#fair warning the music one is a little. overwhelming but it's not too tricky

[buildbuymode]

fyi this mod replaces the in-game music with ts2 music and this one replaces the in-game font with ts2 font :-)

[ineloqueent]

you may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer

Brian May x Reader

synopsis: Brian’s dancing skills, or lack thereof, often land him in trouble. but for once, they may just have landed him exactly where he’s supposed to be.

warnings: swearing, suggestive content (not 18+, just a little steamy)

word count: 2.9k

a/n: happy birthday, libby (@imcompletelylost​)!! i hope you have a lovely day, and that you enjoy reading this <3

⭒

1977

“Is this absolutely necessary?”

“Absolutely,” Freddie answered, and Brian groaned. “Darling, you dance like a newly-birthed foal.”

Roger snorted from his place on the sofa. “I didn’t know foals danced, Fred.”

Freddie waved a hand. “Well, whatever. You know what Brian’s like. His legs are so long he doesn’t know how to stand on them.”

This earned laughed all around, including Freddie himself, but excepting Brian, who was feeling less at ease for every passing moment.

Freddie folded his arms and redirected his stare at the guitarist. “No, Brian. I’ve seen the pictures, and won’t have you embarrass us at the next album release party, do you hear me?”

“Freddie—”

He shook his head stubbornly. “There’s simply no other way. You’re going to have to learn to dance.”

And with those final words, Brian’s sorry fate was sealed.

⭒

You were tired, but you didn’t think you were tired enough to hallucinate.

Still, it was late at night, and you blinked at the sight of the tall, lanky figure pushing open the glass door to your studio, at the way he bit his lip in what you deemed a nervous manner, rubbing his arms and looking about the room.

There were few others in attendance yet, but presently, fixing the strap of your shoe, you were less worried about the lack of attendance than the fact that Brian fucking May was standing in your dance studio, all six-foot-whatever of him, complete with ringlet curls and wide hazel eyes, slim hips and long legs. Dusky-pink lips.

He was even more beautiful than those glossy magazine pictures had made him seem.

But you were at your place of work— your job was to teach, not to gaze at a particularly gorgeous client. Who also happened to be a rather well-known musician.

You shook out your hair and pushed down the thought of what it might be like to kiss him, making way over to the gathered crowd.

“Hello everyone,” you said brightly, and your new students chorused back similar greetings. “I’m Y/N, and I’ll be your instructor for this course. We’ll be learning a variety of different dances and styles, so that you can get a feel for a few different things, or just start to know your left foot from your right.”

Polite laughter followed your humorous remark, and you smiled in response, scanning those in attendance to gauge today’s demographic. You noticed that Brian didn’t laugh, just stood motionless, with his lips pressed together and his posture relaxed, though his shoulders betrayed a tenseness.

Brian. Christ, already on a first name basis, are we?

You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t always fancied him a little.

You dragged your eyes away from him and focussed on the task at hand.

“Did you get them all checked in, Francis?” you asked your receptionist, and she nodded.

“All checked in,” she affirmed. Then she widened her eyes and mouthed, Brian May, seemingly incredulous at the notion. You returned her nod hurriedly. She waggled her eyebrows. You rolled your eyes and turned away.

You clasped your hands, returning to your students. “So, you think you’re ready to dance?”

⭒

You were half an hour into the hour-long lesson, and Brian was struggling.

He had said little less than a greeting to his assigned partner, and the occasional apology, having stepped on her feet numerous times. His shoulders were getting not less, but more rigid, and you frowned at the sight, at how his partner was getting redder in the face for every passing minute, frustrated with Brian. He was obviously embarrassed by his own incompetence, by his two left feet, and you were disappointed in how little patience the woman opposite him had, when he was trying his best. You knew it was his best, because he kept biting his lip in concentration, and you could occasionally see him mumbling a count beneath his breath, see him close his eyes in shame when he misstepped for the thousandth time in a row.

Finally, his partner, quite literally, threw up her hands and stalked off in the other direction, in search of another dancer who would better suit her tastes.

Poor Brian, gangly-limbed and awkward without the presence of his guitar, stood in the middle of the dancefloor, utterly alone, and looking more miserable than an abandoned child at a shopping centre.

You switched the record on the deck, and the swaying couples around you, mostly around your own age, nodded appreciatively at the change of pace. The music before had been mellow, but now you had swapped that for a rock ‘n’ roll record, one you hoped would help people to loosen up a little, because that was always the primary problem: everyone had a perception of what they were supposed to do, how they were supposed to act, supposed to dance, and it always inhibited them from achieving whatever potential they had, because everyone was so fucking worried about what everybody else was thinking. You’d be damned if that wasn’t Brian’s problem too.

He had to loosen up.

So as the others began to find a rhythm, you made your way over to Brian.

“Hello,” you said, and he glanced up, apparently startled that somebody was speaking to him. “Short of a partner, are we?”

“Um,” he blinked, “yeah, I am, I suppose.”

“Tell you what,” you answered, smiling gently, “no great loss.” You leaned in a little. “She wasn't that good of a dancer, anyway.”

Brian’s eyes were tricoloured, you noticed, as they flicked to yours and he loosed a breathy chuckle.

Warmth bloomed in your chest at the sound, and you were suddenly overwhelmed with a need to be closer to him.

You smiled again, a little coyly this time. “You can’t dance, either,” you said.

“Ah, no,” Brian muttered. He gestured toward the floor. “Two left feet, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed. But you’re not a lost cause.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not?”

“Not at all,” you shook your head, only lying a little. “You just need a bit of help.”

He scoffed. “Try a lot of help.”

You shrugged. “It’s all relative.” With a cautious step forward, you took his hand in yours. His eyes widened at the contact, but you didn’t react to him, instead taking his other hand and placing it on the lower part of you back.

His fingers were warm. The two of you seemed to breathe in tandem.

“Come on then,” you eased yourself slightly closer, “let me teach you how to dance, Brian May.”

But his breath faltered. “You know who I am?” he whispered.

“Really?” you asked, in jest. “The hair would be enough, dear.”

He smirked softly. “Alright, fair enough. So, you planning on stalking me, now?”

You drew him closer, until his chest was pressed against yours. You could feel his heartbeat.

“You planning on attending more than one dance class?”

With a perplexed look about him, he nodded.

“Well,” you murmured. “It would seem that makes you the stalker.”

A small smile curved his lips, and something twisted in your chest.

Taking the first step, you moved him backwards, keeping your gaze upon his. That first step was seamless, and you nodded your approval.

But after that was where it got tricky. He stumbled almost immediately.

“You’re thinking too much,” you said. “Just move. Don’t think about it. Just do what feels right.”

His eyelashes fluttered as he tried to regain some sort of rhythm, but he was very clearly still struggling.

You rolled your eyes, and his cheeks seemed to pinken. “Don’t think, I said. Don’t.”

He peered down at you with a helpless air, and you shifted your fingers from his, bringing your hands to crest his hips.

You glanced at him briefly, to make sure that he was not repulsed by you, or sinking into terror at your touch.

“It’s in the hips,” you murmured, applying a light pressure to his sides. His muscles were stiff, but you began to move with him, and he soon relaxed. “Alright?” you asked, to confirm that you were not breaching any boundaries.

His voice was raspy, but he had no objection. “Alright,” he said.

You stepped forward again, rocked your hips ever-so-slightly against his. You thought his breath caught at the movement, but perhaps that was your imagination.

He was willowy, and as he began to relax into the movements which you coerced him, his technique improved. He was still awkward, yes, but he had definitely improved, and with that improvement being in such a short time span, it impressed you.

You dared to launch yourself into a spin, and though you surprised him with the action, he reacted upon instinct, and caught you when you returned to him, almost deftly.

You laughed in delight, but his arm tightened around your waist, and he whispered,

“Don’t do that again.”

You hummed in response. “Why not?”

“Because maybe I won’t catch you next time.”

You retreated slightly to grin at him. “Maybe I’ll just have to drag you down with me.”

His narrowing eyes reprimanded you. “Don’t you dare.”

Teasingly, you leaned backward, simply to see what would happen.

He leaned with you, his exhale warm against the hollow of your throat.

“Good instincts,” you murmured, as his curls hung down over your face, tickling your skin.

If you hadn’t been in professional circumstance, if you had simply been two people dancing at a bar somewhere, you would have kissed him now, would have stolen his breath from him and drowned yourself in the beautiful smile he smiled now, would have intertwined yourself with him, until his aroma of soap and crisp night air became your own.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips. Your heartbeat pounded in your head, dizzying you beneath his hands.

Brian cleared his throat and pulled you upright again.

You let go of him immediately, and brushed imaginary specks of dust from your front.

The song had faded from its distorted rock riff into a more mellow tune, of piano and acoustic guitar. You felt suddenly vulnerable at how close you had been to kissing Brian.

“Good— uh— good dance,” you stammered, losing yourself.

You thought Brian’s fingers flexed at his side.

“Yeah,” he answered, and you felt his eyes on you, though you could not look at him. His gaze warmed your skin.

“Good class,” you said more loudly, clapping your hands for the attention of the rest of your students, the existence of whom you had all but forgotten about. “Did everybody have fun?”

There was a loud chorus of approval, with a few cheers and some clapping here and there. You nodded in acknowledgement of what you hoped was a job well done, one which would ensure future clients.

Even if you had spent the better part of the hour wrapped in someone’s arms, with rather unprofessional intentions.

“Good good,” you muttered, more word-vomit than anything else. “Well, I hope to see you all next week, if you can spare the time. Have a good night.”

You raised your hand in a wave as people began to shuffle toward the corners where they had deposited their belongings, chatting and laughing about the events of the class before making their way toward the door and out into the quiet night.

You stood alone in the middle of the room, with your hands on your hips to steady yourself.

But then you thought of Brian, and of how close you had been to him, of how close he had held you to him, and a tremor ran through you.

You swiped a shaky hand across your forehead when you noticed that you were sweating for other reasons than those of physical exertion.

You turned from the scene, and without looking back, made your way toward the locker room at the back of the studio, hoping that Brian May would never chance these premises again, lest you should lose your self-control entirely.

