#do you know how exciting it is to spot Jeremy in something new??

[connectionterminated13]

(Agony au) have Jeremy Charlie and Mike ever got into some shenanigans? Feel like they’d be the bunch to do so lol. Agony creature Mike, robot Charlie, and their normal human friend Jeremy

All of the shenanigans...

There's a lot of smaller more mundane shenanigans like Charlie and Jeremy coming up with reasons they desperately need to go to the hospital with Michael after some like horrible car crashed was broadcasted on the news, Charlie trying to tinker With her arm's again and like accidentally making it fall off so Mike has to spend the whole day trying to figure out how to reattach charlie's arm's as she's sitting there impatiently, All of them even Michael being in the middle of college And at least for Michael and Jerry having to hide the fact that they're not human.

There's a lot of bigger shenanigans like Mikey finding Ella at a garage sale who is the first other agony creature he's ever met that isn't his family. Charlie feels weird about it since that's like her doll (Or one that looks exactly like it) Jeremy just thinks that Michael should do his freaky absorption thing on the creature since according to Michael it isn't really sentient. Michael tries to talk to it, But after a while just gives up and instead of consuming it, he just sells it to a pawn shop. He doesn't tell Jeremy or Charlie about this he just makes it a lie about her running away. They wouldn't understand why he'd let something that could hurt people go. This little creature thing is the same as him. If the world was slightly different this thing could have became his sibling... And who knows maybe if he lets it out it can develop sentence and a life like he did doesn't it deserve that?

There's a lot of shenanigans trying to get Jeremy into College despite him being very very dead. Which they are able to do through a lot of forgery. Which means he gets to go to college with them which is awesome but he also has to use a fake name an illusion disk... Either way it's a very happy moment for everyone and There's lots of crying and hugging :3

Charlie likes to take Michael and Jeremy on trips with the rest of her friends a lot. Michael doesn't like doing that A lot but he knows Jeremy enjoys it so he goes for Jeremy. They have to plan out the routes in advance so they'll be close to a Hospital just in case Michael needs something to eat. Jeremy and Michael also always get a separate room which charlie's friends thinks is for gay reasons but it's actually because as soon as Michael gets in the room he just collapses into a pile of goo because it's really hard to keep up his physical form on like a beach day, And Jeremy's illusion disks can only last for so long before beginning to hurt people's ears.

One of the biggest shenanigans was Jeremy's "death". You see in the hospital when Mikey accidentally started absorbing Jeremy's agony he absorbed a bit too much and accidentally "killed" jeremy Jeremy had produced too much agony in response to Mike's consumption of it which killed him.. Mike felt like a monster after that..... He spent days at home just in a bundle unresponsive to Charlie telling him it wasn't his fault. He felt like that until Charlie came back excited with a newspaper saying that the ghost of Jeremy Fitzgerald has been spotted in the local cemetery. Michael hoping that at least he could say sorry to Jeremy goes with Charlie to the local cemetery where they find Jeremy freaking the fuck out having climbed out of his own coffin.. Jeremy was terrified of what he's too definitely totally human friends would think of him now that he was some kind of weird Creature but both Charlie and Michael were overjoyed that he was okay. They took him home cleaned him up and explained the situation, Which Jeremy quickly forgave Michael understanding it wasn't his fault and he would have died either way probably. He's still at first hates his new body, And is over Joyed when Charlie gives him the illusion disks that make him look Human Again. Even years later in the 90s Jeremy can barely stand to look at his real face. He finds it disgusting and disturbing and generally Something of the devil. So most of the time around the house Jeremy uses a mask and gloves and lots of clothing to cover up all of his corpse parts.

And there's a lot more little shenanigans they get into

[flamingplay]

Everything Everything on how road-rage icon Ronnie Pickering and late stage capitalism inspired their new album

'It's a state of the nation address that reflects the human cost and the psychological cost of a lot of things that we live underneath,' says frontman Jonathan Higgs.

By Nick Reilly on Rolling Stone

As Everything Everything gear up to release their new album Mountainhead, the Manchester group have told Rolling Stone UK how it’s a state-of-the-nation record that takes unlikely inspiration from, err, Ronnie Pickering.

Yes, you heard that correctly. The Hull man who went viral after screaming ‘D’YER KNOW OOO I AM?’ in a bout of road rage back in 2014 has proved to be an influence on ‘The End Of The Contender’ – one of the album’s standout tracks.

“It’s not representative of the whole album, but it *is* in there,” frontman Jonathan Higgs tells Rolling Stone UK.

“I’ve definitely always been drawn to trying to write about outsiders and groups of people that have been dropped by wider society, for want of a better word. Ronnie was a good example of that, because it was an extremely amusing moment, but the more I looked into it I thought it was quite a poignant tale of where men of a certain age found themselves in the early 2010s. His sort of impotent rage was a good emblem of that.”

While Pickering isn’t directly named and instead acts as subtle influence, Higgs says that wasn’t *always* the case.

“There was a previous song where the chorus was literally I’M RONNIE PICKERING over and over, but the guys weren’t quite so keen on that one! This is more of a subtle way around the subject.”

But it does, however, feed into the overarching narrative of their new record.

“It’s a sort of thinly veiled, satirical look at the current state of late stage capitalism and what it’s like to live in the West and, more specifically, the UK after 15 years of Tory rule,” Higgs explains.

“It’s a state of the nation address that reflects the human cost and the psychological cost of a lot of things that we live underneath. It really explores that, rather than going into the nuts and bolts of the system.”

It’s a hifalutin concept typical of the band who, on their last album Raw Data Feel, used AI software to create some of the record’s lyrics, after feeding it with four eclectic sources of literature – including the terms and conditions of LinkedIn and 100,000 comments from the annals of contentious message-board site 4Chan.

This time around, they say that some of the record’s darkness comes from analysing the ill-fated 44 day reign of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

“It’s like a trope of Greek drama isn’t it?,” explains keyboardist and bassist Jeremy Pritchard.

“It’s Hubris, going all the way to the top spot, but you can’t stay there. That itself is always going to be interesting isn’t it?”

Politics aside however, it’s a record that has the band’s unmistakeable unpredictability and art-pop spirit coursing through its veins.

“In the last two records, we’ve tried – with increasing success – to use the signature aspect of John’s voice more sparingly,” explains Pritchard.

“That means it has more power and more poignance when it is deployed.”

And seven albums into their career, they’re not disappearing anytime soon.

“There’s absolutely no reason we’d split up,” says Higgs.

“We’re doing the best job in the world, and we like each other and people seem to like what we do. There’s no pressure on us to destroy ourselves. We think we’re doing good stuff and we’re always excited about doing more stuff.”

Or, as with most things in life, there’s a Simpsons analogy at hand…

“There’s that episode where Mr Burns is diagnosed as having every illness. A perfect balance which has meant that he’s lived to the age of 104,” says Pritchard.

And in a way, I think there’s something like that going on with us….

[adamwatchesmovies]

Arrival (2016)

Watching Arrival a second time takes away its surprises but gives you a new appreciation for its storytelling. It’s a wholly different experience. You pick up on certain character beats and structural points that were impossible to spot the first time around. It’s a brainy sci-fi film so make sure you block off at least a half hour after it’s over to discuss it with your friends.

Twelve mysterious alien spacecraft have appeared across the globe. The U.S. government selects Linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to help communicate with the extra-terrestrials. She begins deciphering the way these visitors communicate but progress is slow. While Louise and theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) desperately try to convey critical human ideas and concepts to the visitors, the rest of the world becomes increasingly wary.

Residing in the same neighbourhood as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Interstellar, Arrival is about aliens but really, it’s about communication. Think about how many ways we communicate and how so many things are assumed when two people are face-to-face. You don’t have to speak the same language to know what barred teeth means. Smiles are universal. Even with all these things in common, we still misunderstand each other constantly. Now imagine communicating with a creature that (as far as we can tell) doesn’t even have a face. You wouldn’t know where to begin. At least you know they’re intelligent and willing to communicate. They haven’t blown us up yet. That’s promising.

Much of the joy of Arrival comes in the procedural bits. When Louise has an “aha!” Moment and makes a breakthrough, it’s the most exciting thing you’ve seen. The more her work comes together, the more eager you are for her and Donnelly to share what they’ve found with their superior (Forest Whitaker as Colonel G. T. Weber) and then get right back to teaching new words to the Heptapods.

The whole movie could’ve been just about learning to communicate with the visitors but unfortunately, mankind is never as open-minded as it should be. You can see the progress they're making but when Louise tries to explain it to others, they just don’t understand. Tiny, seemingly insignificant decisions snowball into avalanches which threaten not only this operation but the entire human-heptapod encounter and possibly, the world. There’s a sense of wonder and excitement blended with suspense and nerve-eroding fear that something will go horribly wrong any minute.

Now that we know the ending, aspects of the story change completely. Initially, you assume the images of Louise and her daughter Hannah are flashbacks. These "explain" why, she is now alone and isolated. Actually, those are not memories; they're glimpses of her future. Deciphering the alien language and immersing herself in it allows Louise to perceive time as they do: non-linearly. It’s an example of time travel done right. Louise can suddenly look into her future and find crucial information from conversations that haven’t happened yet, bring them “back” and make them happen. How did she know what words General Shang shared with his wife before she passed? In a way, she always knew. That’s how time loops work and if you don’t understand it, this is where that half hour you set aside will come in handy. The problem is that you’re still thinking of time as a line when it isn’t; not anymore.

Arrival has an airtight screenplay. Re-evaluating its story and themes further emphasizes how much time and effort was spent polishing it. It’s complex, which makes the moment where it finally clicks immensely satisfying. As a bonus, it’s wonderfully acted, extremely moody, gorgeous to watch and masterfully directed. This is the best sci-fi film we’ve seen in a long time. (On Blu-ray, March 15, 2019)

[jasperthejester]

for @thetheatergremlin’s boyf riends week

day 1: soulmates

i honestly forgot about this until it was too late to fully write something and my art style is currently having a midlife crisis so instead here are some notes about two different soulmate au ideas :D

au 1: soulmate marks

-on everyone’s 15th birthday, a soulmate name appears somewhere on their body

-their soulmate [or soulmates] will have marks in very similar spots. they are not the same mark, but will match [ex. two theater nerds having matching drama masks, one person having a pen another the paper, etc]

-jeremy’s birthday is first, he’s very excited for it and he spend the entire day with michael [weekend] where they hang out and wait for it to appear

-he gets three white dots on his arm

-they are both very confused at what it means and jeremy’s a little disappointed. he ends up thinking it’s something english related [and by association, theater, which keeps his hopes up that it’s christine]

-flash forward to michaels birthdays and it’s a school day. at some point during the day he checks it and it’s pac-man

-he instantly knows it’s jeremy but panics because he knows jeremy wants it to be christine

-jeremy comes over after school and i asks right away if he’s gotten it

-michael takes too long of a pause and before he can answer jeremy excited asks what it is

-michael tries to resist showing him and they end up playfully wrestling. during this michaels sleeve falls down and reveals the pac-man

-a few moments pass while jeremy processes it and michael panics below him

-jeremy scrunches up his face and asks “why are you the one eating me why can’t i eat you”

-michael loses it and they both start laughing hard

-it ends with them agreeing to take it slow but to try being together

au 2: soulmate names [ft trans!jeremy]

-at some point during your teen years, the name of your soulmate appears on your wrist

-jeremy is transmasc in this [i have a birthname for him but it’s not important for just the notes] but has not come out/realized it at the start. this all takes place before high school

-michael gets his first; the name “jeremy heere”. he slightly panics because it’s the same last name as his best friend and doesn’t want that knowledge to hang over their friendship

-he hides it from [jeremy]

-later, he comes out to michael as trans and tells him his new name all in one long ramblely breath. michael doesn’t respond for a good bit because jeremy is not in fact some cousin of his best friend, but is said best friend

-jeremy takes it at he’s not supportive and starts to panic

-michael realizes this and quickly assures that’s he supportive and, in fact, gay, and was just suprised

-after they go through all the pronouns and terms stuff, they're playing mario cart when jeremy makes a joke about how he should’ve know sooner since he only played the male mii and refused to choose any female option in video games

-michael laughs and says the universe knew before he did

-jeremy looks at him confused and michael shows him his wrists. jeremy blinks pauses and finally says “did literally everyone know before me?!”

-they talk it out and agree to wait until jeremy gets his name to do anything

-jeremy’s name is michael, boyf riends happen

so there you have it, both would need to be fully fleshed out more to create actually fics and they probsbly have problems but i wanted to contribute something today :]

[nba-clothes-store]

The Sacramento Kings have made the NBA postseason for the first time since 2006. What’s changed?

The Sacramento Kings have made the NBA postseason for the first time since 2006. What’s changed? By Thomas Schlachter, CNN CNN —  Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” was topping the Billboard Hot 100, Owen Wilson had just made his debut as Lightning McQueen in “Cars” and Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray was counting down the days to his sixth birthday. May 2006 was a long time ago and for all those involved with the Kings, it must feel like even longer. Sacramento has not played an NBA postseason game in almost 17 years but after turning a corner this season, fans in the Golden 1 Center will finally have something to cheer for after the 82 games of the regular season conclude. The Kings clinched a playoff berth following the team’s 120-80 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. They now sit with a record of 46-30 and become the third team to secure a spot in the Western Conference playoffs, joining the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies. With De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis leading a new era in Sactown, there is hope that the return to the NBA Playoffs isn’t just a flash in the pan, but a sign of things to come for future years. Trading places There were a lot of questions raised when the Kings opted to trade brilliant, young point guard Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers in early 2022. Haliburton was drafted No. 12 by the Kings and was seen by many as the point guard of the future for the franchise. The 6-foot-5-inch playmaker was named to the 2021 NBA All-Rookie First Team and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting after his first season in the league. After averaging 13 points, 5.3 assists and three rebounds in his first year, Haliburton kept up the pace during his sophomore season and recorded a career-high 38 points and 17 assists early into his second year. However, the Kings began to have concerns over his long-term fit with Fox in their backcourt and a subsequent blockbuster trade sent Haliburton to the Pacers. Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson followed the guard to the Hoosier State with Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, a 2023 second-round pick and, most importantly, Sabonis heading to California. Like Fox alongside Haliburton, Sabonis was a star in a team which was not particularly well constructed around his skillset. The Lithuanian has excelled since arriving in Sacramento and is having one of his best years in the NBA in the 2022/23 season. Sabonis – son of Hall of Fame center Arvydas Sabonis – is averaging career highs in rebounds and assists at the time of writing and returned to the All-Star team for already the third time in his young career. Speaking to The Athletic shortly after his trade, it seemed that the 7-foot-1-inch star knew there were good things waiting for the Kings. Sabonis said: “They brought me here, and we want to change things, you know? “It’ll be a lot of fun. It’s just little by little, I think we’re doing great things and going in the right direction. We’re gonna have a big summer – we’ve been talking about it. And then we’ll have a good training camp and get all the people together, you know?” All change in the off-season After a dismal start to the 2021/22 season, Luke Walton was fired from his role as the Kings’ head coach. Walton was replaced by veteran coach Alvin Gentry on an interim basis and upon the completion of the campaign, the 68-year-old was also let go. The Kings then appointed the associate head coach of the Golden State Warriors, Mike Brown, as their new head coach before the start of the 2022/23 season. Brown had just won an NBA championship with the Warriors after a finals win against the Boston Celtics, and was tasked with bringing some of his winning know-how to Sactown. The 53-year-old has completely overhauled how the Kings approach the game and has turned the franchise into one of the most exciting offenses in the league. Along with Brown, guard/forward Kevin Huerter and shooting guard Malik Monk became key pieces for the Kings and No. 4 draft pick Murray also joined up with the squad. It is no surprise that the arrival of these pieces has coincided with the overhaul of the Kings’ offense. Since moving to the West Coast, Huerter and Murray are shooting over six threes a game, and both are draining shots from deep at over 40%. Monk is just slightly behind the pair in terms of three-pointers attempted (3PA) and three-point percentage (3P%) but helps demonstrate how far this Kings offense has come and the planning that went into building the squad. The Kings ranked 21st in terms of three-point attempts-per-game last season while also shooting from deep at a 24th-rated 34.4%. This term, Brown’s team has climbed to seventh in the 3PA rankings with 36.9 attempts a game at a clip of 37.4% – eighth best in the NBA – again demonstrating the offensive changes that have been made. Another contributing factor to the Beam Team’s success are the performances of Fox in the clutch. The brilliant 25-year-old is on top of the NBA’s Clutch Player Ladder and has been vital in helping his side grind out crucial wins in key moments of the season. Attack is the best form of defense So far this season, the Kings have led the league in points-per-game with a staggering 120.9. Last season, the Kings finished 16th in this ranking, averaging just 110.3 points per outing. The transition the team has made and the additions to the roster have been vital in terms of their increased offensive numbers. Summing up the franchise, the Kings top the offensive rating rankings but sit 26th in terms of defensive rating – demonstrating their all-out attack mentality. This was encapsulated in their record-breaking game against the Los Angeles Clippers. In the second highest scoring matchup in NBA history, the Kings won 176-175 in an incredible offensive display. Fox scored 42 and added 12 assists with Monk leading the team in scoring with an impressive 45 from the bench with six threes. ‘Light the beam!’ The fans at the Golden 1 Center have completely bought into the project and have also played their part in the Kings’ success this season. After every home win, the Kings project a huge purple beam into the sky, in what has become a key part of the culture created at the franchise. With a win approaching, the entire arena erupts with chants of “LIGHT THE BEAM! LIGHT THE BEAM!” which has created a social media sensation. While some opposing teams and fans have used this to mock the Kings if they lose a game, the beam has helped create a special relationship between the fans and the franchise. Whatever happens to Sacramento in the playoffs, it has turned things around this year while capturing the hearts of its fans by playing run-and-gun, fearless basketball. Everyone in Sactown will be hoping they continue to light the beam throughout the postseason. Read the full article

[pepaldi]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “A Scandal in Bohemia”. Aired April 1984.

Fate/Grand order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia: Pre-episode "Initium Iter". Aired August 2019.

The Anime will begin airing October 2019.

[avatar-news]

Jeremy Zuckerman, the composer of all the music in Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, is officially joining Avatar Studios!

First, the big news. Jeremy Zuckerman announced the following on his Twitter:

“I'm beyond excited to further explore the Avatar universe with Mike, Bryan, and everyone else at Avatar Studios.”

This is amazing to have officially confirmed, as the musical soundscape of the two original series is legendary and world-class, and it’s a fundamental part of the identity of the world of Avatar.

Avatar Studios is developing a huge expansion of the franchise, with a “very ambitious, multi-tiered plan” for films and series exploring the history and future of the world of Aang and Korra. It’s so exciting to think about the evolution and expansion of the music through those projects, from the new frontiers we’ll explore, to the iconic, familiar themes coming back at just the right moments, to hearing the music of Avatar as big and epic as it deserves in a movie theater-- that’s right, Avatar Studios’ first project is a theatrical animated film set to go into production this year.

Speaking of the past, present, and future, I sat down with Jeremy and we discussed all three! Avatar Studios’ plans are still top-secret, but he did delve into a very cool, very tantalizing hypothetical scenario for the future. Check it out:

Avatar News: “Hypothetically, if there was a new show, and, say, a hundred years pass: Korra was like the 1920s, so the new Avatar is one hundred years later in the 2020s equivalent of Avatar. How would you go about making 2020s-equivalent music— so, like, modern day— for Avatar?”

Jeremy Zuckerman: “There are so many facets to that I’d have to have answered first. Setting is a huge part of it, right? So time period is something, but there’s more than that— there’s the aesthetics, the machines, what’s the technology like? What kinds of clothes do they wear? How do they talk? What’s their transportation like? How many people are in this world? Are there other— is there, like, artificial intelligence? You know what I’m saying? There are so many questions. But if it were a techie world, then I would lean into that for sure, and have a lot of fun with it. My background is in music technology and computer music, and that gave me a really nice tool to use occasionally in Avatar, to make things that are unique like tsungi horn or chanting where it sounds like a whole big crowd of people even though it was just Ben and me. So the technology definitely gave me tools that are super unique, and still does— Amon’s theme, that sort of algorithmic, generative thing I made, and other spots in Korra too, but it’s very subtle. I always wanted the technology to be very hidden— it could never sound synthy or modern in that sense.”

