I,” she asked.

“No. But you’re pretty good.” She shoved your shoulder as you and Kate laughed.

“Where to next,” you asked.

“Slinky Dog,” Mara said.

“Star Tours,” Kate said.

“Tower of Terror,” Chris added.

“Well I don’t care so you guys figure it out.”

“Slinky Dog,” Kate asked.

“Works for me,” Chris said.

“Slink DOG!” Mara ran on ahead towards the entrance with Kate not too far behind her. You looked at Chris and shrugged your shoulders. He wrapped his arm around you as you followed them.

“They’re nice.”

You laugh. “Yeah they can be.”

“Should we run after them?”

“If they leave us behind, they leave us behind,” you told him. “Unless you don’t want to be stuck alone with me again?”

He slowed down for a moment focusing on you. “Never.”

You felt you face heat up and stood on your toes as you got inches away from him. “You’d like to be stuck with me?”

“Yes,” he said before closing the gap.

“Yo, lovebirds. Get a room,” Kate yelled at the two of you making you split apart. Neither of you turned to acknowledge her.

“We could get a room,” Chris suggested.

“They’d find us.”

“Hmm... guess we’ll have to go then.” You nodded biting your lip as you tried to stop yourself from smiling as you were trying hard to stay serious.

“I guess.” Chris gave you one last kiss.

“You guys are gross!” You wrapped your arms around Chris’s neck banging your closed fist together to flick her off Friend’s style.

You smiled at him before running to Kate and off to Mara. It didn’t take him very long to catch up to you as you ran into the entrance and you swear that your face was never going to stop being red.

The line went too fast for your liking. Chris was getting along with your friends and you were all talking and bantering like always. But you didn’t know when he would have to leave because he couldn’t hang out with you and your friends all day.

However, the ride was amazing and you loved the newest addition to the park yelling at a few parts along the way. Chris laughed as you returned back to the station and you gave him a little shove, which prompted him putting his hands up with a smile still gracing his face.

“That was AWESOME,” Mara shouted as you stepped off the vehicle and towards the exit. “I can’t wait for STAR WARS LAND!” She hurried along out of the ride and back to the main part of Toy Story Land as the rest of you tried to keep up.

“You two have fun,” Kate said once you got out of the exit catching up to and dragging Mara along with her. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

You looked towards Chris. “Did your nephews want to go on Tower of Terror again,” you asked him remembering that he promised his nephews he’d go on it again with them.

“I’ll have to ask my sister,” he told you pulling out his phone only to see his nephews running towards him.

“Uncle Chris,” the younger one yelled tackling him. “I got the high score in our car!”

“That’s awesome!” Chris lifted his hand up for the kid to high five. He did jumping up to do so. “Hey, do you want to go back on Tower of Terror?”

He nodded his head quickly. “Please!”

Chris looked up at his sister. “As long as you go now before we have to get in line for Fantasmic.”

“Thanks mom,” the boys yelled. The older boy started to jog away with Chris close behind him. The younger one turned towards you.

“Y/N, you’re coming right?” You nodded your head and he grabbed your hand pulling you as he ran after Chris and his brother.

“Have fun,” their mom told you and you smiled.

“You too!”

“Come on Y/N.” He let go of your hand hurrying faster towards Sunset Boulevard and you ran after him as he weaved through crowds of people. Once on Sunset Boulevard he spotted Chris. “I found them!” He sprinted off after him leaving you behind.

You walked towards the ride and were happy to see that no one was in line behind them even though not many people were in line period. You loved riding at night for this exact reason.

“A/N,” the younger nephew shouted bouncing excited. “Uncle Chris said we can ride twice this time!”

“Awesome,” you told him.

He turned towards Chris and climbed up onto ledge of the path now close in height to his uncle. He whispered something to Chris and you couldn’t quite here what was said. Chris gave you a smile, blushing slightly, before answering his nephew.

It wasn’t long before the four of you were back on the ride taking up the front four person side and ready to go up. The boys sat on the outside with you on the inside of the vehicle and Chris sat between you and Miles, while the older boy sat on the end.

“You guys ready,” Chris asked and the three of you shouted in response.

 “Be good,” Chris told his nephews rustling their hair. The two boys moved away complaining and fixing their hair.

The younger one thought of something and pulled on Chris’s shirt putting his hand on his mouth and Chris bent over to that the kid could whisper to him. Chris chuckled as the kid looked at you before turning back to his mom.

“We’ll see you later,” Carly told him as she got the boys to start walking towards the Fantasmic theatre. You turned towards Chris not sure if you were still going to hang out or not.

“What would you like to do next,” he asked you walking towards the main area of the park.

“Hmmm,” you said as you followed him taking his offered hand. “Whatever you want to do.”

He smiled. “Mickey’s darkside?”

“Sounds good.”

You made your way to the front of the park holding tightly onto Chris’s hand as there was a bit of a crowd leaving the park as well. You decided on catching a bus to Port Orleans since they were the closest to Disney Springs and you had two chances of catching a bus there. It worked in your favor as a bus was getting ready to depart just as you got there and you were able to hop on and find a few empty seats in the back. You sat quietly as the lights went out smiling at Chris and resting your head on his shoulder. It was peaceful and you always loved riding the Disney buses.

You got off at Port Orleans and waited for the bus that was heading for Disney Springs, which didn’t take long and was pretty empty. Once there, Chris guided you off and into the crowd. “Where to first,” you asked.

Chris took you to the bars and in and out of some of the shops. Thankfully, he thought you were a cute drunk, although you hated admitting that you were drunk. You were just tipsy and perfectly fine. But really if you were drunk, it was barely.

You don’t know how many drinks you had but apparently two too many. But it was nice to be a little more carefree. You just hoped you didn’t embarrass yourself. So far all you did was make out a few times with Evans but in all fairness he started some of them.

Giggling, you grabbed one of the mouse ears and tried putting it on Chris. “You’d be a very pretty princess.”

He laughed taking the ears that already fell off and putting them on you. “You’d be a very handsome prince.” He kissed your cheek and swiped the ears off of you and back to the shelf. You walked away by the time Chris turned back around, getting lost as you tried to find your way back out. He found you and got you back outside.

You saw a bench off to the side and sat down to look out at the lake. All the noises of the night quieted down as you stared out at the calm water. Chris sat down next to you and you curled up into his side getting tired. He kissed your forehead before pulling you closer to him.

“You ready to head back?”

You nodded snuggling into his side. He chuckled. “You have to get up.”

“Meh.” He stood up and offered you his hand pulling you up onto your feet much to your disappointment. He weaved the way back to the buses as you tried to follow along with wherever he was going but you didn’t remember Disney Springs very well.

“What hotel are you at?”

“Caribbean Beach,” you told him. He found it on the map and walked over to there and got you into line. You leaned against him enjoying curling up against him as he wrapped an arm around you. “Jamaica stop.”

Once the bus came, everyone started piling in as a bunch of people were going back at once. You refused to sit, instead leaning against the wall near the back door. There were still some families and you hated taking seats from people who really needed them. Chris stood in front of you chuckling anytime you lost your balance.

Once you got to the hotel, you got off at the Jamaica stop before pulling your phone up to find the room number having forgotten it. Chris led the way finding your room and knocking having a feeling that your friend might have locked it while waiting for you.

