#flynn talks to much when he's nervous and that's all i'll say

[cometcrystal]

for the anon earlier. some random pnf headcanons 💯 i might have talked about some of these before but i'll take any chance to talk about stuff i like

i've DEFINITELY talked about this one before but as adults phineas and isabella are divorced besties with a son. they love each other soooo much but the romance part just didn't really work.

yall also already know i hc jeremy as bi but i find it worth mentioning because it was one of my first lgbt headcanons EVER after i figured out i could do that. buford and baljeet were probably first.

eliza and nicolette are endgame. do you see my vision

it doesn't matter to the show whatsoever but i do have ideas for what happened to mr flynn and mrs fletcher. in my timeline mr flynn was abusive and linda left him when she was pregnant with phineas, and mrs fletcher died at some point. idk how. ferb was too young to remember her. i have not worked out how close she and lawrence were but she had green hair

phineas and ferb cure multiple cancers in 10th grade and make the patents open-source

one of my early internet friends turned the drummer in jeremy's band into an oc named hugo.... he was in a situationship with jenny that lasted well past their 30s

speaking of jenny i think she and django disappeared for a bit because their rich artist dad took them to. like. greece or something. for the remainder of the summer and theyre just living their best life on a veranda on the other side of the planet until the school year starts

phineas, ferb, and baljeet COULD graduate VERY early but they purposely stay in the same grade as their friends because they love them. once the acts/sats/ap exams come around though its over for you hoes.

candace and stacy went to horse camp (a week long program during the summer teaching kids to ride horses) every summer until high school. at which point they decided it was For Babies. but they're both still horse girls deep down.

since we know that jeremy has liked candace longer than she's liked him, i think he was a really shy kid. he was too nervous to even look at her some days. when she gave him that pencil that one time, he didn't even say anything. he broke out of his shell later and became a friendly young man but candace still made him nervous. etc etc.

xavier and fred are movie buffs. they're usually logging one film per day. if letterboxd still exists on the future their profiles would be legendary.

jeremy picked the name fred. he was fine with candace already having names picked out, but once they found out they were having twins, she texted him a link to a baby name website and told him to pick his favorite. He picked Fred.

jeremy has written an entire album about candace and its all shit that sounds like Chasing Cars and candace LOVES IT

stacy interning at owca is how she meets her girlfriend vanessa and also how she meets her future wife in uruguay

buford and isabella have ice cream romcom sleepovers and nobody else is invited this is THEIR bonding time

IN MY TIMELINE JEREMY AND COLTRANE WERE AT THE ROBOT RIOT IN THE ORANGE TREEHOUSE ROBOT WHILE CANDACE AND STACY WERE IN THE PINK ONE. #COPING

sometimes the flynn fletcher kids would spend entire days at the antique shop before candace was old enough to watch the boys

this isn't really a headcanon but i want to see some isabella and jeremy bro moments. Because of In love with #TwoCrazyRedheads

Thats the only ones i can think of right now. My hands are shaking

[goldentigerfestival]

We are now on part 3 of the differences in the original Vesperia context (and tone!) versus the dub! Due to Tumblr's image limit, these had to be cut into parts.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 4.

(Other) GTF Favorites.

Yuri just mentions they're not nervous at all here. The dub changed this to "let's have some decency here". Again, super random change that I'm not sure why they put there. They just really have a weird thing for changing really random context.

I NEED to put these ones side by side because this one is completely ridiculous. They had Alexei not only say "urgh!" instead of "hmph", but he sounds like he's getting stabbed. I genuinely do question what on earth they were doing with this game sometimes, but I can also tell they didn't quality check like, anything... if the grammar and awkward sounding English in some places is anything to go by (a lot of NPC/sidequest dialogue in the dub ended up really wonky, and they didn't even go back to fix any of it when the DE came out). Like. What happened here LMAO.

no but really this is just here because i find "lend me your face" very funny because that's what this literally says. it technically does mean "we need to talk/can we talk/etc", i just need some amusement before getting into dub yuri again.

Yuri's tone shifts more to catching his breath and calming down here. Again, as usual, it's a lot less aggressive than the dub makes it out to be. He was yelling this time, but he wasn't yelling the whole way through it like dub Yuri almost always does with Flynn before late arc 2.

I'm not gonna put pictures of all the times there's more vocal nuance (pauses, deep breaths, etc), but just know they're everywhere in the original audio. Really nice touch imo.

Flynn never says anything about "like a good knight". The way the dub uses it with him, and at this point? feels very derogatory, especially having him say it about himself.

This is really just "geez...", but the dub (you guessed it: more aggressively) put "damn it, Flynn...".

Here, Yuri was saying more of just "here we go again with Flynn putting all the responsibility onto himself". Once again, the dub has him angrily yell at Flynn and changes the context to make him angrier.

Flynn didn't tell Yuri what to do. He just said he was going to go after Estelle because it was his responsibility, and that his brigade will focus on Ioder. Again, the dub just makes shit up to put Flynn down (yes, you can probably realize I'm getting annoyed with this fact by now).

Yuri continues his thought by saying "anyway, the ones who will recuse Estelle is us, Brave Vesperia", i.e. he's basically saying "there you go again trying to take responsibility, but we're the ones who will be doing that". Dub Yuri continues his thought, angrily, saying Brave Vesperia's going to rescue Estelle (i.e. he's saying don't tell me what to do, we're going to do this", not "anyway, we'll be the ones to rescue Estelle" in response to Flynn trying to bear that burden.

At this point Yuri has dropped his anger in the original and is more back to his usual self with Flynn. Flynn's response is slightly vocally changed, seeming more shocked-surprised in the dub, but in the original it's more grateful-surprised. Kinda hard for me to explain without a video, so I'll have one in my clips.

Sodia doesn't say she'll return when she can. She's asking that Flynn gets back when he can (which makes more sense in context since she didn't want him staying here and not being with Ioder in the first place). The dub does this sometimes where they get the speaker and person spoken to/about mixed up, like with Aifred and Patty and Don earlier.

Flynn's thanks toward Yuri in the original is much more genuine/heartfelt. Yuri's response is infinitely more relieved, relaxed and grateful, spoken softly (the dub again really flattened his tone).

Here's the clip for this scene.

I really enjoy the original context of this scene because Rita tells Estelle to wake up, Alexei's response is "very well" and he wakes her up with her power, so he's using a taunting power move. In the dub he says "no matter". I guess he means waking her up is no matter? But that feels a bit easy to misinterpret imo? I just feel like "very well" makes more sense given the context.

I'm... NOT sure what happened here in the dub. He says "take us there" and just walks off. Take them... where? Sodia is asking him to return to Ioder, and Flynn is saying he wants to go after Alexei while ordering his brigade to go protect Ioder. Where would they take them? All he's supposed to be asking here is for Sodia to please let him go (after Alexei).

Not gonna make a whole video for this one clip, but Yuri's tone is a lot gentler here and a lot more understanding. As... as usual with Flynn and the dub and the original.

In the dub he says "that's enough", but here he's basically expressing how he's getting sick of various individuals insisting the world's crisis is all because of one person (Estelle).

The dub changed this to "what the hell?!". Personally I find Yuri yelling at him and calling him an idiot to make more sense in the context/fit more in line with his personality.

The dub changed this to saying Yuri can really be a downer sometimes. Once again, a case where I think the original line makes more sense. I'm not saying that just to knife the dub here - I genuinely just think the dub had some really whacky word choices and unnecessary changes, aside from the weird mistakes in the context (again, see the "take us there" and "please" scene).

