#fic: reputation
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diushek · 7 days ago
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Shen Yuan who maintains the reputation of the Scum Villain and says, oh well, going to a brothel can't be the worst thing in the world, and meets a group of laughing friends who care about him, how does he feel after the qi deviation, if it is true that he lost his memory...
They accompany him with music, play cards, drink rice wine and do skincare. They gossip to him, massage his tense shoulders, rant about the other peak lords and noble idiots, they tell midnight secrets in drunken voices, and he relaxes. He sleeps among a bunch of slightly drunk prostitutes in a comfortable bed full of pillows and silks, all happy, like a strange group of friends who have reunited after a long time.
After that night, the now Shen Qingqiu is completely relaxed and in a pleasant mood, and continues to visit every so often. Not too often; once a month, on very stressful days, twice a month. People judge him and Shen Qingqiu remains dignified, because, he is really not doing anything wrong! Fuck you all!
The System gives him points in character. Good for that!
(Luo Binghe drinks vinegar as if there were no water enough in the world. Oh poor boy.)
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zephyrchama · 2 months ago
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You were sick. Your head was in a fog and your throat hurt something fierce. It was sweltering hot yet you shivered under the covers, hoping for the fever to pass soon. Your body, doing its best to get better, decided to empty the contents of your stomach over the side of the bed.
Beelzebub was the first to discover your condition. He came to wake you up in person when you hadn't shown up on time for breakfast. You were teetering like a newborn deer trying to clean up your mess. He was taken aback at the sight, at how clammy you were, and gently wiped the sweat from your face while checking how warm your forehead was. "You should lay down," he recommended, practically pushing you back into bed. You asked him to guide you to the bathroom instead.
He disappeared to fetch Lucifer. The eldest arrived immediately upon being informed of your condition. Your face muscles twitched as you tried to hold back a second round and apologized for the state you were in. Lucifer told you to stay quiet and just rest. "If you want to apologize, then get better soon."
"Don't tell anyone about this, ok?" you tried to ask. It came out as a garbled, barely perceptible whisper sending bolts of pain through your neck. You didn't want anyone to know how bad things really were.
"I do need to inform Diavolo, but rest assured I'll keep it brief." After ensuring you had water and would be fine alone for a few hours, Lucifer left early to inform RAD of your absence. He later texted you, "Don't hesitate to summon me if you need anything."
The house was quiet. It felt surreal to be the only one there. After some time had passed, you hobbled back to your bedroom and tried to sleep through the pain. Blissfully unaware of the chaos occurring elsewhere.
RAD is no small academy by any means, but rumors sure do spread fast. In first period, Beelzebub told Belphegor the sight he witnessed. They were overheard by Asmodeus, who lamented your absence to Solomon. Solomon asked Raphael to come with him to prepare some nutritious human food so you'd recover faster, and had to be forcibly stopped by Simeon. Luke found out by interrogating Solomon about why he was causing a scene in the kitchen.
Mephistopheles caught wind of the gossip and went directly to Diavolo for confirmation. Lucifer was none too happy at the situation, but the rumor mill was already spinning in full force. He did his best to uphold your image by telling anyone who broached the subject, "it's just the sniffles."
By lunchtime, Mammon was taking bets on how sick you were. "500 grimm says they're explodin' from both ends." "If that were the case, one of us would have stayed at the house with them," Satan rebutted, spying an easy win. "500 grimm says it's just coming out the bottom." They went back and forth, with others occasionally chipping in new symptoms such as hives or internal bleeding. Asmodeus, unable to listen any longer, left the cafeteria to post vague stories about his concern for you on social media.
Leviathan and Thirteen sent you get-well-soon text messages. One was full of worry and asked you to respond ASAP so they knew you weren't dying, as anxiety over your condition was causing them no end of fear. The other assured you to rest easy knowing that your candle was fine and you had plenty of time left before you kicked the bucket. It even recommended passing your bug onto someone else for fun.
You only saw the notifications in the evening, when a pounding headache woke you up and resounding footsteps in the hall signaled that people were home from school.
There was a knock at the door and Lucifer announced you had company. The crown prince and his butler imposed with a tray of fresh herbal tea. It would have smelled amazing if you possessed the ability to breathe through your nose. As the door shut behind them, you spotted at least ten figures out in the hallway.
Barbatos silently served you a hot cup, hopeful the rising stream would assist your sinuses. "Looks like you're recovering well!" Diavolo chimed. "That's great. I feared you were going to heave your guts out all day."
The frank sincerity caught you off guard and you choked on your tea. Barbatos was quick to grab the cup before it spilled.
"You knew?" you rasped. "Oh yes. Lucifer said it wasn't that bad, but tales of your illness have spread all over campus. We know human bodies aren't very strong."
You hunched down into the blankets to hide. The heat spreading across your face this time was not due to fever.
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youreverydayfangirl · 7 months ago
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he had it coming
*:・゚✧*:・゚a reputation series *:・゚✧*:・゚
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face claim: sabrina carpenter (just had to because shes gorgeous)
max verstappen x singer! reader
BAD BLOOD ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where a private phone call gets leaked, no one gets the full picture and people are quick to judge
date posted: 12.10.2024
I DONT WANNA LIVE FOREVERˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where the public begins to scrutinize to an unbearable point, threats are made and a specific popstar disappears
date posted: 20.10.24
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she's gone radio silent, everyone settles down and someone begins to plot revenge
date posted: 25.10.24
READY FOR IT ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she's adjusted to a new life, she begins to let out her feelings and she meets someone new
date posted: 26.10.24
DELICATE ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she has reservations, everything's a bit fragile for her and hes persistent
date posted: 26.10.24
ENDGAME ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where new beginnings are made, a second championship is one and she allows herself to fall
date posted: 31.10.24
DRESS ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she admits her feelings, he buys her dinner and they talk about the future
date posted: 6.11.24
KING OF MY HEART ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she loudly love him, she begins a new era and he never stops loving her
date posted: 2.12.24
DANCING WITH OUR HANDS TIED ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where new rumors begin, secrets start to be revealed and they never stop loving each other
date posted: 2.12.24
CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she finally steps into the limelight, writes one more song about her lover and begins to move on
date posted: 3.12.24
THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one in the wake of reputation, people begin to forget and a new story is written
date posted: 25.12.24
BONUS CHAPTER:
thanK you aIMee ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
summary: the one where she reflects on the past, calls out people who hurt her and begins her life
date posted: tbc
_____________________________________________
NEW SERIES!!!!
reply to this to be added to the taglist guysss
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strangersteddierthings · 7 months ago
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Eddie blinks. Once. Twice. And a third time for good measure. The scene before him doesn't change. Steve Harrington stands off to the side of the lunch table, behind Jeff and Frankie who have both gone still as statues like they think if they don't move, King Steve won't see them.
"Uh, what?" Eddie finds himself saying, against his own will. He heard Harrington the first time, doesn't need or want him to repeat himself, but his disbelief seems to have won out against his grudge for all jocks and his indifference to Steve Harrington in particular.
Harrington's face pinches, like he's three seconds away from rolling his eyes. He doesn't do that, though, which Eddie will give him one brownie point for. "I asked if you had a minute to talk." Eddie's taking away his brownie point because Steve 'asks' in a way that sounds more like a demand.
Hearing the question and or demand a second time doesn't lower Eddie's hackles, but it does pique his curiosity. He drums his fingers atop his lunchbox, thinking it over. He wishes he could say he's pretending to think about it before he tells Harrington to fuck off, but the truth is he actually is thinking about it.
What could Harrington possibly have to say to him? They very much do not run in the same circles. Eddie only talks business at the picnic table past the edge of the woods out back and everyone who buys from him knows that. They share several classes, since they're both seniors, but everyone knows Eddie's on a track to not graduate (again) so he can't possibly be coming to discuss Mrs. Click's homework assignment.
"Sure. Should we go elsewhere or...?" Eddie trails off, lifting a hand to wave in a circle in Steve's direction, questioning.
Steve looks over his shoulder, back towards the side of the cafeteria taken up by the 'popular' crowd. When Steve turns his face back, he looks- well, kind of sad for a moment before it's smoothed over with indifference.
Interesting.
"No. It's probably good that the rest of your friends hear it anyway," Steve answers.
Jeff's eyebrows rise to his hairline, and Frankie frowns as his eyebrows raise at the same time, showing an expression of interest. Eddie's got no idea what Gareth's face is doing because Eddie can't see him unless he wants to turn his face away, but he's certain it's probably a glare of some sort.
Eddie leans back in his chair, wiggling like he's getting extra comfortable before he says, "Well, alright Harrington. Shoot."
"I'm graduating this year, so I just wanted to give you a heads up for next year. I tried to curb the bullying, but I know it still happened. So, since I'm not going to be here to watch out for that, you're gonna wanna up your," Steve gestures to all of Eddie, "everything."
He knew Steve curbed the bullying a bit, heard the confirmation of that last year from Jason Carver and Tommy Hagan, when he'd stepped in to save Gareth. Or rather, Gareth had come flying in to save him and then Eddie had to save Gareth- well, the details don't matter really.
"My everything?" Eddie asks, more confused than angry. He thinks he should be angry. Harrington has all but outright said he doesn't think Eddie's going to graduate with him, after all. But no. The main emotion now is confusion.
"Yeah. Your, y'know, freakinesss or whatever. Be more of it."
"Be more of a freak?" It's fascinating, that Harrington just keeps talking like he thinks anyone at this table care for his opinion.
"Yeah!" Harrington says, cheery like he thinks that Eddie's agreed with him somehow, complete with a stupid snap of his fingers that turns into a finger gun pointed at Eddie. "You've already got this like unapproachable mad dog kind of look about you, most of the JV team is already scared of you. Just like, up that a bit more and they'll probably steer clear of you and your friends." Then Harrington frowns deep, looking around the table of nerds and dorks before looking down at the top of Gareth's head to add, "well. Except probably curly here. No offense, but you seem an easy target."
"Fuck off," Gareth growls, because of everyone at the table, Gareth does have the most bite. (Most bark goes to Eddie himself). Eddie's more prone to run from a problem than engage in it, unlike Gareth, who he's had to pull off of a few people this year.
"Or not," Harrington retracts his previous statement and Eddie will grant the man another brownie point, which brings the total up to one.
"Good to know my reputation precedes me," Eddie grins, wild and a bit manic.
Harrington is unphased. "Yeah! Do that more. I think it really freaks Jason out and he's most likely to take the captain slot next year, so if you get him afraid of you, the rest of the team'll fall in line and leave you alone too. I think he's super religious, so like, lean into the satanic panic thing people are up in arms about and next year will be a breeze. And-"
Eddie lifts a hand, a motion for Harrington to stop talking. It surprised him a little that Harrington does. Even more interesting. "Stop me if I'm wrong here, Harrington, but are you suggesting that I become the bully?"
Harrington's mouth opens and closes a few times before his face pinches again. Instead of looking like he's going to roll his eyes and be bitchy, Harrington looks confused and then like he's deep in thought. An uncomfortable amount of awkward silence falls over there table, but it's just when Eddie's about to break that silence that Harrington finally speaks. "No. I'm saying just like, be you but bigger. Like, you don't even gotta look in the team's direction. If you're just more of a freak than you usually are, they'll steer clear without the bullying."
"You sure know how to compliment a guy," Eddie deadpans. He's not even upset that Steve's called him a freak. He's spent the majority of his high school career cultivating that outlook. He wasn't just a freak, he was The Freak.
Now a look crosses Harrington's face. One Eddie's not sure he's interpreting correctly. If he had to take a guess, he'd say the look was calculating, knowing, in a way that Eddie doesn't think Harrington could actually achieve. Then it's gone, replaced with the bitchy, eye-rolling look Eddie's used to seeing, and Harrington says, "I haven't said anything untrue."
Hmm. The most interesting thing yet. Eddie might not be graduating (again) but he's not dumb. He didn't survive this far in his life, with a father like his, without learning to read people. He wasn't as good as he wanted to be at reading people last year, but he's definitely good enough know to think that, maybe, just maybe, Harrington also knows a thing or two about cultivating a public perception. Making sure people only see a certain side of you.
"Alright," is what Eddie answers, "I'll take what you've said under advisement."
"Uh. Okay," Harrington says before he just walks away. Conversation over.
"Well," Jeff says, "that was strange."
"Very," Eddie agrees as he watches Harrington walk away, tracking him until the cafeteria door slams shut behind him when he exits.
Eddie has always wanted to up the ante, so to speak. Jump on a cafeteria table and rant about capitalism and organized sports. He never has before but next year seems like a great time to try.
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moonlightspencie · 2 years ago
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This Ain’t for the Best
Description: Mutual pining. Classic hunting scenarios. Sharing a bed. Wearing the other’s clothes. Confessions. Friends to lovers. Tswizzle title. Need I say more?
Pairing: Dean Winchester x gn!Reader
Warnings: a little bit of violence, me cramming in every cliché i can because i love the classic fanfiction tropes more than i love breathing
Word Count: 5.9k
A/N: i was kicking my feet and giggling as i wrote this, especially when i snuck in criminal minds AND taylor swift references. i love writing and never beta-reading or editing what i’ve written. catharsis.
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Crashing at Bobby’s had its benefits.
First, we had the comfort of knowing where we were going to sleep at night. It was good to have a bed waiting that wasn’t in a motel room.
Second, there was almost always good food around. I had a knack for home-cooked meals, and it was much easier to be appreciated for it when I actually had a stove to cook on.
Third, there were boundless opportunities for Sam, Dean, and I to kick back and actually relax.
That’s how I ended up in the kitchen, laughing with Dean over old stories we’d told a million times before. He reached in the fridge, pulling out two bottles after we’d come down from the most recent remembrance of an old case. He cracked open the top of his beer, then my drink, sliding it towards me on the counter. Sam and Bobby strolled in st that moment, pausing when they saw us.
“You both woke up like an hour ago,” Sam said, unamused.
“6pm somewhere,” Dean and I said in unison.
We looked at each other with a small laugh, leaving Bobby and Sam rolling their eyes. I took my drink and stood a few steps away.
“We should really get going, though, Dean,” Sam stated.
“Where?” Bobby asked.
“We were planning on doing a run to the grocery story. I don’t want us to eat up all your food without repaying you, and we’re almost out of beer,” Sam said, pointedly looking at his brother.
“This one needs more of those little fruity drinks, too,” Dean teased, nodding at the bottle in my hand.
“Hey, it’s still a malt liquor. Just one that I like,” I said with a laugh.
They said their goodbyes, and I started walking into the front room. Bobby watched the door for a few moment after the boys left, then turned in the archway and locked his gaze on me as I sat on the couch.
I looked at the bottle in my hand. “I know y’all are all about beer, but I can’t help if I prefer something with a little flavor.”
“That’s not why I’m looking at you,” he grumbled, fed up with me already. “What in the world is goin’ on with you and Dean?”
“Huh?”
He furrowed his brow. “Don’t act all shy, now. You two have been flirting nonstop lately.”
“What’s new? We’re both pretty flirtatious in general.”
“Not like this,” he said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know the last time I saw that boy blushing, or you getting all flustered like a teenager.”
“I am not,” I scoffed. “Nothing’s happening, Bobby.”
“I’ve known your for five years, now, and I’ve known those boys since they were kids. You stayed in my house for a year, too. You can’t hide this kind of thing from me.”
“I’m not hiding anything. I’m an open book.”
Now, he scoffed. “Yeah, and I’m running for president.”
I rolled my eyes, taking another drink. He came closer, sitting down next to me.
“If you keep denying all this…”
I swallowed, finally resigning. “There’s nothing to do about it, Bobby.”
“Yes, there is. You could tell him.”
“It wouldn’t do any good. You know how he is, he doesn’t want to be tied down. If we don’t make any moves or promises or whatever, a lot less doesn’t get broken.”
He raised a brow. “I do know how he is. For you, he’d make an exception.”
“I don’t think so. Besides, it’s all just flirting for him. Doesn’t mean anything.”
“Are you blind?”
I looked at him, brows raising. He shook his head, picking at the label on his bottle.
“Sorry. I just— I know what I’m seeing, and I really don’t think it’s just a little friendly flirting for him, either,” he said, looking at me again. “I really think you should speak up while you’ve got the chance to. We don’t often get good things with lives like ours.”
“I know. I just don’t want to screw things up.”
“You’re gonna end up screwed if you keep pushing it down, anyway.”
I sighed. He took that signal as a time to change the subject, and for that I was thankful.
“Well, let’s find you the next case, huh?”
The next one was an easy find, and it would’ve been great to break the news to the boys when they got back, if not for a very clumsy Sam walking in the door with a twisted ankle.
“You what?” Bobby asked, incredulous.
Sam sighed, pouting. “I rolled it when I stepped in a pothole.”
Dean shook his head, clearly hiding his amusement as he helped his brother hobble towards a kitchen chair.
“So, no case, then?” I asked.
Bobby perked up. “No, you and Dean can still go. I can take care of Sam.”
