#definitely didn’t post this too early yesterday

[shootingthe-stars]

honeymooning <3

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

A fake soccer date

Summary: Joel asks you to pretend to be his girlfriend to get the soccer moms off his back. How convenient that you're both kind of in love with each other.

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem. reader

Wordcount: 2.2k

Rating: E

Warnings: no outbreak, friends to lovers, FAKE DATING, mentions of dead spouse, a little angst, soccer moms (ugh), fluff, making out, smut (protected sex), dirty talk, a lot of kissing, Joel being in love, banner just for the vibes

Part of Fake Dating drabbles

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Full Masterlist // Joel Miller Masterlist

You understood his weekly dread of going to Sarah’s soccer matches now. 

It wasn’t the soccer or the getting up at 6 am to drive to some god awful town hours away to watch a bunch of teenage girls play ball. 

It was the soccer moms.

And Joel was the only single Dad of the group. There was flirting. There were definitely not occasion appropriate attire and cleavage. There was touching. 

And that was only what you saw as you watched him in the middle of at least six women who were fussing over him like he was the only men left alive while you made your way towards the field from the parking lot. 

He had asked you before if you would accompany him to one of Sarah’s games. 

You had been neighbours since before Sarah was born. He had inherited the fixer upper next door when he just turned twenty and made the most out of it. You had seen his life fall apart within months from the moment he found out his ex girlfriend was pregnant not long after. They had tried to get back together again. 

It was you and your late husband Andrew who had been there for him once Sarah was born and his ex had left him alone. You probably spent more times in Joel’s house than your own in those first weeks, all of you being new to taking care of a new born. 

But Sarah made it easy. 

Andrew, Joel and you grew close in the coming years. 

So close that Joel was the first one you called when you were sitting in a hospital in the early morning hours after an accident on your way back from your summer vacation. 

An accident Andrew did not survive. 

He showed up an hour later with a sleeping Sarah in his arms, holding you all night as you cried into his shoulder. 

The time after that was blurry. But you knew Joel was there every single step through your grief, right beside you. 

He was your best friend. 

And as best friends it was okay to ask you to pretend to be dating him to get the soccer moms off his back, right?

It’s not like he knew that you kind of fell in love with him over the last year, right?

With a nervous inhale you put a smile on your face as you approached Joel from behind, his broad back standing out to you in between the moms who had only eyes for him. You put one of your arms around him as you sneaked to his side, feeling him stiffen for a moment as you looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He smiled down at you, instantly relaxing, his arm coming around you to pull you closer against his side. 

„Hi,“ he smiled warmly and you smiled back. 

„Sorry I’m late. The line was endless,“ you lied and he chuckled. You felt his hand rest on your hip, squeezing you lightly. 

„Glad you could make it. Sarah is gonna be excited to see you,“ he said. Like you had not seen her yesterday when you had dinner together at your house. 

He kissed your temple and you closed your eyes for a moment before you turned your head too look at the people standing around you. The women were glaring at you and didn’t even attempt to hide it. 

„If you'll excuse me ladies. We got a match to watch,“ Joel said, not waiting for an answer before he pulled you towards the field, not letting go of you. 

„I can practically feel them trying to kill me with their eyes,“ you mumbled and he huffed a laugh. 

„I told you. I didn’t even do anything. They just appear out of thin air once I get here,“ he groaned and you rolled your eyes. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he’d pretend to not now the looks he received from women around him. 

Joel Miller was a catch and everyone knew it. 

You came to stand at the fence separating the field and the audience, watching as the girls warmed up on the soccer field. Sarah saw you and waved wildly and you waved back with a bright smile. You felt Joel stand behind you, before his hands came down next to yours on the fence.

„Thank you for doing this,“ he hummed against your ear as he leaned down, his chin resting on your shoulder for a moment. You took a deep breath. 

„Anything for you,“ you mumbled, gasping when he fell into you against the fence, someone having pushed him. You heard him groan lowly against your ear, his body flush against yours. He took a step back immediately, turning to his side but you were pretty sure you had felt his hard bulge press into your ass for a second.

You turned your head to look at him, finding his cheeks a little flushed as he looked everywhere but at you. But before you could say anything the kids coach cheered the girls on and they got into position for the game to start.

And a couple minutes later Joel was standing behind you again, and you were leaning against his strong chest, one of his arms around your stomach as you watched his daughter play soccer on the field in front of you. 

„Are we…. Are we still pretending to be dating?“ You mumbled against his lips, your fingers unbuttoning his flannel. 

Things had…. Escalated a little. 

One of his hands was on the side of your neck, tilting your head up as his lips moved against yours, your body pressed against the wall next to his bedroom, his body caging you in. 

„Do you want to be pretending?“ He asked, his lips kissing down your throat as his other hand came to squeeze one of your tits over your shirt. 

„Cause I haven’t been all day,“ he mumbled and you gasped. 

You were both still fully clothed, having spent the whole day together on the soccer field, pretending to be dating. 

It was pretend when he held your hand while you grabbed food. 

It was pretend when he pulled you on his lap when there wasn’t enough place to sit. 

It was pretend when you went up and kissed him when one of the soccer moms had her hands on his chest. 

Right?

„Joel….“ You hummed letting you head fall against the wall as his hand slipped under your shirt and towards your chest. You finally had his flannel open your fingernails scratching over the shirt he was wearing underneath. 

„I… I don’t want to pretend. I… I want you. I want you all the time,“ you confessed, your eyes closed as he sucked on the soft skin on your neck. 

He looked at you then a small smile on his flushed lips. 

„Good,“ he simply said, before he kissed you again and pulled you towards his bedroom. 

He undressed you slowly, kissing a path from your lips down to your hips before he told you to lay down. 

With your arms spread out on his mattress you looked up at him as he got out of his clothes, biting your lip when you saw his thick cock, already glistening at the tip. 

„Dreamed of this,“ he said as he joined you on the bed, crawling on top of you, kissing you softly as he laid down between your spread legs. 

You nipples hardened as his chest brushed against yours, the only thought in your head being that you wanted him closer. Always closer.

„Yeah?“ You asked with a small smile, your fingers brushing over his back. He nodded. 

„Me too. Dreamed of this for months,“ you confessed and he kissed you again.

„Months?“ He asked kissing your nose.

„Mhh… Think I knew when you fixed my bathroom sink and explained every little step you were doing. Thought back then that I’d listen to everything you’d explain to me as long as you wouldn’t leave,“ you said quietly, a little shy. 

You parted your lips when you felt his cock slip though your folds. 

„When you held Sarah after she fell from her bike last year. I watched you with my daughter in your arms and thought to myself, fuck I’m in love with her,“ he said and you felt a tear slip out of your eyes. 

You tilted your chin up to find his lips in a deep kiss before you brought one hand down and between your bodies, hearing him moan when your fingers wrapped around his stiff cock. 

„Wanna taste you first,“ he mumbled against your lips. 

You shook your head. 

„Plenty of time for that after. Wanna feel you please,“ you pumped his cock and he closed his eyes, his forehead resting against yours. 

„Fuck. Fuck okay. Condom?“ He asked and you grinned. 

„You got some? I’m on birth control and I trust you,“ you said. He looked at you for a moment before he shook his head. 

„The last time I didn’t use a condom with someone who was on birthcontrol I got Sarah,“ he chuckled before he pushed off of you and reached towards his bedside table, finding a little golden foil package, ripping it open and pulling it over his cock. 

He came back to kneel between your legs, one of his hands wrapped around his cock while he reached for a pillow and with a grin. 

You grinned back, arching your back as he pushed the pillow under you and under your ass before both of his hands pulled you towards him. You crossed your legs behind his ass, pulling him closer as he leaned down, lining his cock up with your pussy. 

„No more pretending,“ he whispered and you shook your head. 

„No more pretending,“ you repeated before you kissed him as he slowly pushed inside of you. 

Your lips parted against his as he slipped inside you, both of you breathing heavily, a quiet moan coming from you as he stretched you. 

You hadn’t been with anyone since your husband died and Joel wasn’t exactly small. 

"You okay?“ He asked, slowing down. 

You just nodded, before you kissed him again, finding yourself enjoying the stretch of his cock as it pushed slowly inside of you. 

„Keep going, feels so fucking good,“ you mumbled against his lips and you felt him smile as he moved, his cock moving inside of you until his whole length was filling you, both of you releasing a loud breath. 

„Should have done this sooner,“ he said as he pulled back and began to slowly fuck into you. You had one hand in his hair, the other on his ass, feeling him as he moved inside of you, his cock filling you perfectly with every thrust. 

„Yeah,“ you moaned, closing your eyes. 

„Keep your eyes open,“ he hummed and you did, finding him looking at you. 

„I wanna see you when you cum on my cock,“ he said and your walls clenched, making him smirk.

„You liked that, huh?“ He asked and you nodded slowly. 

„Keep going,“ you whimpered. 

„You know what I think of when I jerk myself off in the shower? I imagine the way you look when you cum. I wonder how you sound when I make you cum so hard you see stars. I wonder how you taste. I wonder if you like it hard or slow. I wonder if you wear these pretty lace panties I saw hanging in your bathroom that one time whenever you’re around me,“ he continued and you whimpered his name. 

„I wonder if you would let me fuck you at the dining table when we have dinner together. Or if you’d suck me off in the garage when we have a couple minutes to ourselves. Or on the couch after we watched a movie. I wonder if I can make you scream my name so everyone knows that you’re mine,“ he said before he kissed you and changed the angle of how he was fucking you, his cock hitting a spot inside of you that had you shaking. 

„I’m gonna take you to the lake house this weekend so I can have you screaming as loudly as you want to,“ he said and you nodded biting your lip to keep quiet, still mindful of the child sleeping down the hall. 

„Cum for me baby, let me feel you,“ he said as he crashed his lips down on yours and you shattered, coming harder than you had ever before, your legs shaking as he kept pumping his cock into you in quick deep thrusts. 

„Fuuuuuck,“ you cried quietly against his lips, feeling his lips twitch into a smile. 

„Beautiful,“ he hummed before his hips stuttered his cock pulsing inside of you as he slowly continued to fuck into you, his forehead coming to rest against yours as he orgasmed. 

Both sweaty and out of breath you just looked at each other before he kissed you and slowly rolled you to the side, pulling you against his chest, his cock softening and still resting inside of you. 

Kissing his chest you nuzzled against him, feeling his arms tighten around your body. 

„Best fake date ever,“ you grinned and you felt him chuckle, before he kissed your head just as you drifted off to sleep. 

[miryum]

☆ 18+ minors dni ☆

College!Jason Todd who quite literally ran into you. It wasn’t his fault, in his defence, he was reading, but he thought he had mastered the art of walking and reading. Apparently not. 

College!Jason Todd who apologised profusely, claiming it was all his fault even while you tried to convince him it was just as much your fault as well

College!Jason Todd who can’t help but notice that one of the books you’ve dropped is one of his favourites, leading him to exclaim, “you’re reading The Three Musketeers?”

College!Jason Todd who wasn’t quite sure how responded because while he was picking up the book for you, he caught glimpse of annotations and he couldn’t help but glance through them

College!Jason Todd who stuttered when you laughed lightly, noticing he wasn’t paying attention. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have looked, but I wanted to see your thoughts… that’s weird, isn’t it?”

College!Jason Todd who lit up when you beamed, a small blush reaching his cheeks when you replied, “no, no, it’s fine. I totally get it.”

College!Jason Todd who felt butterflies in his stomach when you suggested that he borrow your copy and give you his phone number to return it eventually

College!Jason Todd who wasn’t sure how a six foot grown man could get so excited about a girl he’d never met before. He wasn’t sure to thank his gods or hers that she had the courage to ask for his number

College!Jason Todd who learned years later that you were just as anxious as him during your first meeting. Thankfully, the words had come flying out of your mouth and before you could shrink into a hole and die, Jason had thankfully agreed

College!Jason Todd who goes back to his dorm and immediately begins reading the book, even though he’s read it three times already and has homework to do

College!Jason Todd who shushes his roommate, Roy, with a pillow chucked towards the head when Roy has the audacity to ask what he’s doing

College!Jason Todd whose heart beats faster whenever one of your annotations pops up and he gets to read your handwriting and thoughts

College!Jason Todd who adds his own annotations with small post-its as to not mess up your own, but wants so badly to exchange ideas

College!Jason Todd who finishes the book that night all the while Roy was groaning about Jason’s annoying reading light that was prohibiting his sleeping

College!Jason Todd who very unpatiently waits until morning to text you that the book was very very good and even better than he had remembered 

College!Jason Todd who threw his phone across the room once he saw that you had responded. Roy scoffed loudly from his desk and Jason chucked yet another pillow at his roommate 

College!Jason Todd who didn’t want to seem too desperate, but immediately agreed to meet up with you at the library when you offer it 

College!Jason Todd who gets to the library twenty minutes early just to be prepared. You never know. So he gets there twenty minutes early. More like thirty. And maybe he brings the drink he saw you carry around campus yesterday 

College!Jason Todd who is fine if he doesn’t get a word in edgewise about the book, satisfied to just stare at you as you gush about The Three Musketeers 

College!Jason Todd who is also happy if you want to hear his thoughts and blushes and stammers his way through his analysis, worried about what you might think of him and also having a very hard time focusing when you look at him like that

College!Jason Todd who thinks he may melt when you turn bright red and bite your lip, trying to hide your smile, all because he annotated the book just for you

College!Jason Todd who then spends the next two hours in the library with you, trading recommendations and browsing the bookshelves 

College!Jason Todd who gets to brace an arm above you, leaning on a bookshelf, smirking as you turn into a blushing mess

College!Jason Todd who definitely doesn’t visualise wrapping your legs around his waist and taking you against said bookshelf 

College!Jason Todd who restrains himself because if you even knew half of what he was wanting, you’d run away screaming

College!Jason Todd who, after promising to meet up again, goes back to his dorm and takes a very cold shower 

College!Jason Todd who meets up with you at least twice a week more like three times until the point where Roy demands that he just asks you out cause it’s been going on for way too long and if he doesn’t, then someone else will

College!Jason Todd who does so by underlining a passage in a romance novel that explains how his heart races whenever he looks in your direction, how he’d steal the sun if it meant he could see you smile, and how even if you rejected him, he’d be happy just to be in your presence

College!Jason Todd who, after pacing in front of your dorm for a while, then chickens out and leaves the book outside your door, the page bookmarked 

College!Jason Todd who gets a call from you a while later and answers it like he didn’t just covertly ask you out through a fucking book

College!Jason Todd who, when you laugh lightly over the phone thinks his chances have died, until you agree in that lovely voice of yours to meet him at the library for an official date this time

College!Jason Todd who treats you like the gentleman he is for the next couple of dates before showing you how brutal he could be by fucking the living daylights out of you

College!Jason Todd who learns how his most favourite sound is your soft, incoherent whimpers as his hips slam into yours as he grips the headboard above you, scared that if he touched you, he would break you

College!Jason Todd who realises what can happen when he pinches your clit just so and how good it feels to have you come undone around him

College!Jason Todd who praises you on how good you took his big cock, whispering and cooing into your ear as both of you came down from your highs

College!Jason Todd who knows that all other women are ruined for him simply because of how you smiled sleepily at him whilst caged in his big arms and how your pussy clenched around him, but that’s not important

College!Jason Todd who proudly hooks an arm around your shoulders or waist whenever he can, strolling through campus with a smug smirk on his face, knowing he has the best girl by his side

College!Jason Todd who sees you at your highs and lows and shows you the exact same

College!Jason Todd who wouldn’t change anything, even when you’re close to collapsing at your desk, exhausted from finals 

College!Jason Todd who wouldn’t change anything even when you’re on your period and your hormones are raging high and something either makes you start crying or start glaring at him over something he’s not quite sure about

College!Jason Todd who is just content to fall asleep next to you whenever he can and wake up with you in his arms

College!Jason Todd who knows your ins and outs, the slightest inflection of your tone, and the way your heart beats 

College!Jason Todd who knows his heart beats just for you

College!Jason Todd who calls Bruce a couple weeks later, after months of no contact. He asks if he could bring you to a family dinner. A year or so later, he calls Bruce again, asking for his grandmother's ring

[hornyfor-redacted-onmain]

Feelings

Pieces of My Heart - Chapter 19 Stray Kids OT8 x reader, Soulmate AU

Masterlist |

You found yourself waking up with a jolt. There was a weight on your chest, and your eyes felt glued from crust, but you felt frozen, waiting for anything to let you know what it was that woke you up. Your fridge was humming softly, and besides the soft breathing from next to you, there was no other noise. Until you picked up a soft beeping.

With a sigh, you slowly shifted Jisung off your body so you could slip out of bed, softly padding towards your pants. After a second, you realized it wasn’t your phone that had made the noise. You gave a second to glance back to the boys still sleeping in your bed, looking peaceful. You contemplated it for a second, but another buzz made you shrug.

It was probably fine.

It was in Jisung’s pants that you found the offending phone, a few notifications from ‘Channie-Hyung’. You could only see the most recent messages since you didn’t have his phone password.

‘Let me know’ 1m

‘We might be going over the melody for the bri-’ 1m

‘Feel free to catch up with us later. We’ll be-‘ 2m

You hummed softly, bringing his phone back to your bed with you. You placed both of them on the nightstand and, figuring Chan would have called if it was urgent, found yourself falling back asleep.

Or at least, you tried.

Despite dozing for a few minutes, you found yourself unable to actually fall back asleep. You let your eyes flutter open, about to stretch, when you caught movement in the corner of your eye. You shifted your head slightly up to see what it was.

Minho was awake, his eyes heavily lidded as if he was seconds away from closing them again. He was looking down at Jisung, who had turned over and decided to use his hyung as a pillow in your brief absences, and there was something in his eyes that made your breath catch in your throat. The movement that you had caught was his hand lifting up to brush hair away from Jisung’s face.

The back of his hand softly caressed the sleeping rapper’s cheek with a tenderness that you had never seen before. Except, maybe in movies. And very briefly, between soulmates.

