#everyone go read xxx buddy right now

[not-poignant]

i'm just a reblogging fiend tonight

i'm playing a new BG3 file and every time there's an oblique reference to cambions or a particular cambion i'm like the 'awooga awooga' sound byte.

also low-key hilarious because DA4 comes out soon and um, well, i'm a bit scared of how much i'm going to want to write fanfiction for that and i'm staring at my brain like 'oi. OI.' but w/e i wrote stuck on the puzzle super 'late' in that fandom i can be late to veilguard-dreadwolf (dreadwolf was a better name fight me).

time to do some cross-stitch!

[chicgeekgirl89]

A Firefighter, a Cop, and a Construction Worker Walk Into a Bachelor Party

Fandom: 911 Lone Star

Characters: T.K. Strand, Carlos Reyes, Marjan Marwani, Nancy Gillian, Judd Ryder, Mateo Chavez, Paul Strickland, Francesca Reyes, Cousin Adriana

Summary: A combined bachelor party with all their friends promises a night of fun and celebration. But when some unexpected guests show up, the party goes from Rated G to XXX.

Rating: T

A/N: This came at a suggestion from @bluenet13 involving Adriana and Francesca and strippers and I could not have been more delighted to cause some chaos for our sweet boys.

Read on AO3

“All right, who needs a top off?” Judd asks and several people respond with an affirmative as he walks around with a bottle of whiskey and pours it into their raised cups. “T.K.? What can I get you? Another bubbly water? Mocktail?”

“It’s my own loft,” T.K. says with a laugh. “If I need anything I can go get it myself.”

“Yeah but it’s your bachelor party,” Judd tells him. “You don’t need to be getting anything when we can get it for you.”

“Yeah dude, just sit back a relax!” Mateo says, slapping him good-naturedly on the leg. “Let your people serve you for the night! Hey Carlos!” he yells over his shoulder. “Tell T.K. to relax and enjoy his bachelor party!”

“T.K. relax and enjoy your bachelor party,” Carlos calls back obediently from where he’s leaning against the wall, chatting with his brothers-in-law, Javier, Justin, and Elías. 

The day had started with the two of them doing separate activities, T.K. hanging with the 126 crew and driving go-karts, while Carlos had gone to the batting cages with his brothers-in-law and a couple buddies from work. Both groups had met back up for dinner and were now hanging out in the loft, drinking and laughing and playing games. 

“This from the man who keeps circling the room and picking up garbage,” T.K. says with a fond roll of his eyes. 

It had been a good idea to do this together. The room was full of people they both loved and cared about. 

And Adriana and Francesca. Who had shown up despite Carlos explicitly telling them they weren’t invited. 

They were currently deep in conversation with Carlos’ work friends. T.K. had heard the words “community policing” and “deescalation” being thrown around and he didn’t envy Carlos’ friends in the slightest. If they all weren’t considering career changes before the night ended, he would be shocked.

“Hey!” Marjan calls over the din, holding up her cup with one hand while she scrolls through her phone with the other. “I found a drinking game! I’m going to ask a question and the answer will be either T.K. or Carlos. If you get it right, you drink.”

There are cheers of agreement and Judd makes the rounds once more to make sure everyone has a full glass. 

“Question number one,” Marjan pauses for dramatic effect, clearly happy to be holding court. “Who fell in love first?”

There are laughs all around and when Marjan says Carlos’ name, every hand goes up. Carlos and T.K. exchange amused looks. “That would be true,” Carlos says and everyone yells and laughs and takes a sip.

“Next question,” Nancy reaches over and pulls Marjan’s phone from her hand, scrolling down the list. “Who is the neat freak in the relationship?”

“Carlos,” everyone choruses, taking a drink without even waiting for confirmation.

“This going to be a short game if all the questions are like this,” T.K. says, sipping on the mock-jito someone made for him. 

“Well the next one is: who’s louder in bed?” Marjan says, smiling wickedly.

T.K. immediately bites his lip and looks at Carlos who is blushing deeply as everyone laughs. “That depends on the situation,” he says coyly and Carlos looks like he wants to melt into the floor. 

Their fun is interrupted by a knock at the door and Carlos’ forehead wrinkles as he scans the room to see if anyone is missing, coming up empty. He wanders over to open it anyway as the game continues with Nancy taking over the questioning. He wouldn’t put it past Mateo or one of his buddies to have ordered pizza in the middle of the party.

But when he opens the door, it’s not a pizza delivery.

“Is this the Reyes-Strand residence?” asks the police officer standing in their hallway.

“Yes,” Carlos says slowly. “Is there some kind of problem?”

“I need to speak with T.K. Strand,” the officer says, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and brushing past Carlos to get inside the loft.

Carlos turns around, eyes finding T.K. who looks completely stunned, the exhilaration in the room replaced by surprised murmurs and silence. “T.K. what—?”

“I have no idea,” T.K. says. “I—“

“Sir, what’s your badge number?” Carlos says, already pulling out his phone to call his captain and figure out what the hell is going on.

“You’re T.K.?” the officer asks.

“Yes,” T.K. replies in confusion.

“Can you stand up for me please?”

T.K. slowly complies, looking nervous. Carlos takes a step toward them both. “Now wait a second—“

“I hope you’re ready,” the officer says.

T.K. swallows hard. “Ready for…?” 

The officer pulls a portable speaker out of nowhere and grins. “Ready for a strip search.”

He pushes a button, music suddenly blasting through the room, and then rips open his shirt revealing an incredible six pack. 

Everyone’s jaw drops as the man begins moving in time to the music with truly astonishing hip rolls and pelvic thrusts. 

“Oh my god, I cannot see this,” Judd says, putting a hand over his eyes and turning toward the kitchen. “Gracie’ll murder me.”

“He’s a guy Judd!” Mateo says.

“Don’t matter,” Judd says with a shake of his head.

T.K. looks at Carlos in total shock. “You hired a stripper?!”

“No I didn’t—“ Carlos’ eyes search the room, landing on Marjan and Nancy.

“Don’t look at us,” Marjan says quickly, although she’s clearly enjoying the scene. “We wouldn’t dare.”

It couldn’t have been his brothers-in-law, his sisters would kill them, and his work friends know better too.

That’s when he spots his sister and his cousin in the corner, grinning like maniacs, their phones out recording every second of this chaos. “Happy Bachelor Party T.K.!” Francesca yells, glee all over her face.

“Oh my god. I am going to KILL you,” Carlos bellows over the music.

“Hi, oh, hi, yeah, no thanks,” T.K. says as the cop stripper moves closer.

The man stops, confused. “No thanks? Do you want something different? I can do a lap dance? Or—“

“No, no, no,��� T.K. says as Paul finally gets the music shut off. “You’re great, and very attractive, it’s just, I am marrying that really hot guy over there and I don’t need…this.”

“Oh okay, that’s cool, I’m all about consent,” the guy says. He looks Carlos up and down. “You’re the fiancé?”

Carlos crosses his arms over his chest, eyes going hard. “Yeah. I am.”

“Damn. Respect bro.” He holds out a fist and T.K. bumps it. 

Carlos takes a breath and tries to salvage the evening’s dignity. “Okay, sorry about this everyone,” he says. “Apparently my sister and my cousin decided to have a little fun at our expense. Let’s all just—“

“Excuse me?”

Carlos turns to find a man in a fireman’s uniform striding into the loft. “Are you Carlos Reyes?” he asks.

“Yes, but—“

It’s too late. The man pulls out a speaker identical to the cop’s and yanks at his pants, which come flying off, leaving nothing but an incredibly revealing thong. 

“Oh, those are definitely not regulation,” Marjan says, eyes wide.

“Carlos Reyes, I’m here to get you fired up!” the man shouts, swinging the pants around over his head.

“Actually, technically firefighters are there to put the fire down,” Paul says as Mateo nods in agreement. 

Carlos rounds on his cousin and his sister. “I am calling Tía Maria and letting her send BOTH of you to a convent, I swear to GOD  Cesca—No, no, no!” he interrupts himself as the man gyrates toward him. “If you touch me I will have you arrested for assaulting an officer!”

The man stops and frowns. “I’m not even close to that guy,” he says, nodding toward the stripper cop who has been handed a beer and a slice of cake. 

“Not him. Me,” Carlos says, eyes like thunder.

“Oh come on Carlitos!” Adriana calls. “Have a little fun!”

“Babe, hey, it’s okay,” T.K. says, coming around the couch and taking his hand. “It’s fine, we will laugh about this later.”

“Oh I’ll laugh,” Carlos says. “I’ll laugh when I CALL MOM AND TELL HER WHAT THEY DID!”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Francesca says, her eyes still sparkling with mirth.

“Hi, sorry, what’s happening?” stripper firefighter asks.

“We’re not going to be needing your services tonight,” T.K. says smoothly. “But you’re welcome to stay and have some cake.”

“Oh cool, thanks,” the guy says. “I’m Matt by the way.”

“Joel!” the cop stripper calls.

“Matt why don’t you come on in here we’ll get you a beer,” Judd says, having reappeared now that the imminent threat of nudity has ended.

“Carlos, breathe,” T.K. says, rubbing his hands soothingly up and down Carlos’ arms. “You can’t kill them. They’re family. And you’re a cop.”

“Which means no one will ever find their bodies,” Carlos grinds out, glaring at his sister and his cousin who are sauntering toward them. “I wouldn’t come over here right now if I were you!” he snaps.

“Don’t be such a prude!” Francesca says with a roll of her eyes. “It’s your bachelor party! It’s what people do!”

“People!” Carlos practically yells it. “Not us!”

“Hello?” 

Everyone turns as a construction worker steps in through the still open door. “I’m looking for Carlos and T.K.?”

“What did you do, invite all the village people to my house?” Carlos cries.

“We thought maybe a cop and firefighter were too on the nose,” Francesca says. “Thought we’d add a little variety.” 

“Hey, you know I’m not a firefighter anymore, right?” T.K. asks.

“Yeah, we tried, but apparently paramedic strippers aren’t very in demand,” Adriana tells him. “So unless you want to brush off some of your own stripper moves…”

“Dude, you’re a dancer too?” Matt asks as he walks by with a plate of cheese and crackers, still pants-less. “Right on! What clubs do you work?”

“No, I—I am not a stripper,” T.K. says.

Carlos is seething. “I swear to god, if a sailor or a biker walks through that door…”

“What, do you think we’re made of money?” Adriana scoffs. “You may be special primo, but you’re not four strippers in one night special.”

T.K. reaches around Carlos and shakes the construction worker’s hand. “Hi…?”

“Dylan,” the man supplies.

“Hi Dylan, I’m T.K., this is my fiancé Carlos, and we are so sorry about all the confusion. How do you feel about cake?”

“I can just go…” Dylan says slowly, clearly realizing he’s stepped into something.

“No, please stay,” T.K. says. “We have plenty of food and it’s the least we can do for your trouble, right Carlos?”

He squeezes Carlos’ hand reassuringly. “Fine,” Carlos says, his voice tired and resigned. “But everyone who’s staying needs to be wearing all their clothes! And please use a coaster!”

Despite the unexpected arrival of extra guests, the rest of the night goes off without a hitch. T.K. keeps his fiancé well away from Adriana and Francesca who are refusing to apologize and honestly really feel they deserve a little more gratitude for making the party so much more fun.

It’s nearly two am by the time they say goodbye to the last of their guests. Carlos locks the door and then slumps against it. “Never again,” he says.

“Well I hope not,” T.K. says with a smile, letting his hands slide from Carlos’ ribs down to his hips. “If we’re both bachelors again, something has gone seriously wrong.”

“What did I do to deserve Adriana and Francesca?” Carlos moans. “I mean, what were they thinking?”

“They were thinking that you like hot guys and they like hot guys,” T.K. tells him. “They’re really smart babe, but their people skills need work. You know that.”

“I don’t like hot guys. I just like you,” Carlos tells him, a slight pout on his face.

T.K. chuckles. “That’s a little offensive, but thanks. I like you too.” 

“You know what I mean,” Carlos says with a sigh. 

“I do.” T.K. reaches up and runs a thumb gently over the crease in his fiancé’s forehead. “Stop worrying about tonight. Everyone had fun. Your brothers-in-law already know what Cesca and Adriana are like. The 126 doesn’t care, in fact, I’m sure they all found it very hilarious and will be making jokes at my expense for the rest of my life. And your work buddies didn’t seem to mind either.”

“I know, I know,” Carlos says. “I just…they drive me so crazy sometimes. How is that possible? We’re grown adults and they still know how to push all my buttons.”

“Because they’re family,” T.K. tells him. “It’s what they do.”

“Well I wish they didn’t,” Carlos grumbles.

T.K. studies him for a minute and then casually hooks a finger through one of Carlos’ belt loops, tugging just a little. “You know, I was thinking…”

Carlos raises his eyebrows. “Oh were you?”

T.K. nods, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “I was thinking that it’s not fair that I got the full stripper cop experience tonight, but you didn’t get the full stripper paramedic experience.”

“Yeah, I really think I’m okay with that,” Carlos says.

“Are you sure?” T.K. asks, running a finger down Carlos’ chest. “Because if you’d like a paramedic stripper experience, I might know a guy.”

Carlos’ dour expression shifts as he bites his lip, fighting a grin at T.K.’s overt flirtation. “Oh you might huh?”

“Yeah I might.” T.K. smirks as he leans in and kisses Carlos once, then again, then gently pulls him away from the door so that he’s walking backward toward the bedroom. “Is that something you’d be interested in?”

“I think I could be.”

“Oh you think you could be?” T.K. teases.

“Yes, I think I could be.”

“I think you could be too.”

[flowersbby]

Drawn to You | Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader

Warning:  Makeout, This is a lil long (I got carried away)

Word count: 3859

It was a typical night for you. You had your music playing faintly in the background while you were writing notes for your anatomy & physiology class when you felt your phone vibrate violently on your desk, which caused your French bulldog, Royal, to wake up from his snoring slumber on your lap. With an annoyed huff, you pick up your phone and notice your best friend Rae had texted you numerous times.

Rae 😴

Hey!

Among Us!

Now!

Need 10th person!

Pleaseeeeee

You stared at the messages for a minute. You were confused on why she asked you of all people. You were the opposite of the many streaming friends she had who were loud, funny, and all around GOOD at games. Your shy character would not fit well on her stream and you knew that. Plus, the only games you’ve played are Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, which requires no communication with people and you preferred it that way.

You

Why me? I’m in the middle of writing notes.

Rae 😴

There’s this person I want you to meet!

He’s really nice and you’ll warm up to the group in no time, I promise!

I won’t let them be mean to you 😤😤

They’re nice ppl anyway so they wont be mean lol

You

Okay.. let me load up my discord

Rae 😴

Yayy!

I already bought among us for you last time I was over so you’re good to go!

‘What? When did she find the time to buy the game for me? We were literally together the whole time she was here.’ You thought, but quickly dismissed it and loaded up discord. Right as you got online, you got an invite from Rae. You quickly grabbed your headset and adjusted your mic before joining the call. You petted Royal in an attempt to calm your nerves as you saw 9 peoples profile pictures appear in front of you. You only recognized Rae’s, of course.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Rae exclaimed, “Guys, this is my best friend (Y/N)! Introduce yourselves!”

“Hi, I’m Toast!” Said the man with the toast icon. You smiled at his profile picture. You found it cute.

“I’m Jack!” Said an Irish voice. You know Jack. You used to watch his videos a lot.

“I’m Poki!” Said a girl with a really sweet voice, “Nice to meet you!” You were about to say hello back when someone else chimed in.

“Hello, I’m Felix!” You recognized that Swedish accent. He was the most well known YouTuber, of course.

“Nice to meet you!” Said a really soft voice, “I’m Sykkuno!” His voice reminded you of an anime boy. You smiled to yourself.

“Hi, I’m Lily!” Said a really cute and high pitched voice. 

“Hi everyon-” You went to introduce yourself properly until you got cut off.

“I’m Corpse.” Said a deep, attractive voice. Your eyes widened for a second, his voice catching you off guard.

“H-hello,” You attempt to say hello again but this time you’re a little shaken up by Corpse’s voice, but you get it together by petting Royal once again. “I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to meet you all!”

“Your voice is so adorable!” Says Lily. You smile at the fact that someone who’s voice is equally as adorable complimented yours.

“Thank you!” You respond, “Your voice is adorable too, Oh my God!” 

Lily giggles at your compliment. “Alright!” Exclaimed Rae, “Ready to play (N/N)?” You quickly realized you forgot to load up Among Us before hand. You were silently kicking yourself for not doing such a simple thing. Now they’re gonna have to wait longer to play because of you and they already waited long enough for you to join the discord call.

“Um..” You stall as you hurriedly click on the Among Us icon. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to load it up.. but it’s loading right now!” Your eyes are glued to the screen as if it’ll make the game boot up faster. 

“That’s okay.” Said Corpse in the most kind voice. “It won’t take that long.” You feel heat rushing to your cheeks just by hearing his voice. Who is this man and why is he making you feel like this?

They all agreed with Corpse and continued chatting about whatever they were chatting about before you joined the call. You were half listening as you were trying to figure out what to do as the game loaded up. Just as you were about to ask Rae, Corpse sent you the game code through a private message. You typed “Thank you!” as you quickly entered your name and then the game code.

“Woo! (Y/N)’s here!’ Said Rae happily. “Choose your color and your hat!” ‘Where do I do that?’ You thought to yourself but quickly found it. You wanted to be pink but it wouldn’t let you choose it.

“Why isn’t it letting me choose pink?” You asked. 

“It’s because Corpse is pink.” Explained Lily. “He took it from me too.” She said with a sad, but funny, tone.

“I can be a different color.” Corpse said and quickly changed his color from pink to white. 

“Oh, Thank you!” You said happily and picked a flower to match it.

“No problem.” He said and you could hear the smile in his voice. It made butterflies appear in your stomach.

“Are you kidding me?!” Said a laughing Lily. “I literally ARGUED with you about letting me have pink!”

“I sense something happening...” Cooed Rae in a sing songy voice. The whole group then erupted in “Ooooo’s”. This made you blush. You covered your face even though they couldn’t see you and Corpse chuckled, which only made you blush more.

Before the game started they all explained to you how to play so you wouldn’t be lost. This calmed your nerves a bit and when the game started you were happily going around the ship completing your tasks. Watering the plants was your favorite so far since you found it satisfying how the plants grew. You saw Corpse run up to you and you made your character step away a bit because you didn’t want to get killed. He instead ran circles around you and you decided to follow him for the rest of the game for safety. You both encountered Rae and Toast by the vending machines but didn’t think much of it and waited for Corpse to finish his task. Until Rae killed you and Toast killed Corpse. “A double kill?!” You shouted to yourself, causing Royal to wake up and slowly get off your lap. “I’m sorry buddy..” You said to him as he laid down in his dog bed. You turn your attention back to the screen as someone found you and Corpse’s dead bodies.

“Um, bodies found by the vending machines.” Said Felix who didn’t sound all too confident. “Jack where were you?” He asked.

“I was in..” As Jack was about to explain himself you heard a ‘pop’ emit from your headphones and saw a red dot by the messages icon. You clicked it and saw it was a message from Corpse. You completely stopped caring about the arguing going on through your headphones as Jack was trying to claim innocence.

“I like your flower :)” It read. You smiled big and immediately typed back.

Your fingers hovered over the keys thinking about what to type back but you settled on a simple “Thank you :D”.

After two games or so everyone got tired and decided to head out. You all said your goodbyes and watched as each person slowly began to leave the call. You didn’t want to leave until you were sure everybody was gone. Everybody left but Corpse. “Hey..” He said, sounding a little shy but it was probably just because he was tired.

“Hi!” You said a little too excited. You immediately wished you could reword what you said a little calmer.

“So, uh..” He began, “Could I possibly get your number? For Among Us games I mean?” He didn’t sound too sure of himself but him asking this made you beam with excitement.

“Of course.” You said calmer than before, “But I don’t know what help I’d be as I’m terrible at this game.” You giggled.

You typed in chat your number, your fingers shaking slightly. “Nah, I liked playing with you.” He said more confident, “You make it more fun. Even though I haven’t ever spoken to you before.” He chuckled. You smiled at his words. Butterflies formed in your stomach hearing him laugh.

You and Corpse chatted a bit more until he decided he should go, but you wished you guys could have kept talking the whole night. You felt this connection with him that you couldn’t put into words. It felt so easy for you to talk to him and you didn’t feel as nervous around him as the others you met today. There was something so calming about him that washed your fears away. You shook your head from the thoughts and told yourself that you just met him today, you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself but it was hard not to.

You were laying in your bed scrolling through twitter when you got a text.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

hey its corpse

is this (Y/N)?

Your heart skipped a beat. You were excited Corpse texted you so fast, hoping you two could continue talking.

You

That’s me!

I thought you were going to sleep?

Corpse🥺🖤

nah i hardly ever sleep i just left because i didnt want to keep you up

i really enjoyed playing with you

You

I enjoyed playing with you too

We should play together again soon

Corpse🥺🖤

definitely

You’ve begun to become really good friends with Corpse over the past week. You and him would facetime each other whenever you could. You always were on facetime with him, actually. Whenever you were studying, you guys were talking. Whenever he was editing, you guys were talking. When you were about to go to bed, you guys were talking. 

Right now, you guys were facetiming as you were studying for an upcoming exam and he was trying to stay awake. You liked having him around when you were studying even if it was through a phone. You didn’t feel pressured to talk or have to worry about an awkward silence with him. It was comfortable silence.

You started to worry that you were keeping him up, though. “You can go to bed if you want,” You said softly as you looked up from your textbook to the black screen propped up against a few books. “ I don’t want to keep you up. You need some rest.”

“No..” He muttered, “I like having you around..”

“I like having you around too Corpsie but we can talk when you wake up.” You told him a little sternly in an effort to convince him to go to bed.

“Can I ask you something?” He asked out of the blue.

You paused before answering and shifted your gaze to the black screen once again. “Yeah sure, go ahead.” 

“Do you want to maybe stay over here for a bit?” He asked, “Whenever you’re free, I mean. If you don’t want to I get that too I just feel so drawn to you I want you closer to me. Is that weird? I’m sorry if that’s weird. Actually, forget I said-”

“I’d love to come over.” You told him with a smile. “When would you want me to be there?”

“As soon as possible.” He said in his raspy, tired voice. Butterflies formed in your stomach and you felt your heart skip a beat. This man was something else.

“I can be over there in the morning..” You start, “I just have to pack and everything. Is it okay if I bring Royal? I don’t want to leave him with my sister.” You look over to Royal sleeping peacefully on your bed, snoring away.

“Hell yeah!” Corpse exclaimed, “I love animals! Bring him over.” You giggled at his excitement.

Corpse ended up falling asleep soon after and you ended the call. As you were getting ready for bed you began to think of what Corpse’s place would be like and what you guys would do. You were definitely going to show him Stardew Valley, that was for sure. You pondered the thought of you finally confessing to him that you wanted to be not just his friend, but girlfriend. You’ve been wanting to do it for awhile now but you get too scared and end up chickening out, so you figured if he liked you like you like him, he’d make the first move. You started to make up scenarios in your head about finally hanging out with Corpse in person as you drifted off to sleep, hearing Royal snoring peacefully in the background.

It was the next morning and as soon as you woke up you changed into your favorite outfit and began to pack. You didn’t know how long you were staying for but you decided to pack about 2 weeks worth of clothes just to be on the safe side. Royal was sitting on the floor watching you as you hurried from your closet to the suitcase on your bed. You were happily humming as you were excited about the day. You heard your phone buzz and you quickly grabbed it from your bed as you saw the name pop up on the screen.

Corpse🥺🖤

hey :) 

heres the address:

You

Thanks! and hello 😊

You two texted until you were ready to go. You were definitely NOT looking forward to driving two and a half hours from LA to San Diego but you were so excited to see Corpse that the dread of the long car ride washed away.

You put Royal into his harness and plopped him in the back seat. He looked at you confused since he rarely ever gets to go for rides in the car. “We’re going to see a friend!” You tell him while petting his head. He then laid down and began to close his eyes.

After what seemed like forever you were finally outside Corpse’s apartment. You grabbed Royal and attached his leash to his harness and then proceeded to grab your giant (and heavy) suitcase out of the trunk. You struggled getting the suitcase up the apartment building stairs but you managed. You felt a sense of relief that his apartment building had an elevator so you didn’t have to deal with more stairs. The ones at the entrance were enough. While you were waiting for the elevator to take you to his floor you took this opportunity to text him.

You

On my way up!

Almost immediately after you sent it he read it. He started typing but the three dots quickly disappeared. Before you could question it the elevator doors opened to his floor. “Come on, Bud!” You said to Royal and motioned for him to go ahead. Royal got up from his sitting stance and lead the way. After passing 2 other doors, you were at Corpse’s. You knocked two times.

You heard shuffling on the other side and the door knob turning shortly after. Before you knew it, Corpse was in front of you. His eyes were looking at yours. You immediately smiled. “Hi.” Corpse said with a slight smile as well.

“Hi..” You said shyly. You didn’t know how to react now that he was in front of you and not behind a screen. He stepped aside and motioned for you to come inside. You entered his apartment and set your suitcase by the couch. Royal was pawing at Corpse’s leg, begging for pets.

“Aww, hi buddy!” Corpse said excitedly. “He’s so well behaved.” Corpse was talking to you now.

“Yeah, it took work though.” You laughed slightly. “Your place is really nice.” You said as you looked around. You noticed all of his mirrors were covered up, but you decided not to ask him about that. He probably had his reasons.

“Thank you.” Corpse said as he looked at you. “You look pretty.”

You blushed and turned your head away from him so he couldn’t see your pink cheeks. “Thank you.”

Corpse cleared his throat, “So uh, I don’t have a guest bedroom so I’ll take the couch for however long you want to stay.”

You quickly shot your head at him. “No no no I’m not letting you sleep on the couch in your own apartment.” You argued with him.

“Well, I’m not letting you sleep on the couch.” Corpse stated.

“Then we’ll share your bed.” You said with a shrug and headed towards his room to set your suitcase down, Royal following closely behind you. You didn’t see anything wrong with it. You and Rae share one whenever you guys sleep over at each other’s house and you thought this was no different

“O-okay.” He responded and quickly followed after you, “So, this is my room.” he said as you and him both entered.

“I like it!” You exclaimed as you looked around. You liked how dark it was in there. You smiled at him and he smiled back at you. That smile.. You thought and quickly fumbled with your suitcase as you set it down by his closet. Corpse came closer to you.

“Can I give you a hug?” Corpse said a little shyly, as if I’d say no.

“Of course!” You said and wrapped your arms around his neck. He was taken aback but quickly put his hands around your waist. You caught a whiff of his mild cologne which made you want to stay in the hug a little longer. You didn’t want to be weird though and pulled away from the embrace.

“I’m really happy you’re here.” He said as he looked into your eyes. I could kiss him right now, oh my God. Your mind raced, but you managed to get out some words.

“I am, too.” You said.

It’s only been about a day since you’ve been over at Corpse’s. Sharing the bed seems to be no big deal as he barely seems to sleep. You so far liked being there with him.

Right now, you were on the phone with an overly excited Rae.

