#get to work and my manager just randomly decided to switch everyone’s seats for the fun ig but like

[lucifer]

I’ve legitimately had a rotten day today. :(

[artificialqueens]

A New Kind Of Freedom (Branjie) - Enescudoh

A/N - first ever fic so all crits and comments gratefully received! Thank you to Mia Ugly for a wonderful email telling a complete novice how to do this part. I’ve left this open ended - haven’t decided if I’ll come back to it or not yet.

Fic summary: A little ways down the road, some things have changed, others have stayed exactly as they are. Brooke and Vanjie can only avoid each other for so long before tequila combined with what should have been a great idea from a French drag queen make them question how much they’ve really left things behind them.

Non-AU, but canon-divergent in that Brooke never moved out of Nashville to LA.

‘Another round of tequila for my best bitches!’

The dancers that have taken over this West Hollywood bar cheer as Brooke seems only to want to get them drunker, perhaps to disguise how drunk she’s getting.

‘Think you want to take it easy for the night? Maybe have some water?’ Nicky asks, as she tries to clamber onto a table. Six foot three before her heels were on – that’s going to be a long way down if she falls. Nicky goes up to steady her and instead Brooke raises her hand like she’s a boxing champion.

‘Everyone give it up for Nicky! She’s the fucking best. Nicky, you’re the fucking best, you know that?’ Brooke takes her French co-star’s face in her hands and pecks her on the lips. She laughs it off, enjoying the moment, before helping them both off the table.

‘Nicky’, Brooke says, when their feet are back firmly on the floor, ‘we have just done a motherfucking global tour.’ She slams her arms on the table with every word. ‘We have just finished a motherfucking week long run in fucking Los Angeles. When, tell me, is a better time to get so drunk you forget your own name, than right motherfucking now?’

‘And that’s the only reason?’

There’s something about the way Nicky asks her that makes Brooke temporarily lose a single layer of the alcohol shield she was using to protect her emotions.

‘I hoped he might have come to a show. Or just, like, said hi. While I was here. Cos, I mean, he knew I’d be here. But he didn’t, and the show’s done now, and as far as he knows that’s me out of town and… it sucks that he didn’t even want to say hi. It’s like, a tiny bit that. But mostly just the celebrating our motherfucking show part.’ Brooke sees Nicky look at her with pity and immediately starts up again acting the type of drunk she wants to be tonight, as if that will speed up it arriving in real life.

‘I’m fine! Honestly – I’m so happy right now. Come on – tonight’s for dancing, not for talking, let’s get back out there, mademoiselle!’

Truly, that’s all Brooke wants. To get so euphorically drunk she forgets her own name, and to kill these night time hours in Los Angeles before this place that was so thick with memories makes her do something stupid. To deny that part of her that wishes she’d seen him while she was here, until she can get back to real life, where she could get him out of her head by telling herself there was, at least, no good excuse to be prompted to think about him. Most of the time.

—

‘C’mon Nicky, let me stay for one more round, I’ll buy everyone another round!’

‘Brooke, you can barely stand up. I’m getting you an uber, you’re going home where there’s a bed. You know, a place for sleeping that’s not a leather couch in a bar?’ Nicky was hardly stone cold sober, which made it challenging to scroll back through their conversation, trying to find the address of Brooke’s AirBnB. She’d taken her stuff there this morning after they’d checked out of the hotel the tour was putting them up in, using the next week for meetings she could usefully do while in town. It had made so much sense in the daylight. Now Nicky curses that she doesn’t know where to actually book her Uber to.

She finally loses patience trying as Brooke appears to have passed out on her shoulder. Nicky takes her phone from her pocket and holds it to her face to open it. Luckily it’s used to recognising her in drag. She opens the app – and right there is a saved address of an apartment nearby. Nicky makes a mental note to rip Brooke a new one for how stupidly organised she is, before booking a car, just about managing to manhandle Brooke into it, and going back into the bar for another round of shots. Just because Brooke was out of it, doesn’t mean her night has to end.

—

The buzzer drags Jose out of bed, rubbing his eyes and his spiked up bed-hair. He checks his phone. 3:15am. Serves him right for thinking he might actually get some sleep one night this week. The buzzer carries on sounding as if someone was leaning on it.

‘Jeez, I’m coming already Mary’, he grumbles. ‘What is it?’ He asks into the intercom.

‘This is Ali, uber driver – ‘

‘Child, ain’t no one here ordering no uber at three o’clock in the god damn morning.’

‘There is woman in my car, this is her address to take her to, but I cannot wake her up, she asleep in my car.’

‘Silky I swear to god if this is your idea of a prank – ‘

‘Please take sleeping woman from my car, thank you sir.’

Jose is rapidly starting to think this is the strangest dream he’s ever had but he plays along, puts his door on the latch and goes downstairs to investigate.

And sure enough, passed out on the back seat of a Prius, snoring like the moose he knows, is Brooke Lynn Hytes.

Jose sighs. There isn’t enough good karma in the world to pay him back for not even entertaining the idea of getting a video of this. He hands Ali a tip and begins to gently coax his ex-boyfriend out of the car.

—

After Jose has helped a barely sentient Brock into his building’s elevator, out of drag and make-up, and onto his sofa, under a pile of blankets of varying thicknesses and softnesses (because he knows that when Brock’s drunk he’ll switch randomly between freezing cold and boiling hot in the middle of the night), sleep doesn’t exactly come back easily. For one thing Brock’s snoring can traverse walls. But he’s also trying to piece together what’s happened. He knew Brock was in LA. He’s been running different routes every day for the last fortnight just to avoid the posters. Did Brock want to come and see him, try and build up some Dutch courage and take it too far?

‘Get out of your head, child’, he whispers to himself. ‘He don’t think about you like that no more, you know that.’

He tosses and turns and before he knows it, it’s light outside.

—

Brock wakes early, turning and stretching. He needed more sleep but knows he only wakes up feeling this uncomfortable when he’s tried to cram his tall frame onto a sofa for the night. He curses – was he really so out of it he didn’t even make it to the bedroom of his own AirBnb last night? As he prises his eyes open, and casts the two blankets off his body to join the several already on the floor, he realises this isn’t the same place he came to bring his suitcases yesterday. Is it? It feels strangely familiar.

Before he can work out where he knows the apartment from, or why he’s there, the smell of strong coffee hits his sinuses, and the whirring of a Nespresso machine sounds up. He groans.

‘Mornin’, sleeping beauty’, calls a familiar voice from the kitchen. And suddenly how he knows this apartment falls into place.

Brock stands up and steadies himself on the sofa before walking through to where the voice came from.

‘Hey stranger.’

Jose turns around and smiles at him. Usually something that bright would shatter him into pieces on a hangover like this. But when it’s Jose’s smile, whatever he’s feeling, it only makes it better.

‘Coffee?’

‘Like you even have to ask.’ Brock sits – carefully – on a high stool and sinks his head into his hands, taking it out only when the steaming mug is put down in front of him. He examines it as he drinks.

‘You still have this tacky tourist mug from Chicago?’

Jose freezes at the counter. He won’t let Brock see the warmth that washes over him with memories of that trip.

‘Uh, yeah, I guess I do. I can get you another one if –‘

‘No, it’s nice. It’s nice that you have it.’

Brock meets Jose’s eyes as he says it, much as he’d rather look away.

‘Your tour finished last night then?’

‘Yeah, uh-huh.’ Brock desperately tries to think of something to say to stop what he knows is about to come out of his mouth. ‘I hoped you might come see me while I was here.’

‘I hoped you mighta asked me to.’

Brock swallows as he’s caught off guard by Jose’s honesty.

‘So I don’t remember running into you last night, where –‘

‘You wanna tell me how you ended up here?’

They start talking at the same time and trail off, when Brock’s phone starts vibrating.

‘This ought to give us some idea,’ he says as he answers it. ‘Hey Nicky.’

‘Ah! She lives!’ Jose busies himself in the kitchen, trying not to overhear anything. He doesn’t want to know, really. It doesn’t matter. It didn’t mean anything that Brock showed up here last night, just as he was beginning to… no, not beginning to anything. No beginnings. Everything ended a long time ago. He couldn’t afford to think otherwise.

Anyway, there’s nothing to overhear, as Nicky is regaling Brock with everything that happened after she’d gone home.

‘Honestly, it’s a miracle I managed to get you into that uber when I did –‘

‘Wait, you put me in an uber?’

‘Yes honey – a stroke of genius, I might add.’

‘How did you find… um, where to send it?’

‘It was your nearest saved address – thank me over brunch, bitch, you still good to meet in that café in an hour?’

Brock’s been pacing around the living room. He leans through to check Jose is out of earshot before replying, ‘I think today’s more of a duvet day hangover than a brunch hangover. Sorry my love, I’m gonna have to raincheck this one.’

‘Ugh, fine. I guess I’ll just go flirt with the cute waiters by myself. Bye, bitch.’

‘Well, that’s that mystery solved’, Brock says as he re-enters the kitchen. It seems almost too simple. Too… prosaic. Like it should have been fate, or destiny, or some grand force beyond his control that brought him to Jose’s door, and instead it was a French drag queen with a bad memory after a few drinks.

Jose laughs to himself, and to the floor, as Brock explains. ‘You ain’t changed this address out in three years? How many times you been to LA since then?’

‘Honestly, not that many. And I’m just going to meetings, back and forth, and I don’t stay in the same places…’

‘Alright, Miss Thing, we get it, you in demand.’ He starts to relax. He was worried that Brock showing up meant something, something too big for him to be able to protect himself from. He just has to get through the morning, maybe only another hour, and then Brock can waltz back out of his apartment just as quickly as he showed up in it. Not waltz. Crash, or tiptoe. Brock doesn’t really have any mode between those two extremes.

‘So, uh, I guess you remember where the shower is, and then, as long as you actually know which apartment it is you’re going to this time, we all good here…’

Jose can hardly bring himself to look at Brock as he potters around looking for a towel, but he knows Brock’s eyes are following him all around the room. Can’t he at least pretend it’s as difficult for him to see Jose as it is for Jose to see him?

‘I don’t know, since I’m here…’

‘Since you here what?’

‘I’m just saying, it’s been ages. I hardly talk to you any more. It’d be nice to reconnect with my friend. You got plans today?’

Jose feels his feet become rooted to the spot. It’s so tempting – to spend the day with Brock, patching up the hole he’s felt over the last couple of years without the Canadian in his life. Maybe he’s wrong – maybe it is better to have him as a friend, to have some of him, than to have to completely cut himself off from this force of nature, this beautiful, magnetic person. To think of himself as lucky that someone like that wants to spend time with him, wants to be his friend, rather than dwell on all the things Brock doesn’t want with him. He sighs.

‘Sure. I mean, nah, no plans. Sure, we can hang out.’

‘Yeah? That’s awesome!’ Brock is starting to feel human again – he can tell by the way his speaking voice is slowly crawling out of the bass register.

—

As Brock turns the shower off, he hears a voice on the other side of the wall. He allows himself a smile to think that even when Jose was trying to be quiet (as he could tell he was now), his voice still carried across rooms.

‘I’m real sorry, I know it’s shitty, it’s just this once, I promise – I just… I got an old friend show up in town. I’ll try see you some time this week, ‘kay? OK. OK… OK. Bye.’

Brock doesn’t realise he’s been holding his breath until he lets it out. He counts to five in his head before he unlocks the door, one towel around his waist, another tousling his blonde curls.

‘Hey – give me 15 minutes then I’ll be ready to head out. OK?’

Jose looks up at him. He tries so hard not to flinch as he does. It’s just muscle memory, he tells himself, brain pathways and stuff, that once they’re there, don’t go away. That’s the only reason looking at Brock’s body makes him feel like this, because he did in past, not because he does now. Anyway - he’s made a decision, the least he could do is see it through. ‘Sure.’

—

It’s remarkable how quickly they slip back into each others’ company. They hardly notice that they’re going to their old haunts, stop to get in their heads about if that means anything – they just know the places they enjoy, how they spent so many days happy and relaxed in this neighbourhood. How they don’t even think about how much hard work it is, trying to keep each other out, versus how natural they feel.

‘So how’s Nashville been treating you?’, Jose asks over an iced coffee.

‘It’s been good actually!’ Jose suppresses a snicker, but doesn’t do so well to keep himself from raising an eyebrow halfway up his forehead. Brock seeing Nashville as a means to an end that he wished he could leave had been a common theme of conversation between them.

‘I’m serious! I mean, my lease came up and I actually got really close to moving out here, but then… some stuff changed. I realised there was a side to Nashville I hadn’t got to see much of yet, so I figured I’d sign on for one more year.’

‘Sides like… what, everybody be discovering their local parks for the first time in quarantine, shit like that?’

Brock looks up from the table. ‘I met someone. It didn’t work out, we’re not still…’ He’s careful not to trip over his tongue as he gets that out. ‘But it was nice. Having a relationship while we both literally couldn’t go anywhere, you know, it helped to turn the everyday into a bit of an adventure. For a little while.’

‘So lemme get this straight. You actually willingly had a relationship with another person, in the same city as you, no breaks, no passes, no long distance shit, for…’

‘Uh, five months.’

‘For five months, without losing your god damn mind over it?’

Jose is chuckling, he’s taking it better than Brock had ever imagined he would, whenever he’d pictured Jose finding out about it. Part of the reason it had ended with Max after five months was precisely because he found himself wondering how Jose would react to everything he was doing, and somehow picturing doing all of the coupley things he’d previously never entertained with Jose tended to make him happier than actually doing them with Max. He wasn’t an expert in relationships, but he didn’t think that was how it was supposed to go.

“What about all that shit about “freedom”, about that being the most important thing to you in the world?”

Brock pauses. He’s been having enough trouble articulating it to himself.

“Say what you want about a pandemic. But it’s pretty good for making you… re-evaluate… what it actually is freedom means to you. When a lot of it gets taken away, I mean. Freedoms you never thought you’d have to live without. Suddenly, you can’t travel, you can’t perform to crowds, you can’t go to bars, you can’t hug your family… maybe, it starts to make you think that those are the freedoms that matter to you… and that in the scheme of things… freedom to flirt or to have sex, I mean, to involve other people in your freedom, and wish for it not to be personal… I don’t know, maybe that’s not the kind of freedom I found myself craving all that much on the other side of this. And maybe having one person who cares about you enough to look out for you, whose emotions move in sync with yours… maybe that’s a kind of freedom too.”

There’s a pause. Most people would misinterpret the face that Jose’s making as him trying to understand what Brock’s just said. But he knows better. He’s seen that face before. That’s the face of Jose’s heart breaking.

Brock wishes he could take back the words. He knew they’d sting, that’s why he hadn’t talked to Jose the minute he’d had that realisation. How could he have just shown up, years later, as if now he was finally ready for everything Jose wanted, as if nothing would have changed for Jose in the meantime? So when Jose finally opens his mouth to ask him that, says softly ‘how many months were you gonna sit on that before you said anything to me?’, Brock answers honestly.

‘I figured you’d given me too many chances already.’

[simsadventures]

Only Mine: Chapter 4: The Encounter Part I

Summary: You try to forget all about the night and the dinner you had with Bucky, but some people just won’t let you.

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of rape (trying not to be too explicit), angst, mobster AU

Word Count: 2244

A/N: Remember, you wanted it @sebbbystaaan​ and @kneel-begyourpardon​. Don’t stone me for this little cliffhanger. Part II of The Encounter will come out tomorrow. Let me know what you thought xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist

< Previous Chapter 

The next couple of days were a blur for Bucky. He couldn’t figure out how anyone would be so cold towards him, especially a woman. He tried to think back to the night the two of you spent together, that maybe he did something wrong, or that he maybe not performed the way he usually does. But he shook this thought off, remembering how your thighs quivered and how your whole body shook. This couldn’t be the reason then.

All the women always loved when he acted like an alpha around them, so he didn’t understand what your problem was with things like him ordering food for you. A weird thought appeared in front of his eyes. Maybe you really weren’t anything like the women he was used to, and that he genuinely had no idea how to treat a woman, but he dismissed this as well. Pff, he was Bucky Barnes, every woman would fall to their knees to just spend a night with him.

He was standing in his room, staring out the window at his backyard. He could see three gardeners trying to create something beautiful of the mess the grass and trees were at the moment, and he loved to see them work. It brought peace to his weary mind. But somebody disturbed the peace by knocking on his door.

“Yeah,” he rumbled but didn’t make any effort of looking who it was. He had the nagging feeling that it was either Steve, or Sam, or both, and he didn’t need to see their faces. He could get all the emotions just from their voices, especially when the three of them were together, his right hands always told him everything just like they felt it.

“Staring into the distance, thinking of your one try love, mate?” Sam asked, humour laced in his voice. He could hear Steve snicker behind him and Bucky just rolled his eyes at their childish behaviour.

“You wanted something particular, or did you come in to tease me?” Bucky growled, his eyes now closed, with his fingers massaging the root of his nose. They’ve been there for a few seconds, and they were already giving him a headache.

“Teasing? You think this is teasing? Teasing would be if we came back to the scene at the restaurant. Man! The way she sassed you and how you stay quiet, that was hilarious! We were a little worried that you bit your tongue. This, this would be teasing, old pal.” Steve was smirking at Bucky, who was now intently staring at the two of them, wishing they would turn into dust.

“Haha, so funny! You done, assholes? I do have better things to do than to listen to the two of you.”

“Like? Staring out the window like you’re the cover of a sad-boy’s album?” This time, Sam and Steve actually high-fived, and all Bucky could do was to sigh. He might have been the boss outside the room, but here, in his personal quarter, they were just three old friends, teasing the hell out of each other. Bucky just hated that it was now his turn to be in the burning seat.

“Give me a break, ok? I just never met a woman like her, that’s all. But she made it very clear that she wasn’t interested and I’m not gonna hunt her down. I’ve got better things to do than to think about some sassy-big-mouthed girl. Any word on Pierce?”

Both of the men in front of Bucky shook their heads. “Nope, nothing. Apparently, he is still very much on the West Coast, and if he likes his own life, he’s gonna stay there. Don’t worry about him, we’re gonna make sure he stays where he should. Speaking of shoulds,” Sam said, and looked at Steve, importantly.

“Right, we should get on the streets today. There are some bastards roaming the city, raping young women. We should make a purge and show them what happens to guys like them. I spoke to the Commissioner of the NYPD, and he said that their forces could help us, we just gotta call them. He told me, that they almost had the guys, but that they weren’t scared of the cops one bit, and the Commissioner thinks they would be scared of us. He also gave us full permission to do whatever we think is necessary. He just wants them out of the city.”

Bucky nodded and clenched his jaw. He hated men like that. He might have been a jerk, but all his women went with him willingly, or, at least, he wouldn’t push himself on them sexually. He also hated the fact that some asshole thought it was a good idea to start that shit in his city.

“Call the Commissioner, and tell him that the patrols that would see anything suspicious should call us directly and that we’ll handle it. Let’s hope it’ll be enough, and that it will be over with quickly. Do we know anything about them?”

Sam was thinking for a while, as was Steve. When they felt like they thought of everything that could be important, they switched between the two of them and told it all to Bucky.

“There are two of them, apparently taking turns at the girls.”

“They sometimes take two girls, one for each. Most of the time, they, however, take one girl, and when they’re done with her, they look for another one, so they have at least two girls a night.”

“Which tells us they must be on the younger side of the spectrum, having the stamina for two rounds, pretty quickly after each other.”

“They use condoms, so the hype is not in breeding the women, but maybe over-powering them? They apparently don’t have a type, their victims vary from the colour of their skin to their height.”

“But, we do know that their favourite part of New York is Brooklyn, only one of the 10 rapes they managed to do happened outside of Brooklyn, so we should be stationed somewhere around there.”

Bucky listened intently, making mental notes and preparing a plan for the night, or several nights ahead of them. For a second, his mind wandered towards you, if you were fine, and if you would be fine, but he quickly dismissed the thought and concentrated on the task at hand. They had an eventful night ahead of them.

—-

Getting Bucky out of your head was easier than you thought. Mostly because you were buried in your work, deadlines licking your heels and you knew you’d catch absolute hell if you didn’t finish in time.

What also helped was that you couldn’t meet him anywhere. Because the two of you lived such different lives, you were almost a hundred per cent sure there wasn’t a possibility of the two of you randomly meeting again. Once was enough and you didn’t need him threatening you go on another date with him. You inwardly rolled your eyes at yourself, reminding you that it wasn’t a date and that you definitely didn’t want it to be one.

Bucky was a mobster, and you definitely didn’t have his icy eyes in front of you when you were falling asleep. Not. At. All. But, to tell the truth, that was the only time you actually thought of him, otherwise being pretty busy.

Natasha loved every detail of that night, and you thought she would soon start writing down quotes from the date. She was obsessed with someone putting Bucky in his place, even more so that it was her best friend who did that, and she had first-hand details of the encounter.

You were sitting at the publishing house, with 5 other people, all of you catching up with your work. Among others, a new secretary of the editorial director. She looked like a sweet girl, even if you thought she was a little too dolled-up for pretty much an all-nighter at a publishing house, with a bunch of uninterested people. Your director was gay, so there was no chance she would be able to get to him, and other than that, it was you, Kate, and Bruce, who was currently single, but too shy to even look Tania’s way.

You and Kate were discussing the best approach to one of the Young Adult books you were currently trying to edit so that it could be sold in the shortest amount of time. You felt a light tap on your shoulder, and when you turned, you could see Tania sitting on your desk. You cringed inwardly, really hating when people invaded your personal space but tried to remain calm and collected. It was still a long night ahead of you.

“I thought I knew you from somewhere, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. You were out on Friday night, weren’t you?” She asked sweetly, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes.

You smiled politely and nodded. Not that it was any of her business anyway. “Well if you saw me, then I must have been out, right?” You started to turn back to Kate, who was obviously trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Tania’s hand stopped you.

“So you’re the girl of the month, then? Huh, would never guess his demands got so low but good for you. The best month of your life awaits you until he decides that you’re old news and kicks you out like a stray dog.”

There was so much venom in her voice that you were surprised she didn’t poison you spitting at you.

“Sounds like you have the first-hand experience with that, sweetheart!” You smiled oh-so-sweetly at her, and she was now sending daggers through her eyes. “Look, Tania, I don’t know what you think you saw, but it was just one dinner, and I’m definitely the girl of no month. I bet Bucky is a great guy for the month, but I’m seriously not interested. So you can stop keeping me away from my job, and maybe start doing yours and bring us all coffee?”

You were a bitch, and you knew it, but you just couldn’t help yourself. You hated when people were nosey and would ask you unnecessary questions about your personal life. It was called personal for a reason.

She scoffed, but got up from your table (not before she “accidentally” pushed some of the papers from the table on the floor) and asked everyone around if anyone else wanted some hot beverage. Everyone hummed in agreement, but never stopped with their works.

Kate showed you thumbs up excitedly but otherwise dropped the case, knowing you two could gossip about what just happened after the deadlines were closed and your asses weren’t catching on fire.

It was around 2 AM that you could finally send out all the files you were supposed to, and despite your exhaustion, you couldn’t help but feel happy and relieved. Tania went home around 11 PM telling you all that she wasn’t cut out for such things, and that she better go home to be fresh and pretty the next morning. You collectively rolled your eyes at her but left it without a comment, feeling like she wouldn’t get the sarcastic comments that were on the tip of your tongue.

You said your goodbyes with Kate, and both walked in different directions. You would typically put in your headphones and zone out, but you were aware that it was quite late, and that even if New York acted as the safe city because of Bucky and his crew, you heard about few rapes around Brooklyn and you didn’t want to take a chance.

So you casually walked down the pavement, thinking about how you didn’t want to get up the next morning, knowing it would be a massive pain in the ass. Your mind also wandered towards your breakfast, trying to imagine the contents of your fridge to think of what you were gonna make the next morning.

As you were deciding between scrambled eggs and pancakes, somebody behind you whistled. You paid no mind to it, thinking that it definitely wasn’t at you. But when the whistling came from much closer behind you, followed by a low “pussycat”. You could hear a chuckle, which sounded like coming from a different man, and a cold sweat burst on your forehead, while a shiver ran down your spine.

You quickened your pace, hearing that they did the same, and you suddenly felt the rush of adrenaline in your blood. You didn’t want to die, or be used like that, and tried to think of anything that would get you out of the situation. You got to run. You knew you wouldn’t be able to fight them, especially if there were two of them, but you weren’t willing to take a look and lose time with it. But even without turning, you could hear them getting closer every second, and when you could feel a hand on your shoulder, harshly grabbing you, you did the only thing that was left. You let out a loud shriek, which was quickly muffled by a hand over your mouth. Your eyes watered instantly, you were trashing in the attacker’s arms, trying to get free, but he wouldn’t budge. You never thought you would end up here, and with this thought, your mind grew hazy, and your body went limp.

/ Next Chapter > 

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If you’d like to be tagged comment/message/send an ask. If you like the story, please reblog :) any comments are appreciated, even the critical ones. Always a space to get better, so let me know what you guys think.

[storiesforallfandoms]

hideaway ~ jesse pinkman; el camino

word count: 2822

request?: no

description: when his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, jesse find shelter with a woman who doesn’t judge him for his past

pairing: jesse pinkman x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mention of abuse, smut

(I can’t find any El Camino gifs yet and it makes me sad so here’s one from Breaking Bad since it technically is also kinda from El Camino)

Jesse thought he was home free as he drove as far away from Albuquerque, and from the horrors he had to endure. However, he was sadly mistaken when Badger’s Fiero started to sputter and slow down. He noticed the gas gauge hovering over empty.

“No, no, no, no,” he said. When the car finally came to a stop, he hit the steering wheel in frustration. “Shit!”

He got out of the car and looked around. There wasn’t even another house for what seemed like miles. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He wasn’t about to try and hitchhike anywhere, not with his face and name plastered everywhere as “Wanted”.

He decided to hope that Badger may have a gas can in his trunk just in case of moments like this. As he popped the trunk and went looking (to no avail), he heard a car pulling up behind him. His heart began to race and he really hoped the person would just drive along and not stop to ask for help.

He cringed when he heard the engine cut and a car door open then close.

“Hey! You alright?”

Jesse reluctantly closed the trunk and turned around to see that the friendly passerby was a woman. She was approaching him, and he really didn’t want her to get any closer.

“I ran out of gas,” he responded, trying not to meet her eye. “Didn’t realize my tank was so low.”

“Well, you’re pretty shit out of luck. There’s not another gas station for god knows how long. You’re essentially in no man’s land,” the girl responded. “You got a gas can or anything?”

Jesse shook his head. “Nope.”

She whistled. “Yeah, you’re really shit out of luck. Where are you headed?”

“Haven’t decided yet. Just trying to get out of town, get away from my past.”

The girl nodded. “Well listen, I know we just met and all, but I live maybe 20 minutes away. If you want, you can stay to my place the night and we can see what to do about your gas in the morning. You can leave your car here, nothing will happen to it. You’d be shocked how many people have been in your same predicament before.”

Jesse really wanted to turn down the offer. For all he knew, this girl was setting him up to be caught. But then again, he believed her when she said there wasn’t another gas station anywhere close, and he couldn’t just stay in the car hoping someone would pass by with a gas can. It’d be a bigger risk than going with this girl.

Finally, he nodded. The girl smiled slightly and nodded towards her car. Jesse followed her, getting into the passenger seat. He sank down just enough that he wouldn’t seem all that recognizable if a cop should pass by them while they drove to the girl’s place.