“Bobby…” I warned, seeing through him instantly.
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Dean said, cutting off my death stare. “When was the last time we went on a case, just you and me?”
I looked at him.
“Seriously, you guys can go without me,” Sam said. “It might be good for you, Y/N. You seem a little restless.”
“I am not,” I defended.
Bobby chuckled. “Sure, you’re not. But I’m not suggesting, I’m telling you. Get out of my house.”
I glanced at him, offended. “I am a delight.”
“You are, but I still want you out. You become much less delightful when you’re antsy.”
Dean laughed. “Come on, it’s only a state over, right? If we start driving now we can make it by sundown.”
I took a moment.
“Alright,” I nodded, heading towards the stairs to gather my things.
The case was a hot mess, to say the least. We couldn’t figure out what we were hunting to begin with, and the only true consistency is that the deaths were messy, leaving each victim with a missing liver. It wasn’t until we were at the most recent site of the death that things took a little bit of a turn.
“What do you think?” Dean asked, leaning in my direction.
I shrugged, looking around the house.
“It seems… clean.”
“I mean, I guess. We haven’t found hex bags or EMF readings—”
“No,” I cut him off, gesturing around the living room. “Like physically clean. Nothing is out of place. Look at the mantle.”
I walked over, using my gloved hand to wipe along the surface. I showed him my hand.
“Clean. Not even dust.”
He raised a brow. “And that matters because…”
“Because we’re supposed to be looking for some monster-unknown that never cleans up their messes. Every other scene we’ve been to has been a wreck, so why is the only thing out of place the blood stains on the floor? This is also the first time it’s been in the victims house.”
He paused. “You’ve been watching Criminal Minds again, haven’t you?”
I rolled my eyes, taking off the glove.
“That’s not important right now,” I shook my head, standing next to him again. “And, for the record, it’s helping our case.”
“Right,” he chuckled. “Well, profiler, why don’t you tell me more about what you’re gathering from the scene.”
“Don’t patronize me,” I said with a laugh.
He smirked, placing a hand on my back.
“Let’s get out of here and figure out why things changed.”
We followed dead-end leads all over town, until we hit a lucky streak.
“Check this out,” Dean said, calling me over to the table in our room. “Remember that dive bar our last vic was seen at? Look at this dude’s last social media post.”
I walked over, resting a hand against the table as I leaned in. I looked at the laptop, raising a brow.
“Same place.”
“Same place,” he confirmed. “Wanna check it out? See if anything suspicious is up?”
“You sure you don’t just want to hit the bar?”
He looked up at me with a quirked brow.
“What do you think I am? Drinking on the job. I’d never,” he feigned innocence.
I snorted. “Right. So not you.”
“Leave in ten?”
“Sounds good to me.”
We hit the road soon after, winding up at the bar with our eyes peeled for any suspicious activity. There was plenty for us to see in a seedy town like this, but there was only one interaction that truly piqued our interested. I nodded at the man who was paying a little too much special attention to a woman, drawing Dean’s gaze in that direction. He was equally skeeved out. We kept an eye out for another hour or so before the weird activity took another step into the creep category.
We followed out the man who we caught following the woman, all the way to a neighborhood just outside the city. We made our move as soon as the man walked up to her house.
I followed Dean up to the house, and we started to slink around, waiting for any sign of trouble. I first checked through a window near the front of the house.
“Nothing,” I said, motioning for us to move further.
He took the lead, and we came up on a window that looked into the dining room. He slowly looked inside.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be freakin’ kidding me,” Dean mumbled, pulling his head back from the window.
“What?”
“Well, do you want the chance to play out your little crime show fantasies?”
I raised a brow. He sighed, shaking his head.
“That’s not— well, it is a monster in there, but not our kind of monster,” he said, tilting his head.
“It’s a human?”
He nodded. “Looks like it. Nothing supernatural that I can see. She’s passed out now, but let’s get a move on before he starts in on her.”
He started walking towards the back of the house, but I stopped him before we got to the door.
“Can— How do we do this?”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s a human. We can’t just chop his head off or exorcise him.”
“We could still stab him.”
“But should we?”
He gave me a very unamused look, waiting for me to make my point.
“Can we attempt to just— Kick his ass and leave him to deal with life in prison? Only go for the shot if it’s necessary.”
He softened. “He killed people, Y/N, does he really deserve mercy here?”
“Do you really think the prison system is mercy?” I asked, earning a slight chuckle. “I just feel weird about killing humans unless our lives are in immediate danger.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “Okay, we’ll play it your way. But if anything goes sideways—”
“Then you feel free to shoot him.”
He nodded curtly, then we continued to the door. He opened it carefully, and we stepped inside, checking our surroundings before we headed towards the woman in the dining room. We saw the man first, his back to us as he sat across the table from her.
“Playing house? Really?” Dean quipped, causing the man to whip around.
My gun was pulled before the man had a chance to stand up and react. He looked between us, obvious annoyance on his face.
“You’re not cops,” he stated.
Dean smirked. “No, we are much worse news for scumbags like you.”
“Now,” I started, “you can try and fail to fight your way out of here, or you can sit still while my partner here makes sure you’re sitting nice and pretty for when the cops do show up.”
Dean moved before he had a chance to formulate a response, dragging him out of the chair. The man tried to put up a fight, but it was pretty quickly silenced by means of a fist to the face. Dean left him on the ground after a few minutes and a roll of duct tape.
“Nice,” I commented, then put away my gun.
I moved to the woman at the table who was still passed out. I checked for a pulse, and when I was sure she was still breathing, I started undoing the binding that kept her to the chair. Dean called in an anonymous tip to the police station as I finished up clearing her of everything. She started waking right as I was about to try and move her to the couch.
“Hey, hey,” I said quietly, trying to give a little comfort before her panic set in. “You’re safe now, alright? You’re fine.”
Her eyes opened, and she immediately clung to me when she saw the man on the ground incapacitated.
“What happened?” she asked with a quivering voice.
“Me and my friend Dean saw this guy creeping around your house. We wanted to make sure everything was okay, and when we found out it wasn’t, we found a way in. The cops are on the way now.”
She nodded. “Thank you. Both of you.”
I glanced back at Dean with the ghost of a smile on my face. He raised his brows at me.
“Why don’t we get you to the couch?”
“You’re not staying?” she asked, still in shock.
“No, we gotta leave,” I said, helping her to the couch. “We’ll stick around for a few minutes outside till the cops get here, though.”
“Okay,” she nodded along absentmindedly as she laid on the couch.
I walked back to Dean, motioning for us to go outside. He looked back down at the man for a moment who was still passed out, then followed behind me. We got back to the Impala and waited.
“Weird to be thanked,” I said, watching the house.
He hummed. “Doesn’t happen often, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t believe we were accidentally hunting a serial killer.”
He snorted. “I’m surprised there’s not more crossover when we hunt.”
I hummed in agreement. “I also wonder why things changed so much. From the murders messy and public to being more confined in the homes.”
“Who knows,” he said, shaking his head. “Monsters make a hell of a lot more sense than people do.”
“You got that right.”
Soon enough we saw flashing lights coming down the street. We watched some officers step out of the first car, and a few more get out of an SUV.
“Is that FBI?” Dean asked, looking intently.
“I mean, we just found them a serial killer. They’ve probably been on high alert,” I said.
He nodded, and we watched for another moment as they prepared to go inside.
“Man, those vests are cool as hell in real life, too,” I commented.
“Alright, that’s enough,” he wrapped up the conversation with a laugh.
He pulled off the sidewalk at that, and started driving in the opposite direction of the cops. We decided to stay the night at the motel, neither of us awake enough to get back to Sam and Bobby. He pulled into the parking lot, and we trudged inside.
“At least we aren’t covered in monster guts this time,” I said as I fell onto the mattress.
“Right?” He chuckled. “Cool if I take the first shower?”
“Of course. I’ll be here.”
He shut the door of the bathroom, and I let out a sigh. All of the teamwork bull crap we’d been doing certainly didn’t help my case, but I could at least be thankful he didn’t want to go the bars and find a hookup. I threw my arms over my eyes and sighed.
“Hey,” I heard Dean’s voice call out, his hand on my knee.
I uncovered my eyes. “Sorry. Must’ve dozed off.”
He smiled. “Go take a shower.”
“You sayin’ I need one?” I asked with a quirked brow.
“Yeah. You’re a mess,” he replied, a playful glint in his eye. “I don’t know how I sat in a car with you all day, to be honest.”
I scoffed, getting up. He moved enough for me to get by, but didn’t let me get far before he started talking again.
“Movie tonight?” he asked.
I rustled through my bag, pulling out my pajama shorts.
“Sure.”
“Any requests?”
“Uh,” I started, still looking for a clean top. “Maybe a comedy. We could use something funny.”
“Good point.” He stared for a moment as I kept digging. “You missing something?”
“I can’t find my t-shirt. I thought I packed three in here.”
“Do you want one of mine?”
I paused, considering the offer. One one hand, I wouldn’t have to wear a cami to bed and risk accidentally flashing him in my sleep. One the other, I’d be wearing his shirt and that would be a sure way to get me in my own head. The risks of the first definitely outweighed my lack of self control.
“That would be awesome.”
He walked to his own bag, pulling out a shirt that matched the one he wore and handing it to me.
“I still think wearing our outside clothes to bed worked just fine.”
“Did you ever feel rested doing that?” I asked.
He sighed dramatically. I laughed.
“Exactly my point,” I said. “Most of your well-being has to do with mindset, Dean.”
He grumbled to himself as he settled into bed, and I took that as my chance to get in the bathroom. My shower was quick, especially since Dean used up most of the hot water. I knew I should’ve gone first, but it forced me not to stay in forever. I pulled on his shirt and my shorts, trying not to let myself smile when I saw myself in the mirror wearing his clothes. I walked back into the room before I allowed myself to think too hard.
He looked at me as I walked out, a smile creeping on his face. I fought back my own to raise a brow as I lingered at the foot of my bed.
“What?”
He shrugged. “Funny seeing you in my shirt.”
“Looks better on me than it ever did on you,” I sassed with a smirk, crawling into bed.
“Can’t argue with that,” he noted, still watching me. He cleared his throat a moment later, looking at the TV screen. “Uh, I found something, I think. They had Step Brothers on demand.”
“Oh, perfect,” I said as he clicked play.
We settled into a comfortable silence for a while, and I cuddled into the duvet. After we were halfway through the movie, I gathered the blankets around me even more.
“Is it just me, or is it freezing in here?” I asked, looking over to see Dean still sitting above the covers.
“It’s a little cold,” he shrugged, then looked at me. “I can check the heater.”
I nodded as he got up and crossed the room. He held a hand out, a puzzled look on his face after a moment. He smacked it with his hand, and still felt nothing.
“Hm. Hang on,” he said, moving to the phone. “Hi, I think the heater in here’s broken.”
A pause.
“Ah, great. Okay, thanks.”
He hung up the phone, looking to me apologetically.
“They said the heating’s down in the whole place.”
I sighed. “That sucks.”
He sat back in his bed, looking at me for a moment before he spoke again.
“I know it’s been a while since we had to, but do you wanna come sleep in my bed tonight? I run hot, it might keep you warm.”
“I know. I had to sleep next to you in the summer, and it was like roasting in an oven,” I chuckled.
“See? It’ll work perfect when you’re cold,” he said, standing again.
He pulled the covers back, getting underneath and patting the mattress next to him. I cursed myself for finding this case in the first place.
“Just don’t complain if I kick you in my sleep,” I said, getting out of my bed.
He chuckled. “I’m not worried about it.”
I got into his bed, and he threw the covers over me. He then reached over top of me to grab the remote, pressing play and slinging an arm around my shoulders. I pulled the duvet up to my chin, leaning into his side.
This position put me in a delicate spot, and I found that to be true more and more with every passing minute. Every time he laughed, I felt it reverberate in his chest. Every time he talked to me, I’d look up to see his face inches from mine. Every time he moved, he held me a little tighter.
In short, Bobby was all too correct about me being screwed.
“Hey,” Dean said, voice soft. “You okay?”
“Mm?”
I looked at him, once again trying not to think about the proximity.
“You always laugh at this scene. You didn’t make a sound this time.”
“Oh,” I chuckled, looking towards the screen. “Sorry, I must be exhausted.”
“Is that all? Seems like there’s something on your mind.”
“Alright, Dr. Phil,” I joked.
“Seriously,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I think I just need some sleep,” I replied, glancing at him again with half a smile.
He quirked a brow, clearly not believing me, but willing to drop the subject.
“Okay. You know you can always talk to me?”
“I know.”
He smiled softly, then looked back at the TV as he shut it off. He settled into bed, still holding onto me. I snuggled into his side, using his chest as a pillow. I felt him breathe deep before he shut off the light.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Night, Dean.”
I woke up the next morning before he did, and decided there was little harm in remaining there. I shut my eyes, letting myself enjoy the fact that I was still snuggled against him. It gave me a moment to pretend he was mine, at least for the morning. I listened to his breathing, and wondered if he ever dreamt about me in the same way I did about him. As if on cue, his arm tightened around me a little as he stirred. His thumb brushed against my shoulder where his hand had snuck under the sleeve of the t-shirt, though I couldn’t tell if he was really awake until I felt a soft kiss against the top of my head.
At that moment, I decided it was probably best to continue pretending I was still asleep.
He stayed that way for a little while, his hand still against my shoulder, making little patterns with his thumb. It took everything in me not to move when I felt him brush a few stray pieces of hair away from my face, and even more when he let his hand linger against my cheek for when felt like a few seconds too long to be purely friendly.
I wondered if he was always like this when I wasn’t awake. Extra attentive, and sure not to wake me. Maybe that’s why I somehow remained asleep every time I fell asleep in the car that normally jostled me around like a rag doll with his driving. I wondered even more if Bobby was right about something else he’d said days ago: the unrequited feelings might not be so unrequited after all.
I nestled my head against his chest, trying to give him a warning that I was about to open my eyes, and he quickly pulled his hand away from my face. I took in a breath, blinking slowly as I let the light seep in for the second time that morning.
“Morning,” he greeted quietly, his voice still soft and raspy from tiredness.
I smiled. “Morning.”
“You hungry?” he asked, drawing my attention to him.
I nodded, leaning back a little to see him better.
“Very, and I saw a café on the way into town that looked good,” I said.
He smiled softly, shutting his eyes for a moment. Then, he yawned, finally sitting up. He turned and looked at me as I stayed laying.
“How’d you sleep? Warm enough?”
“Thanks to you, yeah,” I replied, stretching. “I’m scared to get out of bed, now, though.”
He patted my leg over the covers, “If you want food, that should be motivation enough.”
“Good point.”
I reluctantly climbed out of bed as he walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. It was cold, but not unbearable. I decided to throw on some clothes in the room since he always took a while in the bathroom. By the time he was finished, all I needed to do was wash my face and brush my teeth, then we were off.
Breakfast was short and sweet, and we made it back to Bobby’s in record time. We strolled in the door, seeing Sam gimping around the kitchen as soon as we walked in.
“Still letting that ankle beat your ass?” I asked immediately.
He laughed. “Trust me, if I had any control over it, this wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place.”
“Maybe you just wanted out of the hunt,” I said in reply.
“Oh yeah, I loved hanging out and making Bobby bring me ice packs all day. Dream vacation, actually.”
Dean shook his head with a smirk. “You didn’t miss out on much anyway.”
“How’d it go?” Sam asked as he took a seat.
I looked to Dean who was already glancing in my direction. I shrugged.
“We stopped a serial killer, actually,” I noted.
Sam gaped. “And I ‘didn’t miss much’?”
“Just knocked him out and called the cops. Not much fun, anyways,” Dean shrugged. “Oh, we did find maybe the best pancakes I’ve ever had, though.”
I hummed in agreement enthusiastically, nodding.
“They were freaking incredible,” I said, then looked back at Sam. “And they had like, real, fresh maple syrup.”
“Unlimited stacks when you bought the platter, too,” Dean chimed in with a gleeful smile.
“You two sound like an old married couple,” Sam scoffed out with a laugh. “What, did you fall asleep together after reading the newspaper, too?”
“After watching a movie, actually,” Dean corrected, grabbing a beer from the fridge. Then, he looked at me. “Did you want anything?”
“I’m okay.”
Sam looked between us, a raised brow and an amused look on his face.
“You two actually fell asleep together?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s what you choose to focus on?”
He smiled mischievously, then looked at Dean.
“Making moves on her, now?”
Dean swallowed, glaring at his brother with wide eyes. I furrowed my brow, about to see if I could prod Sam for information, but Bobby walked in before I had the chance.
“Hey, you two. How was the hunt?”
Dean let out a breath. “Not real eventful. I could use some sleep.”
He started walking out of the room, all of us watching as he left. Bobby turned to me first, a questioning look on his face.
“Don’t look at me,” I said with my hands up in defense. “I think Sammy pissed him off.”
