#but the delivery driver came and asked if the cat was okay

[mikasa-imadebiscults]

I’ve decided to write a poem about my Kitty that has unfortunately passed away today. RIP Jasper you will be missed.

[anotherbluesunday]

Fic Update-In Technicolor, Ch. 7+8: Jupiter In Retrograde Pt.I and Pt.II (Cheryl)

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CHAPTER 7 (Pt.I)

Midway through our "warm up" that consisted of speed running through our terminology flashcards and the ones with molecular formulas on one side and the name on the other, the food Lee had ordered came with the delivery driver looking as confused as could be as he navigated his way through the vacant campus. Putting our studies on pause as he divvied up the breakfast croissants while promising me these were better than any of the fancy junk I could get at Erewhon, I laughed as I took a bite. Felt my hunger vanish as I chewed on the buttery pastry and fluffy egg with way too much cheese and hash browns to be considered healthy. There was avocado and salsa on it too which he knew I would have wanted so he added both without asking.

Sipping on his iced Americano, Lee grabbed a random flashcard we hadn't gone over and slapped it down onto the tabletop. "Yes, a physics one. Okay, the question is this. You have two waves of equal frequency and wavelength that meet at a nexus. Will this result in constructive interference or destructive interference? Explain your reasoning."

Finishing chewing on my food then swallowing it, I washed it down with some water before I answered. "It'd be constructive."

"Why?"

Looking at Lee as he stared back at me with his intense dark gaze giving nothing away, I didn't let him influence my response. "It's constructive because the waves are matched in wavelength and frequency which means that they would sync up in a creative force and join together to make one solitary point of increased light, in optics, where the wave signal is stronger than it is where the waves are mismatched which would cause a dimming to occur."

Lips slowly curling into a smile, he flipped the card over. "Nerd."

“And you aren’t?” I teased back. Smiled more when he did. "Ask me something that’s actually hard."

"Okay, what's the root of two?"

"Lee..."

"What's the square root of two?"

"There is no square root of two, dingus."

"Okay, but what about negative five?"

Throwing the wadded up paper cover for my drink straw at him, I laughed as it bounced off his forehead when Lee didn't bother trying to dodge it. "My turn?"

"Your turn."

"Do you want a chem question or a physics question?"

"Surprise me," Lee smiled. Added a subtle wink that was so quick I almost missed it. "Do your worst, reina."

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CHAPTER 8 (Pt.II)

“So what are you feeling up to doing?” he asked, flipping around in front of me. Walking backwards with a goofy cat-like grin as the light glinted off his glasses and I ate my pineapple Dole Whip adjacent froyo.

Shrugging, I looked away from him. “Don’t know.”

Clicking his tongue, Lee rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t know.”

“Yeah, I don’t know.”

“Is that so?” he asked in a dumb sort of mocking manner that had zero bite to it. “I’ve got a couple ideas but it all depends on how anti-social you wanna be.”

Snorting a laugh, I looked at him.

“What?”

“That’s the scale you’re using for measurement?”

“It��s a good scale.”

“Uh huh,” I rolled my eyes, licking at my frozen treat before biting the point I had shaped the peak into. “So what are the choices?”

“First tell me how social you want to be.”

“Well then tell me the choices.”

“Oh my god, Cher…”

“What?!”

Slipping into his habit of grumbling obscenities in Spanish when he was feeling pissy, I mustered up from memory what I had learned on my own and said “Deja de actuer como un bebé.” Broke out into a riot of laughter when Pugsley stopped dead in his tracks–slack jawed and gawking–then smiled like the family cat that ate the canary when he said “She speaks Spanish now? Ay nena. Sigue hablando.”

The way his reaction inflated my ego, making me grin with a playfulness sparking inside me. How devilish yet boyish he looked with the ocean breeze tousling his black curls, slightly obscuring Lee’s eyes hidden behind his glasses. Hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans with his hoodie tied around his waist and faded Dodgers blue baseball cap on backwards, he leaned forward. Tilted his head and tried to look me in the eye as I leaned back to avoid him.

I laughed awkwardly. Asked him why he was being creepy.

Lee said nothing.

Just smiled at me–the glaring surreal gold daylight painting his features bronze and bright before I was shot with another lightning fast wink. Clipped like a hit and run as he straightened out with the same cheeky grin. Saying he knew where we were going, Lee put his hand on top of my head to spin me around. I swatted at it. Told him to stop touching my hair and he cackled like the ghoul he was. Asshole. Tolerable–likable even–but still an asshole.

Tugging at the small gold huggie earring hanging from his ear as my act of revenge, I yelped when he pulled at my braids calling me “pip” again then said "dale."

The one remnant of my former self that lingered on. And apart from Lee, no one else knew of its existence. Not Betty or Veronica. Jason definitely couldn’t know and neither could mother or father.

No one knew.

No one except for him.

“You cold?” Lee whispered when he caught me shivering as the show started.

Shaking my head, I lied. Told him I was fine. I should have brought my denim jacket before leaving the car. True, I didn’t know we’d be seeing a planetarium show but when going to an observatory, one should be wise enough to prepare for the unexpected. So this lapse in judgment was on me. Besides, I had been in colder weather wearing less. I had once competed in forty-six degree chilled soup in London for the junior championship wearing just a tennis skirt and a half-zip long sleeve that was as thin as paper.

“Cher, your teeth are literally chattering,” Lee chuckled, his voice hushed low and rich in timber as he leaned forward to take off his jacket.

I put my hand up to stop him when he tried draping it over me. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Lee…”

“Cheryl.” Staring at me hard as we were both quietly shushed, he arched a brow in the dim light.

Sighing hard through my nose, I told him I was fine but there wasn’t any talking to him. No stopping him from doing whatever he wanted–Pugsley’s stubbornness bordering on legend as storied as Greek myth, it was that unreal. Conceding myself to accepting his jacket as a blanket, I went stiff when he lifted the armrest between us, scooted in closer, and used the dense cotton hoodie as a throw for us both. Quietly he said he was cold too so if he was shivering he knew I’d be full of shit.

But I was too self-aware and self-conscious to muster up any witty comebacks. Was currently focused on rebooting the software in my mind that had performed an unauthorized shutdown. So for a minute or two, all communications pathways and response networks were offline and I was running on emergency power.

Caught in this haze of starlight, supernova explosions, and chemistry speak I knew but could not decipher at the moment–gun to my head or otherwise–I descended into the cloud. Let the gentle warmth of that moment envelope me as I sank in closer to Lee. Felt the welcoming heat radiating from him like the sun reaching down to the frozen Earth’s surface. Resting my head on his shoulder as we shared our box of candy while our chai tea latte’s went cold from neglect, it were as if I had traveled through space and time and found home waiting for me on the other side. That innocence I thought I had lost and hopefulness now settled in me, fully renewed. It was frightening, slightly. As a child I had been able to turn my back on it more easily because I did not understand what I was giving up.

But now that I knew what life was like without wonder and passion, could I do it again? Could I do as I was told? Pursue something I hated. Do something I despised even more. Run my body into the ground the way my father had, marry someone I could not care less about, and watch the cycle of generational indifference and disappointment repeat itself.

Could I do that as a conscious being fully aware of what the future would hold if I let go of this a second time?

“Whoa,” Lee gasped quietly with the light from the dizzying dazzling spiral arms of the Andromeda galaxy reflecting off his glasses.

Looking from him to the almost too real projection, I smiled. Watched it. Drank it in letting the arresting beauty fill up my eyes and burn itself into the backs of my eyelids. But my attention faltered and brought me right back to him. To Lee. The only person on this rock hurtling through space that I could connect with on this. The one person out of the billions alive who would resonate with me on this frequency that had happened to be plopped directly into my ecosystem.

It was humorous and humbling. Funny in an ironic sort of way that the boy I had purposefully harangued and harassed would turn out to be the friend I needed at the very moment I needed them most. And while I could wonder what would have been the outcome had I been more cruel and he more delicate in his resolve and spite, I chose not to. Didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth because I’d done that far too many times and wanted, for once, to be grateful and move on from there.

So I allowed myself this moment. This friendship.

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*I want to take a moment to also address a misunderstanding that seems to be a common theme amongst the readers that click onto my story then dip. This fic is an omnibus story meaning that it is told from multiple characters pov's. It isn't just about Wednesday and Tyler or Cheryl and Pugsley/Lee or Wynn and Pubert/Bertie. It's about all of them. This story is a coming-of-age high school story that discusses the highs and lows of growing up in this mess of a modern world and trying to find meaning, make lasting friendships, and find oneself. It isn't just about one pairing or one fandom. It's a through and through crossover with an original storyline that does not tie into the canon for either Riverdale or Wednesday (2022). You do not need to know about either of the shows or their lore in order to enjoy the story. If you are waiting to read until the story is complete, don't. If you are waiting to comment until your favorite pairing/character shows up, don't. Not only is that discouraging to the writer (me) and ruins all the built in cliffhangers that have been planned in advance, but it also means you will be waiting for a long time because 1.) this story is going to be very VERY long and 2.) if your favorite pairing is Wednesday x Tyler or Reggie x Archie, you will be waiting until chapter 20 at the earliest because they aren't planned to be the focus until the second half of the story.

So do both yourself and me a favor and just start reading. Don't hold out on writers because readership and reader engagement is literally the fine line that either keeps the story going or leads the writer to dropping it/abandoning it because they see a lack of interest which makes them think what they're doing isn't worth it. So please, just start reading. Read, comment, be active. It doesn't matter to any writer if English or whichever language the story's in is your first language or if your comments are awkward or long or short. What matters is that you're showing us that you care and that our stories mean something to you. So please, stop ghosting your writers or waiting to binge read because engagement--for me at least--encourages me to keep writing and not abandon a story and makes me want to do better each time because I see that people are excited for the next chapter.

Just like and comment. It's not hard. And if it's hard at first, I promise as someone who was/is socially awkward in the comment section it gets easier.

XoXoXo

[jazwritesalot]

Shaken, Not Stirred - Chapter 1: Amaretto Sour

Pairing: Shinsou Hitoshi/Kaminari Denki, ShinKami Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia Rating: Teen & Up Audiences Total Word Count: 22,634 Tags: Aged Up Characters, AU - College/University, AU - No Quirks, AU - Coffee Shops & Cafes, Barista/Electrician/DJ Kaminari, Waiter/Bartender/Psych Student Shinsou, Bakusquad Shenanigans, brief one-sided KamiJirou, side KiriBaku, background EraserMic, background CamieJirou, comedy, alcohol consumption, drinking, house parties, bar scene, implications of depression, cat cafes

Link to AO3

Written for the ShinKami Big Bang 2020

Summary: Kaminari Denki is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Juggling three jobs seems impossible at times, but he manages well. That is, until romance gets in the way. After a failed attempt to woo his long-time crush, he finds himself slipping into a downward spiral. With a not-so-gentle nudge from his roommates, he finds himself at the doors of Cool Beans Cat Cafe. What he finds beyond those doors may just be the push he needs to get better. The hot waiter is just an added bonus.

“For the love of God, can you please stop? You’re so freakin’ annoying! I’m only going to say this once, okay? I’m not interested in you, so back off.” The words replayed themselves in his mind nonstop since the moment she uttered them. It had been a little less than a month since the unfortunate accident that Midoriya had at Tape Deck, and Denki was sure it was going to work out in his favor. Sato had called him in a panic once he heard about the broken arm, asking if he would mind picking up some of Midoriya’s shifts for him. He jumped at the opportunity, figuring that spending more time at work with Jirou would give him plenty of opportunity to put the moves on her until he was able to work up the courage to ask her out. It was a total win-win. Or so he thought. It was one of the rare days where Sato left the shop early, so that left the store with Bakugou manning the kitchen, Denki the register, and Jirou finishing out her shift as the sole bicycle delivery driver. Clearly his attempts to woo her were in vain, for the moment the electricity-based pickup line left his lips, she whipped around, delivering the words in a harsh tone, eyes narrowed and face tinged red.

Things had been awkward between them since that day, unfortunately for him. There was the sting of rejection, sure, but he was hoping that they could at least go back to their normal friendship and banter. However, he was proved wrong again and again as she continued to ignore his very presence at work for the next week. He couldn’t really talk about what was going on with his coworkers since he was working pretty exclusively with Bakugou, who was as prickly as they came. Why his roommate had a crush on him, then proceeded to date him, Denki would never know. It got both better and worse when Midoriya returned earlier than expected; better since he had less shifts to fill in for, yet worse since he went back to working the lunch shifts, which put him back to working more closely with Jirou, who was still ignoring him. His heart just wasn’t into it, or anything, anymore, which was a tragedy really, since he did enjoy this job. Because of this, he found himself calling out more frequently, which he knew was kind of a dick move, but he just couldn’t help himself. He knew he needed to just be honest with Sato about what was going on. The man was very kind and surely would understand and fix the schedule for him. Unfortunately, the truth would have to wait another day. He picked his phone up off the arm of the couch, exiting out of the picture of the schedule he took and dialed the cafe.

“Sugar Rush. Sato speaking. How may I help you?” He could hear the ovens buzzing in the background and Uraraka’s laughter filling the air. 

“Hey Sato, sorry for calling on such short notice, but I think I’ve come down with a stomach bug. I won’t be able to make it in today. Sorry,” he lied.  

“That’s okay, Kaminari. I’ll get your shift covered. Feel better soon,” Sato assured in a warm tone before ending the call and Denki almost felt guilty about lying to him. With a heavy sigh, he placed the phone down on the coffee table and stretched out on the couch, his eyes roving the ceiling, looking for patterns in the uneven, flaking paint. He let his mind wander aimlessly as time crawled by slowly, ruminating in what he could have done differently to avoid this entire mess. 

The sound of footsteps clambering down the stairs brought him out of his head and he blinked blearily. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed from his phone call to Sato and now, but he was pretty sure he dozed off a little bit. Kirishima rounded the corner, humming along to whatever song was playing on his phone, when he stopped short at the sight of Kaminari’s prone form. 

“Dude, shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?” he asked as he popped a headphone out and looked at his phone. “Or well, weren’t you supposed to be at work like thirty minutes ago?”

“Sato called me off. I guess it’s just not been busy enough for me to be there,” he shrugged, sitting up to make room for Kirishima. He hated how easily the lies rolled off his tongue, but there really wasn’t anything he could do about it now. 

“Man, that’s strange, since finals are coming up next week,” Kirishima mused before brushing it off and moving to stand in front of the mirror in the room to fiddle with his hair instead of joining him on the couch.  

“You’re in a good mood. Have plans?” Denki asked, trying to keep up appearances as he slumped back down across the cushions.  

“Yeah! Katsuki gets out of class soon, so we were going to have a lunch date before his shift tonight,” he smiled.

“Dressed like that? I’m sure Bakugou will love that,” he chuckled, hoping that it was believable enough to pass as he looked over Kirishima’s outfit. The guy was a fashion disaster in his black joggers paired with a white “suns out, guns out” tank layered underneath a short-sleeved navy blue button down with cartoon sharks patterned on it. If he decided to wear his crocs with that, Denki would yell at him, on principle alone. 

“He doesn’t mind,” Kirishima laughed. “Better to be myself with him rather than who the media wants me to be,” he called out as he walked to the bathroom, returning with a tub of hair gel.  

“That’s gotta be the only reason you are able to maintain such a low profile out in public despite your popularity.”

“That, and everyone still thinks I have black hair. Makes it really easy to go undetected when they’re looking for someone who doesn’t exist anymore,” he mused while spiking his hair. They existed in silence, save for Kirishima humming, while Denki watched him work, mulling over his words. What would it be like to be with someone who cares about you for who you are, not for what you are? The silence was short-lived, however, as Kirishima’s phone started buzzing incessantly against the table under the mirror. A grin lit up his face as he swiped his pinky across the screen, answering the call and putting it on speaker. 

“Hey babe! I’m almost ready, just doing my hair.”

“Sorry Ei, but I’m going to have to take a rain check on our date,” Bakugou grumbled. 

“Oh? Did something happen in class?” Denki felt like he shouldn’t be overhearing their conversation, but he was curious as to why Bakugou would cancel at the last minute. It wasn’t really like him. Instantly, the realization hit him, and he felt a ball of panic weighing down on him. 

“Not class. Kaminari freakin’ called out again, so Sato called me in.” Denki was frozen in place, watching the realization hit Kirishima as his hands stilled in his hair. He faintly heard the fridge door close too, meaning Sero was also hearing this. 

“He did?” Kirishima asked, wiping his hands on a damp towel he had also brought out from the bathroom, his eyebrow quirked as he looked at Denki, who couldn’t look away no matter how much his brain was screaming at him to run and hide.  

“Something about a stomach bug, I guess. Now I gotta work a freakin’ double shift today on top of studying for finals. I swear to God, Dunce Face better actually be sick. I’m tired of covering his shifts.”

“I’ll hit him up and see how he’s doing. Anyway, when is your break? I can stop by then and we can have a mini date. How does that sound?” 

“Sounds good to me. I’ll probably take my break once Deku gets here at three. I’m about to head in, so I will see you then. Bye.”

“Bye babe! See you then!” Denki was still sitting there, petrified, as Kirishima ended the call and turned to face him, arms crossed over his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sero leaning against the entryway to the kitchen eating an apple.

“I thought Sato called you off, Denks?” Kirishima asked. 

“Did I say that? Whoops, my bad. I meant to say I called off,” Kaminari laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“Denki, when is the last time you went to work?” Concern was written all over Kirishima’s face. 

“Last week. I think you were busy doing filming.”

“Filming finished three weeks ago, Kaminari,” Sero chimed in as he finished off his apple. How long had it been since he last worked at Sugar Rush? Two weeks? He couldn’t really remember.  “Let me ask you this—have you worked any of your jobs recently?”

“What? Of course I have!” He had, hadn’t he? Sure, it had been probably two weeks since he worked at Sugar Rush. And maybe he had been neglecting the emails and texts from the local bars about putting on a show. He had at least answered the work phone for his electrician job... four weeks ago. Shit. 

“Kami, I know Kirishima helped you out with your rent for this month. Don’t lie to us.” Denki bit his lip, averting his eyes from Kirishima’s worried gaze and settling on Sero’s face, which looked both disappointed and concerned. It’s not like he liked lying to them. It was just easier than the truth. Sero shifted and the kitchen light glinted off the metal through his nose, catching Denki’s attention.       

“When did you get your septum pierced?” Kaminari asked both in genuine curiosity and in an attempt to change the conversation. How much had he missed?

“Like two weeks ago. But that’s not the point, Denki.”

“We’re just worried about you, man,” Kirishima said softly, sitting down next to him on the couch and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “You haven’t left the house in weeks.” Oh shit. They had noticed that?He hadn’t even realized how much time he had been spending around their house.

“That, and you haven’t even worked on any new mixes,” Sero added, collapsing into the spot on the other side of Kirishima. “I miss hearing the bizarre shit blaring from your room.”

“I guess I just really haven’t been feeling inspired lately,” Denki shrugs, leaning back against the cushions, head tilted back to stare at the cracks in the ceiling. 

“Does this have anything to do with Jirou?” Kirishima asked quietly and Kaminari whipped his head to the right to stare at him.

“Wha? How did you?” he babbled. He couldn’t remember ever saying anything to either one of them about what went down between the two of them at work. He was also pretty sure he had done a decent job of keeping his emotions and reactions in check whenever she got mentioned at home. 

“Katsuki may have mentioned something to me the last time I saw him,” Kirishima admitted sheepishly. That made sense, Denki supposed. Bakugou had been at Sugar Rush on that ill-fated day—he remembered hearing the low whistle coming from the kitchen before Jirou stomped off, leaving the shift early, much to the chagrin of both he and Bakugou. Having to tell customers that deliveries stopped early was never a fun thing to do. 

 “Jirou? What happened? I thought things were going good between you two?” Sero questioned as he turned to face him, his chin resting on Kirishima’s shoulder. 

“I don’t know. I guess I just built it up in my head too much. I totally thought she was into me, you know, but I guess not. So it’s no big deal.” Denki moved his gaze away from the pair and blinked up at the ceiling again, trying to will the tears away. 

“Not a big deal? Kaminari, you’ve got to be kidding me, right?” Sero asked, brow quirked. “You literally got caught lying to us about your work schedule by Kiri. Clearly something is not okay here.” 

“It’s really nothing guys. You don’t have to worry about it.” He felt himself shrugging again, trying to give off vibes that he really was okay. He hated that they were worrying about him over something so stupid. It was just a crush—it would go away. 

“Bullshit!” Kirishima snapped at him. Denki sat up and stared at him in shock as his jaw dropped. Out of the three of them, Kirishima was the one with the patience of a saint. If he was the one to snap at him, he must really be concerned. “We worry because we love you, bro. If something’s wrong, you’ve got to trust that we will be here to help you out.” Kirishima’s earnest gaze was the final tipping point for Denki; all of the tears and emotions that he had been holding back for weeks all came spilling out. Sobs wracked his body and Kirishima was quick to pull him into a bear hug, squishing him against his chest. Sero stood and moved to the arm of the beat up couch, sitting on it and rubbing Kaminari’s back soothingly as he let it all out, finally telling them about the interaction they had at work and what was said. 

“It just… it hurts guys,” he hiccuped after getting the story out. “ And that’s the most confusing part. It shouldn’t hurt like this. There was never a guarantee that we would get together, so why in the world does it feel like my heart was ripped from my chest and stomped on repeatedly?”

“You really liked her—it’s that simple. You guys have a lot in common and when you talked, it seemed like you could see a future with her that was more than just the friendship you already had established,” Sero reasoned as he ran his fingers through Denki’s tangled hair. When was the last time he brushed it? He couldn’t quite remember. 

“But doesn’t that just make me an idiot? I was asking for more than she was comfortable with,” he sniffled. 

“Nah, I don’t think it makes you an idiot. Maybe you could have backed off before it got to the blowup, but there’s really nothing you can do about that now.” Kirishima’s chest vibrated with his words, which started to lull Kaminari into a sense of peaceful bliss.

“Besides, if you’re an idiot, what does it make this one here?” Sero asked, sticking his thumb in Kirishima’s direction. “He has us wingman for him and forgets to set an alarm to be here on time. What a loser,” he snickers. 

“But clearly it worked out for the two of them,” Denki pouted, looking tilting his head to look up at Sero. “What about me though? I don’t know what I should do. Do I try talking to her?”

“I think the best thing you can do regarding her is to give her some space. If you try talking to her too soon, she may think you’re trying to hit on her again.” What Kirishima said made sense, but it still left a sour taste in Denki’s mouth. He hated when his friends were mad at him.

“You should try doing something to get your mind off her, off the situation. The longer you sit here in the house, the worse you will get. Maybe you should try picking up a shift at the cafe, just so you can get out of the house,” Sero suggested. 

“And risk running into her? She’s been avoiding me like the plague. Not to mention Bakugou might actually try and kill me if I randomly show up to work one day,” Kaminari whined, sinking down until his head was resting in Kirishima’s lap. 

“I’d make sure Katsuki wouldn’t kill you,” Eijirou assured him with a grin. “He may try and maim you a bit, but I wouldn’t let him kill you.”

“Gee thanks. That makes me feel so relieved,” Denki deadpanned, blinking up at him. 

“Okay, if not the cafe, why not try calling around and seeing if there is any electrician work that can be done? There’s got to be at least one building that needs repairs of some sort.” As if the fates were listening to Sero, Denki’s phone started to ring, the annoyingly loud ringtone signaling that it was his work line and not his personal one. The three of them turned to stare at it, not quite believing the luck that was bestowed upon them. 

“Dude, are you a wizard or something?” Kirishima asked. 

“Kaminari, you better answer that or so help me God,” Sero threatened lightly and Denki scrambled to grab the phone from the table. 

“Chargebolt Electric! Kaminari speaking. How may I help you?” The cheer in his voice sounded forced, even to him. But this was necessary. Just a step on the right path to getting better. 

“Kaminari? Hello! I am so glad you called! My name is Yamada and I am a world of trouble like you wouldn’t even believe. I’m at work and my walk-in cooler unit just stopped working. Is there any way you can come and fix it? I’m desperate here,” he begged. 

“I’m not quite as familiar with that piece of equipment as I would like to say I am. I’m not sure if I would be the best match for you,” he admitted with a sigh, shoulders drooping. He was actually kind of excited to get out of the house for once. 

“I’ve called around and everywhere else has said that they have no experience working with it. And they all referred me to you, saying you are the best in town. Please, I’m begging you here. I will pay you triple your hourly rate. This is urgent.” 

“Holy shit,” Kaminari wheezed under his breath. Triple his rate? Good god, he would be able to pay back Kirishima with that money. His gaze flickered to his roommates, who were both looking at him questioningly. 

“Please say you will help me. I don’t know what else to do and I really need this to run my operations today.” The desperation was clear in his tone and Denki felt a pang of sympathy for him. 

“Send me the address and I will be there as soon as I can,” Denki assured, already rolling himself off of Kirishima’s lap and rushing to his room. 

“Thank you so much! You will not regret this at all! I will text you the address ASAP!” Yamada agreed before hanging up. He let the phone fall from his hand and bounce on the mattress while he yanked up a pair of jeans and switched from his nightshirt to one of his numerous band shirts that was littered all over the floor. Huh, maybe he should get around to cleaning his room? 

“This will be good for you, Denks,” Sero called to him from his perch on the couch as he ran out of his room, hopping into his tennis shoes. 