Kate opened the door and Mara was smirking behind her. “Thank you for bringing her home,” Kate said letting you inside and Chris if he wanted to.

“Not a problem,” Chris smiled staring at you. You felt your face heat up as you smiled at him. “I should probably be heading back.” Kate winked at you before leaving letting the door rest against your arm. You moved forward letting it mostly close.

“Thank you,” you told him your face still heated.

“I had fun.”

“Me too,” you giggled. He kissed you and you smiled into the kiss moving closer to Chris. The door locked behind you making you giggle again. “Get back safe.”

“I will. Good night.”

“Good night,” you said kissing his cheek before he left. You got the door back open not noticing that he turned around to make sure you got inside.

“Oh my god! Spill,” Kate shouted jumping onto the bed that Mara was sitting on. You plopped down on the empty one giggling before Kate and Mara jumped onto it with you needing to know what happened.

You couldn’t stop giggling. “We kissed.”

“We knew that.”

“A lot.”

“Is he good,” Kate asked.

You nodded. “Really good.”

“Nice,” Mara said giving you a high five.

“Will we see him tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.” You sat up. “Will I see him again?”

“You didn’t find out where he’s going tomorrow,” Mara asked.

“No. I should have shouldn’t I?”

“Yes,” the two yelled.

“I know that he is still going to be here for a few days.”

“That’s good.”

“We do leave in two days though.”

“Don’t remind me,” you whined.

“You got time. Now let’s get you ready for bed because we’re supposed to be up early tomorrow.”

Tagged: 

@patzammit 

@bookgirlunicorn 

[crayonwriting]

Irreplaceable You (Bucky Barnes)

Summary: Unexpectedly diagnosed with a terminal disease, you embark on a mission to find a new love for your fiancé and childhood best friend, Bucky Barnes.

Disclaimer: This story is a rewrite of the movie of the same title on Netflix. Directed by Stephanie Laing and written by  Bess Wohl. Go check it out!

A/N: I started writing this five minutes after watching the movie. When I was proofreading it, I read some reviews. There were many negative reviews about this story but I really, really, loved it. I truly do.

Please comment if you want a second part to this. I don’t really want to believe that this is a bad movie and story.

Enjoy folks!

—

This story starts off as your typical friends-turned-lovers trope.

When you were a little girl at seven years old,—bold attitude, so very sure of herself, friendly, optimistic—you went on a field trip with your classmates at the San Marino Zoo. Like any other childhood memory, your favourite part of the whole trip was when you met the love of your life, James B. Barnes. It was when you were at the World of the Deep that you met James—Bucky, as he insisted that you call him.

“And here we come to our coral reef, home to many species,” the tour guide blatantly gestured to the huge tank behind her, “Including over fifty types of fish: the green morey eel, the cownose ray—”

“Oh, those guys are mating.” One of your classmates pointed out.

“Okay. Uh, look over there!” The tour guide gestured to the other tank.

“Why are, like, six of them mating together?”

“Which one is the mommy?”

“See, here's the thing, kids,” the tour guide sighed, “Fish are not like people. They're not monogamous.” She rolled her eyes and looked down at her feet. “Not that many people are either.” She whispered to herself before looking back up at your group. “But that's another—”

“What's ‘monogamous’?”

“Well, uh,” she started, “Okay, monogamy means if you love someone, you stick with them for the long haul.”

“My dad screwed my Aunt Rosa.”

“My mommy and daddy are separated.”

“My mom ran away with my dentist.”

“My dad said she was getting her cavity filled in.”

“Yep.” The tour guide shrugged. “It's not easy. Lots of things can separate us: Aunt Rosa, the dentist,” she looked at the walkway behind your group, “Lauren Mulgrew in World of Amphibians,” she looked back at your class, “However, there actually is one monogamous fish.” She led you to the left, were pictures of weird, alien-like fish were hung up. She pointed to one on the far right corner.

“The deep-sea anglerfish. The male anglerfish hunts for the female, following her through the most dangerous parts of the deep. Then, when he finds her, he bites into her flesh and never, ever lets go. The two fish fuse into one.” After she had said that, the rest of your classmates just stared at her, uninterested. She clicked her tongue and bit her lip.

“And we're walkin'. And we have our listening ears on…”

You didn’t follow the group immediately as you stared at the photo of the anglerfish. Beside you, Bucky stared up at the photo too. You looked at him with a straight face. Bucky adjusted his glasses and fiddled with his jacket.

“What?” He asked.

Without warning, you bit him—hard—on his left shoulder causing him to scream.

And that was the start of it all. Well, after a trip to the hospital for Bucky and a lot of therapy sessions for you.

It was true love.

—

Several years later…

You smiled at the people you passed by in your small apartment. You sipped on the champagne you had in your hand, eyes scanning the room for a certain brunette. You saw him with his best friend Steve and the rest of your group.

You walked up beside him as he was retelling the story of the bite to all of them. A romantic gesture, really.

“Really, it was a behavioural problem.” He turned his head to you and kissed your temple. “She bit like six kids that year.”

“You’re the only one that meant anything to me.” You interrupted.

“Well, I had to go to the hospital.” He turned his attention back to your group. “Six stitches!”

“Three stitches!” You looked at him in mock disbelief. “I almost got kicked out of school.”

Bucky took a sip of his drink before saying, “You should've been kicked out of school.” This earned a laugh from their audience. “You were rabid!”

“Bucky!” You playfully slapped his shoulder. Suddenly, out of nowhere, your mom came up behind you. She put her hands in your shoulders and kissed your cheek.

“For years I've tried to have her de-fanged and de-clawed.” Your mother came up behind you, with her hands on your shoulders as she kissed your cheek. You sighed and jokingly rolled your eyes at her.

"Thanks, mom." You said, smiling.

Sam grunted, picked up a fork on the nearby coffee table and clinked it against his glass.

"May I have everyone's attention please!" People started to gather closer around their group. "Yo, everybody! Everybody! Come closer, please." Sam coughed a little into his fist. "I would like to make a toast."

"Aww, Sam…" You cooed, leaning into Bucky's side; his grip on your waist getting tighter.

"That's probably a bad idea…" Steve chuckled.

"Hey! It's already started." Sam grunted. "Cheers! Uh, happy engagement you guys."

"Cheers!"

"Happy engagement!"

Everybody raised their glasses towards you and Bucky. You looked at him with all the love in the world. He looked at you the same way, leaning down to kiss your lips softly.

"To the bride and groom!" Steve smiled.

"The bride and groom!" Clint shouted from the back. Clint was your best friend and co-worker at the library near your apartment. "You know, it doesn't really make sense, right?" Clint caught everyone's attention, a dash of confusion on their faces. "I mean, c'mon guys. Y/N here is a Type A and Bucky...well," Clint shrugged, "He's more of a Type Z."

"C'mon, I am not a Type A." You giggled.

"What the hell is a Type Z?" Bucky asked, mocked offended.

"What Clint means to say is," Sam interjected, "How did an amazing woman like you," Sam gestured towards you, "End up with the most clueless white boy in the city?"

This earned a laugh from the whole group, including you and Bucky.

"This could be the best toast I have ever heard," Bucky stated.

