#and when she is she's kind of lame. this is really really important to me actually

[quatregats]

I think the thing I like best about Barbara is that she kind of sucks a little. Just like the thing I like about Maria is that she kind of doesn't

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

finished helluva boss and now i have Thoughts

[jackass-jones]

The way akishinji and ashbella both have dramatic coma scenes and dramatic shot through the heart scenes like we’ve gotta stop meeting like this 😩

[the-girl-from-another-time]

To preface this I do see and appreciate the homoeroticism of Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship, but that being said, I’m noticing a phenomenon of people who’ve seen the movie but not the full show saying “Glinda and Elphie are obviously gay, and also Fiyero is lame and unnecessary.” For one thing, those opinions on Fiyero will likely change after Part 2 comes out because he is both important and awesome, but also? I really do love Glinda and her bond with Elphaba, but quite frankly I don’t think she deserves Elphie. Glinda’s biggest flaw is her cowardice (and even that isn’t fair, because she’s in a tough situation and her survival mode is to work within the system as best she can), and Act 2 proves she simply won’t take the same risks that Fiyero will for Elphie until it’s too late. Fiyero is brave and devoted to Elphie in ways Glinda isn’t (even when she wants to be). Glinda isn’t the one who sacrifices everything she’s ever known and nearly gets tortured to death to protect Elphaba. Not to mention that Elphaba’s fighting spirit and willingness to speak up are matched in Fiyero. AND the way the theme of finding not just worth but beauty in “unattractive” people comes full circle with Elphie and Fiyero. Just. End me now. They make me INSANE. It isn’t until after Elphaba’s apparent death that Glinda’s bravery really shines. The end of the show is basically Glinda acknowledging she should’ve done better and promising she WILL do better, she will be Glinda “The Good,” all thanks to what she’s learned from Elphaba. It’s kind of the point that Glinda wasn’t perfect for Elphie (and that’s okay, because their relationship was beautiful and profound anyway). I’m so excited to see movie fans experience this ride once Part 2 comes out.

[sabrinasopposite]

drinks or coffee?

college!charlie baker x photographer!reader

I'm feeling so good At a bad party We don't have to talk I know that you want me Gotta keep it nice We cannot be naughty We can get drinks Or we could get coffee

summary: y/n is stuck in this lame, boring and bad college party, yet she starts to find more reasons to stay there as she was talking to her crush, charlie baker.

Y/N adjusted the strap of her vintage camera, letting the weight of it steady her. She stood in the corner of the crowded apartment, where strings of fairy lights stretched across the ceiling, casting warm, uneven glows on the peeling walls. The party was alive, pulsing with music and laughter, but Y/N felt like she was outside looking in, a ghost in a room of vibrant, living people.

She raised her camera, the familiar click and hum of the focus grounding her. Through the lens, the world always made sense: fragmented, composed, controllable. She scanned the room, her eye catching on flashes of movement and laughter, on the way the light hit someone’s cheekbone just right. But when her camera landed on him, she froze.

Charlie Baker.

He was leaning against the worn-out bookshelf on the other side of the room, casually laughing at something one of his friends said. He had that effortless charisma Y/N couldn’t look away from.

His dark curls fell perfectly messy over his forehead, and his faded denim jacket looked like it had seen its fair share of oil changes and late-night drives. He was all sharp angles and soft smiles, an easy magnetism that made everyone around him feel seen.

Charlie wasn’t like the others on campus who dressed to impress or strutted their way into conversations. He was real, grounded in a way that felt rare. Y/N had heard bits and pieces about him—how he grew up in a big, chaotic family, how he used to be the star of the football team but decided to trade that life for working with his hands.

Word was he wanted to drop out of college altogether and become a car mechanic, though most people couldn’t understand why someone who looked like that wouldn’t want to be famous instead.

Through the lens, Y/N could admire him without fear. She could notice the little things: the way his hands moved when he talked, rough and calloused but deliberate, or the faint grease stains on his jacket cuffs. He had a habit of glancing down when he laughed, like he didn’t realize how captivating he was.

Her heart tugged, a quiet ache she wasn’t sure what to do with. She lowered the camera and sighed.

“Still hiding behind that thing?”

Her breath hitched. She turned to find Charlie standing beside her, a crooked grin on his face. How did he move so quietly?

“Still asking obvious questions?” she shot back, hoping her voice sounded steadier than she felt.

Charlie chuckled, a low, warm sound that made the noise of the party blur into static. His smile was lopsided, like he wasn’t sure it belonged to him. “Touché,” he said. “So, what’s the verdict? Getting any good shots, or is this place a creative wasteland?”

Y/N shrugged, her pulse racing. “It’s... lively.”

“Diplomatic answer.” He tilted his head, studying her the way he might study a car engine that wouldn’t start, his brown eyes sharp and curious. “What are you really thinking?”

She tightened her grip on the camera strap. You’re making it impossible to think. Instead, she said, “I’m thinking that not every party needs to be immortalized.”

“Maybe not,” he said, leaning a little closer. “But I’m betting you’ve already found something worth keeping.”

Charlie was the kind of guy who could make anyone feel at ease. He had this way of giving people his full attention, like whatever they were saying was the most important thing in the world. Tonight, though, it felt like his focus was entirely on her, and Y/N didn’t know what to do with it.

He asked her about her photography, genuinely curious, and she found herself talking more than she expected—about her gallery submission, her love for capturing fleeting moments, how the camera helped her make sense of the world.

“You must have the patience of a saint,” he said, his voice low and warm.

“Not really.” She smiled, feeling her cheeks heat. “I just know what I’m looking for.”

His gaze lingered on her, a beat too long. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I can see that.”

Y/N’s stomach flipped, and she quickly looked away, pretending to adjust her camera.

It wasn’t fair, the way Charlie existed. He was every bit the campus heartthrob, but there was nothing flashy about him. He didn’t chase attention—it just followed him, like moths to a flame. He continued to carry the conversation as he told her about his love for cars, how he’d spend hours in the garage back home with his dad, rebuilding engines and making junkers run like new. “It’s honest work,” he said, his voice tinged with longing. “There’s something satisfying about fixing something with your hands, you know?”

Y/N nodded, though she didn’t fully understand. What she did understand was the way his face lit up when he talked about it, like it was more than a job—it was who he was. She found herself noticing everything about him: the way his hair caught the light, the faint smudge of grease on his forearm, the way his voice softened when he talked about home. She wanted to capture it all, not with her camera, but just for herself.

As the party wound down, Charlie stayed, lingering in her orbit like a half-finished thought. Someone called him away, and she thought the moment was over. But later, as she stood on the balcony, trying to let the cold air clear her mind, he appeared again. “Thinking about calling it a night?” he asked, his voice soft.

“Maybe.”

He hesitated, then smiled, something shy in the curve of it. “I was thinking of getting coffee. You know, to detox from all... this.” He gestured vaguely toward the party behind them.

Her heart raced, but she shrugged, keeping her face neutral. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

When she finally decided to leave, he was waiting by the door.

“Still up for coffee?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

She hesitated, a thousand thoughts colliding in her mind. But then she nodded. “Yeah. Coffee sounds good.”

They walked through the quiet streets, the tension between them humming like the low purr of an engine. At the café, under the golden glow of the lights, Charlie leaned forward, his hands wrapped around his cup.

“You know,” he said, his voice soft, “I wasn’t really thinking about the party tonight. I was thinking about you.”

Y/N’s breath caught, her fingers tightening around her own cup.

“I’ve been seeing you in a different light,” he admitted. “And I don’t know if I’m reading this wrong, but...”

She met his gaze, the courage rising unbidden. “You’re not.”

His smile widened, slow and warm, and suddenly, the weight of unspoken words lifted. The night stretched ahead of them, full of possibility, and for the first time, Y/N felt like she didn’t need her camera to hold on to it.

🥡 taglist: @blackynsupremacy @alelo23 @collywobblvs @tvdelrey @angelsgalore @callicela @seulgi-burgundy

pt 2 is out !

[cherryfyre]

5 Times Sarah Cameron Used You to Change Rafe's Mind

The Charity Auction

Rafe lounged on the couch, lazily flipping through the flat screen's channels. He wasn't in the mood for Sarah's antics, but the sound of her heels clicking on the hardwood floors made him glance up.

"Don't forget, the charity auction is tomorrow," Sarah said, casually tying her hair back as she rifled through a drawer.

"Not going"

"You're unbelievable," Sarah shot back, slamming the drawer shut. "Dad donated half the prizes, and people are expecting us. Do you really want to deal with him if we don't show?"

Rafe scoffed "Since when do you care about what Dad thinks?"

"I don't. But the auction's important to people. Like... y'know who."

Rafe didn't need her to clarify. He could picture you now—probably making centrepieces out of seashells or whatever it was kooks like you cared about. He rolled his eyes, "Still not going."

Sarah smirked. "Right. Because you hate being in a room where people are actually impressed by you for once." She snapped, turning on her heel and starts to leave.

He threw the remote onto the couch with a groan "Fine. but if it's boring then I'm out."

The next evening. Rafe walked into the auction wearing a blazer that screamed "I don't care," through his hair that was carefully tousled. His eyes hovered over the luxurious room, until they had found you.

You were at the front of the room, adjusting a floral arrangement on a table, your dress soft and flowing, catching the light with every move. When you turend and saw him, your focused face turned into a surprised smile.

"Rafe? I didn't think I would see you here."

"Yeah, well...." He shrugged, slipping hsi hands into his pockets, "Sarah dragged me."

Your smiled softened, your voice quieter now. "Well, I'm glad you came. It's nice having someone I know here."

Rafe felt his chest tighten unexpectedly, the kind of feeling he'd never admit. "You seem busy." He said, motioning to the bustling room.

"I am, but..." You stepped closer, the warmth of your perfume wrapping around him "It's good busy. It's for a good cause."

He nodded, unable to look away from your glowing expression. "Yeah, looks good."

2. The Bonfire

“Don’t be lame, Rafe,” Sarah called from the doorway, jingling her car keys.

“Not going.” He didn’t even look up from his phone.

“Right,” Sarah said, leaning against the doorframe. “Because sitting alone here and staring at your phone all night is such a better time.”

“It is when I don’t have to deal with John B and his idiot friends.”

Sarah shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m just saying it’s not a bad crowd. You know, people who don’t get on your nerves.” She paused, giving him a pointed look. “Like her.”

Rafe’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

“She’s been talking about it all week. She even made s’mores kits,” Sarah added with a sly grin. “But whatever. Have fun being miserable.”

He sighed, setting his phone down with exaggerated annoyance. “I’m only going because I’m bored. Don’t expect me to stay long.”

The fire crackled against the dark sky, and Rafe stayed on the outskirts, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. He scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on you. You were crouched by the fire, your laughter mingling with the sparks as you tried to keep a marshmallow from catching fire.

When you caught him watching, you smiled and waved. “Come sit!”

“I’m good here,” he called back, though his feet were already moving toward you.

“Afraid of s’mores?” you teased, holding out a perfectly roasted marshmallow.

He smirked, taking it from you. “You’re lucky this one’s decent.

“Lucky?” you laughed. “I’m an expert.”

He shook his head but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. The firelight danced in your eyes, and for the first time that night, he didn’t mind being there.

3. The Surf Competition

Rafe leaned back in his chair, his feet propped on the porch railing as Sarah walked past with a beach bag slung over her shoulder.

“You’re not going to the surf competition?” she asked, not breaking stride.

“Since when do I go to those things?” he shot back, his sunglasses hiding his glare.

“Since never,” Sarah replied. “But it’s kind of a big deal. The whole island’s going. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”

“Pass.”

Sarah stopped, looking over her shoulder. “You know, she’s competing.”

Rafe’s hand paused mid-reach for his drink. “And?”

“And nothing,” Sarah said, turning away. “But she’s been practicing for weeks, and she’s actually good. But hey, stay here. I’m sure your chair needs you.”

Rafe grumbled under his breath, grabbing his keys. “Whatever.”

The beach was packed, the crowd buzzing with excitement. Rafe kept to the back, his arms crossed as he scanned the waves. When he spotted you paddling out, your determination written in every stroke, he couldn’t look away.

You caught a wave, carving effortlessly down its face, your smile radiant as you glided toward the shore. The crowd erupted in cheers, but Rafe barely noticed. He was too busy watching you, the way you seemed to light up in the sunlight.

Afterward, you spotted him leaning against a railing. “Rafe! You came?”

He shrugged, his expression neutral. “Didn’t have anything else going on.”

Your smile widened. “Well, thanks. It means a lot.”

He didn’t say anything, but the warmth in your voice stayed with him long after the competition ended.

4. The Family Dinner

“You’re coming to dinner,” Sarah said as she walked into the living room.

Rafe didn’t even glance up. “No, I’m not.”

“It’s just dinner, Rafe. Dad’s grilling, and—”

“And what? It’s going to be a train wreck like usual?”

Sarah sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Stay here. I just thought you’d want to keep her company while the rest of us deal with Dad’s speeches.”

Rafe looked up, his brow furrowing. “She’s going?”

“She’s coming with her parents. You know how Dad is—he invited everyone with a trust fund.”

Rafe muttered something under his breath before standing. “Guess I’ll go. Someone has to keep you in check.”

At the dinner, Rafe kept his distance at first, leaning against a tree with a drink in hand. But when he saw you standing by yourself near the fire pit, your dress catching the glow of the flames, he found himself walking over.

“Didn’t think this was your kind of thing,” he said, his voice casual.

You turned, your face lighting up. “Rafe! I didn’t see you earlier.”

“Yeah, well… figured I’d make an appearance.”

You smiled softly, and for the rest of the night, Rafe found himself by your side, your laughter making the night more bearable than he’d ever admit.

5. The Lake Day

“Let’s go,” Sarah said, throwing a towel at Rafe’s head.

He caught it with a scowl. “Go where?”

“The lake. Everyone’s going.”

“Pass.”

“Typical.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “She’s coming too, but I guess that’s not enough of a reason for you to leave your cave.”

Rafe frowned, trying to mask his interest. “She’s going?”

Sarah didn’t answer, just smirked as she walked out the door.

By the lake, Rafe spotted you sitting on the dock, your feet dangling in the water. The sunlight danced across the waves, catching in your hair and making you look almost otherworldly.

He walked over, sitting down next to you without a word.

“Hey,” you said, smiling at him. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Sarah dragged me,” he lied, glancing out at the water.

You bumped his shoulder lightly. “Well, I’m glad you came.”

