#best hair gummies for hair loss

[cbdnorthcanada]

Best CBD Oil for Hair Loss and Hair Growth: CBDNorth

Explore the benefits of CBD oil for Hair Loss and Hair Growth. Get best CBD oil in Canada from CBDNorth.

Best CBD Oil for Hair Loss and Hair Growth We’re all afraid of hair loss. As we age, the growing possibility and fear is normal. After all, we all love our hair, an extension of our beauty. Beautiful hair not only adds to our personality but also confidence. Hair loss is a major problem for many people all over the world because it leads to reduced self-esteem and low confidence. It also…

[hairhealthgummies]

Best Hair Growth Supplements for Thickness

Having long and thick hair is a dream of every girl out there. Let’s uncover the secret to having Hair Health Gummies in this blog. While we are at it let's also take a look at what could be the possible reasons for poor hair health and side effects of these popular supplements.

What Are Supplements?

Supplements are just a fancy term for the products that give us nutrients and are missing from our daily diet. They are usually vitamins and minerals in a form of a capsule, tablets, or gummies. Some of the most popular hair thickness and growth supplements are discussed below-

Biotin – Called Vitamin B or Vitamin H. Its deficiency is believed to be the main cause behind hair loss. Biotin helps in the breakdown of a protein responsible for hair growth. In addition, it also improves skin health and protects nails from breaking. Moreover, they also decrease blood sugar levels and boost immunity.

Collagen – Is an important hair supplement for hair loss. It increases the amount of protein required for hair building. Likewise, it reduces grey hair by improving the health of hair follicles. It also minimizes split ends.

Keratin – Is accountable for the elasticity and strength of hair. It smoothens the hair and makes it less frizzy. In addition, it also heals wounds quickly and improves nail strength

Ashwagandha – Withania somnifera or popularly known as the king of Ayurvedic herbs promotes melanin production in hair, therefore, preventing grey hair. In fact, it also has anti-inflammatory potential which reduces scalp irritation.

Zinc – Known as an important ingredient of hair supplements for hair growth. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential hence, protects skin and hair from oxidative damage. Consequently, it minimizes hair loss by accelerating the recovery of hair follicles.

Vitamin A – Reduces hair breakage and hydrates the scalp.

Vitamin C – Is an antioxidant hence, it protects hair from radical damage. It also promotes collagen production.

Vitamin E – Has antioxidant potential which helps to restore the shine and replenish hair by protecting it against oxidative stress.

Vitamin D - Important vitamin for skin and hair. It boosts cell growth and forms new hair follicles.

Hair gummiesare one of the forms in which hair supplements can be taken. Vitagoli Vitamin Gummies For Hair Skin And Nails offer all the good stuff required for shiny, thick, and long hair.

Possible Reasons For Poor Hair Health

Let’s take a look at what could be the reason behind hair thinning and hair loss-

Unhealthy lifestyle

Hormonal changes

Stress

Oxidative damage

Hereditary

Ongoing medical conditions and treatment

Side Effects – Usually even in excess amounts hair supplements do not cause any adverse health issues. However, it is better to not overeat them as they might cause stomach issues and excessive thirst. It is advised to thoroughly go through the ingredient list to avoid any allergic reactions.

FAQ (frequently asked questions)

How many gummies should I take?

In general, is better to take 1 gummy daily. But it is best to follow the prescription given in the box.

Do these supplements affect body hair?

No, they do not as body hair is allowed to grow only till a certain length.

How long do they take to show results?

Taking supplements regularly for 3-5 months starts showing visible results.

Source Url :- Click Here

[arecharnutra]

Is Vitamin e Good for Daily use on the Face?

Before coming to any conclusion about including vitamin E in your skincare routine, it is important to understand what it is and how it works. The A to Z about vitamin E is important to understand and we will uncover all its shades in this article.

To begin with, vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin and is a group of compounds. Usually, there are 8 different forms of vitamin E. Out of which, tocopheryl acetate and tocopherol are the common ones (guessing you must have encountered any one of the names before on any of your cream or makeup products).

Benefits of vitamin E:

Let’s talk about some general properties and benefits of vitamin E. It works as an anti-oxidant along with anti-inflammatory properties. It is a great moisturizer because of the moisture and hydration it provides to the skin when applied topically as well as internally. Additionally, it works great as a humectant as well as an emollient, i.e., to absorb water and to trap water in the skin respectively. Also, it protects the skin from UVB rays but cannot be used as a substitute for sunscreen.

As an antioxidant, it protects the skin from free radicals produced by the body’s metabolism. It has great moisturizing and healing properties as it creates a layer of sebum around the skin to trap the moisture in it and provide the necessary hydration. Vitamin E works great for dry skin and dry areas of skin like cuticles and elbows, dry patches of skin, etc. However, for oily skin and acne-prone ones, it is not much beneficial.

Its healing properties can be understood by knowing that it fades the light acne scars when applied regularly. Moreover, it can also show results in preventing scarring after breakouts. Also, it repairs the skin barrier and helps to make your skin more hydrated by locking the skin moisture.

It works great for dry and chapped lips as it is a great addition to the skincare routine for its great moisture-providing properties. It regenerates the cell of the skin and makes the healing process faster.

Sources of vitamin E:         

For internal consumption of vitamin E, it is available through food products like:

Nuts

Sunflower seeds

Spinach

Broccoli

Cereals

Juices

Kiwi, etc.

It is also available in a supplement form. However, most of the daily-use creams, moisturizers, and makeup products contain Vitamin E as an ingredient. However, for more dry skin, Vitamin E Capsules for Face are also available and work great when applied topically.  It makes the skin hydrated, supple, glowing, and shiny. Moreover, it works best when combined with vitamin C for the hyperpigmentation problem. Vitamin E capsules are the Best Skin Supplements for Glowing Skin.

Source URL:- Click Here

[idyllicidols]

Caught.

A/N: Tumblr tells me I've been on here for a year already. Time really flies! Just a quick one for Happy self anniversary and Merry Christmas.

***

"Hello?!"

Nayeon calls out as she enters your apartment, closing and locking the front door behind her. There's an eerie silence as she walks through the hall. Your door is slightly open, just a crack. Nayeon gives it a light nudge and pokes her head inside.

"Merry Christm-"

Nayeon drops her duffle bag by the foot of the bed, her breath quick and heavy. Her heart almost stops beating. Her body freezes, rigid with shock.

She hears groaning, coming from a figure laying on your bed in the center of the room. Your cock in your hand, your phone in the other, frozen in place while your best friend looks at you in disbelief.

You can't take your eyes off her, quickly placing your phone back onto the nightstand.

You didn't even think. The content of your phone remaining visible until the screen falls asleep: a photo of her - nothing even scandalous about it, just a photo of her, smiling at the camera with her cute bunny teeth and gummy smile—making a dumb cute little peace sign and acting like a goof. The screen finally goes dark, but the image is burned into her mind. A photo of her. You were jerking off to a photo of her. Your best friend.

Nayeon stumbles forwards, her mouth agape and her brain still failing to comprehend any of the shit that's happening.

It's like an out-of-body experience. Nothing makes sense anymore, everything is wrong. All the air seems to escape from her lungs, and all her thoughts melt out of her ears.

You lay there silently, your cock sitting on your stomach, covered with your own precum. Your heart is about to burst out of your chest, sweat sticks your hair to your forehead, heat emanates from every inch of your body. You should have heard her outside.

"Nayeon, it's not what you think."

"Oh yeah? What is it? Because this seems pretty fucking obvious to me."

"I don't know! I mean, I do, but...shit."

Nayeon fumbles through the photos. More images of her, from different angles, of different clothing, none particularly pornographic or inappropriate. A few shots that highlight the curve of her body, one that is focused on the swell of her firm ass, one from the front where you can see how snug her yoga pants are.

"So this is what you're into then, huh, jerk?"

Nayeon sits down on the bed with a thud. You're at a loss for words, laying next to her awkwardly, cock awkwardly hanging against your stomach. Nayeon doesn't speak at all. You can practically hear her think, processing this information, unsure what it means, uncertain whether she should feel flattered, used, hurt, betrayed, disgusted.

Without another word, or any kind of warning…

Nayeon starts to undress, her shirt thrown behind her. Her basic pink bra cups her petite breasts, a small layer of flesh rises up over the cup, but it's hard to make out. The top half of her torso, from her clavicle to her abdomen, is toned muscle, lithe and defined, feminine and sexy. You can't tear your gaze away from the taut curves of her shoulders, her arms, her hands, which start working on taking her jeans off.

"Keep going jerk. Touch yourself."

You look at her quizzically. Nayeon has never talked to you so harshly, especially about this kind of stuff, and even less while she was slowly stripping out of her clothes in your bed. This is a new side to her, your best friend still has the same looks to her, only now she's half-naked, stern and intense and almost angry as she watches you slowly jacking yourself, holding your member at a gentle but eager pace.

"Is this what you like? Pervert. Thinking about me while you jerk yourself off? Is the real thing better?"

Her barrage of questions makes your head hurt. Or perhaps it's just the amount of blood that seems to be going to your cock, as your mind fills with a haze of lust and desire. This condescending tone. The humiliation. Is this really what you're into?

Your thumb glides over your swollen, sensitive tip, a quiet moan escapes you as Nayeon lays next to you on her side, watching.

"Disgusting. Tch."

With each disparaging comment from her lips, the greater the pit forms in your stomach.

"You wanna see them?" Nayeon teases, letting one of her straps fall down her shoulder.

Your throat is dry. So fucking dry that it's hard to talk. So you nod your head in the most shameful and guilty way imaginable. It's Nayeon. Your Nayeon. There are boundaries that aren't supposed to be crossed and lines that shouldn't be crossed, and here you are, crossing them both.

She lets the other strap slip off her shoulder. Nayeon plays around with you a bit, letting just a hint of tit flesh spill out of the side before sliding the cups up again. After letting your pathetic begging whines linger for a minute, she undoes the hook of her bra in one smooth, single-handed motion and slowly takes it off.

"Well better or worse than what's in that fucked up head of yours?"

"Better..." You groan out, your hand instinctively reaching out towards her chest.

She slaps your hand away, pinning your wrist down into the mattress.

"Perv. Fucking touch me and I'll tear off your dick, got it?"

Nayeon said no touching, but she did nothing to stop you from jerking off in front of her. Actually, quite the opposite: Nayeon leans in even closer, her fingers trailing down the sides of her small perky tits. She lifts the small handfuls and gives them a playful shake, grinning at how desperately your mouth hangs open, lust clouding over your eyes, completely entranced. She knows full well she doesn't have a spectacular pair of melons, but in this case, she's fairly confident in them and what they're able to accomplish. And accomplishing a whole lot right now, it seems like.

You're mesmerized and enamored and lost and whatever the fuck else the synonyms for obsessed are. You want her. God do you ever want her, your arousal building more and more as Nayeon trails down the waistband of her underwear. Down, past her soft curving hips, exposing the tight pink slit underneath.

"You're not gonna cum already are you?" Nayeon mocks. "Look into my eyes" she orders, taking her thumb and giving your bottom lip a tug, forcing your drooling face to stare into her smoldering eyes, her tone still berating.

"Focus. Don't you look away, okay?"

A whimper and a nod. "Okay Nayeon." You're willing to do anything at this point, if only she allows you to keep staring at those brown bedroom eyes of hers. You are so fucking screwed.

"Good. Follow my fingers now. But remember, no touching." With that her hand slides down: down to neck, hovering over perfect handful of tits, gently pinching her rock hard nipples, a blissful smile washing over Nayeon as she does. Fingers trace around her navel, delicate and lovingly, teasing your poor erection with an agonizing display of sexuality and intimacy, torturous enough to make you beg for it, but never doing. Your balls feel so tight. Your entire pelvis feels like one massive tight knot.

"Keep watching..." Nayeon notices your blanked out expression, snapping her fingers to draw your attention back to her. Finally, finally! Her hands slither under the waistband of her underwear, and with a devious smirk, finally pulls her panties off and throws them to the floor. Nayeon presses a couple fingers to her nether lips, feeling the wetness, then showing off her slick coated finger to you.

"Wanna sniff?"

You want to so badly. It would only take a moment, it'd be so easy to cross over those inches. Her beautiful eyes. The girl you've known for so many years. Your best friend. You pathetically pant, like a dog who knows he shouldn't be begging his owner, but still hoping against hope to get the treats she has locked away.

Nayeon thrusts out her fingers again, rubbing them directly against your nose—smearing the honey across your upper lip. That heavenly sweet aroma. An explosion of alluring femininity that hits you like a brick, a thick waft of her womanly smell so strong and enticing.

And yet you can't touch, unable to do anything but pathetically touch yourself , like some kind of fugitive prisoner denied everything but the cruelest of tortures. You want to run. Escape from the intoxication and humiliation. To say 'let's just not ever bring this up again, be friends like we always were.'

But that'll never happen, not when Nayeon holds her hand over yours.

"Why don't you cum already eh? I'm waiting to see what a worthless perv like you looks like when he orgasms. Look at your gross, needy face."

If only you weren't so damn excited. A warm, burning sensation coils in your chest, pooling downwards. Nayeon isn't even touching it—there's no skin on skin contact with your cock. Instead she's using your hand like a puppet, pumping faster and faster, bringing yourself right to the brink, watching with wicked glee at the pitiful state you're in.

"Thinking about your best friend. After all we've been through. How the fuck do you even live with yourself? Pathetic."

A shudder goes through your body, as if you are absorbing the verbal abuse she gives you, making you even more aroused than before, feeling ashamed and dirty and alive. It's sick, perverted, and horrible, yet you revel in it, taking pleasure in feeling inferior, seeing her act with superiority and indifference to you and your pleas.

Her hand is over yours, her soft skin so close to your cock, yet so far—forcing your hand up and down, the head throbbing and swelling, unable to hold on any longer. Your entire focus is on Nayeon and her lithe touch. How her tiny tits jiggle ever so slightly when she moves. How her dark locks drift about her frame, flowing past her slim arms.

Before you even know it, you're blowing your load, feeling like a teenager in your own body, humiliated as it happens, almost falling backwards from the force, completely submitting to the control of another, spraying all over yourself, as Nayeon stares at you with disgust and contempt in her eyes. "You already came? God damn, that was even faster than I expected."

You can't stand the fact that you orgasmed within seconds of Nayeon touching you, even if it was over your hand. So easily able to dominate you, you are overtaken by desire, need and lust. By shame and embarrassment, your cock in your hand with jizz all over you.

She picks up her clothes and walks away, leaving you with a mix of shame and indignation, getting dressed while ignoring you.

As she is about to leave she turns back and faces you.

"See you tomorrow, pervert. Coffee. Yea?"

You're left alone, covered in jizz, looking down and watching yourself go soft and your member drip onto your lower belly. Your head is cloudy with afterglow, unhinged and confused feelings settle over you; part guilt, part exhilaration, all humiliation. Your body feels exhausted. The cold December air cools the sticky substance, drying it against you, you feel it, that's your shame, a shame that Nayeon exuded upon you and that you took pleasure in.

[seireiteihellbutterfly]

Sundae Tropes - Milestone Event - CLOSED 🍨

Well, hello everyone! I can’t believe it’s finally happened but we’re celebrating a milestone! 300 followers?! Like what? I want to thank each and every single one of you for supporting my little blog. I love the interaction and going forward, hope to have more engagement with everyone. To celebrate, I thought I’d throw together a little event. This is intended to be an 18+ event, so minors MDNI. Welcome to Sundae Tropes! Open to all my followers and moots!

Give it up for the talented @actuallysaiyan for the super cute banner!

Rules

🍨 Make your sundae!

1. Pick a flavor of ice cream 2. Choose 1 or 2 toppings - One per group 3. Pick a man (or woman) from either Bleach or JJK 4. Please note the waffle cone option if none of the toppings appeal to you

So for example, your request could look something like Chocolate with whipped cream and caramel with Renji.

🍨Please note: Since this is meant to celebrate my moots and followers, I will not be accepting anon requests. Anyone who follows me and wants to submit a request, but are shy to have their name show up, please DM me, and I will add your request to the list and reach out to you separately when I’m done writing, without responding to the ask publicly. 

