#but the mother sucks like she always comes by to get her pizza and like a shit ton of drinks cuz one of her daughters like the choccy shakes

[ouchthathurts]

❝ 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. ❞

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐬) ⋮ Daisuke x AFAB! Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 ⋮ 3.4k

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ⋮ 1 | 2 |

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ⋮ Your best friend from high school is working at the same internship as you!

𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬 ⋮ Cross-Posted on AO3 | Second Person Point of View | Angst | References to sex | Series? | Marijuana Use | Alcohol Use

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ⋮ BINGO BANGO BABY!!!! I’ll be honest that I’m weighing on making this a series, I want o but I’m looking for the push

There’s a familiar warmness that breaks from the open window, you smack your lips as you feel your tongue roll against the roof of your mouth, the taste of fruity alcohol mixed with marijuana has nestled into your tastebuds.

You miss the tongue in your mouth that helped implant it, stirring around and you couldn’t be happier to have someone, you held in such high regard, mix with you. You clutch the blankets and pull them to your chest—

What is there left to hide from him?

You slowly pull yourself from under the blankets, your naked top now feels the sun beat onto your chest, you try to recollect last night and think about what your next actions should be. There’s familiarity in the room, the old scratched up records pinned to a wall with an acoustic guitar that was never played properly, work out bean bags, and a small round table with scratched up games' controllers on it. There’s a box of pizza, one slice left—

“You can have it, just heat it up in the morning.”

You don’t take it, no matter how much you feel the vibration in your stomach, you suck it up and began to collect your clothes scattered around the area. You see the familiar Sonic CD rug in the center of the room just before the bed, there you find your underwear, you see your shirt on top of the lava lamp next to his bed, and you find your bottoms next to your school bag.

Your shoes are downstairs, his parents always had slippers to offer at the door whenever you and/or his other friends would come over. It was the only thing they were really strict on when it came to him. You look inside your bag, nothing but schoolbooks and the binder you used for all your note taking, you throw it out the window and into one of the bushes in front of his house.

You look for your phone, on the dresser with some old DVDs of movies that his mother still had, none of them were really interesting except for this one you really enjoyed. ‘Your Name Engraved Herein’, it always made him cry, you had to comfort him after the movie but no matter how many times you tried to tell him that it’s okay, he just continued to bawl into your shoulder about how amazing this movie was.

Maybe it was because you didn’t pay attention to the movie, more focused on his expression as he experienced the movie, he’d tell you little tid bits and explained it to you afterwards when you told him you didn’t really understand. There was always commentary with him when it came to movies, you loved every second of his little movie watching sessions, friends would throw popcorn and hush him, but you eagerly leaned in to hear him whisper small facts about the movies he’d have you all watch.

Even when he finished explaining the movie you didn’t get it, but he told you: “I cried every time I’ve watched this movie without fail, ever since I was like in middle school, my mom would watch this movie, and it would be me and her crying our eyes out over it.”

You grabbed your phone, around the 20% mark it was mainly just texts from your mother about spending the night at his again, she would tell you that you were messing up the future she was perfectly crafting for you and that you needed to learn more discipline before college started. It was always grades, attendance, and extracurriculars with her.

You only did the bare minimum, average grades, average attendance, and chess club.

Your mother hated it.

“He's bringing you down! His parents don't even care about what he's up to! You think I'm gonna let you mess everything I have going for you for some low life boy who can't even follow something as simple as wearing a uniform to school?”

You defended him, like you always did, why wouldn't you? He was there for you when you were down, always there for you, like he was there for you this weekend. You kept scrolling through messages; besides your mother, it was only him who would text you daily.

You had people you studied with, your mother’s friends’ kids, and the family you were already distant with. You had to get home. You slid all your clothes on before you peeped your head through the door, the sound of the shower running and music coming from the speaker he took in the shower with him blaring through the empty house.

His father worked on weekends and his mother went grocery shopping Sunday, “Was it Sunday?” You thought out loud, you couldn’t think about the time you were last back at your house, you made your way down the stairs and towards the door when you found your shoes.

You slip them on and then make your way out; after closing the door you pick up the rock from the little pond, they had next his porch, you lock the door and place the key back where it belongs. You go through the bushes, searching for your bag and a huff out of frustration when you dust the dirt off of it.

There's another huff as you sling the bag over your shoulder and then silence, there's sounds of nature from his neighborhood and now her you were just walking down the street, hoping on the next bus and another back towards the apartment your mother and you shared.

As you unlock the door your mother sits on the couch, she's watching her programs with the same 4 speakers on the different channels she's gone through in the past

“At his place again?” And the way she can't even say his name, it melts off her tongue like a slur and you can't help but bite back a response before she gets up. “Well, how was it? His family feed you?” You shook your head, “No, ma'am. His parents weren't home.”

Why would you say that?

You see the anger in her face, “Oh?” The woman makes her way over to you, there's no hesitation in your stature as it's a routine check. The way she pulls down the collar of your shirt leaves your breath to hitch, you try to snatch her wrist only for her long and jagged nails to scratch at the skin of your palm leaving you to hiss in pain.

There's no surprise with the number of dark marks that were collected by the boy, it was his first time as much as it was yours. You feel the warmness in your cheeks before your mother's eyes burn into you, her stare boiling you alive as you do nothing but just stare at the ground.

“Look at me when I talk to you,” Your name is a bark of a command, called out like a show dog to those she wants to impress then kicked at like a mutt the rest of the time. You pull your head up, you don't want anymore imprints in your cheeks, your acne already fucking up your face as is.

“What did you two do?” You roll your eyes, mumbling ‘Nothing.’ before she snatches up your jaw, those nails now cut up the pimples on your face to leave the pus to pop out You want to whine, cry like a child, ‘Mommy! Stop! You're hurting me!’ You, unfortunately, allow this with your eyes creasing and a small frown rugging on your lips that seems don't only make her madder.

“Your breath reeks of weed and alcohol. I can't believe you'd go and mess around with that boy, after everything I told you!” The woman lets out a pained sigh, as if her coming to spit in your face and yell at you was somehow your puppeteering her to do so. “What if he got you pregnant? How could you do something so dumb! It doesn't even surprise me, he probably talked you into it–Knowing his little delinquent self and his little gang he's probably riddled with some type of disease.”

You want to tell her off, he would never do something like that, all his friends are different from him, they're all a bunch of party goers that just want to do narcotics and fuck each other silly.

“He's not like that.” You strained out of your pursed lips, your mother's tongue smacks against the roof of her mouth, “The boy is nothing but spoiled. His parents just give, give, give, give, and give to some little freeloader who's going to do nothing for his life besides leaching off his parents' money.” You can't hear this anymore.

“He's actually trying to get a job!” Your mother cackles, “Oh yeah? He's getting a job?” “Yes!” “Well, why doesn't he already have one like you do? You got your own job at the library when you were 14, you were obedient then, before you met that little…” There's a seething rage in the woman, she's sucking at her teeth, and she'll be grinding them into a fine powder if she continues.

You bite your tongue, he had definitely had an impact on you, like he always has. You wanted to try and dye your hair one day with him, layer your outfits, be outside of the uniform, wear make up, dress up on those days where you were allowed casual dress, and take your time with life in general.

Those nights he'd stare at stars on the roof with you, he'd point up and explain how sometimes he felt so small in this world. “This is really the one way I can try and be in impact on such a big world!” He gestures to his brightly colored outfit; you find yourself lost in his expression as it's just a nice mix of brightly colored acrylics that melded with his tanned skin.

You admire him.

Even as spit hits your face you're left with the same rant over and over again, “I work hard at my job so you have all the tools not to end up like me, slaving away for some ungrateful brat of a child, instead never having kids and being happy you don't have to waste your money on some freeloader until it's too late.”

Your mother took responsibility to raise you, even after your father was distant to the idea, it be some apparent that these two were working in separate directions that only pulled you apart.

Honestly, if it wasn't for him, you'd be on the ground with a full bottle of pills being guzzled down your throat.

Your mother notices your expression and she huff, “Stop being around, hanging around him, being around him, he'll do nothing but drag you down and he won't be doing you any good in the future other than a book up for narcotics.” The woman gets all in your face, “You wanna end up like me? I only stopped doing all those things once I found out I was pregnant with you! Do you really want to end up like me?”

Strikes a nerve.

You never wanted to be like your mother, her sad life with a child who could only resent their mother, her boyfriend who abandoned her to go do more drugs, and no one to fall on. It's sad, you feel for her, you see where she's coming from you, and you sigh upon seeing her fall to her knees to grab at yours.

The woman sobs into your thighs, wincing at the familiar grip from the night before most definitely bruising them from such harsh treatment, “Pl-ease!” The squeak in her voice as she says your name, she is begging and all you can do is try to comfort a woman who has never taught you how to comfort someone. You rub her head, and she sighs, sniffling a bit before she continues, “I don't want you to end up like me! Don't love someone who's only going to bring you down! I know you can do better!”

Your mother wouldn't tell you it now, but you were now stuck with this. Your mother always knew if you were around him, she worked there as the librarian. You were called to stay later helping your mother, doing more on campus, and a demand for straight as after a C in an AP course came up.

It wasn't surprising since the both of you took the same class.

You couldn't let your mother win but here you were, letting her win, and you could do nothing as you found her beginning to bring the hammer down. “I can't let ever you make a mistake that big again.” You were tested for everything; she kept track of your periods and was around you whenever you had free time.

“You've been summoned to the library,” The dreaded phone call before you left class, it killed something in you when you and he could barely talk most days. You guys didn't really share class, even when he went out his way to take APs it became apparent to him how much harder it was for him to really keep up with you.

Those daily ‘Good morning!’ messages fell into weekly ‘Have a good week!” texts. Not because of him, but because of you. You couldn't even keep up with everything, once your mother pinpointed the college you needed to get into or she'd kick you out, simply if you applied yourself the way your mother wanted.

But it meant you'd have to leave him behind…

D-S ▼⁠・⁠ᴥ⁠・⁠▼

Hey! I know last night was a lot. I'm sorry if I messed up, I know I wasn't going to be the best but I’m sure you'll have other people do it way better than me!

1:30 PM 9/05

Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!

9:45 AM 9/06

When do you get off work today?

4:30 PM 9/06

I'm getting pizza, do you want me to get you a box???

2:49 PM 9/14

Y'know one for now, one for when you're depressed! I finally got the reference!

2:58 PM 9/14

Are you okay?

3:24 AM 9/30

Did I do something wrong?

3:25 AM 9/30

I'm sorry if I did anything wrong

3:29 AM 9/30

I mean that, I'm really sorry

3:33 AM 9/30

Can we talk?

3:34 AM 9/30

We haven't like sleep called in forever, and it would give us time to talk stuff out, whatever I did wrong you can tell me.

3:45 AM 9/30

Please?

3:48 AM 9/30

I didn't know you and Ange became friends I always thought you both hated each other.

12:39 PM 10/19

I didn't do our matching costumes it felt like a disservice if it wasn't with you.

4:29 PM 10/30

Dude, family's being weird, wish you were here!

7:38 PM 11/28

Happy Holidays, I got you something! Do you know when I can come over and give it to you?

11:29 AM 12/25

Hey, I'm having this new year party! Y'know like new year new me! I plan on trying out for stuff like sports and getting on my academics!

9:28 AM 12/31

I'm tryna get like you!

9:40 AM 12/31

My parents asked about you today, they were like ‘When are you coming over?’ and ‘What are you up to these days?’

10:02PM 1/17

Happy Valentine's Day, I know you got a lot of stuff cause you're just cool like that

10:38AM 2/14

Even I got you something!

10:38 AM 2/14

Lmk when I can give it to you!

10:38 AM 2/14

I'm sorry for being annoying this year, I really am sorry for anything I did to you. Have a good time in college!

11:00 AM 6/30

You began to avoid him, he'd go to the library to rent out a book and watch as you restock, he'd text you and you'd have the read receipt there just to think about responding to him only to put the phone down, you walk around campus without a care, cordial whenever faced with head on confrontation, and that's how it was until you graduated.

You went off, pursued your own interest in space your mother said it was your choice to study nut it needed to make enough money for you and her. Now you were just as excited to get on and do things outside of your mother now that you were finally free from the woman. You decided to take all your classes online, you'd had this internship lined up for you and nothing could bring you more joy than joining the manpower in space.

There's a big smile on your face as you meet your comrades, Curly, your pilot and Jimmy, the Co-Pilot, you'd be shadowing the two for tour duration of their trip on the Pony Express. Anya, the nurse, who would be the only woman on the ship, you loved to be around her and her little jokes. Then there was Swansea, he wouldn’t stop complaining about having some intern, “They better pull their weight.” The man grumbled out.

You weren’t shocked to find out you guys were waiting on another guy, the two of you added last minute on behalf of the Pony Express, finally a guy popped through the door, explaining that he was at a party the night before celebrating Earth before he had to leave. Your eyes crease as you examine the man’s features, ‘No fucking way.’

