#captain rebecca i have so many feelings about you girlfriend

[toxboxboy]

this is as finished as this piece is gonna get methink

[axelsagewrites]

Jamie Tartt*The Bet

Pairing: Jamie x f!reader

Word count: 5794

Warnings: jamie asking the reader out as a bet, prick jamie in the beginning, mentions of sex but nothing explicit, angst, a lot of fucks but this is Ted Lasso

Materlist here

“mate do you know who I am?” Jamie said, gesturing to himself as he Issac and Collin sat in the back corner of a crowded nightclub, “I’m telling you man I could get any girl in here. Guy too if I really wanted,”

“please bruv,” Issac scoffed, rolling his eyes. They were used to Jamie being a cocky prick on the field but after a few too many beers and Issac getting rejected twice in one night he was bitter and felt the need to prove something, “all you do is get laid. You’ve not had a girlfriend in like ever,” he said making Jamie roll his eyes this time.

“at least I can get laid. Getting a girlfriends easy,” Jamie said.

“nah he’s right mate,” Collin pipped up making Jamie roll his eyes yet again, “getting laid’s the easy bit, you can’t make them stick around,”

“Keeley stuck around,” Jamie tried to argue but this time his teammates just laughed, “what?”

“all yous did was hookup it’s not like yous were proper dating,” Issac said, Collin nodding in agreement, “face it Jamie girls only talk to you for sex,”

Jamie scoffed at the pair but the more he thought about it he was wondering if they were right. Sure, he and Keeley had been together for a few months before they split but every time, they saw each other it always ended in sex. Now he was thinking about it he wasn’t sure if he had taken her on an actual date the whole time, “if I wanted to, I could have a girlfriend,”

“prove it,” Collin said making even Issac raise an eyebrow, “if you can date a girl for a month and get her to be your girlfriend by the end of it, I’ll give you my car,” Issac let out a low whistle as Jamie laughed. Was he seriously considering this? A new car did sound nice though, “but no sex,”

“what?” Jamie said, well almost shouted as he ignored the confused looks from those around, “no sex for a month?”

“what are you some kind of addict?” Issac scoffed at the man, “Collins right. One month, no sex, serious commitment. Then you get his car,”

Jamie shook his head, scoffing as he leant back in his seat. He ignored the probing and teasing of his mates as he considered it for a moment. Sure, he could buy a new car but the feeling of driving Collins car to practise would be pretty sweet, “fine you’re on,” he said suddenly making both boys head snap around.

Collin for a second looked unsure before he added his final stipulation, “but we get to pick the girl,”

Issac and Collin had insisted you don’t find a girlfriend in a club so by the end of practise tomorrow they would assign Jamie his target. When the two came up to him in the locker room after practise Jamie almost regretted the bet when he saw their grin. “we’ve found her,” Issac said.

“the perfect girl,” Collin added, “oh and I’ve decided if I win, I get your car,”

Jamie shrugged as he stood from the bench, “fine deals a deal. Who’s the girl?”

When Issac pulled out his phone for a second Jamie almost felt bad. Almost. He recognised who the insta belonged to instantly. You were Rebecca’s personal assistant, so it was not rare for Jamie to see you floating around Richmond, but he’d never seen your insta before. “no sex yeah?” He said, taking the phone from Issacs hand to look through your pics, “bummer but a deals a deal. Its gonna feel so sweet driving that Lambo,” he grinned as he tossed the phone back to Issac.

“you’ve got a week to ask her out or you instantly fail the challenge,” Issac said, “and as the one not putting his car on the line I’m the captain of this bet,” Jamie rolled his eyes as Issac proceeded to lay down the law, “and if we find out you lied about any after date activities or skipped a date with her then you lose and will owe a fine of £1000,”

Jamie scoffed, gesturing like Issac was a mad man, “whatcha gonna do? Stalk me or some shit?”

“she’s pals with Sam so he’ll tell us,” Collin said before his eyes went wide, “which reminds me no one but us three can know,” he said before glancing around the locker room, “it’s a secret,” he whispered.

Jamie rolled his eyes before pushing past them both, “whatevs boys. Don’t worry I won’t gloat too much when I win,” he grinned as he walked out the locker room leaving everyone, but Issac and Collin confused.

It was as if as soon as the bet started you had disappeared. Jamie was used to seeing you running all over the place but the one time he saw you the first three days was you driving off in your beat-up car. For a second, he thought Rebecca should be paying you better. It didn’t help that each time either of his friends saw him they reminded him the clock was ticking.

On Thursday however when Jamie saw you walk past the gym door, he quickly dropped his weights, running out the room with no thought or care for Roy shouting after him to rerack his weights. You were heading in the directions of the locker room and Jamie saw this as the perfect excuse as he jogged up to your side, “looking for me,” he said making you jump, almost dropping your clipboard.

“Christ Jamie you scared me,” you said, trying to catch your breath and also not make a complete fool out of yourself. “but no, I’m looking for ted. Rebecca needs him to sign something,”

“funny that most girls want my autograph not his,” Jamie said, trying to put on his best charismatic laugh but when you only gave a small chuckle and not a giggle like he was used to him thought he may have to change tactics. “I’ll walk ya. I’ve gotta grab something from my locker anyhow,”

“that’s nice but you don’t have to,” you said, giving him a small smile as you clutched the clipboard close to your chest.

In truth while you were trying to stay professional right now you did have a secret crush on the famous football player. Yes, you knew it was cliche and you knew Jamie flirted with every woman on the planet which is why you were trying to not fall for his adorable smile right now, “ah come on let me keep you company,” Jamie laughed, knocking his shoulder into you, “gets lonely walking these halls,”

You laughed at his dumb attempts at flirting and hated how easily you were falling for it, “ah yes the three-minute walk might be the end of me,”

“good thing you’ve got me to keep ya going love,” he joked.

This banter and small talk were the longest conversation you think you’d ever had with Jamie, and you couldn’t help but notice that while ted was signing the papers, he hadn’t actually grabbed anything from his lockers. “tell you what love,” Jamie said as he held the locker room door open for you, “I’ll even walk you back to where I found you,”

“oh, wow Jamie Tartt, such a gentleman,” you joked.

As you neared the gym again, laughing at one of Jamies dumb flirty jokes you bumped into Sam who said hello with a very concerned look on his face. After he said goodbye to you and you headed back to your office he turned to Jamie with a far more serious look, “what do you think you’re doing?”

“eh nothing?” He said, completely caught off guard by the seriousness in Sams tone.

Sam sighed and stepped in closer to Jamie, “it better be nothing. She is a good girl she doesn’t deserve to have her heart played with,”

“calm down Sam I’ve no done anything,” Jamie said as he tried to get past his teammate, but Sam grabbed his arm to stop him, “seriously man I’m not gonna hurt her,”

“Jamie, I know what you’re like. And that’s fine you can do you. But I won’t let you hurt my friend,” Sam said sternly.

Jamie rolled his eyes as he took Sams hand off his arm, “for your information. I’m a changed man. I plan on being the perfect gentleman from now on, alright?” He said but Sam just narrowed his eyes, “honest man. Getting bored of all this casual pish ya know?” Jamie said as he stuck his hands into his short’s pockets.

It wasn’t fully a lie. Jamie had been getting bored of all the one-night stands and the drama that came along but Sam just narrowed his eyes further before silently heading back to the gym. Jamie rolled his eyes as he followed along and headed to jump on an exercise bike, ignoring how Sam had gone to go whisper to Issac.

A knock on your office door made you look up with a smile, “hey Sam, you alright?” You asked as you shut down your laptop for the day.

“yes of course,” he said as he walked into your office and slumped down onto the chair in front of your desk, “just wanted to see my friend, is that a crime?”

“I’ll allow it,” you laughed as you packed your bag, “you need a lift home?” You asked as you grabbed your car keys.

“I wouldn’t say no,” he grinned as he jumped right back out the chair and you both began your decent to the car park, “but I was wanting to talk to you about something,”

“what’s up?” You said as you locked your office door.

Sam sighed as he followed you through the corridors, “what’s happening with you and Jamie?”

You shrugged, honestly not sure yourself what was happening, “nothing really, we were just talking. Did he say something or?” You asked.

“kind of,” Sam said, his face screwing up for a second, “he said he was a gentleman now, but I worry. I don’t want you getting hurt,”

“I’m a big girl Sam,” you joked, nudging him, and making him laugh, “besides he’s Jamie tart. I doubt he meant it,”

“according to Issac he does,” Sam said which honestly made you more surprised than anything. You spoke to Issac even less than you had Jamie, so it was weird to think of him and Jamie having deep conversations about settling down, “apparently, he wants to settle down or something. I don’t know whether to believe it but why would Issac lie?”

“weird,” you muttered as you and Sam finally reached the car park and he held the door for you to slip out, “besides that doesn’t mean he wants to be with me,”

“don’t put yourself down,” Sam said, nudging you with his elbow as he sent you a reassuring smile, “he’d be lucky to even get one date with you,”

“you have to say that” you said as you rolled your eyes and pulled out your car keys.

As you were unlocking your car the door to the car park opened again and out walked a freshly showered Jamie, his hair still clearly damp. He didn’t have a right to look this attractive you thought but you’d been looking for too long as when Jamie looked up, he caught your stare.

He waved with a wide grin as he headed over to his own car across the lot. You gave a small wave back as you slipped into the driver’s seat. You glanced across through Sams window to see he was still looking at you and you prayed to god he couldn’t see how flustered you were as you tried to start the car. Sam had seen though, and merciless teasing followed you the whole drive back to his house.

Jamie figured he had time, so he spent the next two days flirting with you in the corridors despite Issac and Collin reminding him he only had to Sunday. However, Sunday was matchday and you were always in the owner’s box with Rebecca. While she was your boss you had grown quite close, so you often sat wedged between her and Keeley as you tried to keep up with the team.

“did Jamie just wave to you?” Keeley asked as Jamie ran onto the pitch. Your blush was undisguisable as you tried to shrug it off, “omg babes you fancy him?” She practically squealed as she clutched your arm.

“maybe I don’t know,” you said, hating the way his name was already making you smile. “he’s your ex though so- “

“nah babes go for it. I’ve got Roy now. Oh, we could double date how cute!” The rest of the match was spent with Keeley telling you how perfect it would be, and you figured if his ex-spoke so highly of him then how bad could he be?

The match went smashing with Richmond winning three nil and soon you were in the press room stood next to Rebecca as ted got interviewed and you took notes. You looked up confused when Rebecca nudged you, but she just nodded towards the door. When you looked through the window you saw Jamie lent against the wall by the door and when you looked back to Rebecca she just smirked and nudged you towards the door.

You silently chuckled at the fact she’d obviously listened to yours and Keeley’s conversation as you made your way to talk to Jamie. “hey,” you grinned, shutting the door behind you softly. “you did great out there,”

“was easy with you cheering me on,” he smirked as he started walking down the corridor with you following after him.

“who said I was cheering for you?” You joked.

Jamie held a hand to his heart in mock offence, “love you’re breaking my heart here. Here I was coming to ask if you wanted to go celebrate my glorious victory,”

“cocky much?” You laughed but rolled your eyes at the way he smirked, “fuck off not like that,”

“didn’t say a thing,” Jamie shrugged but the devious smile on his lips said something different. “c’mon whatcha say love?”

You paused for a moment, crossing your arms as you turned to face him, “what did you have in mind?”

“you, me, fancy restaurant,” Jamie said, stepping closer, his finger brushing over your cheek so gently it felt like a feather, “some nice wine. Just some wholesome fun,”

“wholesome fun?” You laughed, trying not to get lost in his eyes. It was unfair this allure he had on you.

Jamie chuckled softly, “course babe,” the pet names sounded so good coming from him and his accent, “haven’t you heard? I’m a gentleman now,” he said, his hand falling from your face making you miss his touch but laugh at the way he placed his hand over his heart, “scouts honour,”

“were you even a scout?” You laughed as he shook his head no with a cheesy grin, “suppose one date wouldn’t kill me,”

“trust me love. You won’t regret it,”

You didn’t want to say you were shocked, but Jamie was right. The night had been perfect. You ate some of the best food in your life, drank some ridiculously expensive wine, and even started to flirt back with Jamie over dinner. He really was pulling out all the stops.

He wore his best suit, with a shirt as well even if he couldn’t bring himself to ditch the trainers. He pulled your chair out for you, ordered dessert to share, he even insisted on walking you home at the end of the night. “guess that’s me,” you said as you stood by your front door.

“guess so,” Jamie smiled as he looked down at you, “told you you wouldn’t regret it,” he said, completely ruining the moment but making you laugh as you unlocked your front door.

“give it time. I might regret it later,” you joked as you opened your door, half wondering if Jamie was going to try invite himself in. You were also wondering whether or not to let him. The night had been good after all, and you weren’t usually so strict on the three-date rule.

“I’ll text ya yeah?” Jamie said since he had only just got your number on the walk home, “better not be a fake one you gave me,” he joked.

“you’ll have to wait and see,” you laughed. Maybe he wasn’t going to try make a move then you thought, “goodnight, Jamie,”

Jamie stepped forward. He’s going to kiss me you thought but instead he leaned in to leave a soft kiss on your cheek, “night love,” he said quietly before stepping back, grinning at the way he had left you speechless, “see ya soon babe,” he said as he began to walk down the street.

You waved after him, unable to speak before you closed the door behind yourself. This really had been the perfect date. Maybe Jamie was a gentleman now. When you went to get changed you felt your phone buzz and you laughed when you saw the text.

-just checking – Jamie

You laughed, texting him back instantly.

-as if I’d give you a fake number lol

Jamie grinned when he saw your reply before tucking his phone into his jacket pocket. However, as Jamie was walking home a thought crossed his mind. Fuck, what if he really did like you? Sure, Jamie knew the bet was probably a morally wrong thing to do but it was for a Lamborghini, Collins prized car. He spent the rest of his walk home telling himself it was alright, even if he did end up liking you what was the harm? He’d date you for a month then give you a clean, mess free break up.

Then another issue started. Jamie had fallen for you head over heels. You’d spent the whole night texting, the next week constantly flirting or hanging out after practise. Within two weeks you had been on three dates and Collin had commented on his dedication to win this car which only made Jamie feel worse.

He’d kissed you on your second date after visiting the movies. He even waited till after the movie was finished to do it. It did not help him not fall for you. If anything, it made it harder to stay away from you. Your third week dating you hung out every day whether it be grabbing lunch or making dinner at his house.

The only drawback was Jamie having to turn down your advances, insisting he wanted to take it slow. But by week four he didn’t even mind not having sex. The casual nights watching telly was enough for him. The way you would cuddle him on the couch or how you would lounge around his house with him, both of you wearing his sweats and hoodies. Seeing you in his hoodie melted his heart.

“three more days and the cars are yours bruv,” Issac had said to him during practise and Jamie realised a terrifying thought. What if you found out?

Jamie shrugged it off, trying to forget about it the whole time but it weighed him down the whole practise. Jamie deliberately hung back in the locker room that night, making sure he could catch Collin alone, “maybe we should call off the bet mate,” he said quietly as the last person exited the room.

“why? Scared she’s gonna dump ya?” He laughed as he patted his shoulder before leaving the locker room and now Jamie was left alone to feel like shit.

That was till a gentle knock snapped him out of his thoughts, “ready to go?” You smiled from the locker room door. Jamie put on his best happy face as he grabbed his bag, wrapping his arm around you as you headed to the car park.

The whole walk Jamie was silently thinking about the shit he had landed himself in. Then again, the bet never said he had to break up with you. Issac had said only him, and Collin were allowed to know. He could just let Collin keep his car and no one would need to know. Yeah, it would be fine. He was sure of it. Everything would be fine. Jamie had no idea how wrong he was and how badly this week was going to end.

Jamie tried to push it out of his head that night, but it was now the only thing he could think about. You were both laying on the couch, you being the big spoon while he rested his head on your chest. “You okay baby?” You asked while stroking his hair. “You’ve been quiet all day,”

Jamie was snapped out of his thoughts glancing over to you with a small smile, “Sorry love. Just one of those days you know?”

Jamie tried his best to act normal for the rest of the night but when it came time for him to say goodnight and head back to his place, he found himself unable to pull away when he hugged you. “You sure you’re good?” You asked, your face pressed into his chest while his head buried into your shoulder.

“Course love,” Jamie said, placing a soft kiss to your shoulder, “Just gonna miss you is all,”

“Jamie,” you laughed, pulling him off you, “You will see me in legit less than twelve hours,” you said smiling as you leaned up to kiss him gently, “I’m not going anywhere,”

“Promise?” He said, his eyes sheepishly looking to the floor.

You laughed as you reached out, taking his pinkie in yours, “Promise,”

For the next two days Jamie was extra cuddly, extra lovey dovey, and extra boyfriendy all round. You weren’t sure what had gotten into him, figuring maybe the one-month mark was a bigger deal to him than you first thought. You ended up getting dragged into one of Rebecca and Keeley’s girl talks and when you told them about it. “Maybe he wants to get serious,” Rebecca said as she snacked on one of Teds biscuits, “He might just be nervous about it all. I wouldn’t worry,”

“Yeah babes,” Keeley said as she gave your arm a squeeze, “Jamie legit adores you he’s probs just nervous cause you’re his first long term girlfriend,”

“You think?” You said, nervously picking at the threads of your jumper.

“Totally,” Keeley said, looking to Rebecca who nodded in agreement, “Maybe he’s just nervous about your one-month anniversary,”

“Is that really a thing?” Rebecca asked, sitting down her biscuits in disbelief at the idea one month was a big deal.

Even you looked to Keeley confused, “Well yeah,” Keeley said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Its sweet when you think about it. You’ve made him all soft,” she teased, poking your sides, and making you laughed. You were finally able to relax, and Keeley had even suggested getting him a gift.

The first gift you came up with that Keeley instantly agreed upon was sex. You really liked Jamie but this whole taking it slow thing was going really really slow. On top of making sure to wear something nice under your clothes on your one-month anniversary of your first date you had also gotten him, well made, a gift.

You didn’t exactly want to spend tons on a one-month gift, especially since Jamie had expensive tastes with his footballer salary, but you’d picked up a cheap football from a sports shop and a sharpie. You covered the ball in notes ranging from inside jokes to cheesy pick-up lines including ‘my favourite footballer’ and writing ‘you scored the best goal on’ then adding the day of your date. You were quite proud of it but just encase you took a box of chocolates as well.

The day had been so busy that you didn’t even get to see Jamie before you were rushed off to deal with a Rebecca crisis. No matter how busy you were you made sure to text Jamie at least once in the morning but when Jamie saw your text, he couldn’t help but smile.

-Happy one month anniversary babe, pick you up after work for a hot date?

Jamie was blissfully unaware of what was to come as he typed out his response before heading to the pitch. Collin had insisted the bet wasn’t over till the end of practice and Issac had let it slide, seeing the regret in his friends’ eyes when he realised, he was going to lose his car. Jamie couldn’t care less about the car though as he thought he was finally free from the bet.

He wanted to run up to your office as soon as practise ended but Issac insisted, he wait with him and Collin in the locker room till everyone else had left. When Danni finally left the room, waving bye to his mates as he left, Collin let out a heavy sigh as he pulled out his keys. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he said, his voice already choked.

“Mate its just a car,” Jamie said, already so fed up and wanting to find you.

“Bruv,” Isaac said, holding a hand to his chest, “a moment of respect,” he said, allowing Collin to whisper a goodbye to his keys as Jamie rolled his eyes, “Okay Collin its time. Jamie won the bet fair and square,” he said as he pried the keys from Collins hands and handing them to Jamie who sighed as he took them.

“I really, really thought she’d have broken up with you by now,” Collin said, shaking his head as he collapsed onto a bench, his head hanging low.

Jamie rolled his eyes at the dramatics of it all as Issac patted his shoulder, “I didn’t think he could go without sex for this long,” Issac added before nodding at Jamie, “Fair play mate but if you do dump her just don’t be a dick about it,”

“And for the love of god do not dent the car,” Collin pipped up as he lifted his head however when he did Jamie noticed all the colour draining from his face, “Eh mate. Bit of a situation,” he muttered, nodding his head towards the door.

Jamie spans around on his heels and his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw you stood there, tears already trickling down your face. Jamies mouth dried up as he searched for the words when the ball and chocolates slipped from your hand and clattered to the floor. “It’s not what- “Jamie tried to say but you were already backing away before turning to run down the corridor. “You fucking idiots,” Jamie yelled at his teammates before taking off down the corridor after you.

You’d think a professional footballer would catch up with you with ease but when Jamie ran into the car park you were already unlocking your car. “Wait,” he yelled, running over, and closing the door with his hand you’d tried to open.

“Why?” You spat, “Do you need me to prove you won?”

“Babe its- “Jamie tried to say, his hands reaching to hold your shoulders.

You slapped them away in an instant, “don’t babe me,” your voice was filled with anger but the tears streaming down your face was what broke Jamies heart, “You fucking used me. For some fucking bet. Is that all this was to you?”

“No of course not,” Jamie said, his hand grabbing his hair as he backed up slightly so at least you weren’t trapped against the car, “it was just some dumb bet but it’s not like I don’t like you. I really fucking like you,”

“Yeah right,” you scoffed turning to get in the car before stopping, “What did you even win?”

Jamie didn’t know if this would make it worse or better, but he knew lying was definitely the wrong choice, “Collins Lambo,” he said, his voice sounding more like a question as he waited to see your reaction.

“You only dated me because of a fucking car?” You yelled, not caring who heard anymore, “You broke my heart because of a car?!”

“I didn’t wanna hurt you-fuck,” Jamie said, his eyes growing wetter with each second as he tried not to throw up from the guilt, “I promise you that I like you. I think I fucking love you and I’ve never felt this way before and- “

You sighed, turning away as you tried to choke back a sob, “Be honest with me Jamie,” you said, refusing to meet his eyes, “If they hadn’t made the bet, would you have ever asked me out?” You waited for his response but when you turned round to see his jaw hanging open, his eyes wide, you knew the answer. “Don’t talk to me. Ever again,” you said as you jumped into your car and quickly sped off.

Jamie had well and truly fucked it. He felt like his body was on fire as he began to slap his own head, muttering a thousand fucks under his breath. Meanwhile you were trying your best not to be blinded by your own tears as you drove home alone to curl up on the couch and wallow.

A few hours passed and you were still on the couch with a massive tub of ice cream and a million texts from Keeley asking for a follow up from your ‘we broke up’ text. You couldn’t even bring yourself to text her back let alone go answer the door when someone rang your doorbell. Then it rang away. “Go away,” you groaned, sinking further into the couch.

Ring. Ring. Ring. The bell echoed through the house till you tore yourself off the couch, ready to go scream at the idiot at your door. But when you pulled it open and saw his big guilty brown eyes staring back at you, you couldn’t say a word. Especially not when you noticed the red puffiness around his eyes and the way they were already watering again.

“Is that my hoodie?” Jamie asked, his voice quiet and broken as he nodded to the oversized hoodie covering your frame. You paused for a moment before nodding silently. Jamie sighed, his eyes growing sadder, if possible, “Can I come in?”

You paused again, not knowing if your vocal cords could even manage the potential screaming match. Jamie shuffled on his feet, his eyes moving to the floor before you finally spoke, “Fine,” you whispered before heading back to sink into the couch.

Jamie followed, shutting the door behind you both and tentatively walking to your living room. His eyes scanned the room and he almost cried when he saw the ice cream, blankets, and crappy reality show on the tv. He’d made you cry. He’d broke your heart. No matter what happened he knew he could never forgive himself for that.

"I know I had no right coming over here," he started as he sat on the opposite end of the couch trying to give you as much space. You were already curled up on the other end, your eyes glued to the now muted tv as you avoided his gaze, "and believe me I know I don't deserve ya. But I couldn't walk away leaving you thinking I didn't like ya because I did and I still do," he said, his voice dripping with desperation as he searched his pockets.

He began to pull out one post it after the next making you look up at the sound of paper ruffling. They were all pretty crumbled up but Jamie picked them up one by one, "I love how smart you are and how you seem to know everything but don't explain things to me like I'm stupid," he began to read off the post it's chucking them on the couch before grabbing the next, "I love how when you laugh you look at the ground to try hide your face,"

"I love how we can lay on the couch together and not say a word

I love when you hold me and scratch my head

I love when you get sleepy during a movie and crash out on my arm 

I love hearing your snores even if you pretend you don’t

I love holding your hand in public and getting to show you off to my friends"

Jamie continued as he read off at least 40 more post its which you picked up one by one as he grabbed the next. When he went to grab another your hand reached out to stop his and for a moment you allowed yourself to enjoy his touch, "I know it's not as good as the football," Jamie said softly, "but I mean it all. And I hate myself for hurting you,"

"you should never hate yourself," you muttered making a small smile creep on Jamie's lips, "When did it stop being just a bet?" you asked, scared for the answer.

