#but there were still some really great parts!! hanging out with my family making food watching movies crocheting playing my brother’s switch

[earl-grey-crow]

😭

[guilty-pleasures21]

The bodyguard

Bodyguard!Jason x Actress!Reader

Part 1

Part 2

Warning: just a little kissing ☺️.

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     She twiddled her thumbs quietly as Jason drove them back to her place. They still hadn’t talked about … the ‘incident’ as she’d started referring to it in her head. She knew they needed to discuss it to stop it from hanging over their heads like a big, ominous raincloud, but she had no idea how to even bring it up! Finally, she cleared her throat, preparing to speak. But he interrupted her before she could even get a word out. 

     “I won’t be staying over tonight, prince-” He cut himself off before he could finish saying the nickname. Could he still call her that? After they’d … done what they’d done? It didn’t seem appropriate anymore, addressing her by a nickname, but would it make it even more awkward if he suddenly changed his manner of speech? “X …”

     And suddenly, she forgot all about the incident. She clutched her seatbelt and turned to him with a panicked expression. “What?! Why?!”

     It had been a long time since she’d been left alone in the apartment the company had rented for her while they were filming there - Jason had stayed with her almost every night since he’d started working for her, the lure of her fancy apartment easily convincing him to turn his part-time job into a full-time one - and despite everything that had happened, she still wanted her best friend with her.

     He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the intensity of her reaction. He stopped to scan the car into her apartment complex, then started explaining as he continued driving to the basement carpark. “It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow. I usually help to prep all the food the night before.”

     X nodded her head slowly, processing the information. She didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but he’d told her last week that he wouldn’t be able to work tomorrow because of the holiday. And he was a great cook - he’d make dinner for the both of them most nights and had even started teaching her some fancy new meals she’d never tried before. “Oh.”

     She felt the tears pressing against her eyes as she thought about her own family, so far away from her. She hadn’t been able to see them since they’d flown over a few months ago and though they made sure to call every night, the distance was starting to wear on her.

     He slid his gaze over to her when he heard the disappointment in her voice. His heart squeezed at how sad she suddenly looked, gripping her seatbelt as she studied her shoes. But he shouldn’t say it, goddamnit, he shouldn’t say it! He parked the car, mentally repeating the warning over and over in his head. Then he turned to face her. 

     “Do you want to come over?” F*ck! Shit. Why couldn’t he just listen to himself?!

     She froze at the unexpected invitation, then lowered her head as a smile stretched across her lips. He wanted her to meet his family?! Great! Maybe if she did a good enough job of impressing them, then he’d realise that he really did want to be with her! “Okay.”

     A knot of anxiety formed in his stomach even as his heart sped up in excitement. Jason cleared his throat and turned back to the steering wheel. “Great. Uh … Should we head there now?”

     X nodded quickly and settled back into her seat. Jason cursed himself in his head as he started up the car and began driving back out of her apartment complex. His family was going to go crazy when they saw that he’d brought X over to their place - batshit crazy - but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it now.

     Her jaw dropped when she saw the mansion Jason pulled up to. She turned to him slowly, wide-eyed with delight. “This is your house?!”

     “It’s my dad’s hou- Bruce’s house.” He’d already explained to her how he’d been adopted by Bruce when he was just a kid, but he hadn’t wanted to go into the more gory details of his childhood. And again, she hadn’t insisted on pushing him past the boundary he’d set. He glanced over at her and his lips twitched at how excited she seemed. He parked the car and got out, then led her over to the entrance.

     “Jay!” Jason gave his brother a wave as Dick opened the door for them, then he went rigid when Dick stepped forward to give him a hug. “You ma-”

     He stopped suddenly when he noticed that his brother wasn’t alone. The girl standing next to him was … freaking adorable! With her curly hair and her round eyes and her sweet smile. He glanced over at Jason in question and Jason shifted uncomfortably in position.

     “This is X,” he explained. “I invited her over for Thanksgiving. She’s here alone, so …”

     X held her hand out to Dick enthusiastically. 

     “Hi! Nice to meet you! Are you … Dick?” she guessed, mentally sifting through the stories Jason had told her of his family. Dick grinned as he shook her hand in greeting. 

     “Yeah. It’s nice to meet you too, X. Please! Come in!” He showed her inside, sticking close to her side as he guided her to the living room. “So, how are you finding Gotham so far?”

     Jason narrowed his eyes at his brother’s eagerness. Great. She’d barely stepped foot in the house and he was already hitting on her?! This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to bring her over! He huffed in irritation as he stalked after them, barely missing out on their conversation.

     “I didn’t know it was possible, but you’re even prettier in real life,” Dick praised X, sinking onto the sofa beside her. Jason rolled his eyes as she blushed at his comment. Not that it wasn’t true though: she was gorgeous in pictures and on the screen, of course, but knowing her personality only made her all the more sweet when you met her in real life.

     “Thank you,” X replied softly. 

     “You want a drink, princess?” Jason offered, taking the seat on X’s other side. “I can make you some hot cocoa.”

     He angled his body towards her, making sure to capture her full attention, and the power play didn’t go unnoticed by Dick.

     X’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “Can you? Thanks, Jay!”

     She treated him to that sweet smile that always had his heart melting in his chest. They got up and Dick smiled at the way X bounced after Jason as they made their way to the kitchen.

     “So, how are you finding Gotham?” Dick leaned on the table beside her and X couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps flexed as he did so. She pulled her glance away, a little confused by her body’s automatic response to Jason’s undeniably good-looking brother, then rearranged her features back into her megawatt smile.

     “Oh. Uh, well, it’s not really my cup of tea …” She gave him an apologetic grimace, then returned her attention to Jason. “But there are always a few hidden gems to be found along the way!”

     Dick glanced over at Jason and mentally sighed at the way he continued to work on the cocoa, completely oblivious to X’s obvious attempt at flirtation. His brother really was hopeless. “Have you explored a lot of Gotham, then? I know some great places I could show you whenever you’re free?”

     X buzzed with excitement at the idea. Jason’s brother seemed really friendly. Maybe he could get Jay to open up a bit more? “That sounds fun!”

     Jason slammed the cup of cocoa down on the table with just enough force for some of the liquid to slosh over the top.

     “Your cocoa,” he grumbled, sliding the cup across the table to her. X raised her eyebrows and exchanged a puzzled look with Dick. 

     “Thanks …” she replied hesitantly. Dick straightened and strode over to the fridge, pressing his lips together to stop himself from smirking at Jason’s obvious irritation with him. But it didn’t seem enough for him to admit that he had feelings for his adorable little boss yet. Was she his boss? That seemed kind of weird. Maybe she was his ‘charge’ or something? But that sounded weird too, actually.

     “Would you like any snacks, X?” Dick asked, opening the fridge doors to check what was in stock. “We have some cheesecake.”

     “I love cheesecake!” X revealed, her delight prompting a smile to stretch across Dick’s face. Jason curled his fingers into fists by his side. Had that just been a lucky guess or was Dick really as big a fan of hers as he suddenly seemed to be?

     “Can you get some plates, Jay?” Dick asked, taking the cake out of the fridge. Jason gritted his teeth as he stomped over to the cupboard to get some plates. 

     “I can help!” X raced over to Jason and stood beside him, holding her hands out for the plates. An image overtook her mind of her reaching up to get the plates instead, but not being tall enough to get them. Then he’d stand behind her, one hand on her waist to steady her as he got them for her. Her stomach flipped at the thought of his hard chest brushing up against her back as he stretched his arm over her head and she lowered her head as her cheeks heated up at the thought. 

     His anger quickly faded away at her enthusiasm: she was … dangerously cute. He placed the plates in her hands, then grabbed some forks as she set them down on the kitchen island. 

     “So …” X began carefully, hiding her mischievous expression from both of the boys, “any embarrassing stories about baby Jay?”

     She looked up at Dick in question and Jason glared at him in warning, silently demanding he keep his mouth shut. But of course his brother would take any opportunity to embarrass him.

     “Oh! There was this one time he tried to copy one of my moves and flip off the back of the sofa, but he ended up breaking one of Bruce’s vases!” Dick revealed, laughing at the memory. X bit down on her smile, trying not to make Jason feel too bad. 

     “Did he get in trouble?” she asked curiously. Dick glanced over at Jason, grinning as he thought about what had happened next. Jason narrowed his eyes at him, threatening him once again, but the look only spurred Dick on even more. 

     X’s gaze bounced between them, noting their competing looks. “What?! What happened?!”

     Jason shook his head. “Don’t-”

     “He broke the window and said someone broke into the house to steal the vase!” Dick replied quickly. X covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. 

     “Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “Did it work?”

     “Bruce saw through it straight away,” Dick revealed, picking at his slice of cake. “But he was more concerned about Jason hurting himself than anything else.”

     X nodded in understanding. “Oh! You said ‘one of your moves’? What did you mean by that?”

     She took a bite of her own cake and her eyes lit up at the taste.

     “Oh! I used to be a gymnast when I was a kid …” Dick trailed off, his gaze fixing on X’s mouth. Jesus Christ, the way she licked the remnants of cheese off her fork?! Her soft lips closing around the end before she swirled the utensil around and sucked on it appreciatively? He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he watched her.

     “Oh my god! This cake is so good!” X moaned, the satisfaction dripping from her voice so deliciously. Dick pushed his plate across the island to her. 

     “You can have mine too if you want!” 

     X raised an eyebrow in amusement, then turned to Jason in question. He dragged his gaze away from her mouth too and slammed his hand down between X’s plate and Dick’s. “Let her finish her own slice first, Dick.” 

     Dick rolled his eyes at the way his brother said his name as if it was an insult. But he pulled his plate back to himself. 

     X pressed her lips together at Jason’s protectiveness. Her chest warmed at the truth of it - ‘protectiveness’ - and she continued munching on her cake happily.

     “Hey guys,” Tim began, strolling into the kitchen from where he’d heard the familiar sounds of his brothers arguing. “When are we- Holy f*cking Christ!” 

     Stephanie snickered as she came up behind him. 

     “Oh, you’re definitely going to Hell nowwwwww… Shit! Oh my god!” She gestured between Jason and X, her eyes wide with shock. “Is she … Are you … Really …?”

     And lo and behold: the other reason Jason hadn’t wanted to bring X over. X shot Jason an amused look, then she finished the last bite of her cake before going over to greet Steph and Tim. “Hi guys! I’m X. I’m guessing you’re Tim and Stephanie?”

     Stephanie grabbed Tim’s shoulder and leaned closer to him. 

     “She knows our names!” she squealed through gritted teeth. Tim didn’t respond and instead continued to stare at X in dumbfounded silence. 

     “So,” Steph continued, putting on a cool exterior as she stepped forward, “have you seen the house yet?”

     “Er, not yet.” X twisted her head back at Jason for reassurance and the corner of his lips twisted into a small smile. He strode over to her and followed close behind as Stephanie brought X on a tour of the house.

     “You did all your own stunts in that movie?!” Tim asked in awe. They had all sat down for dinner after spending the rest of the day getting everything ready for tomorrow and Jason’s family had seized the opportunity to find out more about one of their favourite actresses. 

     “Yup! It was pretty fun! But they were only minor stunts. I’m terrified of the big ones with all the wires and stuff.” She took a delicate bite of the chicken on her plate and made sure to swallow before continuing. “But I’m not allowed to do those anyway according to my contract. Can’t be damaging the money maker!”

     She cupped her cheeks and gave an exaggeratedly adorable smile, then laughed at her own joke. “I’m just kidding. It’s just for my own safety.”

     She returned her attention back to her food and the others nodded in understanding. Dick leaned over from his seat by her side. 

     “It’s too bad none of us look like the leads in your movie. Then we could have auditioned as stunt doubles and maybe spent more time with you.” He gave her a warm smile and she lowered her head as her cheeks heated up shyly. X brushed her hair behind her ear and snuck a peek at Jason, seated on her other side. His jaw was tight as he fixed his gaze on his brother, so she reached under the table and slid her fingers over his knee, pulling his attention to her.

     He startled at first at the sudden sensation, then he looked down at her and his expression softened when she shot him a sweet smile. His chest warmed at the sight and he cleared his throat to distract himself from the smile tugging on his own lips. X turned back to her food when Jason did the same. “Well, we could all hang out if Jason doesn’t mind bringing me over again!"

     “Yeah!” Duke agreed. “That sounds like a great idea!”

     “You should most definitely bring her over more often, Todd,” Damian confirmed. Bruce smiled softly at how much everyone seemsed to like Jason’s new girlfriend. Well, they didn’t seem to be dating yet, per se, but he hoped they’d get there eventually. She seemed good for him - sweet and gentle and patient - and it wasn’t like Jason wasn’t used to being in the public eye, being his adopted son and everything.

     “You should join us for Thanksgiving tomorrow,” Bruce suggested quickly. “In fact, why don’t you just stay the night? We can have one of the guest rooms prepared for you.”

     X’s heart thudded with both excitement and nerves. “That’s so kind of you, Mr Wayne!”

     Bruce chuckled at her politeness. “Please, ‘Bruce’ is fine.”

     “Thank you, Bruce!” X turned to Jason, waiting for his affirmation, but he hesitated as he thought about it. 

     They still hadn’t talked about the … whatever it was they’d done in her dressing room earlier that day. But he could feel it weighing down on them with every glance, every shy smile and every accidental touch. He swallowed hard, clenching his knife and fork tightly in his hands as he thought about it: about being in such close proximity to her after … being in such close proximity to her. He glanced over at her again and his resolve started to melt at the hopeful expression she gave him. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s getting pretty late anyway. You should stay over.”

     His insides twisted with nerves even as he said it, but she turned to grin at the rest of the table, oblivious.

     “We can watch a movie!” Stephanie suggested, turning to X. “Do you want to watch one of yours?”

     X shook her head as she laughed. “Oh, no. I’m sick of those by now. Got any other suggestions?”

     Dick sank onto the sofa beside X, slinging one arm over the back of the chair behind her. “Need another blanket?”

     X cuddled up in the blanket Jason had brought over to her. “I’m good!”

     That was it: that was the final straw. Jason shot out of his seat and clenched his fists by his side. 

     “Dick, I need to talk to you in the kitchen,” he hissed out through gritted teeth. He glared at him until he got out of his seat, puzzled, and they both walked over to the kitchen. “What the hell bullshit are you trying to pull?!”

     Dick stifled a smile at Jason’s outrageous reaction. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

     Jason sighed, frustrated. “You’re obviously hitting on X!”

     Dick shrugged, unbothered. “So what if I am? It’s not like you guys are together or anything. Right?”

     He gave Jason a smug smirk and Jason finally realised what he’d been trying to do. He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered a curse under his breath. 

     “Just admit that you like her!” Dick sighed. “She obviously likes you too!”

     Jason’s heart froze at the declaration, but he quickly shook it off. “She can’t-”

     He stopped himself to try to figure out what he wanted to say and Dick folded his arms across his chest as he waited for him to continue. But Jason remained silent, his features creased with thought. 

     “Jay, you weren’t even trying to get her attention,” Dick pointed out. “And she fell in love with you anyway! That means that she likes you exactly as you are.”

     Jason’s heart thumped in his chest as he wondered if what his brother was saying could really be true. Could she really like him? With all the baggage he carried with him? All his trauma and all his scars? 

     Dick pushed himself off the kitchen island and started making his way back to the living room. He stopped briefly as he passed by Jason, leaning over to murmur in his ear. “How about this: if you still haven’t said anything to her by the end of the week, I’m going to make a move.”

     He patted him on the shoulder, then returned to the others before he could respond. 

     Jason stayed in the kitchen a little longer, quietly seething at Dick’s deal. His fingers ached to punch something and let his anger out, but then he heard someone walk into the kitchen.

     “Jay?” X placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but the movement only caused him to tense up even more. “Jason, what’s wrong?” 

     She moved around to his front and curled her fingers around both of his shoulders, massaging them gently to try to get him to relax. 

     He sucked in a breath as his stomach tightened at their proximity. His fingers twitched with the need to slide around her waist and tug her closer to him; to feel her soft chest pressing up against his. But he resisted the temptation and took a step away from her instead. 

     “Nothing, I’m fine.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he avoided her gaze. Then he suddenly remembered something. “You gonna be okay sleeping on your own, princess?”

     She’d been sleeping with her kitchen lights on before he’d started working for her - because she was still afraid of the dark, she’d admitted to him one night. He’d waved away her shame and suggested sleeping over to help her feel more comfortable and ever since then, she’d been sleeping like a baby. They’d sleep in separate rooms, of course, but she just liked knowing there was someone else there with her.

     She shuffled in position nervously. “Um … I was … kind of hoping … I could bunk with you? I could sleep on a mattress on the floor!”

     She looked up at him with wide eyes and his will melted at the sight of her helplessness. His shoulders slumped with defeat as he gave in to her - as he always did. “Sure.”

     Jason lay on his back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling quietly. Of course he hadn’t let her sleep on the floor in his own house! She’d tried arguing about it with him, sure, but he’d threatened to go sleep in the guest room if she didn’t just take the bed. X rolled over to the edge of the bed and gazed down at him on the floor. 

     “Jay?” she whispered, checking to see if he was still awake.

     “Hmm?”

     “Thanks for inviting me over. I really appreciate it.”

     “It’s no problem, princess. My family seems to really like you, anyway.” A little too much where some of them were concerned.

     “I like them too!” X admitted. “They’re a lot of fun.”

     The corner of his lip twitched at the happiness in her voice. 

     “They can be … a little overwhelming, sometimes, but … yeah. They’re pretty fun.” Though he’d never admit that to any of them though. Especially not Dick. His stomach clenched with fear and he hesitated as his gaze strayed over to her. “What do you think about Dick?”

     X pursed her lips as she considered his question. His brother seemed nice, but … she wasn’t quite sure if he’d been flirting with her or not. Though it didn’t really matter to her anyway: she only liked Jason. “He’s nice … but I get why you might think he’s a little overbearing.”

     Jason scoffed at her words. “Understatement.”

     They fell into silence for a while, then finally, X rolled off her bed entirely and landed on Jason’s mattress. Jason startled as she dropped down next to him and curled up against his side. He tried to pull away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding one of her legs over his and trapping him in place. He opened and closed his mouth, completely taken aback by her forwardness, but he didn’t push her away.

     “I like you, Jason.” Her voice was soft, but he didn’t miss the words. 

     “Like, like-like,” she continued when he didn't respond.

     He could barely breathe when she was wrapped around him like this, let alone think up a response. He pressed his hands against the mattress and focused on his breathing, trying to calm his racing heart. Then finally, “I like you too, X.”

     X grinned and they shifted around, getting more comfortable in each other’s arms. She slid her fingers into his hair and tickled his scalp gently and Jason hummed contentedly as he stroked her lower back. She was so soft in his arms, her cosy little body fitting so nicely against his. 

     “Why … When did you start liking me?” he asked, a little afraid to hear her response.

     “Hmm …” God, it felt nice, lying on top of him like this. He was so large and so muscular! And warm too! She stretched herself out against him, then wriggled happily in his arms. Jason let out a soft groan and tightened his grip on her waist as her knee brushed against his groin. X inhaled deeply, breathing in the comforting soap and leather scent of him. “That first time you offered to stay over when I told you I was afraid of the dark. You didn’t even make fun of me or anything.”

