#charlie x harper

[harmonizingsunsets]

[writeroutoftime]

Ugh you know what’s so annoying?? I LOVE the movie “set it up” on Netflix! Like it’s an amazing rom-com that I’ve watched SO many times!

And you know how many fanfics are on AO3 for the main pairing? 12!!! Like what?? I would love to write some fanfic but I have no idea if anyone would even read it!!

[27emailsicantsend]

Set it Up: A Rina AU

Chapter One

Gina Porter, a 25-year-old assistant, was typing manically on her laptop late one Saturday night. She had been living in Manhattan, New York since she turned 18, desperately hoping to live out her dreams of one day becoming the next Broadway star. But, as luck would have it on any young, aspiring adult in New York City, she was not able to book any auditions. Finances fell flat, she had to move in with her roommate (now best friend), and get a job just like every other corporate robot in the city. This was not where she desired to be, not even the least bit, but she had one thing that kept her going: Nini Salazar-Roberts.

Was Nini bearable? Absolutely not. In fact, she could be described as everything but that. With her luxury brands, cocky attitude, and scrunched face, it was next to impossible to believe anyone could impress her. But Gina was determined. And when Gina Porter gets determined, she never stops pushing until she gets what she wants. Gina spent the last 6 years running stupid errands, regularly combing Nini's straight brown hair, filling coffee orders, and making sure every button on Nini's jacket was in a perfect, vertical line.

But Nini? Nini was everything Gina aspired to be. Nini wasn't a Broadway star, but she was a famous musician that went on tour internationally every year. She had a wicked sense of marketing and being ahead of music trends. Nini was unstoppable, but somehow always ended up on the positive karmic side of it.

A fiercely independent woman who got everything she dreamed of... Gina Porter could only taste that feeling from afar.

However knowing that one day Nini Salazar-Roberts could possibly glimpse at, maybe even acknowledge, Gina's dance moves on tape, then maybe all of this pain would be worth it. Gina’s next step towards stardom was becoming a backup dancer for Nini, so she fought every minute battle to get there. And with that desire, Gina continued to type heroically as she listened to every gritty detail of Nini's schedule for the next month. Meetings, people, and colored dates seemed to flood the digital agenda, but none of these things were on Gina's mind as she worked.

All Gina could think about was how could it be legal for Nini to hold her hostage at a corporate job late on a Saturday night. The 9-5 life wasn't for Gina, so she figured taking a job as an assistant would provide flexibility (at least, that was promised on the "help wanted" ad). But flexibility turned out to be captivity and captivity was coordinating Nini’s never-ending lifestyle.

Even more distressing was the thought that Kourtney, Gina's best friend and roommate, was sitting on the couch with cold wings waiting to start their "weekend. wings. women." night they had every Saturday. It was a tradition they started since they moved in together, something to help them look forward to the "next best thing" as they tried to hold onto the teasing ropes that dangled from the corporate world. It was always on a Saturday (weekend), involved the cheapest wings ($6 from a vendor nearby), and a musical that had at least one female lead (women). Even though Kourtney had a serious boyfriend and Gina had a job that felt more demanding than a relationship, they made this tradition work nearly every weekend- which was supposed to include this one as well.

"Gina?" Nini interrupted her endless stream of planning demands.

Without hesitation, Gina's head popped up, eager to serve the next command.

"Yes?" Gina chimed.

"I'm starving. Find me something to eat," Nini demanded, refusing to make eye contact with Gina as she studied her own cuticle beds.

"Find me something to eat" was typically code for "get me something to eat within the next fifteen minutes or you won't be able to afford to eat". Gina tried to stand up, but she had binders and pens in her lap that clattered down. They landed loudly as they hit the hardwood floor outside Nini's recording studio.

Gina scurried towards the elevator as she heard a "don't forget my sauce" yell from behind. Because Gina always went above and beyond, she knew to have the 5-star steak house across the street always keep a steak on back order anytime Nini came calling. The restaurant was (thankfully) open until midnight, so Gina knew she could get in.

Gina gave the main host the "code red" so they knew to fire up the grill before waiting impatiently by the host stand for the food to cook. She texted Kourtney apologizing for not being there yet and Kourtney, being as wonderful as she is, didn't send an angry text back. Gina continued to watch the minutes on her phone, tapping her fingers nervously on the stand as she waited.

The minutes continued to tick by, with no one even acknowledging Gina's existence. Until a man, tall with curly brown hair, reached across her and rang the service bell. A petite female from the back walked out handing the man a tied up plastic bag, the fumes of the steak permeating through it. Gina checked the time: 12 minutes. She had three minutes to get back to the studio before Nini lost her mind.

"Hey! Hey!" Gina called out to the man as he was walking out the door. She noticed he was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a black shirt, the sleeves rolled slightly. A pair of black converse connected the piece together.

He turned around, looking irritated. Gina had to hold herself back a moment. Not only was he tall and fit, but he had bone structure and somehow a soft face to match. It was like he was he was growing into a man, but still kept his youth in tact within his features. If he didn't look so angry, she might have even thought he was cute.

But she didn't, because he annoyed her now too.

"What?" he asked impatiently, waiting for Gina to give a response.

"Look, I need to have that meal and brought to my boss within," she checked her phone again, "the next two minutes. If I don't, I will be fired".

"Ah, small world," the man responded sarcastically. "If I don't have this meal to my boss, I will be fired. And have you ever heard of the words 'please' or 'nice to meet you'"?

Gina didn't have time to bicker. "Look I am so, so sorry. But I really need your help. You don't even understand who I work for and how important this is. I work for the Nini Salazar-Roberts, only one of the biggest musicians in the world! I need that food. I will pay you back, I swear!"

"And you don't know who I work for," the man echoed, placing his empty hand on his chest. "The EJ Caswell. One of the biggest music producers in the world. Did you even look at my shirt?"

Gina took a closer look. The face of a new and upcoming artist, Carlos Rodriguez, was largely plastered on the front of the man’s black tee. The print was in blue and green, with purposeful fading sprinkled throughout. Gina had never seen the shirt before and wondered if he was about to release merchandise with the rumored new album. 

Gina paused thoughtfully, “oh wow. You weren’t kidding. Look, tell me what is in the bag and maybe we can split it?”

The man hesitated, before sighing largely and eventually succumbing to Gina’s requests. “You can have side salad and the brownie”.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gina stared at him blankly.

“Well, she’s not getting the steak!” the man protested.

“Nini is a literal angel fallen to Earth and you’re going to give her a side salad and a limp brownie? Do you even know the meaning of the word ‘respect’?”

“Fine,” the man obviously was in a hurry too and was willing to do anything to get Gina out of his hair. She tried hard to hold back a grin, knowing she won. “But she only gets half a steak and you have to pay me back for everything. With interest”.

“Interest?!” Gina flustered, as she pulled the food out of the bag, splitting it. “I can barely afford my own dinner. I was going to sneak a few pieces of lettuce for myself”.

“Interest,” he pushed, trying to pull the bag back up.

“Fine! But I get the cinnamon apples for my dinner,” Gina countered, slightly playing tug-of-war with him.

“That would literally leave EJ with half a steak and mac and cheese. He’s a man, not a child”.

“We go half-sies on the apples?” Gina negotiated, still refusing to let go.

“No deal,” the man stood firm, his eyebrow raised.

Gina stood up, locking her eyes into a staring contest with him. She took a quick glance at her watch that showed the time with this movement. She was now a few minutes late and began panicking. She took too much time dinking around, knowing she would have to end the argument. She gritted her teeth and shook her arm a little, not sure whether she wanted punch him or take the bag and run. She realized if she couldn’t afford dinner, she probably couldn’t afford bail, so she retreated.

“Fine. Thank you. I’ll stop by your boss’s studio to pay you back,” she said, taking her rations after finally letting go of the bag.

The man walked away, now having to slightly shout to respond to her. “And thank you! Now my boss has dinner and so do I. I sure love apples!”

Gina was now definitely ready to strangle him, but hurried her way back to the studio’s elevator to meet up with Nini. When the door opened, Gina noticed the lights were out and there was a note on her desk with tasks for the next day. She sighed, grabbing her things (and now her dinner for the taxi ride home), before heading back to her apartment.

***************************************

After Ricky Bowen dropped off his boss’s dinner, he bolted out the door to make it over to Lily’s apartment. Lily was his gorgeous, blonde girlfriend who starred in small Broadway shows. She wanted to make it big, but “work required effort and effort makes you less pretty”. Ricky ignored her philosophy because at least he achieved having her as his partner. She was beautiful and successful, and played hard to get at times. Their relationship worked for him. Mostly.

Ricky began pounding on her door, hoping to give Lily a large hug that would fill her with glee and surprise because he was still able to spend time with her that night. When the latches on her door unlocked, he was met with the exact opposite reaction.

“What?” Lily glared at him, her arms folded tight.

“I made it! I was able to get off an hour earlier than I anticipated!” Ricky threw his arms out hopefully.

Lily didn’t reciprocate.

“It’s eleven at night, Ricky and I have to be up early for my rehearsal. Find something else to do,” and with that she shut the door, leaving Ricky’s arms extended towards nothing.

Feeling absolutely defeated from his girlfriend’s upset reaction and the weird girl who would not stop bugging him for his boss’s food, he headed back to his small 3rd story apartment. It was cheap with brown carpet, and there was a kitchen light that flickered no matter how much they changed the lightbulb. When Ricky walked in he noticed the lights were off, meaning his roommate, Seb, was fast asleep. Ricky began to take off his shoes so he could head to bed.

“Hey big guy, what are you doing home so late?” Seb’s voice came from the dark living room.

Ricky jumped at Seb’s voice, nearly knocking over the coat hanger he was standing by. Seb quickly turned the lamp on, acting as if it wasn’t weird that he was just sitting alone in the dark.

“Hey, Sebbie,” Ricky sighed, scratching his neck as he flopped on the couch next to him. “Why do you think I’m home so late?”

“When are you quitting?” 

Ricky was a little shocked at Seb’s boldness. He typically tended to keep his opinions to himself.

“I’m not,” Ricky responded. “There’s nowhere else that will hire me and you know why I stay at this job, Seb. We’ve been over it a million times”.

“So you can be a music artist, I know. But it’s going to be really hard getting there if you’re wearing my boyfriend’s face on your chest”.

Ricky looked down at his shirt, which honestly weirded him out a little because it seemed like Carlos’ eyes followed every person he passed by. Right now they were staring at Seb. Poetic.

Ricky met Seb through Carlos. Carlos and Seb began dating before Carlos started to get big. With Ricky working as EJ’s assistant, it was inevitable he would meet Seb. Carlos offered multiple times to pay for Seb’s apartment, but Seb was humble. He grew up on a farm, working hard for his keep, so he refused to have his love bought. This caused Ricky to offer him a spot as his roommate. However, when Carlos is in town (which sometimes he is not dependent on his schedule), he stays with Seb and Ricky. They’re Ricky’s best friends and he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

“Night, Sebbie,” Ricky changed the topic, excited to finally leave the day behind him. He patted Seb’s leg before he showed himself out.

