#but wouldn't most moms be like 'everything okay honey?'

[choking-on-roses]

My bank back in Canada sent an overdue payment warning to my mom's phone (because it won't let me attach my Japanese phone number to the account) and all she did was send me a screenshot of it. Said absolutely nothing. Completely unbothered and unconcerned that her child might be struggling financially.

It just makes me feel like absolute shit every time I get a reminder that my parent doesn't give a fucking crap about me and if I don't figure out my finances on my own I'll just fucking die I guess. Because she doesn't care!

[girlgenius1111]

don't let this darkness fool you

arsenal x young reader [platonic]

part 1 of 2?

cw for intense descriptions of depression and suicidal ideation. this is a really heavy one, so please don't read if you don't think you should. there are other fics, and reading this one isn't as important as you being okay <3

loosely based on the songs call your mom and growing sideways by noah kahan

- - - - -

There was a song lyric that had resonated with you since you'd heard it. It rattled around in your brain on bad days. Days like today.

"It's better to die numb than feel it all"

You thought of it now, as you sat, staring hard at the pill bottle in front of you. Your chest ached, deep within you. It was suffocating, feeling everything. You'd been fighting, gasping for air, for so long. The way out, the way to numbness, to freedom, was sitting right in front of you. All you had to do was take the pills.

Google told you it would be enough. That by the time anyone thought to check, it would be too late. You'd scrolled past the suicide hotline number to read the information. It hadn't even been an option to call it. If you were going to call anyone, it would be one of your teammates.

Not your family. It all came back to them, in the end. Every insecurity and fear you had trailed back through your past, to the people that had raised you. No, that was wrong. You'd raised yourself. They'd brought you into the world, but hadn't bothered themselves with making your world a place worth existing in. Too busy drinking, fighting, making each other miserable.

Briefly, you wondered if they would feel guilty when they heard. You supposed they would. It wasn't enough, though, retroactive guilt. They couldn't undue what they'd caused. Even if they stood in front of you, begged you to stay, you were sure their words would have little effect on you.

Your mind flashed to your real family, your team. The thought of them did fill you with guilt. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and you shut your eyes tightly, fighting back against the images of their faces when they heard.

You could make your peace with most of it, honestly. The only thing that you didn't think you could deal with, though, was them blaming themselves. You knew they would, that was the kind of people they were. A note wouldn't be enough, you decided. Written words wouldn't be as convincing as your voice, promising that it wasn't their fault.

Looking back, you would wonder if you were ever really going to do it. Calling Beth like that, you had to have considered that she'd answer. the only thing you could come up with was that you didn't really want to die, not really. You wanted help, and you didn't know how to ask for it, weren't sure if you'd be able to.

Regardless, you dialed Beth's number, deciding on her because you knew she went to bed early. In was only midnight, and if you called anyone else, there was a chance they'd still be awake. You should have known Beth would sleep with her ringer on, though. It was the kind of thing she'd do, always concerned with the people around her, always reminding them to reach out if they needed her.

When she answered, you were frozen, not sure what to say. A part of you wanted to hang up, take the pills as fast as you could. The other wanted to cry, beg for help. The second part was just so tired; you stayed silent.

"Hello? Y/n, are you there?"

You must have made a sound, because Beth's voice lost it's sleepy tint, and she seemed much more awake.

"Y/n, are you okay?"

"No," you responded, all but forcing the word out of your lips. It was amazing, how she could tell that something was wrong, from so little information.

"What's going on, kiddo?" she asked kindly. It made tears prick your eyes. It had been a while since you had cried, and you were surprised. You weren't really sure how to answer her, though, the one word you'd uttered having been hard enough as it was.

"Y/n, honey, what's going on?" Beth asked again, and you heard Viv's voice faintly from the background, asking for the phone. There was some shuffling, and then Viv's firm voice was hitting your ear.

"Y/n, I need you to tell me what's happening," Viv demanded. She was smart- you didn't need soft right now. You needed someone to tell you exactly what to do, not ask.

"I'm not okay," you managed. You realized you were shaking, your teeth chattering over every word. "I need help."

Viv pulled the phone away from her ear, speaking to Beth before answering you. You don't know if she meant for you to hear or not.

"Call Leah, call Katie, they both live over there. Tell them to get to y/n's as soon as possible." The Dutch woman pulled the phone back to her ear then. "Y/n, Beth and I are coming to you. We're gonna help you, okay?"

"Okay," you replied softly. You were surprised, when the only thing you felt was relief.

"You're at home, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can you tell me if you're safe, physically?"

"I'm not hurt. I haven't taken anything yet," you tell her, mind too jumbled to realize you'd said yet.

"What do you have in front of you?" she asked, her tone returning the the firm one from before. You told her, reading the long name off the bottle. You heard Beth curse from next to her, speaking faster and more frantically into her own phone.

"Don't move, y/n. Stay right there, Leah is going to be there in just a minute."

Sure enough, your attention was pulled away from the phone, really from the bottle in front of you, but whatever, when your door unlocked. Leah had a key. You'd forgotten. Her eyes were wild when she rushed in, searching for you. She was wearing her pajamas, and you realized Beth had probably woken her. Somewhere in your brain, you considered making a joke about the Arsenal pajama pants she was wearing, but you realized you had lost the ability to speak. Leah had arrived fast, though, even though she lived only a few minutes walk from you. She must have run.

"Hey, buddy," Leah said cautiously, and you heard 2 sighs of relief at Leah's voice over the phone. You sat, unmoving, as Leah approached you, taking the bottle off the table where it sat, and carried it into the kitchen, still in sight of you. She unscrewed the cap, and you watched as she dumped the bottle down the drain, running the water to ensure every little pill floated away, out of your reach.

Again, you only felt relief.

Leah returned, taking a seat next to you, and grabbing the phone out of your tight grip. You weren't really paying attention to her, lost in your head, but the soft words she spoke to Beth and Viv calmed you, if only slightly.

Someone's hand was on your knee, and you turned your head to see Katie kneeling next to you. You weren't sure when she'd arrived.

Your body felt like it was caving in on itself; something about Katie's expression, filled with so much fear, forced you to see the reality of what had happened, how close you'd come. Maybe that should have been the scariest thing, but it wasn't. Instead, you thought about how your teammates knew now. There was no excuse you could give that would explain what had happened tonight. It was a horrifying realization; that you couldn't hide how bad it was anymore.

Katie was speaking to you, her lips were moving, but you couldn't process what she was saying. It was like the volume in the room had been turned down, and the sound of your blood pulsing in your ears was all you could hear. You forced yourself to move, to do anything, and your shaking hand covered hers, gripping tightly.

It was all you could manage, really. Somehow, Katie knew what you needed. She moved to sit on your other side, wrapping her strong arms around your body, pulling you into her. You went limply, allowing yourself to collapse into her. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to breathe, trying to think. You wanted to be anywhere else.

All of a sudden, you wished you'd done it. When you opened your eyes, you'd have to face it. Fight it. You'd been trying, and you knew your friends wouldn't allow you to stop. You'd missed your chance, and a part of you felt like it was shattering at the idea of having to keep going.

Hands were cupping your face, encouraging you to open your eyes. You complied, tears falling rapidly once you did. Katie was looking at you, and you could kind of hear her again, telling you to breathe. You hadn't realized you had been holding your breath. You inhaled a shuddering breath, before exhaling.

"One breath at a time, y/n, come on," Katie was saying. At her prompting, you breathed in again, hands clenching into fists as you stumbled to your feet. You weren't sure where you were going, you just needed to go. Katie and Leah were standing too, looking panicked, and Katie grabbed your wrist as you tried to head for the door. You wrenched free, stumbling on unsteady legs towards the door. Realistically, Leah and Katie would have stopped you.

They didn't need to. In through the door you were approaching came Beth and Viv. Your exit was blocked, even though you weren't really sure why you were trying to leave. It was like some part of your brain thought if you removed yourself from the situation, the feelings would fade. Instead, you fell to your knees, hands wrapping around your own abdomen, like you were trying to hold yourself together.

You didn't have the energy to hold yourself up anymore, evidently, because you were falling forward, and someone was catching you. You weren't sure you'd taken a breath since Katie had last reminded you to, because the world around you was closing in, blackening along the edges, and then there was nothing.

-----

You became aware of a soft hand pushing hair back from your forehead first. The cushions of your couch under you. Your friends were talking amongst themselves, about you it seemed. You were calmer now, thank god. You could breath again, and your brain had returned to it's regular state; somewhere between depressed and agonized, but nowhere near where you'd been minutes ago.

"Did she say if something happened?" you heard Katie ask, accent thicker than normal.

"No, she didn't say anything, really. Just that she wasn't okay, and that she needed help." Beth responded, her voice much closer to you. The hand on your head must have been hers.

Both of your teammates sounded anxious, so you forced your eyes open blinking up at Beth's face above you.

"Hey, kid," she said, her hand not stopping the motions on your forehead.

"Hi," you replied, voice all scratchy. You moved to sit up, swinging your feet to rest on the ground instead of where they lay in Leah's lap. it was quiet in the room, and you hated how all of them looked at you so apprehensively. You'd never liked when people worried about you, and this wasn't any different.

Wordlessly, Viv handed you a glass of water, and you took it, gulping it down because you were thirsty, and also because you weren't really sure what to say.

"What happened?" Leah asked softly. You dropped your eyes to the floor. Lying wouldn't do anything, you knew that. Still, the impulse to push them out was there.

"I don't know," you replied, somewhat honestly. Your tone reflected your feelings, though, and Beth sighed next to you, sensing you trying to force your walls back up.

"That's not going to work, y/n," Katie said. You looked up, then, meeting everyone's eyes. There was a determination there.

"I really don't know," you repeated, but you allowed yourself to breathe deeply, before speaking again. "Nothing happened, I was just tired. I'm really tired."

They nodded in understanding. They knew what tired meant in this context. Not the kind that sleep could fix, though you tried. The kind that sunk into you, gripped your soul in it's tight fist, and squeezed. Until you barely had the energy to move. Until all you could think about was doing what you'd almost done.

"You need help." Beth stated, almost like she was expecting a fight from you on it. She was surprised, then, when you nodded in response.

"I know," you paused. "I'm sorry."

You were apologizing for a lot; for acting miserable in the past few months. For ruining their respective nights. For being so difficult. A part of you was also apologizing that you'd called at all. Wouldn't it have been easier, so much easier, if you'd just done it?

"Don't say sorry. You called, you asked for help. That's all that really matters." Leah told you.

You recognized that maybe it wouldn't have been easier for them. Giving up was perhaps easier than trying to get better; for you at least. Right now. For them, though, they'd rather help you, a thousand times over, than lose you.

And help you, they would.

-----

honestly not really sure about the ending of this? feel like there could be a part 2 if you guys wanted, so i left it open for that if people are interested

also. writing this was a lot. reading it is probably a lot too. hope it serves as a reminder that there are people that need you, and the world is better with you in it. i know it doesn't always feel like it, but what you're feeling is temporary. it will get better.

[namfinessed]

go around - j.hs.

genre: angst, fluff (childhoodcrush! brother'sbestfriend!) (8.2k)

summary: to everyone else, he was the sun but to you, he was always the moon, the light you grabbed onto when you could see nothing.

note: grief is something very close to my heart, i've always struggled with it but i'm slowly starting to learn to live with it, i hope everyone who's experienced loss feels like some kind of relief through this, thank you for reading <3

masterlist

-

hoseok was sixteen years old when it happened.

you were thirteen.

and he had thought he was too cool for you then.

you were sitting on the other side of the mary-go-round to him, it was the last but one day of the summer camp you were part of, and you looked at him as if he hung the moon in the sky.

and hoseok felt as high as the moon that night.

but he was also sick to his stomach.

"i like you," you didn't look at him as you said it but hoseok could feel that you meant it, that it took a lot for you to get on that mary-go-round with him, spin with him, build the moon in his eyes and then say the words that he believed were stuck in your throat since when you first saw him.

he knew that your brother wouldn't like that you were saying this.

but he knew, even as a kid, that this was the most honest thing anyone's ever told him.

but he was so cool and so close to your brother, who would kill him if hoseok said anything back.

so, he didn't say anything back.

hoseok pursed his lips and looked away. he swears that, to this day, the tears shining in his eyes were nerves and not the frustration that came with not being able to hold you to the moon too.

the silent rejection didn't yet hit your soft eyes and bare heart.

you kept looking at him, hands gripping the handles so tight that your knuckles changed shades between white and pink and your cheeks puffed, excited and nervous breaths still left your lips.

and hoseok didn't want to be cool for a second there, he didn't want to care about your brother at all, maybe he would just let you take him for a bit, just a bit.

but in your thin eyebrows, he saw your brother.

in your veiny hands, he saw your brother.

in your coily, curly hair, he saw your brother.

so, he got off the mary-go-round, he walked away quickly, not pausing to look at you and he sniffed his tears away, he hugged his jacket closer to his body.

tomorrow, he would be fine.

tomorrow, no one would look at him like he was the moon and he would be okay with it.

but hoseok turned around.

the biggest mistake of his life.

the moon you thought him to be, cast a glow on the tears gathering on your chin and his heart wrenched.

he would fix this, he told himself, he would fix all of this.

but the next day, your brother, his best friend, died.

and you never spoke a word to hoseok again.

-

everything was vibrant when hoseok stepped into your home.

the unkept gardens were now blooming with flowers.

the closed windows were now open and giving a glimpse into the light inside the house.

the home was back to being a home.

he’s seen the transformation take place with his own two eyes over the years and he could confidently conclude that the ten years that cloaked your family and home in darkness were finally nowhere to be found.

and hoseok felt both delight and unease at the development.

“oh honey, you came,” there were few people hoseok could recognize with how they breathed, and your mom, his second mom basically, was one of them.

he didn’t even get to greet her before he was wrapped in a hug that surrounded him with the scent of cinnamon, musky perfume, and somehow, still his best friend.

“of course i did, ma” he kissed the top of her head, his arms not letting her go even if he knew the time for an appropriate hug was up, and she knew it too but she stayed as long as hoseok held her.

and when he let her go, he had to look away from the tears touching her eyelashes.

he probably brought back memories of his friend, maybe he still smelt like his friend too, he doesn’t know but he’s glad if he does.

his best friend’s family was unlike hoseok’s, his own family was distant and cold, and when he became an adult, he cut off all ties with them, he simply couldn’t accept them as family and your mom never let him feel as if he didn’t have one.

“the place is really packed,” hoseok whistled, looking at all the new faces and your mom nodded, “she invited a lot of her friends, i don’t know them but it’s okay, they’re having a good time, you’re here, so it’s all good,” hoseok stiffened at your mention.

you didn’t see him once in the last ten years.

slammed the door on his face.

ignored him even when your mom screamed after you.

locked yourself in your room and never got out if it meant seeing him.

and hoseok learned to accept it, he wouldn’t hang out with him either, especially after what happened.

but it was your birthday and he was invited, by your mom or you, he has no idea but hoseok steels himself to see you at some point in the night.

then, he walks around, introduces himself, ignores the pity that people eye’s throw at him, ignores the sympathetic touches on his arm, ignores the pats on the back and the ‘he must’ve been wonderful to have as a friend’ and he nods because he can’t say that yes, his best friend was an incredible friend until he fucking died.

and suddenly, hoseok wants to punch his best friend, for leaving him with this room of people who didn’t know him but somehow had all the sympathy in the world to shove in his face, for leaving him with no option but to mourn and miss him.

but hoseok was never a good mourner, he was good at going about life normally, good at laughing, good at ignoring his feelings, hoseok wasn’t good at gathering tears in his eyes when he thought of his dead best friend.

after a while, hoseok excuses himself to the bathroom and finds himself in his friend’s room, which remains frozen in time. every poster he hung up, though peeling at the edges on the wall, still stayed, every photo he stuck on top of his bedpost was yellow and faded but again, they stayed.

he doesn’t know how long he stares at their photo, the one they took in the summer camp where hoseok’s head is too small and his arms too thin and wrapped around his friend.

when he ran his fingers over the photo, he didn’t feel anything, he was grazing over hazy memories that he was desperately trying to remember as he got older but they were all slipping away or holding on too tightly at times.

“what the fuck are you doing in jay’s room?”

and he snatches his fingers away from the photo.

as he turns around, he swears he feels his heartbeat in his feet, and no amount of time could ever prepare him to face you.

you’re standing at the door with your arms crossed so defensively over your chest that he’s scared to take a single step forward but something about you, as a sixteen-year-old back then and now, a twenty-six-year-old, always takes his breath away.

and you look so much like jay, from the eyes to the hair to the hands, that he has to look away to breathe again.

“hey,” is all that comes out of hoseok’s mouth and he knows he deserves it when you roll your eyes at him.

“you’re not going to slam the door on me?” he asks and to his surprise, you shake your head, “not this time, my mom might just kill me,” you say while entering through the door and hoseok awkwardly steps around the room to reach where you sit on the bed.

he’s not sure how to feel about your mom having to force you to meet him.

and he’s not sure if he will ever be ready to see you again.

maybe you should’ve slammed the door one last time.

“happy birthday, big numbers now,” hoseok sits five feet away from you on the same bed and he watches your face soften the slightest, “thank you, and yeah, twenty-four doesn’t feel real,” you weakly laugh, falling on the bed and letting your feet dangle off the edge.

“your friends seem fun,” he stayed alert on the edge of the bed, and you nodded half-heartedly, “i guess so, did you meet them?”

“yeah, i said hi and stuff,” hoseok played with his fingers as you sat up again, “they brought up jay?”

“um yeah, they seemed to be very...empathetic about it,” he said, he didn’t know how else to say that your friends' reactions almost made him want to leave the party.

“yeah, they don’t know how to react to dead brothers or best friends, they’re not too bad though,” you laugh again and hoseok just nods, looking away.

for a moment, there’s only silence.

there’s only your breath and his.

there’s only your heartbeat and his.

and hoseok had missed this, he had missed you.

“can you believe it’s been ten years?” he asks because he can’t, he still feels as if it was yesterday that he got the phone call from you.

“i can,” you whisper, “time has been slow for me, so i can,” you’re the one looking away this time and hoseok catches your eyes roaming on the photos stuck above jay’s bed.

“do you want to go downstairs?” you get up from the bed and meet his eyes properly for the first time since you entered the room and he can do nothing but nod.

just before you step out the door, hoseok grabs your hand, immediately dropping it as you stop, “a-are you okay?” he didn’t want to ask you the question that he knows everyone else did but he also wouldn’t sleep that night without asking.

but when you laugh and disappear downstairs, hoseok ends up not sleeping anyway.