"During our first date," he said making you look at him with a raised eyebrow, "I swear. I was blind for not seeing you before but on that date, it was--you were incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about you all night. I tried to call of the bet, but Issac thought I was just scared to lose," Jamie rambled before pausing for a moment and sighing," I never wanted to hurt you. I promise. You have to believe me," he said as he reached for your hand.

"It's just hard," you said, your voice already choking up again making Jamie almost cry himself, "and I really want to believe you because for fucksake Jamie, I love you too," the words he had longed to hear shot daggers into his heart.

"If you want to never hear from me again, I’ll go," Jamie said, holding your hands tightly and making you finally meet his eyes again, "but if you'll have me ill spend every day making this up to you. I promise. You, this, us. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me,"

You paused for a moment as Jamie's heart pounded in his chest, "One more chance," you whispered making Jamie break out into a grin, but you quickly added, "but if you so much as step a toe out of line,"

"I won't," Jamie cut you off as he gripped your hands tightly, "I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll be the perfect boyfriend, honest," you couldn't help laughing a little at his eagerness. Jamie raised your hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to each of your knuckles, "

[yorkshire-rockchick]

Loved your new fic so much! Personally think new members absolutely need a list of all the team's stuffed animals. I feel like some like the likes of Reynolds, Colin and Sam had ones they had from childhood whereas the likes of Isaac, Jamie and Jan were talked into buying or were gifted ones. They probably have rules about not having the same species of animal toys as well because they're all insane...Richard's and Jan argue that their toys are actually a mountain goat and a domesticated goat despite that literally still being the same species and them literally having the same toy. I have so many thoughts on this would love to hear yours

So I've thought about it and this is what I have:

Tom O’Brien - A sheep, because his granddad was a sheep farmer.

Arlo Dixon - A cuddly corgi, which his now ex-wife maintains he loves more than her.

Tommy Winchester - A bear knitted by his nan. It is lopsided and only vaguely resembles a bear but he loves it.

Isaac McAdoo - A Build-A-Bear given to him by Colin as a joke. Neither of them can remember the joke but Isaac loves the bear as much as he loves Colin. He asked his mum to make the bear a little captain's armband after he became captain.

Sasha Kukoč - A frog, because he likes Kermit the frog.

Richard Montlaur - A mountain goat given to him by his nephew before he left for England. He actually hates goats but he loves his nephew so the goat stays.

Jamie Tartt - A shark, given to him by the team after the Dubai Air protest. He will never admit it but the shark means a lot to him. When he was at Richmond the first time he didn’t have anything and laughed at the immaturity of the rest of the team.

Colin Hughes - A dragon. After he comes out the team buys him a rainbow dragon and he takes both of them to games.

Jan Maas - An Octopus. Jan was going to be a marine biologist if he wasn’t a footballer. When he first joins Richmond he maintains he does not have a cuddly toy so Colin and Jeff steal the octopus, Jan didn’t speak to them for a month despite no harm being done.

Dani Rojas - When he first moves to England, nothing, because he didn’t want to lose an old friend on the journey over, until the comment about being a raven haired golden retriever results in Isaac getting him a golden retriever.

Robbie Roberts - A cat, because he is allergic to cats and his sister thought it was funny when they were kids.

Jeff Goodman - A highland cow, because they are both ginger. He has to keep reminding people he is from Yorkshire, not Scotland.

Babatunde - A raccoon, because he thinks they are cute and fun to watch

Declan Cockburn - A cuddly plant because he can not keep plants alive to save his life.

Paul Reynolds - Originally a Leprechaun he bought over from Ireland with him, however he ends up with a cuddly olive given to him by O’Brien after his daughter, Olivia, is born.

Moe Bumbercatch - A one eyed sloth he won on a claw machine when he was a teenager

Martin De Maat - Misunderstood and actually has a cushion with a picture of a donkey on it.

Sam Obisanya - A dog he has had since he was a baby. When he was with Rebecca the poor thing got hidden in the wardrobe but now it is back on his bed.

Kyle McCraken - A squid, which in part led to being called Squid Game. He is still upset that you can’t get a cuddly kraken.

Bhargava - A peacock, he shrugs when asked questions about it.

Anders Rosenfeldt - A rag doll because his girlfriend got it for him when he said he needed a cuddly friend for away games.

Thierry Zoreaux - A moose holding the canadian flag. If Paul and Colin can have something from their home countries, so can he.

Will Kitman - A very tired looking elephant that he has had since he was a baby. If it can survive university it can survive a football team.

Bonus:

Roy - A very grumpy unicorn given to him by Phoebe for his first ever Uncle's day. No one had ever seen it until they were in the championship and they played away at Rotherham when the fire alarm in the hotel went off, Roy grabbed the unicorn and took it with him outside. Jamie and Colin laughed, resulting in them having to run laps once they were back in Richmond and they both had to apologise to the unicorn in front of the whole team.

Beard - A hedgehog. No one knows why and he refuses to answer questions.

[firstdegreefangirl]

If you are open to Ted Lasso requests, then Roy Kent/Keeley Jones + sickfic and snuggles?

Oh, nonnie, this got WAY out of hand. But I had SO MUCH FUN writing it, so thank you! There's a lot going on at the beginning here, but I swear there are sickfic and snuggles under the break. I hope you like it!

Read the whole thing in one click HERE on ao3!

The morning gets off to a late start, right out of the gate. The team bus leaves late when they lose Nate again (this year they knew to check the luggage hold, but no one thought to look in the upstairs bathroom, where he was “looking for a little extra privacy, sorry”) and there’s more traffic than anyone could have predicted.

Altogether, it means that the team hardly makes it to Sheffield with time to drop their bags at the hotel before they’re due at the stadium for the game.

Roy tosses a duffel bag onto one of the double beds in the room he’s sharing with Ted tonight (not by choice; it turns out relegation means there’s not enough money in the team budget for all four coaches to have separate suites. Last away game, he and Nate had been roommates, but Ted has some big idea about everyone spending equal amounts of time together in the name of ‘equitable morale,’ and apparently coaching staff isn’t exempt.)

Really, he should have taken the job with SkySports.

At least then, he wouldn’t be pulling a furry green unicorn out of his bag and sitting it carefully by the pillows.

“Security object, Roy?” Ted points from across the room as Roy reaches for his phone. “Respect. No shame in a man seeking a little comfort from-”

“Fuck off,” he snaps, but there’s no real heat behind it. “Phoebe’s mad her mum wouldn’t let her come on a sleepover with the team this weekend. Asked me to bring Captain McKibbin along instead, the little idiot. I … promised to send pictures. As proof.”

“Hey, I get it. My boy’s done many a Flat Stanley in his day.” Clearly, Ted expects him to know what this means, so Roy nods if only to save himself the explanation. “Anyway, we’ve got to meet the fellas in the lobby, head over to the field – pitch.” A full year in, and Ted still struggles with the vernacular sometimes. It’d drive Roy nuts, if the guy hadn’t done so much to help him and his career. “Is, ah, will Captain McCarlson be joining us for the-”

“McKibbin. Captain McKibbin, and he will not. Phoebe says he can stay here, to ward off any bad dream monsters.”

“Well you be sure to let her know that I intend to sleep snug as a bug in a rug tonight. No, two rugs!” Tim points at Roy with both hands, then spins around and opens the door to the hallway.

He still hasn’t gotten a chance to catch up with Keeley before the match starts. She and Rebecca had driven out separately – something about girl talk and lattes – but he knows she’s around somewhere. The owner’s box is a little different everywhere they go, but never too terribly hard to find, and he catches a glimpse of her bright pink peacoat when he looks around during the opening lineup. She's sitting between Rebecca and Higgins, and as soon as she notices him watching, she waves happily. He lifts a hand in response, then tucks it back against his chest, turning back to the pitch and squaring his shoulders as the first half begins.

Richmond is playing well; Isaac has stepped up and really filled Roy’s shoes as captain, and all the lads are on the same wavelength, without having to say much of anything to one another. He hates to admit it, but Roy wonders if the seamless communication doesn’t have something to do with the scavenger hunt they’d hosted in the locker room last night. Ted had blindfolded half of the players, and made the other half sit on the bench and shout directions. The whole thing had been a mess, but then they’d passed around the bottle of vodka he’d stashed behind the clean boots as a prize, and everyone had left smiling. If that’s it, Roy can’t deny the results, but he’ll damn sure try.

That’s what he’s thinking about a few minutes later when he turns around again, looking for Keeley in the stands. He’s always looking for her, when he doesn’t have to be watching every second of the match. She’s almost always watching him right back, before he’s even looking at her. And half the time, he’ll feel his phone vibrate in his pocket. Even if he can’t check it until halftime, he knows it’s a comment on the quality of the plays, or the other team’s kits, or how much she likes the view of his ass from the box.

But now, when he looks, he can’t find her anywhere. He looks again, trying to pick her out in the sea of Richmond jerseys. Most of the faces are strangers, but he can distinguish between them. All the way at the top, where Keeley had been sitting before, it’s just Rebecca and Higgins now, an empty seat folded up between them.

Roy stares for a moment, waiting for her to reappear with a soft pretzel or something. But she doesn’t. Eventually, Rebecca catches his eyeline, and shakes her head. Her lips move, but there’s no way Roy can make out the words. All he knows is that Keeley has disappeared, and judging from Rebecca’s gesture, she’s been gone for more than a few minutes.

Something isn’t right; he can feel it in his stomach. And in his knee, but that’s more from the impending winter. The feeling about Keeley, that sits deep in his gut, twisting and knotting around his organs as he turns back to the pitch.

The lads are lining up the next play, but Ted, Nate and Beard are spread out along the sideline. Roy sidesteps around Beard, almost trips over Nate when he moves back just as Roy passes behind him, and finally comes to a stop next to Ted.

"Coach?”

“What’s up, Roy?” Ted doesn’t turn toward him, but he leans in Roy’s direction, and he knows he’s got the man’s full attention.

He hears the announcer take notice of his new position, the commentary echoing around them.

On Richmond’s side of the field, former team member turned coach Roy Kent is vying for the attention of head coach Ted Lasso. The players are lined up; what could he be saying?

But Roy doesn’t say anything. He just points, arms still folded across his chest, until Ted looks up to the stands behind them.

Both coaches now, looking up at the audience. Surely they’re not surprised at the show of support for the Richmond Greyhounds? They’ve sold out almost every game since their relegation …

The rest of the announcement fades to the background when understanding spreads across Ted’s face. Roy knows he’s seen the empty seat, knows he’ll understand the concern Roy can’t put into words. He raises an eyebrow when Tim looks back to his face, and the other coach nods.

“Just be in the locker room for halftime, yeah? The guys are countin’ on you for a speech to hype them up for the rest of the game.”

Roy jerks his chin up and down, then heads for the tunnel that’ll take him out of view of the crowds. The announcer’s voice comes behind him again.

Coach Kent, now heading off of the pitch. Makes you wonder what’s going on for the Greyhounds. Have they sent a coach away in the middle of a match, or did he ask to be excused? And why? But gameplay continues without him …

It’s only a few steps before he’s in the locker room, trying to shake off the memory of the last time he’d left the pitch before a match was up. It’s empty, no signs of another occupant, but the solitude gives him an opportunity to fish his phone out of his pocket.

No texts, no missed calls. Right away, he dials Keeley’s number.

If you’re looking for the PR Manager for the Richmond Greyhounds, leave a message for Keeley Jones after the beep. If you’re trying to reach your best friend Keeley for a round of drinks, hang up and text me. Oh, and Rebecca? If it’s too long to text, I’ll check my emails soon. Kisses!

“Oi, it’s me,” Roy all but grunts into the speaker when Keeley’s voicemail recording is done. “You’re not in your seat. Not that you have to be, but Rebecca hadn’t seen you, and I didn’t …” he trails off, suddenly afraid of sounding clingy and controlling. “Anyway, call me when you get this.”

He stares at his home screen after he hangs up, a selfie Keeley had nabbed his phone to take. He’s got an arm wrapped around her shoulders and his lips pressed against her temple, and her face is scrunched up in laughter. It’s ridiculous, the first time anyone but a blood relative has ever been his background, but he can’t help smiling at it, even as the worry knots itself tighter in his stomach.

When he can’t stand it any longer, he texts Rebecca.

You seen her?

Her reply is almost instant.

Not since she left. I have her coat, phone is in the pocket. Heard it ring.

Well, shit. She doesn’t have her phone, and as far as Roy knows, nobody has any idea where his girlfriend is.

But then there’s a sniffle from inside one of the toilet stalls. He’d know that sound anywhere; it’s the same noise Keeley makes every time they watch a Disney film together, right before he teases her for crying and she pokes fun right back at how he’s not.

He’d peered under the doors when he walked in, checking for feet, but he knocks on the stall anyway.

“Keeley?” He calls, pushing the door open slowly. Sure enough, she’s inside, sitting with her feet tucked up onto the seat, head wedged between her knees and hands clamped tightly around the back of her skull. “Babe, what’s going on?”

“It’s so … it’s so loud out there,” she whispers, but doesn’t look up. “All the yelling and shouting and cheering. It’s a good thing, I know, that the fans are engaged, but it was just pounding on my brain, making my eyes go all spotty. I tried to stick it out, Roy, really; I know how much these games mean to you, to the whole team. But then I felt like I was going to vomit and-” Keeley chokes on a sob. “I couldn’t find anywhere else quiet to go.”

“Right, well come on,” Roy reaches out slowly and squeezes one of her shoulders. “There’s got to be somewhere better to sit than a men’s toilet stall. You’ve met the lads, they’re disgusting.”

Keeley chuckles, thick and teary, but drops her knees and lets Roy pull her to her feet. As soon as she’s standing, she wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest. It can’t be too comfortable; he hasn’t taken off the Richmond windbreaker he wears for every game, but Keeley relaxes when Roy doesn’t push her away. Instead, he locks his arms around her shoulders and walks them both slowly back until he can drop onto one of the benches. Keeley stays leaned against him, but brings one hand up to cover her eyes where the harsh lighting seeps in.

“Alright, now, what is it?” Roy asks, when Keeley hasn’t said anything for a while. “You seemed alright when we left this morning.”

“I was. Or, I thought I was anyway. Just a little tired, maybe, but that was all. It was fine until the car ride, but then I got really queasy, and my head started throbbing.” Roy reaches up to scratch his fingers gently through her hair and she sighs. “It got a little better when we got out of the car, but then it was just so-”

“Loud, I know,” he finishes for her, then they both fall silent.

Exhaustion. Nausea. Headache. His sister had those symptoms once, just shy of eight years ago.

Shit.

“Keel. You don’t think you’re … You – we – couldn’t be … you aren’t …"

“What?”

“Um, pregnant? I know we’re careful, but …" Keeley cuts him off with a laugh that turns into a whimper, and he tightens his hold on her.

“No. Definitely not. Not this week, for sure. Just a migraine, I think. Used to get them sometimes, but it’s been a bit.”

“Good,” Roy sighs. “I mean, someday, maybe, but not …”

“Not yet,” Keeley agrees, and something goes warm in his chest, knowing that they’re on the same page. Right now, they don’t need to worry about anything except getting Keeley back in fighting shape.

“Have you taken anything?” She nods against his chest.

“This morning, um, in the car. It didn’t help much. Just need it dark. And quiet.”

“OK, that’s alright,” Roy whispers, dropping his voice even quieter. “It should be almost half, what say we find somewhere else for you to hole up before everyone comes barging in like heathens?”

He’s not sure exactly where they can go, but he knows he’s got to get Keeley out of the locker room before they clear the players off the pitch. She shrugs half-heartedly, and lets Roy pull her back to her feet. He doesn’t have a plan yet, but he starts walking them slowly toward the door as he looks around. There are no offices in here, no treatment rooms or storage closets.

He hasn’t checked the time since he found Keeley, but he’s played enough years of football that his body’s internal clock can feel the seconds ticking away. There’s maybe two or three minutes left, and Ted wants him to give the halftime pep talk. If he asked, if he explained everything, he could probably get out of it, maybe trade Beard for next week or something. Keeley needs him.

But the team needs him too.

All at once, it hits him.

Rebecca.

Rebecca doesn’t have a role in the halftime routine. There’s nothing happening on the field and she almost never comes to the locker room before the match ends. And she’s got a car here; that’s somewhere quiet Keeley can sit, at least until the second half gets underway.

He wiggles his phone out of his pocket again and reopens the text thread.

Found her in locker room. Migraine. Can you meet us and take her outside for halftime? Ted wants me to give speech.

Rebecca doesn’t reply, but a minute or so later, Roy hears the steady click-clack of her heels coming down the hall. Keeley whimpers, and he presses a kiss to her hair as the door swings open.

“Hey,” he says, shifting around to look at Rebecca.

“Hello,” she whispers back.

“Hey, Keeley, Rebecca’s here now,” Roy tips his face back down to whisper against the shell of her ear. “Think you can make it outside with her?”

“We can head back to the hotel, Keeley, if you think that’d help? It’s only a few minutes’ drive.”

“Yeah, ‘s quieter there,” she says, but doesn’t move.

“And I’ll meet you there just as soon as the match is done, hmm?” He runs his fingers up and down her arm, shifting away slightly. “Here, want to take my sunglasses, block out some of the light?”

At that, Keeley squeezes her eyes shut and turns her face up toward Roy. He chuckles and slides his glasses over her eyes, then brushes a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“Alright then, off you go,” He lets Rebecca take her by the arm and lead her back out of the locker room, trying to ignore the way his heart clenches at the sight of her trudging away, hunched over against her own discomfort.

He’ll be back with her soon enough. But the door has no more than swung shut behind them when it bounces open again. Jamie and Sam are leading the pack, the whole team piling in around him.

As usual, their energy is infectious, and Roy finds himself slapping hands and patting backs as he makes his way across the room to where Ted is bringing up the rear.

“Hey, Roy, you get everything all squared away?”

“For now. Rebecca’s taking Keeley back to the hotel; she’s not feeling well.” He should have known better than to hope that Ted Lasso would ever let anything drop with a simple explanation.

“Well that’d explain the text message I got from Boss Lady asking if she’d be alright rooming with me tonight.” Roy’s eyebrows go up at that. “And I’m guessin’ from the look on your face that she didn’t mention anything about that to you? Aw, geez, I hope I didn’t spoil a surprise or anything. But the cat’s out of the metaphorical bag now, isn’t it? So I might as well tell you that I told her that I was a-OK with switching up the room arrangements if that’s what’s best for everyone tonight. Thataways you can keep an eye on Keeley, and down the hall we can have Biscuits with the Boss: Evening Edition. How’s that sit with you?”

“Honestly, Ted, I have no opinion on what time of day you eat biscuits,” Roy sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But thanks. I think. For making sure I can be there for Keeley.”

“We’re all on the same team here, right? What’s good for the goose and all that, we’re at our best when everyone is at their own, individual best. Hey, speaking of, there are some guys in here, waiting for someone to put a little extra pep in their step for the back end of this game. If you’re not up for it, I can see what Coach Beard has up his sleeve, or-”

“No, it’s fine,” Roy cuts him off before the rambling can reach full speed again. “I’ve got this one.”

He turns back to the group, and yells for everyone to listen up. When he’s got their attention, he takes a deep breath.

“What you’re doing on the pitch today, it’s fucking amazing,” he starts. “Not the score, though that’s pretty alright too. But that doesn’t matter half as much as how you’re playing. Hell, you assholes keep communicating this well, you’re going to put us coaches out of a job. I know Ted’s all about the rhymes and anecdotes and shit, but that’s not … I’m not a walking greeting card store,” everyone chuckles, Ted included. “But get back out there, keep working together, and dammit, make the four of us redundant!”

There’s a round of half-sarcastic applause, then Ted steps forward.

“Alright, y’all heard the man. Don’t get tired, get us fire—well, actually, don’t get us fired. That’s not … take the sentiment of what Roy said, but do me a favor and don’t take him literally. I like working with y’all. Anyway, Coach Beard’s gonna take it from here, walk y’all through a couple plays for the second half.”

The players cluster around Beard and his whiteboard diagram, and Ted finds his way back over to Roy at the back of the group.

“You know, if you need to head out a little early today, we can pull through without you. Sometimes a team is strongest when it’s split up to work on all the different things it needs to get done. Like taking care of each other.”

Any other day, he likes to think he’d insist on staying for the rest of the match. But if he’s honest with himself, he knows that he’ll put Keeley first anytime she needs him to.

“That’d be great, Ted. Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem, Roy. I’ll come check up on y’all when we get back?” Roy nods and shakes Ted’s hand quickly, then slips out of the locker room while Beard is saying something about the Sheffield players having “lots of power, like a high-watt light bulb.”

He doesn’t have a car, doesn’t feel like waiting on an Uber, so it’s a half-hour's walk back to the hotel. When he gets there, Rebecca is already waiting for him in the lobby.

“Ted gave me your room number,” she starts, as soon as they’ve said their hellos. “Keeley’s up there lying down. I, uh, I assumed yours was the bed with the unicorn on it?”

“It’s Phoebe’s,” he groans. “But yes.”

“I’m sure.” But she’s smirking like she might not be. “Anyway, Ted’s things are already taken care of, and I think I got everything of Keeley’s into your room, but she unpacked her entire suitcase first thing, so I might’ve missed some shoes or something.”

“No problem. She’ll get them back, I’m sure. Thanks for taking care of her.”

“Anytime, Roy. Really. I’m just down the hall, if either of you need anything.”

Roy nods his thanks and steps into the elevator.

He swipes his key card to unlock the door, then turns the handle and pushes it open slowly. The lights are turned off, and the curtains drawn, so he makes his way carefully, trying to remember if these rooms have any wayward furniture for him to stumble over.

Thankfully, the walkway is clear. He sits gently on the edge of his bed, smiling when the Keeley-shaped lump of covers shifts closer to him.

“Hey, babe,” she mutters.

“Hi,” Roy presses his lips together and pats what he thinks is probably her knee through the blankets. “Feeling better?”

“A little. Rebecca gave me water. And it’s quiet here.”

“Yeah, it is.” He’s not sure what else to say, but Keeley saves him from having to carry on the conversation.

“There’s a unicorn on your bed. ‘S soft.”

“His name is Captain McKibbin,” Roy replies, rolling his eyes even though he knows she can’t see from here. “I’ll tell Phoebe you like him.”

“Please do.”

“Anything else you need?”

“Just you,” she says, and it’s so quietly honest that if Roy weren’t already pretty sure he’s in love with her, it would have sealed the deal. He toes his shoes off and shimmies out of his windbreaker and trousers.

“Alright, well shove over then,” he teases, nudging her shoulder until there’s room for him to lie down beside her. When he pulls the covers back, he recognizes the hoodie she’s wearing as the one he’d crammed into the top of his bag when he packed last night. It’s three sizes too big, and she’s got one of her own just like it, but she looks far better in Roy’s than he ever will.

As soon as he’s lying down, Keeley is turning over and fitting herself against his side, tucking her face back into his bare chest. It’s still early in the evening, and Roy knows that if he falls asleep now, he’ll spend all week regretting it. But Keeley needs the rest, and there’s not much he can do without turning on the TV or lighting up his phone screen.

Besides, one afternoon nap never killed anyone, right?

So he closes his eyes and listens to her steady breathing. When Keeley wakes up, hopefully the worst of the migraine will have passed, and she’ll feel more like herself again. Roy knows they’ve got a pass on team bonding tonight, if they need it, and he doesn’t want to push Keeley into anything she’s not up for. But rumor has it that Beard found a pub with a bowling alley in it, and that’s bound to be entertaining, no matter the scores at the end of the night.

For right now, though, the only thing that matters is Keeley, curled up against him and warmer than all the blankets stacked on top of them. She’s asleep, and he’s following close behind, and nothing matters beyond the comfort they share.

Not migraines, or bowling, or trick plays, or shoes that might have been left down the hall, or anything but Roy and Keeley and this moment together, in the dark and the quiet.

Just them.

[weheartchrisevans]

BOSTON — So you're Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina who opposes Roe v. Wade and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and you get a call from Chris Evans, a Hollywood star and lifelong Democrat who has been blasting President Trump for years. He wants to meet. And film it. And share it on his online platform. Can anybody say "Borat?" “I was very skeptical,” admits Scott. “You can think of the worst-case scenario.”But then Scott heard from other senators. They vouched for Evans, most famous for playing Captain America in a series of films that have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. The actor also got on the phone with Scott’s staff to make a personal appeal.

It worked. Sometime in 2018, Scott met on camera with Evans in the nation’s capital, and their discussion, which ranged from prison reform to student loans, is one of more than 200 interviews with elected officials published on “A Starting Point,” an online platform the actor helped launch in July. Not long after, Evans appeared on Scott’s Instagram Live. They have plans to do more together.

