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comphy-and-cozy · 12 days ago

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Playing Pretend - Tyson Jost

Pairing: Tyson Jost x OC (f)

Summary: When Delaney Taylor needs a date to her family reunion, Tyson Jost volunteers his services. As they navigate their fake relationship, the line between what’s real and what isn’t begins to blur.

Word Count: 9.8k

Author's Note: Happy birthday, @senditcolton! Surprise, I was your Little Women anon 🤓🥳 I had a blast creating this and infusing the March family into the characters - I hope you enjoy! S/O to @wyattjohnston for helping to beta and to @smileysvech & @jostystyles for the extra details because I'm insane. �� The birthday bingo prompts I selected were: Fake dating / Drunk confession / Argument Scene / She's oblivious / Free Space (Inspired by... Little Women)

Warnings: Angst, language, alcohol use. NHL Masterlist

A buzz on the coffee table alerted Delaney Taylor’s attention away from the television. Beside her, the gentle hum of a Theragun sounded over the low volume of an Avalanche game. She was at Tyson’s house, having accepted his invite to hang out and get takeout on his night off. They’d met through friends, and after finding a mutual interest in The Lagoons and bad reality TV, their friendship naturally veered off to form a branch and blossom on its own.

The phone buzzed again, prompting Delaney to lean forward and grab it upon seeing a text from her sister.

“Fuck,” she said, “Alyssa just texted asking for a final count for my family get together in July.”

“And that’s a bad thing… why? You love your family,” Tyson said, confused. He set down his Theragun on the ottoman, reaching for his water bottle. A car dealership commercial flashed on the screen.

Across from him on the couch, Delaney sighed. “I know. It’s just… I’m kind of the disappointment of the family.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I’m poor, in a mass amount of debt, and working at a Kohl’s instead of at the Met like I was supposed to by this time,” she said, counting each sin on her fingers. Lifting a fourth, she added, “Oh yeah, and I’m single.”

Tyson rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. They don’t care about that.”

“Maybe not, but I’m only 26 and they make me feel so pressured to get married, start having babies,” she sighed. “My older sister, Alyssa? Happily married with three kids. Violet? In a long-term, happy relationship. And Rachel—she’s not even married but she still has a baby who is basically the light of everyone’s life. Even both of my little sisters have ‘made it’ more than me. I’m just a grad school dropout who broke up with the boyfriend that everyone loved. They spent all of Christmas asking me if we were going to get back together.”

“Yeah, well, did you tell them that Mark was a fucking douche?” Tyson asked, to which Delaney snorted in amusement. You’re the only other person who seems to think so. He let the moment settle before adding, “Delaney, you don’t have to check all of the same boxes as your sisters. You’re literally the smartest person I know.”

“Dropping out of grad school does crazy things for your self confidence,” she said, heart heavy with defeat. It was over halfway through the semester, but saying it out loud never got easier. Delaney wondered what her former classmates were studying, if they missed her absence.

At the end of the fall semester, she’d been crushed to make the decision to pull out of her classes for the spring. Between work, schoolwork, and trying to balance the rest of her little free time between having a social life and having a healthy sleep schedule. her stress levels skyrocketed at the same rate as her student loan payment. It was a painful, but necessary, goodbye. Though she knew she made the right decision, she still felt sad and disappointed when her mind drifted, doing her best to quiet the what ifs that ran through her mind.

Delaney forced herself to focus her thoughts back to the present. “I just… I can’t stand to be a disappointment anymore. I already failed at being a grad student. I don’t want to have to fail at finding a boyfriend, too.”

“I’ll be your boyfriend.”

He blurted it out so quickly that Delaney stared at him for a moment before the confusion seeped in. “What?”

“I mean,” he said after a gulp of water, a slight tinge coating his cheeks, “I’ll come with you. Pretend to be your boyfriend. That way at least there’s one area they can’t rip on you for.”

“Tyson, I can’t ask you to do that,” she said, ignoring the swell in her heart at the image of Tyson Jost holding her hand. She didn’t have time to unpack that yet.

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” His voice was confident, like he wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer, but gentle, like he’d back down if she really vetoed the offer a second time.

Delaney considered. She felt guilty at the thought of subjecting him to her entire family, making him put on the doting boyfriend act without anything in it for him. That was just how he was, though; generous, giving, willing to do anything for his friends. It really was such a kind gesture of friendship, it almost made her heart ache.

On the other hand, it would save her a headache—she couldn’t deny how much she dreaded the hopeful look in her dad’s eyes when he asked if she was seeing someone—and she did think Tyson would get along with her family. And who wouldn’t want Buffalo’s cutest resident to be her arm candy?

“Okay,” she agreed. “But you need to promise to tell me if you change your mind.”

“Deal,” Tyson said with a grin, holding out his hand. Delaney accepted, shaking it; she ignored the warmth of his palm pressed against hers. “What’s our story, then, babe?”

Heat instantly rose in her cheeks at the pet name. “Okay, rule number one, don’t overdo it with the nicknames. It’ll be too obvious.”

“So no snookums? Honey pie? Sugar plum?”

“No, no, and double no.”

“Aww man,” he pouted. “I was even gonna let you call me ‘cupcake.’”

Delaney rolled her eyes before returning to his original question. “I think our story is the same, for consistency’s sake: We met through friends.”

“Our first date was putt putt and dinner,” he supplied, nodding along. “Kissed you outside your apartment after the second.”

Again, warmth melted over Delaney’s face at the mention of kissing; she felt like a teenager getting teased for having a crush on a boy in her class. And then she realized that she would, in fact, probably have to kiss him on the trip, if they were really hoping to make it believable.

Judging by the way Tyson’s face turned a shade of crimson, she assumed he’d come to the same realization she had.

Maybe they were in for more than they anticipated.

Six weeks later, after creating an entire relationship backstory and studying Delaney’s family tree, Tyson was on a plane to Boston, Bose headphones snugly over his ears. How I Met Your Mother was playing on his iPhone, propped up on the tray table in front of him. Seated beside him was Delaney, lost in her Kindle. Her elbow rested against him on the armrest, her long braid tucked between their arms.

When they landed, Tyson knocked his knee against hers with a grin. A strange flare of nerves and excitement radiated in his chest for a moment, then was gone again.

“C’mon babe, I’ll get your bag for you,” he said. Delaney chuckled, shaking her head with a teasing roll of her eye.

He followed her to the rental car booth, waiting patiently while she sorted out the paperwork for a red Toyota Camry for the hour-long drive to Cape Cod. She nominated him road trip DJ, a title he wore with honor, and the two chatted comfortably as she made her way down the MA-3 South.

Nerves began to flutter again when the GPS had them exiting the highway and indicated he only had about eight more minutes to prepare for his new role as Delaney Taylor’s boyfriend. If she could tell, she didn’t say anything, and he did his best to hide it. He could handle being surrounded by reporters with cameras and phones shoved in his face, peppering him with the same questions about his career and his future; if he could handle that, he thought, he could handle meeting his pretend girlfriend’s family.

Soon enough, they were pulling into the driveway of a large white house, and not thirty seconds after Delaney put the car in park, a small blonde head was running down the front porch steps to greet his new girlfriend. Tyson smiled as he watched Delaney throw the door open and scoop the little girl into her arms before spinning her around in a hug.

Olivia. Delaney’s seven-year-old niece—and favorite one.

“I mean, of course I love all of my nieces and nephews,” she’d explained, “but Olivia and I are soul bonded.” “Liv,” she said gently after setting her down, “there’s someone I want you to meet.” When two wide, inquisitive eyes peered up at him, Tyson instantly understood why she was Delaney’s favorite. He crouched down to meet her gaze as Delaney introduced him. “Olivia, this is Tyson.”

Olivia eyed him and he smiled, waving. She studied him thoughtfully, then said, “Hi. Are you Aunt Delaney’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Is that okay?”

The little girl looked over to her aunt. “Do you like him?”

Delaney’s eyes flicked over to Tyson’s, an amused smile on her face. Heat lingered in his cheeks after her gaze returned to meet Olivia’s. “Yes, I like him.”

“Like-like him?”

“Yep.” Tyson felt a flutter in his chest, like he was a kid on a playground finding out his crush like-liked him too. He hoped it didn’t show on his face.

Olivia turned back to Tyson, observing him keenly for a moment before sticking out her hand. “Okay. It’s okay.”

Tyson laughed again, relief unexpectedly washing through him at her instant approval. “Thank you. I’m really so honored to get Princess Olivia’s blessing.”

The other introductions were easier—Alyssa and Ben (Olivia’s parents), Rachel (Delaney’s sister) and her eight month old daughter, Isla. Tyson smiled warmly at everyone, feeling almost instantly at home amongst the easy way they welcomed him in. Inside the house was the rest of the family: Delaney’s sister Violet, her girlfriend Preethi, Hailey and Noah (Olivia’s older siblings), and Delaney’s dad.

Though he knew it didn’t matter much if he actually made a good impression, as he’d likely never see her family again, Delaney’s father was the person Tyson was most nervous to meet; he knew firsthand what growing up in a single-parent home was like and how close the bond can become with the remaining parent. Based on everything he’d heard about Delaney’s relationship with her father, he knew it was an important impression to nail.

“Mr. Taylor,” he said, extending his hand for a firm handshake. He was surprised at the way his voice trembled slightly, though he did his best to hide his nerves with a smile. “Really great to meet you.”

“Call me Dean,” he said with a wide, genuine smile. It put Tyson at ease, even as he registered how much larger Dean’s hands were than his own.

They exchanged pleasantries, and Tyson was happy with how the first meeting was going. He was impressed with himself, though he couldn’t deny that it was Dean’s easygoing, warm nature that really made it seamless. As a single father of four girls, Tyson wondered how many people had come through the door with the intention of dating one of his daughters—how many people had Dean had this exact interaction with? He wondered what Mark’s was like. He wondered how he measured up.

Tyson told himself it was just his competitive nature, but he found himself hoping that he was at the top of the list.

After introductions, Tyson and Delaney brought their bags in and settled into the third bedroom on the left, their home for the week. Once the door closed, Delaney turned and asked, “How’re you doing out there?”

Tyson laughed, unzipping his bag to hang up a few of his shirts in the wardrobe. “Are you kidding? Your family is great, Delaney. I think we might have to get married. I want to come here every summer.”

“Relax, cowboy. You haven’t even had a single meal with them yet,” laughed Delaney. She was grateful her face was hidden as she knelt to pull her toiletry bag out of her suitcase. Heat burned in her cheeks even as a grin spread across her face. Then, eager to change the subject, she added, “You passed Olivia’s inspection.”

“Dude, I think I fell in love with her. Those eyes!?”

Snorting, Delaney nodded as she walked toward the bathroom to set her bag on the counter. “She does have beautiful eyes.”

She thought she heard him say something like, “Must run in the family,” and she opted to wash her hands in the sink in order to will away the burn on her cheeks before returning to the bedroom to finish unpacking.

They returned downstairs a little while later, having unpacked and changed out of travel clothes to something more beach-friendly. Though it was nearing the end of the day and the sun was beginning to go down, the kids were not ready to give up swimming and making sandcastles for the day. Delaney gestured for Tyson to make himself comfortable when they sat down in the chairs on the deck. A few others trickled out, giving Delaney the opportunity to sit and catch up with a smaller group at a time; she spoke with Rachel about Isla’s new daycare, asked Violet about her anatomy final, and told Preethi about the latest book she read. She was grateful that no one seemed to be interested in asking about her future career plans; for now, it seemed, everyone was content with her handsome, charming boyfriend.

Rachel’s eyes flicked over to Tyson, who was smiling as he took in the conversation. He didn’t have much to say or contribute, but he seemed perfectly happy just listening. It made Delaney’s heart twist a little bit at the thought.

“How you doing over there, buddy?” asked Rachel. Delaney cast an appreciative glance over at her sister, grateful that she was making an effort to include him.

“Me? Oh, I’m doing great,” he said with a grin after a sip of his Labatt. “You guys kind of remind me of my mom, sister, and cousins when they’re all together.”

“Wait, that’s really sweet,” Preethi cooed.

“Okay, you’ve heard us yapping,” Violet said after agreeing with a nod. “Tell us about this infamous Tyson—who I’m still pretty pissed that I only just learned about your existence.”

Delaney offered her sister a sheepish grin and a shrug as Tyson recited the story they’d concocted about their relationship, peppering in details about their first date and their transition from friends to more. Violet seemed skeptical at first, but she seemed to warm up when he shared that he’d harbored a crush on Delaney for months before he asked her out—somehow, that was enough to explain the lack of talk about him.

“We wanted to keep things light in the beginning,” she peppered in. “Just in case things didn’t work out. Didn’t want to make things weird with the rest of our friends.”

Tyson nodded, going along with her ad-libbing and taking it a step further by reaching his hand over to hold hers on the armrest of her Adirondack. His thumb stroked her knuckles, a quiet and subtle gesture of affection that sent warmth flooding to Delaney’s heart. “Fortunately, it worked out and we still have friends.”