🍨 The reader will by default be written as female unless specified otherwise. Please have a look at my rules for characters I don’t write. All characters are either written as adults or aged up.

🍨Also, since each fandom has certain characters more popular than others, I’m capping the number of requests I receive for these characters. 

🍨This will be open for a week (closing April 12th). 

🍨I will be writing a good number of these and will be feeding all requests into a random generator to pick what order I’m writing these in. 

Flavors

Vanilla - High school sweethearts 

Chocolate - Boss/secretary

Strawberry -  Enemies to Lovers 

Rocky Road - Teacher/student

Cookie dough - Strangers in a foreign city

Coffee - Friends to lovers

Moose Tracks - Fake dating

Mint chocolate chip - Soulmates

Butterscotch - Forced proximity

Cookies and Cream - Marriage pact

Fudge - Captor/Captive

Peanut butter - Secret Billionaire

Butter Pecan- Love Triangle (pick 2 characters)

Birthday cake- Amnesia/Mistaken identity 

Cotton Candy- Secret Admirer 

Cherry- Return to hometown/reunion love 

Toppings (pick up to 2 - one from each group)

Group 1

Sprinkles - Threesome (pick 2 characters)

Whipped cream - Creampie, Breeding Kink

Crushed Oreos - Clit spanking, Nipple play, Bondage

Marshmallow -  Teasing, Edging, Toys

Kit Kats - Exhibitionism, Dirty talk, Hair pulling

Maraschino Cherries - Praise kink, Lingerie, Blowjob

Strawberries - Passionate/romantic sex, Emotional bond

M&Ms - Virginity loss, Soft sex, Sweet talking

Group 2

Banana - Doggystyle

Reeses Pieces- Cowgirl

Chocolate-covered pretzels - Missionary

Nutella - Butterfly Position

Caramel - Thirst Position

Gummy bears - Facesitting

Brownie bits - 69

Chocolate chips -  Lotus position

Kinks and fetishes not your thing? Want something fluffy and SFW? Add a waffle cone to any flavor! Pick a waffle cone prompt from the list below:

A waffle cone request could look like: Vanilla waffle cone #4 with Gojo

"I'm going on a blind date." "In hopes of them actually being blind?"

"Is there something I can do to make it easier?"

“Don’t you dare walk away right now!”

“Do you miss us?”

"I trust you with all of my heart."

“I have the feeling that you’re trying not to kiss me and I give you permission to just do it.”

“Do you want my jacket?”

"You're all my favorite things about the world concentrated into one person”

"You hugged me like your personal pillow."

“Oh, just shut up, I’m not blushing!”

“Morning cuddles are the best part of the day.”

“Of course I know the way you like your coffee.”

"My heart dances every time I look at you."

Why is your stupid face just so kissable?”

“Your laugh is contagious.”

"I never believed in love at first sight before I met you."

all dividers by @/ cafekitsune Prompts from @/ creativepromptsforwriting

[cherryberry-sugarandspice]

I Need To Let You Go

Sad Miguel Hours

CW: infant loss, grief, death, everything is very sad because cherry is sad

"Oh, mija, if only you had seen me and your uncle back in the day," Miguel chuckles, hugging Gabriella close to his chest as he lays back in the stiff chair. She's only half a year hold and he pushes whatever hair she has back, watching as it falls flat against her head. He kisses her forehead, nuzzling his cheek into her head. "Yeah, we weren't the best behaved as teens. Stealing cigarettes or managing to get someone to buy us some beer."

Miguel rolls his eyes at the memory, slightly cringing. He rubs circles into Gabriella's back, sighing softly. "Can you believe I'm a hero now, mija? Saving the innocent and fighting bad guys. If fifteen year old me can see me now, he'll laugh."

"Did I ever tell you about the time I got chased by a horse? Haha, back then it was terrifying, but we can laugh about it now, mamas."

"I'm thinking of getting a little dog. What do you think, mija?"

"I work with so many idiots, mija, but they're all good people. I just wish things went the way I wanted, you know?"

"Lego Peter is one of my best. He's strong, agile, smart, and catches anomalies as if it were a hobby of his. So glad I recruited him."

Miguel continues talking to Gabriella about many things. He laughs at fond memories and cringes whenever he speaks about when he was younger. He wishes he can go back in time and smack himself in the back of his head.

He hugs his baby close, tears trickling down his heated cheeks. A heavy weight presses itself against his soul, making it hard to breathe. He nuzzles his cheek against her head slowly, his eyes squeezed shut. He chokes as he speaks.

"Mjia...can you hear me?"

Gabriella's heart is beating due to the life support, but there's no activity in her brain. She was pronounced brain dead several hours ago. Miguel nodded his head painfully slow, his eyes glazed over in denial. He scooped his little girl up into his strong arms, sat back in a chair and laid her against his chest, then began talking about everything and anything.

"Please, mija," Miguel pleads with his baby. He wraps her little fingers around his large finger and winces when her tiny hand slips and falls against his chest. He grinds his teeth together and slides his finger beneath her baby hand, waiting for it to squeeze it with her baby strength. "Please, mija, show me that you can hear me. L-Let's prove these doctors wrong, okay? Let's show them you're okay."

Gabriella's body is connected to multiple cords. The heart monitor beeps, showing signs of her being alive, but let's be honest.

She's dead.

Miguel places multiple kisses into her head, choking on a sob. "Mija, don't scare daddy. This isn't funny. Please."

He rubs her back, waiting for her to move or make one of her baby noises. Waits for her to life her head and blink up at him with twinkling brown eyes, flashing him a gummy smile, chubby cheeks pinched. He waits for his baby to wake up, because there's no way she's dead. No. He refuses to acknowledge it.

Miguel carried her for nine months. He went through agonizing hours of labor. He spent many sleepless nights tending to her.

Like come on, she just started crawling.

She hasn't even said her first words yet.

Miguel trembles, hugging her close, slowly rocking back and forth, the realization that his little girl might actually be dead hitting him like a truck.

"Oh...Oh god," he chokes, tears streaming down his cheeks. "No, no! Please, Gabi, please wake up. Please, for daddy. Please, don't go. Don't go. Dontgodontgodontgodontgo-" his words end up in a high pitched squeal and he sobs, stomping his feet.

Miguel kisses her all over her face. He stands up and paces around the room, bouncing her lightly like he did whenever she cried or when he was trying to get her to sleep.

This isn't fair.

It's not fucking fair.

Miguel always dreamed of being a father, and Gabriella was the little angel given to him. He adored her. Bought her cute dresses and bows. Tickled her chubby belly, laughing in pure joy at her squeals. He allowed her to sleep in bed with him, but had no pillows and blankets in fear of her suffocating.

He took her for walks through the park. Attended reading sessions at a nearby library. Spending sleepless nights to feed her, change her, and try to get her back to sleep, but once she had that big smile on her face and sparkling eyes, he knew that she wasn't going to bed anytime soon and he wasn't either. During those moments, he was frustrated and angry. He was so tired. The apartment was a mess and he hardly had time for himself.

He wants that back.

He wants those moments of him not sleeping and attending to his baby. Wants to walk back through the door of his apartment with Gabriella in her car seat and see the messy apartment. He wants to spend one more day with her.

If he had known that this was going to happen, he would've taken those sleepless nights, the messy apartment, the never ending laundry, her puking on him, her kicking his face when he placed socks on her little feet, and cherished them.

Miguel sits back down, staring at the ground. "I need to let you go, do I?" He waits a bit to see if she'll make a noise or move, just because he doesn't want this to be true. But it is, and he can't keep her on the line forever. Miguel kisses her head, body trembling violently. "Daddy loves you so, so much, mija. In these short few months, you made me the world's happiest man. I loved being your dad, Gabi."

He finally looks into her face, crying. "I hope you're not in pain. I hope wherever you are, you're happy. I'll see you one day, mija. I love you."

Thirty minutes later, the plug was pulled, and Miguel lost a part of himself that night.

Never again, will he be the same.

Never.

[dilfhos]

BEST PAL.

SHIGARAKI TOMURA x READER

CC: dubc0n, virginity loss, cucking, unprotected s*x, inexperienced sex, pwp

+scummy bf makes you help out his friend >.< [old drabble repost! ]

Dabi being such a good sport to help out his virgin friend, Shigaraki. What a pal offering up his girlfriend to take the guy’s precious innocence.

“C’mon don’t be like that. I thought Shigaraki was cool people!”

“Dabi you don’t even like him,” You protested.

“Not true babe.” He lied. In all honesty, he couldn’t care less if the ashy bastard got his dick wet in his lifetime or not.

But watching how inexperienced Shigaraki was when he tried to stick his tongue down your throat made him hard like none other. Especially when you were trying to be a good sport and take it. It was cute when you’d try to whimper for him to take it easy amidst Shigraki’s frantic yanking of your pesky clothing but Dabi knew his friend; He didn’t do ‘easy’.

Dabi watched quietly from the corner, making sure not to interrupt him as he had his way with you, only speaking up when Shigarki would begrudgingly ask if this or that was right.

“Yeah, grip her tits. She likes that,” Per demand, he does so, crimson eyes sparking up when you arch your back under his touches. Apparently you liked it when he teethed on your nipples a bit too—you were pulling his hair, muffling your squeal in the back of your hand.

“Be sure to tap her clit too, feel how tight she gets?”

Shigaraki would nod excitedly as he felt your walls clench around his dick. Wow, chicks really did dig it when you roughed ‘em up a little too. His grip on your neck had your eyes rolling as you bit back the urge the scream. Despite his inexperience, Shigraki could recognize pleasure from a mile away, thankful for the plethora of women in his desktop. His skinny, newly fucked dick was actually doing something to you.

And Dabi, man as irritating as he was to him all the time, he wasn’t all bad, Shigaraki deduced.

After all he was actually letting him fuck his girlfriend.

You didn’t really know what to feel really. Not with Dabi’s really weird friend humping your pussy like that. Not as he stared you in the eyes like a man crazed as he canted his bony hips against yours, every now and then hitting that delicious spot inside but mostly missing it. But the wild look in his eyes as he desperately rutted you like a dog, his other hands moving carelessly to grope your body made you bothered and wanted. It was cute in a way.

However in the span of six minutes, his face distorted and his hips stuttered. He didn’t even really get into it before his breath was hitching up and his body felt a surge of heat radiating through his veins from the start of his heavy balls.

“Fuck! Cumming! I’m-shit!” His movements spasmed to a halt. And you whimpered as you tried to writhe from under him but he held you in place. For someone as scrawny and paper-thin as he seemed, Shigaraki’s grip was steel. He wanted to move, really he did but the way your gummy walls were constricting him like a fucking vice, he just couldn’t help it. You couldn’t blame him, it’s his first time after all.

Your lips parted as your brows furrowed, staring him straight into his half-lidded eyes as you felt his essence jet into your unprotected little cunt, filling you up with a seemingly never-ending load. He leaned down, sweaty forehead pressed against yours, mouth parted to fan his warm breath across your face.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you looked over for reprieve but instead found your boyfriend looking every bit as excited as you felt disgusted.

Dabi had a sickening smile on his face as he drunk in the contempt in your eyes, hand lazily pumping his leaking cock. “I gotta teach you how to eat a woman out man.”

DILFOS. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE OR REUPLOAD MY CONTENT—CURRENT OR ARCHIVAL.

[sequinsmile-x]

Stained Glass Windows - Chapter Forty Seven

Life was complicated, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

-x-

Hi friends,

So sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since I updated this <3 I promise I'll go back to updating this once a week.

As of this chapter we are officially in Season 6 of CM, and there will be some recognisable plot lines from that season but set in this universe, with of course the notable absence of Ian Doyle...that doesn't mean there won't be drama though ;)

Please let me know what you think of this chapter, your feedback means the world <3

-x-

Words: 3.4k

A full list of warnings for the fic can be found on the Series Master List and will be updated as we go along.

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily blows out a breath, her cheeks briefly puffing out with it, as she examines her hair closely in the mirror. It was shorter than it had been in years, the lengths of it scraping at her shoulders whenever she turned her head, short, almost sharp looking, layers framing her face and leading up to her bangs. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it, no matter how many times Aaron assured her she looked beautiful, but her hairstylist had told her it was the best way of covering up the fact she was starting to lose hair. 

Postpartum hair loss, as it turned out, was no joke. 

She hears a familiar cooing noise from behind her and she turns to look at Lily, unable to stop herself from chuckling at the sight of her daughter and the wide, gummy, smile she had on her face the moment Emily looks at her. 

Emily felt a strange sense of pride that she was the only one Lily had smiled at so far, the infant always seemingly overjoyed when her mother was in the room, although she’d never admit that to her husband who seemed a little disappointed he hadn’t been the reason Lily had smiled yet. 

“I don’t know what you’re smiling at sweet girl, it’s all your fault Mommy had to have a haircut,” she says as she walks over and lifts Lily out of her bouncer chair. She stands up straight and secures her baby in her arms, and it’s only when she’s walking out of the room that she realises she’d been able to do so without it hurting at all, without any residual ache from her c-section scar. “You’re totally worth it though.” 

She checks herself in the mirror one more time and, despite the haircut she hadn’t quite got used to yet, she feels more confident than she had in months. She felt more at home in her new body, more used to the changes it had gone through. She knew it was still early days, that she was still only two months post-partum, but she felt like she was turning a corner with everything. 

The last step, the one thing she desperately wanted to do, was to have sex with her husband. 

She’d only been signed off for strenuous activity for a couple of weeks but they still hadn’t gone any further than the soft kisses that had become part of their daily lives. She knows Aaron is trying to take her lead, that he doesn’t want to make her feel pressured into anything, but she missed him. 

She checks the time and realises Aaron and the team will be home soon. They’d been on a case in Atlantic City for a few days and he’d sent her a text to say they were on the way home. 

She looks down at Lily, smiling when the baby looks up at her and smiles, something that Emily knows will never lose its shine. 

“Shall we go to the office and see Daddy and all your friends?” She asks, kissing Lily’s forehead before she walks towards the front door, “They’ll be excited to see you after a few days in Atlantic City. I took Daddy there for a weekend away once,” she says, placing Lily into her car seat, “You’re too little to know about all of that now but there was a lot of sinning and winning,” she smiles as she strokes the tip of Lily’s nose, eliciting a wide smile, “But don’t tell Daddy I told you that, it will be our little secret.” 

She gets herself ready to leave the house and grabs the diaper bag, still not quite used to just how much stuff was needed to go anywhere with a tiny baby. She secures the car seat on its base and double-checks that Lily is strapped in properly before she closes the door and gets in the driver's seat. The moment she starts the engine Lily starts to cry and Emily sighs sadly. 

“I know baby,” she says as she starts to drive away, “The car is so mean.” Lily had hated the car from the very start, something Emily had been assured was normal and that she’d get used to it, but it didn’t make hearing her baby cry any easier. Especially when she didn’t want to leak milk through her clothes, “How about I play your music for you?” She switches on the car’s audio system and shakes her head, a wry smile on her face, when The White Album starts to play and Lily immediately stops crying, “A Daddy’s girl already.” 

___

The moment she walks onto the BAU’s floor Penelope is on her, an excited smile on her face as she takes Lily’s car seat from her and carries it the rest of the way to Derek’s desk where she puts it down.

“Peaches,” she exclaims as she looks at Emily, before she lifts Lily from the car seat, “Love the new hair,” she turns her attention back to the baby, “And look at you Miss Lily you’ve gotten so big.” 

Emily chuckles and raises her eyebrow at her friend, watching as Dave, Spencer and Derek all stand behind her to look at Lily as Penelope holds her against her shoulder, “Thanks, Pen. What are you doing here anyway instead of in your office? Did you sense I was nearby with the littlest Hotchner?” 

Penelope narrows her eyes at Derek when he laughs before she turns her attention back to Emily, “As much as I would love to say I have cute radar for this little one,” she says, rubbing her hand up and down Lily’s back, “I’m actually here for the gossip.” 

Emily watches as her friend tilts her head towards Aaron’s office and she follows everyone’s gaze. The door was closed as were the blinds and she furrows her brows, “Is Aaron in there?” 