This is just one short excerpt from our interview earlier this year. You can read the whole thing at avatarnews.co/jeremy-- it’s one of the coolest conversations I’ve ever had in my life and if you’re an Avatar you’ve got to check it out, I’m sure you’ll love it too.

Lastly, at the same time as announcing his involvement with Avatar Studios today, Jeremy also confirmed he won’t be doing the music for Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series:

“To those who are wondering, I will not be working on the Netflix live action ATLA adaptation.”

[queenshelby]

The Last Semester – Part One

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Words: 2,333

Summary: The Reader lives in London and attends her last semester at university where Cillian runs a six-week crash course on stage performance. Cillian is single for the purpose of this Fic.

Warning: Fluff, Mild Smut

***

The last semester of your teaching and drama degree was just one mouse click away when you read the words ‘confirm your enrolment’ on the screen of your lap top.

At the age of 24, it wasn’t long until you would graduate and start your new life. Finally.

Whilst you loved it in London, you missed home. People were just different back in Ireland and life was somewhat simpler.

You also hated sharing a small apartment on campus, not having any space to yourself. Four people in a three-bedroom apartment was just too much.

On the upside, you could ride your bicycle to university every day which was a bonus.

‘Done…I have just enrolled into my last semester’ you finally said before taking a sip from your cup of tea and one of your roommate Jeremy looked over your shoulder.

‘So, you did enrol into the practical unit after all?’ Jeremy asked with excitement.

‘Yeah, I might as well learn how to act if I end up teaching drama, right?’ you said with determination, not knowing if you made the right choice. After all, you were rather shy in nature.

‘And you get two really good guest lecturers’ Jeremy said as he read the program.

‘They aren’t lecturers Jeremy. They will just work with us on the practical parts of the play we need to prepare for. The acting part I suppose’ you explained, but not thinking much about it.

‘Whatever…they are both hot and talented’ Jeremy winked and you couldn’t help but laugh about his comment.

‘If you say so’ you giggled. You never really bought into any of the hype surrounding actors, thinking that they were simply overpaid for what they do. But then again, you grew up with theatre and drama and quite enjoyed it. It was different to filmography and TV.

Somehow, to you, theatre was alive, happening in the moment and your father has been working as playwriter for many years, introducing you to the magic that happens behind the scenes.

You also enjoyed the literature behind it and quite often wrote down ideas yourself.

But now, it was time for you to learn about what happens on stage at the day and you were excited about it.

***

On the first day of your new semester, you were quite surprised by the turnout of this unit.

‘God he is sexy’ your friend Emma said as she spotted your lecturer and unit coordinator talk to one of the actors who was going to work with students on the practical parts of the play.

‘Stop it Emma’ you said with some embarrassment as some of the other students began to giggle following her comment.

‘She is right though’ one of the other students said and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

After a lot of whispering and giggling, the lecturer finally told everyone to be quiet which was also when the other actor arrived, just a little late.

Again, a group of students started giggling and pull faces.

‘Right, we are not in school anymore and, unless you are here to learn something, please leave’ the lecturer said before introducing his two very attractive helpers to the students.

‘Every year we engage some talented actors to help our students with the practical aspect of this unit for a period of six week. This year, we have Cillian Murphy and Aidan Gillen who kindly volunteered for this program’ your lecturer went on to say before dividing the students into two groups.

You were the last one called up to work with Cillian who seemed rather easy going and relaxed, unbothered by the ridiculous behaviour of some of the students.

‘Damn Y/N, you want to swap?’ Emma asked, disappointed that she wasn’t in Cillian’s group and you shook your head as soon as you took a look at the playwright summaries that you were given.

***

‘Listen up…I didn’t pick the scripts! Now that this has been cleared up, who volunteers to play old lady ‘Anne’ and our ghost friend ‘Henry’?’ Cillian chuckled, knowing that these were going to be the most difficult characters to portray.

‘No one…of course. I should have expected that’ he then laughed as no one raised their hands. ‘Common guys, don’t be shy’ he went on to say.

‘We will do it’ Thomas, who was your roommate Jeremy’s boyfriend, then went on to say as he pulled your hand up.

‘No. Are you crazy?’ you whispered but Thomas shook his head.

‘Alright, fantastic’ Cillian said as he handed you each two scenes scripted specifically for your characters before allocating the others randomly.

As Cillian handed you the script, you couldn’t help but notice his hands before, finally, you looked up into his deep blue eyes. You immediately inhaled sharply before forcing out a quiet and shy ‘thanks’.

The first task was to read the script and analyse the characters from there so that you could understand them, their reasoning and their actions.

For this Cillian and the lecturer came around, discussing the scene with each of you separately.

‘So, what do you think Y/N?’ Cillian asked as he sat down next to you while your lecturer spoke to Thomas.

‘About?’ you shuddered and Cillian couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘About Anne’ he laughed and you instantly turned red in the face. Of course he was asking about Anne and not the damn weather.

‘Anne is hurt more by the fact that her husband had forced her into rehab and abandoned her rather than by the fact that he is dead. Why, I am not sure. But I imagine that many things are left unresolved by them and the story reminds me a lot on an Irish novel I read a few years ago’ you explained.

‘The Man in the Sea?’ Cillian asked surprised and you nodded.

‘Yes. I assume her character has similar mental issues to the widow in the book’ you went on to say before Cillian and you talked some more about Anne’s character and the book before he realised that he really should be talking to the other students as well.

To his surprise, he enjoyed talking to you and he realised quickly that you were rather intelligent and well informed about literature. He immediately noticed that your interest was in playwright, theatre history and literature as opposed to acting on stage and the analysis you made between the character Anne and an old Irish novel impressed him.

***

‘You know, you really make me want to read The Man in the Sea again now. Perhaps I can learn something more about Anne’s character from it’ Cillian said to you as you handed your written character analyses to him and the lecturer.

‘It’s a good book’ you said as you placed the guidance notes back on the desk and, as you did, you accidently brushed over the top of his hand. With some embarrassment, you looked up but he simply smiled at you before wishing you a nice afternoon.

‘You lucky bitch…He talked to you for ages’ Thomas then laughed as you walked out of the theatre hall and you rolled your eyes again.

‘Well, I am playing the most difficult character thanks to you. I will take all the guidance I can take’ you explained, still irritated by Thomas’s actions in class.

***

Over the next week, you spent as much time as you could on the play but you really struggled with your performance, regardless of how hard you tried.

Cillian had been patient with you and realised that you understood the character well during your numerous talks with him during and sometimes even after practice. Just chatting to him usually calmed you down and it was obvious to you that he actually enjoyed your company. Your focus and ambition were much different to those of the other students. Although, sometimes, you would loose focus momentarily when around Cillian and end up simply discussing books you have read.    

But, after the initial week, Cillian noticed that you were way outside your comfort zone with performing the script on stage and, whilst he didn’t want to criticise you, he needed to talk with you about it. As such, after having gotten to know you better through the project, he asked you to stay back following your last practice.

‘Is everything alright Y/N?’ he asked concerned as he sat down next to you on the empty stage.

‘I don’t think I am made for this’ you huffed.

‘For what? Theatre?’ Cillian asked and you immediately nodded.

‘Whilst it is not for me to determine, for what its worth, I think that your writing across the other subjects and character description in this subject is fantastic and will work very well on stage, in theory at least. It’s almost like you absorbed yourself in the characters mentally’ Cillian said.

‘Perhaps. But that doesn’t really help my acting skills practically’ you explained.

‘To the contrary Y/N. You know every line of your script. Try and absorb yourself in the character you’ve been assigned to portray not just mentally, but also practically and forget everyone around you. Pretend to be Anne. Put yourself into her shoes. How would you act if you were her?’ Cillian explained.

‘I am trying so damn hard to remember my lines that I almost forget everything else, including the motions I need to go through on stage and all the physical stuff’ you sighed.

‘It doesn’t matter if you forget some of your lines Y/N. Improvise on the script. That’s what I do most of the time’ Cillian chuckled before suggesting that you try again with only him on stage with you. No lecturer, no other students, no one to judge you.

‘Oh god, okay’ you said with some nervousness just as Cillian got up and reached for you hand, pulling you to the middle of the stage.

***

‘It has been three years Henry. Three years. You left me in here for what?’ you said, improvising on your script as you finally got lost in your character Anne.

‘Anne, I had no choice. Your mind was lost. This was the only way’ Cillian said, reading from the script of Anna’s late husband Henry who had appeared to Anne as a ghost in her dream.

‘Selfish…you have always been selfish’ you went on to say, your voice full of hurt and anger.

‘I did this to protect you my love’ Cillian read on as you leaped at him in frustration, acting the scene perfectly as scripted.

‘I loved you, Henry. Please do not leave me again’ you went on to say as you fell into Cillian’s arms and he held onto you tightly.

‘I must my dear Anne. I must leave when you wake’ Cillian said, somehow still managing to read the piece of paper in his hand as you pretended to cry onto his chest, almost getting distracted by the scent of his aftershave.

‘One last kiss and then we must say goodbye’ he added but he certainly didn’t expect you to act out that last bit as this is where the script ended for the purpose of the exercise and students were advised in the guidance notes to simply look at each other.

But, as he had earlier told you to do, you got lost in your character and, forgetting your surroundings and the fact that the exercise ended with these words and Henry holding his wife Anne, you looked up into Cillian’s blue eyes and pressed your lips onto his.

To your surprise, Cillian didn’t pull away from you but, instead, cupped your face with his hands and deepened the kiss which soon turned into something else than an on-stage peck.

It was your subconscious that was acting in this moment. You wanted this for a long time and never quite built up the courage to do anything like this. Firstly, because it was highly inappropriate and, secondly, because you were generally shy when it came to showing affection towards men you liked.

But here you were now, on stage of the small theatre, your lips slightly parted as you kissed, allowing Cillian’s tongue to invade your mouth.

For what appeared like an eternity, your tongues moved in sync with each other while your bodies were pressed together, until, eventually and naturally, your lips drifted apart.

‘I am so sorry’ you then exhaled as Cillian was standing in front of you completely speechless.

He got lost in the kiss and knew that he shouldn’t have.

‘No, it’s my fault. I should have…’ Cillian said but, before he could finish his sentence, you crashed your lips back onto his.

Unfortunately for you, this time, Cillian pulled away from you and sighed.

‘I can’t Y/N’ Cillian said, shaking his head as he did.

‘I know. I am sorry. Oh god. I am so fucking sorry. Can we please forget that this ever happened?’ you said, your cheeks flushing red and your face full of embarrassment.

‘Yes. Absolutely’ Cillian said, clearing his throat before advising you that he needed to leave.

‘Okay’ you shuddered nervously and, to your surprise, Cillian disappeared rather quickly.

Just as Cillian stepped out of the door of the theatre hall, leaving you on your own inside, he huffed out a semi loud ‘fuck’ before crashing his back against the wall.

He then quickly rearranged his jeans, bothered by his obvious desire for you creating a large bulge beneath the tight denim, before walking to his car.

At the same time, you couldn’t help but crumble, thinking about what to do now that you had shown Cillian your feelings towards him. You couldn’t work with him on the play. It would be too difficult.

Later that evening, when you got to your apartment, you emailed Cillian and asked him whether you can change over to the other group run by his colleague instead. Unsurprisingly, Cillian agreed.

 Tag List (Cillian):

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[let-them-read-fics]

Too Late To Apologize?

Requested By @rosiesandlilies​: “I was wondering if I can request a Rosé x female reader story where Rosie is an idol who also happens to be ur wife and since she and BP are taking over the world by storm, she starts to forget about you and whenever u ask her to spend a little bit of time with you, she gets upset and fights with you. You’re also an important person but you always make time for her. Can it be angsty with fluff 🥰”

Pairing: Rosé x Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~ 6,026

Warnings / Misc: -- Angst, Self Doubt, Strained Marriage / Relationship, Crying, Some Swearing, Fluff

Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein.

A/N: Oooooo lord, here we go. I am feeding 👏 you 👏 all 👏 today! This one took a while to write, but I’m pretty happy with it. I wrote it all in one go, starting at like 3am (as usual lol), so forgive me if it’s a little rough. I put a lot of effort into it, though, so I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you for requesting -- Happy reading!

PS ~ I highly recommend that you listen to these songs as you read this:

You Were Good To Me -- Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler

Surrender -- Natalie Taylor

The Night We Met -- Lord Huron

I Found -- Amber Run

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Hongdae, Seoul  --  8:00 PM

“Good evening, everyone! Before I open the doors, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time out of your day to stop in. We couldn’t have done this without your support, and we’re endlessly grateful. We hope you have a wonderful experience with us tonight. Now, without further ado, welcome to La Rêverie!”

To your amusement, the sizable crowd erupts into a fit of cheers once your opening speech is over. Echoes of the joyous sounds carry across the city, wiggling their way through the alleys and streets, bouncing off of the nearby buildings. The customers slowly filter in, greeting and congratulating you on their way; you’re beyond excited to start this new journey, and seeing people so happy to be a part of it only makes you more proud.

Eventually everyone makes it inside to their seats, and you join them.

--- Later That Evening ---

“Y/N, we have a private party that would like to see you. They’re eager to meet the woman behind all of this,” Pierre smirks, quirking an eyebrow suggestively. His demeanor confuses you slightly, seeing as how this isn’t the first time high profile celebrities have requested your presence -- that’s just one of the perks of being a world renowned chef. You brush off his remark as playful banter and send him to tell them that you’ll be out soon. 

---

“...yes, actually. Y/N and I were fortunate enough to meet when she was studying in Paris; we were being trained by the same chef. We’ve been close ever since. I’m not surprised that she hired me, though; I’m practically a master in the kitchen.”

At Pierre’s cocky words, your eyes nearly roll into the back of your head. A small grin plays on your lips nonetheless, and you smooth out your top one more time before rounding the corner. 

“What’s this idiot on about now? Did he tell you about the time that he nearly got kicked out of our mentorship program for giving Anthony Bourdain the wrong dish?” You ask the table, sending them a glance while ruffling his hair as you come up behind him. They all snicker at that, and it’s his turn to roll his eyes; with an annoyed shove, he scolds you for bringing that story up again.

“Must you always tell people about that?”

Your smile widens, spreading cutely across your face. Mocking him is one of your favorite things to do. “Mhm,” you say simply, nodding your head for emphasis. He attempts to hide his embarrassment, but it only brings a deeper blush to his cheeks. 

At the VIP table, the suppressed sound of laughter carries over to you, and you’re reminded of your reason for being here in the first place. Upon offering your full attention to the table now, no longer distracted by Pierre, you’re met with 4 different pairs of eyes on you. Warm, yellow light illuminates the area, the classy overhead fixture emitting a soft glow to cast down on the guests beautifully. It’s cozy and inviting, just like you had intended it to be, and the sight makes you happy.

As you quickly scan over each of the girls, your brain pieces together where you know them from.

“My oh my, it’s Blackpink themselves. To what do I owe this honor?” All of the natural charisma that you possess takes over now, doing its best to override your nerves. It’s definitely not the time to fangirl over them; you have to act cool. One by one, you shake their hands, making sure to give each of them a glimpse of your award winning smile. 

Jennie is the first to speak up. “Yourself, of course. You’re the talk of the town, Y/N, how could we miss this?” The way that she says it so casually, already skipping past the formalities, puts you at ease. 

“Ah, you’re too kind. Was your food prepared to your liking?”

A chorus of approving noises leaves the table, successfully boosting your confidence in the process. “It was truly incredible, Y/N.” Rosé gushes, her adorable accent adding something magical to the simple phrase. For the first time tonight, your mind goes blank; ever since news broke of your plans for this new restaurant, you practiced to avoid this very thing. As you stand there floundering for a beat, she takes notice of the effect that her words have on you; it doesn’t take long for her to realize how much she loves to make you blush.

“Thank you so much. We’re so glad to have you here tonight.” 

“We’re happy to be here! Rosé hasn’t stopped talking about it for the past week.” The Australian’s eyes go wide as Lisa exposes her, and she shoots the younger girl a shocked look. Lisa only smirks at this, her shoulders rising and falling in a nonchalant shrug. Jisoo nods in confirmation, adding, “Yeah, she’s been super pumped.”

On the inside, you’re freaking out. Rosé was that excited to try out your creations? There’s no logical explanation for that one. Your own surprise is evident in your voice as you respond, “Oh really now? And why’s that?”

“I-I’ve just heard a lot of great things, you know? You’re pretty talented.” She tries to sound confident, but the stutter in her voice betrays her. The tips of her ears are burning with embarrassment, and after sending her yet another smile, you decide to spare her by changing the topic. 

“Well thank you, again. It’s truly a privilege to cook for you girls.” The conversation continues from there, effortlessly moving from subject to subject, and you love how welcome they make you feel. Occasionally you excuse yourself to check on the other guests and ensure that they’re enjoying their dinner, and every time, Rosé finds herself sorely missing your presence. Despite only officially meeting tonight, she feels like she’s known you her whole life. The two of you clicked instantly, and she can’t seem to get enough of you.

After spending the better part of 2 hours chatting and getting to know one another better, you grow bold and ask the question that’s been rolling around in your head all night. 

“Would you guys like to come back to the kitchen for a bit? I could give you some tips and we could make a couple dishes, if you want.”

Rosé nearly interrupts you from how eager she is to accept the offer. The second that you’re done asking, she’s already saying yes. The others happily agree as well, and soon you’re leading them to the back to get prepped.

_________

“Just like this, everyone. Cut thinly here,” you inform, using your knife to point to the areas in question, “...then turn it and follow through with the slices. It should come out diced, like so.” The girls observed your swift motions, peeking over at the small cubes once you’re finished. Things continue on like this for a while, and soon you’re halfway done with the veggies while they’re barely done with the first part of their batches.

“Slow down, Y/N! You’re too fast for us grandmas.” Jisoo jests, her voice bouncy with amusement. 

“Okay, okay! I’ll wait, just let me know if you need help.” Your knife comes to rest against the cutting board, and you take the opportunity to lean back against the countertop to watch them work. Your eyes trail over to Rosé, only to find her already looking at you; she tenses once she realizes she’s been caught, and she returns to her previous duties. You decide to tease her.

“Everything alright, Rosé? You seem a little distracted…” She momentarily shuts her eyes at your words, trying to refocus her thoughts and collect herself. A subtle snicker from Lisa can be heard, and Rosé delivers a quick jab to her arm. The maknae lets out a little “oww” before setting her things down to rub away the newfound soreness of her arm. 

A little later, Jennie requests some assistance, prompting you to make your way over to her. The station that she’s working at just so happens to be next to Rosé’s, and you’d be lying if you said that didn’t thrill you. 

“Do we peel this first or leave it on?” 

“Cut the ends first, then slice it in half and remove the outer layer.”

Under your watchful eye, she follows your instructions and is soon back on track. She thanks you, and you bring your hand up to give her a pat on the back. Although she feels childish for it, the action works to make Rosé the tiniest bit jealous; she wants your attention on her. 

The blonde clears her throat before speaking up. “Y/N, I need a little help, too.” Your heart jumps at her words, and you fight hard to keep yourself in check as you spin around to face her.

“Of course, Rosé.” She sighs at the way her name rolls off your tongue, and she’s completely convinced that you’ve secretly put her under some type of spell. Her thoughts of you and your mysterious ways are interrupted when you come to stand next to her, your hip lightly brushing against hers. 

“Oh, well there’s your problem: you’re holding the knife wrong. Here,” you start, reaching out to reposition her hand in a better spot. Now she’ll be able to control it better, and she won’t run the risk of cutting herself.