“I agree! And remember man, if you need us, let us know. It’s not like it’s hard to find either one of us,” Kirishima reminded him as he also was putting his shoes on. 

“Says the man who was gone at least 4 days a week for filming. Also, your crocs are an offense to every god known to man, please burn them,” Kaminari teased while shrugging on his black and yellow hoodie, already feeling a little bit better. He grabbed his tool bag from the entryway and slung it over his shoulder. “Time to learn everything there is to know about walk-in coolers before I get there! See you fools later!” he called to them before he raced out the door. 

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The journey to the destination wasn’t a long one, thankfully enough. It gave him just enough time to read up about the repairs he would need to do without letting his mind wander too much. Before he knew it, he was walking up the steps to Cool Beans feeling more refreshed than he had in weeks. 

“Hello? Is anyone there?” he called out as he entered the cafe, closing the door softly behind him, mindful to not let any of the cats out. He was forever thankful that Yamada gave himthat heads up before he got there. He looked around the waiting area for signs of any human life. There was a low curse that came from somewhere to the right of him, beyond the doorway, and Kaminari wondered what that was about.

“Damnit, I swore I told Eri to lock the front door.” Denki looked over to where the grumbling was coming from and nearly choked. The man looked like he could belong on the cover of one of those alternative music magazines that Sero was subscribed to. The sleeves of his white button down t-shirt were rolled all the way up, revealing heavily tattooed arms. The front of the shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a black tank top that had what Denki could only guess was the logo for a metal band underneath. His vibrant purple hair was pulled back into a loose bun with wisps escaping and curling wildly around his face. And what a face it was—Denki could appreciate a man with piercings, he is friends with Sero, after all, and this man was no exception to that rule with the metal threaded through his lip, eyebrow, and bridge. What really captivated him, however, were his indigo eyes, which were lazily locked with his. This man could tell him to kiss his feet and Denki was pretty sure that he would in a heartbeat just from his hypnotic gaze alone.   

“Welcome to Cool Beans. Unfortunately, we are temporarily closed right now,” the man said, his low voice bored which should not have sent a chill down Denki’s spine, but that required further introspection that he didn’t want to delve into at the moment. The man quirked his eyebrow up at him—was that two piercings??—and Denki realized he was still standing there staring at him like a fool. 

“So I heard. The name’s Kaminari and I’m with Chargebolt Electric. I’m here to look at your walk-in,” he said as he jiggled his tool bag nervously. He was forever thankful that Sero combed his hair out during his earlier melt down as the hot stranger looked him over with a small smirk. 

“An electrician, huh? Well, you look like death warmed over,” he grinned, scooping up the big white and black fluffy cat that had walked up and started rubbing against his legs, demanding attention, as Denki talked. 

“You’re not looking so hot yourself, handsome,” Denki shot back as he took in the deep bags under the man’s eyes. A chuckle left the other as he lightly rocked the cat and gave it a small scratch under its chin and that was when he realized that he had accidentally used his flirty voice with cat-man. What was he doing ? “Forget I said that. Anyway, am I right in assuming that you aren’t Yamada?”

“You would be correct,” cat-man snorted. “The name’s Shinsou. Pops is the one who called you.” Shinsou squatted to let the cat go as it started wriggling around in his arms and dusted his legs off as he stood back up. “Follow me. I’m sure he’s still moving the product to the freezer so it won’t spoil.” It was all that Denki could do to not nod his head stupidly (or check him out discreetly) while following him, nor to scream loudly when a young girl came popping out of seemingly nowhere in a uniform similar to Shinsou’s, cradling a sandy-colored cat in her arms and speaking rapidly in a soft voice, the words too faint for Denki to pick up what she was saying. Shinsou ruffled her hair, chuckling at whatever she said and Denki was almost certain he had just heard the sound of angels. How was it fair for one man to be this hot? The small girl flitted away back toward the entrance of the shop after assuring that she would lock the doors this time and they finally reached the kitchen. 

“Pops! The electrician is here!” Shinsou yelled out and there was a loud bang with an even louder curse following it before a man emerged from inside the freezer, rubbing the top of his head. His hair was tied up in a loose ponytail and Denki blinked at him before recognition set in. 

“Wait—you’re Yamada? But don’t you work at Hands Up Radio?” he asked as he placed his toolbag on the ground. He knew his memory was a little fuzzy, but he swore he remembered being stuck in a conversation with this man for a good hour a couple months ago. 

“Oh wait! You’re Chargebolt Electric? Welcome, Little Listener! It’s nice to work with you again!” he smiled, showing off his perfectly straight teeth.

“Wait a second, you know each other?” Shinsou questioned, grabbing the case of eggs from the counter to transfer them over to the freezer. 

“Not closely, but I did some work at Hands Up a couple months ago for him. I guess I just didn’t make the connection that Yamada was also the radio host, Present Mic.”

“That’s right, Little Listener! Knowing that you’re the one doing the work here makes me feel better! And there’s no need to be so formal with me—feel free to call me Hizashi,” he said, giving Denki a hearty pat on the back. “Hitoshi, leave those on the counter. They just came from the market, so no need to chill them yet.” Shinsou shrugged and put the case of eggs back on the counter and grabbed another case of ingredients that Denki couldn’t identify from where he was at to put into the freezer.  

“Sounds good, Hizashi!” Denki grinned. “Now, how about you show me where the problem is.” Hizashi perked up instantly, and he followed him into the walk-in, already sucked into the chatter coming from the older man. It had been quite a while since Denki had really gotten to flex his electrician muscles, so he was eager to get to work.  

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

The repairs didn’t take as long as Denki had anticipated they would—thank you, internet—and he was putting his tool away after only around an hour of repairs. 

“Hey Hizashi, do you need any help getting your kitchen put back together?” Denki asked as he exited the walk-in. Instead of coming face to face with Hizashi, however, he ran face-first into Shinsou’s chest as he was leaving the freezer with a bucket of ice. Cubes sloshed out of the container around them, and Denki held his nose, which was throbbing from smacking it. 

“Whoa, you okay there?” Shinsou asked, putting the bucket up on the counter and went to take Denki’s hands, but before he could, Denki squeaked and took a step back. He was already in the midst of a bi panic—he didn’t need Shinsou accidentally adding onto it by holding his hand (even if it was for medical purposes). 

“Yeah! Of course ‘m fine! No need to freak out!” he flailed his hand, the other still over his nose. Shinsou just arched his eyebrow and shrugged it off before grabbing the ice bucket again. 

“Suit yourself. I’ll let Pops know you’re done.” He walked out of the kitchen and Denki was this close to smacking himself on the forehead. What a way to be an idiot. He pulled his hand away from his nose and was thankful to see that his nose wasn’t bleeding, at least. What a story that would have been; “oh yeah, I got a bloody nose from smacking my face on a hot man’s rock-hard pecs. No big deal.” He could hear Kirishima and Sero laughing already. 

“How’s my favorite electrician doing?” Hizashi asked, wiping his hand on a towel as he walked into the kitchen. 

“Not bad! Thankfully it was a pretty easy fix and I didn’t have to go out and get any special parts. That really saved on some of the costs!” he laughed. 

“Cost really isn’t a worry right now. I’d rather spend the money to get things fixed properly than go cheap and have it break down in a couple of days.”

“I still can’t wait to see how you explain this to Dad. He had been harping on you for weeks to make sure all of the appliances are up to par,” Shinsou snickered as he came back into the kitchen, putting the ice bucket up. 

“Don’t you have a bar to be attending to, eh Hitoshi?” Hizashi said with a forced smile, eyebrow twitching. 

“Oh, you’re right. Probably don’t want me spilling any more of your company secrets, huh?” he snarked back, before locking eyes with Denki. “The lighting has been going haywire recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw you again soon.”

“Alright that’s it!" Hizashi laughed, playfully shooing Shinsou out of the kitchen. “Get back to work before I get Shouta to dock your pay for mentally tormenting me.” Shinsou’s cackling laughter reverberated throughout the kitchen, and Denki’s skull, as he left the room and went back into the cafe. “Sorry about him. He just can’t help being snarky. I am scared to see what he may teach Eri in the years to come. Anyway,” he smiled, “how much do I owe you?”

“Um, give me a second,” Denki awkwardly chuckled, typing away in the calculator on his phone. “Since there weren’t any parts that I had to order, I only have to charge you for my labor. Which is 15,000 yen an hour. I hope that’s not too crazy of an amount for you.” 

“Are you kidding me? That’s practically a steal! You’re almost undercharging yourself. But, as I promised, I would pay you triple your hourly rate. Let me go get the money.” Denki’s jaw dropped—he thought that Hizashi was kidding about that. He disappeared and came back with the wad of yen and pushed it into Denki’s hands. 

“This is too much, I swear. Can I help you with anything else? Like, do you need help putting the stuff back into the walk-in?”

“Well, I was going to have Shinsou or Eri help me, but if you’re offering, then sure, why not!” The two set off to move all of the produce and day’s meat into the walk-in. Between the two of them, the job was done in no time. 

“Was there anything else you needed from me today?” Denki asked, looking at his phone for the time. It was only a little after 1300, which wasn’t bad at all. He just needed to make sure he avoided the path to Sugar Rush, lest Bakugou see him and try to kill him on sight. 

“I don’t think so, but you must be hungry. Why don’t you stay for a while and have a meal on me? For all of your hard work.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides, I have food at home, so it’s no big deal,” Denki chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Oh, but I insist. You have done an amazing job today,” he said, directing him to the bar area of the cafe. “How do you feel about cold soba?” he asked as Denki slid into a seat at the bar. 

“It's nice! But really, you don’t have to worry about it. Or, at least, let me pay for it. I feel bad for taking a free meal.” It wasn’t like he didn’t have the cash to pay for a meal now, after all. 

“Not a chance, Little Listener. Also, feel free to order whatever you want from the bar and Hitoshi will make it for you. And if you want to go spend time with the cats, let Eri know and she can set you up with some time with them,” Hizashi instructed before heading to the kitchen, leaving Denki alone with his thoughts and Shinsou. 

“So, wanna take him up on his offer for a free drink? I’d like to say I’m pretty decent at mixing them,” Shinsou asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder. 

“Hmmm, what about an Amaretto Sour? It’s been a while since I’ve had a good one,” Denki responded and Shinsou hummed before grabbing a glass and the bottles of Amaretto liqueur and sour mix. He found himself being mesmerized by watching Shinsou move, pouring the liqueur, sour mix, and a splash of Sprite into the shaker. A few shakes later and he was draining the liquid into a highball glass that had a couple of ice cubes in it. He garnished the drink with a cherry and slid it over to Denki with a satisfied smirk on his face. 

“One Amaretto Sour. Shaken, not stirred,” he grinned while wiping down the counter. 

“You’re such a dork, Haven’t heard a James Bond reference in a hot minute,” Denki snorted. A cute dork, not that he would say that to his face, though. The first sip of the drink was enough to ruin Denki for any other Amaretto Sour he could ever come across. How dare Shinsou say he’s only ‘decent’ at mixing drinks. “Dude—this is the best drink I’ve ever had. Do you like, go to school for bartending or something?”

“Ah, no. Nothing like that. I took some mixing classes since those were kind of required once we got the bar installed here, but otherwise I just learned by trial and error.” He didn’t look up as he spoke, too focused on cleaning the glasses he had just dirtied. “I actually am going to school for a degree in psychology, if you can believe that.”

“Well,” Denki started, eyeing Shinsou up and down, “I’ve known you for a total of maybe two hours, but I can say that that definitely tracks for you,” he announced confidently. “What I’m trying to figure out is why the cafe, though. Not that I’m really one to speak, since I also work at a cafe, but a cat cafe? What even made you interested in that?”    

“The cafe? Oh, well my dads own Cool Beans. It’s somewhat a family affair, I guess you could say. My little sister, Eri, mans the front counter, Pops and Dad switch off on running the kitchen, and I have the wonderful pleasure of being the barista, bartender, and waiter. It can be a bitch and a half to get everything done on a busy day, but it’s not all that bad. Especially when we can take a break and just chill with the cats.”   

“How is it working with cats?” Denki asked while nursing his drink. “I’ve never had a pet before, so the idea of having many little bodies working around you seems so cool to me.”

“It can be somewhat challenging, since they can mask when they don’t feel well. But the group of cats we have here right now are all super friendly. Some don’t get along well with one another, but there’s plenty of room for them to get their space and destress. Besides, we are all cat people here, so we all know how to read their body language to know what they need.” His back was to Denki as he reshelved the bottles but Denki could just picture the small smile that was crossing his face as he talked about the cats. 

“You sound like you really know your stuff. So, do the cats just get free rein over the cafe? Or are they only allowed in one area?”

“Well, they used to be able to roam around the dining area and the front lobby, but we had an incident a couple months back where we had a customer harassing the cats because he had too much to drink. Since then, we had to section off a room that is for the cats specifically and people can reserve times to go in and play with them. We have one cat, who is actually our family cat, that is a recurring escape artist. So, we always have to keep an eye on him.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, and while nodding along to what Shinsou was saying, Denki found himself being distracted by the intricate butterflies that wrapped around his forearm. 

“That’s some really nice linework you’ve got there. Where do you get your tattoos done at?” Denki blurted out before he could stop himself. Shinsou blinked at him, looked at his arms, then back to Denki. 

“Uh, I got these done at Tentacole’s. I came across Shoji’s portfolio and really liked his work. Awase, who also works there, was the one who did my piercings,” he admitted with a small blush on his face and Denki was pretty certain that talking about himself made him uncomfortable. 

“Oh! That’s sick! My roommate got some of his tattoos done there. He and Shoji were good pals back in high school, so Shoji hooks him up. I thought the art style looked familiar. Say, you said you’re studying psychology. What school do you go to?” he asked as he finished off his drink, a small thrum of energy running through his veins. 

“What is this, twenty questions?” Shinsou laughed. “I study at University of Akihabara. Why? You study there too?” 

“Nah, I went to Isamu Technical School. That’s where I became a certified electrician. But one of my roommates goes to UA. Well, he does the online program route since his work schedule keeps him pretty busy.” That was the understatement of the century, not that Shinsou needed to know. “I also have some coworkers that go there. Heard a lot of good things. Maybe one day I will go back and get a degree in English. That seems like fun.”

“Don’t let Pops hear you—he’s a substitute teacher for English classes. He can, and will, talk your ear off about English literature for hours,” Shinsou grimaced and Denki laughed. 

“Oh I can only imagine. The last time I did work for him, he talked my ear off for hours about different aspects of radio broadcasting. It was interesting stuff though. Definitely worth being late to my other job.” 

“It’s not nice to talk about others when they aren’t there to defend themselves,” Hizashi chided, appearing from the kitchen with a bowl of cold soba and Denki’s stomach growled loudly. Guess it had been a while since he last ate, huh? As he dug in, he listened to Shinsou and Hizashi playfully banter and Denki made a mental note to come visit this place again, not only for the amazing food and drinks, and cats, but also to get to know the mysteriously hot waiter a little more. He could sense a friendship—and crush, who was he kidding?—budding and he would be damned if he passed this up. He just needed an excuse to stop by again. Oh well, he was sure he would think of something.  

[nocompromise-noregrets]

Oh I'd love to read your thoughts on modern thranduil, legolas, any character you like

Hi, anon! I couldn't see myself writing a modern AU, originally (I'm not very good at AUs) so I didn't have many thoughts about modern versions of the characters, but then the idea for a daft Christmas movie AU came to me, and then All I Want Is You-'verse happened. In which:

Thranduil is Lord Greenwood, widowed, isolated, very lonely when his kids are away at boarding school, and he's rattling around in his enormous stately home with only Galion the butler for company. He owns, if not quite 'half the county' as Sigrid off-handedly puts it early on, a large country estate, which he runs as carefully, ethically and environmentally-responsibly as he can; he is painfully aware of the ridiculous privilege he's inherited through an accident of birth, and he tries his best to do good things with it all, support local community organisations and so on. He is rather reserved and, I think, actually quite shy (that's the British aristocracy for you...) which can come off as stand-offish and forbidding.

Legolas is eighteen years old, in his last year at boarding school, outgoing and friendly, into things like athletics and archery and history, and the member of the family most likely to be getting into trouble at protest marches, seed-bombing patches of wasteland, and probably superglueing himself to railings/diggers/bridges etc, given half a chance.

Tauriel is seventeen, very quiet and reserved, was adopted by Thranduil and his late wife when she was small after her parents died in a house fire - her dad was the woodsman on Thranduil's estate and Tauriel and Legolas had been best friends since they were tiny so it made all the sense. She likes horseriding, and she often goes and sits on the roof of Greenwood Hall to think. She also likes Sigrid, very much.

Bard is an exhausted, widowed single dad who was made redundant from his job as a museum curator (specialism: medieval weaponry) a few years ago and has been barely making ends meet as a delivery driver ever since. He'd like nothing more than to get another museum job, but there's nothing on the horizon. His one priority in life is making sure his kids are okay.

Sigrid is sixteen, also likes horseriding (and Tauriel, very much), and books and spends most of her time studying, working at the riding school at weekends in exchange for lessons, and looking after her siblings. (Her Da hates that she's had to take on so much responsibility)

Bain is fourteen, likes football and computer games, and if he were any more laid-back he'd be horizontal. He's quick-witted and more interested in his schoolwork, especially history, than he likes to let on. He's the artist of the family, too.

Tilda is ten, massively outgoing, given to asking awkward questions, thinks Legolas is the cat's pyjamas, and is probably going to be going to demonstrations with him just as soon as Covid's over. Weapons-grade cuteness which frequently requires warnings in chapter notes.

Thranduil has been noticing the very handsome delivery driver who's been bringing his wine orders (and may possibly have been making more orders as a consequence) but hasn't quite managed to actually speak to him...until he does, and then they bump into each other, quite literally, in town a couple of weeks before Christmas. At which point the kids take matters into their own hands. And then three months later the first lockdown happens and things rather accelerate from there. :D

I actually work, part-time, in a stately home, so I've ended up channelling all sorts of things into this story from personal experience, and I've been having a whale of a time with it, although I'm rather stalled on it at the moment (then again, I'm stalled on pretty much everything at the moment...)

I did write another modern AU for Tolkien Secret Santa, in which Bard and Thranduil were friends as teenagers and never quite got round to doing anything about (or indeed understanding) what they felt about each other before they went off to uni and lost touch, and then run into each other 25-odd years later; in that one Thranduil is a very repressed (and probably demisexual/grey-ace) top-flight QC (Queen's Counsel, a top lawyer) and Bard is assistant distribution manager for a brewery in their home town, and the kids are more or less as above - I had to put my foot down with that one at 14k words or it would have turned into another massive series and I haven't the time or the mental energy for it at the moment XD

I do tend to take the movie portrayal of Thranduil as inspiration rather than the book one, which is probably why my versions of him are all rather more reserved than many others. Which is why fandom is so awesome - there's room for everyone! :D

Thank you very much for asking! <333333 I've never really sat down and thought about my headcanons before, much less actually written a post for them. I am wondering whether perhaps I should do something like this for Empty Vessel-'verse (my enormous sprawling Middle-Earth-set series)...it's certainly big enough, and I do have a large number of headcanons for it at this point...

[adaodinson]

Thank you

I got the inspiration for this since I watched Rush again (one of my favorite movies). I really enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoy reading it :)

And well my obsession on Daniel Brühl makes no sign on leaving any time soon, so I’m putting that to good use.

Summary: Niki notices his new neighbor the second she moves in next to him, will you notice him?

Warnings: swearing, assholes and Niki being a little shit that knows what he’s doing.

Relationship: Niki Lauda x fem!reader.

You sighed as you carried the last box into your new house. You had started taking everything inside with a rather positive energy, but after four hours you were exhausted. Everything was now inside, but as you closed the door and turned to look at your small living room, the sight made you want to cry. Sure, everything was inside, but it was still packed up.

-You know what- you talked to the air- I´ll do that tomorrow, I´m gonna treat myself cause this was fucking exhausting-.

You walked towards your new kitchen. Of course, the only things that were unpacked were your writing tools and cooking tools. As you walked around the counter a sudden feeling of tired happiness filled you. You had finally found a job you adored, and at the need, you didn´t hesitate in moving out from your country into this new, small place. It was perfect for a person or two; or as your case happened to be, one person and two cats. You were starting, doing what you loved, and you knew it was going to be tough, but you weren´t expecting anything else.

Almost automatically, you started settling all the ingredients for spaghetti bolognesa on the counter, and since you knew the recipe by heart, the only thing you used your phone for was to play your favorite music. As you danced and sang around, you moved gracefully, working with the stove, chopping what was needed and mixing expertly. You had always loved cooking, and you were pretty good at it, if you said it yourself. But you never saw it as a career. Your thing was writing.

As you waited for the pasta to cook and the sauce to simmer, you looked outside the window when a sudden light in the next-door house was turned on. It was pretty close, so you had a good sight of the inside. It looked cozy, but it seemed whoever lived there didn´t spend most of their time inside. Curiously, you waited to see if you could get a glimpse of the person, but after a few minutes passed, you gave up and went back to the kitchen.

Niki was just arriving to his house. He was, as usual, exhausted. All he wanted was to finish the phone calls he needed to do and go to bed, but an amazing smell that he immediately recognized as bolognesa caught his every action. He headed for the window, and that was when he saw you. You were wearing a pair of dark blue pants and a purple hoodie, and even though your mother would have said you looked like a homeless person, Niki thought you were insanely cute. Of course he always kept that kind of thoughts to himself, but he couldn´t help but staring as you danced around the kitchen, checking on the pasta and mixing up the sauce. He could get a rather low volume of your so inspired singing, but what he managed to hear was beautiful.

-Huh, she´s pretty, dances, cooks, and sings… what a sight I get from here- He said to himself, allowing his mind to take you in and think of you, not only in a bit of a sexy way, but in a cute one as well.

From that day on Niki caught glimpses of you many times, doing different things. He learnt so much about you, but at the same time, he knew nothing. It was obvious you had two cats, and that they loved you as much as you loved them. His heart had ached the first time he saw you laying on your small garden, with your back facing up, and with both of your cats cuddled on top of your back as you slept. For those moments, he allowed himself to feel, knowing it wouldn´t lead anywhere. But it was only for those few minutes that he saw you that he let his mind find somebody so cute and not try to find something wrong with them. He never expected people to know who he was, but he thought someone like you wouldn’t have gone unnoticed at the races, not just by him, but by the other drivers as well, so he knew you probably didn´t know him for his career.

You had seen your new neighbor a few times, and God wasn´t he attractive. You swore you had seen him somewhere, but couldn´t quite place your finger on where. You knew nothing about the guy, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to stop making fake scenarios in your head; ones in which he would look at you for the first time and fall for you, but you knew it was normal to fantasize that way. The day you finally talked to him though, was a... weird one, to say the least.

You had bought a new couch but forgot to specify in the delivery form that you needed help taking it inside, so when you saw the huge furniture, you felt like screaming.

Niki was arriving from a morning of work with Clay. It was one of those rare days in which he got an afternoon for himself. After parking his car, he walked towards his house, and as he reached for his keys he stepped on something and fell on his ass with a hard smack.

-OUCH- he whined as he tried getting up. The second you felt something hit your foot you knew something was going to go wrong, and when you turned to see your cute neighbor (that happened to have an Austrian accent) on the ground with an angry face, your fear came real.

-What the hell was… watch out next ti…-He yelled but couldn´t finish. The second he saw you on your knees holding the wrap around the couch, he realized he had stumbled with your foot, and his angry face immediately changed into a soft one.

-I´m sorry, is your foot okay?- He asked, feeling stupid at the second the words left his mouth. You looked at him with a confused and embarrassed look.

-What? No, don´t you apologize, I´m sorry, I should have been more careful as to where I was sitting. Please don´t apologize, are you okay?- You said as you stood up and offered your hand to help him get up.

-Yeah, I´m fine, do you need help with that?- Niki knew there were first times for everything, but he cringed at the words that were coming out of him, they seemed to make you happy though, so it didn´t bother him for that long. He wasn´t always an asshole, but he definitely wasn´t used to being nice either. Around you it seemed to come out automatically, and he hated it but loved the way it made you smile. He had so many mixed feelings that he was actually feeling nervous. What the hell is wrong with me, he thought.

-Oh yes please! If it´s not too much trouble, I´ve been trying to take this inside for 40 minutes and well, you can see how good that´s going- He chuckled softly and you felt your heart skip a beat at the sound.

Without another word, he headed for one side of the couch as you grabbed the other one, but before you could lift it, about three people with shirts that spelled “James Hunt” interrupted.

-Hey rat face- a tall, dark haired man said as the other two behind him laughed- hey cutie, is the asshole bothering you?- He said looking at you. Who the hell does this idiot think he is?

Niki´s face was serious, just serious. He didn´t even look at the guy, almost as if he was used to that type of thing happening, and he made no sign to want to do anything about it. It impressed you how it seemed like he genuinely didn´t care about this guy, but you weren´t taking any of it, so before any of the idiots said anything else, you spoke.

-No, actually, the ugly assholes bothering are you three shitheads, so if you could walk on and leave us alone, I would mostly appreciate it- You said with a harsh tone and a serious grin. Niki dramatically turned his face with a shocked and amused expression towards you. The three guys didn´t seem to have any clever response, but their heads were too filled with ego to actually leave.

-Hey, you heard her! Go away assholes!- Niki finally said. They walked looking at each other. They clearly weren´t expecting any of you to talk back.

-Thank you- Niki said with an almost inaudible tone.