As his actual soulmate, it should have made you feel jealous to see that look in Minho’s eyes. The kind of look he had never shown you. But while it did make your chest clench tightly, it wasn’t because of a jealousy or hurt that you had known quite well from past relationships and unrequited crushes. It was … you weren’t sure what it was.

Minho’s eyes darted towards you, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Hi,” He whispered in English, his voice soft and yet deep from sleep.

“Morning,” You whispered back, trying not to wake up the other boy.

 “What time is it?”

“7-ish,” You murmured.

The dancer threw an arm over his eyes. “Too early.”

You let out a huff, nodding your head in agreement. “Go back to sleep.”

You weren’t sure if he did, since he didn’t answer you. Now that you were sure you weren’t tired anymore, you grabbed your phone to scroll for a while in hopes of passing the time, both because you didn’t want to actually get up for fear of bothering the other two, but also because you had no plans.

At first it was just alternating between videos and social media, catching up on anything new. But then you saw a particular post that made you pause.

It was you. At least, you were pretty sure it was you. And it was definitely Seungmin standing in front of you, even if his face was slightly blurry in the picture. You recognized the outfit as the one he was wearing yesterday.

Someone must have noticed you two on your not-date. The post only had an exclamation mark, with no other information or accusation, but the replies more than made up for it.

‘who are they?’ ‘IS THAT KIM SEUNGMIN?!!!?’ ‘ADFDGSH you saw Seungmin in the wild T.T’ ‘normalize actual captions plz. I have no idea what this is’ ‘lol stay is doing Dispatch’s job for them’ ‘wait is it just me or does that look like stray kids Seungmin?’ ‘oh my god you met Seungmin?’ ‘OP, is this you in pic?’

You knew for a fact that none of the boys had seen this post yet. There weren’t a lot of interactions, and the lack of confirmation from the original poster in the replies managed to keep most people in a stage of confusion. But it made your heartbeat faster, the sudden anxiety that you had been caught in public.

You hadn’t even noticed anyone taking the photo. What if you had been holding hands, or kissing? Right now, even if anyone managed to confirm it was Seungmin in the photo, there was plausible deniability that you were just a friend.

You turned your phone off with a sigh.

Jisung flipped over onto his back with a groan. “Jagi?”

Minho grunted, reaching out to grab Jisung’s hand.

Jisung mumbled something. too slurred and soft for you to make out, but Minho understood perfectly. He said something without opening his eyes, still too soft for you to make anything out except for ‘dinner’ and ‘our’, to which Jisung let out a loud groan as he stretched his body out in an exaggerated way.

You snickered.

“Yah, you’re too far. Come here,” Jisung said, holding out his arms to you.

“You’re the one who left me,” You said, allowing him to pull you close. “Just like I expected. I’m just the third wheel here.” You let out an exaggerated sniffle, dramatically placing the back of your hand over your forehead.

“You’re only now figuring that out?” Jisung joked.

You gasped, pulling away so you could slap him on the arm. “Hey!”

When you tried to get out of bed, he tightened his hold on you. “Noooo! I’m sorry, I was just joking. Don’t leave me!”

“You’re so dramatic,” you sighed, allowing him to pull you on top of him. You held yourself up on your elbow, looking down at him with a fake frown. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Kiss me?”

You pretended to think about it, but at his impatient look, you found yourself caving. You placed a slow, gentle, kiss on his lips, pulling away to affectionately grab his chin with your free hand. Jisung beamed up at you.

“Now I feel like the third wheel,” Minho said.

“Aw, are you feeling jealous Jagi?” Jisung pouted. “Come here, I can give you a kiss too.” He made exaggerated kissy noises, leaning over to get closer to the dancer, but in doing so he ended up pushing you off him.

You landed on your back on the edge of the bed with a laugh. “Hey, careful!”

The boys seemed to be in a wrestling match, both of them laughing and Jisung yelling out that Minho should accept his love, and you rolled your eyes.

“Boys,” You sighed to yourself.

0o0o0o0

Changbin invited you out to the gym the next morning, and you were already starting to regret it. It made you realize that you weren’t exactly in the best of shape, especially when you found yourself struggling to keep up with what was supposed to be a beginner friendly warm up.

At least he was nice enough not to point it out.

Chan showed up about halfway through, looking both surprised and amused when he realized you were there. “He going easy on you?”

“Doesn’t feel like it,” You grunted, letting out a groan as you lifted yourself back up from your squat.

You expected some more teasing, maybe some reassurance from one or both of the boys, but they were surprisingly quiet. You glanced at them in the mirror.

Changbin was smirking, and Chan’s eyes were far too low to be on anything but your ass.

You laughed so hard you almost dropped the bar.

0o0o0o0

Soulmates

Y/N Alright, which one of you gremlins stole my hoodie Felix Not it! Hyunjin It wasn’t me, but now I’m kind of wishing it was Jisung Wait, the black one? Or the grey one? Seungmin Self-admitting to being gremlins? You guys are so dumb. Felix I will bite you Jisung Or maybe the red one …. Sungie, stop stealing my hoodies! Jisung But they’re so soft! You’re the only one who wears them to bed. Felix Yeah, because most of us don’t wear anything to bed ;) Y/N I’m going to start stealing your hoodies as revenge >:( Jisung Don’t threaten me with a good time

0o0o0o0

“Okay, I might not have thought this completely through,” You admitted.

Hyunjin peeked over your shoulder. “Who’s Sophie?”

“A friend of mine,” You said, erasing what you had been typing. “I mentioned that I was in Korean and now she keeps asking me to send photos of all the places I go to so she can ‘live through me’.”

You did the air quotes with your fingers, and Hyunjin blinked at you slowly, looking far too much like Minho in that moment.

“Okay?”

“The problem is, I haven’t exactly been to many places,” You explained.

“We went to the museum,” he pointed out.

“Together,” You said slowly, pointing between you two. “I don’t have any pictures without you guys in it. She’s a Stay.”

Hyunjin tilted his head. “So you need more photos?”

You pouted, looking down at your phone. “Yeah. It would also be nice to visit some actual tourist attractions, you know?”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

You looked up at the dancer to find he was completely serious. He grabbed his phone and started towards the front door, looking back at you to make sure you were following.

“Wait, right now?” You exclaimed, stumbling out of your chair.

“Why not? I don’t have anything else to do today.”

You beamed at him. “Really?!”

Hyunjin reached out a hand for you, and he pulled you in close so he could grab your hip with one hand, using the other to raise your joined hands to his lips. He gave you a gentle kiss on the back of the hand, and then another on your forehead.

“I’m all yours.”

0o0o0o0

You wanted to surprise the boys. They had a long day; a couple meetings to discuss their next release, and then a video they had to film for some variety show program. They had texted you not to wait up, that they were going to be at the company building late that night, so you thought it would be a great idea to pop by to give them some goodnight kisses since you wouldn’t see them until the morning.

You thought you would be fine walking. You had taken the bus with a few of the boys before, knew the routes well, and it was only three actual minutes out on the street.

It just so happened that in those three minutes, the sky decided to open up like some kind of action movie.

To say you were soaked when you finally made it to the cover of the building would be putting it lightly. You were literally dripping, your shoes squelching with every step, and you refused to move from the entrance since it would end up with you spilling water all along the shiny marble floors, and the poor cleaning staff didn’t deserve to deal with that.

The secretary at the front entrance gave you a sympathetic look, offering to make the call for you since your own phone wasn’t turning on.

“Oh my god, are you okay?”

You shivered. “I feel like I almost drowned out there.”

Chan threw a jacket over your shoulders despite your protests that it would just get wet. And when you explained how you didn’t want to get water all over the floors, he proceeded to pick you up and carry you to the public restrooms like you were a child.

You weren’t sure whether to feel embarrassed or impressed.

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to achieve here.” You told him with a sigh as he set you down on the counter. “I’m still wet.”

Chan pulled his phone out, giving you a cheeky look as he dialed a number. You leaned in close to see if you make out who it was. Ever the gentleman, Chan put it on speakerphone.

It was Minho who picked up. “Hyung?”

“Hey, can you get me a change of clothes? Bring it down to the woman’s bathrooms in the lobby.”

Apparently, questions weren’t a thing for the second oldest, because he hung up a second later.

“You guys keep spare clothes at the company?”

“Sometimes we take showers here before heading home. They have better water pressure,” He explained, pulling his jacket off. He then proceeded to tug on your soaked shirt. “Come one, lets get these clothes off before you get sick.”

You helped him peel the wet fabric from your skin, the clothes seemingly having shrunk with the rain. “You just want an excuse to see me naked.”

“Guilty as charged,” He joked, although his eyes never strayed from your face.

He then used some of the paper towels to dry away any lingering moisture from your back and arms as you wrung your hair out in the sink, the strands getting frizzy as you tried to shake it dry. He didn’t hesitate to pull his own dry and warm shirt off for you to wear while you waited, although you didn’t have to wait long.

Minho walked into the bathroom without so much as a knock, acting as if it was an everyday occurrence to find Chan shirtless in the bathroom. From behind him, Jeongin followed like a lost puppy, waving his hand at you.

“Hi!”

“These were the smallest I could find,” Minho said, handing you a shirt and a pair of sweats that would probably fit.

“Thank you.”

You grabbed the clothes, and then stared at the three boys for much too long.

Chan was the first to realize. “Right! Sorry, we’ll let you get changed.”

“Damn,” Jeongin whispered.

“I told you they weren't going to let you watch,” Minho said with a sigh, pushing the younger singer towards the bathroom doors.

Your brain to mouth filters failed you in a moment of weakness. “I mean, I let you watch.”

Chan raised his brows in shock, Jeongin spinning around so hard that he almost knocked Minho onto the floor.

“You what!?”

Minho smirked. “Oh honey, you’re going to give them the wrong idea.”

Already more than aware of how it sounded, you looked away in embarrassment. Jeongin wasn’t backing out without a fight, however.

“When did you let him watch? I thought we agreed to go slow?”

“Ayen, dude. Chill,” Chan warned him. “We agreed to go at their pace.”

“We didn’t even do anything,” Minho added. “We only got ready for bed.”

Jeongin pouted, “Still-“

“Wait, what do you mean you agreed to go at my pace?” You asked, clothes long forgotten. The three of them shared a look that you could roughly translate to ‘oh fuck’. “Have you been talking behind my back?”

“I mean, we just figured it wouldn’t be fair to pressure you or anything. We didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Chan explained.

“Seriously?”

Minho titled his head to the side. “Is that not what you wanted?”

“You guys can be real idiots sometimes,” You hissed. “You do realize you guys can just ask me things, right? I mean … I thought since nobody brought it up that maybe ....”

Chan choked. “You thought we didn’t want to?”

“I don’t know! It’s not like we ever talked about this?!”

Finally having enough, Jeongin moved away from the other two boys, pushing his way up against the counter you were sitting on, in between your legs. He then pressed his hands against the counter on either side, leaning up into your space.

“Can I kiss you?”

You blinked, sucking in a breath of air that you held for just a second longer than normal. And then you grinned, eyes darting to the other two boys.

“Take notes, boys.”

For as cold as you had been only minutes before, Jeongin’s lips against yours made your entire body heat up to the point you felt like you were on fire. His skin was equally hot under your palm as you reached up to cup his jaw, tilting his head back farther so you could lean into him. He let out a groan at the sudden change in position, your hand slipping down to the back of his neck, fingers scratching along the skin.

Chan swore, and you smirked against Jeongin’s kiss, more aware of the fact you had an audience now. Something in you was brought to life at the idea of putting on a show, your legs coming up to wrap around Jeongin’s back and pull him in closer. You let out a moan of your own as his tongue pressed against your lips, opening up for him.

There was a hushed whisper, and then the sound of someone slapping the other as Minho giggled. You snorted, pushing away from Jeongin to bury your head in his shoulder.

“Aish. You guys really do have to ruin everything, don’t you,” The maknae complained, his hands sliding up your bare sides. You shivered as cold air reached your skin.

Chan sighed. “Alright, let them get changed. You two can have a good pash later.”

You watched them go with tingling lips, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

0o0o0o0

Soulmates

Y/N New phone, who dis Felix RIP your old phone, it will be forever missed At least it was a Samsung Changbin I know where you sleep Felix Yeah, with me XP Hyunjin Can’t believe your phone died in the rain like that Jeongin Still can’t believe Lee Know-hyung got to see you naked Hyunjin Now im worried everytime it starts to rain that the same thing will happen to my phone Wait, what? Y/N He didn’t see me naked! Felix I thought we agreed to go slow?! Chan We agreed to go at their pace! Jisung HOW COME I HAVENT GOTTEN TO SEE ANYBODY NAKED! T>T Y/N HE HASN’T SEE ME NAKED! Minho Yet Y/N O.O

0o0o0o0

Dinner with the boys was quickly becoming an everyday tradition. While not all the boys were available all the time due to their solo schedules, you could always count on someone inviting you over to eat.

Today, it was surprisingly at the 3racha dorm and not at the maknae’s. Danceracha was busy working on some choreo, and Chan had decided to take the night off, leaving him in charge of dinner. Seungmin and Jeongin showed up early enough to help out, but they were more of a hinderance to the elder’s attempts at fried rice, stealing food and distracting him with random questions every time they strayed into the kitchen.

It only took half an hour before everyone except you and Changbin (the only two who were actually helping) were banned from the kitchen. Jisung pouted at you from the couch when you passed the kitchen doorway. You winked at him.

“Like actual children, I swear,” Chan sighed, taking the salt offered out of your hands. “Thanks.”

You couldn’t keep the smile off your face. “You poor thing. How do you put up with them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hey, not all of us are bad,” Changbin mumbled, carefully shaking the salad he was working on so that the veggies mixed together without flying out.

You plucked a tomato out of the bowl. “Yeah! Some of us are worse.”

“Out!” Chan yelled at you with a laugh, Changbin complaining about the stolen tomato with a high-pitched whine.

You giggled the entire way out, collapsing onto the couch next to the maknae, who didn’t waste any time latching onto you like an octopus. “I’ve been banished, my fellow thieves.”

Jisung and Seungmin both frowned, the English words unfamiliar to them. What proceeded was the most chaotic English lesson you ever tried to give, with the word banished quickly finding it’s translation, but the concept of ‘fellow’ throwing them off.

“It’s like, something you share in common. We all stole food,” You explained.

“Ahh. So, I can say ‘my fellow friends’?” Jisung tried.

“Mhh, it makes sense. Just sounds weird.”

“My fellow soulmates?” Jeongin tested, his accent heavy against your neck. You squirmed.

“I don’t think that one works. Kind of implies you guys are all soulmates with each other, instead of just sharing one.”

“One soulmate is more than enough,” Seungmin said with a grimace.

“Aww hyung, you don’t want to be my soulmate?” Jeongin teased.

You expected a deadpan answer, something to make you all laugh in the way he normally did. But Seungmin actually paused, tilting his head towards the youngest in thought.

“I guess being your soulmate wouldn’t be so bad,” he admitted.

“Awww.” You and Jisung both teased, and Seungmin rolled his eyes.

“Better than the others, for sure.”

“Ya! I better not be included in that,” Changbin yelled as he poked his head out of the kitchen. “Come help me set the table.”

With the human octopus still clinging to you, it was hard for you to get up. The other two abandoned you with snickers when you cried for their help, and it was only when you agreed to stay with him tonight that Jeongin finally let you go.

He held your hand under the table all night (thankfully not the one you used to eat with), and only let you go to your apartment to change with the promise you’d meet him at his dorm.

Felix and Hyunjin were on the couch when you arrived, both of them watching something on a phone between them. Felix looked like he was already half asleep, only managing to smile at you sleepily. Hyunjin flapped his hands at you.

“Help me get him to bed?”

You glanced at the hallway, and figured Jeongin could wait a few more minutes.

Between the two of you, it was more than easy to guide Felix to his bedroom. It was, however, difficult to do so without alerting the others to your presence, as you discovered Jeongin pouting at you from Felix’s doorway when you finished tucking in the young dancer. Hyunjin immediately took your spot on the bed, wrapping himself around the other boy with a hum.

“Thank you,” He whispered out to you, blowing you a kiss.

Jeongin wrapped his arms protectively around you the moment you were close enough for him to reach. “I thought he was going to steal you.”

“Never. I’m all yours,” You joked, glancing back at the blond-haired duo. Hyunjin was running his fingers through Felix’s hair, eyes soft as he looked down at his friend. “Besides, I don’t to ruin whatever they’ve got going on.”

“Hmm. Maybe they should have been soulmates instead,” Jeongin teased.

You blinked, thoughts beginning to run through your head. “Maybe.”

_o-o_o-o_o-o_o-o_o-o_o-o_

Taglist: (if you wish to be added or removed, please let me know)

@kayleefriedchicken @dessianna1 @tryingtolivelifeblog @luvvvash @purplelady85 @jc003

[wosoamazing]

Leah's Return

Part 6 - Fire on Fire Series

A/N: Sorry this one is short, updates may not be as regular in the next few weeks bc Uni is getting a little hectic... (I know I posted one yesterday but I don't know if I 100% like this so I'm just getting it out)

The game today was the one Leah expected to be making her return, it also was the game your parents had decided to come to. There was some irony in that, as your parents were most likely going to ruin a night that was meant to be fun and celebrate the return of Leah. However you ignored the fact they were there, not even looking for them in the stands before the game started.

At 61 minutes Leah was subbed on and the reception was great. The game finished amazingly with Arsenal beating Reading 6-0.

-

As soon as the whistle blew you ran up to Leah and hugged her.

“You did amazing! I’m so proud of you,” you told her as you patted her on her back, “I have to go speak to them now, but I will see you later,” she nodded as said something along the lines of thank you and good luck before you walked off.

You quickly found your parents in the stands and walked up to them.

“Look at you two playing the supportive parent role”, you said as you greeted them, seeing how they had brand new Arsenal Jerseys on which had your number on them, and to top it all off they had Mum and Dad written across the back.

“Y/N, respect please,” You Dad beckoned,

“I’ll decide how I treat you when you tell me the real reason your here,” you pointedly said

“Can we go somewhere else?” He asked.

 “No we are doing this here,” “Well, your father and I are giving you one last chance before we cut you off, you can decide, but there won’t be anymore chances, we will buy you whatever house, wherever you want, and we will pay for all your expenses whilst you study, all you need to do is quit.” 