“Better?” You ask innocently, missing the way that she bites her lip. The close proximity of your bodies is making her head spin, and she can’t decide if she wants you to stay or go. “Yes, thank you.” She looks like she wants to say something else, but she doesn’t, so you take that as your cue to go check on the other girls. Rosé silently curses herself for missing that golden opportunity to flirt with you, but she takes solace in the fact that she catches you stealing glances her way fairly often. You feel the connection too, and she’s pleased with that -- maybe she was doing something right after all.

The next stint of the night is spent preparing and cooking the dishes you promised them while trading jokes, banter, and teasing remarks. A mini food fight also took place, but for the sake of professionalism you won’t mention that. You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

---- 

“Goodnight girls. I hope you come by again sometime soon!” 

They all assure you that they’ll be back before you know it, and you believe them. After all, they gobbled those dishes down like they hadn’t eaten in days -- it’s safe to say that they enjoyed them.

Rosé lingers in the doorway, eyeing you as you work to clean off the counter. She doesn’t want to go; she’s loved getting to hang out with you. Contemplating her options, she decides to be brave; she tells the girls to go on ahead, that she’ll be there in a minute. 

“Rosé, did you forget something?” You ask, looking up at her as you reach forward to wipe any remaining debris off the sleek surface.

“Yeah, your number.” Somehow, she possesses all the confidence in the world now, her new demeanor completely opposite to its previously shy counterpart. 

You tilt your head at her, a dumbfounded smile parting your lips ever so slightly. “Bold, are we? Alright, I’ll bite.” You say, holding a hand out for her to give you her phone. Her eyes widen a bit -- was she not expecting you to say yes? There’s no way you could turn down a chance like this. She fumbles around in her bag until the smooth screen of her phone comes into contact with her fingers, letting her know she’s found it.

“Here you go,” she chuckles cutely, an adorable little pattern of blush rising to her cheeks again. 

After entering your number, making sure to save the contact and even take a goofy picture of yourself for it, you give it back to her. “Call me anytime, love.” Her smile spreads even farther at the pet name, and she ducks her head to hide her reddening cheeks.

As she slowly approaches the door, walking backwards, she says, “I will… love,” offering you a little awkward salute at the end of it. You giggle at her antics, and soon bid her goodnight. 

No more than 5 minutes later, your phone dings as it displays a notification from an unknown number. 

“I’m usually not that awkward 🤦‍♀️ pretty girls just make me nervous.” The message makes your heart flutter, and you quickly save her number to your contacts. 

“Really? We have yet another thing in common, then.” 

The girls watch as Rosé does a little victory dance in her seat, her movements a bit limited by the belt stretched across her body. She’s practically glowing with excitement, her fingers already firing off another reply.

________

3 Years Later -- Rome, Italy

Upon seeing Rosé saunter down the aisle, your emotions get the jump on you; before you can stop them, tears flow freely down your face, and you bring a hand up to your mouth to quiet yourself. She looks bruisingly beautiful: the natural curves of her body are accentuated by the silky material of her dress, and her shoulders are covered in lace. An angel cast down from the heavens above. 

She smiles at the audience that’s filled with your close friends and family, offering little greetings as she passes them. Once she and her father make it to the altar, he pulls you in for a big hug, a few tears escaping his eyes. After he takes a step back, he looks between the two of you with pure pride on his face, his hand resting on your shoulder. 

The song ends, signalling for the two of you to join hands and face each other, and he returns to his seat. 

“We’re gathered here today to celebrate the joyous union of Y/N L/N and Roseanne Park. Two souls destined to find their way to one another, travelling millions of miles in the process. We come together to revel in this fact and send them into their new life together with all of our support.” The officiator says into the microphone, smiling at the two of you. You can tell he loves his job, and he’s damn good at it. 

Rosé’s grip on your hand tightens as she tries to contain her tears, but you’re quick to assure her that it’s alright. “You can cry, baby.” At your words, her lip is released from between her teeth, and her tears begin to flow. You wipe them away, stepping closer to rest your forehead against hers. 

The ceremony continues on and the two of you recite the personal vows you wrote. Somehow, unbeknownst to you, there doesn’t seem to be a limit to how much you can cry in one sitting. Rosé is having the same problem, seeing as how her makeup is smudging some as the tears wash the substances away. You don’t care though, and you make it a point to remind her of that; she’s never looked more beautiful to you.

“I do.” You choke out, beaming at her as you run your thumb across her knuckles.

“I do.” She responds, impatiently bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waits for those final words from the officiator. 

“You may now kiss the bride.” 

Her lips are on yours before he even finishes the phrase, her hand resting on the back of your neck as she pulls you in closer. Your lips move with hers in perfect time, working to seal your union in the best way possible. “I love you, forever,” she whispers against your lips. 

____

Present Day, 1:17 AM

In order to spare you from the overwhelming sadness that you’re being subjected to now, your brain takes you back to those happy times from the past. When Rosé still made time for you; when she loved you. 

Even though you hate it, you still find her in everything. The bright sunshine of the early morning reminds you of all the times she would wake you up with kisses, holding you close. The songbirds outside of your window bring to mind when you’d come home to find her at the piano, alternating between striking the keys and strumming her guitar as her beautiful voice carried out across the house. 

You miss that Rosé, so, so much. The Rosé that would call you in between sessions at the studio, if only for 5 minutes. The Rosé that longed to hear your voice after a long day; who fell into your arms the second that she shuffled through the door after practice. 

As time has passed, though, she’s seemed to fade more and more from your life; missed calls and texts have become a given, and it takes everything in you to mask your sorrow. Anyone who knows you well at all can easily see through the facade: you’re now a shell of who you once were, your normally vibrant and cheery self gone. You attempt to hide your sadness behind a smile, but it never really works out; your eyes don’t shine like they used to, and your lips don’t quite tweak up at the corners in the special way they had before. 

But you’re getting ahead of yourself again. Your reason for crying tonight is simple: for the hundredth time this month, she’s cancelled your date night plans, opting to spend the time working instead. The argument that the two of you had earlier replays in your mind:

"I don't have a choice."

Except, she did. She could choose you, choose to take a break, if only for the evening. You never ask too much of her, knowing that she can't handle even more stress competing with what she already has from the company and media. Being an idol is hard enough, and you know you can never fully wrap your head around everything that's expected of her.

Though, that makes this all the more ridiculous. All you've asked for is a couple hours of her time -- for her to relax with you and get away from it all. Earlier that day you had gone to the store and picked up all the necessary materials to treat her to a little spa day, complete with bath and body oils, face masks, and even some bath bombs. 

"Asking my wife to spend an evening with me is not unreasonable, Rosé."

"I'm not having this argument again, Y/N. I get enough shit from everyone else; I don't need any extra from you."

Maybe it was something in how she said it, so final and hateful, her face coming to rest in a scowl. Her arms were crossed as she stood in front of you, and you could see the muscles in her jaw clench and release repeatedly. In some twisted way, part of you was glad to have this encounter; it hurt like hell, but at least she was paying attention to you. She hadn't looked at you for this long in a while.

Before you can even get another word out, she sighs, saying, "I don't have time for this. I have to go back to the studio." 

Just as she turns to go, you catch her wrist. With a slightly annoyed look, she turns to face you.

"If you walk out that door then I'm leaving; at least for the night. We need to talk about this, but if you don't care enough to even give me that, then…" you trail off, tilting your head slightly. You want her to apologize, to say how wrong she's been for doing all of this to you -- but she doesn't. Her expression is tired, irritation written plainly for you to see. She pulls her arm away, offering a petty, "Oh well," with a shrug before exiting the house. 

How could she be so cold? Maybe that's what hurt the most. Seeing the love of your life turn into someone completely different than who you fell for stung more than any argument ever could. The reality is that she's not the same person anymore. Accepting that would be half of the battle in and of itself. 

Your heart is betraying itself, stuck in a sticky situation: you're constantly struggling between your love for her and the respect you hold for yourself. Half of you wants to stay, to make her listen and fight for this; but the other half of you, perhaps the more rational side, knows that that won't work now. You've tried that already, you reason with yourself, racking your brain for any new way to get through to her. 

Sometimes it's like she forgets all of the sacrifices you make for the relationship. Despite having your own busy schedule to deal with, you always make time for her. So why could she never do the same for you?