Rafe felt the tension in his chest ease, the warmth of your presence making the lake day more tolerable than he’d thought possible.

[matchalovertrait]

Excuse Dulce for attempting team-strengthening conversations! Shouldn't we get along with those we have to work with? In a duo, there has to be mutual trust and understanding. She even asked Dani if Antonio's schedule allowed for conversing today (it did). Too bad Antonio does not seem interested in these beginning-of-the-school-year-type icebreakers. Smh. So be it, lame-o!

Note: Soooo I said before, the big reveal is quite questionable!! Yes, that is his name. No, I don't think he should be embarrassed about it. Yes, there is a reason why I did that but I can't explain right now.

Start from the beginning (Gen 2)

Previous | Next

Transcript:

Dulce: Okay, so what’s his full name??

Antonio: Leslie. Leslie Caruso.

Dulce: ...That’s it??? Are you sure???

Antonio: We verified it. Thrice.

[Dulce jumps out of her seat.]

Dulce: You’re telling me this whole time he’s been embarrassed about having a “girl” name? It’s not that big of a deal.

Dulce: Talk about anticlimactic! No, there has to be more to this. What do you think?

Antonio: It’s not of importance.

Dulce: MHM! That’s what they want you to think. Is that really it? Who does something like that?

Antonio: We should finish the paperwork.

Dulce: Speaking of which, I like your last name. It’s an herb, isn’t it?

Antonio: [Typing away.]

Dulce: Well, it is. Rosemary is a must-have in my kitchen. You can add it to so many dishes.

Dulce: I can’t listen to songs over like, 4 minutes though. That’s when I have to tap out.

Dulce: What kind of music do you listen to? You seem like you listen to-

[Dulce continues to chatter away.]

[Antonio holds his hand up.]

Dulce: Hmm?

Antonio: Dulce, I am your lawyer. We are not friends. Let’s focus on the case.

Dulce: So what? I’m friends with everyone—the gardener, my chauffeur, my stylist—Yoltic! You know him. See, this isn’t weird. You two hang out, don’t you?

Antonio: Those are personal matters.

Dulce: Alright! You don’t know how to mix business and fun, apparently.

Dulce: I was wondering. Should we do a bench trial instead of a jury trial? That way we can center everything around the cold, hard facts. I like the sound of that.

[son1c]

in my movie rewrite, there's a big emphasis on environmentalism. one of GUN's primary objectives is to find an alternative source of energy, because fossil fuels really aren't working out for the planet, and they've deemed solar/wind/etc as failures because they're slow to catch on. what they covet is a limitless energy source that they can milk like a battery for humanity.

10 years ago, they got close to something promising when they discovered a sunken island near the bermuda triangle. but their progress was thwarted thanks to one of their scientists going rogue. she took all of their research, wiped their computers, and ran. GUN has a new guy working on the case now (eggman) but he's eggman so his ego and personal projects are getting in the way of any real progress. that is, until he catches something unexpected with one of his drone's cameras: an artifact that had been recovered from the bermuda triangle research site a decade ago, hanging from some kid's neck. it's annie's key! (sonic is in the picture too, but he's just some blurry blue smudge.)

the truth of the matter is this: the sunken island is angel island and the key will free Chaos. you know, the big water monster guy. that rogue scientist, aka annie's mom, figured this out 10 years ago and stole the key before GUN could use it. i'm thinking also that the key isn't really a key, but some ancient seal thing that just so happens to look like a key. in reality, it's Chaos' mind or heart or something. and the closer sonic and annie get to the island, the more it stirs, and annie starts having some really weird dreams...

i was also thinking that the reason why long claw did all that shit and isolated sonic and etc is because he's The One Living Person who can use the chaos emerald's power and go super. basically he's an extremely dangerous weapon. in my rewritten lore for the movies, only one person has this power at a time and it has been historically used to obliterate entire planets so long claw's species are tasked with finding each generation's chaos controller (lame name but i can't think of something better rn) before anyone else can swoop them up and groom them into being a weapon of war. btw it's completely random who has this power. kind of like the avatar i guess. cuz i want to keep sonic's "just some guy" thing intact, it's important to me.

this would also make shadow showing up way down the line extremely disconcerting because he's not supposed to exist. but i guess no one accounted for artificially made hedgehogs. ha

[exceptionimagines]

Meeting and Dating Jerry Dandridge

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(The real ones know about the struggles of the meeting scenario. They also know that I'm kind of referencing the original fright night with the whole 'reincarnated lost love' thing. Also, sorry that this ones kind of horny, guess I just had that dawg in me at the time lol.)

- When you tell people you're not the type of girl to get noticed, it's not some lame attempt to garner sympathy or an admission of low self esteem. You're not pouting at them and crying out for help, begging them to tell you otherwise or to comfort you about the unfortunate state of your love life.

- No, you're simply stating a fact: one you've never really deemed as the end of the world or some egregious issue that you must work to overcome. There's nothing wrong with being the way that you are and no amount of magazines or movies or books will convince you otherwise. You've come to terms with being plain; with being easily ignored, and at this point in your life, you don't really notice it anymore.

- It's only when Jerry Dandridge moves into your neighborhood that you find yourself reconsidering this once definitive description of yourself....

- Due to your lifelong experience of being overlooked, you've grown used to interacting with everyone around you as a sort of sexless being. You don't overthink things when meeting someone for the first time, you don't try to flirt or expect them to find you so attractive that they'll have no other choice but to ask you out. No, you view yourself the same way a little old lady would, expecting people to treat you in a platonic, "well isn't she sweet" kind of way; liking your company but never considering you as an option when thinking of a potential future partner.

- It's why you're so casual when meeting your new, incredibly attractive neighbor for the first time: shaking his hand and welcoming him to the area with a polite smile instead of the lovestruck and giggly grins of the other women around you. You keep things cordial and you think nothing of it when he first starts focusing in on you, always bringing the conversation back to you as you stand amongst a couple other neighbors; the same ones who called you over to greet the man when they noticed you returning home from work.

- At first you think he's trying to be nice, that he notices you're a little reserved and wants to keep you included whenever you seem to get lost in the chaotic cacophony of voices. But then you notice that he isn't really addressing anyone else in the circle directly, that he's seemingly only interested in what you think of things and what you want to say; almost to the point where the conversation is beginning to feel like a one on one talk with spectators.

- You're not used to the attention, not used to having someone specifically drawn to you out of everyone else in an entire crowd; a crowd that includes far more conventionally attractive women than yourself. You're confused when he keeps looking at you, sharing little smiles with you while your other neighbors speak, like you're the most important one there and that he wants you to know that. Your mind races when trying to figure out why he's behaving in such a way....

- It isn't until one of the older lady's on your street nudges you and coos about you having a "new admirer" that you actually consider the idea. You brush it off at first, refusing to think that that's the case; especially when you're talking about someone like Jerry. You argue to yourself that this sort of thing doesn't happen to you, men like him don't go for women like you.... But apparently they do....

- Jerry continues to pay special attention to you, continues to seek you out even when he's certainly not hard up for choices; as though the other girls on your block aren't throwing themselves at him. When he leaves his house, he looks out for you amongst the sea of people, giving your other neighbors a small smile and nod of acknowledgement as he makes his way over to you, meeting you at your car or your mailbox and starting a conversation.

- He hops from topic to topic, anything to prolong your time with him, to give him an excuse to be closer to you, to touch you in some way. You leave your interactions with him flustered, your skin still tingling from where he held your wrist to look at your bracelet or brushed his fingers across your own when exchanging mail. You feel silly for it, feeling like you're too old for all of this giddiness, this school girl sort of crush that's making you weak in the knees and tying your stomach in knots.

- Not long after you meet him, he asks if you'd want to get together, smiling at you charmingly, a touch of shyness on his face as he glances to the ground and then back up at you. You quickly agree, faltering only a little when he chuckles and tells you that "the only problem" is that his house is still a mess from moving. You invite him over to yours and he promises to bring over some wine/beer, telling you he'll "see you then" as the two of you part ways.

- When he comes over to your place, he brandishes the alcohol with a smile, complimenting your appearance as you invite him inside; his smile growing just a tad bit more as he steps over the threshold of your doorway. He looks around, makes a joke about having you help him decorate his own home and follows you happily as you lead him into your living room.

- As your date progresses, you start to think that Jerry is the closest thing to a perfect man that you've ever met. It's like he was handcrafted with the extent purpose of making you fall for him: every little thing he says or does making you like him even more. It's like you've known him for forever and yet it still feels new and exciting.

- When you're ready to call it a night, you're ecstatic to hear him say that he had a great time, that he wants to see you again soon and that next time, he'll invite you over to his place.

- He does so not long after, meeting you at your car one evening and asking if you know anything about painting. When you give him your answer, he invites you to help him decide on a color for his walls, taking you with him to the store once you get a tour of his home, making a date out of picking out the perfect shades. You end up back at his place when you're done, drinking together and watching reality television as you roll different colors across the blank drywall of his home.

- The two of you share your first kiss that same night after he points out that you have some paint on your cheek. He reaches out, smoothing your hair from your face and swiping the fleck of color from your skin with a gentle touch, his hand lingering on your cheek as he stares down at you with an affectionate gaze. Before you know it, you're both leaning in and sharing a short and sweet kiss, smiling at each other happily once the two of you pull apart.

- It all feels too good to be true.... And maybe it is, because not long after, you notice Charley; Jerry's next door neighbor, staring at the two of you when you meet up for another date. You take in the way that he's looking at Jerry and then the way that he's looking at you, at the way he hesitates like he wants to say something. You turn to Jerry and asks what's up with the boy, to which he merely chuckles, telling you that it's nothing while he throws an arm around your shoulders, leading you inside and casting a dark glance towards the boy before he closes his door.

- The next morning, Charley knocks on your door. He tells you that there's something wrong with Jerry and that you should stay away from him. You question him, wanting to know exactly what he thinks is wrong with your boyfriend, not knowing Charley to be the type of kid to make stuff up. He finally admits that he thinks your boyfriend is a vampire and you laugh a little, thinking he's joking.

- He doesn't laugh with you though, instead, he takes his phone out and swipes through photos: photos of scrolls, and antiques, and suspicious belongings. You grow even more confused, asking where he's taken all these pictures and why he's showing you all of this ...until you're shut up by the sight of a painting, a painting of ...you.

"What is this Charley?" You ask, chuckling somewhat incredulously, weirded out and confused.

"It's Jerry's, it's in his house. Just see for yourself, y/n. You'll find it there and you'll see that I'm telling you the truth. Just be careful, alright? He's dangerous." You're baffled by his words, baffled by the entire encounter. Your neighbor has broken into your boyfriends house and found an antique painting of you, or, at the very least, someone who looks identical to you.

- You want to put the whole thing out of your mind, but you cant. You have to find out the truth, so late in the evening, you go to knock on your boyfriends door. You hesitate on his front step: moving to knock then chickening out then moving to knock again. Finally, you decide to just leave, decide that you can't do it, but before you can walk off his front step, the door behind you opens and Jerry asks if you're alright.

- You assure him that you are, telling him that you just wanted to see him and apologizing for bothering him as he shakes his head and smiles, inviting you in as you swallow down your nervousness.

- You try to act normal but you doubt that you're doing a good job, sitting stiffly on his couch while he fetches you a beer. He presses the cool glass to your temple when he comes back, the icy feeling making you flinch, tearing you from your thoughts as he asks if you're alright again. You want to confess everything, to purge yourself of your newfound worries, but instead, you ask to use his restroom, feigning being overheated like he seemed to think that you were; probably from the flush of your cheeks and/or the light sheen of nervous sweat on your forehead.

- You head towards the room you recognized from the photos, remembering it well considering the fact that you picked out the color that's seen on the wall behind the painting. It was a bare bedroom back then but it must be furnished now: furnished with shelves and trinkets and antiques. And a painting of you, framed in aged wood and sealed in yellowing varnish, standing tall against the wall, staring back at you like a mirror, right down to the last freckle and eyelash. It was obviously painted centuries ago, and yet you can almost remember the moment, as though that were even logical or possible.

- You turn to leave, knowing you don't have much time to pretend you're in the bathroom splashing a bit of water on your face or neck in order to cool down. But when you turn, you see that Jerry is already standing in the doorway, watching you as you stand paralyzed in the middle of the room. He tells you that he was worried you would pass out, chuckling almost bitterly, devoid of any cheerfulness.

"What is this Jerry?" You ask confused. You're not upset, not scared or hurt or anything, just confused; baffled.

"It's a long story," He tells you. "Much longer than you think."

- When you finally go to leave, you're somewhat in shock, mind swimming with everything you've just found out. Jerry watches you closely as he walks you to the door, trying in vain to read your expression, to try and see what you think of everything; what you think of the truth. You pause on his front step, turning back around and looking at his face, at the almost imperceptible signs of worry. You gently pull him down by the back of his neck and press a kiss to his cheek, feeling him grip you in return, hold you against him for a moment as you tell him goodnight.

- When you begin walking home, you happen a glance at the Brewster's house, your eyes catching sight of Charley as he stands at his window and watches you. You look away just as quickly as you looked towards him, suddenly feeling guilty; like you've betrayed the boy in some terrible way.

- But you just can't help it. You can't help the fact that you love him....

- Due to his ...affliction, it isn't often that you and Jerry are seen out in public together, so while he's an incredibly affectionate boyfriend, pda just isn't very commonplace. When it does occur, however; depending on your personality, you might just wish that it hadn't.... Jerry is well aware that it isn't appropriate for him to practically fornicate with you on his front lawn, but he simply doesn't care. He enjoys showing off and he enjoys seeing peoples scandalized reactions; especially when they're people who are suspicious of him.

- On that same note: Jerry is definitely a bit of an exhibitionist so you're gonna have to be okay with people seeing you in various compromising positions. Sometimes you'll be aware of it, sometimes you won't, but if you really aren't comfortable with it, he'll try to keep it to a minimum.

- Jerry is oftentimes a great example of raw, animalistic want. He's a very touchy, very affectionate, and very dominant kind of person, so don't be surprised when he's constantly wanting to be close to you. He'll wrap himself around you continuously, kissing your skin and nuzzling into your flesh. The two of you come together and pull apart like magnets, like your bodies are naturally drawn to each other, needing to glide against one another in order to survive. He's admittedly a little obsessed with you, but it's certainly not unwelcome.

- Temple and hairline kisses. He also occasionally kisses you right at your pulse point; though you should definitely make sure that you can trust him before you just let him do it.