Also have a video clip of this scene (and the Schwann stuff before it), because while the tone was pretty strongly different for parts of the Schwann scenes, this one was inarguably the worst contender. Yuri in the dub is shouting rudely at Leblanc and his knights. Here, Yuri is just solemnly asking for them to please not get in their way (he uses "tanomu", which is essentially "please"/asking for a favor, etc. It's significantly more considerate than the unnecessary shouting from the dub (and lack of polite wording) despite that they're all in an immense amount of emotional pain right now, and it shows deeply in Yuri's voice here).

As usual, Yuri treats all the knights worse in the dub than he actually really does in the original.

A small change, but figured I'd drop it off here nonetheless. Just Yuri teasing Rita lol.

For the first one, didn't want to make a whole clip for it, but his voice is very soft and sad.

Second one, he says he prays that day never comes, versus the dub's "earnestly".

Yuri doesn't say anything about "showing off" (he specifically calls Flynn reckless) and as usual he's just very casual, relaxed and lighthearted about it. I also have a video clip of this one.

(Flynn doesn't even show off! He's just saving Zaphias! How is that showing off?!)

Yuri doesn't say "look out", which... makes more sense, because the monster isn't attacking yet. He's just realizing the danger and getting Karol out.

Also, Yuri in the original actually says in desperation that he's begging Karol to run. He doesn't say "I told you to get out of here", he's literally begging Karol to run away (again, uses "tanomu" here). Has much more emotional weight in the original and Yuri is very clearly panicked (the dub once again just makes him sound angry and less filled with desperation of getting Karol out of there).

This is another one I have a video clip for.

He's not saying anything about "taking the fun out of it", but rather that the situation is discouraging (the current state of outside), but that they're thriving (thanks to Ioder). Another change I'm... not sure the reason for?

Sometimes they have very understandable changes, but some of them are like this where I just can't pinpoint the reason for it; or if it was a translation mistake, how they made that specific translation mistake.

Slight change, but sounds less sarcastic to me in the original. Given the dub's history with Yuri and Flynn though, I'm not surprised I feel that way...

Buddy I try to be as reasonable as I can be with this dub, but sometimes I gotta draw a line. The way they tried to make Yuri sound cool and edgy by having him straight up threaten Ioder for literally no reason (Ioder isn't even saying anything bad, he's just asking what's going to happen to Estelle and mentioning that Yuri is trying to shoulder the burden of killing her alone) is not something I am getting over lol.

Ioder says maybe Yuri's the one the sword was waiting for, and Yuri mostly playfully just says he'll punch him. He did not threaten him and by all things holy did not threaten to use a weapon against him in a dark, eerie tone like he hated this guy. Yeah, I'm sure he doesn't like the implication of "maybe you should be emperor", but he's not threatening Ioder and Ioder has literally never done anything to deserve being threatened by Yuri. He's very fond of Yuri and extremely considerate to him given that he doesn't have to answer jack shit of Yuri's questions but tells him everything, always, anyway.

Also have a video clip for this one.

The difference here is Flynn is using quotations, implying he understands that "save" may also mean kill, which was completely left out of the dub.

Karol wonders if Khroma wants them to stop Alexei. For some reason the dub changed Yuri's response to "it would add up", but in the original he doesn't bother thinking about it nor considering that it's a possibility (which I imagine is the game's way of hinting to you that she's not referring to Alexei).

The Sword Stair arc has a bunch of small changes littered throughout it, but none of them are too significant so I'm going to skip going through most of this arc as far as those changes go. Generally speaking the sidequests (in the whole game in general, with a few having some minor changes as usual) and Zaude are about the same, so I'll also be mostly skipping those. Video clips are more for tonal differences (or just my personal favorite scenes in JP), so for these particular posts I'll be skipping the majority of those.

Worth mentioning that overall the plot is left alone in translation, and a lot of things are actually pretty much spot on. The majority of the alterations and changes, as you may have noticed at this point, relate primarily to Yuri and Flynn respectively (often treating Flynn poorly or making him sound like a hardheaded law enforcer, which is not the case at all but that is another post entirely for another time).

Once again due to the image limit we'll be moving on to another post!

[interestinglittlerelationship]

Word ask game! Hope, tease, and vanish?

Sorry it took me a few days! I didn’t have any of these already so this is all brand new! Thanks for the ask and the inspiration!

Hope

Willie hasn’t felt like this in a long time. Actually, he hasn’t really felt much of anything in a long time. Heart pounding, hands shaking, nervous and excited, ready for what’s coming.

He’d forgotten how much he loved a good dare, loved the feeling of his too fast heart, the twisting nerves in his stomach right before he did something crazy. It’s something he used to find by jumping off a cliff or skating down something just a little too steep. Willie craved the thrill of the fall.

And Alex is like that, like that moment you’re balancing on the rim right before you drop into the bowl, like speeding down an open road, like freedom, like hope.

But hope is a double-edged sword. When you have something to hope for, you have something to lose. Willie had forgotten what that felt like.

He’d forgotten a lot of things.

Teas(ing)

Julie’s got this teasing lilt to her voice; a lightness about her Flynn has missed.

“Like your one to talk,” she’s saying, the way you would to someone you know better than you know yourself, like your best friend, for example, but Julie’s not talking to her. She’s standing back to Flynn, head turned, laughing at the air to her right, hand twisted around something Flynn can’t see.

And then she’s making a face, and her fingers uncurl, hand pulling back to swat at someone’s chest or shoulder.

“Alex! Reggie! Make him stop!” she shrieks, glancing over her shoulder, but there’s laughter in her voice even then, and suddenly her feet are lifting off the ground, swinging strangely from side to side as she hovers there, giggling.

It’s the happiest Flynn’s seen her in months and she has absolutely no idea what’s going on.

Vanish

She wakes with a jolt, heart pounding, gasping for breath, hand reaching out for someone who isn’t there anymore. Someone she can never quite reach.

She’s so panicked it takes a minute to even register the heavy weight draped over her stomach. The steady rhythm of breathing that’s not her own. Luke’s arm curls around her waist, Alex’s side presses against hers, Reggie’s fingers tangle in her hair.

They’re okay, she thinks, a secret mantra, they’re here with her, exactly where they belong and she feels her breathing slow, even out, and the vice around her heart loosens.

In her dreams she watches them vanish. Flicker and fade until there is nothing left.In her dreams she doesn’t get there in time, or she can’t touch them, or she can but it does nothing but let her hold them while they die. And sometimes she doesn’t find them at all. Those, she thinks, are the worst ones.

Send me a word and a fandom and I'll send you a passage where it appears in my WIPs. If I don't have that word anywhere, I'll write something!

[fanficstartrekouat]

Rapunzel and Kara

Rapunzel, the teacher for the children onboard The USS Fairytale, saw her lessons cancelled due to the recent attacks from hostile alien species. Rapunzel, the teacher, was walking down the corridors of The Fairytale, when she bumped into the young Kara Zor-el and her infant cousin Kal-el. It was difficult for Kara to adjust to life in The Fairytale, due to the destruction of her home world. She was depressed.

Rapunzel: "Sorry Kara, I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?"

Kara (angsty): "NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

Rapunzel: "Kara. Wait, if you want to talk I am here."

Kara: "How could any of you understand the pain I am going through? I lost my family, my friends… the only one I have is this little guy."

Rapunzel: "We may not share your trauma, but we each have pain, and if you'd like Flynn and I would be honored to take you in our custody both you and your cousin. "

Kara: "It's a nice offer and I guess it beats staying alone, but what if I am a burden? You should raise Kal-El at least he won't have the trauma I do."

Rapunzel: "Oh sweetie, you'll never be a burden. I know there might be times where you misbehave or do something that I might need to ground you for, but you won't be a burden. "

Kara: "Promise."

