#golf training courses
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thirstyforjere · 2 years ago
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Bro is literally so majestic 💖
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nationalvyvanseshortage · 1 month ago
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I have a hard time with polling places at schools because they awaken a nigh-inconquerable primordial instinct to clamber.
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la-cocotte-de-paris · 2 months ago
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Golf is so stupid if you're that obsessed with balls and holes just have some sex 😭 at least that way you're not damaging the environment
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muirneach · 2 years ago
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one way you can tell that tennis is for the bourgeoisie is that they have those little butlers who scamper about the court picking up balls
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shiftgolf · 7 months ago
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Peak Performance in Golf: Mastering Mindset, Optimizing Fitness, and Perfecting Nutrition
Golf isn’t just about the perfect swing or a bag of premium clubs; it’s a holistic game that demands a balanced trifecta of mental focus, physical fitness, and proper nutrition. To truly excel on the course and beyond, golfers need to harness the power of a sharp mind, a strong body, and fuel their performance with the right diet.
In this detailed guide, we’ll explore how cultivating a champion’s mindset, developing an optimized golf physique, and embracing a golfer-specific nutrition plan can elevate your game to unprecedented heights. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or an aspiring professional, these insights will help you unlock your potential and revolutionize your golf performance.
The Power of a Champion’s Mindset
A strong mindset separates good golfers from great ones. It’s the mental fortitude that allows you to sink a crucial putt or recover after a poor shot. A champion’s mindset isn’t just about confidence; it’s about resilience, focus, and composure under pressure.
1. The Mental Game of Golf
Golf is often described as a game played on a five-inch course—the space between your ears. Every round presents mental challenges, from navigating a water hazard to bouncing back after a double bogey.
Focus Under Pressure: Techniques like mindfulness and deep breathing help golfers stay present and avoid distractions.
Visualization: Picture the perfect shot before swinging. This mental rehearsal aligns your body with your intentions, increasing the chances of execution.
Positive Self-Talk: Replace negative thoughts with affirmations. Instead of thinking, I can’t afford to miss this putt, tell yourself, I’ve practiced this, and I can make it.
2. Overcoming Challenges
Mistakes are inevitable, but how you respond defines your game. Cultivate a growth mindset by treating errors as opportunities to learn.
Sculpting an Optimized Golf Body
Golf may not seem as physically demanding as other sports, but it requires a unique combination of flexibility, strength, and endurance. Your body is the most important piece of equipment you own, and optimizing it for golf can dramatically improve your performance.
1. Flexibility for a Fluid Swing
Flexibility is crucial for generating power and consistency in your swing. Tight muscles can limit your range of motion, leading to inefficiencies and potential injuries.
Dynamic Stretching: Incorporate stretches like torso twists and shoulder rolls before your round to prepare your muscles for action.
Yoga for Golfers: Poses like the downward dog and seated twists enhance flexibility and balance.
2. Building Functional Strength
Golf isn’t about raw power; it’s about controlled strength that allows for precise swings and stability.
Core Workouts: Planks, Russian twists, and cable rotations strengthen your core, which is the foundation of a powerful swing.
Rotational Strength Training: Use medicine balls or resistance bands to mimic the twisting motion of your swing, building functional strength.
Balance Drills: Exercises like single-leg squats improve stability, helping you maintain control during your swing.
3. Endurance for 18 Holes
Walking the course and swinging repeatedly require stamina. Cardiovascular exercises, such as brisk walking, cycling, or swimming, help improve endurance.
Golf Nutrition 101: Fueling Success
Nutrition is often the most overlooked aspect of golf performance. A balanced diet tailored to your needs can enhance energy levels, focus, and recovery, giving you an edge on and off the course.
1. Pre-Round Nutrition
Start your day with a meal that combines complex carbohydrates and lean protein to provide sustained energy.
Examples:
Oatmeal with fresh berries and a drizzle of honey.
Whole-grain toast with avocado and scrambled eggs.
Greek yogurt with granola and banana slices.
2. Staying Energized During the Round
Long rounds can drain your energy and focus. Small, nutrient-dense snacks and hydration are essential.
