#anyway might post an actual photo of my back piece soon or might wait until it’s healed idk ???

[abigail]

i was so brave about it btw .

[onceuponaloonatic]

i found this old misamo draft and just felt like sharing since it's so adorable. i edited it a bit to reflect my current writing style !! sorry i've been gone, classes started again and it's been a little overwhelming. i try to work on stuff when i can and have some stuff in the works, so i'll try to get them out soon !! also my inbox is empty again so if you have any lingering ideas i'm happy to listen to them. i may not post much but i do lurk around here a lot. love you guys !!

Mina didn’t know how long she had been there.

Sana and Momo were fast asleep behind her, both of them had passed out the minute they realized they finally had a little bit of time to sleep. Mina had tried to join them at first, but despite her exhaustion, she just couldn’t sleep. Not with the tiny little bundle that had recently taken up residence in their bedroom.

Being a parent was weird, Mina was coming to realize. Before, it had just been her, Sana, and Momo. They had created their own little world, their own perfect life in France. Their careers had been fun while they lasted, even if there were times Mina hated her job more than anything. There were days it was so hard, she was surprised she was able to convince people her smile was real. Days she was surprised she was able to get out of bed. Surprised she was able to keep going, keep performing. There was a period she couldn’t even remember any of her stages, she would just be in the dressing room one minute and suddenly she was in the van pushed up against Jeongyeon or Jihyo and everyone was telling her how good their performance was. Even with all of this though, Mina was happy with her job at the end of the day. She met Sana and Momo. She got to shine as bright as had desired when she was too young to even imagine the life she would have later. She got to see the world, she got to put smiles on people’s faces, and she got to be a role model for people all over the world.

Mina had thought she would be sadder when twice ended. But she didn’t really felt sad. She didn’t really feel anything. They had all known it was coming, and it felt right. They had a good run, but it was time for them all to move on with their lives. For Mina to move on, with the loves of her life.

All their friends were sad when they moved to France, but it felt right. East Asia would always remind them of their careers, retirement couldn’t erase ten years of being the nation’s girl group. They knew if they wanted to start this next chapter of their lives, they had to go somewhere far away. All three of them had moved to another country before, and honestly, France just felt like the right place for them to start their new lives as retired people. Sana laughed when she called them that, saying thirty-three was too young to be retired. But that’s what they were, retired.

It was nice living with just Sana and Momo. Life was a lot simpler now, but Mina loved it. She didn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing or wearing the wrong outfit or her face was bloated. All she had to worry about now was what day to go grocery shopping and if she had hung the laundry up yet. Yes, being an idol was great, but this was great too. In a completely different way.

Mina had been happy with just Sana and Momo, but she also didn’t hate the idea of having a kid. It seemed interesting, and she had always thought about what it would be like to be a mom. Sana and Momo were more outwardly excited, but Mina couldn’t help the mounting internal excitement when they found out they were going to be moms. And now that their baby was actually here, Mina couldn’t help herself from being obsessed with her.

When Momo and Sana fell asleep, Nico was fast asleep too. Sana had just fed her and Nico had fallen asleep on Momo’s chest while Momo swayed her gently. Mina knew from experience that was enough to put anyone to sleep, it was one of the comfiest places on earth. However, just like it had been in the past twenty-four hours since Nico came home, she was awake not long after falling asleep. Mina had been watching her when she woke up. Mina liked watching Nico. She liked memorizing her baby’s features. She always took notes on all the pieces of Sana she saw in Nico. All the pieces of Momo. It was weird, Nico wasn’t biologically related to Mina at all, but she also couldn’t help but see little pieces of herself in Nico too.

When Nico woke up, she didn’t cry. Maybe it’s because she knew Mina was right there, or maybe she just didn’t need anything, but she stayed quiet in her crib. She made eye contact with Mina before yawning and squirming a little. Mina expected her to cry, but she didn’t. Instead, she and Mina started a small staring contest. It wasn’t awkward though, it somehow felt right. Like Mina’s life had been leading up to this moment. It was weird, that something so simple made her feel so happy. Being a parent was weird.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like this, but eventually, her moment was interrupted by the annoying buzz of her phone in her pocket.

She didn’t want to leave Nico, so she picked her up as gently as possible and carried her to the living room. She made sure Nico was comfy against her chest before she answered her phone.

“I knew you would be awake.” Nayeon’s teasing voice came through the phone.

“I could have been asleep.” Mina nodded, drawing small shapes on the back of Nico’s back.

“You're not. You are with her, aren’t you?” Mina nodded, panning the camera down to show Nico on her chest.

“Want to meet her?” Mina smiled. They had been away from their phones all day, wanting to spend every spare second with Nico now that she was home. This meant their friends hadn’t been able to see Nico, in video chat or in photo form.

“I met her when she was born.” Nayeon giggled. “But, that was two months ago, so I’ll meet her again.”

“Okay.” Mina couldn’t wipe the smile from her face if she wanted to. She moved Nico so she was facing the camera, her body being supported by Min. “Nico-ya, this is Auntie Nayeon. She’s your godmother.” Nico made a little noise as she got some spit on her face. Mina laughed, grabbing a spit rag for Nico and kissing her hair. “I think that means she likes you.”

“Hi, sweetheart. I like you too.” Nayeon had tears in her eyes. She had always gotten emotional around babies, but especially any of the twice-member’s kids. Jeongyeon had always teased her relentlessly for it. “It’s nice to finally see you at home.”

“We are happy to have her here. Sana was going a little crazy and Momo has a talent for encouraging her. Everything is okay now though.” Mina took one of Nico’s hands and squeezed it.

“I’m sure it drove all of you crazy. You should have seen Jihyo with Eunmi. She only had a three-week stay and she drove her husband and me absolutely crazy. She vicariously lived through Hyemi to deal with her Eunmi issues. It was kind of nice at first to have someone to take care of her, but it got too much pretty fast.” Nayeon giggled. “Speaking of Hyo, she told me to tell you to text her. She and I were planning on coming out to see Nico soon.”

“Oh, it’s okay. We know you guys are busy.”

“Nah, we both need some time away, especially Hyo. Have you talked to Chae and Tzu yet?”

“They actually have some big trips coming up. But they said they do want to come to see Nico soon. They want to stay for a while.” Mina explained, adjusting Nico in her lap.

“They are both so in love with Nico. It’s sweet.” Nayeon laughed at the thought. “I know they are both pretty against having their own kids, so it’s cute they are latching onto Nico as hard as they have been.”

“Yeah, they’ve never really been like this before. But she got that from Sana, everyone loves her.” Mina had thought about this before. Sana was born to be loved. Her being an idol was like fate. Everyone loved her, and the people who didn’t were either jealous or spiteful. And even then, Sana even loved people like that back. Sana’s heart was so good, she always tried to love people before anything else. Mina had always adored that about her.

“I love her more than I love Sana.” Nayeon shrugged.

“I’ll be sure to tell her that when she wakes up.” Mina giggled. “I’m sure it will make her day.”

“Wait no please don’t do that. I used to live with Sana, I know she will leave me like ten voicemails complaining I don’t love her.” Mina couldn’t help but giggle at the whine in Nayeon’s voice.

“Nope, you said it. Can’t take it back now.” Mina continued laughing until she heard some shuffling around behind her. She turned and found Momo coming towards her with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and her eyes half-closed. “Hello.”

“Mitang.” Momo whined as a response, plopping herself down next to Mina.

“Is that Momo?” Nayeon asked.

“Hi Nayeon-Unnie.” Momo greeted before pressing her face into Mina’s shoulder. “Mitang it’s sleepy time.”

“You were asleep, why did you wake up?” Mina giggled, brushing Momo’s hair out of her face.

“Sana kicked me.” Momo whined. “And it felt too cold.”

“You had Sana and two blankets.” Mina nodded.

“Sana is too warm,” Momo muttered. “Mitang is the perfect temperature.”

“So Sana is too warm, but I’m the perfect temperature?” Mina giggled. “Anyway, We’ll be up in a minute, so go ahead and go back to bed.”

“I’ll wait.” Momo nodded, kissing Mina’s shoulder and laying a hand onto Nico’s back.

“It’s like three am over there, if you guys are tired you really should go to bed. Nico’s awake but she’s quite and honestly with newborns that’s the best your going to get.” Nayeon looked at the two with a fond smile. One that could only come about from watching a romance blossom between some of her favorite people. ‘Besides, she can’t sleep if Mina is fussing over her too much.”

“She has a point.” Momo muttered into Mina’s shoulder.

“Okay.” Mina couldn’t help her heart from fluttering at the little kisses Momo left along her shoulder. When she was younger, they might have been hot, and definitely something she wouldn't let anyone else see. But now they just felt comforting. She knew Momo loved her.

“Have a good day Unnie.” Momo greeted from her spot on Mina's shoulder.

“Nico-ya be good. I’ll see you soon my love.” Nayeon blew kisses at the camera.

“None for us?” Momo whined.

“Nope. Bye Nico!” Nayeon waved as she hung up. Mina rolled her eyes and looked down at Nico, who was already half asleep.

“Looks like someone’s ready for bed.” Mina giggled.

“Can't blame me. I was fast asleep with my Mitang.” Momo pouted.

“Not you.” Mina giggled. “Our lives don't revolve around us anymore.”

No.” Mina felt Momo’s smile without having to look at her. “And are you okay with that?”

“I’m more than okay with it.” Mina nodded. “I love it.”

[love-fireflysong]

yIt's done. It took me waaaay to long to write this piece out but between June and my computer apparently deciding to kick me in the teeth this month, the fact I made it to 5 full squares completed anyways I will gladly take as a victory! And, just fyi, this WILL be the last piece for this month. I know that there is still another four days left of June, but I am sick and tired of dealing with my keyboard so this is the last fic you're gonna see from me until I get a new laptop hopefully fairly soon. (Unless I decide that I'm desperate enough to try and write things out on my tablet of course...)

Anyways, the First Date trope was specifically requested by @jesus-hotsauce-christmas-cake when I let her know that the one she did guess (road trip) was going to be a second chapter of a twoshot. Which you still might get because I'm very likely going to be sharing the short little summary blurbs I had written down for each trope so people can very easily bully me into writing them anyways if people still wanted to read them. And even though it would be like months and months late, still post them under this bingo board because I can and I had a cool idea for what I was doing with the colours and layout before life decided to say 'NO!' in a very firm voice. (Unless of course the three lovely ladies that came up with this idea in the first place say no obviously)

Rambling over though now I promise. Chocolate Covered Confessions can be read over and AO3 of course, with the full fic also under the readmore as well.

Chocolate Covered Confessions

Trope: First Date Fandom: Until Dawn Characters: Ashley Brown, Chris Hartley Words: 8214 Rating: General (though reader beware there is some almost scandalous hand holding and a couple of scandalously public kisses. You have been warned...) Authors Notes: Oh look, more chrashley fluff. Who da thunk it? Pride month? What pride month? This is just me apparently figuring out how many different ways I can get Chris and Ash to confess their feelings. Because you only read like three of them, I still have another two waiting in the wings. Plus at least three others if you count climbing chrash lol.

Something was...weird. It wasn't something that Ashley could put her finger on just yet, but something was definitely off that was for sure. The problem of course was that she didn't even know where to start looking in the first place, because for the most part her day had been extraordinarily ordinary.

She, Chris, and Josh had planned to go and see a movie Saturday morning a few days back and then hang out the rest of the day. But seeing as they were, you know, best friends that certainly wasn't the issue. Not even close. They always made plans to do stuff like that together. And yeah, okay, so maybe Josh had 'coincidentally' texted them just before the movie started to let them know that something unavoidable had come up and he wasn't going to be able to meet up with them. And when her and Chris had brought up just waiting until a later showing when he was free, he had immediately been quick to affirm that nope, he was going to be busy the whole rest of the day actually. So the two of them could continue with their original plans and they could make it up to him another time.

While certainly suspicious, that wasn't what was wrong though. Josh had been flaking out on their plans more and more, especially when it was plans that took up an entire day. Ashley Brown wasn't stupid. No siree Bob she was not! She knew exactly what Josh was trying to do by leaving her to spend the day with Chris. Alone . And she appreciated it (she really did!), but if Chris was going to make a move then he would have done it ages and ages ago, because she sure as hell wasn't going to do it! Ashley Brown wasn't stupid, but she also wasn't exactly what you would call brave either.

Not that Chris had seemed to notice what Josh was pulling though, he had just sighed and rolled his eyes with a grumbled "fucking typical", and then the two of them had entered the theater to watch the movie. And as per their usual shtick when Josh wasn't there with them, Chris paid for the tickets while she paid for the food and drinks. Or, at least, that was how it normally went. Instead, when she had decided to take a run to the bathroom while he held their spot in the long concession line, she had come back to Chris waiting for her with the pop and popcorn already in hand. After brushing off her flustered apologies, he had explained that shortly after she had left, another cashier had popped on till so the line had gone down in half the time either had expected. And it seemed like a dick move to just wait there until she came back so he had just decided to get the food instead.

She still felt a little guilty about it honestly, even after swearing that she would get both the tickets and food next time.

And, to be completely fair to Josh, he hadn't exactly been missing out on a lot by skipping out on the movie. It wasn't a horror flick (he would never even think of skipping out on that after all) so it wasn't one that he would feel the need to make the two of them watch again with him. Which was more than fine honestly, because if she was to describe the movie in a single word, well, that word would definitely have been 'dreadful'. If she was given a few more words, then she would have easily elaborated and stated that it was 'a boring, plot-hole driven mess, with only extremely over-the-top action scenes and explosions every five minutes to carry any semblance of the extremely loosely written plot'. In other words, she had lost interest in the movie barely half an hour in, and considering that Chris had started scrolling through his phone bored, she wasn't alone in this boat either.

Still, Ashley had resolved herself to sit through this over-budgeted explosion fest if only because movie tickets were horribly expensive. Not to mention the fact that Chris had shelled out money for both the movie and the food. But then he had turned to her, asked if she was as bored to tears as he was, and once he got that confirmation, asked if she wanted to just ditch the movie entirely. And she did—she really, really did—but didn't want Chris to waste the money he had spent more. And then yet another explosion...exploded on screen, and she realized that she was wasting precious hours of her life that could be used to do something more fun and less mind-numbingly boring.

Like watching paint dry. That at least had a semi-cohesive plot.

And so the two of them had walked out, continuing to share the extra buttered popcorn between them (the movie may have been awful, but the popcorn certainly wasn't) as they left the movie theater behind and wandered into the nearby mall. That wasn't the strange thing either. The mall and subsequent window shopping had absolutely been part of their day plans after, even if those had been unexpectedly pushed forward a couple of hours.

Admittedly the art show that the mall was running in one of the empty storefronts was unexpected, but  it had been simply a nice surprise and a great way to kill time. So after paying the $2 entrance fee, the two of them had continued to share the popcorn as they looked at some of the paintings and sculptures that had been on display, giggling childishly at most of them. And okay, so one of the curators had been glaring at them( or rather, at their greasy, butter-covered fingers) the whole time, but that had just been a little rude and insulting. Not strange. And that had stopped almost the moment they had run out of popcorn, Ashley nudging him in the stomach with her elbow as she licked her fingers clean, and the two of them laughing under their breaths at the curator who had looked exceptionally much more at ease once Chris had crumpled the empty bag into a ball.

The rest of their day in the mall had just been spent following the rest of their day's plan, wandering from shop to shop and browsing at all the things that caught their eyes, and then taking a break after a few hours to have a late lunch in the food court. The two of them checked out another couple of stores, these ones to try and get some ideas for Josh's birthday in another month, before moving onto the small arcade on the top floor. As part of their deal and agreement since it had just been Josh and Chris (Ashey not joining the duo until five years later), Chris bought the tokens needed while she scouted out the various games for an empty console and claimed it until he could join her in another couple of minutes.

They spent the next hour in there, trying to beat each other or work together depending on the game in question. They almost never played a game twice before moving onto the next one, in hopes to both try as many games as possible before their self imposed hour ended and to see if they could beat their previous high scores or make it onto the leaderboard in only a single try. But as the hour came to a close, they both made their way over to their final game: one of the racing simulators scattered around the arcade. And as had been done for ten years now, played to determine which of them would be paying for the tokens next time they came.

And once the race ended, with Ashley winning by photo finish for the third time in a row (and celebrating her winning streak by maturely sticking out her tongue and doing an awkward little shimmy dance in the seat while Chris jokingly sulked and pouted), they had finally left the mall altogether and got into Chris's truck. There, he had surprised Ashley with the novel she had been eyeing in the bookstore (or at least, eyeing closer than all the rest she had picked up) and that he had somehow been able to buy without her noticing. And that certainly hadn't been weird, because it had been so exceptionally sweet of him, sweet enough that Ashley had so badly wished that she could thank him properly. But as mentioned before, Ashley Brown was a coward pure and simple, so she had just clutched the book to her chest and beamed at Chris in heartfelt thanks instead.

He may have said something in reply, but Ashley had already settled into the passenger seat and opened to the first page of the book, so she was already long gone. A fact that Chris had anticipated, if the light chuckle he had let out before starting the truck meant anything. And no, Ashley reading a book while Chris drove them to their usual game store across town was not the strange thing either. If Chris hadn't wanted her to read on the drive over and talk to him, then he never would have given her the book now of all times. He would have waited until he had dropped her off home, or not even bought the book in the first place. After over a half a decade of friendship, if anyone knew what would happen after giving Ashley Brown a new book, it was Chris Hartley.

The drive over is done quicker then she had expected, and even then Chris still hadn't let her know that they had arrived until she had finished her chapter. Yes he had certainly teased her about it the entire time, joking about how she would never find someone as understanding of her reading habits then him (he didn't know how right he was, that she didn't want to find anyone else), but the fact that he had just continued to let the music play in the truck and distracted himself on his phone was so unbearably sweet that she decided to let it lie.

The fact that Ashley and Chris hung around in the game shop comparing dice and looking at new books while wincing over the prices for nearly two hours wasn't what was off either. Hell, if anything the fact that they only spent a couple of hours there before leaving was weird! Her, Chris, and Josh could easily spend almost half a day in there flipping through comics and rolling dice to test them out, only leaving because a tired employee was forced to ask them to leave for making too much noise and taking up a table when they weren't playing anything, especially when there was a group that had been waiting for a table for close to an hour now.

Which brought Ashley to where she was right now, sitting at a sticky plastic table under the shade of a cheap umbrella while Chris had run off to get them some ice cream before dropping her off at home. Her new book was open in front of her, the pages crisp white even in the umbrella's shade, but her mind wasn't on the book anymore. A random line had a character mentioning that something had been feeling off all day ever since they woke up ('like everything had been moved three centimeters to the left, so while it all looked normal, nothing felt right anymore'), and Ashley had also realized that hey, wait a second, her day was also feeling just a little wonky too! But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. Today had just been a normal day hanging out with Chris after all. They went to see (and bailed) a movie, spent hours hanging out in the mall and at the game store, and now they were each going back home. Nothing unusual had happened, so why did it feel like something hugely monumental had been going on all day?

"Oi. Earth to Ash, you okay in there?"

A light flick to the center of Ashley's forehead has her blink in surprise, and she finds herself back into the present once again. Chris is standing next to her, carefully balancing the two cones in his right hand and his left ready to flick again if needed, and a bemused smile on his face.

"Oh, uh, sorry Chris. Got a little too into the book I think." She closes the book, not wanting to get melting ice cream all over its crisp white pages (and she really hasn't absorbed a single word for nearly ten minutes now), but Chris doesn't hand her the cone just yet.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that," Chris says as he snorts in disbelief. "I know your 'praise be to books' look, and that was not it. That was your 'head full, too many thoughts' look."

"Excuse me? What? I do not have a reading look! Or a thinking look for that matter!"

"Oh you do. You really, really do. Trust me. You may have been staring at that book but there was no way that you were reading, I would bet my own ice cream here on it." Chris brandishes his double chocolate cone at her, then seems to reconsider and switches to show off her own dipped soft serve that he still has yet to actually let her eat. "Actually, you know what? I would eat your dipped monstrosity if I'm wrong."

Ashley sighs, but she can't keep the smile from her face. "It's not that bad this time, oh my god. It's chocolate ice cream dipped in blueberry syrup. This is actually a normal combination for people who go out of their way to order more exciting cones then two scoops of chocolate." She leans forward and places her elbows on the table to support her head in her hands. "But I wanna see you do it anyway, so tell me exactly why you're so convinced that I wasn't reading."

Chris opens his mouth, but immediately closes it a second later, as though he didn't realize exactly what he had signed himself up for here until now. Ashley of course takes it as a sign of victory. "I knew it. So let's see this Chris, I wanna see you eat something that isn't—"

"When you read you get, like, super attentive." Chris's face is pink, and not looking at her but at the book on the table as he bashfully continues. "You become so drawn in to whatever you're reading that you ignore everything going on around you, because all of your attention is now on that book. Pretty sure a bomb could go off right next to you and you wouldn't even notice sometimes. And it's always so easy to tell what's happening in the book when you're reading too, cause your face is always so expressive. Like your eyes get big when something exciting or surprising happens, and when you're really enjoying whatever it is you're reading, you start giggling like a loon."

Ashley is too stunned and, quite frankly, her heart is beating too fast for her to even think of a proper response to that . She manages to squeak out a quiet little "oh, um" but Chris doesn't notice. Not when he's still babbling and not looking at her at all.

"But when you get deep in thought, you're not like that at all. All of your attention goes inward, and everything around you disappears cause all the important stuff is going on inside your head right now. Your mouth falls open just a little, sort of like you're gaping at all the information in front of you. And-and sometimes you'll mouth out what's going on inside your head as you try to fit the pieces of everything together so it's neat and tidy like a puzzle. And even though you have the, like, blankest stare imaginable, it's not empty at all if that makes any sense. Cause your eyes narrow and your forehead scrunches just the tiniest amount so you have a small little wrinkle form like right here—" with his unoccupied hand Chris points at the bridge of his nose right between his eyes "—and it's weirdly, insanely cute? But when you finally figure out the puzzle in your head, your face lights up like a kid on christmas morning and...and..." He lets his words trail off and stops awkwardly there, as though finally realizing exactly what he's been saying this entire time.

His face is almost beet red now, and Ashley is pretty sure hers is too. "Oh, uh, wow. I-I didn't realize you paid any attention to me when I was like that..."

Somehow his face only gets redder, and though he mumbles the words under his breath, Ashley can still make them out. "I'm always paying attention to you."

But not close enough attention it seems, she thinks sadly. If you did then you would have noticed something way more obvious than that. But she doesn't want to embarrass him anymore than he already is (then she already is), and she isn't sure what else she could possibly say that wouldn't be her blurting out that she likes him, so instead she pretends that she hadn't heard a single thing and wordlessly accepts the ice cream that he hands to her, accepting her defeat as she takes a small bite of the blueberry covered chocolate soft serve.

...The blueberry covered chocolate soft serve that he had bought for her. Or, you know, the ice cream he had paid for himself. Just like he had paid for everything today. Kind of like it was almost a, uh, date. Like he had taken her on a date.

Oh .

"Oh boy, let me guess: I was right and your ice cream really is a crime against taste buds?"

Ashley comes crashing back down to reality to see Chris, his face still a little red but the playful smile back on his face as he teased her. And yet, that only makes it worse as she can't help but feel the usual gymnastics routine the butterflies in her stomach perform at that particular smile, only they're a thousand times worse now that's she's realized exactly why today had felt so strange. And she can't help thinking how much everyone else would classify what was just a day hanging out with her best friend as a date. And how much she really, really wished it was one.

"Nope," she unfortunately squeaks out, and clears her throat so she can continue in a more normal tone of voice. "Nope, sorry to disappoint Chris, but the ice cream tastes fine." She takes another bite for proof (and to her credit she's not lying, it tastes more than fine). "Just, uh, realized something funny that's all." And the moment the words leave her mouth she realizes just how badly she's screwed everything up, because there is no way in any world that Chris Hartley is just going to let that comment lie.