The locker room was lit by one of those dim, energy-saving bulbs, and your eyes adjusted quickly to the semi-darkness, so you didn’t bother to flick the switch by the door to the more powerful overhead lights.

You spun the combination lock of your locker mindlessly, until it clicked open. Pulling out the clean white towel that lay inside, you buried your face in the wash-worn material, and your heart rate finally began to slow, your body to cool.

A knock at the door startled you.

You spun, and nearly lost your footing when you found Brian in the doorway, a tentative smile on his face.

He seemed to have discarded his jacket somewhere, which was fair enough, given the exercise he had just participated in, but thus, now, you could not help but notice his figure even more. The slender line of his wrists was not confined to simply that, because he was soft lines and sharp angles all over. The fact that he was now only in shirtsleeves emphasised his comeliness. You bit your lip to keep from speaking your thoughts.

Replacing your towel in your locker, you stepped forward and took hold of the door handle, pulling the door closed behind you and forcing Brian to join you in the hallway.

“You shouldn’t be back here,” you said, avoiding his eyes.

“Francis told me you never change here, anyway,” he responded conversationally, “so I figured I wouldn’t intrude upon your privacy by following you.” He then seemed to reconsider his assumptions and asked hesitantly, “I hope I haven’t..?”

You blinked, shook your head. “No, no, you’re fine.” You chewed your lip, still not meeting his gaze, afraid of what you might do if you found those gorgeous eyes upon yours again. “So, what can I help you with?”

“Ah,” he said, his voice lowered to suit the near-silence of the hall. “That’s the difficult part.”

Abruptly, you felt a little lightheaded, standing with him here in this secluded hallway, with no one and no professionalism left between you.

You lifted your eyes to look at him, and your breath hitched.

“I was wondering,” he said, “if you might… go out with me?”

There seemed suddenly to be very little space between the two of you, and you wondered briefly if he had considered kissing you as strongly as you had considered kissing him.

“I would love to,” you answered softly, and felt the rise and fall of your chest grow shallow.

You had not blinked for as long as you had looked at him, irrationally afraid of missing something in his eyes, and you traded breaths with him in the dim hall.

You lifted your hand to ease a curl from his eyes, but you didn’t get the chance.

You hadn’t seen him move, but then, he was cupping your face in his hands and kissing your lips feverishly, and you pressed yourself against him and gripped his wrists.

Your head spun at the taste of his mouth, at how he sucked at your lower lip, melting you slowly, until you were as undone as the buttons of his shirt, utterly weakened beneath him.

He breathed deeply as he pulled back from you, only to kiss you again, even more furiously than before. His tongue touched your lips, and you opened your mouth instinctively as heat swarmed you, consumed you.

You felt his touch down to your toes, from the way the blood rushed through you, and when his hands dropped lower, a whine escaped your lips. His fingers were long, and having slipped beneath the waistline of your trousers, now curled over your hip bones, drawing lazy patterns over your skin.

Your back met with the wall and Brian’s hips met with yours, and the longer he kissed you, the more intoxicated you felt by the rhythm of his mouth, and you had to pull away, to open your eyes, because you were sure he looked beautiful in this way—

And he did.

He was gorgeous, obscenely gorgeous, his breath stuttering from his mouth like the flutter of butterfly wings, his head canted slightly as though he intended to kiss you again, again, again, again— forever, if you’d let him.

Your hands had pushed the curls from his face to reveal flushed cheeks, and accompanying this change in colour were swollen lips and dilated pupils.

His teeth caught on his lip, and he gazed at you almost absentmindedly, as though there were no thoughts in his head. There were certainly very few in yours.

He eased his fingers through your hair, and the light pressure on your scalp elicited from you a shiver. You felt tingly all over, and the feeling only grew with his prolonged contact.

You dragged him back down to you and kissed him languidly.

A moment later, his laughter tickled your lips, and you drew back.

“What?” you asked, searching his eyes.

“I’ll never learn to dance, now.”

“Oh Brian,” you breathed, “there was never any chance of that.”

He raised an eyebrow.

You lifted your hand to brush over his cheek, and his lips brushed your fingertips in a featherlight caress. “You may be a lover, but you ain’t no dancer.”

He laughed and kissed you again, and you hoped he’d never stop.

[p-artsypants]

Integrity (Part 5)

Overwhelmed with her responsibilities, guilt, and drama, Marinette has an emotional breakdown in front of everyone, and even hands over her earrings in a moment of weakness. Only for a few seconds, but the damage was done. Adrien's pretty quick on the uptake like that.

Ao3 | FF.net

God this is turning out to be so much longer than I was expecting. I just want to address all the things that Marinette was upset about in the first chapter. 

So here we go!

—

After class let out for lunch, Miss Bustier’s class was oddly silent as they went their separate ways for lunch. 

Marinette heard Lila try to tag along with someone several times, only to be turned down. 

“Sorry Lila, I need to talk to my mom about something.” 

“Not today, I’m meeting with a friend.” 

“I’d just like some alone time, my head hurts.” 

Though the excuses were vague enough, Marinette saw them for what they were. 

Reconsidering loyalties, just as Miss Bustier had warned. And probably a little bit of ‘if she turned on Adrien like that, what’s stopping her from turning on me?’ 

Critical thinking, as she had put it. In the aftermath, Lila might still have some friends. But as long as the truth came out, that’s all that mattered. 

“Hey, Marinette?” Adrien asked, hand on the back of his neck.

“Yes?” 

“Uh, I had a text from Kagami. She wants to have lunch with me. It sounded serious.” 

“I bet she just wants to talk about yesterday.” 

“Honestly, I’d like to wipe yesterday right off the board, if I could.” Then he gave a little half smile as he caught her eye. “Well, most of the day at least.” He reached up to touch her face, brushing his thumb over his lips. “Other parts are just unforgettable.”

Marinette blushed heavily, diverting her eyes. 

Adrien tried to hide his smug grin. All it took to get his lady flustered was to flirt without his mask on. She was a total sucker. 

“I’ll see you later, Sugar Wugar Bear.” He grinned. 

“Mmm, still not good enough. Keep trying.” She flirted back, still with the bright blush on her cheeks. 

Marinette took her time stopping at her locker, putting her books away, and strolling out of school. She’d go home, have a nice lunch, and maybe even get the chance to hide some of the more embarrassing photos of Adrien she had hanging up before he noticed them. 

Plans changed, however, when Marinette came out of the building to see Luka standing at the stairs. He gave her an easy smile. “Hey Marinette, wanna do lunch?” 

May as well. Adrien was having his hard conversation with Kagami today. “I uh...sure?”

“Cool.” And he reached out to take her hand. 

Marinette, however, pulled her hand away, a bit too harshly. There was no way he missed it. 

He frowned at her. “Did I do something?” 

“What? No! No, you’re fine! I just...um, look, we have to talk.” 

“What about?” 

She rubbed the back of her head, feeling more and more awkward as the seconds rolled on. How do you break up with someone you aren’t even dating? “Um...well, you see...Luka, you’re really nice, and I appreciate you always being here for me. But, I’m still in love with Adrien. And I can’t be with you.” 

“Then I’ll wait.” 

“No, no don’t do that.” She breathed. 

Luka exhaled harshly, sounding like he was only barely hanging onto his patience. “Marinette. I really think you need to move on. Adrien doesn’t like you. That may sound harsh, but I just hate seeing you so miserable.” 

“But he does like me. He loves me.” 

“Then why did I see him and Kagami leave together?” 

“He’s having the same conversation we’re having right now. A lot...a lot of stuff happened yesterday.” 

“You were talking to him? Even when we’re together?”

“Luka, we aren’t together. We never were.” 

“Yeah, well it was implied. You knew I liked you!”

“And you knew I was in love with Adrien!” 

“Yeah, but he wasn’t reciprocating! I thought it was understood that you were getting over him so you could date me!” 

“I never said that!” 

“You sure acted like it!” He spit.

Marinette hadn’t seen Luka so mad since XY stole his music and her costumes. It was frightening to be on the receiving end.  

“So what? All the time I spent with you, everything I did, it meant nothing?”

“I didn’t say that either!” 

“You knew I liked you, but you never gave me a real chance!” 

“I don’t have to!” She cried. “Just because you like me, doesn’t mean you get to be first in line to date me! It doesn’t work like that! You know that!” 

She hated to yell, especially at someone who was heart broken, but this was possessive behavior and completely out of character for someone as calm as Luka. 

He stared at her with tears in his eyes. 

“I don’t owe you anything, Luka. You gave me love and support when I needed it, but I didn’t ask you for it. Expecting something in return is...kinda neck-beardy.” 

He scoffed. “I’m not being a neck beard! I’m just upset because I feel like you wasted my time. If you were never going to like me back, why did you drag me on?” 

“I didn’t know I wasn’t going to like you back! I mean—I did like you! I just—not as much as I like Adrien. I’m sorry. I know that this sucks. I didn’t mean to waste your time. That’s just how it happened.” 

He shook his head. “You were obviously still talking to him though. So you weren’t really trying to get over him.”

She bit back a growl of frustration. “Adrien’s my friend too, okay? I had a moment of weakness yesterday, and he took care of me. Then I confessed. It just—came out of me. I hadn’t confessed to him before, so he couldn’t reject me before, so I didn’t have a reason to get over him. I just assumed he loved someone else. There, happy?” 

“No.” 

“Look, Luka. You deserve someone that can love you wholeheartedly. I could only give you a fraction, and that’s not fair.” 

He was quiet a long time. Then breathed out. “Yeah. Whatever. I’ll see you around.” 

“Band’s practice is tomorrow right?” 

“Yeah, but...maybe you should skip...for a while.” 

“Oh. Okay. Um...I understand.” 

He turned away. “I’ll take a rain check on lunch. I’m not feeling hungry anymore.” And he briskly walked away before she could catch up to him.

“That was so weird. I’ve never seen Luka act like that before.” 

Tikki looked up to her. “Well, that’s the thing with love. It makes people act weird.” 

“This is my fault for leading him on, isn’t it?” 

“It’s like you said, Marinette. He comforted and supported you, but you never asked him to do it. He was supposed to be doing that without the expectation of being reciprocated. Somewhere in there, he thought you’d return the favor sometime.” 

