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forever--darling · 4 years ago

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the frat boy’s boxers - s.m.

college frat au: part five

warnings: 12.9k words of cursing, flirting hockey players, and being a stealth ninja

College was no joke. It was impending, heavy, and made you question everything about your worth. Stressed and unsure of every decision, balancing your time seemed impossible. You had figured that out quickly as your four other classes started and within two weeks the homework started to pile up. The lectures were long and your notes were messy and barely legible. You had no extra time to redo them and it drove you mad. It was all starting to get to your head and you hadn’t even been accepted as a sister yet or moved forward on the black op. mission. If you were already falling apart now, how were you supposed to survive midterms or finals? It might kill you, you were convinced.

From studying to talking strategies with Maggie about Becca’s next planned moves and being an ear for Emily to talk for hours about Geoff, you were easily fried. Maggie wouldn’t tolerate any of Emily’s boyfriend talk, which meant you had to, as your roommate seems too consumed in other things. All having to do with Becca Bradley. You hadn’t heard from her in two weeks. Those fourteen days gave Maggie time to prepare as much as she could, listing any possibilities or conjuring ideas of what to do to Becca once you all got in. She was so sure of the fact that she got used to ditching her usual leather ensemble for sweaters and ripped jeans, but she swore as soon as this was all over she was dying her hair again and putting her lip piercing back in.

On another note, Emily seemed consumed in her newfound fling with the hockey player. After their first date to a drive-in movie, your friend had easily become smitten. Though you all had been warned about the wandering ways of a Washington hockey player, Deja and Kiara agreed that if she were to be involved with any of them, Geoff was the best option. This was deemed true as he seemed to fall just as fast as she did and they had quickly become the news across campus. “Hockey player Geoff Warburton has a thing for freshman sorority pledge” was the gossip. He hadn’t officially asked her out but it was safe to say he would be soon with how much time they had spent together in the last few weeks. In other words, Geoff Warburton was basically a taken man.

The others continued with their fuck boyish ways waving off any idea of a monogamous relationship. As the season was a mere week and a half away, their focus was shifting slightly away from their typical bullshit. They were focused more on early workouts and captain practices. You hadn’t even thought about Shawn or seen him in weeks. Only slight glimpses across campus and the looming meeting of the two of you was still up and coming. As for the other jock, you hadn’t spoken since the scavenger hunt.

Henry seemed uninterested in you at this point and it was like the two of you were stuck in a silent fight, though there was nothing neither of you should be mad about. So he was a part of the hockey team. It wasn’t like he was entitled to tell you or needed to mention that he also was in the douchiest fraternity on campus. You weren’t even that mad about it. It was more about how he seemed to be angry at you for wanting to rush to become a member of ADPi. Was the idea of you being in a sorority that bad? You weren’t sure but you couldn’t waste time thinking about that or his lingering stares during the one class you shared.

As for Becca herself, after the scavenger hunt, initiation had become stone silent. Becca had not sprung on any of you about the next step of rushing and it left you unsettled and waiting for it every second of every day. Until now…. That impending call had come. Finally, the next stage of rushing was going to commence and you were just as nervous as the first. Make any sudden movements and you might be kicked out, killing all of your chances of becoming a sister of ADPi which meant kissing those pretty plans of yours goodbye.

This morning, you had woken up to find a pretty pink envelope slipped under your door inviting you, Emily, Maggie, and the rest of the pledges to a brunch styled meeting. Set in between two of your classes, your mind was a jumbled mess from the moment you left your dorm all the way to the end of your Psychology class that was well forgotten as you couldn’t pay attention.

It was set in the middle of campus at the courtyard near the cherry blossom trees and you had never felt so out of place, more so than the pledges dinner and the scavenger hunt. As always the few sorority sisters present were pressed and perfect without a single hair out of place and like a set of copy cats most of the pledges appeared the same. Which as you scanned the few tables was only six, including you. Your teammates from the scavenger hunt all sat among the few chairs, with combed hair and neat makeup, plates filled with food. Deja and Kiara huddled close together and waved once they saw you appear. Hana was basically in her own little world as she stared at her freshly turquoise painted nails.

Maggie and Emily sat at another table nearby, whispering with their heads bowed low, still oblivious that you finally were there. The sisters themselves stood off to the side of the two tables in a small huddle, all surrounding Becca, the ruler of all evil, herself. You couldn’t help but glance down at your leggings and a three-quarter zip-up hoodie as you saw the Chanel purse in her hand and her blush ruffled skirt. Even Maggie was dressed in a pair of nice jeans and a silk tank top. You sighed, running your fingers through your hair and adjusting any loose pieces before you sneaked over and slipped into the third chair by your friends.

Quickly their conversation died as they noticed you and offered smiles but both disappeared as they noticed what you were wearing. “What’s going on?”

“Dude, what are you wearing?” Maggie gasped, completely ignoring your question, “You couldn’t have changed?”

“I didn’t have time.”

Emily patted your arm softly as over your shoulder she found the huddle of sorority gremlins starting to disperse, “I’m sure it’s fine just act natural. You’ll blend right in.”

“Em, there are six of us, they are bound to notice,” Maggie mumbled just as Becca stepped forward, her eyes trained on the six of you, the final pledges.

“Wait,” you spoke softly, “What do you mean there are only six of us? Where are the rest of the pledges?”

“No idea, but my guess is we are about to find out,” Maggie replied through gritted teeth ending all further comments to form around the table.

You were chewing on your lip at this point, fear making itself comfortable in your stomach. Even as you tucked yourself under the table as far as you could, it didn’t hide you away from their stares. The hawk-like eyes of the power-hungry and malicious girls that you never had to deal with in high school but instead had the pleasure of meeting now. Who knew after high school, girls couldn’t get a pair and grow up. Turns out college was a lot more like high school than you could ever expect, just a much bigger playing field.

Becca clapped her hands together gaining not only the attention of the six of you, the pledges, but anyone close enough to eavesdrop. You nervously gulped too as her gaze scanned over the remaining survivors and did a double-take when they found you. She smirked slightly before clearing her throat which only made the tension so much thicker and unbearable.

“Ladies,” she spoke, putting on that overly fake tone, she only used when she wanted to impress, “It’s so nice to see all of you again. It was longer than I expected our time apart to be but there are reasons for it.”

Pausing, briefly, she snapped her fingers and like a path formed, out from the back of the group, Amanda appeared. Her hair was just as red and bright as it had been weeks ago. She handed a bottle of water over to Becca and silence washed over the courtyard as she unscrewed the cap and went to take a sip. No one else spoke and she didn’t continue until the lid was put back on the bottle and she had handed it back to Amanda.

“I wanted to congratulate you all on being the final six pledges and making it to the last step of rushing. There was one more thing we had for you to do after the scavenger hunt but since the other six pledges were disqualified we didn’t think it would be necessary for you to have to do it.”

Deja suddenly raised her hand, like a student to a teacher, and it was a surprise that anyone would dare interrupt Becca, “If you don’t mind me asking why were the other girls disqualified?”

You noticed at the simple question, Becca’s jaw lock as she took in a deep breath and answered, “They cheated their way through the scavenger hunt. Someone from outside of rushing was following you all around and repeating your answers through a walkie-talkie to the other team. I do not tolerate people who take shortcuts to win.”

The answer alone made your fear and worry disappear for a second. And within that second it gave you a chance to bask in all the glory that was Lindsey getting exactly what was coming to her. You weren’t even in the sorority yet but already Emily’s side of the plan was almost complete. She beat out her roommate and now she was only one step away from locking the deal and making Lindsey go clinically insane. There was a chance. A very slim chance that this all could work out in the end. You had doubts, many doubts but it was already headed in the right direction.

“As for the rest of you, your final challenge is here. Individually over the course of this week, randomly and at any point or time each of you will be given one task. They will all be different and something you must complete on your own. If you decide to pussy out and refuse to do it, then clearly you just aren’t Alpha Delta Pi material. But if you do do it, then you will have successfully made it through initiation.”

Chloe, Becca’s most trusted sidekick who stood proudly attached to her hip, leaned forward a playful look on her face, “From there we will move you into the house and you can start getting comfortable with how things work and the tasks we as a sorority are in charge of.”

The other girls stood silently behind Becca and Chloe, probably too having gone through such a lengthy and crazy process. You wondered if rushing was like this every year for the pledges or if they came up with new ways to torture the initiates so it was always different. Suddenly though the question seemed irrelevant as your questioning was replaced with hoping above all things that you wouldn’t be the first pledge to be given a task. You didn’t know if you could handle that especially when you had no ideas of what they could ask. They could make you do anything and it would be less nerve-wracking to have another girl or two go before you.

“Okay, so I think that’s everything,” Becca announced, pulling her purse higher up on her shoulder, “I will be seeing all of you at one point this week.”

“Good luck,” Chloe added.

“Yeah, they’ll need it,” you heard another sorority sister whisper towards Chloe or tried as it came out far louder than a whisper.

You sighed loudly, hand wiping at the sudden sweat across your forehead as one by one in a line behind Becca they began to leave, not even daring to sit down and eat some of the food. They were all laughing as they left too and you were beginning to think that this was all a scam. That maybe they weren’t trying to find new members at all but a group of freshman girls to force into doing stupid stuff to only make fun of them. It was an idea but it wouldn’t be proven true until you did such a stupid thing and find out if you were accepted into the sorority or not.

Your thoughts and silent worrying quickly came to an abrupt stop as a buzz from a phone on the table filled your ears. Eyes locked onto it, you watched as Emily picked it up with a soft smile on her face not the slightest bit affected by the sisters or Becca. But as fast as the smile appeared it was gone. Her brows furrowed and her lip found a place in between her teeth as she thought deeply. Both you and Maggie had picked up on this and shared a look before your attention solely was put on Emily.

“Em, what is it?” you asked.

“It’s me,” she responded, it coming out like a mumble but enough to get the three other girls at the next table to lean closer in anticipation, “I have the first task.”

“Woah, they work fast,” Maggie commented as she leaned over to read the text message over the blonde’s shoulder.

“What do you have to do?”

She took in a deep breath before releasing it slowly, “I have to set up a car wash on the edge of campus by myself in only a bikini.”

Maggie chuckled but covered it quickly with a cough, “Well, I can already tell that Geoff is not going to be very happy about that.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Oh, Emily, she’s fine. Geoff on the other hand not doing so well,” your roommate said as she took the extra cup of coffee you handed to her.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon and Emily had started the car wash at eleven. She couldn’t be done until four. For five hours, she was supposed to be giving out free car washes while dressed in a hot pink triangle bikini. You remembered earlier this morning the look on the girl’s face after the brunch as she was given the ensemble. She had been on the brink of having a small panic attack, but now as you looked at her across the street it seemed she didn’t even acknowledge it anymore. After three hours of wearing it, she didn’t even notice it or the creepy stares she got from the random old dad’s that stopped as they saw the sign.

As soon as it was eleven, Maggie had claimed a picnic table at the edge of campus, close enough that you could see the show from across the street. For the past couple of hours, people have been filtering in and out, between their classes, checking in to see how she was doing. In the morning it had been Maggie and Kiara. Then Deja and Hana stopped while you were stuck in your back to back classes. Now you finally had been able to stop, only to find Geoff and Marcus there as well. Maggie had mentioned that among all the chaos, Becca had stopped earlier.

She was with a few of the other girls and at the sight alone she couldn’t stop laughing. It took her minutes to calm down before she subtly raised a single eyebrow and gave a nod of approval. The action alone led Maggie to believe that Emily was in and had passed her individual test. Which meant one down, two to go. You weren’t going to lie, you gave Emily credit. You didn’t know if you would have been able to do that which only worried you. If you were scared about the first task, there was a chance they were only going to get worse from here and your’s, the one Becca decides to bestow on you, could be ten times worse than doing a car wash by yourself half-naked. There was that greater chance and it left you completely terrified.

Geoff sat on top of the picnic table, hands folded over his face like he couldn’t even watch. Though he and Em weren’t official official, you had noticed in the last few weeks how he felt just by looking at her. He seemed so much different than most of the other hockey players, even his best friend who stood on the other side of him.

“Geoff, will you take a fucking breath she is fine,” Maggie snorted as she took a long sip from her iced drink.

He shook his head as he sent the smallest glare, like a child who was being scolded, over at Maggie, “I can’t, knowing that some of those guys have already gone through the line twice.”

You laughed underneath your breath, it mixing within the sound of Marcus’s. You were only talking to the pair of frat guys because of one sole purpose, Emily. Since she and Geoff got together, the friend groups were mixing more since they hated to be apart for too long. Which was another thing Maggie was not used to… sharing Emily. She had become slightly overprotective of both her and you. After hearing everything from both Deja and Kiara, she wasn’t ready to trust all of Geoff’s intentions which only led to them bickering like siblings.

“Well, do you blame them? Look at her,” Marcus slapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, ready to push his buttons further, “She do be lookin’ fine.”

Geoff’s glare shifted away from Maggie towards Marcus, except this time it deepened. Then all at once, he raised his fist and punched the other boy hard into the shoulder. Marcus flinched grabbing at the sore arm as a loud groan escaped from his lips, “Oww. What the fuck?”

“Don’t talk about her like that… EVER. You got it?”

Marcus backed down, his smile wiped clean from his face, “Okay, okay. I was just kidding anyway. Blame Becca man, not me, and if you’re going to act like this why don’t you just ask her out already?”

“Yeah, Geoff,” you perked up, sending your own smile over at the guy your friend was crushing on, “Why don’t you ask her out already?”

He shrugged, suddenly becoming a fumbling blushing teenager, “We’re taking things slow. We’re just trying to get to know each other first.”

“Taking things slow, mhmm okay. I didn’t know we were back in middle school! What, are you going to ask her dad’s permission first too before you take her out on another date?” Marcus mumbled underneath his breath, causing a giggle to slip from your mouth

Across the street, Emily was spraying down a soapy Honda civic with a hose, while soaked from head to toe. Her hair was slicked back into a ponytail and though she was no doubt uncomfortable, she smiled at the customer, who was a man, definitely in his early fifties, like she was having a good time.

“I think it’s fine that you guys want to take it slow,” Maggie announced getting a surprised look from Geoff, “But let’s make one thing clear. If you do anything to hurt her, I will fucking kill you.”

“I would never hurt her. Why would you think that?”

“Oh, no reason at all,” she mumbled, not bothering to meet his eye.

“No, what? Because that’s another thing, why do you always make comments like that? Like I’m bad news or something?”

At his question alone, both you and Maggie shared a look, long enough that the two other boys saw it and understood that you two had a mutual understanding. Clearing your throat, you leaned against the picnic table in between your roommate and Geoff, your gaze moving back to the car wash. Marcus and Geoff shared a look of their own before zoning in on you and you alone.

“What was that look about?”

“None of your business, Marcus,” Maggie barked.

Geoff leaned closer towards you, “Y/N?”

You sighed, giving in, “Well... you’re in a fraternity and an athlete. You are pretty popular on campus, and we’ve heard some stuff.”

“Stuff what kind of stuff? From who?” his eyes narrowed and his mouth dropped as his tone was nothing short of offended.

Maggie raised her head high, stopping you from slipping anything else to the pair of hockey players, “We’re not allowed to reveal our resources.”

Marcus rolled his eyes, “That’s code word for my sister and her friends.”

“Pfft, is not.”

“Y/N, you are a shitty liar,” he grinned, leaning over Geoff to get closer to you.

“I am not.”

“You are though,” Geoff said, agreeing.

“I am not a shitty liar,” you replied, jaw tensing.

Marcus smirked, “Okay, whatever you say, but answer me this. Has anything that they’ve said about me ruined all chances of us going out?”

“Oh, yeah,” you replied, laughter laced into your response. It seemed with Marcus the more you talked, the more flirty he got, and you weren’t the only girl he was talking to. It was flattering but you would never go down that road especially with Marcus who you loved turning down daily.

“Point proven,” Maggie pointed over at Marcus as he was shoved off of Geoff back to the other side of the picnic table and away from you.

“What do you mean by point proven?”

“Marcus, you flirt with every girl you meet like you’ll get a prize for each one you can charm into your bed.”

“Okay true,” he admitted, his smirk stretching at his own words, “But we didn’t have to acknowledge it.”

Before Maggie could say anything else to argue because it turned out she liked to argue with both of them and not just Geoff, she bit her tongue as both of your eyes fell back to the boy with long hair. His hands were once again folded in his lap and his icy orbs were focused back on the girl across the street. There was a crinkle in between his eyebrows and his lips were curled up into a pouty look. He was such a puppy dog, you had realized.

“Are you sure she is okay? Maybe, I should go over there and make sure everything is fine,” he announced, moving to stand from the table.

Instantly, as fast as he tried to stand, your arm stretched out across his chest halting all sudden movements. Your eyes were wide as you stared at him, practically begging as Maggie turned with another threatening look forming on her sharp features. “Don’t you dare move!”

“What?” his voice shook and his eyebrows rose to his forehead.

“Becca has eyes everywhere,” Maggie hissed.

“Geoff, if you go over there someone will report back to Becca and they’ll think you tried to help her. Which will kill Emily’s chances of getting in,” you explained, softly and calmly.

Slowly, he relaxed back into his previous position and you retracted your arm that was acting as a seat belt. His shoulders dropped and he went straight back to pouting. You watched his every move carefully, in case he decided to get up and make a run for it. You were prepared to go after him and tackle him to the ground if it meant Emily got a spot in the sorority. Nothing was going to get in the way, especially a love-struck hockey player.

“Look on the bright-side there, Warburton,” Marcus said as he patted his friend on the shoulder, “She’s the first one to go out of the other pledges.”

Geoff sent a cold glare over to his friend, “How is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“It’s only going to get worse from here. You know how Becca is which means that these two are going to get it far worse than Emily did.”

At his words alone, Geoff’s glare softened and was replaced by the largest grin. He laughed and covered it poorly with a fake cough. You and Maggie’s head’s slowly turned away from your friend to Marcus, the guy who had been testing your patience all day. Your mouth fell open slightly and your brows furrowed, wanting nothing more than to punch him in that moment.

His chocolate orbs looked past everyone else once again to you and he smirked proudly, “I’m not making my chances with you any better am I?”

“No, not in the slightest,” you replied, scrunching your nose at him as your glare only deepened.

“Shit! Well, I guess there is always tomorrow. Right, sweetheart?” he winked.

You were not amused in the slightest, though some days you didn’t mind the flirting and on occasion found it funny but right now it was nothing short of annoying. He was entitled and had the biggest ego just because of his athleticism and six pack. Because god forbid, girls actually wanted better for themselves than a fuckboy fraternity brother. You were starting to think finding a boy with an actual personality and a decent bone in his body wasn’t possible. Henry was the single exception but now, you were starting to think that the exception didn’t exist.

Maggie shook her head as she huffed loudly underneath her breath, “Marcus, you are such a fucking dick.”