It wasn’t long after that Rachel went inside to put Isla to sleep and Violet and Preethi left to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner, leaving Tyson and Delaney alone. The other kids had gone inside to shower, which left their view of the beach unmarred as the sun went down, oranges and purples dancing across the surface of the water. Warmth splayed over her legs, the cool breeze making an otherwise warm evening quite pleasant.

This, she thought, is pure happiness.

“Wow,” Tyson awed, “I mean, I believed you when you said it was beautiful, but this is… it’s insane.”

Delaney laughed, nudging his foot with hers.

“Thank you for coming,” she said softly after a pause. “It really—I can’t say how much it means to me that you really came and did… all this. For me.”

Tyson smiled, the chocolate of his eyes warm as his hand reached over to give hers another squeeze. “For this view? I should be thanking you.”

Though Delaney was sure he was referring to the glowing horizon in front of them, she found herself wishing that wasn’t all that he meant.

—

Dinner was simple, casual, and perfect, with everyone scattered around amongst the dining room table, kitchen bar, and coffee table in the living room. Delaney could feel her heart contract at the sight of it, her family, the sound of their voices and their laughter filling the room of her most favorite place on planet Earth. Every time she looked over at Tyson, he seemed to be laughing, that contagious, bright smile etched across his face. He flitted around, too; one moment, she’d see him at the table with Olivia, Noah, and Dean, the next, at the bar with Rachel, Alyssa, and Hailey.

She was surprised at the way in which he fit in with her family as if he’d been around for years, the way Ben and Preethi had. It was so natural; she was impressed at how well he was selling their fake relationship without missing a single beat. Not a single person, she mused, had any suspicion that it was all a sham.

It sure didn’t feel like a sham to her when he tugged his white t-shirt over his head, tossed it in his bag, and crawled into bed beside her later that night. Delaney did her best to keep from gaping, but she’d never even seen that many abs on a person, let alone the shape of his bicep and the tempting dip of muscles that disappeared into the waistband of his plaid pajama bottoms.

“So how’d I do?” he asked, pulling her out of her head—the one that was imagining exactly where those lines ended beneath the cotton material. Heat flushed to her cheeks, realizing how blatantly she’d been staring, darting her eyes away.

Delaney plugged her phone in on the nightstand and regained her composure before turning to face him. “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.”

“Aw, thanks, buttercup,” he said, tapping her on the nose with a fingertip. “I’m ready to play so much Marco Polo with Olivia tomorrow.”

“You better get some beauty sleep if you’re planning to be the entertainment for the day. The girl’s got stamina.”

“Baby, I was born ready.”

When Tyson woke, it took him a moment to register where he was. The blue paint on the walls, the wooden beams, the spinning fan overhead was all unfamiliar, but there was something sweetly scented that he recognized.

Delaney.

She was sleeping beside him, hair disheveled and falling out of her loose braid. Her breathing was steady, soft, so quiet Tyson could barely hear it. He smiled, watching her for a few moments, appreciating the quiet simplicity of the house’s aura and the effect it had on Delaney; she seemed so at home, so comfortable, like she could take off the armor and be unapologetically herself. He liked seeing that side of her, like it was a privilege to be able to witness her at her most authentic self. He couldn’t wait to see more.

Delaney shifted, causing a strand of hair to fall into her face. Tyson felt a tug in his heart when she nuzzled into his warmth, exhaling softly.

He was her boyfriend now, and as much as he’d bonded with her family the night before, it was still early and he didn’t fancy an awkward conversation over coffee with the few people who had awoken. So, he gave himself a mental shrug and let her sink into the crook of his arm, savoring her warmth.

The subtle floral scent of her shampoo made its way into his nose, and the steady rise and fall of her chest lulled him back into a cat nap, morning sun warming the ocean-cool air. It was her stirring in his arms later, after the sun had risen higher in the sky, streaming light and buttery warmth through the window, that woke him again.

“You were snoring,” she said. Her freshly-awake voice was sleepy, softer than usual. “It was so cute.”

Tyson hummed a soft apology and his cheeks warmed, heat weaving its way through his body when he realized how much of her was pressed against him. He found himself both disappointed and grateful when she stretched and rose first, padding quietly into the bathroom. The bed beside him felt cold, empty, and it was only then that he realized how much he’d been relying on her body heat for warmth.

Breakfast was casual, everyone helping themselves to the assorted bagels, fruit, and yogurt in the fridge. Delaney’s leg brushed against his when he sat back down after a coffee refill, answering Noah’s earnest questions about how to become a professional athlete. He wasn’t sure how he did until he received a grateful look from Alyssa after he told Noah that he always made sure to eat all of his vegetables at dinner.

Since he didn’t need much time to prepare for a beach day, he offered to help Dean clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher—he was confident he’d made a good first impression, but wanted to solidify a spot on the Good List. By the time he’d started the cycle, Delaney had returned from their shared room and Tyson nearly choked on his coffee when his eyes landed on her. He’d never seen her in anything less than a t-shirt and jeans, and the expanse of her golden skin wasn’t something he had prepared himself for.

Of course he’d noticed the way her eyes bulged when he took his shirt off before bed; he’d bitten his lip to keep from smiling. She had told him to act normal and be himself—it wasn’t his fault he preferred to sleep sans shirt. But after seeing her in beachwear, Tyson’s confidence in his ability to manage his emotions as Delaney’s fake boyfriend was starting to waver. The black linen pants she sported were enough to have him sweating for a moment before he collected himself, tearing his eyes away from the curve of her ass.

Fortunately—and unfortunately—for him, he didn’t have much time to dwell on how well her pants fit her hips and her ass, for Olivia was barreling down the dock, followed closely by Noah, both of whom were calling to Tyson to help them build the world’s largest sand kingdom. Delaney grinned at him, offering a sympathetic shrug before he was being tugged to a spot on the beach by Olivia.

Right away, she directed him to dig the moat, while she and Noah worked on starting the base. Tyson kept the conversation going, asking them both about school and letting them ask him questions about life as a hockey player. Every so often, he’d glance over at Delaney, sitting on the deck with Rachel, Isla, Violet, and Preethi. He smiled at the light in her eyes as she sat, chatting and laughing with her family that he knew she missed dearly. For the first time in a few weeks, she was smiling, the weight on her shoulders temporarily lifted.

This was why he came. Why he traveled 500 miles from home, voluntarily staying in a house full of strangers and was now elbow-deep in wet sand: To take away a pressure point so that she could enjoy her weekend with her family without the unspoken still-single? narratives. She thanked him more times than he could count, but it honestly hadn’t even occurred to him as something that was worth thanking him for.

She was a friend, and she needed something from him. Simple. There was no decision to make. If she needed him, he was there. When a friend asks for help, you help ‘em.

Even if it meant he had to spend an entire weekend with her loud, large family and pretend to be her boyfriend.

Something about playing that role, envisioning himself as the man beside her in her life, made him feel… warm? And kind of fuzzy? Prior to arriving, he’d been a bit anxious at the immense pressure of being able to act the part and pull it all off, but being Delaney’s boyfriend was easy. Her warmth attracted everyone; it was only natural to be drawn to her.

“Tyson?” Olivia’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?”

“Are you gonna marry Aunt Dee?”

Tyson felt his cheeks tinge with pink heat, stuttering for an answer; he got the strange sense that Olivia had been reading his thoughts. His gaze flicked over to the girl in question, gently rocking Isla in her arms. For a brief moment, his brain conjured the idea that she was holding their daughter, and he couldn’t keep up with the surge of emotions in his chest.

He cleared his throat, blinking away the thought. “Um, yeah. Maybe. Do you think I should?”

“Yeah,” she said after a moment of introspection. “She smiles a lot with you.”

“She does?”

“Duh. You’re her boyfriend.”

Tyson hummed, letting Olivia drop a handful of sand into the bucket he was holding. He packed it in before helping Noah place the next section of the wall.

He’d be so lucky to marry someone half as wonderful as Delaney.

The sun warmed Delaney’s skin, amplified by Isla’s body heat, sleeping soundly in her arms. She smiled down at her newest niece, drinking in her tiny features.

“You got yourself a good one, Del,” Rachel said, causing Delaney to glance up at the use of her name. “He’s wonderful.”

Delaney swallowed the urge to respond that Tyson wasn’t hers, that he could only ever be hers in her dreams—or, in this case, in an entirely fake scenario. Even in the first 24 hours, everything had come so naturally to them, she had to remind herself that he was only there out of pity, not out of any sort of inkling of real feelings for her. The thought stung, but she pushed it aside to unpack later.

“It’s actually so sweet how in love with you he is,” Violet agreed. “I love watching him look at you.”

“Oh my God, right?” Preethi gushed. “Every time I look over at him, he’s staring at you with that dumb little smile on his face. It’s so cute.”

The thump of her heart quickened at her family’s words. She’d never seen the looks they were talking about. In fact, she’d never even seen him looking in her direction when she’d sneak glances at him across the room, keeping tabs on his whereabouts and if he generally appeared to be enjoying himself.

“Do you loooove him?” Violet asked. Her sing-song voice made Delaney roll her eyes.

“No, of course not,” she said, far too quickly, before she realized that being in love with her boyfriend is kind of the end goal when in a relationship. “I mean, not yet. It’s not been that long.”

She ignored Rachel’s glance, allowing Violet to nudge her knee with her own. “Alright. Well, no time like the present.”

“Judging by the way he looks at you, I think your boy is already there,” Rachel said.

Heat surged to Delaney’s cheeks. She knew it wasn’t true, but they had every reason to believe it. It was strange to be at the center of a lie, watching as the strings began to weave an intricate pattern—all because she couldn’t bear to disappoint her family again.

And Tyson had been more than willing to jump in and help her; in fact, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was overwhelmed with his generosity, his kindness. The display of friendship made her heart ache. And now, here he was, convincing everyone in her life that he was her boyfriend—so well that her sisters were convinced that this wonderful man was in love with her.

She made a mental note to compliment Tyson on his acting abilities. “Stop. He’s not.”

“Girl,” Violet said disbelievingly. “You go off to la la land with that dopey-ass smile on your face when your sister says he’s in love with you, and you think you don’t love him?”

“Let her get there on her own, Vi,” Preethi said, resting a hand gently on her girlfriend’s arm. She winked at Delaney before saying, “You’re right, though.”

After another roll of her eyes, Delaney glanced to the sparkling water beyond the dock for a reprieve from her interrogation. The waves softly rolled toward the shore, whispering her name on their breath. She nudged Isla into her sister’s arms before rising from her seat, stretching. “It’s time.”

Rachel’s “Have fun!” followed Delaney as she headed down the dock, slipping her linen cover-up down her legs and tightening the straps on her bikini. At the end, she wasted no time diving in, letting the water surround her.

Delaney swam around, letting the coolness of the water soothe her warm skin. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d been coming to this place, and something about the feeling of the water on her skin was cleansing; purifying even. The weight of the world seemed to melt away in this place, pressures and stressors and everything else muted while she was there with her people.

This time around was different. This time, her life back at home was in shambles, unable to catch a break. But this time, she also had Tyson by her side, there to alleviate the pressure so she could have an escape. His presence was different from how Mark’s had been, despite the fact that Mark was actually her boyfriend. Tyson seemed to understand her, listened without judgment, supported her without question.

Tyson saw her in a way that Mark never had—maybe in a way that even her family never had.

—

Tyson was helping Olivia put the final touches on the sandcastle, which included a garage for her Barbie Jeep, when movement on the porch steps caught his eye. His throat went dry when he saw what—or who—was making their way toward the water.

Delaney, stripping out of that linen outfit, excitedly speed-walking down the dock. He felt heat rush to his cheeks, his heart thudding in his chest. Unable to help the way his eyes traveled over her skin, he let his gaze drag up her legs, over her curves. Fuck. She looked good.

A shriek sounded beside him, and Tyson’s eyes went wide as his head whipped to Olivia. Only when he saw her smiling did he realize that she was shrieking with joy, presumably at the sight of Delaney jumping in the water, if the cheering was any indication.

“Aunt Dee! Aunt Dee!” she squealed, dropping her sand shovel and running back toward the shed. She handed him a Frozen floaty, indicating for him to help her blow it up. Once she was situated, the floaties wrapped securely around her upper arms, she was bounding down the dock toward her aunt. The sound of a splash, followed shortly by a squeal and laughter informed Tyson that she had successfully made it.

He smiled fondly, making his own way down to the end of the dock where Delaney was helping Olivia make a whirlpool.

“Incoming!” he shouted, tossing his t-shirt and sunglasses to the side before he cannonballed in amidst screams from both girls. Rising to the surface, he was met with splashes from Olivia’s tiny feet, which he quickly grabbed and tugged her toward him to lug her over his shoulders. Another squeal left her mouth as he launched her—safely—out of his arms, crashing into the water.

Delaney laughed beside him, watching Olivia’s triumphant smile as she rose to the surface. Moments too late, she realized that she was Tyson’s next target, her eyes going wide when his hands found her waist. He ignored the feeling of her skin beneath his fingertips and the way she fit in his arms as he lifted her, too—much to Olivia’s delight, who was chanting for him to toss Delaney.

“One, two—”

“Tyson, put me down!” Delaney shrieked.