It's obvious that in its current state, this relationship is only wrecking your mental health -- a testament to that is every night you've spent lying awake, sobbing into your pillow as your list of insecurities grows longer and longer. She used to be the person you'd run to when negative thoughts plagued your mind, her sweet words of love showing how much she valued you. But all of that's gone now, leaving you with a shattered heart and racing mind. When had you stopped being enough?

~~~~~~~

It’s late, well past 4AM when Rosé manages to make it home. Practice absolutely wrecked her today, leaving her body exhausted from dancing and throat sore from all the singing she had to do. She’s more than ready to collapse into bed and pass out. 

One thing that always stayed the same was your sleeping arrangement. No matter how much Rosé hurt you, you still slept in the same bed. Her subconscious was always kinder to you than she was, anyway; the two of you would cuddle in close like before, her arms wrapped around you as she slept peacefully. No arguments or yelling, you could always count on the nights to heal your heart a little bit. 

As she enters the empty bedroom, the memory of your argument from earlier that day comes flooding back. She remembers that you said you were leaving, but part of her didn't fully believe you. She should've known better -- you always keep your word. Guilt washes over her, and she gently taps her head against the wall as a sort of self-punishment for her previous actions. Why did she say that to you? The hurt look in your eyes broke her heart, but she couldn’t afford to skip practice, especially with the comeback quickly approaching. In retrospect, she should’ve just told you that she didn’t feel prepared, and that’s why this practice had been so important. Even though she doesn’t show it, you still mean the world to her. She just so happens to be her own worst enemy. 

With a heavy sigh, she makes her way to the bathroom; there she finds a cute little basket of goodies next to the tub, and a note on the counter of the sink. She approaches the basket first, quickly discovering that it holds some of her favorite self-care items from the local store. Yet again, a deep pang of guilt courses through her upon realizing that you had prepared that for her. Defeated, she picks up the note. 

Roseanne,

If you’re reading this, then I’ve already left. I don’t want you to worry, if you even still care enough to do that, so I decided to leave this letter for you. I’ll be staying with my friend for the next while. I don’t know how long, but that depends entirely on you. I’ve tried to communicate with you, but we’re getting nowhere; we both know it. We’re not who we used to be, Rosé, and I hate that. I want us to be happy again, but it seems that I can’t do that for you. If you want to end things, let me know. 

- Y/N

Rosé’s heart is breaking, splintering into a million different pieces and leaving her with no possible way to collect them all. How had she so royally fucked this up? She only has herself to blame, and she knows that; she can’t believe that she let things get like this. She had been so blinded by the stress that she lost sight of the most important thing in her life: you. It’s slowly sinking in that she very well might lose you for good this time, and she doesn’t know how to cope with that. She can survive without her career, but she knows she can’t go on without you.

-----  La Rêverie, 2 Weeks Later -----

She only intended to walk by -- to see if you were there and safe. But as she gazes through the windows, peeking into the place that houses so many of her dearest memories, she’s transfixed. Her eyes land on you, finding you hard at work in the kitchen. It’s always been where you go when you’re stressed or upset about something -- two things that Rosé knows she’s the cause of.

You’re in your element, face donning a look of pure concentration as you prepare what she assumes is a new dish. Your hair’s in a bun, a few strands coming down to fall around your face as you move about. Gravity takes its time in gently coaxing them out of the tie's hold, and Rosé’s breath hitches at how beautiful you look; it’s as if she’s falling for you all over again. She’s always admired your skills, but they hold a whole new meaning now, an unspoken tension in every movement you make. 

How had she been so selfish? You had been there for her all along, waiting patiently for the day that she would come to her senses. You would always have dinner ready -- usually one of her favorites, hoping that would spark something again -- but she always brushed you off. She never stayed long enough to see the crushed look on your face, or how the pain was becoming clearer and clearer by the day. She realizes now just how much of a toll her actions have taken on the both of you; you're still just as breathtaking as ever to her, but that special sparkle in your eye has long been eclipsed by something more dull. You're tired of being let down repeatedly, stuck in a constant loop of excuses and avoidance, and Rosé can't blame you for a second.  

The time apart hasn't been kind to her at all; there hasn't been a single day that's gone by where you haven't consumed her thoughts. She misses you so badly it hurts, and even now, despite being so close to you, separated only by the walls of the restaurant, you've never been further away. 

The distant sound of a car alarm cuts through the silence, simultaneously scaring her and drawing your attention. Before you can spot her, she ducks down; there’s no way that she can face you yet. Taking this as a sign, she decides to leave.

She’s spent the past 2 weeks attempting to spare you by not coming around; she thinks you need time away from her to deal with everything she’s put you through, and she doesn’t want to upset you anymore than she already has. Ever-torn, part of you is glad that she’s stayed away; however, another part of you just wants to see her again. You miss the nights more than you thought you would. 

--- A Few Days Later ---

Steady sheets of rain pound harshly against the window, vibrating the latches with each gust of wind. Times like these are always the worst, especially when you don’t have Rosé to calm you down. Violent thunderstorms never fail to frighten you, and this one in particular seems like it’ll be the worst one of the season. Swiftly padding over to the window, you sneak a quick peek outside, only to find the branches of the large oak tree that occupies the yard swaying in the wind with reckless abandon. The sight terrifies you, but you do your best to keep yourself from panicking, even having to do some breathing exercises. Your friend can sleep through anything, and you know she needs the rest; so, you stay in the spare bedroom that she’s so graciously allowing you to reside in, and lie awake. 

Across the city, Rosé is tossing and turning. The storm hasn’t fully reached its peak there yet, but she knows how worried you must be. Tears spring to her eyes at the thought of you huddled up under the covers, body trembling in fear as the storm rages on. The deep-rooted shame that she’s grown so accustomed to since you left plagues her conscience, making her even more disgusted with herself. 

After turning over yet again, her eyes land on the picture she has of the two of you propped up on the nightstand. It was taken on your wedding day, that stunning view of the venue paling in comparison to your beauty. A sense of determination washes over her -- determination to make you that happy again someday, in whatever way she can -- and she gets out of bed to collect a few materials. She’ll do whatever it takes.

----

The sound of a car door slamming perks your ears up, and your curiosity gets the better of you. Quickly pulling the curtain back, you’re beyond shocked to see Rosé out there, holding something in her hand. Just as you lean in closer to the window to try and see what it is, her caller ID pops up on your phone. 

“Come downstairs, please.” 

Even with the vast array of emotions coursing through you at the moment, you’re only focused on getting her inside and out of harm’s way. 

You nearly knock the door off its hinges with how quickly you snap it open. To your surprise, she’s still standing by her car, but now you can see what she was holding before; a white sign with black writing on it. The words are barely legible with how much it's raining, the dye of the marker horribly smudged, but you can make out: “I’m sorry! I’m an idiot.” It’s like something out of romantic drama.

Before you can even comment on everything that’s happening, Rosé begins the speech that she’s been trying to piece together ever since you left. 

She has to raise her voice so you can hear her over the storm. You wonder why she doesn’t just come in, but you think that maybe she’s doing it to show you that she’s willing to punish herself by standing out in the elements. “No words that I say will ever be able to fix the pain that my actions caused. You don’t deserve any of the shit I put you through, and I hate myself for being such a coward. I was too immature to look past my own struggles and just talk to you about them.” 

Now, she takes a few cautious steps towards the front door, testing the waters as she scans your face to gauge how you’re feeling. “I guess I just thought I could deal with it like I always do. But losing you showed me how wrong I was; I love you so much, Y/N. I don’t want to end things; I’ll never want that. You’re my world, baby; I’m so sorry that it took me this long to see what was right in front of me.” 

How are you to respond to that? Can you trust her? She looks more sincere in this moment than she has in a long time, and that puts you a little more at ease. Her eyes are begging -- pleading -- with you to believe her, and after a moment you step to the side, wordlessly telling her to come in. You don’t even realize that you’re crying until a few stray tears drip onto your shirt, leaving little marks in their wake. She has to restrain herself from reaching out and wiping them away; she has no idea when -- or if -- you’ll be able to forgive her. 

Soft pitter-patter of the water running off of her coat echoes lightly across the foyer, serving as white noise for the conversation you’re having. Her sniffles work in tandem with it, and she bites back her sobs in order to get the words out. 

“I know this won’t be fixed overnight, but I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you’ll let me. I won’t blame you for a second if you can’t forgive me, either. I just couldn’t let you get away without a fight.”

With each new fresh batch of tears that settle in your eyes, you have to work twice as hard to blink them away. “I-I don’t know what to say, Rose. You’re the only person in this world capable of hurting me that badly, because you mean more to me than anyone else. But I never thought you’d treat me like that. Do you know how many times I doubted myself, thinking I did something wrong?” Your tone is bitter now, voice conveying the pain from those months of anguish that you had to endure, and Rosé hangs her head. 

“I know that now, Y/N, and I know that I can never take it back. But God, how I wish I could. I’d do anything in my power to take that pain away. It was never your fault; none of it was.”

You know she’s being honest. After seeing the opposite for so long, it’s easy to spot when she’s telling the truth. You nod a couple times, deciding to pull her in for a long-overdue hug. She’s motionless at first, not quite knowing if you want her to return it or not, but the second that you quietly say, “Hold me, Rosé,” she’s scooping you up in her arms like her life depends on it. Her head rests in the crook of your neck, and the two of you cry together, letting all of the pent up frustration and sadness leave your bodies. 

After standing there, embracing one another for who knows how long, she pulls away just enough to look into your eyes. Her gaze subtly falls to your lips, but you don’t fail to notice. “Can I?” She asks gently, raising her eyes back up to yours. “Yes.” You utter, nearly swooning as her soft lips brush against your own. You’ve missed them. 

Her chilled hands cup your cheeks with purpose, and you can feel water running off the ends of her hair and onto your chest.

She kisses you in such a poetic way: softly, as if you might break at any moment, but urgently, like a lost soldier finally returning to the arms of their lover. She wants to make you feel how sorry she is, how much she loves you, and this seems like the perfect place to start.

“I love you, jerk,” you say through your tears, brushing your thumb along her cheek as you look into her eyes.

“And I love you, angel.” She picks you up, spinning you around a couple of times before setting you back down on your feet. 

After a moment, you glace at the window. “Shhhh, wait. Do you hear that?”

She cocks her head to the side as she listens closely for any potential noise that you might be talking about, but she hears nothing. “No? I don’t hear anything…” 

“Exactly; the rain stopped.”

“Huh. I guess it did its job, then.” She smiles, silently thanking the universe for working in its wonderful ways. It brought the two of you back to one another, and neither of you can contain your happiness. Maybe you don’t hate storms as much after all...

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 2

And here’s the next part of the long answer set of the day!

When will OL: N&F take place? Beginnings and Always took place during summer breaks, will now and forever take place during a fall break or will the characters be going to school at the time of the events we play through? 

It takes place over all of the fall season, so school will be happening in OL2. Some events do take place in school, though many times events only start after school is already out for the day, haha.

Hey!! I have kind of a weird question?? I’m sorry if it’s been answered before and I just haven’t seen it but is OL 2 taking place during the same years as OL 1? I’m just curious, thank you for such amazing games!!! 

It’s a similar time frame, but not 100% exactly same.

Do you have any idea when the demo for now and forever will be available? 

Hopefully this fall! But that’s not a guarantee.

Okay the crime show in Step 2: Growing up. Long blonde hair, police station, crime series? Was it The Closer? Because I’m the same age as MC and Cove and my mom was constantly watching that when I was 13. 😂 

Haha, yeah! The Closer and, to a lesser degree, Medium were the kind of shows I was referencing there. My mom also used to watch those back in the day.

Hey um this might be an odd question but if the setting of OL: N&F is  fall/autumn, what country or city will it take because my mind tells me it is either Poland or Canada. Also I can't wait for the game I am hyped 

It’s set in the USA again. We’d like to be able to have cameos and that’s easiest to do if the OL games take place in the same country.

Is it possible for the PC of OL to have non-seriously dated other people in the in between years even if they’ve had a consistent crush on Cove? 

You can causally date Baxter in Step 3 if you get his DLC and then ultimately choose Cove in Step 4. If you mean off-screen people, it doesn’t really come up, but you can certainly headcanon that. The game never says Cove is the only partner you’ve ever had.

Is there going to be a Kickstarter for Now and Forever as well? For like voiced names and stuff again? Didn’t find B&A until after it was released and I’d really love the opportunity to hear my name in the game 🥺 

Yeah, we are gonna have a Kickstarter with getting a voiced name as a reward! Though, it will be more expensive than it was for OL1. I feel bad to raise the price but we realized too late the first time around that it was being super undersold for the amount of work it took, aha.

Do you know how much the remaining DLC for OL will cost? (Step 4, Derek, Baxter) 

Step 4: Free

Wedding DLC: $2.99USD

Derek DLC: $4.99USD

 Baxter DLC: $4.99USD

Has an artist for the new position been picked yet?! I'm super excited for the new game! 

We did fill that spot. Thank you so much for taking the time to apply!

hmmm what would it take to get each of the XOXO jerk squad to feel the need to hug you? 

They’d have to first like you a fair amount, otherwise the most you’d get is maybe a pat on the shoulder. If they were attached, they might hug you if you broke down crying or if you gave them super good news.

Unless it’s Shiloh, of course. If you want a hug you only have to ask!

May i ask how the Derek DLC will work? I believe that there aren’t any memories in step 4 and doesnt derek’s dlc take place during that step? So will the dlc add memories? Thank you! 

Derek’s DLC will add five Moments to Step 2 (a new page will appear on that screen if you get the DLC). Then in Step 4 you’ll have to choose between playing the default epilogue or going through the Derek romance story.

Is the pc version on itch,io different from the steam version? Like an offline one or something? 

Steam has achievements, but that’s about it. Both can be played offline, if you prefer.

I've been wondering this for awhile, what determines if cove winds up with a ponytail in step 3? I've done multiple runs with different MCs with varying hairstyles. Or does it have to do with a particular moment in step 2? 

I’m afraid I can’t say exact choices that determine things. But generally it’s preference based options in the Step before that decide those things.

Any Floret Bond updates? 

No, the artist had to leave the project and it’s been on-hold. I’m not sure if I want to try working just with what we have or replacing it all entirely. The design is a bit too specific for us to easily find someone who could mimic it. Hopefully we’ll work things out later, though.

In step 3 is Cove's plan always to stay in sunset bird? 

Yeah. He is never ready at 18-years-old to make a big life change.

I love your content! If it's alright to ask, you answered in a previous ask about how Jeremy was too particular with what he likes his types to be romanceable with just any MC and it's sort of got me wondering.. What /are/ his types and/or preferences and such? Sorry if it's a lot! 

Jeremy likes stubborn jerks and will not date someone who’s sweet or even generally a decent person, haha.

uh, excuse me if you said this somewhere before, but how will step 4 be actually? Will it he like an actual step and have moments and dlc and all? Or will it be more like a long epilogue of some sort?

Will the step 4, the wedding and extra routes dlcs be paid too? Im just confused, sorry if im asking too much

Step 4 is only an epilogue, so it’s just a long series of scenes one after the other rather than a collection of Moments you can choose from.

The Step 4 epilogue is free, the wedding DLC, Derek DLC, and Baxter DLC cost money.

i’m not sure how much of the wedding dlc you have planned already, or if this would be to spoilery, but what kind of wedding traditions will be included? i keep thinking about how flustered cove would get over a garter toss & was wondering if we’d see a scene like that haha. obviously no worries if it’s not included, i’ll enjoy literally anything cove related 

I don’t know for sure yet, haha. Right now we’re focused on the parts before the big day. We’ll see how many scene alterations we can include for the wedding itself later on.

Hello! Firstly, thank you for creating such an amazing game like OL, and I couldn’t be more excited for OL2! Out of curiosity, are you looking for any writers to come on for OL2 or are you all pretty much set in that department? Just thought I’d shoot my shot haha but I’m still excited regardless ^^! 

We will be hiring writers for OL2 later this year! Thank you for the interest.

Will we be blessed with a spin-off Yandere Cove, like XOXO Blood Droplets? 

Sadly, no. It’s a shame but there’s not enough time to keep making OL1 bonus/spin-off content.

How is Q pronounced?

I’m afraid Q’s full name hasn’t been publicly announced yet so I can’t answer here (Q and T are the first letters of the names for the new LIs in Our Life: Now & Forever).

Question; is the steam version getting a Mac update?  I purchased the dlc there thinking it had Mac support without realizing it and just wondered if I’d need to refund it to purchase on itch.io 😭 

I’m really sorry, you will need to get a refund from Steam. We do hope to have it there for Steam eventually, but have no idea of when it’ll happen. Apple requires special notarization to be an officially accepted app for their devices. We don’t have that. Steam requires having that, Itch will let you release it as an non-notarized third party app. That’s why Itch is the only place that has the Mac version right now.

would you mind posting outfit sheets for Cove in every step? it would make things a lot easier for us artists. it would save a lot of time spent looking for references 

I think we did do the earlier steps when they were finished way back in 2019 (this game took a long time to make, aha), but we can probably repost them sometime!

In our life n&f, will we be able to get into qprs/will there be more options in regards to having deep platonic relationships with the love interests? Because as an aroace individual, it would be great if there could also be emphasis on platonic love so that it's more aspec inclusive. 

It’s a little hard to say at this point. There may not be things like a wedding DLC for OL2 and so the relationship for platonic and romantic feelings might not go as far as it did in the first game. We’ll kind of have to see how much we can do based on timeframe/budget constraints that will only be set near the end of the year. But we will be keeping things like that in mind at least.

hi! i really really like your game and im absolutely in love with it! i cant wait to try your other games like xoxo droplet and future OL NF :))

during the step 3 erands moment i got curious, which fudge flavor is his favorite? it seems like he likes all of them, but which 4 do you think he would like best?

also i noticed that in some playthroughs cove would let me give him a piggy back ride, and in some he wouldn't, how come?

how does your choices affect cove's interests or looks? i replayed the game without changing any choices but i got cove to look different, is it just random?

thank you!

Cove’s favorite flavors are ones with nuts and that are fruity! But he appreciates them all. Whether or not you can give him a piggyback ride depends on if your MC is fit/large enough to hold a muscular 6-foot-tall beach boy, haha.

Cove’s appearance does depend on choices and it’s generally tied to choices that are preference based rather than emotion/action based, such as which key chain you pick in Step 1.

Is it possible for cove to reject MC's proposal at the end of step 3? 

Nope. He’ll always accept.

hi! i was wondering how heavily the side characters will be featured in the our life wedding dlc? obviously it'll be cove & mc focused, but i was thinking it'd be sweet if we could take lizzie dress / suit shopping or dance with cliff at the wedding or something. 

The side characters are there about as often as they are in normal events. So, it’s clearly focused on Cove but he’s not the only person you have any meaningful moments with.

When will responses be sent out to applicants? 

I’m afraid we don’t send responses out to all applications, only ones we’re interested in offering the position to. Not everyone likes rejection emails and the amount of applications is too high to contact them all to say we’re not hiring them. We post updates on the job page when a position has news. Right now we’ve filled every role that was open.

Is there also going to be the option to keep your relationships with the love interests platonic in Our Life: Now and Forever? That's something I really appreciate in Our Life: Beginnings and Always

Yeah! OL will never force you to end up in a romantic relationship with someone.

I was wondering, in the Step 3 Happiness moment, what are the different fishes Cove can compare MC to? I got "you'd be a paradise fish, because being with you is paradise," but my friend got "you'd be an angelfish." Are there more variations? 

He says paradise fish if you’re a couple, angelfish if he’s just crushing, and then a royal dottyback/queenfish/emperor tetra (based on your gender) if he likes the MC platonicly.

Hello! So, in one of the Step 3 DLCs, Cove's arm was gone. I think it was to show him putting his arm behind his back. But if that wasn't the case, did it get yeeted? 

Thanks for letting us know. That was an error we tried to fix a little while back. When did you make the save file you were playing? If it was older that might be why it happened. Or maybe the error wasn’t fully fixed after all.

Asking for your opinion, but do you think Cove would at all be into ABBA? Because all I could imagine during the car trip in step 3 was him and the MC belting to Mamma Mia. 

Haha, yeah, there’d definitely be some ABBA songs he was into.

So throughout the game, Cove can develop different interests depending on the player’s choices; does this mean that he can have different careers in Step 4? Or his is line of work in adulthood never mentioned at all? 

He can have different career paths in Step 4!

Hi!! I'm so so sorry if this has been asked before but I just acquired knowledge about the so famous nsfw dlc for OL and nearly chocked on my bubblegum 💀💀💀 So, my real inquiry is if that specific moment will have any kind of impact at some point of the fourth step OR if it will just be treated as a side-story-ish “what if” scenario.Also, is there any chance there'll be something similar for Step 4? Haha jk,,, unless 😳Questions apart let me thank you profoundly for making the best visual novel I've ever played 😭 Really really looking forward the epilogue and OL2 💕 Have a nice day 

It’s just a bonus side story that’s fully separate from the main game.

It would be nice to have one for Step 4 too, but I sadly don’t see us having time to actually do it. I don’t know, if people are still asking for more OL1 content several months from now it might be doable and worth doing.

I'd just like to ask, when is Baxter's birthday :0 -- I'm really curious esp with their zodiac signs so ;w; 

I don’t know, haha. Maybe I’ll come up with one someday.

Please help!! I bought the Step 3 DLC but I still have no idea how to get to where you can propose to Cove - any tips? 

&

How do I get the option to propose to Cove at the end of the game?

You can click HERE for a discussion on that.

I love that Miranda and Terry are getting together! I'm curious if you have canon sexualities for them? Also just wanted to say how much I love OL and how much joy it brings me everytime I play it <3 

Terry likes ladies and Miranda likes dudes!