That lovingly sun kissed complexion that had the contrast of his brighter highlights against his already chestnut colored hair. There, on his face, stood the markers for where you kissed on him that night, a mole under his right eye and the left mole lower down his round cheeks.

The fact that he couldn't even wear the uniform alone almost made you fall before him, he hadn't changed in ways you thought he would, and it tore at your heartstrings to realize how much you missed him. The familiar sound of the two bangles on his wrist that contrasted the red wrist band he wore that you also had from the first party he took you to.

There's a plethora of excuses that rush out of his mouth, and you just listen to now his voice only be one softer to your ears. Earning its way into your eardrums to nestle in your memory in order to haunt you for the rest of your stay.

While the group continues to get everything on the ship there's a silence that falls between the two of you when his eyes finally land on you. Your friend was a day you could never forget, the morning after your happiest night alive, you'd coo into his ear that you loved him, and he'd do the same with a chaste kiss on your forehead.

Yet, here you were, reliving those memories and wondering how the fuck do you even start the conversation. You watch as he makes his way over, your rib cage encased around your organs before crushing them like a corset.

With each step your breath hitches, your eyes faltering between looking him in the eyes only for your nostrils to fill with disgustingly sweet peach cologne he had to have. Why wear something like that for all these years? You're grateful he would even wear something like this to this day.

There's a hand on front of you, wide open with some rings on his fingers, his fingers spread a bit and when you take one last inhale of his cologne you pull your head up to look him in the eyes. There's a warmness in his face, it hasn't worn down and has only brightened since you last saw him, you feel your heart clench as you hear his voice.

“Heya! I'm Daisuke, I’m psyched to be working with someone as new as me!”

©ouchthathurts please don't translate, claim as yours, redistribute and/or plagiarize in any way. likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[livfastdieyoung69]

(the girl across the street pt.2)

January sucks. Everyone and their damn mothers does their dumb New Year’s Resolutions, and decides they want to lose weight. In turn, no one eats out, and every restaurant you could possibly think of gets no business. Dead, completely empty. Including The Beef.

Mikey had taken to the office to pretend to do paperwork, but after a couple games of Candy Crush, he’d grown bored again. With a big sigh, he pulled himself out of the chair in the way every man who’s either above 30 or works too much does. The office door opens, and the rest of the staff are sitting around, grumbling and staring at the clock. There wasn’t even anything left to clean, The Beef hadn’t been this spotless since last January.

Mikey mumbles, goin’ for a smoke, while he leaves, just loud enough so that hopefully someone caught it. Wasn’t like they’d need him anyways, but he heard at least one grumble of acknowledgment before the door closed behind him.

He took his usual spot, on the milk crates stacked up right on the corner- it let you see down the creepy alley behind every restaurant on this side of the street, and down the even creepier alley just between The Beef and its neighboring building that led towards the road.

He should’ve wore a coat, but the breeze was sorta nice and it wasn’t snowing anymore. A lot nicer than sitting inside the office, he always got a headache if he stayed in there for two long (that was probably the mold in the ceiling). The silence was nice too, calming for the usual rush hours.

A whistle, sharp and high-pitched, but quiet in the pushing wind travels to Mikey’s ears. He perks up in his seat- looking down creepy alley one, to find nothing. Another whistle, telling him, practically speaking to him, in her silky, smooth voice and he can picture her little smirk while it whispers from her lips- wrong way.

He stands, tries to hide the grin that grows on his face by holding his head downwards as he starts walking towards her silhouette. She’s leaning against the light pole right in front of the pizza place, a cigarette in her hand too. Mikey remembers the one in his hand at the sight of hers, and has to drop it in the middle of the road before it burns him.

She just stares at him while he approaches- taking a drag and letting the smoke flow from her teeth. He wouldn’t have noticed the small black piece in her ear, but something was playing loud enough that it just sounded like muffled drums to him. She takes Mikey in, looking up and down while offering the cigarette.

Little cold for no coat, hm? God, she fucking kills him. Her and that playful little tone, it kills him. He shrugged, handing the cigarette back. Wasn’t very often he found himself speechless, but here she had him, with no words. Silence comes by again, and they listen to the wind while it passes along. Wanna pizza? She could see he was pretending like he wasn’t cold, and had nothing better to do than bring him inside.

Mikey follows her back to the pizza place, and watches as she grabs a dough from the fridge, coating it in flour and tossing it around. She lets him pick the toppings and he asks if she owns the place. Hell no, she scoffs, but family does.

While the pizza cooks she sits on the metal culinary table, and Mikey wags a finger at her and tells her, thats unsanitary, ma’am, with his big grin. She scoffs at him, yeah, okay, and pushes his shoulder just a little, and tells him how she just saw Richie standing on the front counter yesterday. She hops off anyways, and stands hip to hip with him instead.

They stay in the back when it’s done, and eat it on an unfolded pizza box off of the metal table she’d been sitting on earlier. Mikey teases, and pretends to write her a bad review, and she shoves his shoulder again and walks off with the promises of a soda.

She comes back with a bottle, liquid swinging in its plastic while she sways to the song that started playing over the radio while she was gone. His grin grows when he notices she’s humming the guitar solo under her breath.

“Got some skills, there.” He tries his hand at teasing, but she just keeps going, and her humming turns into lip syncing, and suddenly she’s dancing over in front of him. He’s laughing, and now she’s singing, and taking his hands in hers, and leaning back so he has no choice but to steady her with a hand to the hips and the other splaying across her lower back.

If she don’t her way, she’ll slice you apart,she grins, a finger pulling him closer by the shirt, moves like a cat, her shoulders shimmy just a little and her feet shuffle, taking him with her until her backs to the other counter feet away, if you don’t get her game, you might not make it back.

Mikey finds himself speechless again, and hopes to god no one sees what this women does to him. He knows one thing though, that song was sure as hell made for her.

She’s got the looks that kill, she finally finishes with the song, swaying back over to her seat, and he can’t find anything else in himself to do but shake his head and finish his slice.

An hour later he opens the back door to The Beef back up, trying to contain his grin, and hiding the leftover plastic wrapped pizza under his shirt. Before he can run back into the office, Richie is glaring at him, arms crossed like a scored mother.

She’s got you hard man. He shakes his head before Mikey can even defend himself. Hard.

[pineappleciders]

RW Omori squad (separate) with a s/o who has verbally abusive parents. Just like “oh it’s fine, it’s how we talk :)” and it’s clearly not, and the character can see that. (and the reader knows too but they don’t like to say that because that’d make everybody sad!)

RW OMORI gang with an S/O who has verbally abusive parents

includes: SUNNY, AUBREY, KEL, HERO, MARI, BASIL

TRIGGER WARNING: verbal abuse, physical abuse (mentioned), parental issues, arguing

reader is referred to with they/them pronouns

☆ ☆ ☆

SUNNY

sunny grew up in an asian household, and not to mention his parents favorited his sister. so he's faced his fair share of hurtful comments or impossible standards

although, he hasn't really gotten it to the extent you have, and he's a little. concerned.

like when he first hung out at your place and he heard your mother call you names and berate you,, he got really nervous and awkward

he really doesn't like arguing, and for many other reasons you two sort of decided it would be best to not chill at your place

but it doesn't mean he ignores it!!! he thinks about your parents all the time, and is kind of scared to pry but he asks about it for your safety

you two spend a lot of time at his house!!!! he prefers to not go outside and seeing as your parents erm. aren't the greatest, his house is usually empty and so it's perfect for hanging out!!!!

he never pries to the point of making you uncomfortable, but he is very worried. he'll constantly try to be there for you and lend an ear, as he knows your parents aren't the best listeners.

if you text him that your parents are being loud or yelling at you, he'll send you songs he likes for you to listen to to distract you and texts u constantly to keep you company

AUBREY

it. really pisses her off.

she had incredibly neglectful parents, and her mother would even get physical when drunk

so she knows what abuse is like. that's why although it angers her whenever she hears your parents degrade you, she never talks back to them or anything. she knows that would only end up worse for the both of you

although, she does express it a lot when you two are alone.

"dude, your parents are dicks, Y/N."

she's fully aware you're only playing it off for everyone's sake, but she never really talks about it. she knows how much it sucks for someone to call out a facade cough cough

she'll get you little trinkets or send you images of things that you like or that remind her of you throughout the day to hopefully cheer you up

her house isn't really available for hanging out either, so you guys often go to the lake or get pizza at GINO's, or just chill with the hooligans at the park

she never judges you for it, and tries to subtly let u know that she's there to listen whenever you need it. she wants to offer support that you otherwise don't really have

KEL

when your parents start saying shit at dinner, he looks kinda awkward and tries to change the subject. like if they started comparing you to him he'd be like "oh, haha i actually look up to Y/N! you raised an amazing kid :)"

he might dislike your parents, but he's always respectful of parents in general. he was always taught to respect his elders!!!

and then when you two leave the house he looks at you like a dejected kicked puppy

"man.. your parents are really something, huh?"

kel had only really been insulted by his parents during arguments or whenever he did something wrong, whereas he'd get spanked with a shoe and berated. they didn't verbally degrade him often, but they emotionally neglected him a lot.

he feels real bad for you, but he tries not to bring it up often. he knows it's a sensitive subject, he can tell by how you constantly say it's normal and it's just how they are

kel wants to wait until you're ready to talk about it. he doesn't push it, he wants you to come to him whenever you're comfortable!!

lots of walks and playing sports to get out of the house. he is constantly treating you to pizza at GINO's, and his family loves you to death!!!!! hero sees you as a little sibling and is always teasing kel about you

HERO

he tries his best to be respectful around your parents. he honestly wants to punch their faces in but he will not admit that

it concerns him when you lie and say it's nothing, but he doesn't push it often. sometimes he'll let you know you can be honest with him and that he's there to listen

with most parents, hero automatically wins them over and always tries to be polite and kind. but he doesn't really bother to get your mother roses or strike up conversation with your dad. he just can't really be comfortable around them

hero's family is very welcoming, so he'll always invite you over for dinner and his mother is asking constant questions!!! kel bugs you and jokingly asks why on earth you'd date someone like hero

(this earned him a smack on the head from both his mother and hero)

gets you gifts and flowers often, and leaves encouraging notes and compliments. he really doesn't want you to feel bad about yourself,, he knows it must be hard having parents like that

has a bit of a hard time finding words if you break down or cry, so he holds you in his arms and rubs your back.

"hey, hey, sshh.. i know... it's alright.."

MARI

similar to hero, your parents make it hard for her to control her anger. they're just so!!!!!&!!$&$ she has a general level of respect and awareness though, so she never really says anything

if she's at your place, she tries to be quiet but eventually can't take it and stands up for you.

"you should be a little easier on them. they've been doing quite well in school lately." she says, crossing her arms.

unfortunately this led to her getting kicked out, but she didn't really regret it

if you're ever feeling down about your grades or yourself in general, she's immediately showering you with compliments and encouragement. mari can't stand seeing you doubt how much you mean to her

i think mari has had a complicated relationship with her father, so she isn't a stranger to arguments and general mean comments and berating. part of why she's such a perfectionist is because her father pushed her,, so she's a bit of a hypocrite when saying you shouldn't let your parents dictate what you do

she's very supportive of wherever you want to go in life, always helping you practice and follow your dreams no matter what!!

always taking you out for picnics and dates!!! you spend a lot of time with the group to get away from things for awhile

she plays the piano for you to help you relax, and sometimes you fall asleep on her shoulder as she plays a calming song. she cherishes those moments the most.

BASIL

he hates it, especially when your parents come into the room and start yelling at you. he can't stand it at all

it makes him angry, but he's far too scared and shy to say anything, so he opts for excusing the two of you and taking you outside to check up on you

he can only imagine how hard it is for you to deal with that, so he's always checking on you to see how you're holding up mentally

he isn't great with words, so you two often spend lots of time together!!! at the park, at his house, at the beach, anywhere is fine with him as long as it's with you

polly loves you dearly!!! she's always embarrassing basil in front of you

he's scared that you're insecure about yourself due to your parents' words, so he leaves little sticky notes and drawings around to encourage you in everything you do

"hi Y/N! i hope you have a great day!!!!! here's a sunset picture, it reminded me of you :) -basil" and there's a photo attached of a pretty sunset

you cook the simplest meal?? he's praising it like it's gourmet

he gets you into gardening and photography, always sending you pictures that remind him of you!!!! they're good coping mechanisms for him and make him happy, so he wants to share that happiness with you

[bangaveragewhitewine]

Clean Slate

Steve Harrington X Reader 

It’s summer in Chicago, 1994. Being single in the city isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You feel less strong single independent woman, and more like the lonely teenager who floated between friend groups. A blind date with a familiar face might just be the clean slate you didn’t know you needed.

Clean Slate playlist

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings/Content: Both you and Steve are in your late-twenties. Some mentions of anxiety and feeling lonely. Other than that, flirting. Steve being dreamy. No use of Y/N and the reader is referenced as a being woman.

