#and this has been mikayla played herself hour

[kyoshithewriter]

Level the Playing Field.

Warnings: mature themes (18+)

Part three: Awkward

A/n: Hope we’ve all noticed that the words written in italics are their thoughts. Enjoy?

Sadé can barely stay awake in class. Her mood hasn’t improved at all over the weekend and she wishes more than anything that she could’ve just spent all week locked away in her room, but she knows she can’t. Failing classes because of a silly crush on a guy who just found out about her existence a couple days ago is so pathetic she doesn’t even want to think about it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean she isn’t having a hard time focusing on her two hour lecture. Also doesn’t help that Ms. Summers keeps shooting nervous glances her way. Sadé is seriously not in the mood to deal with it. Any other day before that party on Friday and she would’ve been an anxious, jittery mess. Now, she just feels hollow and annoyed. Annoyed that they couldn’t have been fucking anywhere else than in a fucking lab on campus. If she hadn’t witnessed it, she wouldn’t have been in this mess. She knows that’s irrational to think, considering nobody forced her to blackmail Jude or to go to the party, but it’s easier to think that way in the moment. The shuffling of bodies and the sounds of laptops being shut pulls her attention back to her surroundings. Class must’ve been dismissed because students are rising from their seats and heading for the exit. ‘I’ll definitely need to read the slides as soon as I get to my room’ she thinks pitifully to herself.

Sadé is almost at the door when she’s stopped in her tracks.

“Ms. Williams, could I speak to you just for a few minutes?” Ms. Summers’ voice is timid and Sadé closes her eyes, huffing. Annoyed. She turns, facing the mahogany desk the woman is currently sitting behind. Bummer Mr. Smith has been out ill for a few days.

“Yes Ms. Summers?” she can’t help the tinge of annoyance in her voice but she just wants to be in bed.

“H-how have you been?” The brunette nervously adjusts the glasses on her face, forcing a smile that only makes one side of her mouth lopsided.

“Look, I saw what I saw and what it was is none of my business. I won’t tell a soul and that’s all I can do for you. Any guilt or remorse you feel you’ll just have to handle on your own, Ms. Summers. May I leave now?” The woman, clearly dumbfounded, only offers a slight nod of her head. Maybe in a week, Sadé will look back at this interaction and feel bad about it, but for now, she’s just relieved she can head back to the sweet embrace of her unmade bed and cool, dark room.

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

A series of gentle knocking slowly pulls her out of her slumber. She reaches out, blindly searching for her phone on her bedside table. 7:00 pm. She’s been sleeping since one o’ clock after thirty minutes of reading after class.

“Wake up Sadé. I made shrimp fried rice.” Mikayla’s voice floats through her closed door. Sadé curses quietly, Mikayla knows she’ll never refuse her shrimp fried rice.

“I’ll be out in five minutes.” her voice is groggy with sleep still. Sadé unlocks her phone once more to check for the hundredth time for a notification. Just one notification from him. There’s none. She isn’t sure why she has been checking. Maybe he’ll offer an explanation? An apology? Anything? But he doesn’t. It’s almost as if he’s already forgotten she exists again. After he touched her so… whatever. She needs to get over it. And she has a feeling she knows where to start with that.

*******

“It was Jude??!!!!!” Both pair of eyes are comically wide. Sadé would laugh if she could be bothered to.

“Yea. I- um, blackmailed him with the Ms. Summers thing for us to get in.”

Celine gasps so heavily she starts coughing and sputtering.

“You didn’t…”

“That’s not the worst part, we- at the party we, well he almost kissed me.”

“Wait wait wait. We’re missing several steps here, obviously.” Mikayla utters in pure bewilderment.

“Right! How did he go from not knowing you existed to almost kissing you in the span of a couple days? And did this happen when you suddenl-” Celine cuts herself off with a gasp. The realization dawning on her.

“That’s why you were so upset! Did he force himself on you???? I swear on everything I will ki-”

“No!” Her panic- filled shout starts her friends so badly Celine almost falls from the couch.

“Sadé! Jeez.”

“I’m sorry I just… he never did that. I was a very willing participant.” She mumbles with a note of embarrassment. If her skin was lighter, it would be tinged with pink.

“Oh? Are you… you’re crushing on Jude!” Mikayla accuses, although there’s amusement dancing behind her wide eyes.

“No I’m not! It just… happened. I honestly think he was toying with me, to get back at me for blackmailing him or something. Because Annita walked in and he was an ass then they were kissing and I haven’t heard from him since.” She shrugs her shoulders feigning nonchalance.

Celine observes her keenly for a second.

“You’re lying. You wouldn’t have been so upset if you didn’t like him a little.”

“I don’t like him at all, I think… I just… I’ll get over it soon.”

*******

After another week of not hearing from him or even catching a glimpse of him on campus, Sadé gets desperate. She’s curious, she has always been. Everything needs an answer for it to make sense or it never leaves her mind, and Jude still hasn’t. She stares at the message she typed out five minutes ago, hand hovering over the send button. Do it, do it! Her thumb lowers. Just do it! Her thumb makes contact with her screen, but not to send the message, instead, she clears it all. ‘Fuck, I’m such a coward.’ She’s so busy chastising herself that she doesn’t notice the bubbles popping up in the chat. The sound of the notification sends her tumbling off the edge of her bed. Sadé is sure her mind is playing tricks on her because she can swear she saw a notification with his name. I’ve thought about him so much I’m now having delusions, I’m losing my mind. Sadé cautiously reaches for her phone, both eyes screwed shut. Please be him please be him- she wants to curse at herself for being so desperate but she can’t help it. She peeks one eye at her screen.

Jude [7:36 pm] : You’re taking a while to send whatever you’re typing.

Oh. If he saw her typing that means…

Sadé [7:38 pm]: were you in the chat?

She sits anxiously, watching the bubbles pop up and disappear. He takes five minutes to respond but for Sadé, it feels like an hour.

Jude [7: 43 pm]: I am. I just feel like I should say something to you but I don’t know exactly what.

Sadé [7:44 pm] : oh.

She doesn’t really know what else to say. She wants to demand he start by explaining what he meant by “remember what you started” or whatever the hell happened in that room and him being so cold with her after; but she feels as if that will scare him away and she really doesn’t want to do that right now. She’s trying to think of something else to say, anything to keep the conversation going. However, another message from him has her heart fluttering in her chest.

Jude [7:46 pm]: I’m at the gym, come see me?

Sadé [7:47 pm]: Why?

Jude [7:48 pm] : Are you coming or not?

Sadé paces on the fluffy pink carpet on her floor. Should I? She faces the mirror on her vanity. The oversized sweater covers the cotton shorts she wears. She just came out of the shower a couple minutes prior, she’s properly moisturized but she’s wondering if what she’s wearing is ok. Fuck it. She slides her feet in her crocs and grabs her keys and phone.

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

Some song by Rema is what greets her at the entrance of the building. The gym is by the field where they practice and play games, the building has a locker room and showers for the players as well. She follows the music to the second door on the left and finds Jude, alone, jogging on the treadmill. Sadé brains short-circuits at his naked, sweaty back. The blue basketball shorts he wears rides low on his hips showing off the brand of his underpants. She wants so badly to turn around and flee but then his eyes catch hers in the huge mirror in front of him. His only reaction is to turn the machine off, slowing to a gentle walk before stepping off. Sadé folds her hands into fists in the pocket of her gray sweater. She watches him walk over to his phone, then there’s silence as he pauses the music.

“Um, hi?” Sadé tries to break the ice. It’s only been quiet for a few seconds but it already feels so tense. Just being in his presence keeps her on her toes.

“Why Erlhedge?” His question throws her for a loop. How random.

“I mean, top university. Every parent’s dream is for their child to attend a well known Ivy League.” she offers with a slight shrug.

“Parent’s dream, huh? Not yours?” He observes her keenly. Sadé is speechless for a few seconds. She didn’t even realize the weight of her words until he repeated it. She shrugs in lieu of responding.

“Mom or dad?” He makes his way over to a bench situated in the corner by some dumbbells. He takes a seat, looking up at her expectantly. The bright, white lights in the gym really bring out the brown of his eyes, she’s transfixed.

“Mom, just my mom.” She regrets the words as soon as she whispers them. Why would he care that she was raised by a single mother?

He takes a few seconds to stare at her curiously before patting the empty space beside him on the bench. She hesitates for a bit before she walks over briskly to sit beside him. She puts as much space as she’s able to between them- which isn’t a lot considering it isn’t a long bench at all. She can feel the heat radiating from his sweaty form.

“I’m guessing she’s strict.”

“Why would you guess that?” She turns to face him but he’s looking straight ahead at nothing in particular.

“It’s not hard to guess.” He mutters with an air of nonchalance as he types away on his phone.

“Did you know bananas are berries but strawberries aren’t?” She accidentally blurts out the trivial thought that occupied her uneasy mind.

To her surprise, he looks up at her with pure amusement dancing in his eyes and a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Is that so?”

She shrugs again, looking away from his pretty brown eyes. Silence stretches between them as Jude goes back to typing on his phone.

“Jude, why am I here?” she asks quietly, still not looking in his direction.

“What’s your favourite colour?” he asks instead of acknowledging her question. Sadé is so confused but she finds herself relaxing slightly, shoulders touching the wall behind her as she reclines on the bench.

“Well, I’ll tell people it’s purple but honestly? Pink, especially baby pink, though I prefer to dress in nude colours. What’s yours?” she peaks over at him expecting his side profile and she’s surprised when she makes eye contact instead.

“Gray, maybe.” He responds as if his answer is trivial, shrugging it off, “how old are you?”

“21, I’m assuming you are too?” It’s not an assumption, she knows.

He's suddenly giving her his undivided attention and Sadé fights the urge to fidget under his gaze.

“Yes.” He goes back to typing on his phone. More silence. Sadé’s eyes switch from stealing glances at his face and his unclothed back.

“Are you a virgin, Sadé?”

Her brain screeches to a halt.

“Um…” is all she manages to utter. This manages to capture his attention again and Sadé looks away from him. She’s so flustered, embarrassed.

“Ah, so my assumption was right. Have you ever kissed someone at least?” There’s not a hint of mockery in his voice, Sadé is so relieved by it that she manages to lie.

“Yes.” The click of her nails echo around the quiet gym. She folds her hands into fists by her legs to not do it again.

“Hmm” is all he mutters but he sounds unconvinced.

“Would you like to again?” his eyes don’t leave her face for a second, bouncing between her eyes and her lips.

It takes an embarrassingly long time for her brain to process his question.

“What?”

“Do you want me to kiss me, Sadé? I wanted to at the party but…” but they got interrupted by Annita, Sadé remembers all too well. Annita. Party. She shoots up to her feet so quickly the bench shuffles backward despite his weight on it. Party. Annita.

“No! Why did you do that? Why are you doing this?!” Sadé doesn’t mean to shout but her voice reverberates through the room. Despite this, Jude is the picture of calm and collected and it makes him even more attractive. It makes her mad.

“Do what?” he questions calmly, body reclining onto the wall like hers was a minute ago.

“This? This sudden interest? Then being so… cold after we almost…”

“You said it yourself, remember? I have a reputation. Just can’t help myself.” He smirks but Sadé swears she sees his right brow twitch. Must be a trick of the light.

“So that’s it? I’m just another conquest or something?”

He simply shrugs at her question, still staring up at her.

“Well, stay away from me. If you’re still worried I’ll tell anyone what I saw, I’ll tell you like I told Ms. Summers, I won’t. So let’s just forget this whole thing.” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

He narrows his eyes at her fidgeting form.

“You spoke to her about it?”

“No! Well, she forced me to. She was being all weird and I told her not to worry about it.” She stares at her feet to avoid his narrowed eyes.

“And how can I trust that you won’t?” He asks dubiously. And Sadé, Sadé is heartbroken, because he just confessed his interest in her is as false as she was thinking it may have been. He’s only been pursuing her because she was in his way and as a way to get back at her for blackmailing him.

“Did you think that having sex with me would make me like you so much that I’d keep your secret better? Is that it?” She swallows around the lump in her throat after asking the question. She needs to know. She needs to be sure.

He says nothing for a while, observing her as if he’s contemplating his answer. She’s sure it’s obvious she’s trying not to cry with her rapid blinking and breathing.

“Yes.”

Oh.

“Well, at least you’re honest. I won’t tell anyone, Jude. I’ll see you around.” Sadé turns, speed walking out the gym. She swears to herself this is the last time she’ll cry over him.

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

Sadé manages to get through another week of classes, feeling like herself again. Maybe she just needed to hear the truth. She had caught glimpses of him twice around campus the past week but she always managed to escape before he saw her. She’s not sure if he would even acknowledge her if he did, but it feels safer to avoid him. The volume of the music playing from her phone suddenly lowers as a notification comes in. She reaches for it, expecting it to be the group chat of her, Celine and Mikayla confirming the movie for the night.

Jude [2:55 pm]: Have you seen The Strangers movie yet?

Later on, Sadé will look back at this moment and feel pure and utter embarrassment for actually gasping at a text message, but she couldn’t help it. Seeing his name pop up was one thing, but the content of the message was another. Is he inviting her to see a movie? Sadé sits, staring at the message for about five minutes before bubbles start appearing in the chat.

Jude [3:01 pm]: it’s my way of apologizing. The Plaza mall, 5:45 movie.

*****

That’s how Sadé finds herself at the mall 20 minutes away from campus. She sits in the food court, leg bouncing insistently under the table. Uneasy. She’s convinced that he may have pranked her. He told her to come here and not show up just so he can laugh at how pathetic she is. She checks her phone for the umpteenth time, his last message was five minutes ago saying he’s eight minutes away. They agreed to come separately to avoid prying eyes and loose lips. At least I recognize no one here, so if I’m stood up only strangers will know how pathetic I am. But as she looks at the crowd, she realizes she may as well be a fly on the wall. People are gossiping with their friends, giggling with their lovers, minding their business. Nobody cares about the girl sitting by herself at a plastic red table near the pots filled with artificial trees and shrubs. A figure suddenly occupies the space beside her and she almost leaps from the bench.

“Are you always this jumpy, Sadé?” Jude asks coolly, voice mellow. He’s wearing a simple hoodie and jeans and Sadé realizes three things: he smells absolutely delectable- like fresh linen with a hint of citrusy musk, he looks good in even the simplest thing and finally, she forgot to dress for the chill of the movie theater. Who wears a spaghetti crop top to the theater? At least she’s wearing high- waisted jeans? That should help right? She fights the urge to groan out loud.

“Only when people sit beside me unannounced.” she retorts and he chuckles. She wants to melt.

“Let’s go, the movie starts in five.”

**********

“That movie was not good, no wonder it was so empty in there.”

Jude rolls his eyes at her words as they stroll leisurely toward the side exit of the mall.

“How would you know? You kept looking away and covering your ears every time something good happened.”

“Something good? You mean eerie?” she mumbles as she cuddles into his hoodie, taking a subtle sniff. He’d offered it to her twenty minutes into the film when she started rubbing at her arms to warm herself up. The white tee he wore underneath is now on display and he looks even better.

“Coward.” He gently bumps into her side, keeping his hands in his pockets as they share a smile. Once outside in the dimly lit alley at the side of the building, Jude stands turning to face her. They’re barely five feet apart and Sadé wants to do something stupid. He was so so nice today. He paid for everything, shared his snacks and kept her giggling throughout the entire evening with his teasing and jokes. She wishes she had refused earlier because seeing this side of him will only make it worse for her and her crush. Fuck.

“Look, Sadé I want to tel-”

Sadé plants her lips on his. She throws herself at him with such speed she knocks him off balance a bit and their teeth come together with a soft clank. Thankfully, Jude was able to steady them both before she sent them both in a heap on the floor; it doesn’t make the situation any less embarrassing though.

“Woah” is all he mutters after steadying them on their feet.

“Um! I should- leaving! Bye!” Sadé wants so desperately to run but he grabs her arm before she properly turns away from him.

“Where are you going?” His voice is full of amusement.

“Back to my room? To possibly scream into my pillow for hours.” Her eyes dart everywhere to avoid looking up at him.

“Try again.”

“Huh?” she heard him perfectly fine, she’s just having trouble believing he actually said what she thinks he did.

“Try again, slowly.” He coaxes gently.

Sadé swallows, mouth suddenly dry.

“Okay.” it’s a timid whisper from her lips. She closes the distance between their bodies again. He’s so warm, she feels the heat of his body as soon they’re a few feet apart. She looks up at him shyly from under her lashes as she goes on her tippy toes. He moves then, bringing his index finger to gently tilt her chin. Their lips meet, just a whisper, a feather- light touch. They’re warm like the rest of him, pillowy soft and his breath smells like blueberry slushie. Sadé shudders, placing her hands on his chest. He takes that as a cue to apply more pressure, pressing his lips against hers harder. They stay like that for a while and Sadé figures he’s allowing her to get used to the sensation. Then he lightly grazes her bottom lips with his teeth, grabbing her waist over his hoodie.

“Open your mouth a bit for me.” he requests softly. His voice sounds a bit deeper and makes Sadé whimper. He takes the opportunity to slip his tongue in her mouth. Warm, how’s he so warm? He massages her tongue with his own and her toes curl in shoes. She grips at the hard surface of his pecs tighter, pressing her body closer to his. Just when she thinks it can’t get any better, he moves his tongue upward, licking at the roof of her mouth just behind her teeth. The muscles in her lower belly clench and she moans softly in his mouth. He hums in response before pulling away abruptly.

“Fuck, we have to stop, Sadé” he sounds so pained. Sadé immediately grows self conscious. It was her first kiss after all.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asks pitifully, looking off on the busy street at the entrance of the alleyway.

“No, not at all. It’s just… not here.” He runs a hand down his face sighing heavily.

“Okay.” It’s a meek whisper.

“Let’s head back, it’s getting late. Don’t want you to be paranoid about getting back after this scaredy-cat.” His teasing immediately breaks the tension and sends her in a fit of giggles as she playfully shoves at him.

The two walk out on the busy sidewalk, side by side still smiling.

“How are you getting back?” he reaches to wipe at the smudge of lipgloss at the side of her lips. Her face heats, especially when she notices it on his face too,

“The bus, the next one should be here in 8 minutes.” They both turn to look at the bus stop across the street. Only three people are waiting.

“My taxi is here.” He mutters after checking his phone. “Let me know when you get home.” He envelopes her in a brief, warm hug before heading to a parked car on the curb.

Sadé feels like she’s floating on air. She’s so stuck in her head, smiling like a goofball that she doesn’t notice the enraged- dark haired woman glaring at her across the street.