With a wink at Olivia, he shrugged and said, “You asked.” With that, he launched her and watched her land in the water with a satisfying splash. When she emerged, Olivia was laughing so hard that Tyson couldn’t help but join in. Delaney spluttered, sending a splash of ocean water toward him that he quickly dodged.

He turned to Olivia, still giggling, and ignored Delaney’s sharp protests beside him. His eyebrow raised and he leaned in to Olivia. “We playing mermaids next, or what?”

Prior to arriving at the Taylor family cottage, Delaney had taught Tyson the family dynamics and the Annual Family vacation rules. First and foremost, to relax and spend time with family. If you weren’t having fun, you weren’t required to participate in anything—and there was usually so much going on that it wasn’t difficult to find something to do.

Another rule they’d developed early on was that each couple gets a guaranteed, guilt-free date night. Established after Hailey was born so that Alyssa and Ben could have a night to themselves, it had simply stuck as each sister added a significant other to the ever-growing Taylor family.

When Violet announced that Tyson and Delaney’s assigned night was Wednesday, his faux girlfriend was quick to assure him behind closed doors that they didn’t have to do anything crazy— “like a real date, or anything.” Tyson, though, brushed her off and was determined to commit fully to the bit.

It took a fair bit of wrangling and no shortage of dawdling to get himself alone with Alyssa to ask where he should take Delaney on a date. He couldn’t explain why his cheeks were so warm talking with her, taking note of her suggestions like he was in a Calculus class. While their relationship was a farce, he reasoned, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t take Delaney out for a memorable evening.

When the night arrived, Tyson fought a flutter of nerves in his chest. He had to actively fight the feeling of being a 16-year-old boy nervous for his first date, despite the fact that he was well into his twenties and had quite literally been sharing a bed with his date for three days. Waiting downstairs with Preethi, Violet, and Hailey, he did his best to act normal like it wasn’t his first-ever date with Delaney.

Like a scene from a movie, he felt his heart leap into his throat when she made her way down the stairs. She was stunning, despite having thrown on “just a sundress”; the body of the dress fit her torso like a glove, the skirt flowing at her waist. A milkmaid dress, he was told it was called—whatever it was, he liked it.

Dinner was simple, one of Alyssa’s top recommendations at which he somehow managed to snag the last remaining reservation. Once they arrived, he understood why: the wall facing the beach was made entirely of windows, leaving the entire restaurant a gorgeous view of the bay and the subsequent sunset. The room was already beginning to fill with the rich oranges and pinks as the sun slid closer and closer to the horizon.

“How romantic,” Delaney commented with a smirk, nudging him with her elbow. “Candlelit dinner at sunset? Should I be expecting a proposal later?”

Tyson’s face split into a grin, patting his pocket. He could’ve sworn his arm radiated warmth when she pulled away from him. “Shh. Don’t ruin the surprise!”

“Aww, you’re so sweet, honey bee.”

The meal itself was good—homemade pasta and some kind of whipped eggplant that had him contemplating ordering a second helping—but the highlight was sitting across the table from Delaney, talking freely and feeling on top of the world when she laughed at his stupid jokes. The flickering flame of the candle on her face, illuminating her skin, her smile, the glint of her necklace resting on her collarbones; her thick hair falling in loose waves, the strands around her face soft and so very Delaney. All of it—all of her—had completely sucked him in, fully underneath her spell and he couldn’t have been happier.

Tyson didn’t realize how much he’d been craving her individual attention until he had her uninhibited attention: her eyes locked on his, so in tune and in touch with everything he was saying, nodding along enthusiastically with every word out of his mouth. It was intoxicating to have her all to himself, immersed in him as he was in her.

He was addicted.

Tyson saw the waitress lingering out of the corner of his eye, praying she wouldn’t interrupt Delaney’s story—something about a new exhibit at Buffalo’s art museum; honestly, he was mostly just consumed by the spark in her eyes. Instead of checking in, the waitress approached the table silently, refilling water glasses and wine without a word before walking away.

I’m tipping you 50%, he thought to himself, leaning right back into everything Delaney, Delaney, Delaney.

Eventually, the waitress did return and burst their bubble, but Tyson was already on cloud nine, suggesting a walk on the boardwalk to get ice cream just to prolong the feeling for a little longer. The evening breeze paired with the lack of sun had goosebumps dotting Delaney’s arms, and it was all too easy for him to slip an arm over her shoulder and tuck her into his warmth.

Driving home was like a scene from a movie, her phone plugged into the aux cord and Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me blaring from the speakers. With a grin, Delaney cranked the volume up and Tyson found himself loudly singing the words alongside her; fortunately, the sound of his off-tune serenade was drowned out by the music. She sang to him, using her fist as a microphone as she danced in the passenger seat of his car.

Pulling in the driveway didn’t stop Tyson from continuing his performance, instead throwing open the door and running around to open Delaney’s, tugging her out to spin her in a circle at the instrumental break. He pulled her back into his arms, relishing the laughter she let out when he dipped her backwards.

The song faded to its end, the sound replaced by a softer one, the melody sweet and lulling. A faint beachy breeze blew past, and Tyson found himself pulling Delaney’s body closer. Her eyes were warm, looking up at him with a softness that made his heart melt and time stand still.

Tyson told himself it was gravity that drew him in, pulling him closer to her lips, suddenly yearning to know what her lip gloss tasted like. The world came to a spinning halt around him when he pressed his mouth to hers, like the universe wanted him to savor the moment. He kissed her more firmly, a strange tug in his chest letting his tongue flit against the seam of her mouth. She tasted sweet, like the strawberry ice cream he’d bought her on the boardwalk.

His hand moved up to her neck, cupping the side of her jaw to deepen the kiss, savoring the next sigh she expelled. He didn’t want to ever stop kissing her, not now that he finally knew what her lips felt like against his own. It warmed him from the inside out, like a buttery sunshine spreading through his veins, pulsing in time with the beat of his heart.

Tyson forced himself to pull away, consciousness seeping back in through the Delaney-infused haze surrounding him. The expression painted on her face was dreamy, her eyes unfocused as she blinked them open, a little hitch of surprise in her throat as reality seeped back in around them. He swallowed the urge to kiss her again.

—

Blinking, Delaney stood in shock. A rush of cool air hit her face from the space that Tyson had just occupied. She blinked again, lips tingling.

Once Delaney managed to get her wits about her, she did her best to keep her voice level. “You didn’t have to… we don’t have to—”

Tyson’s smile was nearly enough to make her knees wobble—though she was stabilized by his hands firm on her waist. He didn’t seem to be nearly as impacted as she was—heart thumping rapidly in her chest, mouth dry, fumbling to right herself on shaky legs. “Violet and Preethi have been spying on us from the upstairs window for ten minutes.”

“Oh.”

In an instant, Delaney deflated. She glanced down at her feet, trying to hide her embarrassment—at both the idea of her intimate moment being impeded on, and at her own stupidity for thinking that the entire evening hadn’t been just an act. He’d been so sweet, so perfect, that she’d allowed herself to really believe in their lie, even for just a few hours. She could’ve sworn there was something so genuine about the way he held her hand on the boardwalk, the way his eyes watched her lips—

And that kiss. She really needed to ask him where he’d learn to be such a good actor, because he was convincing.

“C’mon, pookie,” Tyson said, taking her hand. Her thoughts vanished upon hearing his voice. “We’ve given them enough to look at.”

Back in the house, they were greeted by a few people in the sitting room, gathered on the couches watching a movie. Ignoring the barely-hidden grins from Violet and Preethi, Delaney offered a quick ‘hello’ and exchanged a few words about dinner before heading upstairs—“I’m tired,” was her excuse.

She hoped her family didn’t notice that she couldn’t get upstairs fast enough.

Inside the locked bathroom, she turned on the faucet to imitate washing her face. Instead, her face crumpled as a sob wracked her body, warm tears spilling freely out of her eyes. The shift from on top of the world after the kiss to the fall in realizing it was all for show was jarring; she knew what she was agreeing to when he offered to pose as her boyfriend, but she hadn’t thought of the tease it would be for her heart to have Tyson be hers for the week. It hurt more than she’d expected to have him openly acting, to know what it felt like to kiss him and have it be all for show.

The little smiles, soft touches on the back of her arm as he’d pass in the kitchen, the brush of his fingertips on her waist in the lake. All of it so natural, sly, clandestine, like he wanted it to be a secret just for the two of them—and because it wasn’t an elaborate public display to uphold the falsehood for her family, it had only naturally drawn her to the conclusion that maybe there was some truth behind it.

That kind of thinking was too good to be true, she told herself. She wasn’t the main character of some romance novel; she was just Delaney.

And guys like Tyson didn’t go for girls like Delaney.

The next few days passed peacefully: jet skiing, swimming, and plenty of mermaids. If Tyson could sense any change in her after their date, he didn’t show it. In fact, if anything, he’d doubled down on his affection, brushing her cheek with his lips when he walked by, falling asleep with an arm loose around her hip, stroking the back of her hand by the fire.

It was wonderful and infuriating all at once. Delaney couldn’t help but lean into him, unable to resist his touch, even though she knew it would crush her even more once Sunday rolled around and it was time to leave. She could barely even think about telling her family they’d ‘broken up’—but she was getting ahead of herself.

She knew she should bring it up with him, tell him how she felt, but she couldn’t bear to make things weird and ruin the rest of the trip. For the rest of the week, she reasoned, she’d let herself live in the fantasy. Enjoy another few days of blissful ignorance. And she’d deal with the consequences of her actions later.

Hurt feelings were future Delaney’s problem.

It was Friday when the kids announced that everyone was cordially invited to a play performed by them that evening. Both Delaney and Tyson helped them to construct a few of the props necessary—including a reindeer made out of a tarp and a bike and multiple paper crowns.

Before the show, Delaney followed Tyson into the kitchen to retrieve a beverage for the show. As she poured herself a glass of wine, Tyson passed behind her, hand brushing against her waist when he reached past her to grab a High Noon from the fridge. They turned at the same time, bumping into one another, causing her white wine to spill down her front.

“Shit, I’m sorry—” she said, only to have him interrupt with a sudden kiss.

Initially caught off guard, it only took her a few moments to recover before she was kissing back, addicted to the feeling of his lips against hers. That same beautiful warmth filled her, a kind of light that she only experienced with him. She wanted to devour him, to have him devour her, to think and feel nothing but Tyson—

And then he pulled away. Lips wet, cheeks flushed, she could see the emotion swirling behind his beautiful brown eyes. “Delaney—”

But, with her wits about her now that he wasn’t making her dizzy with his kiss, she knew what came next. She interrupted him before he could finish. “Don’t.”

“Don’t?” Tyson’s brows furrowed together, confusion knitting between them. “Don’t what?”

Delaney shook her head and repeated herself. “Whatever you’re about to say, I don’t want to hear it. It isn’t fair.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You think you’re catching feelings, right? Because you’ve had to act like it all week.”

Tyson blinked, clearly surprised that she’d taken the words out of his mouth. But the surprised expression quickly morphed into one of frustration.

“So you’re not even going to give me the chance to speak?”

“I can’t hear you say it, Tyson—not unless you mean it,” Delaney said, then added softly, “Not when this has been the best week of my life because I’ve gotten to pretend you were mine—which is all I’ve wanted since we met.”

She watched his eyes soften, and the pity she imagined there nearly made her sick. It was a necessary evil, though; she needed to intercept his confession before he said it out loud. She couldn’t bear to hear him emit those words, couldn’t hear him confirm what she knew to be true: a future with her wasn’t in the cards for him. He’d never say it, probably wouldn’t even admit it to himself, but she knew that he was too good for her, that someone like her didn’t deserve someone like him. She wasn’t ready to burst the final bubble of her beautiful fantasy, leaving her cold and sad and alone.

But instead of sympathy, or a patronizing statement, Tyson adopted a bite to his words. “You think I fell for you on purpose? I didn’t have a choice, Delaney.”

Something about the way he said it felt like a slash to her heart, like he had fallen for her but wished he hadn’t. It stung more than she expected, more than him simply not reciprocating her feelings.

“This was your idea in the first place, Tyson. You committed to this,” she reminded him coolly. “It’s not my fault you’ve never seen a rom-com before. I didn’t force you to do shit.”

“Delaney, that’s not what I’m saying—”

Against her will, tightness formed in her throat, a sting hot behind her eyes. “I thought I could handle it. Having you be mine. I’ve always known it would come to an end, that I’d have to go back to life as it was. But I didn’t realize how much different it’d be knowing how it feels to kiss you, to hold your hand. To have you look at me like I’m the only person in the world.”

“Then you should’ve fucking told me that before you let me be your boyfriend!”

This is going nowhere, she thought to herself. She needed to walk away from him, right now, before the wall of tears threatening to burst through came pouring out.

Delaney took a breath, searching for the words that would wound him the way he wounded her. She steeled herself, feeling a cool exterior blanket her and harden into place like a cast. “Well, I didn’t. Sue me. I just need you to do your job for another 24 hours, and after that, we don’t ever have to speak again. Okay?”