Author’s Note: Being in your late twenties sucks, huh? I’m just getting back into writing again, inspired by the amazing authors who have made me fall in love with Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson again and again. I had such fun writing this and fucking around on Canva 💖

Please do not do any AI fuckery with my work or repost on other sites.

(divider by me, that’s why it sucks)

edit: Read Pinch Me a follow up to Clean Slate

This was a bad idea. With every step you took from the subway, your desire to be back on your sofa eating pasta in your pyjamas grew more and more. A blind date? You definitely hadn’t been in your right mind when you agreed to this. Thinking back on it, when had being wine-drunk with your best friend ever cultivated a good decision?

After a steady stream of bad first dates, disappointing situationships and one walking red-flag you had called your boyfriend for eight months, Annie had finally taken pity on you and took charge of setting you up with someone. Over almost room-temperature white wine and an empty pizza box, she had made you pinky-promise to trust her as Mermaids played in the background. She couldn’t stand any longer to see you cry over preppy yuppies and wannabe grungers who only wanted to meet you to hook-up or string you along (alongside several other women who also deserved better). She had seen how deep it cut when you were stood up, left waiting by the phone by some mediocre poser who had already moved on. Slurring her words, Annie had held your tear-stained face and told you that you were wasting the best years of your life on idiots who stamped on your big heart and dimmed your light. Bolstered by her words, and more wine, you ended up dancing and scream-singing in your little studio apartment to a mixtape of songs from your college days and fell asleep on your second-hand sofa with your pinky fingers linked.

A few days later, after the hangover had subsided and you had done your best to forget your tearful confession of just how lonely you felt in the city, Annie called you up to ask if you were free on Friday night. Thinking another girl’s night was on the cards, you said yes. 

“Great. I have someone I want you to meet, he works with my brother. Does Hardy’s at 8 work for you?” 

The pinky-promise with your best friend since college could categorically not be taken back and so you found yourself reluctantly agreeing. As long as he wasn’t a murderer, or as emotionally unavailable as your last three suitors, how bad could it be? 

“Well when you fall in love and have beautiful babies, just remember who set you up, m’kay?” Annie had said when you called her up, considering cancelling. “You’re going!”

After going away to college from your small town upbringing, a move to Chicago was supposed to be the ultimate dream, but inside you still felt like the awkward teenager from Hawkins, Indiana. The outsider at every party, every hang-out at the mall or the arcade. The add-on to every friend group who said ‘you can come with us if you want to’ instead of an actual invitation. When you called your mom on the phone, she insisted that you had it all, that you were a real modern woman. She had been married and was already a mother at your age, and she was proud that you had the opportunity to be the bright independent woman you always wanted to be. It just didn’t seem so shiny now that it was your reality. 

With the bar in your sights, you took a deep breath and swiped the tiny beads of sweat that gathered over the bridge of your nose. Summer in the city was heavy with humidity; you could feel the lining of your long slip dress clinging to your thighs, riding up under the delicate black floral. The claw-clip holding up your hair was truly doing the lord's work, keeping your freshly washed blow-dry blind date-ready. 

You knew very little about your date - his name was Steve, he was a teacher with great hair. He was going to be wearing a blue shirt and would be on the lookout for the girl with the pink rose embroidered on her bag. Your entire outfit had been put together around the one piece you loved that could be picked out in the Friday night crowd of the bar. Classic first date; Annie was committed to helping you live the rom-com fantasy you deserved.

Des’ree’s words of wisdom, and your best friend’s blunt insistence that you were a hot bitch, echoed in your head as you took a moment to compose yourself and let your hair down over your clammy neck. Inside the bar was barely any cooler as you made your way through the stragglers from after-work drinks mingling with those who were just starting their night out. The desire to go home had never been stronger as you propped yourself by the jukebox and waited, trying not to cringe as you thought about what you looked like to the couples and groups of friends drinking and laughing around you. It felt far too similar to the house parties of your youth. What if he didn’t turn up? Or worse, what if he did and turned on his heel after realising you were his date? What could be best described as an overwhelming feeling of dread crept over you as you fidgeted with the strap of your bag, trying not to look too eager for the mystery that was Steve. 

Hearing your name brought you back to reality and out of your doom-spiral. As if. Steve Harrington was making his way over, the crowd parting with ease for him. Surely you had hit your head and this was some sort of dream…

“Hey…” A smile crept onto his face as his eyes darted between you and the beacon that was the rose embroidered on your bag. A city of millions and your blind date was the boy who had defended your honour at the age of five years old after Daniel P. pushed you in the playground; Steve had called him a ‘butthead’ and told Mrs Holland on the other boy.

You hoped that the dim light of the bar hid your pink cheeks as Steve stopped in front of you, looking even more dreamy than he had at junior prom. The blue shirt made him glow golden, fitting just right over the breadth of his shoulders. His hair was coiffed perfectly, defying humidity and gravity and giving him a few more inches of height. 

“Steve..” You couldn’t help a shaky laugh as the realisation washed over you both. It was easier to tune out the rest of the bar as he pulled you in for a quick but tight hug. You could have sighed at the feeling of his arms around you; you might have done just that, melted into a puddle of a girl had he not peeled away to get a good look at you. An irritating little pocket of anxiety in your chest could hardly believe he remembered you. 

“Nice bag. I think you’re the girl I’ve been looking for.” 

You felt like you could swoon. Or moan. Steve Harrington was effortlessly charming, more so than when he reigned in Hawkins High. Losing his crown had humbled him, that and working retail in your dead-end hometown. He looked genuinely pleased to see you, someone familiar in a city of strangers. You feel your teeth sink into the dusty-rose of your lip as you smile. 

“Thanks.” You will your voice not to shake as your heart pounds hard. “Annie told me you had great hair. I should’ve known it was going to be you.”

His laugh is soft, but you can still hear it over the music and voices in the bar. With one huge gentle hand on your elbow, he steers you to the bar to order drinks, standing close enough to see the sprinkling of moles and freckles on his neck and cheek and the hair peeking from the unbuttoned top of his shirt. Steve Harrington was a man now, all grown up. 

“She did, huh? I think I’ve met her once, I work with her brother,” Steve edges closer so that you could hear him. “How long’ve you been in Chicago?” 

“She didn’t even know you were ‘The Hair’.” You smiled and felt the weight of his gaze; you couldn’t ignore the sparkling feeling in your tummy. “Um I left Hawkins in ‘86, went to college in Indy. Moved here in ‘93.” Steve leans in to hear you, nodding as you count up the years in your head. “You’re a teacher? So are you more Scott Clark or Coach Kelly?” 

Steve laughs again and shakes his head as he pays for your drinks. “Neither. Maybe a little Clarke, without the sweater vests. I teach third grade so they would definitely roast me if I did.” He runs a hand through his hair, smirking, “But I do coach basketball after school too, you got me.” He spots a seat and steers you to a little high-top table, pulls out the stool for you before sitting opposite, visibly relaxed. There’s something about how you have bypassed the awkward introductions part of the date that makes you feel a little more at ease. But this is Steve Harrington. Any minute now he’ll make a polite excuse to leave after remembering how bookish and weird you were in school. 

Except he doesn’t. 

“I still can’t believe it’s you. You look great,” he says, not trying to flirt too hard. Steve is looking at you like he’s happy you’re here. Happy you’re his date. 

“I can’t believe you remember me. I was.. so boring,” you laugh at your own expense before sipping your drink, looking at the ice clicking against the glass. 

“Quiet maybe. Not boring though,” he ducked his head, making you look into his golden brown eyes. “Hey. Clean slate? That’s why we left Hawkins. If you can forget how much of an ass I was in high school, I can forget…” Steve pauses and hums as he thinks back. 

Forgettable. Unremarkable. That’s how you felt, blending into the background everywhere you went. You hadn’t been a cheerleader, or even a band-geek. Yeah you went to parties, but usually left early. You didn’t monologue on the lunchroom tables or get detention, and in the one play you auditioned for, they asked you to paint the sets - you couldn’t fade any further into the background if you tried. 

And Steve had never been an ass to you; his kingly confidence had burned fast and bright in the school halls until his fall from grace. He had always been polite, kind even; he asked to borrow a pen a few times, scolded Carol Perkins when she pushed past you and made you drop your lunch one time. He did just enough on a group project on Macbeth to keep him on your good side…

“Huh.” Steve frowns, looking a little fond as you snap yourself back to reality. “I can’t remember anything embarrassing about you. All good.” 

Your cheeks flamed and you couldn’t stop the nervous giggle that bubbled up from your chest. “Smooth, Harrington. Wow, remind me how you’re single?” He was definitely just being nice. You could remind him about the time you drank way too much peach schnapps and lemonade at Tammy Thompson’s 18th birthday and had to be picked up by your mom, or when you said ‘orgasm’ instead of ‘organism’ in ninth grade - both of which still haunted you when you tried to fall asleep. But Steve just grins back at you. 

“I mean it! You had that pink scrunchie permanently attached to your body, and a little snort laugh. Totally cute, not embarrassing at all.” He stays smiling as he sips his beer, seeing how you’re stunned that he remembers. Not smug, totally hot and he’s not even trying. You’re aghast.

“You remember my fucking scrunchie���?”  “If you tell me you still have it…” “Steve, it’s literally on my bedside table.”

Steve’s laughter makes you join in, snorting involuntarily as your shoulders shake, which just makes him laugh more. It's been a long time since a date made you laugh like this, let alone feel like you’re floating. 

When you both settle, Steve reaches over and takes your hand. You remember how you had wondered how holding his hand might feel when you saw him walk Nancy Wheeler to class way back when. It felt better than you ever dreamed it might. 

“Hey. Lemme tell you something, when I saw you over there I wanted to come right up and say hi. And then I saw your bag…it made my week.” 

Butterflies soar in your belly and you feel your cheeks heat up again. “Steve..”

“But just know, I thought you were cute in school. I just.. had my own shit going on and I was pretty shitty for a few years. So if you can give a reformed asshole a chance, I’d love to hear about how you’ve been, and actually get to know you.”

Steve squeezes your hand as CeCe Peniston sings Finally to the bar. The song totally sinks in now as you squeeze Steve’s hand in return, making him beam a smile your way. 

“Okay, Clean slate. But Steve? I totally had a crush on you. Even when you were doing keg stands and goofing around in math.” You make him smile even brighter, even as he shakes his head. 

“So cute. Damn, you’re definitely trouble.”

“Guess you’ll have to find out.” You raise a brow and sip your drink again, feeling less anxious now. The drink helped, but knowing that you could make an impression on Hawkins High royalty was certainly bolstering. 

“One question. Very important.” You straighten up before leaning toward him, almost conspiratorially. You don’t miss how his eyes dip to your lips before meeting your gaze. 

“Go for it.” “Are you sure about the sweater vests? I think you could really make them work.”

Now it’s your turn to grin into your glass as Steve throws his head back. “Oh I’m so in trouble with you.” 

He lifts his glass, meeting you in the middle to clink it against yours with a signature Steve Harrington wink. Maybe something good could come from a wine-soaked pinky promise.

bonus Steve inspo for the girlies who made it to the end - ily💖

[kiddbegins]

Did you really love me? - Connor Rhodes

Requested: yes

Word count: 1,318

Warnings: angst, no happy ending

A/n: if someone said ‘they brought me back to life’ over someone they left me for that’d be it for me

Masterlist

“Did you ever really love me?”

Breakups suck. Like, really suck. Seriously, who the hell wants to be sat in their room, watching disney movies in the hopes of cheering themselves up with ice cream in one hand and left over pizza in front of them? 

It didn’t help that you saw a future with him. Connor Rhodes, found his way into your heart then decided to rip it out with his bare hands. He said he found someone else, someone that brought him back to life. Some great feelings that stirred up. (That was pure sarcasm by the way.)

No, in reality it felt like he’d taken both your heart and your soul and crumbled it to pieces. Years down the drain. That first year of pining over the slightly older surgeon that you worked closely with followed by the next two years. 

Sure you should have seen it coming. Less time spent together and half the time you were together, there were fights speckled in. Over stupid shit. Leaving things around, forgetting to do something, missing a date. It was already being written in stone that you two weren’t going to last but you couldn’t take the signs at face value.

You just loved him so much. Every argument you thought maybe it was just a step to things working out. But it wasn’t. Now you’d spent the week in your apartment, using paid time off to wallow in your own pity.

And tomorrow was going to be your first day back at work. Your first day seeing him since everything happened. You had no idea what the hell you were going to do. Natalie and Will sort of had a plan in place, one they could only do so much about.

“We see him coming and we’ll make sure he asks one of us for help, or if you need a consult we’ll take over when he’s there, easy.” Natalie was proud of her plan, her boyfriend just nodding along knowing that was not how any of that was going to work.