[manslaught]

the thought of just not returning to the room entirely was tempting, but eventually, mikayla decided she couldn't avoid this any longer, that she was the one who kissed tai in the first place, so she has to be the one brave enough to face the aftermath— but brave isn't an accurate way to describe the way she still avoids saying anything at all to @ladyintree, climbing into her own bed wordlessly, trying not to think about how it's been untouched the night before, because she was in tai's instead. it's not helpful, doesn't make her any less nervous, so she tries to convince herself that all of this is normal, that she'd do this exact same thing at cheer camp without any issue. the difference is she never felt anything for any of those girls, but she can't say the same for tai.

she should be exhausted, given that she'd only slept for a few hours at most the night before, having been awake since she snuck out of tai's bed in the middle of the night— but her mind feels too busy to even consider going to sleep. she's stuck wondering how tai feels about all of this, if she even cares. does it feel just as torturous for her, to have mikayla once and feel like she could never have her again? does she even want that again? mikayla tries telling herself that tai wouldn't, thinking back to all the years they've spent arguing with each other, back to the argument they'd had just yesterday. she doesn't want to talk about soccer at all, but all mikayla knows how to do to distract herself from a problem is focus on another.

“ i never wanted to play soccer, ” she finally says, breaking the silence, cringing at how out of place it feels. but she's thinking about how tai was blaming her yesterday, acting like she missed the shot because she didn't care about the game— and if that's true, then it's her father's fault, not her own. “ my dad made me do it. ” mikayla pulls her gaze away from the ceiling to cast a glance in tai's direction, but it's too dark for her to see anything, so she just looks away again, shifting uncomfortably on her bed. “ so you were right, i guess. about me not liking it. ”

[miksanchismosa]

And this is why I have to write shit down bc once again I came across this and was like

AND NOW I DONT REMEMBER IF I EVER WROTE IT OUT 🤦🏽‍♀️ gonna go reread my review ig? Or look through my notes app…idk man. I know what current me thinks happened…but is that the same as what past mikayla thought??? Who knows at this point, that bitch is crazy 🤷🏽‍♀️ I don’t know her 👀😂

On a semi related note I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY ON WHAT POSSIBLY COULD HAVE HAPPENED AFTER READER LEFT THE BASKETBALL COURT.

See this is why I can’t just give my commentary right away 😂 this has been bothering me so much like I could not think of what could have happened??? But now I have a theory…I think. Will have to reread to confirm it is plausible🕵🏽‍♀️🕵🏽‍♀️🕵🏽‍♀️

THIS U???😂 I CANT WAIT TO HEAR IT ALONG WITH ALL UR THOUGHTS ON STAY!!! I read your basketball review at least once every other day don’t look at me🧍‍♀️

[anotherbeingsworld]

the start of something new

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x F!MC (Alessia Lyxienne)

Rating: G and very fluffy!

Word Count: 1787

Summary: An AU where bryce and alessia becomes study buddies through a cup of cappuccino.

Prompts: @choicesjunechallenge2021 : Day 2 - cappuccino.

A/N: Day 2 of my writing streak for our boy - Bryce hehe ! Its an AU where MC is also a student at Stanford with Bryce - and where he works part-time as a barista there! The concept is very cute, and I hope y'all love it! Shoutout to @appiomofchoice again for the help and the support <33 (I apologize for any grammar mistakes since english is not my first language and such, enjoy!)

During her time here, she discovered a vintage café away from campus – and since then, it's been her studying nook. It was never crowded or filled with people unlike the ones in the campus radius. The atmosphere was calm, as the customers weren’t as crowded. She was known as a local there among the workers. The baristas knew her name and her usual order, especially during the afternoons. But, today was an exception as she needed the night to study for her anatomy test tomorrow afternoon.

Stanford’s exam season came rolling in a blink of an eye. The library was occupied, as every seat was filled with students preparing themselves for the season. As for one Alessia Lyxienne, she prefers to study with the comfort of a hot drink – either to give her a sense of comfort or as a boost for her to survive the whole day while indulging herself in a textbook filled with words.

The music playing in the background was a reverb tune, as she smiles over the scent of brewed coffee and pastries. She walks upon her usual seat, before getting into the line. As it was her turn to order – she stumbled upon a familiar face from her anatomy class; the infamous Bryce Lahela.

“Welcome, what would you like to order?” He looks up and smiles over the familiar face.

“Are you from Dr. Lizza’s anatomy class today? You looked familiar.” She smiles before nodding to the question.

“Yes, I’m Alessia. And, you are the ‘infamous’ Bryce Lahela then?” She nods towards his name tag on his apron.

“The one and only.” He smiles at her, as she continues to convo.

“I never knew you worked here, despite being quite a regular here.” She raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity.

“I heard about you, my buddy Mikayla would talk about this one girl who ordered the same order every time she came in – and, here you are.”

Alessia nods in confirmation,

“Hey, they served a good cup of cappuccino here – and, maybe there’s a new reason for me to keep coming back here.” She winks at him – clearly surprised herself upon the sudden flirtation going on. She examined him, as the brown eyes of his shine brightly as the attire looks adorable on him. She tries to remember him – how he looked like during classes, however, this is the first time she saw him close.

“Maybe if you play your cards right – I’ll treat you to a cappuccino made by yours truly. The best this town will ever have.” He challenges her, as she nods in resolute with a pinch of excitement in her.

Bryce nods to the customer in the back, as Alessia immediately orders her usual. A cup of cappuccino and a side of chocolate croissant.

“I’ll send it to you later.” He winks before passing the change – as Alessia returns a smile his way.

-

A couple of minutes had passed, as Alessia began to revise some of the terms in her textbook once more. Recalling each term one-by-one, before she was interrupted by the scent of coffee itself. There he was holding the tray her way, as she helped him with the contents.

“Thank you, Bryce.” She states as Bryce nods – his eyes fall onto the familiarity of the terms on the table.

“Studying for the test tomorrow?” She nods, as she took a small sip of the drink.

“Yeah – I need to get some of the terms in my mind. It's gonna be a long night – but, I got coffee.” She held on to the cup with a proud expression on her face.

Bryce laughs, his voice sounds rich to the ears as she wanted to hear it again.

“My shift ends in a little bit, but wanna study together?” His sudden question makes her froze, somehow shocked but, she nods regardless – and immediately she wanted to kick herself in the face for acting like a weirdo in front of the man.

“Yes, sure! Yes.” She replies with quite an enthusiasm before he left the table. She mentally scolds herself for the awkward replies but, smiles regardless before continuing to focus on her notes.

-

It was an hour later, as the clock strikes at 10 p.m. However, Alessia manages to get her studying done a bit – as Bryce came to her table joining her along the way.

“It's already closing time, but we could stay a bit since I’ll be closing the shop tonight.” He stated as a backpack was brought with him.

“Lahela, good luck with the test tomorrow! And, wait a minute – both you and Alessia are in the same class? It’s a small world after all.” Mikayla winks at him, as she waved goodbye at them both.

“You know her?” Bryce asked suddenly at the sudden wink which was thrown their way.

“Yes, since I become a regular – she was the one whose cappuccino I kept coming back to. And, we become quite close since then.” Bryce nods at the response.

“Well, how about I treat you to another Bryce special before we began the new session shall we?”

“Let’s see if it can beat Mikayla’s recipe shall we?” She jokes as he started to make the drinks for their late-night session.

-

“Here let me pay for the extra one.”

He stops her before the money lands on his hands.

“It’s on me – as for saying yes to this study session.” He says as she nods excitedly – sipping the drink with an astonished look on her face.

“This is much better! But, don’t tell Mikayla, she’ll kill me.” Bryce lets out a laugh, as he nods.

“My lips are sealed.” He acts as he zips his mouth before throwing the key away, making her filled with laughter.

They started to study together – and in between those moments; they began to get to know one another. In between moments, there were hidden glances and smiles, as they quiz one another in the dim light of the empty café. There were waves of laughter, smiles, and even competitive streaks between them both.

-

Hours later, it was already 1 a.m. as they finally left the café. Alessia waiting for Bryce as he closes it for the day, she smiles as he met her eyes.

“Is everything locked?”

“Done and done. Let’s go – it's already late, let me walk you back to campus.” He stated as they made their way along the pavement back to their dorms. They stopped at the front of the dorms, as they are saying goodbye.

“I had fun tonight – and studying with you was very very fun.” Alessia begins, as Bryce returns a smile to her statement.

“Hey, I did win during our rapid rounds – it was indeed very fun.”

“No, you won by half a point – it doesn’t count!”

He clicks his tongue her way, somehow they have known each other a whole lifetime – it felt comfortable being with him and honestly, she wants to see him again. Their laughter died down, as there was a silence that follows.

“Do you – maybe, wanna do this again tomorrow? After the exams, maybe at someplace other than the café?” He suddenly asks her, as she nods instantly – somehow as if he was reading her mind.

“Yes, I’d love to. But, I’ll treat you on the next meal – I know a place where they have the best food in the whole country.” She explains excitedly earning an eyebrow raised from Bryce himself.

“The best huh, well – I’ll accept, only if you let me treat you with the next cup of ala Bryce for you?”

“Deal!”

They both laugh, as they said their goodbyes. He waits for her a few moments, before going back to his room – a huge smile on his face, satisfied with the day. Little did he know, Alessia was smiling too for the same reason as well.

-

It was after the test, as they decided to meet up once again. She puts on a dress along with a jacket to complement her outfit with her hair up in a ponytail before meeting Bryce at the park for their adventure today.

“Hey!” She said, as somehow shocked at how they coordinated in their outfits today – it’s a coincidence indeed.

“Hi! Shall we began our adventure at and I quote ‘the best food in the country’ Ms. Lyxienne?” A tone of sarcasm can be heard in his voice.

She laughs as they began their adventure – and Bryce finally agrees that it is indeed one of the best food he has ever eaten, which she returns with a knowing grin on her face.

“Okay fine – you win. I’ll get you a cup then.” He rolls his eyes, however, the hint of a smile was still on his face as they made their final stop at the café once again.

They were greeted by Mikayla and Rowan who are working the night shift for the day. Alessia greeted them both, seem to know them despite not knowing that Bryce works there as well.

They sat on their seats before – somehow, a feeling of déjà vu from the day before made her smile.

“You know, as a regular – I have never seen you working here.” She begins as Bryce lets out a chuckle.

“I work only on specific days due to our studies. But, you did saw me – and here we are today.” He took a bite onto the pastry which is known as their supper for the night.

“Indeed, I would consider myself lucky than right?” She questions before taking a sip on her drink – a smile on her face.

The café becomes their usual spot together – as they grew closer every day. She wonders what if she didn’t come that night – how different their life could be, and yet here she is smiling once more – awaiting her special order by her boyfriend a few months later.

“Very lucky indeed.” He smiles back as they continue to get to know one another, for them it felt comfortable. The very definition of home, where it's warm and happy – as they talked about their future specialization that they would like to join, to topics about life. What makes them happy? What’s their favorite memory?

-

“Is it the usual?” She asks as Bryce smiles – presenting the drink on the table.

“One beautifully made cappuccino by yours truly for one beautiful lady here.” He says as he places a kiss on her cheek moving on to his other tasks.

She sips the drink slowly, as she began her study session – the feeling of déjà vu is coming back even months later and yet, she is happy with it - they are indeed very happy.

THE END.

tags: @bitchloveskcbaseball , @mvalentine , @storyofmychoices , @princess-geek , @lahellacute , @annekebbphotography , @mrsbhandari , @dcbbw , @choicessa , @fantasyoverreality98 , @baltersome , @ofpixelsandscribbles , @thundergom , @starrystarrytrouble , @kelseaaa , @choicesficwriterscreations , @lalizah , @drethanramslay , @eleanorbloom , @openheartfanfics , @brycesgirlbackup , @freckles-spangledvampire , @agentnolastname , @robintora , @adriansbiss , @appiomofchoice , @ariondevereux and @natureblooms24

[imaginesforjohnnydepp]

Violette pt. 3

@kittenlittle24​ @evelynrosestuff​ @takemepedropascal​

Violette picked up Johnny after work on Friday evening. Usually on Fridays after work, she would be soaking in her tub with a glass of champagne, candles and the classic R&B station playing in the background, which was always followed by a rigorous skincare routine that involved various masks and serums. Later, she’d dance tipsily about her apartment to Phil Collins or Fleetwood Mac. Tonight, she was sitting across from her ex husband at her rarely used round dining table eating dinner from a restaurant down the street from her place and she was actually enjoying herself. Violette told him about her job as a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital, the mounds of paperwork that sometimes kept her at work later than usual sometimes.

Johnny told her about life on movie sets, his band, and life on the road. If you didn’t know either of them, and if one of them wasn’t one of the most famous actors in the world, it would look like two old friends catching up over dinner. While Violette got a cheesecake out of the freezer, Johnny took a look around her living room; there were plaques and framed certificates on the walls, and pictures. Pictures of her college and medical school graduations, vacation photos, photos of Violette with kids (hers?), but all of them had something in common. No sign of a husband or significant other present.

“Are the kids yours?” he asked. Maybe Violette is a widow or divorced and the kids are away on summer vacation? If she has two kids then why is she living in a two bedroom apartment? “Oh, no, they’re Angela’s. The twins, Brandon and Mikayla, they were babies the last time you saw them. Brandon plays football for LSU and Mikayla plays volleyball for Nicholls State University.” They ate cheesecake (two pieces each) and they kept talking.

“So you never... remarried?” Johnny asked hesitantly. He wondered if it was too personal a question, but Violette only smiled. “No, but I was engaged in 2007 but it didn’t work out. Never had kids either. Guess it just wasn’t in the cards for me,” she answered, shrugging it off. Johnny frowned; Violette was always a catch, and still is, he couldn’t imagine any man not wanting to marry her.

Violette still looked the same despite the fact sixteen years passed, just as statuesque as the day they got married. Her smile is just as bright and her hair as curly as ever. Johnny told her about Lily-Rose and Jack, and showed pictures of them on his phone. “They’re absolutely stunning.” Violette always thought that children were the best markers of time, and now his daughter was fifteen years old.

She didn’t realize just how much time had passed since she left him. “Violette, about what happened between us... I never meant to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you, especially like that.” He remembered the media nightmare when the news broke out about their divorce and Vanessa’s pregnancy; when he discovered that Violette had left, Johnny couldn’t get ahold of her and no one knew where she could’ve gone. It was like she had vanished into thin air. “Johnny, it’s fine, really. I figured out that weren’t supposed to have kids together. I made my peace with it a long time ago.”

Johnny still hated the way things ended between them, that he couldn’t track her down to give her a proper apology. By the time desert was done, it was almost midnight and they were both tired: Violette from the long work week and Johnny from his day of travel. He helped her clean the kitchen and then they went to get ready for the night. Violette let Johnny use the bathroom connecting the two rooms first so she just changed into her pajamas and wiped off her makeup and put her hair into a low ponytail. Once the light in the bathroom cut off, she went in and did her usual nighttime routine, foregoing the masks and finished up with a serum.

Once she was back in bed, she hooked up her phone to the charger and found a few text messages and a missed called from a man she’d been seeing for a few weeks, Brian. He worked in the Children’s Hospital but he worked in the neurology department; the messages were a few hours old. She opened up the first one: Hey Beautiful, I feel like I haven’t seen you all week. You wanna grab dinner with me in the French Quarter? Then the second one: Is it cool if I swing by after my shift? It ends at one. It was twenty minutes to one, and she didn’t have the energy for late night activities (no matter how much she would like to have late night activities) so she settled on calling him. 

Brian picked up after the third ring. “I was wondering when I was going to hear from you. You mind if I swing by?” Lord knows how much she wanted to say yes. “Actually Brian, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I can’t this weekend. I have a friend visiting from out of town. He’s going through a rough patch and I invited him so he could clear his head. He’s staying with me for a week.” Violette hadn’t been seeing Brian long, and she didn’t even know if they were exclusive so it wasn’t like he could be mad at her.

Brian let out a sigh and Violette wondered if he had to turn around and go back home. “He?” Brian asked. “Yeah, but we’re just friends. We haven’t seen each other in years. She decided to leave out the part that this “friend” was her ex husband. He didn’t sound mad but it’s hard to judge peoples’ emotions when you couldn’t see their face.

They made plans to catch up once this “friend” of Violette’s left town and they hung up. Despite how tired she felt, Violette couldn’t quite bring herself to go to sleep, so she decided to see if Johnny was still up; she had a whole week planned, anything to keep his mind preoccupied. She knocked on the door. “Come in.” Johnny was ready for bed, his hair still damp from the shower.

“Hey, everything’s going to be okay Johnny. I promise. We’re going to be so busy this week you won’t even have time to think about ole what’s-her-name. Tomorrow, I was thinking that maybe we could go to the aquarium and explore downtown.” Johnny hadn’t been in New Orleans in years and anything sounded better than sitting around moping. Whenever Johnny and Violette would visit, they would sometimes stroll around the aquarium after a few puffs of a joint. They would sit in the very of the IMAX theater of whatever movie was playing and sober up, and later they would go to Café Du Monde. “That sounds great Violette, and thanks for letting me stay here.”

“You’re more than welcome Johnny.” She paused then glanced at the alarm clock. “I’ll let you go to sleep. Good night Johnny.” Violette shut the door connecting to the bathroom and Johnny had the most peaceful sleep he’d had in weeks.

[karsonisnot]

Alright, so imma try just straight text posting the chapters to my tumblr as well, seeming as it seems to work for other people, however i will leave a copy of the link on here so u guys can show some love there if u like.

https://my.w.tt/KeEgwDgCpbb

MiKayla meets Chloe and Belle for the first time after being seperated from the rest of the world almost all her life. Mikayla all of a sudden finds herself back in the old world when they explain everything that has been going on, with one goal. To take down it all.

*DISCLAIMERS*

This is not about the dream smp member, this is a time where they have grown up and had kids, which is told from their perseptive.

This was written in a time where all these people were alive story wise, so fuck it, they all lived to have kids. No, i will not be explaining where the kids come from, but they are related to their respective parent. Im just too lazy to explain it

And in this, TOMMY AND TUBBO ARE JUST FRIENDS. Stop shipping 16 year olds together, and get your life together.

Chapter one: running and hiding

Everything had been diffrent for awhile. Not that anything about chloe's life was normal to begin with, but alot was changing. Her and her family was forced into hiding a long time ago, before the first retakeover happened before she was even born.