“Thanks,” he smacked his lips as if he were chewing gum, “Right back at ya, Mags.”

“Okay, I should not be associated with him,” Geoff announced raising both of his hands for it to be noted among everyone else, “I am not like my friends when it comes to girls.”

“Alright, you keep telling yourself that man,” Marcus, cackled only for it to fall silent at the buzzing coming from his phone in his pocket. Pulling it out, he let out a noise of approval at what he saw, “Well, look at that. Okay, we gotta go.”

Geoff’s brows furrowed and annoyance dripped from his words, “What? Why?”

“Shawn’s at the rink and he wants us to come work on some drills with him.”

“Again why?” his tone deepened with both irritation and sass, “He has been on our ass nonstop lately. Coach isn’t starting official practices until next week and the home opener is still two weeks out.”

Marcus took in a deep breath before letting it out, “Dude, chill, you know how he is. He just wants us to do well this season especially since everyone is convinced we are going to win the conference and the Frozen Four tournament again.”

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Geoff grumbled as he peeled himself from the picnic table. He looked over at you and Maggie expectantly, a single brow raised high in the air, “You’ll keep any eye on her until she’s done?”

You nodded, “Yeah, we got her.”

“In case, you forgot, we’ve been taking care of her longer than you have, Warburton,” Maggie waved, fake sweetness sounding almost too sarcastic coming from her tongue.

He just rolled his eyes at her comment as he was used to her attitude towards him at this point, “Yeah, okay, we'll see you guys later.”

“Bye Geoff.”

Expectantly, Marcus turns towards you, his arms raised as if waiting. Sighing, you send him a soft smile, “Bye Marcus.”

“See you, sweetheart, don’t miss me too much while I’m gone.”

“Oh, I won’t,” you reassured one last time, knowing it wasn’t going to make your feelings any clearer to him. He was a verified flirt and to confirm every thought you have about him, he sent one more wink before he went jogging after his friend and teammate.

Once the two of them were finally gone leaving you and your roommate in peace, you visibly relaxed back into the picnic table, elbows leaning against the table top and a sigh left from your parted lips. Maggie’s actions mirrored yours. She shook her head, drawing your attention as she frustratingly ran her fingers through her dark black hair.

“What did Emily get herself into?” she whispered, eyes once again back on the blonde across the street who herself looked to be getting tired, “You know we were warned about the hockey players and what does she do? Decides to date one. Then she drags us into having to hang around them.”

You chuckled, now knowing Maggie better than almost anyone else as you had spent the last how many weeks together straight. You knew when she was genuinely pissed off or actually bothered. Though her words were nothing short of being annoyed and angry at Emily, her tone gave away that it was not as serious as it seemed. “To be fair, I was the one who pushed her on that date with Geoff and let’s be reminded that all of this is only happening because you wanted us to rush.”

“You’re right,” she groaned, “This whole thing is on us and we are the sole cause of having to deal with Geoff Warburton and Marcus Jackson.”

“It’s not all that bad. Geoff’s kind of nice and I mean Deja and Kiara said he is the best choice if she were to be with someone from the team.”

“Yeah, except I don’t trust him. Look, we can’t deal with Em getting hurt right now. We have to stay focused on the plan,” Maggie explained.

“Yeah, I know,” you mumbled out, looking over at Emily to find her waving off the last car in the line. As soon as it was gone, her welcoming over cheery smile was gone and her exhaustion came out for anyone close enough to see.

“Fuck!”

Your head snapped back over to Maggie as you heard her cuss loudly. She stared down at her phone clutched tightly into her palms. You peered curiously over her shoulder, “What? What is it?”

“Becca texted me, I’m next,” she said as she turned her phone for you to read the text.

“Tonight at 1, teepee the Gamma Gamma Sigma sorority house.”

It was Thursday, the weekend was looming and things were closing in on you. Every single pledge had gotten their task and went through with it. Every single one of the six pledges had gotten a text, gotten through what they were being forced to do and were accepted into the sorority with open arms, except for you. You were the last one standing, the one left waiting for her task. Waiting and worrying about the humiliation that would come with that text and whatever it would say. They only did get worse just like Marcus had said and by Wednesday when you were officially deemed the last pledge he laughed in your face.

On the first day, Emily set up a car wash in nothing but a bikini. That night, Maggie tee-peed another less popular sorority house. The next night Deja egged the least liked professor’s car. Then on Wednesday, Hana had to set up a kissing booth. Hours later that night while at a football game, Kiara had to run out on the field and moon the quarterback.

It only got worse, which meant what were you going to be made to do. It was Thursday and you were the last one. The week played in your head over and over, all of your friend’s humiliation or almost getting into trouble flying around your mind. How they felt and how they all got in and now were a part of the sorority. It was all bringing anxiety into your life, in a way you hadn’t felt in years. You were terrified and beyond scared about a one sentence text you were waiting to get from a college girl.

All of this happened to be on your mind as you sat in your Cellular and Molecular Biology class that morning. You needed above all to pay attention if you had any hope of passing the next lab but all you could think about was hockey players, roommates, and horrifying sorority sisters. You were thinking about how stressful it was which only made you more stressed the more you thought about it. It didn’t help that you got a text from Kiara in the group chat saying that there were videos and pictures of her pulling her pants down at the game floating around online. Your class no longer was of as importance as your worry trumped it easily.

Finally, as the time seemed to pass the professor dismissed the class. Jumping from your seat, you desperately weaved your way through the crowd towards the door. You were running on three hours of sleep and one cup of coffee and were sure that whatever Becca had planned you wouldn’t be ready. A jumbled mess, more texts began to flood in. Emily. Maggie. Kiara. Deja. Hana. You needed to get to your dorm room, as it had become your safe haven from the campus and the world. You would calm down as soon as you were in that room and you could unplug from this college massacre.

As another text came in from Hana complaining about how her bottom lip had gotten cut from kissing the president of the chess club, you began to pick up your pace into a fast walk. The sun was lingering through the clouds and the wind was hitting you in the face which eased the slight panic attack building in your chest. You were glancing up and down from the sidewalk to your phone as you tried to respond to the texts with your notebooks slipped between your side and elbow.

You were not paying attention as your mind was locked onto the phone screen in your hand and each terrifying sentence sent in from your friends. Each getting worse by the second. Suddenly, walking with your phone out seemed just as damaging as out of nowhere you collided straight into someone else like an intersection crash.

Notebooks went flying in the air, loose pieces of paper flew out. They floated slowly down, raining over you as your notebooks slapped against the sidewalk at your feet. Sighing, sadly, you shoved your phone into your pocket and dropped to your knees. Hands dancing for all of your stuff, you were trying desperately to catch your breath.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” you sputtered out as you reached for your scattered notes.

The vibrating from your phone had quickly became ignored and every text disappeared from your head-space as the sound of a bag dropping to the ground let out a loud thud, startling you. Glancing over at the black duffel bag, you felt a sudden intake of breath as the person crouched to help pick up your mess. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all good.”

Just like that, other things were thrusted in your line of sight, making your head spin and shake with all new thoughts. You were no longer worried and on the verge of having an all out panic attack. Your breath was cut short for a whole different ray of reasons and as he spoke, it felt like you would never be able to release the breath you were holding.

You were frozen, unable to move, or think as he continued to pick up your jumbled and barely legible written notes. His head was tilted down, focused on the task at hand but would spare you a glance here and there which only made your stomach lurch up into your chest. You were already a mess way before and he was not making things better in the slightest. Your head was a mess itself so trying to talk or have a conversation at this point was borderline impossible.

The hockey player was dressed in the same white hoodie that he wore weeks ago, his name and number printed on the back. That familiar red flush to his skin was nowhere to be seen like you had seen it at the rink and up close you had to agree with Kiara that he was completely gorgeous. She wasn’t wrong and after so long not wanting to admit it, you knew she was right. It was the way, his hair even when it didn’t look brushed seemed styled and didn’t have a stray of hair out of place. Or how he had a small scar on his cheek that seemed less like a flaw and more like a perfection. Or how the gold chain he wore around his neck and tucked into his shirts was now revealed to be a St. Christopher pendant.

There were so many more things you could name in your dizzy state but you were having an issue focusing on saying them as his eyes, his warm almost golden eyes flicker up at you. His long eyelashes brushed his cheeks with each time he looked back down to his hands where he continued to pick up your shit, that you had dropped upon you running into him because you weren’t paying attention where you were going… again. That single ‘S’ shaped curl fell across his forehead. Except this time, it appeared a little shorter making you wonder if he got a haircut.

You were staring and it was evident as he had picked up the last of your notebooks and met your gaze. He wasn’t even surprised to find you already looking at him and as his warm brown orbs found yours, that aching knee-weakening smile appeared on his face. The kind that will make your body tingle every single time and your brain to malfunction and turn to mush. As you saw that smile, up close, in person, and directed at you, it snapped you back into reality. This was Shawn Mendes.

He wasn’t just some cute guy on campus you stumbled across. He wasn’t a nobody. He was the guy. A somebody. His face was littered across campus on every poster and sign you saw. He was the star who scored the winning goal at the Frozen Four last year. His figure alone demanded attention. He was the frat boy at the party who had all the girls’ attention and usually took one home at the end of the night. He was known as Becca Bradley’s main hookup and forever dream man. He wasn’t just a normal guy as much as you wished he was. And above all things, he was the only man on campus you wished and dreaded to eventually meet because you knew like everyone else you would fall for him and that damn smile.

Blinking, you snapped yourself out of the impending staring contest and lingering silence. You stood up from the ground, clearing your throat and wiping the dirt from your leggings. At the sight, you internally groaned because on this certain day you wore a pair of leggings and an oversized hoodie. Your hair was tangled and falling out of the makeshift bun you made quickly this morning at the back of your head. You couldn’t bother with makeup or a mint after your coffee and knowing that the guy was in front of you, you felt very self-conscious.

Shawn grabbed a pen that had fallen out from your notebook and handed you the materials as he stood up. You visibly gulped as you noticed him now looming over you. He was tall, so much taller than you expected, now that he was in front of you.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, glancing around the two of you to see so many people staring at the interaction.

All of a sudden you became very aware of how many eyes were on you. As Shawn Mendes, captain of the hockey team, was seen talking to some girl who wasn’t either Becca or anyone remotely known around here. A freshman instead. It seemed whatever these people were doing, whether it was walking, or sitting and studying or just minding their own business became a thing of the past. They were focused on you, now. Waiting and watching to see if anything happens because god forbid they miss Shawn have a conversation with any girl on campus.

“Yeah, you okay?”

He looked you over carefully from your scattered appearance to your wandering gaze at everyone around you. The anxiety in your eyes had heightened to a whole other level and he could see it. Taking a step forward, he bent forward enough until your gaze snapped back into his direction. Once his golden orbs became what you focused on, you relaxed slightly but not enough to ignore the scratching stares on your back.

You cleared your throat, your next sentence coming out small and quiet, “Uh, yeah. I’m okay.”

He was still smiling as he bent over and picked up the duffel bag from the ground. He swung it over his shoulder, eyes never leaving you. Hugging the books to your chest, you were squeezing them so tight, your knuckles were turning white. Your head was pulsing and it suddenly felt like two worlds colliding that shouldn’t be.

“I’m Shawn, by the way,” he grinned as he scratched at the back of his neck, that pink tint returning to his cheeks suddenly, taking you by surprise, “I didn’t know if you knew that or not but uh yeah.”

For once, since the week had started a giggle had slipped from your lips and from all of the people it was because of him. It still couldn’t process in your mind that after weeks you were finally talking to him and that you were officially meeting him. It just seemed so weird because he had always been in arms length but you could never reach each other. The timing was never right and now by chance you had just ran into him. The world worked mysteriously and quietly and you weren’t entirely sure with how you felt about this action they pulled.

“I knew,” you nodded, that smile seeming to be permanently imprinted on your lips in front of him, “I’m Y/N.”

“You’re a pledge right? For ADPi? I’ve seen you around,” as soon as he began he became a stuttering mess and you were confused if this was actually the legendary hockey golden boy of campus or someone else, “Not that I’ve been actively looking for you or anything. That would just be creepy.”

You laughed again, “Right, uh yeah I am a pledge.”

“How’s that going? I mean it’s Becca so…” he trailed off, shrugging and careful of his words because if you knew who he was, he knew you were probably aware of his involvement with the president of your hopefully soon to be sorority.

“Yeah, it’s uhhh…” just as you went to answer with whatever came to your mind first, your words stopped altogether at the vibrating from your phone in your pocket. It had gone quiet for a while but now it was picking up again as the girls never knew to shut up. You sent him an apologetic smile as you reached into your pocket and took it out.

How the universe liked to pick their moments, you thought. As you stared at that screen, you realized that your bad luck and not been all dished out yet and that God was still saving some to give to you at random. It was convenient that was the only thing you could think as you stared at that text message. Your demeanor had gone back to worried and anxious and a physical mess. That smile, that soft smile you had been unable to get rid of and suddenly seemed reserved for the frat boy in front of you was gone. Your reality had been kicked straight back into your face and you wished that you could go back to sleep in a place where Shawn Mendes was nervous around you and Becca Bradley did not exist.

“Y/N?”

You couldn’t look away from the message and your throat had suddenly become very dry. Your mouth parted slightly and you were convinced the world was ending and that there was no way you could pull this off. “I uh, I’m sorry but I have to go.”

Even as you were on the verge from running away from him, he still smiled that damn large beautiful smile and it made your stomach clench all at once with one look. Suddenly, that shy college guy had turned back into, with the flick of a magic wand, what you expected him to be. He smirked that signature arrogant look and he casually slipped his hands into his pockets. “No, you go. I get it. Becca calls and you run. It’s the drill.”

Silently, you sent him a look of gratitude though you didn’t appreciate his cocky response whatsoever but you couldn’t worry about it at that moment. Just as you slipped past him though, your name once again echoed into your ears, and it was coming from his lips. “Y/N!”

You looked shyly over your shoulder, still consumed with worry and doubt to face that smirk and those gorgeous eyes. He nodded softly and in a single look that smirk dropped into the softest smile you had ever seen, “I’ll see you around.”

The only thing you could muster was your own smile as your heart had been pushed from your chest into your throat making you unable to speak. You shared one more look before you turned and continued to make your way to your destination; your dorm. Even though you could barely fathom that you had finally met Shawn Mendes it did not compare to what you were feeling now as that one sentence alone was now going through your head on repeat.

STEAL sophomore hockey captain Shawn Mendes’ boxers without getting caught…

“Y/N, just take a few deep breaths for me, okay. Everything is going to be fine. Right Mags?”

Emily looked desperately to Maggie for help as they stood in the doorway of the closet to find you sat underneath the clothing rack, your head put in between your legs. Your breathing was scattered and uneven and they weren’t sure how long you had been in there as they had found you when they walked in.

“Y/N, you’re going to be fine. This is nothing we can’t handle,” Maggie said, staring down at you intently.

You sniffled and lifted your head to face your two friends. Emily’s eyes screamed worry as Maggie waited patiently. Tears filled your waterline as finally after weeks from being away from home, everything was finally setting in and you were beyond overwhelmed. You shook your head wiping the water from your eyes before they could fall down your face.

“Nothing, we can’t handle, you’re joking right?” you laughed sadly, “How am I supposed to steal his boxers? Anyone have any ideas because I am the clumsiest and loudest person. Nothing about me screams stealth ninja. Which means, I’ll get caught and he is going to think I am some weirdo and tell all of his friends. I will then become the laughing stock of the whole school.”

“At least, we’ll all be getting laughed at together,” Maggie shrugged.

You stared at her silently, a small glare evident in your eyes. Emily glanced between the two of you before she dropped to her knees and rubbed your arm softly and comfortingly, “What she is trying to say is that none of what any of us had to do was easy. We were all forced to do these things we didn’t want to do and we all are getting made fun of because of it.”

“Yeah, in case, you forgot Emily was basically naked and cleaning strangers cars. And Kiara showed her butt to the quarterback in front of most of the school and Hana kissed all the guys from the chess team twice. We’re all embarrassed and we’re all getting laughed at,” Maggie tried again, sinking down to sit on your other side, her back leaning against the closet door, “And this is all because of Becca which means we haven’t gone this far for you to back out and ruin everything. I almost got in serious trouble for this so let’s stand up and pull ourselves together and do this because I know that you can.”

Taking in a deep breath, you closed your eyes and sniffled one more time, letting for the first time all day your anxiety slip away. When your eyes fluttered back open, you nodded with a soft smile which brought one on each of your friends’ faces. Maggie’s quickly grew into a huge grin, one where her eyes squinted and her dimples showed. You had yet to have seen one so big.

Sending you a wink, she clapped her hands together, “Okay, so now that we have that settled we need to get you ready. If you are going to be going on a black op. mission, that means you also need to dress the part.”

“Oh god, what do you have in mind?”

She didn’t respond but only wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Hours later, at dark, the three of you found yourself making your way back over to the sorority house as Becca demanded to see you beforehand which was different from what she had done with the other five pledges. After all, you were the last one though. You were feeling better since earlier that day when you previously had gotten the text. Once Maggie and Emily had given you a pep talk, you realized that you couldn’t go into this thinking you couldn’t do it or that you weren’t going to be able to do it. You had to go into this being positive and doing everything you can to make it possible to steal those boxers.

Your confidence had come on quickly and as promised Maggie wanted you to look the part. Putting on a pair of black leggings and black long sleeve shirt, you suddenly felt like you looked the part. Your hair was pulled tightly into a sleek high ponytail and there were two smeared lines of eye black under your eyes, reminding you of the softball days. At first you protested, knowing that Becca was going to make fun of you but as you left you decided to not give a shit because all that mattered was that you proved her wrong and got through this final task of initiation.

Entering into the house, you found the girls littered out into the living room, no doubt waiting for you. Stepping in, you stiffened up. You crossed your arms over your chest and stood with your head held high. Maggie and Emily stood off to the side from you grinning like two proud parents. As for the other three pledges, they were busy getting their stuff ready to move into the house and once you told Maggie that Becca had texted you, it was getting sent out into the group chat ASAP. They were sending wishes of luck and love your way from across campus.

The sorority girls’ attention finally fell to you and their phones and boring conversations had quickly been forgotten. Some of them laughed, unable to control themselves while others whispered. Becca appeared from down the hallway, dressed in her typical attire. Short skirt and cropped shirt. Heels on her feet, clicking against the tiled floor, though there was no one there besides her sisters to judge on what shoes were on her feet.

As soon as her eyes fell on you though, a loud laugh bursted from her mouth, “Oh wow, this is too good. I knew I had given you the right task. Love the outfit.”

Taking in a deep breath, you let it out as your arms fall slowly to your sides, “Okay, so what else is there?”

Her head tilted to the side innocently as her manicured fingers folded together over her stomach, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you called me here so I have to believe there is more to this than just having to steal Shawn Mendes’ boxers. So what is it?”