     “The dark can be pretty scary sometimes,” Jason replied nonchalantly. He snuck his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt and she shivered against him as his nails dragged down her skin.

     “You know … I still haven't gotten to kiss you yet.” X pushed herself up to gauge his reaction and again, he became speechless, unsure of how to respond. X smiled and lowered herself back down, her mouth just centimetres from his. Jason swallowed hard and X snickered softly as she pinched his earlobe between her thumb and forefinger. “We can take it slow. Just a kiss? Then we can just go to sleep on the bed instead of us both lying down here.”

     “O-Okay …”

     X smiled at his nervousness, then very gently, she touched her lips to his. He melted against her immediately, running his hands up and down her back as they kissed each other. God, she felt nice, soft and sweet and so comforting in his arms. They kissed each other for a little longer, both of them cautiously moving their hands across the other's body, then eventually, they pulled apart. The two of them giggled softly at one another, then X got up and pulled him onto the bed beside her.

     “So,” she whispered softly, “should we go on a date tomorrow?”

     His lips stretched wide at the sound of the smile in her voice: he could practically hear her blushing! He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips into her hair as they got comfortable on his bed. “Sure. Where would you like to go, princess?”

     Dick watched his brother and X as they all sat at the table for breakfast the next morning. The two of them kept sneaking little glances at one another and exchanging shy smiles when they caught the other’s eye. It was … disgustingly cute. But his brother deserved a little vomit-inducing cuteness after everything he’d been through. He went about the rest of his day not mentioning anything about it, but finally managed to get Jason alone when they were in the library. 

     His brother stopped him just as he was leaving to rejoin X, folding his arms across his chest as he fixed him with a smug look. Jason rolled his eyes and gave a weary sigh. “What?” 

     “So? Did anything happen last night?”

     “Judging by that shit-eating grin on your face, you already know the answer to that question.” Jason pushed past Dick to continue making his way back to the kitchen. He and X had taken a little break from food prep, curling up together in the library to spend some time alone together. But eventually, she'd had to go to the toilet, so Jason had just said to meet back in the kitchen. Dick ran after Jason and slung his arm around his shoulders. 

     “So, it's official? Are you going to tell everyone?” He gasped suddenly as a new thought entered his mind. “Is there going to be a press release? Are you going to have a fight with her PR team or something?”

     Jason furrowed his brows in puzzlement, then pushed Dick's arm off his shoulders. 

     “Firstly, I don't need to tell anyone. And anyway, I'm pretty they already know.” He side-eyed Dick suspiciously and Dick avoided his gaze, his expression riddled with guilt. “Second, why do I need to fight with her PR team? I'm Bruce-f*cking-Wayne's adopted son. Who's gonna fight with that?”

     Dick nodded thoughtfully in agreement. They soon entered the kitchen and Jason softened when he saw X laughing with Steph and Cass, spots of flour scattered around their faces.

     “Thirdly, I want her to have one part of her life that's just hers,” Jason continued, turning to Dick with a threatening expression. “No PR, no fans, no cameras.”

     He turned back around and grinned when X waved him over excitedly. Dick watched fondly as his big, rough, long-suffering brother walked over to X, an uncharacteristic bounce in his step. X streaked some flour onto Jason's nose, catching him off-guard, and Dick's chest warmed at his brother's delighted smile.

     “He'll be all right. Right?” Bruce asked, placing a hand on Dick’s shoulder as he came up behind him. Dick shot Bruce a knowing look.

     “He'll be all right.”

[moonlightspencie]

part 2 of the fake dating!james drabble as suggested by @simp-for-fiction!

part 1 here : part 2

pairing: james potter x reader

——————————

It had been two weeks since the night he kissed you and then proceeded to pretend as if he hadn't. You really couldn't blame him considering that you had also been hesitant to bring it up. After all, it was a part of the act.

But then again, it felt so real.

He was dragging you to yet another event today, telling you to dress nice. You complained, of course, but the second he mentioned that you'd be getting a nice fancy dinner for free... who were you to turn down such a compelling evening?

You showed up at his flat in your sleek black evening gown, feeling quite pretty, and knocked on his door. He opened it a moment later, looking a bit frazzled: his hair was a mess, his tie undone, and his glasses absent from his face.

"...hey?" you greeted.

"Hi," he replied quickly, ushering you inside before scurrying through the flat. "Sorry, promise I'll be done soon!"

"You okay?" you asked hesitantly, following him to his room.

He shuffled through things in his room, spraying himself with cologne and trying to smooth out his hair.

"Fine. Just... maybe, accidentally fell asleep and only started getting ready fifteen minutes ago," he winced a little.

You snorted a laugh. "Alright, that's fine. Do we need to be there right on time?"

"No... I guess we don't, but," he sighed, finally taking a good look at you. "You showed up on time looking... beautiful. The least I can do is get you there when I said I would."

"James, we've known each other for years. I'm not exactly expecting you to turn things around for a girl you're pretending to date."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Still, though."

"Don't worry about it," you reiterated, sitting on his bed.

He continued getting ready, now quite a bit less frazzled, and you were on your way before you knew it. He led you inside some charity event that he'd been invited to. You knew his family was rich, but this... this was something else.

"So... Lily is gonna be here?" you ask in a bit of surprise as he walked you through the ballroom.

"No," he replied simply, bringing you to sit at a table with little place-cards indicating your seats.

You furrowed your brow. "What... then, why are we here?"

"Photos, of course. They go in the Prophet. Evans will see them, and hopefully get jealous."

"Thats a pretty elaborate plan, Potter."

"It'll work," he said, waving off your concerns. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing here."

You snorted, but didn't really feel like complaining the second the food and drinks came out. Even more, you were perfectly happy once dancing began. It felt like a really fancy school ball with a bunch of people who were much more intimidating than your classmates. But... James made it easy.

"And spin," he instructed with a laugh, twirling you around. He caught you, pulling you into his chest again. "See? You're a natural."

"Far from it," you laughed. "If it weren't for you, I'd be tripping over my own two feet."

"Nah. You're great," he smiled brightly, annoyingly charming as always.

"I didn't grow up with this stuff. You dont have to lie to make me feel better."

"I'm not lying. Swear. You're good."

You smiled a little, shaking your head. "You know, we should really hang out more. I think I like hanging out with you when I'm not being paraded around for you to get Lily's attention the whole time."

"We hang out," he said, tilting his head a little.

"Not really," you smiled a little. "I hang out with Remus and Sirius, and... sometimes you're just there. I wouldn't quantify us as friends, per se."

"I would. Per se," he snorted a laugh. "We are now at least."

"Maybe."

"Don't maybe me," he laughed cheerfully.

You chuckled right back, about to respond when a flash went off. You blinked, looking in the direction of the light.

An older man who looked far too happy with himself, held up his camera. "Beautiful young couple! That will make a lovely photo for the papers."

"Oh, we're not--"

James cut you off. "Thank you! We've been told."

"Oh," you nodded a little. Right. This was the whole point of the event.

The photographer gave you another overly-peppy grin, then bid you adieu. You glanced at James.

"You really think she'll see that?"

"Everyone will see it," he shrugged.

"Everyone?" you swallowed. "Ugh. James, I don't know if that's a good thing. For everyone to think we're..."

"What, am I not enough for you?" he teased.

"That's not what I mean, James. It's just that people talk. Do we really need a public break up from a relationship we were never in."

"Eh," he shrugged. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"It's supposed to be cross that bridge."

"Either way," he grinned.

"Quit worrying," he kissed your cheek. "Now, come on. We have the whole rest of the night to have fun together, now."

"Right. Lead the way, Potter."

[atlabeth]

everything happens for a reason part 22 - zuko x fem!reader

I've been waiting on you

part 21 | masterlist | part 23

a/n: UHHH happy one year anniversary of me not updating!! i missed it by a day but honestly that's very in character. i kind of have no excuse for taking a year long break from this. lol. all i can really say is i lost all my avatar inspo and got really into a bunch of other things and poor little ehfar got left in the corner abandoned!!! but i could never abandon this it's my baby and even if it takes me 1000 years to finish it i will finish it. it's kind of embarrassing that it took so long for this to come out and it's a short filler chapter like who do i think i am.... but everyone is happy and on the beach and yn finally gets some clothes of her own after spending like 7 chapters in prison clothes. anyways enjoy (three more chapters left what?? will it take me 3 years who knows)

wc: 4.8k

warning(s): yn and zuko talk about their pasts and what theyve been through but overall this is a very fluffy chapter

chapter title from seasons (waiting on you) by future islands

The days after their arrival back to the island passed by with relative ease. 

Y/N practiced waterbending with Katara and Aang so she could work on getting the hang of it again. She’d been close to mastery before Ba Sing Se, and her muscle memory was stronger than she realized, but prison and the months without her bending had weakened her. Zuko continued working with Aang on his firebending under the looming deadline of the comet.

Sokka and Suki trained with each other too, working on their hand to hand and sword fighting, and Y/N would occasionally join in to stay sharp on what Suki had taught her back in prison. Her time without her bending made her realize how much she relied solely on it, and she never wanted to feel defenseless again. 

They continued to share stories every night over a campfire. They all had plenty to talk about after everything they’d been through, especially when Zuko had been against them for half the time, Suki was leading the Kyoshi Warriors, and Y/N was stuck behind bars. 

And of course, Zuko and Y/N spent as much time together as they possibly could. They were practically attached at the hip—sitting together at meals, watching one another bend on their breaks, training against each other the way they used to, exploring the island together, just being with each other. After everything they’d been through, Y/N thought they deserved it. 

Eventually though, it was decided that they had to leave. Being in Fire Nation territory, even in the middle of nowhere, was risky. They were running out of food and supplies in general, and the possibility that Fire Nation ships would still somehow discover them weighed on their minds. They couldn’t afford to get caught so far into their mission, especially with the traitor prince of the Fire Nation on their side. 

Zuko’s idea, however, was possibly even riskier. 

“Ember Island?” Y/N asked hesitantly. “That’s… bold.” 

“We’re already being bold by staying in Fire Nation territory,” Zuko said. “We’re safe from Azula for now, but it’s only a matter of time before she somehow finds us again.” He shrugged. “My family’s vacation home is the last spot anyone will think to look.” 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Sokka said. “It’ll be nice to not fight for our lives for a minute before we make the final push.” 

Aang adjusted his hold on the reins—they’d already packed up Appa and started flying before Zuko proposed his idea—and shrugged. “I’m okay with it. Zuko and I will be able to keep training, and you all can relax in an actual house.”

“And we’ll be able to go to the beach!” Toph exclaimed. “I’ve been meaning to work on my sandbending. And,” she grinned, “I’m betting none of you have heard of sandball fights.”

“We’re really getting ourselves into something,” Katara said dryly. 

Y/N smiled and she leaned into Zuko’s side. He wrapped his arm around her immediately and pulled her closer.

“I’ve always wondered what Ember Island was like,” Y/N mused. “I was always so jealous when you and Azula got to go there on vacation every summer and I was stuck at the palace.” 

“You weren’t missing much,” Zuko said wryly. “Yeah, there’s beaches, but mostly it was just unbearably hot.” He frowned. “My father still made me do work even when we were supposed to be on vacation. I’ve done a lot of swordfighting here.” 

“I missed you,” she said, and she knew that she would never get tired of seeing Zuko’s cheeks flush red. 

“Really?” he asked. “Even then?” 

“Especially then,” she clarified. “It wasn’t like I had much going on for me there. The palace was extremely boring without you.” 

“Spirits, you guys are gross,” Sokka groaned as he looked out at the sky. “Suki and I haven’t been like this, have we?” 

Katara chuckled. “You definitely have. You could barely stay off of each other when you got back from the Boiling Rock.” 

“Just imagine what they were like when they first got back together,” Zuko said with a frown. 

“Neither of you can say anything,” Toph asserted. “I can hear both of your heartbeats shoot up every time you’re around Y/N and Suki.” 

Zuko scowled, Sokka’s face flushed, and Suki and Y/N just smiled at each other. 

“So Ember Island is a yes?” Aang asked. When everyone nodded in agreement, he looked at Zuko. “I’m in need of your navigation skills, Sifu Hotman.” 

He groaned. “I told you to stop calling me that.” 

“I know,” Aang said cheerfully. 

Zuko just sighed, and he kissed Y/N on the cheek before he moved to sit next to Aang. She smiled, and she let her hand hang over the side of the saddle. 

“...I guess it is nice not seeing you two argue all the time,” Sokka said after a moment. 

“It’s nice that you two aren’t moping around all the time either,” Toph added. “That was kind of annoying.” 

“Imagine how I felt,” Y/N said, though it was absent minded as her gaze stayed on Zuko. 

“I don’t have to imagine it,” Toph said. “You were very clearly mopey.” 

“And when you weren’t mopey, you were angry,” Suki contributed. “You said you were imagining Zuko’s face whenever I taught you new moves at the Boiling Rock. You beat him up a lot there.” 

Sokka and Toph laughed, but it was a moment before she said anything. It took Katara saying her name for her to turn back around, and when Y/N did, she blinked for a moment. “What?” 

Katara chuckled, glancing at Zuko before she looked back at her. “We’re just glad you’re back.” 

Her expression instantly brightened as she smiled. “I’m glad to be back.” 

-

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Ember Island—and if it did, Y/N was far too busy conversing with her friends and watching Zuko for it to matter. She grimaced as she slid off of Appa, one hand taking Zuko’s and the other wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. 

“Spirits,” she mumbled, “I thought I was used to Fire Nation heat by now.” 

“Me too,” Sokka groaned. “But this is already worse than all the other places we’ve been to.” 

“Ember Island’s always been like this,” Zuko said. “The good news is that it’s Ember Island. There’s plenty of beaches—we’ve even got our own private one.” 

“Good for practicing waterbending,” Katara said with a glance at Aang. 

“Good for practicing all kinds of bending,” Zuko said. “You’re gonna need to practice your firebending every day if you want to stand a chance against my father. We’re running out of time and you’re nowhere close to being a master.” 

Aang frowned. “Way to bring down the mood, Zuko.” 

“I’m being realistic!” he defended. “You can’t just end one hundred years of war with some good luck and an optimistic mindset!” 

Sokka shrugged. “It’s worked for us so far.” 

Zuko opened his mouth to say something that would definitely cause an argument. Before he could, Y/N laughed, looping her arm through his and tugging him along. 

“Come on,” she said. “Show us around.” 

Zuko sighed, though his show of annoyance was negated as he pulled Y/N closer. “Fine. It is about time I’ve brought you here.” 

“Ugh.” Toph kicked at the sand with her foot. “I think Zuko’s just brought us along on his couples vacation.” 

“Oh, quiet,” she joked. “We’ve earned it.” 

Toph stuck her tongue out. “Doesn’t mean we can’t complain about it.” 

Y/N chuckled as they walked together, the rest of the group trailing behind them. 

“Spirits, Zuko,” Sokka marveled when they stepped inside the house. “This is huge.” 

“It is the summer home of the royal family,” he said dryly. “My father never settles for anything less than perfection. It also gave us more room to avoid each other when he was causing arguments.” 

“I can’t imagine that happened a lot,” Katara said sarcastically. 

“Never,” Zuko agreed with the same tone. “He almost burned down the place a few times.” 

Aang frowned. “Sounds like a great guy.” 

“I know you’re not a violence guy, but if there’s anyone you’d enjoy fighting, it’s my dad,” Zuko muttered. 

“I’ll do it for the good of the world,” Aang said. “Not because I’ll enjoy it.” 

Zuko grimaced and opened his mouth to say something, but Y/N interrupted once more before they could devolve into this conversation again. 

“Like Sokka said, this place is huge.” She placed a hand on Zuko’s arm. “Will we have our own rooms?” 

Zuko’s brows creased a bit, but he nodded after a moment. “Yeah. There should be enough for all of us.” 

“Suki and I can share,” Sokka said, stretching his arms out casually to reach one around Suki. She laughed and leaned her head against his chest, and he looked far too pleased with himself. “Tryna make up for lost time, y’know?” 

“Gross,” Toph scoffed. “I’ll take my own room, please.” 

Aang glanced at Katara for a moment before he cleared his throat and nodded at Zuko. “Yeah. Me too.” 

Katara was too busy looking at a mask sitting on a mantle. She picked it up and glanced back at Zuko. “What is this from?” 

“One of my mother’s favorite plays,” he said. “She was an actress before she married my father, and every time we came here, we’d always go see some shows. They gave her the mask of the lead character after the end of one production a few years ago, as thanks for her patronage.” 

“Oh, we should definitely go see a play while we’re here!” Y/N exclaimed. “I got my hands on some old play scripts when I was still working in the palace, and the other servants and I would spend hours reenacting our favorite parts.” She chuckled. “It would be nice to see actual actors do it.” 

“We should be able to carve out some time for that,” Zuko said. “Between all the training, of course.” 

“You are such a downer,” Aang groaned. 

“I’m seeing the full picture!” he defended. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do—just because we’re at our vacation home doesn’t mean we’re on vacation.”

“After all this is over, we definitely deserve a vacation,” Sokka muttered. “Before all the rebuilding and restructuring and relegislating starts…” The smile fell from his face. “Wow. We’re never gonna get a vacation.” 

“Oh, perk up, ponytail,” Toph said. “We’re going to end the endless war and defeat the undefeatable Fire Lord. If we want to take a vacation, no one can really stop us.” 

The smile reappeared with surprising quickness. “That’s true!” 

Zuko laughed softly. “Your rooms should be on the first floor. You can explore and divide the rooms yourselves. I,” he looked at Y/N, “want to show you something.”

She smiled as Zuko pulled her closer with an arm around her shoulder and made for the stairs, leaving a rapidly growing argument over room selection in their wake. 

“Do you think they’ll have decided by the time we get back down?” Zuko asked. 

Y/N shrugged. “This is the first time they’re sleeping in rooms instead of camping on the ground in… Spirits. Since Ba Sing Se, I think. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go at it all night.” 

He chuckled as they stopped in front of a room, and Zuko pushed open the door so they could walk in together. 

“This was my room whenever we came here,” he said. “I figured we could share it.” 

“This is the height of luxury,” Y/N commented, stepping out of Zuko’s embrace to run her hand over the sheets. Her lips quirked into a smile. “I can’t believe you slept on a bed like this every night.” 

“You’re telling me they don’t have this kind of stuff in the North?” Zuko asked wryly. 

“No,” she chuckled, “definitely not. We were more focused on not freezing.” 

“Well, we’re more focused on pointless displays of luxury,” he said, “so you’re not too far off.” 

Zuko ignited the tip of his finger and began lighting candles around the room, and Y/N glanced at him with amusement as she sat down on the bed. 

“Mood lighting,” he explained with the sliver of a smile. “I think we deserve some time alone after the past few days.” 

She pressed a hand to her chest. “You know the way straight to my heart.” 

Once he was done he sat down next to her, and Y/N intertwined their hands together and pulled him down so they were laying on their backs. She rested her head on Zuko’s chest and he moved his arm around her to keep her close, tracing lazy circles on her shoulder. 