“You’re pretty trusting,” Jesse commented. “Asking a guy you just met if he wants to stay the night. I could be a crazy serial killer or something.”

The girl chuckled. “I guess that’s right. So, in case you are a serial killer, I should let you know that I have a knife hidden in a strategic place just in case.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow. Smart girl. Although, he couldn’t help but wonder where this “strategic place” was.

She pulled into the driveway of a very small house. She didn’t have any nearby neighbours, which was definitely a good thing for Jesse. He was still very weary of this girl. He couldn’t tell what her game was. She had to know who he was, everyone did. His name was being broadcasted far and wide, police were looking for him everywhere. He was having trouble believing she didn’t know who he was.

She got out of her car and went to unlock her door. He followed her, making sure to keep his head down just in case anyone happened to be passing by.

Her house was very small, definitely perfect for someone who seemed to be living there alone. She threw her keys on a nearby table and shrugged off her jacket, discarding it on the couch as well.

“My couch is a pullout, you can sleep there if you want,” she said. “I’ll just have to grab some blankets and a pillow for you. Feel free to eat whatever is in the kitchen.”

She disappeared down the hall for a moment before returning with some blankets and a pillow. She started pulling the couch out into a bed for Jesse while he watched her. When she had the bed set up, she looked back up at him.

“What?” she asked.

“Do you know who I am?” he finally decided to ask her.

She raised a confused eyebrow at him. “You’re the poor fool that broke down on the side of the road. Should I know you?”

Jesse could tell she was being serious. Somehow, she actually didn’t know who he was.

“No, no sorry forget I said that,” he said. “Thanks for letting me stay here the night.”