   She had been told what had happened countless times, so many it was almost like she lived it. The manburg second rise to power. When her dad stuck around. That was, till Niki got killed in the crossfire of the war. That was when her dad grabbed his best friend and booked it, and ran so far away they would never be found, and built themselves a world out here

  She was broken from her thoughts by a chicken in her room. She didnt really think much of it till she realized there was a chicken in her room

  "What the fu-"

  "NO, GET BACK HERE"

  Her dad ran full force into the room, bewilidered.

  "THERE YOU ARE" He screamed, throwing himself at the chicken, who just dodgedhis attack.

   She fell backwards out of the way, her blond hair blocking anything that happened, until she threw it back into place and saw her dad. On the floor. With a chicken trying to eat his hair.

   She sat there and watched as her dad fought with the chicken over who owned his hair. Eventually he managed to get up and grab the chicken before it could try and flee again.

  He looked at her, and she couldnt hold back her laughter anymore. His hair was an absoulte mess and he looked like he was in extreame disstress.

  "What's so funny, what, do you wanna wrestle a fuckin chicken?" He said, shoving the chicken in her face, just causing it to go more crazy.

  "NO NO NO, I will not be fighting any chicken, thank you, please put the weapon down." She said, swatting it away.

  "Well maybe next time don't get a chicken in your room."

  "Well maybe next time dont let a chicken loose from the pin with the front door open."

  They both heard a muffled laugh come from the hallway, and saw Belle standing there. Her black hair in way better condition then either of theirs.

  "Well, she is right Tommy." She remarked, trying to look innocent.

  At that, Tommy stormed off mumbling profanities at the chicken, and went outside to put it back in its pin.

   Belle walked in and went to the window ledge, after a couple of seconds, Chloe joined her.

   "How are you this morning?"chloe said after watching her dad dump the chicken in the pin.

  "Eh, im pretty good, espically after watching that. You?"

  "Im pretty okay."

  Belle looked over at her, and saw her looking out into the forest.

  "Your thinking about going out there again, arent you?"

  "I mean, maybe."

   Belle looked at her, with a mix of emotion, mainly concern.

  "Come on man, you know thay area is off limits. We cant go out there."

  "I mean, why not? We've done it before, nothing bad ever happened, I dont understand the pararnioa around a wooded area!" Chloe said, defensively.

   Belle looked out at the scenery. The trees going over the feilds, the lake about a half mile out, not a single other thing in sight. Ever.

  "I mean, we always use to go out there at night" Chole began. "We would go out there with nothing but lanterns and we would run around, just not caring  about anything. We would play by the lake, we would talk about whatever came to mind, we would bring swords put there and practice on trees, we would do anything, and nothing would ever happen."

   Belle sighed. She was right, but they stopped going years ago to keep both their dads sane. They were paranoid about manburg or "worse" finding them. Whatever worse meant.

  "Hey, have you two seen Tommy?" A voice said from behind.

  They both turned around to find Tubbo at the doorway, looking worried.

  "He was suppose to come in after taking care of the chicken."

   He walked up to the window, and they all three started started scanning the area, to find no Tommy, anywhere.

  "Where could he have g-"

   He was cut off short by seeing Tommy run up the hill, clearly in panic.

   Tubbo ran out to the hallway just to meet Tommy in the middle.

  "Get the kids out if here. Now!" Tommy said, scrambling to his gear.

  "What, why, what goin-"

  "I DONT HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN, THEIR HERE TUBBO, GET THEM OUT, NOW!"

   Tubbo instantly turned around and met the two girls in the hallway.

  "Okay girls, with me, and hurry." He said, alreadly on his way to the back of the house

   They followed as quickly as they could, extreamly concerned and confused. Tubbo, after a little seaching, found a loose floorboard and lifted it up, inside was a backpack.

  "Okay, Chloe, take this, and grab your weapons on the way out the back, and run. Run far away from here."

  "What, why, whats going on?!" Belle said, clearly about to break down.

  "Look, keeping it short, manburg forces found this area. Just keep running North, and when we can, me and Tommy will find you, but for right now, we need to hold our ground, or risk everything in this house."

  "Wait, why not just leave too?!" Chloe said, dumbfounded they even thought of staying.

  "Because, there are things in this house we cant risk them getting, now leave please, before you cant!"

   Chloe grabbed Belle by the arm and started walking the direction of the back door.

  "WAIT!" Belle yelled, forcing chloe to let go.

   Belle ran up to her dad, and hugged him, tears starting to stream.

  "I love you dad." She said, grip tighting.

  "I love you too, honey bee, now go, Ill be there soon."

   She let go and ran back to chloe, and grabbed her sword and bow. Chloe took her axe and took for the back door with Belle.

  "BE GOOD TO HER CHLOE" she heard Tubbo yell before the door fully shut.

   They both took down the hill as fast they could. And ran for the forest. When they were finally there, they stopped for a second to take things in.

   First mistake made that night.

  "WHO'S OVER THERE!" They heard a man say, right before turning and being met with a crossbow

   Chloe grabbed Belle and took off in the opposite direction, not knowing if she was going the right way.

  "GET THEM!"

  Chloe cursed under her breath and looked at Belle, who was now running right next to her. They both knew what to do. They were taught in this circumstance, move in a difficult way.

   Bella all if a sudden split off, and Chloe, hoping they wernt near, grabbed on to a tree and climbed into the leaves.

  Guess sneaking out did pay off in the end.

  Only about two minute later, she saw people move underneath.

  "Where did they go?" A woman said.

  "Dont know, but they cant have gone far." A male voice spoke out.

   Chloe stayed still, trying to not make them look up, because if she did, her khaki colored jeans and red jacket wouldnt blend in the best.

  Chloe looked around and saw something else in the trees. After a few seconds, Belles face appeared through the leaves, making direct eye contact with her. They both did there best to communicate with their eyes, but it wasnt going to work wothout their hands being able to move.

  "What do we do, sir?" The female said, speaking up.

  "Split up, their teens, they cant do anything to us, so split up and find their hiding spot."

  They heard movement happen below them, and after a while of not hearing them, they jumped down.

  Chloe, pointed in a direction, next to asking if they should go that way with her face. Belle proceeded to do neck swipey thingy with her hand and pointed the other direction. Chloe nodded, not wanting to argue silently with her.

  They both went in that direction, weapins in hand, waiting for something to happen. But nothing ever did. And they eventually put away the weapons and started talking

  "Do you know where the fuck we're going?" Chloe asked, clearly done with all of this.

  "Nope, not a clue."

  "Oh great, this is gonna go extreamly well."

   They went on for hours. And hours. And hours. Till eventually they needed to stop. They came upon this rocky cliff and decided to sit there, and rest for a short while.

  "I cant fucking beilive this, i thought we were safe from all of that shit." Chloe said, sitting down next to belle.

  "I really dont know why."

  Belle sat there and thought, letting her mind wonder on what just happened and what could have possibly happened. Their parents could have fended them off, saved the day, and be on their way here right now. But, on the oppsite side, what if they lost. What if they were taken in. Or worse, what if they were de-

  "What's that." Chloe said, breaking her thought trail.

  Clhoe was pointing at the rock, and after an embarrsing amount of seconds, Belle found it. It was

  "A button."

  Chloe got up at the mention of anything clickable, and walked towards it. Belle knew what was about to happen.

  "Uh, maybe dont press the mys-"

  Too late.

  All of a sudden, a part of the wall started opening and Belle got up in response. She turned to see a giant hole being made into a cavern. A lit cavern.

  "Holy shit." Chloe said, stunned.

  "Sho- should we really go in there?" Belle said, clearly scared if whats inside.

  "Oh come on, stop being a pussy. After all, our lives could be ruined, why not risk it"

  Chloe took a soild pace towards the entrace, Belle scrambling to catch up, not wanting to be left behind. When they got inside, the doors shut alot faster then it could open. But before they could even blink, they heard a voice.

"Dad, is that you?"

[calumance]

LA Devotee - Part XV

Warnings: a hint of phone sex?, cussing, drinking

Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: Emily has a sleepover with Mikayla to keep herself occupied while Calum is on tour.

A/N: I’M SORRY I’M LATE, but since I’m still wake, IT’S STILL SATURDAY. I hope you all enjoy, this is one of my favorite  chapters. 🥰🥰💖💖(Feedback and requests are always welcomed!!! Want to be tagged? Let me know!)

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part XIV

Masterlist

        Trevor dropped Mikayla off at work on Friday morning, an overnight bag in tow. Just as quickly as she walked into the office I walked her out so she could drop her bag into my car. I looked at my keys as we walked together and I thought back to when I had asked Calum if Mikayla could stay the night. When I had asked him, he made it a point to act like I had asked him the most incredibly silly question he had ever heard. “I know how lonely that house can get, I don’t blame you for wanting her to come over,” were his exact words.

        After work, Mikayla followed me out to the parking garage, both pairs of heels clacking on the ground and echoing through the garage. I looked up as I unlocked Calum’s car, I wasn’t sure why, but there was something inside me that made me want to drive his car, maybe it was because it smelled like him. “Is it weird being in his house alone?” Mikayla asked me after we had been silent as I pulled out of the parking garage, and turned onto the main road.

        I shrugged and concentrated on the road in front of me. “Kind of,” My fingers wrapped around the steering wheel as I thought about how much I actually miss him. “It’s weird not waking up next to him, or falling asleep next to him. I guess I got too used to it.” I ran my left hand through my hair as I leaned my elbow against the window. “Plus, Duke is there, so I’m not completely alone.” Duke was good at keeping me company, he always curled up in my lap, or slept in the bend of my knees. However, as much as I loved Duke’s cuddles, they would never compare to the feeling as Calum’s arms wrapped around my waist and his chest pressed to my back.

        Mikayla smiled, “I’ve been trying to convince Trevor of getting a dog since we moved six months ago, but he won’t go for it. I’m excited to meet Duke. He’s so cute from the pictures you’ve shown me.” I smiled and turned the radio up a little louder as I drove towards the house. Mikayla and I danced to the radio, our favorite song playing as I drove up the hill. We hadn’t had a girls night since shortly after I moved here.

My first day in the office she was the first one to say anything to me. “I mean, I sit across from you, so I might as well introduce myself. My name is Mikayla, and you must be Emily. They’ve been talking about you coming here for a while now.” That day she had worn a floral top that was mostly black, and had silky sleeves. She was wearing black leggings, and a pair of tiger print heels. I had been so jealous of her fashion sense, but the jealousy was short lived when she took me shopping and rebuilt my entire wardrobe. Her long brown hair had a slight curl at the end, and her blue eyes were accented by some mascara, her thin lips tinted by her pale pink lipstick. I reached my hand towards her with a smile and told her it was nice to meet her. We hung out for the first time that weekend, and I guess it’s history after that.

I shifted the car into park as I pulled into the driveway. Mikayla reached behind her and grabbed her overnight bag out of the backseat. We walked into the house, Duke greeting us with a wagging tail. Mikayla squealed in joy and picked him up as I set Calum’s car keys in the bowl by the door. Duke slobbered all over Mikayla’s face as I made my way through the kitchen and to the back door to slide it open, allowing Duke to go in and out as he pleased. Mikayla set him back on the ground and he ran outside. “What sounds good for dinner?” I asked as I turned to the fridge, pulling out two drinks.

Mikayla hummed as she took one of the drinks, “Maybe we should order some Chinese food, like old times.” She smiled and twisted her hand around the cap to open the drink. “We can order Chinese food and get all tipsy and just have a good night.” The first night we ever had an adult sleepover was at her house, a couple weeks after we met. Trevor had gone on a business trip and Mikayla wanted someone to keep her company. She invited me over, and we ordered a large amount of Chinese food, and drank a large amount of wine. The main thing I remember from that day was Trevor waking me up on the couch laughing because it took him an hour to wake me up. A smiled stretched across my face, I liked the idea of repeating that night, maybe not exactly, but something close to it. I tilted my bottle forward and clinked with hers before we both washed back our drinks.

After Mikayla hung up the phone, placing the food order, I went through Calum’s bedroom for a speaker. He has to have one somewhere, right? As if he read my mind, my phone started ringing, his picture showing up causing me to smile from ear to ear. “Hey, love.” I sat on the end of the bed and listened for his voice.

“Hey, sunshine. How’s your sleepover going?” There were a couple voices behind him, sounding like he was hanging out with the guys.

I ran my hand through my hair and looked around the bedroom. “Funny you ask that. I’m trying to find a Bluetooth speaker so we can listen to music. I was looking in the bedroom, but I can’t find one.”

“There should be one in my music room. Check on the desk. What are you and Mikayla going to do tonight?” Michael started to yell behind Calum and Calum sighed, “Michael says hi.”

As I exited the bedroom, I let out a chuckle. “Tell him I say hi back.” I crossed the threshold into Calum’s music room and flicked on the light switch. “We ordered some Chinese food. Back when we first became friends, we had this night where we ordered some Chinese food and got all wine drunk, so we’re thinking about having a night like that.” I eyed the desk and found the Bose speaker sitting on his desk. “Oh, I found a Bose speaker, is it okay if I use it for tonight? I’ll put it back tomorrow.”

Calum chuckled, “Yeah, you can use it, sunshine. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but that’s your house too. That’s what happens when you move in with someone.”

I grabbed the speaker off the desk and used my elbow to switch off the light as I made my way back down the hallway. “I know, but it’s still your stuff.” I close my eyes thinking about how my ex would react when I would move his things. Nathan would always get mad for moving things without asking, or using something that he ‘worked so hard for,’ even though we had a shared bank account. Sure, he worked hard for it, but so did I. As I set the speaker on the counter, Mikayla came out of the bathroom, wearing sweatpants, an oversized t-shirt, and her hair bundled on the top of her head in a messy bun. Our normal girl’s night outfit.

“Oh, tell Calum I say hi!” Mikayla bounced up and down, clapping her hands.

Calum sighed, “My stuff is your stuff too, Emily, that’s what happens when you’re in a relationship, and when you move into someone’s home.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” After nodding to Mikayla, I dropped my head and turned away from her. “That’s not how my last relationship was, thank you, Calum.” I turned and looked at Mikayla behind me who was begging for me to tell him hell for her. “Mikayla says hi.” She pulled her elbow back in satisfaction and walked into the living room.

“Tell her hi back.” He chuckled, but then collected himself to appropriately display his seriousness through the phone, “I’m sorry that your last relationship was so terrible, but, that’s not how our relationship is going to be, okay?” He was quiet. My heart raced as I thought about telling him how much I loved him, but the doorbell interrupted that thought. “I’m going to let you go, sunshine. Have a fun sleepover, call me in the morning.”

My heart skipped a beat at his tone. “Did I do something wrong?” I ran my hand across the back of my neck as I walked down the hallway towards the bedroom.

“No, sunshine, I just wish I was there. You have fun with Mikayla, okay?” Calum’s voice was soft, and suddenly, I felt like crying. “Call me in the morning, love.”

“Yeah, I’ll call you in the morning. Have a good night, Cal.” It was quiet for a few seconds before he said his goodbye and hung up. I looked at my phone for another second before sliding it into my pocket and going into the bedroom to put on an outfit that matched Mikayla’s: a pair of sweatpants and one of Calum’s t-shirts that was even big on him.

We sat on the couch, the Chinese food sprawled across the entirety of the coffee table. Music playing softly in the background, for now. We washed back our third drink as another episode of The Office played on the TV. As soon as we finished eating, and the alcohol began to course through our veins, we turned the speaker as loud as we could. Dancing in the living room, using our bottles as fake microphones. My head started spinning from the alcohol and I sat on the couch, placing my hand on my forehead. My breath was labored from the dancing, proving just how unfit I actually am. Mikayla threw herself on the couch next to me with a laugh. I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t think Calum loves me back.” The alcohol had completely dissolved my filter now.

Mikayla looked at me, her chest heaving from the dancing as well. “What makes you think he doesn’t love you back?” Her eyebrows were pulled together.

My head was spinning. I wasn’t even sure why I thought that, there was really no reason to think that. I let out a laugh and Mikayla looked at me more confused than before. “I don’t actually know. It’s like there’s a tiny voice inside my head trying to convince me that he doesn’t love me, let alone like me. As hard as I try to shut the voice out, it won’t shut up.”

Mikayla readjusted her head and she took a deep breath. “It’s called trauma. That voice, I mean. Your last relationship was shitty, we all know that, but you gotta stop letting it come back and take control over everything you do.” She closed her eyes but then reopened them and turned her head towards me. “I know you told me how badly you want to tell him in person, but maybe you should tell him anyway?”

I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her, so just shook my head. “No, I want to wait until we see each other in person. Look, I don’t want to talk about this right now, I don’t know why I brought it up, can we keep dancing and drinking? I want to stop over thinking everything.” Mikayla cracked open another drink for me and turned the music back on. After the tenth drink, I don’t quite remember what else happened.

When I woke up, my head was absolutely pounding, but I felt a cold sensation on my cheek. My eyes opened and I was on the floor of the living room, my cheek pressed firmly against the hard wood floor. After blinking a few times, I pushed myself up so my back was against the couch and Mikayla snored slightly when I accidently nudged her arm which was hanging over the edge of the couch. My hands connected with my face as I fought the headache surging through my brain. My phone sat on the table and I reached forward, it was noon and Calum had called me three times, left me a voice message, and sent me a text. I checked the text message first. “I thought you’d wake up before me, I guess not. We have an interview at 2 and a performance after that, should be available for a Face Time date tonight, though. Miss you. Xx Cal.” Based off the time, he was probably performing right now. Next, I listened to the voicemail. “Hey, sugar. Hope you had a fun night, guess it must’ve been fun if you still haven’t called me. We’re about to step into the interview. Text me when you wake up.” My eyes shut tightly, he didn’t sound super thrilled that I hadn’t called him yet.

I mumbled to myself for being so stupid as I opened my messaging app and typed out my message. “Fuck, Calum. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me last night, I don’t even remember passing out, I hope you’re not mad at me. Call me when your performance is over, good luck, my love!” I dropped my phone to my side and ran my hands down my face. All I could think of doing was jumping into the pool and hoping it would dissolve my hangover. I pushed myself off the ground, grabbing my phone at the same time. When I opened the door, Duke ran off to the grass patch. My phone bounced as I tossed it onto a chair near the pool. I discarded my shirt and sweatpants and jumped into the pool. The cool sensation of water washed over my body, making the headache subside slightly.

I floated at the top of the water for a while until the muffled sound of my phone ringing made its way to my ears. My arms frantically flailed through the water and to the edge so I could push myself out of the pool. I knew it was Calum before I saw him on the screen. The only thing that surprised me was that it wasn’t an audio call, it was a Face Time call. As I answered, I ran the t-shirt I was wearing down my face. Calum came into view, he was wearing sunglasses and, from what I could tell, he was in a car. His face lit up when he saw me. “Good afternoon, sunshine. Did you have fun last night?” He ran a ring clad finger over his lips, suppressing a laugh.

