#football is such a thing on thanksgiving and the weekend after

[blueskrugs]

I Love You (It's Ruining My Life) | Nick Blankenburg

this is a christmas fic. in july. for demi @wyattjohnston's birthday. which was in june. does the earliness of one make up for the lateness of the other? uh. happy birthday/happy holidays, I guess? fear of commitment / secret admirer / stranded / high school sweethearts / exes to lovers length: 6.4k words

Nick Blankenburg is the boy Olivia will never get over. 

There’s a framed photo in her mother’s living room from seven years ago of Nick and Olivia at senior prom. Nick’s tie and boutonniere matched Olivia’s red Sherri Hill dress and corsage. In her heels, she was a couple of inches taller than him. Olivia sees it, sees them nestled in between the rest of their family photos, every time she’s home. She loved that photo; Nick is smiling softly at her, hand on her hip as she laughs at something one of her friends was doing off-camera. There’s a blooper of that photo, of Nick making faces to keep Olivia laughing, because “her smile is better that way.” That was her phone lock screen for months after that day. 

Sometimes she wishes she could hide that picture frame now, or throw it into the fireplace and watch it burn.

But that would be dramatic. 

Dramatic like Nick breaking up with her two months after high school graduation, saying he needed time to “figure some things out.” Dramatic like Nick hardly talking to her for weeks before he dumped her, after they’d been dating for three years. 

Olivia had cried for weeks. Nick had been her first boyfriend, her first love. Washington was a small town, and almost everyone Olivia knew had married their high school sweetheart and settled down. She’d thought that would be her and Nick, too, until Nick decided to set his sights on bigger things. 

Olivia pretended to get over it and moved to Ann Arbor in the fall. Nick seemed like he was always over it, and he moved to Detroit to join Victory Honda. 

Olivia threw everything she had into school. She joined a sorority, joined clubs, started coaching a local girls’ soccer team. She was doing well.

By the time she was in her third year and one of her sorority sisters was telling her about the cute overage freshman named Nick who had joined the Michigan hockey team, Olivia is doing her best impersonation of a girl who finally got over her high school boyfriend.

It doesn’t stop her from dropping her phone on her face when her friend Paige leans over from her perch on the end of Olivia’s bed to show her the newest member of the hockey team. Nick Blankenburg’s smiling face stares back at Olivia from Paige’s phone screen.

“It says he’s from Washington, d’you know him?” Paige asks, oblivious. She’s already resumed scrolling.

“Yeah, uh,” Olivia says. “I think we went to high school together.”

“Oh, cool,” Paige says, continuing her blithe scrolling again. 

Olivia thinks that’s the end of it. Hopes it’s the end of it. She doesn’t frequent hockey games these days, and since Nick spent two years in juniors instead of heading straight to Michigan, it’s unlikely they’ll be crossing paths on campus any time soon. 

Then the football game against Ohio State rolls around. Olivia’s boyfriend Austin had traveled from Ohio to Michigan for Thanksgiving with Olivia’s family, and he stuck around through the weekend to go to the game at The Big House. Austin sticks out like a sore thumb, decked in all red, in a sea of maize and blue, but he good naturedly kisses Olivia at kickoff, ignoring the jeers of the crowd around them. 

Michigan loses. It’s a bit of a blowout. 

Someone from the next section over shouts something at Austin. He turns to shout back, tightening his arm around Olivia’s waist as they try to make their way out of the stadium with the rest of the crowd. Olivia’s not sure who starts it, but someone starts shoving. Olivia gets caught in the middle of it, jostled to the side as a fight starts. There’s more yelling. Someone pushes Olivia from behind, then from the side, and she falls. 

Or, starts to fall, until someone catches her. It’s oddly reminiscent of the time Olivia met Austin, at another Ohio State versus Michigan football game her freshman year, and someone had bumped into him, causing him to spill a soda on Olivia. 

She looks up into the face of the hands that caught her. “Nick?” she blurts. Nick’s grip on her elbows gets tighter, before he realizes he’s squeezing and lets go. He helps Olivia to her feet again. The crush of the crowd shoves them together, and Nick’s hands slide to Olivia’s hips to steady her. She’s still staring at him in awe, as if she’s never seen him before. 

Nick still hasn’t said anything. Through the crowd, someone takes Olivia’s hand. Austin. She turns to find him, following as he tugs her away from Nick. 

“Who was that?” Austin asks, leaning in close to speak in Olivia’s ear. Olivia cranes her neck around, but Nick’s lost to the crowd again. 

“No one,” Olivia says. “It was no one.” She’s not sure if she’s trying to convince herself or Austin. 

It seems impossible to continue to avoid Nick around Ann Arbor after that. Michigan’s campus has never felt so small. She sees him in the library, studying intently with his headphones on. She sees him walking across campus, always with a few other rowdy hockey players. She sees him waiting in line for coffee at Sweetwaters in the student union. Nick tries to talk to her, once. 

They were crossing paths on campus, and Nick reached out a hand. He was alone, for once.

“Liv, hey,” he’d started. Olivia takes a second to look at him properly for the first time. He’s grown up a little since they left high school, but he still looks like the same sweet Nick she used to know. She pulls her arm away from him.

“I’m late for a class, sorry,” she said. She was heading in the opposite direction of the Education building, and she thought Nick might know that. She walked away before Nick could get another word in. He never tried to talk to her again after that. They share smiles every once in a while; Olivia’s always feel fake.

The years pass. Olivia graduates, gets a job as a fourth grade teacher in Detroit. Austin moves in with her. She finally stops thinking about Nick.

When Nick signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Paige takes the liberty of forwarding every single Instagram post about him to Olivia. Olivia FaceTimes Paige just so she can flip her off. Paige spends the next year and a half making it her personal responsibility to keep Olivia updated on her ex-boyfriend—every injury, every goal, every time he’s sent back down to the AHL. 

Olivia tries not to pay any attention to it. Keyword: tries. 

Austin and Olivia drive back down to Ohio a few days before Christmas to visit his family in Columbus. Olivia very carefully doesn’t mention that Nick had been called up a few weeks back the entire drive. It had caused a fight, once, when she mindlessly dropped into a conversation about the Blue Jackets that she knew Nick. She’s never talked about him around Austin again. 

Later that night, when Olivia is standing on the curb outside of Austin’s parents’, her bag by her feet, tears drying on her cheeks in the freezing air, she’s briefly grateful for Paige’s incessant updates on Nick. At least she knows that the only person she knows in this awful city isn’t actually two hours away in Cleveland. She pulls out her phone with shaky hands. 

God, she hopes Nick hasn’t changed his phone number. 

The phone rings for so long that Olivia thinks Nick won’t answer. She swears under her breath and starts to pull her phone away from her ear to call an Uber instead when she hears a muffled, “Hello?” on the other end of the line. It sounds like she woke him. 

“Nick?” Olivia asks. A car drives by, kicking up dirty slush, and Olivia flinches. There’s a moment of silence. “You know what, never mind, I’ll just—” Olivia goes to hang up the phone again, but Nick cuts her off.

“Liv? Hang on, what’s wrong?” There’s shuffling on Nick’s end of the call. He sounds wide awake now. “Where are you, are you in trouble?”

“Can you come pick me up?” Olivia whispers. 

“Text me your address, I’ll be right there.” Nick hangs up.

Olivia’s numb by the time a car pulls up to the curb in front of her. A familiar figure jumps out of the driver’s seat and runs around the front of the car to pull Olivia into a tight hug. Olivia lets herself hug Nick back for a brief second, before he’s pulling away again and reaching for her suitcase.

“Liv, it’s freezing, what the hell are you doing standing out here?” he asks. He ushers her to the passenger seat and throws her suitcase in the back of the car. The heat’s blasting, and Olivia thinks Nick turned on the seat warmer for her. Her teeth are chattering. 

Nick pulls away from the curb. Olivia settles back and lets the suburbs of Columbus turn into a blur outside the windows. Nick allows her to wallow in silence for a few minutes before he turns to Olivia at a red light.

“You didn’t tell me what happened, or why you needed me to pick you up in the middle of the night from the fucking Columbus suburbs,” Nick says. He doesn’t sound angry, just worried. Washed in the red glow of the stoplight, Olivia can see the way his eyebrows crease. 

“Never gave me a chance,” Olivia manages. Nick shoots her an unimpressed look, but the light turns green again, saving Olivia from Nick’s gaze. 

Nick’s CarPlay is softly playing Taylor Swift on shuffle. Olivia lets it cycle through a few songs before she speaks again.

“Austin and I broke up,” Olivia says. 

Nick, to his credit, doesn’t ask who Austin is. Olivia’s pretty sure he never unfollowed her on Instagram. He’s probably seen all of her sappy posts from the last six years. 

Nick just clicks his tongue and says, “Sorry, Liv, that’s shitty.”

Neither of them say anything else for the rest of the drive to Nick’s apartment. Olivia gawks out the window as they approach what is, apparently, Nick’s building.

“What?” Nick asks, pulling carefully into a spot in the parking garage.

“Nick, this is bougie as hell.” Olivia has never felt so far from Washington, Michigan in her life.

Nick shrugs as he puts his car in park and climbs out. He pulls Olivia’s suitcase out before opening her door for her. “It’s not that fancy.”

Olivia smacks him on the chest. She’s struck, suddenly, at how solid Nick’s become now that they’ve grown up. Now that they don’t know each other. The reminder of how different they are, how far they’ve come since high school, shocks Olivia into silence as she follows Nick up the elevator and to his apartment door.

He shoots her another worried look over his shoulder as he unlocks the door. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you still cold?” He pulls Olivia by the wrist across the threshold and over to his couch. He turns on the gas fireplace, which Olivia raises her eyebrows at.

“Not that fancy,” she murmurs. Nick’s still bustling around, turning his heat up, disappearing into his bedroom and re-emerging with an armful of blankets, dressed in sweats and a ratty Michigan T-shirt. He throws a blanket at Olivia’s face. She rips it off, sputtering, before she realizes what it is. “You still have this?” she asks, incredulous.

The blanket in question is a T-shirt blanket, emblazoned all over with Romeo High School—dozens of Nick’s high school T-shirts, cut up and quilted together by Olivia’s mom after they had graduated. Olivia has a matching one, laid across the foot of her bed back in Detroit. 

Nick looks sheepish for the first time since he picked up Olivia. “My mom, uh, helped me move in here, and she wanted to make sure I was never cold, I guess.”

The blanket looks worn, like it’s been used and washed dozens of times since they were eighteen. Olivia doesn’t call Nick out on it. 

Nick settles on his couch next to Olivia. “I’m, uh, driving home first thing in the morning if you want to come with,” he says awkwardly.

Olivia chuckles wryly. “Not like I’ve got anywhere else to go,” she says. Her mother is going to be so shocked when Olivia shows up on the doorstep in the morning. Olivia was supposed to come back from Ohio with a ring on her finger, not lugging back a broken heart. 

“Oh. Right,” Nick says. They lapse into stiff silence, until Nick yawns.

“You don’t have to stay up on my behalf,” Olivia says.

Nick looks over at her. “Nah, I’m fine.” 

He pulls out his phone, so Olivia does the same, content to scroll in silence for a while. Until Nick starts laughing quietly at something on his phone. Olivia stretches out and pokes him in the thigh with her toes.

“What’s so funny?”

Nick locks his phone sheepishly. “Nothing.” When Olivia raises her eyebrows at him, he relents. “Kent keeps sending me these tweets about me, they’re kinda funny, I guess.” 

Olivia feels her heart skip a beat, but she tries to mask it. She nudges Nick with her foot again. “Tweets about you? I need to see these.”

Nick blushes and tries to hold his phone farther out of Olivia’s reach. Her eyes narrow. That’s as good as a challenge, in her mind. Before she can think better of it, Olivia lunges across the couch for Nick’s phone. Nick jerks back, laughing, but Olivia manages to grab ahold of his wrist. 

“Liv,” Nick says, but then they’re wrestling for the phone. Nick’s still laughing. Olivia’s struck, again, at how much bigger Nick is than when they were still in high school. In the scuffle, Olivia ends up halfway in Nick’s lap, but she’s also successfully clutching Nick’s phone in her hand.

Olivia says a quick prayer that Nick is too sentimental to change his phone passcode. (It’s his mom’s birthday.) Nick half-heartedly swipes at the phone as it clicks unlocked.

God bless Karin Blankenburg. 

“Liv, c’mon, you don’t—” 

Olivia isn’t sure what the next words out of Nick’s mouth are going to be, because she cuts him off by bursting into laughter. She’s swiping quickly through the photo gallery in Nick’s message thread with Kent Johnson. Tweet screenshot, tweet screenshot, random golf photo, another tweet screenshot. They’re mostly innocuous, or vaguely thirsty, or rants about how Nick is underrated by the Blue Jackets organization and how he should get more playing time.

“Liv, what’s so funny?” Nick complains. He sounds put-out, and Olivia glances up from his phone to look at his face. He’s blushing again.

“Nick, like half of these tweets are mine.” From an anonymous Twitter account no one in her life knows about. Nick gapes at her. “I thought I had it locked down, but I guess some have slipped through.” She should check to make sure that account is still private, actually. Nick gapes at her. “What?” Olivia asks. Satisfied, she locks Nick’s phone and hands it back. 

 “I didn’t know you still paid any attention to me,” Nick says. Olivia hasn’t moved from her position in Nick’s lap. 

“A lot of it has been against my will,” Olivia admits. A lot of her tweets were posted under the influence, as well. Nick raises an eyebrow in question. “My friend, Paige, has made it her personal mission to give me a play-by-play of your entire career. Guess I was more invested than I thought.” 

Nick’s gaping at Olivia again. She wishes he wouldn’t look at her like that. She shifts uncomfortably back to her end of the couch.

Nick doesn’t say anything.

“Hey, uh, do you mind if I use your shower?” Olivia asks, trying desperately to break the awkward silence she has created. “I’m still a little cold.” In truth, she’s warmed up a bit, but she doesn’t think she could bear to sit in the same room as Nick for another moment. 

Nick seems to shake himself. “Oh, yeah, of course.” He points towards his bedroom. “The, uh, bathroom’s through there. There should be a couple extra clean towels and stuff in the closet. Use whatever.”

As Olivia stands to root through her luggage for a change of clothes and her toiletry bag, Nick does the same but slips into the kitchen. Olivia feels a tightness in her chest she didn’t realize was there ease. She sighs. 

When Olivia emerges from the shower twenty minutes later, smelling of Nick’s soap and only feeling marginally more like herself, Nick’s still hiding in the kitchen. He’s eating Christmas cookies, and he looks sheepish when he sees Olivia, like he’s a little kid caught sneaking into the cookie jar.

“Are those your mom’s cookies?” Olivia asks. Karin’s Christmas cookies were practically legendary back home in Washington. Olivia has missed them every year since Nick broke up with her.

Nick smiles. “Yeah, she sent me some a few days ago.” Olivia doesn’t bother pointing out that he’ll be home the next day. He holds the Tupperware out to Olivia. “D’you want one?”

“Is that even a question?” Olivia says, snatching the Tupperware. She slides onto the stool next to Nick at the counter, digging for a gingerbread cookie. Nick’s knee nudges hers. “These are the best cookies I’ve ever had. I thought I would die without ever having them again.”

Nick chuckles and gently slides the Tupperware away from Olivia. “That’s a little dramatic.” At Olivia’s skeptical look, he continues, “My mom loves you. She would make you cookies if you asked.” 

Olivia takes another bite of her cookie instead of responding. Olivia’s on her fourth cookie when Nick yawns. 

“Dude, go to bed,” Olivia tells him. Nick opens his mouth to protest again. “You’re the one driving back to Michigan tomorrow, and I’m obviously keeping you up. Go to bed.”

Nick rolls his eyes but gives in. “Fine, I’ll see you in the morning.”

The door to his bedroom is shut before Olivia can figure out what happened. 

Later, Olivia’s most of the way to sleep when Nick’s door creaks open again. Olivia hears Nick’s quiet footsteps as he creeps over to the couch Olivia’s laying on. She cracks her eyes open.

“Sorry,” Nick whispers. “I just wanted an extra blanket.” 

There’s four blankets Olivia isn’t using piled at the end of the couch. Nick carefully pulls one off. In the dim light, Olivia watches as he wraps it around his shoulders like a cape. She shuts her eyes again as Nick’s footsteps recede. 

“Liv?” Nick whispers. Olivia can barely hear him.

“What, Nick?” 

“I thought you hated me,” he says.

“I could never hate you,” Olivia murmurs sleepily. She’s asleep before Nick's door even shuts again. 

The next morning, Nick’s up early. Olivia groans and rolls over, burying her face in one of Nick’s throw pillows. She rolls back over when the scent of fresh eggs and toast reaches her nose.

“You made breakfast?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Nick replies, the duh implied. “Come over here, and eat while it’s still hot.”

Olivia reluctantly drags herself off the couch and takes her place at the counter next to Nick. Nick’s knee bumps hers again as he slides a plate towards her.

“No coffee?” Olivia jokes.

“We can stop for Starbucks before we hit the road.” 

For some reason, Olivia wasn’t expecting that answer. She can’t come up with a witty response, so she eats her breakfast in silence.

Nick clears both of their plates when they’ve finished, starts the dishwasher, wipes nonexistent crumbs off the countertop. Olivia looks around Nick’s apartment. It’s pretty much spotless, except for the nest of blankets Olivia left on the couch. Nick’s bags are packed and stacked next to Olivia’s by the front door. The apartment’s nice, but it doesn’t feel lived in. Olivia guesses it really isn’t much, since Nick’s been grinding down in Cleveland most of the season. 

“Ready?” Nick asks, jolting Olivia out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, sure, just lemme—” grab my bags, is what she was going to say, but Nick’s already hefting his duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbing the handle of Olivia’s suitcase. “Uh, yeah, let’s go.”