“Should I have?” 

“Relationships work when you give without expecting to receive. And they build when both are willing to give. But as soon as you turn into a taker, relationships crumble. Friendships, however, aren’t based on anything but commonality. You both had different expectations for your relationship, and you didn’t meet his. It’s not your fault, because you didn’t come into this friendship at the level he was at. Do you get what I’m saying?” 

“His expectations were too high?” 

“Pretty much. He was at the romance level, and you were at the friendship level. Different levels of effort.” 

“Okay. I think I get it...” 

“You wanted to nip this in the bud anyways. You knew you didn’t like Luka the way he liked you. You’ve done him a huge favor.” 

“It doesn’t feel like it.” 

“Sure! Right now, after he pointed a finger at you and said some mean things. But, you set him free!” 

“Still, I should probably keep an eye on him in case he gets akumatized.” 

“You don’t need to worry about that, Marinette.” Tikki hummed. 

“What do you me—oh! I had completely forgotten! Gosh, I’m so used to worrying about that...” 

“So now just let him go. You beat Hawkmoth, so now he can grieve in peace!”

“I had nothing to do with Hawkmoth.” 

Tikki shrugged. “Maybe you didn’t, maybe you did.”

—

So far, they had talked about the weather six times. And that was only after the endless loop of ‘how are you? Good. How are you?’s. Adrien was beginning to suspect this might be the most awkward lunch of his life. 

The waiter came, and took their order, and then Kagami fell into business mode. She folded her hands in front of her. “First of all, I must apologize for putting you into this very tricky situation.”

“Wait, what? Kagami, you didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“On the contrary, Adrien. I know you weren’t aware of this. But I was aware of your feelings for Marinette, and Marinette’s feelings for you. However, it seemed like neither of you were making any moves on the other, so I took advantage of the situation. I had hoped you would get over her, but I should have known better.” 

He blinked at her a few times. “Wait—you knew she liked me?”

“It was obvious. From the first day we met, in fact.” 

His face colored brightly, embarrassment clamping on him like a vice. It was obvious? And he never noticed? Who else knew?

“So I apologize.” She said simply. “I should have known not to get in between you both. It was inevitable one of you would crack. So, who confessed? You or her?”

“Um, well, her first…” 

“I figured as much. I don’t think you were quite aware of your feelings. More of a subconscious crush, as compared to her obsession.” 

“Obsession?”

“Yes. She can barely keep her hands off of you. You really didn’t notice?”

His mouth fought to form words. “Compared to all the other girls that can’t keep their hands off of me, no, I didn’t.” 

“I see.” 

“So…you’re not upset?”

“Oh, I was. I cried my eyes out yesterday. But I brought this on myself, so I can’t be pitied.” 

“No, Kagami, I pursued you—“ 

“After I rather sternly told you to switch targets. Or else you would have continued to moon over her.” 

Technically, he had been in love with Ladybug, specifically. But it seemed sub-consciously, he found her out anyways, if he was mooning after her. Or he really was just that fond of Marinette. 

Secret identities were too confusing. 

“I owe Marinette an apology too, but I suppose that will come later. I’m sure she’ll feel awkward around me for a while. Not that she needs too, I’m over you, after all.” 

“What? Really? Already?” 

“I like to win, but I’m not a sore loser.” 

“Oh…okay.” 

“So are you official with her yet?” 

“Not quite. I wanted to clear the air with you first.” 

“I understand, and I appreciate it. She probably needs to do the same with Luka.”

“He’s a pretty cool guy, he’ll probably take it well.” 

“We can certainly hope.”

The waiter came back with their drinks, and then they were alone again. 

“Oh, you said something about class drama. How’s that going?”

He groaned, laying his head on the table. “It got worse today…but also better? Lila—you remember Lila, right?”

“How could I forget?”

“Well, she’s been making Marinette’s world miserable with these…very specific lies. Enough to discredit Marinette, but also give her extra work as class rep. She kind of had a meltdown yesterday, and when I helped her out, Lila decided to target me instead. Apparently, I’m a sex offender.”

Kagami started laughing. “If anyone believes that, they’re an idiot. Or someone has a really low threshold of what they constitute as sexual harassment.” 

“Apparently, I groped her. See? I have the black eye to prove it.” 

“I was wondering where that came from, I figured you’d get to it.” 

“It actually…it came from my father,” he said sadly. 

“On accident?”

“No.” 

“That’s awful. But…not that surprising. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but I appreciate your sympathy.” 

“So what happened with Lila?”

Adrien stirred his drink with his straw. “She told our classmates, and they tried to kick me out of class. But our teacher wouldn’t allow it. Chloe suggested we talk about it, and Miss Bustier agreed it was a good idea to get both sides of the story out so people could make their own conclusions.” 

“Not really fair if you wanted to keep your fight with your father private.” 

“I weaseled my way out of it. But now it’s up to everyone else to decide if they believe me or Lila.” He took a sip. “My father’s threatening a lawsuit over it.” 

“Typical.”

“Well, I don’t really want to be thought of a sex offender all throughout my school years. It would kill me. My guess is that Lila is going to find a way to weasel out of her lie before it actually goes to court.” 

“Most likely, but by then, no one will believe her anymore. If you’re going to lie like that, you can’t back out. It doesn’t work like that.” 

“With any luck, she’ll skip the country and we can be done with her.” 

Kagami gave him a soft smile. “Sounds like you and Marinette both have had a crazy few days.” 

“You have no idea.” 

“Then I’m glad you can find comfort in each other. I hope I can have that one day too.” 

“I mean...Luka should be available soon.” 

“A guitarist, hmm? I’ll have to think about it.” 

[geminimoonbeamx]

Over the River and Through the Woods

A/N: A biker! Bucky AU Christmas time story was what the world needed lol. I’m just contributing to world peace. I made this one a little personal, with the readers mom having died years before. It’s hard out here for us kids with dead parents during the holidays and I wanted to address that.

Word Count: 7k+

Warnings: Pretty SFW but definite hot moments, lots of kissing and cuddling, cursing like a sailor(because it’s who I am as a human) and TOOTH ROTTINGLY SWEET CHRISTMAS FLUFF

Summary: In which Bucky and Y/N attempt to survive not one, but three family Christmas parties on Christmas Eve. Hilarity ensues. A biker!Bucky x Plus size reader AU.

There seems to be this romanticized version of what Christmas is supposed to be like. You know, the Hallmark movie kind? Blanketed with white snow and soundtracked by caroler’s? Yeah? Well you lived in New York. The snow here was only white for a second at most before it turned to grimy slush on the streets and the soundtrack were the usual noises of the inner city; car horn and sirens.

Of course, the city did have it’s magic. Christmas in New York was something that was famed, dreamed about. People came from far and wide to see the lights, to skate the rink at Rockefeller. Bucky had taken you to the tree lighting this year, and although you’d been packed like a sardine along with crowds of other people; it’d been one of the most romantic things you’d ever done with him. Your cheeks had ached for hours afterwards because of all the smiling.

Spending your first Christmas together had been a success so far. Decorating your respective trees with one and other(because you still hadn’t taken that big step and moved in together yet), to decorating the club house with him; you’d had such a good time with Natasha and ,her and Sam’s seven year old daughter Mila. Winding twinkling lights around the bar. Hanging garlands and candy canes and mistletoe. Mila had squealed in protest when Sam had dipped Natasha dramatically under one of them, kissing her showily.

There’d been multiple Christmas movie marathon’s, mostly because the two of you couldn’t manage to get through more then a couple at a time. One of you always ended up falling asleep…or got too handsy under the blankets. Elf(Bucky’s favorite), The Santa Clause, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Love, Actually(your favorite), The Polar Express, Jack Frost(which makes you cry every time, and you swear, Bucky got teary eyed too!) And Nightmare Before Christmas(because you both agree on the big, important, things. Like that face that it’s both a Halloween and a Christmas movie).

You’d baked together. You knew the man was a good chef, but goddamn; his sugar cookies could bring you to your knees. The image of him, in nothing but a tight singlet, a pair of boxers and an apron; his hair twisted into a bun and flour on his bearded cheek was one you’d always hold near and dear to your heart.

You’d even managed to survive Holliday shopping, braving the chaos with a couple of your girlfriends and tackling your insanely long gift list, happy for all that overtime you’d managed to pull because it made you wince even thinking back on how much money you had spent. It’d taken the better part of two hours to wrap them all- mostly because you were a totally OCD about making sure they were all perfectly wrapped, adorned with bows and ribbons.

But the two of you hadn’t even endured the most challenging task of all…

“It’s going to be fucking insane” You cry, your both in your bed. You leaning against the headboard rigidly and Bucky lounging on his side.

“I know, babe”

“There’s no way…”

“We’ll find a way to make it work”

You’d shot him a dubious look. Why did he have to be so…Bucky-like all the time?! Level headed and reassuring. You’d groaned and buried your face in your hands.

“Yeah? Please explain to me how?” You’d muttered into your hands, over dramatically. You were acting like the world was ending. Like you were going to be forced into a war zone.

“We’ve just gotta’ plan it out right” Bucky’d reached over to run his thumb reassuringly over your bare thigh. He knew how you got, knew you were very easily overwhelmed “We’ll go to your families’ first, then mine, then we’ll head to the clubhouse. It wont be that bad, I promise”

Three.

Three different celebrations to go to on Christmas Eve. Why no one celebrated Christmas day, you don’t know. You cursed about it harshly.

“The traffic’s going to be aweful”

“I know” Bucky’s hand is inching dangerously close to your inner thigh. Steadily creeping up.

“How are we even going to eat three different dinners?”

“Will power and perseverance” He shrugs, grinning up at you and you cant help but giggle and card your fingers adoringly through his shaggy hair.

“You’re really feeling the Christmas spirit, huh, babe?” You say sarcastically at his positive outlook “Arent you even freaking out a little bit? Were going to have to drive from Brooklyn to Staten Island and back. On Christmas Eve” You eye him seriously, looking for any falter. For any kink in his shining armor.