- I firmly believe that the way Jerry kisses in the film is not just done to rub his success in Charley’s face, but because he’s genuinely just that kind of guy. When he kisses, he aims to devour you whole: kissing you like you're the only thing that can ever truly satiate him. His kisses are dominating, deep and rough and bruising, and they're always just so ...hungry. He'll oftentimes have to pull away before you're finished with him because he has to try to control himself; his fanged teeth and darkened eyes on full display as he keeps his shred of distance with a lustful smile.

- Getting hickeys from him is a very dangerous game but Jerry is always glad to be on the receiving end; probably even more than the alternative. They typically fade quite quickly due to his healing factor, but he simply uses that as an excuse for you to give him more, lounging around open shirted in hopes that you'll pounce, or teasing you about how they're starting to fade, urging you to do something about it.

- He has a slight obsession with touching your ass but you generally allow it because he lets you touch his in return. Ass smacks are a sign of affection in your household, but they're also a very dangerous game. Your boyfriend can get a little feral sometimes and your voluptuous backside has become his favorite victim.

- Laying your head in his lap as he cards his fingers through your hair. Jerry kind of likes using you as a weighted blanket so it's also quite common for you to lay across his chest, relaxing against him as he absentmindedly traces patterns on your back.

- Definitely has a habit of toying with your hair: absentmindedly twirling strands of it, brushing it back from your face, smoothing it down, etc. He isn't even shy about it, making it blatantly obvious that he enjoys what he's doing and that he see's nothing wrong with it. But it's also so ingrained in him that he doesn't even realize he's doing it sometimes.

- He calls you "bunny" a lot: "my little bunny" or "my little mouse". But he also calls you more common things like angel, baby, babe, princess, and/or honey.

- He likes pretending to be distracted by something, only to grab you and pull you down on top of him whenever you get too close. He likes the little rush of adrenaline that courses through you, feeling your heart beat wildly in your chest and/or smelling the ounce of fear that permeates the air whenever you react to the sudden "attack". It's like micro dosing a drug to him, and it's a fun way to get his hands on you.

- He finds your scent, in general, to be incredibly intoxicating. So, if you're ever wondering why he doesn't just change you right off the bat, it's probably because he doesn't want to lose your uniquely godly scent to plain old generic vampire musk. Be prepared for him to bury his face in your hair, your neck, or your clothes because it definitely happens fairly often. Depending on the day, it either relaxes or riles him up, so you might as well make a game out of guessing which one it'll be.

- You cannot be around him when you're on your period; regardless of how much he may claim otherwise. So much of his personality is animalistic and horny: if it isn't the blood that gets him going, it's the hormones, and when he says he's fine, he's lying. He's also unapologetic about being on demon hours so you can't even successfully shame him for it. Don't trust him to contain himself. Do trust him to furiously jerk it after he catches the scent of you.

- Going for night drives.

- Convenience store runs.

- Laying in the bed of his truck or sitting up on the tailgate and watching the stars. There's a lot of big deserts where the two of you live, and they're all nice and peaceful, providing a scenic atmosphere and a clear view of the unpolluted sky.

- Watching Desperate Housewives together. Jerry finds reality television to be particularly amusing: it's like modern society; particularly the parts of it that he's not able to interact with, all wrapped up in a chaotic and entertaining bow. To some extent, it's like a scientific study, but he's also just a messy bitch himself so it all appeals to him on a very deep and personal level.

- Not having many choices when thinking of date ideas because he's only able to go out at night or in indirect sunlight. You usually go to different movies, bars, carnivals, and occasionally the odd casino or club; if you're interested in that sort of thing.

- Showering/taking relaxing baths together.

- Loves when you wear his clothes.

- He literally smells so good and nothing can convince me otherwise. He talks about your scent, but his scent makes you feel like you're ovulating: out here fully ready to start mating whenever you get a hint of his cologne.

- Getting each other special and/or matching jewelry. He's literally never seen without his, and whenever the two of you are in a fight; or even breaking up, he checks to see if you're still wearing yours; thinking of it as proof that you're still at least somewhat in love with him. He's very smug about it.

- Unapologetically steals things from his victims and gives them to you. Thankfully for you, he typically spares you from the truth and tells you that he simply bought them.

- Always keeps your favorite things on hand and in stock. He survives off of beer and apples like 90% of the time, but his fridge and pantry are full of random goods, entirely because he knows that you like them. Rest assured that if you don't drink liquor, he's got at least one Snapple or water or whatever in his cooler or fridge at any given moment: and that he thinks it's cute that you're so "feminine"/innocent. He just likes looking after you without making a big deal out of it.

- Jerry; probably, literally stalked you before the two of you started dating so try not to question it when he reveals that he knows things that you've never told him before or guesses what you're going to say before you say it. He loves you enough to listen to you tell the same stories over and over again, but just know that he's already memorized every little detail of them; and that he's probably just focusing on how cute you look instead of exactly what you're saying.

- It doesn't matter if you're all dressed up and looking drop dead gorgeous, or if you're looking like you're about to drop dead: he thinks you're adorable at any given moment, and he wants you bad. He also thinks you're especially adorable whenever you're sick, but that's neither here nor there.

- He's constantly acting like your knight in shining armor, using his inhuman speed, strength, and reflexes to make up for any sort of clumsiness that you might display while being in his presence.

- Helping him with his little projects. You know, he always claims that he needs your help, but when he says that, he always just means that he wants you to sit and look pretty while he does all the work. Although that's honestly a win-win for you.

- Jerry has centuries of experience when it comes to learning the ins and outs of appliances, so you can rest assured that he can fix literally anything that you're capable of breaking. A lot of this experience comes from wanting to get the upper hand when catching "prey", but you don't have to know that: you just have to stop worrying about everything and reap the benefits of his labor.

- Making jokes about him being an old man or a cradle robber; considering the fact that he's like 400 years old. Expect him to either raise a brow at you, smirk, or make a downright sleazy comment. *cough, cough* daddy *cough, cough*.

- You can honestly get away with so much just because he likes you; even when the two of you are technically broken up. You'll literally be trying to kill him and he'll act as though you're simply being difficult, smiling at your petrified friends as he says something along the lines of "can't live with them, can't live without them". It's partially because he finds it hot that you're a worthy opponent and that you can occasionally manage to best him: thinking of it as a reason for why he loves you so much.

- You're a victim of the sassy man apocalypse. Jerry seemed like such a masculine sort of person when the two of you first started dating, so you really didn't expect him to be as unserious or as shady as he; occasionally, is. His personality can make him seem a lot less dangerous than he actually is: especially when he's mocking and teasing and making quips at people. It makes staying mad at him or serious in a situation pretty hard since he's actively just being ...kind of a little shit. He's a comedic genius, but when it's in the middle of you convincing him not to kill someone, you tend not to appreciate it.

"I repel you with Christ our lord."

"Do you? ...Really?"

- If you have pets, be prepared for them to absolutely despise him; so much so that the two of you probably have to hang out at his place almost all the time. They simply recognize that he's a dangerous creature and distrust him from the get go, growling or hissing at him before dashing away or trying to protect you. He occasionally mocks them when you're not around; playing into the legitimate rivalry that they have going on, but once he realizes how important it is to you for them to like him, he tries to bribe them into acting nicer towards him; which ends up partially working so yay.

- He can literally lift an entire car, so expect him to treat you like you weigh nothing, regardless of your actual size; especially when he's horny....

- Speaking of: he sometimes gets legitimately feral after feeding, so don't be surprised when he returns home or finds you somewhere in town and behaves as though he needs to jump you immediately; and passionately at that. One minute you'll be cooking dinner and the next, you'll be on the counter with a tongue down your throat. ...You're truly a victim.

- Sampling his blood from time to time; though it's a dangerous game: both because it's addictive and because Jerry goes feral for blood drunk you. It becomes really hard for him to control himself so it can easily lead to him actually turning you.

- Expect your boyfriend to ask for selfies whenever you text him that you're going somewhere or doing something. He gets legitimately grumpy over the fact that he can't take selfies with you. Like he lowkey sulks a little whenever he has to politely decline someone's offer to take photos of the two of you together, or when he overhears you telling your friends that he really doesn't like pictures. He just wants to take middle aged man pics with his PYT!!

- His entire phone is full of photos of you; so is his Facebook, and everyone thinks that it's absolutely adorable, calling you so lucky to have a boyfriend who loves you enough to only have photos of you on his wall. They might be a little confused, because you'd expect someone as attractive as Jerry to post himself, but they certainly don't tell you that.

- When Jerry picks you up from work; a fairly common occurrence, you always just assume that it's because he wants to be a good boyfriend and make sure you that get home safe. And while that may be the case, he also has some ulterior and self serving motives as well. Jerry; while a loving partner, is also still a monster, so when he comes to your place of employment and charms your coworkers, he's not only being friendly, but also trying to ensure that they trust him enough to let their guards down; which is especially handy when the two of you get into a fight. He also just likes flaunting your relationship and making people jealous so....

- Jerry loves you with every fiber of his being but he simply doesn't get jealous over you. A big part of it is the fact that he takes pride in having things that other people want; takes pride in winning, and he knows that none of them have even a fraction of what he does; that the two of you are made for each other. He's a very "I know she loves me" and "how could you ever think that she'd be interested in you?" kind of person.

- Regardless, he still enjoys rubbing his relationship in other people faces and passive aggressively bragging whenever he knows that someone is interested in you; or giving them a knowing look that tells them that he's well aware of their feelings for you and that he finds them very amusing. He's a smug bastard.

- It isn't often that Jerry worries about your safety, mainly because he's an immortal demon who's capable of doing terrible things in order to take care of you. But, occasionally, he'll find himself worrying about not being able to look out for you whenever you're out in the sun. To combat this, he makes sure to take care of all of your issues during the night; or makes you convert to his nocturnal schedule. You're looking at a man who can pick off half a town in a single night just because he wants to: rest assured that he's doing the utmost when faced with someone threatening your safety, comfort, or happiness in literally any way.

- Jerry always tries to stay calm whenever you're in an argument or a fight; he doesn't like losing his temper with you or making you feel hurt in any lasting way. So while he'll occasionally be a little rude or downplay your feelings, he's typically a pretty easy person to resolve an issue with. He lets you rant when you need to and listens to you be a little ridiculous at times; even if he might make a couple of incredulous faces, so you'll usually just tire yourself out to where you're ready to apologize or listen to him explain.

- Because he can occasionally downplay your feelings, you sometimes opt to give him the silent treatment, which he tolerates for a day or two before he's coming over and demanding to talk because you're "being ridiculous and you know it". He'll knock on your door and sigh, and while his apologies might occasionally sound a little insincere; very "alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay?", he usually genuinely means them; even if it's just because he doesn't like hurting your feelings or because he didn't mean for things to come out the way they did.

- He can occasionally be a little manipulative, but that's only because he really loves you and doesn't want you leaving him whenever he scares you with his vampirism or makes you question his character. He's a cold blooded killer so you'll occasionally have some differences of opinion and morality; which is when he turns on the charm and tries to sway you towards forgiving him or otherwise not breaking up with/leaving him.

- He usually tells you that he loves you in response to hearing you say it, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't genuinely mean it. He simply tends to prove his love instead of outwardly saying it; unless he wants to reassure you that he cares for you whenever you're feeling a certain type of way.

- Jerry definitely intends on turning you sometime fairly soon, wanting to spend the rest of eternity with you and guarantee your safety. It's up to you to decide whether you're interested in that. But if you really aren't, I'd suggest getting as far away from him as possible because he's definitely not against turning you "for the greater good". One day, you'll understand why he had to do it; even if it takes a little time....

[itwasntimethatdidit40]

@gothcsz was kind enough to tag me in this cute tag game and btw, run to see her fav things made by her and support her and her work, she’s such a brilliant writer! ♥️

And thanks to @arcanefox207 for tagging me as well! Check out her fics and gifs, I promise they’re so fucking good 🙌🏻♥️

Complimenting myself is the hardest thing I can do, I don't even know where to start. I don't think there's anyone more vehement than me in telling me how much I suck. Well, maybe my mom wins, but that's another story.

However, I will try to fight this state of mind. There are things that I have enjoyed writing and some mood board I love, I won't even venture to say they are good but there you go:

Fics:

• Perfect - because I wrote it at two in the morning crying, after listening to Omar Apollo's “Pedro” and “Glow”, it was one of the first things I posted here and apparently someone liked it thankfully. And it features a Curvy!reader which is very important to me.

• Shirt On - You know I have a soft spot for Sub!Joel and I'm glad I was able to even publish something like this.

• The right ones - I really liked writing this one. because it was my first attempt to write something with as neutral a reader as possible so that all menstruating people can identify.

• It feels like hope - With this one I had an incredible struggle because it never seemed good enough, it took me like 3 months to come down to terms with myself. Again, I'm my own biggest enemy.

• Slow - It came out in a frenzy and I love it.

• We all need someone - brought me a couple of recs that I still reread when I feel an unworthy crap typing things on a keyboard. Thank you very much to those who loved it.

• You know what I love? - I wrote it after getting very little sleep at night, it is probably far too cheesy but that is okay.

• Please - I'm very glad that I wrote this in a different way than I usually do, and I'm glad that I wrote something else that a lot of people can identify with.

•. You look like a fun place to sit, Give me more and Sensitive - Unexpectedly I'm very glad I wrote Frankie, it wasn't in my 2024 bingo card that he would become my most popular character but thank you really, I'm happy you liked him.

• Don't say a word if this word is not "please" - I wrote this one long before Gladiator 2 came out and I don't think it resembles anything that was written at the time. I'm glad I tried to do something different even though no one read it lol

• A Quiet Neighborhood - I'm glad I even had the guts to start a series, by the way, sorry I'm incredibly late in updating it but I'm trying to finish my fic for the Secret Santa and I've had a lot of work and very little time to write. I hope to have more time and focus from Thursday onward when I will at least have completed the deadlines for my second job. Thank for your patience and thanks for being so enthusiastic and supportive about it.

Mood boards:

I’m the absolute worst when it comes to Canva but I’m so proud I tried to make something and I have fun doing it.