-Don´t thank me- you said with a smile- the idiots only wish they were as handsome as you are...- That last part came out without you wanting it to. You immediately covered your mouth with your hand and tried to ignore the surprised but hugely amused grin on Niki´s face.

-I´m sorry, I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to say that I…-

-Do you really think that?- You would have liked to say he was genuinely asking, maybe he was, but now it was pretty clear he was teasing you because of the stupid smirk that covered his face.

-Maybe…- You said as you looked to the floor.

-I´m Niki- He said as he took his hand from the couch and placed it for you to shake. That smirk was still plastered in his face.

-I´m Y/N…- You said hesitantly as you shook his hand, not looking at his face.

-You´re beautiful, you know?- Niki stated with a proud tone. Oh he knows what he´s doing.

You weren´t even able to answer, your face was redder than the apples that were hanging from the tree in front of your house, and as much as you wanted to, you couldn´t come up with any way of teasing him back.

-So, let´s take this inside- He said as he lifted the couch. You only nodded and followed. Niki was dying. He found it so insanely cute and amazing how just a few seconds ago you were being a badass against the assholes that bothered him, but when he complemented you, you couldn´t even bring yourself to answer.

You had no stairs, but it was a relatively long trip, so you really appreciated his help. As you settled the couch on it´s place, both of you fell dramatically into it and sighed at the effort.

-Let me make dinner for you, as a thank you- You said shyly but with a little bit more confidence.

-I´d love that, gorgeous- He said as he winked, and you felt your insides melting. Once again, he had you wrapped around his finger, you both knew it, and you both loved it. You led him to the kitchen and as you pulled out the ingredients, you felt two hands hesitantly grabbing your waist. Hesitantly not because he wasn´t sure he wanted to place his hands on your waist, but because he didn´t want to overstep.

You leaned into his touch and he got the answer he wanted. All afternoon you spent dancing with Niki behind you, talking with you and complementing how amazing everything smelled. You secretly thanked your past self for forgetting to ask for help on the couch, since that mistake led to one of the best things in your future: Niki Lauda.

[peachyproserpina]

Wickedly Domestic

John Wick x OC

Chapter 3: Meetings and Breakdowns

TW: none

Maria was sweating, not from her run, not from the meeting with the most dazzling person she had ever met. No, she was sweating because she was speeding trying to not be any more late them she already was with her meeting with the fucking CEO of her job. She pulled into a space in the underground parking lot before she threw on her heels and booked it to the elevator leading to the lobby. She could feel her calves complain while her tits were basically bouncing out of her bra. In her rush to get dressed and get out the door she didn't think to even put on tights or a good bra. The drive over had been a mess, she never understood while she bothered driving when she had to go into the city, there was always traffic. If there was something you could count on when it came to New York was traffic and tourists. She had managed to not rear end multiple people on the way into work but that did nothing to help her anxiety, adding the fact she was running late to this meeting and she was almost t-boned at an intersection she was panicking.

She could feel the anxiety build up in her veins and makes her blood run cold despite the fact she could run a hand down the back of her neck and come up with a bucket of sweat. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, tapping her nails on the screen of her phone, she checked the time and winced when she saw it was already half past 7. When the doors to the elevator finally dinged open she bit her lip and huddled in the back corner, there was only one other person she recognized in the elevator out of the 4 people already packed in. She couldn’t place a name to his face but his drab attire screamed ‘accounting’ to her. She let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and started to tackle the mess that was her hair.

She was still sweating and nervous and she could tell the other passengers in the car were getting tired of her tapping her toes. So busy freaking out about being late she didn’t notice when someone slid next to her and started picking at her hair with her; taking out the knots she couldn’t reach. She froze, someone was in her space, the elevator was filling up and if another intern thought they could feel her up because she was “new and fat” she was going to have a breakdown. She turned to face the intruder and let out a breath when she saw one of her friends. Arianna was working on getting the knots out of Maria’s hair, worrying her lip between her teeth before meeting Maria’s gaze and smiling.

“How’s it going dollface?” Arianna asked while she was rummaging through her bag to find her hair brush. Maria let out an audible breath before replying.

“Could be better, aren’t we like 30 minutes late to this meeting? As region manager you should be freaking the fuck out?”

“Maria, didn’t you get the email update? It was pushed back to 8 am. I told you to check your work email more often.” Arianna chided her, tugging playfully on Maria’s hair. Maria stuck her tongue out at her and moved onto working on her lipstick while her hair was being dealt with. Arianna fussed with her hair before giving up and dropping it back on her shoulders, she was the sole reason Maria has this job. Arianna was the one who vouched for her during the whole interview process, if it wasn’t for her she probably be washing dishes in a bar. While that isn’t a bad job it isn’t enough to keep up on her car payments.

“That’s good I guess. At least I can get something to eat and coffee before the meeting.” Maria unlocked her phone to a barrage of messages from her various group chats. She could feel her anxiety come back tenfold, usually her groups were quiet this early in the day. If everyone was up and making a ruckus someone was usually hurt, or in trouble. She furrowed her brow while she followed behind Arianna, letting her lead her to the line of the little cafe in the building. Opening her roommate chat she scrolled through the 100 plus messages she managed to miss in the short elevator trip up about 60 floors from the garage.

She started from the top, Tubbs, her cat got out again and hasn’t been home since Maria left for work. She cursed herself for leaving the front door unlocked in her rush to be on time. Tubbs was easily 20 pounds and had a knack for opening doors. She shuffled forward with the line,Bradley, her roommates dog would probably find Tubbs skulking around the property before her shift was done, so she wasn’t too worried. Her other roommate Libbie, who was woken up by the incessant ringing of the doorbell approximately 30 minutes ago had been messaging the chat since.

Libbie: I swear to FUCK Mari if you dont fucking ANSWER THESE I AM GOING TO KILL YOU MYSELF

Cooper: LOLOLOL calm down Libs, she was late to work

Mari: I have no fucking clue what yall are talking about.

Maria was brought back into the world by running into the order counter. She smiled when she saw her favorite barista working behind the counter. She rambled off her order before digging around her purse for her card. She was stopped when Mike, the barista stopped her.

“Don’t worry Mar, it’s on the house, you look like you need it.” Maria gaped like a fish and threw a $5.00 in the tip jar before walking away. Finding Arianna sitting on one of the plush couches she settled in next to her, turning her attention back to her phone. She was barraged by pictures of one of the most breathtaking flower arrangements she had ever seen. Delphiniums, peachy roses, purple hydrangeas, and dainty white bell flowers were all arranged in a huge black speckled vase. From the pictures it looked huge. At least a foot tall and she had no idea how big the round arrangement actually was.

Libbie: look, the guy said these were for you and and these are so fucking expensive. I’m pretty sure this fucking thing weighs 60 pounds. All the delivery guy, who woke me up btw, said it that it was addressed to you and needed to be delivered ASAP.

Mari: okay>>??? It could be like a stalker or something! Maybe it's my mom!

Cooper: We all know your mom is too fucking broke to order this many flowers for you. Maybe it’s your secret sugar daddy??

Mari: Okay Ouch,,,, ur right BUT still. I am not hiding a sugar DADDY from y'all. You think I would still be wearing walmart sports bras if i did have one???

Maria put her phone and silent before she got up and followed Arianna to the meeting room. It was in the executive offices, she they had another elevator ride up approximately 15 floors. Maria nestled herself in the back of the elevator and nursed her coffee.

“Rough morning?” Arianna ghosted her fingers under her own eyes, Maria gently touched her face, wincing when she could feel the bags under them. Maria shrugged, a noncommittal gesture she knew drove Arianna crazy.

“Yeah, my roommate is fucking the twink again and they woke me up at 4 am. I wasn’t able to get back to sleep so I went on a run, then I found this puppy on the trail at the swamp. Then I took her home and the owner was like, so fucking pretty.” Maria took a sip of her coffee before continuing, lowering her voice and the elevator filled with more people heading to the meeting filtered in. “Then Tubbs runs away because I was so fucking blindsided by how beautiful the guy was and I thought I was going to be late for this fucking meeting and apparently a huge fucking bouquet of flowers showed up for me like half an hour ago?” Maria pulled out her phone and unlocked it, shoving the group chat at Arianna. The other woman let out a gasp before she took the phone and scrolled through the chat history.

“Who do you think it was?? I don’t know anyone in the company, or you never told me about anyone you were seeing with the initials ‘J.W.’ and how hot was the guy with the dog?” Arianna handed the phone back before taking a sip of her own coffee. “Because like, your taste in men is trash, ladies you do a good job, but you would fuck a skeleton if it called you pretty.” Stepping out of the elevator, Maria slid it back into her purse before downing the last of her coffee and tossing the cup into the recycle bin by the meeting room door.

“I seriously have no fucking clue about the flowers, and he is like hot, like.” Maria tapped her finger to her chin, “like Adam Driver! But like, classically pretty. Like the kinda pretty you would find in an old painting from like the 1800’s or something.” Maria smiled and stuck her tongue out at Arianna’s shocked face before walking into the office and settling in her designated chair, which was thankfully next to Arianna’s.

“You are the only person who would think a painting from the 1800’s is pretty. Let alone Adam Driver. Him and his goofy fucking ears. So unless you can get a picture I am going to assume he is gross as all the other guys you've crushed on.” Arianna swiveled to look at Maria who was rolling her eyes. It was approaching 8 am. The room fell silent as the doors to the meeting room slammed open, the CEO walked in followed by the rest of the executive team. Arianna snapped her mouth shut before swiveling back to face the front of the meeting room.

[fangirlingincamouflage]

Blind Hope Chapter Six

Title: Blind Hope Author: Rosie Dayze Word Count: ??? (I can’t remember) Pairing: Nick Jakoby x Reader Chapter Rating: PG-13 Themes: Angst, Plot, affectionate frustration Disclaimer:  I do not own Nick Jakoby, he is the intellectual property of Netflix Originals. I make no money from this fanfiction. TW/CW: Descriptions of pain, long term hospital stay Previous Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

You Are Here

Chapter 7

Looking back, it was easy to ignore his messages for the first two weeks. You had work to get lost in and pain meds to dull everything. Between your cracked ribs, the stitches in your head, and fielding calls from people who meant well but took up too much energy to talk to, it was pretty easy to act like you had every intention of responding to Nick, without ever actually getting around to doing it.

"I'm awake," his first message said. "They said you already were released. What happened? Are you okay?"

It hurt. It hurt to read. It hurt even more not to respond. But you did it. You told yourself it was for the best. Being with you is what got him hurt in the first place. Sure, you could blame bigotry, and you'd be right, but that doesn't erase what happened, and that you were at the core.

"I know what happened was scary. Please, just talk to me." Another message says. "I just want to know you are safe."

You don't respond to that one either. You know what you'll say. You will tell him that you are perfectly okay. That it's fine. Just a scratch. Sure, your head got busted open and you are on some impressive pain killers. And yeah, you have to change the bandage twice a day because stitches are no joke, especially those on the head. And sure a chunk of hair is missing from where they shaved it to put said stitches in place. But does any of that really compare to what he went through?

"I'm okay if that's what you're worried about. It looked worse than it was."

You know exactly how bad it was. It wasn't like you just gathered your stuff and left after Nick's mother stopped in and delivered her bomb of truth. In fact, once the shock of her words had worn off you'd gotten yourself pretty riled up with a lot of thoughts that centered on how-dare-she. You'd gathered up[ all of your things, and stormed up to the Intensive Care Unit, you'd argued with a nurse, you'd begged and pleaded until they let you in to see him. And, if you are being honest, compared to Nick all you had was a scratch. Tubes were shoved up his nose, forcing him to keep breathing while needles fed him medication and hydration. The natural blue splotches on his skin did their best to hide the bruising, but it was too easy to see that the damage had been done. Gone was the coppery vest, all he wore was an ugly hospital gown and medical tape. One eye was swollen shut, one hand looked like it had seen the wrong side of a hammer. Or, more likely, a boot. He'd whimpered when you'd touched him, in pain despite being pumped full of who knew what.

That's when you had decided that Elizabeth Jakoby had been right. Being with Nick would have been selfish. Yes, he made you happy. Yes, his kisses made you light up. But was any of that worth the pain it put him through? No. Of course not. You needed to leave. And you needed to cut the relationship off. He'd get over you. He'd find a nice orc woman to settle down with. He'd be happy with his garden and his badge. He didn't need you. And he certainly didn't need another trip to the hospital.

So you called June and let her mother you into bed, and promised yourself that no matter what messages Nick Jakoby sent, you'd just ignore them. Sure, you knew it was bad form to ghost him. But you also knew that if you tried to actually break it off, it would kill something inside of you. Some tiny glimmer of hope that there were still good people in the world.

Those first two weeks were easy. They came before the new flower delivery, and the card that only had "I'm sorry," written in his hasty, blocky script. And then came the uber eats driver delivering from the Indian place you'd had your very first date. And then came the movie tickets and a little notecard saying "I'll be here, at seven this Friday. I hope you will be too."

You made yourself sick throwing the ticket in the garbage. You'd even poured week-old leftovers on top of it to keep yourself from digging it out. That night you invited June and her wife over and the three of you watched cheesy movies until dawn, if only to keep you from dwelling on where you rather would have been.

You got your stitches out. You were given a clean bill of health. Your hair grew back. Two weeks turned into two months, and then into half a year.

You went on dates. Some weren't too bad. Somewhere horrible. But no matter how nice the date was, or where you went, all you could think about was sharing a loaded waffle with a guy who saw the greatness in the universe. All you could do was reach up and feel that scar on your forehead and wonder 'what if?'.

"This is ridiculous." June flopped herself down on the couch. She was wearing her favorite orange and yellow pajama set. She had a plate of chocolate cake in one hand, and a fork in the other. She was eating her feeling since the love of her life was out to sea again. It made for a good excuse to buy a cake and have a sleepover. You are pretty glad that you have a best friend who still likes sleepovers. "You should call him."

"Listen, June, I know you thought we were perfect for each other but-"

June's demielf eyes narrow to cat-like slits. "Oh please."

"June, it was just two dates."

"And?"

"How much can you really know about a person in two dates?"

"You know when I decided I was gonna marry Em?" she asks.

"Well, you proposed on-"

"Date one."

You pause. "What?"

"I knew before the end of date one that she was the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. I knew it like I know the sky is blue and Versace does bold prints." She waves her hand through the air.

"That's not possible."

"Oh, it is. I realized I was doing everything I could to make her laugh because the sound of it was the best music I'd ever heard."

You can't help but remember Nick's laugh, and the way it came out too loud and honest. Your heart sinks into your stomach.

"And I wanted to keep ordering food, just so we could stay there longer," June continues.

After your first date, you and Nick just walked, walked until the only place you could go was home. You'd never wanted the night to end.

"But what really sealed the deal was how bad I wanted to see her again, even when we'd just said goodnight."

"But," you say, trying to ignore the feeling in your chest. "Couldn't it have just been an infatuation? Wasn't it just potential? Time and effort are what made it love, not your first date."

June shrugs. "Sounds to me like you are trying to convince someone in this room, and I'm pretty sure it's not me."

You lapse into silence as the words ring in your ears. Who are you trying to convince? You know that you had an amazing time with Nick. You know exactly what it felt like to laugh with him, run your hands across his shoulders, kiss him. You know that it was the exact mix of easy and heart tingling. You know that if ever there had been potential for something great, it existed in those two nights with Nick Jakoby.

"It doesn't matter," you say. "I wont get him hurt again."

June sets her plate aside and takes your hand in hers. "Sweetie, I get that. I do. But..." She takes a deep breath. "Listen, I don't know if you are ready to hear this but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway."

She shifts her place on the couch until she is facing you, your hands cupped gently in her own. The look she gives you is one of kindness, but no-nonsense. It's a mother's look.

"I feel like you are about to ground me for doing something dumb," you say, trying to be light-hearted.

"Kind of. I mean, I do think you did something stupid."

You start to pull away. "June-"

She takes your hands again, more firmly. "You did. You did do something dumb. I love you, hun. I really do but this time? This time I think you screwed up."

"How? By protecting him? By making sure he never has to be in that hospital bed again? June, you didn't see him it was...it was-" You can't even bring yourself to say how bad it was.

June's hands tighten ever so slightly. "I know, sweetie. I know. It sucked. I know how seeing you hurt made me feel, and I can only imagine that it was worse seeing Nick like that. And I can only imagine how guilty it made you feel. But honestly? None of that matters."

"Why not?"

She blows out a soft breath. You can see a hard line of tension in her shoulders. She closes her eyes and when she opens them they are filled with a steady resolve. "Because you didn't even give him a choice. And hun, that was shitty." Since you rarely ever hear June curse, you know exactly how much she must mean this. "I know why you did it. I get it, but I don't really agree with it. You hurt yourself, which was your choice. But you hurt him too. You didn't give him an explanation, and you didn't give him closure." She holds up a hand before you can interrupt. "I'm not saying every person you go on a date with deserves a point by point explanation for why you don't want to see them again. But we both know that Nick wasn't just some date."

"I knew he'd try to talk me out of it."

June shrugs. "Maybe. Probably. But after getting hurt the way that he did, don't you think that he deserved the chance to try?"

Guilt drags at your stomach. You shake your head and pull your hands out of her grip. She lets you.

"I don't know that I'd have been strong enough to tell him no."

June shrugs. "Maybe because you shouldn't have."

You make a sound in the back of your throat and reach for the remote. "Come on, the show is-"

The words you were going to say die in your throat. The screen is filled with a news broadcast. A pretty woman you barely notice is talking about a fire downtown. The words Bright, officers down, possible magical terrorism hang like an ugly miasma in your ears. A picture of Nick superimposes itself over the fire.

You don't even remember getting up. You don't remember grabbing your coat. All you hear is the jingle of keys as you head to the hospital you ought never to have left him at.

[random-imagines-blog]

Crash Love {Davey Havok x Reader One Shot}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2822 Summary: You keep notebooks of your writing, sort of like journals. And the person that you write about the most happens to find one.

The water brushed up against the shore in light waves. It was a rather calm day in the late fall, so there weren’t many people actually out here on the beach today, which made it absolutely perfect. It was perfect sweater weather, your favorite cardigan wrapped around your body keeping the warmth in. You had taken off your shoes though, and were digging your toes into the cool sand. In the Summer, it was much too hot to walk across barefoot, but now, it was deliciously cool. Your favorite time of year. Your soy latte was beside you, having dug it into the sand so it wouldn’t fall over, and your notebook was on your lap - you felt like you were in your own little paradise, ready to forget about the world around you for a little while. Your best friend, the person that you were writing about in your notebook, wouldn’t be around for another hour, so you felt safe in putting your feelings down about him. He couldn’t try to peek at it, the way that he usually did.

You were even using a pen that he had gotten for you as part of your birthday gift. It wouldn’t be Davey if it didn’t have some sort of darkness to it. Rather than just being your average pen, it looked like skulls stacked on top of one another, but was surprisingly easy to grip.

The pages of the unassuming notebook were mainly full with all sorts of things. Poems, short stories, notes on things that you meant to write about but never got to do, even doodles. It had been your faithful companion for almost a year, and would need replacing within the month. There were only a couple of pages left. You meant to make them count. Once you were done with this notebook, it would be going straight into the lockbox under your bed, among the others from previous years. You didn’t have much of value except for your thoughts and your words, so they were the only things that took up the lockbox.

Putting pen to paper, you let the words flow. Many people, including past English teachers, had told you that you had a gift for words, and they had expected big things out of you. A best selling author or something among those lines, but you never quite lived up to those expectations. You preferred to keep your words private. Your own secret little pleasures.

‘Just as the waves pound against the shore, again and again I find it even harder that I am meant to pretend That my heart isn’t the sand, being pushed down hard By your smile, your eyes, which put me on guard California itself is cold when you leave it here alone I hide myself in sweaters which you have outgrown You go around the world like a bird spreading wings I watch you on TV and miss the little things Like the way your piercing hits my cheek when we hug Or the way your cologne keeps me in a state of fugue’

You left it there for now. It wasn’t as happy as some of the other things that you wrote, but knowing that he was going to be taking off for a tour in Europe hurt. And you would have to pretend to be happy for him and all of his success. You were immensely proud of him, he was getting everything that he deserved and worked so hard for but -

-but you could selfish sometimes and want him for yourself. It had been you two throughout high school, and then at University until he dropped out to focus on music full time. You didn’t even hold fault with the rest of the boys for taking him away, finding a sort of family with Jade, Adam and Hunter eventually. But you just didn’t have the connection with them that you had with Davey. And you knew it was because you were in love with him.

You turned back to something happier that you had written a couple of days ago, after Davey had taken you out to dinner, just as something fun to do.

‘For once, clouds overhead resemble me and you Though I’m glad for gravity to keep me like glue With feet on the ground, we walk side by side Though with your talents, I’d say, more like a glide My head upon your shoulder, and arm entwined with yours You only let go to kindly open up the doors The smell of the the spices, the delicious food, oh- I love you so much, just please, watch me glow.’

You heard footsteps coming up the sand. It was quiet, but distinct, so you immediately closed up the notebook and placed it under your legs where it won’t blow away if a gust of wind were to come about. You looked over your shoulder to see the familiar figure approaching. Your heart was beating fast just looking at him. Although he looked amazing when he was on the stage, dressed up and full of make up, you thought he looked his best just as he was now. His hair was sticking out from beneath his hood at odd angles, his tongue was flicking against his lip ring, his eyes were crinkled from the smile that he was giving you. Just a natural beauty, in your opinion.

“You’re early,” You said, patting on a hard patch of sand beside you, wanting him to sit down. He did, sliding into the spot, his legs splayed out in front of him. He moved the hood from off of his head, showing off his freshly shaved sides. It was tradition for him to get a haircut before the tour started.

“Are you complaining?” He teased. He picked up your drink, which had gone cold in the time that you were out here, though it was still half full. He took a sip, smacked his lips, then put it back where it had been. You rolled your eyes at how he just welcomed himself to your things. It was as if the only thing that really was private were your writings. He’d even taken some of your clothes before. In fact, you were pretty sure that it was one of your t-shirts that was sticking out from beneath his sweater.

“I was hoping to get more done by the time you got here, but alas,” You sighed, dramatically.

“Writing again?” He asked, seeing the notebook underneath your legs.

“When aren’t I?” You said, teasing yourself. “I might even finish another notebook by the time that you get back. You’re bringing me souvenirs, right? I really want a little replica of the Eiffel Tower for my collection.”

“I’ve already bought you two,” Davey pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but it’s the closest I’m ever going to get to seeing the real thing. We can’t all be rock stars,” You nudged him, making him laugh.

“Never know - you could do something with all those words you scribble down.” He tapped the top of the notebook and you moved it out of his reach possessively. It was from him especially that you hid those words from. He was content to just be friends with you and the idea of ruining that was devastating. Even more so than this stupid unrequited love crap that you hoped would only be in books, but you were living through.

“Definitely not,” You shook your head. “Besides, as I’ve demonstrated for you time and time again, I cannot sing. Wasn’t it Hunter who rushed in the room, thinking that I was killing a cat?”

Davey laughed at the memory, and had to nod, which didn’t offend you in the slightest. You knew that you didn’t have the pipes to be a rockstar. Davey used to think that it would be great to have you as a backup singer or something of the sort so you could be a part of the band, but your little demonstration had put an end to that.

The two of you sat on the beach for a couple of hours, enjoying the solitude of the day, and the calm weather which rarely came into California. He even used his phone to deliver Starbucks to their location, tipping the delivery guy generously for coming out onto the sand so that the two of you could have your coffees. You listened to him go on about the busy tour schedule, and how he didn’t have much hope of sightseeing beyond the van and the venue.

“But I’ll get you your damn replica,” Davey assured you, making you smile with hope. More than anything, you wanted to go with him, but it really was just band and crew only. You and Davey already tried that, but the record label, who was paying for everything, had put their foot down.

“My collection thanks you,” You grinned. “Oh, maybe next time you’re in Asia, you could pick me up one of those little Tokyo Tower ones. It’s almost the same, but red.”

“What, you have enough of them that you need colors now?” Davey asked, looking at his phone and pulling a face. “I have to go - practice and packing...”

“Do you need any help?” You asked, hoping to spend a little extra time with him, but he shook his head.

“The last time that you helped me back, you somehow replaced all my underwear with speedos. Not happening.” He got to his feet and then helped you to do the same. You loved the warmth of his hand. This little bit of contact was the most that you could hope for and you savored it immensely. But it ended all too soon. “Want a ride home?”

“With the way that you drive? No way,” You stuck your tongue out. He was infamous for being a horrible driver, and even you who barely saw his flaws thought so. “I’ll just walk, it’s not far.”

“Okay,” He said, shooting you one of his infamous smiles. “Text me when you get home safe.”

“Just promise me you won’t look at it while you’re driving.”

-

You had never felt so frazzled or stressed out in your life. This was worse than the time that you had slept in before exams in your final year of University. This was worse than the interviewing process to get your current position. This was even worse than the time that Jade had set you up with his brother on a date, and it had turned out to be the most awkward experience of your life!

Your notebook was missing.

You couldn’t remember the last time that you had it but you had a feeling that it was at the beach. But you would never forget it there, would you? You weren’t stupid enough to just leave it for someone to find. It didn’t have your name in it, or your address so no one could link it to you if they actualy found it but ... it was still mortifying.

You walked where you had been the day before with Davey, going down the same path and stopping in what you were pretty sure was the same spot. Nothing. So this either meant that it wasn’t where you had lost it, or someone had picked it up. You grew so frustrated with yourself - how could you lose something that was so close to you all of the time? And even worse, the special pen that Davey had gotten you was tucked in among the pages.