-

“thank you so much for coming by,” hoseok shook his head at your mother with the broadest smile and sweat coating his forehead, “of course ma, you can call me whenever you need help,” he pressed a kiss on the top of her head as he passed her and she pushed her face into his arm.

your mom owned a local restaurant and usually, handled everything from deliveries to cooking to serving and hoseok had chastised her multiple times about it.

even now, looking at the full restaurant, hoseok knew he couldn’t leave her to it.

so, after pushing her into the kitchen, he manned the counter for a while and made light conversation with whoever came by.

it felt strange, after so many years, being back around jay’s family, being back in this restaurant where he spent many days and nights.

he shook his head, refusing to let the memories creep back in.

he was used to this, this was just a routine to him, he always helped out, and he knew jay would do it if he was here.

“she loves you a lot already, you don’t have to do all this,” your voice isn’t something he’s used to though, not here, and hoseok’s palms start sweating immediately.

fuck.

he didn’t even put on a good outfit today.

or even perfume, now that he thinks of it.

and he curses himself when you come into view.

“i do this because i love her a lot,” he says with a smile and you roll your eyes, “yeah i know, it’s annoying,” and he frowns, “why?”

but you just wave a hand at him and go into the kitchen.

and hoseok’s left with ten people waving their bills and money at him, so he plasters a smile on his face and continues working.

after some time passes, you come back out from the kitchen with a scowl on your face and hoseok knows this because he hasn’t stopped his eyes from flickering between the kitchen door and the counter in front of him.

“i’ve got it from here, move,” you bark at him as you reach him and hoseok’s frown deepens at you, “it’s only a couple of people, i’ll finish it, don’t worry,” he reassures you but it only seems to irritate you.

“this isn’t your job, hoseok, just move over,” the glare on your face makes hoseok throw his hands up in the air and step away from the counter.

and he goes to the kitchen, he hugs your mom goodbye and he doesn’t bother with saying anything to you while he leaves because he’s sure you will only curse at him. he’s too exhausted today.

but imagine his surprise when the clock strikes midnight, you are at his door with a few soju bottles, snacks, and a sheepish smile on your face.

what the fuck were you doing at his home?

“um, hi?” he adjusts his t-shirt as he greets you, suddenly too aware of his messy hair and pajama pants as his heart once again beats away from his body.

“can i come in?” you ask sheepishly, and he immediately moves away. as you look around his apartment, hoseok still finds it hard to believe that you’re here.

even as you set up the table with soju glasses and food, he can only follow you in a daze.

“come, sit,” you say as if it wasn’t his home, his table, and his chairs but hoseok obliges and sits down.

a few minutes pass with both of you just fidgeting, looking at and away from each other, scratching your necks, and rubbing your fingers together.

until you finally grab the soju bottle and inch toward him.

you take a deep breath in and hoseok lets one out, “i shouldn’t have been so rude at the store, it’s just,” you speak as you pour soju into a shot glass for him and he sits up in his seat, “jay used to be there all the time.” you swallow, moving the bottle away from him and pouring one for yourself too.

“i was there all the time too, you know that,” hoseok says gently, as if to a child and you nod, “yeah, but it was always you and him, not just you.”

always you and him.

not just you.

and the memories that hoseok tried so hard to keep in his head, started creeping their way onto his sneakers and jeans and slipping away like sand.

the nights they snuck in to steal the leftovers.

the days he spent munching down on snacks that your mom generously gave him and jay.

the evenings where they both fanned each other with rolled-up magazines.

the days he spent admiring you at the counter.

but he couldn’t remember the dates, he couldn’t remember the details like what he was wearing that evening when jay hit him with a wooden fan, what was jay wearing when he got dumped by his girlfriend and cried to hoseok, what would jay think of this moment right now, you in front of him with a couple of soju bottles that were bound to be empty soon?

he shifted in his seat, “i won’t come over anymore, i didn’t know you felt like this,” and you purse your lips, “don’t do that, hoseok.”

“do what?” his eyebrows draw closer and you put down your glass to stare at him straight, “be so understanding and nice, just tell me to fuck off and deal with my shit instead of taking it out on you, hate me a little bit because this isn’t fair to you and you know that too.”

hoseok is stunned to silence for a second.

and he has a feeling that these words weren’t just some sudden outburst, you never spoke without letting your thoughts settle so he knows you’ve felt this for a while.

when he catches your wobbling lip and the way you shove food into your mouth to stop the movement, he knows he’s right and his heart softens even more.

“i’m not going to hate you for missing your brother, y/n.” is all he says before he slides your glass towards him and pours you a shot too.

and for a second, you just eye the glass and then look at him with tears so heavy in your eyes that hoseok is surprised they haven’t rolled down your cheeks.

“i think you’re the only one who doesn’t,” you suck in a breath and take the shot, you barely feel the liquid burn down your throat or the tears that finally release from your eyes.

when he raises his eyebrows at you, you shrug with a sniff and look away.

for the rest of the night, hoseok tries to forget that this was exactly how you looked on the mary-go-around ten years ago.

tears on your jaw.

flushed cheeks.

the same coily hair.

for the rest of the night, hoseok stops himself from falling in love again.

-

“again!” your mom threw her hands up in delight after winning one more game of ludo that hoseok had brought over.

you groaned and complained loudly to her, face held up by your elbow and hoseok watched with warm eyes as you and your mom argued about the win.

but he also felt acutely, the empty cushion next to him.

“you’re just a sore loser, learn a thing or two from hoseok,” your mom brought him back to the world, unscathed from his best friend’s haunting.

and hoseok nods proudly, dissolving into giggles when you scoff at him and your mom high-fives him.

“you’re letting her win,” you stare pointedly at him as your mom leaves to bring more snacks and hoseok shrugs happily, “guilty as charged,” and ducks with a laugh when a shower of peanut shells gets thrown in his direction.

“i knew it!” you screeched and he fell onto the floor with a belly full of joy, “mom, i told you, he was letting you win,” you stomped into the kitchen and hoseok heard more sounds of an argument from the kitchen, he rolled his eyes in endearment.

that night, you drop him in your car, and the entire ride, you’re laughing, he’s laughing, you’re speaking nonsense, he’s speaking nonsense, you’re falling on the seat to cover your face and he’s pulling his hands over his eyes to cover his face.

and at his door, you look at him with a face so free of everything.

no lines of worry on your forehead.

no frown between your eyebrows.

no hesitance to smile.

just a hint of moonlight falling over the right side of your face and some of your hair.

and hoseok wonders if he looks the same, if he looks just as beautiful and calm.

but when you keep staring at him with those curious, those tender eyes that he feels you reserve just for him, as if he has the answer to everything, as if he was the answer to everything, hoseok’s heart races in panic and buried love.

both of you realize at the same time, that ten minutes had passed and you were about two inches closer than you were at the beginning of the ride.

he stumbles out of the car, you stutter a goodbye to him and he nods hastily, urging you to leave.

that night, once again, hoseok begs himself to stop falling in love.

-

you only called him once in the many years that he’s known you and it was to tell him that jay had died, it was a freak accident, no one could’ve done anything and hoseok had thought that it was all a dream but your voice, as always, rang true in his ears and he knew that his life, as it was, would change forever.

“hoseok, i-it’s jay, someone hit him with a bike, i don’t know what’s going on, they’re saying they can’t read his pulse, please just come here, p-please.”

your sobs had shaken him so badly that he stumbled out of his camp cabin in his pajamas and he held your mom’s hand the entire time they tried to resurrect jay in the emergency room but once jay flatlined, your mom crumbled in his arms and you ran out of the hospital, you refused to look at him after that night.

and he understands why, he should’ve been there for jay, he should’ve made sure that his best friend didn’t go out for a walk that night or he should’ve gone with jay and been the one to get hit instead.

but it was all over now, and all hoseok was left with was a heavy heart filled with enough guilt for all the years he would live.

so when hoseok’s phone rang in the middle of the night with your name flashing on his screen, his brain unearthed the entire tragedy, the entire night with its roots pulled out of him and he was gasping for breath as he answered.

could it be that something happened to your mom?

did something happen to you?

did something happen to him and everyone else knew but him?

“she’s not letting us call her mom but she said your name, can you come to pick her up?” and twenty minutes later, hoseok pulled up to the only nightclub in the neighborhood to pick you up.

he struggled to hold back a laugh as he saw you draped over your friend’s arms, blissfully drunk, giggling, and utterly exhausted. when he started walking over to you, all of your friends began groaning and complaining to him about you which only made it harder for him not to laugh until your entire weight was shifted onto him and hoseok closed his eyes when you buried your face in his neck, savoring the tender moment.

just like every other minute that he’s alone with you, hoseok can’t believe this minute either.

“i’ve got her from here,” he says, carefully shifting your body to make you more comfortable and you hum in your drunken state, pushing your cheeks further into his collarbones and hoseok tries not to freeze.

“you should join us next time!” your friends all chime in together, their enthusiasm and kind intentions bleed around them and touch hoseok’s heart, maybe he had been too quick to judge them and hoseok gives in, nodding unsurely and they all erupt in cheers which makes him smile.

you had good people around you.

and that made him the happiest person in the world.

as he waves goodbye to them, his hands hold your body closer to him when you start to slide off and all of them exchange looks which hoseok ignores.

he carefully puts you in the passenger seat and pulls off the sidewalk.

he turned up the air conditioner, feeling his body get warmer and warmer as the seconds passed and he forces himself to look at the road and not you.

“hoseok?” the red light glowed on your face when he looked towards you, “yeah, it’s me, just taking you back home,” he doesn’t stop his hands from moving your hair away from your face and caressing your temples with his fingers.

how many years have passed with him missing you?

how many years of loving you has he missed out on?

he doesn’t know how jay would feel about this, maybe he would gag at hoseok’s tender eyes at this moment, perhaps he would tease him but he knows jay wouldn’t hate it.

hoseok pulls back almost immediately as you start to shift, only to relax when your face melts into his fingers.

if it didn’t feel so wrong, hoseok would’ve sat the rest of the night just looking at you and letting the rest of the world pass by.

“don’t take me to mom’s,” you whine and he laughs at your scrunched-up face, “okay, where do you want to go?”

“your’s,” you mumble, and hoseok’s face goes red, it takes him a few minutes and several cars honking at him to come back to earth.

when hoseok carefully lays you on the side of his body and takes you to his bedroom, he bears the torture of your arms tightening around his neck and the torture of your lips accidentally brushing on his skin.

“you like me, right?” you whisper into hoseok’s ear as he covers you with blankets on his bed and he freezes.

when he doesn’t respond, your eyes flutter open, still soft and fuzzy from the alcohol and you ask again, “hoseok, you like me, yes?”

and he’s taken back to the you that asked him out on a mary-go-around, the you that gave him the most honest confession of love in his life, the you that looked at him as if he ripped your heart out.

he nods, “of course i do, we’re family.” and you frown at him.

then, you sit up on the bed and lean forward to hold his face in your hands, hoseok starts sweating under the thin t-shirt he wore, and your fingers touch his face in places that he’s sure didn’t exist before, and every nerve of his melts and burns.

“i’ve always wanted to ask you something,” he says, now that there was no distinction between his breaths and yours and you nod, urging him to go on, “i thought i was always the one who had something to say,” you giggle, falling on his shoulder and hoseok laughs with you.

“why did you start talking to me again? after all this time? it can’t just be because of your mother,” and your laughter vanishes from the air around him, your touch too lifts from his shoulder, and hoseok’s confusion and curiosity grow.

he knows he’s asked the wrong thing, and said the wrong thing, he always does, but why would this question make you so upset?

he just wanted to know why after so many years of ignoring his entire existence, you suddenly chose to come to his home, and suddenly back into his life.

but he also loves that you’re back in his life.

“you don’t have to tell me, go to s-“ he gets up from the bed but is stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist tightly and he sinks back down beside you.

“my reasons are selfish, hoseok,” your tears come back and hoseok is rushing to wipe them away before they ever leave your eyes which only makes them gather faster.

“i don’t care,” he shakes his head and he really doesn’t.

“you should.”

“but i don’t.”

use him, don’t use him, throw him away, or keep him, he’s okay with it all.

your eyes search in his face, any trace of a lie, any trace of dishonesty and you find none that urges you to say, “i need you.”

a strange rush of warmth and bashfulness washes over hoseok as your words run him over.

“it hurts so much and i can’t do this alone, i need you, i just want it to stop hurting,” and hoseok’s heart stops at your broken voice because he knows what’s hurting you and nothing in the world can fix that kind of pain, “i don’t know how to live anymore, every time i come home, i miss him in the space next to my mom, i miss him in the counter that you stand at now, i miss him everywhere and i can’t say this to anyone.”

hoseok barely feels your hands grabbing his as your sobs climb up your throat, “except you, hoseok. no one knows what i feel, it’s pathetic that i miss him still but so do you, i know you feel this too, right?”

and he knows, he knows exactly what it feels like and he also knows that this was building in you since over the past ten years, the same way it’s been building in him.

that sense of loss that never goes away.

that sense of waiting for the relief that comes with moving on, that never came.

that sense of having nowhere to go and cry it out because the rest of the world doesn’t see what it’s lost, only he can and only you can.

“i do,” he finally choked out and your cries grew louder, hoseok winced at the volume and tapped your arms to calm you down but he was barely calm himself.

years and years of his grief catch up to him, run him over, trample over him and his mind ignites with every single second he spent with jay, every single he spent missing jay and then ignoring his memory.

all of it grabs him by the throat and chokes him but he lets your head fall onto his shoulder, and keeps his own tears away from his eyes as your body breaks on him.

when you were kids, hoseok had held you when you were laughing, he had felt your joy go through him, spread onto him, he could feel your happiness as if it was his own.

when you laughed in the car with him, the sound jogged his memory on how to laugh, on how to feel happiness again, he felt it go in and out of him in waves that he couldn’t control.

it was a miracle to him that just by touching someone, you can feel what they feel.

but now, holding you when you were crying, feeling every tear on his own skin, the burden of it all sunk him deeper than he could pull out of but he held you, he wrapped a singular arm around you and buried his head in your hair.

if anyone was going to know that he cried about jay, it was you and if anyone was going to miss jay with you, it was him.

and that night, he let himself fall in love.

-

the next morning, hoseok woke up with swollen eyes but a happy heart, a less lonely heart, he got up from the couch and entered his bedroom where he spent several minutes just staring at your face and stopped himself from kissing your cheek.

he stepped out of the bedroom quietly, padding his feet as gently as he could on the floor, and started preparing pancakes, hot chocolate, and everything else he could remember as something you liked as a kid.

hoseok couldn’t keep the smile off his face the entire time he whisked the batter, stirred the hot chocolate, and put out the plates. every moment that passed reminded him of you in his bedroom, it made him feel fuzzy and warm and ticklish, as if the sun had come to sit on his shoulder.

finally, his life was falling into place.

he almost jumped in excitement when the sound of his bedroom door creaking echoed throughout his apartment. he peeked around the corner to see you dragging your feet with even more swollen eyes than his and he stifled a laugh.

“good morning, pretty,” hoseok sang and giggled when your groan came as a reply.

“what’s all this?” your eyes barely opened to see the spread of food in front of you and he shrugged, “just some breakfast for you, did you take the aspirin beside  the bed?”

you nodded and stood unsurely until hoseok got up and pushed you to sit down gently, “sit down, it’s all still hot, have it soon,” he kissed the top of your head and you stiffened under him.

hoseok quickly stepped away, laughing uncomfortably, and sat down as well.

for the next few minutes, he waited as you took in everything in front of you and his heart raced the entire time.

did he do too much?

was he moving too fast?

but he had already wasted so much time over the years, he wasn’t going to make the same mistak-

“why?”

hoseok frowns at your question, leaning forward to see if he heard it right but when he looks up, he sees your tear-filled eyes and he knows he’s fucked up somehow.

“w-what happened?”

“why are you doing all this?” he doesn’t know if you’re asking him or accusing him of something.

“what do you mean?”

“why.are.you.doing.this?” you punctuate every word with quick breaths and hoseok knows he’s pissed you off.

why or how he’s done that, he has no idea.

“i thought some food would be nice in the morning, especially with your hangover,” he stumbles over his words because he didn’t think he would ever have to explain why he made breakfast for someone.

you stay quiet.

he says your name.

once.

twice.

thrice.

then, you get up from the chair and look at him with both the most anger he’s felt in someone and also, the most pain, “i can’t do this,” you mumble and in the next minute, hoseok’s door is left wide open and your seat is empty.

he watches the food go cold and tries to hold himself together as he clears everything up, all the warmth he felt in the morning disappeared down the same drain that his food went.

and all he could was watch and let it happen.

-

weeks passed and hoseok dipped in and out of the restaurant, trying to see you, catch a word with you, and try to fix things, but whenever you saw him, you ran away.

whenever he waved to you, you would hesitantly lift your hand and then look away, engaging yourself with someone else.

whenever he called you, you wouldn’t pick up.

his messages remained on delivered.

and hoseok’s heart broke little by little as he saw you intentionally pull away from him.

he couldn’t understand why, you had such a beautiful night together, you had poured your heart out to him and he had done the same to you but somehow, it was as if that night didn’t exist to you.

maybe he read it all wrong?

maybe you just needed him as someone who felt the same as you, who experienced the same grief and here he was, his heart growing wings and the love he buried blooming again.

but you had loved him ten years ago.

and that confession was still fresh in his mind, still the most honest thing he’s heard in his life.

maybe he was stupid for ever thinking that you still felt the same love from ten years ago?

but as his mind replayed your words, ‘i need you’, it didn’t make sense to him that suddenly, you wanted to push him away.

“take these when you go home,” your mom packed him multiple boxes of side dishes and rice and everything else she could cook throughout the day and he nodded, thanking her with a kiss on her head, and headed for the door.

until he heard your voice.

his entire body froze at your presence.

but he’s had enough.

hoseok turned around and started walking with loud steps towards the kitchen, and when you came into his vision, he didn’t feel the warmth or the love or any of the good stuff.

he only felt the hurt that blinded him that morning, he only felt the pain spearing his heart as he threw everything away, he only felt the loneliness that played with him until the late hours of the night.

hoseok knows he’s not the best person but he also knows that he didn’t deserve that.