"Funny? Oho, well now I'm interested. You mind sharing your glorious epiphany with the rest of the class Miss Brown?"

Taking another small taste of her ice cream, Ashley averts her gaze as she gives what she is kicking herself for is obviously an extremely forced laugh. "Did I say funny? I meant boring, just super boring actually."

"Well now I just want to hear it more."

"No, you don't. Trust me, you really, really don't."

Chris's brows furrow in concern. "Ash? You okay?"

She isn't, of course she isn't. She's now realized exactly what a date with Chris would be like, and it would be exactly like this. With them going to all the same place and doing the same things but she's allowed to hold his hand and kiss him when he does stupid sweet things like buying her the book she's been eyeing and talking about all day. She's never wanted something to be so true so badly in her life. And it's likely this thought in her mind that causes her to blurt out "A date." before she even realizes what she's said.

That only makes the confusion on Chris's face go deeper, which is appropriate considering she's sinking deeper and deeper into her chair in a futile effort to hide or escape as well. "What? Are you saying that you just remember what date it is today? Or that you had something you were supposed to do today instead? I'm not really following you right now Ash..."

This is perfect. It's the perfect excuse, she could laugh and say that she totally forgot what day it was and that she had an essay due pretty soon, or that she was supposed to babysit for a neighbour tonight. Anything really, the sky was quite literally the limit. And instead she just bit her lip and stared at the ice cream melting in her hand before weakly admitting "No, a, uh, date. As in, the romantic kind. I realized that today probably looks like a date to anyone else. Funny, huh?"

She's not sure how Chris would react to that. Maybe a startled laugh, and hand wave as he brushes her off. A scoff as he assures her that this definitely isn't a date, cause they're just friends and that's all they'll ever be. Whatever the reaction she expected, it was certainly not the fumbling for his ice cream as he nearly drops it in his shock, and how absolutely flustered he sounds as he trips over his own tongue. "W-what? I-I-I, uh—I mean, th-this obviously isn't—Who would even—? Wh-what would even give you the idea that we could um, possibly be on a date?"

Ashley shrugs weakly. "Isn't it obvious Chris?" She ignores his even more flustered babbling that no, he absolutely did not see what was so obvious as she continued on, still too nervous to look him in the eyes. "You've kind of paid for everything today."

"I wha—? I mean, no I haven't!"

"You kind of have, Chris. The theater?"

"You know I always pay for the tickets, and it would have just been really rude to make the line even longer!"

"The art show?"

"It was just a couple of toonies! And you saw the face of the worker there, they would have kicked us right out if they'd had to break a twenty. It was just easier."

"Lunch?"

"They-they'd had a special on for a two-person meal at that stall in the food court, and they wouldn't let each of us pay half..." he neglected to point out that Ashley could have easily paid for their lunch, and probably should have, but before she had been able to offer he'd already been swiping his debit card.

"The arcade?"

"Okay, that was my turn to buy the tokens, you know that. That one doesn't even count."

Ashley lifted her eyes from the ice cream to the book that sat menacingly and innocently all at one at the center of the table, it's pristine cover mocking her. "The book?"

"T-that was just a gift! You seemed really into it at the store and friends buy each other gifts all the time—"

There was no describing how soft and nervous her voice got as she asked the question that would put the final nail in the coffin. "The ice cream?"

"I, uh, it was just—um..." Chris let out a breath in a weak chuckle. "Shit, I guess I kind of did, huh?"

Ashley doesn't say anything, and neither does Chris, as the table goes silent. She's bracing herself  for when Chris inevitably shoots her down and confirms that it doesn't matter. That the two of them will never be anything more then friends and that she never should have hoped for anything more and by revealing this she's ruined their friendship for good—

"Hey, uh, Ash?" He sounds so nervous that it immediately takes Ashley out of her anxiety driven thoughts of doom and gloom, but she can't do anything more than just shakily nod to let him continue. "It's, uh, probably like a really, really, really stupid question but—" he takes a nervous breath "—did you want this to be a date?"

Her head immediately shoots up as she stares at him with wide eyes, her breath caught somewhere in her throat where her heart is currently lodged. She frantically rakes her eyes over Chris's face looking for any hint that he's mocking her, or playing some cruel joke on her and her feelings, but all she sees is just nervousness all over a pale, shaking face with what she thinks ( prays ) is a glimmer of undisguised hope. But it's still too much uncertainty, and she's too scared to risk it all on a mere glimmer that she is likely only imagining because she wants it so badly to be real, so she throws the question back at him instead.

"...would you have been opposed if this was actually a date?"

"Nuh uh, I asked you first."

Ashley realizes that he's just as scared at what the answer might be as she is. She wants to tell him, has wanted to tell him for years and years and years. And maybe this is the chance she's been waiting for her whole life. The two of them sitting at a sticky plastic table under the early evening sun, long forgotten ice cream melting in their hands, and she can finally tell him that she's had such a huge crush on him since she was twelve.

"Yeah." The word is less choked out than it is released. Like it's a breath of fresh air and she feels simultaneously lighter and heavier for it. "I-I think I would have liked that. I would have liked that alot."

Chris snaps his gaze up to meet hers, and the glimmer of hope that she had seen earlier has now nearly taken over his face at the disbelieving smile that's threatening to crack his face in two. "Really? I-I mean, uh, I would have been alright with the idea too. More than alright actually."

She can feel her own smile start to nervously match his, and then the first giggle breaks out. His own ecstatic laughter quickly follows her own until the two of them are both giddily laughing at the table, but too embarrassed and bashful to even look at each other now. The giggling abruptly cuts off when Chris lets out a yelp of surprise when he realizes how much of his ice cream has melted onto his hand and Ashley joins him in trying to finish off their ice cream before it's melted entirely. But there's definitely a change in the atmosphere around them now. The contentness and laid back ease that always formed between them whenever they hung out was still there, but there is a charge that hadn't been there before either. An excited anticipation that only surges higher and higher whenever Ashley shyly glances in Chris's direction to find he's looking at her with the same disbelieving smile beaming on his face.

They never say anything more about it as they both finish off the ice cream, but Ashley knows. With that little agreement, the entire day had changed. This wasn't just them hanging out as friends anymore, this was an actual, factual date now, pure and simple. So when Chris hands her a couple of extra napkins to clean herself off, she may have let her fingers brush against his for just a moment. The resulting blush and dumbstruck smile on his face when he cautiously took his hand back so he could clean up the rest of the mess on the table was oh so worth it. And when he returned from his trip to the garbage can and held out his hand as an offer to help her up from the chair, she accepted it readily.

Once she's back on her feet, the two of them drop their eyes to stare at their still clasped hands, realizing that they could easily hold hands the entire short walk back to Chris's truck if they wanted. And she does want that—horribly in fact—but it seems it's still a little too early for either of them to make that teeny tiny but monumental jump to hand holding so they let go awkwardly and slowly, letting their fingers linger against the others before letting go completely. As though giving themselves a taste of what may yet actually come to pass in the (hopefully) very near future.

The short walk back to the truck is filled with both anticipation and dread alike, but unusually silent. Ashley knows it's because she's now a buzzing ball of nervous energy, terrified that saying anything at all will shatter this dream that's apparently coming true before her eyes, but Chris is different. He looks more like he's trying to work up the courage to say or ask something, and is spending all his energy on that alone. So when he reaches out to open up the passenger side door for her, Ashley can feel her heart pick up speed when he stops with his hand on the door handle and looks at her nervously. His mouth opens and shuts a couple of times as he tries to work up the courage to say whatever it is he wants to say, and all she can do is stare at him expectantly as she struggles to hold back an excited smile.

"Hey, Ash, ca—nevermind. It's, it's stupid. Don't worry about it." A second later, he has the door opened for her and the moment she can't see his face, she lets her smile fall crestfallen. But only for a second before a polite one replaces it as thanks when he closes the door for her and continues to his side of the truck. It's fine, she supposes as she buckles herself in, while the two of them have been hanging out all day, it's only been an actual date now for barely ten minutes. And once he drops her off home in just another few short minutes it's going to be over. The fact that she even managed to get this far is franky mind blowing, so expecting anything more from her dreams would just be extremely selfish. She can't have everything she wants all at once, no matter how long she's been waiting for it.

The drive back to her place is also quiet, filled with only the droning of the radio playing in the background. Ashley's returned back to her book, but she knows that Chris knows that she's not absorbing a single word, hasn't turned a single page even. She keeps glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he nervously taps at the steering wheel, and then tightening his grasp when it looks like he's going to say something, only to return to the nervous tapping when he inevitably backs out at the last second and returns to the frantic pep talk he's likely giving himself. The air that fills the vehicle is heavy and thick with anticipation and it's taking almost everything in Ashley to not start shaking the question out of Chris at every red light they stop at.

But, eventually, they pull up in front of her place and Chris stops the truck. There's a moment where the two of them just sit there, not wanting to leave because leaving means the end, and Ashley schools her face into a cheery smile in an effort to hide as much of the disappointment as she can when she turns to face him and bid him farewell, only to have it fall to confusion when he starts fumbling at his own seatbelt.

"Chris? What are you doing?"

He struggles further at it, frustrated that the buckle's apparently decided that now is the perfect time for it to stick once again. "Trying to get this fucking thing off."

"Yeah, I figured that much. But why are you trying to take it off, you're just gonna leave right away again anyway."

He slows his fumbling as cheeks start darkening in embarrassment. "I, uh, I just thought that was something you were supposed to do after a date, walk them to their door to stay goodnight. I mean, at least I think this is a date now? And, and only if you're okay with it! I can stay in here instead if you don't want me to. I was just hoping..."

The once forced cheery smile on her face is certainly not being forced any longer, if anything she's trying not to show how much the idea of Chris walking her to her door thrills her. "N-no!" Well, so much for trying not to show how desperately she wants that. The startled look he gives her at the unexpected outburst had her trying to control her voice into something less desperate, but considering she doesn't think she's ever going tame the frantic butterflies that have been flapping around non-stop in her stomach ever since the ice cream realization, she's probably doing a terrible job of it. "I-I mean if you want to, it's completely up to you after all..."

"Cool. Cool cool cool. Just, just give me a second." He continues to struggle with his seatbelt buckle, letting out more and more agitated curses escape the longer the thing continues to stick, and Ashley is getting the feeling that if he was able, Chris would have ripped the entire thing straight out of the seat by now. Broken safety laws and ensuing repair costs be damned. The moment he finally manages to unstick the traitorous buckle it's with a cry of victory and relief so exuberant that Ashley finds herself laughing in disbelief and awe that he had wanted to walk her the short ten or so feet to her front door that badly. Thankfully, for both of them, her seatbelt unclicks easily and much more quickly in comparison, only taking another couple of seconds to grab her bag from the footwell and joining him.

The far too short walk up to her door is over before either of them realize it. One second the two of them had been standing awkwardly and nervously by the truck as she fought the urge to reach out and grab his hand, and the next they're standing just as awkwardly and nervously (if not moreso) in front of the front door. Both of them waiting for the other to say or do something to break the tension, but cleanly aware that doing so would signal the very final end of the day, and the date. In fact, just knowing that Chris doesn't want this to end just as badly as her, is what gives her the courage to look at him with a surprisingly heartfelt and soft smile.

"Today was fun."

Chris lifts his eyes from where they had been staring at the dried leaves on the doorstep to match her smile. "Yeah. It was."

"And thanks. For the movie, and everything else." Ashley raises her hand to give the new and still shiny paperback a small wave. "And, you know, the book too. Of course."

"Yeah, it was no problem. Anytime." There's something with how he says the last bit—not really emphasizing it but making it clear all the same that he means 'anytime'—that causes her face to flush giddily as she pulls her lower lip in between her teeth in a weak effort to fight back against the ecstatic smile that forms anyway. And when she sees his eyes lower just a smidge to follow the motion and the way his shoulders stiffen in reaction, Ashley very quickly also finds she's trying (much more successfully) to hold herself  back from just saying 'to hell with it' and throwing her arms around Chris so she can finally kiss him silly and until they're both breathless. But considering that she's too much of a coward to initiate something as innocent as hand holding apparently, there is absolutely no way that something as...as scandalous as kissing him on her doorstep is ever going to happen. Clearly.

And yet, she gives Chris another few seconds to try and work past that blockade in his throat, but when he still can't muster a single word, she decides to just put the both of them out of their misery. Or further into it. It's probably just the same thing really. "I guess I'll see you next time. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She turns away and puts her hand on the doorknob, and tucks the book under her arm so she can dig into her bag for keys, but is stopped when Chris's hand abruptly snakes out and wraps itself firmly around her wrist before she can reach into the bag. And it works—boy does it ever —turning back to him and the hand wrapped around her wrist as excitement just starts to bubble up inside of her.

A second later though, his brain has apparently caught up with the movement he clearly hadn't intended to make, because his face goes beet-red and he's dropped her hand so he can shove both into the pockets of his jeans. He averts his eyes so he's back to staring at the loose gravel and dried leaves under their feet.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine, Chris." Ashley tries to smile softly at him in reassurance, but it's considering she's gripping the doorknob in an almost vice-like grip in anticipation, it's likely far more eager than she would like. "What is it?"

Somehow, his face goes even redder and he blurts out the question so fast that it may as well have been one word. "CanIkissyou?!"

Immediately, Ashley's gaping at him wide-eyed and her mouth open in shock as her heart's beating so fast that she's pretty sure it's ready to burst out of her chest at any moment. "Wha—"

"I-I mean goodnight. Can I kiss you goodnight? That's what people are supposed to do on dates, right? A-a-a-and I think we agreed that this is a date now, or at least I really, really hope we did. Cause I've wanted to go on a date with you for the longest time and-and-and I didn't want Saundra or-or-or any of your neighbours to see cause I know that would just really embarrass you and me but I've been trying to ask you for the past thirty minutes now cause I've wanted to kiss you since forever but I was scared about how you would react cause I really, really, really like you Ash and I just wanna to kiss you so fucking bad right now you have no idea and—"

Ashley would like to believe that she's brave enough to throw her arms around Chris and drag him down into that searing kiss she's been dreaming about forever and ever, but she doesn't. Even with a confession that is everything she's ever wanted to hear and more. That's not to say that she doesn't want to do it—god does she want to do it—but she's so frozen in place from shock that she physically can't. So instead she just continues to gape at him as he (adorably) rambles on and on, and giggles out an elated little "okay".

His nervous rambling stops dead in its tracks, and he finally looks back up at her, nervous relief evident all over his face. "Really? I mean, are you sure? I'd understand if you didn't want to—"

" Chris ."

That immediately shifts the relief to a different kind of nervousness entirely, one of excited disbelief, but even then neither move to actually initiate this promised kiss for several seconds. Instead just staring at each other waiting for the other to be the first to move, Chris with his hands still in his jeans pockets and Ashley glued to the doorknob with her other hand frozen as it hovers over her bag. Finally, Chris is the first to slowly bend down to meet her awkwardly half turned body, and she unsteadily tries to rock herself onto the tips of her toes without losing her balance completely and falling over. And still, they both pause about an inch away from each other's faces, though whether to give the other an out if needed or just to work through the logistics of how to do this exactly without their foreheads or noses smashing into each other or Chris's glasses getting in the way is anyone's guess.

But finally, mainly due to the fact that Ashley can't lean forward anymore without falling completely on her face, Chris closes that final bit of distance and kisses her. It's a nervous brush of the lips really—a quick peck at best —but they jolt back from each other so quickly that the single action may as well have activated some hidden magnetic repel function that neither had been aware of until this moment. Both of them are staring at each other wide-eyed and breathless as the magnitude of what they had both finally managed to accomplish hit them. The kinda-sort confession and the almost hand holding meant absolutely nothing in comparison to this. Those she could have (and would most likely have) brushed off as her reading too much into innocent statements and gestures when she thought over everything that had happened today in the safety of her room later tonight. But this? This was physical proof .

Looking back, Ashley's not sure which of them moved first. One second they had been staring at each other in disbelief, stuck in the same awkward bent and leaning stature from before, and the next it's as if the magnetic attraction between them reverses its flow entirely. Chris is cupping her cheek with one hand as he kisses her in the way she always dreamed he would, his other hand slowly skating across the back of her neck so he can pull her up closer to him. The book that had once been clutched protectively under her arm was completely forgotten about—fallen to the ground with a sharp crunch as it crushed the dried leaves beneath their feet—as her arms wrapped possessively around his shoulders as she props herself as high as the tips her toes will allow her. She can still taste a hint of the chocolate from earlier on his lips, and the small part of her that isn't being blown away by all of this is wondering if he can taste the blueberry and chocolate on hers as well.

She's not sure how long the two of them stood there on her doorstep, kissing for all the world to see, but she does know that they still separate much, much too soon for her liking. Not that they fully separate of course. She may be back on the soles of her feet, but neither of them have removed themselves from the embrace itself. And with the way that Chris is lightly brushing his thumb over her cheekbone as he just stares at her with the same stupidly giddy grin she's got, Ashley would be perfectly fine if they could just stay standing like this forever.

"So..." she starts, and stops to take a moment to giggle when Chris bumps his nose into hers. "I think that was a perfectly acceptable first date if you ask me."

Chris doesn't let go of her when he leans back to consider her, the comically raised eyebrows in shock doing nothing to take away from the absolutely thrilled beam of his smile. " First date? Why Miss Brown, are you perhaps asking me out for a second one already?"

"I mean, if it's not too presumptuous of me, I suppose I am. I-if you're not opposed to it of course." She can't help the way her nervousness starts to bleed through with that last sentence, already panicking that she's somehow completely misread everything that's just happened and that maybe that kiss didn't mean as much to him as it did to her after all.

His next words completely derail those fears entirely. "Of course I'm not, I would love nothing more than to go on a second date with you. Followed by a third and fourth and even a fifth if you have the time for it."

"I mean, I'm a pretty busy girl but I think I can open up as many days in my schedule as it takes if I need to."

Before she knows it, the two of them are leaning in for another kiss when the sound of pot being dropped in the nearby kitchen through the open window jarringly brings them back to reality and the two of them let go of each other red faced and embarrassed. Oh no, how much of this had her mother heard? Or worse, saw? She wants to leave the doorstep (which is rapidly becoming her favourite place in the whole entire world) even less now, but the longer she takes the worse the excited interrogation from Saundra will be so she starts digging back into her bag to try and find her keys once again.

"I'll text you later, okay? And, maybe, we can talk some more about that second date...?"

The reply from Chris is flustered but eager. "Yeah, totally. I-I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Cool. And um, the next one's one me. The date that is. It's only fair after all."

"Yeah, right. Only fair. Totally. And, uh, your book..."

She finally finds her keys from where they had sunk to the bottom of her bag, and looks up at him and the paperback book that had fallen during their, uh, intimate embrace. "Oh! Uh, right. Thanks." She could easily leave it at that, but the last few minutes have made her bold so when she reaches out to take the book back from him, Ashley curls her fingers over his and bounces onto the balls of her feet so she can give him one last kiss on his cheek—almost the corner of his mouth really—before finally stepping back with the book and keys in her hand. "I mean it. Thanks . For everything."

"Yeah. No problem. It was my pleasure."

She lets herself have one last glimpse of the stupefied grin on his face just as he turns to walk just a little unsteadily down the path back to his truck. The only sounds being the leaves crushing underfoot and the jangle of metal as she sticks her keys into the door to finally unlock it. A sound that it quickly interrupted by not only the click of the door unlocking, but a muffled shout.

Alarmed, she turns quickly expecting to see Chris having accidentally shut his coat into the door as he is sometimes known to do when the weather gets colder, but instead watches in elated shock as he continues to keep energetically flapping his arms and fist pumping into the air and screaming what she can vaguely make out as 'yesyesyesyesYESYESYES' over and over again.

Suddenly it hits her. Despite the shy confession over ice cream, and then the much more rushed and rambled one only minutes ago, and followed by the kiss(es) that are still sending her heart into rapid fire, Ashley still hadn't believed what all the evidence had been saying. Chris liked her. He really, really liked her. Possibly as much as she liked him even! This wasn't just a one-off event that would now make things awkward between them for the rest of their lives. This was happening. They'd just had a first(!!!!) date and after Chris had kissed her goodbye, she had asked him out for a second one.

And he had accepted .

Ashley fumbled with the door and the moment she was in the house, slammed the door behind her, not even bothering to lock it. She let her bag fall from her shoulder to the floor with a soft thump and slowly slid down the door until she was sitting against it with her eyes wide and breathless. She ignored the surprised clatter coming from the kitchen as Saundra immediately dropped whatever it was she had been doing in and held up the book so she could stare at the once innocuous cover in amazement.

He had bought her this book and the ice cream because he liked her and he had gladly and excitedly accepted to go out on another date with her. And even more if he had been serious about that third date and beyond line.

And not that either would ever know it, Ashley mirrored Chris at that exact moment by placing her head into her hands and screaming as the built up joy and bliss finally exploded out of her.

[parkersharthook]

Love For All

Peter Stark-Rogers & Stark-Rogers!reader (twins)

warnings: mentions of drinking/being drunk, pretty fluffy

1.8k+ words

series masterlist

a/n: happy pride month (lol I queued this in february just so I didn’t forget to post it) anyways im bi and pls know my page is a safe space for everyone 💗💜💙

Fluffy piece where Tony and Steve are chosen as the grand marshalls for the pride parade and it becomes a family affair.

“this just in, you all officially have the coolest dads in history!” Tony bellowed as he dramatically entered the common space, Steve right behind him with a plethora of eye rolls.

Right as you were about to protest, Bucky chimed in, “neither of you are my father.”

“with the way I’ve saved your sorry ass? Might as well be.”

“saved my sorry ass? Oh Stevie, have you forgotten who pulled your ass out of every back alley fight you got into? Or have the years 1932 to 1941.”

“I did not start a fight in 1932!” Steve argued back, hands placed firmly on his hips.

“bullshit! 5 years old, playground 2 blocks over, Arthur Williams.”

Steve frowned slightly, “damn I forgot about that.”

Beside you Peter snorted, “you got into a fight when you were 5?”

“Wow darling, you came out of the womb with righteous indignation didn’t you?” Tony added with a small smirk as he moved to rest against the back of the couch.

Steve threw his hands up in defeat, “oh haha laugh it up. Yes I’m old, yes I’m stubborn. Can we please just go back to how we’re cool?”

“Wait before that, back to the ‘not my fathers thing’ does this mean you see yourselves as the team fathers? Because if you’re adopting more people, I want in!” Clint said cheerfully.

“Sorry we capped out at four.”

You stuck your tongue out at Clint with a little ‘ha ha’ because you were mature like that. “anyways… why do you think you are the coolest dads? I wanna get my rebuttal in soon.”

Tony bopped the back of your head playfully as he dropped a very rainbow piece of paper into your lap. Peter instantly leaned into your space to read it. You pushed him back with a shove to the forehead. “relax nerd I’m gonna read it out loud.”

“hurry up I’m getting antsy.” You threw an unimpressed look at Clint who had practically crawled into Bucky’s lap to get closer, not that Bucky minded.

“Chill.” You smoothed out the paper and held it up, “All hail the next Grand Marshals of NYC Pride, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. We are happy to formally announce the two superheroes and super husbands as our fearless leaders of the float parade this year.”

“That’s the public announcement they put out, turn it over to read the letter they sent us.”

“Dear Mr. Anthony and Steven Stark-Rogers, we are so excited to welcome you into our NYC Pride Parade family. As this year’s appointed Grand Marshals it is both our duty and pleasure to pass the Pride Baton over to you. Included in this letter you will find the rules and expectations of our Grand Marshals, as well as what is permitted for first floats. We would love if you extended this invitation to your entire circle of family and friends to join you in the parade and on your float.”

