#because he had already pretended to try to reconnect

[phantoms-lair]

88 for the crossover roulette.

Okay, this one took me a while

~~~~ "You really are like a cockroach aren't you?"

Vlad whirled around. No human should be in this place! Especially not one he didn't know. And he didn't recognize the tall lanky man one bit, though it was hard to make out his face covered by a hood. "How did you get in my house?"

"There are many ways to get into places Plasmius." he snarled.

Well that was that then. Whoever he was, he couldn't live. He created a duplicate behind the man, ready to strike him unawares-

Only to scream as the duplicate popped and incredible pain lanced through his body.

"Like it?" The stranger sneered, showing off his belt. "Improved model of the specter deflector. Little bit of the Plasmius Maximus built in too. Good luck using your powers for the next several hours." he crouched before Vlad's prone form. "Now where were we? Oh right, you being a cockroach. You do the stupidest shit and then you escape consequences by lying. You lie to your business partners before you rob them blind. You lied to Valerie about everything about ghosts. You like to yourself about how nothings ever your fault and that Mom would ever like you. You lie to Dad about being his friend while trying to kill him."

"Daniel?" Vlad gasped. The man pulled back his hood revealing a familiar face made foreign by age. This Danial was clearly an adult, though not a healthy one, gaunt and wary. "But the specter deflector?"

"Let me tell you a story Vlad. It has a sad beginning. Hell, it's sad all around, but the beginning packs a wallop. It start with a freak explosions at a fast food place causing the deaths of Maddie, Jack, and Jasmine Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley. None of whom became ghosts after that. One survivor, who only survived because his half ghost body regenerated the damage, one Danial Fenton."

"Originally the next of kin to take him is was his Aunt Alicia, but since reconnecting with his 'best friend' Jack had wanted it changed to Vlad Masters. Maddie resisted at first, but after Vlad pretended to save Danny from Pariah Dark, again an incident he'd caused in the first place and again lying, she'd agreed."

"But Vlad wasn't as happy to have control of the boy as he once would have been. He'd blamed him for living when his mother hadn't. He wanted the boy to act grateful for even being in his presence when all the boy wanted was to have died with his loved ones. Needless to say it didn't work out. But did you give him to his Aunt? No. You decided you just needed a better version of him. You'd already been working at your cloning experiments, even if they weren't...built to last." He looked a tube containing a small girl sadly. "But you did the thing you did best besides lying. You got greedy."

"I was at your mercy. Obviously you could have harvest my DNA at your leisure and made a perfect clone, but you decided you wanted more. You decided to splice your own DNA in, so it would truly be 'your' son and that's where everything went wrong."

"You're the first halfa Vlad, but you know how first drafts are. Or maybe you don't, I doubt you ever did your own work. First drafts are messy and incomplete. And that's you as a halfa. Twenty years of experience, but Little Me was catching up to you in less that one. He was also good to go without any serious recovery time while you needed years of hospitalization and even then had flare ups. In terms of blending I was mayonnaise, kept stable and homogenous. You were oil and vinegar, constantly trying to separate. That's what the ecto acne was, you know. Not some skin condition like puberty gone wrong. It was your human body trying to purge itself of ghostly contaminants. Trying to reject Plasmius. And maybe you'd be healthier if you let it."

"But back to the point. You were an imperfect halfa. And you passed that along to the clones you made with your DNA. They failed even faster and you decided the solution was more power. You used me as a battery, draining my ectoplasm into your creation, damaging my body so much I can't create more. You essentially made me human again Vlad. But it still wasn't enough. And you decided it couldn't need much more, so you decided to transfer a bit of your own, only for your creation to take all of it."

"I guess credit where credit it due, you cured my death wish. I lived. I escaped and warned people. They didn't believe me of course. Thought I was mad with grief, especially Val. Until the attacks started. I don't know what the fuck you made with our combined DNA, but whatever it was it had both our memories and neither of our moral compasses, or at least any you pretend to have. It fed off death. And no one was ready for it. For a while I was imprisoned because it would pretend to be me and as such I was deemed a risk. But time helped that. I aged and it didn't. It's human form would always be 14 year old Danny Fenton while it's ghost form was a horrible amalgamation of us. It killed. It destroyed. Anything we did to keep it out it would eventually overpower. Until we decided to game the system."

"Time travel, Vlad. Remove the triggering incident. But not even Clockwork can change things all willy nilly. But what he did was seed things in the past to make the Observants of then panic and order him to fix it. Of course they did it by ordering my death, so Clocky had to work around that. Prove Little Me was worth the chance. Little Me ended up in my time and guess what you did Vlad? Can you guess? You lied again. Made up a whole sob story of how you were just trying to help me with my grief by surgically removing my ghost half and how my ghost half then attacked and stole yours and you'd spent all those years trying to fix it. And he believed you. He's burdened with guilt for a time that never happened and believes you're capable of changing and deserve a second chance. Your lies always work, don't they. But I know better. You can't lie to me, not anymore."

"But I'm not going to kill you Vlad, do you know why?"

"Because you're Daniel. I'm sure you're telling yourself something about how I'll suffer more alive, but the truth is you just can't bring yourself to do something like cold blooded killing." Vlad sneered.

"Wrong. You have no idea what I had to do to survive the hell you made." Danial smiled. "I just respect dibs."

"What? OW!" Vlad's body spasmed as something was forcefully injected into it. He looked up behind him and saw an older version of Valerie Grey, twirling a pressure injector, almost exactly like the ones he used to treat his symptoms when they reoccurred. (The scheming part of his brain realizing that would mean it wouldn't raise any alarms if marks from it were found on his body)

"A little compound based on one of the Fenton's projects. I strengthens ectoplasm and makes it stronger. It would be a real boost for past Danny or any other ghost. But for you? Well, your human form was barely holding it together with the ectoplasm you had."

Vlad whimpered, feeling the bubbling under his skin he recognized from his ectoacne only a hundred times worse.

"Goodbye Vlad." Valerie uncaringly stepped over his dying form and wrapped her arms around Danny, the two joining in a kiss.

"It worked." There was joy in Danny's voice for the first time in along time. "It really worked Val. The future, our loved ones, they're safe."

"They are." Valerie smiled down on him. "So we doing this?"

"Yeah. It's selfish, but I think we've both earned a little selfish." Danny pulled a USB and stuck it in Vlad's computer, Mikey's code rewriting several things. "There we go, edited to include another clone of me and one of you."

"How long are we going to have to be in those tube?" Val wrinkled her nose a little.

"Not long. The evidence we dropped off should get the investigation here in less than a day. Also I missed seeing you with long hair."

"It wasn't practical." Valerie grinned. "But Little You saw me with the buzzcut so I had to grow it back." Thankfully with all the wonders of the Infinite Realms, something to instantly grow hair was downright mundane and something Clockwork had been happy to maintain the timeline.

The story now was the story that had to be. If the Observants discovered they were manipulated they might undo their undo. But Vlad had to be handled and with the narrative the Observants had gotten they wouldn't do it themselves.

(Valerie had actually ranted about this, about how even in the lie Vlad had spun the Monster was half him, But the Observants had put all the blame on the mourning 14 year old. Typical.) The 'responsible' thing would be to let themselves fade from the timeline. Or barring that disappearing and starting new. But as Danny had said, they'd earned a bit of selfishness.

If they posed as clones of their past selves there was a chance their families would be contacted and taken in. It was a gamble. Maybe the authorities they'd contacted would destroy them or turn them over to the GiW. Maybe the Fentons or Damian Grey would see them as a violation of their children and reject them. But they'd take the gamble. It wasn't any worse than the one they'd just taken to save the future. And besides, their younger selves needed all thee help they could get

Sure Danny didn't have powers anymore, but he had the experience fighting his younger self had lacked. If everything worked out, not even Pariah Dark would have a chance against two Danny's working together.

~~~~

Future Danny, Valerie, and Clockwork: We'll seed these images to the Observants so they know all they have to do to save the future is prevent the explosion

Observants: Naturally there's only one way to fix this, KILL THE CHILD

Future Danny, Valerie, and Clockwork: *facepalm*

[ravi-is-my-beloved]

I read that temu anon you answered before and got annoyed

Temu was "falling in line with Gerrard" - oh i must have missed the part where Gerrard first called Chim the chinese food delivery guy and temu meekly agreed? Or when Gerrard said Hen was bitchy and temu sadly had to nod along?

Sure temu fans don't deny what he did (because it's right there plain in canon and undeniable), but for all the ways they excuse him and minimise his actions, they might as well flat out deny it! It's about the same at this point!

"It explains why he made strides to be better and make amends with the people he treated badly" - lol do they mean paying off a life debt to Chim? I didn't see evidence of this "making amends" attitude in his snarky conversation with Hen in 7x03, making comments about never getting her Christmas card, just to make her uncomfortable. Pretending he was doing her a favour, when actually Chim and buddie had already gotten his agreement to help.

Interesting how temu was then never shown trying to reconnect and hang out with Hen or Chim after the cruise ship disaster or the rest of s7? No, instead he latched onto Eddie in the aftermath - Eddie the "new guy" who was the least likely to know anything about temu's past!

Saying he's an open, confident and kind person feels like a stretch - thinking of how he shut down Buck's attempt to connect over their issues with their fathers? Calling an uber without telling buck, leaving buck on the kerb...where's the "kind" temu bt shippers speak of?

I have nothing to add, so all I'll say is: preach, anon, preach.

[sunflowersandsapphires]

All This World Could Give Me

Of Oak and Ivy, Chapter 4

Series Masterlist           Next Chapter

pairing: Matt Murdock x fem!reader 

summary: In college, Matt Murdock had two best friends, Foggy Nelson and you. However, life had no intention of letting you graduate with him. When he reconnects with you in adulthood, he is troubled to see the hand God has dealt you and vows to use every tool at his disposal to save you from damnation.

warnings: swearing, possessive/slightly pervy Matt (he’s 18 y’all, cut him some slack), implied sexual activity, non-graphic descriptions of masturbation, religious conversations and catholic imagery

I’m ignoring canon a bit here and pretending Matt and Lantom were already close. Sue me.

a/n: I know it's been too long since I posted for this WIP and this is the last chapter I have finished writing so I'm posting it an hour early. But I'm going to try really hard to update this one more consistently because I know it's a fan favorite. As always, comments and reblogs are much appreciated! They give me fuel to write.

w/c: 3.7k (Next chapter is much longer, I promise)

Matt had known you for 11 weeks. Less than 80 days in his life and his heart had practically carved you an altar, ready to worship a new God. His devotion to you was ardent—and it terrified him. 

You deserved more than he could provide, that much was still true, but he couldn’t help the searing pain in his chest when you talked about your new boyfriend. Everett. Just mentioning his name sparked twin blooms of heat in your cheeks and waves of arousal to cloud around you. It was enough to make Matt nauseous. 

A few weeks ago, your new beau had been no more than an unknown peer to the three of you, but it had taken him all of three days to coil around you like a serpent–prying you from Matt’s undying grasp. The two of you had met at Oscar’s homecoming house party and had apparently “totally hit it off”. Two days after that, you’d excitedly reconnected at a Civil Procedure study session that he’d spearheaded with your own TA. After an hour of flirty glances and pointed compliments bouncing between the pair of you, he’d offered to take you out for a late dinner. Stupidly, Matt had assumed you’d invite him and Foggy along, like you had when your last suitor had asked you out, but you’d bid a hasty goodbye to your friends before letting Everett escort you to his favorite diner. 

In the 2 weeks since then, your friends had barely seen you. Dates with Everett had become so frequent that you’d been skipping or rescheduling your semi-weekly study sessions and miscellaneous hangouts were shorter than ever. Characteristically, Foggy had been much more understanding of the shift in your behavior. 

“Cut her some slack, Murdock. This is her first adult relationship. She’s excited!” The blond reasoned, nudging Matt’s slumped shoulder with a knowing smirk. 

“I don’t know, Fog. Something’s…off about him.” 

Snorting, Foggy rolled his eyes. “The only thing ‘off’ about it is that our little jitterbug is dating him instead of you.” His accusation was only a murmur, but the sentiment still hit Matt like a truck. 

Your involvement with someone should’ve been a blessing. An opportunity for him to get over his unrequited feelings and move on with his life without jeopardizing one of the two friendships he’d ever had. Still, he couldn’t shake the unease he felt around the guy. They’d only interacted once, when you’d introduced them during the study session, but one short conversation was all Matt’s conscience needed to condemn the man. 

Though he was well aware that you preferred to show your love through kind words and soft touches, the sound of your pulse skipping when you'd entangled your hand with Everett’s continued to haunt him. Your intentions were as sweet as ever, but he couldn’t help but worry about your counterpart. His senses were bombarded with pheromones whenever he was around you, and the majority of them were not yours. It was like the guy knew exactly how to get under Matt’s skin and had taken to coating you in his cologne before allowing you out of his sight.

If it was possible, his mind was more occupied with thoughts of you than ever. Being in the same room with you was torturous, every molecule in his body buzzing with indignation at the thought that someone else had claimed you. Every mention of your relationship had him biting his tongue until it bled. 

Amazingly, he’d been able to restrain his frustration at the beginning of your relationship, preventing himself from snapping at you. However, given that he was only human, his willpower could only withstand so much. The last straw was the fresh bruising on your neck that had appeared the morning after a “study date” with Everett. It couldn’t have taken much effort to disguise, but Matt could still feel the heat pooling in three mouth-shaped marks along your satiny skin. 

As you sat beside him at the bookstore counter, you absentmindedly ran a finger over the neckline of your shirt, your heart fluttering as a nail scraped over the highest of the imprints. If Matt hadn’t been so in tune with you and your body, he wouldn’t have thought twice about the tiny sigh that escaped your lips–but he knew you like the back of his own hand, and the sound nearly broke him. 

Noticing the way he stiffened, your brow furrowed. “You ok?” You asked kindly, shifting nearer to him. 

Normally, he savored the warmth of your proximity, but today the combination of your closeness and the metallic taste of blood emanating from your various hickeys ignited a fury within him.  

“Fine.” He muttered, turning the page of his book.

“Ok, let me rephrase. Did you want to talk about whatever is obviously bothering you?” You reached out to run a hand along his arm, wafting a cloud of spicy cologne towards him. 

Jerking away from your touch, and nearly careening out of his seat in the process, Matt shook his head. “No. I’m good, thanks.”

Your breathing stuttered, but you shook it off quickly. “Alright, let me know if you change your mind.” Matt desperately tried to ignore the twist in his gut at the hurt that flooded your tone, to no avail.

The two of you stewed in the silence, pretending to study until the bell chimed—signaling a new presence. Matt had been so tangled up in his own guilt and regret that he hadn't noticed the familiar man approaching the store. Surely, God was laughing at his misfortune about now—his bad luck had to be cosmic.

“Evs!” You squealed, rushing out from behind the counter to hug him. After exchanging a nauseatingly lengthy kiss, you wrapped an arm around his waist and gestured to the other boy, still sitting by the register. “You remember Matt, right?” 

“Uh yah. How's it goin', man?” Everett gave a rigid nod in Matt's direction, not diverting an ounce of his attention from where it rested on you. 

Plastering on his phoniest smile, Matt lifted his hand in a wave. “Not too bad. You?“

”Oh you know, same old.“ The older student brushed off Matt's polite question in favor of pulling you more tightly against him. With a giggle, you let him kiss you again, standing on your tiptoes to reach him. 

”What are you doing here?“ You chuckled, tilting your head to the side as his lips traveled over the bruises he'd left the night before. Matt's stomach rolled at the resulting haze of arousal around you.

”Came to see you. Missed you so much, baby.“ Everett murmured between pecks. 

“I missed you too. But I'm working for another two hours.” You pushed his chest, breaking the seal of his lips along your skin. 

“That's ok, I'm a very patient man.” Your paramour purred, stepping away to let you take your seat again. 

Giggling, you leaned forward on the counter. Everett, as classy as ever, didn't hide the way his eyes drifted straight to your cleavage. Didn't he know that you were more than an object for his use and pleasure?

“Want to sit with us? We're reading for Torts. I can get you a chair...“ You trailed off, craning your neck to find a spare stool for him. 

Clearing his throat, Matt stood. ”He can have mine. I forgot, I have plans tonight.“ 

You pursed your lips, studying your friend as he packed up his things. Unperturbed, Everett quickly slid in beside you. ”Thanks, bro.”

“No problem, bro.” Matt mimicked, shouldering his bag and tipping his head towards you. “See you tomorrow.”

“Um, ok. Have a good night, Matty.” You offered, relaxing slightly when he smiled back at you.

“You too, bug.” As he escaped the harrowing atmosphere, he heard Everett's seemingly innocent question.

“Bug?” The pure envy dripping from the word was enough to break Matt's face into a proud smirk. 

Seemingly unaware of the budding rivalry, you laughed. 'It's a long story.“ 

Swiping his cane along the ground forcefully, Matt gulped in the chilly autumn air in an attempt to soothe his pounding heart. The scent of your and Everett’s combined arousal lingered on his coat, in his nose, across his tongue. Every inhale fueled his rage, and he needed to let it out. 

Thankfully, there was a place that could offer him solace despite the late hour. 

Plastic tapping along asphalt, he masterfully wove through the crowds and down the streets until reaching the musty building he'd been searching for. The door was ajar, propped open with a mop bucket. Steel hinges creaked as he pried open the door, stepping around the cleaning supplies and into the familiar space. 

Taking careful steps across the damp concrete, he let his eyes fall closed as the sounds of swinging chains and the ever-present scent of sweat brought him back to his childhood. Blurry images of men with comically red gloves and worn vinyl punching bags flashed through his mind, interspersed with a fading picture of his late father. Swallowing roughly, he continued his march into the empty space, running a hand over the eroded ropes in the center of the room. 

”Sorry kid, we're closed,“ A gruff voice broke through the silence. 

Shuffling away from the boxing ring, Matt raised a hand in apology. “Sorry, uh, it's been a while since I—“

“You're Battlin' Jack's boy, ain't ya?” The older man cut him off, stepping towards Matt and giving him a once over. 

Matt's jaw trembled with emotion, but he nodded slowly. “Uh, yes sir, I am.” 

“Been a long time since I've seen ya 'round, kid. Life been good to ya?“ The janitor asked, swiping the mop head across the floor and diverting his gaze from Matt. 

”It's been alright. The gym doing ok?“ Shifting from foot to foot, Matt suddenly felt exposed. It had been foolish to assume this place would welcome him back in the middle of the night.

”Not too bad, had to cut our hours though. Ya know how it is.“ 

Matt nodded politely. ”I understand. I'm sorry to intrude,“ Grasping his cane, he started for the door but the older man stopped him.

”Wait, wait. I ain't gonna kick ya out, kid. You're practically family, come here whenever ya'd like.“ 

”Are you sure? I don't want to impose.“ 

”Course I'm sure. I've gotta head home—just lock up for me, will ya?” 

Heavy steps shuffled closer to Matt, an outstretched hand offering a worn key. Accepting the jagged brass object, a bloom of warmth filled Matt's chest. “Oh I...I mean—”

The man laughed heartily. ”It ain't gonna bite ya. Just don't leave the lights on too long and we're golden.“ 

”I'm sure that won't be a problem.“ Matt snorted.

Chuckling deeply, the other man clapped him on the shoulder. ”Fair enough. Use the key whenever you'd like, kid. Don't be a stranger.“ 

”Thank you, um...“

”Ron, Ron Clark. Nice to see ya again.“ 

”Thank you, Ron. Have a good night.“

”You too.“ Another squeeze of Matt's shoulder and the other man headed out. 

Standing still for a moment, Matt turned the key over in his palm, savoring the swell of pride and gratitude before slipping the chunk of metal into his pocket and stripping out of his coat. 

It hadn't been too long since he'd trained, but he was definitely rusty. His muscles practically shrieked beneath his skin as he ran through some exercises Stick used to drill him with, stationed at a spare punching bag. The punches he threw were wobbly and his stance was crooked, but the repetitive motion still began to drain the tension from his shoulders. 

Adjusting his position, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he fell back into a familiar rhythm. The solid weight of the sand against his knuckles chipped away at the darkness that had been swirling around him for days. Each hit was deliberate and, telling himself it was just to work on his accuracy, he started envisioning Everett's face being pummeled by his fists. Though he'd never seen it, Matt was more than happy bombarding the vague idea of your boyfriend with precise hits. 

Everett. Evs. The boy who swept you off your feet before Matt could even work up the nerve to tell you how he felt. A man who simultaneously paid Matt no mind and was far too invested in the blind man's connection to you. Were his feelings for you so obvious that your boyfriend felt the need to drive a wedge between the pair of you? 

You never seemed to mind Matt's flirting and general touchiness, though he wasn't sure if you were aware that you drew that side of him out more often than anyone else. Everett seemed to know, given the way he had so easily marked your delicate skin. 

Growling, Matt drove his hands into the swinging cylinder with more force. Was Everett the only guy allowed to hangout with you? To hug you? To rest your head against his shoulder? He could mark you up all he wanted, it wouldn't stop Matt from holding your hand or kissing your cheek or thinking about kissing every goddamn inch of you as your heart pounded. 