“Wonderful mattress,” she sighed. “So this was what you were up to while I was sewing clothes and doing endless loads of laundry.” 

“I thought about you a lot more than you probably think,” Zuko said. She turned her head a bit to look at him, slightly surprised, and he shrugged. “Honestly? When we were kids, I thought about you pretty much constantly. My father always told me not to talk to servants, but I didn’t see you as anything other than my friend. You were… kind of my only normal friend.” 

“Well, you were kind of my only friend, period. All the other servants were way older—they just felt like a different version of my mom.” Y/N’s gaze rose to the ceiling. “I wonder how they’re all doing.” 

“They should be okay,” Zuko said. “No one really caused as much trouble as we did.” 

Y/N laughed as her gaze flitted around the room, taking in all the details. A portrait of the royal family hung on the wall, while a much smaller, lone portrait of Zuko sat on a desk in the corner. He didn’t look very happy, but she couldn’t imagine sitting for that many paintings as a child was fun. What looked to be a half-finished message sat on the desk, the ends of the scroll rolling up and obscuring most of the inked letters. A neat stack of towels and blankets were on top of a clothing chest in the other corner, and she chuckled a bit. In her experience of doing his laundry in their youth, it seemed to be something he still hadn’t grown out of. 

“I can practically see little Zuko running in here after a day at the beach,” she mused. “The ends of his clothes singed from fighting with Azula, his hair drenched from swimming, getting sand all over the sheets.” 

“I wasn’t that messy of a child,” he complained. “I… I did come home with my clothes singed a couple times, though.” 

She chuckled. “I know. My mother had to fix a lot of your outfits because of it.” 

“It’s not my fault that ‘hide and blast’ was her idea of fun!” he defended. 

“Hide and blast?” 

“One person hides, the other person searches. By… blasting fire everywhere.” Zuko shook his head. “I don’t know all kids around the Fire Nation were as crazy as us or if Azula invented it herself.” 

“...Yeah,” Y/N said with a slight laugh. “We definitely didn’t play that in my village.” 

“Of course you didn’t,” he said. “None of you were firebenders.” 

“I was the only waterbender in the village though,” she said. “There were a couple other earthbender kids, but it made me feel so special. We would always play together and try to mix our bending together.” A small yet wistful smile tugged at her lips. “That feels like forever ago, though.” 

“I know what you mean,” Zuko murmured. “I was banished three years ago, but a lifetime has changed since then.” 

“For the better?” Y/N murmured. 

She could feel Zuko nod. “Definitely.” 

Their door was then pushed open more, and Suki poked her head in through the gap. A grin appeared on her face at their closeness. 

“I see the lovebirds are making themselves at home,” she mused. 

Y/N laughed as she sat up, pulling Zuko with her. She smiled at the sight of his flushed cheeks. “We’re trying.” 

“We believe in knocking here in the Fire Nation,” Zuko grumbled. 

“The door was open,” Suki said cheerfully. “And I’d like to steal your girl for an afternoon outing.” 

Her eyebrows shot up. “What for?” 

“Well, I’d like to explore the island some, and I figure we’re the lowest profile out of our whole group,” she said. “We’ve also missed out on some shopping while we were stuck in prison—we’ve gotta get our hands on some Fire Nation clothes.” 

Y/N’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea! Leya’s dress is beautiful, but Earth Kingdom clothing sticks out a bit more than I want.” 

“And I’m in literal prison clothes,” Suki said. “The sooner we’re in red, the better.” 

“That’s… probably smart,” Zuko amended. “There’s some gold pieces in my bag. It should be more than enough for both of you.” 

“Are you sure?” Y/N frowned. “You don’t have to—” 

“You think I didn’t take a bunch of money from the palace before I left?” Zuko asked wryly. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Suki’s smile grew. “Just call it reparations.” 

Zuko huffed a laugh, but Y/N cut him off as she pulled him in for a kiss. 

“You’ll be alright while we’re gone?” 

“Of course,” he said. “This is my home, after all. If anything, I should be asking you that.” 

“I’ve got the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors with me,” Y/N said. “If anyone decides to mess with us, it’s going to be their problem—not ours.” 

Suki laughed and gestured with her head, and Y/N stood up and started walking backwards. “I’ll see you later—try to have some fun here.” 

“I don’t have fun,” he called out as she was walking out, and she just shook her head with a smile. 

“You’re really dating a ball of sunshine there, aren’t you?” Suki joked. 

Y/N bit back her growing smile. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

-

The rest of the day went by in a breeze. 

Y/N and Suki spent a few hours in town, chatting and shopping and even doing some reconnaissance at the end, just to make sure they were truly undercover at the vacation home. Doing rookie spy work with a Kyoshi Warrior was surprisingly just as fun as the shopping part—and after what she and Zuko did to free her village, it was surprisingly easy. 

The sun was still high in the sky when they got back, dressed head to toe in Fire Nation finery. Zuko and Aang were in the midst of training when the two of them went around back to find their friends, and when he saw Y/N, his fire died out and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. 

(“Yeah,” Zuko had stammered when she asked his opinion, “You look really good.”

“Thanks,” she said, and she felt the heat rush to her cheeks. “I feel pretty good.”

“Fire Nation clothes suit you,” he said, and he pulled her into a kiss. “It’s about time you’ve gotten some.”

“Technically, I wore them for a few months,” she said wryly. “Prison clothes and all.”

Zuko scoffed. “That doesn’t count.”

“And I wore them for most of my childhood,” she mused. “Servant clothes and all.” 

“That counts even less!” he insisted. 

“But thank you,” Y/N finally said with a smile. “I was hoping you would like them.” 

It was an effort to bite back her joy every time Zuko would sneak a look at her while they continued their training.) 

The rest of the day was just mostly spent getting used to everything. The last time the vacation home had been occupied was when Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee visited, so a lot of adjustments needed to be made. 

Katara insisted on washing all the sheets, and Y/N decided to join in because of her waterbending—Aang wanted to talk with Katara, Zuko wanted to be with Y/N, Toph wanted to ask him a bunch of questions about Ember Island, and Sokka didn’t want to be left out, so soon enough, the seven of them were all sitting on the steps of the house doing laundry and telling stories. 

Soon enough, the sun had set and the house had been cleaned what felt like ten times over. Everyone had retired to their own devices except for Y/N and Zuko, who were walking along the shore arm in arm. 

“I think I like beaches,” she mused. “The nearest ocean had no beach back home, and all we had in the North was ice. You Fire Nation folk are lucky.” 

Zuko chuckled. “I don’t know if it’s luck. We’re just one big island with a lot of humidity.” 

“Still,” she leaned her head on his shoulder, “it’s nice. We should visit here together once all this is over.” 

“Of course,” he nodded. “I know I’m going to be the Fire Lord if all goes well, but there’s going to be a lot of diplomacy trips.” She felt his eyes on her. “You can join me on all of them.” 

“Of course,” she repeated. “The Fire Lord’s Earth Kingdom-born, waterbending girlfriend will be so welcome.” 

“If you’ve learned one thing through all of this, it should be that I don’t care what anyone thinks when it comes to you,” Zuko said. “I want you there with me. You want to be there with me. That’s reason enough.” 

Y/N chuckled, and she ran her thumb over Zuko’s knuckles. His hands housed callouses, borne from hundreds of hours of explosive firebending and sword-fighting and years of life on the road. She always wondered how hands that treated her so softly, that revered her, were so capable of violence. 

“I know there’s going to be a lot of expectations for us,” she said. “Especially once you take the throne. But I— I’d like to take things as slow as we can.” 

“Of course.” Zuko squeezed her hand, his brows creasing. “I don’t care what anyone says or wants or expects. I love you, Y/N—we’ll go at our own pace.” 

“It’s just because we’ve spent the past year trying to kill each other,” Y/N said with a nervous laugh. “If we could spend this next year being in love with each other, that would be really great.” 

That actually got a laugh out of Zuko, and he gestured with his head towards the sand. When they sat down, he pulled her into his side. They fit perfectly together. 

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I think we’ve already gotten a headstart on that.”

“Good,” she said. 

Y/N sighed as she moved closer into Zuko’s embrace, his warmth a shield from the cool night breeze. She’d always run cold, and having a personal hearth made things much easier. 

“I wish we didn’t have to go through so much to end up with each other,” she murmured. 

“Believe me,” Zuko sighed, “I know.” 

“But my mother always told me that everything happens for a reason,” Y/N said. “And… I guess she’s right. Because I don’t think we would be here if all this hadn’t happened.” Something inside of her twisted, and though she tried to suppress it, the words came out before she could really think about it. “And sometimes I— I wonder why I’m still here.” 

He frowned slightly, allowing a short glance down at her. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean… you know what I’ve had to go through to get here. My village, the palace, the North, this journey with Aang, the capital prison, the Boiling Rock…” she shook her head. “Countless others have died or gotten hurt trying to protect me or save me. Our group— we were the first ones ever to escape from the Boiling Rock. So why do I get to be here? Why is my father gone, but I’m still here? I don’t deserve it more than he did. I certainly don’t deserve it more than Yue. So… I don’t know. Sometimes I just can’t understand why I’m the one that got to make it when so many others haven’t.” 

“Don’t say that,” Zuko urged. 

“It’s not the way you think,” Y/N said honestly. “It just feels like we’ve beaten every single odd.” 

“Maybe we have,” he said, “but it’s certainly not out of luck, or chance.” Zuko took her hand and intertwined their fingers together, giving her hand a squeeze. “You fought every step of the way to get here—a lot of the time, you were fighting against me. You’ve earned every good thing you’ve gotten, Y/N, and I think I might spend the rest of my life trying to be someone worthy of you.” 

“Zuko,” she lamented, “you already are.” 

“It’s not the way you think,” he echoed wryly. “I’ve loved you since the beginning, and despite everything, you still love me too. You kept giving me chances because you believed in me for some stupid reason. I wouldn’t be where I am without that—without you. I want to be the best version of myself every day so you know you made the right choice.” 

Y/N felt the heat rush to her cheeks as she smiled, squeezing his hand back. Nowadays, they were almost always touching in some way. Tonight reminded her why—she never felt more comforted, more at peace, then when she was with Zuko. 

“You… kind of just hit my next point,” she said with a nervous chuckle, curling into his side further. 

“Don’t tell me it’s more self-doubt,” Zuko said. 

“I can’t help it!” she defended. “I— I just have to make sure.” 

“Of what?” 

“That…” Y/N paused, her mouth suddenly dry. “That I’m still the one you want. Even after all that’s happened. After all that’s going to happen.” 

Zuko frowned, and he took her other hand, lacing their fingers together.  “Of course. Y/N, it’s always been you. It’s been true forever, even if I haven’t always known it.” 

“It’s not going to be easy,” she said softly. “I’m Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. Your people aren’t just going to accept that, especially with you as their leader.” 

Zuko actually laughed at that, and he gave her a sideways smile. Months ago, staring into his hardened eyes used to bring her close to tears. Seeing him smile now, reassuring doubts that seemed so pointless in the face of his love—even after everything, Y/N considered herself the luckiest girl in the world. 

“Y/N, we’ve gone across the whole world doing things no one ever has,” Zuko said. “The seven of us are going to end a war that’s been going on for a century. Aang is going to defeat my father, and he shouldn’t even be alive. We’ve beat every single odd against us. I think getting my people to like you will be the easiest thing we have to handle.” 

“You think so?” she asked. The tension had dissolved some from her shoulders, her worries dissuading with each honeyed word. 

“I know so,” Zuko assured. “I’m gonna have to change the Fire Nation from the ground up. There’s no one else I’d want by my side while I do it. My people will see you the way I do, and they’ll love you just as much.” 

Y/N leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his lips. Sometimes she still couldn’t get over the fact that she could just… do that. Just kiss him, just smile with him, just be happy with him. Yue shone down on them as she pulled away, Zuko’s features glowing in the moonlight, and Y/N hoped her friend knew she was so much of the reason she’d gotten here. 

Happiness seemed out of reach, out of her cards entirely, for such a long time, and when she had it, it always felt like such a precarious thing. Sometimes she still remembered those days in the tea shop, the night in the catacombs. 

But with Zuko finally by her side, it was a tangible thing. Something she deserved. Something she already had. 

“We’ll do it all together,” she murmured. 

“Together,” Zuko agreed. 

And she laid back down on the sand, bringing Zuko with her. He pulled her closer, tucked into his side as he wrapped his arm around her. They laid there in silence, Zuko’s warmth heating her from the inside out, staring up at the starry night sky and reveling in the feeling of just being with each other. 

Together.

-

i'll tag ppl here because it's been uhhhhhh fucking YEAR and everyone's prob forgotten it exists and i also did tag lists while this was coming out but please do not ask to be added bc i dont do them anymore!!

ehfar tags: @chandies-sideblog @zacatecanaaaa @anzanity @randomthingssssss @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @shanksfav @shephard17895 @ilovespideyyy @whats-my-question @selfship-mishaps @ilistentotayswifttocope @i-make-questionable-choices @3leni @thatobsessedreader @lostgreekgod @oriontingz @zerode-unhinged @badpvn @mimi-sanisanidiot @adhdhufflepuff @aquaamethyst96 @hollyismentallyillhelp @holypoetrygarden @islandgayneery @pitrii-petra @jinxed-jk @veras-fanfic-reblogs @cloud-9ine @lucifersidepiece @kiskzawagnerwhore @froggi-00 @eajalova @mrsyixingunicorn10 @xxxxxxdelenaxxxxxx @cafesho @the-natureofme @whoevenfrickinknows @a-bit-late @zukowantshishonourback @settlebackeasy @jemssafespace @wildwallflower24 @calmoistorm @mich1551-blog @inutheangel @sagemastah @avrilh

[esggs]

An Inkling of Refuge – Noritoshi Kamo 

Part of Obeisance to The Arrow, can be read on its own though

[Noritoshi Kamo, overseas and away from Shinjuku, attempts the art of omelette-making]

[tw: noritoshi kamo x reader, age gap, child marriage, fluff, angst, teeny smut, traditionalist thoughts that gets dispelled pretty much immediately]

“Three eggs?” Noritoshi asks.

“Of course,” You reply.

Noritoshi horrifies you. He crushes the three eggs all together in between his palms, and then waits for the insides to run down his fingers into the bowl. And he doesn’t have a clue that it's probably not the way to go about it. 

There are times like this when you realise that both of you were raised, as they say, spoilt rotten. Even though you were taught to make a few dishes by your mother before she declared it to be a useless endeavour, Noritoshi has clearly never entered a kitchen in his life. You watch him with a frown as he picks eggshells out with chopsticks. 

You can tell he hates doing this, even though he’ll never complain out loud. You two were in Thailand (he’d left his homeland to save his own skin), in a penthouse apartment overlooking the beach (instead of the sprawling Kamo estate that he’s pretty certain has been destroyed by now), making your own food (he’s never done these servile jobs), in a kitchen (he’s a man for God’s sake). The last thought, all the conditioning of his childhood– he does his best to consciously drown out. I’m a good husband. I have to help my wife. 

His family, whoever was left, found residence in the high society of Hong Kong, where they already had some relatives. For all the issues with the Kamo Clan, the generational wealth wasn’t one. He’d done his best to get all of his people out of Japan after he left Shinjuku. It wasn’t like anyone had any choice. He was now the head of the Clan, and the head had seen the mass destruction looming over their futures. The Zenins were gone, the Gojos hanging by a thread. He took the decision he had to. 

“Put some salt and gochujang paste in it, love,” you tell him in the gentlest voice possible. He knows that it’s a farce. You had wanted to stay back and help the team fight in Shinjuku. She’d be dead in seconds. Still, it was your decision. For the first time since you had been married to each other as kids, he’d enforced the powers he had over you as your husband, making you drop everything else and come to Thailand with him. Safe. 

“Gochujang paste? You sure?” “It’s a Korean taste, very trendy now.” Noritoshi nodded and put a teaspoon of it into the eggs, looking at you for affirmation. You nod. Teaspoon’s enough. I think.

You’re not mad at him, per se. You do realise that in the larger scheme of things he took the correct decision. Neither of you could have helped in any way against the surreal strength of your opponents. But when he declared that he was pulling out and taking his family overseas, he hadn’t informed you beforehand. And when you vehemently refused, no one took your side, in fact, Choso had told you that it’s best to leave. Even Yuuji agreed. (“In a way, you’re like my great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law, so you should listen to your elders.”) You grind your teeth at that memory. 

“I’m sorry, the property agents said that the maids would take a few days to come. I’m really sorry about this.” Noritoshi said. A month ago I couldn’t have imagined making my wife, the Lady of the Kamo Clan, work in a kitchen. How far I’ve fallen. His hands began to shake a bit. Discarded. Useless. Runaway. Oh- not actually the Clan Head even, am I? 

“Noritoshi.” You’re still mad at him, somewhat. You’ve spent years, ever since you were 8, trying to be a person other than just his wife. You’ve succeeded too. And then again now, you’re stuck watching the beach day in and day out, being nothing other than his wife. Cooking eggs in a kitchen. But he’s here too. Cooking eggs with you.

“Noritoshi-san.” He grins at that mocking nickname. “I don’t mind it as long as you’re here. That’s the point of it all, right? To keep our loved ones alive?”

Yes. That's the whole point of it all. 

“I’ve kept you alive, husband. And you’ve kept me alive. I’ll take the days as they come.” you wash your hands and dry it on the back of his sweatshirt. As always, he lets you. But only that this time he grabs your hands in his egg-sticky ones and draws them to his lips. 

I’m sorry for everything. So am I. I’m sorry this is how things happened. So am I. I know you imagined a different life, I’m sorry. So am I.

“I got eggs on your hands, sorry.” He takes your hands into the sink with his own and washes them, a soapy eggy mess. “I’m just sorry about everything in general.”

“It’s okay.” you reply. “Our hands are clean now.”

“Yeah” Noritoshi glances at the mess you’ve made of your kitchen. “Should we take a break? Let’s walk or something.” He knows you like the ritual of it. Getting ready to go out wherever you want to, wearing whatever you want, fooling around in town, without any permission from anyone. He likes it too. 

As you get ready next to each other (“grey or black?” “love, they’re both sweatshirts anyway.” “i’ll go grey then” “ooh, someone’s flashy today!”) (“pass the hair conditioner” “which one, baby?” “OUAI, it’s written in English” “we ought to learn English now that we’re here” “I already know!”) (“goodness, baby, you look like a princess” “will you still wear your sweatshirt then?” “yes” “you look cute”)

As always, you twirl for him, showing off your outfit of the day while he compliments you. You make him do the same, complimenting his incredible grey sweatshirt and baggy pants. They’re both Loro Piana, even though no one would be able to ever tell, while your kitten heels, floral summer-gown and wicker hat are all thrifted for less than 7000 yen. 