My hand ran backwards through my hair smoothing it down more than it was from the water. “I don’t even remember if I had a good time. I feel like such an idiot, I’m so sorry I didn’t call you this morning. Do you hate me?” I laughed, even though the question was completely serious.

He shook his head, then pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. “I could never hate you. I’m glad you had fun, my love. I, too, swim to get rid of a hangover, it’s actually the best cure. You know, for being completely hungover, you look absolutely gorgeous.” He looked at the camera matter-of-factly.

My cheeks flushed a soft pink and I laughed, covering my face. “Thanks. I slept on the floor last night, in the living room. Like, I woke up on the floor., my face was smooshed against the ground. Mikayla is still passed out on the couch. I don’t even know what happened.” I rubbed my eyes and laughed looking at Calum. I just wanted to reach through the phone and touch him. I missed the feeling of his skin against mine, whether it was because his chest was pressed against mine, or if because my fingertips were gently grazing across his cheek.

He reached up and pushed his sunglasses down, back to his nose. “Can’t even tell you how many mornings I’ve had like that. Are we still on for a Face Time date tonight?” I nodded and sat on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in the water. “Great. I’ll call you at, like, nine my time.” I counted on my fingers to figure out what time that would be here, then nodded. Just then, the car stopped, a door opened and there was screaming. “I have to go, sunshine.” He kissed his finger, then pressed that finger to the camera, and then hung up. I tossed my phone back on the chair, and then tossed myself back into the pool.

Mikayla finally woke up around two, and showered before Trevor came and picked her up around three. He wasn’t surprised in the least that she was incredibly hungover. Honestly, I don’t think anyone was, except for me. Once Mikayla left I texted Calum, “How should I dress for our Face Time date?” As I waited for Calum to text me back, I downed an entire glass of water. My phone dinged and I read his message, breathing heavily from downing the entire glass of water. “However you’d like, sunshine. I probably won’t be wearing anything, if we’re being honest.” I choked on the air and sat my phone down, holding my hand to my chest. “Oh Jesus, Calum, are you trying to kill me?” I said to myself after gasping for air.

I finished microwaving some of the Chinese food we had left over and plopped myself on the couch, wearing a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. My phone started to ring and my heart skipped a beat. My fingers slowly wrapped around my phone wondering if he actually wasn’t wearing anything. I set my food on the coffee table and answered the call. When he came into view. I could only see from his chest up, but he definitely wasn’t wearing a shirt. I licked my lips at the thought of him actually being nude, but smiled and greeted him. “Hey, handsome.”

He blushed slightly and smiled hard enough that the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes appeared. “Hello, my love. What are you up to?” He leaned back, the lights of the television lighting up his face. His phone must’ve been propped against something, because I could see his entire torso as he leaned back.

“Just microwaved some left over Chinese food, watching The Office, because that’s literally all I ever do, if you didn’t know that. What are you watching?” I propped my phone up on the coffee table and sat back with my container in my hand.

“I don’t even know, to be honest. It was on when I turned on the TV. Mostly turned it on for background noise.” He looked at the phone with a coy smirk. “I wasn’t lying about what I said earlier.” He arms moved back and forth as if he was rubbing his hands along his legs.

I stopped chewing, and looked at the phone, raising an eyebrow. “What are you trying to get at, Hood?”

“You,” He said while laughing. “I’m trying to get at you, Williams.” He mocked me by using my last name, and suddenly my heart started to race.

My legs dropped off the couch and I bent over to pick up my phone. I suddenly felt self-conscious, something that I rarely felt in front of Calum. “I’ve never done anything like that – this. What should I do?”

He picked up his phone as well and ran his hand through his hair. “Find a place that you’re comfortable. Do you feel more comfortable in the living room or in the bedroom?” I bit my bottom lip and looked around the completely empty house. No matter the fact that it was empty, I most definitely felt more comfortable in the bedroom. Without responding, I pushed myself off the couch and walked down the hallway. After I shut the door, I sat on the bed, my back pressed against the headboard. There must’ve been a look on my face, because Calum sighed, but in a forgiving way, “Sunshine, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, I do. I’ve just never done anything like this. I might just need a little help.” I ran my hand through my hair and bit my bottom lip, feeling my cheeks flush red.

“I can help you, if you want that is.” His pupils dilated, and I nodded, feeling my stomach flutter. He started off slow, his voice was soft, never once making me feel uncomfortable. As the phone call continued on, everything picked up pace. I reveled in his hushed voice, and his face when his eyes closed and his head leaned back and his Adam’s Apple bounced as he swallowed a groan. He was everything I’ve ever wanted; this was everything I’ve ever wanted.

We were silent for a minute until Calum smiled and cleared his throat. “I thought about you all day today.”

I sat up and grabbed his sweatshirt and pulled it over my head. “Did you?” I smirked and grabbed my phone as I headed out the bedroom door, back into the living room. “What did you think about?”

He hummed and laid his head back on the white pillows I was becoming accustomed to. “How beautiful you are, how much I wish I was there, how much I miss you.” His eyes started to close, the exhaustion starting to take over.

I plopped myself onto the couch and smiled at him. “I miss you too, so much. I wish you were here, I think that would’ve been better if you were here.” I raised an eyebrow and he chuckled, his eyes still closed. “Get some sleep, my love. I’ll leave the call going for a little while. I’ll hang up in an hour or so.” He nodded and placed the phone on the empty side of his bed and pulled the comforter up to his chin. Without another word, he was fast asleep.

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

Tag list: @notinthesameguey​ @viiirg0​ @thinkofmehlgh​ @another-lonely-heart​ @limer-encia​ @itsmytimetoodream​

[prettywordsyouleft]

Too Early

Summary: with your sister staying over at a friend’s house, you had expected silence for a change in the morning. However, you woke up to music much like you always did. Except, it wasn’t hers.

Pairing: Park Sungjin x reader

Genre: neighbours to lovers au / fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: I wrote this the night my sister stayed over at a friend’s house. I was so relieved for a night’s break after how difficult she and her autism has been lately. I wasn’t going to share this but she was so delighted that I wrote this about her mannerisms that she has begged me to share it. Because I wrote this with her specific behaviour in mind, it may seem a little ridiculous to someone who’s not aware of how a child with autism can be.

Word count: 3759

“Okay, have a good time, sweetie!” you called as your autistic sister Hayley ran off with her best friend into her house, and after sharing a knowing smile with her mother, you said your goodbyes, heading back out to your car and climbed inside.

As soon as the door was closed, you let out a big sigh of relief.

You loved your sister, of course, it was a given that you would do anything for her. Especially since it was just you and her now. Life had changed over the last year a great deal and you were still finding your feet. It wasn’t that you couldn’t handle the challenge of raising the thirteen year old or that you hadn’t played a huge part in Hayley’s life before she came to live with you permanently, but you definitely couldn’t dismiss the changes you had made to become her guardian either.

And tonight you would have the entire house to yourself. You felt a little reckless as you pulled out into the traffic, chewing on your bottom lip in anticipation. What would you have for dinner? You didn’t have to concern yourself over her finicky eating habits so could cook whatever you felt compelled to eat. And you could even pull out the tub of ice-cream you had buried deep in the back of the freezer for a guilt-free treat, knowing that she would be none-the-wiser of its existence and eat it all on you like usual.

You didn’t feel selfish about being happy for a night of freedom since you missed the simple pleasures of how peaceful life had been before the tweenager moved in. Once in a blue moon, you allowed yourself to feel deserving of such a night alone like this. Of course, you’d miss Hayley, you always did because it felt weird when she wasn’t holed up in her room on her devices or complaining at you about something you did or didn’t do. You had become too accustomed to the life filled with typical teenage entitlements and not having to hear about them for one night would be really refreshing.

You fist-pumped the air when you realised that tomorrow you could sleep in until you woke up on your own accord, embarrassment licking at your face as you darted your gaze to the neighbouring vehicle at the set of lights you were stopped at who was watching you curiously. Calming yourself some, you smiled all the way home, grateful that sleepovers still interested your sister.

You hoped she would love spending time with her friends for the rest of her teenage years as well.

Once inside your home, you turned on some music and enjoyed preparing your dinner. And just as planned, you dug into the back of the freezer an hour after dinner, taking the tub of ice-cream over to the sofa where you spent the rest of your evening until you were ready for bed.

Smoothing down your blankets after you were nestled deep inside your happy bubble, you smiled to yourself about tomorrow morning. You wouldn’t be woken by music at the crack of dawn. No, there would be no thumping, no giggling, no endless chatter that you were used to from the high energy of your sister each morning. Six am would come and go in silence.

This reassuring thought was the last thing you basked in before slipping into your dreams, where you remained until you heard thumping.

Music.

Muffled voices.

Were you dreaming?

Rolling over with a groan, you blearily opened your eyes just enough to see the time on your phone you had grabbed off your nightstand. Another disgruntled noise left you when realised it wasn’t even seven-thirty in the morning yet.

You would murder whoever it was.

Turning on your wifi access, you scrolled through your phone for the app that controlled the television. You frowned when it didn’t connect like usual, realising it wasn’t your TV playing the bass at all.

No, that sounded like an actual bass drum thumping in tune. What on earth was happening? Getting up, you put your dressing robe on over your oversized tee, padding through your home to ensure your sister wasn’t playing some wicked prank on you somehow. Now alert, you knew she wasn’t home, and yet you checked every room, soon realising the music was coming from outside of your home.

Who the hell would be playing music this early in the morning if it weren’t for your sister?!

Pushing your feet into your slippers, you opened the front door, looking towards the only other townhouse in this corner of the property. You knew someone lived there, though admittedly you hadn’t met them yet. The other residents in the complex were on the opposite side of the grassy courtyard, and you had been grateful there was some distance between you and your neighbours with how loud it could be in your home at times.

You hadn’t once thought your neighbour could be the cause of such ruckus as well.

Taking a deep breath, you marched over to their front door, climbing the small three steps to it before knocking. Of course, over the music, you doubted they would hear you, so you thumped on it harder, cursing under your breath when there was still no answer. You spun around to leave, and then the music stopped, the door opening behind you.

When you turned around again, you could only gape at what you saw.

And your expression was mirrored by the man who stood there. With ears turning red, he then diverted his eyes to the morning skies, giving you enough time to gather up your robe more firmly around yourself.

Trust you to meet your hot neighbour in your bedclothes.

Well, you hoped he was your neighbour at least.

“Uh hi,” you managed, cringing all the same. “What’s with the music? It’s Saturday morning and everyone’s trying to sleep.”

“Oh, are you from next door? Hayley’s sister?” the man asked, now recovered from your appearance. You merely stared at him, stunned he knew of your sister but you had no idea who he was.

Then again, that was expected. Your sister seemed to know everyone and they knew her. It was an intrinsic trait of hers that you would never comprehend.

Finally, you nodded swiftly and he grinned at you, sticking his hand out. “I’m Sungjin.”

“Right, and you’re also making a lot of noise,” you stated, slipping your hand into his. You tried to not be obvious when you were surprised by how warm his palm was against yours. “Uh, I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“I didn’t think noise was a big issue at this time of the morning for you. Sorry, did we wake you? It’s just we have an important gig today at one so we thought we’d start practice now since it’s normally not a problem.”

“What do you mean it’s not normally a problem?”

Sungjin chuckled awkwardly before leaning forward. “Your house is usually loud by now.”

On the one morning where you had hoped for silence, your reputation, or your sister’s reputation would lead you into this situation. You clasped your forehead within your hand, trying to keep it together.

And then a second guy arrived in the threshold, his eyes widening at your clothing choice. You groaned inwardly, he was just as handsome as Sungjin. He looked between you and his friend. “Hayley’s sister?”

“Oh my God,” you breathed, shaking your head a little. “Does everyone know my sister in this area? Why don’t I know a thing about you guys?”

“Well, it’s just that she answered the door one morning when I moved in. She told us it’s totally cool to make noise in the mornings as she’s an early riser.”

“She’s thirteen,” you explained, clamping your eyes shut. “Maybe you should have asked for an adult?”

“Oh, she said you’re a heavy sleeper and wouldn’t get up even for the dead, right Brian?”

“Clearly she’s not though,” the other guy, now known as Brian mentioned, nudging his friend before smiling graciously at you. “Hey, we’re really sorry if we woke you, we didn’t mean to. We just have a-”

“Gig, I know,” you cut in, nodding. You went to say something else and then thought better of it, smiling weakly before dashing off down their pathway and back up your own. You could feel eyes on you the whole way until you were back inside your home and you let out a small scream, stomping into your room.

It was reasonable to be this frustrated right? After all, who had band practice before eight in the morning – important performance or not! And although she wasn’t present right now, you were ready to sit down and have a chat with your sister. How had you as a light sleeper not heard her open the front door and talk to strangers? You panicked over the idea of what else you were inadvertently letting her do and doubted your parenting skills. You had honestly believed all the noise each morning was her, and since she was so good at talking to herself or replying to the people in the Youtube shows she watched, you had missed the potential risk of her opening the front door more than once.

You were too wound up for sleep now.

Yet it was quiet next door until an hour later, where you heard the music start up again.

At least the sun was fully in the skies this time around.

“I’m coming to pick you up,” you told the girl over the phone and Hayley didn’t answer you right away, her friend’s voice in the background barely heard over some music. “Hayley, did you hear me?”

“Can you come into town instead? I’m with Mikayla and her older sister and it would be nice to have some time with you outside of the house for once.”

You almost scoffed. You could barely encourage the child away from the confines of her bedroom some days. All the same, you collected your keys from the stand in the hallway and slung your bag over your shoulder. “I’ll text you when I’m nearby so you can direct me to you.”

You didn’t need much help finding whereabouts in town your sister would be when you arrived. There was music thumping around the town’s square, a makeshift stage now in the middle of the area. A lot of people, both intentionally there for the performance and those who were passing by and curiously stopped to see what was happening, filled the square and you moved through them, looking for the teenager and her friend.

Instead, you saw someone familiar climb up onto the stage, guitar in hand. Stopping, you watched as Brian followed Sungjin and three others took to their positions, your mouth falling ajar at the fact that they were really performing. Sure, you had heard their music in the background of your morning routine, but you hadn’t been prepared to actually see them perform today. Without much thought, you moved through the crowd to get a better view, vaguely aware of your name being called out when your sister excitedly latched herself onto your arm.

“You made it just in time to watch Day-Six!”

“Who?” you breathed, staring back up at Sungjin and his other band members when the music you had heard muffled through the walls was amplified around the square.

You much preferred it this way. Their music was really good and before you realised it, you were smiling, moving along to the beat of the song. Day6 played three other songs before their set was up, and your sister clapped loudly beside you.

It brought you out of your stupor. “You should have told me about the guys next door.”

“Why? You’d just tell them to turn down their music in the morning too and I like listening when they do play. It’s not very often I hear their music.”

“No, because your own is loud enough,” you retorted with a smile and Hayley giggled.

“They’re really nice. Sungjin said I can call him my brother.”

“You need to have better stranger danger skills,” you chided, though you looked to the guy in question, Brian now pointing you and Hayley out in the crowd. Sungjin smiled and waved, in which your sister began to bounce up and down at your side flailing her arms back in greeting. And then before you could stop her, she was propelling you over to the band now at the side of the stage packing up their equipment.

Hayley leapt into Brian’s arms and you rubbed the back of your neck nervously.

“So uh, she’s that close with you all, huh?”

“I’m sorry about this morning, truly. I honestly should have done what you suggested as an adult. But she’s pretty friendly.”

“Yeah, she’s been that way her whole life. We’ve never been able to quite keep her under control. She probably knows more people in this world than I will ever get to know.”

“She seems like a good kid. You’re doing really well by her.”

“Even though I didn’t know about her spending time with my neighbour?” you offered and Sungjin chuckled, nodding softly.

“If it eases you any, most of her interactions are when she is in the backyard. She likes to hang-”

“Over the fence,” you finished for him and Sungjin grinned.

“You have a bad habit of finishing sentences for others.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve heard about it. If she’s any trouble-”

“None, honestly.” You shared a smile with Sungjin when your sister reappeared, hugging the man comfortably before coming to your side. “Sis, who do you like the most? I think that Sungjin or Brian might be a good fit for your next boyfriend.”

“Time to go!” you breathed, yanking on her arm as your cheeks flared up.

“What, why?! You need to date and find a nice guy who will help look after both of us!” Hayley whined, allowing you to drag her off back to where her friend and older sister waited. It still wasn’t enough space between you and Sungjin, trying not to let your mortification truly show.

Your sister didn’t know any better.

Three months passed by and you definitely knew your neighbours now. You found out that only Brian and Sungjin lived there, Jae, Wonpil and Dowoon commuting from another apartment to the townhouse whenever they had to practice.

Which, they hadn’t done so early in the morning since.

Somehow, you had convinced your sister into wearing noise-cancelling headphones in the morning to enjoy her music, and whilst she still giggled and chatted, it definitely wasn’t as bad as before. You could comfortably sleep until seven before you got up to help her with her daily routine.

Everything seemed to be going well for you both.

Until you turned up on Sungjin’s front doorstep, arms across what was a very soaked through top. Like he had the first time you met him, he took you in and then darted his eyes to the heavens, no doubt asking why he was being tested so early in the day again.

“I need help.”

“You need to stop turning up on my doorstep like this,” he murmured and you shook your head, gaining his attention. “Is Hayley okay?”

“She’s fine, she stayed at her friend’s house again,” you quickly explained, pulling a hand away from your chest long enough to reach for his wrist. “I need you to come help me.”

Once back in your house, you took Sungjin to the sink that was spluttering water everywhere. He glanced at you and then back at the sink, diving in to fix it. Nothing was really working and you watched as more water soaked through the towels on the floor and Sungjin’s clothes as well.

“The water main is outside, do you know where it is?” he yelled over the increasing water level and you nodded, dashing outside and pulling the lever you found in the box. When you returned to the house, you found a sodden Sungjin standing above the now quiet sink.

And you began to laugh.

“I’m sorry!” you managed in between your giggles, the man wiping the water away from his face slowly. “It’s just that you’re soaked through.”

“So are you,” he pointed out, glancing at you and smirking. “You have a lot more to lose out on right now than me.”

“I don’t know about that,” you mentioned, eyes now on his silhouette shaping through his sodden clothes. Had he really housed all that under his clothing? You took in a shallow breath, feeling reckless as you moved closer to him, Sungjin not hesitating to take you in his arms, lips crashing down on yours.