Dave nods as he sits on the edge of Derek’s desk, “Along with Strauss and JJ, they went in there the moment we got back.” 

“They were holed up in there before we went on the case too,” Derek says, and Emily frowns, wondering why Aaron hadn’t mentioned it to her, a sense of foreboding making her stomach churn. He only ever held stuff back from her when he felt like he had to protect her, something that irritated her no matter how well intentioned it was. 

“They were? Why?” 

Derek shrugs before taking Lily from Penelope, claiming it was his turn as he held the baby, “No idea, we couldn’t get a straight answer from them.” 

Lily cries, shifting unhappily in Derek’s arms who immediately looks panicked, and Emily takes a step forward only for Dave to offer his hands to Derek who hands the baby over.

“Cosa c'è che non va, piccolo,” Dave says as he paces slightly, smirking at Derek when she stops crying almost immediately. 

“She doesn’t speak Italian, Rossi,” Derek grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest, and Dave laughs. 

“She’s two months old, she doesn’t speak English either,” Dave replies, raising his eyebrow and Emily shakes her head at both of them.

“Babies don’t start to recognise language until they are 6-9 months old,” Spencer chips in, “But in the first few months they start to pick up on tone of voice and how to interpret emotions in voices.” 

“I don’t know why I read all those baby books when I could have just asked you, Spence,” Emily says, patting him on his shoulder. It felt good to be here, to be surrounded by the people she knew were her family, and for a brief moment, she almost regrets the fact she wouldn’t be part of the team moving forward. Grief for a part of her life she’d never get back takes up space in her chest for a few seconds before Lily starts to cry again, and it all fades away as she looks at her daughter. It was worth it. Every change and sacrifice she’d made in her life was worth it because she was going to make sure her daughter knew she came first no matter what. “I’ll take her.” 

She eases Lily back into her arms and feels the usual sense of relief she felt every time she held her little girl against her chest. She looks back up at her friends and feels her cheeks go red when she realises they are all staring at her. 

“What?” She asks, clearing her throat and raising her eyebrows, stopping herself from smiling when they all look away quickly as if they had been caught doing something wrong. 

“Motherhood looks good on you,” Penelope says, a wistful look in her eyes, “That’s all.”

“But don’t worry,” Derek adds, his hand on Emily’s shoulder as he squeezes it, “You still look incredibly intimidating even when you’re holding a baby.”

She chuckles proudly and opens her mouth to respond but is cut off as Aaron’s office door opens and Strauss walks out, stalking away without even looking at them. JJ and Aaron follow shortly after with solemn looks on both their faces.

As soon as Aaron’s eyes meet Emily’s she feels the earlier uneasy feeling in her stomach take root, immediately blooming, the flowers spreading to her chest and clogging her lungs.

___

The journey home is a silent one, Lily fast asleep in the back of the car, exhausted from being loved on by everyone. 

Emily keeps casting glances at her husband, her eyes fixed on how tightly he’s grasping the steering wheel. As they pull into their driveway she clears her throat, “Honey-”

“Not now, Em,” he says, cutting her off, the tone to his voice not one he often used with her. He sighs as he turns off the engine and turns to look at her, “Sorry, just��not yet,” he says and she nods. He smiles gratefully in return and looks into the back of the car, his smile going soft when he sees Lily’s still fast asleep in the reflection in the mirror they have attached to her car seat, “Want me to get her?” 

“Yeah,” she replies, unclipping her seatbelt, “I fed her before we left Quantico, so you can probably take her straight upstairs.”

She knows he liked doing that. That he treasured the moments he had with their daughter when he got back from a case, and she thinks he needs it now more than ever. He reaches over the centre console and presses a kiss to her lips, “I’ll take her up, meet you in the living room?” 

She nods, cupping his cheek and kissing him again before he pulls away, her thumb pressing into his dimple. She follows him into the house and watches as he takes Lily out of her car seat. It never failed to amaze her how gentle he was with Lily and Jack, how delicate he could be with hands that made a standard issue Glock look like a toy gun. 

He carries Lily over and holds her so Emily can drop a kiss on her forehead, “See you in a few hours when you’re hungry again, sweet girl,” she kisses her again and stands up straight to look at her husband, “Do you want some scotch?” 

He nods and secures Lily to his chest, “Thanks, sweetheart,” he turns and heads for the stairs, “Come on Lily-Pad.” 

She blows out a breath as she watches them go and heads to the kitchen to pour him a drink before carrying it through to the living room. She takes a sip of it before she puts the glass down and sinks into the couch.

JJ was leaving the BAU. 

It was a shock, something Emily hadn’t seen coming at all, and based on how the team had responded she hadn’t been the only one. It was another change for a group of people who didn’t always handle change well, and residual guilt for leaving the team herself was sparking in her blood. She knew things would be different, but JJ would still be in their lives, just not in the way they were used to. 

Emily felt bad for her friend for being forced to do a job she had tried to turn down, but in a way that felt a little selfish, most of her concern right now was for Aaron. She knew her husband, she knew he’d shoulder this. That he’d take the blame from the team as if he could have stopped this, as if he hadn’t tried. It was a burden to bear that he rarely shared, one she wanted to help him carry. 

“I tried to stop it.”

She turns at looks at him. He was standing a couple of feet away from the couch, his tie and suit jacket now gone and his hair ruffled from where he’d run his fingers through it, one of the tells he could never hide from her. 

“I know you did, honey,” she replies, offering her hand to him, linking their fingers together when he takes it as he sits down next to her. She squeezes his hand and rests her head on his shoulder, “I know.” 

He sighs and turns to kiss the top of her head. His chest felt tight, heavy and stuffed full of everything he knew he’d have to do now. The thought of navigating the team's reactions to this, to hiring a replacement not only for Emily but for JJ now too. Two gaps in his team that felt insurmountable, the women who had left them irreplaceable in every way. Emily lifts their hands to her lips and kisses his knuckles, smiling at him as their eyes meet. 

At least Emily was right here with him. He hadn’t lost her. She hadn’t gone anywhere, hadn’t left a literal hole in his life. She’d made a decision to protect their family, something he thinks made him fall even more in love with her. 

“Can we talk about something else?” He asks, wanting to think about anything other than this, “I just…I need a break.” 

She nods and squeezes his hand. She was no stranger to needing to digest things herself first, it was one of the many ways they were similar, and she could give him this. 

“Lily’s social security card arrived today,” she says as she leans into his side, feeling the tension seep from his shoulders as she changes the subject.

He smiles softly, “She’s a whole person recognised by the government now.” 

Emily rolls her eyes at him and fights a smirk, “I have no idea where we’re going to keep that until she actually needs it.” 

“I have Jack’s,” he says, running his hand up and down her arm. She looks at him curiously, and he smiles wryly, already knowing what she’s thinking, “Haley has the same…level of skill as you when it comes to keeping important documents safe so she asked me to look after it. I’ll make sure it’s kept with his.” 

She hums and keeps her eyes fixed on the profile of his face, giving herself a moment before she carries on, pulling the folded envelope out of her jeans pocket before she hands it to him.

“It’s not the only thing that arrived in the mail today.” 

He smiles curiously at her, the crease she loved in between his eyebrows making an appearance, and she has to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling too hard. He unfolds the envelope and frowns as a credit card sized piece of plastic falls into his lap. He lifts it and turns it over to stare at it, his breath catching in his chest when he realises what it is. It was her social security card but it was new, the name on it standing out to him, forcing him to blink a few times to make sure he was reading it correctly.

Emily Elizabeth Hotchner. 

“I applied for it when I did Lily’s at the hospital,” she says, shrugging as if it didn’t mean everything as he looks up at her, “I wanted to surprise you.” 

He laughs, the sound catching in his chest, mixing in with the pride and love he felt growing there, “You…you changed your name?” 

She nods, biting her lower lip as she tries to hold back the emotions that take her by surprise, her eyes burning with unexpected tears, “Yeah,” she says, clearing her throat to stop her voice from shaking, “I changed my name.” 

It takes a second for him to react, but he hauls her into his lap, swallowing the squeal she lets out with the movement as he kisses her. She settles herself into his lap, her knees on either side of his hips and her arms around his neck. 

“I thought you didn’t want to,” he says, the hand not grasping the card in her hair, tangling in the shorter than usual locks. It wasn’t something that had ever bothered him. He didn’t need her to have the same name as him to know she loved him, and one of the things about her he’d always loved was her independence, her absolute surety of who she was. But seeing her name matched with his had lit something he didn’t know was there deep in his belly.

“I didn’t,” she says, running her fingers through his hair, “But when I was in the hospital and Lily and I had those bracelets on,” she smiles as she thinks about the hospital bracelets they’d kept, her emotional attachment to physical things seemingly only increasing the longer she was with him, as if physical imprints of their love could be found on them, “Our names were different and I wondered why I wanted to keep the name of two people who always put everything but me first instead of sharing the same name as my family. The same name as you,” she smiles, not judging herself for once as a tear slips past her lashline, “I’ll still be Prentiss at work I think, but I’ll be Hotchner everywhere it counts.” 

He stares at her, awe and love for the woman pressed up against him threatening to overwhelm him, “I love you.” 

It feels like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s all he can manage, and he only hopes that she knows it’s so much more than three simple words, that he’d never be able to get across what she means to him. 

“I love you too,” she replies, stamping her lips against his before she takes the card from him and groans as she looks at it, “This means I need to get a new driver's license and I’ll end up with this haircut on it.” 

“You’re beautiful,” he says, wrapping his arms around her and tugging her impossibly closer, taking the opportunity to kiss her exposed collarbone, unimpeded by hair hanging down past it, “So beautiful.” 

She sighs and holds him close, encouraging him to continue to kiss her skin, her eyes drifting shut as she settles into the feeling of it. She rolls her hips against his and groans as he stops, pulling back from her, his eyes full of desire and concern in equal measure. She’d be offended if she didn’t know he’d stopped before they’d even really started because he was putting her first, making sure she was entirely comfortable before they carried on.

“Em-”

She smiles at him and crawls off his lap, standing up and offering him a hand, “Come on,” she says, pulling him close when he stands and kissing him, “We probably have time for a joint shower before she wakes up.” 

He puts his hands on her hips, a tension to his grip that she knows is stronger than the one he had on his self control, “Are you sure?” 

She nods and leans in to kiss him, swiping her tongue through his mouth before she pulls back suddenly, “I’ve never been more sure of anything.” 

He doesn’t need any more convincing, his arms banding around her from behind as he guides them up the stairs, both of them muffling their laughter and groans as they barely disconnect from each other all the way to their bedroom. They successfully sneak past Lily’s bassinet and into the ensuite. 

The moment the door is closed Aaron is on her, his hands under her shirt and his lips against hers, and Emily loses herself in the feel of him. 

-x-

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[bangytell]

The day after | myg m

Now the day bleeds

Into nightfall

And you're not here

To get me through it all. Someone you loved — Lewis Capaldi

Summary: The love of your life slips through your fingers, and only you can see the way to keep him alive.

Genre: angst, fluff

Rated: m, +18

Pairing: Yoongi x y/n

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Mention of gunshots, blood and very much full of angst, petnames used [kitten, baby, etc]

a/n: This idea came from a dream and i had to make it come through words, please remember that english isn't my first language in case you notice something misread

Burnt tire, hot blood on your hands, desperate screams, and whimpers leaving your mouth as you feel the cold body beneath you, all of this because you couldn't take care of this situation. You feel getting dragged out from him "Don't please don't" you shout struggling to be with him, but it's too late, emergencies are lifting him to the litter, his hand falls off, he's leaving lifeless and you feel lifeless again. As you cry, closing your eyes covering your face, the loss of air gets to you.

 You wake up at the sound of your alarm, turn around, and he's next to you, breathing slowly, his hairs falling into his eyelids and looking so full of life. A single tear runs down your face, and you can't help but hug him and kiss his face as he wakes up. 

"Hey kitten, how did you sleep?" Remember not to worry him

"I slept like a baby" he chuckles, and his beautiful gummy smile makes you happy

"Are you ready for a few hours?" Right, can you make him not go? Can you convince him not to do this, but he's been waiting forever to go, and you can't kill that ilusion that fills his eyes. "Kitten?" The worry look on his face makes you pout 

"I'll be there, baby, you'll see me right next to you," he smiles but not forgetting your lack of answer at the beginning and the pouting 

"Are you sure kitten? I can just not go" you don't know how your power works, but you're sure that it doesn't have to stop things from occurring, just doing it differently so you can make the best of the situation 

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Go get a shower, you stink," he laughs and throws you a pillow on his way to the bathroom

He's the love of your life for sure. 

You get your laptop and start a google search, a very deep one. 

After getting your brain full of information, the door of the bathroom opens. He's wearing his towel mid body, and with another towel, he's getting his hair dry. 

"Kitten, I already called everyone, and they'll be there" you smile, closing the laptop  

"You look hot" he smiles, oh that smile has you in a chokehold 

He leans in, gives you a peck that tastes so sweet in your lips, a drop of water fall in your face and you chuckle 

"Don't hold me here or I'll be late" he chuckles 

"I'm not doing anything" he grabs his clothes, starts to dress and you feel that nothing else matters, except that it does 

He leaves after a deep kiss and you get yourself ready, a bottle of water, an antibacterial gel and an extra shirt on you. Be ready, be calm. 

The event is at the Central Bridge, hundreds of motorbikes for a showcase. The goal is to go through the bridge and get all the way to downton, but some dispute between some gangsters gets to the middle of the event and… well. 

Your boyfriend is right at the beginning, with his friends, the ones that ride bikes and the ones who don't, all there to support him, this is what he loves doing. 

He waves and smiles at the sight of you, his black hair, all grown and shiny and that amazing black jacket. 

Surely he owns every look up on him. 

"Kitten, you're here" you grin 

“I’ll be always here” his friends laughs, and he hits the one next to him

“You guys are so corny” his friend… Jimin said that 

The show begins, motor bikes begin to run through the bridge, he will be leaving next, you get in your car to follow, as close as you can. The start is calm, music from the bigger bikes, laughs, burnt tire smell and the sweet sound of starting the engine.

By the middle, you hear it, two gunshots behind you, when it gets to him, pull the break of your car, and run to him. Three gunshots, one to the car they’re chasing, one to a tire in the bike in front of him, and the last one, to his lower abdomen, if it were a bit higher than that maybe you wouldn't get that much time.

His warm and thick blood is getting out at a fast pace, his friends reach to you.

“Please, someone call 911” you shout while taking your extra shirt off to push to his body.

“You’re gonna be okay baby” he notices the desperation in your voice, you're still pressing, trying to stop the bleeding and tears start to feel your face, you clean yourself with your elbow, now is not the time. 

The shirt stops flooding with blood, now is the next thing, the bottle of water, with your hands clean; pouring the water to his injury, you ask for a shirt and Jimin is helping you with that.

“Emergency it’s on its way” he gifts you a small gummy smile while you wrap around his abdomen with Jimin’s t-shirt, he locks his gaze with you and caress your face

“Kitten, you never told me you knew how to take care of this kind of thing” you see him starting to drift away, no, you need him conscious.

“Hey, hey, baby, c’mon, don't drift away now” the tears still run down your face, he caresses a tear and closes your eyes at the warmth of his body, wishing never to leave him.

“I know it is weird to ask, but please let me hear you calling by name” you grin, the sound of the sirens from the police and the ambulance seems too far away by now. You don't know if you really did it, you're desperate, the calmness leaving your body and then, him, pulling you back to reality, caressing your face with watery eyes. You didn't notice but the blood started to flow again. No, no, no, please. 

“Yoongi, please, don't leave, please just wait, help is coming” 

“I love you Y/N” you shout when his hand leaves your face, just like life left him.

“I love you Yoongi” you whisper to him, caressing his cold hand and letting the tears fill your face. 

No, no, no.

The time, 20 minutes away from emergencies, they arrive and before something else can happen, while you bawl your eyes out, your alarm wakes you. 

You scream, frustrated. 

Yoongi in bed next to you wakes up, scared as ever, you cry, and cry. 

5 times, 5 times you’ve seen him die, and his last words are always the same, calling your name in love.