*************************************************

Gina came bolting through the door, ready to apologize profusely to Kourtney. She couldn’t seem to burn the image of a sad Kourtney, with wing sauce and teary eyes, watching Hairspray alone on the couch.

“Kourtney, I am so, so sor-” Gina halted when she realized what she had walked in on. Kourtney was kissing her boyfriend, Jet on their half broken sofa. The apartment smelled of wings and dirty dishes, and Gina noticed the trash still hadn’t been taken out after three days. The girls weren’t slobs per say, but they were busy and didn’t care about their apartment that was underrated and overpriced. The dishes could sit in the sink for another day for all Gina cared.

Kourtney waved her hand at Gina to get her to leave, but Gina couldn’t leave the room without noticing her wings were completely devoured.

“Jet, you owe me wings,” Gina said, with no response from him as he continued to sloppily kiss Kourtney. Gina rolled her eyes as she made way back to her room. She flopped out on her bed, the same comforter she had since high school hugging her underneath. Rolling over, she looked at a picture of her mom and dad on her side table, wishing that they could solve her problems like they did when she was a little girl.

But Gina was grown up now and had to make grown up decisions. Sure, she ate leftover food (twice-removed) for dinner and sure she couldn’t even get a date and sure her best friend was well on her way to getting married, but Gina still had it good. Right?

Gina, lonely and sad, opened her phone and began to flick back and forth between a dating app. It seemed for every 30 double chin photos, she found one decent photo of a man holding a fish. Double chin, only personality trait is watching The Office, probably a man’s ex-girlfriend, and definitely a man lying about the puppy being his. Gina flicked over and over again for about fifteen minutes, before a picture of a remotely tall guy with dark hair appeared.

She sat up quick to get a better look. He seemed to be the miracle she needed to make her night feel somewhat better. His name was Jack, he was 26, and he was attending flight school. He had no fishing pictures, showed his face from a proper angle, and had a nice smile. Gina gave the profile a quick swipe right, which revealed a match. Immediately, she began typing.

[sparkygurly227]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Set It Up (2018) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Charlie/Harper (Set It Up) Characters: Charlie (Set It Up), Harper (Set It Up) Additional Tags: Fluff, Just Existing Together, Charlie is head over heels for Harper Series: Part 49 of SparkyGurl's Multifandom 100 ways to say I Love You Summary:

Multifandom 100 ways to say I love you

#49 - Charlie x Harper - Call Me When You Get Home

[afterglowkatie]

mini and co | k.c.c.

kyra cooney-cross x reader | 1.4k | a day off for the found family, the sun finally making an appearance leading to a mini and co family picnic

ˏˋ°•*⁀ this is part of the pair of pests universe. my favourite found family dynamic

‘Shh, you gotta be quiet. We don’t wanna wake Kyra,’ You whispered crouching down next to Harper, smiling at her little laughs. It was a sunny, warmish day which had you all outside at the park soaking in any bit of sun you could get. Mini and Clara talked about a potential picnic that morning, not fully sure of the idea, though they hadn’t counted on the little ears that had been listening in who definitely wouldn’t let go of the idea. Harper insisted she had to individually call you, Kyra and Charli to join them. 

An afternoon of running around playing games trying to wear out the toddler, Kyra had ended up being the one to fall asleep in the sun on the picnic rug. Mini, Clara and Charli in deep conversation paying no mind to you and Harper, you saw this as the perfect opportunity to rope your little shadow into some mischief. The three of you always liked fighting over who was Harper’s favourite, but there wasn’t any doubt that you were her favourite. No matter where you were, she was always next to you. 

‘Shh, be quiet,’ Harper loudly whispered, holding her finger up to her lips. You held back a laugh after seeing how serious she was looking at you and then at Charli who had spotted the two of you creeping up on Kyra, full unscrewed water bottle in your hands. She just smirked, rolling her eyes and continued to keep Mini and Clara distracted by the conversation so they couldn’t interrupt yours and Harper's plans. 

‘Ready Harps?’ You whispered, the little giggles coming from her were all the confirmation you needed. Helping Harper, you both lifted the water bottle above Kyra, giving a silent countdown before tipping the bottles entire contents onto her. Kyra groaned confused as she sat up looking at herself, her clothes wet before waking up enough to hear the laughter coming from you and Harper. The corners of Kyra’s lips started to form into a small smile hearing you laugh, no matter what she always loved the sound. Though she quickly wiped away any evidence of a smile instead shooting a glare towards the two of you who were laughing so hard you struggled to breathe.

‘Oi, you’ll regret that’ Kyra playfully grumbled while playing along. Quickly sitting up enough to reach out and grab you. Kyra’s arms wrapped around your waist pulling you into her.

‘Oh no! Harper, Kyra’s got me, run and save yourself,’ You dramatically yelled out to her, faux struggling against Kyra knowing you could definitely get yourself free if you wanted to, and pointing in a direction which Harper ran off in away from everyone.

‘No Kywa!’ Harper yelled while running off, Mini following closely behind her trying to hold back her own laughter while shaking her head.

‘Ugh Kyra, you’re all wet,’ Your hands went to hers that were locked around your waist, trying to pull them apart so you could at least sit next to her where you also weren’t getting wet. But she just tightened her hold on you, pulling you even closer, smirking while hearing you protest even more until you finally relaxed into her embrace accepting that Kyra wasn’t letting you go any time soon.

‘I wonder who’s fault that is,’ Kyra rasped out almost into your ear, her head leaning against your shoulder, ‘Don’t dish it if you can’t take it,’ Kyra annoyingly pressed an extra sloppy kiss against your cheek knowing that you’d hate it. Screwing up your face at Kyra you wiped it away onto her arm. She feigned offence at your actions, a faux gasp leaving her lips, you just rolled your eyes. 

Looking away from Kyra and back to where Mini was now chasing Harper around the park. You couldn’t deny the way you felt your cheeks heat up when Kyra’s lips found your cheek. It wasn’t an unusual thing to happen, you both often gave each other little kisses on the cheek and forehead. It was the way you showed your affection, despite your friendship being based on teasing, mocking and pranking each other. There were still those soft moments between the pair. The unusual part was how you felt towards it this time. Though Kyra is just your best friend and you wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s a part of you that realises that you don’t have this same internal reaction whenever any of your other close friends show affection towards you. The other part of you, the one that takes over, pushes those thoughts away. For now at least.

‘Who do you think’s gonna win?’ Kyra’s voice pulled you back into reality. You hummed out thinking while watching the scene play out in front of you. It had turned into a game for Harper trying to get away and stay away from her mum for as long as possible.

‘Obviously Harper. You’ve been the one to chase Harps enough that you know Mini is not winning this one,’ Kyra chuckled as did you. You both had been the one chasing after Harper countless times. Toddlers can be fast when they want to be and you both found that out the hard way.

‘You two look quite comfy,’ Charli had moved over to where the two of you were sitting, Clara going to help wrangle the 2 year old. Only then did you notice that Kyra’s grip on you had loosened, definitely enough that if you wanted to move away you could have done so ages ago.

‘Kyra makes a great pillow,’ You laughed out, joking around while leaning your head against Kyra’s shoulder.

‘Oh let me test this out,’ Without warning Charli had laid against Kyra’s side with her head on Kyra’s other shoulder, ‘You’re right. Room for both of us,’ She hummed in agreement. You both laughed while Kyra tried to push Charli off of her.

‘Nah, only for tiny Catley. You get off,’ You rolled your eyes, your unofficial nickname being tiny since you were younger and noticeably shorter than your older sister. That name followed you from even before you were called up for your first seniors camp, so it wasn’t a surprise when you did arrive to everyone calling you tiny or tiny Catley or some variation. 

Your heart always did race a little whenever Kyra chose you over anyone else, even if you thought it didn’t mean anything other than you just being her favourite friend, ‘Aw no fair Kywa, I’m your bestfriend too,’ You couldn’t help the laugh that left your lips and shook your body when you heard Charli’s mocking tone and then saw the pout she threw Kyra’s way.

Though before Kyra could successfully get Charli off of her, she found herself at the bottom of not just two bodies but now three, ‘Cuddle!’ Harper yelled while running full force and jumping on the top of all three of you. You opened your arms letting Harper get comfy, while Charli shot Kyra a look of triumph knowing there was no way Kyra would try anything not while Harper was also a part of the pile on top of her.

You stayed like that until Harper had fallen asleep and Mini decided it was probably time for them to head home. While helping pack everything away you noticed Kyra shiver a little, ‘Ky, come with me,’ You didn’t wait for her to respond before you pulled her away from the group towards your car. No other words said to her before you were shoving your arsenal training jumper over her head, ‘You never know when you need a jumper,’ Answering Kyra’s silent question.

‘In some ways you’re just like your Steph,’ Kyra fiddled with the bottom of your jumper that was now on her body, ‘But you’re obviously better,’

‘You should definitely tell her that I’m the better Catley. Gotta knock Steph down a little,’ You both laughed out before being interrupted and brought back to the world when Mini and co. came over to say goodbye and grab Kyra to take her home, ‘I’ll see you at training Ky,’

‘Yeah see you at training,’ Turning around to follow Mini, Kyra couldn’t help but smile to herself. Playing with the bottom of the jumper that was a little bit too small for her, but that didn’t matter, the fact it was yours and you had given it to her for now was all that mattered to Kyra. It was all she could think about on her way home. You were all she could think about on her way home. 

[yeeterthek33per]

Two's Company, Three's A Crowd, Four And Five Say Let Chaos Reign (Katrina Gorry x Reader)

A/n Requested. Part three to Missing Toddlers and Mayhem :) Will Edit later, cause I'm at work atm y'all.

(Y'all this took me so long freaking long to write like 😭)

Content/Warning(s): mildly suggestive, warning you now, it does get a little itty bit spicy. Harper, Kyra, R, and Chacha ganging up on Katrina.

Hot Stuff❤️🥵

"So do I get to know where we're going or are we doing a surprise again, because the last time we did this, I got my butt kicked on a public beach."

Katrina🔥❤️

"If I recall correctly, that was your fault, Miss L/n."

Katrina🔥❤️

"Also, no 😘"

Hot Stuff❤️🥵

"I don't recall going into this knowing you were a professional slide tackler😫"

Katrina🔥❤️

"Could have left the gear in the boot and never mentioned it. You should know us footballers are legally obligated to accept rondo challenges 😜"

Hot Stuff❤️🥵

"☹️"

Katrina🔥❤️

"Turn that frown upside down, Babe😊"

Hot Stuff❤️🥵

"🙃"

Katrina🔥❤️

"Smartass🙄"

Katrina🔥❤️

"But close enough."

Katrina🔥❤️

"Just be ready by 12, I'll be there soon😘"

Hot Stuff ❤️🥵

"Of course, see you soon, Gorgeous😘"

Hot Stuff ❤️🥵

"Wait"

Hot Stuff ❤️🥵

"What do I wear??"

Katrina🔥❤️

"Hike meets cozy casual😘"

Hot Stuff ❤️🥵

"Got it, thanks, Cutie😘"

You'd been talking non stop in the days between the last time you'd seen each other in person.

Over the phone, via text, even a facetime at some point, where Harper managed to sneak in and say a very happy hello to you.