“you asked me that day, why i was doing all that. let me ask you now, why are you doing this?” he glared right at you, and in the corner of his eyes, he saw your mom glance between the two of you and then duck out of the kitchen.

he will apologize to her later.

in front of him, you tilted your head at him and tried to appear tough by crossing your arms across your chest and staring back at him.

but hoseok is past this, he’s tired of being lonely but he doesn’t want this, he doesn’t want to feel lonely when he’s in love.

“look, i don’t know what’s going through your mind and i never will until you tell me, but you can’t do this to me, you can’t push and pull whenever you like, i know you’re hurting somehow but i am too, so figure yourself out and then come to me because i know that i’m not alone in this feeling, i know you feel it too.”

with that, hoseok marched out of the kitchen, hugged your mom on the way out and went back to his empty home, where he might’ve felt lonely but he at least didn’t feel miserable.

you will hopefully find your way back to him.

but if you don’t, hoseok’s just going to have to find a way to be okay with that too.

-

days passed again and hoseok tried to move on.

you didn’t call or message or try to reach him and he took it as a rejection, which was still okay, he would still be okay.

he busied himself with his work, with your mom’s restaurant, and tried to learn how to cook, tried to liven up his apartment with knick-knacks, he took up arts and crafts.

hoseok did everything he could think of and for the most part, he really was okay.

but he also really wasn’t that okay.

he drifted through the days, pushed you out of his mind, and drank a bit from time to time to forget you only to hover his finger over your contact every night, he still kept the blanket you slept on in the corner of his room and not in the laundry basket where it should’ve been.

but still.

he was okay, he told himself, he would go back to some version of himself which was okay.

hoseok walked to the restaurant with his head down, earphones in and counted his steps because he had nothing else to do.

when he reached, he still didn’t look up, he continued to his counter where he removed his hoodie and put on an apron, humming to himself and cleaning the counter up.

until your mom’s shoes came into his view and by the time he looked up, she had grabbed his arm and started shaking him which made him frown.

he looked up to see her tear-streaked face and echoes of her sobs that traveled from her hands to him and the desperate shouts he could only see with his earphones in.

his hands shakily reached up to remove his earphones and then he heard it.

the heart-stopping cries and yells.

hoseok’s eyes went round with panic and he immediately grabbed her body as she fell onto him, he tried his best to soothe her but seeing her tears, was already choking him up.

he tried to keep his panic at bay as he patted her back and tried to make sense of her babbling.

what if something happened to you?

he couldn’t deal with that kind of grief; he wouldn’t survive it.

“she hasn’t picked up a single call,” something did happen to you, and hoseok bit the inside of his cheek to hold back his sobs.

“ma,” he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes, “please breathe with me,” she nodded, timing her inhalation and exhalation with him and when her sniffles subsided, she told him, “she ran away this morning, i’ve looked everywhere and i’ve called everyone, no one has seen her, i don’t know what to do and the police aren’t doing anything until she’s gone for a day but you know her, she never does this.”

she rambled endlessly to him and hoseok held onto her the entire time, feeling only a bit hurt that she never called him but that wasn’t a concern right now.

at the end of it, he offered her a glass of water, removed his apron, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading straight for the door.

“hoseok,” he stopped at her voice, “i only didn’t call you because i know you two aren’t doing well right now, otherwise you know you’re like my son.” and hoseok melted, he smiled and took her hands as he said, “don’t worry about that ma, we’re family, you keep calling people and i’ll try to find her.”

he didn’t know what to feel once he stepped out of the restaurant.

in the restaurant, he could focus on reassuring and comforting your mom, he could place all his energy into caring for her but now, he was alone and he didn’t know what to feel.

hoseok got into his car only to realize he didn’t know where to fucking begin, you could be anywhere by this time, even a different city but he has a feeling that you were not too far.

but he didn’t know that with certainty either.

every thought he had only put him in a chokehold as his mind reeled with every worst-case scenario.

nevertheless, he put his fears aside and started the car.

the next few hours, he drove in every street, looked in every club and café, kept checking his phone some one million times, and stopped at the entrance of his summer camp where his life seemed to begin and end.

jay would’ve had a panic attack if he was here with hoseok right now, hoseok smiled as he thought of how worried jay would’ve been and how he probably would’ve cursed you out after finding you, how he would’ve hugged you and hoseok in relief, how he would never let it happen again.

jay would’ve been so many things if he was still there with hoseok and that killed hoseok every day.

he kept staring at the entrance where he ran out of the day jay died, where he held back his tears and shook his head and told himself that it was all a lie, that his best friend was still alive.

hoseok threw his head back on his car seat.

grief was so unfair; it took away so much and left him with so little.

if it was so hard for him, he couldn’t imagine how much more angry or sad grief would’ve made you over the years.

and just as he blinks back tears, his phone rings and he runs his hand over his face to answer it, “ma, i’m still out, don’t worry, we’ll find her,” he starts reassuring only to hear nothing on the other end.

“hello?” he frowns.

“hoseok?”

and he almost drops his phone in relief.

“god, are you okay?” he immediately sits up, starting the car again, “where are you? i’m coming to get you right now, what the fuck were you thinking?”

“why aren’t you home?”

“huh?”

“why aren’t you home right now?”

“are you at my place?” hoseok frown becomes even deeper and he knows your silence only means one thing, he sighs out, “stay there.”

and he’s turning the car, calling your mom to tell her the news, and feeling a hundred different emotions as he reaches the lane of his apartment.

right by his door, he finds you, sitting on the floor with your knees to your chest and the rocks slid off his shoulders, he feels air enter his chest at the sight of you, unharmed and safe and breathing and…alive.

he doesn’t know why he’d even thought as far as you being dead but he couldn’t help it.

it was midnight but the moonlight, as always, found you and your tears, and hoseok sat right next to you and stretched his legs out in front of him.

 “why didn’t you say anything back?” he hears you mumble and he frowns, “when?”

“that day in summer camp, when i told you i liked you, why didn’t you say anything back?”

and hoseok sighs, the secret he’s held in his heart for as long as he remembers, starts crawling up his throat, “i like you too,” and his lack of using the past tense has you sitting up straight, tears now reduced to sniffles.

“you do?” and the way you ask it almost has him hitting his own head, how did he ever let you think otherwise?

“i would be crazy if i didn’t,” he smiles weakly at you, his heart suddenly exposed and raw and beating louder than it ever has before, and you fall back on the wall, “but you just walked away then.”

and hoseok knows he can’t hide it anymore.

“i didn’t say anything because i went to jay,” hoseok recalls how cold the night was, how quick his steps were to reach his best friend and he watches your face light up and fall, all in just seconds.

“i needed to ask him if it was okay, i needed to tell him that i liked his sister and that i wanted to take care of her, and he didn’t like it,” hoseok shakes his head, a strained laugh leaving his lips, “we fought all night, but i guess he saw how much i meant it, so he gave me his blessing,” he looks up at you and you’re closing your eyes, letting your head fall back.

“he gave us his blessing, y/n, he did and that’s why i’ve never given up on you, he was so dramatic about it, you would’ve hit him if you saw him say it,” he laughs, the memory still so fresh of jay hugging hoseok and whispering to him that he would be dead the next second if he ever hurt you, how jay stopped himself from smiling as he thought of you with him.

he kept that close to his heart and never told anyone about it, it was for him and jay until today but now, it was for you too.

every time he felt bitter over the years that you avoided him, hoseok reminded himself that he loved you and he always will, and jay would love that hoseok loved you.

and you’re holding back sobs that still escape and tear into the world.

“i’m sorry,” he hears you say and he hums before placing your head on his shoulder, he tries not to cry when he feels your sobs, he sniffles and looks at his feet.

“i was so scared that morning, i told you everything i’ve never told anyone the night before and you still treated me with love, i thought you would tell me to leave, that you would finally have had enough but you didn’t and it still scared me. you shouldn’t be in my life hoseok, i will ruin you,” his heart sinks and hoseok moves closer to you because he doesn’t know where he belongs if it’s not beside you.

“i don’t want to be anywhere else,” he says and presses his hand to the side of your head.

“i can’t stop missing him, hoseok, i don’t know what’s wrong with me,” you shake your head and he sighs, feeling his throat close up.

“i miss him too.”

“but it’s been so long and i feel like i should move on by now, i don’t know,” you mumble, your tears falling into his shirt and skin.

“jay’s not some ancient history but i think he would hate both of us for being stuck like this.”

“i don’t know another way to live.”

“neither do i,” he shrugs, he knows how lonely he’s felt, how solitary his life was but, “but it will always hurt, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, you lost a brother, a companion for life, i lost a best friend, my soulmate and it’s always going to hurt. but i don’t want either of us to be alone in that pain, we don’t deserve that.”

life can take everything away from him but if we had a few good people and he could love those people, that was enough for him.

“it’s about time we start living for jay, do everything he would’ve done, feel everything he would’ve felt, and keep him alive, don’t you think so?”

and when you nod, fall on his shoulder, and whisper your love to him, it’s just like the first time, the most honest words he’s heard in his life.

hoseok knows his life can sometimes feel empty but sometimes, like right now, it can feel so full that he wouldn’t know what to do with all the love he gave and received.

he whispers his love back to you.

until dawn, you cried on his shoulder, and in the morning, hoseok made breakfast for you, you kissed him and whispered your thanks, he kissed you and whispered his love again, and you smiled and ate the food he made.

and it was calm, normal, another day but everything had changed once again for hoseok.

because this time, he had you and you had him, and in both your hearts and minds, you had jay.

and you learned to live life again, with love, and not just regret, with happiness, and not just guilt.

you lived, not just to grieve and mourn, but to actually live and build a life, with hoseok right by your side. he lived, without

-

taglist: @blissingtaehyung @cuteipat @hobicorewhore @yoongleskitten @mrjeonghan @greenie-frog @avawants2havefun @an-ever-angry-bi @alyenorgondorwarrior thank you all so much for liking the preview, i hope you enjoy the full fic <3]

[oweninadaydream]

𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧!𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : Steve and you interrupt your lazy afternoon to discuss a very serious (or is it?) matter...

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : Modern!Steve Harrington x fem!reader

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 : pregnant!reader, established relationship, just pure fluff

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 777

𝐚/𝐧 : I had lots of fun writing this at like 2 am lol. Hope you enjoy it! ☺️💐

Steve was in the kitchen, trying to cook dinner as fast as he could before your cravings had the chance to change and make you suddenly disgusted just by the smell of what he had been preparing for more than an hour. Today's delicatessen consisted of Hawaiian pizza with a side of pickles.

Normally, you would hate pineapple on pizza (you just can't stand mixing sweet and salty like that) and your hatred for pickles was known by all of your friends (specially by Robin, who had to hold up your hair as you vomited because she once gave you a bite of her sandwich which happened to contain the infamous ingredient), but your boyfriend wasn't willing to contradict his pregnant girlfriend who was extremely sensitive.

He was pulled out of his thoughts after hearing you call his name. "What's up, sweetheart? Everything okay?" he asked from his position.

"We need to have a very serious talk right now" you answered in a monotonous tone.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the end of Steve Harrington. After he felt that his heart had started pumping blood again, he hurried to the living-room where you had been chilling for most of the afternoon. You looked fine, there was nothing on fire and your stomach seemed as round as the last time he had seen it, so what was going on?

"Go on, I'm listening love" he encouraged you to begin revealing your thoughts.

"The baby is due in a couple of weeks and we haven't even decided which movies they're gonna watch in English and which ones in Spanish" the stress in your voice was easy to detect. Steve looked you straight in the eyes and he could swear that he had fallen in love with you all over again in that very instant. How could you be so adorable?

"Oh honey, I love you so so much" he cooed while leaving small kisses all over your face "we can discuss it now while the pizza is in the oven if you'd like" he offered.

Your native tongue was Spanish and ever since Steve and you started thinking about having children, you had known you'd raise your kids to be bilingual "They will not be no sabo kids, not on my watch".

Steve was more than thrilled at the thought of mini versions of you and him walking around, babbling in some strange form of spanglish. He had taken up Spanish after meeting you, and even though he was not the fastest learner, his disposition had taken him very far in his journey to be closer to you through language.

"Okay, so do you have any ideas?" he asked "Actually, yes I do" you quickly changed your expression to show enthusiasm "I've got a mental list of some non-negotiables. First, Enredados"

Steve hummed in acknowledgment as he had already guessed you would say Tangled, your mom's favorite Disney movie. Your mother didn't understand much English so this was a logical choice, as she wanted to watch the film with her grandchild and bond over it.

"Then, we've got Tarzan" "Tarzan?! The guy that sings the songs in the Spanish version is the same guy as in the English one, Phil Collins's accent is obvious. Also, y'know, it was my favorite movie as a kid" he tried to argue in a calm manner "...Well, I guess you're right. They can watch that one in the original version" One point to Harrington.

"What if you suggest one? I wouldn't want to impose" you commented. "Don't worry cielo, you keep going and I'll think of one or two more for me to choose" the fact that the first words he learnt were the pet names you liked the most was just one of the many proofs of his love for you " All right!!! So I had thought about El Rey León, Tiana y el sapo, Bichos, Aladdín..." you then proceeded to list almost every animated Disney movie. Steve could have stopped you at any point but the enamored haze clouding his thinking process wanted to indulge in your every desire.

The oven started beeping, alerting both Steve and you that dinner was officially ready. "Let's go, it's time for dinner" "But, what about the movies?" you pouted "Mi amor, we can do whatever you want in regards to our child's cinematic experience" "The bedtime stories can be in English, your dramatic interpretation of The three little pigs will impress them for sure" you suggested after realizing that you had monopolized the whole Disney films industry and feeling bad about it "Thank you, darling. Practice makes perfect"

Happy girlfriend, happy life, right?

P.D : Phil Collins ate and left no crumbs in the Spanish soundtrack, we appreciate him in this house !!!

[vinnyhongnsfwgurl]

1st Vinny Hong FanFic? I literally have no idea what this should be LOL

Hello all Windbreaker fans and Vinny Hong lovers. This is my first Vinny Hong x female reader fanfic. I hope you enjoy and comments/feedback is always welcome! Thanks :3

So, I didn't realize what kind of fanfic this would be after I finished writing it LMAO. Complete despair and heartbreak hahaha. I just chose to write and not think to hard. tbh I'm pretty happy with it. Let me know what you think :) .... also I did not proof read haha I am lazy.

I think I'll do a part 2 to this one!

"y/n? ...... y/n?"

"Y/N?!"

You're head snaps up to look at your mother sitting in the hospital bed next to you. She looked at you slightly worried.

She tilted her head as she asked "Are you okay? I called your name multiple times."

You sat up straighter in your chair and nodded. "Yes. Sorry. I, uh, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment." A lot had happened in the past couple of weeks. My mother got very sick and ended up in the hospital for a second time, nearly dying due to a brain aneurysm. It had put a lot of stress on every part of our lives, mostly financially. We weren't poor, but we certainly did not have the luxury to not work and stay in the hospital for extended periods.

I had thought about picking up extra hours at my part-time job, but I knew it wouldn't help much and I knew my studies would suffer. I was already struggling to keep my grades up. Besides my part-time job, I had to train for the upcoming final race of League of Streets. I was a part of Hummingbird and it was amazing but like my personal life, it was a mess. So much had happened with our team.

The most recent event was Vinny leaving our team deciding to ride with the Ghost crew. He started doing small races for money, which were broadcasted online. I had seen a few. Everyone was confused and upset including me. The whole reason we created Hummingbird was to compete in LOS and win the price money for Vinny's mother but I guess he had different plans in mind.

"It'll be okay honey" my mom said as she reached for my hand. I let let her hold my hand. It was warm and reassuring.

I smiled. "I know mom. I'm glad you're alright .... I was really scared actually." I could feel the pressure behind my eyes build up.

My mom started tearing up. "I know. I know y/n. but it's okay, I'm okay." She squeezed my hand.

I just nodded. "yeah."

After a few minutes and making sure my mother didn't need anything, I hugged her goodbye and started making my way out of the hospital. I took a seat on a bench that was stationed right next to the entrance of hospital. I had taken a bus here and planned on taking it to get back home. It only took me ten minutes to get to the bus stop, so I had a bit of time before I had to leave. I was really tired and too stressed. I found myself looking for more quiet moments out of my day.

I looked out toward the street across from the hospital. It was already dark out, but there was quite a bit of traffic. Honking interrupted the empty, docile night every now and than.

I heard footsteps come around the corner that ended abruptly once they caught up to the bench I was sitting at. As I turned my head to see what or who it was, I hear a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?"

Vinny. It was all I thought as my eyes met his. His red eye seemed strikingly brighter than it usually was. Maybe it's just because I hadn't seen him in awhile.

"Oh. I was visiting my mom. She recently had surgery." I explained. ".... Are you hear to see your mom?" I asked.

He was quiet for a second before answering my question. "Yeah, she's staying here."

"MMm that's good. Glad to hear she is getting treatment" I said.

"What about your mom? Is she okay?"

"oh yeah! The surgery went well, so everything is good." I gave a sheepish thumbs up. I always became painfully aware of how awkward I felt when interacting with Vinny. I was a fairly shy person and it didn't help how handsome I thought he was. It took time in the beginning for us to get along and establish a relationship. It wasn't hard for me to figure out soon after that I was falling in love with him.

There was a lot I learned about him after Hummingbird was formed and the more I learned the more I desired to be near him. He was hot headed and pretty reserved, but it never really bothered me. I always went out of my way to greet him at practice and I chat with him when I could. I never cared if it was just small talk.

He just stared at me for a moment before saying "Good to hear that."

I knew what what was coming next, or what wasn't. This would be the end of our conversation. I didn't want it to be.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"I'm fine." He said plainly.

"And Jack?" following it up with a smile.

"He's fine too."

Man of few words I thought. I was used to it but I always wondered what actually behind those words: I'm fine.

"Are you really doing fine? I know I'm probably not the first person you think of when you want to talk to someone, but you're my friend. I'm here for you." I blurted out without much thinking.

When I had mentioned how confusing and upset I was when he left our crew, it was an understatement. I was sad and hurt. I also felt so helpless. He left us all behind and had no desire to return.

I looked down at the backpack I held in my arms. There was so much I wanted to say, but none of it seemed enough.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I know you're having a hard time. I wish you hadn't had to leave the team."

"I don't know why you're apologizing, y/n. You don't need to." He replied.

Vinny walked up closer to me until he stood just a few inches from my feet. I looked up and he gaze had softened just a bit.

"You don't need to worry about me. Just focus on yourself. You have a lot going on."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of silence as Vinny and I held each other's gaze.

Then Vinny turned to leave. "I'll see you later y/n."