“It’s no trouble,” she shrugged. “If you need me, my room is down the hall to the left.” She turned to start walking away, but paused to call over her shoulder, “The name’s (Y/N) by the way.”

~~~~~~~

The minute Jesse’s head hit the pillow he was out like a light. He slept so solid for the first time since he showed up on Skinny Pete’s doorstep, he didn’t even hear (Y/N) get up and start cooking breakfast the next morning. He finally woke up on his own to hear a TV on in the distance. He didn’t pay much attention to it until he heard his own name.

“Authorities are still looking for Jesse Pinkman, who may now be driving a Ford Thunderbird that was once owned a friend of Pinkman’s. According to our insider, Pinkman made a stop to this friend’s house once he escaped and left soon after before the police managed to track down his original get away car, an El Camino.”

Jesse got up and followed the sound of the TV to the kitchen, where he found (Y/N) leaning against a counter watching a small TV she had tucked away in a corner. The first thing he noticed was that she was dressed only in a silk looking robe. However, he was more distracted by the news report she was watching than what she was wearing.

(Y/N) looked over her shoulder, as if sensing his presence. Jesse wasn’t sure what his next course of action should be. He definitely wouldn't get far on foot, but if he left with (Y/N)’s car he’d be caught just as fast. It felt like he had no real options, just to hope he could convince her not to call the cops.

Neither one of them spoke for a while, but when (Y/N) did break the silence, Jesse was shocked by the first thing she said. “Did they really keep you in a cage?”

Jesse winced at the memory. “Yeah...yeah they did. They’d take me out but only if I was chained up, or if I was aware that if I ran they’d kill me.”

“For...for how long?” she asked him.

“Too long,” he responded. “So...is this the point where you turn me in?”

(Y/N) switched off the TV. Jesse glanced at the phone, which right next to (Y/N). He was waiting for her to make the call. He knew there was not much else he could do if she decided to.

“No,” she responded, surprising him. “You’re safe to stay with me as long as you need. My family lives a few hours away and they don’t visit without letting me know first, I’m not exactly friendly with my neighbours so they don’t just pop over for a visit. I can run to the gas station and see about your gas.”

“Why?” Jesse asked. “You could get in a lot of trouble for helping me.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “I’m not turning you in when you’re the victim in this situation. The cops won’t listen to a thing you say, they'll never believe you. They’ll place the blame on you with whatever substantial evidence they can come up with and throw you behind bars just because they can. I refuse to let that happen.”

She looked away from him and crossed her arms. Jesse was shocked by her outburst, and knew it came from somewhere personal. He approached her slowly, lightly touching her arm. She reluctantly looked up at him again.

“Did something happen to you?” he asked. He wasn’t quite sure why he cared so much, but he suddenly felt protective over this girl. She was kind enough to open her home to him, to keep a fugitive in her home when she knew how much trouble she could get into if they were caught. She had known him for one night and already made him feel safer than anyone he had known for longer, his own parents included.

A single tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. “I had this ex...he used to go out and get drunk with his buddies and when he came home he’d be violent. Usually if I was asleep he’d just go right to bed, but if I was awake for any reason he’d find a reason to hit me - would say that I looked at another guy in a flirty way and he didn’t like it, that I treated him like garbage, that I talked back to him. Any reason, he’d use it. He’d wake up in the mornings and look at my bruises and tell me that he hoped it taught me a lesson. It got to a point where I was walking on eggshells around him, I felt like I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t go anywhere, like I had to bend to his every whim in order to make it all stop.”

She looked down at the floor, the pain from the memory written across her face. “One night, I was in the kitchen making lunch for the both of us for the next day. He got home a lot earlier than I expected. He yelled at me because he didn’t like what I was making and tried to swing at me. I had a knife in my hand and finally decided to fight back. I stabbed him, yelled at him to get the fuck out and never return, that I’d have his stuff on the front doorstep in the next morning. For a minute, I thought it worked...until his lawyer showed up on my doorstep with an assault and attempted murder charge. Claimed that I randomly went insane and tried to kill him after he went out to a ‘friendly dinner with some work pals’.”

Jesse was so invested in his story, he started feeling very angry at this unknown ex-boyfriend. He wasn’t a violent person, despite the shit he had gone through recently, but he knew that if he ever happened to find out who this guy was he might not be able to stop himself from giving him an impromptu visit.

“He took me to court, cried crocodile tears, showed off the scar I gave him, claimed that I supposedly ruined his life because of it even though it happened like a week prior. I kept my composure, explained everything he did to me to the court, said that I only stabbed him in self defence. I even had some bruises from a previous time that I showed everyone. His lawyer claimed I gave them to myself to win over the jury’s sympathy. The jury, which was 80% men, were on his side and it looked as though I was going to jail, until our neighbour...our male neighbour, took the stand to admit he had heard the abuse many nights. Said that he called the police but nothing was ever done. I don’t know if they ever showed up at our door and my ex chased them away, or if they just didn’t care. After that, I was ruled innocent and he was charged with domestic abuse. Was served a measly year long sentence and got probation not even 6 months in. I filed a restraining order when I heard he was getting out and got the hell out of Dodge so I’d never have to see him again.”

Her story lingered in the air. It was silent besides the TV, now playing a story that wasn’t about Jesse. (Y/N) refused to look at Jesse as she bit back her tears. She shook her head, although wasn’t sure what she was shaking it about; in anger? To erase those memories that she was still struggling with?

“The system is so corrupt,” she finished. “If you’re not a rich man, they’ll rule against you. I’d never send you out to be a part of that, to be wrongfully convicted of something you never did. I wouldn’t let you go through the bullshit I did.”

Jesse gently touched her chin with his hand, causing her to look up at him. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears as she looked up at him. He wiped them away and cradled her face in his hands.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” he said. “I’m glad you got out of that situation, and I’m grateful that you’re letting me stay here even if it would get you in lots of trouble.”

She smiled. “It’s the least I can do. Besides, if I get to wake up to see stuff like this every day, I’m not too mad about it.”

She eyed Jesse’s naked torso. Although he wasn’t in the best of shape, and he had scars on his body from the torture he endured, he looked incredibly hot. (Y/N) was having a bit of trouble keeping her eyes off him.

Jesse chuckled slightly. (Y/N) looked up at him again and, feeling bold, leaned up to press her lips to his. Jesse was taken back at first, his knee jerk reaction being to push her away. (Y/N)’s face turned a bright color of red as she looked away from him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. That was super inappropriate.”

Jesse took her face in his hands again and pulled her back to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply and passionately. He held her tightly to him, never wanting to let go. He grabbed her ass, picking her up and placing her on the counter, never once breaking their kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist, now trapping him against her completely.

Jesse moved his hands over her thighs, sending chills through her body. When he got close enough, he came to realize that she really was wearing nothing but the robe.

Her hands traced the hem of his jeans, as if debating on whether or not she should try to take the jeans off. Jesse beat her to it by unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them, along with his underwear, down just enough to free what it was (Y/N) was looking for.

She gasped against his lips as he pushed into her. It had been so long since she had been intimate with anyone, it took her a moment to get used to him inside of her.

“Am I hurting you,” he asked, looking at her with his beautiful blue eyes full of concern.

She giggled. “No, I’m fine Jesse. Continue at your own pace...please.”

He smirked slightly at her begging and began to thrust into her. Her hands curled against his back, just narrowly avoiding his scars. He hissed in pain at first as her nails dug into his back, the sting far too familiar, but soon enough the pain turned into pleasure.

Both of their moans filled the house. (Y/N) put her head against Jesse’s shoulder, her eyes almost rolling in the back of her head with pleasure as she clung to him. It didn’t take her long until she was hitting her climax. Jesse kissed her deeply again as he felt himself nearing his own.

They were both tangled together for a long time after it was all over. (Y/N)’s robe had come undone and fallen open, leaving her completely exposed. Both of them had a slight sheen of sweat over them. They both pulled away from one another, fixing themselves up.

(Y/N) sighed. “I’ll have to sanitize this entire counter before I can make breakfast.”

Jesse chuckled. “Sorry, my bad.”

“I mean, I wasn’t completely complaining,” she responded, winking flirtatiously back at Jesse.

He smiled, suddenly feeling very happy about his current living arrangements.

[klymilark]

Sore: Chapter 2

First Chapter

CW: Swearing, mentions of sexual assault

Word count: 1872

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Kaye woke up from her slumber in a sweat.  She’s always had nightmares when moving, but it seems like a new method of torture has been introduced into her brain.  One specifically related to this move. She calms herself down, and heads to the kitchen to put coffee on. Once the coffee’s done, she goes out to the back patio to have a cigarette.  She’s been trying to quit, and has been mostly successful.  Dreams like that, however, just fuck with her in quite a few ways, so she keeps a pack around.  After her cigarette is done, Amie walks outside, and sits near her.

“Bad night?” Amie asks

“Yeah.  Wasn’t worse than anything you’ve heard, but definitely a new one.” Kaye responds.

“Ahh, that’s not good.” Amie says.

“You’re telling me. Although, I do still feel like I’ve slept, so that’s a plus.” Kaye says with a moderate tone of sarcasm.

“You always do.  Excited to see the condo?” Amie asks, switching the subject.

“Yes!  The fact that I can afford to buy is wonderful, too.  Gonna be nice to be able to rip the carpet up instead of just having to deal with it.”  Kaye says, bouncing up and down lightly.

“Woah.  Did you just act excited?!  Who are you, and what have you done with my Kaye?”  Amie asks, genuinely shocked at the display of excitement.  In all of the years they’ve known each other, Amie has not once known Kaye to show any kind of emotion beyond neutral.

“Huh.  I guess so?  This is weird.” Kaye responds, also genuinely confused at her willingness to show the emotions.  That’s something she’s always struggled with.

Amie giggles and says, “Maybe it’s the dress.”

Kaye looks down, and realizes that she is still wearing the dress she went to bed with last night.  Her face then proceeds to turn several shades of red, and you could swear a few shades of purple mixed in at some points. Amie points this out through a very poorly hidden laugh, which only serves to make the problem worse.  After another 20 minutes or so of Amie poking fun at Kaye for showing emotion for the first time, Don steps out.

“Hey, you ready to go?” Don asks Kaye.

“Oh, yeah.  Let me change into something more appropriate for heavy lifting.  I’ll be ready in ten minutes tops.”  Kaye responds, downing her coffee.

“No need to rush, I was just asking.” Don says.

Kaye runs out to the truck, and grabs a pair of canvas pants, and a flannel shirt.  For some reason, they don’t seem to fit quite as well today as they did a few days ago.  Must just be the trip.  Kaye then runs up to the box truck, and gets in.  As she waits for Don to get in his car, Amie starts knocking on her driver side window.  Kaye opens the door.

“I think you forgot something” Amie says, holding the dress out.

“No, it’s yo-” Kaye starts.

“Take it.  It’s yours. You love it, and you definitely need it more than I do.” Amie says, cutting her off.

“But-” Kaye starts.

“No.  Buts.  It’s yours.” Amie says.

Kaye grabs the dress through the window, and puts it in the passenger seat.  She then jumps down from her seat, and hugs Amie as tight as she can.  This girl has been nothing but wonderful to her, and it’s about time she starts showing some appreciation for it.  As the hug stops, Amie smiles.  Don comes out, they get in their cars, and leave.  Amie stayed behind, because she had some cleaning to do.

They pulled up to Kaye’s condo.  It was a first floor unit, which she picked out primarily for the fairly easy sound proofing she could do.  She didn’t plan to get very loud, but you never know where life will take you.  Doubly so when everything is about to change.

Before they start moving anything, they decide to walk in to tour the place.  Kaye hadn’t seen the place, and she’d been trusting Amie’s word about how well it would fit.  From what Amie said, it would be darn near perfect.  The living room was large enough that her computer could fit in the corner without obstructing too much of the room, and it had a connected half bathroom.  The master bedroom was large enough to fit a four poster bed, which wasn’t there yet, but would be one day.  The master bathroom had a corner tub that could definitely fit Kaye’s height, as well as a separate stall shower.  Finally, the spare bedroom would definitely fit all of the various implements and furniture Kaye planned.  It was perfect!

Kaye and Don began unpacking.  She didn’t have much, so it only took a solid hour. Kaye moved most of the boxes to the rooms the contents had belonged in, as did Don.

“Hey, Kaye, where do the boxes that just have a D on them go?” Don asked

“Oh, just throw them in the spare bedroom.  I’ll have to unpack everything there, since I’m gonna be kind of particular about where everything goes.” Kaye responded.

“Alright!” Don said.

As Don said that, though, the box he was carrying burst through the bottom.  What looked like a set of mountain climbing gear, plus a few other odds and ends came crashing to the floor.  Don’s focus shifted to one item in particular, though.  Settled near the top of the pile were a pair of very fuzzy white cat ears.  They had barrettes on them for attaching to the head, bells, and ribbons on them.  Don giggled a bit to himself, which drew Kaye’s attention to the mess.

“Whatcha doin’?” Kaye asks, leaning into the bedroom from the hallway.

As she stood there, her mind started racing.  Don didn’t know what she liked to do in her spare time, and this wasn’t the way she was hoping he’d find out. It’d be one thing if Amie told him, but this?!  Almost 500 feet of rope falling on the floor with cat ears smack on top.  Right in plain view.  How is she going to cover this up?  She really doesn’t feel up to the conversation right now, and she’d rather not have to go through with it until way later.  Shit shit shit!  Shit!

“What’s all of this for?” Don said.

Kaye, trying her best to maintain her composure externally, and doing a remarkable job given the night she had, and the amount of heavy shit was just moved.

“I… was in theater in college.”  Kaye said.

“I didn’t know your college had a theater program.” Don responds, puzzled.

“They don’t!  It was a local thing for college-aged kids.” Kaye says, grasping for straws

“Interesting,“ Don says, contemplating whether to believe this story or not, “You’ll have to show me a video at some point.”

“They didn’t really allow video recording a lot of the time, and I wasn’t in it for that long.” Kaye says, realizing that her story sounds less and less plausible, “Plus I mostly did lighting work.  I only had one on-stage performance.”

Really?  That’s the best she could come up with?  He’s gonna know.

“That’s too bad, but not too surprising.  You were always better with technical stuff than the arts.” Don says.

How the hell did he buy that?  That was the single stupidest excuse Kaye had ever heard from anyone, much less said.  She guesses that her friend just trusts her, or at least understands that this is a part of herself she isn’t quite ready to share yet.  

“So, that looks like all of it’s sorted.  Want to grab a few chairs?” Don asks.

“S-sure.  I’ll grab the mead.” Kaye responds.

She goes into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of the mead she brought with her.  It was a dry one that had been aged for about a year before being shipped across the country in the back of a box truck in a fairly big hurry.  While she was doing that, Don texted Amie and asked if she wanted to join them.  She didn’t, as she was just settling in for the afternoon. That was code for the bra came off, it’s not going back on, and I’m not leaving the house without it.

“Oh well, looks like it’s just us.” Don says, not too upset.

“From what she said, it seems that you two have been seeing a lot of each other lately.” Kaye says.

“Yeah.  She just quit her job, but she’s looking for another.  Last one got a bit too crazy for her to want to deal with anymore.  Thankfully she should have one soon, since she’s a damn good worker, and she has a good reference with her previous company.” Don says

“Does she?” Kaye asks.

“Yeah.  Her direct manager was awesome, it was everyone above him that was bad.” Don responds.

“I definitely know how that feels.” Kaye says, looking down slightly.

“Yeah.  Sorry for that, but it’ll hopefully get at least a little better here.” Don responds, rubbing her back.

“Thanks.” Kaye says.

“So, how’d you afford this place, anyway?  Seems like it’d be out of your pay range.” Don says, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“One of my previous employers.  They did some particularly heinous shit, and I managed to find a lawyer willing to represent it.  I didn’t win all that much, comparatively, but it was enough to afford this place.  Should be able to get a scrap car while I’m here, too.  Outside of that, since the place is paid off, I don’t have to worry about that much. Should be able to afford it working part time, honestly.” Kaye says.

“Ahh, wish I could say the same.” Don says.

“Yeah, I wish I couldn’t, given what I went through with that place.  It’s gonna take a while to get over that.” Kaye responds.

“That’s fair.  I remember how hard it got for you.” Don responds, “I don’t see why places can’t get over that, it’s not even that b-”

“Everyone thinks I’m a rapist is why they can’t get over it.  When someone looks at you and sees nothing but an absolute degenerate, nobody wants to keep you around.  I’m honestly shocked you and Amie did, all things considered.” Kaye responds, a little annoyed.

“Honestly, things would be weird without you texting one of us at random times to vent about something.  It’s been weird to not have you randomly knock on our doors to hang out and calm down.” Don says with a chuckle.

“Hopefully that’ll start again.  I was happiest in those moments.  I felt like I was home for the first time.” Kaye responds with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Well, welcome home.” Don says, arms outstretched.

Kaye hugs him as tightly as she can, and they stay like that for a few minutes.  She cries quite a bit, but he just stands there, just like he always has.  He’s been one of the few constants to her life, and she’s very thankful for that.

“So,” Kaye says, breaking off from him, “did you want to grab a game out?”

“Sure.” Don replies.

Chapter 3

Search sbbl on my blog to find the rest of the chapters, as well!

[kuriquinn]

I want to punch my teacher

On my giant list of pet peeves when it comes to being on the student end of things and dealing with someone else’s teaching, the thing right up there with group work is being forced to memorize something and present it word for word in front of a classroom full of people.

I’ve had an issue with this since high school when they forced us to memorize and present poems. Like, give me a speech? No problem, I can ad lib that as needed. Read out loud in front of 500 people? You got it, I’m good with that.

But ask me to memorize a text, whether it’s English or a foreign language I’m learning, and present it in front of a group of people? Yeah that’s not gonna go well. My anxiety levels go through the roof and I will mess up every single word I guarantee you.

Especially when I know for a fact that the exercise itself is useless. You do not learn a new language by memorizing a chunk of text and regurgitating it back up, in front of people or not. You learn through immersion, through conversational practice and spontaneity that forces you to recall the stuff you learned.

So when my new Chinese teacher (who the university randomly decided to switch into out class halfway through the term and who has been teaching the same way and the same curriculum for thirty years and should be retired by now because he’s a crap teacher) decided randomly to add an oral presentation component to the course (even though the course outline was set in September and YOU CAN’T JUST CHANGE YOUR COURSE OUTLINE ONCE IT’S BEEN POSTED), I was already planning to nope out of it. Marks be damned I’m doing well enough in the rest of the course to blow off a useless assignment like this.

Then he decided it was to be done with partners. Which. Still, would have blown it off, but my friend in class needed a partner because the marks matter to her so I was like fine, I’ll do the damned project.

He tells us last week we have to memorize and present a dialogue from the book. Okay, no problem. Then he says ABSOLUTELY NO NOTES / CUE CARDS allowed. Pain in the ass, but fine. My partner and I learn our parts, all is good.

Then he tells us tonight just before class we have to do BOTH parts. Which just. Is a dick move.

At this point I could care less about this shitty oral, decide I’m just going to go up there and do my best and fuck the results. I’m only doing it for my friend anyway. So we hurry to learn each other’s parts as best we can.

And while we were practicing on our own, we were killing it. Remembered all the words, got all the tones right, even added some play acting to the dialogue for flair.

But the minute we got up there in front of everyone? Totally lost it. And when one of us lost our place, the other would lose her place. We did the first run through okay while doing the parts we had prepared for specifically, but when we swapped? Nah. Things got shitty.

Now me, I passed into the IDGAF mode the minute he said we had to do each other’s parts. So if I floundered, whatever; I knew the words I just needed a few extra seconds to remember and screw him if he decided to take marks off me for that. I know my linguistic capabilities and the stuttering mess that I managed is not an accurate indication of my concersation level. I Don’t care what he thinks of me, I will stand there all day glaring at you til you let me sit down if it was just me up there.

But that would mean leaving my partner who was reacting to the whole thing a lot worse than me. She also has ADHD like me, as well as anxiety speaking in front of an audience and needs to have something in her hands to focus herself but wasn’t allowed to because we weren’t allowed to bring materials up, she’s choking up. The girl’s on the verge of tears or a panic attack because she can’t recall the next bit of dialogue, and I’m trying to prompt her and give her the next words so we can just get the fuck back to our seats while the entire class and the prof are just watching her struggle and just.

I was ready to full on mama-bear and freak the fuck out at this professor for making us go through this, for keeping on changing the rules, for not giving enough time to make alternate arrangements since public speaking is a huge trigger for some people and, on top of all that, telling us once the oral was over that IT WAS ONLY FOR 5 % instead of the 15% he told us it was initially.

My friend spent the whole rest of class while the other students were presenting tense as hell, fists clenched and clearly trying her best not to burst into tears of frustration. I barely had a chance to ask her if she was okay when class was done because she beelined out of there.

All for a lousy fucking 5%.

I’m just so pissed off at the whole thing I can’t even. Like, I was forced to go through all that teacher training about how not to evaluate students and how to accommodate different learning styles

And just because some asshole has tenure he doesn’t need to do any of that and can run his course as he sees fit.

TL;DR My Mandarin teacher is an asshole and if he wasn’t the chair of the program and in control of my marks I would be ripping him a new one. Or several new ones.

Just

Argh!!!

[darkmindsthinktwistedthoughts]

My Sweet Hero

Thanks to @a-shout-to-the-void and @xathia-89 for beta reading this for me. I hope you all enjoy this slice of life Modern AU, school Sasuke. 

Warnings: Adorable School nerd, strong language, some appearances form U/T crew and a cameo from a Prickle Puff.

Masterlist

---

My Sweet Hero

This time of year was always one of those you either loved or hated. It was filled with so many words of love and candy you’d think the world around you had been sugar coated. Every year it was the same for him. He didn’t mind the loved-up couples or the fact their displays of love declaration were everywhere. He was actually a romantic at heart. No, what he felt was a pang of jealousy every year as he watched while others enjoyed the day and he remained in his classroom surrounded by textbooks and research.

There was a school open day planned in two days and some of the classes had decided to do Valentine’s day themed events. Couples signed up to take part in everything from scavenger hunts to locked room puzzles. There was even a race where you had obstacles and things too, “Test the strength of your love”. It all looked very nice and he felt warm looking at all the happy smiling faces of the people around him, even if he was envious at their ability to effortlessly interact with each other. What would I be like to be part of the crowd for once?

“Earth to Sasuke… Hello?” A loud and familiar voice came rushing up from behind him as he walked up the hill to the school gates.

“Mm? Oh, Yukimura good morning.”

“Morning. I’ve been calling you since you got off the bus you know?” Yukimura fell in line next to him adjusting his backpack on his shoulder.

“Sorry I was thinking about something.”

“Yeah? It wasn’t some of your weird mad scientist stuff was it?” Yukimura asked tilting his head a little to look at Sasuke a little closer.

“Theoretical Time Travel and Quantum Mechanics is not Mad Scientist stuff.” Sasuke’s familiar flat response resulted in a wry smile from his friend. They weren’t the most likely of friends but against the odds of basically every stereotype, they were best friends.

“That is exactly what a mad scientist would say.” Yuki chuckled a little as he teased before going bug eyes and jumping behind Sasuke. “Oh, crap.”

“What is it?” Sasuke looked around instinctively failing to see a threat.

“It’s that girl from class 4.” Yukimura looked comical as he poked his head out from behind Sasuke’s back to point out a girl in uniform walking with her friends a little ahead of them.

“You’re right it certainly looks like her.”

“No, you Dummy I mean… God, after school yesterday she cornered me as I was leaving. Girls are so damn scary.” Sasuke could tell Yukimura was turning red. It was something he did regularly. He was probably red to the tips of his ears right now.

“Cornered you?”

“Yeah for a love confession.”

“I see…” Sasuke returned to looking at the girl walking in front.

“Hey! What’s with that reaction? I’m not bad looking you know?” Clearly, Sasuke’s lack of response had struck a chord with Yukimura who had gone a little defensive.

“I never said you were. But I am however curious. I take the fact that you are attempting to hide means you turned her down?” Sasuke stopped walking causing Yukimura to lightly thump into his back.

“N-not exactly.” Yukimura became very interested in adjusting the strap on his bag when Sasuke turned to look at him.

“No?”

“I kinda freaked out and called her an idiot and she ran away in tears. I hate it when girls cry.” Yukimura raised his head. His face was indeed red and his eyes looked a little like he was totally bewildered. Perhaps this is why we are friends? I find it difficult to do standard social interactions with almost everyone and you struggle with anything that involves the opposite gender.

“If you hate it so much, I would suggest you pay closer attention to the many ways of making a girl happy that I’ve been trying to teach you for years Yuki.” The deep calming voice of a friendly Senior chimed into the private conversation. Shingen was usually surrounded by girls no matter what time of year it was.

“Gross I’m not saying any of that stuff.” Yukimura scrunched up his face at the idea of imitating any of Shingen’s dramatic performances.

“Agreed. I admit you have technique Shingen but why you have to be so vomit-inducing with it is beyond me.” The icy tones of another familiar Senior joined them.

“Morning Shingen… Kenshin.” Sasuke gave a polite nod as they continued to the gates as a group.

“Morning.”

---

On his way to the science block, Sasuke noticed a brightly coloured display outside the art department. “Wall of love”. Drawing closer to it out of curiosity he managed to read the notice pinned next to it. “Declare your love, admiration and appreciation here. Total anonymity. To shy to tell your crush you like them? Not a problem. Pin your messages here or post your notes in the box provided and we shall play Cupid and pass on your anonymous admirations.”

“Ridiculous isn’t it?” The gruff and tired voice of someone spoke up from next to him.

“Morning Ieyasu. It’s… different.”

“Waste of time.” Ieyasu poked one of the paper flowers on the display with his finger as he spoke. “But I suppose this is better than having someone come up to you randomly and disturbing your day with mindless love confessions. You using the particle simulator today?” One of the benefits of being part of this school was its affiliation to the University which meant students could access equipment usually unavailable. There was however usually a big waiting list, and today it was Sasuke’s turn to use the machine.

“Mm…Oh! yes.”

“Well try not to break it. See ya.” Ieyasu’s switch from casual conversation to business was fast. Without waiting for a reply, he stalked off towards the labs.

---

Lunchtime came around all to fast. The phrase time flies when you’re having fun came to mind and made him chuckle as he looked over his latest calculations to try to prove his theory on the ability to time travel. He was lucky if he was honest, the professors all supported him with his research as long as his other studies didn’t suffer. Thankfully his grades maintained their steady average in the 90% margin so he was free to do whatever he wished. One day I’ll crack this I just have to figure out a few more things. The bell sounded throughout the campus for break time and when he went to his locker to retrieve his packed lunch something small fluttered from on top of it. What is that?... Huh!?

After picking up the fallen item he noticed it was an envelope with heart washi tape on it. Was this one of those anonymous notes? Surely not. Much more likely its one of those guys pulling a prank again. The memory of a few years ago at the winter formal made him shudder. Being told to go outside as a girl was asking for him by name, to be bombarded by a barrage of snowballs and have them all laugh at him for being such a nerd. I’m not falling for the same prank twice. I might be a Nerd but I’m not an idiot.

Quickly stuffing the note into his pocket and grabbing his food bag, he made his way to the playing fields where he always met Yukimura for lunch. It was far enough from the main campus benches that they could always grab a seat. Also, Yukimura was a member of nearly every school sports team so it was handy for him to grab food near where he was busy working. He wasn’t there when he arrived so deciding to just set up his meal.

“Hey man sorry, I’m a bit late.” Yukimura jogged up, his hair still slightly damp from having a shower after last period.

“No problem. I wasn’t waiting long anyway.” Sasuke put his jacket down next to him and the “love note” fell out of his pocket landing at Yukimura’s feet.

“Hey what’s this?” Yukimura bent down to retrieve it flipping it over in his hand looking at it as if it might be some sort of weapon. You never knew with Sasuke. Last Halloween he remembered his friend dressing up as a ninja and throwing something that filled the whole house with smoke. His parents were not amused at all.

“I don’t know it was in my locker when I went to get my lunch. It’s probably a prank.” Sasuke shrugged as he took a bite from one of his sandwiches.

“Oh yeah? Well if it is, I’ll go and smack a few skulls together.” Yukimura handed back over the note and punched his fist into the palm of his other hand as he made his declaration.

“I’ll help.” Kenshin drifted into the conversation like a cold north wind. He was so silent at times when he moved, so graceful. Was that from the training he did as head of the fencing team or was that just natural?

“You two are always so quick to jump into a fight.” Shingen sighed as he lowered himself to the grass and reclined on it. The sight of his lunchbox being nearly completely only one filled with deserts had Yukimura pulling a face.

“Hey! I’m not as bad as he is.” Yukimura protested as he split up some of his own lunch and swapped it with some of the sweets from Shingen. Shingen didn’t bother to protest, they had been family friends and neighbour for long enough this was just a normal interaction for them now.

“Thank you both of you but I really don’t think its anything to worry that much over.” Sasuke said as he took a mouthful of chilled water from his bottle.

“And what if it isn’t a prank? Oh, I can see it now. A beauty sitting there all alone pining away clutching her chest. Her delicate little heart fluttering away as she stares out longingly from the window thinking of our own Sasuke.” Shingen was being dramatic. I guess it’s hard to turn off that great actor thing.

“Is there an intermission in this performance or are we to expect more?” Kenshin rolled his eyes as he plucked out a pickled plum from his rice and crunched it happily.

“I pity you Kenshin you have no sense of romance.”

---

By the time he looked out of the window from the science block, he could clearly see people milling around making their way home. He pulled the cuff of his shirt back and looked at his watch. Guess I got so into this I forgot about the time. I should pack up and go home.

After setting the lab back to its original state and putting his coat on the peg he trailed the familiar path back to the main gate which was when someone smacked right into him from one of the side rooms of the art department as he passed by.

“Ah!”

“Oh my god! I am so sorry. I didn’t see you and… oh no!” The soft chime-like voice of a girl addressed him as her bag tumbled from her grip sending its contents scattering all over the ground.

“It’s alright. Are you ok? Here let me help you.” Sasuke didn’t even pause before he had made his offer of assistance and was gathering all the fallen items for her.

“Y-yes…. err… thank you. God, I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz.” She was clearly flustered. “I think that’s it all.” She placed the last of her notebooks back into her bag and gave him an embarrassed smile. Do I know her?

“Oh, wait is this yours too?” Sasuke bent to retrieve something that had rolled a little further away. His hand stopped slightly as he realised what he was holding. No way. It couldn’t be, could it? It's exactly like the tape on that note I got. But its common enough that girls these days have washi tape it could be unrelated.

“Ah! Oh yeah… thanks.” She gratefully took the tape and bowed to him. “I’m really so, so sorry.”

“It’s alright there was no harm done. As long as you are ok that is all that matters.” Her cute reaction and sincerity actually made him feel a little flustered.

“You really… you’re very sweet Sasuke. Oh! I gotta run sorry I’m gonna miss my bus! Thanks again, bye!” She snapped up with the brightest smile beaming on her face and turned on her heel and started to run. Did I tell her my name?

---

Curiosity is the foundation of his scientific exploration. Well, that and his desire to travel in time and see history with his own two eyes. He put his hand in his pocket and his fingers grazed over the edges of something, pulling it free he realised it was that note again. I wonder. Breaking the seal of the washi tape he saw the small delicate writing on the pale green paper.

“Sasuke Sarutobi. I really like you. I realise this is a long shot but even with the odds stacked against me, I cannot pass up the chance to tell you even if it is only like this. Your secret admirer.”

He stared at the paper in mild shock. Re-reading the words over and over as if he was missing something. If this is a girl. Could it be her? Don’t be ridiculous Sasuke she’s a popular girl why on earth would she notice a nerd like you? Still. Total anonymity huh?

---

It took a bit of planning but once the idea was there it was difficult to ignore it. I’ll put my own note in that box and wait for the reply then I should be able to see who it is. Sasuke thumbed the edge of his olive-green envelope as he walked the familiar route past the art department to the science block. He dropped it in the box in such a way that no one noticed, a small rush of adrenaline kicked in and now he just had to wait.

A group of kids emptied the box and began shuffling the notes like a deck of cards before dividing them up so they could be delivered. Clearly, this was a popular thing. A short time later and a familiar figure crept along looking around them shyly. She took out a note that even from this distance he could see was just like the one he first received. Before he knew it, his body was moving before his mind had even caught up to the motion and he was at her side.

“Hello MC.”