Nick leads the way back down to his car. Olivia watches as he tosses their bags in the trunk, then steps over to the passenger door to open it for Olivia. When he slides into the driver’s seat, he tosses his phone to Olivia. 

“Order yourself some Starbucks,” he says. “My order’s marked as a favorite, add that in, too.” 

Olivia sticks her tongue out at Nick as she unlocks his phone. “Like I would not order you something.”

She taps in her order while Nick drives to the nearest Starbucks. He makes a face when he hands Olivia her drink.

“How do you even drink that? Is there any coffee in there? Also, it’s iced, and it’s December.” Nick takes an appalled drink of his own hot coffee as Olivia sips her own very light, very sweet, and very iced coffee.

“Maybe you’re the one with shitty taste in coffee,” Olivia retorts, zero heat behind her words. When they were still in high school, neither of them drank coffee. Just another thing about Nick that changed without Olivia knowing.

Coffees in hand, they finally get on the road towards Michigan for real. Olivia had slept poorly on Nick’s couch, so she’s looking forward to dozing for a little while. Except, Nick chatters nervously for the first forty-five minutes of the drive. He even drowns out the Christmas playlist (her own) that Olivia cued up on his CarPlay. 

Olivia fights off a yawn. “Nick, you can just ask.”

Nick cuts himself off mid-sentence. “I don’t know what you mean.” Olivia gives him a flat look. Nick blushes and stares out the windshield instead of glancing over again. He sighs. “Why’d you and what’s-his-face break up?”

“Austin,” Olivia replies automatically. She notices Nick shake his head at her. She hesitates. “I thought he was going to propose this week,” she admits.

There’s a pause. “I don’t get it.”

“Austin told me that if I wanted a ring, I’d have to move to Ohio,” Olivia says. 

“What?” Nick asks. His immediate outrage is a little funny. “Liv, I’m sorry, that’s so shitty.” 

Olivia shrugs. “There was a fight about me wanting to stay in Michigan when I graduated a few years ago,” she says. “He never wanted to live in Detroit. I guess I sorta always knew this would happen, and I was just delaying the inevitable.” 

Nick clicks his tongue at her. “You love Michigan. Even in high school, you always talked about how you never wanted to leave.” 

Olivia can’t believe Nick remembers those conversations they had about the future. “I can’t believe you remember that,” she says.

Nick looks away from the highway for a moment to give Olivia a disbelieving look. “Why wouldn’t I remember that?” he asks.

Olivia doesn’t have a good response to that.

They’re both quiet for another few miles. 

“My turn,” Olivia asks, over the sound of The Carpenters playing on the car’s speakers. Nick makes a face, but doesn’t protest. “Why’d you break up with me?”

The question had been plaguing Olivia for years. She had thought she’d finally outrun it, but it followed her all the way to Nick’s car, all the way down I-75 towards Michigan. Maybe if she could get Nick to answer her now, she could finally truly move on. As soon as she could get out of this fucking car, that is. 

Nick sighs. “Liv, that’s not fair.”

“How is that ‘not fair’?” Olivia snaps. “You got to ask me a question, now I’m asking you.”

“Because I never liked that asshole you were dating, and I wanted to know what he did to break your heart.” 

“You never even met Austin!” Olivia says. 

“I didn’t need to,” Nick says. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel. “He got in that fight at the football game, and let you get pushed around.” “Nick, oh my god,” Olivia laughs. “It was a game against Ohio, all kinds of shit gets started at them.”

“He never should have let you fall,” Nick argues.

“Dude, that was like four years ago, how are you still upset about this?”

“He never deserved you,” Nick says.

“You never even met him!” Olivia says again. “And why do you even care so much? You dumped me after graduation.” Nick winces. “Why’d you break up with me, Nick?” she asks again.

“I didn’t want to hold you back,” Nick says,

“Hold me back? From what?” Olivia asks, but Nick talks over her.

“You were going off to Ann Arbor, I wasn’t even going to college.”

Olivia scoffs. “Nick, you moved to Detroit. That’s, like, 45 minutes from Ann Arbor.” Nick shakes his head. “And you ended up at Michigan a few years later, anyway. And you’re literally in the NHL now!”

Nick sighs again. “You’re not getting it, Liv. I worked my ass off to get where I am. I walked on to the team at Michigan. I never should have made it all the way to the NHL, but people took chances on me. I didn’t want you waiting around on some kid who wasn’t even good enough to get a second look from anyone for years. Would you have really wanted to be a senior, dating some stupid sophomore?”

“I don’t know! You never gave me the chance to decide that for myself. I never cared about the hockey, Nick. I just really loved you,” Olivia says quietly. “Wait, we’re literally the same age. Just because you were a sophomore by credits doesn’t somehow make you two years younger than me.” “That’s what you focused on?” Nick asks, but he’s laughing. His face becomes serious again. “I wasn’t ready to start thinking about the future. I was just trying to hold onto hockey for as long as I could back then. I knew everyone expected us to settle down like everyone else in town does, but I couldn’t do that.”

“I did think we would get married one day,” Olivia admits.

“See!” Nick says. “I felt like everyone had this idea, this plan for us, but I wanted to make my own plans. I don’t know, I guess I got scared of the idea of my future being written by someone who wasn’t me.” 

Olivia looks out the window, at the dirty snow along the highway. She thinks she gets it. She had this idea of what a perfect life with Nick would have looked like, and when she didn’t get it, she tried to mold Austin into all the gaps in her life that Nick had left behind.

“We were just kids, Nick,” she says softly. 

Nick chuckles wryly. “And when have you ever known kids to be good at talking about big things?” he asks. 

Olivia has lost track of how long they’ve been driving. She’s not even really sure how far of a drive it is back to home, but Nick seems to know the way. His GPS isn’t even on. They lapse into silence for the duration of another song, then two.

Finally, Nick breaks the silence. “So, now what?”

Olivia huffs out a laugh and scrubs at her face. “Cry. Delete the Pinterest board I had for wedding planning.” 

Nick shoots her a sideways look. “People actually do that?”

Olivia laughs again. This time it’s more real. “Dude, I’ve been working on this board since we were in high school.”

Nick doesn’t respond to that, though his cheeks look a little pink. Olivia wonders if she went too far. Nick had just admitted he had been scared off by everyone basically planning their wedding when they were eighteen. She’s about to open her mouth to apologize, to take it back somehow, when Nick speaks again instead.

“We’ve still got a ways ahead of us, I can shut up so you can get some rest if you want.”

Although Olivia had been planning on napping in the car when this little road trip started, Nick’s sentence makes her sit up straighter. 

“Nicholas, why would I want you to shut up?”

“I don’t know how you don’t hate me, Liv.”

Olivia could smack him. “Would you stop that? I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to hate you, dumbass.”

“But I broke your heart—”

“When we were eighteen! I was never angry at you, Nick, just confused, really.”

Nick falls silent. He’s quiet for long enough that Olivia does start to doze off.

“I missed you more than I hated you,” she whispers before she falls asleep. 

It takes Olivia a moment to reorient herself when she wakes up again. The car has stopped. Nick’s still sitting beside her in the driver’s seat, Christmas playlist still playing over the car’s speakers. Olivia looks blearily out the passenger window.

“This isn’t my house, Nick,” she says warily.

Nick gives her a sheepish look as he pushes open his car door, at the same time the Blankenburgs’ front door opens, and Karin appears.

“My mom wanted to see you,” he says. 

Olivia huffs and pushes her car door open, too. Karin is still standing on the front porch. Nick makes his way up the stairs, but his mom is focused on Olivia as she trails after him.

She reaches to pull Olivia into a hug. “Oh, Livvy, it’s so good to see you.”

Olivia stiffens, but hugs Karin back after a moment. “You too, Mrs. B.” She probably hasn’t seen Nick’s mom since before they broke up. “Merry Christmas.”

“Olivia, you know you can call me Karin.”

Olivia is physically incapable of that, actually, but she grins at Karin, anyway. 

Nick reappears on the front porch. Olivia hadn’t realized he’d stepped inside, but the door wafts all kinds of delicious smells from inside the Blankenburgs’ house as it swings shut. Olivia’s stomach grumbles. They must have driven through lunch.

“Okay, Mom, you got to say hi,” Nick says, stepping to Olivia’s side. “We should let Liv go, I’m sure she wants to see her own family.”

“Oh, they’re already all inside! So are your brother and sister, we’ve just been waiting on you two!” 

“What?” Nick and Olivia ask in unison. They share a bewildered look.

“Well, when you told me you were bringing Livvy home, I just invited her family over for brunch.” Nick and Olivia must still look confused, because she continues, “You know I always make too much food. And right now it’s all getting cold, so c’mon!”

Karin leaves Nick and Olivia on the porch.

Olivia looks sideways at Nick. “D’you think she made cinnamon rolls?” Olivia used to love it when she was allowed to sleep over on Saturday nights (in Katrina’s old room, while Nick slept in his own) and Karin made them fresh cinnamon rolls Sunday morning. 

Nick rolls his eyes, but he grins at Olivia. “All you care about is my mother’s cooking, huh?”

He pulls open the door for Olivia, still grinning. Olivia elbows him as she slips through the front door. She follows the smell of food and sound of laughter down the hall to the Blankenburgs’ formal dining room, Nick trailing after her. Every inch of the house is decked out in Karin’s Christmas decorations, and the dining room is no exception. The only thing Olivia is really focused on, though, is the table, piled high with food, and the two empty chairs at one end that are clearly meant for Nick and Olivia. They share another look, but everyone is waiting for them, so they take their seats. 

Brunch is great, if a little awkward. Nick’s brother and his girlfriend are home, so are Katrina and her husband. It’s nice to catch up with them, in between Karin grilling Olivia on her life over the last seven years. Karin’s cooking is as good as Olivia remembers it. She eats two cinnamon rolls. 

Olivia is in the middle of cuddling Katrina’s little boy when Karin says, “Oh, Livvy, it was such a surprise when Nick told me he was bringing you home. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me you two got back together!”

Nick and Olivia say, “Oh, we’re not—” at the same time Olivia’s mom says, “No, Olivia’s been with Austin, oh, what, six years now?”

An awkward silence falls over the table. Olivia realizes she probably should have told her mom the real reason she was coming home early from Ohio. Nick clears his throat as Olivia pushes her chair back from the table. She hands Katrina her squirming toddler back. 

“Mom,” Nick starts, but Olivia cuts him off.

“You know, Mrs. B, thank you so much for having us all over, but I’m pretty tired. Nick’s couch isn’t the most comfortable to sleep on.”

Nick shoves his chair back, too. “I’ll take you back home, Liv. I’ve still got your bags in my car, anyway.”

Karin stands, too. The dining room suddenly feels too small. She gently takes Olivia by the elbow. “Here, Livvy, let me pack up some leftovers for you.” Olivia follows her to the kitchen.

She overhears Katrina hiss, “You made her sleep on the couch?” as they head into the kitchen. Olivia waits obediently while Karin plies her with Tupperwares of leftovers and Christmas cookies. 

“It really was nice to see you, Livvy,” Karin whispers. “You know you’re always welcome here, remember.” She looks like she wants to say something else, or maybe hug Olivia, but Olivia’s too busy trying not to drop anything. 

“Thanks, Mrs. B,” Olivia whispers back. 

Arms full of food, Olivia bypasses the still-awkwardly silent dining room and sneaks down the hallway to where Nick is waiting for her by the front door. He looks upset, still, but his face relaxes when he sees Olivia. 

“Geez, did my mom give you enough leftovers?” he asks. He takes a few of the Tupperware containers off the top of the stack. When Olivia doesn’t crack a smile at his teasing, his face morphs back into something like concern. “Liv, you okay?” he asks.

Olivia forces a smile. “Yeah, just ready to go home.”

It starts to snow again on the way back to Olivia’s childhood home. Nick doesn’t need a GPS to get there. He pulls into the driveway and puts his car in park. Neither of them make any move to get out of the car. Nick turns the radio off and turns to face Olivia.

“Liv, you okay?” Nicks asks again. 

For the first time since she stood on the freezing curb the night before, Olivia starts to cry. 

“No, I don’t know—” She takes a shaky breath. “When we were together, I used to think I had my whole life figured out, then we broke up, and I was so lost. I started dating Austin, and I could finally see a plan for the future again, and I clung to that idea of a perfect happily ever after with him for so long, but it was all just a lie, and now I’m 26 and single again—”

“Hold on,” Nick interrupts, “26 is not that old, Liv, oh my God.” He sounds like he’s about to laugh, which makes Olivia giggle, too.

“I thought I was going to be married to you by now!” she protests. 

To her surprise, Nick doesn’t shut down. Instead, he laughs for real. “Liv, if you’d married me, you’d still end up living in Ohio, babe.”

Olivia makes a face. Nick laughs harder. “Okay, but, like—” She doesn’t have a good ending to that sentence. In a desperate attempt to avoid Nick’s knowing gaze, she flings open the passenger door and dashes up the front steps to the door.

She distantly hears Nick swear and throw his car door open as well. He runs up the stairs after her, putting himself between Olivia and the door. 

“But what, Liv?” he asks, breathless.

“Nick, I don’t know.” She does know. “I think a part of me always knew Austin wasn’t the right person. I guess, maybe, Ohio wouldn’t be too bad with the right person.”

It’s freezing outside. Nick’s warm breath fans across Olivia’s chilled cheeks. 

“And who’s the right person, Liv?” Olivia doesn’t answer, refuses to meet Nick’s eyes. Nick huffs. He captures Olivia’s chin gently between his finger and thumb and tilts her chin up until she has no choice but to look him in the face. “How ‘bout this: do you think we could try again, Olivia?” he asks. 

Olivia swallows hard. “I don’t know, Nick—”

Olivia thinks about desperately calling Nick the night before when she needed help. Thinks about the blanket her mom made him years ago still laying on his bed every night. Thinks about brunch at the Blankenburgs’, the inexplicable feeling of home, there with her family and Nick’s. 

Thinks about Nick, standing in front of her now.

“They say long-distance can be pretty hard, Blankenburg,” Olivia says. 

Nick scoffs, eyes warm. “Who cares what they say?” Nick’s leaning in now. “Please tell me I can kiss you.”

Olivia laughs and winds her arms around Nick’s neck. “I guess I’ll allow it,” she teases.

“Fuck’s sake,” Nick says under his breath. “You guess.” Then he’s kissing Olivia, both hands tight on her hips, fierce and sweet at the same time, years of unspoken words passing between them.

Olivia makes herself pull away. Nick pouts at her. “Knowing our parents when they get together, we probably have a few hours until Mom and Dad come home.” Nick grins, already knowing what Olivia’s going to say next. “Would you like to come inside?”

Nick kisses Olivia again, quick, before dashing off the front porch to his car. Olivia watches as he hurriedly pulls her bags out of the trunk. 

“Liv, I thought you’d never ask.”

Olivia watches, a smile on her face, as Nick excitedly makes his way back to her. Long-distance may be hard, but with Nick, Olivia thinks it’ll be worth it. Besides, everyone always says that “home is where the heart is,” right? Olivia thinks home is wherever Nick Blankenburg is. And maybe one day, he’ll sign a contract with Detroit, and they’ll both get to come back home to Michigan.

[dckweed]

ROSES ARE RED, RESERVATIONS ARE EXPENSIVE, YOU'RE LUCKY I FUCKIN' LOVE YOU, gator & pearlie

summary: just a little valentines blurb for our love bugs Gator and Pearlie, a day late lmao

warnings: fluff, mentions/allusions to sex, pregnant!reader, reader referred to as pearl or pearlie extremely minimal use of y/n, gator being sweet on valentines day

series masterlist

Almost a year you and Gator had been married, and it already felt like a lifetime, but in the greatest of ways. Your little craftsman house was just buzzing with life in the past seven months, your little sisters moving in with the two of you after Gator had taken care of things with their father. You were like your own little family, school pick up and drop offs, sports and music lessons, family suppers most nights of the week. Gator would sit dutifully and help with their homework, and even downloaded games onto his Xbox to play with them and it had become your favorite weekend morning ritual to hear the three of them animatedly going about it sprawled on the living room floor, bowls of cereal haphazardly forgotten about on the coffee table.

The holidays had been fun too, Gator had dressed up with you guys as the characters from Scooby-Doo on Halloween, even going as far as to take Freddie to the groomers and have them dye his fur to look like Scooby. For Thanksgiving, he taught your sisters about football while you cooked an entire meal for your small group, his dad and Karen having spent the holiday with her parents, he even lead everyone in going around the table to say what they were thankful for, which you thought was so adorable. And Christmas? He went all out. Overboard, even. The inside of the house was all you, though he had dutifully helped you pick out a big thick Douglas Fir to fit right next to your front window, and he had helped you decorate it with your sisters, scooping both girls up even though they were much too big for it so they could both put the angel on top of the tree. He had then wrangled them outside to help him set up the yard decorations that he had spent an ungodly amount of money on just so he could make you your own winter wonderland in the front yard.

New Years had been one hell of a party, your sisters knocking out just as the clock struck midnight. You and Gator had shared a kiss and even a slow dance to ring in the new year before he looked down at the girls with his hands on his hips. You had told him to just leave them, let them sleep on the couch, but he had carries them to bed anyway, his back muscles and biceps flexing. Something about watching him be a Dad to your sisters was so mesmerizing, and maybe it was the hormones, maybe it was because your husband was just so damn hunky, but neither of you got any sleep that night as you made a compete mess of the living room couch and floor..and even the kitchen table.

You refused to call the Superbowl a holiday, something that almost cause a rift in your home as Gator had your sisters on their sides, but nonetheless you still hosted a bunch of his highschool and work buddies. You and a few of the wives and girlfriends had gotten started talking about valentines day, especially the ones with kids who has been given lists of things for class room parties (you had yet to see a magical list but you were sure it would appear soon), which caused the guys to start talking about how annoying and unnecessary Valentines day was, among the voices you heard your own husband say something about how manly it was.