Before he took another step, I reached for his hand. It was a light grasp, just enough to stop him.

"Come back to Hummingbird ..... at least, at some point. We'll wait for you. It's nothing without you"

Vinny just stared at me before pulling his hand away from my mine.

"Y/n."

"It doesn't matter if it's not tomorrow, or the next day, or weeks from now! J-just come back. Please." I could feel a increase in my heart rate and the pressure behind my eyes building up again.

Vinny sighed and turned away from me.

"There's no reason for me to come back." He said sternly. "There's nothing you or the others can offer me." He continued has he started walking away.

Something warm slid down the right side of me cheek. I blinked and more came out. I was crying.

I just stood there as I continued to watch him walk away. My crying only worsened and I could feel a lump form in my throat.

I can't give up on you Vinny I thought as I recollected the memories of us together and how much our relationship progressed.

I just can't Vinny. I won't. I love you.

After he was well out of my sight, I finally left for the bus station. I cried the entire way.

For once, I wished it wasn't so quiet out.

[archived-junkissed]

balloons & handmade cards

member — dad!junhui x f reader genre — reeeally sweet fluff word count — 700 synopsis — your son and daughter tag along with your husband at the store while he buys some last-minute gifts for mother's day. warnings — reader is called mommy, jun is called daddy notes — based on an interaction i saw at the store today that almost made me burst into tears bc it was so cute i love kids so much !! i hope all of you have a happy mother's day, whether you have someone in your life or not, i'm giving all of you big hugs 💓

"all right, kids, we're almost done here," junhui says as he stands in front of the greeting card section, a huge bouquet of flowers and a shopping basket full of groceries balanced in his arms. two toddlers run around his legs, each of them holding a balloon tied around their wrists that say "happy mother's day" and "i ♡ my mom".

he stops in front of the seasonal section, scanning the rack before picking one up and looking at the front. "did you guys finish making your cards for mommy?

"i did!" the older daughter of the two says as she jumps up and raises her hand in the air.

"so did i!" the younger boy adds. "i wrote that i love her a bazillion times infinity."

"well, i love her more than that!" the girl says, and jun has to hold back a laugh as he stands between them to separate them and stop them from fighting about who loves you the most.

"she knows you both love her very much, don't worry."

the girl jumps up and down again and points to a card at the bottom of the rack. "hey, daddy, i drew flowers on my card that look just like those!"

jun grins, reaching to pick out a different card and opening it to read the inside. "great job! i know she'll love it, sweetheart, i'm sure she can't wait to see them. when we get home make sure you hide your cards in a really safe spot so she won't find them before tomorrow."

the boy cranes his neck to stare up at the balloon waving back and forth as he tugs on the string, mesmerized by the way it moves. "daddy, why do we have to hide them?"

jun laughs and grabs an envelope from the rack. "because then it wouldn't be a surprise, silly."

"oh, right."

the girl tugs on his pant leg, and he looks down at her as he tucks his card into the basket and starts walking away from the aisle. "daddy, can i get a piece of candy?"

"we have sweets at home, honey. you can't have dessert tonight if we get candy now, and a little birdie told me that mommy has ice cream for later…"

"ice cream!" they both scream, and jun laughs, happy that his distraction worked. you probably won't be happy to have both your kids bouncing off the walls after he'd promised them ice cream for dessert, but he'd take care of them later.

"yes, ice cream. let's go pay for these quick, we have to hurry home before mommy sees what we got!"

with a squeal the two kids race off to find an open cashier, and jun follows close behind, double checking everything in his basket.

the lady at the cash register rings up everything with a friendly smile, even giving each of them a sticker with the store's logo on it.

"what do you say to her?" jun asks, and a chorus of "thank you!"s erupt from the kids before they dash out of the store, dragging him behind them.

"you guys hold on tight to your balloons, okay?" he says as they walk out the door, shrugging the bags of groceries onto his shoulder so he has both hands free to hold onto each of them. "don't let them fly away, because then we won't have any for mommy tomorrow! now, here, hold my hand while we cross the street, and look both ways first."

jun helps both of them climb into the backseat of the car and buckles their carseats before putting everything away in the trunk.

once he's sure all his passengers and cargo are secure, he slides into the driver's seat, ready to bring everyone home.

"daddy?"

he glances over his shoulder at his daughter as he buckles his seatbelt. "yeah, princess?"

she grins at him, showing off the gap in her teeth from when the tooth fairy visited last month. "i'm so excited, i love mommy so much!"

the car starts with a hum, and jun smiles. "i'm glad, honey. i love her so much, too."

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[rxmqnova]

My little troublemaker

Y/N: 4 years old Lizzie: 19 years old ——————————————————

LIZZIE'S POV Having a little todler running around the house is not easy. Especially when you're only 19 and you're raising your child alone. The judging looks by other people when Y/N calls me 'mom' in the store or just somewhere in public aren't helping at all, but I wouldn't change a thing in my life.

Y/N wasn't planned at all. Her father left me right after I told him I want to keep her. He was quite rude about it which only made things so much harder, but I'm trying my best to give her as much love as I can. I know for sure she'll ask me the question about her dad in the future, but for now I'm trying my best to make up for both parents and to make sure she has everything she needs.

I do have an amazing family though. My parents and siblings are helping me as much as they can which I'll be forever grateful for. Also my daughter is the most amazing little human in the world. She's pretty smart on her age and thank god she's not one of those children who throw tantrums about everything.

Y/N and I had a movie night yesterday, so I'm not even surprised when I find myself surrounded by a bunch of blankets and Y/N's teddy bears after waking up. My eyes widen when I don't find my daughter underneath the blankets or anywhere in the room though. She's usually the one who wakes me up by laying her small body on mine and squishing my cheeks with her tiny hands.

"Y/N?" I look around the room once again, not seeing her anywhere. I immediately rush down the stairs to find her. "Oh my god, Y/N!" I raise my voice when I see her standing on a chair in the kitchen, a knife in her hand. I quickly lift her up, immediately taking the knife from her hand. "Honey, you could have hurt yourself. You can't use a knife without me knowing" I sigh, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Are you okay?"

"But I wanted to make you breakfast" She pouts, crossing her arms.

"Oh did you?" I raise an eyebrow which makes her giggle. Y/N nods with a smile, pointing at a piece of bread which is placed on the kitchen counter. "That's for me?"

"Yes, mama! You have to try!" She grins, happily kicking her legs.

"Thank you, sweetheart. I will try it out right now" I take the bread and sit down on a chair with Y/N on my lap. I take a bite, trying hard to pretend like it's really good. I don't know what's in this, but it really doesn't taste good.

"Do you like it?" Y/N asks with a huge smile, watching me carefully.

"It's really good, sweetheart. Thank you. It's so good that I'm gonna save it for later" I smile at her, Y/N nodding her head and smiling at me in response. "But what would you say on some pancakes now, hm?" I boop her nose which never fails and always makes her smile.

"Yay!" Y/N cheers, throwing her arms in the air.

———————————

"Mommy? Do I have a dad?" Y/N asks quietly, watching me with her big green eyes. I just tucked her in for bed and I definitely wasn't expecting this question tonight.

"I. Hm… You do have a dad, sweetheart. Why are you asking?" I give her a smile and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. She needs to know she can ask me or speak to me about everything.

"Because the boys from my preschool say it's weird to only have a mommy" She explains, adding a dramatic sigh to the end.

"It's not weird at all, honey. A lot of children have only a mommy or only a daddy. Sometimes it just happens, but it doesn't mean it's weird" I tell her, stroking her cheek with my finger.

"But why, mommy? Why isn't he here with us?" She asks, wrapping her little arms around my neck. I take a deep breath, thinking about what to tell her. But I think it'll be better to just tell her the truth somehow, even though it's not really nice.

"You know, baby… Your dad was very mean to mommy, so she decided she's better without him" I tell her honestly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I don't like him then. You are the bestest and nicest mommy in the world" Y/N pouts, making me wonder how did I get so lucky to have her as my daughter.

"I love you the most, my little monkey" I smile, pushing back my tears. Y/N's words really got me. "It's getting late now though and you need to get some sleep, so we can play all day tomorrow" I rub the tip of my nose against hers, making her smile.

"I love you, mama" She says, pouting her lips for a kiss. I peck her lips with a kiss before pulling up the covers to her chest. "Mommy, my teddy bear!" She suddenly gasps, looking around the bed to find her favorite teddy.

"I'll bring him. Stay here and don't move" I warn before standing up and walking to find Y/N's favorite teddy.

I make my way to the living room and as I expected, she left him there, so now I'm on my way back to the bedroom.

"I found him, baby. You left him in the-" I start, cutting myself off when I see Y/N sitting on the table in front of the window, her face and hands pressed against the glass. "Y/N, that's really dangerous. How did you get there?" I sigh, immediately lifting her up on which she whines.

"But there was a butterfly, mama" She pouts.

"A butterfly? Now? At night?" I raise an eyebrow on which Y/N nods. "That was probably a moth, sweetheart. But no climbing on the table when mama isn't with you, okay?"

"Yes, mama" Y/N says with that cute pout again.

"It's really time for bed now, my little troublemaker"

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

Elizabeth Olsen masterlist

Masterlist

[oliveisme533]

My dad’s neighbor is a dilf

Chapter 4

Joel Miller x You

Summery: You had decided to spend your summer in Austin with your dad. You used to spend almost every summer there, but hadn't spent a summer there since you were a teenager. Which means you hadn't seen a certain Joel Miller in years..

Warnings: abusive ex is back. Verbal abuse and physical violence (not against reader)

You roll over in your bed with a groan and stretch your arms. Grabbing your phone you check the time 10:03. Early for you. You decide to hop in the shower before your dad can ask you to help pick up fallen branches in the yard from last nights storm. You let the scolding water hit your body and you draw in a deep breath. Tomorrow was Monday which meant your dad would be back to work and you wouldn't have anyone to talk to or hang out with until 5 o'clock. Rinsing the soap from your face you contemplated just what to do with tomorrow, in fact you were beginning to wonder how to make use of your summer in general. The last couple weeks of doing nothing had been a much needed reprieve from your busy life, but you were starting to get a little stir crazy. You turned off the water, still deep in thought when you heard your phone buzzing. You tiptoed over to your bedside table and saw Joel's name lighting up the screen. "Why is he calling me?" You pick up the phone ...

Hello Hey sweetheart didn't wake ya did I? No no I've been up...for a few minutes (Joel chuckled) Well hey listen, one of my coworkers was looking for a sitter for tonight. He and the Misses are going out and their regular girl can't make it. Any interest in an easy job for the night? Oh yeah I can definitely do that. God know I've got nothing else going on. Okay I'll send you the info! Thanks darlin'

Obviously he wasn't calling just because he wanted to chat with you. It was a stupid thing to even hope for. The rest of the day went by relatively slowly, but when 6 o'clock rolled around you put some snacks in your back pack, a phone charger, and a book you had been trying to finish for several weeks now. The babysitting was easy. It was one kid, she was four years old and for the most part did whatever you asked. The parents told you they would be out late so when 11:45 rolled around you weren't surprised they hadn't come home yet. The house was quiet...too quiet. You never much liked this part of being a baby sitter. It was different when you did it for Sarah. The millers house was always warm and full of life. Those nights when Joel did get home a little later you felt safe curling up in on his couch with the TV on. Most of the times you would fall asleep like that and Joel would drive you home the next day after making you and Sarah breakfast. You smile at the memory. The sounds of the house settling are enough to snap you from this daydream down memory lane. "Fuck I really don't like this huge, quiet house. What if I call someone to keep me company. Dad will be asleep, so would mom and my sister. I bet Joel Miller is awake..." you stare at your phone and contemplate this next move. "Fuck it" you mutter and tape his name. The phone only rings a couple of times before you hear Joel's husky voice. A twinge of guilt shoots through you as you fear you've woken him up.

Hello? Everything okay? Hey, yeah I'm so sorry did I wake you? I was just restin' my eyes that's all. I ain't in bed yet. Well I just- I really don't like being in these houses all by myself. It sounds stupid but it's kinda scary I guess. 'S not stupid. You want someone to talk to-keep ya company? Yeah... and I figured you'd be awake still, but I guess I figured wrong You're all right honey, I really don't mind. I needed to get off this couch and sleep in my bed any how. But how 'bout you tell me about your day? My day was pretty boring honestly. I played with the cat, ate some ice cream and watched TV Wat'd ya watch? Love island What in the hell is that?

You laughed and proceeded to tell him all about the show. A little while passed and then you heard the lock click and knew the parents were home. You told Joel you had to go to which he responded "alright let me know when you get home safe. Can call me if you want." Back home you pondered whether or not you should call Joel. It was late and you were feeling tired, but you wanted to talk to him. After slipping into your pajamas you felt like you could hardly stay awake much longer, but you were determined to take advantage of this invitation from Joel to call him. So you tapped his name and watched the phone ring. You put it to your ear and your heart sank with each unanswered ring. When it went to voicemail you resolved that he had likely fallen asleep and you decided to do the same.

The next day you woke up early (ish) at 9:00. Your dad had already left for work. You roll over in your bed to check your phone and your heart pounds.

Missed call from Joel Miller 36m ago

You're hoping he's not at work yet and call him back quickly. "Hey sweetheart" he picks up within a few rings. "Sorry I missed your call last night. I ended up falling asleep and didn't hear the phone." It was so nice to hear his voice first thing in the morning. "Oh you don't need to apologize. I didn't really need anything, I just like talking to you" you could almost hear Joel grin as he said "well I like talkin' to you too sugar" you had walked down to your kitchen to put on a pot of coffee at this point when you say "hey why aren't you at work?" "Waitin for some parts to come in for this current job. Until they do there's nothin else I can really do. But the parts are supposed to be here by noon... so I'll get my ass to work in a couple hours" you notice a note taped to the fridge as Joel finishes saying all this. "I completely forget" you mutter to yourself, but apparently Joel hears. "What'd you forget?" "My dad left me a note reminding me that he's gone on a business trip and won't be back until Thursday." "Oh that's right. Your dad did mention that. Told me to keep an eye out for ya." "Did he really? "Yeah I mean you're going to be by yourself in that big house for almost 3 days" "I'm a grown ass woman though!" Joel chuckled. "No ones sayin you ain't, darlin. Dads worry and that don't change from when you're 5 or when you're 25" "I guess that's fair enough" you shrug. "I should get my day started here... might go on a run and catch up on laundry" "Well if you need anything the next couple of days just hollar" You hang up the phone with brief goodbyes and run your fingers through your tangled bed head. You groan as you massage your temple. "What the fuck am I doing?? I'm catching feelings for Joel fucking Miller. What's worse is that I'm flirting with him too"

Against your better judgement you decide to text Joel later in the day Hey what time you get off tonight? I should be wrapping up by 7...Why? You want to swing by for dinner? Nothing fancy. I'm just bored and I don't love being here alone in the evenings for long periods of time lol. Well I ain't gonna turn you down for some dinner. I'll see you at 7:30. Can I pick anything up at the store for ya on my way there? Well if you're offering... maybe some ice cream? And a bottle of rosè You got it

The rest of the day went by slowly. 7:30 couldn't get here fast enough. You were hoping for something to happen tonight with Joel, but you weren't sure what that would be. You hadn't decided if the lingering glances from him were just something you were imagining or actually happening. Around 6:30 you decide to hope in the shower and of course shave...because you never know right? After your shower you settle on wearing a simple, linen dress that's super comfortable and not all that fancy.  At exactly 7:30 you hear the doorbell ring. You jump off the sofa to answer it, your heart in your throat. But when you open the door, you're afraid you might be sick. It's not Joel Miller who stands there, but your toxic ex boyfriend ...Ben.

"What the fuck are you doing? You need to leave" Ben smirks. "Aren't you a delight. I just wanted to talk to you, and since you've block my number I had to take matters into my hands." Your heart was racing. Ben had never shown any physical violence against you, but you didn't know what he was capable and you didn't want to find out. "I thought I made myself really fucking clear that we are over" you said with a shaky voice. "Baby I just don't think you get to make that call. I mean I've done so much to make this relationship work. You can't just throw all that away. You know you're never going to find another guy who puts up with your shit." That was it. Something in you snapped. Something that had been brewing for literally years was about to come out. "No fuck you!" You shoved him in the chest with both palms and he stumbled back just a step, caught off guard by your motion. "Screw you! I don't need a guy to put up with anything about me, you asshole. You act like you're some fucking hero for tolerating the fact that I struggle with my mental health and stuff!" Ben was fuming now. You had never laid hands on him and you could tell the shove had lit something inside him too. "You have issues you know that?! You have fucking issues in your head!" He screamed at you getting up in your face and grabbing your arms tightly, pinning them to your sides. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Joel's truck coming down the street and pulling into your drive way. Ben was now shaking you and yelling "YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH.." he didn't get to finish his sentence because a firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him backwards.

If looks could kill...you had never seen such an expression on Joel. He looked like he could tear Ben to pieces right then and there, yet he maintained a calm composure. "I suggest you get the fuck off this porch and don't come back, son" Joel said in a low voice. Ben scoffed. "Get out of here, old man. This ain't your business" Ben spat. "Son, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Ben let his head fall back and let out a chuckle that sent a chill down your spine. "Is that so?" Without warning Ben threw a punch and Joel and narrowly missed "Ben!" You shrieked. Ben straightened up sent another punch. Joel grabbed his wrist, mid punch and yanked him in close. Joel towered over him. "Do not make me repeat myself again. I said get the fuck off this porch, or things will get ugly." At this Joel shoved Ben forcefully away, causing him to stumble backwards. Ben still looked angry, but now there was a hint of fear in his eyes too. He gave you one last glare and then jogged back to his car.