Chuckling, Sam continued, "Look, honestly, I generally disapprove of people who are disgustingly happy as you guys are. But, um, I'm really glad that you proposed to this one." Sam looked at you.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." Steve raised his eyebrow. "Y/N proposed to Bucky?"

"She just beat me to it, punk," Bucky answered. "I was  trying to figure out the best moment—"

"You were taking too long!" You laughed. "So, I just stuck a rubber band on my finger," you raised your hand, "and that was it." You smiled triumphantly.

"That's cute," Clint said.

"The truth is…,” you trailed off a little for dramatics, “There may be a little incentive to make it all official…," You wiggled your eyebrows suggestively, which earned a small laugh from Bucky, as you patted your hands softly against your abdomen.

"Wow," Clint exclaimed.

"Wow, Bucky, congratulations!" Steve smiled, slapping a firm hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

Soon enough, another round of congratulations was shared throughout the rest of the party.

—

Later that night, you lay side by side with Bucky; both of you staring at the ceiling. You enjoyed quiet moments like this with him—pure, comfortable, soft, and warm. You couldn’t help the smile that overtook your face as you thought of the years you had spent with Bucky and the life that awaits the both of you.

Undoubtedly, your insides still tingled and buzzed with love and adoration for the man lying beside you. All the dates, the small fights, the big fights, the tears, the laughter, everything! And you were about to spend it with him as his wife.

"What if it hadn't worked out between us?" You asked in a whisper, still staring at the ceiling. It was out of the blue. A random thought for the night of what might have been if you and him had called it quits all those years ago. Bucky just chuckled and answered,

"Impossible."

You turned your body to face his, tucking your arm under your head. "What if I, like, had been hit by a bus or run off with gypsies or became a man?" You stared at him as he copied your actions to face you.

"Well," he scratched the stubble on his chin, "I would have stopped the bus,  joined the gypsies or become gay.” He smiled at you—that boyish smile full of charm, which always made you weak in the knees. You couldn’t help but stare in awe at your fiance.

“You would do that for me?”

He put his arm on your hip, and tugged you closer.

“Want to test it?”

Not being able to resist anymore, you leaned closer and planted a full kiss on his waiting lips. He sighed and groaned as he leaned over you, trapping you in between his strong arms. You placed your hands on his shoulders, gripping them tightly as each kiss deepened.

As the moment was getting hot—and a little bit steamy if you may add—you reached up to his face and took off his glasses. You pulled away a little to let out a laugh.

"Top of the books, seven o'clock from the lamp." You stretched your arm over to your bedside table, placing his glasses carefully exactly where you had said. Bucky continued kissing up and down your cheek, jaw and neck.

"I don't really give a fuck about my glasses right now…" He murmured into your skin. You hummed in response, running your fingers through his soft hair.

"You will, in the morning when I'm in the shower." You laughed as Bucky held his body above yours with an irritated expression in his face.

"Will you please stop talking?"

He didn't give you time to answer.

—

feedback?

[jackshithere]

Entire Anakonda in Netz documentary (transcribed) 4/4

part 1 part 2 part 3

The band travels separately these days. We used to always go together. After all this time each of us travels as he wants. While the others fly, I'll often go with the crew in the bus. They even hired a plane once. They really like it because they weren't constrained by flight times anymore. You just fly when you want to. I like having a home while I'm on tour. Once you've set yourself up in the bus, it's nice to sleep in the same bed. Everyone has their own little corner. Four or five people sit at the back, drink wine, watch a movie. If you get along with them, it's actually quite nice.

Since I get to know countries by taste, Everywhere we go, I always know what I want to eat. That irritates some. In France, I like to eat 'merguez'. In Finland, we go fishing at a lake. We try to do the obvious things. In England, we eat fish & chips, drink tea... The classics are usually the best. And when you find them, you're pleased. In Japan, we eat sushi or some other Japanese food. Often, we try to take the initiative. We go to a good cafe for breakfast instead of at the hotel. We check out the cities and walk around.

Travel is part of the job. Sometimes it's a blessing, sometimes a curse. Of course, it's nice to go somewhere you've never been before. You wouldn't have gone there otherwise. You get an idea of where you might go with more time.

Iceland was unique. A little island and half of the population comes to the concert. Not too many people live there. The reception alone! At the beginning, we were brought to a hot spring called "The Blue Lagoon". The people in front of the hotel... that was completely different. Iceland is fantastic. There's glaciers, hot springs, geysers, hardly any trees, lava formations, some mountains, a beautiful coast and lots of fish and shrimp to eat. I'm not actually a city person. I come from the country. Beautiful landscapes fill me with awe.

I like to travel, but not in the services of Rammstein. That's work. It depends on what you like... but the Amazon is definitely worth a visit. That's adventurous... a real adventure! You can get a nasty disease very quickly. You can also see river dolphins, anacondas, sloths, or go fishing for piranhas. Our guide there was related to an Indian. When they started drinking, we went fishing. We netted an anaconda. Two actually, we released one... and the other one was dead. Then we skinned it. Now it hangs in my friend's room. It's 7 metres long.

 Why do people go on polar expeditions? There's nothing to see there. Something attracts you. It's hard to describe why you travel. You don't realise until you're back home again. Where you can profit from the memories for a long time. You've got a kind of inner store. When things aren't going well, you just go inside and get a glass of travel preserves for your soul, open it and fill up on it.

In the early days, this was a major difference for me. On tour, I could completely escape from the world at home. After 3 or 4, weeks I had left it behind. We toured longer back then, two months straight sometimes. It was like a new world for me and I often fell for the other countries. I thought that I had to live there and that it was better there. They were worlds apart for me. At home it was very difficult to find my footing again, to get back to my normal life. It took weeks to get used to everything again. Now where I've done that so often and am more familiar with it, I've become more professional. Now I know it's my work! I don't lose myself emotionally so much.

My world view has become more flexible for certain things. You become cooler about a lot of things. You can sit around telling stories. Shooting videos often involves long waiting times. Someone says suddenly, "Do you remember when?" And next thing you know, we're retelling old yarns. How we sat in the jungle in Australia, looking at the night sky.

Earlier on, we always went wild after the concerts. We were always shouting and screaming! We had to get rid of the adrenalin. Something always got smashed. Now we know how charged we are. So we leave the quality discussions for later. Otherwise, things quickly get coarse and we lose all objectivity!

You have to find something to do after the show to dissipate all of this energy. You need a vent, some kind of meditation afterwards. You've absorbed the energy of 20,000 people and this is stuck inside. After, it's like being dropped suddenly. You've got to balance it out. I still haven't found the right way.

I like to shower quickly, get rid of the make-up, then go to the bus or hotel. I don't like to hang around the venue.

First you're happy to have done it. Then you take a shower, if there's water... Then you drink a beer, so you can sleep!

(Show a photo) This is the exact reason why I do it. That's the moment of complete synchronicity, between intention and effect! Whatever you beam from stage is received. This is the greatest thing that can happen to you!

I go away for a long time, when the role is over.

(i love this man so much)

I like to do just nothing, the whole day long. Lie in bed, get up, walk around town, drink a coffee, and let the day be the day, which I rarely do. The things people do at the weekend are things I never get to do. But I'd like to.