“You know I fuckin’ love Christmas, so yeah I’m feelin’ it” Bucky starts “The traffic’s gonna be hell, no doubt. I swear everyone forgets how to drive when there’s a little snow on the ground, but I’m wiling to brave it to spend time with our families” That look he gives you, that beautiful one that made you turn to jelly, calms your nerves. Even if it is just for the moment. Your families. Both of yours. You were going to spend the day surrounded by people you loved and that’s all that really mattered. “Plus, I’ve been dyin’ for your aunt’s mashed potatoes since Thanksgiving”

You giggle and slip down, into his arms. Cuddling into his chest.

“Fine, but you’re being the DD” You tease and the protesting scoff he makes in his throat is hilarious.

“That’s not fair!”

-Christmas Eve-

You’re just finishing up getting ready for the night. It’s almost five, the dusk rolling in. Bucky’s been done getting ready for over an hour and sits on your sofa. He knows better then to rush you; bless that man. You were already stressed out about the night and he didn’t want to get chewed out for asking you if you were done with your makeup.

Which you were. Your face was done up, as usual. Your girly ways in full force. Your lashes long(and false, if that’s up your ally), your brows done. Your highlight gleaming and your contour blended. Your hair fell into loose curls that you had a burn on your forefinger to show for. Picking what to wear had been a little tricky, mostly because you were so indecisive and had changed twice much to Bucky’s dismay because “I really liked that red one, doll! Your tit’s looked amazing”

You’d finally landed on an bardot style gray dress that came down to mid-thigh and a pair of black semi-opaque tights underneath it. You wore your most comfortable pair of spanx, not caring about the outline of your belly because you’d rather be comfortable then smooth for the night. You adorn yourself in gold jewelry; dainty midi rings and a pair of hoops.

“Well damn” You hear Bucky approach as your putting on the earrings and you smile wolfishly at his reflection through the mirror.

“You like?”

“Mhmm, very much” His blue eyes drink in your curves “You should see the way your hips looks from here”

You snort and roll your eyes before going to your shoe rack and snatching up a pair of ebony heeled over the knee boots.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, mister” You grin at him from your place on your bed as you tug on the boots. Bucky looks insanely handsome. Not that that wasn’t usual. Fuck, he was always the prettiest person in the room, but the navy sweater that he wears is snug on his broad chest, paired with dark wash jeans and a pair of dapper looking, hide colored Chelsea style boots was really something. He’s trimmed up his beard and slicked his hair back.

“Well I’ve gotta’ keep up with you, don’t I? I cant have you looking all gorgeous and me looking like a scrub. It’s unsightly”

You scoff out a laugh as you stand, wiggling to adjust everything “Like you’ve ever looked like a scrub a day in your life, Bucky”

You then go up to him, smiling, reaching to press your lips peckingly to his, your hands roaming teasingly light over his chest.

“Merry Christmas Eve, baby” You whisper into his mouth.

“Mmm, Merry Christmas Eve, doll” He replies between little kisses, his arm winding around your thick middle “You smell so good tonight”

“Thank you, I think that might be the cookies, but thank you” He chuckles into your mouth and you swallow it greedily, loving the tickle of his beard. The peek of his tongue, poking out to swipe at your bottom lip enticingly-

“We have to head out soon” You press one last kiss to his lips before pulling away, knowing if you let it, it would go to far and you’d just put on lipstick!

“Why'do you gotta’ be the worst tease all the time?” Bucky sighs through his nose, good naturedly and you shrug innocently, telling him that he loved it and not to pout, because frown lines.

You shrieked when he’d grabbed you and pressed your body into the wall, pinning you with his own.

So you guys could be a little late…

After packing up Bucky’s car with the fuck load of presents and food that you guys were bringing to the parties, you start your journey.

Over the river and through the snow…

More like over the Verrazano Bridge and through the hundreds of other cars on the road.

The drive isn’t so bad, all the radio stations seem to be playing Christmas music and you crank it up and belt your lungs out.

“I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need” You attempt(and fail) to resemble Mariah’s sultry voice and Bucky think’s your sexy even when you’re terribly off key as you crook your finger over his cheek, his jaw, and under his chin.

“I just want you for my own, more then you could ever know. Make my wish come true(you both cant help but laugh out loud at the way your voice breaks) All I want for Christmas is you”

The rest of the ride goes a lot like that. You annoying your boyfriend, as usual, and him being totally amused by your antics. Also as usual.

Your childhood home, in Staten Island, is first on the roster.

When he parks down the street because of all of the other parked vehicles you take a deep breath and look to him for reassurance.

“Let’s rock this shit?” You announce and he grins at you like maybe your the sun.

“Definitely, doll”

It’s chaos. Twinkling, red and green colored chaos in your grandmothers house. Your Aunt’s and Uncles, and great Aunts and Uncles and littering cousins and siblings are all in the small space. Your family was big, like crazy big, and they all seemed to be condensed into the house. There’s at least twenty(thirty) people already there and at least half of them are children. Screaming, wild kids. You squeeze Bucky’s hand, because yeah he’d met them before, had survived Thanksgiving, but still…

“They’re here. Y/N and Bucky are here!” Your Aunt Gina, one of many, announces loudly. Her Staten Island native accent thick “Come in, come in! You’re letting all the heat out”

Your family is handsy. That’s just the blunt truth. Touchy and over the top.

She pulls you both in and you balance the platter of cookies inbetween you as she hugs you both tight. Bone cracking tight

“Look at you! Don’t you look pretty, Sal! Sal, doesn’t she look so pretty?!” Her voice is loud in your ear, her hand never heaving your shoulder. That’s how most all of the introductions go as you make your way through the room, snug hugs. Cheek kisses. Bucky even survives your Aunt Ang and her full on mouth kisses. Your only the hot commodity for a moment, another one of your family members showing up soon after. Thank god. You put the presents under the tree with the mountains of others and take off your coats, hanging them in the over flowing coat closet.

The atmosphere is bustling and lively and you can tell the drinks have been flowing.

Everyone was talking over each other. Energy sparking the way it always does at Holliday gatherings. Just barley subdued, the possibilities of arguments high.

You and Bucky make your rounds, making sure to mingle and speak with most everyone just a little before settling down in the kitchen with your sister and a few of your favorite cousins…

All of their eye’s red rimmed.

“You guys are so stoned” Bucky chuckles after a moment of talking to them. It’s met with giggles and jumbled answers and ‘were going to head out back soon if you wanna’ come, man"

“Nah, I’m drivin, or else most definitely I would”

“You down, Y/N?” Your cousin asks next and you shake your head vehemently.

“Hell no, the last time I smoked with you I couldn’t stand for an hour! I was stuck on that couch! Aunt Vicki almost called an ambulance, do you remember that?” The memory brings on rounds of laughter, spurs on even more embarrassing stories. Childhood ones- the teenaged ones were the worse and you blush and as Bucky digs for more, in stiches at stories of your life.

He’s good at this, talking. Being charming and helpful and warm.

Everyone loves him, as they always had and he helps your grandmother serve food. Holds his own with your uncles, doesn’t flinch as your younger cousins hang on him like monkeys, or ask about his prosthetic arm.

“He is so handsome its almost hard to look at him for too long” You’re standing with a group of women, all of them your blood.

You beam proudly “Isn’t he though?”

“How the hell’d you catch a man like that, Y/N?” one of your cattier cousins asks and it stings, yeah, but you shrug it off. Having a big family meant you’d grown up with thick skin. Learned to not take anything to personally early.

“Some men like a woman with a little meat on her bones!” Another of your cousins snaps at her. Another slight wince. It had nothing to do with body types.

“I aint tryin’ to start anything!” Catty cousin defends, lying “I’m just sayin’ he looks like a Calvin Klein model! I mean even Beyoncé married a Jay-Z. Y/N, got lucky! That’s all”

“Hun, you better hold on to that one tight. Suck his dick when he wakes up. Suck his dick when you make him breakfast, suck his dick before he goes to work-” one of your various Aunts gives you her 'relationship motto’

Oh, how you love family gatherings.

“It had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with self respect” You smile, because that’s all you can do. You know that this could easily turn into a fight, and you refused to do that in your grandmothers home. “And auntie, I don’t know if my jaw could handle all that”

“If anything he’s the lucky one” Your sister interjects, her eyes hard at your cousin “Did you tell them about that promotion you got a work? Fucking crazy. She beat out a shit ton'a people for it!”

You swing an arm around her neck and kiss her cheek. You’d always been close, always been each others support.

And that’s how you end up doing shots.

A shot for your promotion.

A shot for your Uncle’s company getting the deal he’d been working on.

A shot for your Aunt remodeling her house?

And finally, one for your mother. May god rest her soul.

Luckily the spread is large enough for you to balance the liquor in your stomach with food. Your left pleasantly tipsy, but not drunk. It takes the edge off of things for the couple of hours that you and Buck spend with your family. He nurses the same beer the whole time, turning down any hard alcohol which you commend him on because you came from a long line of peer pressures. You both make sure not to eat too much, knowing that you had two more meals to go through.

Your family, luckily, decides to open presents early this year. A lot of them working early in the morning, needing to leave before it got too late. It’s a mess of multi colored wrapping paper as the presents are dibbied out and then torn into. You have a small pile infront of you and it makes you happy that your Aunt Gina, your sister and your grandmother had taken the time to get Bucky gifts too(they were your inner family, and had spent more time with him then anyone)

You end up with a pile of makeup, gift cards, home goods a pair of pajamas and socks. Lot’s of socks. That was your families thing. Everyone in the room had been fixed some.

Bucky holds up his own pair of fuzzy socks with a grin.

“You’re a real part of the family now, Bucky!” Your sister teases drunkly, but seriously and you agree with a nod and a kiss you his cheek.

“We’ve accepted you as our own”

You don’t stay long after that, and saying goodbyes is as long and taking as the introductions had been. You hug your grandmother tight, telling her how much you loved her and she pets your hair thanking you for your gift(a large, iron vined framed picture of all of the grandkids) and whispering in your ear that it was her favorite. Your Aunt Gia gives you a “Do ya’ really have to go? Oh, alright. Drive safe, baby. It’s nuts out there!” As you exit out into the bitter December air. The walk to the car sobers you back up real quick.