Yoongi is scared, it is not normal of you to have nightmares, as if it were just that.

He’s hugging you and you love the warmth of his, life.

So you try something different this time.

“You think you can skip this event?” your voice is squeaky and raspy for all the crying

“Kitten I-...” you keep crying, and he can't seem to say no to those watery eyes

“I know you've waited a long time for it to happen but I feel really bad, and I need you” lying, that's what you came to? It's not fully a lie, it's skipping events.

“It’s okay, it's okay, i can stay” you smile a little, and you cuddle back to bed.

After a warm shower together, a few call his friends to let them know his plans, and you feel like this is the answer. 

At the time where things occur if you were at the crime scene, Yoongi calls out your name.

“What’s wrong baby?” you see the tv, the news, a different person died, for the same reason as him, so it's meant to happen, it has to happen, even if it's not… you look around, silence, Yoongi isn't there anymore. 

You close your eyes, scared, and wake up; by the sound of the alarm. 

That didn’t work… but almost. 

Next thing, you try and convince Yoongi this is a power, something you must do, and only you. 

The alarm sounds, and you think, how can you prove to him you've lived this day before? 

Before he speaks you say the same thing he's about to say.

“Hey kitten, how did you sleep?” you speak at unison 

“How did you know?” he looked confused 

“I can sound crazy right now, but i need you to listen” he agrees 

“Yes, talk to me” he grabs your hands

“I've lived this day before. Seven times. And today, you die” he opens his eyes widely “I know it sounds crazy, but i think that i can save you,  that there’s something i can do that can help you live”

“What if… I'm meant to die?” you deny with your head

“No, why else would I be living the same day over and over again?” he nods

“Then what can we do?” you begin to sob 

“I don't know Yoongi, i've tried almost everything, try to help you by myself and I don't know if i'm able to see you slip from my hands again” by now the tears roll from your face, he cups you and pulls to hug you.

“Shh, try to stay calm kitten, well figure this out, how do I die?” you nod, swallowing your tears

“A gunshot, emergency takes too long and you bleed out” he nods he looks calm given the information you're giving him

“Who shoots?” he ask

“Some gangster that were pursuing a car, the car up front, to get more time shot at you and a bike” he nods mistrustful looking at you trying to think a way to do things

“Where do I get shot?” you touch his abdomen, a little lower than the ribs almost to his belly button and stop there “Does the bullet go through?” you think for a second, relieving everything in your head, no, it stays there.

“No, it stays inside you, and it's not that big, but it hits something crucial” he nods

“Have you tried calling emergencies before it happens?” you look confused, it hasn't crossed your mind and you deny with you head 

“I haven't, i think i just need like 15 minutes for them to treat you right when it happens”

“Let's do that, i ride my bike, as planned and you call when you know everything is occurring” you nod “Let's take a shower, we’ll be late” you nod again

Again, the same events, after you got into your car and the bikes begin their way, you call 911

“Emergencies, how can we help you?” you began your act, sounding so desperate

“Help, we need help here at the central bridge”

“Ma’am please calm down, what's the emergency?”

“A gunfire, someone’s been shot and I think he’s going to die” you're driving, right next to him, he smiles at you while you hear the lady at the other side of the line 

“15 minutes, units will be there in 15 minutes, please see that everyone is okay and remain hidden while units arrive”

Ten minutes later, you're at the middle of the bridge, you begin to listen to those cars going high speed, the smell of burnt tires hits you and when you listen to the shot he's already on the floor. 

You run and pour water on your hands, take your shirt off and begin to put pressure on his wound, he's looking at you, breathing shakily and you're crying already 

“Everything will be okay, i can hear the ambulance already” you nod, his friends are around, looking for more injured but you know it's just him. You can't stop the pressure this time.

“I don't know Yoongi you're still bleeding” he smiles at you

“I love when you say my name” you smile. The ambulance has arrived and you see him drifting off, when the paramedics reach to you and you step away for them to take care of things 

Everything becomes blurry, and you pass out, hitting yourself in the head.

You wake up to the sound of a beep, a slow paced drip and the sound of voices around you.

Huh? Is this a good scenario? 

“Hey Y/N you're up” Jimin said, reaching closer to you 

“Is Yoongi okay?” your heart is pounding heavy on your chest, scared and anxious 

“He’s still in operation, we came to see how you were in the meantime” you sigh and cover your face a doctor comes in and starts telling you that you fainted for the adrenaline and for what happened 

“You did a great job with your boyfriend, we’re finishing up with him, try and take a rest for him” you smile, you’re relieved, and happy, you begin to cry when you hear Yoongi’s parents coming in, and next yours.

“Oh my sweet girl, how are you?” your mom hugs you and you look at Yoongi’s mom, you can tell she’s been crying

“How 's Yoongi? We just arrived”

“The doctor said that Y/N saved his life and that they’re doing the best they can about the bullet” Jimin answered for you, your dad hugged you next 

“You saved him?” his mother asks, she wouldn’t approved you dated him, that was one of the reason you moved together “I’m so thankful”

“I think you can talk to Yoongi once he wakes” she nods, you had no hard feelings, you didn’t do it for them anyway.

That day passed, you didn’t wake up again in the same one and you felt grateful, maybe your answer was with you all along, with him.

When the doctor discharged you, two days after the incident, Yoongi still hadn't woken. He was in intensive care, his hands were warm and not cold like you remembered the last times, he kept his warmth. 

His obsidian hair adorned his porcelain skin, his lips were dry and a bit light blue.

He was alive and you couldn’t ask for more.

You were holding his hand by the fifth day, taking a nap resting your head on his bed when you felt him squeeze your hand.

“Y/N?” his voice was raspy, for the lack of water 

“Are you mad at me or something i thought you'd only call me kitten” he chuckles and begin to cough and bends in pain 

“Hey, hey, don’t pressure yourself, let me talk to a nurse” he grabs your hand to stop you, pulls you and kisses you soft and needy.

“I’m fine, and alive, all thanks to you” you smile and your eyes become watery 

“Thank you, for everything” he smiles

“You did everything, kitten.” you both smile

The days coming along were a bliss, pure blissfulness around you.

Seven tries, seven times. 

That power wasn't that bad, after that day you understood what was involved, what it meant and why it happened to you, and you were grateful for it happening to you.

masterlist

©️bangytell please do not copy or steal my work, any translation can’t be done this is the only way to read it.

[doinbetter]

Everyone on here has probably forgotten me but here are some updates from my life now :)

I'm all done with school and living back with family. I got a fellowship with a government agency doing environmental data analysis! It was really challenging at first. (challenges: remote work, wasn't getting a lot of support from my mentor, general first full time job woes) BUT I've been putting in extra effort to meet the team. I'm feeling more supported and motivated because of that.

Also started getting back into a productive headspace after not really identifying with that mindset for a while. Honestly COVID threw me off for several years there (+ the general stresses of grad school + stoner life). I just didn't feel as driven as I used to, but luckily I could coast off my past accomplishments for a few years and end up in a good place. I was tired of the grindset mentality. It was too much with the pandemic. I realized it's important to start my career off right though :) I want to do a great job on my project & make a good impression. (while still having balance in the rest of my life!! like you won't catch me working after hours but from 9 - 5... i'm ON IT!)

My main goal in life right now is working on my FINANCES! mainly I'm obsessed with paying off my student loans. I give myself plenty of money for groceries each month. One of my goals for this year was to be hot, so I also give myself like $2-300 each month to invest in my appearance. I made a list of essential beauty / clothing items and I'm working through it month by month. Other than that... I'm dumping THOUSANDS into student loan debt to hopefully be debt free by end 2024 or early 2025. Then I save save save and move out of my family's house by Fall 2025. <3

On the note of being hot goals: started showering nightly, weekly face mask monday routine (nails, hair mask, face mask, foot soak, shaving everything, and a weed gummy to top it off!) and buying a few cute clothes that fit me at my current size instead of putting it off until I reached a lower weight (unhealthy thought leftover from obsessive weight loss days :( ) My favorite purchase so far is CUTE PJS FROM VICTORIAS SECRET <3 <3 I got a slip and a shirt/shorts combo that help me feel sooo cute in the evenings when I'm doing my hygiene routines, journaling, reading... <3 I also got a bra that actually fits me and I'm a fucking DD. who??????

My boyfriend and I have been together for over 3 years now. I've gotten really close to his family and I spend most weekends at his place. I'm very happy and at peace in this relationship. Working on doing more little acts of kindness. He's very generous with me so I wanna match his energy more. we're working on being more independent now in this new busy era for us. unfortunately we can't be unemployed students forever.

also my best friend called me her best friend so i officially have a best friend in my hometown. she is so funny and drama-free. I love her. WOO!

So that's life! I'm a full on financially independent woman now. it feels AMAZING!

love, Jillian

[westerosoliviapope]

Auntie Dany & Prince Eggy

From the cutting board of an old story, as promised for @spookyscaryfox:

“Can I interest you in a mimosa, Auntie? A jay, perhaps?” 

Princess Daenerys turns away from the white clouds rippling beneath the plane wing like a banner in the wind to eye her nephew warily. He’s the last person she wants to be trapped on a plane with right now, but Elia wanted them to return from their respective international trips together.

From Volantis to Pentos, Daenerys appreciated blessed silence as her traveling staff gave her the space to process her loss privately before having to do so in public. 

Then, after an hour-long wait on a Pentoshi airfield, Aegon arrived.

“We aren’t going to brunch, Eggy; my mother is dead. And you’re not smoking on my plane.” 

“You’re right. Grandmother did love a good vodka tonic,” he says, retrieving a small plastic baggy full of gummy bears from a vintage leather duffle bag monogrammed with a stately “A.T. VI” before pressing the intercom. “We’d like two vodka tonics, please.”

“You carry your drugs in a monogrammed bag?” 

He blinks at her with eyes like Rhaegar’s—deep indigo opposed to the light violet of her own—with none of his seriousness. “What? They’re only illegal in Westeros.” 

Maybe vodka isn’t a bad idea. 

“How old were you when Grandmother let you have your first tonic?” Aegon asks, looking wistfully at the clear liquid in his glass. 

Dany smiles, remembering her mother’s summons in the wee hours after her fifteenth birthday party. It was a bit of a tradition in the family that when she summoned you to the Queen’s personal sitting room for a drink, she thought of you as an adult. 

“So,” her mother said in her gentle voice. “Tell me what you want to do with your life, my dear.”

To go to college—away from Westeros. To see the world and learn about life outside of palaces and stuffy old traditions. To contribute more to the world than smiling and hugging children for photo opportunities. 

She’d managed all of the above, with her mother’s ardent support every step of the way. Through six years at Sealord’s College in Braavos where she earned dual undergraduate degrees in international studies and economics, then a postgraduate degree in human rights. “Diplomacy” missions across Essos and as far east as Asshai while she raised funds to start The Mhysa Foundation, which advocated against labor-related human rights abuses all over the world. Her fervent lobbying against archaic labor laws in Astapor, Yuncai, Meereen, and Volantis that were little more than thinly-veiled slavery. 

And on the rare occasion Daenerys ended up in the tabloids for one silly thing or another (namely her weakness for the private company of tattooed Essosi futbol players), Rhaella never reprimanded her, even when Rhaegar and Elia expressed disapproval.

Gods, she missed her mother so much already. 

“Fifteen,” she finally answered Aegon. “You were a bit older, right?” 

Aegon nodded. “Nineteen. Not everyone was as wise beyond their years as you were, Auntie. Though,” he shrugs. “It could have been worse. I don’t think she had a drink with Uncle Viserys until he was twenty-one.”

That was certainly on-brand for her middle brother. “Do you remember what she said to you?” 

Her nephew cleared his throat and did his best impersonation of Rhaella’s prim, melodic voice. “‘You come from the stock of rulers and rogues, on both sides. Gods be good, you’ll be neither.’” Casting a look at the red-haired Royal Guardsman seated with the rest of the detail near the back of the plane, he smiles a wicked grin. “She was right. I much prefer to take after the women in my family.” 

Careful not to stare too hard at the older gentleman—Connington, if she’s not mistaken—Dany rolls her eyes. “Honestly, Aegon. He’s your father’s age.” 

Aegon motions for a refill. “That’s the point, Auntie. Don’t tell me you’ve never indulged in a little ‘daddy’ play? That enforcer from the Dothraki futbol team looked like the type.” 

Ordinarily, she’d indulge his need to dish; especially since it seems like he wants a distraction from his grief. But she’s in no mood to discuss her exes, least of all the one whose “sun and stars” tattoo she only recently removed from her hip bone. 

“How long has this been going on?” If the man had touched her nephew when he was underage, she’d personally have him gelded. 

“Before you start breathing fire,” Aegon held up his hand. “It’s only been since my twenty-third birthday. And I seduced him.” 

“If Rhaegar ever finds out…”

For the first time since he boarded the plane, Dany sees darkness cloud his carefree expression. “His precious heir has just given him adorable twin grandchildren. And he has a throne to ascend. Who shares my bed is the least of Father’s concerns.” 

Unfortunately, with Rhaegar and Elia on the throne, Dany has a feeling that the dating lives of all the unmarried Targaryens are about to be at the top of the list of the crown’s concerns. 

"I’m going to try to get some rest. There’s a proper mourning suit for you to change into before we land. A preview from Prada’s spring line.” 

With a smile, Aegon rises from his seat. “Princess Daenerys, Holder of Degrees, Khaleesi of Essosi Futbol Cocks, Mhysa of the Downtrodden, Procurer of Fine Fabrics for Her Favorite Nephew. Long may you reign.”  

“You’re only my favorite until little Baelon is old enough to have a Vodka tonic with his Great-Aunt.” 

Flipping her the bird, he retreats to one of the suites, leaving Dany once more in blessed silence.

____

A/N: I forgot how observant Aegon is on the low. Him saying he "takes after the women" in his family messing around with his bodyguard meant that he knew about Rhaella/Barristan and Elia/Arthur. lol

[spencereliotwinchester]

Under the Mistletoe

Title: Under the Mistletoe

Word Count: ~8.4k 

Summary: Moving on is difficult and sometimes includes uprooting to a new state thousands of miles away. Just before Christmas. 

This fic takes place currently, 2022, but ages have been slightly adjusted.

Jensen is 45, Christian is 45, Jared is 38

Rating: Teen, 13+ 

Tags: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles/Misha Collins (past), Christian Kane, Padalecki Family, Genvieve Cortese, Timothy Hutton, meet-cute, floof/fluff, schmoop, slight angst, loss, rom-com, Christmas, Alternate Universe

A/N:  Merry Christmas @cleighwrites! This was written for @spnfanficpond Secret Santa, please enjoy. Also I don’t know how it got to be this long, but, I’m proud of it!

Thank you to my beta @mariekoukie6661 

Divider by @rauko-creates

Banner art by yours truly

Main Character(s): Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki

--

Tags: 

@hoboal87 @writethelifeyouwant @mrswhozeewhatsis @negans-lucille-tblr @synmorite @rauko-is-a-free-elf

--

“Jensen, what the hell, man?” Christian sighed loudly from the kitchen.

“What?” Jensen grunted, shoving a large cardboard box into a corner; there were only twenty or so more boxes to bring in. 

“Wanna tell me why, after we’ve moved two-thousand miles from home, there’s still a fucking check for thirty thousand dollars stuck to our fridge via gummy bear magnet? I thought you deposited it!” Christian had moved into the doorway and was waving his hands around with annoyance. 

“Yeah, it’s on my list of shit to do,” Jensen groused, turning away and trudging out into the snow to get another box from the moving van. 

Christian was his very best friend; they’d been best friends since second grade, roommates in college, then just never really separated after that, but sometimes Christian just didn’t know when to let something go and Jensen was irritated. He shoved some boxes to the back door of the van to make them easier to grab; Jensen rolled his eyes as Christian’s form came into view. 

“Dude, please, we moved here to ‘get away from everything’ as you said. ‘Start over.’ Remember what the therapist guy said? You need to make that deposit so you can fully heal. The. Check. We’re going to the bank tomorrow and you’re gonna deposit it,” Christian begged. 