Anger churned in his gut at the thought of the cocky 3rd year claiming every inch of you, drawing sounds out of you that Matt could only imagine. 

His cock twitched as he fantasized. What would it be like to claim you as his, have you wrapped around him—underneath him. Would you sound like any of the other girls he'd been with? There was no doubt you'd sound sweeter. Mewling at his touches, screaming his name when he inevitably made you climax. 

Panting breathlessly as phantom cries of pleasure ricocheted off the perimeter of his skull, Matt's logic and consideration flew out the window as he ripped off his tight jeans—all thoughts centered on your gorgeous figure and how you already responded to him. 

Your past relationships had been so underwhelming that a few hickeys got you riled up? Matt could blow that out of the water. He doubted Everett was a very giving partner, he'd have to make that up to you. Would you want him to please you? To taste you? Matt was sure you tasted divine.

His back arched off of the cool concrete as he came, hand unwittingly wrapped around his cock. As his arousal faded, guilt came crashing in. He couldn't help if thoughts of you slipped in when he touched himself in the comforts of his room but coming in public at the idea of tasting you? He needed help. 

Blushing furiously, he ran to the locker rooms to clean himself up.

Shaking her head at the sound of mischievous giggling, Maggie pinched out the last of the candles and began walking toward the double doors. “You know, this is your last chance to leave the chapel before the ghosts arrive.” She spoke calmly, not turning her head toward the two boys crouched behind a pew to her left.

A small, hesitant voice piped up. ”Ghosts?“ The other boy shushed the first, resulting in a small scuffle. 

Stifling a smile, she nodded gravely, pausing by an empty pew within eyesight of the troublemakers. “That's right. Darn building is full of them. Nasty little spirits who like to haunt little boys.”

“They what!!?” One of the boys asked, horrified. 

“Yep. They like to chase them around, pull out their hair, and force them to eat vegetables.”

Shrieking, the young boys darted out from behind the bench and ran quickly out the door towards the dormitory. 

Preening at her accomplishment, she was about to lock up when a new voice startled her.��

“Still using the ghost method, huh?”

Whirling around, she brought a hand up to rest on her heart when she recognized the young man before her. Huffing out an irritated breath, she greeted him. “Matthew.”

Nervously, he returned the curt nod she gave him. “Sister.”

“It's nice to see you, though I will be the first to tell you we do not have space to board grown men.”

Chuckling, Matt adjusted his grip on his cane. “Your faith in me is endless, Sister. I still have a place to live, I just came for confession.”

Crossing her arms, Maggie raised a brow. “It's a bit late for confession, Matthew. Come back tomorrow.”

”I know it's late, I just—“

“Matthew,” Father Lantom appeared in the entrance to the chapel, expression and tone much more appreciative of Matt's presence than Maggie seemed. “It's nice to see you, son. How is it out there?”

Smiling proudly, Matt leaned into the hand Lantom placed on his shoulder. “It's wonderful, Father. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, I'll come back tomorrow like Sister Maggie suggested.” The Father's grasp on his arm tightened marginally. 

”Nonsense. You are always welcome here. Did you want to sit in the Confessional, or can I offer you a cup of tea first?“ 

Jaw tightening as his ears rang with Maggie's incredulous scoff, he shook his head. “No, I shouldn't have come, I—“

“Maggie, would you mind lighting a few candles? Matthew, have a seat. I'll be back with something for you to drink. Is chamomile ok?”

Nodding apprehensively, Matt shuffled over to a bench and sat down, turning the foam handle of his cane in his palms as Lantom headed off. 

His pulse pounded in the tense silence as Maggie lit three of the lanterns closest to him. 

“I'm sorry, Sister, I wasn't thinking—” 

“You weren't. Though it seems the Father is still happy to indulge your whims, even if you aren't our responsibility any more.”

Ducking his head in embarrassment, Matt chewed the inside of his cheek, the Sister's scolding stoking his towering flames of guilt. “I can still leave.”

“I think the time for that has passed, Matthew.” Sitting at the opposite end of the pew, she sighed. “Is school everything you hoped for?”

The question was an obvious olive branch, and Matt accepted it gratefully. “It's a very different environment. Full of sin, you'd hate it.”

Maggie chuckled, weaving her fingers together and studying the boy. He looked well enough, apprehensive and ashamed, sure, but fed and rested. He'd clearly been taking decent care of himself, which is more than she could've asked for. 

Firm steps echoed in the cavernous building as Lantom returned, holding a carefully balanced tray of three ceramic cups. “Maggie, I assume you'll be joining us?” He gave her a pointed look and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“I'd love to.” She smiled, accepting one of the steaming cups. 

Matt smirked at her exaggerated apathy, accepting his own drink. “Thank you both. I'm sorry for my timing.” 

“Our doors are always open for you, Matthew. What did you feel the need to confess?”

Blushing at the reminder of his unholy actions, he sighed. “I've been...preoccupied as of late, with...impure thoughts. And I'm not quite sure how to reconcile that.” 

Listening to Maggie's heart stutter, it seemed she was equally uncomfortable with her presence in this conversation, yet she made no attempt to leave.

Father Lantom, on the other hand, nodded thoughtfully. “Sinful thoughts are different from sinful actions Matthew. Our minds cannot be controlled to the same degree.”

“I know that, it's just...” Scrubbing a hand over his face, Matt grit his teeth in frustration. “These thoughts, they're mostly about one girl. And they've become more frequent since she began dating someone else.” 

“You're close with this girl?” Lantom asked, tilting his head in brief understanding. 

Matt nodded mournfully, raking fingers through his hair. “Very. She's one of two friends I have and one of the best people I've ever known. But, lately, I can't even be in the same room as her without getting angry because...because she's not mine.” 

Maggie blew out an exasperated breath. “Women are not possessions, Matthew.” 

“I know that! I just mean,I—” Spluttering, Matt failed to find the words to justify his admission. God, he was just as bad as Everett.

“Take a breath, my child.” Father Lantom instructed. “Have you told this girl how you feel?” 

Shaking his head, eyes wide, Matt's words were more forceful than intended. “No, God no!”

“Language.” Maggie scolded. 

“Forgive me, Sister. I'm just...terrified that I'll lose her. And I feel like I can no longer control myself, which means I might lose her anyways.” Blinking rapidly to dry the tears forming in his eyes, Matt snapped his jaw shut before his emotions began to crack the steadiness of his voice. 

“Quite the predicament you've landed yourself in, poor boy.” Lantom squeezed Matt's forearm reassuringly, gazing upwards in thought. “As uncertain as it can seem, His plan for us is often for our own good, Matthew. Perhaps, your friend's involvement with another is a path for you to settle for the friendship you have, at least for the time being.”

“If that was his plan, then why does it feel like she's slipping away?” His words were quiet, dense with fear and shame. 

“Love makes people do stupid things, Matthew,” Maggie remarked. “Does she know that you think she's been distant?”

“No,” Matt admitted. 

“Tell her then, you ridiculous boy.” Maggie encouraged, voice softening as she added, “If she chooses to change her behavior, well, it's up to you how to proceed.”

Lantom nodded, “As for your own thoughts, that's a bit tricky. Speaking with her and focusing on a platonic relationship might help, it might not. Remember that God searches the heart and tests the mind, this might simply be a test of your connection to this woman or of your own patience.”

“He is definitely testing my patience.” Matt muttered, drawing laughs out of both Maggie and Lantom. “Thank you both for listening, and for your assistance. I'll get out of your hair now.” 

“It was lovely to see you, Matthew. We can discuss the outcome of your conversation the next time you attend Mass.” The pastor stood, allowing Matt to exit the pew. 

“Take care, Matthew.” Maggie lifted a hand in goodbye as the two watched the younger boy retreat.

Thank you for reading my lovelies!

Taglist: @eugene-emt-roe@abbyhaslongshorts@mrs-bellingham@abucketofweird@yeonalie@jadeunstablexx@spider-murdock@0ctober-writes@danzer8705

[thelonelysoulhome]

Doumeki is the first person ever to reach out his hand to Yashiro:

(Part 3)

When Doumeki first meet Yashiro he is a 36 years old man with strong anchored beliefs, that diged all his traumas deep deep inside of him, traumas that he nourished everyday for 26 years at this point. He suffers, but in silence,

he suffers, but nobody sees, cause he's really good at hiding, at faking, after all, people are actors.

Like I said before Doumeki is the first person ever to ask Y if he's okay and that on their first encounter.

For the first time in Yashiro's life someone try to help him.

And ask a question: are you okay ? Are you okay with what happening ? Do you need help ?

At this point it's not like Y could Say:

"Oh yes I'm deeply traumatised from all the abuse I lived as a kid and that never ended till now, I had to face everything alone and to endure everything, I had to hide the true me real real deep and live as a cold lustful maso cat seeking violent sex as a coping mechanism to protect myself from more external harm"

He's more like;

"Of course I'm okay dumbass... I like violent sex, I can't feel anything if it's not painfull, I always lived like this and it's fine, I don't need anyone, I'm alright as long as everyone treats me like they always did : badly, without care, like an old rag.

For Yashiro, the familiar feel safe, and the change feel overwhelming, frightning.

That how his distorted brain function .

It's in this state of mind that he come into the presence of Doumeki.

We know D always though that Y was beautyful, (he confess that to Y in chapter 1), and that the yakuza world could not be that bad if someone like Y was part of it.

But everything takes a big shift when Y help D to reconnect with his sister Aoi :

At this moment D understand that Y is more than what he just pretends to be.

Y is neither cold or cruel, he's the opposite of that, he's gentle, he's kind, he's sensible, he don't judge, he's strong, cause suffering is never a reason to pity someone, it's a reason to respect them, respect for their strenght to endure it.

Y never shows those sides of him, he try hard to burie them cause for him, they are weaknesses, and he can't take the risk to be weak again.

But it's too late, D already saw little fragmants of the real Y.

And now, he's resilied to stay by his side no matter what :

"I'll do anything, as long as I can stay beside you"

He'll do anything, but it's only a matter of time for him to no longer being able to bear the way people treat Y, and the way Y treat's himself.

D don't understand how kage dosen't notice Y like he does,

He is angry that nobody sees Y the way his eyes do it.

Haaa look at how he stare at his smile... He just want to see him happy.

(The world D use in japanese for 'beautiful' is "きれい" (kirei) that kinda mean beautiful but also clean or pure, meaning that he think Y is beautiful on the outside but also and mainly from the inside)

For him Yashiro is kind, strong and beautiful.

He keeps on by saying that he respect Yashiro.

He's attracted to Y in a way he never been before with anyone, and he sincerely care for Y.

He don't want to use him like a toy like misumi.

He don't pity him like kage.

He don't want him to be something else (a woman) like ryuzaki

(that a deeply dislike btw... And Y is so kind that he take risk to save his ass..)

He love's Y for who he trully is, and he want to protect him.

In this moment D is mad and frustrated, not because Y is having sex with another guy, but because he is being harmed by someone, again. He want's to deffend him but he feel powerless, and that hurt him a lot.

I see some people saying that D is possesive and jealous, and that he has no words to say about what Y is doing with his body, (and normaly I agree whit that) but we know Y's case is far from being normal. Y uses violent sex as a form of self harm to cope with his trauma.

All the men Y encountered always treated and abused him really really badly,

And Y let it all happen not by choice, but because he never lived something else, he been used his whole life, he never chosed anything that happened to him, he undergoes everything . everyone always treated him badly everyone neglected him; his stepdad, his mom, shcool, all the men he encountered, ryuzaki, misumi, they all abused him, and he is so deep in selfloathing that he dosen't care anymore. He's resilieted, he so damaged that his numb.

But D is not okay with that. Is that something this bad ? Is that this bad to want to protect someone you love and care for, from further harm and abuse ?

D is not just being possesive and jealous, he can't bear seeing Y being treated this way. Who could ?

If you saw someone you love and care deeply for, harming themself daily in front of you, you won't do anything ? You won't try to stop them ? You won't try to protect them from this harm ? You can't just say "oh I'm not interfering, their life their choices" when someone is consuming themself little by little in front of your eyes.

Yashiro did not chose this, he suffered, and then he made himself suffer, cause it's the only thing he knows.

No one ever tend he's hand to him, and told him that he doesn't need to treat himself this way anymore...💔

See you part 4.

(How many part I'm gonna write, bear with me lol)

[natalynsie]

The Desperate Search for a Water Fountain (Noco Oneshot)

Cody was reminded this morning never to trust Owen with any of his secrets.

It was too bad for Noah though, because his secret was just spilled.

“Wait. Gwen?” Cody asked. “He likes Gwen?”

Owen slapped a hand against his mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

Cody dropped the controller onto the carpet and stared at Owen. “ Noah likes Gwen??? I would’ve never guessed that. I wouldn’t think they would get along, considering that Noah is so preppy and Gwen is so freaky.”

“I don’t know man, I’m not the guy who likes her. You have to promise not to tell anyone about this though. Especially not Noah. He’d crucify me.”

“Of course, I won’t. But I’m just surprised. Let’s just get back to the game.”

Gwen. Gwen. To Cody’s surprise, he wasn’t even upset. In fact, he saw this as an opportunity.

On Monday, walking to French, Cody asked Gwen about Noah.

“You mean that kid Courtney hates?”

“Yeah.”

“Um, I don’t really know him, why?”

“I was thinking about inviting him and Owen to hang out with us at the mall sometime. Maybe Saturday?”

“I mean, whatever. Why?”

“I’m trying to reconnect with Owen, and you know, Noah’s cool too. I’d like to meet him.”

Gwen’s lips made a fine line. “Yeah, whatever.”

That afternoon, Cody hunted down Owen after science club. Owen was finishing up soccer practice.

When Cody arrived at the field, he saw Noah waiting too.

Cody waved. “Hey, Noah.”

Noah looked up from his book. “...Hi.”

“I guess I’ve never properly introduced myself. I’m Cody.” He stuck out his right hand, his left in his pocket. He wanted to be casual.

Noah rolled his eyes, creased the corner of his book, and grabbed Cody’s hand lazily. “Noah.”

Cody shook his hand, and dropped it to his side. “You waiting for Owen to finish practice?”

Noah nodded.

“Same here.”

“Guys!” Owen yelled, running over in their direction. “What’s going on?”

“Owen!” Cody greeted. “I was just coming here to ask you if you wanted to come hang out with Leshawna, Trent, Geoff, and Gwen on Saturday.” He made sure that Noah noticed Gwen was coming. “Around 1:00 at the mall.” Cody turned to Noah. “And, you’re always welcome to come too,” Cody added, as if Noah coming wasn’t his entire intention.

Before Noah could even open his mouth, Owen spoke up. “We’ll be there!”

Noah sighed and his posture fell. “Okay, fine.”

“I’ll see you then, then.” Cody gave them finger guns before walking to the parking lot by himself.

Cody spent the rest of the week organizing everyone to make sure everyone would be there on Saturday. Usually, most of them would show up, but he needed Gwen to come. Otherwise, why in the world would Noah stick around? He had to beg Gwen to take off work on Saturday.

Cody’s heart beat hard as he walked to the mall. He had no clue why it was pounding so hard. It wasn’t like he was about to go on a date with the guy- it was a friendly hangout. And Noah still liked Gwen. He wasn’t too deep in his plan yet.

Eventually, he made it to the food court near the Indian place that Leshawna worked at. She had just got off work.

When he arrived, Gwen and Leshawna were already gossiping. Gwen liked to pretend she didn’t gossip, and that she was above the Lindsay-type of person, but with Leshawna, she always spilled some beans. Every time she saw her, they would be talking about Heather’s latest scheme or whatever was happening between Geoff and Bridgette.

“Oh hey, it’s stringbean!” Leshawna pointed at Cody.

Cody’s face reddened at the call, noticing how a few faces turned. He waved and quickened his pace to catch up.

“Hey,” Cody greeted.

“So I hear you’re bringing Owen and Noah on this hangout? And you have Gwen taking off work? What’s so special?” Leshawna asked.

“I just wanted to have a big hangout,” Cody justified. “I haven’t hung out with Owen in a while, and you know, Noah seems cool.”

“Cool?” Leshawna asked, glancing at Gwen. Gwen raised an eyebrow in return.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know.”

“Cody!”

Cody whipped his head around to see Owen excitedly smiling next to a blank-faced Noah.

“Owen!” Leshawna yelled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you!”

Gwen waved with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, I haven’t had a class with you guys in a while…” Owen said. “You know, it was probably PE last year that we had with Heather that we last hung out.”

“Oh my god, and all she did was give us grief.” Gwen rolled her eyes.

“She’s so mean to everyone,” Owen added.

“Ugh, she’s in my debate class, and she is the worst person to work with,” Noah complained.

“What happened?” Cody asked.

“I got assigned a project with her- remind me to not even try working with her next time. I asked her to find two sources, while I did the other four. She did nothing. No research. At least she was pretty good at the talking part, but not good enough to do no work and not say anything.”

“That’s so Heather,” Leshawna said. “She was my partner for the Chemistry project last year. She didn’t do anything until presentation day. I complained to our teacher, but Ms. V doesn’t care about anything. When I told her Heather did nothing, she told me that all partners had to work out their issues with each other, because we were both going to get the same grade.”

“Are you serious?” Cody asked. “That’s crazy.”

“Yo, dudes!” Cody heard a call from behind them.

It was Geoff and Trent. Geoff seemed very excited to be there, while Trent looked particularly annoyed with Geoff’s volume.

Noah rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t really up to him that he was in the current situation. Spending his Saturday in the mall with a bunch of kids he didn’t know or care to know was awesome. At least Leshawna and Gwen were okay, but Trent? Geoff? Cody? Ugh.

After about thirty minutes of everyone talking to each other, catching up, and gossipping, Noah found himself sick of it. While he was very interested in hearing about whatever was going on between Heather and Duncan, and how hot this new kid was, he wanted to get away from everyone and take a break. How was he going to survive at least three more hours of this? Maybe after an hour or so he could get food and fake sick.

For now, he would just go on a walk.

“Be right back,” He mumbled to the group, “I’m gonna get a drink of water.”

“I’ll come too!” Cody said. “I’m thirsty.”

Ugh.

Owen waved them goodbye and continued talking to the group.

“So, where are we going?”

Noah quirked an eyebrow at the ridiculous question. “To the water fountain?”

“Oh. I thought you would just get a bottle.”

“And pay $1.40? No thank you.”

“Are there even any water fountains here? I don’t really mind buying a water and sharing it with you.”

Noah sneered. “No thanks.”

They walked in silence for a while. Noah was content with that. That’s what he came here to do, anyways.

Except it seemed a little out-of-character for Cody. While Noah didn’t exactly know the guy, they just shared a couple of classes this year and Cody had talked to him a total of maybe three times. But every time, he never heard the guy shut up.

“So, you wanna get a career in STEM?” Cody asked.

Noah let out a deep breath. “No.”

“Oh. I was just thinking, since you’re in my STEM class and all… so what are you thinking of majoring in?”

“English, maybe. I wanna get into legal writing.”

“Oh, interesting. I wanna get into Physics. Maybe be a nuclear engineer. I can’t stand English.”

“Then why did you take AP Lang?”

Cody shrugged. “AP credit. Oh hey, water fountain.”

Cody pointed to a fountain next to the sporting goods store. Noah would’ve missed it if it weren’t for Cody. But then again, if Cody wasn’t talking, he would be more vigilant.

He went to press the bar on the fountain…

…and it didn’t work.

Noah sighed loudly. “Are they seriously making me walk all the way out here just for there not to be water? Well, let’s go to the one in the food court.”

This was a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because he got to avoid the group for longer, but a curse because he had to walk more with Cody talking his ear off. Except, maybe Cody would get bored and go back to their friends.

“Then let’s go to the food court.”

Nevermind.

“So… you do Debate?” Cody asked. “How’s that?”

“Everyone in it is the worst. There’s Heather, who’s self-explanatory, and Courtney.”

“Courtney?”

“Yeah. Thankfully she and Heather barely show up, because of Drama and Cheer. I think. Izzy told me that, since she’s in those and Debate too. But how much of a reliable source is Izzy, really?”

“I actually heard that Courtney does a few clubs with you from Gwen.”

Noah nodded. “And she shit-talks me, no doubt. Look, I know you want to do good and look good for college and whatever, but she’s serious. And I know having a partner like Heather is hard, but I do my work in a timely manner. She still complains because she crams it all in in one night.”

“Yeah, Gwen’s her partner for History right now… it’s not very fun, apparently. So, how do you know Gwen, anyways?”

Noah turned to Cody. “Um, I don’t.”

“Oh.” Cody scratched the side of his head. “I thought you did. I heard from someone that you guys knew each other.”

Someone. Oh… “Owen told you that I like her, didn’t he?”

Cody jolted up. “What? No…”

“You’re a terrible liar. And don’t worry about it, I don’t plan on doing anything to steal your girl.” Noah smirked a little bit.