“Real smooth, Sam,” Bobby commented.
Sam scoffed, shaking his head. Bobby merely sighed, going to take a seat across from Sam. I looked at them both, hands on my hips.
“Why do I get the feeling you two know something I don’t?”
“Did Dean not talk to you?” Sam asked, looking at me.
“We talk plenty.”
“That’s not what I mean. He said he was gonna talk to you when the next case was over,” he stopped, then looked at Bobby. “Case came and went, and still nothing.”
Bobby shrugged. “Out of our hands, Sam. Told you not to meddle.”
I sighed in annoyance. “You two are children, you know that?”
“Hey,” Bobby said, offended.
“I’m gonna take a walk,” I said finally, turning for the door.
The second I was halfway out, they started talking again, but I couldn’t bring myself to care too much about what they said. Clearing my mind sounded like the best option, and I was determined to do it.
I started walking around the yard, music blaring from my phone to keep me preoccupied as I watched the sky light up with a million different colors. I found an old car with a relatively clean exterior and decided to climb onto the hood. I leaned back, watching the sky as it turned darker, the stars slowly peaking out.
“Room for one more?” Dean’s voice asked from behind me.
“Come on up,” I said, scooting over a bit.
He came and sat next to me, looking up at the sky. He let out a slow breath, then looked at me.
“Taylor Swift?”
“You know it,” I replied.
He smiled, turning his head back.
“Stars are coming out,” he commented.
“They are. You should’ve seen sunset, it was gorgeous.”
He scooted closer, leaning his head against mine silently. After a moment, I let myself lean against his shoulder a little more.
“You okay, Dean?” I asked after a beat.
“Of course. Why?”
“I dunno. You just seemed a little off when we got back today.”
He sighed. “Yeah. It’s— It’s nothing.”
“You sound like me, now.”
He chuckled. “Guess we’ve got the same bad habit, huh?”
“Yeah, guess so.”
We stayed there until it got dark enough to really see the stars come out, not moving even when the chill of the night started creeping in. I readjusted my head against his shoulder, preparing myself to speak again.
“Did you really follow me out here just to look at stars?”
I felt him still. Then, after a moment, I sat up a little straighter and looked at him. He glanced back at me, clearly feeling caught out.
“Thought you could use some company.”
I raised a brow, and he smirked, looking away.
“Alright, you got me,” he said, “What gave it away?”
“First off, I’ve known you for years,” I started, nudging him in the arm. “Second, Sam and Bobby were all uppity about the fact that you apparently told Sam you had something to talk to me about.”
“I swear, he can’t keep a secret to save his life when it comes to stuff like this,” he said, rubbing at his face.
“Well, try me,” I said, unable to keep my eyes off of him. He was extra cute all flustered. “I’m a good listener.”
He let out a breath, then looked at me, scanning my face for a moment.
“I know I’ve got a certain type of reputation—”
“You?! No way,” I exclaimed with a smile, my eyes wide.
He laughed. “Exactly my point.”
“You know I don’t care about that, though. Reputations are a one-sided story.”
He hummed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
He sighed, looking back at the sky for a moment.
“I just,” he started, giving a shrug, “I feel like it— Like it makes people feel like I never want anything but a hookup, you know?”
“It makes people feel that way?”
“I’m that easy to read, huh?” he asked, looking at me again with a faint smile. “You. I mean you.”
“I gathered that much.”
He laughed softly, as did I.
“How’d you know?”
“I had suspicions fueled by Bobby. Then you kissed me and started being all affectionate when you thought I was asleep this morning.”
His eyes widened. “You were pretending to be asleep? That’s so not fair!”
“Hey, I woke up snuggled into my own personal space heater, I didn’t exactly want to be up and at ‘em.”
He rolled his eyes, tugging me into his side with an arm around my shoulders once more.
“How long has it been for you?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t even know. I guess I started realizing it a year or so ago.”
“That’s embarrassing for me, then. I knew the second I met you,” he said with a laugh.
“Dean,” I said with surprise. “It’s been half a decade! No wonder Bobby got on my ass about it before we left.”
“Well, hey, Sammy’s been on mine for a couple years. You got off easy up till now.”
I laughed. “I guess so. To be fair, we were flying under the radar for quite a while, though. The incessant flirting the past few weeks is what got us in trouble.”
“Why did you start being extra flirty, anyway?” he asked, resting his cheek against the top of my head.
“I don’t know. I guess I was, like, subconsciously seeing a window. You haven’t been doing your normal bar hookups the past few months, so I thought maybe there was a reason for it,” I paused. “Though, finding out you’ve been crushing on me for five years kind of makes me question that.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Easier to keep my mind off you that way. That sounds terrible. I just— I never thought in a million years you’d think anything of me.”
“Well, when did you realize I might?”
He sighed. “You remember a couple weeks back when we were taking down that vamp nest? You easily could’ve died, and we hugged afterwards, but when I pulled back I… I saw that look in your eyes that seemed an awful lot like how I look at you when you’re not paying attention. I wanted to kiss you, and I didn’t doubt in that moment that you would’ve let me if I had.”
I paused. “Why didn’t you?”
“I was scared. We’ve been friends for so long, and we practically do everything together. I didn’t want to ruin anything on the off chance that I was reading those signs all wrong.”
“You weren’t.”
He fell quiet for a moment. I looked up at him, and he looked back at me as I did. He quickly wet his lips, drawing my gaze downward before my eyes flicked back up to his. His lips parted momentarily. Then…
“We should get back inside. It’s getting cold out here,” he said quickly.
I nodded curtly, pulling away to let him get off the hood first. He gave me a hand, helping me down next. We walked back to the house quietly, saying soft goodnights before we went to separate rooms.
I was all settled in for the night, cozy in my bed with a book in hand. Then, I heard a knock on the door. I grumbled as I got up, annoyed that I had to leave the comfort of a mattress that wasn’t a sure cesspool of germs I didn’t want to think about. I flung the door open.
“Someone better be dying or I’m gonna kick some ass for—”
Dean’s lips crashed into mine, effectively silencing me from my rant. I melted after a few seconds of mental delay, my hands gripping onto the material of his shirt as his cradled my face. I felt him smile into the kiss, drawing my closer with arms that snuck around my waist, holding me tight. He wasted no time in deepening the kiss once he was sure that the signs were all giving him a positive response.
We finally broke apart a few minutes later, breathing heavy with pounding hearts.
“I figured I should stop letting opportunities pass me up,” he said with a nervous chuckle.
I nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, good thinking.”
His eyes scanned over me, his chest still heaving.
“You wouldn’t happen to need another space heater for the night, would you?”
“I run cold, what can I say?” I replied with a smirk, and a spark in my eye.
He smiled, walking me into the room with his lips on mine, kicking the door shut behind him.
(EDIT: starting taglists now! let me know if you want to be on any!)
FULL MASTERLIST | BUY ME A COFFEE
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g1rld1ary · 1 month ago
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new year's day - sirius black x reader
wc: 2608
cw: drinking, smoking, swearing, kissing, r is an anxious overthinker
me: inspired ofc by miss swift. happy happy 2025 lovelies!!!! this was supposed to be out for my new years (it is currently 12am on the 3rd lol) but the words were not wording. hopefully because of time zones it's still only just passed NYD for some of u?? either way wishing u love + light for the yr ahead <33
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There was glitter on the floor after the party. A wonderful idea at the time, sparkles falling softly as couples kissed and champagne was popped to welcome the new year in, but now it was just something else to clean up.
A couple of people you knew, friends you weren’t that close with, were still making their way out from the night before, heels thrown over shoulders and bare feet braving the winter streets. You waved out a few more guests with a forced smile, trying not to think about how much you would rather be back in a warm bed, preferably cuddled up with someone.
“Happy New Year, darling.” Alice Fortescue kissed your cheek on the way out, pressing a stack of Polaroids in your hands. The top one was you and Sirius, hugging tightly with megawatt grins on display. You flipped it over so fast you might have made an earthquake. You couldn’t think about him.
You shut the door behind the final group of stragglers, wishing them all a happy New Year as they went, and sighed. The party was a success, there was no denying it, but somehow you didn’t feel any satisfaction. Not after making what might be the biggest mistake of your life. Not that it felt like that at the time, but… Not everything that feels good is good.
Tense silence settled over your house and you felt dangerously alone despite knowing that all your best friends were still asleep somewhere upstairs. You allowed yourself a moment, quiet before the inevitable storm of the day, and sat on the couch with your head in your hands.
You felt stupid. You’d probably just fucked up the most important relationship in your life for five minutes of pleasure. And what was worse was that you couldn’t even talk to him about it so you just wallowed in your own self-pity, feeling your best friend slip through your fingers.
Something dumb was pumping through the stereo, accompanying the raucous noise already occupying your house.
“Dance with me,” You whined, grabbing Sirius’ hands to make him move along to the music with you. He laughed at you, shaking his head softly but moving with you all the same. He twirled you around easily, handing his drink to a laughing Remus.
Sirius followed you further into the cleared-out living room, pulling out all his most embarrassing dance moves to make you laugh. You took it as a challenge, moving to the music with the wildest movements you could create, the two of you unintentionally creating a bubble between you and the rest of the party.
You eventually tired out, though, and made Sirius accompany you through the first story of your house, wine-drunk and giggling as you let all your thoughts travel from your brain and out your mouth.
Sirius helped you up until you were sitting on the railing of your back porch and staring at the stars, him standing next to you, your shoulders brushing every so often. You talked about everything and nothing, the things you wanted to leave in this year, what you were excited for in the next.
James, Remus and Peter came tumbling out the back door and into your garden with a small crowd following, setting up in anticipation of the new year and the fireworks they were going to let off.
“Sirius?” You asked, and your tone must have worried him because Sirius was up in an instant, standing in front of you.
“Yeah?”
“Kiss me,” You said as your friends began to count down.
“What?” His silver eyes widened, hands finding purchase on your knees.
“Kiss me. Please.”
And as the new year made itself known, you were finally kissing Sirius Black, your best friend in the world and longtime crush. His lips were soft, same as his hair, and all you wanted was for him to be closer, closer, closer until you weren’t even two people anymore. Just one combined being so you’d never have to stop kissing him.
His palm on your cheek was warm, cradling you gently like you’d slip away at any moment. Had he been wanting this as much as you had? You weren’t in any shape to consider it, lost in his smell and his closeness.
Champagne bottles popped behind you, fireworks releasing into the sky and you were kissing Sirius Black. You thought life could not possibly get any better, except for when he pulled away and simply rested his forehead on yours, your two breaths mixing in the winter air.
You didn’t say anything, too afraid to pop the blissful bubble you were in, so the two of you remained in silence, Sirius’ hands still holding you.
“Come on, we’re gonna play a game inside!” Mary called as she swung around the balcony pole. You and Sirius parted, intense eye contact sending chills down your spine. He nudged you gently. indicating for you to come along with him and participate in whatever terrible drinking game your friends had cooked up. Neither of you mentioned the kiss for the rest of the night.
You groaned, wiping your hands down your face to pull you back to earth, slapping your knees and standing up. Back to real life, where your best friend might never talk to you again.
You stepped over the bodies littered across the hallway leading into your bedroom, switching on your stereo as a wake-up call. The gaggle of teens moaned and groaned as you went about your business, clearing up some of the stray litter that had found its way in last night.
“Come on, clean up crew. None of you will be let out the gate until I no longer live in a shithole!” You said with forced cheer, burying your angst deep inside. Your friends whined a cacophony of complaints but roused nonetheless, ready to clean still in their sparkly attire from the party.
“Didn’t your parents know about the party?” Lily asked, rubbing tired eyes.
“Yes, but they still don’t want to come back to filth! So let’s get on it!”
Despite originally being the leader of the cleaning crusade and being the primary inhabitant of the house in which you were all cleaning, you’d somehow been bossed into the one role you’d been praying against: taking on the living room with Sirius.
Tense silence blanketed the room. You had no conversation to provide, and clearly neither did Sirius, so you were both loading empty bottles into garbage bags trying desperately to think of something to say.
You looked up to say something, anything, but divine timing made you catch the precise moment a ray of sunlight threaded through Sirius’ inky hair and onto his face, making him all but glow in the daylight. You bit your lip, unable to make conversation when he was literally golden.
“Here,” Sirius was the one to eventually break the silence, tossing a glass beer bottle into your waiting rubbish bag. You played along, making a game of catching it. You passed the time that way, making a dull chore into a competition to make it bearable.
It wasn’t until one of the bottles shattered that you sobered up, freezing in place as glass scattered across the hardwood floor.
“Shit. Stay right there,” Sirius ordered, rushing out of the room for a brush pan and broom. You stared at your sock-clad feet, both to ensure there wasn’t any glass on you and to reconsider the dynamic you had with Sirius. He’d been acting normal but hadn’t mentioned the kiss at all, maybe he was politely ignoring it so nothing would change. Or, you realised with a start, maybe he didn’t even remember it. You’d all been drinking and you were pretty sure you’d seen Sirius smoking something with Remus, there was a chance he really didn’t even know it happened. The thought was a little like a knife through the heart but it was better than losing him, so you chose to believe it.
Sirius returned, carefully cleaning away the glass shards littered by your feet as you stood dutifully still. It was strangely intimate, you could hear your friends chatter in a distant other room, a Beatles record floating through the air, but you felt a million miles away with Sirius.
“You’re all good,” He said, tipping the glass pieces into the rubbish, holding thick eye contact. You swallowed, mouth dry as you searched for a familiar quip to move the moment on. Nothing came and you were stuck staring at each other until someone called for you both in the other room.
“Hurry up, you two, we’re making vision boards!” You both snapped to attention, tossing the last remaining bits of rubbish into the bin and hurrying over to where the rest of your friends sat around a long dining table.
“What the bloody hell is a vision board,” Sirius muttered and you giggled at his side, quickly quietening down when he looked at you in a way you couldn’t decipher. Your brain chose to interpret it as discomfort.
“A vision board,” Remus explained with a stern emphasis, “Is where you collage the things you want to bring into the new year. So attitudes, things you want to happen, whatever you want.”
Sirius grumbled a bit more but sat down nonetheless, examining the collection of photos the girls had prepared a few days before new year’s eve.
You all quietened down as the craft progressed, scissor snips and paper rustling filling the room. You were mostly engaged with your own approaching new year visions, gluing down inspirational quotes and images you wanted to live out.
By chance you glanced down at Sirius’ board as you reached over to take a picture from Lily’s hands, eyes catching on one of the photos glued down already. Two figures kissing in the snow, the girl’s hand on the man’s jaw.
You dropped back into your chair aggressively, slumping back slightly.
“Woah, you alright?” James asked, trying to rub glue off his hands. You nodded before he could even finish the question, putting your head down to focus on your board.
What did the photo mean? Was Sirius finally ready to settle down and get a girlfriend? Was it you? Was it because of you? Holy shit, you were such a bad kisser that you made Sirius Black want to stop hooking up with people.
You knew you were being quiet but you couldn’t help it. It was hard to look forward to the year ahead when it was clear to you that something would be different between you and Sirius.
You excused yourself to get another glass of water, sighing as you watched the winter landscape out the window above the sink.
“Alright, dove?” You jumped at Remus’ voice but turned with a small smile. You nodded with a noncommittal noise, taking a sip of water to avoid speaking. He shot you a look you could almost picture McGonagall giving you when you lied about not being stressed during exams.
“Are we not talking about the kiss, then?” You paused. Obviously someone would have seen it, you weren’t exactly hiding anything, but it still sent fear through your veins. Not only would it now be weird with Sirius, people would start to pick sides as you drifted and soon enough your whole friendship group would be fractured down the middle. The tears burned in your eyes without any notice and you bit the inside of your cheek to stop them from falling.
“Everything’s going to fall apart,” You broke down, collapsing into Remus’ arms. He held you for a minute, letting you get the worst out.
“Nothing’s going to fall apart.” He pet your hair softly, “If you like him you just need to tell him. Don’t avoid him because of things you’re imagining might happen. Live in real life, dove.” You considered Remus’ words. They kinda hurt, but you thought you needed to hear them.
No one mentioned your red eyes as you returned from the kitchen with Remus, and Mary kindly told you the group had moved on from vision boards to new year’s resolutions.
You wrote your list in pensive silence, doodling with a sparkly pink gel pen. Staring across the table you were struck with inspiration, scribbling quickly like you were leaving a smoking trail.
The group dispersed after you’d all finished, teenagers filling every corner of your house. Each were tending to their own business, mostly setting up sleeping spaces so they could all stay while your parents were travelling.
“Hey,” You said awkwardly, approaching Sirius as he smoked on the back porch. He turned to face you, lips twitching up in response. “Is this your resolutions list? Can I read it?” You swiped the folded up piece of paper from his long fingers. He looked as if he was going to put up a fight but relented easily, turning to fully face you.
“Only if I get to read yours.”
You traded papers, the unfolding sheets rustling in the otherwise silent air. Your eyes scanned the list, smiling when you saw “buy a motorbike” in unnecessarily formal script.