ngl Step 4 Terry's design reads like y'all see trans guys as their assigned gender more than you see them as men to me (a trans guy)... like maybe if he isn't heavily dysphoric, I could see it, but everything you've said about him doesn't line up with that. Even then, immediate warning bells go off in my head looking at him. I wouldn't have touched the game if I saw him ahead of time.

I’m sorry you aren’t comfortable with the way the design looks. The situation with Terry is that he’s now open about who he is, but the body he was born with is still physically the same. He only came out recently as an adult and hasn’t gone through any treatments/procedures yet (his chest is flatter because he wears a binder). However, even though his body hasn’t transitioned at the point Step 4 happens, no one treats him as anything other than the guy he is. Having a trans character who’s identity is supported/respected from the start is what we’re going for in this case. But what we’re doing with Terry isn’t the only trans content we’ve ever had/ever will have in the future.

how would baxter react to bae pyoun and vice versa? and can you please detailly explain both love interests personalities from our life 2: now and forever? i was just curious, sorry for dumb question!! 

I imagine it’d be pretty opposite experiences, haha. Bae would initially think Baxter is pushy and thoughtless, but would quickly realize, oh, he’s instead a soft, considerate boy. Very cute. Baxter would first be struck with the impression that Bae is charming and gentlemanly, but then would realize that, no, he’s a sarcastic asshole. And I’m afraid we can’t reveal the personalities for the next game yet.

Sorry if you've already answered this, but I have a question about the patreon exclusive moment you're working on. I was wondering if it's mainly going to be CGs or if it's mostly character sprites + backgrounds with some CGs.

Either way, thank you for doing the Lord's work and not only making Cove, but making this bonus moment as well 😌😌😌

It’s mostly sprites/backgrounds with two CGs!

—– —– —– —–

Thank you again for the interesting questions everyone :D

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[charlies-gillespie]

private relationship | charlie gillespie (part 1)

PART TWO

paring: fem!reader x charlie gillespie

summary: reader and Charlie have been in a very private relationship. none of their fans know that they’re together, until a slip up at a very public event changes everything for the pair

requested: no

length: long

rating: PG (borderline PG-13 tho for some nsfw jokes)

warnings: a dirty joke or two, a few sexual innuendos throughout, drinking

!! MY GIF - give creds if used !!

authors note: “mon amour” means “my love” in french. it’ll probably be used a lot throughout the imagine

another author’s note: would y’all want a part two, but with smut?

MASTERLIST

“Charlie!” you call. Your voice echoes through your apartment. “Can you come here for a second?”

You need help zipping your dress. Charlie was the first to get to your apartment. He’s been waiting for Owen, Madison, Jeremy, Jadah, and Savannah, and Sacha to get here so your group can go to the release party together. It’s a formal event so you had to wear a dress and heels. It wasn’t your first choice, especially the heels part.

Charlie appears in the doorway and says, “Yea- woah.” You see him in your mirror. His eyes are on you. He looks good in his suit that he’s wearing. His jacket and pants are black, his button-up beneath the jacket is white, but he wears a silver tie to compliment the color of your pale pink dress since he can’t match your dress.

A smile forms on your lips and you ask, “Can you come zip up my dress, please?” Charlie nods and walks into your bedroom. You watch him as he slowly zips up your dress.

The dress is a long, baby pink dress with satin fabric. The skirt is a little poofy from the waist down. The top hugs your chest, pushing your breasts up a little bit so they look a little bigger than they actually are. A sparkly silver belt sits on your waist to add some sparkle to the dress. The sleeves are off your shoulders, and there are hidden pockets in the skirt.

Your boyfriend admires you in the mirror. You’re fully dressed now. Your hair is loosely curled and you have a natural makeup look painted on your face. The light color of the dress compliments your tan skin.

“You look stunning, mon amour,” Charlie sighs. “Absolutely stunning.”

You lean your head back a bit, resting it against Charlie’s shoulder. “You clean up very nicely, Charlie,” you say. “I like that you matched me without actually matching me.”

He laughs and says, “I might’ve had Mads and Jadah help me with that little detail. I wanted to match you but it would draw suspicion to us.”

When you and Charlie started dating almost nine months ago, both of you agreed to keep it on the very low. No social media posts unless hanging out in a group setting, no tagging each other in stories if you were alone together, and only going as far as following each other on social media since you’ve worked on the same show together. The fans don’t even know that you’re friends with each other at this point. Only your closest friends that are going with you to the event tonight know that you and Charlie are together.

Kenny Ortega also knows since he’s technically your boss and you’re both co-workers. He also might have found you making out with Charlie after the two of you got carried away when cuddling on Julie’s bed after a few hours of shooting scenes. You couldn’t lie to him after that.

Tonight is a very public event. Pictures will be taken, journalists will be wanting every juicy detail, and fans have been invited to the event so if there’s even a little be of suspicion, it won’t take very long to go public. It’s the release night party for Julie and the Phantoms season two. Everyone’s been invited to watch the first few episodes of the new season.

You feel Charlie kiss your bare shoulder and you giggle softly. “I’m sure everyone will be getting here soon so we should go wait out in the living room,” you tell your boyfriend.

“I wish I was able to touch you tonight,” he says. “It’s your big Netflix debut, Y/N. I wish I was able to hug you and show you how proud I am of you.”

A little sigh leaves your body and you say, “You can hug me. I’m sure a friendly hug won’t hurt, as long as you hug other people too. As for showing me that you’re proud of me, you can do that later when we’re alone.” You send him a playful wink so he gets what you mean.

Charlie’s jaw drops and he blinks at you. “I-you, um,” your boyfriend stammers. “Okay, yeah. I’m going to show you just how proud I am of you later, baby.”

You turn and face Charlie. “I look forward to it, Charlie,” you tell him, leaning up. He smiles and lightly pecks your lips.

Someone knocks on the door and you click out of the room in your silver heels to answer the door. Owen and Jeremy stand at the door. Jer’s wife, Carolynn, stands beside him.

“Hi, Y/N,” Owen greets you. “You look very pretty. I saw Charlie’s car in the parking garage so where is that loser?”

You laugh and say, “Probably still in my bedroom. Go get him. I think I shocked him or something with my words.” Owen pushes past you. Jeremy follows him, leaving you and Carolynn alone.

Carolynn smiles and says, “I love that color on you, Y/N. It suits you.”

“Thank you,” you say, shooting her a little smile. You’ve grown close to Carolynn since she’s married to Jeremy and you’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with the guys in a group.

You let Carolynn walk in before closing the door behind her. Faintly, you hear Owen say, “Bro, what’s going on with you? Your face is red.”

Charlie responds with, “I am so having sex tonight, dude.”

Both you and Carolynn laugh in the living room as Carolynn asks, “I don’t want to know what that’s about, do I?”

As you sit, you say, “Charlie said he wishes he could touch me tonight at the party so he could show me how proud he was of me. I told him he can show me how proud he is of me later when we’re alone.”

Carolynn says, “Ah, okay. That makes sense. Congratulations, by the way. Making your big Netflix debut tonight. How’s it feel?”

“I’m excited, but very nervous,” you admit. “The first season did so well and won so many awards that I’m scared that I’m going to come in and ruin the whole show and that people won’t like my character.”

She says, “You play the nice daughter of the villain of the show. Everyone will probably love you when they realize that your character wants to help the Phantoms instead of siding with Caleb. Don’t tell Jer and the guys but I think you have one of the best songs of the season so I think the fans will definitely love that.”

You smile as there is another knock on the door. Charlie, Owen, and Jeremy come into the living room as you answer the door.

Savannah stands in the doorway with Mads, Sacha, and Jadah. “I had to pick up the kiddos,” Sav says. “Ooh, Y/N. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you say, smiling. “We’re just waiting for the limo to get here. I think we have a half hour or so before it gets here.”

Kenny is sending a limo to your apartment for the nine of you. When you decided to go as a group so you and Charlie could go together, Kenny pitched in and helped like the wonderful human being he is.

Owen decides to go live with Jeremy on his Instagram account for a few minutes. Carolynn talks with Savannah, Sacha, and Jadah while you find yourself talking with Charlie and Madison.

Mads says, “Kenny is giving us the opportunity to sing on stage together tonight. He told me that we can pick whatever song from either season. He thinks the fans would want to hear Perfect Harmony or Stand Tall since those were massive after season one dropped.”

Charlie nods and says, “Stand Tall would be good since all of us can get in on that number. I can talk to Jeremy and Owen about it when they get off live.”

You smile at the two of them and say, “That’s exciting. The fans will be so excited for this little surprise.”

“We can thank Kenny when it goes really well,” Mads says with a laugh. “He’s always got these great ideas. I don’t know how he comes up with them.”

Both you and Charlie laugh as your phone rings. You answer it, speaking to the limo driver. After a moment, you hang up the phone and announce, “Limo is here. Let’s head on out.”

Everyone gets their things together, Owen gets off Instagram live, and you all head down two floors to pile into the limo.

The drive from your apartment to the Laglyan Complex on North Vine Street is close to forty minutes. It was close to six when you left and it’s almost seven when you arrive to the venue for tonight’s event.

There is a red carpet laid out across the front of the building to the door. There is a lot of press here and a lot of cameras flashing. Cheyenne Jackson and Booboo Stewart are together on the carpet. You spot Kenny with one of the assistant directors.

When the press spots the limo, they begin to mumble to each other as they try to figure out who is in the car. Owen and Jeremy get out first. The press begin to snap pictures of the guys. Madison gets out with Jadah. Carolynn, Sacha, and Savannah. Sacha pairs up with Savannah while Mads, Jadah and Carolynn walk the carpet together until Carolynn finds her way to her husband.

Charlie helps you out of the car. The journalists call Charlie’s name as you close the door behind you. “Go,” you order him. “I’ll be okay. You’re the star of the show.” He smiles and sends you a wink since his back is turned toward the cameras. He walks off and your eyes follow him. Cheyenne walks over.

“Look at you, Y/N,” he says. “You look wonderful.”

You smile and say, “Thank you, Cheyenne. You look nice tonight. I love the suit.” He wears a shirt similar to his Julie and the Phantoms character, Caleb Covington. You play his daughter on the show.

Cheyenne holds his arm out for you and you hook your elbow with his. The cameras snap away at you and Cheyenne since the two of you play a father-daughter duo. Booboo comes and joins you and Cheyenne as the ‘Hollywood Ghost Club Crew’, as Booboo dubbed the three of you. The band is getting pictures together. Savannah, Sacha, and Jadah are getting their pictures taken together. Carolynn is getting her pictures done.

The journalists call out questions to the cast. They ask Madi which season was her favorite, which she replies with, “Y’all really going to make me choose? I can’t do that.”

Owen is asked whether or not we’ll get a Willex kiss in the future, which Owen replies with, “We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

All the journalists laugh. One of them calls out, “Y/N, what was it like joining a show that already had a pretty large fan base and a successful first season?”

“It was nerve wracking at first,” you admit. “But the cast welcomed me with open arms and I’ve made some very, very close friends.” You shoot a smile to the cameras.

A second journalist calls out to everyone, “Are there any secret romances on set that no one knows about?”

Most of the cast, including you and Charlie, laughs. Owen answers with, “Now it wouldn’t be a secret if we told everyone. But no, there aren’t any secret romances. That I know of at least.”

After a few more pictures and questions, we all head inside. The main room as a bunch of tables set up and a little stage with Madi’s piano, Charlie’s guitars, Jeremy’s bass, and Owen’s drums. There are a few fans that were exclusively invited that are scattered around. They start getting excited when they see you walk in with everyone.

You find your table. You’re sitting with Owen, Charlie, Jeremy, Carolynn, Cheyenne, Booboo, and Savannah. This is the “adult” table, you guess. Mads, Jadah, and Sacha sit with Kenny and a few of the younger cast members at another table.

You’re sitting between Charlie and Owen. Someone needs to sit between them or they’ll be at each other all night. That’s your argument if someone is suspicious of you and Charlie.

Suddenly, you feel someone’s fingers lace with yours under the cloth that’s on the table. You glance over at Charlie and he has a little smile on his face as he talks with Jeremy. You turn and say to Owen softly, “Did Charlie really say that he’s having sex tonight?”

Owen laughs a bit and nods. “He thinks he is anyway,” the blond says. “Is he?”

“If he can behave himself then yes,” you say. Owen chuckles.

You feel Charlie squeeze your hand. You know he heard so you smile.

After small conversation with everyone at the table, you get up and get a drink. You walk to the bar, asking for a martini. While you wait, you’re approached by a guy dressed in a nice button-up shirt and dress pants. His hair is in a neat bun behind his head. “Hi,” he says. “I’m Austin.”

“Y/N,” you say.

“I couldn’t notice you came over here alone,” he says.

The bartender gives you your drink and you say, “I just came over to grab a drink. I was going to go back to my table after I grabbed it.”

Austin pulls out his wallet and hands the bartender a twenty dollar bill. “Let me at least pay for it,” he says.

You smile a bit and say, “Thank you. I must be headed back to the table with my friends now. I appreciate the drink, though.”

He blocks your way and you look up at him. “How about a dance in return for the drink?” Austin suggests.

Feeling more and more uncomfortable, you say, “Maybe later. I need to get back to my friends.”

Austin asks, “What’s the rush? It’s not like you have a boyfriend or anything. I follow your social media accounts and you never post a guy.”

You begin to say, “Actually, I-” before Charlie walks up. You let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Everything okay here?” Charlie asks. “You were taking a while to come get a drink so I thought that I’d come check.”

The stranger says, “All good here. I was just offering Y/N a dance here since I paid for her drink.”

Charlie looks down at you and blinks before you say, “I didn’t ask him to pay for it. He took out a twenty and offered.” Austin looks between you and your secret boyfriend.

Then Charlie says, “If you offered yourself then Y/N isn’t obligated to dance with you just because you paid for her drink.”

Austin says, “Well, I’ll just ask again later.” The man walks away and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Your boyfriend moves and stands in front of you. He asks, “Are you okay?”

You nod and say, “Yeah, thank you. It was just uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to get out of it.”

Charlie reaches up to cup your face in his hands but he stops before he can touch your face. You look up at him before you lean forward, putting your face in Charlie’s hands. Your eyes flutter closed and you smile.

“Y/N,” Charlie says. “People are looking.”

With a sigh, you say, “I just need you to touch me, Charlie. I want you.”

He runs his thumbs over your cheekbones and you can hear pictures being taken. You put your drink on the bar counter and step closer to Charlie.

Your eyes open and you find Charlie looking down at you. He says, “You know what this means for us, right?”

You nod and say, “Our on-the-low relationship isn’t as on the low now. I don’t mind that anymore because I’m tired of guys coming up and trying to flirt with me while I have a boyfriend.”

Charlie chuckles a bit as he says, “I hope that means I can kiss you now. It’s all I’ve wanted to do tonight.”

“Yeah,” you sigh.

With no hesitation, Charlie leans down and crashes his lips to yours. You press your body against his, grabbing his jacket and holding him close to you. You kiss Charlie back just as hard as he kissed you. Your eyes are closed again but you can see flashes behind your eyes. You pull back from the kiss and stare up at Charlie.

Both of you smile at each other as Charlie says, “You better be ready for what happens after this.”

You push Charlie’s hair away form his face and say, “What happens after this is you get on that stage tonight, you kill it, we go back to your place because it’s closer, and you get all the sex you want.”

Charlie’s face turns a little red and he says, “I will never get used to you saying something sexual to me. I hope you know that.”

“You better, Mr. Gillespie,” you tell him. “I’m not the innocent girl that you met a year and a half ago.”

He laughs and says, “Trust me. I know you’re not the innocent girl that I met last year. You’ve proven that several times at this point.”

With a smile on your face, you take Charlie’s hand in yours before grabbing your drink and walking back to the table with your friends. When you get back to the table, you scoot closer to Charlie and rest your head on his shoulder. Owen looks over and says, “Woah, being affectionate in public. This isn’t the best idea.”

You say, “It’s okay, Owen. Everything is okay.”

Owen looks confused as you look up at Charlie. Charlie looks at his best friend and says, “I kissed her. At the the bar when I went to check on her. Cameras saw so that’s going to be a huge thing in the morning.”

Jeremy says, “Well, congratulations on making your relationship public, I guess.”

The table laughs. Owen looks at you, Charlie, Jeremy, and Carolynn before he says, “I need a relationship. I feel so single right now.”

Charlie says, “You’d actually have to talk to people to get a girlfriend, Owen.”

“Haha,” Owen says, sticking his tongue out at Charlie. You laugh.

***

At nine, Madi, Charlie, Owen, and Jeremy all leave to get ready. They decided on Stand Tall for the number they’re going to perform. It’s almost 9:30 when Kenny gets on the mic on stage. “Hello, everyone,” he says. “Today, Netflix released season two of Julie and the Phantoms. To celebrate, I offered our band the chance to perform a song of their choice. So, let’s all welcome Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy Shada, and Owen Patrick Joyner to the stage for their performance of whatever song they chose.”

The crowd cheers as everyone walks onto the stage, taking their place. You and Carolynn get a front row seat while you both watch your guys perform. You notice Charlie took off his jacket and his tie. He also cut off the sleeves, but that doesn’t surprise you. The top few buttons of his white button-up are unbuttoned, showing off his chest a bit.

Mads begins to play the first few keys to the song.

Don't blink No, I don't want to miss it One thing, and it’s back to the beginning Cause everything is rushing in fast Keep going on, never look back

You smile and watch Madi sing. She’s insanely talented and you’re so glad that the world was able to hear her voice.

The guys nod their heads to the beat while they wait for their signal to begin playing. Once they get their cues, they begin to play one by one.

Right now, I'm loving every minute Hands down, can't let myself forgеt it, no Cause everything is rushing in fast Keep holding on, nеver look back

Charlie plays like he’s flickering on and off stage like he does on the show. You smile and admire your boyfriend. You know how talented he is, especially those fingers of his, but he never ceases to amaze you how talented he is.

And it’s one, two, three, four times That I'll try for one more night Light a fire in my eyes I'm going out of my mind

You smile wide when Charlie sings his line at the end of the pre-chorus. Then he begins to sing his part of the song and you dance with Carolynn. The crowd sings and dances behind you two.

The four of them finish the song and smile. The crowd cheers and you smile, looking at Charlie. He has the biggest smile on his face, which is covered in a layer of sweat. His hair is damp with sweat too. Charlie bows with his closest friends before putting his guitar on the stand. He jumps off the stage and comes over to you.

“I told you that you’d kill it,” you tell him when he gets to you.

Charlie laughs and says, “Oh, hush.” He pulls you into a soft kiss. You smile and kiss him back, making your relationship with him completely public. The people around you cheer a bit as Charlie pulls away.

You look up at him and say, “You’re going to have so much fun being able to hugs me and kiss me in public now, aren’t you?”

He smiles and stares down at you. Charlie says, “Maybe I’ll be having too much fun now.”

As you brush some of the hair away from Charlie’s eyes, you say, “Please try to keep the PDA to a minimum, Charlie. You do have a lot of younger fans. Save most of it for when we’re alone.”

“Like how we will be tonight?” Charlie asks, eyes hopeful.

You laugh and say, “Just like how we will be tonight.” Then an idea pops into your idea. “This dress is getting really hot. I might need to take it off soon.”

Charlie gets what you’re trying to say so he replies with, “Let’s go.”

He takes your hand and hops over the barricade. You smile as he leads you through the crowd of people. Charlie calls you an Uber so you can both go back to his place tonight.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous: Hi! Could you possibly do a Charlie x reader fic where they are filming season 2 & there is a new character (fashion expert/can see ghost/a little bit of enemies with Luke at first) but off screen they are very close (always hanging out/on ig posts & stories/dance partners/they sing karaoke/adventure) & the whole cast likes to tease them about it but they deny any feelings however they are about to film a very important scene that involves their characters & might change everything between them.

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Warnings: fluff

Words: 2,789