As soon as Ben's car sped off. Joel sun around. "Are you okay??" He asked, grabbing your face in his hands. "Um yeah" you managed to squeak. "I mean that fucking scared me tho." Joel looked like he might be sick. "I am so sorry wasn't here at 7:30. If I got here on time- " "Joel come on you don't need to do that. It's not like either of us had any idea Ben would show up here. I'm glad you came when you did though." Joel massaged the bridge of his nose. He looked stressed and was probably imaging what would have happened if he didn't show up at all. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to rid himself of the notion. "Joel look at me I'm fine!" You said pulling his hand away from his face. Joel took your hand in his and stroked it with his thumb. "Okay" he said softly. "Did you get my ice cream?" You said trying to change the subject. A smile tugged at his mouth. "Yeah I did, baby"

You had made spaghetti for dinner, about one of the only dishes you were confident in preparing. You and Joel sat at the table in silence and you watched as he pushed his food around. "I'm sorry I'm not a chef...if you want we could just order a pizza?" You suggested. Joel looked up at you seemingly caught off guard. "No no no it's not that! The meal is delicious. I guess I just don't have an appetite. That's all." You pushed back from the table and the chair scraping against the hardwood made Joel jump slightly. "Baby I didn't mean to offend you it's just" you laughed as you reached for the shelf above the stove "Joel I'm not mad I'm just looking for something." Joel slowly walked towards where you were balancing on a stool trying to get the top door of the cabinet open. "Um...what's that?" You grunted as you finally got hold of what it was you were looking for. "My dad's red wine. It's gross too me, but he always says red wine gives you an appetite." You hopped off the stool and thrust the bottle into his chest. "Where's the wine you got me? I would like to get into that like asap." Before waiting for a response you went into the other room where the grocery bag still sat with the ice cream and wine and dug out the bottle. You hastily removed the top and began drinking. "Y/n...slow down what are you doing?" You removed the bottle from your lips and wiped your mouth. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Joel's face was laced with concern. "Okay that's enough. I'm calling your dad, you can stay at mine until he gets home. I'm sure he'll book the first flight back when he hears.." you didn't let Joel finish. He had tried to grab the bottle from your hands "no, fuck off I'm a grown woman. I don't need you calling me dad to tell on me or whatever." Joel placed both hands in his hair and squeezed his head "sweetheart you're clearly not okay! And for good reason... will you just let me help you? I'm worried about you. This shit wasn't in any of the parenting books I read before Sarah.." "you're not my dad!" "No no I'm not saying that I just" ... "is that all this is? You want to fill the void of not having your daughter at home this summer. So you come over here to parent me because my dad's not here? I don't fucking need that Joel I don't want you to see me that way."

...to be continued

[magnifythesun]

Someone should write a cute short fic or drabble about Ianthony helping Erin get the car back ... ;);)

Ian and Anthony going with Erin to get her car is one of my favorite Smosh things that's happened recently! Love this prompt heehee! I don't remember if we know why Erin's car was in custody, and I'm not gonna look it up, here we go!

---

Erin paced furiously up and down the hallway, fingers flying on her phone. Tommy ducked out of the crying bathroom, giving her a nervous glance as he left. She seriously considered taking her own turn in the crying bathroom but didn't quite make it before another text came in from her mom.

"Where... is your car exactly..."

Not the ellipses! Erin couldn't handle this right now.

"The police station mom!! 😭" She sent the first text frantically, then continued, "They were cleaning the streets and they towed it!!! I didn't see any signs with warnings or anything!!!!"

"Well you're going to have to go get it..." Her mom replied.

"yesss, but how? It's like five miles away! In LA!!! I can't just walk over there! It would take a million years and I'd get hit by a car😭😭😭"

"Can one of your coworkers drive you there? ❤️"

Erin thought about it. Most everyone had a car, and it's not like she was new anymore, but it still felt a little presumptuous to ask anyone. The police station was 5 miles away and Google Maps was estimating nearly an hour-long drive due to traffic.

"I don't know, maybe. It's a lot to ask... long drive..." Erin texted back, throwing her mom her own set of ellipses. Payback.

"Ask around, honey, and it'll all be okay. Bring some money though, they're going to charge you to pick it up."

"😭😭😭😭" Erin responded, then put her phone screen to sleep. She rubbed a hand over her face wearily as she walked out of the hall back toward civilization.

"Everything okay?"

Erin abruptly stopped so she wouldn't run right into Ian.

"Oh god, didn't see you there!" She stepped back and looked up at him. Ian's eyes were betraying his concern even as his face maintained his regular placid expression. Erin wondered how close to tears she looked.

Ian raised his eyebrows.

"I'm all good," Erin assured him, "But, well, I'm just worried about my car."

More visible concern formed on Ian's face. "What happened to it?"

"It got towed cause they were cleaning the street," Erin sighed. "I've got to run," She continued, already starting to walk away from him, "Gotta ask around to see if anyone could drive me the five miles over there."

"Oh, alright, uh, good luck!" Ian called after her.

~~~

A few minutes later, Erin was still hand-wringing over who to ask first when she found herself cornered in the kitchen. Anthony was leaning on the counter in front of her while Ian hovered off to the side.

"I hear you've got a car emergency?" Anthony said, sympathetic smile on his face.

Erin blinked at him. "Uh, yeah?"

Anthony looked over at Ian. "How far did you say it was?"

"Five miles," Ian said lightly.

"Oh, only five miles," Anthony nodded his head. "Well," He looked back at Erin and waved a thumb between himself and Ian. "We'll take you there."

Erin gripped the counter behind her slightly, surprise and hope warring in her chest. "For real? It's like an hour drive."

"In LA at this hour? Yeah, I figured," Anthony gave her a reassuring grin. "It'll be fun!"

"An adventure!" Ian chimed in, "We can grab a Starbucks and everything."

Erin let out a relieved laugh. "That sounds amazing. Thanks guys!"

"Don't thank us yet," Ian said warningly, "I'm assuming you've never seen Anthony drive."

"Hey!" Anthony reached over and shoved him out of the kitchen, Ian obviously letting the push carry him further than necessary. Anthony looked back at Erin. "Don't listen to him, I'm a fantastic driver. C'mon, let's go!"

~~~

Erin stumbled out of the car, clutching her coffee. Let's just say, if she hadn't gotten used to her mother's wild driving as a child, she'd be a lot more traumatized right now.

"See, safe and sound!" Anthony declared, shutting his door.

"Makes you grateful you're about to get your own car back, huh?" Ian muttered to her as he passed, heading toward the door of the police station, matcha latte in hand. Erin stifled her giggle.

What followed was a boring string of bureaucracy, unimpressed expressions from the receptionists, and a fee larger than she'd hoped, but she'd finally succeeded in getting her car back.

Right as she was waiting for the clerk to approve the last of the paperwork, she snapped a surreptitious pic of Ian and Anthony. They were both leaning against a counter, looking down at their phones, so nonchalant in their willingness to be there for her. A bubbling feeling of warmth bounced around her chest. She couldn't imagine her bosses from any previous job caring enough to help her out with this.

Grinning at her phone, she typed out the caption: "& Ty to my smosh dads for helping me get my car back from the police <3"

She reached her phone out toward them from where she was sitting. "All good if I post this?"

They both looked over. Ian barked out a laugh while Anthony started grinning. "Go for it," Anthony waved a hand expansively while Ian gave a thumbs up.

Erin hit post right as the clerk called out her name.

The three of them walked back out into the warm LA afternoon.

"See you back at Smosh!" Ian called over, "If we make it back in one piece."

"You're a big baby." Anthony grumbled, though he was clearly laughing as he waved a goodbye to Erin.

"See you guys there!" Erin waved back as she got into her own car. She placed her hands on the steering wheel firmly and reveled in having her own car back. "What a relief," She sighed. Starting the car, she grabbed her phone as she let the air conditioning get started.

She had a single text message, from her dad.

"Oh, so one dad isn't good enough for you anymore? 😢 Haha, glad you got your car back honey."

Erin grinned, put the phone down and started the long drive back to Smosh.

---

Post-writing note: sorry to anthony and erin's mother in particular, I'm sure you're both great drivers irl lolol! Also in the course of writing this I found the real reason her car was impounded but im not changing it in the fic lmao. AU!Erin's car impoundment

[artofhazbinhotel]

Class of 09 as The Vees part 3

Valentino: If you were my boyfriend, what would you do for me?

Vox: I don't know, anything you want?

Valentino: Anything? Damn. So any depraved ass shit you're just down for?

Vox: For you? Yeah

Valentino: Could I choke you while we make out?

Vox: If you want

Valentino: Could I smack the shit out of you in public?

Vox: Yes please

Valentino: Self esteem

Vox: Am I too desperate?

Valentino: No, not your self esteem, my self esteem, it's through the roof right now

Valentino: You think I'm just another sheep, don't you?

Velvette: Is sheep interchangeable with dipshit?

Vox: Valentino, you're a cold, corrupt, selfish, psychopathic bitch. Literally the most sadistic fucking whore- I wouldn't be surprised if you like killing animals

Valentino: Haven't tried

Vox: You don't even get mad at the assumption of that! You're severely twisted, evil, manipulative, and in general just a heartless bitch.. Doesn't mean I don't want you every waking moment of my sad fucking life

Valentino: Excuse me?

Vox: You show every sign of an abuser and I don't give a shit. You're the kinda guy who'd choke me goodnight, the kinda guy who'd walk in on me cutting and take the razor blade and do it for me. I don't want a boyfriend to marry, I want a boyfriend who helps me plan my own suicide. You're that man Valentino, I need you bad

Valentino: Bitch you need therapy

Vox: Right, honey?

Valentino: "Right, honey?"

Velvette: Dude I said don't call me that in public

Vox: Oh, I thought it was don't say it in private

Velvette: If I didn't want it in private why would I want it in public??

Velvette: You probably don't even watch anything good

Valentino: You watch Smallville

Velvette: You're evil

Valentino: You're friends with someone who's evil

Velvette: You're friends with someone who watches Smallville

Valentino: Holy shit don't say it that loud!

Vox: But then you gotta ask, would you rather be alone? Or have a hot twisted bitch who demeans you in public but gives amazing head? These are the real questions that plague society

Velvette: But why?

Valentino: That domestically beats me, I have no fucking clue

Velvette: I feel like he sexts in perfect grammar

Vox: Is this really necessary?

Velvette: Is that extra cheese at Chipotle necessary?

Vox: I don't get that every time-

Velvette: I'm so hungry

Valentino: Red lobster cheesy biscuits?

Velvette: Fuck no, chipotle

Valentino: You don't like the cheesy biscuits?

Velvette: They're okay

Valentino: I'm a whore for the cheesy biscuits

Velvette: You say you're a whore for everything

Valentino: Oh yeah, like what?

Velvette: Bottled water, massages, Internet, McDonald's French fries, Percocet-

Valentino: We need to hang out less

Vox: Like you could write a better script

Velvette: Then this? I totally could

Vox: About what?

Velvette: About a girl who's superpower is all her insides are poisonous so if a guy tries to molest her his eyes melt out of his head and he dies in a slow grueling pain

Valentino: So then he can't deny it? That's good

Vox: Why wouldn't you just make it so her superpower avoids getting molested altogether?

Velvette: Who the fuck would wanna watch that? Her superpower is nothing happened? Wow great movie idea

Vox to Sir Pentious on that call be like: You are so fucking pathetic, I hope you kill yourself while your mom watches

[ventithedrunkbardehe]

Hello hello

I'm baackk~

Warnings: English is nkt my first lanuage so there might be grammar errors, also typo's mighz happenen here and there, also swearing

So let's get started shall we?

Streamer!reader accidentaly revealing their relationship with the Xsoleil boys ft.Nina!

You were just doing an ordinary drinking stream, or so you planned to. You didn't realize how much you got caught up in drinking and started answering the questions in the chat. You didn't realize how much of a bad idea it was beacuse of your drunked state. You took a sip of your drink as you read out the next question

'Is there anyone that has your interest in NijisanjiEN' - you rewd the question out lous and without even thinking you answered to it. "Mhmm... And I'm so glad that he's actually my boyfriend..." - you said as you took another sip.

Ver

"I mean who wouldn't love Ver... He's just so perfect, and handsome, and cute, and everything else you could ask for..." - you continued babbling about your boyfriend as the whole chat turned into a mess, both hate and love coming from fans. You would've kept going unless Nina called you up that you should stop the stream since you were so drunk and you didn't realize what were you talking about. You argued a bit with her ws she tried to convince the fans thru the phone call that you were saying nonsense and it was just beacuse you were drunk. But everyone knowing that you're one of the most honest streamers out there, why would you be babbling lies about being together with Ver. Nina luckily got you to turn the stream off and go to bed, but you weren't ready what would happen tomorrow.

As you woke up the next day, you're phone was blown up by how many notifications you got from Twitter. As you opened the app you saw several clips about you talking about how much youlove Ver and so glad that he's your boyfriend. You saw how many other streamer friend of yours tried to protect you, as you got embarrassed from reading all the tweets about your mistake, you finally got yourself together and wrote an apology tweet saying that you were sorry and that too drunk to even know what were you talking about, you didn't mean to say boyfriend as in a relationship but as a good guy friend. After ypu posted the tweet out you immediately called Ver up.

"I'm so sorry about everything honey, I was just-" -he cut into your sentence

"It's okay, but next time make sure that you don't get caught up in drinking and start spilling tea about our relationship okay? Anyways I'll go over to your place in a few minutes okay?" - he said

"Okay, love you" - you said as you giys put the phone down.

'This will be hurting for a while...' - you tought as you looked at the screen of your monitor that had twitter open.

Hex

"I mean who wouldn't like Hex... Just look at him... He has such an attractive voice... His humor... Ahh I could talk about him all day." - you said. You continued talking about him as you took several sips from you drink. You didn't ralize thst you were talking about him for like 5 minutes straight untill Mom came to the rescue and called you up to stop the stream which took her like almost 10 minutes beacuse your drunk ass didn't realize what was going on and you guys ended up arguing untill she finally got you to end the stram and to to bed.

When you woke up your head was hurting like hell, as you remembered back what did you do last night's stream and immediately went up on twitter to see clips about you talking about you dear boyfriend Hex, and others trying to protect you. When you got yourself together you wrote an apology tweet, saying thst it was just a big missunderstanding that the word boyfriend you meant was not the 'in realtionship' term but it was as 'guy friend' term. Hoping that people will belive you as you posted it. After a few minutes of continuing reading the tweets about your mistake your phone buzzed. It was you boyfriend Hex. You immediately pickee upand started apologizing to him about the accident.

"It's okay... Hopefully it will go down in a week or two..." - he said as you were on the verge of tears. "But to be honest... I never imagined that you love me this much" - he chuckled at your reaction as teased you.

"Oh shut up... This is embarrassing" - you said as you huffed and joined to laugh with him.

Doppio

"Pio-chan is just so cute... He's like a giant baby... His laugh... ahh so cute. Everything about him is so cute..." - you continued babbling about your boyfriend. Some of your streamer friends in the chat tried stopping you, writing to you on social media, but Nina saved the night. She called you up talking you down from continueing the stream as you were drunk drunk. After a few minutes of talking and arguing a little she finally got you to stop the stream and get yourself together and go to bed.

The next day you woke up with a terrible headache from being drunk yesterday night.

"Fucking hangovers..." - you said as you tried to get out of bed and get some painkillers. After ypu took them, even tho your head was still hurting you went up on twitter to see everything about your mistake that was clipped and posted everywhere. Everyone was talking about your little tea spilling. You saw some of your friends trying to stop the people from talking about these matters, but everyone knew that they won't die down from just these tweets. You were reading the tweets about yourself as the phone buzzed on your desk. It was Doppio. You didn't really want to answer it being a bit scared how he would react to it. But you eventually picked it up.

"Good morning darling~" - he said lively.

"Good morning" - you said back to him, it was hearable on your voice that you were nervous and embarrassed.

"Are you worried about yesterday night?" - he asked in a softer tone.

"Mhm... I'm sorry" - you answered.

"It's alright it's alright! My company might kill me but let's tell the fans ye? I mean it won't die down until they get to know the thruth yea? So why not make it easier for everyone?" - he said in a reassureing voice.

"I-... Pio-chan... Are you okay? Are you drunk? As I know I was the one drowning myself in drinks and not you." - you asked worriedly laughing a bit.

"Yepp a 100% sure!" - he answered immediately.

The two of you agreed to announce your guy's relationship and after tweeting it out the both you turned your social media's off. Soon enough he arrived at your place and you guys went and played games.

@lonelysimpfor2dmen thank you for the request ❤️ sorry thst it took this long 😭🙏

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Have a nice day! Byeee!

[thewidowsghost]

Seeing the Beauty (Piper McLean x Fem!Jackson!Reader) - Chapter 14

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Piper dreams she's back in Medea's department store. "Please let this be a dream," she mutters, "and not my eternal punishment."

"No, dear," says a woman's honey-sweet voice. "No punishment."

Piper turns, afraid she'd see Medea, but a different woman stands next to her, browsing through the fifty-percent-off rack.

The woman is gorgeous — shoulder-length hair, a graceful neck, perfect features, and an amazing figure tucked into jeans and a snowy white top.

Piper had seen her share of actresses — most of her dad's dates were knockout beautiful — but this lady is different. She's elegant without trying, fashionable without effort, stunning without makeup. After seeing Aeolus with his silly face-lifts and cosmetics, Piper thinks this woman looked even more astonishing. There's nothing artificial about her.

As Piper watches, the woman's appearance changes. Piper can't decide the color of her eyes, or the exact color of her hair. The woman becomes more and more beautiful, as if her image is aligning itself to Piper's thoughts — getting as close as possible to Piper's ideal of beauty.

"Aphrodite," Piper says. "Mom?"

The goddess smiles. "You're only dreaming, my sweet. If anyone wonders, I wasn't here. Okay?"

"I —" Piper wants to ask a thousand questions, but they all crowd together in her head.

Aphrodite holds up a turquoise dress. Piper thinks it looked awesome, but the goddess makes a face. "This isn't my color, is it? Pity, it's cute. Medea really does have some lovely things here."

"This — this building exploded," Piper stammers. "I saw it."

"Yes," Aphrodite agreed. "I suppose that's why everything's on sale. Just a memory, now." The goddess gestures around the department store. "You have other trials to face, my sweet. Medea will be back, along with many other enemies. The Doors of Death have opened."

"What do you mean?"

Aphrodite winks at her. "You're a smart one, Piper. You know."

A cold feeling settles over her. "The sleeping woman, the one Medea and Midas called their patron. She's managed to open a new entrance from the Underworld. She's letting the dead escape back into the world."

"Mmm. And not just any dead. The worst, the most powerful, the ones most likely to hate the gods."

"The monsters are coming back from Tartarus the same way," Piper guesses. "That's why they don't stay disintegrated."

"Yes, their patron, as you call her, has a special relationship with Tartarus, the spirit of the pit." Aphrodite holds up a gold sequined top. "No . . . this would make me look ridiculous."

Piper laughs uneasily. "You? You can't look anything but perfect."

"You're sweet," Aphrodite says. "But beauty is about finding the right fit, the most natural fit. To be perfect, you have to feel perfect about yourself — avoid trying to be something you're not. For a goddess, that's especially hard. We can change so easily."