The little girl manages to bring a massive smile to your face every time Katrina talks about her.

There was always a smile on your face lately, or so your sister had pointed out just yesterday.

"I swear that woman's got you glued to your phone, dorky little smile and everything."

"Leave me alone, Ash." You whine.

A soft rap on your door lifts your head from your current position of smiling over your phone.

You really need to stop proving her point.

Ashley opens the door, a small smirk already on her face making you roll your eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"It's date time soon, why are you not ready?"

"How would you know what-"

"You told me yesterday, all dreamy eyed. Geez, she got you hypnotised too now?"

You huff.

"Whatever, why are you in here?"

"Because you're being awfully quiet about this Kat and I'm worried, because you haven't said a word about who she is or what she does."

"I haven't been murdered, I'm fine, you can stop grilling, nor are you grilling her when she gets here."

"I have to do my sisterly duties, now hurry up and get ready or else I'll have longer with her because you're running late for your date."

Glancing at the clock on your wall, she's right, it's about forty or so minutes before Katrina is due.

Standing up, you shoo the woman out of your room and quickly jump into the shower, grabbing out a pair of hiking pants, a simple short sleeve shirt and a light blue denim jacket.

By the time you're out of the shower dressed and touching up your hair, there's a knock at the door downstairs.

You fire down them, shoving your sister, who's racing you to the door, away.

As smoothly as you can, you open the door with a warm smile.

Katrina's warm smile greets your own.

She's beautiful as ever and you tell her as such, the long sleeve jacket almost matching your own except she's in shorts and sneakers and a light pink button up underneath it.

"Hey, Beautiful."

You step out the door to greet the shorter woman, arms wrapping around her, her leaning up into you, hands settling on your shoulder blades.

"Hi, Cutie."

You pout softly as she goes to pull away, and then she chuckles meeting your demands with her own lips.

Humming softly in appreciation, you squeeze her waist.

"You ready?"

Nodding, you go to shut the door behind you, keys, phone, wallet and water bottle already with you.

Of course, Ashley decides now is the perfect time to pop out, only, she pauses, surprise on her expression.

"Well... I was going to do the whole sisterly, bring her back by ten talk but... I don't need to. You two have fun!"

And with that, she slams the door behind you, giving you a loving tap to the butt.

Katrina looks confused, matching your own bewilderment at your sisters actions.

"I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea what that was."

You cough into your palm, covering a half laugh.

"Anyway, continuing on. Are we good to go?"

She nods, grabbing you by the hand, leading you to the car parked in your driveway.

Clipping in, she reverses out and starts driving off in the direction of the northern exit from the outer city, a drive you know well enough, having gone this way quite a few times.

She leans over and hands you a black cable, winking at you from her spot in the driver's seat.

"Passenger princess duties are all yours."

The cheeky grin makes you roll yours playfully with a small huff.

"Sure, babe."

Switching to some music you'd both listened to that Saturday night, your hand settles in hers across the console as you hit the highway.

"So, do I get to know, yet?"

"Nope."

It's short, the little smile on her lips doing little to mask the amusement in her tone, her brow quirking a little at the pout on your face.

"Patience."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Making a joking salute, you start to hum along to the radio, thumb caressing across the back of her hand.

She huffs, shaking her head but gives your hand a squeeze anyway.

The drive isn't overly long, no longer than any of the trips you've taken, about forty-five minutes on the road.

You feel like you almost recognise the roads she's taking but a right turn far before anything else comes up on the forested roads throws you a curveball.

Normally you'd been one of the more observant travellers on these roads, however, it seems you'd never paid the tiny dirt road any mind before now.

The greenery, denser than when you'd entered the little driveway, started to part into a small dirt and gravel alcove, to which Katrina pulls in, parking in front a small wooden bollard that lines the alcove.

There's dense green directly in front of you that splits into a small dirt and gravel path which disappears off to the right in a slow curve.

Reaching across the console, she taps your leg with a small grin.

"Hope you brought your hiking legs."

Scoffing, you nudge the woman and basically bounce out of the car in the face of her challenge.

"Damn right I did."

It starts off fairly easy, a basic hiking path for anyone, not much change in altitude but then it starts to increase, and you find yourself falling into the familiar rhythm that you love when it comes to hiking.

If you'd said that to your teenage self, she would've cried at the mention of cardio.

Katrina, it seems, falls into the same familiar feeling, the mild sweat from the hike mixing but also the complete relaxation in her stance as she moves beside you, ahead of you in smaller sections of the path and behind you as you move ahead to crest the more difficult bits first as a precautionary.

It's the first time you really fall into an understanding that someone else gets.

There's a peacefulness to the area surrounding you, bird chimes and occasional cicada chirps as you pass by certain bushes and grass patches.

You think you even spot a small rabbit hopping off the path ahead of you.

Finally, the incline slopes downward again, and then leads down and off to the left, the faint smell of moss and running water becoming more apparent to breathe in, it's refreshing.

"God, I've missed this."

She sounds rightly out of breath as she steps onto a particularly tall rock lodged into the path.

"You've been missing out, then?"

"Far too much, between how cold it got in Sweden and just not really going too far from the city, it's been a good while since I've even gotten to take Harper on smaller hikes."

"Damn, life of an athlete, much?"

A small joking lilt.

"Ha ha."

You can practically see her eye roll from where you're walking in front of the woman.

"It's not that bad, just keeps our lives hectic if anything."

You hum.

"How's Harper feel about that?"

You miss the way her lips curl up at the mention of the mini-mini.

"She loves it if anything, sleepovers with Nonna three times a week and when the international break pops up, she gets to stay with the team and see all twenty-two of her aunties and siblings."

The closer you get to the running water, the less the trees hang over the both of you and the more the suns starts to bead down on your light blue shirt, the warmth very familiar as winter shifts into spring once again.

It's been about an hour or so since you'd started off on the track.

She moves in front of you, turning with a small nod and grin in the direction of the beginning of a large clearing.

"C'mon, we're getting close."

The sun shines through the light brunette hair around the tops and sides of her head that most likely refused to be tied down properly, but in a neat, casual setting.

Slowing to a stop near where she's starting to descend a slightly steeper part of the path, you look out into the opening, a large water not far off to your one o'clock, the green moss abundant around its edges and the dampened ground surrounding the flowing water and the small pool built up around its base.

The pool breaks off into a surpisingly sandy bay that opens into a much larger river, flowing from another path away from you and out into what you see is the beach.

You nearly miss the small misstep as she steps on a mossed up stone, grabbing her arm to stop her falling, alarm on your face.

"Thanks."

"I gotcha."

You nod softly, hand squeezing her bicep, continuing jokingly.

"No hurting yourself, as much as I'd love to carry you back.."

She smacks you a little with a laugh before continuing down a different stone to avoid the same outcome.

"Real funny, Babe."

It's one massive secluded beach and it reminds you heavily of your first tryst together.

Only this time, it's much more private and less accessible, something you can almost appreciate with the nature of it all.

Privacy.

Another understanding between you.

As a public figure and known football player, Katrina knows the feeling well.

It doesn't come often, with media days a regular occurrence and spending near all of her time with teammates, club and country as well as with a two-year-old toddler at all hours of the day.

Of course, she wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

But privacy is a luxury that not even well paid athletes can afford.

So she understands the immediate droop and sigh of contentment when you see the vast empty beach and nothing but the sound of crashing waves and bird song behind you.

Letting your head fall back as you take in the cool summer breeze from the coastline, the smell of sea salt and damp greenery filling your senses, your head turns to look at the shorter woman.

She's already watching you, a small challenging smirk on her face that brings you back to the present.

"...What's up?"

"Nothing, I figured a nice walk and then a rematch would be a great way to start our day together."

"Rematch?... Wait-"

You're cut off as she suddenly pops out a soccer ball from behind her that she'd apparently managed to hide in her backpack the whole way, and tosses it towards you, darting off towards the beach.

"C'mon, I wanna see if you've learned anything yet!"

Jogging after her, you yell out.

"You mean that I'm not the professional footballer in this scenario and that I'm going to get my butt kicked again?"

"I'll make a baller out of you, yet, now get out here!"

It goes on like that for a while, how long exactly, you aren't sure but by the time you both land breathless onto the sand, mainly you, the sun is leaning more towards the other side of the sky.

"I hope you brought snacks, because I'm gonna need them after that last one."

Katrina giggles down at your dead flat form on the ground, chest heaving.

“You can’t give up on me now, to think you were just getting close to beating me.”

The teasing lilt to her voice makes you swat at her ankle lightly.

“Close, my ass. It’s like twenty-six to three.”

“Actually it’s about nineteen to six.”

She kicks you in the foot, tossing up a little sand in the air towards you in the process, landing near your face.

“Hey!”

“Whoops?”

Darting up, surprising yourself you tackle the woman into the soft white sand, landing on top of her.

“That is so not allowed, that was a dirty play ref!”

You call out to the imaginary sideline ref pointing off into the distance with a fake angry face on.

She’s laughing underneath you, almost breathless because of your weight on her stomach, and her hands settle to grip your hips, as you look back down at the woman with a small pout.

“Aw poor baby.”

It’s a little mocking tone that you pout more at.

Poking her tongue out up at you, she sits up slightly to tug you back down towards her, your hands landing either side of her head and you shift to be more level with the woman’s head.

“Hi.”

Grinning once again, you brush your nose against hers.

“Hi.”

A small peck to her lips is all she needs to tug you further down, fully sealing yourselves together, lips locked.

The breeze blows over your back, and the sounds of the waves wash away as you sink fully into the shorter woman, lips sliding across hers.

A new but familiar sensation, becoming accustomed to having the air in your lungs sucked from you every time you kiss her.

Sighing softly into her mouth, you take the opportunity to let your hand wander over the crook of her neck, before shifting to rest over her collar and then over her neck again.

It’s not intentional when you do it, but your thumb almost caresses the column of her throat and it’s her turn to sigh into the kiss.

Pulling away for a small breath, she notes the way your fingers now rest just under her jaw, on her neck, sending shivers through her.

If you noticed it, you don’t say anything, instead diving right back into her, fingers squeezing the skin slightly.

It seems you notice the way she hums into the kiss, a small smirk crossing your face as you let up once more.

The effect you have on her is shown well and truly in the way her cheeks redden and the part in her lips as her eyes open to meet yours.

“Hi.”

A warmth spreads through you at the smile she gives you once more.

“C’mon.”

Nudging you up once more, she pulls herself up, offering you a hand up.

Taking it, you stand close to her still, hands settling on her waist.

“So, what’s next then?”

Her hands grab yours and drag you over to where the bag lies in the sand.

“A little walk and wander and maybe a little bit more of that before dinner, hey?”

Grinning, you tug her towards the bag.

It’s just minutes back on the path that you tug her back into you for more.

You’d say you were someone who had quite the ability for self restraint, especially in previous relationships, but with Katrina, she’s just there, and it makes you want to kiss the daylights out of her every second you’re together.

Inevitably, it takes you both longer on the way back to the car, stopping every ten minutes to admire the scenery in a way only a couple making out against every tree can.

By the fifth time she’s resigned to let you do it every five minutes, more than happily letting the privacy you two have, consume you for the moment.