The sensation of burning skin against the cold as your lips meshed with his was overwhelming and you let out a moan, deepening the embrace. Now entrapped against the sink and Sungjin’s body, you couldn’t help but gasp into the kiss when you felt the water from the overflowing sink run down your back.

Sungjin pulled away to see why you had arched into him so quickly, an apologetic smile crossing his swollen lips. “Cold?”

“Hot,” you admitted as the flush of colour reached your cheeks and he nodded in answer, letting you know he felt the same way.

“What do we do about the water?”

“Which body of water?” you wondered, trying to shake off the heady stupor from the moment. You then saw where he was looking and nodded. “Right, the water covering my entire kitchen.”

Sungjin grinned, his hands that were on your waist tightened a little. “Well, which problem do you want to face first?”

“This was a problem?”

“Only with the fact that we’re wet,” he told you, looking down at your chest momentarily. “I want to be decent with you at least in the beginning.”

“Isn’t it a little too late now? I think I’ve seen more than enough,” you responded though Sungjin’s expression left you wondering what more would be waiting underneath those clothes. You couldn’t believe how sinful your thoughts were being at eight in the morning.

Especially with someone you had been rather cautious with ever since your sister had tried to hook you both up. Still, you had never ignored the fact that he was handsome, with his sturdy build and gentle smiles.

“Let’s clear the water up first,” Sungjin announced and you nodded, welcoming some clarity into the situation.

It was quick work and with the help of a few towels, a mop and bucket, and Sungjin, the kitchen was as dry as it would be for now. Though you were definitely cold from your damp clothing. And with the way Sungjin held himself when he placed the mop into the bucket a final time, you could tell he was as well.

“You need to change,” you instructed, Sungjin chewing on his bottom lip. He nodded slowly, allowing you to take him to your front door before spinning around to face you.

“The water is turned off here, what will you do until the repairman comes? You need to shower to warm up too.”

“I’ll just dry off with-”

“A towel? We used your entire dry stash.” It amused you that he finished off your sentence and Sungjin chuckled. “I guess I learned it from you.”

“Maybe we think the same?”

“I hope we do,” he agreed and you smiled, reaching around for the keys on the stand beside him.

“So, your shower?”

“Grab a change of clothing and then come over.”

“Is Brian at home?” you wondered, suddenly turning shy. It was one thing to let Sungjin see you in a vulnerable state; it was another entirely for his housemate to also be privy.

He shook his head with a smile. “Just me.”

“I’ll be there in five.”

Once showered, you shyly exited the bathroom, smelling just like Sungjin’s body wash. It seemed to have an affect on him, and the man all but dashed by you, making you giggle at the idea of him struggling with some internal desire.

You didn’t want to admit you liked the idea that you unravelled some of his modesty. Since he was definitely doing the same to you, it only seemed fair. His shower didn’t seem to take long at all, the man reappearing with fresh clothes and a towel rubbing through his hair. You smiled at the sight and Sungjin sighed, shaking his head at you.

“If you don’t dry your hair off, you’ll catch a cold with how long we were wet for. Come here,” he said, pulling the towel from his hair to yours. You smiled up at him as he towel-dried your hair, the soft moment soon morphing back into another passionate embrace.

You couldn’t get enough now that this had started.

But then you were interrupted again, this time by a knock at the door.

Sungjin went to answer it, a familiar voice ringing through the house. You went to find your sister on the doorstep. “What are you doing home?! I was going to pick you up later.”

“Didn’t you get my text? Mikayla’s Mum needed to go out so she dropped me home early. How come you’re over here? And did you both have a shower?”

You waited for your sister to jump to bigger conclusions than what you were actually up to, eyes wide with panic as you looked at Sungjin.

And then Hayley shrugged. “Can we go home now? I need to check Roblox.”

“Sure… we can,” you answered jarringly, fare-welling Sungjin before taking the girl next door.

And just like that, she disappeared from your sight into her bedroom, the hum of her music starting up like usual.

Going back to the front door, you looked over to where Sungjin still stood. He grinned. “Nothing?”

“Nope!”

“Kids,” he called back and you nodded.

It was all because of your sister that you had been introduced to the next-door neighbour. Although your first meeting hadn’t been the best way to meet someone new, you didn’t mind where it was heading now. Sure, you didn’t know how Hayley would react when she found out; she was always a mystery with big changes.

But she had wanted you to find someone who would look out for you both.

And you were certain that Sungjin would continue to do just that.

_________________

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[angrylizardjacket]

let us cling together {Roger Taylor}

aka: we only see each other at weddings and funerals

A/N: aydtd 'verse. my grandfather died on Friday and yesterday was his funeral, and this came to me. I just want to appreciate the concept of family, not all family, because sometimes family is shitty and terrible, but sometimes they're pretty alright. Anyways. death and funeral tw !!

1. Douglas Clarke

Ash isn't invited to her father's second wedding, not that he would know where to send the invite. Her parents had split in the early 80s, polarised by the fight between Minnie and Ellie, their youngest twin daughters. What followed was a messy divorce, both parents sinking deeper into their alcoholism, and, according to a disgusted Minnie, their father dating a slue of co-eds from the college where he taught. By the time he has one stick around long enough to marry, the only family member Ash is speaking to is Minnie, and Minnie's close to not even going herself.

"Mum's right furious Oscar was invited, but she's also right furious she wasn't," Minnie tells Ash over coffee. Ash, thirty-two and secretly high, nods, before taking a long sip of her hot chocolate, "honestly the woman plays jump rope with her indignance, she'd be insufferable either way." Minnie sighs dramatically, swirling her own mostly finished drink.

Their father's new fiance is the same age as Minnie, only twenty-four, and it's one thing on the considerable laundry list of reasons most of the family is considering boycotting the wedding. Minnie has her own personal reasons, mostly relating to her twin sister marrying her ex and bringing him, and their children, to the wedding, but Ash just nods sympathetically, and tries not to act as out of it as she feels. She hasn't been legally disowned, but for all intents and purposes, she was no longer a Clarke.

Minnie rants and rambles about the family Ash has forsaken, and Ash finds herself grateful that she doesn't have to deal with any of the drama anymore.

A few weeks after the wedding, Ash and Minnie go for coffee, and Minnie brings a photo of the wedding party.

Ellie's had twins. Their older brother, Oz, is clearly going through a divorce. August was their father's best man, and the new bride looks smug.

Ash is glad she dodged that bullet of an event.

The marriage doesn't last long in the grand scheme of things, but it doesn't end how Ash had expected it to. At thirty-five, she's touring with Queen again, with Roger again, and the last thing she expects is a call from her sister to say her father died in his sleep.

It's not as if she's celebrating, she's not heartless, she's just... not sure where she fits into the picture. Minnie invites her to the funeral.

She doesn't give an address. She watches, blank faced, as his wife chokes on her eulogy, and Ellie, there to support her, reads for her despite her own tears. They read off the names of his family, his relatives, and Ash's name at the end sounds almost begrudging as it leaves Ellie's lips. It's here that Ash finally learns his wife's name, Lynn, and she contemplates how strange it is that she'd never learnt it before.

It's here Ash learns a lot of things. Unsure of her emotions as she sits alone at the wake, not crying, not doing... anything. She's not even high but everything feels like static in her mind.

"Ashley?" Everyone calls her Ashley here, it makes her skin crawl. Her only goal is to not get in a shouting match, and so far she's managed to avoid her mother, and August, so she's doing pretty well.

It's Lynn, who hugs her like she's family, and introduces Ash to the little brother she didn't know she had.

Douglas Jr is two. He doesn't have Lynn's eyes, but Ash can't remember what her father's looked like.

"I bet that pissed Oz off to no end." Ash says without thinking, and Lynn's face reflexively scrunches. Ash hasn't even spoken to Oz, she's barely spoken to anyone apart from Minnie, who still wasn't speaking to Ellie or their mother.

Lynn doesn't know what to say, and leaves before Ash can say anything to the kid with Lynn's blonde hair and painfully familiar bright green eyes.

The next person to sit with her is a ginger teen trying to hide the fact that he's eating a brownie.

"Hi," Ash, frowning a little, greets the boy with flat confusion. He looks familiar, but so does everyone, Ash is just as likely to be related to any of the gingers present as she isn't.

"Huh?" Mouth full of brownie, the kid looks surprised that she even acknowledged him.

"Who are you related to?" Ash asks, because is Ash knew anything, it was that her father barely tolerated his own children as children, and no child would come to a wake of their own accord. Maybe Ash should pay more attention. She doesn't want to be here.

"Os-" the kid swallows his food before starting again, "Oscar Clarke; Doug was my grandad." He explains, and Ash can feel her voice freeze in her throat. She looks at the kid, really looks at him, and sees her brother in his eyes, his cheekbones, his lanky frame.

"You're," she hesitates, frowns, tries to remember what Minnie told her, "you're Allen?"

"Who are you?" The kid scowls, and quickly takes another bite of his obviously stolen snack.

"I'm Ash... ley. I'm Ashley." She says, and it sounds strange, it's the first time she's used that name in over a decade.

"Oh." Allen seems a little confused, and he shoves the rest of the cake just as a young girl hollers his name.

"Allen you're a thief and a rotten feckin' -"

"Jackie!"

Ash, even after all this time, knows that voice. It's been sixteen years since she'd seen her brother in person, and he's changed so much overall, but the longer she looks, the more she recognises him.

And he's coming towards her.

"Mind your language Jacks," Oscar tells the girl who yelled, and who was now, sulkily accompanying him to where Ash and Allen were sitting, "we'll get you more brownie, biscuit." He assures, before fixing Allen with an exasperated look. "You could've just asked Nan for another-"

"Nan would rather feed me Pop's rotting left foot-"

"You're so gross," Jackie wrinkles her nose, and Ash actually laughs. Oscar finally, finally looks at her.

"Hi, sorry, I'm -" he offers his hand, but falters, brow creasing in a frown.

"It's been a while, Oz," Ash swallows hard, and Oscar, gentle, tall Oscar, who had already spent a considerable amount of time with his eyes tear stained, notices his vision clouding at the sight of his little sister.

"Ashley."

He looks at her like he can't believe she's real, and for the first time all day, Ash cries. He's different, now almost forty, with wrinkles, crows feet and laugh lines, and so many freckles. His hair is shorter than she remember it, but he still keeps his beard to stubble.

It still feels the same when he hugs her.

She's stiff, conflicted, in her mind there's a disconnect; she's missed him so much, but she still hears him, all those years ago, calling her a homewrecking who're. She doesn't hug him back.

"Who's she?" Jackie whispers loudly to Allen, who shrugs. Oscar's smiling gently as he pulls back, and he wipes at his eyes.

"Jackie, Allen, this is your Aunt, Ashley." He explains, and something catches in Ash's throat.

"Auntie 'Ashley-Who-We-Don't-Talk-About'?" Jackie asks, matter-of-factly, and Ash actually laughs a little at that, though Oscar looks a little guilty.

"Ashl-" he chokes on her name, "Ace, these are my kids, Allen and Jaquelyn."

Ash greets the children, smiles and shakes their hands, and a strange little silence falls over them. No-one knows quite what to say.

"So," Ash finally breaks the silence with a sly smile, "Douglas Junior is a thing." Oscar laughs, loud and bright and so familiar.

"I'm just glad I dodged that bullet."

2. Mikayla McGreggor [nee. Clarke]

Minnie marries a highschool history teacher named Oliver, and Ellie's not invited.

Ash knows from being on the peripheries of Minnie's planning that the family is being a pain to organise, between Ellie being banned, Lynn not wanting to come if their mother was coming, and their mother kicking up a stink about everything and nothing every five minutes. Ash, for her part, is easy comparatively, and just works diligently away where she agreed to alter the wedding dress.

The most stressful part of the situation is that Ash is heavily pregnant, and most of her family don't even know. Though she exchanges letters with Oscar now, and he knows she's engaged, she won't give up her connection to Queen for the lingering fear that it might be used against her somehow. Old habits die hard, after all.

Ash isn't part of the wedding party, not out of malice, but of consideration; neither Minnie nor Oliver wanted go put her under any sort of stress. So Ash happily sits in one of the back rows of the church, Roger by her side, watching proudly as her sister gets married.

The wedding itself was fairly dry, though the reception was quite the party. Oscar's the first to find Ash after everyone had finished eating and the band had begun playing. He's halfway through introducing himself to Roger before he finally looks at him, looks at Roger's charming smile and how he'd extended his hand to meet Oscar's, and his voice dies in his throat, eyes going wide.

"Roger," he introduces himself easily, "a pleasure to meet you."

Oscar regains his composure easily, though Ash still thinks she should have warned him. Or Roger, maybe. Though Roger knew what he was getting into, he actually thought it was rather funny.

The reception is a ridiculous family affair; Ash's mother corners her in the bathroom to slur her way through calling Ash a whore for being pregnant and unmarried. It appears their family's painfully traditional values did not die with their father. Much to both Ash and her mother's surprise, Ash isn't actually bothered. Ellie crashes the party about an hour and a half in, in the middle of the maid of honor's speech, to give a tearful apology, to which Minnie bursts into tears and accepts on the spot.

"I like your family," Roger says with the barest amusement.

"That makes one of us," Ash grimaces, taking another sip of soda, though it is sweet to see Ellie and Minnie spinning around the dance floor like they did when they were kids. Minnie's new husband looks so damn endeared by the sight. Roger's smile only widens.

"Your nephew has my poster on his wall," He actually sounds proud, and Ash can't help but press a smile to his shoulder.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he got them off of Oz," Ash snickers, leaning into Roger who had his arm around her. "Thank you for coming to this with me, Rog," Ash's voice turns gentle, as does her smile when his gaze meets hers. He kisses her softly instead of answering, his hand coming to rest on her round belly, and Ash, for the first time in her memory, feels content while surrounded by family.

3. Ash Taylor [nee. Clarke Mercury]

Ash doesn't invite her mother to her own wedding. She doesn't invite Lynn either. All her siblings (and their spouses and their children) are invited, and her mum's right furious, even moreso when she learns that Freddie's mother is going to be giving Ash away.

Freddie himself is gaunt and sickly, but he stands proudly as Ash's best man, tears welling in his eyes as he smiles brightly at his surrogate sister as she walks down the aisle. Minnie is Ash's only bridesmaid, while Brian and John stand, beaming, behind Roger.

Astrid, Ash and Roger's first daughter, all of four years old, chaotically and haphazardly throws her flower petals like grenades where she leads the procession down the aisle, and wears her empty basket like a helmet for the duration of the ceremony. Meanwhile, the newborn Cate was carried by John's eldest, who also took responsibility.

The wedding, as well as the reception, is a star studded affair, and Ash's little and painfully Scottish family is more than a little overwhelmed. They all know in a roundabout way that Ash is well connected, but they'd never really realised the extent.

She's midway through a conversation with Oscar when Bernie Taupman kisses both of her cheeks and thanks her wryly for keeping John Reid off the guest list.

"That was for Freddie's benefit as much as it was Elton's," she answers, and Bernie snorts a laugh, while Oscar's gone starry-eyed. Oscar had recently come out to the family, which almost made Ash cry. He'd been so worried that she was angry or disappointed, until she quickly blurted that she was bisexual. She knows the look in her brother's eyes all too well, and he apparently had the same taste in men as Ash. Even if Bernie wasn't interested in men like that, it was still polite to introduce the two of them.

"Bern, this is my older brother, Oscar." She introduces fondly, and Oscar's expression fades to a grin as he holds out his hand.

When Doc McGhee passes on best wishes from Tommy Lee 'well, all of Motley Crue, but especially Tommy', Ash laughs lightly, thanking him, while Minnie and Jackie take a moment to fangirl once he leaves.

"I didn't take either of you for Motley fans," Ash admitted. Minnie shrugs, says she likes all sorts of music, and Jackie explains that Allen's going through a metal phase, and so she was to, by virtue of him always blasts his music loud enough for the whole house to hear. Ash had noticed that; he'd recently shaved his head, pierced his nose, and put a safety pin through his ear, though Ash quite liked the look on him.

Speaking of Allen, he was deep in conversation with Rob Reiner, just as starry-eyed as his father as he picked the director's brains.

"So how did you meet Ash and Roger?" The kid finally asks, and the renowned director smiles a little.

"I asked Ash to work on Spinal Tap with me-"

"No way! Ash worked on Spinal Tap?" Allen almost gasped, and Reiner nodded, endeared by the excitable teen.

It's here that the family comes to realise that for all they have gotten to know her since she'd allowed them back into her life, they don't know what she does beyond a vague mention of 'costumes'.

Ash doesn't notice her family's growing respect the more they integrate themselves with the other guests, she's too wrapped up in enjoying the night with Roger.

4. Oscar Clarke

Like almost all deaths in Ash's life, her brother's comes as a shock. Freddie passed almost a year and a half ago, and her son was born barely a month ago, and at three in the morning on a Sunday, she receives a distraught call from Ellie.

She'd known Oscar was sick, but he never liked talking about that sort of thing. Perhaps he was trying to protect her, but she hadn't even known he was in hospital.

Jackie bawls at the funeral, and won't let go of Allen. Their mother, Oscar's ex-wife, was kind-faced and gentle as she hugged each of Oscar's sisters in turn. Their mother was nowhere to be seen, a bigot to the last.

Ash and Roger sit in the front row, reserved for family, and Minnie is holding Ash's and Ellie's hands so tight it's painful, weeping silently. It doesn't feel real, it feels like she's moving in suspended animation, like moving through honey, nothing makes sense. Jackie is audibly sobbing where she clings to her brother's arm while he delivers a choked up speech about his father's life. Allen looks so much like Oscar.

Astrid and Cate don't quite know what's going on, but they know to be quiet, and baby Barney, barely a month old, starts screaming halfway through the eulogy, and Ash feels it deep in her bones. Roger offers to take him outside, but Ash shakes her head, standing and walking him outside. Ash holds Barney close as she rocks him. And that's how her sisters find her, crying quietly, clutching her son as his own cries subside.

The three women sit in the grass and take quiet solace in each other, their family having gotten just that bit smaller.

[thatssonanii]

Tragedy

Family Ties

The day of Haleigh's last concert before she took a break was a normal day. Since most of her family had prior engagements and Carlito wasn't feeling well she decided that she would do this last concert the way that she had done her first concert--with just her Chenice and Morgan.

Thinking of her fans she made her concert as close to Christmas as she could and the Saturday before was as close as she could get it. Her concert was as fun as her first one had been for the same reason. In both instances she didn't know when she would get back on stage afterwards. She was content now, happy that her fans were happy. All she could think about was getting food and getting home.