“Oh, honey, no,” she waved you off as another icy giggle made its way from her lips into the air, “I just wanted to come with and watch. Each pledge gave me some sort of show and secretly this has been the one I have been waiting for. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it.”

It was late, dark, and the sun was no longer looming over campus. Your pulse quickened and your palms were dripping in sweat as you stared up at the three story house. The window was left cracked open and you watched as the breeze swayed the white curtains from side to side. This was insane and beyond anything you had ever done but you knew it was unavoidable. If you wanted to get into Alpha Delta Pi, it had to be done.

You could feel the lingering eyes of the sorority girls as they crouched behind a line of bushes and you internally cursed. Emily had to set up a car wash by herself, Maggie had to teepee another sorority house, and those both sounded better than this; standing in front of frat boy central, forced to steal sophomore and hockey player Shawn Mendes’ boxers

You almost couldn’t breathe properly and everything was hitting you at once as you finally had a minute to process the whole thing. Even then as you stared up at the brick house and the lights that illuminated from inside, you knew you could do this. You weren’t sure but you were pretty sure. After all, what was this? Really? How much of this was going to decide your future or even matter in the next five years. The answer was nothing. It would mean nothing. Instead, it all just felt like a game, a shrivel in time that seemed completely irrelevant against the bigger and more important moments in life.

There was no way you weren’t going to do it. You knew it as you stared up at the slightly cracked window and were aware of your two friends behind you. It was maybe not going to matter in a year or maybe even now but that wasn’t going to stop you. Not even the exhaustion or the emotional wreckage would keep you from getting inside that house. Almost a month into the semester and you were drowning yourself.

Shaking your head to rid all of your thundering thoughts, you squeezed your fists together and decided to say fuck it! Taking a deep breath, you darted forward without so much as looking behind you at the girls hidden in the bushes. Tiptoeing forward along the side of the house, you hopped up and over the short fencing that led to the backyard. You landed softly in the grass on the other side and suddenly, you were on high alert. Hugging the wall as you walked, your eyes were darting everywhere from the backyard to behind you as you now felt like you were on the verge of being caught.

The large backyard was empty besides the trash cans full of beer cans, the white fold out table used for ping pong, and the bonfire pit. No, Pi Kappa Alpha boy was in sight and it eased your worries somewhat. Sliding around the corner, the back of the house came in view exactly with one sliding door and three possibly unlocked windows. You took a risk and headed for the glass sliding door and peered in. The basement was carpeted with leather couches, a bar, and a pool table. As for the large room, there wasn’t a person in sight. Grabbing at the outside handle, you sighed with relief as it gave away when you pulled and it opened slowly. Once the opening was large enough, you slid in and pulled it shut behind you as quietly as you could.

You looked left and right before you began to make your way slowly across the lit room to the staircase and walked up them. The door at the top of the steps was left open and ajared. Leaning forward, you stuck your head out to again be met with a silent hallway, lights all on and not a voice or other person heard.

Your nerves had returned and the hair was sticking up straight on the back of your neck as you stepped into the hallway. It was short as on one side led to a kitchen where there were uncleaned counters and the sink was full with dirty plates. On the other side there was a bathroom and a bedroom or two. Checking once more that those rooms were clear and didn’t appear to be the hockey captain’s, you walked forward and the hallway brought you straight out into the front living room which was the first thing seen when you entered through the front door.

Just like the basement it was littered with a few nice but slightly torn up couches and a big screen TV. Empty cans and cups were left scattered across the coffee table and there were random articles of clothing tossed around the room. Your nose scrunched up in the air as you finally took notice of the musty and suffocating smell that appeared when a bunch of boys decided to live together in a barely cleaned house. Another staircase caught your eye right next to the front door that led upwards to not doubt the third and final floor of the house and where the remainder of the bedrooms were. You cracked out a smile as you made your move for them.

Before you could even make it to the first step though, the front door opened. Panic appeared on your face and your eyes widened like saucers as two voices filled the otherwise quiet room. Just as it swung open, you dropped to the floor behind a large L-shaped black couch.

“Dude, why did Mendes have to schedule another evening practice? We already had three this week,” the first guy said, the voice unrecognizable to you.

The other one responded quickly as the sound of two bags being dropped onto the hardwood floor echoed in the room, “I don’t know because whatever captain says it goes. At least it’s over and we’re the first one’s home because I want a shower.”

“I want a pizza, should I order one?” the first one asked.

“Fuck yeah.”

Crawling to the right end of the couch, you peeked from behind it to see the two hockey players' backs as they headed for the back hallway you had come from initially. They were sweaty and practically limping showing just how exhausted they were from being pushed day in and day out by their team captain a week before official practices were set to start. Once they disappeared from sight, you glanced back at the front door to see no other hockey players appear and knew this was your chance. Standing, you darted for the stairs and climbed them quickly and as you hit the top step you heard the door fly open again and a chorus of more voices filled the house.

A loud gasp ripped through your throat as you heard a few pairs of footsteps following you up the stairs. Your head began to snap back and forth at each doorway you saw on either side struggling to pick one to go through. You stumbled down the hallway until you grabbed at the knob of the last door on the left. With one push on the door, you were falling into the dark room so out of breath as the voices only seemed to get closer from the staircase. You couldn’t recognize who the players were and weren’t worried about it as you were solely focused on running and not getting caught.

Peering through the dark, you were able to piece together the room from the large queen sized unmade bed to the desk pushed against the opposite wall and an additional door to the room’s very own bathroom. Stepping forward your foot suddenly caught on something sending you tumbling to the ground. You mentally cursed as a loud thud sounded in the room meaning whoever stood on the other side of the door and in the hallway would have heard. Face smooshed into the carpet, your fingers touched lazily at the object you tripped over which happened to be a small pile of laundry. Through the dark, your fingers traced over what appeared to be a t-shirt and as you squinted, you were able to see the familiar number eight and Mendes written across the back of it.

By chance you had stumbled into the right room and then of course tripped and fell, but at least you were in the right room. Then with the amount of clothes scattered along the floor that meant there had to have been a pair of boxers somewhere. You freeze though as fast as you had fallen, the fabric of the t-shirt threaded in between your fingers as the sound of the door handle being turned set off an alarm in your head. Then when the light clicked on, you crawled and crawled for dear life until you were under the bed.

The shirt was still clutched tightly in your fist and you were holding your breath as the voice you had heard hours ago for the first time once again filled your ears. “I think that was a good practice. Do you think that was a good practice?”

The second voice turned out to be just as familiar as the first and you couldn’t help but smile knowing exactly who it was. Geoff. “Yeah, except for the fact half of the guys almost passed out on the ice.”

“Okay, my bad,” Shawn sighed as that duffel bag he had been carrying earlier was dropped onto the ground right next to the bed. Your eyes followed it before they went back to the two pairs of feet in the room. “Man, I just want to have a good season. I don’t mean to be THAT captain but I just-”

“No, no I get it. You don’t have to explain. I want to have a good season too.”

“Thanks, Geoff. So...” Shawn clapped his hands together before changing the subject all together, “How’s things going with Emily?”

You swear you could hear the smile in Geoff’s voice when he talked which gave away truly how crazy he was over your friend, “Great, amazing, I don’t know. Dude, she’s just... I don’t know. I really like her.”

“I’m happy for you, man! You deserve it.”

“Thanks, except I might have to have a word with Becca though. I mean what she made Em do was crazy and humiliating,” Geoff snapped his voice rising slightly at the end.

The hockey captain chuckled slightly, “Well what did you expect? It was the same way last year for the pledges and she will do it again to the ones next year. That’s just how she is.”

“Yeah, but still Emily just isn't like Becca or the other girls. Neither is Y/N or Maggie. I just don’t get why any of them wanted to rush.”

“Speaking of, I met Y/N today.”

At the mere mention of your name, your eyes widened and your hand clasped even tighter around the shirt. Your mouth parted slightly, waiting and completely on edge wanting to know what this drop dead gorgeous guy was about to say about you.

“Shawn!” Geoff warned.

“What?”

“I know that look on your face and don’t!”

“Don’t what,” Shawn said, laughter heard in the simple two words he said.

“Do what you always do. Okay, she’s not like every other girl you get involved with,” Geoff explained and in that moment there was nothing you wished more than to see the look on either of their faces as they spoke, “Y/N is nice and one of Emily’s best friends, so stay out of her pants.”

Was Geoff seriously being protective of you? It sounded like it and suddenly everything you had thought about him; being a hockey player and frat boy meant he couldn’t be boyfriend material. Or that he was just using Emily. Or that he was built like all of his friends. All of that disappeared because in that sole moment you knew that he was a good one. Geoff Warburton was a good guy and deep down more than anything you hoped that Shawn Mendes was too.

“Yeah, Geoff I know Y/N is different and you’re so right. Even with just meeting her I realized she isn’t anything like Becca or any of those other girls. I don’t know there is just something about her-”

Your breath was stolen and you knew this was a position you never expected to find yourself in; hiding under the hockey star’s bed as he gushed about you to his best friend and teammate.

“Which is why you should stay away from her. I have enough to deal with keeping Marcus away from her and I can’t be in charge of you either.”

“Okay, but honestly, we both know I would be a better option for her over Marcus any day,” he joked.

“Shawn!”

“Okay, fine, alright. I’ll stay away from her since you asked me too.”

Geoff’s feet stepped for the door and a moment of silence passed between them and you were starting to worry that maybe they saw you or they finally remembered the thud they had heard earlier. You were toast. That’s what you thought, but when you thought you were going to be pulled from under the bed with all chances of becoming a sorority member of ADPi being ripped from existence, it never did happen. “Okay, now that we are on the same page. I am going to shower because I need to meet Emily and she won’t like it if I’m late.”

“Have fun!” Shawn called out as Geoff stepped out of the room and into the hallway, “Do you need any condoms? It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Goodnight Mendes.”

Shawn laughed, one of those belly laughs that instantly could make anyone else in the room smile and happy. You were trying to hide your own smile from under the bed as his previous words about you were being repeated over and over in your mind. Suddenly, though the task at hand became your focus once again as you heard the door shut and then lock. He walked forward towards the bathroom and the sound of the shower being turned on made you tense up all over again. This was it, you decided as you found no pairs of boxers slipped under the bed or on the floor. Music filled the bathroom, Drake’s voice filing out into the next room. The hockey player spit the words of the song underneath his breath as he kicked off the shoes on his feet. Each one being placed at the bottom of the bed and then one by one his socks.

The process was painfully slow and you were close to sneezing from the amount of dust bunnies tickling at your nose. You also knew deep down that if you weren’t hidden underneath his bed and you were there able to watch the show, it would be less painful. Instead, you had to imagine what each sight was when a new article of clothing was stripped off. When the sight of his sweaty practice t-shirt hit the ground, you had to fight a groan from slipping out because of how much you wanted to peek your head out and look.

It became even harder as that shirt was joined by his sweatpants. You were starting to count the seconds of how long it took him just to slip off those boxers and by the time you got to five they were at his ankles. He kicked them off his feet and the black Calvin Klein boxers were left near the rest of his discarded clothes.

A small smile lifted at the corners of your mouth because of how close you were to pulling this off. That smile dropped quickly though and your jaw hit the floor as he moved away from the bed to the bathroom where you were able to see his full backside. His curls were fluffed up and at each step, you could see the way his back muscles rippled and tightened. Not to mention his ass, oh god, you swear you were close to drooling. Athletes and guys who worked out really did have the best butts.

As he pulled back the shower curtain and stepped in, you turned your eyes back to the prize sat right before you. Shawn Mendes’ boxers. This was it, you decided. Sliding out from beneath the bed, you hopped to your feet and snatched up the black thin fabric. Bunching it into your hands, you made a beeline for the partially cracked window in his room, knowing you wouldn’t be able to face trying to go back downstairs to the sliding door. Plus, you remembered seeing a ladder leaned up against the side of the house up to the roof. Your escape plan was now put into motion. Glancing back over your shoulder one more time to make sure he was still safely in the shower, you slowly pulled up the window enough for you to climb out.

You stepped out onto the roof and moved slowly towards the side where you remember where the ladder was sat. Except when you peered over to where it was initially standing you found it nowhere to be seen. You looked over to where the girls had been standing before behind the line of bushes to see they were no longer there. Not even Maggie or Emily was there. You knew that Becca must have taken the ladder because there was no way it had just disappeared. She wanted to make this as hard as possible for you and was set on you failing which only made you determined in the end.

Taking in a breath to resettle yourself, you began to move around the top of the roof to try and find a second escape route. You didn’t know how long you had been up there for but as you tried to sneak past Shawn’s window again, you jumped as you found him standing in his room, towel hung low around his hips and staring at his phone. You suddenly couldn’t move, unable to run as you stared at him, water dripping down his chest and curls pushed back out of his face. He was a daydream and a drop of heaven and you had his boxers in your hands.

You were snapped back into reality as he moved towards the window and he lifted his head. Without thinking you dropped to your stomach but as soon as you landed on the roof you began to roll. Unable to grab onto any of the shingles, you rolled right off the roof and in mere seconds of falling off the three story house into the yard, your hands caught the very edge.

You hissed as the material scratched at your fingers and your feet swung back and forth. Looking forward, you found yourself hanging right in front of a window on the second level of the kitchen. You peered down to see that ground still seemed so far away, but it became your best bet quickly as one of the boys moved past the window. It was Marcus, and just as he went to look out of it, you let go and dropped. It felt endless and like you were going to die for sure before out of nowhere your feet meet the ground. Your knees bent slightly and from the harsh pressure, your left ankle rolled from under you.

Collapsing to the ground, pain shot up from the area and you cursed loudly. Your hands reached at the skin feeling it pulsing and already starting to swell. Of course. Bad luck. This was stupid. Stupid. Why did you sign up for this and why would you go through with it?

Rolling your eyes, you took a minute or so before you picked up the pair of boxers on the ground next to you and slowly pulled yourself up. Walking was brutal and you had acquired a limp as pain shot up from your ankle with each step you took. You had risked something so much worse for a pair of boxers and what could only resemble a DARE. If you didn’t get in, you were going to kill Becca for sure.

The whole walk back to the house felt horrifying and like your foot was being ripped from it’s socket. As you limped up the front sidewalk, you found your two most trusted companions sat on the outside step completely silent. They waited for you, worry shown on their faces. Maggie tapped her foot against the concrete ground while Emily chewed relentlessly on her nails. Both of their heads lifted from their gaze on the ground at the sound of your dragging steps.

They jumped from their spots on the step as they quickly noticed you struggling to move. Rushing over, Maggie grabbed you by your arm while Emily stared down at your wrecked ankle. “Oh my god, what happened?”

“Em, I’m okay. I’m fine, I just took a small fall.”

“A small fall,” Maggie scoffed, “You can barely walk.”

“Okay,” you half smiled, “It was kind of a big fall.”

“Look,” Emily started her brows furrowed in that way they did when she was scared, “We wanted to stay until you came out but Becca forced us all to come back and when we tried to stay she said she would automatically just end your rushing process.”

“No, no, it’s all good, but I’m guessing she was the one who moved the ladder that was on the side of the house.”

“Uh, yeah,” Emily cringed, “We’re sorry.”

“No, seriously, Em it’s okay I understand.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and butted in once she knew you were alright, “Well?”

“Well,” you repeated her word, putting on your best poker face.

“Did you get them?”

A large smile tugged at your lips revealing your teeth as a small giggle slipped out, “Damn straight, I got them.”

Revealing the pair of boxers you were hiding from behind your back the other two girls squealed and pulled into a bone crushing hug. You had done it. All three of you had successfully faced and passed the god-awful tests that came with Becca Bradley and you were oozing with pride for yourself. High school you would have never been able to do something like that. You would have blushed, denied such an offer, and gone back to reading your books. Here you were though, even with a swollen ankle you were smiling and genuinely happy.

After a few minutes, Maggie and Emily pulled away from the hug and helped you up the front steps and into the house. Laughter echoed from the living room and as you slowly made your way into the full room, it all became silent. Becca was sitting in a white chair facing the doorway and when her eyes met yours, she quirked an eyebrow curiously. Her slow gaze scanned you from head to toe. From the grass sticking to your knees to the way your leg buckled from simply standing.

“Oh, you’re back,” she smiled, it was fake.

“Yeah, thanks for waiting by the way,” you replied, unable to hide your annoyance or glare.

“Well, we weren’t going to wait all night for you. Which reminds me so?”

Unfolding the black boxers in your hand, you held them up to her and sent a proud smirk her way, “I’ve got your boxers.”

Glancing to Maggie and then Emily on either side of you, you found them looking at you the same way. Excitement gnawing on them on the inside as they tried to hide it with their smiles aimed towards you. Your attention though was brought back to the sorority president though as she tutted softly.

“Mhmm, there’s just one thing though.”

“One thing?” you asked, a frown lacing over your lips.

“Where’s your proof?” she raised a hand and a few of the other sorority girls nodded in agreement as they found amusement in the current situation, “I mean, how do I know these aren’t from one of the other player’s? How do I know you didn’t just pick up a random pair once you walked in. Where’s your proof that these are actually Shawn Mendes’ boxers.”

You clicked your tongue along the roof of your mouth, trying to hide the feeling of wanting to run her over with a bus. Instead, you pulled a sickening grin on your face and aimed the back seam on the boxers towards her. You had her right where you wanted her and this time you were destined to win. It made it so much sweeter that her face screamed success.

Like she had outsmarted you as she had done to so many others but under all that confidence you knew she was scared. There was a crack seen behind her smirk and her entitlement. She was actually worried that you had come out on top of her. Letting a second pass as the tension prickled at your skin, you hummed and thrusted the piece of clothing in her direction. And at your next sentence, her facade crumpled to pieces.

“How about the fact that there is a number eight written on the back tag in sharpie.”

a/n: let me know if you wanted to be added or removed from the taglist.

taglist: @particularnarry @magicalmugshepherdpony @probablyshouldbesleeping @gamma-xi-delta @imbjapan @itrocksmysocks @thatkidwhodreams @fandomlolzor @wwyitm-mendes @brook1232 @fanstories @burkylover @badreputationlove @imsuperawkward @bubbashawn @shawnsreputation @littlebabymendes @avsensio @bluebellwoods

#shawn mendes #shawn #mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fanfic #my writing #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes au #college au #sorotity #fraternity

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papers4me · 4 years ago

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Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep20

This is a buildup ep for yuki’s confession, like most buildup eps in furuba they kinda seem awkward & a bit stretched, but overall this one is not bad.