Noritoshi and you do your absolute best to not be too bogged down. Your friends are dying. Your families are half-dead anyway. Your homeland for a millenia decimated. But you two still make omelettes and take walks by the beach. At night you two lie naked and wrapped up in each other, believing like children that the touch of your bare skins will fend off the impending nightmares. If he knows that you've been smoking every evening, he doesn't mention it. Noritoshi has to walk barefoot over glass shards his head all day. He can't do anything to take your pain away, so if smoking is what helps, he'll look the other way like a gentleman. The shame of it all. The guilt. The treachery of the runaways. 

It was the correct thing to do, the right path to take. 

Then why does it hurt to the core of your beings? Why are you fully aware that you two have lived past your destined deaths, stretching out your existence which was supposed to be martyred on the battlefield? And for what? You saved your families. Just your families?

“We should get people out of there. Non-sorcerers. Hire some aeroplanes, make announcements or something.” Noritoshi thinks about your suggestions, a hint in his eye that says that it shall be done.  

-----

“Does our marriage still embarrass you?” You two are lying face up on the beach, under a giant parasol. It did embarrass him at first, for good reason. You two were little children then, barely aware of what marriage means. You suppose you still don’t know, but you would say it’s like playing 2v1 versus 1v1 in life. More than that, you don’t know. “Of course not,” He answers. “I was 12 then. Besides, I’m not much other than your husband nowadays. If even that part of my identity was taken, I don’t know what I would have done.” He turns to you, pressing a kiss into your neck. “Despite everything, at least you’re still here for me to love.” 

He leans over you, his head propped on an elbow, the other hand gently turning your face to him. His lips taste like your chapstick, but under that it's all him, the natural scent of sweet skin. His long lashes flicker shut. He doesn’t hesitate a second to open his mouth and let his tongue in. Of course he doesn’t. What else does he want as fervently as the warmth of your mouth? He runs his tongue against yours, trying to lick up anything he can. He swallows once, his mouth too full of your saliva. Moaning into your mouth, he bites down onto your lower lip and moves deeper into your mouth. You gasp for a breath as he kisses your cheeks and nose. He sucks your tongue into him, grasping your hair tighter with every second. He’s all over you and around you. It’s messy. It's uncomfortable to look at. His warm chest beats like a badly injured bird.

“My wife.” He says, kissing your forehead. “You’re my wife.” Every single thing in his life had changed, except for your presence. “Even after all these years, you’re still my wife.” When he looks at you, his eyes are wet. “Thank you.”

pic credit : an abyss and pinterest

a/n: the reason the kiss has been described as "uncomfortable" is because in the series and canon, kamo would be a few weeks under 18 and reader 15. the age gap is wrong, to say the least. it's an intentional choice to focus on the shitty parts of the clan politics in jjk, as well as the characters being trauma bonded at this point.

also yuji and choso are technically ancestors of noritoshi kamo- hilarious.

canonically, noritoshi knows english pretty decently, but he said 'we' to not offend his wife. her cursed technique of distillation would help her learn english pretty fucking fast, but she hasn't actually bothered to do it yet. when they go out, kamo does most of the talking while she pretends to not understand.

i also headcanon that they aren't staying in a touristy place but a more local beach town (these are old money fuckers with old money tastes) and they often get requests to take pictures with the local people. they always say yes.

also my apologies for removing the kamo pics, they weren't conveying the depressed tone

[ladykailitha]

Do You Know What Shovels Dig? Graves Part 6

And this is it. The last part of a short little idea that kept me up all night that turned into this beautiful story that is one of my favorite stories I’ve written.

WIP Wednesday allowed me to finish this up for you before I went to bed. I got a job that I will be starting on Monday which will slow my writing down some, but I will still try to keep up on the stories I have. I love writing these stories for you guys and wish I could make it my job. But alas, capitalism.

Also this is for all the people that wished to see what the Corroded Coffin boys would say and for all the people that wanted to have Erica actually apologize. I was like “if you guys can get her to apologize, great, because I couldn’t!” But then I realized that there was someone who could get her to apologize. Robin. So here you go.

Thanks to that anon for the barbecue idea. That’s here too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

*

After Max, Lucas, and Erica had gone, Steve sat with Eddie, El, and the Byers boys.

“I think all in all,” Eddie began, “those were some pretty good apologies.”

The other three nodded.

Steve sighed. “It doesn’t change the fact that it took an actual honest to god intervention to get them realize they were wrong.”

“No it doesn’t,” El said. “Which is why I told them that they’ve been grounded from Steve for two weeks.”

“Uh...” Eddie said, “what now?”

“It means,” Will explained. “That if they want to hang out with him they have to do on his terms, not theirs. No begging for rides, no stopping by for food and then bailing, and just no taking advantage of Steve.”

Steve blushed. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. It was nice knowing that there were people that weren’t going to threaten me and took this whole seriously.” He gave Jonathan’s knee a squeeze. “I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t stopped by. But I’m really glad you did.”

Jonathan squeezed his shoulder in response. “Me, too. I hope they learned their lesson.”

“That is the hope,” Will said.

Steve scratched his cheek. “Why don’t we have barbecue at your guys’s place after the two weeks and see how they fair?”

Will brightened. “I like that idea. That way if they are still having problems we can talk to them about it.”

“Do you think your mom will go for it?” Eddie asked.

Jonathan grinned. “Hell yeah, she would. She’s been wanting to show off her new house to everyone for awhile now.”

El grinned too. “We have a plan, then!”

*

Steve was pleased to see that the Party actually started to make actual changes in how they treated him.

Lucas invited him out to play basketball at the rec center and biked himself there. Steve offered him a ride home after, which he happily took as they were both sweating afterwards.

Dustin made sure that Steve knew he was joking when he was making comments. And Steve made sure to snark right back unless it really bothered him and then they would talk about it.

Robin and he had a longer talk about the gay vs bisexual thing. She admitted that she had been wrong to assume that because Steve was bisexual that it would be Eddie getting his heartbroken and not Steve. She had some ingrained biases that she had to get over and was really sorry she didn’t have his back when he needed her to.

There were a lot of little changes but the final major change came a couple days after the intervention when Jeff, Gareth, and Brian all walked into Family Video together to properly apologize to Steve.

“Hey, Buckley,” Jeff said, “can you give us some space?”

Robin straightened her spine and wiggled her shoulders. “Steve has had apology monitors to ensure that it’s an actual apology, and as Eddie or Will or Jonathan aren’t here, it’s going to have to be me.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “Apparently there are certain people who think I’m too nice,” he explained to the other boys, “and let people get away things that I shouldn’t so they took it upon themselves to be my guard dogs to make sure it’s an actual apology.”

“Have they met you?” Gareth asked, incredulous. “You’re the original bitch.”

Steve laughed again. “Who let Tommy and Carol walk all over me. I tend to roll over for friends.”

They blinked and then nodded.

“Yeah, okay,” Brian said. “That tracks.”

Steve just smiled. “So how can I help you fine gentleman today? May I interest you our latest releases?”

That got a couple chuckles out of them.

“No, man,” Jeff said, “we’re here to talk about the whole shovel talk shit.”

Steve leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “You do know I don’t fault you guys for that, right? You guys are Eddie’s best friends. I didn’t really fault Wayne, either. But the execution of that one...” he winced when Robin gasped. “Poor choice of words, sorry.”

“What he do?” Jeff asked.

“Borrowed Chief Hopper’s shotgun and cleaned while we talked,” Steve said with a grimace.

“That ain’t right...” Brian said, shaking his head.

Gareth looked at Jeff and then back to Steve. “Yeah, but here’s the thing about our shovel talk...”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Jeff finished for him. “We’ve had time to get to know you before you and Eddie started dating. We knew that you two would do anything for each other even without being a couple.”

Brian nodded. “It’s just...something we thought best friends did. The whole ‘break his heart, we’ll break your knees’ kind of thing.”

Robin looked down at her feet and cleared her throat.

Jeff sighed dramatically. “Please tell me she wasn’t one of the ones that gave you the shovel talk. Because that’s messed up, man.”

Steve looked over at her and then back up to Jeff. “Yeah, she knows.”

“By the way,” Gareth said, waving his hands, “Eddie doesn’t know we’re here. So I don’t want thinking this is a forced apology or anything.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Brian cleared his throat. “I mean he did threaten to kill off our characters if we were mean to you, but he didn’t tell us to apologize or anything.”

Steve laughed. “That sounds more like the Eddie we all know and love.”

“But we would have come anyway,” Jeff said. “Because our shovel talk added to a heaping pile of bullshit that you didn’t need. And definitely didn’t deserve.”

“So this is us saying we’re sorry that everyone you knew decided that you were going to break Eddie’s heart,” Gareth said. “And that we made you feel like you weren’t worthy of dating Eddie. Because you are, man. Like seriously the only guy Eddie’s brought around that we actually want to be friends with.”

“Hell yeah,” Brian said. “You’re so cool and you love to take care everyone. We’d want you to stick around because we like you, too.”

Steve’s eyes blurred and he cleared his throat. “Thanks, guys. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

They all came up and gave Steve a hug, blocking him from outside viewers so he could cry. Once they were sure he was going to be okay, they let him go.

They said their goodbyes and walked out, leaving behind a stunned Robin and grateful Steve.

*

Just before the barbecue started Robin brought over Erica to Steve by holding her ear.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Erica was yelling as she was half dragged over to him.

Robin sat her down and said, “I learned that this little hobgoblin didn’t properly apologize for her shovel talk. And Eddie let her get away with it.”

“God, what’s your problem?” Erica huffed up at Robin. “They understood. Why can’t you?”

Robin grinned. “Green ooze, little girl. Green ooze.”

Erica’s jaw snapped shut. If Sherlock Holmes had his phrase for humbling him when he got too proud, this was Erica’s. She was going to drink it before it turned out to be acid. Like literal acid.

She turned to Steve. “Shovel talks aren’t right and no one should be giving anyone shovel talks because it’s a pointless exercise in latent hostility. So I’m sorry I contributed to an archaic practice used by bullies and abusers. I won’t do it ever again.”

Erica looked up at Robin, who gave her the thumbs up. Erica hopped up and ran off to play.

Steve blinked up at Robin in shock. “Like how the hell did you manage that?”

Robin just batted her eyelashes and said nothing, walking away with a whistle on her lips and a swagger in her step.

Eddie came up to him in shock. “Did I just witness an actual apology from Lady Applejack?”

Steve nodded mutely.

“I think I’m more afraid of Robin, now,” Eddie muttered and Steve could only agree.

*

Eddie was starting to see a trend. One that made him laugh the third time it happened.

The first, though? Claudia Henderson.

“Eddie!” she greeted warmly. “I haven’t seen you around much. How have you been?”

Eddie smiled at her. Even before the Upside Down, Claudia was one Eddie’s favorite people. She was bright and happy and loved her wacky son with all her heart. Something that Eddie could absolutely get behind. “I’ve just been busy. But name the date, and I’ll be there.”

She smiled back. “That’s sweet, dear. You know you have an open invitation. But why don’t you and your uncle come over for Sunday dinner. Steve has already said yes for himself.”

“Sounds great, Mrs Henderson,” Eddie agreed.

“How are you and Steve?” she asked gently. “Dusty was telling me that Steve hadn’t been doing well lately.”

“We’re good,” Eddie said bobbing his head. “Things got a little rough a couple weeks back, but we’re on firmer ground now.”

She patted his cheek. “You really need to be taking better care of that boy. He looks tough on the outside, but he needs someone who can take care of him, yeah?”

Eddie smiled. “Of course. Taking extra good care of our Stevie is my number one priority.”

She nodded and went to go make sure Dusty was eating enough.

The next one was Karen Wheeler of all people. Ted was suspiciously but expectedly absent. She came up to Eddie and introduced herself.

“You must be Eddie!” she said with smile that reminded him of that Dustin Hoffman film.

“Oh hello,” he replied a little confused.

“Nancy has told me all about you,” Karen said with that same smile. “She’s always going on about how Steve finally found the person he was meant to be with and what a great person you are.”

Eddie smiled back. “Nancy’s a great girl.”

She sighed a little, her smile turning into something a little more genuine. “I miss having Steve over. Jonathan is great boy for my Nance, but Steve sparkled where Jonathan only shines.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one,” Eddie said. “But then Jonathan isn’t my type.”

She swatted at him playfully. “All I’m trying to say if that Steve is a good boy and deserves only the best. So you’ll take good care of him, won’t you?” It was sweet and sincere, but a hint of steel. And suddenly Eddie knew where Nancy got her backbone of steel from.

“Always,” Eddie promised, hand over heart.

“See that you do,” Karen said and wandered off to compare brownie recipes with Joyce.

The third was a squirrelly looking balding guy with thick glasses and far too knowing stare. He had come with Chief Hopper and had spent most of the night watching Eddie. He had asked Nancy who he was and she said his name was Murray Bauman and he was a conspiracy theorist. Which really didn’t clear anything up for him, but this rag-tag group of rebels and fighters were all a little weird.

He wandered over to Eddie and looked him up and down. He said in a clear voice, “I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, I’ve done things that would make your hair curl on end,” he stopped for a moment, “make it curlier and I know where the bodies are hidden. If you hurt Steve, you’ll be the next one.”

“Murray!” Hopper yelled. “What the hell was that? Why would you say that?”

Murray blinked at Hopper and then tilted his head. “Because we love Steve?” He says long and slow like he’s talking to a stupid person.

Eddie burst out laughing.

“No, no,” he said between giggles. “It’s fine Hopper. It’s all fine!”

Murray looked him over again and then nodded. “Yes, you’ll do.” And then he wandered off back into the house as if he had done what he had come to do.

A few minutes later Steve came up and sat next to Eddie. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know what that was.”

Eddie giggled and bumped their shoulders together. “It’s fine, sweetheart. It’s actually kinda adorable.”

Steve frowned. “What is?”

“That it’s the moms plus Murray here,” Eddie said jerking his chin in the direction Murray had wandered off to, “that are the most protective of you. Both Mrs Wheeler and Henderson have told me under no certain terms am I allowed to hurt you and that I’m supposed to take care of you.”

Steve blinked and searched the crowd for Claudia first. She spotted him looking at her and she waved at him. Steve smiled and waved back. Then he searched for Karen. She didn’t look at him directly, but merely winked and went back to talking to Wayne about something he couldn’t quite hear.

“Oh.”

“But don’t you worry, darlin’,” Eddie purred. “I’m gonna take very good care of you.”

Steve kissed him, slow and deep. “And I will always take care of you, Eds.”

“Perfect.”

It really was.

*** 

Tag List: @justforthedead89 @zerokrox-blog @ihavekidneys @didntwant2come @thelittleclare @liorereshkigal @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @telidina @stevesbipanic @paintsplatteredandimperfect @a-little-unsteddie @jonesn4coffee  @resident-gay-bitch @obliosworld @croatoan-like-its-hot @evix-syne666 @emly03 @wonderland-girl143-blog @bookworm0690 @mysticcrownshipper @i-must-potato  @pnk-lemonades 

[tgmsunmontue]

Season to Taste - 5/? WIP

Explicit Hangster - Celebrity Chef Bradley and Naval Aviator Jake Seresin who have a relationship spanning the globe before they realize how tightly bound they are to one another. Heading into this little world.

PROLOGUE/ONE TWO THREE FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

                “I don’t like wine.”

                “I don’t care. You need to learn the flavors. What it can add to food. Which ones might go better with certain dishes.”

                “Oh.”

                So he sits, and is made to try a variety of reds and whites and then have them with certain dishes and okay, there are some he doesn’t hate, but it still wouldn’t be his first choice. He can tell that some of the food tastes better when drunk with different wines, and vice versa. Then he’s dragged along to the family vineyard, taught about the pruning and pressing, the inclusion of the skins of the grapes and the fungus that can make them sweet and he’s equal parts fascinated and horrified.

…            …            …

                He’s lying in the bed, coming down from the high and Bradley can’t wipe the grin from his face. Orgasms always put him in a good mood, doubly-so when they involve someone else. It’s why those he works with are so often telling him he needs to go out and get fucked. God, the endorphin high is something else. Jake seems equally pleased with their time together so far, in no rush to leave, his lips and fingers tracing paths over Bradley’s cooling skin which has been half-heartedly wiped clean of both their come using Bradley’s shirt. He’s warm and drowsy but also contemplating suggesting a shower, both to get clean but also to wake himself up. He can sleep when he doesn’t have an attractive man in his bed.

                “Did you know you were my first kiss with a guy?”

                Bradley startles a little, opens his eyes to find Jake peering at him with mischievous eyes and he’s so fucking unfairly gorgeous, even in the waning evening light.

                “What?”

                “Yeah. First kiss. Was great but it freaked me out. Kind of why I ran.”

                “Okay…” Bradley says, and he really doesn’t know what to do with this information. Huh. He knows DADT was repealed in 2011, and now thinking back to 2008 then he supposes there was more than one reason for Jake to run. He’s not running now though.

                “Yeah. I mean, it was almost ten years ago. I wasn’t hanging around waiting for you or anything. But, uh, it was… formative.”

                “Formative huh?” Bradley asks, shifting a little and grinning, is enjoying the fact that Jake can’t seem to stop touching him.

                “Well, I did think European guys were much hotter than American guys, but it turns out you’re American after all…”

                “Disappointed?” Bradley asks, a little worried what the answer might be. He’s had it happen before, guys think he’s one thing and then found out the almost opposite is true. Not always with regards to his nationality, but his personality and how he’s sometimes portrayed on screen. Sure, he has a temper and he lets it get the best of him in the kitchen sometimes, but it’s never translated to the bedroom. Ever. If anything the opposite is true. Not that he needs to get into that with Jake.

                “Do I seem disappointed?”

                “Don’t answer a question with a question.”

                “Baby, I am definitely not disappointed in any way…” Jake says, and his kiss is slow and purposeful, his body bracketing Bradley against the bed, pushing him down and it’s exactly where he likes to be and he lets out a moan of approval or appreciation. Regardless Jake takes it for the encouragement it is and rolls his hips, creating friction between them despite the fact that their bodies are almost flush with one another from thigh to chest.

                “You have anywhere you need to be tomorrow?”

                “Nope. On leave remember. Only my sisters and they know where I am…” Jake says, giving Bradley a slow up-and-down look and slow smirk which has him laughing.

                “Yeah? You want to stay the night?”

                “We trying for round two?”

                “Seven course degustation menu…” Bradley jokes, flexing his own hips to add to the building friction.

                “What’s that?”

                “Seven rounds…” Bradley says, which he knows is impossible, however –

                “Well, I always did like a challenge.”

                Bradley throws his head back and laughs.

…            …            …

                Jake sends a quick message to his sisters to let them know not to expect him home, even though it’s late he knows one of them will be waiting up for him. God he’s glad they have no idea the type of shit he gets up to at work. They’d never fucking sleep with worry. He knows they don’t particularly like that he’s in the service, but they’ve always been nothing but supportive of his life choices, even when they’ve had to give up on some of their own he’s always been allowed to follow his dreams. He’s the baby of their family and he totally leans into it, taking advantage of the fact that all his sisters have soft spots for him. Letting them know he’s safe right now is the least he can do.

                Safe physically at least. A little part of him worries that maybe staying isn’t the wisest course of action, that the fantasy he’d created in his mind around Leo is never going to stand up to close inspection. The sex so far has been superb, and he’s already shifted him from being Italian in his head to American, but sleeping has always felt like an even more intimate act to him. Sharing the little before-bed routines a person might have.