Rapunzel: "Of course, sweetie."

Kara: "I accept."

A week passes since Rapunzel and Flynn took Kara and Kal-el in and the new family dynamic is beginning to settle in. Kara and Kal-el have adjusted to their new home, and Rapunzel and Flynn are working on helping Kara overcome the trauma from the destruction of her home world. Now, it's time for Kara to start schooling, and she's a little nervous about meeting her classmates for the first time. Flynn and Rapunzel comfort her, and they all set out for Kara's first day of school.

Kara (worriedly): "What if they don't like me?"

Rapunzel: "I am sure they will love you. Just be yourself. "

Kara: "But I'm weird."

Rapunzel: "Baby, we all have our quirks and you're not weird. "

Kara: "You're just saying that cause you're my adopted Mom and you have to say that."

Rapunzel: "No silly. I'm not just saying that. Want to know weird? I lived 18 years in a tower until Flynn rescued me. Flynn's real name is Eugene."

Kara (shocked and curious): "What?!? That's crazy! Why were you living in a tower?"

Kara: "You're just saying that cause you're my adopted Mom and you have to say that."

Rapunzel: "No silly. I'm not just saying that. Want to know weird? I lived 18 years in a tower until Flynn rescued me. Flynn's real name is Eugene."

Kara (shocked and curious): "What?!? That's crazy! Why were you living in a tower?"

Kara: "You're just saying that cause you're my adopted Mom and you have to say that."

Rapunzel: "No silly. I'm not just saying that. Want to know weird? I lived 18 years in a tower until Flynn rescued me. Flynn's real name is Eugene."

Kara (shocked and curious): "What?!? That's crazy! Why were you living in a tower?"

Rapunzel: well it's hard to explain but see when my mom was pregnant she ate a flower to heal herself as she had been very ill but the flower embodies me with magical hair. and to activate its power you just need to sing a song and my hair shall glow.

Kara: "O…kay. That's even more bonkers. So you have magic hair because your mom ate a flower to heal herself while pregnant. And to activate it all you had to do was sing a song, and your hair would glow?"

Rapunzel: "Pretty much. Sweetie, what would you prefer: dresses, skirts, or pants? "

Kara: "Hm… well, dresses seem cool, but I'll probably trip over them and I hate tripping over dresses, so umm… skirts,

Rapunzel: "Tell you what, we'll get you all three and you can alternate for whatever you feel like now. Let's get you to the, ummm… section, shall we?"

Kara: "Thanks, Rapunzel." (Kara smiles.)

Kara looks excited to browse through the clothing sections. Flynn and Rapunzel help Kara find a few outfits that she likes.

Flynn (carrying a huge pile of clothes): "Babe, I can't see. Are we done yet?"

Rapunzel: "Almost. We just need to get some bras for Kara." (Rapunzel grins with her signature smile.)

Kara: "MOOOOOOOM!!" (Kara covers her face and blushes in embarrassment.)

Kara realized what she had called Rapunzel. She started to run away in embarrassment. Rapunzel and Flynn chased after Kara, but the Kryptonian ran too fast for them to catch up to her.

Kara (to herself): "Aaaarrrg! I'm so stupid! Why did I call her mom? She can't replace my mother."

Kara realized what she had called Rapunzel and she started to run away in embarrassment. She knew she could never replace her mother, and she was ashamed of herself. Rapunzel and Flynn looked at each other and realized that Kara had run away. Flynn called out to her, but Kara was too fast for him to catch up.

Flynn (calling out for Kara): "Hey! Wait! Kara! Where are you going?"

Rapunzel (worried): "Flynn, we have to find her, and fast! It's a big ship and people get lost. But we're not in the ship, we're in a store and Captain Snow's departure is soon. I'll go explain the situation to Captain Snow, and you search for Kara."

Flynn: "Got it, Rapunzel. I'll look for her as fast as I can."

(Flynn gives Rapunzel a quick kiss on the lips and starts to search for Kara.)

Flynn: "KARA KARA"

He calls out search every nook and corner, not letting go. He sees some people and excuses himself. He shows them a picture he had taken of his family when they adopted Kara and Kal-el.

Flynn: "Excuse me. Have you seen this girl? This is my daughter Kara and my son Kal-el."

The people look at the picture and then shake their heads. They have not seen Kara. Flynn is desperate. He searches higher and higher, eventually climbing to a tall shelf where he finds Kara hiding.

Flynn: "KARA KARA"

He calls out search every nook and corner, not letting go. He sees some people and excuses himself. He shows them a picture he had taken of his family when they adopted Kara and Kal-el.

Flynn: "Excuse me. Have you seen this girl? This is my daughter Kara and my son Kal-el."

The people look at the picture and then shake their heads. They have not seen Kara. Flynn is desperate. He searches higher and higher, eventually climbing to a tall shelf where he finds Kara hiding.

Kara (crying):

Flynn doesn't say anything. He just wraps his arms around Kara and cradles her, letting Kara cry it out. He holds her close and tries to comfort her. After a few moments, Kara wipes away her tears and looks at Flynn.

Kara: "Flynn… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to call Rapunzel my mom. I don't want to replace my real mother… I don't know what to do…"

Flynn: "It's okay Kara. We love you just the way you are."

Kara (depressed tone): "You should just leave me… I am a burden. You're better off raising Kal-el at least he's a baby and won't have all my baggage."

Flynn: "Kara, don't be silly. We want both of you. We understand that there are things like this, but you don't have to call us Mom and Dad if you don't want to. "

Kara: "I want to call you Mom and Dad, but I feel like I am replacing my parents. It's hard… It's really hard. "

Flynn: "I know it is. It's hard… I may not have lost my entire planet, but I never knew my real parents."

Kara (surprised): "You never knew your real parents?"

Flynn: "No, I didn't. I was in an orphanage most of my life. And well, I became a thief before I met Rapunzel. She helped turn my life around."

Kara: "Wow, I didn't know that. I'm so glad that Rapunzel helped turn your life around. How long have you been together now?"

Flynn: "About five years, now. What do you say, want to come back home with me for a nice home cooked meal? You might be Kryptonian, but you have the appetite of a Saiyan."

Kara (amused): "You think this Kryptonian girl can out-eat you? You're on!"

The father and daughter return to the ship with Rapunzel hugging Kara and showering the girl with motherly kisses. Kara is no longer upset, but she is feeling happy and loved. She is grateful to have Flynn and Rapunzel in her life. As for eating, both Kara and Flynn are eager to have a good challenge to see who can eat more.

Kara: "Rapunzel, I'm sorry I ran away and worried you."

Rapunzel: "It's okay dear. Just tell me next time that you need some space. I love you and I am always here for you."

Kara: "Yes Ma'am, now I am going to kick Dad's ass in the food challenge."

Rapunzel: "Language, young lady."

Flynn: "Awwww, come on, I am the champion." (Flynn and Kara grin playfully.)

While Kara and Flynn are competing over who can eat more, Rapunzel is feeding baby Kal-El.

Rapunzel: "Here comes the train. Choo choo."

Kal-El: (baby noises)

Rapunzel (singing to Kal-El): "All aboard the Kal-El train. Destination: Yum Yums Town!"

Kal-El giggles as Rapunzel is feeding him. Rapunzel takes this opportunity to feed him. Kal-El enjoys the food and Rapunzel coos and praises him

Rapunzel (cooing): "That's a good boy. Who's a good baby boy? You are! Yes, you are!

Kal-El continues to enjoy his food and giggles some more.

Both Kara and Flynn have finished their food challenge, with Kara winning. Flynn is a sore loser.