"My dad thought you were perfect." Piper's voice quavers. "He never got over you."

Aphrodite's gaze becomes distant. "Yes . . . Tristan. Oh, he was amazing. So gentle and kind, funny and handsome. Yet he had so much sadness inside."

"Could we please not talk about him in the past tense?"

"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't want to leave your father, of course. It's always so hard, but it was for the best. If he had realized who I actually was —"

"Wait — he didn't know you were a goddess?"

"Of course not." Aphrodite sounds offended. "I wouldn't do that to him. For most mortals, that's simply too hard to accept. It can ruin their lives! Ask your friend Jason. His poor mother was destroyed when she found out she'd fallen in love with Zeus. No, it was much better Tristan believed that I was a mortal woman who left him without explanation. Better a bittersweet memory than an immortal, unattainable goddess. Which brings me to an important matter . . ." She opens her hand and shows Piper a glowing glass vial of pink liquid. "This is one of Medea's kinder mixtures. It erases only recent memories. When you save your father, if you can save him, you should give him this."

Piper can't believe what she was hearing. "You want me to dope my dad? You want me to make him forget what he's been through?"

Aphrodite holds up the vial. The liquid casts a pink glow over her face. "Your father acts confident, Piper, but he walks a fine line between two worlds. He's worked his whole life to deny the old stories about gods and spirits, yet he fears those stories might be real. He fears that he's shut off an important part of himself, and someday it will destroy him. Now he's been captured by a giant. He's living a nightmare. Even if he survives . . . if he has to spend the rest of his life with those memories, knowing that gods and spirits walk the earth, it will shatter him. That's what our enemy hopes for. She will break him, and thus break your spirit."

Piper wants to shout that Aphrodite was wrong. Her dad is the strongest person she knew. Piper would never take his memories the way Hera had taken (Y/n)'s.

But somehow she can't stay angry with Aphrodite. She remembers what her dad had said months ago, at the beach at Big Sur: If I really believed in Ghost Country, or animal spirits, or Greek gods . . . I don't think I could sleep at night. I'd always be looking for somebody to blame.

Now Piper wants someone to blame, too.

"Who is she?" Piper demands. "The one controlling the giants?"

Aphrodite purses her lips. She moves to the next rack, which holds battered armor and ripped togas, but Aphrodite looks through them as if they were designer outfits.

"You have a strong will," she muses. "I'm never given much credit among the gods. My children are laughed at. They're dismissed as conceited and shallow."

"Some of them are."

Aphrodite laughs. "Granted. Perhaps I'm conceited and shallow, too, sometimes. A girl has to indulge. Oh, this is nice." She picks up a burned and stained bronze breastplate and holds it up for Piper to see. "No?"

"No," Piper said. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Patience, my sweet," the goddess says. "My point is that love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love."

Piper pulls out her dagger and studies its reflective blade. "Like Helen starting the Trojan War?"

"Ah, Katoptris." Aphrodite smiles. "I'm glad you found it. I get so much flack for that war, but honestly, Paris and Helen were a cute couple. And the heroes of that war are immortal now — at least in the memories of men. Love is powerful, Piper. It can bring even the gods to their knees. I told this to my son Aeneas when he escaped from Troy. He thought he had failed. He thought he was a loser! But he traveled to Italy —"

"And became the forebear of Rome."

"Exactly. You see, Piper, my children can be quite powerful. You can be quite powerful, because my lineage is unique. I am closer to the beginning of creation than any other Olympian."

Piper struggles to remember about Aphrodite's birth. "Didn't you . . . rise from the sea? Standing on a seashell?"

The goddess laughs. "That painter Botticelli had quite an imagination. I never stood on a seashell, thank you very much. But yes, I rose from the sea. The first beings to rise from Chaos were the Earth and Sky — Gaea and Ouranos. When their son, the Titan Kronos, killed Ouranos —"

"By chopping him to pieces with a scythe," Piper remembers.

Aphrodite wrinkles her nose. "Yes. The pieces of Ouranos fell into the sea. His immortal essence created seafoam. And from that foam —"

"You were born. I remember now. So you're —"

"The last child of Ouranos, who was greater than the gods or the Titans. So, in a strange way, I'm the eldest Olympian god. As I said, love is a powerful force. And you, my daughter, are much more than a pretty face. Which is why you already know who is waking the giants, and who has the power to open doors into the deepest parts of the earth." Aphrodite waits, as if she can sense Piper slowly putting together the pieces of a puzzle, which makes a dreadful picture.

"Gaea," Piper says. "The earth itself. That's our enemy."

She hopes Aphrodite would say no, but the goddess keeps her eyes on the rack of tattered armor. "She has slumbered for eons, but she is slowly waking. Even asleep, she is powerful, but once she wakes . . . we will be doomed. You must defeat the giants before that happens, and lull Gaea back into her slumber. Otherwise the rebellion has only begun. The dead will continue to rise. Monsters will regenerate with even greater speed. The giants will lay waste to the birthplace of the gods. And if they do that, all civilization will burn."

"But Gaea? Mother Earth?"

"Do not underestimate her," Aphrodite warns. "She is a cruel deity. She orchestrated Ouranos's death. She gave Kronos the sickle and urged him to kill his own father. While the Titans ruled the world, she slumbered in peace. But when the gods overthrew them, Gaea woke again in all her anger and gave birth to a new race — the giants — to destroy Olympus once and for all."

"And it's happening again," Piper says. "The rise of the giants."

Aphrodite nods. "Now you know. What will you do?"

"Me?" Piper clenches her fists. "What am I supposed to do? Put on a pretty dress and sweet-talk Gaea into going back to sleep?"

"I wish that would work," Aphrodite replies. "But no, you will have to find your own strengths, and fight for what you love. Like my favored ones, Helen and Paris. Like my son Aeneas."

"Helen and Paris died," Piper says.

"And Aeneas became a hero," the goddess counters. "The first great hero of Rome. The result will depend on you, Piper, but I will tell you this: The seven greatest demigods must be gathered to defeat the giants, and that effort will not succeed without you. When the two sides meet . . . you will be the mediator. You will determine whether there is friendship or bloodshed."

"What two sides?" Piper's vision begins to dim.

"You must wake soon, my child," says the goddess. "I do not always agree with Hera, but she's taken a bold risk, and I agree it must be done. Zeus has kept the two sides apart for too long. Only together will you have the power to save Olympus. Now, wake, and I hope you like the clothes I picked out."

"What clothes?" Piper demands, but the dream faded to black.

. . .

Piper wakes a table at a sidewalk café.

For a second, she thinks she's still dreaming. It's a sunny morning and the air is brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sit chatting and drinking coffee.

She can smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passes in front of quaint little shops. The street is lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as though winter was a foreign concept.

In other words: they're in California.

Her friends sit in chairs around her — all of them with their hands calmly folded across their chests, dozing pleasantly. And they all have new clothes on. Piper looks down at her own outfit and gasps. "Mother!"

She yells louder than she meant. Jason flinches, bumping the table with his knees, and then all of them are awake.

"What?" Hedge demands. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabs the table. "No — not falling. Where are we?"

(Y/n) blinks, trying to get her bearings. She focuses on Piper and makes a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"

Piper probably blushed. She's wearing the turquoise dress she'd seen in her dream, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on her favorite silver charm bracelet, even though she'd left that back home in L.A., and her old snowboarding jacket from her dad, which amazingly goes with the outfit pretty well. She pulls out Katoptris, and judging from the reflection in the blade, she'd gotten her hair done, too.

"It's nothing," she says. "It's my —" She remembers Aphrodite's warning not to mention that they'd talked. "It's nothing."

Leo grins. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudges his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What . . . oh."

All of them had been given a makeover. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"God, Leo." Piper tries not to laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," says Coach Hedge. "'Course, I look better."

The satyr is a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffs and then eats.

Jason is wearing a baby blue collared, short sleeved dress shirt, tucked into khaki slacks, a pair of black dress shoes, and a navy blue tie.

"Well," (Y/n) says, "at least your mom overlooked me."

Piper knows that isn't exactly true. Looking at her, Piper's heart does a little tap dance. (Y/n) is dressed simply in black skinny jeans, a clean sea-green t-shirt, a black leather jacket. She has new track shoes on, her hair is newly trimmed, and she is wearing her bead necklace – four beads for four completed summers at camp, and on the necklace, is two wedding rings and Piper wonders if they're hers, or her parents. (Y/n)'s eyes are the same color as the sea in the distance. Aphrodite's message is clear: This one needs no improvement.

And Piper agrees.

"Anyway," she says uncomfortably, "how did we get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge says, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift — a nice soft breeze — cushioned our fall."

"And she got fired for us," Leo says. "Man, we suck."

"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge replies. "Besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats."

"I'm going to be sick," Piper fake gags. "Anyone else want coffee?"

"Coffee!" Hedge's grin was stained blue from the flower. "I love coffee!"

"Urn," Jason said, "but — money? Our packs?"

Piper looks down. Their packs are at their feet, and everything seems to still be there. She reaches into her coat pocket and feels two things she hadn't expected. One is a wad of cash. The other is a glass vial — the amnesia potion. She leaves the vial in her pocket and brings out the money.

Leo whistles. "Allowance? Piper, your mom rocks!"

"Waitress!" Hedge calls. "Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab."

It doesn't take them long to figure out where they are. The menus say "Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA." And according to the waitress, it is 9 a.m. on December 21, the winter solstice, which gives them three hours until Enceladus's deadline.

They don't have to wonder where Mount Diablo is, either. They can see it on the horizon, right at the end of the street. After the Rockies, Mount Diablo doesn't look very large, nor is it covered in snow. It seems downright peaceful, its golden creases marbled with gray-green trees. But size is deceptive with mountains, Piper knows. It's probably much bigger up close. And appearances are deceptive too. Here they are — back in California — supposedly her home — with sunny skies, mild weather, laid-back people, and a plate of chocolate chip scones with coffee. And only a few miles away, somewhere on that peaceful mountain, a super powerful, super-evil giant is about to have her father for lunch.

Leo pulls something out of his pocket — the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him. Aphrodite must've thought it was important if she'd magically transferred it to his new outfit.

"What is that?" Piper asks.

Leo folds it up gingerly again and puts it away. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork."

"It's more than that," Jason guesses. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success."

Leo shakes his head. "Not today. He was talking about . . . later."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asks.

"Trust me," Leo says. "Now — what's our game plan?"

Coach Hedge belches. He'd already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silverware, except Piper had slapped his hand.

"Climb the mountain," Hedge says. "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave."

"Thank you, General Eisenhower," Jason grumbles.

"Hey, I'm just saying!"

"Guys," Piper says. "There's more you need to know."

It's tricky, because she can't mention her mom; but she tells them she'd figured some things out in her dreams. She tells them about their real enemy: Gaea.

"Gaea?" Leo shakes his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry."

"Leo, that's Snow White," Piper looks amused.

"Okay, but —"

"Listen, cupcake." Coach Hedge dabs the espresso out of his goatee. "Piper's telling us some serious stuff, here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not even sure I could take her."

Leo whistles. "Really?"

Hedge nods. "This earth lady – she and her old man the sky were nasty customers."

"Ouranos," Piper says. She can't help looking up at the blue sky, wondering if it has eyes.

"Right," Hedge says. "So Ouranos, he's not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then they have another set of kids — the twelve Titans — and Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into prison too. So she goes up to her son Kronos —"

"The big bad dude," Leo said. "The one they defeated last summer."

(Y/n) lets out an annoyed grumble, and Piper wonders if she'd remembered anything else – Piper makes a mental note to ask her about it later. Well, Piper's brain betrays her, if we live long enough for me to ask.

"Right. And Gaea's the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him, 'Hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can cut him to pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn't that be great?"'

Nobody says anything. Piper's chocolate chip scone doesn't look so appetizing anymore. Even though she'd heard the story before, she still can't quite get her mind around it. She tries to imagine a kid so messed up, he would kill his own dad just for power. Then she imagines a mom so messed up, she would convince her son to do it.

"Definitely not Snow White," she decides.

"Nah, Kronos was a bad guy," Hedge agrees. "But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She's so old and powerful, so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her — snoring.''

"But she talked to me," Leo says. "How can she be asleep?"

Gleeson brushes crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He's on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils are as big as quarters. "Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active — dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake."

"But she's getting more powerful," Piper adds. "She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back—this guy Porphyrion —"

"He'll raise an army to destroy the gods," Jason puts in. "Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully."

Gleeson nods. "Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible."

Leo looks warily at Mount Diablo. "So . . . climbing a mountain. That would be bad."

Piper's heart sinks. First, she'd been asked to betray her friends. Now they are trying to help her rescue her dad even though they know they are walking into a trap. The idea of fighting a giant had been scary enough. But the idea that Gaea is behind it — a force more powerful than a god or Titan . . .

"Guys, I can't ask you to do this," Piper says. "This is too dangerous."

"You kidding?" Gleeson belches and shows them his blue carnation smile. "Who's ready to beat stuff up?"

. . .

Leo had hoped the taxi could get them all the way to the top.

No such luck. The cab makes lurching, grinding sounds as it climbs the mountain road, and halfway up they find the ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie says. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you."

"We're sure." Leo is the first one out. He has a bad feeling about what is wrong with the cab, and when he looks down he sees he was right. The wheels are sinking into the road like it is made of quicksand. Not fast — just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle — but Leo knows different.

The road is hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already Leo's shoes are starting to sink. Gaea is messing with them.

While his friends get out, Leo pays the cabbie. He's generous — heck, why not? It was Aphrodite's money. Plus, he has a feeling he might never be coming off this mountain.

"Keep the change," he says. "And get out of here. Quick."

The driver doesn't argue. Soon all they can see is his dust trail.

The view from the mountain is pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo is a patchwork of towns — grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind Leo had never known.

"That's Concord," Jason says, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way . . ."

He points west, where a ridge of golden hills holds back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

"Jason?" Piper looks at the son of Zeus. "You remember something? You've been here?"

"Yes . . . no." He gave her an anguished look. "It just seems important."

"That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nods towards the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

But Jason looks towards the foggy basin with such longing that Leo feels uneasy. Why did Jason seem so connected with that place — a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? What if Jason came from here? Everybody kept hinting Jason is an enemy, that his arrival at Camp Half-Blood was a dangerous mistake.

No, Leo thinks. Ridiculous. Jason was their friend.

Leo tries to move his foot, but his heels are now completely embedded in the dirt. "Hey, guys," he says. "Let's keep moving."

The others notice the problem.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbles. He pops his hooves free from his shoes, then hands the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

Leo snorts. "Yes, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nods approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asks.

(Y/n) points towards the peak. Drifting across the summit is a plume of smoke. From a distance, Leo had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn't. Something is burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Jason agrees. "We'd better hurry."

The Wilderness School had taken Leo on several forced marches. He thought he was in good shape. But climbing a mountain when the earth is trying to swallow his feet is like jogging on a flypaper treadmill.

In no time, Leo had rolled up the sleeves on his collarless shirt, even though the wind is cold and sharp. He wishes Aphrodite had given him walking shorts and some more comfortable shoes, but he is grateful for the Ray-Bans that keep the sun out of his eyes. He slips his hands into his tool belt and starts summoning supplies — gears, a tiny wrench, some strips of bronze. As he walks, he builds — not really thinking about it, just fiddling with pieces.

By the time they near the crest of the mountain, Leo is the most fashionably dressed sweaty, dirty hero ever. His hands are covered in machine grease.

The little object he'd made is like a windup toy — the kind that rattles and walks across a coffee table. He isn't sure what it could do, but he slips it into his tool belt.

He misses his army coat with all its pockets. Even more than that, he misses Festus. He could use a fire-breathing bronze dragon right now. But Leo knows Festus would not be coming back — at least, not in his old form.

Finally Jason crouches behind a wall of rock. He gestures for the others to do the same. Leo crawls up next to him. Piper has to pull Coach Hedge down.

"I don't want to get my outfit dirty!" Hedge complains.

"Shh!" Piper says.

Reluctantly, the satyr kneels.

Just over the ridge where they are hiding, in the shadow of the mountain's final crest, is a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing is littered with extra logs and construction equipment — an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver — must be a tree harvester, Leo thinks — and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine — a hydraulic ax. A lake sits about fifty feet to the right of the bonfire.

Why a giant needs construction equipment, Leo isn't sure. He doesn't see how the creature in front of him could even fit in the driver's seat. The giant Enceladus is so large, so horrible, Leo doesn't want to look at him.

But he forces himself to focus on the monster.

To start with, he is thirty feet tall — easily as tall as the treetops. Leo is sure the giant could've seen them behind their ridge, but he seems intent on the weird purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appears humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms are completely ripped. Each of his biceps are bigger than Leo. His skin is bronze but sooty with ash. His face is crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glow white, and his hair is matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.

From the waist down, he is even more terrifying. His legs are scaly green, with claws instead of feet — like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus hold a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dips its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

"Okay," Coach Hedge whispers. "Here's the plan —"

Leo elbows him. "You're not charging him alone!"

"Aw, c'mon."

Piper chokes back a sob. "Look." Just visible on the other side of the bonfire is a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so (Y/n) couldn't make out his face, but Piper doesn't seem to have any doubts. "Dad," she says.

Leo swallows. He wishes this was a Tristan McLean movie. Then Piper's dad would be faking unconsciousness. He'd untie his bonds and knock out the giant with some cleverly hidden anti-giant gas. Heroic music would start to play, and Tristan McLean would make his amazing escape, running away in slow motion while the mountainside exploded behind him.

But this wasn't a movie. Tristan McLean is half dead and about to be eaten. The only people who can stop it — four fashionably dressed teenaged demigods and a megalomaniac goat.

"There's four of us," Hedge whispers urgently. "And only one of him."

"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo asks.

"Okay," Hedge asks. "So you, me, (Y/n), and Jason distract him. Piper sneaks around and frees her dad."

They all look at Jason.

"What?" Jason asks. "I'm not the leader."

"Yes," Piper replies. "you are."

They'd never really talked about it, but no one disagrees, not even Hedge, and not (Y/n), who could've pulled the 'I've been at camp longer' card or the 'I was offered immortality by the gods' card. Coming this far had been a team effort, but when it comes to a life-and-death decision, Leo knew Jason is the one to ask. Even if he has no memory, Jason has a kind of balance to him. He can just tell Jason been in battles before, and he knows how to keep his cool. Leo wasn't exactly the trusting type, but he trusts Jason with his life.

"I hate to say it," Jason sighs, "but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance."