Haleigh, her two best friends and three of her background dancers, Buju, Kristen and MiKayla followed her security, Brutus and Sydney out the back of the arena. Her other two guards, Brian and Mackie followed them.

"We'll just follow you guys," Morgan called out as her and Chenice walked to her car.

"Alright, we're going to Waffle House don't forget." Haleigh yelled back before climbing into the SUV with her dancers getting in behind her.

Sydney pulled off with Brutus in ther passenger seat. Haleigh sat behind the driver on the second row, Buju beside her behind the passenger seat and MiKayla and Kristen were on ther third room. Haleigh's SUV pulled out of the venue first, then Morgan and then the SUV Brian and Mackie were in pulled up the rear. Haleigh sent a quick text to Ardian to check on Carlito and to let him know that they were leaving and she would be home after they stopped to eat.

In the dark SUV, Haleigh rubbed her growing baby bump under her hoodie, the upcoming reveal made her smile. Chenice called Haleigh and she put it on speakerphone so they could all talk together.

Fifteen minutes while they were stopped set a red light, Jason and two of his associates pulled up in the lane on the passenger side of Haleigh's SUV. One of his associates drove while him and ther other associate rode in the backseat.

"Hurry up before the light changes!" The driver shouted impatiently.

Jason and his associate jumped out with their guns pointed at the SUV. Before any of the occupants could register it, they started to fire into the SUV.

Sydney tried to pull off but another SUV drove up blocking him in. Morgan and Chenice watched and listened from Chenice's phone in terror. Brian tried to pull the SUV around to get to them but two SUVs pulled on either side of them and behind, blocking them in.

Haleigh pulled Buju against her, trying to pull her away from the gunfire. She could feel Buju's body getting hit and then she felt warm around her thighs which she assumed to be Buju's blood.

Satisfied, Jason and his associate jumped back into their car and the driver peeled off with the other vehicles behind them. Finally free, Brian sped off behind them trying to catch them all.

Morgan called 911 from her phone then her and Chenice got out running to the SUV. Sydney jumped out the driver side scaring them a little and opened Haleigh's door. Chenice and Morgan stood back, holding onto each other and crying.

"Is she okay?" Chenice yelled in anguish.

"Call 911," he yelled trying to check them.

"We did! They're coming!" Morgan answered still crying.

Minutes later, emergency response vehicles pulled up along with a few news caravans. It seemed that they both hopped out at the same time. A set of paramedics went to the driver's side of the SUV with a stretcher, Sidney moved going to the other side. They pulled Haleigh out.

"No! No! I'm fine! I'm okay! Take Buju! Get Buju!" She yelled as they lifted her onto the stretcher.

"Ma'am there I'd another response team coming for them. We have to take you first."

Once she was on the stretcher and arguing, Chenice and Morgan saw that she was covered with blood. They didnt know if she was shot or if it was Buju's blood. Morgan got the name of the hospital they were going to and the two friends jumped back in Morgan's car to follow. Chenice sent Ardian the name of the hospital telling him to come as soon as possible.

"Aight, lil man, go potty so we can lay down. It's late."

Carlito nodded and jumped off his parents' bed and went to their bathroom. Ardian switched the television from the video game they were playing to the tv. Just as he was about to turn the channel, breaking news popped up.

"Just behind me is the scene of what seemed to be an ambush shooting. A SUV carrying award winning, singer songwriter, Halo, was riddled with bullets."

Kandice and Roman stopped cleaning the trips toys from the den floor seeing their daughter's picture on their television screen.

"At this time we know that there were six passengers. All were transported to the hospital, one is said to be in critical condition."

Rezar cursed going to find his phone and Tasha froze in her tracks.

--

Lying in the hospital bed, Haleigh's right leg was elevated with a few pillows. A nurse stood beside her checking her IV and all.

"Where's Buju," Haleigh asked softly.

"They all had to get worked on, sweetheart."

"Buju," Haleigh repeated. "Is she okay?"

The nurse smiled at her fi ally done with her checking. "Your baby is doing good, you just have to stay calm and relax. Why dont you rest your eyes while I see if the doctor has talked to your husband. He's been out there for hours waiting for you."

As the nurse stepped out the door, she spotted Dr. James talking to Ardian and nodded.

"The bullet went straight through her thigh. It missed her major artery by a few inches. There's no permanent damage, she'll just need to limit being on it for a week or two."

Ardian nodded running his hands down his face. "What about the baby? She's 20 weeks."

"Yes, the baby is fine. But we need to keep Mrs. Bekim calm so that the baby does not become distressed."

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"She keeps asking for Buju. Buju didn't make it. We haven't told Mrs. Bekim yet."

"She's dead?" Ardian asked frowning.

Dr. James nodded. "Yes. The paramedics said that your wife was holding on to Buju when they got to the scene. Her pressure goes up and her heart races every time Buju is brought up which alerts and panics the baby."

"Okay," Ardian nodded, "I wont tell her."

"She also asked that none of us mention the baby to anyone but you. But please maker sure they do not mention Buju or put any added stress on the two of them."

Haleigh rubbed her stomach humming softly trying to go to sleep. When she closed her eyes, she saw Grandpa Jones.

"Smile. You don't look happy to see me."

Haleigh smiled and hugged him. "You're not here to take my baby. Are you?"

"Goodness, no, Diamond," He said quickly and kissed her head, "I saved you both. You remember feeling blanketed?" She nodded quickly. "That was me."

"Well, I think you missed a spot," she joked gesturing to her thigh.

He laughed heartily. "I couldn't get to your leg. YouI wouldn't let Buju go."

"You weren't over her?"

"I'm not her angel, Diamond. But look around."

When she looked she saw that they were in a delivery room. She heard crying then she saw herself and Ardia, there was a baby on her chest.

"Something is going to happen," he spoke softly standing beside her, "How you react will determine if you get this. I cannot control that part, only you can. You want this then you have to be mindful of how react. Understood?"

"Yes," she nodded still watching, "Do you know where Buju is?"

Silence.

When she turned to repeat her question, he was gone and she felt someone rubbing and kissing her head. She opened her eyes and looked up at Ardian.

[3wisellamas]

Boxbot Headcanons 3.5

(Some old ones, some new ones, mostly Darrell, Shannon, and for some reason Mikayla.)

-Darrell will never, ever bathe voluntarily; he prefers to simply reboot into a clean new body whenever he's dirty. He can forget for a few days sometimes, though, and needs a few...gentle reminders from his family.

-None of the bots can stand being alone at all -- they're too used to not only having their entire hivemind, but also being around their siblings at all times.

-Mikayla knows sign language, and regularly uses it to communicate with her "human" friends!

-Darrell and Lord Boxman snore in exactly the same way. Of course, if you bring it up to either of them, they also deny that they snore in exactly the same way as well. Because of course they don't snore. Nope. Not them. No way. You're the one who snores.

-Raymond uses tons of rose-scented perfume. He can't actually smell it, despite technically being the only bot with a nose, but he thinks the bottles look nice, so they must make him smell just as nice!

-Boxman used to spend HOURS almost every night reading the tiny quadruplets bedtime stories, or singing lullabies, or putting on early sock puppet shows, or straight-up begging for them to go to sleep, mostly so HE finally could -- aside from maybe Darrell, the bots never really needed to do so.

-Mikayla tried to do a food blog on her social media once. Unfortunately, she mostly posted roadkill and batteries... (Her siblings all follow it, though.)

-Jethro is still afraid of the dark, and likes to have lots of night lights and comfort items (and ideally a dad/big sibling) around when he goes to bed.

-Darrell is a huge Star Wars fan, despite never actually getting to see the movies until VERY recently. He often uses his cloak and lightsabers to cosplay as a Sith lord, and has attempted Jedi mind tricks on Boxman before ("Darrell can have the day off. We will go get ice cream."), with the expected amount of success (getting tossed in the furnace).

-Shannon likes to claim that she prefers violent videos game, naturally, but her favorite is actually Animal Crossing. She's mayor of a town she shares with Jethro and Mikayla (with Fink trying to join too!), and will often help them hold the 3DS and play.

-Boxman doesn't allow Shannon and Darrell to openly call themselves twins, for whatever reason, but they do low-key consider themselves such, since they're the only quadruplets still close to the same age. They sometimes fight over who's the alpha twin, with Darrell being a couple of seconds older vs Shannon being slightly stronger.

-All of the robots' organic components (Darrell's brains, Shannon's feet, etc) are cloned in hundreds of tanks in the basement, and are automatically added very early in the assembly process -- the bots themselves almost never have to see that stage of production. They're all admittedly a little grossed out and try not to think about it, and avoid the basement at all costs.

-Mikayla is the one to walk the Boxmore dog nowadays, and is even trying to teach her tricks! She sometimes gets a little mixed up, though, doing the tricks herself or getting pulled around on the leash instead, to her embarrassment.

-Ernesto likes to make spreadsheets for EVERYTHING to keep himself organized, even outside of work hours. He's got one listing every single one of his active bodies, one for his progress in all of his games, one for everyone's favorite ice cream flavors, one keeping track of his belongings and what's been borrowed/stolen by his siblings, etc.

-Boxman has designed adult bodies for Shannon and Darrell. However, he keeps procrastinating on finalizing them or putting them into production -- he's more than a little anxious about all of his kids growing up. It took him a long time to finally accept Ernesto as a full adult too!

-Raymond needs to cut the crust off of all his sandwiches before he can eat them.

-For some reason, Jethro has a small fanbase among Boxmore customers, who will treat their Jethros like Roombas, complete with cute nicknames and cats riding around on them and knife fights. Jethro himself does NOT approve of anyone seeing him as an expensive mechanical pet, and thinking about it makes him quite uncomfortable. (He is not a toy, dangit, he is JETHRO!)

[kyoshithewriter]

Level the Playing Field.

Warnings: mature themes (18+)

Part six: Slipping.

A/n: don’t you just love a good cliche college ‘romance’ ? (Please be patient with me as I edit and upload these)

“Trevor must’ve fucked you up real good in the head if you think I’m going anywhere with you.” Sadé seethes at him. He’s sporting a bruise just above his left eye so the idea isn’t that far-fetched either.

Jude scoffs loudly at that, looking properly offended that the thought even crossed her mind.

“He barely even landed a blow.”

“You think I give a fuck about that? Seriously?!” She goes to stand, forgetting about her foot for a minute. Sadé ends up falling back on the chair immediately as a hiss escapes between her clenched teeth.

“I can’t even yell in your face because of my fucked ankle! You did this!”

“Trevor was the on-”

“You antagonized him! Why did you do that?!” It’s obvious he doesn’t even know how to respond. He clenches and unclenches his fist by his side, staring at her swollen foot.

“Did you follow us here?”

He shakes his head subtly. “No, Ryan told me.” He responds, voice devoid of emotion.

Sadé turns to glare at Ryan’s tense back. He obviously heard that Jude ratted him out. Mikayla offers him a glare of her own. He starts offering an explanation quietly to her that’s completely inaudible from where they are. Sadé returns her scathing gaze on Jude’s figure still looming at the entrance of the shop.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not going anywhere with you. We already called a cab.”

“Speaking of which, it’s outside.” Celine whispers nervously.

“Okay, help me up please.” Jude moves in her peripheral despite knowing she was addressing Celine.

“No! Don’t come near me.” She rushes out at him. He immediately freezes a few feet away. He starts clenching and unclenching his fists again, almost as if it’s the only way to physically restrain himself from reaching out for her. She puts her arm around Celine’s shoulders and her friend supports her right side completely. Mikayla joins a couple seconds after with their food in hand to help ease her body weight off Celine’s petite form. Mikayla whispers a shy good night to Ryan before they’re out the door.

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

Sadé is forced to skip her classes on Monday. While the pain in her foot is a little better than it was the day before, it’s still borderline unbearable. She has always had a low pain threshold but she’s starting to get worried.

“Maybe I should see a doctor.” She suggests softly to Mikayla. Her voice is tinged with worry as she lifts the ice pack from her elevated foot to see the swelling still hasn’t improved.

“I have an afternoon class in the next hour. I can take you tomorrow morning if you want.” Her brows are creased, clearly anxious about her friend’s wellbeing.

“Okay.” Sadé adjusts her position on the couch so she’s better able to rest her head on her friend’s shoulder.

“By the way, you said yesterday that Annita said something about Jude not leaving you alone, do you think Jude told her every time he saw you?” Mikayla asks dubiously. Sadé has been thinking about it herself. And the more she thinks, the more absurd it sounds. He’s stated multiple times they aren’t dating but there is… something between them. Obviously not love but something. It would make no sense for Jude to report to Annita every time he’s seeing other girls.

“It wouldn’t make sense.”

“So… Do you think there’s someone watching him? Or maybe you?”

Sadé stares at the tv, there’s some renovation show going on but she hasn’t actually been watching. She likes the background noise, that’s all.

“Watching him would be more likely, though just as creepy.” Jude having university students playing paparazzi following him around would not surprise her one bit.

Mikayla clears her throat. She chances a glance at her from the corner of her eye. “Has he been leaving you alone though?”

“No. But he has only been texting at least.” Jude had immediately started blowing her phone up on Saturday night after the club. It began with apologies- which she ignored- then him begging to come to check in on her. She had only responded to one of those messages with a simple ‘no.’ He stopped for the night but sent her three more apologetic messages in the morning on Sunday, then five separate links to different institutions offering scholarship funding. She had stared at the messages for about 20 minutes, trying to decide if she should at least thank him. She ultimately opted to not respond because it always seems to lead somewhere with him.

“Ashleigh.” Sadé accidentally whispers the name out loud.

“What?”

“Ashleigh. Jude said that name to Trevor and I swore it’s like I saw something inside him switch on. I’ve never seen anger that immediate before.” She shivers at the memory.

“Oh. That must be the name of his ex- girlfriend. Celine told me last night that Trevor despises Jude because he had sex with his girlfriend in December.”

Sadé scoffs in disgust even though her chest tightens with an emotion she doesn’t want to accept. “Of course he did.”

“Apparently, he didn’t even do it on purpose.” Sadé’s head lifts as Mikayla tries to shrug.

“Um, are you also kind of worried about Celine and how she just seems to know everything going on with all of them?” Her behavior over the weekend has caused it to also sit heavily on her mind. As far as they know, Celine isn’t close friends with any of the players or their friends; and while she knows that gossip does spread, how is she always so in the loop about everything?

“I think…” Mikayla pauses and Sadé knows it’s because she’s choosing her words carefully.

“I think her crush on Sean might be more of an obsession?”

“Hmm” Sadé hums in agreement but they both keep their gazes locked on the screen. Still not watching, but just needing something to look at so they don’t have to really think about what that revelation might mean.

“We should talk to her.” Mikayla softly suggests.

“Okay.” The mood turns too solemn to be comfortable after her reply. She clears her throat loudly, “Has Ryan messaged you yet?”

It’s almost as if Sadé physically feels the heat radiating from her face as soon as she asks the question. Who needs indoor heating when you have a blushing Mikayla?

“He did, he has. Since Saturday.” Her friend toys with her hands in her lap. She’s trying not to smile but she fails miserably.

“Hmm tell him I’m still mad at him.” She teases and Mikayla gently slaps at her leg. She’s not really mad at Ryan at all, apparently, he had only wanted to make sure Mikky was safe so he stepped in to help. Jude messaged him to ask where he was and he mentioned he was with Mikayla who Jude knows she’s friends with. She can’t be mad at a friend for telling a friend of his location. She assured Mikayla of this multiple times.

“Good for you, Mikky. At least he seems… sane.” Mikayla bursts into a fit of giggles at her word choice but she’s serious as a judge. Jude has to have a few screws loose upstairs.

“Well, yes. So far.”

“Hmm, so far.”

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

The hospital confirms a grade one eversion sprain. She’s prescribed painkillers and had to get crutches. That’s £90 of her meager budget because she wanted to go clubbing, maybe her mom is right about certain things. No! She’s allowed to have fun. It just sucks Jude is… Jude. She’s deep in her own mind as she ambles through the empty hallway on her way to the last 30 minutes of her lecture with the crutches under her arms. Sadé figures it would be better being super late than being absent. She can’t stop thinking though; she still doesn’t know why he did what he did, does he just provoke Trevor every time he sees him? That would make the rumors of him not sleeping with his girlfriend at the time on purpose untrue or he only did it because she was there, but why?

“Sadé” The hairs on the back of her neck immediately stand on end. She ignores him, trying to awkwardly gallop faster on the crutches.

“Are you going to make me chase you? Really?” He deadpans. Yes. She knows she’s not outrunning him even when she isn’t incapacitated but she’s not going to make it easy. He catches up to her in all of four long strides, cutting in front of her to block her path.

“What part of stay the fuck away from me don’t you understand?!”

“I can’t!” He fires back immediately. The frustration pours out in his tone, it’s evident in the tense body.

“I… what?” She asks dumbfounded.

He runs a hand roughly down his face. The sound of footsteps somewhere down the hall makes her body lock tight with panic.

“Jude you… we can’t be seen together.” She chokes out. She turns her wide- pleading eyes up at him.

“You won’t respond to my messages and told me not to come see you.” He says nonchalantly making his intentions clear. He crosses his arms over his chest and relaxes his stance.

“Really, Jude? This is what you’re doing?” He shrugs in lieu of responding.

“Fine! I’ll text you when I get home.” She rushes out, looking around for what feels like the hundredth time.

“Let me come see you.” He demands instead.

“Jude? What? No!”

“I guess I’m walking you to class or we’re standing in the hallway then.” He flashes his wrist to his eyes, “lectures end every hour, there’s 20 minutes to the next one.” He scratches at his goatee calmly.

“Jude you…fucks sake. Annita knows, okay? She knows you’ve been coming by. She threatened me on Saturday night, seems like that’s all I get with you by the way- problems!”

“How does she know?” The question seems to be more directed to himself than her.

“You tell me! You have a lot of fans here, some must be following you around or something.” It makes her even more angsty to get away from him.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll handle it. Let me come by later.”

She looks at him incredulously.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Well believe, Sadé. I’ll see you at 7?”

She glares up at him but nods reluctantly.

Sadé stands in the hallway for another minute after he leaves. Her lecture is only two doors down but she’s just suddenly not in the mood to be the center of attention with the crutches being more than 40 minutes late. Fuck it. She makes a u-turn and heads toward the exit.

**********

Mikayla is getting ice- cream with Ryan. Her friend has been pacing in front of her on the couch for the past 10 minutes and it’s making her even more nervous as the time ticks closer to 7 pm.

“Mikky, it will be fine. Your outfit looks fine, your face is pretty.” Mikayla pauses her pacing to run a hand down the front of her pink sundress. It’s just above her knees and suits her personality just right. Her curly hair is in a neat ponytail ontop of her head to show off her blushing cheeks.