Flynn: "Okay, okay, you win. Well done. But you're only winning because my stomach is smaller than your Kryptonian one." (Flynn sticks out his tongue playfully.)

Kara: "Whatever. Just admit defeat. You can't handle my appetite!" (Kara grins victoriously.)

Flynn: "I'm starting to think you're part Saiyan, Miss Kryptonian, but time for bed."

Kara: "You're only sending me to bed because I won."

Rapunzel: "Kara, you have school tomorrow so it's time for bed."

Kara (whining): "Awww, Rapunzel, I don't want to sleep! Let me play just a little more!"

Rapunzel: "Sorry, Kara. On a weekend, you can stay up as long as you want. But on weekdays, if you have school, you have a bedtime."

Kara (pouting): "Fine…"

Rapunzel: "I'll tuck you in, okay, Kara, besides, you'll love the teacher."

Kara: "How would you know that?"

Rapunzel: "It's a surprise, sweetie." (Rapunzel smiles at Kara, and strokes her cheek lovingly.)

[denerims-archive]

please please please give me 49.

It’s been such a long time since Odelia has felt like this. 

Free.

She’s out of breath, her lungs are burning. Fifteen years or so stuck in a stuffy old monastery has done nothing for her athleticism. Not to mention her leathers feel like they’re squeezing her ribcage and she keeps having to hike up her skirts to bound over carts that astonished, baffled and sometimes very angry salesman are pushing through the market stalls. 

Odelia’s out of breath and her lungs are burning but her laughter is spilling out of her lips as she and Flynn race through Boralus.

“’Scuse me! ‘Scuse me,” Flynn announces to anyone and everyone as he nearly bounds straight into a plank two men are carrying across the walkway. The two of them dart under it, the clinking of the Ashvane thugs’ armor growing ever closer. 

They know these streets like the backs of their hands still. Odelia and Flynn may be stealing important documents - not candies or a noblewoman’s coin purse  -but adrenaline in her veins makes her think she’s twelve again.

The thugs are gaining on them. Flynn heads down a concourse of alleys and out into another part of the market. Luckily, it’s busy and they’re able to disappear into the crowd. 

The pair slows, walking as casually as they can, catching their ragged breaths.

Looking out of the corners of their eyes at each other, Flynn and Odelia flash relieved smiles at each other. 

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your touch,” Flynn comments, tucking the papers into his jacket. 

“Hmph. You too,” Odelia challenges teasingly. 

“Shit,” Flynn says under his breath, eyes straight ahead. Another pair of Ashvane thugs are at the end of the market stall row they’re being funneled through. Odelia’s heart leaps into her throat. 

Looking behind them, she sees the other two that were chasing them, searching through the crowd and gaining quickly. 

“Flynn-” Odelia starts, voice a bit panicked. 

“Do you trust me?” he asks, grabbing a large, wide-brimmed lady’s hat from one of the stalls. 

“Uh, what? Sure-”

“Good enough,” Flynn says, sweeping her in between two of the wooden market stalls and pressing her against the brick wall. It’s wet against her back from the morning’s rain. Any breath she’s managed back is taken from her when he plops the hat on her head and kisses her in one smooth motion. 

It’s a long, deep kiss, shadowed by the hat. Flynn’s hands grab desperate at her hips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulls him closer, brushing her tongue against his bottom lip. He opens willingly, deepening the kiss as he pins her body against his.

They stay like that for what feels like an eternity. 

The last time Flynn kissed her it was nothing like this. It had been an experiment. They were seven and eight respectively, curious about why their oldest friend in the orphanage would risk a paddling just to go out with some prissy girl. It had been a quick peck on the lips, after lights out, underneath the moonlight of the windows. 

“Ew,” they’d both giggled in agreement and had crawled back into bed. 

This, decidedly, was not ew. 

When Flynn pulls away and looks around, Odelia’s cheeks are flushed. From the kiss or the run, she’s not entirely sure but her legs are weak.

He turns back to her and grins widely, his hand still on her hip.

“What a bunch of idiots!” he announces gleefully. Flynn was never one to steal out of greed. He loved the chase, simple as that. His cheeks are flushed from the chase. 

“Yeah,” she laughs, relieved and simultaneously shaken to her core. Gently, Odelia takes the hat from her head and sets it back on the shop owner’s stand. The old woman seemingly hadn’t noticed, too busy trying to sell a whole load of hats to a noblewoman. 

“Come on then. Let’s get this back to Cyrus,” Flynn says, straightening out his coat. When he leaves her, Odelia aches.

“Right,” she nods, joining him in the crowd once more.

It takes her the entire walk to put her head back on right again. Flynn doesn’t seem to notice, chattering away as usual. More than once, she touches her lips to stop them from tingling.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Total Drama Villains x Reader || Drabble Set

Plot: You forget to take a towel to the shower and only realise after the shower, so you open the window to stick your head out and ask whoever's out there (Hoping someone is out there) to grab you one but to your chagrin- there's just a villain.

Includes: Chris, Heather, Mal and Scott.