“While he is a liberal, he was looking to have a real dialogue on important issues,” says Scott. “For me, it’s about wanting to have a conversation with an audience that may not be accustomed to hearing from conservatives and Republicans.”

Evans, actor-director Mark Kassen and entrepreneur Joe Kiani launched “A Starting Point” as a response to what they see as a deeply polarized political climate. They wanted to offer a place for information about issues without a partisan spin. To do that, they knew they needed both parties to participate.

Evans, 39, sat on the patio outside his Boston-area home on a recent afternoon talking about the platform. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans and spent some of the interview chasing around his brown rescue dog. Nearly 100 million people didn’t vote in the 2016 general election, Evans says. That’s more than 40 percent of those who were eligible.He believes the root of this disinterest is the nastiness on both sides of the aisle. Many potential voters simply turn off the news, never mind talking about actual policy.“A Starting Point” is meant to offer a digital home for people to hear from elected officials without having the conversation framed by Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.

“The idea is . . . ‘Listen, you’re in office. I can’t deny the impact you have,’ ” says Evans. “ ‘You can vote on things that affect my life.’ Let this be a landscape of competing ideas, and I’ll sit down with you and I’ll talk with you.”

Or, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has appeared on the site, puts it, “Sometimes, boring is okay. You’re being presented two sides. Everything doesn’t have to be sensational. Sometimes, it can just be good facts.” Evans wasn’t always active in politics. At Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, he focused on theater, not student government. And he moved away from home his senior year, working at a casting agency in New York as he pushed for acting gigs. His uncle, Michael E. Capuano, served as a congressman in Massachusetts for 20 years, but other than volunteering on some of his campaign, Evans wasn’t particularly political.

In recent years, he’s read political philosopher Hannah Arendt and feminist Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions” — ex-girlfriend Jenny Slate gave him the latter — and been increasingly upset by Trump’s policies and behavior. He’s come to believe that he can state his own views without creating a conflict with “A Starting Point.” When he and Scott spoke on Instagram, the president wasn’t mentioned. In contrast, recently Evans and other members of the Avengers cast took part in a virtual fundraiser with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris.

“I don’t want to all of a sudden become a blank slate,” says Evans. “But my biggest issue right now is just getting people to vote. If I start saying, ‘vote Biden; f Trump,’ my base will like that. But they were already voting for Biden.”

(In September, Evans accidentally posted an image of presumably his penis online and, after deleting it, tweeted: “Now the I have your attention . . . Vote Nov. 3rd!!!”)

Evans began to contemplate the idea that became “A Starting Point” in 2017. He heard something reported on the news — he can’t remember exactly what — and decided to search out information on the Internet. Instead of finding concrete answers, Evans fell down the rabbit hole of opinions and conflicting claims. He began talking about this with Kassen, a friend since he directed Evans in 2011’s “Puncture.” What if they got the information directly from elected officials and presented it without a spin? Kassen, in turn, introduced Evans to Kiani, who had made his fortune through a medical technology company he founded and, of the three, was the most politically involved.

Kiani has donated to dozens of Democratic candidates across the country and earlier this year contributed $750,000 to Unite the Country, a super PAC meant to support Joe Biden. But he appreciated the idea of focusing on something larger than a single race or party initiative. He, Kassen and Evans would fund “A Starting Point,” which has about 18 people on staff.

“There’s no longer ABC, NBC and CBS,” Kiani says. “There’s Fox News and MSNBC. What that means is that we are no longer being censored. We’re self-censoring ourselves. And people go to their own echo chamber and they don’t get any wiser. If you allow both parties to speak, for the same amount of time, without goading them to go on into hyperbole, when people look at both sides’ point of view of both topics, we think most of the time they’ll come to a reasonable conclusion.”

“What people do too often is they get in their silos and they only watch and listen and read what they agree with,” says John Kasich, the former Ohio governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate. “If you go to Chris’s website, you can’t bury yourself in your silo. You get to see the other point of view.” As much as some like to blame Trump for all the conflicts in Washington, Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) says he’s watched the tone shifting for decades. He appreciated sitting down with Evans and making regular submissions to “Daily Points,” a place on the platform for commentary no longer than two minutes. During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Coons recorded a comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Affordable Care Act.“ ‘A Starting Point’ needs to be a sustained resource,” Coons says. “Chris often talks about it being ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ for adults.”

It’s not by chance that Evans has personally conducted all of the 200-plus interviews on “A Starting Point” during trips to D.C. Celebrities often try to mobilize the public, whether it’s Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosting the Democratic National Convention or Jon Voight recording video clips to praise Trump. But in this case, Evans is using his status in a different way, to entice even the most hesitant Republican to sit down for an even-toned chat. And he’s willing to pose with anyone, even if it means explaining himself on “The Daily Show” after Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas posted a selfie with Evans. (Two attempts to interview Trump brought no response.) Murkowski remembers when Evans came to Capitol Hill for the first time in 2018. She admits she didn’t actually know who he was — she hadn’t yet seen any Marvel movies. She was in the minority.“We meet interesting and important people but, man, when Captain America was in the Senate, it was all the buzz,” she says. “And people were like, ‘Did you get your picture taken?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I sat down and did the interview.’ ‘You did an interview? How did you get an interview with him?’ ”What impressed Murkowski wasn’t his star power. It was the way Evans conducted the interview.“It was relaxing,” she says. “You didn’t feel like you were in front of a reporter who was just waiting for you to say something you would get caught on later. It was a dialogue . . . and we need more dialogue and less gotcha.”

“Starting Points” offers two-minute answers by elected officials in eight topic areas, including education, the environment and the economy. This is where the interviews Evans conducted can be found. “Daily Points” has featured a steady flow of Republicans and Democrats. A third area, “Counterpoints,” hosts short debates between officials on particular subjects. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, debated mail-in voting with Dusty Johnson, the Republican congressman from South Dakota.

“Most Americans can’t name more than five members of the United States House,” says Johnson. “ ‘A Starting Point’ allows thoughtful members to talk to a broader audience than we would normally have.”

The platform’s social media team pushes out potentially newsworthy clips, whether it’s Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) discussing his meeting with Barrett just before he tested positive for the coronavirus, or Angus King, the independent senator from Maine, criticizing Trump for his comments on a potential peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. Kassen notes that the King clip was viewed more than 175,000 times on “A Starting Point’s” Twitter account, compared with the 10,000 who caught in on CNN’s social media platform.

“Because it’s short-form media, we’re engineered to be social,” says Kassen. “As a result, when something catches hold, it’s passed around our audience pretty well.”

The key is to use modern tools to push out content that’s tonally different from what you might find on modern cable news. Or on social media. Which is what Evans hopes leads to more engagement. He’s particularly proud that more than 10,000 people have registered to vote through “A Starting Point” since it went online.

“If the downstream impact or the byproduct of this site is some sort of unity between the parties, great,” says Evans. “But if nobody’s still voting, it doesn’t work. We need people involved.”

[the-existential-era]

A few days ago, I was playing Among Us with my friends. We were all on facetime. We decided to let some random people in so we could have a full game. On of those randoms was The Captain. Even after the other randoms left, The Captain stayed with us for over an hour. We tried to find out more about them, but they remained mysterious. They disconnected after a round with barely a goodbye. All of us were extremely touched by The Captain and devastated when they left. The same day, I had to do a creative writing assignment, and I decided to right an interpretation of The Captain. That’s what’s below. 

The Ballad of The Captain

   When the Captain was young, he longed for the great wide open ocean. He had never seen it, since he lived on a spaceship with his parents. He was the only kid there, so he longed for friends. Then, one day, when the Captain was 14, their ship docked at Earth. His parents decided to stay there for a few years to conduct research. The longer he waited, the more his hunger for the ocean grew. Finally, he decided he had to go, even if it meant leaving his parents forever. It took many days to reach the water, but when he finally got there, it was the most magnificent thing he’d ever seen. Even more magnificent then space.

   It took the Captain a few years to get his bearings. He had to learn to sail and make enough money to buy a boat. He worked on different crews around the world, but never truly found friends. When he turned 18 and finally saved up enough money to buy a boat, he named it the Star Ship. He sailed alone for a while, eventually realizing he needed a crew to make him happy. He decided to go to the nearest port and look for his future crewmates.

   At first, he was hopeless, unsure how to find the right people. He ate in local pubs and went to nearby parks to search for worthy sailors. He thought he would never find them until one day, he saw the perfect people. They were a small group, a year or two younger than himself, but they looked eager and excited for the next adventure. He approached them slowly, but they welcomed him with open arms. When he asked if they wanted to be his crew, all of them said yes.

   The Captain and his new friends made plans to leave the next morning for their voyage into the unknown. The new crewmates were willing to do tasks and help with the upkeep of the ship. One of them, Mo, caught his eye. She was kind and beautiful, and would stay with him so he didn’t have to do tasks alone.

   The Captain was a gentle man, so he decided to see how his possible relationship with Mo would play out. They kept doing their work together for a while, and eventually the Captain couldn’t hold his feelings in any longer. He was scared, but he decided to ask her to be his girlfriend. She was hesitant and surprised, so she said she’d think about it.

   The Captain worried endlessly about what she would say, but the other crewmates comforted him and he knew whatever happened would be ok. Even though there was tension between them, Mo and the Captain kept doing their tasks together for a while. On a calm day, when the waves were small and the water was clear, Mo told the Captain that she didn’t want to be his girlfriend. She loved him, but as a friend. Deep down the Captain was very sad, but he knew that he didn’t lose any friends that day.

   As the years passed, the crew lost and gained members, but always remained a tight-knit family. Captain was glad he had found his crew when he did. He missed his parents, but he knew he had made the right decision. The crew of the Star Ship had many adventures together. To the crewmates, the Captain was mysterious and exciting, and they all grew to love him. Living on the boat felt carefree. They crewmates joked around and had a good time together sailing the world. The Captain told his friends stories of space and his time sailing alone. The crewmates of the Star Ship decided to stay together as long as they could. Slowly, more of them got old or tired of life on the boat. Some of them were called home by loved ones or responsibilities they couldn't avoid. Most of the crew mates stayed together for many years, but the Captain knew in his heart that he too was getting old.

   Then, one day, a terrible storm struck. The Captain knew he had to do his best to keep his crewmates safe, and the crew knew they had to take care of him too. They all worked together to try to get the ship prepared to survive the storm. The Captain realized that the final task was to go above deck and take down the sail, but the rain was coming down very hard and the wind was the fastest he’d ever seen. He called his crew together to tell them what had to be done. They pleaded with him, insisting that the sail would probably just blow away. But the Captain knew he had to take down the sail.

   He said his goodbyes and wished his crew well.

   “I’ll see you in outer space.”

*****

   Even to this day, the crew of the Star Ship doesn’t know whether or not the Captain is alive or whether they will ever meet again. But they continue to sail together, and make sure that their beloved Captain’s memory will always live on.

And if The Captain sees this, Love from etta, Spook, K E N N IE, Rebecca, lydia, EvilSloth, gatito, and the rest of the people playing with us. (sorry to the people who’s usernames i forgot)

[bucky-smiles]

C’est La Vie: Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: minor character death, mentions of sex, alcohol, and college parties.

This is my chapter for the ficwars!! My lovely partner is @delicatelyherdreamsand the prompt for this chapter is “You’ve dated all my friends it’s been over 5 years and I may have feelings for you now. This is getting personal.”

It only took 5 years for you to come to the conclusion that everything you felt and the fact that nothing was ever going to be the same was, in fact, for the worse.  

Bucky and you had remained close, obviously. You needed the emotional support what with your parents divorce and then the tragedy that was high school. Miraculously enough, both of you managed to get into the same college as well.. Attached at the hip really did describe the two of you as there’d not been a moment of separation for so long. It was nice, to have such a rock available to you at all times. Nearly 15 years of friendship was all the proof necessary that Bucky had the best shoulder to cry on. 

However even then, being so close to him only hurt you more.

Why?

Because anytime he’d talk, it’d be about how pretty some girl in your grade was.. Or how pretty one of your friends was.. Or how he kissed Wanda Maximoff behind the basketball courts… Or managed to touch his on again off again girlfriend, Natasha Romanoff, in places you never were even sure if Bucky knew existed. The list could go on forever, really, that’s how many escapades Bucky Barnes had.. And it was probably the one constant thing, aside from your emotional distress, in the years of friendship where your feelings fell deeper than just platonic. 

No one outside of you or Steve knows how he became so desirable and outgoing in such a short time. It seemed that one summer, Bucky Barnes was just your best friend and then the next summer, he came back ripped and in a leather jacket. Most people chalked it up to a summer glow up, except that was far from it. 

It was in the school year that your parents filed for divorce. In that time, Bucky was your #1 support system and everything seemed like it’d be okay. He helped you with homework and kept you focused while you studied. Your mom got the house and there was joint custody on you. You stayed the week at your mom’s and then over some weekends, you stayed with your dad. 

It was in that summer, within the first couple of weeks, that Winnifred Barnes suffered from a heart attack right in the middle of the hospital she worked at. The best of the cardiac surgeons were working on her through the night and even then, it seemed that she couldn’t be saved. 

Bucky had called you almost as soon as they got the call and you’d been there holding him as he did nothing but pray for his mother’s sake. When his prayers weren’t answered, you held him and Rebecca tightly, letting them cry into your shoulders. You mourned quietly for your second mother. In that moment, it was about being there for Bucky and Rebecca more. 

After that, while Bucky was still the Bucky you knew and loved, so many parts of him weren’t him anymore. He started worrying a lot about the public opinion.. And then to add to that, he started going to the gym and seemed to be a natural in the art of flirting. You and Steve sat on the sidelines as he went through nearly every single one of your friends. No one was safe and honestly, sometimes you felt it just better to not to talk to anyone that wasn’t Steve or Bucky.. Because if you did, Bucky would ask you questions on them and then they’d ask questions about you.. An endless, torturous cycle that you’d recently started growing more and more impatient with. 

You were snapped out of your thoughts and recount of your life till now at the sound of the door to your shared apartment slamming. You jolted just a bit, eyes drifting from where you’d focused them to the door. The sight of Bucky wasn’t surprising.. After all, you, him, and Steve were all roommates. It was fitting, really, that life has kept you all together for so long and that it continues to do so. The three of you had gotten into your respective programs of choice at the university that happened to be the top choice for all three of you. From there, it was all pretty simple. 

“Y/N/N” Bucky speaks first as he sets some groceries onto the counter. 

“Yes, James?” A little jab to hint at the fact that he was annoying. He knew that he was, he was purposely so just to annoy you.. And the fact that you called him by his real name was just proof of that. 

“I’m throwing a party tonight.. Can you help me clean the place?” And there was something that was actually annoying: the fact that he never communicated about any plans. What? Did he expect some sort of telepathic connection making you aware of everything?

“What the hell? Where do you expect me to study?” To add to the circumstances, you even had a test tomorrow. It was the introduction to physics course by Doctor Banner than everyone seemed to fail. You weren’t going to be everyone and on the roommate calendar on the fridge, you’d explicitly stated the existence of said test. It was a process between the three of you.. All important events were put on the calendar and everyone would respect everything on the calendar. 

“What do you me-Oh yeah, Banner’s test..” He cursed under his breath quietly as he looked to the calendar just to confirm that you weren’t lying. “I already got the word out on this though, Y/N/N.. Natasha is gonna be there and I’m gonna-” 

“Get her back, yeah I know. You’ve said and done that God knows how many times,” That was more filled with jealousy than anything else. But Bucky was oblivious as he continued to fish things out of his grocery bags. “So you’re not cancelling? Bucky what the fuck about the rules?” Why you were reacting this way, who knows. Probably a mix of stress from the test in addition to the fact that your feelings for Bucky Barnes were a pain in your ass. 

“Can you make an exception this time, please?” He abandons the groceries as he makes his way to you, pulling up a chair by where you were sitting and closing your physics book for just a moment. “I promise it won’t happen again, Y/N/N.” He links his arm with yours before nudging you playfully, “I know you’re the captain and all, but you gotta let your sidekick have some fun too.” A callback to the adventures of Captain America and the Winter Soldier, obviously. 

Fuck, you hated how nostalgia ruined your resolve. 

A loud groan escapes your lips and you throw your head back in the chair which basically gave away Bucky’s victory, “Fine.. But I’m going to the library. If there’s still a party when I’m back I swear, James Buchanan Barnes, I’m going to-” 

“Have my head on a stick? Kill me? Eat my ass?” More jokes, more banter, more of yours and Bucky’s relationship. 

Your nose wrinkles at the last one, “Gross.. The first one is more my style..” 

“You’ve been watching too much Game of Thrones, Y/N.. Okay so people are going to start showing up in an hour-ish so you’ll probably want to disappear by then.. Good? Good. You’re the best, Y/N, I love you..” He kisses your cheek and your eyes widen. Sure, this wasn’t abnormal of him, but he had such an effect on you. 

“Yeah yeah you better..” You’ve rarely ever been able to say ‘I love you too’ back to him.. It’s frightening, really, because yours means so much.. He says it so often sometimes you can’t help but wonder if he loves you the way you love him. 

Once more, you shake yourself out of your thoughts before packing up your textbook and notebooks into your bag, getting up. Best leave now and not have to worry yourself with getting caught up in the moment when people start arriving.. You really need to study. 

---- 

Studying was.. Strangely productive for you this time around. You got a dinner from your favorite place on the way to the library and ate while you studied. Time went by like a blur. You started at 6 and then the next time you looked at the clock, it was 11 pm. All notes were revised and understood and you really felt like a champ. It was getting late, obviously, and you knew that the party probably wouldn’t be over yet.. But your room was also off limits as always so you could go and hide there and possibly get some sleep too. 

Music was quietly playing in your earbuds as you took a scooter back to your apartment. One look up from the outside to your floor was all you needed to know that the party was still 100% going. The bright lights were visible and since the moon was covered by clouds, it seemed all the more vibrant. It was probably going to rain soon so you quickly got inside. 

The bass could be heard through the walls of your floor. Thank God everyone around was a college student.. The business was to do it was to invite the entire top, bottom, and normal floor so that there’d be no noise complaints. Judging by the sound, it was a big hit. 

You pushed through the sweaty bodies to your room.. This time, partying didn’t seem to be the top thing on your mind. A good night’s sleep was what you needed, especially with all the studying you’d done. 

When you unlocked the door to your room, you stopped dead in your tracks at the sight. 

Bucky was sitting on your bed, Natasha at his side. There were lipstick stains covering Bucky’s cheek and neck. They seemed to be talking about something when you entered, stopping at the sound of the door opening. 

Your bed had been made when you left and now, coming back, it was a disorganized mess with pillows everywhere and your blanket half on the floor. It smelled like booze and something else that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

A look of shock must’ve passed your face or something. Here was another rule that Bucky broke. No, 2 rules. One, your room was off limits in parties. And two, no shenanigans in your room.. Ever.. And there was Bucky, withs stupid sex hair and lipstick stains, sat in your room. Bucky stood up almost right away. 

“Y/N it isn’t what it looks like, I swear I-”

You didn’t let him finish as you backed out of the room, turning on your heels and pushing through all the bodies once more to get out of the apartment and somewhere else. 

You’d been right earlier, when you thought that it’d be raining soon. Because the minute you stepped out onto the sidewalk you were drenched. Whatever, that was the last thing on your mind anyways. The first move was to get as far away from this place. You began moving but were immediately stopped by the feeling of a hand holding onto your wrist. 

You turned, ready to tug your wrist away and punch whoever had grabbed onto you, but stopped at the sight of the one and only man who’d been hurting your heart for so long. 

Bucky Barnes.

[sineala]

Hi, how are you? Just wanted to thank you because without your blogs I wouldn’t have checked comics out.Question; since my Stony dream would never come true. Does Tony and Steve have s/o? Or are they single? I know in comics characters aren’t allowed to have permanent spouse but if you would choose a love interest for them who would it be and why? Who is more romantic, Steve or Tony?

Hi!

Currently in the comics Steve is with Sharon again -- well, okay, Steve is in prison, but he’s been dating Sharon -- and Tony is dating Jan for the second time, although currently he’s in some kind of virtual reality world and is virtually drunk and maybe also dead. You know, it’s comics. These things happen.

Lucrezianoin has a list of everyone Tony has ever dated. Steve’s romantic history is a lot shorter -- he had quite a few romantic interests before the ice (Peggy Carter, Cynthia Glass, Betsy Ross, and I think also Jacqueline Falsworth) although I think everyone except Betsy was a retcon. Peggy was 100% a retcon, for example. After the ice, Steve’s really only seriously dated a few people: Sharon, Bernie, Rachel, Connie, and Rebecca. And, I guess, there was that woman Jess caught him with in Alias. Steve’s dated Sharon most frequently but I should also point out that Sharon spent about fifteen years being dead and another ten years not dating Steve and it’s really only since Brubaker’s run that Steve hasn’t seriously dated anyone else. They haven’t been an OTP that Marvel has been pushing for Steve’s entire existence, is what I am saying.

The general way I think about Steve and Tony’s attitudes toward relationships, which I know I have said before, is that Tony is a devoted and caring significant other (occasionally with boundary issues) but dates almost exclusively terrible people. Many of them try to kill him. At least one of them has already tried to kill him before they started dating. He just... he can’t pick them. He really can’t. Of Tony’s significant others, I actually really like Jan and think she’s one of the best people he’s ever dated and certainly one of the best for him, but I don’t expect them to stick together long-term. I also really liked Rumiko Fujikawa. (I mean, there’s also the terrible people, and they can be a lot of fun to read about, but, like, in my ideal comic, Tony does not date Sunset Bain.)

Steve, on the other hand, dates people who are basically really wonderful people but he is a lousy boyfriend. I mean, come on, he was obsessed with Sharon because she looked like Peggy, and then he proposed to her without knowing her name. And, okay, sure, you can make some allowances for “well, it was a different time” but Steve is pretty consistently Bad At Feelings with everyone he’s ever dated. Like, Bernie tells him she loves him and he just freezes up, doesn’t say it back, and then goes home and beats himself up about how he just doesn’t understand relationships. And then when they decide to break up he ditches her on what was supposed to be their last night together to go be Captain America. Great. Good job, Steve. I think Bernie is probably my favorite of Steve’s girlfriends (I have more panels of her here), honestly, though I’m really fond of Sharon, and I really like what I’ve read of Rachel, Connie, and Rebecca. (I want to write some Steve/Rachel fic someday.)

So in answer to your question, I’d have to say that Tony is more romantic, but also that Tony has terrible, terrible judgment in relationships. This is a a man who dated Maya Hansen after she already tried to kill him. This is a man who dated Whitney Frost. Twice.

While I’ve got you here, please admire this panel of Tony and Whitney Frost kissing from Iron Man #104:

I like this panel because they’re both wearing full-face metal masks and yet this doesn’t seem to have stopped them from kissing. CLANK CLANK.

[amnachil]

The College Society Chapter 4 Part 2

Hope you’ll like it! 

Some bigs news in this part.

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey Thursday March 14

Let's recall who was Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey : he was a gifted hunter, loved by many, venerated by all. He was also very proud of his cooking skills. Besides, he was smart and good-looking. There's no need to hide it : I'm the best. So he could handle everything. Or at least he thought until today. Because not only he had a date with the baboon, which already flustered him more than necessary, but he had to protect the baboon at the same time. As soon as they had come back from France, Summer had informed him about the situation. A mysterious hunter had put a price on Liam's head : 5000$. Whoever slept with Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey's boyfriend and proved it to the hunter community would earn 5000$ ! Needless to say, Liam, who was already famous, became the target number one. The community went crazy. The junior went mad. He yelled at Summer more than he ever did. He called Nancy and ordered her to find the prick who started this mess. Nobody would touch his baboon.

"Hey Dami, are you alright ?"

The lad raised his head to meet Liam's eyes. I must've looked terrible if even him noticed something was going on. Fuck that. I'm the one supposed to be worried here.

"Everything's fine." he replied. "The street is too crowded that's all."

A fuckin' good way to get somewhere with less people... And less hunters who might see them.

"Okay." smiled the baboon. "Come with me."

For someone who spent most of his time the head in the clouds, he strangely knew his ways in the town. He led Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey to a little park. I will die before I admit this place is beautiful.

"Raphaël led me here when he came to visit." revealed the baboon. "I think it's quiet and heart-warming."

They found a spot to sat and the junior thoughtlessly took his place on his boyfriend's lap.

"The soccer guy." he recalled. "Are you close ?"

Since this Muller is a very gifted hunter himself... I hope he didn't hear about the reward.

"He's my oldest friend I guess." replied the baboon, far aw ay his thoughts. "I know him for a very long time and I know we're close but... He's a mutant so I never fully understood him you know ?"

A mutant sure. I'm getting used to the idiot's delirium now. Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey was about to say something when he heard a discreet but yet audible gurgling.