“No,” you reply, looking at her dead in the face.

“No?” They both questioned, expecting you to put up a fight. 

“No, I’m not giving up the thing I love. Just to fulfil your wishes and your distorted reality. You didn’t raise me anyway so you cutting me off won't do much harm,” you walked off, and made your way into the locker room, quickly having a shower before you jumped in your car and headed home, to start getting ready for tonight, at least tonight you could drink and forget about it all.

_____

It was later that night and your plan to drink and forget it all had definitely not worked, you hadn’t actually drunk at all, knowing all too well it wasn’t the best idea at all to drown your sorrows but you also felt like shit. You couldn’t believe they came all the way just to cut you off, clearly having no respect for the date that was steadily approaching in two days. You just wanted to go home, however as you were meant to be going home with Leah you didn’t know if that was an option, as this was her night and she should have fun, however as you looked around the bar you noticed Beth and Viv together, so you decided to ask them if they could take you home.

“Can you take me home? I know it’s really early, but I’m just not feeling the best and I don’t want to make Leah leave early.” “Of course, we were thinking of heading off now anyway,” Viv told you and Beth rolled her eyes.

You were sitting in the back seat head resting against the window, when Beth asked if you were okay, and you mumbled a small ‘yeah’ before small soft tears started to roll down your cheeks.

Both women followed you into your home but you didn't question it, you were honestly expecting it, however you just ignored them and walked into your room.

You were scrolling on tik tok when the fifth edit of your parents and you from the game showed up on your screen, with the caption saying how supportive your parents were. Before you could even think you flung your phone out of your hand and it hit the wall

You threw your phone across the room as hot angry tears started to flow down your face.

“Hey, what's going on?” Beth asked as she opened the door, “are you okay?”

“No, but that doesn’t matter, sorry if I scared you, I threw my phone, I didn’t want to see another edit or post of me and them from tonight. People are saying they are supportive, but they aren’t, and I mean I did have my aunts but it’s still different. Knowing your parents are literally throwing millions of dollars at you so that you do what they want. Knowing they disapprove of what you do so much that they would do that. It’s fucked, and it’s fucking unfair,” you took a deep breath before more tears started to stream down your face, “I’m sorry.”

“It is unfair. It is a fucked up situation and you have nothing to be sorry about,” Beth said as she walked up to you, and wrapped her arms around you. You practically collapsed into her, needing any form of comfort. “Should we call Stina?” She questioned

“No,” you had called Stina enough over the past few years, tonight was date night and you weren’t going to interrupt her night, “oh you can go if you want,” you said as you tried to pull out of her arms, getting the sense that she didn’t want to stay.

“No, that's not what I meant. I just didn't know if you would want your best friend or not?”

“No, it's okay, and you're one of my best friends now too,” you admitted, shortly after hearing a sniffle, looking up to see some tears had fallen from Beth’s eyes.

“You’re a fat softy you know that, right?” you told her before pulling her in for a massive hug.

You spent the rest of the evening on the couch with Beth and Viv watching a movie.

[iridessence]

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge myself and say that I am elated and proud to have manifested some of my major goals since 2018-2019. Basically before then, 2014-16 I struggled with depression and suicidal ideation quite frequently due to not having steady income, as jobs in retail seemed the only available and “safe” options, but long shifts standing at a registers or posts were damagingly hard on my body. In 2017 I got a desk job that set me on the path of financial stability and reduced physical load, which did absolute wonders for my mental health but it was an absolute blight to my existence over time due to terrible management and the usual corporate garbage. I knew that staying there was fine for a time but not sustainable in the long run, so change must come eventually.

also around then, I continued to explore self portraiture and personal style but I really wanted to perform/create Burlesque acts and book them, and invest in and actually have choreography/technique and beautiful costume pieces that looked like the visions refining themselves in my head through research. I was also perpetually struggling in the dating sphere with the deficit of romantic fulfillment that I deeply wanted. and while they weren’t hostile, things were definitely weird with my family (dysfunctional, literal small town energy, upset that I didn’t want to be around them more in the suburbs but lots of interpersonal toxicity and lack of emotional growth).

I knew that in the coming years I wanted to…

quit my soul sucking job and set out to be a full-time or at least professional level burlesque performer, creating the qualitative and classic show girl acts I dream to see on stage

work on the floor at a boutique or mom-and-pop type shop that sells goods or services that are interesting to me, especially aesthetically, such as an antique shop or a jewelry boutique etc., but a place where I could sit intermittently as needed for my physical disability. Also, ideally it would be a position where I could express myself through style at my choosing and it would be received well, and also my hours would not be very early or very late.

find a loving and supporting partner who I could lavish equal amounts of love and support on to, live with and hopefully marry

Achieve/maintain financial stability enough that I have a reduced risk for homelessness and sometimes treat myself to things that I enjoy.

Figure out why the relationship with my family was such a struggle and do things within my power and desire to fix it.

In a world that isn’t a corporate machine devoid of empathy, none of that seems like a tall order to ask… but I live in America so… It took some time, but I’m starting to see the fruits and returns. Honestly sometimes things feel like a blur and I’m not exactly sure I could say there was a huge system to what I did overtime to make it work, but I know the work was there.

As of today, September 9, 2023:

I am a respected professional burlesque performer with costumes I figuratively gag over and acts that come closer and closer to hitting the aesthetic nail on the head for what I want to embody. (I quit that shitty desk job at the beginning of 2019 and haven’t looked back since. Sent a whole ass company wide message with a long and detailed “fuck you” too.😂🙈)

i’ve managed through burlesque, social media work, donations and savings, and —since the global pandemic—,odd jobs and grants/minimal loans, to continuously pay rent and ward off homelessness 

I live with the love of my life, to whom I am engaged and actively planning our wedding (we looked at a venue yesterday!)

I’ve helped my mom on the growth of her emotional intelligence and commitment to learning more about values under the race, gender, and sexuality umbrella, as well pushed her to examine the enabling and entitlement dynamics with her adult children that take advantage of her. While my relationship with my brother and sister is not great, my relationship with my mom has been steadily getting better since the pandemic. we had a breakthrough at the beginning of this year where she acknowledged and apologized for guilt tripping me for not being around the family more, when I was (she quoted) “actually protecting myself like she should have been.”

and litcherally within the past week I was offered the job at a local boutique I interviewed with a year ago and didn’t get, and I signed an offer letter to begin work within the month. 

To say I’m happy with the way things look right now is an understatement. The world still terrifies me, but I have no choice but to carve out a sliver of its beautiful experiences for myself, and I am doing just that. It may not be perfection, but it’s pretty damn good and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it that way and make it even better. I am living my ancestors' wildest dreams!!

for anyone reading who might be struggling right now to make things work, I hope you hold on to hope that it can get better. A beautiful life is possible even on this hell scape, even for the marginalized.

[raccoonsface]

“T-Tara?” Pt.2

____________——————————____________

Words- About 750

Warnings- angst or fluff, idk tbh. Swearing, idk what else

Just to say some stuff, I lost my other emails’ password and that email was connected to my other account so I’m on this one now. Sorry for being gone for so long too!

Summary- Y/n and Tara have a crush on each other and go to great lengths to make sure they have them all to themselves.

————————______________———————-

Part 1

______________————————_____________

“Jeez the suns out early”

Tara has just woken up from her sleep, she was tired from all the running around yesterday.

She almost falls back asleep because of it but then she turns over and takes a look at her clock

“SHIT! ITS 10:30 AM IM LATE FOR SCHOOL”

She rushes to get all of her stuff packed so she can make it to school before lunch, which is at 11:30, so it shouldn’t be that hard… right?

“Okay I’m fucked… I can’t find my keys.”

Oh Well she’s fucked

————————______________———————-

______________————————_____________

Tara’s POV

“I’m gonna fucking die”

I’m not gonna make it there in time, come on Tara run faster. Damn it’s hot out

Fuck I didn’t bring my inhaler, again?!What the fuck Tara, you’re gonna die on the side of the street. I’ve gotta sit down, yeah the sidewalk under this tree looks fine.

“Damn two days in a row”

Is this heaven? Ugh it’s too bright here.

“Hah, no this isn’t heaven Tara” oh it’s Y/n

“Well if it isn’t then what am I doing looking at a goddess” damn what’s going on right now

“Geez don’t you got the pick up lines when you’re literally gasping for air”

She’s funny, and really pretty

“Okay, Tara here you go” Her and that extra inhaler

I mean it definitely feels way better when I can breathe that’s for sure, but every time I look at her I loose my breath anyways so I don’t really see the point in it.

“You good Tara?” So kind

“Huh, oh yeah” me and my dumbass self

“Okay good… what are you doing running out here with a backpack on anyways?” Looking for a princess like you

“Oh- uhm I’m running late for school”

“Huh, I didn’t know there was school on Saturdays” shit of course it’s Saturday, that’s why my alarm didn’t go off.

“Oh… I forgot it was Saturday” oh my god you sound like an idiot Tara!

“Huh, well you need a ride to get home?” I think I’m gonna faint

“Uhm I mean if you’re willing to” Oh. My. God.

“I mean if you want me to” of course I do beautiful.

“Uh I mean yeah sure”

“Okay, yeah, alright uhm my cars over there”

“Right! Right, I gotta get up” oh my god she’s reaching out her hand towards me, oh I’m gonna die when I get home

“Thanks”

“Yeah, no problem” She seems kinda shy.. it’s probably nothing I’m over analyzing

“Damn this car seat is comfy” no like holy shit this is comfy

“Yeah, I know, they’re custom seats.” Of course they are

“Anyways where do you live?” Oh right!

“Oh uhm it’s uhh” me and my damn it stuttering

“You wanna go eat instead? I mean you must be hungry from all that running, and I don’t mean to-“ aww she’s so cute I can’t believe I survived without her before

“I’d love to go out with you- I mean yeah I’m down to go eat with you” what the hell Tara

“Huh, right, anyways where should we go?” Shit I don’t know

“Uhm, let’s go tooooooo…” I have no idea where to go eat

“How about we drive around and figure out where to eat..?” Phew!

“Yeah I think that’s probably the better idea” she’s really smart… she could be my wife..

OKAY NO Tara get yourself together. You cannot do this. But she’s so perfect.. maybe just maybe. I can’t even fight it anymore.. I need her. I need Y/n.

————————______________———————-

Oh my god. A lot has happened in the past two months. The meaning behind this new account is between the warnings and the summary at the top.

Sorry for the short post! They’ll be way more sooner!

I have a three part series for Astrid Deetz, the last two parts will probably come out after the movie is released because I can’t really get much off of her character just from the trailer

Anyways hope you guys have had a nice day!

[xxresi-rotxx]

Avoiding You- L.S. Kennedy (pt. 1)

Warnings: Angst, self-doubt, insecurity (only a bit), heartache 

Summary: You thought you & Leon were on the same page, so you went for it...turns out he didn’t feel the way you thought... 

(This was definitely supposed to be posted yesterday, but my fiancé took me out to the country to see cows and I had no service😂😭the cows were def worth it tho 👀❤️)

Word Count: 1.9k

Part 2

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How were you going to avoid him? It wasn’t going to be easy seeing as you were both posted on the same mission right now. Ughhh how could you have misread him so wrong?? You were sure he had feelings for you. He would always insist on being your partner on missions, he would flirt with you endlessly, he was always just there. 

You tried to take your mind out of the situation for a minute. Was he babying you? Was that it? Not that he wanted to spend time with you, but that he felt it necessary to go with you for the mission to run smoothly? Was he just mocking you all those times you thought he was flirting? 

You couldn’t think about it any longer. You were beyond embarrassed. You tried to kiss him and he pulled away, no need for a clearer sign of him not liking you that way. The embarrassment wasn’t the worst part though. Your heartache hurt much, much worse. 

You actually hadn’t seen him since. You’d requested to be debriefed alone, took watch opposite the time he did, and every time you’d catch a glimpse of that dirty blonde hair, you’d go in any other direction. 

It was obvious to Leon that you were avoiding him and doing a pretty damn good job of it too. Probably for the best at this point, he wasn’t even sure what he would say to you. 

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

It had been three days of you successfully avoiding Leon when a wrench got thrown into your plans. There was a break in the mission, and everyone stationed with you had to be present for the current debriefing. 

You sat on the folding chair arms crossed, and legs extended out in front of you, boots covered in dirt. You kept your eyes trained on your boots, not bothering to look up when anyone entered the tent, for fear of making direct eye contact with Leon. 

You recognized his boots anywhere and your body froze waiting for them to pass you. You swear you saw a slight hesitation in his step as he walked by you, but at this point you could have imagined it. You didn’t really trust your mind anymore when it came to Leon. 

He noticed the way you kept your head down the whole time people were coming in and wished that you didn’t. He hadn’t missed the fact that it’d been three days since he saw you, and by the looks of it after this meeting he’d go back to not seeing you again. 

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

The debriefing dragged on. You had been zoned out most of the time, only paying attention when you heard key words that pertained to you. Your ears perked up at the mention of a certain name. 

“We’re sending Leon out on this one, if that’s alright with you agent.”

Did they really just saw the name you thought you heard? Why would we ever be trusting enough to work with her?

“Fine by me.”

God even his voice hurt you; it was so deep and smooth, no trace of anything but confidence. Something you had been lacking the past few days and it made you furious. 

You trained yourself early on that your mind was the strongest tool you could have in a job like this, if your mind went then so did you. You were a good shot, had fast reflexes, and were overall a pretty nice person. You never gave much time to insecurities; you were pretty enough by your own definition and were confident in your abilities as an agent. But lately? All you could do was drown in your own thoughts. 

Were you not a good enough agent? Were you too boring? Too short? Not busty enough? It was killing you. It had become your minds constant priority to figure out why he didn’t want to kiss you back and now that they were sending Leon out to meet with Ada...your mind wouldn’t shut up. 

It was no secret to the whole department that Leon had history with Ada. They were both raccoon city survivors no matter what way you looked at it. 

Was she Leon’s type? An obvious red flag, toxic, double-crossing bitch? At least that’s how you categorized her. 

Your heartache was starting to morph into jealousy at the thought of Leon being with Ada in such close proximity to you. 

It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.  

You kept that mantra in your head, maybe if you said it enough you could convince yourself that it really didn’t matter. 

As soon as the debriefing was over you were the first one to get up and leave. 

You didn’t have to patrol today, or investigate, or do anything really besides stay on alert thank God. 

You grabbed your shotgun and a full box of ammo and made off for the trees. You had an overwhelming urge to prove yourself and shut your brain up. 

You were a good agent, a good person, and a damn good shot. You were determined to remind yourself of that and fuck Leon Kennedy if he didn’t think so. 

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

You had been shooting for the better half of the day. Deciding to call it quits when you had depleted all of your ammo and saw the sun begin to set.

You were a good mile away from the base when you heard the faint crunch of what sounded like footsteps. You threw your shotgun around your back and jumped up just enough to grab the nearest branch to you. Quickly pulling your body weight up and doing the same thing over again until you were high enough up you were sure you were out of sight. 

Quietly cursing yourself for not bringing a better precision weapon with you. 

It had been what felt like ten minutes, and you hadn’t heard another sound since. Maybe whoever it was heard you too?

You’d decided it was safe enough for you to get down from the tree and begin walking again and you couldn’t have been more wrong. 

You wished you hadn’t seen it, fuck how you wished you hadn’t seen it. 

At the edge of the trees right before the clearing you saw him.

Back against one of the trees with Ada up against him. Unless the information we needed was in her mouth, you were pretty sure this wasn’t part of his mission. 

Why did this shit have to hurt so much? Maybe it was the realization he really never saw you this way. You put yourself out there and got rejected and now you realized why. If that was his type, you never stood a chance. 

You kept on your path back to base, not bothering to look behind you. 

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

A week had passed since you saw Leon kissing Ada and the only thing that’s changed is your shot. Near perfect with your shotgun now, so at least you had that going for you. 

Everything else was still the same. Your heart fucking ached, you’ve avoided the man at all costs, and this mission was nowhere near over. 

You had gathered some pretty good intel though and were feeling rather confident about one of your leads. 

You were about to enter your superior's tent when his voice had you frozen...again. 

“I’ll let you know when I come into contact sir.” 

“It shouldn’t be taking this long Kennedy, any longer and we aren’t going to need whatever it is she says she has.” 

Were they talking about Ada? You were unfortunately positive Leon had come into contact with her. 

Feeling a little more confident in yourself you decided not to bother waiting outside the tent. 

“Captain” you greeted upon entering, “Kennedy” you greeted upon making eye contact with the son of a bitch. This was the first time in almost ten days that you had finally come face to face with him, and it did nothing to help the burning in your chest. You couldn’t even bring yourself to say his first name.

“Yes Y/N what is it? We’re done here Leon” your captain spoke dismissing Leon.

“I have a lead I’d like to follow sir, according to my intel it should be quite lucrative.” 

“What lead?” You turned your head around to see Leon, half outside the tent and half inside, as if your words had halted his movement. 

You turned your attention back to your captain before proceeding. 

“All due respect sir, I’d like to keep this information from as many ears as I can.” 

With that Leon was fully back inside now, not only inside but right beside you. 

“Leon’s the best agent we have Y/N,” your captain spoke, painfully reminding you of the obvious “I’m sure he’d be a help to you. Continue.” 

“Alright,” you glanced at your captain & then at Leon, who’s eyes looked deadly as he focused them on you, “long story short I know where the bioweapons are being kept. I’d like to check out this lead sir.” 

“Where did you get a lead like that?” Leon interjected. 

Your blood was boiling now. Couldn’t he just leave you alone? Didn’t he get he was the last person you wanted to see? Not like he’d care either way, but did he have to question your judgement when it came to the mission now? 

“I have my sources Kennedy.” 

“Kennedy now?” He scoffed. 

“It is your last name is it not?”

You held his eye contact, refusing to back down on this. 

“Permission granted agent.” You turned your head back to your captain, thrilled he was giving you the green light. “You both are dismissed.” 