Warnings: Mmmm, I dont think so. Swearing? A kiss?

~~~

All:

You slowly look around the room, very very aware of the fact that you're naked and cold in a room that does not have a great lock on it. "Ohhhhhh no." The words come out low and steady... but are just brimming with panic.

No. Towel.

No towel!!

Finally you gasp, covering the bottom half of your face with your hands and looking at the benches and the sinks in dread. You accidentally came in here without a towel!!

The sudden sound of footsteps out the back of the cabin rips a gasp from your throat and you lunge at the window, unlatching the lock and opening it to see who it is. Before you even stick your head out, you're calling for whoever it to stop. Please. Hold on! I need your help!

Chris McLean:

*You are an adult camper.

When you actually see who's standing out there, you groan. Chris McLean stands outside on the grass, hands in his pockets and an intrigued look in his eyes. He know's he's about to be amused, or he's going to amuse himself depending on what kind of trouble you're in- or what kind of help you apparently need.

"What's up?~"

"Nevermind."

"Oh no no no! Come on, you can confide in Uncle Chris, cant you?"

A whine tumbles out of you. Uncle Chris?? Grooooooooss. He see's and acknowledges your disgusted reaction to him calling himself that, but just giggles. He doesn't leave, to your utter annoyance.

What other choice do you have?? Rolling your eyes, you look down at your feet instead of meeting his beady eyes and wiggle your toes. And mutter suuuuper quietly, half hoping he doesn't hear you. "I forgot to bring a towel... and I really need one... " And, this part you say especially quietly. For seriously asking Chris fucking McLean for a hand would be akin to letting your dignity pack its bags and fly the coop. "... and would you please get one for me... "

"... Sorry, I didn't catch that. What didja say?"

Oh god. A little louder, you say shortly. "... I forgot a towel... "

Chris smirks at that, rolling back on the feels of his feet. "And? What would you like from me, Y/N?"

Finally too frustrated to keep playing this stupid game with the show's host, you snap your eyes up to his and cross your arms. "Fine! Damnit. Get me a towel, please."

Immediately, a cat like grin slowly spreads across Chris' face. Its the most evil thing you have ever seen.

"Now why would I do that when I could get Chef here to send in a buncha rabid bats with you and flush you out?" Christ teases - no, threatens. But then again, does he know the difference in the first place? - , that famous, alabaster white, terror instilling grin on his face as usual. "Now that's, good TV!"

You groan, head falling back on your neck, in frustration. "Chrr-ris!!"

"Ha ha! Well? What do you expect?" You cant argue with that, but you cans till groan again. "Okay, fine. I'll get you a towel! But what will you do for me, heh? Nothing comes for free."

"Oh, don't I know it. I've been on this show for 3 seasons now." For some reason.

"Heh heh."

"Fine, I'll... " Ugh, something for Chris... You blow air out of your cheeks slowly, in thought. What would Chris like? Well, he'd sure get kick out of you getting one of your friends hurt but that's sure as hell not happening. Finally, after a few moments, you get an idea. And scowl. "I'll be sure to drum up some drama for you. Good TV, right?"

"For sure! Promise?~"

Sighing, you lean tiredly on the window sill. "Oh, I cross my heart and hope to die." You promise him like he's a child, which he basically is. Chris McLean has got the maturity level and the intelligence package of a 7 year old on crack.

"Wicked! Heh heh, this'll be good. Okay, hang tight. I'll be back."

You smirk at his retreating back.

~

When he finally gets back and hands you a towel - a much nicer towel then what you and the other campers have been using. Which is nice? But also, you cant help but worry about what kind of strings might be attached to it, - through a crack in the door, you carefully wrap it around your body and tightly tuck it in.

"I'll want that towel back" He snaps, cranky. Why?? He could've just gone and gotten you your towel! "I imported that from Fiji!"

Of course he did.

Now you take a deeeeeeep breath, gathering all your courage, and killing the butterflies reeking havoc in your stomach. Then open the door again and grab hold of the front of Chris' signature teal shirt and wrench him close before he can walk too far off.

And you smash your lips together and slam your eyes tightly closed.

When you pull back from the kiss - a horrible, unpleasant, bad kiss, - you immediately wipe your mouth with your arm and let him go. But when you reveal your mouth again, you're for damn sure smirking at the stunned man. "Is that dramatic enough for you, Chris? A camper and the host? Scandalous- I bet we'll be front page news."

Then quickly you lock yourself inside the bathroom again, not really caring for his reaction- which only comes, finally, minutes later when you're half way dressed.

"DAMN IT Y/N!!"

Heather:

"Hm." Heather crosses her arms, an evil smirk on her lips- opportunity has knocked on her door. Or, the inside of the shower cabin. "You need something from me. Well! What will you do for me return? Hm?"

As expected. "I will vote for whoever you want me to at 2 different instances of your choice going forward. Except for myself, I wont vote myself out."

She thinks for a moment, but definitely looks pleased. "Three, different instances of my choice."

Fucks sake- "Fine! Just- please! I'm getting cold and one of the boys could come in here at any time and see me butt ass naked!!"

Uncrossing her arms and setting her hands on her hips instead, Heather laughs. "Oh- one of these boys? Shower? Haha. Have you smelled them??"

You blush darkly at her joking with you; At your worry but not your expense, before shaking your head of silly feelings and usher the pretty girl Heather, forward. "Go! Go! Get my towel already."

"Be right back." She rolls her eyes, heading off.

~

When she gets back, she reaches up to the window with the towel and you gratefully take it, beginning to dry off any drips from your body and get dressed as quickly as possible. "Thank you Heather!!"

"Mhm, yeah. Sure."

A few minutes later when you leave the door, Heather's waiting for you on the porch and you basically have a small stroke- jesus christ, why is she there!? STILL!?

"Oh, relax. I'm just cashing in some of your part of the bargain." She sneers, walking closer to you and pressing a sharp fingernail into your chest. "Dont forget, you owe me now."

"I remember Heather, we did this like 10 minutes ago."

"Good." She smiles, a tint of evil to it still. Pleasantly surprised that you're being so obedient. She leans back. "Okay, so Gwen's got to go. You got that? She's out. Vote for her and you're third done with your debt to me."

"Yes ma'am." You smirk, brushing by her and stalking off back to your cabin to put away your things.

Heather watches, hands on her hips and her own smirk on her lips. You might just be useful out of this bunch of losers. Not quite a diamond in the rough, but... better, at least. For sure. "Hm."

Mal:

"Oh- Mike!" You exclaim excitedly as soon as you see the lanky, dark haired boy. What luck!!

But then he slowly turns around; A dark, sinister grin on his face and hair over one eye. And your heart immediately drops.

This is not Mike. Neither is it Chester, Svetlana, Vito or Manitoba- any of which would have been just fine alternatives for this moment.

This has to be fucking Mal. You've met him before, and absolutely nevermind on the luck front.

"Nope." Yep- the grizzly, deep voice that responds to you can belong to no one other then Mike's chaotic evil alter. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. You continue to chant curses in your head as he turns around fully and comes forward, looking up with evil glinting in his eyes at you like a twisted Flynn Rider to your Rapunzel.

The kind that makes you rather stay inside your tower- its safer here then out there with him. You don't go out to meet the rabid pit bull!!

"Ummm, nevermind! Go about your business, I'm fine here. See ya!"

"Oh no. What'd you want from little Mikey?" He asks, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side, cruelly inquisitive. You chew on your bottom lip. Damn it; You've peaked his interest. Fuck.

"Um... " The sound comes out quiet and insure as you look down at the grass before his feet instead of his face. You're so nervous. "Well, I... I forgot my towel before I took my shower, and uh... I was just gonna ask him if he could go get me one."

For a moment, he's silent. Your gaze flickers up to his face to see an utterly wolfish look on his face, eyes gleaming with mischief before averting your eyes again to the grass.

Then a loud puff of hard, unpleasant laughter escapes him. He doubles over, holding his stomach as he guffaws at your embarrassing situation. You roll your eyes and cross your arms.

"Oh shut up," You snap, bravely- making him cut off his laughter immediately and look at you. You dare to fucking talk to him like that? "Come on, go get me a towel, please!! I'll owe you one."

After a moment, he stands up straight again and crosses his arms. Yes, he could do something horrible to you right now to teach you not to talk back to him; but it looks like you're going to struggle without his help. All he has to do is watch! "Hmm, nope!"

"Come on!"

"Not gonna happen."

"Ugh." You groan, leaving the window and Mal and plopping down on a bench. Fucking bastard.

This is so awkward. Especially since you know he's still out there!! And he could send someone in at any time.

... Minutes later, and you're still dripping wet but now freezing fricken cold, a towel is flung in through the still open window and lands on the wet floor near your feet. Your eyebrows fly up your forehead, as you look from it in surprise and to the window.