You dragged your way back home, only to see that there was a black car in your driveway. From the dent in the bumper, you could tell that it was Davey’s. He had a key to your place, so he wasn’t waiting outside, but still - you couldn’t think of why he would be here. You entered your place, and looked around to see that he wasn’t anywhere in sight. “You better not be drinking all of my almond milk!” You shouted. You walked into your kitchen, and rather than him being the first thing that you noticed, it was the notebook, sitting on the counter. You knew that you hadn’t left it there, having walked through this kitchen a dozen times in your search. You stopped in the entryway, and forced yourself to look onto Davey’s face.

“I noticed it when you were walking away,” He said, opening up the notebook. Your jaw dropped at the audacity that he had. He knew that it was private. You had never let him even peek inside one of your books before, and here was, flipping through it like he was looking for something in particular. Did he have the pages memorized? “I was going to give it to you but you were already gone.”

“So you just went through it?” You asked, marching forward to try to take it from him, but he held it out of your reach. High above his head, with the page facing down so that he could read whatever page had interested him. You tugged on his arm, but he was relentless.

“I’m glad that he doesn’t know that he’s all I think about, He doesn’t feel the same way, I have no doubt. I’m glad that he doesn’t know that I dream about his mouth The way he kissed me cheek on vacation, down south. I’m glad that he doesn’t know that I want to share house So that at night be can help unbutton my blouse I’m glad that he’ll never find any of this out He’s someone that I could never live without-”

“Please stop,” You pleaded with him. And he did. He just flicked his tongue at his lip ring again, sucking on it slightly, thinking about something. “Would you believe me if I told you they were about someone else?”

“No.”

“Thought not,” You said. Davey lowered his arms and you took the book out of his grip, slamming it shut before he could peek anymore. But he had all night. He probably read everything. You’ve never felt more mortified in your life.

The only sound was that of the ticking clock which hung on your wall. The seconds were passing by. “Can you maybe say something?” You asked, finally, unable to take it anymore. “Like - I don’t know - we’re not friends anymore and leave?”

“Why would I leave?” He asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

“Why would you stay?” You asked in return.

He didn’t answer you with his words. Rather, his lipring was against your lips now, still slightly wet from his tongue, which was all that you could focus on. Until you realized that his arm was sneaking by you, trying to get the notebook again. You pulled yourself away, came to terms with what just happened, and then gasped loudly. “What-”

“What?” Davey asked, snatching the book before you could take it back, and hid it inside of hoodie. “It’s all very cute - really. Why didn’t you read me any of it before?”

Your mouth opened and closed, and you felt like a fish trapped out of water. “Why do you think?” You finally sputtered out. You pressed your fingertips to your lips, still feeling the metal against them. Still feeling that kiss. “Because they’re silly and it’s humiliating!”

“They’re not silly. You’ve got some good material here,” Davey said, hugging it close to his chest so you couldn’t attempt to get it. You didn’t. He’d already seen everything. There was no point in trying to get it now. “It’s just kind of funny...”

“What is?”

“I’ve been trying to use my lyrics to get through to you,” He said, smiling. You were glad he looked so happy, but the situation didn’t seem to call for it. You were still more confused than anything. “Not as sappy as your poems but-”

You hit him in the arm, and he laughed and took a step back. “You’re a jerk.”

“Yeah, and I feel like one since I still have to leave tomorrow,” He frowned, the light leaving his eyes. Still, now that you weren’t hitting him, he approached you once more, and wrapped you in one of his infamous hugs. It felt different now though. It had more meaning. “I shouldn’t ask you to wait for me-”

“Are you kidding? I thought you read this book - I’ve been waiting for years. What’s another couple of months?”

[bluesey-182]

We Have To Stop Meeting Like This - Chapter 8

holy shit??? i finally did it??? i finished this chapter??? amazing. since there are so many chapters now i’m just going to start linking the fic on ao3 instead of linking all the posts separately. i hope that’s okay. now, without further ado, here is the update:

--------

“Hey, I didn’t think you’d answer.”

On the other line of the phone came the blasting sounds from a video game as someone shot a simulated gun. “Why?” Cardan asked. It sounded like he had his cell on speaker phone. “Cause it’s one in the morning?”

Jude couldn’t help herself--she rolled her eyes even though he wasn’t there to see it. “No, Cardan, because I thought both of your hands had been gnawed off by a giant rat. Of course because it’s almost one o’clock.”

There was uproarious laughter--deep and male--from the other end that didn’t sound like Cardan’s laugh. His roommate, probably. But if he had heard her, that confirmed her theory about being on speaker.

“First of all,” Cardan’s amused voice cut through the laughter. “The only rat that would be big enough to best me in a fight is an R.O.U.S from The Princess Bride and they don’t actually exist. And second of all, darling, I’m a nocturnal creature, so of course I’m awake to answer your late night booty calls. Now what can I do for you?” Machine gun fire continued in the background from his end, joined with shouting from Cardan’s roommate to “watch out, dude, watch out! damnit now you’re dead. way to go, geezer.”

“I just,” Jude began but quickly cut off, unsure of how to proceed knowing that someone else was listening in on their conversation--even if he was clearly wrapped up in whatever violent video game the two boys seemed to be playing. “Um…”

“Hang on, Jude.” There was some mumbling from his end as words were exchanged, then a click like a door being closed, and suddenly the game’s noises were gone and Cardan’s voice was closer. He had taken her off speaker. “Okay I’m alone now, sorry. Is everything okay?”

“I just,” Jude started again and trailed off once more. “I can’t sleep.”

It had been almost a week since her last seizure. A week since Cardan broke down her door to find her on the floor laying in her own blood. Six days since Madoc hired someone to fix the girls’ door, five days since Madoc ordered Jude to move back home until they could get her seizures back under control, and two days since Vivi finally helped Jude convince their father to let her stay in her own apartment. The last week had been exhausting and yet Jude was restless. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared after what had happened. 

“Do you want me to come over?” Cardan offered helpfully, and the sincerity of his offer nearly brought tears to Jude’s eyes. 

“No,” she admitted. “No, I want… out. I don’t want to be here right now.”

“Where do you want to be?”

“I don’t actually know.”

A brief silence washed over them, interrupted only by the sound of Taryn’s cat meowing from somewhere in the apartment. Finally, Cardan said, “I’m on my way to pick you up.”

--------

The first thing Jude noticed when she got into Cardan's car was his wild hair. The perpetually messy curls were somehow even more unkempt than usual. The second thing she noticed was that Cardan was wearing sweatpants that fit him in a very pleasing way underneath a hoodie that some primal part of her begged to steal from him. The third thing she noticed was his smirk at her noticing him.

"Good evening," Cardan said in a mockery of a stereotypical vampire voice. 

"What, are you Dracula now?" Jude teased.

"I think I'd be more of a faerie than a vampire, actually." 

"Then why the vampire voice?"

"Jude Duarte: ever the critic."

"Spare me.” Jude tugged the seatbelt across her body and buckled it with some effort--the buckle itself was coated in a sticky substance that was likely spilled soda. She hoped it was soda. “Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Cardan--"

"I promise there's not immediate danger to your person, if that's what you're worried about. Just trust me?" 

Jude searched Cardan's face for any trace of deceit but came up empty. Hesitantly, she nodded her assent. Satisfied, Cardan put the car into gear and drove down the street like a person who decidedly deserved to have their license revoked. At Jude's surprised shriek, he laughed, earning himself a scowl from Jude.

"I thought you said there was no immediate danger to my person," she said.

"I just floored the gas a bit, it's not like I ran a red light into oncoming traffic."

"You really are such a terrible driver, you know that?" Jude asked once Cardan had stopped laughing. Instead of a verbal response, Cardan reached for the volume nob on the radio and turned his music up to deafening volumes. As he had done before in the car, Cardan began singing along to the words--the sound more shouting than singing--as he occasionally looked over to Jude to sing parts of the lyrics to her. His face was so openly happy and carefree that something in Jude’s chest tugged on her like a line trying to reel her into him. Watching his lips form the words made her want to kiss him. Hearing his terrible singing made her want to join in. Watching the streetlights flash across his face made her feel free, alive, happy. Her mind told her heart that she was right where she was supposed to be.

The song changed and Cardan flashed a grin over to her but soon frowned at whatever expression was on her face. Quickly, he spun the volume back down to near silence and asked Jude ever so gently, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she croaked. Really, nothing should have been wrong, but her chest was aching in a way she couldn’t place. It was the sort of feeling of being happy but fearing it at the same time--a fear that it would end. “Can I play a song?”

Cardan looked as if he didn’t quite believe her answer to his question but nevertheless waved a hand to his phone on the dash in permission for her to pick it up. A cursory search through his music library showed her mostly alternative rock and pop music and loud punk songs, but in his playlists she found one with a promising title of “Chill Music.” She also found a playlist with her name on it. Jude pretended not to see it, even though her heart skipped a beat, and instead clicked on the first playlist.

Khalid started playing through the speakers as Cardan turned into an unlit parking lot in front of a chain of mostly darkened store-fronts. The stereo continued to play even after the car was shut off before finally turning off completely when Cardan crawled into the backseat and opened a functioning door to get out of his crap car. He came around to her side of the car and opened the door for her, holding his hand out to her like some fairytale prince asking a princess for a dance instead of a boy in a dark parking lot on a late night outing in his sweats who had also just clambered around his own car like a jungle-gym.

“Shall we?” He asked. Jude rolled her eyes at his dramatics--eliciting a laugh from Cardan--but accepted his hand and allowed him to guide her out of his car.

“Are you ever going to get your dented front bumper fixed?” Jude asked when her eyes caught on the evidence of their first meeting. She was surprised that even after all that time had passed he still hadn’t taken his car into a body shop. He clearly had the money for it. “Or your door, for that matter?”

“Nah, it pisses my dad off that I’m ruining the car.”

“Makes me wonder if you crash it on purpose,” Jude teased.

“Maybe I do,” Cardan admitted flippantly, his voice at odds with whatever flashed in his eyes. “I do a lot of reckless shit. But crashing into you truly was an accident, in case you're wondering. Now, let’s go inside before all my precious fingers fall off. It’s cold out here.”

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?"

"Well there's only one place still open right now," Cardan said, indicating with his hand one of the only lit buildings in front of them. A half burnt out sign above the doors proclaimed the place to be Ginkgo Garden and the smell of Chinese food drifted through the air. Jude inhaled deeply and looked to Cardan for confirmation of food in her near future. He smiled softly before offering her his hand to hold. Somehow, in the dark, it seemed like no big deal to hold onto him. She took his hand and they strode towards the restaurant.

“Why are they still open?” She wondered aloud. Beside her, Cardan shrugged.

“We’re in a college town and they do late night deliveries to the panicked students trying to cram everything into their brain at once?” He suggested.

“Makes sense.”

Inside the front doors they were blasted with a rush of hot air coming from an unseen heater in the ceiling. Jude welcomed it and, beside her, Cardan shivered one final time as if to shake the cold from his body for good. He released her hand to pull open the second set of inner doors for her, and Jude tried not to mourn the loss of his hand in hers. The restaurant's interior greeted them with green chairs and wallpaper patterned with mandarin trees. Soft music played softly over the sound of clinking dishes coming from the kitchen. Other than the young man standing behind a counter to the left of the door, no one appeared to be in the front house of the restaurant. Cardan exchanged familiar greetings with the smiling guy at the counter as Jude further took in the beautiful and elaborate decorations all over the place. It felt more like a home inside than a restaurant with its cramped but lovingly decorated space. Behind her, Cardan and the man kept chatting like old friends and Jude wondered just how often Cardan came here.

“Jude, this is Harry,” Cardan interjected into her train of thought, confirming her suspicion that he was a regular here. “Harry, this is Jude.”

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Harry smiled at her with so much genuine warmth that for a moment Jude was caught off guard by the open kindness from a total stranger. On its own accord her face seemed to smile back, but something told her it came out a bit more like a grimace. Cardan grinned at her and turned a conspiratorial grin towards Harry.

“I’m afraid Jude doesn’t smile much,” he said.

“You’re such a dick,” Jude remarked.

“She does, however,” Cardan continued, “say sweet nothings such as that to me all the time.”

Jude rolled her eyes as the two boys chuckled and decided it was best to tune them out. When her efforts proved fruitless (Cardan had proceeded to start listing all the “wondrous, heartfelt names” that Jude had “very fondly” called him since they had met for Harry to laugh at in increasing volumes as the names got more creative) Jude caught sight of a sign near the back that read "Bathrooms" with an arrow pointing in the wrong direction. Over her shoulder she caught eyes with Cardan long enough for an exchange of nods--one from her indicating where she’d be and one from him acknowledging that he understood--then ducked into the single stall restroom and locked the door behind her. Sounds from outside the small room reached her through the thick door as if from underwater. Everything sounded distorted and far away. Though she could hear the undertone of Cardan’s voice, all distinct words were drowned out, leaving behind only a melodic quality to his speech. She loosed a heavy sigh and turned so her back was against the door. From this new perspective, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. 

She liked to think that the mirror was hung unusually high but knew the reality was that she was too short to see her reflection below her shoulders. In the mirror she could see the dark circles under her eyes as evidence of her sleepless nights. Not for the first time, she wondered what Cardan saw when he looked at her. Did he see the girl in armor or the girl beneath it? Was she pretty to him? Or were her edges too sharp?

Jude tore her gaze away from her reflection and stepped forward to the sink where she turned her attention to the drain instead. As if on autopilot, she absently reached out to turn the sink handle, cupped some cool water into her palms, and gently splashed it onto her face. Droplets of water ran down her arms into her rolled-up sleeves as she allowed herself to stand there for a moment with her hands covering her face. Finally, she took a deep breath, snatched a paper towel from the dispenser, dried herself off, and walked out of the bathroom to find Cardan playing on his phone at one of the tables.

“All good?” He asked.

“Yeah, I got an eyelash in my eye and needed to rinse it out.” The lie came easily, but then again they always did.

“I ordered some food to go, Harry just ran back to get it for us. I was thinking we could take it back to my place and watch TV? I’ll even let you pick the show, as long as you don’t pick something that sucks.”

“Says the guy that watches Criminal Minds,” Jude teased, falling back into their easy banter.

“Hey,” Cardan pointed an accusatory finger in her face as she sank into the chair opposite him and she batted it away like an annoying gnat. “Criminal Minds,” Cardan continued regardless, “is interesting. It’s interesting to me how someone can be so fucked up to do the things they do.”

“And why do you do the things you do, Cardan?”

“Because my family didn’t want me so now I must act up to get attention.”

“See? That didn’t take fourteen seasons to explain.”

Just as Cardan made to reply, the kitchen door opened to reveal Harry carrying a large brown bag. Cardan stood and took the food, goodbyes were exchanged, and then Jude and Cardan were walking back into the cold. Before the doors closed all the way, Harry’s voice called out, “It was nice meeting you Jude!” and she waved over her shoulder and tried for a real-looking smile this time. When she turned back around, Cardan was standing with the passenger side door open for her.

“You know I can get my own doors, right?” She said with no real heat behind it.

“Yes, well, I keep getting to the doors before you and it seems foolish to stand and wait for you to open them for me.”

“I hate you, do you know that?”

“You’re lying. Do you know that?” Cardan grinned his wicked grin and Jude considered stomping on his toes. Instead, she got in the car. Cardan jogged over to his side of the car and pointed at the window controls as a request for Jude to roll it down for him. She shook her head in mockery, pretending not to understand what he was asking. Cardan gave her a withering look and mouthed at her to roll down the window. With her left hand she reached over for the controls and locked the doors.

“Jude,” Cardan groaned through the glass barrier as Jude began to laugh. “C’mon, my balls are freezing off.”

“Fine, fine.” She unlocked the car. Cardan glared at her and Jude continued to laugh.

Finally the sight of him shivering out in the cold, as well as the beginnings of a snow storm drifting through the air, became too pitiful and Jude rolled down the driver’s side window for Cardan to crawl through. Immediately his hands reached for the heater and he turned to her with a scowl as she laughed. 

“I so want to be mad,” Cardan said as he reached into the backseat to set the bag of food onto the leather backseat, “but your laugh is distracting me.” 

“I’ll stop laughing then,” Jude replied, trying to school her features into a more serious expression. The efforts sent her into a laughing fit again.

“No,” Cardan said softly. His lips curled up into a small smile while he watched her. “Don’t stop. I like your laugh.”

At his confession, Jude’s laughter finally petered out. The sudden silence in the car felt deafening as the two of them sat at stared at each other. The air felt charged with--something. All Jude knew was that if she didn’t look away now, her feelings were going to overwhelm her. 

She looked away.

Cardan cleared his throat as Jude played with the hem of her jacket. Neither of them spoke as he turned on the car, connected the bluetooth on his phone to the stereo. Not a glance was exchanged as the music started up again and Cardan turned to look through the rearview window to back the car out of the parking lot. When the car pulled up to the third stoplight in a row, Cardan broke the awkward silence.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“No,” Jude whispered. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just…”

“It’s okay.”

Jude resumed fiddling with the hem of her jacket as the streetlight washed over them in green and the car proceeded with its progress down the road.

“I’m scared,” Jude found herself saying.

“I can take you home,” Cardan offered again softly, looking over at her with those dark eyes that she could so easily drown in.

“Not of you,” Jude said. “Just… this whole… seizure thing has had me messed up lately.”

“Understandably so.” Though he still looked concerned, Cardan seemed to have relaxed slightly at her words. 

“I mean… What were you thinking?” Jude continued.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Jude started, then stopped abruptly. “I mean what were you thinking when I called you? When you found me just laying there? Were you thinking ‘oh god she’s so pathetic’ or--”

“Jude,” Cardan interrupted, stopping her words with a gentle hand placed over her knee. “Please don’t ever think that I’d feel like that.”

“Then what were you thinking?” Until now Jude hadn’t noticed the moisture in her eyes. She tried to hold the tears back, but Cardan noticed them anyway and pulled over onto the side of the road. As the car rolled to a complete stop, all of Jude’s emotions finally poured over and she was crying, she was crying, she was crying. Distantly she registered Cardan’s fingers brushing against the backs of her hands. He asked a question, asked if it was alright to touch her, and took her hands in his when she nodded. Gingerly, he cradled her hands in his. Reached out to wipe away the streams of tears rolling down her cheek. Whispered to her until his voice finally reached her and she began to calm down. His thumb was rubbing soft circles into the back of her hand as his other hand trailed gently through the hair framing her face. Slowly, slowly, Jude came back to herself, back to the car, back to him. She forced herself to look into his eyes because the only other option was to let the shame of her tears consume her. In his eyes, though, was only a gentle understanding. Any judgement or disgust she may have expected was missing from his gaze. The Cardan sitting in front of her was so far away from the Cardan that she had met when he rear-ended her, or the Cardan she had ran into at Valerian’s stupid party. The Cardan in front of her was without armor and she longed to take off her own.

“Do you really want to know what I was thinking?” He asked her gently. Jude nodded, unable to speak. Instead of answering right away, Cardan looked down to where he still held her hand and watched his own fingers draw circles on her skin. His voice cracked when he tried to speak. "When you called me…. when you called me, I had some joke ready to make you laugh or call me a jackass or roll your eyes at me. But then I answered and you didn't say anything at first and I knew something was wrong. I know you don't remember, but I do. You said help. Just help, that was all, but you sounded so scared and my heart started beating out of my chest. I asked you where you were three times before you were finally able to tell me you were at home and then you were completely silent. I drove like a bat out of hell to get to you, pushing the speed limit by 20 in some areas and daring the cops to pull me over, because there was no way in hell I would stop for anything. I was on the phone with you the whole time, just hoping you'd say something else, anything else, but you never did. I got to your place and… you wouldn't answer the door, Jude.” He looked up at her, his eyes glazed over. “I have never in my life been that afraid or that desperate to get to someone. So I broke the door in. I didn't even know I could do that,” Cardan laughed without humor and turned his eyes to look through the windshield. “I was just so goddamn panicked. And then I saw you there, and you were crying, and that was the only way I knew you weren't dead. There was so much blood, Jude. And you weren't moving. And all I could think was ‘I can’t lose her. I can’t lose this girl that makes me feel like I’m more than the fuck-up my family has always seen me as. This girl that makes me feel safe enough to laugh without cruelty, who smiles so rarely but so brightly, who calls me a jackass even though her eyes seem to be begging to say something else. I can’t lose this girl when I’m just finally getting to know her.’ All I could think about, Jude…” When he looked at her this time, it was his eyes full of tears. “Was that you had to be okay. Because I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t.”

Was she crying again? Instinctively Jude’s hand tightened around his and she cradled his hands like he had done to hers. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know if there was anything to say. She felt useless as Cardan gathered himself back together without a word from her, but then he brought her knuckles to his lips and brushed a kiss across her skin. 

“Thanks,” she whispered lamely. “For saving me.”

“Sorry for breaking your door.”

“I didn’t like it, anyway.”

Cardan laughed, but it was a shadow of his usual one.

--------

At midnight Jude awoke having to pee. Yuri On Ice still played quietly on the television that washed the room in a soft blue light. Empty containers of Chinese food were spread haphazardly around them on the comforter. Cardan was sprawled out on his bed beside her, mouth open slightly as soft noises of sleep escaped him. At the sight of his peaceful face Jude stopped to look at him for a moment. The planes of his face looked softer in sleep--his cheekbones and jawline less like they could cut her heart to pieces, his beautiful mouth so invitingly soft and begging for her to make them smile. And those beautiful black curls of his were a halo on the pillow. He was so heart-achingly beautiful.

She thought she might love him.

The revaluation jolted her out of bed and she rushed to the bathroom while her heart jackhammered in her chest. With the bathroom door closed and safely separating them, Jude tried to reason with her own racing thoughts. Love was a complicated thing. Love was a distant memory that came with her mother spinning her around in her arms and sticky fingers from popsicles and chasing her father around the living room when he snatched her blanket from her. Love was something she chased to get from Madoc, something she found late at night curled in bed with her sisters as they laughed to hide their shared heartbreak, something the morning light seemed to wash away once reality set back in. Love was something that could die, and the thought of losing Cardan hit her like a punch to the gut. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. 

No, she couldn't love Cardan. But back in his bedroom, when she crawled into bed and he immediately wrapped his arms around her without waking up, she wondered if maybe it wasn't just possible--but undeniable. 

She felt him shift behind her until their bodies were pressed together and then his soft voice spoke into her hair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied a little breathless. "Just had to use the bathroom."

Cardan hummed a response and was likely already halfway to being asleep again when Jude rolled over onto her other side to face him. His eyes reluctantly opened to look at her, bleary and half open. He really was beautiful. Jude’s chest tightened with want. 

No, she couldn’t lose him. And yet...

"Cardan," she breathed before she could lose her nerve. "About what you said at the hospital. About you telling them you're my boyfriend…"

"I didn't know what else to s--"

"What if I want you to be. My boyfriend, I mean."

A small, sleepy smile spread across Cardan's face as his eyes drifted closed once more. He pulled Jude into him more so that her head rested against his chest--planted a kiss on top of her head, and said, "Then I'm yours."

Moments later he was softly snoring.

[sorceress-coffee]

Return of the Trollhunters

AO3 Link - Phase 2 Chapter 19

River’s P.O.V.

 Never thought I’d be chasing a flaming cat all over Arcadia. Toby decided to bring a rock, Volcanic Slag, he bought from Trollmarket to school today. During his geology class, the rock unleashed a giant flaming cat monster. Needless to say, school let out with chaos and stampeding, similar to when Eri showed up at the art show over the weekend.

 During the chaos of evacuating the school, we had lost sight of the creature. Which led us to now. Said fire cat, had been stalking Toby since it was released in his science cat. Jim had broken off from our group to contact Blinky and Arrrgh, hoping Blinky would have a solution to the creature now chasing Toby and me.

 We ran through the night, dodging and hiding from the fire cat, waiting for Jim to announce Blinky’s trap for the creature. We were hiding on the edge of town when the fire cat caught up to us again.

 “Run!” I yelled, pushing Toby out of the alley and back onto the main street. We had been running for most of the night, now. Both of us nearing exhaustion. Toby screamed as we ran across the street, coming to a halt as a paper delivery car ran into us.

 Toby gasped for air as he looked from the driver then back down the street. He grabbed my arm, taking off quickly as the fire cat leaped onto the hood of the vehicle, still giving chase. “Only an idiot races a creature with four legs!”

 “Well count two of us then! We have to keep going!” I yelled at him, pushing him to move faster as we turned into another alley.

 We quickly came to a fence, “I can do this!” Toby cried out, jumping onto the wooden fence trying to climb over.

 I flashed to the other side as Toby scurried up the fence causing it to collapse. I quickly helped him up, as the fire cat rounded on us.

 Jim’s Vespa screeched to halt next to Toby, “Let's go! He yelled, throwing Toby a helmet. He nodded to me, knowing where the trap was set, I quickly flashed off of the street, heading for Blinky and Arrrgh.

 Once I found Blinky’s energy I landed in the alley next to him and Arrrgh who were finishing up the final touches to their trap. “Lady River! I assume Jim found you and Tobias?”

 Nodding quickly, I helped Arrrgh arrange the trash cans in a defensive position. “He’s got Tobes, they’re heading our way now. That thing is fast!” I spoke quickly, as Eri popped her head out of my backpack.