“We survived” you cheer melodramatically, digging your hands into the pockets of your trench coat for warmth.

“I told you we would be fine!” Bucky chuckles as you slide into his car, he instantly cranks up the heat.

“I don’t know, I almost lost my life back there a few times” you jest playfully as he pulls out into the street “They all love you like crazy, you know that? My cousins want to steal you from me”

“Well it doesn’t surprise me, I’m a lovable guy-” you roll your eyes at him “But I’ve already found the only L/N I want” he takes your hand, holding the wheel one handed and presses a kiss to your knuckles. It makes your chest ache.

“I love you” You tell him, honestly. Wholey.

“'Love you too, dollface- did you really used to sneak guys in through your window?” He chuckles and you shake your head.

“I was sixteen, Buck, shut up”

“I just don’t get how you could even fit 'em through there! That basement Windows like a foot across”

“I was a crafty teenager, okay?”

“Crafty? Or bad?”

“Bad” You confess “Definatley so bad. I gave my mom a run for her money” the end is noted with sadness. Melancholy. Even though your mother had passed years ago, holidays never failed to bring the memory of her to the surface.

Bucky’s been noticing it all night, keeping his tongue in cheek. Not knowing exactly how to comfort you.

“You okay, baby?” He asks and you shake your head and nod, giving him a soft smile. “Of course!”

“Okay…you let me know if you’re not. Okay?” He kisses your hand again, eyes not leaving the road. And you kiss his back. “Okay”

The ride back into the city is a BITCH, and it’s filled with both you and Bucky’s curses. The traffic is ridiculous and it takes over an hour to get to Bucky’s parents house.

“Stupid fuckin’ cocksucker. Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you! Learn how to drive!”

Bucky is an it imitating specimen of a man, you don’t blame the guy in the other car for not yelling back.

The duplex that Bucky grew up in is prettily lit up in Christmas lights and he parks in the drive way and you two rush in with arm fills of gifts and food.

Bucky’s family gathering is much smaller then yours had been. More intimate, less chaotic for sure. His mother, Winni greets you at the door. Hugging you both tightly and leading you into the living room where everyone’s gathered. There’s Rebecca, the eldest of Bucky’s sisters and her two sons, his sister Bonnie is helping his dad, George tinker with the TV and Lizzie, the baby of the family, was on the couch with her girlfriend, laughing with Steve and Peggy about something you couldn’t hear.

Of course Steve was there. Why wouldn’t he be? The Barnes had adopted him into the family decades ago. There might not have been the paper work that came with adopting all of their other children, but still.

You chit chat with Winnie about how bad the drive had been and she teases that she was surprised her son hadn’t gotten out of the car and started a brawl, him and his awful case of road rage.

“No, Ma’, I do have a little self restraint. I’m not like Steve here who couldn’t keep his fists to himself to save his life” Bucky pokes fun at his best friend as they do their man-shake half hug thing.

“Merry Christmas, Punk”

You just walk around them to full hug a very pregnant Peggy. Allowing them to Brokeback Mountian with eachother as they always did.

“Help haul me off this thing, would you?” She begs, reaching up and you laugh and help her to her feet. She really was going to pop any day now.

She blows a whisp of dark hair from her eyes “I can’t wait til’ this child is out of me”

“I bet” you sympathize as you embrace Lizzie, who introduces you to her girlfriend “at least you’re a cute pregnant lady”

“Hah!” Peggy deadpans in response.

Steve hugs you tight, and you giggle at the scrape of his beard. Bucky tells Peggy she’s glowing, like the charmer he is. Squeezes from Rebecca and Bonnie come next and George claps both of you on the shoulder, before dragging Bucky off to the garage show him some new car parts he’d gotten in. Georgie, Becca’s oldest trails them and Steve perks up and looks at Peggy longingly.

“Go on” she sighs and he pecks her cheek in thanks before hopping up to follow.

“You can only stay in there until dinners ready!” Winnie hollers behind them “I’m dead serious, if you’re not back in here when this ham comes outta’ the oven I’m dragging you all back in this house by your ears. You hear me!”

Each of them men give her a “yes mam” and you spire to be Winifred Barnes when you grow up.

Being at Bucky’s parents is relaxing, it’s nice and calm and you talk with the women idly. Helping out with dinner here and there, catching up with Bucky’s sisters and Peggy. You end up with Rebecca’s youngest son, Conner, in your lap. As usual. You loved the 5 year old and luckily, that love was reciprocated.

“You happy to see your girlfriend, Con?” Becca teases her son who just glares at her a little. With those signature stormy blue he shared with his mother and Uncle.

“She ain’t my girlfriend, Mommy, she’s Uncle Buck’s!” He corrects her sternly. “Duh”

It earns him laughs and coo’s.

“Uh huh, your right, But don’t duh me, ya hear” Rebecca warns, lightly, before she joins her mom in the kitchen.

“You excited to have one of your own?” Bonnie questions Peggy who rubs her purtruding stomach for a moment.

“Yeah” She nods “I think I’m more excited to be able to drink wine again, though. It’s killing me to watch you all. You have no idea how lucky you are”

“I’ve heard it’s okay for pregnant women to drink a glass of wine a day” Lizzie chimes.

“Uh huh, you try telling Steve that” Peggy rolls her dark eyes.

“He still in crazy over protective papa bear mode?” You wonder, knowingly. He’d been extremely dutiful during the duration of her pregnancy. Highlight extreme.

“Yep” Is all Peggy says, the two of you sharing a look. You spent a good chunk of your time with her, obviously, and she’s become a good friend. She’d vented to you many a time about lumberjack, dad to be Steve who forgot that she was a trained cop.

“Oh my gosh, you just fucking wait Y/N. When you and Bucky start to have kids he’s going to be a thousand times worse” Lizzie giggles “He literally walked me to and from school til’ junior year when I begged him to stop. I can only imagine him as a dad”

Your ears burn at that and you bite your lips together as you try to stay casual. Had you thought about baring Bucky Barnes’ children before? Yes. Many times. But to hear it out loud was something else.

“You and Uncle Buck are gonna’ have babies?” Connor asks you and you almost choke on your spit.

“Maybe one day, buddy, I don’t know” you answer him, honestly, and he mules it over, deep in thought.

“If he sperms you, right?”

Oh hell no.

He says it so confidently and bluntly that you don’t know how to react. His aunts laugh and Peggy bites her fist, her cherry red lips pulled into a grin.

“What? That’s what Toby said! Stop laughing at me!” And you just hug the child’s head to your chest because bless his soul, you knew he was going to get teased about this forever.

You venture out into the cold of the backyard to retrieve the men for dinner, braving the winter air that is specked with little flakes of white. They dizzily swirl from the sky and you take a moment to revel in it. Wrapped in your coat, your tilt your face upwards and breath the frigid air into your lungs. Your still just the tiniest bit tipsy and it feels good to be in the quiet, your cheeks that had been flushed since you’d left your grandmothers welcome the cool night.

That only lasts for a minute or so. You do, after all, have a dress and tights on so you hurry into the garage in order not to turn into an icicle.

Bucky’s under his father’s jacked up, classic Thunderbird, and little Georgie’s handing him tools. Steve and George senior are under the hood and none of them seem to realize you’d walked in. They’re all so animated, chattering excitedly about the car.

“Mhmhm” You cough to make your presence known and three pairs or eyes turn to you, Bucky’s head peeks out at you from under the car “I come as the messenger; Winnie said you all better get your butt’s inside before she has to come out here herself”

George sighs, pushing his glasses up his nose and grumbling that “They’d better get in, that woman doesn’t mess around” before shuffling out of the garage, stopping to squeeze your shoulder fondly before shouting “You better shut that hood real delicately, Steve! And Don’t leave anything loose down there, Buck!” then he’s gone. Little George right after him, tugging on his hand.

“You heard the man” You sass as you lean against the door frame, amused. Watching the two beefy men make sure to leave their father’s car as he’d asked.

Bucky, being Bucky, couldn’t go one day without tinkering with some kind of vehicle and his fingers are mucky, stained black from the underbelly of the Firebird and he had a smear of it on his forehead. You just grin and lick your thumb, ushering him closer so that you can wipe it away fondly. Your grease monkey of a boyfriend.

Dinner is delicious. Too delicious. You stuff your self to the brim with Ham and all the trimmings and sides. Bucky’s family really can cook, you suspect he’d gotten his chef like skills from his mother and father. Peggy eats her body weight in the decadent lasagna and Steve eats so many deviled eggs that he ends up having to pop the button on his jeans. Bucky’s head lulls onto your shoulder after he feasts his way through three heaping plates, barley able to move.

“I don’t know if I can eat anything else for a week” He grumbles into your ear and you pat his cheek.

“Positive thoughts and perseverance, baby” you chime back at him.

The second round of present opening of the night is a happy little affair. Bucky’s mom likes the candle set you’d gotten her(along with the spa appointments to go with them) and his dad is happy for the robe and new foot massager that he could plug into his favorite chair. His sisters are grateful for their gift cards and Bath&Body Works products. Georgie and Connor go to rip open the LEGO sets you and Bucky had gotten for themalmost instantly and Becca hollers for them to clean up their messes.

“Y/N, Bucky, oh my god” Peggy gasps as she unwraps her gift. It’s an set of Ornaments, customized and ornate with her ultrasound pictures encapsulated in each. Steve laughs as he pulls out the Harley Davidson crib mobile from his own box. You and Bucky had worked hard on their gifts and seeing them so happy made both of you beam excitedly.

Each of Bucky’s sister gets you a gift a gift card to Sephora, a LUSH bag full of goodies and from Lizzie your eyes widen as you look into the bag that was labeled “To: Buck & Y/N. Love you lots, Lizzie. Have Fun!”

It’s two boxes, one labeled 'Naughty Dice’ and the other a 'Love is Art: Body Painting Kit’

You try to keep the giddy, nervous giggles at bay and Bucky glares at her “Lizzie!”

“What? I’m just trying to help you keep the romance alive!” She protests innocently “They’re really fun, I promise. I’ve played them myself” She winks an Bucky grimaces and shakes his head, telling his Ma’ that she didn’t want to see what was in the bag when Winnie insisted he show her. Secretly, you were more then a little excited to play with them later.