You guys were doctors. It wasn’t like they’d always have time to be a personal block between you and the surgeon. Which was proven true the literal first patient you had. Will and Natalie were actually treated the sibling of the boy you had under your care who needed surgery.

And of course the surgeon in question was none other than Dr. Rhodes. Sure you could be professional but that was also when you completely avoided looking in the dark haired man’s direction. Something that was picked up by and brought up by the boy’s mother.

“Do the two of you have an issue with one another? Because I’d like for my doctors to be able to communicate so that I know my baby is getting the best care there is.” Her arms folded tightly across her chest as your mouth gaped.

Were you supposed to lie? Tell her that you and the man next to you were fine? You could handle him. But as much as you believed that, you couldn’t stop the tears pricking at your eyes when you so much as glanced at the back of his head.

Slightly you cleared your throat. “We’re okay, but uh, if it’ll make you feel better, I can have Dr. Halstead, who’s with your other son, take over here.” You spoke with a faint smile, the mother nodding tightly.

It was obvious she didn’t believe you just as much as you didn’t believe yourself and you didn’t want to make this day any worse for her. “Will, uh, could we switch? Mom’s asking for a different doctor.” She bit at her cheek, the look on her face giving away that that wasn’t the entire story but there was no time to question it.

“Yeah sure, we’re just finishing up his labs here.” Natalie gave you a soft smile as the rest of the shift continued, this time without any hiccups. And crossovers were smoother than that one. And once it was over, you were right back where you were that morning.

Crying on your couch.

Except, about halfway through your rewatch of Dirty Dancing, there was a knock on the front door. You weren’t expecting anybody and when you pulled open the front door, you were staring back at the last person you ever expected to grace your entrance way again.

“Connor?”

He gave a tight smile, sucking in a breath, “Can I come in?” You had to fight to hold back the scoff that nearly came out, raising your eyebrows. Who did he think he was just showing up, a week after you two broke up.

Annoyed, you went to shut the door with a roll of the eye, only stopping when the man grabbed the edge of it. “Y/n, please. Look, I just want to talk okay? We work together for god sakes, you have to learn to at least look me in the eye. Especially if we’re taking care of the same patient.”

As much as you wanted to pretend he was wrong, he wasn’t. Begrudgingly, you stepped aside, letting him come in. It was silent for a couple moments, the man taking in the mess that had fallen upon your apartment. 

In all honesty, he wasn’t that aware that the breakup had affected you this much. Obviously he knew you were upset, the lack of your appearance at work was enough proof of that. But seeing the messed up couch, the take out containers and half empty tissue box just put things into perspective. 

“Alright, are you going to say something or just judge the state of my house? Because I seriously-”

“Just tell me whatever you’ve been dying to tell me, y/n.” He cut you off, turning his attention back to you fully. “I can tell from the look on your face that you want to say something but you’re not letting yourself, and I know how much stuff like that eats at you.”

You nostrils flared as you looked up at him, “You don’t get to say that you know anything about me anymore Connor. You don’t. Not with all the shit that’s happened.” Your words came out harsher than you meant to and for a second you realized that maybe you did have some choice words for him.

“I’m sorry. I just, I want you to be able to get on with things. Move on, not have to worry about me when you’re at work.”

“I’m always going to Connor! I love you.” Your voice cracked along with the dam that was keeping your tears at bay. “With my entire heart, and you left. So I’m sorry if I can’t just get past that in seven days.” You tightly crossed your arms over your chest, sniffling.

If anything was embarrassing it was crying in front of someone that was the source of the tears streaming down your face. And you hated it. You absolutely despised how he was capable of all these emotions spilling from you and that you couldn’t even keep yourself from showing it.

“You know what. I do have something.” You cleared your throat, the anger fading and bringing back the heaviness in your chest. Connor nodded, gesturing for you to continue, his gaze on you entirely. “Did you ever even love me?” 

The softness of the question made Connor’s heart drop, his eyes flicking over your face. The lack of response made you scoff, nodding tightly. “Alright. That’s enough of an answer for me. You can go now.”

“Wait no, I did-”

“Go.” You practically yelled, squeezing your eyes shut and pointing at the door to your left. “And don’t try to talk to me again unless it’s work related.” The sound of the door opening and shutting was all you heard before you let yourself crumple onto the couch, crying until you couldn’t cry anymore.

JOIN CONNORS TAGLIST HERE!

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[sillyguycenteral]

Gibbs as your father headcanons (plus the team)

Gibbs is the only consistent parent you have in your life

Sure you have Ducky but he isn’t always around and you don’t live with him

And your mother died before you could even remember her 

All of the step moms left eventually sometimes even violently 

Gibbs isn’t perfect but he’s your dad

But once you’re old enough to start really hanging around the team it gets real fun

Abby is the coolest person you’ve ever met

She’s the sun and moon in your mind

She colors with you and makes fun of your dad! 

What more could a kid want in a person?

Kate is a close second to Abby only because you’ve known Abby longer

Kate is the one who grounds you and Abby when your at NCIS

She’s still really fun and colors with you and might even play catch with you if you play your cards right

She won’t do any of that if your dad is around though which sucks and knocks her down to third if your feeling spiteful

Tony has nothing on Abby but him and Kate are usually tied for second in your mind

When Tony joins the team your around 8 ish 

You didn’t warm up to him as fast as you did Abby

That was until he’s heater broke and he needed a place to stay after that the rest was history and he become the honorary brother to Abby's honorary sister

Whenever he has to stay with you and your dad you guys go ham

It’s board games, pizza, every kind of soda you can get your grubby hands on and if there isn’t a case you know you both are going to the movies!

Gibbs acts like he’s annoyed but he’s very glad you’re able to have a somewhat normal childhood

He’ll participate in a round of monopoly only if he can be the banker 

Though this isn’t a frequent event in the Gibbs household it is always a memorable experience

More about your relationship with Gibbs now!

Gibbs is a complex man and even more complex father

He loves you more than life itself there isn’t a doubt in his mind or anyone else's that he wouldn’t die for you

Now how he expresses that is…very much how you would expect him to

He’ll hug you if you’re the one initiating, you would have to be a near sobbing mess for him to really just come up and give you a hug 

It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want he’s just not a super touchy person

The mans just awkward and your a teenager now and he doesn’t want to embarrass you (in that way)

Speaking of embarrassing you… oh my god this old man is the literal devil

He gets such a kick out seeing you yell at him or even look slightly annoyed at him

He’s such a dad in that way (when he’s not almost crashing the car you know his ass is trying to get that dad tax)

And if you’re easily embarrassed you’ll have to grow out of that quick

Like anytime that you visit him or any of the team members at NCIS and it starts to get late lights out immediately 

 This old man is forcing you to go to bed

Not tired? 

He couldn’t give less of a shit 

Your still his kid and have school tomorrow

Is he going to drive you home? No chance, that’s a waste of gas money kid 

You’re the one who wanted to be here so suck it up, take his jacket and go to sleep

A little off topic but he is such a “it’s that damn phone” kind of dad

Like of course he is

You have cold cause it’s going around at your school

Wouldn’t have it if you weren’t always texting now would you?

What a silly man

I’ll definitely add more later but hope you enjoyed it :) Let me know if there is anything I can do to improve or anything you want to see!!

[kasagia]

♡Be my Valentine♡

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x reader

Summary: The day of lovers came like a bolt from the blue. You were planning to stay in your house, make yourself a huge pizza, and celebrate another year of being a single, self-sufficient woman. But you forgot that having the original hybrid as a lover-enemy (more like a puppy/wolf madly in love with you) comes with all sorts of surprises.

Word count: 4,4k+

My bloodthirsty alarm clock has been bothering me for 15 minutes. I promised myself that this time I would give up throwing a metal object and save myself the few dollars I used to spend on a new alarm clock every month. I groaned, rolling out of bed and getting up to turn off the death machine. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and threw myself back on the bed to check my messages.

Queen of school: Don't forget about the Valentine's Ball! I want to see you there with some sexy guy, so this freak-ancient hybrid will finally give you peace. P.S. Don't even think about missing it. I'll make Stefan or Damon come for your lazy ass.

Love you too, Gilbert. :-P

I groaned as I put a pillow over my face. It completely slipped my mind that today is this bloody holiday. Caroline will kill me if I try to avoid this annual nightmare again. I had to find a way to get out of this. Last year I had an unannounced visit from my mother, and two years ago I went skiing with Elena (who had broken up with Matt and was as reluctant to participate in this stupid holiday as I was). Maybe this time Bonnie could help me extricate myself from this?

Hello, my best friend ever! Could you help me hide in the darkest hole in this town so I didn't have to go out today and risk my mental health being completely damaged after seeing all these copules who will be sucking each other's faces and pelting each other with chocolates, flowers, and God knows what else?

Bon_Bon sweetheart: Are Caroline or Elena making you go to the party again?

Yes. On pain of death.

Bon_Bon sweetheart: You three are such drama queens. Give me five minutes. I'll come to you and help you with your excuse.

Thank you! You've always been my favorite.

Bon_Bon sweetheart: Don't let Caroline hear that!

I sighed in relief as I put my phone down. Immediately after, it buzzed, signaling an incoming call. Rebekah.

"What's up?" I asked after answering it.

Rebekah and I formed a sort of friendship after she joined our school. Of course, the girls were furious, but with time, they grew accustomed to my strange, warm-hearted relationship with Mikaelson. Actually, not only one of them. Kol was surprisingly nice after our many fights over every food I had, he liked to mess with me, especially after he saw I didn't shy away from teasing him just because he was an evil, crazy original vampire. Elijah and I somehow ended up together in the public library, discussing a book we were both reading. Since then, I've had three "friends" of the originals.

There was only one problem in this strange, twisted life of an ordinary man among the vampires, witches, and werewolves that I managed to lead. And there weren't fights between my two groups of friends. The problem was called Klaus Mikaelson. A man who turned our relatively quiet life in Mystic Falls upside down. A vampire who wanted to use Elena's blood to make hybrids similar to him (which she refused to do, as if taking her magical blood every month and giving it to Klaus wouldn't bury the hatchet between bloodthirsty vampires and bring us peace again).

"Can you tell me why all of the people are acting crazy? I mean, they aren't usually normal, but today they are unreasonable! Every wall is plastered with strange hearts, angels with arcs, and other red and pink damn things. We're celebrating a day of ripping people's hearts out, or what's the point?" she asked, both annoyed and confused by the whole situation. Just let it wait until Valentine's Day mail. Then a real nightmare happens.

"Almost. Have you ever heard of Valentine's Day, or has your ancient ass been kept in that musty coffin too long for you to know such a thing?"

"What?"

"In short. There was this one guy who decided that he had to set aside one special day in the year when people would declare their sincere, undying love for each other. And attention. Today is that day. So if you have a boy you're crazy about, you might as well go out with him tonight. If you don't have such plans, you can join me. We'll watch a movie, eat junk food, and complain about all men on this earth." I suggested as I walked into the kitchen and made sure I had everything I needed to survive this day.

"You seriously don't have anyone you would like to spend this day with? Did you see yourself in the mirror?! You're beautiful and…"

"Thank you. But I don't want to go out, find some guy, and have fun with him just because this holiday expects it of me. I'm not looking for one-night stands or something like that. Plus, I could use a day off from the drama of Mystic Falls."

"As you wish. I guess I'll try my luck and try to find someone. Hang on there!"

"Good luck! Have fun, honey!"

As soon as I hung up, I heard a knock on the door. I changed quickly, tying my hair as I went, and opened the door. Bonnie wrinkled her nose at my messy state.

"Hi girl. You really don't want to go, do you?" she asked, entering the apartment and looking around. It's a good thing I cleaned up last night.

"After planning a whole beautiful day of doing nothing? No thanks. I just hope Caroline will forgive me." I replied, leaning against the door and staring at the witch.

She has changed since she found out who she really is. She became bolder, more persistent, and fiercer. Like all of us, I guess. Sometimes I miss those quiet days when vampires and werewolves were just fantastic inventions. Everything was simpler then.

"She might be a little pissed off, but she'll understand. Caroline just wants you to be well. She thinks you haven't gotten over your breakup with Luck yet and wants to help you." she tried to defend her friend's behavior.

However, we both knew that Caroline's dominant side wasn't just the result of her caring. She liked to stick her nose in other matters; the fact that she was trying to save the whole world at the same time was the only reason why we turned a blind eye to the blonde's behavior.

"As if being single was a punishment, not a choice. Just because I didn't jump into the arms of some other hot, dark-haired guy doesn't mean I'm still grieving the breakup with that asshole." I grunted, annoyed. I was able to fully take care of myself. I didn't need a man to lean on, especially not after what happened with my ex. Life alone was easier.

"I know. That's why I bring you this." she took a small glass bottle from her leather bag and handed it to me.

"What is it?" I asked, taking the vial from her and turning it over in my hand.

"Potion. A couple of sips, and you'll have a terrible cold. Take it when one of the guys comes to check on you. As soon as he's gone, eat a black peppercorn, and you'll be back to normal."