                At least Leo wants to have some type of mystery, has closed the door to the ensuite very firmly, the lock sliding home and Jake bites back a grin, remembering hook-ups taking a piss in front of him. He doesn’t have a problem with bodily functions, but he also doesn’t mind the build-up to that level of familiarity. He sobers then, realizes that he and Leo aren’t likely to build up to anything given Jake’s profession and Leo’s job, which he has to admit he doesn’t really understand why he’s travelling for work when his work is making food for people. Ah well, he can ask more about it later.

…            …            …

                He wakes up to the smell of bacon and eggs, along with coffee and he stretches, disappointed to find the bed empty even if it maybe explains the reason for the smells. He wonders if he should brave going out to the kitchen, given that he doesn’t exactly have clean clothes. Plus there’s the risk of running into the other people who are staying here. And if Bradley is planning on bringing him breakfast in bed then who is Jake to stop him? He settles back and scrolls through his phone and answers a few messages and sends a couple of photos from his last week into various group chats.

                “Hey, morning…You’re awake.”

                “Morning. I’m an early riser.”

                “Not as early as me…” Leo says, and he’s sliding a tray onto the bedside table and Jake goggles at it. There’s the bacon and eggs he could smell, but there are also sausages and grilled tomatoes, then some golden and crunchy-looking thing which he’s hoping is some form of potato. There’s four slices of bread and little pats of butter slowly melting on them, then another dish of what look like mushrooms which he can tell were cooked in garlic judging from the smell.

                “Holy shit, how much do you think I eat?”

                “Well, it’s my first chance to cook for you, so I had to pull out a few stops. Plus you need to keep up your energy…” Leo says, sitting on the bed and leaning forward to give him a kiss.

                “Do I now?” Jake asks, and he hadn’t planned on spending the day in bed but it’s not like he has anywhere else he has to be.

                “Uh huh. I did make that for both of us though…”

                “Thank fuck… Do you have any sauce?”

                Leo blinks at him, frowns and then shakes his head.

                “No. Here, let me make a perfect mouthful…”

                Jake raises an eyebrow, his lips curling into a smirk.

                “Just a mouthful huh?” Jake asks, and Leo looks at him with a slightly confused look before he’s flushing bright red and ducking, his head shaking.

                “Jesus you’re incorrigible.”

                “Well, if you’re going to sit there looking like that and offering to feed me I’m definitely going to get ideas.”

                He barely catches the roll of eyes but Leo busies himself making a little forkful of food that includes some of the golden-crunchy potato, along with some of the tomato and a sausage piece and Jake really does prefer things with sauce, but he opens his mouth obligingly, meeting Leo’s eyes and doesn’t miss the way his eyes drop to Jake’s lips which are wrapped around the tines of the fork.

                “Mmm…” Jake says, and he chews thoughtfully. It does taste good, and he’s looking forward to having more. “It’s delicious.”

                “Good…”

                “Could use a little sauce though.”

PART SIX

[strongheartneteyam]

[ credits of the Neteyam pic go to @cinetrix ]

Champagne Problems

Part 5

Pairing: Neteyam Sully x female!human!reader

CW: reader sees neteyam with another girl and gets jealous, a lot of angst, a flashback that tells u more about reader's past and why she acts in such a distrustful way, reader tries to deny to herself that she has feelings for neteyam but she realizes she does like him, heartbroken reader, tense encounter between neteyam and reader, TRIGGER WARNING for family issues, parental verbal abuse, mentions of death of a family member, mourning, studying too much as a coping mechanism, allusions of possible alcoholism, low self steem, isolating as a coping mechanism. Tell me if I'm missing anything!

Hi, loves! I don't have time to fully proofread this chapter rn so I hope things are alright lol In this chapter you guys will hopefully understand why reader is so fucked up in the head and follows her trust issues like they are the voice of truth 🥲 Have patience with my poor girl, I promise she's a bit insane but she's good. Anyways, hope y'all like this chapter! I love all of you and as always, I'll say THANK U SO MUCH for all the love and support I receive from you guys everyday. Means the world to me and makes me feel loved 🥺🤌🏻🥲💕 Comments will be incredibly appreciated by me so feel free to leave me some feedback down below!! <3

Slightly proofread.

Part 4 : Now she got your heart so I feel stupid, foolish, afraid

𓇼

Hit me like a shot in the heart

Never shoulda played you so hard

Guess I played myself, that's my fault

I don't even know how to think

'Cause now she got your heart so I feel stupid, foolish, afraid

I'm losing everything I thought I couldn't

My whole world is falling apart

I DO (G-IDLE)

𓇼

You had just gotten back from a long talk and an awesome breakfast with Adeline and Kate - no Pandoran food this time, you guys had already eaten way too much alien food the night before at the Metkayina beach party, and now, all you guys wanted to help with the hangover was burgers and coke and that's what the three of you ate. Some good human food was always great to remind a scientist living on an alien Planet of their humanity. 

You were hanging out in Tsireya's and Lo'ak's marui. It was getting near noon and you had been talking to Tsireya for a good amount of time, while Lo'ak was out fishing with Rotxo and Ao'nung. You wondered if they were gonna pick up a stupid fight with each other over something small and stupid, like who got a fish first. Lo'ak and Ao'nung had become friends with time but they would always be a little bit of frenemies too. You thought that was incredibly idiotic but still funny as hell.

You said goodbye to Tsireya and thanked her for the yellow flower she had adorned your hair with. She was a sweetheart, so kind, always doing things for other people. You really liked that alien girl's company. You could connect to each other really well even if the both of you were from completely different species. She was one of your good friends and one of the few people in the world you trusted because you were always one to read people well and you could see Tsireya's smiles and good deeds were not just a facade to seem like a perfect girl and make people love and admire her. Even though she seemed too perfect, too good, she was truly what she seemed to be. Not perfect, because nobody is, but truly a good girl. She was full of kindness and a need to help others had been planted deep inside her right before she was born (by Eywa, if you were to talk like Kiri did) and she would always follow that call. Tsireya was an open book and you liked that. Those kinds of people are easy to trust.

You stepped out of the door, hungry, feeling your stomach hurt. Starving would be a better way to describe it.

The wind was gentle and it had a higher temperature to it than it had early in the morning, back when Neteyam held you in his arms. That thought sent a shiver down your spine and made your heart start to beat faster and hurt, simultaneously, but you did your best to send that thought the farther it could go. 

The sun was shining really bright in the Pandoran sky, not many clouds around to make the temperature a little less hot. You felt a little stream of sweat dripping down your forehead and used the back of your hand to quickly dry it.

You were heading over to the marui that you, Adeline and Kate were sharing. You wondered if they knew what you guys were gonna eat for lunch. You needed food more than you needed air at that moment. You all worked as scientists and were the humans that were called "loyal to the na'vi". The three of you were in Awa'atlu because of the party - the Metkayina were famous among the na'vi and the humans for throwing unforgettable beach parties - and would stay for a little more time because traveling that far just to go back the next day made no sense at all. You and the girls would soon be heading back to Hell's Gate.

You walked through the Metkayina beach with your head down, looking at your feet getting covered by the tiny grains of sand. Once you looked up, you saw Neteyam talking to Munì. She was joyfully laughing at something he was saying but you couldn't hear what it was, since you were a good amount of meters away from them. You felt a stabbing feeling creeping up on you. Jealousy.

Damn. It could not be real. You could not be feeling jealous of Neteyam. That feeling was bad news. You could not be that attached. Fuck, no!! You were the one who dumped him, dammit. He was now moving on. Great for him. Why the hell did you even care? "I gotta stop being stupid" you thought to yourself. But your heart just would not stop hurting.

Munì was gorgeous and she treated Neteyam so nicely. The girl seemed to be head over heels for him. But again, it was not hard to see a girl acting like that when around Neteyam. One time you had heard Lo'ak saying that he was like a flame and the girls - na'vi or human - were like a Pandoran winged insect that loved light, be it coming from bioluminescent plants or from fire. Those extraterrestrial insects behaved in a similar way to how an insect called moth that used to live on Earth but was, unfortunately, extinct behaved.

Munì truly seemed to be a nice girl. She was na'vi, too. Of course she would be better for Neteyam than you could ever try to be. Neteyam was right to finally give her his attention. You would never be good enough for him and you knew it. If you had accepted being his mate, soon enough he would see how broken and messed up you truly were and he would fall out of love.

As you looked away as fast as you could, pretending you saw nothing, and kept walking towards the place where your girlfriends would be waiting for you, you had one of those weird moments where you seemed to be taken back to the past. It was so insanely uncomfortable but you never seemed to be able to control your own brain and keep yourself safe and sound at the present. You would always go down that same bitter path of painful memories. 

After your little sister died in a car accident, everything changed. You saw no reason to stay on Earth anymore. The only family you had that you felt actually cared for you and you could connect with was gone. The pain felt unbearable, like it tore your chest apart everytime you remembered you would never be able to hug Tracy again. That's when you made up your mind for real: your major would be Exoscience.

"Why would you go to that Planet?! It's dangerous, (y/n)!"

"Oh really, father? And staying here on Earth is really safe, right? A dying Planet! I am a scientist, I've been studying for it for years and I told you and mother I was gonna go to Pandora one day to study the Planet and help the na'vi. Did you think I was just kidding?!"

"So you're just gonna abandon your family to go help some stupid aliens and never come back? Is that it?"

"Yes, father. That's exactly it! There's nothing for me here. You and mother have abandoned me a long time ago. Just because you're still around it doesn't mean you're actually there for me. You're blind if you can't see it."

"You fucking ungrateful girl!" Your father screamed at you, which made you flinch "Just go then. Let's see how long you're gonna survive there, all alone. Just wait until those aliens decide to turn against you. You can't trust them. You're never gonna be an equal in their eyes. You're always gonna be human, an enemy. You'll never be safe in Pandora as you're safe here on Earth. But it's your choice. You're a grown up as you always say, right?!" He smirked "Go follow your dreams, daughter. But don't try and ask us for help when you see that those dreams turned into nightmares."

"I'm not gonna be alone there. Adeline and Kate are going too." You said confidently 

"Friends are not family." Your father harshly stated as he looked at you in disappointment seasoned with a little bit of disdain

Everytime you remembered how your parents would treat you back on Earth you would feel like someone was squeezing your heart hard, trying mercilessly to make it explode inside their hands.

Their cruel words taught you that you had to learn how to face the world completely on your own, you couldn't count on anyone and you certainly should not trust anyone easily. You trusted your parents when you were a kid and they told you they loved you and that they would always be there for you but as soon as you dared to make a decision on your own, going against the plan they had for your life, which was to stay on Earth and go to medical school, they abandoned you. Though you never wanted that for you, it seemed like your parents didn't love you for who you were, they only loved the version of you they created in their minds, the good daughter who would always obey her parents, even after she was an adult, the good girl who would always behave like everybody wanted her to, who would never even dare to dress in a "weird way" that would bring too much attention to herself because "what about what people will comment?" like your mother used to say.

You got so fed up with all of it that you just decided to study as hard as you could so you could get away from that Planet and be a great scientist. You had always felt drawn to the stars and the moon, ever since you were a child. Maybe that was the way the Universe found of letting you know that there was much more to see and experience than what's on the planet you had been born in. You decided you shall go nearer the stars you could watch from Earth, like the ones in the constellation known as The Archer.

You studied your ass off, didn't have much time for friendships, parties or leisure but you got what you wanted. Not without the help of half a bottle of wine everyday at 4 am, though. When you finally finished studying everything you needed to retain information about and would finally, that late in the am, try to relax and be able to fall asleep, the alcohol truly helped. It seemed to soothe you from the inside. It was calming and familiar.

You did regret pushing people away because all you focused on was your studies, though. You realized too late that the people you love - and love you back in a healthy way, not a toxic one - should come before your career. But crying over the milk that was spilled wouldn't fix anything. You can't go back in time but you can try and do better in the present and that's what you made a big effort to do nowadays. Now, you and your small group of close friends were inseparable and you were always there for your girls, like Adeline, for example. She earned your trust. She was your childhood friend and contrary to what your own family did, she never abandoned you.

Chosen family… you wholeheartedly believed in that concept.

𓇼

Later, when it was afternoon and you were hanging out with your na'vi friends - Tsireya, Rotxo, Ao'nung and Kiri - you realized Neteyam was walking towards the rocks you all were sitting at. He was talking to Lo'ak, the two brothers laughing about something. Neteyam seemed too distracted to notice you but when he realized you were there and everybody saw the way both of you tensed up at the sight of each other, the atmosphere around the friend group got filled with a bad energy. Nobody knew how to act.

Yeah, it wasn't just a saying. News truly travel at the speed of light in Pandora.

How the hell did they find out about the fact that you and Neteyam had hooked up? Did anyone see the both of you together and spread the word around?

You wondered if you would lose your friends because of what you did to Neteyam. You already felt like shit and couldn't stop thinking about how stupid you had been… you did not want to lose your friends too. You knew you had lost the chance to have a great guy be your partner.

At least you would still have your human girl friends. But you would miss your Metkayina friends, of course…

God, getting attached always got you in trouble! But you couldn't help it when it came to the na'vi. They were much more loyal than the humans, so, you trusted them easier. It was easier to make friends with an alien race than with your own race. What a joke that seemed to be.

𓇼

Taglist:

@iman-lu

@leaveitbythewave

@creepytoes88

@live-laugh-neteyam

@swaggygurlbae

@neteluvr

@layla2-49

@a-blog-name-2003

@lala-1516

@jakesullyfatjuicypeen

@yeosxxx

@iaratezaewa

[writeonthrough]

Namy Nuggets (12/13)

A fanfic collection of Amy and Nathan scenes from CBC’s Heartland. (Catch up on the series here)

Nugget #12: Scott Comes to Visit

"Here's some water," Lou offers Nathan a glass after a long day working together in the fields.

"Thanks." He takes the glass and takes a sip. "And thank you for all your help today. You really didn't need to do all that."

"My pleasure. Easy to do when dad and grandpa are away. And," she shrugs, "I figure I owe you plenty." She turns to pour him a glass of water.

"Lou," Nathan waits for her to face him again. "Can we maybe," he pauses, unsure how to phrase it. He tries, "Get past that night in high school? I mean, we're balancing our two families' cattle businesses, you are one of few people who know about Amy and I—and I just don't want that night to hang between us like you owe me anything."

"I wasn't talking about that night, Nathan." She shakes her head slightly and he notices the sincerity behind her eyes. Lou takes a deep breath. "I know my dad and grandpa can be overly harsh and I've watched you deal with them with a gentle steadiness, which makes a difference. Plus," she nods her head towards the barn. "You've made my sister happier than I've seen her in years and I, well, I've let her down a couple of times in the last few years, so—Thank you."

Nathan nods. "Yeah," he says softly. Still surprised at her kind words, he doesn't know what else to say other than, "You're welcome."

The screen door screeching open interrupts the moment. "Okay, Mom!" Katie and Lyndy walk into the kitchen. "We set the table outside."

"Thank you, girls." She walks to the fridge and starts pulling out food. "Nathan, do you want to stay for dinner? It's just leftovers, but Jack, Tim, and Lisa are gone, so at least it's simple."

Lyndy walks over to Nathan and looks up at him. He watches a sweet expression form; her eyes twinkle and a small smile appears. "Please stay, Nathan."

Lou and Nathan break into smiles at the same time. His heart melts at Lyndy's request. "Of course, I will," he promises Lyndy. Then he looks up at Lou, "Thanks for the invite."

"Sure." Already on to the next thing, Lou hands Katie some serving plates. "Can you take these out, sweetie? And Lyndy—"

The screen door screeches open again. Voices carry through the entryway before people appear. "I'm really happy with his progress, Amy."

"That's great to hear. Thanks, Scott."

"Scott!" Lou exclaims. "I didn't know you were here. Good to see you."

"You too."

"We were just getting ready to eat. Care to join?"

"I'd love to. I can't say no to a Heartland dinner," Scott teases as he gazes from Lou to Amy. "Why else would I make Heartland my last stop of the day?"

Nathan watches as smiles break out around the kitchen. His gaze focuses on Amy as she places her hand on Scott's shoulder. "You know you're welcome for dinner anytime, Scott."

Amy catches Nathan's gaze. "Uh, Scott. Do you remember Nathan?" Her hand gestures between them. "I think—"

"Oh, wow," Scott reaches a hand out to Nathan and Nathan takes it with a smile. "Nathan Pryce Jr. It's been a minute. This takes me back to high school."

"Hey, Scott." Nathan nods and releases his hand. "Good to see you."

Lou takes a step between them, looking from one man to the other. "You two know each other?"

"Ah, Lou," Scott puts a hand on the small of Lou's back. "I was Nathan's rodeo captain."

She narrows her eyebrows at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You came to practice all the time, Lou."

"I don't remember this—"

Nathan watches their interaction and remembers he had the same reaction to Josh at dinner the other night. He notes the irony and then parts his lips to explain.

"Mommy," Lyndy interrupts. "I'm hungry."

Scott crouches down to meet Lyndy. "Lyndy Borden," He reaches out and starts tickling her. She bursts out laughing. "Did you say you were hungry?"

"Yes! Ahhh!" Lyndy giggles. "You're tickling me!"

"Well, you must be hungry," Scott stops tickling her and gives her a hug. "You're a growing girl," he combs his fingers through her hair and tucks a strand behind her ear. He lowers his voice. Emotions fill his tone as he whispers, "Every time I see you, you're bigger."

Nathan's brow wrinkles as he watches the interaction. He notices a certain love and melancholy in Scott's tone and expression that he can't quite place.

Lyndy holds onto him, keeping him crouched beside her. "I'm going to be eight soon."

As they talk, Lou directs the rest to bring out different food dishes and drink options. Nathan hardly notices the commotion, though, still somewhat transfixed and confused by Scott and Lyndy. He thought Lou and Scott had the most history in the room.

"I know," Scott assures her. He adjusts Lyndy's shirt, realigning it after his tickles had twisted it around. "On September 29th."

Lyndy's eyes grow bigger. "You know my birthday?"

"Hmm," Scott nods. "I know your birthday."

"Lyndy," Amy re-enters the kitchen. "Guys! Dinner is served. Are you coming?"

The Canadian summer night serves as the perfect backdrop for Nathan's first dinner at the ranch. Dishes pass hands and he serves himself, enjoying the company and natural chatter that comes with a bigger family. Even without Jack, Tim, and Lisa, Nathan understands why Scott would rearrange his schedule to have dinner here when he could.

"So, Scott," Lou starts. "You were Nathan's rodeo captain in high school?"

Scott and Nathan glance at each other before answering. "Only for a year. He was a decent bronc rider, even better student."

"Thanks," Nathan takes a sip of water and then his brow furrows. "I think."

"No, no," Scott laughs. "I mean…you're a really good listener. Sure, you had good instincts in the shoot, but from what I remember—you incorporated feedback really well. You listened to, not just me, but the whole coaching team, and took your time to think about how best to do what we advised you to do."