And then, number five. In trembling hands, you re-read the words several times, not sure if you wanted it to be true or not.
“Tell her how I feel?” You asked, scared to even make eye contact.
“Tell him how I feel,” Sirius read off your list, a joyful spark making its way to his eyes.
“So…”
“I really like you. So much. And when you asked me to kiss you I was so scared that we’d fuck everything up but I can never say no to you. And I wanted to so, so much.”
Holy shit. You felt ridiculous, stressing about this all day when the whole time — the whole time — Sirius felt exactly the same. Your mouth dried up as you searched for words, anything acceptable for the current moment. You gave up, doing instead what you’d been thinking about all day.
And suddenly you were kissing Sirius Black. Again. His lips were just as soft as they were last night but tasted smokey and sweet from the leftover treats you’d all been snacking on throughout the day. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him as close as you possibly could.
You thought it was far too easy to get lost in kissing Sirius Black. Despite the cold air around you, you wouldn’t have been able to say whether it had been minutes or hours and you wouldn’t have dreamt of pulling away.
Cheers and hoots came from your bedroom window, reluctantly pulling yourselves off each other. Your friends were all hanging out the window making right fools of themselves, and you could tell the warmth in your cheeks wasn’t just from the cold. You buried your head in his chest to avoid the stares, revelling in being close.
“So…” Sirius said once the cheerleaders had had their fun.
“We’re certainly productive,” You joked, “I mean, how many people are ticking off their resolutions on New Year’s Day?”
“Maybe I should make another one then.” Sirius grabbed his paper back and pretended to write, “How about ‘get a girlfriend?’” You pretended to think, tilting your head as you pondered.
“I guess I could help you with that.”
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chronurgy · 1 year ago
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Gortash designs and builds mechanisms so I imagine he has to be able to sketch fairly decently in order to sketch his projects and designs. And I'm imagining a pile of charcoal sketches of Durge, done over their entire acquaintance, starting out with sketches of them in battle and then slowly becoming more detailed and intimate and as they do, the titles changing from things like "The Bhaalspawn" and "Bhaal's Chosen at Their Bloody Work" to "The Chosen in Contemplation" and finally just Durge's name
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overtake · 6 months ago
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Non-driver Maxiel AU where Max lives in London and is forced into a run club by George.
Warning: mention of vomiting
The sun is obscenely low in sky when George raps at Max’s bedroom door. It’s soft at first, then graduates into louder and louder pounding that Max can’t ignore, even in this hungover haze. He drags his heavy limbs to the shaking bedroom door and flings it open, hoping his visible rage and pillow-creased face make George fuck right off.
“What do you want?” 
George is perky, that irritating fucking smile accompanying clear skin and bright under-eyes. There’s no signs of last night’s adventures left on his face. He’s also wearing the ugliest, most neon green workout set Max has ever laid eyes on. The shorts are obscenely short. Max isn’t wholly convinced George isn’t aspiring for the sex offender registry if he wears those in public.
“You promised you’d attend run club with me,” George says. He begins dropping into little side-to-side leg stretches, and Max has to avert his eyes to avoid being flashed. 
“Mate, I absolutely did not do that.” If a criminal was holding Max’s family hostage and said the only way to save them was running a 5K, he’d have to beg the guy for a chance to say goodbye.
“Yes, you did,” George protests. “It was after that guy you hit on turned out to be straight.”
As if Max needed to be reminded of that part, which does come back to him quite clearly, along with the many g&ts he downed after.
George, rather unwisely, keeps talking. “I said it was a great way to meet people, then Alex said you wouldn’t last a single kilometre in a run club, and then you bet him 10 quid you could finish the run and agreed to come today.” 
Max blinks at him dumbly. To be fair, it does sound like the kind of stupid, competitive bet he’d get into with George’s new boyfriend.
They all technically work for the same company, but Max is in IT and Alex was always tech-literate enough to never need Max's help. Ever since Alex all but moved into this flat — which George's mysteriously wealthy parents pay for, so Max shuts his mouth and deals — they have become well acquainted. George has effectively weaponized their innate need to antagonize each other into fights over who can dry dishes faster, sort out the recycling best, and hang framed photos the straightest.
This, however, is a whole new level.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Max says. He moves to slam the door in George’s face, but George swiftly kicks his foot in the gap.
“Fine, but I’m telling Alex you backed out,” he threatens. He’s serious, too. He’s been begging them to join this run club with him for ages, but it’s been a losing battle against two people who hate both early wakeups and exercise. 
Max thinks of Alex’s smug, delighted face when Max is forced to hand over the money — and he’ll make a whole show of it, probably in front of all their co-workers — and grits his teeth. “I’ll fucking go, but I’m moving out.” 
“That loses its effectiveness when you threaten it every other day,” George informs him, then drops into a lunge that exposes his matching neon green briefs. This is going to be the worst morning of Max’s life.
They roll up to the meeting spot five minutes late and both extremely grumpy: Max at the whole situation, and George at Max because he apparently dressed too slowly. He’d dragged him by his wrist the whole way there. 
George is instantly greeted and swept away into a crowd of runners who could be his fucking clones, short shorts and all. Max briefly wonders if he can escape without George noticing, but as he begins a shuffle toward the edges of the group, someone catches his eye and begins walking over.
“You’re new!” he says, just as eerily enthusiastic as the rest of this group, like it’s not literally six in the morning. Max is beginning to wonder if he’s starring in a horror movie.
The man flashes perfect teeth at Max. At least he’s extremely beautiful. The least this group could do is give Max something worth looking at if they’re planning to ritually sacrifice him at the end. 
“I’m Max. George made me come,” he says, sticking his thumb out at his evil, detestable flatmate. Max will be unleashing the cats into George’s locked office, where he keeps his priceless collection of vintage teapots on display.
“Oh, he’s always talked about bringing his boyfriend! I’m Carlos. I founded this group.” 
Max tries to resist gagging at more than just leftover gin sloshing around his stomach. Judging by Carlos’ amused expression, he does not succeed. “Flatmate. Definitely not his boyfriend,” he corrects. 
Carlos runs a tan hand through his beautiful, flowing hair, and Max doesn’t even bother to pretend he’s not watching the movement. “Welcome, George’s not-boyfriend. Let’s get you sorted into a pace group. What’s your usual time?” 
“I haven’t run since I played football in school. I will be walking behind the slowest group.” 
Carlos laughs as if Max just made a hilarious quip, which is vaguely concerning seeing as he could not be more serious. “Just run at whatever pace works for you. We believe in pace inclusivity here. You’ll have Daniel over there hanging behind the pack today so nobody gets separated, and we’re just doing 5K today. You’ll be fine.” 
“Just 5K,” Max repeats flatly, but Carlos is already gone. Fuck his life. He’s swearing off all bets with Alex for the rest of time. 
He tries to get a peek at the mysterious Daniel that he’ll seemingly be spending loads of time with, but all he can see is the back of a worn navy cap, long sleeves, and tight compression leggings under shorts. At least he’s not an exhibitionist like George’s little neon crew. 
Carlos stands on a nearby bench, gets everyones attention with a clap, and starts on some monologue about the beauty of morning runs. Max tunes him out and wonders if it might have been a good idea to stretch.
When Carlos gets the run started, Max doesn’t even try to move near George. He lets himself fall back with the only other person who looks vaguely close to struggling. The dude's in an ankle brace, but still, Max is able to keep pace with him for a solid two minutes.
Things start getting a bit shaky 1K in, but Max can still see some of the other runners. He knows the run club pace guy should be somewhere behind him, but he can't turn around to check. If he pauses for even a second, there’s no way he’s making it through.
He’s definitely wheezing quite loudly, and his legs are cramping in ways he never thought possible. Every new step aches. His four-year-old worn down shoes probably couldn’t survive another London rainstorm, let alone an actual run. He knows the wrinkly t-shirt he wore to bed is probably completely drenched in sweat, but he successfully gasps through another kilometre.
Only three to go before Alex has to pay up, and that thought is pushing Max through. He’s almost completely lost track of the group by now, and he can hear the slow tread of the poor guy stuck with him getting closer. The guy — Daniel, he thinks — calls out to him as he approaches. 
“Mate, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to run beside you so you don’t veer off-path.” 
If Max could hear anything over the sound of his own heavy breathing, he might have clocked the Australian accent and familiar cadence. Instead, he focuses so hard on not tripping over a now-unravelling shoelace that he instead misses a giant fucking stick in his way and eats shit straight onto the pavement. 
He sits with his back curled over his scraped-up knees, trying to remember a time when his chest and lungs didn’t physically ache with every short breath. He can feel last night’s drinks and 2 AM kebab churning around his stomach.  
“Are you okay?” a kind, concerned voice asks. There’s a hand lightly touching his back, and it’s making Max feel sickly over-warm in his already burning body. 
Max turns, looks into Daniel’s eyes, and promptly vomits onto his ex-fiancé's pristine white shoes. 
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calmlb · 9 months ago
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can we as a society please stop calling Dazai the “demon prodigy” like it’s canon??? IM BEGGING
his canon nickname is so underused too… i mean c’mon, the “black wraith of the Port Mafia??” idk if i’ve ever even seen it used in a fic 😭
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nightmarearian · 15 days ago
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yk, I want Bludhaven’s Nightwing and Gotham’s Nightwing to be different.
In Gotham, obviously there are. A lot more people. There, he is “the nice one” (compared to the others).
In Bludhaven? Blud-worse crime rate than Gotham-Haven, managed only by Nightwing? There’s no fuckin way.
Personally I don’t think it’s. Mainly a conscious decision or smth? Just he does more in Bludhaven and maybe ends up being generally less cheery? Or smth. He’s more willing to be (externally) tired with Bludhaven than he would be with Gotham.
Idk, smth for him to really embody the Terror of Bludhaven title yk? Nightwing is Bludhaven’s Batman; you know like, before robin and everything. He works too hard and he’s something to be scared of. He is Bludhaven’s Batman - just a bit more flippy & quippy (and a lot more friends).
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inmyglenpowellera · 7 months ago
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Bad Reputation Part 2 | Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Taylor Swift inspired!OC
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Request: Requested by @akornsworld
Word Count: 9678 words
Summary: There's that saying for some people, “You can't go home again.” When you grow up and leave, that's it, you don't go back home. Presley Joann Benjamin (stage name Presley Jo) believed that was the case for her. Never did she think she would be right back where she started. But her Aunt insisted it was the best for her. She thought for sure her life and career were over until she meets a certain cocky aviator.
Warnings: Alcohol use, angst, maybe some cursing, fluff, crying, Jake being an absolute gentleman
A/N: SURPRISE, I'm not dead, life just sucks ass. Here's an extra-long chapter to make up for my sucking. Hope you like it, I promise the next chapter will have the sexuals. The tag list will be at the end of each chapter.
Chapter 1 Chapter 3
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You’d think that after Hangman’s smug answer of still getting my number and buying me a drink, he would have immediately jumped at the opportunity to do so. But that wasn’t the case, much to my confusion. I continued showing up to The Hard Deck to help Penny with various tasks before opening, seeing the aviators there every time, minus Bradley who was apparently out of town packing his items in Virginia to send here. (The Dagger Squad has recently become a permanent fixation in Fightertown). However, despite the number of times I have seen the blonde aviator in the past week, he has yet to make another attempt at getting my phone number. Sure there was still the near-constant flirting, but otherwise nothing.
I was, once again, playing the piano in The Hard Deck, losing myself in the music, when the front door burst open and caught Penny and I’s attention.
“Now I know that beautiful piano playing can only come from my very own star student,” a voice yelled out as they walked into the bar.
I let out a squeal of glee at the sight of a Hawaiian shirt, mustache, and aviators walking further into the bar.
“Bradley,” I called out, running over to him and jumping into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist.
“How you doin’ Queenie? I leave for a month to pack up my old place and you move back into town,” Bradley greeted me with an equal amount of excitement, holding me up by my thighs and spinning me around before releasing me.
“I’m great, Killer. Glad you’re back. It’s been boring here with Penny and Mav. The only amusement I have is Amelia,” I told the older male.
“Now I know that’s a lie,” Maverick said as he walked in the door behind us.
“You know I’m joking, Mav,” I called out to him as he walked past us towards Penny.
“That's not what he's talking about,” Penny smirked at me with a knowing look.
I widened my eyes and slightly shook my head.
“What are they talking about,” Bradley asked me, going into protective older brother mode.
“Nothing, ignore them,” I reassured him, shrugging the two older adults off.
Bradley nodded in acknowledgment before a look of concern took over his face. “Hey, do you want to talk about it?”
I didn’t have to have so many hints to know what he was referring to. “Not right now. You’re back and I’m happy. Let’s not bring down the mood.”
Bradley nodded at me in understanding before gripping my hand in his own.
“But you know what would make my mood even better,” I offered up.
“What,” Bradley asked me curiously.
“If you play our song,” I requested, leading him towards the piano.
“Oh, god. Please don’t make me,” Bradley groaned sarcastically, willingly following me towards the piano.
“Pleeeeease,” I begged him with a grin.
“Fine,” he agreed, sitting on the bench with me.
“Yay,” I cheered, wrapping my arms around him in a quick hug.
Bradley settled in and ran his fingers over the keys, lightly playing a few before settling his fingers on the correct keys.
“Do I really have to play it right now,” Bradley slightly whined.
“Yes, it's been so long since you played me the only song you helped me write,” I nudged him.
“You wrote it, I merely assisted with occasional input. You should be the one to play it,” he argued with me.
“Bradley Nicholas Bradshaw, just play the damn piano,” I said sternly, focusing a glare on him.
“Alright, alright,” he huffed out.
Bradley began playing the opening notes to my song “Ours.” He nudged me to try and get me to sing, but all I did was shake my head with a hesitant smile. He furrowed his brows, concern in his eyes for a brief moment before he looked back at the piano. I quietly watched him play and propped my head on his shoulder as he did. I could see Penny and Mav working and watching the two of us out of the corner of my eye, whispering to each other now and then. I rolled my eyes at the two of them and continued watching Bradley until the front door opened again. I tensed up and Bradley stopped playing, moving to wrap his arm around my shoulders and place a kiss on the top of my head.
“Hangman, you’re early,” Mav said to the blonde aviator in surprise.
“Yeah, well, nothing wrong with being ahead of schedule,” He explained to Mav with his classic Hollywood smile.
I rolled my eyes at his words and sighed, leaning further into Bradley.
“Well congratulations on being early, Hangman, why don’t you go ahead out to the beach and claim your spot for the day,” Bradley offered up, trying to get rid of him for me.
“I will, once I get a beer,” Jake told him, moving to stand in front of Penny. 
The woman nodded and started grabbing it for him, causing him to turn and lean against the bar, his stare burning into the side of my head, unrelenting. I removed myself from Bradley’s side and placed my hands on the keys, filling the silence of the space once again. Bradley placed his hand on my knee while I played and nudged me now and then in an attempt to mess me up. I would just laugh and nudge him back and continue playing until Jake spoke up.
“What, no good morning for me, Darling?”
I stopped playing and briefly glanced up at him with a blank face. “Good morning, Hangman.”
Jake’s face became a look of confusion at me calling him “Hangman” instead of “Jake” or “Mr. Eastwood.”
“So you two have met already,” Bradley realized, his hand on my knee tightening slightly. 
“Yep,” I said simply, continuing my playing.
“Why didn’t you tell me,” He asked me curiously.
“Because it was nothing worth discussing,” I informed him, ignoring the hurt look that briefly flashed on Jake’s face.
“I’m sure that’s not true sweetheart,” Jake tried arguing.
“It is. Considering you haven’t said much to me since then,” I argued with him, looking up at him with a blank face.
Jake remained silent, staring at me in deep thought. All I did was shrug at him and gesture my head towards the back door. 
“Looks like your beer is ready for you Hangman. Better go claim your spot on the beach before everybody else shows up.”
The five of us went silent after my words, Jake staring at me in shock. The silence remained for a few seconds before Mav cleared his throat.
“Presley, we left a few things in Bradley’s truck, you wanna help him grab them real quick and take them down to the beach?”
I silently nodded at him before standing from the piano bench. I gripped Bradley’s hand in my own and pulled him out the front door with me to the Bronco. What I missed when I was exiting was Jake glaring at our hands with disdain.
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A few hours later, Dogfight football was over and the aviators were clearing out to go home and clean up before returning to the Hard Deck for Friday night drinks. Mav and Bradley returned inside to tell Penny and me they were leaving and would be back later. I smiled at the two men in acknowledgment and wrapped myself around Bradley like a koala bear once again, causing him to laugh and place his hands under my thighs. Our laughs were cut off by the back door of the bar opening and Hangman walking in, a small garbage bag in his hands. He looked between the two of us and glared, rolling his eyes before looking at Penny.
“Penny my dear,” He called out, causing Penny to turn to him. “Where do you want me to put this?”