“Oh! Err… Hello Sasuke.” Her shoulders jumped as he spoke to her.

“Is that for me?”

“Huh?!” Her eyes were wide and swimming. Ok, Sasuke you could possibly have been a little less direct about that.

“Well, I would surmise from the fact you are using the same stationery as before that there is a high possibility that you are the one that wrote this note. Of course, if I am wrong and you aren’t then I am very sorry for making you jump.” Sasuke showed her the love confession he had in his pocket. She visibly froze.

“… You aren’t wrong.”

“Pardon me?” Her faint voice confirmed his thoughts and he had a moment of being unable to process thought.

“What’s with that look?” She smiled at him giggling at his reaction.

“Sorry, It’s just. I had no idea that we were acquainted enough for you to know my name. We are not only in different classes we are also in different years. And you are clearly on the more popular side of the fence.”

“I might not be as popular as you imagine.” She shuffled her feet adorably as she spoke

“And anyway, Of course, I remember the name of the guy that saved me after I transferred.”

“Saved you? Me?” Sasuke tried to go back over his memories in search of such a thing. She could have been remembering someone else.

“Yes. You.” She resigned herself to continue her explanation her smile faltering a little as she realised he had forgotten all about her. “I was completely lost looking for my class and you were in a rush but you dropped what you were doing and helped guide me to my location. I- I wanted to thank you more but… I… I’m sorry I was too nervous to approach you after that.”

“That girl that day by the gates, was you? I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you, I mean you were so…” Sasuke remembered a small new student struggling to look at a campus map in a total fluster. She… is that really her?

“Ugly?”

“I was going to say small and frightened looking. Clearly, you have settled in now and you don’t appear to be so small in fact you’ve grown up.” Sasuke cringed even he was aware of how awkward he was being.

“You talk a little like an old man.” Her laughter was a blessing to him and if it came from his own embarrassment, he would gladly embarrass himself as many times as she liked.

“My Apologises I am not exactly very familiar with socialising.”

“I see. Well, you were right the note was from me. I suppose now you know you are going to turn me, down right? I mean its how these things work.” Her shoulders slumped.

“Is it?”

“Yeah. Girl confesses, the guy isn’t interested so he turns her down…”

“What if I am interested?”

“Huh?” She looked at him as if he was some sort of totally new scientific discovery. Even he had to admit his fast response was a little shocking and it was him who said it.

“That is to say. I would like to test a theory if you’d let me?”

“You do know all theories work until put in practice then they have a failure rate.”

“Yes, depending on the experiment and its fundamentals, contributing factors that are likely to affect negative results it can be anywhere from…” Her decent back into laugher made him stop. “Oh, I’m sorry. I have been told I tend to ramble.”

“No, no sorry, I thought it was funny because it was kinda cute.” She waved her hands at him in reassurance.

“Cute?”

“Oh! Guys don’t like being called that… erm…” She was turning pink in her new fluster. She’s actually rather cute herself.

“No, If you are the one calling me that then I don’t mind.” Sasuke said softly as he drew closer to her side. “Mc?”

“Yes?”

“The open day is tomorrow and I understand it would be asking a bit too much if you wished to take part in the events but, would you consider allowing me the honour of escorting you?”

“…” She stood there, mouth hanging open totally mute.

“Did I say that wrong?” Sasuke cast his eyes down as he tried to think of a correction.

“N-no. You said it perfectly I’m sorry I thought I was being pranked.”

“That makes two of us.”

“I would love to go with you tomorrow.” Her answer washed over him like a wave of relief. I guess that means I have a date then?

“Great. I’ll see you at the main gates tomorrow then.”

---

“Hey look it’s Nerd-Suke. What are you hanging around here for don’t tell me you were waiting for someone?” A familiar school bully approached him as he stood at their meeting place. Oh great, not today, come on.

“As it happens…”

“Ha! What kind of loser would agree to…?” He rounded on Sasuke clearly enjoying himself and his easy target. This is not going to end well. Sasuke tried to remember some things Kenshin had showed him after telling him if he wanted to be safe, he would have to learn some sort of self-defence.

“Excuse me? Who are you calling a loser?” A female voice pushed past the large guy and joined Sasuke at his side.

“Huh? No way who are you?”

“My name is none of your business and if you are done with my date, I would like to have him back now.” MC took a firm grip on Sasuke’s sleeve. She was trembling a little but she was holding her ground. Mc…

“Date? Nah no way. A cutie like you should see sense and ignore him and go with me.” The bully grabbed her arm and looked her over from head to toe the smile on his face turning into one that sent a rolling rage through Sasuke’s body. “What you say- AH!”

“I believe the lady said I was her date.” Sasuke had not only removed the hand from the girl he had it twisted up the bullies back so hard that the others guys legs had buckled in order to prevent his arm being broken. “Sorry, Mc.”

“Sasuke…”

“You won’t get away with this!” The bully was released and threw out the customary threat expected as he ran from the scene. Even if I haven’t I won’t let you touch her.

“Shall we go?” Sasuke held out his hand and she gladly accepted it. Her eyes sparkling at him.

“You really are my hero.”

“I always wanted to be told that.”

---

[moonlightyoongles]

Trainee - Scenario

{Summary}

How you met BTS if you were a trainee

{Genre} : Fluff

{A/n}

Hi, before you begin I know I’ve been inactive but I have an idea I’m working on so please hold on while I sort everything out (It’s going to be a surprise ;) ) anyway please enjoy! ~

                                                          Jin

You were walking down the hall because you needed to get to the main hall which was where all the trainees were being asked to go. You were wearing a bright pink hoodie so it was clear to you that you stuck out quite a bit. You were minding your own business when you felt yourself tumble to the ground.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" The man yelled as he checked all over you for injuries. You chuckled at his actions and reassured him that you were okay.

"I'm so sorry once again, here take this," The strange man wrote down something on a piece of paper and handed it to you. "If you need anything don't hesitate to call! Also, love your hoodie!" He grinned as he began to walk off. Before he could turn the corner he turned around to yell at you. "By the way, I'm Jin." He gave you a flying kiss. You chuckled once again and put the piece of paper in your hoodie pocket. You were definitely going to text Jin straight after the meeting.

Once the meeting was over you walked back to the practice room. To your surprise, you saw Jin scrolling on his phone.

"What a surprise to see you here," You said while walking next to him. He was confused for a second before finally noticed you.

"Hey! Ummm..." Both of you then realised that you hadn't given Jin your name yet. "Oh! It's (Y/N)!" You replied, giving him a smile. He nodded as a response and finally switched his phone off.

"You know, by texting I didn't mean coming to find me again," He said jokingly, you laughed at his statement but just shrugged.

"Why would I wait to spend my time with such a handsome man?".

                                                     Yoongi

You were bored, you couldn't deny that and after everything you tried to do to keep yourself occupied, nothing worked.

You laid down on the floor of the dance practice room starfish style flat on your face. "I'm so bored~" You let out to no one in particular, failing to actually do anything.

You were a dance trainee but you couldn't come up with anything for a new choreography you had to present. Because of your constant whining, you failed to realise the second presence that lay beside you.

"Why are you bored?" The deep voice questioned while you fiddled with your bottle. "There's nothing to do and I have no ideas for my choreo," you said, oblivious to the man beside you. "Why don't you go outside?", "Too much work~" You rolled over to face away from the man. "I understand, but you've got to come up with something. How about we just mess around, that may give you inspiration, always works for me."

You took the man's words into consideration, you shrugged, it doesn't hurt to try. You stood up abruptly, finally noticing the guy beside you.

You couldn't deny he was good-looking, scratch that he was gorgeous. After actually seeing his face, you could not contain your thoughts.

"Jesus Christ, you're fucking hot..." You covered your mouth as soon as the words left your mouth. "I'm so sorry!" You immediately apologise, bowing in the process. The man showed a gummy smile before shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it, I've heard it a million time before but somehow it means more coming from you," You blushed at his compliment almost forgetting the task at hand. "Shoot! The choreo!".

With help (and a bit of messing around) you managed to come up with something decent to show at your next dance assessment thanks to your newfound friend.

"I never did catch your name by the way," The man began, slowly sliding down the glass mirrors to sit on the floor.

"I never threw it," You joked as you sat next to him, handing him one of the two water bottles in your hand.

"Ha, ha!" He said sarcastically, you rolled your eyes at his response. "It's (Y/N) by the way," You drank your water.

"Name's Yoongi but you can call me Genius,"

"Nice to meet you Mr Genius!".

                                                    Namjoon

Your mentor thought it would be a good idea to allow you to wander the halls of the company since you had free time. You were excited as you haven't had the chance to see all the rooms in the building. Of course, you were lectured to stay away from the other occupants who inhabited the building but your curious self-began to randomly open doors to see where they led.

After a while, you had discovered various rooms that held different specifications, like the snack room, printing room, computer room etc. You happened to notice a door that looked different from the others. As you were interested in what the room held, you turned the knob to meet a man who seemed to be busy with something.

As soon as you had realised his presence he had already turned around to look at you.

"Why are you in my studio?" He questioned while taking off the headphones he was currently wearing. You froze, for all you know this guy could get you kicked out of your dream company.

"U-umm, I-I was just wondering where the bathroom is?" You let out, the tone of your voice made it seem like it was more like a question but the mysterious man bought it anyway. He chuckled at you and began to stand up, and sure was he tall.

"Sure, I'll take you there," Since you were so nervous, you failed to realise how soothing the man's voice was. "By the way, I'm Namjoon. I''m in the group BTS as well as being one of the producers." You nodded absentmindedly while following him. "I'm (Y/N), a trainee!!" You let out proudly, puffing out your chest in the process. He smiled at you.

 "Nice to meet you (Y/N)!" This was when you fell in love with his dimple smile. 

                                                       Hoseok                           

You've just survived from an all-nighter because of your deadline for a piece of music you had to submit to your mentor for today and you could not wait to crash at your dorm.

You exited the Producing Room with bags under your eyes. You were tired and hungry, a very bad combination when it comes to you, you're snappier and more irritated which could make you snap at anyone who comes into view.

You slowly trudged towards the coffee machine near the dance studio as it was one of the closest ones from the Producing Room. On your way there you failed to notice the man who was going in the same direction.

Once at the familiar machine, you began to brew your favourite type of coffee. You already knew your face was an entire mess, bags under your eyes, your makeup barely staying on and your hair looked like a bird's nest but you didn't care as you knew no one is usually around at this hour.

"Excuse me?" You grew alarmed at the sudden voice, hesitantly, you turned to face the mysterious sound.

"Holy shit," You let out silently to the man. He was a god. You suddenly began to grow self-conscious about your appearance, what would people think if they saw you standing next to him.

"Your coffee is done by the way," Your eyes grew wide and turned to look at the now lukewarm cup of coffee. "S-sorry," You answered shyly. The man smiled at you as you hurriedly took your coffee cup away.

"By the way, my name's Hoseok! If you need any help around here, I'm your guy!" He gave you a breathtaking smile which nearly made your heart stop.

"(Y-Y/N)" You mumbled before running away to the comfort of your dorm.

                                                          Jimin

Today was the day you were going to get set up with someone in the company to help you with your vocal training. You were excited to say the least but quite nervous as there were only a few people who could mentor you because of everyone's busy schedules.

You got into the recording booth, expecting to see your mentor there but you were distracted by an angelic sounding voice. 'It's coming from one of the booths,'  You thought following the sweet voice. It came as no surprise as you saw an equally angelic man singing the piece.

He was too immersed in his music to see you take a seat on the mixing chair to listen to him more.

It wasn't until he was done that he noticed you clapping like a seal at his singing.

"Oh my God! You sing like an angel! That was amazing! How can any person do that?!" The man laughed at your constant praise as he stepped out of the booth. "Nice to meet you too," He said jokingly, giving you the most precious eye smile in the entire world.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! My names (L/N) (Y/N)! Nice to meet you, Mr Angel!" You bowed while introducing yourself in order to be polite. The man only smiled but then a confused expression brushed upon his delicate features.

"Mr Angel?" He questioned, confused at the sudden nickname. "Yeah 'cause you sing and look like an angel!" You let out, proud of the inventive nickname. "Well, I'm not an angel but you can call me Jimin and I'm your mentor," He took a step back and bowed towards you.

That's when you realised that you were supposed to meet your new mentor here. "How was I so dumb!" You said quietly to yourself. How were you going to handle spending most of your time with such a handsome guy?

                                                      Taehyung

Even if you were the famous Park Jimin's sister you got into his company through your own efforts and not because your brother was a famous idol star. You were sick of people treating you differently so you decided to prove to them that you didn't need the influence of your brother to show how talented you were.

You passed the Bighit audition with your talents alone which made you very proud of yourself. However, today was your first day at the company and you had no clue what was going on. Sure, your brother got the dancing and the singing down but you got the exact opposite. Your talents were rapping and playing instruments as well as producing music. Sometimes people don't even believe you're related.

You had just gotten a break from dance practice and you were exhausted. Dancing hadn't always been your strong suit, it was more of your brother's. While you were on a water run you bumped into someone. You apologised and thought that was it but when you tried to leave you felt something grab onto your wrist.

Since your parents took you to do taekwondo, your reflexes took over and you flipped the person on their back.

As soon as you realised what you have done you knelt down to check if the person was alright.

"I am so sorry! I just thought you were an attacker or something!" You apologised profusely, constantly bowing in the process. The stranger just gave you a smile that kind of looked like a box.

"Don't worry about it, I just thought you seemed like someone I knew, no worries!" The man let out in a cheery manner. You were confused about his attitude but helped him up anyway.

"The name's Taehyung but you can call me Tae! I hope to see you around!" And with the quick introduction, he left you to your own thoughts.

'That was weird'  You thought before making your way back to the dance studio.

                                                     Jungkook

To be honest, you weren't one for big crowded areas. You always found solitude with your video games and fanfictions. You had no clue as to why you suddenly found yourself inside a computer cafe. It was true that the internet in your dorm was down but you didn't think your body would actually take you to a public place with various other people.

You silently entered, your eyes set on the marble floor. Even when you went to the cashier and ordered your things and the time you wanted on the computer, you refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Once on the computer, you went onto the most recent game that you've got addicted too, Overwatch. You usually played as Widowmaker or D.VA but today you wanted to switch it up by playing McCree.

After one round you knew your team was screwed, the only other person who seemed to not be absolute shit was a guy named Golden_Bunny_97. The guy was decent but he looked like he had it out for you alone.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Well excuse me you fucking prick, it's kinda hard to carry a team all by yourself you know!"

"Excuse you! You're not the one who's carrying this team, I am!"

"You asshole!"

"You bitch!"

And it went on like that. The guy even had the nerve to curse you out on your gameplay even if you were equally as good as him.

You finally had enough of the guy and decided to leave the cafe but then you heard a familiar voice. "Thank you," The deep voice sounded exactly the same as the asshole who was insulting you during your Overwatch match.

"You!" You yelled out without thinking, the only emotion consuming you was anger. "You're that fucker who would not stop being a dick!" You said aggressively. It seemed like the guy recognised you and that's when his face went from surprised to angry.

"You're that bitch who doesn't know how to play!" You grew offended at the guy's statement but and brushed it off. "Yah! Listen here you piece of shit I'm not in the mood to deal with your idiocy today!" You said, your tone completely changing from angry to a calm.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my merry way!" You gave him a smile before walking towards the door. The man stood there with his mouth wide open. Since you were childish, before leaving you stuck your tongue at him and flipped him off.

The last thing you saw was his infuriated face.

[diinofayce]

War Never Changes - 3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader | Word Count: 4.6k | Warnings: mentions of drug use, Fallout/Avengers cross over, perspective switches from Reader to Bucky at some point in the middle randomly, sorry! | 

You and Bucky were brought in front of Blood Mary, she sat behind a large wooden desk with chunks of wood charred and missing in a large torn leather back chair. Her “office” was the top level of a large skyscraper, the other floors dedicated to living and torture and raid planning by the rest of the gang. The small emaciated woman still managed to sit tall and imposing, her skin was a dark cocoa and it was cracked with deep wrinkles and lines despite being stretched thin across her bones. Her grayed hair was dreaded like yours but while your kept your platinum locks wrapped with bits of thread and candle wax, she kept hers held together with blood and dirt. She had an air of confidence and her brown eyes were still sharp as a hawks, constantly flicking between you and Bucky and the dog who sat alert at your feet. While physically she appeared to be a woman who could be easily overpowered she held such an air of strength and authority no one even dared to try. Bloody Mary, the junkie queen of crumbling New York.

Two men flanked either side of her, they were shirtless and slave collars sat heavy on their throats. Dried and freshly dripping cuts criss crossed their torsos and their scalps had been roughly shaved, their eyes were sunken into their sockets and while you were sure they were supposed to appear as acting guard it looked like a strong breeze would knock them clear over.

You ground your teeth, gaze flicking from Mary to the guards to the exit door where you knew two women who were the real guards were waiting for you to make a mistake. Your fingers twitched towards your guns, but you didn’t dare touch them, that was the last thing you needed, a shootout on the top of a skyscraper full of people who wanted to see your head on a pike with the men.

Mary glared at your face, the scar reminding her of your insubordinate actions and her favoritism when she let you live. Her eyes moved to Bucky who played his part and looked down at his feet, even though you could sense his rolling tension and unease.

You cleared your throat and drew her attention back to you.

“Why are we here, Mary?” You demand, your tone harsh and impatient.

Mary sucked air in through her front teeth and laced her long, bony fingers together. “You will remember who you speak to, child,” Mary responded, her tone cold but nonthreatening. The men on either side of her shifted nervously and she slammed her hand down suddenly on the desk in front of her with a loud slap causing both men to flinch. You and Bucky, however, didn’t move an inch.

You licked you lips and cracked your neck. “I’m not one of your little girls anymore, Mary. I work for myself, I work for you, I work for the King, I work for whoever I decide is worth working for.”

The corner of Mary’s upper lip curled into a snarl and she leaned back in the rusting chair causing it to squeal in protest and laced her fingers together on her lap again. “You’ve gotten a big attitude out in the Wastes, the last time you had a big attitude I had to correct it.”

“Then one could counter I’ve always had a big attitude. I have a job to do, Mary, so unless you have a business offer I’ll be taking my leave,” you asserted, chin raised in defiance and hands on you hips.

You felt Bucky tense beside you just before the door to the office behind you banged open and the two women who had been waiting outside stepped in, each wielding a 9mm submachine gun. You turned to look them up and down briefly and then turned to back to Bloody Mary, showing them your back to prove you weren’t threatened by their sudden appearance.

Bucky, however, was at war within himself. He knew he could take everyone of these people down easily, except you had taken back all of the guns before entering Queens. On top of that, his arm was killing him, he was pretty sure something in this universe and his didn’t mesh well with the technology that Shuri used. He saw you cast him a look from the corner of your eye and he clenched his jaw, his teeth grinding together and the muscles twitching in irritation.

Bloody Mary looked Bucky up and down and clicked her teeth together in thought, she curled a long dread around her bony fingers and smirked. With a tilt of her chin her girls left the room, throwing you a hard glare before shutting the door behind them once again. Mary ran her tongue along her cracked and bleeding top lip and leaned forward onto her elbows.

“I do have a job for you, Transporter,” she replied, spitting on the floor at your feet with your title as if it had put a foul taste in her mouth.

You simply raised an eyebrow expectantly, giving no indication or promise that you were going to take the job she was about to hand to you.

“Elvis has stopped sending us their end of our trade agreement. The girls are starting to withdraw and things are getting…well…bloody. I need you to find out why he’s stopped holding up his end of the deal. Promise me and I’ll let you and your partner go,” Bloody Mary countered.

Beside you Bucky looked up sharply, connecting gazes with the dark skinned woman in front of him. She smiled wide for the first time, showing how pleased she was at being correct that there was more to the man in the slave collar than expected.

You cast Bucky a sharp look and his ice blue gaze flicked from Mary to you and then back to the floor. The last thing you needed was for him to give you away. You looked back to Mary and turned your head slightly to gaze out at the door where the other two girls stood.

“Mary, I would like to speak candidly,” you said carefully, licking your chapped and sun-blistered lips.

Mary threw her head back and laughed joyously, her dreads falling off her shoulders and down her back. “Girl, nothing I have ever been able to do has been able to stop you from speaking candidly.”

Narrowing your eyes you took a deep breath and made direct eye contact with the woman who taught you so much. “I remember a strong leader, one that everyone was afraid to cross, I remember her being surrounded by a fearsome army who no man dared to oppose. Mary, in the handful of years I’ve been gone you’ve all turned into a bunch of junkies dependent on a bunch of men. If you really want me to, I will speak to Elvis on your behalf but I really don’t think it would be in the benefit of The Queens.”

Mary sat back in her seat and folded her arms in contemplation. You took a moment to look out of the broken window and calculate the height of the sun. You click your tongue against your teeth and match Mary’s position. “Look, Mary, I have a set time line I need to stick to and I wanted to be through this territory by now. I’ll talk to Elvis if you really want, but if you change your mind the send word through the sewers.”

Mary nodded. “It is good to see you so well, child. I will think on your words and be in touch.”

You bowed your head slightly in respect and whistled softly for Dogmeat to be on your heels before opening the door, motioning for Bucky to stay close as well. The pass through Queens went without issue, Mary must have gotten the word out quickly enough to make it so the girls only glared Bucky down but didn’t make any threatening moves or comments. As soon as they hit the opposite gate that would let them out into the crumbling New York streets and equal territory, you let out a deep breath that you didn’t even know you had been holding.

A girl with hair like sunshine and a rusted bloody tire iron sat on the hood of a burned out car at their approach.

“Huh, heard you got a bit of synth shoved into your face,” she called as you and Bucky approached. Her green eyes raked Bucky’s form flicking from his collar and lingering on his arm. “Picked up a half synth boyfriend while you were at it?”

“Watch your tongue, Mattel, I’d hate for you to lose it,” you sneer, coming to a halt at the gate.

Reaching out you grasped the gate lock to let yourself out, it happened faster than you could blink. Mattel had whipped out a .38 snubnose revolver and was pulling the trigger aimed at you. A clang of metal against metal had your gaze flying up to where Bucky had stepped between the two of you and thrown his metal arm out in front of the bullet. His arm made an angry and sputtering whirring sound as he retracted it, deep glare levied at Mattel who was staring at the two of them with her mouth agape. You simply looked from Bucky’s arm to Mattel, Dogmeat was growling softly beside you. Clearing your throat you pulled open the gate lock and tilted your head to motion your party through.

“Always a pleasure Mattel,” you simper before tossing her the lock and slamming the gate behind you.

As soon as you turned around you startled from Bucky standing right behind you.

“Please, please get this thing off of me,” he whispered, a threatening growl low in his chest.

Your eyes flicked up to his and you nodded slowly. Reaching carefully into your pocket you showed him the key and gingerly tilted his jaw away from the lock. Sliding the key into the slot it beeped rapidly a handful of times before quieting and light turning off, allowing the hatch to unlock. You pulled the collar away from him carefully and he visibly relaxed, but eyed you carefully as you tucked the mini bomb back into your backpack.

“There was nothing about any of what just happened that was enjoyable,” Bucky muttered rubbing at his neck.

You chuckle darkly and readjust your backpack on your shoulders. “Yeah, sorry about all that. Thanks for the save, by the way.”

Bucky shrugged as he took the gun you passed him and slid it back into a holster. “Well, can’t get out of this place without you.”

Clenching your jaw you nod briskly before turning and heading down the street with the sole purpose of getting rid of this damn gun, getting your caps, and getting on with your life.

Bucky blinked a few times in confusion as he watched you turn almost cold very quickly. Dogmeat trotted off after you, happy as ever with his tongue lolling out to the side and his tail wagging lazily. With a soft sigh he reached up to tie the hair he had let fall to hide his face back off his neck, wincing as his left shoulder clicked and whirred angrily, getting temporarily jammed, before it raised fully to let him manage his hair. Setting off behind you, remembering to make a bit of noise as his feet hit the cracked and weed filled pavement, he took a moment to look around him.

He hadn’t spent much time in Queens since the 40’s so he couldn’t exactly point out any major buildings in the area and he wasn’t even really sure if anything from his dimension was the same in this one. Everything was so strange and foreign which was frustrating as he was finally getting his bearings back in his own time. Now to be thrown into this…well he was proud of himself for holding himself together so well.

There were plenty of people milling about the streets, sitting on broken stoops and hanging out of molding and destroyed windows as they shouted down to people in the street. He watched you keep your chin up and your gaze forward, paying no attention to any of the commotion around you. He jumped slightly, his head swiveling to the left down an alley as he watched a man shoot someone else at point blank range, loot his body, and move on like nothing happened. No one else around him so much as flinched and he licked his lips nervously, what kind of world was this?

You approached a doorway, the red paint coating the wood looked new compared to the buildings on either side of it. You waited for Bucky to catch up before raising a fist and banging three times on the door. A slat cut into the wood slid away and a set of watery, bloodshot eyes appeared on the other side.

“Y/N?” the man whimpered, his voice high pitched and grating.

Bucky watched your good eye twitch slightly before plastering an obviously false smile on your face.

“Igor. I have your present.”

The eyes flicked over to Bucky and seemed to appraise him looking back to you.

“The man?”

“In training.”

“His mark?”

“He’s in training, Igor,” you insisted.

The slat slammed closed and you let out a huff of air at the sound of locks clicking, you looked over your shoulder and rolled your eyes at Bucky just before the door opened.

The man on the other side of the door was very short, barely brushing over five feet, and only had a handful of gray hairs sticking long and wispy out of his liver-spotted scalp. He wore an old suit that was moth eaten, dirty, and poorly fitted. Bucky wasn’t sure what sort of property was going to be on the inside and his eyes widened to see all the glass cases and plaques lining the wall, all housing a different variety of weaponry. It was a literal museum of guns and missile launchers and weird homemade melee blades and bats and irons.

As you unclipped the 50mm from your back holster, Bucky slipped around you as quiet as a ghost to look with wide eyes and a lax jaw at all the different weapons mounted on the walls and nestled in secured cases.

“Don’t touch anything, Bucky, you’ll get your death of a shock,” you said absently over your shoulder as you weighed a satchel of caps in your hand and eyed the contents inside with a merchant’s gaze.

Igor watched Bucky nervously, wringing his hands in front of him until you put the gun in them. He eyed the gun hungrily and ran his tongue sloppily along his lips like a dog licking its chops.

“She’s beautiful. Does she work?” Igor asked looking up at you excitedly.

You shrug nonchalantly and tuck the pouch of rattling bottle caps into your bag. “There was only one round of ammo. I figured I’d leave it for you.”

Igor basically squealed in excitement. “You are just the very best, my girl. Yes, yes, just the very best.”

He wrapped one his small hands around your elbow, his nails were long and yellowed and cracked and you held back the expression of distaste and the bit of vile that crept up your throat at the unwanted touch. Bucky was at your side in an instant, he moved to reach for Igor’s hand to remove it from your person but his left side clanked and wheezed angrily again and Bucky winced.

You looked from the brunette’s pained face to his arm with a pinched brow. Igor’s weaselly gaze roved over Bucky’s metal arm as well.

“You should really hide weapons that don’t work,” he said disdainfully before dragging out the back door of the building to a small courtyard.

Bucky growled in frustration before stomping out behind you and taking in the small fenced lot. The tall wooden planks were topped with razor wire and three tall, thick, posts were stuck into the ground in the middle. On the center post was tied a man who looked all sorts of cut up and bruised. At the sudden arrival of the three of you to the lawn the man started kicking and squirming against his binding, his screams muffled behind the cloth wrapped around his head and gagging him.

“Caught me a thief,” Igor explained lightly, eyes flashing with excitement.

He turned the gun over his hands, finding and releasing the safety and settling it against his shoulder. Bucky watched the small man with brows lowered in apprehension. 50mm guns gave a hell of a kick, even Bucky was left with a bruised shoulder after shooting one and he didn’t see how this could go well for either of the men both in front of and behind. You moved away from Igor to sidle up next to Bucky and crossed your arms over your chest, biting the corner of your mouth in either anxiety or concern, Bucky couldn’t quite place the scrunched up look on your face.

As Igor braced the gun on his shoulder and raised the sight to his eye and the man tied to the post hastened his screaming and frantic struggling, Bucky stepped a little to the side to brace himself in front of you. You looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow, but the corners of your mouth quirked up in a smile. It had been a long time since anyone had placed themselves in even the smallest amount of danger to protect you, even if it was done unconsciously as it seems like it was with Bucky.

Igor took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. Just as Bucky predicted the gun had quite a hard kick and it sent Igor flying backwards, Bucky simply reached out his right hand and caught the small man by the back of his grimy jacket. The man on the post, however, was nothing but a broken pile of goo. Blood dripped down the fence and neighbors poked their heads out of their windows with a glare at the loud bang that the gun made upon firing.

“Oh! She works beautifully!” Igor wheezed, rubbing at his shoulder. He patted Bucky on the elbow in thanks and tottered his way back inside his house, leaving the gory mess for the birds. “Yes, just beautifully. I think I’ll name her Agatha!” he continued to prattle as he pulled a large key ring off his belt and unlocked an empty case, placing the gun inside before sealing it back up again.

“Do you get thieves often?” Bucky asked gruffly, he could hear the low thrum of electricity that flowed in the walls and into the cases. It would feel simply like a taser shock to him, but it would easily knock out if not kill a burglar.

“You know, I don’t really notice. Sometimes I just have to sweep a little more often,” he gave Bucky a wicked look that made his stomach roll. The man may be seem small and weak but he was definitely a sadist.

“Well, Igor,” you piped up before something could happen. “Since everything is as it should be, we’ll be on our way. Send word with Carla if you find another lead.”

Igor bustled to the front door and opened it up for the three of you, Dogmeat had been sticking close to Bucky’s hip the entire time inside the house, his fluffy tail between his legs and away from the cases. Once on the stoop the red door slammed closed behind you and the clicking of locks back in place allowed Bucky to let out a terse breath and cast you a look.

You frowned up at him and shook your head. “Judge all you want, but the caps are good.”

As the sun set down below the remaining skeletons of skyscrapers and apartment buildings Bucky and Dogmeat followed you to a small rundown almost chateau looking building. It had a filthy and shredding American flag on a post sticking out over the entry way. You turned to Bucky and looked him up and down.

“Keep your weapons away,” she commanded before simply opening the large oak door and leading the group inside.

Bucky looked around the lobby of what he realized was a small hotel. A few people, sunburned and worn out, sat around tables on rickety chairs and drank out of mismatched and chipped mugs and glasses. One woman held an odd meat pie in her hand and was breaking apart the crust absentmindedly as she stared out the front window of the hotel. Bucky realized he had lost track of you for a moment and whipped around to try and find you, he spotted you at the front desk chatting to a small red head girl who was blushing furiously at whatever you were saying. The girl whispered a response which had you tilting your head back and laughing joyously, it was so honest and light and even though Bucky had no idea what was being said it made him smile.

Treading over the mildew ridden brown carpet over to you, you looked over your shoulder and tossed him a quick wink with your mechanical eye, it caused his heart to stutter oddly in his chest and he shook his head trying to clear it of whatever confusion emotions you were causing in him. The redheaded girl cast Bucky a glance and giggled at you before passing you a small brass key.

“Thanks, Anna,” he hears you whisper, as you brush your fingers over hers when you take the key. Anna flushed an even deeper crimson and waved softly as you led Bucky and Dogmeat up the stairs to a hallway lined with doors.