You pushed passed Leon who refused to get out of your way and left the tent. Heading back to yours to get prepared for tonight. That’s when you’d make your move and check out this lead. 

“Hey hold up!” Leon grabbed your wrist and pulled slightly, forcing you to turn around and look at him. “Where the hell did you get a lead like this?”

“Relax” you pulled your wrist out of his grip “I’ve followed protocol, I haven’t jeopardized anything.” 

“That isn’t what I asked Y/N.” You noticed how tight his jaw was and how tense he seemed to look; did he hate you now? Was that it?

“I heard what you said Kennedy, and I’m not justifying it with an answer.”

You began to walk away only for him to follow you. 

“And why the hell not? Did you seriously lose trust in me because of what happened almost two weeks ago?” He spat. 

No. He did not have a right to be angry about that. 

“I lost trust in you Leon when I saw you gathering information from someone you claimed you haven’t made contact with yet!” You spat right back at him, noting the way his face changed into a look of shock at the fact you saw him that night.

You needed to reign yourself in, this wasn’t good. You were pissed, beyond pissed, and normally when your emotions got the better of you, they ALL got the better of you and you’d be damned to cry in front of this man now. 

Before you might have, but now? Never. 

You turned back around and continued on your way back to your tent, not bothering to notice that Leon hadn’t moved an inch. 

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

Why am I having so much fun writing this?! Part two is going to be more exciting I promise 😘

[itsgiovanna]

another side of you

pairing: fem!reader x rúben dias

type: one-shot

summary: you’ve been dating your boyfriend, jake, for three years. your relationship seems solid, but recently jake’s behavior has turned toxic, marked by jealousy and rudeness. complicating things, jake is friends with rúben dias, someone you definitely don’t get along with. but, when your relationship becomes too much, rúben reveals a protective and caring side that is completely new to you and him.

notes: this is my first one-shot with rúben, yay! hope you guys like it and i’m really open for doing a pt. 2 if this one goes well :) enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments! 🤍

warnings: abusive relationship, cursing, fluff.

face claim: dekota thompson

When you see couples kissing, laughing and having a great time together, it looks perfect. But, the truth is, it’s a lot messier than that. When you hit the three-year mark, things can get really tough, the excitement of those early days fades, couples start fighting for little stupid things that didn’t matter before. Well, you wished that having a discussion about who’s going to do the dishes was the problem with your boyfriend, Jake. He’s one of those guys who’s wonderful at the beginning, he used to bring you flowers, write sweet notes on post-it’s and take time to listen to you about a rough day at work. Now, it’s just a blank, it doesn’t even look like you both live in the same apartment anymore, not to mention he’d get unexpected angry with you.

“Where have you been, Y/N?” he says to you with a heavy tone, you try to hide the tiredness in your face and prepare for one of the many discussions you’ll have with him.

“We’re still working on that new project, I told you I’d be getting home at this time, it’s the only way we can finish it.” you go to the kitchen and hear his footsteps getting closer.

“It’s always work with you, do you really expect me to believe that?” as you turn around, Jake has his arms crossed and a rinkle on his forehead.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Jake. I’m just really tired, I don’t feel like doing this all over again.” you try to leave, but feel his hand tightening on your arm. “Please, Jake.” your voice trembles.

“Don’t make me argue with you again about your lies. If you ever give me a reason, I won’t be the one who suffers.” you’re feeling a knot in your throat, but letting him see the tears would be worse.

“I won’t, Jake.” you try to look as calm as possible.

“Good.” he looks at you with disgust before letting go of your arm, it’ll probably have a bruise in the morning but you’ve learned how to hide it with concealer. “Don’t wait up, I’m going out.”

“What?” you ask, quietly, as he’s looking for his keys and opening the door.

“Are you deaf or something, Y/N?” he laughs.

“N-No, I just thought we’d spend some time together.” it’s like deep down, you still had hope he’d change, like at the beggining of your relationship, when everything was more than perfect.

“Don’t be stupid, I’d never miss Rúben’s party.” Jack says, opening the door and leaving, like if you’re nothing to him.

Of course, the Portuguese you can’t stand.

(…)

The sound of the alarm wakes you up, it’s early in the morning but, surprisingly, you’re very much happier to be up at this time. After a quick shower, trying to shake off yesterday’s worries, you’re headed over to the kitchen pouring yourself a cup of coffee and a slice of bread, the crunch offers a small comfort.

After finishing, you’re ready to go to work.

You walk down the hallway, hitting the button of the elevator and waiting for the doors to slide open, the weather is chilly in Manchester and a cold breeze is felt as soon as you’re outside the building.

At work, you settle into your desk, and Lily, your best friend, sits down next to you.

“Hey, you.” she smiles, giving you a side hug.

“Hey, Lils.” you try to sound happy, but she knows you too well.

“Ok, you’re gonna tell me what happened.” she turns her chair to you, with her arms crossed and, clearly, worried.

“It’s nothing… We had an argument because I was late, you know how it goes.” you don’t wanna look at Lily and, suddenly, the post-it in front of you looks more interesting.

“Y/N, you deserve way better than this.” Lily reaches and squeezes your arm, but the pain expression on your face makes the woman open her mouth in disbelief. “H-He hurted you.”

“Lily, it’s ok.” you try to explain but she is still in shock.

“This is not right, Y/N!“ she practically screams, but you cover her mouth.

“Yes, but.” you sigh. “Jake cares about me and, sometimes, he just gets jealous, that’s all.” you try to stupidly explain the situation to her.

“Jealousy isn’t love. You deserve someone who makes you feel safe, not scared.” she’s brutally honest, making you feel sick to your stomach. “You can’t ignore what’s happening, Y/N. A bruise, then what? A punch?”

“What if he changes? Maybe if we talk…” you try to convince yourself, but even with such weak self-esteem, it’s hard to believe it’s going to happen.

“I get that, but imagine how much easier life could be without the worry and fear.” she holds your hand. “Please, promise you’ll think about it.”

“Ok.” you nod, but still vulnerable.

(…)

“This place is fun. I’m glad we came out tonight.” You feel a wave of happiness wash over you. It’s been ages since Jake invited you out, and you’ve missed those carefree nights together.

“Yeah, but you could’ve dressed better. People talk, Y/N. Especially when I’ve got influence.”

Jake’s words cut deeper than you’d like to admit. He’s a manager for some of Manchester United’s players, and his status means a lot. He’s right; people do notice, and his reputation hinges on appearances. But, you don’t say anything. You can’t. You’ve learned that challenging him only leads to more anger, and the last thing you want is to set him off. So, you force a smile, trying to brush it off, even though you feel smaller and more exposed than ever.

Just as you’re trying to ignore Jake’s comment, the door swings open, and a group of men walks in. You don’t quite recognize, but Jake’s face lights up at the sight of them.

“Mate, over here!” Jake calls out, waving at them. He’s suddenly in a great mood, like he forgot all about what just happened. “Thought I’d bring some friends to liven things up,” he says, glancing at you. “Hope you don’t mind.” Jake smirks, clearly enjoying himself.

As the night drags on, you can’t shake the feeling of dread in your stomach. Jake’s mood shifts with every drink and his laughter grows louder, more reckless. The playful comments quickly turn into harsh ones, all of them about you.

“Seriously, Y/N, why can’t you just relax?” he snaps, slurring his words slightly. “You’re such a buzzkill.”

You try to laugh it off, but it feels forced. Rúben and Bernardo, one of his teammates for Portugal, exchange awkward glances, unsure how to react as Jake continues to let his anger spill out. Every time he raises his glass, you brace yourself for another cutting remark. You wish you could disappear, wishing for a way out of this situation. As Jake’s mood darkens, so does the atmosphere, and you can’t help but feel trapped, the night spiraling into an awful reminder of what you hoped would be a fun evening.

“Jake, please. This is enough, let’s just go home.” you grab his arm, trying to make him listen to you.

“Why? So you can keep complaining? You’re ruining my night!” he snaps, pulling away from you. “You’re always dramatic.”

You feel the weight of his words, but you push through. “I’m not being dramatic, I just want to leave. Please.” Finally, after what feels like an eternity, you manage to pull him toward the exit.

As you step outside, he stops suddenly, anger on his face. “You’re a whore, Y/N. Practically throwing yourself at them. Thought I didn’t notice, right?” Jake laughs.

Rúben, who has been watching from a distance, steps in without hesitation.

“That’s enough.” he says, positioning himself protectively in front of you. “You need to back off. Now.”

Now, Jake shifts toward Rúben. “What did you just say to me, Diaz?”

“I won’t tell you again, I’m sick of your ridiculous games.” Rúben’s voice is steady, but there’s an edge of intensity.

Jake’s expression shifts, confusion mixed with anger as he realizes Rúben isn’t backing down. “You think you can just step in like this?” he mocks, but Rúben doesn’t flinch.

Rúben meets Jake’s gaze steadily. “Yeah, I do. Someone has to stand up for her when you won’t.”

“You’re just trying to play the hero. You have no idea what’s going on between us.” Jake says.

“I know enough.” Rúben shoots back. “I’ve seen how you treat her. It’s not right.”

Jake scoffs, his anger bubbling. “It’s been three years and she didn’t leave, maybe she likes how I treat her.”

“Does she?” Rúben challenges, his voice firm.

“I don’t.” it’s the first time you’re speaking, definitely holding back tears, but finally, standing up for yourself. “I’ve put up with it because I thought it would get better, but it hasn’t. I deserve to be treated with respect, with love. You’ll never give me these things, you’re imature, selfish and manipulative.”

Jake’s eyes widen in disbelief, anger mixed with a hint of fear. “You really think you can just walk away from this?”

You meet Jake’s gaze, unwavering. “Yes, I do. I’m tired of feeling trapped.”

“Great. You can walk home, then.” he laughs, turning his back and going inside the bar. Anything is better than having to look at his face, you say to yourself.

“I’ll give you a ride home, if that’s okay with you.” Rúben offers, breaking the silence. You hesitate, the offer surprising you. After all, Rúben and his friends has never been anything but good manners with you. Why’d he do that?

“I’m not sure, I…” you say, crossing your arms to ward off the cold.

He shrugs, a slight smile playing on his lips. “People can change. Or maybe… I just see things differently now.”

After a moment’s pause, you nod. “Okay, I’ll take you up on that.”

As you climb into the car, the interior feels comfortable and warm. But, the air is thick with an unspoken tension, both of you processing what just happened. Rúben starts the engine and you look out the window, feeling a mix of gratitude and confusion. The ride feels both long and short, your mind racing with words you want to say. You think about how Rúben stood up for you, how different this moment feels compared to how he was with you all these years, he’d always shrugged you off, making you feel invisible even when you’ve tried to be nice. Now, he’s nothing compared to the past and it’s surprisingly good to see this new side of him.

As you approach your building, the tension in the air becomes palpable. You can feel the weight of the moment, the unsaid gratitude hanging between you. Finally, as he pulls up to the curb, you take a deep breath.

“Thank you.” you whisper, feeling a newfound sense of safety with him. Rúben gives you a reassuring smile.

“Look, I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you in the past. You didn’t deserve that.”

You blink, taken aback by his honesty. “It’s okay, I guess. I just wish things had been different. Leaving Jake was the best decision I’ve made. Ever.” you laugh it off.

“If it makes you feel better, he’ll probably lose his job too. We didn’t know that he treated you that bad, Y/N. He actually used to say horrible things about you.” Rúben’s expression turns upset as he speaks. “I wish I had known what was really going on.” He shakes his head, probably regretting his decision in the past.

You can feel the weight of his words, and for the first time, you see a side of him that’s genuinely compassionate.

“It’s hard to believe anyone saw it,” you reply, nervously. “I kept hoping he’d change, that things would get better. But hearing you say that… it helps, in a way.“ you try to smile, even if it’s just a little bit.

Rúben’s expression softens, but there’s a flicker of something deeper in his eyes. “You’re better off without him, Y/N. You deserve someone who lifts you up, not tears you down. Don’t forget that.”

“Thank you, Rúben. That really means a lot.” you feel your cheeks get warm.

As he prepares to leave, a part of you wishes he wouldn’t. “Take care of yourself. I’ll see you around,” he says, his voice low and with a side smile.

Making the decision to leave Jake feels like breath of fresh air. For the first time, in a long time, you envision a future filled with possibilities: new friendships, new experiences, and maybe even a deeper connection with someone who genuinely cares. Going towards your building, you feel lighter, yet, there’s a flicker of anticipation in your chest. You’re ready to embrace whatever comes next, and the thought of Rúben lingers in your mind, hinting at a future that might be more exciting than you ever expected.

[ahonice]

lucky; pt.2

part one

luke hughes x fem reader

word count: 8.4k

warnings: cursing, drinking, implications of sex/sexual jokes & situations, slight hate towards business majors, probably definitely incorrect knowledge about pre med shit.

note: since so many people asked for a part two (literally only fifteen but still) i finally got over the grudge i have against series/part twos and i'm here to relieve you all. this is the opposite of planned out, i am writing this as i go along so i hope it doesn’t suck too badly (actually scared no one will like this because of how much love part one got). anyways enjoy, leave feedback, have a great day, love y’all babes <3

italics are flashbacks

+++

you and luke didn’t arrive back at the house until past midnight. neither of you expected anyone to be awake when you entered through the front door, but the sound of multiple voices proved that theory to be wrong.

“i think my brother’s friends got here a little earlier than we anticipated.” luke told you as he opened the door, going unnoticed by the small crowd in the living room. “let’s just get to my room and go to sleep, we need some rest.” you nodded at luke’s words as he moved himself behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, you knew he was subconsciously attempting to protect you from the group of guys, more specifically his brothers.

we didn’t make it far though, only a few moments later a voice called out at luke, causing everyone else to focus their attention on us. sighing, luke let go of you and moved forward to greet everybody, muttering an apology as he passed by you. 

you stood there awkwardly, trying to decide if you should wait for luke to finish with his tiny game of catch up or if you should just go up into his room and wait for him there. after what happened today luke asked his mother if the two of you could stay in the same room today, she agreed after a little bit of begging on luke’s behalf. before you could make your own decision the room’s attention was no longer on luke.

“who is the girl luke?” 

your head shot up at the mention of you, instantly becoming a bit self conscious because of the number of eyes on you. you made eye contact with quinn for a split second before tears started to build up again, seeing him just reminded you of everything that you had been through in the past twenty four hours.

“that’s my girlfriend, y/n.” luke said, making his way back to your side and attempting to block you from the eyes that were visibly making you uncomfortable. “-and if you don’t mind we would like to get to bed, it’s been a long day. you can all be properly introduced in the morning.” without letting anybody else get a word in, he turned around and guided you up to his room with his hands around your waist.

+++

you woke relatively early, the sun was just beginning to rise so you took this as your opportunity to go outside and spend some time on your own, you needed it. it took a little bit to get luke’s death grip on you loose enough for you to wiggle out of bed, but after you were successfully free you grabbed one of his hoodies to throw on over your pjs and pulled your hair out of your face with a claw clip. 

you silently made your way out of the house and took a seat out on the dock, taking a quick picture of the view as the sky turned shades of pink and orange. you dipped your feet into the water before grabbing your journal, deciding it was best to write your feelings down on paper just for your better understanding of everything that has happened.

as you finished up your journal entry you noticed the sun was now peaking over the tree line, you took a picture of the view, as well as a picture of your legs with your feet in the water and the pink journal in your lap. you opened up instagram and put all the pictures you took this morning and posted them to your private instagram account, captioning it “yesterday was one of the worst days of my life, can only hope today and each day after will be better.” 

you spent a few more minutes in silence, enjoying the fresh air you were getting. your trance was broken by the sound of footsteps on the dock.

“hey dear, what are you doing up so early?” you turned around to look at the man speaking.

“hi jim.” you smiled as he sat down next to you. “i’m just spending some time outside. i felt like i needed some fresh air.” 

jim nodded before speaking, “i’m sorry about everything. i had no idea any of this was going on, and i am sorry that i didn’t pick up on it earlier.” 

“it’s okay, don’t feel bad for not noticing it earlier. i should’ve spoken up when it first started happening.” you told him, giving him a reassuring smile. 

“would you like to join me and ellen today? we’re just running some errands but it could be fun, help you escape the sausage party that has become the lake house.” jim offered, causing you to laugh at his use of the phrase “sausage party”.

“yeah i would love to.”

+++

you had gotten ready for the day without waking up your boyfriend, so you decided to continue to let him sleep. you went to your room and began packing your bags because you would be leaving in two days and you needed to begin getting ready for your departure back home. once the room was all sorted and looked like nobody was staying in it, you put your luggage back into the closet and made your way downstairs, cleaning had always been a way for you to relieve stress. 

“sorry to keep you guys waiting, i wanted to clean up my room.” you told ellen and jim as you made your way downstairs.

“no need for apologies sweetie, let’s go. our first stop is breakfast.” 

+++

you had gone to breakfast with luke’s parents and told them about your plans for after college.

“right now i’m planning on becoming a medical examiner.” you explained as you waited for your orders. “i just have to see if i made it into the pre-med program before i can begin properly planning my future.” ellen and jim nodded, and continued to ask some questions about how your first year of university was going and other school related topics. 

+++

after breakfast they took you to the local farmers/flea market, you were excited as you had been meaning to ask luke to come along with you. as you were browsing your options you saw a couple booths near each other with fabric for sale, you quickly made your way over and began looking at what was all there. after a few moments you found the colors you were looking for. 

you purchased your rolls of cloth as well as some embroidery floss in an assortment of colors because you had been meaning to stock up on it and some yarn for one of your experiments. after getting everything you made your way back towards ellen and jim, telling them what you got. 

the next stop was the grocery store, with jack’s friends arriving early the house wasn’t stocked up for everybody staying over. during your morning with luke’s parents the topic of what happened the day before didn’t come up until your last stop of the day. 

you were looking around a local garden shop, looking for a new plant to bring home, when ellen came up to you.

“i just want to apologize again for what happened yesterday. i am beyond embarrassed for how my sons have been treating you. you mean a lot to me, jim, and luke, and after the talk i had with them yesterday i’m hoping jack and quinn will come around as well.” you smiled at ellen, a couple tears were brought to surface when she said that you meant a lot to her. 

once you and luke were gone ellen walked up to her oldest sons and they immediately knew what was coming.