You put the paper down and tilted your head back to stare at your dad, “you? Grand Marshal? Really?”

“What’s so shocking about that?”

“umm…. You’re old and not cool.”

Bucky sputtered a laugh beside you as Tony bopped you on the head again.

“Was this your way of telling us to come to pride with you?” Peter asked.

Steve shook his head as he flopped into a nearby loveseat, “actually this was our way of telling you that we need your help coming up with ideas for the float and how to decorate it. But of course we want you to join us on the float, we’ll be inviting the rest of the team as well.”

“I’ll help decorate but Bi-derman is making another appearance this year.”

Tony slapped his forehead, “can you take your old suit at least? The paint was a bitch to get off last time.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “the old suit chafes.”

You grimaced, “I hate this conversation.”

“I think you should do a dog themed float, Lucky can be our mascot.”

Bucky sighed, “of course that’s your suggestion.”

“what about the history of pride? Recognizing the Stonewall Riots and the two black transgender females that started it all. Plus then we can also advocate for Black Lives Matter. Make it clear that to support one, you have to support the other. Educate and entertain.”

Tony smiled, “that’s not a bad idea y/n.”

Steve looked at you with hopeful eyes, “are you willing to help organize and coordinate?”

“can I invite friends to help?”

“yes.”

You smiled, “then yes.”

------

“when I said organize and coordinate, I didn’t mean take over the conference room we use regularly for avengers meetings.” Steve said with a deep sigh

“it’s the only one with a vending machine.” MJ helpfully pointed out, taking another large bite of her pizza slice.

“yeah it was the only way to get Clint to sit through meetings without leaving to get food.” Steve explained as he stepped into the room and took in the large array of papers everywhere. The four teenage girls that occupied the room were all busy with one thing or another, looking intense and determined.

MJ snorted, “figures.” Her hand ghosted over the page again, dragging the pencil with it and creating another addition to her sketch.

Steve’s brow furrowed for a moment and he took a step closer to get a better look, “is that me?”

MJ nodded coolly but offered no other explanation. Betty huffed a laugh, “we’re trying to design both you and Mr. Stark crown-like head pieces.”

“crowns?”

You rolled your eyes, “Pops, you really do only hear what you wanna hear. Crown-like head pieces. I know dad would go for a full ass crown but I knew you wouldn’t and we want you two to match.”

Steve studied the photos of celebrities that were projected on the wall. “and that?”

“The 2018 Met Gala. Theme: heavenly bodies. There were a bunch of great head pieces that night, we’re using it for inspiration.” Gwen supplied, “let us know if there’s any you like.”

“I wanna go in a Cardi B direction.” You stated without taking your eyes off your computer screen, you’ve obviously already committed every possible headpiece to memory.

“don’t taint his selection with bias!” Betty cried

MJ waved her off easily, “there’s no way he knows who Cardi B is.”

“thanks for the confidence MJ.” She just smiled cheekily at him.

“I think he should choose something like what Frances McDormand was wearing.” Gwen stated with a small smile

MJ laughed, “as much as I think that would look amazing, there’s no way he’s picking that.”

“who’s this?”

You barely had to glance at the photo to recognize the red and gold dress and of course the iconic headpiece, “Black Lively.”

“Okay well I like that, it’s simple.”

“what about…” Gwen drawled as she typed something and new photo, a larger one, took over the whole wall, “Something like SZA’s?”

Steve took a step back and grimaced slightly, “it’s kinda… big.”

“But if it were smaller?” Gwen pressed politely

“I suppose.” Steve glanced around at the four girls. “You guys have a lot of stuff planned.”

“Oh yeah.” You looked up with a big grin, meeting your dad’s eye. “It’s gonna be great.”

“You’re not designing us costumes too are you?”

“Well Tony specifically said not too and that he already had something planned.” MJ said before eyeing Steve up and down with the critical eye of an artist, “But we could design something if you wanted us too.”

“No, I kinda of already have a plan too.”

You rose a questioning brow, “oh yeah? Please tell me you’re not going to be wearing something boring.”

Steve rolled his eyes at you and obnoxiously bumped his hip into your side as he walked out, “I’m not clueless on how to dress for Pride. Plus, I like dressing up for it, it’s fun. And it’s not something we got to do back then. I’m planning on taking full advantage.” And with that he walked out dramatically and closed the door.

Betty laughed slightly, “ten bucks that he paints the shield.”

Gwen shook his head, “No way. I think he’s gonna wear one of the flags as a cape.”

MJ clicked her tongue, “I know for a fact he’ll be wearing his ‘trans rights are human rights’ shirt.” Pause. “and probably his rainbow pants.”

You looked at MJ with a perplexed expression, “why do you know about my dad’s rainbow pants?”

MJ smirked slightly, “he wore them to pride a few years ago. Plus, me and peter talk about things. You’re not the only Stark-Rogers twin I hang out with.”

Gwen obnoxiously nudged Betty with her elbow and a large wink, “Oh yeah… she talks to Peter.” MJ scowled at the two as you snickered behind your hand.

MJ grumbled slightly, “let’s just get back to work.” It was silent in the room until the three other girls heard MJ mumble, “I never have to deal with this at college.”

You burst into a fit of laughter.

------

Pride was without a doubt a 100% success.

The float looked great. The area had already been swept for trouble. One Grand Marshal was moderately drunk. And Everyone was dancing and partying. Perfect.

Even the float attendees looked great. Clint was the brightest of the all. With no shirt on, glitter all over his chest, a rainbow tutu around his hips, tight purple booty shorts underneath, knee high socks with the pan pride flag on them, plus his signature purple converse… he looked good.

You’ve been snickering every time you catch Bucky not so subtlety looking Clint up and down. But that being said, Clint was doing the same to Bucky because he had someone managed to get the stoic and whiney super soldier into a rainbow button down. Nothing else, as that wasn’t Bucky’s jam. He paired the shirt with simple jeans but you were sure that he would be covered with glitter later.

Peter had been swinging around the parade, his first Stark suit now painted a vibrant pink, purple, and blue. Plus there was a large, messily painted on heart over where the spider sat in the middle of his chest.

You and all your friends had taken up the dance floor on the float, and if you said so yourself, you all were killing the dance moves.

Tony was more than tipsy because Bruce was on babysitting duty tonight for Morgan, so he let himself go and lean heavily against his husband, who just grinned at him all lovingly.

In the end, it was a good day. You threw beads and candy to the crowd, joining them at times for drinks and dance parties. You laughed endlessly with your friends and your family. And yeah… it was a good day.

Plus, all your friends had been correct.

Steve wore his trans shirt in solidarity with the ongoing movements and the float.

He wore his rainbow pants because they were “super fashionable y/n” and to support everyone.

He painted his shield purple, blue, and pink to show off his own sexuality and support Peter.

And he had a pansexual flag tied around his neck to match with Tony’s pink, yellow, and blue shirt.

He looked great.

[meltwonu]

s n a k e     |     e y e s     [chapter 5]

pairing; snakehybrid!woozi x female!reader

this chapter’s notes; possessive!jihoon, dom!jihoon, marking, choking, restraints, dirty talk, impregnation kink, cream pie w/ minor cumplay ! whew! 🤪🥴🤤 also this snake-hybrid au isn’t following any of the blurbs/drabble game posts that precede it!! I know I did some drabble posts with snake hoonie but this doesn’t follow the same timeline as those otherwise it wouldnt make sense 🤣 kfhkdh also i do be laughin that this gets posted after the svt anniversary video and gose where jihoon was chan and teasing him bc 🥴 anyway! this is a long ass chapter and almost 6k words so strap in for the ride yall! 💕💕💕💕 

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - x - x - x - x - x

“Are you mad?”

“What? No, just… I mean, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

You watch Jihoon from across the table at brunch as he picks at his food quietly. Minghao had texted again asking if lunch was still on for next week and you had asked Jihoon as soon as the two of you sat down to eat.

“If you’re uncomfortable with Minghao and Chan coming, it’s okay. You can tell me, Jihoon.” He sits across from you with a pout on his lips. 

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable I’m just… shy. But it’s okay. Because I… If they’re your friends then they must be nice, right? I’m just shy around new people.”

“Okay, but like, if things feel off… Just let me know?” Jihoon nods, taking a bite of his food. It falls into a comfortable silence while the two of you eat; enjoying each other’s company after last night. The memories flood your headspace in an instant. Right, you needed to talk to Jihoon about that.

“Hey, Jihoon?”

“Hmm?”

“About last night…”

“Oh. Right. Did you hate it? I can stop if you don’t like it. It doesn’t make sense if we don’t benefit from it.” A flush covers your skin almost immediately as you place your fork down on your plate.

“I didn’t hate it… But I’m just curious… If--I mean, I don’t want you to think this is just a physical thing, I guess?” This time it’s Jihoon’s turn to blush as he meets your shy stare.

“I… I mean we’re still getting to know each other, right? And I like you. You’re nice and you care about me. We can just… think of it as the physical part of getting to know each other.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, thinking about his words. You clearly like liked Jihoon too and you didn’t want to take things too far too fast. But you also knew that he was aware of the sexual tension floating around the air now and the two of you couldn’t really go back to ‘normal’ after last night.

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I just don’t want to… go too fast, y’know? You’ve only been here a few weeks...”

“That’s true. But also in fairness, this is the longest I’ve been away from the adoption center so it seems to be going well if you ask me.”

Damn. He was right and you hadn’t even realized it. Jihoon had already been with you for over a month and you hadn’t even noticed the time passing. You feel your heart swelling at the thought.

“Huh. You’re right. I guess we really do work well together, huh?”

“Ah, ngh, Ji--Jihoon w--wait, my phone’s ringing!” 

Jihoon’s grip on your thighs tighten, his blonde hair peeking from between your legs. Your hands brace yourself on the table where you calmly had brunch just 3 hours ago. Jihoon had clearly still been hungry.

“You can answer it?” He immediately laps at your clit after his comment, fingertips curling inside your pussy as your eyes roll to the back of your head. “I--I ca--can’t!” He smiles against you before applying pressure to the nub with his tongue. “Uh-kay them, dom’t?” Jihoon’s voice is muffled against your skin, a whimper escaping your lips at Jihoon’s unhelpfulness.

“Ji--Jihoon you’re so m-mean!” You whine.

You watch Minghao’s name disappear from your phone screen next to you on the table, a moan on your lips when Jihoon’s fingers curve up into your g-spot. “Oh, f-fuck, right t-there!” You tangle one of your hands in his hair, tugging him closer as you grind yourself against his tongue and fingers.

Minghao [3:14PM]: I tried calling but you’re probably busy?

Minghao [3:14PM]: Chan and I are free on Wednesday, lmk if it works for you.

You can barely catch the words on your phone screen before Jihoon sucks your clit into his mouth.

“Ugh, fuck, Jihoon I’m--” Your eyes snap shut almost immediately; thighs clamping shut around Jihoon’s head as you cum hard. He scissors his fingers inside of you, tongue still lapping at your clit until you start to come down from your high.

Your limbs feel boneless once your orgasm fades off, shaky legs unclamping as Jihoon slides his fingers from your pussy straight to his mouth. Letting your legs down as you sit up to catch your breath, you watch him still on his knees in front of you as he cleans your wetness from his fingertips.

“God, Ji. That was Minghao!” Jihoon pops his fingers from his mouth, getting up from his kneeling position.

“What did he want?”

“They’ll be over Wednesday so we have some work to do!”

“Okay but can we cuddle first? We can figure out the rest later.”

Over the next couple of days leading up, you and Jihoon take the time to clean up the apartment and buy some ingredients for lunch. And since Chan was a bunny hybrid, he was strictly vegetarian which meant you and Jihoon had tried to cook a few recipes to decide what was best.

“Are they gonna come soon?” Jihoon munches on a stray piece of carrot, watching as you finish up in the kitchen. “Mmhmm, but knowing Minghao they might be a little late.”

You and Minghao had agreed on 12:00PM and it was currently 12:04PM; If you were lucky he’d be here by 12:45PM at the earliest. Jihoon helps you tidy up the kitchen once you’re finished, flopping onto the sofa once he’s done. And he won’t admit it but he’s nervous; eyes fixated on the ceiling as he twiddles his thumbs and sighs.

“You okay, Ji?”

“Mm? Yeah… Haven’t really met another hybrid since Mingyu and Seokmin so s’kinda weird. I’m okay though.” You start to make your way to the sofa but the doorbell rings just as you reach Jihoon. You shoot him an encouraging smile, running your fingers through his hair really quick before turning and making your way to the door.

When you swing it open, you're met with Minghao’s cheery face and Chan inquisitive one. In actuality, you’d only ever seen Chan in photos and you can’t help but immediately gush at how cute he is; completely ignoring Minghao’s presence once you take note of Chan’s cute bunny ears atop his head.

“Oh my god, you are just… So cute!”

You refrain from touching the cute caramel coloured bunny ears, noticing they match the colour of his hair.

“Come in! Jihoon’s in the living room!” Chan flashes you a sweet smile as Minghao raises an eyebrow at you. “You didn’t even say ‘hi’ to me. Rude!” You laugh at Minghao’s comment, giving them enough space to enter your apartment.

“Sorry, I’ve just never met Chan before. He’s cuter in person so I was distracted!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just tell me you’re tired of me, you don’t have to lie!”

“‘Hao! You know you’re my best friend but Chan’s… cuter. I’m sorry.” Minghao feigns hurt, wiping invisible tears as they stand in your hallway.

Now that you think of it, you weren’t sure how Chan and Jihoon were going to get along, if at all. It’d slipped your mind but technically Jihoon was a predator animal hybrid and Chan was a prey animal hybrid. Your mind blanks at the sudden epiphany as you gulp.

“Um, shall we move to the living room?” The two nod, waiting for you to lead the way. Taking a deep breath, you lead them to the living room; eyes meeting Jihoon’s as he sits up on the sofa.

“Jihoon, I want you to meet my friend Minghao and his hybrid, Chan!” You try to put on a cheery smile but you can already sense that Jihoon’s kind of on edge.

When you’d spoken to Seungcheol about him back at the adoption home, he had said that Jihoon typically got along well with every hybrid at the home so far and that the snake hybrid hadn’t gotten into any fights or threatened any of the other hybrids there. You really had no reason to be that concerned, and plus, Jihoon had already told you he was just shy more often than not.

“Hi, I’m Jihoon. Um… I’m a snake hybrid.” You can see the flush on his face, watching as he licks his lips. It was a nervous habit that you noticed he had. And for a second you worry about if Chan’s also going to be nervous about the snake hybrid but he shoots the shorter male a beaming smile.

“Hi! I’m Chan! I’m a bunny hybrid and I like to sing! And I like to dance, too!” Chan moves forward to shake Jihoon’s hand, backing off slightly when he sees the snake hybrid flinch. “Oh, sorry. Do you not like handshakes?”

“Huh? Oh, no I--I was just surprised that’s all.” Jihoon reaches a hand out instead, a tiny smile on his lips when Chan shakes it. “Oh, whoa, your hands are cold!” Minghao scolds him slightly, giving him a warning look as Chan sheepishly scratches his head. “Sorry, hyung always gets mad at me because sometimes I talk first and don’t think.” Jihoon laughs at this and you feel your heart soaring out of your chest. Thank god!

“It’s okay, I know someone else who’s just like that and he’s a big puppy hybrid named Mingyu.”

You and Minghao fondly watch the two interact, glad that they’d gotten along well despite their differences.

“Okay guys, shall we have lunch?”

Over the course of lunch, Jihoon and Chan talk animatedly about music as you and Minghao delve into your own conversations about work, letting the two hybrids bond. Jihoon calls your name after a while, grabbing your attention.

“Chan and I are done with lunch and I was wondering if it was okay to bring my keyboard out? We were gonna do some music stuff.” Chan looks at you with pleading eyes, lips jutting out in hopes of swaying you.

“Yeah, of course! You didn’t need to ask permission for that.” They smile at you in return, Jihoon getting up to retrieve his keyboard from his work room. “I’ll be right back.”

The three of you watch Jihoon leave the dining area, watching as he disappears into the hallway.

“Jihoon is really nice, Minghao-hyung!” The smile on Chan’s face is sincere, eyes curving into crescents.

“You’re more than welcome to come over anytime you want, Chan! Ji could use the company other than myself sometimes, I think.” You laugh at your own comment, leaning over to pat his head. He leans into your touch, sighing dreamily when you start to itch behind his ears.

“That feels really nice…” You internally scream, face red as a tomato when Chan starts scenting your hand. He rubs his face against your palm, resting his cheek against it. Uh oh, Jihoon’s not gonna like that.

Sure enough, Jihoon round the corner, eyes fixated on the way Chan’s head is on your palm.

“Um…” Minghao’s eyes travel from Chan to Jihoon as he bites his nail; knowing exactly what the snake hybrid is thinking without even saying anything. “Hey, Chan?”

“Mmh?” Minghao clears his voice in a warning manner, Chan’s eyes fluttering open.

“I think Jihoon would like to go do music stuff in the living room now.”

“Oh… okay!”

In an instant, Chan gets up like nothing happened and walks up to Jihoon. “Okay! Let’s get it!” Jihoon on the other hand quietly nods, gesturing to the bunny hybrid to follow him to where he likes to set up by the window. You shoot Minghao a look as you share a sigh. “Shall we clean up?” He nods at you, getting up from his seat as he starts to collect the utensils. And once the two are properly distracted, the two of you move into the kitchen where you start on the dishes.

“I’m really sorry about Chan. He’s normally really up on skinship, I just, I didn’t think--”

“Shh, it’s okay! I don’t think… Jihoon’s mad. Just might be weird to see me around other hybrids since he’s used to it just being me and him.”

The two of you talk in whispers, not wanting the two to hear your conversation about them.

“Trust me, Jihoon is really about skinship too. I know he doesn’t seem like it, but he’s just as bad. Don’t be sorry about Chan.”

Once the two of you finish up cleaning, you make your way to the living room as well. The two hybrids sit in the sun by the window; Jihoon’s music notes out while Chan tries to sing along to one of his melodies.

You decide to sit closer, wanting to be a part of their music session as Minghao grabs a film camera from his bag. “Might as well, Chan likes keeping the photos in his scrapbook.”

“Oh yeah! I put pictures of me and all my friends in it. All the pictures are from hyung, obviously. Now I can add you and Jihoon-hyung to it!”

The four of you sit on the floor in somewhat of a circle, Minghao and Chan next to you as Jihoon sits in front of you. Chan glances at you once before he shifts closer to you.

“Can you pet me again?”

You blush for a moment, but he inches closer again and you feel sort of bad. “He never pets me when he’s “working”...” Chan draws air quotes around the word, a pout on his lips as he looks at Minghao.

“How can I pet you if I’m taking photos? Do I look like I have more than two hands?”

Sighing, you raise your palm, placing it on one of Chan’s fluffy ears as he leans into your touch. You’d have to deal with the repercussions with Jihoon later; you’d just hope he understood.

Chan decides to lay down on the floor, using your thigh as a pillow as he listens to Jihoon play the piano. The snake hybrid plays a familiar song as Chan sings along, voice stable even when he’s laying down. You check Jihoon’s face for any signs he’s mad but he seems to be okay for the most part, albeit a little quieter than usual. He still makes an effort to speak to Chan and engage in conversation, praising his singing voice as Chan blushes.

You play with the soft fur of Chan’s bunny ears, admiring them as you coo.

“Your ears are just so soft! And so cute!” He nuzzles into your leg, scenting you again as Jihoon seems to flinch. “Thanks~ It feels nice when people pet them!”

He stays like that for a while longer, only getting up when he starts to feel sleepy. “Hyung, m’sleepy now…” Minghao sets his camera down, running a hand through his own hair. “Did you want to head back then? We can just come over another day.” Chan nods, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “I’d like that. Jihoon-hyung is cool and I wanna come see him again!”

Jihoon blushes at the comment, accidentally pressing down the wrong key as he sputters. “Y-yeah, I had f-fun too…”

The four of you get up from the floor, stretching and gathering your belongings. “I’ll show you guys to the door?” Minghao and Chan nod, and to your surprise, Jihoon follows behind as you begin to walk to the doorway. “It was really nice having you guys over! And Chan, you’re always welcome here too. Maybe we can call up ‘Cheol and have him bring Mingyu along as well!” Chan talks animatedly about how much he’d like that, already asking when they could set up a date.

“Alright, slow down, bud. We gotta figure out when ‘Cheol’s got time and we still got work, y’know?”

“Yes, hyung…”

You side hug Minghao, only for Chan to launch himself at you right after. He nuzzles into your neck as he squeezes you tight. “Thank you for having us over today!”

When he lets go of you, he immediately looks to Jihoon, shooting him a smile and waving before running out the door.

“I’m really really sorry about him.”

“It’s okay, get going before he bounces off somewhere. I’ll talk to you later, ‘Hao.”

You shut the door once they leave, breathing a sigh of relief when you turn around.

Jihoon doesn’t visibly look upset, but you can see a glint in his eyes that tells you he’s thinking about it.

“Hey, Ji--”

“Mm, I’m gonna work on some music back in my work room. I got some ideas and I wanna hash them out before I lose the inspiration.” You nod, watching him as he grabs his keyboard from the living room and starts down the hallway.

“I dunno when I’ll be done but if you start on dinner, just call me.”

You leave Jihoon to his work, tidying up around the house before you plop down onto the sofa to watch some TV. You’d figured that Jihoon probably just needed some time to himself to cool off, just in case he really was mad. But at the same time, you were really proud of the snake hybrid for being so civil and kind to Chan despite Chan’s need for skinship.

Not even realizing you fell asleep at some point, you sit up on the sofa groggily. The sky is already dark outside of the windows so you’d fallen asleep for quite a white, shutting off the TV as you stretch. Turning towards the hallway, you wonder what Jihoon is even up to; if he’s even still working on his music.

Getting up from the sofa, you stretch, already walking down the hallway to Jihoon’s workroom. You don’t hear any music and you don’t hear his voice at all but you knock, calling Jihoon’s name softly.

He opens the door gently after a minute or so, sleepy eyes meeting yours. “Oh, did you end up taking a nap too?” You can hear the sleep laced in his voice, reaching up to thread your hand into his blonde locks.

“Yeah, I fell asleep on the sofa. Guess we were more tired than expected, huh? I’m gonna start on dinner, if you wanna come keep me company or something.” He nods, letting you know he’ll be out in a few minutes.

You walk to the kitchen, already grabbing the necessary items to start on dinner. Jihoon joins you a few minutes later, walking up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

“You smell like him, y’kno?” Jihoon’s voice is soft but gravelly next to your ear. There’s a certain edge to his voice that has you shuddering against his form. “Do you want to know something?”

“H-Huh?”

“They say that some snakes can smell the fear in their prey. Do you believe it?”

“I--I don’t know?” There’s a soft but warning chuckle by your ear, Jihoon’s arms tightening around your body as he presses harder into you. “I don’t know if I believe it either. But wouldn’t it be an advantage? To know your prey is… submissive.” You can’t even tell what your hands are doing anymore when Jihoon takes the moment to lick the shell of your ear. His lips travel down, nipping the skin of your neck as you let out a shaky breath. You can feel the wetness pooling between your thighs as he continues his path, digging his teeth into the junction of your neck before he sucks the skin into his mouth to soothe it. His hands begin traveling up your torso, cupping your breasts in his palms before harshly squeezing.

“Ji--Jihoon the--the dinner…”

“I think I want to eat something else right now. What do you say?”

You moan in response, grinding back against his hardening cock. “O--okay…”

“Meet me in the bedroom in 5 minutes.”

You release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding when Jihoon steps back and starts walking towards the bedroom. Okay, maybe he was a tiny bit mad, if not territorial. You wash your hands, forgetting about dinner as you stand in the kitchen thinking about how potentially dominating Jihoon could be. The thoughts alone are enough to have you moaning out loud as you rub your thighs together. You don’t really know why Jihoon has you waiting but you obey his word, giving him a few minutes before heading down the hallway to your bedroom.