• Be still, my foolish heart - this was my first mood board ever and I know it’s pretty lame but I love it 🥲

• Shirt On - I don’t know why but I love this mood board LOL

• It feels like hope - again, pretty bad but I love the dark vibe in it and I love that Joel pic so much

• Something Rotten - I think it was pretty on point with the fic lol I like it

• Waffles for breakfast- I don’t know, it looks cozy like the fic itself

• A good grade - I loved making this mood board and it looks pretty decent

• A quiet neighborhood - I don’t know, I think it encapsulates pretty well what I have in mind

• Forget the horror here - I just love it lol

Tag game:

I loved the Front Covers tag game and I loved how they turned out.

Special mention to this one that I made with an edit by @aurorawritestoescape I’m still so honored that you sent this to me thinking of my fic 🥰

Thank you to every single person who has supported me, reblogged and commented on the things I write, we know it's critical to getting views in this chaos that is Tumblr, if anyone reads me I owe it only to you, especially those who reblogged me from the beginning, you know who you are and I love you so much.

Again, I know I'm still a small account even though I have a lot more followers than I think I deserve and there’s so many people a lot more talented than me in this place but thank you for trying to convince me otherwise and for keeping me going, maybe one day I'll believe it too. You’re really truly fucking special and I hope you know ♥️

NPT: @milla-frenchy @aurorawritestoescape @baronessvonglitter @almostempty @cas-readsandwrites @probablyreadinsmut @thundermartini @joelmillerisapunk @mountainsandmayhem @penascigarette @evolnoomym @syd-djarin and whoever wants to do this consider yourself being tagged by me.

(Sorry if you’ve been tagged already, I’m the usual mess 😅)

[profundcherrylady]

SINGLE DAD!SAE ITOSHI

A/N: ANGSTY TEENAGER VERSION LET'S GO. Y'all I really wanted to write this you have no idea; I love the idea of Sae single-parenting an angsty teenager (he already kind of does with Rin though). NOT using the name "Mao" this time so y'all can interpret it however you want. Very short but I'm planning on making another part. I'm so excited omg 😭🙏

Warnings: Making out (the daughter with some guy don't ask me who), some cursing, daughter acting like a brat a lot.

Description: When the child stage of parenthood ends you might think things will get easier, but you're wrong. For Sae, dealing with a teen on a rebel phase has been nothing but trouble.

"Good morning" Sae looked over his shoulder at his daughter, who was still sulking and ignoring him as she made her way to the fridge. He was expecting her to be mad; they had a bit of an argument the night before at dinner when he acused her of hanging out with bad influences. She argued that he was being a helicopter parent and that she was fine, but he doubts it. The teenager had been acting up a lot lately, and he feared she may be entering some kind of bad phase. "Hey." he tried again, getting his eyes off the food on the pan infront of him to look at her.

"...Morning." she murmured reluctantly, shoving her face inside the fridge to avoid eye contact.

"You still mad?" he asked, a glimpse of his unspoken concern laced to his words.

"...No." just frustated. It's what she would've said if she bothered telling him what was going on with her life. She was just trying to fit in, for god's sake! Wasn't he a teenager once too? "Can I go to a party tonight?"

He blinked at her almost hopeful question, turning around completly now.

"Why are you suddenly asking about something like that?" he turned off the stove, looking at her, and then crossed his arms before letting out a sigh. "Who's going to this party?"

"Only everyone who is considered cool."

"Who's hosting it? Are there going to be adults there?"

"No, it's a PARTY, it's supposed to be fun so they'll be no parents."

"What time does it start?"

"At 10:00pm..."

"I'm afraid you're not going." he turned around again to resume his cooking, not giving her a chance to argue.

"WHAT? Why not? Dad, I have to go! All the cool kids are going"

"You don't need a party to be cool. Being related to me should be cool enough for you."

"Yeah, that's why I got invited... which is another reason why I should go! If I don't, everyone's going to think Sae Itoshi's daughter is lame."

"Nice try, it's still a no." he heard her huff in annoyance. "Believe me, you'll survive staying home tonight."

"But-"

"End of discussion. You're not going; I don't want to hear another word about it." he heard her walk of the kitchen, then shut the door of her room hard enough for him to hear it from there.

He sighed. He kind of understood why it was important to her but he felt the need to be firm about his decision; it's not like it was the end of the world (even if it kind of did feel like it from her perspective).

So he ate alone while she stayed in her room, sulking probably, and considered the situation. 'Cause maybe he was a bit too hard, and he knew she was just trying to make friends, but this wasn't the way. Perhaps if he had a talk about it with her she would get his point of view. He stood up after he finished his meal and left the dishes in the sink, then walked up to his daughter's room. It was unusually quiet, but he figured she might be angry.

He knocked softly and spoke.

"You there?" there was no response, but he assumed she was just angry still. "Listen, I know you really want to go but this isn't the way to make friends." silence again. Even if it didn't look like it, it really did affect Sae that his kid wouldn't talk to him, so his resolve crumbled a little. "Hey, if you really want to go I suppose I can allow it, but I have to drop you off and pick you up, and you're not allowed pass 11:00pm."

When he didn't get a response, he started getting worried. He leaned his ear on the door, trying to hear something — anything — but there was nothing. Just silence.

Sae tried opening the door then, but he found it locked, and that is when his worry started shifting into suspicion and annoyance. He clicked his tongue and grabbed his keys to head outside, and after walking a few feet around the house, he found her window open. That little brat had sneaked out.

"Are you serious...?" he aked to himself, heavy footsteps approaching his car and making his way to this party his daughter mentioned. Ita wasn't difficult to find the place; it was loud as fuck. Even a couple of miles away, he could hear the music coming out of the big house where this party was taking place.

He was getting ready to just park his car wherever and go inside looking for her, but then he froze completely at the sight he was witnessing. His daughter wasn't in the party at the moment, she was sitting outside with her so-called friends who were smoking (disgusting on his opinion. Contaminating his daughter's lungs with the puffs of smoke coming out of their mouths.). They were too young to be smoking! And why as she hanging out with a bunch of smoking idiots? He thought she was smarter than this. They weren't even looking at her.

But that wasn't the worst part of it all. No, the REAL kicker was that — aside from her friends — his daughter had some company by her side. Some guy. Someone that he didn't know about, who was kissing her like it was no big deal; except it was. It wasn't just a little peck; this guy had his tongue all the way down her throat with no shame and his daughter was doing nothing to stop him or the way he was being too touchy for his liking. She almost seemed encouraging! Just looking at her holding onto him and letting him go on was making him want to throw up. He couldn't sit there and do nothing about it.

He stepped out, and before she could even register it, he approached the little group and frowned again at the sight before speaking.

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?" as soon as he was heard, he watched her almost push the boy aside with all of her strength. He hit his head a little with the wall behind him when she did that, but he tried to act cool about it. "We are going home. Now."

"But-"

"NOW. Into the car, miss." she didn't dare to argue back, so she stood up and started walking towards the way he was pointing at.

"Um... I have to go..." is all that she said to the group of other kids, who were silently trying not to laugh at her embarrassment. All of them except for the boy she was kissing earlier, who was still rubbing his head from the hit on the wall.

"Oh, okay...! Um... call me later, yeah?" there wasn't a trace of sarcasm on his voice, but that was unimportant to Sae, who shoot an angry glare at him.

"She will not be 'calling you later'. She's grounded, and NOT allowed to use her phone."

To say the way back home was filled with silence and awkwardness would do no justice to it. They spoke no words until they reached their home, and then Sae didn't even let her begin explaining herself.

"I cannot believe you. Sneaking out of the house to go to a party and... make out with soem boy? I did not raise you like this. I'm very disappointed with you; I expect you to know you'll be grounded for a while."

"Dad, you don't understand-"

"I understand enough. I told you specifically not to go and as soon as you don't get your way you go and disobey me behind my back. How could you do that? And to think I was going to let you go because I felt bad."

"You were going to let me go?"

"Not anymore. You're not going anywhere that isn't school or home for the next month. No, two months. I can't believe you would do something like that."

"Sorry..." she said nothing else, and since he was seeing genuine regret he decided to show some mercy.

"...Just go. You have school tomorrow."

[tachiharastanacc]

Tachihara gift exchange headcanons

Port Mafia-

Mori (and Elise):

-Tachihara probably gets him a nice pen or something

-Elise gets a coloring book and a set of colored pencils and she thinks it’s way cooler than Mori’s stupid lame pen (he also gets roped into letting her put bows in his hair. Again)

- Mori gives him like a bonus or something idk I really don’t like when they interact

- Elise draws him a picture of him and Hirtosu and gin

Kouyou:

- they’re not close so he wasn’t expecting anything, but Kouyou makes little gifts for everyone every year and he didn’t have anything to give back so he made a little flower out of metal for her

Chuuya:

- wanted to get him wine but doesn’t actually know anything about alcohol. Refused to ask Hirotsu, but he ended up getting carded and having to ask anyway

- ended up with some vintage wine that chuuya had mentioned to Hirotsu from both of them

- I feel like chuuya didn’t super know what to get him so he invited him out to go drinking and hang out instead

Verlaine:

- doesn’t know him. Didn’t interact at all. A single cupcake appears on his counter one day with a note just signed ‘~v’

Akutagawa:

- Tachihara got (read: spent way to long figuring out how to make) a dessert with figs for him

- Akutagawa got him a vase of hyacinths since gin mentioned that they were his favorites

Higuchi:

- tachi got her a basket of chocolate and a bunch of rom coms and agrees to suffer through watching them with her

- Higuchi knits him a scarf and it’s kind of janky but it’s addressed to her favorite little brother and he never takes it off ever

Hirotsu:

- Tachihara and gin get him a really nice lighter that’s engraved

- Hirotsu gets Tachihara a new coat (except he low key just drags him shopping because he goes on about how important it is for him to keep warm (cuz y’know coats are important in bsd)

Gin:

- gets him the set of pencils he’s been eying every time they walk by. And a box of bandaids

- he makes them a tiny knife they can slip under a dress for missions

Q:

- most people forgot about them but he ventured down to the basement with some sweets and his old fnaf books because you can rip fnaf kid Q from my cold dead hands

- Q gives him a really ugly mug they painted with the kit chuuya gave them. It’s definitely not food safe, but he keeps pencils in it

Kajii:

- Tachihara very distantly slides him a card with a gift card for a hardware store

- Kajii gives him a gun that allegedly shoots lemon bombs except it’s bright yellow and Tachihara doesn’t know what to do with it

Hunting Dogs-

Fukuchi:

- tachi stresses over what to get him until jouno smacks him and says the captain just enjoys spending time with them (this is canon btw, he says one of his happiest memories is when all 5 of them were together)

- Fukuchi also stresses over what to get tachi bc he feels like it should be practical but doesn’t know what he’d want and low key does he even deserve to give him a gift

- Tecchou tells him Tachihara is also worried and wants to impress him

- Fukuchi takes Tachihara out to do some father-son activities and they both have a good time

Teruko:

- most of Tachihara’s budget goes to getting things for teruko (she gave the hunting dogs a Christmas list in the group chat)

- it ends up being a lot of stuffed animals and weapons from all of them

- plus a coupon for a free piggy back ride

- teruko bitches to the others because Tachihara never actually asks for anything

- she ends up getting him a new holster and tools for cleaning his guns because it’s all he fessed up to wanting (he’s very happy with it, even if teruko calls him boring)

Jouno:

- Tachihara gets him a couple records (I feel like Jouno owns a record player, sue me)

- Jouno gets him a set of ceramic dish ware because he complains Tachihara has a bunch of cheap stuff like some college freshman (to which Tachihara points out that he’s a 19 yr old middle school dropout)

- the stuffed animal Tachihara originally refused also shows up on his bed and he keeps it this time

Tecchou:

- Tecchou gets Tachihara a new sword because the grip on his was getting worn down and trains with him

- Tachihara gets Tecchou a new yoga mat and set of weights

Bonus-

- ango and Tachihara exchange respectful Christmas cards

- Yosano gets a dead fish wrapped in newspaper on her doorstep, but it’s preserved in the snow and she assumes that it was from Kenji and takes it as a gift

- a bouquet of purple flowers is laid on a lone grave. The cold wind blows, and it almost feels like someone ruffling his hair

[judasofsuburbia]

nancy wheeler's no homewrecker but hearing robin ramble about what to do for her next date with vickie made her really want to be one. not that robin and vickie were even official-- not really--but it seems like nancy has become the confider of all of robin's romantic panic and it was beginning to tear her up inside.

she wanted to be the one that shared a milkshake with robin or slap her money down first for the movie tickets. she wondered why steve couldn't be this all-knowing date decipher for the girl but she wasn't about to shove robin away either.

"so tomorrow's date three," nancy says with a teasing inflection.

robin's picking at the holes in her jeans with trembling fingers. "y-yep, date three. big deal."

"i think so," nancy says, going for encouraging but probably sounding patronizing by the way robin's eyes flash up to her.

"what would you expect from a third date?" robin asks.

nancy adjusts herself on the couch while she thinks. "well...it depends. if they've already kissed me before, probably some making out in their car. heavy petting if things are going well. i'd expect a longer date too."

robin's eyes are as wide as saucers. "b-but i haven't kissed her yet."

nancy blinks in surprise. she's not sure why she's surprised, figuring robin would have probably told her already all the intricate details of the way vickie kisses.

"no?" nancy asks.

robin shakes her head rapidly, gnawing on her bottom lip.

"that's okay," nancy says slowly. "this would probably be the date to kiss her, though."

"fuck," robin mumbles. "you're right."

her tone hits nancy like a freight train. "you haven't kissed anyone before, have you?"

robin rolls her lips into her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut. her nails are digging into those holey jeans, ripping the threads one by one. pop. pop. pop.

nancy instinctively grabs robin's hands to keep her from digging into skin. robin's eyes open and they're scared shitless. nancy squeezes robin's hands and smiles tenderly.

"it's gonna be okay," nancy assures. "a quick goodnight peck is easy."

robin groans. "i'm fucking nineteen years old. if i kiss her all clumsy, she's gonna know and everything will be ruined and i'll never find love and die an old spinster with a hoard of cats that'll eat my dead body for sustenance."

nancy's nose wrinkles at the visual but she laughs gently. "stop it. kissing is simple if you pay attention. vickie's kissed someone before so you just kind of follow her lead."

"follow her lead?" robin asks.

is nancy going to do this? is she really going to do this?

"do you want me to show you?" nancy blurts.

robin's eyes grow even wider and her fidgety body goes completely still. "w-what?"

nancy's really gonna do this, huh?

"doesn't have to mean anything," nancy says quickly. "just...practice."

"practice," robin repeats lamely.

oh lord, she's really gonna do this.