The way she tugs your neck down herself after an hour of this makes you well aware of the fact she feels the same.

Addicted to the way you taste.

Addicted to the way your lips slide so perfectly on her own.

By the time you get back to the car, you both look more than kiss-mussed, swollen lips, occasional purple marks over your neck when her teeth nipped at the skin.

Like love-sick teenagers.

But not that.

Not yet.

Pressed against the driver-side door, she looks up at you with a look you can’t describe other than pure and utter infatuation.

It makes your heart flip and twist like never before, the fact that someone can look at you like that.

It’s invigorating.

The brunette eventually lets go of you, and you pull back to let her off the car with a very content smile on your lips.

Opening the door for her, you gesture her into the car.

“Shall we go?”

A breathless nod and she’s in the car feeling as giddy as anything.

‘Breathe woman.’

She tells herself.

Settling into the passenger seat after packing the bags into the boot, you buckle in and the whole drive spent going to your next outing is one with clasped hands and small kisses pressed to the back of her hand and wrist.

When you pull up to a familiar club, it makes your heart swell a little.

She’d wanted to come back because the overall ambiance of the place was warm and welcoming and it made her feel comfortable in a place she wouldn’t normally spend any time going to.

Clubs have never been her thing but there was something about this one.

Maybe it was the fact you were involved in it. That it was attached to your first date together.

That would make sense.

You’ve been the deepest breath of fresh air she’s had in a long time. Even with the invigoration of her sport, her work, her home, her daughter. You’re new in her life and it makes her heart feel even more full.

The fact you adore every aspect of her life, her home, her family, makes it all that much better.

The fact that you ask to spend more time with her family without prompting when you both sit down for drinks makes her heart leap.

“Can we do the next one with Harper?”

There's a small sheepish smile on your face.

"It's just been a while since we've all had some time spent together and I miss her-"

Katrina cuts you off with a reassuring smile and a hand on yours.

“I was beginning to wonder when you’d ask again, of course we can, she’s been begging to know when she can see her new friend.”

You smile at the thought.

You had missed the little one quite a bit.

Her wide smile and nearly always happy personality brought so much light into your life that day.

When your drinks are sat down in front of you by a knowingly smirking Aiden.

“Whenever you ladies are ready, I’ve got you queued up with a classic.”

Taking a peek at the ipad in his hands, you see the song and roll your eyes.

It’s one you performed all the time for about three months straight because that’s all people would request from you.

Dragging the woman up with your drinks and a wink at the woman who’s just resigned to the fact she now has to sing every time she’s with you here.

There’s an adoration in her eyes as you step up onto the stage, keeping your eyes locked on hers and speak into the mic with a small wink.

“Hey everyone, we’ve got a good old classic today, it seems I’ve been requested of this one with my duet partner. Everyone thank Aiden for us.”

When the instrumental starts, Katrina half huffs at the song choice, half laughs.

Love Shack by The B-52

You start the song off, letting her get comfortable with the song first.

If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says "15 miles to the Love Shack"

Love Shack, yeah, yeah I'm heading down the Atlanta highway Looking for the love getaway

Bouncing to the beat slightly, you encourage her to move with you, gesturing down at the second mic that has been slipped into her grasp.

Headed for the love getaway I got me a car, it's as big as a whale And we're headin' on down to the Love Shack I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20 So hurry up and bring your jukebox money

You almost have to laugh, she's better at this song than most would expect.

In fact, you'd bet she was better than you.

The love shack is a little old place where We can get together Love Shack, baby (the Love Shack, baby) Love Shack, baby, Love Shack Love Shack, baby, Love Shack Love Shack, baby, Love Shack (love, baby, that's where it's at) Love Shack, baby, Love Shack (love, baby, that's where it's at)

The pair of you yelling the chorus into the mic has a few people in the bar up and singing along as well, a few whistles and cheers as the pair of you keep making eye contact with each other.

Sign says (woo), "Stay away, fools" 'Cause love rules at the Love Shack Well, it's set way back in the middle of a field Just a funky old shack and I gotta get back

There's something about the way she dips and kisses you mid song.

You know you're screwed when she pulls you back up and there's a wink thrown your way as she turns to the crowd and starts hopping along to the beat finally, encouraging them to do the same.

You never thought you'd be up here, jamming along with a woman who's been matching your adventurous nature since you've met her.

Despite being someone who has somehow managed to calm your erratic nature, she's also had the more energetic side of her brought out that she normally only sees amongst the kids of the team.

Glitter on the mattress Glitter on the highway Glitter on the front porch Glitter on the highway

There's a small giggle she let's out as you step up and belt out the next verse.

The Love Shack is a little old place where We can get together Love Shack, baby (Love Shack, baby) Love Shack, that's where it's at Love Shack, that's where it's at

You don't miss the small shake of her head when you poke your tongue out between your teeth cheekily at her.

In fact your eyes stay on her for the majority of the song, every movement, every gesture, every expression, every grin while she sings with you.

The sweetest brightest laughter as you both duck off the stage panting is what seals the deal for you.

Her eyes glint with joy up at you and that's when you know she has you hook line and sinker.

-

"So he had to bail you out?!"

"I know right?"

"Babe that is so not-"

"Waitwaitwait before you judge me on it-"

She snorts and covers her mouth at the small glare you give her across the table, having to silence your own laughter to make it hold even a remote amount of sincerity, though she knows otherwise by the quirk in your lips.

Standing, you gesture to the door, wanting to get away from the loudness of the bar for a few moments.

You continue outside into the slowly cooling afternoon air.

"The dude had it coming, he was being way too touchy with this poor girl and security was not doing anything-"

"So you drop him in a trash can after throwing hot sauce in his eyes?!"

"It was well deserved, she was very grateful to not be harassed by that asshole anymore. Besides, the assault charges were dropped when I offered to show them the club footage of him grabbing where he shouldn't"

"Still, you shouldn't have risked going to jail over that-"

"I'd have broken his nose, too, but I literally just had a manicure done finally after like a year of refusing to go, I didn't feel like being made to go back, again."

An amused shake of her head as you both slowly walk down the path to the carpark.

"You're something else."

"That better be a good thing."

She giggles at the half pearl clutch gesture you make in response paired with an offended look.

"Of course it is, babe."

Giving your hand a squeeze, she can only smile at the grumpy look you give her.

"Hush you."

"Or what?"

"Or I might just do something about it."

"Do it."

A beat of silence, your eyes locked on the cocky smirk on her face.

She's baiting you, you know it.

Of course, you take it.

Two steps back towards her.

Three steps pushing her back into the building wall.

One more to find your place pressed against her.

None to press your lips into hers like they'd never separated in the first place.

The small hum she lets out as you do so makes the idea of the very public display suddenly leave your mind, wanting nothing more than to hear more from her.

It's when you pull away gently with a tug and pop that you both pull back a little breathless.

"That works."

She says, eyes still closed, breathing ragged.

You notice a flash of movement, thinking it was a stranger walking by until a small body crashes into the woman in front of you.

"Mummy!"

"Oh my god, Harper what did I say about running off like that? Especially across roads?! You can't do tha-"

A huffing, clearly scared looking Charlie practically sprints around the corner, bent over at the knees.

Her head snaps up at the realisation of who Harper's managed to run into.

"Oh! Mini, Hi!"

The brunette looks a little unimpressed at the blonde.

You get the distinct feeling it's less from the interruption and more the words of the woman who'd just been sprinting after her daughter.

"Charlotte Grant..."

"Wait. Wait. I didn't- She ran off. I promise I was doing everything to chase her down. It was a little road."

Katrina sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

The tiny human being attached to her leg looks up at her with an innocent grin on her face.

"Harper, what did we say about running off?"

Picking up the smaller blonde, sitting her on her hip.

Suddenly very sheepish looking like only a toddler can, she looks in your direction in search of something to avoid the conversation.

Of course, with you being you, she does very quickly.

Practically jumping into your arms with excited squeal, the small child latches onto you out of the older woman's arms.

"Y/n/n!"

Giving her a squeeze, a few giggles leaving your lips at the affection from the little girl you hadn't seen in person since that first day, only catching some time talking to the little one over a phone screen.

"Hi Harper, whatcha doin here, huh?"

"Goin to the park."

"Is that right?"

You smile and wave to Charlie with an amused glint in your eye.

The twenty-two year old nods sheepishly.

Looking down at the little one in your arms, you raise a brow in her direction, too.

She nods enthusiastically, her little arms wound tight around your neck as she lays her head on your shoulder.

Katrina watches the exchange between her daughter and yourself with a hardly hidden heart eyes look.

She'd totally forgotten that the park they usually go to is only a couple blocks from where you both were, but it's on the other side.

Raising her brows in Charlie's direction, a small questioning look on her face.

"I can... explain.."

Another pair of footsteps come running around the corner, too, nearly bumping into the blonde, a mop of now very messy wind blown brunette hair.

"Charlie did you get her- oof!"

Nearly ending up in a tangled mess on the floor, Charlie catches the both of them from falling.

"Idiot."

"Hey! You're the one that- Oh hey, Min', we were just- oh."

The mischievous look on Kyra's face that appears at the sight of you.

"That's what you were busy with today. Or who you were busy with."

She wiggles her brows at the older woman.

"I swear, do I need to start leaving you three with Nonna, again?"

Harper's head whips up so fast, you nearly clash heads and you're surprised she doesn't give herself whiplash.

"Nonna? Can we go see Nonna?"

"Sorry Harps', you can see Nonna tomorrow, it's just Kyra and ChaCha for now, alright?"

The little girl pouts for a minute before settling back into your arms.

"Oky, I stay wiv y/n/n, then."

You chuckle at her, before looking up at Katrina.

"Mind going for a walk to the park?"

She sighs softly, before shrugging.

"Alright, why not?"

You pass the little girl back to Charlie, much to her protests.

"One minute Harps, You can hop up again in a bit, I need to talk to mum first alright?"

She pouts before nodding.

You nod at the two to walk ahead, grabbing Katrina's hand softly.

"We can always continue later? You haven't got anything time sensitive?"

She shakes her head no with a small chuckle.

"Just a walk in restaurant, they're open late, though, it'll be fine."

You quirk a brow at her, and she makes the lip-zipping motion.

"C'mon, we've got a little girl waiting."

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, you both walk slowly behind the group, though quickly get dragged into carrying Harper for the remainder of the walk, still holding hands with the shorter woman beside you.

The pair of twenty-somethings ahead bickering only serves as a reminder of how chaotic this life is for the Footballer, yet it doesn't bother you.

In fact, it feels like something so much bigger for you, something you could get behind.

You don't want to commit yourself so early, but you don't fight the way your heart swells with a little love each and every word you exchange with both Harper and Katrina.

By the time you're both wandering back to the car, late after Kyra and Charlie have left, taking the little one back home to bed.

Late after having sat and eaten and discussed everything from Harper to thousands of kilometres away worlds of a sport you've never found yourself loving before now.

At least now, it seems you've found your favourite people entwined with it.

It's then you find yourself wanting to learn more.

"Hey, I know this is probably something you hear with your work a lot, but just, talk to me about football, anything you want, the rules, the games, anything."