Coming home is pure luxury for me. I can cook my own food again, go to bed, I don't have to talk to anybody.

With Rammstein, we've only ever had 2 weeks off in summer. Just stay put somewhere, that's something we haven't done in 10 years. And I'm going to enjoy it big-time! Just go somewhere and stay there.

Before, after? I don't know. A half-hour after the concert, the atmosphere is still there. You can feel the audience's energy, the warmth... then everything gets taken apart and everyone does their job. It's very strange. The concert magic was just there... After the last note rings out and the credits start to roll, the hall lights go on, the people leave, and everyone starts with their work, packing everything quickly away. You see that you're alive for just a moment. You're there briefly, it happens... and then it's history...

[bike42]

Kentucky Derby Weekend April 29 – May 2, 2021

Wednesday evening, we took Sox the cat downtown to Bailey’s condo, then came home to pack (the cat hates to see suitcases).  I can pack for a hiking trip with my eyes practically closed, but this kind of trip took some thinking!  I had to match shoes, purses and jewelry to all of my outfits, and then of course there was my hat.  Since we’d decided to drive the 6+ hours to Louisville, space wasn’t an issue and we were able to load our car with hat boxes, a large bag of snacks, yoga mat, pillows and suitcases!

 We were up at 6am on Thursday, anxious to get going, and we were on the road just after 7am.  As we were packing last night, Jeff wondered if our iPass was in the new Audi – I thought it was, but we didn’t check.  We had decided to travel straight down through Illinois and skip the Chicago madness so I was thinking tolls wouldn’t be an issue anyway. But as we got to Janesville, we recalled we still had the one toll near Rockford, so I checked the glove box – the iPass was not there.  It had been in our old Audi, so I thought it was odd that we’d have moved it to the other car – we haven’t travelled to Illinois since February 2020.  Then Jeff said he thought he remembered that our new Audi has a built-in toll pass?!  I got out the manual and sure enough!  It led me through the steps to get it activated, and I was able to get it set up just moments before we hit the Illinois border.

 We had rain through most of Illinois, but decent traffic and no major slowdowns even though there was a lot of road construction. We turned east at Bloomington toward Danville, IL which started us reminiscing about our 2013 cycling trip down the length of the state.

 The trees were more leafed out than ours and it seemed to get greener with every mile we traveled.  As we got south of Indianapolis, we saw our first Waffle House, so we stopped the Waffle House in Taylorsville for our favorite breakfast (regardless of the time of day) when we’re in the south (waffles, eggs over easy, split a side of bacon).

 We arrived in Louisville and checked into the downtown Hilton Garden Inn just before 3pm. That left us ample downtime for yoga, naps, catching up email from the day, and showers before our 7pm dinner reservation at Vincenzo’s.

 So many experiences already on the trip feel novel, packing last night, a six-hour road trip, and now checking into the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in since February 2020. Once upside to the pandemic and its quarantine is the pure appreciation I have for the ability to travel again!

 The restaurant was an easy walk from the hotel, and even though we’d checked the weather app before we headed down from our room, we were surprised to have sprinkles on our faces when we stepped out onto the sidewalk. No worries, Jeff had his rain coat and I had my beautiful poncho that I’d bought in Paris two years ago on a rainy April day.

 We had a great leisurely dinner, four courses and a bottle of wine.  It was nice to be dressed up and out together again.  The staff and service were amazing, and we tried to chat a bit with the gentleman we thought was the proprietor (Vincenzo?), but he seemed to have limited English (or hearing).  We’d heard on the local news before going out that that town of Louisville was so excited about this week-end – several hotels and restaurants were booked full – and that’s news!  

  After dinner, we walked through the Fourth street party area, which was fairly subdued at 6:30pm but we expected it’d be hopping later. There was a friendly guy on the street having a cigarette, he was a beer salesman named Scott from Appleton, WI.  He was excited to tell us all about what to expect at the derby, how crowded this area should be right now (in a normal year), all the famous people he’d previously partied with here, etc.  He’d have gone on all night, but his wife was calling him from a nearby table telling him his dinner was getting cold!

 We had a lazy Friday morning, then we were out on the street at 9am to walk to waterfront park. Our hotel was a great location, and we found it was a beautiful day. It wasn’t long before we were peeling off layers. We walked along the Ohio river, east to the converted railroad bridge called the Big Four Bridge, the headed back. The river itself is muddy and filled with debris, but the Waterfront Park was fabulous. All of the people we encountered were so friendly – many greeting us with “Happy Derby!”

 We had tickets to tour the Louisville Slugger factory and museum at 11am, so we walked back along the waterfront and found it in a funky part of old town (Main Street) – the area that had been known as Whiskey Row at the turn of the century.  We really enjoyed the tour.  Since I’d booked it last week, I had this song lyric with “Louisville Slugger” trying to work its was to the front of my brain.  I took to google when we were having lunch later and figured out its from Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “The Bug.”  It goes:  “sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug … sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger, baby, sometimes you the ball … “

 After lunch we wandered into the Evan Williams Experience, where we sampled Peach Mint Juleps – yum.  Back to the hotel, we had a nap, then showers – ready for our next event at 3:30pm.  This was an event booked by the group where we got our tickets:  Princeton Sports Group.  It was billed as “Derby Eve at Buffalo Trace,” but we weren’t sure what to expect.  We got to the lobby and found we were a busload of people, and we were headed to the Buffalo Trace Distillery, about an hour away in Frankfort!  Our guide and driver were great, they plied us with cocktails and information about bourbon and the trip went fast.  

 When we arrived at the distillery, there were three other packed busses, so we had a wait a bit to get through the temperature screening and get assigned to a guide.  The distillery had a policy that everyone wear masks (except when seated in the tasting room), even outside, and some in our group were pretty vocal about thinking that requirement was ridiculous (especially the group from Texas!).

 While I enjoyed the tour of the rickhouses (3-4 floor buildings where whiskey is aged after its barreled), and the room where the empty barrels were stored, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to tour the actual distillery – I wanted to see the chemistry!  None-the-less, we had an enthusiastic tour guide and it continued to be a beautiful day and we enjoyed the beauty and the history of the property while we waited our turn to enter the tasting room.  There we were socially distanced at spots with 5 shots laid out for each of us – a vodka (too strong for me just straight), and three bourbons with progressively better quality:  Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, and Blanton’s Single Barrel (we’d been introduced to that last month by our nephew Calvin, a far superior bourbon).  We thought the tasting finished with their Bourbon Cream (like a Bailey’s) which was yummy on its own, but they served it with a shot glass of root beer and when we combined the two – we found heaven! Since it was Derby time, they finished the tasting with a demonstration of making Mint Juleps, and we each were served a large portion of that!

 After the tasting, we had some time to shop, so we headed to the store and bought a bottle of their Bourbon Cream (they sell out of Blanton’s as soon as its bottled, or we’d have bought that too).  By then we were mildly buzzed and in need of food.

 Back on the bus, we travelled about 20 minutes before stopping at Jeptha Creek – an event center where we had dinner, more drinks, dancing to a bluegrass band and playing a little corn-hole in the yard. During dinner, we sat with two couples that had arrived on another bus – also their first Derby experience and we enjoyed trading stories with them.  