“You’re at his HOUSE?!” She yelled excitedly in your ear. Your face cringed a little bit from the yelling.

“Yeah,” You told her, “He has a really nice place.” You said as you scanned his living room.

“I knew you guys would hit it off!” Rae said, “I should be a matchmaker or something.” You blushed at her comment.

“Nothing’s happened yet.” You said quietly, not wanting Corpse to hear you.

“Girl, you’re at his house.” Rae said in a obvious tone. You rolled your eyes.

“This could just mean he likes having me over as a FRIEND.” You told her. You were hoping that wasn’t the case though and Corpse did have feelings for you. You smiled at the thought.

“You are so oblivious.” Rae said with a sigh, “Anyway, I gotta go workout. Love ya! Hope everything goes well!” She said the last part in her sing songy voice.

“Love you too!” You said back and ended the call. What do I do now? You thought. Corpse was streaming so you couldn’t hangout with him right now and your physics class isn’t till a few hours. You were hungry, though, and decided to cook some lunch for you and Corpse. It’ll be a nice surprise for him. You smiled at the thought.

You made your delicious Dorito taco salad that you love so much. You made a bowl for Corpse as well and took it to his room where he resided. He didn’t seem to be streaming anymore and was just scrolling through Twitter on his computer.

“I come with food!” You say as you place the bowl down in front of him. You seem to have startled him as he jumped slightly when you spoke. He examined the bowl suspiciously.

“What is this?” He says cautiously of your creation.

“It’s Dorito taco salad.” You explain, “It has crushed up Doritos, of course, shredded chicken, lettuce, olives, and sour cream in it.” He seemed to be skeptical of it, which was a given every time you made it for someone new, but people ended up loving it when they tasted it. You were confused as to how many people found it weird since your mom made it for you when you were a kid a ton, so you were used to the delicious lunch dish.

“Okay.” He said and took a bite of it. His eyes lit up. “Oh my god, this is so good!” He exclaimed and took another bite. You giggled with excitement that he loved it like you did.

You both ate together and laid down on the bed as you talked about random things that were going on in your lives. You guys were laughing at a joke Corpse said until Corpse got serious.

“I have to tell you something.” Corpse said and looked into your eyes.

“Okay,” You said confused, “Go ahead.”

He took a deep breath. “I like you.” He confessed, “Like, romantically. I have for awhile now actually and I don’t know what it is about you and I thought I was done with love but you make me feel so happy and different from anyone else I’ve talked to. You don’t have to feel the same way but I couldn’t keep my feelings in for any longer.”

You paused for a moment. Is this actually happening? Are you in a dream? “I like you too, Corpse.” You say softly. His eyes beam with excitement..

“Really?” He asks.

You laugh at his bewilderment. “Yes, really!”

He tackles you in a hug on the bed. You giggle from his excitement. He’s on top of you and he lifts his head up from your neck to look you in the eyes. You get a rush of emotions as you see the care and love in his eyes as he’s looking at you.

You blurt out what you were thinking in that exact moment. “Kiss me.”

He leans in and kisses you softly. One hand is holding him up on the bed as the other is cupping your cheek. You take one hand and tangle it in his hair. This causes him to deepen the kiss with you. The kiss turns rough. You’re both so in the moment you don’t want to come up for air but you guys manage to keep going by taking in air when your lips part for brief moments. The hand that was cupping your cheek is now next to your head, taking the responsibility of holding him up. The other hand is trailing up and down your thigh, squeezing your thigh tightly ever so often. You eventually break the heated kiss and look up at him. You were hoping he could see the love you had for him in your eyes.

“I liked that.” You say smiling.

He chuckled at your words. “I like it too.”

[whumpdoyoumean]

Whumptober #12

xxx what could go wrong?

Mako’s agonized screams are still echoing in Tendo’s mind as he climbs back into the remnants of the plane. He’d had to apply a makeshift tourniquet to her mangled leg once they got her safely out of the wreckage, but she’s stable now. By some miracle her phone is working and she’d been able to call HQ. Apparently the pilot’s mayday had made it through and help was already on the way when she called which is good because they could really use it.

Dread settles deep in Tendo’s chest as he makes his way back onto the wreckage. He’s not even sure if Raleigh survived the crash, and if he had, well. They’re going to have a hell of a time getting him out of here. It’s unclear whether the lower half of his body is being crushed under the mess of aluminum and steel, but even if it’s not it’s going to be tricky. It’s like he’s at the center of a deadly game of Jenga; any wrong move could bring the whole thing crashing down around him…

One step at a time, Tendo reminds himself, shaking the grisly image from his mind. 

It would be easier if the current step weren’t to see if Raleigh is alive. His fingers tremble as takes one of the man’s wrists in his hands and feels for a pulse. He almost laughs when he finds it, and one hand clutches at his rosary. The other hand reaches up to touch Raleigh’s face, mindful of the dark, sticky blood that covers half of it. 

“Hey, Raleigh, you with me?”

Raleigh’s eyes move beneath the lids, and his lips part slightly. 

“Raleigh! Raleigh, you there buddy? Hey, you with me?”

Raleigh lets out a groan, and his eyes flutter open. It doesn’t offer the reassurance Tendo had hoped for, however--his eyes are glazed, and one pupil is visibly larger than the other. 

“Tendo?” he slurs, and Tendo can see his shoulders begin to tense.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” he says quickly. “Don’t move, don’t--don’t try and move. You’re, uh…you’re stuck pretty good. Wouldn’t want anything to shift. But help is coming, okay? Help is on the way!”

The corners of Raleigh’s mouth lift in a tired smile. “You’re always so worried.” The words all run together as he speaks. “Why’re you always so…” The smile drops from his face. “Where’s Mako?”

“She’s fine! Mako is fine, Raleigh, she’s safe. She’s on the phone right now letting everyone know what happened.”

Raleigh nods slightly. “What happened…” he breathes, and Tendo isn’t sure if it’s a question or not. He doesn’t want to answer, though. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks instead. 

“Not…not feelin’ much ‘f I’m honest.”

It’s a mercy, in a lot of ways. But it also means that he’s in bad shape. And him surviving so much just to die here, that would be nothing short of cruelty. Even in bad shape, though, Raleigh is observant enough to read Tendo’s expression. 

“‘sat a bad thing?”

“No,” Tendo says, feigning a scoff. “You’re gonna be fine.”

Raleigh’s brow furrows slightly, mouth pulling down at the corners. And then he asks, "Where's Mako?" 

Tendo's stomach turns. He knew Raleigh had a concussion, but he hadn’t known it was this bad.

"She's safe, buddy," he says, quietly so his voice doesn’t crack. He reaches forward to squeeze Raleigh’s hand, hoping that the gesture is more reassuring than his voice.

"Good," Raleigh mutters, his face relaxing a little. "Good...And Yancy?" 

Tendo's breath catches in his throat. God what is he supposed to say to that? He forces his battered ribs to expand and he takes a deep breath. "Yeah. He's out there waiting for you too, so you've gotta hang on, okay? Hang on until we can get you out the hell out of here. It won’t be long, now.”

“That’s good, cus I’m…” Tears well up in his eyes and his chin wobbles. “‘m scared.” His voice cracks. “I want--I want Yance to be here, if, if I die I need him to--Yancy?”

“He went to get help,” Tendo says, hating himself for lying and knowing that telling the truth would make him hate himself more. He has to blink tears from his own eyes. “And you’re not dying. Do you hear me? You. Are not. Dying.” 

The familiar sound of chopper blades pulls his attention upward, and Mako’s voice comes a second later: “I see them!”

“You hear that, Raleigh? They’re here! They’re…” He trails off as he looks back down. “Raleigh?”

The man’s head has tipped down to his chin, his eyes closed. 

“No, no, no. Raleigh. Raleigh, come on! They’re coming, they’re right out there, you gotta…Fuck! Come on, man, you gotta hang on. I’ve lost you twice already, okay, and even though--even though you didn’t really die I remember how it felt when I thought that you had and I don’t want to feel like that forever. So you hang on, Raleigh! Hang on!”

The sound of the choppers has risen to a roar, and he can hear shouting. 

“Here!” he yells. “In here!” 

Uniformed people swarm onto the plane--an exfil team made up of soldiers and medics--and one of them takes him by the arm. 

“What--what are you doing? I’m not leaving him!”

“We gotta check you out.”

“I’m fine!” The cry that rips from him as he tries to shrug the man off severely undermines the statement, however, and he realizes for the first time just how much pain he’s in. 

“Come on.”

He lets himself be led away, looking over his shoulder as he does. “Get him out! You get him out of there!”

“We’re gonna do our very best, sir. Gonna step out of the plane now, it’s a bit of a drop but I gotcha.”

Mako is already on a gurney with an IV in one arm when Tendo gets out of the plane. 

“Where is he?” 

“They’re working on getting him out,” the soldier answers, and Tendo is glad that he didn’t have to.

This is the first time he’s really slowed down since waking up after the crash, and the exhaustion hits him all at once, slamming into him like a truck. He’s falling before he has a chance to realize what’s happening, and the soldier that brought him out of the plane is the only thing that keeps him from becoming a heap on the ground. 

“Hey, we need a medic over here!” 

He’s barely able to focus on the questions that barrage him. He’s too busy watching the wreckage, waiting and praying and praying and praying again.

xxx 

Later, when he spends a week waiting with Mako to see if Raleigh will wake up, he’ll realize that hope can feel worse than despair. He’ll wonder if all of this worrying and caring and hurting (and broken ribs and bruised organs) are worth it. And, when Raleigh opens his eyes and immediately cracks a joke, he will decide that it is.

xxx 

[shedreamsofstars]

the leaves are falling, and my love so are we

Amy has invited Sonic, Silver and Blaze on a mountain hike. Even though not everyone knows or even remembers that it's technically a double date, nothing stops the four of them from enjoying a day in each other's company, and even falling a little more in love with each other. Written for Sonamy / Silvaze Week 2020

... xxx ...

"Amy, I thought this hike was supposed to be a group thing," Sonic said sullenly, stretching his arms above his head as he leaned against the fence. His breath frosted ahead of him in a misty cloud of white, vanishing almost as soon as it appeared.

Autumn was in full swing, and that meant that the chill in the air was here to stay. The blue hedgehog had forgone a coat and hat in favour of a simple black scarf he'd found balled up in the back of his wardrobe, but as burst of wind whistled by, Sonic was starting to regret his decision a little.

"It is," Amy insisted. She'd clearly gotten the right idea, standing beside him bundled up in pastel shades of wool. She looked perfectly cosy and warm – not that he had any plans to find out if she actually was.

Sonic bounced awkwardly on the balls of his feet, his eyes flashing to the only other people in the area, Silver and Blaze. They were also dressed for the weather, and for a brief moment Sonic wondered if anyone would notice if he ran home quickly before deciding against it.

He was fast, but not that fast.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a frown, attempting to tighten his scarf to keep the chill out. "Because, this kinda seems like some sorta two timing date thing. Shouldn't there be more people here of something?"

"It's called a double date, and yes I am sure. Besides, do you really think I can trick you into a date so easily."

"Yes, absolutely. I do think so," Sonic deadpanned, grinning as the girl pouted at him. "Okay, fine. I'll believe you … even if it is kinda suspicious."

Amy gave him a smug smile and he was tempted to roll his eyes at her. Instead, he pushed off the fence and zipped over to the other two members of their party. "Have you guys been up this way before?"

"No," Blaze replied, rubbing her gloved hands together. "At least … I haven't." She turned expectantly to Silver who also shook his head.

"Me neither. Not in this world at least."

"Alright. Looks like we got two newbies on our hands, Ames," he said, glancing over his shoulder to see Amy slowly making her way over.

"This trail is really very pretty this time of year so you're both going to love it!" she said, barely containing her excitement as she joined them. "Shall we set off?"

Sonic gave her a curt nod, the others agreeing in tandem.

"Great! This is going to be so much fun."

Even without looking at her, the blue hedgehog knew that she was smiling as she spoke, her boots softly thudding against the ground as she began to lead them up the mountainous area.

Blaze was up ahead with the pink hedgehog with Silver following a little behind them, stopping occasionally to pick up fallen autumn memorabilia. Sonic followed at the rear of the pack, and even he found it amusing that despite his need for speed, he was quite content and curious enough to slow down every once in a while.

"You've probably been here hundreds of times, right?" Silver said, and Sonic looked up to see that the boy had slowed down enough to match pace with him. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a tenseness in the other hedgehog's posture that he hadn't noticed earlier.

"I think I lost count somewhere after three-hundred and ninety-four," Sonic joked, smiling as his friend's shoulders relaxed a little bit. "You nervous or something buddy?" he asked, wondering if Amy had been as vague about the nature of today's hike with everyone and not just him.

"Oh," he said, looking a little alarmed at being found out. "It's nothing, really," he said quietly, refusing to meet Sonic's questioning gaze. The blue hedgehog was suspicious to say the least, but he let the comment slide for now.

He didn't want to push the hedgehog into something he wasn't ready to talk about, besides, the walk was long enough for everyone to relax enough that he might just share on his own accord.

"Aright, bud," he replied before clapping him on the back. "We're starting to lose the girls, you wanna race?"

Silver grinned in response.

...xxx...

"We don't have very many of this type in Sol," Blaze said, pointing towards a tree growing just off the path with leaves that jutted out in six directions - two at the top and two on either side. "I think I remember there being some in the Northern regions, but I don't remember what they're called."

"We have plenty of these around here," Amy said, although a light frown settled over her usually perky features as she drew to a halt and placed a single hand on the rough bark of the tree. "I don't remember what they're called though…" she mused, throwing a look over Blaze's shoulder to where the boys were ambling towards them.

"Hey Sonic, do you know the name of this tree?"

Blaze turned just in time to see the blue hedgehog shaking his head and Silver rushing up behind him. If she didn't know any better, then she would have assumed the two of them were attempting some sort of a race. Except she did know better, and Silver wasn't dumb enough to challenge the fastest thing alive.

Either way, it didn't escape her notice that the lighter hedgehog was flushed as they joined them.

"Not a clue. You got any ideas?" he said to the boy beside him.

Her gaze fell to Silver once more as he stooped to pick up one of the fallen leaves, holding it up to the light. "It's a tulip tree," he announced proudly. "I read about these just recently actually. I remember it because the illustration of the leaves reminded me of you Blaze," he said, glancing up to meet her gaze.

Blaze felt heat rush to her cheeks as he moved the hand with the leaf in front of him, his amber eyes flicking from the mottled leaf to her face as he tested his own theory. Amy popped up beside him and narrowed her eyes.

"He's kind of right you know. If I squint like this," she said, doing just that. "It really does look like your silhouette."

"You're both being ridiculous," Blaze said breathily, turning away from them deliberately. "People don't look like leaves," she murmured, unable to shake the way Silver had studied her just a few moments earlier.

She glanced up the path, noticing that it was getting narrower and steeper. It had seemed earlier that they would be taking a route the meandered around the base of the mountain, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Where did you say this route led again?" she asked, surprised to see the Sonic was now beside her and leading the way ahead.

"Can't tell you that," he said smoothly. "That'd ruin the whole surprise."

"I can still appreciate something, even if I know to expect it," she explained.

"Sure you can, but – watch your step," he said, hopping effortlessly over a log that Blaze only noticed at the last moment. "Not knowing is its own kind of adventure, don't you think?" he finished.

Blaze followed after him silently, wondering if perhaps he was right. Silver almost never seemed to have anything planned out, at least never in the same excruciating detail she did, and he always seemed to be having a good time no matter what he did.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted after a few long minutes of silence.

"I always am," Sonic said cockily, stopping only long enough to call out to the two stragglers behind them. "Hurry it up slow coaches. I just saw a snail shoot past us."

...xxx...

The walk up the mountain was tiring to say the least, but Amy was enjoying herself immensely. Not only was she getting the chance to spend time with two friends she didn't get to see often, but she also got the entire day with Sonic the Hedgehog, her most favourite person in the world.

In fact she was enjoying herself so much that she actually felt a wave of disappointment when she realised they'd reached the clearing that marked the half-way point. It meant that their day together was started to reach its peak, and that put a time limit on her remaining hours with the people around her.

She put on a bright smile and tried to put the thought out of her head as she approached Silver. The group had taken a five-minute break to hydrate and catch their breaths, and the white hedgehog was currently sat on a large tree stump.

Several pinecones and acorns that he'd collected on the way up floated around in front of him in a teal haze, and he dropped them into his hands as he saw Amy approaching. He shuffled over to make room for her with a smile that almost seemed as forced as her own.

"So," she said as she dropped down beside him. "How's your date with Blaze going?"

"Oh, I think Blaze is having a grea- wait, what do you mean date?" he said looking slightly alarmed.

"Silver …" Amy said, levelling him an incredulous questioning look. "You can't be serious right? I told you today was a date."

Silver swallowed nervously before nodding as if he had just remembered that particular piece of information. His gaze flitted across the clearing to where Blaze was kneeling on the ground, rifling gingerly through a pile of leaves with a look of pure concentration.

"That explains that," he mused softly, looking much more at ease than he had just moments before. "Wait, does … does she know it's a date?" he asked, seeming almost scared of the response he might get.

"Of course she does silly. You're clearly the only oblivious one here," Amy joked, nudging the boy beside her.

"Hmm," he mulled softly, dragging his gaze to the floor with a frown before lifting it up again. "I should go and see what she's doing," he mumbled more to himself as he stood and headed towards the purple cat as Amy ushered him along.

"So … this is a date then," a voice purred from behind her and the pink hedgehog froze in alarm.

Shoot. Of course she hadn't heard him approach.

Amy blew out a frustrated puff of air before slowly turning her head to see Sonic standing behind her, watching her through a narrowed gaze that did nothing to hide the wildness in his green eyes.

"Because I'm pretty sure I remember a certain someone telling me it definitely wasn't a double date."

Amy flashed a glance towards Silver, waiting until he was a little further away before tugging Sonic down beside her. He landed clumsily, clearly not expecting her to man handle him like that, but he caught himself before he fell right off the edge of the stump.

"It's not … at least, not really," she said, realising as soon as she said it that it wasn't much of an explanation at all.

"What does that even mean?" he said, looking thoroughly confused.

"Well, you know that Blaze and Silver are dating, right."

"No, I didn't actually," he said, his brows shooting upwards as he glanced towards them. Silver had kneeled down besides the girl and Sonic couldn't help but feel a pulse of pride that the two of them had been brave enough to follow their hearts.

"They have been for a while," she said with a shake of her head. "Of course you'd be dense enough to miss it." There was no venom to her words, only a warm acknowledgement, and Sonic gave her a lopsided grin in response.

"You love that about me," he scoffed, and Amy refused to acknowledge the remark or how it threatened to make her head spin in delight.

"They've been together forever, but they've never been on an official date so I thought it would be nice if they had it here with us. Things are always easier when there's more of you."

"Amy, you know that's not true for everyone right," he said. "Some people prefer their dates to be a little more private."

"I know that, but you've seen them," Amy said exasperatedly. "At least with a double date, we can help push them together."

"That sounds suspiciously like meddling to me."

"It's not!" she said defensively. "Besides, Blaze only agreed to go if it was a double date so, technically it's not even my doing."

Sonic's gaze flicked back to the couple by the leaves and understanding seemed to cross his feature.

"I think I get it now," he said slowly. "It's like a safety blanket thing, right. I guess it's kinda hard to be nervous when your best friend is beside you bouncing on her heels with excitement the whole time."

"Hey," Amy said in mock hurt and Sonic only chuckled in response.

...xxx...

Silver's mind was racing with thoughts as he made his way across the soft ground towards Blaze. When he'd gotten the text from Amy, it had definitely mentioned that today was supposed to be a date, but he supposed he'd been pretty oblivious to the meaning behind that.

He'd just automatically assumed it would be a friend thing, but he'd been nervous from the moment they'd arrived, feeling like he'd forgotten something important.

Amy had cleared that up pretty quickly, but the worry had vanished only to be replaced by a new sort. Did Blaze know today was a date, or was she going about today almost as oblivious as he had been until it had been spelled out for him in black and white.

This was a date.

She didn't notice him at first, at least not until he'd crouched down across from her. And even then she barely registered his presence as she sifted through the pile of leaves in front of her.

"You're looking through that leaf pile pretty intensely," he said, knowing the exact moment his voice filtered through her focus. She startled and looked up, her eyes wide and bright as she caught sight of him.

"I'm sorry Silver. I didn't mean to ignore you."

"I know," he said kindly. "You were pretty lost in concentration, but … what are you doing?"

"Oh, this," she said, a small smile finding its way onto her lips as Silver ruffled the dry leaves between them. It widened as he threw a handful into the air between them.

As mesmerising as the view of the gold and auburn leaves floating to the ground was, the sight of Blaze watching them with that transfixed gaze of hers was infinitely better he decided.

"I was trying to find one that wasn't too damaged or wind-eaten," she admitted once the final leaf had fallen back to the ground.

"Want me to help?"

She nodded and the two got to work shuffling through the various types that had been heaped together. "So, what do you want it for?" he asked as he searched.

"A … memento of sorts, I suppose," she replied, her eyes glued to her fingers as she discarded a few leaves she didn't like the look of. Silver was quiet, knowing that she'd recognise his silence as a cue to explain further. "I'd like something to remember our first proper date by, and a leaf seems just as good as anything."

"So you did know it was date," he murmured in relief, although his words were so soft she didn't catch them.

"What was that?" she asked, her golden gaze flitting up to catch his for a single glance before dropping back down to where her hands sifted the crackling leaves.

"I was just saying that it's a nice idea," he said, his fingers brushing against a large golden leaf bleeding through with shots of green and red. "This one's pretty interesting looking," he said, holding it up for his girlfriend to see.

Blaze cocked her head to the side, reaching out a single finger to trace the single vein of green before nodding. "I like this one," she said softly. "I like it even better that you found it, actually," she admitted, and Silver felt his stomach flutter at her words.

Blaze was pretty straightforward about a lot of things, but it was rare for her to be straightforward about the way she felt. So the fact that she hadn't even hesitated to tell him that had a warm heat rushing to his face.

"You two done over there," Sonic called from behind him somewhere.

"We're done," Blaze replied, taking the leaf from Silver and standing to brush the dirt off her legs. Silver did the same before giving Blaze a slight dip of the head to let her know he was ready.

He couldn't help but notice that the purple cat clutched her new leaf tightly as they joined the others to continue their trek up the mountain.

...xxx...

Sonic was the first to catch the sound of running water in the distance, and it took a severe amount of self-restraint to keep from rushing on ahead. He was supposed to stick with the others, and so he forced his feet to slow and one by one, the others overtook him.

Or at least, all but one.

Whilst Silver and Blaze shuffled on ahead, Amy hovered beside him with a concerned frown. "Are you okay Sonic? You're never usually this …" She paused as she mulled over the correct term. "… slow."

Sonic cracked a smile. "I know, but if I speed up then I won't be slowing down any time soon. And I'm pretty sure you need me to stick around for this whole thing, right?"

Amy nodded, her face softening. "Thank you Sonic."

"Ah, it's nothing," he mumbled, forcing his gaze ahead of them as Silver and Blaze rounded the bend. "And, three … two … one." Sonic snapped his fingers right at the moment Silver let out a cry of delight from the front and he turned to give Amy a knowing smirk.

"There's a waterfall all the way up here!"

It only took a second before Sonic and Amy joined the other two who had paused in their tracks. The trail ahead rounded out at a dead end, but beyond the fence that marked the trail was where the true reason for their hike lay.

A serene waterfall cascaded down from high in the mountains, the water falling steadily only to crash into a frothing pool at its base. It wasn't long before all four of them were pressed up against the fence and gazing at the precarious waters below.

The waterfall fed into a river that flowed down the opposite side of the mountain, and no matter how many treks he'd made, Sonic was still a little disappointed that he'd never managed to find the source.

"So ... what kind of surprise would you call this one, Blaze?" Sonic said, stepping back a little when water sprayed against his muzzle. As much as he liked the view, he still didn't like the idea of being too close to water.

"I would say this is definitely a good kind," she responded, and Sonic couldn't help but notice the intimate look she flashed at Silver, or the way the other hedgehog's hands were protectively wrapped around her waist as if to keep her from leaning in too close.

He turned to ask Amy what she thought of the view, but when he turned to his side he found that she had disappeared. For a split second, Sonic's heart was in his mouth as his mind considered the possibility that she'd fallen over into the water below.

But a crunch of a twig somewhere behind him brought him back to his senses and he spotted her a few steps behind, gazing wistfully up at the lip of the water above.

"What're you thinking about Ames?" he said as he joined her.

"Oh nothing," she said, dropping her gaze to meet his. "I was just trying to memorise the moment I guess. It's not often I get to come up here, and with you in tow too," she added with a smile.

Sonic shrugged in agreement. He really didn't get to spend much time with her, especially now that they were older. Maybe he needed to rectify that in the future.

"There's an easier way to remember things, you know?" he said, reaching into his pocket. "Hey Silver, catch!" he called, tossing his phone across to the other hedgehog.

Anyone else would have missed and let the phone tumble over the edge, but Silver's powers shot into effect immediately and he guided the phone into his outstretched fingers with ease.

He flashed Sonic a confused look.

"Can you snap a picture of us here?" Sonic asked, grabbing Amy's arm and guiding her closer to the waterfall. Her eyes went wide as he slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side with a wide smile.

"Sure," Silver replied before pausing a beat. "Um … Amy, are you gonna look at the camera?"

"Oh … sorry," Amy mumbled from beside him, and Sonic chuckled to himself as he realised she'd been staring at him that whole time.

The phone camera flashed three times consecutively, and at one point Sonic snuck a glance to his side under the guise of fixing his scarf, before Silver lowered the phone with a frown.

"Is it done?" the white hedgehog asked, voice laced with confusion and an expression to match.

"Let me check," Sonic said as he let his arms slip off of Amy. "Thanks bud," he said as he reached Silver and accepted his phone, showing the other boy how to check the gallery for the recent photos.

He didn't dare glance in Amy's direction until he was done, but by that time she was lost in conversation with Blaze and he'd already lost his hold on any words he might have wanted to say to her anyway.

...xxx...

Lunch was a simple meal of sandwiches and granola bars downed with water. No one had been excited at the prospect of carrying too much so they'd all packed pretty light. Amy had been pretty vague on the details, so he and Blaze hadn't even been sure how long they'd be out for.

The walk up the trail had been intriguing enough, that Silver hadn't even noticed he was ravenous until he took the first bite of his sandwich sitting cross legged on the ground beside Blaze.

It was like shattering a glass bottle and releasing his hunger from its prison as suddenly his stomach grumbled loudly in protest of the lack of sustenance, audible even over the noise of the water crashing down behind him.

"Sorry," he said to no one in particular, his mouth still full of food as he took another bite to sate himself. He caught Blaze watching him from his side, her gaze flitting away to her own food when he noticed.

He smiled into his sandwich, wondering when she'd just let herself openly look at him whenever she wanted. It wasn't as if he minded. Not if it was her at least.

He jolted in surprise as something warm touched his free hand, the one resting on the ground beside him. He glanced down to see the purple cat's hand hovering next to his own and realised that she must have knocked him by accident.