She turned on her heel without waiting for a response, though she heard him say her name as she walked back outside to where her family was gathered on the patio. Her body thrummed as she returned to Rachel’s side, her younger sister casting a glance of concern in her direction. Delaney ignored her, smiling and turning to Hailey, Noah, and Olivia’s performance—Frozen, the musical.

A movement in her periphery told her that Tyson, too, had returned to the group, taking the seat beside the makeshift stage that Olivia had saved for him. She could feel his gaze lingering on her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him.

“Good?” Rachel’s voice was quiet, subtle, concerned. Delaney nodded, and she knew that her sister knew she wasn’t, in fact, good. She was grateful that Rachel knew her well enough to know to let it be, that she’d talk when she was ready. For now, Delaney wanted to stew a little bit.

So stew she did, staying mostly quiet as the musical wrapped up. The performers received a standing ovation before a fire was started and the usual chatter began. Darkness fell, the moon rising higher in the sky, their voices swallowed by the night air. Delaney offered a few comments here and there and helped Noah with his s’more, watching the group dwindle as more and more of them went off to bed for the night. Tyson, to his credit, remained by the fire too, helping to keep the kindle stocked—almost like he was saying, ‘I can go all night.’

But so could she.

—

The crackle of the wood and the lick of the flames hypnotized Tyson, pulling him in and quieting thoughts running through his mind as he replayed the conversation they’d had. Admittedly, he’d lost his temper a little bit, frustrated that Delaney wouldn’t let him get a word in edgewise, that she’d somehow made him out to be the bad guy.

As the kids began to make their way to bed, Tyson indulged in another beer—or three. Not enough to be drunk drunk, but enough to wash away some of the rogue emotions swimming around inside of him. He kept his eye on Delaney, who appeared to be stewing silently across from him and refusing to make eye contact with him.

But he was determined; he wasn’t going to let her slip away—not this time. Not after her confession. Not when he still had things to say that she needed to hear.

So he waited, making casual conversation with those remaining, the chairs around him slowly emptying out until it was only him, Dean, and Delaney remaining. He cast another glance over to her, startled to see her already looking at him. He couldn’t read the expression on her face, but he held her gaze through the tips of the orange flames dancing between them regardless. Something in his heart swelled, even though he was pretty sure he’d fucked it all up—he just wasn’t exactly sure what he did wrong.

“You know, your mother and I looked at each other like that.”

With a blink, Delaney broke eye contact to turn and look at Dean. Tyson had never heard her talk about her mom, save for an occasional memory. Her lips parted—in surprise, maybe—before she said, “Like what?”

“Like there was no one else around,” Dean said simply.

Delaney’s eyes flicked to Tyson’s. He swallowed carefully, suddenly all too aware at Dean’s implication, whether intentional or not. As her boyfriend, he was supposed to want a future with her: that was the end goal.

He didn’t have to feel guilty.

So he smiled, letting her see the warmth and happiness that Dean’s statement filled him with. He wanted her to know that when he was with her, the rest of the world faded away.

She was his Cape Cod. His escape from the upcoming pressures of free agency, of the already-exhausting training regimen that waited for him upon return home, of his future in the NHL on the line. With Delaney, none of it seemed to matter so much. As long as she was by his side, everything seemed like it’d be okay.

“Goodnight, you two,” said Dean’s amused voice. In his inner monologue, Tyson had completely forgotten that Dean was around, and he jumped slightly when he’d interrupted his train of thought. “Put the fire out when you come inside, will you?”

“Yeah,” Delaney called after him, glancing back at Tyson. “Goodnight, dad.”

Tyson waited until the crunch of Dean’s shoes on the sand disappeared up the lighted walkway to the house. “Delaney…”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted. “I was being selfish. I shouldn’t have— it wasn’t fair of me to not even let you say your piece.”

“I didn't know how you felt. I… I wish you’d told me,” he said, gently. “I wouldn’t have wanted to tease you.”

“I didn’t want to make things weird between us,” she confessed. “I didn’t really think about anything being different after this.”

Tyson nodded in understanding. The fire crackled beside him, burning bright in the cool darkness around them. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or his proximity to Delaney that made everything seem so damn beautiful. Probably a mix of both.

“You can say your piece now. I won’t interrupt this time.” She smiled, following where his gaze had just been, watching a spark pop beneath one of the logs.

“It’s not much of a piece,” he said. “I didn’t really think about how I was going to say this.”

“So, just say it.”

“I love you.”

Delaney snorted, rolling her eyes. “Tyson, you’re drunk.”

“I know. This isn’t exactly the way I envisioned first saying it to you, but I need you to know,” he confessed, aware that he was on the verge of drunk rambling. He composed himself and repeated, “I love you, Delaney.”

Delaney’s smile faded, staring at him. Her eyes studied his face, almost like she was searching for the truth in his own eyes. Convinced he could prove it, he stood and walked around the fire, moving into the empty seat beside her—only wobbling once en route. Her breath caught in her throat at the new proximity and he reached across the armrest to take her hand in his.

“You said not to say it unless I meant it,” he whispered. “I mean it.”

He watched as the weight of his words settled in, even drunk Tyson having enough wherewithal to know that it was time for silence. Slowly, a smile began to spread across her features.

Illuminated by the glow of the fire, Tyson thought it was the most beautiful he’d ever seen her look.

“Are you still gonna mean it when we leave here on Sunday?” she asked, eyeing him. “You’re not going to get back to Buffalo and shake out of this vacation high?”

“Whatever you need me to do to prove it to you, I will,” he said solemnly. “But I really, really would like to kiss you first, if that’s okay with you.”

Her eyes widened with surprise, just briefly, but then she was smiling again and nodding. With a finesse that only a drunk person could manage, he leaned forward to cup her jaw with his hand, nose brushing her own affectionately. He savored the feeling of her breath against his lips and closed his eyes.

As it had both times before, her kiss lit him on fire from the inside out. He poured himself into her, hoping that he could convey his sincerity with the depth of his kiss.

SIX WEEKS LATER

The buzz of her phone had Delaney setting down the Lego instruction booklet to glance at it. Smiling at the contact photo—Tyson, freshly awoken, his hair sticking straight up—she turned the screen to Noah, earning a wide smile with an extra tooth missing. She swiped to answer, letting the camera face her nephew.

“Noah! Hey, buddy,” Tyson’s voice greeted with a laugh. “What’re you up to?”

“We’re making a Spiderman Lego set! Look!”

“Wow, that’s awesome. I wish I could do it with you. You look like a real hockey player with those teeth missing.”

Noah smiled again, showing off the two gaps where his baby teeth had recently fallen out. Delaney started to flip the camera back to herself when a voice sounded from the other room. “Tyson! Tyson!”

Little feet pattered excitedly through the doorway, Olivia’s face beaming as she ran to grab the phone from Delaney’s hands. “Hi, Tyson.”

“Hey, Liv. When are you coming to visit me and Aunt Dee?”

She jumped up and down excitedly, looking at Delaney. “Aunt Dee said we can come and have a sleepover over winter break!”

“That sounds awesome. We can wear matching pajamas,” he said, earning a giggle from Olivia, who launched into an elaborate itinerary for their slumber party, including candy, a makeover, and a Frozen marathon.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “Hey, do you think I could talk to Aunt Dee?”

With a nod, Olivia said her goodbyes and made him promise to text her goodnight. Flipping the camera back to herself, Delaney smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Hi.”

“Hi, muffin,” he said, an easy smile curling up on his own face. He was sitting outside on a porch, curls peeking out from under a gray hoodie. “How was your interview?”

“Really good. We’re going to schedule a final interview at the museum next week once I get back. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get the job.”

Tyson’s smile grew wider. “That’s great news. One step closer to the Met!”

“I’m good with Buffalo’s art museum for now,” she said. “I don’t want to be that far from you.”

“Aww, honey bear,” he teased. Delaney wrinkled her nose, rolling her eyes at him. Her interview had been over video call, taken from Ben’s office at their house in Rochester. If all went well, she would soon become Buffalo AKG Art Museum’s new Membership Coordinator.

Things were looking up for her. And even though life wasn’t perfect, she had Tyson and her family to help her get through whatever came her way.

SIMILAR CONTENT:

Third Time’s the Charm* Adore You Love It If We Made It* One Night Standards

#tyson jost fic #tyson jost imagine #nhl fic #hockey fic #nhl fanfiction #tyson jost x oc #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #hockey fanfiction #banners and dividers by @cafekitsune

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andraxicated · 1 year ago

Text

Intimacy in all its forms

Pairings: ayato, heizou, albedo, kaeya, childe, scaramouche x f! reader

tags: fluff | highschool au! (currently reading seasons of blossom and i'm not okay)

a/n: this will probably be one of my last writings here before i'm once again swept up in school. this will be 3 parts with other characs!

taken from prompts here

pt. 2

Ayato | The intimacy of someone falling asleep next to you. On your shoulder. In your company.

—he was oh so capable. everyone admired and trusted him, he was all smiles to them and they'd worship the ground he walked on. he was good at everything; academics and athletics, student government positions, and work that seemed too much for one person. he handled it all like some kind of superman and you hated it so much. you hated how ayato promised he'd change his attitude when you're dating and he broke it—seeing him still handling paperwork when the sun was starting to set and the school was about to be empty.

"are you done?" you ask, leaning against the door to be met with his sorry eyes and words. "sorry (y/n), i'm about to be finished soon, you can go now if you want." what kind of question was that? of course, you'd stay with him.

you pull out a nearby chair and sat next to him, leaning closer and resting your head on his shoulder. "I can't have my afternoon nap because of you" you mutter before closing your eyes, hearing his hushed apologies that you inwardly groan to. and when you wake up, both of you go together in the darkened hallways hand-in-hand, passing by empty classrooms that you refuse to look at and ayato chuckles while glancing at you.

he doesn't call for a car ride when he's staying late, in fear of inconveniencing the family drivers but you tell him he's the only one who'd be inconvenienced commuting at a rush hour.

"how could I be inconvenienced when you're with me?" he says before yawning, a sign that he was about to succumb to exhaustion, and soon you feel a weight on your shoulder to see his blue hair nuzzling your face. ayato fell asleep on your shoulder as you held his hand, smoothing his knuckles over.

it was far from an uncomfortable silence. to have him resting on your shoulder, in your company, laying his guard down, and being vulnerable around you is enough to make your heart melt. you remember feeling something press against your head earlier when you were asleep on his shoulder, it felt like a kiss. and you know you'd always return the favor so you lean down a bit and kiss the top of his head, careful not to disturb him in this short slumber.

"take it easy sometimes, will you?" you whisper.

Heizou | The intimacy of “How did you know that?” “Because I know you.”

—you learned from the very start that heizou was a deductive person. it's like he knew everything as he was very quick to pick up on things. he even notices random stuff that you don't even know about. and all these little things he points out pile up and makes your heart flutter. you seriously think you're catching feelings and you hope this was one thing heizou won't know.

"you have something on your mind? you've been zoning out since earlier like your soul had flown out." he asks and you brush it off by saying you're just stressed from doing schoolwork. heizou won't pry if you don't want to tell him so instead...he's going to be the one to tell you something that's been weighing heavily on his mind.

it was just a peaceful day hanging out with him until he blurts out a confession out of the blue. "I like you (y/n)" he says and you're staring at him unbelievably with your eyes wide and mouth parted. he continues, "and I know that you like me too...at least from what I observed. turn me down if I'm wrong-"

"wait. how did you know that?" you cut him off. and you weren't even obvious with your crush from what you think. does he really know you that well to let you face your feelings for him?

"because i know you"

it had been bold of him to take that leap of faith to you. because there was that slight chance that he was just assuming and you only saw him as a friend. but his risk paid off knowing you all these years, staying by your side, and watching you fall for other people. for the first time, he chose to trust his guts rather than his mind. and it was rewarding to see you smile and hear your answer to his confession.

"once again you're right. i like you too, heizou"

Albedo | The intimacy of seeing someone’s unfocused eyes when they first wake up

—your eyes flutter open and the first thing you see is long lashes and striking tufts of blonde hair. you're curled up against the bed, a safe distance from this warm body and you haven't processed the information yet that your "classmate" is still here and you slept in the same bed together.

your parents are coming home today by the way.

you mutter a curse, soon realizing that the wet streets have dried and albedo is still here. oh my god. albedo! you wanted to scream but he looked so peaceful sleeping, you thought it would be a crime to wake him. but from your stirring and panic, you stop for a bit just to see his eyes flutter open, staring at the ceiling for a moment, revealing a lovely color of teal that soon moved to stare at you.

"good morning" he groggily greets and you say it back meekly. oh you've been a bad bad girl. when your parents are away from vacation, you invited your boyfriend to your house for a movie and cuddles since it was rainy season. turns out, you lead him to the bed for a continued cuddle session until you fell asleep.

you both sit up at the same time and you carefully watch what he does next. albedo looks at you as you flinch in surprise. "I should go now, you said your parents are coming back today, right?" you nod and he moves to kiss your forehead, feeling the warmth of his soft lips that closed your eyes. "I should've said no but unfortunately, I realized I couldn't resist you. I'm dating a bad influence." albedo says, playing with your fingers as you shake your head while giggling.