The whole table is silent for a moment at Scott's high praise. After another moment, Nathan recovers and is able to say, "Thanks, Scott."

Lou turns to Amy, and the two share a meaningful look. To avoid noting the irony of how Scott had mentored both Ty and Nathan, they look away from each other. Amy turns to help Lyndy and Lou takes a bite of her pasta salad.

"So, Amy…" Scott fills the silence. "I looked over the upcoming dates for the youth clinic fundraisers you sent me. I think I can make the fall one work."

"Oh, great." She perks up. "Thank you. That means a lot."

The mysterious image of Ty and his youth clinic sends a jolt through Nathan. He tilts his head from side to side, trying to figure it out.

"I didn't know you asked Scott to speak." Lou nudges Amy. "That's actually pretty perfect."

"I'm happy to," Scott shares.

"Why?" Nathan blurts out before he can help himself. When everyone looks at him in surprise, he watches Amy's eye drift down. He tries to recover gently. "I mean…sorry," he catches himself. Then, his expression softens along with his tone of voice. "Why is it perfect for Scott to speak?"

"Oh, sorry," Lou starts, "Scott was also a foster kid and he was really close to Ty, so—" She stops and looks at Scott.

Nathan turns from Lou to Amy. "What?"

"It's not a big deal." Scott takes a drink of water before turning to Nathan and explaining. "I, uh, was one of Lou and Amy's Mom's strays. Marion took me in when I was in high school with you guys and I had nowhere to go and she taught me about horses. Years later she did the same thing for Amy's husband Ty." Nathan nods in the information he already knew about Ty. "I obviously stayed close to the family and ended up bonding with Ty and mentoring him as a vet throughout most of his time at Heartland. So, Amy asked me to speak because I'm close to both foster youth and Ty."

"Ah, okay." Nathan blinks in the information. "That makes more sense."

He turns to Amy. She notices the hurt in his expression, he notices the regret in hers. "Sorry," she whispers.

"Yeah…" he responds under his breath. "You could have said something at Josh's."

Amy turns further towards him, blocking off the rest of the table. "I didn't want Ty to interfere with our night."

He shakes his head. His eyelids drift down and he adjusts his napkin as a distraction.

"Oh," Scott's gaze darts between Amy and Nathan. "Wow. You two?"

Lou breaks into a wide smile. She gives Scott a playful nudge. "I said the same thing!"

Scott engages with Lou, sharing a smile between them. "Really?"

"Okay," Amy reaches for the bread basket, purposely blocking off Lyndy and Katie. "Kids at the table."

Katie looks up from the drawing with Lyndy that she picked up to distract her from the conversation almost as soon as they all sat down. "We didn't hear anything. We working on drawing the barn at sunset."

As the rest of the table turns to praise Lyndy's art skills, Nathan's face falls.

Suddenly he questions whether his time building trust and a bond with Amy at their birch tree spot mattered at all…especially when he could so easily feel left out of the loop in casual family dinners and upcoming meaningful events.

[dallasgallant]

Time period post: Food

Some of my time period posts will be more researched than others, ones like this one are more of a quick reminder/research starter. This is just a quick burst of general information that might help out with writing and used by my general knowledge. I didn’t feel the need to get off into the weeds with this one as it’s a smaller detail and food is usually mentioned in works and not the point you know?

Entertainment/social food-

When we think of food in the 1960s there are two things to keep in mind; Post ww2 and the rise of convenience.

This is the age of drugged out of your mind jello nightmares people! Whole lot of reasons for that, drugs plays a part but additionally is a rise of a lot of new products and companies throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what recipes stick/people actually make.

However, if you think all food during this period was disgusting and weird that’s not exactly the case. A lot of the gross options are ‘stunt’/ entertainment food. The jello molds and weird shaped foods were usually for throwing parties and having something new or nice to look at, not what was eaten everyday or exactly enjoyed by anyone. The 40s-60s were a huge time for parties, dinner parties, hosting and entertaining people - usually middle or upper class adults. Soc’s would have a ton of new appetizers and finger food related stuff, cooked instead of just chips at a party (though included).

Grape jelly meatballs (which are great), pigs in a blanket, onion dip etc.

They were really into onion dip it was the hot thing for some fucking reason.

Convenience -

The 1960s also saw a huge rise in snack foods, fast food and quick canned or boxed food. Tv dinners started in the previous decade but particularly took off during this time- images of the family gathered around the television set for a nice program eating off trays etc.

Lunch meat! Rise in deli meats but also some more processed stuff such as baloney, olive loaf etc. (if you want to get into class a Soc might bring a turkey sandwich where a Greaser would bring a baloney sandwich for lunch)

Meals for the large part were still homemade, cake mixes were becoming a bit more of a thing but making from scratch was still a preference for most people.

I really recommend looking up recipes from the period, not just the stunt food/marketing strategy stuff but things people would actually make on the day to day. (Like for example the Brothers made a regular baked chicken dinner)

Fast food goes alongside convenience however they were more of a treat than the day to day, people would still prefer a slower sit down dinner setting. It’s a third place! Teens at dinners, drive ins (both kinds), malt shops, soda fountains etc as not only a place to grab grub but hang out!

- like how the socs and greasers each have their own bars and dinners as hang outs.

[imeanwhynotbruv]

If Paz Socorro Lived.

What if Paz Socorro had had a chance to raise her son?

<<idk if I’m gonna do anything with this, but if I do then this is like a first draft / basic idea>>

What if when the war broke out Paz decided to go awol. Not wanting to fight and die leaving her son alone, but not wanting to go against the people she’s come to know as her friends? As her family?

So she loaded her ship, made sure it was ready and decked out, but what if she’d added supplies? Human safe foods and a few research books, bio scanners,basic survival supplies, blankets and batteries but most importantly…her precious little stowaway. Hidden in one of the boxes used to transport plants from earth that needed oxygen to survive.

She loaded up like everyone else, flew toward to the floating mountains like everyone else. Only she hung back, further from the front lines than she’d ever been before.

When the fighting was in full swing she saw her chance. Using the cover of fire and banshee attacks she pulled back, away from the battle, manoeuvring between everything as quickly as she could. No one noticed. Too much was going on to focus on every single little ship.

No one but Quaritch that is.

Quaritch had seen her pull back. Part of him had been relived to see her making her break. He knew he should have been pissed, knew he should’ve have shot her down for deserting.

But that there was one of the best people he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. That was mother of his little boy.

So he’d let her leave, hell he provided cover until he lost sight of her behind the floating mountains.

Later, as the Pandora air choked his lungs, as Neytiri’s arrows burned in his chest and his life was nearing its end. He couldn’t help but be relived that he’d at least see Paz escape, at least someone would be there to watch little Miles grow up.

Paz flew her ship towards where Trudy had told her one of the old bunkers were (like the ones they’d used in the first movie) that had been left by some of the scientists, hidden away by the trees.

As she was drawing closer, she was attacked. One of the Na’vi spotted her, attacking the ship until it fell from the sky. The only thing that saved them was the thick vines hanging between the trees, catching them before they could hit the ground.

The glass had been cracked by an arrow that landed and inch away from Paz, sparing her life until enough of the poisonous air could filter through.

Once the fog cleared from her mind Paz jumped into action. Barely remembering to secure and Exopack to her face as she rushed to check on her little boy.

The container had held steady, not a single crack, her little boy still sleeping soundly inside.

“Oh thank god” Paz sighed as she draped her body over the box, catching her breath and allowing her mind to realise she was in fact still alive. That miles was still alive.

Paz eventually managed to force the door open. The distance between the ground and her ship would be a deadly drop. She’d have to figure out how to get both her and her littler boy down safely. Then they’d have to try their luck on the forest floor……trying not to get eaten…….while they look for a bunker……..that may or may not still be intact…great.

Basic idea:

Paz survives and escapes with spider

Her ship crashes after being attacked

She raises her son hiding from the Na’vi and humans a like

Spider gets a parent that really loves him and helps he develop as well as she can while keeping him safe

Spider also can’t go outside since the scientists never would have needed to make him a mask

Spider eventually meets one of the sully kids while Paz is away

A friendship forms but the parents all just assume it’s imaginary friends for a while

The parents meet

Lil spider gets and mask and Paz is really happy for him

Movie stuff happened just with a really protective Paz and a mama’s boy Spider

Not my best writing but you get the point.

idk if anyone is interested in this idea but here it is 😅 let me know if it’s worth taking this anywhere or if anyone would like more✨❤️

My asks at open if you want to ask me anything❤️

I hope you enjoyed reading ❤️

[nardos-primetime]

Some Happy Things for the Clone Turtles in my Draxum's Side of The Family AU because my one friend is always like "CAN YOU GIVE THEM ANY NICE THINGS EVER" Yes. Yes I can!

(Let's ignore that fact a lot of these end up ruined or bittersweet later on alright? Alright.)

Most of this is in the Big Mama Era of the AU! It's basically like... the middle section of the au, so a bunch of shit happens

Big Mama is a good mother to them sometimes. She often gives them praise and works to keep them safe when she initially gains ownership (for lack of a better word) of them. They start off almost always having guards with them and such. She's also the one that properly lets them tap into training in a much healthier way than Draxum ever did (especially since they were physically like TODDLERS when Drax was pushing them). They learn pretty fast because of how they were made and because most of the time, their training is when they choose.

She calls them turtily-dees instead of turtily-boos to differentiate (they love the nickname differenceit majes them feel better than the ogs).

The clones, (even Rage), like to put on little shows for guests when not working. Unlike the originals the clones can actually sing and perform, it's one of the only consistent ways Rage speaks verbally (though he is noticeably silent or just huming in some acts).

Mic is head chef! (Half honorary) He helps come up with new dishes in the kitchen and spends most of his time in the restaurant locations Mama owns. Along with this, beforehand Mama often (and still does) let them be the first taste testers for most meals, they had previously been starving, so this was a very nice change of pace.

The boys are friends with a good bunch of Mama's workers, and they mess around with them a lot. It's kind of like bring your kid to work day but basically every day for them. Sometimes, they even help the boys sneak out when they want to try and do regular kid stuff.

Such as- sneaking out to the arcade or just taking walks at night without worrying where they're going to sleep or hide for the day. Or where they're going to get food. Lee starts really admiring stars at this point, and his room and part of their little area connecting their rooms are decorated with stars after he mentions them to Mama (a pleasant surprise).

I must reiterate, the clones REALLY DO love each other. So finally being able to see each other even feel safe enough to actually have fun is a positive on its own.

They're really close friends with a bird yokai around their age. She often comes in because her dad has work with Big Mama. Sometimes, they even sneak her out to hang out, too!

Some of the workers like to give the boys little quests once they notice their bored, like telling Donno to deliver something to someone on another floor (even if it's not that important). The clones are still a little mentally stunted because they're clones that physically grew up too fast (Along with trauma messing with it), their mental only somewhat caught up, so these little games are really fun for them.

Rage picks up wood carving. That's it. Don't know why, but I thought it was nice. He's not great at it, but it's nice when he isn't doing anything.

The clones set up their own little meetings where they share what they've done/are doing for the day. It lets Lee be more of a fun leader for once, like "aaaaand Mic, what has our head chef cooked up for today!?" Really excitedly for the others to start rambling

Donno makes the other's weapons once he perfects making them. He actually modifies Rage's the most to handle a little more than the others.

They do have a little fun!

Sadly, Big Mama isn't the best the other half of the time. And the fun is what happens to keep them there until it's too late and they can't really leave. Or they're too scared to leave.

[heyiwrotesomethings]

Happy Holidays Maddy! 💕 Alright, so in the spirit of christmas can we do a Kirari x Sayaka x Reader where the reader invites her girlfriends to their home for the holidays while their parents go visit family? The reader basically teaches them how to have a normal, calm, and small christmas without gambling and stress. Just nice and fluffy <333 (and maybe kirai would be a little clueless to the idea of a normal christmas since they probably had to gamble for their own gifts-)

A Normal Holiday

Kirari Momobami x Sayaka Igarashi x She/Her Reader

A/N: Ignore the fact that it’s January please. If I didn’t have fifty requests to sift through, I would have tried to have this one done earlier. Anyway, hope you like it! Word Count: 2,555

“(Y/n), what is your favorite winter holiday tradition?” Kirari asked out of the blue. Presumably because she was looking for any excuse to not look over the dull election challenge propositions Sayaka had placed before her.

“My favorite tradition?” (Y/n) sat back in her chair as she thought, “I guess I like decorating cookies, the food in general is really good. Sledding can be fun too if there’s enough snow, watching movies, hanging out with the family… it’s too bad, with the election still going on, I’m not going to the family get-together this year.”

“You shouldn’t have to skip out on family time to monitor election matches,” Sayaka voiced, her brow furrowed in concern, “Do you need me to talk to Yomozuki-san to get you time off?”

“No, it’s fine. Besides, I wanted to spend the holidays with my two favorite people. I thought it would be nice.”

Sayaka blushed, a small smile working its way upon her lips. Then, back from her unnoticed pondering, Kirari chimed in,

“I am confused.“

“What about?” (Y/n) asked.

“Does your family not take part in the time-honored tradition of gambling for your right to the family banquet? That’s my favorite and then watching the younger children test their skills to earn desirable items.“

“Oh, uh, no. No, we don’t do that.” (Y/n) was well aware that Kirari’s upbringing wasn’t like most to say the least, but she always managed to catch her off guard with the little insights about her life she would casually drop as if some of the things she said weren’t the most horrifying things (Y/n) had ever heard.

“A shame,” Kirari seemed genuinely put out, “And you, Sayaka?”

“I usually study in preparation for the new term. My parents are away so it makes a conducive study environment.”

Again, (Y/n)’s heart twisted uncomfortably in her chest. Though Sayaka’s family life lacked the extreme eat-or-be-eaten mentality Kirari’s had, they were quite cold and withdrawn. It was no wonder to (Y/n) why Sayaka tried to be number one in all that interested her, number one of (Y/n) and Kirari’s hearts especially since her parents seemed so uninterested in Sayaka’s academic accomplishments.

“This is exactly why you two should come stay at my house over break. I think it would be good for you to try to have a normal holiday where you don’t sit at home alone or watch small children cry because they had to gamble away their toys. Ririka is encouraged to come too if she wants.”

“She told me she was staying with Saotome for break, actually,” Kirari disclosed, “I thought it would be interesting to see how Saotome lives, but she said if I came to her home, it would be, ‘on sight’, whatever that means. Ririka clarified that it was a form of threat. However that’s neither here nor there I suppose, I’ll be happy to join you for break, (Y/n). And you, Sayaka?”

“Of course I’ll come!” Sayaka nearly yelled. She couldn’t fathom loosing out on quality time with either of them.

“Great! Okay, do we want to exchange gifts? If so, we should establish a price limit.”

“Exchange gifts?” Kirari cocked her head to the side, “As in bartering?”

“If it’s easier for you to think of it that way, then sure. You give Sayaka and I something you think we’d like and we each give you something we think you would like. And Sayaka and I give something to each other.”

“Fascinating. And where does the gambling come in? If we lose, do the gifts meant for us get destroyed before our eyes?”

“No, no, there isn’t any destroying. Just giving.” (Y/n) wanted to be as precise as possible for Kirari, but she knew that her words could easily go in one ear and out the other with her.

Kirari hummed, she appeared to be elsewhere in her thoughts, but the little displeased pout of her blue lips at least gave (Y/n) an indication that she had been heard. Whether or not that would matter was yet to be determined.

Sayaka on the other hand looked very invested. (Y/n) could see that she had taken out a notebook. What she could possibly have to take notes on related to gift giving, (Y/n) was unsure.

“What were you thinking for the price limit?” Sayaka asked, a perfectly logical question.

“How about no more than 3,000 yen per gift?”

“Only 6,000 total? That hardly seems adequate.” Kirari chimed.

“It’s plenty for a couple sweet little presents. Trust me.” (Y/n) assured.

After the incident of their six month anniversary where Kirari bought Sayaka and (Y/n) a spaceship ride to the moon, the literal freaking moon, (Y/n) thought it would be a good idea to make sure they stayed in Japan, or at the very least, on Earth by limiting Kirari’s spending.

“If you say so… what can you even get for 3,000 yen? A carton of milk?”

“More than that.” (Y/n) answered with the patience of a saint.

Turning back to Sayaka, she could see the girl had taken out her laptop and a calculator. Her eyes ablaze with determination, she was no doubt treating this as a challenge. (Y/n) reached across the table to still Sayaka’s hands over the keyboard.

“Don’t take it too seriously, sweetie. We’ll love whatever you get us, right Kirari?”

“Anything I receive from Sayaka is sure to be unexpected. I will cherish it always.”

If at all possible, steam would have spouted from Sayaka’s ears from the combined touch and praise. She released a strangled noise of understanding and when (Y/n) pulled away to sit back down in her chair, Sayaka was more interested in slightly swaying in her chair with a giddy smile on her face.

“I had better see if Runa needs me for any last minute gambles before I go home. I need to get the house set up and I have presents to buy,” (Y/n) got up from her chair once more and maneuvered around the table to give Kirari and Sayaka their customary departing kisses, “Come over around noon on Saturday and be prepared to spend the night.”

When Kirari and Sayaka voiced their understanding, (Y/n) left them under the soft blue light of the humming fish tanks, excited to get to work.

***

It was all set.

Nothing too extravagant, but she did put up some decorations and lights around the living room and made the couch into a comfortable fort of sorts, her presents for Kirari and Sayaka placed next to the selection of movies they could choose from. She had sugar cookies baked and cooled, ready to be frosted with a sampling of colors. There would be the usual feel good holiday snacks and dinner as well. There wasn’t much snow outside, but they could make little snowmen if they wanted too. It was sure to be a good experience for the girls. (Y/n) hoped it would have a good impact on them.

The doorbell rang and (Y/n) leapt to the door. She grinned when Sayaka and Kirari came into view. Sayaka was carrying two overnight bags over her shoulders, one presumably Kirari’s, and two presents in her hands. Kirari also had two presents in hand and (Y/n) let out a silent sigh of relief at their ordinary sizes. (Y/n) hugged them both and practically dragged them inside.

“Come on in!”

“I feel as though your home gets smaller every time I see it.” Kirari drawled.

(Y/n) playfully rolled her eyes. She knew better than to be offended by Kirari’s blunt observations.

“It smells very nice in here.” Sayaka complimented softly, the warmth and gentle calm of the space already making the usually stiff and anxiety riddled girl feel more at peace.

“Thank you! Here, I’ll take those bags. You can put the presents by the tv over there.”

(Y/n) put the overnight bags away, then the fun began. They started with decorating cookies. Kirari looked quite interested at the prospect having never had to do any food prep in her life.

Kirari’s cookies looked every bit as if a small child made them. More frosting seemed to get on the counter than the cookies themselves. Meanwhile Sayaka’s looked immaculate, but she had only decorated four out of the thirty cookies (Y/n) had baked in the time it took her girlfriends to do ten each. They helped her out of course, and sampled their work.

“It’s quite good,” Kirari marveled, “I shall take a few back to Ririka when we reconvene. She would enjoy this sort of thing. It is missing the thrill of possibly being poisoned by Miyo and Miri, however.”