Season 2. Finally Season 2. Everyone had been hoping, wishing, praying for a season 2 of Julie and The Phantoms, and after months of waiting, Netflix finally picked it up for a second season. After those months, the actors had just to wait a little while longer while the crew wrote up the first drafts of scripts and made it perfectly save for the actors to do their work. Once all of that’s ready and they’re good to go, the cast finally reunite again in Vancouver. They even meet some new cast members. Like you. You had auditioned for the role of Daniela Ramos, Julie’s cousin and Victoria’s daughter, and got it pretty much straight away. Daniela is a fashion student at a High School in Melrose Hill and Julie asks her for some help with costumes for her next gig with her band. To Julie’s surprise, Daniela can actually see the boys, even when they’re not playing, which causes for a lot of trouble in the band and family, especially between Julie and Luke. This is your first big role on the small screen and you’re the most excited you’ve ever been. You met the other cast members at the summer bootcamp before the filming process would start, and though almost everything had to be done with a face mask covering half of everyone’s face, it still was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and spend the most fun summer ever. Every day, you grew closer and closer to everyone on set, and soon became best friends with Madi, Jadah, Savannah and Tori, doing plenty of sleepovers. Besides the girls, you also grew closer to Charlie, Owen and Jeremy, but mostly Charlie. For some reason, the two of you just clicked instantly. You have the same humor, the same taste of adventure, the same passions and dreams. You, Charlie and Owen even rented a place together to live in for the time being in Vancouver. You got even closer during filming, especially since you and Charlie have a lot of scenes together. “Oh my God, Luke, you’re so annoying!” you yell at him when the two of you are in the garage, taping a scene. It had taken you about ten takes and you still couldn’t help but giggle at the shocked face he pulled every time. “If I’m so annoying, Dani, why do you keep coming back?!” The angry face he pulls resembles that of an angry kitten, which just makes you crack up again. “God dammit, Y/N!” Charlie laughs now too as Kenny yells “Cut!” “Sorry! Sorry, guys! I promise I’m a real actor!” You hold your hands up in defense, then cough to get ready for another take. This time around, you could finally manage to get through it without laughing. “Yes!” Charlie exclaims when Kenny yells “Cut!” again. He holds his hand up for a high five, which you giddily give him. “Do you need any more takes, Kenny?” he asks the man himself. “Nope, you’re good! You can go on your break now!” he pats Charlie’s shoulder. “Nice job, guys!” “Thanks, Kenny,” you say, the smile growing on your face. “I need food, Gillespie,” you tell your best friend, linking your arm with his. “Let’s go get food!” The two of you head down to catering and sit down at a table with a plate full of food. “What are we doing tonight?” he then asks before taking a bite of food. You swallow your bite of food and take a sip from your drink. “Don’t you have a night shoot tonight?” you ask, remembering him saying something about a late call. “No, that’s tomorrow, after our dance rehearsal,” he replies after swallowing the food. “Oh! Okay!” You start thinking of things to do, “We could go to karaoke? Bring the others maybe?” He raises his eyebrows, looking at you questionably. “I’ve always loved karaoke,” you shrug with a giggle. “Yeah, okay!” Charlie nods his head agreeingly. “Karaoke it is!” The two of you smile up at each other, teeth showing, both of you glowing. “What are you love birds discussing?” Owen asks when he joins them, his voice muffled from the mask covering his face. He pulls it down to under his chin as he and Jeremy join the two at the table. “We’re thinking about going to karaoke tonight with the whole team!” you tell them, completely ignoring the ‘love birds’. “Ooh, fun!” Owen exclaims with a smile that nearly reaches his ears. “Yeah, we’ll leave after shooting the last scene tonight,” Charlie suggests, looking at you for confirmation. You nod your head agreeingly. That night, you and the rest of the cast head to the nearest karaoke place you know. You’ve linked arms with Savannah and Tori, giggling through the night, trying to keep your balance on your heeled boots. Meanwhile, without you realizing, Charlie has been keeping his eyes on you the whole way there. He finds it adorable how your giggle floats through the night air and your hips bump against the other girls’. He couldn’t lie, you had easily become the light in his life. “So, what song shall we begin with?” you ask the gang as you settle into the booth. “Pick the first one on the list,” Jeremy replies when no one else does. You nod your head curtly and press play on the first song, which is Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. You can already tell after that first song; tonight is going to be a fun night. You sing a couple of songs with the girls, there are many group numbers, and you even sing one with your roommates. After singing with Owen and Charlie, the latter points at you. “We’re going to sing together now!” he exclaims excitedly before turning around and picking a song for you to sing. When he’s picked one, he grabs your hand to pull you closer towards him. You blink a couple of times, unable to process what’s happening right now. The opening notes to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee chime through the booth. You glance over at Savannah and Tori, who offer you an encouraging smile. Then you look at Jadah and Madison, but they’re too busy giggling and whispering, and it makes you wonder if that’s about you and Charlie. Your eyes dart over to the boys – Jeremy, Owen and Sacha – who just offer you suggestive smiles and eyebrow-wiggles. Charlie’s voice captures your attention again, and you turn to him. “I couldn’t if I tried,” you sing back to him. The encouraging smile on Charlie’s face calms you down a little up to the point where it almost seems like the two of you are the only people in the room. You have no clue what is happening or why it’s happening. All you know is that you’ve wanted it to happen sooner. Though you wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. It’s the way he looks at you and the way he makes you feel like you’re the only person on this planet that matters. It’s been the way he’d looked at you since that first day of meeting him. “I won't go breaking your heart,” you sing the very last line to him ever so softly, not even looking at the screen anymore, but instead, looking into his eyes. “Don't go breaking my heart,” he sings back. The song ends and you both lower your microphones, staring into each other’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the rest of the cast breaking out into cheers and applause, you would’ve kissed him then and there. But it startles you, and you step away from him upon realizing how close you are and how that must look to the others. “So, when’s the wedding?” Madison asks teasingly, which makes the others laugh, and you blush. After that night at karaoke, the two of you had silently agreed to forget anything ever happened. Savannah said you were in denial, but you believed you weren’t. You told her it was just the atmosphere in the air that night, the both of you had consumed a little bit of alcohol and it might’ve just been that. No one stopped teasing you though. On every possible occasion, they’d ask you if you’d kissed him yet, or when your next date it, or started singing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart randomly. You just shook it off every time, finding it amusing how consumed the cast was with this ‘relationship’ you had with Charlie. There was nothing more going on than just a really, really tight friendship. Until the dance scene happened. Your character, Dani, was supposed to go to a school dance with her crush, but she was nervous because she had never slow danced with anyone before. When she tells Luke, he insisted on teaching her, saying he’d gone to plenty of school dances back in ’94 and ’95 before he died. You and Charlie know this choreography by heart, you’ve been doing it for weeks on end at bootcamp and during rehearsals. It had always just been fun and games, the two of you being immaculate dancers and bouncing off of each other so well because of your tight friendship. “I could teach you?” Charlie says as Luke, stepping closer to you. You raise your eyebrows at him. “I’ve gone to numerous dances in my days, Dani…” One corner of his mouth curls up into a teasing smirk. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of… Jake.” He emphasizes the name of your fictional crush, to which you react with wide eyes and a blush spreading on your cheeks. “Come on, Dani!” He reaches out for your hand, which you place hesitantly in his. Dani being able to see ghosts, is also able to make them corporeal. The lights on set dim a little, except for one spot on the pair in the middle of the studio, and then the music starts playing through the speakers. Charlie starts singing the song they’d learned at bootcamp, one the cast wrote together during the quarantine. The atmosphere in the studio has suddenly become really intense. You can feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach as the man in front of you sings to you, mere inches away from each other as he leads you in this beautiful dance Paul Becker and Tori Caro choreographed for you. Just like at the karaoke booth, it feels like the two of you are the only people on set. Just you and him. You and Charlie. You and your best friend. There’s no denying you have feeling for him anymore. You knew you did, you just told yourself it wasn’t a good idea and suppressed those feelings, pushing them down. It worked for a while. Until now. “Cut!” Kenny yells after your scene. You step away from Charlie, glancing down at the floor as you try your hardest to hide your flustered face. “That was perfect, guys! It really looks like the two of you were in love!” he claps his hands in excitement, then tells them to do it again. After four takes of the dance, Kenny tells you to go and take a break. Without saying another word to Charlie, you rush off set and towards your trailer where you sit down on a chair, trying to calm your breathing. Charlie might not like you the way you like him. Admitting to these feelings might just ruin everything the two of you have. With this in mind, you grab your phone and text Savannah, asking her to come over to your trailer. Maybe she could help you. “Are you okay?” she asks when she enters and finds you staring at the ceiling. “No…” you reply and take a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with my best friend?” “Oh, sweetie…” Savannah sighs, and pulls you up to take you in a hug, “I know…” You pull her away again to face her properly. “What do you mean ‘you know’?” “Everybody knows,” she starts, “The two of you have been inseparable since the day you met, and everyone can see the way you look at each other. Plus, your duet the other night was a little intense for it to be a platonic one.” She chuckles, and you can’t help but chuckle too. She then grabs her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. “You know fans have caught on too, right?” She shows you the comments on some of Charlie’s pictures on his account. One picture is of the two of you, napping in Julie’s bed on set, cuddled up. He even posted pictures from your hikes on your days off. All of them are bombarded with comments from fans saying, ‘I ship it!’ or ‘Y/S/N’. Sav then opens her dm’s which are flooded with fans asking if you and Charlie are dating yet, and how the two of them are so in love with each other. “Charlie isn’t in love with me?” you deny, not believing one bit about it. “He is, though…” This does not come from Savannah’s mouth. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice, and peek behind Savannah to find your best friend standing at your open trailer door. “Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asks the younger girl. “More than a minute,” she chirps, offering you a wink before leaving the trailer. Charlie steps in completely and moves until he’s in front of you. He takes your hands in his, and chuckles at your overwhelmed and confused expression. “Are you okay?” he asks, that beautiful smile of his persistent on his face. “Y—yeah? No? I’m not sure?” you sigh, trying to get your thoughts in order. “Charlie, wha—?” “Can I talk? I’ve been going over this conversation in my mind a billion times, and if I don’t say it now, I think I’m going to forget what I’m supposed to say…” You nod your head in response. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I saw you walking in at bootcamp. You looked adorable with your little nervous smile and your polite hellos to everybody. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to get to know you better, and that I wanted to become more than just friends…I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I told myself that it was okay if we’d just stay friends. Especially since your character kind of hates mine and you bring Dani to life so convincingly, that I was almost sure you hated me too,” you chuckle at that, “But I can’t hide it anymore, Y/N. I am so embarrassingly in love with you that I could’ve kissed you after that scene we just did and that I could kiss you right now even though I’m—” before he can finish his sentence, you lean up and crash your lips onto his, your hands flying into his hair. He’s a little startled at first, but quickly melts into the kiss and presses you closer to him. “I am so embarrassingly in love with you too, Charlie,” you whisper when you pull away, pressing your forehead against his. “They’re going to be so relieved,” you tell him with a chuckle. He frowns his eyebrows at you. “Who?” he asks. You take his hand in yours and lead him towards the door of your trailer, pushing it open and making it bump against whoever was closest to the door. All of your cast mates scramble, trying to act natural while Owen rubs his forehead since he was the one that got a door in his face. “Ah, them!” Charlie chuckles. “Thanks for the door in my face, guys,” Owen says disgruntled. “That’s on you, buddy,” you tell him with a grin. “Don’t you guys have a scene to shoot or something?” Their eyes widen at the realization and, after yelling at the two how happy they are for them, rush to set in a hurry. “So, where were we?” Charlie turns back to you when everyone’s gone. “Don’t you have a scene with them?” “Shit!” he grumbles and jumps off the small steps in front of the trailer. He starts running towards set but turns around almost immediately to you and kisses your lips quickly, but sweetly, and then runs off. You watch him with an amused smile on your face. There was nothing to be afraid about after all and nothing changed between you two. You were still the best of friends, just friends that kiss and are in love with each other. But both of you happy.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​

[marvelfansince08love]

Hey Neighbour! - Part 8

Word Count: 3k

Pairing: Ally Mayfair-Richards x Reader 

Warning: uhh some implications of sex 

A/N: Hi, a big big sorry to you all on the late updates to this. I have no self control and have far too many WIP rn and keep forgetting to update this one as I’ve almost finished it! Happy reading! Apologise for any grammar/spelling mistakes x

Tags: @waitingfortheendtocome @natasha-danvers @creepingwolfberry @coconutlipss @saucy-sapphic @minavenable @pearplate @r0an0ke @mssallymckenna @grilledcheeseandguavajelly @venablemayfairgoode @chewbacca0805 @pluied-ete @supremeinlilac @nyx-aira @witchxaf @black--widxw @fireflyglass @cordeliafoxxe @d14n4ol @bluevelvetbitxh @amethyst-bitch @lezzzbehonesthere @msvenablezcane @citizenoftheworld-stuff-blog @mooreashes @violentwavesofem0tion @cordeliass  @women-am-i-right @paulsonpills @goodeday2u @sm0ke-and-m1rr0rs @daisybri7

Hey Neighbour! - Part 8 

You had avoided the Mayfair-Richards home for the past five days unable to face the woman you had fallen in love with. Old wounds and insecurities had opened up causing you to retreat from your neighbours, Amelia had also picked up on your change of mood which caused the guilt to amplify. The two young children still saw each other at school leading Amelia to mention how Oz had told her how sad his mother looked whenever she did the dishes at night, to anyone else they would have been bewildered by the statement but for you it was like a stab to the heart. Ally had tried to call and text you to ask if you were okay, your short texts back and actively declining calls must have given her the hint that you didn’t want to be contacted because after the first three days she stopped trying. You hated yourself for doing this to her but you couldn’t help but fall back into the familiar withdrawal habit whenever you felt this way, no matter who you hurt in the process. 

“Mama, I’m finished!” Amelia announces, smiling proudly at her empty plate. You’re startled out of your thoughts as you look towards her matching her wide smile with a forced one. Your brother sits next to her as his eyes stay fixated on your form, concern evident within his gaze. 

“Well done, Amelia-cakes! Why don’t you go wash your hands and brush your teeth for bed,” you instruct softly, watching as she nods and dashes out of the room. You quickly make eye contact with him as you lean forward keeping your voice low so to not alert Amelia of the intense situation..

“I wish you would stop looking at me like that,” you whisper harshly, he only shakes his head mutely before responding. 

“I just don’t understand why you’re making yourself and her miserable, you clearly like each other a lot. Don’t ruin this just because you’re allowing your negative thoughts to take over,” his voice soft and gentle causing you to falter, expecting a harsher response. Sighing you relax back before taking a sip from the wine glass. 

“Will you please help Amelia upstairs while I clean up here?” you ask instead, attempting to avoid the current topic of conversation. He sighs in defeat before dutifully leaving the room to find his niece. 

You stand from your chair and collect the empty plates before moving towards the sink, as you begin to clean the dishes you notice a slightly dimmed light across the way causing you to tense, slowly you look up from your task and towards the light. Ally stands at her kitchen counter, even from here you can see how tired she looks causing that familiar guilt to creep up into your chest once more. She looks down for a few moments before placing a large piece of paper into the window, words written in black ink for you to read. 

‘I think we need to talk’ The words cause you to gulp as you nod back before searching for some spare paper to write back on. 

‘Garden in ten?’ you try to smile hoping to ease the situation but falter when she doesn’t return it and only nods back in acknowledgment. 

Wiping your hands on a dry towel you hurriedly move upstairs to inform your brother of your plan, he reassures you that he’ll be fine with Amelia while you go to talk to Ally giving you an encouraging smile before shoving you back towards the staircase. Grabbing your thick jacket and shoes you make your way towards the front of Ally’s home, waiting patiently for her to let you in. Your breath catches in your throat as you take her in, the urge to reach out and hold her becoming stronger with each passing second, brown tired eyes scan your face before silently standing to the side allowing you to move in. You head straight for the kitchen and into the garden area sitting down in your usual spot, you wait for her to join you. A hot cocoa mug appears in front of your view causing you to smile sadly as you take it from her hands muttering a quick ‘thank you’. It’s quiet and dark out except for the porch light that glows above you, both sitting quietly as you take a sip of the hot drink.

“Ally I-” 

“Why weren’t you honest with me? If there was something wrong you should have told me instead of practically falling off the face of the earth,” her statement catches you off guard, causing you to falter as you stare at the mug in your hand. 

“After she left me and Amelia I was struggling for a while, I couldn’t cope with working and looking after a baby full time but I had this beautiful girl to look out for so she became my top priority over everything, my job, my friends. It took me years before I could trust others outside of my family to take care of her. I’m not good at having these healthy relationships that are good for me and I am so sorry that I’ve treated you this way, you deserve better than this,” you mutter, tears gathering within your blurred vision.

“I understand how hard it can be to trust people, I mean you know about Ivy and how she betrayed me, betrayed Oz. I get why you got scared when things were looking serious, I’ve had my moments with that too but Y/N I’m not like her and you aren’t like Ivy.” She pauses, collecting her thoughts before continuing. 

“We are good people and I don’t think it was a coincidence that it was you who so happened to move in next door… that night after the fair apart from Oz I’ve never been so certain about anything in my life, I want to be with you and I want this to go somewhere but I need you to speak to me and be honest with me,” Ally tilts her head as if seeking your gaze before reaching across and grabbing your hand. 

“I’m so so sorry, Ally. I should have spoken to you about my worries, I’m not used to someone caring. I just looked at how comfortable we all were in your kitchen that morning, how domestic it all was and my god I couldn’t have fallen further for you but my mind was screaming at me that if I allowed Amelia to become closer to you and you decided to leave… I can’t have another person walk out on her.. On me,” you stutter over your words as you feel your throat tighten, holding back a sob. Ally moves from her seat and crouches in front of you placing your mug onto the table she takes both your hands into her own, squeezing them with reassurance. 

“I love you y/n. This week has been tortuous the amount of times I thought about walking over and forcing you to speak to me, but I knew you needed time to collect your thoughts. I may not have been obvious with it but I could tell something had spooked you that morning but please come and talk to me whenever you feel trapped into a corner, okay?” her dark brows arch, as she waits for your response. As you nod Ally reaches upwards and captures your salty lips with her own, her warm comforting hands cupping your face in place. 

Tears continue to fall between you both as Ally presses gentle kisses along your jaw and cheeks seeking out that comforting touch, you realise that you were wrong. Ally isn’t like the rest of them, she’s kind and caring but most of all she understands you in a way that no one else can relate to. You quickly capture her lips, a heated kiss needing to feel her close. 

“Is Oz upstairs?” 

“No, he’s staying at a friends house,” she mumbles, against your lips. Pulling back you look into her slightly glazed eyes and demand the thing you need most. 

“Take me to bed, Ally.” 

With that, Ally grabs your hand and leads you back inside the house. The moonlight glows throughout the room giving you a clear view of Ally’s face as you allow her to look after you, whispering soft reassurances against your exposed skin leaving trails of wet kisses along your body, closing your eyes you surrender yourself to this woman finally allowing yourself to be loved without restrictions. 

***

Bright light beams through into the bedroom causing you to stir and groan at the invasive light cuddling into the softness of Ally’s chest enjoying her warmth and secure form wrapped around you. Lips graze against your hair as the brunette whispers a ‘Good Morning’ causing you to smile as you watch her fingers brush over your forearm that has stayed wrapped around her waist all night. 

“Good Morning, Honey. Did you sleep well?” your fake-innocence doesn’t pass Ally as she chuckles deeply, her hand moving to tilt your chin upwards causing your lips to brush against her swollen ones. 

“Deliciously actually,” her hoarse voice, makes you shiver before you capture her lips once more enjoying the sounds that escape her throat. 

The sound of the front door opening downstairs and quick footsteps making their way upstairs causes you to part suddenly, blindly reaching for your scattered clothes recognizing those footsteps from anywhere. 

“Mom!!” Oz’s voice shouts from the hallway, causing you to quickly cover up and head for the en-suite bathroom needing to freshen up before the poor boy sees you. Ally’s eyes follow after your retreating form in light amusement as she tucks on the woolly jumper and ties the string around her joggers. 

“Mom I’m home! We had such a cool night! Jeremy bought over his new racing car you know the one with the remote it was awesome!” Oz’s excited voice trails into the room as he runs straight for Ally’s legs hugging her tightly, she places her hands on top of his crazy blonde curls and smiles.

“Well it certainly sounds like you had fun! So where is Sam’s mom? You didn’t just run from her car without saying thank you did you?” Ally’s tone makes you smile as you peak through the gap of the bathroom door always infatuated with her motherly side. Oz tries to hide his expression but with one raised eyebrow from Ally the boy slumps and sighs before nodding. 

“It’s okay Ally! He was just excited to see you! Oz I’ve left your bag by the door okay,” Sam’s mom shouts from the staircase before the sound of the front door closing reaches your ears. Taking this as your cue you leave the bathroom just as the sound of screeching reaches your ears, a small body colliding with your own making you stumble. 

“Woah! Hey Buddy!” you greet with a groan, laughing as you place you cup your hand around his jaw cradling him close. A sense of guilt lingering within your chest, the realisation what your actions could have done to the poor boy being the same fear you have for Amelia. 

“I’ve missed you,” he mumbles into your stomach, you crouch to be eye level with him and give him the biggest smile you could muster. 

“I’m sorry for not being around much, silly adults and silly work has been keeping me busy. I promise to make it up to you,” you murmur, watching as he nods accepting your apology before turning to leave to grab his backpack from downstairs. You stand from your position and fold your arms across your chest, that unsettling feeling still present, Ally steps towards you and places her hands onto your cheeks before kissing your lips. 

“Stop, I can practically hear the gears turning in that beautiful head of yours. Now let’s go downstairs. I want to see my girl.” Her words cause you to raise a question eyebrow as your lips twitch into a half grin. 

“Oh?”

Ally grins wickedly, before stepping towards the door. “I meant Amelia silly.”

With that she winks and takes her leave leaving you agape. 

“Well I know my place then,” you grumble playfully before running after the mischievous Senator. 

As if on cue the sound of the front door stops you both in your tracks midway down the stairs, Ally moves to answer the door and beams when she sees Amelia stood with her Uncle who has a very dirty grin on his face as his eyes move from Ally to you wiggling his brows as Ally crouches down and fronds over Amelia who seems to be enjoying the attention from her favourite person. 

“Uncle Rupert said you guys had a sleepover without me, Ms. Ally!” she exclaims, a small pout forming onto her lips and you bite your own to stop your laughter. From the shakes coming from Ally’s shoulder the woman seems to be doing the same. 

“Oh sweetheart I’m so sorry, I promise we can have soon okay? Just me and your mom needed to have a grown-up sleepover to talk.” 

“Yeah I bet you did,” Rupert mumbles, amusement evident within his tone. You glare at him from your position as Oz comes running from the living room area, he instantly goes to hug his friend as he drags her further into the house telling her all about his sleepover. Rupert waits by the door as Ally gives him a shy hello before following the two leaving you to talk privately to the smug man.

“Not a word,” you demand, making sure to punctuate every word, it only seems to make him grin further. He shrugs putting his hands up in surrender as he steps through the door meeting you at the bottom of the staircase. 

“So are we back on then? Oh and no need to thank me for looking after the devil's spawn last night, I swear she just knows what to do to make me crumble. I didn’t even know you still owned a Nintendo Wii,” he rants, as you both walk towards the kitchen where Ally sits with the two children all drinking from their respective mugs. Rupert goes to sit next to Amelia as he steals her mug to take a sip as she glares at him. You shake your head at the two before clashing eyes with Ally who winks over her mug gesturing you over which you gladly do. Stood behind her you wrap your arms around her shoulders and listen as they all converse amongst themselves enjoying these rare moments that you will hold dearly, smiling you kiss Ally’s temple before relaxing joining in on the conversation. 

Now relaxed you allow the past to stay at the back of your mind as you look forward to the future, a secret plan up your sleeve you allow the details to rail off within your head excited to show Ally just how much she means to you and how do you do that?

By going official, of course.

[youcantrewind]

Croya Fic!

For those who did the deep dive read on my Croya playlist, you might remember I said I was working on a lil fic for a specific spot. This started as a bit of a silly spinoff of the stormtrooper post, but morphed into something a little more serious. I’m still waiting on an ao3 account, so I’m posting it here for now so I stop making minuscule edits! (No promises: I might still make some minuscule edits.)

(Edit! Now on ao3, with... you guessed it: edits!)

(Edit Dec 14: it's now 11 chapters and a sequel haha 🫣)

Words: 5,287

Rating/Warnings: PG?? Sir, this is a fade to black household. Various alcohol references.