"Wow. How do you know that? You're becoming a more advanced witch, Miss Bennet. 5 points for Hufflepuff." I said with admiration. I have always loved witches and hags depicted in literature, so having a real one as a friend was a real blessing for me. That doesn't mean I'd give up joking about Bonnie's extraordinary abilities.

"Really funny. Now excuse me. Unlike you, I'm going to school, and I still have to pick out a dress, and unfortunately, I don't have a rich hybrid at my beck and call. Why don't you go out with him if you don't have anyone else? This will keep Caroline from letting you go. Also, he seems to be more peaceful for us after he spends a day with you." she tapped me on the arm with a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah. And right after the perfect date, I will confess my great love to him by getting down on one knee and proposing to him."

"If that's what you want. Happy Valentine's Day, grouch!" she screamed with a huge smile, closing the door behind her. A strange feeling of hope ran through my body.

After all, maybe it's going to be a good day.

~♡♡♡•♡♡♡~

*A few hours later*

"It's a pity you got sick today." Stefan said after he took my temperature.

The vampire was delegated by Caroline to get me out of the house at all costs. Luckily, Bonnie's potion worked perfectly, and that's how I ended up wrapped in the warmest blanket on the couch with my few-hundred-year-old friend.

"I know. I really wanted to go to the ball and see how you and Caroline won the prize for being the best couple." I said, blowing my nose into one of the handkerchiefs.

"Do you believe in us so much?"

"Well, after Tayler swore to make Klaus' life miserable, he didn't work well as her boyfriend. They were cute at first, but it all went to hell. So take your chance before some other handsome guy hangs around her. Like Kol or Elijah." my taunt was met with a small snort from the man.

"Speaking of the Mikaelsons. How's your fledgling relationship with Klaus? I'm surprised he didn't call in the entire medical team from the hospital to check on you." he replied amused when he noticed how my smile fades along with the memory of the original.

"You think you're funny, Salvatore? Aside from your feeble attempt at joking, I must also point out your poor choice of words. Me and Klaus have no relationship."

"Of course. The guy just sends you fancy, expensive dresses every time there's a party in Mystic Falls, sends you love notes with your portraits on them, is there for you almost 24/7, and scares away any potential guy who wants to date you." he teased, counting on his fingers all the deeds of the original.

"He did what?! Who the hell he scared?" I sprang off the couch, dropping a box of tissues as I went.

"I witnessed him almost stabbing Kol for saying you looked scathing in one of those dresses he sent you. Poor Elijah had to look for you all over the school so you could distract your hybrid." he laughed a little at the indignation on my face.

"He isn't mine." I growled, returning to my comfortable spot on the couch.

"Tell him, not me. So, you don't happen to have a date with that wolf in love?" he asked, suddenly curious, leaning in my direction with searching eyes and a mysterious smirk on his lips.

"Pigs will fly before I date that damn imbecile." I snorted, pushing him away from me to reach for another tissue. Bonnie seems to have overdone the potency of this wonderful potion.

"Well, think it over. If Damon sees flying pork in Mystic Falls tomorrow, he'll probably go abstinent. You could inherit his share of our old wine collection from him."

"Did Caroline send you to act as my and Klaus' matchmaker for her?"I asked, leaning over to the vampire to eye him suspiciously.

"Not that blonde. But it was Caroline who finally convinced me. You don't even know how a common goal can unite even the worst enemies. Have a good time!" he shouted, pushing me onto the couch and grabbing his phone off the coffee table.

"Stefan! Wait!" I tried to stop him, but thanks to his super speed, he escaped from my apartment.

I snorted, muttering curses at the vampire under my breath as I stood up to close the door behind him.

It was usually Caroline, Bonnie, and Rebekah who teased me about Klaus' supposed feelings for me. The girls would make suggestive, eloquent comments whenever me and Klaus did something together or paired us up for a particular task against the newest threats in Mystic Falls. They often used me as a "distraction" and "bait" for the original hybrid. Not to mention their whistling every time we somehow danced together.

Worst of all, though, was Rebekah's teasing after I stayed overnight at the Mikaelsons' and Klaus and I accidentally ended up in his bed. I will never forget her malicious tone of voice and the wave of shame and embarrassment that engulfed me after she said to Klaus: "You must not have tried hard enough, brother, since neither of us heard you had a visitor in your sheets."

Adding Stefan to their little "group of bullies" will only make their taunts worse.

My God, keep Kol away from their stupid plans.

I went to the kitchen to take "an antidote" for my illness. I made myself some popcorn and decided to watch "Pride and Prejudice" as my first movie tonight. Halfway through the movie, I heard a knock on the door. It could only be one person.

"If you don't have food with you, I'm not going to let you in, Bekah." I said as I opened the door. I froze in place when I finally saw who was on the other side of them. Klaus.

"Not this Mikaelson, love. I've heard you are sick, so I brought you this." he picked up the bundle in his hands, which smelled dangerously similar to my favorite food.

"How the hell did you get here? I thought you and Elijah were going on a reconnaissance mission or something like that, and you'd be gone for a week." I said, honestly surprised to see him.

"It's nice to know that you do care about me, love, and are taking the trouble to assimilate such information. Satisfying your curiosity, we came back early. Can I come in now?"

"It depends." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"On what?" he asked with a charming smirk, leaning his head against the door frame.

"What is this?" I asked, pointing to the packaging.

"That disgusting, fiendishly spicy spaghetti that you've somehow taken a liking to lately."

"And what do you have in the other hand?" I asked as I saw him trying hard to hide something behind him.

"It's a surprise. I can't jump out with all my gifts right now, can I?"

"Make me regret this, and I'll ask Bonnie to cancel all my invitations again, even if it means I'll spend another half day letting my friends in, because amazingly, 90 percent of them are vampires."

"I won't make that mistake again, love. If you could…" he pointed at the door and the invisible barrier blocking him from entering.

"Come in, the bane of my existence." I sighed, turning my back on him to go back to my cocoon of blankets on the couch.

"You must admit, I'm the most handsome bane you could ever dream of."

"I don't know… you could be at least younger." I replied thoughtfully, smiling as his confident smirk faded.

"Ouch." he put his hand on his chest, close to his heart, pretending to be hurt. He carefully placed the packaging on the coffee table and handed me the gardenia bouquet, which he had been hiding behind his back all this time.

"And for what occasion?" I asked, taking the flowers from the softly smiling hybrid and looking at them for a moment. Despite my reluctance, I had to admit that they were beautiful and smelled amazing.

He nodded at the bouquet. I looked it over carefully, noticing a small piece of paper between the flowers. I opened the note, checking its contents.

Unpack your lunch.

There was no mistaking Klaus' perfect handwriting for anyone else's.

I frowned, glancing at the hybrid sitting carelessly beside me. The bastard pretended not to see my questioning look and watched the scene of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in the rain with fascination, like nothing happened.

I snorted as I opened the box and started eating my spaghetti while continuing to watch my movie. At one point, I felt Klaus's arm slide precariously onto the back of the couch behind me, and the hybrid itself moved slightly closer to me.

He watched me for a moment, gauging my reaction. I decided to tease the vampire a bit and, sighing deeply, leaned back completely against him, resting my head on his shoulder.

He tensed up, gently wrapping his arm around me that he had placed on the back of the couch earlier.

When I had finished eating, I saw that there was a note on the bottom of the clear plastic box on the other side. I turned the box over, reading another note, much to the interest and excitement of the man sitting next to me.

Check your jacket pockets.

I turned my gaze to Klaus. I looked into his eyes, trying to see the shadow of any plan he was hiding.

"Any problem, love?" he asked, pretending to be a fool.

"I don't know yet." I mumbled, licking my mouth. His gaze flicked from my eyes to my lips. He leaned toward me, getting dangerously close. His attention returned to my eyes, trying to anticipate my next move. With a small, mischievous smirk, I shoved the empty box into his hands and pushed him away from me, getting up from the couch to walk over to the coat rack.

I slipped my hand into the pocket of my leather jacket, immediately sensing the tiny square note.

Go down.

I turned to the hybrid standing behind me. I held the paper up to his eye level, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"What's this?"

"Come and find out for yourself, love. I dare you."

I crossed my arms over my chest, giving him a defiant look.

"You know, I have a rather tempting counterproposal to stay in a warm and cozy home. I'm hardly drawn to the unknown with my friends' nemesis."

"It would be such a shame if Caroline somehow got to know that you're quite healthy and ready to go to her party. You had to leave your cozy couch."

"You wouldn't…" I walked over to him, giving him a menacing look.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" he accepted the challenge by taking a step closer so our chests were touching.

"Well played. Expect retaliation, love." I replied, trying to imitate his tone of voice when he gave people that nickname. The hybrid only laughed. He helped me put on my jacket, and placing his hand on my back, he led me out of the building.

We stopped in front of his car, on the hood of which was another card.

Let the handsome and hot chauffeur drive you to your destination.

"Handsome and hot? Someone's got a good imagination." I laughed, turning the note over in my hands. The man gave me a hurt look as he opened the passenger door for me. "Someone is also mysterious today." I teased further, walking over to Klaus to face him. "Really? Won't you tell me anything?"

"Careful, love. Curiosity killed the cat."

"And the satisfaction brought him back."

"If you want, I can work on your satisfaction later when we get back."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his smug smirk as I got into his car without a word.

He was in the driver's seat next to me in less than a second and had already started the engine. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the main road out of Mystic Falls.

"Where are we going?" my question was met only by his silence. "Come on. I'm not jumping out of the car when you're going that fast anyway."

"Who knew you were so impatient, love? We'll be there shortly." he replied, glancing briefly at me. He smiled, obviously amused by my grumpy attitude.

"Who would have thought you could hold your tongue for more than five minutes?"

"Insults will get you nowhere, love." he smiled teasingly, looking at me for a moment.

"Please, Klaus. Tell me where you're taking me so I can tell you what a wonderful, loving, and caring guy you are that instead of handing me over to the bloodthirsty Caroline, you decided to take me on the adventure of a lifetime."

"That's better." I huffed angrily, moving as far away from him as possible. In the reflection of the window, I saw him roll his eyes. "If you must know, I'm taking you to the only place worth seeing in this awful neighborhood. Content?"

"Sufficiently." I turned to him with a mischievous smirk on my lips.

A few minutes later, we stopped in some forest. Klaus got out first, waiting for me to follow him. Hesitantly, I opened the door and walked over to him, immediately grabbing his hand. It was far too dark for hiking. At least if I wanted to get home in one piece without any tripping. The hybrid smiled softly, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. He moved confidently through the forest, guiding me along the forest path until we came to a cliff.

Still holding his hand, I walked to the edge, staring at the landscape before us. Not far away we could see a tiny waterfall, from which a river flowed further, stretching through the hills, valleys, and other elevations of the forest. But the most charming of all was the starlight reflecting in the fast current of the river and the sound of fir trees accompanied by the falling water.

I turned to look at the hybrid standing next to me.

Did I mention he laid a blanket, strewn rose petals, and lit several candles? No? So he did. How could I get back to my playful, mischievous mood after something like that?

"So… do you like it?" he asked uncertainly as I stared at him silently for a long time. Did I like it? I loved it.

"Yes. I like it." I replied instead, smiling shyly at him.

He led me to a blanket and took a rectangular box from his pocket, which he handed over to me after a moment's hesitation. I felt his expectant gaze on me as I unwound the bow. Before opening the box, I cast a fleeting glance at my companion. I've never seen him both so excited and… full of fear at the same time.

I sighed as I saw a beautiful silver bracelet with a pendant of a wolf howling at a silver moon, circled by a small bat, and a lapis lazuli-studded crown.

After my first fascination with the starlight reflecting object wore off, I noticed the smallest of all notes attached to the top of the box.

Will you be my valentine (and my queen)?

"Oh Klaus, I... it's..." The worry line on Klaus' forehead began to deepen as he began to assume I wanted to reject his cute confession.

"It's okay, love. I should have known it was too much. You don't have to say yes or anything. We'd best forget all about it. I will drive you back home if that's what you…" I shut him up by taking his face and putting his lips on mine.

I started to passionately kiss the paralyzed and shocked vampire. It took him a few minutes to realize what I was doing. He kissed me back and pulled me to him, so I was sitting on his lap. I smiled at the hybrid's grip, running my hand through his curly, velvety hair. We broke apart when I was completely out of breath. Breathing heavily, I smiled at the equally disheveled man.

"Well… I guess the answer is yes, then."

"Yes. I'll be your stupid valentine. But it'll take you a few more dates before you can call me your queen." I replied with a smile, tangling my hands in his hair.

"I can work with that." he whispered, never taking his eyes off mine. I cleared my throat awkwardly, unaccustomed to so much affection being shown toward me. I shifted my flustered gaze and started playing with his hair.

"Good. Now, tell me about the constellations."

"Isn't that too tacky by your standards?" he inquired, cupping my chin with one hand to refocus my attention on him. 