 “The human, Toby, almost got us singed! Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” She asked, flicking her tongue out at Blinky in annoyance.

 “I have the perfect trap set up for a luminaire!” Blinky huffed, crossing two of his four arms over his chest, the other two settling on his hips as he glares Eri down.

 “Can we argue after we get rid of the luminaire?” I asked, turning so Eri was out of Blinky’s face.

 Jim slammed on the breaks as he and Toby finally made it to the alley. “Blinky, please tell me you got it!” He asked, running further into the alley with us.

 “Of course, Master Jim!” Blinky turned to Jim quickly, grinning. “You’ve lured the luminaire right into our stratagem.”

 “Stra-ta-gem?” Arrrgh asked, pulling rocks from Blinky’s belt to sniff, tossing it away once he realized it wasn’t food.

 Blinky sighed watching the rocks get tossed. “Stratagem, it means a brilliant trap.”

 Eri hissed, channeling magic as the fire cat came into view of the alley. “It’s here!”

 Jim, Toby, and I pulled back to Arrrgh, staying close as we waited for Blinky to throw the stone for the trap.

 As Blinky began to slowly back away, we became confused. “What’s wrong?” I asked Arrrgh, hoping he’d be able to tell,

 “What are you waiting for, Blinky? Throw it!” Jim called out of the fire cat drew closer to Blinky.

 “Um,” Blinky stuttered out, “Master Jim, you said this was a luminaire,” He began, gesturing cautiously as he finally made it back to us, “when that is obviously an infernal hellheeti!”

 I quickly kicked one of the trash cans towards the hellheeti, but it easily jumped over it. “How do we deal with it?” I asked Blinky, pulling out Midnight’s collapsed form.

 “I could try freezing it!” Eri called out, drawing on my magic as her from expanded, weighing my backpack down.

 “Should I punch it?” Arrrgh asked, eyes and marking began to glow as he geared up to attack the infernal hellheeti.

 “Yeah!” Toby cheered as he and Jim threw cans at the creature. “Let him unleash the fury!”

 “Not yet, Arrrgh!” Blinky yelled out as he and Jim began arguing over how many four-legged flaming creatures spawn from rocks. Oddly enough there are thirteen, go figure.

 “Blinky! How do we get rid of it?!” I yelled again as everyone began to panic.

 “Can I punch it?” Arrrgh yelled over me, pushing Jim, Toby, and I behind him.

 “YES!” Jim and Toby yelled together and Blinky and I tried to stop him.

 Arrrgh snarled as the infernal hellheeti lunged for us. With ease, Arrrgh landed a blow on the fire cat, sending it into one of the dumpsters we had lined against the walls of the alley.

 Blinky’s face fell in horror as three infernal hellheeties climbed out. “I was going to add, ‘Make sure you do not feed the fire by attacking it! Ice won’t help either!” He yelped, grabbing Eri’s mouth and holding it shut before she could attack the hellheeties.

 “What do we do Blinky?” I asked as Arrrgh slouched, unsure of how to help without hitting something, Toby panicking behind him as he took pictures.

 “If we don’t want to feed the fire, how do we put it out?” Jim asked as we slowly backed against the wall.

 Blinky, still holding Eri’s mouth, began to list off ways to put out the fire. “Do you have sour sap? Dew Dredge? Lumpkin oil?”

 “What about water?” Jim asked clutching the amulet tight.

 “That’s the obvious one! Where would we get enough for all three?” Blinky asked us.

 Toby looked at his phone closely before pointing past the infernal hellheetis. “A hellheeti hydrant!”

 Jim glanced between the encroaching fire cats before turning to Arrrgh. “Arrrgh?”

 Nodding, Arrrgh held out his hand. “On it.” He said, allowing Jim to climb onto his hand, throwing him over the infernal hellheetis.

 I tried flashing over to the hydrant; eyes and gem glowing only to collapse back against the wall. Toby quickly helped support my form, “River you need to rest, you’ve teleporting us away from that thing all night!” He scolded, worried I’d hurt myself again.

 Jim conned the armor as he landed next to the hydrant. Using Daylight, he sliced the fire hydrant open, causing water to gush out of the pipe, gaining the attention of the hellheetis. He slashed threw the water, quickly taking out two of the fire cats. The third slowly stalked towards him, lunging when it drew close enough. Jim smirked, pushing Daylight into the water stream, shifting the direction so it took out the fire cat mid-jump.

 Once all three infernal hellheetis were taken care of, we slowly relaxed. Toby jumped giving Arrrgh their signature fist bump.

 “Boom, boom,” Arrrgh chuckled, helping me lean on him when Toby ran to Jim yelling adios to the fire cats.

 Jim walked back into the alley, the armor deactivating easily. “Well done, Master Jim!” Blinky cheered grasping Jim’s shoulders. “Another victory for our Trollhunter.”

 Jim smiled, patting Blinky’s hand, “Trollhunters, Blink. It’s a team effort.” Looking to me, he frowned seeing that I was leaning on Arrrgh. “And you did way too much tonight.” He tried to scold.

 I rolled my eyes, standing upright again, “Sure, there were a few times it was either, teleport Toby and me out of the way, or be burned to a crisp. But yeah, I did ‘way too much’.” Huffing, I walked past Jim, concentrating on staying upright. “Come on, it’s almost dawn.”

 Jim looked to the sky before nodding, grabbing the helmets for him and Tobes as they got on the Vespa, “You’re going to Trollmarket right?” He asked, wanting to make sure I was with them or Blinky and Arrrgh.

 “Yes, Draal and I are working on something. You two get home. You have classes today.” I smiled, kicking the back tire of the Vespa softly.

 “So do you!” Toby pouted, getting on the Vespa, “What you’re a changeling now so you think you get to skip out on out learning dungeon? Eemeli still goes!”

 “If this wasn’t important to Draal then I’d be going today, but I promised I’d help him. If you’re worried about me using magic, don’t be. I won’t have to use any today, promise.” I smiled, knowing Jim and Toby have been extremely overprotective since the collar and Eri.

 Eri curled around the collar, nuzzling my cheek affectionately, “I’ll keep an eye on her, the first sight of her magic and I’ll get Blinky and Arrrgh!” She offered, excited to see Trollmarket for the first time.

 Jim nodded, smiling softly, “Alright, we’ll see you after class with,”

 “The Fair Claire!” Blinky announced, grinning. “Hopefully it won’t cause too much of a scene.” Jim laughed taking off on the Vespa with Toby, knowing I was in good hands.

 I chuckled turning to Blinky as he allowed me to lean on him as we traveled back to the canal, heading for Trollmarket, “Worried about Vendel?”

 “Immeasurably so,” Blinky sighed, “He has just gotten used to the idea of a human Trollhunter, now he’s allowing our changeling friends to enter with you or Jim, and now another human?”

 “If he has an issue with her being there, I’ll talk to him. She’s my friend too Blinky.” I smiled, assuring him it would be fine. “Look how well he did with Eemeli?”

 Blinky smiled, nodding at the thought. “Very true, Lady River. Vendel does seem to have a soft spot when it comes to you.”

 Arrrgh smiled, picking me up to carry me down the gem staircase, not wanting to chance me falling. “Okay to leave?” He asked, referring to leaving me with Draal and our important project.

 “I’ll be fine Arrrgh, I brought food and coffee so I should be good to go after I eat.” I grinned, nudging my backpack.

 “Cookies?” Eri asked, trying to get back into the backpack to check.

 I laughed pulling her out of the pack, bopping her nose. “Yes, I brought cookies, but you have to wait till the forge.

 Eri nodded quickly, settling down as we entered Trollmarket, head whipping back and forth as she tried to take everything in. “This is much prettier than the castle!” She gasped, eyes widening at the sight of the Heartstone, “shiny.”

 “Food and shiny things, good to know,” I smirked, making a mental list of things Eri seemed to like. Food, especially cookies, had found its way to the top of the list pretty quickly.

 Eri nuzzled under my chin, watching different trolls that pass by, “I’ve never seen so many trolls!”

 “Weren’t you raised around my dad?” I asked, confused about how she wouldn’t be around them.

 “I’ve been around wizards and changelings, but trolls are new.” She confessed, turning to watch Bagdwella at her stall, selling socks.

 “After war,” Arrrgh stated, raising me slightly so Eri could see more.

 “Ah! That would make sense, Trolls left the woods near Camelot shortly after the battle of Killahead, since you’re a youngling ice serpent, you wouldn’t have been alive during the time of the battle.” Blinky mused, rubbing his chin as we entered the Hero’s Forge.

 Draal was sifting through a pile of K-Spar, the same pile we found in the canal when the amulet called Jim’s name. Snarling, Draal held up two pieces, trying to figure out which piece went where.

 “Is that part of his horn?” I asked, seeing that one in his prosthetic hand has similar grooves as his horns.

 Draal hummed, setting the piece to the left before turning around. His frown deepened seeing Arrrgh carrying me. “Overdid it again?” He asked simply, going to take me from the green Troll.

 “Hellheeti,” Arrrgh shrugged, passing me over to Draal as his brow ridge rose in question.

 “The Toby unleashed a fire cat in their learning dungeon!” Eri tattled, popping out from under my hair and getting in Draal’s face, flicking her tongue out at him.

 Draal reeled back a bit, glaring at the small familiar. “I see. Why did he have an infernal hellheeti on him?”

 It was my turn to shrug, “Apparently he bought the stone off of someone name ‘Mervin, The Monster Dealer’.” I spoke, pulling a cookie from my bag, drawing Eri’s attention away from Draal, allowing him to relax.

 Eri quickly began nibbling on the sugar cookie, happy to have a treat.  “River kept having to teleport us away from it till these two could come up with a trap, didn’t work, but we had the wrong monster.” She declared; cheeks full of sugar cookie.

 Draal sighed, understanding why Arrrgh had to carry me now. “You’re able to teleport more than yourself?”

 I winced, pulling on my hoodie string, “Sort of? I panicked when it started chasing us. I grabbed Jim and Toby and we ended up outside of the school.” I sighed, stuffing a taco in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to explain more.

 Blinky’s jaw dropped, “Did anyone see you?”

 I paused, swallowing the taco quickly, “I don’t think so? There was too much panic going on around us.”

 Draal nodded, setting me next to the K-Spar pile of Kanjigar’s remains to help him sort through everything. “Humans tend to be bling to things they don’t want to see.” He hummed, picking through pieces, done speaking with Arrrgh and Blinky.

 Blinky huffed, heading out with Arrrgh, annoyed by the obvious dismissal of his concerns.

 I smiled, nuzzling Draal’s arm before starting to sort through the pieces closest to me. “Thank you, if Blinky starts a market-wide panic, Vendel might take his head.” I sighed, pulling together pieces of Kanjigar’s legs as I found them. Eri coiled around my wrist, using her ice breath to hold pieces together until Draal could meld them.

 “Blinky has a very bad habit of inciting panic where none are needed. But his concern is founded, you’ve been reckless lately.” Draal eyed me, worry etched over his features as he slowly began melding the parts of Kanjigar I pieced together.

 Frowning, I paused, holding part of the armor, “I guess?” Leaning back slightly, I looked up to Deya’s statue. The eyes glowed softly as I stared at her, my own burning softly. “I’m just frustrated,” I confessed, going back to picking at pieces of Kanjigar’s remains, Eri nuzzling my hand in comfort.

 “The collar?” Draal guessed, knowing that the new limit was getting on my nerves still.

 I nodded, handing him Kanjigar’s right leg. “I know how I was using my magic was dangerous.” Draal threw me a disgruntled look. “Trust me, I do.” I sighed, pulling the hoodie string into my mouth, chewing on it nervously. “It’s just, I felt like I could do anything, and I knew it was too easy, there had to be a drawback. At first, I just thought it was the burns, they hurt like hell, but I could heal them,” pausing at a chunk of K-spar resembling the amulet, I picked it up carefully, dusting it off.

 “Then I lost control, I couldn’t even tell what was going on around me. Time sped by, one moment I was at home freaking out, next thing I know, I’m in the Heartstone as my magic is causing explosions.” I sighed, handing Draal the chunk of K-spar to Draal.

 “And now that you’re limited, you feel as if you can’t do anything. That I can empathize with.” Draal said, sitting next to me, holding the stone imprint of the amulet. “Every time my father left on Trollhunting business; I wasn’t allowed to follow. No matter how long, how hard I trained. No matter the weapon I mastered or the Troll I defeated. It was never good enough.” Draal sighed, looking over the slowly forming statue of Kanjigar. “After Deya, it seemed that every Trollhunter chose to work alone. They pushed everyone away. But,” He looked over the statues, teeth bared. “Look where it got them? Deya fought beside others to defeat Gunmar, she didn’t push them away. I believe that is something many forgot as we hid away again.”

 I leaned against Draal’s shoulder, holding his arm as I looked over the statues. “Jim’s calling us the ‘Trollhunters’ now, all of us. I just wish I could do more before running out of mana, I’m guessing training will help with that.” I smiled, knowing it would be a long road before I was up and running as I had been.

 “A slow road, but it’ll be worth it. Especially if it keeps you from hurting yourself.” Draal chuckled, nuzzling the top of my head before leaning down and smooshing his face against my cheek in a kiss.

 Laughing, I stood up, grinning at him. “Come on, your dad’s gonna haunt us if we don’t finish putting him back together.”

 Draal laughed, agreeing with me as we got back to work, slowly putting Kanjigar back together. I felt better about the limitations, while it wasn’t the same, Draal understood how helpless I currently felt. While the circumstance was unfortunate, I was glad someone understood.

 While we were finishing putting Kanjigar together, we could hear footsteps enter the forge. “What’s that statue he’s making?” Claire’s voice rang out, looks like they were able to get her into Trollmarket without incident.

 “I do not make statues.” Draal huffed through his nose, sending a cloud of steam out in annoyance. “This is my father.”

 “Took a while to track down all the remains,” Toby whispered, trying not to upset Draal.

 I waved to Claire, sticking close to Draal. “Welcome to the Hero’s Forge.” I grinned.

 Eemeli smirked, looking around the Forge. “Impressive, if not a little gruesome.”

 “You fight in an arena surrounded by the remains of dead Trollhunters?” Claire asked, a look of disgusted wonder morphing her face. “That is the most heroic thing I’ve ever heard of!” She grinned, running around the Forge to take everything.

 Eemeli approached Draal and me, eyeing the statue. “So, this was the special project you skipped school for.”

 Eri shot out of my hoodie sleeve, hissing at Eemeli. “It was important to River!”

 Eemeli rolled his eyes, pulling out a shiny crystal he found, giving it to Eri, calming her quickly as she was distracted. “It’s important to Draal, which makes it important to her. I know Danger Noodle.” He snickered.

 Eri took the shiny crystal, pouting at Eemeli knowing her weakness for shiny trinkets. “Pebble is one thing, but if it’s important to River, you shouldn’t giver her a hard time.”

 “I’m never going to be able to tease you for your questionable decisions again, am I?” Eemeli asked, poking Eri’s nose.

 Laughing, I shook my head. “Not likely.” I snickered, holding Eri up to nuzzle her head. “I have my little protection squad.” I teased.

 The ground began to shake as Claire activated the Forge, sending everything into chaos. Eemeli jumped back as the ground between us split. The platform I was standing on shot up into the air, causing me to fall back. I grasped for purchase ash the platform hit its highest point, launching Eri and me into the air.

 “River!” Draal yelled, running to the controls, his prosthetic not working on it. He began to curse at the controls, his stone hand still unable to deactivate the forge.

 While midair, I could see Arrrgh take off out of the Forge, going to get help. I pulled Eri close, trying to teleport us to the ground, still too tired to flash us more than a couple of feet. Eri wriggled from my tight grip, channeling her magic, she used a blast of ice to slow our descent.

 As we fell, I pulled Midnight from my belt, sinking the blade into the platform. I held on tight, trying to keep Eri and me from falling as the platform shifted, seemingly trying to shake us off. Eri slithered up through my hoodie, coiling herself tightly around my arms and the staff, helping me keep my grip.

 Draal’s P.O.V.

 I snarled, clawing at the controls, it would be more of a danger to River and the other’s if I tried going up, the forger was completely out of control, one wrong move and I might accidentally crush one of them.

 Jim ran in with Arrrgh, shocked and the chaos unfolding in the forge. “Claire!” Jim yelled, spotting her first.

 “I’m fine!” She called back from one of the platforms. “Help them first!” I could see her motioning to Toby and River, clinging onto the platform tightly.

 Jim quickly caught sight of them, Toby yelling about him not touching anything like the platform slowly raised him.

 “There’s a manual kill switch in the Soothscryer,” Blinky directed the young Trollhunter.

 In a flash of blue light, Jim donned the armor and took off to reach Toby and River. His training showed greatly as he used one of the pendulums to launch himself to a platform near Tobias. “Arrrgh!” He called out, the green Troll quickly ran into place as Jim launched Toby at him, getting him down the fast way.

 Turning he used the platform lurching up to launch himself to River’s side, he nodded to her, grabbing her wrist as he yelled for me. I took off quickly, using the boulder stance I launched myself up the Forge wall as Jim threw River and Eri. Quickly uncurling, I caught both in my stone arm, using the prosthetic to grip the wall, allowing us to slowly descend.

 I quickly followed the Trollhunters movement as he climbed to the Soothscryer, trying to shut the Forge down before Claire was in danger. As she began to slide towards the inner gears of the forge mechanics, Jim pulled the kill switch, activating the Soothscryer.

 I set River down on her feet carefully, checking her over for injury but she wouldn’t respond. As I went to check her eyes, a blinding light overtook the arena. I snapped my head back to the Soothscryer, Jim had vanished.

 “Where’s Jim?!” Toby yelled, freaking out over the Trollhunter vanishing.

 “It’s finally called to him!” Blinky grinned, looking from the Soothscryer to the statues, frowning as he noticed their eyes were glowing.

 Claire groaned, joining us ash she regained her bearings. As her eyes fell on River, her face dropped in horror, rushing to us. “Is- is this normal?”

 I turned to examine River, worried I might have missed an injury. “Her eyes,” I whispered, looking from the statues to River, they were all glowing. Her sclera and iris were both overtake by a blue glow.

 Toby quickly joined us, waving his hand in front of River’s face, but she remained unresponsive. “River? Midnight? Sis?” He tried calling to her, becoming more worried as she wouldn’t respond.

 Eri frowned as she slithered out of River’s sleeve, watching her closely. “Where’d she go?” She asked as I held my hand out for her, allowing her to climb up my shoulder.

 “Void?” Arrrgh asked, looking to the Soothscryer.

 “Only Trollhunters can go into the Void. River’s not the Trollhunter,” Blinky explained, worried as he examined Kanjigar’s glowing eyes then River’s.

 “She’s connected to the Amulet; she might as be part of it.” I snarled out, pulling Toby away as he began to shake her. No matter what the fleshbags did, River wouldn’t respond. She stood motionless and unblinking; glowing eyes locked on the Soothscryer.

 River’s P.O.V.

 As I felt the energy in the forge shift, I felt my magic pull towards something harshly, falling out of Draal’s grasp. When I opened my eyes, I could see that I was still in the Forge, but it was dark and glowing with constellations. As I surveyed the changes my attention caught a troll attacking Jim. I rushed forward to help Jim, as I met the Troll, I went right through him, and Jim. Paying me no mind, the Troll easily took Daylight from Jim, holding it against his neck.

 “But, only the Trollhunter can wield Daylight!” Jim yelled, glancing between the blade and my form, shock etched over his face.

 “We are Trollhunters!” The Troll growled out.

 That voice! My head snapped to Kanjigar’s statue then to the Troll holding Daylight. “You’re Kanjigar! Draal’s father!” I yelped, as glowing orbs began to rush through Jim and me, the voices of past Trollhunters trying to talk over each other.

 “We are the council of Elder Trollhunters,” the voices called out together as their statues glowed.

 Daylight returned to Jim as his eyes widened, “Oh, man!” He grasped Daylight tightly, looking to me. “Now, I’m dead! That stupid Soothscryer killed me in the Forge!” He snapped, freaking out.

 “I swear if that amulet just killed me, I’m haunting the next Trollhunter!” I snarled, realizing I wasn’t exactly in my body as my magic flared at my annoyance, causing the Amulet to glow brighter.

 Kanjigar’s eyes widened as the voices of the other Trolls died out around us. “His mate truly is the heir of Merlin.” He spoke, watching the Amulet closely. “Neither of you are dead, however. You are still in the Forge, in a way.” He stepped back from Jim, waving to the arena. “This is the Void. A place between worlds for the Trollhunter to receive council from those who came before, and it seems, those who are bound to the Amulet by blood.” He stated, fixing me with a glare.

 I quickly got the sense that not only was he annoyed that I was here, but he was also annoyed with me in general. So much for making a good impression on your in-laws. I winced, quickly going to stand with Jim.

 Kanjigar continued as I took my spot next to Jim, gesturing to the statues of the fallen Trollhunters. “We’ve been waiting and watching. Growing restless until you’ve proven yourself.” He explained.

 “The arena going haywire? That was you,” Jim concluded, looking between the statues.

 “What?!” I snapped, looking to Kanjigar, “That’s why Draal couldn’t shut the damn thing off?” I asked. “Wait, you’ve been watching Jim? Watching us?” I asked, unnerved at being spied on by dead Trolls. Did Draal know about this?

 Kanjigar snarled at my question but opened a window into what appeared to be Jim’s memories. “There are no secrets here.” The portal turned to Jim slaying Bular. “We’ve seen all. Your triumphs.” The memory turned to school, Jim and Toby talking to Claire about going into the Darklands.

 My head snapped to Jim; this was the first time I heard that we were planning on going in. “And your deceptions.” Kanjigar continued, watching my reaction. “We know what you plan to do, young Trollhunter.”

 “We have to go!” Jim snapped, ready to defend his plan.

 “We?” Kanjigar sneered, looking between us. “A Trollhunter works alone. If you bring those you care for into the Darklands, you will all be swallowed by it.” He warned. Gesturing to the statues, he continued to lecture Jim, “To be a Trollhunter is to make sacrifices.” He gestured to a memory of his own, “I had to distance myself from my son to keep him safe.” He explained, showing the most recent memory of him leaving Draal behind.

 My hands clenched tight seeing the heartbreak in Draal eyes. Memory or not, Kanjigar was beginning to piss me off.

 “Something you have failed to do!” He snapped at Jim and me, showing the memory of my magic overloading the Amulet during the fight for Killahead and Draal’s arm crumbling away as a result.

 Jim sighed as the memory ended, taking the verbal lashing to heart. “Look, I’m not perfect. I know.” He began, looking Kanjigar in the eye. “But maybe my friends are the reason we’re the only ones here still breathing.” He defended, causing the statues to flare out, screaming at Jim.

 “Enough!” I snarled as my magic snapped, rushing through each statue as my troll-like features took shape in my soul form. “Draal chose to train us, each of our friends chose to fight with us. Look at what we’ve accomplished!” I growled out, getting in Kanjigar’s face, “Bular, the ONLY Gumm-Gumm outside of the Darklands was slain, by us.” I pulled back, eyeing every statue, landing on the quiet form of Deya. “Since your time as Trollhunter, Bular and changelings were your only threat. Now he’s gone, and we have changeling allies, myself and my father included.”

 Deya’s eyes glowed softly, her spirit slowly leaving the statue to circle Jim and me as Kanjigar was taken aback. “It seems the moonlight has spoken,” her voice called from the orb. “Change is coming, is it not?” She asked before returning to the statue.

 Kanjigar’s eyes were wide as Deya’s words sunk in. He cleared his non-existent throat, returning his attention to Jim and me. Watching my eyes shift, “Very well, Impure. We won’t stop you. However, the only way you will leave the Darklands with your lives, is if you take Gunmar’s.”

 Light quickly filled the void, blinding Jim and me as I felt my soul get pulled off-balance, rushing towards something. I crashed into my body, slamming into the floor, and effectively knocking the air out of my lungs. I gasped for breath as I tried to sit up. Draal quickly helped me up, holding my form close as Eri wound herself around our wrists, watching me worried.

 Jim appeared on the Forge floor, dazed as he looked around. Realizing we were no longer in the Void, he sat up quickly, head snapping to Kanjigar’s stone form.

 “Hey!” Toby grinned, rushing to Jim, “You’re back from the other side, dude!”

 “Wow! So, Trolls and ghosts exist.” Claire laughed, relieved we returned, as she joked about fairies.

 “Preposterous!” Blinky huffed, “Fairies lost the war to the Pixies centuries ago.” His attention quickly turned back to Jim, “What did they say?”

 I snarled at Blinky’s question glaring at Kanjigar’s remains. Draal sighed, glancing from the statue to Jim, “Nothing good if that reaction says anything.”

 Jim sighed, gaze breaking from Kanjigar to look at the others. “They said they won’t stop us.”

 “Among other things.” I huffed out, nuzzling under Draal’s chin, trying to calm down as I felt my sclera and teeth shift.

 Eemeli frown, sitting next to me. “Let me guess; stone pops over there isn’t too happy about you? Calling you names?” He growled, glaring at Kanjigar’s remains.

 “If I hear anyone refer to a Changeling as ‘Impure’ I’m running you through with Midnight.” I snarled, pulling my knees up to my chest, bluestone starting to spread over my flesh.

 Draal frown, nuzzling the top of my head before turning his attention to Jim, “What would my father stope you from?” He asked, seeming upset but unsurprised at Kanjigar’s reaction to me.