“mom, please don’t-”

“no quinn! i am going to.” she sighed, “y/n means so much to luke, and for you guys to be so rude and disrespectful towards her is unacceptable. has she ever done anything to make you guys feel that way? or were these assumptions completely based on snap judgements?” ellen took her son’s silence as an answer. “y/n is good for luke, i’ve never seen him happier. he loves her enough to introduce us and allow us to spend time with her, and this is how you pay him back? you two need to figure out a way to fix this, i suggest you start with opening up the presents that y/n spent hours making for you two that you guys never had the common decency to be appreciative about, i think you’ll like what they are.” after giving them one more look of disappointment she walked back into the house to find jim and explain to him what was going on.

“i think they want to open up the gifts you made, but i never got to properly ask because their friends showed up.” you smiled at her. them opening up the gifts wasn’t going to fix everything, ellen knew this, but it was a start. 

+++

it was only eleven when you returned back to the lake house, with how late everybody stayed up last night you didn’t expect anyone to awake yet, you were wrong. ellen and jim had some more places to go but didn’t want to take up your whole day so they dropped you back off at the house before continuing their list of things to do. when you got up to the front porch you heard the voices of multiple people, one being your boyfriend, and they were all yelling.

“this is all your guys’ fault! my girlfriend left because of you two and how you’ve been treating her.” you heard luke shout. you quickly realized you never informed luke of your last minute plans with his parents, you kind of expected ellen to send a message to him or to any of the boys to explain her and jim’s absence when they woke up. 

“luke calm the fuck down. her car is still out front, she obviously didn’t leave.” jack’s voice was heard as you tried to open the front door, of course it was fucking locked. 

“her luggage is gone, her room is spotless, it looks like nobody has stayed in it for weeks.” luke voice was breaking. you quickly knocked, more pounded, on the door needing someone to let you in. shortly after your began hitting the door it was opened, you didn’t recognize who it was so you knew it had to be one of quinn or jack’s guests.

“found her.”

you pushed past him and made your way to the living room where everyone was at, dropping your bags and wrapping luke into a hug. he noticeably relaxed under your touch, he grabbed onto you like his life depended on it and you heard muffled sobs against your neck where his face was buried into.

“i thought you left me.” he said, you were the only one that heard it he was that quiet. 

“i’m so sorry luke, i–” you were going to explain what happened but you were cut off before you could continue.

“where the hell did you go?” you weren’t expecting that question, especially from who it came from. jack looked at you, anticipating your answer. you stood shocked, the genuine worry in his tone was enough to throw you off balance and leave you unable to speak. your silence seemed to just agitate him. “luke was worried sick. i get that you’re upset with me and with quinn, i do, we have been treating you horribly, but pulling this shit, causing us all to worry for you and your safety, just to get back at us is not okay.” 

you felt bad, until he said that. “jack i didn’t run away as a form of revenge, i didn’t even run away, i went out with your parents. they thought i could use a break from everything going on here, and they were right.” you detached yourself from luke, your heart cracking a little bit when he whimpered at the loss of touch, and went to grab your bags from earlier. once they were in your hands again you walked up the stairs, grabbing Luke's wrist in the process. “i don’t owe either of you assholes any further explanations.”

+++

“i thought you left me because of how my brothers were treating you.” once you and luke made it into his room he broke down again, causing the guilt in you to bubble up.

“i’m so sorry baby, i would never leave you. your dad invited me to spend the morning with him and your mom and i thought it would be good to spend some time away from the house.” you said, rubbing his back as you sat in his lap, chest to chest.

after a few more minutes and a couple more apologies luke stopped crying, his sadness replaced with a slight amount of anger.

“don’t you ever do that again. i am your boyfriend, you are my guest in this house, i don’t want this to come off as insanely possessive, but i have a right to know where you are.” you could only nod at his words.

“i’m sorry luke, it didn’t even cross my mind. i wrongly assumed your mom would tell you, or that you would still be sleeping by the time i got back.”

“hey i’m not that lazy.” his joking nature allowed you to further calm down, you both got what you needed to off our chests.

“i can’t believe i called your brothers assholes.” you groaned, knowing that would probably make them dislike you even more.

“they deserved it.” luke said, giving you a kiss right after. “anyways, it was hot.” 

“oh really?” you giggled, a blush forming on your cheeks as his hands began wandering.

“it’s a good thing i locked the door when we walked in.”

+++

it wasn’t for a couple more hours that you and luke went back downstairs, he thought it was time that you were actually introduced to the guests that joined you at the house.

“y/n this is trevor, cole, and alex, guys this is my girlfriend. y/n.” you smiled at them and said a faint hello, they all smiled back except for one. it was the one who asked luke who i was last night and opened the door for me earlier, the one who was now identified as trevor. he quickly went up to me and hugged me, taking me by surprise, i hesitantly brought my arms around him and gave him a slight pat on the back.

“it’s nice to finally meet you, i’ve heard many different things about you but i can already tell most of them were full of shit.” you smiled, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “well we were all planning on going out on the lake for a bit, eat dinner, watch the sunset, you two in?” you and luke both nodded before heading back upstairs to get ready.

+++

the tension on the boat was very evident, you felt bad for the three boys who probably had no idea what had happened just a day before, you’d probably feel even worse if they did know.

luke was quick to gain your attention, talking to you about the most random things. you kept up with his conversation before you noticed that jack and his friends were huddled up and whispering on the other side of the boat, you wouldn’t have been bothered if it weren’t for them constantly looking up at you before going back to their gossip session. you began to feel a little self conscious, you made an effort to cover yourself as much as you could with the one towel you could find near you. luke noticed the shift in your focus.

“is everything okay? you seem distracted, i’m sorry if you didn’t want to be near them so soon.”

“no luke it’s fine, i just feel like they’re talking about me.” you tried to subtly motion towards jack and his friends. luke just glared at them, seeing what you were seeing.

“here come sit on my lap, i’ll wrap my arms around you and protect you from them.” you giggled at his joking tone.

“anything to touch me huh hughes?” you poked at him once you were in his lap.

+++

dinner was served, an assortment of caprisuns and beers as well as uncrustables were on the menu for tonight. you moved up to grab some for you and luke when you got into a conversation with cole.

“so how long have you and luke been together?” 

“ten months, our one year is in september.” you smiled, already excited for whatever the two of you would have planned for that night. 

soon you were whisked away into a conversation, more like interrogation, about your relationship. trevor and cole sat next to you while jack, alex, and quinn sat in front of you. the oldest hughes put your boyfriend on wheel duty so he was on the other side of the boat, shooting you a worried glance each time you made eye contact with him. 

“how did you meet?”

“we were in the same orientation group, we got paired together for this water balloon game.” you smiled at the memory, remembering how horrible luke was at simply catching the balloon.

“what are you studying?” quinn’s question caught you off guard, seemingly since for the past ten minutes all you’ve been asked about was his brother.

“i’m currently hoping to go pre-med, i will find out if i made it into the program in the next couple days hopefully.” you told him with a smile.

“so you wanna be a nurse or something?” trevor asked.

“no. if i wanted to be a nurse i would be in the nursing program.” you told him, taking a sip of the beer you were holding before continuing. “i’m planning on being a medical examiner, conducting autopsies, figuring out the time and cause of death of a person.” you could tell the topic of dead bodies made your small q/a crowd uncomfortable which caused you to giggle. “any more questions? or can i return to my boyfriend now?” the boys just shook their heads in response, so you got up and sat on luke’s lap.

“so how did that go? you don’t seem too tense anymore.” luke asked once you were both situated.

“it went decent, i think, they just asked about us the whole time.” he nodded at your answer. “-oh, but quinn did ask me a question about myself and just myself, nothing that had to do with you.” luke looked over at his oldest brother with a small smile, who returned it before you, unknowingly, interrupted the moment by asking luke to take some pictures of you.

+++

you spent the night in luke’s room again, the boys needed a room to stay in anyways, so you had convinced ellen and jim that staying with luke for two nights wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“i don’t want you to leave.” luke said quietly, stealing your attention away from the tv screen.

“i don’t want to leave.” you replied, shifting to face him.

“then don’t. i can guarantee my parents wouldn’t have any problems with you staying for another week or two.” 

“luke i can’t, my sewing machine and all my other clothing stuff is back at my house and i’ve honestly gone a little insane just going five days without it–” luke rolled his eyes at your reasoning, giving you a look of disbelief.

“seriously, a machine is the reason you don’t wanna spend more time with your boyfriend?”

“-also i get my pre-med acceptance letter soon, if i get in, and i want to be with my parent’s when that happens and i know that they’re gonna want to celebrate with a party.”

“i think if you want to get closer to my brothers, or at least have them get to know you, you should stay here an extra week or two. they mean just as much to me as you do and i’m not saying you need to be best friends with them, but it would be nice if you guys got to know each other more and spend more time together.”

silence, and eventually sleep, consumed the two of you. both knowing an argument would only start if you continued to talk about it.

+++

you woke up in an empty bed, frowning you got up and looked around the room to see if he was at least still in his bedroom, he wasn’t. you got up and began getting ready, throwing a pink bikini and some jean shorts before braiding your hair.

once you were downstairs your boyfriend was still nowhere to be found, you made your way outside where you saw his brothers and friends, luke was not with them.

“hey guys, do you know where luke is?” you asked the group, hoping one of them had an answer for you.

“he left like two hours ago, didn’t mention where he was going though.” jack answered, you nodded. “if you would like to join us, we were planning on going wakesurfing today, i don’t want you getting bored in the house by yourself.” you smiled at his offer and accepted, telling the group to give you a few minutes so you could grab some things for the boat, sending luke a text on your way back into the house.

to: luke <3

hey, where are you?

to: luke <3

i’m going on the boat with your brothers and friends so wish me luck lol

you packed your bag and joined the boys outside who were already on the boat waiting for you.

+++

an hour later you still hadn’t received a response from luke and you were getting worried.

to: luke <3

are you okay?

to: luke <3

i find it funny that yesterday when i did this exact thing you said you had a right to know where i was at all times, do i not have that right either? 

“y/n do you wanna try it?” my attention was drawn away from my phone to look at cole.

“sure, i don’t know what i’m doing though.” you replied, moving to take off your shorts and put on the life vest.

“didn’t do it before we got here?” alex asked.

“no, i had other things distracting me.” i glanced over at quinn who gave me an embarrassed smile before speaking.

“i’m sorry for that, i really am, it was uncalled for.” you just nodded in response, not really wanting to talk about it in front of everybody.

+++

you sucked at wakesurfing. you were able to keep your balance for thirty seconds at most before you slipped, or the one time trevor tackled you into the water. which of course was filmed and posted onto trevor’s story, the embarrassing scream you had let out was now viewable to his thousands of followers

once you guys got off the boat you quickly made your way inside to see if luke had shown up yet, he still hadn’t. you quickly opened your phone to call him but got no response, now you were mad. you two had talked about the importance of communication and the risks of not knowing where the other was yesterday, and here he was doing the opposite of everything he asked of you yesterday. 

to: luke <3

idk what the hell you’re doing right now but it has now been six hours since i’ve woken up and you’re still nowhere to be found and no one has heard from you. 

to: luke <3

i’m going to dinner with your brothers, so wish me luck, and if i don’t hear back from you by the time it’s dark i will send in a missing persons report.

to: luke <3

just lmk you’re safe.

you weren’t planning on leaving for dinner for a couple more hours so you spent some time getting the proper measurements for some clothes you would be working on, as well as studying up on how to knit a sweater since you would be trying that for the first time when you went back home. 

you didn’t change for dinner, just throwing one of luke’s michigan shirts on top of your swimsuit and putting your shorts back on. soon you made your way downstairs where it was just quinn waiting, everyone else apparently still getting ready. when you saw it was just him you quickly tried to make a run for it and go back to your room.

“you know you don’t have to avoid me, i think it’s about time we talked anyways.” quinn’s voice stopped you from going up the stairs. you wanted to keep walking away, you really did, but you knew you needed to have the discussion. you made your way back into the living room and sat on the couch seat furthest away from quinn. 

“ok let’s talk.” you started once you sat down. “can you tell me why you did what you did?” 

you got straight to the point, not wanting to spare any time. 

“i was just looking out for my little brother, i didn’t know you.”

“-you still don’t know me. the only information you know about me is my name and that i’m an aspiring pre-med student at michigan.” you interrupted quinn, earning a glare in your direction.

“yes. i still don’t know you, but i’m hoping that in the next two weeks that you’re staying here i can get to know you.” he finished speaking with a sigh, like it almost pained him to say those words. 

“wait what? i’m leaving tomorrow to go home, i’m not staying for an extra two weeks.” you were confused, your parents were expecting you home in the next twenty four hours.

“luke told me this morning that there was a change of plans and that you were going to be staying an extra two weeks.” quinn said, equally as confused. “did you not know this?”

you could only shake your head as an answer while you pulled your phone out to text luke.

to: luke <3

i don’t know if you were trying to surprise me with an extra two weeks at the lake house but i told you i couldn’t do that, my parents wont allow it.

from: luke <3

*image*

i’m with your parents right now, they said it’s okay. i’m at dinner with them though so i’ll talk to you later, but please wait to yell at me until i’m back at the lake house tonight. i’m gonna hit the road soon.

“that little shit.” you muttered, making quinn laugh.

“what did he do?”

“he has been ignoring my texts and calls all day, which is a problem on its own especially because of what happened yesterday, and now he is at dinner with my parents five hours away in my hometown convincing them to let me stay here longer than what was planned.”

“you don’t want to stay here longer? is it because of me and jack? because i meant what i said on the boat, i really am sorry. no matter what the circumstances were, i took it too far. i’m shocked it took you so long to call us assholes.” quinn’s last comment makes you laugh.

“i’m not gonna lie, you two are partially why i want to leave, but also because i know that next week more of your guys’ friends will be here and that ellen and jim are leaving, i just don’t want to intrude.” quinn nodded at your reasons.

“well if you do stay i think it would be a good time for me to properly get to know you, i would say that we could just start over and forget everything that happened…” he trailed off waiting for an answer from you.

“-not a chance. what you, and jack, did was not okay. i forgive, but i don’t forget.” before quinn could say anything in response the rest of the boys came downstairs and we all headed out to the cars to go to dinner.

+++

dinner was another interrogation, but this time it was almost all questions about you.

“so what do you do for fun?” that can be a loaded question, alex asked you it in hopes to be able to spark more conversations about things that might tie to your answers.

“well i like to design and create clothing, or add things to a boring sweatshirt from the thrift. i do lots of upcycling with things i find at goodwill.” you answered, not knowing how they would respond.

“do you have any pictures of things you have made in the past?” cole asked this time, you nodded and got out your phone. showing them some pullovers you had embroidered things onto, the swimsuits you had made from scratch for you and luke, the apron and hand towels that were gifted to ellen, as well as the ties and matching pocket squares that you made for the hughes boys.

“oh that’s the set you made for my dad.” jack said before pausing, noticing the embroidered initials and numbers on the ties next to the one his father owned. “were those our gifts?” he had gotten so quiet you were shocked you were able to hear it.

“yeah they were, still are if you want them, luke told me the colors of your teams and i went from there to make them.” you told jack before looking at quinn who had a matching look as his brothers.

“can’t believe you ever made gifts for them after how they had treated you.” trevor’s joke made you wince, it seems like they don’t know the full story. 

“well i didn’t do it to get on their good side, i did it just because i thought this would be something they would enjoy, something personal to wear before games or at events, and creating things for people is something i really enjoy.” you kept your head down while talking, not wanting anyone to see the emotion in your face. the waitress soon brought everyone’s food out, you thanked anything and everything that lived up above as something was there to distract everybody for the time being.

+++

once back from dinner you went to hangout by the docks and watch the sunset, the boys had dropped you off per your request because you desperately needed some alone time. after the sun had fully set and you were pleased with the photos you had taken, you decided to go for a swim, stripping off your shirt and shorts, shivering as the cold breeze of the night came over you. you didn’t give yourself time to rethink your actions and jumped into the lake, you were freezing but it felt good. the cold being exactly what you needed.

you don’t know how long you were out there before you heard the sliding door open.

“babe are you out here?” luke’s voice brought immense comfort over you, it felt like it had been days since you’d last seen him. slowly swimming towards the steps you made yourself known.

“yes” you shouted, stepping out of the water and onto the dock. luke quickly made his way towards you, stopping once he was at the end of the dock and could see what you were wearing.

“you look really hot in that swimsuit.” you blushed at his compliment, and at the way his eyes were raking over your body. “you shouldn’t be able to look this hot babe.”

“oh really?” you said stepping closer to him, looking at his lower half to see if he had anything in his pockets, he didn’t. “well, we should do something about that then.” you reached out to grab his shoulders and turn him around, leaning in for a kiss, but before your lips could touch you shoved him into the water. “that’s what you get for ignoring me all day.” 

you jumped into the water a few moments later, luke’s shocked face making you laugh harder. 

“what the hell y/n.” luke asked once the shock from the cold died down in him.

“it seemed like you needed some cooling down, also you spent the whole day ignoring me and then went behind my back to get me to stay an extra two weeks.” you replied, swimming up closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“i have a surprise for you when we get back inside to make up for it.” luke’s arms instinctively wrapped around your waist. 

you stayed like that for quite some time, luke filling you in on his day and vice versa.

“so quinn apologized to you and said he wanted to get to know you during the rest of your stay?” you nodded at his question, making luke’s smile grow wider than it already was. “that is so great y/n.”

as you were about to add something to what luke had said the sound of footsteps made you close your mouth.

“yeah mom they’re out here.” jack yelled back in the direction of the house. “you two are in trouble, get inside.” 

+++

“so luke, do you see you and y/n lasting? like once you start in the NHL?” 

you weren’t sure when you fell asleep, but you knew that you had woken up while luke’s brothers were grilling him about our relationship. you didn’t open your eyes, you knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but they should know the risks of talking loudly while someone sleeps a few inches away from them.