---

Becky wasn't paid enough for this.

It wasn't that Chandrila Starlines underpaid their staff--they were actually more than fair--it's just that this particular task wasn't really in her job description.

...was it?

'Passenger services'.

Perhaps it was.

At any rate, she was feeling vastly underpaid in this particular unique moment, as she lifted her hand and rapped on the cabin door in front of her.

A few moments passed before the cabin door slid open a crack and the face of one Lieutenant Harman Croy peered out, looking immediately cross.

"Do you know what time it is??" he questioned in his usual incredulous tone, though clearly trying to keep it hushed due to the hour.

Becky nodded, trying not to sigh. At least not externally. Customer service face, Becky. "My apologies sir, but--"

"The boys just went down to sleep," he stated, exasperated but still trying to keep to a whisper.

"Yes, Sir, but--wait... what boys?"

"The Troopers," Croy replied. "They've had a very long day."

Becky caught herself beginning to laugh and stopped it by turning it into a cough. "Ah, yes, well again, I apologize for the interruption, but I've been sent with a message for you."

His eyes narrowed, briefly shifting to her name-tag. "Becky from Batuu. What could possibly be so important that it couldn't wait until a waking hour?"

She briefly debated not telling him. It's not like she had any love for his organization, so helping out a First Order Lieutenant wasn't really anything she'd woken up expecting to do that day. But neither was she interested in denying the one who'd sent the message, because it would certainly get back to her supervisors.

And frankly, she'd kind of made a bet with Jeremy in the kitchen about how this would turn out. Now she needed this to happen or she'd be out credits that she'd rather keep.

She made the decision to spill:

"It's a message from Gaya."

Almost instantly he'd slid out from behind the door and into the hallway, grabbing her by the shoulders in excitement. "Tell me everything."

Becky decided to ignore the physical hold he had on her for the moment, as he was in a good mood now. "Sir, she wishes to meet with you."

"Me? Where??" he exclaimed, probably louder than he realized as it echoed down the hallway.

Oh yes, she was winning this bet. Take that, Jeremy. She smiled, pointing. "Just down the hall. In her cabin."

He seemed to freeze in place as he took in that sentence, his gaze staring past her at the wall. Maybe his brain has just melted, Becky thought. She'd heard of weirder things happening out there in the galaxy. She cleared her throat out loud, to remind him he still had a hold on her. "Lieutenant?"

He snapped his attention back to her. "Oh." He let go of her shoulders, brushing them off a bit. "My apologies, Becky. I thought I heard you playing a prank on me." His eyes grew serious once more as he locked onto her gaze.

"Oh it's no prank, Sir. I promise. I wouldn't do that to you." At least, not to your face...

He began walking around her, like suddenly he'd stepped into interrogation mode. "Becky from Batuu, if Gaya wished to speak with me, why would she send you instead of delivering her news to me in person?"

"Ah, she said you'd say that," Becky said, thankful to be ready for this one. "So she explicitly told me to remind you that--and I'm quoting her here, remember--... 'Gaya does not come to you. You come to Gaya.'"

His jaw clenched for a moment while he mulled over the statement, and then: "That... does sound like something she'd say..."

"She's just down there. Grand Captain's Suite on the left." Becky pointed towards the luxury rooms.

"Grand Captain's Suite??" he looked downright perturbed now. "Her entourage got a Captain's Suite, and we got this sorry state of a room??"

"Oh. No. Ouannii and Raithe both have their own rooms." She took great joy in delivering this news, despite knowing she couldn't show it.

"Their own rooms...?!" His voice got a little higher. "While the three of us are in squalor?"

It was getting even harder not to laugh. "Lieutenant, our rooms on the Halcyon are all state of the art--"

"I have to share a refresher with Stormtroopers, Becky. Stormtroopers."

"Gaya was also a planned guest," she decided to point out.

He seemed to let that comment go completely over his head as he continued: "...do you know how disgusting that armor gets in the inside??"

"You know, I've never had the pleasure, but um, Lieutenant, Sir, may I ask you a question?"

"What, Becky?"

"Are you... avoiding talking to Gaya right now?"

He gave her another perplexed look. Perhaps too perplexed. Like maybe he was pretending not to know what she was talking about. "What? Why would I..."

"Look Sir, I've delivered my message, and she's right there in that cabin," she motioned again at the appropriate door. "May I go now?"

The confused, slightly suspicious look hadn't left his face as he narrowed his eyes at her one more time, and then finally waved her off. "Fine, go. It's late and you're making far too much noise for these halls."

"Thank you Lieutenant." She decided to keep a sarcastic good night wish to herself, and quickly hurried back down the hallway, ducking into a nearby staff corridor to no longer be seen. The slingball was in his court now.

----

Lieutenant Harman Croy was left standing in a hallway alone, still processing the message he'd been given.

Provided this was not, in fact, a prank from the ship's staff, he still wasn't entirely sure of the intent behind it. The last time he'd seen Gaya that night, it had not ended on the best of terms.

He glanced one way down the hallway, and then the other, as he debated his next move. The hallway was empty, as most of the passengers had gone to bed. Those who were still up were surely the unruly types in the Sublight Lounge, and they were at least a deck away. No one was in sight.

He slid back into his own cabin for a moment, and quickly into the refresher, where he could lean against the counter and take stock of himself in the mirror out of sight. He was certain both of his troopers were already asleep, shoved in the measly bunks around the corner, but in that moment he felt the need for the extra privacy the refresher gave him to think.

"Alright Harman," he spoke quietly to his reflection. "What's going on here? What are we doing?"

He tapped his fingers on the counter on either side of the sink. If this was a prank...

No, the crew of the ship valued their jobs. Who would possibly risk throwing away such a career with a prestigious company like Chandrila all for a bit of childish entertainment? Especially when they knew that's exactly what he was on the ship to look for. Croy wouldn't put it past some of the passengers on this voyage to toy with him. He'd already seen it firsthand. But the crew... the crew would be instructed to be on their best behaviour specifically to hide the real subversion he was here to sniff out, right?

Besides, even if it were a prank, what would be the harm in knocking on Gaya's door for a chat?

"A lot of harm, actually," he spoke out loud to himself once more. "Quite an embarrassing amount."

He turned around to sit against the counter edge in thought, absentmindedly beginning to chew a nail. An unsightly habit he thought he'd eradicated in his youth, but apparently his nerves had begun to fray at a much faster pace than he'd realized.

What was it about her that made all of his trained discipline crumble so quickly?

She was beautiful, yes. Talented, absolutely. If you liked that kind of music. (He liked that kind of music.) She was...

Powerful.

And Croy was drawn to power like a moth to a flame.

She'd flaunted it in his face mere hours earlier, and there had been no denying it. She'd earned it. It was hers.

Gaya.

People flocked to that name. No organization attached.

No one heard his name and cared. His power came from the insignia on his uniform. The backup, with guns. The literal 'Power' embroidered into his left sleeve: technically the name of a great Imperial Admiral Clyss Power, but reminding him every day of a bigger picture.

Croy absentmindedly reached up to adjust his hat out of habit, forgetting he'd torn it and his gloves off in frustration as soon as he and the troopers had returned to the privacy of the room. As successful as bolting the droid had been, there'd been something about that atrium full of people mostly booing him that still managed to creep under his skin as he'd walked out of the room.

Now, he glanced at the hat where it sat in the hallway by the mirror, staring at the First Order insignia. Why couldn't these people see what he was trying to do for them? Why were they so reluctant up to the point of acting like petulant children?

His eyes shifted upwards towards the mirror, and he quickly adjusted his drooping posture. Unraveling now was not a good look, especially not for Gaya.

Gaya. She was still waiting for him.

It was now or never if he was going to investigate this message from Becky. He stepped back into the hall to get a better look in the mirror. He adjusted his jacket, straightening out what he could, and dusted off a shoulder. His hand hovered over his hat, debating.

"I didn't know there'd be men in uniform," she'd said when she had arrived on the ship. It had been flirtatious, in a somewhat lighthearted way, but had she meant it? Did she like it?

The band around his arm once again called out to him in his reflection the mirror. Power.

The hat went on his head in a quick, well-practiced motion, and he scooped up his gloves, sliding them back on his hands as he slipped out the cabin door back into the hallway.

"Alright, Becky from Batuu" he muttered to himself as he marched down the hallway. "Time to find out if you're sleeping in the brig tonight."

Finding out Gaya's room was so close to his had been a welcome surprise, though that had been nearly quashed in an instant when the irritation of finding out it was one of the big rooms got the better of him. Now, as he stood in front of the door, all he felt was nervous.

One last adjustment of his jacket, a quick pull at the collar as he started to feel a little warm, but he calmed himself with a deep breath, and then he knocked.

And waited.

He glanced side to side down each direction of the hallway once more, making sure no one was coming to further embarrass him if this was all a joke. But the halls stayed silent.

Finally, the door slid open, and his heart nearly stopped.

She had changed.

Adorned now in a white, long sleeved dressing gown with just a hint of silver trim, overtop what he could only assume was her sleeping nightgown, Gaya stood before him. Her makeup hadn't been touched yet, but she'd shed all of her lekku adornments and jewelry, save for the gold bracelet on her left hand.

It wasn't "Galactic Superstar Gaya" standing in front of him. It felt like it was closer to just... Gaya. Embarrassment set in as he suddenly realized he probably shouldn't be seeing her like this, and his face grew warm.

She smiled calmly with a hint of surprise, similar to the way she had the first time they'd met this afternoon. "Lieutenant. I was beginning to think you were ignoring my message."

Had he taken that long? How long had it taken Becky to bring him word?

"W-well, Miss Gaya you know, there are reports to file," he stammered out, trying to regain a sense of control over his own voice. She was standing before him still fully clothed. Why did it feel like she was so... bare?? "You, uh, you wished to speak with me??"

"Yes, I..." she paused for a moment, and it felt like an eternity. He wasn't sure where he should even look, so he forced his eyes to take in the inside of the cabin instead of her. There was just so much... room. "I wanted to ask you some things, away from the audiences," Gaya finally said as she turned and walked over to the small bar that the bigger rooms contained. She grabbed two metal cups and began pouring into them. "No public pretenses, or games... just an honest chat." She came back with the cups, offering him one.

He put up a hand of refusal out of habit. "I'm sorry, Miss Gaya, I don't partake in--"

"It's water, Croy," she said flatly, almost irritated. He flushed some more and quickly took the cup, staring into it. She sighed, "For all the amazing dining service this ship has to offer, the room service kind of lacks."

"Ah, yes," he agreed, flashing a smile, despite having no idea what room service was. He took a sip from the cup, jolting a little at the discovery that it was sparkling water. Why was this even allowed? He stared even deeper into the cup.

"Anyway," she continued. "About today... twice you walked out on my performances tonight. Why?"

He allowed his gaze to shift back up to meet hers. "Why... Miss Gaya, it felt very much like I was... unwanted there."

"And what gave you the first clue?"

"The insistence on 'Oola Shuka', for a start."

"A start? You choose the moment you walked out as the start of the problem?" she laughed, shaking her head a little as she went for a sip of her own water.

"Well..."

"You can come in, Croy. I don't bite."

His feet remained glued to their spot at the threshold of the doorway. "At dinner it... felt like you might."

She smirked a little, "Sometimes you've got to put on a show. I'm sure you understand. I've seen your own brand of theatrics at play."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, waving the cup of water around just a little too dramatically. He quickly steadied it when he realized it was about to slosh out of the cup.

"Mmhmm," Gaya nodded, one eyebrow raised. She set her cup down on the bar. "Well that brings me back around to the main question, Lieutenant: why did you return for the second dinner?"

"Well, I..."

"You knew you would likely get the same reception. Same setlist. And yet, there you were..."

"I simply enjoy you--I mean--your music, and I..."

"Would try to disrupt it again?"

He stared at her in surprise, slightly offended now. "Miss Gaya, most of our interactions were initiated by you. Or that... little guitarist's outbursts." Earlier, Croy had definitely made several mental notes to throw that kid in the brig as soon as he had the chance.

"Sandro was only defending me," Gaya said, much cooler now. "I was literally in the middle of a speech about vulnerability, Croy. Had you listened to a word of it, you might have learned a thing or two."

"My troopers arrived with news, I couldn't--"

"No Croy, it could have waited. There is nothing going on on this ship that was so pressing that it couldn't have waited while I poured my heart out to the audience. Do you understand that?"

If she only knew. "Miss--"

"Croy. Look at me."

He listened, shifting his gaze back towards her beautiful, all too serious face, as she stepped closer to him.

"There is nothing happening on this ship that is more important than me. Got it?"

There it was. That power. Galactic Superstar Gaya. He nodded, swallowing a dry lump in his throat. He lifted his cup quickly.

"Good," she snatched the cup out of his hand before he could bury his face in it once more, and turned to put it down next to hers on the counter. "Now, we have got to do something about that dancing of yours."

"My dancing??" he frowned. "What was wrong with my dancing?"

"Only that it looked like you'd never danced in your life."

That wasn't far from the truth. It had been a very long time. "I don't... typically dance, no. I don't see the point."

"Let me guess," she leaned against the bar. "The First Order forbids it."

"It's certainly... not encouraged."

"Right. No fun allowed."

"That's not true," Croy insisted. "Good hard work is fun! And... I may have had some fun tonight."

"Until 'Oola Shuka'."

"Until you intentionally played a banned song to run me out twice, yes."

"It's also my top hit," she pointed out. "Why would I deny my fans my most popular track just because you are in the room?"

"Because it's the law," he stated.

"Not my law," she said. "Not my homeworld's law. And certainly not the law on this ship."

"I am the law on this ship."

"No, Lieutenant. Captain Keevan is."

He scoffed. "Not for long."

She rolled her eyes, putting up a hand to stop him. "Alright, before you start that talk, I'll need to track down something stronger. But hey, if you're not going to acknowledge 'Oola Shuka' because someone told you you're not allowed, do you have your own favourite?"

"Favourite... of your songs?"

She nodded, waiting.

He took a moment to mull over the thought. His favourite song? Most people didn't ask him his favourite anything. One typically didn't discuss hobbies with their fellow officers. Hobbies were wasted time.

He thought about the songs he'd already known before that day: the ones that he'd heard enough to make him a fan before she'd even stepped foot on the ship. Gaya's setlist that night had covered most of them, or made him appreciate others in a new way. As awkward as it had been, he certainly now had a memory attached to 'Rockstar Queen'. A few of the other songs had been enough to get him toe tapping, and at least one had him singing along before he'd caught himself. But, one...

"Would you like my honesty?" he asked, wringing his hands a little.

"Of course."

"I think that 'Poverty of Love' is one of your best."

Her brows lifted, and her posture straightened, even while still leaning on the counter. "Oh?"

"It's, ah... more real," he tried to explain, without really explaining. "More..."

"Relatable?" she inquired, suddenly seeming more curious. "That's interesting..."

A noise down the hallway gave Croy pause, and he glanced over to see a late hour passenger headed their way. Instinctively, Croy spun on his heels to face the hallway, and tried to fill up as much of the doorway as possible. As the person approached, he recognized the man as one of the loyalists who'd greeted him with a hearty handshake early in the day. Croy wracked his brain trying to remember the man's strange Earth name, and the passenger gave him a sloppy salute on approach.

"Cap'n."

Croy decided not to correct him, partially because 'Captain' was technically a higher rank, but also because the man had clearly had too many in the Sublight Lounge. "Ah, Stewart! Staying vigilant I see?"

"Y-you got it... cap'n," he slurred as he wobbled passed, headed for his cabin. He'd barely even looked towards them as he continued down the hallway, but Croy specifically

shifted his body along with him to stay in front of his view.

Croy waited until Stewart had disappeared into his cabin before shaking his head and turning back around. Gaya was still leaning against the bar, now looking amused.

"What was that?"

"What?" he asked, confused. "The drunken loyalist? A perfectly good reason why I don't imbibe in frivolous drinks, that's what."

"No, what were you doing there? Earlier in the day, I certainly didn't get the impression that you'd be scared to be seen with me," she smirked, pushing off the bar to step towards him once more. "In fact... Raithe had to shoo you a few times."

"You know, you should have a talk with your employee," Croy agreed. "He needs to know his place."

"He's only doing what I've asked of him," Gaya countered. "At my status, it's common to have people get... clingy." She reached over and peeled a fuzz off his sleeve. He might have stopped breathing, but she asked once more, causing him to snap his focus back to her voice. "So, what was that in the hall?"

"W-well you're not..." he searched his mind for the right word that wouldn't cause offense. He decided to start over. "I only wished to protect your modesty, Miss Gaya."

A smile crossed her face that was hard to read. Something akin to the way one would react to a child who had just said something ridiculous, liked maybe she was trying not to laugh. Whatever she was thinking, it made him regret his words immediately.

"I'm sorry, I should take my leave and let you rest," he turned around, wanting to hide his embarrassment back in his own cabin.

A hand clasped onto his shoulder. "Croy."

He stopped and glanced back at her.

She sighed. "Look, we are two very different people, on very different paths that I think neither of us are interested in veering from. That makes anything between us very complicated, and downright impossible."

He fully turned back to face her, confused.

"And I don't need anyone 'protecting my modesty', alright? I can do that on my own."

Croy flushed red some more. "I apologize, Miss Gaya, I..."

"If you think a comfortable robe because I'm no longer performing for a crowd is immodest--"

"I misspoke. That wasn't what I--"

"Croy just... shut. up. while I'm speaking or I'm going to change my mind."

He shut his mouth. Change her mind about what?

She took a deep breath, seeming to recollect her thoughts. "It wasn't needed, what you did. But however misguided... in its own way, it was sweet."

What? What?? His pulse pounded in his head now.

"This wasn't my intention when I originally asked to speak with you, but..." She reached up to play with his lapel, just a little. "I'm going to give you a onetime offer. Take it or leave it. You won't get another chance, understood?"

"I-I definitely do not understand..." He admitted, and that was mostly because it was growing more difficult to register words. He continued to stare down at his lapel long after her hand had retreated.

"Harman, look at me."

His name? His... first name?? He forced his eye line back to meet hers.

"You can turn around and go back to your cabin, get a good night's rest, and we'll forget this even happened."

"...o-?" he squeaked out. He quickly cleared his throat, and tried again. "...or??"

"Or..." she turned away from him, headed for the couch in front of her cabin's viewport. "You finally step in my damn doorway, and shut the door behind you." She sat down and looked at him, expectantly. "And tomorrow morning, we forget this even happened."

Had time stopped? He was pretty sure time had stopped. His breathing certainly had. Maybe even his heart. It was the only reason he could even fathom that a thousand thoughts were burning in his skull at the exact same time, but there was certainly no way to register what any of them were.

"Harman?"

He jumped, pulled back to reality by another use of his first name.

"I know it's forward of me," she admitted. "I won't judge you either way. Just make a damn choice for yourself for the first time in your life, while my offer still stands."

He stared at Gaya just a little while longer, taking in the image of her sitting on the couch, waiting. The beautiful violet shade of her skin seemed even more vibrant than ever, and her eyes were so expectant, watching him, waiting...

He took a step forward.

He slid the door closed behind him.

And he slammed a finger onto the Do Not Disturb button by the door.

--

Around the corner of the service corridor where she had hidden herself to wait, Becky excitedly pulled out her datapad, and shot a quick message to Jeremy.

'You owe me 50 credits.'

-----

-A few days later-

Lieutentant Harman Croy sat alone at the bar, staring into a glass of water. He wasn't even sure why he'd come here, only that he knew he needed to be out of the First Order headquarters for a breather. While the Halcyon investigation was still going on, after everything that'd happened the place had begun to give him an anxiety he could not describe. Like the walls were closing in around him, and he was running out of time.

He'd been so close. A promotion surely would have been in his hands. He had been right, after all. He'd sniffed out serious resistance activity for The Supreme Leader.

It wasn't his fault that Ren was so obsessed with that girl that his judgement head been in turn so clouded.

Though, maybe Croy related, just a little.

But that hadn't affected his performance on this mission, he was sure of it. He'd set out to find them, and he found them. They'd just been... too numerous than originally anticipated. People weren't fond of being treated as expendable.

Who knew?

Another feeling Croy now understood first hand.

It was probably his only saving grace that Ren had clearly also failed in... whatever was going on in his domain. There had been no reports from the Supreme Leader at all. Nothing to tell Colonel Talis what the state of the ship really was, what his orders had been, and how Croy had been forced at gunpoint to lie about both in the end.

Croy knew it wasn't to protect him. He knew now that he was insignificant to the Order. This whole thing had truly shown him that. Kylo Ren was saving himself from embarrassment by not commenting on the events that night.

But Croy knew for certain that he never wanted to cross paths with The Supreme Leader again.

"I know that look."

Frowning, Croy slowly glanced over towards the gruff voice that had interrupted his thoughts. Sliding onto the bar stool next to him was an older man, probably in his seventies, his white hair continuing down his face into a pair of large scruffy mutton chops.

Ignoring Croy's immediate disdain, he continued: "You look like a man whose world view has been shattered. Though most of us do it with something stronger than... is that water??"

Croy clenched his gloved fists against the bar counter. "I made a solemn view not to imbibe until--"

"Yeah yeah," he waved him off. "Bartender: a tall one for the poor lieutenant, on me."

The bartender nodded and got to work on a new drink. Croy rolled his eyes, moving to stand up, but a strong hand clasped onto his shoulder.

"Hold on there, son."

"Sir, do I know you??" Croy asked in annoyance, trying to shake off the man's hand.

"No. But I know you." The old man said. He glanced around the room for a moment, and then back at Croy, quieter this time. "Keep this on the down low, but I'm a former Imperial myself."

Croy wasn't sure why he wanted it to be a secret, but he nodded slowly. "Well... thank you for your service."

"Hell no," the man gave a disgusted look. "It's not something I've been proud of for decades. It took me too many years to realize the mess I'd signed myself up for. Too many terrible mistakes. Until finally... I looked a lot like you do, right now."

"Respectfully, Sir," Croy finally got up fully from the bar stool. "You don't know a thing about me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my office." He turned to leave.

"What's their name?"

Croy stopped walking. He glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"What is their name?" the man repeated. "The one who has you sitting in a bar contemplating whether you ever want to put that ugly uniform on again?"

He spun back on his heels. "Sir I've given my heart and my soul to The First Order. If--"

The older man nodded, as if in agreement. "And there lies the problem."

We are two very different people, on very different paths that I think neither of us are interested in veering from.