 On our bus back to Louisville, our guide decided it was time for bus Karaoke (using the music on his phone and holding it up to the microphone).  One guy, who didn’t seem particularly gregarious, got up to sing, and sang very well as the bus lurched along the interstate.  We sang all the way to the hotel, a fun night.

 We awoke Saturday morning to another beautiful day, and had a leisurely morning with a hotel room workout and breakfast. We had the local NBC affiliate that had full time coverage from Churchill Downs and we watched the first two races on TV before heading out. The gates opened at 10am, but that felt too early to go, yet there were plenty of partiers already there.

 We headed out of the hotel about noon. It was a bright sunny day and neither of us were prepared with sunscreen, so we walked around the corner to the CVS drugstore. As we walked down the street, we were greeted with shouts of “Happy Derby Day,” and nearly every vehicle driving by stopped as asked if we wanted a “shuttle” to the track. Our hotel offered a shuttle for $40 per person (which I thought was excessive), we could have driven our car and parked at the University lot and walked from there, but we’d decided we were going to take an Uber (I really want to think the best of people, but it seemed like a bad idea to jump into a car with someone who’s just taped a “Derby Shuttle” sign to his car for the day).

 As we walked into CVS, a confrontation broke out between a store employee and a young black man who was accused of having stashed something inside his coat. You could feel the tension in the store, and it put me on edge too. Other employees were suggesting the manager hold the guy until the police arrived. We grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and went to the checkout, where the clerk was almost too distracted to check us out.

 As we walked out the door, the managers had wrestled the man outside and the police had arrived. The scene quickly was surrounded by others that were taking videos on their cell phones. We moved around the corner, and didn’t see how it resolved, but it went quietly. Perhaps the manager was wrong?  

 Last month, we both got new iPhones, and are still struggling with having to sign into apps we haven’t used!? Ugh. We both really struggle trying to recall passwords that our phones have been so diligent about remembering, or allowing us to use face recognition. After a bit, Jeff succeeded in getting into his Uber app, but then his credit card had changed since we last used Uber, probably in NYC in 2019. My nerves were still on edge, and I was a bit panicked about standing here outside CVS with both of us focused on the phone, Jeff with his wallet in his hand and his credit card out. I pulled out my phone and was able to log into my Uber and my credit card was still active, so I said “I’ll order the Uber and you can work on your account another time!”

 We had a great Uber driver, Onfraus. He had a Green Bay Packer emblem on the front of his Jeep. His girlfriend is from Wausau and he knew a lot about Madison. He asked if State Street was still the place to be, and was shocked when we told him of the devastation after “protests” turned violent last year when windows were smashed and businesses looted after the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis. We all agreed it didn’t make sense - the wrong people in the wrong place, with a demonstration of anti-police effort. His calm wonderful manner helped calm my frayed nerves. A lifelong Louisville resident, he was helpful in explaining where he had to drop us, and how to walk to the track from where he dropped us, and also where to find the Uber pickup lot to get our ride back to the hotel after the Derby. It was just over three miles - $45 with tip (surge pricing).

 It was easy to figure out the way to the track, we followed the colorful crowd. Lots of young adults - many of them quite drunk already. I was surprised that many people had chairs, headed for the infield lawn which is where the party really happens, we’d heard. We followed the crowd to the gates, went through security, but our tickets wouldn’t read in the scanner - oh no. Our panic was relieved when a supervisor told us we had Clubhouse tickets, and we were at the infield gate, the wrong gate. They led us out and we worked our way against the crowd for a bit, and felt like was walked all the way around the outside of the track until we found our gate. I’d worn shoes for comfort and was glad to be walking before sitting for the next six hours or so.

 At the Clubhouse entrance, things were more civilized and the crowd was scarce. In fact, due to COVID, they’re operating at about 40% capacity - so for someone like me that likes my personal space, this was perfect!

 We found our seats - the first two seats in a box that was set up for just four, but could accommodate six. Every other box was blocked out with a tarp to maintain physical distance, so we had perfect sight lines to the finish like right in front of us. We were in the covered section, so no need for that sunscreen after all (but we saw quite a few people who could have used it).

 There was a race roughly every hour, so we fell into an easy pattern of watching a race, then exploring the grounds in between races. This year for the first time, all food and drink were included in the ticket price, so we grazed on food and I sampled most of the specialty cocktails: Mint Julep, Whiskey Spire (cranberry) and the Lily (vodka and grapefruit).

 For me, the neatest part about being onsite was standing at the edge of the paddock. Not only was the people watching amazing, but it gave us a close look at the horses. They’d be led around the circle, some seemed proud to be on display, some were fighting being led around, then they’d pull them into a cubicle where magically the tiny saddle would be strapped to the horse, then another lap or two, photos with the owners / VIP and one last parade past with the jockey onboard. How cool it was to see that up close. I’d never noticed their lightweight boots, and the small stirrups that seemed strung up too high. From the paddock, the procession would move under the grandstand and out onto the track where they’d parade by, before heading around the track to the starting gate (which was out of our view, but we could see it on the large video screen). The only downside to being there in person is the race happens so fast and with the crown noise and the garbled speakers, we couldn’t really tell how the horses we’d selected we’re doing!

 We were joined in our box by a dapper young man, Jackson and his girlfriend, Danni, from Miami. Jackson split his time growing up between Middleton WI with his dad (attended Edgewood High School), and Louisville with his mom. He’d been to the derby many times before, but this could have been his first time trying to impress a girl with his knowledge. They were cute.

 In the box kitty-corner to our front right, there were Louisville police officers. They primarily spent their time scrolling through their social media feeds on their phones. Later in the evening, two started smoking cigars and snapping photos of themselves. It seemed inappropriate and was noxious to be around, but the smell of cigar smoke was pervasive throughout the day regardless. As we were heading out to explore between races, we stopped to ask them if it’d be safe to walk the three miles back to our hotel after the race. They looked at us like we had two heads!

 The actual “Derby” the twelfth of fourteen races during the day. It was the only race we actually bet us, choosing Hot Road Charlie (Jeff pick which finished third), and my pick, Rock Your World, finished in seventeenth place. We’d added the favorite pick of the day, Essential Quality to our trifecta bet (it came in fourth). Almost, but that doesn’t count in horse racing, so we lost our $200 but had fun doing so!

 We hung around for a bit, enjoying some last-minute people watching, then joined the stream of people heading out of the main gate.  We turned right, towards the Uber lot, which meant we were once again walking against the crowd leaving the infield – many were now very drunk, most were sunburned, and some were being carried.  It seemed to be a zoo at the Uber lot, and the app showed our same driver, but it’d oscillate between 20-30 minutes away.  The crowd and the noise of the Jesus Freaks yelling at the crowd through bad speakers was making me crazy, so I lobbied to start walking.

 We walked with a smaller crowd, but many of them pealed off as we strolled through the U of L campus.  We walked past large house parties, still going strong.  After a mile, there were only a handful of us still walking towards downtown, but it felt good to move and the neighborhood felt ok. Several people that we’d pass would shout out friendly greetings, and we just kept moving, only slightly creeped out by the recommendation from the police that we don’t try to walk back to the hotel.

 It started getting dark as we got close, but by then, it felt like a normal evening stroll.  It felt great to get to the room though and jump into the shower to wash away the dirt and cigar smoke from the day!  We were probably both sleeping by 9pm!