Not a good chance, Leo thought. Not even a survivable chance. Just their best chance.

They can't sit there all day and talk about it, though. It has to be close to noon — the giant's deadline — and the ground is still trying to pull them down. Leo's knees had already sunk two inches into the dirt.

Leo looks at the construction equipment and gets a crazy idea. He brings out the little toy he'd made on the climb, and he realizes what it can do — if he's lucky, which he almost never is. "Let's boogie," he says. "Before I come to my senses."

. . .

Piper scrambles along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Jason, (Y/n), and Coach Hedge walk straight into the clearing.

(Y/n) and Jason summon their magic weapons – Jason's coming up as a lance. (Y/n) brandishes her sword over her head and yells, "Giant!" which sounds pretty good and a lot more confident than Leo could've managed. He is thinking more along the lines of "We are pathetic ants! Don't kill us!"

Enceladus stops chanting at the flames. He turns towards them and grins, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.

"Well," the giant rumbles, "What a nice surprise."

(Y/n) doesn't like the sound of that; Leo's hand closes on his windup gadget. He steps sideways, edging his way towards the bulldozer.

Coach Hedge shouts. "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up you –"

"Coach," Jason deadpans. "Shut up."

Enceladus roars with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowns at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment."

Enceladus opens his mouth wide, and his teeth begin to glow.

"Scatter!" Leo yells.

Jason, (Y/n), and Hedge dive to the left as the giant blows fire — a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous. Leo dodges behind the bulldozer, winds up his homemade device, and drops it into the driver's seat. Then he runs to the right, heading for the tree harvester.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jason and (Y/n) rise in unison and charge the giant. Coach Hedge rips off his canary yellow jacket, which is now on fire, and bleats angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raises his club and charges, too.

Before they can get very far, Enceladus slams his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shakes.

The shockwave sends Leo sprawling. He blinks, momentarily stunned. Through a haze of grassfire and bitter smoke, he sees (Y/n) and Jason staggering to their feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees — a view Leo really doesn't need.

The giant bellows, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turns and blows fire at a line of bushes to Leo's right. Piper runs into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.

Enceladus laughs. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"

Leo's gut twists. This is the moment Piper had warned them about. They'd played right into Enceladus's hands.

The giant must've read Leo's expression, because he laughs even louder. "That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"

Leo can see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wears a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet are caked with mud. He isn't completely unconscious, because he lifts his head and groans — yep, Tristan McLean all right. Leo had seen that face in enough movies. But he has a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looks thin and sickly — not heroic at all.

"Dad!" Piper yells.

Mr. McLean blinks, trying to focus. "Pipes . . .? Where . . ."

Piper dares her dagger and faces Enceladus. "Let him go!"

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbles. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die."

Piper looks back and forth between Leo and her dad.

"He'll kill you," Leo warns. "Don't trust him!"

"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellows. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren – I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"

(Y/n) is on her feet now, sword ready; but before she can act, Enceladus roars — a call so loud it echoes down the valley and is probably heard all the way to San Francisco.

At the edge of the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rise up. Leo realizes with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.

The ogres shuffle forward. They are small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them has six arms — one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wear only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, Leo can smell them. Six guys who never bathe, with six armpits each. Leo decides if he survives this day, he'd have to take a three-hour shower just to forget the stench.

"What the hell are those?" (Y/n) asks.

Piper's blade reflects the purple light of the bonfire. "Gegenees."

"In English?" Leo questions.

"The Earthborn," Piper replies. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason — the first Jason."

"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounds delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment —"

"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellows, and the others take up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"

"Yes, thank you, boys," Enceladus says. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screams. They all pick up clumps of earth, which solidify in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay- son? Kill Yay-son!"

Enceladus smiles. "You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."

Piper steps forward, her eyes blazing with such rage, even the Earthborn back away. She radiates power and beauty, but it has nothing to do with her clothes or makeup. "You will not take the people I love," she says. "None of them." Her words ripple across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn mutter, "Okay, okay, sorry," and begin to retreat.

"Stand your ground, fools!" Enceladus bellows. He snarls at Piper. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earthborn! I will show you Jason."

Leo's heart sinks, but the giant doesn't point to Jason. He points to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hangs helpless and half-conscious.

"There is Jason," Enceladus says with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"

The biggest surprise: one look from Jason, and all four of them know the game plan. When had that happened, that they can read each other so well?

(Y/n) and Jason charge Enceladus, while Piper rushes towards her father, and Leo dashes for the tree harvester, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.

(Y/n)'s instincts kick in, and her gut tells her she'd dueled opponents almost this big before. Size and strength equaled slowness, so (Y/n) just has to be quicker – pace herself, wear out her opponent, and avoid getting smashes or flame-broiled.

(Y/n) rolls away from the giant's first spear thrust and jabs Enceladus in the ankle. Jason's javelin manages to pierce the giant's hyde on the other ankle, and golden ichor – the blood of immortals – trickle down the giant's clawed feet.

Enceladus bellows in pain and blasts (Y/n) with fire. She scrambles away, rolling behind the giant, and strikes again behind his knee.

It goes on like that for seconds, minutes — it was hard to judge. (Y/n) hears combat across the clearing — construction equipment grinding, fire roaring, monsters shouting, and rocks smashing into metal. She hears Leo and Piper yelling defiantly, which meant they were still alive. (Y/n) tries not to think about it. She can't afford to get distracted.

Enceladus's spear misses her by a millimeter. (Y/n) keeps dodging, but the ground stuck to her feet. Gaea is getting stronger, and the giant is getting faster. Enceladus might be slow, but he isn't dumb. He begins anticipating (Y/n)'s and Jason's moves, and they're attacks are only annoying him, making him more enraged.

"I'm not some minor monster," Enceladus bellows. "I am a giant, born to destroy gods! You're little toothpick can't hurt me!"

Neither (Y/n) or Jason waste energy replying. Jason is already tired. The ground clings to his feet, making him feel like he weighed an extra hundred pounds. The air is full of smoke that burned his lungs. Fires roars around him, stoked by the winds, and the temperature is approaching the heat of an oven.

Jason raises his javelin to block the giant's next strike — a big mistake. Don't fight force with force, a voice chides him — the wolf Lupa, who'd told him that long ago. He manages to deflect the spear, but it grazes his shoulder, and his arm goes numb. He backs up, almost tripping over a burning log. He has to delay — to keep the giant's attention fixed on him while his friends deal with the Earthborn and rescue Piper's dad. He can't fail. He retreats, trying to lure the giant to the edge of the clearing. Enceladus can sense his weariness. The giant smiles, baring his fangs.

"The mighty Jason Grace," he taunts. "Yes, we know about you, son of Jupiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys. The one who single-handedly slew the Titan Krios and toppled the black throne."

Jason's mind reels. He doesn't know these names, yet they makes his skin tingle, as if his body remembers the pain his mind doesn't.

"What are you talking about?" he asks. He realizes his mistake when Enceladus breathes fire.

Distracted, Jason moves too slowly. The blast misses him, but heat blisters his back. He slams into the ground, his clothes smoldering. He is blinded from ash and smoke, choking as he tries to breathe.

He scrambles back as the giant's spear cleaves the ground between his feet.

Jason manages to stand.

(Y/n) moves in front of Jason, and Jason can feel the power radiating off her.

"Ah, the sea god's brat!" Enceladus bellows.

"Piece of shit," (Y/n) replies, and she charges the giant on her own.

Jason can only watch, his body dragging with exhaustion, as (Y/n) advances on the giant.

A lake about fifty feet to (Y/n)'s right explodes, dousing the bonfire, and putting it out, making the clearing darker, and suddenly, Leo, Jason, and Piper feel a strength wash over them as water laps at their shoes.

(Y/n) dodges the first strike, and then stabs the giant in the kneecap, and then jumps off her sword, ripping it out of the giant's knee and scrambles up and stabs him in the ear.

Enceladus lets out a roar so loud, it distracts Piper from her dad. She stares at (Y/n) atop the giant's shoulder, watching as (Y/n) stabs her sword into his neck.

Jason takes a deep breath and charges.

Enceladus shakes (Y/n) off and she rolls, landing on her feet, though she staggers with the momentum.

Jason fakes a strike and rolls between the giant's legs. He comes up quickly, thrusting with all his might, ready to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipates the trick. He steps aside with too much speed and agility for a giant, as if the earth is helping him move.

He sweeps his spear sideways, meets Jason's javelin – and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the golden weapon shatters.

The force knocks (Y/n) off her feet and squeezes the breath out of her chest.

When she regains her focus, she and Jason are sitting side by side at the rim of a crater. Enceladus stands at the other side, staggering and confused. The javelin's destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick glassy substance.

Neither Jason or (Y/n) are sure how they'd survived, but their clothes are steaming. Both demigods are out of energy, and Tsunami had skittered across the clearing at Leo's feet.

Both demigods try to get to their feet, but their legs are like lead. Enceladus blinks at the destruction and laughs, "Impressive! Unfortunately, those were your last tricks, demigods.

Enceladus leaps the crater in a single bound, planting his feet on either sides of the demigods. The giant raises his spear, its tip hovering six feet over (Y/n)'s chest.

"And now," Enceladus laughs, "my first sacrifices to Gaea!"

. . .

Time seems to slow down, which was really frustrating since (Y/n) still can't move. She feels herself sinking into the earth like the ground is a waterbed – comfortable, urging her to relax.

(Y/n) can't feel her arms. She can see the tip of the spear coming towards her chest in slow motion. She knows she should move, but she can't. Funny, she thinks. All that effort to stay alive, and then, boom. I'll just lie here helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales me.

Leo's voice yells, "Heads up!"

A large black metal wedge slammed into Enceladus with a massive thunk! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit.

"Jason, (Y/n), get up!" Piper calls. Her voice energizes (Y/n), shaking her out of her stupor. She sits up, her head groggy, while Piper grabs her under his arms and hauls her to his feet. And then Leo grabs Jason.

"Don't die on me," Piper orders. "You are not dying on me."

"Yes, ma'am." (Y/n) feels light-headed, but Piper is about the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Her hair is smoldering, and her face is smudged with soot. She has a cut on her arm, her dress is torn, and she is missing a boot. Beautiful.

(Y/n) looks down in the crater and sees Enceladus struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.

Amazingly, the giant manages to pull the ax blade free. He yells in pain and the mountain trembles. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stands.

Shakily, he bends down and retrieves his spear.

"Good try." The giant winced. "But I cannot be beaten."

As they watch, the giant's armor mends itself, and the ichor stops flowing. Even the cuts on his dragon-scale legs, which Jason and (Y/n) had worked so hard to make, are now just pale scars.

Leo curses. "What is it with this guy? Die, already!"

"My fate is preordained," Enceladus says. "Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."

"Only by both," Jason says. The giant's smile falters, and Jason sees in his eyes something like fear. "It's true, isn't it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you."

"You will not live long enough to try!" The giant starts stumbling up the crater's slope, slipping on the glassy sides.

"Anyone have a god handy?" Leo asks.

Jason's heart fills with dread. He looks at the giant below them, struggling to get out of the pit, and he knows what has to happen. "Leo," he says, "if you've got a rope in that tool belt, get it ready." He leaps at the giant with no weapon but his bare hands.

"Enceladus!" Piper yells. "Look behind you!"

It's an obvious trick, but her voice is so compelling, even Jason buys it. The giant says, "What?" and turns like there is an enormous spider on his back.

Jason tackles his legs at just the right moment. The giant loses his balance. Enceladus slams into the crater and slides to the bottom. While he tries to rise, Jason puts his arms around the giant's neck. When Enceladus struggles to his feet, Jason is riding his shoulders.

"Get off!" Enceladus screams. He tries to grab Jason's legs, but Jason scrambles around, squirming and climbing over the giant's hair.

Father, Jason thought. If I've ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now I offer my own life — just save my friends.

Suddenly he can smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallows the sun. The giant freezes, sensing it too.

Jason says to his friends, "Hit the deck!"

And every hair on his head stands straight up.

Crack!

Lightning surges through Jason's body, straight through Enceladus, and into the ground. The giant's back stiffens, and Jason is thrown clear. When he regains his bearings, he is slipping down the side of the crater, and the crater is cracking open. The lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbles and tears apart, and Enceladus's legs slide into the chasm. He claws helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment manages to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling.

He fixes Jason with a look of hatred. "You've won nothing, boy. My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I. We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympus will die with —"

The giant loses his grip and falls into the crevice.

The earth shakes. Jason falls toward the rift.

"Grab hold!" Leo yells.

Jason's feet are at the edge of the chasm when he grabs the rope, and Leo, (Y/n), and Piper pull him up.

They stand together, exhausted and terrified, as the chasm closes like an angry mouth. The ground stops pulling at their feet.

For now, Gaea is gone.

Word Count: 8931 words

[reashot]

For @notmaplemable feat. Wolf Faunus Ruby.

Vet Visit

Curled up in her own bed and under her blanket while sipping a cup of hot cocoa. Ruby Rose let out a content sigh while wagging her fluffy tail...

Ruby: Ahhh.... This is the life. All snugged up inside my bed watching anime in my scroll while drinking hot cocoa. And with the air conditioner in full blast. Nothing could ruin this moment for me. Absolutely nothing. 😁

Yang: Hey Sis! It's time for your daily check up with the vet.

Ruby: Ruh-roh. It's time for me to make my exit.

Ruby after hearing the word she dreaded the most. Decided to escape through her window. But when she opens the window and sticks her neck out. Her neck is suddenly grabbed by a catcher pole from seemingly out off nowhere.

Summer: I knew you would try to escape from here. Oh Ruby, try to at least be more creative with your escape attempt. 😔

Ruby: Mom please don't sent me to the Vet. I'm not even sick. 😷

Summer: No can do Ruby. You know that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. 😌

Yang: Hey mom, did you catch her?

Summer: I got her. Tell Tai to warm up the engine. We are going to the Vet. 😇

Ruby: No! Please save me sis! 😵

Yang: I'm sorry Rubs. But remember it's for your own good. Now be a good girl and please get into the pet carrier.

Ruby: What. No! It's embarrassing to be seen in that. 😠

Summer: If you didn't try to escape every time we go into the vet then we won't have to resort to this sort of method everytime. 😑

Ruby: *sniffs* Okay... I will be a good girl. So please don't put me in there. 😢

Summer: *Release Ruby* Good girl. Now go to the Car and wait for us. ☺

Defeated Ruby slowly leaves her room in and get into the family's car. Along the way she didn't say anything even when she finally arrive at the hospital.

Ruby: Please dad don't let me go inside. I promise I'll be good from now on. *cute puppy wolf eyes* 🥺

Tai: *visible pain* I'm sorry Ruby but a routine check up is important. We don't want you to get sick, okay.

Summer: That's right dear. We only wants the best for Ruby. 😉

Yang: Oh I'm so gonna share this video with everyone.

Ruby: I hate you Yang. 👿

Announcer: Ruby Rose the vet will see you now.

Tai: That's us Ruby c'mon.

Ruby: No! I won't go in! 😫

Yang: C'mon Rubes just go inside you're embarrassing us.

Ruby: Good! Because I refuse to go in without a fight. 😩

Tai: C'mon Ruby please get inside. I'll buy you ice cream after this.

Ruby: No! I will not go in. Not even for choco strawberry double scoop sundae. 😤

Summer: Young lady if you don't go in there right now. I will erase all your save game data from your scroll. 😐

Yang: Wow mom. Overkill much?

Ruby: You monster! You wouldn't dare! 😨

Summer: Try me. 😈

Ruby: Hhhh..... Fine! You win. You monster. 😭

Tai: Uhh that's great honey. But can we go meet the vet, now?

The entire family then all go in together with Ruby. To make sure she didn't try to escape. Again.

Nurse: Rose-Xiao Long family I'm afraid that the usual veterinarian will not be attending.

Ruby: Yes! We can go back home now. 😆

Nurse: Fortunately we have someone on standby. But I have to tell you that he is rather young.

Ruby: (Oh no just my luck... And I bet him being young just mean being slightly younger than my dad. 😏)

Jaune: Hi my name is Jaune Arc. I'll be the one doing the checking for... Miss Ruby Rose I presume.

Ruby: (hubba, hubba. He can play doctor with me anytime.)

Jaune: So I received Ruby's file from her last visit. She a half-wolf faunus, in her early teen and have no record of sickness the last time she's in.

Summer: Yes as you can see my little Ruby is the perfect picture of health. And we would like to keep that way this time too. 😊

Ruby: (he's so dreamy) 🫠💕💕💕💕

Tai: *feeling concerned that her daughter might have feeling for the blonde teenager*

Jaune: Excellent then let us proceed. Now miss Ruby can you take off your clothes?

Ruby: As you command. Master. 😋 *proceeds to strips everything*

Tai: Ruby!?

Jaune: *hides his face* Just the outer top please and you can keep your undershirt on!

Ruby: Oh phoey... 😟

Tai bottles up his emotion seeing her baby daughter obviously smitten with the boy. And seeing him touching her body under the excuse of checking her condition does not help with it one bit.

Jaune: Well everything seems to be okay. There's nothing to worry about.

Ruby: *moan~* (Yes touch me more pls 🥴) *wags tail*

Tai: Good then just write us the bill and we will be on our way. C'mon Ruby let's go!

Yang: You heard the man sis.

Ruby: But, but I could be sick. In fact I think I have one of those virus that are in the news lately. *cough* *cough* I think I might have to stay a bit longer. 🤢

Tai: Nice try Ruby but the vet just said you're fine.

Jaune: Well... We can have her stay overnight if we're still not sure. And don't worry the insurance also cover this.

Ruby: Staying Overnight? But Mr. Arc we just met. 😍

Jaune: Please just call me Jaune. I mean we're around the same age after all.

Summer: Ohhh look our little girl is in love. Maybe we should let her stay the night. Who knows maybe that Jaune boy will mate with Ruby and gives us bunch of cubs. ❤

Tai: Summer!

Yang: Mom!

Jaune: Mrs. Rose!

Ruby: Me! 😝

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

I could teach you things

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Tag list: @smromanoff

Summary: While Wanda deals with the police officer Nat takes you away and shows you her house, Daddy Nat to the rescue!

Words: 1,900

Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, swearing, mentions of smut, daddy nat and mommy Wanda

"Good morning officer how are you?" Wanda used her sweetest mom voice for the man, something she'd mastered over the years "good morning Miss Maximoff I need to ask you some questions about Y/n"

Wanda lent against the door with a questioning look on her face "oh Y/n? She's my boys babysitter is everything okay?"