"You're a walking stomach, aren't you ?" he half-asked, half-teased.

"Not my fault if your bag smells so good !" complained the baboon. "I'm restraining myself for one hour now !"

The blond junior sighed. How come he found this each time cuter than the last ? Maybe I am cursed afterall ?

They ended their date around 10 pm. Apparently, the baboon needed to sleep early or he would be sluggish the next day. To my humble opinion, he's always sluggish... But Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey still had business to do. The campus was a warzone. Those filthy hunters were up to no good. Well, he didn't fear the idiots who already tried their luck. But there were some old and smart assholes who might cause a fucking problem. Until I found out who is the damned idiotic cocky bastard who started this barbaric mess, I'll need to remind them who is the fucking boss. The junior arrived to the football premises. He entered in the lockers hastily, without taking notice of the guys and girls who where having fun around him. Some invited him but hell, he hadn't the time. Sadly. He entered in Archie's office only to find him and the midget talking. This later had swollen eyes. He looks like crap.

"Midget you go out." Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "You can still come back to offload later."

Nate frowned but didn't protest. The quaterback told him to wait in the next room and to help himself if he wanted something. Then, he focused back on his guest.

"Yo Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey." he smiled. "Must be very important if you show up angry like this."

"I'm pretty sure you heard about Liam's head price. A foolhardy dopey son of a bitch dared to do that."

Archie nodded. A loud gurgle made clear he was starving, but the junior didn't care. Your damned stomach isn't the priority right now.

"I told my pack to not get involved." he assured. "Do you have any idea who may do something like this ?"

"A foolish cocksucker who has a death wish." Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey replied. "I want you to keep me posted on everything you hear. I will find this motherfucker and I'll shove my dick so hard in his buttocks that he'll pray for forgiveness."

Of course, he wouldn't actually do that. A prick like that didn't deserve a taste of his wonderful cock.

"Okay." agreed Archie. "Anything else I can do for help ? You want me to ask some guys to protect Liam ?"

"There is no need for that, I'm dealing with the baboon's protection myself." explained Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey. "And I don't trust your men even if I trust you. Packs ain't so reliable when that much money is at stake. Anyway, open your eyes and ears and tell me when you find something. I want the asshole."

The blond lad was already angry. But when he arrived at his appartment this evening, things got worse. His grandfather was here to welcome him. He never comes until he has something important to tell. This time wasn't an exception.

"Your mother and sister are coming next week." he announced. "They're eager to see you."

"That's not reciprocal." Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey retorted.

"Young man, I count on you to be nicer than you tend to be around campus." warned the old man.

Fuck this shit. Now was not the time for useless distraction. He had a bigger matter to resolve than chatting with his idiotic family.

"Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey, don't give me that look. You'll behave to not embarrass me in front of your own mother. It would have been nice if you could introduce her to your girlfriend or boyfriend, but I heard you don't have an official one yet..."

What with the condescending tone ? You really are an old geezer sometimes. And I have a boyfriend so there ! The junior didn't answer. He grunted his consent and went inside. Now he was more than angry. Since he had met the baboon, everything was turning crazy. First, he, the best hunter in the world, had fell in love. Talk about nonsense ! And now, his boyfriend was the target of the community. He hadn't the time to see his mother or his sister ! Fuck it. Fuck them all. He was so pissed, he couldn't call Zack right now. First, he needed to calm down. And he knew only one way to do that. Sex. A lot a sex.

Liam Saturday March 16

The loud laughters caught his attention. He had been thinking about living pancakes for a moment now so he didn't know what was happening. He quickly noticed it was Rebecca's doing. She and her friends were grouped around Nick, who seemed unhappy about the situation. They're still making fun of him ? The forces of evil were heartless. Liam got up to help him but Theo arrived. The captain quickly stopped the teasing and everyone went in the pool. They were doing a special training today and even if he didn't participate in tournament, the young lad took the occasion to swim. He was about to dive in the ocean (yes the pool but he liked to think it was the ocean) when someone grabbed his wrist.

"Wait please." begged a soft and whining voice.

Liam turned and ended face to face with a girl he didn't know. She hadn't released his wrist yet. However, when he looked at her, he instantly understood who she was. Her curly brown hair, her charming blue eyes... These graceful curves and almost shining body... The witch. She's here.

"Hi." she smiled. "My name is Lucy Lopez and I..."

He didn't let her finish. He freed himself and cannonball dived in the ocean (the pool yes !). I need to go away as fast as possible. I can't believe she's here. The witch. He swam straight to the other edge, got out of the water and ran. The witch ! I saw her ! He was so afraid and so excited. (Afterall, it was his first time meeting such a young and yet powerful witch.)

He arrived at his flat out of breath. He had never ran so fast in his life. But well, at least he had escaped from the witch. He entered inside and went for a little snack. Nate was in the living room, eyes focused on his cell phone. Liam sat next to him, mouth full of pancake. (He had dreamed of these delicious pancakes since Dami had offered them.) (And as he expected, they were god-sent !).

"I met the witch." he announced.

His bestfriend raised an eyebrow. He looked preoccupied.

"Now isn't a good time to talk about shit." he mumbled.

The chestnut lad wasn't a very bright person but he could tell Nate was feeling worse than usual. Maybe the witch was only a distraction ?

"Is there something I can do for you ?" he asked.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what happened that night and why it was haunting his bestfriend. Of course, he was well aware Nate had nightmares often. He perfectly knew there was something bad his friend kept for himself. But he didn't had any idea how to help.

"I wish I wouldn't be able to think anymore." complained the short lad. "I'm stuck in here, facing my demons alone and it's so frightening. But I don't want to go outside either. I feel like I haven't the right to go outside... And I know I can't bother Archie all the time."

Liam nodded silently. What can I do for him ? (The question was more for the unicorn than himself but they remained quiet. Those ungrateful horses !).

"Let's play videogames together." suggested eventually the chestnut boy. "It will distract you from bad thoughts."

This evening, Nate went to bed early. Dami arrived around half an hour later with diner. He had brought enough to feed the whole building but well... Liam didn't want to share with said building ! Nick looked at the feast and sighed.

"How the hell am I supposed to watch my figure when you're bringing that much delicious food here ?" he asked.

"Shut up." grumbled Dami. "I'm gaining weight too and I'm not complaining."

Liam's roommate didn't reply. He took a bit of everything and left the room to go play. The chesnut lad didn't think about it anyway : he was already eating. He gobbled two dish in a mere five minutes. Then, he went for a third helping.

"You sure look happy when you're stuffing your face." commented his boyfriend.

Himself was eating at a slower pace. He moved his plate next to Liam, and sat close to him. Almost without thinking, he put his head on Liam's shoulder.

"You're gonna be sick." he whispered. "At least go for it slower."

"You won't believe me, but I was kind of a slow eater back in highschool." laughed the freshman. "I think I just missed food so much during the past ten months... I'm making up for the time."

"It doesn't mean you have to choke yourself." sighed Dami.

They continued to discuss lightly while eating. Since he took the time to talk with his boyfriend, Liam slowed his pace but it didn't prevent him to devour as much food as he could. And when he went to bed this evening, he was full and very contented with himself.

Nicolas Sunday March 17

< TheSavior : Dont feel very good. Won't play be4 one hour at least >

< Abeautifulwomen : okay. I ve work to do >

< Imagenius : Guys big news !! The hunt at my college I got sme more news ! I think i can manage to participate ! >

< TheSavior : dont wanna know and dont care. >

< Abeautifulwomen : I'm listening >

< Imagenius : So i dont hav any specifics but one of my roommate told me i can be a hunter and try my luck if i want. It's about catch a dude and hav sex with him >

< Abeautifulwoman : So you really re gay ? >

< Imagenius : Joker. Anw maybe there is a reward or smthg ? I am interested >

< Abeautifulwomen : On a unrelated topic what do you think abut a couple who hid to evryone they're a couple becuz one of them is scared for his reputation but revealing the truth could save their couple ? Askin for a friend lol >

< Imagenius : Why are you ignoring me ? :( And above all it remind me i'm single >

< Abeautifulwomen : Your fantasy hunt is booooring ! You re single becuz you suck sry to be honest. It's just i think my friend smhow ended in a relationship with someone but doesnt want to admit it cuz he isnt the kind of guy who hasn't special relationship in the first place. >

< Imagenius : i think your friend is as fake as your pseudo-feminity dude >

< Abeautifulwomen : fuck u gay man ! >

< TheSavior : You are so annoying both of you smtmes >

* TheSavior is offline * * the chat is now closed *

A knock at the door resonated in the flat. Nick removed his headset and sighed. He wasn't in the mood for social activities. But whoever waited behind that damn door was being very impatient. The young lad heavily stood up and went to the entrance. He opened with reluctance and glared at the stranger who was bothering him on a sunday afternoon. It was a tall and elegant girl. She smiled cheerfully at him. I'll end up blind if she continues to smile like this.

"Hi." she said. "I'm looking for Liam Strucker ?"

Nick didn't answer straight away. He looked closer at her first. She was truly beautiful, with soft features. Her clothes showed nicely her curvy body. She is hot but also a little suspicious if you ask me. Now, Nicolas Lawson wasn't someone who meddle in his friends business but Liam didn't need any extra problems right now. The dude was a lunatic who believed in unicorns and aliens ! I don't even know how he managed to get a boyfriend.

"He's not here." he eventually replied. "He's at the gym."

It was a lie, since Liam was with Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey for the afternoon. But Nick had quickly understood this relationship was supposed to be kept secret. Not that he knew why but he liked Liam enough to respect that wish. The girl pouted in a cute way.

"Damn that's my bad luck. I really needed to talk to him."

I'm one hundred percent sure he doesn't know you. His roommate didn't know many people. And anyway, he probably didn't remember many either.

"I'm Lucy Lopez by the way." she chuckled. "Nice to meet you."

Nick rolled his eyes. He didn't actually hate girls. He was a proud bisexual who could appreciate a beauty when he saw one. But he was so fed-up with girls. Rebecca and Barbara made sure of it. He had been very interested in the first one. He had tried to be cool, to be fun and everything but it hadn't worked at all. As for the second... I'm ashamed to admit it but yeah, I thought she would be a nice girlfriend since she was second in the promotion and all... Thus, Nick had understood not a long time ago that he just had terrible taste in girls. And Liam and Nate ain't very helpful in that department... So he decided he didn't like this Lucy Lopez. To make his point, he closed slowly the door right in front of her. She looked surprised, but let him do. And in a instant, he was happy to be alone again.

< TheSavior : taking a break to grab smthg to eat >

< Abeautifulwomen : you said that one hour ago >

< Imagenius : I'll do the same. Playin' while eating is the best >

< Abeautifulwomen : can't deny that. Now I'm hungry too. >

< TheSavior : take your snack fast and we back to game. My roommate fell asleep in the living room lol >

< Imagenius : pic ? >

< Abeautifulwomen : Gay ? >

< Imagenius : Fke girl ? >

< TheSavior : not the roommate you want to see guys. The other, and he woke up already. He's going to his room now. Evryone is rdy to play ? >

< Imagenius : Wait a sec, I spilt my beer. Fuck there are crips everywhr ! >

< Abeautifulwomen : Im rdy. Ima i'm sure you're a fatty xoxo >

< TheSavior : i am a fatty and fuck you thank you very much >

< Imagenius : You would be surprised im actually very fit... or not... but fuck me pls ? >

< Abeautifulwomen : dem gays >

To be continued

Dami has so much work to do. While his boyfriend is completely in his delirium, he has to protect the boy from a whole community!

Nate is not doing fine either, so there’s that...

And yes! Nick was interested in Rebecca, and even Barbara. But he didn’t know how to approach them, so he tried here and there. Didn’t work well. Also, his online friends are crazy, don’t mind them.

[jaggedwolf]

So, during my haze of wisdom teeth extraction recovery last week, I went on a kick of binging clips/episodes of my favorite mundane live-action television shows from this decade, old ones and currently airing ones alike: Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Parks and Recreation. 

And it actually helped me crystallize my thoughts on what’s been lacking in the latest seasons of The Good Place and Jane The Virgin and my recent dissatisfaction with said shows.

What’s missing is really, really simple.

It's respect for the internality for the major characters that are not the main lead.

Because, let’s be real, all of these shows have a central lead that things hinge on. There’s exactly one episode of B99 where Jake isn’t in the A plot. Eleanor Shellstrop finds out she’s in the good place when she shouldn’t be. Every episode of JtV starts with the narrator telling us how old Jane was during some significant moment of her life. It’s the nature of the beast, a focus that’s more necessary for some show structures than others.

But the shows are stronger when they shine a little light on what the world looks like from those other, non-lead characters. It doesn’t have to be present in every episode, but it does, I think, have to be a conscious, consistent thread throughout.

For instance, B99 starts off as Jake’s story, as he snipes at Amy and gets annoyed at the robot captain, but within its first two episodes makes it clear that the next perspective we’re interested in is that of said captain. Parks and Rec takes a while to set up Leslie herself, let alone the rest of the cast, but it gets there in the end. No matter what you might think of the finale, it’s emblematic of the show that both it and Leslie are interested in where everyone ends up. Even jokes about Jerry are offset by his perfect personal life, late-game randos like Craig/Typhoon get flash-forwards that have nothing to do with Leslie.

CXG is an interesting case because, I’d argue, it has the tightest point of view of any of those five shows. We’re mostly in Rebecca’s head, and the other characters often gain complexity when Rebecca realizes they have it - see Paula’s progression from helpful best friend to someone with her own dreams. Yet even Season 1 manages to shed some light on those characters’ internal worlds. “I’m So Good At Yoga” is how Rebecca sees Valencia, but “Women Gotta Stick Together” is how Valencia sees herself, y’know?

And so I was musing on why I felt underwhelmed by the latest TGP season, and this framework has helped me figure out why. The latter half of the season fails to be invested in the internality of characters other than Eleanor and Michael.

Take the culmination of Eleanor/Chidi getting together, the latest in the many iterations that have happened in canon, but the first that the viewers get to witness. This iteration of Chidi’s sudden reciprocated interest was unconvincing to me, even though I was fine with the idea of them well enough in the first two seasons. Then the finale happened and the machinations behind said resolution of the romance became so transparent I found myself rolling my eyes.  They needed Chidi/Eleanor to be together, so that Eleanor could feel bad about the mindwipe, so Chidi needs to quickly like her back already.

To get to the point of Eleanor realising she likes Chidi at all, we have Michael give her all her memories back. But no one else gets or is interested in having all their memories back, and the show seems utterly uninterested in that question.

Despite their small moments to shine, it kinda felt like there wasn’t really much for Chidi or Tahani or Jason to do or contribute to the plot momentum in the last few episodes, beyond saying some wacky thing that’s in-character for them. That might be where I’m not a fan of the 13 episode season. As much as people praise the tightness that structure gives to the story, I think if writers are used to the space of 22 episodes, that shorter season can unexpectedly leave the cast feeling empty. You can’t afford episodes focused on a character, you can’t afford a status quo, you’re too busy keeping the plot going.

Now, Jane The Virgin. To be honest, this show overwhelmingly did and does a great job with the internality of non-Jane characters. Even if the narrator has his favorites, we get a far more expansive view of the world than what Jane sees. Think of how we had an entire detective mystery plot around Sin Rostro in Season 1 that doesn’t even touch Jane until the season finale.

All of that makes how it handled Michael’s return majorly disappointing, and I say this as someone who never cared much about Mr Cordero. 

Even after he gets his memory back, and we’re dealing with the awkward hybrid of Michael-Jason, he is only ever presented in the context of Jane, and it feels very...artificial? He gets his memories back and heads to Montana because he can’t be with Jane, never mind all the other people he knows and loves in Miami, like his mom and his friends.

No other pre-existing character talks to Michael after he gets his memories back other than Jane. Rogelio goes on and on about whether Jason might remember him, but once Michael’s around, we hear nothing about him meeting him. Nope, this version of Michael serves no purpose other than as a possible romantic prospect for Jane. 

And it stands out because of how the show is normally very decent at peering into the worlds of the non-Jane characters and their lives outside of Jane. We get to see Xo reach out to Rafael about how he’s doing, we get to see Petra/JR rebuild their relationship, but with Michael, none of that. 

Culminating in everyone’s very weird assumption that of course he’s just going to stay in Montana if he doesn’t get with Jane, that he has no attachment to Miami on his own. He lived there before he ever met her! He has family there, and clearly getting back to detective work sparked something in him! Apparently the answer to “Who is Michael-Jason outside of Jane?” is just “Jason”!?

It feels super off. Maybe they’ll surprise me and he’ll pop back up later to deal with Rose, but I think its still a major misstep for the show’s initial presentation of his return to be so laser-focused on Michael/Jane.

Anyway, it was nice to be able to boil down this feature as something that apparently matters to me in television. Because I'm fond of plenty of self-centered book protagonists, but when you have the framing device of television? A lot harder to convince me the myopic view is that of the starring character, and not of the writers themselves.

[storiesnobodyreads]

Hard To Be Loved 5

PART FIVE

Characters: Tom Holland x Reader

Story: You are Tom Holland’s girlfriend, afraid of being in the spotlight. Your concerns are proven right when a crazy fan starts stalking and threatening you. Will your relationship with Tom stand, and are you in real danger?

A/N: this is part 5, as promised, on sunday! let me know what you think!! lots of lovee

Warning: curses

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

“Can I say it?” Chris asked, voice higher pitched than usual.

The ones who understood, so mainly the founding Avengers, all sighed in desperation. Clearly, Chris had attempted to do this before. The rest looked around a little confused. Jeremy Renner answered for the sake of the group, “God, Evans, Just get it over with!”

“Alright,” Chris cleared his throat. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he was Captain America. “Avengers…” he spoke, voice low and deep and serious. “Assemble!”

*****

The meeting with the Avengers passed by awfully quickly. Even though you had in fact met all the wonderful actors plenty of times before and even considered them as more than just acquaintances, it took your breath away to see them all in the same room. Tom was looking around wide-eyed and in awe, seeing his childhood heroes every way he turned. Unfortunately, the atmosphere had been serious and tense.

Because yours and Tom’s reputation was on the line here.

Every one of them had agreed to post something on social media, a picture with either Tom or you or both, making a statement about privacy and respect to this couple.

It triggered you that you didn’t know anything about Rebecca except her first name. You wished that the actors could have tagged her in their posts, unleashing the storm of rage from the fans upon her. Or perhaps it would be the other way around, and you would be burned to the ground for exposing an innocent person to the world of paparazzi. No matter what, it pissed you off that Rebecca was ruining your life and you didn’t even know her last name. She knew everything about you and Tom.

Hours passed and eventually it was actually quite fun. After a while, however, it became time to go back home and have dinner. Lots of hugs and manly embraces were exchanged.

Sebastian Stan held you a little longer as he was hugging you. “Stay strong, kid,” he murmured.

“Man, I’m like the fucking Hulk,” you grumbled in his chest.

Seb’s low laughter made you shake. “Good.” He held you at a distance, rubbing your arms. Suddenly, the smile vanished from his face and his blue eyes sparkled sadly. “I really hope you don’t get your heart broken.”

His words stung.

“Well, I’ll let you know if I do,” you commented, trying to laugh light-heartedly, but truthfully you felt as if you chest was as heavy as the entire fucking world. “I do expect you to bring my chocolate if something goes wrong.”

“Of course,” Seb nodded firmly. “For now, though, let’s believe that everything will be okay. You do have the Avengers on your side, you know.”

You made a face. “I guess that’s kind of cool.”

After that, more encouraging phrases were thrown at you and all your heroes told you to stay strong. It should make you feel more prepared, less frightened, however, the fact they all so seriously cared so much made you only the more concerned that this was massively messed up.

Tom found you when most of the cast was leaving. “Love,” he smiled, smoothly taking your hand. “Everything’s going to be okay. Right?”

“Right.” You couldn’t quite tell whether he was comforting you or you were comforting him.

Robert Downey Junior joined you by your side, wrapping a supportive arm around you. “Well, kids, I’d say this was a success. Now I suggest you two go out for dinner. Or order pizza and watch movie. Have a nice night together. Sound like a plan? Then I can start debating which picture I’m going to post.”

Tom stared at his mentor. “Please don’t post an embarrassing picture of me.”

Robert’s eyes shone mischievously. “I’d never do that, Tom.”

“You’re going to do it, I can tell,” Tom sighed.

“I would never!” Robert exclaimed, hitting his hand against his chest as if he was truly insulted that Tom would dare think such a thing. His face broke into a smile, clapping Tom on the back. “Now get out of here. I’ve seen enough of you two. We’ll all see each other at the Superhero Party in tomorrow, right? Not everyone is going, but I am confident that the youngest members of our team will be there.” He expectantly lifted one eyebrow eyeing you and Tom.  

Tom grinned, “Absolutely.”

*****

That evening, everything finally felt kind of fine. Tom had ordered New York pizzas and and had opened up a bottle of red wine. You and Tom were lying on the couch, eating pizza, drinking wine, watching the new Sandra Bullock movie Bird Box. It was a good, cozy night. Tired as you both were, you curled up in each other and enjoyed each other’s warmth. Tom had his arm around you, drawing patterns on your back.

You period had begun the second you had returned from Robert Downey Junior’s house, and although you knew timing couldn’t be worse, you were also infinitely relieved you hadn’t leaked through your pants in front of all the Avengers. Having your period, emotions were at your all-time high and cramps soon became your enemy. Therefore, having Tom softly massage your lower-back and every now and then pressing a loving kiss into your hair, was the best thing you could wish for.

The two of you went to bed early. Tom had filled a special pillow with hot water to keep your uterus heated and lessen the pain. It wasn’t a night of many words. His actions spoke louder than his words anyway. Even though Tom regularly told you he loved you and how beautiful you looked, the main way he showed you how much he truly loved you was by his actions. He knew your period pain was intense the first day and did everything he could to make it easier.

In bed, you curled up into his side. He was cold, perhaps because you were practically a living furnace right now. Softly, you whispered, “Thank you for taking care of me. I know that’s probably not where your mind is at right now. Sorry.”

Tom kissed your temple. “Are you kidding? You’re the most important person in my life. And it’s not your fault that periods exist.”

“That’s true, I guess,” you murmured, appreciating the gentle way Tom was stroking your hair, fingers tracing over your sensitive skin. “I love you, Thomas. Very much so.”

You cradled your head on his chest, listening to his breathing. His steady rhythm slowly carried you to sleep, forgetting the pain in your back and belly.

Very much so: that was your thing. The first time Tom had told you he loved you, he’d said it rather fast and hesitantly, too scared of your reaction. Um-I-um-love-you-Y/N, he’d brought out. You’d apologised: sorry, didn’t catch that, babe. He’d taken a deep breath, fixing his sleeves nervously. I. Love. You. You’d kind of heard him the first time around, but didn’t mean to be the idiot who misunderstood such an important sentence. Your cheeks were redder than tomatoes, heart racing in your chest. Really? Tom had nodded. Very much so.

Tom’s chuckle rumbled underneath you. “I love you too,” he yawned. “Very much so.”

*****

The next morning, you didn’t feel much better. Cramps and nightmares about Rebecca had kept you awake. You remembered how Rebecca had texted you to break up with Tom and it would all be over--especially after how sweet he had been to you, this simply wasn’t an option. You should have broken up with him, of course. For the sake of his career. For the sake of Spider-Man and the millions of people who loved the character.

Tom was no longer in bed, which surprised you for a second, before you spotted the time and saw it was literally one o’clock in the afternoon. You’d woken up multiple times, but since your day had no agenda, you had decided to continue sleeping.

You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and scanned Rebeca’s last text message from yesterday: I saw the police in your home. Don’t think it’ll be easy to catch me. You know nothing about me except my first name, and I’ll destroy this phone immediately. You keep underestimating me, you whore. Stop thinking you’re so much better than me, or this will end very badly for you. Break up with Tom now, and I might leave you alone.

Letting out a deep sigh, you rolled over to take up the entire bed. It hardly felt real to you anymore. You’d experienced too many emotions the past couple of days; you were exhausted. You considered going back to sleep despite knowing it was 1 P.M., when the delicious smell of bacon and eggs hit you. Tom must be cooking breakfast, or lunch, for the two of you.

Cute.

Tom was fucking cute.

The bubble that exploded in your chest drove you to get out of bed, pull on a sweater from Tom and your sweatpants and Tom’s happy socks. Sauntering into the kitchen, you found Tom was wearing a similar outfit. He was busy with the bacon and didn’t hear you come in. You stood leaning against the wall for a bit, admiring him for who he was.

Finally, he did turn around. Seeing you, his face lit up. “Hey lo--”

You attacked his with a hug, firmly wrapping your arms around his neck. “Good morning, you wonderful human being. I’m super hungry.”

Tom was laughing. “Yeah, you probably should be after sleeping fourteen hours.”