“What if he doesn’t really like me? What if he’s just using me? What if I fart really loudly and ruin the mood?” Sadé folds her lips together, cheeks puffed up as she tries her hardest not to laugh. But she fails, miserably.

“Sadé!”

“I’m sorry but who thinks of that?!”

“It’s ice- cream! I’m not lactose intolerant but I can be sensitive to it sometimes.” Mikayla whines.

“Well get a popsicle or fruit sorbet.” Sadé suggests, scrolling through channels.

“Wait, yea that’s smart.” Just as Mikayla’s shoulders were starting to relax, the loud ping of her phone has her jumping cleanly off the floor.

“He says I should meet him by the entrance.” She looks at Sadé’s elevated foot on the small table, “are you sure you’ll be ok by yourself?”

Sadé waves her off.

“I’ll be fine, the painkillers they prescribed are really really good. Go have fun Mikky.”

Mikayla takes a deep breath before kissing Sadé on her cheek and running out the door.

Jude knocks on her door at exactly 7. She knows because she was constantly checking the time on her phone for the past hour; she wonders if he’d been loitering at her door waiting for the exact time before knocking. She doesn’t feel like struggling to get over to the door so she shoots him a text to come in.

“You leave your door open?” He asks as soon as he steps inside.

She shrugs her shoulders, keeping her eyes on the tv.

“We don’t usually lock up until 9. The campus is fairly safe.”

“You shouldn’t do that especially now with your injury. What if someone comes in here? You can’t even run.” He takes a seat on the couch beside her.

“And whose fault is that?” She turns to glare at him. He looks down at her ankle and she can tell he feels remorseful.

“I’m so sorry, Sadé. I know words won’t heal it faster but I truly am.”

He moves to place his laptop and a brown paper bag on the table beside her elevated leg. He reaches over to gently lift the ice pack from her ankle to assess the damage. It’s starting to improve but there’s still significant swelling.

“Fuck, I can’t seem to stop making your life harder.” He chuckles humorlessly.

“Is it true? Did you really have sex with Trevor’s girlfriend?”

He nods and for the first time he actually looks ashamed.

“I didn’t know, we played our game there and she came onto me at some after party thing. He’s been hot for me since despite me telling him multiple times that I wasn’t trying to screw him. He’s no competition for me at all, what reason would I have?” He pulls a pack of gummy worms from the paper bag and holds it in her direction. Extending an olive branch.

She stares at his extended hand for a moment, then she gingerly reaches for the sweets. She loves gummies, sue her.

“Why did you provoke him then? If you’re claiming it wasn’t done on purpose.”

He watches her struggle to open the package before reaching for it and ripping it open easily. She smiles timidly at him.

“You.”

Sadé almost chokes on the candy in her mouth.

“Me?”

“I just saw you and you looked so good. I know I had no right but I was… jealous.” He admits looking everywhere but at her.

“You caused all that commotion and sprained my ankle because you were jealous? Jealous??!!!! With Annita plastered on you the entire night? How did you even get her off you for a second to fuck up my night?” She had tried her hardest but she did end up sneaking a glance at them twice. Annita really was all over him- on his lap kissing his face, his neck, anywhere her mouth could reach. However, she’s lashing out because she’s angry at herself. She’s angry at herself for feeling good about his jealousy despite her never being the first option for him. She feels so much shame for it so she reaches for anger instead.

“Yes I was jealous, Sadé. You want me to lie? I was jealous that you looked so good and I couldn’t show you off. I was jealous of the way he was making you laugh. I was jealous just thinking of what could possibly happen after having such a good night with him. I didn’t want to even think of you kissing him or worse so I wanted to ruin it. I didn’t mean for it to get that bad, had no idea he would actually attack me.” His chest heaves after his lengthy confession.

“You’re fucking incredible.” She scoffs, “you don’t want me but nobody else should have me? Are you fucking mental??!”

“I don’t want you? Why the fuck else would I be here?!” The tension in the room is about to reach a fever pitch. In the back of her mind, she’s praying their shouting isn’t loud enough to reach the neighbors. The last thing she needs is campus security knocking at her door and causing a scene, especially with him here.

“I don’t know! That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out all this time! For all I know this could be some sort of game or something for you! And now you’ve ruined a chance I had of meeting someone who may have actually wanted me.” She flicks the melted pack of ice off her foot while grabbing her crutches. She can feel her back starting to ache from being seated in the same position for too long, she needs to lie down.

“Thank you for the gummies, you can see yourself out.” She goes to stand but ends up squealing when she’s pulled back down on the couch.

He immediately stands, placing one hand at the back of her knees and the other behind her upper back to scoop her up in his arms. Her stomach flips.

“Glaring at me won’t make my head explode, Sadé. I’m just trying to help.” He mumbles quietly. She keeps quiet but obliges, dropping her gaze to his sweater- clad chest instead. He places her gently on her bed and Sadé can’t help but groan in relief when she finally feels the softness of her mattress beneath her.

“I don’t buy it.” Jude shatters the minute of silence between them.

“What?”

“I don’t buy that you actually wanted Trevor.”

She holds his gaze.

“Trevor is handsome, charming, and has a bright future ahead of him. Why wouldn’t anyone want him?”

“Not anyone- you. You don’t want him.” He says it with absolute surety. So much so, that Sadé starts doubting it herself. Did she actually want Trevor like that?

“What makes you say that, Jude?”

“Because you want me.”

She stares at him incredulously.

“You’re so fucking arrogant, you cause me nothing but tro-”

“Say it then, tell me you don’t want me.” He cuts her little speech off. His eyes are cold, daring. Say it.

“You sleep with every single thing that mov-”

“That’s not what I want to hear, Sadé.”

She sucks in a sharp breath, chest heaving. Say it.

“I don’t want you, I fucking hate you, Jude.” She clenches her fists so tightly by her sides that they begin to shake. He says nothing- he stands, he observes. A drop of sweat beads just above her right brow. The tension thickens but she steels her spine at the edge of her bed, looking up at him with what she hopes is a glare. Her skin tingles, her belly tightens as she waits for his next move.

He leans forward, face inches away from hers.

“You’re a bad fucking liar, baby.” He breathes the words right into her mouth before capturing her lips with his own.

***********

She’s naked in front of a man. Not just any man too, but Jude. She should be freaking out, this is her first time being naked in front of the opposite sex, but she’s beyond forming coherent thoughts right now. Not when Jude has reduced her to nothing but a blubbering mess on her bed. She’s sure he’s sucked a bruise on every inch of her neck and chest. And even now, as she’s soaked and begging, he keeps his assault on her nipples going- teasing her between her legs with the pad of his middle finger. She raises her hips, chasing the friction but he simply pulls the finger out of her reach. Again. She’s about to lose her mind, she can feel him pulling at the very fabric of her sanity. She wants, no, needs to come.

“Jude, enough. Pleasee.” It’s followed by a broken whimper from her lips.

He releases her right nipple with a wet pop.

“I knew you’d get worked up easily.” He brings the pad of his finger down on her again and he groans, long and loud.

“You’re so wet, Sadé.” She moans in response. She reaches down to cover his hand with her own, pressing it down on her. She needs more pressure. He complies but slips his fingers lower. Propping the hand above her head, he raises his body higher on his side. He keeps his eyes on her face as he- oh. Sadé sucks in a sharp breath, body tensing. She’s never had any sort of penetration before, not that she wasn’t curious but it wasn’t necessary. She was content with clitoral stimulation and would feel too burdened to try more.

“Do you want me to?” he asks softly. His eyes are so gentle that she wants to tear up a little.

“Yes.” She murmurs nervously. She can’t believe they went from shouting at each other to this in the space of a few minutes.

“Relax, Sadé.” She inhales a greedy breath just as he gently eases his middle finger inside. She gasps, brows furrowing. It doesn’t hurt but it feels… foreign. Her mind goes back to when he used that same word right before leaving her to get off on her floor.

“Okay?” His asks, voice full of concern.

“Uh huh, it just feels… weird.” She breathes out.

He ducks his head down to recapture her nipple between his lips. The soft fabric of his sweater drags along her side as his tongue, wet and warm, teases the sensitive skin. He’s still fully clothed and it makes something in her belly flip. Why is that so attractive? Is it because it captures the essence of him not caring about his pleasure and only her own? Because it shows so much self control from him? Whatever it is, coupled with his mouth on her sensitive chest makes her even wetter. She didn’t even know it was possible- and suddenly the finger moving inside her is so good but not enough.

“More.”

He pauses his movement briefly. He pulls his middle finger all the way out and brings his ringer to join it, then he’s easing both into her. He grunts lowly as she clenches around his fingers.

“Fucking hell, Sadé.” His face twists as if he’s in agony.

“Feels good, feels full.” She moans in response.

“Yea, fuck this…” he whispers to himself before angling his fingers upward and rubbing.

Sadé’s eyes bulge, a scream caught in her throat. Jude wanted to go slow, to savor every sound, the sight of her glistening brown skin and sultry eyes. But he can feel his control slipping. And he can’t do that to her, yet. Her body is so perfect he’s sure it will be engraved in the back of his mind forever. She smells good, like vanilla and… Sadé. She’s so wet, so warm, so tight clenching around him. She doesn’t even know the power she has over him. The only thought that has been ringing in his mind for the past couple of days is Sadé Sadé Sadé. Sadé’s so smart, Sadé is so gorgeous, especially when she smiles. Sadé is so cute when she’s mad. And now he knows what she looks like bare- just for him, he knows the faces she makes when she feels good, what she feels like gushing around his fingers, what she sounds like when she comes… he watches enraptured as her eyes screw shut, mouth open- staccato moans becoming nothing more than a silent scream as she comes and comes. Dainty hands grab at his wrist that’s still moving, hips raised and undulating. Vulnerable. Beautiful.

“Jude” his name leaves her swollen lips in a sob. He can only clench his teeth to stop himself from moaning just from that sound alone. He wants to reach between his legs where he’s hard to grab at his dick, he can’t come in his sweats like an amateur. But he’s so on edge he’s afraid that just touching it will cause him to fall apart.

“Stop, stop.” She heaves on a breath and he finally slows his movements before stopping completely. He gently pulls his fingers from her trembling body with an audible squelch. So wet. She throws an arm over her face.

“Sadé?” He calls out, his voice tinged with worry.

“Fuck, I think I may have hurt my ankle.” she whispers out before giggling softly. He sighs in relief.

“How did you? What was that? That made me..” she trails off, bashful.

“Your g-spot.” He says through clenched teeth, body still tense.

“Um, are you okay?” She asks nervously. Her eyes scan him from head to the tent in his pants before they grow wide.

“Oh, um do you want me to…”

“No, don’t worry about it.” He takes another breath to compose himself. “Do you want me to take you to the bathroom?”

She nods shyly, looking up at him from beneath her lashes.

**********

Sadé is freshly showered and back in bed waiting on Jude to return from the living room with his laptop and the other snacks he brought. He wants them to watch a movie, but Sadé knows with how sated she feels along with the painkillers she just took, she’ll be out within the next 30 minutes. She can’t believe that just happened. No matter how many times she fantasized about it, she never thought he would actually… touch her the way he did. She’s on cloud nine.

“Have you ever seen Interstellar?” He asks as soon as he walks through her door.

“Who hasn’t seen that movie?”

“Well, you’re seeing it again. It’s one of my favourites.” She giggles as he flops on her bed, placing the laptop between them. He reclines on the bed and gently pulls her closer with an arm around her waist. Her head automatically finds his chest.

“Are you comfortable? How’s your ankle?” He questions while rubbing at the back of her neck.

“I’m okay, very comfortable.”

Jude wasn’t joking when he said this movie is one of his favourites. He starts making little commentaries as soon as he hits play. She smiles, offering little hums here and there to humour him. He’s so cute, I like him so much and it’s so stupid but I can’t help it. He's probably going to ruin me. But she’ll worry about that tomorrow. Because at this moment, listening to him yap with his hand scratching gently at her scalp, nothing else matters.

[ladyintree]

she wouldn’t normally enjoy background noise like this when she’s trying to do homework,  but there’s something soothing about hearing it now,  knowing mikayla’s here with her,  hopefully entertained by it as taissa continues to work.  it’s not lost on her that this is how it always could have been,  but the more time she spends with mikayla,  the more she’s reminding herself that she can’t dwell on what she didn’t do in the past.  she has to find a way to move forward,  just like she did back then—  but this time,   with mikayla.   and all she can have is a friendship with her,  so she keeps telling herself that’s enough.  

a small smile tugs at her lips when she hears the credits  and eventually the sound of mikayla’s voice—  she was in a silent competition with herself,  trying to finish what she was doing by the time it was over,  only because that meant mikayla’s attention would be back on her,    and she doesn’t want to waste any more time,  even if it means doing her homework in silence while mikayla’s just here.   

taissa finally looks back at her,  and she’ll blame it on her brain being completely fried from the paper she was chipping away at for the last two hours,  but her eyes are full of affection when they meet mikayla.   it’s hard to control it,  anyway,  because it’s how she’s always looked at her,  from the moment they first kissed so long ago.   she doesn’t look at her like a friend,  and sometimes,  she can catch herself— but she’s too tired now to even realize it.  ❝  what,  are you bored listening to me type?  ❞   she teases,  a small smile tugging at her lips.   she wouldn’t be so lighthearted about the idea of taking a break if this were anyone else,  but it’s mikayla,  and focusing on her now is like a prize for completing what she planned to while the movie was playing.  that’s not lost on her, either—  the way mikayla’s presence actually motivates her,  the way she assumed that she would've just been a distraction years ago.   tai pushes herself away from her desk with a prideful look on her face,  moving over towards the couch. 

❝  actually—  i finished,  ❞   she says with a smirk,  her shoulders shrugging.   ❝  there are other things i need to do,  but—  that was the goal for tonight.  so i’m all yours now.  ❞    it’s intentional, the way she says it,  but she tries not to overthink it,  either.   ❝  so make some room for me,  ❞   she insists,  reaching her hand down and lightly tapping her leg.   there’s been a silent no-contact rule between them,  but she takes the chance anyway, hoping that they're finally in a place where this is okay.   

it's only when the credits start to roll that mikayla realizes she's paid absolutely no attention to whatever movie was just on, spending the last two hours just hyperaware of @ladyintree being in the same room instead— something she should be more used to by now, after weeks of attempting this whole friendship thing. mikayla's been better at it than she assumed she would be, somehow able to ignore the feeling in her gut that it's not enough, reminding herself that it's all they can be for right now. but unfortunately, that means she's starting to get more comfortable, enough that she no longer sees the need to pretend to be interested in the television.

she's taking up the entire couch, laying across it, rolling onto her stomach, propping her head up on folded arms, finally letting herself look at tai, like she's earned it after pretending to focus on something else for hours. mikayla tries not to think about how this is what it should have been like for them the past five years, her distracting herself while tai studied in the same room, each other's presence just being enough. it hurts to think about, so she shakes the thought away, head tilting. “ are you almost done? ” mikayla doesn't want to distract her, especially when she already feels like being in tai's life is enough of an obstacle for her, but she can't help herself. “ or can you, like— take a break? ”

[still-figuring-me-out]

The Social Worker and the Businesswoman AU - chapter 5

The next morning at 7:45AM Judge Ellington sat scowling at her desk. She hated being summoned, especially during her break. Some may call a 7PM phone call from a city councilman asking for her to meet with some unknown party in her chambers early the next morning as a suggestion, but Suzanne recognized it for what it was; a summons to drop whatever she had prepared and make herself available. So here she sat drumming her fingers on her office desk and growing more impatient as the minutes ticked by. She was determined that if this mystery person was not in her officer promptly at 8AM she would be leaving at 8:01 and the consequences be damned. When a single knock was placed on her door at 8 on the dot Suzanne found herself equal parts curious and disappointed. Curious to see who wanted to meet with her and why they could not wait until the new year and disappointed that she would not be able to give them a taste of their own medicine.

“Enter,” she called. To say she was surprised when a petite woman with midnight black hair and piercing green eyes stepped into her office would be an understatement.

“Good morning Judge Ellington,” the waif in front of her began with a lilting Irish accent. “Let me first apologize for intruding on what I know would be your holiday period but..”

“Just tell me who you represent and what they want so we can both get on with our day,” she interrupted. “Which of the good ole boys from National City are you schlepping for? Just get it over with so I can get back to my family.” She was greeted by a single, perfectly groomed eyebrow arched and a direct stare. This one actually has a personality she thought, she’d better learn to cover it though or she’d get eaten alive’.

“I assure you that I answer to no-one but very well let’s get down to business,” came the immediate response. “My name is Lena Luthor and I’d like to talk about someone whose case you presided over.”

“Luthor? As in Luthor Corp?” Judge Ellington thundered.

“Luthor as in L-Corp formally known as Luther Corp yes,” Lena returned. “I can’t imagine that there are too many of us in a city the size of National City.”

“I’d heard of the renaming and the relocation of the headquarters but I never thought that in my line of work I’d ever have need to run into a Luthor ever again,” Judge Ellington says bitterly. “So what are you some distant cousin?”

“What I am,” Lena replies drawing herself up to her full 5’3 height, “is someone who’s sure that you have more interesting things to do today that delve into my pedigree.”

“Just like a Luthor,” Suzanne scoffed, “so sure that your time is more valuable than anyone else’s. No consideration for anyone but yourselves. Parasites the whole lot of you.”

“I could stand here and allow you to continue to hurl insults at me,” Lena drawled, “or we could get to the business that has us both down here so that you can return to your holiday in the shortest possible time.”

“I don’t do deal with Luthors,” Suzanne spat.

“Really?” smirked Lena insolently. “Then you would be the only person in this city who does not.”

“Get. Out.” Suzanne ground out. “Your kind is not welcomed in my chambers.”

“I do believe,” Lena says walking confidently into the office, “that the large donation my company made to the mayor’s campaign as well as city hall itself buys me admittance to this and any office that I deem necessary.”

“God you really are a Luthor,” Suzanne sneered. “Just as self-righteous as the core family. Sitting in your ivory towers looking down your nose thinking you own everything and everyone. Well I’ll have you know that in these chambers my word is final!”

“Which one was it?” Lena asked mildly taking a seat in front of the Judge’s desk and absentmindedly removing lint from her expensive winter coat.

“What?” Suzanne sputtered.

“Which one was it?” Lena repeated. “To have such a deep seated hatred of the Luthors you must have had direct contact with either Lionel, Lillian or Lex. So which one was it?” Suzanne was taken slightly by surprise at the temporary look of exhaustion and resignation that crossed the face of the young woman sitting in front of her. What could she possibly have to be tired about? I suppose ever parasites get tired.