“Oh, you can go ahead and take it out to the dumpster. Presley, can you show him where it is,” Penny called back to me. 
I sighed and nodded, Bradey releasing me back to the ground. I began walking towards the kitchen doors, through the kitchen, and to the side door that leads to the dumpster.
“You know, I didn’t realize you had a boyfriend. If I knew that I wouldn’t have tried to get your number,” Jake said to me as he walked past me and threw the trashbag in the dumpster.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I told him, furrowing my brows in confusion. “And don’t use that as an excuse for how you have been the past week.”
“I’m not using it as an excuse, even though I have no idea what you mean. And I’m talking about how you have been acting today with Rooster,” Jake told me, placing his hands on his hips.
“Rooster,” I said in confusion.
“Yes, Rooster,” Jake nodded.
I stared at him for a second with confusion still on my face. “Who the fuck is Rooster?”
“Bradshaw,” He supplied for me.
Realization ran over me like a truck. “Bradley?” Jake nodded at me. “Bradley Bradshaw?”
“Yes,” Jake told me impatiently.
“Bradley’s not my boyfriend,” I told him with a shake of my head.
“He’s not,” He asked me in confusion.
“No. He’s not. He’s like my brother,” I explained to him.
“Oh…,” Jake said meekly.
“Jesus Christ,” I sighed out to myself, shaking my head and moving to go back inside.
“Well, can I get your number then,” Jake called after me.
I stopped in my tracks and looked back at him. “No,” I shouted at him in disbelief.
“Why not,” He asked me in an offensive tone.
“Why not? Did you seriously just ask me that,” I questioned him back in disbelief. “I can list off all of the reasons if you would like me to. Let’s start with the fact that you basically ignored me all week and just made a little flirtatious comment here and there.”
“I wouldn’t say I ignored you,” He argued with me.
“Really? Then what would you call it, Hangman,” I questioned him.
Jake went quiet as he looked up at the sky in thought, trying to decide what he was going to say.
“Exactly,” I scoffed.
“Okay, fine, I’ll admit that my actions the past week haven’t been the best. But please don’t let that affect the image you have of me. I’m just Jake, stop calling me Hangman,” Jake shrugged at me.
“Should I also add on the fact that you thought the guy who I grew up with was my boyfriend,” I offered up, causing him to wince.
I once again rolled my eyes and turned around, opening the door to go back inside. I made it halfway through the kitchen before Jake grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking any further. 
“Okay, Presley, I’ll admit it, I was a jackass. A complete Jerk. I’m sorry. Just, please give me a chance to show you the real me. Okay? Not Hangman, Jake. Let me get your number, let me take you on a date. Whether that is to just get drinks or an actual dinner,” Jake begged me.
“Why are you so desperate to go on a date with me, Hangman, huh,” I questioned him curiously, turning to look at him with a glare.
“First of all, I believe I told you to call me Jake,” he told me, raising a single finger in my face. “Second-”
He didn't get to continue when I cut him off by grabbing his finger and pulling his hand out of my face. “Don't put your finger in my face.” 
Jake let a small smirk come over his lips before throwing his hands up in surrender and stepping back from me. “Sorry, Darlin’.”
“Don't call me Darlin’ either,” I demanded, imitating his accent and crossing my arms over my chest.
“How about sweetheart instead,” Jake offered up, his smirk widening as he shoved his hands in his shorts pockets. My glare hardened at his words, causing him to shrug in acknowledgment. “Alright, I get it, nicknames are off the table.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, shaking my head at him. 
“What do you want from me? An autograph? Private show for you and your closest friends and family? The chance to say you went on a date with and stole “The Princess's” innocence? Because I can promise you, that ship sailed long ago,” I rattled off.
“Honestly,” Jake asked me, not taking his eyes full of clear amusement off of me.
“No, lie to me,” I sarcastically replied with an eye roll.
Jake let a chuckle of amusement escape before stepping close to me once again. “I want a chance.”
“A chance for what,” I huffed.
“A chance to be able to show you how you deserve to be treated. To stand on your doorstep holding flowers on our first date, tell you that you look absolutely beautiful before walking you to the car, where I will open the door for you and help you into your seat, which, FYI, won’t be the only time I open the door and help you into your seat that night. I want a chance to walk you back up to your door at the end of the night and tell you, for probably the thousandth time that night, how beautiful you look and tell you “No thank you, I don’t want to join you inside.” Because let’s be honest, you are going to be so impressed and obsessed with me by the end of the night you’ll want nothing more than to get me into bed with you, but you deserve more respect than that so I’ll just place a kiss on your cheek, tell you I’ll call you, watch you walk inside, and wait till I hear the lock click before leaving just to be sure that you got in safely.” He said softly with an equally soft smile, looking down at me with adoration in his eyes.
I shook my head at him with a small laugh of disbelief. “Is that all?”
“No. Finally, I want a chance to go home at the end of the night, and text you “Goodnight beautiful, sweet dreams”, you be the last thing on my mind before I go to sleep and the first when I wake up, and text you “good morning sweetheart” with a little winky face emoji despite how much I despise the use of them,” He finished, winking at me.
I stared at him in silence for a moment, taking him and his words in. Weighing the pros and cons in my head, the pros very obviously outweigh the cons in numbers but not in severity. I looked down at the floor, taking in my Converse and his sandals shoes before sighing and looking up at the aviator.
“My favorite flowers are white roses and blue baby’s breath, and I love Italian food,” I told him simply.
He held my stare, nodding in acknowledgment as he tried to hold back a smile. “Noted.”
I shook my head at him again and tried to force down my smile as well. “You can pick me up at 6. If you’re even a minute late, I’m changing into my PJs and watching rom-coms with Amelia.”
“Don’t plan on it, sweetheart,” He reassured me.
I shook my head at him in disbelief once again before turning to walk away from him. “See you tomorrow night.”
“I’m counting on it,” He called out to me as I walked away.
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“Okay, what do you think,” I asked Amelia, turning around from my mirror for her and Theo to see the simple high-waisted skirt and tucked-in white button-up I was wearing.
I watched the teen and dog sitting on my bed tilt their heads as I spun around for them to see the whole outfit. I stopped when I was facing them again, watching them scrutinize me. They were silent for a moment before Theo released a small noise, causing Amelia to nod in agreement with him.
“Theo’s right, it’s not nice enough,” She hummed out.
I sighed in frustration and slapped my thighs. “Amelia, this is the third outfit I’ve tried on.”
“Well, keep trying stuff on because we haven’t found the right thing yet,” She told me, causing Theo to bark in what seemed like agreement.
I glared at the two of them before turning back towards my closet and going through my clothes again. I reached the section filled with dresses and began looking through them carefully when Amelia gasped.
“That’s the one! The little black dress, it’s a classic,” She squealed, hopping off my bed and grabbing it out of the closet.
I gasped at her before grabbing it. “Oh, no.”
“Why not,” She asked me in frustration, trying to grab it back.
“Because this dress is special. It’s a third date dress, at least,” I stressed to her, moving it out of her grip and hanging it back up.
“How is it a third date dress,” She argued with me.
I looked over the dress, taking in the straps that were just tied, meaning easy access. I cleared my throat before looking over at her and shrugging. “Reasons.” Amelia rolled her eyes and didn’t look like she was going to let her question go unanswered. “Look, you’re in high school, so you may or may not understand the concept, but when you start to get older you have certain clothing items that you deem third-date material.”
“Like…,” She trailed off.
I rolled my eyes before pointing at the dress. “Like a dress that you feel really… hot… in. Or a bra that shows off the goods.”
“A bra, really,” She asked in disbelief.
“Yes, I have a third date bra. Two actually,” I informed her, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Hm. Can I have a third date bra,” She asked me curiously, placing her hands on her hips.
I sat for a moment in silence, contemplating my answer. “I’ll get you one when you’re older,” I told her turning back to my closet.
I moved my black dress out of the way to look at the next dress, a hum escaping me at the light blue dress hanging in front of me. A simple mini dress with a tiered flowy bottom that ended about mid-thigh and instead of a zipper bringing together the back of the dress there were two bows to tie together.
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“That’s it,” Amelia said from over my shoulder, Theo barking once again to seemingly voice his agreement.
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I paired the dress with a pair of white stilettos and a white blazer. I lightly curled my light brown hair so it fell in waves and did a simple makeup look with my signature red lips. I decided to do a set of pearl earrings with a matching necklace and bracelet with my mom's rings resting on my right ring finger. I stepped back from my mirror and smoothed my dress down, turning around so I could see the back as well. I released a hum of appreciation for myself when I heard the doorbell ring at 6 o'clock on the dot. I listened to Theo barking and Amelia yelled out that she would get it. I widened my eyes and spun around to grab my clutch before booking it out of my room.
“No, Mia, I got it,” I yelled out to her, rushing through the hallway and down the stairs. 
When I reached the bottom, I looked over to see a teenage girl with a dog sitting by her heels interrogating a grown adult man.
“What exactly are your intentions with my cousin,” Amelia asked Jake.
Jake released a chuckle, clutching the flowers in his hands closer to his chest. “I intend to take her to a nice dinner and treat her with the utmost respect.”
“Are you going to hold the door open for her and help her into her seat,” she questioned him, crossing her arms over her chest.
“That was the plan. You can ask her yourself,” he said with a light smirk.
“And if you touch her…,” Amelia trailed off.
“Nothing more than respectful hand-holding and a kiss on the cheek… with her permission of course,” Jake reassured.
“Good, because I may be tiny, but I know people and I have a dog that's ready to defend when necessary,” Amelia threatened Jake, causing his face to contort in amusement.
I chose this time to walk over to the door and wrap my arm around the teenager.
“Okay, Amelia, thank you,” I said to her as I steered her away from the door.
Once she was no longer facing Jake she dropped her stern expression and looked at me with a big grin. “I like him, keep him,” she whispered to me.
“Well, it's hard for me to decide if I want to keep him if I don't go on a date with him,” I whispered back to her, sending her and Theo on their way.
I turned back to the door to see Jake staring at me in amazement. I blushed as he raked his gaze up and down my form before he met my eyes. I let a small smile grow on my face and clasped my clutch in front of me.
“Hi,” I said softly.
“Wow,” Jake released a breath and nodded at me. “You didn't hold back did you?”
I raised my eyebrows in question, causing his smile to widen at my oblivious expression. 
“You don't just look beautiful, Darlin’. You look angelic,” he told me.
“Angelic, huh,” I murmured, looking down at my feet before looking at him shyly from under my lashes.
The two of us stood in silence staring at each other for a few seconds before Amelia stepped forward once again.
“Are those for Presley,” she asked, gesturing to the flowers in Jake's hand.
The two of us broke our gaze, I whipped my head around to look at her briefly before looking quickly back at Jake. Jake briefly widened his eyes and looked down at the flowers before looking back up at the two of us. 
“Uh, yes, they are,” he said, holding them out to me.
I accepted them and a smirk formed on my lips. “White roses and baby's breath.”
“Yeah, I heard someone say they were your favorite,” he smirked back at me.
I shook my head in amusement at him as Amelia spoke up again.
“I can put them in a vase for you if you'd like?” 
I looked back at Amelia and nodded. “Yes, please, Amelia. I would appreciate that. Thank you.” 
Amelia nodded back at me and took the flowers from my hands. “I'll put them in your room for you. You have fun.”
“Thank you, Amelia, we will,” Jake told the teenager, reaching forward to grab my hand and therefore sending my attention back towards him.
I raised my eyebrow at him and allowed him to pull me closer to him. Jake smiled at me and pulled me out the door, closing it behind us, and led me to his car.
“Why am I not surprised that you own a pickup truck,” I questioned rhetorically.
Jake's smile widened as he led me to the passenger side. He opened the door and looked at me before shrugging.
“It's part of the cowboy starter pack, along with a hat, boots, a flannel, blue jeans, and a really big belt buckle,” Jake replied sarcastically.
I smirked and shook my head at him. “Is that all?”
“Nope, it also comes with a certain charm that makes it very hard for a woman to say no to me,” He added, a smirk growing on his face too.
“Oh, really,” I asked in a sarcastic tone.
“Mhm,” He hummed.
I rolled my eyes and moved closer so I was standing right in front of him. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“Well, we’re here aren’t we,” Jake said, referring to our date.
I scoffed and went to reply to him, but I cut myself off with a squeal as Jake bent down to pick me up, delicately placing me in his passenger seat. I looked at him with wide eyes as he pulled the seatbelt from where it was resting and reached over me to buckle me in.
“I can do it myself,” I reminded him.
“I know. This way, if you try and run off from me before our date even starts, I know it will take you longer to get out of my truck,” He told me with a wink before closing the door.
I watched him walk around the front of the truck before climbing in on his side and starting the car. He reached over and placed one hand on my seat and looked behind him as he backed out with one hand. I watched with rapt attention and felt myself blush at his actions. Jake glanced over at me when he finished and smirked at my reaction, causing me to roll my eyes and my blush to darken as he drove off toward our destination.
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I felt my eyes widen in shock at the restaurant he pulled up to, one of the most expensive Italian restaurants in San Diego.
“Jake, we don’t have to eat here,” I reassured him, glancing over at him quickly.
“You said you wanted Italian. I'm taking you to get Italian,” he told me, getting out of the truck and handing his keys to the valet, jogging around the vehicle to get to my side and open the door for me.
“I would have been perfectly fine with a hole-in-the-wall diner,” I explained, accepting his hand to help me out of the truck.
“Absolutely not. I'm getting the best food for the best girl. You deserve nothing less,” Jake told me, gripping my hand tightly in his and leading me into the restaurant.
“I just want to be sure that you brought me here because you wanted to, not because you felt like you had to because of who I am,” I argued with him, watching him pull the door to the restaurant open and hold it for me.
“Presley, I can promise you that I am bringing you here of my own volition,” Jake reassured me as I walked past him. 
Jake held his arm out for me to wrap around before leading me up to the host stand.
“Reservation for Seresin,” Jake told the young woman.
The woman looked up with a bright smile which turned into shock when she saw me.
“Oh, my god. You're Presley Jo,” she gasped out.
“Yep,” I nodded at her looking around and hoping no one else said anything.
“I love your music. You are literally so amazing. I totally don't believe anything that's being said about you by the way. Especially not by that disgusting perv that is now your ex-manager,” she said quickly, causing me to become uncomfortable with the topic at hand.
“Okay,” I said awkwardly, tightening my grip on Jake's arm.
The young girl went to speak again but was cut off by who I'm assuming is the manager.
“Miss Benjamin, if we would have known you were going to be coming to our fine establishment we would have planned for your arrival a little better.”
“Oh, that's not necessary,” I reassured, leaning into Jake.
“Nonsense. I'll get the best table for you,” he told me, beginning to snap his fingers to get a worker's attention.
“That's not- whatever was originally set up for the Seresin reservation is just fine,” I reassured the man, but I was ignored as he walked away to get a table for us.
“So… is this what it's like every time you go out,” Jake asked me curiously after remaining silent the entire interaction.
I sighed and nodded, avoiding eye contact with him. “Sadly.”
We remained quiet for a second before I broke it.
“If you don't want to continue, I understand. You can take me home now and I won't say anything negative to Penny, Amelia, Maverick, or Rooster,” I reassured him, giving him an out if he wanted it.
“I'm not taking you home,” he argued with me.
“Jake, it's fine if you do,” I argued back.
“Presley Joanna Benjamin,” he said above me, causing me to go quiet and stare at him in shock, a slight heat pooling in my stomach at his tone of voice. “I am not taking you home. I said I was going to take you on a date and treat you how you deserve to be treated. Let me do that.”
“Fine,” I said reluctantly, blushing and looking at my feet.
“Thank you. Now enjoy yourself,” he told me, reaching down, grabbing my clutch out of my hand to hold in his own, and intertwining his empty hand with my own.
The manager returned and led Jake and me to our table, which was placed in the middle of the room for everybody to see. Everyone stared at the two of us as Jake pulled my chair out for me before going around the table to sit on his own. The waiter came and took our drink orders, wine for me, and whiskey for Jake. We were just beginning to look at the menus when a flash went off from next to me. I looked over to see a young girl with her family holding her phone up towards me.
“Oh, no. Please don't post that,” I begged the girl, beginning to push my seat back from the table.
Jake lifted his head and looked at me in confusion before following my gaze. He noticed the girl tapping on her screen and sighed.
“Presley,” Jake whispered to me, trying to get my attention.
“Seriously, please don't,” I begged her, ignoring him.
The girl looked up from her phone and smirked. “What, scared for everyone to find out you tricked another guy into dating you?”
I gulped at her words and fought back the tears.
“I never tricked anybody into dating me,” I told her quietly.
“Tell that to the paparazzi when they get here,” she said smugly before posting the photo.
I could feel the color drain from my face at her actions and continued staring at her phone in horror. I immediately grabbed my clutch off the table and stood from my seat.
“We have to go,” I announced to Jake.
“Presley, we just got here,” Jake argued with me.