Not really knowing what to expect, you open the door to find Jihoon by the foot of the bed, 3 of your panties already torn and on top of the bedsheets. “Sorry, I didn’t really know what to use for restraints so I had to make some. Hope you don’t mind.” You feel a tingly sensation running all over your body; all the way down to the tips of your fingers.

“Um--Uh, no..”

“Good. I figured we could do a little learning exercise. What do you think?”

“I--Sure?” There’s no denying how wet you are just from the energy Jihoon was exuding. “I--I don’t know what to do…”

“I want you to strip and get on the bed for me. And lay back against the pillows.”

You nod, stripping your clothes off slow and quietly before getting on the bed. Jihoon follows suit, stripping himself bare before he joins you, spreading your legs and slotting himself in between. He scoffs slightly when he notices your wet folds. “You know, snakes aren’t typically known for being territorial. But when they feel threatened, they’re more likely to attack.”

Jihoon leans in, his chest meeting yours as he ghosts his lips above your own. “Chan’s a sweet kid. Such a shame he’s so blind with his actions.” You can’t help but gulp and hold your breath, shaky eyes watching Jihoon as he leans towards your neck instead. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page as he is, I guess I should let him know who really belongs to who, hmm?” He chuckles against your skin, leaving love bites blooming in his path. “Ngh, Jihoon…”

Placing your hands on his forearms, he stops and pulls away. “Oh, right. Let’s try these.” He pulls away to grab the torn material on the bed next to you. “I’m sure Seungcheol-hyung’s already told you specifically I’m a ball python hybrid right? And you must know that constrictor types like to, well, constrict their prey.” There’s a glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips when he drags the torn fabric up your naked torso. It tickles your skin, a whimper escaping your lips when the soft material ghosts across your nipples.

“But before we get started, I need to know a safe word from you.”

“Um, uh… l--lightning?”

“Interesting choice, but okay. Arms up and towards the headboard.”

He takes his time tying your wrists above you, admiring his work once he deems it’s tight enough and you’re comfortable. “In theory, I’d love for you to touch me but this is a learning experience on predators and prey. You understand, don’t you?”

“Y-yes…”

Jihoon smiles at you, hands gripping your thighs hard. “You smell so good. You’re so fuckin’ wet I can smell just how bad you want me to slide my cock right into that pussy. But you know what else? I can still smell that bunny hybrid on your skin.” You moan at his rough touch, squirming when he presses the shaft of his cock against your wet folds. “I can stand it when you come home smelling like other people because of work, but not this.”

He leans into you again, lips ghosting against your sternum. “I’m just gonna have to get rid of it myself then, huh?” Licking his lips, his tongue peeks from between them, already lapping at your skin. His tongue drags across your torso, flicking at a nipple before he wraps his mouth around it. You arch your back, leaning into his touch. He repeats this on the other side, laughing softly against your skin when he feels you rolling your hips against his. “Already so desperate for my cock? C’mon now, baby.”

The way Jihoon calls you ‘baby’ has your entire body flaring up, the breath getting knocked out of you almost immediately. “I have to mark you up all nice and pretty for your friends to see.”

What you learn in the next 15 minutes is that Jihoon can be mean.

He takes the time to nip at your skin, biting and sucking at it to leave blooming red marks all over your torso and neck. Jihoon takes it even further by skimming across your lower abdomen, sucking love bites onto your hips and even on your thighs. You sob, tugging at the restraints above you as you beg him to do something more.

“I am doing something. I’m marking you.”

“B--But I want… mo--more…”

“Oh? Do predators usually pamper their prey before consuming or attacking them?”

The goosebumps rise on your skin at his comment as you quickly shut your mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

He slots himself back between your legs, wrapping them around his waist.

Jihoon runs his fingers through your folds, watching you squirm as he collects the wetness on his fingertips before inserting two fingers into your pussy. “Fuck, you’re so wet, my fingers slid right in.” You sob, eyes wet with unshed tears. The urge to cum is already so strong and Jihoon had barely started. He thrusts his fingers hard and fast, curving them inside of you to hit your g-spot. You can’t help but tighten around his digits, crying out when he adds a third.

You feel impossibly full when he fingers you and you can barely wait until it’s his cock instead. He was definitely much bigger than his fingers and you were slightly worried he was almost too big for you to handle. But he works you open, thumb on your clit while he thrusts his fingers in knuckle deep.

There’s no word of warning before you’re cumming all over his fingers, wrecked sobs the only thing you can manage while he continues to rub at your clit.

“Ji--Jihoon, fuck, I--”

“Mmh, your body is so fucking warm. Your pussy is so wet and hot around my fingers. I need to fuck you now.”

Whimpering, you watch through teary eyes as he brings his fingers to his cock, spreading the precum and your wetness all over the head and shaft of it before positioning himself at your entrance. Your body is still sensitive and your orgasm is still ebbing away when Jihoon starts to push in. 

There’s a slight sting when he does; he was definitely much bigger and wider than his fingers. And without even saying anything, Jihoon caresses your skin, quietly praising you for being so good for him.

“Jihoon, ngh, fu--fuck, your cock feels so good and so big…”

He smiles at the praise, watching as his cock disappears into your pussy. There’s an incoherent babble on your lips when he finally bottoms out; the head of his cock snug against your cervix. “Fuc--Fuck! Please fuck me, please fuck me, please fuck me!”

Jihoon can also be nice.

He starts a slow pace, letting you get used to his size. “Your pussy is so tight and warm around my cock. Fuck, I could stay here forever.” His grip on your thighs tighten, grinding himself into you between thrusts. You can feel yourself start to drool a little at the feeling. If you felt full with his fingers inside of you, this was a completely different high all together. “Yes, yes, yes, fuck! Your cock is so good, I--I can’t…!”

“Yeah? Gonna let me fuck this pussy whenever I want?”

“Yes, god…!”

The sound of your moans and skin slapping are all that can be heard in the bedroom. Jihoon starts a quicker pace, leaning down until he’s nosing at your neck again. He licks at your skin, sucking on the love bites he’d already left and leaving new ones right next to them. You can feel his nails digging into the skin of your thighs, a shaky moan leaving you when you feel him raking them down your skin.

In all honesty, Jihoon never really struck you as someone that’d be into marking. But by now, you realize that it just takes a certain situation for him to really want to.

“Fuck, baby, I hope you’re c-close. I wanna cum in this tight ‘lil pussy.”

“Ngh, pl--please cum in--inside of me… I want your cum…”

He laughs against your skin, pulling away immediately after. “Oh? You want me to cum in your hot ‘lil cunt? Get you nice and full with it? Fuck… fuck! You want me to breed you, don’t you? I’ll fuck my cum into your hot ‘lil pussy and get you nice and pregnant with my babies. Bet you’d love, wouldn’t you? I’ll fill you up with my cum everytime we fuck. Everyone will know you belong to me when they smell you, when they can smell my cum trickling down your thighs. And then I’ll fuck my cum back into you and keep it inside of you ‘til you can’t take anymore of it.”

You could almost die at Jihoon’s words, clenching around his cock impossibly hard. “Yes, g-god, yes please! I want it! I want y-your cum inside of me, please!” You tug on the restraints again, just wanting to touch Jihoon as well. One of his delicate hands travels up your torso, wrapping itself around the column of your neck before pressing down on the sides slightly.

“You’re so filthy. You want me to breed you so bad, don’t you? I can feel you getting so tight around my cock.”

The lightheadedness makes you feel fuzzy, soft moans spilling from you as your eyes flutter shut.

“I want you to cum on my cock, get it nice and wet for me before I cum inside your pussy, baby.”

Jihoon grinds against you, letting the head of his cock push up against your cervix. The feeling is almost too much combined with his hand around your throat and he can see the look on your face that you’re about to cum, thrusting into you hard and fast as you sob; his hand around your throat loosening when he feels your body go rigid.

Your breath stutters and you momentarily black out when you cum, body seizing up at the intensity of your orgasm. Jihoon thumbs your clit as you cry. He continues to thrust into you, groaning at the feeling of your walls throbbing around his cock. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum!”

He grinds against you, muttering incoherent curses under his breath the entire time.

Your head feels fuzzy but you can feel his warm cum inside of you and you can’t tell if it's a hybrid thing or just a Jihoon thing but there is a lot of it. He stays still while the two of you catch your breaths, his cum already trickling down the slides of his cock that’s still sheathed inside of you.

“J-Jihoon my… my arms p-please…” He nods tiredly after a moment, undoing the restraints and checking your wrists for any marks. The skin is red and irritated where you were tugging against them but you seem fine otherwise.

“The redness should go down in a bit.”

He kisses your wrists gently, massaging your tired arms as he brings them to your sides. And as much as he doesn’t want to, he pulls out, watching as globs of cum pour out of your hole.

“Damn, what a waste.” You tiredly laugh at him, bringing a hand up to wipe at your tear-streaked face. “Push my cum out, baby.” There’s a slight blush on your cheeks at his request, but you oblige, the warm substance dripping down onto the sheets underneath you. Jihoon watches it as it drips down, bringing a hand towards it as he scoops it up on his fingertips and presses it back into your pussy.

“Ugh, Jiho--oon~ I c-can’t anymore…”

“Sorry, must be a… hybrid thing maybe.”

“Is the amount of cum also a hybrid thing or?”

Jihoon laughs, sliding off the bed to get a clean cloth. “Dunno. Think that’s just me. I haven’t… been with anyone for a long time so… I mean, I dunno to be honest.” 

 “Oh…”

“Yeah, I dunno! Anyway, should we get cleaned up? I think the bedsheets need to… um, go.”

This time you’re so tired you can’t even begin to sit up in bed. “Ji… do you think you can carry me? I don’t think I can feel my legs.” He nods. “Oh, let me run the bath first so it can warm up.” 

You let him, watching as he disappears into the bathroom. To the best of your ability, you sit up, another gush of cum spilling out of you when you do. 

“Ugh, Ji, if you’re gonna cum this much all the time what are we gonna do about the sheets?”

He licks his lips when he walks back into the bed to come get you, scooping you up into his arms as he brings you to the bathroom with a smirk on his face. 

“I mean, we can fuck, get the sheets dirty and then fuck in the laundry room? Or fuck in the bath like I fully intend to do right now.” 

“Oh my god.” 

[kaimelia]

Haircut

a/n: okay here’s something I wrote really quickly so uh yeah. anyway, I might not be posting for a little bit-something really weird happened today and now I have to go to a bunch of doctors and stuff and I have no idea what's happening but anyway enjoy this! also, me posting 2x today? what?

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

"Link?" She waited for a moment, hearing the all too familiar sound of her boyfriend clamoring up the stairs. He appeared in the doorway, his eyebrows raised at her.

"Yes?"

"Can you cut my hair?"

Amelia held up a pair of metal scissors. "It's getting long. And, I'm pretty sure we're not getting out of quarantine any time soon, which means no hairdressers." He stepped towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders. She turned to face the mirror. "Just a few inches. So it's above my shoulders."

"Why?"

"I miss my short hair. And, I need a change," she muttered, mimicking cutting motions with her brown hair between her fingers. "Short hair reminds me of when we met."

"We met when we both had long hair. We got together when we both had short hair," Link clarified, picking up a strand of her hair.

"Yeah, that." The scissors made a loud clanking sound as she placed them onto the sink counter. "Anyway. Will you do it?"

"You seriously trust me to cut your hair?" Her hair bounced as she nodded confidently, grinning at him in the reflection of the mirror.

"I think you're pretty good with your hands." He raised his eyebrows in amusement. Amelia's mouth dropped once she realized what he was thinking, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. "No! Not like that, I meant that because you're a surgeon." She turned around, playfully slapping her hand against his chest. "God, no! No dirty talk. There are kids in this house!"

"That has not stopped you before." Amelia laid her head onto his chest while giggling, hiding the blush that had crept onto her cheeks. She pulled her head back a minute later. "But, if you actually want me to do it, I will." She beamed up at him, grabbing the scissors and quickly leaving the bathroom.

"C'mon! Let's go outside; we can do it now!"

"Right now?" She nodded.

"Yup. It's time for a change." The orthopedic surgeon shook his head in amusement as he followed her out of the bathroom, muttering some sarcastic comment about her running with scissors in hand. He grabbed a towel from the downstairs bathroom, heading outside to see her settling into a chair on the patio.

"Okay, this is your last chance to back out," Link teased, wrapping the towel around her shoulders.

"Nope, we're doing this." She opened the camera app on her phone, snapping a picture of them. "I need before and after pictures."

"You're ridiculous," he muttered. He took the scissors from her.

"Don't mess it up."

"You seemed so confident earlier; what happened?" Amelia turned to him, sticking her tongue out. "You're gonna have to sit still if you want it to look decent." She crossed her arms while turning back around. Her eyes closed as the metal clasping of the scissors sounded.

"Did you really do it?"

"Yes, was this some sort of test that I just failed?" She looked back to see a few inches of her hair between his fingers, her mouth wide.

"No, I just didn't think you would actually do it." A smile played on her lips when she heard the metal snip again. A few minutes passed in silence, various comments sounding from the nieces and nephew, until Link walked around the chair, holding the last chunk of hair he had cut off.

"All done," he stated proudly, taking his girlfriend's phone. He filmed a quick video before handing it back to her and watching it with her.

"It actually looks good!" He pouted at her.

"What, you didn't think I'd be able to do it? You did say I was good with my hands, after all," he said quietly, looking off at Ellis and Bailey playing further in the backyard.

"No, I just, there's an expectation for home haircuts. But, this? You should quit surgery and become a hairdresser." Their eyes all darted to the side of the yard as they heard the latch of the gate opening. Maggie and Winston stared at the couple in amusement.

"What happened here?" Maggie asked, walking over to her sister. She picked up one of the woman's now short locks of hair. "Did you cut her hair?" she asked Link.

"Yup, he did. And he did an absurdly good job." Amelia grinned at Maggie. "Doesn't it look good?"

"It looks impulsive," she mocked. "But, it does look good. Reminds me of when you two got together."

"That's what I was thinking!" Amelia practically shouted, standing up from the chair. She glanced down at the cut-off pieces of hair on the ground. "It looks like a lot."

"What prompted this haircut?" Winston asked as he walked towards them.

"I feel like with this whole pandemic; we've been stuck. I mean, it's been almost six months since we went into quarantine and nothing changes. I needed a change." The man shrugged in understanding, leaning back against the picnic table. Although he had only recently entered their family scene a few months ago, Amelia was pleased with how well Winston and Link got along, finally able to live out her dream of her and her sister's boyfriends being best friends. "Plus, short hair makes me happy." She ran her fingers through it. "And now all the kids can have haircuts because this guy is secretly a hairdresser," she poked Link's chest.

"Do you need me to take after photos?" Amelia nodded eagerly and handed her phone to him. "There we go." She turned back to Maggie and Winston.

"Wait, what are you guys doing here?"

"We figured we'd take the kids to the park. Give you two a few hours off," Maggie suggested, walking over to where Ellis and Bailey were playing. Link stood behind his girlfriend.

"I can show you just how much I like the haircut," he whispered into her ears, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. She grinned.

"No dirty talk," she whispered back, "there are kids here."

"There won't be soon."

[alloftheimaginesblog]

You’re Never Helping Again (Indiana Jones x Plus Size History Professor Reader)

Plot: A follow up to ‘Let Me Help’ in which it's made apparently clear that Indy definitely overestimated his ability to teach the gendered nuances of Victorian Medical practice or something. All your students demand that you never let him teach one of their lessons again, He pretends that it went effortlessly and was the best lesson he's ever taught.

Character: Indiana Jones x Plus Size History Professor Reader

Requested by @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​

PART TWO OF ‘Let Me Help’ 

Part of my Secret’s Out Saga (Plus Size History Professor Reader x Indiana Jones) series and part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series!

For once in your life, you listened to Indy and you did exactly what he instructed you too. You never liked following rules, especially when it came to men and boyfriend’s rules but you knew that he was right. You were running yourself into the ground and you needed to let yourself up for air, even if it was a few hours of self care.

You’d been in Indy’s apartment many times before, you stayed over multiple times during the week, but you’d never been here alone. You’d never let yourself in with a key before, you’d never kicked off your shoes and hung up your jacket as though it were your apartment; you’d never even made yourself anything to eat here before, Indy always took care of that! It felt strange, extremely odd, that you were here in his apartment without him. It almost felt... exciting? He had said he was meaning to give you a key soon anyway... was this what it was like? A proper, long-term adult, serious relationship? You smiled to yourself as you explored his apartment, wanting to soak up everything whilst he wasn’t here. You’d never really had this before - never had anything this serious before. Men just never treated you the way he did. Men around here just weren’t... they weren’t like Indiana.

His living room was organised chaos. There was mess, like coffee cups lying on the table and on his desk and his jacket and shoes in a pile the end of the sofa, but the rest of it was organised chaos. Piles of papers stacked high and low, messy but organised. He had piles of essays to grade, dissertations to grade, books stacked, piles for his newest research papers; it was organised but it was chaos. His living room was exactly how you’d imagine it to be; brown and leather - that academia look. He had trophies and certificates on shelves, you smiled as you read over them, he was still young but my god, he had accomplished so much. He had replicas of artefacts on the walls and on the remaining shelves but as you looked, some of them looked a little too old and a little too perfect that you were sure it was the real thing. He never failed to surprise you.

You made your way to his bedroom, now this was your favourite part of his apartment. It was simple, not a lot in his bedroom. Four post brown wooden bed, messy bed (he was never one to make the bed in the mornings), wooden drawers and wardrobe. It was very basic but it was the little details that you loved. He had drapes around the bed, that usually remained tied up they were more for decoration, but he had told you the story of how he came to be in possession of them. When you glanced at them they just looked plain white with some dark embroidery but when you looked up close, you realised that it was writing all around the bottom of them. He’d told you that he’d been in India years ago and helped them get an artefact back and they’d given him these drapes which had ‘Indiana Jones; our hero’ in their native language all around it. You had laughed when he told you that, “Of course, you’re the only person I know that would have drapes singing your praises on them and get away with it.”

A photo in a frame was perched against his bedside cabinet. It was a picture of you, not you and Indy, no, just you. It was a picture of you reading a book whilst curled into his couch. It was a grainy photo, black and white and a little faded but he loved that picture. You’d never really liked it, the curls in your hair had come loose, your lipstick was all faded, your glasses were half way down your nose, you were in your pyjamas and could see all your lumps and bumps and yet, Indy loved it. You’d asked him why he loved it so much one day, he just smiled and said, “It’s just... you.” You placed the photo down before heading to his closet. You did have a bag of clothes here but who in their right mind would turn down the chance to steal one of his shirts?

You filled the bath and whilst you waited, you were reading his newest research paper. He had let you read the drafts but now, this was close to being the finished thing and you couldn’t help but want to read it. He never failed to amaze you with his academic talent, the knowledge that man had; the first hand experience this man had with so many cultures and artefacts, it blew you away every time. You’d finished reading just as the bath was ready, “Incredible,” you whispered as you stood to put it away back on his desk - you knew that if you kept it in the bathroom with you you’d somehow end up dropping it into the bath.

The bath was a perfect temperature, you were glad for it. Sometimes if a bath is too hot you get too stressed about trying not to lobster yourself that you don’t enjoy it and sometimes if you make it too cold... well, that’s just no fun, is it? You sunk into the warmth of the water, relishing in its soothing touches. You washed your hair, trying to detangle the mess of curls with your fingers as you let the soapy suds clean away all your worries.

Soon, you were out of the bath and padding around the kitchen trying to find something to eat. You’d put on one of Indy’s looser fitting shirts. It didn’t button over your stomach so you’d pulled on one of his stretchy t-shirts under it. You found leftovers in the fridge from the night before, homemade spaghetti and meatballs. You had been surprised when you found out that Indiana was a decent cook. You thought that with him being so busy teaching, writing and adventuring that he wouldn’t have a lot of time to cook for himself. Sure, he loved Chinese take out but he could whip up a decent meal.

It wasn’t long after you’d reheated the spaghetti that you heard the front door open and heavy footsteps. You poked your head out of the kitchen to see Indy taking his jacket off and taking his glasses off, “How you feeling?” He asked as he walked into the kitchen with you.

“A lot better,” you admitted, “thank you... Really, Indy, thank you.” He smiled bashfully as you thanked him, “I hope my students weren’t too wild for you.”

He shook his head, “One of the best lessons I’ve ever given actually,” he said quickly... too quickly.

“Yeah?” You asked with a frown, “cause it was going to be a pretty full on lesson about Victorian medical practice, that can get quite tricky especially when we bring gender into the equation-” He cut you off.

“You don’t think I could handle it?” Indy asked, unusually defensive.

“Of course you could, Indy,” you rolled your eyes, “I was merely saying that sometimes even I find teaching Victorian medical practice hard going, there’s just a lot and I know my students, I’ve trained them to question everything so that they know and understand every single detail.”

Indy raised his eyebrows, “Oh I know they question everything... Believe me, I know.” You eyed him suspiciously but he seemed eager to drop the subject and he’d already done so much for you today that you just shrugged and passed him a plate of spaghetti.

The rest of the night was spent with you going over the research you had and what you still didn’t have sources for. Indiana proved to be very helpful. He had hundreds of books, some in shelves, some scattered around, and he was able to find the sources and missing pieces of information that you needed. It didn’t take long until you had finished your first draft. You beamed as you put the pen on the desk, “I’m finished. I did it!” Indiana was right there beside you, giving you a kiss on the forehead, and singing your praises, “I couldn’t have done it without you, Indy,” you whispered as he congratulated you, “Thank you.” 

It seemed a wise choice to take the rest of the night off after that. Yes, you were aware that you had papers to grade and dissertation drafts to sift through but you could get to them tomorrow. Tonight, Indy had better plans for you. He was going to help you relax with something a little more intimate and pleasurable than grading papers.

The next morning, you’d used some of your spare clothes that you left at Indy’s to get dressed and found him in the kitchen with two mugs of coffee waiting. You ate a small breakfast with him, talking about your lesson for the day, “You might want to go over yesterday’s lesson again with your class,” Indiana said nonchalantly, “Some of your students didn’t really fully understand and I ran out of time.”

You narrowed your eyes but nodded anyway. He didn’t know that your students would tell you exactly what happened yesterday so you let him believe that he was safe for a while longer.

You felt great. You felt like the weight had been lifted off of you shoulders and you were refreshed and well-rested. It just showed you how much having someone help you out benefited you. You couldn’t thank Indy enough, you just appreciated it so much; that he would help you out like that. His sweet gestures always made you feel like the luckiest woman alive.

With your lesson plans and papers in hand, you walked into your class to see all of your students already there, “Class doesn’t start for another forty five minutes!” You frowned, “What’s going on?”

“Thank god you’re back!” One of the girls, Sarah, said with a huff, “You are never letting Dr Jones teach us again!” 

You put everything on your desk and sat in your chair, “Why?” You asked tentatively, “What happened?”

“He had no clue, Professor!” A boy at the back told you, “First twenty minutes started out strong but as soon as we started asking questions, he just rambled and could not figure anything out.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as they told you more about what really happened. Poor Indy. He had tried, he really had tried but he was just not prepared for the inquisitive nature of your students, “He was getting so annoyed that we asked so many questions,” another girl said, “after about an hour of his rambling, he eventually handed us out textbooks and told us to read in silence for the rest of the time.”

Wiping your eyes for the tears of laughter, you took a breath, “Well, Dr Jones really helped me out yesterday and he at least tried to teach you, that’s more than what some people would do. I apologise that I wasn’t here though.”

“Professor, please promise that he’ll never teach us again. Promise us.”

This started your hysterical laughter again, “I promise.”