She looks a little surprised that you bring it up, considering you've never personally been a big sports fan, at least, as much as she's known for the past couple weeks.

"I thought you didn't want to know about it?"

"Actually, I want to learn about it, if I'm gonna be showing up to my sister's matches, and maybe get to see you."

You pause, and the last bit is said with a little sheepishness behind it, though you don't miss the way her smile widens at it.

"I wanna know about the game. Or even just your experiences with it. What do you love about it? Tell me anything."

With that, she starts off on where she started with it, how much she loved it as a kid, how she always spent time playing it with her brothers, her time in the academy, in the beginning with the youth team in Mount Gravatt, to her start with the Melbourne Victory and everywhere after.

How she came to Brisbane Roar, her time in the US.

Her injury, her time spent trying to recover. Of course, she's told you the basics of how Harper came to be.

She talks about some of the bigger games she's played.

About the upcoming World Cup in July.

"You should come see us play."

"You'd want me there?"

"Of course I would."

It's said short and almost in an offended tone, but it shows so much more for you.

She wants you there at the biggest stage of her career.

You don't protest it.

"I'll be there, then."

"Good, I would hate to have to pack you into a suitcase to drag you to camp with us instead."

A laugh escapes your lips at that, head tilted back in laughter.

"Of course you would. You're cute. No but seriously, are you sure? I wouldn't be intruding?"

"Hell no, if eighty thousand other people can be there to watch it, why can't you?"

"Fair enough."

You continue like that, laughing, chatting, letting her rant on and on about everything and anything because you could listen to this woman go on and on for hours with no complaint.

Swinging your joined hands as you both wander along the boardwalk she'd taken you to, you look out on the slowly darkening skies over the water.

The colours are as amazing to witness as always, to the point where you both settle on a bench to relax a bit and watch it darken a bit longer.

The sparkle of the fading sun behind you warms your backs as you both settle into each other, the shorter woman contentedly tucked into your side, words starting to slow and you both quieten to enjoy the moment.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

Turning your head to meet her gaze with the tips of her fingers.

"I like you. A lot."

You grin.

"I would hope so. Or this could be really awkward for- hey!"

She smacks your shoulder with a little roll of her eyes.

"Kidding. I really like you, too."

"Too? I only said like not really."

You guffaw at the woman.

"Hey!"

She giggles.

"Okay, I deserved that."

Grinning, you lean down to meet her lips for the what seems like thousandth time today, though, neither of you mind at all.

It's soft, sweet and much less urgent than all of the ones earlier.

It's easy.

You find it easier and easier with each pass to kiss her.

There's a way she spends the time holding your face, caressing the skin of your cheek, that has you in an absolute whirlwind of just... her.

It's invigorating beyond anything.

Yet also, cathartic.

She tastes like home.

And who knows, maybe this is what you've been missing.

The cathartic parts.

A way to calm an already chaotic life.

Sure, she's a professional footballer, that gets chaotic more than a lot of jobs do but it's the way she handles everything. Somehow able to juggle the life of having a child and playing football across the country and internationally when called to.

But to be honest with yourself, there's nowhere you'd rather be than with this somehow new cemented person in your life.

You can't wait to see where this goes.

-

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE GOING OUT WITH THE KATRINA GORRY!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Ashley! Chill!"

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

[mysunshinetemptress]

Hi, Can't wait for the fics that you write I lover them all. But can I request a Katrina Gorry x wife reader, where the reader is a footballer too but in England or Spain team. Thanks....

Mi Vida

Katrina Gorry x Reader

Angst fluff

Falling in love with your wife has been the easiest thing you had ever done, telling her you loved her was nerve wracking but not hard, asking her to marry you was an easy decision planning out how you where going to do it not so much, organising the wedding was complicated but ultimately you both had decided to marry at La Fortaleza in Mallorca and finally the decision to start a family had been the quickest yes you had said in your life finally feeling your life align the way you had always hoped.

That changed when your wife had been signed to a team in Sweden and had ultimately decided that she would be the one to take your 6 month old daughter with her. Both your girls where three hours away by plane and the only way you got to speak to them was through a phone most of the time. You couldn’t help but feel deflated after you hung up every night, looking over the videos you had been sent of Harpers first steps to her first words and little sentences she was still trying to string together.

You spent every break you could in Sweden trying to make up for lost time but every time you saw them both your heart broke at how much had changed how big Harper was getting so quickly, and with that her interests something you didn’t catch on to until she had been a screaming mess shouting how much she hated paw patrol when you had tried to give her the presents you had brought over. What hurt even more was how little Spanish she had or understood compared to her understanding of Swedish “Osa puedes decir te amo mamá ?.” Harper had stood clueless babbling before you tried again and she began to get frustrated a tantrum ensuing after as Katrina watched heart breaking at your crest fallen features realising what was happening to her family.

Leaving was never easy you felt guilty watching Harper beg and cry for you to stay to not leave her and how hopeless she slowly became to your promises to return “too long mama stay.” You of course would only answer in Spanish wanting to surround her in as much of it as possible during such a short time, “lo sé, osa, lo siento, te prometo te veré pronto mi niña.” Harper would begin getting frustrated shouting for you to speak English.

Katrina had been a bystander during these moments, she had felt her heart break the minute she told you she had signed to play in Sweden and would be taking Harper with her, she was surprised you hadn’t fought for her to stay in Spain with you surrounded by her Tías instead when she had begun shouting at you to say something about her decision you had grabbed her into your arms and told her it was ok, having Harper move from place to place wouldn’t be good for her at all and if Katrina thought Sweden would be best for your daughter then you would support her. But she couldn’t deny she felt regret and guilt creep in watching you try to hold back tears on FaceTime or hear you cry every night you where home as you tried to hide it.

After talking to her agent Katrina decided that the 2023 season would be her last in Sweden, but she had decided to keep it a surprise from you wanting to bring some spark back in your eyes since she had left. But first was the Women’s World Cup.

Australia and New Zealand had been chosen to co host this years World Cup and the Matilda’s had been hopeful that they would win it on home soil, whereas the Spanish team La Rojas as they where fondly called had been shadowed in controversy and had come into the tournament wanting to prove the world they where more than what the news projected them to be.

Your contract with Barcelona was set to end while you where playing at the World Cup and you had made the decision to leave the club on a high of winning a champions league and leave for a new league the WSL, what team you would been signing to was get to be made known to the press wanting to tell you close family and friends before the big announcement.

The Spanish federation hadn’t been as accommodating as you hoped, refusing to allow you to fly over two days ahead of the team in order to see your wife and daughter or even letting you see them once you arrived over stating they didn’t want any distractions, Alexia and Ona stood beside just off camera as you called Katrina “Hola Mi Amor.” Katrina knew something was wrong the minute your face appeared “everything ok my love.” You looked at your teammates before sighing “they won’t let me fly out two days early or see you during the tournament, I don’t know how you say eh distracción.” Katrina eyes softened “distraction love.” You nodded “I just want to see her and to see you too.” Katrina felt the guilt come back “I know I’m sorry my love it won’t be much longer.” You nodded “is she there my little osa.” Katrina smiled sadly at the hope in your eyes at seeing your daughter “mums taken her to the park y/n I’m sorry.” You could only smile sadly at her “it’s ok, I have something to tell you though.” Katrina hummed letting you know she was listening “I’m leaving Barcelona, I want to go to England to play plus flight times are less I get to you both quicker no.” Katrina was overjoyed at the news “oh darling I’m…really but you love Barcelona.” You nodded “I do but it’s the right time.” Katrina smiled at you before she was interrupted by your older two children Kyra and Charli “hola ma how are you.” You smiled at the younger girls. “I’m good but I have to go I’ll see you all soon and please give my osa a big hug and kiss from me tell her I love her.” Katrina could see the heart break in your eyes at your words “she knows my love but I’ll remind her.”

The tournament had been a nightmare for the Matilda’s, they had been knocked out by England and would now battle Sweden for the bronze while you faced England at the hopes of winning it all. The team had gathered in the screening room to watch match hopping for your wife to win. Anytime Katrina came on screen your team cheered and your heart swelled every time of course those cheers got so much louder when your daughter appeared on screen as they all talked about how cute she was you felt tears form in your eyes seeing her dressed in her Australia jersey waving a flag. You texted the Australian girls after stating how proud you where of and that deserved so much more but that she should be proud of leaving it all out on the pitch and creating history.

You stood in the tunnel holding your mascots hand when you felt a tap on your shoulder turning to see Alessia Russo “Rumour has it your joining the WSL.” You nodded smiling “that rumour would be true.” Alessia smiled Turing to face the front “I look forward to it then.” You smiled before squeezing your mascots hand asking if she was ready to go. Walking out you stood proud giving your jacket to the young girl shivering in front of you before singing the national anthem and saying good by taking your place on the back line with Ona.

You had done your best making sure your back line stayed strong against such a strong English squad. You found an opportunity in the 29 minute the lioness gravitating to the left wing gave you the chance to break into the middle right before calling for the pass from Bonmatí seeing Mary just off her mark you sent a rocket to the top left holding your breath as it nestled in the back turning you ran to your bench jumping onto Alexia as she screamed in excitement before you looked past the bench to see the Matilda’s standing behind it, you spotted your wife and daughter pointing at the letting them know it was for them before Alexia pushed you back down to the pitch telling you to get a move on.

The minute the final whistle blew you dropped to the ground before feeling your teammates pile on top of you before you shook them off walking straight to the lionesses, congratulating them on their performance before Lotte Wubben moy grabbed you “we need you holy shit mate.” You laughed pulling her into a hug “I’m Spanish but ooh to be a gooner.” Lotte squealed pulling you tighter “can’t wait mate.” You nodded before excusing your self.

You ran right past your management team before jumping the Barrier as fans around you tried to grab you but you ignored them running up the steps “salto de Osa.” Harper jumped from Charli’s arms “oh mi Osa te amo.” Katrina pushed through the girls congratulating you pulling you down to kiss her “I’m so proud of you of all of you you did it Y/n.” You felt tears well in your eyes “I couldn’t do it without you it is all for you I’m sorry you didn’t win but what’s mine is yours sí.”

Harper wouldn’t let you go for the trophy ceremony, Katrina stating she was jealous of the mascot the minute you walked out holding her hand screaming that you where her Mama and only hers. You took your medal with Harper on your hip as well as threw her in the air when they raised the trophy before letting the girls take her away briefly as Katrina made her way on to the pitch “for you.” You took your medal off putting it over your wife’s head kissing her softly. Katrina held you as you watched Harper laugh with the girls “ lm leaving.” You froze “leaving what.” Katrina could see the worry in your face “Sweden I’ve decided I’m done splitting this family apart so at the end of this season I’m leaving and I’m following you to England.” You felt your heart swell “really.” Katrina nodded “my life is with you and Harper no where else I can’t live through that or put you both through that again it broke my heart seeing her cry every night knowing you where doing the same in Spain.” You held her as she gave you her reasoning “I’m going to Arsenal.” Kyra squealed from behind you “I am too oh we are going to be a real family in England.” Charli nodded “yeah cause I decide I wasn’t being left out either.” You felt content finally creep back in as you looked around at your little family “oh mi Vida es Bella.”