Unless …

Still staring straight ahead and, taking a bite of his sandwich for good measure, Silver stretched out his pinkie finger until it collided against the edge of Blaze's hand. He considered pulling it back, but before he could, the cat had shifted her own so that it was suddenly tangled with his.

Silver swallowed nervously, his gaze flitting between the two hedgehogs sat across from him but neither of them seemed to have noticed anything.

It was the slightest of contact, his smallest finger hooked innocuously to Blaze's, but already Silver could feel her head radiating through him. She was always warm, likely due to her flames, whereas more often than not his own hands were ice cold.

When he'd mentioned that those two things meant they were destined to be together, she had rolled her eyes affectionately, but he couldn't help but think it again now as her warmth flooded through him.

They remained that way for the duration of their small lunches, even as Amy handed out jam tarts that she'd made the night before for dessert. Throughout all of it, neither Amy nor Sonic made any comment on their linked hands.

Maybe they just assumed it was normal for them or something, but Silver was thankful regardless. He was a little regretful when it came time to begin the trek back down and Blaze removed her finger to collect her belongings, clutching at her leaf once more.

As the group made their way back down the mountain, Silver found himself missing Blaze even though she was stood right beside him. He knew that he needed to touch her, to remind himself that she was right there, but he was reluctant to admit it to her.

This was a date and they both knew it. Silver held her hand all the time. So why then did the first fact make him so nervous about the second?

His brows dipped as he contemplated his dilemma, and it didn't take her long to notice and call his name softly enough that the other two walking ahead wouldn't notice. "Is everything okay?" she asked, voice hushed but full of concern.

"Yeah," he said quickly. "Actually, do you mind if …" he trailed off, his fingers flexing nervously at his side as he realised he couldn't go through with his original request. "Your leaf, you want me to look after it for you?"

"Oh," Blaze said, looking at little surprised. "Please do," she said, holding out the leaf she had been twirling in her fingers. He took it gently and smiled.

"You should hold it in your other hand," she commented, and Silver did, a little confused as to how it made any difference until he felt Blaze's arm link with his and her body press closer to him as she slid her hand down his arm and into his

Silver caught her eye and she kept her smile steady. How did she always know exactly what he wanted even when he said nothing? It didn't really matter if he was honest, having her around was more than enough.

"Thank you," he whispered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. She returned the favour without hesitation.

...xxx...

Amy's heart was so full as she finally reached her garden gate at the end of the day, waving off the others as they headed to their respective homes and times. She'd had an incredible day, and she only hoped the others would say the same thing.

They'd made it down the mountain just before the sun began to set, so by the time she sat down on her doorstep, she could see her garden burn in beautiful deep colours in the glow of the fast disappearing sun.

She didn't want to go inside just yet, and she knew it was stupid, but it almost felt like she could make the memory of the day last longer the more she lingered out here.

Going inside and sheltering from the chilly air she'd spent the days company in felt like finally deciding that it was over and done, and she wanted to make today last as long as possible.

Picking up her phone, she quickly sent everyone messages to thank them for their company and to check that they'd all gotten home safely before placing it face down on the ground beside her.

She watched quietly as the sun dipped down in the horizon, its soft glow replaced by the equally soft glow of the moon that bathed her view in ivory. A moth fluttered nearby, attracted by the light of her phone screen as she checked her messages to see replies from both Silver and Blaze.

She missed them already, but they'd promised to be back soon, so she refused to hold it against them. Especially after she'd caught them clinging to each other more and more as the day went on.

That sight alone had made her romantic heart sing with joy.

She had expected to have to intervene more, despite Sonic's warning on meddling, but as it happened, she hadn't had to do anything at all. The two of them managed just find on their own.

Shivering a little from the cold, she stood, fully ready to head inside when her phone buzzed once more in her hands. She lifted it up to see who had messaged her, and the butterflies in her chest soared at the name of the sender.

Sonic.

She unlocked it quickly, opening the message.

S: just made it home S: today was fun

Amy shook her head at his response, an involuntary smile lifting her lips.

Despite being the speediest of the bunch, of course Sonic was the last one to make it home. She had no doubt he had made several detours along the way, but the thought only made her smile widen.

She was about to put her phone away when it buzzed again and she saw a picture flash up in the chat, one that made her sink back down onto the doorstep in surprise.

Sonic had sent her a photo of the two of them, the very one that Silver had taken that day by the waterfall. Amy's face in the picture was so pink that she looked like she'd smeared berry juice all over her face, but it wasn't herself she was drawn to.

No.

She had been too concerned with the unexpectedness of it all at the time that she hadn't noticed Sonic at all. She had the vague memory of him snickering beside her once Silver had her attention, but she'd had no idea that he'd been looking at her whilst the photo was being taken.

And like … that.

Like she was the only thing worth looking at, even with the wonderous waterfall falling in a sparkling rainbow of light behind them.

Before she could dwell too hard on it, Amy send back two hearts.

His reply was instant.

S: speechless huh. you can't think of a single word?

A: I'm sure I can think of at least one.

Amy replied, unable to back down from a challenge. She bit her bottom lip, wondering if there was actually any word that could truly encompass how wonderful the day had been despite it not being an actual date.

She bit back a giggle as Sonic replied with a series of impatient replies, each one less coherent than the last. Making him wait just as long as it took for her to set the photo of the two of them as her phone background, Amy finally succumbed to his pleads and hit send.

A: Magical.

...xxx...

and scene. did i attempt to mash up almost every single prompt into one fic because i have no time or am i just lazy. yes and also yes.

i hope you all had a great sonamy/silvaze week! i'm slowly catching up on some of the stuff created and i've already seen some amazing work! there's so many talented people in the sonic community, i feel blessed.

this had so many pov jumps that i might have confused myself a little whilst writing lol. if the transitions are terrible, my bad (it's all a learning curve right?) i hope you enjoyed it for what it was meant to be. i know i had a great time writing some of the interactions, especially between the characters who don't meet often.

thanks so much for reading! let me know your thoughts if you have a moment 😊

[hobeymakar]

Unapologetically | C. Makar Part 1

Chapter word count: 3,526

A/N: Title from the song Unapologetically by Kelsea Ballerini. This is my first chaptered fic in a long time and my first written on here, so please be kind. This fic is based off a set of very vivid reoccurring dreams I’ve had over the last couple of months that involve Cale and like the true psycho I am, I wrote the big things that happened in those dreams down. Then I decided recently to just turn it to a fic, so this is pretty self-indulgent. Is it possibly narcissistic of me to write a fic about me? Maybe, but I’m gonna write it anyway. This first chapter is gonna be a lil boring and weird because it has a lot of time skips but Chapter 2 will be much more exciting and way better

Shoutouts: @pizzasloot and @hockey-and-wine for being my biggest cheerleaders for writing for this fic in the gc and also shoutout to @grenawitka​ for always keeping the gc lit. I love you girls!

Warnings: explicit language, alcohol use

-

Tatyana “Taty” Marie Ventura or “Ace” as she is now being known as, never thought that when she started a podcast in the comfort of her Rhode Island home, that she would kind of blow up. Taty started the Ace of Hockey podcast because she wanted a career in hockey media and wanted to do it her way, being unapologetically herself. She started the podcast and started messaging hockey players and other athletes in hopes that they would come onto the podcast to talk about diversity and inclusion in the sport.

That’s how she finds herself on an early October evening receiving a message from Cale Makar on how he’s a fan of the podcast. She internally screams because she never thought an actual hockey player would listen to the podcast. She assumed only hockey fans would listen to the podcast and that it would never reach the notoriety of other hockey podcasts.

From: calemakar_

Hey, just wanted to say that I’m a big fan of your podcast. Buddy of mine showed it to me and I think it’s fantastic. It’s helping me learn how to be a better ally

To: calemakar_

Thank you so much, that means a lot honestly!

From: calemakar_

You’re welcome. I’ve been showing it to the team and they think it’s great for them to learn how to be better allies

To: calemakar_

Wow, that means so much! I just want people to know that hockey is great but it would be so much better if it became inclusive to everyone regardless of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc. I just want hockey to really be for everyone

From: calemakar_

That's what we all want. We don't want anyone to feel like they can't play or enjoy hockey because of who they are

She doesn't know how to keep the conversation because she's awkward and just lets the dm sit there. She turns her attention to the latest hockey news and figuring out who's gonna be her next guest for the podcast.

A few hours later, she sees a follow request on her personal IG account and not the podcast account. She sees it's from Cale and is confused on why he would want to follow her personal account. She barely posts stuff about the podcast on there and uses it more to keep up with family with the occasional posts promoting the podcast and the guests. She accepts the request and doesn't think anything of it.

A few days later, she notices that he's been liking her posts and viewing her stories. He's been seeing her interact with family and friends and she still doesn't understand why he cares enough to keep up with her personal account. It starts becoming weird when he adds her on snapchat.

She sends him a dm on instagram to make sure it's actually him and not someone pretending to be him.

To: calemakar_

This might sound totally weird but did you just add me on snapchat?

From: calemakar_

Yeah I'm sorry. Josty thought it would be funny to hijack my phone and add you

To: calemakar_

No need to apologize, I just wanted to make sure it was actually you and not someone trying to be you to catfish girls

From: calemakar_

Yeah no, definitely my account

She accepts him as a friend on Snapchat and sends him a message.

To: Cale Makar

Hope it's okay I added you back

From: Cale Makar

Yeah, that's cool. You didn't have to tho. Don't want you to feel like you had to

To: Cale Makar

Trust me I added you back because I wanted to. I don't just accept anybody

She hits send before she can even think twice about it but then she reads it back and wants the ground to swallow her whole. She panics as she watches the delivered turn into a read and the little bubbles show up saying he's typing. It feels like forever before Cale sends a response back.

From: Cale Makar

Well I'm glad you didn't add me back out of pity

She doesn't know how to respond to that right away so she opens up other messages and posts updates on her work on her story. She goes back to the messages and starts typing a response, not wanting to leave him on read forever.

To: Cale Makar

Why would anybody do that?

She exits out of it and hopes that her attempts at extending a conversation aren't met with disappointment.

From: Cale Makar

I admit you got me there

To: Cale Makar

I get people to say that a lot

From: Cale Makar

Never picked you as the type to brag

To: Cale Makar

There's a lot of layers to me and a lot of things you don't know about me

From: Cale Makar

Well I hope I get to know more about you

She blinks multiple times not knowing if the message was actually real. After blinking several times, she realizes the message was real and she lets out a squeal. Is he actually flirting with her? She pinches herself because she must be dreaming. There's no way her favorite hockey player and crush is flirting with her. Shit like that doesn't happen to her! She has zero game and has been on a grand total of zero dates in her life. She has had zero boyfriends and girlfriends in her life, so this is something brand new for her.

Maybe she's reading it wrong? Maybe he's just being polite and isn't actually flirting. She decides it's better not to stress it and just go with the flow. 

That's how she approaches the next couple of weeks with her pumping out content for her podcast, working her actual day job, and working on her social media game for the podcast. She also dms tons of people she sees as potential guests on the podcast. 

Her conversations with Cale become more frequent as she eventually finds herself sending him snaps daily. He actually feels comfortable enough to comment on her posts on her personal IG page now and she honestly doesn't know how this is all even real.

Like before she's not stressing it and is going with the flow. However, on the day of Cale's 22nd birthday, she gets hit with a message that causes her to freak out a little.

From: Cale Makar

Hey, is it cool if I got your number? It's much easier if I can just text you. I like you and want to keep getting to know you more

She hyperventilates because she has never had another human being shoe this much interest in her, her whole life. She pinches herself to make sure it's real and it really is real. Cale Makar actually asked for her number. She doesn't know if she should be jumping for joy or preparing for something to go wrong. This is completely uncharted waters for her and she doesn't know if she should go with her heart or her mind. Her mind is telling her not to do it, but her heart is telling her to do it. After a minute, she decides to go with her heart.

To: Cale Makar

Yeah, that's totally cool! (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

She sees a text from an unknown number a minute later pop up on her phone

From: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Hey, it's Cale

She saves the number under the name "Cale 🥰" and types out a response

To: Cale 🥰

Hey, happy birthday btw! Hope you're having fun!

From: Cale 🥰

Thank you I'm in Calgary rn with my family

To: Cale 🥰

Glad you're having fun with them

From: Cale 🥰

Thank you it's good to be back home

To: Cale 🥰

I can imagine! I'll let you get back to your family

She focuses on getting ready for Halloween, which also happens to be her sister's birthday. Her sister is turning 21 this year and she wants to make the most of it, even in the midst of a pandemic. They plan on going to Salem, Massachusetts with family and throwing a little party at a cousin's house in Brookline, Massachusetts. She sees Cale post pictures and videos on his Snapchat story of him and his family celebrating his birthday. She sees all his teammates wishing him a happy birthday on Instagram and Twitter.

As she’s getting ready to go to bed that night, she gets a video call from Cale.

“Hello?” she asks, not knowing why he would be calling her.

“Ace!” he shouts, causing her to cringe slightly.

“How’s your birthday going?” she asks.

“Great! I’m with my brother and some buddies from back home! We got a bonfire going on right now!” he explains, showing off the fire and his brother and friends.

She wants the ground to swallow her whole because she looks absolutely disgusting with her hair tied up in a bun, and old URI sweatpants and an URI sweatshirt on. She has no makeup on and she’s pretty sure she has some acne on her face.

“Hey Ace! I’m Taylor, Cale’s brother!” Taylor shouts in excitement.

She can clearly tell that he’s buzzed, as well as Cale.

“Hey Taylor,” she smiles, waving at him politely.

His buddies also introduce themselves and she can tell that they’re also slightly buzzed. A part of her hopes that they aren’t driving and are gonna make it back home safely whether tonight or the following day.

“You should come!” one of his friends suggests.

“I’d love to but I live in America and the border is still closed,” she replies, feeling slightly awkward.

“It’s a shame! I know Cale really misses his girl right now!” another friend chimes in, causing her to almost choke on her wine.

“I’m not his-”

“He won’t stop talking about you! He’s got it bad for you!” another friend adds, causing her to blush even more.

If the ground would swallow her up right now, that would be amazing because she can't believe the shit that she’s hearing right now. She doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol that has his friends saying that but a part of her wishes it’s true. God, a part of her wants him to want her because she definitely likes him. She likes everything about him but she’s too much of a loser to put herself out there more. So she just lets him do all the talking and flirting because once again, she has no game.

“Shut up Taylor!” Cale cries out, shoving his brother lightly.

“Well you seem to be having a fun time with your friends,” she says, not wanting to bring up anything that was said about his feelings for her. 

“It would be better if you were here,” he adds, his voice dropping slightly in volume.

“Yeah, well maybe we’ll meet one day,” she adds, not wanting to sound desperate to meet him or anything.

“When I get back to the States, I’ll make that a reality,” he replies, sounding sincere for being slightly intoxicated.

She’s reminded of the saying that drunken words are sober thoughts and gets a warm feeling in her stomach.

“Well I’ll let you keep having fun, birthday boy. I’ll talk to you later,” she smiles.

“Bye Ace,” he smiles back, before ending the call.

She immediately refills her glass of wine because she’s definitely too sober to be thinking about all the feelings Cale manages to give her every time they talk. She eventually falls asleep and if she dreamed about being in Calgary with Cale, she’ll blame it on the alcohol fucking with her dreams.

The next day is a busy one for Taty as she celebrates her sister’s 21st birthday in the best way she can while in the middle of a pandemic. They go to Salem, Massachusetts and have a blast doing many Halloween-related activities and then once it gets late, they head down to their cousin’s place in Brookline, Massachusetts to watch Halloween movies and to have a good time. Her sister decides to get drunk and Taty posts all their adventures on her Snapchat and her Instagram. She also sees that Cale has been posting his Halloween adventures on Snapchat, which aren’t as exciting this year because there’s no Avs Halloween party this year due to it still being the offseason and not everyone on the team is in Denver at the moment.

The next few weeks go by for Taty and it eventually gets to the point that she’s video chatting with Cale every day. They sometimes will stay up until late at night just talking and getting to know each other. Every day she’s becoming more comfortable and it’s on the first day of training camp, where she decides she’s finally gonna grow a pair and let him know how she feels.

He calls her after a long day at training camp and she actually has the time to talk to him as she isn’t working on anything for the podcast or her day job. 

“How was camp?” she asks him, as she locks herself in her room.

The last thing she needs is for her nosy ass sisters to eavesdrop on her conversations with Cale.

“It was tiring but fun. It was great to be out there with the guys again, even though everything is so weird with the virus going on,” he explains.

“Oh I bet, I can’t imagine all the testing and the extra precautions you guys have to take. The whole season is gonna be super weird huh,” she replies.

“Yeah, weird is a bit of an understatement,” he chuckles lightly.

“I really like you,” she blurts out, then immediately wishes the ground would swallow her whole.

She buries her face in her hands and contemplates ending the call to save herself from further embarrassment.

“Oh thank god! I was starting to think you didn’t really feel the same,” he admits, biting his lip.

“No I definitely like you. It’s just I’m new to this. I’ve never dated before or anything. I’m kind of a giant loser if you haven’t already caught on,” she admits, almost rambling at the end.

“Yeah no, you’re not a loser! You’re the coolest, most fun girl I’ve ever talked to and I just want to keep getting to know you because I really like you,” he assures her.

"So are we putting a label on this? Are we dating?" she asks.

"I guess you can say we're long distance dating," he chuckles lightly.

"I did know our video chats were considered dates," she teases.

"I was seeing them as dates and I want our future ones to be considered dates," he confesses.

"Alright so set up our next date," you tease.

"I know you're recording for the podcast tomorrow so what about Wednesday?" he asks.

"I'm off work Wednesday so that would be perfect. What time works for you?" she asks him.

"8pm my time," he answers.

"Yeah that works for me," she smiles.

"So it's a date?" he asks.

"Yeah it's a date," she smiles, getting a warm feeling in her stomach.

She tells him about some funny stories involving her family and he tells her some funny stories from training camp. They chat for hours and before she knows it, it's past midnight and she has to go to work in the morning. 

“I need to go to bed. I have work in the morning. Goodnight Cale,” she yawns, waving at him

“Goodnight love,” he waves back, ending the call. 

If she cheeses a little at the fact he called her love, no one is around to see it. 

December goes by pretty quickly and she feels bad that her calls with Cale become less frequent. December is the busiest month at work because everyone is doing Christmas shopping (being a store manager is hard work) and she finds herself working double the amount of hours she worked before the holiday season. Add doing the podcast three times a week and she’s absolutely gassed. Luckily, Cale doesn’t hold it against her because he starts getting more busy with preseason starting and his parents coming down for the holidays. Taylor is currently in the middle of his final season in the AJHL so he can’t make the trip down to Denver for the holidays. They text each other every day throughout the month however, and she manages to call him on Christmas and on New Year’s Eve, asking him if he’s excited for the new season to start on the 2nd.

2021 starts off worse than 2020 started because of the pandemic but Taty manages to make the best of it. She watches the Winter Classic while on video call with Cale. Luckily, the Avalanche start their season off at home again this year. The following day, she finds herself rushing home from work to be able to catch the Avs first game of the season against the Wild. She makes it home and takes a quick shower before changing into her Cale jersey and joggers. She quickly eats dinner before going into her room. She puts the game on and makes it just in time for the players to come out to the ice. She watches the game and manages to text Cale throughout the game knowing that he won’t see the string of texts until after the game. He finishes the game with one assist and 2 hits, as the Avs win 4-2 to start off the new season on a high note.

As she’s getting ready for bed, she gets a call from Cale.

“Hey, great game,” she smiles, trying not to show how tired she is.

“Oh shit, I just realized how late it is over there,” he sighs, not wanting to keep her up.

“It’s okay. I always stay up past my bedtime to talk to you,” she teases.

“How was work?” he asks.

“Annoying. We’re winding down from the holiday season but we still got a lot of people shopping and returning stuff,” she explains.

“I don’t know how you do it honestly, being so young and running a store, I mean,” he explains.

“Yeah well luckily I’m only an assistant manager,” she replies.

“Still pretty incredible what you do,” he assures her.

“Says the NHL superstar,” she scoffs.

“Hey, I’m not a superstar at all! I’m just another player like everybody else trying to be the best at my position,” he explains.

“Why do you have to be so humble all the time?” she teases.

“It’s just who I am,” he shrugs.

“And I love you for it but like just admit you’re a superstar,” she replies.

“Fine, I’m a superstar. Happy now?” he teases.

“The happiest. When are your parents going back to Calgary?” she asks, switching the subject.

“Tomorrow,” he answers.

“I’m glad you got to have them with you for the holidays, though,” she adds.

“Yeah, it was great seeing them again. I just wish Taylor could’ve been here,” he replies.

“Yeah well you’ll see him once his season ends and on the bright side, he’ll be at UMass next season,” she adds.

“Yeah I just miss him. I always go home for Christmas and this year I couldn’t,” he explains.

“Yeah I can’t imagine what that’s like but it will get better,” she assures him.

“Yeah I know it will,” he nods.

“I wish I could be there to make you feel better,” she sighs.

“Yeah, well we’ll see each other next month,” he smiles, a hopeful tone in his voice.

“February 5th can’t come fast enough. I’m gonna blow you away with the best interview you’ve ever done,” she teases, referring to her interviewing him for the podcast.

“I guess we’ll have to see about that,” he teases back.

“You wound me, Makar!” she fake gasps.

“I’ll make it up to you with a killer real first date,” he smiles.

“I’ll hold you to that. I expect to be really wooed,” she teases.

“It’s gonna be the best date you’ve ever been on,” he almost guarantees.

“It’s gonna be the first date I’ve ever been on,” she informs him.

“I know. That’s why it’s gonna be the best you’ve ever been on,” he jokes, causing her to roll her eyes.

“You’re so funny, Makar,” she deadpans.

“Stop acting like I don’t make you laugh all the time, Ventura,” he teases.

“What happened to humble Cale? I like him better than this smug one I got here,” she teases back.

“Stop acting like you don’t like it,” he replies.

“Yeah, I like every side to you,” she admits.

“Well that’s good because I like every side of you,” he smiles.

She feels her cheeks heat up and that warm fuzzy feeling return to her stomach. Is this what falling in love feels like? She’s never felt this way before and god, she hopes the feeling never fades because it’s amazing. No wonder people love falling in love so much, it’s magical and she hopes she doesn’t fuck it up. She just counts down the days until February 5th praying to god that nothing goes wrong once they finally meet.

[snarkwrites]

mine | tim speedle | csi:miami

Notes:

Okay, so here’s the thing.. Those smutty one shots and the one shot I wrote at Christmas about Tim Speedle and an ofc who was an old girlfriend? They were originally part of this huge backstory I came up with years ago too and like.. Given that I’m posting the backstory in bits for Greg, I thought why not do the same for Tim. So, if you were ever wondering where the OC from the christmas one shot came from.. This is her. A little more thought out and less vague. Anything not explained there, or in the smut I’ve already posted and plan to post eventually, will be explained here.. Because fuckkit.. Might as well make this a chapter thing too...

Pairing:

Tim Speedle x OFC, Sylvie.

Warnings:

Uhh.. Angst and unresolved feelings at first. Filth you’ve all already seen but more to come.. Maybe a little action and suspense? because I have plans for this one, mhm.

Oh. Right off the bat.. Ya’ll are not gonna like Ryan Wolfe in here at first if I’ve done my job properly. Because as it went on the show, he’s gonna be... hard to warm to here. I chose to keep him in and have him, as well as Cardoza and others, working on the shift opposite of Tim.

Tagging:

@chasingeverybreakingwave​

@twistnet​ 

[ faq | tag list doc | soundtrack ] 

                                            ONE.

“Damn. Are you even gonna open this and humor a thought of going?” Eric waved around the class reunion invite that Tim had gotten in the mail and tossed on the counter. From across the room, Tim continued to dig around in the fridge, trying to find the case of beer he’d picked up on his way in.

He was refusing to answer the question.

Grabbing the case of beer, he sat them on the folding table they’d set up in the living room to play poker at and he took a beer out for himself, popping it against the counter, taking a long sip from the bottle.

Eric was already in the kitchen. Throwing together the traditional go to sandwich for their poker nights.

“Hey, that new guy’s not comin, right?”

“Wolfe? Yeah.. I think Walter with his big mouth invited him.”

“Goddamn it.” Tim swore, grumbling. “There’s just something off about the guy, I’m telling you.”

“Either way, it’s not our problem, man. He’s on the other shift, remember? Are you gonna answer my question, Speed, or do I have to drag the answer out of you, buddy?” Eric asked, giving Tim a pointed look.

Walter stepped into Tim’s apartment with Ryan coming into view right behind him. Tim’s jaw set and when Walter asked “Drag what answer out of Speed, man? What’d I miss?” as he wandered over to grab himself a beer and take a seat at the table, Tim shrugged. “It’s nothing, Walt. Forget Eric here ran his big fuckin mouth.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothin, you grouch.” Eric remarked, chuckling when Tim gave him what he thought was a silencing glare. As per usual, it did not work.

Ryan, the new guy, spoke up from over nearby Tim’s fridge, nodding to a photo booth strip held on by a magnet. “Is this your girl, Speed? Damn… you never mentioned you were seeing a model.” as he shook his head and let out a low and appreciative whistle.

Eric’s gaze settled on the photo strip and then back on Tim. Tim was all but trying not to explode. Getting defensive and touchy as he tended to whenever that particular strip of photos came into a conversation. He tried to give Ryan the subtlest shake of the head no, but it was too late.

Tim was already lost to thought, dwelling on the past.

Ryan eyed him, a brow raised. “Sore subject?” he questioned. Eric glared at Ryan and grumbled, giving Tim a silent look of agreement about the new guy. Tim nodded and smirked, mouthing back “Told you so, idiot.” before fixing his gaze on Ryan and shrugging. “Not really, no. We dated for a while.”

“High school and college.” Eric spoke up, ignoring Tim’s glare. “What? It’s true, right? That’s not just a while, Tim. That’s literally almost a decade, man.” 

“Are you going to let me answer the guy Eric,or nah?” Tim asked, giving Eric another pointed glare as he took the worn deck of cards and shuffled them a few times, starting to deal. When Eric went quiet, Tim continued. “I took the job here. We broke up.”

“The man is lying. What happened was he didn’t ask her to come with and she didn’t try to stop him. So they never actually broke up. They just lost touch. And if you got that invite man, maybe…”

“Invite to what?” Ryan asked, an amused look as he fixed his gaze on Tim. So far, he got the suspicion that neither Tim nor Eric were particularly warming up to him, but it didn’t really matter. He was there because Walter asked if he wanted to play a few hands. And given that of everyone they worked with, so far Walter was the only real welcoming member of the forensics team on either shift, he wasn’t about to turn it down.

If nothing, he figured, he could show Eric and Tim up in a game or two and then leave… Unless the current conversation and it’s effect on Tim Speedle proved to be too interesting and amusing to continue to pass up.

“Class reunion. If I wanted to go back and listen to a bunch of douchebag jocks talk about their glory days, I’d go.” Tim answered, grumbling and shifting around in his chair, wondering when in the hell they were all going to get off the subject.

“She might be there man, you never know.”