“Yes, and believe it or not even though we live in San Diego, the paparazzi will be here in about 5 minutes, 10 if we're lucky. And considering I've been sneaking around and staying out of trouble, they're going to be even more desperate to get my picture,” I argued back with him, turning away from the table and beginning to walk to the exit.
“Presley, hold on, just wait,” Jake called after me, jumping from his seat and rushing after me.
I made it to the lobby of the restaurant before Jake grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks, pulling me towards him.
“Presley, let's just wait a second, okay,” he said calmly, soothingly rubbing my arms.
“I don't have time to just wait a second, Jake. What do you not understand about that," I told him, my frustration building.
“Pres, come on, just talk to me,” he begged me, leaning down to look into my eyes.
“I will be more than happy to talk to you in the car. Come on,” I told him, tilting my head towards the door.
“I'm not going to get the car, alright? Let's just sit down, have a drink, and-”
“I DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY TO JUST SIT DOWN IN PUBLIC AND HAVE A DRINK AND A NICE CONVERSATION, JAKE, OKAY,” I yelled, cutting him off. 
Jake went quiet and stared at me in shock, dropping his hands from my arms and down to his sides. He opened his mouth to speak again, but I continued before he could.
“You’re asking me to do something I haven't had the luxury of doing in a very long time because people are always on my ass just waiting for the second I screw up all so they can capture it on film and sell it to the highest bidder. And if you want a good example of that, well just look at what they're saying about me right now all because I refused to let some perv use me to his advantage,” I blurted out.
“Presley-,” he started again.
“No you just don't get it, Jake, okay,” I cut him off, tears building up in my eyes from my frustration.
“Then help me to understand,” he begged me.
I looked into his bright green eyes and took a deep breath.
“This isn't something that I can explain and you just magically understand, Jake. This has been my entire life for the past 10 years,” I snapped out.
Right as I finished my statement, a crowd began forming out in front of the restaurant, flashes going off as the cameras pointed at us. I looked over and stared at them for a moment, sighing in frustration before looking at Jake.
“And now it's going to be yours for the next 10 minutes. Enjoy,” I shrugged at him, gesturing towards the large crowd before walking towards the exit.
“Presley,” Jake called out, trying to get me to stop. “At least let me drive you home,” he called out to me.
“No, thank you,” I called back to him, pushing the front door open and beginning my trek through the paparazzi.
All of them began shouting questions at me as the valet began trying to help me shove through the group. Asking me questions like where I've been hiding, what are my plans for my career, and the dreaded when will I speak out on what has happened? I kept my head down and pushed my way through the crows of yelling and flashing lights. When I reached the curb, the valet assisted me in calling a cab, waving his arm around to grab the attention of the car. I sighed out a quick thank you and handed him some spare cash I had in my clutch before climbing in and shouting my address to the driver and telling him to step on it. The last thing I saw as I drove away was Jake standing in the doorway of the restaurant with a heartbroken look.
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When I got home I immediately walked up to the front door, dug my house keys out of my clutch, and unlocked the door. I walked in threw my keys down in the bowl and slipped my heels off as Theo came running around the corner to greet me. I turned and locked the door before throwing my clutch on the cabinet in the entryway.
“Hey, buddy,” I sighed, rubbing his head before walking into the living room.
“Hey, that was quick,” Amelia said to me in shock, looking over the back of the couch at me.
“We didn’t even make it to the appetizers,” I said blandly after releasing a groan.
“That bad,” Amelia asked curiously.
I walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch with a sigh. Amelia adjusted her blanket so it was covering the two of us and Theo hopped on the couch between the two of us after her actions. He spun around a few times before settling, his head resting in my lap.
“Some girl there posted a picture of me, the place was swarming with the paparazzi within 5 minutes,” I explained to her.
“Oh, Lee, I’m so sorry,” Amelia told me, adjusting herself so her head was resting on my shoulder in comfort.
“It’s okay, kiddo. It's not like it was your fault. It’s my fault for thinking I could live a somewhat normal life,” I reassured her, running my hands through her hair.
“So, did Jake drop you off,” She asked me curiously.
“No, I got into an argument with him and got a cab home,” I answered.
“Oh,” she groaned in sympathy for me. “Do you think you’ll give him another chance?”
“It’s not me giving him another chance you should worry about. It’s whether or not he’ll give me another one,” I explained. Amelia lifted her head and went to respond but I cut her off. “Let’s stop talking about my total disaster of a first date and just enjoy the rest of the night together.”
“Okay, fine,” Amelia agreed reluctantly with a sigh.
“Great! Now what are we watching?”
“The Proposal.”
“I love it. I’ll get changed and get snacks,” I told her, moving to get up from the couch.
Amelia laughed as I walked out of the living room and towards the stairs, but I stopped when the doorbell rang.
“Amelia, are you expecting somebody,” I called out to the teenager.
“No,” She called back.
I walked up to the front door and flicked the lock, opening it to find Jake standing on the other side.
“Jake,” I said in shock, looking out behind him and up and down the street.
“None of them followed me if that’s what you’re checking for,” He reassured me.
I looked back at him and sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure you got home safely,” He explained, nervously looking down at his feet before looking me in the eye.
“Well, thank you,” I told him hesitantly. 
Jake nodded at me in acknowledgment as the silence between us began to hang. The first awkward silence to ever occur between the two of us.
“You can-” “I just want to-”
The two of us spoke at the same time, causing both of us to immediately pause and stare at each other. 
“What were you about to say,” Jake asked me, gesturing for me to go on.
“Oh, no. You can go first,” I reassured him.
“What I have to say can wait,” Jake told me.
“Jake, what I was going to say isn’t important. What were you going to say,” I asked him.
Jake stared at me silently, the furrow of his brow letting me know he was deep in thought, deciding what he was going to say.
“I just want to say, I'm sorry and you were right,” he released.
I stared at him in shock as he continued.
“I don't understand what you go through daily, or what you went through for the past 10 years. I don't understand how hard it must be for you to try and do anything normal because I've never experienced your life myself. Seeing what you were going through tonight, the good and the bad, made me realize how different we and the lives we live are,” he told me, causing dread to build in my stomach, knowing the next words to come out of his mouth are going to break me. 
“But that doesn’t change the fact that I would love nothing more than to get to know you and for you to talk to me. Help me understand what it is that you deal with in your life. Tell me what I can do to earn your trust and support you. Because, darlin’, I plan on being here for the long run.”
I widened my eyes in shock at his words and felt tears well up in my eyes as well. I have never had a guy step up and tell me such things. They’ve always been takers. People are more interested in my fame than in working to understand me for who I am. Who I can be when you take away that part of me. I took a deep breath and then released it, looking at my feet briefly before looking back at the blonde aviator.
“If you’ll have me, that is,” Jake added nervously, clearly concerned about my silence.
I gave him a soft smile. “I think that can be arranged.”
I could see Jake visibly relax at my words. It was almost as if he had 100 pounds of weight lifted off of his shoulders. His nervous look changed to one of glee, and he turned his charm back up.
“Thank goodness, because I didn’t know what I was going to do with this if you said no,” Jake said, reaching over to the side of the porch.
I watched him lift a plastic bag with a couple of styrofoam containers, a bottle of wine wrapped in a brown paper bag, and a large pizza box. I chuckled in amusement while shaking my head before looking at the man with a questioning look.
“I promised you Italian,” He said simply with a shrug.
“You are…,” I trailed off, not knowing the exact words I wanted to use for the man.
“Hopefully the words you are looking to end that with are all positive,” He said with a grin. “Can I come inside? We can talk everything over.”
I grinned and went to answer, but I was cut off by a voice whispering “Say yes” behind me. Jake and I shared a look of amusement and I released a small chuckle.
“You know, I was unsure about my answer at first, but I just have this small, nagging, annoying voice telling me I should let you in,” I told him with a smirk.
“Hey,” Amelia whined out at my insults.
Jake released a chuckle at the teenager as well and peeked slightly in the door to see the teenager hiding around the corner.
“Well, I think you should listen to the all-knowing and wise voice,” Jake directed at me while looking at Amelia and giving her a wink. “Especially because the pizza is getting colder as we speak.”
I shook my head at him in amusement before opening the door wider. “Would you like to join me upstairs?”
Jake’s smile widened before nodding. “I would love nothing more.”
Jake walked in the door and removed his shoes, placing them next to my own. I turned around to make my way to the kitchen to grab a wine opener and glasses, but I was shocked to find my teenage cousin standing in the doorway already holding the items out to me. I shook my head at her in amusement before stepping forward and accepting the items from her.
“Raincheck on The Proposal,” I asked her with a pout.
“Ryan Reynolds will just have to wait,” Amelia agreed with an exaggerated sigh.
The two of us laughed together before I turned and led Jake upstairs to my room. Jake followed me silently through the hallway until we reached my bedroom, taking in everything while I closed the door, leaving it open a few inches. Jake set everything on my desk while I grabbed my blanket off of the bed and laid it down on the floor, grabbing a few pillows and laying them down as well. Jake removed his leather bomber jacket with all of his navy patches and rested it over the back of my desk chair. I took a seat on the floor and he followed me soon after, placing the food on the floor before taking a seat.
“I have to say, I didn’t think this would be the first time I would be in your room,” Jake told me with a smirk as he grabbed the wine opener.
“Yeah, what was that you told me about saying no to coming upstairs on the first date,” I questioned him smugly, leaning back against my bed.
“Hey, now. This is different,” Jake defended with a smile of amusement, a brief chuckle escaping him as he pulled the cork out of the wine bottle.
“Mhm, sure,” I agreed sarcastically, holding my wine glass out towards him to fill.
“It is,” He argued with me as he filled my glass.
“How so,” I asked him curiously.
“Well, for starters, I said I would tell you no to coming inside at the end of our date, and it does not appear to be the end of our date yet,” Jake pointed out, gesturing to the spread of pizza and garlic bread laid out in front of us.
“Okay, you got me there,” I nodded at him as he filled his glass.
“And, I told you that you were going to be so impressed and obsessed with me that you will never want me to leave,” Jake finished off, setting the wine down and placing the cork back inside of it.
“Well what makes you think I’m not already impressed and obsessed with you,” I argued with him.
“I never said you weren’t,” Jake pointed out.
I rolled my eyes at him and chuckled. “Alright, fine. So I might be impressed already, but I don’t think I’ve quite reached the point of obsession yet.”
“Well, our night has only just begun,” Jake said smugly, winking at me with his Hollywood movie star smile.
“Well, then, here’s to my eventual obsession,” I said back just as smugly, holding my wine glass out towards him.
“To your eventual obsession,” Jake cheered with me, clinking his glass against my own.
The two of us drank our wine before digging into our food. Jake handed me a paper plate and napkin from the bag before opening the pizza box, the two of us letting out a groan at the sight of the pizza in front of us.
“Okay, just pick one,” He told me, moving the box closer to me.
“Oh, I get to pick first,” I asked him sarcastically.
“Yep, ladies first,” He told me with a bright grin.
“Are you sure? That’s quite the thing to bestow upon somebody,” I said sarcastically, leaning my head back against the bed.
“I’m positive. Go ahead darlin’,” He told me, nudging the box closer to me.
“Okay,” I told him, grabbing the slice I wanted and folding it so it was easier to eat. “Don’t judge how I eat my pizza. I roll it crust side out because I’m a lady.”
“Hey, no judgment here, honey,” Jake reassured me, grabbing a slice for himself and folding it as well.
I giggled at his actions and held it out to cheer him again before the two of us took a bite of our pizza, releasing groans of pleasure at the deliciousness.
“So, now that we have our date back on track, good food, good wine, and hopefully good company,” Jake listed off, looking over at me at his last words with a hopeful expression.
“Very good company,” I reassured him, taking a bite of my pizza.
“How about we get started on you helping understand everything about you,” Jake offered up.
I went quiet at his words and looked down at my lap. “Are you sure you want that?”
“Like I said Darlin’, I want to be in it for the long run,” He reassured me.
I sighed. “Like I said, this has been my life for 10 years…”
I told him everything. From being discovered to now. All the happy times, all the sad times. The joy of being recognized and winning awards. The sadness of rumors being spread and having my heart broken time and time again. The times when I was made the bad guy even though I did nothing wrong. Then I told him about what caused me to be sent back to San Diego in the first place.
“So what happened with your manager exactly,” Jake asked me curiously.
“Since the beginning, he always seemed a little off. It was almost like he was waiting for something to happen so he could slither his way in and take advantage of me. After my most recent breakup, I was receiving more hate than usual. He started putting in my head that I was losing everything and I was about to be a nobody. A washed-up pop singer who had it all one day then nothing the next. I started to believe him and I was thinking “What am I going to do?” Then I realized that he was lying to me. He was just trying to brainwash me and weaken me.”
“Why,” Jake asked me.
“Because he was a disgusting pig who wanted me for himself. I confronted him about everything, he forced himself on me and said that I would have nothing if it weren’t for him. He told me if I fired him he would tell everybody about what I did to him. Which was nothing. I was nothing but good to him. He told me if I didn’t sleep with him and do whatever he wanted me to do that I was finished. So I told him I would rather be finished than used and abused like a slave. So I fired him and here I am now. Lies being spread about me left and right.”
I went quiet at the end of my explanation, looking down at my lap as I had tears build up in my eyes. Jake remained quiet for a moment as my tears began to stream down my face. I listened to Jake release a sigh before he placed a hand on my knee. He began soothingly rubbing my knee before speaking.
“I am so sorry you had to go through that Presley. You didn’t deserve it. Believe me when I say that and believe me when I say not everybody believes what is being said about you,” Jake reassured me.
“Thank you,” I whispered to him.
He nodded and removed his hand from my knee, bringing it up to wipe my tears from my face. I brought my hand up and grabbed his own, pressing it closer to my face and turning my cheek into his palm. Jake rubbed his thumb against my cheekbone and I turned my head more to press a kiss against the inside of his palm. I gripped his hand in both of mine and brought it down to my lap, intertwining my fingers with his own before looking up at him and looking into his eyes. Jake’s eyes softened when we made eye contact and I could see him release a deep breath that he was holding in. He squeezed my hand before breaking eye contact, looking down at the floor and releasing my hand.
“It’s late, I think I better-”
I cut him off by placing my lips against his own, causing him to gasp in surprise. It was a chaste kiss, an innocent press of the lips against each other for a few moments before I pulled away from him. I opened my eyes and watched Jake do the same, the two of us staring into each other’s eyes once again. Jake’s surprise turned into a smirk not long after I pulled away, and he placed his hand back on my cheek.
“Where do you think you’re going Darlin’,” He said smugly before placing his lips back on my own.
I couldn’t help but smile into the kiss as he continued placing his lips against my own in a dance only we knew with each other. I brought my hands up to wrap around his neck, pulling myself closer to him until I was pressed against him, moving to straddle his hips to become closer to him. Jake’s hands remained respectfully on my hips as we kissed, rubbing his thumb across my hip bone occasionally. I released my hold on his neck to thread one of my hands into the hair at the back of his head and trailed my other hand down to one of his own on my hip, guiding it farther south to rest on my cheek. I allowed myself to grind down on him briefly, causing him to groan into the kiss and break away.
“Darlin’, remember what I said about wanting to treat you how you deserve to be treated and being respectful,” Jake rasped out to me, pressing his forehead against mine. I hummed in acknowledgment of his question. “Well, right now, you’re making it very hard on me to do so, and I think we should stop now and I should leave before we do something we shouldn’t and I’m not able to stop.”
“Who said I want you to stop,” I whispered to him before placing my lips back on his, and he returned the kiss eagerly.
However, our continuation was short-lived by a bark and slobbery kiss being placed on the side of my face.
“Theo,” I groaned out, moving off of Jake so the dog could climb on top of me.
“Well, look at that. Saved by the dog,” Jake said smugly, causing me to glare at him in annoyance. Jake smirked back at me before standing from the floor. “Why don’t you walk me out, Darlin’?”
I sighed before nodding and standing from the floor, lightly pushing Theo off of me in the process. I gripped his hand in my own and walked through the hallway and down the stairs. I looked over into the living room to see Amelia asleep on the couch, Jake following my gaze with a small smile. I shrugged at him before leading him over to the front door.
“Thank you for tonight. I had a really great time,” I told him shyly, gripping his hand in my own.
“Well, I’m glad you did,” He nodded at me, stopping with me in front of the door.
“Maybe we can do this again,” I offered up, playing with his fingers.
“We definitely will, Darlin’. But next time, you're coming to my place,” he smirked at me.
I smirked back. “Is that wise? After what Theo just interrupted.”
“Oh, I can control myself, sweetheart. The question is whether or not you can,” he said smugly, leaning down closer to me.
“I guess we'll just have to wait and see,” I whispered, leaning in closer to him.
“I guess so,” Jake whispered back, leaning in to kiss me once again.
However we were interrupted by the door opening, Penny and Maverick stepping in through the front door. Jake and I froze while the two older adults stared at the two of us in shock.