"Yes, but I already do things I usually don't. We might as well continue to fulfill all the points of these romantic comedies."

"And what changed your mind?"

"I just have good company." he smiled and kissed my forehead, stroking my hair.

Klaus pulled me closer so I could lean against his chest. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a basket full of cookies, chocolates, and other sweets, along with a bottle of red wine. I turned slightly to look at his face as he held me tight in his arms and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well. Let's just say I wanted to keep it as a consolation if you don't take my confession well and run away screaming from me."

"Selfish man." I snorted, reaching for the candy bar. It took all my strength to keep from laughing at the hybrid. The vampire, however, was too attentive and noticed my amused smirk.

"Try telling that to my siblings, and I'll lock you in my room and never let you out."

"You should know better than to threaten me with a good time." I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and went back to eating the sweets.

He sighed in shock at my seductive suggestion. After a moment, he rested his chin on my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.

"So? Was it worth leaving home?" he whispered in my ear, planting a few kisses. My cheeks warmed slightly. Even without seeing his face, I could tell he was smiling goofily now, very pleased with my reaction. I turned to him, meeting his loving gaze.

Definitely.

"Possible. But you'll have to convince me a little more to be completely sure." he smiled teasingly. I could see the mischief in his eyes before he started tickling my stomach.

I screamed as I tried to get out of his strong grip. During my (unsuccessful) struggle, I knocked us to the ground, landing on my back with Klaus on top of me. With his new position, his teasing movements intensified, making me gasp with laughter.

"Okay, you won! You won!" I screamed between fits of laughter. "It was worth it."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." I said, pulling him into (one of many) kisses tonight.

If it involves being his queen, I think it only takes him an hour to convince me… maybe even less.

After all, it was a very good day.

[bellysoupset]

She was starving, Bella thought as she impatiently tapped her foot, waiting for the elevator to reach her floor. It had been a very long day and then some kid had somehow installed a children's cartoon as the university background, in all computers, which of course had caused a huge ruckus and all of the IT people had been held up after hours to fix it.

She should've been home two hours ago, but nooo... Her belly growled, loudly, and Bella placed a hand over it, pressing on it to shut it up, cheeks burning as the old woman next to her politely pretended not to hear.

Lucas got home much sooner than her, so it was to her absolute dismay that she opened the door to find him hunched over his university books, nose buried in one, and no smell of food in the air.

He raised his head when the door shut and then glanced at his watch, "Bell? What the hell, it's almost 10..."

"Ugh, I know, some kid caused a minor crisis," Bella dumped her school bag near the door, kicking off her combat boots, "I'm starving."

"Ah..." Lucas cringed, "I was waiting for you to order in, so I didn't-"

"Uuuh," she whined loudly, but she wasn't exactly pissed at him. It was sweet he had waited for her and she should've texted, but in all of the mess, it had completely slipped her mind, "pizza always takes a million years to arrive..."

Bella walked straight to the kitchen, knowing he'd follow and too hungry to properly greet him. She opened the fridge in search of leftovers, "I'll just eat whatever's in the fridge."

"We've got nothing in the fridge, we were supposed to grocery shop tomorrow, remember?" Lucas' voice came from right behind her, as she expected and Bella ignored him, pushing away the bottles of sauce and the many many bottles gatorade. Really, who bought Gatorade in bulk? Lucas did.

"Aha!" she straightened up, opening a red plastic container and revealing the mini chimichangas her mother had sent her, "there's nothing you can eat, gringo," she teased him lightly, getting on her tip toes to press a kiss over his lips and then moving for the sink.

Lucas barely reciprocated the kiss, frowning at her container, "Bells, didn't Marisa send this like... Weeks ago?"

"Did she?" Bella dumped the lid inside the sink and then sniffed the snack, "smells fine to me."

"...I don't think this is smart, Bella..."

"You," she pointed at him, putting the plastic container inside the microwave, "worry too much."

"I worry enough," Lucas rolled his eyes, "well, I guess I'll order pizza just for me then."

"Sorry," Bella had the decency of blushing for not waiting alongside him, but he shrugged.

"I really think you should wait for the pizza, babe," then moved back into the living room to find his phone. He didn't come back, so Bella figured he had gotten sucked in by his essay once again.

She waited impatiently as the container stopped spinning inside the microwave, serving herself a glass of Gatorade and then moving back into the living room with her now warm food. Just as she guessed, Luke was once again squinting at the page.

"I think you need glasses," she said, taking a bite of a chimichanga and then huffing as it burned her tongue. She chugged on the cold drink, pushing it all down, but didn't wait another second to take yet another bite.

"Uhm, no," Lucas scoffed, turning the page of his book, "I'm just tired," he rubbed his neck, straightening up on the chair.

"Denial is a river in Egypt," she grinned, kissing his temple and moving away from the dining area and into the living room, sitting down on the couch. Seeing as Luke wasn't paying her any mind, she tunned in her show and started to eat while watching it.

A whole episode later, her tupperware was almost empty and Luke's pizza arrived, so he finally shut the books to come join her. Bella eyed the last chimichanga wearily, debating if she should eat it. She hadn't eaten that much, only four mini ones, but still she felt full already. Probably a result of eating too fast.

"Do you want my last chimichanga?" she asked as Lucas sat down next to her on the couch with a satisfied groan.

He wrinkled his nose, "hell no," then bit on his pizza. She sighed, picking it up and trying to take a bite, but a wave of repulsion ran through her. Bella sighed.

"I guess it's garbage for you, buddy."

Her boyfriend let out an amused snort at her pitying comment and she got up to throw it out in the kitchen. Bella opened her jeans, suddenly feeling squeezed into it.

"I'm gonna take a shower and change, brb," she shouted, poking her head out of the kitchen and then heading for their suite.

By the time she made it back to the living room, twenty minutes later, Bella was feeling dead on her feet. She collapsed on the couch, resting her head on Lucas's arm and glancing at his pizza. Only two slices were gone.

"Are you feeling alright?" Bell yawned, wrapping an arm around his middle so she could use him as a pillow. He hummed, licking on his fingers.

"Yeah, cutting down on carbs since season is ending," he explained and Bella nodded in understanding, even though she thought putting Lucas on a diet was unneeded.

"How was your day?" she asked sleepily and smiled as he promptly launched on a rant about his evening lecture, a rant he probably had been waiting all evening to speak.

She chuckled here and there as he got clearly passionate over the issue, but slowly Bella lost focus on what was being said and fully sank against him.

Lucas must've carried her to bed, because she woke up snuggled against him, hours later. Their room was fully dark, not even the TV was on, and she wondered what had woken her up, all warm and cozy...

Too warm. Her belly gurgled unhappily and she immediately knew. Slowly she pulled away from Lucas, sitting against the headboard and placing a hand on her stomach. It was bloated and sore, a whine answering her soft touch.

Her upper belly felt overly full, as if nothing had digested at all, but she knew it had to be a lie, by how her intestines were cramping. Sweat started to collect over her brow and then a sharp cramp ran through her, painful enough to have her gasping and curling around her belly.

Next to her on the bed, Lucas stirred and turned so he was facing her, still oblivious and asleep. Bella cringed, she was not in the mood to receive Lucas' I-told-you-so. Worse of all, she didn't want to be on the receiving end of his overly concerned glare, he always made such a fuss about health...

She crawled out of the bed, but instead of heading for their suite's bathroom, she tiptoed out of the room and for the guest room's bathroom.

"I'm so smart," she said sarcastically to herself, shutting the bathroom door and sitting down on the toilet, hugging her sick belly. Her intestines cramped fiercely for a couple more minutes, before a loud gurgle all but doubled her queasiness and then they emptied out quickly.

She was shaky and nauseous as she cleaned herself up, fifteen minutes later, forced to brace against the sink as she attempted to wash the cold clammy sweat from her face. Her hands were shaking and when Bella bent down, a sour burp sneaked past her lips. She groaned, swashing cold water in her mouth and spitting it out, hoping to get rid of the acidic taste that was pushing her closer and closer to puking.

Seeing as it wasn't going to happen at right that moment, she slowly made her way out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen, retrieving one of the many Gatorade bottles - sweet irony - and a mixing bowl, just in case.

Bella curled up on the couch once more, a shiver running down her spine and unscrewed the bottle, bringing it to her lips. However, the sweet scent only made her gag and she didn't have the nerve to drink it.

She settled the bottle back down and wrapped an arm around her angry belly, rubbing wide circles on it. Curse her impatience and stubbornness. Another wet burp rolled up and Bella groaned, eyeing the mixing bowl still on the coffee table. She really didn't want to puke...

Her mouth filled up with salty saliva and she gagged suddenly, scrambling to get the bowl, but despite the fact a nasty burp rolled out of her all, she got up was some orange collared spit. Her throat hurt and her belly was pulsing, gurgling non stop.

"puta chimichanga," she mumbled darkly, coughing to get rid of the taste. Just then Bella heard the soft noise of the bedroom door opening and then Lucas appeared in the hallway, rubbing his eye in a sleepily manner.

"What are you doing in the liv- Aw, Bell..."

"I'm fine."

"I can tell," he snorted, ignoring her scathing glare and stepping closer, "why are you in the living room?"

She didn't have it in her to answer, only whined, curling up forward and Lucas sighed, cupping her forehead.

"Have you thrown up already?"

"No-Oourpe-" she burped mid word and cringed, "I'm so queasy though..."

He breathed in through his nose, raising an eyebrow and Bella glared at him, holding a fist to her mouth as she scoffed, "just say it already, I know you want to."

Lucas snorted, "I told you not to eat those things, Bella."

She huffed, unimpressed and swallowed in another gag, "happy now?"

The little smug smile that was tugging the corner of his lip fell, "I'm not happy you're sick, Bell, c'mon..." Lucas sighed, circling the couch so he could sit behind her and pull her hair up and away from her mouth. It was long enough that he could twist it around itself, no tie necessary.

Bella slumped against him, hugging her stomach, "it hurts, Luke..." she whined, dignity and embarrassment forgotten.

"Will rubbing it help?" He asked, but she shook her head, sitting up straight in order to spit more salty saliva in the bowl.

"Don't touch it, you're just gonna make me puke."

"Okay..." he settled for rubbing her back, cringing at the wet burps rolling off his girlfriend and the gurgles emitting from her belly. She gagged again, bracing against the bowl, but it wouldn't come up, nausea keeping her mouth open regardless.

Lucas reached to grab the gatorade bottle abandoned on the floor, just as he caught sight of Bella shoving two fingers in her mouth. He grabbed her hand, "babe, no, don't do-"

"No, I have to throw up, my belly hurts," she whined, pushing his hand around her wrist away and going for it again. He cringed even more and a second later Lucas heard as she gagged around her hand, barely pulling it away fast enough to vomit into the bowl.

It was red and chunky, smelling strongly of tomato sauce. Lucas couldn't help but gag lightly, looking at a spot over the couch and making sure the bowl was secure in her lap.

"Just let it up, Bells..." he mumbled, as he felt her heave and choke, trying to swallow back down.

"It burns," she whined and he grimaced. He was well aware of how horrible it was to throw up spicy food.

"I know, I'm sorry..." he rubbed at her arm, which was covered in goosebumps. Bella groaned again, then heaved one more time and he had to rush and hold at her forehead, as her whole body shuddered with it. More puke rushed out of her mouth and it went on for a long minute, causing her to pant and cough for air.

"Jesus, Bella..." worry started to eat at Lucas. He was very aware this was just food poisoning, caused by her own hand, but still... "are you done?"

"Not sure," she spluttered, struggling to breathe, "hurts."

"Okay, uhm- I'm gonna empty this..." he said uncertain if it was wise to move, but she didn't complain, so he took it as a hint to get moving, "I'll be right back."

Once he returned to the couch, now with a clean bowl and a blanket, he noted how severely Bella was shaking. She lifted up her blue eyes, a pitiful grimace on her face.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Lucas scoffed, draping the blanket over her, "you're the one sick."

"...'cause I'm stupid," Bella groaned, making grabby hands for him and he circled the couch, sitting down so she could rest her head on his lap, "so stupid."

"Don't call my girlfriend stupid," Lucas scoffed, stroking her hair, "she's a dummy at best."

It caused her to chuckle, before a cramp hit her again and Bella rolled onto her side on the couch, muffling a wet burp against his thigh. Lucas' hand hovered, ready to grab the bowl.

"Bella?"

She didn't answer him, struggling to swallow the nausea back down. Lucas heard as her belly let out a nasty wet gurgle and he rushed to grab the bowl, just as Bella let out a queasy, "Oh god-" and lurched forward.

She was so harsh that her hair fell out of its knot and Lucas had to quickly switch the bowl from one hand to the other in order to stop her auburn curls from getting coated with vomit. It was a much lesser amount and more liquid this time, but once she finished bringing it up, Bella didn't straighten back up, instead continued to heave emptily.