"would it settle your nerves?" nancy asks.

robin thinks for a moment but inevitably nods her head.

"then i can teach you," nancy says with as much confidence as she can muster.

"o-okay," robin stutters. "can i get some chapstick first?"

nancy lets go of her hands and nods. nancy goes to dig in her purse too. they settle back down on the couch and slowly apply some chapstick to their lips. when they make eye contact, the two girls burst into small giggles and nudge each other with their elbows. nancy gets on her knees on the couch and robin moves to mimic her stance. robin's breathing heavily and her eyes are darting all over the place.

nancy taps her knee and says, "robbie, we don't have to--"

"what's step one?" robin interrupts with a shy smile.

nancy exhales shallowly and scoots closer. she holds up a tentative hand to robin's cheek and tucks her hair behind her ear. "okay, so, there's a build-up. the moments before the kiss. you could be anywhere when this happens, really, but it's important to read people's expressions."

"i'm terrible at that," robin whines.

"check for simple things, then," nancy says calmly. "like if her eyes dart down to your lips." nancy demonstrates a few times and watches robin's eyes follow her movement. "or if she moves closer to talk to you." nancy leans her face in and sees how robin's face gets a little flushed. "she might even ask you if it's okay to kiss you."

"s-she would?" robin whispers.

"maybe," nancy whispers. "can i kiss you, robbie?"

robin nods again.

"so she'll lean in," nancy whispers, her lips now a breath away from robin's. nancy tries to stay in the zone but she's drifting slowly. wrapped up in robin's orbit. "and gently...kiss you."

nancy presses her lips delicately to robin's. a small peck before leaning back. "see? simple," nancy whispers breathlessly as her heart pounds against her ribs.

"do i...press back?" robin whispers.

"mhm," nancy hums. "i'll kiss you again and you press back, okay?"

nancy kisses her again and robin hesitantly moves her lips against hers. it's not as uncoordinated as nancy was anticipating, but it lasts a little long. nancy moves her lips again, pressing repeatedly to keep things moving. all gentle pecks. robin gets the gist after the first few and follows her lead, just as she instructed earlier. nancy knows they're getting carried away here but she can't will herself to pull away. not yet.

robin's confidence ramps up and she holds nancy's cheek. nancy hums contently and kisses her deeper. lips slotting on top of each other softly and languidly. robin is the first to pull away, taking in large breaths and nancy's about to speak but robin just pulls her back in.

"don't," nancy pants against robin's lips. "forget to breathe."

"yeah," robin murmurs, dazed.

nancy wonders if she should say more but instead, she follows her impulse to suck gently on robin's bottom lip. robin gasps and holds nancy's face closer, tilting her head to sink further into nancy's mouth. nancy tastes her chapstick, root beer flavored, which is so fun and so sweet and so robin it makes her brain spark.

her tongue pokes out and robin drops her jaw enough but nancy hesitates.

"um," nancy whispers. "is this okay? can i--"

"please," robin begs quietly and then clears her throat. "i mean, show me, um, if you want to."

nancy grins, she can't help it. she uses her grip on robin's face to coax her mouth open again and she traces her bottom lip delicately before dipping behind robin's teeth. robin moans and presses her tongue up against nancy's. it's all so slow and intentional that it heats up their bodies, quickens their heartbeat, and heightens everything.

eventually, they're laying down on nancy's couch, sinking into each other, kissing kissing kissing until their lips are puffy and numb. the friendliness of this exchange, if there ever was any, has completely vanished.

as nancy continues their "practice" down robin's neck, robin knows she’s gotta cancel on vickie. because there’s no way robin wants to kiss anybody else after this.

[mimasroom2]

Accelerating fury pt 2

Pt 1

Pt 3

HELLOOOOO! Here is part 2!! :3. Sorry it took me so long,, I’ve been helping my friend set up an Etsy shop + I have work. Btw!! We WILL find out exactly what Ellie did for the judges once the games start😉… I hope this doesn’t feel like I skipped over some things. I wanted to focus more on the important stuff rather than providing every detail like I tend to do.. like just get to the damn hunger games already fuck🙄

C/w: Same c/ws as the first one. Reader dissociates for a little bit. Twice. Ellie is more of a bitch oooooohhhh. Mention of suicide in literally 3 sentences near the end,, it’s SUPER minor.

U guys know the drill,, the dress I included is the one the reader wears during the interviews.

W/c: 4.7k

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

The day was going well. You and Jesse switched places for training, although he did give you a weird look when you mentioned you taught Ellie how to make a fire. That night you have dinner with all four of your new friends: Jesse, Tommy, Maria, and Dina. You discuss what skill to show off to the gamemakers tomorrow with Tommy after you all eat. He was glad to hear about how the training went, especially because this is around the time tributes usually start acting alone. This being said, Tommy thinks it’s best you and Jesse don’t know what the other is planning.

“So you’re tellin’ me you jus’ played footsies with the cute girl and showed her a skill you already know? That more than half the tributes already know??” He leans against the wall of the hallway that you two are talking alone in. He’s glaring down at you as if it’s his own life at risk.

“Tommy, I wasn’t playing footsies. I literally didn’t even touch her.” You roll your eyes.

“Not what I meant.” He shakes his head.

“And besides, I figured out how to tread silently on different terrain all by myself.” You cross your arms and smirk proudly.

He perks up at this, holding his hand out in a ‘stop’ motion. “Woah woah woah, hold yer damn horses. You mean all terrain?”

“Pshh, no, of course not. You can’t be silent on broken glass.” You tap your head, as if to say ‘duh’. “But yeah, most of them.”

“Use that.” He smiles and pats your head how all dads do.

“But that’s lame. There’s gonna be people throwing axes and carving tools. They’re gonna give them a good score and not me and then I’m not gonna get sponsored.” You play it off like you’re just pouting, but you are actually starting to get scared. I mean, it’s life and death.

“But you can’t do any of that. Use what you can and you will not regret it. Trust me.”

~

A few hours later, you and Jesse are sitting side by side again outside the training center. This time, Ellie’s there early, and her mentor is scolding her. She’s probably getting the same lecture you got, bumping coochies or whatever the hell Tommy said. Once she’s done getting scolded she looks around the room and makes eye contact with you. She smiles slightly, but doesn’t wave or anything.

Once everyone is there, the head trainer comes out. “Alright. We gotta lot of you to get through, and if we want these results for the sponsors this evening, we better get moving. District 1 male tribute, you are up.”

You look up a few rows ahead of you, and see Ellie fidgeting with her fingers. What kind of skill would she even have? She’s not a career, but if she does well they might boost her score because of that. She didn’t know how to make a fire before she met you. She was playing around with that pocket knife, maybe that’s it? You didn’t really pay any more attention to her once you figured out your terrain thing.

Ellie was the fourth one of all the tributes to go in. She actually looked nervous as she stepped inside. It’s completely soundproof in there, so if you wanted to, you wouldn’t be able to hear anything even if you tried. You look at Jesse and he smiles slightly. A little weary. Maybe after the scores are announced he’ll tell you what he does in there.

After about 15 minutes or so, Ellie comes back out, wiping the fake blood they use off her face. It scared you at first, but after the first tribute went in, the head trainer told you all the gamemakers added it to be more realistic. If by realistic they mean inhumane, then yeah. Sure. You wave her over to talk to you as she heads over to the exit.

She leans over and whispers, “Only had one skill to show off. Don’t know if they understood it.. but uh, we’ll see.” She gives you a goofy grin that’s slightly too big, and two thumbs up, before walking off.

What does she mean ‘don’t know if they understood it?’ If she used her little knife, wouldn’t they have seen it? The gamemakers have been known to not pay attention to the tributes fairly often, but who wouldn’t stop and stare at Ellie. She did walk out with that weird fake blood on her, after all.

Before you know it, it’s Jesse’s turn. He stands up and gives you one of his small smiles as he heads into the room. You don’t want to, but your mind always ends up drifting back to Ellie. You wondered how she was going to act in the arena. Would she still talk to you like how she does now? Without caring what the careers and rest of the tributes think? You guys haven’t even talked about the games, and what you were going to do in them. It seemed almost rude to you. What’s the point in talking about alliances now? And why would she choose you? She’d be much better off with virtually anybody else..

Suddenly, the same girl pops her head out and calls your name. You silently curse yourself. All this thinking about Ellie has got you too worked up. You needed to focus and calm down if you wanted to show off your skill correctly. You take a deep breath and walk inside.

You had requested different types of terrain, and you saw them all laid out in little boxes on the floor. They were basically built like sand boxes; there was actual sand in the first one, and then grass, and then they kept going up in difficulty, all the way up to the broken glass you were talking about that you knew was going to crunch.

You walk up to where the gamemakers are. There’s a forcefield but you know they can still hear you. You raise your voice a little, “Uhm, hey. I’m not doing this again, so… if you miss it, you miss it.” You shrug at them. Better that they know you’re starting so they don’t miss it. You plan on them not hearing anything.

You check to make sure your shoes are all good. They’re nothing special, just the ones they give you for training. You start on the sand. It’s easy, you just hop a little so you don’t sink in, and you’re good. No noise. Next you try the grass. Again, no noise.

Okay, now it was really time to show off. The next one is snow. They made it the kind that creaks and sinks in a little, so you have to go slow on this one. You step heel to toe, and try to make your steps as flat as possible, so your weight is distributed. You pause, making sure the snow moves slowly under your foot. You decide to take shorter steps, instead of the long ones you used on the sand. Rinse and repeat. No sound.

You glance up at the gamemakers, and they seem a little intrigued. Well, little isn’t good enough. You move onto dried leaves over cement. Any child would go crazy over this. You bend your knees slightly, like you’re skiing. You basically use the same method as the snow. It doesn’t take as long, and no sound was made. You hear a quiet murmur from the gamemakers. Fuck yeah.

You go through a couple more. Things like gravel, mud, a wooden deck, and metal grates. And then you get to the glass. The shoes they gave you are tough enough that no glass will come through and cut you, but that’s not what you’re worried about. You keep your arms close to your body and try your best balancing as you walk across. Slowly. Even slower. Absolutely no sudden movements. You’re holding your breath, until you get to the end. You weren’t completely silent, but you were damn as close as you could get. You hop down from the row of boxes and smile at the gamemakers. They don’t clap or anything, they probably aren’t allowed, but they smile back.

Let’s fucking go.

~

“It was soooo great, Tommy. Everyone was watching me at the end like I actually feel really good about it and I can totally tell they wanted to clap for me-“

You’re cut off from your rambling by Maria shouting “It’s hereeee!” in a sing song voice. You all scramble to the giant couches in front of the tv to watch Caesar announce the scores. You look over and notice Dina is sitting criss cross apple sauce by Jesse. She has her hand on his leg. Huh.

Your head snaps back to the tv as soon as Caesar starts talking. “Good evening to all of Panem, tonight we have our special scores straight from the gamemakers! Sponsors, get your pencils ready, because you are going to want to mark down who you’re placing bets on!”

As he goes on with the introduction, you look at Tommy with an exaggerated face that says ‘EEK IM SO NERVY!’ He just smiles and gives you a thumbs up.

As always, Caesar starts with the tributes from district 1. You scoff as their almost perfect scores pop up on screen.

“Fucking careers.” You hear Jesse murmur, and you widen your eyes in agreement.

The district 2 male tribute also has an amazing score. You tense up, holding your breath when you see Ellie’s next, almost as if it’s your own damn score they’re showing. You look around at everyone else in the room, they’re glaring at her, like she’s some sort of threat. Shit. You remember that she actually is.

“Ellie Williams, with a score of 11.” Your jaw drops. Now you’re really curious as to what she did in there. You notice Jesse looking at you. You want to wave it off, but you give him a concerned look.

The next of the scores go by unbearably slow. Tommy and Maria make a few comments about each one. You and Jesse just agree as fast as you can so you can go back to worrying about what your own scores are going to be.

Jesse’s score is up. You don’t want to freak him out, so you stare at the tv. Caesar announces that he got an 8.

“Holy shit!!” Dina leaps off the couch and jumps up and down while holding Jesse’s hands. “That’s like- the best you can get without being a career!”

Jesse laughs and everyone claps for him. In other circumstances you’d probably hug him. Dina’s got that covered. You give him a look that says ‘ohhhh I see what’s going on here’. He just rolls his eyes at you.

You were so focused on how touchy Dina was being that you completely forgot your score was next. Tommy nudges you a little and points at the screen. There’s the little video they took of you. You wonder what Ellie is thinking right now.

Caesar announces your name, pauses for a second, and says the number ten.

TEN???

“HOLY SHIT!!” You jump up from the couch at the speed of light and turn around to face your friends. Jesse and Dina’s jaws are dropped.

Maria raises a glass and Tommy gives you a high five. “Told yah it would work.” He says, and you grin at him.

~

The next day are your interviews. When Dina’s not busy flirting with Jesse, she’s been working on brand new outfits for you guys.

“I think you’ll like it. Hopefully. I’m doing something a bit different this year.” Dina says while she’s pulling out your outfit from racks of clothes.

“You do something different every year.” You reply. Wasn’t that the whole point?

“Yeah, but I mean like different different. You’re doing really well so far. Everyone loved you at the parade, and now sponsors are talking about your score from yesterday.”

You just nod. You really should be proud of yourself, but every day that the games get closer, you find that’s all you can think about.

“Here.” Dina says nonchalantly, and you have to do a double take as she pulls out another beautiful dress. It’s white like your other one, but nowhere near as fancy. It’s still really nice though. It’s probably made of the highest grade satin you can get in Panem, with silver beading on the chest. It’s long, and has a little slit for your leg, although it’s probably more so that you have room to walk and don’t trip. There’s even little cuffs for your hands and arms. And of course it can’t be a Dina design without the piece de resistance: Angel wings.

You whistle, and look up at Dina. “You really want me to wear this?”

“That’s why I have it on a mannequin in front of you.” She smiles, and leaves the room for you to change.

You don’t really have a plan of what to say during the interview. Tommy said to just “go with the flow” and whatever you say will sure to have the sponsors going crazy over you.

As soon as you get the dress on, Dina comes back in and leads you to the line where all the tributes are.

You get a glance at Ellie for the first time since she scored an 11. She’s wearing another suit. This time, it’s dark green, and compliments her eyes. Her hair isn’t in its usual messy half up half down style, it’s actually neat for once. Probably per request of her stylist. She turns slightly when she sees you, and you feel your heart beat out of your chest for a second.