-The theme of “ letting go” & tohru:

Tohru needs to Not only let go of her excessive attachment to her mom, but also, of treating yuki as needing of much help all the time. tohru’s is the mother friend for all, she tends to care for everybody, however, since she lives with yuki, this instinct fire up & she provides care, nurture, support & worry lots abt him since she knows the sohma’s abuse. Their dynamics need to change as yuki is starting to depend on himself as equal leaving tohu’s nest, tohru needs to accept his change & support him differently from before. The analogy of yuki leaving the nest is also fitting of tohru’s need to focus on herself since her nest is now empty. Tohru has also been using her motherly care for others to avoid working/focusing on herself. I find it ironic that Arisa’s “ tohru come convince kyo, he doesn’t wanna be a prince” comes as tohru & yuki acknowledge the need of a modified dynamics between them & she sends him off with her “ do your best” instead of her usual “don’t overwork yourself”. She leaves him to go to kyo/her own personal life that she needs to focus on.

-The Endless Parallels:

As yuki is starting to open his lid to his pal, the focus is shifted to machi! I’m happy she’s back. Similar to kyo’s apology into tohru’s ears in Se01, machi was given the questionable behavior without explanation treatment to hook viewers & I’m hooked! I know I’ll love this girl. It was pretty clear that her & kakeru are yuki exclusive characters & if he’s the best buddy, she’s the love interest. To connect her with yuki, certain good parallels were hinted at from the beginning:

She always leaves a mess behind, yuki lives in a messy room.

She has to have traumatizing background in order to make her need yuki in her life cuz part of yuki’s wishes is to provide for someone who needs him the way kyo provides for tohru. Yuki is ready to give back, now that he’s healing. Machi is yuki’s person.

Her coping mechanism is a bit similar to yuki in SE01, she shuts herself from others, doesn’t talk much & is withdrawn. I love that they both have somewhat similar coping mechanism regardless of the nature of heir trauma, it makes them both less ashamed of what they adopted to cope regardless if it’s wrong/harmful.

She has low self esteem & is shocked when someone notices her, very lonely which is why she noticed yuki’s loneliness since Day 1.

She saw through yuki’s resistance of his “prince” title. She’s perceptive in nature just like him.

She looks physically more similar to yuki than she’s to kakeru, her brother, (yuki’s family grayish hair/his mom’s /ayame’s long eyes). Not really fond of that, but no harm, I think it was done so she & yuki will have similar aesthetic & have similar color shades.

All these are amazing parallels above help connect characters together & build relationships. However, I’m kinda annoyed that the writer went over board with the parallels, to the point of semi-exact situation:

Machi & Kakeru are siblings who were not close at all due to abusive family attitude. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki.

Kakeru is the older brother & was able to stop his abuse cuz of his character or extreme behavior that saved him from being caged into the family’s grasp while machi, the younger, was unable to escape & isn’t free yet. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki.

Kakeru, the eldest, is trying hard to reach out to his sibling & aid her as much as he can but fails due to his insensitive character or his failure to see where she stands. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki.

In their relationship, kakeru is the extreme, bubbly & bigger than life character while machi is the vulnerable, silent, withdrawn one. Exactly Similar to: Ayame & Yuki.

This is a ton load of parallels that is not much needed to make machi suitable for yuki. I know that the writer is aware that machi is introduced late into the story, & is eager to flesh her out to be loved, but I don’t think that adding all these similarities to yuki’s life is the way to go. In the contrary, it makes her seem like a female version of him without the curse. Machi should be fascinating without yuki or kakeru. I guess making her kakeru’s sister helps create situations of yuki knowing more abt her without her talking & can be used to redeem kakeru’s character if he was ever harsh to her the way ayame was cuz you bet kakeru will play matchmaker. but overall, it takes uniqueness from machi’s situation herself & draws more attention towards yuki & kakeru. More focus on what will yuki & kakeru do. I really love her form the few things I saw abt her & her reactions, but yeah, don’t mind me~ it was a fleeting feeling of disappointment. Oh well, it is what it is. I hope her own perspective of her situation is rewarding.

-Machi is NO weak woman:

She really isn’t! She took control of the situation when she noticed it needed quick intervention. That’s why, the first set of 6 parallels mentioned above is important for machi! She saw through yuki without needing to know abt the exact similarities of their abusive homes. You don’t need all that to see through someone who was in the darkness for years, cuz she too, must’ve been in the darkness as well! So, in unique fashion, she comes & destroys yuki’s walls. Don’t worry, I’ll save you. I see you.

-Cinderella ( what??):

I didn’t expect elementary school fairly tale to be chosen & I sure didn’t see the cast choices coming! XD I’m sure sth will happen & they’ll change cast. but It’s 100% awesomely spot on in a reversed manner!! So Ironic!

Yuki godmother means yuki in female dress???? similar to SE01, Momiji ep! poor yuki! plus godmother is a nonhuman character that is superior & grants wishes & yuki is considered stronger than normal human without training & despite weak health, all his skills are always extraordinary. But maybe becuz he’s nearly done healing/opening the lid, he’ll help the others now, godmother style. XD

Tohru is evil stepsister?? Tohru is kindness reincarnated! but perhaps tohru needs a hint of evilness to wake up for herself & be more assertive! plus tohru is considered evil by yuki’s fan club (there’s an entire ep dedicated for that lol).

Hana Cinderella?? The queen of darkness & eerie wave reports who can see right through humans will play the weak, powerless Cinderella. XD. But it suits her cuz she was once called witch when in reality she’s kind.

Arisa a prince! the woman who wants to be a model & is desperate to turn kureno’s head with her womanly charms & is dying for a kiss from him in their first meeting! XD. but it suits her as she used to be a gangster? XD.

Kyo the prince?! the most un-princely prince! kyo’s kindness & warmth is exclusive to kazuma & tohru, the rest of the world sees him as the always annoyed, easily teased, harmless dude! Princes are diplomatic with their words! kyo’s life would be over in a second if it depended on his words! XD. He depends on his physical body & actions to show affection & love. You want him to be shower girls with compliments the way princes do?XD. but it suits him in a way, cuz he stole the main female protagonist’s heart like in all fairy tales & he’s genuine with his affection. XD.

I want Cinderella play NOW! plz don’t change the cast!!

Side Note:

The ep started with yuki’s statement abt what he wants from tohru, however, failed to deliver an answer by the end. It is obvious that (a) the answer will be given once yuki explains himself (b) a tease to hook the viewers into waiting for yuki’s answer. However, it was badly done. Rather than giving anticipation, it gave a disappointing feel. It dragged a genuine & vulnerable moment for the entire ep for cheap hook by the end. It can be completely avoided by not opening the ep with yuki’s lines. The thrill/anticipation would’ve come 10 times stronger with his closing lines leaving viewers with “OMG, he’ll say it next ep!! rather than “ what? i was waiting for that all ep? man~, next ep perhaps?”. I duno what is the nature of the manga chapters. but there are times when it’s so clear to me (an anime-only) when the show adapts things via direct cut & paste rather than working them to suit the ep format. Generally, the show doesn’t know how to implement cliffhangers, so I really wish they avoid them altogether.

From the way he handled machi’s apology to his firmness with the chibi member, to his elaborated speech with kakeru, to his calmness inside the locked room & how the flashback didn’t affect him as much as I thought it would! yuki’s growth is 90% complete! =D! You go boy!

I gotta confess..I’m slightly disappointed that kakeru turned out to be another abuse survival child. I was loving the idea that yuki is connecting with someone via their own character/personality not shared past of similar experiences cuz there are TONS of those in furuba. Kakeru’s character with (mix kyo-ayame) & virtues/vices is a good balance for yuki, adding the abusive past is hinting that broken kids only befriends broken kids which isn’t true. Plus this means that all young characters “with importance to the plot” must be abused one way or another... I know furuba has a theme..but you don’t have to make it part of every important character. I still love kakeru tho. but if kimi turned out to be ANOTHER abused child, I’m quitting furuba! XD..jokes..

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #tired paper

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synecdoki-fresh · 3 years ago

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look i just gotta get this weirdo theory off my chest:

Eri is going to use her power to turn Shigaraki into a baby.

one thousand tangents below -

why?

first of all, eri’s power is so hyped (for good reason!!) and I think it needs to have a bigger role in the ultimate plot than what’s happened so far.

(Also, consider the parallels drawn between the two of them in terms of backstory).

but also like - i think this would be the most optimistic possible ending for shigaraki tomura as we know him!

everything that’s happened to him so far has spilled out, broadly, from this major trauma in his childhood (talking specifically about his quirk awakening and the circumstances surrounding that - i think he could have been a relatively normal person prior to that and especially prior to getting picked up by AFO***)

What if that could all just be... taken back?

I mean, obviously, not all of it can be, but here is what I can’t stop thinking about:

what comes up again and again throughout the series is this fuzzy boundary between powers and personality, and the way this plays with whether or not someone will become a hero or a villain.

Prime example: is early series Bakugō Like That because he’s a teen boy who can make explosions come out of his hands? Or Is he Like That because of how everybody treats him... as a teen boy who can make explosions come out of his hands? ... Or is he Like That because... (etc etc).

And there’s tons of examples - see: Bakugō’s kidnap by the League, see: Shinsō’s middle school experience, see: Lady Nagant and Hawks, see: Todorokis Shōto and Tōya. It’s like ‘bad powers/good people’ and related tropes as a storyline in itself.

Anyway, where I am going with this is: there are a couple of ways we could ‘save’ Shigaraki without killing him, and I know so far, a lot of what we’ve seen Eri’s power do is take away/restore quirks...

But yeah, I don’t think he’ll be nerfed. (Also keeping in mind, iirc taking away quirks is something Bad People do in this world).

So... do I think he is beyond help as he is?

... yeah kind of.

Taking into consideration that I am in NO WAY saying people can’t recover from emotional trauma etc. etc. - think about all the SHEER PHYSICAL TRAUMA that has been dealt to him over the past few arcs. That dude’s body is essentially overpowered hamburger meat kept ambulatory by various applications of Mad Science and Dark Magic. We know he’s In There Somewhere, but that man’s eggs have been so THOROUGHLY scrambled...

And then - would he accept being ‘saved’ as he is? Can you turn this around?

From my perspective, it feels like the most practical way to save him is to give him a new start - let him become the person he could have been before he got picked up and manipulated by AFO, whether that person is a hero or a normie or hell, someone who is Not Very Nice... if he’s going to be a villain again, let him choose.

(Also give him a reasonable out from being locked up in some Tartarus-esque crime against humanity situation...)

So, yeah, Eri’s gonna turn him back into a baby.

***unless - please consider this: (and consider the possibility that this has been addressed in universe and I am too dense to remember)

how lucky was AFO to have stumbled on Shimura Nana’s grandson in the way that he did? Like, when he was bragging about it to All Might, it’s like - yeah, you did find the perfect guy to mold into your little Demon King puppet... how?

Like, think about it:

this kid is incredibly vulnerable and unstable (plenty of those kicking around BNHA universe)

his power is apparently a terrifyingly destructive random mutation (fewer those kicking around, especially considering that Shigaraki is 10+ years older than the crop of terrifyingly OP children that lots of people in universe are wringing their hands about)

he is the blood relative of an OFA holder?? (At that point in the story, we have evidence of three of those... and two of them are Kotaro and Hana.)

Each one of those qualities is like - sure, okay, easy enough to find someone like that (even the last one - AFO could have been/probably was keeping tabs on the Shimura family) - but all of those things? Every thing about little five-year-old Shimura Tenko was perfect from both a practical and symbolic point of view for AFO. How?

Essentially: were there strings being pulled somehow or was this just some massive coincidence? (And if so, what strings?)

#bnha #mha #bnha theory #shigaraki tomura #mha theory #dude idk #this went off the rails in a big way so i hope it's at least vaguely clear what i'm trying to say here...#also i think i probably left some stuff out #also also i am genuinely curious about the how early was afo pulling the strings question #that deku shiggy moment is one of my favorite pages in the series just fyi

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ft-dads-au · 4 years ago

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Turn the Tide

Gratsu Summer Solstice 2020 - Prompt: Fun in the Sun Gratsu Week 2020 - Prompt: “What’s with all the noise? I’m sleepy” Pairing: Gray x Natsu

A Collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404

AO3 | FF.Net

Summary: Natsu has hated his birthday for years. It served only as a a painful reminder of the day his father abandoned him and Erza. All he wants is to get through the day with the least amount of fuss possible, but Gray has other plans. 0-0

July 7th, 2021

What’s with all the damn noise? I’m still sleepy…

Natsu groaned as the annoying beeping noise that had woken him up refused to stop, and he soon realized it was coming from his phone. He glared at the device, but as expected, it did nothing, the beeps continued as text after text came in.

What the hell is going on?

He stretched his arm and grabbed his phone from his nightstand, fighting the urge to throw it across the room...

Happy Birthday, Bro! 🎈🎉✨🎁 Where the party at? 👀🧁🎂 Gotta do rounds, but I’ll call you later!

Happy Birthday, Natsu!

cat_birthday.gif

Another year older, Firefly! I’ll stop by Sorciere and buy you a drink tonight...

Happy Birthday, dude! Get Gray to blow your 🕯️!!! 😂😏

Natsu scrolled through the texts that kept coming in from his friends and family, rolling his eyes at the last one, not even having to look at the sender info to know it was Loke’s contribution.

As nice as it was to receive well wishes, rather than cheer him up, all they accomplished was to envelop him in a cloud of gloom that was very familiar. Still, he replied to all the messages and got up to start his day.

At least it was a Wednesday, which meant that Gray would soon arrive with Aki for one of their study sessions. It was the first time in a while that he was impatient for Gray to visit, not because he wanted to see him, but because of the distraction that studying for the GED would provide.

What he really wanted was to get out of the house. To escape the memories that refused to let go.

The previous year he’d been too numb from everything else that had happened in his life for it to sink in that he was back in his childhood home, sleeping in the very room his father used to call his. The last place he’d seen him before he’d disappeared from his life, leaving him and Erza behind without any warning or explanation. For so long, he’d held on to the belief that his father was coming back, but no matter how many nights he’d waited for him, he never did. And so his birthday became a day Natsu resented, a painful reminder of his abandonment.

The doorbell rang, startling Natsu out of his gloomy thoughts. Atlas raced towards the door at the noise, chanting the name Aki over and over in joyful anticipation.

Natsu ran down the stairs to head him off, knowing from experience Atlas would open the door regardless of who might be on the other side. It was much too early for Gray to arrive for their study session, and given that it was his birthday, the idea of an unexpected visitor set him on edge.

He got to the door just as Atlas opened it and was surprised to see his boyfriend was indeed standing on the other side of the door.

“Hey,” he greeted, feeling slightly puzzled but no less pleased, “Are we starting early today?”

“Nope,” Gray smirked, “You’ve been working pretty hard for the past few weeks. Today you get the day off. We’re going to the beach!”

“Beach!” Aki repeated, and now that Natsu looked at him, he noticed he was dressed in a swimsuit and holding a colorful bucket and shovel like the ones sold at the grocery store.

“Beach?” Natsu parroted in disbelief, “With three kids? Are you insane?”

“Four, you forgot to count yourself,” Gray teased, entering the house and closing the door behind him. He pulled Natsu to him for a quick kiss, “Hey.”

“I don’t know, I’d have to pack stuff for the kids and get them ready,” Natsu hedged, not feeling up to such an involved outing.

“Nice try, Sunshine,” Gray turned him around and nudged him towards the stairs. “All you have to do is get yourself ready; Erza already took care of the rest.” Gray walked over to the small closet that sat at the foot of the stairs and opened it to show that indeed there were two bags packed along with Atlas’ car seat.

“We’re going to the beach?!” Hana squealed behind them, and at that point, Natsu realized he’d already lost. Hana had always loved the beach even though her skin was so fair she had to be slathered in sunblock constantly, but she hadn’t voiced any interest in it since her mother had died. Knowing that, he didn’t want to disappoint her.

“Looks like it,” he replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster at the idea. It might even be a good thing. If he were chasing after the kids, he wouldn't have time to think about anything else.

“That’s the spirit,” Gray remarked, his words dripping with sarcasm, “Go get ready, and I’ll start putting stuff in the car.”

Now that the decision had been made, Natsu went along with it. He’d wanted to get out of the house, after all. Changing into swim trunks and a t-shirt, he quickly tossed a change of clothes and a towel into a bag. He searched around for his sunglasses and sunblock, and when he heard Gray yelling for him, he hurried down the stairs to find everything had already been packed up, including the kids.

“Why today?” he asked, gazing at his boyfriend with suspicion.

“Because it’s going to get super hot, and you’re too cheap to install an air conditioner.” Gray retorted, “Since nothing’s getting into your little brain today, we might as well have fun. Now come on.”

He grabbed the bag from Natsu’s hand and led him to his car, making no mention of Natsu’s mood. Natsu relaxed, he’d never told Gray when his birthday was, and he hadn’t gotten a text from Lyon, so it was possible he didn’t know. The people in his life always wanted to make a big deal about his birthday, but all Natsu wanted was to forget it, let it pass quickly and quietly. And who knew? A day of fun in the sun might just do the trick.

0-0

“Beach!” Hana ran off towards the sand the moment they stepped outside the air-conditioned train station and into the summer heat.

“Hana, wait!” Natsu ran after her, terrified of losing her in the crowd of people. He glanced back to see Gray trying to handle the boys and the remaining bags, and he flashed him an apologetic smile.

Gray hadn’t been exaggerating. It was a hot day. Thankfully the beach wasn’t too packed yet, and once he’d gotten Hana to stop, he rented a large umbrella for them to sit under, knowing the heat was going to be too much for the younger kids and for Gray, who was as fair as Hana.

He was already applying sunblock on Hana when Gray finally arrived with Atlas and Aki, dumping all their bags on the sand. “A little help would have been nice,” he grumbled.

Natsu glanced up to see his boyfriend was already flushed. “Go sit,” he ordered, pointing towards the shade the umbrella provided and handing him a bottle of water from one of the bags Erza had packed. He managed to get all three kids ready and sent them off to play in the area in front of them.

Natsu grabbed a new bottle of sunblock and knelt behind his boyfriend, who had already taken off his shirt, “Are you feeling better?” he asked as he spurted some of the contents of the bottle into his hand and began to apply it on Gray’s shoulders.

“Mhmm,” Gray groaned in appreciation, “That feels nice. Thanks for getting the umbrella, that was a good idea.”

“Well then, it seems my little brain is good for something after all,” Natsu retorted.

“Your hands aren’t bad either,” Gray observed, leaning forward so that Natsu could apply sunblock on his back. “Hana really likes the beach, huh?”

“Yeah, back when we lived in Edolas, Lis used to take her to the beach all the time,” he explained, watching as Hana examined some seashells she’d found. “It’s nice to see her excited about it again.”

“What on Earth is Atlas doing?”

Natsu turned his attention to his son and had to laugh, “He’s digging a hole, obviously.” One that only seemed to get bigger by the minute now that Aki had caught on to what his friend was doing and had begun to help.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” Gray asked worriedly.