"let's have breakfast together first. then you can go after that, we have plenty of time." you whisper, kissing his cheek before going out of your room, feeling flushed and giddy from this intimate secret.

Kaeya | The intimacy of someone saying "Text me when you're home safe."

—"you don't have to do this", you shake your head looking up at him yet he gives you an easy smile in return. "this is the least I could do as your suitor." he insisted to wait with you at the stop until your transportation arrives. kaeya always made you feel safe and assured, he was constantly looking out for you. and before you go, he held your arm and said "Text me when you're home safe." so when you arrive, you let down your bag and pull out your phone to text kaeya.

"I'm home now! how about you?" you waited for a few minutes, growing worried until you see him typing a message that read, "home too. it's raining these days and it's going to be hard to commute. do you want me to give you a ride home starting tomorrow?"

you type in, feeling embarrassed yet he beat you to it saying "it's only for the rainy days. i hate seeing you squeezing against other commuters too."

yet he didn't say you'd see his brother too in the front seat with kaeya enthusiastically tapping the passenger seat at the back for you to sit in. it was very awkward in the car, proceeding to kaeya's smooth words that his brother lets out a groan every few minutes or so. you know it was his way of letting his brother know that he actually has a girl with him.

"hi can you please drop me off just around the corner? it will be fine thank you." you spoke to the driver with a smile and kaeya was confused as to why you wanted to be dropped off there.

"are you hiding something from me? a secret boyfriend coming over?" he teases yet he was quite nervous for the reason. you laugh it off, pushing him playfully before easing his worries.

"my parents still don't know about you, right? let's avoid any confrontations for now, I just don't want to be teased by my family that's all." you held his hand, giving it a little squeeze to see him break out in a small smile. "i'm not hiding something i swear! i'm serious about you. i like you kaeya!" if someone, even your neighbors saw this sleek black car parking in front and you coming out of it, it will certainly be the topic of gossip. you just wanted to avoid that.

"i know. i like you too. but was that your answer—" "ehem, (y/n) here we are. stay safe." diluc cuts him off with a cough, announcing your location and you pull away much to kaeya's dismay. you give him your brightest smile before shyly waving, thanking the brothers and the driver then got out of the car, walking to your house, knowing they're still there parked and watching you go in.

kaeya's phone beeps, a notification of your message saying, "I'm home! Thank you for the ride♡"

Childe | The intimacy of instantly recognising someone’s handwriting

—a piece of paper had found itself bouncing on your desk, all crumpled and white. you open it, not taking a glance at whoever behind you had thrown that but as soon as you open it you already know who it came from.

it was very evident from the handwriting, nice and clean but in terms of penmanship against other people you know, this person was on the middle tier. it was not something that gets someone to say "wow, your handwriting's good!" yet you loved seeing it anyway.

and you know he could see the corner of your lips rise from his view, it made him mirror the grin you so subtly hide in fear of being called out. you take a glance at the teacher before writing on the piece of paper.

replying to the message written, "Let's have lunch together :(( I miss you"

you write in, "Okay! And I missed you too even though we literally talked 10 minutes ago", you crumpled it back and threw the paper without looking, hoping ajax could somehow catch it.

have some faith in your boyfriend, would you? he's not part of the athletes if he's not that agile at catching. he secretly opens it and fails to hold back his chuckle that drew question marks above everybody's heads.

Scaramouche | The intimacy of answering the phone "Hey you."

—the phone rang, the door locked, and his heart fast as he was nervous about talking to you. pacing around, running a scenario of what would happen once you answered the phone.

scaramouche doesn't wait yet he finds himself wishing you'd pick up. but ultimately the tone ended without being answered and he was left with his screen showing a failed call.

he sighed, wanting to retire for the night until his phone rang once again with your name on it. he dives onto the bed to get ahold of the device and picks it up, speaking first as he always gets the first word.

"hey you"

"What's up?" he hated your dry reply. "What took you so long to pick up?" he wanted to know what kept you busy, didn't he tell you to always answer your phone when he calls?

"I took a shower and cleaned myself up. I'm literally in a towel. Why did you call?"

he didn't mean to do it but he immediately created a mental image of you freshly out of the shower with your hair wet and wearing a towel. the tip of his ears turned hot and he struggled to speak until you laughed over the phone and reminded him of what he was to you.

"hey boyfriend. you shouldn't be thinking of anything funny—"

"I wasn't!" he acted like a provoked cat as his shout tore that his mom shouted back asking who he was fighting. he was certainly fighting you and your schemes to get him all flustered, it worked though. and scara never changed, even after everything he always had the first word in calls. a "hey you" laced with unconcealed affection and a cheeky grin that follows.

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kazumist · 10 months ago

Text

EPISODE 13 ✿ LITTLE BY LITTLE

YOU + ME = LOVE — A DILUC SMAU

masterlist / prev ep / next ep / wc: 732.

with the past issue slowly dying down, you and diluc decided to lay low for each other’s sake so that you two could avoid such an issue appearing again.

“wait, so i just do that? how come it looked so difficult when professor maxwell explained it?" you exclaimed, shocked at how you didn’t get the process earlier.

he won’t even deny it. he has been warming up to you ever since that talk you guys had back then. ever since he was in junior high school, all he had were the other three. so for him, it felt quite refreshing that he managed to get along with someone new on a close level.

“maybe it’s because you were feeling sleepy again during his lecture.” diluc chuckles at you.

“hey, i wasn’t! though his voice really does have this sleepy effect whenever he’s giving a lecture... he’s so soft spoken for what?” you groaned, slumping yourself over on the table.

if someone were to see you and diluc, one would most likely assume you're together as a couple, having a little study date in the library.

“you mixed these two up. first, you do this, then you do that," diluc explains, using his pencil to point out your mistakes.

“actually, do you prefer a simpler way to solve this?”

“diluc, this is fucking calculus. of course i’d prefer an easier way," you deadpanned at him.

“alright, well, you can actually just use this formula instead," he says, writing it down for you.

you looked confused as you stared at the formula presented before you. “eh? but professor maxwell didn't teach us that.”

“that's because i derived it. look, if i use this formula,” writing down the proper solution using the derived formula that he's teaching you (however, you couldn't help but stare at his side profile instead of the one he was writing). “and there you have it. see? it's still the same result," he finishes.

“huh? wait, yeah! i think my life just became easier. what the hell?"

“you're welcome.” he chuckles.

but who cares if they assume that you're romantically involved with each other? they can think all they want. what matters is that your only focus is the derived formula that just made your life easier.

oh! and the one who taught you that as well.

it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

but why—just why did diluc feel so... electric when your hands brush against each other? why did it actually feel nice when he felt your touch, even if it was just for a quick moment? this is stupid, diluc thinks; he just helped you pick up your pen, after all.

why did it make him happy to hear his name roll off your tongue so smoothly? it’s not like you say it in a different way than his friends. so what makes you say it so differently? what makes it special for diluc whenever he hears you say his name?

with a bit of remaining time left, you both decided to take care of some other schoolwork. but diluc couldn’t focus. no matter how hard he tries, his attention span for his own workload just ends up shifting to the girl working peacefully beside him—you.

he takes in your side profile. your index and middle fingers were pressed onto your temple, gently massaging it, a sign that diluc noted that you’re stressed about whatever you’re working on right now. your other hand lets go of the pen it was holding as you start to tap your fingers against the table—a habit you have whenever you try to brainstorm or think of something—and a trait that diluc noted down in his head (as for why he noted such a thing down, he’ll refuse to answer that).

you two are supposed to be only a tutee and a tutor to each other. neither of you should cross that line; diluc should know this by heart—after all, he’s the one who refuses to show any romantic interest towards anyone because he’s solely focused on his career. he couldn't—actually, no, he wouldn’t even dare take a tiny step into the gates that lead to your heart.

nonetheless, diluc accepts it. he accepts that maybe, just maybe, he’s crossing the line right now (or maybe he has already crossed without even realizing it).

it wasn’t supposed to be like this at all.

taglist (open): @ryuryuryuyurboat @g4bbyyy @kizakiss @quackimilktea @mochiboo123 @thystarsshine @cerisescherries @jamieexistss @the-ghost-0f-t0m0 @aethion @dottoreworld-page @naishite @sleepyeri @staaarhin @eroxotckv @kiyiiaarchived @fallenssun @lolmeowing @haihelokuki @astolary @kissingkzuha @axerrri @a1-ic3 @lottierulez @livelaughlovekuni @sorcerersseestars @whipped-for-fictionals @morganadorodo @briluvspnk @venderretta @xiaosoneandonly @angeilix @morgyyyyyyy @kazioli @the-massive-simp @qtange @tiredjxnna @yuminako @ratiolove @sn1perz @akitokisser @siu-ssi @artri-ad @hyeinszn @saeskiss @bubblegum-angelquartz @boomie-123 @moni11032 @sandwichmyonetruelove @cherrybb-ily @itztaki @dontmindtheevie @hotgirlshit5

#( smau — you + me = love ! )#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin imagines #genshin smau #diluc ragnvindr x reader #diluc x reader #diluc smau #diluc #x reader

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cosmal · 2 years ago

Note

phoebe bridgers — send me a headcanon or a prompt + a character, and i’ll write you a blurb!

remus telling you you look so cute(or hot, you decide the vibe) while you study

study

summary remus thinks you shouldn't study and have him around at the same time. especially when you look like that.

note also yes hi old 3k celly ask

content remus lupin x fem!afab!reader

You scramble for something decent to wear when you hear someone at your door. Whoever it is, knocks again, still as light as the first but you still hurry. You decide on the long raincoat hanging over the rack by your front door.

You slip it on with a squeak of synthetic materials and cover your front, the bottom of your bare legs poking out where it stops mid-thigh. They knock again and you push it to the back of your mind.

You push your hair behind your face and open the door just a peak. You’re relieved to find it’s only Remus.

“Jesus Christ, Remus,” you pant, letting your hands fall to your sides. The coat stays stuck in place.

“Hey, dove,” he laughs, smile just shy of teasing, lips curled to the side. “You alright?”

You turn to walk away from him knowing he’ll follow. He does. You hear the door click behind you and he starts to shuffle off his shoes. “Didn’t know who you were.”

“A burglar who rings the doorbell, honey,” he teases. You roll your eyes though you have your back to him.

You let him follow you through to your room where you’re studying. There’s paper and books thrown about the place. Work you really shouldn’t lose, sat on the floor by your bed. You weave through it and it’s not until you go to sit at your desk do you remember the coat you’ve got on.

You take it off and Remus stops still at your doorway. “Jesus,” he murmurs under his breath.

You sit back in your desk chair and it creaks. “What?” you moan, “I know, I’m sorry. I’m such a slob.”

“No, no, sweetie. Not — not that,” he laughs, letting himself move around to your desk. He leans back against the wood, the warm hue of your tiny desk lamp splashes over his cords. “You just — uh.”

You catch the dusting of his cheeks. Where his hands wring in his lap. “What?” you laugh, tucking the pencil in your hand behind your ear. Remus swallows.

He traces your body. The soft plush of your thighs, the tops of them selfishly swallowed by a ragged old shirt — one he knows is his. When you lean forward to push through your textbooks, he catches a slip of your black cotton underwear where your shirt stretches up over your back.

“How long have you been like this?” he asks, tone so pitched up it’s almost embarrassing. He has to clear his throat.

“Like what?” You wrinkle your face. “Just today. I’m sorry, I’ll clean up.”

Remus really wants to laugh. You’re so oblivious to his advances sometimes that it’s adorable. He wouldn’t care if your room was so messed up with schoolwork that you couldn’t see your bed. It’s just — you’re studying, nothing else, and you look so beautiful he feels like his head might explode.

You start to push papers across your desk haphazardly. Stacking things into piles that don’t belong together. Mumbling something about how stressed school has made you lately. You slam books closed and push hair from your face with a flippancy he hates.

“Hey, wait,” Remus tries to soothe. He grabs one of your wrists and you still, hand over the spine of one of your textbooks.

He spins you around in your little desk chair and you hike a leg up, digging into the flimsy material to rest your chin on your knee. The pudge of your thigh spills outwards where you have it smooshed together and Remus almost passes out.

“I don’t care about the mess,” he says as softly as he can manage. He wants to make sure you cool down. He also wants to eat your legs.

“Oh.”

“I meant,” he clears his throat, now just as embarrassed as you. “You just look really good.”

“What?” You wrinkle your face.

“You’re just studying—” He sounds shocked as he says it. “You’re studying and you look so fucking hot.”

You warm from head to toe and struggle not to show it. You tuck your face into your knee and sigh, “Remus.”

He rolls your chair around and sits you between his legs. You squeal and hold onto his outstretched thighs for support. He bends down to hold your arms. “God, you’re not close enough.”

“I’m literally between your legs,” you sigh, trying not to act as flustered as you are. You bite your lip and hold back a pleased grin.

“Stand up,” he says, pinching your flesh. “Please, lovely?”

You stand, acting like it’s not exactly what you want to be doing. “You’re a menace,” you say when he gets you into his chest. Arms snaked down to curl around your bare thighs.