“Can you just drop it?! We’re supposed to be unpacking!” Jensen snapped. He took a deep breath. “Please, Chris, drop it. Let’s unpack the truck that way I’m not doing everything by myself when you go home for Christmas.” 

Christian gave him a pitying look, blue eyes filled with sadness, but he said nothing, just grabbed two boxes and walked out of sight. Jensen shoved a few more boxes to the door, feeling heavy and hollow at the same time. As Jensen went to jump down from the van, he slipped on the melted snow from his boots and tumbled out into the snow. He swore up a storm as he tried to stand, only to slip and fall again. 

“Jeez! You okay? Let me help you up.” 

Jensen grabbed the offered hand and stood up, looking to see who had helped him. The voice clearly wasn’t Christian’s; he was also surprised that he had to look up to see the guy’s face. The man had about four inches on him and Jensen had to admit that he was really attractive. He had shaggy hair tucked behind his ears and a warm, dimpled smile surrounded by some light scruff. 

“Thanks,” Jensen smiled. “I’m Jensen. Jensen Collins.”

“Jared Padalecki. Uh, here,” he held out a saran covered plate to Jensen, who looked at him questioningly. “Oh, my Ma made a welcome plate for you guys when she saw the moving van. Had me bring it over. Your beard is completely covered in snow by the way.”

“Thanks again!” Jensen laughed. “Want to come in? I need a break and something to drink... And dry off my beard, apparently.” 

“Sure!” Jared said brightly, then he placed the plate on top of one of the boxes and picked it up. Jensen started to protest, but Jared was already halfway up the path. Jensen grabbed another box and followed to the two-story cottage he and Christian had bought. 

The cottage was made of stone and was on the larger side, so Jensen and Christian could each have a bedroom and office; there were two spare bedrooms in case friends or family came to visit, too. The boxwood bushes that lined the front of the house were snow covered and the fire that Christian had started when they arrived was glowing through the bay window. 

“Chris!” He yelled, setting the box next to Jared’s in the living room. Jensen beckoned Jared toward the kitchen; Jared settled himself at the island while Jensen started digging through boxes for cups. He yelled again, “Chris!” 

“What in the hell’re you hollerin’ about?” Christian asked exasperatedly when he stepped into the kitchen a minute later; he was tying a bandana into a headband to keep his hair out of his face. He looked from Jared to Jensen, an eyebrow quirked up. 

“Jared, this is Christian; Chris, Jared. His Ma made us some snacks and I want a drink. Where are the damn coffee cups?” Jensen asked, leaning against the counter and throwing his hands up in defeat. He took a hand towel and scrubbed it through his bushy facial hair. 

Christian grabbed a folder from the counter and flipped through some pages. Jensen started unwrapping the plate Jared had set on the island. There were cookies, peanut clusters, chocolate covered pretzels, some kind of dried meat, and crackers. When he looked over his shoulder, Christian had started digging through one of the boxes.

“That’s venison jerky,” Jared supplied, reaching forward and snatching a piece. 

Christian set three coffee mugs next to Jensen and grabbed a piece of venison with a cracker. 

“You know, you can look through the list of boxes, too. It’s why I made that,” Christian complained as he chewed. “A whole list of what’s inside each box with pictures and box numbers. Whatcha plannin’ on putting in these cups?” 

“Chris, where’s the coffee pot?” Jensen asked innocently. Jared snorted. 

“You are so damn useless.” Christian snarked, going back to the folder and boxes. 

“So, uh, where’d you move from?” Jared asked curiously, looking at Jensen. Jensen was taken aback by how expressive his eyes were.

“Denver. We’re from Texas originally though. Went to Denver for college and then just settled in a bit,” Jensen answered evenly, hoping Jared wasn’t going to ask why they’d moved. 

“What made you decide to pick up and come out to Mass? That’s a huge change.” No luck. 

“I got a nice job offer out here,” Christian interjected; Jensen breathed a sigh of relief.

“Really? What d’you do?” 

“I’m in linguistics and translation,” Christian answered proudly, setting the coffee pot up to brew. 

“Not by chance at McCarthy International?” Jared asked excitedly, leaning forward. 

“How’d you know that?” Jensen and Christian asked at the same time. 

“I work there, too. My manager said they finally hired another translator named Christian. Shot in the dark,” Jared laughed. “Small world! We’ll be coworkers!” 

“Sounds great, man,” Christian grabbed the coffee mugs and turned to the coffee pot. “What languages do you speak?”

“Mostly French and Italian. You?”

“German and Russian.”

“Great, we’re desperate for a German translator. What about you, Jensen? What do you do?” Jared turned his attention to Jensen, smiling warmly. Jensen could see flecks of honey golden in his eyes.

“I’m a book editor for Ackles-Collins Publishing, so I can pretty much work from anywhere.” 

Jared tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. Jensen could see the question swirling through Jared’s brain. 

“Jenny’s been followin’ me around since second grade,” Christian ribbed Jensen as he set down steaming coffee mugs. “We have sugar, no milk though.”

“Sugar would be great, thank you!” Jared said, pulling one of the coffee mugs toward himself. 

“Lies, man, lies. Don’t believe anything Chris says, ever!” Jensen told Jared jokingly, pulling one of the mugs to him. He silently thanked Christian for interrupting. 

A phone started ringing and all three of them reached into their pockets. It was Jared’s. He answered, then there was a lot of ‘mm-hmms’ and ‘uh-huhs’, followed by a ‘sure, ma’ as he poured what Jensen thought was an excessive amount of sugar into his coffee. He hung up and grinned, eyes shining, like he knew a secret. 

“That was my ma, she thought I got lost,” he said jovially and Jensen thought it sounded fantastic, strong and confident. “My family is throwing a big Christmas dinner party - weekend after next. The 17th. She instructed me to invite you two and not take no for an answer. Would you come?”

“Oh, jeez- uh-”

“Well-”

Jensen and Christian both started stuttering at the same time. Jared’s face fell slightly and he held up his hands. That puppy dog look should be illegal, Jensen thought. He could get away with murder.

“Hey, if you guys are worried, we���re all really accepting here, I’m gay myself,” Jared placated. “You don’t have to worry about anyone giving you grief.”

Christian’s jaw fell open and his eyes bugged out of his head and Jensen gasped in surprise, eyes widening. Christian spoke first, while Jensen doubled over in his chair cackling. 

“We’re not,” he indicated to himself and Jensen, “together. We’re basically brothers. I’m leaving that Friday to visit my family for Christmas, but Jensen’ll be there.” 

“I will?” Jensen asked, straightening up and raising his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, you will,” Christian nodded, smirking wickedly. “Go. Make friends. Jared, can you make sure he doesn’t hole himself up and become a recluse while I’m gone?”

“Gladly, I’ll even walk you over myself.” there was that smile again. He changed the subject, “I saw a few guitar cases in the living room, who plays?”

“We both do, actually. Since high school,” Jensen explained. “We played in bars before we were even twenty-one!” 

“What kind of music?” Jared prompted. 

“Country and rock. We mostly play acoustic only since it’s just us,” Christian answered, sipping his coffee and leaning his back against the counter. “Brawler’s is where Jens met his first ever boyfriend. They were alllllllll over each other that night.” 

Jensen made a disgusted noise and Jared snorted loudly into his coffee. “Christopher Michael! God, we just met him and you’re waving my dirty laundry around.”

“Now, now, no need for full names, Jensen Ross,” Christian admonished playfully. 

“Anyway,” Jared drew out the word, standing up, “I should definitely be off before Ma comes looking for me!” 

He made a move to turn, but stopped quickly and looked at Jensen.

“What’s your phone number?” Jared asked, big hopeful eyes holding Jensen’s attention. “You know, so I can give you all the details for the party?”

He watched Jared type the numbers into his phone, then heard his own phone chirp. 

“There ya are! Don’t be afraid to say ‘hi’ if you want.” Jared gave him a wink.

Jensen watched Jared’s retreating back as he left, mind caught up in Jared’s eyes and lips. Christian waved a hand in front of his face and waited for Jensen to meet his eyes. He gave Jensen a very pointed look, blue eyes piercing him. Then, shifted his eyes, indicating the doorway where Jared had disappeared. 

“We should get the rest of the boxes inside,” Jensen sighed and turned to walk out to the van. 

That evening, Jensen dug through a box in his room and pulled out a scrapbook. He got himself comfortable on his bed, back up against the headboard and scrapbook sitting in his lap. Jensen stared at the green cover.

He tipped the book open to his favorite page and stared at an 8x10 of his commitment ceremony. Big bubble letters and numbers in Misha’s handwriting said March 17, 2001. Jensen’s arm was slung around Misha’s shoulders, a giant smile spread across his face and Misha was leaning into Jensen, a toothy grin on his face and blue eyes sparkling with joy. Champagne was spraying all around them thanks to Christian who was on the right side of the picture, head thrown back in laughter and the champagne bottle in his hand. 

Jensen traced Misha’s face, a mixture of happiness and sadness surrounding him. They all looked so young. Twenty-four years together, twenty of them after a commitment ceremony, six after their official marriage ceremony, and for Jensen that would never be enough. He turned the pages slowly, watching their lives together, then as Misha began looking sickly; Misha’s eyes never lost their sparkle though. Jensen stopped again at his second favorite picture, smiling sadly. 

They’d hired a photographer; well, Christian had. They’d practically carried Misha into the yard and onto a blanket. The sun was shining brightly, but the temperature was perfect. They were sitting cross-legged, Misha pressed into his side, eyes closed and a soft smile on his face. Jensen’s head was resting on top of Misha’s and his eyes were closed, too, soaking in the moment. That had been their last anniversary together. A tear snuck down his cheek and he wiped it away quickly. 

“Jens! Let's go out and ex-” the door to his room was thrown open, startling him, and Christian’s words died out.

They stared at each other for a solid minute before Christian whispered, “oh, Jen,” and climbed up onto the bed, settling himself down next to Jensen. He threw an arm around Jensen’s shoulders and tugged him close. After a while sitting in silence, Jensen chuckled.

“Remember when Misha proposed?” Jensen asked, resting his head on Christian’s shoulder.

“How could anyone forget that?” Christian laughed. “He talked me into helping build that stupid gummy bear wonderland for you AND the freaking firework pyrotechnics.”

“And Steve choreographed the dance and singing and sound set up, jeez,” Jensen reminisced fondly. Christian was still chuckling. “You nearly killed us all and set the gazebo on fire!”

“And he talked me into building three gingerbread houses? Never again. Took four tries before we figured out how to set the stupid frosting so the damn thing didn’t fall apart.”

“Then the freak thunderstorm that rolled in from the mountains, and you, me, Misha, and Steve took cover in that little shed,” Jensen was fully laughing, now. 

“Oh, hell. ‘What do you wanna marry me for anyhow?’” Christian mocked Jensen’s voice. Then dropped his voice to mimic Misha’s. “‘So I can kiss you anytime I want.’ Fuckin’ Sweet Home Alabama rom-com bullshit.” 

“Hey,” Jensen gasped out, unable to control his laughter, “that was the first movie we watched together.” 

They chuckled together for a bit until the laughter died out and they sat in a comfortable silence again. One of the things Jensen appreciated most about Christian was the never-wavering support he gave. Jensen’s mind wandered along memories until his brain settled on a tall man with shaggy hair and dimples. For the first time since Misha died, Jensen felt a tug of attraction, of want; it felt weird and good with a hint of guilt, like he was having an affair. His brain told him logically that no, it wasn’t an affair, but his heart couldn’t help but disagree. 

“What’s stopping you?” Christian asked solemnly, like he’d read Jensen’s mind. 

“It’s illogical, I know I shouldn’t feel like this,” Jensen said, matching Christian’s tone, “but I feel like I’m having an affair. I feel guilty. I feel like I’m leaving him behind. I’ve been lonely; I mean, I have you, but it’s not the same, it’s I-miss-having-someone-next-to-me-in-bed type lonely, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to love or… I just feel like I’m replacing him if I go out with another man.”

Jensen looked over to Christian, head still resting on his shoulder. After thirty-five years of brotherhood friendship, they could read each other like a book. Christian was looking up to the ceiling, pensieve and calculating, no doubt choosing his next words carefully. This was the first time since Misha died that he’d even brought up the idea of Jensen dating again, which he appreciated more than Christian would ever know. Steve, Jason, and a few others had all said at one time or another that Jensen should ‘get back out there’ and ‘you need to get laid’ among other things.

Christian huffed once before crawling out of the bed and striding purposefully out of the room. Jensen raised an eyebrow, but waited patiently for Christian to come back. When he did, he had a thin document box under his arm. Jensen threw him a questioning look, but Christian ignored him, placing the box at the foot of the bed and opening it. He pulled out a sturdy leather portfolio. Flipping it open, he cleared his throat, standing straight with his shoulders back; he began to read.

“To my wonderful, handsome, loving husband. Twenty-four years went by in the blink of an eye. I ask this of you, my love, as my last wish: Continue to live your life with strength and love. Speak my name with joy and fondness as you always have. Do not dwell on my death forever. And the most important - Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Now a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye:

‘Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.’”

Jensen’s eyes were blurry with tears and his nose was clogged. The piece of paper Christian was reading from was a thick parchment with Misha’s handwriting carefully and clearly written out. Nearly three pages that he’d instructed Christian to read out before he delivered his own eulogy for Misha. There was a lot more, but Christian put the portfolio back in its box and sat cross-legged on the foot of the bed facing Jensen. Jensen took in huge, gulping breaths and when he quieted, Christian spoke again. 

“I’m not going to tell you to get over it and move on, I’m not going to force you into the dating world, it’s not my place. Or anyone’s for that matter, except you. Misha wanted you to be happy, though, and Jared seems like a good person to test out the dating world with. If you hate it, I’m not gonna press the issue, you can hide away and become a miserable pessimistic asshole like me.” 

“Harsh,” Jensen sniffed. Then fondly, “Thanks, Chris.”

“Anytime,” Christian said affectionately. “Now, that’s enough chick-flick mushiness. You good?”

“Yeah, Chris, I’m fine.” 

“Good,” Christian nodded, satisfied. He got up and headed out of the room, but then stopped in the doorway. He turned, “Have you eaten anything today?”

Jensen ducked his head and grinned sheepishly. Christian made a noise of annoyance. 

“I’ll scrounge something together,” he huffed. “Now, text Jared and see where it goes.” 

“Bossy.”

“Prick.” 

“Cocksucker!”

“You wish! You’re just jealous cause I never wanted to suck yours or anyone else’s.” 

Jensen barked out a laugh and he heard Christian snort from the stairway as he plodded downstairs to the kitchen. Jensen grabbed his phone from the nightstand and stared at it nervously. He unlocked it and went to his messages, clicking on Jared’s name. 

Hey. Long time, no talk.

Well that was cringey. It turned from “delivered” to “read” and Jensen’s heart thumped hard.

I know, it’s been forever! Lol. 

Ma is stoked you’re coming to the party. 

That’s great. I’m looking forward to it. Are you staying with your parents? 

Yeah, I have an apartment in town, but near the holidays everyone stays with our parents. Family time and all that. It’s me, my brother Jeff, and my sister Megan. Meg and Jeff live in Providence and drive in. 

It's awesome that you all get together like that. Sounds like a good time! Or do they drive you crazy? 

Hahaha. A bit of both. What about you? Chris - or should I call him Christian? - said he was going home for Christmas, but you’re staying? 

Ah, yeah. My parents love me, but they aren’t exactly accepting of ‘my lifestyle’. My sister Mackenzie lives in Portland with her family and Josh lives in Venice, Italy. The last time we all got together was in like 2005ish… Didn’t go very well. Chris’ Mama invited me to theirs, but I just decided to stay here and get settled. I don’t think he minds one way or another what you call him. How far away is town by the way? 

Oh, it’s only about a fifteen-minute drive. Boston is around an hour depending on traffic. I’m sorry, it must be hard not seeing your family :( I came out my senior year, but my parents have been very supportive. Is that why you moved to Denver? 

Yeah. I wanted to get out of Texas and Chris was accepted at University of Denver. I applied and got accepted, too. Off we went. I studied English and Literary Arts as well as some business. Where did you go to college?