 Jim sighed, looking over everyone, “From going into the Darklands. He said if we go in, the only way we’ll make it out alive, is if we kill Gunmar.” He frowned, carefully standing as everyone took in the new information. “And with Strickler gone, maybe we have a chance.” He quickly approached Draal and me, smiling as he kneeled in front of us. “Kanjigar aside, at least Deya seemed to like us.”

 Blinky choked, rushing to Jim, “Deya spoke to you?!” He asked quickly, excitement overthrowing his dread at the thought of facing Gunmar.

 “No,” Jim smiled, nodding to me, “She spoke to River, what did she say exactly?” He asked, trying to recall the exact wording.

 I sighed, slowly calming down. “She said ‘moonlight has spoken’ referring to my outburst about us fighting with Jim. She also said ‘change was coming.’ I’m not entirely sure what she meant by that, maybe that the Trollhunter would fight with allies again as she did?”

 Eemeli stiffened, head snapping to me when I recalled Deya’s words. Blinky grinned, cheering that the first Trollhunter approved of us. Arrrgh tried to keep his excitement reigned in ad Jim, Toby and Claire discussed the void.

 I leaned against Draal, the collar finally taking effect and hiding the Trollish features. “I understand what you were speaking about earlier,” I told Draal, referring to the memories he shared about his father leaving him behind. “I don’t think I made a very good impression though.”

 Draal burst out laughing, carefully picking me up. “Bushigal! You told him off and gained the approval of Deya the Deliverer! If that doesn’t prove my father wrong, I don’t know what will!” He grinned, hugging me close.

 I grinned, realizing Draal was right. If Deya approved, to hell with the others! As Draal had mentioned earlier, they forgot that she had allies during the Battle of Killahead. The Trollhunter is stronger with their friends and allies, and we will prove that to all of them.

[fyrecrafted]

Knitting (Tom x Reader Fic)

A few weeks ago you found out that you and Tom were expecting your first child. The excitement you both had could light up an entire city. You both planned on waiting until after your first trimester, the most dangerous and common time to miscarriage, to make this new public... but Tom is fucking adorable and spoiled the news in an unexpected way. 

Tom loved your passion for making things. He had, on more than one occasion, shown off socks you had made him during interviews. It had become a joke with a few of the late night shows whenever he came on.  The day you started to suspect that something was amiss he went to the store and got the test. You both paced back and forth as you waited for the results. Every few seconds he would go stare at it, then come back. When the phone timer finally beeped he flashed by into the bathroom and squealed in delight. He ran to you and spun you around giggling like a kid. It took you a few minutes to get over the shock, but soon you were as excited as he was.   

   He later came to you carrying all the reusable grocery bags you both owned and a mischievous grin on his face.  “C'mon babe! I have an idea!” You would rather nap, but his energy was contagious and motivated you enough to get up off the couch.  

    “Okay, but I need to change. Im still in my pajamas.” He walked around you, checking you out.  “You look amazing to me. I don't care if you want to wear this out, but if you want to change, I'll wait.” 

  “If I wear this, I'm wearing my kitty cat slippers with it... so at least it will match.”

  “Lovely idea.” 

  You got in the car and buckled up as he put the bags in the back seat and then got in to the driver's seat. Every few seconds he glanced over at you and beamed. You were still nervous about all this, but you didn't want to spoil his joy. So many things could go wrong at this point and knowing this ate at you, you wanted this so bad... but... things happen... You just didn't want to get all hopeful that something you had wanted since childhood was happening, and then it just... not happen.

  “Don't you think its a bit early?” You asked as he drove through the streets.  

  He looked up at the sky through the windshield “Its already early evening, not very early at all.” he responded, seeming confused.

  “No. I mean...” you  sighed and he pulled over into an empty parking space. He turned to you and put a hand on your shoulder. 

“Are you alright?” 

  “yeah... Im just”

“Hon, if something isn't right you have to let me know. If you're not ready, its okay. Don't let my excitement make you feel like you need to go through something if you're not ready for it.”  

“No, it... it isn't that.” 

“Then what?” He caressed your face then put his hand behind your head and placed his forehead onto yours. “What's wrong, love?” 

 “Its so early. Things could go wrong. I could lose our baby at any moment. Even without anything happening. Fuck, Tom... there's a chance I already did and wouldn't even know yet. I'm so scared.” He pulled back and stared into your eyes, his face falling as your anxiety hit him. He bear hugged you as best as he could from across the center console.    

“I didn't even consider that. I got completely wrapped up in my own excitement. Ugh. I... I don't even know” He sat back in his seat, his hand massaging his forehead. “I don't know if this helps any, but... yeah I know how risky this part is, the statistics and stuff. In my head I'm already... fuck I doubt this is gonna come out right.” 

  “What?” you say as the tears of your pent up nervousness finally broke free  

“If something bad happens, at least this early.” He sighed and fought to say what he meant “I'm not okay with it, but I have already made peace with the possibility. There is no pressure on you, from me at least for this to go a certain way. If we have to try again, even a few times I'm okay with that. I know this whole process will be completely different from your perspective. Please tell me how you're feeling so I know how best to care for you, both of you.”

  “Okay.” you reply through snuffles and tears. He handed you a tissue and waited for you to let him know how to proceed. “It does help me a lot to know you feel like that. I'm still scared though. I'm so scared, that I don't want to let myself even get excited or want this too much.” 

  “What do you want to do? We can go back home and order pizza and relax if you want. No pressure. This was all a spur of the moment thing because I got excited.” 

  “Not, not if this is baby shopping stuff. I can't deal with that yet. Please.” 

  “It isn't exactly that. I guarantee you want to go where I was planning, but you may change the 'why' we are going if you want. It can be a 'me spoiling you a bit' thing if you like.”  

“I'm confused.”

“Do you want me to go ahead and tell you, or should it be a surprise?”

“Uh, you pick I guess.”

“Mkay, surprise it is then.” his voice had picked back up, but there was still an edge of reservation to it.  A few minutes passed. “close your eyes, dear.” You did. If it had been anyone else, this gentle command would have sent your anxiety reeling, but with him, somehow... it just felt okay.    

The car drove on for a minute or two more and pulled to a stop and parked. “Okay love, open your eyes.” You squealed in delight when you realized where you were. Right outside the huge crafts supply store you loved. “You said a few times that you wanted to make baby stuff as soon as you found out you were expecting. But if you aren't okay with that just get what you want for yourself.” 

  “What about both?”  

“Both is perfectly perfect dear.” He said with that glowey look he gets as he helped you out the car and grabbed you both a cart.    

“What if I get carried away again?”

“If I have to call a rental moving truck to get everything home, I will...” He chuckled, though you were pretty sure he wasn't joking.  

As soon as you entered the shop you went straight for the textiles section.  You had so many ideas, and without a budget to adhere to, you kinda threw stuff in the cart as soon as ideas popped into your head. The first few times Tom brought you here you had only bought a few things. You didn't want to be a bother, or feel like you were wasting his hard earned money. This frustrated him, so one time he followed you around, and grabbed whatever you longingly looked at but put back. Every. Single. Thing. You ended up going home with more crafts stuff that day than you probably had across your entire life. It was his way of begging you to allow him to spoil you, and it worked.    

You quickly lost track of your hubby, but didn't really notice. He texted you “You okay? We got a bit split up.” 

  “Yeah. I'm a bit worn out. Home and pizza?” 

  “Darling, you know I never say no to pizza... Want me to pull up the car and you go ahead and checkout?”

  “That works”

“Mkay”    

You snaked your way through the aisles towards the checkout, purchased the supplies, bagged them and wheeled the cart out to the car. Tom was waiting and quickly grabbed several bags and put them in the back seat. He was a bit slower with the rest, oddly enough. 

  “In a hurry hubbs?”

  “Pizza is involved.” he responded as he packed the last few bags and took the cart back inside. You got in the car and buckled up. When he came out you couldn't help but notice that glimmer of 'I'm very much up to something' in his eyes. He noticed you looking at him and quickly that impish glint flickered away. Professionally trained to hide mischief face...    

When you got home he asked for you to call in your standard pizza order while he brought everything in. The second trip he made to the car took considerably longer than the first. Just as you began to worry that something had happened, he came in.  

“Tom, is that a Loki sticker on your head?” He burst out laughing, put down the bags, pulled off the sticker and stuck it onto the refrigerator.    

“Yeah, a little girl recognized me outside and said they had to give Loki their sticker. It was adorable. Their mum wanted an autograph too and I ended up chatting a bit. Did you get the call in for pizza?”  

“Mhm. Should be a few more minutes.” 

  “Got any ideas for what to watch?”

  “Yeah, but its silly... we have seen it several times...”

  “Does it happen to star a certain actor we both intimately know?”

  “Yeeeeeah...”  

“Which one? Also its not silly. I am a fabulous actor and you like watching me and snuggling me at same time, and its fucking adorable.” the hint of glee and faux diva he added to his voice made you chuckle a bit.  

“I was thinking of watching The Night Manager again.”

  “Excellent choice. I hear that one of the producers may have a nice ass...” You gently elbow him and slap the referred to 'nice ass'. One thing led to another, and before you realized it, you were standing behind the main door, full on making out. His tongue invading every crevice of your mouth, his hands groped you all over. You returned these touches in kind. You both filled the room with moans until you remembered the pizza delivery person would be arriving soon. You pulled back and looked up at your tall husband. His eyes were dreamy and far away as they stared down at you. You looked down further and realized how much you had 'effected' him.   

A whimper from near your feet drew both of your attention. The cats and Bobby had been staring at the both of you for a bit. “I'll feed them and you get the pizza when it comes?” You ask him and he nods, still a bit stuck in the heat of the earlier moment. The doorbell rings as you fill the furballs' bowls. 

“OH MY GOD ITS TOM HIDDLESTON.” came from the other side of the door.

“Yes, it is.” He chuckled a bit.  

“My boss didn't tell me who I was delivering to, they just grinned and gave the order and address. I know its, like, completely unprofessional, but, like, can I please have your autograph?” You grabbed a sharpie and a piece of paper on your way to the door and handed them to Tom.    

“Of course. How would you like it made out?” Tom asked  

“Oh, I don't really care. I'm just a bit...” they squealed and tried hard to fight for composure. Tom wrote out a short note and signed it. He paid for the pizza and handed the pizza to you. 

“Hey, I know its a bit much to ask for, but can I have a selfie with you?”  

“Sorry, but we have a policy to not do pictures around the house. I hope you understand. If I see you another time, perhaps we can take pictures together then?”  

“Yeah, no, I get it. Totally cool. Thank you so much for being nice and the note and stuff already.” 

“No problem. Have a good night.” Tom ended the conversation as he closed the door.  

“You're gonna go there tomorrow aren't you...” Tom had a habit of going out of his way to be sweet to people.  

“Oh dear, you know me all too well.”  

A bit later you were both snuggled together on the couch, eating pizza, and watching The Night Manager together. He absentmindedly started rubbing your lower abdomen, but stopped short. “Is this alright?” He didn't want you to get anxious again about the baby.  

“Its fine” you reply as you snuggle even closer to him, your head on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat in your ear. The safety and comfort you felt began to lull you to sleep as the first episode ended.   

“Babe, I really need to pee.” He shifted uncomfortably until you untangled from him. He got up quickly and left the room.  

“Actually I should probably do the same.” you got up and waited for him to finish. After you finished you went back to the couch but he wasn't there. Rustling emanated from the other room, and soon Tom came in carrying one of the bags from earlier. He plopped down on the couch beside you and thought for a moment.  “Uh, if you're not okay with this right now just let me know, okay?” He asked.

“Alright. Whatcha got there babe?” 

  “I kinda...” He started pulling out yarn and a 'learn to knit' kit. “I wanted to know if you would teach me so I could make stuff for the baby too.” His cheeks blushed because he worried about your reaction.  

“Of course I'll teach you.” The show played in the background as you both knitted. You would show him a step, he would practice, and you would show him another step. He started with a basic stocking stitch scarf. You figured that would teach him quite a bit without being too complicated. He was soon making consistent progress and you were both able to get back into the show without him needing much help.    

Several weeks later he was away from home to film a part for an upcoming movie. The internet was flooded with paparazzi photos of Tom Hiddleston knitting baby booties and a cap. Speculation soared about whether the actor was about to become a first time father.

[renee-writer]

The Diner Chapter 27 Albany

She is shivering. He pulls over at the first rest stop he sees. “I am sae sorry Claire. I wasn't thinking. It gets colder the farther north we go.” He is up and searching through his clothes,” we will have to get ye some fall and winter clothes.”

“I wasn't either. When you live in a place where you don't need a jacket until after Christmas. Well, you don’t think about being cold.”

“True.” He returns with one of his button down long sleeve shirts. “It will be a bit big but should keep ye warm.” She slips it on and buttons it up. She rolls up the sleeves.

“Better. Thank you.”

An hour later.

“Look Claire.” She looks where he is pointing. A sign that says,’ Welcome to New York, The Empire State.’

“Oh wow! I never imagined being here.”

Unfortunately, there isn’t much to see as they are still on the highway. She sees signs that revere to the upcoming cities, businesses, but no real sign of what New York is about.

“Hold on love. We are coming off the highway soon.” He moves into one of the smaller byways. She can catch glimpses of the top of the houses.

“Oh, the trees! Jamie look at the trees!” She has never seen such pretty leaves. Fall happens so fast in the south. The rich colors she sees on the trees don't exist there.

“Beautiful.” If she had been able to look away, she would see he wasn’t talking about the leaves.

The roads get smaller as they move towards Albany. She sees the houses with the stoops like on the TV shows set in New York. She is thoroughly enchanted and he is enchanted watching her. He will drive her through the city part of the city on the way back out. Then they will find a hotel. But first, he has a load to drop off.

Albany's Natural Food Store, is just a bit away from the residential area and the people in the townhouses that shop there. He pulls into the back and helps Claire and Highway out.

“Mr. Fraser, you are right on time. And who is this?”

“Ms. Stern, meet Claire Beauchamp and Highway.”

“Highway appropriate. Hello Miss Beauchamp. I am Ms. Stern. My partner and I own this establishment. We choose your partner to drive for us as he is independent also.”

“Nice to meet you. Very good reason.”

“You are southern?”

“Yes ma'am.”

“Ma'am? Please call Ms. Stern.”

“Yes m.. Ms. Stern. Jamie, I am going to walk Highway why y'all do your business.”

“Aye love.” She walks to the edge of the property and monitors both the puppy and watches as Jamie opens the back of the truck and Ms. Stern disappears. She returns a moment later with driving a fork lift. Claire's mouth pops open. She walks back over. She has to see this.

Jamie draws her close as they watch her drive up the ramp and in, backing out with a pallet full of boxes. They disappear into the store. She returns. After a half hour, the back of the truck is empty.

“Miss Beauchamp, would you like to meet my partner?”

“I would be honored.”

“I will take Highway back in and join you.” She nods thinking, of course, that a puppy would be unsanitary in their shop. She soon finds out that isn't the only reason.

The shop smells of herbs and flowers. A bit overwhelming but not bad scent. “We sell only holistic, natural, and made in America, products,” she explains as they walk farther in. A second later, Jamie takes her hand as he joins them.

“Ah Mr. Fraser, I am glad you could join us without the puppy. My Sara, wouldn’t approve.”

“I am well aware of that Md. Stern.”

“You are a smart man, Mr. Fraser.”

“Is Sara allergic?” Claire asks.

“You could say Miss Beauchamp.” They walk through the main store and into the living quarters beyond. “Miss Beauchamp meet my Sara. Sara, Miss Beauchamp. Seems our truck driver has found a southern girl.” She is presented to a cat. A cat!

She looks to Jamie for help. “That is right Sara. She is a lovely lass. A writer. We've also a puppy, Highway. But she is out in the rig.”

“He is a smart one is Mr. Fraser.”

“Ah, it is a pleasure to meet you Sara.”

“She likes your accent. She has an ear for languages. It is why she took to Mr. Fraser right away.”

“I see.”

“Sara and I are the sole employees. We are only open a few times a week. It is enough to keep use. More then that is wasteful.” Claire nods like she completely understands.

“We must be off Ms. Stern and Sara.” Jamie rescues her.

“Of course. More deliveries to make. We will see you next time.”

“What, in the hell, was that?”

“Sorry lass,” they are back in the truck and safely away. “I dinna have time to tell ye. I dinna expect her to invite ye in. She doesn’t many people and with ye being southern..”

“Wait, pray tell, is wrong with being southern?”

“Nothing love. It is just Ms. Stern has her opinions. And her Sara.”

“Right. And I ask again, what was that?”

“A sad story actually. I got it from the last trucker that delivered to her. She had a daughter, Sara, who died of crib death. Her partner, they weren’t married, left. He couldn’t handle it. She went a bit crazy with grief, hospitalized for awhile. When she came home, she found the kitten. From them on, the cat was a replacement for her lost child.”

“That really is horrible. Did I react okay? I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”

“Ye did fine. Better then most. If I wasn't pre-warned. Ye ne' ken what is behind someone’s actions. Tis I lesson I learned on this job.”

“A very good one. Where are we going now?”

“To a hotel. I ken one that excepts pets.”

“Oh. Good.”

[jayswitchblade]

corey graves; packed everything // WWE

Something was wrong and knowing that my body turned over onto Seth's side of the bed to find it empty. My eyes drifted to the alarm clock that read 2:30 AM. He promised that he would be home by 1 AM and now he's an hour and a half late.

Even if something happened, like he needed to crash at someone's house or  be taken somewhere, I would like some sort of warning. I decided to get up and watch TV to take my mind off of him for the time being until he got home.

I certainly couldn't sleep knowing that he could be in a hospital bed or worse missing from everyone. Those thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door which pulled me off the couch.

"Delivery of one boyfriend for (Y/L/N)." Corey Graves spoke up with Seth drapped over his shoulders. I shook my head and Corey's eyebrow rose as he helped him inside.

"Whats wrong? At least he's back." He stated and I breathed out while running a hand through my hair. We placed him onto the couch where I previously sat, watching some documentary because nothing else was on at this time.

"Did he not tell you that he promised to be home at 1 AM? Like I don't care if he had to crash at someone else's house, but like I wish he had messaged me he was going to be late or something." I led Corey back to the front door and he spun around as I noticed some other people in the car.

"I needed to tell you this. Seth told me not to because it's going to hurt like real bad. So Becky was with us today and they kind of, well they didn't do that, but they did makeout at the bar. I just want to say whatever happens with you two that I will be here for you." He told me and I couldn't help but to lower my head just before Corey pulled me in and hugged me.

"I'll message you after I've packed everything up and need to be driven somewhere else." He just walked out the door before giving me a final look and jumping into the drivers seat. I closed the door and began to get all of my belongings together.

Seth was luckily passed out on the couch while the TV quietly played The Office, something Seth would've flicked over to. My clothes were the first to go in after I changed out of my pajamas. Everything else which included my shoes, jewelry, bath supplies and more were shoved inside another box. 

The dress Seth had bought for me was perfect. Anything I could have imagined, it was low cut, dark purple and floor length. Seth had mentioned he wanted me to wear this at Hall of Fame which was a month and a couple weeks away. It was now laid out on the bed with a handwritten note I just put together.

Hey Seth,

I wanted to let you know this won't be needed now, Hall of Fame is over, we're over. Someone told me that you and Becky were a thing, would've been great if you had told me face-to-face instead of doing it behind me back. Anyways, Corey's going to be picking me up and taking me somewhere away from you. I hope you and Becky are great for each other.

(Y/N). 

No tears fell from my eyes. Why should I cry over someone that didn't love me? Someone that fucked around with other women behind my back. That doesn't flow with my friends and family.

I texted Corey and he immediately replied saying that he would now be picking me up. I don't know where I would go. We are here in Iowa and all of my friends and family live across the country. This one night where the tour was in Iowa and he had to ruin our chance of being together.

A knock on the door made me quickly walk over and open it to reveal Corey as well as Baron by his side. I didn't know Baron was going to be coming, either way, he wanted to help pack the car or he wanted to beat Seth up.

"Hey. There are just a couple boxes that need to be taken to the car. I haven't told him because he's passed out but I left a note in the bedroom as to why I'm leaving." I told Corey while Baron picked up the first box and took it outside.

"You two were going to Hall of Fame together weren't you?" He asked and I contained myself from bursting out in tears. All I did was nod my head at him as Baron walked back inside to pick up the last one.

"You could be helping you know." Baron remarked and Corey laughed softly to not disturb Seth on the couch. They both walked out and left me by myself as well as the spare keys to this house. I placed them onto the key rack and exited the house.

- - - -

Corey had invited me to the Hall of Fame as his plus one for the night and turns out Seth went with Becky. The dress Corey picked out for me was in all honesty better then that purple one I left at Seth's house. I felt better knowing he didn't have her wear that dress. 

The dress I currently wore was a very low cut blue dress which also reached the floor. My back was exposed and Corey's hand was in mine as we made our way to one of the many interviews.

This place was choatic and very crowded as the countdown began to the Hall of Fame ceremony itself. After many interviews Corey needed to be interviewed on the stage with Byron and Maria.

"You can come up with me. I'll let them know to not ask you anything." He reassured and I just nodded as he helped me up the stairs where I hugged both Byron and Maria.

"Thank you Charly. Now we have the Saviour of Misbehavior, Corey Graves. We wanted to ask you, who are you excited to see be inducted in the Hall of Fame this year?" Maria asked and Corey rose the microphone up to his lips before giving his answer.

"I really am excited to see D Generation X be inducted. A group of guys that really changed professional wrestling world during the Attitude Era." He answered and he was asked a few more questions until we were allowed to step down.

"Did you want to meet anyone before going to our seats? Like Baron?" I questioned just as we got down and out the way of everyone walking past. His hand laced with mine once again as he shrugged his shoulders and looked down at me.

"I guess so. I'm not sure whether or not he's arrived yet though but we can go see Alexa as she's right over there." He suggested and I smiled widely. Alexa and I met a many years ago while she was going through her eating disorder, she credits me for being one of the many people who saved her from that. 

"(Y/N)!" She called out and we both wrapped our arms around one another. Her mum then came over to greet me as well with a little pretend kiss to not ruin our makeup. I was pulled a couple feet away from Corey as she began to whisper.

"I'm sorry about what happened between you and Seth." She started and my smile faded slightly only for it to reappear once I met her eyes.

"It's okay. I have you and I have Corey and Baron. I have people who care so I know I'm not alone." I told her and she placed a hand onto my shoulder while glancing over in the direction of the red carpet itself.

"He looks too happy for a man that just broke up. Also speaking of having Corey who cares, why don't you see if you know?" She mentioned and I had to cut her off before she got carried away.

"If anything was to happen with us, I would like to wait a couple more months. You know, not make it look like I've moved on too quickly." I told her and she looked up at me, her small figure quite intimidating.

"Well it wouldn't look bad, Seth's already moved on but he does like to look over here quite a lot though. Wait you like him too?" She stated and I sighed knowing she was spitting the truth, luckily we didn't talk about it as Corey and Alexa's mum had joined us.

"We're going to go find our chairs now, if you don't mind." Corey pulled me away before I even got to say goodbye to Alexa and her mum. My glare wasn't noticed until we sat down by the ramp.

"What was that for? Pulling me away from my friends and people I consider family?" I asked, trying to not make a scene when the interviewers were right behind us and some fans were already seated in the audience.

"No reason." He answered but I decided against pushing him to give me a good reason. Making a scene here would be catastrophic and I'm sure I would've been kicked out. We eventually found our seats that Corey sat next to Baron and I sat next to Shinsuke Nakamura.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Baron's voice sounded off next to us and Corey did not look impressed to what his statement was.

"I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about you actually." Baron reassured and I just shook my head as I locked eyes with Seth who had made his way over to the group of us. Immediately I grabbed Corey's hand and laced his with mine as he looked down towards me.

"(Y/N)." Seth called out and Baron was the one to stop him from coming any closer than he already was. The chair beside me became occupied and as I looked to my right, Shinsuke held his hand out for me. I didn't hesitate to shake his hand while all the commotion was happening.

"If he does anything today, just remember that you have a group of people that will protect you. Including myself, Baron, Corey and definitely Shane McMahon himself." Shinsuke's heavy Japanese accent reassured me and I smiled lightly before saying thank you.

"I just wanted to ask her why. I didn't get that answer a couple weeks ago." Seth called out to me and we locked eyes before I stood up, pushing past Corey gently and standing beside Baron.

"Why do you deserve to know? Huh? You were cheating on me with Becky. That's why I left you. You think I was going to stay with you after all this time? No, I'm not stupid enough to do that to myself. Seth, I loved you and all of that faded real quick after Corey told me you where cheating." I ranted quietly trying not to become angry and as I finished, Baron pushed me back slightly.

All Seth did was storm off and I tried to keep my tears from spilling down my face as I sat back down. I wasn't sure as to why Seth seemed angry for, maybe because I told him who told me or it was because he lost me forever. But he should of known that from the beginning of our relationship, I was too good for him.

"You're too good for him anyway." Corey placed his hand inside mine and laced his fingers within mine. I darted my eyes up to his and thanked him before focusing to other superstars taking their seats. We continued to hold hands throughout the night, even when Seth wasn't trying to catch a glimpse of us.

The ceremony was coming to an end and I was warned to move out the way or at least stay behind Corey, as Hunter was going to spray Baron with a water gun. Hunter made his way over and we all stood up as I already began to get closer towards Corey's back.

Laughter filled this section of the audience as we all tried to hide from the water gun or at least Hunter seeing us. We all moved to the limousines parked out the back and Corey helped me inside, we were now on our way to the after party that Baron had organised. The music was blaring but it was quiet enough for us to talk to each other.