[alotofpockets]

Gorry Fam Appreciation

Request a player | with @totaly-obsessed

Plus a little Auntie Macca appreciation

[unicornships]

how do you not fall in love when you’re staring into each other’s eyes like that?

[cat-in-an-antique-shop]

Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place) and Alan Zaveri (Russian Doll) are the same person in a different font

Here is the list I have made to demonstrate my point:

[eddysocs]

The Tie That Binds Us — Chapter Nine (Looking Toward The Future)

Summary: Harper makes some strides in her personal life, and she has a big question for Olivia.

Word Count: 1,347

Warnings: None

The two days Harper spent with Olivia were some of the most peaceful she’d experienced in years, and perhaps the only peace she’d gotten since Hannah's death. As Monday morning rolled around, and Harper had to go back into the confines of Liberty High, it got her thinking. What if it could always be like this? Certainly it wouldn’t be perfect, it wouldn’t fix everything, but at least her home life could be good. And she was eighteen. There was no law against her packing up her things and leaving her childhood home behind.

Of course, that brought up the fact that she had nowhere to go. That wasn’t entirely true. Olivia was welcoming enough, but spending a weekend was far different from moving in on a more permanent basis. Olivia having her over was probably a good distraction, but if she were there all the time, would it weigh on Olivia, having her daughter's best friend as a constant reminder? She wanted to ask Olivia if she could stay longer, but the last thing she wanted to do was make things worse for her in the long run. Harper shook her head, trying to push the thoughts to the background for now. She had the school day to get through before she did anything about her living situation.

Her first stop was the guidance counselor, thankfully not Mr. Porter. She had been assigned to Mrs. Antilly, and she wanted to test out of Liberty High. She was more than ready to leave this place behind, and she was going to take whatever steps she could to do that. She was told it would take a couple of weeks to get all the materials together for the test, but that gave her time to study. Not that she felt she needed it, but it wouldn’t hurt to brush up, she supposed.

Two weeks. That was something she could handle. A countdown of sorts. And so it begun. Harper kept her head down for most of her allotted two weeks, the first flying by, and the second dragging along as if it would never cease to end entirely. She kept up her efforts with Clay, still mostly hellos and waves as they passed in the halls. She was at least getting a smile out of him now, though he still seemed haunted. She wondered if she should speak to him.

Finally, the time came, and she was called down to Mrs. Antilly's office to collect her testing materials. At least, that’s what she hoped, but it wasn’t quite that simple. "Seeing as it’s so late in the day," her counselor explained, "I’ll have you take the test bright and early Monday morning. It will probably take up most of your day, but with your grades, I don’t expect it to be too strenuous. You just come in, come right down here to my office and I’ll monitor your test for the as long as it takes you. Sound good?"

She would have preferred taking it right away, but the wait wouldn’t be too much longer, so she merely nodded. "Very good. I'll see you Monday, Miss Cassidy."

Harper began the walk back to class, but the bell was about to ring, so she slowed her pace and milked it until the bell rang and she could grab her bag and go. Monday would be her last day at Liberty, and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Just as she was coming up to her locker, Tony caught up to her. "Hey, haven’t seen you much these past two weeks. What’s been going on?"

"I'm about to be free of this place is what’s going on. Testing out on Monday."

"Congrats," Tony said, clapping her on the back.

"I’m also asking Olivia if I can move in with her this weekend," she said.

"Wow, that’s big. You mean it? You don’t think—"

"Tony, I’ve thought of every possibility there is to think of, and I figure it’s worth a shot. I’m going to ask her to be honest with me, and if she says no, then it ends there. But I love it there, with her, I—"

"Harper," Tony admonished, lowering his voice so they were less likely to be overheard. "Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Olivia is great and all, and certainly a better choice to live with than your mom, but I'm just afraid you might be…getting a little too involved."

Harper opened her mouth with the intent of contradicting him, but he did have a point. She liked Olivia, maybe a little more than she should, and it hadn’t been the first time she’d toyed with the idea of them ending up as something more than friends, or confidants, or whatever it was that they were now. She had no idea what Olivia would even think of that, so whatever she may daydream about sometimes, it remained unsaid.

"I’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing," she finally told Tony.

"Okay, if you’re sure. Good luck."

And with that she was off to Olivia's. When she arrived, Harper heaved a sigh, dropping her bag to the floor. It had been a long day. She could have just gone home, crawled into bed and hoped for a decent weekend, but going home would have only made things worse.

"Harper, is that you," Olivia asked, sounding as if she were several rooms away. Harper wandered closer to the sound of her voice, finding her standing in the kitchen.

"Why, were you expecting someone else," she teased, but her heart wasn’t fully in it.

"Bad day," Olivia questioned, skimming over Harper's attempt at a joke, and getting right to the heart of the matter.

"Just long. I couldn’t leave that place fast enough. On Monday I’m testing out, so hopefully, after next week, I’ll be done with Liberty High."

"Well you know you’re welcome to stay here if you’d rather not go home. We could watch a movie, have some popcorn, try to forget everything for a couple of hours."

"I think that’d be good," Harper agreed.

As the two settled in for another classic romcom and a bowl of popcorn, Olivia rested her arm on the back of the couch, just barely skimming over Harper's shoulder. She could get used to this routine, but she wasn’t sure she could let it go on if she had to leave for somewhere else. If Olivia didn’t want her to stay, then she’d be breaking her own heart, and possibly Olivia’s by pulling a disappearing act.

"Olivia, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Olivia replied, her mouth half full of popcorn.

Harper braced herself. She didn’t plan on doing this now, but what better time than the present, right? She readjusted her position so she could be face to face with Olivia before asking her question. "I need you to be honest with me. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings or anything. Just give me your sincere answer."

"God Harper, what is it? You’re starting to scare me."

"Would you like it if I moved in here with you, like permanently?"

Olivia blinked back at her for a moment, and Harper realized she must have caught her completely off guard. Still, waiting for her answer was agonizing.

"I— would you really want to do that? I would love to have you here full time. First with Hannah and now Andy...I hate being here alone."

"Then I’ll stay. Like, for real. For good."

"For good? Aren’t you planning to go off to college?"

"I’ve applied to a couple, mostly local. I plan on finishing my application to NYU. It’s where Hannah wanted to go. I thought I should at least try, for her." At that, Olivia teared up, a sad smile appearing and Harper reached out and hugged her. When Olivia put her arms around her, Harper thought there was no better place in the world than this. If this was what her future looked like, then she was ready to embrace it, whatever challenges may come.

🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶

Chapter Eight <- 🩶 -> Chapter Ten

Forever Tag: @baubeautyandthegeek, @kmc1989, @curious-kittens-ocs, @fanficanatic-tw, @gcthvile, @immyowndefender

Harper Cassidy: @megandaisy9, @boobear729, @ghostsunderstoodmysoul, @freshmoneyalmondathlete

[bradshawssugarbaby]

since I have a TGM entry lined up for my valentine's series and I just posted one...

[27emailsicantsend]

Set it Up: A Rina AU

Chapter Five

Ricky and Gina were pleasantly surprised to find out that not only did their plan work, but it worked tremendously. At first, the pair weren't sure what was going to come of the night of the restaurant. Even after celebrating, Gina found her phone buzzing nonstop with text messages from Ricky asking if she believed the plan actually worked, what the next steps were, wondering how he was going to ask for Saturday off to see Lily, and more.

Passion and hatred tend to run within the same vein, and Ricky was becoming more aware of this as the week passed by. He recognized that the only way Gina and he were able to pull off this stunt was by redirecting the passion-filled hatred in EJ and Nini's lives into passion towards each other. He also recognized that Gina and himself redirected their hatred of their circumstances into a new motivation. Instead of working relentlessly for bosses who couldn't care less about them, it was easier to spend their time devoted towards derailing their bosses towards love.

At least, that's what Ricky and Gina thought they were doing.

On Wednesday morning, Ricky found Gina at his desk, a large flower vase in her hands. It was pink and filled with white baby's breath, pink roses, and red dahlias. The vase hit the desk with a loud thud! considering it weighed at least ten pounds.

"Whoa! I know I said I deserved a 'thank you' for helping, but this is not what I had in mind," Ricky joked, jumping back at the ruckus. He reached over to hold a rose petal, lightly rubbing it with his thumb.

"These aren't for you," Gina scolded, giving his hand a playful smack. Ricky apologized and took his hand back. "They're for Nini".

Ricky surveyed Gina, trying to connect the dots of what she was alluding too. He wondered what Nini could possibly need flowers for. A birthday? A holiday? His mind was coming up blank.

"Ricky, they're for EJ to give to Nini," Gina continued when she realized Ricky wasn't grasping the plan. "For when he asks her on a date".

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Gina. We never said anything about a date?" Ricky claimed as he pulled the vase towards him. It made a loud screeching sound being tugged across the glass top.

Gina, however, knew that this was no-man's land, so Ricky had no say over the vase. She yanked it back towards her, his hands still holding on tight to the bottom.

"That's right. We didn't, but I did. So EJ better have an opening on his schedule this weekend," Gina pushed the issue, tilting her body in towards Ricky's face.

Ricky sat forward in his chair, meeting her height. He wasn't going to back down. He felt like telling EJ what his weekend plans were was a bad idea, especially after almost screwing up the previous night's plans.

"Gina, we've been over this. If we're going to make plans, we have to make them together. You can't just show up here with flowers and demand a change of plans. This could backfire," Ricky protested, his breath tickling Gina's nose.

"Or it could give them plans Saturday night so that you can make it to Lily's show," Gina explained as she watched Ricky drop back into his chair. He knew she was right, but he was a teeny bit resentful that she didn’t tell him sooner.

"Well, thank you," Ricky pouted, folding his arms like a small toddler. "I just wish you would have included me".

Gina tilted her head to look sincerely at Ricky, her face softening into a grin.

"Ok, I promise, I will include you on the next plan. Just tell EJ that these flowers arrived from an unknown source and you're not sure what to do with them. If I know him well enough... and I think I do... he will re-gift them to Nini... claiming them as his own..." Gina began to trail her thoughts as she made her way around Ricky’s desk.

"You're not wrong..." Ricky agreed, watching Gina's every move. She was slinking towards his left, making her way near where he keeps his collectibles on his desk. In one swift movement, she managed to make her way around the computer monitors, grab his rubber band ball, and playfully jump back out of his reach.

"Hey!" Ricky laughed, standing up to grab the ball out of Gina's hands. "That whole plan was for show, wasn't it? That was the motive all along?!"

Gina giggled as Ricky reached around her, trying to get the ball out of her hand. She ducked and swooped, hiding it next to her hip, under her arm, and even bending to tuck it into her belly. She was successful at hiding it until the pair noticed EJ walk out of his office. Blushing, both Ricky and Gina stood up straight, faintly trying to catch their breath.

"What are these?" EJ asked, completely ignoring the assistants goofing off. His attention was solely fixated on the flowers.

"They're... um..." Gina stammered. Ricky realized she didn't know how to talk to EJ, which paralyzed her with fear. A perfect ploy to get his possession back. He swiftly grabbed the ball out of her hand, before stepping forward to address EJ. Gina looked dumbfounded after realizing she let Ricky win.