Cody flushed. “No, wait, you have it all wrong, I don’t like Gwen. You… uh, I mean I’d prefer it if you didn’t but you can I guess. But also I don’t know if she really likes you. If you want me to, I could set you guys up, maybe? But also-”

Noah held up his palm, facing Cody. “Seriously. Don’t worry about it. She’s all yours.”

Cody was thoroughly embarrassed. This isn’t what he planned. What he planned was going on a little walk with Noah, getting to know him a little bit. Not getting Noah under the assumption that he liked Gwen! This was terrible.

Even in his last moments, trying to scrap his dignity together, where he even offered to help Noah get together with her, he was shut down. And Noah wasn’t going to believe him if he said he didn’t like Gwen.

At least he didn’t care. Except, it wouldn’t matter if he could explain that he didn’t like Gwen!

Even though he kind of wanted Gwen out of the equation, just pretending to set them up to encourage his own bonding with Noah was a decent plan. But he couldn’t even do that!

“Seriously, I don’t like her…” Cody mumbled as his last attempt. “I did, but not anymore.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

They walked quietly for a while more, Cody with his arms folded. He had nothing left to say. “So, you’re not mad at Owen or anything?”

“I anticipated this.”

“But what if Gwen finds out?”

“Eh.”

He really did not care.

Well, that was a good thing. He cared so little about his Gwen crush that he wouldn’t even care if she found out. That meant it would be easy to win him over.

Maybe.

“So, having a good time so far?”

“No, not really.”

“Oh.”

“Finally, the food court,” Noah sighed. He walked over to the water fountain and pressed the bar.

It worked!

Noah took a sip of water and Cody leaned against the wall.

“I guess I’ll take it you don’t wanna hang out another time, then?” Cody said, trying to hide his disappointment.

Noah wiped his mouth and stood back up. “No, we can hang out. But less people.”

Cody’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’re okay. But let’s just play video games or something.”

“Deal.”

[j0kers-light]

Hey Chaos, I have to say that I am SO obsessed with Joker and Ariana Grande cause im just a girl, and I thought, why not mix them? What if reader was singing and listening to Ariana all day? I think it would be fun hehe

this is me btw: https://youtu.be/nWdB3d0VoNw?si=XNNXyQVuIWdaqXJA

-🎀

There are only two answers here my lovely anon. Let’s discuss them below!!! 🖤✨

Also did you want to claim the coveted 🎀 anon? 👀 you will burdened with a glorious purpose if you accept I need to know you can handle the task.

Joker understands that you’re just a girl!! You are entitled to your own opinions and choice of music.

He enjoys watching his Bunny sing and dance around since it helps calm him down after a hard night of work. He just pretends✨that he doesn’t care but he’s always watching.

Sure he doesn’t have a clue what the singer is saying but he can’t help but smile seeing you have fun and act out the lyrics.

He does jump a bit if you start belting out in the car so be warned, our clown has sensitive ears!!

Insert the link of you and J driving around. Well he almost swerves the car into oncoming traffic after you shout out the lyrics so suddenly.

“Sorry J..” and you turn down the volume but he surprises you by cranking it back up and tapping the steering wheel along to the beat.

Joker refuses to sing along but he does know some of Ariana’s biggest hits because his Bunny is obsessed with her.

Do you want concert tickets? He gets you front row with meet and greet passes.

And he makes sure you have every album on vinyl if you want them. #SupportiveJoker

Now if Joker hates it… well 👀 😬😬😬😬😞

Joker doesn’t mind his Bunny singing every now and then but today, you’ve been at it nonstop!

You replayed the same album three times in a row and he knows this because well…

OKAY! Joker listens to Ariana Grande alright? His Bunny is practically obsessed with her so he had to find out why! 👀 denies he’s a fan.

Joker memoriezed your favorite songs and he remembers when you begged for concert tickets when a tour was first announced.

Joker supports everything you do, but today you are irritating his already frayed nerves by singing.

You and J get into the car to run a few errands and you automatically connect your phone to the speakers.

Again, insert you jamming in the car but this time it’s different. “THIS IS THE PART WHEN I SAY I—”

Joker rips your phone cord out the system, “No! No no no nooo! You are noT breaking free today!”

He puts an end to your car concert and you’re stunned at his random burst of anger.

You are shocked, amused, and hurt all at the same time. Joker ruined your fun in the process but he looks so cute when he pouts!! 🥰 wait did he make a joke?!?!?!? 👀

You try to reconnect your phone but J smacks your hand away. Well alright, silence it is.

[hello-nichya-here]

No, the HIMYM finale is not secretly genius, stop lying to yourselves

The series finale of How I Met Your Mother, with Robin divorcing Barney and then getting together with Ted, a widower, years later could have been great. Yes, I'm serious.

Two people that were NOT soulmates and did NOT work out as couple when they were in their 20s met their true soulmates but life made them split up, and then they got a second chance of happiness with each other because, despite not being a perfect match they were at a point where they could make it work? Could totally work as a "bittersweet" ending. It's not "happily ever after" but it still finding happiness after the tragedy that stole their actual happily ever after, which is a valid, totally compelling story to tell.

But the writers completely destroyed any chance of it working as a satisfying story because the ending simply doesn't work as a twist and foreshadowing can't compete with consistent characterization.

The finale would only ever work if we had gotten to see the years of character development that were supposed to lead up to it. We'd have to SEE Barney and Robin's marriage deteriorating. We'd have too SEE Tracy's struggle with her illness and then Ted's years of grief. We'd have to SEE Ted and Robin slowly reconnecting and realizing that they've changed so much that can actually be a decent couple now - and more importantly, we have to see them CHANGE IN A WAY THAT MAKES THEM COMPATIBLE, NOT SIMPLY REVERSING THEM BACK TO HOW THEY WERE IN THE PILOT EPISODE BECAUSE THEY WERE ALREADY INCOMPATIBLE BACK THEN!

The show spent 98% of it's time building up to the "red-herring" of a Barney/Robin & Ted/Tracy endgame, with only the ocasional hints that this wasn't actually going to happen. It spent 9 fucking years, 9 seasons of 20+ episodes, building up to it this false endgame. Then suddenly the finale they try to give us SIXTEEN YEARS IN 40 MINUTES, expecting the audience the do the writer's jobs for them and fill in the blanks.

If they had given us the "fake ending" in the middle of the show, then spent the following seasons building up to the true ending, the finale wouldn't have been hated. Sure, no one would be surprised by the events in it, but anyone who didn't want Ted and Robin together would have bailed on the series a long time ago anyway.

And that's why they didn't do it. Because they knew most people didn't want these two to be endgame, LOVED Barney's growth as a character, and were not only eagerly waiting to meet Tracy but were also blown away by how she managed to be even better than we imagined. They wanted to have it both ways: give the audience what they wanted AND say "Sorry, this is our story, if you don't like it you don't have to watch it." It's cowardly, pathetic and a deep betrayal of the audience's trust, because people CAN accept not being given what they wanted - but they don't accept being lied to.

We never saw Barney be frustrated by Robin's work or by constant traveling before the finale - he's the "challenge accepted" guy, for fuck's sake, he used to go random trips just for the sake of having an adventure with his friends - thefore we don't believe that he is miserable enough that he'd want to end their marriage.

You can't show us Robin repeatedly choosing Barney over Ted, give us an insane scene of her covering Ted's face during sex to pretend she's sleeping with someone else, having her react to what she thinks is a proposal with 'You can't do this to me!", and even saying, to his face, that she doesn't love him, and then pretend that she totally still had feelings for him this entire time.

Even Ted pointed out, during this wedding to Stella, that Robin isn't hoping he'll remain single because she genuinely wants him, but because she's just afraid of being alone. C&C cannot convince general audiences, or critics, that she loves this man after they literally described the show as "The story of man that is in love with a woman, and she doesn't want that."

They can't tell me Ted genuinely loved Robin when he was constantly irritated by everything that makes her who she is: the fact that she's career-driven, always takes charge of everything, doesn't want kids, likes to travel around because she wants life to be an adventure, doesn't seem to believe in fate or soulmates, is a gun enthusiast, etc. They can't tell me they'd make it work when that's still who Robin is a person and Ted would still be irritated by it.

They DEFINITIVELY cannot convince me that him being hung up on her for so long means anything when he meets a new potential "soulamte" every other week, and will ALSO fall back in love with multiple exes the second he runs into them again, or so much as thinks back to the good old times.

And they absolutely cannot fucking tell me that he'd still be hung up on her after 25 fucking years, after he met his actual soulmate - unless they want me to believe the woman that was basically born from his rib is not his soulmate, which I call bullshit on.

And no, finale defenders, you cannot make this an inspirational "He found happiness with an old flame after his true love passed away because life is messy like that" when the show itself said, all the way back in season two "If Ted and Robin got married, they'd inevitably divorce, handle terribly, and screw up any kids they had."

Because yes, that's a thing that happens. When Robin meets Ted's parents, there's a whole misunderstanding about the dad supposedly cheating on the mom - and then we discover that actually they've been divorced FOR A LONG TIME, and just never told their kids because REASONS. Ted is even outraged that "Is this what passes for communication in this family?" More importantly, he and Robin, who are wearing the same colors as his parents, are shocked as they realize that the reasons for their divorce were the same reasons that made Robin not want to want Ted - the same reasons that would make them break up episodes later.

The writting is on the wall here. Ted and Robin will inevitably split up, and his kids will resent them both for getting them caught in the crossfire. Ted is already taking a page from his parents' book on How To Suck At Communicating Like A Normal Person by claiming he's gonna tell a story about their mother, only to then be like "Actually, this about how I love someone else and want to date her now."

"Oh, you just don't get it! The show was never about the Yellow Umbrella (Tracy)! It was about the Blue French Horn (Robin)!"

Yeah. It was about Robin. About how she's completely wrong for Ted and how they could never be happy together. About how he needs to let go of this obsession before it ruins his life and his relationship with everyone else that he is hurting during his attempts of getting with her: Victoria, Barney, Tracy, his children, and even Robin herself.

This is not a bittersweet ending. This is not a happy ending. This is two delusional writers ACCIDENTALLY giving their characters the most miserable endgame possible, and being convinced that they're giving us a fairy-tale ending - because yeah, that's what they thought. They weren't even aiming for bittersweet. They were never aiming for "Tragedy happens, but life goes on and you can still find happiness in it." They thought that Robin and Ted being so distraught by their awful lives that they convince themselves they were meant to be, and then go on to ruin their already shiity lives even more, was the most perfect happily ever after anyone could ask for.

The finale COULD have been great. Instead it was the worst thing imaginable, and the very fact that people can only try to defend it by WILDLY misterpreting what the writers wanted them to take from it is proof of how poorly thought out and written it was.

No one likes it for what it is, they like it for what they PRETEND it is. That simple fact is more insulting to this ending than anything I or anyone else could possibly say.

[gadriezmannsgirl]

Since Always, 'Till Forever -P.G

I really, really hope you guys like this! What started as a One Shot ended up being kind of like a mini series, I'm truly happy for all the feedback these fics have gotten. Thank you so much for the support, it means a lot! Please, tell me what you guys think of this, I would love to see your comments! (Let's pretend I didn't took a month and something to pull this out, 'kay? cool) FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED

You can read the first part Since Forever, and the second part Until Forever

Warnings: Lots of angst, heartbreaks, fights, some fluff at a certain point, suggestive content, this is a roller coaster of emotions to be honest🥴, lots of swear words

Summary: You and Pablo know you've been for each other Since Forever and you also know, you'll be there Until Forever because no one has what you both have.

May, 2023

“Gavira!” You yelled turning around with a smile on “I have a knife in my hand and I’m not afraid to use it!”

“¡Joder! I’m so scared”

“As you should, señorito!” You said trying to sound intimidating “I’m dangerous”

“Oh yes, yeah” Gavi nodded “You so are” He went along with you

“I really am!” You exclaimed dropping the act, pouting a bit

Pablo felt his insides twist seeing your lower lip pulled out like that; he wanted to grab it in between with his lips and never let it go. He wanted to taste it, feel their warm and their delicate texture.

It has been six months since he realized his feelings for you and four since he lived one of his nightmares.

After your guys talk during the Supercopa, you’ve been trying to reconnect from the moment your guys distanced, minus the feelings part from your side of course. It had been five months since you started dating Samuel and they were one of the best five months ever in your life.

He knew how to treat you, he knew when to act and when to step aside, he knew when to listen and when to talk, he never pushed you or your feelings away, you were his first priority and everyone could see the fact that he was deeply into you.

You hadn’t said this to anybody but Pedri, Samuel had already said his “I love you” to you and you felt guilty because you still couldn’t say it back, even though you were slowly falling into Samuel’s arms. You liked to think you were getting there, there were times were the three words almost escaped your mouth but you retracted them every single time, saving them up for “a better moment”.

Samuel was really cooperative and understanding, you loved him for it. Everytime he said it he whispered a little “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back now. I’ll make my way into your heart, bonita”. And that was enough for you to start trying for Samuel again.

Meanwhile Pablo had to stand at the sides and watch you be in another guy’s arms, that weren’t his.

He kicked himself everyday for not noticing it earlier; maybe, if he had, he would be the one to hold you close to him, kiss you, cuddle you and do everything else with you and mostly when approximately two months ago he saw a hickey on your neck while being at his.

“You’ve a…” He took a deep breath pushing all those thoughts and mostly jealousy away

“A…?” He pointed a place in his neck as you seconds later groaned “I told him not to! I don’t like hickeys in my neck!” You exclaimed a bit head thrown back giving Pablo a better view of it, he sighed deeply “I still have my foundation here, right? I’m gonna go and cover it up”

He felt everything explode inside of him when he saw that mark, a reminder that you weren’t his. He, on the other side, loved the fact you went to cover it up.

Pablo didn’t like to address his feelings though; the only ones who knew about his love towards you were his sister and Pedri who found out in the most ridiculous way a few weeks back.

The Canario and the Sevillano were out of training, Pedri riding as Pablo was on the passenger seat like always, the youngest one was on his phone watching his Instagram when you came across his screen and he couldn’t help but click it, you had published an story of Samuel with you at Uni and bringing you, a big bouquet of your favorite flowers ‘Estas si que son unas lindas motivaciones para querer estudiar’and there was another one that showed a card with what Pablo could imagine was the guy’s handwriting. Even Samuel’s handwriting was better.

It had your name written and you put a little caption ‘Smash it in your presentation, he said<;3’ Pablo groaned rolling his eyes inevitably making the oldest one look at him in curiosity

“Something’s wrong?”

“Samuel Carnevale is what’s wrong”

“You don’t like him? He’s a nice guy and he likes Y/N”

“That’s why I don’t like him” Pablo let out not fully remembering his feelings for his best friend weren’t public

“Why don’t you like him?” Pablo shook his head

“I just don’t like him”

Pedri was silent for a few minutes until they stopped at a red light “Do you like Y/N?” Pablo’s eyes didn’t met Pedri’s but instead looked down at his phone where he had a pic of you two as his background  “You like her”

“Actually, I love her” Pablo corrected

“WHAT?! WHY-?!”

“It was during the World Cup, she wasn’t really talking to me and I didn’t wanted to tell her over text” Pablo said immediately

“…Eres un tonto”

“Well, thank you”

“She had waited for you to notice that for the longest time and now when she’s moving on you’re going to pull her that shitty move?”

“I won’t pull any kind of move on anybody. I’ll let her be happy with Samuel” Pablo shook his head “I know I’ve fucked up but I’ll wait for her” Pablo said “That’s the only thing I can do right now, no matter how much it hurts me”

“Well, felicitaciones por ser el último idiota que se dio cuenta que la amabas. Can I say I told you so?”

Pablo sighed shaking his head “You don’t need to. I’ve been telling myself those four words ever since I realized my feelings and didn’t acted on them straight away”

“She cried so much” Pablo nodded

“I know she did” Pablo’s eyebrows got in their usual place “That’s why I’ll let her be happy with him for how long they be together even if it kills me,  if they break up and if she still wants me, shoot my shot”

“I can wish you good luck on that, we both know how Y/N is when she falls in love”

Pablo groaned knowing that if his best friend truly loved someone, it wasn’t that easy to make it go away and that’s what he held a little hope on to. For you to still love him. To give him a chance.

“You truly are; mi niña” Pablo said nodding smiling at you

“You better say that because I have pickles that I can easily put on your sandwich”

“You’re crossing a line over there, young lady” You laughed throwing a slice of onion at him “No! I don’t want to smell like onion!”

“You’d be a cute little and smelly angry onion!” You smiled at him and no matter how much he wanted to try and keep his serious face; he slowly erupted in a smile. He didn’t know how he couldn’t have realized his feelings sooner. He wanted to smash his head against every surface possible

“Es que no puedo contigo” Pablo said shaking his head as you threw another slice at him “¡Hostias, Y/N, parale!” Your laugh told him it was worth smell like onion just to hear that angelic sound and see the happiness on your face

He’ll do anything to keep that smile forever, but just when he thought nothing could ever make you guys separate, your phone started ringing as he saw the ID, he felt his heart fall to the floor.

You instantly reached out for your phone and shooting Pablo a small smile you left the kitchen to attend the call. He felt another tug of his chest and sighed.

Two weeks later

Pablo was deeply asleep when he felt his hand vibrate; he furrowed his eyebrows and opened his eyes to see what was happening. His phone was in his hands and he remembered falling asleep with it while talking to you. The brightness of it, blinded him for a few seconds

“Joder”

 He cursed out taking his other hand to his eyes rubbing the sleep away for a bit but it was only needed to see your name across his phone to make him snap out of it

“Hello” He picked up

“Hey” He heard your voice “Can I come over?”

“Sure, something’s wrong?”

“No… I just- I had a fight with Samuel nothing too much but I don’t feel like being alone” You said “I… I’m sorry, I know you have early training tomorrow I shouldn’t have called but-”

“No” Pablo cut you off shaking his head “Don’t worry about it, Y/N/N. I’m here, always will be” A bit of silence overpowered the line for a few seconds “I’m waiting for you”

“I’m already on my way, Pablito” You said softly. When you came to Pablo’s house, you immediately grabbed him and hugged him

“Are you okay?” You nod

“I just… Feel weird” You spoke as Pablo carried you both towards his couch, you on top of him cuddling

“Did he touched you?” Pablo pulled away from you

“No! No! God no! He wouldn’t be talking nor walking if he had!” You shook your head and that eased Gavi for a bit

“What’s wrong then?”

“I just… This isn’t the first time we fight during this week and I don’t know everytime it ends I feel with this need of being anywhere but close to him, he makes me so angry and for the stupid little things ever”

“Why are you fighting?”

“He’s been stressed about his final project at Uni” You said shaking your head “And gosh, everything irritates him! I breathe and he’s off, my phone goes off and he goes off too, Aladdin barks and he goes off, Wifi doesn’t work and he goes off! Everything pisses him off and it’s making me so angry because whenever I’m stressed, I don’t yell at anyone! I just go to the gym to the punching bag and discharge my everything there” You put your hands on your face and yell into them “And I just can’t stand him right now, like… He told me I was absolutely mad! God, he’s gorgeous, so pretty, beautiful but so irritating” Pablo’s eyebrows went up when he heard the adjectives “And sorry for coming here to bother you with my problems. You shouldn’t even be awake in the middle of the night but still here you are” You put your head in the middle of his chest

“It seems like not everything is pink and roses” You punch him lightly making him laugh

“I know not everything it’s pink and roses” You sigh sitting up, making Gavi grab your waist and get comfortable with his head on the armrest “I just think that he’s overreacting, I saw his thesis and it’s too damn amazing, it’s normal that he stresses out, I do that as well but I don’t go around the world screaming at something or someone because I can’t find this correct word to describe something or something like that” You said “I didn’t feel like staying tonight with him” You shook your head “And that’s how I’m here” You looked down at Gavi and find him smiling lightly at you “What?” You asked softly eyebrows scrunched up

Gavi took one of his hands up to your forehead and gave it the same light touches you give his to make his frown go away, the action made you smile widely

“You’re not pretty with your forehead scrunched up, that’s my thing” You laughed lightly

“Sorry” You shook your head, Gavi’s hand coming back to your waist “I’m just irritated, annoyed, mad”

“And that’s okay” He said “I hope everything turns out okay for you, Y/N/N. And I also hope Samuel gets his job done in peace”

“That makes us two” You both laughed

“I can understand him” You hum

“And so can I” You say “It’s his thesis, it’s his final college project” You shrug your shoulders “I guess I’ll be that way when I’m doing mine”

“God bless the poor man who’s with you in those times” You laughed together

“I’m not that bad”

“Yes, keep telling yourself that honey” He said and you laughed “What about we watch your favorite movie to help you distress and everything else?”

“Wall-e?” You asked

“And ice cream, I bought your favorite one” You got off of Pablo and jogged towards the kitchen “Bring me one too, please!”

“NO, THEY’RE MINE!” He heard you yell

Your mood instantly changed. You weren’t grumpy anymore and all it took Gavi was less than ten minutes for you to rant about your fight with your boyfriend, hear you out, be there for you and buy you your favorite Ice cream. It was something magical.