“That damn girls gonna be the death of you.” You jump a little when you suddenly hear Jesse’s voice behind you.

You frown and shove him a little. “You really shouldn’t say that. Yknow we’re in a death game, right?” You two smile at each other. You’re glad that you guys can still joke around in times like this. All of the other tributes are glaring at each other in line.

Suddenly, you hear a roar of applause, and someone laughing into a microphone, which can only mean that Caesar is up on stage. “Hah ha!! It is time.. to meet each and every tribute face to face!!! Yes! How exciting…”

As he drones on, you look ahead and see Ellie straightening out her suit.

The first three tributes are all careers, so of course their interviews go well. They seemed to have turned up the charm factor to 110% compared to how they were during training. Pretty soon Ellie’s at the front of the line. One of the Avox’s puts his hand on her shoulder to guide her when it’s her turn. She swiftly backs away and puts her hand in front of his face in a ‘stop’ motion, and expertly walks toward the stage.

Caesar introduces her as he holds out his arm. She walks on stage with her hands in her pockets. A mix of casual and confident. She just smirks when she hears how crazy the crowd is for her. If you didn’t know her, you swear she’d be coming off like the biggest douchebag right now.

Even so, the people are eating it up.

Caesar sits down with her after shaking her hand. “So, miss Williams, I hear you a not a career. Would you tell us a bit about that?”

She actually manspreads and folds her hands together. “Damn right, Caeser. No offense but.. never wanted to be here in the first place.” She’s so nonchalant about it.

“May I ask.. I hope I’m not intruding, but… you did this for someone very dear to you. Yes?”

“I guess since you asked…” she sighs dramatically, “the rumors are true. I was forced to volunteer.” She looks down at the floor and sighs again. She’s turning this up way more than you would ever expect. This new persona seems exactly like her true self, and at the same time, not like her at all. The crowd goes absolutely bonkers. It goes on for awhile, and she just keeps playing up her sad little act.

She leans forward. “So, Abby. I know you’re watching this. Hah, I’m being televised to all of Panem right now. My biggest ‘fuck you’ would go to The Man, but right now, it’s going to you.”

She looks directly in the eyes of one of the cameras, cups her hands around her mouth, and says a nice long and drawn out “Fuuuuuuuuuckkkkk you.”

You scoff at it. At her. This is so fucking dumb. They probably have to censor it anyway. Your eyes narrow at her as she gets mixed reactions from the crowd.

Any reaction is better than no reaction.

~

You zone out a little. Her interview seems like it’s going on forever. They talk a little bit about her choice to wear suits instead of dresses. And how weird she thinks everyone else is. You fiddle around with your dress as you grow more and more nervous.

You’re pretty sure that Caesar is actually giving her a couple more minutes than the tributes before her. I mean, can you blame him? She’s basically walking sex right now.

“You sure are one of the most true to yourself tributes out there. Haha!!” He leans in closer to her, and his voice lowers a little, “I have to say, you are not like the others, are you?”

She has this awful shit eating grin on her face. “Nope. You’ll never see me acting like something I’m not just to get sponsors.” She pauses, then says, “Especially all sweet like an angel.”

Your grip tightens on your dress when you hear it.

That. Little. Bitch.

~

You don’t even pay attention to Jesse’s interview. You’re so mad. You never get mad. You weren’t even mad on the day you got reaped.

Before you know it, it’s your turn. You let the Avox touch your shoulder and guide you to the curtain backstage. You feel like your mind is completely blank. You can hear what Caesar is saying perfectly fine, but you don’t care. The world around you suddenly doesn’t seem real.

Caesar calls your name and you go on stage to greet him. Your face is completely blank. But you don’t feel relaxed. All you want to do is go anywhere else right now. You don’t care about anything anymore, you just want to get this done as fast as possible. You walk on stage so lightly, like you’re a ghost. Like you’re floating. You shake Caesar’s hand and sit down.

“Quite the outfit we have going on here today.” He gestures to your whole get up, which is the exact last thing you wanted him to mention. Of course Dina just had to make something so memorable and distinct.

“Yeah. Different than the other one.” You say. That’s all you can manage to say. He gives you a short look that says ‘cmon man I’m trying to help you out here.’

You inhale sharply, and say, “I know it’s not…. Everyone’s favorite.. but I hope you like it.” You turn towards the crowd at the last line. You’re taking a big leap here, for calling out Ellie like that. The audience loved her after all.

There’s a few whistles and polite clapping. Everyone is silent for a few seconds.

“Now, living in district 8, you make clothes for the Capitol all the time. How is it now that you’re actually here?” He tries to prompt you.

“It’s fine.” You say.

The interview goes on like this. He asks you a question and you stare off into space just to reply with a short answer.

However, you look into the audience. They’re completely silent. Not because they’re bored, but because they’re intrigued. You’re probably the only one in the history of the games to not spend your interview talking so the sponsors can know you better. It seems that they’re way more interested in something new.

~

After your interview you float back off stage. You stand by yourself for a second to try and regroup.

The careers and the other tributes who are done are standing a little further down the hallway. You decide to join them. Maybe listening to them drone on and on will snap you out of this. One of them is making fun of Caesar’s hair and the way he talks. You laugh a little at this, especially when some other kids chime in with their impressions of him.

You see Ellie out of the corner of your eye. You look at her, not even caring that you’re staring.

She walks closer and stops when she’s next to you. She smirks, “They’re really paintin’ you as a lil’ angel, huh? You gonna take me to our lord and savior?”

Your face and tone flatten, “We’re leaning into it.”

She looks at you for a second. You can’t tell what she’s thinking or what the look on her face is. She hums out a quick “hm.” before smiling and going on her way.

~

When you’re at dinner, Tommy is lecturing you. “You’re goddamn lucky the crowd found you interestin’. Even if you didn’t say a damn peep.”

This snaps you out of your trance. “I don’t need any more lectures, Tommy. I get it.” You huff and get up from the table. “I’m going to bed.”

Jesse had already asked you what was going on in your interview, which was sweet, but you really didn’t want to think about it any more. You waved him off, and mumbled something about being upset by what Ellie said. And you tried not to cry. But now, as you entered your room and shut the door, there was no one. No one to see you. And no one to talk to.

You felt like a little kid getting their feelings hurt. But you couldn’t help that your bottom lip quivered and tears started to run down your cheeks. You felt embarrassed by yourself, even in your own room with nobody around. How fucking stupid to be crying over this. It was your own fault for getting your hopes up about Ellie being your friend. This is the goddamn hunger games. There are no friends. She was just pretending to be nice to you as a joke. Or to fool you so she can have an ally and kill you off later.

It’s absolutely fucking hopeless. The games were tomorrow. You were probably going to die first. At the cornucopia. It wouldn’t even be a cool death. You’d be all sad looking at Ellie and some bitch with a bat would come up behind you and bash your head in.

You’re still in the dress you wore in the interviews. Dina’s never going to use it again anyway. That’s what she said, right? You hated the way it looked on you. There was a little pair of scissors in your room. Not big enough to do serious damage to yourself, even if you somehow wanted to. It’s not like you could anyway. You still had family.

You just cut the stupid dress off you. Would’ve been a pain in the ass to get off in the first place.

You decide to just sleep in your underwear, instead of whatever pjs they’ve decided to give you. You think about how dumb it is that you thought about Ellie all through the night the first time you met her. You didn’t even actually meet her until the second day. And now you were here all alone in your room and all your thoughts of Ellie were turning sour. Fucking Ellie. God, what a bitch. Fucking stupid.

You muttered all this to yourself as you paced around your room for far too long. You can hear the clinking of glasses and tableware. You do feel kind of bad for not staying or cleaning up, but what fucking ever. You’re going to die soon. These snobby Capitol bitches can clear their own plates.

Suddenly, you hear a knock on your door. You turn around to face the door, “Tommy, I’m sorry. I don’t wanna talk right now.”

“Uh.. it’s me.” You hear Jesse say. You can see him shuffle his feet through the crack under the door.

“Shit, hold on.” You slip a nightgown on in case he wants to stay. You open the door. There’s a hickey on his neck. “Where the hell is that from?” You ask him, and you realize you sound more like his mom than his friend.

“Uhhh..” is all he has to say, and he flashes you a sheepish grin.

You roll your eyes at him, “Whatever. Just come in.”

You cross your arms and stand in front of your bed. He’s still taller than you, but somehow, he seems small. And nervous. “It’s game day tomorrow. Like… literally.” He laughs a little, then looks at you with concern, “I just wanna say that I’m sorry ‘bout what happened with Ellie. That was fucked.”

If it was anyone else, you probably would have shut them down. Told them to get lost, or whatever it is people say. Told them it’s not their business, and you can handle it. But, since it’s Jesse, you actually find yourself appreciating it.

“Thank you, Jesse. That’s- that actually makes me feel better.” You shuffle your feet around, and you feel stupid for stuttering, but Jesse doesn’t seem to mind.

He stares at you for a while. You don’t know if he’s wait for you to talk, or if he’s thinking of something to say. He softly touches your arm and says, “We’re friends, right?”

You look up at him and nod. You start to cry. He hugs you. There’s no use explaining it; everyone could guess why you’re crying. The feeling of dread in your stomach won’t go away. You think that Jesse is probably the nicest person you’ve ever known.

As if on cue, he hugs you tighter and says, “I’m glad to have known you.”

You know he’s not trying to hurt you, but that simple sentence just makes you cry even more.

~

You can’t even remember falling asleep. Was that really yesterday? It feels like so long ago. You look at the time. Maria wanted to have breakfast together one last time, but you slept in. You don’t even care. They’re putting you in the games this afternoon. You decide to sit at the window seat in your room and focus on the rain until you’re called.

When it’s time, you follow Tommy to the aircraft which will bring you to the arena. He says he’s proud of you. You just nod.

You get into the aircraft and they put a tracker in your arm. You feel numb again. You look at the other tributes sitting there with you. Jesse’s not there. And Ellie’s not there. That’s probably a good thing. You didn’t know if you could handle yourself if you saw Ellie before the games began.

After you’ve arrived at the arena, an Avox leads you to a little room where you meet with Dina. She says something about wanting to bet on you, if she could. You mutter a quick ‘thank you’ and brace yourself to go in the tube thing that will send you into the arena. You look down at your clothes they’ve put you in. They’re so.. boring. At least compared to all the fancy dresses Dina cooked up for you. They’ve literally given you a t-shirt, jeans, converse, and a hoodie for this year. Just normal clothes.

Dina hugs you and you step in. Within a couple more seconds, it’s lifting you up. You strain to hear any hints of who’s around you. If maybe Jesse is calling out your name or if Ellie’s scoffing at what you all have to wear. You suddenly feel the platform in the tube stop rising.

The countdown starts, and with that, you snap out of your trance.

You finally see what the arena is. And so does the rest of Panem. There’s lines and rows of buildings as far out as you can see. Your eye quickly finds Ellie, and then Jesse. He’s panting harshly. Ellie actually looks scared. Compared to how it was raining earlier, the gamemakers have given you guys sun. Such happy weather to kill each other in. You glance to Jesse, the buildings, then Ellie, and back to the buildings. It’s a whole city.

Holy fuck.

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

[wukong-s-only-wife5000]

Will you write about Y/N teasing Hero is Back Wukong about basically being Liuer's dad. He's just so protective and fatherly to this little boy and yea, he's still has a sour personality but it always makes me squeal when I see them interact!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Papa Groach (Prt 1).

Authors Notes: I'm one of those who can't stand how annoying Liuer, but I tried. Hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for the request.

You lost count on how long it’s been since your husband, Sun Wukong, was released from The Mountain Of Five Elements, and the events of the mountain trolls went and passed. You never expected anything like it, but the Great Sage Equal to Heaven… had companions. You didn't know why the pig still followed you, but Liuer and his Shifu were more than welcome. 

It's not that you hated the pig… well, kind of, but it mostly had to do with the fact that he tried to send your husband to the afterlife. 

“Great Sage? How many-” Liuer’s voice snapped you out of your thoughtless daydream and made you focus on the group walking ahead of you.

“A lot,” was Wukong’s lame reply to the boy’s question. Of course that wasn't a satisfactory answer to the overly curious young monk. 

“But what about (Y/n)? Isn't she?”

What are they talking about? You wanted to ask, but you knew that once you asked, you’d regret it.

“No, that's different,” he said, which made you even more curious about what Liuer was asking the Monkey King about. “Why are you only asking me? She's right there, go ask her yourself.”

“But she said you would be able to explain things better than she ever could,” Liuer stated, repeating what you had told him… which made your husband look back at you with a glare you smiled at. 

You pretended not to hear what was being said, but Wukong knew that when you paid attention, you could hear him whisper from a mile away with your advanced sense of hearing. You thought it was absolutely adorable how the two interacted, like an unexpected father to his newly found adopted son. You had thought many times of how Wukong would be as a father, since you knew him best and saw past his flaws.

As his wife, you knew Sun Wukong like the back of your hand, and you sided with him through everything. You even sided with him when he went against the Heavens, that's how much you loved your Monkey King. As such, you know when he doesn't like something… and you never get that feeling where Liuer is concerned. 

Annoyance, sure, of course annoyance. He is often very annoyed by the boy, but you never got that sense that he’d want to hurt or leave the child. Sure… maybe he’s tried to get rid of the kid before, but when he gave up doing that, you could see that was when he started to get attached to the annoying human monk. 

“Adorable,” you snickered to yourself. 

“Hey,” you looked at Wukong hearing his shout. 

How’d they get so far ahead? I need to stop daydreaming before I lose them. You thought to yourself.

“Hm?” you smiled a bit seeing he was looking at you. 

“Why are you walking so slow? Hurry up,” he called for you. Translation: ‘He’s talking too much again and I won’t endure this alone.’

“So, so adorable,” you shook your head with a smile, but walked a bit faster in order to catch up with the men and little boy. It was only then that you noticed exactly where you were and you couldn't help but smile at the memories that came back to you.

“Great Sage, have you ever been to the temple before?” Liuer asked as he saw how happy the Monkey King seemed all of a sudden.

“A few times,” Wukong stated as you caught up to him. “It’s an important place,”

“Really?” Liuer looked up at your husband in amazement before he tilted his head curiously. “How come?”

“It’s where I met (Y/n),” he looked at you with a small smile as he subtly held onto your pinky gently and caressed it. This man just knew all the right things to make your heart want to leap out of your chest. “And where we got married.” 