 On Sunday, we were up before our alarm, so we got dressed and finished packing up and we were crossing the Ohio back into Indiana before 7am.  An uneventful drive, and great to be home in the early afternoon and still enjoy the day.

[bad0mens]

Title: Pas de Deux II - Act I

Pairings: Fluri

Warnings: Unbeta’edness

Authors’ Notes: I’ve been sitting on this follow up for years now, so here it finally is. It’s 3 parts total that I will be posting today, Friday the 22nd, and Saturday the 23rd. The very last (planned) Encore will be going up the 24th to round out the series at this time. Thanks for reading and sticking with me during my dry spells.

Disclaimer: Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

His focus was fixed, the goal ahead of him, and the goalie waiting to intercept. The goalie must have thought his defenses were flawless, impervious to any attack, but Flynn could see the opening.  The goalie's left leg was the less steady so he overcompensated with his right. If he needed to move suddenly, if Flynn could manage the feint, he could score. And if they could score, the Knights would be capable of an overwhelming victory against the Dragoons.

He shot left. Hachette dodged one of the opposing team, ricocheting the puck off his stick and to LeBlanc. Rammed hard into the glass a second later, LeBlanc shot it back to Flynn, who had skidded in close enough to the goal to line up his shot. A pair of the Dragoons tried to intercept, but it was too late. Flynn was already following through with his first swing, and sliding forward to dodge them. Just as he had expected, as he feinted left, and the goalie moved to far to overcompensate for his leg. It gave Flynn the edge he need, the sparse seconds and the barest inches of space.

One good slap was all took to send the puck careening into the goal, hitting the net so hard that it bounced backward. The siren buzzed in their favor and the shouting that came over the stadium between the spectators and the announcer signaled their win.

It was a victory, and a welcome one that added another tally mark to the Zaphias Knight's ever growing streak. They had rough games, they lost, but overwhelmingly, they were a forced to be reckoned with and that fact wasn't lost among the opponents they had faced and those that they would in the future. It was something to look forward to.

But winning wasn't really what Flynn cared about. Oh, he liked it. Even loved it. The cheer of the crowd and that praise, but it was the game itself, the rush it gave him, the thrill that sang in his blood like a war cry when he played. He played for that. Winning was a bonus, and a bonus that the Knights were enjoying. They never would have made it to the semi-finals of the state championship without it. And with it, they might go even further. All in all, things were looking up for the formerly struggling minor league team.

The hot shower that followed brought him back down out of the high he experienced when he played and allowed him to feel a little more comfortable in the skin that was his own after being pure energy on the ice.

It was a pity that Yuri hadn't been able to make it to the away game. He made it to as many of them as he possibly could, but it couldn't be avoided this time. The Halure Dance Troupe was in the midst of practice for the next big show, although Flynn hadn't been able to learn exactly which ballet they would be doing next. Whatever it was though, Flynn was looking forward to it. And he was looking forward to getting home.

"Hey, Flynn!" LeBlanc called across the locker room. "Someone's here to see you!"

His heart jumped, fumbling over a slew of beats. Had Yuri made it after all? It wasn't the first time he had showed up unexpectedly during an away game, but it was always welcome.

He slammed his locker a little too hard and moved a little too quickly to not seem excited. Of course he was. No doubt any of his teammates would have felt the same in their loved ones showed up unexpectedly.

He passed the last row of lockers and his hurried steps came to a cold, stunned standstill. It was not Yuri. He sunk at the sight of two older men that he had never met before, but squared himself instantly in their presence.

"Are you Scifo?" The first asked.

"Yes, sir."

The man reached out and shook his hand. "I'm George Bryant, owner of the Slyvanrant Rhyards. This is Alden Warner, the team's coach. We have a proposition for you."

The Slyvarant Rhyards were a championship team, and more importantly, a major league team. The proposition they had offered Flynn was hard to ignore, and harder not to be interested in. The major leagues were serious business and the goal to which all minor league players aspired. Flynn was no different. The offer was impossible to deny, and he didn't. They did allow him time to think about it, and he had been since the moment he walked back into the locker room to the encouragement of his teammates.

The unexpected meeting left his brain brimming with possibilities, the advantages of which were hard to ignore.

Playing in the major leagues meant a broader range of teams to play against, a raise in his pay that was high enough to seem surreal in comparison to what he made now. It could mean fame and fortune, and playing with, and against, some of the most talented people in the sport. It would also mean moving.

Zaphias was comfortable and homey and Slyvarant was big and sprawling and foreign. But Zaphias had felt that way once before. That was before Yuri.

What would he have to say when Flynn told him? How would he react? Some months ago, he had been offered something similar, so it might not even come as a surprise. Yuri hadn't taken his opportunity, and gave flimsy excuses as to why, but never elaborated further. Flynn was taking this seriously.

He didn't like the prospect of leaving Yuri behind and attempting a long distance relationship. Zaphias felt like home because of Yuri, so maybe Slyvarant would, too. He hadn't thought much before on asking Yuri to move in with him. Yuri practically lived there anyway, and had a key so he could come and go as he pleased. The next step was making it official, and this could be the chance for that.

While in Slyvarant, before the team took the bus home, Flynn took a day to tour the city. It was nice enough, maybe not as clean as Zaphias, but respectable in its own way. With the idea of he and Yuri both moving here, Flynn looked at living costs and grabbed apartment guides. He even spoke to the director of a local dance troupe about the possibility of Yuri moving. Overall, this was promising and Flynn couldn't keep his mind off the matter during the whole bus ride back to Zaphias. He would have to bring Yuri along to tour. He was already planning it, but he wanted it to be a surprised. He wanted just the right time to break the news to Yuri.

Flynn texted Yuri as soon as he got back into town. It was late now, so he might have been asleep.

[I just got in. Are you up?]

It was a few minutes before a reply came. Flynn put away his travel bag and began thinking that Yuri was probably long asleep at this late hour, until the chime on his phone rang out through the silence of his apartment.

[At practice.]

[Still?]

[Never played this role before]

[Oh. Would you be up for a late night dinner afterward?] He hesitated in asking that, because the excitement bubbling up inside of him would have made keeping his secretly nearly impossible. It would have to come out.

[Sorry. Don't know when I'll be done. How was your game?] He must have been very busy prepping for the new show this late at night. He practiced hard and frequently, and he danced every role perfectly. Yuri was no stranger to late nights when he felt a dance needed work. He was certainly dedicated.

[Great. I'll tell you all about it later.]

[Don't wait up for me.]

A smile tugged at Flynn's lips as he typed in the reply. Three simple little words that so perfectly described how he felt. [I love you.]

[Good night.] The answer he wanted never came, but it didn't bother him now.

With the possibilities singing in his brain, bubbling over and pouring out and overwhelming his every nerve like a flood, it was nearly impossible to sleep. The thought was terrifying and wonderful, nerve-wracking and exciting. The next morning did little to dull his enthusiasm, even waking alone. It was nothing unusual for Yuri to return to his own apartment after a long night of practice rather than come to Flynn's. That could change.