Gavi often didn’t liked being woken up at midnight hours but for you he would stay awake the whole night if he needed to, just to help you and make sure you were okay. That night, you both fell asleep in each other’s arms laid out in his couch. He swears he had never slept better in his whole life.

Soon, it became a little routine; whenever you fight with Samuel, you call your best friend, go to Pablo’s to calm down as he comforted you and fall asleep with him either on his couch, his bed, the floor, everywhere

Today was no different, two months had passed and you were once more laid on his bed with Pablo next to you, legs up to the wall

“SHE WAS TOTALLY FLIRTING WITH HIM, RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FUCKING FACE!” You groaned covering your face with your hands “He had the audacity to say she’s just an ex, like what the fucking-?!”

“Tio, uno nunca debe decir eso” Pablo shook his head, showing disagreement with Samuel’s words

“I know, right? He told me I was overreacting, that I was being dramatic because he was dating me not her! That he loves me and not her… BUT YOU AREN’T FUCKING BESTIES WITH YOUR EX!” You yelled out angry, silence flowed the room as you took your hands off of your face “But you know what? I’m not going to just stand there, get hurt and watch; if he wants to spend his time with someone else, then I will do the same thing!”

“Yeah? Who are you gonna flirt with? Me?” You huff rolling your eyes

“Please, don’t flatter yourself that much”

“I’m gorgeous”

“And that’s why you have a bunch of thirteen years old girl fangirling over you in TikTok. If they met you, I’m pretty sure their crushes would vanish in a single second” You looked at him noticing a light pout on his lips and his eyebrows scrunched up, you laughed

“I’m lovely” You laughed agreeing

“You are. You are also pretty, Pabs; don’t worry about it” He smiled lightly

“Anyway… He knows all of your male friends are just that, friends”

“I don’t know I’m gonna go to a fucking pub and see if there’s anyone interested in me. Which would be a bit difficult but I can try”

“Why would that be difficult?”

“I’m not every guy’s type of girl, Pablo” He hums turning his face to watch you

“You’re right. Not every boy wants an amazing girl like you, just real man who knows what he wants” His words softened your face and heart.

For the first time since the starts of your relationship with  Samuel you had buried and tried to get the rid off your feelings for Pablo but right now, you had started feeling the same funny feeling you had done for a whole four years. You had succeeded until now. You smiled at him, without showing your teeth

“Thank you” You said as he smiled back

“You don’t have to thank me, Y/N/N”

You looked away from him, watching your socked-clothed feet; you put your feet on top of his, your body closer as he welcomed you in his arms. Your head on his shoulder as he softly pushed his on top of yours, staying in silence for the rest of the evening, no more words were needed to say.

You were saying everything and at the same time nothing.

…

“Will you be at my presentation?” You asked sitting in front of Pablo during his lunch break, both of you eating

“Yes” He said mid-chewing “Es mañana, ¿verdad?” You nod furrowing your eyebrows “¿Qué pasa?”

“Don’t talk while eating, it’s rude and you look gross”

“You’ve seen me worse” Pablo shrugged his shoulders “¿Me recuerdas la hora?” He asked as you took a sip of his cholocate milk

“9:30”

“I’ll be there at 9” You smiled

“You’re allowed to be a little late”

“I won’t” He reassured you with a smile “Need to always be there for my best and favorite girl”

“I’m your only, favorite and best girl” You push your eyebrows up

“That you are” He nodded high fiving you “Do I have to dress fancy?”

“Not that much but you can’t exactly appear in hoodies and cargos”

“Joder” He cursed out a bit making you laugh “Now, you’ll make me go shopping”

“¡Mentiroso! You’ve nice going-out clothes” He lifted his eyebrows

“I’ll see what I can do then” You smiled at each other

“¡Chicos, estamos listos!” Both of them snapped their heads at Xavi’s voice

“See you tomorrow then, Páez” You smiled getting up leaning over him to kiss his cheek and hug him by the shoulders

“See you later” He corrected grabbing you by the hands and not letting you get away from him

“What’s up?” You asked he pouted his lips a bit letting you know he wanted to give you a kiss. You smiled and putted your cheek on the front of his face; soon you felt his lips collide with your skin repeatedly, you giggled pushing him away

“Your kisses are wet” You whipped his saliva of your cheek

“No, you kept moving around, I couldn’t kiss you properly”

“Tonto” You pushed his face away laughing “See you later then” You pronounced heavily the later making him smile

You left the training grounds as Pedri, Ansu and Balde joined Pablo

“You are a goner for her” Ansu said as Pablo sighed nodding

“Yes, I am” He soon felt Pedri’s hands on his shoulders

“Venga, Pablito. We need to keep training”

Your leg was going up and down quickly as you received the news, you instantly had grabbed your teammate point and read it, whilst trying to remember yours at the same time; you were freaking nervous, everything seemed just wrong for you at that time and you wanted to be curled up in your bed, relaxed, crying and watching any kind of series. Everything was better than feeling this way.

A voice distracted you from your doings “¡Pero mira que preciosa estás!” Pablo exclaimed after seeing you with your group, you looked for his voice and immediately smiled seeing him walk over to you, your nerves easing a little bit.

“¡Y tú estás muy lindo! Extremely handsome” You said hugging him tightly; he kissed your cheek several times “I told you, you had nice out-going clothes” You felt him laugh against you before separating himself from you lightly. His hands still on your waist as yours rested on his biceps

 “All done to smash it?” Your smile fell and shook your head

“I have less than an hour to learn one of my teammate’s points, she couldn’t come and the professor’s want all the information” You started talking quickly, you started waving your hands a bit “I-I” You shook your head “I don’t think I can make it, like… I barely know mine” You laughed nervous “And Samuel is supposed to come with the empanaditas for the judges but I haven’t been able to reach out for him in the whole morning, the guys are getting impatient and I don’t have any more excuses as to why he isn’t here already” You took a deep breath feeling Pablo grab your hands “I’m not ready, I’ll not make it” You shook your head “I wanna leave, I wanna cry and throw up to be honest”

“Hey, hey” He said repeatedly “Where’s your mom?” He asked

“Already inside, so is dad and so are my brothers” You said

“And where are those empandas?”

“In my house”

“Ok, I have my key with me” He said nodding “I’ll go look for them, bring them back here and see you smash that thing, you meanwhile get pretty, don’t cry and read that fuckers teammate point”

“Pablo, no! Once you are in, you can’t come out!”

“You forgot I’m Barca’s golden boy, I’ll use everything I have and own but you’ll have me and those empanadas watching you and being proud of you, mi niña” He kissed your cheek quickly “I’ll go!”

He left you with your mouth full of words, after you didn’t see him, smiled widely.

He is the golden boy and when he wants something, he gets it, you couldn’t help but looked at your watch 9.05am; you sighed mentally hoping for him to get back in 25minutes, but as time went by, there was no signal of Pablo.

Your teammates were already in line to enter, you were last seeing as you were the one who closed the presentation and answered the questions, you sighed 9.30 and Pablo hadn’t make it. You were shaking, tears pooling in your eyes the words on the paper weren’t clear as they were before.

“¡Mi niña!” You heard his voice and turned around, Pablo was there jogging up to you. You sighed once more, this time in relief and ran not caring of your heels up to him

“You made it” You whispered feeling some tears roll down on your face

“Of course I did” He whispered “Had Pedri to drive me around, probably made him break a few laws, have to pay him those too” You laughed letting go of him “Hey, no. Don’t cry”

“It’s just too much” Pablo carefully, not wanting to ruin your makeup, wiped your tears away “Thank you” He smiled kissing your cheek

“No problem at all”

“No, really. Thank you. You have saved my ass once more” You grabbed the plastic bag full of the empanaditas “But, you have to get inside there, right now or you won’t be able to get in during the next forty seconds”

“Forty seconds leaves me time to do something…” He grabbed your hands “Smash it like you always have done, Y/N. Whatever happens I’m proud of you and I know you’ve worked so hard for this. You got it” You nod “Stop crying, that doesn’t make you look as pretty as you truly are” You laughed lightly “You can even give me the paper so if you forget about something, you can rely on me, I will pay attention to the words” You laugh once more giving him the paper

“And don’t fucking care about him. You’ve got your family in there… And you’ve got me, since always and ‘till forever”You smiled nodding, his arms wrapped around you “Te quiero y sé que esto no es nada comparado con lo que tú puedes hacer, guarda esos nervios para el platillo de verdad” You laughed feeling him tighten his arms around you, joining your foreheads

“I will do”

“You’re the fucking boss, mi niña. Smash it” One of your teammates called you signaling you it was time, you felt Pablo kiss your cheek

“Go” You said separating from him; he smiled jogging to the forum “Martín!” He turned around “¡Te quiero!” He smiled blowing you a kiss before entering.

Your eyes never left his while waiting your turn; both of you smiling at each other and when it was your time, your eyes searched his whenever you thought you’d forget something but you didn’t.

You managed your way, walking slowly from a place to the other showing confidence, supporting yourself onto your guys material and even cracked a few jokes along the way that made the judges and the entire audience laugh, you spoke with a smile on your face and a radiant light on your aura. You answered all the team questions with ease, as if someone had asked you, what’s your favorite food, Pablo’s heart swelled with proud watching you smash your presentation even though, you were crying a few minutes before that.

“Congratulations!” You hugged your family with a big smile on after you were out, your brothers had a little card with your name in it and cheering you on, you laughed at their silliness 

“Where’s Pablo?” You asked curious after hugging your family when you felt an arm wrap around your waist and lift you up in the air turning you around

“Pablo’s here!” He said after putting you down, you laughed turning to face him

“You’re crazy!”

“You love me like that!”

“Why did you left?” He smiled pulling out from his back his other arm; a bouquet of your favorite flowers were in front of you. You laughed feeling tears come up to your eyes “You didn’t have to” You whispered shaking your head with a smile on and accepting the flowers

“I know I didn’t. But I wanted to” He said with a loving smile “You deserve this and more though” Pablo smiled pulling both of his arms around you to keep you close to him “If it was for me, I would gifted you something more extravagant” You laughed “…But I know you like simple things”

“Simple things are the best” You replied

“They are” He agrees “But you deserve to be spoiled too” You shake your head “Stop crying” He shaked you a bit

“They’re happy tears, I swear” He with the pad of his thumbs, wiped your tears “Thank you”

“Don’t” He shook his head lightly “Don’t thank me. I will do anything for you in a heartbeat, Y/N/N” You smiled “Don’t let anyone ruin this big day for you, especially him” Pablo whispered as your smile slowly fell

“He’s good” You said “He loves me and he must have a good reason for not showing up today”

“If he doesn’t prioritizes you then he’s not good”

You looked down at the flowers, sighing. “He has to have a really good reason, he has never forgot something when it comes to me and much less something big as this is” You shrugged your shoulders. You truly hoped he had a good reason.

Even though, Pablo and your family had taken you out to eat, tried to lift your mood and got you to laugh sometimes, you were constantly checking on your phone to see if there were any messages of him. Nothing.

You thought you did a good job at hiding it but Pablo had read you completely. He sighed sadly. He was serious and he meant it when he said you deserved everything and better.

Your mood that day was halfway ruined. You wished you had all of your loved ones with you but Samuel was missing and the worst of everything it was that he never texted you that night to come up with some excuse, it broke your heart and for the first time in your entire relationship with him, you cried yourself to sleep.

You never liked the feeling of being forgotten ever since your parents confused their picking you up time you felt so bad, you started crying and crying, that much you had to sleep with them that night, you only had felt that way twice times in your whole life. And you never liked it. Three, now. Counting Samuel’s.

You woke up next day with a strong headache, ten messages of Pablo and the five messages of Samuel, you didn’t wanted to keep on reading on your phone.

Pablo Páez Buenos días. How are you feeling? I’m sorry Samuel is an ass Please don’t let him ruin your mood ever again I saw you yesterday and I wouldn’t like to see you like that again. Much less for a boy. Te quiero mucho Would you like to spend the day with me? Aurora and my family will come later; they are hoping to see you.  Text me whenever you can, please

Samu✨💖 Preciosa I’m sorry I completely forgot about it And I feel so mad at myself Have dinner with me tonight to make up for it?

You sighed, head throbbing with a headache for crying so much. It was too early to be debating yourself from this kind of things, so you just picked Pablo’s message and replied a single yes, you’ll face Samuel later.

…

“So… Are you coming for dinner with Rora with my parents or what?” Pablo asked calling you while having lunch, he was training today.

Your eyebrows furrowed hearing him ask that

“I told you yes, that I wanted to go” You say confused “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, so yes”

“You didn’t told me anything”

“Yes I did” You say nodding

“No, you didn’t”

“Páez, I messaged you this morning”

“Y/L/N, you did not messaged me this morning. I haven’t heard of you since last night until right now that I’m talking to you”

You laughed in disbelief “The joke’s not funny” You said

“It isn’t a joke, mi niña”

But it truly wasn’t a joke because as if on cue, a message of Samuel appeared on your screen

Samu✨💖 Dinner is reserved Meet me there at 7?

Fucki-

You groaned sighing

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked while drinking a bit of his water

“I was so sleepy in the morning, I did texted” You nodded “But instead of texting you, I texted Samuel” You sighed, Pablo looked at you before laughing

“Cancel on him”

“I can’t just cancel on him, Pabs”

“Yes, you can. He didn’t showed up!”

“But I’m not him, Pablito” You shook your head “He’s sorry and he’s already done reservations” You sighed “I really wanted to see Belén tho”

“I’ll let her know that” He smiled lightly “What hour’s the date?”

“7”

“It’s 2.36” You nod

“I know how to read the hour, thanks” He laughed lightly

“What you gonna do?”

“Obviously go, he’s my boyfriend”

“Doesn’t act like one” You roll your eyes ignoring his statement

“…See why he didn’t showed up and…”

“And?”

“…And hopefully get laid” You replied laughing watching Pablo’s eyebrows lift up impressed with the honesty “I don’t know, I’m stressing out so much these days”

“Wow” That’s all he said. You kept on laughing “Don’t tell me the details if that happens, please”

“I wasn’t going to anyway” You shook your head sighing, both of you stayed in silence for a few seconds “But he’s just that good-”

“Xavi’s calling!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking” You said smiling

“I don’t like you sometimes”

“You love me everytime”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night” Pablo shook his head, staying in silence for a few seconds.

You furrowed your eyebrows seeing him a bit sad so suddenly “Something’s wrong?” He shook his head, smiling a bit

“Everything’s fine. I gotta go, Lewy’s calling me”

“But he’s not-”

The words died in your mouth as Pablo hung up the call; you kept on staring and the black screen of your phone for a few seconds before letting it fall a bit roughly against the surface of your eating table. You sighed feeling a bit mad for not knowing what had happened to Pablo and why did he left you so suddenly, you were also tired even if you had slept until two hours ago, you weren’t feeling the best.

You picked your phone again, looking at Samuel’s text and another wave of indescribable and many feelings came rushing into you, mixed feelings.

 Suddenly you didn’t wanted to go at the restaurant, the dressing up thing seemed a lot to you right now, you preferred to be at home or have a nice car ride with him, you wanted Samuel to come and look out for you, take care of you and mend everything these past few weeks have been with him, in the simplest way possible.

But you also wanted to put Samuel to the side and have the greatest of times with your best friend, to take care of Pablo and him of you. He seemed down so suddenly and you wanted to know what had happened to him that made him act like that.

You were conflicted and you hated it.

Opening your camera roll, you scrolled through pictures trying to clear a bit your mind but it was as if fate decided you to choose right now, after a picture of you and Samuel, last week at one of your friend��s house, you remembered you had three days without fighting and you were over the moon, you never liked fighting with your loved or close ones.

It was the both of you sat in the grass with the Christmas light hanging in the tree behind you both, she had decorated for the get-together and you always had loved decorated trees. Samuel had said something making you laugh hysterically as he smiled against your cheek. And that’s how the picture was taken by one of his friends.

You cuddled up to him, head thrown back a bit laughing as he looked at you with a big smile on, his dimples appearing and his eyes scrunching up a bit in a cute way. You smiled looking at the picture, you really liked Samuel and you knew you could fall for him and mostly if you could stop all of these fights that have been happening, for you both, constantly.

Swiping to the next picture, you found one of you and Pablo in his apartment doing a movie night, taken by Pablo himself. You loved this picture because Pablo almost never truly smiles in pics, he’s just tight smiling, side smiling, smirking or simply not smiling at all, in this one he had fully smiled showing his teeth and something that you loved of Pablo was his toothy smile.

The pic itself was beautiful even if it was taken while the two of you were looking a bit bad and fooling around, you were doing a peace sign with one hand with duck lips and closed eyes, the other around Pablo’s shoulders bringing him into you as he was simply smiling.

Your thumb moved around watching both pictures, until you decided and made up your mind.

Pablo had made himself known he didn’t wanted you like you wanted him unlike Samuel who wanted you and fought for you and you were going to do the same for him back, they were stupid and simple fights and you could get out of them. He was your boyfriend whilst Pablo was, is and will always be your best friend.

You left your phone on the table Samuel pic shown and you smiled on your way to doll yourself up for him, for your boyfriend and hoping that you could solve everything going on between the two of you for good.

You figured if Pablo had something, he would tell you straight away. And if he didn’t, you could always get it out of him for yourself and help him, like the best friend you were and will always be. You couldn’t let some simple fights and his comforts, get in the way to your relationship and mess with your head and heart.

Time was nearly 7pm when you finished and hailed a cab to get you towards the restaurant, when you arrived the restaurant, you texted him letting him know you were already there

“Can I get you something, ma’am?” You smiled shaking your head politely at the waiter

“I’m waiting for someone, thank you” He smiled

“If you need anything, you can call me” You nodded your head lightly

“Will do, thank you” And with that the waiter left

Truth to be told, you lost count of the amount of times the waiter had asked you if you wanted something to eat or where ready to order, you always answered with the same phrase “I’m waiting for someone, thank you”. You stopped watching the hour, when you realized you saw that three hours have passed, you were tired of sending him messages, you wanted to cry

“Miss” The same waiter said giving you a little white container

“I didn’t order anything”

“I know you didn’t but I’m sorry for your date. You deserve someone better” He sadly smiled at you “We’re closing already” You nodded fighting the tears, stood up and left a few bills on the table

“Thank you so much” You said and left the restaurant.

You asked once more for a taxi and fought all the way back to your house the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes. You had no energy to fight him; you didn’t had energy to cry anymore. You were on autopilot mode taking off your heels, undid your hair, cleaned your face and took off your dress pulling a random but comfy shirt.

Your phone never rang with an apology text or with a call. And you went to sleep with a heavy heart that night, tears falling and falling from your eyes. Once more being forgotten

Next day rolled in and your phone had rang multiple times but you weren’t in the mood to face an ‘I’m sorry I forgot’ kind of thing from Samuel so when the door of your room was opened you pretended to be asleep.

“¡Joder, Y/N!” You heard Pablo’s voice and instantly relaxed a bit “Why aren’t you answering my calls or texts? I was going mad thinking something had happened to you! It’s almost 5 in the evening, loca!” You heard his footsteps for seconds before you felt the bed dip in “Y/N?” His hand shook your shoulder a bit “Y/N” He shook harder “You’ve always been a heavy sleeper, mi niña” He chuckled and that made you smile a bit

But then you sniffed

“Y/N? You’re awake?”

You cursed yourself out and held in your breath

“Y/N, you’re awake. I know you” You sighed knowing what was coming.

He pulled down the blanket that was covering your whole frame

“Hi” Your voice cracked but still tried to make a smile for him

“Maldición, what happened?” You sighed closing your eyes; you shook your head and tried to pull the blanket back up again “No, Y/N. What happened? Why are you crying?

You stayed silent before letting yourself cry again, you felt Pablo’s arms around you.

“Y/N, baby” You felt Pablo get underneath the covers and pulled you into his embrace “No, no, no. Don’t cry, mi niña”

“He forgot” You said into Pablo’s neck “I was there.” You shook your head “I was there the whole night, looking like a stupid little girl… He never answered his phone, people giving me pity looks and I hated it” You sniffed grabbing him tighter “I did my hair just the way he likes it, I dressed up with his favorite color, I did myself for him yesterday” You cried “And he never showed up. He never answered my calls nor my texts. He forgot about me, about us, I-” You stopped your ranting, crying

“I’m gonna kill that guy” Pablo said moving around but you clinged onto him

“Don’t leave please” You whispered making Pablo’s heart break.

He had saw you pass several heartbreaks, he had seen you cry for men who in the first place never deserved you, he had always been there for you for each and every single one of them but this was the first time he had seen you suffer for a guy while he was in love with you.

This was a whole reset. Pablo didn’t know what to do, say or treat you like, to make you feel safe and forget about Samuel; Pablo hated the fact you were hurting over a stupid guy who didn’t deserved you meanwhile he was there dying to reach out for you, fill your heart, body and life with the happiness and love you truly deserve.

He really wanted to go towards Samuel’s house and make him regret every single little thing, he had been doing to you these past few months, the constant fights at the beginning were because of stupid little things but they keep going on and on and it was more often you spending your night at Pablo’s, even though he never complained, he loved spending time with you but he never liked you crying and sad.