“Fun night,” Penny asked smugly.
“Nothing happened,” I reassured her before grabbing Jake's hand in my own and leading him out the door.
Penny laughed while Maverick muttered curses under his breath. I shut the door behind me and looked up at Jake.
“Sorry, about that,” I apologized with a blush.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he reassured me.
I grinned up at him before shaking my head. “I'll see you later then?”
“Definitely,” he nodded at me before leaning down and capturing my lips in another kiss. He pulled away after and smirked. “I had to get at least one more in before we were interrupted again.”
I sighed in frustration. “You sure you don't want to change your opinion on coming back upstairs,” I whined out.
“Trust me, sweetheart, I would love nothing more, but like I said, you deserve better than that,” he told me with a smirk. 
I rolled my eyes and pouted at him, causing him to chuckle. Jake leaned forward placed a kiss on my forehead and whispered a “goodnight, sweetheart” before turning around and walking towards his truck.
“You remember this as the day you turned down a popstar,” I called after him.
“I definitely will,” he called back, not turning around.
“You're going to regret this,” I called out again.
“Already am beautiful,” he called back again.
“goodnight,” I called out to him, turning to open the door.
“Hey, Presley,” Jake called out, causing me to turn back around. “I told you you would be obsessed with me,” he smirked at me as he opened the door to his truck.
“Get out of here, Hangman,” I said while laughing, rolling my eyes at him.
I turned around and opened the front door, moving inside and turning around to see Jake standing and waiting for me to close the door. I waved one last time at him, him doing the same before I closed and locked the door. I released a dreamy sigh and turned to lean back against the door. I bit my lip to contain my smile and ran my fingers over my lips as I remembered what it felt like to kiss Jake.
“So, how was it,” Penny asked me curiously, peeking her head out of the kitchen.
“It started horrible but turned into one of the best nights of my life. He was a complete gentleman-”
“Good, I didn't want to have to threaten him,” Mav spoke up as he moved into view from the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes at the man before looking back at Penny.
“Tonight was… amazing,” I told her firmly.
“Good. So, will there be a second date,” she asked me curiously.
“I think there will be many dates,” I reassured her, moving to go upstairs.
“aw, my little girl is in love,” Penny cooed, placing her head on Maverick's shoulder.
“I wouldn't say that… but I think I'm going to stick around for a little while. I might even get my own place,” I shrugged at her before running upstairs as she gasped at my words.
“Presley Joanna, do not play with me like that,” she called after me.
I giggled as I walked into my room and shut the door behind me. I leaned against it and dropped to the floor as I reminisced about my night. I took in the blanket and pillows still sitting on the floor with our trash and glasses from the night. I just shrugged it off and decided to take care of the mess in the morning. I moved to go into my ensuite bathroom but paused in my steps when I noticed something different.
A dark brown leather bomber jacket with a patch reading Hangman still resting on my desk chair.
Taglist: @buckysteveloki-me @hookslove1592
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starry-bi-sky · 2 months ago
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pouring one out for luo binghe in my disciple SQQ fic, poor guy has taken a backseat here. we're nearly 30k words deep and he hasn't even shown his face once. it'll be much longer before he even actually talks to Shen Qingqiu.
(i say im pouring one out but in reality im sitting in my director's chair chewing on a cigar and wearing a beret as he tearily and unsuccessfully pleads with me for more scenes with Shen Qingqiu)
#svsss#disciple shen yuan#scum villain#shen qingqiu#shen yuan#SQQ: building his found family on QJP and Plotting#LBH: idk off sniffing rocks somewhere while on one of his protagonist adventures#i say im pouring one out for him but in reality im laughing at him. sorry my guy you are just NOT my priority. be a better peak lord#tell your disciples to stop with the institutionalized peak hierarchy and the internal political intrigue and MAYBE we'll talk#oh he cant hear me he's wearing airpods. welp. *stares at LQG and YQY* more SQQ time for you then!#its funny because i do love bingqiu i just decided to write a fic exploring a roleswap concept i saw where LBH wasnt a good peak lord#and the concept itself didnt explore what consequences might occur if LBH was as inactive a PL as LQG was before redeeming him#like if BZP can go lord of the flies while unsupervised what happens if you leave QJP the same way?? political court intrigue and sabotage#being the protagonist and going on many adventures is great and all.... if you aren't tied down with the responsibilities of a peak lord.#binghe. binghe. binghe. binghe. your head disciple has instated a hierarchy on your peak and routinely sabotages the cultivation of the#junior disciples by actively disrupting their learning by sending them off to do menial chores that should be distributed equally across#the peak. binghe. he's gonna get someone killed. binghe. BINGHE. you're inadvertently creating a generation of cultivators who harbor#resentment against you specifically bc you failed to care and protect them as their shizun. BINGHE. DO YOU HEAR ME? BINGHE#oop. i guess not. SQQ time to organize a covert resistance group. i mean a secret study group that also doubles as an organization dedicate#to ruining Li Tao's reputation and standing amongst the rest of the sect. by boys! have fun storming the castle!#tldr unsweetened lemonade is: 'i force SQQ into a position of no power where keeping his head down is not an option bc neither the system#+ nor his surrounding peakmates will let him fade into the BG. and there's no LBH around for him to wifebeam into the Fave Disciple spot'#its also a 'SY and SJ are the same person' fic bc i love the trope and having a disciple SY where he's also SJ is such a specific niche#that i'll just have to write it myself in order to see it. im having a blast with it. im gonna give him SO much found family.#liushen and yueshen(? qijiu?) are fighting for 1st while poor bingqiu is trying to claw its way out of 3rd with minimal success#good fucking luck babe you gotta fight SQQ's seven evil disciples first. THEN you gotta fight Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan.#and then you gotta fight me. romance isnt even in the cards for this fic they're fighting for the SUBTEXT.#roll for disadvantge binghe
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vettelsvee · 9 months ago
Text
... READY FOR IT? | Charles Leclerc
MY TORTURED DRIVERS DEPARTMENT REPUTATION ⋆ TRACK 1
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charles leclerc x reader ⋆ smau
summary: y/n finally decides she’s ready to make her relationship with charles public even people just hate her so much for her past dating other f1 drivers. 
taglist: [@celemilii @theseerbetweenus @anniee-mr @stelena-klayley @lozzamez3 @0710khj @afterg1ows @vincentvanshoe @coco-loco-nut @minkyungseokie @lemon-lav @stinkyjax @seokjinkismet @c-losur3 @annewithaneofthegreengable @khaylin27] thanks to all of you who wanted to be tagged! don't forget you can join my taglist by commenting or telling me through dm <3
a/n: i was supposed to start posting this on june 1st, but since we reached 500 followers here i wanted to start posting as a "celebration". i really don't like thinking about thing kind of things BUT i thought this was a special occasion, especially since you've received me really well here. thank you so much to you all who take time to read my works! i've never thought someone would read what i write tbh this is my very first smau so sorry if it's a little bit crap, i promise to improve for the next ones 🙏
you can send your one shots requests here! feedback, as well as comments and reblogs, are truly appreciated!
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y/n just posted
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y/n we're sooooo back on track (for the third time, yes! idgaf what you all have to say 🥰)
liked by carlossainz55, charles_leclerc and 376193 others
user1 wait wasn't she dating mick schumacher? what is she doing in the ferrari garage?
user2 that was during 2021 season. she broke up with him and then started dating lando back in july 2022 if i remember correctly
f1gossip yep! in 2021 she dated mick, in 2022, lando, and now seems like she put her eyes on one of the ferrari guys 👀
user3 what a bitch. she's fucking everyone to get fame or...?
yourbestfriend go on girlie! show your amour your support 😌
y/n yourbestfriend what a stupid action... fuck you
user4 y/n are you going home? because that's what you should be doing lol
user5 guys I know that y/n might not be a piece of cake for everyone, but PLEASE, respect her
user7 exactly this!
charles_leclerc ❤️
user10 charles explain?
user11 wdym A READ HEART
user12 she might be dating charles omg
carlossainz55 happy to have you finally here! ❤️🙌🏻
user13 NOW CARLOS? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY GUYS? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
comments on this post have been limited
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y/n just posted
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y/n since you seem so interested, yep: i'm on the ferrari garage f1 are you spilling the tea? cos I'm not. xoxo, your friendly neighborhood wag
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y/n just posted
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y/n i was scared af to tell you that french dude and i've been dating for the past seven months. you can call me whore or whatever you want because at this point i don't really care about anything. it's been a wild ride with me feeling soooo uncomfortable with you commenting every now and then about my past relationships. i love mick and i love lando, but sometimes things don't work out, and you don't seem to understand that. anyways, all I have to say is that charles makes me the happiest woman on earth, and that we don't apologize for winning ❤️💋
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charles_leclerc just posted
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charles_leclerc life in these past seven months has been insane. y/n, bet your ready for more but... are you ready for it?
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youreverydayfangirl · 3 months ago
Text
DELICATE
pairing: max verstappen x singer reader
summary: the one where she has reservations, everything's a bit fragile for her and hes persistent
warning: self doubt
a/n: THREE UPDATES????
face claim: sabrina carpenter
f1 masterlist
main masterilst
series masterlist
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jimmyandsassysdad has requested to follow
y/nsprivate accepted the follow request
y/nsprivate has requested to follow
jimmyandsassysdad accepted the follow request
y/nsprivate has posted
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liked by jimmyandsassysdad, thatoneartgirlalex and 20 others
y/nsprivate still looking for my flynn
thatoneartgirlalex YUMMMYYYYYYYYYY
-> y/nsprivate i was legit drooling over you
keekslikestospammmm HAWWT
-> y/nsprivate STOP I MISS YOU
livbereallydumb hey so can u give a girl a warning first 😍
-> y/nsprivate me anytime i see you
itssabrinaaa u free rn 😏
-> y/nsprivate waiting for you
jimmyandsassysdad look no further
-> leosfather HES GOT GAME
-> thatoneartgirlalex 😱😱 y/nsprivate
-> keekslikestospammmm 😱😱 y/nsprivate
-> livbereallydumb 😱😱 y/nsprivate
-> itssabrinaaa 😱😱 y/nsprivate
-> y/nsprivate 🤭 how about that second date???
-> leosfather HE SHOOTS HE SCORES
f1gossip
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iked by exbsf and 126, 098 others
f1gossip some snapshots of your fav f1 couples at Charles Leclercs halloween party last night!!
Tagged: charlesleclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, estebanocon, flavybarla, pierregasly, francisca.cgomes
user1 exbsf in the likes??
-> user2 all she does is try and insert herself into WAG activities tbh
-> user3 right! she did the same thing when lando was still with you know who
user4 alex and charles in the third pic omg
user5 anyone else find it weird that a lot of the grid was invited but lando wasn't
user6 is that y/n y/ln in the last slide
-> user7 IS THAT MAX VERSTAPPEN
-> user8 OMGG????
-> user9 delusional as shit
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It had been a couple weeks since y/n last saw Max, but the memory of the night was still fresh in her mind. Since then she had spoken to Max over text a handful of times. When the Charles' halloween party came around, she wasn’t entirely surprised to find herself standing beside him, his broad figure decked out in a Top Gun flight suit that looked almost too good on him.
He gave her an appraising look, clearly amused. "So, Rapunzel, huh? Looks like you were ready to let down your hair," he said with a grin, glancing at the long, braided wig she’d chosen for the night.
She laughed, giving a mock curtsy. "Only for special occasions," she teased.
As they mingled through the crowded party, he leaned down, an amused glint in his eyes. "So… does this count as our first date?" he asked, his tone light but a little hopeful.
Y/n smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up as she glanced sideways at him. "Depends," she replied. "Are you going to sweep me off my feet like a real first date?"
Max chuckled, taking her hand with a confidence that made her pulse quicken. "Guess I’ll have to step up my game, then," he said, pulling her closer into the crowd of people dancing.
y/nsprivate has posted
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liked by thatoneartgirlalex, keekslikestospammmm and 21 others
y/nsprivate some cute flicks
jimmyandsassysdad GIZMO MENTIONED
-> y/nsprivate HE ALREADY MISSES THEM 😭
thatoneartgirlalex CUTE CUTE CUTE
-> y/nsprivate YOUR CUTE
livbereallydumb wonder who bought those flowers 🤔
-> itssabrinaaa 'just a friend'
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It was a quiet Sunday night, and the city’s noise was muffled by the gentle sound of rain tapping against the windows. Y/n curled up on the couch next to Max, feeling the warmth of his arm around her as they watched bones together in comfortable silence. His cats, Jimmy and Sassy, had claimed their spots on the other side of the couch, while her own cat, Gizmo, was nestled comfortably in her lap. It was a picture of peaceful simplicity, the kind of evening she never wanted to end.
Max reached for the remote, lowering the volume during a quiet part of the movie. She glanced up, and he looked down at her, eyes soft, as if he’d been waiting for this moment all night. Her heart skipped a beat at the intensity of his gaze.
“Y/n, can I ask you something?” he said quietly, his voice a bit more serious than usual.
“Of course,” she replied, straightening up slightly, her hand absentmindedly scratching Gizmo’s ears.
He hesitated, running a hand through his hair as he searched for the right words. “I just… I need to know, Y/n, what are we?”
Her heart sank, the warmth she’d felt just moments before now turning to panic. She hadn’t been ready for this, not yet. The future, a label, something real, she knew that was what he deserved, but she didn’t know if she could be the one to give it to him. The words choked in her throat, refusing to form.
“Max, I…” she stammered, eyes darting away. Her fingers instinctively went to pet Gizmo, as if somehow grounding herself to reality, but it wasn’t working. The room felt too small, the air too thick. “I don’t… I don’t know if I can give you an answer right now.”
His face softened, though she could see the hurt flicker in his eyes. “I understand if you’re scared. I just want to know if I’m someone you want to try with. I’ll wait, Y/n. But I need to know if there’s something to wait for.”
The vulnerability in his voice shattered her, and she could feel the words bubbling up, desperate to explain herself. But the more she tried to force them out, the more trapped she felt. She swallowed hard, feeling the sting of tears welling up, and before she even fully understood what she was doing, she stood up, gently displacing Gizmo from her lap.
“Y/n?” Max’s voice was laced with concern, but she couldn’t look at him. The room was spinning, and she felt like she was drowning.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, barely audible. “I just… I need to go.”
She grabbed her things, barely managing to gather Gizmo in her arms before heading to the door. She could feel Max’s gaze on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn around. Not when she felt so raw, so exposed.
The last thing she heard before she closed the door behind her was the quiet, broken way he’d called her name. And it stayed with her the entire way home, echoing in her mind as she fought the urge to turn back, knowing she wasn’t ready to face the fear or the love that waited for her on the other side of it.
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Y/n sighed, her eyes lingering on the messages Max had sent her. She replayed his words in her mind, but the part that made her heart race—the moment he’d asked, “What are we?”—had also made her freeze. She didn’t quite understand her reaction, why that question had shaken her so deeply.
It wasn’t that Max had done anything wrong. He’d been everything she could hope for—patient, caring, thoughtful. She knew she felt something real for him, that he’d somehow slipped past every wall she’d built since her breakup with Lando. But beneath that realization, a dark feeling had crept over her, like ink spreading across a page. She was scared. No, she was terrified.
After everything she’d been through, the idea of letting someone in again felt overwhelming. She’d barely managed to piece herself back together after Lando, and she knew that if things fell apart with Max, she might not have the strength to do it again. With Max, she’d fallen fast and hard, in a way that felt both thrilling and dangerous. And how could she not? He was almost too good to be true. Yet, she couldn’t shake the voice in the back of her mind whispering that trust like this came with a cost.
Her relationship with Lando had taught her so much. They’d loved each other, but they’d been unwilling to bend in the ways that mattered. There were too many conflicts, too many moments of stubborn silence. She knew, deep down, that they were never meant to be.
But with Max, it was different. He saw beauty in parts of her that Lando had once found flaws. The qualities she had found exhausting in Lando felt effortless in Max. He was everything.
Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to fall completely, because if she did, Y/n didn’t believe anyone would be there to catch her.
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Y/n had barely slept the night before, her mind stuck on the way Max had looked at her when he asked, “What are we?” She’d messaged him, asking to meet up, but now, waiting for him here, her stomach twisted with nerves. When she saw him walking toward her, hands tucked in his pockets, that gentle smile on his face, her heart clenched. How was it that he could make her feel both safe and completely vulnerable at the same time?
“Hey,” he greeted, his smile fading a little as he studied her face. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, though the words tangled in her throat, refusing to come out. Max, sensing her hesitation, took a step closer, his eyes filled with a mixture of concern and patience.
“Y/n, talk to me,” he murmured, his voice a soft anchor.
“I… I don’t know why I panicked,” she admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “When you asked what we were.” She saw the flicker of hurt in his eyes and felt guilt wash over her. “It’s not you, Max. You’ve been everything I could want.”