“I could mix some salt or something spicy into the frosting of one of the cookies if that’ll help.” (Y/n) half-joked, but seeing the gleam that came across Kirari’s eyes, she found herself desecrating a perfectly good cookie to please the decidedly stranger one of her two girlfriends.

She mixed a teaspoon of salt into a leftover frosting bowl and slathered one of Kirari’s messy cookies with it before putting it in a small line up for Kirari to choose from. Sayaka and (Y/n) watched expectantly as Kirari picked a cookie and took a bite.

“Safe.” Kirari hummed, her tone almost disappointed, before taking another bite.

After washing up, they decided to get cozy and watch a movie. Sayaka had never looked more pink than she was sitting between the other two while sharing a giant, fluffy blanket. She was definitely the most touch-starved out of the three, and when Sayaka seemed to freeze up, (Y/n) was worried they were overwhelming her. But when she tried to give Sayaka more room, her hand reached out to pull her back in.

Sayaka actually ended up falling asleep before the movie was even halfway through. Kirari and (Y/n) spoke softly about the plot over her head as the film progressed, occasionally getting sidetracked by how cute Sayaka looked.

Once the credits began to roll, (Y/n) and Kirari brainstormed what to do next. After spending so much time warming up beneath the blankets, the chill the outdoors promised seemed less appealing. (Y/n) proposed playing a board game and then having dinner.

Kirari was enticed by the idea of a game so (Y/n) let her pick whatever she liked from the cupboard while she tried to rouse Sayaka with a few kisses and sweet words. Her cute, sleepy confusion was so different from the usual serious expression she wore at school.

“(Y/n), what is this Catan game?” Kirari asked, while Sayaka rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Oh that one is pretty fun. Basically, you play as a settler and try to collect resources by rolling dice—“

“So it’s gambling?”

“Uh, fundamentally yes. I suppose it is. You want to build settlements and cities near resources with numbers that have a better chance at being rolled, but if someone rolls a seven and you have more than seven cards, you have to give up half of them. It’s both parts strategy and luck.”

“We shall try this one then.” Kirari nodded with finality and strode confidently to the table with (Y/n) and a blanket burrito named Sayaka trailing behind her.

It wasn’t terribly surprising that Sayaka would come out as the winner. She had listened very intently to (Y/n)’s explanation of the rules and took as pure of a strategic stance as she could, not taking chances in placing her initial settlements on unlikely numbers. She also made sure to put them on diverse crossroads to ensure a possibility at every resource available. And she took advantage of the ports, and proposed very diplomatic tradings and got development cards and… yeah she was a beast.

Kirari, conversely, put her initial settlements in questionable places. (Y/n) could defend her first choice of placing a settlement right on the port for two resources instead of three, but then she put her second one between a twelve, a two and the desert. On the bright side, she seldom had to worry about the robber taking her cards when a seven was rolled. In fact, Kirari probably rolled the robber more than anyone which was good for her since it gave her the opportunity to steal a resource card for her meager pile. Then when it came to trading what little she had, she was very…personal about it.

“Sa-ya-ka,” she’d croon, “if you have an an ore to give me, I’ll give you a kiss.”

“Kirari, you can’t just—“ (Y/n) had tried to argue at first, but Sayaka was already pushing the card towards her, biting her lip in anticipation.

(Y/n) pouted and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Kirari reward Sayaka with a lingering kiss. This behavior would not have flown if this was one of the election gambles that she needed to oversee on a daily basis.

“Done?” (Y/n) asked with a bit of snark when Kirari returned to her seat, leaving Sayaka a little out of breath.

“Not quite,” Kirari smiled, leaning forward, “(Y/n), if you have a grain you are willing to part with, I’ll trade you a kiss.”

(Y/n) sat still for a few beats then quietly slid a card towards Kirari’s pile.

Honestly Kirari probably could have won if Sayaka wasn’t Sayaka.

They left the game out with the intention of playing again later and then got dinner ready. Sayaka was more of a help than Kirari on that front, but thankfully nothing went terribly wrong. They had a pleasant meal and then remembered that there were holiday gifts to open.

First they opened the gifts (Y/n) gave and then the ones Sayaka gave, each was thoughtful and sweet and each recipient made sure to voice their gratitude, but then the time to open Kirari’s gifts came. Sayaka and (Y/n) shared a confused look as the pulled matching sleek keycards from their boxes. At first, (Y/n) though Kirari had ignored the price limit and got them exclusive limitless credit cards or something, but then Kirari supplied,

“You will be able to access my home at any time with those keycards. I trust you’ll make a habit out of using them often. Day,” Kirari smirked, “or night.”

“Kikikikikikiki—“

“I think you broke Sayaka.” (Y/n) managed to say, though she seemed at least a little flustered as well.

“She’ll reset herself soon.” Kirari assured.

(Y/n) leaned over to plant a quick kiss against Kirari’s cheek in thanks, “We will be sure to come bug you often.”

“I would hope so.”

***

They played another round of Catan and then moved back to the couch for another viewing of whatever caught their eye and eventually both Sayaka and Kirari fell asleep. (Y/n) carefully got up from the pile so she could take a picture with her phone. As she looked down fondly at the new photo, she blindly reached for a cookie from the counter.

She was really glad they had been able to get together like this. Hopefully they would continue to do so for years to come. Perhaps they could even get Ririka and Mary in on it, but with how much Mary hated Kirari it probably wouldn’t be likely.

“Oh! Bleh! Gross!” (Y/n) quietly yelled, spitting into the garbage. Of course she would be the one to end up with the salty cookie.

[gamesetchequeredflag]

i wrote a part two to the jannik x carlos fanfic... i was bored and it felt really great writing again so i even consider writing a part 3 haha!

this is again proofread by chatgpt so mistakes are not my fault!

short summary: jannik and carlos go to south tyrol to escape everything and jannik teached carlos how to ski

A few days after Jannik’s breakdown, he and Carlos decided that they would fly to South Tyrol to visit Jannik’s family.

It was the first time that Carlos would meet them in person and he couldn’t be more nervous. He was so scared that he might not make a good impression or whatever.

Now they were sitting on the plane, and Carlos happily looked out the window, noticing that they were soon going to arrive as he saw the mountains underneath them. In the meanwhile, Jannik was asleep which Carlos was really glad about as his boyfriend hasn’t been sleeping well in the last days, too often thinking about what could happen.

An hour later, both of the men were standing at the airport and waiting for their luggage. They both had huge suitcases with them as Carlos was sure that he was going to be really cold as he was not used to the cold weather of South Tyrol so he had brought half of his closet with him.

He already was cold even though he was wearing a warm sweater and one of Jannik’s winter jackets that was supposed to keep him warm.

“So, are we going to take a taxi to your parents?” Carlos was looking at Jannik in confusion when he realized he hasn’t planned anything, as Jannik was simply more organized and did all the planning.

“No, they are going to pick us up. A taxi would be quite expensive and my mom wanted to see me as soon as possible. I guess she was worried”, Jannik said, forcing a smile on his face.

Carlos stretched his arm so he could hold his boyfriend’s hand in his own and squeezed it so Jannik knew that he was there.

“Isn’t it a long drive from your parents to the airport and back?”

“Around two hours yes but my mom said it was fine and even if I tried to talk it out of her it wouldn’t have worked, believe me”, Jannik said and chuckled.

The next moment a kind looking woman and a man were coming their way. The woman was waving while nearly running to Jannik. She hugged him tightly.

“There you are! You are late! Was the flight delayed? Is that Carlos?”

“Hey! Yes, the flight was delayed and yes, that’s Carlos.” Jannik smiled as his mom was still hugging him.

“I was so worried about you after everything that happened. Are you okay? Or would you rather not talk about that now?” His mom looked so worried and it made Carlos smile. It was adorable seeing Jannik interacting with her.

“I am alright and I don’t really want to talk about it.” Jannik’s smile turned slightly sadder which maybe not everyone might notice, but Carlos did.

“Ok, let’s get you both to the car you must be exhausted. Your dad has already cooked food we just have to warm it up when we come home. Carlos, I hope you like pasta? I am sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself. I am Siglinde and this is Hanspeter.”

“Nice to meet you both. And yes, pasta sounds great”, Carlos said, shaking their hands.

A few minutes later they were sitting in the car, with Jannik’s dad driving and his mom in the passenger seat. The couple sat in the back, their hands intertwined.  

“So, Carlos, have you ever been to South Tyrol? What are you planning to do?”, Hanspeter asked after some time.

“No, I have never been here before. And Jannik planned to teach me skiing. I am not so sure if that will work though.” Carlos laughed.

“I am sure you will get the hang of it after a few attempts”, his boyfriend said.

“It’s a beautiful place to learn, you just have to try not to get discouraged if it’s hard at first. I remember when Jannik first tried when he was still very young, he—”

“Dad! No. We are not even starting with that story”, Jannik interrupted, his ears turning pink. Carlos’s curiosity piqued immediately. “I think Carlos doesn’t need to hear embarrassing childhood stories right now.”

“Why not? It’s a long drive, we have time,” Carlos said teasingly, squeezing Jannik’s hand.

Jannik’s mother shot her son a kind look before turning around. “Alright, alright, let’s not be mean. We’re here to have a good time, and Jannik will show you how to ski like a pro. He was always very dedicated—even if his first attempts looked, well, let’s say... adorable.”

Carlos chuckled. He could imagine a mini Jannik shooting down a ski slope, stubbornly trying it again and again.

“Sounds like you’ve always been determined,” he murmured, giving Jannik a soft look.

“Believe me you will be a pro yourself in no time,” Jannik said, a small smile playing on his lips. “But I’ll take good care of you out there.”

“I hope so I am too young to die, you know?” Carlos whispered with a wink.

***

The next morning, they got up early to drive to the ski area. Carlos was wearing a lot of clothes as he was still cold, and Jannik made fun of it.

Jannik drove the two of them up to the ski area, sitting in the car while he maneuvered the car through the many turns. Carlos couldn’t help but watch his boyfriend how he had his one hand on the wheel while the other arm leaned on the window.

“You okay?” Jannik asked suddenly, glancing over when they stopped at a red light. Carlos blinked, embarrassed that he was caught staring.

“Yes, of course, just… you look good when you are driving”, he said, feeling his cheeks turning red.

A small, smug smile appeared on Jannik’s lips. “Oh, really?” he said softly, his voice playful. He shifted gears smoothly, and Carlos bit his lip. This was dangerous territory.

“Shut up,” Carlos muttered, trying to look away. “Just drive.”

“I am,” Jannik said, still grinning as he pulled up to the parking lot. “Alright, let’s see if I can teach you how to ski and if you’ll like it.”

Carlos just raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I’ll love it,” he replied confidently. “And if not, I’ll just keep watching you.”

They were finally standing at the top of a beginner slope, Carlos already wobbling on his skis. Jannik stood beside him, looking calm and at ease on his own skis, while Carlos was gripping onto his poles like his life depended on it.

“Ok, for the beginning just place your feet like this so it looks like a slice of pizza”, Jannik said. “Just be relaxed nothing will happen this is the beginner slope.”

“Relaxed?” Carlos echoed. “How am I supposed to be relaxed I feel like I am going to fall any second.”

Jannik laughed as he saw Carlos’s face. He looked as if he might start crying.

“You won’t fall if you listen to me,” Jannik promised, stepping a little closer. “See? Just copy me.”

Jannik demonstrated how to move the legs and feet to turn, to stop and just going down the hill safely.

Carlos watched, trying to mimic the movements, but the moment he moved, his skis began to slide.

“JANNIK! What the fuck is happening?” Carlos panicked and instinctively waved his arms in an attempt to steady himself but it only made everything worse.

He lost his balance and ended up sitting in the snow, his skis splayed out awkwardly.

Jannik chuckled softly, gliding over to help him. “You’re supposed to turn your skis inward to stop, not wave at me like you’re saying goodbye.”

“Haha… It is not funny…” Carlos shot him a sad look that reminded Jannik of a golden retriever. “I am doing my best here, ok?”

“I know,” Jannik said warmly, holding out his hand. “Come on, let’s try again. This time, focus on keeping your weight centered.”

With Jannik’s help, Carlos got back on his feet, feeling clumsy and unsure. He looked at the slope in front of him that was small by most standards but still intimidating to him. HE definitely felt safer on a tennis court.

“Okay, so if you want to slow down, make a ‘pizza�� shape with your skis,” Jannik said, guiding Carlos’s legs gently into the right position. “It’ll help you control your speed.”

“Pizza shape. Got it,” Carlos muttered, brow furrowed in concentration. He took a deep shuddering breath, too scared to tell Jannik he was intimidated by a beginner slope, and tried to move forward again. This time, he actually managed a few shaky meters before he started picking up speed. “Oh no, no, no!”

Before he could stop, he fell again, landing in the snow. Jannik glided to his boyfirend, trying not to laugh.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Carlos groaned, pushing himself up, cheeks flushed from the cold or more the embarrassment. “But I think I hate skiing.”

“You don’t hate it,” Jannik said, helping him up again. “You’re just not used to it. One more time?”

Carlos sighed but nodded eventually. “Fine. One more time. But if I fall again, I’m going back to your parents for hot chocolate.”

Jannik’s eyes sparkled. “Deal. But I am sure that this time it will be better.”

[aesterblaster]

No Good Family Dinners Here (2)

Summary: The meeting the parents via family dinner trope but y/n has a shitty family (gender neutral) , Part One linked here

Characters included: Kenyu, Reo and Kaiser

Songs: Worst Case Scenerio / The Hoosiers // SAD / Lemon Demon // I Guess / Sweatcult

Warnings: gets kinda dark or heavy at some parts, abuse and neglect mentioned (to be specific mental abuse during Kenyu's section, financial and physical abuse during Reo's and physical plus emotional neglect during Kaiser's), not proofread

Tagging: @strawberrymilk4u @maozne18 @effulgentfireflies @kryptic-krab

Kenyu was still trying to decide on which shoes he'd wear to meet your parents. At this point it was between his dressier, but admittedly much more uncomfortable, double strap dress shoes or his slightly scuffed yet soft loafers. It was clear, it was time for a second opinion. "(Y/N)! Which of these look better to you?" He really wasn't the type to be this indecisive, but when it came to something as important as meeting his possible in-laws Yukimiya couldn't help but second guess himself. No answer. "(Y/N)?"

For a moment he swore he heard you crying. Before he could go to check on you though, you responded. "The loafers look good, you look great. Really." You thought it ironic that your dashing, model and famous soccer player of a boyfriend was acting insecure. It was you who felt insecure, always questioning if you deserved him or if he'd up and leave you one day... And now you two were off to meet the people who installed that mindset in you.

When you arrived, you made sure they saw Kenyu first. Your parents greeted him with loud gasps and firm handshakes, and they simply kept the door open for you. They were taken with him as soon as he offered to help set the table. You watched him pull out all of his charm and desperately wished he'd save it for someone better. Saved it for someone who actually deserved his kindness and smile. Of course, your boyfriend on the other hand was just content that they didn't point out that his shoes were scuffed.

"Gosh, you're so professional at first I thought you were some new therapist (Y/N) hired!" your mother gushed after all of you were seated with food on your plate. Kenyu raised an eyebrow and glanced over at you. "Oh, did they not tell you? They insist that they need to spend all this money on these, these councilers but none of them ever work out. We still try to meet every one of them though, just to make sure they aren't a bad influence."

You almost choked on your water. Kenyu similarly wasn't all too good at keeping what he was feeling under wraps. The sudden change in tone and cadence hadn't gone unnoticed. It was like walking in a forest and suddenly falling into a sink hole. "Hang on you, uh, meet them- ?"

"I think it's a waste of time too." your dad chimed in, cutting him off. There was a small silence after that, only the sound of silverware against plates echoed through the room. Yukimiya dug deep and changed the subject. You didn't know how but even after that he managed to get your parents all wrapped up in a conversation about how he balanced soccer and his modeling carrer. Eventually he used the leverage he gained with them to excuse the both of you. Claiming it was getting late (It was only about 7:30 pm.) and by some miracle your parents agreed, letting you two go. For a minute, you were convinced he actually liked your parents.

As soon as you asked what he thought of them though he unloaded, running his hands through his hair as he groaned, "God, they were fucking insufferable! I'm sorry. I know you probably love them but that was rough! I had to get us outta there before my head exploded. I'm never going back there, I hope you know that." You started giggled, and soon it turned into a full on laughing session. He laughed with you for a while. "But really, they clearly don't really...respect you. I hope you know I do though." You nodded quietly, wondering what you did to earn a boyfriend who could turn your tears to laughter.

Reo already hated your parents before he ever sat down at their table. He was a man of strong convictions and you telling him about how they greedily took your allowance away for 7 months after you simply forgot to do a few chores gave him a pretty strong opinion of them. You also told him in passing about how often you visited the school nurse when you were younger with scrapes and bruises you were unable to explain away. He was astounded when he learned that you didn't fully understand how bank accounts worked or that you didn't need to be punished for every mistake.

He was even more agast when your parents managed to get in touch with you after some tabloid took a photo of you with him. As much as Reo enjoyed his life in the spotlight, he wished he could keep you safe from it. He still remembered how shaken you were when you showed him a photo some celebrity stalker snapped of you two. Admittedly, you looked great in it, the sun hitting you at just the right angles, your clothes matching his beautifully. Almost as soon as the photo was published, Reo's social media was flooded with jealous fangirls and yours with scathing accusations related to you guessed it, whether or not you were just a gold digger.

Your parents, though, they didn't see any of it as a negative just big green dollar signs. So here you were, in their house with Reo Mikage. You held onto his arm tightly, seeing your dad smile like that was starting to freak you out. "So, where'd you meet them?" he asked the same way an excited child would ask a stranger where they found their lost kitten.

"It's a long story." Unfortunately your boyfriend hated small talk. Normally he'd grit his teeth through it, but he was always a bit of a hedonist and there was, to him at least, no reason to hide that here. Pain or pleasure, that was also the stick and carrot technique your mom and dad used on you. You could barely touch your plate, honestly.

Your parents continued to try and milk their time with the billionaire. They had even used some sort of freshener that made the whole house smell like apple pie. It was nothing like the home you left when you went off to collage, or the one you miserably returned to when you needed more money for the next semester. They even turned your bedroom into an office space.

"I hope she isn't giving you much trouble, really. I know that both me and their father were so worried after not hearing from (Y/N) for such a long time. I'm glad they found you though, haha, no longer begging us for anymore money huh?" your mother said, shooting a pointed glare your way that you didn't meet. But you could feel yourself gaining confidence, just a bit, by sitting next to Reo. It was radiating off of him. What to you was controlling and downright terrifying was just pointless chatter to him that he barely bothered to answer. He was always eager to make you as comfortable as possible and hearing these, these people he'd never even met before talk to you like this was wearing on him.

"(Y/N), I believe I have a meeting to attend soon, and I don't know exactly how you're feeling but.... What do you think we should do?" You glanced up at him and met his gaze. You knew damn well that he could tell them off himself, tell them about how this was clearly going nowhere and just a grab to get you to talk to them again. But he wanted you to do it.