He texted Yuri again. The proposition of a date, a nice dinner out together. Tolbyccia Pizza was their usual haunt, but this called for something a nicer. Between their busy schedules, they didn't often have a chance for a finer meal. When Yuri texted back, they agreed on a time and a place. Flynn couldn't say that he wasn't nervous about breaking the news, but he hoped that it was merely excitement in disguise. He had no idea how Yuri would react to the news, but he was hopeful, and that hope drove him for the rest of the day.

Why Flynn wanted a fancy dinner out, Yuri couldn't guess, but it was going to be a nice change of pace from their usual, not that he ever got sick of Don's pizza. Yuri even bothered to dress up, even though the button up shirt and blazer felt more restrictive than his skin tight dance clothing. The tie felt like it was strangling him, but he put up with it anyway. With the way their dates usually went, it would end up being used for more than wearing later on.

Flynn picked him up and went then together to one of fine dining restaurants that dotted Zaphias's downtown area. The car ride was strangely quiet, Flynn's eyes fixed hard on the city streets before him and his fingers drumming nervously against the steering wheel. The press of his foot on the brake, and then the shift to gas a little too sudden, not at all as smooth as they usually were.

Even after being being seated, Flynn was still fidgeting, a ball of nervous energy across the table. If it wasn't the anxious twitch of his fingers over the tablecloth, it was the nervous rocking of his leg just beneath the table. By the time their soup arrived, Yuri couldn't handle it anymore and just asked.

"So what's with the sudden interest in fine dining?"

"N-Nothing. I mean, we don't usually come to a place like this. I thought it would be a nice change."

Yuri didn't take that at face value, but waited a moment before proceeding with his line of questioning. "Seriously. What's going on?"

Flynn bit his lower lip, something he only did when he was nervous. If he thought that Yuri couldn't read his body language after all these months, and all their intimacy, he was wrong.

He smiled a little, a better sign than a grave look. "Our away game went well. Really well... So well that the owner of the Slyvarant Rhyards wants to sign me."

Yuri had to forcibly stop himself from dropping his spoon in surprise.

"They're offering me a chance at the major leagues. It would mean moving--" he didn't stop talking, but Yuri stopped listening.

His heart stopped, cold and unable to move in his chest, frozen with a strange panic and fear that flooded his ears and veins. His mouth dried out completely and he found himself guzzling down his water to quench the nervous thirst that filled him. He couldn't panic. He had always known this would happen anyway.

"--and I want you to come with me."

"What?"

"I want you to come with me. To Slyvarant."

His words dried up as quickly as his mouth had.

"There's a really famous troupe there and they even agreed to let you audition and I think that this could be really good for the both of us and well, I guess what I'm trying to say is... I think we should move in together."

There was silence. Was he waiting for a reaction for Yuri? Yuri didn't know what to do or say. There was certainly no appropriate word to explain what he was feeling and if there was, it was too gentle for the harshness that rocked him. He put on a calm face, but when he didn't speak, Flynn continued.

"I don't want to rush things. I'm just putting the idea out there and I haven't decided definitely on anything yet."

"This is... sudden." He finally managed, but it wasn't an answer or a real response.

"I know, but we've got some time to think about it. I've been invited back for a proper tryout next weekend." Flynn's hand reached across the table and fell over his. The tender shock sunk deep. "I'd really like it if you came with me."

His appetite was gone and his stomach wound in knots. Conflicted was not a strong enough word to describe how he felt. There was no need to be panicked. This was bound to happen. This was inevitable. Flynn had bigger and better prospects ahead of him, but why he seemed so keen on dragging Yuri along, was a mystery.

"So, what do you say?"

"Sure."

He wished that he could have stopped himself from saying that, but the brightness in Flynn's eyes was radiant and Yuri couldn't bear to look at him anymore. There was no reason for him to feel so awful about this news. Maybe the trip would change his mind. Maybe Yuri could finally find himself being open and honest. Maybe.

A few days hadn't eased his worry, even while immersed in the steps of the Halure Dance Troupe's newest production. Persephone was a lesser known ballet, and as always, the director chose to use her own take on the story. Yuri didn't care much one way or another. He was just glad that they were done with Romeo and Juliet. The part of Hades was one he hadn't played before, so the distraction of practice at least allowed him to pull away from the shock of Flynn's news and think about it clearly. But no amount of dancing was able to make it leave his mind completely. It remained as a dark pool in the very back of his mind, just waiting for the moment when he would stop and it could attempt to sink him once more.

Flynn had already had his heart set on going, on leaving. Yuri could see it in his eyes, filled with the dreams that would come with his bright future. And it was radiant like the sun, like Flynn himself, and that brightness reduced Yuri to a fading shadow.

Yuri's mind was already set, too, even before the trip. He didn't want to go. He wanted to stay. He had made that decision once before and Flynn hadn't had any bearing on it then and he sure as hell didn't now. But he had still agreed to the trip to Slyvarant, to the place that Flynn would go to. It couldn't hurt to see that which was going to pull Flynn away.

With no one else to talk to about it, and the need to get it off his chest burning holes in him, he confided in Estelle. It was a mistake. Bottling it up inside would have been better. Once he told her everything, she was only supportive and enthusiastic.

"That's so exciting, Yuri!" Estelle said over her cup of tea. "You could be famous in a city like Slyvarant."

"Yeah, I guess." He didn't care about fame. If he had, than he would have just accepted the offer months earlier from Yeager, the talent scout from the famous Dahngrest ballet.

Flynn had nearly begged him to stay once before, and now he was the one on the other side, the one with bigger and better prospects ahead of him and with nothing to lose.

"And Flynn's already scheduled you an audition with the biggest troupe in Slyvarant. They put on the biggest, most expensive productions I've ever seen. Imagine what they could pay you, what they could offer you."

It wasn't like he hadn't. But he wasn't in dance for the money. He liked the struggling little troupe he worked for, with it's interesting and diverse productions.

"But those aren't really reasons that you care about." She was unnecessarily astute at times.

"Not really."

"If not those things, Flynn then? I know he wouldn't have asked you if he wasn't absolutely serious."

"It... it's not that. It has nothing to do with Flynn." It had everything to do with Flynn no matter what Yuri said and they both knew it.

She let out a soft, sort of discontented sigh, blowing steam away from her tea in the same breath. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." That was a lie also. His mind was made up.

"Maybe you'll change your mind when you're actually there. It's a great opportunity for the both of you." She was trying to help. "It can't hurt to go and look." She didn't understand. She didn't know.

"I suppose." Another lie.

"It'll be okay."

When he couldn't reply, Estelle let it rest at that and eventually had to leave him alone once more. The gym was his next destination. Pounding the sandbag, the fire it ignited in his muscles, maybe that could burn away this... whatever it was. He was done feeling like this. It was stupid and wrong and annoying and painful. It's not like Flynn was abandoning him. Why did it feel like that? Flynn wanted to live with him. Flynn wanted more than what they already had. Flynn wanted things that Yuri couldn't give him, no matter how hard he tried.

When the flame of his energy finally burned out, he felt no better. But Estelle had been right. It couldn't hurt to go. There was no harm in entertaining these ideas, the notion that maybe this could work, that maybe this was right, that maybe he deserved to be happy. It was too late to back out now. He had already taken the weekend off and packed and Flynn had already booked them hotel reservations. He could handle this, even if his mind was set. How bad could it be? There was no reason for him to be so concerned. Things were different now and Flynn actually wanted to be with him. Flynn may have even--

Yuri stopped himself there. Flynn said it often, that thorny, three word phrase that reopened old wounds and scratched in new scars. Those oppressively hot and unfair words threatened to smother him. Those weapons were too strong for Yuri to fend off.