“i do see us lasting, for a long time. i know you guys might think this is premature but i can see myself spending the rest of my life with her.” luke’s words made your heart rate pick up, “i want her to come to new jersey, but after she has completed all her schooling. i can’t ask her to give up her education for me, it means too much to her.” 

“but if she goes pre-med she will have a lot more years of school, it’s an extra four years and usually more. could you wait about ten years for her? is she worth it?”

“y/n is absolutely worth it, i don’t care how long it takes for her to finish school she is it for me.” tears had started to well up in your eyes, you couldn’t pretend to be asleep anymore. 

you shot up from your spot on the couch and tackled luke in a hug, you had never doubted luke’s commitment for you, but to hear him say it, especially to people who aren’t the biggest fan of you meant a lot.

“i love you luke.” you whispered, a few tears spilling out. 

“i love you too baby.” 

you both missed the look his brothers gave each other, a look that said “maybe she isn’t so bad”

+++

 you didn’t make it into the pre-med program. your parents had opened the letter with you over facetime, you were crushed. yes you could apply next year, and every year after that until you got accepted, but you didn’t want to do that, you wanted to get into the program after one try and that didn’t happen. 

luke was there for you, he held you while you cried, comforted you when trevor accidentally got you a congratulations balloon thinking you were accepted, and stayed with you during the days even though you knew he wanted to spend time with people that weren’t you.

one day you did force him to go out on the lake, dylan and mackie had arrived that morning and you know he wanted to hang out with them, even though he told you he was happy to spend the day with you. you spent a lot of the day cleaning, with ellen gone the house started to look like only teenage boys were staying there. once you were done with that you made lunch and headed back upstairs to finish your next task. after plenty of talks with your parents, and a few emails with your advisor, you decided to change your major to business. all your life you’d been making clothes, you thought you might just make a career out of it because you enjoy doing it so much. you hadn’t told anyone other than your parents, you were scared to. you didn’t want anyone, more specifically luke, to think you were giving up on becoming a medical examiner just because you got one rejection letter. and you did what you did best when you were anxious about something, you made clothes and cleaned. when luke went back to your hometown last week he grabbed your storage tote full of all the essentials, your sewing machine, the brand new embroidery machine your parents bought you to celebrate completing your first year of university, and way too many fabrics. while you’ve been bunkered up in luke’s room, not wanting to face the world just yet you’ve made lots of items. ties for jim, a sweater for ellen, another bathing suit for luke, and today you were determined to make matching shirts for you and luke. you started with making basic white tee, you could’ve easily bought them but there is no fun in that, and then you decided to do a heat transfer of the design you picked out.

they were gonna be gag gifts, every year one of the frats hosts a “twin” party where you and your date show up in matching outfits and this year you and luke were going together. your shirt would say “i 🩷 my boyfriend” with an image of the two of you on the back, and his would be the exact same but with girlfriend instead of boyfriend. the creation of the shirts didn’t take as long as you thought it would, so now you were looking for more things to do, you weren’t able to make a decision as luke’s door was opened by jack. 

“hey me and quinn are going to get ice cream, would you like to come?” you accepted their offer, knowing that you needed to get out of the house. 

it didn’t hit you that this would be the first time you would be alone with luke’s brothers, ever. sure you had your conversation with quinn the other night, but now that jack was here it made you just as fearful, a bit more even.

+++

“so what did you do today? i know that luke went out with dylan and mackie, we haven’t been seeing you much.” jack said once you all sat down for ice cream.

“well i assume you guys heard that i did not make it into the pre-med program so i’ve just been in a small slump lately–” you were cut off by quinn.

“we actually didn’t know, but that makes sense why trevor felt so guilty about the balloon he got you.” 

“yeah, but today i actually switched my major. i’m gonna study business now, possibly entrepreneurship, i decided to pursue a career more based on starting my own clothing company.” you told the boys, who glanced at each other.

“well that is amazing, congratulations. have you told luke yet?” jack asked, beating quinn to speaking.

“no, you guys are actually the first people i’ve told, trying to avoid others thinking i’m giving up on pre-med.” the boys nodded at your reasoning, quinn decided to fill the silence this time.

“luke told us he brought up your clothing stuff, have you made anything?”

“yeah, i’ve made a couple ties, some shirts, a sweater, and a swimsuit.” you laughed at their shocked faces. “i’ve had a lot of free time since i haven’t been leaving the house.”

+++

it had now been five days since you switched your major and you still hadn’t told luke, even if you wanted to tell him you probably wouldn’t have the time to since he has been with dylan, mackie, and the couple other michigan players that have arrived at the house. this is one of the reasons why you didn’t want to stay any longer than a week, you knew luke was going to become distant when his friends showed up.

waking up to an empty bed became normal, luke and the other boys would do some training in the mornings. so like you did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, you got up and made your way downstairs to make breakfast. quickly distracted by the mess that had been made from what you assumed were smoothies or homemade protein shakes. you silently cursed whoever made the mess while you cleaned it up, then moving on to do some laundry. towels and swimsuits had been piling up in a very overfilled basket and you knew none of the boys were gonna do it. once the load was in you moved on to tidy up the living room, folding blankets, fluffing pillows, vacuuming. 

“stress cleaning?” you whipped your head around to see jack sitting on top of a freshly fluffed pillow and unfolding a blanket.

“no, why would you think that?” you said, while walking over to get him off of the loveseat to make it presentable again.

“because you still haven’t told luke about switching majors and the more you hold off the worse you think he is going to react.” jack stated, “also, you just kicked me out of my seat to do whatever the hell that is.” pointing to you as he sat down on the floor.

you scoffed and stopped karate chopping the throw pillow once it looked nice enough. “you don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

 “just tell him y/n, i’m serious. he is only going to be more hurt the longer you take to tell him, and you don’t wanna hurt my brother, i’ve just started to like you.” he smirked when you glared at him.

“haha very funny jack.” 

“what’s got you so scared to tell him anyways?” jack asked in a much softer tone of voice, patting the spot on the carpet next to him. 

you sat before sighing. “i don’t want him to think i’m giving up on something just because of one small hardship. all the time i hear him bragging to his teammates and friends about how his girlfriend is super smart and is gonna be the best doctor for the dead in the world one day, i’m scared to disappoint him.” you felt a couple tears in your eyes before you continued to speak. “i’ve seen him researching med schools near newark, one’s that have the best program for medical examiners. he believes in me, he knows i could do this even if i don’t, and i don’t want him to think i’m dumbing myself down to a bachelors in the most basic study field ever.” by the end of your small rant the tears had begun falling, they weren’t sobs but they were there.

“y/n, luke loves you so much. you getting a four year degree in business is not going to change that, yes he is your number one supporter when it comes to you becoming a medical examiner, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be your number one supporter when it comes to you being a fashion designer, or whatever it is you want to do i’m a little confused.” you laughed as jack continued. “do you know how much shit me and the guys have given him for some of the things he wears, we don’t even call him luke anymore he is just “simp” to us now, but he doesn’t care about that, he cares about you and your happiness, and if getting made fun of for wearing matching swimsuits with you or wearing a hat with your initials on it means making you happy, he is going to do it. he will be there for you no matter what because he loves you, and i can see why he does. you’re an amazing person y/n, and i’m so sorry for how i have been treating you over the past ten months. i know that sorrys aren’t enough to make up for what we did to you, but i hope it can be a start to us becoming friends because i need more people to bother luke with me.” you smiled and pulled jack into a hug, thanking him for the apology and kind words as well as forgiving him.

“one more thing, did he really refer to you as a future doctor for the dead?” jack asked, laughing a little.

“yes, it was so funny.” 

+++

you and jack decided to watch a movie while you waited for luke to come back from training, quinn soon joined you two on the floor after he had woken up. it was nice, there was no awkward tension, no glares being thrown in your direction, you felt like you were all getting along for the first time and that made you smile.

“um why are you all on the floor?” dylan’s voice cut the peacefulness that had come over the three of you, all three of you quickly looked away from the tv to see the boys all back from training. you made eye contact with luke who was looking at you with a shocked, but very happy, expression. you just smiled and gave him two thumbs up, before turning towards jack and quinn to excuse yourself. you made your way to luke and gave him a kiss and grabbed his hand to take him upstairs, but not before telling jack to switch the laundry loads for you.

+++

once you were in luke’s room he began asking you questions about what he had just walked in on.

“well i was stress cleaning and jack walked in on me doing it and somehow got me to tell him about all my problems, if hockey doesn’t work out for him you should tell him to join the counseling field, but after i went a mini rant about what i’ve been fixated on lately he apologized and we talked everything out and i think we are officially on good terms.” you said in one breath, smiling as luke wrapped you up in a hug.

“what about quinn? is everything okay between you two?” you nodded and explained that you had talked it out with him a couple days ago. 

+++

you and luke started getting ready for the dinner party that the hughes brothers were invited to and you were going as luke’s plus one, you didn’t fully understand what it was for but all you knew was that it was a semi-formal event, making it the perfect opportunity to have luke wear the tie you made him a few days prior, the one that matched your soft pink dress. 

as you were doing your makeup luke spoke up again, going back to your conversation from before.

“wait babe, you said that you were stress cleaning. what are you stressed about?” luke asked, walking into the bathroom and leaning against the counter. you looked at him through the mirror and continued applying mascara as you told him.

“about a week ago, after i got the rejection letter, i switched my major to business and entrepreneurship, to pursue a career in fashion. i didn’t tell you because i was nervous on how you would react, and the longer i kept it from you the more stressed out i got. i’m sorry i didn’t tell you sooner, i know how excited you were to be dating a genius and now i’ve let you down.” you looked at his face to see his reaction, but his face wasn’t telling you anything. 

silence took over the bathroom as luke tried to find the right words to say.

“you could never let me down y/n, yes i am a little upset that it took you so long to tell me, but i understand why you did it. i am proud of you and everything you have accomplished so far. so med school isn’t for you? you are going to kick ass in the fashion industry babe, they won’t know what hit them.” he smiled at you before wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his head on your shoulder. “i love you y/n, never doubt that.” 

“i love you too luke.” 

+++

you and luke sat in the living room waiting for his brothers to come downstairs, you began to get a little antsy as you feared you would be late if you didn’t leave in the next five minutes.

“would you two hurry up! y/n is pacing back and forth cursing you guys for making us late.” luke yelled up to his brothers, who quickly made their way downstairs.

“sorry we weren’t sure how to tie these ties.” quinn said once they were both at the bottom of the steps.

you looked up at them and instantly began smiling. “you’re wearing them.”

jack and quinn looked at you, both with huge grins on their faces, before pulling you into a hug. they were wearing the ties you had made them for the holidays, nearly a year ago. 

“we love our gifts.” and “better late than never” were said but you weren’t sure who said which.

you quickly called for luke to stand with his brother so you could take a photo of the three of them. 

“you better post that on your main y/n, show the world you have the coolest future brother in-laws ever.” jack shouted as he raced luke for shotgun. 

you don’t know how you got so lucky.

+++

note: OMG it’s done. this was a bit hard to write because the whole time i was horrified it would flop or people wouldn’t like it, and i’m still horrified lols (the ending is so rushed i don't like it). anyways i hope you enjoyed, feedback is so greatly appreciated. it lets me know what i’m doing that people like and what i could be changing about my writing. just hoping this one does number like lucky did. have a great day, love y’all babes <3!!

[flowerfreya]

An Understanding

Inspired by this post

@cod-fishing

Pairing: Kate Laswell x Reader

Content: reader is bi but has never been with a women. Price knows someone that can help with that.

A/n: I am not trying to fetishiz lesbian and if I did or am, please please please lmk and I will change it so I’m not.

Warning: Lesbians having sex. No p in v or strap in v. Scissoring. Oral sex ( f giving and f receiving) . MDNI

Price is taking you out tonight, he told you to find a nice dress at the little boutique that you rave about but never go in because of how expensive it is. You’ve only been dating for a short amount of time but you think you found your person, you talk, he listens , he has a good job, and man, the sex ? amazing.

>> what color should I be wearing tonight ?

He didn’t give you much context for tonight, but having a fancy dinner on a Tuesday is a little bit weird, but who are you to deny a free meal.

You’ve been ready for thirty minutes just sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him to pick you up.

>> I’m here.

You practically prance out of your apartment and see John waiting outside the passenger door for you.

“You look beautiful”, he opens the door for you and places a kiss on your lips, you make just a quick peck, “I did my makeup and I want it to last”. You don’t usually have time or an event to do your make up for so when you do , you go all out.

In the car Price clears his throat and mentions that they will be hosting a acquaintance at this dinner. That makes you a little more nervous, you know nothing about his work and making small talk is already a challenge but add in something you don’t know, it turns into asking about the weather four times in a row. At the restaurant , you take a seat in front a women, no a lady.

She looks to be just as old as Price , wearing a pantsuit and sipping on a brown liquid inside a tumbler.

“Your late”, as Price sits downs. Your eyes widen and you lower your head.

“Sorry Kate you know how it is”, he pats your thigh as he says it. You glance over at him , trying to understand where he is going with this.

They have been making eyes at each other all night. Not romantic but all knowing eyes. John takes a sip of his whiskey and turn to you,”honey remember what we talked about yesterday?”.

You turn your head a little embarrassed that he’s bringing that up now. In front of Laswell.

“Yes, do we have to talk about this now?” , you say softly thinking if you talk low enough she won’t be able to hear you (she most definitely can hear you). You turn and give an awkward smile and try to move the conversation along.

John lets out a little chuckle, “I know someone that could help”, and then motions his head towards Kate. Which has you looking over at her, she gives you a comforting smile and then moves her hand to your thigh. You can’t seem to look away and the warm feeling of her hand is spreading around your whole body.

You turn back to John, “but I’m with you, I love you …”, you trail off, you didn’t want to say it this early but it is the truth and you don’t want to ruin that because you have this one off fantasy of being dominated by an older women.

“Oh honey , I know you do but I want this for you”, he says with an easy smile. “I’ll be there the whole time”. That kind of makes you feel better but not by that much.

Then Laswell speaks up, “you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to”, her hand glides up, getting closer to your heart, “but it feels like you want too”, making your heart beat faster than before.

John places his hand on your shoulder , you turn your head and look at him , really trying to determine if this was okay , and with a nod of encouragement, you place your hand on top of Laswell’s and move it.

You let out a full body shudder and her hand connects. Your mouth falls open and sucks in a breath. You hear John say something about going upstairs. But you can’t focus on anything but making sure to breathe and keeping her hand on your pussy.

They lead you to the elevator and since it’s late enough the only people on the elevator are you three.

John is kissing the back of your neck, sucking and whispering about how you're his sweet girl.

Laswell taps your lips with her hand not being used for anything, “Can I get a kiss?”, you can’t do anything but nod and pucker your lips.

You’ve had good kissing before, hell the best kisser you know is right behind you but this is different. Maybe it’s because you never kissed a woman but it softer ,more delicate , like she already knows what she wants. Then she sticks her tongue in your mouth and you let out the a high pitch moan and you hand grip behind you to John’s legs. “You like that”, she laughs into your mouth.

“Yeah”, you whisper back.

By the time you get to the hotel room, your panties are soaked. You take the bed , Kate is standing in front of the tv and John takes a seat in the corner. Kate closes in and in a very serious manner ask , are you sure. You answer by starting to take off your dress. Your hands are shaking, nervous but so excited. Kate helped you take off the rest of your dress and everything leaving you naked and her still fully dressed.

She hums, “start undressing me”, she pulls you closer and puts your hands on her breast. She starts kneading them with her hands on top of yours. You didn’t think that you were a breast girl , because you can admire anyone’s ass but her boobs are amazing and you just want to lay in between them and suck until your heart's content.

You're a little shaky getting all the buttons undone but you don’t even take the time to take her bra off. You pull her tit out of the cup and start sucking. She arches her back and lets out a low moan. Your hand is tweaking with the other nipple.

You look up and see John rubbing himself through his pants, “You look so pretty, baby”. You never know what to say when he says things like that, not one for accepting or receiving compliments,”thank you”, you reply back softly.

Laswell is petting your head, she’s taken all her clothes off, “lay in the middle of the bed sweetheart”, you move to the middle, legs closed, your teeth are chattering, you don’t know what to expect.

She crawls to you , your face to face. She lock her lips with yours, kissing you harder than she did in the elevator. Nibbling your bottom lip, “open for me”, has you spread your legs. Her starts in small gently circles on your clit, almost barely there.

“Feels good?”, the only way you respond is throwing your head back and lifting your hips up hoping for more pressure. She starts kissing down your body paying close attention to the valley between your breast. Moving to your stomach and then to your pussy.

She breathes it in , “you smell so good”. Then she takes a long lick. You short circuit.

“You know what they say”, then she licks again. Flicking the tip of tongue on your clit.

You’re r a moaning mess , sweat starting to develop. You’re apologizing because you know your starting to smell.

“No need to apologize, makes you taste even sweeter”, she grins at you almost like a Cheshire Cat.

She goes back down and licks you until you’re gripping her head and suffocating her with your thighs. Your hips are thrusting up and you’re mewling so close.

“Kate, that's the noise she makes when she’s close”, you hear John say.

John growls lowly, “Open your eyes and look down and see the pretty lady giving you orgasim”,you force your eyes open and look down and that makes you snap. A quiet grasp has you seeing stars.

You see Kate licking her lips , “breathe”, she demands, which has you sucking in a lungful of air.

Moving up towards, “You want some more?”, you nod fast and frantic and then she kisses you.

It’s nasty and wet and you love it. You’ve tasted your self before because John’s foreplay is eating you every time but this is different, more exciting because you’ve never done this before.

She gets you into position, her in between your legs and she starts moving. You’ve seen this in porn before , you never thought it would actually feel good. But oh my god.

It feels warm and wet and like your only using the best version of an amazing sex toy.

You look to see Laswell, flushed with her baby hairs sticking to the back of her neck and her eyes low but focused on you.

“You’re doing so good”, and she must know that you have a praise kink.

“Oh god” , your legs are tightening almost sticking straight in the direction that they are forced in.

You're speeding up , get messy and sloppy and Kate is matching your energy. She says your name over and over and over again like a prayer.