Boston U. Just studied business and got hired at my dad’s company when I graduated. I wanted to ask earlier, but you said you worked at Ackles-Collins, do you own it?

I’m part owner, yeah, but I hang back mostly. I like being an editor more than anything. 

Would you like to hang out the day after tomorrow? I was going to go into town and do some Christmas shopping. It’s always more fun going with someone, y’know?

Sure I think I’d like that. Chris is calling me for dinner, so I’ll talk to you later? We’ll finalize the plans.

Definitely :) 

On Monday at ten-thirty, Jensen was sitting in an armchair near the fire in the living room, Christian sitting on the couch opposite. They were casually playing guitar together, but Jensen couldn't play a chord to save his life at the moment. Jared would be arriving any minute to pick him up to go shopping. 

“Relax, everything’s gonna be great,” Christian encouraged, putting his guitar down. “Just get out, go have some fun with Jared, and pick up a real nice present for me.”

Christian winked at him, smiling. Jensen rolled his eyes and put his guitar down, too. He’d decided on a worn pair of boot cut jeans, and a thick green zip-up hoodie. He’d set out a dark green fleece-lined ear-flap beanie, touchscreen gloves, and his favorite dark gray wool peacoat that had an extra wool inner lining. 

They both turned when they heard a car pull into the driveway. Jensen stood and quickly put on his hat, coat, and gloves, shoving his keys in the pocket of his coat. A horn honked. When Jensen turned, Christian was opening the front door for him. 

“Good day, sire, your carriage awaits,” Christian said in a ridiculous accent, bowing with a flourish. Jensen couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re an idiot,” Jensen snickered as he walked to the door. Christian put his hands on Jensen’s shoulders and fake-sniffed as though he were overcome with emotion. 

“My big boy, going out on a date. I’m so proud!” He exclaimed sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up!” Jensen retorted half annoyed and half amused, slapping Christian’s arms back and walking out the door. “I’ll see you later.” 

“I won’t wait up!” Christian cackled at his own joke and swung the door shut. 

The drive into town with Jared was filled with soft music and conversation about their favorite music and movies. The town was very small, with just a couple blocks of various shops right in the center. To Jensen, the town looked like it had been pulled directly from a Thomas Kinkade painting; there were even two horse-drawn carriages giving people rides.  

“If you want, we can just start down one side and come back on the other. If we see a shop we want to stop in, then we do?” Jared asked as he turned off the car. 

“Sounds good to me,” Jensen smiled back. 

Jared was wearing a black and tan windbreaker parka that had a faux fur lined hood and a slouchy purple beanie. Jensen couldn’t help but notice the way Jared’s jeans outlined his ass as he caught up to walk next to Jared. They passed a clothing boutique, a craft shop, and a framing store before they came upon a window that made Jensen stop to look. Jared stopped, too, and told him that it was a local music shop called ‘Hutton’s Music House’.

“Let's go in!” He exclaimed, taking Jensen’s hand and pulling him to the door; a bell tinkled when they stepped in. A girl looked up from the counter and smiled, greeting Jared by name. “Hey, Gen! Jensen, this is my friend Gen, we took a bunch of classes together in college. Gen, this is Jensen, he’s new in town.” 

“I never would have graduated without Jared,” she laughed, scrunching her nose. “Business was not for me! Welcome to town, Jensen. Anything I can help you find?” 

“Jensen’s a musician, so I thought we’d take a look around,” Jared piped up. 

“It’s good to meet you, Gen,” Jensen nodded. “Do you have replacement pickups? And can you show me your guitar strings?” 

Gen showed them over to a case on the opposite wall that contained a medium-sized collection of pickups ranging from acoustic, electric, bass, and even a few for violins. Jensen scanned them carefully and Jared said he was going to look at the guitar room. 

“Anything particular you’re looking for? We have more in the back that are for older and specialized models and we can order as well,” Gen informed him. 

“Well, my roommate and I have been meaning to replace the pickups on his 1956 Fender Strat, but we’ve been so busy the last couple years it just hasn’t happened.” 

“Woah, 1956? And he still plays it?” Gen asked incredulously. 

“Not very often, we only use it for recording, otherwise it’s in a custom protective case. We’re finally going to be able to record again, so we’ll need it.”

“Hang on, I’ll check it out. Are you wanting, like, originals?” She asked, walking back to the counter. 

“Doesn’t have to be, last time I think we used Klein,” Jensen said, meandering around the room slowly. “Don’t worry too much about it, I can order them if I need to.”

Gen typed on a desktop computer that looked like it was from 1997. Jared stepped back in and dragged Jensen into another room of the shop, walls lined with guitars of all kinds as well as other instruments and accessories. Jensen was impressed, the place had seemed so small from outside. They strode around the room together, Jared asking Jensen about nearly every guitar not unlike a curious child. Jensen answered amusedly to the best of his ability; Jensen stopped them when they reached a section of wall dedicated to strings for all types of instruments. He explained each type of guitar string to Jared, along with the sounds they produced and various uses until Gen came up beside them. 

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” she interjected, excitedly. “I have some good news.” 

“Yeah?” Jensen straightened and turned to Gen, interested. 

“I called the owner, Tim, and he’s on his way in. Apparently, he has an unopened set that was ordered and never picked up last year.”   

“Oh, he didn’t need to make a special trip or anything,” Jensen sputtered.

“It’s okay,” Gen insisted. “He lives upstairs.” 

There was a loud bang and out of a door labeled “Employees Only” came an older man with slightly disheveled dark hair wearing blue jeans and a green sweater. He strode quickly to them, holding a hand out to Jared, then Jensen. 

“I’m Tim Hutton, owner. Gen said you had a 1956 strat?” He resounded. “I absolutely had to come down and meet ya. Not everyday you hear about a guitar like that!” 

“Ah, well, it's actually my roommate's. His dad passed it down to him when we started recording our own music,” Jensen explained.

“Wow-oh-wow. I would love to see that!” Tim exclaimed. 

“I can show you some pictures,” Jensen pulled his phone and scrolled through his photo albums, “but we never take it anywhere. It’s only used for recording and we do all the maintenance ourselves.” 

Jared moved to look over Tim’s shoulder at the pictures Jensen showed. They were taken quite a few years ago during a recording session and were mostly of Christian, a few with Jensen, and two with Christian, Jensen, Steve, and Jason. 

“That is a gorgeous guitar,” Tim said in awe. “Anyway, I brought down the pickups for you. Is there anything else we can find for you?” 

“Did you still want strings?” Jared asked. 

“Oh yeah,” Jensen turned back to the wall. He pointed to a brand called ‘Aurore Specialty’ that only had one each of acoustic and electric, and said questioningly, “I’ve never heard of this brand before.” 

“They’re local,” Tim boasted. “I helped get the business going and I help with marketing. My sister and her husband actually make them.” 

“Oh the only place I’ve heard of doing that in the US is in LA,” Jensen marveled. 

“And they’re mostly produced on order only,” Tim continued, sounding like a salesman. “I keep a couple guitar ones in the shop so we can offer them up to new customers. Listen, I’ll give you a set on the house since you’re buying these pickups. Try ‘em out and see if you like ‘em!” 

As they made their way to the register, two books next to each other caught his eye called ‘Mosh Potatoes’ and ‘Eat Like a Rockstar.’ They were recipe books. Jensen chuckled and grabbed both of them; Christian loved to cook, these would surely bring a laugh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jared giving him an admiring look, a lovable smile plastered across his face. 

After they left the guitar shop, Jensen carrying a paper bag with the pickups, books, and a set of acoustic strings, Jared asked if they could go to a bookstore called ‘Bound Around.’ It was unlike any book shop Jensen had ever seen before. It smelled like an old book, slightly musty, and there was no rhyme, reason, or organization for where the books were. Multiple piles of books were just stacked precariously from the floor to chest height and the bookshelves also had books stacked horizontally instead of vertically. Jared quickly disappeared into the maze while Jensen slowly picked his path through the stacks. Five minutes later, Jared appeared at his side, grinning widely. 

“Found a book for my mom,” he said breathily, holding up a copy of ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.’

“Oh, that book definitely keeps your attention,” Jensen remarked. “Very Marilyn Monroe-esque.” 

“You’ve read it?” Jared asked, cocking his head to the side. 

“Yeah,” Jensen said lightheartedly. “I helped edit the first draft as a favor. The chief editor, a good friend of mine, who was assigned the book had to assign it to his brand new editor because they were flooded with work. He called me and asked if I had time to coach and mentor the new kid.”  

“Any recs for my sister? She loves a good horror thriller,” Jared’s eyes sparkled hopefully. Jensen thought for awhile, walking around and eyeing books. 

“Hmm,” he pulled a book from the middle of a stack, quickly stabilizing it with his other hand so the whole thing didn’t crash to the ground. “I read it in high school randomly. I really like reading, so I’d go find random books to read. I doubt she’d have read it. It’s a thrilling horror-type book.” 

“Sounds good to me!” Jared took the book titled ‘Skin’. “Do you need anything here or want to look around more?” 

“No, I think I’m good. I’m actually getting hungry. You?” 

“Food sounds great to me! We can drop this at the car and go to Radial,” seeing Jensen’s raised eyebrow, Jared added, “a local café.”

At the register, Jensen was surprised to see a till that looked like it belonged in a museum, with mechanical buttons and even a pull handle. Jared asked the elderly man if he could see a book resting on a shelf behind him. The worker turned without speaking and grabbed a leather-bound book, setting it on the counter for Jared; he eyed Jared suspiciously. Jensen watched as he opened the book carefully, almost reverently. It was a posh leatherbound copy of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and it was signed by the illustrator. Jensen watched, infatuation blooming in his chest.   

“‘The Great Gatsby’ is my favorite,” Jared said, handing the book back, a wistful look on his face, then gave the man the two books he was going to purchase. 

When they exited the shop, Jensen stopped abruptly, pretending to search his pockets. Jared looked at him in concern.

“I need to run back in,” Jensen said quickly. “I think I set my phone down by accident.”

“Okay.”

Jensen rushed back into the bookstore and over to the counter. The old man squinted at him with disdain.

“I’d like to buy that leather bound book my friend was looking at,” Jensen explained, pointing behind the man. 

“Must be a good friend,” his voice was wheezy and high-pitched. “You realize it’s a leatherbound, signed copy? It’s quite expensive.”

“I don’t mind,” Jensen huffed, pulling out his credit card. 

“I prefer cash,” he sneered. “Extra charge for card payments.” 

“It’s fine, charge me whatever, just hurry before he gets suspicious and comes back in, please!” 

After signing the receipt, Jensen tucked the book in his bag from the music store and joined Jared outside. They had a great lunch talking about books they’d read and their opinions. Throughout the entire meal, they both saw the other staring multiple times, looking away quickly when they’d been caught. It turned out they had very similar taste in books and Jensen learned that Jared led a monthly book club. They didn’t meet in December, but would meet in January and Jared asked if he’d like to join. Jensen tentatively agreed as they walked back to Jared’s car. 

When Jared pulled into Jensen’s driveway, there was an awkward moment where Jensen was afraid Jared was going to lean over and kiss him. He didn’t think he was ready for something like that at all, so he thanked Jared for the good time and bade him a quick goodbye. 

Inside, he could hear loud thumping music coming from upstairs. As Jensen stripped his outdoor gear and made his way upstairs to his bedroom, he recognized Luke Bryan booming from Christian’s room. He hid the presents he’d bought under his bed and laid down on top of the covers to think.

He tried to sort out the mixture of complex emotions swirling around his brain. Attraction, admiration, optimism mixed with fear, guilt, and uncertainty. Not to mention the underlying feelings of disloyalty and insecurity. At some point, the music abruptly stopped, but he was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t notice. In the end, Jensen ended up passing out from sheer tiredness, still fully clothed on top of the blanket. 

Jensen stared into the full-length mirror on his closet door, barely recognizing himself and feeling out of sorts; it had been a long time since he’d needed to dress up for an event. Jensen had even trimmed his beard from the unkempt overgrown bush he’d been sporting to a well-groomed, even-trimmed short beard. Jared had texted him the day before letting Jensen know he’d arrive at 6:30 to walk over to the dinner party and that it was a dressy event. He’d asked Jared for clarification to which he received the response “Ma says formal.” Jensen had one suit, besides his formal funeral suit, that was navy blue and made of cashmere with a perfectly matched tie and waistcoat. The button-up was a very pale blue and he’d chosen a white handkerchief with blue pinstripes. 

He’d fought with himself for a half hour over which knot to tie his tie, ultimately deciding on the half Windsor. Jensen went to his dresser where he’d set out cufflinks, watch, belt, phone, and wallet. His eyes fell on the crystal jewelry dish where he kept his wedding ring while he was showering. A new wave of guilt washed over him as he took the ring and rolled it through his hand. In a moment of panic, he grabbed his phone to text Jared and tell him he needed to cancel, but there was a message waiting for him from Christian. 

I swear to God, Jens, if you cancel on Jared, I’ll wring your neck when I get back. 

He took in a deep, calming breath and looked back to the ring. Misha wanted you to move on when you were ready, he told himself. You’re not betraying him, you’re not cheating on him. True, he was still working through the end of his grief, but he had spent the last week and a half pondering what it might be like to date again. In particular, date a hazel-eyed, shaggy-haired, dimpled-cheeked man. He shouldn’t wear it; Jared would definitely notice and Jensen didn’t want him to think he was emotionally unavailable. His phone buzzed, “Chris” popping back up on the screen. 

Misha wanted you to move on and be happy again. Give it a chance, for your sake and mine.

The telepathy thing they had annoyed Jensen sometimes. Neither of them had any hope of lying to other, or hiding any sort of secret. Sometimes it was helpful though; like that time in college Jensen had slipped on the porch of their home and broken his ankle, leg, and wrist. It was dark and Jensen hadn’t seen the thick layer of ice built up. He couldn’t move and Christian wasn’t supposed to come home that night; for half an hour, Jensen had lain there overwhelmed and terrified. Then suddenly Christian was there, yanking him out of the snow and wrapping him in a heated blanket until EMS arrived. Jensen remembered Christian sitting next to his hospital bed later saying, ‘I just knew something had happened.’

After a few more moments of deep breathing, Jensen set the ring back in the bowl. He donned everything else, then replied to Christian.

I’m going, I’m going. Stop nagging. No wonder Jared thought we were an item. 

As Jensen made his way downstairs, the doorbell rang. He tucked his phone into his pocket then pulled the door open. Jensen sucked in a breath and took a second to take in all of Jared. He was wearing a charcoal gray three-piece with a crisp white shirt and a dark, blue-green tie. He was clean-shaven which made his dimples stand out even more than they had last week. When Jensen’s eyes fell on Jared’s, he realized Jared had been checking him out, too. 

“Hey,” Jensen greeted lamely. 

“Hi,” Jared grinned. “You clean up pretty nice.”

“Could say the same about you,” Jensen said cheekily. “Oh, shit. Hang on.” 

Jensen stepped to the sideboard and grabbed the bottles of champagne and wine he’d chosen from his personal collection. Then he stepped outside and locked the door behind him. 

“Shall we?” he asked. “Lead on!”

“Oh, yes! What do you have?” Jared started down the driveway, Jensen falling in step beside him. 

“Uh. Just a bottle of champagne and red wine for the hosts. Y’know, proper dinner etiquette and all that.”

Jared laughed lightly. He took one of the bottles from Jensen and raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw the label. “Is that a Dom Pérignon?” 

“Yeah, it’s a 1990 brut, is that okay? We can go back and get a rosé if your parents would prefer something sweeter or I think I have a few bottles of 2004 Plénitude as well,” Jensen had stopped walking, feeling anxious; Jared looked over at him, perplexed. 

“No, it’s fine, Ma and Dad will absolutely love it. I was just surprised at the brand,” he laughed and started walking down the path again, beckoning Jensen to come with him. “Are you a wine snob? You gotta tell a guy that, y’know?” 

Jensen chuckled. “I mean, I have my preferences but I wouldn’t consider myself a snob.”  

“Oh, good, cause I know practically nothing about wine. I’m more of a beer guy myself, much to my mother’s dismay,” he joked, giggling. 