He felt rage and all he could see was beating Samuel up but at the second you clinged into him, he softened and his rage turned into care, his arms tightened around you, his lips let a kiss on your hairline and he pulled you into him

“He’s a tremendo gilipollas” You chuckled a bit and sniffed

“I should’ve listened to you and cancel on him” You whispered after a little while “I’m sure I could have spent the most amazing time with my Páez Gavira family”

“Mom misses you too, by the way” You smiled “She asked you to call her” You nod sniffing

“I will do, later” You got your face out from his chest and smiled at him softly “I’m sorry about wetting your shirt” He looked down at his shirt

“You left a bit of snot there” He joked as you scoffed

“I’m gonna look for another shirt for you” He pulled your wrist, getting you on top of him again

“I don’t care about some moco or lágrimas on my shirt. I care for you to be happy” He smiled back at you and leaned down to kiss your cheek “What do you say if we bake something? Your favorite? We can’t let you keep going this way the whole day”

“I love you so much, you know? I’m so glad I’ve you as my best friend, Pabs” You said smiling as his heart softly broke hearing you be-friend him

Guess it’s my turn to feel it. Pablo thought

“I love you too, mi niña. And I’m always going to be here for you, whenever and wherever you need me”

“I kinda feel bad though, you shouldn’t be here looking after me and my romantic fails”

“I can and I will” Pablo smiled kissing your cheek and lifting himself from your body “Now, c’mon. Let’s make some good treats for us and have a skin care night, my cutis needs one of those olive face masks of yours”

…

“Are we ready to party?!” Pedri and Gavi yelled out coming to your house as you lifted your eyes from your paper work

“Am I getting a thing for this exam?!”

“YES?” Pedri asked as you huffed

“No” You whine

“C’mon, let’s distress tonight” Gavi said putting his head in your shoulder, his hands going around your waist and Pedri lifted his eyebrows as you tried not to blush or smile

“I can’t, I have this big exam on Wednesday and I don’t understand a thing from it”

“But today’s Friday” Gavi said 

“I know”

“You still have five days for it”

“I know”

“Then take a break” You whined

“I can’t, Pablo”

“Don’t call me that”

“It’s your name”

“Not for you!” You smiled lightly

“I would love to, guys. But I can’t”

“Yes, you can” Pedri said “I bet you have like five hours going on with this”

“Five hours?” Gavi scoffed “Better said whole day” You roll your eyes “Have you even ate something?” You nod

“I did. Was feeling too hungry for my own good” Pablo smiled opting to sit down besides you

It has been four days since your failed date with Samuel, he has been texting you but you were giving him the cold shoulder ever since, only replying one message saying: ‘Not in the mood to talk to you, right now. We’ll chat later’ and archived his messages.

“That’s good though” He smiled showing off his teeth “But seriously, get your pretty ass up from this chair and get ready to relax for a while”

“Pablo, no!” You whine softly as he shook his head grabbing your hand and getting you out of the chair

“Pablo, yes! You’ll thank me later for this”

“WAIT-NO! PABLO!” You yelled out as he lifted you on his back as if nothing and walked with you towards your room

“Get pretty and get ready. Pedri and I will wait for you downstairs”

You knew best than try to fight him so you did what he had asked you to, get pretty and get ready for a night out with your favorite boys since it’s been a while since you got one.

“Where are we going?” You asked after a little while

“A que Ansu” Pedri said smiling

“Will there be a lot of people there?”

“Hopefully not” Gavi turned to look at you “, but we already know how Ansu is” You laugh lightly “Don’t worry. I will not let you alone”

“What about the chicks?” Pedri asked jokingly winning a deadly glare from Pablo

“I don’t care about the chicks”

“You can get someone though” You said softly “You don’t have to stop yourself from getting fun because of me”

“I’m not stopping myself from anything, Y/N. I simply don’t want to leave you” He shrugged a bit “I’m more than okay being with you, I don’t need a random girl who just wants me because I’m Pablo Gavi, I just need you” He said looking at you in the eye as you smiled softly 

“Ah, Y/N… You got the golden boy whipped” Pedri joked as Pablo glared at him and you laughed brushing his comment off and not paying too much attention to it.

“He’s just being a good friend”

“No. I’m just being normal… I’m being Pablo” He looked at you “Your Pablo”

“You’re getting too sappy”

“You like that”

“Sure” You spoke with sarcasm and Pedri laughed turning the car to the left, Ansu’s house being visible

“C’mon” Pedri said after parking “Let’s go and have a good time” He smiled as Pablo opened the door for you and helped you get out

You greeted Ansu, Alejandro, Ronald, Frenkie, Christensen, Raphinha, almost everyone of the squad, their girlfriends and wives with a warm smile and a warm hug. Immediately, the guys chatted with you for a bit, when Gavi came up to you with a drink

“Know you don’t like Tequila and that you have to focus tomorrow for your exam. So don’t worry, this is just Coca-Cola” You smiled at him and leaned a bit to kiss his cheek

“Thanks” You murmured feeling him wrap his arm around you and pull you into him

“Let’s sit” Pablo offered with a light smile on as you nod

The night was going on great, you laughed, danced for a bit with Pedri and then Gavi who claimed Pedri was stealing you way too much and had a great time in general, until Ansu decided to post a picture of you, Gavi, Pedri, Alejandro, himself and their respective girls, flings or friends and post it on his Best-Friends Instagram story.

You don’t know how, not when, not anything like that but somehow Samuel had seen the story and soon when you were laughing at something Gavi was telling you, Samuel came in cutting your whole night short and threw your mood away.

You didn’t wanted to see him, still not ready to talk to him and forgive him for what he had done in the day of your presentation and the day after with the restaurant thing. Gavi clearly saw the whole thing and was a bit upset

“What are you doing here, bonita? Why didn’t you invited me? This is nice!”

“Pedri and Gavi brought me here. The invited doesn’t invite” You said serious before giving him your back

“But Ansu is my friend! I’m sure he would’ve loved me here”

“You already are here, hermano” Gavi said “You can stop the ranting and just enjoy the night”

“Nah! Mind your business, Gavira”

Pablo opened his mouth but you put a hand on top of his, slightly shaking your head

“Please don’t” You begged “I just want to enjoy tonight” Pablo nodded at you

“If you want him out-” You cut Pablo off

“I do” You nod “I’m not ready to face him but he’s already here. This isn’t your house for you to kick him out nor either is your party” You sighed “We’re just invited”

“I’m best friends with the owner of the house”

“Still, Samu is friends with the guys, they don’t know our problems and they will like him being here. Let’s just forget about everything, okay? Let’s enjoy ourselves” You patted his thigh sending him a little smile

“Just for you” He said after a few seconds, your smile widening “But still, if he does something to you, just tell me” You nod rolling your eyes

“Will do”

“Promise?” He showed his pinky, making you shake your head lightly

“Promise, mi lindo” You linked your pinky with his and you bottled out of your bubble

The night was good, both you and Pablo were almost ignoring all the way Samuel, who was each time more and more insistent on having your attention

Tarot was playing and you were once more dancing with Gavi, you probably looked like a hypocrite, your boyfriend asked you a few minutes ago to dance but you declined saying you were tired but when Gavi asked if you wanted to dance you extended your hand and let him lead you to the dance floor

You were dancing and singing to the song with Pablo goofing around with him when you felt a hand on your shoulder, you turned around and saw Samuel

“Dance with me?” You softly shook your head

“I don’t want to”

“Please, just one dance. I miss my girlfriend” He said and you raised your eyebrows

“I’m still mad for what you did” You shook your head in disbelief “Please, I really don’t want to be near you right now”

“Y/N-” Pablo cut him off

“She said she doesn’t want to and that she wants you to leave her alone, please. Can you understand that?”

“Mind your business”

“Her business are mine too, so please step aside. Let her be”

“Our relationship doesn’t involve you, kid” Samuel pushed Pablo by the shoulders

“What did you just called me?” Pablo asked rage going all around his body; he marched towards Samuel but you quickly intervened putting yourself in front of the Sevillano

“He isn’t worth it, Pabs; don’t let him get to you. You’re not a kid; you’re more man than anyone in this room, please. Don’t put yourself into his level” You whispered but your words got in one of Pablo’s ears and went out of the other, hell, he wasn’t even looking at you even if you joined both of your foreheads whilst talking

Pablo softly pulled you out of his front and stepped up to Samuel

“I called you what you are, a fucking kid”

“Hijo de tú put-” You pulled Pablo back by his shoulder but he got himself out of your grasp

“Stop” You somehow got in the middle of them “I said stop” You looked both guys before your gaze stayed on Pablo “Please” Each one of your hands were placed in the guys chest, preventing their movement

“Step aside bonita” Samuel said taking off your hand softly and moving closer

“Yes, Y/N. Step aside” Pablo agreeded

“The fucking I will move from here. Stop” Your voice started shaking “I will dance with you; I will do anything, Samuel. Just fucking stop. Stop” You pleaded “This is a party, to have a good time not to fight”

“It was” Samuel said “But this fucker wants to get my girl and insert his nose in places he shouldn’t and I’m not gonna allow it”

“Your girl doesn’t want to be with you because you’re an asshole and a shitty boyfriend; I’m just being a good best friend, a human and a reasonable man to treat her how she deserves to be treated, not forgetting her at restaurants and pulling stupid stunts. Shame on you to treat such a wonderful girl like she’s nothing” Samuel smirked and pulled you out of the middle

“Well… My girl, my treatments”

“Pablo” You warned grabbing his arm trying to pull him back but it was a failure, he was angry and he was stronger than you, Pablo squared up once more to Samuel. Both of their faces separated by millimeters

“Eres un tremendo gilipollas” Pablo said

Your eyes devised Pedri who was already coming over with Fernando, his older brother behind him. You silently thanked him for noticing, the loudness of the music wouldn’t have done anything if you called for any of the guys.

“Yeah? This gilipollas is breaking your legs, golden boy” He mocked Gavi’s title “Calling yourself a man when all you can do is run around the field, acting like a little kid, stomping your feet, doing rabietas and run into the other players because you don’t know how to play for shit”

Pablo smiled angrily before launching himself at Samuel, when Pedri grabbed him in the perfect moment and Fer grabbed Samuel, the other lads noticed this and they instantly went up to help.

You were surprised by Pablo, he had undone himself from Pedri’s, Lewandowski’s, Raphinha’s, Araujo’s, Alejandro’s, Diego’s (One of his childhood friends) and Sergio’s hold, meanwhile Samuel was controlled by Ansu, Ferran, Eric and Fer.

You decided to step in for Pablo “Please, stop. This isn’t funny anymore, Pabs” You begged feeling tears up in your eyes, your hands went to touch his face but he refused pushing your hands away

“I’m gonna kill him” He growled

“No, you won’t” You said grabbing his arms but he let himself go rudely which startled you and made you lose your footing.

You would have fallen to the floor if it wasn’t for Alejandro who quickly saw it and helped you, still your ankle suffered a bit. You whimpered out in pain, Pablo’s eyes quickly softening as seeing you in pain

“¡Dios mío, joder!” He kneeled down besides you, worry written on his face “I’m so sorry, mi niña” He said going to touch your hands but now it was you who didn’t wanted his touch

“Well done, football star” Samuel said also kneeled down besides you, he wrapped his arm around your waist

“Look, cabrón-” You cut Pablo off

“Shut up!” You exclaimed, you were angry with him, angry with Samuel and angry to the fact that you had to end up with a bruised ankle to make them both stop “I don’t want to talk to both of you right now, I came here to relax, to forget about everything” You looked at Samuel first who looked down in shame and then to Pablo who sniffed not being able to meet your gaze “and here I am with a bruised ankle. I told you both to stop and both of you acted like fucking children!” You sniffed not being able to hold the tears anymore “I wanna get out of here”

“I’ll take you” Samuel said quickly

“She came with me, she can leave with me”

“I’m not leaving with any of you!” You exclaimed angry once more “If I have to take a fucking Uber, I’ll take it. If I have to walk all the way to my house or any place I want to, I will do it. But I don’t want to see both of your faces for a long while” Alejandro helped you stand up but you whimpered once more not being able to

Pedri got close and helped you get out of your heels, you hissed when his hand came in contact with the injured part

“Sorry, cariño” He said “Gotta take it off” You whimpered a bit when he was almost done, you heard Pedri hiss a bit “We gotta go to the hospital, this is turning blue” You groaned

This wasn’t how you expected to spend your night.

You felt Pedri helping you get up on your feet “Want my shoes?” He asked but you declined

“Just want this night to end as soon as possible” You murmured

“Y/N-” Pablo said stopping in front of you but you shook your head

“Just shut up” You pleaded and watched how Pablo’s mood shifted to a sad one

“I’m sorry”

It’s all he said before letting you go but before that he heard you murmur a little

“I shouldn’t even have gotten out of the house today” And he knew in that moment he had fucked it up once more but he couldn’t do anything else besides stand there and watch you leave doing little jumps with Pedri

“See what you have done?” He heard Samuel’s voice

“I’m not gonna talk to you, cabrón” Pablo replied “Y/N just got hurt because of you”

“Me? You were the one who pushed her”

“I didn’t pushed her”

“Guys” Ansu called “I think you should leave it. We don’t want another accident to happen” Pablo sighed nodding at his friend’s words “Samuel, thanks for coming man but I think you should leave” Samuel without saying anything else nodded and left “You too, Pablito”

“What?!”

“Don’t play yourself the innocent” Ferran said “You should’ve done what Y/N told you”

“He kept on calling me names, saying things”

“And she told you to not pay attention to those things” Ferran nodded “And now, she’s hurt. You brought her here to have a good time, to take her worries away but instead you created new ones” Pablo sighed knowing his friends were right.

Without fighting, Pablo waved goodbye and left the house. He texted Pedri on his way home

-Where’s she?

Pedrito González: *Sent ubication* Pedrito González: But she doesn’t want to see you, hermano

Pablo sighed feeling his heart heavy

-Is she good?

Pedrito González: Y/N is fine, can’t say the same thing about her ankle. She has to have a cast for the next five days

Pablo wanted to break his ankle himself too. Much better, give himself some good punches for ruining what it was supposed to be you relaxing night.

“She’s gonna be so mad at me. Hell, I’m mad at me as well” Pablo said before blocking his phone and walking towards his house already thinking on ways to make you forgive him

Next day he came up to your house and you raised an eyebrow, not expecting him there but knowing he was going to make an appearance sooner or later

“How are you?”

“My ankle is in a cast, I can’t walk properly, I can’t shower properly, I have to rely on Pedri to do my shopping that I always do on Saturdays whilst I’m grateful for him offering to do it, I’m not exactly a fan of him knowing what kind of pads I use, I have to do this assignment and later on study for Monday’s exam, Samuel hasn’t stopped bothering me, that much I had to turn the airplane mode on, my wifi isn’t working as quick as I would love it to, I also didn’t wanted to see the owner of my ankles disgrace today but he’s here anyway and I have to take medication for the amount of pain this injury gives me. How do you think I am?”

Pablo stood there looking at you in silence; guilty was not a correct word to express how bad he was feeling 

“Like you need more medication to work your pain away?”

“I wouldn’t even need medication if it wasn’t for yours and Samuel’s little show yesterday!” You exclaimed throwing a cushion in his way which he easily grabbed in his hold

“And I’m completely sorry because of that” Pablo said coming over to sit next to you “I’m truly, truly sorry for it. He was just being an asshole, calling me names, you know I hate when people calls me kid and-” You cut him off

“If you behave like that you are surely giving them a good reason to think you are a kid” You said “Which you aren’t by the way” You added quickly “Tienes que tener la cabeza fría, not pay attention to everyone’s words. You know you are an amazing football player and you’re also an amazing human being. We could just have ignored him and spend the rest of the night as we had done it until that moment”

“He wasn’t going to let you go”

“If he wasn’t, then we would have. We could’ve gone anywhere else, whenever we wanted to. But no!” You closed your laptop frustrated “Mister-I-get-worked-up-too-quickly couldn’t ignore a single sentence and leave with me, no! He had to act like a macho and demonstrate how he couldn’t handle his emotions, ignore my words and hurt his best friend without meaning to in the process” Pablo’s head was looking down at his lap in shame

“I’m sorry”

“I know you are” You said and he looked up at you “But you’re an idiot”

“I know I am” His reply made you smile lightly

“…My idiot”

“I am” This time he smiled “Forgive me, please?” You look at him

“With one condition” He nodded  listening to you “If next time, I tell you to stop and you don’t stop, I’m breaking your legs for you to stop playing for a very, very, very long time and don’t even think about coming over to talk to me because I will act as if I don’t know you” He nods “And I have to be your passenger princess too for whole three months straight”

“Done” He smiled “But you can be my passenger princess any time you want to” You smiled

“Also you have to massage my ankle” He gave you a look “You did it, you treat me”

“Fine” He sighed “How about I even make your shopping instead of Pedri? I already know you prefer pads instead of tampons” You smile at him “With wings”

“That’s very important” You pointed out as he laughed nodding

“Then its done” You nod

“It’s done” He hugged you tightly as you leaned into him

“For how long do you need that?”

“Four days now” He hissed

“I’m really sorry”

“Yeah, I’m about to kick your crotch too and just tell you I’m sorry”

“Please, don’t. It has already suffered a lot from those fucking players” You laugh out and soon he joined you

 And that’s how you come back to ‘normal’ with Pablo, four days pass on as he was checking in on you, like a personal nurse, he even had slept those four days in your house to, in his words “check on everything you need” but when Pablo came in with a bouncy step on his walk you knew he had something planned

“What do you want?” You asked him as soon as he appeared in your house from his training

“¿Qué? ¿Ya aquí no reciben a uno con un hola, buenas tardes, ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo te fue? ¿Nada??” You laughed

“Hola, buenas tardes. ¿Qué tal te fue en el training?” You asked watching a small smile appear on his face nodding

“That’s better” He said going over to kiss your cheek “Me he caído durante el entrenamiento, the guys have laughed their asses off” You smiled

“Damn. Why whenever I go to training nothing happens to you?”

“Because I try to impress you”

“Ush!” You roll your eyes “As if it would’ve worked… My eyes are always on Lewanpapi”

“Lewanwho?” You laughed out loud

“The things that man does to me… Without even trying”

“Y/N!”

“I’m joking” You giggle “Or am I?” Pablo gives you a look “I’m joking, I’m joking” Pablo smiled “I care about for Pepi, have you seen him?” You put your best shocked face as Pablo gives you another look once more “He came back hotter from that injury and I just-” You did a weird motion with your hands, face and shoulder “HE’S GORGEOUS!”

“To be honest, I don’t see Pedri as gorgeous, yes, he’s good looking but-”

“THAT’S ALL WE NEED TO HEAR!”

“Don’t yell!” He exclaimed “And don’t lie! We both know you care for me”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that” He pushes your face away lightly as you giggle “We know deep down, like really deep and really down inside me, I care about you” He hums with a smile on

“That’s all we need to hear” You laugh

“What were you going to say?”

“Pedri” You raised your eyebrows

“My man”

“Stop it” You giggled watching his furrowed eyebrows “He’s not your man” He never liked when you joked around with Pedri, much less he’ll like it now that he knows he’s in love with you

“Sadly, we just don’t see each other in that way”

“Y/N!”

“OKAY! Serious voice, serious face, serious persona” Gavi gave you a look fighting a smile

“He invited us to a party at his house”  

“Yeah” You said slowly “Don’t count me in”

“Why not?” You pointed your non-casted ankle but still it was wrapped in some bandages

“I still can’t walk properly” Gavi rolled his eyes

“I will carry you”

“I’m on my period”

“You can spend the whole night sat if you like”

“I’m with a headache”

“Thank god, Pedri won’t put any kind of music on” You sighed

“Pabs” You shook your head “I don’t really want to go” Now, it was his turn to sigh

“I know last time wasn’t that good” You hum looking at your ankle “But you can’t be afraid of each party we get”

“I just don’t want Samuel to be there”

Samuel. Oh dear, Samuel.

You haven’t talked to him since that night, you were mad at him for him to say such things to your best friend, to treat you like that, how dare he? My girl, my treatment? What the fuck?

“Still haven’t mend things with him?” You shake your head

“And I don’t really know if we can mend things this time” You said looking at him “I mean I would love to, I love being with him, he takes care of me, he loves me, he understands me” You sigh looking down at your hands “I don’t really know what’s happening to him lately, but I am willing to give it a try”

“I think you have been the one who gives different tries to it” Pablo said as you avoided looking at him in the eyes. Pablo took a deep breath thinking if he wanted to know the answer to the question his mind had been running on lately “Y/N, do you love him?”

You looked at Pablo, sighing.

Truth was, with Samuel’s actions lately you’ve been more and more distanced of him, you stopped seeing him with other eyes, you stopped seeing him like you used to and honestly you could go on not talking to him for a whole three days, you don’t do that to somebody you love. That’s when it hit you.

You have never loved him and you weren’t even close to it. You made yourself believe you were able to love him when in fact; you just loved the attention he gave you and wrapped yourself into a bubble believing you could escape your true feelings.