“Wow,” Liuer said as he walked between you both. Wukong was quick to lift your hand so he wouldn't have to let you go as the clueless child walked past you both to walk a few feet ahead where Shifu and Pigsy were.

“So, papa Sunny,” you tried to say seriously, but couldn't help but snicker. 

“What?” he looked at you with a raised brow, but shook it off.

“Papa Sunny,”

“Stop that,” he looked at you, unamused.

“What do you mean, papa Sunny?” you tilted your head as you gaze at him with an innocent look, but you couldn't help the laugh. Wukong looked at you with narrowed eyes that questioned your sanity.

“Have you been drinking?” He raised a brow.

“No, you idiot. I'm just admiring how good of a dad you are,”

“Dad? What are you talking about? I am nobody's father,” he stated as he walked off, you were quick to follow.

“Of course you are,” you grinned up at the taller primate. 

“No, I'm-” he cut himself off as he stopped walking and turned to look at you. You raised a brow, but when he eyed you from head to toe, and stared from your eyes to your stomach, you blushed profusely. “Are you…?”

“Of course not!” you snapped, placing a hand subconsciously on your stomach. “Are you saying I look bloated?” you questioned him, he rolled his eyes and continued walking. 

“No, I was just asking because you seem to think I’m a father,” he glanced at you with a small smirk. “And you’re my only wife.” The way he emphasized you were his, made your heart beat even faster than seeing him look at you like that. 

“I meant,” you started, jogging a bit to keep pace with him, “since Liuer is technically your kid,”

“What?” he looked at you with narrowed eyes. “You are crazy.”

“Think about it!” you laughed, hugging his arm so he couldn't escape. “He's your mentee, you take care of him and kinda teach him stuff, you feed him-”

“I feed you too,” he looked at you, “does that make you my kid too?”

“Don't get smart,” you huffed. “You're such a good husband and father.”

“I'm not a father,” he said plainly and smirked a bit, “at least not yet.”

“Stop that,” you tried not to be affected, knowing he was just trying to tease you back, but you couldn't help getting flustered. He chuckled, staring ahead at the pig and the child in question.

“You so are, though,” you grinned at him. “There's no shame that you like the kid, why else would the mighty Great Sage take him on in the first place?”

“I wasn't thinking, and I had no choice,” he shook his head, “mostly because he freed me from that mountain.”

“And the journey to get the babies back to their families brought you closer,” you sighed dreamily as you pleased your head against his arm.

“Would you stop that?” he tried to pull away, but you held onto him. “Let go, woman.”

“I don't want to,” you looked up at him with a smart ass smirk, which made him give up with a sigh. 

“I am not his father,” he finalized. 

“Okay,” you gave up, which made him look at you suspiciously.

“Okay?” He raised a brow. 

“Okay,” you gave a nod, looking ahead. He stared at you for a while, not trusting you at that moment. He knew you way better than that, you’d never give up an argument like this so easily… he’ll be keeping a closer eye on you for a while…

Little did he know, that was mostly where he had lost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It happened when he least expected it, when you guys had just settled down after putting up camp for the night. He couldn't stop caressing your cheek and grooming your hair, things you always thought were absolutely adorable.

“Hey, dad?”

“What is it, Liuer?” he asked before he tensed and looked at Liuer, only to see what looked like Liuer shape-shift back into Pigsy.

“I KNEW IT!” You laughed, holding your stomach as he stared at you with an unamused expression.

“That's not funny,” he said, very unamused.

“Whatever you say,” you couldn't stop snickering at his expense. 

“You know what?” you looked at him just as he dropped the logs and moved towards you.

Uh oh… you immediately sobered up.

“What are you doing?” you chuckled nervously as you backed up three times for every step he took towards you. 

“If you’re so hung up on me being a father, come here,” that made you stop laughing and start running. “Get back here!” he said as he ran after you.

“Nope!” you yelled, not stopping, but your grin said you were still happy… regardless of him threatening to impregnate you and make himself a dad on purpose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2.

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

The Dangers of Hope Ch. 5

Series Summary: When Y/N shows up at Camp Chitaqua with her little girl in tow, her bloodshot eyes leave no doubt that she's infected. Or is she? Everything Dean has come to know for certain over the last five hellish years, is about to be challenged.

Pairings/Characters in the series: Endverse!Dean x Reader, Emma (OFC), Castiel, Sam Winchester, Lucifer, Michael, Zachariah, Risa, Johnston (OMC), Patrick (OMC), Theresa (OFC), other survivors and soldiers.

Series Explicit 18 +/Warnings: Show level violence, some gore, angst, smut, fluff all the usual for a series of mine. ❤️ Endverse!Dean (that's a warning for his anger and callousness as well as his extreme hotness. 😁) Each chapter will have their own specific warnings.

Chapter Warnings: Nothing major.

Word Count: 5,402

A/N: So, I've had this idea for quite a while. Basically since I watched The Last of Us. I loved Pedro in the role of Joel, but I kept thinking how incredible Jensen would have been. Which then made me think of how amazing he was as Endverse!Dean which then led me to this idea. Lol! I've stolen the premise of Ellie's storyline from TLOU, but made her a grown up, a reader insert, and a love interest for Dean.

If you've never seen TLOU, don't worry - you don't need to have seen it to understand this story. 😊

I've taken some liberties with the Endverse in my story, changed a few things from canon, but kept lots of things too.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. It will be ten chapters and I will do my very best to post one chapter every weekend. ❤️

A/N 2: Sorry, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 😘

Series Master List || Main Master List || Tag Lists

The dividers below were created by @saradika

Over the next two weeks, Dean did whatever he could to avoid being around Y/N.  He was determined that the morning at the river was simply going to be a weird one off. It was some kind of reaction to Y/N’s unfamiliar presence. Her emotions and her rose-colored outlook on the world had contaminated him somehow. 

He didn’t know why, but there was something about her that always made him question his decisions, constantly rework his plans. She just brought something out in him, so he stayed the hell away from her as much as possible.

He knew she’d set up the school and begun teaching. But there again, she’d made him change his plans. The plan had been to use the sheds behind the cabin for storage; that was the whole reason for building them! 

But apparently Y/N had worked her magic with Brandy and before he knew it the sensible, practical woman had him convinced to let Y/N and the kids take up one of their very limited storage spaces, just to sit around doing algebra and reading poetry - or whatever she was teaching them. 

It was ridiculous. 

But even though he avoided her during the day, there was no turning off his brain at night, when he closed his eyes and visions of her soft curves and the memory of her silky skin beneath his fingers plagued his thoughts. He told himself to smarten up, that he had so many more important things to be thinking about. 

He decided he just needed sex; it had been too long. So one night he showed up in Risa’s tent after midnight and she opened her arms to him the way she always did. 

But as he kissed her and moved his hands over her body, her gentle sighs and soft moans weren’t doing what he needed them to, and he realized he was being an asshole trying to replace one woman with another. Risa was a good soldier and she’d been a soft place for him to land too many times to just use her as a distraction. 

So he got up and left, giving her a lame excuse, “I forgot I have to be up early tomorrow to…go over things with Johnston.” He tried not to notice Risa’s frown. He couldn't tell if she was mad or sad, and he didn't really want to stick around to find out. 

As the days moved on, he realized it was next to impossible to completely avoid Y/N, whether day or night. Because no matter how he tried to ignore her, he saw her influence everywhere. He could sense a shift in the air, he swore people were smiling more and every once in a while, he could hear kids laughing loudly.

That was a foreign sound nowadays, and it unnerved him. And smiling seemed foolish. What was there to smile about? Being happy just invited tragedy. He knew in the old days he would have been called a pessimist. But he was simply being a realist as he'd always been. He called things as they were, and he wasn't about to let a pretty smile and a bouncy attitude change that.

One evening, about a month after Y/N arrived at the camp, Dean was headed to the storage shed to take a thorough inventory before they left the next day on a raid - one of their last before the snows came in mid November. He knew they were gonna need more propane than what they had stored in order to run the generator over the winter. The generator ran the fridge and freezer where they kept their food stored. 

It could also power the electricity in the big cabin for a little while if needed. There had been nearly a week last winter that had been so piercingly cold that they’d all needed to jam themselves into the cabin and run the electric heat as much as possible. It had simply been too cold for the little camp stoves in the tents; the wood-burning stoves just couldn’t generate enough heat to combat the intense cold that seeped through the thick canvas walls. 

So their generator had saved them, and it ran on propane, which meant they needed more than enough to last through another possible cold snap.

Dean had deliberately waited to start the task until it was nearly sundown since the school would be empty by then and he could avoid running into the teacher that worked there. 

But as he approached the small building he could see a wavering light in the window - a lamp moving towards him. Before he could turn and leave (he wasn’t going to call it running away) Y/N stepped out into the semi-darkness and gasped as she saw him standing there.

She put the hand not holding the kerosene lamp to her chest. “Oh my lord!” She breathed out raggedly. “You scared me half to death.” But she was chuckling as she said it and walked closer to him.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I uh…I thought you’d be gone.” He knew he sounded slightly accusatory. “Why are you still here? Haven’t the kids been gone for hours?”

Y/N nodded. “Yeah. I came back to put up the gift we got from Tom Richardson.” She waved him towards the building behind her. “You should come see the school.”

Dean shook his head. “No, I’ve got…I have to -”

She cut him off with wide, pleading eyes. “Please?” She added a bright, imploring smile and Dean shook his head. Why was he even bothering to say no to her at this point? He gestured for her to lead the way into the little building and he followed at a distance. 

They walked in and she set the lamp on the small table in the corner and turned it up full so that it completely lit up the tiny room. She held her arms out to the sides, showing off her little schoolroom with pride.

“What do you think?”

He shook his head. “It’s uh…pretty empty.” He said looking around. 

Y/N shrugged and seemed a little deflated. “It’s a work in progress.”

Dean grunted his acknowledgement and continued his sweep of the room. On the floor against the back, Northern, wall were a couple of piles of wool blankets, and right above them was a mural of multicolored leaves stuck to the wall. 

When she saw him looking at it and frowning, Y/N explained. “I got the kids to find a bunch of pretty, fallen leaves, and then we used some tree sap as glue to stick them up. I got to teach them a little bit about trees and ecosystems, and we also made something pretty to hang on the wall.”

He nodded at the blankets. “Is that where the kids sit?”

“Yeah.” She said with another shrug. “We’re a little packed in, but it keeps us warm. The blankets just take the chill out of the floor and make it a bit softer to sit on.”

Dean nodded absently and looked left, his eye catching on the only other object in the room. It was a paper map hanging on the western wall, held in place by two small nails. 

Dean frowned again. “Is that a map of America?”

Y/N nodded excitedly. “Yeah, that was the gift from Tom Richardson. It was so kind of him. His son, Jonah is a sweet little guy, but I guess he’s been pretty quiet over the last year or so. He lost his mom just before he and Tom got to Chitaqua?” She said, clearly using the words as a question to see if he knew who she was talking about.

Dean nodded, a vague recollection coming to his mind of a big burly guy and a scrawny little kid. He remembered thinking the guy would be a hard worker, and the kid probably wasn’t gonna make it. He’d looked pretty sick.

Y/N continued. “Well, I guess since he started school he’s been talking more in the evenings, even asking Tom questions about The Knights of the Round Table. I’ve been sharing some of the legends with them this week. So, Tom was grateful and as a thank you, he gave us this map that he’d kept tucked away in his backpack all this time. Said it made him feel peaceful to look at it and remember better times. But he thought we could use it more.”

She smiled wistfully and gazed at the slightly ratty map.

“Why?” Dean asked with a slight jolt in his gut. He waved at the map. “It’s not like this anymore.”

Y/N nodded and lowered her gaze to the ground. “Yeah, I know, but the general shape of the country is still the same, and I can use it as half geography, half history.”

When she looked back up at him, her face was set in lines of disappointment. She waved her hand to encompass the whole hundred and fifty square feet. “You don’t like it?” She asked with a weak chuckle.

Dean shrugged. “No it's, I mean, it’s fine. You know, work in progress, like you said.”

Y/N nodded and smiled, looking a little bolstered. “Yeah, slow but sure. And you know,” her smile turned shy, “I’ve really wanted to thank you for giving up the space for the school, I know this wasn’t what the shed was earmarked for.”

Dean cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, Brandy made sense. Can’t have the kids wandering around outside after the cold comes.”

Y/N frowned. “I’ve wanted to thank you, but every time I’ve looked for you, I seem to have just missed you.”

Dean scowled defensively. “Just busy.” 

Y/N nodded.

“Well look,” Dean said, backing away, “I gotta get to…stuff.” He shook his head. “I mean, we’re leaving on a raid tomorrow and I gotta prepare for it.”

“Oh, be careful.” Y/N said, biting her lip in concern.

It was far too hard for Dean to rip his eyes away from where her teeth sunk into the satiny sweep of her bottom lip. But he jerked his head up and then spun away as he answered her. “Always am.”

***

The raid was successful; in fact it was one of the most successful ones they’d ever had. They’d traveled all the way to St. Louis, hoping to find some gas stations there that hadn’t been picked clean. But they had no luck. Since going home empty-handed wasn’t an option, they went North to Springfield and hit the jackpot. 

They found an old Costco on the outskirts of the city that had barely been hit. They filled and loaded up enough propane tanks to see them through the winter and then some. 

They also loaded up as much food as they could, and even found some usable meds left in the pharmacy there. They grabbed clothes and kitchen things like plates and pots, utensils, also managing to find a few things that had become rare and quite precious, like eyeglasses and sunglasses. They also found spare tires and car parts, and a few simple pieces of practical furniture. They took as much as they could load into the back of two trucks and a Jeep. 

Dean packed up one more big box, setting it on top of the others; it was just something he thought might come in handy. He refused to think too long about why he’d gathered together the things in the box.

They made it back to camp less than two days after they left, a record for a raid. They usually took a week or more because they had to scavenge through a bunch of different cities, and fight off masses of Croats. But this time, they didn't see any Croats at all, and they'd scored an incredible haul quickly, which meant that, barring some kind of catastrophe, they wouldn't have to go out again until the snow melted. 

They pulled into the camp around noon and Dean spent a few hours helping to unload the trucks and organize where everything went. When the campers saw the piles of booty in the trucks, people actually started clapping. An air of joviality pervaded as they all worked together to put things away until the next day. At which point they'd begin accounting for it all, sharing what was needed immediately, and then safely storing away the rest. 

Y/N and her students left their little schoolroom to come help as well and the kid’s eyes were wide and excited, looking at everything that had been brought back as though it was Christmas Eve. 