You spend only an hour or so more with them, digesting and laughing a drinking. Both you and Buck have your fair share of scotch with his father. The Clubhouse wasn’t far from here, and since both Steve and Peggy were staying sober(“If she cant drink, neither can I”) they’d agreed that one of them would drive Bucky’s car for him.

You leave the Barnes household warm and happy. Full and carrying bags of presents and wrapped up left overs that Bucky’s mom insisted you take with you. You decide that you and Peggy would go in her car since she had driven and Steve would drive behind you with Bucky in his. Luckily, you’d happened to park the two cars beside each other so the pack up and arranging wasn’t hard.

You’re drunk. Not shitfaced, or wasted, but drunk. To where the cold doesn’t affect you and you hang on Bucky for longer then necessary, kissing him over and over, sucking on his bottom lip unabashedly. He’s a little drunk himself, so he just clutches you tighter and reciprocates by nipping the side of your mouth.

“Christ, you guys!” Steve laughs, interrupting the two of you “It’s a ten minute drive. He’s not going off to Nam! Let’s go!”

“You’re just jealous” Bucky shoots at him, his arms still wrapped around your waist. His breaths come out in vapor like puffs due to the cold.

“You taking a jab at my relationship, Barnes?” Peggy glares ruefully at him, before she slips into the drivers seat of his car.

“No mam, I don’t have the balls for that” You laugh and separate from him “Don’t let her crash my baby” Bucky teases.

“I am a far better driver then you could ever hope to be!” Peggy hollers at him.

You and Peggy spend the short drive belting out 'Jingle Bell Rock’, you much more animated then her in your inebriated state. She humors you all the same though.

“I love you so much, Peg, you know that?” You tell her earnestly as you pull up to the Clubhouse, the bright lettered sign of “The Tower: Home of the Howling Commando’s” proud and bright on the window outside. Usually, the biker bar full to the brim, the parking lot over flowing, but tonight was a members only night and only familiar cars and bikes were parked out front.

“I love you too, Y/N” Peggy shakes her head with a chuckle as she finds a space, and then unbuckles.

“No seriously, I don’t know how I ever would have adjusted to this whole "Old Lady” thing without you" You continue “Your like my british biker fairy god mother”

And Peggy informs you that she was going to have that etched into her tombstone with a bark out laughter.

The bar is cozy and filled with family. Not blood family, but maybe something even more important then that. The family that Bucky had chosen for himself, the family that had accepted you with open arms. You’d think a biker bar full of big men in leathers would be more ominous, right?

Wrong.

Thor was hurrying out of the kitchen with a tray of piping hot cookies, his brother Loki right behind him hissing about him having burnt them. Bruce is nursing a mug of what you knew wasn’t only hot coco, a dopey smile on his face as he belted out carols with Happy. Tony had a santa hat perched haphazardly on his head and sat with the kids at the smaller kiddy table that had been dragged out, insisting his adoptive son Peter join them. Peter, who insisted he was seventeen and not seven played on his phone, his mom, Pepper next to him subtly taking pictures of her Santa capped husband. Natasha and Sam were cuddled up at that bar with Wanda, Vis and Pietro. Clint’s behind the bar as usual, mixing up wonky looking eggnog cocktails that you knew were probably killer. Pietro reaches across the wood to press a kiss to his knuckles.

It’s a sight, a beautiful one. A magical one and you truly feel lucky to have all these people in your life. You could cry, but you didn’t want to mess up your eye makeup.

“Look who finally decided to join us!” Sam boomed, coming over “We were thinking ya’ll got lost out there in that storm, just bout'a come find you”

“It’s been a long night, bird brain. I told ya’ we’d be a little late” Bucky hugs the man good heartedly “I bet you demolished all the Budwisers already, huh?”

“You snooze you loose, Sarge. All that’s left are the 'Lite’s’” Sam grins.

The atmosphere here is your favorite of the night. Filled with joy, everyone talking to one an other. Enjoying each other. Most comfortable and at peace with each other. There’s many drinks that are drank and many stories told. There’s hugging and god awful singing and the crew of Bikers letting loose like they always did. It was like any other night with them, except with spiked eggnog and Christmas trees. It’s laid back and relaxed and you sit in the circle of Bucky’s arms content, your head resting on his shoulder as you engage in multiple conversations easily.

At the stroke of midnight; you all open gifts. There’s a ton of them, everyone had gotten everyone a little something.

Except for Tony, ever luxurious, who had gotten everyone not so little somethings.

It’s funny, that they give each other everything from sweaters and baking mittens(for Thor), to X-Boxes and nerdy gifts galore, to numerous bike parts. Eclectic, just like they are. You end up with another little pile of gifts; your favorites a glittery gold thermos, furry slippers and that pair of sunglasses that Natasha had seen you ogle at the mall. Peggy and Steve gift you a Harry Potter collectors book kit and you squeal out loud. “Oh my god, I love it!”

And Tony and Pepper give you and Bucky a-

“Holy shit, Tone!” Bucky gasps as you open up the huge present, an 84’ high definition smart TV.

“I thought it would go nice in the living room. You know, with all of the redecorating you’re about to be do-” Bucky cuts him off with glare at the same time that Pepper slaps his chest.

“Redecorating?” You ask, suspicious, looking up at your boyfriend “Why are you redecorating?”

“Don’t worry about it doll” Bucky murmurs, easily distracting you with that dimpled smile You let it drop, but you don’t forget it. You gnaw on it the rest of the night, silently. Laughing and having a good time with your friends but still thinking about it in the back of your head.

It’s a little after two when you and Bucky drag yourselves and the piles of gifts up to his apartment, above the bar.

“We made it” He smiles at you as you yank off your uncomfortable heeled boots and plop onto his sofa with a groan.

“I’m so tired” You wine. So tired and drunk and full. You honestly just wanted to crawl into Bucky’s bed and crash but he reminded you that you had yet to exchange presents with each other.

“Oh yeah!”

You gaze at his little tree, and the gifts that lay under them. You’d wanted it to be more intimate, just you and him for these.

“Can we go get changed first? I think these spanx are cutting off the circulation to my brain” You announce and he snorts and tells you of course. You end up in your panties and one of Bucky’s giant shirts that fit even your curvy body loosely. It didn’t go down to your knees or anything, and he could see your ass cheeks peek out from the bottom of it but it was comfy and soft and smelled like him. The two of you make yourselves comfortable on the floor infront of the lit tree, sitting criss cross opposite of eachother.

Bucky hands you the gifts he’s gotten you, and he’s not going to lie; he went a little crazy on you this year. Wanting to spoil the ever loving shit out of his girl. There’s big boxes and small boxes and bags. About ten or more of them and you grin and blush as he gives them to you. You then hand him his own, there were a few less, but then again you’d dropped a pretty penny on some of them so it made up for it. Not that he cared, about the amount. At all. He just felt special enough that the two of you were here, together.

“Ready?” He grins at you and you nod eagerly, biting your lip. “How do you wanna do this? One after the other? Or let’s just go crazy?”

“One after the other!” You insist “I want to see your reactions!”

And so that’s what you do. You open one, and then he does.

You go first one of the bigger boxes; a Michael Kors bag that you had been dying over for months.

“Baby!” You smile. “I love it”

“It cost a car payment” He teases and you pout “But that’s okay, I’m happy you like it”

Then him. He goes for one of the boxes too-

“What the fuck!”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah I like it, Y/N, oh my god” He looks at the new iPad with shocked eyes. He’d been complaining about needing an updated one, that he needed it to manage the garage better.

You: A collection of Mac lipsticks

Him: A nice, antique-esque shaving kit

You: A huge fuzzy blanket to add to your collection

Him: A new pair of riding sunglasses and gloves. Stylish ones, dark leather.

You hold up the striped pink Victoria’s secret bag “Is this for me or you, huh?”

“Let’s just say they’re for the both of us” Bucky grins and you dig through the lacy panties and bras that he’d bought. All in your size, when he’d asked your breast size you’d known this was why. They’re pretty, right up your alley cause he knows what you like. Blacks and creams, eyelash lace and delicate bows. You hold up one set though, that’s bright red and eye catching.

“That one’s definitely for me though” He licks his lips and you smirk at him.

He’s gone to all of your favorite stores; LUSH, Sephora, Target. He’d even made a trip to that little metaphysical store in SOHO, the witchy one you liked so much and gotten you crystals. You loved every gift you opened, because you could tell he’d really thought about you with each.

He’s more then surprised at what you get him; the parts for that Harley he was building from the ground up. Expensive, rare ones that he knew had to have been a bitch to hunt down. He gawks at you.

“Steve helped” You giggle. You’d got him his favorite cologne, and a couple records because he was old fashioned and he could add them to his collection. You’d taken the time to go to a nice lingerie store, one that specialized in plus sizes, and had purchased a striking, red bustier set with a matching barley there lace thong and garters. You knew it was his favorite color on you.

Bucky groans and fingers the fabric as he looks it over “I think this one’s my favorite, doll”

“Shut up!” You giggle, ushering him to open your last gift. You chew on your lip, hoping he liked it as you watch him unwrap and unbox it.

Bucky was very attached to his tattered leather riding jacket. He’d had it for years, and you weren’t sure that getting him a new one had been a good idea, but when you’d seen it you’d just had to order it. It looked just like his lucky one, except new, not falling apart.

“Where did you get this?” He wonders as his eyes trail over it.

“A website from this little boutique in Manhattan”

He cant believe it…it’s almost identical to the one he’d had since his early twenties he stands so that he can shrug into it, nearly gasping at the fit.

How in the hell?…

“Do you like it?” You whisper up at him as he stares down at you.

“I fuckin’ love it Y/N! Holy shit” He rolls his shoulders, amazed. You beam and stand up too.

“There’s another little thing” You feel the most nervous for this as you pull on his let arm, cuffing the leather so that the inside revealed a little trinket dangling from the inside of the sleeve. It’s a gold and heartshaped, almost like a tiny locket and as he raised his arm to inspect it he see’s both of your initials engraved into it.