You shrugged, letting go of him. “I expected to be going into hibernation, so really this is not so bad.”

Tom studied you. “You look like you could use more sleep, actually.”

“Gee, thanks, babe.”

“I’m sure you’re still just as beautiful on the inside,” Tom smirked teasingly, pulling you closer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you hummed, “I’m looking so flawless right now. Like damn, even I would date me.”

“Can’t think of a single reason why anyone wouldn’t want to date you,” Tom agreed with a smile.

The two of you had lunch together. The bacon was perfect and the scrambled eggs were just how you liked them. After eating, despite it being perfect, you were struck with an after dinner dip. You found yourself reluctantly yawning.

Tom eyed you suspiciously. “How can you still be tired? I swear if you’re going back to bed, I’m going to punch myself in the face.”

“Don’t do that,” you smirked, “Not in that face. I like that face.” You changed the subject, aware that you most definitely were going back to bed within a couple of minutes. “What are your plans for this afternoon?”

“I’m meeting Haz to go to the gym,” Tom told you excitedly. “And then I’ll go to the supermarket ‘cause we don’t have any food for tonight. So I’ll be back at like five.”

You nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Your plans?”

You shrugged and flashed a mischievous smile. “I’m going to sleep,” you answered truthfully. “I’m tired as hell. But then I’ll have enough energy for the Superhero Party tonight.”

Tom tilted his head. “Okay, fair enough. I do need you to be awake tonight.” The unsaid meaning of that sentence lingered in the air: because what if Rebecca might do something?

“I’ll be so awake, you won’t even know what’s happening to you,” you promised. “But for now, I’m going to bed.” You wiggled your brows. “Join me?”

Tom was on his feet faster than you could say please.

*****

Tom was gone when you woke up. You guessed he’d gone to the gym after you had fallen asleep in his arms. A fluffy blanket was wrapped around you burrito-style, and by your head you found your favourite book and hot chocolate with marshmallows that had unfortunately cooled, but the idea was sweet. You wanted to see if he’d sent you a message, but your phone was out of your reach and you didn’t want to ruin his carefully crafted burrito. Therefore, you stayed in your position for quite some time, warm and comfy, thinking about how adorable Tom really was.

Tom came back home a little later than he had promised, around 5:30 P.M., carrying three bags filled with food. Face white. Eyes empty.

You tried to kiss him hello but he sort of dodged your gesture with a swirl and ended up patting you on the shoulder politely.

Huh?

Something was wrong. You felt it immediately. What had happened? Had you done something wrong? This morning he’d been warm and fluffy, and now it was the complete polar opposite.

You cooked together, and you attempted to quip back and forth, joking around like the two of you usually did, but Tom was unusually quiet. His responses were dialled back to: “Uh-huh.” and “Yeah.” Which made it hard to have a conversation.

“How is Haz?” you asked.

“Fine.”

“How was the gym?” you asked.

“Fine.”

“Yeah, what’d you train?” you asked.

“Just the regular.”

“Is everything okay?” you asked.

“Ya.”

“Sure?” you asked.

“Ya.”

Dinner was made and smelt pretty good. You set the table and was thinking so hard your brain was whirring, spinning, until anxiety was crippling you. Anxiety was always quick to come to you when you were on your period, and also when you were being threatened by a psychopath named Rebecca. You and Tom sat down at the kitchen table, and you got nervous simply by the fact Tom refused to look you in the eye.

You watched Tom take a deep breath. “Y/N,” Tom said.

Oh, god. Just from the way he said your name, the light quiver in his undertone, you could tell this was going to be a serious conversation. You looked at him, cocking up one brow.

He swallowed thickly. “I was thinking...”

“That’s never a good sign,” you murmured sarcastically.

Tom blurted out his thoughts before he could change his mind. “Maybe you shouldn’t come to the Superhero Party. I mean, it’s going to be lots of people, from Marvel and DC and really anyone who has anything to do with superheroes. There’s going to be so much media attention and interviewers and paparazzi. I just... with everything that’s been going on, I don’t want you to be a victim to that. It might trigger you, you know?”

You frowned. You didn’t know whether to feel heartbroken that Tom didn’t want you by his side, or to deem it sort of sweet that he intended to protect you. “Tom, that’s very... thoughtful of you,” you brought out, blinking heavily, still unsure of how to respond. “But I... I want to support you. We can’t really let Rebecca have that kind of impact on our lives. She’s just one girl. She can’t keep us away from the things we’d usually do.”

You didn’t understand the look on tom’s face: the glimpses of panic in his brown eyes, combined with misplaced determination. “Well, love, that’s true for our personal lives,” he argued with a growl. “But this is just too public. Too much media. I don’t think it’d be a good idea.”

Something in his eyes made you straighten your back, an uncomfortably chill running down your spine. “Is this a discussion, Tom, or have you already made your decision?”

A hard glare passed over Tom’s expression. “I think it’s the best decision for you not to come, yeah.”

You could feel yourself shrink under Tom’s gaze. It was highly unlike him to portray this dominant character and act as if you were his subordinate, his obedient wife. He was never like this. He was always kind and happy and bubbly and ready to communicate and converse to find the best solution for both of you. It was so badly out of character that a piece of your soul crumbled. Just for a bit, you couldn’t recognise the man sitting opposite you.

You tried to swallow your tears away, feeling them burn dangerously close to the surface. Goddamn, you hadn’t been able to stop crying since Rebecca entered your lives. “Oh. Okay. Whatever you want, I guess.”

Tom’s jaw tensed. “Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Tom didn’t say anything else. He reached out as if he intended to hold you, comfort you, but halfway through the gesture he seemed to change his mind and pulled back.

What a lack of love.

You felt painfully empty, gaping hole in your chest, making every heartbeat ache through your whole body. This was the end then. This was the end of your healthy, loving relationship, wasn’t it?

The two of you finished your plates in silence. Despite having lost your appetite, you shoved the food down your throat to leave the table as soon as possible. As soon as your plate was empty, you rose to your feet. “You should get dressed, then. I’ll clean this.”

Tom offered, “I can help--”

“You should get dressed, Tom,” you repeated.

Tom moved up, now matching your height. You refused to cry. You weren’t going to show him that you were stupidly girly enough to start crying over the fact he didn’t want you to come to the Superhero Party. Any other day, you wouldn’t have cared and wished him all the fun in the world. But now, it felt like a statement. “Y/N,” he tried to say.

“No, I think you’ve made your point,” you interrupted. “Look, Tom, I totally get it. I understand you. But I was looking forward to going to this party together. It just hurts a little, is all.”

Tom stared at you, shoulders hanging, eyes glistening. His cold determination vanished like snow in the sun. “I’m sorry,” he brought out.

“It’s fine,” you dismissed your own pain like it was nothing. “You should get dressed for real. I need a little time to myself right now.” You knew very well that if this conversation was going to last any longer, you wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears.

“I’m sorry,” said Tom again.

But actions speak louder than words.

*****

Tom got dressed. Suit and tie, just like the Infinity War premiere though slightly less formal. Whelms of perfume coming of him, he smelt fresh and ready to conquer the universe.

From the couch, you gave him a small smile. “You look handsome,” you commented flatly.

“Thanks,” he murmured unenthusiastically. “Have a good night, love.” He didn’t look you in the eye. Didn’t kiss you good night.

What the fuck was wrong?

“You too,” you whispered quietly, watching as he swirled around and marched out the door of your apartment that now suddenly felt chilly and abandoned. The front door slammed shut loudly. You flinched. And then Tom was gone. Just like that.

*****

You had ordered pizza and was drinking red wine, lying on the couch, watching Brooklyn 99 on Netflix. Any other day, it would have been a perfect night. Last night it had been a perfect night--but that had been with Tom. Everything was better with Tom.

It didn’t help that you were on your period and in pain and tired and stressed and emotions were cruel.

Your phone was buzzing continuously but you weren’t very interested, convinced that it was Tom texting you. Or perhaps you were only hoping it was Tom, and you didn’t want to be disappointed again.

After a solid hour, and three Brooklyn 99 episodes later, you finally decided to check your phone.

Well, it wasn’t Tom.

Hundreds of messages from friends and family and, strangely enough, Tom’s colleagues. The amount of attention you got was weird. You were used to seeing Tom’s phone blow up like this but not yours. “If this is because of Rebecca, I swear to god...” you whispered to yourself, panic clouding your judgement.

What if something was wrong with Tom? What if she’d hurt him as punishment for you not responding to her text message?

Harrison, Zendaya, Laura, Jacob, your good friends from high school, even Sam, Harry and Paddy, Robert Downey Junior, Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans and so many more had called you and texted you. You were confused, because at least half of those people should be at the Superhero Party and shouldn’t be focused on you.

First, you opened Harrison’s messages.

Harrison: Y/N, where r u?

Harrison: Tom didn’t say where you wereeee so text back plz

Harrison: Lol don’t think you’re here, why not??

Harrison: Ummmm I don’t mean to mess up your relationship and all, but I’m your friend too, and Tom is here with another girl?

Harrison: PleASe don’t say you broke up

Harrison: REPLY TO ME Y/N PLEASE

Harrison: Who is this girl????? Tom is ignoring me what the fuck

Harrison had sent a photograph, secretly taken from the back of the room and dramatically zoomed in to show Tom in his suit, side by side with a red-headed girl. Rebecca. It was actual fucking Rebecca. You couldn’t quite see Tom’s face, but Rebecca’s face was clearly visible: widely laughing, having the time of her life.

“What the fuck, Tom?” you brought out. Your heart skipped a beat, the earth tilting as you looked at the picture, its meaning boring through your chest like a sword. The end of the world would have hurt less than this.

So this was how Tom Holland betrayed you.

*****

don’t forget to comment and let me know what you think!!

tags:

@starshipofhope // @delicately-written @chims-kookies // @loveallthingseverything // @parkerprotectionprogram // @fandom-is-my-middle-name // @fab-notfat // @fandomlover2091 // @peterparkers-waffles // @iiincognitoo // @roses-hxlland // @cobalt-gemwheresmynandos // @marvelbabezz // @theojjjames // @call-me-myrtle // @minim236 // @neighborhoodparker // @yafriendlyfangirl // @jadegenevieve // @impossiblyteenagestudent96400 // @ree923 // @awwwwinnn1 // @strrwberries // @bookgirlunicorn // @tacohead13 // @snuggleducky​ // @rae-gar-targaryen91 // @dafnouche // @buckybarneshairpullingkink​ // @thatrandomhetaliachick​ // @blessed-barnes​ // @starkviibes // @wavydeena​ // @rangotangomango​ // @followyourbucky​  // @gaybroadwayloser​ // @fandomsstolemylife00  // @mariah-notcarey17​ // @3typical3​ // @prettyylamee // @fuckthatfeeling​ // @babeondemand​ // @kittykatlvr // @request-me // @loxbbg​ // @veeshthefrog​ // @lovemusicpretty​ // @sammysgirl1997​ // @supernatural-strangerthings-1980​ //

i’m so sorry if your tag is not working, i really don’t know why

[sampagnereads]

Hi, lovelies! In July 2019, I’ll be hosting my first ever readathon, which is the DND Readathon, Race Edition! Basically, an edition of this readathon will take place about every two months (they won’t all be one-month long, though), and the main goal is to build up a DND character based on knowledge that can be found in the Fifth Edition Player’s Handbook! If you don’t have access to that, though, this website has a lot of information about DND that can be helpful. For more information on the readathon itself, I recommend following its twitter account right here! And just in case, here’s the thread that explains everything, and to which information will be slowly added throughout the month of June!

Basically, for this readathon, you need to complete all three challenges associated to a race for your character to be part of that race. You can try to complete as many challenges as possible, though, so that you have more options. Plus, if you read at least one book for a race, you’ll have an advantage when it comes to choosing your companions’ races! But, yes! Enough explaining! Let’s talk about my TBR now! I’m going to try to complete four races altogether, which are dragonborn, gnome, half-orc and tiefling! I’ll also be doing my best to read at least one book for all the other races. And so, below the cut, you can find all that I plan on reading for the readathon during the month of July!

DRAGONBORN

INVOLVES DRAGONS.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Shatter the Sky, by Rebecca Kim Wells. To put this summary really simply, it’s about a girl who plans on stealing one of the empire’s dragons to save her girlfriend, and basically, it sounds right up my alley. I was lucky enough to receive an eArc of it through Netgalley, and I honestly cannot wait to get to it. Obviously, there are dragons, or at least one dragon in this story, and so it fits perfectly for this challenge!

RECOMMENDED BY A PARENT/GUARDIAN/MENTOR.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Le Roi de fer, by Maurice Druon. This is called The Iron King in English, and is the first book in Les Rois maudits series (The Accursed Kings). It’s about a line of kings descending from a king who killed templars, and on whose family was placed a curse by one of those templars. It’s historical fiction, very much romanticized, and I’m oh so excited to read it. My mother has been trying to get me to read it for years now, and I’m so excited for us to be able to talk about it together. 

BUDDY-READ.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Girls With Sharp Sticks, by Suzanne Young. This is a book about girls who go to this academy where they’re taught to be docile, obedient, and not have any opinions of their own, until one day they realize there’s more going on than they had originally realized. As for the buddy-read, I’ll be buddy-reading this book with two of my favourite people, aka Sage ( sageshelves ) and Kat ( stardustreviews )! 

DWARF

FOIL ON THE COVER. 

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Mirage, by Somaiya Daud. This is a moroccan-inspired sci-fi fantasy about a girl who’s forced to become the body double of a princess who’s very much so hated by her subjects. Problem is, the main character starts to get used to life at court. This has foil both on the dusk jacket and underneath it (as I have the Owlcrate exclusive edition), so I think it’s a perfect fit for this challenge!

ELF

UNDER 200 PAGES.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Giant Days, Vol. 5, by John Allison & more. This comic series follows three young women who became fast friends in university, and I’ve been loving it so far. It’s a lot more interesting than the premise leads you to believe, and I cannot wait to get to the fifth volume! It’s only 112 pages, too, so that works perfectly for this challenge!

GNOME

BRIGHT COVER.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Prince Charming, by Rachel Hawkins. This follows an american teenage girl whose older sister is marrying the fictional prince of England, and who has a temperament that could lead her into some trouble, hence why the crown appoints a guy to help her like, chill! I don’t know if everyone would consider this cover to be bright, but I do, so! Yes!

5-STAR PREDICTION. 

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Captain Marvel, Vol. 3: Alis Volat Propriis, by Kelly Sue DeConnick & David López. This is the last volume in this particular run of Captain Marvel, who’s a superhero who mostly helps out in space. She’s my favourite superhero, and though I have given the first two volumes only four stars, I have a feeling like the third volume will get a higher rating than that!

CALLED UNDERHYPED AND/OR UNDERRATED. 

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Wild Savage Stars, by Kristina Pérez. This is the sequel to Sweet Black Waves, which is a retelling of Tristan and Iseult told through Branwen’s perspective, who happens to be Iseult’s lady in waiting, cousin and best friend. The first book is my favour of all time, and it is way too underhyped, in my opinion. I was lucky enough to get an arc of the second book, Wild Savage Stars, and so I’ll be reading it in July!

HALF-ELF

ONLY ONE POV. 

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling. It is definitely at least 99% told from one POV, so it definitely counts. I’ve decided to re-read the Harry Potter books physically this year, and so I’m planning on reading two of them in July! One of which you’ll hear about a bit later on in this list. 

HALF-ORC

THAT ISN’T IN PRISTINE CONDITION. 

For this challenge, I’ll be reading The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi. This is an adult sci-fi novel about three people who are trying to salvage what they can from an empire on the brink of collapse. It comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait to get to it. It fits this challenge due to the fact that there’s a tear in the hardcover; I got it from BookOutlet and so I didn’t fuss about it, which worked out well for me since I can now use it for this challenge!

WITH A MORALLY GREY PROTAGONIST.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Sadie, by Courtney Summers. It’s a book about a girl who sets out on a revenge quest after her younger sister has been killed, and a podcast that talks about her and what happened. I heard a few people describe the main character of this book as morally grey, considering what she’s doing, and so I’ll be counting it for this challenge!

OVER 500 PAGES.

For this challenge, I’m either going to read Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon OR A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin. Both are well over 500 pages long, and I know I’ll go for one of the two for this challenge. I’m currently reading A Game of Thrones, and so I feel like I might want to read the sequel next month, but also, I’m super excited for Priory, so! We’ll see!

HALFLING

WITH A POV THAT DIFFERS FROM YOUR OWN. 

For this challenge, I’m going to be reading Blanca & Roja, by Anna-Marie McLemore. This follows latinx characters, and as I’m not latinx myself, it works perfectly for this challenge! Basically, this book follows two sisters who come from a family where, out of every two girls born to a woman, one will eventually be turned into a swan. Anna-Marie McLemore’s one of my favourite authors of all time, and I can’t believe I haven’t read this yet!

HUMAN

BORROWED AT THE LIBRARY.

This might change depending on whether or not it’s available at the library, but if it is, I’ll be borrowing I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 2: Fluff My Life for this challenge. This is an adult comic that will also work for The Book Junkie Trials, a readathon I’m also reading in July and for which I’ll post a tbr asap!

TIEFLING

BANNED BOOK.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter is one of the most banned series in the world, and so I feel like it will work perfectly for this challenge! I’m not reading the first book in July, though, because I read it just a few months ago. However, I am counting this as the start of my physical re-read of Harry Potter in English! 

FOLLOWS A HUMANOID (BUT NOT FULLY HUMAN) CHARACTER.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading Unnatural, Vol. 1: Awakening, by Mirka Andolfo. I’m not exactly sure what this is about, as I think it’s nice to go into some comics without knowing too much, but I do know that it follows a pig girl, and therefore a humanoid, but not fully human character, which is perfect for this challenge!

RECOMMENDED TO YOU BY SOMEONE YOU TRUST.

For this challenge, I’ll be reading La Reine étranglée (The Strangled Queen in English), by Maurice Druon. This is the second book in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings in English), a series of historical fiction novels that are heavily romanticized. It comes highly recommended from my mother, and as I’m already reading the first book of this series for the readathon, and I’ve heard that I’ll want to continue straight away, I decided to add this book to July’s tbr!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 31: You Can’t Spell Marriage Without Mai

First off, when I got to this episode, I turned to my bro and said “WHAT” and he said “Right? This episode is the best. It’s all down from here” and I was like “YOU SAID THAT TWO EPISODES AGO” so now I know Bro can never be trusted.

If you had told me the plot of this episode before I watched it, I’d say “no, that is Mario Party Fanfiction, and you’ve changed all the names.” That is where this episode went.

Does Mario Party Fanfic exist? Quick Google search, one moment. Dear Lord. OK, I’m back.

Now guys I want you to know that every time a ship comes up in Yugioh, I write like...10k words about it, math equations appearing around my head, as I try to figure out what the freakin hell anyone is even doing and if the writers even know what they’re doing, and I’ll just promptly delete it. I just want you to know the service I do for you. Every time it comes up I start ranting about what the hell an ancient Egyptian would even understand about modern romance and then I stop myself and go “No! Focus!” and I’ll Ctrl-A and I’ll just *delete* and feel a burden lift off my shoulders and into the ceiling like a prayer.

And then this episode happened?

And I’m just like...

...

well I TRIED to spare you.

Please admire how many people they stuffed into Mai’s very small convertible. I half expected them to drive up to Kiki’s Delivery Service.

In case you’ve also forgotten something that happened 40 episodes ago, Mai saved Joey last season by giving him a McGuffin as well as a gross ass handkerchief (which he doesn’t have anymore, the whole 'will they ever return the gross ass handkerchief’ plotline seems to have left the building) and finally, here, halfway through S2 we’re going to actually address why Mai would have any compassion for this bundle of awful kids.

I mean, Joey is still in high school and Mai is like 24 (although some say 44???) so I’m pretty sure they were trying to make it seem platonic or motherly between these two but eh, I don’t even know with this show, man. I mean she and Joey are 8 years apart but Serenity is 4 years Tristan’s junior despite Mokuba being 1 year younger than her and like right there. (Mokuba’s like 12 by the way, something surprising I found out when I did a Google Deep Dive on everyone’s canonical weight a few episodes ago.) And then Pharaoh is like either 5000 or 16-ish depending on who’s asking, so age doesn’t seem to be ever an inhibiting factor in this show.

But as is Yugioh tradition, any space that could possibly be filled with any growth between a boy and a girl--even platonically--must be absolutely derailed by something exploding.

(read more under the cut)

Stepping out from inside of this limousine is a man who wears sunglasses at night, and so at first I thought “oh hell it’s Pegasus’ security, he’s back” But he’s...he’s not. I really, really wish it were.

Joey literally wiped his hand off on the ass of his jeans before trying to shake the hand of this guy he has never mentioned before in his life but swears is his favorite person in the world.

Jean wisely left him hanging.

Joey is SO ready to see a ship in this show actually do something. So ready, that he is willing to accept Mai and this rando we’ve never seen before as canon, despite the fact I’m pretty sure a chunk of last season was trying (rather unsuccessfully) to pair him up with Mai?

It’s not where I expected this episode to go! I really thought we were going to go and play a tourney? We were meeting up with Kaiba at a stadium one block away - he’s just sitting there on his big ass dragon shaped chair and like “omg the moment I walk away they get completely distracted, every single time.”

Anyways, lets get to a flashback where very fancy people in pastel suits were playing cards because apparently cards isn’t just for streetfighting.

I have been wading through 1.5 seasons of these characters doing these elaborate dances around each other to never ever speak a word of commitment or relationship, and I’ve been pretty OK with them doing that. Honestly, the less romance in my Yugioh, the more satisfied I am, but then, after 1.5 seasons of basically nothing but Serenity wearing some bandages and needing a lift from the hospital, suddenly we have this random guy show up and profess marriage, and it is the most whiplash this show has ever given me.

I will accept demonic weird ass devices threatening children, spooky magic, bad history, and all sorts of weird ass outfits but like marraige???? wtf?????

Which is something that Mai seems to know because she turned him right down as you should when a person you’ve never met before decides to marry you based on your ability to coordinate cards in a deck.

Joey honestly thinks being a rich star will automatically make you marriageable material, because I guess Joey completely forgot about Seto Kaiba, a very famous billionaire who is maybe one of the least marriageable people on the planet.

So what gets me about this episode and what makes it so freakin weird is that everyone here accepts this as the rules from this point on.

She MUST be married if Mai enters and then loses this game. Welcome to the Yugioh universe. This is how card people dating works. This is law, she has to accept this proposal if this card game based on chance loses.

Anyways, Yugi’s here to be the voice of reason in a dating episode and that’s something I didn’t expect to write in a sentence.

Yes, his motive was “Mai, this will take too long” not “Mai, you don’t know this guy, and he’s probably crazy” it was “Mai please, I know the world will end when I enter this tourney and so you have nothing to lose and it’s the best time to marry a stranger actually, but can you not? It’s taking SO LONG.”

Duke Devlin in the back still trying helplessly to keep up with what the hell is going on since he wandered on this team by complete accident four episodes ago.

And yes, it’s THIS that makes Joey not like this guy. Not the part where he proposed out of the blue, nearly ran over them with his car, stalked Mai for like a year, and then completely disregarded Mai’s common sense. No--this part, where he threatened to kick Mai out of the competition. That was the low blow to Joey.

You will lose this duel and gain a husband.

That is an actual line from the show, folks, this show went places.

aaaaand Mai starts losing right away.

DAMN

IT.

This is the one thing I thought was pretty much in the bag. That there would not be the concept of one of these characters getting married. That was the One thing I was sure of. But I was not only wrong, but this is like the most bizarre wedding I’ve ever seen on TV. It’s basically a shotgun wedding but with cards???

And what makes this more bizarre, and it was something I only noticed after watching this episode, is that we’ve seen this type of behavior before. But at the time, back in the beginning of this season I was just like “that was just a really weird thing that happened that wouldn’t possibly be accepted as normalized in this universe.”

Like, remember that creepy DDR guy who dueled Yugi so that if he beat Yugi in a match, that creepy guy would become Tea’s boyfriend despite never spending more than 2 minutes with either of them? That despite the fact that Yugi isn’t even her boyfriend, it was like something all three of them were like “I guess I have to go through with this now.” At the time I just assumed that was an insane thing that happened. I just assumed that would never come back.

This was the episode where suddenly I realized, maybe the big issue with these kids dating is a hell of a lot more than just actually going on dates. Maybe it’s because I didn’t understand what their love language is. It’s not Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, and for sure as hell isn’t Physical Touch, it’s the 6th, not very often talked about love language, that’s right, it’s Cards. Rewrite everything, Gary Chapman. Tear it all down and reshoot all those Ted Talks, we forgot something.