“Eric, if it were going to work out in the first place, one of us would’ve said or done something. We wouldn’t have just left it the way it was.” Tim pointed out. Turning his attention to his hand as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, brown eyes carefully surveying the other men around the table.

He smirked when he realized that of them all, the only one who was really good at keeping a consistent poker face was Eric. Then again, Tim thought to himself, Eric knows me too well. He knows I learned how to read him like a book years ago. 

“She’s in Miami right now, actually. I saw her in the lobby of that high end hotel earlier today when our team got called to work that double homicide.” Ryan smirked as he just casually dropped the bombshell. Holding Tim’s gaze a few seconds. Trying to get a read on the guy, see if he might have a winning hand this round.

Tim nearly choked on the sip of Michelob he’d taken and eyed Ryan. The guy had to be trying to bullshit him. Probably to cover for his lack of a poker face, Tim mused, smirking at Ryan as he did so. “She lives in New York, buddy. You probably saw somebody who looked like her. I doubt you saw her.”

“Oh trust me… You don’t see a girl like that a time or two and confuse her with somebody else.” Ryan smirked right back, waiting on his words to hit the intended mark before dropping the bigger bombshell. “Her name is Sylvie, right? Because that’s what the frat boys hounding her for selfies and autographs called her.” 

Just the slightest drop of Tim Speedle’s jaw was enough to make Ryan’s entire night. At this point, he was just genuinely enjoying having a rib at the guy. It wasn’t a secret around the lab that Eric Delko and Tim Speedle were nothing if not tight knit. That’s why it surprised more than a few people when the two seemed to just welcome Walter with open arms and no hesitation. And yet, they went above and beyond to cop snide attitudes with both himself and another man he worked with, Jesse Cardoza.

Tim eyed Ryan, a brow raised. Then he just shrugged. “It’s your play, Wolfe.” he barely managed to unclench his jaw enough to say it, but he did. He hoped that his tone would clearly indicate that for tonight, the topic was over. Even though he knew already that no thanks to Ryan’s words, tonight was going to be a long one for him…

Was she really in Miami? Or was Ryan just being an asshole as per usual?...

,, he’s gotta be saying it to get a rise and more of the story outta me… that’s it... unless she’s here. She does travel a lot, man.. Your ma is always real quick to tell you about every single move she makes when you call back home every Sunday.” Tim shoved the intrusive thought out of his head and it was immediately followed by another. ,, It’s been years and nothing but silence. Neither of us tried to keep in touch and it’s not like we couldn’t... But.. she did come to you in the hospital that first few nights... if she wanted you to know she was there, she would have stayed, just drop the what ifs or you’re going to lose your goddamn mind.” 

Ryan made his call and Tim smirked, shoving some more chips into the middle of the table. “I see your King and raise you.”

Eric nearly spat his drink. He eyed Ryan, wondering if the guy had any idea of the wrath he’d probably just unleashed on himself by pushing buttons as openly as he had been. And he felt bad for the guy. Just because he worked with Cardoza, it didn’t necessarily make him the same.

He leaned in and offered up a quiet warning into Ryan’s ear when Tim got up to go and grab himself one of the Cuban sandwiches sitting on a plate near the stove. “You might want to lay off, Wolfe. Tim’s still hurting and bitter as hell about her, but too damn stubborn to do anything.”

“Which is fucking stupid, if you ask me.” Ryan answered, gazing across the room, smirking as he called out to Tim, “Hey, can I get another beer, man?”

Tim gave him the finger and flopped back into his chair, taking a few bites of his sandwich. “If you get up and get it, yeah. By all means.” Tim chuckled as Ryan gave him a dirty look, but after a little grumbling, he got up and grabbed himself a beer.

“What would you do if she was in town, man?” Eric was the one who asked the question.

Tim pretended not to hear him, but it wasn’t something that he wasn’t already wondering about himself. Did he even really need -or deserve for that matter, to do anything?

XXX

“6 am, sharp.”

“Rex if you remind me one more time about this stupid photo shoot, I swear to fuck, I’ll cancel. I came to Miami to relax. Not be hounded and have gigs booked for me. This was supposed to be my vacation, you’re literally not even supposed to be here.” I rolled onto my stomach on the hotel bed. The patio doors were open and the breeze blowing in off the ocean was relaxing.

Or it had been until Rex felt fit to show up and ruin things.

To be fair, I thought to myself, you’re the one who won’t just tell the guy that you’re not re-signing with his agency when your contract ends. But he seriously couldn’t take a fucking hint when I left on a red-eye and didn’t think he should know?

I was flipping through the television when I happened on a local news show. And they were showing an interview at Miami Dade PD about a pending case that was pretty huge in the media right now.

But that wasn’t what was catching my attention at all.

My eyes fixed on the five seconds glimpse I got of Tim as he hurried into the station. So handsome that I could feel my heart breaking all over again at the sight of him. I sighed and turned off the television.

I wound up on the balcony, staring down at the streets below. Wondering what he was doing right now.. Trying to imagine just how differently everything might have actually gone if I’d been braver back then. If I’d spoken up. Told him that I loved him and I didn’t want to lose touch or for us to be over.

I could’ve come with him.

And then I remembered the fear I felt the night my mom called me, fresh off the phone with his mom… The night I almost lost him.

And I remembered the feeling I felt when I finally made it to his side, a whole two days later. Seeing him lying there in that bed, hovering between life and death. The fear that he’d wake up and he’d want me to leave over-ruling every basic instinct in me that was telling me to stay. Take care of him. At the very least, get some closure. I didn’t deserve him then and the fact remained.

I don’t deserve him now, either. And too much time has gone by... I’d lost any right to tell him how I felt now. He probably had his own happy life. A better one. Who would I be to come in and lay it all on the line and destroy that?

If I’m being truly honest with myself here, I’ve never actually deserved Tim Speedle. And I’ve always known it. It’s why I had to let him go back then and a big reason why I was fighting myself so hard to keep from going to him now.

But I wanted him so badly. I needed him.

Everything felt wrong without him. I tried to move on, I tried convincing myself he was a high school and college boyfriend and my best childhood friend before that, but deep down, I knew.

Tim Speedle was, is and will always be, the man I love.

But I’m not good enough for him and hopefully, he’s moved on by now. God I hope he’s happy.

The thought had me taking a few shaky breaths and wiping away a tear that had been lingering in my eyes, threatening to roll down my cheek. I wandered back inside and even though I knew it wasn’t a good idea… I found myself searching his name.

Biting my lip as my heart skipped a beat or two when I realized that his phone number was still the same. And it was listed, not private.

I’m not exactly sure why, but I went to my contacts. And for a good ten minutes, I hovered over his name… I actually went as far as to pull up the conversation box and read over the last conversation we had. Before I realized it, I was crying again and that empty feeling was creeping back in…

,, you came all the way to Miami. You can’t keep living like this…” my brain taunted me. And then, another thought crept in, ,, if you wanted him, you shouldn’t have just let him leave without saying so. All you had to do was tell him you wanted to come. What, were you expecting some flowery proposal? For him to drop the chance of a lifetime for you? And what if he had, huh? What then? You know he would’ve hated you and by now, you two would be over… Nobody ever stays...Your own father couldn’t even be bothered to stick around, Syl… The man has probably forgotten all about you by now.”  and before my mind got any darker, I slipped off the bed and grabbed my favorite jacket. Maybe taking a ride down to the Keys would help me get this off my mind. Or driving a few blocks over, going to the beach to look at the stars.

All I did know was that suddenly, it felt like the very vast and open space in this 5 star hotel room was rapidly closing all around me.

[sunshinejs]

Home to You

A/N: shoutout to @shawnsthighs for coming up with this deployment CONcept! This one’s for you, love 💜

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little fluff to make up for the back to back angst pieces and Merry Christmas everyone! xx

(And also, the brown beaded bracelet mentioned in this is inspired by the one I keep seeing on his wrist)

———————————————————— 

Word count: 3.4k -ish

Connor watched as you said goodbye to your family from a distance. He leaned against a pole as he watched your mother hugged you close to her as she cried into your shoulder; trying to get the words out of her mouth between sobs.

Just the sight of that made his heart hurt; it made a frown appear on his lips.

Connor told himself he wasn’t going to cry this time around. He didn’t want to break down again, like he did the first time when you were being deployed. But he also knew that wasn’t physically possible.

This was your 2nd deployment as a marine and it was still difficult for him to believe this was something that you wanted to do; to be brave enough to put your life in danger and be away for an uncertain period of time from your loved ones.

The first time you were away for deployment felt like hell for Connor. The first few weeks, he kept getting nightmares that something horrible had happened to you and that he wasn’t going to see you again. He couldn’t sleep or eat properly and his anxiety peaked during this time. The letters you’ve sent him monthly weren’t enough to assure him that you were safe and sound.

The thought of losing you could literally kill him. He’s heard so many stories of people not coming home from their deployment, one of it that came out of your mouth when you told him about what happened to your father years ago.

And he prays to God that it’ll never happen to you. Because Connor wouldn’t know what he would do if he really lost you.

He watches as you pull away from your younger sister, smiling at her with watery eyes as you pressed a kiss to her head for one last time. You motioned to where Connor stood and your mother nodded understandingly.

You walked over to him slowly; proudly wearing your blue uniform that he wants to hate because it was the one thing that was getting in the way of you and him.

“Hi,” You greeted him. Your voice came out shaky, from all the crying you did while saying goodbye to your family.

Connor shakes his head, already feeling his lips start to tremble with tears in his eyes “You know, I told myself I wouldn’t cry this time around” He confessed “But I don’t think that it’s possible”

You fall into his arms, as you let out the sob you were holding in. Connor’s arms went around your waist as he shuts his eyes; letting his tears fall from his cheeks.

“I think of how you’re putting yourself in danger like this and sometimes I want to be mad at you” He sniffled against your shoulder “Why couldn’t you want to be a lawyer or something, idiot? Why this?”

You laugh in between sobs, tightening your grip around his neck “You and I both know that I would be a shitty lawyer, baby”

“Yeah but at least I would see you almost every day and know that you’re safe in a building” Connor reasoned back “I won’t be having sleepless nights thinking of all the negative thoughts when you’re out there”

You pushed away from him just so you could look at him. Your eyes matched his; puffy and filled with tears “I’m going to be okay, bubs” You reassured him “I know it’s going to be hard to get through with this but you have to trust me when I say that”

“Anything can happen” Connor said in a fragile tone “And I’m just scared, honey. I’m scared I won’t see you again”

Your heart broke at how he sounded. You hated doing this to him, just as much as you hated doing the same thing to your family. You understood their fear, knew their paranoia about you going on your job, but this was something you had to do.

This was something you wanted to do since you were a little girl; to be able to do what your father did and followed his footsteps.

You raised your right sleeve a bit, revealing the brown beaded bracelet that you had on your person at all times. You untied the strings and took it off your wrist. Taking a hold of Connor’s hand, you wrapped it securely around his wrist as he silently watched you.

“Why are you giving me this?” He asked confusingly.

“Because you’re going to hold on to it for me” You told him “And you’re going to keep it safe for me until I see you, okay? This bracelet is my promise to you that in any circumstances, I will come home to you in one piece, Connor Brashier”

“In a year?”

“In a year” You confirmed “I promise”

Connor nodded, smiling softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear “Please be careful out there, honey”

“Con, you know I always am” You insisted “It’s not my first time”

“I know… But I always want to make sure you’re extra careful” He said “You’re pretty important in my life and I’m going to need you around when I decide to put a ring on that pretty little finger of yours”

Your cheeks turned red at his words, a smile on your face matching his “Is that a marriage proposal, Brashier?”

“Maybe it is” Connor shrugged “Guess you’ll have to wait until you come home to me to find out”

“Always,” You muttered softly, and rested your head against his chest; listening to his heartbeat for one last time “I’ll always find my way back to you. I love you, Con”

Pressing a kiss to your forehead, Connor breathes out “I love you more, baby”

A year later

A few hours before the concert starts, Connor sat in the green room alone as he read over the handwritten letter in his hand again, with a frown settling on his face.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to be here with him tonight for his 22nd birthday but you weren’t. You were supposed to be home from your deployment but you weren’t. Instead, you were still held up in your base.

He wanted to be mad at you, at your job, at everyone else because all he wanted today was to have his favourite girl physically with him. But he knew he couldn’t. He was just being selfish and it wouldn’t be fair for him to be mad at you.

 Dear Connor,

Hi bubs!

I don’t exactly know when you’ll be receiving this letter but happy birthday! (I’m so hoping this got here on time but I could be extremely late, so I’m sorry for that)

I know I’ve apologized so many times for extending my deployment and not being home in time for your birthday but I really am sorry, baby. I’ll make it up to you when I see you next month, I promise.

In the meantime, enjoy your day and go crazy with the boys! (although don’t get too drunk, mister) For this one day, I need you to not worry about me okay? This is your special day and you deserve to have a great time.

I can’t wait to see you soon and be in your arms, my love.

 “Hey man”

Shawn’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he tears his eyes away from the letter. He met his best friend’s concern gaze, “Everything okay?” Shawn asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Connor answered shortly, nodding his head” Everything’s fine”

Shawn sat down next to him on the couch and caught a glimpse of the letter in his hand “Doesn’t seem like it” He frowned “Is that from her?”

“Mom got it in the mail yesterday” Connor replied “Can I ask you something?”

“Course, man”

“Is it wrong of me to be mad at her for not being here?” He asked sadly “Does that make me a bad person?”

“Connor, of course not” Shawn insisted “It’s your birthday and you wished she was here; we all get that. But you’ve got to realize that it’s not like she wants this, you know? If it was up to her, she wouldn’t even want to extend her deployment”

“I know that” Connor nodded “It just sucks a lot right now and I haven’t seen her in a year and I swear I’m going to fucking break soon if I don’t hold her in my arms”

“I know it is” Shawn pats his best friend’s back comfortingly “You have to hang on for just a little more and she’ll be in your arms soon, okay? It’ll be quicker than you realize, man”

The door pushed open and Brian walks into the room “Connor, Cez is looking for you” He told his friend.

Connor nodded and stood up from his seat. He folded the letter and slipped it in his jean pocket “Thanks for the talk, Shawn” He said.

“I’m glad it helped” Shawn smiled “And hey, don’t you worry! We’re going to have a good time tonight and freakin’ partyyyy!”

“Hell yeah we are!” Brian cheered.

Connor rolled his eyes playfully and a smile made its way to his lips “You’re not going to get me drunk, idiots”

“We’ll see about that, Brashier!” Brian called out to him before moving to the couch. Once the door was closed and they waited a few seconds later, Brian turns to Shawn “So?”

“The plan is still a go” Shawn grinned mischievously “He has no idea”

“Thank God” Brian sighed in relief “Dylan emailed me the video yesterday and I’ve given a copy to Cez so he can tell the tech people to play it over the big screen later”

“Sounds good” Shawn nodded in response “He’s going to flip shit, isn’t he?”

“He is” Brian agreed “But it’ll be so worth it to see his reaction”

xxx

“Okay, hold on for a second” Shawn spoke into the mic after the song finishes “I just want to say a few things before we continue”

“You guys are familiar with my videographer, right?” Shawn asks as the crowd shouted in reply “Connor Brashier?”

Connor was standing nearby the giant rose at Stage B when he hears his name being mentioned over the speakers. He stopped in his track and stared at the big screen in confusion; wondering what his best friend was doing.

“Well, it’s his birthday today!” Shawn cheered “Can we get a spotlight on the birthday boy please?”

When the light hits him and he sees himself on the big screens, he blushed furiously.

“Connor!” Shawn exclaimed once he sees him on the screen “Can you join me up here on the stage, buddy?”

Connor groans because he already knows Shawn was going to embarrass him. Brian was near him so he walked over to his friend, snatched the equipment out of his hand and pushed him towards the direction of the stage without hearing Connor’s protest “Go!”

Once Connor approached Shawn on the stage, he sees the mischievous grin on Shawn’s face which made him raise an eyebrow “What are you planning, Mendes?” He asked off-mic.

“You’ll see!” Shawn smirked in reply

“On a count to 3, can everyone sing happy birthday to Connor loudly?!”

While everyone in the stadium sang to him and was recording him, all he wanted to do was crawl into a hole. Connor still wasn’t used to the attention he was getting from Shawn’s fans. All he could do was shyly smile and awkwardly stand beside Shawn on stage. Once it ended, he mouthed a ‘thank you’ and waved to the crowd.

“Happy birthday, bro!” Shawn said after, patting his shoulder lightly “And now, the whole team has prepared a little surprise for Connor that we want to show to everyone tonight. Con, we hope you this cheers you up a little and just know that we were given permission to record and put this up on the big screens tonight!”

Shawn forced Connor to turn around so they were facing the screen behind them instead.

The big screen turned black with a countdown from 3 starts. Connor grew more confused by Shawn’s statement but when your face popped on the screen, his heart starts to beat faster.

 “Okay, I’m going to ask you some questions now” Dylan’s voice said from behind the camera.

The video shows you in your little room at your base through Dylan’s laptop screen over a Skype session you had with him over a month ago.

“I feel like I’m on a talk show!” You giggled “Is this how celebrities feel like, Dyl?”

“Sure, sis. We’ll go with that” Dylan chuckles “We’ve got about 5 minutes left till you have to end this call so let’s make it quick”

“Okay, shoot”

“When did you and Connor first meet?”

“We met in the park a couple years ago” You answered “I was walking my dog when I saw him taking photos of the trees and I got so mesmerized by the way he was working. Then he caught me staring and like the dumbass I was, just turned around and basically ran home”

“I saw him again a couple days later in the supermarket” You admitted “I was reaching for a box from the top shelf and couldn’t reach it then someone asked from behind me if I needed help. When I realized it was him, I was so embarrassed because he remembered me as the lady who was staring at him in the park then we just got to talking in the middle of the cereal aisle”

“Funny thing was, Connor wasn’t even crept out by it” Dylan chuckled “He came home from the park and told me a pretty girl was at the park with him and he caught her looking at him while he was working on a project. He was upset he didn’t get your name then”

You blushed furiously “Yeah, our love story started because I was acting like a stalker. That’s something to remember, alright”

“Do you remember your first date?”

You smiled at the memory of it, still clear in your mind as if it happened yesterday “He invited me over because he’s been bragging about learning how to cook through Gordon Ramsay’s videos on YouTube and honestly? It was the best first date meal I’ve ever eaten and ever since, Connor makes it a point to cook for date night at least once a week”

“When did you realize he was the one?”

“Dylan!” You whined as you blushed furiously “Do you really have to ask me that?”

“Yes!” He laughs in response “Sorry sis, it’s Shawn and Brian’s orders. Can’t say no to them”

“I can’t believe thousands of people are going to see this” You groaned “I’m going to feel just as embarrassed as Connor is”

“Shut up and answer the question”

“When I first told him that I wanted to join the Marine, he was so supportive, you know?” You said “Most guys would’ve freaked out or something but Connor knew why I so set on joining the Marine and he told me, ‘Do whatever you feel is right, baby. I’m behind you 100%’ and I just knew right there that he was the one”

“But I know it gets tough on him” You continued with a frown appearing on your face “I know he’s scared, just like my mom and sister and hell; I’m scared too. And I just hate having to worry them all the time when I’m on deployment”

“You’ll see them soon” Dylan insisted “Just gotta hold on for a little while, right?”

“Yeah,” You nodded “Made a promise I’d be home to them and I don’t want to break that”

“Is there anything you want to say to him?” Dylan asks “In the mean time while you’re still away?”

You look at the camera on your laptop and smiled softly “I miss you so much, bubs and I’ll be home sooner than you realize. Happy birthday, my love”

 When the video ends there, Connor doesn’t even realize that he had tears in his eyes. The screams from the crowd were so loud but at that moment, it felt like it was only him in that stadium.

While he appreciates his brother and friends putting that together for him as an attempt to make him feel better, he can’t help but feel more homesick for your embrace now.

For him to wait another month until he could do that was honestly the worst feeling for Connor right now.

Shawn notices the look on Connor’s face instantly and when he looks to the side and sees Andrew’s thumbs up, his smile grew wider. He taps Connor’s shoulder lightly to get his attention and when he does, he points to the crowd; where the spotlight was shining.

To Connor, it felt like he was dreaming. He blinks a couple of times to make sure it was real because he didn’t want to believe it.

You stood amongst the crowd not too far away from the stage, still in your uniform, with a bouquet of flowers in your hand. You’re looking at him with a huge smile on your face and if anyone looks closer, they would see the tears in your eyes as well.

“Ladies and gentleman, back from her year long deployment; please give a warm welcome to y/n!” Shawn spoke into the mic as Connor practically runs off the stage to give you the biggest hug.

With his amount of force, he nearly knocked you to the ground as he tackled you in a tight hug. The flowers were long forgotten as they dropped to your legs.

Connor buries his face in the crook of your neck and breathes in the scent he has missed for so long. He doesn’t care if he’s crying in front of thousands of people who were recording this moment; he was so thankful to be holding you in his arms.

Shawn watches from the stage and he has tears in his eyes at the reunion happening in front of him. He’s smiling widely and wipes the tear away as he spoke into the mic “This next one is called fallin’ all in you and this is dedicated to Connor and his girl”

You and Connor didn’t say a word to each other. You just stood there in each other’s arms and enjoyed the moment.

You were home in his arms and Connor has never felt happier.

xxx

“I can’t believe you’re finally home” Connor muttered softly. It was a few hours later after the concert and Connor’s birthday dinner, you two were curled up under his blanket “It feels like this is all a part of a good dream”

You rested your chin on his chest and lifted your head to look at him “If I’m dreaming baby, please don’t wake me up” You smiled cheekily as you sang Shawn’s song “Every night I’m with you, I fall more in love”

“Everyday I’m with or without you, I fall more in love” Connor corrected “I missed you so much, baby”

“I missed you too, honey” You pressed a kiss to his bare chest “So much”

“I felt like I was going to break soon if I don’t get your kisses”

You rolled your eyes playfully and cooed “I’ll give you all the kisses you want after this to make up for the one year, Brashier”

Connor lifts his right hand to show you the brown beaded bracelet securely wrapped around his wrist “You can take it off if you want your bracelet back, babe”

“I think you should keep it” You told him “So you’ll have a part of me with you always”

“That means you’ll need to have a part of me with you always, right?”

“Sure, I guess”

Connor takes your hand in his and you feel the cold metal against your finger. Looking down at your intertwined fingers, you see his favourite ring sitting on you ring finger “Con, this is your favourite ring” You noted “You never take it off. Ever”

“I know, but you’re an exception” He smiled as he tucked a strain of hair behind your ear “It’s my promise to you that I’ll continue to love you through good and bad days and it’s a promise that someday I’ll have the guts to ask for your hand in marriage”

You blushed in response as you took a hold of his hand and pressed a soft kiss to the back of his hand “I know that’s not right now but my answer to that question is always going to be yes, Connor D. Brashier”

————————————————————

Reblog, like or leave a comment; always appreciated! ❤️

x rina

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[unconsciouscelestial]

Bone-afide Buddy

for @smitemight Sorry this took so long! Things have been busy. I really hope you like it~       What a week you had been having. Work had been absolutely horrible, and you were reminded that it was thanksgiving- which you felt obligated to go to. To make matters even worse, the date you were going to bring broke it off two days ago. You just knew that if you didn’t have a date, your step-cousin Sarah was going to spend the whole night bragging about her relationship and purposefully making your lack of a partner topic of discussion. You couldn’t stand her fakeness most days but she was always particularly awful at family gatherings.

       So now you found yourself posting a profile on a dating app with the clear instructions you were only looking to make friends for a family event. It didn’t take long before you got a private message.

[Stretch: hey. sounds like you could use a bone-afide buddy]

Was that a skeleton pun? Why would he...? You checked his profile and almost fell out of your chair laughing. He was a skeleton! It was definitely a pun. Even better! Sarah vehemently hated puns. You skimmed over his profile, already pretty sure he would be perfect. Apparently he had brother he was super proud of, and he looked fairly laid back. You messaged him back no hesitation in your mind at this point.

[you: Tibia honest, I really could. Are you really willing to pretend to be my date?]

[Stretch: well when you think about it, its still a date, just platonic. no one needs to know that though. do you wanna hang out first sometime before thanksgiving so its less awkward and we're past first meeting? make it less obvious?]

[you: oh hey yeah that's a great idea actually! Do you have anything in mind?]

[Stretch: there is a sweet cafe that I frequent, its pretty relaxed and I think youd like it]

[you: sure! How about you text me the details and we will go from there? Xxx-xxxx]

The two of you spent the rest of the day texting back and forth asking each other questions and setting up plans to hang out. Thanksgiving was coming up soon, so getting together had to be sooner. The two of you arranged a day and time and you went to bed satisfied with how things were turning out.

           Later that week the two of you met up at a place called Muffet's. It was a lovely cafe, run by an attractive spider monster and little monster spiderlings. You spotted Stretch at the sitting counter chatting away to whom you presumed was Muffet. You thought you were early, only to discover that Stretch had already been there for over an hour already. After a somewhat shy greeting, you ordered your fave drink and snack and the two of you sat down at a little two person table by some bookshelves and a few potted plants. The plants had a few cobwebs but it was nice and cozy.      You went over the situation again, making sure that he knew he had the opportunity to back out at any time. He just chuckled, “hey its all good. we've all  bean there, and I don't mind helping out a new friend”

You covered your mouth in an attempt to hide your laughing. “Did you just??” Stretch just nodded and winked, popping a sucker in his mouth.          Once you had composed yourself, the two of you chatted about your family and little details. Once everything was settled you moved on to asking questions about each other. Stretch told you proudly about his brother, and a little about what it had been like on the surface for them. Before you knew it, the streetlights were flickering and you decided it was best to call it a night. You could always continue texting. The two of you parted ways, and as you watched him walk away down the side walk you grinned wide and called out.

“Hey, Stretch?” He turned his head to acknowledge you.

“Thanks a latte, it really means a lot,” you smiled. He chuckled deep, you blinked and he was gone.

        The two of you spent the rest of the week texting back and forth, and playing video games together on your fave console. Thanksgiving came quicker than you had anticipated but you woke that day mostly excited. On the radio ‘I do Adore’ was playing and you got ready with a bounce in your step. Stretch was fun to hang out with, and you kinda missed him? You cleaned up and upon checking the weather, (it was actually going to be a warmish and sunny day today) decided on bright pink shorts, a green tank top and for good measure you threw on your big light yellow sweater. After grabbing something to eat for breakfast you gathered all your things, (keys, phone, wallet, check!) you put on your light purple sneakers and headed out the door. You figured you would wait on your front steps for Stretch to arrive. It was a nice enough day. He pulled up in a honey gold two door sedan and popped open the passenger door from inside. As you got in, you noticed in the back seat were a few bags with snacks and a large couple bottles of honey. You eyed him questioningly and he chuckled lightly.

“Figured it was a bit of a drive, just in case you got munchy before we got there. Didnt know if you had time for breakfast or not,”

     You mentally squealed, that was super thoughtful, even though you had already eaten. You told him as much and he just nodded, turning on the radio. You didn't object, but you kinda grinned when you noticed the orangish hue that had gathered just on his nasal ridge. Apparently he had put on a playlist since Final Girl by Graveyardguy came on, and  that was definitely not top 40. You turned it up, and he looked over at you inquisitively.