You couldn’t wait to see Indiana at lunch. As always, he was waiting outside of your class to walk you to his where the two of you would eat lunch, “I went over everything again and they all seem to understand a lot better now,” you said, trying to not smile.

“Yeah?” He asked, clearing his throat, “Good.”

“They did tell me something about yesterday though,” you smirked as you walked into his classroom, “they never want you to teach again.”

And so, the jig was up, “They told you, huh?” You found yourself doubled over laughing as you recounted what they’d said to you, “Well, it’s not my fault they ask too many questions!” Indiana exclaimed, “Everything I said, they questioned!”

“Thank you for covering for me but you’re never helping me again.”

[r3almellow]

MLQC Boys With A Famous S/o

Here we go! Thank you anon for this request I hope its to your liking!! Apologies for typos as always!

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Kiro (YouTuber S/o)

How did you meet ?

You were a YouTuber that had over 500,000 subscribers. During a Mukbang Q&A video you received a question in regards to your celebrity crush. 

“I think the big ass poster currently behind me kind of gives it away, but my ultimate crush is Kiro. I’d give anything to meet him at least once.” You went even as far as to give him a shout out. “Hey, super star! I heard you were a big foodie and since you like to eat and I like to eat, maybe we can eat together sometime? Okay, that was dumb, please ignore this!”

Little did you know, Kiro was a huge fan of your videos and just so happened to see your request. Next thing you knew a clip of you “shooting your shot” made its way to his social media page with a caption of “Its a date ;)” right above it. You just about died when you saw his post. You were only joking around! Well...not 100% joking, but you didn’t expect him to respond! 

You spent weeks talking to each other through private messages soon after. Your messages filled with gushing over your similar interests, playful banters and light flirting. He offered to be a part of your next Mukbang stating that it was better to have two people eating themselves into a coma on camera than one. You couldn’t argue with facts and took him up on his offer! Kiro only had one condition...you let him take you out on a date afterwards.

And the rest was history. 

Dating

The cutest couple to have ever existed! 

Both of your social media pages are filled with couple photos. 

You both get to dress up in disguise whenever you go on dates! A baseball cap, sunglasses, and face masks are your usual go to’s, but depending on where you’re going you might be required to get a little creative. 

Dealing with overly excited fans and even more persistent paparazzi was a bit new for you, since your interactions with people is mostly through the internet, but you handle it pretty well.

Interviewers practically threw themselves onto every opportunity to get information about your love life. Kiro was more skilled than you about these things, so you tend to just laugh awkwardly and let him take care of it. 

Kiro appears a little more in your videos whenever he’s free which the fans are grateful for. Of course, your channel doesn’t turn into all things Kiro and you never use him for your own personal gain. 

Dating Kiro did open up some opportunities for you, like getting to experience award shows and networking with other celebrities and content creators. Again, you refused to throw Kiro’s name around just to get the things you wanted. 

You both like to bounce ideas off of each other, whether its for his music or for your latest video. Having two creative minds come together does wonders! 

You’re almost always somewhere in the background during his live streams.  

Gavin (Actress S/o)

How did you meet? 

High school. You were a part of the drama club and Gavin was...well...forced into being a part of the stagehand after being threatened with expulsion from his last brawl. 

You were the first one to welcome him. You were kind, funny, and cute. And when you were on that stage? Mesmerizing was the best way to put how Gavin saw you. You were inspiring. 

After graduation Gavin lost contact with most of his acquaintances, but he never once stopped thinking about you. Gavin wasn’t big on celebrity news, but he actually kept up with your progress once he got wind of a newcomer taking the entertainment world by storm. 

Fast forward to a few years later and he was playing bodyguard for one of the most successful actresses in the world. You. This was just an undercover job that was going to last as long as his target was still out there. 

There was definitely chemistry between you. And while Gavin wanted to act on his feelings, his work had to come first. You respected that, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to let him know you were interested. How could you not be? You had a huge crush on him back in high school and now that he was by your side practically every day those feelings came back with a vengeance! 

As soon as Gavin’s objective was complete he continues being your bodyguard stating, “Only I can keep you out of trouble.” Which you responded by kissing him.

Dating

Once word got out about you dating your “bodyguard”, it shocked many that you decided to be with someone that wasn’t a celebrity. 

Even so, Gavin doesn’t look like your average Joe. He has the body and face of man who could easily be on the cover of Vogue or Vanity Fair, but you know your man isn’t about that life. 

You’ve spent years being a private person, so when you and Gavin start dating not revealing much was easy. The public only knew what you wanted them to. 

There are a lot of at home dates filled with takeout and movie night. Just being in each others company is more than enough for you!

You work out together a lot! He’s really good about motivating you especially when you have to prepare for an upcoming movie. You honestly don’t need a personal trainer when you have Gavin. 

The paparazzi are afraid of Gavin. Like they won’t even get within six feet of you whenever he’s around. The last poor soul who got a little too close for your liking ate asphalt within seconds.

Gavin isn’t one for the limelight or the glitz and glam, which you appreciate. Its nice to be around someone that isn’t a part of the entertainment world. 

You don’t have to hide a part of yourself, in fear of judgement, whenever you were with him. You appreciated Gavin’s genuine nature. He was always truthful with you and he never gave the impression that he was only with you because of your status. 

Gavin does a great job with making you feel special. Whenever you feel like you don’t meet the standards of what the industry wants, he pulls you out of that dark hole and gives you the pep talk you need to get through the day.

You could walk around without an ounce of makeup on or trade in a Dior dress for sweatpants and a t-shirt, and Gavin still found you beautiful. 

Victor ( Famous Pianist S/o)

How did you meet? 

Victor was a fan of your work for quite some time. There was something about your raw talent that drew him to your work. He always made it a point to go to all your live shows whenever he was available, but has never met you personally. 

It wasn’t until you waltzed right into his office out of the blue. When he saw you enter his office with Goldman and two security guards tailing right behind you, he didn’t even recognize you. You looked as if you had just rolled out of bed with a messy bun, ripped jeans, t-shirt with some random cartoon character and thick rimmed glasses. His first thought as you stared him down with a frown was, “Who let this homeless person into his office?” 

When Goldman called your name as the two security guards grabbed your arms, Victor had to do a double take. The elegant and graceful woman, who commanded the stage with just pads of her fingertips, was...YOU?! 

Victor allowed you to stay, curious to know why you were here. You business with Victor was simple. You wanted funding to create music schools for low income families. You had sent countless emails to LFG with hopes to do business with them, but after being ignored the first few times and receiving a rude rejection email that morning, you were ready to take the bull by the horns. 

Surprisingly Victor found himself intrigued by you and thus started an interesting partnership. 

The more Victor got to work with you the more he became attracted to the headstrong, smart, and talented person who seemingly enjoyed ruffling his feathers every chance they got. 

You were also attracted to the blunt, detail-oriented man and it bothered you to no-end. What you saw in a man who probably would critique drawings from a toddler, you had no idea. But you appreciated his work ethic. He genuinely wanted you to succeed with this project and you couldn’t deny his heart was in the right place. 

The day the first school opened was the day Victor decided to stop tiptoeing around the mutual attraction and asked you out.

“We can celebrate your accomplishments over dinner.” 

Dating

The CEO of LFG and the child prodigy turned world famous pianist dating?!

CAN WE SAY POWER COUPLE?!

Whenever paparazzi get a picture of the two of you, you both look as if you just finished a professional photoshoot. You NEVER look bad in those photos. Never! 

And when you do professional shoots? It leaves people SHOOK. Magazines like Forbes have never had such a beautiful couple grace their covers before. Just wait until people see your wedding photos.

You always ask him to visit you during your rehearsals which he almost always declines but shows up anyway, if he’s not too busy. He’ll also bring a box of his homemade pudding because knowing you, you probably were too busy with preparations for your upcoming concert to eat. He’ll take you out to eat afterwards, but the pudding should hold you over for a bit.

Victor will never admit this to you, but your music helps him de-stress after a long day at work, so whenever he isn’t with you, your music helps him fall asleep. 

Victor also likes to watch you work. Seeing you so focused as you create your next piece was a sight to beheld. The pensive look in your eyes as you went over your music sheet, the slow nod of your head as your fingers danced across the keys as you intently listened to the melody, and the way your eyebrow twitched when you hit a key you didn’t like; all things oddly enjoyed seeing.

You’ll never catch him staring. He’ll pretend he’s working whenever you feel his eyes on you and if you try to call him out on it, he will most likely deny it. 

Lucien ( Novelist S/o)

How did you meet? 

You needed the help of someone knowledgeable with neuroscience for your next book. Someone recommended a Professor at Loveland University who specialized on the topic. That was how you met Professor Lucien. 

You two worked closely together once you started your manuscript, going over various topics under the neuroscience category. It wasn’t surprising just how intelligent the man was on the subject, but you were in awe about how much you knew.

Your meetings would often start at the university which led to you going home together once you found out he lived in the same building as you. You leveled up from the lecture hall to aquariums, movie theaters, restaurants, and his apartment where you had lunch or dinner. 

Your conversations never stayed on the topic of work. It often changed to your interests. You found that you and Lucien had a lot of similar interests like your taste in books and art. He also developed a love for teasing you. 

Seeing the look on your flustered face turned into one of his favorite pastimes.

When it came to the topic of your books, you learned Lucien has read quite a few of them and was very intrigued with your work. He asked you numerous questions, questions no one thought to ask. 

He admitted to you his favorite of yours was the first book he ever read titled, “The Boy Who Dreamed.” You jokingly offered to sign his book, but he declined with a smile.

“I’ll admit I do enjoy the book, but I’m more interested in the woman who wrote it.” 

Dating

More dates at your favorite places. 

Almost every other week, Lucien seemed to have tickets to art exhibits, festivals, or the movies. 

His teasing intensifies by a hundred! That man loves to tease you and you hate it! You love it. 

The closer you got to Lucien, the more you realized he didn’t enjoy talking about himself, so it takes a while to learn about him or his past. You never press him for information, but he does reveal things to you within time.

Lucien loves when you read to him. Its how he falls asleep and once you find out he has trouble sleeping, you always suggest what you call “story time.” 

In truth, having you by his side is more than enough to get him to sleep, but if you aren’t there hearing your voice will do the trick. You could be reading anything and he’d be fine with it. From Dr. Seuss to H.G. Wells, Lucien was fine with it as long as he got hear your voice.

You like to ask for his opinion on your latest projects. He does a great job making you think outside of the box which will make things easier or challenging during your writing sessions. 

Whenever you encounter writer’s block, Lucien will pull you away from your laptop and mountains of papers to enjoy a nice relaxing day with him. 

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Doooone! Please comment if you enjoyed this! I’d love to know what you guys think!

Want to read more of my writing? Check out my MLQC masterlist here!

[theycallmebeccawrites]

Chris & Ellie Series: Episode 24

Hello loves! Hope you guys are having a good day and, if not, hopefully this gives you something to smile about. (You guys might actually like me after reading this episode 😉.)

Anyway, I was going to wait and queue this up to post later this afternoon... but I’ve decided to just post it. There is no point in making you guys wait when it’s already on AO3 and Wattpad (which, by the way, always get the updates first because of how I do my formatting).

To my fellow USA people, Happy Early Thanksgiving.

xoBeccaxo

Pairing: Chris Evans x Ellie Spencer (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: minor language

Episode Summary: This episode takes place in November 2014 and features Chris's mom finally finding out what happened between Chris and Ellie.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

This episode can also be read on AO3.

The Chris and Ellie series is primarily chronological. It begins with a flash forward to 2016 and has a few other scenes in the future. However, the majority of their story is told in chronological order starting in 2013 and going through 2017. Each episode starts with a date to help you place it within the story.

The Chris & Ellie Series Masterlist | Chris & Ellie Masterlist

Episode 23.5

Episode 24: The One Where Momma Evans Gets Involved

November 25, 2014

Lisa Evans was sorting through her mail when she found a greeting card sized envelope with her name and address handwritten on it. Not recognizing the return address from California, she almost threw it away, assuming it would be an invitation for her in hopes that she'd bring Chris along, but something stopped her.

Turning the envelope over, she saw the company's slogan on the back flap.

"Sharing the gift of reading with kids since 2008."

Heartstrings successfully strung, Lisa opened the envelope and pulled out the card inside. The front had a collage of photos from kids receiving books to volunteers sorting through boxes of books. Written at the bottom was "Thank You for Your Donation".

Eyebrows raised, Lisa turned to the inside of the card and found a folded note along with what was clearly a mass produced thank you card they sent to their donors. Putting the card down on the table, she opened the folded-up piece of paper, finding a handwritten note from the founder and director of the charity. In the letter, the woman expressed her gratitude for Lisa's multiple donations. Explaining that, thanks to her donations alone, they'd been able to buy more books than they'd planned for the year and, therefore, were able to gift even more kids with books.

Lisa was trying to make sense of the whole situation when Scott came into the kitchen. He had arrived on Sunday from Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with the family.

"Hey, ma," he greeted, then paused, seeing her confused expression. "What's up?"

"Are you familiar with this charity?" she asked, pushing the card towards him.

Picking it up, Scott saw the pictures and then his eyes caught the wording at the bottom. Specifically, the "donation" part. He didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling that this was the charity Ellie had told her sisters about on her birthday. 

If Lisa hadn't been watching his face, she would have missed the telltale signs of her youngest son trying to think quickly. He glanced at her and tried to mask his expressions, but she was on to him.

"What do you know?" she asked him, calmly but in her best mom voice.

Scott squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze for thirty seconds before he caved. "Ellie made the donations," he told her. "She didn't feel comfortable accepting your money. Not after -"

The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs made Scott stop talking. Having grown up in the house and around his family members, he could tell the difference between his sisters and his brother coming down the stairs and that was Chris.

Chris appeared in the doorway, a couple seconds later, and froze when Lisa shifted her "mom look" to him. "I didn't do it," he said, automatically.

"Ok, the two of you sit down," Lisa said, shaking her head. "We're going to have a little talk."

"What's going on?" Chris muttered to his brother as they sat down at the dining table.

"Scott was just getting ready to tell me," Lisa answered before Scott had the chance to. "But before I let him finish explaining. I got this in the mail today." She plucked the thank you card out of Scott's hand and handed it and the handwritten letter to Chris.

While he read both, she watched his expression. He looked surprised but pleased. He hadn't known about the donations then, she deduced. Glancing at Scott, she found him unable to sit still. He knew something.

"Seems like a good cause," Chris said, once he had finished reading. "I didn't realize you had made a donation, though."

"That's because I didn't make the donations," Lisa told him. "But Scott told me that Ellie did."

A flash of surprise or maybe shock shot across Chris's face and then he looked at Scott, but Scott avoided his eyes.

Lisa's eyes caught every second of it. She had suspected something wasn't right when Chris came home from filming the new Avengers movie. Then she had noticed the way he and Scott, usually the best of friends, seemed awkward around each other the last couple days. She had figured they'd had an argument or something, but now she had a feeling it went deeper than that.

"What is going on?" she asked her sons. When neither of them spoke up, she sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you what I think is going on."

Pointing at Chris, she said, "You have spent the last six weeks moping around this house like a wounded puppy." He opened his mouth to argue, but she silenced him with a look. "And you and Scott have barely said a word to each other since he has been home. Then this shows up and when I asked Scott about it, he said that Ellie didn't feel comfortable accepting my money."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Scott staring down at the table in front of him. But her eyes were trained on Chris. Her oldest son was normally able to mask his feelings, but that resolve was cracking.

"So here's what I think happened," she said, her tone softening. "I think you and Ellie were seeing each other earlier this year. I don't need or want the full details or even a definition of what you were or weren't. That is between the two of you. And don't lie to me, I saw the two of you with my own eyes. It was obvious."

She saw Chris's jaw tighten and he crossed his arms as she spoke. He was preparing himself for a fight.

"But I think something happened, something went sour between the two of you," she theorized. "Something that made Ellie uncomfortable accepting the money I was paying her and ultimately led to her moving out of the house and eventually quitting." Knowing Chris wouldn't answer her question, she looked at Scott, "Am I on the right track?"

Scott glanced at Chris then at her before giving a subtle nod.

"It doesn't matter if you're on the right track, ma," Chris stated, his voice thick with the emotion he was trying to keep back. "She's moved on. It's over."

"Ellie hasn't moved on," Scott cut in before his mom could say anything.

"You don't have to lie for your friend," Chris snapped, defensively. "I was there. I saw it with my own damn eyes."

"Your own damn eyes -" Scott started, but stopped when he caught his mom's look.

"What did you see?" she asked Chris. "When?"

"It was in July, after you told me Ellie was moving out," he told his mom. "I went to the house. She was with another guy. They were hugging and shit in front of the moving trailer."

As Chris spoke, Lisa shifted her gaze to Scott and watched as he reacted to his brother's words. He went from confused to rolling his eyes by the end. Before she had a chance to say anything, Scott exclaimed, "That was Pierre, you dumb ass!"

"Pierre?" Chris repeated. "Pierre, who?"

"My friend Pierre who has been to your house like a million times," Scott retorted, throwing his hands up. "Pierre who only dates guys and therefore has no interest in Ellie."

Chris's heated expression faded quickly into one of confusion. "Why was he helping her? Where were you?"

"I was at a job," Scott replied, his voice dropping to a calmer tone. "If you had texted me, I would have fucking told you what was going on."

"So you're saying that she hasn't moved on? She isn't dating anyone?" Chris asked, ignoring his brother's jab.

"No, she's single," Scott replied. "She's been trying to get over you. She moved out because it hurt to be in the house with all the memories."

"Excuse me," Chris said, suddenly pushing back his chair. He left the room and they soon heard his footsteps pounding up the stairs.

Lisa stared after him for a moment before another thought crossed her mind. Turning to Scott, she asked, "Is Ellie ok?"

"She will be," Scott said with a small shrug. "I don't know the full story because neither of them wanted to make me hate the other. But it didn't end well between them… and I got caught up in the worst part of the breakup."

Lisa listened while Scott told her about the text he'd received from Chris asking if Ellie was ok. She saw the hurt flicker across his face when he described the conversation that had followed between him and Ellie. By the time he had finished telling her, they were both in tears.

Her heart ached for both her son and for Ellie, her friend. Needing to hug someone, she stood up and walked around the table and wrapped her youngest son in a hug.

"I'm so thankful Ellie had you with her," she told him. "You've been a good friend to her."

"She's become one of my best friends," he replied, sniffling. "And she and Chris... Mom... They're perfect for each other. But I don't know what happened. I couldn't fix it."

"You did your best," she assured him. "Don't worry about Chris, I'll talk to him."

Lisa waited until after dinner and after everyone else had settled for the night before she carried a tray up to Chris's room since he had skipped dinner. She knocked on the door to his room, not sure if he would answer or not.

"I brought you a couple sandwiches," she said, when he opened the door.

"Thanks," Chris replied, stepping back. He gestured for her to come in and then closed the door.

"How are you doing?" she asked him as she sat down on the chair that matched the desk in his room.

Chris shrugged his shoulders from the spot he'd taken on the bed. Then he picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite. It was only as he started to chew that he realized how hungry he was.

"Sorry I missed dinner," he mumbled.

"It was a tough afternoon," she said, shrugging off his apology. She wanted him to tell her what had happened, but Chris only spoke when he was ready to speak. The fact that he had even let her into the room was a sign that he was almost there.

It wasn't until he'd finished the second sandwich that he started to talk.

"We were just friends until the night the Sox won the series," he said, his tone a mix of remorse and longing. "I kissed her at Fenway after the last out."

"Is that why she hid in her room the next day?" Lisa asked with a smile. Looking back at it now, Ellie had seemed flighty the next day.

Chris nodded his head. "She didn't want to risk messing up our friendship," he explained then sighed. "Turns out she might have been right about that."

"How so?" Lisa asked, relaxing into her chair.

Talking about it was the last thing Chris wanted to do. What if scenarios had been running rampant through his brain in the hours since Scott's revelation. He was mentally and physically exhausted. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. But as he stared at his mom, that child within him begged to spill his guts and beg her to help him fix it.

He opened his mouth to suggest they talk it over in the morning. But those words weren't what came out. Instead, he found himself pouring his heart, his pain, everything out to his mom as she listened to every word.

By the time he finished talking, they both had tears running down their faces and it was nearly midnight. His throat was raw from emotion and dry from all the talking. At some point, his mom had moved from the chair to the edge of his bed and when he'd finished, she had pulled him into a hug, making him cry more as she soothed him.

It was after midnight when she left his room and as he laid in his childhood bed, staring up at the silly glow in the dark stars that no one had bothered to remove since, he felt an inkling of hope spark in the depths of his broken heart.

Ellie hadn't moved on.

Episode 24.5

Want to find me off tumblr? I'm @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

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[ri-ahhh]

idk if you’ve heard the song toxic by kehlani but maybe you could write something based off that song where a tipsy y/n calls up her on and off ex (grayson) to come over 👀 i love your writing btw

It’s already late when your best friend Fallon knocks sharply on the front door of your apartment. You had texted her not even half an hour ago, all up in your feels after you saw Grayson’s Snapchat story of him and some friends at the beach, an unfamiliar and pretty blonde girl tucked under his arm in one of the photos. She had responded immediately, letting you know she was on her way.

Feet clad in your fuzzy pink slippers, the strings of Grayson’s old hoodie keeping the hood cinched around your face tightly, you heave yourself off your comfy couch and trudge over to the front door to let her in. When you swing it open, she’s standing there with her hands full with her purse in one and an obvious brown paper bag in the other.

You stand aside silently, letting her pass the threshold and dump her shit on the kitchen island. “You didn’t have to bring alcohol, Fal, you know I don’t drink like that anymore.”

“Exactly,” Fallon deadpans, whipping out the bottle from the bag. “You stopped drinking because of Grayson Dolan. I think you owe it to yourself to let yourself start drinking because of him, too.”

You push the hood off your head and take the blue bottle from her when she offers it to you. Your brows raise. “You bought me Don Julio to cry over my ex? Isn't this, like, $50 for a bottle?”

Fallon waves a hand dismissively. “That’s exactly why I got it; you’re not gonna cry over your ex. Wine of any kind is crying juice. Vodka makes you a dumb bitch, and bottom shelf tequila makes you cry, a dumb bitch, and a ho. You need the good stuff, so we can bring out the bad bitch. Who can talk about her ex, get it all out, without crying again, or texting him, or posting a thirst trap.”

You roll your eyes. “That was only one time I accidentally sent you that nude instead of Grayson. And we were still together, so it didn't count as being a ho. I was just giving my boyfriend good spank bank material.”

Fallon is already rummaging through your cabinets, in search of the nearly-forgotten shot glasses. “Babe, you know I support every woman’s right to be a ho as much as she wants, especially after a breakup, but this is Grayson we’re talking about. You two were so into each other, it was toxic. You fought all the time, and by your own admission fixed everything with sex. You’re addicted, and as your best friend, I’m inserting myself here to keep you from talking to him anymore.”

She turns around, two little glasses in hand, and looks at you then the bottle in your hands pointedly. You give in and pull out the stopper and the Don Julio Blanco to her. 

“Now, I’m not gonna get you drunk. But we’re gonna get enough in you to loosen up that tongue, you’re gonna get all your Grayson shit out before I leave, and we’re gonna go to bed happy and feeling better,” she says matter-of-factly, pouring the clear liquid into the glasses. She hands one of them to you. “Cheers, bitch.”

Right before you clink and tap, Fallon’s phone buzzes. She leans over to check it where it’s resting on the counter, and her eyes widen. “Shit...”

“What?” you ask concernedly. Fallon puts down her glass and starts typing madly.

“It’s my downstairs neighbor. She said Roxy’s been barking for nearly an hour straight and she’s gonna file another noise complaint if I don’t get there to let her out.” She stops for a moment and looks at you. “Shit. I’ll get evicted if I get another one. Like actually evicted.”