You erupt on her and then feel disconnected from your body like you're on a roller coaster but only going down feeling weightless.

When you come too you see Kate is still on top of you but not moving , breathing through her mouth and nose trying to catch her breath.

“Did you cum”, you ask softly.

“Don’t get shy on me now”, she runs her hand down your face, “of course I did”, and then she smiles.

John comes from somewhere with a warm washcloth and cleans you off,

“Did you have fun , sweet girl”, he ask in your ear.

“Yes, thank you”, and you give a nudge with your nose not really in the middle for kissing. Turning to Kate, with your head down, “thank you”, she puts her hand under your chin lifting it up nudging her nose against yours, “anytime sweetheart”.

Masterlist

[wandas-lovey]

I’m being delulu so i started wondering (¡again!) what life with five would be post-season 3. But like…he’s a teacher in this…

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

* after all his siblings left when Reggie reset the universe you’re left with a mopey five

* you’re both pretty sad the first couple of days having just lost the people you love most :(

* but we don’t have time to be sad we need to get jobs!!!

* im gaslighting myself into believing that five and you have a place to stay the first night in the new timeline instead of being homeless 💀

* five becomes a teacher in the new timeline and you can’t convince me otherwise

* and what do you know!! you become a teacher too :D

* five would definitely teach math while you’d teach history (cuz you traveled through time when working with the commission, idk just go with it)

* while your classes may be a bit hard for the students you two are definitely the schools favorite teachers!!

* i mean why wouldn’t you be? the students can’t get enough of the two mysterious young teachers who showed up out of nowhere in the middle of the school year….

* you two definitelyyyy didn’t threaten the previous math and history teachers to quit their jobs or else they’d be dead by nightfall

* I just know many students are crushing on you BOTH. have you seen yourself lately? You look great ;)

* you both find it funny tho cuz they believe they’re crushing on teachers who are in their early 20s when it’s actually two 50 year olds in their younger bodies

* you two wouldn’t be the type to eat lunch with the rest of the faculty. you’d eat together in each other’s classroom enjoying your time together even if it’s for a short time

* five’s the type of boyfriend/teacher who interrupts your class for the dumbest reasons just cuz he wants to see you :,)

“can i borrow your stapler for a minute?”

“i’m in the middle of class right now”

“Yes I’m aware but i need to finish stapling the students review packets”

“you bought a stapler yesterday…”

“yeah but yours works better”

“OUT!!!”

*your students definitely find it cute :)

* after witnessing playful banter between the teachers that was a little too ~flirtatious~ the students get suspicious of what’s actually going on between their math and history teacher

* “are-are you and mr.hargreeves together..?”

* up until this point neither of you have confirmed to your students what your relationship was with each other

“unfortunately we are” you say with a smile on your face

*after confirming your relationship that day, your students spent the rest of the class asking you all types of questions about your relationship

“how did you and mr.hargreeves meet??”

“how long have you been together?”

“did you ask him out first or did he ask you?”

“why did you wait this long to tell us??”

*when your classes switch out and head to their next class with mr.hargreeves they try and pester him too about your relationship

“why aren’t you married yet?!?”

“ oh wow. i didn’t realize that was any of your business”

* you two are the kind of teachers to always be chosen to be chaperones for school dances.

*five definitely complains the entire night about being tired and wanting to go home

*who could blame him. watching over teenagers for hours making sure no one’s bumping uglies is exhausting

“how much longer till we can leave? This music’s awful. I’d rather throw myself off a building than be here.”

“Five…we just got here”

“What’s your point?”

*after a long night of watching over whore-knee kids, you head home ending the night with curling up on the couch and falling asleep in each other’s arms while The Breakfast Club plays in the background

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

i have no clue how to fucking end this 💀

also this shit ain’t proofread

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A year later and this post is still better than the way season 4 ended 🤨🤨

[goldenseresinretriever]

You Catch More Bees With Honey: Chapter 11

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Reader

Part of the San Diego Dogfighters universe

Summary: Bradley Bradshaw, blindsided by a team he trusted like family has been traded to the San Diego Dogfighters. Across the country from the place he calls home, Bradley feels lost and betrayed. Not to mention the familiar faces and ghosts from his past that he now has to face every day at work. Bradley’s caught between wanting to show his former team the mistake they made in double-crossing him and wondering if it’s time to hang up his skates after one final season. You’re living your dream as the PR representative for the Dogfighters. When Coach Maverick made a bid to bring his godson to the team, you hadn’t batted an eye. Bradley was a good teammate, and a good player. Unfortunately, the Bradley that shows up in San Diego is nothing like your research suggested. He’s moody, irritable, aggressive, and angry, throwing a wrench in all your careful planning. What’s caused such a drastic change in him? And can you figure out how to help him before he makes a mistake you can’t fix?

Series CW: 18+ ONLY, swearing, dead parents, drunkenness, alcohol consumption, violence, sports violence, blood probably, angst, fluff, eventual smut, age gap (28 and 38), enemies to lovers, suggestive language, hockey inaccuracies etc. There will be individual chapter warnings. No use of Y/N.

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: This is a repost of my completed series, You Catch More Bees With Honey. It was originally posted in November-March 2023, and was lost when my blog was deleted.

Previous Chapter // Series Masterlist // Next Chapter

Bradley frowns in the mirror. He glances at his phone and frowns again. If he keeps this up he’s going to be late. The truth of the matter is that he doesn’t want to go. It’s Friday. It’s been a week since getting back from D.C. and it feels like it’s been a million years. He’d gotten used to it, waking up with you in his arms every morning. Every night this past week he’s had to stop himself from asking you to come over. He’d put the ball in your court, though. You’d asked him to pump the brakes so he had, and he’d promised to respect that.

On top of that, he hadn’t seen much of you this week. The two of you have been busy working nonstop since getting home early Friday morning. You’d both headed home half-asleep from the airport before having to be back first thing Saturday for a game versus Vancouver. The most time alone you’d gotten together was that Saturday morning when you’d called him into your office to sign the official paperwork that would make your relationship officially disclosed to the rest of the team. He smiles as he remembers your soft smile, shy as you signed your name next to his. He’d been sorely tempted to take you right then and there on your desk but he knew that was strictly off-limits and questionably unprofessional at best. He’d settled with a simple kiss to your cheek that had your skin heating under his lips in a way that he loves so much.

Saturday’s game was followed by two more home games on Tuesday and Thursday with Carolina and New Jersey respectively. It definitely didn’t help that yesterday’s game had been nationally broadcast which meant you’d been absolutely slammed with work and preparations all week. He also knows you went out last night with Mickey and some of his former New Jersey teammates.

It didn’t make missing you any easier. He doesn’t have time to call you but he does it anyway, putting the phone on speaker as he fixes his hair. It’s been too long since he’s gotten you all to himself and he’s feeling selfish tonight. You pick up on the third ring, your bright voice echoing around the empty bathroom as he smiles to himself, his mood already lifting. “Hi Bradley, what can I do for you?” He chuckles.

“What? I can’t call my girlfriend without wanting something from her?” It’s new, this label you’ve put on things. Actually, neither of you has yet to actually use the label but he likes the way it sounds in his mouth. He hears your breath hitch and he knows he’s caught you by surprise. Suddenly he’s wondering if he’s overstepped when your voice fills the room yet again.

“Your girlfriend?” Your voice is tentative and he wishes you were here so he could wrap you in his arms and chase away all your doubts with his lips.

“I know I didn’t sign an official form to be the guy you occasionally kiss and take spontaneous road trips with, Honey.” He hears you giggle and his smile tugs wider.

“Plus I guess it would be pretty awkward if you introduced me to your parents and I wasn’t your girlfriend.”

“Nah, I would have introduced you anyway. They would have loved you.” He says and sighs deeply as he looks into the mirror again. He doesn’t want to go to this dinner. He wants to invite you over and have your laugh bounce off the walls for real. He wants your warmth to fill every room of the apartment. He wants to sit you on the kitchen island while he cooks for the two of you and then he wants you to spend the night in his bed so your scent will be glued to his sheets until the next time he can coax you there.

“Any fun plans tonight, Bear?” Your sweet voice breaks through his thoughts and his lips twitch at the new nickname.

“Bear?” He hears you giggle again and smiles.

“Yeah, because you’re big and scary when you want to be but you’re also a secret cuddler and give the best hugs.” He can imagine the way your cheeks are heating as you continue to rain compliments on him. “And bears like honey.” You add matter-of-factly. This bear happens to love honey but he knows better than to mention that right now. “So? Any fun plans tonight?” He groans then as he’s reminded that if he doesn’t leave soon he’s going to be late.

“Dinner at Mav’s.” He doesn’t have to say anything for you to know exactly how excited he is for that.

“And how are you feeling about that?” You ask tentatively and he sighs.

“Honestly, Honey? It’s the last place I want to be right now. I’d much rather be having dinner with you.” He can’t help the admission as he lets it slip.

“That makes two of us.” Suddenly he really REALLY doesn’t want to go. “But that being said, I’ve had a migraine and hangover all day after last night.” You let out your own groan and a fond but concerned smile touches Bradley’s lips. He wants nothing more than to wrap you up and spoil you rotten. He can tell you’re exhausted and he wants to be one to take care of you.

“Get some rest, Honey, you’ve had a long week.” You groan again and Bradley hears paper rustling. His brows furrow as you confirm his suspicions.

“I’d love to but I’ve got a literal mountain of paperwork that needs to get done before I can leave. And then I have to go grocery shopping because there’s literally nothing in my fridge.” You let out a frustrated whine and Bradley’s about five seconds away from texting Maverick to cancel so that he can bring you here and dote on you. Unfortunately, his mother’s voice in his head takes that exact moment to remind him that Penny’s making dinner and while Maverick certainly doesn’t deserve his respect, she does.

“Tell you what, Honey.” He hears you hum in response. “Finish up your work and come over. I’ll give Tony my spare key and tell him to let you in. Order some pizza and get comfortable and I’ll be back before you know it.”

You’re silent for a long moment before you ask. “Bear?”

“Yes, Honey?”

“Do you have a tub?” He blinks, surprised by the question as he turns around and looks at the free-standing porcelain tub behind him.

“I do.” He hears some rustling from your end before you ask.

“Can I have a bubble bath?” His laugh echoes off the walls of the bathroom at your simple request.

“Honey, you can have whatever you want.” He replies and he’s surprised to find that he truly means it. He’d lasso the moon for you if you asked and he’s not even sure what you’d want it for in the first place. He hears your squeal of delight on the other end of the call and smiles as he imagines you here, in his space, the thing he’s been dreaming of all week. “Honey, I hate to cut things short, but I need to start heading over to Mav’s. I’ll see you after?”

“No problem, see you soon, Bear!” Your voice is much more cheery than he feels but he can feel your infectious attitude raising his mood. He hears the line disconnect and lets out a heavy sigh.

The promise of you waiting here when he gets back is what drives him to finish getting ready. He makes sure to give Tony the spare key and doesn’t miss the look the older man gives him when he tells him to expect the young woman from last week. His cheeks are still pink when he pulls out of the parking garage.

***

When Bradley finally sees the house he can’t help the disgusted sneer that pulls his lips. The house is huge, to say the least. He knows he shouldn’t be surprised, given Mav’s long and highly decorated career, but all he can think about is the house he grew up in. How the lawn was almost always overgrown while his mother was alive and the paint was almost always peeling off the sides no matter how much he tried to help with the upkeep when he had the time. Mr. Peterson from next door had helped out more often than not but Bradley remembers the feeling of the calluses on his mother’s hands when he held them, first as a small child and then later at the cusp of adulthood as she’d laid in the hospital near the end. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in his mother working, but he knew deep down that that wasn’t the life that she or his father had imagined for her when they got married.

Carole Bradshaw was Nick’s Princess, his Queen. He wanted to give everything in the world to her on a silver platter. And he’d been on the road to doing so. He’d made it all the way to the NHL, and he got to play on the regular roster. Things were looking up. Carole could focus on raising their son instead of struggling to make ends meet, filling the kitchen table with her delicious cooking instead of piles of bills that needed paying. It would have broken his heart to see how her life turned out.

They weren’t poor, not by any means. Bradley knew that as much as he knew that it was mostly due to the person whose driveway he was currently pulling into. Maverick had been nothing but generous when it came to money, but there were simply some things that money couldn’t buy and he didn’t seem to understand that from the limited conversations Bradley had had with him.

Bradley thinks back to Dare’s little bungalow that he’d visited barely a week ago. She’d coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to five Stanley Cup wins and yet she isn’t living in this state of excess. What disgusts him the most is that she should be. All of this should be hers too.

He tries to get his temper under control as he strolls up the walkway to the double doors. He hears barking coming from inside and when he rings the doorbell he does his best to smile back at Penny Benjamin. Penny Benjamin is a confusing situation for him. He knows that none of this is her fault, Mav abandoning his entire past and everyone involved in it, but it’s hard not to blame her when she’s here, living in Maverick’s McMansion with her pseudo-husband and dog. He leans down to scratch the ears of the elderly Labrador. “Bradley, glad you could join us, come on in.” He follows her inside, down hallways lined with photographs from over the years of Maverick, Penny, and a little girl who ranges in age across the various photos. “That’s my daughter, Amelia,” Penny explains when she catches him watching.

“Yours?” He asks before clarifying. “Just yours, I mean?” He can feel his cheeks heating as his mother’s voice chides him for asking such an inappropriate question.

She doesn’t seem ruffled, nodding. “Just mine, from my ex-husband. She’s probably around your age, she was barely a few months old when I met Maverick. He may not be her birth father but he’s the only one she’s ever known.” Bradley hates the bitterness that pools in his stomach at her words. The jealousy that he could have been the child in the pictures on the wall, doted on by his godfather who should have stepped into the role left vacant by the death of his father.

He’s doing his best to reign in his emotions as they reach the dining room, but it all goes to hell the moment he realizes he’s not the only guest at this dinner. Seated across from Maverick is none other than Dare. Bradley has to fight to keep his hands from curling into fists at his sides because the woman at the dining table is nothing like the one he’s seen before. Usually Dare is the picture of confidence without looking cocky. She knows what she’s doing and she’s not afraid to show it. She reminds him of you and the kind of woman that he’s sure you’ll grow up to be. Now that confidence is gone and Bradley’s fighting the urge to throttle the man that he’s sure is responsible. She looks unsure of herself and as uncomfortable as he feels to be here if not more. He immediately moves to take the seat next to her, keeping his eyes off Maverick as he does his best to assess for damage. He knows it’s probably nothing that he can see but he wants to because all he sees is his mother after a long day of carrying a burden that’s not hers to carry anymore. He can’t count the number of times he’s seen that face and it breaks his heart to see it now, on the face of someone who shouldn’t have to suffer but who is anyway. All because one self-centered fool can’t be bothered to get his head out of his ass.

Maybe he does it out of protectiveness, but maybe he does it out of pure spite, but he does it anyway. He wraps his arms around the older woman, the way she had done for him in her kitchen while he fell apart in his arms. He knows it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things, but he intends to make up for the sins of his godfather if he can. Be there for the person who was there for his mother, for him even if he hadn’t been able to fully appreciate it at the time. The way her body tenses under him at first is the only evidence of her surprise at the gesture but she reciprocates the hug and Bradley finds himself engulfed in a scent that stirs in his memory. He can’t draw a concrete image from it but he knows he’s smelt it before like these hugs aren’t something new just something forgotten. When Bradley finally breaks the hug to sit next to Dare, Maverick is looking at them, surprised.

“I didn’t realize the two of you were close.” He says awkwardly. Bradley knows he shouldn’t do it but there’s something so satisfying about seeing Maverick as uncomfortable as he and Dare are so he pushes.

“She’s my godmother, why wouldn’t we be?” Sure this thing with Dare was new but that didn’t negate the fact that she’d been around his whole life. And sure he was stretching the truth a little, but measured on a scale of Maverick’s involvement in his life? Dare was winning the godparent race by a landslide. Maverick’s eyebrows raise with surprise, and Bradley watches the confusion swirl in his eyes. He’s fighting the urge to smirk as he feels fingers brush his own and he laces them. His throat is rough as he feels the callouses on her palm and he wonders at how much her hand reminds him of his mother’s, the soft wrinkles on the back contrasted by the rough patches on the front.

Penny breaks the tension as he comes back into the dining room from the kitchen. “Bradley, can I get you something to drink?” He tears his eyes away from Maverick and stares at Penny for a beat too long before he mutters that water would be fine.

“So, why am I here?” Bradley asks once Penny has retreated to the kitchen.

“Dinner, I thought I told you,” Maverick starts before Bradley shakes his head.

“Not here at your house, here in San Diego.”

“Bradley, why don’t we wait until later to discuss-“

“No, we’re doing this now because I need to know.” He’s tired of dancing around the question that’s been plaguing him for almost six months now. Sure, he didn’t exactly regret the move now, but he wasn’t ready to just move on like nothing happened. “Not only did you uproot me from the team I’ve played for my entire career, but you made me leave my friends and my home. I deserve an actual answer as to why. And don’t you dare say you did it for me because if it was for me, you would have picked up the phone to ask me first instead of going behind my back.” In the back of his mind, he’s proud of how level he’s managed to keep his voice but at least part of that is due to Dare’s hand in his, squeezing tight in solidarity and grounding him.

Maverick shrugs like it’s a no-brainer. “I had the chance to work with you, so I took it. I thought it would be a good experience for us.”

Bradley feels all the fight drain out of him. All the pain that’s been caused and Maverick treats it like it’s nothing. Because to him it is. “What did you think? That I’d come to San Diego and suddenly I’d be ready to come over and drink beers and sing Kumbayah? What have I ever done to suggest that I would be interested in a relationship with you at all, professional OR personal?”