In front of door 4 you slid the key in the lock and opened it for Dogmeat to slip in, Bucky nodded you in ahead of him with a tilt of his chin and you rolled your eyes at him. He immediately locked the door after he filtered in and then went ahead and scoured the entire small unit to make sure there were no surprise visitors and to map out the weak points of entry…which admittedly was the entire room. The downside of this version of New York was structurally it was all bad, the windows were mostly blown out and in most places there were walls missing entirely. In fact, what Bucky thought was one hotel room was actually two because the wall that had separated 4 and 6 was missing with large scorch marks around the giant hole in the middle.

“I figured you’d want your own space, so I paid for a double,” you answered his unasked question as he stared at the wall with the giant blast hole.

“I appreciate it,” Bucky answered, and it really did. It made him a little less nervous to be sleeping around her when he knew she had enough room to escape from him if needed. His arm wasn’t working in this new world he couldn’t be sure the work that Shuri had done for his mind was working still either. Certain things that had happened had him feeling the Winter Soldier stirring just under the surface of his consciousness and he was praying to whatever Gods were out there that he stayed quiet.

“Course. I’m going to need to have a look at your arm though.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky snapped looking at you harshly.

To your credit, the coldest stare that Bucky could levy at you didn’t even make you flinch. You simply opened your bag and pulled out a strange looking device that looked like a fancy sonic screwdriver.

“What the fuck is that?” Bucky asked with trepidation.

“Robot Repair Kit,” you answered simply. “I know you’re not a robot, but it’ll fix what it can until I find out where Tina is hanging around.”

You patted a stool that was sat at a small breakfast table. Bucky sat down hesitantly and placed his left arm up on the table. You drug your stool around and sat down in front of him, running your fingers softly down his metal bicep and easily finding a panel to flip open.

“I don’t know nearly as much as some of the tinkerers around here, but I know enough to get you by.”

Bucky winced as you stuck the device into the opening on his arm and flicked a button. A soft humming sound came from the kit and as Bucky looked down to try and see what you were doing he couldn’t help but smile softly at the fact that you were running the thumb of your bracing hand up and down his bicep in a soothing motion as you poked and prodded and zapped.

“I’m rather sore with you, you know,” you said suddenly as you chewed on your bottom lip in concentration.

“Why? I did everything you said,” Bucky argued, immediately defensive.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m actually less sore with you because you handled all of today so well. I’m upset because you were hurt and didn’t tell me. Do you know how dangerous it is for me and for Dogmeat, let alone you, to not be fully functioning?” You pulled away from his arm momentarily to swipe some of your white platinum hair out of your eyes.

Bucky looked down at his hand abashed. “Yeah, sorry, it wasn’t so bad yesterday.”

“But it was bad yesterday?” You scoffed and ducked your head to get go back to work on his arm. Bucky stayed silent, he knew that you didn’t need an answer from him at this point.

“I have never seen this metal, is it unique to your time?”

“Uh, it’s unique to a certain region in my time, yeah,” Bucky responded.

“I don’t think it can handle the environment here. I’ll get a missive out to Tina, she should have some spare synth parts. Usually does.” You decide and toss the expended Robot Repair Kit on the table before closing the hatch on Bucky’s arm and patting it softly. “Hopefully it wont lock up on you though as much now.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said softly as you picked your way through the blown up wall.

“Listen, I don’t do the whole…working with others well so please know I’m putting a large amount of trust in you. Don’t keep shit like this from me again.”

With that you disappeared into the other room and Bucky sighed, ripping his hair out the tie and running his fingers through the chocolate locks. Standing and rotating his left shoulder he noted that it did move a little smoother and the in the few places it did catch and jerk it didn’t hurt nearly as much. He looked out the shattered window to the New York skyline as it glowed with the blues and oranges of the sunset, he frowned at the underlying soft green glow that he assumed was coming from the water in the bay. He thought when he finally got a chance to really look over the harbor and the skyline it would be in his New York with Steve and Natalia and - as annoying as Sam was - Bucky missed him too. He had hoped to actually get to speak to Stark in person and not over any of the screens in Wakanda. He also thought about what Shuri and Steve were going through right now, he knew from experience that Steve never gave up looking for him but how in the hell would they find him here?

[theneckmoleofwillbyers]

Control-Billy Hargrove

Summary: An imagine in which the reader is sulking after being dragged to yet another party by her best friend Nancy Wheeler. After hours of lounging on Tina’s couch, she is joined by the last person she’d expect to be sitting out of a party... One thing leads to another and he and the reader end up closer than they’d ever imagine they’d be. But can Billy allow himself to enjoy the reader’s company before he begins making excuses on why they shouldn’t be together?

Disclaimer: I DO NOT condone any of Billy’s behavior!! This imagine, like ALL imagines, is simply a work of fiction and is me thirsting after the GORGEOUS Dacre Montgomery!!

Warning(s): Soft! Billy, underage drinking, light smut (kissing and hand roaming), mentions of abuse and probably some cursing here and there.

A/N: This is a little something I wrote to break some writer’s block I’ve been having while writing part two of my previous imagine, History. Also, Steve and Nancy are still together and a few other details of the show have been tweaked to fit my imagine. Enjoy and don’t be afraid to leave any comments, complaints or feedback in general!! :-)

Word Count:  4.9k+

(Y/N)’s P.O.V.

Control… It was more than a feeling of power--it was something you needed to have in order to be okay with your surroundings--and right now, you didn’t have the slightest bit of it. You had always hated parties. Drunken fights, spilled drinks and the possibility of the police showing up to bust you were just a few things about them that you couldn’t stand.

Your best friend Nancy, however, was drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Unlike you, she was naturally popular and people seemed to gravitate toward her. She had perfect grades, a perfect figure and a perfectly innocent smile that made her irresistible to the rest of the population of Hawkins High School.

Secretly, you envied her in a way. Things came to her so easily and at times you felt as if you were on two completely different wavelengths. You wished you could go back to the early days, when the two of you were perfectly content spending your Friday nights sprawled out on the couch talking about boys and stuffing yourselves with various flavors of ice cream.

But you were juniors now, and Nancy’s infatuation with Steve Harrington didn’t just tear the two of you apart...It also tore you from your comfort zone, Nancy dragging you to any and all events that Steve and his pack of goons would be attending. Nancy and Steve stood with the rest of the popular group by the keg as you watched them from your spot on Tina’s couch. They really did make the perfect pair.

“Is this seat taken?” a gruff voice asked, pulling you from your thoughts and forcing you to meet its source. To your surprise, your eyes were met with no other than those of the infamous Billy Hargrove. “No go ahead.” you offered, scooting over just enough to allow for him to squeeze in between you and some passed out senior who’d made a bed for himself on the other end of the couch.

You didn’t know him well, all the information you’d gathered about him was either second hand or little things you’d picked up on: The girls he’d slept with, told to you by Carol on the days you had English together and she thought you were listening, the way he always slipped out of school around lunchtime, something you’d noticed on the days you did the same, and last but not least, the bruises on his upper back you’d seen when he stripped down for a fight at the last party you’d been to.

“Thanks.” The corners of his mouth turned up to allow for a small smile which you quickly returned. A few minutes passed between the two of you before you decided to break the silence. “So what is Billy Hargrove doing sitting down at a party?” you asked. “Don’t tell me, the title of ‘Keg King’ boring you already?” you added playfully, earning another smile from Billy along with a roll of his eyes. “No, just don’t really feel like getting trashed tonight.” he said honestly.

“Me neither.” you agreed, flashing him a glance at the water that filled the plastic walls of the red solo cup in your hands. “I don’t even like coming to these things.” you admitted, surprising yourself at how easy it was to open up to him. Here, of all places and with Billy Hargrove, of all people. “Don’t tell me, you’re a third wheel to the Harrington power couple?” He asked as he pointed a finger in the direction of Nancy and Steve.

“Is it that obvious?” You were a bit taken back at how he could so easily read you. Did everyone at school think of you this way? Some uncool third wheel to your popular best friend? “Maybe not to everyone, but I’ve seen you around.” he said cooly, adjusting himself in the space you shared. “Seen me around? Really?” you questioned. You had a hard time believing that you’d caught the eye of anyone, let alone the biggest partier in school.

“Of course. You’re not like everyone else here. Neither am I, that’s why I took notice.”  he explained. Another moment of silence went by and Billy passed the time by taking slow sips of whatever liquid he’d filled his own cup with. You couldn’t help but watch him as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes to finish his drink. You imagined what his lips would feel like if they just so happened to collide with yours and you wondered if his slight stubble would bother you in the process.

“Do you want to get out of here?” He tightened his grip around the plastic cup until it was completely compressed under the weight of his fist upon finishing his drink. “Haven’t you been drinking?” you asked. You wanted to leave the party, sure, but there was no way you were getting behind the wheel with someone you’d just watched bleed their cup dry. “Yeah actually. There’s this new drink called water.” Billy chuckled, tipping what was left of his cup to reveal a few clear drops of what was in it.

“Right.” You couldn’t help but blush at his comment but honestly, how could you have known that Billy hadn’t been drinking? Everything you’d seen of him tonight was completely out of character...He was talkative and sober and...nice. “Just let me find Nancy to tell her I’m leaving and then we can go.” you said, quickly throwing on your jean jacket over your the nice shirt Nancy had convinced you to wear.

“Right, wouldn’t want to leave without your parent’s permission.” Billy teased, his eyes raking you up and down as he took in your outfit. “Shut up.” you defended. Billy didn’t know you well enough to make comments like this, whether he thought he did or not. “No, no. If you need to check in then please, be my guest.” he added, pushing your buttons even more. “Actually,” you began, “Let’s just go before I change my mind.” You hurriedly made your way to the door, pushing past your drunk classmates as politely as possible to make room for both you and Billy.

“You can come in if you want,” you told him as he steered the Camaro into your driveway. The drive was awkward to say the least but even though Billy wasn’t the best of company, you still weren’t ready for tonight to end. It was odd, how comfortable you felt around someone who was practically a complete stranger. “Yeah, okay.” he mumbled, shoving his keys into his front pocket before following you to the door.

You were both speaking so casually but you could tell that Billy was just as nervous as you were. He watched you as you kicked off your shoes in the entryway and copied your actions. “Your parents aren’t home?” he asked curiously, stripping off his jean jacket just as you had done with yours. “No. They’re usually gone on the weekends for business.”

“What about yours?” Billy flashed you a look of confusion. “Your parents. Are they going to be worried if you’re not home soon?” you asked, clarifying what you meant while also trying to learn more about him. You hadn’t heard much about Billy’s family and other than a young redhead, you hadn’t seem much of them either. “No. They’re not the type to worry about me.” he said flatly.

“I’m sorry.” you offered, sitting down on the couch to face him. You knew exactly how he felt. “Business” was a word you told people to excuse the absence of your parents...The truth was that your parents would just randomly take off for weeks at a time, going on trips and mini vacations without you. It wasn’t like you had it bad though. What teenager could complain about having a huge house to themselves with a brand new car out front?

“I get it.” you said when he didn’t answer. “My parents have been gone for a week now and they won’t be home until Friday.” “I thought you said they were on a business trip?” Billy asked. How did he manage to be so concerned but yet so casual at the same time? “If business is code for going to Chicago to escape Hawkins and their only daughter, then yeah. Business.”

It was his turn to apologize for things that weren’t in any way his fault. “Right. Sorry.” Billy added this new information to an imaginary file in his head with your name on it. Like you, he was observant and also like you, he kept notes of things he had picked up on when watching others. He didn’t have much on you yet…

The way you rolled your eyes after a conversation with Carol in English class, how you and Nancy Wheeler were always attached at the hip and how every once in a while he would find himself following you out of the school parking lot when you ditched during lunch… These were the few details that made up your “file”. He had a feeling that after tonight, though,  he’d know a lot more about you. And so far, he was right.

“You wanna know what I think?” Billy’s tone switched from apologetic to flirty and you were sure you knew where he was going with this. “I think I do.” Slowly you began to scoot closer to him, filling the space between you until the only thing that stood in the way of him was the arm of the couch. Billy reached down and rested his hand on your jaw, his thumb tracing your bottom lip lightly.

“I think that you and I have a lot in common.” he stated, his eyes never leaving yours. “You wanna know what I think?” It was your turn to confess. “What’s that?” he asked, his thumb continuing its soothing rhythm. “You’re not as bad as people say you are.” you hummed. By now you were closer to him than you’d ever been and you could feel his warm breath on your face.

Without thinking, you sat up and pressed your lips to his. At first there was hesitation, but once Billy settled into the kiss there was nothing but passion. Your lips began to move in perfect sync and your hands reached up to tangle themselves in his curls as his worked their way from your jaw to your chest to your hips.

“(Y/N).” Billy moaned, breaking the kiss to give you both a chance to catch your breath. Kissing him was nothing like you’d imagined. It was much, much better. He licked his lips before colliding them with yours once more and his scent filled your lungs. Billy was like a mix of mint, cheap cologne and cigarette smoke, a combination that was so intoxicating you couldn’t bring yourself to pull away from him.

But it didn’t stop him from pulling away from you. “What’s wrong?” Your voice was nothing more than a whispered pant and Billy’s sounded similar. “As much as I’d love to do...this right here, I just-” His staggered breaths made it easy for you to interrupt him. “Bed.” you suggested, pushing Billy by his chest to allow you to lead him upstairs. “Come on!” you exclaimed, Billy hot on your heels.

Billy’s P.O.V.

He’d eyed her for weeks now. (Y/N) (Y/L/N). He said her name so often that it rolled off his tongue easier than his own. It would slip through the space between his lips and a lit cigarette in his mouth and it would come out as less than a whisper while he was sleeping. He did everything in his power to be around her--to observe her--but it still wasn’t enough. Tommy ran out of information on her quickly but Billy had found a new source, (Y/N)’s best friend, Nancy Wheeler.

He knew it was wrong of him to take advantage of Nancy but he couldn’t help it. Every party that she and (Y/N) went to, Billy was just around the corner, handing Nancy enough drinks to get her giggling and gossiping. He had a specific routine: He would get into a fight or start a drinking contest, any distraction big enough to get Steve off of her back, and then he would swoop in and begin his interrogation. Tonight was no different…

“So where’s (Y/N) tonight?” Billy asked, hot on Nancy’s heels. Nancy returned his question with a small smirk before covering her mouth with the red solo cup in her hands. “Why are you always asking me about (Y/N)?” she whined before taking a few more swigs of her drink. “(Y/N) this, (Y/N) that.” She continued.

His eyes met hers and he racked his brain for some kind of story to spin her. “Well, I uh...We’re working on a project together in English. It’s not a big deal but it’s due on Monday so I just wanted to talk to her, that’s all.” he lied, his gaze circling the room for a moment before he faced her again. “Mhmm. English project. Every single weekend...How strange.” Nancy hummed, her voice just barely being caught by him above the loud music. “Look if you’re not going to tell me where she is then I-” Billy’s speech was cut short by Nancy pointing a finger in (Y/N)’s direction. With a huff and a quick thank you, he was off.

(Y/N) was awkwardly sandwiched between a passed out guy Billy couldn’t remember the name of and the arm of the couch but she stood out in the top she was wearing. If his thoughts were correct, Nancy forced her to wear it tonight. He made his way over to her slowly but confidently. “Is this seat taken?” he asked in the most nonchalant voice he could muster.

Shock was illuminating from her features as she answered him with a small smile. “No go ahead.” It was a tight squeeze but Billy allowed himself to soak up her scent and it seemed to ease his nerves a bit, a smile forming on his face as he thanked her. “So what is Billy Hargrove doing sitting down at a party?” she asked jokingly but before he could answer, she was busting his chops again. “Don’t tell me, the title of ‘Keg King’ boring you already?”

He thought of different ways he could answer her. He could have said something cheesy like “I just wanted to see you.” He could have went with a more subtle approach and said something like “Just waiting to see what happens.” He could have said something he thought would piss her off, something to hint his intentions, or something to get her home with him quicker. Instead, he just told the truth.

“No, just don’t really feel like getting trashed tonight.” he said. She let out a sigh and he assumed that she too was going with the truthful approach. “Me neither.” (Y/N) agreed. “I don’t even like coming to these things.” she added. But Billy already knew that. He already knew lots of things about her. But he wanted to know more...

As they exchanged more and more small talk, his eyes began to fall back onto her lips and his mind began to wonder. Billy paid special attention to the way (Y/N)’s mouth adjusted to each word she spoke and how she used her hands while she talked. He thought of kissing her and how her lips would feel on his. He thought of how her hands would feel on his body and how his nails would feel if they were raking down his back.

He thought until he wasn’t quite thinking at all, causing him to ask something he never thought he’d have the courage to ask. “Do you want to get out of here?” The second the words left his mouth he was wishing he had more to take them back...until (Y/N) agreed.

“And turn left here.” (Y/N) instructed softly. The radio was low and moonlight was dancing on her perfect skin. Billy couldn’t help but to glance over at her every once in a while. “What?” she asked when she caught him for the third time. “Nothing I was just...Nothing.” “Whatever you say Keg King.” she giggled, bringing a peach flush to his cheeks. Damn was she good at that.

The rest of the car ride went by quickly and as he pulled into her driveway, Billy silently scolded himself for not making more conversation. He was finally alone with her and here he was wasting time. He was about to muster up a goodbye before she surprised him again. “You can come in if you want.”

With a small smile, he followed her inside, watching her carefully as she stripped herself of her shoes and her jacket. Billy copied her actions and made himself comfortable on the couch. They exchanged small talk and he added a few more things about her to his collection. One thing led to another and soon she was draped around him, her hands going crazy in his curls.

Kissing her was just like he’d dreamed. Better even. (Y/N)’s lips started a rhythm that his soon followed and he followed instinct, adjusting himself so that he was on top of her. So that he was in control. He set a new pace and she followed his lead, drawing her name from his lips over and over again until he needed a moment to catch his breath.

“What’s wrong?” she asked after he’d broken the kiss again. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her. Hell, she was all he ever wanted...but it was happening too fast even for him. He didn’t just want her like this, he wanted all of her and one late night wasn’t good enough of a guarantee. Stalling, Billy easily made up an excuse. “As much as I’d love to do...this right here, I just-” “Bed.” (Y/N) interjected, pushing him from her chest and leading him upstairs.

As (Y/N) led him through the hallway, Billy was hit with a realization...He could never have her in the way that he wanted. They were just so different, he and (Y/N). His house didn’t have a restaurant sized kitchen, the hallways weren’t patterned with family portraits, and he didn’t have a brand new car parked out in the garage. 

He was just Billy Hargrove. Someone who would never be anything or anyone and someone with enough baggage for a crowd of people. So he was going to do the only thing he knew how to do...The only thing he was good at...He was going to ruin this.

(Y/N)’s P.O.V.

“This is your room?” Billy’s voice was laced with awe as he paced around, his hands wandering to various knick knacks of yours as he took everything in. “What’s wrong with it?” you giggled in response to his tone, peeling your shirt from your torso as you moved closer to his spot by your dresser. “Nothing’s wrong except for the fact that mine could fit in here like three times.” he muttered.

“Okay and? I thought you knew everything about me Hargrove.” you challenged before attacking the nape of his neck with sloppy kisses. “I guess I thought I did.” Billy surprised you with his words and your focus switched from his neck to his face, your eyes meeting his disappointed gaze. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” you asked sharply. By now you were starting to get annoyed with his words.

The night had been going so smoothly and just as quickly as things had gotten heated between the two of you, they were cooling down. Seconds ago Billy had you half naked and in his arms wanting more of him and now you were staring up at him in disbelief, your arms crossed over your chest tightly in an effort to cover your exposed bra.

“It means that you’re the last person who should be moping around at a party.” he said plainly. “And why’s that exactly? Living in a big house makes you exempt from having problems?” you fired back at him. “Problems? Your life seems pretty perfect to me. No parents around to give you shit, no siblings to share everything with, no--” “Feelings?” you asked, cutting him off and shutting him up with one little word.

“I knew this was a bad idea.” he huffed, leaning himself against the wall, trying not to look at you. “So what was the plan then? You were going to take me home and then push me away?” you asked. You weren’t sure why Billy had taken an interest in you to begin with but now his motives seemed to be clear and only left you with a couple more questions. Was he going to take you home to see how far he’d get with you? What was making it so impossible to follow through?

“I thought we were the same but I was wrong. We’re from two completely different worlds.” He admitted and something clicked. “You know what Billy? If you hate me and my house so much why don’t you just leave?” you asked. You had no more fight in you and nothing more to say so you gave him a choice. “What if I don’t want to leave?” His eyes were pleading for a second chance but you were already replacing the shirt on your back. “Then the couch is yours I guess.” you said at barely a whisper.

He wanted to speak in this moment. To apologize and confess to you that he’d been analyzing every move of yours since the first time he saw you. He wanted to tell you that he noticed the way you rolled your eyes at Carol, that he noticed when you were absent from school and that he had done his best to “accidentally” run into you during your skipped lunches.

He wanted to tell you that he already knew about your parents...It was just a fraction of the information he’d  gotten out of your drunk best friend Nancy at various parties. Most importantly, however, he wanted to tell you that he purposely sat next to you on the couch tonight and how he didn’t drink because he knew you’d never get in the car with him if he did.

But instead, he just nodded and headed downstairs, leaving you to your own devices and thoughts. If Billy thought you were nothing more than a spoiled little brat why did he put himself through the trouble of taking you home tonight? Why did he follow you in and kiss you like no one ever had before? And why did he think he knew you better than you knew yourself?

“What an asshole.” you whispered to yourself, throwing yourself face first on your bed. You’d seen Billy act this way before but it was never directed at you. Billy was so sweet tonight. He said all the right things, did all the right things. How could he change so suddenly? And why did he change so suddenly? You were about to head to the kitchen before you remembered you’d let him take the couch.

You wanted to act like he wasn’t downstairs. You wanted to force yourself to sleep and hope that he would be gone by morning...but as you stared at the extra blankets folded at the foot of your bed, you knew what you had to do. “You’ve got this.” you whispered to your reflection in the mirror before heading downstairs, a pillow in one hand and a blanket in the other.

Billy’s P.O.V.

“What if I don’t want to leave?” This was his final plea to (Y/N). His eyes were tired and his voice was low. He didn’t have anymore fight in him and fighting was the last thing he wished they were doing right now. 

He knew what he was doing when he started it, though, and it was too late now to take back anything that he’d said. “Then the couch is yours I guess.” she whispered in reply.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Billy groaned as he descended the stairs from her room and entered the living room. Why was he so bad with feelings? He wanted to march back up there and tell her how he really felt but instead, he obeyed her wishes and made himself comfortable. Or tried to, at least. The humming of the heater mixed with the voice of his conscious was making it impossible to fall asleep.

Standing up, he slipped his shirt over his head. “Much better.” he thought. But there was still something missing...he couldn’t let (Y/N) go to sleep angry with him. He had to apologize but he just didn’t know how. What was he going to say? 

“I’m sorry for picking a fight with you. It’s just, I had this whole idea of how things were going to go down between us but I let myself get in the way?” Not happening. Billy Hargrove was many things but he wasn’t a sap.

Sighing, he began to pace back and forth in front of the couch, muttering half-assed but honest apologies. He figured he looked like a lovesick moron but he also figured that trying was better than not. 

“I like you, (Y/N). I really, really like you okay?” he said aloud. “And I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” He was about to give up and throw himself back on the couch when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

“I forgive you.”

(Y/N)’s P.O.V.

Silently but quickly, you made your way down the stairs to the living room. The last thing you wanted was for Billy to catch you off guard with nothing to offer except incoherent babbling. You still didn’t know what you were going to say to him but you were thinking and that’s all that mattered.

You were just about to turn the corner when you heard his voice. “I like you, (Y/N). I really, really like you okay?” he said and you could tell from his voice that he was moving around, pacing probably. You’d seen him do this in the school hallway when he was being interrogated by the principal and at parties when he was trying to egg someone into a fight.

Adjusting yourself so that you were facing in his direction, you stayed quiet as you watched him continue. “And I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” His hands moved to his forehead and he sighed. Billy, in his shirtless and distressed state, was thinking of a way to make it up to you. Little did he know, he already had.

“I forgive you.” you said just loud enough for your voice to reach him. He was only about twenty feet away from you but he still felt miles away. Billy whipped his head around to face you, shock practically engraved into his features.

“(Y/N)!” he jumped. You could tell he was embarrassed but you were too shy to say anything in return. “I, uh, I was just…How long were you standing there?” he asked, his right hand moving to rub the back of his neck. You recognized this action as well.

“I just came down to bring you these.” you said nervously as you held up the pillow and blanket out to him, forcing the corners of your mouth to turn up into a small smile.

“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you or anything.” you half-apologized. You did feel bad for walking in on him but it was nice to finally know what he was feeling. And it was nice to know that he felt the same way that you did.

Billy made his way over to you slowly. He was eager to find out what you knew but he also longed to be closer to you. He mumbled a quick “Thanks.” before taking the items from your hands and laying them down on the couch. Running a hand through his hair, he chuckled nervously before turning back to you.

He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t have to. Instead, he just wrapped his arms around you, holding you tightly for a moment before pressing his lips to yours. Your hands moved from their spot around his neck to his chest and then back to his hair.

After a few more minutes of making out, you broke the kiss along with the silence. “I like you too.” you told him softly, not looking away from him for a second. 

“And you’re not sleeping on the couch tonight.” you said, earning a laugh from Billy before he followed you up to your bedroom for the second time in one night. You couldn’t help but think that even though this should have happened the first time, everything was perfect.

“Can I have a do-over?” he smiled, kissing you once more before laying you on the bed. “Of course you can.” Billy gazed around the room and looked at you with the biggest smile you’d ever seen on his perfect face. “This is your room?” he scoffed in a jokingly manner.

“What’s wrong with it?” you asked in the same tone as before, playing along with whatever game Billy had conjured up. “Nothing.” he smiled, laying you down on his back on the bed and motioning for you to come join him. “It’s perfect.” he added as you nuzzled into his chest.

Control… It was something both you and Billy had lost hold of tonight. It was also the first time neither of you worried about having it.

[paulckrueger]

Should I Quit My Job? How to Know When It’s Time to Leave

The truth is that not every job out there is a good fit for you. Sometimes you need to try ten different jobs to figure out what you really want to do in life. It’s all part of the process. 

But quitting your job is a huge (and sometimes scary) step. And it’s tough to know when to quit a job and when to just keep at it. 

Whether you’re unhappy at your job or don’t feel like you’re maximizing your potential, sometimes it is the best move to quit and find something better. 

Often, top performers change jobs every one to two years to make sure they’re constantly being challenged. Plus, it’s sometimes the only way to really boost your salary. So, if you’re asking “Should I quit my job or stick with it?” keep reading. Below you’ll find some solid reasons for quitting versus staying.

Note: These rules only apply if your personal safety is not endangered at work. If you feel unsafe at work, you have every right to quit before you have your next job lined up. In fact, that may be the smartest decision. 

Want to work from home, control your schedule, and make more money? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Working from Home.

Should I quit my job? 7 good reasons to quit a job

1. You have a new job in the bag

Starting with the most obvious reason to quit your job, having another job lined up is an excellent reason to quit. 

Good reasons to switch to another role include better pay, more generous benefits, flexible working, a shorter commute, or promotion and career growth opportunities. If any of those apply, then it’s a no-brainer.

Make sure before you quit, make sure you have a confirmed job offer elsewhere. Don’t make the leap based on an off-hand promise from a friend or family member. 

2. You’re fed up with the toxic work environment

A toxic work environment can totally ruin a job for you, and there isn’t always a clear-cut way to solve it. If you’ve been to HR, spoken with your boss, and manager but nothing is getting resolved, it’s probably time to say goodbye and not look back. 

A toxic work environment can take its toll on your wellbeing, mental health, motivation, and even lead to burnout and other long-term health issues. If it’s truly toxic, it’s just not worth sacrificing your health for a job.

3. There’s no room to grow

If career growth and a future of promotions are what you strive for, you need to know there’s room to grow in your role.

In smaller companies, there isn’t always room to grow. That’s why ambitious people tend to quit once they reach their career ceiling. 

Before you hand in your resignation, you may want to set up a meeting with your manager to share your desire to advance in the company. Be bold and ask what you can do in the next six months to improve your chances of a promotion. You’ll get an idea from this conversation whether it’s a realistic aim or not. If not, you can start your search for a new job. 

4. You just hate your job

Do you lie awake at night worrying about work the next day? Do you feel anxious, depressed, lacking in motivation? These are all signs that the job isn’t a good fit for you. 

If you’ve tried everything to make your job feel a bit better such as talking to HR, coworkers, and managers about issues, then it’s time to plan an exit.

At some point, everyone fantasizes about quitting a job they hate. Hold on though. You need a plan of action beforehand. Don’t just throw your resignation letter down and dramatically shout “I QUIT!”

Plan your exit strategically, and find a new job elsewhere first and try to exit on good terms. You don’t want to burn bridges, especially if you need a reference from your current employer.

Bonus: Want to work from home, control your schedule, and make more money? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide to Working from Home.

5. There’s no sense of purpose

After working in a role for a long time, a lot of people feel like their job doesn’t give them a strong sense of purpose. It’s easy to think that way if you’ve been doing the same thing day in, day out for years.

This lack of purpose doesn’t just suck though. It can lead to you feeling demotivated which can impact your work. Your mental health can even take a hit, especially if the job is stressful AND feels a bit pointless.

If you’re looking for a role that gives you a strong sense of purpose, it may be time to move on. Bringing a sense of purpose to your role is a hard thing to fix because it’s not as tangible as other problems. But it’s just as much of a problem.

You may want to search for other jobs in your field, slightly different roles, management positions with more responsibility, or a completely new career. 

When your career lacks a purpose, this is a cue for many to think about a career change. Maybe you’re done with the corporate world and all you’ve ever really wanted to do was teach. Then go for it. Research what you need, put a plan in place, and work on that goal. Don’t sit around in the same seat for years wondering why you’re bothering.

6. You’re looking for a career change

At some point in their career, people often realize that they’re not doing something they want to do long-term. They may even realize they ended up in a completely wrong field. 

Changing careers can be difficult and scary, but if you’re not fulfilled in your current one, you can and should make the switch.

This is even tougher than finding a new job, so you’ll want to plan this carefully. Do some research on what’s needed for your new career including qualifications and experience. Don’t just leave randomly and realize you need a college degree for your new job field. 

7. You’re being underpaid

One of the top reasons people change their job is because of the pay. After all, it’s a huge factor in why we take a role in the first place. A lot of people find that if they stick in the same job for too long that the pay never quite catches up to the going industry rate. 

If you’ve seen new employees in the past few years join on a better salary than you, this is pretty common. And incredibly frustrating. The first step is to ask for a pay rise. For the best chance to win that pay bump, check out the Ultimate Guide to Getting a Raise & Boosting Your Salary.

If you follow all those tips and your boss still doesn’t budge and say yes, you know the next step is to look elsewhere. Sometimes, the only way to earn more money is to job hop every few years. 

Use this decision tree to decide when to quit a job

Good reasons to stick with your job

1. You haven’t tried all the alternatives yet