“Remember how on that first date we went on, you told me you wear your heart on your sleeve?” Your words are barley above a whisper as your big, doll like eyes, gaze up at him. The knot in his throat has him nearly panting as he rests his forehead against your own.

“I love you so goddamn much” He says, his breath fanning out across your face and you bask in his praise, his knuckles gently rasp against your cheek and you feel like you might burst. Or melt. One of the two. You stay like that for a moment before he pulls back.

“I’ve got one more for you” He tells you, reaching into the drawer of the table and pulling out a small box.

Your stomach does knots. Your mind goes haywire

That’s a jewelry box, no doubt. He hands it to you and you just stare at it blankly for a moment.

“Well open it, Y/N” He laughs and you exhale a shaky breath and do as he says.

The ring inside of it is gorgeous, a small little oval diamond, encased by opal stones on a simple white gold band, your eyes snap up to his in alarm.

“It’s not an engagement ring” He reassures fast and you untense- just a little as he slides it onto your left ring finger “It’s a promise ring, because I know we’ve only been together nine months, but they’ve been the best of my life. As fuckin’ cheesy as that sounds. I know that one day, your the woman I’m going to marry. I don’t want anyone else, ever again. And so I vow myself to you with this. I’m only loyal to you, baby. I’m only yours, I got myself one too”

Why are you crying? You cant stop the tears that roll down your cheeks. You feel overwhelmed, so loved. In a way that you’d never experienced before him.

“These are happy tears I hope” He laughs, nervously, catching the moisture with his thumb.

“Yes, fuck yes. They’re happy, baby. I’m so happy” You croon as you finally pull yourself together enough to throw your arms around his neck and press kiss after kiss to his lips. His cheeks, his chin, his nose. Anywhere you can reach. He giggles and leans into the onslaught of kisses.

“Wait, there’s more”

“More?” You ask. What more? How? He pulls up the lapel to the box to reveal a key. You take it out and inspect it, your eyebrows knitted together and your eyes calculating.

“It’s to here” Bucky clarifies “To this apartment” you still don’t understand so he goes on “I know your lease is up in January and I figured…Y/N, do you want to move in here with me? I know it’s not the Taj Mahal or anything, but I thought we could redecorate. Make it feel like your space too, you know? So that you don’t just feel like a guest…I want to share this with you. I want to share a home with you, because I fuckin’ hate waking up with out you. I know were probably going to irritate the shit outta’ eachother, but I don’t care. I want to live with you”

Crying. You’re crying again and you wordlessly jump back into his arms, and he stumbles a little bit, but catches you none the less, like he always does. Like he always will.

“Yes, yes” You manage to get out between tears and he just holds you tight, grinning like a mad man. Like someone who’d just won the lottery.

“Merry Christmas, baby doll”

A Merry Christmas it was, indeed.

Wow this was long and so fluff filled I’m almost feeling sick to my stomach. Little blurbs and background facts from the story:

-Bucky is adopted, Rebecca is is biological sister but the Barnes adopted all of their children.

-Clint and Laura are divorced but still get along and are close friends and he and Pietro are in a relationship.

-Tony and Pepper adopted Peter when he was a few years back after Aunt May passed

-Bucky owns both the bar, the above apartment and the garage that’s attached to it.

I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m really thinking about developing this into a full length story, what do you guys think? Leave me some feedback! I love reading your comments, I love connecting with you all on here.

[the-dyslexic-blogger]

Me Myself and i....Oh and the rest. 13/06/20

There are multiple of me. 

So the title might confuse some no one still really knows about this condition but I have DID or Dissociative identity disorder I have four alternative personalities which all represent a part of my life its hard having DID especially when one of your alters is a two-year-old.

There are some trigger warnings towards self-harm suicidal mentions eating disorder mentions, with a side of abuse mentions ooh and also sprinkle of sexual assault. WOOHOO, that sounds like a fun one a walk in the park.. .ohh there might be ducks...ill get some bread...

Having DID is weird when you can zone out, and one of your alters can take control over everything you do and say you can zone out in the kitchen and zone back in and you could have destroyed a whole city and blew the world up and be butt naked in front of thousands of people (that was a good afternoon).

I am joking for disclaimer usage.

But there you go I said it I have DID. I haven't wanted to admit it, but I have currently four alternative personalities so five people in me head 

I will talk about the alters and what they represent I will talk about them and use images that my friend drew of them he is the only one that knows.

I have Stripe, Blue, Cody and Eliza they all live in my head and like… (SENTENCE BEGAN DRUNK, MAYBE FINISH LATER?)

Stripe

He represents my depression and suicidal thoughts. He will very often take over and cut me. It's horrible I can be doing a normal thing and then boom he takes over he is a lot like me, but he looks like a demon his red glowing eyes are staring at me right now I wish he'd fuck off. He and Eliza are both bad alters that try to hurt and kill me multiple times. Stripe has taken over and gone on walkies and self-harmed he talks to me most the day lingering over my shoulder telling me I'm better off dead and he is the reason for all of my impulses. It's hard having DID I've said that thousands of times now but it is, okay? I hate it. I wish I never had it. He makes a good impression of me. He's a demon who can fly.

One time he took overtook one of my knives and cut my arm, my friend walked in and stopped it, he tried to walk away from it like nothing had happened. Still, he didn't get away with it as my friend took it away and hugged me until I retook control he's been a part of me for years now I don't remember exactly when I developed my DID, but I think it must have been since I was about 16 so there you go. Four years.

A lot of the time his high pitched squeal penetrates my ears with his whispers of 'you're not good enough' and 'your friends hate you' his claws dig deeper onto my shoulder and grips me harder every time I don't listen to him, and all I'm left with is the shadow of the sheer guilt taking over my whole life.

He looks like a demon he has a stripe all down the middle of his body, and his eyes sometimes glow in the night he says a lot of stuff things he knows will hurt me. He has horns on his head and is constantly trying to get me to cut myself and convince me that I need to feel the relief and pain while the blade kisses my skin and slices my wrists up. He stops me doing things I enjoy like, for example, musical theatre there was this person there who was a snake. He always said she's going to do it again you're going to be sexually assaulted again if you go outside.

I asked what the person that knows about this and what they said it is like when Stripe takes over:

"When Stripe takes over, it's very creepy. I can look in the eyes of my best friend, someone I love, and it's not them in that head. It's someone… something else. Stripe usually tries to pretend to be Dino, but he never expresses any emotion except hate, which is how I know its not my Dino in there. He never says stuff like "love you" or even "I'm alright". He's a dickhead basically."

Eliza

She's a lot like Stripe, but she represents my eating disorders she also doesn't like it when I'm happy she's around a lot when my eating disorders are present she's a skinny demon her ribs are present like she wants me to be she dislikes people who like me and she doesn't think I deserve my friends or my food she's not a good alter and she works with Stripe they work closely together and try to take me down, so I drown in a massive wave of depression and suicide unable to breathe under the weight of living and the weight of my shitty past. So again, all I want to feel is the sweet relief of the pain that they make me think I deserve.

Eliza only recently came back as taking over, so the person does not know anything about her really has never experienced her first hand.

I realized at this point of the blog that I can't add pictures to blogger or tumbler so funnn I'll add my YouTube channel where I will post pictures of them there.

Another update as I'm editing I will upload it when I have a chance.

Cody

He is the protector of my alters he comes out to protect me he's kind caring he took over when terrible events happened in my life he represents my creative side he is also my anxiety the part of me that feels anxious. He doesn't do what Stripe does and make me anxious, but he is forced to feel anxious. He takes over a lot when I'm doing coding or feel very anxious that it's overwhelming. He's friendly and looks after my other alter a lot Blue who is two.

He has only recently come back he was a part of my life in college but when Stripe came in Stripe killed a lot of my alters, and he was the only one left hence why I fell into a deep depression at that point, and Cody went.

Cody enjoys coding drawing music I gave up drawing as I believed I was shit I still do but oh well when Cody takes over that doesn't matter so drawing it is then. He takes over when he feels I'm in pain mentally, or in danger from myself, he cares a lot about me and others.

Cody is again a demon but a nice one, of course, he always is listening to music or drawing or wrestling a two year old oops. Still, he has made friends with a lot of my friends without them knowing his voice is slightly different to mine. He is anxious but very chill at the same time he has never hurt me or anyone he took over when the most traumatizing events have happened to me to save the wrath of the trauma train crashing as there was an overwhelming amount of trauma. Hence, he took some of the wrath for me to save destruction. So in a way, me and Cody share the same trauma, and we can relate even though he's in my head.

It's quite funny sometimes I forget people cannot see them so ill say to my friend 'hey look over there at one of my alters, and they have to remind me that he's not really well to them but are in my head they feel so real.

Here is what my friend said about Cody…….

"Cody is a really cool friend. When we are texting, he usually lets me know if it's him, and in-person he has a slightly different, more chilled-out voice than Dino, even when he is anxious. He also has a cool necklace on a leather cord that Dino never wears, but Cody likes to put on when he takes over. He always calls me "bro" and he's just a really nice wholesome guy, a lot like Dino to be fair, but they're very clearly different people."

                              Blue

Okay so here we go blue is a two year a lot alter shes hyperactive and energetic she is called blue because when she first started to emerge, I used to just laugh and be unable to talk or anything so being a computer nerd, I named her blue after the Blue screen of death every ICT students nightmare…*shivers*

So yeah that's how she got her name, and oh yea did I mention she can set things on fire… well yeah, she can she sets Stripe on fire a lot shes scared of him, but sometimes she gets the courage and will not hesitate to set him on fire…and her attention span oh looks a tree where was  I forgot? Oh yeah, attention span she doesn't have one. I think she's incapable of having one she is very close to my friend and also Cody my other alter I talked about him above unless you lazy bugger have skipped down to this bit then you don't know but find out read above.

But yeah that's blue.

Here is what my friend said about Blue….