Fallon’s dog Roxy has serious attachment issues, which is usually extremely annoying, but right now you're thanking her. You love Fallon to death, but this isn’t exactly the friend therapy you needed or expected when you called her up to come over. 

“Dude, go! I promise I’m fine. I don’t need to worry about you being homeless on top of my shit.”

“Okay. I’m sorry, babe, I promise I’ll FaceTime you as soon as I’m home.” She’s gathering her things, leaving the tequila open on the counter. “Make good choices, please. Love you!”

“Love you!” you call out behind her as she rushes through the door.

The door slams, and it leaves a ringing silence almost as loud as your best friend. You look around at your suddenly empty apartment, your eyes landing on the still-full shot glasses.

What the hell? You snatch one of them off the counter and down it with a grimace. Admittedly, it was the best tequila you’ve ever had, but it’s still tequila. The burn travels down your esophagus and settles in your near-empty belly. The sensation reminds you that you’ve hardly eaten today, and one shot was probably more than enough considering your lack of food and the fact that you’ve probably reverted to being an extreme lightweight after not drinking for so long. 

You and Grayson have barely been broken up for a month, and despite how hard it’s been, you haven't been tempted to touch more than a glass of wine or an occasional Whiteclaw if the stress of the day was too much. But it never felt right to have more. Grayson is still a part of you, even though that’s part of the reason you broke up to begin with. The two of you were becoming codependent on each other, which was turning into jealousy and neediness that built up into huge, explosive fights and ended with you fucking on whatever surface was nearest.

It was, indeed, a vicious, toxic cycle. Even though you tell yourself it’s for the best, you also can’t shake the feeling that the two of you aren’t done. That there’s still hope for your relationship, especially now that you’ve spent time apart.

Fallon’s tactics have backfired as you stomp back to the couch and snatch your phone off the cushion. Julio has given you the liquid courage you need to do exactly what Fallon told you not to.

I miss u

A classic. You wish you had it in you to be more creative, but the simple truth of it is: you do miss him. You miss his laugh. You miss his smell. You miss coming home to him, either here or at his house, after a long day. You miss his kisses. You miss his dick. 

There’s little shame for yourself in admitting that. You used it to solve your problems, but you were blind to that before the breakup. Everything is more clear now, especially the fact that you still love him deeply. 

Suddenly, your phone starts buzzing. You don’t even look at the caller ID, assuming it’s Fallon calling impatiently from her car. 

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

The deep voice on the other end of the phone startles you, and you hold it away from your face to see his name in big, white letters. No longer ‘Gray’ with some heart emojis, but ‘Grayson Dolan.’

You swallow hard and put the phone back to your ear. “Uh, hi, Hey.”

There’s a beat of silence before he speaks again. “I, uh, got your text.”

You don’t say anything, picking at a piece of fluff on your slipper.

“I miss you too. Like, a lot. Too much.”

You bite your lip tightly, chewing it nervously. You hadn’t expected him to fucking call. Calling and texting had two very different vibes. Over text, you would probably say something cute and calm and ask if the two of you could get coffee tomorrow.

But a call? You can hear his voice for the first time in weeks. It makes you want to jump through the phone and wrap him in your arms, to cry in his chest -- from happiness or sadness, you’re not sure. Either way, this is the closest you’ve felt to him in so long, and it makes you weak.

Grayson may be loud, but he’s good at shutting up when he wants an answer. It’s one of the things that drove you most crazy when you fought. He’d yell his piece, then stare at you until you had a retort. Sometimes you did, sometimes you didn't; you were always both at fault, for the most part. 

You take a deep breath and find your voice at last. “Me too. I...I haven’t been doing so great. Without you.”

She hears him sigh. “Me neither.” He pauses, and you wait anxiously. “Look, I’ll be honest. I was with Ethan when I got your text and he...well, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea that I called you. Or that we’re talking to each other, period.”

He leaves his sentence hanging, almost like an open-ended question without phrasing it as such. You can't stop the laugh from bubbling past your lips as you shake your head. “Fallon was just over at my place and said the same thing. So that either makes us really fucking stupid, or our best friends just don’t understand.”

“Famous last words, either way,” Grayson chuckled with you. You can hear crickets chirping in the background, and imagine he’s sitting outside by the pool. The two of you used to like to do that together.

You decide to follow his example and head out to your balcony, plopping down in one of the plastic chairs with your knees tucked to your chest. “What do you think about us talking, then?”

He doesn't miss a beat. “I think I miss you. And I love you. And I know I fucked up a lot, but I’ve been actually reflecting on everything that was wrong with us and I think I know now what I can do better. This time apart has been really fucking hard, but I think it was a good thing. For me, anyways.”

Your lip finds its way between your teeth again. You clamp it hard to hold back the shake in your voice. “Me too, Gray. I wasn’t perfect by any means, either. But as long as we both know what we need to work on, I want to try again if you do.”

“I do want that,” Grayson sighs, relief flooding his voice. He laughs that laugh you missed so much. “You have no idea how happy that makes me. I’ve been driving E crazy having these meltdowns all the time thinking about how I fucked up so bad that I wouldn’t ever get you back.”

You smile into your knees, and decide in that moment to risk it for the sake of your biscuit, which throbs at the mere thought and sound of him. “Is it too early to mention that I miss all of you?”

“Careful, or I might think you only want me back for my body.”

“I mean, I definitely had to use my imagination a few times without the real thing. I only had to think of you, though. How good you fuck me.”

This right here is probably where the tequila is coming in to play. Fallon was wrong again; you’re about to go Full Ho, having phone sex with your kind-of ex.

His breath picks up nearly imperceptibly, but you can also hear the smirk in his voice. “How many times did I make you squirt in the tiny house shed that one time, baby? That was so hot.”

“Mm, it was so good, Gray. I remember you had to carry me inside to your bed because I couldn’t walk. And then you fucked me nice and hard on your bed.” A rush of wetness floods your panties, and you squeeze your thighs together. “You came all in my mouth that night. I miss how your cum tastes.”

“Fuck,” he whispers. “Can I come over?”

You hesitate. You think of Fallon, of Ethan, of Don Julio. Of Grayson.

“Yes. Please.”

[soundofseventeen]

Butterflies (Lee Seokmin)

Hello! So I don’t know entirely how I feel about this one but I promised Bee and Haley that I would have something fluffy posted this weekend and it’s sunday night.............................so............................... enjoy! (also comeback tomorrow!) 

You looked around the street, trying to spot the three boys you were waiting for. You weren’t too worried yet, you had arrived a little bit early. You were kind of wishing you hadn’t agreed to come when Jeonghan suggested you hang out with them for the day, but there was no backing out now. Plus, Jeonghan already knew you had no plans for today, meaning you couldn’t make something up anyway. 

You were happy to hang out with them, but you also regretted the fact that recently you had let a small secret slip to Jeonghan. You swore, you were never drinking around the boy again. 

So of course, Jeonghan had to take that information and put you into a situation where you had to spend the day with his friends, one of which you had developed a crush on (which Jeonghan now knew). You simply just had to get through today without being left alone with-

“Hey, Y/N!” You turned, seeing Seokmin walking towards you. And he was alone. You looked at him, mildly concerned. Jeonghan wouldn’t do this to you. He wouldn’t. Right? “You alright?” 

“Oh, yeah! Hi!” You said, quickly smiling. “Where are Jeonghan and Joshua?” 

“They’re on their way.” He grinned, officially stopping next to you as he put his hands in his coat pockets. “They had to finish something up quick, but they didn’t want to leave you here waiting until they were done. So they sent me separately.” He explained, you nodding. 

“Ah.” You sighed, suddenly cursing Jeonghan because he might just do this to you. “That… makes sense.” 

“So long time no see!” He smiled at you, making your heart pump a few extra times. “How’s work? Hannie said you got a promotion!” 

You proceeded to talk about work for a bit, you talking about your new promotion while he talked about what he could for what they were working on. He even suggested that you come by and watch a rehearsal at some point, which you said solid maybe for. You knew that most of the people who came to watch rehearsal were significant others, and it was awkward last time when Jeonghan insisted you come. 

Eventually Seokmin started looking down the street, slightly confused. 

“Where are those guys? Jeonghan said they’d be here like 10 minutes ago.” He said, pulling out his phone which happened to start ringing as soon as he pulled it out. You both looked at the phone, then each other before letting out small laughs as Seokmin answered the phone. 

“Hello? Yeah, where are…” He said, his face falling a bit. “Oh no… Is he okay? We could…” He looked at you now, giving you a small smile. “Are you sure? We can seriously try again later… Okay, I guess I’ll see you later.” 

“Everything okay?” You asked as Seokmin hung up the phone, putting it back in his pocket. 

“Yeah, Joshua just got really sick apparently.” You stared at him, heart stopping a bit. 

“So… They’re not coming?” You asked, Seokmin shaking his head. Dammit. Jeonghan would do this to you. “Oh… Well, we can do this another time, you don’t have to-”

“Oh no, Jeonghan insisted that we still go. Apparently one of the exhibits is leaving next week.” He said, holding his elbow out. Of course Jeonghan did. “Come on! Let’s go!” After a second, he reached over, pulling your arm through his and starting to walk down the sidewalk, pulling you with him. 

“You…” You laughed, eventually catching up to his pace. “You don’t have to pull me like this.” 

“Buddy system. This way neither of us will get lost.” He smiled, making you shake your head and look away. You were going to kill Jeonghan later. 

*

It took a while to get to the museum, all the while you were trying to hide the fact that you were incredibly flustered by the fact that you were walking down the street with your arm linked through his. Every time you glanced at Seokmin he seemed like his normal self, as if he wasn’t just making your heart pound right out of your chest by existing. How unfair is this? 

You were thankful that the museum had free admission, so you didn’t have to go through the whole conversation of how to buy tickets. Once you were inside, it was a little more crowded than you thought it would be, so you were only somewhat startled when Seokmin took your hand, simply giving you a small smile. 

“Buddy system.” He said as he pulled you into the first exhibit. 

“It’s busy today.” You commented, trying not to focus on your hand. 

“I mean, an exhibit is leaving, it’s a cold but nice day and it’s free admission.” He said. “This is why we should have gotten here earlier.” He smiled, stopping in front of a painting. 

“Well I’m sorry I’m not as quick as you are.” You said, Seokmin just nudging your arm with his. 

“What do you suppose this is?” He asked, tilting his head at the painting. You looked at him, letting out a sigh. 

“That kind of looks like a grapefruit.” You pointed, Seokmin’s eyes following your hand. 

“Oh yeah, it does.” He said, tilting his head. “What does it have to do with fish though?” 

“Where do you see fish?” You laughed, Seokmin pointing to the opposite end of the painting. You looked where he was looking, shaking your head. 

“I don’t see fish there… Maybe bananas?” 

“You could just read the description.” Someone said next to you, shaking their head and walking away, causing yours and Seokmin’s eyebrows to shoot up. 

“Thanks, we’ll try that!” Seokmin called after the person, shaking his head. “What fun is that though?” 

“We could just go through and try to guess what what’s going on and see who gets the most right?” You suggested, Seokmin thinking for a minute. 

“I love that idea.” He grinned, peaking at the description. “Well. We were both wrong.” 

“What is it?” 

“Somehow a mountain.” He leaned back again, both of you tilting your head at it. 

“I don’t see it.” You eventually said, Seokmin nodding. 

“Me neither.” He said, shrugging and tugging your arm. “Okay! Next painting!” 

You pulled each other through the museum, stopping at art piece after art piece and trying to determine what each artist had intended. You had managed to get separated at one point, but that was because Seokmin had to use the bathroom and you got distracted by some pottery in the next room over. Seokmin eventually found you, smiling to himself as your eyes scanned the art in the pottery, laughing as you jumped when he took your hand again. He also ended up winning in the guessing art contest, which then led you to admit that you really didn’t understand modern art in the slightest. 

You both got lost in the aquarium, pulling each other to different tanks and pointing out different aquatic creatures. You managed to get a picture of Seokmin face to face with a turtle, only to have him jump and yell when he looked up to see a shark just above him (that you also got a picture of). He even suggested you take a picture together when you were by the jellyfish, which only half turned out due to how dark it was. 

You finally got to the last part of the museum, the part that was supposedly leaving in a few days. You had to wait a bit before you could go in, but you figured it had to be worth the wait. You both grinned as you walked into the butterfly room, a gasp escaping you as you looked up at all the butterflies above you. You smiled as you and Seokmin went to a section of the room, sitting down at one of the tables in there. Seokmin had pulled out his phone and started to take pictures of the butterflies that had landed on the table, smiling brightly as each one and asking them to say cheese. 

You managed to catch one on your finger, smiling at it sweetly as its wings slowly opened and closed. You looked over at Seokmin, eyebrows shooting up as he had his phone turned towards you now. 

“What are you doing-”

“Stay still!” He smiled, taking one more picture. “Aw, look how cute you are.” He grinned, showing you the phone screen. You scrunched up your face at the photo, shaking your head. “Oh shut up, it’s adorable.” He said, pouting at you. You were about to argue when a butterfly landed on his head, another one following soon after. 

“Oh my god, don’t move.” You said, pulling out your own phone. 

“Okay.” He immediately agreed as you held up your phone, shining at bright smile at you. You felt your heart skip as you took the picture, showing him after. He just smiled at it, then tried to look up to see if he could see one. The butterflies seemed to be drawn to you two, more starting to come. You jumped a little as one appeared in your face, slowly landing on your nose. 

“We should have just spent the whole day in here.” He grinned, holding up his phone to take another picture, this one you at least smiled before the butterfly flew away. You pouted after it, Seokmin shaking his head. “Don’t worry, I got it!” He smiled, showing you the photo. 

“Okay, that one isn’t too bad.” 

“I think that’s as good as I’m going to get from you as far as approval, so that’s your new contact photo.” He said, tapping on his phone a bit. “You have to change mine to the picture you took though.” 

“Oh, I have to?” 

“Yes, you do.” He grinned. “That way if I text you or call you, you will see my smile and that will make you smile.” You stared at him for a second, trying to wonder if he actually did know the effect he had on you. You shook your head quickly as he looked back up, picking up your phone. 

“Fine, if you insist.” You said, going to your contacts. Seokmin just watched you as you changed the picture. He smiled as a butterfly landed on your shoulder, letting out a small sigh. 

“I think our time is almost up in here, and I don’t know about you but I’m starving.” He eventually said, standing up and holding out a hand. “Shall we?” 

You really didn’t want to stop the day, so you smiled and placed your hand in his, both of you walking out of the butterfly room. 

*

“Today was a lot of fun, actually.” Seokmin said, walking back to your apartment after dinner. You couldn’t help but agree, even if you were still going to kill Jeonghan for doing this. 

“Yeah, I’m glad Jeonghan tried to set it up.” 

“It’s so lucky that he asked me to come this morning, otherwise you would have missed out on all that.” He said, you looking at him. 

“Yeah, I guess it was lucky.” You muttered. 

“Did you not have a good day?” He asked, you quickly shaking your head. 

“No! No, it was a wonderful day.” You said, seeing his expression change again. “I’m just… I’m sorry Jeonghan and Joshua missed it.” 

“Yeah, me too. But you know, I don’t know if we would have had as much fun if they were here. I don’t know if they would have played our art game.” He grinned, you nodding. 

“Probably not.” 

“So… about you possibly coming to rehearsal?” He said, you looking at him. “I know Jeonghan already brought it up but...”

“Yeah?” 

“Are you planning on coming?” He asked, you shrugging. “Oh come on, you don’t want to see your favorite boy dance with your other favorite boys?” You let out a laugh, shaking your head. 

“You think Jeonghan is my favorite of you guys?” He pouted at you, causing you to raise an eyebrow. 

“I meant me, but okay.” 

“Oh, uh…” 

“See, now you made me feel bad, so now you have to come.” He grinned, you smacking his arm. 

“We’ll see.” You said, stopping by your apartment building. 

“It’d make me happy if you came.” He said, smiling softly at you. You took a deep breath, trying to remember how to breathe. 

“We’ll see.” You said, but Seokmin took the smile on your face as a positive answer. 

“Good.” He gave you a quick hug, smiling as he pulled back. “Thanks for today. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.” 

“Thank you.” You said, Seokmin starting to walk away. 

“See you at rehearsal!” He called, you shaking your head. 

“I said we’ll see!” 

“I know!” He waved before officially turning around, causing you to sigh before heading into your apartment, letting out a small squeal. 

*

Seokmin walked back into the dorm, taking off his jacket and looking around. He tilted his head as he saw Joshua sitting at the table, watching something on his phone. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” Seokmin asked, walking over to him. Joshua looked up, pausing the video. 

“Alright. Just finishing this episode.” Joshua said, Seokmin raising an eyebrow. 

“Are you feeling better?” He asked, Joshua looking at him again. 

“...Sure?” He said, looking at him confused.

“You missed a pretty fun day today.” 

“What do you mean?” Both boys looked at each other for a couple seconds, both confused. 

“Weren’t you sick earlier?” Seokmin finally asked, Joshua furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. 

“No?” He said, tilting his head. “Who said I was?” 

“Jeonghan said that’s why you couldn’t come meet me and Y/N.” Both boys looked at each other for a few more seconds before Joshua leaned back. 

“Jeonghan!” He called, Jeonghan coming into the room shortly after. “Did you tell Seokmin I was sick today?” 

“Yeah.” He shrugged, walking right back out of the room. Seokmin and Joshua looked at each other before turning back to the door Jeonghan just left through. 

“Why?” Joshua called back, Jeonghan not returning. 

“Because you and Y/N are driving me nuts since neither of you want to admit you like each other and you both clearly wanted to go on a date with each other so I just gave you both a way to do it even though you’re both chickens.” Jeonghan said, causing Joshua to look at Seokmin. An eyebrow raised as Seokmin’s cheeks turned pink, quickly looking down once he realized Joshua was looking. 

“You didn’t need to do that.” He muttered, Jeonghan letting out a laugh. 

“Yeah, okay.” He called back. “Did you have a good day with Y/N?” 

“...Yeah.” He said, Jeonghan letting out a sigh. 

“Good. Now ask them out before I literally sit you both down and force the confession out of you. I’m sick of hearing about this from you two.” He said, officially getting up and walking towards his room. Seokmin looked back at Joshua, who shrugged and got up, taking his phone. 

“Might as well.” He said, patting Seokmin on the shoulder before heading to his own room. Seokmin stood there for a second before pulling out his phone, pulling up your contact and typing out a message. 

‘Maybe after the rehearsal you’re totally coming to we could go grab something to eat, just the two of us?’ 

He smiled to himself, knowing the new picture for him on your phone would hopefully make you smile. He just put his phone back into his pocket when it went off, quickly pulling it back out again. He let out a giggle as he read the message, smiling like a dork. 

‘I would love that. 💕’

[peteywillproceed]

Photobooths

Author’s Note: Hi guys! Thank you so so much for all the support on Kiss Me! That was my first post on here and I was so nervous :) I’ve had this idea stuck in my head since Youth by Troye Sivan came out, but I never actually finished it (yay for drafts!) Still don’t really know what it is, but anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy it x

Summary:  “When the lights start flashing like a photobooth, and the stars exploding, we’ll be fireproof” - You and Tom have been friends for years, even if you have been keeping your feelings a secret. Sometimes all it takes is being drunk off your ass to finally get the answers you didn’t know you needed...

Word Count: 3,150

The camera clicked and you were blinded, the silly moustache Tom had stuck on your upper lip falling half-way across your mouth as the heat from the lights made you sweat. It was cramped in there, the faded black seat cracked and peeling and the touch screen photo selector taking ages to register your choice. You hadn’t been in a photobooth in years, too smelly, too dirty, too boring. But the alcohol coursing through your body had made short work of any reservations you may have had, too intoxicated by the boy tugging you towards it to care.

“I want the beer goggles too, Y/n,” Tom whined beside you, reaching up to tug them from your eyes. You glanced sideways, swaying in your seat and steadying yourself against his shoulder.

“Take ‘em them,” you mumbled, smiling as he practically snatched them from your head and shoved them over his eyes.

“Best. Birthday. Ever.”

You giggled, too drunk on alcohol and his presence to care. “It’s your party, dipshit.”

You’d known Tom since year 10, and you’d lived with him whilst you were at Uni, grateful for the rent-free place whilst you were broke. You didn’t know when your feelings for Tom had changed, all you knew was you’d woken up one day and wandered into the kitchen, following the smell of pancakes and bacon. And bam, there he was, shirtless over the oven, towel flipped over his shoulder and sending you a slow grin like he’d planned it all. You were pretty sure that was the day everything had changed, but honestly it could’ve been years ago.

You giggled as the screen slowly counted backwards from three, feeling like you were floating far up in the sky. Tom might have asked you to pull a stupid face, but you were so concentrated on the way his lips were moving that you barely registered it. His hands slid into your hair, threading through the strands and made a peace sign behind the back of your head. You scrunched your nose up and dragged the bright pink feather boa over your mouth, pouting in a drunken attempt to look sexy.

“What are you doing?” Tom laughed as the camera clicked and you were dazzled by the lights again.

“Lookin’ sexayyyyyy,” you threw your hands in the air, frowning at the screen “We only have one more picture left!”

Tom licked his lips, trying to meet your eyes. “Guess we’d better make it special one, then.”

If you’d been sober enough to catch the double meaning, maybe you would have been prepared for what came next. But as the camera started counting down for its final shot, Tom grabbed your chin and turned you towards him, pressing his lips gently against yours just as the click rang in your ears.

For a second, you thought about nothing but the way his lips were moving on yours, the sheer fire that snapped you out of your drunkenness and spread over your skin. You shivered as he cupped your cheek, sure the photo had been taken, but the noise of the party outside had faded and it was just the two of you, your lips moving in time to whatever music was blaring through the speakers.

A strange sensation came over you, the photobooth and Tom’s face beginning to spin, and you jerked backwards at the feeling.

“I’m…I’m sorry, I um…I don’t know where that came from,” Tom stammered, wiping his palms against his jeans.

You wanted to tell him it wasn’t him, but blackness was appearing at the corner of your eyes, begging you to fall into the void that awaited. You could see Tom’s mouth moving, desperation crawling into his face, and you tried so hard to make your own form the words you wanted to say. But the tiredness was overwhelming, and soon you were falling into nothing, barely noticing when your head hit the floor of the booth, and Tom crouched over you in panic.

***

The next morning, your eyes opened to a dim room and the scent of caffeine wafting up your nose. Groaning, you tried to sit up, grabbing your head as it began to throb. Dribble ran down one side of your cheek and your hair stood on ends, but as you rubbed your eyes and allowed them to focus, the steaming mug of coffee and two advil tablets placed carefully on the side table drew a smile from you.

You leaned over and choked back the tablets, taking a gulp of the black liquid and savouring it on your tongue. You tried to think back through the mist and fog of last night, remembering basically everything up until you’d gone in that stupid photobooth with Tom. God, you didn’t know why you’d done that, but he’d seemed so excited and it was a chance for you two to be alone, something you hadn’t had in months. You’d have been lying if you’d said you didn’t enjoy the proximity.

“Morning sleepy head,” a familiar, velvety voice whispered.

Looking up, your eyes found Tom’s, and you groaned at the noise. “What time is it?”

“One in the afternoon,” he looked over his shoulder and laughed as he strode towards the curtains and threw them open. “Time to get up.”

“Ugh, Satan,” you mumbled, crashing back into the soft duvet.

“Y’know, I took the day off to keep an eye on you, the least you could do is not compare me to the King of Hell.”

“Sorry, your majesty.”

“Better.”

“Wait you took the day off today?” You frowned, running your fingers through your hair.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I? You were drunk off your arse and I didn’t want you to choke on your own vomit.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Anytime,” he grinned, scratching the back of his head. Bizarrely, he kept shifting from foot to foot, like he was trying to decide whether or not to sit down.