"Do you like me? Like more than a friend." I whispered after turning Corey's face my way, trying to see something in his eyes that answers my question. He gulped but couldn't help to smile before pressing his lips onto mine. The limousine then filled with wolf whistles and claps to our little scene we were creating.

"I was waiting until you were ready. But yeah." He replied with words this time as our hands laced one more time just as we pulled up to the after party.

"Let's get fucked bitches!" Baron yelled once he stepped out of the limousine, making everyone else laugh and some of us agreeing with him.

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

SUPERSTAR: Corey Graves

WORD COUNT: 2232

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I actually really enjoyed making this one and thought it turned out pretty god damn great. Also new word count record, everytime I write these they get longer and longer.

@undisputederas - my second wattpad account (this is from here)

[yesyesyoumae]

LOVE CAME ALONG → Stae (Stevie and Mae)

Tagging → @streetsmartstevie Location →  Mae’s apartment/Central Park Date →  June 20th, 2019 Summary → Stevie’s last attempt at wooing Mae. And her cards are definitely stacked right. Or in her favor? Something like that. 

STEVIE

Stevie swallowed as she walked down the street towards Mae's apartment building, the pocket of her jacket full of tiny little pellets and a giant boombox swinging in her right hand. She was lucky that one of the guys at the shop was into that vintage stuff, and even luckier that he was cool with her borrowing it for the night. In her left hand, she carried one of her portfolio cases, filled with very large cards she'd spent the last night writing out. Setting the portfolio down on the ground, Stevie let out a steadying breath. She'd spent months putting this together.

Ever since she figured out just how badly she'd fucked up by leaving Mae the way she did, Stevie had been hitting the library. Mae loved romance books and movies; Stevie knew that much just from the way the girl's room looked. And, over the course of the many times she'd swung by to hook up with the other girl, there were a few that had stood out to her. The Notebook, Say Anything, Love Actually, all of those had stuck with her. They were stories that Mae so clearly wished would happen to her. And she deserved a happy ending like in the movies. Hopefully, Stevie could convince her that she was that happy ending.

"Fuck it." Stevie muttered to herself and turned on the boombox, cranking it up. "In Your Eyes" began to blast through the speakers, the song straight from the movie. Counting the windows, she began to chuck little BB pellets at Mae's window, hoping that the girl would be home to hear this. Maybe it wouldn't work. But, at least she would know that she'd done everything she could.

MAE

Mae snorted as Duck accidentally ran into the door while Mae played with her cat using a tiny laser. Mae’s Saturday wasn’t that exciting. No party invites, no local open mics to go to, and nothing exciting happening in her love life. Not anymore, at least. And could Mae really call her love life for nearly the past year exciting? It was something, though. Something, indeed. Mae sighed as she put the laser right on her legs for Duck to crawl up and cuddle up to her. Mae smiled as Duck crawled up on the bed and then accidentally scratched her in trying to catch the lit up red dot. “Ouch! Okay, not the smartest plan, huh?” Mae questioned as she started petting Duck. Suddenly, Mae heard music blasting near her window and Mae raised an eyebrow. Mae didn’t usually hear 80s hits blaring outside. Not even a minute later, she heard taps against her window every few seconds. “What the fuck?” Mae looked at her window and saw little pellets hitting her window. Mae moved Duck from her lap to the bed and stood up, walking over and opening the window, a tiny pellet flying inside her room. Mae peeked her head out and her eyes widened when she saw Stevie standing below. It was Stevie playing Peter Gabriel and throwing little pellets at her window. “Stevie? What are you doing?” Mae called out.(edited)

STEVIE

As soon as she saw the window begin to move, Stevie set the boombox down and grabbed the portfolio from in front of her. Okay, she had to do this smoothly. Hearing Mae yell at her, Stevie held up a finger before holding up the giant cue cards she had made. Holding up the first one, she made sure that the words were prominently displayed, "I'm sorry I'm such an asshole." The first one read. Waiting for Mae to process what was going on, she flipped through the cards. "For now, let me say," The next one read, "Without hope or agenda." Stevie chucked the used cards on the ground, earning her weird looks from the people walking by, "To me, you are perfect." The next card said, "And you deserve romance", another card on the ground, "Like in the movies."

Pitching the last of the cards down, she held up the final one high over her head, "Will you join me for dinner tonight?" The card read. She stared hopefully up at Mae with bated breath, waiting. This was it. This was the moment.

MAE

Mae watched Stevie with a raised eyebrow as she picked up some giant cue cards and started to slowly flip through them. Oh my god. It was like in the movies. Love Actually.The scene with Kiera Knightley and the dude Mae didn’t bother to remember because, duh, Kiera Knightley is the only one worth remembering. Mae read through the cards with a smile on her face before the big question. Dinner. With Stevie. Tonight. Mae closed the window in panic and then cursed to herself when she realized she slammed the window. “Shit, should I say yes?” Mae asked Duck who meowed in response. “You’re right.” Mae mumbled as she quickly walked to her desk and scribbled an “Okay” in a loose leaf paper before running out her apartment and rushing to Stevie who was starting to pack up. “Stevie!” Mae was out of breath as she handed Stevie the note. “Make sure to break out the retirement home once it’s lights out, 85 and a half.” Mae gave Stevie a soft smile. “Sorry for slamming the window on you. I panicked.” Mae blushed.

STEVIE

Her heart plummeted into her stomach when Mae slammed the window shut. Oh shit. Had she completely fucked up? She stuffed the cue cards into portfolio, ignoring the people who were murmuring around her. C'mon, people, it's New York, quit staring. Stevie shut off the boombox, stewing over what she was going to do next. She'd already gotten things set up-- there was no way she could get a refund on the carriage now, but at least the food she'd gotten wouldn't go to waste. Ah shit. Turning off the boombox, she hard someone running towards her. She turned around and was startled to see Mae running towards her, note in hand. Staring at the note, Stevie let out a surprise laugh.

"You couldn't have put that on the window? You nearly gave me a heart attack, which, at my age? I can't really have many of those." Stevie said, joking to cover up the relief. She was here. She was actually here. "I, uh, was serious when I said I want you to be romanced, like in the movies." She said before pulling out her phone to send a quick text.

Looking up at Mae, she gave a soft smile, "And I'm hoping that tonight will be just that." Stevie said before tilting her head down the street. "Our ride should be coming any minute." She said.

MAE

Mae chuckled as she looked down with a blush and then looked back up at Stevie. “I’m sorry. I’m not really use to gestures like this, so I panicked.” Mae told her as she chewed on her lip. Mae furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait, right now?” Mae asked when Stevie told her their ride was coming any minute. “I’m nowhere near ready. I look like a mess.” Mae laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked down at her outfit. It was just some shorts and a crop top. Nothing too nice. “Is this okay?” Mae asked, blushing as she looked at Stevie. “I didn’t take you as the romance type, Stevie. Where’d this Casanova attitude come from?” Mae teased.

STEVIE

"Mhm, now." Stevie hummed, glancing at her watch. The driver should be turning the corner within the next few minutes and she'd already had him on retainer for the last fifteen minutes. Looking at Mae, she glanced down at the light denim jacket she'd worn with one of her nicer pairs of jeans and white shirt. It was a more classic look, in the realm of James Dean. "You look perfect to me. But, you can borrow my jacket if you like," She said, shrugging off the jacket. Looking intently at Mae, she replied, "I'm not. But, you have a way of bringing it out in me."

Pausing for a minute, Stevie dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. Was that too much? It was the truth, though. All of this, everything she was doing? She'd never do it for anyone else. Just Mae.

MAE

Mae couldn’t help but smile when Stevie offered her jacket. It was very sweet of Stevie. Mae nodded as she took the jacket and put it on. “Thanks. I like your shirt. I’m sure it’s from Walmart. I’ll answer that for you beforehand.” Mae joked, referring to the first time they really talked during that weird house party they both were at. Mae felt her cheeks turn red when Stevie replied to her question. She seemed honest about it, too. Mae brought it out of her? Mae nodded. “I see it.” Mae smiled softly. “I’m very impressed.” Mae told her as she stood around before seeing a horse drawn carriage pull up. That quite possibly couldn’t be for them. “So, uh, when’s the Uber pulling up?” Mae asked, glancing at the carriage pulling up closer to them. “Is...is that an upgraded Uber ride?” Mae spoke, eyes wide. “That’s...for us, right?” Mae guessed. “How...?” Mae turned to Stevie.

STEVIE

"It's actually a Target original collection. Broke the bank a little." Stevie said with a grin. The smile only grew as she saw Mae's eyes widen as the carriage rolled up, right on schedule. The guys should definitely be done setting up the picnic in Central Park like she'd asked them. And, one of the nice side bonuses about working in a tattoo parlor-- it meant when you needed friends to set up romantic stuff in a public space, most people stayed away from them. No one wanted to fuck with two heavily tattooed guys arguing about where the cutlery should go on a picnic blanket.

"Yep, that's us." She said, opening the door to the carriage for Mae, waiting for the other girl to step inside, "Don't worry about it. I told you I'd been busy, right?" Stevie said. She'd been working her ass off, taking as many clients as she could and running the odd bike delivery once and a while, to save up for this. And it was all coming together.

MAE

It was weird seeing Stevie smile. She had gotten use to the scowl on  Stevie’s face for almost a year now, usually having a grin because she was making fun of Mae. But not this kind of smile. Mae liked seeing Stevie’s little grin. Mae smiled as she thanked Stevie before stepping inside the carriage. Mae walked over to the guy behind the carriage. “Did you feed them carrots already? Have they drank water? I don’t want to ride horses that aren’t having the time of their lives right now.” Mae told the guy who assured her the horses were fine. Mae sat down next to Stevie. “I see you’ve been very busy.” Mae smiled. “It’s perfect. The horses and the carriage...it’s amazing.” Mae grinned. “I can’t believe you managed to put all this together.” Mae said as she looked around as they started heading to their destination, Mae quickly holding onto Stevie’s arm. She wasn’t use to riding on a horse. At all. As in she’s never done it. “Sorry.” Mae let go. “I’ve never been on one of these bad boys before.” Mae chuckled.

STEVIE

Stevie couldn't help but laugh as Mae grilled the driver on the horses; of course she would do that. And it was cute, in a way. Cute of her to care about that sort of thing. Settling into the seat, her heart pounded when Mae sat next to her. Which was dumb, cuz sitting next to each other? They'd done way more than that before. And this was what was making her heart race? And when Mae latched onto her arm, she could have sworn her heart was going to explode out of her chest. But, she slipped away just as quickly. "Nah, don't worry. I might be from the South but trust me, I've never ridden in one of these before either." She replied. "It's cool though, seeing the city like this. Even though I've lived here for a while, its fun to do something like this."

MAE

“You haven’t?” Mae questioned. “Figured you’d be in expert at that rodeo stuff. Swinging a lasso. Doing those show downs with your sworn enemies.” Mae teased with a laugh. Mae really thought she was hilarious, sometimes. Mae nodded. “I’ve lived here all my life, but I’ve never seen it like this. Or with someone. Like you.” Mae turned to Stevie with a soft smile before looking away and distracting herself with her surroundings. “I guess you’re use to seeing things in a blur with riding a bike and everything. Now you’re seeing things slowed down. Unless our driver whips these horses, then we’ll have issues and an accident. There will be no whipping on my watch.” Mae said as she looked back at Stevie. “So where are we going?” She asked excitedly.

STEVIE

Rolling her eyes, Stevie relaxed into the seat, falling into the usual banter that the two had. "See, you're confusing Nashville for like... all of Texas. I'm not from the "Yee-Haw" part of the South. Nashville is still a big city." She said. The way Mae looked at her didn't go unmissed, but Stevie didn't comment on it. It was just good to know that the other girl was having a good time. Hearing the excitement in Mae's voice, Stevie shrugged again, "It's a surprise. Besides, it wouldn't be romantic if I told you."

MAE

Mae chuckled at Stevie’s response. “I’ll believe when I see it. You have that southern twang, it’s gotta mean something!” Mae exclaimed as she chuckled. Mae groaned. “I guess. How much longer? We’re heading to Manhattan, I know thatmuch.” Mae pointed out as they kept riding. “Hey, do you think the driver will let me pet the horses. They’re so cute.” Mae smiled. The pair eventually arrived to Central Park and Mae broke out into a grin. “I knew it!” Mae exclaimed. “But I’m still surprised. I promise that I’m surprised by all this.” Mae chuckled. “So you still have the element of surprise.” Mae assured.

STEVIE

"Mhm, Southern twang." Stevie said, expression unimpressed. Did she sometimes slip into it? Yes, but not as often as Mae was making it sound. At Mae's questioning, Stevie merely shrugged. Her lips were sealed. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she smiled to herself. The guys had gotten everything set up, which meant it was all falling into place. When Mae's eyes lit up and that smile spread across her face, Stevie couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, you knew it?" She teased, before tilting her head to the park. "On a night like this, I thought an outdoor picnic would be nice."

MAE

“An outdoor picnic.” Mae hummed with a smile. “That sounds perfect, Stevie.” Mae turned to Stevie. Mae paused for a second, hesitating to reach over to hold Stevie’s hand. Mae bit her lower lip before taking Stevie’s hand with her own. That felt really good to do. Way too good. “Lead the way.” Mae nodded, smiling softly at Stevie. “Just don’t lead me to a creepy part of Central Park.” Mae teased. “But everything else is fair game.”

STEVIE

The moment Mae took her hand, Stevie knew that this was all worth it. She'd known that she'd made a mistake, trying to run away from the feelings she had for Mae. And she knew that she wanted her back. But, having her here, holding her hand, being together? It was like a dream. "Sounds like a plan." She said, opening the carriage door and helping Mae down the high steps. "And damn. There goes my whole plan; I was coming here specifically for the creepy area of Central Park." As they began to walk down the pathway through the park, still hand in hand, Stevie felt like she was walking on cloud nine. Which was still so weird to her. She didn't do emotions or feelings or anything close to... love. But here she was, head over heels. Damn.

Clearing her throat, Stevie looked over at Mae, "Thank you for even agreeing to this. You didn't need to, I would have gotten it if you didn't. But... I'm glad you're here."

MAE

Stevie didn’t let go of Mae’s hand or even hesitate for a second. That was a relief to Mae because she still kinda assumed Stevie wasn’t 100% when it came to them. But she was. Or maybe she wasn’t. It was possible this was just another trick, but, God, Mae was big on giving second chances.  Maybe third or fourth chances, too. And it didn’t help that Stevie was appealing to all the cheesy romance tropes Mae was a total sucker for. And it also didn’t help that Mae was a total sucker for Stevie. Even now. “Can’t completely fool me, 85 and a half.” Mae chuckled as she followed Stevie, looking down at their intertwined hands. Never in a million years did Mae think she’d hold Stevie’s hand like this. Or be on a date with Stevie. Or any of this. She definitely didn’t think of this possibility almost a year ago. Heck, not even three months ago did she see this happening. But it felt amazing to have it.

“Yeah?” Mae looked back at Stevie. “I’m glad I’m here too.” Mae nodded. “I believe in giving people that play Peter Gabriel outside my place a chance. Plus I couldn’t risk my neighbors calling the cops on you.” Mae teased. “They already complain about MY music, can’t have them thinking I’m starting a group out to get them and their peace and quiet.” Mae chuckled with a shrug. “Besides, I don’t think I’m strong enough to whack you with the cue cards.” Mae joked, referring back to the sunflower bouquet incident.

STEVIE

"I'm glad that you do." Stevie replied before adding, "Mostly for the sake of your neighbors. I dunno how happy they would have been, I had a whole playlist I was going to run through if Say Anything didn't work. Careless Whisper, All Out of Love, the whole nine yards." She laughed. Wincing slightly at the idea of Mae smacking her upside the head with cue cards, Stevie said, "Better the cue cards then the boombox. That thing weighs a ton, I'd need to go to the emergency room if you smacked me with it."

MAE

Mae pouted. “Damn it! I should’ve made you wait until you played  All Out of Love!” Mae exclaimed with a dramatic sigh before chuckling as she squeezed Stevie’s hand. “I liked the song you picked though.” Mae smiled softly. “You could’ve played any song and I would’ve come out, honestly.” Mae joked before nodding at Stevie. “Yeah...no emergency rooms. They looked pretty sturdy to even rip.” Mae said. “Not that I was thinking of doing that.” Mae added as Stevie started to slow down, signaling they were getting closer to the picnic. “I was caught up in all the—“ Mae stopped mid-ramble when she caught sight of the picnic. “Oh wow.” Mae mumbled to herself as she saw the flowers and candles and food laid out on a blanket. “It’s beautiful.” Mae squeezed Stevie’s hand gently again. Mae paused for a second before placing a quick kiss on Stevie’s cheek and letting go of Stevie’s hand to walk closer to the picnic, a big grin on Mae’s face as she took in the sight. “I can’t believe this is real.” Mae said as she stupidly placed her hand over the candle and hissed, pulling her hand back. “Yup, everything is definitely real. I was just checking to make sure. I didn’t want to ask you to pinch me, so I improvised. Obviously.” Mae blushed.

STEVIE

Stevie grinned as Mae stopped in her tracks, taking it all in. Her friends had done a really great job, though it helped she'd basically spammed them with pictures of cheesy picnic set ups taken straight from Pinterest for the better part of the last few days. Everything was exactly where it should be, the fancy cheese board she'd gotten, the champagne, and everything else was just how she'd pictured it. And, it was just as Mae had pictured it too.

Smiling after Mae kissed her cheek, Stevie followed her to the picnic blanket. Though the smile quickly turned into an expression of confusion as Mae put her hand over the glowing flame of the candle. Before she could say anything, the girl pulled her hand away. "You couldn't have just pinched yourself, you had to risk burning your hand?" Stevie shook her head. Incredible. This girl was just incredible. In the dumbest, but best way. "Well, now that you know this is real and not some... I dunno, weird hallucination, would you like to have dinner?" She asked, gesturing to the spread.

MAE

“Well it was worth it.” Mae argued weakly with a laugh. “Now I know it’s real.” Mae told her as she nodded to Stevie and sat down. “I’d love dinner.” Mae smiled softly as she looked at the cheese spread and champagne. Mae sure hoped there was more to this dinner. And that it wasn’t Stevie’s gross, healthy dinners. Mae always would make fun of Stevie’s diet choices when Mae use to find any excuse to have Stevie stay longer. But Mae would eat gross, healthy food as long as she got to be here with Stevie. Mae was definitelyin love with Stevie if she was willing to put herself through that.Mae reached over at the bouquet of flowers and took a single flower and snapped a part of the stem to put it in her hair. “Figured I’d doll myself up real quick before our date for real starts.” Mae chuckled before staring at Stevie for a second and picking another flower from the bouquet and then leaning over to carefully place it in Stevie’s hair. “You too.” Mae mumbled with a small grin. “It matches your hair.” Mae teased.

STEVIE

Stevie set about pouring glasses of champagne out and taking some of the things she'd prepared. With Mae's love of all things not healthy, Stevie had decided to go for something that met in the middle. Pulling out the food she'd made in advance, she set the pesto tortellini pasta out along with the fancy sandwiches she'd made. Prosciutto, fig preserves, arugula, and some soft brie cheese on a crusty bread, wrapped in parchment paper. It was a recipe she liked, but rarely made just because the ingredients were usually out of her price range. Glancing up, she caught sight of Mae putting a flower into her hair before the girl put one in her own. Smiling softly, Stevie nodded. "Thanks. Pastels tend to go with a lot of flowers." She said. "So, we have the fancy cheese board, I've got a nice stuffed tortellini  pasta. Yes, it's green, but it's good. And some sandwiches too. I stole the recipe from some bougie wine bar I got dragged to a while back. Plus, desert is chilling in the picnic basket." She said. As much as this night was about Mae, she was not about to let the girl start with desert first.

MAE

“I’ll give the green a chance.” Mae promised, looking over at the picnic basket. “But if there’s not something super sweet and super bad for you in there I’m out of here.” Mae teased as she patted the picnic basket. “I’m coming for you, don’t worry.” Mae said playfully as she started to eat some of the food. “Hey, this is actually not bad. I can actually see myself choosing to eat this. Like on purpose.” Mae said surprisingly. “I’m shocked I’m eating green that’s not, like, ice cream or candy or something.” Mae chuckled as she took a sip of her champagne. “I gotta say...I never in a million years expected Stevie Evans to take me on a date—let alone plan one. Or see Stevie Evans drink champagne with me. And wear a flower on her hair that I put on.” Mae shrugged. “If someone told me this a few months ago, I would’ve laughed in their faces. I wouldn’t ever believe it.” Mae said softly. “Funny how things change.” Mae chuckled as she picked at the sandwich. “Around this time a year ago, I saw you at ACup and I noticed your pink hair and grumpy face. I wanted to be your friend right away, but I didn’t know why. I just really needed you to like me.” Mae said softly. “Which is why I was the embarrassing mess I was.” Mae chuckled. “I figured it out months later why and how I wanted you to like me.” Mae blushed. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.” Mae laughed. “It just felt right to say.”

STEVIE

Stevie took a bite of tortellini-- if Mae wouldn't eat it, at least one of them would. Chewing as she listened to the other girl, she couldn't help but wince a little. Yeah. It made sense that Mae was shocked by all of this. It wasn't as though she'd ever done anything like this before. The little things she'd done, the boba, the flowers, the painting... those were small things. They didn't really matter. Getting PL to back her up in that embarrassing prom performance, that was bigger. And this, all of this? No wonder Mae couldn't believe it. "I wouldn't have believed it either. But, I'd do a lot of things for you." She said.

Rolling her eyes, Stevie laughed. "Oh, my grumpy face? That's what got you?" Her smile softened though and she nodded, "Nah. Thanks for telling me. It's nice to hear."

MAE

Mae tilted her head. “Is that so?” Mae smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind when I need a favor.” Mae joked. Mae hummed. “The grumpy face did have an effect on me, yeah.” Mae chuckled as she looked at Stevie. “I’m kind of really liking this little smile you got, though. I like it a little too much.” Mae mumbled, smiling back at Stevie. “But don’t worry, nothing beats that grumpy look you always have. It looks like something like this.” Mae tried to recreate Stevie’s usual grumpy face before giggling. Mae’s “grumpy” face never ever looked grumpy. She could try as much as she could to do Stevie’s grumpy face, but Mae would always look way too smiley for a supposed grumpy look. “But yeah...I’ve liked you for a long time.” Mae blushed. “It just took me a long time to realize it. Usually because I pick out my crushes to be stupid over, but this time you picked me. Kinda.” Mae shrugged. “Kinda came up to me unexpectedly.” Mae chuckled as she paused for a second, wondering how to word her question. “So,” Mae began, taking a sip of her champagne. “After this date thing...what happens next?” Mae asked. “Is this a for one night only kinda thing? Or should I expect you at my window again?” Mae teased, even though her heart was kinda pounding at wondering what Stevie was going to respond with.

STEVIE

Stevie watched as Mae attempted to look grumpy and frowned. She didn't look at all like that, she wasn't even close. Also, her forehead definitely didn't crinkle like that. "I don't look like that." She protested, shaking her head. "Mhm. Yeah, I guess I did." Stevie replied, though the way she'd initially picked Mae hadn't exactly been the right way about it. And then after the drama with Stacey and everything in the fall out... no, not exactly the right way at all.

Swallowing, Stevie set her food down, wracking her brains. This was her moment, the part where she really wanted to blow Mae away. She had to get this right. Speaking slowly, she stared at Mae and began to speak, "I don't want this to be a one night thing. I know that I'm an asshole and I know that we fight sometimes. But, that's what we do, we fight. You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time." Stevie said with a grin before continuing with the monologue,  "I’m not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you’re back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. … So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day."

Stevie paused, heart pounding, "If you'll have me."

MAE

At first, Mae raised an eyebrow when Stevie started rambling. Because, for one, Stevie didn’t ramble. That was moreso Mae’s thing, really. Eventually, Mae put two and two together and realized Stevie was reciting part of a monologue. And Mae knew very much about Nicholas Sparks novels and films to know that Stevie was reciting Noah’s monologue in The Notebook. Mae couldn’t help but laugh as Stevie recited the monologue she memorized. Stevie memorized lines from The Notebook. A romance. She probably had to watch the movie a ton of times. Or that scene specifically. Mae couldn’t help but be amused at the thought of Stevie practicing the lines to herself. Mae could feel her insides melt at the fact that Stevie did all of this...researched about all the cheesy romance movies Mae liked, arranged the cheesiest date in the world, and tried showing Mae she wanted this. Them. When Stevie finished, Mae had a big smile on her face. “You know earlier how you said you’d do a lot of things for me?” Mae questioned. “Well you better expect to recite that monologue a million times.” Mae chuckled as she crawled over to Stevie’s side of the blanket and sat next to her. “You know how I said life can be a cheesy rom-com if we try hard enough?” Mae bit her lip for a second as she leaned closer to Stevie. “Well,” Mae paused. “I want to try that. With you.” Mae smiled softly. “I’ll have you, Stevie.” Mae said softly, her heart pounding as she leaned in to kiss Stevie’s lips gently. Yup. The feeling of kissing Stevie hadn’t left her for one second.