Your feelings for Pablo.

When you opened your mouth to answer your apartment phone started ringing, you looked at the number and recognized it to be your mom’s. A huge wind of relief came to you knowing it wasn’t Samuel. You weren’t in the mood to also mute your local phone by throwing it against the wall.

“It’s my mom”

“Y/N, please, answer me”

“You need to go to the party”

“Y/N”

“Go” You said before sighing “Please” You begged a little “Just go, I wanna be alone” Pablo sighed knowing you weren’t going to answer the question

“We’ll talk later” He warned

“We will” You smiled lightly.

The hug and kiss on the forehead that Pablo gave you was one of the most pure and longest ones, you’ve shared in your whole life together.

“I love you, okay? You can always talk to me about anything” He whispered as you nod

“Love you too, Pabs” You said smiling “But you gotta go and get some chick tonight” You faked excitement

“I have told you several times I don’t need some chick when I have you!”

“Yes, yes, yes. Whatever you say, loverboy. You seriously need to get laid”

“I don’t need to get laid. I’m not desperate for it!” He said in disbelief “I have my hand too!”

“ Gross!”

“It’s completely normal!”

“Just shut up, go get some; mom’s calling me” You pushed him a little, smiling and watching a smile appear on his face too, you saw him take some steps towards the corridor when you picked up the phone “Hi mom”

Samuel, Samuel… Pablo wanted to kill him.

What are the odds of finding him in the party anyway?

…

“What the fuck is Samuel doing here?” Pablo whisper yelled at Pedri when he saw that blonde hair, he grow to hate so much these past few weeks

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in days. I didn’t invited him”

“If you didn’t. How is it possible he’s here?”

“¡Qué no lo sé, tonto! Why would I invite him knowing Y/N is feeling bad because of him?”

“How do you-?”

“She’s also my best friend”

“I came first”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m also her best friend” Pablo’s eyebrows furrowed even more if it was possible

“She-”

“Stop being so jealous, fucks sake!” Pedri complained “Yes, she was your best friend first, joder!” Pablo nodded but still decided to ignore him 

“You know what? Thank god, Y/N didn’t wanted to come here tonight. I wouldn’t know what to do if I told her he’s not coming and then” Pablo smashed his palms together “Boom! He’s here”

“Yes” Pedri nodded “Also adding to the fact she can’t walk” He rubbed the fact again at Pablo

“I told her I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt her” Pedri shakes his head

“It’s already done. You” He pushed a finger into Gavi’s chest “Don’t do anything crazy tonight, just relax and forget he’s here, okay? I don’t want to explain to Y/N why her best friend ended up with a black eye and her boyfriend with a busted lip”

“Why do I have to be the one with the black eye?”

“¡Es un decir tonto!” Pedri exclaimed “Either way that won’t look good for you at matches, interviews and anything, people will start whispering and creating stories and el Mister wouldn’t like that”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right” Pablo nodded “He’s not here. He’s not here. I’m not coming close to him, he’s not coming close to me. Each one in separate ways knowing deep down I wanna kill him”

“But you won’t”

“Pero no lo hare” Pablo repeated Pedri’s words. “Everything will be good. I promise, hermano” Pablo smiled at Pedri who nodded

Pablo spent his evening laughing with his friends, eating and drinking a cerveza but he wasn’t entirely happy knowing you weren’t there with him. He understood your reasons but still he missed you like crazy. That’s what he thought about the whole evening, you.

And, enhorabuena, he really did almost forget Samuel was there. He would have done it all the way if he hadn’t seen what he saw. He also didn’t mean to break his promise but his blood was boiling. The vase he was holding broke under his strong hold, his jaw clenched and his eyes darkened, his nose sharpened and his whole appearance changed.

Samuel, who was sat outside in the backyard had a girl on his lap, he was touching her thighs and leaving kisses on the girls neck. It got worse when he saw the girl giggle and her grabbing Samuel’s chin to kiss his lips

“¡CABRÓN!” Pablo yelled marching over to where he was, alerting Samuel of his presence, who quickly stood up, color leaving his face

“Hermano, look-” Pablo cut him off with a punch on his face

“How dare you do that to her?!” Pablo roared, serving him another punch “She loves you, estúpido! And here you are, wasting her love meanwhile others are dying for it! You never deserved her, man!”

“Others like you, right?” Samuel threw a punch at Pablo, the lads coming over to separate them but Pablo didn’t wanted to stop hitting him. He wanted to make him feel pain, he wanted to make him pay for all those things he did to you, for the stood ups, for the forgetting, the pains, the cries, the fights, everything.

And he did, he undid himself from one of his mate’s hold and punched him straight in the nose

“PARTY’S OVER!” Pedri yelled “Everyone out, now!”

As everyone left only being left Ansu, Alejandro, Diego, Ferran, Fer and Pedri

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Pedri yells once they are alone

“The motherfucker was cheating on Y/N! I couldn’t stand there and watch him kiss and touch another girl like he only should do with his girlfriend, who by the way, I may remind you is the girl I’m in love with, my best friend and whilst he’s wasting her love, I’m dying for it! I know I took a lot of time to realize that and I still can’t forgive me for that but I absolutely hate and despise cheaters, knowing my girl just got cheated on makes me sick. I couldn’t stand there, watch and not do anything”

“I get it, Pablo. I’m mad as well but still”

“Nothing, Pedri. Nothing! I don’t regret anything!” Pedri sighed shaking his head

“Let’s get you cleaned up”

“I wanna see Y/N, I wanna be with her, I want her to treat me, please”

…

When you open the door, you always expect seeing scout girls selling her cookies to you, some friend or a relative and maybe the delivery guy who was taking too long in come in with your food but those are the things you may expect and are normal to… What is not normal is watching your best friend with an ice pack on his cheekbone with a bloody lip.

“Joder, ¿Qué hiciste, cariño?” You asked as he lightly smiled at you

“Surprise?” You roll your eyes

"Come in, come in" You said opening the door for Pablo to step in "Won't you come inside, Pepi?" You asked watching how the Canarian shook his head with a light smile on

"He's all yours, Y/N" You rolled your eyes smiling at him "Text me how it goes" You nodded murmuring a little 'Will do'

You closed the door turning to face Pablo who was already waiting for you at the couch

You sighed slowly walking towards your bathroom where you had a first aid kit, you made a note to yourself to thank your mom for buying you one.

"Care to share how did this happened?" You asked lightly sitting in front of him grabbing his hand and taking off the ice pack

"You wouldn't like to know"

"Oh, but I'm asking you, aren't I?" He watched how you putted alcohol into a cotton wipe and pulled your hair away from your face, before turning your gaze to his

"Can I start by saying you were right?" Your eyebrows furrowed working on Pablo's lip

"What?"

"Thank god, you weren't there either. Samuel was there" You hum lightly "And he was with another girl"

"Come again?"

"¡Ay! That hurts!" You quickly push your hand away not realizing you left the cotton in his skin and rather harshly, you murmured a few sorry's over and over again. "Don't worry"

"He was with another girl then?" You asked as Pablo gulped nodding "What were they…?"

"She was all over his lap as he was touching her and kissing her" Pablo pushed his head away "I'm really sorry. I found out like half an hour ago"

"Can I guess?" He hums letting you continue "That's why you got in a fight?"

"Had to protect you somehow" You smiled a bit

"Thanks for that then"

"How are you feeling?" He asked looking at you

"Like anyone who's been told they were being cheated on" You shrugged your shoulders "Like... I kind of predicted it, all this time fighting for something so stupid... But still fighting, not entirely making up...  and even though I'm not in love with him, it still hurts me, I can cry and at the same time I can throw a party and... I just don't know" You look at him “Mixed feelings”

"You don't love him?" You slowly shake your head

"I don't" You whispered moving to clean his cheekbone "But I hope he's happy" You say watching his doe eyes look at you with intensity.

"I feel sorry for him" Pablo said as you gave him a confused look

“You should be sorry for me, I got cheated on. Not him” Pablo shook his head

"He’s a bastard for cheating on you, you will never deserve that. You’re a queen and need to be treated as one”

“Not at those extremes but still” You shook your head "I'm not taking it to heart, Pabs. I, either way, would have ended it with him. You can stop that" You giggled lightly

"I'm not trying anything" Pablo shook his head lightly “I don’t think you’re getting my point, Y/N”

“I’m not honestly”

“I feel sorry for him because he let go such a beautiful and gorgeous woman not only on the outside but also in the inside. Any man who gets to be with you should consider himself as the luckiest man ever in the world. You just are so wonderful, so precious. You’re kind, lovely, incredibly smart, sassy, sarcastic, fucking positive, always seeing the good side of everything and everyone, selfless, understanding, you’re one of a kind. You love and care for those who you love with everything you have, you’d fight for them, you’d die for them. You need to be loved and cared with the same, if not more, intensity”

“I know you’re independent and that’s so fucking fine, it’s a really turn on” He chuckled in disbelief “But you need a man that can fulfill all of your needs, he was lacking everything and it hurt me like hell because…” He suddenly stopped his ranting

“Because what?” You whispered

“Because I was dying! Wishing to be the one to be by your side, I wished to be in Samuel’s spot, because I’m in love with you!” Pablo exclaimed standing up “I know I messed up back ago when you told me your feelings and I didn’t reciprocated them and it’s because I didn’t realized them at the moment but ever since you left that night my apartment I have been dying on the inside. I wanted to call you, hear your voice, see you, text you and I wanted you to reply, to call me, I wanted you to keep wanting me!” Pablo ran his hands through his hair biting his bottom lip as you could only sit there and follow his moves with your eyes

“I realized my feelings too late, during the WC, you didn’t come and you didn’t talked to me that time so I couldn’t say it back and then in the beginnings of this year, when I finally see you, you threw me off with Samuel being your boyfriend, I saw you be so happy, you were moving on and I was stuck with you” He started pacing around “¡Joder!” He cursed when he passed one of his hands in his injuries.

You gave him the cotton wipe and he grabbed it putting it against his eyebrow

“We were recovering our friendship, you were in a relationship and I couldn’t just sweep in and say: Hey! I realized I’m in love with you” He put on a different voice managing to get a small smile out of you “I couldn’t when you were so happy with him by your side, so I stayed quiet, I loved you in silence during all these past months, seeing him kiss you, touch you, love you were hell for me because I wanted to be the one to do that” He sighed “But seeing him tonight doing that to you whilst I wanted to be in his boyfriend position with you, I saw every color of the rainbow and wanted to throw them at his face” You laughed lightly “I just kept thinking I would never do that to you if you were my girlfriend, hell I wouldn’t even fight you! You say the sky is green? Yes, it is. That cats can drive? They can. That the milk comes first before the cereal? It does. I would care, love and cherish you until the day I die. Not like he did."

He looked at you and you looked at him “Please, say something” He begged

“I say you need another cotton wipe, the one you’re holding has too much blood in it already”

“This isn’t time to act like a nurse, mi niña” Pablo whispered but still decided to give you the cotton

“What do you want me to say, Pabs?” You sighed standing up to be face to face with him, he was still a bit taller than you but nothing too much to make a deal for it, you went to put the clean wipe on his cut but he softly pushed your hand away

“I love you” He said looking straight into your eyes “I’m in love with you”  

You were left in silence just looking at him.

You couldn’t process what he was saying. It couldn’t be possible for him to be in love with you. He was just your best friend, even he had said that!

“Please, tell me you’re joking” You finally whispered as you watched his face fall

“I’m not”

“You have to be” You said shaking your head “You absolutely don’t mean that, you are drunk and even mad at what Samuel did and you’re trying to comfort me with that, nice but I won’t fall for it”

“I’m not drunk, I only took dos cervezas during the whole night” He exclaimed

“You’re lightweight then”

“I’M NOT!” Pablo yelled a bit “I do am in love with you. Yes, I’m also so freaking mad at Samuel but I’m not drunk, I know what I’m saying is truth, Y/N”

“I’ll stay single, it’s okay” You ignored his words

“I don’t want you to be single” Pablo whined lightly “I want you to be in a relationship with me!”

“But you don’t want that! You’re saying it just because! You don’t mean any of this!”

“Fucking hell, I’m the one who knows how I’m feeling! And what I’m feeling is love for you and to you!”

“Don’t lie!” You exclaimed

“I’M-!” He cut himself off, taking a deep breath before letting it out “I’m not lying, Y/N, joder! ¡Te quiero, te amo!”

This was too much for you. He can’t just come back after months and pour his love for you as if nothing. You just got cheated on, you realized earlier that same night you were still head over heels for your best friend, he came to your house all beaten up, you treating him up… You couldn’t. You needed to process this.

“I’m… No… I gotta go” You said turning around and walking quickly even if you shouldn’t do it, you needed to get out of there now.  

You heard Pablo’s repeated calls of your name as you got out of your house, whimpering a little as the weight on your body fell on your ankle

“I’m not letting you go”

“Please, I need time to think about this. I promise I will talk to you”

“Just like you promised some time ago? You left me waiting five months, Y/N”

“I told you I needed time to myself, to think” You sighed “This won’t be like the last time”

“I feel it can be worse” You whined

“I swear I won’t disappear, I just need to process all of this. I just got cheated on, the guy I told I was in love with him is declaring his love for me right now after he said he could only see me as his best friend, I’m not walking, I’m stressing for Uni and I just need time to think a few hours” You looked up at him “Please, I swear I’ll talk to you. Just let me think”

“Come back to me, please” He whispered as you nodded entering your car. You smiled at him and pulled your window down

“Martín?” He nodded “Te quiero” He smiled

“Y yo a ti” He said as you started driving out of your porch. You grabbed your phone and dialed the one person who could help you with this

“¿Sí?”

“Are you at home?”

“Sí”

“Did you know Pablo’s in love with me?”

“For a very long time”

“Can I come over? I need somebody to talk to, Pepi”

“I’m waiting for you, bonita”

…

“So… Everything he said, it’s true” You murmured. It was halfway past midnight and you’ve been with Pedri for the past three hours

“You didn’t believed him” You took a deep breath

“I didn’t wanted him to just talk because of pity, because I got cheated on, I didn’t wanted him to create that world for to make me or make himself feel better for the fact I’m still in love with him”

“He has never told you this, but he cried when he learned the fact you weren’t going to go to the WC, he cried in his room when he didn’t saw you in the stands after he scored and he cried once more in Arabia Saudi at Supercopa when he saw you being there, whilst changing in the locker room, that day, was the happiest I’ve seen him after your failed confession night”

“Thanks for reminding me it was failed” You both shared a laugh

“He was a wreck at trainings, Xavi even gave him three days off but it seemed worse because all he could do was stare at the pics of the two of you. We already knew he loved you but it was a surprise for all of us when he finally admitted it and it seemed too late. These months he has been at the edge with Samuel, simply watching how you gave yourself to other man meanwhile he knew he had that chance in the past, when you started fighting with him it was worse; Pablo wanted to strangulate him” You giggled nodding

“He told me that several times”

“And tonight was his finish line. He was crying in rage, he felt offended for the fact someone could cheat on you, he didn’t cared the fact he could get a call from Xavi tomorrow, he was repeating I wouldn’t do that to her every once in a while in the car ride to yours. He really does love you, Y/N. It’s up to you if you wanna give him a chance or not”

“I want to” You sighed “It’s all I’ve ever wanted since I was fourteen” You admitted

“Then go and do it”

“I need to do something first though” You smiled at Pedri eating more popcorn  

“Yeah? ¿Le darás Mariachis?” You fake laughed

“He wishes I would” You smile shaking your head “It’s something better”

“Bueno, se lo darás mañana. It’s too late for us to be awake”

“Yes, oldman”

“¡HEY!” You smiled

…

“Are you sure he’s in his house?” You ask getting into your car

“Yes, I just left him there” Your phone dinged with another message notification it was from Pablo checking in up on you “…Did you really broke up with Samuel whilst throwing his clothes dentro del charco de agua?”

“I did. I completely ruined his leather jacket” You swiped the notification away

“Eso hurts” You shrugged your shoulders

“He deserved it tho”

“Yes, he did” You could feel Pedri’s smile “Now, go and get your angry bird” You shook your head smiling

“Will do”

…

You have been to his house million times before, but this time could change everything. You even had a key to it but you didn’t dare to use it today. It was really cold in Barcelona; it was raining half an hour ago but you were sweating your ass off. You knocked the door three times, you were even shaking and you looked at the sides over and over

The door opened and you saw Pablo with his lip and cheekbone bruised, his hair wet, some basketball shorts and a simple grey t-shirt

“What are you doing here?” His question surprised you

“Came to talk to you” You stuttered “But… If you don’t want me to, I can leave and-”

“No!” Pablo shook his head “I mean… Don’t leave” He whispered opening the door for you to come in and you did “Want something to-”

“Did you really meant it?”

“Meant what?”

“Everything you said yesterday” You spoke

“I do. Every single little word” Pablo nodded “I really am in love with you and I want you, Y/N. And I’m deeply sorry for everything I put you through”

Instead of answering him, you grabbed him by the face and smashing your lips against his, Pablo quickly kissed you back grabbing you by the waist and pulling you into him   

“I love you too” You whispered once you pulled away from him “I want you too and I’m in love with you, Pablito” You looked at him in the eye “I’m sorry I-” This time he cut you off and kissed you and only separated from you when you without meaning to, graced your injury with your teeth

“Joder”

“Sorry” You apologized once more

“It’s okay, kiss me again” You smiled pulling away from him as he chased you “Mi niña” He whined as you giggled

“We need to talk a bit” He hummed leaning to kiss you as you fully separated from him “I’m serious”

“Okay, okay. Got it. Serious voice, serious face, serious persona” You smiled seeing him repeat your words

“You’re an idiot. If you had realized your feelings sooner we could’ve been into this thing months ago, maybe even years”

“Don’t remind me that, please. I can keep imagining it” You smiled softly “You as my very, very-long-term-girlfriend, it sounds amazing, like art. Me as your very, very-long-term-boyfriend, it’s perfect” You nodded agreeing

“I want to thank you for telling me the Samuel thing; I just broke up with him like an hour and something ago… I don’t want you to think I didn’t trusted your feelings for me, well… Kind of. I just didn’t wanted to believe you were making that world and those feelings just to satisfy the fact you didn’t reciprocated my feelings back then but I had the help of someone and I have been deeply thinking of it and I don’t wanna stay single” He smiled “I wanna be in a friendship and a relationship with you too, you’ll always be my best friend, my partner in crime and my everything, Pablo”

“You really don’t know how happy those words make me feel right now” You laughed feeling his arms wrap around you, he leaned down to kiss you when he groaned

“I won’t kiss you again if it’s hurting you too much”

“A simple cut won’t make me stop kissing you, tía. I gotta make up for the lost time” He smiled “This feels nice”

“The what?”

“Having you in my arms, as my girlfriend and best friend. I can’t believe I took so long in realizing I am in love with you” You smiled

“Good news is that you finally did” You kissed his nose “How’s your cheek?”

“I’ve definitely looked prettier than this” You smiled

“You still manage to look pretty, Pabs” He leaned down to kiss you “But we need to disinfect it once more just in case and put on some ice. Doesn’t look that nice” You push your lips out lightly when you feel Pablo peck your lips again “Is it going to date you be like this?” He nods

“Better get used to it” You smile

“I think I can do that”

At the end, you and Pablo always got each other’s back and stayed by each other’s sides ‘cus it has always been you and him, him and you. Since Always and ‘Till Forever.

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviypedrisbride @ariagonzalezsstuff @gaviswh0re @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld

[monstrsball]

have you ever talked about oisuga's first date?? i would like to know ur thoughts on oisuga's first date :3

i don't think i have! i've surprisingly never had super in depth thoughts before now but.... i think oikawa tries really hard to be super romantic and he wants to impress suga and is maybe not fully acting like himself. eventually it gets to a point where suga is like "you're not acting like yourself. you don't have to pretend with me i already know you're kind of a dork (AFFECTIONATE)" and then things get more relaxed.

as for activities... they probably go to a cafe and then go to an arcade? i kinda like that, i think part of oikawa's Trying Too Hard shtick is him really wanting to win suga something but he is astoundingly bad at a lot of them (partially because he's nervous, partially because i like making him bad at things that aren't volleyball). and i think any activity where they can get a little competitive too works for them.

i was mostly thinking about high school oisuga but i think this could work for oisuga who reconnect later as adults too!!!

[seokjinsonlyone]

in which you get possessive...

the first red flag was when she walked right past you without saying a single word. some old school friend of tae and jimin’s that managed to reconnect with them in one way or the other. you didn’t care to delve into the details. could always tell the exact content of a person’s character by how they walked into a room with other people. you hadn’t been wrong yet.

she didn’t even try to acknowledge you until taehyung specifically cleared his throat and introduced you as his girlfriend, and even then all she did was look you up then down and say, “oh, hi.” you didn’t like her. you told taehyung as much but your boyfriend is a much better person than you are. likes to give people the benefit of the doubt. told some sob story about how he remembered her always being shy or something. whatever. your instincts were never wrong. you didn't like her. but you weren't about to spend your precious time thinking about some girl he used to know. you let it go with a roll of your eyes and a huff through your nose.

the second red flag was when you were at dinner, and she put some food on his plate. launched into some story about how he used to always like this that and the third and then plopped a piece of meat and half an egg right on top of his rice. his eyes shot to you immediately and you were glad he had the good sense to realize that was a problem. taehyung sat frozen not knowing how to proceed in the situation while you stared at her as she pretended not to notice your gaze. she only looked up again when she saw taehyung moving to eat the food she placed on his dish. you placed one hand over his wrist, halting his movements, and ate the food instead. you looked her dead in the eye with each bite. you could see the heat creep up her neck and you're sure if she was a cartoon character there would be steam coming from her ears. you didn't know who she thought you were, but you were not the one.