If you’ve had a bad few weeks and it seems like nothing is getting better, you need to ask if there’s anything you can do to improve things. Sometimes there isn’t, but you at least need to try. 

If it’s a toxic work environment or working conditions are just bad, your first step is to bring that up with management and HR. If it’s the role itself you don’t like, think about asking to switch to another department or look for internal roles that might be a better fit.

Until you’ve explored these alternatives, don’t just throw the towel in. Unless your health is truly in danger, you don’t have to quit immediately. See what you can change and what you can work with. Give it another month to see if things improve. If not, look elsewhere but at least you’ll know you tried. 

2. You don’t have a plan

Quitting a job can be huge. You’re saying goodbye to a salary, employee benefits, potential for growth, and you may be walking away from great colleagues. That’s why you need a solid plan of action. Ideally, this starts with another job offer or a strong business plan if you’re looking to open a company.

Before quitting, you should spend some time researching the job market, improving your skills, and doing what you can to make yourself irresistibly employable. 

Getting a plan together is also a great way to avoid falling into the exact same situation. If you don’t plan, you could end up in another role that’s a bad fit.

3. You can’t afford to quit right now

Finding a new job isn’t always a quick and easy thing to do. You could have a ton of experience, but the job market is competitive. The last thing you want to do is get overconfident, quit your job, and expect to land a new role by the end of the week.

If you’ve got money tucked away to fund a lengthy job search, then great. But consider holding onto your job for a few more weeks while you job hunt. You’ll be in a much better financial position and won’t have to burn through savings. 

4. What you really need is a break

Burnout is a serious thing. If you’re feeling it, you might think the only solution is to quit. But what you really need is a break. 

If you can take some time away from the office, this should help alleviate it. Take a vacation, shut off your emails, and try not to think of work. This time off can help you get the clarity you need. 

5. You’ve had a bad day 

Everyone has those moments, after a bad day, when you’re angry at everyone and all you can think about is quitting. Quitting may not be such a bad thing, but you need to think carefully.

Whatever you do, don’t just quit out of the blue. It’s not like the movies. You don’t have to dramatically whip off your name tag and throw it on the desk in front of your boss. If you’re angry, go home, and take some time to calm down first. 

You need to think clearly before you make a major decision like this. And you can only do that away from work. 

Assess what you could have done differently, what others could have done differently, and see if there’s a way through it. If not, then you can start planning your exit. 

Chelsie got a 26%+ raise just by asking!

What to do if you do need to quit a job 

The best time to look for a job is when you already have one. If you can tough it out for a few more weeks, you can start your search for a better job without worrying about making rent. This also gives you the opportunity to extend your search, and focus on finding your dream job. 

The last thing you want to do after quitting a job is to desperately take on any job just to replace your income. A plan and a strategy is your best chance of turning this experience into a positive one and leveling up in either salary, work environment, benefits, career progression, or whatever it is you’re looking for. To leave your job on the best terms possible, follow these steps:

Do your research on the job market and start applying

Get a job offer

Pick the best time to resign

Hand in your resignation letter

Give feedback on why you’re leaving

Give enough notice

Have a meeting with HR and/or your boss

Be helpful with your hand-over/finding your replacement

Whether you’re planning to stay at your current job or look for a new one, we have tons of free material on how to negotiate a raise. If you want to maximize your earning potential, just enter your email below to receive my best material on boosting your salary. 

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Should I Quit My Job? How to Know When It’s Time to Leave is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/when-to-quit-a-job/

[blacksiren]

Kinda Hot

Summary: When you accidentally bump into your brothers at a strip club, you didn’t expect to be able to enjoy yourself with their presence. You also did not expect to end up going home with your favourite act. 

Words: 4.7k

Pairing: Stripper!Ruby x Sister!Reader

Warnings: (probably very terrible) f/f smut, mild alcohol mentions, my inability to obey the rules making this not entirely au

A/N: so i decided to take part in @teamfreewill-imagine​’s birthday celebrations and spat something up randomly... it’s ruby so not many people will read it but it’s also not specified which ruby (i think i managed to refrain from hair and eye colour) so you can have all the fun you want with it. hope it’s ok, idk i kinda miss writing and this was really fun. oh, and i apologise for the pathetic attempt at writing smut...

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It was a Saturday night, you had just finished up a hunt with your brothers, and you were sat in your usual booth at the back of your favourite club, Cherry Pie. You liked to stay away from the men goggle-eyed and drooling in front of the stage so you always grabbed a booth at the back near the far side of the bar. You were in a good enough position to see the movement of performers on stage but far enough into the darkness that no one could make out that you were a young female, in a strip club, alone. You'd just ordered your second drink when your eye caught sight of a man's head clearly visible a couple of inches over the top of everyone else. Your heart caught in your throat as you immediately realised who it was - you'd recognise that mop of hair anywhere - Sam was here and Dean was undoubtedly with him. You pressed your back against the booth seat as much as you could in attempts to hide from the two men walking towards the bar; praying that the bartender furthest from you would become free so they could order their drinks from him and move on. Each step they took closer to your end of the bar had your heart racing with the fear of knowing that your brothers were about to find their baby sister sitting alone in a female strip club. You quickly downed your drink and stood up from your seat. You hung your head as you pushed through the crowd making a beeline for the exit, using your thick hair in an effort cover the side of you face. Your attempt at hiding amongst people didn't stop you from being spotted, however, as you heard Dean's voice from a few feet away. "Hey, that looks like- Oh shit," he finished as you turned your head on instinct, looking back at them with a sheepish smile. You wiggled your fingers in a subtle wave as you could feel your face heat up with a blush and your heart pound in your chest. You walked over to the bar and let them meet you there; all of you stood in silence for a moment, unsure how to approach the situation you had found yourselves in. Sam cleared his throat, "So, uh, this is not quite what we imagined when you said you wanted to spend some time alone at a bar." "Yeah, about that... I'm sorry I lied to you guys. I just didn't think you'd want to imagine me in a place like this." "Jesus, Y/N, please don't tell me you work here," Dean spoke up, clearly not being able to bite his tongue any longer. "God, no," you assured him, and you saw relief flash in his eyes, "I could never take my clothes off in front of a crowd like this." "'Like this' being... men?" Dean asked. "'Like this' being creepy men. And my brothers," you added. "But, we've seen you go home with guys, we've seen you make out with guys in bars, you've had boyfriends, we've-" "Bisexuals are real, Sam," you cut your waffling brother off. "You're bi?" Sam asked. "Yes. I mean, I think so. Yeah," you could feel your blush deepen and you were grateful for the dark lighting in the room that kept your cheeks from betraying your embarrassment. "That's... OK," Sam said, looking between you and Dean, who had become unusually quiet after your admittance. "I'm sorry I never said anything," you started, your eyes locked on Dean's face, anticipating his reaction, "I just, I couldn't find the right time and I didn't want to have a 'coming out' story, God knows we go through enough drama in one day for one of those. I didn't mean to keep this from you guys, it just never came up. But, for what it's worth, I'm glad y'all know now. I really hated keeping part of my life from you both." Neither of them knew what to say, you weren't expecting an outburst of rage, you knew your brothers well enough to know that neither of them would have a problem with your sexuality. But with your life, being hunters, you had no secrets from one another, and this was quite a big one to have harboured from them. You didn't want them to wonder what else you hadn't told them, anything else you might have lied through omission about. "Please, one of you say something," you murmured, looking down at your feet to avoid what you thought were disapproving eyes. Instead of speaking, Dean put his arms around your shoulders and pulled you towards him, hugging you. He placed a kiss to the top of your head and whispered in your ear. "I'm proud of you." You pulled back and looked up at him, a confused frown pulling at your brows. "What are you proud of?" you asked naively. "I'm proud of you for telling us. Like this," he motioned to the bar and the crowds of people around you, "I'm sure that being outed at a female strip club isn't exactly how you wanted to tell your brothers that you liked girls." You let out a small laugh, nodding in understanding. "I really did want to tell you," you assured them both, "Like I said, it just never came up in conversation and I wasn't sure if it was for real until a few years ago." "You don't have to worry about it," Dean said, his arm pulling you protectively to his side once more. "So, shall we grab a drink?" Sam spoke up.

"You guys seriously want me to stay and crash boys night?"

Dean huffed, "Well, technically we crashed your girls night so..."

"Good point," you laughed, "Let's make the best out of this awkward encounter. The headline stripper tonight is my favourite and I would have hated to miss out on her."

"I guess we're gonna have to get used to you talking like this," Dean smiled.

"I guess so," you replied as Sam busied himself ordering drinks for you all.

-----------

You all sat together at a table in the centre of the room; closer towards the stage than you had ever sat on your own. You expected to feel weird watching girls strip whilst sitting next to your brothers, but instead, you felt safer than you ever had in there before.

You leant forward in your chair as you heard the familiar introductory music to your favourite act, resting your forearms on the table. On the last Saturday of every month, Cherry Pie had a ‘Devils and Demons’ night and their headline act knew how to sinfully move her body in a way that got all the clients hot under the collar, yourself included.

As the lighting in the room switched from a purple wash to a bright red glow, the atmosphere instantly changed. Men started whistling and cheering as a pole was erected in the centre of the stage. The lights blacked out and then came back up, illuminating the girl who had quickly appeared on stage during the blackout.

Over the tannoy you heard her act introduced: Gentlemen, and any ladies we have joining us tonight, please put your hands together and go crazy for Black Cherry!

You barely heard the announcement as your eyes roamed over Black Cherry’s body and outfit. She was wearing a black lace bodysuit tucked into black leather hot pants, and black thigh high boots. The plunged neckline of the bodysuit was lined with red gemstones that picked up the light and reflected the rays. Over the top of her outfit, she wore a sheer red cover-up that you knew from experience didn't stay on for the entire performance.

As she stood with her legs apart and her hands on her hips, her closed eyes opened and from where you were sitting you could just make out that contact lenses had been used to make her eyes completely black- no iris or white to be seen. You'd never been close enough to notice before and, in that moment, you forgot that you were sat with your brothers. You let out an involuntary expletive which caused Dean to chuckle and look at you.

“We can leave if you'd rather watch this alone?” he teased.

“Shut up so I can see better,” you retorted, not even looking at him.

Sam chuckled at the two of you and you smirked knowing that all three Winchester kids were enjoying this as much as each other. And it hadn't even started yet.

“The black contact lenses are scary good,” you whispered to Dean, unable to tear your gaze away from the eyes of the girl on stage.

“I know, right? Someone's done their demon research,” he whispered back.

As if she could hear what you were saying, Black Cherry snapped her gaze to your table. You felt your heart rate increase as she winked a coal-black eye in your direction and Dean nudged you in the side with his elbow.

You suddenly recognised the music that had started playing after the introductory beat. Cherry Pie by Warrant was filling the room and you huffed a laugh.

Meta, you thought.

Finally the act begun; Black Cherry started dancing and moving her body sensually, her hips rolling and her hands roaming her own body. She reached for the hem of her cover-up and teased its removal. The crowd started whooping but she changed tactic and dropped it back down, turning around and leaning forward to grab the pole causing her ass to gain the attention of everyone in the room.

Dollar bills started flying on stage, everyone enjoying the taunting tone to the performance.

The first verse begun playing and Black Cherry’s hips were swinging along to the lyrics, her hands going to the bottom of her cover-up again and finally removing it. Her body moved continuously as the bodysuit and hotpants combo was revealed in its full glory.

You chanced a look at your brothers, spontaneously remembering their company, and you were grateful that both of them were glued to the stage, seemingly unphased by your presence.

You returned your attention back to the dancer who had turned to face the audience again. You mouthed along to the song- I scream, you scream, we all scream for her- being cut off as your breath caught in your throat when Black Cherry’s eyes stared straight at you.

You glanced behind you to make sure she wasn't looking at someone over your head and you found that she was, in fact, singling you out over a room full of eager men.

You assumed she was just using you as a grounding source of comfort, a female face that she hoped would make her feel less like she was stripping for money.

That theory went out the window as she locked her eyes with yours; popping the button on her hotpants and unzipping the fly. She slid them down the curve of her ass, wiggling her hips to emphasise her actions.

You could feel a few people staring at you now, following the dancer’s gaze to where you were sat, and your cheeks went crimson. You said a silent thanks to the red lighting that meant your blush would be indistinguishable.

The hotpants were pushed all the way down to Black Cherry’s ankles and, instead of stepping out of them normally, she put her hands above her head on the pole behind her and lifted her knees up, the hotpants now looped over her left ankle.

With her legs still drawn up, Black Cherry placed her left hand above her right on the pole and hung sideways. She did a full swing round the pole and as she finished her 360° spin she extended her left leg, flinging the hotpants into the crowd.

You smiled at the playfulness of the gesture whilst simultaneously admiring the core strength required to hang sideways on a pole. It's one of the reasons that this club and act was your favourite; you appreciated the effort it took to swing your body around on a pole whilst trying to look sexy in front of an audience.

Black Cherry continued her performance on the pole; flipping, spinning, climbing, gyrating, and undeniably working the crowd with her unbelievable abdominal strength and upper body muscles.

Throughout the performance you were acutely aware of the glances that were made your way from Black Cherry.

It soon became clear that Dean and Sam had also picked up on the tension that hung in the air between you and the stage. Dean kept looking at you and laughing whilst Sam’s leg reached under the table to kick you a few times, causing you to glare at them both for ruining your moments.

The performance ended with Black Cherry sliding all the way down the pole to land at the bottom in the splits, hands behind her back still on the pole. Her eyes met yours for once more that night and she smirked a one-sided sly smile.

You stood with the rest of the room to applaud; your arms above your head with a new-found, alcohol-induced confidence.

Money was thrown onto the stage and the dancer gathered up as much as she could, leaving her clothes on the floor by the pole.

But didn't miss the way her eyes quickly roamed your body one last time before she exited.

You you didn't miss how her gaze momentarily focused on where your crop top had risen up to expose your bare waist.

You didn't miss her follow your movements as you brushed your hair off your shoulder and threw your head back, laughing with your brothers.

You all made your way out to the parking lot, laughing a little too much about the happenings of the night and relishing in your now secretless lives.

As you reached the car, you were grateful that Dean had stayed on soft drinks so that you didn't have to catch a cab back to the bunker.

You were approaching the Impala, calling shotgun and running past Sam to the passenger door, when you heard a voice coming from behind you.

“Excuse me?”

All three of you turned around and saw Black Cherry leaving a side door to the club, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

You looked at her, taking in how beautiful she was up close. Her contact lenses had been removed and you saw the depth in her natural eyes. Her hair was soft and silky, falling down her back with a ‘just brushed’ look of perfection. Her makeup looked untouched despite the amount she must have perspired on stage under all those lights, not to mention doing a full pole fitness workout in stiletto boots.

You weren't sure what she wanted so you stood where you were, glancing at your brothers with panic as they started making their way back towards the car, leaving you alone to chat with the dancer who had previously left you speechless.

“Dean!” you hissed, “Sam!”

Dean leant in to you on his way past and whispered, “Trust me, it's not us she wants to talk to.”

You returned your attention to the gorgeous woman making her way closer to you. Being suddenly hit with a wave of confidence.

“Quite the outfit change,” you nodded at her skinny jeans and baggy, oversized t-shirt with the name of the club written in small letters on the breast pocket.

She just shrugged with one shoulder as she stopped in front of you and gave you a once over.

There was a weird silence that you couldn't quite place; it wasn't awkward but it certainly wasn't comfortable either.

She finally spoke up again, “So… those guys you were with. Boyfriends? Sugar daddies? Pimps?”

“Brothers,” you corrected, noticing the small frown of confusion that she gave, “It's a long story.”

“No, I get it. Nothing like a family trip to a strip club.”

“Right,” you laughed.

“Listen, how would you feel about getting a drink with me?”

You glanced back towards the Impala.

“If you got a curfew, I get it.”

“No. I do what I want.”

She smirked at your defensive tone.

“Well, my car’s over there,” she motioned to a jet black 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with a red racing stripe along the side panel.

“Kinda hot,” you remarked instinctively, impressed with her choice of vehicle.

She smirked again. That fucking smirk.

“I'll be waiting in it if you decide to join me.”

And with that, she sauntered off in the direction of her muscle car.

You watched after her for a bit, biting your lip in contemplation. Then you turned and jogged to the passenger side of the Impala.

“I'll be home later,” you said to the boys, earning you a questioning look of concern, “It's ok. I know how to look after myself.”

“Go get ‘er, kiddo,” Dean teased, looking at you from across the car.

You crouched to look in the wing mirror, fluffing up your hair and wiping under your eyes.

“You look beautiful,” Sam assured you, smiling up at you.

You kissed his cheek and leant in to pat Dean’s shoulder fondly.

“Stay safe! Make good choices!” Dean shouted after you.

You shook your head, laughing. As you made your way over to the car you became suddenly aware that you only knew this girl by her stripper name.

Hopefully by the end of the night that would have changed.

Ruby. That was her real name.

She had taken you to a bar a good drive from the strip club, explaining to you that she didn't like to go out too close to where she worked for fear of being recognised or followed.

You had reminded her, just for the record, that she technically followed you out of the club and so you were personally off the hook as far as being a creepy stalker was concerned.

She just laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear as it fell into her face.

You were a couple of drinks in, topping up your alcohol content for the night and enjoying the company you had found yourself in.

“So, why ‘Black Cherry’?” you finally asked, genuinely curious.

Ruby frowned at you.

“Like, how did you choose to be called Black Cherry?” you clarified.

“You figured my stripper name would be my first pet and mother’s maiden name?”

“No!” you laughed, “Just wondering.”

Ruby took a contemplative sip of her drink before putting it down and shifting to face you.

She pushed her loose hair behind her ear again.

“I used to work under ‘Cherry Pie’ before I moved to Lebanon. The place I used to work at was called ‘All Kindsa Pie’ and we all had fruity names,” she smiled when she noticed you holding back a laugh.

“When I moved down here, they asked me if I already had a name I was used to working with. I explained that it wasn't really possible for me to use it since my name was the actual name of the club. They let me drop the ‘Pie’ and just stick with ‘Cherry’ for a bit but then, when I got promoted to headline act, they assigned me ‘Black Cherry’. I guess it sounds more exotic.”

You nodded, “I like it.”

Ruby just laughed, unsure. Reaching to tuck her hair behind her ear one more time.

“No, I'm serious. It's kinda hot,” you assured her.

You both smiled, finishing your drinks in turn.

“Kitty Wilde,” Ruby murmured spontaneously.

“What?”

“My stripper name. I had a cat called Kitty and my mother’s maiden name is Wilde. I'd have been Kitty Wilde.”

You laughed properly, unable to control yourself.

“I know!” Ruby groaned, shaking her head, “It's the worst!”

Her hair fell into her face again and, before she could react, you leant across to tuck it behind her ear.

Your fingers brushed the side of her face as you did so and you brought your hand away, cupping her neck and running your thumb along her jaw.

Without thinking, you brought your other hand up so that you were holding her neck in both palms.

You looked into her eyes; neither of you had addressed the tension back at the strip club and you weren't entirely sure you had read it right.

What if she just wanted to be friends? What if there was no spark between you, just a response to the alcohol? What if you were wrong?

Before you had a chance to pull back, Ruby leant in and pressed her lips to yours.

Her lips were soft, full, and you couldn't remember the last time you had felt so content kissing someone.

You closed your eyes as you revelled in the serenity of the moment.

Everything around you seemed to stop and quieten, the only thing you could focus on was Ruby’s tongue pressing at your lips as you tried to keep the kiss chaste.

You pulled back, biting your bottom lip, your eyes still closed.

You felt a hand hold your face and a thumb swipe over your cheekbone.

You opened your eyes, looking at Ruby to see the same expression you wore mirrored in her own face.

“Wanna get out of here?” she whispered.

You nodded and both of you got up to leave the bar.

Ruby's home was a couple of blocks away from the bar and you took a taxi; Ruby explaining that she would come back to collect her car in the morning.

The second you stepped through the door to her apartment, she pushed you back against the door, kissing you in fervor.

You leant your head back as she kissed her way down your jaw, neck, and collarbone; stopping to suck the blood to the surface.

“Stop,” you groaned, attempting to get her to kiss your mouth.

She got the message, licking into your mouth and tasting you.

She led you towards her bedroom, her hands on your face and her lips still locked with yours, as you placed your own hands on her hips for balance.

This was easily the hottest thing you'd ever done.

Ruby broke away from the kiss and you groaned, leaning against the wall in her bedroom.

She slowly removed her top, holding it at the hem and lifting it over her head.

You smiled knowingly.

Ruby popped the button on her jeans, unzipping the fly and mimicking her movements from the club earlier. She pushed the jeans over her ass and turned away from you.

You frowned before she bent down and pushed the jeans all the way to the floor, removing them and giving you a glorious view.

You moaned involuntarily and she shot you a wink over her shoulder before returning her attention to you.

You ran your hands through her hair, smiling against Ruby’s lips as her fingers went to the button on your jeans.

She looked at you for confirmation and you answered her by pushing her back gently and removing them yourself.

You took advantage of the break and decided to remove your top also; leaving both of you standing in your underwear and yourself fighting back the pang of self-consciousness.

“Fuck,” Ruby whispered; springing towards you after freezing for a moment, her hands going to your waist and her lips locking with yours again.

You both stumbled in the direction of the bed, not breaking away from the kiss until the back of your knees hit the foot of the bed.

Ruby pushed you back and you fell onto the bed, shuffling up it so that your head was resting on one of the pillows.

She crawled over you, her forearms bracketing your shoulders as she bowed her head to kiss you. Her hair fell into your face and you pushed it back, holding the sides of her face in your palms and deepening the kiss.

Ruby kissed her way down your body; placing her lips along your collarbone, down your chest, your abdomen, and along your hips, slowly getting closer to your core.

Her fingers dipped into the waistline of your panties and you held your breath, watching as she removed them and dropped them down beside the bed.

Her eyes met yours and she placed open mouthed kisses up your thigh, keeping eye contact with you the whole time.

You threw your head back into the pillows as Ruby’s tongue circled your clit once before she pulled away.

“Tease,” you breathed, lifting your head up to glare at her.

“Damn straight,” she agreed, and you huffed at her honesty.

She resumed her position between your legs, smirking at your annoyance, and bringing her hands down to part your thighs.

Your hips squirmed in anticipation and Ruby placed her forearm over your stomach, holding you in place possessively.

She began kissing the inside of your right leg again, stopping when she got to your hip and skipping over your centre to work her way down your left leg.

She moved back up you, kissing your lips as one of her fingers entered you. Your gasp was swallowed in the kiss as your body reacted to the stimulation and clenched around her.

“Shit,” you murmured against Ruby’s lips, “Oh my God.”

“Baby, we’re barely barely getting started,” she retorted, nipping at your lip lightly.

“More,” you begged, as your body craved more of Ruby inside you.

She added another finger, her thumb reaching to rub at your clit and cause you more pleasure.

Your hips bucked, trying to grind down on Ruby’s fingers. Your senses were in override and your breaths were coming out in short, sharp pants as you got closer to climax.

A third finger entered you and your back arched off the bed, urging Ruby deeper inside of you.

You pushed your head back into the pillows, your mouth open in a breathy moan, your body getting closer and closer to coming.

Ruby abruptly removed her fingers from you before you could reach your climax.

“What the fu-?”

Your question was cut off as Ruby replaced her fingers with her tongue, licking into you with passion.

Your legs trembled and you could feel yourself getting closer and closer to the edge as she ate you out like no one ever had before.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you panted, grabbing a fistful of the bedsheets beside you, desperate to ground yourself.

Ruby’s lips circled your clit and she sucked lightly, just for moment, before placing her tongue flat against you and licking a stripe up your core.

It was all too much and your body writhed with the over-stimulating pleasure.

Ruby’s tongue continued its assault on you and, as you reached your orgasm, you involuntarily whispered, “Christo.”

As you did so, her eyes- which had been watching you squirm and writhe under her touch- flickered. They became pitch black, just like they had been at the club, then, with a single blink, they returned to normal.

Before you could react, you were coming with a cry of her name, throwing your head back into the pillows.

Your arm was thrown over your face as you attempted to get your breathing under control. Your chest was heaving, your legs trembling, and your head spinning from what you'd just seen.

As you came down from your high, and your thoughts became logical, you turned your head to look at Ruby who had moved to lay on her side next to you, propped up by her elbow.  

“I guess we should talk,” she said, anticipating your reaction.

You don't know why you did what you did but something told you Ruby was different and you didn't feel threatened by her.

“I guess so,” you agreed, “But first…”

You trailed off, moving closer to Ruby and kissing her; tasting yourself on her tongue but not caring.

Ruby was unresponsive at first but as you licked into her mouth again she responded, allowing you to roll her onto her back and hold yourself over her.

“Y/N, wait,” she tried to say between kisses.

“So, you're a demon,” you offered, shrugging a shoulder casually.

She looked at you, biting her lip.

You leaned in, your forehead pressed to hers as you mumbled against her lips, “Kinda hot if you ask me.”

[momorabu]

20.10.2017

Ensemble Stars! Event Story - Kiseki☆The Preliminary Match of the Summer Live / Summer Live (Part 1)

One of the main highlights for the Ensemble Stars series is here! The continuation of the main story to the route of SS! Finally we get to see some opponents from the other schools in this one, mainly the mysterious Hiyori from ex-Fine that we’ve been hearing about~

As this story was a long one (over 20+ chapters TWT), I decided to split it into two parts~ This is Part 1 of the story, Part 2 should be up pretty soon when I finished writing it~ ^^

Anyway as always, the summary of the story can be found below. Translation may not be 100% accurate due to my poor Japanese skills~

Prologue

The story starts off with Makoto unexpectedly meeting “me” one day during the summer. “I” was out in the streets for a work related task, as the student council had asked “me” to purchase some items for them. As it was a rest day for “me” actually, Makoto worried that “I” might overwork myself and collapse at this rate. 

Since “I” was busy with work, Makoto guessed that “I” won’t be able to take out time to take a look at them during the Summer Live practice later on. He knew that ‘I” had received high ratings for “my” producing skills and had even more work now that “I” had to be the producer for other units as well. Even though Makoto said that he’s happy for “me”, he too felt abit lonely knowing that we seems to have gradually drifted apart now. (Aww~ Makoto TWT TWT)

(Makoto knew that “I’m” not their personal producer and was “everyone’s” producer now, but looking at that face T///T I want to be just your producer Makoto. *cough* sorry my fangirling side for Makoto seems to be showing here *cough*)

“I” took out the support fan for Trickstar and started waving “it” furiously. Even though Makoto found that action to be weird, he knew that “I” wanted to express that no matter what happens, “I” would always be Trickstar’s fan. This pleased Makoto as he told “me” that he would rely on “me’ and valued “me” very much~ (as a producer I guess ^^;)

Since Makoto was quite free currently (before his practice in the afternoon), he asked “me” whether he could assist “me” in “my” work, since “I” might be able to have time to look at them practising if “I” managed to finish “my” work earlier. Makoto was all proud when he said that he had gotten stronger after getting training from Koga, and confident that he would be able to aid “me” in carrying stuff for “my” shopping. He hoped that “I” could rely on him more since he was a guy afterall, since he doesn’t want “me” to force on “myself” too much even if “I’m” in trouble. (Is it me or suddenly Makoto seems like a very reliable boyfriend now? OwO)

“I” agreed to let Makoto come and help “me”, and just at this moment, we met Tsumugi at the train station, who was looking for “Hiyori” and “Jun” who had came from Reimei Academy. The Summer Live which was planned to be held next week was a collaboration event with students from another school, and today was the day where Tsumugi was tasked to welcome them and showed them around the the school. However, he had not seen them at all at the designated pick up spot and thus asked us if we had seen them around.

Speaking about Reimei Academy, Makoto mentioned that it was a newly built school, and had gained fame really fast recently and thus widely talked about on the social media. Trickstar would be participating in the Summer Live event as the representation from Yumenosaki Gakuen, and asked Tsumugi whether he was here because Switch would be participating in the event as well. However, Tsumugi answered that he was just here today because he was acquaintances with the students from Reimei Academy (and so won’t be snatching the representation seat from Trickstar XD) 

Just then, a phone call arrived for Tsumugi, and it was from the students from Reimei Academy. Hiyori was the person who was on the phone, and apparently he had saw some nice shops around here and decided to go shopping instead OWO” He told Tsumugi that he would head towards Yumenosaki Gakuen later on when he was satisfied with his shopping trip. This reminded Tsumugi of the times where Hiyori would break his promise in the past and randomly head out in the middle of the night to do some shopping. (Hiyori... sounds abit like he’s a shopaholic OWO”) In the end, Tsumugi told Hiyori that he would be heading over to the shop to pick him up personally instead and asked him for the shop name. (I think this was the few rare times that Tsumugi actually seems kind of frustrated with someone. Usually he seems like someone who could take in all kind of abuse and still smile, but not towards Hiyori I guess? ^^”)

After the phone conversation, Tsumugi had to excuse himself as he had to head over to the shop to find Hiyori instead. Makoto asked if he’s alright, but Tsumugi answered that he’s already used to it since these sort of stuff already happened during his days in Fine. Tsumugi remarked that Hiyori was quite an annoying and “disastrous” person, and warned Makoto that Trickstar had to beware of him, since if they had let their guard down around him, they would ended up being twirled and led around by him as he pleased.

Indication / 予兆 : Chapter 1 - 2

Hokuto was at the fountain area of the school when he was shocked by Subaru suddenly appearing before him. He lectured Subaru about telling him not to appear so suddenly, and also told him not to touch him since Subaru had rolled on the ground just now and had dirt on him.

Subaru remarked that rather than greeting him first, Hokuto was lecturing him instead and he seems to be in an agitated mode. Hokuto asked Subaru whether he was smiling confidently now, but rather than smiling, Subaru replied that Hokuto’s expression seems really forced and laughed at him for showing such an unnatural smile when he was part of the drama club. Hokuto asked Subaru to show him some gag (probably to cheer himself up on something), and the latter responded by saying that him and his dog Daikichi together would be “Omikuji Combo”. However, Hokuto did not get the gag at all and told Subaru that he’s not an Omikuji. (I had no idea why they’re suddenly talking about this topic though ><”)

Subaru explained why he was here, and that was because this area was part of his route where he would walk with Daikichi. Subaru mentioned that even Daikichi’s father had also walk this path frequently in the past, though it had already passed away now. Hokuto was strict as he told Subaru that this was not the place to walk his dog, and told him to head towards the seaside instead. Subaru tried to rebut but Hokuto stopped him once he had used the words “but”, and said Subaru had always used words like that to force his opinion on others, and remarked that he’s really quite stubborn. Subaru rebutted that Hokuto was the same too, and since they’re so similar together, Subaru hoped that they would always remain friends with each other ^^ Hokuto felt that they’re complete opposites though, as he doesn’t understand how Subaru views the world around him. 

Subaru wondered what was Hokuto doing here in the school this morning, since the practice for Summer Live was scheduled to be in the afternoon. He was worried that he had remembered the schedule wrongly, but Hokuto assured him that he’s not wrong and instead praised Subaru instead, since it was a rare chance that he had actually remembered the schedule. 

Continuing back on the topic of Subaru’s walk with Daikichi, Subaru said that he had to do that because due to them being busy with preparing lives recently, Subaru didn’t have much chance to let Daikichi do some exercise, and that ended up with Daikichi getting fat. Hokuto felt that Daikichi looks cute when he was all round like this, and hearing what Hokuto had said, Subaru offered Daikichi to Hokuto to pat it, since Daikichi was a dog which likes to be pat. However, Hokuto declined and told Subaru that he had to leave now as he had a meeting of the Summer Live to attend to as the leader of Trickstar. This was why Hokuto was so strict to Subaru and didn’t his clothes to be dirtied earlier on. 