Which was why you were surprised to wake up on February the 14th to a bouquet of roses on the pillow next to your head. You hadn't even mentioned Valentines day to Gator, let alone dropped hints. You figured you'd save the big show of love and appreciation for your anniversary in June. You groan as you sit up, racing to your feet to once you catch sight of the time on your alarm clock, you run to the girls' room, they were an hour late getting up, school started in ten minutes. You had your fist raised to knock on the door when you noticed a piece of paper taped to it, Gator's messy scrawl on it.

You rip it from the door and hold it in your hands as you read it. 'Pearlie, hope you liked the flowers, took the girls to school so you could sleep in a bit..be back soon- G'

You could have sworn Gator said he had to work today. Confused, you shuffle back to your bedroom, making up your bed as neatly as you could, the white and red heart shaped duvet covering the entire king sized mattress. You rearranged the pillows too before grabbing the bouquet and shuffling back down the hallway, to the kitchen.

You're filling a pretty pink vase with water and trimming the ends of the flowers when the front door opens. "Baby, is that you?" Roy had made a habit of just walking into your home here lately, and the last time he'd done it you'd been naked, trying to surprise your husband.

You squeal loudly when large, warm arms encircle you, pulling you back against a chest as hands make their way to your slowly rounding belly. "Happy Valentines, pearlie girl.." He murmurs, kissing under your ear gently, you can feel the smile on his face as you tilt your head to the side, making more room for his lips to work.

"Thought Valentines wasn't manly?" You breathed, eyes closing briefly as his lips brushed over the spot where your shoulder meets your neck, where you seem to be sporting a constant love bite here lately.

He grins against your skin, rocking in place with you. "S'not." He whispers, turning you around slowly in his arms so that he can plant sweet little kisses all over your face. "Just want to show my girl how much i love her..that so wrong?" You can't help giggle at his words, knowing that he showed you more than enough love every day.

You open your mouth to tease him when he catches your lips with his own, a slow, deep kiss, all tongue and sweetness that leaves you whimpering when he pulls away from you. "I got you somethin' baby.." He says, voice still quiet even though you're the only ones in the house.

"I know baby, they were beauti-oh!" From somewhere behind him, the back pocket of his jeans you think, he pulls out a small velvet box and opens it. "Gator! Baby.."

Inside of the box was a beautiful gold necklace in the shape of a G, inlaid with a bunch of dazzling diamonds. Your eyes watered as you looked at it. "Aw hell," He breathes, the corners of his lips quirking up in a smile as he watches your reaction. You had been doing that alot lately, and he knew you couldn't help it, hormones and all that. He thought it adorable though, that you turned into a cry baby over the smallest of things. "Had the girls go in with me to pick it out a couple weeks ago..we stopped and picked it up on the way to school this mornin'.."

He took it out of the box and unclasped the chain, placing it securely around your neck, a loving smile on his face as he did. Immediately your hand was on it, fingers gliding over the letter. His eyes were drawn to your nails, he had remembered you saying you got them done yesterday but didn't remember looking at them to compliment you on your choice. "You get these for today?" He asks, taking hour hand in his. You nod as he brings your fingers up to his lips kissing them gingerly before kissing the knuckle above your wedding ring. "The little red hearts are cute..d'i wana know how much they cost?" He didn't care, he loved to keep your hands looking pretty, loved the way your manicured nails looked when they were wrapped around his own hand, or his cock..

You shake your head at his words, wiping away the tears with the other hand as you remember what was in your nightstand drawer. "Wait, hold on I'll be right back!" You say, rushing off in a hurry.

"You sick or somethin'?" He follows you quickly, making sure you didn't need his help. You hadn't had morning sickness in nearly a month, he was hoping you were past it, and he was relieved to find you bent over the drawer of your nightstand, your silky white shorts giving him a perfect view of your ass. "Bab- oh hon you didn't have to get nothin' for me..this day is about you.."

You shake your head, bouncing excitedly. "No baby, it's to celebrate love..its for both of us!" You exclaim, taking the lid off of the small box in your hand. He gasps when he sees it, and you can't help but grin.

"Pearl, baby.." It was a black watch, metal. The clockface was silver, a cold color despite the deep black you had chosen. You didn't know much about watches, but you knew that he liked them, and you knew that this was a nice one.

"Flip it over.." He does as you say as he takes it out of the box, his eyebrows furrowing as he reads the inscription on the watch case. "Forever your Valentine..'

He takes the old watch off to slip the new one on, it's a perfect fit. "I fuckin' love you baby.." He pulls you into a kiss by the back of your head, his large hand holding you firmly in place as your hands find purchase on his broad chest. "I have one more surprise okay?"

You pout, eyebrows furrowed.

"Need you t'dress real fuckin pretty for me tonight baby," You pout even harder this time, tears coming to your eyes. Did you not look pretty all the time? What did he mean? As if he could read your mind his face changes and he immediately starts wiping your tears. "Ah ah, baby, you know I don't mean it like that..you're always lookin' real pretty for me babygirl, but tonight I need you to look extra fuckin' nixe..takin you to that place in the city.."

You squeal and jump in your place, jumping up and wrapping your legs around his waist as you kiss his face repeatedly. You catch him off guard but he still puts his hands under your ass, supporting you. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" You chant excitedly, arms wrapped tightly around him. He hoped to have you chanting that later tonight too, in a different way, preferably followed by his name. He can't help but grin at the thought as you jump off of him, running over to your closet as you try to find an outfit that even fits your barely there baby bump, but still looked sexy.

"Rose's are red, reservations are expensive, you're lucky I fuckin' love you!" Gator rhymes horribly just so he can hear your giggle from the depths of Narnia that you call a closet.

"I love you too baby!"

taglist:

@ruth-barnes @justherebecausesafarisucks @daisy-is-a-writer @xxbookdrunkdemigodxx @girlwiththerubyslippers @keerygal @lilllbabyyy @boa-hemian @sweetdazequeen @emilyj444 @whisperingwillowxox @babyqnn @lou-la-lou @aestheticaltcow @finalmoondragon @boxofsmittens @pollyspocketdimension @kassy-munson @frostandflamesfanfic @mysticalstar30 @totally-bogus-timelady @nerdypinupcrystal @emmiecrush5-blog @witchcovenboys @starksbabie @marrowfrog00 @boop369 @lelenikki @xmalfoyweasleyx @girlwiththerubyslipper

[violetsandfluff]

Holiday Homecumming

summary: a student from your cousin’s college spends thanksgiving with your family

a/n: I got distracted while writing something else, so here we are !! this includes bits of the poem, sonnet 18 by shakespeare. also, kindly don’t criticize the title. i really [almost] tried.

tw: smut… family gatherings… stressful stuff, iykyk ; ) annnd this is written by a girl who has no clue how to write smut. that aside, i sincerely hope you enjoy!!

word count: 5k

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Family gatherings around the holidays were always a stressor for you. You had heard countless nightmarish stories of family gatherings gone wrong, and you weaseled your way out of every holiday you could, blaming an overload of work at university for your absences. After three years away, though, your family’s pleas for you to join their holidays once again seeped under your skin. In one moment of begrudging malleability, you agreed, and there you were in the back seat of your parents’ sedan, acting as a barrier between your two younger brothers.

Had Thanksgiving been a private event at your parents’ house with just your father, mother, and brothers, you would have attended in a heartbeat, but things could never be so simple. Your mother had bribed you to drive nearly three hours from your school’s campus by saying the event would only include your immediate family. She had then gone behind your back and reported that the five members of your immediate family would be attending Thanksgiving at your aunt and uncle’s house.

Having Thanksgiving with extended family is a nationwide tradition, but that didn’t make it any more bearable. Plus, the fact that your mom and aunt had been feuding until recently didn’t help anything. Your mother and aunt both had stubborn, inflexible personalities, making it nearly impossible for them to get along over extended periods. You just hoped the weekend you were to spend in close quarters with them wasn’t too much.

You had gotten up at the crack of dawn to get ready, pack your belongings for traveling, and make the journey from campus to your hometown by nine o’clock. At nine o’clock on the dot, you rolled into your parents’ driveway, where they instructed you to unload your car and pack your luggage into their trunk before you caused them to run late.

Repacking things into a small, travel-sized bag rather than a suitcase at such short notice proved to be stressful at best, and a few necessary items were foolishly forgotten in the haste of the moment. You hadn’t counted on riding in the same car as the rest of your family, even less on refereeing your brothers’ arguments during the two-hour drive, but against all odds, you arrived in one piece.

As soon as you set foot in the stuffy living room, you wanted nothing more than to run away and never return. The tiny house was already brimming with people bustling busily about, bumping into each other and apologizing over the noise of the kitchen and football game. In fact, everything was so noisy no one noticed your family’s arrival.

You had assumed Thanksgiving would consist of a smaller group of people, but alas, it seemed your dad’s entire side of the family had decided, stupidly, you might add, to cram themselves under one roof to give half-hearted thanks for those they pretended to love.

At family gatherings like this, people usually divided themselves into four distinct groups. There were those who worked in the kitchen and dining room, cooking food and setting the table, and those who locked themselves in the guest room and gossiped until the food was ready. There was a group who planted their asses on the sofa to watch tv until dinner, and a group of children who ran around like a pack of rabid, bloodthirsty coyotes. These games always ended in someone crying and others screaming their sides of the story, desperate for their shrill voices to be heard. Needless to say, they never learned, or they wouldn’t partake in such activities repeatedly.

There was never much peace during family gatherings and you thrived best in silence. The constant ruckus made it difficult for you to concentrate on any given task and it made your head pound in frustration. On top of that, the heat of all of the bodies crammed into one house meant that the heat was turned down if not completely off, making for a cold night as it kicked in again.

The only good thing about the situation was that you, as an adult over the age of twenty, no longer had to sit at the kids’ table with your cousins. Instead, your grandmother set you a place between your aunt and your younger cousin, Sadie, the only person at the table under the age of twenty.

When the whole family had been rounded up and seated, there was someone you didn’t recognize. At first, you assumed he was a cousin you hadn’t laid eyes on in a while, but you soon realized that all of your cousins were there as well. He was seated directly across from you, meaning you had a good view of his features as you tried to recall who he was.

He wasn’t even vaguely familiar. He didn’t share features with any of your family members, nor did he share verbal traits or characteristics. He had a low, smooth voice and a surprising accent that only served to fascinate you more. You nearly asked who he was, but if you asked, he would probably turn out to be a long-lost cousin or something. So you held your tongue, listening to every bit of conversation happening around you in hopes that some fragment of speech would jog your memory.

At one point during the meal, your cousin, Joshua, who was seated next to him, noticed that he’d hardly said a thing all day. It finally dawned on him that no one knew who his friend was.

“This is my friend, Harry,” Joshua stated as soon as he had everyone’s attention. “I met him at uni recently and all of his family is abroad, so he’s staying with us this Thanksgiving.”

Harry had skillfully tousled brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. His face was dizzyingly pretty; every piece of it fit together immaculately. His dimples complimented his smile flawlessly. He was wearing a simple pair of black jeans and a white shirt that would show off his toned body and tattoos had it not been for the flannel he wore over it. You had many questions for him, and it seemed as if everyone else did, too.

Inquiries began bombarding the guest as he tried his best to answer each one. Where was he from? How old was he? What was he studying?

By the end of the meal, you knew his full name was Harry Edward Styles, occasionally nicknamed Hazza by his friends back home. He was only twenty-two years old, studying abroad from London, and going to school for a master’s in psychology. He had a proper, educated way of speaking and an air of insight laced his every word.

“He seems incredibly dreary,” you heard Sadie mumble under her breath. Oh, how wrong she was.

Something about him, whether it be his presumable intelligence or mysterious green eyes, drew you in. Many times he caught you staring at him, and each time you were forced to make an excuse on the fly. Questions raced around your brain at thousands of miles per hour. Was he staying overnight? Did he have a girlfriend back home? Would he be attracted to a girl like you who, in a flurry of haste, forgot her toothbrush in the back of her car?

You told yourself not to be ridiculous, but your questions weren’t at all ridiculous. When a strange, attractive man shows up to your family’s Thanksgiving, you have every right to ask questions.

After the meal was over, you and Sadie disappeared into the kitchen with your mother, grandmother, and several aunts while everyone else returned to their cliques. Josh, Harry, and some of your other cousins retired to the basement where all of the video games were kept at such gatherings and the stampede of wild children resumed where they’d left off before the mid-afternoon meal.

Your grandmother put you in charge of wiping down the chairs at the children's table, out of presumable spite, but you did as you were told, not wanting to rock the boat. After you finished, you strode reluctantly back to your grandmother for another task. Instead of asking you to help put away dishes or store leftovers, she took you aside to the quietest corner of the dining room.

“Y/N,” she said diplomatically, “you are twenty-one now. Correct?”

“Yes,” you replied with a nod.

“You are no longer a teenager, therefore you have no reason to spite our family. It wouldn’t hurt you to attend gatherings and parties every once in a while. I’m sure you’re out doing it with your friends every other weekend. It’s your life and I can’t tell you how to live it, but just know you have choices. You can spend holidays with your family, those who love you, or your friends, those who only want you to get drunk.”

“Grandmother, I mean this in the most respectful way possible,” you began, “but I’ve spent the previous two Thanksgivings alone in my dorm with a weekend of homework.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” your grandmother agreed, “and I appreciate your hard work. However, I believe that family should come before your studies.”

You certainly did not expect that from your grandmother. All you could do was nod and utter a sincere apology before asking if there were any more tasks that needed doing.

Though there were no jobs left to be done, you remained in the kitchen with the rest of the clean-up crew, as you had labeled yourselves. Every other part of the house was overrun with sugar-hyped children, grumpy men passed out after eating more than their fill of turkey, and busybody women reliving their peak high school years through gossip from twenty years ago.

Standing in the kitchen, listening to the others bickering and griping was completely draining, but there wasn’t anywhere else for you to go except the bathroom. You felt guilty occupying the house’s sole bathroom for a prolonged period, but if someone knocked on the door, you would pretend to flush the toilet, wash your hands, and come out.

Unfortunately for you, your plan wasn’t so foolproof. You made the mistake of leaving the door partially ajar as you sat on the edge of the tub, fully clothed, killing time with your phone.

Harry pushed the door open thoughtlessly, gasping and apologizing immediately upon seeing you.

“I’m sorry,” you stuttered as he pulled the door shut. “You can come in. I’m just wasting time.”

You scurried out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. You kept your head down so as not to attract unwanted attention from your family.

~~~

Later that evening, after many of your relatives had left, you went outside to where your parents’ car was parked in a vain attempt to carry all of their baggage in singlehandedly. Two trips later, all of your family’s suitcases, as well as your measly backpack, were soundly inside the house. After the luggage was secured, your aunt sat down to enlighten you about your sleeping arrangements.

The guest room would go to your parents and your brothers would spend the night in the living room. The accommodation made for you was Sadie’s bedroom floor.

You had spent enough nights in a room with Sadie to know that she snored comically for a girl her age. As funny as it was, though, the humor vanished from the equation quickly when your exhaustion was factored into it.

“Can’t we sleep in the basement?” the elder of your two brothers pleaded. “The couch down there is comfy enough.”

“Josh and Harry can join us,” your youngest brother pressed. “They can make sure we don’t get into mischief.”

Your aunt cast your mother a contemplative gaze and your mother shrugged. “Your house, your rules.”

“I suppose,” your aunt declared. “You can sleep in the basement, so long as Josh and Harry go with you.”

“Why do Josh and Harry have to come with us?” your brother pouted.

Your mother cast him a stern glare. “Because aunty said so.”

Your brothers rolled their eyes in simultaneous resignation as you internalized a cheer of your own. Your brothers sleeping in the basement freed up the living room sofas for you to nab.

“Do you mind if I take the couch out here?” you asked nonchalantly.

“I don’t see why not,” your aunt responded. “You’re an adult now, y/n. You can choose where you sleep.”

“Don’t you want to share with me?” Sadie frowned.

“I would, but I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” you fibbed. “I wouldn’t want to wake you if I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom or get a drink.”

Sadie shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

~~~

Around ten o’clock, your parents sent your brothers, Josh, and Harry downstairs for the night as they took their turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Going to sleep that early proved to be quite a challenge for you, especially considering the fact that homework didn’t allow you to sleep until past two am on good nights. By the time it was your turn in the bathroom, you realized that many of your toiletries had fallen out of your bag when you’d repacked earlier that day.

You were lacking face soap, hair ties, and worst of all, your toothbrush. You made do with what you had, using makeup remover and water to clean your face and you gargled toothpaste in a crude attempt to freshen your breath. You assumed your position on the couch feeling less than satisfied with your nighttime routine, but there wasn’t much else you could do without using anybody else’s toothbrush.

You settled into the couch cushions, pulling your blanket up around your chest. The couch was positioned close enough to an outlet that your phone charger could reach, so you decided to busy yourself with your phone until you were tired.

Time flew by as you checked in with friends, played various games, and listened to your favorite music. You almost didn’t notice when the basement door clicked open. You turned your phone’s volume down all the way, just in time to hear a flushing toilet and running water in the bathroom. You craned your neck to see who it was. Your breath caught in your throat as you made out Harry’s silhouette in the darkness, which was lit up only by streetlights. He appeared to be wearing only a pair of boxers and a tight, long-sleeved shirt, and his hair made it evident that he hadn’t so much as laid down all evening.

“Can’t sleep either?” he asked, noticing the blue light radiating from your phone.

“No. I’m not used to sleeping this early.”

“Me neither,” he admitted. “Uni really fucked up my sleep schedule, y’know?”

“Tell me about it,” you laughed, your chuckle turning into a choke in a matter of seconds as he sat down at the end of the couch you were sprawled out on.