"Babe," he planted the bowl on the coffee table, "Bells, you're empty, breathe-"

She nodded, breathing in and then being interrupted by another gag. Lucas' hand went for the bowl, but all that came up was a wet burp. Bella sniffled, tears had ran down her face and her nose was red.

He cupped her face, wiping the tears away with his thumb and the drool that still clung to her lips with the back of his sleeve. Bella grimaced.

"You have to start being more normal about puke," she mumbled hoarsely, leaning against him, "I think I'm done-" a wet burp cut her off, "for now."

"...I'm going to get you a hot water bottle, can you drink some gatorade for me?"

"No promises it's staying down," Bella groaned, but took the bottle he passed to her. Her hands were shaking, badly and Lucas frowned.

"Please try to keep it down, baby," he said, voice thick with concern as he once more went to empty the bowl and bring her the hot water bottle.

She was curled up in a ball when he came back, hugging her stomach and Lucas' heart squeezed in her behalf, a tinge of annoyance flaring up as he thought she wouldn't be in such pain if she wasn't so stubborn.

"Bell, open up, let me-" he slowly peeled her arms away from her gurgly belly and placed the hot water bottle against her skin. Her pained frown cleared up minimally.

"It's so crampy," she whined as he sat back down and pulled her to lie across his lap. Lucas sighed, rubbing her back up and down, applying more pressure. It dislodged another burp and it seemed to calm her down for the moment.

"I'm never eating again."

"Maybe just don't eat week's old food," he yawned, causing her to let out a huff and squeeze him a little tighter.

"Be nice to me, I'm dying."

"Uhm," he couldn't help but pull her up, so she wasn't as much resting her head on his lap, but his stomach. Lucas slid down on the couch, legs stretched ahead of him, "I'm not ready to be a widower, so don't die... Try to sleep."

"I'm still really queasy," she sounded uncertain, even if exhausted, "I don't wanna vomit on you..."

He rolled his eyes, stroking her cheek, "I don't mind, just try and take a nap, baby."

"Remember you said this," she mumbled, before hiding her face against his stomach. He smiled, tipping his head back, letting his eyes close again.

[ladylooch]

My favorite moments of Em and T are when he’s just a silent support system for her. Like Em doesn’t even have to ask, he can just read her like a book. His second road trip after the twins are born the entire household gets sick. Timo has to leave before they realize how bad it is but when he’s back home 3 days later em is 1 crying baby away from collapsing to the floor. But enter Superdad timo to save the day and comfort his wife after all the chaos has subsided

I agree! I love their dynamic and how fierce fully they have each other's backs. Like constantly willing to tap the other in to support and knowing they have that option. That is true partnership.

Emma knows she is a good mom. She has always had this ability to seamlessly move from one child to the next, but two newborn babies and two sick older children have quickly put her to her limit.

I’m leaving the airport now. Twenty minutes 😘 

Emma sighs gratefully at Timo’s text, laying back into the couch as she finishes feeding Logan. 

“Daddy is coming home.” She whispers. 

In that twenty minutes, absolute chaos erupts. Liv throws up. Lio is trying to cling to Emma while she tends to Liv. Both twins are awake and crying for contact with their mother.

“Lio. Get off of me. I understand you want cuddles, but I can’t right now.” Emma tells her oldest through gritted teeth. “Please.” She whimpers in the end as she gets back down on the floor. Lio falls to his knees and begins to sob. Tears of frustration and overwhelm build in Emma’s eyes. 

Then a large, comforting hand comes to her head. Thick fingers rub at her scalp for a moment. She looks up at Timo who pouts in concern at her.

“I…” 

“Baby, go take a break. I’m home now. I’ve got it.”

Emma stares at her husband, feeling utterly defeated. She sucks her trembling bottom lip into her mouth, then nods. 

“This is a lot. You’re doing your best.” Timo reminds her. All she can do is nod ghostly as she leaves the room. Once her butt hits the end of the bed, she collapses into sobs.

Failure of a parent. Failure of a homemaker. Failure of a wife. She can’t do this!? She’s completely out of her element being a full-time mom and wife. She needs help. They are only three road trips into the season.

Emma falls asleep in utter exhaustion at some point. When she wakes, the world is dark outside and a blanket has been lain across her body, likely by her husband. She holds the soft threads under her chin as she sits up. The house is quiet. Enough so that she wonders if her entire family has disappeared. Her body protests as she stands up. Her abdomen aches where she is still healing. Her breasts are heavy from not feeding and she gingerly rearranges them in her nursing bra. They leak at her touch. She needs to find the babies. 

Her feet softly hit the hardwood downstairs, taking in her family sitting quietly in front of the TV watching Coco. Liv and Lio are snacking on orange juice and cheese pizza. One twin is sleeping in the bassinet, while the other is happily taking a bottle from a shirtless Timo. Her husband’s eyes briefly leave the screen, double taking when he sees her. She glances around the main area of the house. Not only did he get the babies to settle, but he cleaned the house.

“Lex and Nico came over to help me.” He fills her in at the dejected look on her face.

“That is nice of them. I need to feed a baby.” 

“This one is ready for you.” He gestures to Liam who is in his bassinet. 

“Is that formula for Log?” They’ve had to supplement formula at times because of Emma’s supply struggles. 

“No. It’s milk from the fridge.” Emma nods then grabs Liam, walking over to the nursing station that Timo had restocked for her. She gently lowers herself into the chair, then gets the baby in her arms settled into eating. Once all is going well, she takes a big sip of water. Across the room, her husband watches every movement of hers.

“How are you doing?” Timo asks softly as he rests Logan on his shoulder to burp. Emma’s lips crumple. She shakes her head no at her husband. “Baby.” Timo sighs. “This is too much for you on your own.” Emma nods in agreement. She will look at the resumes from nannies the team had recommended tomorrow. 

Emma looks around the room at the two sick Meiers, the newborn twins, and Timo. He quirks a corner of his mouth up at her in a sympathetic smile 

“You still love me?” He asks sweetly. Emma nods giving a small smile back.

This may be chaos, but it’s their chaos. And she knows with Timo she’ll never be alone in it. 

[razputin-vodello-au-archives]

Considering I won't continue write the story ...

LONG POST! HANG ON TO YOUR SEAT!

So this image was gonna be in "Waiting for our moment: a Norma and Frazie Love Story", but I have no plans to ever finish that story, considering most of what has happened has been explained in asks or in other short stories.

However, let me tell you what was going to happen:

In the last chapter I wrote, Frazie and Norma were getting ready to go on a date. Norma would've wore a sleeveless flanel shirt and denim skirt, and Frazie would've rocked a lime-green sundress with matching sandals.

After the date - which would have consisted out of shenanigans and a tour of Norma's favorite spots around the city - they would have returned to the Aquato campsite, bearing the gift of Pizza, and the two teens would have taken a moment for themselves on a park bench a bit further away.

After some mild flirting, Frazie would have directly asked if something is happening between them, because she thinks there is. Norma would have stumbled over her words and stuttered out "I ...I don't ...", making Frazie believe she was wrong.

Norma, stating that she always had trouble with words when it comes to her emotions and feelings, would have suggested using the same technique they used in "The lives and times" to share memories, only this time with their emotions.

this part would've been beautiful. I would have described it as a flow of emotions, a mixture of feelings of warmth and affection, a dire need to be close to each other, from both of them.

Their first kiss would have happened there.

If not for Norma's phone interrupting the moment.

It would have been Norma's mom.

Crying.

Bearing bad news.

Something like this. It's a bit paraphrased and a lot shorter than what I would have actually written, but it's the gist of it.

"He's ...he's gone." "Gone? What do you mean, 'he's gone'?" Norma asked quietly, a cold feeling forming deep inside her stomach. Frazie expression turned from curiosity to shocked realization, a soft gasp escaping her lips. "Norma ...your father ...." Her mother began, barely managing to choke out the words Norma dreaded to hear. "He's dead." Norma's phone slid out her hands, and before it even touched the ground, she was running, tears stinging her eyes, her mind racing. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. Back home. Where the worst had happened.

The next chapter would have been a day or so later, with Norma and Lizzie sitting quietly in Norma's room the evening after their father's death. Frazie would have shown up, bringing back Norma's phone and wanting to comfort her and Lizzie.

Lizzie would have excused herself and called Millie - only to never mention that her father had passed away and pretend everything was okay. This would have resulted in a big fight between Lizzie and Norma in the following chapter, after which a heartfelt and emotional talk between them would happen.

Anyway, after Lizzie had left, Norma and Frazie would have been left alone. They would talk, with Frazie offering comfort. Norma would have tried to kiss her, but Frazie felt like this wasn't the right time, it felt like she was taking advantage of Norma's grief, and she didn't want one event overshadowing the other.

Norma would have - reluctantly - agreed, but asked Frazie if she could stay for while. Frazie would have agreed, and they would have fallen asleep together.

The following morning, Norma would have found this letter clutched in her hands.

After which Norma would have kept it under her pillow. And she still has that letter to this day. Neatly folded and kept in one of her drawers.

I actually forgot I still had this laying around on my computer, considering I worked so hard on this image, and it kinda sucked the story isn't gonna get written anymore, so I decided to post it here.

Anyway, if you feel curious about what else would have happened in the story, feel free to ask. I still got most of it locked in my head, even if I'm never gonna write it.

[throatcoat]

//chapter 12// //you smell like a used mattress//

it was my second day of sophomore year and i was spending my lunch block in a bathroom stall.

my body contorts over the toilet, one hand pushing in my abdomen, the other down my throat as far as it will go. the running sink does very little to hide the seal barks coming out between splashes of barely digested cafeteria pizza and curdled chocolate milk. my eyes sting as mascara stains my swollen cheeks. nothing else comes out, but i persist for a few more minutes, just in case.

i needed everything i had consumed that day out of me, it did not matter how, i just needed it out of me. as the toilet flushes down the shame, i slid down the bathroom stall. i sit there reading all the names carved, the shit talking left in sharpie until the school bell rings, signaling the end of lunch block. i used to think that bathrooms were magical places, now they were just a place to hide away. i rinsed my mouth out in the sink and stared at myself for a minute. i did not recognize the girl staring back. mostly, i just thought she looked exhausted.

i popped an orange tictac in my mouth as i stumbled my way out of the bathroom, into the stampede of students in the hallway trying to make it to their next class before the second bell. my eyes are still blurry and my head feels light, the way it always does after praying on my knees at the toilet. i mostly hoped no one could smell it on me. my eyes scan the halls, daring someone to say something to me. no one ever does, mostly they seem to think i am a ghost, a half-way apparition that is only noticed when she throws the crucifix down the hallway out of rage.

the rest of the day was a blur, mostly spent with my eyes closed, arms folded on desks, wishing i was anywhere else but there. ear buds in, bored. high school sucked. it really fucking sucked. by the time the final bell rang, i was already halfway out the class. i just wanted to be home, on my floor staring at the glow in the dark stars on the cracked ceiling. i just wanted to smoke a damn cigarette.

i made my way through the high school, looking for my sister. we needed to walk half way home, my mom was not allowed to pick us up anymore and we were not allowed on the bus either, too many problems arose when we would try to take the bus. my mother was not there to take the anger out, and i was the next best thing. that was something i was already used to, though, getting my mom's punishments, standing in place for her. i think i could take the hits more than she could, i think the bruises bothered me less.

the whole walk, we do not say a word to each other. we are sweating, it is a hot august and my shoes feel like they might fall apart at any second along the pavement. halfway down the giant hill that led down from the high school, i tripped and skinned my knee, leaving a hole in my brand new jeans. my mom was going to be mad about that. when we finally find her car parked and get in, the first thing i notice is my mom crying. it was not until we were a minute from our driveway when she finally opened her mouth and told us what she was crying about. nothing could have prepared me for the scene that awaited me, though.

when we pulled in and park, i did not say a word when i got out of the vehicle. everything felt like it was in slow motion, the opening of the front door, the descent from the living room into the hallway that always scared me as a kid, to my parents bedroom. i could hear him softly crying in there through the door. when i was walking through the kitchen, all i could notice was that the floor looked like it was painted on. it smelled like pennies left in the washer and it when that i realized it was blood i was walking through. there is a broken bottle on the ground too, the whiskey stung my nose.

when i finally convinced myself to open the bedroom door, i was met with darkness, the curtains were pulled shut. i could see his shape though, my dad was curled up, crumpled, i could barely differentiate between him and the sheets. he was sobbing into himself as my sister and i climbed into bed with him. i started crying too, mostly because my dad looked like a little kid who needed their mom to tell them it will be okay, they are safe, they are loved. i had never seen my dad cry until this moment, and he smelled like booze and loose change.

i spent my second day of sophomore year in a bathroom. i helped clean his neck gently, afraid that if i touched it, his head might just fall right off. the gash across his throat looked like a smile, jagged from broken glass, a toothy grin. my dad winced as i put glue in the skin, holding it closed. i did not understand how my dad did not successfully kill himself that day, i do not understand why it was me who glued the wound shut. i do not understand why she did not call the ambulance, maybe he begged her not to.

the only thing i could think about at the moment was how my pops found his dad hanging in the barn and he was the one who cut him down and soon after, he ran off to vietnam. even fighting a war was better than facing the smell of booze and the scene of bulging eyes, tongue out, pissed pants. pops was 15 when that happened, almost 16. he can only talk about it when he is smashed and blitzed, a feeling that is familiar to me. sometimes, i wonder if my mom realizes that she gave her daughter that same feeling- that anything else was better than what awaits at home. sometimes, i wonder if she even remembers, much less regrets it.

i spent my second day of sophomore year in a bathroom.