“The bed’s not made of lava, y’know,” you blinked, patting the space next to you “you can sit down.”

He nodded, still not moving, rubbing the side of his face as your confusion grew. “Y/n, I think we should talk about last night.”

“Last night? I don’t remember most of it,” you brought the coffee cup to your lips and took another gulp, eyes never leaving Tom’s. “Why? Did something happen?”

Tom’s eyes widened as he moved to sit next to you, a frown appearing on his face. “You really don’t remember anything?”

“Nope, sorry,” you shook your head and shrugged your shoulders as you ran a fingertip around the rim of the mug. “Is there something I should remember?”

You started racking your brain, wondering if he’d told you something you should have remembered or pointed someone out to you. If you were being honest, the most you remembered of the night was drowning in his eyes and paying no attention to any of the songs the rather terrible DJ was playing. You tried not to think about how he’d looked in that suit, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, and the burgundy jacket that showed off his arms. Right now, he was in his pyjamas, slung loosely at the hips and barely concealing what you knew was there – you couldn’t decide which look you preferred.

Tom looked at you for a long moment, something that looked like pain dancing behind his eyes. You bit your lip and cocked your head, wondering whether someone had said something to him and you’d forgotten. “Shit, Tom, was something said?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he blurted, sighing audibly. “It doesn’t matter, just forget it.”

“Are you sure?” You raised an eyebrow, convinced you were missing something. “Something’s not right.”

“Nah, I’m cool, don’t worry about it,” Tom shrugged, and started to walk towards the door.

“Do you wanna get dressed and go catch a movie? You never have a day off, you shouldn’t have to spend it looking after me.” Maybe you were trying too hard, but the little pinch at the top of his brow made your heart hurt, and all you wanted to do was reach out and smooth it over. And preferably punch whoever had been there in the first place.

He shook his head. “No, I think I’m just gonna go to work.”

“But you took the day off!”

“There’s always something to do,” he laughed, the sound hollow and sad.

“Okay…” you nodded, the coffee cup shaking in your hand. “If you’re…if you’re sure.”

With a final nod, he turned and disappeared from your room, leaving you staring after his retreating back. Whatever had happened there, you wished you could have made it better. Maybe if you could remember what he meant, you’d be able to put the pieces back together and stitch up his clearly broken heart. Seeing Tom upset was like losing a piece of yourself, and until he was fixed you’d be constantly searching for a way to cheer him up.

Half an hour later, you heard the front door slam and the distant sound of his feet ringing on the steps as he left. For some reason, you felt empty, like when he left he took a piece of you with him. All you wanted to do was curl back up in the bed and fall asleep, but it was no use staying cooped up here if there was nothing to do. Sighing, you got to your feet and grabbed your hairbrush, shrieking when you saw the state it was in.

No wonder Tom had practically run away, you had a bird’s nest on your head.

***

Three Months Later

“Tom?” you called out, kicking the front door shut with your foot. “Can you help me?” Grocery bags were piled high in your hands, oranges spilling on the floor as you struggled into the kitchen.

“Here love, let me,” he swept in and gathered the three heaviest ones into his arms. “Harry’s here by the way.”

“Hi Harry,” you yelled “are you the one eating all my chocolate digestives?”

“nrgrnej,” Harry mumbled, stepping into the kitchen with half a biscuit hanging out of his mouth.

“Typical!”

“Can’t help it they’re so delicious,” he shrugged, looking at you with his hands raised.

Laughing, you shook your head and waved your hand in the direction of the bags. “As payment, you can pack those away.”

“Yes, sir!”

You walked into the living room, expecting the bomb that followed Harry everywhere to have crash landed in there too. Sure enough, pillows and blankets were strewn everywhere, the telly was blaring and biscuit crumbs were scattered everywhere, crunching beneath your feet as you stepped into the room.

You couldn’t help the eyeroll that followed, starting the clean up job that would otherwise have taken hours later on. Every so often, you’d come across one of Tom’s socks or a pen he had chewed on whilst making notes on a script, and you smiled at how tidy he was. As you started to finish up and the boys packed away the final can of peas, you noticed Tom’s script thrown on the floor, the bookmark he’d been using turned face up against the grey carpet.

Gingerly, you picked the script up and tucked your finger in the page he’d been reading, then flipped the bookmark over. You smiled as you realised these were the pictures you’d taken in that photobooth all those months ago, probably too drunk to remember to pick them up. But Tom had remembered, like he always did, and a slow grin crept across your face as your eyes trailed across the photos, tracing memories you didn’t know you had.

Until the last one.

The last one you couldn’t remember, but it was clearly there, in black and white, staring you in the face. Your lips on Tom’s. Tom’s lips on yours. And suddenly everything he’d said the morning after, how he’d wanted to talk to you and the hurt look on his face when you said you couldn’t remember anything, came shooting back all at once. You took in a deep breath, hearing noises at the door, and looked up with tears in your eyes.

“Y/n?” Tom said, panic lacing his voice “What’s wrong?”

He ran his eyes over you, freezing as he finally saw what you were holding. You held it out in a trembling hand, lips shaking as you asked him what it was.

“I think I better go,” Harry mumbled, turning for the door. “I’ll call you later mate.”

Tom didn’t reply, still not breaking your gaze and for the first time in the entire time you’d known him, you didn’t have a fucking clue what was going through his mind.

“I didn’t mean for you to see that,” he stammered.

“Why not?” Your voice was barely a whisper, the image of what you had wanted so desperately for years still seared into your mind. How could you have forgotten something like that? Something so cataclysmic and beautiful? You’d kissed Tom – and you had forgotten.

“You said you couldn’t remember…I figured you didn’t like it.”

“I was drunk, you idiot!” You hissed, waving the piece of paper in his face “I definitely wanted to know this happened.”

“But why?” he asked, and you stared at him like he was insane until he clarified. “You didn’t remember it, and you passed out before we could talk about what it meant. And in the morning, when you couldn’t remember, I figured maybe you’d just supressed it, and you didn’t want to think about it.”

Your mouth dropped open, thinking about how all this time the man you were in love with had thought you didn’t want to remember your kiss. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe.”

“You really thought I wanted to forget that?”

“Didn’t you?”

“NO! Oh my God, you are blind!” you groaned, dropping the strip of photos. It fluttered to the floor between you, the chasm of space feeling miles across yet only centimetres deep. “I’m freaking in love with you Tom, I’ve been in love with you for years, I didn’t want to forget that!”

His eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth kept moving like he wanted to say something. But you were done with wondering whether he felt the same; you’d kissed and now you felt like you could finally let it all out, what you’d bottled up since that day with the pancakes. What only his mum had heard when she’d found you crying on the kitchen floor the day Tom announced he was seeing someone new. What you’d scribbled about ferociously in diary upon diary, convinced you were stupid and he would never see you the same way.

You were done with the pretending, had been for years, and now was your chance to finally say what you’d only thought about in your dreams.

“I fall asleep at night and I think about you, I wake up and you’re the first person I want to see. When you go away filming I sneak into your room and fall asleep there because it’s the only place that smells like you. I’ve spent hours crying over you, sounding pathetic because I was too scared to tell you how I felt. And then this happens, and you don’t tell me about the one thing that could have changed everything! I had to find out through some stupid photo that you didn’t even mean for me to see!”

By the time you were finished, tears were streaming down your cheeks and you were panting with exhaustion, relief washing over you as you finally let go of the deepest secret you’d ever had. Tom said nothing, his mouth parted in shock, and you closed your eyes and tilted your head back, wishing you could just fall through the floor and never come back.

Suddenly, his arms wrapped around you, gently pulling you into a hug so tight you could hardly breathe. His breathing stuttered against you, and you pulled away so that you were looking him in the eye, your faces only inches from touching. Exactly like that night in the photobooth, only now you could remember every part of this. And you would for years to come.

“I didn’t know that,” Tom’s voice cracked, and your heart broke at the desperation slipping through his lips. “I didn’t know you felt like I did.”

“Like you did?” Your breathing stopped, and you didn’t dare believe you’d heard him right.

Taking a deep breath, Tom gripped your shoulders and looked you dead in the eye, all the bravado stripped back until he was just Tom. Your Tom. “Y/n L/n, I have loved you since the day I met you. Since the day you walked into that classroom, and I haven’t looked back. I never thought you felt the same, and I kept it bottled up for years. For a while, I thought I was over you, but my mum reminded me that love isn’t something that can fade just because you have a replacement.”

“If I could have anyone, I’d still choose you. I’d still choose your stinky morning breath and bed head, the way you can’t cook and the way you can’t stand tomatoes on your sandwich but you love ketchup. I’d choose your body and your mind, you heart and your soul, because you have meant everything to me since the day you first sat next to me in class, and I haven’t seen anything as beautiful since.”

You blinked, barely able to absorb the words let alone process them. You’d dreamed of him saying these words for years, and yet now that you were finally hearing them, it felt less romantic than it was sad.

“You’ve loved me too? All this time?” you choked, letting the realisation wash over you.

“All this time, and more too,” Tom replied, his voice low and thick with emotion.

“And that night in the photobooth?”

You held your breath, not sure if you wanted to hear the answer. For once, your future was out of your hands, and it lay in the balance of a boy you had loved in private for years. You were quite literally on a knife’s edge, and whichever way you fell you had to hope there was someone to catch you.

“That night in the photobooth was the greatest decision I ever made,” Tom replied. “You’re the greatest decision I ever made.”

Maybe you would’ve heard what he was going to say next, but you no longer cared as you flung yourself towards him and let your lips collide. As electricity sparked against your skin, you found yourself slipping once more into the dark abyss, but this time you were ready. This time the only thing you were drunk on was the scent of Tom – and this time, you were never letting go.

[mysewingadventures]

Making a Robe à la Polonaise (Part 4 - final)

Aaand my gown is complete!

I have to admit, I pretty much already finished it on Sunday, but I had some final touches to make which I did today so now I can finally officially say, it is complete.

First of all, if anyone remembers my seams from my other 18th century gown, please forgive me but also know that thanks to this blog, my sewing has gotten so much neater and I love it so much! If I’m sewing just for myself, I usually don’t care about the little things but I think I will now because it makes such a big difference! It looks so much more professional.

But anyways, I left off in my last post with just the bodice finished, so now I had to add the skirt - my favorite and the easiest part. I cut a rectangle of 180cm+110cm (the 110 obviously just depend on your height from the waist down to the floor, but make sure not to forget the undergarments and a pannier/bumroll! It will add a few cm). I cut it out with a very useful technique I learned from watching Bernadette Banner’s videos, which involves pulling out a single thread from the piece of fabric at the point you want to cut it. This way you can cut the straightest line across! I only use it when I have to cut very big panels that aren’t that easy to just measure evenly and draw a line across.

I did it by cutting a tiny bit into the fabric where I’ll pull out the thread and then I used some tweezers to pull out the thread. You have to be really careful and patient, the thread might break a few times especially if you’re doing this for the first time but you’ll get the hang of it!

And then I finished all the seams except for the bottom one.

After that, I measured around my waist to the points in the front where I want the skirt to end as it doesn’t close all the way in the front. Technically you should follow the edges of the bodice but I didn’t think of that so I just measured my waist but it still worked. Now I knew when I would pleat the top edge of the skirt, how small it had to become when pleated. In a weird way, I made tiny pleats of maybe half a cm all the way across and it was close enough to the length I needed it to be, so I left it as it was.

I then secured the pleats by stitching over them. You don’t really have to do this as they’ll be secured enough when you sew them to your bodice but I just didn’t want the mess of having so many pins to take care of that would just be in the way so I just did this real quick.

Afterwards, I pinned the pleated fabric to the bodice right sides facing together and stitched it up to the waist seams. I made a point of not going further because I wanted the front piece of the bodice to lay on top of the front piece of the skirt. I saw that in photos of extant garments so I’m just assuming that’s one way to do it. So I tried to lay the bodice on top of the pleats so I could now stitch the edge of the bodice to that skirt to have it visibly be on top.

The dress was now way too long on me so I folded the bottom over by a few centimeters and finished the seam.

I generally like wide bottom seams. I know it’s not really a thing but I just like them that way!

Now came the challenging part. Originally, I’d given up making that one gray gown into a Robe à la Polonaise because I could not figure out how to drape it properly. But thankfully, while I was researching something completely different (that I’ll hopefully make a post about soon, as soon as I can gather enough information about it), I came across an article explaining that they would attach small rings to the underside of the skirt to pull a ribbon through it. I didn’t really find anything that could work, but from making my 1890s corset, I still had some eyelet plates (idk what they’re called), they were a little flat but they would work while I would be looking for something more fitting. So I measured exactly where I wanted to pin the skirt up and sewed six rings to each side, each 19cm apart. Then I put the band through.

Sorry for my orange nail, it stained from dying my hair red)

Finally, the hooks at the front of the bodice and I was ready to wear it! To be completely honest, yes, it has some flaws but it still felt like I was wearing something straight out of the movies, or another world. I have to use a fichu, not just because it was actually fashionable back then but also because my stays are a little visible at the neckline. I do have another pair of stays, maybe it works better with those, I haven’t tried them yet.

But anyways, here she is - my ca. 1775 (stays are 1750s) Robe à la Polonaise.

The photoshoot I talked about is going to happen at some point in the future. It’s very hot at the moment and I’m barely venturing out in shorts, I’ll have to wait until it’s more bearable to wear all those layers! (Also, I have to build up the courage to go outside in 1770s wear.)

All in all I’d say that this is definitely my favorite thing I’ve ever made. I’m still so in love with that fabric!

[ends-of-the-wayward-storm]

KH OC Week 2020–Day 6: Life’s Perks

Nothing Beats Homemade

[This time I had a plan! Partially. I got the gist of it before filling in the finer details. Anyway this was actually kinda cute to write, but it’s a bit long, I think. Got to practice more with writing some characters which is always nice. :) Hope you enjoy!] @khoc-week

————

“Here you go.”

Seifer frowned as he took the letter from Erica. “At least this was on time.”

“Mail comin’ in late’s the worst, y’know?” Rai commented.

“That it?”

“Looks like it,” Erica replied, giving her messenger bag one last search. “Hope you have a good day!”

“We’ll see about that.”

Erica briefly frowned before setting her skateboard down and heading off. That was the last piece of mail for today, which meant the weekend was officially hers. She wondered what they’d be able to do this time. Last week, Ax—Lea decided to try his hand at skateboarding. He thought he’d be a pro at it since he considered himself pretty good with balance.

That is until he crashed into someone with a large bag of groceries. Needless to say getting the eggs and ice cream out of his hair took way too long for his liking.

Approaching the post office, Erica slowed down to pick up her skateboard. When she pushed open the door, a little bell rang from above it, alerting a woman with brown hair picked up in a bun.

“Any issues today?” she asked.

“Nope! Everyone got their mail,” Erica replied.

“That’s good to hear.”

Erica hung her bag up just as her Gummiphone buzzed. Fishing it out of her pocket, she felt it buzz a few more times as messages from her friends kept popping up.

“Plans for the weekend?”

“Looks like it.”

“Then I hope you have a good weekend.”

“You too!” Erica gave the woman a wave before exiting the post office and leaning against a pole.

—Pence: Hey Erica! We’re headed to the Bistro for lunch tomorrow. Wanna come with us?

Ooh that sounded fun!

~~Sure!

—Olette: This would be your first time at the Bistro, right?

—Roxas: I think so.

—Olette: It’s amazing! You won’t want to eat anywhere else.

—Lea: Sounds like it’s the best in town.

—Hayner: Sure is.

Erica laughed to herself before tucking her Gummiphone away. Setting her skateboard down again, she set a course for the train station to head home.

————

The next day, Erica was quickly making her way over to the Bistro. She hoped she wasn’t too late. The train was having some minor technical difficulties, but luckily they were able to fix them.

Up ahead, a boy with a sort of wizard’s hat was walking down the street.

“Hi Vivi!” Erica said.

“Hello,” he replied just before she passed him.

After a few more moments the Bistro was in sight, and the rest of her friends were by the steps leading down to it. But what was strange is that they all looked disappointed.

“I’m here!” Erica announced.

“Oh. Hey,” Hayner said dejectedly.

She frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“We just found out the Bistro’s closed for renovations,” Pence replied.

“Oh. . . .”

“Seems we’ll have to find another place for lunch,” Isa said.

“I guess. . . .” Hayner pouted.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to think of something,” Naminé said.

Roxas glanced to the ground in thought for a few seconds. “Maybe we could make something.”

“What would we make?” Xion asked.

“Good question,” Lea commented. “Any ideas?”

Pence hummed. “My dad makes a really mean quiche. Maybe we could try that?”

“Quiche?” Xion repeated.

“It’s kinda like a pie but without the sugar and sweet stuff.”

“Can’t be that hard, can it?” Lea said.

“You said that about the skateboard,” Roxas teased, leaving the redhead spluttering for a comeback.

“A-anyway, whaddowe need to get?”

“I think I have what we need over at my place,” Pence said.

“That makes things easier.”

So the group followed Pence over to his house in hopes of saving their lunch plans.

“I was so looking forward to that crab biscuit thing,” Hayner complained.

“Crab bisque,” Isa corrected.

“Yeah whatever. Point is I’m not getting it.”

“Hayner,” Olette warned.

“I think it might be fun trying to make something,” Erica said, getting a nod from Naminé.

“Besides, you’ve had Pence’s dad’s quiche before.”

“I know,” Hayner moaned.

The group finally approached Pence’s humble abode, and he dug around in his pockets before pulling out a key. “My parents aren’t home but they know I have friends over sometimes.”

Inside was your average but quite cozy home, and there was a very nice vase of flowers on the kitchen counter.

“Nice place,” Lea said.

“Thanks!” Pence said. “Make yourselves at home. Oh, make sure to leave your shoes by the door.” After doing that himself, he began to search his kitchen for the needed ingredients. “Let’s see. . . . Eggs, check, pie crusts, check. . . .” He muttered a few more ingredients before stopping. “Aw man!”

“What’s wrong?” Naminé asked.

“There’s no ham!”

“Can we use something else instead?” Erica asked.

“I’m pretty sure we could, but my dad’s recipe’s the only quiche recipe I know.”

“Maybe we could make something else?” Xion suggested.

“What about pizza?” Olette said.

“Give me oooone second.” Pence scouted the fridge and cabinets. “Yep! We’re good to go!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Hayner said.

As Pence grabbed the ingredients, the others went to wash up. “Anyone like pepperoni?”

“I do!”

“Sure,” Lea replied.

Once everyone gathered in the kitchen, preparations began. Two pizza crusts were placed onto baking sheets and pans, and the oven was set to preheat.

“I figured we’d cheat a little bit with the crusts since someone’s hungry,” Pence said, earning a look from Hayner.

“There’s always next time,” Isa said. “Assuming Hayner won’t object to it.”

“Hey!” Hayner snapped.

“Okay. Roxas you’re in charge of putting the oil on the cheese pizza, and Xion can do the other pizza,” Pence said. “Make sure not to put too much.”

“Got it,” Roxas said, and the group fell into a comfortable silence for a bit. “I wonder what they’re doing renovations for.”

“Could be technical stuff,” Lea said.

“Or they could be fixing other things,” Erica added.

“Maybe. . . .” Roxas inspected his pizza after a couple moments. “Is this enough?”

“Yup,” Pence said.

“What about mine?” Xion asked.

“Perfect. Now we’re going to do the same thing with the pizza sauce.”

Naminé watched Roxas and Xion thoughtfully. “It kind of looks like you’re painting something.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Erica said.

It didn’t take too long for the sauce and the toppings to be put on. And once the pizzas were seasoned, they were placed into the oven.

“And now we wait,” Pence said as he set the dial timer.

“So, what do we do until then?” Erica asked.

“We could play a game,” Olette said.

“What about cards?” At that, the former Organization members exchanged brief looks.

“I think I have some in my room,” Pence said before heading down a hall. A few moments later, he came back with a deck of cards. “Go Fish seems like a good one to start with.”

“Someone we knew was an expert at card games,” Isa said.

“Yeah. So much of an expert it wasn’t even fair,” Lea remarked.

“I won a few games,” Roxas said.

“Me too,” Xion added.

“I guess you just had terrible luck,” Isa said.

Lea sighed. “I just don’t get a break around here, do I?”

The group laughed at his expense, which ultimately tugged a smile out of Lea.

Erica studied the hand she was dealt. “So uh, who goes first?”

“I think Isa’s supposed to go first,” Hayner said.

“All right.” Isa eyed his cards. “Any 2’s?”

“Aw man!” Hayner forked over two of them, and the blue-haired man couldn’t help smirking.

The group managed to make a full circle at least once, and already Naminé seemed to be taking first place with Isa not too far behind. Once they got to Erica a second time, the timer buzzed, startling Xion.

“I’ll get the plates!” Olette said, leading the others to set their cards down as the pizzas were carefully taken out.

“That smells really good,” Erica said.

“Right?” Pence agreed.

“Hey do you still have that lemonade from yesterday?” Hayner asked.

“Think so.” Pence served everyone their slices as the lemonade was poured out. “And lunch is served!”

“Thank you,” Naminé said.

“No problem.”

Isa took a bite before a small smirk made its way through. “Huh. Not bad.”

“Nothing beats homemade!”

“Oh, wait wait! Let’s get a picture!” Olette said. Everyone went behind the counter as they tried to squeeze into frame.

Roxas briefly bumped into Naminé. “S-sorry.”

“It’s all right, Roxas,” the blonde said.

“Little to the left, Hayner,” Olette said as Erica blew a stray curl out of her face. “Um Lea could you bend down a bit? You too, Isa.”

“How ‘bout I take the picture?” Lea suggested.

“That might be a better idea.” Olette handed her device to him.

“I think you still need to bend down,” Pence said.

“Maybe put it higher?” Naminé said.

Lea raised the device, and everyone managed to fit into the soon-to-be picture. “Uh which button are you supposed to press again?”

“I think the red one?” Erica guessed.

Xion squinted at tiny numbers counting up on the screen. “What are those numbers there?”

“I didn’t do it,” Lea said instantly.

“It’s been recording this whole time?!” Pence exclaimed.

“Oops,” Olette said. “Um push the red button.”

Lea did as told, and the numbers stopped counting. “All right now what?”

“Press the button next to the red one. Now everyone say cheese!”

“Cheese!” mostly everyone said before the picture was taken.

“Nice photo!”

As everyone continued with their meal, Roxas kept occasionally glancing to the pepperoni pizza.

“Can I try that?” he finally asked.

“Oh sure!” Pence gave Roxas a slice, and Roxas took a bite. But after a few seconds, he let out a cough.

“That’s . . . really strong pepperoni.”

“Really? Never really noticed,” Lea said.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Isa said as Roxas debated on taking another bite or not.

“You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to, y’know.”

“Yeah. Not everyone likes pepperoni,” Hayner said. Roxas frowned, and Lea snatched the slice right off of Roxas’s plate.

“We should do this again some time,” Naminé said.

“This was pretty fun,” Erica agreed.

“How ‘bout tomorrow?” Olette said.

“I don’t see why not,” Isa said.

“Then it’s settled! Tomorrow it is.”

As Erica watched her friends discuss tomorrow’s lunch (which Pence promised would be his dad’s quiche), she smiled to herself. She was sure they still would’ve had this much fun if they had gone to the Bistro, but somehow having it just be them felt more special. I guess nothing really does beat homemade.

————

[blurry-fics]

Prove It

Pairing: Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: Accusations of infidelity, manipulative behavior, profanity, angst

Word Count: 3055

Request: At the end to avoid spoilers!