“Why? They’re not hurting anything,” Natsu shrugged, “or are you worried they’ll end up upside down on the other side of the world?”

“Smart and funny, how lucky am I?” Gray answered drily.

“I used to like to do that too,” Natsu muttered, ignoring the barb as he remembered beach trips with his own family.

He used to dig holes deep enough that he could hide in them and startle his mom as she walked by. Sometimes Igneel would even help him, laughing just as hard as Natsu when his wife squealed in fright as Natsu grabbed her leg. He hadn’t thought about that in years. A lump lodged in his throat at the thought of his mom, and he couldn’t help but reflect on how much Erza resembled her these days.

“Here, let me put some on you,” Natsu felt Gray’s hands on his back as he rubbed the cooling lotion on his warm skin, interrupting his train of thought. He closed his eyes briefly, enjoying the glorious sensation of those fingers kneading his muscles.

It was much better to focus on what he had. There was no reclaiming what he’d already lost.

“You know,” Gray declared as he continued to cover Natsu in sunblock, “there wasn’t an amusement park the last time I came here, it’s too bad the kids are too little. That could’ve been fun.”

“Well, maybe we can come back another time,” Natsu suggested, shading his eyes with his hand as he tried to locate Hana amidst the growing crowd.

“You mean like on a date?”

“Why not? I bet Sting and Rogue would love to come too.” He found his daughter talking to another little girl, not too far from where they were sitting and relaxed.

“Maybe,” Gray wrapped his arms around Natsu’s waist and pulled him closer to his chest, “I don’t get you to myself often enough, though.”

Natsu rested his hands on Gray’s and smiled, “You, my love, get most of my spare time. You’re just greedy.”

Gray chuckled, “True enough. Want to go check out the water? The kids look like they’re getting restless.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Natsu agreed, stealing a quick kiss before grabbing Atlas under one arm and racing towards Hana at full speed as Atlas yelled her name out joyfully. She squealed at their approach, running away from them and towards the water.

He could hear Gray grumbling behind him and grinned.

“Daddy, no!” Hana shrieked as he put Atlas down so he could join the chase and continued to charge after her.

“Don’t worry, Hana, I’ll get him for you,” was all he heard before being picked up from behind and tossed over Gray’s shoulder.

“What are you gonna do now, Sunshine?” Gray snickered, holding on tighter as Natsu did his best to get loose, “What do you think, Hana? Should I throw him in?”

“Yeah!” Hana giggled, “Throw Daddy in the ocean!”

“You heard the lady; you’re going down!” Gray turned them around, and Natsu could see that Hana looked positively gleeful at his predicament. All three kids cheered as they egged Gray on.

“Traitors!” He called out in mock dismay, as he flailed around, trying to mess up Gray’s balance. His efforts proved pointless, however, as the next thing he knew, he was falling, but only for a short second until he landed face-first into the cold water. Moving quickly, he turned himself around, snaking his arms out and grabbing Gray’s legs while he was busy laughing at him.

Using Gray’s distraction to his advantage, Natsu pulled, taking Gray down with him.

“Come on in, the water’s fine!” Natsu couldn’t help but cackle at the surprised expression on his boyfriend’s face.

“That’s it, Dragneel, you asked for it,” Gray announced before splashing water at Natsu’s face.

They wrestled in the water, both laughing too hard to be able to gain any advantage over the other. Soon they were joined by the kids who were more than happy to enter the fray.

After a few minutes, they each grabbed one of the boys and placed them on their shoulders so they could wade deeper while keeping an eye on Hana, who swam beside them. Both boys were overjoyed to be up so high. They eagerly called out every wave that rushed towards them.

Natsu was having such a great time that he completely forgot to keep track of Hana’s skin, and when he noticed the telltale redness on her nose and the back of her neck, he decided it was time to get back to their umbrella. Gray wasn’t doing much better, which made Natsu smile. The guy might be thirty, but he was still young in all the best ways.

Gray treated them to lunch, and they all sat together under the umbrella munching happily on pizza and chicken nuggets.

“Are you having fun?” Gray asked while helping Aki eat a slice of cheese pizza.

“Yeah,” Natsu answered honestly, “I have to admit, you had a good idea for once.”

Gray rolled his eyes at his response but chose not to protest. They shared a fun afternoon building sandcastles with the kids, collecting shells, and helping Atlas dig ever deeper holes, which Natsu made sure to refill once his son had moved on to the next one. Much too soon, it was time to get on a train as Natsu had to return to Magnolia in time for his evening shift at Crime Sorciere.

Natsu sat on the train, feeling content as Hana leaned against him, and Atlas snored in his lap. On the opposite bench, Aki was also K.O. in Gray’s arms, while Gray gazed out the window with a serene smile. Natsu watched him for a while, mesmerized by how breathtaking Gray looked when he was at peace. It didn’t happen nearly often enough for his liking, and that always saddened him. Gray deserved the world, and Natsu was determined to get it for him. Someday.

They made it home with enough time for Natsu to take a shower before leaving for work. He noticed a notification on his phone as he was getting dressed, and seeing that it was a text from Gray, he scanned it immediately.

Happy Birthday, Natsu! 😉

Natsu realized then that he hadn’t thought about his birthday once since they’d arrived at the beach. He was touched to learn that Gray had been aware all along, choosing not to treat the day any differently because he’d remembered how Natsu felt about it.

Just like that, Gray had understood what he’d needed, something Erza and Lisanna had struggled with for years.

For the first time since Natsu was nine years old, he’d had a birthday he could look back on with a smile. And that was the best present he could have ever asked for.

A/N: We had started this one for Summer Solstice but ran out of time, luckily Gratsu Week gave us the motivation to finish it! This fic marks 200K words in our AU!

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #gratsu #gratsusummer2020 #gratsuweek2k20 #ftlgbtales #prompt: fun in the sun #prompt: what's with all the noise? I'm sleepy #fics #gray x natsu #Gratsu Summer Solstice 2020 #Gratsu Week 2020

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megami606sama · 5 years ago

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Make love, not war (?)

Plot twist: they got tired of cheating dudes and end up together (??)

Hana is a really good goal (?) she's working for C&R, has a bigger apartment than Seven, and gets to know a lot of important people, totally want a Hana route (?) Hahaha now being serious, please don't take too wrong the webcomic, is a non official spin off that Cheritz decided to support, so let's hope for the best.

More love, less wars!

#digital drawing #fanart #mysme #webcomic #webtoon #mysme webtoon #Mysme webcomic #mm mc #mysme mc #Mysme hana #Hana #Webtoon mc #Mcxmc

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i-write-fanfics-to-procrastinate · 4 years ago

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Ohhh the Ask thingy for 001: Fairy tail and if we can ask for a second Fruits basket (I've been so into it and wonder if you are too.) P.s. I admire your writing and your blog soooooo much! You are a blessing. 😇🙏🏻💛

Gah you are SO SWEET! ahhhhh!!! Yes, I’ll do both! I’m not caught up with FB, because it was the new anime that got me into it, but I’ll try my best!!! Under the cut because this is gonna be long, I think LOL

Fairy Tail:

1. Favorite Character: hahaha crying Laxus Dreyar

2. Least Favorite Character: Ivan Dreyar, but! I love him as a villain and honestly we were robbed—could have had an amazing arc completely dedicated to him.

3. Five Favorite Ships (Canon or Non-Canon):

a. Laxui

b. Lyvia

c. Jerza

d. Mirafreed

e. MesCana or LoLu or okay maybe Gruvia

4. Character I Find Most Attractive: Laxus

5. Character I Would Marry: Laxus

6. Character I Would be Best Friends With: Ooh! Maybe Lucy! She writes like me, and she’s so sweet! Or maybe Cana cuz sometimes I just wanna be petty and she’d listen to me being petty.

7. Random Thought: something I wanna write an essay about: A continuing theme throughout FT is that there is strength in humility.

8. An Unpopular Opinion: I could do without the Alvarez Arc. idk if that’s unpopular, let me try again. People really out there shipping Hisui and Arcadios when he’s like 20 years older than her. Is that unpopular. Wait, let me try one more time. I don’t think Gray’s that impressive. There, I said it. Love the dude, but y’all.... just... it’s okay—breathe.

9. My Canon OTP: There are canon ships in FT? Oh wait, I guess Gajevy! They’re cute! :D

10. Non-Canon OTP: Laxui.

11. Most Badass Character: Laxus, Erza, and Jellal are all pretty high up there, Erza and Laxus a little higher than Jellal.

12. Most Epic Villain: We were really robbed cuz Ivan could have been AMAZING. It’s weird because my favorite arcs the villains eventually became good...? So like... Tartaros—that was pretty good. Oof, everything kinda melds together in my memory. Hades was a good villain. That’s the arc Laxus came back, bless.

13. Pairing I am not a fan of: Honestly I like a lot of pairings. I think though like any pairing where the age gap is #gross. See: Mest x Wendy, Arcadios x Hisui, Lyon x Chelia.

14. Characters I Feel the Writer Screwed Up: Ivan. But only because I wanted a bigger arc.

15. Favorite Friendship: Natsu and Lucy, Natsu and Gray, Gray and Natsu and Erza. All the kids who grew up in the guild together.

16. Character I Most Identify With: Hmm... probably Lucy, because she has the dream of becoming a published author! She’s also a romantic Hahaha. But also Levy because of her love of books.

17. Character I Wish I Could Be: Omg... um... which character would get me closest to Laxus... XD jkjkjk I’m not sure actually! I’d prefer to be myself in the FT world!

Fruits Basket: I’m not going to be able to answer all of these because I have a feeling based on spoilers that I haven’t met all the characters, and we don’t know a lot about the characters yet! So I’ll just do the ones I know I can answer!

Favorite Character: Tohru! She’s soooo pure, and I really admire her and look up to her. I want to be more like her, kind to everyone and so sweet. She offers really good advice and she really helps people.

Character I would want to be best friends with: Tohru again so she can teach me her ways. Also probably Shigure—he’s *narrows eyes*... something. But he makes me laugh.

Random Thought: No like seriously, I love Shigure. Also, like, I remember when I first got into FB I was really excited but there are sOME FANS who have been fans since the first anime, or even before that, who are RUDE. I know I don’t have a lot of knowledge about the series yet because I haven’t read the manga. So please be patient, and be patient with all the other new fans too, please!

OTPs: idk about canon/non-canon or anything really besides the spoilers I have which are ofc Kyoru is canon. but I’ll tell u what I ship. Kyoru ofc, cuties. how can u not? Recently seen that episode with Kureno and Arisa. Idk what that’s about but let me tell u... i can see it. Though... I remember her saying something about their age gap being pretty big.

Favorite Friendship: Tohru with EVERYONE. Tohru is the sweetest and can successfully make friends with anyone and i love that. Tohru with Yuki, Tohru with Kisa, Tohru with Arisa and Hana, Tohru with EVERYONE.

Character I Most Identify With: I really want to answer this question because I feel like I should have one. I want to say Tohru, but I can’t because I’m not like Tohru at all, but I aspire to be like her!

Thank you so much for the ask! I’m sorry I couldn’t answer all the questions for Fruits Basket, I’m very new! I hope you don’t mind!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

#fairy tail #ft #fairytail #fruits basket #fb #fruitsbasket #tales from kae

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smileyoongle · 5 years ago

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Deception (A Kim Namjoon Mafia AU)

Summary: A damsel in distress and a lonely mafia leader. Different but not too different. The two worlds collide on a rainy night when Kim Namjoon, a renowned Mafia leader is called for an emergency and Y/N Y/L/N is on the run from her abusive father. Feelings stir and he rescues her. But one of them is a liar. And the other's life is on the line. It's only a matter of time until all secrets are out in the open.

Will love be born? Or will death conquer?

ςhαp†εr †εη: Lost In Delirium

Character Count: 11,574

Pairing: Namjoon×Reader (Appearances by the whole of BTS)

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Because I have been lonely, I value love.

-Leonard Nimoy

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“How’s your business tycoon of a boyfriend doing?”

The immediate reaction of yours should have been an eye roll but instead, you ended up dropping the empty whiskey glass that you were cleaning. You gasped as the glass broke, sending sparkling bits scattering here and there. To say you were a little distracted was an understatement . Whatever had happened between Namjoon and you was consuming your senses completely. You had come close to kissing him, twice and every single time you were interrupted either by your thoughts or someone else. You were confused and…angry? You couldn’t tell.

Did you want him or did you not?

You sighed, crouching down to pick up the broken pieces as your coworker, Isla, towered over you.

“He’s not my boyfriend. How many times are you going to make me say it?” You muttered, your voice laced with annoyance and frustration. Annoyed, because Isla kept calling Namjoon your boyfriend. Frustrated, because it wasn’t true, no matter how much a part of you wanted it to be.

You carefully cleaned the shiny marble floor, the bar counter hiding you from the eyes of your manager, a very moody and rude man who had no respect for his workers whatsoever. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the perverted kind at all. That was probably the one thing that made you stay, along with the money, of course.

“Oh come on, Y/N! If Mr Kim isn’t your boyfriend now, he will be very soon. I can tell that you like him a lot. And you even stay under the same roof. You want me to believe that a man and a woman can stay together without-“

“Maybe you should focus on restocking the bottles rather than prying into Ms Y/L/N’s domestic affairs.”

Your eyes widened, your head jerking up to see your manager glaring at Isla. You winced, crawling towards the bin to throw all the glass bits you had collected, knowing that Isla was probably being burnt to the ground by your manager’s eyes. He was scary, more than Hitler. Okay, that was a bit of exaggeration on your part but he was horrifying, nonetheless.

“Sorry sir, I’ll get to work right now.” Isla apologised in a small voice and you swore this was the first time she sounded so weak. Isla was a very driven person, capable of a lot of things but when problems stood before her, she preferred to cower away. That loud and giddy girl existed only in front of you. It was a surprise that within a week you had managed to grow so close to someone.

Isn’t it the same with Namjoon?

You pursed your lips, moving to help Isla before the club opened for the night.

∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

"Namjoon, just because you're doing what your father wants you to do, doesn't mean you're a bad person."

Hana's words kept replaying in Namjoon's mind, like a broken record player that he was unable to fix. There had been so much warmth and love in her voice that Namjoon had thought he was dreaming. He was only 19 when his father pushed him into the Mafia business, his mother running away soon after she saw him making his first kill. To this day, Namjoon wished it had all been a dream. His father breaking the awful news to him. His mother leaving. Hana dying, only to come back alive as someone who didn't wanna stand by him anymore.

Maybe if it had all been a dream, then Namjoon's life would have been better. Maybe he would have lived like a normal guy with a normal job and a normal family. Everything would have been so perfect.

Namjoon clenched his jaw as the car came to a halt, the club's name flashing in the darkness of the night. It was a few minutes past 9, everyone's anxiety growing bigger than they could ever imagine.

"Okay so, just a recap. We'll be scattered around, trying to blend in until Hana comes and we confront her." Rex confirmed, earning a groan from Jungkook who was seated beside Namjoon in the backseat along with Yoongi.

"Once again, this isn't a movie. We aren't gonna go to her until she's done talking to whoever she's planning on meeting." Jungkook replied, his eyes glaring at Rex who sighed in disappointment and sulked in his place. The others were in the car that followed behind, hoseok's voice ringing in the earpiece that all of them had.

"She could be here any minute, we should go in."

There was heavy silence for a second, the air very thick and suffocating. Jungkook knew he had lost his favourite person, she wasn't the same Hana now and he had to let her go. The girl that used to be his link to the innocence of the world was gone and he let it happen. No matter how much he told himself that it wasn't his fault, he failed to believe it.

"Let's just get this over with." Yoongi muttered under his breath, pushing open the door of the car and stepping out onto the gravel. It was a cold night, Yoongi's blue suit jacket doing nothing to keep him from getting cold. The only thing keeping him warm was the adrenaline rushing in his veins, a subtle ache in his heart on seeing Namjoon's grim expression. Whatever was gonna happen, Yoongi could only hope they all would be okay again. To him, this wasn't that big of a surprise because he saw it coming. But Namjoon and Jungkook, he knew they were hurt. Very hurt.

As the club loomed over them, they all glanced at each other, Jungkook's eyes falling on Namjoon towards the end. There was a silent message being passed, Namjoon's eyes softening at the look of betrayal in the younger's eyes. In that moment, Namjoon swore he was gonna be strong for the rest of the members. He had to step up as the leader and take care of everyone. He didn't worry about himself too much because he knew. He knew that at the end of the day, he'd go home and he'd find you waiting for him with the smile you wore all the time. Maybe someday he'd be able to tell you what you had done to his heart, but for now, he knew he'd be okay.

∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

You placed the different glasses of drinks on your tray, moving through the crowd as you kept track of which glass goes on which table. The mass of bodies grinding against one another in the middle of the dancefloor, made it difficult for you to navigate your way through but you had to do it. This was probably why Isla always took charge of the other end of the club. That was the VIP section. You shook your head in envy, grabbing the glass of beer and placing it on a single table where a man with a black cap sat, bobbing his head and looking around the club. "Enjoy your drink." You stated, your robotically sweet tone having been perfected with practice. It was the same everytime, no matter who you were serving. The man looked up at you as you passed by him, not noticing his face in the flashy lights that reflected throughout the place.

Rex was positive he had seen that face before. It wasn't very clear in his mind but he knew he had seen those eyes.

The only question that remained was when?

He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about who it was. That waitress had a very familiar face but he couldn't put a finger on where he had seen her.

"Rex, I see you zoning out. There's a man at the bar who just arrived, he looks like he's waiting for someone, keep an eye on him."

Namjoon's voice rung in Rex's ears, making him flinch at the suddenness of it. He quickly shook himself back to reality, eyes falling on the man who had, indeed, just arrived. Nonetheless, he saw the same waitress again, picking up another round of drinks as she laughed at something her colleague said. Rex wondered if Namjoon could see her. Maybe he'd know who she was, because the curiosity was killing him. He had such a bad memory, that's probably why he failed half his tests in school.

"Hey boss. Do you see that girl at the bar? The waitress? The one with the ponytail?"

The response was immediate, all the members' heads turning to look at who Rex was talking about. Namjoon couldn't see very clearly, only the back of that waitress was visible to him. But upon seeing her, he felt something familiar, like he knew her.

"You don't actually have to describe her, there's only one waitress there." Jungkook snapped, glaring in Rex's direction from the corner of the room. He was just growing irritated at how long it took Hana to get there, nothing personal against Rex. No matter how annoying the kid was.

Rex pursed his lips, seeing that there was only one waitress there, thankfully it was the one who he wanted to ask about.

"So does anyone of you know her? I think I've seen her before but I can't remember. Help me out, my dudes. I'm dying out of curiosity."