“Its one of my favourites right now,” you shrugged. You were glad that you had already sent him directions, sometimes trying to guide someone by memory was a pain in the ass. The two of you enjoyed the rest of the ride there, it wasnt too long of a drive.       When you arrived, you jumped out of the car eager to stretch your limbs a bit. You waited by the front steps for Stretch, as he parked and locked the car. As you were waiting Sarah threw open the door.

“Ohhhhh y/n! You're here! Isnt that lovely,” she drawled out, pulling you into a very obvious fake hug. You stiffened like a board but let her do it anyway, awkwardly patting her on the back. “Yep. Im here. Yaaaay.” you retorted with a hint of sarcasm.

“Oh! But where is that guy you were seeing? Grams said you were bringing him?” she smiled mischievously, looking around you pointedly. You coughed, and pulled yourself out of her grasp.

“Yes, well you see-” you started, when Stretch's voice called out like a beacon.

“He bailed on our girl quite some time ago, so I'm the date.” He stated, pointing to a pin of a date on his sweater. When you noticed what it was you covered your mouth to hide the fact you felt like cackling. He putting his hand out to shake Sarah’s and she recoiled with a fake smile.

“Ohhh yesss. Well I see. I think I hear my fiancé calling, but please the two of you come inside.” she backed up and practically ran inside. You had to stifle a laugh. You muttered a thanks, and he whispered no problem. As soon as you stepped inside you were practically bombarded by children. A few were pulling you into the living room, some wanted you to come out back. Stretch kneeled down and beckoned them close, whispering something. They all ran off screaming and laughing into the yard, giving you some space and time to breathe.  

“What on earth did you say to them?” you asked while clutching your sides laughing. He grinned in response.

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out,”

you smirked and let it be for now. You looked around, it was a pretty full house. Your parents, aunts uncles cousins, a couple sets of great uncles and Aunts, and your grandparents too. It seemed whatever Stretch had said, had all the young kids outside in the yard. Some of the older teens were downstairs on their devices and playing video games probably.  Your thoughts were interrupted by your Gram calling you, and Stretch took your hand and let you lead him over.  He introduced himself quite suavely and your grandparents were clearly satisfied. The two of you sat near, and chatted a while. Sarah came in to the sitting room practically dragging her fiancé behind her, and almost shoved him in your face.

“Here Y/n! This is Greg, my fiancé. He is a lawyer, isn’t he just wonderful?” She gushed. The poor guy looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

“Nice to meet you,” you nodded, and he gratefully slid away into a corner beside Sarah's father.

“So. When did you start dating Mr. skeleton?” Sarah asked, plopping herself down beside you. You shifted over a little, but smiled sweetly.

“A couple weeks now, since what’s-his-face dumped me.” You figured most of the truth was a good idea. Stretch just nodded beside you. Sarah just smiled painfully and left you alone, she was clearly not going to get a rise out of you tonight. 

      Your aunt called everyone to the tables for supper, and Stretch led you to the youth table and sat down beside you. You blushed, he had remembered what you told him about thanksgivings past. After everyone at the adult table had said their stories, desert was served. The kids were nonstop telling you and Stretch their stories, and once or twice you caught him looking your way adoringly. It wasn't unpleasant, and actually felt quite natural. Like he just fit. After the meal was done, you let the kids drag you out both outside. You watched them play a few games for a while, leaning into Stretch sleepily. He just leaned back a little and let you doze off on his shoulder. When you awoke, you were laying on your front porch furniture with a note next to you. It read:

hey y/n, you had dozed off hard, so I just took a shortcut to get you home, everyone understood. Thanks for inviting me, I actually had lots of fun. cant wait to hang out again

-stretch

You went inside with the biggest smile on your face, and butterflies in your stomach.

[soulangel]

Fox in the House- Chapter 2

Summary: At finally seeing the home she would be staying at, she’s surprised at how content she’s already feeling even though she’s only known them a few hours. She also gets to meet everyone she’s living with and is a lot less scared of them now that she knows their faces. Maybe they’ll let her sniff out their scents next.

Group: Oneus x hybrid!character

Genre: Basic domestic life, tiny amount of angst

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Not too much wrong in this chapter except a very anxious hybrid in a new environment. There are a couple swear words close to the beginning of the chapter but other than that it’s a safe read.

A/N: If anyone would like to be tagged in this story so you get notified when this story uploads, please let me know and I’ll add you to a list. Same with anything else you are interested in reading!

Prev x Masterlist x Next

    The moment the three stepped into the house, the fox curled her tail around her waist and flattened her ears, teeth bared as she scented the area. Her ears were twitching every which was as she heard all the sounds coming throughout the dorm. People stepping down the hallway, someone playing a video game, someone singing, and a few people grunting while moving objects around. “I know it’s not much and there’s a lot going on for you right now. Do you want me to show you to your room?” The new person she’d met at the store offered gently with a kind smile.

    She sized him up with narrowed eyes, tail swishing and swirling around her arm as she debated how this interaction could go. She finally decided after a couple moments that she’d allow him to lead her down the hallway seeing as she wasn’t 100% comfortable walking a dark area by herself yet, even if she could see better than they could. “Sure...that would be nice, thanks.” She mumbled softly, eyes bouncing around the room afterward so she wouldn’t have to look at him more than she had to.

    He then started leading her down the small hallway until he stopped before the second door on the right, opening the door just a little bit for her. She waited a second to see what he was going to do before she slowly moved through the doorway, tail swishing in curiosity. When she was finally in the room fully, the guy opened the door all the way and stepped into the room before staying against the wall to make sure she didn’t feel trapped. “How do you like it? Hwanwoong did all the decorating for you, saying something about a bunny-hybrid telling him what you like?” He said, tilting his head in confusion for the moment as he waited for her to respond to him.

    She barely twitched her ear in his direction since she was focusing on the little nook-like bed Hwanwoong had made for her. He’d also made sure to make her curtains darker so if she wanted to close them, it would feel like a dark den for comfort. Across from her bed-nook was a white oak dresser with what looked like little trinkets the members had found that they thought she’d appreciate. She stepped closer to see what they were before sniffing at them, finding multiple scents on them. ‘Either this stuff is their personal belongings they want to give to me, or they kept this stuff around for a while before handing them over. I wonder whose is whose.’ She thought before stepping away from the dresser. 

    She already was aware that she had no clothes to put in the drawers or her closet, so she instead went straight to the doorway with a small, “where’s the bathroom?” given to the guy.

    He gave her a gentle smile and lead her down the hall to the third door on the left, moving to the other side of the door to give her access. “I know you don’t have any clothes right now, so if you’d like, you can borrow some of mine while we clean yours?” He offered, seeing the frown on her face when she realized the predicament he brought to light.

    She finally stared up at him for the first time since she got to the dorm and he tried his hardest to hold back the gasp while staring into her golden eyes. “I don’t want to impose anymore than I already have. However I am able to help you is supposed to be my only task. I don’t want to cause you anymore trouble.” She replied monotonously, keeping as much of her frustration out of her voice as possible.

    He sighed and shook his head. “You’re not here to do our bidding unless you want to. You’re here to be free, or at least more free than you were in that place. Also because Hwanwoong really wants a cuddle buddy.” He mumbled, looking to the ground so he wouldn’t be caught in her heated stare; unfortunately he could still feel the intensity of it on his face.

    Finally she nodded her head the slightest inkling. “Thank you.” She whispered, disappearing into the bathroom after that to start taking her shower.

          xXx

    When she was cleaned and able to change into the clothes the guy had given her, she finally was able to feel just how dirty she’d been beforehand. In her defense though, Hojoon never really gave any of the hybrids a chance to clean themselves unless it was adoption day. And because she was on his shitlist, he didn’t care about how well she preened for the group, if at all. She really did not like that asshole…

    Once she was in the living room, she took in a deep breath and allowed her senses to be momentarily overwhelmed with the scents throughout the house. One was familiar to her since it was Hwanwoong’s, the only one she’d really been in close contact with. Then there was the one she was with today whose clothes matched some of the scents; she’d have to get his name later. And then the rest were a little lost on her. She could faintly pinpoint one from when he was in the adoption center setting up the paperwork but didn’t know for certain. All she knew was the first scent she could recognize seemed to calm her down just the tiniest bit due to the familiarity of it. ‘Hmmm, where did everyone go?’ She wondered while looking around the room, noting the scents were fairly old compared to when she first walked through.

    She was about to check their rooms when a note caught her attention on the coffee table by the couch:

“Don’t worry about being by yourself, Hwanwoong was saying it would probably be a good thing to leave you alone for now so you can look around without feeling pressured. But if you feel like you can’t be alone or you’re not comfortable in the place use the phone to get ahold of one of us. We’ll be there as soon as we can to help okay? Don’t worry about anything in the dorm room, and the remote for the tv is right next to this piece of paper if you want to watch something. Have fun, and we’ll see you tonight after practice!

Your Boys”

    She frowned at the note and sighed. She was seeing his name pop up a lot….from the guy who helped her, to the 3 times he’d tried talking to her, even his scent when she took a moment to look around. It was like he was trying to fog her brain while “helping” her feel better. “This is so weird.” She grumbled to herself as she glanced at the remote, wondering if she should watch something on the television.

    Deciding against it, she went back to the room she was showed by the one guy saying it was hers...she should really get all their names so they’re not all just “the guys.” That would definitely be a good idea. ‘Maybe a nap will help me feel better.’ She thought while crawling into her nook and curling herself up into a tiny ball, hiding her face with her tail and then wrapping the blanket over herself in her way of protecting herself. ‘Just for a little bit.’ 

          xXx

    “Rosy we’re home!” Hwanwoong’s voice rang through the dorm.

    She stirred and felt her eyes moving around behind her eyelids, her ears twitching in response to the movement going on outside her bedroom. She had a feeling that...that word he used was to be for her, but she didn’t want to respond to it until she knew for certain that was what they wanted to call her. As much as she disliked the name. Just as she was thinking about that, someone knocked on the door and poked their head in. “Rosy? Are you in here?” The familiar voice of the other guy who helped her spoke out.

    She barely moved in her nook and flicked her tail up over her face to hide herself as much as possible. Unfortunately, it looked like he caught the movement and looked over at her nook with a small smile. “Hey, did we wake you? I’m sorry.” He said gently, opening the door wider for his body to slide into the room.

    She slowly sat up from her spot and stretched her arms out in front of her, still mildly asleep. She then blinked a few times to see clearly and looked up at the person standing in the middle of her room. “Wha time is it?” She mumbled before yawning a tiny bit, rubbing her eyes.

    He smiled while watching the cute little actions of hers, watching her in amusement as she slowly found her bearings and was able to stand from her bedding, tail swishing slowly behind her. Without meaning to he reached a hand out toward her ear and gently pinched it between his fingers, rubbing it as gently as he could. She closed her eyes in content and started purring faintly at the feeling, relishing in the softness of his fingers before someone else knocked on her door, ruining the moment between the two. Once the spell between them was broken, she stepped away quickly and wrapped her tail around herself as a safety blanket of sorts, her bottom lip sucked between her teeth and her ears flattened against her head.

    Hwanwoong stuck his head in and looked between the two with a bright grin until he saw the way she cowered, as if reprimanded somehow. “Hyung what happened? Did you hurt her?” He asked with a frown, stepping into the room and waking towards the poor little fox trying her hardest to shy away from them both.

    He pouted the further away she got until she was at the opposite corner of the room staring at the two with her tail still wrapped around her, ears still flattened, and her eyes darting around her in fear. “Hey Rosy, it’s okay. We’re not gonna hurt you okay? You can trust us.” Hwanwoong said gently, holding a hand out for her to take so she wouldn’t have to feel so alone and scared.

    She pushed herself further into the wall and shook her head, teeth bared in defense. “P-Please don’t...stay back…” She whispered, biting her lip while turning her head away.

    Hwanwoong immediately stopped his advance toward her and stepped back to where his groupmate was at. “Uh, I think we should leave….let’s give her some privacy.” He said softly, leading the way out of the room.

    She hesitantly took a step forward just as the door closed, and bit her lip softly, frowning to herself once she understood the unknown feeling she had was the mild discomfort of denying those two her attention. ‘I don’t understand. Are they trying to use me, or are they sincere in wanting me around just to be around?’ She wondered in her mind, tapping a finger to her chin in thought.

    She quietly opened the door without a second thought and looked around, sniffing out the scents of everyone in the dorm room definitely staying in one area. She took a deep breath, wrapped her tail around her for security, kept her ears trained upward and twitching toward every little sound, and then took the few steps out to meet everyone officially. She rubbed her arm with her opposite hand and tentatively and gave a small head nod to the group in front of her. “H-Hello...I’m h-here to serve yo-you.” She mumbled out, immediately ducking her head back down toward the ground once she finished saying what she needed.

    Hwanwoong gave her an encouraging smile and stepped closer to her. “Welcome home! My name is Hwanwoong. The one who helped me pick you up today is named Youngjo, or Ravn is his stage name if you’d prefer.” He said, pointing to the guy giving her a small and happy smile with a wave; the one who smelt like the clothes she was wearing.

    Hwanwoong then motioned to the person beside him. “This guy with the black hair is named Seoho. He’s the one that was with me when we first went to sign the paperwork. He was the one that said we should pick you over anyone else in the shelter. Because we saw what was happening-” “Hwanwoong! You’re scaring her.” Ravn chided, motioning to her shivering frame, her tail swishing up to brush against her nose as she tried hiding her face in the bushy end of her tail where the pure white tip flicked against her forehead.

    Hwanwoong frowned and rested a hand on her arm, immediately garnering a hiss in response to touching her. He pulled his hand away and then went back to talking as if what he was saying before wasn’t mentioned. “Uh, beside Seoho is Xion, or Dongju. He’s the youngest of us but you might get along with him well.” He continued on, rolling his eyes as if he didn’t actually mean his words.

    She watched him as he continued to introduce everyone and couldn’t help the small smile on her face which was still hidden behind her tail. She wasn’t ready to reveal herself just yet, but if the way Hwanwoong was talking was any indication, she was truly safe for the first time since Hojoon showed up and ruined her life. Maybe, just maybe, these guys could help her. ‘Can they really help?’ She asked herself as Hwanwoong continued on for a couple more minutes until Ravn again hushed him from speaking too much and overwhelming her.

    While she was lost in thought, Xion had walked up to her hesitantly and stopped in front of her, holding a hand out. “You don’t have to speak or do anything if you don’t want to, but it’s nice to finally meet you. Hwanwoong hasn’t stopped talking about you and how cool you are. Um, if you don’t mind me asking, do you have powers like they say hybrids do?” He rambled, clamping down on his lip when he finished to see if she’d say anything.

    She awkwardly took his hand and only nodded her head, making sure not to say anything as he watched her, wondering what it could’ve meant that she was getting at. She glanced around the group to see them all doing their own thing except one person who was watching in mild interest and concern and then turned back to Xion, giving him a small wink. Afterward, she tucked her tail into her hands and started on her own little strut back to her room, smiling a little to herself at how genuine he and Hwanwoong seemed.

    Just as she was about to close the door to her bedroom to go back to her nap, someone pressed on the door and gave her a small smile. “Hey uh, here are your clothes from earlier. Though if you don’t want them anymore we can always take you shopping for something you’d actually like. Also there was something I wanted to speak to you about before turning in, if you’re okay with talking at the moment?” Ravn had wondered, handing her the clothes before staring into her golden eyes.

    Before he could get lost in the color of her eyes, she turned away from the door and allowed him into the room quickly, setting her clothes in the dresser drawers she preferred so as to start her organization process with her tiny amount of belongings. When she was done with that, she turned around to face him and gave him a nod to start speaking his mind. “If you weren’t able to hear him earlier, Hwanwoong was starting to call you something; Rosy. Are you alright with that name?” He asked her gently, watching as she mulled over the name and then gave a small grimace.

    She scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out adorably and he couldn’t help chuckling softly at her. “Not a good name huh? How about this; until you decide what you want to be called, we’ll stick with that. When you come up with something, give the word and we’ll start calling you that, okay?” He offered, watching as she nodded her head with a tiny sigh.

    He had put his hand on the doorknob when she took a step toward him, reaching a hand out to catch his attention. He turned his head to look at her and she gave a grimace of a smile. “C-Can we go shopping sometime soon?” She asked, mentally slapping a hand to her forehead for somehow skipping over the simple ‘thank you’ she wanted to push out instead.

He grinned and nodded his head vigorously. “Y-Yeah of course! We can go tomorrow if you’d like.” He replied quickly, happiness level rising exponentially at the surprised but happy gleam in her eye.

Maybe they weren’t so bad after all. 

[joie-university-rp]

Thunderclaps!

This is VP O here just giving one last reminder for tomorrow regarding the Glee Club’s journey to Nationals!

Members of the Glee Club, please remember to meet us at the parking lot behind the Theba-Lynch building with all of your luggage at 7 AM sharp so we can all get on the charter bus! We have a 2 hour drive to Columbus ahead of us, so do not be late!

Any other students who are also taking the 10AM nonstop Southwest flight from Columbus to Los Angeles are also free to join us on the bus, but please be advised that we will be leaving as soon as all Glee Club members are present, so if you are planning to go with us, please be early!

When we get to the airport, Adrian, Coleman, and I will hand out your plane tickets and your hotel keys. They are currently both checked out in alphabetical order by last name. Plane seats can of course be bounced around once we are on the plane, but please keep your original hotel key until we arrive and are checked in just to make the process as seamless as possible. 

Once we are all checked in at the hotel, you are free to trade as you’d like, but please remember that although we have booked the entire 12th floor, we have not booked the whole hotel, so please keep loud noises--especially ones that affect the ceiling of the floor below you--to an absolute minimum!

This is your trip, so we encourage you to explore the city as you see fit in your downtime! However, there are some exceptions/caveats:

Whenever you are in the city, you must be accompanied by at least one other student! The buddy system is your friend in the great wide world!

Adrian will be doing a room check at 3AM each night. If you are not there, we will be calling to insure your location and will stay up waiting for you until we know you are, for a fact, back in the hotel. Please do not make us stay up all night waiting for you!

Please put these three numbers into your phone:

Magnus O’Brochain (Vice Provost O): 302-XXX-XXXX

Adrian Doty  (Vice Provost D): 216-XXX-XXXX

**Coleman O’Brochain (Professor O): 614-XXX-XXXX

If you have an emergency, please call these numbers!

**Please only call Cole if neither I nor Adrian answer! (He likes his sleep).

LASTLY, I’m excited to announce that in addition to this already wonderful event, Adrian has been kind enough to extend everyone’s trip by one day so everyone can experience Disneyland!

The way this will work is all those interested, will be meeting Adrian in the hotel lobby at a bright and early 7AM so they can get on the bus ride to Disneyland--getting everyone there at just around 9AM. You’ll then be free to explore as much as you’d like as long as you make sure to meet Adrian back at the bus before the park closes at 11PM so you can ride back.

Those of you not interested in Disney are welcome to stay back in Los Angeles with Cole and I and continue exploring the city.

Yes, you read that right! Thanks to Adrian’s additional sponsor, we are going to be extending our trip by an entire day to allot more time for fun and exploring! We will now be checking out at 5PM Monday evening and will be back on campus by just about 11PM that same night--still giving everyone 8 hours of sleep so they can be refreshed and ready to get back to classes on Tuesday Morning!

As far as your Monday classes, don’t worry. All Professors are already aware and have excused your absences.

Who’s the best Vice Provosts ever? I know!

Avec la grande joie,

~Vice Provost O

(In-depth OOC instructions for the event are found under the cut)

Nah, I’m just kidding. Imagine if there was even more than what I just wrote. Jesus. Lol.

[asterythm]

No Winning on Halloween

Title: No Winning on Halloween

Pairing: Nothing in particular. Mostly just platonic fun times with the buddies; maybe a tiny bit of Prinxiety if you squint hard enough?

Prompt: Costume Party

Word Count: approx. 3.4k

General Summary: The Sides’ annual costume party is going perfectly… right up until an unexpected guest shows up.

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit. Also, there’s a hint of Roman angst? I meant for this to be a fluffy story, I swear!!

Read this fic on AO3

Virgil’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the abomination lying before him. It had been so beautiful, but now its very soul had been sucked out; the poor, helpless thing had been mistreated horribly and discarded without a second thought. It was awful — terrible — absolutely revolting. Swearing vengeance, Virgil opened his mouth to release a mighty war cry.

“Alright, which one of you absolute cretins had the brilliant idea to take a single bite into this Halloween Kit Kat, without breaking it in half first, and then just leave it on the table?” Virgil demanded.

Patton, who was the only one who heard him over the deafening sound of Spooky Scary Skeletons being blasted at full volume, gasped so hard his Fix-It Felix hat almost fell off and rushed over to where Virgil stood. “What? What kind of monster would do that?”

It wasn’t long before Logan took notice of the two Sides standing around the snack table, and made his way over, inquiring, “Are you two quite alright?” He adjusted his Sherlock Holmes scarf as he spoke.

“No!” Patton wailed, furiously waving his hand at the candy bar at the root of all this trouble. “Someone ate their Kit Kat the wrong way!”

Logan frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought it was merely a wafer chocolate; what about this particular confectionary makes it so special as to have a right and wrong way to consume it?”

“You can’t just bite into both halves of a Kit Kat without breaking it first! That’s… that’s like a crime!”

“But why does it matter? Either way, the Kit Kat gets eaten. I don’t understand what I did wrong—”

“It was you? Oh, Logan, how could you betray me like this?”

Virgil didn’t really care too much about the half-eaten candy, and, listening to their banter, he had to smile. Figures that Logan would know the entirety of Hound of the Baskervilles word for word, but wouldn’t know the proper way to eat a Kit Kat, he thought to himself, shaking his head as he quietly excused himself from the conversation. The anxious side made his way over to Roman, who didn’t seem to realize that he was now alone on the dance floor. Actually, he probably just doesn’t care. Virgil cleared his throat. “Hey, Princey.”

The prince in question turned around. “Virgil.”

“Gotta admit, this party’s actually pretty good. Still mad that you stole my idea to dress up as a Nightmare Before Christmas character, though,” Virgil teased. He didn’t really care how Roman dressed up — he just wanted to get a conversation going.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Well, how was I supposed to know you were going to dress up as Jack Skellington? And besides, I make a fantastic Sally, thank you very much.”

”Yeah, yeah, whatever. You just wanted an excuse to break out your red wig again. You were a pretty good Merida last year, could’ve just stuck with that,” shot back Virgil.

“Excuse me?” Roman put a hand to his chest in mock indignation. “You expect me, the most creative Side of all, to wear the same Halloween costume twice? Never! Never, I say!”

“Okay. That’s what I was hoping you’d say, ‘cause I cut up your Merida dress to make the coattails for my costume. Glad you don’t mind.”

“You what?” Snickering, Virgil winked before running away as fast as his legs could take him. He didn’t need to look back to know that Roman was chasing after him. “Virgil, get back here!”

Dashing through the mind palace, Virgil found himself laughing, really laughing, for the first time in as long as he could remember. He loved fall, of course — how could he not? It was Halloween season! — but Thomas’ “autumn anxiety” had been acting up that year and he’d found himself working harder than usual. He had to admit that it felt great to be able to just relax at the annual costume party that Roman always held, even more so than usual this time.

Or maybe it just felt great to mess with Roman. That, too.

Either way, Virgil was… happy to have a worry-free day where he could just eat candy and drink bad punch and hang out with the other Sides. He had complained when Roman told him that the number one rule for the costume party would be “no overthinking anything” — But that’s what I do best! he’d whined — but he had to admit that he was glad Roman had made him promise. It was nice to know that Roman really did care.

Dashing through the halls of the mind palace, Roman hot on his heels, both of them shouting friendly taunts to each other, Virgil felt almost… carefree. Like nothing could stop him.

Moments later, something stopped him.

Virgil stopped in his tracks and stared. Roman came flying around the corner and crashed into him only moments later. “Hey, what’s the big… idea…”

Roman trailed off as he caught sight of the reason Virgil had stopped so suddenly. His eyes narrowed.

“Deceit,” Virgil hissed.

Indeed, before them stood Deceit. Virgil’s lip curled up in an automatic snarl, but a second glance told him that Deceit was not quite his regular self today.  Instead, he seemed to shrink in on himself. Virgil recognized a lot of Deceit’s body language as mirroring what usually was his own — hunched shoulders, hands gripping the container tighter than necessary, head slightly bowed, eyes darting. He seemed… nervous.

Not to mention his unusual outfit. He was dressed in an odd-looking robe; a colourful mishmash of many different fabrics that was at once regal and eccentric. In his hands, he held — was that a Tupperware container?

“What are you doing here?” Roman stepped forward and pointed an accusing finger. “What’s in the box?”

Roman was expecting a witty remark, a smug smile. He got neither. Rather, Deceit opened the container with a hopeful look on his face. “Er… I brought cookies.”

Virgil and Roman stared.

“Is it the costume? It’s too obscure, isn’t it? I’m dressed up as Prospero. You know, the guy from The Tempest?”

Virgil and Roman stared.

An awkward moment of silence.

Virgil and Roman stared.

Deceit held up the cookies to their faces, seeming to think that the two other Sides had somehow missed them.

Virgil and Roman stared.

“Did I mix up the dates? I thought today was the costume party.”

  xxx

  “Absolutely not.”

“Sure thing!”

Logan and Patton spoke at the same time. The other Sides turned to Patton, incredulous.

“How can you possibly think this is a good idea?” Logan asked him.

“Well, you said he didn’t seem like he wanted to cause trouble, right?” Patton addressed Virgil, who nodded. “And it is true that Roman sent out an invitation to all the Sides. That includes Deceit.”

“Well, yeah, but I meant all the light Sides! Not that two-faced treacherous toad!” Roman

protested.

Logan sighed. “His motif is that of a snake, Roman, not a toad.”

“I’m sorry, I had to make it alliterative.”

Virgil was losing patience. “Guys, can we please focus?” He turned to Patton. “I get that you wanna make Deceit feel included or some dumb nice thing like that, but we can’t trust him,” Virgil insisted. “What if it’s another trick? I don’t understand how you’re so okay with him joining us.”

“Agreed,” Logan chimed in. “Deceit has lied to us before; in fact, it’s at the very core of his being. It’s what he does best.”

“I guess, but… but that doesn’t mean that he always lies! Roman, you mentioned that he was wearing a costume,” Patton argued, “and he brought cookies! Cookies! You can’t possibly say no to cookies, can you?” Roman started to speak, but Patton talked over him. “I get it. You don’t exactly trust him. Honestly, I don’t either. I mean, he stole my identity — not cool. But Deceit just wants to have fun. Can you blame him? Everyone deserves to be able to take a break from time to time. We all know the Dark Sides aren’t the liveliest bunch. Can’t we just let him have this one day?”

Patton’s last words echoed in the room. The other Sides were silent.

Finally, Logan spoke up. “I… suppose… it couldn’t hurt to let Deceit join in on the festivities for a day.”

“What? Logan, you can’t be serious!” Roman objected.