Croy shook the memory from his head and then scowled. "We're in First Order jurisdiction on this planet, old man. I could arrest you right now for this treasonous conversation."

"But you won't," the man said as calmly as everything else he'd said that night. He reached for the drink that had been freshly dropped off--something bright yellow, with flecks of red floating in it--and held it out to Croy. "Because you know I'm right."

"Sir, respectfully, I do not want that drink." Croy finally snapped at him.

Croy's hands curled into fists at his sides, simply staring the other man down.

Just make a damn choice for yourself for the first time in your life.

The older man sighed, relaxing his arm.

Then, Croy pointed at a nearby customer who was sipping something blue. "I want one of those ones. Whatever it is, it looks less like it'll kill me."

The man smirked, waving the bartender over once more as Croy slid back onto the barstool next to him. "That's more like it," he said. "One of those sparkly things please, barkeep."

Croy sighed. Was he really doing this?

The older man took a swig of the yellow drink. "Jokes on you, the blue one's probably stronger."

"What!?"

"The prettier it is, it tends to... hide the pain longer."

"Well, isn't that relatable," Croy said dryly as the new drink was slid in front of him.

The mutton chopped man laughed a bit, just a gruff little chuckle. "See I knew there was someone. There's always... someone."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Croy muttered.

"You'd be surprised what I'd believe. Bottom's up," he waved his glass a little, and then leaned back a bit as he took a much bigger swig this time around.

Croy lifted an eyebrow at his own drink now, and then glanced at the bartender. "You wouldn't happen to have a straw, would you?"

The barkeep's response was an unimpressed dead stare back at him. "No."

"Oh, alright. One last question: I couldn't help but notice your DJ droid in the corner there seems to be stuck in a loop of Figrin D'an on repeat--"

His new companion put his now nearly empty glass on the counter in surprise. "Hey, 'Mad About Me' is a damn classic."

"It's a bit stale after 10 plays in a row, don't you think?" Croy asked, finally lifting his own drink.

"Ya got a better suggestion?" asked the barkeep.

Croy smiled over the rim of his glass. "Let's try 'Oola Shuka'."

[kevindayscrown]

The one where Kevin Day falls in love with an ice hockey player.

Part 9

Closing Curtain

(TW: Very angsty. Enjoy;))

Anything included in this head canon takes place the semester after the Foxes won the championship against the Ravens.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about varsity teams in the United States so excuse any false information. Head over to the directory to find the previous parts.

It was easy like that. It was easy to pretend that it was all part of the game. The two of them were acting, after all. It was nothing more. The weeks leading up to the winter banquet were spent in practices, in studying, in Exy and in the dates with Eric.

Kevin knew it should be ending soon. He’d already fed the press enough, and the news were slowly starting to die down.

He didn’t think too much of the fact that he didn’t want it to end.

Despite not having completely opened up to Eric yet, Kevin had been growing more and more comfortable around him. Their dates consisted mostly of going to some public place for a couple of hours before retreating to the safety of the attic.

Kevin had never before cared about the details in someone’s life, but if someone asked him what did Eric’s laughter sound like (loud and obnoxious like thunder), what his favorite food was (pizza, much to Kevin’s dismay, and a traditional Vietnamese dish), and other silly little questions like these, Kevin would be able to answer them.

Of course, Eric in return, had discovered quite a lot about Kevin, perhaps even things that Kevin didn’t know about himself to begin with.

Despite all that, their first kiss at the attic during their first date was also their last.

After sobering up from the excitement of the day, Kevin had more or less freaked out over it.

He convinced himself it meant nothing.

This was all just a game.

The day of the winter banquet came sooner than Kevin expected it. The Foxes had won enough games to move forward in the season and the new recruits had finally adjusted in the team.

The USC Trojans were hosting the banquet that year. The Foxes would have to travel across the country to get there, and would also spend the night at a hotel.

Much to Kevin’s dismay, this also meant that Eric would get to know the foxes of the Exy team better, and they would also probably embarrass Kevin in front of Eric.

“So, Eric.”

“Yes Nicky?”

Kevin was already rolling his eyes. He looked at the seats in front of them, seeing Andrew staring out of the window while squeezing Neil’s hand. It was a sight the Foxes didn’t get to see often but Andrew hated airplanes and flying. Kevin doubted he cared much about what the Foxes saw right now.

Nicky started asking Eric stupid questions about his ‘relationship’ with Kevin and soon, most of the Foxes joined in. Of course, they were enjoying this, but only Eric seemed to indulge them. Kevin ended up plugging in his earphones and just watching a game of Exy on his laptop.

When they arrived, they went straight to the court, where everything had been set up for the banquet. The foxes were one of the last teams to arrive so they were quickly taken to the locker rooms to change.

At that point, Kevin was already feeling his nerves overwhelm him. He knew he would see familiar faces and yet he’d still have to pretend he was dating a guy.

The two of them had already faced… judgment but it would be different coming from other Exy players.

“Hey,” Eric said when they were dressed and heading outside, hand on the small of Kevin’s back. “You look a bit pale. You sure you’re okay?”

Kevin flinched away from his touch when he noticed that people were looking. People Kevin knew, people he could name.

Eric noticed something was wrong and pulled his hand away quickly.

“Hey, Day!” Someone called and Kevin turned, spotting Jeremy with Jean on toe. A small smile appeared on Kevin’s lips, though it was faint.

“Hello Jeremy.”

Jeremy glanced at Eric by Kevin’s side and offered the pair a toothy grin.

“So, the rumors are true?”

Kevin immediately tensed, sparing a glance at Jean, who stood there unfazed, like a silent reminder.

He could only force a small smile before replying, “They-,”

“I believe we should take our seats? I think food is being served,” Eric said, as if able to feel the tension oozing off of Kevin.

Jeremy nodded and smiled again. Kevin often wondered how could one person have so much kindness to spare.

“Talk to you later, Kev,” the blond said and patted Kevin’s shoulder before walking past him.

Jean kept his gaze on Kevin a little longer before he followed after his teammate.

Eric then led them at their table and the two took a seat in silence.

No matter how many times Eric tried to spark a conversation, Kevin would turn away and say nothing. He would recoil from any kind of touch, always keeping an eye out for who might be watching.

Rumors.

“Day, what’s wrong?” Eric muttered under his breath eventually.

“Nothing is wrong,” Kevin said, casting a cold, apathetic look at Eric.

Eric was taken back by that, eyebrows furrowed, seeing as he hadn’t been on the receiving end of Kevin’s glares in a while.

“Okay, pause. Can we talk about it?”

Kevin hesitated, but then nodded slowly.

The only thought in his mind was that maybe a big break up during the winter banquet would attract the last ounce of attention they could get out of this.

They went to the restroom and Eric waited until the door was closed before he spoke.

“Are we going to go back to pretending we hate each other now?”

Kevin didn’t respond immediately as he leaned up against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“I don’t understand what you expect from me, Jiang. If anything, the news has died down. You are free to go.”

Eric stared at him in confusion before his expression shifted into one of anger.

“Free to go? Then why did you bring me here, Kevin?”

“One last show? Perhaps breaking up in front of everyone will be our closing curtain.”

Kevin knew that wasn’t what he wanted. But what he wanted didn’t matter. He needed to salvage his remaining reputation and perhaps remove this stain.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Kevin avoided looking at Eric.

“Kevin. Kevin, look at me and tell me that none of this was real. If you truly believe that it all was nothing but a performance, then I’ll leave you alone.”

Kevin clenched his jaw and turned to look at Eric, as requested, eyes narrowed.

“I’m straight. I did this because I had to.” Kevin knew how to lie, that was for sure. He knew how to put up a front.

“That isn’t answering my question, Kevin,” Eric snapped as he stepped closer, until he was standing in front of him. “You can’t lie and pretend that you didn’t feel anything.” Kevin could tell that Eric was now getting desperate.

Kevin was cornered and panicking. He had allowed himself to not think about what this whole ordeal had meant, but now he was forced to consider the endless possibilities. He wasn’t sure if he could do that.

“I’m not lying, Eric. If you want us to keep pretending for whatever reason until we are back at Palmetto, then we can do that. But it means nothing.”

It was as if Kevin’s mouth moved on its own, words coming out without him controlling them. He was so used to brushing people off, being distant, that the moment he had to face his own emotions, emotions for another person, he got defensive.

Eric looked into Kevin’s eyes as if looking for the truth there, and so Kevin looked away.

“Perhaps this was a waste of our time after all.”

As Eric left the restroom, Kevin ran his fingers through his hair and slumped against the counter, the tightness in his chest suffocating him.

[authenticcadence18]

“Ice Cream and Dances Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo” Ch. 2

…

HELLO I AM POSTING A FIC UPDATE!!!!!!!! :DD

(Also a disclaimer! This fic uses the phrase “more than friends” a lot, and I wrote the first chapter before I realized that phrase can imply that friendships are lesser than romantic relationships. I want to make it clear that I do not see romantic relationships as inherently more valuable than friendships. Friendship is equally as important!!!! In the context of Phineas and Isabella, starting a romantic relationship would literally be them becoming “more than friends” because they would then be romantic partners AND friends. So, when I use that phrase in this fic moving forward, this is the meaning I’m choosing to interpret it as!)

…

“Ice Cream and Dances” by FrsdGirl

AO3

Previous Chapter

…

Isabella did her best to focus on inhaling and exhaling as Phineas led her back onto the dance floor.

“THIS IS A FRIEND THING.”

Once they found an empty spot, Phineas let go of Isabella’s hand and turned to face her, eyes wide and face flushed and GOODNESS HE LOOKED CUTE—

“HYPOTHETICAL. PLATONIC.”

Somehow, Isabella’s hands found their way to Phineas’s shoulders, though she wasn’t consciously aware of it until she felt him gently place his hands on her waist and oh goodness, friend thing or not, Phineas still wanted to dance with her and be close to her even though they’d already danced earlier aND—

“NO. STOP IT. KEEP IT TOGETHER, GARCIA-SHAPIRO.”

For about half a minute, they swayed platonically (or, well, somewhat platonically), neither saying a word.

Isabella just kept on focusing on breathing, on making sure she didn’t lean too close to Phineas, on keeping the desire to admit she’d actually love to be here with him on a real date at bay.

(She couldn’t have known Phineas was focusing on very similar things.)

Sure, she’d been nervous when they danced like this earlier. But those nerves were nothing compared to the nerves she was experiencing now because NOW, she had much more to worry about.

This was still strictly a friend thing, but it was also now a hypothetical more-than-friends-who-were-on-a-date thing. Except it WASN’T actually hypothetical in Isabella’s case, and she couldn’t help but hope that it might be more than hypothetical for Phineas as well but NO, she couldn’t give in to that hope, that was dangerous, so she needed to maintain a good balance between honesty and nonchalance about all this but that was difficult to do when he was so close and holding her and good grief , why’d she ever taken Buford up on his dare, and—

“Isabella? Are you okay?”

Isabella started and blinked, clearing her head of myriad worries with a shake to find Phineas staring at her with concern in his eyes.

“You kinda spaced out there for a second…” he continued. “And you looked a little worried. Is something wrong? Would you rather do something else?”

“NO!!!!!” Isabella shot back. A few nearby couples darted their heads in their direction, and she winced (the LAST thing she wanted to do was draw more attention to her and Phineas after their “grand entrance”).

“I...I just mean… I’m fine. Really.” She did her best to muster a smile for Phineas’s sake. “Just got lost in thought for a bit, you know?”

Phineas grinned, seemingly relieved to know that she was okay (though that could’ve just been Isabella reading into things). “Been there, done that!” he said.

Isabella chuckled a little, the image of Phineas hunched over his phone flickering in her memory. “I bet! You looked pretty lost in thought while Buford and I were dancing earlier. Who were you texting? Or were you testing out a new app?”

She felt a little more at ease now that she was talking with Phineas (as opposed to drowning in her own thoughts.)

“Huh??” Phineas blinked and bit his lip, shoulders briefly tensing up beneath Isabella’s hands. “...UH, I was just...texting Candace!”

“Really? It must have been an intense conversation, you looked so focused. Did she ask you for advice on a case assignment or something?”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t that… I just….uh” Phineas stared at her for a second and then up at the sky before continuing, “...I talk with her a lot these days. She’s got good advice.”

Isabella smiled and nodded in agreement in response.

(Perhaps she was a little curious to know what exactly Phineas had been discussing with Candace. But she knew he’d tell her if he wanted to, and she didn’t want to press him in case he didn’t.)

In the meantime, she could change the subject.

“So...have you been brainstorming any new projects lately?” she asked. “Other than the Stargazer 3000 of course, though if you want to talk about that I’m all ears!”

Phineas’s eyes practically ignited with excitement, making something flutter and glow in Isabella’s chest.

“Yeah!!!” he exclaimed. “Yesterday Ferb and I started experimenting with levitating carpets, like we did when we were kids! We want to see if we can replicate the effects over a smaller surface. But the technology isn’t quite ready yet…..”

…

“And THAT’S how we plan to modify our pre-existing anti-gravity quantum state lift disk technology to function effectively over a smaller surface area!! We’re planning on finishing up a prototype tomorrow and using it for a project.”

“Cool!! Can I come over and help out?”

“Of course! You never have to ask to come over, Isabella. I’ll—er, we’ll always be glad to have you around.”

“Thanks!”

Sometimes, it was easy to take living across the street from Phineas for granted. Because of that, Isabella was used to his boundless creativity and ideas, used to his uncanny ability to make the impossible possible...but she never wanted to lose sight of how extraordinary just being able to be used to those things was.

Moments like this reminded her that Phineas was brilliant .

And handsome.

….brilliantly handsome.

She cracked a smile at that last thought.

Phineas, fortunately, didn’t ask why she was smiling. He just smiled back...and then tilted his head, his expression morphing from fond to thoughtful.

“.....I just realized something,” he said. “We danced earlier.”

Isabella nodded, unsure where he was going with this.

“I guess, I just realized…. This—you know, us , dancing together—it doesn’t feel much different from how it felt before, when we were dancing but like...strictly as friends. ….uH! Not that we aren’t dancing strictly as friends right now! But...the hypothetical more-than-friends thing you were wondering about...you’d think it would make things feel more different….but if it’s us, it doesn’t. Not really.”

A blush sprawled across Isabella’s face. She’d been so wrapped up in listening to Phineas’s ideas, she’d almost forgotten about the hypothetical more-than-friends thing.

But Phineas apparently hadn’t forgotten.

“Uh—is that still a thing we’re doing?” he asked. “Pretending this is, like…a date? Or thinking about what it would be like if it were? Because I thought we were, but maybe I misunderstood, and if so that’s my bad—”

“No, you didn’t misunderstand!!!” Isabella replied quickly. “And, we can keep pretending this is a date. If you want.”

Phineas exhaled with a smile. “Cool!”

“Yup! Cool!” Isabella agreed.

Whew.

“And, you’re right,” she continued. “It doesn’t feel much different from how it did before...but it feels right. Talking with you feels better than just dancing in silence and staring at each other. I guess other couples might do that, but not us.”

“Yeah!!” Phineas let out a gentle chuckle. “I guess this means, if we were a couple, we wouldn’t act much differently from how we do now.”

“That’s what happens when you fall for your best friend, huh?” Isabella gave Phineas a knowing grin (she was basically a world-renowned expert on this subject). “Since there’s already a great foundation of friendship in place, romantic feelings can just develop naturally from what’s already there.”

….wait a second.

“….uH!!!” she choked, jerking back and clutching her hands to her chest on instinct. “Not that I’d know that personally!! Just, uh! In movies and stuff! That’s how it always goes. Yup. And we’re best friends, so! In this hypothetical scenario, we’d be best friends who fell for each other. Hypothetically.”

“Okaaayyyy time to divert the subject, Garcia-Shapiro.”

“People in movies have it easy….” she continued, trying her best to sound light and casual. “They meet and then, less than two hours later, BOOM! They’re together, true love for life!! Or...at least, they’re together until a sequel comes out and they’ve broken up offscreen just to get back together again….”

(The older Isabella got, the less patience she had for subpar romance movies and subplots.)

“Yeah….it’s a lot harder in real life...” Phineas agreed quietly. “Though, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about how it is hard for couples in TV shows. Like, Candace used to watch this show where the two main characters were in love but they didn’t realize it, and they kept on ALMOST confessing or getting together but didn’t actually get together until the very end. She’d get so frustrated with them, called them the ‘token will they/won’t they couple.’ There were a few steady side-couples though, Candace always used to say they made watching the show a little easier.”

He leaned in, a conspiratorial twinkle in his eye, and whispered, “She always used to compare herself and Jeremy to the main couple, but between you and me, the two of them are definitely more the ‘steady side-couple’ type.”

Isabella snickered. “ Oh yeah. They had it easy! They liked each other from the beginning, went on dates, started officially dating and then just...stayed that way.”

“If only it were always that simple….” Phineas sighed.

“If Candace and Jeremy are a steady side couple, what would that make us?” Isabella asked.

She flinched and quickly added, “uH!!! In a hypothetical sense!!!!”

Phineas blinked. “UM!!! That’s a great question!!!”

...was he blushing? Or was it a trick of the light?

“I guess, uh….we’d be the token ‘will they/won’t they’ couple?”

he rubbed the back of his neck and chucked slightly. “I mean, uh...in your hypothetical scenario, I’m not sure if we’d already be together or if this would be our first time doing something together. Together -together, I mean. On a date, you know. But, uh…….. Okay, let’s say I had feelings for you. Hypothetically. I’d have no reason to believe you returned those feelings.”

Isabella bit her lip and resisted the urge to roll her eyes into the nearest adjacent galaxy.

That was Phineas, alright. Oblivious as always.

“...BUT!!” he continued, “if you returned them without knowing about MY feelings, that would be a classic ‘will they/won’t they’ scenario. At least, according to Candace, anyway….yup….”

He suddenly seemed quite interested in staring at the grass beneath their feet.

Isabella followed his gaze and studied the ground for a bit, both to avoid pondering their hypothetical couple status any longer AND because, if Phineas was staring at the grass, it likely meant something interesting was happening down there.

...except nothing interesting was happening.

“.....okay, there’s no way the grass is interesting enough to warrant us staring at it for this long,” she mused. “You didn’t get hit with a dull and boring ray, did you?”

(She was mostly joking, but one could never be too careful in Danville.)

Phineas glanced back up at her and just stared at a moment before cracking a smile.

“Funny you should mention that….i was JUST thinking about the color beige….”

A moment passed.

And then he started to giggle. Quietly at first…and then not so quietly. His amusement was contagious, and soon Isabella was caught up in it too, the two of them grinning and laughing and as carefree as could be, all the awkwardness momentarily gone.

(The ruckus garnered some more stares, as the music playing was still pretty soft….but Isabella didn’t really care about that anymore. Having fun with Phineas was way more important than worrying about what others thought.)

Gradually, their laughter died down, with Phineas giving one final giggle and wiping a tear from his cheek before placing his hand back on Isabella’s waist, eyes shining with mirth.

Isabella gazed at him with a beaming smile.

There was just something about Phineas’s laughter, something about the way he smiled so brightly and expressed such genuine positivity so effortlessly, that had fascinated her and made her head spin since they were kids....and right now, it was hard to feel scared of expressing her true feelings for him.

(In other words, she was sooo in love with him right now.)

“You know….” she whispered with a flirtatious grin, “...if WE were dating—uh, on a date, within the parameters of the hypothetical more-than-friends thing!!!”

Good save, Garcia-Shapiro.

“...I’d have told you how handsome you look by now.”

“Huh?” Phineas blinked and glanced down at his outfit. “...Oh! Thanks! ...but, I’m not really dressed for a date….I wear this shirt at least once a week, and I haven't brushed my hair since this morning.”

“Aw, Phineas, you ALWAYS look handsome,” Isabella assured him. “No matter what. I mean, between the red hair and all your freckles and your acute nose and your SMILE, I’m not sure how anyone could NOT see how handsome you are…. And it’s not just your looks either, it’s your laugh and the way you can light up anyone and anything around you just by being you, it all makes you handsome, and……”

A bit of the happy fog in Isabella’s brain evaporated, allowing her to realize she’d been rambling to Phineas about how handsome he was for the past 20 seconds.

Oops.

“uH!!!! That is! That’s what I would say if this wasn’t a friend thing! But it is! So! Uh. You can just forget I said all that, if you want….”

She winced and clenched her eyes shut. That had been too much, she’d totally taken things too far, and now Phineas would probably be super weirded out...

Except.

One glance at Phineas revealed he wasn’t weirded out at all. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes soft, mouth slightly agape with what might have been astonishment.

He looked flustered, but in a good way.

And then...he smiled again. He smiled at her.

And it was a warm smile, a gentle smile, perhaps the most adoration-filled smile Isabella had ever seen and it was directed at her and doing funny things to her heart.

“Well….” he whispered softly, “...if this weren’t a friend thing, I’d have already told you you look as beautiful as ever…. But, since this is a friend thing and I haven’t told you yet….I’ll just tell you now. Isabella, you look as beautiful as ever.”

He grinned before continuing on in a manner similar to how Isabella had spoken a bit ago.

“I mean, between your eyes, and your hair, and the way your entire face seems to light up when you smile, and your adorable laughter, and the way you’re brave enough to say whatever’s on your mind…..I don’t think anyone else is as beautiful as you, Isabella. In every sense of the word.”

Isabella’s heart was going to pound right out of her chest. Or perhaps her knees would give out and she’d collapse right here, sprawled across the grass, running Phineas’s words and tender looks over and over again in her head for the foreseeable future.

It wouldn’t be a bad way to spend the rest of the evening.

But Phineas wasn’t done yet. He drew a hand back and then reached out for Isabella’s face...only to flinch and freeze in place.

“...uH!!” he breathed, hand still suspended in mid-air. “....if this were a date, I think I’d unconsciously reach out to brush a lock of hair behind your ear after saying all those things, just to see you better! ...would you be alright with that?”

Isabella didn’t trust herself to piece a coherent sentence together at the moment, but she knew she’d definitely be alright with that, so she nodded her head.

Phineas inhaled and tentatively reached out until his fingers were gracing Isabella’s cheek and then ever-so-gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

And once again, Isabella did her best to focus on inhaling and exhaling, on staying present in the moment…but this time, she wasn’t constantly reminding herself this was just pretend.

Because….what if it wasn’t?

Phineas was one of the most authentic people Isabella knew. Authentic to a fault, almost.

And that trademark authenticity, which she’d come to recognize in all of his inventions and actions and words in the years they’d been friends…..she recognized it now. In the hand cradling her face and the eyes gazing at her softly and the tender smile that hovered a mere foot or two from her own.

…perhaps Phineas had tried to ask her here on a date earlier.

Perhaps Buford had been right.

…

Thanks for reading!! And thanks as always to the lovely FrsdGirl for inspiring this fic and allowing me to write it and also for being just, the best ever, I adore you my friend🥺💕.

This isn’t the end btw, I know how this is gonna end, just haven’t written it properly yet!