The man glanced behind her to the empty house and then back to her "may I come inside and we talk more?"

The woman agreed "absolutely sir, come in" she let him in and just as he closed the door she glanced out to see Nat and you walk past, giving her a thumbs up Nat smiled pulling you closer "told you your mommy had it under control, now come on let's go for some lunch I'm starving"

Nat dragged you away from the house and past your own house "where are we going?" You asked Nat and she smiled "you get to see where Daddy lives"

You cringed at what she called herself "do you have to call yourself that? Like I don't know you that well so I'm not going to call you something like that"

Nat thought about it, you were telling the truth, you didn't know each other that well, well nat will make sure you know her very well in the coming weeks

"Sure I get that, but on the other hand, you're going to call me Daddy because you'll go back to your home otherwise and your overbearing mother and you don't want that do you? Leaving your mommy and Daddy all alone?"

Did you want that? You should because she was your mom and she literally sent over a police officer because she was worried, but for some reason you didn't "no, no I don't" you said hanging your head making Nat smile

"Don't be ashamed honey, Wanda will make anyone leave their family I mean I left my partner for her husband then I left him for her, she's wild"

You started laughing "it sounds more like you're the wild one in this situation"

She agreed "true very true honey, it seems like Wanda and I were made for each other like that, now we have you and you're just like us"

"no" you said quietly, you were nothing like them, or this perfect little family they seemed to want

"Hmm, do you want to be taken care of?"

You shrugged "I mean I'm an adult so I don't think it's right when I can do it mys-

"I'll answer for you, yes you do" Nat continued "you act all big and grownup but in reality you just want to stay in the house playing your silly video games with some snacks and your teddies around you cuddling you in bed, that's what you want"

Your eyes glistened with tears and Nat brought you into a tight hug "oh malyshka it's okay you'll be okay, it is what you want isn't it? You want to empty headed and kept safe, come on now to my place, Mommy will get you later"

You shakily nodded and let Nat walk you along to her house you found wasn't that far away and she shared it with her sister Yelena, who didn't seem surprised with your appearance in her house "is this Y/n? She is adorable" the woman patted you on the head laughing and Nat pushed her away "ostanovis' yelena, I thought you were going out?"

"I'm going, have fun" she left giving you a wink

"That's my baby sister, she's fun" Nat said as if you were actually interested, which you weren't but you were sure she wouldn't be impressed if you said that

"cool" you finally said and Nat directed you through the house to a room you guess was Natashas and you hesitated at the door "it's okay Y/n nothing's going to happen, unless you want it to"

You shook your head and Nat nodded "okay go on, lay down and have a rest, I'll get you some snacks" you were given a little push and went to the bed sitting down and sighing, this was the most comfortable bed you've ever been on

You didn't even notice Nat leave and come back with some chips, soda and fruit "what are you thinking of pretty girl?"

You sat up looking at her "why are you being nice to me?"

"I'm always nice to pretty girls" she joked and you just lay back down "fine, don't tell me the truth, thanks for the snacks" you huffed opening a bag of chips eating some of them

"You're welcome sweet one"

********************************************************************

"Well thank you Miss Maximoff I appreciate you answering my questions" the officer and Wanda were at the door saying goodbyes when your mother came storming over shouting and screaming about nothing important

"She has my daughter! Why haven't you arrested her?!"

The officer held her back trying to calm her down "Mrs Y/L/N please calm down I didn't find your daughter and Miss Maximoff assures me she hasn't seen her for a while, why don't we go back to your house discuss more places she could be okay?"

He dragged her away and Wanda watched giving the woman a wink and stepping back inside the house closing the door and seeing her boys in the room "everything okay mom?" "where's Y/n?"

She calmed the boys down "hey hey boys relax, I'm fine the officer was just asking me some questions and Y/n is with Nat but I'll go and get now okay and we can have pizza for dinner"

"Yeah!" They both high-fived and ran back through the house with Wanda shouting to them "I'll be back in 20 minutes! Behave!"

There was a jumbled of responses and she took that as a yes leaving the house and going to Nat's house to get you

************************************************************

You were fast asleep when Wanda came into the room with Nat following "she fell asleep pretty quickly after her snacks"

Wanda sat next you on the bed stroking your face "wake up milaya devushka time to go home"

You stirred awake leaning into her hand and opening your eyes "there she is, are you ready to come back home?"

You sat up in the bed and asked "what about my mom?"

Wanda sighed "don't worry about her, she wont come around again, now come on let's get you back, we're having pizza" when you still refused to move Nat sat next to you too "what's wrong detka?"

"I'm still unsure about this whole thing and its still fucking crazy"

Wanda let that outburst go for now and grabbed your hand intertwining your fingers together "let's just go back home okay? The boys miss you already"

Was Wanda just using the boys to manipulate you into staying? Probably, but you agreed to go back "okay I do miss them"

********************************************

You arrived back at Wanda's house with pizza in tow for the four of you "boys we're back! Wanda shouted through the house and Agatha came through the kitchen door "well there's the lovebirds, the boys are asleep, they must've had a tough day"

Wanda smiled thanking Agatha for coming over, unexpectedly but none the less at least the boys were safe

"Actually hun how about I stay and watch the boys a little longer and you two enjoy a night out on the town! I think you both deserve it"

You shook your head "I really just want to go to bed actually I haven't been sleeping well-

Wanda pinched your side stopping you mid sentence "actually I think that's a wonderful idea! Come on princess we'll go and get ready, Thanks Agatha" running upstairs you were dragged along like a rag doll and dragged into Wanda's closet

"Alright my love what do you want to wear?" She searched through the clothes quickly pulling out something that looked like lingerie and your heart stopped, was it for you or her? either way you subconsciously rubbed your thighs together that Wanda noticed when she turned around

"Hmm maybe we should get a hotel room instead if you're this easily turned on? I can finally teach you some things"

You shook your head "no, no I think going out will be just fine" you mumbled and Wanda gave you some clothes "put these on and this dress on"

You were given the pieces of lingerie you saw and a short dress "er I don't think this will fit me?"

The woman smiled pulling you close kissing you and letting one of her hands trail down your body squeezing your ass making you jump and pull away from the kiss suddenly "something wrong my love?" She asked with that infuriating smirk on her face

"I'll just go and get dressed" you went to leave but Wanda stopped you "little girls need their mommy to help them get dressed"

You looked at her questionably "I can dress myself Wan-

She glared at you and you corrected yourself

"I can dress myself mommy, I don't need your help" mumbling and trying to turn around leaving the closet with Wanda close behind pushing you to the bed "what-

"See you're so clumsy you need my help to even walk out of a closet"

You stood up from the bed and you were quickly grabbed by Wanda "now put the lingerie and short skimpy dress on and we'll go out, get drunk and I'll finally teach you all the wonderful things I promised to teach you" she kissed your neck sucking deep purple bruises into your skin and you groaned moving your head to the side letting her kiss more of you trailing her lips down to your shoulder but then she stopped frustrating you

"I know you want it princess but you'll have to wait, because that's what good girls do” she pushed you away and you pouted an idea popping into your head “sounds like you can’t actually do anything to me, I think you’re scared”

Instead of reacting how you thought she’d react all Wanda did was chuckle “little girl I can fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk for weeks, you’ll be so dumbed down the only words that come out of your mouth will be soft whimpers and incoherent moans”

You swallowed hard trying not to rub your thighs together as you felt yourself throb at thought of her fucking you, unfortunately for you mommy knows and sees everything

“Why are you rubbing your thighs together baby? Is your little pussy wet? I bet it is, maybe you should forgo the panties if you’re just going to soak them”

You sat on the bed refusing to answer her question instead starting to take your clothes off to begrudgingly change into the dress you'd been given

"Good girl see, isn't it fun behaving?"

You went to put the skimpy panties on but Wanda stopped you "no panties"

You were shocked "what?!"

"No panties Y/n, easier access for me" she grabbed the underwear putting them into her small bag

God this night was going to be hellish, for you at least but Wanda was loving every minute of it "it'll be fun princess, maybe I'll invite Daddy too, she enjoys nights out too, you should see her in a suit, fucking gorgeous"

"Whatever, I don't drink much though so not too many" you said not noticing Wanda's smirk "sure detka"

[kaledya]

*Me with my 37373 notes to keep track with all the messages*

I'm here ! So...

Yes, the translation program is Ai and Charlie is most of the time more a male name by statistics ? Its a nickname for Charles ! And yes I need to edit anyway, for Lolicia pronouns and also see if words are not repeating themselves, changing some words. So once I get used to it, I'm okay but I understand it can be annoying!

At least it doesn't bother me when there is a mix of she/he, I understand what you are talking about so everything fine 🌸

_

Right !! Hünni is so adorable ! _

Thank you for loving my choice in Addolorata's name ! _

It was very interesting you way to explain the all process of Constantine and Charlie birth as Lucifer and Lilith tried ! It make sense.

And I remembered you explain the orange blood somewhere in a post, but its nice to have it all here back and see you always agreed with your thoughts on the process !

For me it make a lot of sense. Especially the part that the resin/copper skin of the prince and princess are dangerous. It tells that if a Demon or even a Sinner tries to attack them (just an hypothesis), they also had to deal with the wounds.

Like I can imagine Constantine opening the two palm of his hands and POWER SLAP that Sinner/Demon in the face ahahah (like Harry Potter putting his hands on Quirrel face in the first movie!) _

Glad you like the idea of red and black blood and the corruption explanation! And also the eyes in blood making the weight of it all !

Monster is a great song ! And No Longer You, would be nice to when Overlords come back in their home and they just realise how much they have done to have a damn chair at a council! _

Yes, Elrond is very elegant ! Love his design. The best of his mom and dad.

I understand his reaction for his parents situation. Its a mess in either way !

Oh yes of course the recommendation from Constantine would be a big deal. Like the prince himself want Elrond in particular to have this bride and it would be something be among the Goetia. (Like they are chosen ones !)

I would try to draw Hürrem in a theorical beautiful Goetia-style dress one day with Elrond to see how they would match (just in term of design ahah)

Material Girl and Diva. Slay! Just like Verdelet. If Elrond was older they would be great friends !

Yes tall Elrond !🌸

_

In heat ahah. The number of comics I saw that say that Alastor or even Luci have a 'heat season' like animals was wild ! Its in my mind palace somewhere. Forever. *throw all of it in a hole*

Ahaha the dialogue was great ! Honestly, fluffy feathers make me damn happy.

Hürrem history would be wild ! Giovanni be like :

Giovanni thinking to himself : "But there is fanfics about everyone ?! Overlords ? Demons ? The damn king ?! Wait... what about ME ?" *try to find his name in Hürrem's phone*

Ahah

NO BUT SERENITY AND CONSTANTINE looking at RadioApple 🤣 i just can't.

Serenity *reading* : Is that our dads f-... Constantine: sssh. I don't want to know. I WILL unsee this. Now.

Thanks to you too ! 🌸🌸🌸 Thanks for you answers !

Ps : OMGODS I JUST SAW THE NEW ART POST WITH HÜRREM CRYINNNNG (why I'm never ready for this ?!)

LMAO Me too (⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩⁠-̩̩⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠-̩̩̩⁠) but it's fun to answer !! It just takes a while

--

And Hünni is a really sweet(like honey uwu) ship name.

--

And of course I will love it. They has a really beautiful and original name.

---

I'm really glad you think it makes sense!! But if you see any nonsense, please point it out!!

Yes, thank you, I think I had a conversation like this on Twitter a few months ago.I think The blood thing I'm talking about here was a question I asked one of my followers about whether Constantine wants a child or not.I don't remember exactly. Oh yes, I said he wouldn't want it because of his blood and many other reasons, I think he explained it in that post.(I'm not still sure)

--

Yes, they are both seriously dangerous and somewhat unstable beings.

Yes, even if a sinner makes them blees, it will have a dangerous outcome for them.For example, if Charlie gets injured in a war, she won't let Vaggie or the people at the hotel help her, she knows they will get hurt.

LMAO!! The faces of the sinners who saw the POWER slap would be truly amazing.

---

I'm so glad you loved the design!! And yes, Octavia mostly looks like Stolas and Elrond mostly looks like her mother, but it's a mix of the two.

-

Yes and Elrond really hates the sounds of fighting now he only goes to his father's palace for Octavia.

-

It's like yes, Elrond already knows that one day he will be married The fact that this person was chosen by the Prince kind of gives him confidence.(He doesn't want his marriage to be like his parents.)

Although Constantine was fearfully respected even among the nobility and was known as a somewhat callous person, the fact is that he was not a fool And someone who doesn't show bad habits like other nobles.because of that Elrond has trust in a choice made by him.

--

I can't wait to see Hürrem in a dress Look forward to your design!!!!!

--

SLAYYY💅💅

Definitely!! If Elrond were a little older they would seriously make great friends!!

--

Wha?? Like Animals???How exactly does that happen????No wait, I don't want to learn For the first time, I reject the information with all my will.*I pick up the memory erasing gun in the Gravity Falls*

I'm so glad you like the nickname!! Giovanni will probably find nicknames for Hürrem at every opportunity like Nick did for Judy lmao.

--

LMAO I'm sure it will be wild hahhaha

LMAO sorry Giovanni, maybe they will write a fanfic for you in the future, stay hopeful.

And Giovanni will probably be like this after 5 minutes; Hey Hürrem, how do we filter The fanfics??

I'm searching something??

Hürrem: ಠ⁠,⁠_⁠｣⁠ಠ

LMAO

---

And LMAO Serenity's and Constantine's reaction would be priceless.

The dialogues you wrote were truly perfect.

But Constin, kiddo, you've got a photographic memory....

*suffers in photographic memory*

--

I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE HÜRREM'S FANART I hope I got the colors right!!!

Thank you for your answers!!!🌸🌸

Have a good day 🫂❤️❤️

[mossyivy]

Ummmm the one day their mom was out doing her business whether that be hanging out with her friends or a simple me time (Leon encouraged her to do/spoil herself) is the day Violet got her period. And now Leon is standing outside the bathroom like 🧍‍♂️’oh’

I didn't know we were getting this into depth with the AU but alrighty. (No idea why tf I went so hard with this but I thought it was a sweet moment between them 😅)

It fucking suck too cause I know Leon would take his girls out for daddy daughter days and it definitely happened while they were out at the mall or something (cause it can never happen at home 😒)

(Average age is 10-15, 12 being most common, but we'll go with her being an early bloomer at 10. Violets an over achiever lol)

Leon's just standing outside of the women's restroom confused as to why one of his kids isn't out yet. He's just standing there casually holding his youngest hand. He's getting worried so he calls her from outside the bathroom, making sure everything's okay.

Violets panicking. Obviously. She'd been cramping all morning but not enough to cause alarm. She just thought she had a tummy ache from the big special breakfast Leon usually makes on daddy daughter days. But now... They're at the mall, she's stuck in the movie theater bathroom, her mother is away with her friends and her father... Is Leon. He's a good dad. Great dad even. But he's not good in awkward situations... Especially when he can't relate to the problem at hand. Her phone rings, speak of the devil it's him. She answers with a shaky hello

"You okay in there pumpkin?"

"No..." She whines, clutching her stomach.

"What's wrong?" She stays quiet for a few seconds, feeling incredibly embarrassed but she has no choice.

"I got my period." He's frozen, all the air leaves his body as he goes pale. Cecilia looks up at him, clutching her rabbit plush closer to herself as she looks at her mortified daddy.

"You what..."

"I got my period!" She repeats, raising her voice a bit, not meaning to but she's irritated. She's in pain and embarrassed. Even he wouldn't blame her.

"Okay... Uh..." He thinks for a minute. What would his wife do? "Was there any of those machine things on the wall when you went in?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, I'll go get change for that. I'll be back honey. Just stay put."

"Can't really go anywhere right now Dad..." He hangs up looking down at his youngest.

"C'mon, we gotta go buy something to help your sister."

"What happened?" Leon starts walking, guiding his little girl along.

"Violet got her period."

"What's that mean?" He looks down at Cecilia, she's only 6, of course she wouldn't know what that is yet.

"She's becoming a woman." Cecilia nods, following her father to a news stand, buying a paper from the small rack and handing over $10.

"Can I get 5 of that in quarters?"

"Sure!" The clerk starts counting out change as Cecilia pipes up.

"We're helping my sister cause she's a woman." She smiles wide, Leon sighs as the girl in the stand chuckles and hands back his change.

"Well, good luck helping her. I'm sure you'll do just fine Dad." Leon grumbles a thank you before walking back to the bathroom. Making note of giving Cecilia a talk about privacy later.

Making it back to the bathroom he crouches, getting eye level with his youngest and holds the change out in his hand.

"Okay, I need you to pay attention. You need to go in there, and the big silver box on the wall should have something called maxi pads in it. M-A-X-I P-A-D-S. Put the quarters in the slots and turn the little knob. You got that?" She nods, taking the quarters as he stands up and she walks around the wall into the bathroom.

Leon's there for a solid minute when Cecilia comes back.

"What was I supposed to get, Daddy?" He takes a breath in, now knowing what his wife means when she says their youngest has his attention span now... He looks at her.

"Is there anyone in there besides your sister?" She shakes her head, he takes the quarters back with another deep breath. "Stay in the doorway where I can see you and yell for me if anyone comes towards the bathroom."

"Okay!" Leon rounds the corner, peeking in and looking around. Thank God no one's actually there...

Immediately he goes to the dispenser and buys the pad, seeing the only locked stall.

"Violet..." She perks up, hearing her father's voice.

"Dad? What-"

"Your sister was being herself. Here." He passes her the pad under the stall. "Remember what Mommy showed you?"

"Yeah... Thank you."

"No problem honey, I'll be outside. Take your time." He makes his way out, buying a few extra pads and a pack of Advil from the dispenser on the way out just in case.

He ushers Cecilia to the lobby, sitting on one of the benches as people walk by. As if everything is fine and he didn't just have to help his baby girl...

It finally hits him, she's growing up. Usually he'd have his wife to help him through these moments but she's off having fun right now. He looks at the floor, a lot of memories come flooding back. Her first words, her first steps, potty training even...

"Stop... It's fine. She has to grow up." He mumbles to himself. Cecilia pats his head, making him sit straight up. She tries climbing up on his knee, he hoists her up plopping her down with ease as he hugs her.

"When will I be a woman Daddy?" She asks, so innocently. Her cute little face gleaming up at him with a wide smile.

"Hopefully when your mother's around..."