"They just came in. There's no card or anything. I don't know where they came from," Ricky shrugged before making his way back to his desk chair. He shoved the ball in the drawer directly in front of his torso. He had to stifle a small chuckle when he noticed Gina in the corner of his eye, glaring at her prey.

"... Maybe you could use them for something?" Ricky suggested, just as Nini walked in the room. The timing could have been written in a movie; it was so perfectly cued.

EJ grabbed the vase, confidently making his way toward Nini. He stopped abruptly in front of her, with Gina close behind. She was standing uncomfortably close to EJ. So much so, that he took a sidestep before addressing Nini.

"Hey Nini," EJ tittered. Gina was shocked to see him act so... innocent? Normally he commanded a room; made the innocent bystanders run away. But seeing him with her; he turned into a meekly lamb.

"Hey EJ..." Nini flirted, before giving Gina a look that said "back up" (to which Gina immediately obeyed).

"So... about the other night..." EJ hinted, teasing the flowers a little in Nini's face.

"Yeah?" Nini asked in a sultry tone. 

Gina was practically hopping out of her shoes, she couldn't stop shaking in excitement and disbelief that this moment finally arrived.

"I was just wondering..."

"Yeah?..." Nini bit her lower lip, swaying her body cutely.

Gina could feel herself quaking the entire room. She could hardly contain the anticipation she was feeling. She could feel her brain screaming, "just ask her out already!"

"Would you want to go out with me?..." EJ began right before Gina shouted "Yes!", interrupting them.

Nini shot daggers at her, which caused Gina to back off, once again. She was not about to ruin this moment any further. For Gina and for Ricky, the plan had to work.

"...On Friday?" Nini asked.

Until Gina managed to find a way to ruin the plan.

"No, Saturday!" Gina interjected before Nini could finish saying "yes".

"Why Saturday?" Nini protested, obviously unaware of the hidden agenda. She couldn’t hide the sneer sneaking onto her face.

"Uh.... Um..." Gina could feel herself stuttering. Realizing Ricky was not going to come to her rescue this time, since he didn't know Nini, Gina had to think on her feet.

"Because... you have... that?... head... massage?" Gina grimaced at the suggestion. She didn't see Ricky at his desk behind her; his fingers pressed to his forehead in bewilderment.

"Head massage?" Nini questioned, her expression still somewhat carrying the sneer.

"Yes?... You don't remember?.... We planned it months ago?...." Gina continued to fib, subtly assessing whether Nini was buying her excuse or not. "We planned it at Elite-"

"-Tracie Martyn," Nini answered simultaneously, catching Gina off guard.

"Tracie Martyn," Gina rephrased, making a mental note to book a head massage there on Friday.

"Don't know how I spaced that. I get those annually..." Nini murmured. 

After all of this time working for Nini, this was definitely not something Gina knew about her.

"EJ, you could come with me?" Nini suggested before Gina cut her off again.

"-uh, no. No, he can't. Trust me... I... wanted to... come with you?" Gina could feel herself floundering again, trying not to wince at every word coming out of her mouth. She was terrible at improvisation.

"...and they told me it was all booked and busy, sorry! Guess you'll have to go on your date on Saturday. Oh well!" Gina rushed the last sentence out of her mouth. She began to pace behind EJ and Nini, feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess we have to listen to her," EJ shrugged, obliging to Gina's demands. Relief overcame Gina, so much so that she could literally feel ten pounds of invisible rocks fall off her back.

"Guess so," Nini smiled which caused Gina to do a double-take. She couldn't remember the last time she saw Nini express excitement. Or joy. Or love.

"Come on, Gina. We have to discuss my weekly plans. If I'm forgetting my head massage, what else am I forgetting? I'm really losing my touch..." Nini mumbled to herself again, now hauling the giant flower vase with her. She shoved the vase into Gina's arms before the two started to head toward the elevator.

Before exiting the room, Gina turned around to see Ricky, holding the rubber band ball mockingly at her. He gave the ball a snap! and Gina a smirk. Childishly, Gina stuck her tongue out at Ricky which was reciprocated. Gina exited the room as she awkwardly toted the vase. This left Ricky in the background chuckling to himself as he snapped the ball.

*********************************************************

On Saturday, Gina decided to finally muster up the courage to text Jack late Saturday afternoon. She wasn't sure what it was, but something had been holding her back from texting him all morning. She had a free day, so time wasn't the issue, and she wanted to meet him, so insecurity wasn't it either. She didn't feel scared, so she couldn't quite chalk up the feeling to nerves, and yet, something kept her from pushing send for several hours.

However, she finally messaged him that day, telling him she was free for a first date. They spent the evening walking around Central Park, eating ice cream, and talking. Ricky was also able to spend a nice Saturday with Lily, going to dinner before her show and then supporting her for the performance. Ricky and Gina made dinner reservations at the steak restaurant (where they first met) for Nini and EJ’s date.

Once Nini and EJ went on their initial date that Saturday, everything else in the scheme seemed to go according to plan. It didn't take much to convince EJ to take Nini out to lunch or Nini to spend the weekend showing EJ around her hometown nearby. Ricky and Gina finally felt free.

Ricky spent the next month with Lily, Seb, and Carlos. They started going on double dates (albeit only to things Lily wanted to do... like spa days and fancy restaurants), hanging out frequently at the apartment (because Lily wasn't in a "people mood"), and going to C-lister parties. 

Ricky thought his extra time would have also been helpful to start writing music, but he often found himself stumped. He needed a muse, but whenever he thought of Lily his mind went blank. He would then proceed to fill that inspiration void with night parties and dates with Lily.

Gina, on the other hand, was spending most of her free time with Jack, Kourtney, and Jet. Gina was starting to go on frequent dates with Jack, constantly contemplating her "will they, won't they status with him". At one point, over a Thai food dinner, he brought up possibly going exclusive, but she shut the idea down immediately by asking if he was going to eat the last Rangoon. Gina had this weird internal conflict of wanting a boyfriend badly (so she stops feeling  pity towards herself over Kourtney and Jet), and feeling like a label was too much, too soon.

Nevertheless, Gina still found happiness out of her new found free time. The time she wasn't spending with Jack, she was spending with Kourtney and Jet wedding planning. She helped them pick out flowers, cakes, colors, and even her own Maid-of-Honor dress (which was a large feat for Gina, because Kourtney had an eye for fashion, so getting to decide her own dress was nothing short of a miracle). It should have been the best month of her life.

And Ricky's.

And it was the best month in some ways, but both Ricky and Gina quickly came to notice their enthusiasm had nothing to do with being away from work. In fact, the most fun they had during the month was making plans for Nini and EJ. It was exciting to watch the couple fall in love. To plant fake gifts in Nini's office from EJ or to send EJ an unexpected beautiful photo of Nini. Gina loved hyping up Nini in secret ways and Ricky felt like a detective, discovering the nuances of how EJ acts when he is in love.

The entire process felt like a giant game of chess. Making moves and countermoves, trying to assess how the other person might react, and always being one step ahead of their opponent. It was new and fresh and exhilarating. A breath of fresh air Ricky and Gina hadn't inhaled in a long time.

Be that as it may, Ricky and Gina still found themselves going home somewhat sad. Of course, this was something they would never admit to the other. After all of their hard work to receive free time, it was embarrassing to admit that the best part of their day was scheming at work. Work. The irritant they did all of this to avoid, but somehow they couldn't stay away.

The juxtaposition was an uncomfortable realization both of them had made sometime during the month of April.

For Ricky, he made this realization when he was finalizing some tickets for a fashion show that EJ and Nini were going to attend. The tickets were extremely difficult to come across, so it took several days and a lot of pleading to finally retrieve them. Gina and he were talking daily at this point, multiple times even, so he knew he could have told her he finally scored the tickets the next day. But he wanted to celebrate with her in person. He ran quickly up the stairs to her desk, but she was already gone. When he went to call her, she was on a date with Jack. She wasn't supposed to leave until five that night, but Nini and EJ were out so she was off by two. Something unexplainable shattered inside of him seeing that empty desk.

For Gina, she began to realize how easy it was to get Nini and EJ together. She ended up getting a lot of free time, to the point that she started to feel a bit bored towards the end of April. She liked going to the recording studio, where Ricky and she pretended to work but were actually instant messaging. She liked playing chess with Ricky at lunch. She enjoyed a new game she made for herself where she would steal Ricky's rubber band ball and play "hot and cold" with him until he could find it (Ricky was not as much of a fan of this game). 

But as the days got shorter, the amount of time in the studio did too. Towards the end of April and the beginning of May, there were several days either she or Ricky were done working before lunch, or they didn't even have time goof off at work, because their bosses would tell them to go home early. Gina knew the times she was going to work around Ricky were always going to be spontaneous and there was no exact time frame of when they would end, but every time she "got to leave early" she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

All she wanted to do was ask Ricky for "one more round" of chess without their time together getting cut short.

***********************************************************

About two weeks into May, Ricky and Gina found themselves eating tacos outside of the taco stand they went to frequently for lunch. They both had to return to the office that day, but they got an extra long lunch. The pair decided to take advantage of the nice day and eat outside.

Gina had just finished giving Ricky's taco a "cheers", before speaking with a full mouth. Ricky never failed to be amused at Gina's squirrel-like tendencies, still shoving her cheeks full of taco meat. Some things never change.

"I cannot believe we made this work! Are we clinically insane for doing this?" Gina laughed, swallowing the rest of the taco in her mouth.

"We might be, but then again, I think we were clinically insane for taking these jobs in the first place," Ricky agreed.

Gina held up her taco, meeting Ricky's again with a soft click! "Cheers to that!"

"Cheers!" Ricky celebrated back, before setting his taco back on his plate. He chose to survey Gina instead, watching her eat in what should have been the most disgusting way ever, but somehow she made it the opposite of unpleasant or gross. If anything, it was enduring.

Gina's eyes looked up to meet Ricky's, her face practically still inside the shell. She giggled as she asked, "what?"

Ricky, realizing he was staring, looked nervously to the side as he felt his cheeks turn red. He gave a speedy reply of "nothing", before abruptly changing the subject.

"So... uh... what next?" Ricky asked, trying to find any way to veer the conversation in a different direction.

"What do you mean?" Gina smiled, wiping her mouth with a napkin. She gave a half-hearted chuckle that sounded more like confusion than it did joy.

"I just mean... Nini and EJ are together and happy. We got everything we wanted, didn't we? So... what now?" Ricky asked, his eyes unwavering from Gina's direction.

"I-I don't know, Ricky," Gina stuttered. She hadn't thought this far in the plan. In fact, there wasn't really a plan to begin with besides Nini and EJ falling in love. The rest was improvisation. Gina internally congratulated herself as she realized maybe her improv skills weren't actually that bad.

"Well, I have Lily and you have Jack... so..." Ricky continued, not sure where he was leading the conversation.

Gina genuinely did not know how to respond to what Ricky was asking. His demeanor was off from how she knew him to be. She had never seen him this frazzled to make conversation before. Normally he was more arrogant and cocky, but now he was shy and awkward. 