“Sorry,” he says, not sounding very sorry at all. “It’s your fault though.”

You push at his chest, more gently than you can afford when he leans down to press his nose into your neck. “It is not. I was literally doing nothing.”

He pushes his face closer to your skin, “Right,” he mumbles like he’s listening, “Yeah, nothing.”

You flex your hands where you’ve got them in his sweater and stable yourself against him. His breath fans over your bumped skin and you hiccup.

“Christ,” he murmurs into your neck, “Make that noise again.”

You angle your head up, bubbling with girlish laughter, “Remus, stop.” You wish you had it in you to mean it. “I’ve gotta study.”

“No you don’t,” he laughs, pulling back to look down at you. Pupils blown, lips wet and parted, he says, “You can’t study and expect me to not have my mouth all over you.”

“Yes, I can, actually.” Your heart beats loud in your ears. Worse when his hands find your hips. “It’s pretty easy.”

“You make it pretty hard, lovely,” he groans.

Your face wrinkles up into a grimace, the barest hint of a smile curling at your lips, “You’re disgusting,” you groan, pushing at his chest. This time harder than the last. “You’re awful.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I’m never having you over while I’m trying to study ever again,” you say with a lot less heat than your words imply. You’re a horrible liar. Especially with Remus.

You wriggle yourself from his grip and don’t miss his failed attempts at reaching for you to keep you close. You move across the room and stretch your shirt down your thighs. “You’re insatiable.”

“Hardly!” He reaches for you and you dodge him, giggly stupidly.

“Sit on my bed until I’m finished with this section,” you beg with resolve you don’t have.

Remus is quiet for a beat. Then, he’s grinning. “Can I lay in your lap?”

“Remus!”

Remus eventually gets himself in your lap after at least two pages of revising. He’s very convincing.

#remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin fan fic #remus lupin imagine #remus lupin x f!reader #remus lupin x fem!reader #remus lupin drabble #remus lupin fanfic #remus lupin fanfiction #the marauders #the marauders fanfic #the marauders fanfiction #marauders fanfic #marauders #marauders fanfiction #marauder x reader

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hadesforpreswrites · 9 months ago

Text

dirty laundry, pt. 4

a/n: here's part 4! guess who's back, back again, ash is back, tell a friend. i'm so sorry for how long this took, i kept hitting a wall every time i opened the document. but here we are now! as always i hope you enjoy! please like, comment, reblog!

pairing: noah sebastian x reader

genre: idiots-to-lovers

warnings: slight angst (if you squint, no like it's really minimal); oral (f. receiving)

word count: 2,508

summary: it's birthday time! noah's been on a mini tour, will he make it back in time for y/n's birthday dinner?

part one part two part three part five

as promised he stayed the rest of the week with her. it mostly consisted of them staying in and learning more about each other, in a different, more romantic way than they had previously.

then he had to go for a few weeks to perform various shows. he desperately wanted her to go with them but she just smiled and said that she needed to focus on her schoolwork and she wouldn’t do that if she was around everyone. he worried he wouldn’t be back in time for her birthday dinner that scarlett planned every year.

every year their group of friends get dressed up in their best and go out to dinner. a lot of times after dinner they’d end up at a bowling alley that was half bowling, half arcade.

it was something that she looked forward to every year and he was worried a majority of the group wouldn’t be able to make it due to commitments they had.

“noah, it’s honestly okay,” she said over the phone one night after a show. he could tell she was trying her best to sound nonchalant but that she was sad about it. “if it was a dumb reason i’d be upset but this is far from dumb in my book. besides, we can always just push it to another date. doesn’t have to be on my exact birthdate.”

“yes it does!” he heard scarlett’s voice shout, causing him to chuckle.

“she’s right. it’s tradition,” he said. “we’re gonna try our best to be there, doll. it mostly depends on how travel goes.”

“i know. maybe i should’ve come with you like you wanted. so you wouldn’t stress as much about it,” she said, quietly.

“doll, even though i desperately want you here with me, i’d still stress about it.”

“it’s not so important that you should stress this much though.”

“i’m going to pretend i didn’t just hear you say that the day my girlfriend was born isn’t important.”

“how very dare she!” jolly’s voice shouted from the other side of the couch on the bus.

“hear that? you’ve upset the swede.”

she was silent.

“doll, regardless stress is going to happen because i love you and the guys love you and we want to continue our tradition.”

“yeah.”

“you’re awfully quiet over there. what’s going through that pretty little head of yours?”

he heard sniffles from the other side of the phone and immediately wished he was there. “i just don’t know what i did to deserve this kind of niceness.”

“you exist as you are and we like the way you are. so there,” he explained.

she laughed.

“there she is.”

“i love you,” she said.

“i love you,” he replied with a smile.

“and as much as i love you and talking to you, i should probably try to sleep.”

“yes, you should.”

“wish you were here,” she said quietly. he could hear her getting under her comforter and settling in for the night on the other side of the phone.

“soon. then you’ll get sick of me, promise,” he joked.

“doubt it. night, noah.”

“good night, doll.”

“good night!!” the rest of the crew on the bus yelled into the phone, causing him to hear her giggle before she hung up.

“is she doing okay?” nicholas asked, plopping down between noah and jolly.

“i think so. just had a moment of doubt is all.”

“what happened when you went to stay with her?” nick asked.

“i don’t think that’s something i can tell you. she barely wanted to tell me.”

“well, whatever it was, even though it was obviously bad, i’m glad it happened. if only to finally get you two together,” jolly said. “not because i want her hurting, obviously. silver lining in the clouds.”

noah nodded. he’d been feeling similarly. he didn’t know when he’d finally have broken his silence on loving her if that night didn’t happen. that, of course, didn’t mean that he was happy her past had come back to haunt her in such an intense way.

“so what’d you get her for her birthday?” bryan asked, slightly changing the subject.

noah’s eyes widened. “shit.”

“she’s not gonna want anything from anyone,” nick tried to cover for noah.

“right. but it’s definitely his obligation as boyfriend to get her something anyway.”

“what if you just get a hotel room or airbnb for a weekend getaway? she’d like that since you’ve been gone,” nicholas offered.

“that’s actually a great idea,” jolly said, gaining looks from everyone on the bus. “we’re practically soulmates, i know what she’d like.”

“soulmates?” noah leveled a playful glare at the guitarist.

“oh, chill. i mean it in a totally platonic way.”

“i think you’d have to fight scarlett for that title,” nicholas laughed.

“i’m not convinced she’s not holding out hope for y/n to be gay,” jolly said.

“she’s bi. i think if they were to happen, they’d have happened already,” noah explained. he earned some questioning looks. “she literally went to pride and bought a bi flag. it’s not difficult to put two and two together to make four. you guys just don’t pay attention.”

“so much for being her soulmate, joakim,” nick laughed, causing everyone else to laugh.

while laying in his bunk on the bus later that night, noah began to look up hotel in the area they lived, looking for one that gave off just the right vibe.

a couple days had passed and the band and crew were making their way home as fast as they could in order to make it for dinner. noah was on edge and kept to himself most of the trip.

in the end, they had made it back to town with a couple of hours to spare.

as much as noah wanted to tell her they’d made it, it kind of wanted it to be a surprise, so he just text scarlett and told her to keep her mouth shut.

he showered and dressed quickly. then he packed a bag for the weekend. as much as he loved his band, he couldn’t wait to have some alone time with his girl after a few weeks with them.

he drove alone to the restaurant because of his later plans, but waited for the rest of them to arrive before exiting his vehicle. they walked into the building as a group, y/n and scarlett already at a table. the hostess seemed shocked to see the group but led them to the table which was in the back of the restaurant.

y/n and scarlett weren’t paying attention, immersed in a conversation together, so he walked quietly behind y/n and placed his hands over her eyes, careful not to smudge her glasses.

“oh my god, you made it!” she said, excitedly.

he chuckled, taking the seat on her other side. “how’d you know it was me?”

“cologne. and also who else would dare?”

“i dunno, jolly said something about being your soulmate, so he might dare.”

“okay, he might. but he wears a different cologne. did you know that smell is the sense most linked to memory?”

“i missed you, smartypants,” he said, kissing the side of her head.

“missed you more,” she said, smiling.

“be gross after dinner,” scarlett said, not a hint of seriousness in her voice.

“you ladies both look very nice tonight,” jolly complimented.

“thank you. it took so long for us to find something perfect for the night. still has to look good with bowling shoes, ya know,” scarlett answered.

the rest of the table carried on in conversation while noah placed a hand on y/n’s thigh, pulling her attention to him.

“i didn’t get an actual present for you this time and for that i’m so sorry. but i did get us a hotel room for the weekend so we can spend some much needed time together without these yahoos.”

“you don’t need to beat yourself up about not getting anything because all i wanted was you here. i think a hotel room is a great idea.”

he kissed the side of her head again as the waiter walked up to the table to take their orders.

dinner was filled with laughter and good conversation, as it always is when they all get together. noah’s hand rarely left its place on y/n’s thigh. it was a subtle touch but after being gone from her for as long as he had been, though not as long as a normal tour, it was all he could do to not beg her to skip the bowling and go straight to the hotel.

when she stood up at the end of dinner and he saw her outfit in full, he had to stifle a groan that threatened to erupt. she looked so good and was wearing heels that made her legs look even better than normal.

he shook himself as he noticed her stretching her hand out to him with a smile. “c’mon, we have pins lanes to dominate.”

he stood, his hand in hers, and followed their group out to their vehicles.

“who’re you riding with, love?” scarlett asked.

noah was already opening the passenger door of his car for her when y/n shot scarlett a glance, causing them to laugh.

y/n carefully slid into the passenger seat of noah’s car before he shut the door and slid into his own seat. “you look so fucking good, doll.”

“thank you,” she blushed. “i wanted to try something a little different from the last couple of years.”

“i liked those to but there’s something about this that makes me a little feral.”

“good to know.”

“you sure you want to go bowling?”

she laughed. “yes, of course i want to go bowling.”

“yeah, right, of course,” he choked out.

“noah, we have all weekend.”

“trust me, i’m aware.”

“but i did tell scar that we’d be late because i want to pick up clothes for our weekend.”

“good idea.”

“i’ve been known to have a few.”

noah drove the familiar route to her and scarlett’s house, walked around the car to help her out, and held her hand as they walked to the front door.

once they were inside, he pulled her to him and pushed his lips to hers. her arms wound around his neck as she returned his kiss with the same urgency. he walked them until her back hit the closest wall and let his hands roam down her body to the backs of her thighs. he pulled, indicating to her that he wanted them around his waist, she obliged. he broke from her lips and she put her forehead against his as he walked them back to her room.

“i missed you so fucking much,” he said, his voice husky.

“i missed you,” she breathed out.

“i know you want to go bowling with our friends but just give me a little more time.”

“okay, i can do that.”

he pushed open her bedroom door and kicked it shut again as they entered. he laid her on the bed, pecking her lips before sliding down her body and kneeling on the carpet in front of her.

“baby, can i please?” he almost whined out. “and then we can pack you a bag and go. promise.”

she leaned up on her elbows and looked at him. both of their eyes were blown with lust and hair was mused. “okay,” she said quietly.

“okay,” he said, placing a kiss on her thigh.

he slid his hands up under the skirt of her outfit and found the elastic band of her underwear and pulled them down her legs. he didn’t fight the groan that left his throat at the sight of the black lace underwear his fingers were pulling down.

“my shoes,” she said, breathlessly.

“they’re fine,” he said simply as he hooked her knees on his shoulders.

he kissed up the inside of one of her thighs to the apex of her legs. he used his tongue to lap up the juices that were already flowing out of her. he pushed a finger into her as he licked. he moaned into her, the vibration making her moan loudly as she snaked her fingers through his hair. he nibbled on her clit as lightly as he could and soothed it with his tongue. he inserted another finger and began working them faster as her breathing sped up.

“noah,” she breathed out, spurring him on.

he reached his free hand up toward her, and she released the grip of one of her hands on his hair to grip his hand instead.

“c’mon, baby, i know you can do it. you’re so close,” he said as he felt her squeezing his fingers before continuing his ministrations with his tongue. he coaxed it out of her. she fought to keep her thighs open as she came, he continued until she was spent and breathing heavily above him.

he sat back on his heels and licked his fingers clean, her slick glistening on his chin. “fuck,” they said together, causing them to laugh.

“hang on, doll. let me clean you up before you start moving around,” he walked into the adjoining bathroom, grabbed a clean washcloth, and wet it before walking back to her, wiping his face as he did. he cleaned the inside of her thighs and any drippage from her core before placing her feet in the leg holes of her underwear and helping her pull them back on.

she raised her arms and he pulled her up. he chuckled as he saw her look in her phone screen with a look of horror. “now i have to fix my make up and hair,” she whined.

“i dunno, i think you still look great,” he kissed her forehead.

“you would.” she said, attempting to stand. “you know, in these shoes i’m almost your height.”

“i noticed. my neck thanks them for their service.”

she laughed again as he helped her stand, he laughed as her knees wobbled.