Like, sometimes I forget that these guys live in a universe controlled by cards. I mean we’ve seen cards and romance intermingle twice. (three times, if you count Rebecca, who might be engaged to Yugi now? It was kind of a really weird ending to a card game) Pegasus even tried to resurrect his dead wife through cards. All these cards currently exist because of Pegasus’ undying love for Cecilia (who is...OMG I forgot that chick might be alive somewhere)

What I’m saying is that...What if this is how they’ve actually dated this whole time? What if this whole time that I assumed no one was dating they......they actually...were? What if I just didn’t notice, because it was just so freakin weird? What if this is more like how in a Jane Austen novel, if someone goes on a walk with someone else it’s basically like 3rd base?

Like, remember Jane Austen’s Persuasion, where Captain Wentworth went on a walk with Louisa and she was like “hey catch me, I’m 14 years old!” and then she tripped off a wall and got a concussion and he was like “DAMN IT! Now I have to marry her!” and everyone was like “Well congrats on getting married, Louisa.” and then she fell in love with a sad poet who gave her soup once while Captain Wentworth was getting his nuptials planned out in Bath and so Louisa dumped Captain Wentworth’s sorry ass and he was like “OH THANK YOU. YOU ARE SO 14.” And then sad soup man showed up in Bath while Wentworth and the rest of Louisa’s family was quickly crossing out “Wentworth” on all the marriage invitations and sad soup man was like “Before Louisa, I was in love with this other chick, but she died, so I’m pretty stoked I found Louisa.” and Captain Wentworth was like “You’re such an asshole for cheating on your dead girlfriend, I would never do that, you ass!” and then immediately married Anne Wentworth by writing her one single letter saying “hey, want to get married Y/N?” despite the fact that he went well out of his way to avoid her the entire book?

What if that’s been going on in the background of Yugioh but I just didn’t know because, unlike Persuasion, I never took a college class on Yugioh Dating Customs so I have no idea when it ever happens.?

See, this is the stuff I usually delete but like psh whatever, it’s a dating episode, so for once this isn’t a tangent, and yes, I am reading too much into this, thank you.

Anyway, after Joey asks Yugi what to do and then telephones what Yugi just told him to Mai enough times, Mai beats Jean Claud Magnum and avoids a lifetime of...whatever that would have been like.

However, something is off about that game and it takes a card wizard to explain it to us although it was...........really obvious.

This is the third time someone on this show was abducted by a ninja net.

She gets kidnapped by a guy in a ninja jet suit contraption and this is her reaction!? Freakin lucid dream what the hell?

This is the weirdest show I’ve ever watched. Not so much because it has stuff other shows don’t have, but because it forces me to have these expectations of what I think it is and then, once I get comfortable, completely changes it. Last episode Bakura murdered 3 established characters in a graveyard. Like, not even random people, Bakura murdered 3 named people with funny accents we’ve known since last season. That was already completely insane for a kid’s show to do. But rather than address whatever the hell is going on with Bakura, we’re just going to add more to the pot and throw in this crazy asshole, too. For kicks.

Like this is a filler episode somehow? This filler episode would be an entire season of any other kid’s show.

So this episode ends with Mai hanging from a flag pole in a miniskirt, but it’s not like anyone in this city would ever peek their nose out of their window to see what the hell is going on, so at least she doesn’t have to worry about upskirting an entire town. Just these two people.

And like, Joey’s such a mess in that head anyway that like who freakin cares? He’ll probably wake up tomorrow without any memory of yesterday thanks to possession, drowning, getting beat up, tied up, and then this oncoming concussion.

I’m pretty sure she should have stabbed him right through with this duel disk?

(the dialogue really does imply that if he had done this himself she would have been cool with it. How freakin weird is Mai?)

And then he just lets her go? Makes you wonder if it was an abduction or just a game he thought she would enjoy? I don’t know. This episode was all over the place. I mean...maybe he really thought she’d like getting caught in a net and being flown all around Domino? I don’t freakin know.

Like, in my opinion she was stalked for over a year and abducted with several witnesses. But, no one is calling the cops. So like...was this weird to them? This was very weird to us...but like...maybe Mai was like “hm, that was a so-so date.” because this type of behavior is just how this universe does?

....

....

Yugioh, are you OK?

Anyways, next week:

Is the tourney cancelled because after episodes and episodes of tangents, no one ever freakin shows up and Kaiba has to go back to school to do a Chem final? Does Duke Devlin ever even do anything? Does it take 20 minutes for Bakura to walk through security because he keeps setting off the metal detector with his invisible necklace that he can never take off?

[fangirl-faye]

Don’t need any more blind dates

Characters: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark

Summary: Steve is an ex-SHIELD-worker, now Nurse in a hospital. There he meets Natasha, who is always companying Clint Barton, who has Arrows stuck in places you don’t want to know how they got there. Natasha also works with a vet who wants to keep dating but blind dates aren’t his thing. When he doesn’t want to meet Steve, Natasha has to help. Basically by falling off a wall.

A/N: This Clint Barton gif just describeshim perfectly okay :D 

Warnings: Injuries (but nothing severe), mentions of minor-character-death (offscreen)

She tapped her knee in exasperation and listened to the scratch of the pen on paper next to her.

“How did you even manage that?” the red hair turned her head towards her companion. “I was not looking for what? Thirty seconds and you…” the rest of her rant silenced by the arrival of a nurse.

“Mr. Barton? The man with the arrow in his…”

“Jep. That’s him. Get that stick out of his ass and then stab him with it, please.” The woman groaned and Clint sighed.

“Don’t listen to Nat. She is just angry that she didn’t get to stick stuff up my ass.” The blond nurse chuckled.

"Believe me. As long as it is just in your butt and not any other holes of your body I've seen and removed worse."

Clint followed the nurse, leaving Natasha in the waiting room of the ER.

“What was the weirdest you ever had to remove from someone’s body?” Clint asked, lying down on the bed in the room after changing into a hospital gown.

“Oh man. There was so much.” The guy laughed and then seemed to think about the question. “I think the weirdest thing so far this week was an arrow from someone’s bun, and apparently he was the only one with a bow on the shooting range.”

“Touché.” Clint laughed.

“Your friend out there was right. How did you manage that?”

"Don't tell her. The strap of my quiver opened and apparently one of the arrows was in there with the tip up and I have the habit of sitting down on everything that is behind me."

The blond nurse laughed.

“Stuff like that usually doesn’t happen.” He replied and puts the gloves on, poking at the skin around the arrow.

"Hey. Careful. Usually, I want people to buy me dinner first. And, believe me, Hot Nurse, whose name I didn't catch, but stuff like that just happens to me." Looking to the side, Clint caught a light blush on the nurse's neck.

“Uhm… Steve… Steve Rogers. And I am about to remove an arrow from your bun, I think I am entitled to touch it without dinner.”

“Yeah. Better that way. My husband wouldn’t approve.” Clint said casually. Then he frowned. “Steve Rogers? Captain Steve Rogers?” He turned his upper body around to look at Steve. He frowned at the arrow (or Clint’s butt, but that couldn’t be, it was a great butt).

“Uhhhm… was… yeah. How do you know?”

Clint laughed, only yelping when Steve moved the arrow and pulled it out quickly and started to stitch the wound together.

“Oh man. Phil will have a field day when he finds out who touched my butt today.”

“Phil Coulson?” Steve asked absently and Clint hummed.

“Yeah. He’s my husband. So I think he wouldn’t mind a date.”

Steve snorted and put a band-aid over the stitches.

“Sorry. But I don’t go out with married people. So. As good as new.” He frowned again for a second and Clint raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Don’t let him come by while I work. He would do that.” Clint thought for a second, then nodded.

“He would. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he won’t come by. See you next time, Captain Rogers.” Clint gave a mock salute and left the hospital room. Steve smiled, looking at the clothes on the chair. When he heard a yelp outside and an exasperated “Clint!” he chuckled lightly. This was definitely the boyfriend, Coulson had always been talking about.

See, after the secret organization SHIELD Steve and Coulson and many others had been working for, had shut down, Steve had, instead of being reassigned to another unit, taken up the offer of going back to New York, building up a new life. Following his mother's footsteps, he had become a nurse in the same hospital she had been working for before getting sick and dying when he was 18. Some of the older nurses remembered the little Rogers boy and had taken him by the hand and welcomed him like family after his return.

He loved working in the ER, meeting interesting people and it made great stories when he met up with Rhodey, Sam, Tony and many friends of his on Saturday evening in one of the many bar’s Tony owned. His friends had loved the story about the arrow-bun of their old friend Phil’s husband. Sometimes they missed the people they had been working with. Thor Odinson, who had gone back to Norway or wherever or Jane Foster, his ex-girlfriend who had settled in Alaska.

Now, a few weeks after meeting Clint, Sharon, a nurse Steve worked with on a regular came into the breakroom where Steve was typing away on his phone and called out.

“Hey, Steve. There is someone in the ER asking for you by name. He has an arrow stuck in his upper arm, he said you’d know.”

Steve groaned.

"Comin'" he replied, putting his phone away and stood up, jogging into the waiting area. And yep, there was Phil's husband Clint and the red-haired woman, Nat apparently. Clint waved his uninjured shoulder.

"Hey, Steve. Told you I'd come back." He stood up from his chair smiling way to bright for someone who had an arrow sticking THROUGH his upper arm. Nat stood up as well, following Clint into the room Steve showed them to.

"I'll be right back. Change into the gown, I think that calls for a bit more than a few stitches."

The red-haired woman glared at Clint. And while Steve went, telling one of the doctors, he heard a suffering "Why is it always me?" from her and barely kept himself from chuckling.

When he came back, Clint sat on the bed, legs crossed.

“Steve. That’s my friend Natasha, she isn’t as dangerous as she acts. I really think she just needs a hug, but when I try she threatens me to cut off my dick and Phil wouldn’t like that. Nat, that’s Steve, the Captain my husband has a boner for.”

Steve blushed and chuckled, while Natasha growled at Clint. Then she stood up, looking Steve up and down, assessing him.

“Natasha Romanov, I was working for SHIELD too. Mole in Red Room.” She held out her hand.

“Steve Rogers, Howling Commandos most of the time. So you are the Black Widow who brought all the information to Fury.” Natasha smiled.

“The one and only. It’s an honor to meet you, Captain America.” She put special emphasis on the name his Unit had given him back then and he groaned.

“Please don’t. It’s embarrassing.” Then he turned to Clint. “As for you. I am not sure if I want to know how it happened, I just know that the doctor will be there soon. He will assess if you need surgery or not.”

Clint nodded.

“I hope not. Phil wouldn’t like that at all. And for how it happened…”

Natasha interrupted. “He tried to shoot over his shoulder and the arrow got stuck. Then he fell forward.”

“As I said. Things like that just happen to me.”

Steve just nodded.

“He is right. These things somehow always happen, always around me.” Natasha sighs and Steve cracks a smile.

“Don’t worry. Phil wasn’t any better. I know the one or other story.”

"Oh. Tell me." Clint leans forward and nearly falls from the bed. Luckily the doctor comes in right at this moment and both, Steve and Natasha leave the room.

“I had to interrupt my break. Care to join me?” he asks her and she shrugs.

Back at the table, she smiles.

“So, Captain. What are you doing, since SHIELD is gone?”

Steve waved his hands around.

"This. Am here often. I love it here. It kinda feels like home to me, being here either with my mom when she was working or when I was sick and in here as a patient. I spent a big part of my childhood here and it pulled right back when I left.” He shrugged. “Some of the older nurses here are the only family I have left besides friends I made in SHIELD. Mom died years ago. No boyfriend or girlfriend. Nothing. Just me. And what is the Black Widow up to.”

Natasha smiled at him a bit sadly then she perked up.

“I teach. Like everything really. Combat, weapons. Everything. Clint wants to teach archery but Phil doesn’t think it’s a good idea and I happen to agree.” Steve nodded.

“My friends love the story about the arrow in his butt cheek.” He said seriously, before cracking a smile.

The next time he told the story about meeting the Black Widow was a week later when  Phil sat in a bar with them and told them all that, yeah, sadly, all these stories about his husband were true. But he wouldn't change any of it. He loved Clint after all.

In the end, this wasn't the last time he saw Clint in the ER with Natasha and every time they came by, they asked for him. No one else pulled arrows out of Clint's ankle, heel, again the butt cheek and so many other places, sometimes not even listening to the story because he really didn't want to know.

Natasha was with him every time.

One afternoon she sat in the gym, stretching while Bucky was warming up, still getting used to being out of the army and starting to deal with his PTSD with regular exercise. Natasha, being trained in working with PTSD-patients and being in close contact with the VA in New York, was the best who could help him and the one he trusted most with it.

Bucky had come back from combat a few months earlier, granted leave after his Unit had been ambushed and despite nearly losing his arm he was one of the three survivors of his unit. All of them had gone back home, not being able to fight more after losing his sister Rebecca and many of his brothers and sisters in arms in the ambush.

“So. How went your date yesterday?” she called over and he sighed, landing one last punch on the punching bag.

“Didn’t show up.”

“Really?

“Don’t look so surprised. I was glad actually.” Bucky shrugged. “Don’t need any more blind dates. If I want to go on a date it is with someone I met in his natural environment, somewhere where he feels comfortable and not… dunno.” he sighs, then changes the wrappings around his hand and joins Natasha in the fighting area. The red hair nods and purses her lips.

“So not setting you up with my friend then.”

"By friend, you mean Clint and Clint is married." He looks at her and she sighs. She had rather been thinking about Steve, the bisexual single nurse she had met more in the last six months than she ever wanted to meet a nurse. But he was a good guy and they would get along great, she was sure of that.

“Well then. Let’s go. How’ve you been since the last time?”

"Better. It really helps." Bucky replies and gets into a fighting stance. Natasha nodded and licked her lips.

"Then let's go, Barnes. See if you can take me today." She smiled teasingly and he gave a cocky grin.

---

“If we could maybe have Steve?”

“Is that Natasha? What did Clint…” Steve came out of the nurse room and stopped, seeing Natasha propped up against Bucky, not really needing his help but it was part of the plan, so she let it be. “Okay, wait. What did you do? You don’t get hurt.” He said accusingly and she smiled confidently.

“It was Barnes’ fault. He made me lose my weight on the wall. I fell like… could have been two floors. Three? Dunno. Took me by surprise.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, not believing one word she just said. At least about the ‘took me by surprise’ part. The man by his side, Barnes, looked sheepish but not really fooled by it either.

“She insisted we come here and let her ankle get checked instead of just wrapping it up.” He explained and Steve nodded. Extending his hand towards the hallway next to the reception desk, he turned to Natasha with a smile.

“You know the way. The same room as usual. I’ll be right with you.” He went back into the nurse station, gathering some supplies, while Natasha and Bucky walked down the hallway and she sat down on a bed in a room that looked like every other hospital room so far, but there were a few photos on one of the walls.

Bucky went towards them to look at them.

Not photos. Drawings. He studied them and frowned.

“Is that…”

"Clint? Yeah. Some of his rather impressive… incidents." Steve said, entering the room and already pulling a pair of blue gloves over his hands. "And you Miss Romanov. Are you sure you didn't develop a little crush on me? How else should I take that you are back AND demanding for me?" Natasha laughed in delight and it stunned Bucky for a second. He had never heard Natasha laugh for real and it sounded so nice and not at all like the tough woman he had gotten to know. It sounded carefree and honest. Raw.

“You wish Cap. Nothing like that. You know I never want to be there half the time Clint get here and I really don’t want to completely fuck up my ankle. Fury offered me a new job, beginning next year and I’d rather be uninjured by then.” She gave him a smirk and he smiled.

A smile that could light up a whole night if needed.

A smile that could rival the sun and every star known to man.

And Bucky felt enthralled. This was what he had meant, talking to Natasha earlier before she fell. A known environment, something the man he wanted to look at knew. Something that made him relaxed, carefree.

An environment he could be himself. Around people who knew him. Where he didn’t have to be shy and uncertain of what would happen next.

And this was the man, he wanted to ask out.

He stopped. Natasha. He sat down on a chair by the side, watching them bicker while Steve took a closer look at Nat’s ankle and made sure nothing was broken. It had been slightly swollen when they had wrapped it before leaving for the hospital and the swelling had gone back already.

But the reason the redhead had wanted to go to the hospital wasn’t the ankle check. It was the nurse. She wanted him to meet Steve.

“I’ll be back in a minute, getting some balm for the muscles to relax but you are fine. The ‘pain’ if there even is one should be gone by… dinnertime.” Steve said, fixing her with a suspicious look, glanced at Bucky, smiled at the vet and left the room. Natasha looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you think? You didn’t want me to set you up with him so I had you to meet him like this. Thought it would work. Did it?”

Bucky sighed. Why did she always know what would work? Smirking, she leaned back against the headboard waiting for Steve to come back. When the blond did, she smirked, standing up and taking the balm from his hands. Then she gave him a slip of paper and smiled at him.

"I know you get off shit around 4 today, so both of you, 7 pm at the diner opposite Stark Tower. Tell Peter, the waiter there, it is my treat, he will know. Have a great evening and get to know each other. Have fun. Bye." With that she left the room, leaving the balm on the bed and Bucky looked after her.

Steve was staring at him.

“Did she…”

"Set us up? Yes. Now your next question is probably do I want to?" Bucky took a deep breath and when Steve nodded he decided to go in all or nothing. "The answer is actually, yeah I would like to. But not like… this." He gestured to the door where Nat had disappeared. "Properly. So, Steve, I think. I would like to, maybe, take you out? A date? The diner near Stark Tower, 7 pm? Sounds like something you'd be interested in?" It came out way more confident than Bucky felt but then again, when Natasha tried to set him up with someone, she couldn't be that wrong, could she? They met twice a week for 8 months already after all.

Steve ducked his head, cheeks turning slight reddish.

“Yeah. I’d love to. 7 sounds perfect. Meet you there?” he asked shyly and Bucky smiled, feeling light and yeah. That was how he wanted to go out on dates. No blind dating or something. That. Exactly how it happened right here. Right now. “’s that your number, Bucky?” Steve smiled, holding up the piece of paper with Bucky’s number scribbled on.

Bucky snorted.

“Definitely. You got it from Nat, it will be exactly what it says it is.” Then he walked towards the door, turning to Steve only when he was right next to him.

“See you at seven? Write me before that, so I have your number.” Steve just nodded, dumbfounded and then Bucky was gone.

---

The brunette took the subway, shooting Natasha a text, complaining about not waiting for him to drive him home.

When she replied he knew the thanks were received even if not mentioned.

In his apartment he was rifling through his wardrobe, looking for something presentable and finally settling on a short-sleeved simple black shirt and his grey skinny jeans. The clock showed 5 pm and his phone vibrated, an unknown number showing up on screen, a message and a photo attached to it.

Just got back home. Getting ready now. See you at 7.

The photo showed Brooklyn from an open window and Bucky tilted his head. Then he went to the window in his living room, looking out the window and seeing a window on the opposite of the street open, same height as his. He huffed amused and opened his window as well, snapping a photo from the building, the open window in the middle of the picture.

Me too. See you ;)

Just seconds later, Steve looked out the window of his apartment, gaping at Bucky who just shrugged, telling Steve something along the lines that he hadn’t known either and turned away from the window, walking into his bathroom and closed the door. He heard the phone he had left next to the open window buy, but stripped down instead, getting under the steady stream of the shower.

Showered, his chin long hair still drying and dressed only in his jeans, he went back to the window, taking a look at his phone.

Nurse Steve: Does that mean I can offer you a drive home later?

Bucky: Maybe. Let’s see how it goes. I don’t put out before the second date.

Nurse Steve: What a pity. Here I was hoping me and my bike could convince you…

Bucky: Let me see that bike of yours and I may be inclined to call seeing you from my living room window the first date ;)

Nurse Steve: You won’t be disappointed. See you there? Have to leave now. Bug Tony in giving it back or you won’t get to see it.

Bucky: Yeah. See you later. Be safe.

Taking the subway to Manhattan and getting out at Stark Tower (so creative New York) he entered the diner, seeing Steve immediately, getting pestered by a man, said man actually being Tony Stark. When Steve’s eyes found Bucky, he shoved Tony away, said something to him and waved the vet over. Tony, still standing next to Steve and let his glace travel over Bucky.

“So. You’re Cap’s mystery date.” Bucky raised an eyebrow, quietly challenging Tony to say something and the young genius snorted in delight. “You don’t take shit. I like you.”

"He trains with the Widow. Naturally, he doesn't take shit."

“What can I say. I grew up with four little sisters and you’re not much different from them Stark. And now, if you’d be so kind.” Bucky made a huge gesture towards the door and Tony laughed in delight.

“Bring him on Saturday. The boys will love him. Just looooove him.” Tony hollered and left the diner, winking and waving at them. Steve sighed and gestured to Bucky to sit down.

“Sorry. Hoped I’d be rid of him before you get here.” Steve blushed lightly as Bucky sat down, smiling at him brightly.

“No worries there. It was fun.” Steve smiled bright, eyes lighting up in mischief.

“Yeah. I think he didn’t believe me about how gorgeous my date was.”

Bucky snorted.

"Smooth, Nurse Steve. Are you trying to flirt with me? Because I have to say, it would work better with one of these short nurse outfits. I mean..." Bucky trailed off, Steve bursting out in laughter and the brunette leaned back in his seat, taking in the sight of his date.

"Yeah. But sorry to disappoint. I have kind of a five-date rule for that." He shot back and Bucky snorted.

“Yeah. I had these rules too.” He drawled. “Then they always started to stand me up, so I gave up on that. But see. I know where you live. I can sneak in through your window, kidnap you and tie you to a chair. Then I’d get my fifth date for sure.”

Steve flushed bright red. A sight to see, Bucky thought by himself.

The waiter arrived, Peter as Nat had said, and they ordered, Hamburger and French fries and Bucky ordered a Milkshake, Vanilla, along. It was Natasha’s treat after all. Then Steve leaned forward onto his arms and smiled.

“So. First question. Been bugging me since earlier. Bucky? What name is that?”

Bucky snorted. It was either the first question they had (and it meant they were interested in him) or they never bothered to ask (then they only wanted him for his booty, which was A+ but he had more to offer seriously).

"My parents named me James Buchanan. Bucky had been my childhood nickname, not even my parents calling my Jim or Jimmy and if you do so, I'll throw you out of the window." Bucky warned the blond when his eyes light up mischievously. "My last name is Barnes. Back in the Army, I was always JBB or Bucky. Sometimes Sarge but only when they were drunk.” He concluded and Steve nodded.

“You were in the Army? What happened? I mean… you’re back. And apparently… Nat.” He began to stutter and it made Bucky feel giddy inside. Most only gave him pitying looks or thanked him for his service. Steve, who apparently had worked for SHIELD before, had enough experience of his own apparently not to pity the poor veteran. At least not yet.

“There was an ambush on one of our bases. My sister and I were there with most of our unit. Only I and two others made it out alive. Lost my oldest little sister and nearly my left arm.” He nodded towards the left arm where some of the light scars stood out against his skin.

Steve frowned then murmured “Sorry to hear that. Lost some good men too. Women as well. It is hard to be the only one alive. You said something about more sisters?”

Bucky swallowed. That was the topic he hated talking about. This time though, he kept it short when he explained. Maybe some other day Steve would get the whole story.

“My parents picked them up from school. Someone ran a red light, hit them in the side. Dead on impact. All of them. And please don’t pity me now. I don’t need that. It was bad luck. Faith. Whatever you want to call it. I just…” he started to ramble, nervous playing with his fingers, glance glued to the table until someone pried his hands apart and he looked up into Steve’s gentle eyes.

“Take a deep breath, Buck. I get it. I hate being pitied as well. My mom died when I was eighteen. I am an only child. My dad died back a long time ago, in a war just two months before I was born.” Bucky’s breath evened out and he smiled gently at Steve.

Moving on to less sensitive topics when dinner actually arrived, they bonded really well and then Steve held out his hand towards Bucky.

“I remember I offered you a drive back. She is in the garage in Stark tower. And maybe you could come over to my apartment for breakfast tomorrow around 9? Or is it too forward?”

The vet smiled happily, taking the blonde’s hand and let himself be pulled up, saying goodbye to Peter, the waiter, who confirmed the check would be taken care of (by Miss Romanov or Mister Stark), and let himself be pulled towards the big glass building on the other side of the street and into its underground garage where a beautiful black Harley was waiting for them.

And when Bucky was awake at 7 am, sitting at his open living room window, enjoying the morning sun and the silence like every morning but this time noticing the extremely attractive nurse on the other side of the street, it was just the first of many mornings.

[cuthian]

Starting Over Chapter One

Welcome to the second-to-last installment of this series (probably, honestly, I didn't mean for there to be as many parts as there are already)!

This fic is focused on both Thor and Steve's journeys, and sets the scene for the main fic, the one that follows this one, the one you've all been waiting for :) There are two chapters fully focused on Thor's journey, so should you wish to skip those, check the notes at the top of the chapter! I'll definitely mention them :)

I expect I'll update this once a week (it's fully written) and hopefully will be able to upload the final installment after I've posted the final chapter of this one!