“What are y’going t’school for?” he inquired politely, turning his body to look at you more comfortably.

“English,” you croaked.

“What year are you?”

“I’m a senior.”

“Graduating soon, hm?”

“Hopefully,” your voice wavered.

“Not going so well?”

“I mean, it’s going fine. I’ve just been a pessimist lately,” you rambled.

“I get it. Any idea what you want to do after graduation?”

“Teach, most likely.”

“Any age in particular?”

“High school. What about you?”

“What age would I like to teach?”

“Um, no.” You cleared your throat nervously. “I know you’re going to school for psychology, but what do you want to do once you graduate?”

“Psychology,” he grinned.

You sat up against the foot of the couch so you and Harry were facing each other. You pulled the blanket tighter around your lower body, trying desperately not to stare at him. Even in the moonlight, you could make out his gorgeous features.

Harry nodded. “What’s y’favorite aspect of English and literature?” he asked.

The question caught you off guard. You took a moment to process his inquiry before answering. “Poetry,” you said after a long pause, hoping you wouldn’t come off as a complete idiot.

“I love poetry!” Harry’s eyebrows raised. “D’you write poems?”

“Sometimes,” you admitted.

“Can I hear them?” Harry begged.

You cleared your throat and licked your lips slowly, feeling a wave of heat rush to your face. “They’re not very good,” you managed, “but I know other people’s poems.”

“That’s alright. You don’t have to, ’m just curious.”

A comfortable hush fell over the room as you racked your brain for poems to recite. You had memorized them by the dozen when you were in high school, but something about Harry made your memory glitch. Inhaling a sharp breath, you began reciting the only poem you could think of; nothing less than Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.

Harry listened to you with his ears and his eyes, which were intently fixated on you. He pierced your eyes with his beautiful green ones like you were the only person in the world. He waited in silence for a moment after you finished, allowing the words to sink in before scooting closer to you. “Tell me another one.”

Next, you told him a story that your grandmother had read to you as a baby, a lengthy poem interpretation of the story Thumbelina.

He listened intently as you described the events in the way they had been told to you years ago.

“You’re a fantastic storyteller,” he said genuinely when you finished. “Can I hear one more?”

You opened your mouth and recited the first poem that came to mind; one that you had written. The words spilled from a place deep within you, establishing a connection with Harry that the others hadn’t. Even he could sense the difference between that poem and the last. Your poem’s words came from a vulnerable, genuine place within you that only you knew… until then.

“Wow.”

“Did you like it?”

“Yes,” he gushed. “Who wrote it?”

You hesitated for a moment before reluctantly admitting, “I did.”

“You’re amazing,” he breathed in awe.

Harry lowered his face until it was nearly touching yours. His lips came breathtakingly close to yours before you suddenly placed your hand on his chest and pushed him away.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth,” you blubbered. “I left my toothbrush in my car and my car is at my parents’ house. But I remembered my toothpaste.”

Harry chuckled in amusement. “Don’t worry about it,” he grinned, moving closer in an attempt to kiss you again. “You can use my toothbrush f’you want.”

“Really?” you squeaked, praying he couldn’t hear the hammering of your heart. “I wouldn’t want to, you know…”

“I don’t mind,” he persisted. “Let me go get it.”

“You don’t need to,” you stammered.

“If it will let you kiss me, I do.” He ducked into Joshua’s bedroom, which was conveniently empty thanks to the basement slumber party, and removed his toothbrush from his backpack. He made his way back to the living room on tiptoes so as not to disturb anyone who was asleep.

You accepted his toothbrush gratefully, taking it into the bathroom to clean your teeth as thoroughly as possible in the little time you allotted yourself. Once you were satisfied with their cleanliness, you returned to the couch, passing Harry’s toothbrush back to him.

He wasted no time lowering his lips to yours and kissing you deeply. His tongue dipped in and out of your mouth, exploring it gingerly. His left hand roamed up your back, settling in your hair while his right hand remained steadily on your lower back.

As wonderful as the kiss was, you couldn’t help but crave more. You poked your fingers into the waistband of his underwear, and he took the hint. A hint of wariness gleamed in his eye, but you assured him you took the pill religiously.

Soon, you were both pantless and more ready for each other than anyone else.

You barely got any time to admire Harry’s naked body before he aligned himself with your glistening entrance and thrust in. He shifted his body until it was under you before bucking his hips up into you.

You both gasped at the sensation.

Harry’s hands were both positioned at the lowest part of your back with his thumbs on your hips, digging into them slightly for grip.

He drove his cock into you, pulled it out, and thrust it back in, letting its sharp point pierce your entrance repeatedly.

“You’re so tight,” he mused as he felt your walls flutter around his length. “My love, is my cock getting to you already?”

You shrugged in partial embarrassment as he let out a soft chuckle.

“No shame in that. Your tight little walls are making my tummy feel full, too.”

Just as you were about to respond, your eyes fell on his nipples. Your head was resting just above the first set, so you hadn’t noticed the second, less prominent set below.

Your hands were sandwiched between Harry’s warm, smooth back and the velvety fabric of the couch, meaning you couldn’t exactly move them to play with his nipples. Instead, you resorted to pursing your lips together and blowing to create a more concentrated stream of air.

“I can feel your arousal dripping all over me already.”

Throughout his dialogue, Harry’s thrusts became weaker and more bearable, but as soon as the last word was out of his mouth, he gripped your shoulder and began pushing his cock in harder.

You moved along with it, shifting around him and bucking your hips into his to give him maximum friction, coaxing a strangled sort of moan out of him; the first of the night.

“Feels… good,” he breathed shakily, trying to keep his thrusting pace constant. “Fuck, darling, just like that.”

You shifted on top of him so his cock speared directly into your g-spot. You couldn’t help but moan as his lips traveled to your ear, where he began to pepper you with microscopic kisses, breathing sensually into your ears all the while.

A shiver ran down your spine as his nose nudged into your ear, but you could hardly enjoy the sensation before his cock re-entered you from a different angle.

“Sit up, lovie,” Harry instructed. “Want you to straddle me now.”

Soon, you were sitting on his lap with your legs crossed behind his back as his girthy cock pulsed deep inside you. The new position gave you both a better view of what was happening to your bodies.

“Look how puffy your little clit is,” Harry remarked, his face breaking into a wide grin. “My darling bud of May.”

Your cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, thinking about him remembering the poems you’d recited earlier.

“Recite the whole line for me, love,” Harry requested as he lowered his fingers, along with his cock, to your entrance.

“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

Harry’s fingers began working at your clit as his cock continued thrusting into you.

A soft moan escaped your lips as your head fell back against your neck, but Harry urged you on.

“Sometimes too hot the eye of Heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimmed. And every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.”

Harry smirked at the unintentional innuendo as he jabbed his dick harder into you. “Keep going, darlin’, please,” he coaxed.

“I… I can’t, Harry, please,” you stuttered breathlessly as you tried to recall the famous poet’s masterpiece from deep within you.

“Need me to slow down?” he asked understandingly.

“N-no,” you replied, “I remember now. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st. Nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou growest.”

“Good memory, bunny,” Harry praised. “You’re walls are fluttering so much. Do you need to cum?”

“Yes, Harry,” you whined.

“Finish the poem, then we can cum together.”

You took a deep breath before shooting out the final two lines as fast as your lips, teeth, and tongue would permit. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee.”

“Good girl. Cum now.”

You relaxed every muscle in your body, allowing all of the arousal to spill out of you. It mixed with Harry’s, creating a milky pool on the blanket beneath you.

Your eyes fluttered shut and your body twitched uncontrollably as your insides relaxed to let every last drop of arousal out. Your abs ached and your head throbbed as you waited for the climax to wear off.

“Atta girl,” Harry rasped, inhaling an unsteady breath. “You did good, doll.”

“So did you,” you replied awkwardly, cupping his pecs in your hands as you faced him.

“D’you like what you see?” Harry teased good-naturedly. “Are you more of an ass or pecs girl?”

“Pecs,” you responded after a moment’s contemplation.

“Coulda guessed,” Harry shrugged. “Me too. I’m more of a tits guy than an ass guy.”

“You know what I like more than asses and pecs?”

“Dicks?”

“Thighs,” you giggled, tracing your fingers down the insides of Harry’s smooth thighs.

He was practically purring as he watched your fingers roam freely around his sensitive thighs. Goosebumps prickled all over his body, stemming from his thighs.

“Feels good, hm?”

He gave you a lopsided smile, cocking his head to the side as he looked at you through smiling-squinted eyes. He held his arms open for you and you were in them immediately, hugging him back with your face buried in his shoulder.

“What are we going to do about this?” you asked sluggishly, beckoning to the soaked blanket beneath you that had acted as a barrier between you and Harry and the soft red velvet of the sofa.

Harry looked around in the relative dark for a moment before snagging the extra blanket from the back of the couch. “Did they give this to you to use?”

You nodded, swallowing nervously.

“Take this for tonight. I’ll make up an excuse for why this needs to be washed.” He pulled the soiled fleece from under you and folded it tactfully so its contents were on the inside.

“Kiss me one more time?” you begged softly, suddenly aware of the fact that you and Harry could be walked in on at any moment.

“No need to ask twice.” Harry smiled boyishly. “You’re delicious.” He wrapped one arm around your back and placed his other hand on the back of your head to steady it.

Neither of you wanted to break the kiss, but you mutually agreed to back away from the kiss lest anyone walk in on you.

“Here’s y’shirt,” Harry said cheekily as he handed your crumpled camp t-shirt back, giving your breasts one final jiggle.

He pulled his long-sleeved white shirt over his head and you took the opportunity to ruffle his hair affectionately.

“‘M gonna go back downstairs now,” he commented sullenly, forcing a smile onto his face. “So… I’ll see you in the morning?”

You nodded faintly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tears welling up in your eyes.

He noticed, but he didn’t address them directly. Instead, he let out a low hum before pressing a hot kiss to your forehead. “Lie down and roll over,” he instructed gently.

You rolled over so you were facing the back of the couch, spooning one of the decorative cushions your aunt had given you to sleep on.

Harry pulled the blanket up to your chin and busied himself combing out your hair with his fingers. He organized it into a messy braid, tied it off, and gave your shoulder one final pat.

“Can I have your number?” you asked, your voice wavering as you struggled to contain your tears. “My phone’s on the bookshelf by the outlet.”

“What’s your password?”

As soon as Harry was into your phone, he added himself to your contacts and turned it back off.

“Text me as soon as you wake up, but for now, it stays off. Okay?”

“Thank you, Harry.”

There was no response. All you heard was the basement door opening, then clicking shut. He descended the staircase as quietly as possible with the bundle of blankets secured in his arms.

The digital clock on the other side of the room informed you that it had been less than an hour since Harry came up the stairs for the first time. Somehow, it was still earlier than you usually fell asleep, but that was alright because Harry had exhausted you.

A few hot tears trickled down your cheeks as you wondered if Harry was actually into you or if he’d given you his number out of politeness. You wondered if you would unknowingly be the cause of some innocent girl back in London being cheated on. You hoped not.

You also hoped that no one would find out about your and Harry’s late-night encounter. Either way, though, what was done was done and there wasn’t much you could do about it. You snuggled farther into the couch cushions, pretending they were Harry, and fell into a sound sleep.

Even in your sleep, though, the memory of the night you’d spent with Harry haunted you. The sex alone wasn’t any more pleasurable than anything else you’d previously experienced, but the natural connection between you was undoubtedly there. All you could do was hope and pray that you would get the opportunity to do it again.

Taglist: @madybeth21 @groovychaosavenue @fishingirl12 @sortingharryshairclip @mrspeacem1nusone @tenaciousperfectionunknown @cayleyhannha-blog @whitemancumslut

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Oh Meghan leaked the engagement without a doubt

I agree. I haven't gotten to the engagement yet in my timeline series but that seems to be the writing on the wall. I have a couple theories in my head:

Meghan leaked to Jess, Jess leaked to her bridal couture contacts. Was it in the Netflix series that they said Meghan started facetiming Jess as soon as Harry went down on one knee?

Harry guilt-tripped the Beckhams to giving Meghan their LA house so she could have one last Thanksgiving with her parents before everything changed. (I'm a little skeptical of this - there are a few different stories about the timing of this Beckham housesitting thing.)

Tom Markle was somehow involved in the leaking and Meghan was worried it would be traced back to her. I think this because that's the next chapter in Spare. When Harry says "It was November 4th, we kept it a secret for two weeks," the next chapter is mostly about Meghan screaming at Tom over the phone, cutting him off, and changing her number.

I think the only reason we didn't get the announcement the week of November 19th (in line with Harry's version of events) is because of the Thanksgiving holiday and how quickly the news would get buried over here in the States. So they pushed it to the Monday after when Meghan would have total control of the US media cycle. (Because let's be honest: the news cycle after a four-day weekend of turkey and football is a very quiet one.)

[sofiamantegafan110]

NEW X-MEN EPISODE 6

EPISODE 6: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO, PART 1

WE OPEN UP ON A YOUNG, TEN-YEAR-OLD LAURA, DRESSED IN A BLACK COMBAT SUIT INSIDE A COMPLETELY WHITE ROOM. SHE HUGS HER KNEES, RESTING HER HEAD AGAINST THE WALL. SUDDENLY, THE DOOR OPENS AND A FEMALE VOICE TELLS HER TO GET UP. HER FIRST MISSION STARTS NOW.

WE THEN CUT TO THE ELECTION OF SENATOR GREG JOHNSON. AS HE POSES WITH HIS FAMILY FOR PICTURES, A YOUNG DISABLED GIRL ASKS TO HAVE A PICTURE TAKEN WITH HIM. SENATOR JOHNSON NODS, AND ALLOWS THE GIRL TO BE IN THE NEXT PICTURE. THE PHOTOGRAPHER READIES THE CAMERA.

AS RAPID SHOTS ARE TAKEN, WE CUT IN AND OUT AS LAURA’S CLAWS ARE UNSHEATHED, AND SHE MASSACRES THE SENATOR, HIS FAMILY, AND ALL BYSTANDERS.

IN THE PRESENT, LAURA AWAKENS FROM HER NIGHTMARE, BREATHING HEAVILY. SHE LOOKS OVER AT A SLEEPING SOORAYA BEFORE TURNING TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW. AFTER CONFIRMING THAT IT WAS JUST A DREAM, SHE FALLS BACK ASLEEP.

MEANWHILE, ON A HILL OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL, LAURA IS BEING WATCHED BY BINOCULARS. WE THEN CUT OVER TO A PAIR OF LIPS, CURLING INTO A WICKED SMILE.

VOICE: I HAVE YOU NOW, X-23. NOWHERE TO HIDE. I’M COMING FOR YOU…

CUE INTRO AND CREDITS.

WE NOW CUT OVER TO LAURA ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD AS SHE JUMPS OVER SEVERAL BOYS ON THE OPPOSING TEAM BEFORE SCORING A TOUCHDOWN. JULIAN CONGRATULATES HER, SAYING THAT IF SHE KEEPS THAT UP, THEY COULD BEAT THE BRADDOCK ACADEMY IN THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. LAURA SMILES AND THANKS HIM AS SANTO TALKS ABOUT HOW STOKED HE IS TO GO TO JAY’S HOUSE FOR THANKSGIVING. JULIAN NODS, SAYING THAT HE USUALLY HAS THANKSGIVING WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT HE WANTS TO SEE HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES.

LAURA: YES. I SUPPOSE IT COULD BE EXCITING.

SANTO: THAT’S THE SPIRIT!

AS THE TRIO WALK OUT THE LOCKER ROOM, CLARICE AND JAY APPROACH THEM, ASKING IF THEY HAVE ALL THEIR BAGS PACKED. THEY NOD, AND JAY SAYS THAT HIS SISTER, MELODY, WILL BE BRINGING HER SQUAD OVER TOO. LAURA IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE GOING ALONG, BUT CLARICE TELLS HER NOT TO WORRY. IT’S GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN.

AS THEY TALK, THE GROUP ENTERS THE GYM AS THE CHEERLEADERS PERFECT THEIR ROUTINE TO CARLY RAE JEPSIN’S ‘CUT TO THE FEELING’. AS THE SONG ENDS, SOFIA SAYS THAT THEY ALL DID A GREAT JOB AND SHE’LL SEE THEM AFTER THANKSGIVING BREAK. CLARICE BLUSHES WHILE JAY COMMENTS THAT SOFIA’S TAKING HER JOB AS THE NEW TEAM CAPTAIN VERY SERIOUSLY.

SOFIA AND CESSILY THEN WALK OVER TO THEM AND CLARICE COMPLIMENTS THE ROUTINE. SOFIA THANKS HER, GIVING HER A KISS ON THE CHEEK. SANTO STATES HOW GLAD HE IS THAT THEY’RE FINALLY DATING. NOW THINGS WON’T BE SO AWKWARD BETWEEN THEM. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, HE ASKS CLARICE HOW GOOD SOFIA IS IN BED, AND SHE PUNCHES HIS ARM.

CLARICE: YUP. IT MAKES US WONDER IF SOME OF OUR OTHER TEAMMATES ARE GONNA GET TOGETHER…

SHE LOOKS OVER AT LAURA AND JULIAN AS SHE SAYS IT, WINKING AT LAURA. CESSILY BLOWS A KISS TO ROXY AS SHE LEAVES THE GYM AND TELLS THEM THAT THEY SHOULD GET THEIR STUFF. DANI SHOULD BE THERE WITH THE RV IN TEN MINUTES. THEY NOD, AND HEAD OVER TO THEIR DORMS.