STEVIE

Stevie's face lit up slowly as she saw the dawning realization on Mae's face, the way she smiled at her. And when Mae said those words, leaned into kiss her, Stevie's heart just about stopped. She kissed Mae back just as soft. And in that moment, it was just the two of them. Being here, with Mae, kissing Mae? It all felt... right. As cheesy and dumb and stupid as it sounded, it was true. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed having the other girl around until they were sitting next to each other, talking again. And now that they were here, she didn't want it any other way. Fuck, she was going soft, wasn't she?

Whatever. She'd happily be soft for Mae. Pulling away, Stevie grinned at Mae, "I'm glad to hear that, because I was all out of ideas after the monologue. Well, I mean, I also have a tiny cheesecake in the picnic basket and figured that might also work." She teased.

MAE

Mae laughed at Stevie’s response and leaned in again to kiss Stevie’s lips again. And then again. And then one more time for good measure. “Sorry I just...missed you.” Mae smiled. “And who knows when I’m going to kiss you again since I’m about to eat this cheesecake and not share. It might not be for a while.” Mae joked. “Unless you cheated me and this is some weirdly healthy cheesecake.” Mae playfully glared at Stevie before chuckling as she reached over for the picnic basket before pausing and turning back to Stevie. “But...I think kisses are a much better dessert.” Mae kissed Stevie again. “Especially if they’re from my...girlfriend.” The sentence sounded foreign to Mae. Especially since it included Stevie. And that was new., but it felt so good to say. “Yeah.” Mae smiled softly. “My girlfriend.”

STEVIE

Stevie couldn't help but beam as Mae said those words. Damn. "I like the sound of that," She smiled. Wow. Who would have thought that her-- Stevie Evans-- would ever even want to be someone's girlfriend, let alone be head over heels for a girl? Certainly not her. Just a year ago, she didn't even believe in the idea of love. It was all just something people cooked up to sell you something. But, after all she'd been through with Mae and realizing that... a part of her would never be the same if she let her go? She was convinced.

That said, as much as she loved her, Stevie wasn't going to let Mae just skip straight to dessert. "Nope," She scooted the basket out of reach. "Dessert is for after dinner. But," She kissed Mae once more, heart still pounding every time their lips touched, "You can have that for now."

[frankwilder]

Kevin’s New Toy

Kevin was eight.

He was your average boy.

He grew up on a farm in southern New Jersey with his mother, and father.

Since he was an only child, life around the farm was boring. If he wasn't helping his father, you could find Kevin playing video games, or out in the forest at the end of the fields.

Kevin enjoyed going on imaginary adventures, however, there was one part of the forest he was forbidden to go near. That dreaded place was the stream near the nuclear power plant. Kevin himself didn't want to wind up glowing in the dark at night. So he listened to his mother, for once, about this one little thing.

It was an average Saturday morning on the farm. Kevin had found a treasure trove of slugs in an old tree stump near the forest. After finding his discovery, he ran back to the farm house to get the salt shaker. He was going to kill every single rotten one of these little critters.

Now I don't know about you, but if you mix salt, and slugs, you get a hell of a grimey, slimey mess. Kevin knew this, and he was aching to make the biggest mess of slug... whatever, all over the place!

As he leaned over the tree stump, he shook, and shook the salt all over the helpless little slugs. These creatures were Kevin’s sworn enemy! He would kill them all, and let god sort them out.

Each one fizzed like soda, and pop rocks mixed together. He loved the smell of dying slugs in the morning. He played out scenes of a war movie with his salt shaker uzi. "DIE YOU SCUM!!! DIE!!!"

It was obvious that Kevin had issues.

Boredom perhaps, or maybe the old PS3 wasn't good enough anymore. It had lost its luster since the PS4 release, and since his parents couldn't afford the PS4 right now, he would take it out on the little, pathetic slugs on the old tree stump.

"KEVIN!!! YOUR UNCLE IS HERE WITH THE DELIVERY, COME HELP YOUR FATHER!!" Kevin’s mother called across the field, surprisingly audible with the distance between them.

However, Kevins mother was a big old woman, well not really old, she was only 35. However, she was big none the less.

Kevin didn't know this, but Kevins father was what they call a feeder, someone who loves big ole fat women, and will feed them until they are the size that man desires. Kevins mother had reached about 350 pounds, and Kevins father was just not happy yet. He needed more lovin than 350 pounds, that’s for sure.

Kevin, however, like his father, was a skinny little athletic male, and he had no problems dashing across the field, leaving about five slugs alive on the tree stump.  He arrived at the driveway as the beat up red pickup pulled up the long dirt road, over the dreaded stream, and into the dirt driveway of Kevin’s rundown, need a new paint job, white, and fifty shades of grey house.

"HEY UNCLE BOB!!" Kevin yelled, as kids do yell a greeting.

"HEY SQUIRT!" Uncle bob yelled back, and embraced his nephew. Uncle Bob was about 25, and loved that beat up old pick up. It was his favorite thing to bring into town on a Friday night, and pick up a couple of drunks for a good ole time back at the hay loft of his own farm.  You know, playing corn hole, and such.

"I GOT YOU A PRESENT KEVIN, BUT YER NOT GETTIN IT TILL THIS HERE COW LICK IS ALL STACKED IN THA BARN, YA EAR?" Uncle Bob said, pointing towards the bed of the truck. The truck was filled with foot, by foot square cubes of huge salt. Ready to be licked by the lets lick salt cows that were being milked as of yet in the barn.

Kevin could hear the humming of the tank as the tubes sucked on the udders of the cows. Past the truck Kevin happened to notice his fathers brand new 2018 Japanese brand pick up truck. That could also be the reason Kevin didn't have a FUCKIN PS4! He wondered about that sometimes.

"Kevin, you ready to help?" Kevins father asked.

"SURE THING PAW!" Kevin said with his happy ‘lets work on the farm’ glee.

He started carrying the heavy blocks into the barn. This lasted for about a half an hour until the job was done. With the three of them it took quick work to move all the blocks. However, on to more important things. Kevin was getting something, maybe a PS4!!!

"CMERE BOY!" Kevins Uncle called over to him. Kevin, ran over to the drivers side of the old truck, where his uncle had already opened the door, and held an all American can of suds in his hands.

"ERE, OLD THIS WHILE I GET THE REAL PRESENT FOR YA!"

He handed Kevin a large coffee tin of something.

Kevin looked inside the coffee can, there were little metal balls, all the size of marbles. He shook it a little to hear them loudly exchange places with each other while hitting the side of the old coffee can that barely still read "FOLDGERS" on it.

"ERE IS THA REAL PRESENT KEVIN, YOU TAKE THIS, AND BY LORD JESUS BE CAREFUL!"

Kevins uncle handed him... a slingshot? Kevin didn't know if he should be happy, or pissed.

"DON'T BE BREAKIN ANY WINDOWS WIT IT, AND DON'E BE SHOOTIN YER FATHERS CATTLE NOW, YA EAR?" Kevins uncle was firm in his trailer slang of instructions. Kevin looked up at him realizing he was just given the most dangerous toy ever. He could cause massive destruction with this. Kevins father saw the look in his son's eyes.

"Kevin, please don't get any ideas okay son?" Kevin’s father begged.

"Yes Paw." Kevin said sadly.  What he really wanted to say was, 'WHY CANT I SHOOT EVERY STINKIN PERSON IN TOWN OUT OF ANGER BECAUSE YOU GOT A NEW TRUCK, AND I HAVE NO PS4???'

"That’s my boy, go get some old cans out of the recycle bin in the kitchen, you can set them up on the fence over there, and practice. Okay?"

Kevin smiled at his father, and headed into the house to get some old cans.

“EY THERE BOY, GIVE ME MAH BEER BEFORE YOU GO TAKIN OFF WITH IT!”  Kevin was so excited he forgot the beer, but you know old Bob didn’t.

Kevin sure was happy with his new toy. However, come to find out, this toy was actually older than Kevin himself! It was Kevin’s grandfathers slingshot he used as a boy when he would play war outside with the other kids in town. Then Kevin's uncle got it in the will, and now Kevin’s uncle was passin it down to him!

The night came soon, Kevin had shot the entire coffee can full of oversized BB's at cans all day. He had dented some so bad he needed to run inside, and get new ones a couple of times. After hours of practice he became a crack shot, and couldn't wait to go huntin in the forest with it! That would truly test his skill!

Kevins mother waddled in to kiss him good night after he took his bath.

Kevin laid in bed with his trusty slingshot on the nightstand next to his beat up old lamp. As his mother kissed him good night, and told him how precious he was, she shut the door behind her, he grabbed the slingshot off the nightstand, and held it close.

He looked out the window at the old nuclear power plant in the distance. He liked watching it glow at night, it made him feel at peace. Tonight it was glowing green though, something he had never seen it do before. It was purty that’s for sure.

Kevin set his new favorite toy back on the nightstand, and then rest his head back on the pillow continuing to watch the power plant. In the distance Kevin could hear his father, his mother, and uncle come upstairs, and into his parents bedroom. His parents, and his uncle had been drinking all night. The smell of beer on his mothers breath still lingered in the room, even with the window open.

Kevin could hear some laughter coming out of his parent bedroom. This was a usual occurrence on Saturday night. They got drunk, then Kevin went to bed. Then they went into his parents bedroom, and they started laughing. Sooner or later he would hear them yelling, and screaming, but it didn't sound like fighting. They would start talking weird talk. "YOU SURE DO GOT PRETTY MELONS!" Kevin would hear his uncle say.

Kevin thought that grown ups were strange, but put the three of them together Saturday night, all loaded up, eating fruit, and ahem, “cats”, and they sure made the weirdest noises he ever did hear. Kevin just concentrated on the glow of the nuclear power plant, and soon drifted off to sleep.

There was a pounding at the door downstairs. Kevin didn't hear it, but his father did. "Who the hell would come calling at four in the damn morning?" He said to himself as he made his way out from between his brother, and wife. He went downstairs to the door, and opened it to reveal a police officer, and his partner.

"What seems the be the problem officer?" Kevin’s father asked barely awake, and drool running down his chin.

"Sir we need you, and your family to evacuate. There is an emergency over at the power plant. They think it may have a meltdown at any moment. You need to gather your family, and leave now!" The police officers were very serious, and who wouldn't be? They didn't want their asses to be this close to the plant if it had a melt down either.

"Right away sir, thank you officer." Kevin’s father said, then he closed the door, and started running around like a mad man.

Kevin’s father woke up his sibling, and wife as they lay in bed together, butt naked. Kevin’s father screamed something incoherent about the power plant, and the jiggly jello of Kevin’s mother found its way into elephant panties, and a bathrobe. Kevin’s uncle was already out of the house, clothes or not, no one could tell.  That’s how fast he was gone.

Kevin woke up by himself, just as his father was coming in his door to get him. Kevin heard everything his father had said. He also didn't understand a word he said when he poked his head into Kevin’s door making sure he was up, and getting dressed. It was something like, "KEVIN, POWER PLANT, DIE, OH MY GOD, LOOK, BASKETS!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Kevin himself was calm.

He wasn't grasping the full terror of the night, and he looked out over at the power plant. He stood up, grabbed his slingshot, and looking out the window noticed something down in the fields. The cows that were out to pasture for the night, they were being attacked in the moonlight. Something was eating them! Something huge!!! Kevin couldn't understand what he was seeing. He could hear the cows mooing in pain one by one as the fields were filled with these moving, things. Kevin watched as one of these lump looking creatures threw itself over a cow, and devoured it!

Kevin, gripping his slingshot tightly, knew he had to save the farm from these creatures! Maybe then he would get his PS4!!!

After putting on some sneakers, jeans, boxers (Kevin told his mother he needed room to grown, and she agreed), a t-shirt, and some socks (not in that order mind you), he loaded his pockets full of shiny metal marbles.

His parents were running around in such a frantic mess, they never noticed Kevin head out the back door, and across the field toward the dying cows. One of these huge ten foot tall piles of brown noticed Kevin with its antenna eyes. It roared a blood thirsty roar as Kevin approached.

Kevin stopped in his tracks, he recognized these creatures! They were moving a little slowly, but fast enough to jump on cows, and devour them after creeping up for ten minutes. They were giant mutant slugs, about five of them.

Kevin almost shit his britches.

The slug that noticed Kevin started inching its way toward him, it was going to get its revenge for all of the slugs Kevin had killed, if it took all night! At this speed it just might too.

Kevin knew if it got close enough it would be able to jump on him, and eat him alive!

Kevin held the slingshot ahead of him, and loaded a metal ball into it. He pulled it back, and shot the target that was so big only Helen Keller would miss it. She had a 99% chance of hitting it too. When the ball hit, the slimy skin made a popping sound as slime, and ooze poured out of it. Somewhere Kevin could hear his father calling for him, but the roar coming out of the slug quickly drowned it out.

The metal ball only pissed it off, and now it was coming at him like a rocket! Well a rocked at slug speed that is. Then Kevin had an epiphany. He turned away from the threatening slug just fifteen feet away, and ran towards the tool shed.

Kevin grabbed a plastic bag that lay among a bevy of other plastic bags after throwing open the door to the tool shed. All of them read Wal*Mart, Family Dollar, or NJ Liquors.

He grabbed the biggest Wal*Mart bag he could find, and then a hammer. After that, he bolted out of the door. Kevin could still hear his father screaming desperately for him in the house. However, Kevin knew he could save the farm!

He broke into the barn like a snowplow hitting a freshly dead deer laying on the side of the road. He found the salt lick, and started beating away at it with the hammer. Nice sized chunks perfect for slingshot-ting fell away from the cow lick. He loaded them into the bag until it was full, then he headed back out into the field as Kevin’s father continued to yell for him inside the house.

He heard his mother yell to at one point, but he wasn't concerned about them. They could stay in the house where it was safe, he had a job to do.

He made it back out to the slugs, the one he shot had tried to follow him, and had made it about two feet!

These things were dangerous!

Kevin started firing at them. The salt chunks cut through the soft skin of the slimy bastards like a hot knife through butter! Kevin fired away at the slug coming after him! It reared back in pain, its body standing on its slug ass as it roared in agony! Kevin pelted it with more salt, and soon the creature lay dead, melting in an oozing bog of slug slime!

Kevin made light work of the others. They all attempted to kill him, to get revenge for their slug brothers Kevin had slaughtered before. However Kevin was the Slug Slayer!

In minutes he was victorious! He had them boiling over with guts, and slug slop out onto the fields. The battle field ran brown with remnents of Slug. Kevin only had one thing to say.

"DATS RIGHT MOTHA FUCKAS!"

Suddenly Kevins felt two arms grab him, and then he was being dragged across the field back towards the house. His father screamed, "I FOUND HIM! GET IN THE CAR!"

The family made their escape into the moonlit night, away from the power plant, and Kevin’s victorious battle.

In the following few days, it came to be that the whole meltdown episode was a false alarm. However, there was a leak of nuclear waste into the stream.

For days scientists, and men dressed in suits visited Kevin's farm.

They removed the bodies of the slugs, and tested the waters of the stream.

Then they were gone.

Kevin’s father was proud of his boy for saving the cattle. The farm was only missing ten out of thirty, and if it wasn't for Kevin’s quick thinking, they would have lost the whole herd.

Kevin’s father was so happy with him, he did eventually did buy Kevin a PS4!!!

THE END

[holy-hyuck]

High School Reunion

Asking your roommate, Seokjin, to be your fake boyfriend for a high school reunion is only good in theory - or is it?

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Like, a few swear words towards the end.

"Will you be my date?" you blurted out as soon as you saw Seokjin enter the house. His arms were filled with groceries, as he was usually the one making the two of you dinner, evidently just coming from a trip to the shop. He nearly dropped the bags, thankfully supporting them on his knee. You rushed in his direction, taking two of the bags and placing them on the counter in the kitchen.

Whilst he was gone shopping, you got a letter from your high school, reminding you of the reunion that would happen this weekend. The letter, of course, arrived late, so in reality, the reunion was tomorrow.

When your friend, the only one you've stayed in touch with after high school, called you this morning, he demanded you do actually attend. It was easy for him to say, as his life, even though rocky at the beginning, has taken a great turn. He now has a dog, a cat, a career in the dance industry, and a boyfriend who looks like a Gucci model.

What do you have? A job as a receptionist in a dental practice, where you have to deal with children screaming because of toothaches, and no boyfriend in a year.

You guess you could blame yourself. You were constantly busy; between the job, working on the side as a delivery person to save up for a better car and going back to painting, a hobby long-forgotten in your hectic life. Getting a roommate was Jimin's idea, actually, after he heard you wanted to save up money, and since he was friends with Seokjin - who needed a new place to stay - he gave you his number.

"I'm sorry...?" Jin started, clearing his throat.

"I kinda...have a high school reunion tomorrow and I don't want people to know I haven't gotten anywhere in life?" you rushed, scratching your head. "Does it seem weird? We'd only be going as friends but..." you trailed off, unsure of how to put it in words.

"Wait- You want me to go as your boyfriend?"

"A fake one!" you added in, just to make sure he knew. You realised you sounded slightly ridiculous, and told him with a short notice too. Plus, you were only good friends, but perhaps not good enough for him to do you this favour. He could also feel extremely awkward because you've only met a few months ago and you never even thought of dating him and-

"Sure," he replied, cutting off your racing thoughts.

"Re-really? Like, actually really? Are you-are you sure?"

"Do you want me to say no?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"No!" you exclaimed, your hands shooting up in front of you. "I mean, no, I'd appreciate if you didn't say no." You gave him a sheepish smile, bolting to your room to text Jimin you were coming - leaving out the fact of who you were coming with.

You really weren't trying to impress anyone, you thought at first. That's why you opted for something along the lines of your usual attire; a white tank top, black jeans, laced boots and a bomber jacket. Jin wore a black turtleneck and a beige trenchcoat. In reality, you knew that whatever he'd decide to wear would look good on him, as it was him that was the best-looking part.

The two of you just exited the taxi, paying the driver and you spotted Jimin and Taehyung standing by the entrance. They both looked really good; but then again, when didn't they. You said hi to each other and Jimin pulled you aside for a moment, leaving Seokjin and Taehyung to talk with each other.

"You brought Jin? What the hell, (y/n)?" Jimin accused as soon as you were out of earshot.

"What's so wrong about that?" You pouted.

"That it's going to look like he's your boyfriend."

"And?"

"And he isn't. You can't play it off as being 'just friends'. Besides, probably half of the single people in there will try and flirt with him. It happens nearly every time I'm with him; men, women, teenagers who shouldn't know about the things they're talking about, you name it. You'll have to play jealous, besides, he looks too much like a model to be your boy-" he cut himself off, seeing how hurt the unfinished sentence made you feel.

It was true, though. He looked like a model, and yeah, so did Taehyung; except Jimin was attractive too, so the two of them just looked like the perfect couple. You were very well aware that with Jin's looks, his standards must have been pretty high.

And maybe you didn't think you were unattractive but compared to Jin... You knew he would never date someone like you. And you never thought about it either.

But Jimin - being your best friend - bringing it to light just hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that, (y/n)-"

"Geez, Jimin, I'm not gonna cry over it," you said, even though if you could just go the bathroom, you were sure a few tears would escape your eyes. "And I'm sorry I won't be honest out there, okay? But my life is probably the most ordinary thing there can be, you know? I wake up nearly every day at the same time, eat breakfast, go to work, come back, eat dinner with Jin, go to sleep. I don't have a job I like, I don't live the way I always wanted, I don't have anyone who loves me-" you stopped, sensing the tears that were about to fall, and you looked up to stop them, then back into Jimin's apologetic chocolate eyes, "-just let me have a perfect life for this night, okay? I'll go back to being a loser once this night is over."

Jimin gave you a hug, saying "of course" with a few apologies still rolling off his tongue, then the two of you made your way back to the two model-like men.

If Seokjin noticed your sad eyes and disappointed expression, he didn't let on, but Jimin definitely noticed the worried look he gave you. Jin placed a hand on your back, something you didn't think too much of, and led you inside.

Jin and Taehyung, although never attending this particular high school, were the sweethearts of this reunion. Be it their angelic looks, their charisma, or their extremely likeable personalities, but they made quite the impression on everyone there.

"So..." started one of your old classmates; the one who used to be a class president. "How are you doing?" she asked.

You were about to open your mouth to speak but another classmate cut you off.

"What she means is; who is that Greek god you came in with? Is he your boyfriend?" She looked back, eyeing Jin, who was chatting with Jimin. When he saw you looking, he raised his glass and gave you a smile. "He is, isn't he?"

You put your hair behind your ear, looking down to hide your grin, and nodded your head. You avoided looking up until you were sure the blush from your cheeks was gone; though maybe you were just afraid that you'd get caught in a lie.

And so that's how the night went. You lied. You lied Seokjin was your boyfriend; you lied about how much you loved him; you lied about the future you were hoping for with him.

You lied so much that when the night rolled to an end, you felt disgusted with the words that fell from your mouth each time it opened.

But everything snapped when one of your classmates was leaving with her boyfriend by her side. Seokjin's arm was draped over your shoulder, your back leaning against his chest, and at one point you swore you could feel his heartbeat quicken. You thought he would be a lot more uncomfortable during the event, but he proved to be at ease; about a thousand times more than you were.

"It was great seeing you today. Both of you," your classmate said, giving you a smile, and you knew that that sentence was probably on repeat for every person she's met today.

"You too," Jin said, extending his hand out, shaking it with her boyfriend's, before you could say anything.

Your classmate let go of her boyfriend's waist and hugged you. You were about to let go when she whispered in your ear, "I never thought you could score someone like Seokjin. Maybe you have more of it than you did back in high school."

She leaned back, gave both of you a wave, and - intertwining her hand with her boyfriend's - walked away.

This is what you wanted to avoid. Her. You remembered your first love, her brother, and how continuously she would remind you he was out of your league, but how you could try anyway. It wasn't until you heard him talking about his ideal type that you realised, it wasn't you. And all she really did was tell you "I told you so", because being comforting was not her thing.

This is how you imagined this reunion after you left high school; proving her how wrong she was, and that you could be with someone out of your league, that you could be somebody else's type.

Except none of it was real, and she was right after all. 

Forty minutes left until everyone would start leaving the reunion, and here you were, with a glass of red wine, out on the balcony, alone. You placed the glass against your cheek as you heard the balcony doors slide open, then close again.

You looked up at Seokjin, unable to help the small smile on your lips. "Having a good night?" you asked half-heartedly.

"Not if you're not," he replied, sitting down when you gave him a confused look. From where you were standing, you could only look down at his hooded eyes. He looked tired, but so did you; at least that you had in common.

"Then yours must be fucking crap," you said with a dry laugh.

"Why, what's happening?" When he looked into your eyes, they held sincerity. His gaze proved to be too intense because you looked down, tracing your finger on the ridge of the thin glass.

"I think I'm gonna leave early. I'm not having nearly as much fun as I'd hoped for."

"Please don't," he said, then realised what he said. "I mean," He scratched his nose in a cute manner; way too cute for a guy in mid-20s. "Just... It's not going to be fun if you're not here, you know. You brought your incredibly handsome boyfriend to show off, so what are we waiting for?"

You laughed, leaning on the railing, nearly dropping your glass, and you could hear Jin's laugh too. He was clearly pleased with himself for lighting up your face with a smile.

When you were done, you looked over at him and noticed him observing you with a smile of his own. You tapped on the glass with your finger, then placed it behind you on a wider part of the railing so it wouldn't fall.

"Sorry for dragging you into this," you told him.

"You don't have to-"

"No, I know. It' just... Since you're my boyfriend, I should be showing you off. That's kinda the point of bringing you here," you said absentmindedly and Jin's face fell. "Shit, I mean... I fucked this up, didn't I?" You sighed, rubbing your face with your hands. "It's just better if I go there and tell people that we're not together. I bet you could score someone tonight, besides...lying makes me feel bad."

You played with the ring on your finger, pushing yourself off the structure behind you but Jin stood up in a rush, grabbing your arm.

"I can't believe I let you feel so bad about something I've been wanting for weeks now," he told you.

"Huh?"

"I do wish you would have asked it for real, I really do. But honestly...even being your fake boyfriend is enough. I like it." He looked you in the eye. "I like you. So don't feel bad about this."

He gave you the sweetest smile, then brushed a nonexistent strand of hair behind your ear. "When I first moved in, I felt so foreign in the house, and in the town. Jimin assured me you were nice but I only ever had his words. But you are the best roommate I could ask for, and I've always been so fascinated by you, by the way you are. There's something about you, you know? You're just you but that's honestly more than enough."

You let out a breath, bouncing up and down on your tiptoes, unsure of what you wanted. Thankfully, Jin beat you to it.

He brought his hand under your chin and brought his lips up to yours. He gave you a prolonged peck, but his grin - stretching farther and farther - made the time between you cut short.

He pulled away eventually, and you almost whined, wanting to feel his lips on your for just a second longer. In fact, you could stay like that for the rest of the evening. It was far better than whatever was happening outside.

"You're right. Let's go back home."

Speechless for a second, you raised your eyebrow and smirked. "And what do you have in mind?”

"It's still not too late to grab a dinner, is it? What do you think?"

"I think I'd like that a lot," you replied, your hand somehow finding its way into his. The glass of wine forgotten, the two of you made your way into the building and towards the exit.

"Wait-" You stopped in your tracks, searching the crowd. "Where's Jimin and Tae?"

As your eyes kept searching, they nearly rolled at the back of your head when you saw them making out on a couch.

"I swear they're not usually like this," you whispered to Jin.

"Should we wait for them?" he asked, half-laughing.

"No," you said, looking at him. "It's our night."

And grabbing his hand again, you slipped out of the party unnoticed.