As the students from both school will be meeting each other in the afternoon to start practising for the Summer Live together, the meeting in the morning was a preparation towards that, where the leaders from both units would meet each other as the leader from the other unit had something that he wanted to relay to him. Subaru offered to go along with Hokuto, since he worried that Hokuto might ended up quarreling with the other party, claiming that if Hokuto gave him a notice that he’s in trouble and need help, Subaru would ignore the atmosphere and barged into the conversation to help Hokuto out. (Are you sure that’s not just causing disturbance Subaru? ^^:)

Subaru still didn’t really understand what was the Summer Live was about and asked Hokuto whether he had knew anything about it. But Hokuto didn’t knew about the details either, since Hokuto was just called to the student council room yesterday via the PA system to notify that Trickstar would be participating in the Summer Live. Subaru remarked that when Hokuto was called to the student council room, it gave him flashback of the nightmare that had happened before DDD. Hokuto talked that it was because Trickstar had just been created and not stable at that time, so the members were easily swayed when the student council tried to disband the group, but things were different now, as Hokuto planned for them to gain a territory of their own in this school, grow as much as they can within the next few months, and head towards the SS at the end of the year. As their opponents would be people from other schools in the SS, the student council are their comrades now. Since they’re all idols in the same school, and and with student council showing support for them, Hokuto wanted to believe in the student council. 

Since they’re going to interact with students from the other schools, their logic of thinking might be different from them as students from Yumenosaki Gakuen. Hokuto warned Subaru to be careful not to embarrass himself when interacting with them XD With that, Hokuto bid good bye to Subaru and make his way towards the student council room.

Indication / 予兆 : Chapter 2 - 3

Eichi greeted Hokuto when he stepped into the student council room, remarking that he seems to be in a good mood. Eichi himself was smiling from ear to ear, as he was pleased with how things were moving along smoothly currently, and remarked that matters were easier to be carried out when they’re being done in the dark, and that made Hokuto suspect whether Eichi was planning something evil in secret. Eichi claimed that he was not doing anything that’s evil, but trying to fulfill his dreams instead. He mentioned that the other party would be late to the meeting, and told Hokuto to sit down and wait for him in the meantime. 

Eichi offered some tea for Hokuto, but he declined it. Seeing that Hokuto seems to be quite nervous, Eichi asked him not to be so cautious of him as he wasn’t their enemy this time. Even though Eichi had not planned to spoil the Trickstar members as little children, but since Trickstar was representing their school in SS, Eichi had planned to give them back up as the student council as when required. This was why the Summer Live was planned, as Eichi had planned for it to be a practice for Trickstar before the SS, as they would be able to compete with their opponents before then. Eichi told Hokuto that he planned to give them more jobs in the future that suits them as the representation of their school and there would be further opportunities of them competing against other schools. If possible, they maybe even offered the chance to travel abroad for work related opportunities too. 

However, Hokuto revealed he had planned for Trickstar to participate more in dreamfes organised in the school. He mentioned because this was a collaboration event with other schools, even if they win or lose in this event, it won’t be reflected in their grades as they’re not under the dreamfes system. If Trickstar followed what the student council had planned and went onto participating other events not related to the school, he knew that their position in school would get shaky again as their reputation in school might get weaker and weaker. Eichi rebutted that this was all Hokuto’s imagination that Eichi is targeting Trickstar as their victims, and was surprised that Hokuto actually cares about school grades. Hokuto answered that this was because his parents love numbers, and had given him a scolding when they realised that his grades had dropped recently. Eichi told him that what’s important was the results as this school was one that decides one’s position by results and numbers, though partly it was due to Eichi’s work in the past.

Eichi tried to offer tea to Hokuto, but he declined it again, making Eichi sighed as he told him that he really needs to relax (and that Hokuto should really speak in a formal tone towards Eichi, seeing that he’s his senior ^^;) Eichi started talking about the tea was a herbal tea, which was made by herbs grown at Eichi’s house since his junior at the tea club - Hajime loves herbs recently. However, Eichi found that the tea were of a lower quality than what he had bought from the shops, and thus told Hokuto that he could have it to help him get rid of it XD (Don’t use people as a dustbin, Eichi~!! ><”)

Eichi relaised that they’ve been waiting for a long time, and yet Hiyori had not shown himself. He signed and remarked that Hiyori was someone who had always not abide to the time that they were supposed to meet. He continued on and told Hokuto that “Hiyori” was one of their opponents that Trickstar would be performing with at the Summer Live. As Hokuto might not remember who he is, Eichi reminded him by telling him that Hiyori used to be one of the students in Yumenosaki Gauken, but had transferred at the end of last year. His full name was Tomoe Hiyori and he used to be part of Fine, so Hokuto shouldn’t have forgotten about him, as Eichi teased Hokuto as “Hockey-mask-kun”. (Wait, Hokuto was Hockey Mask? I think I came across this name somewhere but I don’t remember it ><”)

Hokuto remembered that Hiyori was one of the two most popular members in Fine, and didn’t know that he had transferred since Hokuto only realised that he seems to have not heard any news regarding him for a long time. Eichi signed and advised Hokuto that rather than just focusing on himself, he should look around more of his surroundings as a leader. Back on the topic regarding Hiyori, Eichi explained that he was one of the main person behind Fine’s power at that time, and was probably as powerful, if not even more powerful than Eichi now as an idol. If Hokuto and the rest of Trickstar were not aware of him, they may ended up getting “eaten” up by him.

Moving on from Hiyori, Eichi mentioned about an idol group which he guessed that Hokuto must have heard about - Eden. Eden was a group that had the highest ratings among their era, the idol unit that was unbeatable. Eden was predicted to be the overall champion of SS, and thus Eichi felt that they would be Trickstar’s biggest opponent during the competition. Hiyori currently resided in “Eve”, which was greatly related to  “Eden”, so Eichi felt that his unit “Eve” would be great opponent for Trickstar to practise against before the SS.

Hokuto was curious about the relationship between “Eve” and “Eden” as the current link that he could think of currently was how their unit names were all  related to saint literature. Eichi decided to reveal what Eden was about, it was actually made up of “Eve” and another unit “Adam” to form “Eden”. Saying that this resembles a robot, Eichi told Hokuto that they’re still researching on more information about them at the moment. What he had known so far was that the two units had came from two different schools, but both schools had came from the same idol management company. The two schools were “Reimei Academy” and “Shuetsu Academy”, with the two units “Eve” and “Adam” operating differently most of the time. However, when required, both units would team up to form “Eden” and carry out idol activities together.

Even Eichi felt that the “Fine” now won’t be able to match against Eden since that unit was really powerful with each individual having high skills being on their own. This is why Eichi hoped that they’re able to find out a way they can go against Eden by being the opponent of “Eve” and “Adam” separately first. 

Since Hiyori was also part of Fine in the past. Hokuto asked Eichi whether he had an idea of how good he is as idol. Even though Eichi did knew how good Hiyori was in the past, there was a possibility that Hiyori had improved after he had transferred and gaining even more experience outside. He told Hokuto that compared to “Nagisa”, Hiyori was a much simpler person to understand, since he would just do things just as he pleased. Hiyori was also an easier opponent compared to Nagisa (who was hard to undestand and grab a hold of according to Eichi ^^;), since Hiyori was someone who was kind as a person from the royalty, and even if Trickstar landed themselves in the worst scenario... they won’t get “killed”. 

Just then, Hokuto heard footsteps approaching the room and started to get nervous, thinking that Hiyori had arrived. But it turned out to be just Mao, since he was just here to deliver some documents as requested by Eichi. Hokuto isn’t pleased that Eichi was making use of his comrades, but Eichi claimed that it was Mao himself who had requested some work to be done, even Mao spoke up for Eichi saying that he would feel better if he was abit busier and that this was the norm for him as he was part of the student council. 

Eichi asked Mao whether he would like to stay for the meeting, but Mao said that such an important task should be left to Hokuto since Mao felt that this would be bad for his heart, as he mentioned that he was just a small civilian here.  (Oh no, Mao you are definitely not a small civilian ^^;) Eichi sighed as he mentioned again that Hiyori was really late, and wondered if he had returned home instead of coming here. (Hiyori was someone Eichi had found it troubling to deal with since from the past, as Hiyori had never did anything according to what Eichi had planned ^^;)

Indication / 予兆 : Chapter 4 - 5

On the other hand, Makoto and “me” had finished our shopping and were at the game center. “I” teasingly put a cold drink at Makoto’s neck just to see his reaction, and offered him the drink as it was a hot day in the summer. Makoto had helped “me” by checking on the net on the stuff to be bought, and that helped to improve our efficiency to finish our shopping trip earlier than expected. Makoto was initially worried about the amount of items to be bought, but thankfully there was a delivery service being offered, and thus we decided to use that to deliver all the items that were bought to the school. 

Since “I’m” done with “my” tasks and doesn’t have anything “I” have to do later on, Makoto asked “me” whether “I’m” free, as he wanted to invite “me” to join him at the game center. He was worried whether that would be troubling for “me”, since “I” might want to head a cafe instead to pass the time before Trickstar’s practice in the afternoon. 

(Nono, that won’t be a trouble for me Makoto! I’ll go anywhere you want with you ^^)

“I” agreed to accompany Makoto to the game center, and thus he explained his reason for wanting to head there. There used to be a very famous senpai at the game club, which Makoto had belonged to for awhile. (This was stated in “Rocket Start”.) However, the senpai had quit school to become a game designer, and was now in charge of producing a game finally. The game was a continuation of a very popular game series, and there was news that this game was now available at the game center. As Makoto had loved this game series, knowing that the continuation was even made by this senpai that he used to know, he was very interested about it and thus wanted to come here and try playing the game.

Makoto was very excited when he reached the game center, pointing out at various franchise. As the game center was near to Yumenosaki Gakuen, which specialise in producing idols, there were many crane games that has idols goods available at the game center. He tried to find if there were any crane game machines that has Trickstar goods available, but couldn’t find any of them unfortunately, and thus wondered perhaps Trickstar was not yet as popular as he had hoped so.

However, suddenly a guy called out to him, calling Makoto a “kuso megane”. (New character! Actually this guy was trying to talk to him moments ago but Makoto had not realised it at all ^^;) Makoto was shocked and... pretty much seems unhappy that this guy was interrupting his happy date with “me”. (Wait.. when did it became a date Makoto? Not that I dislike it... but I guess this pretty much confirms that Makoto does sort of was attracted / has a crush on “me”? O////O)

Makoto had found the guy to be quite fierce looking and thus afraid that he was going to cause trouble for him. He was pondering whether he should hand over some money to the guy and apologised to him before running off for his life, but thought that that would make him look like a wimp in front of “me”. As being involved in a fight would be damaging to an idol’s image, Makoto was caution not to get himself involved in any conflict. In the end, Makoto was more worried about getting “me’ involved with this “delinquent” (so when did the new guy became a delinquent ^^”?), and decided that he shall just use money to pay him off. To his horror though, he realised that his wallet wasn’t with him when he reached for it. (Bad luck Makoto =w=“)

Turns out that the guy had approached Makoto because he had saw Makoto dropped his wallet, and had picked it up to return it to him. He noticed that Makoto seems afraid of him and knew that it was mostly because of his own looks that looked scary for others. The guy had also knew Makoto’s full name, which surprised Makoto as he wondered that perhaps they’re that popular after all. However, the guy quickly dashed Makoto’s hopes by answering him that he’s not that popular actually in the whole country, as in fact the guy had not known Makoto’s name at all before he had researched about him. Makoto felt scared when he heard that the guy had researched about him XDD (Hmm? Had he thought why someone will research about him?)

This was then the guy realised that Makoto doesn’t seems to know about him at all, and decided to give him a little hint - He was a newcomer who had just become part of “Eden” recently, and thus guessed that he might have been buried by other more popular members. This was then Makoto realised that the guy was someone who would be collaborating with Trickstar for the Summer Live, and was worried about competing against “Eden”. The guy tried to assure him that they’re working together for a live event instead of competing, and he would be representing as “Eve” instead of “Eden” this time. 

As it seems that Makoto had not researched about him at all, the guy introduced himself as “Sazanami Jun”, and wasn’t pleased that Makoto does not seems to take him seriously as an opponent at all when he had taken out time from his schedule specially to come down here to Yumenosaki Gakuen. He told Makoto that he had hoped that he would do his research to find out more about who he would be performing at the live event, instead of waiting around for information like a little bird waiting for food. For Jun, the competition between “Eve” and “Tickstar” had already started even though there was still half a year more till the start of SS. He felt that it won’t be good to be in a close relationship with Makoto actually, and since he still had matters to attend to, Jun bowed as he began to take his leave. Makoto was confused and remarked that Jun was a “kid” that he doesn’t understand at all, since he could be all fierce and angry one moment, and suddenly being polite next ^^; 

(Somehow Makoto pissed Jun when he remarked that he’s a “kid”, as Jun clarified that they’re of the same age. I guess Jun doesn’t like being treated as a little kid ^^:)

Makoto was still confused about the whole situation even after Jun had left, and also realised that “I” wasn’t with him the entire when he was talking to Jun. He was angry when he finally found “me”, and said that “I” should have inform him before going off by “myself”, since he had felt troubled and scared earlier on thinking that he was being pestered by a delinquent. (Sorry Makoto ^^: But you look cute when you're angry >///<)

Makoto decided to get back into the mood of playing and made his way to the game machine which he wanted to try out with “me”. However, he was shocked to see that Jun was also there and playing the same game that he had wanted to play. (Talk about coincidence ^^;) “I” was oblivious to what had happened between him and Jun earlier on, and thus went onto putting the coins in for a new game at a machine near to Jun. Thus somehow it had became a VS game battle against Jun for Makoto, which terrified him since he doesn’t know how to use the controls for this game yet and Jun was scary to him too ^^; 

Foreign Enemy / 外敵: Chapter 1 - 2

Mao had enjoyed his lunch after leaving the student council room, and while remarking that he had a great meal, Rei suddenly appeared and told him not to make such a comment like an old man XD This gave Mao a shock as he scolded that Ritsu should not appear at his foot like this as usual (he had thought that it was Ritsu was the one who had talked to him), and get an even bigger shock when he realised that it was actually Rei. Rei remarked that he felt lonely hearing that Mao had called Ritsu by his name, but decided to call Rei by his surname as “Sakuma Senpai”. 

As he knew that Mao would be attending practices in the afternoon, he asked him whether it was alright for him to eat that full, but guessed that since Mao was quite young, he might be able to digest his lunch quickly before practice. Mao noticed that Rei seems quite tired, and realised that he should be sleeping at this time in the afternoon. Rei sighed and commented that though he was sleepy, it was too hot to sleep in the coffin in the summer. He wanted to look a place which has shade and was cooling, and before he realised it, he had wandered into the cafe terrace. 

Mao knew that an air-conditioner was installed into the coffin to defend against the warm weather, and asked Rei what happened to it. Turns out that the air-conditioner was out of order and had even ended up making the coffin flooded with water one time ^^; In the end, Rei had asked Madara for help to repair the air-conditioner currently. Rei commented that Madara was good at this area, whether it was repairing anything that’s mechanical, or making music instruments. (Madara, the guy with many talents +W+) Mao remarked that one should not judge someone by their appearance, since even though Madara looks huge and clumsy, he’s quite good with his hands ^^

Rei commented that the tea club usually carries out their club activities in the cafe terrace, and thus there were times where Eichi (being part of the tea club) would actually approach Rei to have a conversation with him. He remarked that there were times where Eichi would actually have a serious expression on his face as he was thinking about something, and would even seek advice from Rei, to which Rei found it surprising and wonder perhaps it would rain XD He found that it was amazing that there would actually be a day where Eichi and him would actually work together (for the Summer Live I supposed?), and thus hope that their efforts would not come to waste. Mao agreed that he had found it hard to believe that it was the reality that he, together with the rest of Tricktar would be representing the school to particpate the SS. Rei told him that it was the reality that they’re living in now, and warned him that if they’re not serious about it, they might ended up get swarmed in by the hurricane of events during SS and being battered by it. He encouraged them to work hard and told him that he would be offering his support for them. (Aww~ Rei feels like a really good senpai ^^)

Mao admitted that it was true that they still lacks popularity and skills currently, and that they might not be able to stand on their own without the help from others. Rei tried to encourage Mao that they might be able to compete with “Eve”, since they had more members than them, and the Summer Live event was held at Yumenosaki Gakuen’s turf so there would be more fans of Trickstar at the event. Rei wished that they would do well at the event, and remarked that if they’ve done a good job, he’ll reward them with a pat on the head ^^

Mao wondered that perhaps Eichi ahd worried and afraid if he doesn’t know much about their opponents, and thus requested him to find out more information about them. Even though Mao had managed to accumulate a huge amount of information, there was still details that were missing regarding them, since they still lack information of what skills they were good at or what kind of songs they were good at singing etc. Even if Mao had went through the whole data room, those information were hard to be found, and he guessed that perhaps it was because of Hiyori’s family who were rich and powerful had managed to protect those information from leaking. Mao now regretted that he had not keep a close watch at Fine’s performance during his first year to see how good the old Fine was at that time.

Rei felt nostalgic as he remembered that era. Fine were the heroes at that era, being the ones who had defeated the five oddballs, and the Trickstar members were still audience who had watched such an event taking place. However, things were different now, with Trickstar being created and even able to break the curse by defeating Fine and Eichi once. 

Providing a hint to help Mao, Rei mentioned that even if the information were destroyed officially, there might still be another copy available in the secret underground library by Natsume. Rei told Mao that he could try asking for Natsume’s help if there were any information that he wished to obtain, and even gave him the permission to use his name if it helps to get Natsume to help them ^^ 

Rei also knew that Makoto was good at collecting information, and thus told Mao that if he had requested for Makoto’s help too, he would be able to get more information for Mao. However, Mao worried that this might distract Makoto from preparing and practising from the Summer Live, but Rei advised him that he should try to rely on his comrades more, since for Mao who was a normal human, this was something to be expected and normal for him to do. 

Just then they met Subaru, who had went out for a run now as this was the only time he was able to go for a run, seeing that they would be practise indoors in the practise room later on. Subaru asked Mao to join him for the run, but Mao replied that he was really full after a meal, and it would hurt his stomach if he pushed himself to run ^^; Even though Mao knew that Subaru was really energetic and the heat in the summer would not affect his spirit, he was still worried about him and told him to rehydrate himself by providing a drink to him~ (Hehe glad to see Mao taking care of Subaru here ^^)

It was then Subaru noticed Rei, who had apparently made himself comfortable at the cafe terrace by lying on a bed. (Wait... Why is there a bed over there? ^^:) He was surprised to find Rei there, and asked whether Mao and Rei were in a good relationship to even have lunch together, since even though he knew that Mao and Ritsu were really close, he’s not sure whether Mao and Rei were considered childhood friends or not. Rei answered that because Ritsu doesn’t like him being too close to Mao (perhaps being afraid that Mao might get taken away from him by Rei?), Rei himself had to distance himself from Mao usually. He remarked that Ritsu doesn’t have to be so wary of him, as Rei would not steal Mao away XDD (Poor Rei ^^;)

However, Mao thanked Rei for the information and even called him Rei-chan, which surprised and confused Rei greatly, and he remarked that he really doesn’t understand how youngsters were thinking nowadays XD Mao laughed and replied that he just wanted to do that suddenly, and even offered to carry Rei indoors as it seems that Rei was quite weak being shone by the sunlight at an angle. 

As Rei was quite weak in the sun and it was the summer season, he said that he would need to see how the weather would be like on the event day itself to determine whether or not he would be able to make an appearance at the Summer Live. On the event that he might not be able to make it, Rei mentioned that he would support them in his heart instead.

As Rei was leaving, Subaru noticed that Rei had taken a tomato that was planted along the path and eaten it. He mentioned that the tomatoes were planted by Koga for Rei’s sake. (This is an unexpected side of Koga... Koga actually does gardening? OWO) 

Mao offered to run along with Subaru now that he doesn’t felt that bloated anymore, as he wanted to be in the best physical condition for the practice later on. He wanted to run at a slow pace and asked Subaru to cool down, but Subaru got heated up instead when he knew that Mao was joining him for a run XD Mao was worried and told Subaru to cool down and think about the pace he was running, but Subaru said that Trickstar was a group who would only thinks things later on after they’ve charged ahead and do it, and even started running off first before Mao. Mao remarked that Subaru was indeed energetic to a point that he would worry about him, but it was also due to Subaru that had gotten his tension up again, and thus he ran to catch up with Subaru.

Foreign Enemy / 外敵 : Chapter 3 - 5

As Hiyori was really late in arriving at the student council room, Eichi felt that it became a lucky chance for him to tell lots of stuff about “Eve” and “Eden” to Hokuto. However, if Hiyori did not appear in the end, it symbolised that “Eve” would not participate in the Summer Live, which might ended up in the whole event being cancelled. Eichi would not let that happen of course, as he planned to select another unit to replace “Eve” instead. He was pondering whether to choose either Valkyrie or Switch, since they would be good opponents for Trickstar as Eichi wanted the members of Trickstar to perform seriously (like in a war...? ^^;) Even though Hokuto knew that Eichi was praising them, somehow he felt that his words were like poison to him, and assured Eichi that Trickstar would always do their best no matter which opponents they’re facing again. (That’s the spirit Hokuto! +W+)

Even though the Summer Live was only a one day event, Hokuto felt that the preparations for it seems to be quite a long one, since he had expected that it would not take that long to set up the stage and promote about the event. Eichi answered that though partly it was because that he cared about the live event (and thus willing to spend a longer time to prepare for it perfectly), the other reason was that he wanted Trickstar to spend more time in contact with students from the other school, since this was the first time they would be meeting students from other school and might have different school culture which they would need to get used to. Eichi mentioned that he won’t be hoping that they’ll get along really well together, since in the end they would be opponents who might ended up having to “kill” one another. (That sound scary Eichi TWT) Besides, Eichi felt that it wasn’t that long for the preparations, since they only have one week for it. (Welp, Hokuto, I’ll say that was short instead of long actually =w=“)

Eichi told Hokuto not to care if the other party was someone who was older than him or part of the strongest unit, since he wanted them (Trickstar) to bark, bite and “kill” them with what they got. (Why did I feel that Eichi was describing them like a dog... =w=“) He was confident that after this week, they might be able to find some way which they could use to fight against “Eden” in the future. Eichi described that once they’re on the warzone, the true colours of people would show, and thus he hoped that Hokuto and the others would get into quarrels, anger the other party to make them show their true selves, adding on this was something that Hokuto is good at. (... Really?) Hokuto wondered whether he was really someone who would get into conflict with anybody easily, since Subaru actually mentioned the same thing about him earlier. (Ah, now I get why Subaru ask Hokuto not to get into quarrel with the other party in the meeting ^^;...)

Finally Eichi got a message from Tsumugi, who relayed the message that Hiyori would be arriving soon. He gave Hokuto one last warning, telling him that if he just stay quiet and accept everything that comes his way later on, he would get swept off by the other party’s talk and get gobbled up... OWO (Yikes) 

And here comes the appearance of what they’ve been waiting for a long time for - Tomoe Hiyori~! He was glad that Eichi and Hokuto were actually talking about him, thinking about him, and actually spending their lifetime over him XD (That’s a weird way to describe it but I guess it’s true ^^;) 

Eichi lectured him about being late, but remarked that it was to be expected of Hiyori. He also mentioned that Hiyori has a loud voice, and seems that his appearance and words had given Hokuto such a shock that he had just froze in place... Hiyori felt that one should live for himself and as he pleased when he’s living in this place, and thus felt that speaking a loud voice is making full use of his lungs while he’s breathing and living ^^; He remarked that it was unexpected that Eichi was still living, to which the latter sarcastically rebutted him, asking him whether he was displeased to see him still living well. (Welp, these two... doesn’t seems that they like each other that much D:) Hiyori said that since he had now left Fine, he was not Eichi’s pawn anymore and thus even if anything were to happen to Eichi won’t affect Hiyori’s life anymore since Eichi was now not related to him. (Totally sounds like Hiyori wanted nothing to do with Eichi ^^;)

Hokuto introduced himself as the leader of Trickstar, and would be working together Hiyori and “Eve” for the Summer Live event. Hiyori greeted him as well, remarking that he hoped that Trickstar would work hard this time to make Eve shine this time, which pissed Hokuto off. (As it totally seems to mean that Trickstar would be like back dancers of Eve in the performance, no wonder Hokuto was pissed off.) Eichi urged Hokuto to calm down and bear with in, as him being angry right from the start won’t help the conversation to continue on. However, he asked Hiyori whether he was indeed that confident of himself that what he was saying would not be different from the actual performance of his unit. Hiyori laughed back at Eichi, remarking that Eichi was still talking to him like he was high above him, reminding him that it was all Eichi’s imagination and things were different now. Even Hokuto could sense the sparks flying between them, and wondered how on earth were the two of them be in the same unit Fine in the past. (I guess it would be a miracle that they did not ended up killing each other =w=“)

Even though Eich had arranged for Tsumugi to pick up Hiyori, Tsumugi himself were nowhere to be seen. Eichi asked Hiyori whether he had left Tsumugi behind, but Tsumugi answered that he had actually arranged for Tsumugi to bring the stuff that he had bought back to his hotel instead, since he had bought too much stuff and it was troublesome for him to bring all these stuff with him. (Then you should not bought so much Hiyori... =w=“)

Back on track to the topic regarding the Summer Live event, Hiyori proposed that he had a plan for it, and wished that the others would follow exactly according to his instructions. Hokuto immediately objected to it, since he thought that would be too one-sided as he had hoped that both schools were discuss over it to plan together. However, Hiyori rebutted that since this event was one that he, Tomoe Hiyori was tasked to participate in, he would not tolerate if the event turned out to be a normal and boring event. He revealed that he had only participated in this event as per the instructions from the idol agency (from the school), and truthfully speaking, he didn’t want to perform with them actually. He requested Trickstar not to be an obstruction to his performance, since if he found Trickstar to be an eyesore later, he would definitely kick them off the stage. (Hiyori’s threat!? How could he say that while smiling... *shivers*)

Hokuto exchanged a look with Eichi, but the latter could only sigh and replied that he had already warn Hokuto earlier on that Hiyori was such a person. He felt an experience would work better for Hokuto and thus asked him to figure out what to do about this situation himself. (Eichi is not going to offer any help here ^^;) He gave a word of advice to Hokuto though, telling him that if he didn’t say anything to rebutt against Hiyori, Hiyori would just continue on with the conversation and does what he wants later on. He wished that Hokuto would try his best to negotiate with Hiyori, and fought hard for Trickstar’s sake. Eichi smiled and remarked that the war had already started, and if Trickstar let their guard down, their bones would be picked and they would be squeezed dry in the end. In order to protect his comrades in Trickstar, Eichi would need Hokuto to shine even more and break himself to protect the others. This was the task of what a leader should do. (I guess being a leader is definitely not an easy job...)

Hiyori was impressed with what Eichi had said, remarking that Eichi actually sound like a senior and had grown like a human. However, while noticing that Eichi had changed and become a much kinder and gentle person, he realised that he was not as shiny as he used to in the past, like how Nagisa is like now. Hiyori revealed that he really likes Nagisa, though he admit that it’s probably a one-sided feeling from him towards Nagisa, as Nagisa seems to be someone who lacked the ability to love someone. Even though becoming a part of “Eden” was the agency’s instructions, Hiyori admitted that the other reason was that he wanted to spend more time with Nagisa, and thus he doesn’t object to such an arrangement. (Hiyori was someone who won’t even want to spend one second with a person he doesn’t like, which Eichi dissed him that the other party must have felt the same way about him too.  I think they’re just talking about each other XD) (And... Hiyori sounds like he really likes Nagisa alot OWO)

Eichi urged Hokuto to speak up, as since Hiyori was being arranged by the agency to participate in the event, he might not get a second chance to talk to him the next time as Hiyori would not bother to talk to anyone he’s not interested in, and thus it was best that Hokuto reveal everything that he had wanted to say in this meeting. However, Hokuto felt that what he says now would be useless against Hiyori, as he could feel that Hiyori was just viewing him from high above. He wanted Hiyori to first acknowledge Trickstar’s abilities and thus planned to show their skills and abilities to Hiyori during the practice in the afternoon. This surprised Hiyori, as he mentioned that most of his opponents would shrunk after meeting him once. Hokuto calmly replied that he was already used to people with high tension. (I bet he’s referring to Wataru as the one with high tension XD)

Just then, Hiyori realised that Hokuto’s surname (Hidaka) was very familiar, and also realised that his looks were familiar too. He then realised that Hokuto was actually his teacher’s son. Turns out that even Hokuto’s father was still active as an idol, there were times that he would be a lecturer at Reimei Academy. Hokuto didn’t seems surprised about this news, mentioning that his father was someone who doesn’t reject work very often. However, what he found puzzling was that his father would rather become a lecturer at another school rather than the school he had graduated from - Yumenosaki Gakuen. 

Hiyori mentioned that the school had tried to ask him several times, but it seems that something had happen during spring which made him changed his mind and agreed to become a lecturer over at Reimei Academy. Hokuto remembered that it was during spring that it was decided that Trickstar would make an appearance at SS, and wondered that perhaps this was the reason why his dad had made this decision. He wondered why his father would rather help to train his opponents, yet didn’t even praise his son of his achievement instead. (Hokuto’s father sound like a strict man...?)

Hiyori sighed and told Hokuto that he hoped that he would not bring his family problems on stage. He mentioned that Mr Hidaka (Hokuto’s father) was really good at teaching, and hope that he would come to Reimei Academy to become a full-time teacher if he retired from being an idol. Hiyori started to feel interested in the Summer Live event, seeing that he would be able to perform with the son of Mr Hidaka. Hokuto doesn’t get why this gets Hiyori’s interest, but requested Hiyori to change his plans for Summer Live event. Unfortunately, Hiyori rejected it straight away with a smile XD (since it was too troublesome for him ^^;) However, Hokuto doesn’t listen to Hiyori’s reply either, and continued on that he would amend this plan to make sure that it fits Trickstar too. That pissed Hiyori off as he complained to Eich instead XD (Haha,Hiyori how does it feels when the same thing you’ve done to others bounce back to you? ^^:)

Eichi just smiled instead to Hiyori and warned him to watch out for Hokuto, since Eichi himself was defeated by them (Trickstar) once afterall~ (Poor Hiyori went from being really hyper to being sad and disappoined since this was not how he had planned to be~ He looks cute like this though~)

However, Hiyori quickly bucked up and announced that he’s going to take what he got for the Summer Live event then. For a moment, Hokuto could sense that Hiyori’s aura had changed and was impressed by him, thinking that there was no doubt that he used to be part of the heroes which changed the school... He knew that he shouldn’t let down his guard easily, since he would get “killed” anytime if that happens. 

As it was already noon, Hiyori’s stomach was growling with hunger, and suddenly proposed that they eat the quiche which he had bought just now while he was shopping. He started taking out a variety of flavours and urged Hokuto and Eichi to help themselves to it, even demanding Eichi to make some tea for him to go with the quiche. Hokuto sighed and remarked that it was easier fighting against the student council at that time since it was obvious that they’re their opponent, but against Eve and Hiyori, Hokuto doesn’t really know how to deal with them as it’s hard to decide how to fight against them. Besides they were supposed to work together for the Summer Live event this time. 

Hiyori was oblivious to Hokuto’s trouble as he was enjoying his quiche, remarking that this was a great day~ (with a word pun on his name ^^) 