Logan held up a hand, silencing Roman effectively. He continued, “You must admit that Patton has a point. All of us work hard to keep Thomas safe and healthy, and although Deceit’s way of doing so may be… counterproductive… he still ought to be allowed a day of amusement. I’m not saying we need to treat him like a friend, but perhaps we can consider setting aside our differences today and forming a truce.”

The most anxious of the Sides was still apprehensive, of course, but Virgil started to see what Logan and Patton were saying. Slowly, he nodded. “I guess it would be okay, just for today.”

Roman, on the other hand, could hardly believe his ears.

He’d worked so hard for this costume party! He’d put so much effort into making sure it was absolutely perfect. Everything had been carefully thought out, from the party playlist song order to the location and arrangement of all the fake cobwebs to the exact shade of orange icing on the chocolate cupcakes. He knew how excited Patton had been for October to arrive. He’d noticed how Logan had been staying up late to work on Thomas’s videos. He’d seen how Virgil had been even more stressed than normal, trying to keep up with all the unwanted negativity that had arrived with the cold weather.

He’d planned and planned so that they could have the best costume party yet, and then Deceit showed up and just had to ruin it for all of them. They’d been having fun! They’d been relaxing! They’d been happy! And now they just wanted to throw away all of his hard work… for what? To appease a filthy liar?

When Roman spoke, his words were sharp and dripping with venom. “Well. I suppose I understand what you’re saying.”

“Oh! Um, that’s great, but are you sure?” Patton asked, cocking his head to the side. He hadn’t expected Roman to give in so easily.

In fact, Roman wasn’t quite finished. “Oh, I’m sure, all right. I may have spent countless all-nighters pouring my heart and soul into organizing this party for you all, but if making a Dark Side feel good is your priority, well, don’t let me stop you! I completely understand. Who cares about all the hard work I did, right?” Roman laughed bitterly. “Well, go ahead! Go bring the good news to your new best friend! I won’t stop you.” And with that, Roman sunk out.

  xxx

  “Well, um, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Patton said to Deceit, who had been waiting in the halls where Virgil and Roman had left him. “The good news is, most of us are okay with you spending time with us today.”

“Most of you?” said Deceit quizzically.

“Yeah, uh, Roman… won’t be there, though,” Patton fumbled in response. “But you can still come and have fun with the rest of us!”

Deceit sighed. There was a nasty feeling gnawing away at his gut — guilt. He’d driven Roman away from his own party.

“You know what, Patton? I really appreciate it, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think I’ll be attending the party after all.” He gave the Tupperware container to Patton. “You can keep the cookies, though.”

Deceit pretended not to hear Patton’s confused protests as he disappeared from sight.

  xxx

  A series of gentle knocks on Roman’s bedroom door alerted him to another Side’s presence. Probably Patton.

“Leave me alone,” grumbled Roman. No, please come in. His ego would never let him admit it, but he’d been hoping that someone would come to check in on him. Patton had come faster than he’d expected, though. Usually, the other Sides gave him some time to mope before coming to cheer him up with compliments.

The door opened with a soft click, and Roman was surprised to see that the one standing on the other side wasn’t Fix-It Felix, here to give Roman a tap with his golden hammer and make everything better. It was Jack Skellington, coat-tails and all.

“Virgil?”

The anxious Side invited himself inside and sat next to Roman on his fancy four-poster bed, fidgeting a little bit. “Hey there, Sally.”

The two of them sat in silence for a couple minutes, until Roman heard a very quiet snort of laughter. He whipped his head around immediately. “What are you laughing at, Hot Topic?”

“I just… I can’t take you seriously with that bright red wig of yours.”

Roman flushed with embarrassment. He’d forgotten he was wearing that. He removed the incriminating hairpiece. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Okay, so did you come up here for a reason, or did you just want to laugh at my hair?”

Suddenly serious, Virgil’s smirk disappeared. “Yeah, actually. I just felt like I owe you an apology.”

  xxx

  Deceit sat, alone, in the darkscape. Stupid! the darkscape wailed in his own voice. So stupid! What on Earth were you expecting? For them to welcome you with open arms, just because you were all dressed up and baked some cookies? Ridiculous. You’re a Dark Side. They don’t like you.

He closed his eyes tight and tried to drown out the never-ending cacophony. He was used to the whispers that were always echoing through the hallways, but today they were so much louder than usual.

It was no use. Showing weakness had been a bad idea — the voices grabbed hold of him and pulled him down, down, down…

  xxx

  “...we didn’t really consider your feelings when we made our decision, and that wasn’t fair. All of us really do appreciate how much work went into your party. So… uh, we’re sorry,” Virgil finished. He finally made eye contact with Roman (he’d been staring at his hands for the entirety of his apology) and was surprised to see the Side who had previously seemed so downtrodden was grinning like a fool.

“How many times did you rehearse that apology?” Roman asked.

“Wh— huh?” That was not the answer Virgil had been expecting. He hadn’t even been expecting to be able to get through his entire apology (which, by the way, he had only rehearsed six times, thank you very much!); he’d been sure that Roman would cut him off somewhere in the middle with some kind of snarky comment. When Roman was silent, Virgil had gotten more than a little nervous. Roman was never silent unless he was either angry or touched. And yet, the huge smile on Roman’s face showed that he was anything but angry. So that meant…

Mistaking Virgil’s confusion for concern, Roman hastened to comfort him. “I’m joking. That was very sweet of you, Virgil, and I really do appreciate it. I have to admit that I overreacted a tad bit. It’s just been an exhausting couple of days, you know?”

Virgil listened and nodded. “It’s great that you wanted to take stress off our shoulders with this party, Roman — really, it is — but it seems like you ended up just taking that stress onto yourself. You mentioned that you pulled a lot of all-nighters, huh? I get that you were excited, but come on, Princey. You can’t do that to yourself.”

Roman hated to admit fault, but… “I suppose you’re right, Jack Smellington.”

“Hey! Come on! Again with the name-calling? I thought we were having a heart-to-heart here!”

Roman nudged Virgil playfully. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I suppose that I have some apologizing to do, as well. Come on.” He got up and crossed over to the door, Virgil following close behind.

The two of them walked side-by-side, Side by Side, down the mindscape halls. When they reached the living room, Virgil hurried in first and sat down on the couch between Logan and Patton, who had long since stopped the music and were now sitting in silence, expecting Roman to step in.

Virgil spent a full minute wondering what was taking Roman so long before he got up and went back to check. “Ro?”

The hallways were empty. Roman was nowhere in sight.

  xxx

  Time was a fluttery, doubtful sort of thing in the darkscape. It was a single silver ribbon that twisted and folded and, every once in a while, even stopped entirely. Sometimes, Deceit might just blink and weeks would flash by. Other times, he would lie down and sleep for what felt like an eternity, and wake to find that it had only been a few minutes he’d been unconscious.

Deceit didn’t know how long he’d been listening to the savage screams tearing away at his very core like vultures descending on a slab of dead meat. He didn’t want to know. At first, he’d wanted to escape to the safety of his room where the darkscape’s words were almost imperceptible, but to do that would be to admit defeat, and Deceit had had enough of that for today. So he sat and let the darkscape do its work, filling him up with bitterness and self-doubt.

Until, suddenly, there was someone’s hand on his shoulder — a grip that was firm and assertive, but not too tight. The whispers that filled Deceit’s mind disappeared with a puff of smoke as he turned to look at the unexpected visitor.

“...Roman? What are you doing here?”

The flamboyant Side spoke as if reciting words he’d already heard once before. “I just felt like I owe you an apology.”

  xxx

  “What’s wrong, Virge?” Patton asked, voice full of concern.

The panicked Side exclaimed, “Roman was right behind me, and now the idiot’s just run off to who-knows-where!”

Logan got to his feet, alarmed. “He didn’t give you any hints about where he was going?”

“No,” Virgil said. “I just went up to his room to apologize and then he said that he needed to say sorry to you guys too, so we came downstairs and now he’s just gone.”

“You’re quite sure that he desired to talk to us, specifically? Not anyone else who he perhaps may have hurt?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, who else would he need to…” Virgil trailed off as he realized what Logan was implying. “Oh.”

“Yes, oh does seem appropriate for this situation,” Logan agreed.

Patton blinked, not quite catching on. “What? What are you guys talking about?”

“Roman didn’t mean us. He meant Deceit. He’s gone to the darkscape,” explained Virgil. “Oh, man. Why’s he gotta be such a clueless moron all the time? What made him think it would be a good idea to go down there?”

“He’s gone down to the darkscape?” cried an incredulous Patton. “But that’s dangerous! We gotta go bring him back before he gets himself hurt, Virgil!”

“I know, I know, I just… really don’t want to go down there again.” Virgil shuddered, and Patton’s voice grew quiet.

“Oh, I’m— I’m sorry. Er, if you don’t want to, it can just be me and Logan...”

After a moment of quiet focus, Virgil said, “No, I’m coming too. I wanna give him a piece of my mind, anyway. And no one knows how to deal with Deceit better than I do.” Patton couldn’t deny the truth in that statement.

“Alright,” Logan said impatiently. “Well, then, let’s go. We’ve already wasted enough time.”

Taking a deep breath, Patton and Logan stood, Virgil getting up a second later. The three of them had determined expressions on their faces, and stepped out into the halls, ready to run into Roman and bring him back to safety.

They weren’t expecting for that to happen in quite so literal a fashion. As Logan turned the corner, he collided face-first with Roman, who stumbled backwards — right into Deceit.

Patton gasped. “Roman! Behind you!”

Rubbing his forehead, Roman cracked the slightest of smiles.

“Yes, I’m aware. I was just bringing him to the living room so that we could join you guys, but it looks like you decided to meet us halfway, anyhow.”

He lowered his voice. “We’re still not friends. But just for today, we don’t really have to be enemies either, you know?”

  xxx

(The cookies were delicious, by the way.)

xxx

A/N: This ended up being a lot longer and a lot more confusing than I intended. I wanted to write a cute little 500-word fluffy fic and post it the same day I wrote it, but then my hand slipped and before I knew it I was writing a 3k in ten-minute writing sprints in between all my homework. Since I wrote this for the SS Spooky Month, I threw this on here without doing.. uh.. any editing. So yeah -- definitely not by best work, but hey, this is my blog and I’ll post what I want, haha!

PS - Anyone who guesses the reference in the title gets a cookie :P

[enjwrites]

red

rating: T for swearing and mild emotional distress

word count: 2155

relationships: enjolras/grantaire

Enjolras tries to drive home. He gets about halfway there before tears well up in his eyes and he has to pull into a corner store’s parking lot. He shuts off his car and rests his head on the steering wheel as he tries to control his breathing.

He calls Combeferre.

“Enjolras? Wh- it’s three in the morning,” Combeferre says on the other line, voice raspy from sleep. “Are you okay?”

Enjolras takes in a deep breath before replying. “We fought.”

Courfeyrac chimes in, a little distant from the phone, it seems, but clear enough. “You two always fight.”

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Combeferre says.

“I know we always fight. We… I…” He takes in another breath, trying to focus on what he’s saying. “We didn’t really fight. I don’t think it was a real fight, anyway. He just…” And he chokes back a sob. His abdomen tightens and twists, though he doesn’t really notice; he can’t stop thinking of the uncertainty showing on Grantaire’s face - the hurt, the insecurity.

“I love him, guys.”

“We know.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Sure he does!” Courfeyrac’s voice lifts a few octaves. “Who else are you willing to get naked around?”

Combeferre shushes Courfeyrac. “Why do you think-”

“Because he... He said he loves me. And I fucking -” a choked sob, “I froze, god, I’m so fucking stupid.”

“So you froze, what’s the big deal -”

“He left, Courf. He got up and ran.” With a look of terror on his face.

“But you were at his apartment?”

“I have no fucking idea where he went, I checked the cafe and the bar, but he doesn’t wanna see me, I fucked it up, he thinks I’m -”

Combeferre shushes Enjolras, now. “Do you think you can come home? I’ll make some hot cocoa, and warm up that cake you liked so much.”

Not much of a phone conversation, Enjolras thinks, but agrees, and does his best to hold back tears as he drives back to the apartment he shares with Combeferre.

Combeferre is waiting with a blanket and a glass of cocoa, with a peppermint candy cane in it, and a place of warm cake on the coffee table.

“I froze,” Enjolras repeats. Combeferre lays a hand on his back comfortingly. Courfeyrac anxiously paces the living room.

“You froze. He ran.”

Enjolras hums. We’ve already been through this.

“He must have thought you were mad,” Combeferre says. His voice is soothingly even, that’s a talent of his - he can always manage to comfort Enjolras. “He jumps to conclusions, you know that. He must think you don’t feel the same -”

“God, I fucked it all up.”

“Try texting him?”

“I’d call him,” Courfeyrac interjects.

Combeferre nods. “Yeah, that, actually. What were you doing when he said it?”

“Cuddling, sort of? On the couch. We watched a movie.”

Enjolras, in all his anxiety, has already finished the cocoa and cake. Combeferre lets Enjolras rest his head on his shoulder. “I don’t think I could call him.”

Courfeyrac decidedly sits next to Enjolras on the couch, rubbing his shoulder sweetly - it’s been a while since Enj has needed this sort of comfort, but they fall into the rhythm quickly. “Enj, love, if I were you,” he sighs, “I’d give him his space. You know how stubborn he is.” Enjolras nods - once, Grantaire said, laughing, “I’m a Taurus, being stubborn is my job.” It was funny at the time. Enjolras can’t laugh, now. “You can text him. Let him know you’re not upset with him, tell him you were just shocked. He probably won’t read them, now, but he’ll read them later.”

Enjolras’s phone buzzes on the coffee table and Combeferre picks it up. “It’s from Bahorel,” He says, relieved, and shows Enjolras the screen.

Bahorel (3:47 AM): grantaire’s being an idiot rn

Another text comes in seconds later.

Bahorel (3:48 AM): listen dude i know he’s overreacting but… (Enjolras then opens his messages to see the full text.) you gotta let him know how you feel. i don’t know what happened but he’s freaking the fuck out

Bahorel (3:48 AM): he keeps saying you don’t love him and i know for damn sure that isn’t true

Bahorel (3:48 AM): just text him or something okay. he’s not mad i think he’s just sad

Bahorel (3:49 AM): luv you xx hope it works out

Enjolras huffs a little, wanting to smile at Bahorel’s instantly-nurturing nature.

You (3:50 AM): I’m going to give him some space, get some sleep. I’ll text him in the morning. Tell him that. I know he probably doesn’t want a text from me right now.

Bahorel (3:50 AM): he may not think he does but he does. he’s starting to pass out so yeah text him in the morning x

Enjolras falls asleep on his couch, and wakes up late. His eyes hurt; they’re swollen, from crying last night. He has a text from almost every one of his friends - he expected this, because Bahorel doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, neither does Courfeyrac, so between the two of them, everyone had to find out.

Jehan (6:23 AM): I heard what happened. You should text him. I can help you with that.

Marius (7:31 AM): hey i hope ur feeling ok

Cosette (7:46 AM): Call me later we need to talk

Eponine (8:09 AM): i’ll fucking kill you if you don’t patch things up with him i swear to god

Feuilly (9:45 AM): I’m here if you need to talk buddy :(

Bossuet (10:32 AM): Hey r is here he says you hate him? Did you fight? :( Talk to him soon he looks like he’s been crying.

Joly (10:34 AM): Come get your mans we all have work

Musichetta (10:40 AM): I’m taking the boys to work, if R isn’t out of here by the time I get off tonight, you’re getting the death penalty. I love him, but you need to work shit out.

Musichetta (10:41 AM): I love you, too, jsyk. Stop being stupid. Talk to him.

Courf (11:04 AM): hehy i had to leave for work but i will interrogate you on my break you need to talk to r he loves you n  so do i you looked so sad. i hope ur feeling better. Gotta go in now love u xx

Combeferre (12:21 PM): You awake? I’m bringing burgers.

1-555-XXX-XXXX (12:42 PM): its gavroche i stole ur number off ponine i heard what happened im on the way to lunch rn so i cant talk but you better fucking talk to him

Gavroche (12:43 PM): u dont wanna get ur ass kicked by a teenager

Enjolras’s eyes water as he reads the next message.

R♥ (12:57 PM): hey sorry about last night. its cool if you wanna like . break up.  i thought we were there and i was wrong. im sorry.

He locks his phone and tosses it onto the couch next to him, resting his head in his hands, willing away tears. He feels a warmth and a depression in the couch on the other side; Combeferre comes bearing a cheeseburger and hand-cut fries. “From that gelato place on 6th you like so much. I got gelato, too, but you were still asleep when I got home.”

Enjolras takes the place graciously, and notices that there’s already a cool glass of water on the coffee table for him. Can you be alive and still be made a saint? Enjolras thinks, idly, as he chews. His phone buzzes, and on instinct, he looks down at it.

R♥ (1:17 PM): you there?

R♥ (1:18 PM): i know i fucked up but the silent treatment still kinda sucks

Enjolras sighs deeply and sets his plate on the table, picking up his phone.

You (1:18 PM): Yeah, I’m here. Sorry. I slept late. Give me a minute, to type up what I want to say, okay?

You (1:19 PM): And I’m not mad. You didn’t fuck up.

R♥ (1:20 PM): you can say that but it’s not gonna change my mind.

Another deep sigh, and at that point, Combeferre squeezes Enjolras’s shoulder gently, then stands and goes to his bedroom.

It takes a minute to type it all up. He’s sure his food is getting cold. He doesn’t care.

You (1:31 PM): I’m sorry. I’m so, so fucking sorry. I froze. I didn’t know what to do, because I’m an idiot, and I’ve never felt anything like this before, it’s new, and I’m not used to not knowing what to do. You know that. So I froze. I fucked up, so badly. You deserve so much more than that. Grantaire, I don’t hate you. I don’t dislike you. I can’t get mad at you, or at least I can’t stay mad, because every time I see your face, I lose my ability to form words, you’re so fucking beautiful in a way I can’t begin to describe. And then you open your stupid mouth and even though you piss me off a lot I can’t be mad that you said anything because your voice is like fucking velvet and you drive me nuts every second you speak because I want to kiss you but that’ll make you stop talking. Please don’t ever stop talking to me. Listening to you talk is like reading the most interesting book in the world; the Library of Alexandria pales in comparison. You always say I’m an angel, but I think you’re confused, you’re so gentle and kind, behind all that sarcasm and bitterness is a sweetheart who just wants to see people smile; I’ve seen the way you are around kids and sometimes that makes me think maybe I want kids, I want kids with you, because you’re so fucking sweet to them it hurts. You’re so fucking talented, I’ve never cared for art or music but yours makes me feel in a way that makes Monet and Bach look like pussies. Just as a note: I can’t tell you what to do, but if you ever cut your hair, I think I’ll die, because you have the most beautiful hair in the world and I want to spend the rest of my life playing with it. Your eyes are so incredible and I know you see me staring sometimes, but you never comment on it, because you’re amazing like that, and I fucking love you, Grantaire.

You (1:32 PM): I love you so fucking much, and I froze, and I hurt you, but I want you to know that I love you.

You (1:32 PM): I don’t want you to ever think I don’t love you.

You (1:32 PM): I love you.

You (1:33 PM): And I’m well aware I’ve just written you a full-length novel. Sorry haha

Enjolras sees Grantaire typing for a second, then the dots disappear. They reappear again, then disappear - this repeats a few times before Enjolras actually gets a message.

R♥ (1:35 PM): holy shit

R♥ (1:35 PM): just

R♥ (1:36 PM): you made me cry you shithead

R♥ (1:36 PM): can you like. come over? Combeferre’s home on his lunch break right

You (1:36 PM): Yeah, let me get dressed, first. Give me, like, half an hour and I’ll be there.

R♥ (1:37 PM): ok

R♥ (1:37 PM): i love you

R♥ (1:37 PM): aaAAA i’m still nervous about saying that!!!!!!!!!!

You (1:38 PM): :’) Cute. I love you too.

R♥ (1:38 PM): !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjolras gets dressed in a rush, throwing on a band tee and those black jeans that Grantaire loves.

He gets to Grantaire’s place in 15 minutes flat.

He doesn’t even really need to knock on the door - Grantaire swings it open and pulls him into the apartment, kissing him fiercely, pushing him against the wall.

Enjolras lays his hands on R’s hips, while R lands one hand on Enjolras’s chest, the other cupping his cheek, rubbing gentle circles with his thumb.

When Grantaire pulls away, he’s panting, his cheeks are rosy and his eyes are watering. He stares up at Enjolras; there’s a heartbreaking uncertainty behind those eyes - he waits for Enjolras to speak. Enjolras rests his forehead against Grantaire’s, taking his hands in his own. Blue eyes meet deep brown, and for a moment, Enjolras is enchanted. Back to business, he thinks.

“Grantaire.” Grantaire hums in response, and holds up on of Enjolras’s hands to kiss his fingers. “I love you.”

There’s a shaky exhale. Then R is pulling Enjolras impossibly tight, burying his head in Enj’s shoulder, quivering as he whispers, “I love you so fucking much.” Enjolras can’t help but smile as he presses a kiss to Grantaire’s neck.

Well, that’s the shortest fight we’ve ever had, Enjolras thinks.

//

[writingscififantasy]

Writing Platforms and Apps

Disclaimer: Alright, I know this isn’t strictly sci-fi or fantasy-themed, BUT. Too bad, this goes out for everyone who writes, ever.

So, writing is hard. Full stop. Writing is difficult, and irritating, and oftentimes downright infuriating- and as much as we writers adore it, we could all use some help, right? 

Enter some tools of the trade- writing platforms and apps! Every writers uses something to write- be it the traditional methods of pens and notebooks to brainstorm, regular MS Word programs, online writing websites, or fancy programs like Scrivener for plotting- and all of them have their merits and downfalls. There are a ton of platforms upon which one can write. There’s no way I could get through all of them in one sitting, let afford some of the fancier ones out there (curse you, fundamental necessities!), but for this post I wanted to discuss the 4 programs that I use (and have been using for more than a year) and think are especially helpful not only for writing anything, but for...wait for it...NaNoWriMo endeavors!  Woooh, it’s time for Camp NaNo!!

Ahem.

So, let’s begin!

First up to bat is...Writeometer!!

This one here is an app available for free- yes, FREE, one of my favorite words right there- that is designed specifically for helping you track your writing progress. You can enter as many projects as you like, decide on your word count goals and your preferred deadline to reach that goal (perfect for NaNo!), and it will calculate how many words per day you’ll need to write- and, bonus, you can set subtle reminders to pop up at certain times to tell you it’s time to write. Even more bonuses- this app has tons of other features that are fun to use, including a writing log to record how you’re doing, graphs to show your progress, a list of stats pertaining to each project (for instance, your averages per day/week/month, your writing streaks, your best writing days, etc), a nifty little toolbox with a dictionary/thesaurus/word of the day/random words generator, AND a writing sprints timer that rewards you guavas each time you write for 25 minutes. Fun fact, guavas can be virtually exchanged on the app for prizes you set- mine include things like, “3 guavas to eat a cookie!” and “10 guavas to bang head onto desk while yelling!”.  Great stuff!

Next up- another app I use very often is JotterPad!

This one is very simple- while Writeometer was meant to deal with the nitty gritty statistics and tracking of writing, JotterPad is just a clean, simple mobile platform for writing. Nothing more, nothing less. You can create new documents and folders, and organize them any which way you desire- which, in my anxious writer brain, is wonderful- and if you want, add your Google Drive to it for backup so nothing is ever lost. Each folder and document is automatically made with different font colors, which I think is a nice touch, and every document has options for a viewing mode (closer spacing, no keyboard, cleaner look) and an edit mode (allows you to write, shows spelling errors, wider spacing for easier typing). Also in each doc is a dictionary and thesaurus option, a dark screen option for writing at night or sensitivity to light, and a short collection of stats for the doc (word count, character count, reading time, etc). This is all in just the basic app- there is a pro version that brings in other cool features like different writing fonts and document formats, but it costs money and I’ve never had any need for it. 

Onto the third program I like to use- myWriteClub! 

This one I just discovered a little while ago, courtesy of a fellow NaNo buddy, but I love it. The site is still in beta, so feel free to jump on the early bandwagon! This is a website, not an app (although here’s hoping they make an app for it...), but it’s 100% free and only requires an email address to make an account. The whole site is oriented towards writing sprints, and they make it fun- for NaNo and Camp NaNo, you can make a private sprint that only people with the link can join up on, and for anyone else there’s a global sprint going 24/7. What are these “sprints”, you might ask? Writing sprints last 25 minutes, and start every half hour- and on this site, you can watch your friends word count meter fill up in real time. Don’t worry- nobody can see your writing, only your word count. It makes NaNo writing sprints wayyyy easier, trust me. I’d recommend setting up a Dropbox account for all your writing on the site to be automatically uploaded to- there’s only one window you can write it, and there’s no saving documents on site- which I find is actually good, because there’s no getting lost.

Now, last and certainly not least- my FAVORITE writing site, 4thewords!

Okay, I’ll try to restrain myself here. I’ve been using 4thewords for over a year now, and I ADORE it. That being said, I will mention that this is also a fairly new site, still working out some of the bugs and getting updated all the time- I’ve never had a problem, but I wanted to mention it. This site is geared towards making writing fun, which it accomplishes by turning it into a game- a game with adorable monsters. Basically, you have a little avatar (whom you can edit and outfit as you please) and a map of different places you can unlock as you progress- each location has different monsters, which you can “fight��� by writing a certain amount of words in a specific amount of minutes. For instance, to defeat the Wignow you must write 250 words in 30 minutes. To defeat the Pester, 500 words in 50 minutes; the Mawt, 1,400 words in 210 minutes. 4thewords is set up like an actual game- for each monster defeated, you get little prizes that you can trade in at the marketplace, and you can boost your fighting prowess by making or buying armor and weapons. There are also different missions you can run- namely things like, “defeat 20 of XXX monster”, after which you get a bigger prize. 

I mean, look at this little monster.  LOOK AT IT.

Even better things! I know, I know, I’ll wrap it up quick- 4thewords runs lots of different events, including Love Week (for Valentine’s Day), Tico Week (for Costa Rica Independence Day), Winter Wonderland (for Christmas and winter holidays), annnnnd...NaNoWriMo!!! Each event has special missions and monsters to fight, and has special prizes. There’s one going on right now, actually, for Camp NaNo, and an even bigger one in November for the main event. Also, 4thewords has a Read section where you can post your writing, if so desired- and every year so far, there’s been a writing contest with real prizes for people who post their writing projects. Not to mention, I’ve spoken with the creator themselves when I changed my account email, and they were so, so polite and accommodating. The only downfall to this site is that yes, it costs $4USD a month to subscribe- but, with everything it’s got going on, from active forums to incredible graphics (the ART, you guys, holy sh*t) and an lengthy, intricate ongoing storyline, I’m okay with the cost and I think it makes sense. Plus, bonus- there’s a month long free trial upon making an account, so if you’re not sure about it, you can try it out for free!

Alright, I know that was a lot of info all at once. I want to say right here, right now that I have not at all been asked to review on these sites or make a post about them in any way- this post is purely my opinions, with no coercion or bribing or whatever else. This is just me, ranting- I mean, sharing- some of the writing platforms that I, personally, find fun and helpful for me in hopes that someone else finds it useful. 