"you better handle it," you told tae that night. "because if you don't i will." you were pacing back and forth in your room furiously. he watched you from the bed, leant up against the headboard as if you weren't plotting murder in your head. "and if i handle it, it's not gonna be pretty. they gon find her in some back alley, and you're gonna be bailing me out of jail." he assured you he would. started hugging all up on you, got to talking all sweet, telling you how there was nothing to worry about and you were the only one for him. you pushed him off of you. he wasn't telling you anything that you didn't already know. you weren't jealous, you were possessive. there was a difference. he latched back on to you, kissing up your neck, telling you how hot he found your behavior. but you were being serious. "tae," you stressed, "handle it."

and he did. later on that night. after your breathing had slowed down, no longer panting, bare, tangled up in the sheets, he grabbed his phone and let you help him draft a respectful but firm text telling her to back off. even let you block her from his phone and all social media accounts. it was the most satisfied you'd felt ever since she popped up, and if you were happy, he was happy.

which was all the more reason you were stupefied at her presence when you walked into jimin's house a few days later and found her sitting on the couch without a care in a world, eyes lighting up when they caught sight of your man. she stood up, looking like she wanted to do something stupid like hug him, so you pulled him to you and kissed him in a way that you usually reserved for the bedroom. and the turned on, dazed expression painted across his face when you broke apart was something she couldn't even attempt to compete with and had her dropping back unceremoniously onto the couch.

triumphantly, you dragged taehyung into the kitchen by his hand and jimin by his ear and fussed at him for having her here in the first place. you'd personally told him how disrespectful she was and how much she pissed you off. and he didn't even like her really. had said he thought she was annoying too, and that there was something off about her. but he came up with some lame excuse anyway about how he'd already invited her and didn't want to uninvite her and blah blah blah. you didn't want to hear it. you saw the mischievous glint in his eye. he probably just wanted to see you drag her.

you were determined to keep it chill, though. just wanted to kick back and relax with your boyfriend and your friends. have a few drinks, share a few laughs, and make a couple memories. and you were good for the most part. kept your distance from the girl. kept your man wrapped around you. everything was cool. until it wasn't.

you stepped away for 2 minutes to use the bathroom. and when you came back, ready to sit in the spot you'd been all but glued to the entire night she sped past you, elbow checked you, stealing your seat. you got hot all over, felt all the blood rush to your head, and then you blacked out.

when you came to, you were thrashing in tae's arms. you stopped immediately once you realized what you were doing. then you saw jimin, holding back a laugh, ushering their so called "friend" out the door. and you were finally sure that was going to be last you saw of her. "did i hit her?" you asked tae.

"no, but you would've. i saw the light leave your eyes, and grabbed you right before you lunged."

you wriggled out of his grasp, tilting your head from side to side attempting to crack your neck, then shrugged. "i told you i'm not the one."

he tilted his head to the side, like a lost puppy assessing a situation. "you're crazy."

you nodded in agreement. "and, you're mine."

[lec743]

FNAF Fanfiction (Cherub AU)

I had a very specific song stuck in my head for this short story. When you see the linked “play” word, please play it for the background music. Hope you all and @starrspice enjoy the new story.  *******************************************************************************************

           Saying that Sun and Moon were happy that you were finally flying on your own would be an understatement. Even though you questioned Sun’s congratulations, you were still appreciative of their hustle in moving on to your other lessons. You easily breezed past through all the rest of them… despite how stupid some of the rules and protocols seemed. You’ll just hold your tongue for the meantime. You’re trying to speedrun helping your loved ones after all, you don’t have time to bicker with the sun themed cherub.

           By the end of the second week, you and your cherub tutors were given your first group assignment. You were to focus on working with Sun as Moon had his own assignment but was in the same area.

           The three of you stood on your apartment roof top as a scroll floated down from the heavens and into your cherub tutors’ hands. Sun held his scroll lower than Moon did, so you looked over his arm at what he was reading. Your eyes immediately rested on the profile picture of your best friend Hera Diaz. You haven’t seen her black ass in forever and your heart immediately ached with how much you missed having late night talks with her over the phone. Last you saw of her she had an afro that could rival treetops, and in this photo, she had a shaved head, but at least she still had that same crooked smile that warmed your heart.

           The assignment stated that she cared deeply for a man named Steve Lee Yang and that he cared for her too, but they had been dancing around each other for a year and a half now. They were dancing around each other because Hera was oblivious, and Steve apparently was too anxious to say anything out right.

           You rubbed at your eyes in slight irritation. You remember jokingly calling Hera a himbo once upon a time, making you both laugh with her agreeing, but you didn’t think it was true. You read over the many failed attempts of Steve trying to woo your friend. He wooed her with flowers, with gifts she liked, and they even went out on a “date”. However, the notes in the assignment said that Hera only took these romantic attempts as him being friendly, and Steve was too nervous to voice anything different. Who is this wet noodle of a man that’s thinks they can woo your best friend anyways? Especially since he doesn’t have the balls to actually articulate what she really means to him.

          You read his profile, then further down you saw his profile picture. He was an Asian gentleman with puffy cheeks and a bowl hair cut that reminded you of that one Naruto character named Rock-something. After a moment, a light went off in your head, and you realized you know this Steve-man as well. He was a senor in your high school while you and Hera were a junior. You don’t remember much about him. Just that he seemed like he was always alone while on school grounds, but Hera said he was fun to talk to. You haven’t seen him in years. When did they reconnect?

           “Ah, this is a classic problem,” Sun stated as he confidently rolled up the scroll, “Should be easy enough to fix.”

           He sounded cheery as usual, but you didn’t trust it. You got the distinct impression that he was already tired of this job and the two of you haven’t even started it yet.

           “How easy we talkin’ here,” you asked as you crossed your arms over your chest.

           Sun gave you a thinned easy smile, “Like breathing air.”

           You raised a disbelieving brow at him but said nothing more.

           Sun turned to his counterpart, “What did you get?”

           “A couple who hate each other but are pretending to be together.”

           “Wait, that actually happens?” you asked in disbelief.

           Moon nodded, “They’re both being stubborn.”

           “Welp, let’s get a move on then. I’ll go stake out Hera’s place. I’ll meet you two back at Maple Park at 1pm.”

           Before either of them could say anything else to you, you flew away at an exhilarating speed. You still can’t get over just how fun flying is. You do a few loopty-loops as you flew to Hera’s house in the suburbs, not needing to worry about being seen with the cloaking technique your tutors taught you.

           You found a small one story home with a front lawn covered in frog ceramics. Half of them she bought as they were, while the other half are frogs she painted herself at a pottery store. It was a weekend, so you knew that Hera would be at home doing house chores. You looked through the windows until you saw a large, muscly black woman laying on the couch. Her living room, much like her front yard, was decorated in frogs of all kinds; paintings and wallpaper on the walls, statues, rugs, pillows, and wood carvings covered every other surface in the room.

           Hera was surrounded by pillows, and she was watching her comfort movie Castle in the Sky. Her shoulders shook like she was crying. Your immediate reaction to seeing this was to whip out your phone and try to call her, but you hesitate as your thumb hovered over the speed dial. You floated there, outside her home, hesitating to reach out to her, for you don’t know for how long, until you heard her house phone ring.

           Hera was sniffling as she paused the movie and got off the couch. Once she picked up the phone, she put a smile on and said, “Hello?” There was a pause. “Oh, hey Mama…” Hera shifted on her feet as she wiped away her tears. “Oh. Yah. I’m fine.”

           Liar, you thought as you clutched your phone to your chest.

           “The family cookout? I don’t know… I’m kind of busy.”

           You felt your heart rate spike at those words. She’s never missed the monthly family cookout before. She loves going to them. She loves seeing her moms and her old neighbors that she grew up with and seeing new faces. Is this a recent thing? How long has she been shut away like this just crying?

           “No… I know I’ve missed the last couple of months. I just… I don’t know Mama…”

           You fumble your phone as you remembered the job you’re on. You rummage around your satchel until you pull out the pack of notepads that look like valentine day cards. What they actually are is Suggestion Pads. They give humans the openness to follow outside suggestions and influences; a gentle way of nudging people in the direction they need to go.

          Ripping a card out of the pack, you crumble it up and throw it at Hera. The crumbled-up paper flattens as it slips under the gap of the closed window. Then it folds itself into a paper heart and smacks her in the back of her shaved head. She doesn’t react as she nods along to what her mama is saying on the other line; the paper being invisible to any that aren’t cherubs.            You stood there outside her window as you silently pleaded with her to go to the cookout. She’s such a sensitive heart. She needs all the love and support from her family and friends. It kills you not being able to be there, but the least you could do was making sure others are there for her. You know that going to that cookout will help her.

          Finally, you saw the piece of paper start to glow and it disappeared from your sight as Hera said, “Yah. Okay. Okay Mama. I’ll go… I’ll see you later… I love you too. Bye.” You fly away after she hung up. It was almost 1pm and it was time to meet up with your teachers.

          You found Sun and Moon sitting on top of the biggest trees in Maple Park. It was a nice warm afternoon, so you didn’t mind it as you reported your findings and what you did. You had extra granola bars in your satchel and passed them out mindlessly as you spoke. Sun and Moon said quiet thank yous as you talked to them.

          Sun nodded thoughtfully as he finished his granola bar, “Mmm. Good. I heard about this monthly cookout thing through Steve, too. It seems he goes to them quite often.”

          You used to go to them often. You clear your throat to prevent yourself from frowning at the wrong subject and said, “And he’ll be to this one?”

          You see Moon looking at you a bit funny as Sun nodded, “It sounded important, so I got him to go, suggesting that he hasn’t seen his friends there in a while.”

          You take their trash and stuff it into your satchel, “Okay. So what’s next now that we have them both going to the same place?”

          Sun’s rays around his head wiggled with pride as Moon smiled fondly at him. “There’s a plethora of things we can do,” Sun stated as he got out a big binder from his own satchel that reminded you of those books that football coaches look through at big games.

           You internally bemoaned at the sight of the book. You and Sun don’t need a complicated plan to get your friend and her love interest together… right? Regardless, you resigned yourself to your fate as Sun opened the book and started talking about different strategies and plans the two of you can use to get Hera and Steve together. Moon seemed to be able to follow along with Sun’s plans better than you. You’ll ask him for some pointers in the future.

           It was the evening of the family cookout. You, Sun, and Moon were sitting on the rooftop of a three story house across the street from a one story house that had a front yard full of people. People were bundled up against the cold and gathered around the grill or outside heaters to keep themselves warm as they chatted and the kids’ played games. Fairy Lights lined the picket fence and there was music playing from an old boombox that was attached to an ipod nano. The song Funky Town was filling the rest of the noisy air with its upbeat tune. Some people were even dancing in the middle of the road to the song.

           The three of you watched the families and friends and neighbors go about their evening as you waited for your pieces to fall into place. Moon left the post first seeing his targets coming to the party looking like the happiest couple in the world. Steve came to the party before Hera arrived and it made you worried that she wouldn’t show up at all, but she walked up to the house thirty minutes after Steve integrated into the party spirit.

           “Aright,” Sun said with a cheery clap of his hands, “You remember the plan?”

           You roll your eyes and said, “How could I not.” It’s not like he hasn’t drilled the plan into your head for the past two days.

           “Good.” He said curtly. Then he flew off to follow around Steve. You got up to do the same with Hera.

           The plan is to do drunk confessions. Get Hera and Steve plastered enough that Steve is confident enough to finally spill his guts and Hera is accepting enough to not think he’s saying it in a friend type of way. You were getting Hera open for suggestions with your valentine-esk Suggestion Pads as you saw Steve and Sun coming over, with Steve holding two cups of alcohol. Steve had a nervous smile on his face as he called out to your friend. Hera turned to him and gave him half a smile. He was holding out one of the cups to her when he tripped over a garden hose that the kids were using as a plaything, and the alcohol splashed on to Hera’s sweater and jeans as Steve fell face first into the grass.

           You sucked air between your teeth as Sun grimaced with you at the sight of Steve apologizing profusely and Hera reassuring him that it was fine. She went into her mothers’ house to change out of the alcohol-stained clothes and Steve found a quiet dark corner to wallow in his remorse.

           You saw Sun rub his temple as he sighed, then he said, “Okay. Plan B.”

           Plan B didn’t work out either. Or C. Or D. You and Sun were getting more and more frustrated with each failure. It was getting close to the end of the party. You and Sun were ready to call it quits for the night too, but you thought about Hera sitting in her home looking miserable and that smile she gave Steve looked genuine despite it being tired and you wanted to help her so badly.

           “Sun. Please. Can I try something?”

           Sun sighed out of his nose. “Might as well. What do you have in mind?”

           “Just get Steve interested in dancing before he officially gives up for the night. Okay?”

           “…Okay…” Sun gave you a look like he was wondering what you were thinking but he followed your lead.

           You went over to the boombox and picked up the ipod nano. You knew, no matter how dower Hera is, she can’t help but dance to her favorite song. You found the song you wanted and pressed play and the song Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder played through the speakers. Across the thinned crowd you saw Hera perk at the music.

           As the song reached the lyrics, “Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true,” you saw Steve walk up to Hera and offered his hand to her. She took his hand with a soft smile and the two of them started dancing with each other.

           You flew over them with Sun and threw one last Suggestion Paper at Hera to confess her feelings, not trusting Steve to speak about his own feelings first. Steve was wide-eyed as Hera talked about how she felt about him and before she could quickly say that he doesn’t have to feel the same way about her, Steve was spilling his guts about how he felt and all the attempts he tried to romance her. They both ended up laughing and snorting at their own silliness with each other and you and Sun smiled as you two went back to the roof from across the street to watch them a bit more.

           You were so happy to see Hera smiling.

           “Hey. Good job, Rookie,” Sun said, and you believed him.

           Soon Moon joined the two of you and you saw the same “happy” couple stomp away in opposite directions as they left the party.

           “How did it go you two,” Moon asked.

           “It was rough, but we did it. Now they just need to kiss to seal the deal,” Sun stated.

           You did a double take between Sun and your best friend as she was dancing with her head resting on top of Steve’s head as they continued to lovingly slow dance together. Was he even seeing the same thing you were?

           “What’s a stupid kiss gonna do?”

           Sun got a sudden haughty attitude as he said, “A kiss is the ultimate display of love.”

           “Yeah, I call bullshit,” you deadpanned, unable to contain yourself anymore.

           Sun turned on you so fast you though you heard his neck pop, “Excuse me?!”

           “Kisses are just a form of physical touch. They don’t mean anything.”

           Out of the corner of your eye you could see Moon looking ready to get between the two of you.

           “Oh yeah?!” Sun fumed.

           “Yeah!” You said just as angry.

           “Prove it then!”

           “Fine I will!” You sneered as you moved without thinking about anything but proving Sun wrong. You grabbed the cherub by the sides of his face. His anger suddenly turned to panic as you pulled him in, and you gave him a kiss on the lips. It was fleeting and your noses bonked against each other from the force of you pulling him in but in the moment, you didn’t care as you let go of him. “See! I feel nothing for you, and you feel nothing for me! I win!”

           You pushed past Moon who was looking at you in shock as you flew off the roof top. You only spared one last glance at your dancing friend before heading back to your apartment feeling more than just exhaustion.

[ssahotchnerr]

currently thinking about aaron reconnecting with an old friend he had back in college.

like, maybe they both met each other during their first year of college and they're both focused on the law path, but by senior year when aaron already has law school set up, reader takes a step back and decides she actually doesn't want to practice law. she still decides to finish school since she's so close to getting her degree, but she immediately enlists in the military once she's graduated.

and gosh i can totally imagine aaron and reader trying so, so hard to remain in contact because they got so close during their time in uni, but with aaron's time being taken up by studying and reader rising through the ranks it's get so hard

they're still able to send the occasional text, letter, and even a quick call here and there, but one day reader just stops responding. mail is sent back to aaron, calls are mysteriously dropped, and texts don't go through and he's just like, 'what happened' :(

flash forward years later to where maybe one day aaron is grabbing some coffee before going into work and on his way out he bumps into someone and at first he doesn't think much of it cause hey, it happens, but when the other person mumbles out a quick, "oops sorry about that!" his head just snaps up and he realizes that's it's you

and oh my god

the eye contact

the tension

everything

maybe reader stops him and offers her number yo explain everything (she got recruited into some secret task force and lost contact with practically everyone)

maybe aaron lunges forward and wraps her up into a hig because he missed her so much and he had always thought you were dead

maybe, just maybe, they're able to pick up where they left off and are perhaps able to *ahem* turn to a new page if you get what i mean (i'm cackling rn)

oh my gosh just the heartbreak </333 trying so hard to keep in touch- at first, it's easy. multiple letters every week, maybe the occasional call, and over time it just slowly starts to dwindle :( one letter a week turns into one a month, same happens to phone calls, and then it's just complete radio silence :(

and aaron tries so so hard to hold onto you, telling himself that one of these days, conversations will pick up like normal, things will go back to how they were used to be, and he stays hopeful for months. but once a year finally passes, and he still hasn't heard anything from you, he forces himself to move on :( he has no other choice, because it hurts and he doesn't want to put his heart through that any longer :(

but you often flash into his mind, all your past memories. your nights at school- studying in the library until the early morning hours, laughing over popcorn and a movie in his dorm room, you stealing all his college hoodies and him pretending he hates it when you do so- ugh but seeing you in his clothes smiling all teasingly at him- like HA whatcha going to do about it? :D ugh did things to him that he can't even put into words. that one kiss the two of you happened to share. he misses you more than anything, and you're classified as the one who got away.

and likewise, he's constantly on your mind. his dimpled smile, his laugh, his gorgeous brown eyes haunt you when you try to sleep at night. you would do anything to see him again, do anything to give him an explanation of why you disappeared and it wasn't intentional and you're so so sorry, but part of you fears that now that you're gone, he would want nothing to do with you. you still write him letters, you have a whole collection of them but keep them tucked away. it's all you wish you could talk to him about- what you've been doing, small things that happen during the day or cross your mind, countless ones explaining why you went quiet, your favorite parts about him, and how you've been so in love with him from the very very start that you don't even know what to do with yourself.

so then comes that day in the coffee shop. aaron is waiting patiently for his order to be made, you just got yours and are turning to leave, when you bump into him and he apologizes like he's the one at fault, the sweetest man :( the two of you make eye contact, realization hits, and everything just

stops.

both of you are speechless, and everyone else who was in the coffee shop seemingly disappear (aaron even completely misses his order being called) because the only thing you can do is focus on each other. it's almost like a dream, literally because both of you have dreamt about refinding each other, speaking everything that was unspoken into existence. but now that it's happening, neither of you know what to do.

the both of you move at the same time, throwing your arms around each other and not daring to let go. aaron's previous anger fills his chest up a bit - the anger that one day you were just gone, but he doesn't care in the slightest, because finally you're in his arms again. right where you belong. you're filled with a sadness too, because you know you owe him a reason, and you're a bit taken aback he embraced you to begin with, because he deserves to be mad.

ugh aaron mumbles "i missed you so bad" to which you reply "i can't believe it's you" <3333 before the two of you release each other. silence follows, because first, the two of you are still in shock. second, there's so so much that's unspoken and needs to be addressed. and again, neither of you can believe after so long, you've finally finally finally crossed paths again. and that you're both in love with each other.

aaron says something how he has to get going before he's late :( and you immediately offer your number, insisting that the two of you have to talk, which he wholeheartedly agrees.

hehe that very night the two of you get together for dinner, everything gets addressed, including the fact that both of you are completely and utterly in love with each other, even after all this time. and it's like the two of you were never separated to begin with, that nothing has changed.

the two of you finally get your blissfully happy ending <3

[sparring-hyena]

reconnections.

being an adult is hard and so is reconnecting with old friends after nearly two decades.

OR, the one where they didn't get their happy ending but maybe they deserve a second chance.

-

she tells herself that it will be easy.

she tells herself that she won't even stay for long, so who cares if it is messy and awkward because she'll be at home, on her couch with a glass of wine and good book before nine. she'll be alone, but Becca's found over the years--decades, really--that it's easier to not dwell too much on details.

"just here's fine," Becca says to her uber driver.

the car stops along the side of the road, a busy intersection ahead of her and further up is the bar where everyone is, presumably already inside. Becca wonders if they even notice she's late.

she hopes they don't notice. hopes she doesn't fill them with the same disappointment she can still occasionally see in her father's eyes. but then, she also hopes they do notice. hopes that even after all this time, she can still count on these people to miss her presence.

she looks down at the invite that had found its way into her inbox two weeks ago. mostly it's a way to reassure herself that yes, they do want me here and no, i'm not intruding.