He looked down, nodding slowly as he absorbed her words. “But something’s keeping you from trusting this,” he said gently, sadness tracing his voice.
She exhaled shakily, looking away. “After everything with Lando, I just… I’m terrified, Max. The thought of letting myself fall again, of opening up like that—it scares me. If something went wrong… I don’t think I’d be able to put myself back together.”
He was quiet, letting her words sink in. Then he reached for her hand, his thumb brushing softly over her knuckles. “Y/n,” he said, his voice steady and calm. “I know you’re scared. And I understand that trust isn’t easy when you’ve been hurt before. But I’m not him. I’m here now, and I want us—whatever that looks like for you.”
He tilted her chin up, his eyes meeting hers with a fierce sincerity. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with the emotions she’d kept buried. “You deserve someone who’s not this… scared.”
Max shook his head, his expression unwavering. “I want you, Y/n—all of it. The good, the bad, the parts you’re afraid to show. I know I’m asking for a lot, but please, let me in.” His gaze softened, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “We can take it as slow as you need. I’m here for that.”
Y/n felt a weight lift from her chest as she looked into his eyes, realizing that maybe, just maybe, she didn’t have to carry the fear alone. She didn’t have to be fully healed to let herself love him.
With a small, tentative smile, she squeezed his hand back. “Thank you, Max. For being so patient with me.”
A look of relief and warmth spread across his face. “You’re worth the wait, Y/n.”
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a wayyyy more wordy one for you guys
thank you for all the love on this you guys omgg
also i thought id do a couple now cause halloween is coming up and im gonna be bussyyyy
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@lyannesworld
@pippyth3hippy
@scorpiomindfuck
@syddddddddddddd
@paigem00
@toldyouitwasamelodrama
@lilsiz
@chelle1306
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@stinkyjax
@kiyomisan
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@taliya8346282844eliviahdgdajs
@midnights-lily
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@exotic-iris13
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@mahii7 @hadids-world
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@eloriis
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@dark-night-sky-99
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@formulaal
@delululeclerc
@lilmissdelusion
@splaterparty0-0
@g3org1al33
@aleatorio1234
@mrsbrxkkxr
@leclercdream
@yukimaniac
@kissesandmartinis
@charlesgirl16
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@lozzamez3
@hahdb8
@c-losur3
@elsoleil
@meow-143
@a-beaverhausen
@the-desilittle-bird
871 notes · View notes
writersblockiskillingme · 1 year ago
Text
Call It What You Want | Spencer Reid
Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader (singer!reader)
Summary: You lost your reputation, but you gained something so much better.
Warning/s: angst, fluff later on, hostage situation, online bullying, hate comments, stalking, reader has a stalker, famous reader, mentions of guns and knives (light use too), marriage, pregnancy, about babies and birth, in this the song is referred to as Y/N's song (that's not true of course), pet names (pretty boy, gorgeous, love...), also skipped a few parts of the song (sorry)
Author's note: So reader basically entered her Reputation era, but with a happy ending. That's it.
Y/N - your name
Y/L/N - your last name
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My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took the crown, but it's alright
All the liars are calling me one
Nobody's heard from me for months
I'm doing better than I ever was
The cold breeze of the night in the middle of the giant city as you walked perhaps wasn't doing doing you any favors at all. The coat that you wore wasn't really doing its job. It was supposed to keep you warm during the nights out like this one, but it was anything but. You felt yourself crossing your arms in hopes to pull your coat tighter to yourself so you could gain some warmth, but sadly it wasn't working.
With a disappointed, quiet sigh you swang the bag you had in front of yourself hunting for your keys as you walked along the secured parking lot. You passed a whole lot of cars as you continued to trash through your bad, but not one of those cars was yours.
After what felt like an eternity, you finally reached your car, the sound of your keychain juggling as you tried to get a hold of the key properly.
The whole time you were walking over to your car you felt an overwhelming sensation of the feeling that something, or rather someone, was following your every step. Panic was drowning you as you tried to get into your car as fast as you possibly could.
However, once you finally managed to put the key in due to your shaking hands, you felt a hand covering your mouth. The last thing you heard was your own terrified scream before you drifted into unconsciousness.
°
The coldness of the uncomfortable chair send a million of shivers down your spine. Your head was pounding so much that it started to be unbearable. At that moment you tried to bring your palm onto the side of your head, but you couldn't move your hands. At that moment you noticed the tight rope with which you were tied up in a chair.
You felt a sense of panic wash over you as you pulled against the ropes, but it was no use. It wasn't working like you hoped it would.
Suddenly, though, you heard a sound that you were sure would haunt you forever if you ever got out of there. The laugh of the person that took you hostage.
"Don't worry, my love," The vile man smiled at you. "Now you can finally be mine forever."
It sickened you.
The way he approached you, the way he slowly reached out to you to place his hand on your cheek as he talked to you. You felt like you could throw up at the sight of it alone.
"How- how did you..." your voice trembled as you spoke, trying to hold your ground, but to no use. "Why did you do this?"
"I've been watching you for a while, gorgeous," He said, rubbing circles against your cheek. "You are simply gorgeous, I just had to have a pretty thing like you."
You were terrified because at that moment you realized that it was over. You were never getting out of this. Your stalker would make your life a living hell just because of the way you looked and the fact that you did what you loved since you were a child.
He slowly let go of your cheek as he stepped back, not once breaking the eye contact with you. You couldn't help but let one tear slide down your cheek. It was over for you.
And just as you began to drown in your own sorrows, the door of the basement in which he held you were broken down.
"FBI!" Someone yelled out, the flash of the lights that filled the room were too bright, you couldn't see the FBI agents that entered. "Don't move!"
The guns were held up, surrounding your stalker who was, thankfully, weaponless.
Your head was hurting you even worse than it did before because of the flashing lights, but you had never felt a bigger sense of relief washing over you than at the moment when they forcefully entered and you felt someone moving to you.
"Are you okay, miss?" You turned your head slowly, in fear that your head was going to ache even more. The last thing that you wanted was to faint now.
"Y-Yes," You barely whispered to the man who was untying you as fast as he possibly could. "Thank you."
"Reid!" You heard another man shout, his voice ringing with authority. "Get her our of here now."
Perhaps you were still frozen from the shock, but you didn't know exactly how you suddenly got outside. You were sat down as the paramedics checked over you. Your head was still spinning and everything was hurting you, but it could've been worse.
At that moment, Spencer stood aside watching over you silently. He couldn't help himself. He simply couldn't help but to admire you as the paramedics did their job.
"What's up with you, pretty boy?" Derek came over to him, his voice hinting that he was really for teasing. "You have a crush on our singer, huh?"
"W-What? No, of course not." Spencer felt himself flush and Derek stared to laugh at the genius.
"Really?" Morgan mockingly put his hand on his chest to express that he didn't believe anything that came out of Spencer's mouth. "Because, if I'm being honest, pretty boy, your staring kind of gave it away."
Spencer was growing more red as the seconds passed. He kept quiet up until Derek stopped laughing and looked at him.
"You should ask her out." He suggested.
"I don't know." Spencer whispered so quietly that Morgan almost didn't catch it.
Before Morgan could say anything else the voice of one of the paramedics announced that you were free to go, and Spencer felt himself suddenly walk over to you without even realizing it as Morgan continued to watch with amusement.
"Hey."
You turned around at the sound of Spencer's voice and Spencer felt like his breath was knocked out of his lungs. Your eyes were sparkling brighter than the stars that covered the cold night sky and he felt himself getting flushed again.
"Am... I- I was wondering i-if you would like me t-to take you home." Spencer stuttered a bit as you made eye contact with him, listening to him speaking."
You smiled at him, he was truly, utterly gorgeous. "That's really sweet, but I don't want to bother you."
"Please, it would be a pleasure to make sure you come home safe."
And so, after a while, you accepted his request and made a promise in front of the door of your apartment to keep in touch with the FBI agent who saved your life and will continue to save your life for as long as there is air in his lungs and the stars in his eyes.
'Cause my baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
After all that happened to you with your stalker that was now put into prison, you decided to dissappear from the public eye for a while. You yearned for a break that was much needed. But with the break that you publicly announced and a promise to dissappear for a while you had to be more careful.
The trips to the simple places like grocery stores were yet another opportunity to dress up so no one could possibly recognize you. At that time, the number of the baseball caps, and a whole bunch of oversized hoodies, seemed to drastically increase and it continued to do so.
But there was a minor slip-up after 6 months since you disappeared.
It was a surprisingly quiet night. Spencer returned from the case earlier and you decided to take a walk around the town after visiting a local coffee shop.
You were so wrapped up in each other, soaking up every moment you had with each other. Sharing a whole lot of stolen kisses, looks, his hand nested itself on your shoulders, sharing laughter and smiles, eyes spanking. They were full of happiness and utter joy every time you were with him.
What neither of you expected was for Penelope practically tearing down the whole conference room, almost breaking down the door the next day just so she could get to Spencer.
Spencer was sitting at his chair, looking over the files along with everyone else when he found himself being startled as he watched Penelope waving the newest copy of today's newspaper as she practically screamed in excitement.
He was rather confused by her suddenly excitement even though it wasn't unusual for her. But once he saw her slamming the newspaper in the middle of the desk he felt himself getting pale.
Spencer and you made a cover of today's news. The headline, written in overly dramatic big letters with the fine print, read "AFTER 6 MONTH SHE MADE AN APPERCEIVE! FAMOUS SINGER Y/N Y/L/N SEEN WITH A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER!!"
Just below the headline there was a picture of him and you from the night before. His arm was placed over your shoulders, bringing you closer to warm you up and keep you safe. His face was somehow, somewhat, covered by his hair because of the wind that couldn't be contained that night. Your hand was holding his that was slang over your shoulders. Your smile was radiant, your eyes shining as you kept your gaze on him. He couldn't help but smile a little at the photo.
"Explain yourself now, Spencer Reid!" Penelope shrieked, her voice getting higher each second. "What the hell are you doing with freaking Y/N Y/L/N!!"
He started stuttering so much, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, but his nerves got the best of him. Suddenly, he felt a hand slapping his back sending him forward a bit as Morgan laughed.
"Good for you, pretty boy." Morgan smiled at him, teasingly. "Good for you."
All my flowers grew back as thorns
Windows boarded up after the storm
He built a fire just to keep me warm
All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressin' up as kings
They fade to nothin' when I look at him
Pretty soon a year had passed since the hostage situation which included you being in danger.
A year since you met Spencer, a year of nothing but love and happiness.
Spencer opened the door of his apartment and held it like that so you could get into the apartment before him.
You stepped into the apartment, shaking the snowflakes that stuck to your head on this, quite cold, night in late November. You stood still for a moment, admiring Spencer as he removed his purple scarf before quickly lighting up the fire in the fireplace so that the warmth could spread around your home.
However, you noticed the slight change in his demeanor as you sat yourselfs on the couch near the fireplace. You, however, decided to not say anything because you knew that he would say what he wanted to once he was ready. You didn't want to put more pressure on him, but the plain fact that he was nervous made you extremely so, too.
Finally, Spencer took a deep breath before he turned to you.
"I know that this might seem sudden," Spencer started as he shyly looked into your concerned eyes that watched him talk carefully. "But I feel like I know you for longer than a year. I feel like I've known you my whole life. You complete me in every possible way one person can complete another. You bring immense joy in my life every single day. You show me that life and even people can be good every single day and I believe you despite all of the horrible things I see every day."
You were deeply touched by his confessed, but you were slightly confused because you could quite figure out as to why he was saying all of this to you right now.
"I can't imagine not waking up to you every moment," Spencer confessed, looking longingly into your eyes and you found yourself surprised when the sudden realization that he didn't stutter once drained on you. "I can't imagine seeing you every day, listening to your voice and admiring everything that you do."
Suddenly, he stood up and slowly lowered himself on one knee in front of you. He held out a small box in his hand before he continued to speak. You felt like you couldn't breathe once you realized what was about to happen, what was already happening.
"I simply can not imagine my life without you in it," Spencer continued as tears gathered in your eyes. "Will you make me the happiest man on this planet and marry me?"
"Yes!" You spoke up after you had gotten over your frozen state of shock. "Yes, of course I'll marry you, Spence!" You said, voice full of love as he slipped a beautiful ring onto your finger.
As you sat there by the fire, you knew that you had found the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. The snow continued to fall outside, but you knew that nothing could beat the warm feeling in the apartment and in your heart.
And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right
I did one thing right
I'm laughin' with my lover, makin' forts under covers
Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right
Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night
Two years flashes by to fast for you to keep up it seemed like.
Spencer and you got married as fast as you possibly could. You love each other more than anything and you were ready so you figured why not do it immediately. The life had been a bliss. And just when it seemed like it couldn't be better you found out that you were pregnant.
Spencer was overjoyed. He always wanted to have children, he always wanted to be a father. And now he could do it with the person he most loved, admired and cared for. He truly felt like passing out the moment he found out. And he did, but would always deny it with a blush glued to his face every time Morgan brought it up to tease him.
The moment your water broke all hell broke loose. Luckily, Spencer was at home so the only thing you had to do was to grab your hospital bag, keys and head to the car. You were 100% prepared for this.
However, you always felt like the moment it happened and it was finally time to go to the hospital you would be the one who would go into a panicked frenzy. So it was safe to say that you were genuinely surprised that once Spencer and you managed to stumble into the car and were on your way, you were the one who had the role of comforting the one who was in panic. Spencer was gripping the wheel so tightly you were scared that he would break it. It would be rather amusing if you weren't in so much pain already.
But after hours of labor and excruciating following hours of birth once you felt limp against the mattress, still holding onto Spencer's hand which you gripped so hard, but he never once complained, bless his heart, everything truly was worth it once you heard the loud yet at the same time soft cries of your baby girl.
Now, as you laid in the bed in another hospital room you couldn't move your eyes away from the sweet sight of Spencer sleeping in the chair right next to your bed with your baby girl in his arms. It was truly the sweetest sight you had ever witnessed. Spencer's messy hair was spread everywhere as his arms tightened around your little bundle of joy, but not to tightly to hurt her. The moment he got her in his arms, he wouldn't let her go. You guessed that he was afraid thay something unexpected would happen even though you gave your best to reassure him.
After hours of sleeping once you woke up, you could fall back asleep for some reason. Not that you complained.
You heard the door open and you turned your head that was still pressed against the pillow on the bed at the direction of the door. It was JJ, trying to enter as quietly as she possibly could while carrying a few cups of coffee.
"How are you, mama?" She whispered softly as he took a seat on another chair on the other side of your bed.
"Still a bit sore, but fine." You gave her a small smile that she softly returned. "I'm just so glad that this happened." You confessed quietly as you looked at JJ.
"I made a lot of mistakes in my life," You said as she listened to your every word. "But having our daughter with him... I know that I did one thing right."
I want to wear his initial
On a chain 'round my neck, chain 'round my neck
Not because he owns me
But 'cause he really knows me
Which is more than they can say, I
I recall late November
Holdin' my breath, slowly I said
"You don't need to save me
But would you run away with me?"
Yes (would you run away?)
A few months later another headline was released in many newspapers and magazines. There were a bunch of articles all over internet, too.
The newest addition of the People's magazine was laying on Penelope's dest by her screens. Derek soon enough entered the room with a curious look.
"Hey, baby girl," He greeted as he pressed a kiss on Penelope's cheek, looking over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the newest addition of the magazine. "What are you up to?"
"Why hello handsome," she greeted with a smile before she brought the attention back to the magazine. "Look who made the cover."
And sure enough, on the front cover of the magazine, at the very top, there was a headline written with big, capital letters saying: Y/N Y/L/N MARRIED!? THE MUSIC STAR WAS SEEN WITH HER HUSBAND AND HER BABY OUT ON THE WALK FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!"
Below the dramatic headline there was a picture of Spencer and you holding hands, dressed in warm clothes as you walked around the city on a cold, snowy November night. In front of you there was a stroller in which your daughter, Annie, was in. Your hand was quite visible along with the ring that was clearly a weeding ring. Spencer had his arm around your shoulder, showcasing his ring as well.
On the bottom of the cover there were some other news that were in slightly smaller font. You also released the new song after a long while. The song was called "Call It What You Want" and it said to turn the page 13 for the full lyrics and Derek did just that.
Penelope couldn't help but to let out a screech after she practically showed the magazine in his face. And just as Derek finished reading the lyrics to the song he couldn't help but to smile.
"Good for you, pretty boy," Derek pointed out, happily. "Good for you."
"Give me the magazine back," Penelope excitedly ordered him. "I'm gonna frame this now."
My baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
Call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want
To
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alleycatchitchat · 1 year ago
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as an unapologetic fan of the dreamworks trolls franchise, i have Many Opinions about the upcoming movie, but all i can seem to focus on atm is how wild things would be if the events of movies 1 & 2 hadn't yet occurred and one day john dory pops up out of nowhere looking for branch and the entire troll village tries to process the fact that branch, yes branch was once in a wildly successful boy band
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