Author’s Note: Lots of angst, I know and I’m sorry! I’ll try to write something nicer for next week :) Also, I tried out a new paragraph break inspired by @ohprettyweeper-fics​! It always bothers me that the asterisks aren’t centered so hopefully this will be a nice fic, feel free to let me know what you think :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one! (picture credit)

Josh: Late night at the studio, will be home as soon as possible. Love you

Your heart sunk as soon as you read the message from Josh. Between recording sessions, design meetings, and late night calls with Tyler about tiny album details, Josh’s schedule had left hardly any time for the two of you to be together lately. Most of your evenings were spent curled up on the couch with Jim and waiting for Josh to get home so you could have actually have dinner together.

Y/N: no worries, drum your little heart out, dun. i love you too :)

You closed your messages and switched over to Instagram to see what your friends back home were up to tonight. There wasn’t anything super exciting - mostly due to the fact that it was Tuesday - but a couple of them had shared photos of their dogs. You decided to join in on the trend and post a cute picture of Jim for your friends to see, as well as the other thousands of followers you had amassed from being known as “Josh’s partner”.

By the time you finished posting the picture with a caption about spending the night in, minus the part about Josh not being there, Tyler had also taken the opportunity to post to his Instagram story. Eager to see what him and Josh were up to, you clicked on it. Your heart dropped as you realized it wasn’t him and Josh at the studio, but a video of Mark standing in front of a mural with Tyler’s voice clearly behind the camera. Josh was nowhere in sight.

That didn’t bode well.

You didn’t even take a moment to consider if you were acting irrationally before you dialed Tyler’s number. Your feet tapped quickly against the edge of the coffee table as you waited for him to pick up. It only took a couple rings before Tyler’s voice was carrying through the phone.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah, hi.”

“Is everything ok?”

“I’m not sure,” you said, chewing on the edge of your thumb. “Is Josh with you?”

“No, I haven’t seen him since we left the studio.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

“Is everything ok?”

“I don’t know, Tyler,” you huffed. “Can you please just answer the question?”

“He said he was heading home. Will you please tell me what’s going on?” Tyler snapped.

“I just- Josh said that you guys were staying late at the studio, but that obviously wasn’t the case because you and Mark are downtown.”

“You think he’s lying to you?” His tone had switched entirely. Sometimes it was easy to forget Tyler had been your friend long before you dated Josh.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s hard not to assume the worst.”

“Do you need to talk about it?”

“No, I don’t want to make a huge deal out of something that could just be a miscommunication. I’ll talk to him when he gets home, whenever that is.”

“Ok. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“This isn’t your fault, Ty. Go enjoy your night.”

“Will you keep me updated?”

You sighed. Although Tyler was your friend, you didn’t really feel like you should drag him into the middle of your relationship drama.

“We’ll see what happens. Like I said, I really don’t want to make this a big deal if it’s nothing.”

“Ok, but you know I’m here for you, right?”

“Always,” you smiled. “I’ll talk to you later, ok?”

“Don’t forget about lunch on Wednesday!”

“I never could.”

“Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye.”

You set your phone down on your lap and rubbed at your temples. Josh hadn’t given you any sort of estimate about when he would be home and it was already nearing 9 p.m.

It seemed you would just have to play the waiting game.

You finally heard Josh pull into the driveway around 10:30. Jim’s head perked up at first, but it wasn’t until Josh’s keys were in the door that he finally hopped down and ran to greet him. You took your time getting off the couch and wrapping a blanket around your shoulders for comfort, not to mention that the rest of the house felt cold after you had been nestled up on the couch with Jim for a couple of hours.

“Hi, love!” you called, feeling a bad taste enter your mouth as you said it.

“Y/N!” Josh said, appearing around the corner with a smile on his face. “I missed you.”

You did a quick scan of Josh’s appearance to see if it would give you any clues about where he might have been. His hair was a bit messy, but that was always the case, there weren’t any hickeys on his neck or on the bit of collarbone peeking out from under his shirt, and he was wearing the same outfit as when he had left.

“How was the studio?” you asked as he gave you a quick kiss. One of his hands was hidden behind his back.

“It was good, we got a lot of work done.”

So he was upholding the lie.

“You know, I was talking to Tyler on the phone not long after you texted me,” you started. Hopefully Josh wouldn’t be able to hear your voice shaking. “It didn’t sound like he was at the studio.”

After giving you a kiss, Josh had walked straight into the kitchen, meaning you couldn’t see the current look on his face. You were almost glad to have a wall in between the two of you right now. It made the confrontation easier.

“You did?”

“Where were you, Josh?” you said, squeezing your eyes shut. You didn’t want to feed into his games.

“Getting you these.”

You opened your eyes and blinked, clearing the blur away. Josh was standing a few feet away from you, holding a vase full of red roses. There was a shy smile on his face as he held the vase towards you.

“For an hour?” you asked, taking it from him. It was a serious question posed as a joke.

“Well, my plan was to just pick up the flowers, but one of my friends called because his car broke down and needed a jump start and I just so happened to be in the neighborhood because I was leaving the studio. Then we ended up talking for half an hour before we actually got the car started, you know how we are.”

“I appreciate the flowers, Josh. Thank you,” you said, giving him another kiss. It seemed all of your concerns had been unnecessary.

“How were things here?” Josh asked, once again walking back into the kitchen. This time you had the confidence to follow him and take a seat at the counter while he made himself a drink. Jim curled up next to your chair.

“Same as always. Jim and I watched some TV together, talked to a few friends from back home, made a microwave pizza for dinner and slipped a couple pieces of ham to Jim.”

“I’m sure he enjoyed that,” Josh smiled.

“He did. Hey, do you want to go watch something in the living room?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

You shuffled back towards the living room while Josh finished putting his things away and taking off his shoes. While you waited for him, you sent Tyler a quick text.

Y/N: turns out there was nothing to worry about. it was a miscommunication like i thought

You and Jim had already made yourselves comfortable by the time Josh finally made his way into the living room. He had swapped out his jacket and jeans for a pair of sweats and a tight t-shirt. It was hard not to stare as he got closer and sat down on the couch.

“Enjoying the view?” he laughed as he sat down next to you.

“Just a little.”

“Me too.” He pressed a kiss to your cheek before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer into his side. “What do you want to watch?”

“Whatever you want to is fine, I already caught up on everything I’m watching.”

“Alright.”

Josh leaned forward to grab the remote off the coffee table, which is when you noticed the tiny smudge of red just below his ear. Your heart sunk at the sight of it; you couldn’t even remember the last time you had worn red lipstick.

“You have a little something,” you said once he sunk back into the cushions. “Don’t move.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Not sure, but… there, it’s gone.”

“Thank you.” Josh smiled and puckered his lips, prompting you to give him another kiss.

Once Josh was busy looking for a show for the two of you to watch, you pulled your phone back out of your pocket and opened up your recent messages.

Y/N: just kidding

“I don’t know what’s going on, Tyler,” you sighed, using the hand that wasn’t clutching your phone to pinch the bridge of your nose. “I don’t know why he keeps lying to me.”

“I wish I had answers for you.”

“It’s ok. I never meant to drag you into this in the first place.”

“I think we both knew from the start that I was going to get involved in this one way or another.” Tyler tried to laugh, but it didn’t come out quite right.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do when you and Mark go back to Ohio tomorrow. I guess I’ll just have to figure out his lies on my own.”

“My offer is still open if you end up going through with it.”

“We’ll see,” you said, wiping a tear off your cheek. “We’ll see.”

“Ok, Mark is waving at me which means I need to get back in there. I’ll talk to you once we’re done with this session, ok?”

“Ok. Good luck.”

“Thanks. Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye.”

You closed your eyes and flopped back onto the bed. It had been a week since you first discovered Josh was lying to you and the evidence had only been growing since then. He was always on his phone when you were together, always texting someone and smiling but never telling you who it was. Then there was the fact that he always had his phone within a few inches of him and never face up. You had heard enough of your friends’ stories to have an idea about what that meant.

On top of that, he had told you multiple times that he had to stay late again, only for you to confirm with Tyler that he had made some excuse about going across town before heading home. Even when Tyler pressed him for information, he wouldn’t say anything other than he was seeing a friend. Still, without any solid evidence, you hesitated to confront him in case you were entirely misreading the situation, despite your instinct telling you that it was exactly what you thought it was.

Josh got home nearly two hours after you got a text from Tyler confirming that they were done at the studio. That was another piece of evidence that you had gathered: Josh was always gone for an extra hour or two after a text from Tyler. Never more. Never less. The mere thought of it made you uneasy.

“Hey,” Josh said, stepping into the living room. His hair was messy again today and he had opted to wear a shirt with a higher neckline than he was usually partial to. “I didn’t realize you were here, you were so quiet.”

“Sorry, lost in thought.”

Josh sat down in the chair across from you and started to untie his shoes. You quickly scanned his neck, looking for any leftover lipstick smears or hickeys that you were sure you hadn’t left yourself. As far as you could tell, he was still doing a good job of hiding them.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now.”

“Let me know if you change your mind,” Josh said, looking up at you with a smile.

“I will.”

“Alright, well I’m going to run upstairs and get changed before we start making dinner.”

Perfect.

“Ok,” you said, puckering your lips. Josh walked over and gave you a gentle kiss before heading upstairs.

You waited an acceptable amount of time before following Josh, already thinking up whatever excuse you would give him as to why you had come upstairs. If you timed things right, you would be able to walk in right as he was changing his shirt and get a good look at his chest. Josh usually took any opportunity he could get to walk around shirtless, but over the last week you hadn’t seen him shirtless once. He had to be hiding something from you.

You peeked your head just inside the door before making your presence known. He was still wearing the shirt from earlier in the day, having only changed into sweatpants so far. Before changing his shirt, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text. Your heart started to pound in your chest as you realized what you were about to do. In all your investigation, you hadn’t once stopped to think about what it meant for you and Josh.

If you were right, this was the end.

Before you had too much of a chance to get caught up in your thoughts, Josh started to pull off his shirt. You rolled your shoulders and then walked into the room, acting as if you had just come up the stairs.

“Hey, Josh?”

“Woah, hey, Y/N.”

Josh turned to you, his eyebrows raised in surprise. He was still clutching the shirt he had been wearing earlier in the day to his chest, but it wasn’t enough to cover the numerous hickeys across his chest and collarbones.

Hickeys that you knew for a fact hadn’t come from you.

“What are those?” you asked, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“Nothing,” he said, reaching into the closet to grab a clean shirt. He pulled it over his head without another word.

“Nothing? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think I’m some sort of idiot, Josh?”

“I just got in an accident when I was skateboarding the other day. It’s not a big deal.”

“God, stop lying to me!” you said, pressing your fingers to your temples.

“How do you know I’m lying?”

“You’ve lied to me about staying late at the studio multiple times in the last week! And you’ve lied to me about who you’re texting. And you’re lying to me right now.”

“How do you know?” Josh said, carefully enunciating each word.

You looked up towards the ceiling, shaking your head. You said you wouldn’t drag him into this.

“Tell me, Y/N. You’re just making yourself look like an idiot right now.”

“I talked to Tyler, alright? And he confirmed what I already thought I knew.”

Josh shook his head, “I can’t believe you, going behind my back to get information from my best friend. You could have talked to me.”

“You’re mad I went behind your back because it means that your manipulation tactics don’t work on me. And in case you forgot, he was my best friend before he even knew you existed.”

Josh grabbed at his hair and turned away from you, walking the length of the room. You stood frozen just inside the doorway, your arms still crossed tightly in front of your chest.

“Just admit it, Josh,” you said softly. “You’re cheating on me.”

“You’re crazy, Y/N. I would never do that to you.”

“Then tell me where you’ve been, Josh. Show me evidence that you were actually doing the things that you said you were.”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you!” he said, suddenly raising his voice. His anger was all the evidence you needed.

“I’m not asking for anything groundbreaking.”

“You really think that I would do that to you?” he asked, pointing a finger in your direction. “That I would sleep with someone else when I could just come home to you every night? I didn’t know what love was until I met you, Y/N, and you’re accusing me of throwing that all away just so I could sleep with somebody else? Is that really what you think of me?”

“Just stop. I’m not going to fall for this again.”

“There’s nothing to fall for! I’m telling you how I feel!”

“I’ve only asked you for one thing, Josh. I just need proof that you’re not cheating, but you can’t even give me that.”

“I’m not cheating on you!”

“Prove. It.”

Josh was silent as he continued to pace the room. You waited for him to say something - anything - but he couldn’t. It was the exact response that you had expected.

“It’s settled then. Tyler got me a seat on their flight back to Ohio tomorrow. I'm going with them.”

“So you’re just going to give up on us like that? Three years of a relationship down the drain?”

You shook your head, “I’m not the one that gave up on us.”

“Please, Y/N, we can make this work. I’m so sorry for what I did. I’ll cut things off with her immediately. I love you. Please.”

Josh started to reach for your arms, but you pushed him away.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch me. What you did was unforgivable, Josh.”

“She could never compare to you-”

“Stop. It’s over, Josh. I’m packing my things and going to Tyler’s tonight. By tomorrow, I’ll be back in Ohio so you never have to think of me again.”

“There won’t be a day that goes by that I don’t think of you.”

“Good.”

You turned and walked back downstairs before Josh had a chance to say another word to you. There was still the matter of avoiding him while you packed up all your belongings, but you would find ways to avoid talking to him. All of the things you needed to say had been said, now you just had to make peace with the situation. Being back in Ohio close to your friends and family would be a good way to start that journey.

You only wished that you could take Jim with you.

Request: yay!! i’ve had this request in the back of my mind for a while...i was thinking of Josh x reader and they’re dating but the reader finds out Josh is ALSO dating someone else 👀 -@faceofcontvsions​

[kinghoranshit]

Tell Me a Lie (NH) Ch 3

Word Count: 2,065

Warnings: Swearing

I snapped a pretzel in half and munched on it. I dipped the other half into the small jar of peanut butter and popped it into my mouth before I flipped the piece of paper to the other side. I was deep in editing mode for Stone Cold. 

I had talked to my manager about the upcoming events since there were red carpet dates already locked down for later that year, and she approved them, along with congratulations on the romance. But I was not able to get any definitive days off to truly work on Stone Cold, so I was still back to my weird schedule to get it finished on time. 

Out of bad habit, I clicked my power button on my phone and looked at the screen for anything to distract me for a short second. There was a message from Niall. 

N: Yoo, it’s go time . 

L: Really? What about publicity photos?

N: This is gonna work better . I’m gonna use one of our old selfies . 

L: Haha You mean from backstage in Chicago? That was like 6 months ago... 

N: It’s the only recent once we’ve got , Kelly . 

It’ll work 

L: I guess you’re right.

N: I am (: 

Be ready for it . 

Now, an Instagram notification came up and I already knew who it was from. I pulled down my notifications bar to see it and tapped it. I swear my heart stopped at the caption. 

@NiallOfficial: You know I don’t like lying to you all, but I’ve kept this a secret . For the sake of wanting our first few months to be only us . Well , those few months turned into a full year . I couldn’t be happier with this woman ! She makes me feel like I’m on cloud 9 . She even makes the golf losses better haha

He’d also tagged me. It was another requirement for social media; all posts had to be tagged. I was suddenly super nervous. This was actually it. There were so many new follows, likes, and comments on my account, and people were commenting congrats underneath Niall’s; though it wasn’t hard to miss a few of the mean wishes. 

K: So…. this is really it?

N: Yup . You got this , Kelly !   

K: There weren’t that many restrictions to the socials, surprisingly…

Do I have to follow people back? 

N: Haha no ! Follow who ya want 

K: Cool

A Twitter notification popped up on my top bar. I pulled it down to see Niall had tagged me in a photo there as well, and it was similarly worded to Instagram. At least it wasn’t a total copy and paste, that wasn’t necessarily Niall’s style. The Twitter notifications also started to flow in and I knew there had to be some way to filter them or this was going to be overwhelming.

K: Please tell me there’s a way to filter the notifications 

N: Absolutely , under your settings there should be a way to just get ones of people you follow 

If you get verified , I’ll help you with those 

K: Who said anything about me getting verified? 

N: Kelly , don’t act so cavalier love . It’ll happen eventually . 

I’ll walk you through it , I had Modest to help me and you’ve got me to help you

K: Duh duh DUHHHH

N: Okay , if you don’t want it I won ‘t give it to ya 

K: You know you will anyway

You loooove me 

N: Augh

You’re right 

***

I finally gathered the courage to thoroughly go through my Twitter notifications. I figured that the most recent ones may not be necessarily nice since I had been MIA for a few days after Niall’s initial post. But could they really blame me? I didn’t think so. 

My Twitter followers went from literally 450 to 38K. Just cause I was Niall’s “girlfriend”? That’s just… I couldn’t lie, I never followed the boys’ girlfriends or PR girlfriends, whatever they were to them. I didn’t have much to say to this. 

I decided to make a tweet first before doing anything else. 

@kellygarden: Sorry I’ve been MIA y’all. About to get interactive though! How about a Q&A? Hashtag #AskKelly :) 

I used the time of people asking questions to go through some of those following me and follow a few. And when I say a few, I mean a few. I might do a follow spree at some point and do a hundred or a couple hundred people. 

I about shit my pants seeing some of those who were following me that I was already following. Like Tom Holland, all the 5SOS boys, the other lads from One Direction, and Selena Gomez. Holy shit. What? Why? I was having a hard time believing this, but I couldn’t stop a smile from crossing my lips. So unreal. 

I searched my hashtag now and looked at some of the questions, replying to some. 

@Fuckmeniall: @KellyGarden Was it love at first sight? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Fuckmeniall First off, love your @ . It was more like love at first coffee - we met at a cafe in London :)

@DamagedQueen: @KellyGarden Hw old r u? Wt do u do? #AskKely PS luv ur layout<3

@KellyGarden: Aww thanks so much! I’m 24 and a novel editor for a publishing house in London. 

@Jocylnbitch: @KellyGarden I don’t really like you, but I have a question about Niall. What’s he like in bed? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Jocylnbitch: Glad to hear your opinion about me. And I don’t think that’s any of your business. 

@Rylanroll: @KellyGarden R u a virgin? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Rylanroll Are you old enough to be asking this question? But no, I’m not.

@Hannable: @KellyGarden If you could clone yourself, would you? Why? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Hannable I would. As selfish as this is, I’d have my clone to do my work so I could go see the world and be with Nialler.

@Uplousass: @KellyGarden Have you met the other boys yet? Freddie? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Uplousass Props for the @, I’m dying! *laugh crying face emoji* I haven’t... and I’m not going to force any of them to meet me if they choose not to. 

@NiallOfficial: @KellyGarden How far are you up my ass? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @NiallOfficial I would be Hella far up if you weren’t so far up mine already :P

@Michael5SOS: @KellyGarden CAN I MEET YOU?! ASDLFKAS #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Michael5SOS DLKASLGA YEAH IF YA WANT 

@lukecummings: @KellyGarden Have you ever written fanfiction? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @lukecummings I have, but they’re cringy af. I’m not kidding on that. They will never resurface the web. 

@Astheticnolan: @KellyGarden What are you favorite smells on earth? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Astheticnolan COFFEE, books, rain, You&I perfume, flowers, Niall’s cologne

@Haywire: @KellyGarden What’s your music taste? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Haywire My music library is on crack. I could be listening to 1D, then it could go to Skillet, Ed, Counting Crows, M83, etc. It’s a wide range, except no Country.

@Luke5SOS: @KellyGarden Is that lame band 5SOS not in your music library? :(

@KellyGarden: @Luke5SOS Pft yes, yes they are in my music library. It’s full of lame bands lmfao

@Daylight5SOS: @KellyGarden Have you talked with the other boys? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Daylight5SOS Yeah, Louis. 

@Louis_Tomlinson: @KellyGarden Do look forward to officially meeting you. Freddie son says hi.

@KellyGarden: @Louis_Tomlinson I look forward to it as well. Stay safe you two x.

@Penofhope: @KellyGarden Favorite genre to write? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Penofhope Fiction. YA. Mainly Fantasy and Sci-fi. 

@Clotheswhore: @KellyGarden What's your aesthetic? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Clotheswhore By your @ I’m going to assume you mean my clothes aesthetic? I’d say it’s a little bit of everything - I can’t stick to one thing lol

@Niallsride: @KellyGarden Do you drive? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Niallsride I do. Both car and motorcycle/bikes.

@Monaymaker: @KellyGarden Do you drink? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Monaymaker I do socially.

@Harry_Styles: @KellyGarden I look forward to meeting you. Niall is a lucky guy. All the love. H. #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Harry_Styles Thank you so much, H! Soon I hope x.

@Horanyass: @KellyGarden How many kids do you want? Gender ? Would you like to have them with Niall? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Horanyass 2 or 3, any gender, and if I happen to have my kids with Niall then I’d be happy about it :)

@Styleskid: @Kellyiebabes Fave bromances of 1D and 5SOS? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Styleskid All the ones with Luke and Niall, Cashton, and Lilo. 

@5Saucelove: @KellyGarden Pancakes or waffles? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @5Saucelove Waffles all the way! X.

@Horanhasmyheart: @KellyGarden Have you heard any songs off Niall’s upcoming album? #AskKelly

@KellyGarden: @Horanhasmyheart Nope, he’s super secretive about it. I’m gonna be just as shook as all of you! Looking forward to it! 

I looked at all the ones I answered, smiling a bit at a few of them. I didn’t realize how many I answered or how much time had passed. I had to be on a work call soon, which could go until midnight because of the time difference. 

@KellyGarden: Gotta get back to work. Thank you all for the questions! I’ll be doing another one of these soon, yeah?

I didn’t wait for any of the replies before I locked my phone and set my laptop up for Zoom. 

***

I huffed, observing the cherry patterned and floral dresses in my hands, and the pile of other choices I thought about taking to LA. I was so indecisive right now. How many outfits did I really need? Five days worth, but on top of some clothes for clubbing possibly, and pjs. But if I packed something I didn’t want to wear, I didn’t really want to wear the same thing. Why was I like this?

I huffed once again and flopped down onto the mass. I leave tomorrow and need to get this sorted out. After another half hour of stalling, I willed myself to get back up and actually pack. I decided on six solid outfits, on top of one clubbing fit and pjs. It seemed like the safest route.

N: Get in loser , we’re going to see Paps 

K: Hah hah like oh my god they don’t even go here 

I finally just packed. How’s LA? 

N: Kelly, you’re such a procrastinator 

LA is ready for you 

K: But I don’t know if I’m ready for LA 

N: Ooo so cliche , you’re both ready. 

See you tomorrow x

K: See you tomorrow xo

***

As much as I’d love to say I could handle getting myself to my flight on my own, I couldn’t. I hadn’t flown in a few years and that had been with a group of others. I was flying by myself now, and I have to do all the checking in and such as well. 

I took a deep breath as I approached the security check line. I set my purse and backpack in one bin and my duffel in another before setting them on the metal rods that would take it through a detecting machine. I waited for the woman to wave me through the detecting machine, and I went through fine. I mean, I didn’t have anything that would set it off. 

Once my stuff came through the other end of the metal rods line, I grabbed it and put the bins in the pile that was started. When I started walking away to find my gate, I realized I was stupid to be so nervous about going through the line. 

Finding my gate wasn’t hard. It helped that the Cedar Rapids Airport was small. There’s like eight gates. I settled myself in a seat to wait until boarding was called. I took my phone out and busied myself with Instagram and Tumblr; I just scrolled through my feed, liking and reblogging stuff. 

“Gate B is now boarding. If you are first class, you have a separate line. If you are G1 for the coach cabin, you can now board.”

That was me. 

I took another deep breath, grabbing my three bags, and I walked over to the woman. She took my ticket, ripping off the part she needed, and then handed it back to me. “Enjoy your flight.”

“Thanks,” I replied. 

I walked through the terminal and onto the fairly small plane. It was more of a jet. I found my seat and settled everything. I followed the directions given by the fly attendant as I waited for the plane to actually take off, and finally, we moved to be on the runway and ascended into the air. 

Next: Ch 4

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