[anoldyounglady]

I saw the movie (amazing, definitely a rewatch. It was so much better than I expected) and just. I have thoughts and an AO3 addiction, but I can't find any fanfictions that are similar to what I want, so here's an idea/drabble(?):

OC, preferably fem!, comes to work as a security guard (possibly, with Mike).

I want her to be fascinated by the animatronics -- that they seem to have an AI learning program built into them, that they have a fairly wide roaming range, etc.

Specifically I want her to think of them as adorable and childlike in their curiosity: that they like pictures, tilt their heads in question, and seem to understand when people speak.

Maybe she has a large family at home and she took this job as a college kid to make ends meet. She's used to kids and chaos and questions. She doesn't really think about it when she starts to treat the animatronics similar to how she treats her baby cousins -- so want if now she brings in tiny hats for cupcake, pizza jewelry for Chica, or Pirate themed goodies for Foxy? She saw it while shopping and didn't even notice she'd put it in her cart, okay!

Have treat them like their her little siblings-- when Foxys joints are rusting she coos at him while gently applying WD-40; when Bonnie's guitar jams she humas softly and explains every thing she does as she fixes it by him; she sews the tear that somehow got into Freddy's hat and chatters a bedtime story about a magic hat while doing it.

Have these ghost kids be accidentally treated like KIDS again.

They may not like Mike, but since their partners they're always on shift together. And Mike is nice to her - there's no animosity. They're just not necessarily friends (YET)..

Have them "calm down" a little -- they'll still jumpscare the man and mess with the lights, but it's no longer murder attempts. (They'd hate to make OC sad).

The pay sucks, the hours are worse, but their little world is becoming OKAY again. They feel more like kids then they have in years, Mike is determinedly not getting a heart condition, and she's making her way through college.

Then, one night, have her no show. Have her not answer her phone.

These animatronics finally have someone trusting them like kids -- they have a MOM again (and, God, can they even remember their birth moms name? Her face? What she smelt like? Mommy?). Is she okay? Where is she?

She'll text Mike later, midday, long past when her shift was. She went be in for a week - she's very "sick".

The animatronics are scared - is she sick? Is she dying? Has she quit? Where is their mOtHeR?! -- but Mike explains and they wait. They get twitchy, angry, frightened, but they wait.

And when she's back --  because she does come back, she'll always be back, she doesn't know when she started thinking of these AI robots as her kids but they're HER KIDS now -- she arrives early to meet them at the stage.

Have the lights lower, and night arrive. Have their eyes slowly glow - have them wake up.

Have them here Mike's worried voice, a little raised in volume. Have her soft voice answer, it's scratchy - different, and wrong.

Have the curtains part, and lights go on.

Have them vibrating and excited because Mom's home!

Have them all focus on her and watch them realize:

Her face is bruised -- theirs a cut, deep and angry streaked across the bridge of her nose, a livid split on her lower lip, and an eye black and bruised.

Her neck is purple and angry, a hands imprint stretched across a usually pristine canvas.

Her right arm -- she pets Foxy's head, tugs on Bonnie's ears, pats Chica's wing with -- is in a cast. Huge and intimidating.

A bandage on her ankle, a cane by her side. She's sitting. She never sits (she's life in motion. Constantly moving, never STILL).

Have them see.

Have them realize.

And have them

R

A

G

E

[cuz-reasons]

Me: While I personally have no problem with masks, I can understand why others may have issues breathing while wearing them for extended periods of time as it is an extra layer covering your breathing holes and I dont want to be disrespectful of that

Customer at work after waiting about 3 mins tops as I make her two drinks: I'm going to step outside for a moment since it's hard for me to wear a masks for longer than 5 mins

Me, about to put the straws in her drinks, internally: if I can wear a mask and run around in this hot cafe for 4 hours you can wear yours for one more second without being a baby about it

[fbfh]

thinking about how gutwrenching the ricky nini breakup in season 2 was, entirely because of how obciously and indefensibly horrible nini was being. for the whole season but mostly how she was so fucking self centered in the treehouse that it bordered on narcissistic. the way ricky was trying everything he could to get her to give him something to work with, any kind of lifeline that she still gives a shit about him. he was practically begging for her to say "I still love you and care about you, that's not going to change even if I like a different kind of pizza or spend a lot of energy on the projects I'm working on". that's all it would have taken. all Ricky needed to hear was that she still gives a shit about him, still actually wants to be around him. and Ricky was not going to give up on her. Ricky was not about to be the one to call it quits, and Nini is such a coward that she won't outright say she wants to break up with him. it would have been so easy for her to say she wants to focus on her career but instead he was the one comforting her. it's fucking disgusting the way she treats him. and the way Ricky basically collapsed into big red's arms sobbing???? watching movies and holding a pillow (which we know he only does when he feels like absolute shit) and trying not to cry more than he has?????? jesus christ.

like how insane will it be for Ricky when he finally meets you, probably after graduating and moving away from salt lake city. you're the first person he's liked and had a proper relationship with that doesn't assume the worst of him. if you're upset about something you communicate with him about it, you listen to him and actually take his feelings into consideration. you do things for him that you know will make him happy, and you cherish the things he does for you. you think he's sweet. endearing. you support him and work together with him to meet goals and solve problems and complete tasks. he keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, keeps trying to compensate for something because if things are this easy it must mean something's wrong. he ends up either freaking out or confronting you about why you never fight, worrying it's because you don't love him enough or you're going to break up with him or some equally incorrect fear. you ask him if he wants to fight, and he says no. he's just used to it, he realizes. the mind games with his mom and with nini have been ingraned into him, and you provide a stable place for him to start to ulearn that. you've heard some unpleasant stories about Nini and his mother, and you start to get a better idea of why he's like this. it breaks your heart that someone so sweet, one of the genuine good ones, was treated so poorly. it's so weird at first, having a relationship that has passion without always fighting and miscommunicating or getting bored of each other. he feels like you're just going to be eternally in this honeymoon phase, cozy and happy. eventually after telling him enough how amazing he is and how much you love him, how much you appreciate him and how great he is and how he deserves to be treated the way he treats people, he'll start to believe it. he might actually be able to avoid getting sucked into the same exhausted drama with Nini when he goes back home for the holidays this year. he hopes you'll want to come meet him, really get to meet his dad and Miss Jenn and his friends. if you do, you'll be able to get a glimpse of what Nini from all the stories he told you about is like. you suspect a lot of stuff, but the only thing that will surprise you is how much worse she is than you expected. luckily for Ricky, you'll be by his side the whole time to back him up.

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

hello! i just wanted to give a request idea where she’s in a relationship with steddie & has been doing a lot for them but they haven’t shown their appreciation for her. & she feels horrible because of it? i love your writing btw 🤍

Taken for Granted.

Warnings; Angst to Fluff

I hope this is okay anon ❤🙂

💫❤

Tears roll down y/n's cheeks, she's cooked romantic meals and cleaned up Eddie's room, and Steve's, been there for all their needs all in the last few days and her boyfriends have barely shown their appreciation.

They've barely shown any appreciation for her in the last week and it sucks. It's really making her feel low.

She's always running around after them but when do they do the same for her? The door opens and she hears them come in, she wipes her eyes and heads downstairs to greet them.

The counter that she spent so long cleaning is full of mess as Eddie and Steve chat and crack open beers and they bring out pizzas.

"Hey princess". Eddie smiles and Steve holds out the pizza box.

"I cooked for us". She says softly and they exchange looks.

"Shit, we should have asked". She can feel a headache forming and glares at them both.

"I told the both of you this morning. All I do is run after you two, I do the cooking, I clean up, and tend to your needs but what about mine? Would it kill you to show me some appreciation once in a while?".

They gape, Steve immediately tries to diffuse the situation but Eddie is a hot head like she is a times.

"What the hell are you talking about of course we appreciate you. What the fuck yn?". Tears roll down her cheeks.

"No, you don't, you don't. Why am I even in this relationship if you both just treat me like a fucking doormat?". She shakes her head and misses the way the alarm grows on their faces.

"No, baby no". Steve approaches her but she shrugs on her jacket and walks out.

"I'm not your mother or a maid, I'm your girlfriend and I'm sick of being treated like shit". She tells them both.

She leaves having had enough.

❤

It's a little while later, shes in her room from between crying and silently fuming when there is a knock on her window.

Eddie and Steve are sitting on her roof, right outside her window and she sighs getting up to unlock it and they clamber in, nearly falling over each other.

"You're right. You're absolutely right sweetheart, Steve and I haven't been appreciative as we should and we are so fucking sorry".

Steve nods walking up to her and gently stroking her cheek.

"We are going to make it up to you baby, every damn day, show you how much we love and appreciate you because we do honey, so fucking much".

She feels her stance soften just a tiny bit.

And true to their word. They do just that.

"Okay".

❤

[twilightfansofcolor]

CH. 3

Late February, 2005

“Isn’t it a little too cold to go to the beach? I thought American beaches were supposed to be hot.” It was Friday night and you were sleeping over at Melina’s house with Chandler (Alexa was grounded due to her poor grades on a recent progress report) and Melina had one of your hands in hers, painting it a neon green. “We do other things too. The kids in La Push also make bonfires and there’s whale watching too. Just be sure to bundle up.” Now with the whole world knowing where you live, your parents have been getting anxious about you going to places other than school and your friends’ house and they had to find bodyguards. Now, wherever you went they went with you.

“I’ll ask my parents about it tomorrow.” Melina applied a top coat to your neon green nails and when she was done, you expected them. They were far better than they would’ve been if you’d attempted to do it yourself, Melina had a steady hand. After your nails were dry, the three of you ate pizza bites while watching The Princess Diaries which you felt was a little ironic. It was the part of the movie where Mia was receiving her princess lessons when Chandler and Melina turned to you. 

“Is it really like that? Do you really have to sit a certain way?” You chewed on a pizza bite and nodded. “That part’s surprisingly accurate. You have to sit or stand up straight and look interested during formal events at all times because a camera is always on you,” you replied, taking a sip of Sprite. “Is that why you never slouch in your seat?” asked Melina, who pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Yeah. Come to think about it, I’ve never seen you slouch at all.” 

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it. Like, I physically can’t bring myself to do it.” Even now, you’re sitting up straight on a blanket in Melina’s living room; old habits die hard. “Do you miss it?” Chandler asked quietly. “Only certain parts. The ones where we actually acted like a family.” You missed Olivia, even though the two of you hadn’t spoken in months and you felt guilty. The stress of keeping the secret of her parents’ crumbling marriage was causing her pain and you were the only one she could talk to; the two of you were born in the same year and the British press loved seeing the two of you together at royal events.

The two of you constantly borrowed from one another’s closets, spent holidays together, sleepovers; now that you’re in America, you wondered how she was coping by herself. The three of you spent the next couple of hours eating more junk food and watching more movies until Chandler fell asleep; she was curled up on the sectional and covered with a lavender blanket, soft snores coming from her corner of the living room. Now it was you and Melina up, and the two of you shared a two liter bottle of soda as the end credits rolled and Melina took the disc out of the DVD player. “No offense or anything but… your family just sucks.” All you could do was just laugh, because it was true.

They do, in fact, suck. For months, they let you and your mother become subjects of horrific abuse in the media, not once coming to your defense. “Believe me, I know. No offense taken, but sometimes it wasn’t all that bad because I had Olivia with me. I thought that whatever we were going through, we’d get through it together. But it looks like I was wrong.” That was the part that hurt the most. A person you considered to be your sister was nowhere to be found when you were going through a PR disaster.

In the thick of it, instead of comforting you, she avoided making eye contact with you at events, and stopped coming by to watch your favorite shows together. Melina wrapped an arm around you and pulled you to her side. “Well, now you don’t need them. You have us now. We’re always gonna be there for you.” You laid your head on her shoulder and smiled, believing her. Things would be better for you and your family; your new friends did more to defend you in the short time you’ve known them than your so-called family who you’ve known for fifteen years.

They made you feel safe. Melina then put on Pretty Woman but the both of you had fallen asleep within the first thirty minutes. Not for the first time since being in Forks, you felt safe, even with all the intrusions from the UK media. You snuggled deeper into your sleeping bag feeling grateful for your new (best) friends.