Mal's voice calls through it. "There! Its no fun if you just sit and bear your punishment." Huff. You can just imagine the cute boy - the look works for Mike, but is just very odd on Mal, - crossing his arms and setting his jaw, or even pouting. His voice just sound sooo frustrated. "I'll get you another time, anyway. Everyone will go down, eventually."

"Oh... mhm, oh sure." I mean, I can at least listen to his evil babble since he got me a towel, you think as you start drying yourself down and getting dressed.

A moment after you've got your shirt on, the door is kicked open and Mal stands on the threshold, making you jump. "Jesus christ!- "

"Kiss thank you?"

"Get outta here!" Absolutely not!

Scott:

Peering out from the window, you nearly miss the boy leant up against the cabin beneath you, in fact you would have- if it weren't for his bright orange hair. You gasp, unintentionally getting his attention and smiling brightly when he looks up to find you. "Scott!"

A confused, yet somehow still evil expression paints his face. "Y/N?? What are you doing?"

"Well farm-boy, how do you feel about giving a lady a hand??"

Scott snorts, getting off the wall and stepping back to see you properly. "Lady? I don't see any lady here."

Oh- Bastard. You look back into the bathroom before disappearing from the window for a moment before returning, and promptly clobbering him with an empty shampoo bottle. "You see her now!?"

"Ugh... yeah." He grumbles more malleably now, much more open to suggestion as he rubs his forehead. "Sure, now I see her... ow."

Now you feel a little bad. He looks so pitiful when he's in pain... and yes he's a rat but... its still not okay to hurt someone. You aren't Chris. And also you're getting colder and colder as the water drips unimpeded down your skin and maybe its making you soft. "Ohh... okay, I'm sorry."

He glances up at you, surprised at your apology. "Ahh, no problem, I guess... " Did someone just apologise for whacking him on this show? He crosses his arms, raising a curious look to your disembodied head. "Uhh, what'd you need a hand, with?"

"I... kinda... forgot a towel... could you please go get one for me??"

For a moment you watch his eyes narrow and a wicked grin flicker at the corners of his mouth and get anxious that he's going to ask for something in return- before he rolls his eyes and just shrugs, turning and heading off to the cabin. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Be right back- try not to gather too much attention, haha."

As he walks off, you duck under the window again, sighing in so much relief. "Thanks, Scott!"

~

When he returns, you're waiting at the door and crack it open just enough to get the towel from him immediately- which you quickly wrap around yourself comfortably and sigh. "Thank you so much!"

"Hm. No problem." He huffs, wondering why the hell he did this for you anyway and crossing his arms again.

From inside, you carefully ask: "Are you gonna get weird if I hug you now?"

Immediately Scott's ears go bright red and he quickly loses every little bit of cool-guy vibe from a moment ago. "I-In your towel?? N-No!! I mean- yes!" He rubs the back of his neck, looking away from the door like its you, or he'll accidentally spontaneously develop x-ray vision and damnit, he's a gentleman. "I mean... " Or at least he tries to be.

Grinning, because Scott's unexpectedly cute now that you've flustered him, you quickly open the door, hug him quick, then close the door again and shout 'BYE'.

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

PART TEN

:Masterlist:

A/N: And that’s a wrap! Ahh, writing this series has been so fun and I’m so glad that so many of you have liked it so much. Thank you guys for staying until the end and hopefully for upcoming stuff 👀 I hope you enjoy the finale of In Life, In Death... <3

(Also the song mentioned in part six and this part is ‘She Is Love’ by Parachute) <3

-

December 1994

Luke groaned as he woke up, squinting hard to try and adjust his eyes to the amount of light in the room.

Even before he could see clearly, he knew he must've fallen asleep in the studio judging by the soreness in his back and neck that he always got when he slept on the old couch. It couldn't have been more than six in the morning, and Luke could still feel the tiredness in his bones. So he tried to turn away from the light and hopefully fall back asleep, but there was something keeping him firmly in place.

His heart skipped when he looked down and saw that you were laying right next to him with your head on his chest and an arm thrown across his stomach. When he realized that his own arms were wrapped around you, his heart broke out into a full-on tap dance.

Waves of confusion ran through his still-foggy brain until he saw his guitar case propped up against the piano and his backpack on the floor with his clothes spilling out of it.

Then the events of last night quickly came back to him.

How he had gotten home late from rehearsal and his mom was waiting in the kitchen with his latest report card and her signature lecture at the ready. One minute he was standing there yelling, packing all he could fit into his bag, and the next, he was halfway to the studio with the rain soaking him head to toe.

He had expected it to be empty when he finally got there, but he was flooded with relief when he saw you. All the frustration slowly melted out of him the longer he laid there with you, leaving him feeling exhausted and shivering despite how warm he felt.

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about any of it, but when you asked, the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

He remembered rambling and crying again, the sound of your voice and the feeling of your fingers in his hair warming him up even more. Then finally, he remembered falling asleep with his chin tucked on top of your head, the smell of your shampoo filling his senses.

Without thinking, Luke reached down and carefully pushed a piece of hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ear and smiling to himself when you shifted into his touch. Then taking in a sharp breath as the realization ran through him all the way down to his toes.

You were his best friend.

The person he wanted to see at the end of a long day. Whenever he was full of anger or lost in confusion, all he had to do was look at you and everything suddenly made sense again. With your pretty smile and laugh, and your way of flipping that little switch inside him that made his head all fuzzy and the ground start spinning under his feet.

You were his best friend, and he was in love with you.

-

2020

All you felt was a mixture of anxiety and nausea as you stood on the Orpheum's street corner, biting the tips of your fingernails.

The entire plan hinged on Willie and Teddy getting everything done in time, and considering that they had betrayed you all before, you couldn’t help but expect the worst.

“Look, don’t worry. Willie said he’ll get us on that marquee.” Alex said nervously as he kicked pebbles across the sidewalk.

“This is going to work, right?” Reggie asked.

“It has to.” Luke mumbled, wincing seconds later when another shock hit them.

Two sharp pops cut through the air behind you and you all whipped around to see Willie and Teddy standing just a few feet away. Willie was watching you all carefully with concern written all over his face, his eyes lingering on Alex longer than anyone else. Teddy stood at the edge of the group, practically burning a hole in your face with his guilty stare.

“Are you guys okay?” Willie asked.

“Yeah, nothing we haven’t felt before.” Alex laughed awkwardly. “How’d it go?”

“Well, when the opening band wakes up, they’ll find their bus two hundred miles out of Vegas.” Willie said with a proud smile as he did a spin, showing off his stolen jacket with the band’s name across the back.

“With absolutely no chance of getting back in time.” Teddy added.

Luke gave Willie a fistbump and pointed up to the office above the Orpheum. “That means there’s probably a promoter up there freaking out right now.”

Willie grinned, sarcasm laced in his tone. “Nah, man. This is Hollywood. I’m sure he’s being very professional.”

You laughed and then Alex slowly inched forward, clearly struggling for the right words to say to Willie. You gave his arm a quick squeeze before following Reggie and Luke down the street to give them space. Before you even got halfway down the sidewalk, Teddy poofed next to you.

“You know, If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you don’t want to talk to me.” He joked.

“Teddy-”

"I just-I didn't want to leave things the way we did." He rambled. "I'm sorry, I should've told you everything that night in the diner-"

"Teddy, It's okay." You said. "You told me before Caleb could put the stamp on me, and you didn't know the details about the plan until after it was too late to help my friends. Plus, I know how much you're risking helping us now."

As soon as the words left your mouth, you felt some of the weight fall off your shoulders. You weren't sure why since the situation was still a little painful and awkward. But being around Teddy always made you feel a little like that kid who started working at the diner with Cece all those years ago. Besides, they were so alike that you found it hard to stay mad at him.

You held out your hand for Teddy to shake. "Despite everything, I'm glad we met."

“Likewise, Gorgeous,” Teddy said with a relieved smile as he grasped your hand. With a subtle wink, he nodded over towards where Luke was standing at the end of the street. “He’s a lucky guy.”

"What? How did you?-" You sputtered as he stepped away. You never told Teddy about Luke, or at least you didn't think you did.