Jensen thought he could listen to the sound of Jared’s laugh for hours on repeat; he felt a smile spread across his face and thought that a butterfly was suddenly trying to escape his stomach. The walk took about ten minutes which Jared filled with talk about his family and the guests that would be at the party. Jensen soaked in Jared’s voice, only offering an occasional ‘really’ or ‘mm-hmm’ and letting Jared drive the conversation. 

They walked up the driveway to a very lovely two story house that looked much like his own. There were Christmas lights lining the roof, glowing softly. The front window was glowing as well and by the shadows, Jensen figured people had started to arrive. He paused for a moment before stepping onto the porch and shook himself lightly to loosen himself up. Jared opened the door for him, showing his bright smile. They were bombarded as soon as they stepped inside.

“Oh, Jared, honey! I was wondering when you’d get back home!” A shorter, matronly woman bustled her way to them, positively glowing with happiness. She was wearing a beautiful emerald green dress. “Oh! And you must be Jensen! Welcome to the neighborhood, dear, Jared’s been talking about you non-stop.”

Before Jensen could say anything, Jared’s mom - Sherri, if he remembered correctly - was pulling him in for a quick hug and cupped his face, kissing his cheek. 

“Maa!” Jared groaned, pink darkening across his cheeks. Jensen threw him a delighted smirk. 

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Padalecki,” Jensen took one of her hands, kissed it lightly, and then presented the bottles to her. “For the hosts of the evening; thank you for having me as a guest.”

“My! What proper manners,” Sherri gushed as she took the bottles from Jensen. “You can call me Sherri. Come on in, let’s introduce you to Gerry.” 

Jensen followed Sherri through the house to the kitchen, followed closely by Jared. She stopped multiple times, saying hello and introducing Jensen and sometimes Jared, too. There were two men and a woman laughing when they walked in. The older man bent down, peeking in the oven. Over his black suit, he was wearing a daisy covered apron.

“Gerry,” Sherri called, “come meet Jensen, our new neighbor!” 

All three people turned to face them and the man in the apron stepped forward, a hand held out. Jensen shook it firmly, returning the friendly smile. 

“Good to meet you, sir,” Jensen greeted, inclining his head. 

“Oh, please, call me Gerry. This is Jeff, my oldest boy, and Megan, Jared’s younger sister.”

“Hon, Jensen brought us some wine,” Sherri said, holding the bottles out to her husband. 

“Wow!” Gerry exclaimed when he took the bottles from Sherri. “You have a fine taste in wine and champagne. Thank you!” 

“These are definitely my favorites,” Jensen confirmed. 

“Well, I am most certainly going to open these tonight. Might have to keep them hidden from the other guests,” he joked. “1990 and 2009 were great years for vineyards.”

“Jared, go introduce Jensen to some of the others, make him feel welcome while we finish up dinner,” Sherri instructed, shooing them from the kitchen. Jensen instead leaned against the wall outside of the kitchen, grinning madly at Jared.

“So, you haven’t stopped talking about me?” Jensen questioned mischievously, tilting his head to the side. 

“Ma and her big mouth,” Jared groaned. “She’s exaggerating, I swear.” 

“Oh my god,” Jensen bent over, laughing a full belly laugh. “You’ve got the same look Chris gets when he’s lying!” 

“I’m not - I didn’t  - I - I - I really like you,” Jared admitted, pink spreading across his face again. He babbled on, “I mean, sorry, I - Well, you’re just attractive, like, really, really, attractive and very fun to hang out with and -” 

“Woah, hey, you’re insanely attractive yourself,” Jensen reached his right hand to his left; he often twisted his wedding ring when he was nervous, but the hand was empty so Jensen dropped his hands, shaking them out slightly. “You’re pretty awesome yourself.”

He kept trying to twist his ring throughout the whole party. It happened at least ten more times before dinner was over and Jensen was starting to feel the stress. Jared had definitely noticed, even raising an eyebrow at him once as if asking if Jensen was okay. 

“Jensen,” Gerry called from the head of the table. Jensen was seated two people away from him. “What is it that you do? Jared said something about books, right?” 

“Yes, sir. I’m a book editor for Ackles-Collins Publishing,” Jensen responded. 

“Your last name is Collins isn’t it? Any relation there?” 

“Uh,” Jensen grinned sheepishly. He reached for his hand again, but quickly redirected, pretending to adjust his sleeve. “Yes, I’m actually part owner.” 

“That is amazing and at such a young age! I own McCarthy International, I think Jared mentioned your roommate was hired on as a translator,” Gerry shared. “How are you two settling in?”

“Really well, we’ve spent the last two weeks learning the new town and unpacking everything. Jared’s shown me all of the local shops and fun places to go.”

Gerry’s attention was soon pulled away by another man and Jensen was pulled into conversation with Sherri about his college education and publishing house. As dinner finished and people started to move from the table and mingle again, Jensen asked Jared where the bathroom was. Jared led Jensen upstairs, away from the crowd. He found it slightly odd because there were no lights on upstairs. They moved into a dark hallway and Jared turned to Jensen, a concerned look on his face. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, placing his hands lightly on Jensen’s upper arms. “It’s like you’re getting more nervous as the night goes on.” 

Automatically, Jensen made an aborted move to twist his absent ring, huffing exasperatedly when he dropped his hands back to his sides. 

“And you keep doing that, too. Are you uncomfortable? Are there too many strangers? I can walk you home?” Jared placed his hands over Jensen’s, face showing only care and sympathy. 

“No.. No. I’m not,” Jensen sighed; he’d hoped he would be able to wait a few dates before having this talk with Jared. “I need to explain something and I am praying you’ll understand because I don’t want to ruin this before it starts.” 

“C’mere,” Jared walked Jensen to the end of the hall and pushed him lightly through a door, following closely. 

The light flicked on and Jensen found himself in what had to be Jared’s childhood bedroom. The walls were bright blue, plastered with various posters of sports teams and bands. He sat down on a large bed and patted the tye-dye duvet next to him. Jensen sat down, staring at his hands, heart pounding in his throat. 

“I don’t mind, Jensen. Whatever it is, it’s better to tell me now. I would really like to go out with you, but if that’s not what you want -” 

Jensen cut him off.  “No, no, I want that, too. I just - I wanted to wait until we’d had a couple dates, but - You should know that I had a husband for twenty years,” Jensen’s breath caught in his throat; he swallowed thickly and continued before Jared could interject. “He passed, July of last year.” 

“Oh my god,” Jared gasped in surprise. 

“Sorry, it’s a lot to take in. This is the first time I’ve really considered going out with someone since, and I am really looking forward to it, if you’ll still have me. I come with a lot of baggage and that’s not for everyone. I took my wedding ring off, that’s why I keep wringing my hands together; I just didn’t want to give you the wrong impression by wearing it,” Jensen muttered, afraid to look into Jared's face. 

Unexpectedly, Jensen was completely enveloped in a bone-crushing hug, face pressed into Jared’s shoulder. He smelled wonderful, Jensen thought, closing his eyes; pine trees, holiday berries, and a hint of peppermint. He brought his arms up and returned the hug. Jared pulled back and pressed his forehead to Jensen’s and he saw that Jared’s eyes were bright and teary. 

“You don’t have to apologize for something like that,” Jared murmured sympathetically. “That must have been so, so hard for you. I can’t even imagine.”

Jensen sniffed once and smiled softly, blinking the tears in his eyes away. “Well, I’m not sure how to respond to that, but, if you’d let me, I’d love to take you out to dinner sometime. Maybe you and your family will come over sometime? I’ll make Chris cook cause I’m still not very good at that.”

Jared laughed heartily. 

“You need to stop that,” Jensen deadpanned. Jared looked taken aback. He dropped the seriousness and said, “It makes me want to tickle you just so I can hear it.” 

They grinned at each other for a few beats before Jensen spoke again, “We should get back to the party, people will think there’s some hanky-panky going on.” 

“Hanky-panky?!” Jared burst out laughing, doubling over.

When he’d finally regained his composure, Jared led Jensen back downstairs. They stuck together for the rest of the night, having great conversations with other guests as well as each other, until the party began to die down. Jensen’s heart felt like it was going to explode with warmth and joy, optimistic for the first time in what seemed like a century. He began to make his way to the kitchen for some water when Jared called for him to stop with an urgent tone. 

“Wha -” Jensen stopped in his tracks between the living room and dining room and turned around. Jared strode up to him, a huge smile on his face. He looked up and Jensen followed his eyes. When Jensen looked back to Jared’s face, it had turned to a look of sly giddiness. 

“Mistletoe!” Jared said triumphantly. “Guess someone needs to kiss you.” 

Jensen let out a soft huff of laughter, but then Jared’s lips were lightly pressed to his, soft and chaste and fleeting. Jared looked delighted with himself when he pulled back and Jensen couldn’t help but smile shyly and appreciate the simplicity. A warm hand enveloped his own and their fingers laced together. 

“Will you walk me home?” Jensen asked, his voice breathy and hopeful. 

“I’d be delighted to,” Jared smiled and tilted his head to the side, eyes bright and excited. 

[airawisteria]

Following on from what I've rambled about Kairi, Sora is not a ton of fun to draw (fuck your hair Sora, it might be very you, but fuck that hair), but he is a ton of fun to analyse like most characters in KH. Sora is pretty insecure, like Kairi. It's probably something to do with a mixture of constantly losing to KH1 Riku (the jerk) and the way KH constantly shows you that Sora is just an average good guy that is very stubborn, sweet and overall just good, but again, he's just that, he's not more or less, he wasn't chosen nor was he given a moment like Riku or Kairi with the Wayfinder Trio to make the keyblade choose him—the most he has is Ven taking residence in his heart, but I don't think that would have mattered too much when it comes to the keyblade choosing him. He's a normal guy. And that takes a toll on you when everyone else around you isn't.

In KH1, we're introduced to Sora, Kairi and Riku, but mainly through Sora's perspective. They're both his best friends, but while Kairi is shown in a primarily positive light (the only 'negative' thing she's done is do nothing to help with the raft and try and hide that fact), if I'm remembering correctly, Riku isn't. Yes, Sora cares about Riku, but you also see Sora's annoyance and competitiveness shine with Riku. The race against Riku, for a new player, will almost always end with a loss and the fact that Sora is the one keeping score makes it hurt all the more because it implies that Riku doesn't care as much as Sora—that this is effortless to him. Which, by the way, it probably is, but it's also probably what makes Riku want to protect Sora so much. Through this race, we learn that Riku and Sora are very competitive, that Sora feels at least somewhat inferior to Riku while Riku feels a need to be superior to some extent and that Sora is the one that normally loses since he's the one counting.

Then, Destiny Islands falls to darkness and Kairi's heart takes residence with Ven in his heart while Riku is straight up consumed by darkness, just about too far for Sora to reach. It's only here that we get the keyblade, since Riku has fallen to darkness and Sora is the only candidate left. Sora, of course, doesn't know this and just thinks he's got a cool, new weapon. When Donald and Goofy meet him and are like "join us on our Gummi Ship!! We can (not really) look for your friends!". Through all the worlds we see Sora's amazement and his want to help everyone. Then, Riku, all of a sudden appears. And, the second Sora sees him, he's—obviously—over the moon but Donald's like 'not enough room' and that leads to Riku's further fall to darkness and Sora is pretty conflicted but goes with it, since, he doesn't want his friend to be in danger. Then, Riku does what any angsty teen does and broods. Maleficent uses this to her advantage and we have Riku and Sora properly fighting, not the joke fights they've had before. And, it's here we both see Sora's past annoyance emerge and his loyalty to his friends. And, then, Riku gets the keyblade and Sora is abandoned by his friends, left with only the wooden sword Riku chucks at him.

This sucks. I mean, Sora, who has befriended Donald and Goofy throughout the course of the game, just fucking loses them all cause Riku's like 'haha, take that, Sora! I am better than you'. But, even still, Sora perseveres, pushing his own hurt and insecurities aside to help Beast. This is what eventually leads to Sora standing up against Riku and Donald and Goofy joining Sora, again. Though, it's this moment that I think plants the seed of 'my friends are my power' and his insecurities with being powerless without his friends. Sora is powerless, after all, and he is basically going up against a guy with the keyblade with a fucking wooden sword, ain't no way he's gonna win that unless he's the best swordsman in the world.

It's through this moment where only once Donald and Goofy have rejoined him that he gets the keyblade back which, to me, would make him think 'yeah, my friends are the only reason I have this, without them, I'm nothing'. I mean, think about it, Donald and Goofy have literally just joined him and then bam! There's a keyblade in his hands and not Riku's. The real reason he has it is because his will was stronger than Riku's (cause Riku's really a guy who has a superiority complex but ultimately cares about his friends, so he doesn't want to fight Sora), but Sora probably sees it as only when his friends were around was it that he could do anything.

After that, there's the whole Ansem taking ahold of Riku's body and Kairi's heart being inside him ("Kairi's... inside me? *surprised pika face*"). Then, Sora sacrifices himself for Kairi and becomes a heartless to help her and while that's a very sweet thing to do, why was that answer so easy to do for him? Sure, we'd all like to think that we'd do the same thing, but would you really do the same thing without fucking hours of debating whether or not this is a good idea. Or, at least, most people would think about it for a good ten minutes before being like 'yeah, this is the only way'. But, nah, Sora smiles and pierces his heart with Ansem-Riku's weapon. If that isn't a clear sign of a tendency to self-sacrifice for others, then I don't fucking know what is. This plants the idea of Sora being both a good friend and a self-sacrificial person—he puts others before himself, and as such, sees them to be more important than him. Of course, they're all equal from a moral standpoint, but from a plot standpoint, a guy that can use the darkness and a princess of light are more important. They're more useful and while Riku can't control the darkness as of yet, he was still the first choice and someone who Sora sees as better than him, so it does make sense why he's fine with this act of self-sacrifice.

He, of course, returns to his human body and is no longer a heartless, but y'know how he gets there? The whole thing with Kairi realising who he is, hugging him and then, bam! He's back. Well, I don't think it went that quickly, but the two events were definitely connected. And, since the whole seed of 'my friends are the only reason I have any power/worth' had been planted before, Sora's belief in himself weakens and his belief that he is nothing without his friends strengthens. In the end, Sora and Riku both close the gate and all three of them are separated.

Then, CoM happens. I've not got as many memories in CoM that I can refer to but, if I'm remembering correctly, we see that Sora and Riku have always been at least somewhat competitive. This is pretty obvious with the way that Sora's immediate reaction to Repliku's, like, insistence on being against Sora is 'let's fight!!'. However, in those memories, from BBS we can see that Sora and Riku seem to be good friends that aren't really affected by what happens whenever they're competing (prolly cause they're like 5 or something, but y'know) which implies that before Kairi's arrival on Destiny Islands the two's competitivity was pretty healthy and didn't really affect either's outlook on who they are and stuff.

Even then, in CoM, I recall Naminé needing to return Sora's memories to their original, uh, form? Sure, their original form. This places Sora in the role of the 'helpless one', again, since he's the only one who really needs his memories to be so thoroughly gone through. He might smile about it and promise Naminé that he and she will be friends afterwards, but that could reinforce the idea that he is helpless without his friends. This is supported by Riku's involvement. Sure, Sora doesn't know Riku's helping him, but the players do and they get the idea that, yeah, Riku is being a good friend but that Sora can't do shit. It adds to the fact that without Riku, Sora wouldn't be able to wake up (even though, that isn't his fault).

Then, in KH2, Sora is constantly looking for Riku. Though he holds his own for most of it, he's not able to save Kairi—Riku is. And after her rescue, he requires her help. Sora was overwhelmed with emotions the second he realised who Riku was (as most would be) and immediately goes to Riku's side after, I think it was, Ansem's last ditch effort to stop Xemnas. This so obviously shows how terrified he is to lose him again, he lost Riku twice, ain't no way Sora's letting that happen again. Then, after that, he and Riku fight Xemnas together and say something along the lines of, 'you and I are besties, so I wouldn't mind staying here forever'. But, they also address Sora and Riku's rivalry here.