When it was said and done, he returned home, to the quiet cold of his own bed without Flynn's warmth and words there. This place was nearly alien now. He barely knew it. Dust covered surfaces before kept clean. The shower was bone dry. So many of his nights were spend in Flynn's bed, in his arms, and that made all of this sting even more.

The car was packed with his own bags and he had the hotel papers in hand. Even though the drive was a long one, he was looking forward to it, to the prospect that lay ahead in Slyvarant for him, for Yuri, for both of them.

Yuri had been too busy with practice in the days before the trip for the two of them to discuss plans for their future and the possibility of Slyvarant. Even the very night before their departure, he practiced late and told Flynn not to wait up for him. That was easier said that done, as sleep proved elusive with the trip and the destination and the future at the forefront of Flynn's mind, driving out all else. He wished they had had time to talk about the trip at least the night before, instead of all the thoughts brewing in Flynn's brain making him feel restless and senseless and crazed. But he got into the car and drove to pick up Yuri at his own apartment.

He was waiting out front, his single, beaten up black suitcase at his feet, watching the road listlessly as Flynn pulled into the first available parking spot. Yuri was pulling open the trunk and tossing his bag in unceremoniously before Flynn could even get out of the car, but he caught him just as Yuri was about to slam the hatch closed.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long."

It was a few seconds before Yuri spoke, glancing at him. "No."

"Do we need to pick up anything last minute before we leave town?"

"I'm good."

Flynn resisted asking again. It was just his nerves making it difficult for him to be sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. He let a little sigh escape his lips, a breath of relief. Everything was going to be fine. They were doing this. They were doing this together.

Yuri started around the car, but Flynn stopped him again, pulling him closer by the wrist. He managed a brief kiss before pulling away, a smile on his lips where Yuri's had just been. "I'm glad we're doing this."

Yuri didn't smile.

"Is everything okay?" Worry knotted up his stomach, squeezing like a vice.

A slight shake of his head as if startled, brought Yuri's attention back up. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I'm just tired after last night's practice."

Flynn eased, letting his hand slide from Yuri's wrist down, and curling their fingers together. The warmth of Yuri's hand in his sparked against his fingertips. This was really happening. "It's a pretty long drive there, so you can relax and nap while we're on the road."

"Thanks," Yuri pulled back after a second, brushing his hair back with the hand that left the lingering warmth in Flynn's hand, "I might just take you up on that."

"Let's get on the road then. Check in is at four and I want us to have plenty of time to relax before tomorrow." The simplest thought of what the next day's dawning would bring jumbled up his innards again, but with excitement rather than worry. He had their entire weekend mostly planned, but that hadn't made the nervousness ease.

Yuri slid into the car and Flynn a moment later on the driver's side. He took one last, deep breathe of the air of Zaphias before starting the car and getting on the road.

It was a five hour drive. He honestly hoped that sleep would take hold with the rocking of Flynn's car across the pavement and the soft hum of his radio, but the hours slipped by with barely a nap. He tried, squeezing his eyes closed and forcing his body at rest, and it would take hold for a moment or two, and then his consciousness would be back in full force.

Scenery zipped by at sixty, seventy miles per hour. Blurs of green and black, expanses of forest and pavement abbreviated by stark blue road signs. Three hundred miles. Two hundred fifty four. One hundred and ninety four. One hundred and twenty eight. Seventy three. Forty two. Twenty seven. Fifteen. Five. They pulled off the highway and Yuri felt his lungs seize.

The city of Slyvarant engulfed them, surrounding them on all sides with gridlocked traffic and smog and densely packed steel and stone and glass buildings that rose to the sky. Zaphias was a big city with thousands of buildings and millions of people, but even it dwarfed in comparison to the metropolis that was Slyvarant. The honking and screeching and back and forth stopping and starting made further sleep impossible even when they weren't actively going anywhere so Yuri resigned himself to staring out the window into the narrow streets of traffic and electric billboards. Flynn's spirits hadn't dampened at all. Yuri's had never risen.

It was another hour of stop and go traffic before they made it anywhere. Flynn pointed out a few landmarks as they went, the stadium, a real one, where he was going the next morning for his try out, the park, public works, and monumental corporate buildings. Finally, they got to the hotel, another tower of shimmering glass and lights in the afternoon sun. Yuri was instantly glad to be out of the car and able to stretch his legs, but the plush carpeted and marble tile lined halls of the hotel weren't much comfort. He and his beaten up suitcase were regarded suspiciously by the bellhop as he unloaded their bags and took their keys to get the car parked.

He suppressed a shudder as Flynn took his hand. The sparks of static that flew made him pull away, his cool fingers slipping out of the warmth of Flynn's hands. Taking one of the bags of hockey equipment in hand, he didn't wait for Flynn to question him about the sudden motion. Everything was fine. Nothing was wrong.

Yuri loafed around the lobby while Flynn got them checked in. The piano tinkling over the intercom was starting to grate on his nerves when Flynn made it back and they took the glass and gilded steel elevator up in silence. Flynn touched him again, those finger tips sending jolts of electricity over the back of his hand, through paper thin skin, and against his already jostled nerves. Yuri held firm, even as Flynn stole a sideways glance at him. He couldn't look him in the eye, so he pretended not to notice. This lasted a dozen or so floors before the elevator stopped and the disembarked.

Their room was at the end of the hall. The door opened to a spacious and meticulously decorated suite, furnished in gold and green, with floor to ceiling glass windows that gave a view overlooking the whole city.

He didn't remember putting the bags down and moving to the window, but he was suddenly there, the tips of his fingers against the cool glass and his eyes gazing out to the horizon dotted endlessly with buildings and signs and hazed with the layer of smog that covered the city. What did Flynn see in this place? Was it more than just a job opportunity? What about this buzzing and busy, grimy and crowded city drew him in, made the prospect of moving here, of him leaving, painfully real? What part of him no longer wanted Zaphias and what it had to offer? Yuri hadn't been in this place a full day and he didn't like it.

The warmth of Flynn's arms around him, of his body pressed against Yuri's back, drew him back into reality. His face and breath were hot against his neck, nestled there affectionately.

"I love you."

That vine tightened, cradling as solidly as Flynn's arms did, spotted and sharp with thorns. The ache in his chest squeezed, drawing out his breath. If only he had never gotten his hopes up, then this would never have to hurt. If only he had never had a heart at all.

Flynn drew him away from the window, away from the harshness of the outside world, and pulled the curtains close with the ease that Yuri wished he had been able to use to separate himself from it. Strength and confidence in his limbs, he pulled Yuri in, an embrace so hot, so tender that he felt himself dissolving away. He needed solidness, he needed a world ground in reality and concrete, and world of black and white without emotional grey areas that trembled in his chest and built a wall around his heart. Not the emotional, but the physical, the pain and the pleasure, the fire and the flood of it to wash away all of this. He needed Flynn, and for a little while, at least this one last night, he could have him.