Teddy just smirked in response before disappearing into the air. At the same time, you saw Willie skate away out of the corner of your eye, leaving Alex alone on the sidewalk.

You all phased next to him and Luke squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah. I'm good." Alex smiled slyly as he gestured to the office. "Looks like this show needs a new opening act though."

You grinned. "Let's go see if we can help with that."

-

When you got back to the studio, you found Julie pacing back and forth in the middle of the room as she wrung her hands together.

When you all poofed in, she immediately jumped into a load of questions, losing her breath halfway through and flailing her arms around.

"Whoa, just sit down," You laughed excitedly. "We'll tell you everything."

Julie took a gasping breath and plopped backwards onto the couch then stared at you all with expectant eyes. "Well?"

"It worked!" You announced. "Everything's fine."

"You should be getting the call...now!" Alex pointed to Julie’s phone on the table just as it started buzzing. You all cheered and Julie shushed you as she answered the call.

You heard a woman's voice say something through the phone and Julie gave a thumbs-up as she started jumping on the couch. You watched in amusement and mild horror as Luke and Reggie lifted Alex up into the air and spun him around.

Once he was back on the ground, Luke and Reggie made a beeline for you, each of them grabbed one of your arms and flipped you upside down over their shoulders.

You all spent the next twenty minutes laughing and screaming and Alex even got a little teary-eyed but you pretended not to notice. Then Julie called Flynn and ran off excitedly to decide her outfit for the night, leaving the four of you alone to plan out the setlist.

“Okay, so I’m thinking we start with Stand Tall.” Luke said excitedly as he wrote the words down in his songbook.

“Sounds good.” Reggie said, suddenly quiet.

“’Sounds good’? Guys, I wanna hear ‘That sounds awesome!” Luke reached out and nudged Reggie’s shoulder. “I know this isn’t the way we imagined any of this. But we need to be all in tonight. This is our second chance to play the Orpheum!”

“I get it.” Reggie sputtered. “But it’s hard. Do we even know what’s on the other side when we cross over? Do we still get to hang out together?”

You shifted your weight as the happy little bubble surrounding you popped. You had been so wrapped up in the excitement of finally playing the Orpheum that you almost forgot what tonight was really about.

“You guys are the only family I have.” Reggie’s eyes were glued to the piano as he played with his fingers. You reached out and locked his arm with yours in an attempt to comfort him.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen either. But it’s not like we have a choice.” Alex said.

Suddenly, Reggie’s arm fell out of yours as all three boys fell back, clutching their sides.

“I’m pretty sure we do.” Reggie groaned. “And it rhymes with ‘Hollywood Ghost Club’.”

The garage doors creaked open and Julie appeared with a bright smile and a blue garment bag in her hand. When she saw your expressions, her smile fell. “What’s wrong?”

“We just got hit pretty hard by one of those jolts.” Alex said. “But we’re fine.”

“Oh, good.” She nodded, though she still looked on edge. “I’m nervous.”

“That makes two of us.” You said. “But we made it this far for a reason. We got this.”

“Can you ride there with me? I'm gonna need more pep-talk material for the drive there cause I still think I might puke.” Julie tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Of course, and don't worry, we’ll leave the windows open.” You joked, making everyone laugh.

The sound of a car horn cut through the air and Julie looked outside. "That's my dad. Are you ready, (Y/n)?"

You nodded. "Yeah, uh, give me a second. I'll meet you in the car."

As Julie disappeared behind the doors, you turned to the boys and sighed as you tried to soak up this moment. For all you knew, this could be the last little window of time you had alone with them before tonight.

Julie was a huge part of the band of course, but these were your boys. The ones who you started this all with, who had been by your side for everything.

From the look on all their faces, you could see that they were thinking the same thing.

Without saying a word, you launched yourself at Alex. He made a surprised noise but recovered quickly, throwing his arms around you and holding you tight.

"And I'm the emotional one?" He jokingly muttered in your ear and you pinched his side, making him jump back. "Rude."

As soon as your arms were open, Reggie stepped forward and hugged you so tightly that you were thankful to not need oxygen anymore because he was definitely crushing several vital organs.

You laughed and gave him one last squeeze before pulling away, locking eyes with Luke instantly.

Alex cleared his throat awkwardly and grabbed Reggie's shoulder, steering him over to Luke's songbook to 'check out the setlist again'.

"And then there were two." Luke joked.

You laughed and stepped into his waiting arms, making him laugh. You soaked up the feeling of comfort and familiarity for a minute before pulling away.

"This, uh, is for you," Luke said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. You knitted your eyebrows together in confusion as he handed it over. "I wanted you to have it in case...well, you know. If tonight doesn't work."

"It will." You said, trying to ignore the fact that it very well could happen. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Patterson."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He quipped back, his voice sounding softer and less teasing than you would've expected. You pulled back from him and because you didn't know if you would ever get another chance, you stood on your tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

You moved away too fast to see his reaction but the gesture made the other two boys smirk at you as you dashed out of the doors, making a beeline for the car pulling out of the driveway.

-

The back rooms of the Orpheum were a maze.

You had left for a few minutes to walk around the venue and clear your head, trying to wring out the last of your nerves.

By the time you found your way back, you expected to find the rest of the band rushing to get ready in the dressing room. But all you saw was Julie anxiously pacing as she had been earlier, a habit she seemed to have inherited from both you and Alex.

“You okay?”

She snapped her head up towards you and sighed. “Yeah, just a little worried. The guys aren’t here yet.”

You looked around the room and then at the clock, frowning. The show was in less than half an hour and that was already cutting it close. Part of you wanted to go check on them but Julie seemed to need you more at the moment.

“Okay, well, give them another ten minutes. I'm sure they'll be here. They wouldn’t miss this…again.”

You ran your palm across the front of your pocket, feeling Luke's note next to your parent’s photo, and hoped you were right.

But then more and more time passed until the stage manager came to escort Julie to the stage.

"Just a second!" She calls out and then turns to you. "(Y/n), something's wrong. They were getting those jolts pretty hard before we left. They must've run out of time."

You shut your eyes tight as the words sunk in. All you could bring yourself now was, ‘This isn't what was supposed to happen.’

The world fell out from under your feet and you had trouble even standing up straight as you imagined what must've happened to them. Your best friends, your brothers, your family was gone and there wasn't anything you could do about it.

The guy knocked again, this time a little harder and with a nervous tone. Julie chewed her lip as she looked between you and the door and you could almost see the cloud of grief settling over her.

As hard as it was, you tried your best to shove your feelings down and marched up to Julie. There would be time to fall apart later, but you knew that this what they would want you to do. "Let's go do this for them, okay?"

She took a deep, shaky breath before hesitantly nodding. You followed closely behind her as she walked out the door though the halls until she reached the stage. You waited beside Flynn in the wing as Julie settled behind her microphone and addressed the crowd.

There were scattered claps from around the venue and then she took a deep breath before singing the opening.

After the first few lines, you took your cue and materialized at the center of the stage. The crowd gasped and cheered the way they always did, but you kept your eyes shut tight and focused on the music.

Just as the song started picking up, you heard a familiar pop in the air and then the sound of drumming. You whirled around to see Alex mounted onto a drum set at the back of the stage, twirling his drumsticks around and smiling like he had never been gone at all.

Once you got over the initial shock, you wanted to cry with relief. They were okay, they were here. Alex winked at you goofily, and you ran towards Julie’s keyboard.

She had started bouncing on the balls of her feet, both of you finally getting into the song now that they were coming back. You followed suit, dancing around the base of the drum set as yours and Julie’s voices came together.

Then Reggie appeared on the other side of Julie and you ran to his side. You bumped his shoulder with yours and he grinned, moving to stand back to back.

The song was ramping up to the chorus when a staticky noise cut through the air, not loud enough for the crowd to hear but enough to make you all look over to the other end of the stage.

You could see Luke's form fading in and out, a look of anguish on his face, and the pit in your stomach opened up again. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Alex's drumming paused and Luke finally materialized to sing the opening of the chorus.