“Bradley, I’m your godfather-“

“BULLSHIT.” Bradley’s voice is raised finally as his emotion gets the best of him. “You may think you’re a god but you are certainly not my father. My father is dead, my DAD is dead, and you had every opportunity to step up and be there when I needed you. When my mom needed you. When WE needed you, but you didn’t.” He’s breathing hard. “That’s the thing that you just don’t seem to get. You don’t get to decide when I need you. You don’t get to be my godfather when it’s convenient for you and you’ve run out of hobbies to pass the time. I have a life! I have goals! None of which involve you. You don’t get access to my life just because of some title my dad thought you were worthy of. Because that’s just a word, you have to earn it.” Dare’s grip on Bradley’s hand is bordering on painful at this point but it feels good. It reminds him that he’s capable of feeling. The physical pain complements the emotional pain that’s threatening to tear the heart from his chest. He’s breathing hard and every part of him wants to leave right now. Except that he doesn’t want to leave Dare here. And he feels terrible about ruining Penny's perfectly good dinner. When it’s clear that Maverick isn’t about to argue any of the points that Bradley’s just made he stands and walks into the kitchen to cool off.

Penny’s filling a glass with water and passes it to him wordlessly and he drinks it, hoping to cool his head. “Sorry to ruin your dinner.” He says awkwardly as he fiddles with the glass. She shakes her head and takes the glass back from him, refilling it as she considers her words.

“You’re hurting Bradley, I would hate for something as simple as a dinner to cause you more pain.” He nods silently.

“My mom would be so disappointed with me right now.” He’s not sure why he admits it but it’s all he can think of as he looks around the kitchen at the plates of sides and cooling casserole dish on the counter.

“Really? Because if I was her I’d be proud of you.” He looks back at Penny, eyes wide with surprise. “You stood up to Pete, and told him your real feelings. You were honest with him even if it hurt you to do it. I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of. That’s brave.” She reaches up then and cups his cheek gently, a fond smile on her face. “I’m sorry that I didn’t push him more, to be a part of your life, to be there for you and your mom. I was selfish and I never meant for you to get hurt by that.” Bradley shakes his head.

“You were probably scared that he’d leave you too. It seems like that’s all he’s good for.”

“I was scared then, yes. And now I know that I shouldn’t have been because that’s not Pete, not really. He’s a complicated man and doesn’t always have the best judgment but he’s good under it all, I can tell you that much. It’s completely fair of you to not want him to be a part of your life, but if you ever decide otherwise? We’ll be waiting for you.” Bradley swallows hard, unable to look her in the eye. “Can I pack some dinner up for you, sweetie?”

He nods absentmindedly before adding. “Can you pack some for Dare too, I don’t want to leave her here.” Penny just nods and sets about getting out some Tupperware.

“I don’t blame you.” Bradley blurts out before he loses his nerve. “Just because I’m mad at Maverick doesn’t mean I’m mad at you. We choose who we love, we don’t choose who loves us.” She gives him a soft smile.

“That’s a good insight, Bradley.”

“It’s what my mom used to tell me.” He shrugs even as he feels the tears pressing against the backs of his eyes. Penny finishes boxing up two dinners and Bradley takes the two plastic bags from her as they go back into the dining room. “Aunt Dare, are you ready to go?” The words, although new, feel familiar in his mouth like a warm hug. She looks at him surprised and then her eyes fall on the bags in his hand and then shift to Penny who just smiles.

“We can reschedule for another day.” Dare nods and a silent conversation occurs between the two women as she stands and follows Bradley to the front door. Penny sees them out. Maverick still hasn’t gotten up from the table.

Once the front door closes behind them, Bradley and Dare walk to their cars in silence until they get to them. “Do you have any plans for the evening?” Bradley asks, tentatively. He knows you’re probably still at work since he’s barely spent thirty minutes here. He also knows you’d want him to do this instead of worrying about you. Dare shakes her head, still quiet, considering him. “What do you say we take dinner to your place?” She smiles gently and then wraps her arms around Bradley. He relaxes into her embrace.

“Thank you, Bradley,” she whispers into his hair and his heart clenches at the thickness of her voice. “Dinner sounds lovely.” She says as she lets him go. “I’ll meet you there.”

They get into their cars and Bradley follows Dare back to her place. He frowns to himself when he sees the overgrown yard. She lets them in and he excuses himself to the bathroom while she dishes up Penny’s food. When he gets back, he’s just about to sit down at the kitchen table when a shout from Dare in the kitchen makes him freeze.

“Maverick, get off the counter RIGHT NOW!” He whips around, expecting to see a man but instead, a burst of orange fuzz speeds out of the kitchen in a blur. Bradley follows the blur as it perches on the arm of the sofa, regarding him with yellow eyes. The orange cat is more fur than cat and looks fairly old despite how spry it clearly is. “Maverick Mitchell the Third, you know better to get on the kitchen counter.” Dare comes out of the kitchen, an unamused scowl on her face as she sets her hands on her hips and glares at the cat. “Can’t you see we have a guest?” The cat, Maverick, turns to regard Bradley curiously. “Bradley, that’s Maverick.” She says to Bradley, her scowl melting into a look of fondness. Bradley gives the cat a half-hearted wave, still recovering from the shock of the cat sharing a name with his godfather.

“He wasn’t here last time.” Bradley blurts out lamely and she chuckles, bringing out two plates.

“He was locked in my room. I didn’t know if you were a cat person and I didn’t want to appear too much like a crazy old cat lady.” Bradley smiles at that.

“You’re not old.” He points out.

“But still a crazy cat lady noted.” She smiles back and Bradley laughs, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

“Your words, not mine.” They laugh together and the tension from earlier seems to seep out of both their bodies. “So, you named your cat Maverick?” He says as they dig into the food. It’s delicious and he makes a note to mention it to Penny the next time he sees her. Dare nods thoughtfully.

“Pete was always just Pete to me. I hated that nickname, so I never used it. Then when I got the cat to fill the void it just felt right.”

“Maverick the Third?” He asks around a bite of chicken casserole.

She shrugs. “I’m old after all.” There’s a lull in conversation as they east before Dare speaks up again. “Thank you, Bradley, for what you did today.”

“I meant every word of it. I know you’re upset that you weren’t around more when I was younger but you’re here now and I want you in my life if you want to be.”

She smiles and he can see the shine of tears in her eyes as she says “I’d like that very much.” He scoots his chair closer and reaches his hand out to hold hers. The sight of her wedding ring still on her finger makes his heart ache subtly. He can’t right every wrong that she’s suffered, but he can do his best.

“Aunt Dare, do you have a lawnmower?”

***

A few hours later Bradley’s riding the elevator back up to his apartment, reeking of dried sweat and freshly cut grass. It's the last he could do but he’d felt the conviction to get it done tonight. Admittedly it had been a while since he’d cut grass but he figured it looked alright when he finished. The sun has long since sunk beneath the horizon and he hopes you haven’t been waiting for him too long. The idea of feeling you in his arms propels him out of the elevator and through the door. He could really use one of your hugs after the evening he’s had.

“Honey?” He calls out for you as he enters the apartment, but he’s met with silence. A glance by the door tells him that you’re here since your sneakers are lined up neatly. He walks down the hall. “Mom, I’m home.” He calls out the photo as he passes by, more preoccupied with finding you. A glance at the living room tells him that you’ve been there. A blanket is rumpled on the couch where you were clearly wrapped in it and a pizza box lies abandoned on the kitchen counter but there’s still no sign of you. He doubles back and checks the guest room first but it’s pristine. Remembering your request for a bubble bath, Bradley heads into the master bathroom and while the room is still sticky with humid warmth and the tub contains remnants of said bubble bath, you’re still yet to be found. He heads back to the living room and tries the balcony. He knows from your last visit that you enjoy the view. He walks the entire length of the wrap-around balcony but it’s empty.

He’s genuinely starting to worry for your safety when his eyes fall on the glass door leading into his bedroom from the balcony. Not even a week ago you stood where he does now, blatantly ogling him as he got changed for game night. Now it provides the answer to his quest. You’re curled up in his bed, facing the window. The lights are still on but by the steady rise and fall of your chest, he can tell you’re asleep. He lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as he heads back inside, coming into his bedroom from the hallway. You’re indeed asleep, on the side of the bed you favored in D.C. As much as he wants to talk to you about the events of the evening he can’t bear to wake you when you look so peaceful. Stress doesn’t mar your features as you sleep and he begrudgingly trudges to the bathroom to shower before slipping in beside you. He knows he should wake you up, and give you the option to go home but he’s feeling selfish tonight so when he comes back to the bedroom to still find you sleeping soundly he turns out the lights and slides into the bed beside you. He’s resigned himself to staying on his side of the bed when you scoot your body up against his. He reaches for you instinctively, pulling you close and when you curl against him all is right in the world.

“Goodnight, Bear.” Your half-asleep voice murmurs as you drift between dreams.

“Goodnight, Honey.” He whispers back, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head as he lets the warmth of your body and the steady beat of your heart lull him to sleep.

[navnae]

Imagine Eddie leaving a review at every job Steve had worked at and goes out of his way to say how the service was fantastic because of the cute employee that works there, Steve blushes every time he reads it.

-

“Read this one, ‘the cutie that served me ice cream today was so sweet, I’ll definitely be stopping by again!’ Or this one ‘came back to get some ice cream sadly the cutie that’s usually there he wasn’t today still good service though.’ Steve are you seeing this?” Robin asked while pointing to her phone. Steve covered his blushing face and swatted Robin’s phone away.

“Rob please! I can’t take it anymore.” Steve wanted this to stop immediately. Robin has brought the online reviews to his attention and one customer specifically loves talking about him. Which he hated because he always got flustered because of it.

“I think you want to hear this one, ‘went to scoops today and the service was just top notch! The girl who works there is so sweet and naturally funny-“

“You’re just reading a review about you.” Steve interrupted. He earned an eye roll from Robin.

“Conceited much? I’m getting to that part ‘but her coworker just took the night away for me. He was also naturally funny, captivating, kind, and overall a beautiful soul that made my experience an unforgettable one.” Robin finished. Steve couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. That’s probably the sweetest thing he’s heard from anyone.

“Okay that’s kind of sweet.” Steve said shyly.

“They also added ‘the uniform is doing him justice, what a nice piece of eye candy while enjoying some sweet ol ice cream on the side’ huh… I think you have an admirer Steve.” Robin raised her eyebrows in a playful flirtatious way. Steve shook his head quickly dismissing the idea of anything of the sort.

“I don’t have an admirer. If anything that sounds like a loyal customer to me.” Steve replied while crossing his arms. Robin started laughing making Steve turn to her with confusion.

“Loyal is the right word because recently they’ve left comments on the family video website too.” Robin said in between laughs. Steve’s eyes widened once he processed what she was saying.

“What are you talking about?” Steve asked. Robin turned her phone towards him and his eyes scanned the comments that were about him. Steve wondered who this person could be, was it someone he knew by any chance?

“Listen to this one it was posted yesterday, ‘came in early in the morning to get a new set of movies and the cutie with the best personality was working that morning, already starting my day off just right.’ You have to find out who this person is they’re actually in love with you.” Robin teased.

“No one is in love with me. Now can we please get back to work?” Steve blurted out. Robin raised her hands to surrender then went to the back to straighten up a few things in the storage closet.

Steve stayed at the front of the store behind the counter to keep an eye out for the register and if anyone bothered to come in. He was also keeping his eye out for the anonymous commenter because curiosity got the best of him. Depending on who the customer was he might just add a little bit of enthusiasm to the conversation to keep the ball rolling and if they commented about their conversation specifically then he would know who it is. This idea floated in his head for awhile until the door of the store flew open ringing the bell. Steve looked up to see Eddie coming in with a big smile on his face. Occasionally Eddie would pop up to get some movies and kill the little bit of time he wanted to waste by talking to Steve until another customer came in. Eddie walked towards the counter and placed his elbow on it then put his chin in the palm of his hand.

“Morning, Harrington. Everything going smooth?” Eddie asked sweetly. Steve didn’t know why but he felt butterflies in his stomach when Eddie stared talking. The change in his voice so quickly just caught him off guard.

“Y-yeah it’s not really busy around here in the morning and I’m thankful for that.” Steve joked. Eddie laughed softly while looking down at the counter then met Steve’s eyes. Steve could feel his heart beating so hard in his chest that he had to look away or he might actually die. “Um… so what are you looking for today?”

“Actually I came to see you. Maybe this weekend we can hangout and watch some movies, drink, smoke, get fat off of popcorn. How does that sound?” Eddie leaned in a little as he asked the question. Steve’s mind went blank for a few seconds before managing to snap out of his thoughts.

“Sounds good, text me the time and I’ll be there.” Steve said happily. Eddie smiled and bit his lip while taking his elbow off the counter.

“Definitely. See ya then cutie.” Eddie said before winking then exiting the store. Steve laughed it off. He was used to Eddie being as flirty as possible whenever he was around Steve.

Now Steve had to focus on the task at hand, who was the anonymous commenter?

-

Edit: WOAH! I didn’t expect people to actually enjoy and want more??? But I will definitely give a follow up story! Also this is modern day I forgot to mention that 😅

[oh-austin]

photographer!yn

for all my wives because we can’t stop thirsting over these bts pics

liked by bazlurhman, oliviadejonge and 8,689 others

yourinstagram early hair and makeup test #elvisfilm

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user3 how did you get these pics?

↳ user5 she’s the film’s photographer, baz hired her

↳ yourinstagram that he did!! I have a very cool job

oliviadejonge making austin look 10x better

↳ yourinstagram it’s hard work 🥱

austinfan6 austin in these pics hnggggg 🥴🥴🥴

↳ austinfan8 makes me feel some sorta way

user11 are you going to post more Elvis bts

↳ yourinstagram my entire feed is now dedicated to pictures of my time in Australia and Elvis 🫶🏼

liked by user13, yourinstagram and 67,209 others

oliviadejonge yourinstagram and i take on australia

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yourinstagram miss dejonge arent you supposed to be on set right now?

↳ oliviadejonge miss l/n I didn’t think that canoodling with the talent was in your job description 🧐

↳ austinfan16 sorry what?

austinfan18 as if olivia just outed y/n like that

austinfan19 now olivia tell us which cast member y/n was kissing 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

↳ austinfan22 has to be austin

↳ user24 idk dacre was seen in queensland a few days ago…

liked by user19, austinbutler and 8,992 others

yourinstagram baz and austin in early hair and makeup tests for #elvisfilm

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austinfan22 just admit you’re dating austin

austinfan25 you’re not fooling anyone xo

austinbutler your eye for art never ceases to amaze me

↳ yourinstagram 🖤

↳ user26 what’re y’all doing? .. screwin?

↳ austinfan28 definitely

dacremontgomery you’re an amazing photographer y/n

↳ yourinstagram ❤️❤️

↳ austinfan30 me trying to decode what the different coloured hearts mean 😤😤😤

liked by austinbutler, bazlurhman and 11,315 others

yourinstagram six months in australia now, so grateful for my job and everything that’s come with it 🖤

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austinfan32 UHHHHH Y/N WHATS THAT NECKLACE YOURE WEARING

austinfan35 UMMMMM LIKE AN INTITAL NOT BECAUSE HE OWNS YOU.. BUT BECAUSE HE REALLY KNOWS YOU???

↳ austinfan36 I knew she was a swiftie 😭😭

user37 y/n exposed her and austin I can’t believe this 🫢

austinfan38 ‘A’ AS IN AUSTIN

yourinstagram has deleted this post !

liked by user41, austinfan43 and 3,766 others

austinupdates OKAY!!! So Y/N L/N, the Elvis film photographer, had the second post up yesterday and then deleted it because she was wearing a necklace with an ‘A’ on it (1st slide) Many people believe that they’ve been together for the last six months or so. Now Y/N has reuploaded the picture with the necklace CROPPED OUT (2nd slide)!!!

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austinfan44 Y/N YOURE NOT SLICK

user47 I understand wanting to keep our relationship private, but now everyone knows they should just tell us

austinfan49 I want y/n and austin content

user53 confused, wasn’t she sending hearts to dacre???

↳ austinfan55 she just replied to his comment with some

liked by yourinstagram, bazlurhman and 1,199,274 others

austinbutler grateful for this opportunity to fill such big shoes. thank you to my lady for capturing my first time all done up as the king #elvisfilm

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austinfan58 austin being the one to confirm their relationship was not on my bingo card for this year

austinfan61 MY LADY? Someone catch me im swooning

austinfan64 y/n these elvis pics are making me h-word…

↳ yourinstagram me too, it’s okay

user66 I cant wait for this movie

bazlurhman you’re such a talent 🌟

austinbutler 🖤🖤🖤

↳ yourinstagram 🖤

↳ austinfan68 guys i think black hearts are their thing, we might just be dumb 😭😭

oliviadejonge wait.. you’re dating y/n… I’m also dating y/n

↳ austinbutler yourinstagram care to explain?

↳ yourinstagram there’s enough of me to go around, go back to doing your jobs

[spooky-pop]

Hello! First of all, I want to say that I love your artwork, it’s always a pleasure to see it blessing my dash 💖

Secondly, in regard to your post about having to take a break, please make sure you take a long one! Or at the very least please don’t give in to the drawing temptations before you’ve given yourself adequate rest. Take it from someone who didn’t take a proper break when she needed to, I’m 5 years down the line with chronic hand pain that has severely impacted my art and quality of life. Not saying this will happen to you if you don’t rest, but it’s a potential worst case scenario if one were to rush back into things too soon.

I’m sure other fans of your work would agree that we’re happy to wait for you to feel better before you continue making your amazing artwork. So please don’t feel any pressure to rush the process 💖

(Sorry if any of this comes across condescending or not my place to comment. It’s just when I see artists mention their hands hurting, my immediate thought is “Don’t do what I did! Don’t end up like me!” and I never had anyone to tell me about the potential consequences).

Thank you for this!!! It's definitely a good reminder to slow down, I tend to get REALLY into art when I'm feeling my best and my hands just can't keep up as I'm getting older tbh. My hands just aren't what they used to be when I was in my early 20's/college years. Even when I was studying art and working a lot I really didn't take the proper care of my hands and neglected my stretches. I wish I could go back and shake my younger self but all we can do is take care of things the way they are now! <333

But yes, def gonna take some time to rest my hands and get a brace for my drawing hand, at least until I can get into my doc to see what's up. I think today I'm gonna upload some stuff I finished yesterday and then...take a breather haha. Because dang! Joint pain is NO JOKE!!!