“What makes you believe I’ve ever met any of the Luthors?” Suzanne muttered averting her eyes.

“Call it intuition. Or practice,” Lena responded. “There’s a strong distinction between people who have heard of the Luthor reputation and those unfortunate enough to have first-hand experience as to how they earned that reputation.”

“That was years ago and of no consequence now,” Suzanne began.

“So let me guess? Lilian. Possibly with a dash of Lionel thrown in,” Lena interrupted tilting her head slightly. The blush staining the judge’s cheeks all but confirmed Lena’s guess. “I’m going to say you were young. Probably had the misfortune of catching Lionel’s eye at a party. Lilian has always been a possessive and vindictive thing. She may not have wanted Lionel herself but she’d be damned if anyone else would have him. She made a sport of destroying any who was unfortunate enough to be a target of Lionel’s attention while she was present.”

“What makes you think?” Suzanne stuttered.

“Like I said, practice,” Lena replied taking a breath. “God only knows why Lilian didn’t take out her husband’s infidelity on him rather than everyone else around him. Look, for whatever it’s worth I am sorry.”

“For what?” Suzanne asked siting in shock.

“That you were a target for a miserable and vindictive couple,” Lena sighed. “Now we can sit here and you can attempt to collect on the pound of flesh you may be owed, or we can get to the business at present.”

“And if I decide that I’d rather collect what’s due to me what would you do?” Suzanne asked curiously.

“Well then Judge Ellington, you’d find that my parents were masters when it came to teaching vindictiveness and power-plays and that I have always been a diligent student,” Lena replied folding her hands in her lap.

“Parents?” Suzanne responded.

“Yes, Lionel and Lilian Luthor are my parents.” Lena answered holding the judge’s gaze.

“I knew of Lex but I never knew that they had a second child. I’ve never heard your name mentioned in the press, but then I’ve made a habit of steering clear of all things Luthor related.” Suzanne replied.

“Yes well I attended boarding school and university in the UK,” Lena supplied.

“That explains the accent,” Suzanne replied finding the younger woman’s unblinking gaze slightly unnerving.

“Look,” Lena leaned forward and sighed. “I am not my parents. I’m just a woman trying to make a life for myself outside of my family’s name. The last thing I want to do is to keep paying their dues. I am not my parents and I’m not my brother. All I ask is that you judge me on my merits, give me the same consideration you would give to a perfect stranger on the streets, nothing more nothing less. Can you do that? Or are you one of those that believes that the sins of the father should be passed down to his children?”

Suzanne sighed as she realized that she could either do what the Luthors had done to her years before and judge the young woman sitting before her for someone else’s actions or she could let the past remain in the past and move forward. She had a sneaking suspicion as well that if riled this Luthor may turn out to be a worse enemy than the other three combined.

“What can I do for you Ms. Luthor?” she asked finally.

“I came to talk you about Mikayla Dawson,” Lena replied shocking the older woman. Why was a Luthor interested in an orphan?

“I had no idea Mikayla had a connection to your family,” Suzanne responded.

“She doesn’t,” Lena answered. “At least not yet. Were you aware that after your ruling yesterday that Mikayla was taken to the National City Group Home for Girls?”

“I didn’t know,” Suzanne sighed heavily. “But I suspected she would be at this time of year. God I wished I could’ve locked up her dad’s cousin and his brat of a wife for that they did.” Suzanne will forever regret the choice she was forced to make yesterday; no child should be without a family at the holidays.

“Karma will set those scales right eventually. But don’t worry if it takes too long I’m not above lending a helping hand,” Lena responded softly sending a shiver down Suzanne’s spine. Definitely not an enemy one wanted to make Suzanne thought. “My concern right now however is with Mikayla not her disgrace of a cousin.”

“May I ask why you are so concerned with a child you say you have no connection to?” Suzanne inquired.

“Because I was three years younger that Mikayla when my world crumbled around me. After my mom died and I was sent to the Luthors getting almost immediately shipped to boarding school was the last thing I needed,” Lena replied without changing expression. Her face was so devoid of emotion she might as well be talking about the weather.

“You’re adopted?” Suzanne asked in surprise for the umpteenth time that morning.

“Yes,” came the simple response.

“How can I help?” Suzanne asked immediately making up her mind to help in whatever way she could. She was rewarded with Lena’s first smile of the day. Seems the apple fell very far from the tree Suzanne thought listening to Lena’s proposal.

A long time after she glanced down at her watch and was surprised to see that it was almost 11AM.

“Usually she’s very conscientious about answering her cell phone,” Suzanne replied in frustration.

“It is the holidays after all,” Lena mused. “She may want some time with her family. She may even be out of town.”

“Not Kara Danvers,” Suzanne shook her head. “Kara is from a rare breed of social workers who actually loves the work she does. She goes above and beyond for all the children in her care. She’d never go out of town with Mikayla in a group home. Even if it’s so she could visit with her for a few hours so she’s not alone with strangers on Christmas.”

“Sounds like she’s in the perfect job,” Lena replied. “How do you know so much about her? Is she a friend of yours?”

“No, but yesterday I noticed how invested she was in Mikayla’s case so I made some calls,” Suzanne blushed. “Based on what I heard she invests 110% of herself into all her charges. Even checks up on them after they’ve been released from her care.”

“Sounds like she’s not the only one who takes an interest in her cases outside of what is expected,” Lena replied with another arch of her eyebrow.

“Yes well,” Suzanne cleared her throat without continuing.  “Based on what I’ve gathered her and her lawyer friend with the unfortunate name are quite the team. They do everything within their power and sometimes outside of their power to ensure that each child in their care gets a happy and loving home. The system could use more like them.”

“I’m happy to hear that Mikayla had them in her corner for the last three months,” Lena says standing and shrugging into her jacket.

“If you give me another hour I’m sure I can find someone who can locate another contact number for her,’ Suzanne offers.

“No need,” Lena replied. When Suzanne continued to look at her curiously Lena smiled mildly. “One thing you should know about me Judge Ellington; I never attempt an acquisition without first doing extensive research. I’m sure I’ll speak to Ms. Danvers before the day is out.” Shaking her hand and watching her leave Suzanne was just as sure that Kara Danvers was destined for a face to face with one Ms. Lena Luthor before the day was out.

“Ms. Tessmacher,” Lena greets her personal assistant when she answers her call. “Are you in the office as yet?”

“No Ms. Luthor,” Eve stutters. “You told me last night that we would begin at noon and it’s just past eleven so I just left out. I’m so sorry I can be there in ten minutes.”

“Well that would be a Christmas miracle considering your file shows that you live across town,” Lena replied. “Relax Ms. Tessmacher I do remember I told you we’d be getting a late start. That’s not why I called. Can you do me a favour?”

“Of course Ms. Luthor.” Eve replied confused. “How may I help?”

“I need you to stop at a department store and pick up a car-seat.” Lena answered.

“A car-seat?” Eve asked even more confused.

“Yes Ms. Tessmacher, a car-seat for a seven-year-old little girl,” Lena answered. “Let me know once you have it and your location and I will come and collect it and give you a lift to work.”

“Yes Ms. Luthor,” Eve replied no less confused that she was before. She is even more confused when her employer picks her up an hour later in a silver Toyota Prius.

“Surprised are we Ms. Tessmacher?” Lena asked amused.

“No Ms. Luthor,” Eve begins before noticing Lena’s raised eyebrow. “Well yes. You’re a billionaire why do you drive a Prius?”

“Because it’s unexpected,” Lena laughs. “Like you, no-one expects me to be driving a Prius. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve driven pass the paparazzi waiting for me without them batting an eye. When you do the unexpected you can get away with almost anything.”

“So basically, you’re hiding in plain sight,” Eve replied.

“A Luthor never hides Ms. Tessmacher, but yes.” Lena grins at her gaping secretary. Eve is starting wonder if her boss was feeling okay. In the six months that she’s been her personal assistant this is the most they have spoken about any topic that was not directly work related. Her thoughts are interrupted when Lena asks to make a short detour before heading to work.

“Of course Ms. Luthor,” Eve murmurs. She is given a further shock when they pull into a complex with a large dilapidated sign that reads “Welcome to National City Group Home for Girls”.

“This should not take long,” Lena states.

[yutaya]

Stuff from the Be More Chill TalkBack Event at Exit82 Theater on November 12, 2017

> When asked what is their favorite number to perform:

Ryan Everett Wood AKA Michael Mell Revival Cast: Smartphone Hour

Sal Pavia AKA The Squip Revival Cast: Halloween Party (he says even though he’s not actually in the scene he always jams to it backstage)

Matt Dalton AKA Jeremy Heere Revival Cast: More Than Survive

Katie Ladner AKA Jenna Rolan Original Cast: said her favorite song to perform herself is Michael In The Bathroom. (George jokingly got up and started to walk off stage)

Katlyn Carlson AKA Chloe Valentine Original Cast: Do You Wanna Ride, singing together with Brooke

Stephanie Hsu AKA Christine Canigula Original Cast: I Love Play Rehearsal, because she loves getting to be so weird. She actually gets too excited when performing that song and has to remember to tone it down because one time while doing it she choked on spit (George: Gross!)

George Salazar AKA Michael Mell Original Cast: Michael In The Bathroom

Joe Iconis: Fav song he wrote is Smartphone Hour. He always enjoys it when he hears it.

> Joe wrote A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into SUPER late, once they were already rehearsing at Two River Theater. They originally had some sort of I Love Play Rehearsal Reprise there, but the scene was still dragging - then one day he ran out of the room to write GTIKBI and it was gr8. (As a personal note, I remember seeing an I Love Play Rehearsal Reprise sung by Squipped!Christine in that practice script that was released instead of her actual Guy I’d Kinda Be Into Reprise and I guess now we know why!)

> Katie was given Jenna’s lines from Smartphone Hour to read when she was going in for the audition, but she didn’t know it was a song, so she was just like “...what the fuck??” Then she decided she’d play it as weirdly as possible in the audition and it would either be great or backfire spectacularly. Obviously things ended up working out well.

Katlyn went to her audition for Chloe dressed like a “noveau cheerleader cat lady”

> When practicing for the show and when everyone was building their parts, George devoted a lot of work to building a great friendship with Will that could then translate to Michael and Jeremy. (It’s called acting, George. :P)

> Ryan said he really loves playing Michael because he sees Michael in himself, because Michael is so relatable and that’s why everyone loves him because everyone relates to him (”and also they all love him because of this fucking guy,” he says, reaching towards George, who laughs as meanwhile 60% of the fangirls in the room swoon from the brilliance of his smile)

Ryan also says that he’s so honored to be a part of this production, because he is such a huge fan of the show and is in constant awe of the original team and is constantly freaking out just being in their presence - “Even little things, like, I die every time at ‘You shop here?’ [Stephanie and Katie are fake bowing down to Katlyn as Ryan hides his face from her] I can’t even look at you right now!”

> Who would your Squip look like? Not your character: yours.

Joe: Either Stephen Sondheim, Martin Scorsese, or Kermit the Frog

George: Danny Devito

Stephanie: “I mean, like, ‘Yes Beyonce!’ but in reality the truth is... A Tree.” (Katie: She would smell like essential oils constantly)

Katlyn: Initially said Steve Martin from the 70s, a couple questions later changed her answer to Gwen Stephani

Katie: A fusion between Clarissa from Clarissa explains it all and Melissa McCarthy

Ryan: Either Tina Fey or the Grinch

Sal: Was thinking originally Alec Baldwin circa 30 Rock, but then would transform into his mother

Matt: Shaggy from Scooby Doo

> Joe was asked who would he be in BMC - he said if it was actually just him in that world he’d be Jeremy, but if it was him as an actor able to play anyone he wants, he’d be Chloe

> If you could play anyone else who would it be?

Matt: The Squip

Sal: Brooke

Ryan: Brooke

Katie: (”But I love Jenna!! If I had to be someone else, I’d be the girl version of Michael. Mikayla In The Bathroom.”)

Katlyn: 100% Rich.

Stephanie: Would play in the band

George: Christine (”and btw guys, I’ll be singing some Christine at 54 Below this spring!”)

I believe it was the Exit82 Musical Director Chris Sabol: Mr. Reyes

> Ryan and George were asked how they felt about playing a character who has come to represent to LGBTQ+ community.

Ryan said that as a member of the community himself he’s so glad that this exists for people and that it’s always so amazing to meet young people at the stage door saying thank you to Michael for representing who we are.

George told a story about how a couple of weeks previously, his dad had called him, crying (”Dad what’s wrong who’s dead?!”), because when George was younger he was originally studying to be a doctor, and his parents were like “but! Doctor!!” when he switched to acting, He said when he told them he wanted to switch he said that he wanted to help people in that way, to give them an escape for an hour or two, etc. and his dad was kind of like “...but as a doctor you would help people! You would literally be saving lives!!” George said that they didn’t fully understand, but that at that time a couple of weeks ago his dad went through a box George had sent to his mom for her fanart scrapbook project or something: the box was full of a whole bunch of fanart and letters from young people who had written thanking George because they had been going through a really hard time and some of them were suicidal, and then they found BMC and it saved them, and then his dad called him up because he hadn’t understood before how important this was.

[morgandaughterofdeath]

Lady Death Verse

Age: 14 - 3,500 

Relationship Status: dating/married to Death the Kid (@thedistantsun)

Occupation: (before age 18) EAT student, servant of Hades (after age 18) protector of Death City, EAT professor at the DWMA

Children: Drew (16), Mikayla (13) (there will be more, we just haven't written them yet)

About:

Being the daughter of Hades comes with a lot of downsides, but also a few perks. While her father was working, he would often leave her in Death City since his close business partner and close friend, Death, had a son her age. Kid immediately loved her due to her perfectly symmetry, and they quickly became the best of friends. She grew up alongside Kid, practically joined at the hip. Death would tease them endlessly about being in love, wanting deep down for them to be together so that Kid wouldn't have to be alone. But of course the six year olds were disgusted by this idea, Kid often throwing a fit out of embarassment to get his father to stop. It never did though, Death would always root for them to be together.

Morgan had next to no friends at camp, since she was a daughter of Hades and most were too freaked out by her to even associate with her. Only her older brother and his boyfriend, Will, would play with her. This made her long for Death City any time she had to go back to camp, and would call Death almost daily to talk to Kid. Kid grew up on a pedastal, as greater than the humans that surrounded him, so friends did not come easily to him either. They only had each other, but they were pretty okay with that. Who needs more than one best friend anyways?

Slowly this friendship grew to something more between them, young love sprouting within them. But thier twelve year old hearts didn't know how to express these feelings, especially Morgan, who was terrified of losing the only friend she had. Kid would spend hours upon hours trying to write the perfect love letter to her, but he found he couldn't write one he saw as good enough for her. So each one found itself crumpled up in the trash (to be collected by Death himself and stored away for Morgan to find many, many years later) and he eventually gave up on trying. That didn't stop their feelings from growing though, and soon Morgan was faced with a very tough decision. She could either continue to see Kid on a weekly basis, keeping him company and herself happy, or begin the Olympic Trials to try and gain immortality, which could tear them apart for years. She was worried that Kid would never forgive her if she didn't speak to him for that long, but after talking to him about it and seeing how excited he got when thinking about never having to reap Morgan's soul, she knew what she had to do. At the ripe age of thirteen, she was given her father's prized silver scythe and began her Olympic Trials.

The main body of her trials was working for her father, killing monsters that were causing chaos and retrieving souls that had escaped from the Underworld. The trials were devastating to her health, forcing her to go many days without sleep and pushing her powers to their very limits. She found herself collapsing from exhaustion quite often. And even though she promised to stay in contact with Kid, her calls and letters became fewer and more sparse until they were nonexistant. The isolation and constant stress on her body were what nearly killed her during this time, making her lose quite a bit of weight and become quite the anxious person. That is, until a year and a half into her trials. 

This was the moment that Morgan and Kid truly "met" one another, practically different people after so long apart. Hades sent his daughter after a witch that he didn't know had been put on the list of the DWMA. After said witch took the life of a student, she was pushed up the list and Death sent his son to take her down. Morgan had been trailing her for almost an hour, her weariness casuing her to not be able to kill her in an efficient amount of time. As she followed her into an abandoned castle she felt a powerful soul and attacked it without thinking, only to feel the cool metal of a gun forced into her stomach. Both Kid and Morgan froze as their weapons grazed the other, Morgan dropping her scythe and stumbling back in shock. Even though they had almost killed each other and hadn't seen each other in over a year, Kid still greeted her with a smile. They had a very short-lived exchange before the witch captured their attention once more. They decided to work together on this mission and soon enough she was dead. As Morgan took the soul, Kid noticed just how horrible she looked; And when she collapsed after trying to introduce herself to his weapons, he knew he had to do something. Without knowing what was wrong he flew her back to the city and took her to Stein, who said she was just pushing herself too far. Kid would not allow Morgan to hurt herself like this any longer, or her father to continue to push her, so he decided he was going to work with her without a care if the Olympians wouldn't accept her victories in the trials if she had help. He would fight them himself if they denied her what she deserved. He tried to explain this to Morgan when she woke up from her deep sleep, and at first she rejected him, scared she would never be able to join him in immortality if he aided her. Her mind was changed, however, when Kid took her by the hands, looked her in the eyes, and said something that would change her life forever. 

"The children of death belong together."

The rest is history. The very next day they shared their first kiss outside the gates of the Underworld, and became an official couple. The rest of their story follows the events of the Soul Eater manga, with some extra meddling from the gods of Olympus. Morgan falls to madness a time or two, and even attempts to kill Kid and her friends a couple of times while under the influence, but even after everything their relationship remained strong. 

After Asura is defeated and Kid ascends, Morgan properly accepts her role as Lady Death. While Kid grieves she takes control of the city and tries to sort everything out. She puts her own feelings and depression over losing the shinigami she considered her second father aside and pushes on, quickly gaining the respect of all those who once thought of her as just Kid's girlfriend. Shortly after Spartoi is called up to Olympus so the gods can thank them officially. Kid stays home, still not feeling well enough to try and deal with the gods that caused his father so much grief. It is on that day that Morgan gains her immortality, giving her even more power and influence than she had before.  

A few very short years later, Kid and Morgan have the wedding of the millenia. About a hundred years later, due to the massive growth in power she has experienced since gaining her immortality, she is promoted to a full goddess, not just immortal demigod. After that she is no longer Morgan O'Riley, but "Lady Death, Protector of Death City". She watches over the world and helps protect the balance, standing by the side of the shinigami for the rest of eternity.