You didn't even know you were moving until you suddenly found yourself across the stage next to Luke, unable to stop smiling as you sang.

Julie joined you, throwing her arms up in the air happily and jumping around. Reggie appeared by her side, flashing the crowd a winning smile.

Alex stood up and gripped his mic as he sang this solo. You looked back at him and flashed him a proud smile, then whooping loudly when Reggie sang his lines.

You all went down the line hitting your notes until the chorus kicked in again and your heart felt so full you almost couldn't stand it. This was what you were so close to achieving before you died, it was all you had wanted for years, and you knew that if you hadn't died, that night would've changed your life. But this night was something even more special. Because you were all here, all together.

Even if it was just for one last song.

Julie caught your attention and nodded towards the platform that spread out into the crowd. You followed her to the center and stood back to back as everyone cheered.

The guys joined in on either side of you, Alex grabbing one of your hands and Luke holding the other. You all bowed to the audience before taking your cue and vanishing, leaving only Julie on stage.

You landed in the wing, feeling a little lightheaded and overwhelmed from all the emotions you had experienced in the last five minutes. The elated smile fading from your face when all three boys poofed by your side only to fall to the floor instantly.

“It didn’t work.” You said miserably as Julie emerged into the backstage area. She grabbed Flynn and whispered something to her, pointing in the direction of her family. Flynn nodded and disappeared into the crowd while Julie ran to your side.

You hauled Alex onto his feet, letting him lean on you to stay upright while Luke and Reggie trailed behind Julie as she led the group back to the dressing room. Once everyone was inside, they collapsed on the couch or the floor, loudly groaning in pain.

“What happened? Why didn’t it work?” Julie asked tearfully.

“I guess playing here wasn’t our unfinished business.” Alex said hollowly.

“Point Caleb.” Reggie muttered as he clung to the side of an armchair.

You stood frozen next to Julie as panic spread through your whole body, both of you flinching in sympathy as the shocks continued.

“You have to save yourselves right now.” Julie begged. “Join Caleb’s club. It’s better than not existing at all!”

“She’s right.” You managed to say, your voice shaky and almost giving out. Your stomach flipped at the thought of them having to work for an evil club owner forever, but the alternative was worse. “You guys need to go now! For me. For us.”

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie shook his head.

Luke pulled himself up and stumbled forward a little so that he was right in front of you. “No music is worth making if we’re not all making it together.”

You sighed sadly, thinking back to your conversation yesterday. “So no more regrets?”

Luke let out a deep sigh and then reached up and cupped your cheek with his right hand. “Just one.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in response and Luke blinked hard as if he was trying to find the words. "I never told you why I left that night."

"Luke, don't." You gave him a weak smile. "I get it."

"You do?" He asked.

You struggled to get the words out. "Yeah, I mean it was bound to happen eventually. We just got too close and it was weird for you. I understand t-”

"What?" Luke asked, cutting you off with a confused look. "No, no, that's not it at all. Read the-"

Before he could finish, you heard Julie gasp loudly from a few feet away. You looked over to see her stepping back from Alex with an awestruck look on her face as she gripped his forearms.

Wait, what?

Before you could even begin to process what you were seeing, Reggie was reaching out to Julie, who grabbed his wrist and hauled him up to his feet. The three of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Julie turned to you and Luke.

“Guys, come here.”

Alex reached out and pulled you into his side while Luke threw an arm around Reggie’s back and Julie brought you all in closer to her. At first, nothing happened. But then there was a faint buzzing sound and the boys lifted their wrist towards the ceiling and you all watched in awe as the stamp floated away in the blink of an eye.

“Whoa.” Reggie said, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. “I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Alex agreed. “Not that I ever was that weak in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes and let your head fall over on his shoulder. “What do you think that means?”

Luke smiled. “I think it means the band is back.”

It was quiet for a second before Alex looked at you all shyly. “You guys think we can try that hug thing again?”

You laughed as you huddled together again, sniffling and laughing. Then Julie yelled out that you had played the Orpheum and then you were all jumping around, still tangled in each other’s arms.

Eventually, you all broke apart and while the boys started chasing each other around, you turned to Julie. She looked into your eyes and immediately flew into your arms, muttering into your shoulder, “I always wanted a big sister.”

The words warmed your heart and you squeezed her extra hard, grateful that you actually could now. “Well, I’m honored.”

“My family's probably looking for me so..." Julie stepped back from your arms with the biggest smile you’d ever seen on her face, you jokingly bowed to her and she copied the gesture before disappearing behind the door.

You wiped the last of your tears out of your eyes and turned around to find Alex and Reggie were talking in whispers and wearing knowing smiles. When Alex saw you looking, he cleared his throat and nudged Reggie’s shoulder.

“Hey, Reg.” Alex said cheekily, not taking his eyes off of you for even a second. “I was going to check out the next band. You wanna come with me?”

“Sure!” Reggie started strolling towards the door, stopping only for a second to nudge your shoulder and whisper ‘don't do anything I wouldn’t do’ in your ear.

Alex fixed Luke with a pointed look over his shoulder and Reggie gave him a dorky wink before they poofed away. You smiled fondly at the space where they were just standing and awkwardly turned towards Luke.

“Hi.” You said, laughing awkwardly.

“Hi.” Luke muttered back as he stepped forward until he was close enough to grab your hand. “About what I was saying earlier…”

You opened your mouth to say something but he shook his head and pointed to your pocket. “Read it. Please.”

You tugged the note he had given you earlier out of your pocket and carefully folded it open to see that it wasn’t a note at all. It was the love song that Julie had found that day in the garage, the one that he didn’t want anyone to see. You struggled a little trying to decipher Luke's handwriting. The ink was a little smudged and the song was clearly unfinished but it was the most beautiful thing you had ever read. And he had written it for you.

"I didn't leave because we got too close," He said. "It was the opposite, (Y/n), I left because I was scared to lose you, and I know that doesn't make sense because I kind of did w-"

You carefully tucked the paper back in your pocket with one hand and grabbed the back of his neck with the other, pulling him down and closing the last bit of space between you.

Luke's brain short-circuited for a second before he started kissing back, grabbing your waist with enough force to nearly knock you both backwards. It was dizzying and a little desperate, yet weirdly familiar, as if you'd been kissing him your whole life.

Most moments with Luke felt like they were happening in slow motion, but this time it was like a high-speed movie montage of your whole lives. The stolen crayons, the time capsule, the pre performance pep talks, the smell of cinnamon, the ferris wheel, his jacket, the movie nights and songwriting sessions. All of it had led up to this moment.

"I love you." Luke said immediately after you pulled away. "God, I love you so much. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."

“Hey, it’s okay.” You laughed, blinking another wave of tears out of your eyes. “I should’ve told you forever ago instead of skirting around it.”

“And what is it that you should’ve told me?” He said teasingly and you rolled your eyes. You had gotten so used to Luke being so shut down or nervous around you that you almost forgot how much of a little shit he could be.

“That I love you too.” You said, unable to stop smiling.

Luke leaned down and captured your lips in another kiss, this time threading his fingers through your hair as he cupped your cheeks in his hands. “I’m never gonna get tired of hearing that.”

You bit your lip to keep another laugh from bubbling up as you looked up at him, feeling completely overwhelmed in the best way possible. "So...what now?"

"I don't know." Luke admitted. "But I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"That no matter where we go, or what we do," He pushed a piece of hair behind your ear. "In life, in death... I'm yours. Always."

-

The End

-

In Life, In Death Taglist:

@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @charliegillespiewife @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16 @dangerouslyclose @iainttakingshitfromnobody @givemebooksorgivemedeath @sunsetcurvedotmp3 @askgeoff @mayleenicole5676 @puppy11148 @vampire7595 @wackyworrieruniverse @reallysparklychaos @lovelydaydreams15 @rachmmb @musicismyescape27 @stackie4ever​ @spidermankenobi

(Strikethrough means I can’t tag you)

JATP Taglist:

@caitsymichelle13 @sunsetcurvej​

Let me know if you want to be added!