Abbie had sent the invites; she can't really imagine anyone else using email as their preferred method of communication. it was smart, really; her number's changed twice since they were all part of each other's lives. she knows Alex's did when she went and lived abroad, and always sort of assumed that she got a new one when she came back.

Becca assumed a lot of things.

the fresh February breeze cuts at her face, and Becca has to shake herself out of a memory. she crosses the busy street and steps into a mostly empty bar. not unusual, all things considered; Tuesday's aren't exactly popular for a night out.

she sheds her coat and drapes it over her arm. there's a group of three over by the pool tables and a few people hunched over the bar, occasionally looking up to watch the ice hokey on the crappy TV. she hasn't been to a place like this in years, but she misses it all the same.

she spots Chris first, up at the bar placing an order for food. Becca decides it might be easier to greet him first and then find where the rest of their group are sitting.

"hey, stranger," she says it casually, like it isn't taking everything in her to not turn on her heels and pretend that she was never here.

Chris turns and smiles warmly. he's aged a little since she last saw him--she tries to quickly remember when that was, his wedding, maybe--grey hair at his temples and crows feet at the corners of his eyes.

"Becca!" he greets her with a hug that doesn't feel at all awkward and actually might just be exactly what she needed. she really has missed him. "hey, everyone, look who's finally here." he looks over his shoulder and waves to all their friends huddled around a table that Becca had missed when she first stepped inside.

her heart beats a little faster in the second it takes them all to realise that Becca's here now. they all stand to greet her with hugs and cheers and playful chiding that makes her feel like she's twenty-one again.

"is Alex coming?" she doesn't mean to sound as hopeful as she does, but it's easy to slip into old habits with these people.

"she said she'd try," Abbie says.

"sometime about getting stuck on the other side of the city for a late meeting," Kaitlyn explains, and Becca feels something green ad ugly flare up in her heart. she wonders if Kaitlyn and Alex stayed in touch. she wonders if they all stayed in touch and she's the one who drifted away.

"oh, that's okay," Becca says, and then adds: "i'm sure we can all catch up some other time."

they all hum and make promises to do this again and Becca wonders if they will. wonders if this time they'll actually make the effort to stay connected. she silently hopes they will.

the night carries on, and one-by-one, they all slowly leave until it's just Becca, Abbie, and Tyler sitting in a booth.

"ready?" Tyler says, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

Abbie nods and hums. "i'll meet you outside."

Tyler smiles and says goodbye to Becca.

"thanks for tonight," Becca says, "it was nice seeing everyone again."

"almost everyone," Abbie says.

Becca smiles but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "it's okay."

"she did want to be here. she said she was excited to see you again."

"all of us, you mean."

"well sure, i'd hope she would be, but you were the one she really wanted to see. the one she probably missed the most."

"it's not..."

"i know it's complicated, but just know that it wasn't easy for her either."

"are you two still close?"

Abbie shrugs. "we talk a little. maybe every couple of months. not so much to the others though. i think she always hoped that after the break up you would lean on us"

"but i didn't--"

"want us to pick sides, we know that." Abbie smiles sadly. "and we never would have. we would have still been friends with both of you and been here for both of you. but Alex knew it would be hard for you. she just wanted you to have people to fall back on."

"oh."

Abbie hums and studies Becca for a second. "don't stay out too late, yeah?"

Becca hums and the Abbie leaves and she's alone. she's alone for a while, maybe another half hour, before she decides it's time to call it a night. and just as Becca's gathering her things, a voice startles her out of her thoughts.

"hey you."

Becca's head snaps up to the familiar voice.

Alex is there. Alex is here and for just a second it feels like twenty years haven't fallen away and they're both finding each other in some crummy bar just off campus.

"you're here," Becca says.

"i am." Alex just grins. "buy you a drink?"

and all Becca can do is nod and feel a familiar calm settle in her heart.

[beaker1636]

Single Lyrics Part 5 - Ryan Sitkowski

AN: This one gets really angsty, hope you are ready for it!

“Violet, are you ready to watch Ryan play? We finally got your headphones so you can watch,” you say excitedly, glad that the two of you could watch the show side stage together.  You have been wanting to see their shows for awhile now, you haven’t since those early days and you know that it has gotten a lot better.

She claps in response as you slip them on her, you loving her tiny little motionless shirt that Ryan had made for her.  This girl has truly wormed her way into your heart in the last month and a half that you have been with her, it is going to be hard to walk away after this tour.

You decided that after this tour that you are going to resign, things are decent between you and Ryan but after your talk with Vinny a couple weeks ago you realize that he is correct, that part of you wants more than just your job here.  And you can’t do that to yourself or towards Violet, you don’t want her feeling like you are only around to get to her dad once she is old enough to feel that way.  

You grab her little hand so that you can follow everyone on the side stage, the show is about to begin and you can’t wait to see how she reacts to seeing Ryan on stage doing what he does best, what makes him happy.  They already let you know what side Ryan spends a majority of the time on so that you can make sure to have her there, so she can watch them all.  

Stepping into the hallway and back that way you try to find him, so that he can see her before he goes on but you freeze in your steps with a sigh.  You’re not sure why you didn’t think that you would eventually run into this but you round the corner and find him cozying up with one of the dancers, the way her hand is resting on his bicep telling you that some flirting is going on.

You feel like all the breath has been pulled from your chest, feeling hurt more than you should, you have no right to feel this way.  You are just his employee, there clearly has been nothing there he has just been being nice to you lately, that is all.  You get lost in your own head for a moment, not noticing that Vinny has walked up behind the two of you until you hear Violet laugh.  He swung her through the air to give her a big hug, pulling your gaze away from Ryan.

“What’s up y/n, you look like you just saw a gh… oh.  Are you okay?” He asks you, suddenly serious when he looks forward and sees what you are seeing.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m just here to do my job,” you respond, taking Violet back from him so that you could finish walking to your spot.  Refusing to acknowledge the burning in your chest when Ryan notices his little girl and takes her into his arms for a moment before handing her back, the boys taking the stage.

You do your best to pretend to be happy, and part of you is seeing how happy Ryan looks up there on stage, but it brings back the harsh reality that you have been denying since taking this job, coming on this tour.  It has made him happier than you ever could have, he chose it over you and you can now see why. It is where he is meant to be, but the realization of this hits you like a ton of bricks, makes you feel like your chest is cracking.  Watching him live for the first time since you have reconnected may have just been a mistake, bringing up a lot of thoughts and feelings that you have been trying hard to forget.

As they come off stage everyone loads up, makes their way to the bus.  Luckily because this is a festival show it is the middle of the day, you know a couple of the guys intend to go to see other groups that are playing but you just want to get back to the bus, trying to decide how you should say this without sounding like a total jerk.

“Ryan, can we talk for a moment please?” You ask, praying he says yes before you lose your courage to do this, to let him know that you are leaving after this tour is up.

“Yeah, just in her room or?” he asks, glancing at you.

“I’ll watch Vi so that you can speak in private,” Justin offers, watching the two of you closely.  He can tell by the look on your face that this isn’t going to be a good conversation, that she shouldn’t be around the two of you as you talk.

You both make your way towards the back lounge, you playing with your fingers as you pick the skin around your nails, a nervous habit of yours.  Which clues Ryan in to that something is really bothering you, that this is probably not a happy conversation that is coming and that thought has him on edge.

The second the door closes behind you both you let out a sigh before speaking. “I-I’m sorry but once this tour is done I am resigning.  I can’t do this anymore Ry,” you say softly refusing to meet his eyes.  You don't need to look at him to know that he is pissed.

“I know touring is hard but you will get used to it, we all have.  Besides you can’t just say you are done, you fucking promised me that you wouldn’t just leave her.  I all but fucking begged you when we talked about this to promise me that you wouldn’t do this to her after she grew attached to you, no, you can’t just fucking quit.” The more he speaks the louder his voice gets, getting more angry as he goes. 

“I am giving you notice Ryan, I’m fucking trying here.  I thought I could but I just can’t do this, I can’t let go of the past and I don’t want her to think that any of this is her fault or that I am using my relationship with her to be close to you.  If I do this when she is still young she won’t notice it yet,” you try to explain yourself.

“What brought you to this conclusion? Why do you think quitting is the best way, you’d think that you of all people would know how just abandoning someone feels,” he yells, moving closer to you.

Outside the door the boys are all listening, they knew this fight was going to happen eventually and now that it is they all are wondering what is going to happen.  Chris quickly realizes though that Violet is still around, and turns to Justin.

“Hey, there’s a park out there that we passed.  Do you mind?” Chris begins to ask but Justin cuts him off.

“Already on it, come on Vi.  Do you want to go play?” he asks, taking her hand and leading her off the bus towards the playground that they passed.  Trying to keep things light so that she doesn’t realize that anything bad is happening, he would hope someone would do the same for his little girl if he was fighting with Shae.

“Yeah, you’re right.  I do know how it feels thanks to you, you think I don’t still hurt from the fact you did that to me when I fucking needed you most? I had to fucking grieve the loss of my father and the loss of the first fucking guy I ever loved at the same time.  At least she will be young enough that she won’t remember me leaving,” you yell back, the damn finally breaking and despite you yelling you are in tears, the emotions finally spilling free.

“Is that what this is all about? I think I have more than proved to you that I am not the same idiot I was back then, that I am sorry for that.  I have tried being your friend and you won’t let me, so that is not my fault at all.  You are the one who won’t let me in,” he yells back, too far gone to care that you are crying again.  “So you are willing to break her heart because you can’t forgive me for something I did years ago?”

“God damnit Ryan are you fucking stupid, I can’t be your fucking friend.  I already told you this, I can’t do it because it is reminding me what was so great about you and is making me want things I can’t fucking have.  I’ll never have what I wanted with you, and I can’t fucking sit and watch you flirt and hit on other women without getting hurt.  I won’t let myself get fucking hurt again.  Listen, I’m done fighting.  I will finish out my obligation for this tour but after it is done I can’t do this anymore.  I know other people who would be amazing at it that I can recommend but I, I just can’t,” you say, your voice going soft as all the grief hits you harder than it has in years.

You turn to leave the lounge, trying to ignore the fact that you hear a bunch of footsteps running away from the door when they realize that you are about to leave the lounge, and let out a sigh.  Before you can realize what is happening you are spun around, your back hitting the door as his hands trap you in on either side of your head.

“Look at me, please,” Ryan begs, his voice almost cracking from the emotion in it.  

Against your better judgment you do, instantly regretting it when you feel his lips on yours.  You push him away from you before uttering I can’t do this again and storming out of the back area, past all the guys in the main lounge and out the door of the bus.  You need off the bus, you need away from everything and you sure as fuck hope that nobody noticed how much you are crying because now you don’t know what to do.  And you hate yourself for the fact that you enjoyed and wanted him to fucking kiss you, and you are left wondering where you go from here while you wander around the festival grounds by yourself.

[vote-gaara]

What do you think his manga would've been about if he won?

Honestly, it would have probably been about Gaara reflecting on how Naruto had saved him, which would have been a bit of a let down.

Now I'm not saying that I would turn down the content or underappreciate it if this were the case. I mean, we're all so starved of Gaara content that anything can sometimes be better than nothing; however, I just feel that Gaara reflecting on how Naruto saved him tends to be the main focus, or at least highly referenced, in many Gaara-centered content, post-Konoha Crush Arc.

It's like the low-hanging fruit of Gaara's character development at this point. And dare I say I commend the novel Gaara Hiden for more or less allowing it to be a very distant background theme of the - what I would call - a pretty lukewarm story in terms of quality. That novel pretty much came out as "meh" for me, but I appreciated that it gave Gaara the opportunity to shine by himself without pushing the credit onto Naruto.

I'm sorry, this is already going to be a tangent but here we go:

As you can probably tell, I love Gaara quite a lot. He is by far my favourite character not just in Naruto, but across all the series I have had the pleasure of being a fan of. Gaara is literally #1 in my books across the board, and so I say this with love in my heart when I say that Gaara constantly crediting Naruto for his change irritates the crap out of me.

Why?

Because we were never actually shown much of the grind behind Gaara's character development, we just got the outcome of that change. On the surface, this isn't bad because Gaara is a supporting character in the series about Sasuke Naruto, and he's done a lot of really amazing things that make his character mature like a fine wine, but there's a lot of unmined potential in him that goes completely untouched because "Naruto saved him."

Naruto saving Gaara was the catalyst to it all. What I wanted to see was the grind, the awkwardness. Give me moments where Gaara has to fight through his shyness, let me see how hard it is for him to reconnect with his siblings and his villages. Tell me how hard it was for him to get the Elders of the village to trust him then give me Gaara breaking their spines because they're trash Hell, please even just give me more evil Gaara content!

Give me a throw back to Karura being pregnant and being so excited about her new baby. Give me the sand siblings as children thinking about each other but being unsure how to act like family.

Tell me who Gaara is when he's not a ninja and he's not Kazekage. I want to see him farm his cacti, cooking dinner and living his life the way someone who's so used to isolation goes about living their life.

So. Many. Possibilities.

Have him go out for beers with Kankuro and Kankuro's friends to "get drunk" where Gaara pretends to be "really feeling it" when he actually doesn't because he's been nursing 1 (one) beer the whole night as he tries to fit in to social situations but can't because he doesn't know of to react.

Have Gaara wondering what it's like to have romantic feelings towards someone, and have him think about it without ultimately coming to the conclusion about if he wants that or not because he isn't even sure what it means.

Give me the reaction manga to him reading Icha Icha. I swear, I would pay good money for it, or even my lif-

I am telling you...So many possibilities. SO MANY!

All of the would've been so good, if only we could've been shown the corners of Gaara's life that don't make him a ninja or Kazekage, but just make him a regular ol' person trying his best to be the best he can.

[excessive-vampires]

Danger in Numbers Part 2: Exo's Award

Masterlist with CW

“It just had to be Gemar,” Alex muttered, adjusting his sunglasses. 

“Do you have something against all the colonies?” Cassie teased. 

“It’s just so fucking bright.” 

“Most people think that makes it pretty.”

Gemar was in a binary star system, and the different angles at which the light hit the planet meant that in certain places during certain seasons any prism would throw extraordinarily vibrant and distinct rainbows in every direction. This meant many public spaces were built to incorporate a lot of glass and crystal, bathing the entire area in patterns of colored light. 

“Besides,” Cassie continued. “This is where Exohive’s primary residence is.”

“They couldn’t have picked any of their other residences? Or is it important that it be the queen bee’s nest?”

“You know that’s not how it works. Besides, would you rather be on Nova?”

“Not without a haz-mat suit.” Alex glanced around. “This is almost just as bad though. There’s got to be a ton of hives here but I have no idea who they are.”

“Why does it matter?”

“What if I’m talking with someone and they turn out to be a hive?”

Cassie clenched her jaw. Mel added a little something extra stress-reducing to the already drug-filled brownies they were making and said through Cassie, “Damn, looks like you’ll just have to not be an asshole at all for one whole day.”

Alex ran a hand through his short pink hair and muttered something under his breath. 

“Hey,” Cassie said. “You didn’t have to come with me.” Sweethive had actually been disappointed when Alex had said he was accompanying Cassie. They had been looking forward to Cassie being around other hives and not having to hide for once. But he’d insisted. “You can always go back to the ship.”

“I’m not leaving someone with no self-preservation instincts alone in a city full of hives now that they can start recruiting outsiders.”

Sweethive’s patience snapped. Silas’s grip on the cold drink he’d just bought from a street vendor a few miles from Gemar’s largest public stage tightened. He had been close enough to make the journey in time and Sweethive figured if they were reconnecting with Exohive then the more the merrier. He lifted Cassie’s hand to Alex’s ear and roughly pulled him close enough to hear him whisper. “Shut the hell up before you get yourself kicked out. If you start shit here I’m not going to defend you.” 

Alex pulled away, looking momentarily angry, then he deflated. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Cassie. I just start saying shit with no filter when I’m nervous. Not an excuse, I know, but I’ll try to keep a lid on it.”

“If you’re really sorry, I’m not who it should be directed at.” That was a lie, of course. But Alex didn’t know that. Cassie tried to quicken her pace to walk away but a sting of pain in her left knee slowed her down. She grumbled a curse. 

“Cassie, whoa, slow down!” Alex sounded concerned. “You okay? Do you need your cane?” 

“I need to be able to hold this camera with both hands. It’s an extremely expensive piece of equipment and I’m using it to document something that could end up in history books.” Carter said with Cassie’s voice. “This is worth a little pain.” 

Alex had known Cassie long enough not to argue. Finally they reached the spot in front of the stage reserved for the media. Cassie scanned her temporary press badge and moved through the barrier, leaving Alex on the other side. He frowned at her. 

“I’m fine. Go. Get some food, have fun, look at the pretty colors. Don’t stay where you don’t want to be because you’re worried about me for no reason. I’m an adult, I don’t need supervision to film a medal ceremony.”

Alex gave her a look but then sighed. “You’re right, Cassie, I should trust you. I’m gonna go back to the ship and see what ridiculous touristy shit they have at the refueling station gift shop.” 

Cassie smiled. “Good luck.”

Alex smiled back and started walking away from the growing crowd. 

Cassie’s shoulders relaxed. No more pretending for now.

“Your companion seems pretty grumpy for someone on leave from a ship,” someone behind Cassie said. She turned and saw a man with clear-framed glasses and faceted clear beads adorning his dreadlocks. The color of his badge identified him as a local reporter. 

“He doesn’t do well with new things. His heart belongs to the past.” 

“And how do you like new things?”

The smile on Cassie’s face was Silas’. “There’s nothing better.” 

The man held out his hand. “Drew Findhive.”

There was only one reason a hive would introduce themselves in a casual context with a member name. Laughter from the collective left Cassie’s mouth. And Mel’s, startling a small bird from the feeder outside their open kitchen window. The rest of the members just smirked. Findhive looked confused. “You heard Alex call me Cassie, didn’t you?”

“Is that… not your name?”

“It is. My name is Cassie Sweethive.”

Findhive laughed too now. “Oh shit, we thought you were–”

“Some thrill-seeking quiet you could seduce with the mystery and exoticness of being a hive as long as you put me at ease with a singular name?” Carter commented. 

“Okay, yeah, you caught us. So, your old-fashioned friend…”

“He doesn’t know.”

“Seriously?”

“It started as a bet between us and the ship’s captain. How long would it take the rest of the crew to realize? But then we got to know Alex. He’s fun to hang out with and a mostly good friend, but like you said, he’s old-fashioned.” 

“Ah.”

The mood was dark, so Kara decided to lighten it. “Well, you weren’t entirely wrong about us. We do love a good thrill.” 

“Really?” Findhive leaned in close. “And are you open to seduction?”

Cassie bit her lower lip. “We’re actually hoping to reconnect with Exo tonight if we can. But would you be terribly offended if we wanted to exchange information as a backup plan in case they’re too busy for old flames?” 

“You know them?” Findhive’s eyes went wide. 

“We haven’t talked in years, always had more actions in common than words, if you get me.” Silas explained. 

“Hmm,” Findhive replied as they pressed a button on their wrist-screen. Cassie’s screen dinged with the incoming contact info and all of Sweethive smiled. “Would you be terribly offended if we say we hope they blow you off?” they said with a smile. 

Then the stage lit up. Both hives snapped to attention, Sweet raising their camera and Find pulling out a screen and stylus to take notes with. 

Earth’s ambassador to Gemar approached the podium, but Sweethive’s attention was fully captivated by the six members of Exohive walking up to the opposite side of the stage. Six was a lot for a hive, and one more than Exo had the last time Sweet saw them, but the addition seemed to prove lucky. Exo’s members had each dyed their hair a different color of the rainbow to match the light thrown by the stage’s many prisms. Silas laughed. Then Cassie’s eyes locked onto Rose Exohive. Orange was a good color on her. An amazing color. It made her look like she was on fire, which absolutely matched the impression given by Exo’s behavior. Carter reluctantly dragged Cassie’s eyes back to the camera screen to make sure the whole stage was still in focus. 

The ambassador’s speech was short, which Sweethive was both appreciative of and irked by. They couldn’t help but think that if that medal were going to a quiet there would be a lot more fanfare. But still, the weight of the camera was making Cassie’s arms sore by the time the ambassador was handing the medal around Carlos’ neck. The ribbon was as bright red as his hair and his smile was wide and unapologetic. 

Then there was a horribly loud crack. Silas, now at the back of the crowd, looked up so Cassie could keep filming. 

All thoughts of getting more footage left Sweethive’s collective as Silas saw the crystal tower to the right of the stage start to fall. Cassie screamed for everyone onstage to take cover. Exohive looked up and began to scramble to the edge of the stage out of the crystal spire’s path. The ambassador ran stage right and threw himself off the edge. The heavy shimmering pole crashed into the stage without crushing anyone and for a second Sweethive thought the danger was gone. Then something backstage exploded.