"We should leave." That's all Reo needed to hear.

Kaiser wasn't exactly the model boyfriend to bring to a family dinner. And that was exactly why you were dragging him out to your parents house now. You stared at the house for a long, long time. This wasn't the same house you'd lived in your whole life. It was nicer, they clearly did some upgrades. You'd warned your parents ahead of time about how you were coming over with "company" so you hoped they prepared a decent dinner. Just in case though, you brought a few dishes from a nearby restaurant

You were pleasantly surprised that the owner still recognized you. Although, you were far from the malnourished kid that used to skip the first period of school to help around at their place for cash. You prided yourself on that, how well you were doing now, in a loving relationship and much more stable. So, why were you back? That question rang in the back of your mind like a sad echo, but you pushed it away.

"Are we going to just sit in front of the door forever?" Kaiser groaned. You were nowhere near the door, he meant in the car but he forgot the word for car again. If there was one more thing you could say you were pleased with yourself for it would be convincing Kaiser to actually start practicing English again after he abandoned it in high school (You two had a bet on who could master who's language first, so far you were losing but at least you remembered the word for car). You shook your head before opening the passenger side door with a flourish and with that you two were off.

"....(Y/N)? You can stop, if they come they come." You didn't even realize how many times you knocked until Kaiser made his comment with a small chuckle. He had to admit that he might be more annoyed than you if they didn't show, he worked extra hard on his eyeliner today. But, just as you were about to turn around and walk away the door swung open.

"Oh! Hey, (Y/N)...long time no see." your mother said with a small smile as she let you and Kaiser in. "And who's this?"

"It's Kaiser, Micheal Kaiser." he hummed doing a small hair flip before shaking your mom's hand. She was more weirded out than anything and some selfish part of you wanted her to care that you brought this tattooed loud man into her house. Wanted her to look at you with that "What in the fresh hell" look you'd seen so many other moms give on those dating tv shows when their kid ran off with someone they didn't approve of. But all she said was,

"Oh, ok. Come on in."

The dinner didn't last long. There wasn't that much food to go around anyway, even with the extra dishes you brought, your mom just ended up squirreling them away into the fridge. You let her. Kaiser got along with your father well enough just because of all the strange stories he had under his belt. It was a strange mix of apathy and faked intrigue. You knew that your parents really didn't care all that much what you were doing or who you were dating. They didn't in your childhood, why would they now? If there was one thing Kaiser couldn't handle though, it was apathy.

After all, he was a damn star, a famous athlete and a main character in this little family dinner setting. You were the other lead, interesting, intelligent, witty. And your parents were a dull, rude audience. Not to mention that in the past they were villans, leaving you with unfit attire throughout your childhood and a sore lack of attention. Something Micheal didn't realize the true sorrow of until he was sitting in that cramped dining room with you. Watching your parents give one word responses or non related questions to all of your accomplishments. Their behavior was absolutely stifling, no one could entertain in this setting. He threw his napkin on the table before turning to you, "(Y/N), why don't we take a quick trip back to the, the.."

"Car."

"And not return?"

[bjaw2317]

So. A fanfic. What have I come to? Lol. Just, enjoy. Or don't. I don't really care. My effort was for your enjoyment, but if you don't like it don't be mean. Anyways, you've been pining after Sirius for.. um, 6 years. Since 1st year. Yeah. Ok. 😬 just read ig also, Cocoa supremacy.

"back off idiots!" I squeal, trying to push them off of me. "I've only been gone for, like three weeks. I don't need to be bombarded with hugs." The four boys still hold tight onto me, and we almost fall to the ground.

"Exactly!!! You've been gone for too long. Way too long. We became grandpas you've been gone so long." Sirius said, hugging me tighter.

"and all of your letters were short. You wrote like two sentences. About your cats vet visit. What happened to Cocoa anyways?" Remus asked. The boys let go of me and I smiled at them. I really did miss the idiots. Peter gave me a shy smile, and James looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"Cocoa. What happened to Cocoa?" James asked, slightly worried. I smirk, knowing full well that he loves my cat way too much.

"Nothing big. Just... she got out one night. And a male cat was there. I went to get her... but.... stuff was happening. Anyways, she'll be having kittens soon." I say. Peter gives me a weird look.

"What sort of things?" He asks innocently. I make a face like, how the hell do you not get it, and Sirius whispers in his ear. Peter blushes and covers his face. I laugh, and James pats him on the back, shaking his head.

"So. Like. We'll have kittens in the dorms?" James says. " you're not giving them away, are you? If you are, I'm taking them all." He smiles dreamily. I roll my eyes. I walk into the common room, and it looks comfier than ever. Damn. I missed this place. The worn down couches in front of the fireplace, the couch that nobody sits on because its deemed the shagging couch (Sirius named it. We caught him with ravenclaw girl on that couch. Twice. It was disgusting). Aah. This place is great. The boys moved into the common room, and sat on the non-shagging couch, talking about quidditch tryouts. Well, James and Sirius were. Remus was nose deep in a transfiguration book and Peter had all his attention on a random bug on the ceiling. And just like that, after three weeks, things were finally normal. I missed the sorting ceremony last night, because my trip lasted a bit longer than I thought it would. And I slept in... so. Yeah.

The beginning of the summer I spent at the Potter's, with Sirius.

It was lovely and chaotic. Euphemia and I were in the kitchen making cookies when the boys run in, attacking each other with what I think is part of a closet door handle, and a rake. James had the upper hand with the rake, until Euphemia scolded them for bringing the rake into her clean kitchen. They both walked out, sulking. I brought them some cookies, and their eyes lit up. What food does to teenage boys. You'd think the cookie was one of their best friends, not me. This happened on the last day I was there.

I left that night, and went to visit my family. And I do love them.... but they can be a bit overwhelming. I would much rather hang out with the marauders than my family. It may sound bad, but we just clash. My mother and I get along swell, but father and I are almost the same person, and we are both very stubborn and are always butting heads. He doesn't like that my friends are boys, and thinks they're all into me, which is far from the truth.

James is absolutely in love with Lily, and it will not stop. Lily this lily that. Its sickeningly sweet. Peter has a crush on a hufflpuff girl, and he is just too sweet about it. Remus has been dating a ravenclaw girl named Clarice for, I think, three months now. We were all shocked when it happened, he normally doesn't talk about girls in that sense. But all of a sudden, he get flushed whenever she walks by and we knew he was a goner. With some, persuasion... we got them to go on a date together. And they've been going steady ever since.

And... Sirius. What do I say about him. He's always been a flirt, but recently he started to, bring girls to his dorm. I mean, its not that I'm jealous. He's a lovely guy and he deserves a lovely girl. I just wish he wasn't changing which girl it was every night. And making out with every female in the castle. It's gotten so bad that he missed one of Remus's monthlies.

I yelled at him for a long time. He felt really bad, and I felt really bad that he felt really bad. I hugged him and told him to never do it again. His arms wrapped around me, and I buried my face in his chest. I felt, a sense of calm and relief. He held me tighter, and rubbed my back, his hands drawing circles along it. Thats when I knew. I love him. And I was totally gone for this man. And I panicked. I pulled away, and he looked startled. I quickly said goodnight, and walked into my dorm that I shared with Lily and Dorcas. I laid down on my bed and thought about him for way too long. His dark hair, his tattoo across his chest. His muscles that weren't too big, perfect cuddling size. His gorgeous eyes, and his smile that I craved to see. His laugh. I love his laugh. So much. And I was going to tell him. But, I walked into his room and he was making out with a girl, his hands up her shirt. I walked out. I cried a lot that day. It was a couple weeks before summer vacation. I decided then that I was going to leave it alone. I went on some dates, but I never felt anything. They were always too kind or had too short hair or an annoying laugh. I would complain to Lily. All the time.

"Maybe... you know, it could possibly be... because non of them are Sirius. James and I were talking, and I think that you love him. The way you look at him is... just from a romance novel. Even James can tell, and that means something." Lily said after classes one day when I was complaining. It was a cold day, and I was supposed to be getting ready for quidditch tryouts, but I wanted to delay seeing Sirius in his quidditch uniform. It always looked so good on him, and I don't know how I would handle it.

"Yeah, James is an idiot. If he figured it out then tha- you talked to James?!?!? Since when do you willingly have conversation with him?!?!" I sat up on my bed, almost shouting.

"He's not that bad..." Lily trailed off.

"I've been saying he's not bad for years. And you say this now??!! Omigoodness!" I say in realization.

"What?"

"You like James. What the hell. This might be the best thing in the world!!!!!" I start to jump around.

"No I dont!!! I just said he's not that bad. That doesn't mean I like him." Lily made a face at me.

"The guy you've said you have hated for years, is not that bad?!?! Thats a major crush!!!"

"NO ItS NOT!" Lily shouts at me.

" YES IT IS!!!" I shout back.

We continue for a while, her saying no and me saying yes. I looked the clock, and sigh. I have to get the uniform on and go to the field. I get dressed, and our banter is still going on.

"You're never going to give up, are you?" Lily asks, looking defeated.

"Nope."

"Fine. Imightlikehimalittlebit. Justatinybit..." she mumbles.

"What was that? Couldn't hear your mumbles." I smirk.

" i like. James Potter. A little bit." She says this last bit as if it counts. All I heard was that she likes James. And I squeal.

"Lily. This. Is. Sooooo awesome!!!! We have to tell him!!!!"

Her eyes widen initeral fear. "No. Do not. I will steal your cat in your sleep and give it to James. I will... rip the cover off of one of your books... I'll... I'll-"

"Jeez. I was kidding." I feign a look of hurt. "You'd give my dear sweet Cocoa to that idiot?!?! And I can actually not believe that you said that you'd rip the cover off my book. Thats first degree murder!!! How could you!!!" I gasp, being overly dramatic. She rolls her eyes and laughs.

"OK. I actually would never rip the cover off of a book. They are wayyy to precious. And expensive." Lily says.

"So you would actually give Cocoa to mr cat lady? I'd never see her again." I glare jokingly at her.

"fine. I wont." I hug her.

"Thanks. Cocoa would die if James was her mother. He smothers her in kisses and hugs enough already. I gotta go. Tryouts started... two minutes ago. Shit." I give Lily one last squeeze and run out the door, my broom in hand.

"Good luck!" She yells as I run out the entrance to the common room. I run all the way to the field, and make it. Quite late. I look around, and they haven't started yet. I run up to James, who is waving me over.

"Whats up? Why haven't you started the tryouts yet?" I ask, breathless from the running.

"Oh. Well, as captain," he says smugly, " I can change the time of when we start. And Sirius is late. He's supposd to help me choose the team. But, I'm glad you could make it Naners." I roll my eyes at his use of my nickname. A few of the guys standing around us laugh, and one of them makes fun of me.

" so... pretty girl. Naners." He smirks, and walks closer to me. Some boys are wrestling on the field, James rolls his eyes and runs over to break it up. "How do you say, wanna go to my dorm later? We could... have some exercise." He reaches out and touches my arm. I scowl and pull away.

" excuse me?" I say, baffled that someone could be this outright and disgusting.

"You heard me, pretty girl." My stomach twists from him calling me that. Pretty girl was a nickname that Sirius called me. Only a couple times, but still.

" go away. I don't even know you." I back up. He grabs my wrist.

"Aaron. Aaron Klatwitz." He smirks. "And, we can get to know each other. Spend some time, alone." I pull away, and I glare at him.

" i think you should stop. Go away." I say, trying to be calm.

He makes a face, like he can't believe I'm turning him down. He smiles and reaches for my hand, a little rough.

"Naners. I'm sure you want, all of this." He motions to his body. I try and pull away, but I can't. His grip is tighter than before. I start to panic, and I look around. The rest of the people trying out are watching James stopping the two boys from fighting. I'm all alone. I try to pull away harder, and my breathing gets faster. Suddenly, someone comes around and pulls him off of me.

"Get your hands off of her. Breanna is not your to touch!" The guy says, his voice deep and rough. It takes me a few seconds, but I register this person to be Sirius.

"Look, I was just asking her to hang out. Not much was happening." Klatwitz says.

"Lier." I mutter. He glares at me. Sirius looks back at me, his gorgeous eyes staring into mine. I smile slightly at him. He turns around.

"Dude. If anything, she came onto me. She just wants a piece of the action." Klatwitz gives me a smirk, and I make a face like I'm about to puke. He glares again. "Surely you understand. Sirius." Sirius looks at him, like he is going to kill him.

"What do you mean?" The gorgeous boy says, glaring daggers at Klatwitz.

" i mean. All the hoes that throw themselves on you. Just looking for a quicky. A quick fuck before they go to the next guy." he says this so nonchalantly, that I think he's serious.

"What the hell?!?" Sirius says." Are you calling her names now?" His body stiffens. To be honest, I wasn't even thinking about him calling me that, just the fact that he treats women like shit.

"Come on. You get it. I heard you have girls in your room every night just so you don't have to think of the girl that broke your heart. Thats a quick fuck."

Sirius's face turned to me and quickly back to the dipshit. He punched him. I let out a gasp of surprise, and he kept punching. They are both fighting, and Sirius pushes him to the ground. He climbs on him and will not stop punching. Klatwitz flips them over, and soon Sirius is covered in his own blood. I freak out, and see James rush in. He pushes Aaron off of Sirius, and punches him. Once. Probably just to get him to stop, but both Sirius and Aaron are covered in blood. I rush over to Sirius, who's trying to get up and beat up Klatwitz again, but I hold his arm, tugging gently. I have tears running down my face. He looks surprised. I manage to stop my tears, and pull him away from the scene. I walk him back to the castle in silence, and he slides his hand down to hold mine. I smile.

"Your really stupid." I say, not looking at him.

"Stupid for beating up a guy that was harrassing you? If thats stupid, I better be stupid till the day I die." He says, his voice sending shivers up my spine. I walk up the stairs to the castle, my hand still in his.

"Yes! Siri, you could've gotten hurt way worse." I look at him as I pull him down the hallway to the hospital wing.

" Breanna. We can't go to the hospital wing."

"Why?"

He takes a deep breath. "Madame Pomfery said if I go in there again because of a fight, she'll tell Minnie, and then I'll get kicked off the quidditch team." He gives me a pleading look.

"I would like to know how many fights you've been in, but that doesn't matter right now. I have so bandages and muggle first aid. But it'll hurt for longer" I say, looking up at him. He looked at me, his eyes almost transfixed on me. He was a bout to say something, but James ran in.

"Padfoot!!! What the hell was that?!?!"

"He was being a dick." He muttered

"That doesn't mean you punch the lights out of him!!!! And now we have to reschedule tryouts!!"

"James..." he said, tiredly.

A look of concern came across his face, and he looked to where the blood was dripping down his face. "What?"

" he was harassing Naners. Like..." he sighed. "It was disgusting the things he was saying. I'm not going to repeat them." His hand tightened around mine, and his thumb rubbed the back of it.

"Oh. Shit. Breanna, are you ok?" James has a very worried look on his face now.

"Yeah I'm fine. The insufferable prick just wouldn't leave me alone." He made a face of realization.

"Holy shit. I'm sorry. I left you with him, I didn't think that would happen. I thought you would be ok....." he wrapped his arms around me, and I sunk into the hug. I let go of Sirius's hand, and I swear he glared at James. I hugged him tightly.

"James, its not your fault that he's a prick. Ok?" I whisper, trying to console him.

"I know. But I'm responsible for leaving you. He won't ever be allowed near you again. Ok? I'll make sure of it." He let's go of me, and I hear Lily come down the stairs. She looks at my tear stricken cheeks and James arm wrapped around me.

"What happened?!?!?" She runs up and hugs me.

"Umm... I.. "

James looks at me knowingly.

"I can tell her. You should go find Sirius."

I look around, and I realize he left. "OK." I pry myself away from Lily's death grip, and walk up the stairs to the common room. I hear lily say "what an asshole" to something James said, and I smile. I agree lily. I agree.

I walk into the common room, after talking to a slightly drunk fat lady, and look around. I don't see him, anywhere. I walk up the stairs to his dorm. I knock on the door, nobody answers so I open it. Lo and behold, Sirius is making out with a hufflepuff girl, and I scowl. My eyes brim with tears again, and Sirius looks up at me. He looks confused.

"Sirius. What the fuck is wrong with you!!!!?!?" I yell. I run back to my room, and slam the door. I lock it. Lily can sleep on the couch tonight. I sob into my pillow. That fucking idiot. I mutter. I cry for a long time. Lily knocks on the door, and I tell her to go away. She leaves me alone. I evtually fall asleep. I hear another knock on the door.

"Go away lily!!!" I shout.

"Its not lily." A males voice rings through my ears.

"Remus?" I say quietly.

"Can I come in?" He says calmly.

"Yeah.... I guess so." I get up and unlock the door. My face is puffy and my hair is a mess. I'm wearing sweatpants and a hoodie that I stole from sirius last year. And even though I look like I just died, Remus smiles at me.

"How are you Naners?" He asks.

I look away. "I'm fine."

He raises his eyebrow, questioningly. He reached over and hugged me. Thats all it took for me to break down. He kissed my forehead, platonically, and said it'll be ok. I calmed down, leaning into him.

"Your really the best friend I could ever have." I say, my chin resting on his shoulder.

"I am the greatest." He jokes. I roll my eyes.

"So." He says seriously. " whats up? Why did you run out crying?"

"You saw that?" I say, wiping a tear away from my face.

"I ran into James, and he told me what happened. But then I saw you run out of our dorm crying. What happened? Sirius keeps saying he doesn't know whats wrong."

"He was being an asshole." I mumble.

"He always is. But what did he do this time?" Remus looked at me. I back up, out of the hug and sit on my bed. I pat a spot beside me, and he blushes. I roll my eyes.

"Don't be stupid." I say. He laughs and sits beside me. Remus isn't normally very touchy, but I always want to be, and I can tell he's trying to be nice. He wraps his arm around my shoulder, and I lean into him.

"You normally don't let me this close, only Clarice is allowed." I say.

" well, my best friend has been crying, and even though I don't like it, I will hold her." He says softly.

"You don't have to. I'm fine." I say.

"Don't lie."

" I'm not lying. I know you hate cuddling or hugging of any sort with me. And its fine. You have a girlfriend."

He rolls his eyes at me. "Breanna." He says, as if he's about to rant. " I am really uncomfortable. Like, I can handle you hugging me before vacations and stuff... but this is weird." I giggle, and pull away from him.

"Sorry" he mumbles.

"Its all good." I say, even though I'm a very cuddly person, I respect him.

"So. Talk to me. Whats up" he says.

I take a deep breathe. "You can't tell anyone, ok?"

"Maybe. It matters what it is."

"Ikindamaybelikesirius... andigotjealouswhenisawhimkissingthatgirl." I say quickly.

His eyes widen, and he smiles. "Actually?"

"Yes..." I look away.

"Breanna. Thats awesome!"

" that I'm jealous of him with other girls?" I say.

"Well, yeah. I'm glad you told me. I had my suspicions, but at least now I know James owes me fifty galleons."

I give him a look, and he blushes.

"We may have been betting on you two...." he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Betting what exactly?"