As always, much love and gratitude to my lovely Juulna, who dragged me through all of this, and kicks my ass into gear when it's needed.

Let us know what you think!

Love, Annaelle

Starting Over

Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t letting go, but rather starting over.

—Nicole Sovaugn

Chapter One

RUMORED CELEBRITY COUPLES WE ALL *HOPE* ARE REAL

The celebrity rumor mill is always churning. While it is mostly tittle-tattle, there are certain romance “news” items that, in our heart of hearts, we’re dying to be true. From co-stars with unbelievable chemistry to sure-to-be-legendary duos, here are the pairs we have our fingers crossed for.

10. Nikki Reed & Ian Somerhalder

[...]share a common interest in playing vampires—with Reed’s Rosalie in Twilight to Somerhalder’s Damon in The Vampire Diaries—but also have several common friends. Both are close with Nina Dobrev—Somerhalder’s ex-girlfriend—and Ashley Greene[…]supposed reports of their developing relationship since July, and they have adopted a horse together.

[…]as of yet no official confirmations have been made.

[…]

7. Natasha Romanoff & Steve Rogers

[…] Rogers and Romanoff have been spotted out together on several occasions, ranging from coffee runs—such mundane activity for such extraordinary people—to trips to Coney Island and Avengers Tower[…]The outings have set many tongues wagging, implying a scandalous relationship between the Captain and his Avengers co-worker, despite official, repeated statements that Captain Rogers is still grieving his former life and is not interested in forming romantic attachments.

[…]Captain was also linked to former Army Captain Rebecca Barnes, before she confirmed her own relationship—see No 2 on this list![…]whatever is going on between Captain America and the women in his life, one thing is certain: we would all like to be rescued by this star-spangled man with a plan!

[…]

5. Zac Efron & Leah Michelle

[…]big surprise for everyone! These two have known one another for several years, but have recently been photographed packing on the PDA on a yacht in Italy in July[…]possibly nothing more than a summer fling, but a reliable source told E!online that Efron likes that she is laid-back and he can relate to her. He is, apparently, attracted to her great attitude, and they understand one another.

[…]

2. Rebecca Barnes & Thor of Asgard

This surprise couple accidentally got caught on camera in a picture posted to Tony Stark’s Twitter account on the 4th of July last year[…]emphasis on “accidental”, considering the couple was only barely visible in a corner of the picture that featured almost all of the Avengers.

[…]lo and behold, it clearly showed Rebecca Barnes, seated on a barstool next to who appears to be Captain Rogers, wrapped in an intimate embrace with none other than the Prince of Asgard, looking real cozy together. Gotcha!

[…]picture remained on Tony Stark’s Twitter account without further comment from any of the Avengers for 72 hours before a press conference was held to confirm the relationship between the two, though insistences were made on their relationship remaining casual for now. “They’re having fun, they like each other, but neither of them wants to be in a serious relationship right now.”

Casual seems to be working for the couple though, because all appearances point to them still being together two years after their first press conference!

[…]only confirmed couple on this list!

—M.S. Sura, E! Magazine, « Rumoured Celebrity Couples », July 2013

————————

Washington D.C., United States of America

August 9th, 2015 – 5:19 AM

Steve

Steve liked going for a run in the morning.

When he and Becca had first moved to D.C., he had felt at a loss—he’d never really lived anywhere but in New York, and D.C. had felt like an unknown entity, nothing like the city he’d been born and raised in. It was… It was quieter, in a way, less crowded and less intense than New York had been, and Steve had both hated and loved it with equal measure during their first few weeks there.

Running in the morning had been something Karen the therapist had suggested when he’d originally confessed to feeling antsy and cooped up when there were no missions to be done, and no bad guys to fight.

It’d become a way to blow off steam, to get rid of the horrid feeling of inactivity, and to get to know the city he’d be living in for the foreseeable future. Becca hadn’t really understood—nor had Steve expected her to, considering it would’ve involved leaving her bed before she absolutely had to—and though Thor, bless him, had done his very best to give it a try, he really didn’t understand the appeal of running without chasing something.

Steve, however, loved it.

Running was one of the very few activities where he could let go of all restraint and just go, without having to worry that he was going to hurt someone, or break something irreparably. Running allowed him to test the very limit of the serum without truly having to worry, and it was a feeling so incredibly freeing it made him feel dizzy the first time he’d realized.

He’d learned to appreciate D.C. for its own merits, over time. He loved New York and he would always consider Brooklyn home in a way nowhere else could be, but here… Here he could walk down the street without getting pulled aside for selfies and autographs constantly. He could run for hours without paparazzi not-so-subtly trying to sneak pictures of him.

He could visit Peggy, who had—very reluctantly—taken up residence in a care home close to his and Becca’s house, after a nasty fall that broke the femur bone in her left leg in two places.

New York was not so very far away either, and when they wanted to visit Tony and the others, the flight there usually didn’t take them very long. Steve felt more settled here, and much less anchored in the past, than he had in New York, although it had taken him a long time to admit it.

Of course, it wasn’t like Steve loved everything about their life in D.C. He’d initially loved the job, and the way it gave him a sense of purpose in his life, but the intensity of some of the Agents put him off, and he decidedly disliked the way everyone had had set expectations of who and what he was supposed to be—both as a leader in the field and as a person.

He loathed the way Fury treated him sometimes, for that matter, like he was some dumb kid who didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. He hated when Fury sent him on missions with people who had their own missions, when he was expected to lead people who had their own agendas and their own timetables.

He especially disliked the agents that Fury had set to tail him at all times—he wasn’t supposed to know they were there, but it seemed they’d all conveniently forgotten he was good friends with the Black Widow and Hawkeye, and that he lived with Becca Barnes, who had the uncanny ability to spot agents, no matter how well they disguised themselves.

He hated them, but, over the course of the past four years of living in the 21st century, two of which he’d spent working with S.H.I.E.L.D., he’d learned to pick his battles. There were bigger things going on in his life than trying to figure out which hapless idiot they’d sent to try to tail him on his run today.

There was, for instance, a new guy—not an agent, Steve thought—running on his preferred route.

Steve didn’t tend to run the same route every day, because he’d get bored and probably run into a tree or something, and he didn’t quite fancy the idea of having to explain to Fury—or worse, Tony—why there were gossip rags with the headline “Captain America Can’t Handle Morning Wood” or something equally ridiculous.

Also, by changing up his route regularly, he was able to figure out how long it took S.H.I.E.L.D. to figure out where he was. The longest it had ever taken them was fifteen minutes, and Steve was pretty sure they’d only figured him out because he’d stopped to take a phone call from Becca.

This route, though, starting at the World War II memorial, crossing Inlet Bridge and going past the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, was one of Steve’s favorites to run. It took him past his favorite sites in the city, and ended whenever he ran past the cute little bakery a few blocks from the Holocaust Memorial Museum with the best croissants he’d had on this side of the Atlantic. There weren’t usually a lot of people around at this time of morning, because Steve could admit that he was slightly overzealous when it came to running in the morning—as in leaving before the sun was up, and not coming back until at least two hours later—and it was easy to notice when there was a new fellow maniac who liked to exercise before dawn.

Steve let his eyes trail over said new maniac’s back appreciatively.

He definitely looked good.

He felt a pang of guilt—much less debilitating than the stifling sense of dread and guilt and horror it had once been—and shook his head, pushing himself to run a little faster, to pass this new, cute, unknown entity and leave him behind, because for all that Steve was doing pretty well, he didn’t think he was ready to acknowledge when he actively thought someone was cute.

It was different than when he went on dates because Natasha set him up. Those were nearly always women, and much as Steve appreciated Nat’s effort, they were never into him for him.

That, in itself, was enough of a turn off.

The fact that they were absolutely never his type was just an easy excuse to give Nat when there were, inevitably, no second dates. This, though, he thought as he caught up to Cute Fellow Maniac… this felt different.

“On your left,” he bit out as he ran past New Cute Fellow Maniac, barely allowing himself a glance to look at the other guy, refusing to see, because that would mean he actively liked someone who wasn’t Bucky, and he wasn’t sure he could do that.

He’d talked about that with Karen-the-therapist at length too.

After he’d seen Thor make an effort to let go of his promise to only ever love Loki, to give his relationship with Becca an honest chance, he’d wondered, because he’d been convinced that Thor was the only person Steve had ever met that understood.

He’d understood why Steve just… couldn’t.

Why the very thought of being in love with someone other than Bucky made him feel sick to his stomach, like he’d be betraying everything he had shared with Bucky, like he’d be making a mockery of Bucky’s memory if he did allow himself to move on. Going on dates with women had been much easier than this, because… well, they were women.

For all that Steve was hopeless when it came to flirting with them—or even just talking to them—they didn’t run much of a risk of reminding him of Bucky. It wasn’t so very hard to not give them a chance.

He knew it was poor manners, to give a lady hope where there was none, but… it got his friends off his back, and it was easy to let it all wash over him.

Men, though…

He knew Bucky would hate that Steve felt that way, and that he might even be insulted to learn Steve hadn’t tried to fuck his way through the 21st century in his name yet, because Bucky had been nothing if not a realist (and also a horny bastard), and whereas Steve had been—still was—optimistic enough to believe he could spend his entire life loving just the one person, Bucky had… Bucky had said things that made Steve think—now, in hindsight—that he’d never really believed he’d make it out of the war.

Maybe he’d always known Steve would, eventually, have to move on.

Steve sighed and slowed down, eyeing the split in the path that came up ahead of him contemplatively. The left branch would loop him back to roughly where he’d seen Cute New Maniac, and might give him a second chance.

The other…

“Come on, Rogers,” he told himself firmly. “Make an effort.”

He took the left path.

————————

Washington D.C., United States of America

6.03 AM

Steve

Alright, so maybe he hadn’t stopped to talk to Cute New Maniac right away.

He watched, slightly amused, as the other man limped his way to a patch of grass and collapsed back against a tree, wheezing a little. Steve felt a little bad—just a little—but then, he hadn’t made the other man try to race him.

Honestly, after the third time Steve had lapped him, Cute New Maniac should really have realized that he wouldn’t actually be able to keep up with Steve even if he did try.

Which he did.

It hadn’t really gone his way.

“You need a medic?” he blurted before he could think about it, moving towards where the other man sat with a grin that was probably just the right side of smug. Steve felt a little gratified when the other man laughed, shaking his head a little before he replied.

“I need a new set of lungs.” He laughed and pushed himself up a little, glancing towards Steve with a smirk. “You just ran like thirteen miles in thirty minutes.”

Steve grinned a little.

It wasn’t like he could come right out and say he looped around four times with the express purpose of seeing Cute New Maniac again, so he shrugged, putting his hands on his hips in a way he knew accentuated the contrast between his broad shoulders and narrow hips. “Guess I got a late start,” he quipped cheekily.

“Really?” Cute Maniac laughed. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You should—you should take another lap.” Steve couldn’t stop grinning, cheeks burning and heart pumping fast with exhilaration, even as the cute guy looked away for a second, before he looked back and rolled his eyes.

“Did you just take it? I assume you just took it.”

Steve outright laughed at that, shaking his head a little before he gestured to the dog tags that had slipped from underneath the guy’s sweater. “What unit were you in?”

He saw the minute stiffening of Cute Maniac’s posture before he relaxed again, and felt momentarily bad for asking, but before he could take it back, Cute Maniac replied, “58th Pararescue. But now I’m working down at the V.A.” Before Steve could do more than nod, Cute Maniac held out his hand, wiggling his fingers insistently until Steve grasped it in his and pulled him to his feet.

“Sam Wilson,” Cute Maniac—Sam, a voice in Steve’s head that sounded suspiciously like Bucky insisted—offered, smiling when Steve floundered a little.

“Steve Rogers,” Steve finally said, grinning shyly. This was usually the point where people either freaked out and started treating him like… well, like Captain America. Steve hadn’t hoped someone wouldn’t this badly in quite a while.

“I kinda put that together,” Sam grinned, fingers lingering on Steve’s for a second longer than strictly appropriate, and Steve’s stomach swooped. “Must’ve freaked you out,” Sam continued, and Steve’s stomach sank, because he knew what those next words were going to be before Sam even said them out loud. “Coming home after the whole defrosting thing. “

Steve heaved a sigh and shrugged. “Took some getting used to.”

He swallowed thickly against the disappointment that curdled in his stomach and shot Sam a small, insincere smile. “It’s good to meet you, Sam.” He turned away before Sam could say anything that would make Steve’s stomach ache harder than it already did, becauseof course, the one time he decided to take a chance, the guy turned out like everyone else.

“It’s your bed, right?”

Steve stopped, turning around with no small sense of bewilderment as he looked at Sam. “What’s that?” he said cautiously, eyeing the other man nervously. He wasn’t sure if Sam was being dense, or if he was blatantly trying to come onto Steve, but it made him feel off-balance, and Steve hated feeling off-balance.

“Your bed,” Sam repeated, raising both eyebrows. “It’s too soft. When I was over there, I’d sleep on the ground, use rocks as pillows.” Steve turned towards Sam fully, now intrigued and a little relieved, hoping he might’ve misjudged. “Now I’m home,” Sam continued, “lying in my bed, and it’s like…”

He shook his head, apparently at a loss for words.

“Like lying on a marshmallow,” Steve finally finished for him. “Feels like I’m gonna sink right through to the floor.”

Sam smiled a little and nodded.

It was a cute smile too, damn him.

“How long?” he asked, eyeing Sam carefully. He figured he could get away with asking something similar to Sam’s earlier question, and it wasn’t that he doubted that the other man had served, but…

It just felt different knowing.

“Two tours,” Sam answered curtly, although he didn’t appear all that put out by the question.

Steve swallowed and nodded tightly. Though Sam hadn’t specified, from what Steve understood, two tours could mean anywhere from a year to eight years total, and Steve couldn’t imagine being out there for that long, even with a break in the middle, without losing his mind. It’d baffled him during the war too, seeing European soldiers of various countries that had been fighting for literal years without stopping, refusing to give up.

He’d both admired them and felt incredibly sorry for them.

“You must miss the way things were,” Sam finally said, cautiously, as though Steve would explode if the past was mentioned. If this had been three years ago, Steve might’ve. He would’ve put on a brave face, but the reminder of the life that had been torn from him would’ve sent him spiraling and heading for the hills to lick his wounds in private, and he was mature enough—now—to know that.

As it stood, Steve had been in intense therapy since his breakdown four years ago, and he’d learned to deal with his grief in far more healthy ways.

“It’s not so bad here,” Steve shrugged. “Food’s so much better. I need to eat a ton, because—” he gestured towards his body sheepishly and blushed when Sam smirked. “Back then, getting enough calories was horrible. We boiled everything, and the stuff that did have what I needed was barely edible at all.” He grinned and added, “Internet’s great too. Super helpful. Becca showed me how to use it back when I first woke up. Definitely read that a lot, trying to catch up.”

Sam nodded, raising an eyebrow. “Becca’s the roommate, right? Your guy’s grandniece or something, right? Freaked out every gossip rag from here to L.A. when you two moved here, to D.C., together. Big scandal.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “I remember. Ridiculous. Becca’s one of my best friends. Currently dating one of my other best friends.” He wrinkled his nose and shook his head, because much as he loved Thor and Becca, he really didn’t like to think too much about it. He’d walked in on them one time too many to still be casual about it.

“Yeah,” Sam smirked. “I remember seeing that revelation around too.”

Steve winced a little.

Everyone remembered that particular Fourth of July. Tony still felt bad about it.

“So,” Sam said, smiling lightly, “You doing anything fun today?”

Steve saw it for the change of subject that it was and grasped at it eagerly—maybe a little too eagerly. “Hopefully you,” he blurted, blanching when his brain caught up with his mouth, wincing at Sam’s slightly stunned expression. “I mean—that’s not—I wasn’t trying to—”

He gave up on his spluttered explanation when Sam burst into laughter, hiding his face—cheeks burning with an increasingly embarrassed blush—in his hands. He didn’t look up until Sam reached out and put his hand on Steve’s arm, gently pushing it down so Steve would be forced to look at him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam grinned, winking when Steve dared to look directly at him again. “I mean, you should definitely buy me a drink first, but it’s good to know I wasn’t imagining that you were flirting.” He looked momentarily confused and then asked, “I wasn’t, right?”

“No,” Steve admitted breathlessly, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the idea that he’d actually managed to ask someone out—sort of—and that said someone had actually returned his interest.

What the fuck.

Stuff like this didn’t happen to Steve—he was the hopeless single friend.

Willingly.

Sam smiled—a real, bright smile that made Steve’s stomach do another funky flop—and bit his lower lip. “Well then. You gonna ask for my number, Rogers?”

“Right!” Steve blurted, fumbling to get his phone from his pocket without accidentally tossing it across the damned park. Sam took it from him with an indulgent smile, and Steve was pretty sure his face was stuck somewhere between bewilderment and soppy admiration, and he wasn’t sure…

Well, he wasn’t sure what to do now.

“There,” Sam handed his phone back and raised an eyebrow. “You better call me, Rogers. I ain’t one for getting stood up, even by a superhero.”

Steve nodded eagerly. “I will, definitely, I just—” His phone buzzed in his hand, and he frowned when he recognized Nat’s S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued number. Nat only used that number to call him when they were being called in for a mission.

“Duty calls,” he said ruefully, wiggling his phone at Sam. “I’m sorry. Thanks for the run though.” He grinned and winked, “If that’s what you wanna call running.”

“Oh, that’s how it is?” Sam exclaimed indignantly, although there was no real heat to his words.

“That’s how it is.”

“O-okay,” Sam chuckled. “You better call me when you get back.”

Steve nodded dumbly, not turning away until he heard the familiar engine roar of Nat’s favorite Corvette—because of course she’d tracked his phone instead of waiting for his reply, damn those spies—grinning sheepishly at Sam’s raised eyebrow. “Can’t run everywhere.”

“No, you can’t,” Sam agreed, smirking when Steve awkwardly tried to fit himself into the small seat—he swore that was at least half of the reason Nat always picked him up in this thing.

“Hey fellas,” Nat grinned, baring all her teeth with a predatory gleam in her eye as she looked at Sam.

“No,” Steve said firmly, before she could do or say anything that would make Sam realize Steve was a goddamned disaster and he should run while he still had the chance. He frowned at her, and when that didn’t have much of a visible effect, he pouted.

Her expression softened, and Steve barely managed to keep from grinning.

Worked like a charm. Every damned time.

“I’ll call you,” he told Sam, offering him a quick smile, before he turned back to Nat, putting thoughts of Sam and the conversation and the potential date in his future out of his mind, focusing entirely on the folder Nat had tossed onto his lap and resolutely ignoring her attempts to pick apart what little she’d seen of his interaction with Sam.  

“What do we have?”

————————

EXCLUSIVE: CAPTAIN AMERICA MOVING IN WITH DEAD BEST FRIEND’S GRAND-NIECE?

Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers, and Rebecca Barnes—granddaughter to Rogers’ late best friend’s little sister—aremoving in together, but they are most definitely not in a relationship, despite an absurd tabloid report.

Gossip Cop can exclusively correct the story and report that it’s completely false.

According to OK!USA, our favorite supersoldier is moving out of the Avengers Tower to follow Barnes to Washington D.C., where they’re “on the hunt for a love pad”. An alleged insider tells the magazine that Thor and Barnes, who were recently accidentally ‘outed’ by Tony Stark, have split up because of the “deep, intense feelings” between the Captain and the youngest Barnes.

“They’re both so attracted to one another,” says a supposed source, who further contends that the other Avengers and the Barnes family “aren’t surprised Cap is following Becca to D.C. and that they’re looking for a home together.”

The outlet’s premise is flat-out ridiculous.

Just last Sunday, Thor joined Barnes and Rogers for dinner at Rebecca Barnes Sr.’s home.

The idea that Rebecca Jr. has dumped him for Captain Rogers is ludicrous. Additionally, the tabloid’s article is based on claims from an anonymous and untraceable “source,” but Gossip Cop reached out to Rogers’ spokesperson, who tells us on the record that it’s untrue. Despite what the magazine’s so-called “insider” claims, a rep qualified to speak on the Captain’s behalf assures us he and Barnes aren’t a couple, and the relocation is funded and requested by S.H.I.E.L.D., where both Captain Rogers and Agent Barnes are employed.

[…]gossip media is constantly trying to create new milestones in the relationship between Captain Rogers and the females in his life, despite their relationship being friendly and professional. […] Last week, we busted another bogus report alleging the Black Widow might be pregnant with Rogers’ baby.

Earlier this week, Gossip Cop also shot down a phony article claiming that the Avengers were split between Barnes and the Black Widow, picking sides in a vicious fight for Rogers’ affection.[…]

This latest article involving the supposed lovers house-hunting together is yet more fiction.

—A. Shuster, Gossip Cop, « Captain America moving to D.C. with Rebecca Barnes?», August 2012

————————

Indian Ocean

11:08 PM (UCT+6.30)

Steve

He listened intently as Rumlow briefed them, eyeing the specs intently. Natasha stood beside him, brow equally furrowed in concentration, while Becca fiddled with her gloves, alternating between looking at Rumlow and the screen. Normally, Steve would try to scold her into paying attention, but by the time he and Nat had gotten to H.Q., Becca had already been debriefed and had several plausible plans ready for Steve to review once he’d been briefed on the jet.

He’d learned to value her insights on cases like these, because there was a reason she had made it to the rank of Captain in the Army at twenty-two, and he knew how hard it was for her to stand still.

“Any demands?” he inquired when Rumlow finished identifying the target and outlining the situation.

There hadn’t been when they’d left D.C., but that had been mere minutes after contact with the Lemurian Star had been lost—two and a half hours ago.

“Billion and a half,” Rumlow nodded curtly, facing Steve directly, preparing for the questions he likely knew were coming. They’d worked together quite a few times over the past few years, and Rumlow had learned to anticipate what info Steve needed to effectively plan a successful mission in minutes.

“Why so steep?”

Demands were all good and well in hostage situations, but no agency deploying simple satellites would be able to afford quite that much money on such short notice.

Rumlow looked surprised, for a moment, before admitting, “Because it’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s.”

Steve barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes, quietly cursing Nick Fury in the back of his mind, and glanced towards Nat. “So it’s not off-course.” That’d been one of Becca’s theories; an attempt to explain what the ship would be doing this far out of international waters; why they’d been vulnerable to pirates in the first place.

“It’s trespassing,” Becca agreed, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning.

Rumlow looked like he wanted to say something—probably something derogatory that would make Steve want to punch him regardless of his professional competence—but Nat stepped in before he could. “I’m sure they have a good reason,” she offered, smiling winningly at Steve.

Steve did roll his eyes this time. “I’m getting real’ tired of being Fury’s janitor.”

He could’ve been having lunch, at home, right now. He could’ve asked Sam out for breakfast, could’ve tried to figure out if he could try dating without wanting to throw up at the mere thought of it.

Why did Fury always want him to clean up his own damned messes?

He turned back to Rumlow and gestured to go on. “How many pirates?”

“Twenty-five,” Rumlow replied immediately, pulling up several profiles of well-known international fugitives. “Top mercs, led by this guy.” He pulled up and enlarged a picture of a built man with a buzz cut and a dead-eyed expression Steve had seen in too many men in the service before.

“Georges Batroc,” Rumlow continued, “Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He’s at the top of Interpol’s Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions.” He looked Steve dead in the eye and frowned. “He’s got a rep for maximum casualties. It’s why they wanted to get rid of him in the first place.”

Steve nodded curtly. He wasn’t sure what a man like that would want with a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel, but he was sure it couldn’t be anything good. “Hostages?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rumlow faltered, and Steve frowned, because that couldn’t be a surprise question—they’d been sent specifically to rescue said hostages. “Uh...” Rumlow stuttered. “Mostly techs. One officer.” He nodded towards Steve. “Jasper Sitwell. They’re in the galley.”

Steve knew of Sitwell.

He wasn’t terribly high up the chain of command, and certainly didn’t have security clearance as high as Steve and Natasha, but he wasn’t just another grunt worker either. From what Steve knew, he was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top mission handlers.

He dealt with junior S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that went on lesser undercover missions—had dealt with Becca’s undercover mission too, until Nat had unceremoniously usurped him. Steve had no clue what he’d be doing on a satellite launch platform.

“What the hell is Sitwell doing on a launch ship?” he mused, more to himself than to either Nat or Becca, before he shook his head and pushed the issue from his mind. Honestly, it didn’t matter what Sitwell was doing on the ship, it just mattered that Steve needed to get him and the techs off of it.

Safely.