As gay as the two of them are, the fact that it took being trapped in darkness to open up to one another says a fucking lot. But, still, the two do open up and admit that they both saw Riku as the superior one but they also admit that the best thing that neither of them could ever imitate would be their friendship—and, mate, the fact that it takes Sora a whole ass pause to be like 'I have something you can't imitate too'. Like, I don't know how else to show you that he was so clearly taken aback by the statement and needed to process it so he didn't misunderstand anything. The fact that there's a pause at all says a lot about Sora's self-esteem, in my opinion. They get Kairi's letter and return to the Realm of Light (hand in hand, obviously).

Blah, blah, blah, DDD happens and Sora straight up falls to darkness and is powerless again. He even says to, I think, Xigbar that his friends are his power which while sweet also implies that Sora doesn't think he has any power without his friends. This is reinforced by Riku rescuing him with the others. Then, after that, Yen Sid has Riku pass (as he should with all the shit he's been through) and Sora fails since he fell to darkness. While it makes sense from a character and plot standpoint, it also feels almost as if the game itself is telling you 'yeah, Sora's just a normal, good guy who can fall to darkness, unlike Kairi, and, unlike Riku, can't harness it like it's some kinda weapon'. It's reminding us that Riku and Kairi are very much on a different level and standing to Sora. But, through it all, Sora smiles and congratulates his best friend like the good guy he is.

Then KH3 happens and we get to see Sora truly reach a point where his ego and confidence are so shaken that Yen Sid's criticisms/run-through of DDD are enough to physically affect Sora as well as emotionally. Up until now, all we've really seen of Sora is confidence (especially when you defeat all those heartless in KH2) and laidbackness and now, Sora's once confident posture is hit with each of Yen Sid's words.

And, then, there's the fact that Sora is actually affected up by Maleficent and Pete's dismissal of him. Donald and Goofy tease Sora but instead of the light-hearted annoyance that we almost always see with Sora and his dads friends, we see Sora actually being hurt by this. And, then, Riku's off to the Realm of Darkness with Mickey and Sora's more than worried. He tells Riku to not be reckless and to call him the second anything goes wrong and that, my friends, is the effect of Riku disappearing without a trace. Sora's worried because he doesn't want to lose Riku, and later, he gets all irritated with Donald and Goofy when they find out that Riku might be in danger—he so clearly doesn't want to lose him. So, being the self-sacrificial dumbass that he is, he immediately heads over there and helps Riku. And, at that moment, he is Riku's power but he doesn't realise that, not yet.

Afterwards, we have the whole Keyblade Graveyard thing where he loses everyone. And it's here we finally see Sora admit the true meaning behind his 'my friends are my power!'—it's that he's powerless without his friends. It takes Riku saying, 'Sora, I believe in you. Don't give up/you can't give up' and fucking sacrificing himself for Sora to get out of his self-loathing and try to do something with the powers he has once he gets to the Final World.

He saves everyone and the timeline changes, but he still loses Kairi. So, being the self-sacrificial, good guy we've known since KH1, he saves her, I think. Then, he wakes up in Quadratum.

All this to say, my view on Sora is that his self-esteem is really, really low and he needs some serious reassurance from the people in his life. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

With my rambling about Sora over, I must say I didn't think I'd have this much to say about him, but here we are. I could go on and on about how much his constant damseling affects him (just as it affects Kairi) and how much all the events have affected him and his self-esteem, but yeah. I probably forgot a bunch of stuff that I might ramble more about... at some point, but yeah. It's cool if you don't agree with me on this, I'm just one of the many people who played KH, but yeah, that's what I think.

[arecharnutra]

Which Biotin hair Gummies are Best?

When we talk about biotin in general, it becomes very important to discuss its benefits. The wide range of benefits offered by biotin is commendable.

Biotin, a vitamin belonging to the ‘B’ family, which is also known as vitamin H is an essential nutrient required by the body to perform well in its functions. Having said that, let us talk about its benefits first:

Firstly, a healthy metabolism is something that is offered by biotin. Biotin helps to break down foods and provide the required energy required for body metabolism.

Secondly, strengthening hair is also one of the evident things offered by it. It stimulates hair growth and makes hair healthier and more lustrous. That’s why Biotin Hair Gummies for Women are nowadays the talk of the town.

Additionally, skin health is also affected by the levels of biotin in the body. Biotin performs a key role in the nervous system and also affects the hormone function. Its deficiency often leads to acne, rashes, dermatitis, etc.

Moreover, the strengthening of nails is also a function of biotin. It visibly improves the health of nails by providing the required nutrients.

Biotin for hair growth is now available as gummies offered by Arechar Nutra as vitagoli gummies. The gummies also contain more essential nutrients like inositol, keratin, zinc, folate, sea buckthorn, and grape seed extract. These nutrients along with biotin make the vitagoli biotin gummies the best available in the market.

As trying cumbersome home remedies for reducing hair fall is a time-consuming task. Also, it becomes impossible to maintain a healthy lifestyle and include every required nutrition in the diet in today’s 4G lifestyle. The immense heat and pollution are also contributing to the degradation of hair health every single day. Apart from these, stress and anxiety are also contributing factors.

The one-stop solution to all these problems is Vitagoli gummies. Vitagoli biotin gummies are proven to benefit and serve the desired purpose. These biotin gummies not only improve hair health but have also proven to benefit the skin, nails, and metabolism too. Also, these gummies replenish and rebuild the body tissues alongside giving relief in joint inflammation.

Providing this many benefits and more, Arechar’s gummies hold the best position in the market. These gummies do not contain any artificial flavor or sugars, but still, the taste is very much satisfying. Also, these gummies are certified by all the regulating agencies, making them safe to consume. Therefore, these biotin gummies are a great and fun way to add the required nutrition to your schedule.

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[drbucho]

Are Collagen Gummies Effective? Best Collagen Gummies For Skin 2023 — Dr Bucho

In this article, we will investigate if really are collagen gummies effective or whether choosing collagen-rich foods is the best option. These gummies are gaining popularity as a means to promote the health and look of the skin, hair, and nails. Collagen gummies are a sort of dietary supplement intended to give the body more collagen. They are also taken to support the flexibility and health of joints. In order to enhance general health and wellness, collagen gummies are frequently formulated with a combination of collagen and additional substances, such as vitamins and minerals

What is Collagen?

The most abundant protein in the body called collagen is present in the body’s skin, bones, and connective tissues. It is a vital component of the body that supports the body structurally and aids in preserving the flexibility and durability of the skin, hair, nails, Bones and Joints. The body produces less natural collagen as we get older, which can result in wrinkles, fine lines, and a lack of skin flexibility. The preservation of the bones and joints is another key function of collagen, which is also involved in the body’s healing process. For these reasons, many people choose to supplement their diet with collagen.

There are 28 different types of collagen; the four most common are listed below:

Type I is the most common and can be found in all connective tissue.

Type ll: found in joints and intervertebral discs (the cushions that serve as shock absorbers in your spine).

Type ll: the primary component of reticular fibres found in the skin and blood vessels.

Type lV is a protein found in your kidneys, inner ear, and eye lens.

How Collagen Gummies are made?

Collagen gummies are typically made with a blend of collagen and other ingredients, such as vitamins and minerals, Typically, collagen is present in collagen gummies. Some collagen gummies, nevertheless, don’t actually contain collagen. Instead, they contain ingredients that may encourage the body to produce collagen naturally. The majority of collagen supplements are hydrolyzed, meaning the collagen has been broken down into smaller sizes to facilitate easy absorption. and according to experts that are considered the best quality factor of a good collagen supplement.

Different types of collagen are frequently present in collagen gummies. Each variety has particular advantages. For instance, type I collagen, which is typically present in collagen gummies and is thought to be ideal for the skin. On the other hand, type II collagen gummies may be the greatest for joints.

Pros and Cons of Collagen Gummies

Health benefits of collagen supplements[Anecdotal claims]

May improve skin health

Collagen is a crucial protein that is present in the skin, and as we get older, our body produces less collagen naturally. It contributes to the skin’s suppleness, moisture, and strength. However, numerous studies have indicated that collagen peptides or supplements containing collagen may help slow down the ageing of your skin by minimizing wrinkles and dryness.

According to studies, taking supplements with hydrolyzed collagen may stop osteoporosis-causing bone loss. The symptoms of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis may significantly improve with daily doses of 12 grams, in particular. According to a review of studies on individuals with osteoarthritis, consuming collagen significantly reduced joint stiffness and other osteoarthritis symptoms.

May Improve Heart Health

Your arteries, the blood vessels that deliver blood from your heart to the rest of your body, are given structure by collagen. Arteries may lose their elasticity and flexibility if collagen levels are insufficient. 31 healthy adults who participated in 6-month research ingested 16 grams of collagen daily. Between the start of the trial and its conclusion, their measurements of arterial stiffness had significantly decreased.

Supporting hair and nail health

Collagen is important for maintaining the strength and elasticity of hair and nails. Collagen supplements may help to improve the health and appearance of hair and nails, making them stronger and less prone to breakage. Taking collagen may increase the strength of your nails by preventing brittleness. Additionally, it may help your hair and nails grow longer.

Risks and side effects of collagen supplements

The majority of the time, collagen supplements are well-accepted and have few negative effects. Supplements containing collagen, like collagen gummies, are usually thought to be safe and have no known serious adverse effects unless you have an allergy to any of its constituents.

While some consumers of collagen supplements claim to experience nausea and bloating, research has not consistently demonstrated these as negative side effects. There are also claims that collagen supplements may have additional gastrointestinal side effects, including heartburn and a satiety feeling.

Are collagen gummies effective?

From analyzing the possible pros and Very rarely reported cons of collagen supplements, Collagen supplements are generally safe, easy to use, and worth trying based on your health goals. However, it’s crucial to remember that collagen gummies’ efficacy can vary based on the exact product, the quality of the collagen utilized, and its source. It’s also critical to remember that oral collagen supplements might not be entirely absorbed by the body and that only a small portion of it reaches the target tissues. It is always preferable to get medical advice before beginning a new supplement regimen.

5 Best collagen gummies for skin 2023

Read complete article Here

The Bottom Line

Gummies made of collagen provide an easy, tasty approach to augmenting your body’s normal collagen production. Read the product label carefully and make sure the ingredients are present in the right quantities before selecting the best collagen gummies for you. Choosing collagen gummies that are third-party tested and do not contain a lot of added sugar is also crucial. If you are using any other drugs or dietary supplements, have any pre-existing medical conditions, are considering pregnancy, talk to your doctor before using this product.

You may also like to Read 7 Collagen Rich foods

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

Thanks for reading and Thanks for visiting Dr Bucho , Get the latest updates, Blog Posts, Food, wellness, Mental Health, news,and latest posts on our website, and stay up to date with us

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8 Best Vitamins for Hair Growth That Actually Work

Hair growth is a concern for many people, with factors like diet, lifestyle, and genetics playing significant roles. But did you know that specific vitamins can significantly improve hair health and stimulate growth? While genetics set the baseline for hair’s natural thickness and rate of growth, vitamins are crucial in maintaining hair strength, shine, and resilience. Here, we’ll dive into the eight best vitamins for hair growth, explaining how each one contributes to healthier, fuller hair.

Essential Vitamins for Hair Growth

VitaminBenefitsTop SourcesVitamin APromotes scalp health and hair growthCarrots, sweet potatoes, spinachB-Vitamins (especially Biotin)Strengthens hair and enhances growth rateWhole grains, eggs, nuts, Vito Hair GummiesBuy Now at the Best PriceVitamin CSupports collagen production and absorbs ironCitrus fruits, strawberries, peppersVitamin DHelps create new hair folliclesFish, fortified foods, sunshineVitamin EReduces oxidative stress and increases blood circulationAlmonds, sunflower seeds, avocadoIronEssential for red blood cells, delivering oxygen to hair folliclesLean meats, beans, fortified cerealsZincSupports healthy oil glands around folliclesNuts, seeds, shellfishOmega-3 Fatty AcidsNourishes hair, supports scalp healthFish, flaxseeds, walnuts

1. Vitamin A: The Growth Regulator

Vitamin A plays a critical role in cell growth throughout the body, including hair growth. It aids in sebum production, an oily substance that moisturizes the scalp and keeps hair hydrated and healthy. Without enough Vitamin A, hair can become dry and brittle. Foods rich in Vitamin A include carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach. Incorporating these into your diet helps ensure that hair remains moisturized and less prone to breakage.

2. Biotin (Vitamin B7): The Hair Booster

Biotin, part of the B-complex vitamins, is a favorite among hair care enthusiasts. Known as Vitamin B7, Biotin strengthens the hair’s keratin structure, helping to reduce shedding and increase growth rates. It’s widely recognized for its role in improving hair thickness and quality, particularly beneficial if your hair feels weak or prone to breakage. Vito Hair Gummies offer an easy and delicious way to get Biotin into your routine. Buy Now at the Best Price and start enjoying stronger, healthier hair.

3. Vitamin C: Collagen and Antioxidant Power

Vitamin C is vital for collagen production, a protein that forms a key component of hair structure. Additionally, it’s a potent antioxidant, protecting hair from oxidative stress, which can inhibit hair growth. Free radicals—unstable molecules that damage hair follicles—are kept in check by antioxidants like Vitamin C, keeping hair follicles healthier. Vitamin C also improves the absorption of iron, an important mineral for hair health. Citrus fruits, strawberries, and bell peppers are excellent sources of this essential vitamin.

4. Vitamin D: Hair Follicle Health

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in hair follicle cycling, and low levels are associated with hair loss. Vitamin D receptors are involved in the formation of new hair follicles, making it essential for hair density and fullness. Getting enough sunlight and including Vitamin D-rich foods such as fatty fish and fortified milk can help maintain optimal levels. In cases of Vitamin D deficiency, taking supplements can support hair growth and reduce hair thinning.

5. Vitamin E: The Protector

Vitamin E is another antioxidant that plays a role in protecting hair from oxidative damage, which can impact hair’s strength and appearance. Vitamin E is known to improve scalp circulation, which means more nutrients reach hair follicles. Foods high in Vitamin E, such as almonds, sunflower seeds, and avocados, can help nourish your hair and keep it vibrant. For those seeking a daily boost, supplements are available to ensure your hair receives the protection it needs.

6. Iron: Oxygen and Growth

Iron is essential for red blood cell production, which in turn ensures that oxygen reaches cells and tissues throughout the body, including hair follicles. A lack of iron leads to reduced oxygen levels in the scalp, which may cause hair to become weak and more prone to shedding. Women, especially, are more prone to iron deficiency, which is a leading cause of hair thinning. Lean meats, beans, and fortified cereals are great dietary sources of iron.

7. Zinc: Oil Gland Balance

Zinc plays a major role in regulating the oil glands around hair follicles, which helps maintain a balanced scalp environment. A deficiency in zinc can lead to a dry, flaky scalp and can also weaken hair, making it more prone to shedding. Nuts, seeds, and shellfish are excellent sources of zinc, and ensuring a balanced intake of this mineral supports the health of both scalp and hair.

8. Omega-3 Fatty Acids: The Nourisher

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats that the body doesn’t produce naturally. These fatty acids are critical for scalp health as they nourish and hydrate, reducing dryness and supporting a healthy environment for hair growth. They also increase hair elasticity, reducing breakage and promoting longer, stronger strands. Foods like fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts are high in Omega-3 fatty acids and can make a noticeable difference in hair quality and strength.

How to Incorporate These Vitamins for Maximum Benefits

To achieve the best results, a balanced diet rich in these vitamins is ideal. However, if maintaining an ideal diet is challenging, supplements are an effective alternative. Supplements like Vito Hair Gummies are specifically formulated to support hair growth, containing essential vitamins like Biotin, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E in the perfect daily dose. Buy Now at the Best Price to boost your hair health conveniently and deliciously.

Conclusion

Incorporating these essential vitamins and minerals into your daily routine can have a profound impact on the health, strength, and appearance of your hair. Whether you achieve this through a balanced diet or with the help of targeted supplements, making sure your hair gets the right nutrients can promote growth, reduce breakage, and enhance shine. For a simple and effective solution, consider adding Vito Hair Gummies to your daily regimen, packed with vitamins that support visible results. Buy Now at the Best Price and begin your journey to healthier, fuller hair today.