LATER, THE NEW MUTANTS WAIT IN THE PARKING LOT WITH THEIR BAGS AS DANI ARRIVES IN AN RV. SHE ASKS IF THEY’RE READY FOR THEIR FIRST EVER TRIP AS A TEAM. THE GROUP CLAMORS INTO THE VAN AND DANI DRIVES OFF. SANTO IMMEDIATELY ASKS IF ANYONE PACKED ANY WING-DINGS, AND CLARICE ASKS HIM WHY HE COULDN’T JUST GET THEM HIMSELF.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, CESSILY IS IN THE PROCESS OF TALKING ABOUT HER DATE WITH ROXY THE PREVIOUS WEEKEND. THEY WENT TO A NICE CLUB, DANCED, HAD SOME DRINKS, AND THEN ROXY ASKED IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY GIRLFRIENDS, WHICH CESSILY SAID YES TO. JULIAN SIGHS, TELLING HER TO STOP FLAUNTING HER CASUAL LESBIANISM. IT’S A BIT UPSETTING THAT SHE WAS ABLE TO FIND A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE HE COULD.

DANI: YOU CAN’T RUSH THIS, JULIAN. THERE’S A GIRL FOR YOU, SOMEWHERE. YOU JUST NEED TO FIND THAT PERFECT MOMENT.

SOFIA: THAT’S RIGHT. CLARICE AND I WAITED UNTIL THE DANCE TO CONFESS OUR FEELINGS AND THAT TURNED OUT WELL. I MEAN, NO OFFENSE. I KNOW THAT WAS ROUGH FOR YOU.

JULIAN TELLS HER THAT IT’S COOL. HE’S OVER HER. CLARICE IMMEDIATELY ASKS HIM IF HER GIRLFRIEND ISN’T PRETTY ENOUGH FOR HIS STANDARDS ANYMORE, AND JULIAN LAUGHS, SAYING THAT HE’S NOT HOMOPHOBIC. HE JUST KNOWS THAT THEY’RE DATING NOW AND HE’S COOL WITH THAT. AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH MONET, HE’S NOT GOING TO TAKE LOVE FOR GRANTED.

CESSILY STATES HER SYMPATHY FOR MONET. AFTER WHAT HAPPENED, SHE GOT A BIT OF A BAD REPUTATION. MAYBE SHE TRIED TO BE FRIENDLY TO HER, THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. JAY LOOKS AT HIS PHONE AND SAYS THAT MELODY AND HER SQUAD ARE ALREADY THERE, BEFORE TELLING DANI TO MAKE A LEFT TURN.

SOFIA: ANYWAYS, NOT TO RAT OUT MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND, BUT CLARICE FERGUSON IS A BIG SOFTIE.

CESSILY: AWWWWW!

CLARICE: AM NOT!

SOFIA: NOT TO RAT OUT MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND PART TWO, BUT CLARICE FERGUSON DECORATED MY LOCKER WITH FLOWERS THAT SHE STOLE FROM LIN LI’S GREENHOUSE.

SANTO: HAHA! CLARICE IS EMBAWASSED!

SOFIA: LOVE YOU.

CLARICE: SOFIA!

CESSILY: AWWW, DID YOUR GIWLFWIEND EMBAWASS YOU, CLARICE?

SOFIA: AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY HAVEN’T YOU SAID YOU WOVE ME BACK?

CLARICE: *SIGH* I LOVE YOU TOO.

CESSILY: HAHA! I LOVE MY MOMS! LET THEM MARRY!

SOFIA STARES AT THEM, ASKING SINCE WHEN DOES SHE HAVE CHILDREN. CLARICE IMMEDIATELY ASKS SINCE WHEN IS SHE A PARENTAL FIGURE. THERE IS NOTHING PARENTAL ABOUT HER. JULIAN SAYS THAT CLARICE IS THE ORDERLY PARENT WHO PRETENDS SHE DOESN’T CARE BUT DEFINITELY DOES.

JAY: CASE IN POINT; “JAY, IF YOU DON’T MAKE SURE THAT PLATE GOES IN THE DISHWASHER, I WILL CRACK IT ON YOUR SKULL, FOOD AND ALL.”

CESSILY: “CESSILY, IF YOU DON’T STOP WRESTLING WITH SANTO, YOU WILL BREAK YOUR HEAD AND I WON’T WASTE THE TIME TO TAKE YOU TO THE INFIRMARY.”

JULIAN: “DID SANTO GET LOST IN THE FUCKING HEDGE MAZE AGAIN? JESUS, I’M GONNA HUNT HIM DOWN WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER.”

SANTO: “PICK UP THOSE DIRTY SOCKS. IT’S STARTING TO SMELL LIKE AN ACTUAL LOCKER ROOM IN HERE.”

CLARICE STARES AT THEM WITH MURDEROUS INTENT.

JAY: AND SOFIA IS OBVIOUSLY THE NURTURING AND MORE LENIENT PARENT. SHE’S ALWAYS BAKING, COOKING, AND/OR CLEANING.

CESSILY: “TAKE A JACKET BEFORE YOU HEAD OUTSIDE. IT’S PRETTY COLD.”

SANTO: TWO DAYS AGO, SHE ASKED ME IF I’D EATEN AT ALL AND THEN SNUCK BEHIND ME WITH A SANDWICH.

CLARICE AND SOFIA STARE AT THEM.

CLARICE: HOLY SHIT, BABY. I THINK WE HAVE KIDS.

SOFIA: I NEVER IMAGINED HAVING FIVE KIDS AT SIXTEEN, BUT HERE I AM.

DANI: OKAY, YOU BUNCH OF TEENAGERS, I’M PULLING OVER. GO PEE OR GET A SNACK WHILE I FILL UP THE GAS.

AS THE GROUP STOPS AT A GAS STATION, THEY DON’T SEE A WOMAN STANDING BESIDE A TAN CHEVY PICKUP PARKED A FEW FEET AWAY. SHE HAS ON A TRENCHCOAT AND SUNGLASSES AND EXAMINES THEM ALL AS THEY EXIT THE VAN. WHEN SHE SEES LAURA, SHE SMIRKS, WATCHING HER UNSHEATHE HER CLAWS AS THE DOOR TO THE 711 SLIDES OPEN. SHE HAS HER NOW.

WE THEN BEGIN A MONTAGE OF THE NEW MUTANTS’ ROAD TRIP. THE SONG PLAYING IS ‘KISS ME MORE’ BY DOJA CAT AND SZA, A SONG THAT THE GROUP IS OCCASIONALLY SEEING SINGING ALONG WITH. AS THEY PLAY ROAD GAMES, EAT FOOD, AND TELL JOKES, THE WOMAN IN THE CHEVY IS CLOSE BEHIND THEM. AS THEY ENTER A CROWDED HIGHWAY, SHE ROLLS DOWN THE WINDOW AND TOSSES A SMALL SPHERICAL OBJECT TO THE LICENSE PLATE OF DANI’S RV. ON THE WOMAN’S CAR’S GPS, A RED DOT APPEARS, MARKING THE RV.

LATER, THE GROUP ARRIVES IN A SMALL HOUSE IN KENTUCKY. THE GROUP STEPS OUT OF THE RV AND SOFIA TAKES SOME PICTURES FOR HER INSTAGRAM. JAY IMMEDIATELY CALLS OUT THAT THE PRODIGAL SON HAS RETURNED, AND A GROUP OF CHILDREN RUSH OUT. THE YOUNGEST ARE A BROWN-HAIRED BOY AND A BLONDE GIRL WHO ARE ABOUT TEN YEARS OLD. THEY’RE FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER BROWN-HAIRED BOY AND A DARK-SKINNED BOY OF ABOUT THIRTEEN YEARS OF AGE. FOLLOWING BEHIND THEM IS A SHY FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WITH SHORT BROWN HAIR AND A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WITH BLONDE HAIR. JAY HUGS HIS YOUNGER SIBLINGS EXCITEDLY AS HIS MOTHER WELCOMES HIM HOME.

JAY: GANG, THIS IS MY MA, LUCINDA. AND THESE ARE MY SIBLINGS, LOUIS, CISSIE, JEB, RAY JR, JOELLE, AND LIZZIE. MA, THIS IS MY SQUAD, THE NEW MUTANTS. MEET JULIAN, SANTO, CLARICE, LAURA, SOFIA, CESS, AND OUR ADVISOR, DANI.

IMMEDIATELY, A BROWN-HAIRED GIRL WALKS OUT, GREETING JAY. HE HUGS HIS FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD SISTER, MELODY, AND TELLS THE GROUP THAT THEY PROBABLY KNOW HER AS AERO, FROM THE PARAGONS. EVENTUALLY, ANOTHER GROUP OF TEENS WALK OUT. LEADING THE GROUP IS A LATINO BOY WITH GRAY SKIN, FOLLOWED BY A PALE BOY WITH DARK BANGS FLOPPING OVER ONE EYE, A BLUE-SKINNED GIRL WITH SILKY BLUE HAIR, A DARK-SKINNED GIRL WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS, A STUDENT WITH WHITE FUR AND A FELINE APPEARANCE, AND A GIRL WITH SHORT AUBURN HAIR THAT HAS BEEN DIP-DYED BLUE.

JAY: AND SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. I THINK YOU MAY KNOW THE MEMBERS OF HER SQUAD; ANGELO ESPINOSA AKA SKIN, AMASS, JENNY SPIEGEL, AKA MIRROR GIRL, AURA CHARLES AKA BUTTERFLY, HER PARTNER CAM LONG AKA OCELOT, AND SHELA SEXTON AKA ESCAPADE.

SOFIA: NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!

JAY IMMEDIATELY ASKS WHERE PAIGE IS, BUT MELODY TELLS HIM THAT SHE HAD X-MEN SHIT TO TAKE CARE OF. JAY LAUGHS. GOOD OLD X-MEN SHIT. SOFIA SMILES, TAKING A SELFIE WITH SHELA AND JENNY WHILE CESSILY TELLS AURA AND CAM THAT IT’S GOOD TO SEE THEM. CAM TELLS HER THAT THEY’RE GLAD TO SEE HER TOO, BUT IT’S WEIRD TO HANG OUT OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL. AURA ASKS THEM IF IT’S REALLY THAT WEIRD, AND CAM PUTS THEIR ARM AROUND HER.

LUCINDA: WELL, IT’LL TAKE A WHILE TO GET THANKSGIVING DINNER READY, SO JAY AND MELODY SHOULD TAKE THEIR LIL’ FRIENDS ON A TOUR.

JULIAN: HONESTLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW A HILLBILLY THANKSGIVING IS MADE. DO YOU MAKE BABY BACK RIBS INSTEAD OF TURKEY?

BEFORE LUCINDA CAN SLAP HIM, JAY COMMENTS THAT JULIAN’S BEEN HAVING AN EGO CRISIS AS OF LATE. HE’S LEARNING HOW TO NOT BE AN ASSHOLE. LIZZIE TELLS HER MOM THAT SHE’LL KEEP HIM IN CHECK, EARNING A SMILE FROM LUCINDA. JEB AND RAY JR AGREE TO COME ALONG ON THE TOUR, AND JAY AND MELODY SAY THAT IT COULDN’T HURT TO SHOW THEM AROUND.

LATER, JULIAN, LOUIS, CISSIE, JOELLE, LIZZIE, DANI, AND LUCINDA ARE IN THE HOUSE. DANI AND LUCINDA ARE COOKING DINNER WHILE JULIAN WATCHES LOUIS AND CISSIE PLAY. LIZZIE TELLS HIM THAT THEY CAN REALLY BE A HANDFUL IF YOU REALLY GET TO KNOW THEM. JULIAN LAUGHS, TELLING HER THAT IT’S FUNNY. A YEAR BEFORE, HE WOULD SIT AT A TABLE WITH HIS PARENTS AND HAVE A LONG AWKWARD CONVERSATION, AND NOW HERE HE IS, IN KENTUCKY TALKING WITH A GIRL WHO SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE MILLIE FROM HELLUVA BOSS. LIZZIE CHUCKLES, TELLING HIM THAT SHE HOPES THAT HE’S COMFORTABLE, AND JULIAN TELLS HER THAT HE IS NOW.

MEANWHILE, JAY, MELODY, JEB, AND RAY JR LEAD SOFIA, SANTO, CESSILY, LAURA, CLARICE, ANGELO, SHELA, AMASS, JENNY, CAM, AND AURA ON A TOUR THROUGH THEIR TOWN. AMASS LOOKS AROUND, INTRIGUED. WHERE HE COMES FROM, THERE AREN’T EXACTLY HOLIDAYS TO CELEBRATE. JENNY TELLS HIM THAT AS A NOVITIATE, THEY DIDN’T REALLY CELEBRATE ANYTHING BUT THE LORD, SO IT SEEMS LIKE A FIRST FOR BOTH OF THEM. CAM TELLS THEM THAT THEY SHOULD SEE THE HOLIDAYS IN GENOSHA. SO MANY MUTANTS WITH VARIOUS POWERS, IT CAN GET PRETTY CRAZY. AURA SMILES AND PUTS HER ARM AROUND THEM AFFECTIONATELY.

SOFIA TELLS JAY THAT IT’S SO SWEET OF HIS MOTHER TO INVITE THEM OVER. IT MUST BE HARD HAVING TO DEAL WITH SO MANY CHILDREN. JAY SAYS THAT IT’S NO BIG DEAL. HIS DAD DIED A WHILE AFTER LOUIS AND CISSIE WERE BORN, SO SHE REALLY TOOK THE MAMA BEAR ROLE TO HEART. MELODY JUMPS IN, SAYING THAT THEIR MOM HAS A BIG HEART. AFTER RAY JR LOST HIS DAD IN A FIGHT WITH THE CABOTS, LUCINDA JUMPED AT THE CHANCE TO ADOPT HIM. CESSILY SAYS THAT THAT’S VERY SWEET.

JAY SIGHS WHEN MELODY MENTIONS THE CABOTS, AND SOFIA LOOKS AT HIM IN SYMPATHY, BEING THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE SQUAD TO KNOW HIS SECRET. JEB COMMENTS THAT THE CABOTS AND THE GUTHRIES HAVE BEEN AT EACH OTHER’S THROATS FOR A LONG TIME. THE FACT THAT JAY, MEL, SAM AND PAIGE TURNED OUT TO BE MUTANTS ONLY FUELED THE FIRE.

RAY JR: AN’ ABRAHAM CABOT’S THE ABSOLUTE WORST! GUY’S SO UGLY, HE COULD STOP A TRAIN WITH HIS FACE!

CESSILY: OH REALLY? HOW UGLY IS HE?

JAY: CESS, DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM.

JEB: OH, HE’S THE WORST OF THE WORST. A FACE LIKE THAT SHOULD BE GOVERNED BY THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION!

RAY JR: ONE TIME, BEN GRIMM HIMSELF CAME INTO TOWN, AN’ HE JUST STOPPED DEAD IN HIS TRACKS WHEN ABRAHAM CABOT CAME ALONG! AN’ HE WAS SCREAMIN’ “PLEASE DON’T HURT ME! PLEASE JUST LOOK THE OTHER WAY! FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, JUST LOOK THE OTHER WAY!” AN’ THAT’S HOW BEN GRIMM BECAME THE THING.

CESSILY BURSTS OUT LAUGHING AND JAY FACEPALMS. SOFIA CHUCKLES, LOOKING OVER AT LAURA. SHE TELLS HER THAT IT WOULDN’T KILL HER TO SMILE SOMETIME. LAURA STARES AT HER BEFORE TURNING AROUND AS SOMEONE CALLS JEB’S NAME. STANDING IN FRONT OF THEM ARE ABRAHAM CABOT AND TWO OF HIS SIDEKICKS. ABE, A BURLY FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY, EXPRESSES HIS DISAPPOINTMENT AT JEB AND RAY JR. HE’S HAD TO KICK THEIR BUTTS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THEM TO WANT SOME MORE OVER BREAK. SHELA TELLS THEM TO BACK OFF. THEY WERE JUST HORSING AROUND. IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT HIM AND DUMB AND DUMBER OVER THERE HAVE BRAINS THE SIZE OF DIPPIN’ DOTS.

ABE: IS THIS ONE OF YER MUTIE FRIENDS, GUTHRIE? YOU NEED SOME FREAKS TO COME TO YER RESCUE? I SHOULD’VE KNOWN YOU GUTHRIES WERE NO GOOD. AN’ YOUR FEATHERED FREAK OF A BROTHER HAS SOME NERVE COMIN’ IN HERE AFTER HE RAPED MY SISTER!

SOFIA’S FACE FLASHES WITH RAGE AS SHE PICKS ABE UP WITH THE WIND. CLARICE WATCHES IN SHOCK.

SOFIA: CARE TO REPEAT THAT SENTENCE?

ABE: GET THEM MUTIES! NOW!

ONE OF ABE’S GOONS TRIES TO PUNCH SHELA, BUT IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, SHELA SWITCHES PLACES WITH ABE, WHO RECEIVES A PUNCH IN THE FACE FROM HIS FRIEND. AMASS GRABS CAM BY THE HAND, CAUSING THEM BOTH TO MERGE INTO A POWERFUL FIGURE THAT LOOMS OVER THE BULLIES. JENNY STEPS BETWEEN THEM, SAYING THAT THEY SHOULD BOTH COOL DOWN. THEY SHOULDN’T BLAME THOSE BULLIES FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT THEY REALLY ARE. SHE THEN TURNS TO THE BULLIES AND FORMS A REFLECTIVE MIRROR IN HER HAND, TELLING THEM THAT SHE CAN SHOW THEM WHAT THEY TRULY ARE INSIDE. THE CAMERA FOCUSES BEHIND JENNY AS THE BOYS STARE AT THE MIRROR IN FRIGHT BEFORE RUNNING OFF.

AMASS AND CAM RETURN TO THEIR FORMER SELVES AND CAM TELLS THEIR TEAMMATE TO WARN THEM THE NEXT TIME HE DECIDES TO MERGE LIKE THAT. JENNY SMIRKS AS HER MIRROR VANISHES, FLIPPING HER HAIR. SOFIA ASKS HER WHAT THEY SAW, AND JENNY TELLS HER THAT SHE HAS NO CLUE. BUT WHATEVER IT WAS, SHE HAS A FEELING THAT THEY WON’T BE BOTHERING THEM FOR A WHILE NOW.