Jimin rolled his eyes at Rex's words. My dudes? He was definitely not fit for being in a gang. Yoongi narrowed his eyes, shifting a little in his place but he still couldn't see her. Seeing that there was no sign of Hana yet, he decided to move closer to her, pushing through the dancing bodies until he was in the clear. Under the colourful lights, he somehow managed to see that face. The one that made his eyes immediately move to Namjoon who was standing on the floor above. Before Yoongi could do anything, he saw the way Namjoon's lips parted in surprise, his eyes stuck to your figure hunched over the bar table.

"Is that...." Hoseok voiced, still trying to come to grip with the situation. They were here to find Hana but looks like there was someone much more interesting there.

"..Y/N." Taehyung added, glancing at Namjoon who had his jaw clenched, his fingers tightening against the railing as he glared at you. Not that you knew. He had been caught way off guard, finally catching onto your lies. You worked at a cafe? Bullshit.

Jungkook raised his eyebrows, taking in your appearance. A pretty one, he wasn't going to deny that. Your eyes were very... expressive. They shined under the lights, telling everyone that you were content with how your life was going. For a second, Jungkook saw the same flash of innocence that he used to find solace in. The only difference was that you weren't Hana. He cleared his throat, looking at Namjoon and concluding that no one knew about your little job. Oh.

So the new girl was a liar.

That thought made Jungkook feel better. A part of him blamed you for whatever was happening, but he also knew he had no reasons to hate you yet. You seemed like a good person, he could understand why Namjoon took you in. He would have probably done the same anyway.

You patiently waited for the bartender to make the next round of drinks, your elbow resting on the shiny black counter as you looked around the club. You hummed a little tune to yourself, feeling grateful that tonight there had been no catcalls or inappropriate comments directed to you. It had been a good day, you were sure of it. You wondered what Namjoon was doing, recalling how he had told you he had a meeting to attend. He surely had a very tiring job.

Your eyes wandered to where Isla was standing, her expression distraught as she tried to get her hand out of a stranger's grip. You immediately straightened up, your breath hitching as he pulled Isla onto his lap, his companions laughing at the scene. You were fuming at this point, your feet taking off in her direction, ignoring the calls of the bartender behind you as your shoulder brushed against Yoongi's. But you didn't notice.

Every single member had his eyes trained on you, watching in confusion as you ran to the other end of the club. Right then, Rex happened to look at the entrance, a hooded figure making its way to the mysterious man that was sitting near the bar. He inhaled deeply, looking back at you and then the others. No one was paying attention.

"Guys, Hana's here I think."

At that, everyone's eyes shot to the bar, where Hana took off her hood and began having a serious conversation with the mystery man. Jungkook's blood boiled at the very sight. He was surprised at how quickly he began to hate her but anyone who hurt his family was his enemy. No matter the reasons. He saw Namjoon, fuming and making his way downstairs. Wrong move.

"Let her go." You bellowed over the music, prying the man's hand off of Isla's waist and pulling her to you. She was crying by the time you came, hiding behind you as she sobbed into her hands. You weren't gonna lie that you weren't scared when he stood up but this was no time for that. It was time for you to be strong, to learn to protect yourself.

"And what do you think you're doing?" The drunk man seethed, clenching his fists as the people around you stopped their activities to see what was going on. You breathed heavily, taking a step forward. "I'm sorry but you cannot touch a woman without her consent. We can throw you out for inappropriate behaviour towards the employees." You stated calmly, reminding yourself that you still had a job to keep. Hopefully, your manager would see that you were on the right.

Namjoon was joined by Yoongi as he made his way towards you, his eyes burning holes in the back of your head. You had a lot of explaining to do but that was for later. Right now, he could tell you were getting yourself in trouble. Jungkook discreetly pushed his way towards Namjoon, walking beside him.

"What are you doing? Hana is there and this is gonna grab too much attention." He explained, only to hear a scoff from Namjoon. The leader halted, turning to Jungkook as he stared at him with cold eyes. "Y/N needs to be taken out of here. We don't need to wait for Hana to see us. Go and do what needs to be done." He instructed, earning a reluctant nod from the younger male.

"Oh baby, did you want to be in her place? You just have to ask, you know?" You wanted to throw up at the stench of alcohol in his breath. You were beyond disgusted, your head bringing back unwanted memories when you used to be treated like this by strange men. You swallowed thickly as his friends laughed, his hand inching closer to you. Just as his fingers grazed your skin, he was punched to the side, his body landing on the floor with a loud thud. You gasped, your eyes widening as you looked at whoever had saved you.

Namjoon's eyes looked back into yours with anger and disappointment, your heart fluttering on seeing him but you knew it was over. What you didn't want him to find out, was laid out before him in the clear.

"Namjoon..."

Taglist: @uwunamjoon @shadowstark @all-fandoms-rise @tzuyyyuuu @stressedinmedschool247 @ifellinluvwithdorks @min-t-posts @floofwrites @pretty-in-pink-just-because @bts-d-onut @fangirllbookworm @mystical-writer @it-is-dana @ximaginx @kpopgirlbtssvt @pearylove @anothermisspark @annoyingpessimist @motivation-idontknowher @atwoodscott @soundofwonderland @btsarmysvtcarat @i-am-supermerwholoked221b @bunnymaknaereacts @iamcrazyforkdramas @ddaeing @basicallyanothernotebook @btsxdoll @spike-meowsters @tahaing @jinmydarling @lovestrucked-again

Tell me if you wanna be tagged! What do you think? I just love cliffhangers.

-XX

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mci-writing · 5 years ago

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Can you do core fourfofour proud dad moments

What’s a proud dad-

I realized halfway through that 3/4 dads were proud of their daughter whoops

Midoriya Izuku:

“Honey, come here! Quick!” Izuku walks into the living room to see his significant other holding a camera in their hand, a wide smile on their face as he turns to him. Their little girl, Nana, was happily looking around in her walker, (e/c) eyes lighting up as her tiny feet try to pad towards him. He smiles and walks to her, picking her up-

“Dada!” He stares at the little one in his arms before tearing up, an assault of dadas thrown at him with tiny hands patting his cheeks. The tears seem to worsen with the next thing that comes out of her mouth, “Deku-”

“She called me Deku!”

“But she also called you dada-”

“SHE CALLED ME DEKU”

Bakugou Katsuki:

As many times as Katsuki has found ways to get out f paperwork, he didn’t exactly appreciate it being to see his daughter’s principal. It was a fight between her some kid and his significant other was not letting up on the scolding.

“Why were you fighting them in the first place?” The Katsua seems to grow quiet in the back before huffing. Her arms cross as she averts her eyes to the window.

“They were talking shit about Ground Zero and only I can do that- Eep!” The car swerves into the drive thru of an ice cream shop. The smirk on Katsuki’s face remained unnoticed.

Iida Tenya:

Tenya polishes his hero costume, his ministrations stopping at the sound of small screams seeming to get louder. He turns away from his suit just in time to catch his daughter flying through the door and into his arms. Her exhaust pipes on her lower back calmed to a stop while he held her, the young girl nervously laughing.

He smiles as he sets her down, going back to polishing the costume’s lower half. She watches him, smiling, “I’m going to have a hero costume just like yours, father”

“You think so?” He asks, putting away the plaster and turning to her. She nods with a bigger smile, hands balled in excited fists.

“I’m going to be the next Ingenium, just as good as you, father!” He smiles fondly and lifts her into his arms.

“You’ll be better than me, Hana”

Todoroki Shouto:

His twins were nestled on his hips, Shouto’s hands carefully holding onto them to keep them from falling. His significant other was looking over the grocery list in their hands, looking away when their son lightly tugged at their hair. They smile gently at both of their kids, taking the hair tugger and placing him in one cart while Shouto placed their daughter in another. A smile tugs at his lips until some gruff dude bumps into him. He scowls a bit before brushing it off, but his children have different plans.

“It seems some people really can’t see past their own inflation” His daughter says loudly, catching the guy’s attention. He turns and before either him or his spouse can apologize, their son adds to the mix.

“Then again, I’d bump into someone better looking than me to assert my dminance in society to” The man’s face seems to glow red as he huffs and walks past. Shouto finds himself smirking as he pushes the cart with his daughter further along into the store, his spouse on his toes with their other kid and a knowing look on their face.

“Shouto, don’t praise such behavi-”

“My kids know clapbacks! Let me praise them!”

#midoriya izuku x reader #bnha midoriya #midoriya x reader #mha midoriya #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #mha bakugou #bnha bakugou #iida tenya x reader #iida x reader #mha iida #bnha iida #iida tenya #todoroki x reader #bnha todoroki #mha todoroki #todoroki shouto #todoroki shouto x reader

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makeste · 6 years ago

Text

BnHA Chapter 227: Basically Just Me Saying “Holy Shit” a Bunch

Previously on BnHA: We went on a semi-enlightening romp into Toga’s past. Basically she was an adorable child who just so happened to have a taste for blood. And whoever’s job is was to explain to her, “hey Toga, I know you like blood, but other people like being alive, so, you know. Let’s explore some other options for you,” they basically dropped the ball there. So after she murdered her hapless Deku-looking classmate in middle school, she went on the run, and we basically know the rest. Back in the present, Toga had just been blown up from the inside out as you may recall, so she spent most of the chapter kind of out of it. At one point Kizuki even started talking about her like she was already dead, reassuring her that she’d become a martyr for the Army’s cause (which, no thanks). But then Toga managed to stumble to her feet and transform into Ochako as she tried to flee. It was revealed that while transformed, she can use the quirk of whoever she’s turned into, and she proceeded to demonstrate this by floating Kizuki (and half her redshirt goons) a hundred feet into the air before dropping her back down to the pavement. Yeah. So I’m pretty sure she’s dead now. Ah well.

Today on BnHA: Toga passes out in a shed after a job well done. We learn that the MLA is recording all of the fighting, most likely for propaganda purposes because as we have previously established they’re a bunch of dicks. Hanabata confirms that Kizuki is dead and gets the Army all fired up. They charge at Tomura, who is really fucking sleep-deprived you guys, and as he stands there blinking at them he has another flashback. Turns out the little girl from the previous flashback was his sister, and back when they were cute lil munchkins and she was still alive (sob), she showed him a picture of Nana and told him that their grandma was a hero. Tomura doesn’t remember this clearly, but he remembers the accompanying emotions, which is enough to get me hyped out of my mind fyi. Back in the present, Tomura disintegrates I’m-gonna-go-with-about-200 Army henchpeople basically instantaneously without even touching some of them, which, oh shit. And then Dabi is all “oh cool I want to do some mass murder too” but before he can let loose, some dude with fucking ice powers shows up to challenge him. I guess this means we’re never going to get Touya VS Shouto, or if we do it’s going to be very repetitive. But it’s not like I’m complaining either way. Here’s hoping the villain flashback trend continues next week because omfg.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter like an hour ago lol. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity, but aside from that this is as close to a live liveblog as I’m going to get. It took two-thirds of a year, but these recaps are finally caught up.)

this is so exciting guys. I mean, for me the reading process is basically the same, but the posting process is going to be a new one since I’ll be trying to get this up the same day once I’ve read it! so you can expect many exciting errors and brain farts! prepare for the full brunt of my unpolished rough draft thoughts!

so anyway, here’s Toga

lol so much to analyze here. real quick:

“sleepy.” if that isn’t the most relatable chapter title in the history of time, though

loving the “my villain academia” logo in the background! as far as I’m concerned that’s the official title of this arc

“the conclusion of the battles” y’all I read this and I was like “what?! already!?!” but then I realized they’re talking about volume 23, which features the conclusion of the joint training battle arc. so who knows how many more villain battlin’ chapters we’ve still got ahead. I have a feeling we’re already winding down, though

note how all of the stuffed animals are stabbed. ah this girl

it’s 2214, who the fuck still uses polaroid cameras. that would be like someone in our time using a [googles inventions from 200 years ago] modern suspension bridge. ...wait

anyway you guys maybe I should start reading the actual chapter already if I want any hope of actually getting this posted before fucking midnight though

oh hey, so Toga is dying in a shed you guys. fun

I’m not really thrilled about this! to be honest! I mean for fuck’s sake she’s only 17. she was blown up from the inside out. and although the consequences initially seemed to have possibly been handwaved, it appears that no one can escape BnHA’s realistic injury clause for long! so. yeah

I get why she hid, because it’s not like the others are just gonna drop everything to come help her (although Twice, though...), and there are enemies everywhere so this is probably safer. but it also means that if she passes out here there’s a good chance she’s not going to wake up again! and that is bad! that is very much not good

what she really needs to do is call Ujiko! hitch a ride out of there while you still can! he is a doctor, right? even if it is the questionable mad scientist type! worst case, you end up as a Noumu. actually, wait a sec, maybe we should think this through

and yet the fact that she’s still laughing, though. just. goddammit. I love her so much. I swear to god Toga if you fucking die...!!

so now she’s curling up in the fetal position and thinking “once again I’ve gotten closer to you”

yeah, Deku really does do this every other week. or he did for a little while at least sob

and now we are cutting to ReDestro who for some reason is monologuing about Toga!

oh right, because he had the cameras and shit set up to livestream that shit

okay but is it just me or is he not looking at any cameras. he’s just enjoying the view from his little observation tower same as before. does his quirk allow him to see everywhere at once or what

is it bad that I barely even paid attention to the actual content of his ramblings lol. it’s just the same old same old. blah blah society rejects anyone who’s different, it’s so unfair, blah blah

it’s not a bad point, mind you; it’s just that RD and his army are completely full of shit and acting like they’re so much better even though they’re just a bunch of mur-diddly-urderers. it’s like how PETA acts like they’re champions of animal rights when really they mostly just kill shelter animals, insult Steve Irwin, and claim that milk causes autism. but I digress sob

oh shit I forgot about this dude

here I was thinking there was only the one other miniboss to go before the big bad. silly me. how could I have forgotten that two page spread and our friend here with the Gorillaz mouth and the Beatles haircut

wow are you serious?

Giran sitting there with one skeptical eyebrow raised thinking about how these guys threatened to kill him in order to lure his friends out so that they could, you guessed it, kill them!

and also, way to completely disregard the dozens of other minions who already bit the dust before Kizuki. like, your entire town is basically doomed, guy. but sure let’s cry for the one dead villain who actually had a name though

holy shit you guys

are you telling me that’s why you were recording the whole thing? is that why you invited the League here in the first place?? for the fucking publicity? kill the bad guys and earn the public’s good will? did I miss that part of the planning sesh, or was this objective already painfully obvious and I somehow either missed it or forgot all about it?

either way it’s amazing how these guys become bigger assholes with each progressive chapter

oh now he’s explaining it all on the next page lol. so I guess I didn’t miss the memo, good

okay but first he’s getting real physical with my boy Giran here though

okay first of all, all he did was say “footage...?” like wth was so fucking impolite about that. and second, why do I get the feeling that there’s probably a fair percentage of people who read this chapter and got to this panel and now suddenly ship it sob

I mean, he just got so up close and personal though. all up in his face. this guy has such a weird energy and it’s really creeping me out now ngl

anyway so here we go with the explanations

holy shit you guyssssssssss

when did Giran get so fucking hot?? and is he single?! asking for a friend???!

anyway so now RD is wiping away his crocodile tears and says Giran is lacking in imagination

oh hey

what an interesting segue back to Tomura!

wow, Spinner’s asking how much longer until Big G wakes up, and Compress says one hour and twenty minutes. so that means they’ve already been at it for like an hour and fifteen minutes! minus however much time it took to warp over and then follow Back-Stab n’ Go out to the center of town for the ambush. even if that took a whole half hour they’ve still been fighting for a long time! but I guess they’re more than used to that by this point, thank you so much Ujiko and your six weeks of brutal endurance training

Spinner’s all “no matter how many we defeat, they just keep on coming!” and I know, dude, it’s almost like there’s over one hundred thousand of them or something dfskdj

although to be fair, probably not every last one of them is actually there. can you imagine. it might take a whole nother hour to beat them all

now Hanabata is driving in on the back of an election van. because apparently he just fucked right off in the middle of his fight with the League, and then came back. with a van

so he’s all “EVERYONE I HAVE SOME DEEPLY SADDENING NEWS” and oh my gosh what is it

yeah dude we already been knew. RIP and all that

so the crowd is all distressed and asking what the Supreme Leader said

really?? that’s what they call him?? yeah you guys aren’t evil at all

and Hana quotes, “‘do not let her sacrifice be in vain’“

sorry bruh. but. it’s gonna be in vain. hate to break it to you

right??

GASP

TWICE STOP BEING AWED AT HANABATA’S INFLUENTIAL AURA AND START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DUDE WHO’S SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU AND TRYING TO SNATCH YOUR MASK OFF

anyway so in the meantime this is happening

maybe there are 100k of them. seems like there’s a lot. I do like that from this angle it appears that Tomura and the others have holed up in a relatively narrow alley, thus creating a choke point and limiting the number of enemies who can attack them all at once. although this panel does make it look like there’s just a big ol’ wave of bad guys surfing their way towards them though, so it remains to be seen how effective this strategy will actually be lol

eh?

yeah no shit boy you’ve been fighting Daruk from BotW for the last month and a half

anyway so apparently he’s feeling ~weird~ though

I shit you not guys, my sister was hospitalized a couple months back (she’s fine now) because she started hallucinating after a three-day bout of insomnia. shit is no joke. don’t be like Tomura. go to bed and don’t stay up all night fighting villains

-- OH SHIT!?!

ASDFALSDFHLKSDHLFKJHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S A LITTLE GIRL!! AND SHE’ S OPENING A SECRET DRAWER!!

SHE’S ALL “IT’S OUR LITTLE SECRET!” OH MY GOD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SWEET JESUS MARY JOSEPH!? HORIKOSHI DO YOU FUCKING READ THE THEORY POSTS ON TUMBLR JUST SO YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY SHIT ON THEM TWO DAYS AFTER?? HOW THE FUCK

AND IS NANA’S SON WEARING DEKU SHOES?? OH MY GOD PLEASE

AND THIS MEANS THE LITTLE GIRL IS ACTUALLY TENKO’S SISTER SOBBBBBBBBB NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE THIS MAKES TOMURA MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GO APESHIT ON AFO’S ASS IF HE COMES TO REALIZE THAT AFO INDIRECTLY MURDERED HIS SISTER OH SHIT

BUT SHIT YOU GUYS, SHE’S SO CUTE AND SHE’S FUCKING DEAD NOW SOB THAT’S SO FUCKING HORRIBLE I MEAN IT I’M REALLY UPSET THOUGH

BUT LET’S CONTINUE WITH THE FLASHBACK TO SEE IF HORIKOSHI WANTS TO TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS ANYMORE!!

NANA DIDN’T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB ERASING ALL TRACES OF HER CONNECTION TO HER CHILD AND IT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN HIS DEATH OH SHIT. I’M SERIOUSLY SO UPSET ABOUT THIS??