"Blue is ADHD as in she is the personification of ADHD. She's a really cute little two-year-old, but she doesn't have any concept of consequences for her actions, and no impulse control so she can be tricky to manage, especially when she's excited. We recently got her a pacifier to suck on and she always tries to get it as soon as she's in control. She's also obsessed with balls, so we got her a big, yellow bouncy ball too. Me and Dino spent hours building a fort once, which Blue managed to completely demolish in about five seconds. Her response was to say "oops" laugh her ass off, and then giggle "bye-bye" with a massive, very proud grin, and collapse, leaving Dino to wake up and be very, very confused about what the fuck was going on. As difficult as she can be to manage (she's a two-year-old with the strength of a twenty-year-old, it's a fight to keep her from tearing the building apart) she is a really, wholesome, and adorable little kid. I love Blue very, very much, and she actually calls me "Dada" which is pretty cute."

So there you go my alters. Welcome to my brain there are five people in my head including me it gets crowded sometimes and annoying when you're trying to rest, and all you can hear is a two year a lot screaming ball every 5 seconds, but they are apart of me, and I would not change them for the world well maybe stipe and Eliza but at the same time they make me who I am today they are me in my head they are my personality.

DID is a strange mental illness to have its strange to have five people in my head anytime another could emerge I used to have more but Stripe killed them I had Rosie and mae. Rosie was like blue and mae was like Cody, but they aren't there anymore who knows they might be hiding like Cody did I kind of hope so I miss mae she was based off of a character out of a night in the woods I do miss her but oh well.

So there you go another blog of reasons I should be institutionalized  because I am a danger to myself and could kill myself at any given moment.

Disclaimer that's a kinda joke…… mostly ……90%......... Nah……….99%... #Mentally unstable...fun.

Stay strong you bootiful bean.

Love you 

Dino the Dyslexic Blogger xxx

 Some helpline as usual for DID

Nhs https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dissociative-disorders/

This morning (I know I know but it looks helpful… don’t judge me) https://www.itv.com/thismorning/dissociative-disorders-helplines

Mind- https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/dissociation-and-dissociative-disorders/dissociative-disorders/

Survivors network https://survivorsnetwork.org.uk/resource/dissociative-identity-disorder-d-i-d/

[thehowtostuff-blog]

Holidays, get-togethers, reunions, and other family get-togethers can be a source of great joy (and great stress). They can be especially tough for autistics, who may deal with social confusion, sensory overload, high demands, and other stressors. Here is how to make your get-together more inclusive, relaxed, and fun for your autistic relative(s).

EditSteps

EditPreparing the Environment

A casual, relaxed environment is likely to be calmer for everyone, and reduce stress on the autistic person.

Set up different rooms to focus on different activities. This allows guests to go from one room to another, based on what they want to do. You might put the toys in one room for the kids, food in one room for eating and socializing, a large group of chairs in another, and some puzzles/quiet activities and a few chairs in a side room for people to take breaks if needed.

This will help the autistic person "escape" for a while if they become tired or overwhelmed.[1]

Keep the noise level down. Loud noise is overwhelming for most people, especially autistics. If you have to raise your voice to speak, it's too loud.

Keep the TV off, or very quiet. Turning on closed captions and keeping the volume low helps.

Set aside an area for any children to do noisy play, such as outdoors or in the basement. If they're getting loud, ask them to choose between quieting down or going outside.

Music should be quiet and relaxing, or nonexistent. (Try involving the autistic person in the playlist selection, so they can pick something familiar and calming.)

Ensure that mealtime seating is flexible. An autistic person may feel more comfortable sitting in a corner, sitting next to a trusted family member, sitting at a side table, or sitting in a quieter space. Let there be options.

Leave plates of appetizers sitting out so that people can grab some whenever they'd like.

Let people take food into other rooms, if possible.

Let people eat at different times if desired. This can be more relaxing than cramming everyone at one table.

EditPreparing for Different Needs

Check in with regards to the menu. Some autistic people have dietary needs that could influence what they can and can't eat. Ask the person (or their parent/guardian) if the menu you're planning sounds about right.[2] There should be at least one thing they know they are able to eat.

Put spices on the side. This way, people can choose between no spice, some spice, or a lot of it.

Buffets, such as build-your-own sandwich, can fit a variety of eaters.

Some autistic people prefer simple foods, like plain macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, crackers, pudding, and other "kid food."

Encourage the person to get needed and wanted accommodations. Whatever helps keep them calm and happy will be beneficial to everyone. This could include:

Wearing headphones

Wearing a hoodie and putting up the hood

Wearing comfortable clothes instead of fancy clothes[3]

Bringing familiar activities, comfort objects, or toys

Allow a shorter stay. Long social gatherings can be tough, and it's okay if the person needs to leave early, or take long breaks. Reassure the autistic person and their family that some or all of the family can leave early if needed and that there will be no hurt feelings.

For an overnight trip, the autistic person may benefit from staying at a quiet hotel, where they can relax with only immediate family or on their own.

Talk with the autistic person about what to expect (if applicable). Improvising in a social situation can be tricky, so it helps for the autistic person to rehearse and plan for an unexpected or difficult situation. Younger or higher-support autistics can benefit from social stories and extra prep.

"If you get overwhelmed, you can go to Grandma's bedroom, where it will be quiet. There are some papers and colored pencils so you can draw there if you want."

"Uncle Mort really likes hugs. If you don't want a hug, you can say 'I would prefer a handshake, please.'"

"People will give gifts. Say 'Thank you,' even if you don't like it. If you don't like it, keep that secret, until we are back at home where you can tell me."

Prep the autistic person for any rude family members, if needed. Dealing with impolite or nasty relatives is hard for everyone, but especially an autistic person, who may have fewer social skills and may make an easy target for mean comments.

"Aunt Jenny criticizes people because it makes her feel better about herself. It's not fair, and it's not right. It's just what she does. So if she says anything about you, remember that she's just saying it because she doesn't know better."

"I know Grandpa is mean sometimes. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything to deserve it."

"Sometimes Uncle Roberto says mean things when he's stressed. It can especially be hard for his daughter Ana. If he gets angry, you can leave the room by yourself, or invite Ana to go do a puzzle with you."

EditCreating a Relaxed Atmosphere

Talk to other family members as needed. Explain that the person's needs might be a little different and that they aren't trying to be "difficult" or "naughty." They're just autistic.

"Emily gets upset easily. It's not on purpose, it's because holidays can be stressful, especially for autistic people. If you think she might need a break, encourage her to go outside for a short walk, or tell me so I can help her."

"Kids, you may notice that Alex moves a little differently, and he doesn't talk much. Everyone is different, and that's okay. Alex really likes to play dinosaurs. Maybe you'd like to play dinosaurs with him?"

"Dad, I know you think LeBron acts weird, and you don't like that he doesn't make eye contact. That's normal and healthy for autism. I need you to be kind and supportive towards him so that I can feel good about having him come visit you."

Make hugs and kisses optional. Depending on their sensory needs and mood, the autistic person may not want to be touched. During hellos and goodbyes, say that if someone doesn't want hugs or kisses, they could do a handshake, high five, or just wave instead.

Encourage other relatives to go along with it. Explain that you're trying to teach the kids and/or the autistic person that they get to choose who touches them on their own terms.

Be flexible with everyone. Different people have different needs, autistic or not. Be willing to make adjustments so that everyone can be comfortable and have the most amount of fun they can.

Allow small group and one-on-one discussions to break off. Socializing in smaller groups can be less stressful for autistics (along with introverts and shy people).[4] Let it move organically and allow people to separate from the main group as needed.

Step in if you notice things getting heated. Conflict is stressful for everyone. Autistic people especially can find it distressing, and may not have the social skills to de-escalate it or take care of themselves.

Remind others not to raise their voices.[5]

Try changing the subject.[6]

EditSupporting the Person

Keep conversations relaxed with the autistic person. If you chat with the autistic person, try asking about their interests. Talking with an autistic person isn't incredibly different from talking to a non-autistic person.

Expect different body language, like fidgeting and lack of eye contact. This is normal.

Keep it age-appropriate. A nonspeaking 12-year-old is still a 12-year-old and is unlikely to appreciate baby talk.

Don't be scared! Autistic people are still people.

Accept unusual behavior. It's natural for autistic people to be a little odd, and it doesn't have to be a big deal. For autistics, natural behavior includes:

Not making eye contact

Fidgeting and wiggling

Being quite honest (sometimes a little too honest)

Taking things literally

Struggling to deal with frustration, and needing more breaks

Respect boundaries. The person may not be up for talking, hugging, kissing, et cetera, depending on their mood and individual needs. Don't push them. Let them do what keeps them comfortable.[7]

Check in if the person looks stressed. It's helpful to ask how they're doing from time to time, and offer an escape if they look overwhelmed. Reassuring them that they can take a break makes it easier on them.

"Want to go take a break in my bedroom? There are some coloring books in there you could color in."

"Would you like to come with me in the car to go pick up the pizzas? It would be just you and me."

"Angie, you look overwhelmed. Let's go for a short walk and smell the fresh air, just you and me."

Let them enjoy the gathering in their own way. Maybe it means sitting under tables, rocking back and forth, or eating crackers instead of the fancy food you arranged. That's okay. What's most important is that everyone has fun.

EditTips

If the person has major dietary restrictions, they or their family could bring suitable food if that makes it easier.

Encourage people to respect the autistic person's right to privacy. Publicly discussing the autistic person's issues is embarrassing (even if the autistic person can't or doesn't say so). If people start talking about their intimate personal details, say "Let's respect ____'s privacy" and change the subject.

For gift-giving, try asking the person's family what they like, or having the person list some ideas. Knowing the person's special interests, and popular gifts for autistics,[8] helps.

If young children will be around, place dangerous or breakable items out of reach.

EditWarnings

Don't push a distressed autistic person even harder. This will likely just lead to a meltdown or shutdown.

Now is a bad time to over-challenge the autistic person because the environment itself is likely going to be challenging. Avoid criticizing, over-correcting, pushing too hard, and trying to make the person handle even more (such as entering an overwhelming social situation, or trying a new food they didn't say they wanted to try).

EditRelated wikiHows

Make a Calming Down Corner

Attend Family Gatherings When You Are Autistic

Plan and Organize a Family Reunion

Relate to an Autistic Person

Interpret Autistic Body Language

Avoid Drama at Family Gatherings

Calm an Autistic Child

EditSources and Citations

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from How to of the Day https://ift.tt/2HKHzNk