“stop that. and help me with these things,” she said, plopping back on her bed and bending to unbuckle her shoes.

he saluted her and kneeled once more to help her remove the high heels.

she breathed a sigh of relief as she stood on bare feet and walked to her closet for a bag and her converse. he was at her dresser pulling out yoga pants, shorts, and a couple of t-shirts. she pulled out clean underwear and a different bra and some socks and stuffed everything into her bag. before they left she went to the bathroom and cleaned up her makeup and hair, motioning for him to sit so she could straighten up his hair as well.

he grabbed her bag as she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the front door, locking it behind them, and to the car once more.

once they were situated in the vehicle, she shouted enthusiastically, “to the bowling alley!”

#noah sebastian #bad omens fic #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian x reader #bad omens #bad omens fanfic #noah sebastian smut #noah sebastian fanfic #bad omens cult

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ohhiimweird · 2 years ago

Note

hey there! i read 'new romantics' and i love your writing! is it alright if i request some romantic hurt/comfort hcs with an overworked gn reader for the turtle family? (Like the bros + April?) This week has been uber stressful for me and reading fics like yours always calms me down hfdhjds

Bold of you to not be anonymous...

Reader: Gender Neutral

Characters: Donnie, Raph, Mikey, April, Leo

Relationship: Romantic

Content Warnings: None!

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

I'll Cover for You

Donnie:

He's the type of person to try and get to the root of the problem. But, that doesn't mean he won't let you rant a little

He'll be working on something while you sit and rant about your assignments at school or a job. Just know that he is listening to every word you say. You don't have to worry about that

Expect a pat on the shoulder or head from one of his mechanical arms on his battle shell. This is Donnie we're talking about after all

He'll ask a few questions and suggest what you can do when you've calmed down a little.

He might need to calm down a little too, though. Because Donnie was probably freaking out the moment you entered the room on the verge of tears

Donnie will give you some kind of alarm that tells you when to take a break from your work. If you ignore the alarm, Donnie will know

All in all, he loves and cares about you more than his tech. That is saying something

Raph:

Raph is the oldest sibling, besides April. So, he knows how to comfort people. It's basically an instinct for him

Doesn't matter if you're stubborn. He will carry you over his shoulder if it meant getting you away from your schoolwork. Don't underestimate him. He's done it to Donnie

He lets you hold one of his stuffed animals while you vent. You can just hold it without saying anything too. Just be careful with it because Raph loves those guys like they're his children

Raph will hold you too and give you comforting words. He might slip into a baby voice if you're stressed enough. That's more of an instinct

Once you're calm, he reassures you that you're doing the best you can. You're just one person after all. He's impressed you can do the schoolwork you do at all

He'll start to check on you more often after this incident, making sure you're not stressed out like that again

The experience as an older sibling may have helped, but Raph still prides himself as someone you can go to. Even though that's what being a couple is all about

Mikey:

Mikey knows you're stressed before you can even tell him. He's much more in tune with his emotions. It comes with him being the youngest and also the family therapist

The first thing Mikey does is gently pull you away from your assignments and toward his sketchbook

this usually works and you're venting while making several marks on the paper. this only works if you're not stubborn however

If you are, he's pulling out the glasses. You will have to run if you don't want to deal with Dr. Feelings. Actually, I don't running will work. That boy has stamina and will find you...

Once he gets the words out of you, Mikey smothers you with physical affection. I'm talking hugs, cuddles, and many kisses

He reassures you that he loves you, and tells you that it's okay that you're busy

Mikey would give you his heart if it meant you'd never be stressed again. Please don't let go of that heart

April:

Mayhem is now your certified therapy-dog. Although I don't know whether or not he's a dog. But that's okay because he's a dog in spirit

Anyways, back to April. She's your shoulder to cry on and someone to hold

She's also going to hype you up and tell you you're doing great. If you need someone to point out the good things from your failure, she's your gal (she's known to struggle with failure too, man)

If you're struggling with a class she either took before or has the same class as you, she'll try and help you

She'll invite you to stay the night if you need it. You'll do some self-care together

Much like the others, she's affirming that she cares about you and loves you

Through your stress, April is going to worm her way through it and reach out

Leo:

Motherfucker is portaling to your room and pulling you away from your schoolwork

"Leo, I was working!" "No <3"

He's taking you into a pillow fort, pulling you under the blankets, and putting on Jupiter Jim

Despite how he presents himself, Leo has a keen eye. He may not be as emotional as Mikey, but he knows when you're stressed and swamped with work

So, he does what any good boyfriend does and makes a fun night out of comforting you

Again, you're watching Jupiter Jim, he's doing an entire skin routine with you. By the end of it, he's holding you as you grow tired and fall asleep

He knows you won't stop working until you have nothing left, however, he'll let you know that he's always going to be there no matter what

Thank you for requesting! Hope you enjoyed reading these headcanons

#rottmnt #rottmnt x reader #rise leo #rise donnie #rise raph #rise mikey #rise april #rise leo x reader #rise donnie x reader #rise raph x reader #rise mikeyx reader #rise april x reader #tmnt #tmnt x reader

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komohine · 4 months ago

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(College au)

Today i bring you found siblings Pidge and James. Wont disclose too much (for suspense but also bcs i havent figured everytjinf out yet) but basically Pidge is a 15 year old in an extremely fast paced and competitive college environment (their uni, Burnham, is basically just another ivy league in this universe. And she’s in uni for compsci and coding) balancing her schoolwork with her tireless search for her missing brother and father. That’s not healthy for a 15 year old. On top of that she doesn’t get that big of a monthly stipend because her mother is really struggling to keep everything afloat alone. And even though her mom tells her not to worry of course Pidge fucking worries.

James comes from a similarly fast paced and stressful background. His whole life was pretty much making sure everything he did was beyond perfect for not only the public eye but also so he could maybe get some love from his parents (never happened). He’s balancing a dual major and a minor with the responsibilities of being his parents company’s heir and it absolutely sucks but at least he’s a legal adult.

Pidge does NOT like James at first. Like with James you either really like him or you really, really hate him. Most people like him but the small minority that hate him are passionate about it. She always questioned Keith’s taste and thought James was a no good pretentious asshole that would only hurt Keith and everyone around him.

Until one day, while James is spending some time in the dorm, Pidge offhandedly mentions to Hunk how annoying it was that her favourite chocolate brand doubled in price because of import fees because she could no longer afford buying it. James made zero indication that he care or even that he heard this. But two days go by and the paladin dorm gets a fresh grocery delivery (their struggle with groceries was a recurring theme). Beyond the fact that James went out of his way to buy groceries for them, the groceries weren’t just a random assortment of stuff either. Inside were spices Hunk complained he was missing, a premium protein powder for Lance because Lance finds the cheap ones taste quite bad, chestnuts for Keith, and a megapack of the chocolate Pidge wanted. Down to the specific kind of chocolate from the specific brand.

And Pidge had been so wrapped up in her insane schedule and stresses that she’d forgotten how nice it was for an adult to take care of things for her. Because making the decision to skip out on your favourite treat in favour of actual nourishing food bcs you cant afford both is a heartbreaking decision to make at 15. And Pidge realizes that maybe James isn’t so bad.

And she starts sucking up to him and loudly mentioning her favourite snacks around him because she knows he’ll buy them for her and every grocery delivery she’s proved right when her favourite snacks show up. But one day James just looks at her and goes “you know you can ask me directly, right? I don’t mind” and Pidge crumbles a little and her voice gets stuck in her throat and she can only manage a weak comeback because shes now realizing that James actually does care and that he reminds her a lot of Matt and she misses Matt so much its painful.

One time Keith and James were out but Keith forgot something in his dorm. James is the faster one so he offered to go get it for Keith and ended up accidentally walking in on Pidge having a full on meltdown (Pidge and Keith are roommates). James very quickly walked back out of that room to give her space but he didn’t leave immediately. After he heard her sniffling die down a bit he asked through the door if she wanted to talk about it. Because James came from a big family that was devoid of love. He would do anything to have had one of his older siblings comfort him when he was younger and sad over whatever. The least he can do is try to be what his older brothers were not. Because he sees himself reflected in Pidge in a way. He knows if he was in her position at her age he’d kill for someone older to tell him that all will be well eventually.

And instead of answering Pidge just opens the door and hugs James and James is a little shocked but hugs back nonetheless and sits with her on the dorm floor for a long while (he had to text Keith to go on without him) listening to her ramble about school problems, more personal issues, club penguin drama, and warrior cats lore.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #james griffin #james voltron #pidge gunderson #pidge holt #katie holt #pidge voltron #headcanon #siblings #found siblings #voltron au #2000s au #college au #au #alternate universe #keith kogane #keith voltron

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high-functioning-fang1rl · 7 months ago

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Desperately need to distract myself from last night’s episode, so have a new

Nica Headcanon!

Eventually, when the dust settles, Nica completes her thesis and gets her degree.

It’s Andy’s idea, and she initially laughs it off when he mentions it one night while they’re laying in bed. She points out that her whole life is different now, that she’s a different person- she’s older, a trauma survivor and a Mother.

Andy doesn’t push it, but he kisses her hair and promises she’d have his help and support- in school and parenting- if she decided to go back, and that it may be a chance to take her life back, do something for herself, and be proud of an accomplishment.

Despite her best efforts to forget the conversation, it sticks with her for days. When she finally decides she wants to do it, she talks to all of the kids before signing up, terrified they’ll feel like she’s abandoning them when she becomes busier with schoolwork.

Nica is never more grateful for her new family- her true family- than when she’s completing her degree. Andy, Rachel and Kyle step up to make her more frequent absence from the cabin almost unnoticeable. The kids all stay on their best behavior (as much as they can) so that they don’t contribute to their mother’s stress or make her worry.

Despite her anxieties and embarrassment over being one of the older students in the class, Nica pushes through and finishes, finally getting her degree! She doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it, and insists to Andy that she does not want a party, but if he wants to plan a nice dinner he can, since she knows he would feel bad not celebrating.

She’s shocked, then, when she returns home to find streamers and signs all over the cabin, all of the kids and her family there yelling their congratulations.

“It wasn’t me.” Andy is quick to tell her, shrugging as he smiles over at the kids. It’s only then that it sinks in that all the signs say “Congratulations, Mom!” Or “Proud of you, Mom!”

“They said their *Mom* always celebrates them, and they wanted to be able to do the same for her.” He says softly.

Nica heads straight for them, and as if they’ve been waiting, they all tackle her with hugs and love, letting her hold onto each of them a little longer than normal.

Andy snaps a picture of her with all of her kids, and it’s Greg’s framed and put on her bedside table, along with the Full Family Photo from that day,

She was wrong, she thinks, she *could* be more grateful for her family.

#chucky 2021 #chucky series #chucky #chucky season three #chucky syfy #nica pierce #andy barclay #fiona dourif #brad dourif #andy x nica #barclaypierce #tiffany valentine #jennifer tilly #chiffany #junior wheeler #jake wheeler #jevon #devon evans #lexy cross

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gisxlles · 1 year ago

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(JASMIN HOPPE, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER) - is GISELLE BRANDT late to class again? how does the 21 year old JUNIOR expect to get their degree in DIGITAL MEDIA? professors say that they are AFFECTIONATE but i heard that they are TRACTABLE. hopefully they’ll make it to graduation! ooc: hi all! i'm marie and i'm super excited to get to know all your characters. i have to hop off for a work event (and will probably be lurking on mobile) but i'll be back on tonight to read over intros & reach out to plot. speaking of, if you want to plot with giselle, give this a like & i'll message you!!

basics.

full name: giselle marie brandt

nickname: gigi

age: twenty-one

dob: february 28, 2000

hometown: timber creek, ma

ethnicity: thai & german

sexuality: bicurious

languages: english (fluent), thai (fluent), german (conversational)

appearance.

faceclaim: jasmin hoppe

hair color: brunette with lighter brown/dark blonde highlights

eye color: brown

height: 5'5

tattoos: a small b&w tattoo of a flower on her left outer wrist

piercings: just her ears are pierced

family.

mother: chalita somsi

father: henri brandt

pets: shepard brandt (a grey british shorthair cat)

background.

the brandt family is considered something akin to royalty within timber creek; the family establishing it's roots in the town since the beginning. their name coming to be through successful business ventures, the most notable being the opening of timber creek university. the man who was to inherit the business and the woman he married (who his family wasn't fond of) didn't expect to welcome a bundle of joy into the world so soon but here came giselle. she brought a happiness to the couple and hopes that this child could fix their marital problems. how naive of them to think that though. the cheating continued on henri's part and chalita struggled with this loneliness for years. giselle was oblivious to it all. her views of being a princess esque figure in this fairytale life she was living clouding what was in front of her. her fairytale came crashing down when she was ten. her mother had enough of this life and filed for divorce. her father got custody of giselle but she saw her mother part of the summer and for some holidays. the little girl couldn't understand what happened to the love between her parents she thought she'd seen through the years. how could it just disappear? how did her family break? giselle grew older. henri remarried (but still struggled with infidelity). they were a new family. with that, giselle finally got a glance of what her mother was put through. she never wanted to be put through that so she vowed to forget about the whole storybook love she once wanted. a love life that only consisted of hookups, one night stands with strangers, or fake dates to appease her parents. as giselle enters her junior year at timber creek uni, she still struggles with what she wants out of life. when you've been given everything you've ever wanted in life, what more could you ask for?