Even though it was just the morning meeting with Hiyori, Hokuto was already exhausted as it felt like he was dealing with two student council leader / two Eichi ^^; He could sense Hiyori’s strength as someone who used to be part of Fine, and somehow got fired up instead in the end ^^

Communication / 交流: Chapter 1 

Back to Makoto’s side, he had enjoyed himself at the game center in the end, remarking that it had been a long time he had been able to play these games without worries. He had bought some ice pops from the convenient shop nearby, and offered some to Jun and “me”. As Makoto had bought a variety of flavours and these ice pops could be split into two, he suggested that we share the ice pops that way so that everyone could taste each of the flavours. 

(Ahhh Makoto was so cute when he offered “me” the ice pop, saying that this was the repayment gift for the drink earlier on ^^)

Even though Makoto said that it was his treat or the ice pop, Jun insisted on paying for it. Makoto doesn’t listen to Jun and urged him to take the ice pop before it melts, so in the end, Jun accepted it with a thanks to Makoto. (The start of a beautiful friendship between these two guys? ^^)

Makoto remarked that Jun was actually really polite, to which he answered that since he was mostly in an environment where it was very strict to behave according to one’s position and rank, Jun had no choice but to be polite most of the time. But since Jun’s eyes were really fierce, he ended up scaring people most of the time even though he’s polite ^^; 

(Jun was also glad that he was able to have fun together with Makoto, and apologised for bothering him earlier on. Ah~ Jun really seems like such a nice kid ^/////^ He looks so cute when he smiles like this ^^)

As Makoto was the one who had won all the rounds, he was relieved to know that Jun had enjoyed himself, since he thought it would be boring for him since he kept on losing. Jun thanked him instead for trying his best to beat him in the game, since his goal in coming to the game center was to test play this game at the game center actually. As Jun was not used to playing games usually, he doesn’t really know the game’s weakness and guessed that his review for the game would be a normal passerby who had never play games ^^;

After knowing the reason why Makoto had went to play that game, Jun noticed that Makoto had not realised that the theme song of that game was actually sang by Eden. Because the producer team of the game had requested Eden to play the game and provide some feedback about it, and since Jun felt that it would be rude to comment about the game without playing it, this was why he had came to the game center today to specifically play test this game. Makoto remarked that Jun was really amazing to be that committed to his work, and felt that Jun’s work to provide a theme song as an idol unit was really “like an idol”. (Well, they’re idols after all ^^;) Jun replied that unlike the idols in Yumenosaki Gakuen which specialised and focused on live performance, their school had a different style of work planned out for their idols (which I guess is related to providing theme songs for games, collaboration etc?)

As Jun doesn’t know the way to the school, he really appreciates that Makoto and “me” were bringing him along. Makoto had even planned to give him a gift actually, but Jun said that this was not needed since it would just add onto another item to his luggage ^^; He remarked that he had heard a rumor that the school was gradually decaying on the inside out, but Makoto assured him that the rumor was referring to something in the past, and things were different in Yumenosaki Gakuen now. 

Jun smiled in secret as he thought to himself that it was still too early for him to accept Makoto and the others to be of the same level to work with him. (That sounds abit scary Jun ^^;)

Communication / 交流 : Chapter 2 

Back at school, Makoto rushed to the practice room in a hurry as he was late. He had thought that he had alot more time, and thus spent it having lunch at the cafe terrace. He wondered whether he had made things awkward between him and Jun and started to feel depressed whether he had messed things up in human relationships, and thought that perhaps it was all just his imagination thinking that he had gotten better in communicating with people recently. (Aww... Poor Makoto T///T Don’t worry, everything would be alright! *pats pats*)

Realising that it’s not good to have such dark thoughts like this, Makoto encouraged himself to buck up, and thought that Jun should be feeling even more worried and scared than him being in a place which he was not used to.

Just at this time, he spotted Jun who was looking around curiously. Turns out that Jun was looking out for Sagami Sensei, and that reminded Makoto once again that Sagami Sensei used to be a very popular idol (though he now behaves.... unlike one ^^:). He offered to call for him for Jun, telling him that it would be easy for him to find Sagami Sensei as he was his teacher and he could always use his position as the broadcast committee member. (Are you supposed to use your broadcasting rights this way...? O.o) However, Jun denied the offer and clarified that he had instead felt better if he had not seen Sagami Sensei at all (Sounds like he’s on the lookout to avoid him instead), and told Makoto that they should head for the practice room soon instead. 

As they were making their way to the practice room, Makoto mentioned that it can be difficult navigating around the school as it was still expanding, and there were times that he ended up being lost in the school. Jun commented that this school was unlike theirs, which only had students in the idol course, and thus he felt that it was refreshing and interesting to him to see students from the normal courses. Even though part of the school seems old, Jun realised that they had very new and advanced facilities unexpectedly. He invited Makoto to visit his school next time to get “beaten up”, and Makoto replied that Jun must have felt really confident about himself seeing that Eden was the strongest unit in their era. He expressed his envy for Jun, admitting that most of the time he was always worried and feeling weak about himself. Jun revealed that he was just acting strong most of the time though, since if one shows signs of weakness in Reimei Academy, they might ended up being defeated by others really easily. Since he wasn’t a “special” student, Jun mentioned that he was actually someone who belongs to the lower rank in the school. (Sounds like a warzone over there D:) (Is it me or Jun and Makoto can be kind of similar seeing that both have their own weak sides?)

On the other hand, Subaru was elated to have spotted “me” on the corridor and immediately flew over and grabbed onto “me”. Mao who was with him, gave him a lecture not to do it, as it worried him that we might both ended up falling off the stairs together. Mao also mentioned that since Subaru and “I” were of opposite genders, it might look like sexual harassment and thus warned him not to do that even though he knew that Subaru had not meant it in that way.

Makoto noticed Mao and Subaru standing in the corridor and asked them why were they outside the practice room instead of heading into it. He thought that the key to the practice room was in someone else’s hands (deja vu moment for Makoto), but Mao answered that they had heard someone singing in the room, and felt bad for intruding the practice. Thus they decided to hang outside while waiting for the person to finish singing the song. 

Just then Mao noticed Jun who was standing next to Makoto and was able to recognise him, since he had already seen his photo from the information that he had gathered regarding “Eve”. Subaru was really curious to take a look at Jun when he realised that he was a student from the other school. Realising that Subaru’s surname was “Akehoshi”, Jun asked whether he was the son of “that” Akehoshi. (He’s referring to Subaru’s father.) Subaru asked Jun whether he would feel worried performing with someone with the name “Akehoshi”, but Jun replied that he was just surprised to know that he’s his son. He revealed that he felt that he was in a similar situation as Subaru, both being in trouble due to their “parents”. (Did Jun went through a similar family scenario as Subaru?)

And that’s all for Part 1 of the story~ I do have many thoughts regarding this story, but shall leave them for the end of the story in Part 2~ 

[jazzyyyjones]

Movie Nights

*Phillipa Soo x reader *Word count: 1505 Request: Hiii I have a prompt if you're willing... Pippa x reader bestfriends in love (in secret) wanting movie nights with the cast so they have an excuse to cuddle. The cast teases them relentlessly.. you choose where it goes from there - Anon

A/N: So I am currently working on part two of Broadway but I had this request in my inbox and I decided to get this out while Broadway is in the works, hopefully I’ll be able to get that out this week! Also, if you’d like to be tagged in every fic I write or in just Broadway, send me a message and I’ll be sure to add you to my list! :)

Warnings: None that I can think of?

Masterlist

You felt tears form as The World Was Wide Enough ended, the lights slowly fading as they switched to the next song. Wiping away the tears and willing yourself not to cry, you let out a soft sigh, trying to calm yourself down as you prepared for Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story to start playing.

When it did so, you felt your heart swell at the sight of Pippa standing center stage, looking flawless as always - you had loved your best friend since god knows how long, yet you knew she would never feel the same, why would she? She deserved way better, anyways.

Eventually, much to your disappointment, the show ended and the entire cast - both main and ensemble - stood up there, standing in a straight row to give their final bow. You immediately stood up from your seat, cheering loudly from the front row, right in front of the stage, making Pippa immediately look down at you and laugh, smiling at you, which made you smile back.

Let’s be honest here, if Phillipa Soo smiled at you, obviously you are automatically obligated to smile back.

And when they all went backstage, you headed straight to the stage door, showing the security guard your proof that you were allowed back stage by the cast and then walking back, heading straight to Oak and Ant, who were still in their costumes, talking. “You guys were amazing,” You breathed, smiling brightly up at them which made them immediately turn to you and smile back, bringing you into a group hug.

Letting out a content sigh, you eventually pulled away to let them go meet the special guests that had been personally invited backstage and continued to search for more cast members to hug and congratulate.

You eventually spotted Renee, who nodded her head in acknowledgement with the person she was talking to you before she turned to you, letting out a soft squeal and wrapping you up in her arms tightly. “Oh my god, Pippa wouldn’t stop talking about how you were coming tonight, she was so excited.” She laughed, pulling away but continued to keep contact with you, her hands remaining on your arms as you opened your mouth to speak, only for someone to call out her name and her to give you an apologetic look, to which you only shrugged it off and smiled, reassuring her you guys would talk later as you moved on.

Eventually, you found the person you were looking for, Pippa. “Pippa, that was absolutely amazing!” You squealed, hugging her as tight as you can and not noticing her awkward cough and blush before she wrapped her arms around your waist, giggling. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Once all of the guests had left, you and the rest of the cast met in Lin’s dressing room, trying to decide what everyone was going to do for the night. “We could go have a movie night at my house,” You suddenly suggested, looking around to see everyone’s reactions, and Pippa was the first the react.

“That sounds great!” She nodded in agreement, which made everyone scoff and laugh. “Please,” Daveed chuckled, “You’re just agreeing because you want an excuse to cuddle with Y/n.” Suddenly, both you and Pippa were blushing, avoiding eye contact with anyone. “P-Please…” She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck, “I happen to love movie nights with you guys.”

Lin scoffed, shaking his head. “That’s not what you said at the last movie night when Y/n wasn’t there.” He laughed, smirking at both of you which made Pippa go silent, unable to think of anything to say. Eventually, you cleared your throat, shaking your head. “Don’t be ridiculous you guys,” and of course, you were the only one who didn’t notice Pippa’s hurt expression at your tone.

“Alright,” Chris coughed, laughing a bit as he tried to break the silence after that. “Y/n, we’ll meet at your place for movie night, so, everyone needs to try and decide on a few movies we can watch.” Everyone nodded, getting up and excusing themselves to their dressing room, yet you were taking your sweet time to leave. “Y/n? You alright?” Lin asked, making you turn around and sigh, before nodding your head. “Y-Yeah.. I’m alright.” All he did was nod before turning back around and then you leaved, closing his door behind you.

A little bit later, you were getting out the large takeout order of Chinese food out and ready for the cast, managing to set down the last box of noodles when the door burst open, Daveed holding up Pippa’s spare key and yelling “WHO’S READY FOR MOVIE NIGHT, BITCHES.” You laughed, shaking your head and snatching the key from Daveed’s hand and handing it back to Pippa.

“Did you steal her key or did she willingly give it to you?” You smirked, cocking your head to the side as Daveed’s eyes widen a bit, “uh.. Uh.. the first one..” You chuckled, “that’s what I thought.”

“Alright, I propose we watch G.B.F,” Groff stated randomly, giving everyone in the room his wide smile at the proposition. You smiled, nodding your head, “I haven’t watched that movie in forever,” Groff cheered and ran off to your living room to put it on Netflix, pausing it right before it started and waited for everyone to come in.

When everyone came in with their own food, you and Pippa immediately claimed the loveseat, ignoring everyone’s knowing glances and playful smirks and digging into your food, Pippa leaning her head on your shoulder as the movie began and Ant turned off the lights.

During the movie, Pippa’s hand kept brushing against yours, and then played it off as if it never happened, and of course, your face was completely pink whenever she did so.

Everyone stayed and watched a few more movies after that, Jazzy and Anthony leaving after the second movie, Lin leaving after he got a call from his wife to come home, and eventually, Daveed, Leslie, Oak, Groff and Renee all leaving for no good reason at all.

But Pippa stayed and you guys ended up watching “Why Him”, you not noticing the loving look Pippa had whenever you tossed your head back in laughter, or her look of adoration at the soft smile that played at your lips.

Once the movie ended, it was silent for a bit as you got up to take all of the empty takeout boxes into the kitchen to throw them away. Once you came back, you shifted in your seat before Philippa spoke up~

“Hey Y/n?” “Yeah, Pip?”

“I love you.”

The words came out so fast and sudden that you almost thought your mind was playing tricks on you as you turned to look at Philippa, her eyes widened as she bit her bottom lip, a habit she had when she was nervous.

“S-shit, I didn’t mean to say it like that~ I-I don’t love you, I mean, I do love you, but-”

“Pippa..”

“You p-probably don’t even l-love… God, love me back anyways. I can leave if you want, and you can delete my number if you really want too, a-and I won’t bother you again-”

“Philippa…”

“I won’t bother you, really, I promise, I-”

“PHILIPPA!” You yelled, laughing a bit. “Shut the fuck up and kiss me, you idiot.”

Her lips formed into an ‘o’ in disbelief as she stared at you, narrowing her eyes as if she was waiting to see if you were joking or not, and when she saw your stone cold expression, she immediately leaned in, pressing her soft lips to your slightly chapped ones, and you smiled, cupping her face and pressing her closer to you as your lips moved in sync.

You giggled into the kiss, wrapping your arms around her waist and pulling her onto your lap, before she pulled away, pressing her forehead against yours and letting out a content sigh, cupping your face in her dainty hands.

“I love you, Philippa Soo,” she smiled, pressing a light peck against your lips.

“I love you so goddamn much, Y/n Y/l/n.”

[lapzoli]

history repeats itself: I

//screams because I finally finished chapter one

Summary: In which some people end up with an unwanted roommate.

ao3

.

It had been a perfect trip planned in the spur of the moment.

Or perhaps on the whims of a teenager’s obsessive fanatics.

Either way, upon hearing there was a museum dedicated solely to Ladybug (and Chat Noir), Chloé had instantly demanded her father fund a trip for her to go.

The mayor, however, saw it as an opportunity to gain favor with the voters and the heroes as their third anniversary approached. The way he saw it, if the heroes saw how much he appreciated them, they would help his campaign, and once the people saw the heroes favoring him, they would too.

Simple.

So he compromised with his daughter; an exclusive, all-expenses-paid field trip for her class to see the museum in London, where they would roam the city and be able to learn the history of the two heroes before returning to Paris in time for the anniversary banquet he would hold on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s actual anniversary (since becoming heroes, that is).

It was perfect, and it certainly got the rest of the class up in a frenzy.

Alya, in particular, was bouncing with joy. She was almost excited enough to copy Marinette’s infamous butt wiggle.

Almost.

“Girl, can you believe this?” Alya gripped her phone, grinning ear-to-ear. “We’re going to learn all about Ladybug and Chat Noir! Where they came from, what they did...agh, I can hardly wait!”

Nino turned in his seat, unable to not hear his girlfriend’s excited squeals, and leaned close to remark, “Yeah, I’m pumped too. And, not that I’d ever tell her, but I’m glad Chloe’s dad is funding this trip. No way my family would have been able to afford it.”

Alya sighed at that. “Yeah, same here. I hate the idea of having to thank her though.”

“Don’t worry. She’s gloating enough to let us know she knows we’re thankful,”remarked Marinette, rolling her eyes. “It’s a miracle she hasn’t shoved in directly in our faces yet.”

“Well, I think the real miracle is that Adrien’s old man let him go,” said Nino, playfully nudging the blond next to him. “How did you do it?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. It was amazing how at seventeen, he still had the same innocent smile he did three years ago.

“Well, Chloe can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be,” he said as an explanation. “And...I had a good argument myself to go.”

Alya leaned in. “Really? And you won?” She grimaced. “Not to sound...impressed or anything, but your dad’s one hard nut to crack.”

Adrien sighed. “Believe me, I know. But yeah...I had a pretty solid argument for why I should be able to go. Aside from it being paid for and all that. Nathalie already rearranged my schedule and everything, so he can’t change his mind at the last minute.”

He sunk down in his seat a bit.

“And I happen to know he’s pretty good at backing out at the last minute.”

Marinette clicked her tongue, reaching across to rub his shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting manner. While it was true she still had feelings for him, she was proud of herself for reeling in her emotions. If she hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have been able to grow closer to him the last three years.

(Though not all of the posters had come down off her wall yet…most! But not all.)

“Hey, if your argument is as solid as you say, no way he’d have a reason to suddenly back out,” she reasoned.

Adrien smiled a bit and put his hand over hers, squeezing her fingers lightly.

“Thanks, Marinette,” he said. “So everyone in the class is going?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” said Nino. “Who’d turn down a free trip? My parents are thrilled about it. But maybe that's cuz my mom is probably planning to deep clean my room while I'm gone.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I've been in your room; I don't blame her.”

The aspiring DJ grinned as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Hey, not all of us can magically keep our room clean - despite having two tiny tornadoes you call sisters,” he said. “How do you even do it?”

“Easy. I tell them there's a giant octopus monster in my closet that tickles little girls all day long, so unless they want to be tickled, they have to stay out of my room,” explained Alya. “It's...pretty effective.”

“Would work on me,” said Adrien, grinning at the two. “You think they won’t go in your room while you’re gone though?”

“Who’s gonna save them from the giant octopus monster if I’m not there?” Alya remarked, snorting. “They won’t be going in there, trust me.”

“But they may try to convince your dad to let loose one of the animals at the zoo and eat the octopus monster,” pointed out Marinette. “Wait, why are we even discussing an imaginary octopus monster?”

Nino shrugged. “Why not?”

Adrien chuckled and looked at the aspiring fashion designer.

“He’s got you there,” he said.

Marinette rolled her eyes, slumping her shoulders. “He does, doesn’t he? So is your mom really going to deep clean your room while you’re gone, Nino?”

He laughed. “Probably, but it’s all good. Nothing really worrying for her to find that she doesn’t already know about.”

“That poor woman,” said Alya, her voice oozing with sympathy. “What horrors has she seen?”

“Er, an empty turtle tank I use to store random stuff?” Nino remarked. “That’s about the oddest thing in my room.”

“And why do you have an empty turtle tank in the first place?” Adrien had to ask. “You don’t have a turtle.”

“That’s why it’s empty, duh,” teased Nino. “Eh, I wanted one when I was a kid. My neighbor had a tank he didn’t need anymore so he gave it to me, and I just never got a turtle.” He laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get one later. It’s a good tank, huge and full of space, so it’d be a shame that a little turtle dude didn’t get to use it.”

“It’d be like having a bunch of catnip and no cat to play with it,” remarked Marinette, thinking of the plants on her balcony.

“A shame,” said Adrien, shaking his head gravely. “No catnip should be neglected.”

“Well, it’s gonna be, unless you have a cat you’d love to lend for a few hours,” replied Marinette, resting her chin on her hands. “Maybe I’ll just ask a stray cat I know…” She chuckled suddenly, as if remembering an old joke. “Mm, maybe I’ll do that.”

“Okay…” Alya shrugged off her best friend’s kookiness; she was used to it at this point. Though she was never any closer to figuring out what Marinette was so amused by. “Well, back to the trip, at least we know we’ll be comfortable. Chloe would never forgive her father for putting her in a cheap hotel, and since he can’t show favoritism - more than he already does, clearly - he’d put us in pretty decent rooms.”

“That’s true...hey,” said Nino. “You think we’ll get to choose who we room with?”

“Mm, I don’t know.” Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “We should, right? As long as we’re not inappropriate,” he said as if scandalized by the word alone.

“Can’t be any worse than what some people do in the hallways,” said Alya. “Then again…”

Marinette snorted. “Not everyone has, as Adrien said, inappropriate intentions.”

“Not everyone,” agreed Alya. “But a bunch of teenagers? Wouldn’t be surprised. But I hope they don’t randomly assign us rooms. Ugh, imagine getting roomed with Chloe.”

“She’s not that bad, really,” said Adrien, quick to defend his childhood friend despite their faults.

“Yeah, you saying you want to room with her for two weeks?” Marinette cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’ll go tell her now.”

“Don’t, please,” said Adrien, making a face. “I...alright, fine. But I mean, aside from Chloe - and Lila - everyone gets along with each other fine; what’s the worst that could happen?”

.

“Can...Can you repeat that, Madame Bustier?” Rose squeaked as she and her classmates stared at their English teacher in shock. “I don’t think we heard you right…”

The red-haired woman hummed, mindful of the bright screens above their heads, each one depicting the flight times.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir were presumingly thrown into a new situation and forced to adjust, despite - we assume - being strangers,” she said. “You all will face a similar situation, by your room partners. This was decided by a random generator, and this means anyone can be your partner. Now, there’s an uneven number of you so one of you will have a room to yourself. And no trading is allowed.”

“Is this even...allowed? The school allowed this?” Mylene asked quietly, blinking up to see if anyone would answer her.

Madame Bustier didn’t hear her as she pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Since there are chaperones waiting for you in London, I will not be attending this trip with you. Therefore, I’ll be reading you your partners’ names now,” she said, a hint of tiredness - and, was that amusement? - in her voice. “I do not want to hear any of you complaining - or trading. Your chaperones have already been told of this, so they will know if you switched.”

She cleared her throat.

“First, Rose.” The blonde-haired girl squeaked a little. “You’ll be sharing a room with Juleka.”

“Wicked,” said Juleka, smiling at her best friend. She nudged Rose a little, allowing the smaller girl to sigh in relief.

Everyone else shifted anxiously. Even Chloe was eyeing their teacher, silently hoping to be paired with at least Sabrina if not Adrien. She wouldn’t be able to stand anyone else.

“Ivan, you’ll be rooming with Max,” continued Madame Bustier.

Ivan and Max glanced at each other, both clearly skeptical but also fairly relieved. This was good; the random pairing wasn’t that bad. And no one had been paired with a member of the other-

“Kim and Alix.”

Spoke too soon.

Alix stared openly at her teacher before she gaped at her rival, who did the same. 

“Oh, no,” she muttered.

“Please don’t kill each other,” said Madame Bustier simply before she looked back down at her list. “Next, Mylene and Sabrina.”

The two girls eyed each other suspiciously; they weren’t exactly friends, after all. Not enemies either, but not friends. Nowhere near friends. That was fine; there were plenty of roommates who weren’t friends but managed anyways, right?

Madame Bustier eyed Nino and Alya for a moment before she said, “Nino, Alya. I know you two are dating, but no funny business, please.”

The two of them had the decency to look abashed, though didn’t hide their excitement at being paired together.

Chloe had moved closer to Adrien at this point; since Sabrina was taken, she was confident she’d be paired off with him. It’d be better than being forced to share with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of all people! Hell, she’d even take that lying fox or the lovesick artist-

“Nathanael, you’ll be with Chloe.”

“Wha-?” The redhead looked as if she had just told him his death date as his eyes darted between the teacher and Chloe, who was gaping at Madame Bustier just the same.

“What? No,” shrieked Chloe. She looked between Adrien, Marinette, and Lila, the latter of which looked all too smug. Just like she had before she was assigned with the boy who couldn’t even accessorize properly!

“No trading,” said Madame Bustier firmly. “Now, to the three of you left.” She stopped as an announcement came on, telling them it was time to board the flight. “Alright, alright. Hurry, hurry. We don’t want you to miss your flight, do you?”

She ushered the kids towards the boarding area, ignoring their surprised cries as they picked up their suitcases.

“Wait, Madame Bustier,” protested Marinette before her teacher could push her into the plane, mindful of the poor flight attendant nearby. “Who are we-”

“You’re with Adrien,” said Madame Bustier quickly. “Lila, you have your own room. Now go and find your seats.”

She smiled at the teenagers, waving them goodbye.

“And have fun!”

Marinette gaped at her teacher even as Alya dragged her along.

“What?!”

[mikeyd1986]

MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 137, January 2019

I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on 2018 and everything that I’ve achieved this year.  

2018 has been one of the most challenging years of my life. It's been both progressive and regressive as far as my goals are concerned. I've started to embrace what it's like to be an "Aspie" or a High Functioning Autistic person, joining in several groups and social functions by Aspergers Victoria. I successfully become a participant with the NDIS and have began using my funding for services with Mentis Assist and Everyday Independence.

My fitness goals took a tumble especially in the second half of this year. It was to be expected following the change of my antidepressant medication with shifts in mood, motivation, poor sleep, high anxiety and stress levels. But this is something I am determined to work on for 2019. I want to lose weight again and maintain some healthy lifestyle habits.

I think this year I've become much more honest at times. I'm still a very sensitive person and yet I know when to cut the cord and not take any bullshit from others. I've burned a few bridges that ended up being blessings in disguise. I've learned a lot of things about self-care, forgiveness and where I should be focusing my attention. To challenge my negative thinking more and to realise that I’m stronger than I think sometimes, especially in stressful situations.

Local gigs took a back seat but my support for independent bands has never been stronger. I continue to promote and support them in my spare time. In particular, Windwaker, Reside, Ebonivory, Driven To The Verge, RESIST THE THOUGHT, Tapestry, Ocean Sleeper, Stuck Out, ÂME NOIRE, Hollow World, Greyview, Spectral Fires. Hopefully in 2019, attending local gigs will be a bigger priority for me again.

To say that 2018 was a rough year would be an understatement but I've certainty grown as a person and achieved many goals including taking on my very first civil claims case at VCAT, participating in the Men of Doveton program, beginning small group fitness classes at CinFull Fitness, attending yoga classes at Level Up Yoga, writing reviews for Behind The Scene, applying for the Disability Support Pension at Centrelink, seeing a psychiatrist for the first time (Dr. Ricardo Peralta from OPTIMIND at Nepean Specialist Group).

I used to get myself so worked up and depressed over the thought of being alone (All by myself, don't wanna be, all by myself anymore) on New Year's Eve. Or even worried that I wouldn't have any plans and have nobody invite me to their gatherings or parties. Now as a thirty-something year old, I simply don't give a shit that I don't have concrete plans for NYE straight after Christmas. I go with the flow and if a worthy opportunity comes along, then I'll take it.

Which is exactly what I did when Rhiannon Razzie Vergoz invited me out to a small intimate social gathering at her place. It was a last minute thing and I didn’t have any other plans so I figured why not. I guess I did have some concerns about whether I would click socially and get along with her friends but I feel like 2019 will be more about taking more chances in life.

I had to catch a train from Belgrave station to Camberwell station. It was then I realise that there was no services stopping at Auburn station and so I decided to walk it to Rhiannon’s place from there. My reusable bag filled with drinks, my Stephen King novel, antidepressants , a phone charger, glasses case, plastic wine flute and a jumper was heavy as but the walk through Camberwell Junction and along Riversdale Road made it worth the effort.

The houses were mostly 1920’s double brick English-styled cottages with weatherboard facades and lead-light windows. The streets were lined with towering oak trees. Once I found  Rhiannon’s unit, I was greeted by their black cat named Maddy. The social awkwardness was already kicking in as I stood inside the kitchen while my friend was busy baking some spring rolls and cutting up a milo-chocolate brownie slice that she prepared earlier. Eventually I did go outside and introduced myself to Rhiannon’s friends and housemates.

This was a group of friends that I normally wouldn’t associate myself with being somebody who is quiet, shy, introverted, Gay and Autistic. Plus most of the humour was “blacker” than I’m used to, to the point where my mind questioned whether we should be laughing at those things.  And yet I was willing to go with the flow. We spent the night playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch, playing several rounds of Cards Against Humanity, chilling outside in the back patio area, eating loads of junk food and consuming lots of alcohol. There was also many weird and disturbing conversations had, nudie runs out on the street and the loud off-key singing of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time.

We briefly gathered outside the front of the street to celebrate the New Year and overheard the fireworks going off from the city. I passed out shortly after midnight as my body and mind were both clearly exhausted. I desperately wanted to fall sleep. I found a double bed inside the bedroom at the end of the hallway and swiftly collapsed into it. My thoughts did turn dark for a moment, wondering if the crew would notice that I’d gone missing or if my disappearance had gone unnoticed.

Thankfully they did and I was found very much mentally conscious but physically passed out. I was in some weird sleep paralysis like state where my body just didn’t want to move an inch and yet I was fine with that. Shortly after, Ben was sleeping beside me and I did my best not to move too much or disturb him from sleeping. But of course having sleeping problems of my own makes that almost impossible and I ended up tossing and turning anyway once the affects of the alcohol wore off.

Speaking up in a group filled with loud, wild extroverts proved far too difficult for me tonight. I also feel like I am capable of having decent conversations but it takes me a long time to finally open up and be comfortable enough with the people I’m around to do that. I think it’s hard blending in with ANY social group so I deserve credit for giving it a crack especially when I was meeting most of these people for the first time tonight. I could have snuck out during the night but I didn’t.

On New Years Day, I got myself out of bed around 9.30am, hearing birds chirping and a light breeze rustling the leaves outside the window. I was feeling slightly hungover and very groggy. I drank about 5 beers, a Jaggerbomb, a glass of champagne and 2-3 glasses of pink mascato. Everyone else was clearly feeling worse than me. Rhiannon and Ben cooked us up a lovely breakfast including rashers of bacon, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. Talk about a great hangover cure!

We spent the morning flicking channels randomly from the CBS Today Show (featuring some painfully awful live performances of Hailee Steinfeld with backing dancers dressed up in raincoats) to the Morning Show Summer Series (featuring a highly disturbing segment with Larry Emdur trying to body roll with a group of male strippers at Sexpo) and a couple of episodes of Bondi Rescue (featuring dumb backpackers naturally!).

It certainly wasn’t a boring New Year’s that’s for sure and I was very grateful to be included within this small group of people. Did I feel uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone at times? YES! Am I glad that I spent NYE with friends rather than home alone though? YES! Sometimes risks are worth taking even if you don’t end with the desired outcomes. It was still an enjoyable adventure overall and I’m glad I went.

On Thursday morning, I decided to go for a walk around at Wilson Botanic Park Berwick. Unfortunately, it ended up being a brief stroll as my counsellor Ruth changed my appointment to an earlier time at the last minute. But instead of fretting and getting annoyed, I tried my hardest to appreciate the time I did have before 12 o’clock. I chose to walk around the lakeside track which passes by the Amphitheater and the lily pond near the entrance to the park. https://www.casey.vic.gov.au/facilities-hire/wilson-botanic-park-berwick

I only had about half an hour but it was a nice way to pass the time before my counselling session. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to plan things a bit better and have more time to spend exploring the other walking tracks and make a day of it. Plus the weather was heating up. Extreme heat always seems to have adverse effects on my ability to concentrate and function so I try not to stay outside too long when it’s 30 to 35 degrees or over. I also try to keep myself hydrated and wear a hat especially when I’m fully exposed to the sun. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/heat

On Thursday night, I did a Body Pump class with Sarah at YMCA Casey RACE in Cranbourne East. Despite how warm it was outside, I still managed to motivate myself to come down to the gym tonight as I’d rather deal with mid-20’s than the scorching 42 degrees tomorrow. Sarah put us through release number 106 which features tracks including I Am Here by Pink, Tell Me You Love Me by Galantis & Throttle, Coco’s Miracle by Fedde Le Grand & Dannic vs. Coco Star and Revenge by Pink & Eminem. https://www.siphilp.com/bodypump-106-music-track-listing.aspx

It was a very challenging workout particularly the painfully brutal lunge track with far too many lunge pulses and no breaks. And it’s not wonder as most people would be feeling the same way post-New Year’s Eve. Sore and unfit. I wisely selected and use mostly lighter weights for that reason as I didn’t want to burn out too quickly. But at least Sarah made it entertaining and highlighted her own struggles with getting back into routine again. https://www.lesmills.com.au/bodypump

“Oh, I think I've landed. Where there are miracles at work. For the thirst and for the hunger. Come the conference of birds. And say it's true. It's not what it seems. Leave your broken windows open. And in the light just streams. And you get a head. A head full of dreams. You can see the change you want to. Be what you want to be.” Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams (2016)

“And you can say what is, or fight for it. Close your mind and take a risk. You can "it's mine" and clench your fist. Or see each other as a gift. We're gonna get it, get it together I know. Gonna get it, get it together and flow. Gonna get it, get it together and go. Up and up. Fixing up a car to drive in it again. When you're in pain. When you think you've had enough. Don't ever give up.” Coldplay - Up&Up (2016)