MELODY: THAT WAS A BIT OVER THE TOP FOR SOME BULLIES, BUT I’M GLAD YOU GUYS STUCK UP FOR US.

JEB: WICKED COOL! THANKS, GUYS!

SOFIA SMILES BEFORE LOOKING DOWN AT THE GROUND, EMBARRASSED OF HER OUTBURST. LAURA ASKS HER WHAT HAPPENED, AND SOFIA TELLS HER THAT THAT’S NOT HER STORY TO TELL. JAY LOOKS UP AT SOFIA IN CONCERN.

AS THE TOUR CONTINUES, LAURA LOOKS OVER TO SEE THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN FROM THE GAS STATION. SHE SEEMS CONFUSED, LIKE SHE KNOWS HER FROM SOMEWHERE, BUT CAN’T PUT HER FINGER ON WHERE. AS THEY WALK OFF, THE WOMAN TAKES OUT HER PHONE AND DIALS A NUMBER.

WOMAN: YES, SIR. I HAVE THE TARGET IN MY SIGHTS. YES, I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT. NO, SHE’S WITH SOME OTHERS. MUTANTS, BY THE LOOK OF IT. NO, DON’T WORRY. SHE’LL SEPARATE FROM THEM, I KNOW IT. YES, IT’S ALL ACCORDING TO PLAN. THERE’S NOWHERE TO RUN NOW. I’VE GOT HER RIGHT WHERE I WANT HER.

LATER, THE GROUP RETURNS TO THE HOUSE, AND SOFIA SAYS THAT SHE JUST WANTS TO RELAX NOW. LAURA NODS BEFORE OPENING THE DOOR TO SEE JULIAN TALKING TO LIZZIE AND HOLDING HANDS WITH HER. SHE IMMEDIATELY TURNS AROUND AND RUNS AWAY, AS CESSILY CALLS BACK TO HER.

CLARICE: JULIAN FUCKING KELLER, YOU’VE REALLY STEPPED IN IT NOW.

JULIAN: WHAT DID I DO?

CLARICE GROANS, TELLING HIM THAT ONCE AGAIN, HE’S THOUGHT USING HIS MICRO PENIS INSTEAD OF HIS BRAIN. JULIAN ASKS HER WHY LAURA RAN AWAY, DEEPLY CONFUSED. CLARICE TELLS HER THAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW; MAYBE THE SIGHT OF THE GUY SHE HAS A CRUSH ON FLIRTING WITH A COMPLETE STRANGER MIGHT HAVE DONE IT FOR HER. JULIAN STARES AT HER IN SHOCK WHILE JAY VOLUNTEERS TO GO LOOK FOR HER. SOFIA NODS, SAYING THAT SHE’LL GO TOO.

MEANWHILE, LAURA MARCHES THROUGH TOWN, TEARS IN HER EYES. SHE SUDDENLY STOPS BEFORE SNIFFING AUDIBLY AND SAYS THAT SHE KNOWS SOMEONE’S THERE. SHE’S JUST SURPRISED SHE DIDN’T REALIZE IT BEFORE. A FEMALE FIGURE STEPS OUT AND COMPLIMENTS HER PERCEPTIVENESS. SHE DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS LONG FOR HER TO FIND HER, THOUGH.

THE MYSTERY WOMAN THEN REMOVES HER COAT AND SUNGLASSES, REVEALING A TALL STATURE WITH LONG DARK HAIR AND MEDIUM LIGHT BROWN SKIN. SHE’S DRESSED IN A BLACK COMBAT SUIT WITH RED ACCENTS AND HAS A BELT ALONG HER WAIST FULL OF WEAPONS AND DEVICES, AND SHE CARRIES A CROSSBOW. LAURA UNSHEATHES HER CLAWS WITH A GROWL.

LAURA: KIMURA.

KIMURA: HI X. MISS ME?

TO BE CONTINUED

[charlies-letters]

November 18, 1991

Dear friend, My brother finally called yesterday, and he can’t make it home for any part of Thanksgiving weekend because he is behind on school because of football. My mom was so upset that she took me shopping for new clothes. I know you think what I’m about to write is an exaggeration, but I promise you that it isn’t. From the time we got into the car to the time we came home, my mom literally did not stop talking. Not once. Not even when I was in the dressing room trying on “slacks.”

She just stood outside the dressing room and worried out loud. The things she said went all over the place. First, it was that my dad should’ve insisted that my brother come home if only for an afternoon. Then, it was that my sister had better start thinking more about her future and start applying to “safety” schools in case the good ones don’t work out. And then she started saying that gray was a good color for me. I understand how my mom thinks. I really do.

It’s like when we were little, and we would go to the grocery store. My sister and brother would fight about things that my sister and brother would fight about, and I would sit at the bottom of the shopping cart. And my mom would be so upset by the end of shopping that she would push the cart fast, and I would feel like I was in a submarine.

Yesterday was like that except now I got to sit in the front seat.

When I saw Sam and Patrick at school today, they both agreed that my mom has very good taste in clothing. I told my mom this when I got home from school, and she smiled. She asked me if I wanted to invite Sam and Patrick over for dinner sometime after the holidays are over because my mom gets nervous enough as it is during the holidays. I called Sam and Patrick, and they said they would.

I’m really excited! The last time I had a friend over to dinner was Michael last year. We had tacos. The really great part was that Michael stayed over to sleep. We ended up sleeping very little. We mostly just talked about things like girls and movies and music. The one part I remember distinctly was walking around the neighborhood at night. My parents were asleep along with the rest of the houses. Michael looked into all the windows. It was dark and quiet. He said, “Do you think those people are nice?” I said, “The Andersons? Yeah. They’re old.” “What about those people?” “Well, Mrs. Lambert doesn’t like baseballs going into her yard.” “What about those people?” “Mrs. Tanner has been visiting her mother for three months. Mr. Tanner spends his weekends sitting on the back porch and listening to baseball games. I don’t really know if they’re nice or not because they don’t have children.” “Is she sick?” “Is who sick?” “Mrs. Tanner’s mother.” “I don’t think so. My mom would know, and she didn’t say anything.” Michael nodded. “They’re getting a divorce.” “You think so?” “Uh-huh.” We just kept walking. Michael had a way of walking quiet sometimes. I guess I should mention that my mom heard that Michael’s parents are divorced now. She said that only seventy percent of marriages stay together when they lose a child. I think she read it in a magazine somewhere.

Love always, Charlie.

[fantasticcloudcreation]

Also, I fucking love this chilly weather, I'm so excited to be cold outside and bundle up in all my cozy layers and make a bunch of cute winter accessories for Christmas gifts, I can't wait to drink hot tea with whiskey by the fireplace watching football with my dad, I am Going to go snowboarding at least once and hopefully meet up with my friends for some northern winter activities, I'm so excited for holidays with my family and seeing all my cousins and getting silly drunk on thanksgiving, I'm so excited to get back to my dad's house and watch the sunset over the water and the stars at night ???

Like I keep ending up in the south for all my favorite seasons and I might have to go back to Miami for a week or two in the middle of December and then back to FL again in January and then either FL or Nola in Feb and then FL again in March lmfao but God damn I'm gonna get as much winter time as I can this year bc I fucking miss the experience of Northern seasons. Next year I'm getting a winter job at a ski resort I swear. (I would say fuck TX I'm going camping in Vermont for all the fall colors but unfortunately ACL is the highest paying gig of the year and it'll be hard to pass that up unless I find a ski resort that opens in October... Maybe I'll get a job at a campground though??? Gotta build my RV first. Anyway. )

Might try to convince C & R to meet me in NYC for a weekend so I can hang out with M and see the cat without feeling awkward about it??? Idk just a thought haha. So many things to think about. I feel so strong and fresh after making it through this last gig, it's a brand new era, who knows how it's unfolding beyond this moment but I'm feeling the buzz of potential and I'm excited to see what happens!!!

[dbl07]

What Is Black Friday?

What Is Black Friday, Really? Hey, let's get real for a second... You're probably no stranger to the chaos that is Black Friday. The long lines, the crazy discounts, the frenzy to snag the best deals before they're gone. But have you ever stopped to think, where did all this madness come from? And more importantly, how can you actually come out on top in this shopping extravaganza? The Wild Origins of Black Friday Imagine a day so chaotic, the police had to coin a term just to describe it. Welcome to the 1950s in Philadelphia, where "Black Friday" wasn't about shopping at all, but about the mayhem that ensued the day after Thanksgiving, thanks to a little thing called the Army-Navy football game. Fast forward to today, and it's all about the deals... or is it? How Black Friday Evolved into a Shopping Beast Retailers caught on pretty quickly - if people were going to flood the streets anyway, why not tempt them with some irresistible discounts? By the 80s, Black Friday as we know it was born. Now, it's not just a day, but a whole weekend (and sometimes month) of shopping frenzy, bleeding seamlessly into Cyber Monday. The "Black" in Black Friday: What's the Deal? Ever wondered why it's called "Black" Friday? Here's the cool part: it's all about the bottom line. See, in accounting, "red" means you're in the loss zone, while "black" signifies profit. Black Friday is that golden moment when many businesses flip from red to black. Pretty clever, huh? When Exactly Does This Shopping Spree Happen? Mark your calendars for the day after Thanksgiving, which, funnily enough, can fall anywhere between November 23rd and 29th. But let's be real, the deals start way earlier now. We're talking the first week of November in some cases! Just How Big Is Black Friday, Anyway? Billions. That's the short answer. In 2022, the U.S. alone raked in over $9 billion in online sales on Black Friday. And it's not just America - the U.K., Canada, Brazil, and more are all in on the action, making it a global shopping phenomenon. Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday: What's the Difference? Traditionally, Black Friday is for the brick-and-mortar warriors, while Cyber Monday is for those who prefer to shop in PJs. However, the lines are blurring. Now, you can snag amazing deals both online and offline, often on both days. Just remember, if you're after tech, Cyber Monday might just be your best bet. The Secret Prep Work Behind Black Friday Retailers don't wing it on Black Friday. Months of planning go into crafting those irresistible "doorbuster" deals designed to get you in the door at the crack of dawn. It's all about creating a sense of urgency. The Psychology Behind Those Irresistible Deals Ever felt like you just had to buy something on Black Friday? That's no accident. Retailers are masters of scarcity and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). When you see "Only 2 left in stock!", what do you do? Your Black Friday Shopping Cheat Sheet Best Products to Snag: - Electronics: Think TVs, laptops, and gaming consoles at unbeatable prices. - Home Appliances: Time to upgrade that fridge or washer without breaking the bank. - Apparel & Shoes: Seasonal must-haves at clearance prices. Worst Products to Buy on Black Friday: - Furniture: Wait for January clearance sales. - Winter Gear: Prices drop further post-holidays. - Toys: Mid-December often sees deeper discounts. Black Friday Around the Globe - U.K.: Big online sales are the norm. - Canada: Enjoy both Black Friday and Boxing Day deals. - Brazil: The newest kid on the Black Friday block, growing fast. Stay Safe While Scoring Those Deals - In-Store: Watch your step and avoid the stampede. - Online: Secure sites only, and beware of phishing scams. The Business Side of Things Black Friday is a lifesaver for many retailers, offering a much-needed financial boost. However, sustainability concerns are prompting a shift towards more eco-friendly practices, like "Green Friday." The Future of Black Friday: Will It Fade Away? Unlikely. But expect a shift towards online dominance and a greater emphasis on sustainable shopping practices. The Bottom Line Black Friday isn't just about buying more; it's about buying smarter. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a newbie, understanding the game can save you a pretty penny. Happy hunting, and may the odds be ever in your favor! 🎉 Frequently Asked Questions - Is Black Friday a U.S. thing? - Nope, it's gone global. - How early do the sales start? - As early as the first week of November. - Are the deals really worth it? - Absolutely, for the right products. - What time do in-store sales kick off? - Sometimes as early as midnight. - How long do the sales last? - Through the weekend and into Cyber Monday. - Can I return my Black Friday purchases? - Check the retailer's policy first. - Are online deals the same as in-store? - Not always, so shop around. - What are doorbuster deals? - Limited-time offers to get you in the door early. - How does Black Friday impact the environment? - It raises significant sustainability concerns. - Will Black Friday eventually disappear? - Unlikely, but it will evolve. Read the full article

[strawberryclothing]

I’m Like A Midwest Princess Shirt

Welcome to cleveland Shirt

Most Christian countries have a public holiday on the 25th & 26th. So in 2018, the Welcome to cleveland Shirt went: less tha one day of work, two days off, and two unproductive workdays. Many companies enforced the taking of 4 days annual leave during Christmas week & the following Monday (in Oz we usually get 4 weeks discretionary leave (take it when you want)). Economically, a better idea is to make the secular Xmas on the last Sunday in December, and the following Monday New Years day. Leave the religious aspects to the religionists to commemorate their observances in heir own time. Muslims, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians and other religions do so every year successfully, why not Western Christianity? And to keep workers happy where public holidays might be lost, replace them with the Friday before & Monday after the last Sunday in December with public holidays. At at least that way business has two weeks of four contiguous workdays, and people can do something creative with the long weekend (nb: in Oz, January 1st is a public holiday, so that could be replaced by declaring the first Monday in January a public holiday. Thus the workers get two long weekends in a row, and three weeks of just 4 workdays).

Utah Football Cameron Rising 7 Front Stripe Shirt

When different Western European pagan cultures were evangelized to, the Utah Football Cameron Rising 7 Front Stripe Shirt (the traditional Catholic order of missionaries) tried to be mindful of not needlessly erasing new disciples’ culture. These disciples only needed to abandon the sinful parts of their culture, to follow Christ. Unfortunately, some of these parts slipped through, effectively syncretizing Catholicism somewhat with these pagan religions—hence, veneration culture; undue fixation on Mary the mother of Jesus; etc. However, the intent at least was always to keep from putting unnecessary burdens on new disciples’ backs. These evangelizers were looking out for those they were taking under their wing. In that sense, these peoples’ cultures were actually preserved: at least far more than they would have been, were their newly Christian-identifying constituents required to make themselves Hebrew and Greco–Roman. So no, these festivals were not “hijacked.” It is merely that masses of people who had once celebrated them decided not to observe them, or their religions comprising them; and decided to celebrate other things, with the guidance and consideration of their disciplers.

My Hope Is In The Lamb Shirt

If you’re flying out of China before Chinese New Year (“spring festival”) and flying back to China after Chinese New Year, you can probably land yourself a My Hope Is In The Lamb Shirt cheap ticket. The other way around, no (a lot of overseas families travel to China during this time while the vast majority of Chinese nationals travel only domestically during this time). This is roughly similar to the reason why it’s not too difficult to find cheap international journeys from the USA around Thanksgiving, as long as you don’t have domestic segments in your itinerary. Christmas time is likely to be expensive in any direction anywhere unless you fly on the day of Christmas or Christmas Eve, or after western New Year. That said, book your tickets early — it’s always hard to predict these kinds of things and you never know what you’ll actually find out there in terms of tickets; every now and then you might stumble across something cheap especially if you really pay close attention.

Lake County Captains Baseball Shirt

India decided to abrogate the Lake County Captains Baseball Shirt provision of Article 370 in Aug because that’s when the terrorist activity is was highest. They were attacking the military and were planning on attacking pilgrims – as they do every year. To forestall that, the gov removed the temporary provision and merged Kashmir with India as per the original request of the King.Since its Aug, when article 370 was removed, Kashmir has seen an unprecedented level of peace, is riot free and has held local elections without any violence! It has been a boon to those who want to do legitimate business in the state. Terrorists and separatists hate the move, but that is to be expected! They hate peace and refuse to allow the local population to prosper. CAB / CAA helps all religious minorities in afghnistan, bangladesh and pakistan who wish to see asylum in India. Religious minorities who are constantly harangued in pakistan, locked up on false blasphemy charges, abducted, raped and forced to convert, will find it easy now to move to India and seek asylum and get citizenship. Last year, local thugs in pakistan blew up churches just before Christmas. So CAB, which includes Christians, will help them for sure. There is nothing special about it being introduced before Christmas, but I am sure they will be grateful for having this provision.

I’m Like A Midwest Princess Shirt

The first thing you need to understand is the background of the word “jolly.” It has reached the I’m Like A Midwest Princess Shirt now of being purely a noun, meaning a paid-for day out, commonly in your employer’s time. But a jolly? Strange word. Back in the relatively innocent days of the mid-twentieth century, jolly was a round-cheeked, smiling, uncomplicated word. It went with fat, beaming, seaside-postcard ladies, having a cheerful time on the beach or at the funfair, or Enid Blyton schoolgirls having a midnight swim down at the beach, or a midnight feast up on the roof of the jolly old school. It was all very jolly, with never any repercussions, and it was all jolly good. Before that, the word seems to have come from two possible directions, and quite possibly both of them. It may be from the French joli, meaning merrry or joyful, or from the Norse word jól, from which we get Yule, as an old word for Christmas festivities. Put them together and the result is a jolly good word for everyone having a good time. It’s a pity it’s been corrupted into having overtones of something slightly dishonest!

[pixeldistractions]

The group of them hung out sometimes after climbing, when their energy was spent and the sunlight began to fade. They grilled red meat for protein and drank Gatorade by the gallon. Nessa brought more food from home. The kids ate while still wearing wet bathing suits, and the climbing crew stretched and relaxed and laughed into the twilight.

“Eat up!” Nessa said, laying out a spread of potato salad, baked beans, and even waffles.

“Wow, you made all this?” Maya asked.

Nessa laughed. “Oh no, my mother-in-law is the chef. You don’t want to see me in the kitchen. In fact, everyone, you’re all invited to Thanksgiving. She’d love to have a really full house and lots of people to cook for. It would mean the world to her this year.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “It’s been a rough time, but the distraction would be good. They were married for forty years, and this is her first holiday without him.”