headcanons.

even after everything, giselle is still a daddy's girl. it helps that he spoils her with anything she wants.

one of her favorite things to do is ice skate. it's something she use to do with her mother a lot growing up and she's pretty good at it. maybe not olympic level good but she's earned a couple medals & trophies.

her other favorite thing to do is play video games. it's her way to de-stress / when she wants to be alone. her fave game is probably mass effect (hence her cat's name).

wanted.

step - sibling (wanted connection on main)

fake boyfriend (wanted connection on main)

the trinity - give me a cute little trio of besties that are always there for each other. pls let me know if u are interested in this! (nora vogel & OPEN)

family friends - the brandts are well known so maybe our families know each other

tutor - giselle isn't the greatest when it comes to schoolwork so she probably needs help in a class or two

ice skating partner - she does pairs so it would be cool to have a partner here

the co-op couch - someone who will play video games with her. they bring the snacks and she provides the drinks and they play all night long.

the set up - giselle humored her parents one time and went on a date with someone they set her up with and it was y/c. they did NOT hit it off and it ended in disaster.

the puppeteer - giselle is pretty gullible so maybe someone is manipulating her for something? that could be fun!

hookups / one night stands - giselle avoids relationships but she's all for hooking up and leaving in the middle of the night.

the one who got away - this person is probably the closest one to get giselle to admit to some feelings. she really liked them but refused to acknowledge it and sabotaged whatever was between them. a regret of hers.

girl crush - giselle's never dated or hooked up with a woman before but she is curious about it. she finds y/c attractive but doesn't know if she is bisexual?

rivals - sporting rivals could be fun! giselle does tennis and ice skating and maybe they are always trying to one up each other.

ex-friends - the two used to be close but something happened which caused their friendship to end??

enemies - someone who just does not like giselle and giselle doesn't like them.

really i'm open to any & all ideas so if you have something that giselle could fill, throw it my way to discuss!!

#( ♡ ) ⸻ about.#tcuintro

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solesommerso · 2 years ago

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╭➸・⊹ Noise 𖤐⋆｡˚⁺

|| poly!20 squad, tan/street centric

𖤐 summary ; sometimes quiet is worse than noise, thankfully Street has Tan there to escape the silence with

𖤐 notes ; @blathannabeaga totally forgot I had a whole draft of autistic street but omg this is so real to me

𖤐 warnings ; sensory issues, autistic!street, established relationship, a lot of talk of Nate, set before Nate dies

Street hates nights like this. The quiet ones, where all his partners seem so unbothered by the lack of noise, how they lay on the couch with the tv being the only buzz of anything. They don't get the same itch at the back of their neck like Street does.

It's to be expected when Street thinks about it. They did not grow up in the constant chaos of moving every month or so that Street did. He should rephrase a little, at the beginning he moved every month or so, but once he ran from that one particular foster house he ended up on his own.

Again, he should rephrase, him and Nate ended up on their own, homeless as some would put it. They'd sleep at motels and whatnot but mostly in old abandoned buildings, one warehouse in particular was Streets favorite, Nates too, they spent the most time there. Laying on the cold concrete flooring with a few blankets they snagged from stores when people weren't looking, textbooks and papers laid out in front of them as they tried to stay atop their schoolwork, Nates plethora of old cassettes stacked next to him, Streets bag of random tech to tinker with.

He misses that bag. And that floor, and Nate. He really misses Nate, who Street fought with before he joined swat, before he became part of this relationship, part of him wonders what’s happened for Nate since their fight. But Street doesn’t have to wonder about how Nate would feel this itch. He'd understand.

None of that matters right now, Street’s too busy pacing the kitchen of the house he shares with all his partners. Six of them in one house. Yet it's deafening to be in, the windows open help nothing, not even crickets chirping.

Street was a bit hesitant to move into this house in the first place, of course living with his partners would never be an issue, he was rather excited over that fact, it's just where this house is placed. A long outstretched driveway to give them as much privacy as possible, putting them far from the road, from the noise. Something Street craves deep in his bones, always has really, probably always will.

"Street?" Lucas voice takes him from his thoughts and pacing, he stops mid step; a habit formed back when Street was still living with Karen and Eddie, a way to distract himself of sorts.

"Would you stop pacing, you're stressing me out." The blonde laughs where he resides beside Chris but it still stings deep into Streets chest. He needs to do something, but, if Luca doesn't want them to pace....

"Hey baby, why don't you sit with us? Try to relax a bit?" Reluctantly Street sits beside Hondo, already ten times more uncomfortable, more need for movement and noise settling deeper into Streets bones. It feels like he's vibrating under his skin.

"Why do you look so stressed? What's wrong?" Hondos hand is heavy against Streets shoulder, it makes him squirm a bit, he doesn't want to be held down or stuck in one spot, he hates that feeling.

"It's just really quiet." It's unnerving that nobody else seems to feel the same way as they all furrow their brows to Street.

"We can turn the tv up for you." He subconsciously winces at the prompt, he doesn't like the tv that much, he got use to not watching one when him and Nate were sleeping around the streets.

"Not that type of noise." He needs something natural, real, not the staticky sound the tv produces while it plays some stupid baking show Luca likes.

"What other type of noise is there?" It's paired with a lighthearted chuckle, Street doesn't return it, he can't when he doesn't understand what's funny. There's plenty of other noises that aren't a tv being on? Even a video on his phone makes a different kind of sound.

"Like cars, or a train, or people on the streets, or dogs barking-." Good noise, he goes to say but stop, tv noise is obviously good to his partners so he won't ridicule that.

"So you can't relax because it's not loud enough?"

"Yes." It feels like this has been stated already in the conversation, though Street definitely understands the feeling of needing more clarification; he nods to Luca affirmatively.

"That doesn't make sense." Street furrows his brow slightly, it makes plenty sense.

"But it does." This could lead to an argument, he's keenly aware of this, it's not ideal but it's happened before, Tan says it's because Street has a 'one-track mind' whereas Luca jumps from topic to topic. He's not sure how true that is, Streets mind does jump around sometimes, he's just good at keeping on topic when speaking.

"No it doesn't, how can you need noise to relax? That like- defeats the purpose." Street turns to where Tan and Deacon sit, they're good at helping in these situations, Chris gets too involved of whichever side she agrees with and Hondo always says that his 'leader duties' end when shift does so he stays out of it.

"It's like listening to music to relax, you like the noise of it but you're still relaxed." Tan summarizes much better than Street would've, Victors always been good at that sort of thing Street supposes, he's a mediator of sorts.

"Whatever. We can't really make it more noisy here, sorry Street." He brings up a good point, Streets waiting on noise that won't come, he should just go somewhere he knows there'll be noise.

"Where are you going?" Hondo immediately stops Street with a gentle hand at his wrist, an action he’s become accustomed to and knows is meant with zero malicious intent, even if Street took it the wrong way at first.

"Somewhere louder." Long Beach seems like a far stretch when it's already hitting seven pm, there's a few good abandoned buildings in La, but he'll probably end up at the one by Bucks house he'd sneak off to when visiting the older man as a teenager.

"It's seven pm, the suns setting."

"Yes." The sky's turning that warm orange color it gets before sunset, Streets always liked how it looks, something so calming about watching the sky fade from color to color then finally a dark shade of navy.

"And you're just going to go wherever on your own?" He nods along even when Hondo huffs air through his nose, Street can't tell why, it is just nightfall? Street is trained to fight off whoever might try to mess with him, Hondo knows that, they all do.

"You're going to leave us here alone?" He goes to nod again but Tan motions his head, a tilt to it, trying to convey that nodding is not the correct answer.

"Would...you like to come?" It takes longer than it should for Street to come up with the question, he's usually better at reading into things more, not being so outwardly straightforward with his thinking. He's burnt out he thinks, that might be the word for it, too tired to really put energy into acting like everyone else.

"Yes, of course we do!" It is not 'of course' to Street, they never told him they'd want to come, Luca was just saying it was wrong, why would that be of course?

"Are you sure? You looked content here." It will be more difficult to get to the roof of the abandoned building with the six of them, they can call do it in no time flat, but it's still a lot of bodies to move. And they did look comfortable staying on the couch, as they normally do.

"We stay on the couch all the time, it'll be nice to change things up." Chris says brightly as she stands to go get her coat and shoes, the rest of the members following in her lead, it leaves Street to stand watching them.

He feels slightly nervous over this. He is technically breaking and entering, no matter how old or long the building has been abandoned; the team might be against something that is, well, in simple terms, illegal.

"It'll be okay, they can always go home if they want." Tan comes up to Streets side like he can read into his head.

"Right. Let's go."

The car ride is met with endless rambles between Luca and Chris, normal for the pair to do when driving, sat in the very back while Tan and Street occupy the front, Deacon and Hondo stuck in the middle row of the vans seating. Hondo usually drives with Deacon as his passenger, but Street is the only one that knew how to get there, and he wanted to be beside Tan.

"Where are we going?" They all pile out of the car in front of the abandoned building, it's shorter than Street remembers, but there's still all the noise he wants and the view from the roof is as breathtaking as ever.

"Up there." He climbs the chainlink fence easily, not bothering to look back aside from checking that Victors still beside him, which he is of course, moving in sync with Street.

Actually getting to the rooftop isn't hard. Street’s done it a million times, he knows the route of climbing up the brick wall like the back of his hand, placing his feet meticulously on the parts that stick out for leverage, making sure Tan is making it safely. It takes all of ten minutes for them to reach the edge of the roof.

"Do you think they're coming?" James doubts it, the rest of the team is still standing on the other side of the fence, all talking over each other, probably running through the pros and cons of following in Street and Tans lead.

"No. You can go back down with them if you don't like this." He offers but Victor shakes his head instantly, standing on the ledge before jumping to the center of the roof. It reminds Street of Nate, Tan is a lot like Nate at times, but especially right now.

"This is fun, beats sitting on the couch." Tan smiles over to Street as he makes his way to sit by Tans feet, he stands tall overlooking the town down below.

It's a pretty good view for downtown La. People move about, street lamps and store signs lighting up the roads, the sound of people chattering paired with traffic sounds bringing a ease to Streets chest. This is the noise he was looking for. It's familiar, soothing, let's him exhale deeply into the now turning night air, the humidity of the day hasn't died down enough for there to be a chill so it's still comfortable enough for Street to shrug his jacket off.

"I like it up here, you come here a lot?" Tan lays himself down next to Street once he flattens against the roof.

"Yes. A lot when I was younger, me and Nate would spend hours up here." Or buildings similar, anywhere with a roof and view really, all equally as calming.

"You've mentioned Nate before, he's your older brother right?" It's only ever been Victor that Streets shared any stories of Nate with, they almost all involve low grade illegal activities and while the others would never say anything outright, they'd silently judge it.

"Yes. I miss him." For some reason the words are quiet, Street didn't intend to whisper it, he hadn't even thought about his volume, he can't seem to place why he would be so quiet saying it. Of course he misses Nate, he's never doubted that, it's not a secret, yet the words are more of a breath than anything, if Tan wasn't so close he probably wouldn't be able to hear it.

"I'm sorry baby." Victor turns on his side, Street quickly mirrors him so they're facing.

"Yes, it is, is..." The word doesn't come out of his throat, it stays stuck like thick honey dripping from a spoon, unable to fully fall.

"Sad?" Tan fills in with curl of his lips, a contrite look in his eyes.

"Yes, sad." Something along the lines of pain twinges in Streets chest, grief maybe, but that seems absurd as Nate is not dead, nobody has shown up on Streets doorstep muttering those few nightmarish words saying his brother has passed, so Street has to assume Nate is okay.

"Nate would like tonight." Definitely. The cars whooshing by, the colorful lights around, the sky changing to a haze of purplish blue to signify nighttime, Nate would enjoy it all and probably talk nonstop about how gorgeous it all is.

"Do you like tonight?"

"Yes. I like laying up here with you, it's comfortable." He’s slept on enough floors throughout the years that the rooftop under them doesn't bother his back like it probably would Hondo or Chris.

"I like when you do that."

"Do what?" To Streets knowledge, tonight is like every other night aside from them coming here.

"When you talk without filtering yourself, you always seem more relaxed." Oh, Street knows his speech pattern can change depending on the situation or how much energy he has to 'mask' as some would say; but he never thought anyone had noticed it since he moved to La.

"You don't find it annoying?" A couple of people in Long Beach have commented about it bugging them that Street always talked so straightforward and choppy like.

"No, it's just you being you. I like it, feels natural."

"Thank you.” A warm smile comes to Streets face, he sighs contently before tipping his head til it meets the side of Tans, not fully laid against one another but touching. Just enough.

“Course baby.”

Victor doesn’t say anything after that. They both just lay there, listening to the cars and people, looking up as the sky switches from color to color before falling dark. Even then, neither move, they stay laying in the comfort of the night.

#writing #js #jim street #vt #victor tan #autistic!street #tan x street #poly!20 squad

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