Gina mind noted (from her painful silence) that her improvisation skills were still definitely just as bad.

"I-I-just mean that now that we have what we want, what more is there to do?" Ricky clumsily asked. Gina’s confusion weighed on him, making him unbearably aware that he didn't know how to talk his way back out of the uncomfortable conversation, either.

"Yeah... uh... I don't know, Ricky," Gina replied, deciding to answer honestly rather than contrive something out of her back pocket. "Honestly, I don't really know what Jack and I are..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Gina responded, sliding the taco out of the way so she could think better. "I thought I really liked him. And I do? I think? But he has tried to go serious a few times and I just feel myself backing away. It's like, the more he shows me affection, the more I don't want to be around him. Physically, it's everything I could have ever wanted, but emotionally... I'm just not there. I don't know... does this make sense?"

It definitely made sense to Ricky. He felt that way with Lily sometimes. He liked spending time with her, but she would tend to degrade a lot of his decisions. At times, it felt like he was working for "old EJ" again and that made wanting to be at work more fun than being at home sometimes. It was an interesting phenomenon to Ricky.

"Have you ever had a pet salamander?" Ricky asked Gina, watching her expression go from somber to amused.

"I'm serious!" Ricky chuckled, not being able to hold back his jovial attitude at Gina's response.

"No, Ricky. I have not had a pet salamander. Have you?" Gina was now trying to hold back her teasing.

"When I was growing up, I had two salamanders," Ricky started, ignoring Gina's jests. "One I showed a lot of love to. I held him, fed him, and gave him all of the time in the world. The other salamander, I barely paid attention too. I remembered his food and his water, and that was about it. And do you want to know which one survived?"

"Enlighten me," Gina joked, not actually caring that much about which one survived.

"The one I didn't pay attention too," Ricky concluded, feeling extra pleased with his story-telling abilities.

"So... you're telling me to keep ignoring Jack?" Gina questioned, unsure of how that would solve her problems since she was already doing just that.

"No, I'm telling you that you're pulling away because you feel suffocated by Jack. Maybe it's best you ask for some space?"

"Says the guy who won’t tell his girlfriend no to anything," Gina pointed out to Ricky, who was unsure of what point Gina was trying to make.

"What do you mean by that?" Ricky asserted, slightly offended that Gina could accuse him of not being man enough to stand up to Lily.

"Oh, come on, Ricky! When, in all of our free time, have you gone to anything that you wanted to?"

"-well, there was the parties," Ricky interjected.

"That Lily chose to go to first," Gina added on to her original accusation.

"Well... I just... Lily usually makes the decisions faster than me-"

"-bulldozer-"

"-and Lily won't go unless it's something she wants to do-"

"-pushover! And the things she likes to do are almost always boring! You said so yourself!" Gina remarked.

Ricky knew she wasn't wrong. He really only enjoyed going to the parties, and he did complain to Gina a couple of weeks back that they still haven't seen the new movie he's been wanting to see for weeks. It was the only thing he suggested that wasn't Lily's idea and she found just about every excuse not to go. Ricky stopped protesting Gina, which in turn caused her to stop badgering him about the issue.

"...I don't know that I'm ready to let my salamander go," Gina confessed, looking to Ricky for validation.

"I get that," Ricky responded, easing Gina's anxiety over Jack a little bit.

"But that's not the metaphor," Ricky wisecracked. Gina shook her head, cackling at Ricky's ability to somehow be equally as compassionate as he is insufferable.

[deepinthelight]

Harper & Charlie

[secondgenerationnerd]

Lay it on me, what are the powers/skill sets of the next gen kids? Who is the best at hand to hand combat?

I will do Omega kids in age order

Charlie Kent is an illusionist, whose powers evolve into reality manipulation. Think a less tragic Ace. She can fight (self defense) but prefers not to. She is not a hero.

Asha West-Wayne does not have any physical powers, but they suspect mentally she processes things at the speedster level. She is a fighter and, of her cousins in this group, is the best at hand to hand.

Peter Kent is a teleporter. He generally has to know the place, and as he gets older, he can go farther distances. Similar to his older sister, he can fight but prefers not to. Damian did teach him sword fighting because he asked.

Ben Wilkes does not have powers, does boxing so he can hold his own in a fight, does not want to be a hero.

M&M Kent is a technopath, able to control and communicate with technology. She is a hero and is a pretty good fighter!

Lily, Milly, and Luke West (I’ll put them all together) are all speedsters, BUT Luke’s powers were dormant until he was a teenager. In comparison, his sisters have had their powers since birth. They all have also trained with their mother and maternal grandparents with weapons and hand to hand. So some of the best but Ashie has them beat.

Maxie Wilkes does not have powers (to his father’s absolute relief), but does become the host to a scarab. He’s not the best at Hand to hand, but fights like his parents.

Laney Kent, despite being Tamaranean and Kryptonian, is actually born without either of her parents’ powers. That is until she’s 13. When the Omega families are talking about weaknesses; someone brought out blue kryptonite (the kind that takes Supers powers) to show the kids. Laney happened to sneeze, and a starbolt exploded. Just like her mother. When she is exposed to MOST Kryptonites, she experiences the opposite effects. Except Green. It hurts her worse. She’s also a menace at hand to hand

[thaoworra]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association recently released the poems that made it to the finalist stage for consideration for the 2024 Rhysling Awards for Short and Long Speculative Poems of the year. Congratulations to all of the nominees! This will be the 46th year these awards have been conferred!

Short Poems (50 finalists)

Attn: Prime Real Estate Opportunity!, Emily Ruth Verona, Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Collection Volume II

The Beauty of Monsters, Angela Liu, Small Wonders 1

The Blight of Kezia, Patricia Gomes, HWA Poetry Showcase X

The Day We All Died, A Little, Lisa Timpf, Radon 5

Deadweight, Jack Cooper, Propel 7

Dear Mars, Susan L. Lin, The Sprawl Mag 1.2

Dispatches from the Dragon's Den, Mary Soon Lee, Star*Line 46.2

Dr. Jekyll, West Ambrose, Thin Veil Press December

First Eclipse: Chang-O and the Jade Hare, Emily Jiang, Uncanny 53

Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness, Ali Trotta, The Deadlands 31

Gods of the Garden, Steven Withrow, Spectral Realms 19

The Goth Girls' Gun Gang, Marisca Pichette, The Dread Machine 3.2

Guiding Star, Tim Jones, Remains to be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, ed. Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press)

Hallucinations Gifted to Me by Heatstroke, Morgan L. Ventura, Banshee 15

hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice, Ennis Rook Bashe, Eternal Haunted Summer Winter Solstice

Hi! I am your Cortical Update!, Mahaila Smith, Star*Line 46.3

How to Make the Animal Perfect?, Linda D. Addison, Weird Tales 100

I Dreamt They Cast a Trans Girl to Give Birth to the Demon, Jennessa Hester, HAD October

Invasive, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Polar Starlight 9

kan-da-ka, Nadaa Hussein, Apparition Lit 23

Language as a Form of Breath, Angel Leal, Apparition Lit October

The Lantern of September, Scott Couturier, Spectral Realms 19

Let Us Dream, Myna Chang, Small Wonders 3

The Magician's Foundling, Angel Leal, Heartlines Spec 2

The Man with the Stone Flute, Joshua St. Claire, Abyss & Apex 87

Mass-Market Affair, Casey Aimer, Star*Line 46.4

Mom's Surprise, Francis W. Alexander, Tales from the Moonlit Path June

A Murder of Crows, Alicia Hilton, Ice Queen 11

No One Now Remembers, Geoffrey Landis, Fantasy and Science Fiction Nov./Dec.

orion conquers the sky, Maria Zoccula, On Spec 33.2

Pines in the Wind, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, The Beautiful Leaves (Bamboo Dart Press)

The Poet Responds to an Invitation from the AI on the Moon, T.D. Walker, Radon Journal 5

A Prayer for the Surviving, Marisca Pichette, Haven Speculative 9

Pre-Nuptial, F. J. Bergmann, The Vampiricon (Mind's Eye Publications)

The Problem of Pain, Anna Cates, Eye on the Telescope 49

The Return of the Sauceress, F. J. Bergmann, The Flying Saucer Poetry Review February

Sea Change, David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Ann K. Schwader, Scifaikuest May

Seed of Power, Linda D. Addison, The Book of Witches ed. Jonathan Strahan (Harper Collins)

Sleeping Beauties, Carina Bissett, HWA Poetry Showcase X

Solar Punks, J. D. Harlock, The Dread Machine 3.1

Song of the Last Hour, Samuel A. Betiku, The Deadlands 22

Sphinx, Mary Soon Lee, Asimov's September/October

Storm Watchers (a drabbun), Terrie Leigh Relf, Space & Time

Sunflower Astronaut, Charlie Espinosa, Strange Horizons July

Three Hearts as One, G. O. Clark, Asimov's May/June

Troy, Carolyn Clink, Polar Starlight 12

Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary, John Grey, Medusa's Kitchen September

Under World, Jacqueline West, Carmina Magazine September

Walking in the Starry World, John Philip Johnson, Orion's Belt May

Whispers in Ink, Angela Yuriko Smith, Whispers from Beyond (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Long Poems (25 finalists)

Archivist of a Lost World, Gerri Leen, Eccentric Orbits 4

As the witch burns, Marisca Pichette, Fantasy 87

Brigid the Poet, Adele Gardner, Eternal Haunted Summer Summer Solstice

Coding a Demi-griot (An Olivian Measure), Armoni “Monihymn” Boone, Fiyah 26

Cradling Fish, Laura Ma, Strange Horizons May

Dream Visions, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Eccentric Orbits 4

Eight Dwarfs on Planet X, Avra Margariti, Radon Journal 3

The Giants of Kandahar, Anna Cates, Abyss & Apex 88

How to Haunt a Northern Lake, Lora Gray, Uncanny 55

Impostor Syndrome, Robert Borski, Dreams and Nightmares 124

The Incessant Rain, Rhiannon Owens, Evermore 3

Interrogation About A Monster During Sleep Paralysis, Angela Liu, Strange Horizons November

Little Brown Changeling, Lauren Scharhag, Aphelion 283

A Mere Million Miles from Earth, John C. Mannone, Altered Reality April

Pilot, Akua Lezli Hope, Black Joy Unbound eds. Stephanie Andrea Allen & Lauren Cherelle (BLF Press)

Protocol, Jamie Simpher, Small Wonders 5

Sleep Dragon, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

Slow Dreaming, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

St. Sebastian Goes To Confession, West Ambrose, Mouthfeel 1

Value Measure, Joseph Halden and Rhonda Parrish, Dreams and Nightmares 125

A Weather of My Own Making, Nnadi Samuel, Silver Blade 56

Welcoming the New Girl, Beth Cato, Penumbric October

What You Find at the Center, Elizabeth R McClellan, Haven Spec Magazine 12

The Witch Makes Her To-Do List, Theodora Goss, Uncanny 50

The Year It Changed, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Star*Line 46.4

Voting for the Rhysling Award begins July 1; a link to the ballot will be sent with the Rhysling Anthology, as well as with the July issue of Star*Line. More information on the Rhysling Award can be found here.