Everyone was so sorry to hear that, but unfortunately, most everyone also already had plans.

Tyler politely declined. He had a bittersweet history with the Phoenix family, thanks to a rough breakup with his high school girlfriend, Summer. They always said he was welcome in the family any time, and though he and Summer made their peace, he had his own family to focus on now.

Kristoff declined for no stated reason. Darren was a maybe? And Jordan?

“Oh, Thanksgiving?” It had been a very long time since Jordan attended any sort of Thanksgiving gathering. Togetherness was not really Colette’s thing. She liked to take the boys somewhere expensive and foreign, where Thanksgiving didn’t exist. Even when his dad was still alive, it was usually just the two of them and a store-bought meal in front of a football game, which was wonderful, but small.

Funny enough, when he and Maria first met, when she found out that he usually spent the holiday alone, she promptly invited him to her family’s Thanksgiving dinner. The gesture was appreciated, but they had only known each other a few weeks, so he politely declined. This year, she was coming to visit him. The November weekend that Maria got off work, the only good stretch of time she could spend here, was over Thanksgiving weekend. They hadn’t talked about what they would do, only that they would be together.

“I don’t know what my plans are,” Jordan said. “My girlfriend is in town that week.”

Girlfriend, he said, which brought a foolish grin to his face. The word filled him with such a warm and bubbly feeling. He hadn’t called someone his girlfriend since the ninth grade. He never even called Colette that, always just “the boys’ mom” or by name, except for the occasions he called her his “ex.” Jordan had a girlfriend now, and it was the most wholesome thing. “I’ll have to ask her. You know, because she might want to cook our own thing.”

“She cooks?” Nessa sprung up from the table with wonder in her eyes.

“Yeah, she’s great at it,” Jordan said.

“We don’t have any other foodies in the family. Sophie would love her!” Then Nessa paused. “Oh! I don’t mean to put her to work. No, she’d absolutely be a guest. Just, for Sophie to have someone to talk food stuff with who knows better. Please. Let me meet her, I’ll beg.”

“Ha, I don’t think you’ll have to beg,” Jordan said. “But sure, I’ll see what she thinks of the idea.”

So they settled talk of Thanksgiving for now. They dug into those burgers and potato salad and homemade cookies. They ate and laughed and carried on as the evening turned to twilight.

Jordan was perplexed at how he ended up here, part of all this, especially since he’d spent the better part of his twenties alienating himself and pushing people away. Now his family was part of all this, too, before they even got here. These people hadn’t met Maria yet, but already they loved her. They hadn’t met his boys yet, but already they were expected to share a bunk room with the other children in Japan next winter.

These people were warm and welcoming. No one was left uninvited. No one was left behind. No one was allowed to give up. These people were wild and brave and unstoppable, and Jordan hadn’t met so many people like this in his whole life. They understood each other. They didn’t question each other’s priorities or ambitions. Nobody thought of him as frivolous or irresponsible for wanting to do this.

You want to climb mountains? Well, of course you do! Let’s go do it!

Jordan wasn’t looking to find his tribe here, but they scooped him up, folded him into their world, and adopted him anyway.

It was everything. Almost.

— from “boxes and squares #4.3: then fall in love” (3/5)

Next ->

[briuh]

vanilla or chocolate?

Vanilla unless it’s literal chocolate

pineapple or orange?

Orange

summer or fall?

Summer

winter or spring?

Spring!

coke or pepsi?

Coke

flip flops or converse?

Chuck Taylors

thanksgiving or christmas?

Thanksgiving

lil wayne or kanye west?

Kaaannnnyyyeeee

degrassi or glee?

You said what?

iphone or blackberry?

Neither. Get a life.

baseball or football?

X games motocross and mma

basketball or soccer?

Listen..

facebook or myspace?

MySpace 🥺… the original

twitter or photobucket?

Do either even exist?

snapple or vitamin water?

Snaps

math or social studies?

DAM.

I can’t choose they’re equally terrible

Math.

purple or red?

💜💜💜

mac or dell?

I don’t even have a computer anymore

msn, aol, or aim?

Aim 🥺

uggs or emu?

Sorel

facebook chat or IM?

Texting

texting or calling?

Calling

air heads or starburst?

Starburst 💦

sweet or sour?

Both

paramore or the fray?

Who?

sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise but … sunset

girly girl or tomboy?

Tomboy

delia’s or hot topic?

Hot topic but I do miss Delia’s

ipod or cd player?

I have a phone

love or money?

Love

Here’s the latest. You know, the best thing about the Internet is the ability to talk about yourself. A LOT.

If I looked on the bed next to you, what would I find?

My man

Do you go to the bathroom with the door open or closed?

Depends on the bathroom. Like home bathroom or work bathroom?

Are your underwear and socks folded in your drawer or just thrown in?

A nice even mixture of both because i hardly have drawers

Sleep on your back or stomach?

All over

Are you a cuddler?

Yes, although I’m also the cuddled

What would I find if I looked UNDER your bed?

Clothes because I kind of don’t have drawers

Something that happened today that made you angry?

My boyfriend, because he was at work and not with me, even though I was also at work, but it annoyed me.

What were you doing before this survey?

Reuniting myself with my tumblr for the 578th time

What will you do after the survey?

Bed

Marriage or living together?

Marriage is the preference but he moved himself in and I didn’t say no

What shirt are you wearing now?

Black tank top with a green tie dye hoodie

Do you sing?

Yea but the cigarettes really throw a wrench

Do you de-label your beer bottles?

I don’t drink beer

Do you talk about your feelings or hide them?

Bury! Bury them all!

Is there something you regret and wish you could take back?

Eh, no

First thing you do when you wake up?

🫢

Ever had surgery?

Twice

Last argument you got into with?

I live with my man, take a wild guess

Do you tend to rip the paper off water bottles?

I don’t use those I have the metal refillable ones

What’s one good thing about your best friend?

He listens to me complain and loves me anyway. He calms me down. He has my back

How long does it take for you to fall asleep at night?

Most of the entire night

Current song on myspace?

🙄

When you shut off your alarm clock, do you tend to fall back asleep?

Remember the question about who i last had an argument with?

If you were given the chance to take care of a monkey for a weekend, would you?

No.

What are you looking forward to in the next few months?

Finishing school

It’s Wednesday afternoon, where are you usually?

Work

Honestly, if you could have ANYONE in the world, who would it be?

The one I have now

Your Christmas list consists of?

We still doing that?

Ok cool I want a house

No no no I want a million dollars for Christmas

You’re going to New York for school shopping, where do you go first?

I guess this question is assuming I got what I wanted for Christmas

You need a new pair of jeans, what store do you go to first?

Abercrombie or temu there is no in between

How do you feel about your hair?

I like my hair

What movie is in your DVD player?

DVD player lol

If you could move away, no questions asked, where would you move?

Italy

How much do looks matter to you in a guy/girl?

I’d be lying if I said they don’t matter at all. They matter. A lot. However, once I love that person, they could let themselves go and I’d still love them just as much. But since they’re already attractive they prob aren’t going to let themself go feel me

What’s the greatest thing that happened to you today?

My son came home from babysitting and my boyfriend came home from work and we’re all safe and sound and home together

What would you change about your life right now?

Money

How many TRUE best friends do you have?

1, may be 2

What’s the best feeling in the world?

Being in his arms, head in his chest, and he randomly kisses me on the head

[just-another-sim]

After getting his seat assigned to be next to one of the cheerleaders in school, she and Patrick had hit it off well since school had started. Patrick had developed a crush on her and decided to make his move today. Patrick: "So...are you free this weekend?" Cheyenne: "Well it's Thanksgiving break, so yeah I guess I am free." Patrick: "Did you wanna go out and get ice cream or something?" Cheyenne: "Don't tell me the boy I just sit next to is asking me out." Patrick: "Hey! I thought we were friends!" Cheyenne: "Just messing with you. Sure. But make it pizza." Patrick: "Pizza, got it." They walked out of class and continued their conversation. Cheyenne: "This isn't just because you're on the football team and I'm a cheerleader, right?" Patrick: "Of course not, but that means we'd make a sweet duo right?" Cheyenne: "I won't let you win that easy. Take me out first and we'll discuss that "duo" thing."

[ajcorectology]

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On Thanksgiving Day, many people spend time with family and friends, often gathering for a special meal. Traditional Thanksgiving foods include roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, among others. It is also a common practice to reflect on the things for which we are grateful and to express thanks through prayers or sharing thoughts around the dinner table.

In addition to the food and family gatherings, Thanksgiving also marks the unofficial beginning of the holiday season in the United States. Many people take advantage of the long weekend to kick off their holiday shopping or engage in other festive activities like watching parades or football games.

It is worth noting that customs and traditions may vary between regions and families. Some people also use this holiday as an opportunity to volunteer or engage in charitable activities to help those in need.

Overall, Thanksgiving is a time to come together, express gratitude, and appreciate the blessings in our lives while enjoying the company of loved ones.

[katieslondonadventures]

                                    Thanksgiving Break Festivities

This week, my family is celebrating thanksgiving at home and it is the first time that I am starting to struggle with being homesick, while here in London. My grandparents come over and we have a good day, as a family. We eat a lot of delicious food and watch American football for most of the day. My favorite dish on the thanksgiving table is mashed potatoes and gravy. I am sad this year that I will be missing it and some of my friends have been feeling the same way. We decided to go out to dinner to pretend like we are having thanksgiving too, but it just wasn’t the same. The other thing I love about thanksgiving is that the next day is Black Friday. Every year, after my cousins come over for dessert on thanksgiving night, I go home with them and we go to bed early. This way, I can wake up early and go out shopping Black Friday, with my aunt and cousin. After we spend the morning going to our selected stores, we head to a breakfast place to have a quick brunch, then comes time for a nap. That night, I usually watch a Christmas movie with my family to kick off the upcoming holiday season. Then the rest of the weekend is spent wrapping up all the Christmas presents that my mom and I have gotten so far and starting to decorate the house. It is a very quick transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas at my house, but I love both holidays and spending time with my family. 

[hellas-himself]

Crack Ship Holidays

Friendsgiving pt. 5 

The day after Thanksgiving is when our Christmas begins. We put up decorations and the tree and then our holiday season ends in the middle of January. I had meant to post this sooner but it’s been hectic lol but y'all already know the deal. 

.

.

“I’m so glad you could come with me,” Aelin says and loops her arm around mine. “Elide didn’t believe me when I said the lines wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Mor told me the same thing.”

“And where is she?”

“Hung over. She’ll be doing all her shopping from the comfort of her bed.”

“So smart… But I have no patience for online shipping.”

We put the bags in the trunk of her car.

“You still haven’t gotten anything for Cassian,” she says as we get in the car.

“You haven’t gotten anything for Rowan.”

“Touché, Archeron.”

I roll my eyes and laugh.

“What did you get him last year?”

I hate that I blush but Aelin is busy backing out to notice.

“I wasn’t working last Christmas… But I painted a few pieces for everyone. What did you get Rowan?”

“Two things- One present to open in front of family, and another for when we were alone.”

When I look at her, she’s grinning and wriggling her eye brows.

“Christmas is also when Cas and I started getting… closer. We didn’t actually do anything until New Year’s but that’s beside the point.”

“What do you give a man who has everything?” she muses.

“I-”

My phone vibrates and I pull it out of my pocket. Adela Rodriguez tagged you and Cassian Rodriguez in a post.

“What is it?”

“Cassian’s mom… she posted something on Facebook- and tagged me in it.”

“Well, what is it?”

I tap the notification and watch the screen change from my home screen to a picture of Cassian and I with her. Cassian is standing behind us, trapping us in a bear hug. Adela and I are laughing.

“It’s us… She wrote me something… Mi yerna querida, gracias por amar a mi hijo como el se merece.”

“And she speaks Spanish, too,” Aelin deadpans before giving me a smile.  

I laugh. “Says the musician… But yes. I practically lived in their house, so I learned…”

“What does that mean, though?”

“My beloved daughter in law, thank you for loving my son the way he deserves.”

“Oh, my god. That’s so sweet! How did dinner go with them?”

“It was amazing. I can’t wait to get the Christmas card in the mail. I’m in it this year.”

“That’s adorable.”

“What about you?”

“It was really nice… Aedion and Lys came over with Evangeline. Manon and Dorian stopped by with Elide and Lorcan. Fenris and Connall always spend the holidays with us, they brought the dessert this year.

“Rowan’s parents passed away when he was really young, as did my mine… Rowan isn’t close to his family- Only his cousin Endymion. My uncle Gavriel and cousin Aedion are the only family I have left, well by blood. There are uncles and all that, but they weren’t in my life until I was already an adult.”

Aelin spoke so frankly…

“I’m sorry, Aelin.”

“I- Thank you, Feyre… Holidays aren’t the easiest but in the end, we choose our family and I’m really lucky to have been able to find them.”

“In that I completely understand.”

Aelin pulls into the parking lot of the pet store.

“Where are your parents?” she asks me and I shove my hands in my pockets, the action making me think of Rhys. Of countless times I snuck out of my house to knock on their door.  

“Suburbs… But I don’t speak to them. Neither does Elain- Our older sister, Nesta, she still talks to our mother.”

“I haven’t met Nesta yet.”

I sigh. “You probably won’t.”

Aelin raises a brow as we step into the store.

“Nesta and Cassian dated when he started college. She treated him like shit and she has the nerve to be upset that I’m with him now.”

Aelin whistles.

“Well. My friend Yrene is married to my first boyfriend, Chaol. They’re having a baby. My best friend Dorian was my… something at one point and he’s with Manon, another friend of mine.”

“Cassian and Rhys aren’t brothers by blood… But I kind of dated Rhys, too.”

“You know… that doesn’t surprise me.”

“No?”

“You remind me of Dorian and I. Because of your history, your connection to one another is deeper than anyone else- and it’s obvious.”

“It was fake at first,” I say and Aelin gapes at me. I roll my eyes and walk right to the dog aisles. “His girlfriend dumped him for some college guy so I kissed him in the parking lot to piss her off and then… That was that.”

Aelin cackles and throws an arm around me.

“That is the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“And Lucien… Well, people used to think we three were a thing.”

“Were you?”

“No… Not physically anyway.”

“Ah. Gotcha.”

I grab an elf’s hat and an antler head band.

“Let’s see what Cas thinks.”

“I like this, too,” Aelin adds, taking what looks like an ugly knitted sweater. It’s adorable.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and send Cassian a text. Elf or Reindeer? Though there’s ugly sweaters I like.

Dressing up for me, bunny?

I roll my eyes. No, dumb ass. Valo’s Christmas picture.

Cassian sends eye roll and thumbs down emojis before giving me a real answer.

Reindeer… But ugly sweater. Get both?

Alright, my love. Thank you. See you soon.

*

Elain is standing outside of my house, leaning against her SUV.

“I was just about to call you,” she says as Aelin and I get out of her car.

“Cas is probably in the shower or something,” I say as I fish for the keys in my pocket.

“No. He left with Az.”

“What?”

“Did you forget what day it is?” Elain is smirking. She hugs Aelin and I before helping bring my bags inside. I don’t hear Val.

“Oh fuck,” I say, which makes Aelin laugh.

“What’s today?”

“Their fucking football game. I completely forgot!”

“And you have to be there,” Elain says. “It’s tradition.”

“Is this where all the boyfriends and girlfriends cheer their men on?” Aelin teases.

I look at Elain who’s smile goes wicked.

“El.”

“Yes, Feyre. Even Lucien is doing it, and he’s playing, too.”

“Okay, I want to know what ‘it’ is,” Aelin says and crosses her arms.

“Let’s hide these in my art room,” I mutter and they follow after me. “Elain, Lucien and Adela have matching jerseys with their respective partner’s name- which is fucking adorable. But then there’s the fucking face paint and the pom poms-”

“Oh, my fucking god. Rowan has a game today- Please tell me Rowan is playing against Cassian.”

“He is, actually,” Elain says.

“I wear my high school cheer outfit every year,” Aelin happily adds. “Sometimes, I prefer it when Rowan’s team loses. The sex is amazing when he’s cranky.”

Elain laughs.

“Same with Az.”

“Wait, I don’t have one. A jersey, I mean.”

“That, baby sister, is where you are wrong.” Elain reaches into her enormous bag and hands me a folded jersey. “Had it made after you told me you were official.”

It’s black and white, with red letters. There are the numbers ‘07’ on the front and Cassian’s name on the back. It is so ridiculous and yet…

*

Aelin is waiting for Elain and I in the parking lot of the park. She has her hair in pig tails and she’s wearing a green and white cheer outfit with long sleeves. She even has pom poms.

“Elide is here already,” she says as she slips her phone into the pocket of her skirt and then she looks at me. “Damn, Feyre, I didn’t know you were hiding all that under those clothes.”

I sigh. I kept my hair down and tied the jersey at my waist, right where my long-sleeved white crop top stops. I paired them with waisted red leggings and the black, red and white sneakers I’ve had forever.

“Cassian isn’t going to be able to focus with all that ass.”

Elain snorts.

“And don’t act like I don’t see you, Elain,” Aelin says playfully. My sister blushes.

Aelin introduces me to her friends, all of them so beautiful I’m left dumbstruck. I introduce them to my sister as well as Adela and Elyse who immediately offered them sandwiches and coquito. There is music playing loudly and Iliana is dancing around her father who is absentmindedly spinning her around as he talks strategy with Lucien. Valo is rolling around in the ground with Aelin’s dog, Fleetfoot- a dog she and Dorian adopted together long before she and Rowan became a thing.

Amren is here as well, to my surprise but I see Varian chatting with Fenris and his twin brother, Connall- he made the boys’ team even. I see Cassian standing next to the tallest man I’d ever seen- brutally handsome with long black hair, tied up in a messy bun just like Cassian has his.