NOTE HOW BABY TENKO’S FACE IS PURPOSELY BLACKED OUT EVEN THOUGH (A) HIS SISTER’S IS NOT, AND (B) WE SHOULD, IN THEORY, ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THE SCARS OR THE WHITE HAIR YET CUZ AFO HASN’T WIPED HIS MEMORIES. [nods sagely as though I have any sort of proof of this whatsoever and it’s not all just wild speculation and conjecture]

HANAAAAAAAA oh shit I better come up with another nickname for Hanabata then. looks like it’s Back To The Full Name for you mister

!!?!?!?

okay you guys I think this is intentional misdirection. we’re meant to believe that Tenko’s dad was perhaps abusive and that his behavior toward his son ultimately triggered the awakening of his quirk and led to all of the subsequent Horrible Things happening

but I think what it actually is is that Tenko’s dad probably resents Nana for giving him up. and maybe Tenko wanted to know more about her and maybe he got in trouble for it? because now Hana is showing him the picture, and then talking about this mysterious conversation with their dad and saying she’s on Tenko’s side. so that’s my bet

anyway! but this means Tomura might not need as much convincing as I previously speculated! I figured he probably wouldn’t know much, if anything, about his grandma even if he did somehow get his memories back, because he was only four when all that shit went down, and Nana had parted ways with Tomura’s dad years ago. but if he actually did know a bit about her and even possibly felt a connection with her, as this flashback suggests, that could go a long way towards fueling his eventual breakaway from AFO’s side once All Might is able to explain the truth

ahhhhh you guys this is exciting I’m excited. though also still very sad though because wtf seriously

so Tomura’s tiredly thinking that the least his stupid memories could do is show him the whole picture instead of these fragments. “it’s like a broken tape recording or something”

HOLY SHIT

...I have no words. holy shit

anyone else getting flashbacks to the Highway to Hell though? what is it with Tomura and periodically pulling off the most badass stunts in the whole fucking manga. all because he didn’t get his nap dsflkjlk

ReDestro look at this loss of life. are you crying again. no, I can’t imagine that you are. you ass

you guys are probably getting tired of me just going “holy shit” over and over, but

hooooooooooooly shit

guys, if Tomura can dust people without even touching them he might as well just change his name to fucking Thanos and we’d better start praying this kid gets redeemed and soon

so now there’s a panel of Tomura being all drooly, and honestly he looks like he’s about to pass out. not sure if this is intended to be a glam shot or what lol

ohhhhSHIT

YESSSSSSSSSSS DABI. DRACARYS

!LKJDSLFKJLSDKJF!!

OH SHIT YOU GUYS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE ABOUT TO GET ALL A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE UP IN THIS BITCH

who is this weird little black mage. I’ll tell you one thing, he’s the only guy I’ve seen so far who’s actually dressed appropriately for fucking December weather, though, so good on him

will he defeat our boy Touya (spoilers, he won’t)? will Touya have some flashbacks of his own (TOUYA PLEASE), since that seems to be what all the cool kids are doing these days? will I lose my fucking shit all over again next week? stay tuned! but yes I absolutely will, oh jesus this is awesome

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 227 #toga himiko #giran #shigaraki tomura #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #are there any theories about tenko's sister possibly still being alive?#please you guys I need there to be theories where she lived #justice for the shimura sibs #brb going to pore through the entire manga looking for clues about who she might be if so #she's probably a couple years older than him #but we don't know her quirk #she could be anyone dammit #shimura hana please show yourself please I need this

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tentytarts · 5 years ago

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Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Haikyuu!! Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Daishou Suguru/Terushima Yuuji Characters: Daishou Suguru, Terushima Yuuji Additional Tags: brief appearances by;, Hana Misaki - Freeform, Sawamura Daichi - Freeform - Freeform, kageyama tobio - Freeform, hinata shouyou - Freeform, Kuroo Tetsurou - Freeform, Kozume Kenma - Freeform, minor kuroken, mainly terushou, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Action RomCom, does this count as crack, its certainly a crackship, Bodyguard AU, bodyguard/rockstar au, i say action movie but there's not much action, just these two dudes stuck in a house together, god did i really write 10 chapters of this, More tags to be added, OCs - Freeform, oc murder, Minor Character Death Summary:

Terushima Yuuji, rock star extraordinaire, had accidentally witnessed a murder by infamous mobster boss El Puchicca. Now he finds himself having to hire a bodyguard or risk dying before the court trial that will condemn El Puchicca for good and give Terushima back his freedom. And who can better protect someone than a hired killer?

Enter Daishou Suguru, 75 confirmed assassinations, 92 other successful miscellaneous jobs. He's never really done a protection detail before, but there's a first time for everything, and it's not like he hadn't gone against bigger mobsters than little ol’ Puchicca.

It's the spy-turned-bodyguard/rock star movie cliché that nobody asked for, with a ship that only about a handful of people has asked for (including me).

#whaddup im back on my bullshit #terushou #haikyuu #hq!!#terushima #daishou #au #why did i make him a rockstar you ask?#because why not #god this is probably ooc #im mostly posting it cause what else am i gonna do with it

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ao3feed-haikyuu · 5 years ago

Text

Hey Dickhead, Catch!!

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2WLfTfj

by TentacleBubbles

It's the spy-turned-bodyguard/rock star movie cliché that nobody asked for, with a ship that only about a handful of people has asked for (including me).

Words: 2734, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Daishou Suguru, Terushima Yuuji

Relationships: Daishou Suguru/Terushima Yuuji

Additional Tags: brief appearances by;, Hana Misaki - Freeform, Sawamura Daichi - Freeform - Freeform, kageyama tobio - Freeform, hinata shouyou - Freeform, Kuroo Tetsurou - Freeform, Kozume Kenma - Freeform, minor kuroken, mainly terushou, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Action RomCom, does this count as crack, its certainly a crackship, Bodyguard AU, bodyguard/rockstar au, i say action movie but there's not much action, just these two dudes stuck in a house together, god did i really write 10 chapters of this, More tags to be added, OCs - Freeform, oc murder, Minor Character Death

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2WLfTfj

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #hq #ao3feed #fanfic #haikyu #ハイキュー!!

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grapecaseschoices · 6 years ago

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17, 26, and 27 for the salty ask. (idk if we're supposed to pick the books too but just in case: bloodbound, ame, or trr)

You don’t have to! But I’m going to make the effort of leaning toward those books (even though I didn’t really finish AME 1. But not really, I didn’t. lol.)

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

I feel I’ve said this before, so forgive me if this is repetitive:

1) I would have books like TE and TRR and ES where the LI treatment are meant to be equal and it is meant to be an ensemble. Actually, be such.

2) I would allow Hana’s storylines to be actually about Hana. I would remove the Drake and Maxwell aspects entirely. I would remove the need for MC (in some respects. In certain moments, I could see why she would want her there). If we’re going to include these characters, it would be in how they relate to Hana.

How Hana and Liam and Maxwell (and even to an extent, Drake) never addressed the varying effects of family expectations/pressure and living up to that is beyond me.

I wouldn’t necessarily remove Hana was ‘perfect at everything’. I would talk more about the costs of it. I wouldn’t have that in diamond scenes. Connected to that, I would have more of her struggling with the costs of it. How it applies to her day to day wants / as well as her growth into the person she wants to be. Like, I am putting this in the POV of her marrying MC, but she is a co-duchess. It could be easily be seen as her skills being a benefit. Both on paper and practically. However, Hana mentioned fears that I feel were barely addressed – about connecting to the people. That is something that could have been handled as equally hers and the MC (bc I feel that is a storyline they should have focused more on period). Like moments that focused on how Hana would handle it, moments that focused on just the MC, but also moments where they collaborated / supported each other in their insecurities.

Speaking of. It would’ve been great if that moment of Hana helping her dad had been Hana helping herself. Applying her skills to her duchy. It would’ve been a longer arc. Instead of a flash in a can (or whatever that saying is.)

Not to say that she couldn’t have helped her dad. I am of two ways re: Hana and her parents: 1) She doesn’t need to owe them shit and if she were to choose to forgive them it should have been more about her doing it for her own growth, her own peace, her own spirituality. Instead of her ‘proving to them’ (and if they were going to go that way, I wish they’d addressed how parents like that can still engender that need even when you’re independent). 2) If they were settled into the route of them forming some type of relationship (because children / people wanting to do that with those who hurt them is valid), they should have handled it better. I think first by actually handling it, lol. Like everything with Hana it often felt like it was an afterthought.

3) Lily … a part of me wants to be like ‘deserved better’. I think in certain ways Lily was a rather well-crafted character but in a lot of ways she suffers from what most characters who aren’t the main dude (especially if this character is a female, a person of color, or both). Lily had interests and heartache. She had her opinion and was allowed to dissent from MC as well other characters. She set the pace of her dynamic with MC (if you chose a romantic opinion). She was allowed to upset (to an extent) and show fear and be bad ass. She had her interests and she had her style. She is who she is. And as a fictional woman of color that is BIG (heck, some choices white dudes can’t even say that much).

That being said, I feel like things happened to her and we didn’t always get to be a part of that. And I felt it was unfair to her storyline, the worldbuilding, and her dynamic with MC (romantic or not. Sorry haters, these two are ride or die friendship the extent of Ron and Harry. Platonic or otherwise Lily is her Life Partner). This can be broken down into two parts - that needed to be changed.

Things happened to her. Other than choosing to stay with Jax (and I wish we had gotten to see more of it) and coming to help toward the end. Her break up happened to her. Turning into a vampire. Happened to her. Lily did make choices, as mentioned. However, we didn’t get to see the result of them and they often seemed to come out of a Bigger Event that wasn’t really her choice at all. I guess in away, it felt clouded. (I need to ponder this more).

Though, I feel my issue from that comes from wanting more of her perspective. I feel, sometimes, the events in Lily life have the shadowing of other characters wants or just their presence in general. People say they wish Lily could have left the threesome scene, but why couldn’t have Jax? I could be remembering wrong. There is an option to do both or just Jax. However, was there an option to choose Lily only? Why was the moment turned sexual? Why couldn’t it have been MCs best friend in the world was going through a lot and they just hanged? Same with her moments with Kamilah (a training that happened off-screen. Why? I have seen others say this and I agree. It would have been informative to see more about the growth of a baby vampire). It was all about how much she’s learning from Kamilah and how cool Kamilah is. How about more on Lily as a student and Lily as a baby vampire. I’m not saying that they did horrendously awful. I just feel they could have done better.

Also, they could have done with Lily and MCs sexual scenes NOT happening after something Intense and/or Painful was going on. Admittedly, I didn’t catch on it at first. But it was kind of weird. (Also, as much as I love Lily calling the relationship shots. I hope they can get to talk about making their romance more romantical. Instead of just friends with benefits.)

26. Most shippable character?

Characters of color.

In BB and TRR: Lily and Liam. I have the most Liam ships out of TRR.

27. Least shippable character?

White Men whose storylines needlessly take over the storyline / spotlight from other characters.

aka Drake. LOL. (Though I do ship Driam). But I mean in the sense that I would probably never do a Drake run.

Thank you for asking @onesocialpiranha!!

Salty Ask.

#onesocialpiranha #i mean this is a salt ask #long post #salty asks #bloodbound #the royal romance #grapecase answers #ty for answering my cry #lol #lily spencer #hana lee #memes

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livingthroughchoices-blog · 7 years ago

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The Marshmallow Chronicles (Ch. 8: A Waltz to Remember)

Prev | Next

Author’s notes: Hey guys! Sorry for the late hour, as I told that lovely anon who asked when the next chapter was coming, school has been crazy! But better late than never! As with the previous chapter, thanks to everyone for reading (and especially to those of you who comment, you keep me going!) and a huge thanks to @starstruckzonkoperatorbat and @notoriouscs for asking me to tag them! I hope y’all like it!

Rating: T

Pairing: Drake x MC

Words: 5206

Maxwell had come into Drake’s room earlier than he would’ve liked.

“What are you doing here?” Drake groaned, still half asleep.

“I just wanted to hang out.”

“Hang out?! I hate you right now.”

“Aw, come on! I feel like I almost didn’t see you yesterday... I’m sorry, by the way, about the Savannah thing...”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” replied Drake hurriedly, eager to change the subject, “it’s water under the bridge.”

“Drake, I’m serious.” Maxwell did look serious, uncharacteristically so, as he looked Drake directly in the eye. “I’m really sorry. If it makes you feel any better I’m sure wherever she is, she’s doing okay.”

“Well, you can’t know that but thanks for trying anyway,” Drake sighed and sat up on his bed.

“I’m glad Riley went after you.”

“Actually...” Drake hesitated, “so am I.”

“Oh really?” Maxwell held back a smile. “That’s interesting. If I remember correctly you didn’t even want her to come here in the first place.”

“Can you blame me?! She seemed so...” Drake struggled to explain or even remember why he hadn’t wanted Riley here, but it seemed like he’d thought so years ago. “But now she’s so...”

He looked down at his hands, searching for words that could define what he thought about her now without going overboard, but his brain appeared to be stuck on “amazing”. He chose to make a helpless hand gesture instead, hoping Maxwell wouldn’t dwell on his non-phrases.

Of course, Maxwell preferred to dwell on something else.

“So I guess what you’re saying is... I was... right?” His delighted grin only grew as he saw Drake’s horrified expression. “Admit I have good ideas, come on, say it.”

“I will not.”

“Pleeease?”

“Fine, you had one good idea.”

“Nope, it has to be ideas, plural. As in, including Club Sub.”

“Don’t do this to me,” said Drake weakly.

“Do it, or I’ll tell Riley and Hana about that time you danced to Hayley Rose on the table at a Beaumont Bash.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I have video.”

“You have good – nay – great ideas, Maxwell,” said Drake solemnly.

“That’s what I like to hear.” Maxwell clapped him in the back and sat down beside him. “I saw you talking to Lady Kiara yesterday, what’s going on there?”

“Nothing’s going on!”

“Drake, remember what I said the other day, not everyone–”

“Wants chocolate, I know, but it’s not just that. I... guess I’m not sure how much I like Lady Kiara as a person, y’know? I mean, she’s fine, she’s always nice to me but I don’t feel as comfortable around her; not like I feel with A– Uh, w-with you, or Liam.” He cleared his throat.

Maxwell wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. “Drake, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Yeah, yeah, now get the hell out so I can get ready for the stupid ball.”

“Sure!” said Maxwell with his usual enthusiasm, still looking pleased. “See you there!”

Drake was left to ponder the fact that he’d almost said “Addams” just then.

After trying and failing to clear his mind in the shower, he decided to allow himself a few minutes to think about that before moving on.

Dude, why are you so freaked out? You feel comfortable with Addams, well, duh! She wore you down! She’s always around, being annoying with her stupid teasing, and her nosiness, and her wanting to help people and cheer them up, and wanting to make sure you were okay yesterday...

He’d put his shirt on inside out.

There was a knock on his door for the second time that day.

“Uh, come in.” He hurriedly put his shirt on right as Liam came into his room.

“Oh, hey, man.”

“Hi, Drake.”

“What’s up? I barely saw you yesterday.”

“Yes and, in fact, that is what I came here to talk about.”

“Oh?”

“I noticed you spent quite some time with Lady Riley yesterday.”

“Oh. Um, yeah I, uh, I guess I did.” Drake rubbed the back of his neck, feeling guilty for no good reason.

“Well, I just wanted to thank you.”

“Listen, Liam, I– Wait, thank me?”

“Yes, of course, I know you don’t approve of her, but I appreciate you watching out for her and keeping her entertained while I fulfill my duties.”

“Right, sure. You’re,” Drake swallowed, “welcome. And I don’t disapprove of her anymore, you know? I actually think she’d make a decent enough queen.” He felt his mouth grimace of its own accord when he said that, but Liam didn’t appear to notice.

“She would, wouldn’t she?” Liam’s eyes were dreamy and a small smile lit up his face. “I just wish I could spend more time with her.”

“Yeah, well, duty first and all that.”

“Yes... but it shouldn’t be. Drake, you’ve made up my mind. From tomorrow’s event on, I have resolved to spend as much time with Lady Riley as I can get away with without slighting the other suitors,” he said giddily.

“Great. That is a-a great idea, Liam. I’m glad you decided that. So glad! I won’t even have to keep spending time with her, ha ha. Well, this has been great, but I think I’m gonna take a walk. See you at the dance, buddy!”

Drake hurried out of his room like he was being chased.

After exploring the chateau, followed by a long walk filled with nothing but silence occasionally interrupted by the sounds of nature, Drake was feeling much better.

Damn, this place is not good for me.

He looked at his phone and cursed under his breath; he needed to get back for the stupid ball. As he walked, he got a text from Bastien saying, “Bought photos back. Still working on culprit. Talk to you soon, Bastien.”

He texted back, “Great news! I’ll see you tomorrow. And you don’t have to sign your texts.”

He felt his phone vibrate, “Got it, thanks, Bastien.”

He chuckled as he pocketed it before entering the ballroom.

He automatically walked to the table farthest from the dance floor; he knew Olivia well enough by now. He was followed by a frantic usher, intent on showing him his seat. The usher seemed like he might cry if Drake didn’t let him show him the seating chart, so he turned and heard him say exactly what he knew he would: he was in the very back of the ballroom.

He slumped down in a chair. He knew this was coming every time, more so when Olivia was involved, and yet it still stung. Mostly because sitting here severely undercut his ability to enjoy himself. The food would be inedible – if they even served him any – and the company would be–

Addams is coming to my table.

Her snowy gown sparkled in the soft light of the ballroom, and yet it didn’t outshine her; if anything, she looked even more luminous by comparison. He was pretty sure his mouth was open, so he carefully arranged it into a casual smirk.

Damn, if she doesn’t look amazing.

Oh, and Hana’s here, too.

He definitely wasn’t going to get hung up on the fact that it took him a full minute to register that Hana, an objectively beautiful woman, was even there.

“Welcome to the table of exiles.”

Riley grinned. “Drake? I’m actually glad to see you.” He managed to avoid saying something in disbelief, but it was a close call. “And here I was worried that we’d be stuck with some stuffy nobles.” He smirked more widely and pulled out the chair next to him for her.

"It’s probably meant to be an even bigger slight that we’re with a commoner,” sighed Hana. Drake had almost forgotten she was there.

And what a lovely reminder.

He looked fixedly at his empty plate but out of the corner of his eye caught Riley shooting Hana a disapproving look.

She sat down next to him and put her hand on his arm, which was resting on the table. “Well, Olivia really missed the mark this time.”

Drake tried to control his smile, but it was futile. “Thanks, Addams. That actually means something, coming from you.”

They held each other’s gaze until Hana’s chair scraped the floor as she pulled it out. They both turned to look at her.

“Drake, you don’t seem bothered at all to be seated in the back.” She seemed to be trying to make small talk to make up for her earlier blunder. Drake decided to let it slide.

“What can I say? After enough years of being treated like this, you build up a thick skin.”

Or at least you pretend to.