When everything was unloaded, Dean grabbed the box he’d put aside and brought it to Y/N who’d returned to the school to drop off the two folding chairs she’d claimed for the classroom.

He knocked on the open door, grateful for the hard wood beneath his knuckles this time. Y/N turned to face him and her eyes were almost as bright and excited as the kids’.

“Hi!” She said enthusiastically. “Wow, you guys sure brought home the bacon on this raid!”

Dean shook his head. “No bacon. It was fairly rancid.”

Y/N chuckled lightly and scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, wise decision to leave that behind.”

Dean nodded and set the big box on the plywood floor with a heavy thump. “This is for you. For the school.” He amended.

Y/N looked a bit dumbfounded for a moment and her eyes got even rounder before she dropped to her knees and pulled open the flaps of the box. 

When she saw what was inside her gasp was deep and her hands flew to her mouth. She looked up at him in complete shock before reaching reverently into the box to take out one of the books that sat inside.

“Books.” She whispered, as she stared at the paperback in her hands. She reached into the box again and pulled out another book and then another and another until her arms were full of them.

She looked up at him, tears falling and her gaze rapturous. “Oh my god, Dean.”

Dean felt his face flush and he looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just figured the classroom could use ‘em and they were just sitting there on the shelves. There’s a bunch of kids books underneath,” he said pointing inside the box. “And paper and pencils and some crayons, a few coloring books. There weren’t many of them so-”

He was interrupted as Y/N dropped the books back into the box and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tight. He stood stock still for a minute before he patted her back awkwardly and dropped his arms back to his side.

She pulled back and brushed away her happy tears, sniffling loudly. “Sorry. I just…” She knelt down again and picked up another book, holding it tight to her chest. She shook her head. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed books. It’s been years since I’ve even seen one let alone had the chance to read one.”

She reached in for one of the children’s books and laughed. “Oh my gosh, the kids are gonna be ecstatic.”

Dean shrugged, thoroughly embarrassed by Y/N’s joy and gratitude. He cleared his throat before speaking. “There’s a limited supply of paper and pencils, and I have no idea how long it will be before we find more, if we ever do, so…”

He trailed off and Y/N put the books back into the box and folded the flaps closed again. “So, we’ll be sure to write very tiny, erase a lot, and wear the pencils down to little nubs.” She said as she stood and bent to heft the box up from the floor. Dean stepped forward to grab it from her as she staggered slightly beneath its weight.

“You’ll break your back.” Dean barked at her as he reached for the box. 

But she just shook her head and turned away with the box still in her arms. “N’ah I’m stronger than I look.” She said, huffing and puffing as she dropped it onto the table. 

Dean shook his head. Yeah, I bet you are. He thought.

After a moment Y/N turned and walked slowly back towards him. “So, I can’t exactly buy you dinner as a thank you. But if you bring your rations over to our tent, I can cook them all up for us.”

She smiled at him, friendly and sweet, but Dean was backing away. “No, that’s not necessary.”

“I know it isn’t, but it will make me feel good to do this one small favor for you in return for this amazingness.” She said with a wave towards the box.

Dean planned to say no, had it on the tip of his tongue but when he opened his mouth what came out was, “Okay.”

So barely an hour later he found himself sitting at her table with dinner laid out in front of him. It was a sufficiently celebratory meal of salted venison from an eight point buck the camp hunters had taken down in early summer, boiled potatoes, and a can of green beans that was older than Emma.

It was the best meal Dean had eaten in a long time.  

After the food was finished and the dishes were washed, Y/N made them a cup of coffee and he sat drinking it as she settled Emma into bed with a kiss. His stomach was full of decent food, the coffee smelled old but still strong, and the sound of Y/N’s soft voice as she tucked her daughter in, was incredibly soothing. He found himself relaxing into his chair in a way he hadn’t in a very long time. His muscles lost some of their rigidity and he breathed out a long sigh, as though he’d been holding his breath for too long.

After a few minutes Y/N came back to the table and sat down with her own soft exhale. She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at Dean over the rim of her tin cup. “You know, I don’t think you really understand what you’ve done here.”

Dean cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, questioning her. She smiled and set down her cup, shifting slightly in her chair.

“Since all of this started, we’ve been on the move, Emma and I. In the beginning, when Emma was still a baby, I’d come across different groups of people and we’d travel together for a while or we’d manage to hole up somewhere for the winter and wait out the cold together. But inevitably the groups always fell away; sometimes we’d just decide to go in separate directions, but sometimes animosity or greed would take over and violence would erupt. People would fight over who was in charge and they’d fight over resources.” Y/N shook her head. “It almost always ended up a disaster.”

She shrugged. “So after a while, I just lit out on my own with Emma. It was scary as hell, of course - no back up, no partners, all on my own with a four year old. But it also meant no one stealing my stuff, or throwing me to the wolves at the first sign of trouble.” 

She took another sip of coffee and Dean wondered at the shadows in her usually bright eyes. What stories in her past had created them?

Her voice was soft when she continued. “It’s been incredibly hard and there’s been,” her eyelashes fluttered and closed, “there's been a lot of bad.” 

She set down her cup and sat back in her chair, rubbing at her eyes with her fingers like she was scratching out the images behind her eyelids.

When she looked at him again, her eyes were soft and warm. “So, to come here, to see what you’ve accomplished in just a few years?” Her voice was full of wonder. “Dean, it’s like a miracle. I mean you’ve made it safe here, at least a hell of a lot safer than anywhere else out there - there are guards protecting us! People work together, contribute their skills and strengths for the benefit of the group as well as themselves.”

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen anything like it in a very long time. What you’ve created here is an oasis.”

Dean snorted at that. “Oasis?” He asked incredulously. Her praise and wonderment made him feel an itchy kind of awkwardness. He didn’t deserve it.

But Y/N was nodding solemnly. “Yes. It’s a safe haven in a world filled with evil. What would you call it?”

Dean took a gulp of coffee and then licked his lips, looking at her for a moment before speaking. “Y/N this is only an oasis in the sense that it’s a mirage in a desert; it’s an illusion. We’re managing to get by through lucky choices and good timing. We push through from day to day, but I’m telling you this whole place could fall apart in an instant. One long, bad, winter, or one coordinated attack from another camp or a pack of Croats, and we’re done.”

He paused to try and let that sink in before continuing. “And the survivors here work together because it’s beneficial to them. But if things get desperate again,” he looked at her pointedly, “don’t think for one second that they'll hesitate to throw you to the wolves like all the others.” He shrugged. “It’s human nature, survival of the fittest, and anyone who thinks otherwise is gonna get trampled.”

He said it as a warning, still determined to dislodge the Pollyanna ideal of good and virtuous humanity from her mind.

But Y/N just smiled and leaned across the table to squeeze his hand. “Guess we’ll see. But in the meantime, you should be proud. No matter what happens, you’ve done good.”

Dean swallowed down the rest of his coffee in one gulp and stood up, pulling his hand away from her warm touch. He was desperate to get away from the softness and understanding in her gaze. He thanked her for cooking dinner and left quickly, promising himself as he walked back to his tent that he wasn’t going to do that again.

But as with most things to do with Y/N that decision didn’t last long, and soon enough that one evening turned into a bit of a ritual. Every few days or so Dean would show up with some of his rations and Y/N would combine them with what they had, and they’d all eat together at their tiny table.

Every time he left her tent, he told himself he’d had his last meal there with Y/N and Emma. Yet within a few days, he’d be back again. He told himself it was just something to break the monotony of camp life, just something a little different from the ordinary.

But the truth was he was beginning to crave the evenings spent across from Y/N, listening to her rattle on about her students and their achievements, or else answering her seemingly endless questions about the camp and how it had come to be. He even enjoyed listening to her talk to Emma, telling her stories before she tucked her in for the night. 

Once the little girl was asleep, Dean usually hightailed it out of there, because without the kid as a buffer it became much harder to ignore Y/N’s inviting lips and tempting curves.

But one night, three weeks after returning home from the raid, Y/N followed him outside as he abruptly left the tent. 

“Dean.” She called after him. 

The sun had set almost an hour before and the night was dark and cold; Dean returned to her side and admonished her. “It’s freezing out here, go back inside.”

Y/N just rubbed her hands up and down her arms and shrugged. “I’m fine.”

He shook his head at her stubbornness, and then waited silently. When she didn’t say anything right away he spread his arms wide.

“What?” He asked impatiently. 

“I just…” Y/N stuttered for a moment. “I just wanted to say that I really like when you come for dinner.”

Dean clenched his jaw as she looked up at him with heat in her gaze, an invitation in her eyes, plain as day. He told himself to walk away but instead, he raised his hand to trail his fingers down her cheek. 

“You should go inside.” He warned her again, even as he lowered his head towards her. “S’cold.”

Y/N shook her head. “I’m very warm.” She smiled and licked her lips and it was his undoing.

He yanked her up against him and crushed her lips with his own. He plundered her mouth with his tongue, inhaling her sweet scent and hardening at the way she clutched the front of his jacket and whimpered softly. He moved his hands so that one clutched at her waist and the other one grabbed hold of the back of her head so he could keep her pressed to him tightly.

He didn't know how long he would have continued kissing her, or whether he might have taken things even further. But luckily there was a loud noise of something crashing somewhere in camp, followed by laughter. 

The sound was like a bucket of cold water being poured on him and Dean ripped himself away from Y/N's mouth. They were both breathing heavily, panting really.

“Fuck.” Dean swore roughly before he turned abruptly and left. He fully admitted to himself that this time, he was definitely running away.

***

Dean barely slept and woke up the next day berating himself for the night before. For fuck’s sake he’d been making out with Y/N with her kid just on the other side of a canvas wall - kissing her in the wide open, where any other camper might have walked by. He didn’t need things to be more complicated than they were already. 

As the morning wore on, he made up his mind to talk to Y/N that very afternoon. He'd just tell her straight out that what happened between them just couldn't happen again. It was only going to confuse things and make everything harder than it needed to be. 

He nodded; he could do this. He was practical and he didn't hem and haw or tiptoe around things. He'd just tell her straight out how things were going to be. 

He knew she'd be in the big cabin as the school day ended, so he walked over and stepped inside the door, hoping she'd be almost done for the day.

Ever since he brought her the books, she'd been reading to the kids at the end of every school day. Parents had started swinging by the school, ostensibly to meet their kids, but really, they wanted to watch their kids' faces and listen to their giggles as Y/N read the stories in funny voices and occasionally got the kids to join her in acting out silliness from the books. 

But the crowd of parents and kids had gotten a bit too big for the tiny schoolroom, so on the last day of every week, Y/N had taken to reading to the kids and parents together in the big cabin. The adults usually sat on the floor behind the kids, keeping their hands busy with mending clothes or knitting, or else they stood at a table and worked on something like repairing holes in tents or making snares for the hunters. The work allowed them to justify their enjoyment of the stories. 

As Dean walked inside now, Y/N was finishing up the storybook in her hand. He could see it was The Paper Bag Princess and Y/N was on the last page.

“‘Ronald’, said Elizabeth, ‘your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat.” Y/N read aloud in Elizabeth’s decisive voice. 

“You look like a real prince. But you,” Y/N paused for effect, “are a bum.’”

All the kids were giggling as she read the last line. 

“They didn't get married after all.”

The kids clapped and even the parents were chuckling at the way the paper bag princess had put the snooty prince in his place.

“I love that story!!” A little redheaded girl in the front gushed. 

“It's my mommy's favorite story.” Emma said loudly. “Right Mommy?”

Y/N nodded. “When I was your age for sure.”

Dean pushed away from the wall he was leaning on, trying to signal Y/N so she'd hurry up and finish. But the little girl in the front demanded her full attention as she bounced up to lean against Y/N's knees where she sat in the chair.

“Cause your mommy read it to you?”

Dean was seriously considering ordering everyone out. He wanted to get this over with.

But Y/N's next words stopped him dead in his tracks. 

She was shaking her head as she tucked the little girl's red hair behind her ear. “No, my mommy passed away a long time ago when I was just a baby. So she never really got to read me stories.”

Y/N kept talking, but Dean only heard a hot, pulsing, rushing sound in his ears. A million thoughts were slamming through his mind at once as he felt a cold shiver run through him.

He yelled over the sound of the people around him beginning to chatter and get ready to leave.

“How?”

Y/N looked up at his bellow, her face shocked. “What?”

Dean was aware of his surroundings only just enough to brusquely order everyone out of the cabin.

“Now!” He barked and the mood in the room shifted quickly as parents grabbed up their children and gave The Boss a wide berth as his eyes burned at Y/N like green fire.

Everyone disappeared and it was just Y/N, Dean and Emma left. 

Dean felt his heart hammering in his chest as he took a step back from where she stood. 

Y/N's face was completely confused and clearly perplexed. “Dean what-”

He cut her off. “How?” He bellowed again before swallowing and asking in a slightly quieter tone. “How did your mother die when you were a baby?”

Y/N shook her head. “Why? What are you-”

“Answer me.” Dean's voice wasn't loud, but his words were clipped and he could hear the steel behind his words, feel the cold seeping into his bones as the tumblers in his mind fell into place, opening the lock concealing the reason behind Y/N’s miraculous survival of the virus.

Y/N blinked rapidly for a moment before exhaling slowly. “It was a - a fire. Some kind of electrical short or something.”

“In your nursery.” Dean said softly.

Y/N shrugged, her face scrunched up in confusion. “I'm not sure. My dad didn't really like to talk about it.”

As he stood staring at the woman with the bloodshot eyes, a moment from so long ago, once again from that first time they'd faced the Croatoan virus, materialized in his memory.

Again his brother's face bloomed in his mind, and he heard his own voice speaking.

“I swear I'm gonna lose sleep over this one. I mean why here, why now?”

And Sam's bewildered reply. “And why was I immune?”

Well now he knew why his brother had been immune. Because Yellow Eyes had wanted him to be, to make him a better soldier, a better, more powerful psychic to lead his demon army. And of course, he’d needed to be sure Lucifer's true vessel was strong and able enough to withstand the demon germ warfare he planned to release upon the world as a way to kickstart the apocalypse.

Dean stared at Y/N, angry beyond belief. Angry at her and what she really was, angry at himself for taking so long to figure it out and for falling for her game, and unbelievably angry at the universe for proving once again that it was laughing at him. 

His voice was ice when he spoke. “What kind of psychic are you? What can you do?” He shook his head. “What have you done already?"

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