“Alright,” he said briskly, glancing to his core team briefly. “I’m gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instruction. Rumlow, you sweep the aft and find the hostages, direct S.T.R.I.K.E. as you need them. Just get them to the life-pods, and get them out.” He glanced towards Becca and grinned. “Barnes, help Rumlow get into the galley and then cover my six.”

Becca grinned back and cheekily saluted him. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”

He followed Becca and Nat to the hold, taking the communicator Nat held out with a grin. “Secure channel seven,” he said into the communicator when he’d attached it to his wrist.

“Seven secure,” Nat replied, sidling up beside him with a smirk that predicted little good things for him. Usually conversations that started with Nat smirking at him like that ended with dreadfully boring dates with lovely dark-haired women that bore suspicious resemblance to both Bucky and Peggy.

“So,” Nat drawled. “Who was that positively gorgeous specimen you were talking to when I picked you up?” She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Were you flirting, Steve?”

Becca popped up from behind one of the S.T.R.I.K.E. agents, her expression bordering on gleeful, and Steve barely repressed the urge to groan. He’d hoped to keep Sam to himself a little longer, at least until he had decided how he felt about the whole thing.

He should’ve known he would never be able to keep it under wraps with these two in his life.

That not mean that he wasn’t going to try, though.

“I’m not talking about this now,” he said firmly, shooting a glare at Becca when she had the gall to pout at him. Thankfully, the pilot’s voice interrupted the two women before they could pester him more, warning him of the drop zone coming up.

He ran his hand through his hair one more time before he pulled the helmet on, moving towards the loading bay as he did.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Becca piped on from behind him, snatching him by one of the straps on his suit and pulling him back with surprising ease—to everyone but Steve, who’d hoped she would let him get away with it this time. “Put on a fucking parachute, Rogers,” she bit out, shoving aforementioned parachute in his hands.

“Come on, Becs,” he wheedled. “I need to get in stealthily. The ‘chute ain’t covert. It’ll slow me down.”

Becca didn’t seem particularly impressed by his reasoning. “I’m not letting you jump out of a goddamn plane without a parachute, you moron.”

“You let Thor do it all the time,” Steve pointed out, smiling winningly, sneakily pushing the parachute into a hapless S.T.R.I.K.E. agent’s hands, stepping in front of the man to make sure Becca wouldn’t be able to see what he was doing.

Becca threw her hands up in exasperation and shoved at his shoulder, even as Steve moved back to the loading bay. “Thor can fly, Steve, he doesn’t need a parachute.”

Steve grinned at her over his shoulder, and winked at her. “Neither do I.”

He jumped.

————————

Lemurian Star, Indian Ocean

11:14 PM (UCT+6.30)

Steve

“Hostages en route to extraction,” Rumlow’s voice alerted Steve. “Barnes is on her way to you. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play.”

He didn’t have eyes on Batroc anymore, and the entire ship had fallen suspiciously silent following his attempt to smash Batroc’s skull in with his shield. Of course, they did have standing orders to subdue the man, not kill him, but Steve had seen an opportunity and he’d taken it.

He’d rather be scolded for taking out a terrorist than risk the man getting out again.

Steve cursed under his breath before he replied, voice hushed, “Affirmative. Natasha, Batroc’s on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages.” There was no reply, and worry coiled in the pit of his stomach. He stopped, distracted, and lifted his arm to speak directly into the comm unit.

“Natasha?”

He didn’t see the attack coming.

He didn’t have time to do anything other than parry the volley of blows that came at him, faster and harder than anyone he’d fought in recent history. He was bowled over by the sheer viciousness of the attack, and before he knew it, his attacker had knocked him on his back, giving him no time to recover.

All Steve could see when he straightened up was the boot flying right at him, and he barely managed to move just enough so said boot landed on the floor instead of on parts of Steve’s anatomy he’d really rather keep intact—especially with the possibility of a date in the near future still in the back of his mind.

Batroc—because of course it was Batroc, Steve hadn’t expected anyone else—froze for a heartbeat, as did Steve. The stillness of the moment was over as soon as it had begun, and Steve didn’t spare much thought to technique when Batroc attacked again in a violent flurry of movement, punching and kicking so fast Steve couldn’t do anything but block, at first.

It only took a few moments before he spotted a pattern in Batroc’s attacks though, and then, instead of concerning, the fight became fun.

Batroc was a good fighter, and while he was certainly no match for Steve, he was far more of a challenge than anyone but Thor had been able to provide since he’d gotten the serum. Even Schmidt, for all his bluster of being the perfect man, had had shockingly little fighting technique and had mostly relied on brute strength alone.

Batroc, on the other hand… Batroc fought like it was an art, and Steve loved it.

Steve did not, however, have time to relish in the fight. Batroc was getting cocky, likely spurred on by Steve’s insistence of blocking and not punching—because he did have orders to bring the man in alive, and if Steve would punch him with full strength, he’d probably punch right through his skull.

It was too easy, really, to shove the man back with the shield, tossing him several feet.

It didn’t slow Batroc down though, and Steve was grudgingly impressed. The man had to be highly trained to be able to shake off a hit like that, and even when he attacked again, and Steve punched back, with his fists and the shield, Batroc got back up.

Steve was a little impressed.

“Je croyais tu ��tais plus qu’un bouclier,” Batroc sneered when he’d gotten back on his feet, and that… the implication grated, even though Steve knew, he knew Batroc was goading him, he knew Batroc knew he couldn’t beat Steve… But it stung nonetheless.

Before he knew what he was doing, he holstered his shield, keeping his eyes on Batroc as he undid the chin-strap on his helmet. “On va voir,” he said evenly, and he was itching for this fight, itching for a reason to beat this guy into the ground, regardless of how well he fought—

He and Batroc both flinched and spun around when a loud gunshot rang out across the deck, and before either of them could react further, Becca appeared, shooting Batroc twice, without hesitation, with the stun gun they had designed specifically to take hostiles in alive.

The man dropped like a sack of flour, and Steve was left staring between Becca—who looked positively furious—and the third man there, laying face-down in a pool of his own blood, a gun lying slightly beyond his outstretched fingertips.

“On va voir?” Becca hissed, stepping over Batroc’s prone body with an expression so infuriated Steve was almost afraid she’d set him on fire with just that look. He’d seen her angry before, but… shit, he’d messed up. “On ne vois rien! What the actual fuck, Rogers?!”

“Okay,” he said slowly, raising his hands in surrender, because Becca was still holding her stun gun, and she was not lowering it. “In my defense…”

“In your defense?” Becca shouted, stomping forward, shoving him in the shoulder hard. “There was no in your defense! You put away your main defensive weapon! You took off your helmet on an active mission with hostiles still in play! Jesus Christ, Steve, you knowbetter!”

Steve opened his mouth, but Becca waved her gun around angrily and he snapped it shut again, because he might be a supersoldier and if she shot him, he’d survive, but it’d still hurt like hell, and he wouldn’t put it past her to shoot him just to teach him a lesson about how close to death his body could take him.

“He had a gun on you,” she hissed. “He was waiting to take the shot, damn it! He would’ve blown your fucking brains out, Steve, and it’s not like you have any to spare!”

“Hey!” Steve exclaimed indignantly, glaring at her. “That’s not fair.”

“Try that again when you didn’t put away your main weapon in front of a hostile!” Becca shouted, poking her finger so close to his face, Steve was worried she’d boop him on the nose and make him laugh, because he knew laughing at her now would definitely make her shoot him.

“Okay, look,” Steve tried, backing away a little, because he was no fool, and staying within arm’s reach of an angry Barnes was never a good idea. “My entire body is basically a weapon. I mean—”

“Well, this is awkward,” Natasha interrupted.

Becca and Steve spun around to find her sitting cross-legged on Batroc’s back, securing his wrists with heavy handcuffs that could probably hold even Steve. Steve’s cheeks flamed, because Natasha was smirking in a way that meant she had heard all of the conversation that Steve would have rather kept between him and Becca.

Of course, he’d rather have not had the conversation at all, but he wasn’t that lucky.

“Where were you?” he bit out angrily, desperately grasping at the only thing he could to change the subject, glaring at Nat when she just raised her eyebrow. “Rumlow needed you with the hostages.”

“He’s fine,” she waved a hand dismissively. “I…” she paused and her eyes darted between him and Becca, who was still steely-eyed and angry, but at least not shouting anymore. “Fury gave me a secondary mission,” she admitted, holding up a hand to stave off the angry tirade that was already itching to burst from Steve’s lips. “I can’t talk about it here. Later, Steven.”

“Fine,” Steve bit out. “Fine.” He pointed to Natasha menacingly. “But you’re coming back to our place later to explain.”

Nat raised an eyebrow. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

————————

Start from the beginning:

In Hell We Stand By You:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Never Feel Alone:

(1) (2)

Decisions: (1)

Dancing with a Limp:

(1) (2)

Chances: 

(1) 

Or read it HERE on AO3 :D Find the next chapter HERE on Tumblr :)

[bellabooks]

A look back on our 2017 publications

Romance, mystery, thrillers, erotica: Bella has it all. 2017 saw releases in all genres, with dashing debuts and ravishing returns. Here’s a look back at all of the new releases for 2017, and as a special bonus, Bella is doing a sale on many of these books this weekend, plus some debut authors from 2016. January 2017   Constellations by Meghan Diane We’re thrilled to have Meghan Diane’s debut novel, Constellations, premiering this January with Bella Books. Traveling photographer Aurora has pledged not to get involved with another woman for six months, but when Rugby player and astronomy buff Phoenix comes into her life, will Aurora be able to resist falling?   Ask, Tell by E.J. Noyes Another Bella new author debut! Set during the oppressive DADT (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) period in the US military, Captain Sabine Fleischer is feeling the pain of serving in silence while risking her life as a surgeon in a Afghanistan combat hospital. Things get even more complicated when Sabine can’t stop thinking about Colonel Rebecca Keane, her superior officer, and her feelings of attraction may just be reciprocated.   Erased by Robbi McCoy Robbi McCoy’s newest novel is a thrilling sci-fi romance. Imagine chasing a bad guy one moment, and ending up two hundred years in the future, the next. That’s exactly what happens to police officer Dani Barsetti, who is now tasked with taking out a dangerous terrorist. Being in the future has wiped out all traces of Dani in the present, including the life she made with her wife, Gemma. Dani has two weeks before she’s sent back to the future on her mission to try and reconnect with Gemma, and possibly, just possibly fall in love all over again.   New Additions by Becky Harmon Former cop and foster parent, Cassie Thomas, is about to meet her match in foster care worker, Kathleen Masters. Well, make that Kathleen and the four teenage girls she’d like to place in Cassie’s care. Will Cassie’s quiet life at her vacation resort be turned upside down by a quartet of new family members and a possible new romance?   February 2017   Delay of Game by Tracey Richardson Niki Hartling and Eva Caruso are former Olympic hockey competitors, and lovers, torn apart by the pressures of the game. Twelve years later, the women find themselves thrust into each others lives again, now as player and rival coach. Sparks and ice will fly when these two deal with their buried feelings for each other.   Consequences by Sarah Libero   This debut novel by Sarah Libero features Emily, a closeted wife and mother, who loses her husband in what appears to be an accident. When Emily’s path crosses with Detective Kay DeLorme, an undeniable instant attraction ignites, and long hidden feelings rise to the surface. As their relationship deepens, so does Kay’s case and their decisions will have serious consequences.   Party Favors by Jaime Clevenger This choose your own adventure erotica is a must have. You find yourself at a party full of gorgeous women, and each decision you make will lead to a different sexy and sensual conclusion.   Milgrane: Embracing the Sapphire by Y.L. Wigman A massive diamond theft is at the center of this romantic thriller. Constable Taite O’Dath of the Australian Federal Police is on the international hunt for the diamonds. Could the owner of the diamonds, Sabine Zaffiro, actually be involved in the theft? And will she also steal Taite’s heart?   March 2017   Stay With Me by Sheryl Wright In this follow-up to the popular romance, Don’t Let Go, Tyler Marsh and Georgie DiNamico are back as  fiancées and business partners in the DiNamico -Phipps Company. Thinking that the drama is behind them, the couple goes about planning their wedding, but circumstances arise that could derail everything.  Lori Phipps, also a successful businesswoman, gets thrown for a loop when she meets someone unlike anyone else she’s known before. In the Company of Crocodiles by Maggie Brown  Former Australian Secret Service officer Vivian Andrews stumbles upon a body in her sleepy fishing village, and becomes embroiled in a murderous mystery. She’s recruited to help find a missing person by behavioral scientist Claire Walker, and it’s not long before the attraction between Vivian and Claire rises to the surface. But is Claire hiding something? Vivian aims to find out.   No One But You by Catherine Maorisi After the heartbreak of being left at the altar, novelist Lily Alexander is a little gun-shy about getting back into the dating scene. Enter Robin DiLuca, a sexy butch entrepreneur who is looking for fun, but not love. Of course, the instant connection between the two leads to something serious. However, when their baby is born early, Robin’s past comes back to haunt her and she flees, thinking it’s best for her love and their child. Can an encounter with a stranger bring these two back together?   Murder at Metrolina by Kate Merrill Artist Amanda Rittenhouse returns to her childhood home in North Carolina to nurse a broken heart. She rents a space in the Metrolina Tradeshow Expo, and starts to mend her own heart and her relationships with the family she left at 18. Amanda’s mom fancies herself a Nancy Drew and soon the Rittenhouse women have a major mystery on their hands.   April 2017   Speak in Winter Code by S.M. Harding S.M. Harding’s latest romantic thriller picks up after the events of I Will Meet You There and A Woman of Strong Purpose. Colonel Win Kirkland and Sheriff Sarah Pitt are recently married and looking to add to their family, but when a network of dangerous people decide to use McCrumb County as home base, Win and Sarah must spring into action to take them down.   A Secret to Tell by Ann Roberts Goldie Winner and Lambda Literary finalist Ann Roberts is back with her sixth book in the popular Ari Adams mystery series. When an attorney who is the keeper of many secrets ends up murdered, real estate agent Ari Adams and her girlfriend P.I. Molly Nelson start investigating in their own ways. There are five women in town who have a lot to hide, and will Molly and Ari be able to get to the bottom of the murder before becoming targets themselves?   Homecoming by Celeste Castro This is Celeste Castro’s debut novel with Bella! Bestselling author Dusty Del Carmen is invited to speak at a conference in her old home state of Idaho, a place fraught with many unpleasant memories. Enter Professor Morgan West, a fan of Dusty’s and her unexpected companion when the two women become trapped in a rustic cabin together. Perhaps Morgan can find a way to help Dusty finally face the pain of her past.   May 2017   Nico and Tucker by Rachel Gold In this sequel to Gold’s Just Girls, Jess Tucker is back and trying to heal from the wounds of the last year’s trauma. Nico is going through a crisis of their own, as a medical situation becomes impossible to ignore alongside pressure from their family. When Tucker and Nico get close, will Tucker be able to deal with her feelings, or will the familiar urge to run away take over?   Sawmill Springs by Gerri Hill Gerri Hill is back with a new mystery! Homicide detective Mandi Murphy thought she was getting away from her stressful life as a Houston cop by taking up in the peaceful and quaint Sawmill Springs. Same for FBI agent Kayla Dixon who took a job offer from her police chief father and hoped for a quieter life. Everything was going great until a prominent citizen of the sleepy town is murdered. Now Mandi and Kayla will have to team up to find a killer and deal with their growing attraction for one another in the process.   Choosing Love by MB Panichi Lesbian novelist/newspaper editor Amry Marasich is visiting her hometown of Northern Minnesota when she meets forestry officer Takoda Running Bear. The women are instantly drawn to one another, but Amry’s homophobic family makes it hard for her to want to return to this small town for good. Can their love survive the obstacles of intolerance and distance?   The Winder Path by Lyn Dowland Veterinarian Gillian Pembury finds refuge in a small town in Northern England. She’d all but given up hope of a social life when farmwoman Sandi Helton came in with her life displaying an intoxicating mix of strength and compassion. Danger lurks however, threatening to derail this passionate romance.   June 2017   Five Moons Rising by Lise MacTague Humanity is unaware of the secret world of supernatural creatures that live among them, and a special force of genetically engineered hunters makes sure it stays that way. When hunter Hunter Mary Alice Nolan and werewolf Ruri Samson- sworn enemies- come face to face, the unexpected happens.   Water’s Edge by Genevieve Fortin This historical romance takes readers back to the late 1800s, where Emilie Levesque and Angeline Fournier forge a bond while working together in a textile mill. That bond is what keeps them strong under the back breaking conditions of the mill, and the oppressive expectations of women during that time. The women are eventually separated but fate will bring them together once again.   Taken In by Erica Abbott CJ St. Clair thought she left the past behind her when she left Savannah for Colorado. However, CJ is forced to return to her hometown and try to solve a murder case and keep her family together at the same time. CJ’s partner Alex is also dealing with the fallout from a murder, but one that happened many years ago. Can CJ and Alex find a way through this together?   July 2017 Conference Call by various This short story anthology by twenty-eight Bella authors features stories of women who find themselves immersed in drama, romance and intrigue, all the while attending their favorite cons, conferences and events.  Conference Callis an anthology to benefit the Golden Crown Literary Society.   Moment of Weakness by KG MacGregor  After receiving an award for valor, and a career ending injury, Captain Suzann “Zann” Redeker heads back home from Afghanistan to Vermont. What Zann discovers something disturbing about the day she was injured and lost one of her team, her whole world is turned upside down. Will her partner Marleigh stand by her?   No More Pretending by Bette Hawkins  Actress Lauren Langham has her hands full with her biggest role to date — pretending to be straight. When she travels to small town Texas to shoot a new film, she meets Harper Ward and is instantly smitten. Harper mistakes Lauren’s attraction for arrogance, and when she’s hired as the director’s assistant, the two women find themselves butting heads and making sparks.   Skin in the Game by Melissa Price  In this sequel to 2015’s Steel Eyes, super spy Kenna Waverly is back and living quietly in Jamaica. She’s called back into service to help find the people behind a hack into America’s cyber security. She’s put together with a woman named Alice, who Kenna shares a past with. Along the way as they play this dangerous game, Kenna learns more about what happened to her parents, while putting her own life on the line.   In Her Eyes by Renee J. Lukas The sequel to the best-selling Hurricane Days is finally here! Rock star Adrienne Austen is ready to open up about her relationship with former Governor Robin Sanders. Since then, Robin has gone into hiding while Adrienne continues her rise to the top. But where is Robin? Was “bad girl” Adrienne involved in her disappearance?   August 2017   Fire Dancer by Micheala Lynn Having grown up sheltered, Sarah has only just begun discovering her true self. Totally uninterested in the men her family has been trying to set her up with, Sarah finds her interested piqued by a fire dancer named Jewel Black, or to her audiences, Enigma.   Visiting Hours by Tagan Shepard In Tagan Shepard’s Bella debut, we meet history professor Alison Reynolds, who has it all pretty much figured out…or so she thinks. That’s until West Coast doctor Jess comes careening into her life. At first they clash, but under all that irritation lies a pesky attraction that won’t seem to go away.   Pixie by D Jordan Redhawk This new novel by D Jordan Redhawk deals with the events started by her previous protagonist, Darkstone. With the veil between our dimension of the mystical realm finally pierced, humankind is dealing with all kinds of unexpected consequences. When Gillie flees from England and ends up in Portland, she meets Lindsay, a beautiful and kind woman with a shock of blue hair. However, falling for someone is hard enough when you aren’t being chased down by mystical creatures across an ocean.   Echo Point by Virginian Hale Another Bella debut! After the sudden death of her sister, Libby, a grieving Bron comes back to Australia to take care of her young niece, Annie. When Libby’s best friend Ally comes in to the picture, Bron can’t help but bristle at Ally’s sudden presence in her family’s life. Just when Bron thinks of taking Annie back with her to Boston, a wild fire begins raging nearby and Bron realizes just how important Ally might be to her after all.   September  2017 A Time to Speak by Riley Scott In Riley Scott’s newest, closeted Amelia Brandt’s best friend and sometimes lover is murdered in their small Texas town, and Amelia’s world is sent spinning. When LGBTQ activist Dominique Velez arrives in town to help with the healing process, Amelia is drawn to Dominique’s passion and charm. Will this stranger help Amelia finally come out and embrace herself?   Illegal Contact by Becky Harmon When security agent Jamison Krews is asked by a longtime friend to protect her little sister and Tallahassee Tigers star player, Shea Carter, Jamison can’t say no. Can Jamison earn the quarterback’s trust (and maybe more) while protecting her from people who don’t want Shea or the Tigers to succeed?   Chain Letter by Claire McNab The ninth book in the Carol Ashton series is back by popular demand. In this novel, Detective Carol Ashton is investigating the murder of a fellow officer, and finds a link to other unsolved homicides: a threatening chain letter.   A Fugitive’s Kiss by Jaime Clevenger When Aysha’s discovers a mysterious fugitive named Darin taking cover in her barn, the women’s first meeting is less than ideal. However, when Aysha is also threatened by the people after Darin, they must flee and learn to work together to defeat their pursuers.   October 2017 Turbulence by E.J. Noyes Stockbroker Isabelle Rhodes is trying to get over a broken heart, and has her first ever one-night stand. The night was amazing, but the last thing she expected the morning after was for the woman to be the new company pilot, Audrey Graham. Isabelle is determined to keep it professional, but with someone as fun and alluring as Audrey, it won’t be easy.   Vagabond Heart by Ann Roberts Contractor Quinn O’Sullivan doesn’t stay in one place too long, so when a request arrives from her recently deceased travel writer aunt, she hits Route 66 to carry out her wishes. When an injury threatens to derail the adventure, emergency room doctor Suda Singh offers to accompany Quinn on the road. A mystery woman, a couple of cats, and falling in love just might be on the map.   Bait and Switch by Blythe H. Warren When marine biologist Liv Cucinelli comes face to face with the homophobic woman who ruined her college career, she’s less than thrilled to spend an evening with her. Mira Butler has no clue of the havoc she wreaked on on Liv’s life, so when she see has a chance meeting with her, she won’t let Liv walk away. The two women will uncover their shared past, and with some forgiveness and understanding, perhaps they can find a way to be friends…or maybe even more.   Past Due and Set Up by Claire McNab Follow the investigations and adventures of Detective Carol Ashton in the newly reissued books ten and eleven of the beloved mystery series. The murder of a reproductive specialist and the hunt for a hired killer take center stage in these novels.   November 2017   The Secret Pond by Gerri Hill In this new novel by bestselling author Gerri Hill, two grieving widows find a connection with each other. After losing her family, Lindsey McDermott moves to her grandparents’ home in small town Texas to deal with her survivor’s guilt. After Hannah Larson’s husband dies, she too moves to the same Texas town. Her son Jack bonds with Lindsey, and even after he returns to school in the fall, Lindsey continues to come by and their friendship grows deeper than either of them expected.   My Forever Hero by Karen Legasy Debut author Karen Legasy transports readers to Australia with Canadian police officer Marlee Nevin. After a surfing accident nearly takes her life, Marlee is rescued by the captivating Abigail Taylor. Soon after, Abigail is framed with tampering with research at her biosystems firm, and asks Marlee to help her. Can Marlee return the favor and save Abigail this time, even as their attraction smolders beneath the surface?   The Schuyler House by Cade Haddock Strong Another Bella debut! Mattie Pearson has a big secret that she’s kept from everyone. That includes Alex Holland, a friend who Mattie longs for something more with. As Mattie’s past deeds eat away at her, she struggles with the decision to tell Alex the truth. Will her honesty cause her to lose the woman she’s falling in love with?   Under Suspicion, Death Club, and Accidental Murder by Claire McNab     Here are three more Carol Ashton re-releases by Claire McNab. We are rereleasing the entire Carol Ashton series in eBook format, and you can read books 1-14 now.   December 2017   Dreams Unspoken by RJ Layer  Cowgirl, take me away! Horse trainer Jo Marchal has returned to her Ohio hometown to try and reconnect with her family, and do a little healing herself. While there, she meets Maria West, a woman who dreams of love and family. Could these two women find what’s been missing in their lives, in each other?   Heartsick by Tracey Richardson In Richardson’s new medical drama, paramedic Angie Cullen and ER doctor Victoria Turner find out that their respective partners have been cheating…with each other. Brokenhearted at the betrayal, Angie and Victoria become unlikely allies and lean on each other. Can these women learn to trust each other enough to fall?   Lethal Care by Claire McNab with Katherine V. Forrest The long awaited conclusion of the Carol Ashton series is finally here. Detective Inspector Carol Ashton has been promoted to Chief Inspector, and finds herself in charge of two massive cases. The death of wealthy philanthropist Greta Denby and investigating officer Inspector Ian Rooke seem to be connected, and it’s up to Carol Ashton to find the links. If anyone can do it, she can.   All of these books and more are available on bellabooks.com. http://dlvr.it/Q8Dd7q