“Besides, back here? Out of the spotlight? At least we can relax.” He turned to look at Riley at this last part with a playful smile, which she returned.

Waiters had started bringing the food out and the room was suddenly filled with delicious smells that were wafting from the bowls they were carrying. He couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but his mouth was watering already.

Too bad we won’t even get to try it.

As if hearing his thoughts, Hana said, “The food looks amazing. I hope they serve us soon! I’m starving!”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” he informed her. “Where we’re seated, we’ll be the last to eat. If there’s even any left by the time they get to us.”

“But... the lobster bisque... do you really think we’ll go hungry?” Hana pouted.

Riley, who had looked outraged when he explained they were likely not eating, got a determined look on her face. “Not if I can help it. This can’t be too different from hailing a New York taxi.”

She winked at them before getting up and approaching a passing waiter jerkily. “Hey... Please, I’m about to faint.” She put her arms on the waiter’s chest, as if she couldn’t support her weight. “I need food.”

Drake caught on to what she was doing and instinctively got up from his chair. Hana was watching fascinatingly.

“I haven’t eaten all day, I...” Riley slowly crumpled backwards. Drake yelled, “Hey!” louder than he intended and threw himself forward, catching her just before she hit the ground.

Riley kept going, like a pro, “Please... food...”

The waiter looked like she was about to faint herself and hastily dropped a single bowl of bisque on their table, scurrying away before any of these crazy nobles had a chance to pull anything else.

Drake was still holding Riley. He was suddenly very aware that he could smell her sweet, fresh perfume, and that his arms, surrounding her torso, were pressing them close together. He cleared his throat and helped her to her feet.

He pulled her chair out for her and then sat down. “I can’t believe that actually worked, Addams.” He shook his head with a smile. “Just... warn me before you take a dive. Next time I might not catch you.”

She gave him a charming smile with twinkling eyes. “Oh, Drake. You know I like to keep you on your toes.”

He chuckled.

That she does.

“Well, let’s examine out riches! One piping hot bowl of lobster bisque to split three ways?” Hana passed them each a spoon.

“Let’s dig in!” Riley did a little excited dance, at which Drake rolled his eyes.

They all dipped their spoons in at the same time. The bisque was incredibly flavorful and still pleasantly warm. It was perfect for this cold weather.

Drake said what they were all thinking, “This is actually really good.”

“I’m in lobster heaven,” Hana moaned in delight.

“Solid work, Addams,” said Drake, high fiving her. She returned it so enthusiastically his hand stung, but he still grinned at her.

“Yes! Thank you, Riley! We’d be lost without you!” Hana touched Riley’s forearm and the latter put her hand over hers.

“Aw thanks guys. I’m sure the rest of the food will show up soon, anyway...”

“In the meantime, we could play a game!” Hana proposed eagerly.

“Do we have to?”

“Oh, come on, Drake, don’t be such a bummer!” Riley pushed him playfully.

“Okay, okay, I’m outnumbered. So what’s the game?”

“Two truths and a lie?” said Hana hopefully.

“I don’t know it.”

“Really? You never went to summer camp or something like that?” asked Riley. “Wait, don’t answer that, you can use it for the game. It’s really simple: you tell us two truths and one lie about yourself and then we have to guess which is the lie.”

“Got it. You start, Hana.”

“Oh, um, okay. I am an award-winning horseback rider, I am an award-winning painter and I am an award-winning skater.”

Drake and Riley turned to look at each other and burst out laughing.

“Seriously?!” Riley asked between laughs. “That’s impossible! You’re an award-winning everything! Are you sure you remembered to lie?”

Hana giggled, “I’m not! I did tell a lie! Now, guess.”

Drake and Riley’s laughs subsided and they looked at each other thoughtfully.

“I’ve seen you skate and I’m pretty sure there has to be a freaking move named after you so that’s not a lie... I’m gonna say you’re not a horseback rider, because painting seems more... you,” Drake guessed.

“Drake, Drake, Drake,” said Riley, mimicking Drake’s pitying head shakes from yesterday, “that’s where you’re wrong. You, my friend, are underestimating Hana. I think you are a skater and a horseback rider.”

“Ding, ding, ding! Riley’s right!”

Drake groaned while Riley cheered.

“Come on, Drake, painting is clearly a more recreational activity! I was obviously not allowed to practice it as much.”

“Right... obviously.”

“Okay, your turn,” Hana chirped.

“Wait! Before we go on: Drake, how would you feel about making things more interesting?” Riley arched an eyebrow at him.

“Triple or nothing?”

“You know it.”

“Two out of three of Hana’s.”

“Yep. And you’re already losing.”

Drake glared at her. “All right, here we go. I used to be scared of clowns...” Riley sniggered at this. “Used to,” Drake emphasized. “I was a Boy Scout and... my first concert was Hayley Rose.”

“What!” Riley snorted.

“Shut up,” Drake said, laughing along with her.

“Well that’s definitely true. You wouldn’t be so embarrassed if it weren’t. For the record, no judgment here.”

“Nor from me,” piped up Hana. “Mainly because... I don’t know her music.” They laughed harder then, and Riley promised to show her the best Hayley Rose songs and tell her the grisly details of her life.

“Right, so I don’t think you were ever scared of clowns, Drake. I can’t imagine you not being cynical even as a child,” shrugged Hana.

“Once again, I am the best at this game. Clearly Drake didn’t use to be afraid of clowns... he never stopped!” said Riley dramatically. “You were never a Boy Scout.”

Drake sighed, “As much as it pains me to say this... Addams is right. About the second part, I’m not afraid of clowns anymore.”

“Sure you’re not,” Riley replied with a sly smile.

“Your turn, wise guy,” said Drake.

“Okay, here goes. My favorite food is sushi, I went to a Hayley Rose concert too, and I had never been outside the US before this.”

“Easy, you’d never left the US.”

Riley gave Drake a curious look. “And why do you say that?”

He shrugged, “I know how hard it can be to travel for us commoners.”

“I disagree. I think Riley is very cultured.”

“Oh, ‘cause a commoner can’t be cultured?”

“Drake, that’s not what I–”

“Okaaay, what’s your guess, Hana?” Riley interrupted, trying to diffuse the tension.

“I don’t think your favorite food is sushi.”

“But it is! Sorry, Hana, Drake’s right. This is my first time out of the US!”

“Oh! Well, I never would have guessed, you’ve handled it really well...”

Drake let the conversation fade out until it was Hana’s turn again. After a few more turns, Hana had beat them both, but Drake had beat Riley, which was all that mattered.

“Quadruple or nothing, Drake.”

Drake laughed and before he could answer, Hana let out a sigh, “Wow... the service here is terrible.”

“All by design,” he replied. As soon as he’d stopped laughing, his hunger had caught up with him... and it brought his temper along.

“Even if it’s on purpose, at least it’s not the worst service I’ve had,” started Hana.

“You’ve had worse service than this?” asked Riley, her eyes bugging out.

“Believe it or not, I’ve been to a wedding where food wasn’t served until midnight. They got hideously behind schedule and decided to do an open call for speeches before dinner. It took hours!”

“Oh, heavens!” exclaimed Drake in a high-pitched voice. He knew that was unnecessarily rude, but she started it with the whole commoner thing and he was hungry; personally, he felt he was doing an admirable job of keeping it together.

Riley disagreed. She shot him a reproachful look, “Drake.”

He chose to ignore her. “I can tell you a real horror story. Let’s set the scene. Casual get-together. Lots of people I don’t know, but that’s fine. There’s a bar, man’s true best friend. So I figure I’ll grab a drink. I go up to the bar, and they’re out of whiskey!” He looked at them both in turn, trying to convey the horror.

Riley rolled her eyes. “Drake, I could use some whiskey now.”

She might have been referring to how stupid his story was, but Drake decided to take it as agreement. "Now you’re speaking my language. But these dinners usually only come with some fancy wine and champagne.”

“And I have a feeling that we’d be lucky to even get water at this point,” frowned Hana.

“It’s too bad we probably won’t see a real drink at dinner. From what I’ve seen, Olivia’s got quite a stash,” shared Drake, remembering the cavernous cellar he’d found before taking his walk outside.

“From what you’ve seen?” Hana raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“I did some exploring, and I happened to stumble across her wine cellar.”

“Really?” Riley’s eyes widened; she seemed excited by the idea.

Encouraged, Drake continued, “Yeah. It’s pretty impressive, actually, and not a bad place to get away from all of this for awhile.” Before his brain caught up with his mouth, he found himself saying, “Why don’t you join me there for a drink tonight, Addams? If you’re not afraid of sneaking out after hours...”

As Riley opened her mouth to answer, a waiter dropped off two more bowls of bisque. Despite her silence, Drake didn’t think she was the type to back down from a challenge, or so he hoped.

I have a bad feeling about this. If she says no, it’s gonna suck, and if she says yes... Whatever, I’m doing this for Liam after all, keeping her entertained and all that stuff he said. Plus, he said he’s gonna spend more time with her starting tomorrow so this is the last time I gotta do this.

He suddenly didn’t feel that hungry anymore.

“There’s no lobster in my bowl. It’s just... bisque. This is the saddest soup I’ve ever seen.” Hana sounded almost like she pitied the food.

For once, Drake wholeheartedly agreed, “I’m not usually one to complain about free food, but this is ice cold compared to what we had earlier. Which means Olivia did this on purpose.”

He had a few more spoonfuls before deciding he really couldn’t stomach any more. “At least we got to have a taste of the real meal, thanks to Riley’s quick thinking!” He shook her shoulder affectionately.

Riley slapped his hand away and took a bow. “And we know that Olivia’s intentionally screwing with us.”

As if summoned, Olivia’s voice came high and clear from the dance floor; Drake tuned out most of her little speech, but the gist was it was time for the waltz.

Hana looked devastated. “But we haven’t finished eating!

Drake grimaced sympathetically. If there’s something he could bond over, it was disliking Olivia Nevrakis. “I don’t think she cares.”

“Well...” Riley stood up and extended both arms towards Drake and Hana, respectively, “let’s do this.”

Hana grabbed her hand, looking a lot happier than before, and stood up. When Drake didn’t do the same, she asked, “Aren’t you joining us, Drake?”

At that moment, Drake couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to know that stupid waltz.

Who the hell am I right now?

“Waltzing isn’t my thing. I’ll be here with the... food,” he finished awkwardly. Riley shrugged, frowning a little, while Hana waved goodbye before heading to the dance floor.

Hana went off to dance with some lord Drake couldn’t place, and Riley paired up with Maxwell. He supposed at this point, he shouldn’t be surprised that Riley went through the waltz practically flawlessly, in spite of it being her first time dancing it. He still shook his head in astonishment. Is she good at everything?

The waltz was over sooner than he’d expected. The music lulled and there was a noise – softer than a gasp, more like a collective intake of breath. He searched the dance floor for the cause of the noise and saw Olivia kissing Liam. Before he even knew what he was doing – or why, for that matter – he had found Riley’s face in the crowd. She looked stricken. Other than that, she didn’t react much, but it was enough.

He stormed out.

How dare Liam do this?! How does he go from being all googly-eyed over Addams, to fucking her over like this? He keeps going on about duty, but I doubt his duties include exchanging spit with fucking Chucky over there. How do you even choose Olivia over Addams anyway? It’s a no-brainer.

He realized his body had taken him to his room while his mind was busy railing against Liam. He snatched a bottle of whiskey from his bag and went down to the wine cellar.

After pouring himself a drink and taking a few sips, he’d calmed down enough to recognize that Liam had almost definitely not initiated or even encouraged the kiss. It wasn’t really his fault... for the most part. Yet he still felt irritated.

That face she made... I guess I don’t want Addams to be disappointed. She deserves better.

He heard footsteps coming downstairs.

Speak of the Devil.

His stomach did a weird flip.

It’s probably ‘cause I didn’t end up eating much.

Riley poked her head around the corner. She saw him and grinned, that mischievous look in her eyes, and walked the rest of the way down.

“There you are, Addams. I was beginning to think you didn’t have the guts to show. Y’know, breaking the rules, out after curfew and all that.”

For a second, she looked like she was going to say something snarky, her hand on her hip; then she dropped it and softened her smile. “Actually, I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

It was like Drake got the wind knocked out of him.

Who says that? Is that what friends say?

He felt the stupidest grin spread across his face. “Aw, come on, Addams. You’re gonna make me blush.”

Riley smirked, “Now that I’d like to see.”

Drake tried not to think about how close she’d already come to seeing it and changed the subject, “So, what’re you drinking?”

“What’ve you got?”

“Nothing yet. It seems like Olivia has a very extensive collection of fine Cordonian wines. I’m no expert, but from the names I recognize, nothing in here’s under a thousand dollars!”

Riley got that rule-breaking twinkle in her eyes again, “You want to drink Olivia’s wine? Pass me a bottle! She’s got so many bottles here, she’ll probably never even notice!”

As much as Drake loved that idea, and loved that she came up with it, he didn’t want her to get in trouble. Olivia was already unpleasant to her, to say the least. “Before you pop something open, I also brought a bottle of whiskey down for myself... but I’d share it with you. So pick your poison.”

Riley didn’t hesitate, “Whiskey.”

Drake nodded approvingly and poured her and himself a glass. They were about to clink glasses when Riley said, “Wait, we have to make eye contact, otherwise it’s 7 years of bad sex.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally just did.”

“Fine, if you wanna risk it that’s on you, but I’m gonna look you in the eye, got it?”

“Okay, I’ll do it,” grumbled Drake. “This is stupid, for the record.”

“You’re welcome for saving your sex life.”

“Cheers.”

They clinked their glasses while looking fixedly into each other’s eyes, both smiling at first. They gradually got serious and the silence seemed to become loaded. Drake was the first to look away.

“So,” said Riley a little awkwardly. “You came down to the wine cellar to drink whiskey? Doesn’t that seem a little silly?”

Drake shrugged, “I came down here to get a little commoner time by myself where I don’t have to bow and kiss hands for a few minutes.”

“Drake, if you hate the nobility so much, why do you stick around?”

Funnily enough, no one had ever asked him that question. He stalled, “It must seem ridiculous to you.”

Riley put her hand on her hip. “To be honest, it seems like you complain a lot for getting a free ride.”

Drake’s mouth dropped. He knew a lot of people thought that, hell, some even said it to his face, but they did it to hurt him, not because they were being honest.

“That’s...” He laughed a little, “I guess that’s kind of true... I would’ve left a long time ago, but Liam needs me. I know he’s got nobles and courtiers all around him, but most of them would stab him in the back if they thought they could profit from it. I’ve seen so many underhanded moves that I don’t trust any of them anymore.” He remembered the stupid tabloid pictures and the practically nonexistent likelihood that they were being sold by a stranger. “And these are from our friends! And this latest one...”

“What happened?” Riley asked, concern lacing her voice.

I need to learn to shut up. Especially around Addams.

“I... I’m not sure I should tell you. It’s still being resolved.”

“You’re always saying I need to watch out... it’d be nice to actually know what for.”

Again, she hit the nail on the head. It was only fair. “You remember Liam’s bachelor party?”

“Of course.”

“We found out that someone close to us that night was trying to sell pictures to the tabloids.”

Riley’s eyes widened, incredulous. “But who? Who would do that?”

Drake frowned. “We haven’t tracked down the source yet, but I just got a message from Bastien that we were able to buy the photos back before they were printed.”

Riley tilted her head. “Call me crazy, but I don’t remember anything scandalous happening...”

“You know how the tabloids are.” Drake shook his head. “A picture with a drink in his hand, and suddenly the crown prince of Cordonia is on a drunken rager. And then there’s pictures of the two of you together.”

“What? But we weren’t...” Riley trailed off, blushing.

“The two of you were talking, and he was clearly interested in you. That’s enough for them to speculate on. What was the headline the tabloid was going to run? ‘Prince Liam’s Drunken Fling Before the Ring!’”

Riley put her hand over her mouth. “And you have no idea who would do this?”

“Not really. There are a lot of people who would be desperate for those photos... I just hope it wasn’t one of the guys. The pictures they had... Those would’ve been hard to take unless that person were someone close to us...”

If anything good was going to come out of this mess, he was relieved that Riley was probably going to be more cautious. She said, “Drake, I’ll watch out.” And touched his arm reassuringly.

“Good. Money and power make people do crazy things, Addams. I just don’t want to see you get hurt because of it,” he said earnestly.

She gave him a soft smile, touched that he cared, “Drake...”

“I mean, sometimes, I look at you... and I see this wide-eyed baby deer who just stumbled into the hunter’s campsite.” He ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing with everything that could go wrong.

He was interrupted by Riley saying, “A baby deer? So you think I’m cute?” She gave him a teasing smile.

The honest answer was yes, he’d literally thought that yesterday, but he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. His brain jammed, “That’s not what I... er...”

Riley bit her lip to keep from laughing as she paced in front of him, “My, my, seems like for once you’re speechless.”

“Your unique talent, Addams, seems to be putting me in my place.”

“Someone’s gotta do it.”

Drake laughed loudly. When she joined in, the sound of her laughter sobered him up and he looked at her with intensity. “What is it about you? You’re so frustrating, but...”

“But?”

I keep coming back. I want more.

He was terrified.

He shook his head, “Forget it. How about a toast, instead?” He raised his glass towards her.

“What’re we toasting to?”

He thought about it. How could he explain what this little getaway – their last one – meant to him without saying something stupid? “To the moments in between.”

“Huh?”

“All the nobles think about are the big events. The grand balls, the press appearances, the banquets...” He thought about Liam and his face fell for a split second. He used to spend moments like this with him a lot more often. He couldn’t help but feel that, despite all of his wealth and upbringing, he was missing out on a lot.

“They don’t even realize that the moments that matter the most are all the ones they’re missing. Moments like right now, just the two of us and some cheap whiskey. The ones that really mean something.” It was too late to take it back, but he didn’t want to be presumptuous; for all he knew, she had nothing better to do or just wanted whiskey. “At least, it means something to me, anyway.”

She was much closer than he’d realized. She looked up at him and said, so sincerely, “Drake, it means something to me too.”

Wordlessly, they raised they glasses and clinked them. This time looking each other in the eye not because of superstition, but because they wanted to.

As they brought their respective glasses to their lips, Drake said, “To the moments in between.”

They finished their drink and Drake looked at his phone. He should go. He was glad he’d made their last moment in between a good one, at least.

“Now, it’s getting late, and I don’t want to get you in any trouble.”

Riley gave him a small smile, “That’s so thoughtful of you.”

“I’m a gentleman, even if not one by birth.” He bowed at her and smiled back. “G’night, Addams.”

“Good night, Drake.”

#trr #the royal romance #drake walker #drake x mc #prince liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #playchoices #choices #pixelberry #pb #fanfic #ch 8 #the marshmallow chronicles #b99 reference again bc it's amazing and Bastien gives me Holt vibes #long post

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