And hey, if you’ve ever used one of these platforms, tell me your thoughts! Or even better, send me your favorite apps and/or programs- maybe I’ll make a compilation post of them, who knows. Questions about them? Hit me up.

(Bonus: LOOK AT THIS LITTLE STINKER, I CAN’T EVEN FUNCTION)

Okay, I’m done, I’m done. 

[litlifelover]

DEAR SANTA - An Odesta Drabble

For this year's Secret Santa exchange I wrote a couple drabbles (3 parts per pairing) for my wonderful Santee, @thelettersfromnoone, and decided to repost them here on my blog.

This first one is Odesta.

I wish everyone  Happy Holidays and Good Luck for 2018!

Best, Lit

Read on AO3

It was pretty late at night when Annie finally had the chance to take the letter from the windowsill. She sat down at their kitchen table and listened one last time for her son. When she heard nothing she was assured he finally was really asleep.

She unfolded the paper. Before she started to read, her eyes scanned the artful pictures her son had drawn on nearly every available space. The dog with a bowtie made her grin, and the way he tried to capture his favorite superhero made her giggle slightly. In between stood the text he had dictated to Finnick this afternoon.

"Dear Santa,

how are you? I hope you're doing good. Mommy says it's important to ask about people and how they are doing. And you are a very important person!

This year I don't have many wishes, I promise. Also, I really tried to be a good boy this year, but I know it didn't always work. I just don't like broccoli, and maths can be so boring. I'm really sorry.

My first wish is a dog. I know it's hard to bring me that, because Mommy and Daddy told me you always have to talk with the parents and get their OK before you can get pets for the kids, because pets are a huge responsibility. But I really wish for a dog. I would name him Spot and he would wear a red bowtie.

And it would be great if I could get a Wonder Woman lunchbox? Wonder Woman is awesome, she's just like my Aunty Kat.

Also, if possible, a couple matchbox cars? And maybe some Lego Ninjago?

But that's it. I promise. Except …

I'm not sure you can fulfill this wish at all, Santa, because you would need another OK from Mommy and Daddy, but … could I maybe have a little brother to play with? Or even maybe a sister? I would prefer a brother, but a sister would be alright, too, I guess.

Now it's really all, Santa. I hope you're still doing good. Mommy said, you always have to wish people a good day when you finish.

Your friend, Ethan Finnick Odair"

With a soft smile Annie folded the piece of paper again and placed it back on the windowsill. It would take a couple days before the letter would be gone, depending on how well-behaved Ethan decided to be.

But at least she already knew, at least one of her son's wishes would come true in the next couple months. And she was glad her husband was just as overjoyed about the addition to their family as she had been. Now there was only one question that remained: Would it be a brother or a sister?

xXx

Soaked cornflakes fell back into the bowl, one drop of milk slipping down from the edge of the dish.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Finnick asked before he took a bite from his bagel, his eyes fixed on his son sitting opposite of him.

"Nothing," Ethan sighed, listlessly scooping another spoonful of breakfast cereal into his mouth.

"Are you feeling alright, love?" Annie wanted to know then. She reached out and put her hand on his forehead, checking the temperature. Everything felt normal.

"I'm fine, Mommy," he replied, and for a brief moment his eyes traveled to the window. And suddenly Annie knew exactly what was wrong.

"It's been two days, Ethan. Santa will pick up your letter soon, I'm sure."

"Mom's right, buddy," Finnick agreed immediately. "Give it another day or two and the letter will be gone. You were a good boy these last days."

It didn't help to change their son's mood before he left for school. As he walked out of the kitchen, head slightly down, Finnick turned to his wife and whispered, "Maybe Santa will come by this morning?"

Annie whispered a 'Maybe' back and kissed him goodbye.

When Ethan returned from school in the afternoon, his first way led him to the kitchen window. He didn't even have time to say a proper hello, or give Annie the christmas wreath they made in arts and crafts.

But when she saw her son's eyes light up when he saw the windowsill empty, it completely made up for the forgotten greeting.

"It's gone, Mommy!" he whispered, too afraid the letter would mysteriously appear again if he talked too loud.

"Well," Annie whispered back, "Santa must've been in the area. And as Daddy said this morning, you were a good boy these last days."

And suddenly his good mood was restored. With a big smile he hurried back to his abandoned things, grabbed the wreath and held it out in front of him.

"For you, Mommy."

Annie smiled and took it from him.

When Finnick came home in the evening he found a brand new paper wreath dangling from the front door and his son eagerly awaiting his arrival to tell him about Santa finally picking up his wish list.

xXx

"Are you alright, Mommy?" His voice was small and vulnerable, and with the added distance between the bedroom where he was standing and the bathroom she was kneeling in, it sounded even more broken.

"I'm alright, Ethan. Don't worry," she called back, before she bent over once more and threw up again.

This morning sickness was really getting to her. Especially now that it lasted way into the afternoons.

Annie flushed the toilet and stepped over to the sink. While she brushed her teeth she tried to think of a way to explain to her son why she threw up the third time in as many days. There wouldn't be any hiding for very much longer.

Originally she and Finnick wanted to tell Ethan about the baby on Christmas Day. In his letter to Santa he asked about a sibling and they wanted it to look like Mr. Claus had made his wish come true. But with these violent bouts of morning sickness she wasn't sure how much longer she could assure her son that this was just a bug.

The front door opened and she heard Ethan rushing down the stairs.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy's throwing up again," he called while throwing himself into Finnick's arms.

"Oh no! Poor Mommy. Let's go check on her," her husband answered and a moment later she heard his footsteps on the stairs. She turned the lights off and left the bathroom.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead when he stepped into the bedroom, their son still in his arms. They looked at each other, and without a word they walked over to their bed and sat down, Ethan in between them.

Finnick took her hand in his, his smile reassuring. He knew this situation made her a little anxious.

"Is Mommy sick?" the boy interrupted the moment, both adults turning to him.

"No, Mommy isn't sick," his father answered, "But we have to tell you something, and we hope you're going to be happy about it."

If possible, the boy's eyes widened.

"The reason Mommy hasn't felt so well these last few days is because her body needs to adjust to the new situation. You see, before babies arrive they need to grow and gain weight. And for that they need a safe place. And that safe place is in Mommy's belly. So, sometimes the belly is a little upset because now it needs to share the space with the baby, but that will hopefully be over very soon."

Ethan listened intently to his father, before his eyes flickered to Annie's stomach. "There's a baby in there?"

"Yes," she smiled, brushing her hand through her son's hair. "So in a couple months you're going to be a big brother. How do you like that?"

Instead of an answer the boy wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and laughed. The anxiousness she'd felt only moments before got washed away with every delighted little laugh from her son. She looked up and Finnick beamed down at her and Ethan.

After a couple moments the boy pulled away and turned to his father.

"Daddy, can you help me?"

They looked at him with confusion, but Finnick simply nodded. "What do you need help with, buddy?"

Ethan beamed at his parents. He reminded Annie so much of Finnick it nearly made her burst with joy.

The boy hurried off the bed and to the door. He turned around when none of the adults made any move to join him.

"Come on, Daddy. I need to write Santa a Thank you card. I asked for a brother or a sister, and he gave me the present and it's not even Christmas yet!"

He ran down the stairs to the living room where all his crayons were stored, calling up to his father once again to hurry up.

"You're alright?" Finnick asked before following his son. Annie simply nodded and smiled, brushing her hand over his cheek once. "I'm perfect."

FIN

[usergrantaire]

Intertwined: Chapter X

A/N: helloooooooo i’m back and i have a lot of shit on my plate right now and i need to feel like i’m in control of at least one thing in my life if everything else isn’t, so here i am, updating! here’s a super long chapter for y’all!! have a fuckton of fluff!!

content warning: mild smut if you squint

READ IT HERE ON AO3

previous chapter: xxx

Éponine and Enjolras weren’t the kind of people to be very affectionate in public, almost never going beyond holding hands and the occasional kiss on the cheek here and there, and on extremely rare occasions, kisses on the lips. Honestly, it wasn’t that different from when they were strictly best friends—the only difference was that she slept in his bed with him more often nowadays, finding that she had been desperate for a cuddle buddy, so who better to provide cuddles than her boyfriend? They didn’t feel the need to flaunt their relationship to the world, choosing instead to keep the most intimate aspects of their relationship private, so it was no wonder that it took Les Amis some time to catch on.

About two weeks after they made things official, they met with their friends in that corner café they liked to frequent ever since discovering it back in their college days one afternoon, just to hang out and keep Gavroche, who worked there part time as a barista, some company. After loudly protesting her inability to have caffeine for several minutes, arguing back and forth with Enjolras, Éponine had finally settled on hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant. The two of them had been the first of their friends to arrive, if one didn’t count Gavroche, who already worked there on weekday afternoons anyway, so they found a quiet corner for themselves to relax together and chat as they waited for their friends to arrive. It was a slow day at the café—Gavroche had been pacing around behind the counter for ten minutes now, occasionally striking conversation with his fellow coworkers, and the only other people in the entire café besides Éponine, Enjolras, Gavroche, and his two coworkers were an elderly couple in another corner, one of them reading out loud to the other.

“You have your next appointment tomorrow,” Enjolras reminded Éponine as she leaned into him on the loveseat they were sitting on, allowing him to put his arm around her as she took a bite out of her croissant. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Éponine lifted her head, staring at him rather incredulously. “Of course I do,” she replied as if it was obvious. “You’re the baby daddy, of course I want you to come unless you have something important going on.” Éponine narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her face at him in that endearing manner, having a habit of doing that whenever she was pretending to see through him. “Do you? I’ll just take someone else if you do, I don’t mind.”

“I have nothing going on that day, it’s fine.” Enjolras tucked Éponine’s hair behind her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek and grinning at how she smiled, lightly pressing a kiss to the dimple in her cheek before she turned her head to gaze fondly into his blue eyes. She leaned in to close the gap between them, kissing him tenderly, unaware of how the little bell at the door had jingled, signalling another person’s entrance, and the two of them broke apart when they heard the sound of an all too familiar screech.

“What the fuck?!” Éponine and Enjolras looked up to find Courfeyrac standing before them with a look of utter shock in his dark eyes, mouth gaping open like a goldfish as he kept looking back and forth between the couple, trying to process what he had just witnessed. “Are you two together?”

Éponine grinned up at Courfeyrac, her eyes sparkling. “What’s it to you?”

“Holy shit, I need to tell everyone.” Courfeyrac had just whipped out his phone to text everyone else when Éponine reached up and snatched it away from him, evoking a squawk of protest from the man. “Hey! What the fuck?”

“You don’t need to tell everyone, because everyone is already here,” Éponine told him, gesturing behind Courfeyrac at the telltale sound of the bell, placing his phone on the coffee table before them. Courfeyrac whirled around in place to find everyone else entering and finding seats near Éponine and Enjolras, making themselves comfortable and not noticing at first how Enjolras had an arm around Éponine and the two of them were sitting much closer together than necessary on the loveseat. It wasn’t until Courfeyrac screeched again that they finally turned their attention to the couple in the corner.

“Are you fuckwads blind?! Look at them!” Courfeyrac wildly flailed his arms, gesturing towards Éponine and Enjolras and attracting the attention of Gavroche, his coworkers, and the other two patrons in the café besides Les Amis. “What kind of lovey-dovey romantic bullshit is this?!”

“What are you talking about?” Azelma asked, seizing the opportunity to be snippy.

Courfeyrac promptly ignored her, instead gesticulating frantically at Éponine and Enjolras even more and waiting for everyone else to take the hint. When they merely looked between him and the couple with mostly blank looks on their faces, Courfeyrac exploded.

“These two fucks are in a relationship and they didn’t even tell us!” he screeched out, attracting scandalised looks from the elderly couple in the corner.

“Dearie me,” the Amis heard one of them say, and Éponine stifled a laugh at the sight of the one who had spoken pressing a hand to their heart.

After a moment of silence in which everyone simply stared at Éponine and Enjolras, Grantaire spoke.

“Fuck yeah! Get some!” Sitting in an armchair right next to the loveseat, he held up his hand for a high five, a pleased grin on his face. Éponine grinned back and high fived him as Cosette let out a squeal.

“You two can be in the wedding together!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement and bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Courf, you owe me twenty bucks,” Musichetta called out from between Joly and Bossuet, a smug grin on her face as Courfeyrac begrudgingly pulled out his wallet to take out two ten-dollar bills, which he handed over to Musichetta with a scowl on his face.

“You guys bet on us?” Enjolras questioned incredulously, watching the exchange with a furrowed brow as Éponine reached up to squeeze his hand.

“To be fair, you two took a pretty long time to get together,” Combeferre reasoned, smiling at the two of them from across their loveseat. “I’m so happy for you two! We thought it’d never happen.”

“We were kind of getting sick of the ‘will they, won’t they’ and all the eye sex,” Bahorel admitted, staring straight at Enjolras from his seat beside Feuilly by the window. “But Enj, if you hurt her, I won’t hesitate.”

Enjolras nodded, biting his lip. “Noted.”

Just then, Gavroche leaned over the edge of the counter to call out, “Do you morons actually want to order anything or are you just here to take advantage of our WiFi?”

“Christ, okay!” Azelma got up, shooting a glare in Courfeyrac’s direction, to go over to the counter and order a cappuccino and a cinnamon roll. Courfeyrac stared after her, and Éponine could have sworn that he had a wistful look in his dark eyes as he gazed after the redhead.

Éponine thought nothing of it, simply smiling to herself when she felt Enjolras’ arm sliding down to go around her waist, his hand resting on her tiny bump, and she felt her cheeks burn red when he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “You’re the best, you know that?” he whispered into her ear, not noticing how Grantaire feigned an exaggerated gagging motion beside them before getting up to order something. Feeling the tiny bump through that hoodie of his that Éponine was wearing, Enjolras felt his heart skip a few beats, still unable to believe that Éponine had a little human that was half her and half him growing inside her.

“You two are too cute together,” Cosette gushed, barely restraining herself from squealing at the sight of them after waiting for months with the others for the two of them to realise their feelings and get together. “Eppy, are you showing yet?”

Éponine blushed even more, replying, “A little bit. You can’t see it through my hoodie though, thank fuck.” She had gone up a cup size in the past couple of weeks in addition to the baby bump, much to her mortification, and she needed to write down a reminder for herself to go out and buy a few new bras after having broken her favourite bra a couple of days ago. Now, though, she just focused on being in the moment with her best friend and their other friends, anticipating their next appointment with Dr. Bourrienne, which was to be the first appointment they were going to together as an official couple.

Grantaire soon returned with an espresso in hand and a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies, plopping down in the armchair beside Éponine and Enjolras’ loveseat and leaning over to ask, “So does this mean you two are boning again?”

Éponine felt her cheeks turn pink and turned her head, seeing how Enjolras had gone scarlet at Grantaire’s words. She turned back to flick Grantaire’s forehead, pretending to glower at him. “That,” she said, reaching over to grab a cookie off his plate before he could open his mouth in protest, “is none of your business.” Making sure Enjolras wasn’t listening in, Éponine leaned over to Grantaire and whispered, “Yeah, we are, but shut up about it, fuckface. It really isn’t that big of a deal.”

Grantaire’s lips soon curled into a knowing smirk as he settled back in his armchair, eyeing the couple and sniggering every now and then as he sipped his espresso and experimentally dipped a cookie in it to see what it would taste like as they chatted amongst themselves, updating each other on their individual personal lives and, in Éponine and Enjolras’ case, being questioned endlessly about the baby. “Have you two started thinking about names yet?” Feuilly asked at one point, leaning forward in interest.

Éponine frowned at his question, having never considered names before. “No, not yet,” she replied as Enjolras squeezed her bicep, his arm still around her shoulders. “I’m only seventeen weeks along, for fuck’s sake, the two of us are still trying to figure out where the baby’s room is going to be.”

“When’s the baby shower?” Joly enquired, beaming at the both of them.

Éponine looked like a deer caught in headlights at the question. “Ask Cosette,” she responded after a few moments of hesitation, gesturing towards the blonde. “She’s in charge of planning it.”

“It’ll be amazing, I promise you,” Cosette promised Éponine, bouncing up and down in her seat. “Are you two finding out the gender of the baby soon?”

“No, we decided to keep it a surprise,” Enjolras replied, resisting the urge to kiss Éponine’s cheek, what with everyone watching. He was iffy about displaying affection in front of all their friends, preferring to keep it at keeping his arm around her and holding hands now and then. His reservations when it came to PDA only further contributed to his title as the marble man, but the nickname had kind of grown on him by now, so he didn’t really mind.

“Good for you,” Courfeyrac told them approvingly, chugging whatever remained of his drink.

“Double the fun with names, then!” Bossuet cheered, putting his arms around Joly and Musichetta. Éponine couldn’t help but smile at how enthusiastic they all seemed about the baby—once they were born, Peanut would definitely have some pretty kick-ass uncles and aunts, that was for sure.

Éponine turned her head to whisper something in Enjolras’ ear and the two of them soon got up, Enjolras dropping his arm from around her to take her hand in his. “It’s getting dark out,” Éponine explained when Grantaire gave her a quizzical look. “We should get back home. We have another appointment tomorrow anyway.”

“Have fun!” Courfeyrac called after them, seeming to imply something from the way he said it and the smirk he had on his face. Éponine promptly ignored him and exited the café with Enjolras once they had put their coats on, their hands tightly intertwined.

Éponine looked up to look him in the eye, a questioning look on her face. “Home?”

Enjolras turned to see if the Amis were looking at them through the window, and sure enough, they were. For once, he decided to not care about what they were going to think and leaned in to kiss Éponine’s forehead, evoking a tiny squeak of surprise from her. Once he pulled back to gaze tenderly into her eyes, he agreed, “Home.”

Éponine smiled up at him and grabbed onto his arm as they began to walk back in the direction of the subway station. Just before they descended down onto the subway platform, she thought she saw a rather familiar-looking man standing in front of a bookshop and her heart nearly stopped before he disappeared just like that, but she simply dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her, convincing herself that it couldn’t possibly be him again.

Once they reached their apartment, Éponine immediately stripped down to her hoodie and leggings and tied up her hair in a messy bun, darting to the kitchen to grab the jar of pickles out of the fridge as Enjolras closely followed, unable to keep himself from smiling at how damn cute his girlfriend was. Once she was happily munching on pickles, a spoon in her hand, he wrapped his arms around her waist to kiss her neck from behind, feeling her little baby bump through her hoodie and gently caressing it, feeling as if his heart was about to burst at how completely, utterly happy he was. Smiling against the soft skin of her neck, he nuzzled into her, breathing in her scent and listening to how she giggled.

“’Jolras, that tickles,” she whispered, turning around to look up at him with a little smile on her face, still holding the jar of pickles in her hand.

Enjolras shrugged, smiling back at her. He just couldn’t help it—she looked stunning that night, drowning in one of his hoodies and wearing fuzzy socks, her hair up in a bun. “You just look so beautiful tonight,” he told her softly, smiling at how her olive skin turned a deep shade of red at his words.

“Shut up,” she replied, playfully shoving him before placing the pickle jar back on the counter. “You’re making me blush.”

He bit his lip to keep himself from smiling even more at her blush, leaning in for a gentle kiss and feeling how her arms snaked up to hang around his neck as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him and sighing at how her hands went up into his hair, her fingers tangling in his golden curls, parting her lips and deepening the kiss. She let out a soft, breathy moan upon feeling his tongue sliding into her mouth and she kissed him even more still, jumping up to hook her legs around his waist and feeling herself grow wet once again as he growled from deep in the back of his throat, his tongue delving deeper into her mouth.

In that moment, all she craved was him.

“Enjolras,” Éponine whispered breathlessly, breaking the kiss to gaze into his eyes, “I’m really horny right now and I kind of need you to fuck me as hard as you can. Like, right now.”

Enjolras laughed and set her down on the counter, experimentally sliding one large hand down the front of her leggings and feeling her dampened folds, immediately followed by a breathy gasp of surprise from her. “’Jolras, I’m serious,” she scolded him, about to say more until she was cut off by his lips meeting hers as two digits slipped into her core, eliciting an involuntary moan, and she immediately pulled him closer, sighing as she felt him kiss her slowly, passionately, working two fingers between her thighs and making her moan against his lips. She was losing herself in the moment, unable to think of anything other than him and his fingers inside her as she pleaded breathlessly, “Please, Enjolras, faster…”

He was all too eager to comply, picking up the pace and pumping even faster as her breathless moans and little gasps increased in volume, his lips still on hers, his tongue in her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her—they had spent quite a bit of time in the last two weeks or so having sex, quickly discovering that her pregnancy came with a heightened libido, and nowadays, all it took was a single suggestive glance and the next moment they were making out. He grinned against her lips, deepening the kiss as a squeal escaped her throat when he pumped even faster, whispering rather breathlessly into the kiss, “God, ’Ponine, you’re so wet…”

Éponine was writhing and squirming and just on the brink of orgasm when Enjolras stopped, pulling his fingers out of her and bringing them up to his lips, licking away her juices. Éponine glared at him at the loss of warmth, asking, “What the hell?”

Enjolras pulled her back into his arms once she slid off the counter and she readily jumped up on him once again, and he leaned in for a quick kiss before drawing back, a little smile on his face as he whispered, “Let’s take this to my room.”

Enjolras drifted in and out of a dream in which he saw a pair of warm, mischievous brown eyes as he lied on his bed with Éponine in his arms the next morning, somewhere between a state of slumber and consciousness as he absently ran his fingers up Éponine’s naked thigh, sunlight streaming in through the bay window, his face buried in her neck and sweat clinging to the both of them. He let out a contented sigh, wishing they could stay here in bed forever as he wrapped his arms tighter around the small, somewhat sweaty body in front of him, feeling the little bump on her stomach and smiling giddily at the fact that that was his baby in there.

“Enjolras,” he heard Éponine groggily say, feeling her shift in his arms so she would be facing him, leaning into his chest with a soft, contented sigh. He didn’t respond, keeping his blue eyes shut, trying hard not to smile at the sleepy sound of her voice.

He felt small, gentle hands cradling his face, tenderly caressing his cheek and tracing his jaw, and he almost leaned into her touch, unable to get enough of her.

Éponine chuckled softly, her gentle laughter full of affection. “I know you’re awake, ’Jolras.”

He felt a pair of soft lips gently brushing his and his blue eyes slowly blinked open as a little smile spread across his face. The first thing he saw was Éponine’s warm, sleepy half-lidded brown gaze, and his heart nearly imploded at how breathtaking she looked—a slight, almost unnoticeable blush on her cheeks, plump lips, and her dark hair in disarray. He dimly remembered first waking up with her like this, the both of them naked in a mess of tangled limbs, the morning after his birthday, and he smiled to think about how far they had come since then.

“Good morning,” Enjolras whispered as Éponine let out a little yawn. He reached to take her hand in his, bringing her small hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles and smiling at how she blushed at the gesture.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Éponine asked shyly, trying not to smile too much at the way he was looking at her.

Enjolras shrugged and pressed another kiss to her knuckles. “I never expected that my wildest dreams would ever become a reality,” he admitted softly, his free hand drifting down to feel her bump. “I never expected I’d ever get the chance to wake up with you in my arms again after the morning after my birthday, after… you know.”

Éponine smiled and bowed her head, looking at how his hand was tenderly resting against her little baby bump, gently caressing it and smiling down lovingly at it. Just then, she let out a soft gasp upon feeling an odd sort of fluttering in her stomach—the flutters felt similar to yet infinitely different from the butterflies she got whenever she was around Enjolras, and her hand flew to her stomach, feeling around for the source of the fluttering.

“What is it?” Enjolras asked, his brow furrowing in concern as his gaze trailed down to her bare stomach.

“I think Peanut just kicked,” Éponine whispered, her lips forming a little smile at the realisation as she felt those same little flutters in her stomach once again, and she leaned in to press her lips to Enjolras’, kissing him tenderly in bed right there. She brought his hand to rest on her stomach, pulling away to ask him in a whisper, “Can you feel it?”

Enjolras felt around her abdomen before a look of disappointment crossed his face, prompting Éponine to reach up and caress his cheek tenderly. “No. I guess it’s too early,” he murmured, his eyes falling to her little bump as he gently rubbed it, still unable to completely process the fact that that was his baby in there.

Enjolras leaned in until their foreheads brushed, asking quietly, “Why don’t you just move into my room permanently?”

Éponine let out a little laugh, caught off-guard. “What?”

“You’ve been sleeping in my bed with me every night since we got together,” he reasoned, taking her hand in his once again and squeezing it. “Why don’t you just move all your things into my room? It’s bigger, and there’s really no need for a second bedroom now, is there? We can turn your room into a nursery for Peanut.”

Éponine considered it for a moment before replying, “You know what? Let’s do it. I’ll just sell my bed or give it to Azelma or something.”

Enjolras grinned at her answer and was just about to lean in for another kiss before Éponine stopped him, telling him firmly, “Go brush your teeth first. I’m not kissing you again until you do. Your breath fucking stinks.”

“Well, you go take a shower then,” Enjolras retorted, sitting up as Éponine rolled over to the edge of the bed and slid off the mattress, stark naked as she grabbed her towel off the armchair in a corner of the bedroom and wrapped it around herself, marching out into the hallway and to the bathroom. Enjolras had no choice but to follow her to the bathroom, finding that she was already in the shower and had just gotten the water running by the time he entered.

“You have your appointment today, remember?” Enjolras called over the noise from the running water, placing his toothbrush under the faucet before sticking it into his mouth, beginning to brush his teeth.

“I know, ’Jolras, I actually remembered for once,” Éponine called back, the glass starting to steam up from the heat of the shower, distorting her figure. Enjolras smiled to himself at her dismissive tone of voice and continued to brush his teeth, spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing out his mouth once he had finished doing so.

Soon enough, he had shut off the water and turned around to find Éponine wrapped up in a towel, droplets of water dripping to the floor from her soaked hair, forming a little puddle. “That was quick,” he remarked, laughing when Éponine stuck her tongue out in response. “Do you want to go somewhere today before the appointment?” he asked as he grabbed his towel off the rack, wrapping it around his waist. “We’ve never really gone on an actual date before. What do you say to lunch at Olive Garden?”

“Why not?” Éponine marched out the bathroom door and down the hall to her former bedroom, soon to become a nursery for Peanut, where most of her clothes still were, to grab something out of her closet to put on. “I’ve really been craving Italian lately.”

“Olive Garden it is.” Enjolras disappeared into their bedroom and soon came out fully clothed, his Gryffindor scarf and grey beanie on, and made his way over to the living room to wait for Éponine, taking out his phone to scroll through the group chat the Amis shared—they seemed to have conveniently forgotten about the fact that Éponine and Enjolras were part of the group chat too, if the way they were all rambling in all caps about their relationship was any indication. He bit his lip and shook his head, shooting them a quick text to remind them that he and Éponine could see their entire conversation just as she came out of her old room resembling a marshmallow with all the layers she had on.

Éponine gave him a smile, scrunching up her entire face as she did so, asking, “Ready to go, babe?”

Enjolras rolled his eyes at the stupid pet name and got up, offering her his arm to take and feeling his cheeks burn red when she stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek just as he opened the door, letting in a blast of icy air. Éponine shivered and moved closer to him, taking advantage of his warmth as much as she could as they made their way to the subway.