And then he sees me.

Aelin slaps my ass and winks before I walk over towards him. I hear her calling for Rowan in a sing song voice behind me.

“Hello, handsome,” I say as Cassian pulls me in for a kiss.

“I was going to ask you what you got me for Christmas,” he whispers into my ear as his hands wander down to grip my ass. “But it looks like Christmas came early.”

“Stop it!” I laugh and he kisses me again.

He seems to remember that his friend is standing there still. He isn’t smiling, but his eyes are alight with amusement.

“Bunny, this is Lorcan. He works with Rowan. Lor, this is my girlfriend, Feyre.”

I give him a wave.

“Hi.”

“So you’re the girl in the picture,” he says and I look at Cassian expectantly. He laughs and rubs the back of his neck.

“What picture?”

“It’s nothing,” he says and punches Lorcan’s arm. “Let me introduce you to the guys.”

Lorcan smirks but when I hear Elide call his name, he smiles. A real smile. Cassian takes my hand and guides me away.

“What was that all about?”

“He’s an ass.”

“Clearly. But really, what picture?”

Cassian sighs. “I’ll show you later.”

I raise a brow and Cassian kisses me.

“Please?”

“Alright, Rodriguez. I won’t forget.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Fenrys is one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever met in my life. Like Rhys, and Dorian. He is just as flirtatious as Aelin and Cassian are but his twin brother is way more reserved and I am not surprised to see Connall navigate towards Azriel. Aelin’s cousin could pass as her twin brother but he also reminds me of Cassian in a way.

“Evangeline is amazing. I love having her in class,” I say to Lysandra and Aedion who are looking at her fondly. Evangeline is blushing. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the art show.”

Rhys and Lucien finally show up, with Helion and Aurelie in tow.

“Sorry we’re late,” Rhys says.

“You went black Friday shopping, didn’t you?” Cas asks and Rhys just shrugs.

“He and Mor were gone all morning,” Lucien replies and Rhys looks at him as though he’s been betrayed. “Hungover my ass.”

“Well, I’m here now!”

Lucien rolls his eyes and ties up his hair.

“I will ask one of Rowan’s friends to switch with me so I can kick your ass,” Lucien snaps at Rhys.

“Do it then.”

“Hey, I know you two like to argue as foreplay but this is Feyre’s first game as Cassian’s girlfriend,” Azriel says in a rather saccharine tone. It’s almost condescending. “Let them have their moment.”

I can’t help but laugh as Rhys and Lucien practically pry me away from Cassian to apologize and hug and kiss me profusely. I can hear Adela scolding Azriel but the tone in her voice is jovial.

Vinny calls for them to separate into teams. Lucien does in fact switch places with Fenrys, who is all too happy to be on ‘the team that Feyre is cheering for’.

I take my seat beside my sister and Adela as everyone takes their place on the muddy field. Vinny is acting as goal keeper. I had always cheered the boys on, though Elain and Adela are always the most vocal. Nothing has changed in the way Cassian smiles when our eyes meet, or the way I jump to my feet to cheer him on as he makes a goal. I just can’t believe I’d never noticed it before. I have been to nearly every one of Cassian’s footballs games, even when he was dating Nesta. I’ve seen him lose some, seen him win but it never gets old.

Aelin is betting Elide that Cassian is going to hand Lorcan his ass while Manon shouts at Rowan’s team- she should have been a coach. They don’t get into a fight, but it is obvious they are not used to actually having to worry about the opposing team. It’s amusing, but I know that someone is going to be bruised and aching later.

When the game is over, I am not surprised that Cassian’s team won but I am caught off guard as Cassian makes his way to me and lifts me off my feet. He kisses me, ignoring Elyse’s sounds of disgust. When we stop to breathe, I smooth his hair away from his face.

“Your football games would have been so much more fun if this was how they ended,” I say teasingly. Cassian laughs. “That was a good game, Cas.”

“I am beat,” he says as he sets me down.

“You guys were showing off.”

“Of course,” he says as he throws an arm around my shoulder. “I have to impress my girlfriend.”

I poke his side. “You don’t have to impress me. Win or lose, I am always proud of you.”

Cas looks at me and smiles.

“Hey, Cas!” Lorcan shouts as Elide hands him a small ice pack. “Rematch next weekend?”

“You’re on Salvaterre!”

Elide and I share the same look of exasperation.

*

“So, bunny, I made a stop or two before Az and I went to the park.”

“Did you?”

I follow him into the garage. He turns the light on and there are several bags and a large box…

“You got a Christmas tree?”

I walk right over to it and turn it to see the picture. It’s pre-lit, which is smart and has little red berries in it.

“If you don’t like the ornaments, I’ll go change them for something else.”

I give him a look before I look through the bags.

“Red and gold is perfect, Cas.”

“You sure?”

I nod. “Can we put it up tonight?”

He smiles. “I was hoping to.”

“Perfect.”

“I want to shower first though…”

I wave him off. “I’ll go preheat the oven for cookies and put a movie on.”

*

I pull a pair of stockings out of a bag and laugh.

“Cas, you didn’t!” They are red knit stockings with our monograms on them in white, there is even one for Val. “I love them so much.”

“Where should we hang them up?”

I look around the living room and my eyes fall on the little accent table he has against the wall where he’s setting up the tree. He keeps the remotes and controllers to his game consoles in there among other things. He has a few picture frames on it but nothing more.

“If you’re not opposed to putting holes in the wall… Maybe we can put a little shelf up there? I can put lights and our Yule log up there and then hang the stockings from it.”

Cassian looks at where I point to and gives a nod.

“Yeah… I think that would be nice. Let me get the tree up and then I’ll go see what I have in the garage.”

Once the tree is up and plugged in, Cassian disappears into the garage. I start putting up the ornaments- red and gold traditional ornaments, glittery birds and butterflies, snowflakes and icicles. I hear hammering and then the loud clang of the hammer falling before the drill goes off. Val and I look towards the garage curiously.

Cassian comes back with a shelf and the drill, as well as the leveler ruler.

“Tell me where,” he says and I set the box of ornaments down to mark the right spot on the wall. Val barks as Cassian drills the nails into the wall but stops when Cas looks back at him. Once the shelf is up, I hand Cassian the Yule log to set in the middle, then the candles decorated with holly and pine before he carefully arranges the white Christmas lights around them. He hides the switch behind one of the candles.

Cassian is grinning after I finish putting up the stockings and I find myself blushing.

“What?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know… It’s nice. Getting to do this with you.”

I slide my arm around his waist.

“It is, isn’t it?” I lean into him. “I’ve never done this with anyone.”

“Neither have I.” He presses a kiss to the top of my hair. “Outside of family, anyway.”

I laugh. “How did you even manage to find a shelf so quickly?”

“Oh… Well, it had been meant for the guest room but I never got around to it so it had been sitting in the garage since I got the house.”

“I’m glad I was able to give it purpose.”

“Yeah… you do have a tendency of doing that.”

I poke his side. “Stop it.”

“Seriously… Anyway, let’s go finish the tree. Rudolph is starting soon and I want to be laying down by then.”

“We have that movie on DVD, Cassian.”

“But you know it isn’t the same.”

I sigh and roll my eyes. But I know he’s right.

*

I come back from the kitchen with a plate of cookies and a mug full of milk. Cassian is sitting on the sofa with his sketchbook on his lap while he flips through the channels.

“Here,” I say and hand him the plate before I pull down the little arm rest of the sofa to set the mug in a cupholder. It’s a perfect excuse to take his sketchbook and sit on his lap. I reach for the blanket and drape it over our legs as he slides an arm around me, holding me against him.

“So, I had free time at work the other day and was just… drawing bullshit. Warming up. Az wants to add to his sleeve but he hasn’t decided how. Anyway, I was sketching some shit out and I got this idea.”

Cassian sets the remote aside and opens his sketchbook. I’m mesmerized by all that I see as he flips through it and then he stops.

“It wasn’t supposed to be you, but when I started drawing her face… I couldn’t help it.”

“This is beautiful, Cassian.”

She’s a faerie of some kind, with wings like a bat rather than butterflies and a crown of moons on her head. Her dress isn’t complete, but I can tell it will be a gown of some sort.

“Lorcan saw it when he and Rowan stopped by to go over our plans for today.”

“I hope you finish it.”

“Yeah?” He kisses my cheek.

“I’ll let you tattoo it on me somewhere.”

“Bunny, don’t tease me like that. You know Rhys has been trying to be the one to give you your first tattoo.”

“He can give me my second one.”

“You serious?”

“I mean… why not? I would wait until Christmas break though-”

Cassian kisses me.

“I’ll make you something better than this. I promise,” he kisses me again. “But first, our movie marathon.”

I laugh. “I love you so much, Cassian.”

“I love you too, bunny.”

[avengerscompound]

Small Gods: Little Traditions - 3

Little Traditions: A Sam Wilson Fanfic

Little Traditions Masterlist | More Small Gods PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Sam Wilson x F!Reader

Rating: E

Word Count: 1810

Warnings: Lots of food talk and cooking

Synopsis: Since the blip and Steve Rogers giving up the mantle of Captain America, Sam’s life has been chaotic.  It’s not enough that the world has moved on in the five years he’d gone, and that he’d missed so much, now he has to live with everything it means to be Captain America.  He feels like he’s losing all the things that make him him.  A venture to the supermarket to recreate one of his parents famous recipes brings him to you.

Chapter 3

The recipe had been a success.  The end product had been exactly as Sam had remembered it, and even from the first mouthful, he was inundated with memories.  The way certain scents and flavors acted as a time machine was always a shock to Sam.  He’d be going along, completely normally and then the scent of soap will smack him right back to five-years-old playing in the bath at his grandma’s when he went there for sleepovers with his cousins.  Or he’d take a bite of stuffing and be at his Titi’s for Thanksgiving with the rest of the family around him.

This recipe had done exactly that.  Even as he cooked, the memory of being outside with his cousins and the kids from the neighborhood, throwing a football around while his dad cooked in a huge outside boiler, flooded in.  Every boil, all the other men there would tell his dad that he was doing it wrong, but when the crawfish was spread out on the table, no one ever had any complaints.

Eating crawfish was messy and noisy and the flavors were strong and distinct.  The whole process was like a little ritual.  After the scent of the creole spiced liquid was strong in the air you drained off the cooked crawfish, corn, and potatoes, and either poured them straight on the lined table or into a huge serving bowl.  Then everyone would just go in free for all. You tore the crawfish in half and sucked the stuff out of its head, before digging the meat out of the tail.  It wasn’t just a meal - it was an event.

Serving them up to Sarah, AJ, Cass, and Bucky was enough to bring back all those memories, but hosting the boil the following weekend was like he’d traveled back in time and inhabited the body of his father.

The kids of the neighborhood were hanging off Bucky and throwing around a football.  People from the neighborhood had brought around pies, beignets, salads, jambalaya, red beans and rice, and baskets of crusty bread rolls.  A lot of the older guys kept coming over and eyeing the pot suspiciously.  Sam had never felt as much like his father as he did right now.

“What kind of peppers did you put in there?” Gideon asked, lifting the lid and looking inside. “It don’t smell right.”

“It smells just fine,” Sam said, unable to take the smile off his face.  “Put the lid back on.”

“That should have lemons in it,” Jim added as he looked over Gideon’s shoulder.

Sam reached over and snapped down the lid. “It’s perfect.  Just like dad used to make.”

“Your dad used to make it wrong too,” Jim said.

Sam started laughing and tried to herd the men away from the pot when he saw you coming around the corner, carrying a large wooden bowl.  “Buck!  Can you keep everyone away from this pot?”

Bucky laughed and took Sam’s place as guard, as Sam went to greet you.  “Hey!  You made it,” he said.  He wasn’t sure how he should greet someone who he’d just met at a grocery store but had invited around as a kind of pre-date.  Was a kiss on the cheek too familiar?  Thankfully, you leaned in to kiss him hello before there was an awkward dance about what to do.

“It’s not every day you get invited to Captain America’s crawfish boil,” she said.  “Imagine trying to explain to anyone that you turned that invitation down.”

Sam laughed.  “Well as long as it got you here,” he said.  “I have to admit; after I asked you, I realized what a weird position I put you in.  I’m sorry about that.”

You shook your head.  “Yes, next time we should go out somewhere.  That’s far more traditional.”

“Who needs tradition anyway?” Sam joked.

“Oh, I don't know.  It looks like you have a pretty good tradition starting here,” you said and gestured around the yard.  “There's a lot of people here. And they look like they're having a great time.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, looking around the yard.  “You're right.  This was something my folks used to do when I was a kid.  It was to celebrate the first big catch of the season.  I remember loving it, so I wanted to get it started again.  I didn't realize how much I missed it.”

You smiled, your whole expression softening as you listened to him talk.  The term warm smile was not unfamiliar to Sam, but he'd always associated it with the big friendly ones someone gave when greeting a friend they were happy to see.  Your smile was different.  It was soft and subtle but there was something about it that reminded him of coals smoldering in a fire pit.  It was warm in an almost literal sense.  It made it look like you glowed.

“That's lovely, Sam,” you said.  “Everyone needs traditions like that.  And on that note -” you held up the bowl to him “- I brought potato salad.  It's the German kind.  I always bring it to cookouts and barbeques I'm invited to.  It doesn’t always get eaten, but I can always guarantee no one else has brought any.”

“I guess you've never been to a barbeque in Germany then,” he teased, taking the bowl from you.

“No, I have actually, but in Germany, I bring the American kind,” you said, making Sam laugh.

“Come on, we’ll put that on the table and I’ll introduce you to my sister,” Sam said, gesturing to the table.

You followed him over to where a woman was talking to the Fishers from down the street.  Sam made the introductions and when he mentioned that he met you at the grocery store just the other day, Sarah shot him a very confused expression.

“Oh you can say that thought out loud,” you said.  “It’s super weird.  I nearly said no.  It was a reluctant yes, wasn’t it?”

Sam suddenly felt ten percent hotter than he did a second ago and he covered his eyes with his hand. “Don’t rub it in.”

Thankfully Sarah started laughing, and just like that the ice was broken.  “Sam, you better go put those crawfish on, everyone’s getting hungry,” Sarah said.  “I’ll show your friend around.”

“Alright,” Sam said.  “Be nice.”

Sam grabbed the huge crate of crawfish and carried it over to the pot.  “Oh thank god,” Bucky said.  “People kept coming over and asking what I knew about doing a crawfish boil when I told them not to touch it.”

“What did you tell them? Sam asked.

“I said I didn’t know anything about it, but I knew a lot about severing hands from arms,” Bucky answered.

“Bucky!” Sam groaned.  “For god’s sake.  Can you maybe not threaten to dismember my friends.”

“Only the hands,” Bucky said.  “And I obviously wasn’t going to actually do it.”

“Yeah, yeah, take the lid off the pot would you?”

Bucky complied and Sam poured the tiny crayfish into the pot.  When the lid was back on Bucky went to join Sarah as she introduced you to everyone.  He watched as you easily engaged with everyone, even making Bucky laugh, which was something Sam only saw on rare occasions where Bucky not only felt at ease but also happy.  It was a rare combination, and Sam was glad Bucky seemed to feel that way with you.  Sam didn’t doubt his ability to read people, for a while it had been his job to do that, but it was always good to have such clear validation.

Sam wasn’t quite so sure about how close Bucky was standing to his sister, but the guy did seem to like to stand right up in people’s personal spaces, so Sam tried not to think too much about it.

When the crawfish were done, he pulled out the basket, shook off the excess liquid, and carried it to the long tables.  “Grubs up!” he called as he spread the crawfish, corn, and potatoes down the length of the table.

The kids all got there first, all of them yelling as they charged up to the table and grabbed handfuls of the crawfish, and started ripping them in half.  The adults weren’t far behind.  A few grabbed paper plates, but most ate the food straight from the table as it should be done.  His heart felt full.

You stepped up beside him, grabbing some corn.  “Looks like everyone is enjoying it,” you said.

“Oh they’re all going to tell me it’s wrong,” Sam said, with a large smile as he picked up one of the small crayfish.  “But that’s part of it, isn’t it?”

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” you asked.

“I really am,” he agreed.  “I think getting caught up with the Avengers and now Captain America, I lost sight of all this.  All the little things that make your family your family.  You know?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” you replied.  “All the big holidays - they’re the things that unite cultures but the point of them can get lost, and they can become more of a burden than a celebration.  These little ones?  They unite families and communities.  The real reason for them always stays, because it’s so personal.”

Sam looked at you with a feeling somewhat akin to awe.  “That’s it exactly,” he said.  “I need the things that connect me to these people.”

“And me apparently,” you teased.

“Yes, and you,” Sam laughed.  “It’s important to have connections with random people you meet at supermarkets.”

You laughed with him and nudged him with your arm.  It was a simple, yet familiar gesture and it made Sam warm from the inside out.  “Does that mean I get invited next year when you do this?”

“Well I don’t know,” Sam said, coyly.  “I feel like we should go on a date before I decide that.  A proper one.”

“Wow,” you teased.  “Holding my invitation hostage for a date. Is that how it’s going to be?”

“It’s how it is,” Sam said.  “What do you say?  Next Friday?  I can take you somewhere nice.”

You smiled softly, that same warm feeling settling on your features again. “Friday?  How traditional of you.”

“You know me,” Sam said. “I do love tradition.”

“Okay,” you said.  “I’d love to.’

“Great,” he said and finally tore the crawfish he had in hand.  “I’m glad we agreed to that before you saw me start eating things.  There are no take-backs now.”

You burst into laughter as he sucked the head of the crawfish.  You took it as your queue to start eating too.  Sam felt good.  He felt like he was finding himself a little more every day, and if he could do that, the rest would be easier, and he wouldn’t feel like he was carrying that shield alone.

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