“Jesus, Times Square is crowded,” Éponine muttered as she latched onto Enjolras, the both of them navigating the crowds of Times Square on their way to Olive Garden and trying not to get lost in the throngs of people rushing about. By the time the two of them were in the warmth of the restaurant, a kindly waitress came by and seated them in a nice little corner overlooking Times Square, handing them menus before leaving them to their own devices.

Éponine hung her coat on the backrest of her chair across from Enjolras, letting out a long, contented sigh as she soaked up the warmth, leaning back and resting a hand on her bump. “What’s on the schedule for today, chief?” she questioned, rubbing her abdomen and feeling those same little flutters from Peanut, feeling as if her heart was imploding at all the love she was longing to give to her and Enjolras’ child.

“Lunch here, appointment with Dr. Bourrienne, and then we can do whatever you want to do for the rest of the day,” Enjolras replied, flipping through the menu as Éponine toyed with a fork.

“Ooh, can we go to the Disney store?” Éponine asked in excitement, sitting up straighter in her chair and leaning forward. “I want to buy some plushies for Peanut’s nursery. It’s never too early to start decorating, right?”

Enjolras laughed at her enthusiasm, taking note of the food he wanted as he told her, “’Ponine, don’t you think we’ll get enough of those at that baby shower Cosette’s been talking about?”

“So? I want at least one of Peanut’s things to be from us,” Éponine responded, gently caressing her stomach and smiling to herself when she felt those little flutters yet again. Enjolras bowed his head under the pretense of looking through the menu, unable to resist a smile at how happy Éponine appeared to be.

God, he loved her so much.

He was reluctant about actually saying those three magic words out loud, though—after what had happened the last time he said it to her, he was terrified of saying it again for fear of things going to shit like they had last time. For now, he was willing to settle with different ways of showing her that he loved her—gentle little hand squeezes and forehead kisses were enough for now for the both of them.

After the both of them had called a waitress over to give her their orders, Éponine took the time to observe her surroundings, glancing out the window at the billboards and watching the people going about their business down in the middle of Times Square. She watched a crowd of tourists being escorted about and a little girl running around with her friend, their parents close behind them, and she smiled at the thought of Peanut doing the exact same thing in a few years as her eyes wandered to look around the restaurant. The other tables were more or less occupied and Éponine’s eyes had just landed on a shadowy corner near the restrooms when her blood ran cold at the sight of a familiar-looking man.

Enjolras looked up from the book he had brought along and had been reading, noticing how Éponine tensed up, and his eyes followed her gaze, landing on the man partially obscured by shadows in the corner. “You okay?” he asked her, concerned at the unease in Éponine’s dark eyes as he reached across their table for two to take her hand and squeeze it.

Éponine narrowed her eyes at the man, trying to put a name to him before he raised his menu to his face, shielding him from view, and she shook her head as if trying to regain her senses. It was nothing to worry about; he was probably just a stranger who resembled the man she thought she saw, even though she was almost certain she saw a brief look of recognition flicker across his face before he raised the menu to his face. She was probably just being paranoid after that incident on the subway in which she thought she glimpsed that very same man she thought she had just seen in the corner in a crowded train car despite the fact that she hadn’t seen him in five years after cutting all ties with him.

“It’s nothing,” she replied in a low voice, turning her attention back to Times Square, looking out the window at the crowds before turning back to glance at Enjolras. “My mind’s probably just playing tricks on me.”

Enjolras raised an eyebrow, silently telling her that he wasn’t entirely convinced, but he said nothing else as he gently let go of her hand and went back to reading his book. Éponine stole another quick glance at the man in the corner—his face was still hidden from view by his menu. She shook it off as a waitress approached with the garlic bread and soup she had ordered, telling herself that she was just being paranoid again. She simply dipped her garlic bread in the soup and took a bite out of it, observing the billboards advertising various Broadway shows and letting the man she thought she had recognised slip her mind.

Once she and Enjolras had finished up their lunch, they found that they still had a couple of hours before the appointment. Once Éponine and Enjolras were standing outside of Olive Garden, her hand in his, she turned her head to look up at him, suggesting, “Why don’t we go to the Disney store now?”

Enjolras leaned in to kiss her forehead, smiling to himself as he did so. “Anything you want.”

By the time they were swept into the store, finding that it wasn’t nearly as packed as it usually tended to be, Éponine had completely forgotten about the man in the shadows as she gushed over the adorable Stitch plushies on display in a corner. “’Jolras, look at how cute this one is!” she exclaimed, a grin breaking out on her face as she picked up a plushie of Stitch dressed as a bunny with a little blue plaid bow, melting at how soft it was. “It’s so soft; we have to get this one.”

Enjolras felt like his heart was imploding at Éponine’s enthusiasm, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. “Do you want anything else or is this just it?”

“Just this,” Éponine replied, holding the stuffed doll up to her cheek and feeling how incredibly soft it was and laughing. “You know, maybe this whole baby thing isn’t going to be so bad after all.” Just then she felt another little flutter in her stomach and laughed even harder, nearly doubling over at how deliriously happy she was.

Once they had exited the Disney store, they made their way to the subway station to make their way over to the clinic, Éponine’s hand in Enjolras’ as she clutched the little bag containing the plushie for Peanut. By the time they got off the train at their stop, she had a bit of a spring in her step as they walked up to the clinic, and Enjolras could have sworn that she was actually humming to herself as she checked in, walking over to sit in a corner and waiting for her name to be called.

“You’re happy today,” he observed out loud as he took a seat beside her.

Éponine turned her head to flash him a grin. “What can I say? My life’s great right now. I’ve got the most fantastic best friend slash boyfriend slash baby daddy, we’ve been having the most amazing sex I’ve ever had in my fucking life in the past two weeks, and I’ve actually got a great feeling about this whole Peanut thing. Maybe I won’t fuck up this whole parenting thing as much as I thought I would.”

Enjolras had no idea how to respond to that, taking her hand instead as she took her phone out to scroll through Buzzfeed and take a few quizzes just for the fun of it. She was humming some showtune Enjolras couldn’t quite name to herself by the time her name was called, and she practically jumped to her feet and took the plastic cup from Alison before immediately heading off to the bathroom, handing the plastic bag containing Peanut’s Stitch plushie to Enjolras and leaving him standing in the hallway with Alison.

Alison stared after Éponine with a stunned look in her eyes, finding that this was the most cheerful the young woman had been during any appointment. “She seems happy,” she remarked to Enjolras, watching as Éponine disappeared into the bathroom.

“Yeah,” Enjolras replied rather breathlessly, bewildered. One moment she was all tense because of someone she thought she had seen in a restaurant and the next she was gushing over little Disney plushies and skipping amid the grey slush of New York City. He supposed it was just the hormones causing such mood swings, and he figured he should enjoy it while he could; he had heard stories of how pregnant people tended to place blame on their partners later in pregnancy for their aching bodies and sore feet, and so he would enjoy these happy days while he could.

Once Éponine came out of the bathroom, she grabbed Enjolras’ hand and cheerily followed Alison into the exam room, not even complaining when Alison had to draw blood like she had at the previous two appointments. “Well, aren’t you just glowing,” the nurse commented jovially as she patched Éponine up once the blood had been drawn. Éponine beamed at Alison in response.

“I’ve started showing!” she told Alison excitedly, lifting her shirt up to show her little bump. “And I started feeling Peanut kicking this morning!”

The nurse smiled at Éponine’s enthusiasm and made her way towards the door, telling her and Enjolras, “Dr. Bourrienne will be here soon. Just sit tight, okay?”

“Sure.” Éponine had a loose grip on the edges of the exam table as she swung her legs back and forth, awaiting Dr. Bourrienne’s arrival. Enjolras startled slightly when she reached over to take his hand, pulling him closer to her as she lifted her head up to look up at him. His eyes found hers and he felt as if he was falling in love with her all over again at the way she was gazing up at him.

“Thanks for being here, ’Jolras,” she murmured, giving him a tender little smile and making him feel as if his heart was imploding once again. “I doubt I would have been able to do this alone.”

“I’ll always be here, ’Ponine,” he assured her, squeezing her hand. “You and Peanut are my top priorities.”

Éponine bowed her head, trying and promptly failing to stifle the silly little grin that threatened to break out on her face before looking back up at him, settling for a close-lipped smile. “Look at you, already going all papa bear,” she teased lightly, giggling at how he blushed pink as she slid off the exam table, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands. “Get down here, you dork.”

Enjolras’ lips had barely brushed Éponine’s when they heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing, prompting the both of them to jump apart and turn scarlet once they saw that Dr. Bourrienne had entered the exam room. The older woman gave the both of them a knowing smile as Éponine hopped back up on the exam table, her cheeks burning as she avoided eye contact.

“Did I interrupt something?” Dr. Bourrienne questioned amiably, taking a seat and opening up her laptop as she had done during past appointments. Enjolras felt his cheeks grow hot, giving a tiny nod of embarrassment.

“We’re so sorry you had to see that,” he apologised profusely, recalling just why both he and Éponine disliked PDA after her doctor had walked in on them.

“No worries, Enjolras,” Dr. Bourrienne replied, giving him and Éponine a little smile. “I’ve always thought you two make a lovely couple.”

“Oh, we actually just made things official two weeks ago,” Éponine told Dr. Bourrienne, swinging her legs and feeling herself blush at the implications in Dr. Bourrienne’s words. Had she always thought they were together?

A brief look of surprise flickered across Dr. Bourrienne’s face, her mouth forming a little ‘O’ for a millisecond before she composed herself. “So, Éponine, how have you been?” she asked, changing the subject, much to Éponine and Enjolras’ relief.

“I’ve started to show!” Éponine told Dr. Bourrienne in excitement, lifting her shirt up as she had done with Alison and pointing to her little baby bump. “I also felt Peanut kick this morning!”

“That’s good, then!” Dr. Bourrienne typed this all up as Éponine and Enjolras watched, and just then, she felt those same little flutters in her stomach, undoubtedly from Peanut.

“Peanut just kicked again,” Éponine informed Dr. Bourrienne happily, her hand going to her little bump. “Just now. I felt it.”

“What does it feel like?” Dr. Bourrienne prompted, turning to give all her attention to the young woman sitting on the exam table.

Éponine considered her answer for a moment, trying to come up with the right words. “It feels… weird,” she said at last, rubbing her abdomen. “A good kind of weird, though. It feels a lot like butterflies, but it just feels different from butterflies, somehow. Am I making any sense? I’m probably not making any sense. It just feels like something’s moving around in me, I guess. It feels good.”

“You’ll start feeling Peanut moving a lot more further into your second trimester,” Dr. Bourrienne told her, turning her whole body away from her laptop. “How have you been doing so far? Been taking your prenatal vitamins?”

“Every day,” Éponine replied dutifully.

“Fatigue?” Dr. Bourrienne questioned.

Éponine pursed her lips, trying to figure out her answer before replying, “Well, I haven’t been as tired as I had been before, but I’ve been having these weird dreams.”

Dr. Bourrienne raised an eyebrow, turning to her laptop to type something into Éponine’s file once more. “Can you describe these dreams to me?” the doctor requested, glancing at Éponine.

“Well, I’m probably just anxious deep down about motherhood, I guess,” Éponine replied, tiptoeing around the question as she attempted to work out an answer. “Sometimes in my dreams I forget and leave Peanut someplace, and other times I’m just… trapped, trapped somewhere dark. I felt like a caged animal.”

Enjolras furrowed his brow, wondering why she had never brought the subject up to him before. This could explain why more often than not, she tended to be clinging to him as if her life depended on it by the time they both woke up.

“Maybe you should try keeping a journal,” Dr. Bourrienne suggested, turning back to Éponine. “They’ve helped other people through pregnancies before.”

Éponine smiled gratefully at Dr. Bourrienne, finding that it wasn’t such a bad idea. She could pour her heart out in a journal in addition to writing down her dreams as she tried to make sense of them, and she could write letters to Peanut. “I’ll be sure to look into it.”

Dr. Bourrienne looked through Éponine’s file once again and clicked her tongue in satisfaction, smiling and cheerfully saying, “Well, everything looks great, Éponine! On to the ultrasound now, shall we?”

She complied and lied down on the exam table as she had done during the previous two appointments, taking the sheet from Dr. Bourrienne and covering herself with it once she had unbuttoned her pants and pulled her shirt up. Grabbing Enjolras’ hand, Éponine shivered slightly at the feeling of the gel being spread across her stomach as Dr. Bourrienne spread it using the transducer, the grainy image of their Peanut appearing on-screen. Éponine laughed at how much bigger Peanut seemed to be compared to their last appointment, excitedly pointing out to Enjolras, “Look, Peanut’s sucking their thumb!”

“I think they waved at us,” he replied, his hand squeezing Éponine’s as he grinned like an idiot at the sight of their baby on the screen, already wishing he could be holding Peanut in his arms.

Dr. Bourrienne smiled at the couple, just as entranced as ever by the grainy image of their baby on the screen; Peanut was indeed sucking their thumb, much to their parents’ delight. “Your Peanut will be growing quite a bit during this second trimester,” Dr. Bourrienne told Éponine, using the nickname she and Enjolras had for the baby. “You’ll feel them move a lot more as you grow bigger.”

The smile on Éponine’s face gradually faded as she realised that she would probably never be able to fit into her favourite clothes again, at least not as long as she’s still pregnant with Peanut, and she groaned almost inaudibly at the thought of not being able to shave her legs or even see her toes. “Oh, fuck,” she muttered under her breath, sincerely hoping it wouldn’t be as hard as she imagined it would be.

“You okay?” Enjolras asked for the second time that day, giving her hand another reassuring squeeze.

She turned her head to glare up at him, evoking a little flinch. “I won’t be able to see my fucking toes after a few months. You made me like this.”

Enjolras shook his head and smoothed her hair using his free hand, bending down to press a kiss to her forehead as Dr. Bourrienne watched the two of them with an amused smile on her face. “The pictures will be available at the front desk as usual,” she told them as she handed a roll of paper towels to Éponine to wipe off the gel with. “Again, just call me if you have any questions or concerns. I’d like to schedule an appointment when you’re around twenty-two weeks along, in five weeks or so. Would March nineteenth be okay?”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Éponine said gratefully as she pulled on her thick coat after pulling on her layers, a grin on her face. “Really, I can’t thank you enough. March nineteenth seems good.” She grabbed the plastic bag containing Peanut’s plushie and proceeded to practically skip her way out of the exam room, leaving Enjolras standing there with Dr. Bourrienne. “’Jolras, come on!” they heard her call from the hallway, the sound of her footsteps growing fainter by the moment.

Dr. Bourrienne smiled and turned to Enjolras. “She seems happy,” the doctor commented, giving him a knowing smile and making him flush scarlet. “You two are good for each other.”

“You think so?” Enjolras’ blue eyes lit up at the doctor’s words, sounding rather hopeful. God, he definitely hoped they were.

“Yes,” Dr. Bourrienne replied surely. “I may not know you two very well outside of this office, but anyone can see that you two are a good influence on each other. They don’t call the second trimester the honeymoon period for nothing, you know.” She resisted a chuckle when Enjolras’ face turned even redder at the implications in her knowing smile. “May I ask an impertinent question, Enjolras?”

“Yeah, we’ve been having a lot of sex in the past couple of weeks, if that’s what you were about to ask,” he muttered rapidly under his breath, not even waiting for her to say something, feeling his cheeks burning.

“Well, that’s good!” Enjolras looked up; he hadn’t been expecting that response from Dr. Bourrienne. When he gave her a quizzical look, she explained, “It’s a good way to stay physically close during pregnancy. If there are no complications, it’s perfectly fine to have sex all throughout pregnancy.”

“Good to—good to know,” Enjolras managed to choke out, rather unnerved by how casually the doctor was speaking of such things. He never liked discussing sex, even with his closest friends, and sometimes he wondered if it was due to the fact that he was on the ace spectrum. His thoughts soon left his head at the sound of Éponine’s voice, and he looked up to find that she had poked her head in through the doorway.

“’Jolras, come on,” she repeated, holding up a handful of ultrasound photos and grinning in delight when he made his way over to her. “Thanks again, Dr. Bourrienne. We’ll see you in five weeks.”

“Take care,” the doctor called after them as they left the exam room, Éponine’s hand in Enjolras’. Éponine practically skipped out onto the pavement once they had exited the clinic, twirling around among the snow lazily drifting down, and Enjolras couldn’t help but smile at how endearing it was to see her so genuinely happy for the first time in what felt like ages.

Once she had satisfied herself with her twirls, Éponine darted up to Enjolras and linked her arm with his. “Shall we go, dearest?” she asked, snorting in amusement when he grimaced at the pet name. She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, smiling at how he blushed scarlet and asking, “Where to?”

Enjolras shrugged. “Wherever you want to go.”

“Applebee’s?” Éponine requested hopefully, perking up at his generous offer.

Enjolras smiled down at her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Applebee’s it is.”

The two of them began to make their way down the pavement to the subway station, completely oblivious to the man standing on the street corner watching them leave the clinic. Exhaling, a puff of cigarette smoke escaping his mouth, he dropped the cigarette into the slush, stomping out the remainders of the flame as he watched the couple disappear from view as they rounded a corner, presumably on their way to the subway station. Taking out another cigarette, he placed it in his mouth and held up his lighter to it, the scent of nicotine lingering on his fingers as he began to walk, blending into the crowds that passed by.

“You’re looking happy,” Sebastian commented as he stayed behind in class to chat with Éponine, his classmates filtering out of the classroom after Éponine finished their lesson for the day. She had a goofy little smile on her face as she went around cleaning off the tables in the art studio, wanting a clean room to work on that painting of her and her friends standing at the base of Hogwarts that she had been working on for a while now in her free time in since she would have a free period to herself once Sebastian left the classroom.

Éponine looked up, giving her student her best annoyingly cheerful smile. “And what about it?”

“Did you get laid again?” Sebastian had the audacity to ask, grinning slyly as he hopped up to perch on the edge of a table, swinging his legs. Éponine was rather irritated sometimes by the fact that he was taller than her, but that wasn’t what she was focusing on right now.

Éponine only smiled even more, putting on her best, most infuriatingly smug face. “Why would you care?”

Sebastian shrugged, pulling a Slim Jim out of his backpack and taking a huge bite out of it. “I don’t know, I’ve never seen someone so happy.” Taking another bite out of his Slim Jim, he commented through a mouthful of jerky, “I think you’re the only person I know who can pull off a leather jacket and a baby bump.”

“No eating in the classroom, Sebastian,” Éponine chided, looking up. She was about nineteen weeks along now and her bump had grown considerably; outside, she was still somewhat able to get away with hiding it under her layers because of the cold weather, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it for much longer as the days grew longer and warmer and she grew bigger. “Why can’t I be happy? I went through a lot of shit when I was your age, you know. I’m pretty sure I deserve to be happy.”

“I never said you didn’t,” Sebastian replied, taking another bite of his ridiculously long Slim Jim. Just then, he heard a knock at the door and turned his head curiously to see who it was, his hazel eyes widening at the sight of the gorgeous guy tentatively opening the door.

“What is it?” Éponine looked up to see Enjolras entering the classroom dressed in that stupid tailored lawyer suit of his, and she furrowed her brow in surprise as he smiled sheepishly at showing up unannounced.

Sebastian looked back and forth between the two of them, letting out a long, low whistle as his lips curled into a smirk. “Oh, wow, what’s this piece of man candy doing here?” he asked in interest, cackling when Enjolras turned scarlet at the teenager’s words. “Wait, let me guess—is he the baby daddy?”

“Sebastian!” Éponine scolded, turning beet red at her student’s boldness.

“Well, is he?” Sebastian pressed, wiggling his eyebrows at his teacher. It reminded Enjolras of Courfeyrac.

“Yes, I am,” Enjolras confirmed, rather apprehensive about joining the conversation as he approached his girlfriend, his footsteps hesitant.

Sebastian’s mouth fell open as Éponine went over to Enjolras to embrace him, having just swallowed the last of his Slim Jim before he laughed again. “Damn, Miss T, your boyfriend’s hot.”

“I never said he was my boyfriend,” Éponine replied quickly, an arm around Enjolras’ waist as she turned to give Sebastian a look.

“Um, I’m pretty sure he is, if I’m gonna go by the way he’s making googly eyes at you right now,” Sebastian drawled, smirking triumphantly when Éponine turned even redder and Enjolras bowed his head to avoid eye contact with the quick-witted student. Taking a bag of Doritos out of his backpack, Sebastian opened it and began to munch on chips as he said, “For real, your boyfriend is, like, really fucking hot. Like you! Fuck, your baby’s gonna be a fucking knockout when they’re older. Is he good in bed? I mean, I assume you two did the do at some point, since you’re all knocked up now.”

“Get out, you little shit!” Éponine shouted, laughing and resisting the urge to chuck something at his head. Sebastian finally hopped off the table he had been sitting on and he began to make his way over to the door, cackling loudly. “Do your homework for your other classes!”

“Not a chance!” he yelled back as he left the classroom, closing the door behind him.

Éponine laughed and shook her head as Sebastian disappeared from view, presumably on his way to his next class, and she turned to look at Enjolras. “’Jolras, what are you doing here?” she asked, pleasantly surprised at the visit.

“I wanted to see you,” Enjolras admitted, turning pink. Turning to stare at the door Sebastian had gone out through, he remarked, “That Sebastian kid seems to like you.”

“I like to think all my students do,” Éponine replied breezily, looking around to make sure they were alone before standing on tiptoe to give him a light peck on the lips, giggling at how he turned even pinker. “What’s up?”

“Can’t I visit my girlfriend at work every once in a while?” Enjolras teased, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the smile on Éponine’s face. “Like I said, I just wanted to see you. Is that enough of an excuse?”

Éponine laughed once again and reached up, placing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. “It’s more than enough,” she whispered, hopping up on her toes and pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss. He readily kissed her back, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling her flush against him, feeling her bump through her shirt and feeling butterflies in his stomach upon remembering that that was his baby in there, sighing in delight when she reached up into his hair, her fingers tangling into his golden curls as she kissed him even more insistently. Softly moaning his name against his lips, her moan barely audible, one of her hands slid down to grab his ass and he abruptly broke away from her with a groan, his face flushed red, his blue eyes having darkened considerably.

“’Ponine, we’re not going to have sex in your classroom,” Enjolras told her firmly, although the bulge she could feel through his pants indicated otherwise. “There are kids here, and I don’t want to get you fired.”

“Mmmmm.” Éponine toyed with his tie, pulling it teasingly and gazing up into his eyes through a heated brown gaze as she hummed, a little smirk playing at her lips. “I don’t know. You came just in time, you know—I have a free period all to myself right now. I can keep quiet, but can you?”

She pressed a long, lingering kiss to his lips, enjoying how he groaned under his breath when she reached down to squeeze his erection through his pants before he pushed her off. “Éponine, please,” Enjolras choked out, placing his hands on her waist and gazing into her eyes. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not loving this, but can this wait until tonight? There are kids around. I don’t want you to get fired from your job when you love it so much.”

Éponine pouted, knowing he was right, and she stood on tiptoe to kiss him once again. “Okay, fine. Don’t you have work today?”

“My boss told me to take a couple of days off,” Enjolras replied, his hand going down to caress her little bump. “I’ve been working a lot lately. She said to take some time for myself. Besides, the girl’s case is all settled now; her uncle’s been convicted.”

Éponine laughed and bowed her head, smiling as she watched his hand tenderly rubbing her abdomen, feeling as if her heart was about to burst when Peanut kicked at their father’s touch. “I know you can’t feel it yet, but Peanut just kicked,” she told him softly, looking up and smiling when his blue eyes lit up. “They’re not even here yet and they already love you!”

He chuckled, kissing her again and murmuring, “God, ’Ponine, I—” He cut himself off, remembering at the last second how she had reacted the last time he said that to her. He wasn’t going to overwhelm her, not now, not when things were going so well. Thankful upon seeing that she seemingly hadn’t noticed how abruptly he had cut himself off, he pulled back, a dorky grin on his face as he gazed into her eyes.

“You can’t hang out at the school all day, you know,” Éponine reminded him, a playful edge to her voice as she ruffled his curls. “Why don’t you go buy some of those weird ‘what to expect when you’re expecting’ books you like to read?”

“Maybe I will,” he retorted, failing at keeping an impassive face when she pressed yet another kiss to his lips.

“Also, can you go grocery shopping?” she requested, giving him an innocent smile. “We haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while and I’d really rather not fight about it like we did last time. I’ve also been craving some gummy bears and Ben and Jerry’s, so could you get me some too?”

“What flavour?” Enjolras asked.

“Chocolate fudge brownie,” Éponine replied, a satisfied little smile on her face. “Can you get me some mustard and ketchup to go with it too?”

Enjolras could barely resist the urge to gag, but he could either satisfy her cravings or have her be angry at him for failing to do so, so he nodded. “I’ll be sure to.”

Éponine grinned up at him and pulled him into a kiss, her lips capturing his and a sigh escaping her mouth as he kissed her back, arms around her waist. Once he pulled away, she reached up to cup his jaw, murmuring playfully, “Go away, nerd. I have work to do. I’ll see you at home.”

Enjolras pressed a kiss to her forehead before he detached himself from her, making his way to the doorway and beginning, “Éponine, I—” He stopped short, noticing how she raised her eyebrows at how he cut himself off. Hastily, he amended, “I’ll see you at home.”

Éponine impulsively ran across the room to him. “One more kiss,” she bargained, quickly pressing her lips to his before pulling back, leaving him in a daze as he walked out of the room. Smiling to herself, she went over to the easel she had placed her painting on, taking out some paint and brushes and continuing to work on it, taking out her headphones and zoning out.

That afternoon, she had finally cleaned up her classroom and was out on the streets, making her way to the subway station with a spring in her step. She felt unstoppable. This was the first time she truly felt like things were really going to work out for the best ever since she found out she was pregnant. She was financially stable and had an amazing group of friends, a perfect boyfriend, and a job she loved. She felt like getting herself a celebratory hot dog.

No, she would get a hot dog. A hot dog sounded great.

The skies were cloudless, bright rays of sunlight shining down upon the city that never sleeps despite it only being the end of February. Was it just her, or did the grey slush of the streets seem less grey than usual?

She was on top of the world! It felt like the beginning of a brand new life, a brand new her, the start of something beautiful. Éponine was ready to face whatever shit life was going to throw at her. She was fucking ready.

Just then she saw a man approaching her, that same man she thought she had glimpsed in Olive Garden a couple of weeks ago as well as the subway and in front of a bookstore, and her cheerful mood immediately vanished, her blood running cold when they made eye contact. She felt like turning to run the other way when they collided right there on the pavement, nearly dropping her bag as she looked up to stare into his dark, beady eyes, her throat having gone dry.

Shit. Fuck! I take it back! I take it all back. Universe, please, please don’t be a bitch!

A/N: did you really think i’d post an extra long chapter for your enjoyment without a catch? guess we’ll just have to wait until next chapter to find out who this man is :P (although i’m sure some of you have figured it out already lmao)

stay tuned for more, y’all!! likes/reblogs/comments mean so much to me!

next chapter: xxx