Snacks: Nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, or energy bars.
Hydration: Water is vital, but don’t forget electrolytes, especially on hot days. Drinks like coconut water or electrolyte solutions can prevent cramping and fatigue.
3. Post-Round Recovery
After a round, your body needs protein and carbohydrates to repair muscles and replenish energy stores.
Examples:
Grilled chicken with quinoa and steamed vegetables.
A smoothie with spinach, almond milk, protein powder, and frozen fruit.
Integrating Mindset, Fitness, and Nutrition
Success in golf doesn’t come from focusing on just one aspect—it’s about harmonizing your mental, physical, and nutritional practices.
1. Tailoring a Holistic Routine
Morning Routine: Start with mindfulness meditation, followed by a nutrient-rich breakfast and dynamic stretches.
Practice Sessions: Incorporate mental drills like visualization alongside swing practice.
Evening Recovery: Stretch, eat a balanced dinner, and reflect on your progress to reinforce positive habits.
2. Leveraging Technology
Tools like fitness trackers, nutrition apps, and swing analysis software can provide data-driven insights to optimize your training.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
1. Time Constraints
Many golfers struggle to balance practice with their busy schedules. Prioritize shorter, focused sessions over lengthy, unstructured practice.
2. Maintaining Motivation
Set clear, achievable goals, and celebrate progress, no matter how small. Surround yourself with a supportive golf community.
3. Managing Injuries
Listen to your body and seek professional advice if you experience pain. Prevent injuries through proper warm-ups, strength training, and flexibility exercises.
Conclusion: Unlocking Your Golf Potential
Golf is more than just a sport; it’s a journey of self-improvement that combines mental resilience, physical conditioning, and nutritional discipline. By embracing this holistic approach, you’ll not only see improvements on the course but also in your overall well-being.
At ShiftGolf, we’re committed to helping golfers unlock their full potential. Whether it’s refining your mindset, sculpting an optimized golf body, or fueling your performance with proper nutrition, we provide the tools and guidance you need to excel.
It’s time to take your game—and your life—to the next level. Step onto the green with confidence, strength, and clarity, and watch your performance soar. The journey to peak golf performance starts today!
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oxford-golf · 7 months ago
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techdriveplay · 10 months ago
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How to Improve Your Golf Swing
Mastering the art of golf is a journey that combines precision, practice, and an understanding of the game’s subtle mechanics. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting, knowing how to improve your golf swing can be the key to unlocking a better score and enjoying the game more fully. In this guide, we’ll explore the essential techniques and adjustments you can make to refine your swing,…
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tomsparkyr · 3 months ago
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𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐘!
following episode one of 'inside' — george clarke x fem!reader
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by any means i do not own 'inside' and all credit is theirs (!!)
wc: 6.4K
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You sat yourself down on the chair placed in the middle of the room, a soft blue and purple light flooding the area. You smiled at the camera in front of you, feeling a little bit nervous at the entire concept of the show; but nonetheless, you still agreed to contribute to it.
It was difficult not to tell your friends about the whole thing, sworn (and to a contract) that you weren’t allowed to tell them you were entering a home with no outside contact for 7 days; only allowed to tell them you were taking a social media break.
Your family knew, obviously. But unable to tell your fellow youtuber friends was tough, because it was so painfully obvious where you were going.
Having to lie to George, Chris and everyone else was awkward. They had arranged plans for the next week and you had to reluctantly say no, because of course, you would much rather be stuck in a home with people you don’t know and then spending money that could potentially be yours.
Clearing your throat, you introduced yourself.
”Hello, my name is Y/N, I’m 24 and I’m a youtuber slash content creator!” You grinned expectantly at the camera.
Continuing, “Most of my content is just… me and my friends getting drunk and filming it because we think we’re funny!” You answered honestly, thinking back on the many times you got too drunk filming pub golf videos that George had to give you a piggy-back on the walk home.
The camera crew asked you how well you think you’re going to do in the challenge,
“I’d like to think I’ll do well, honestly!” You laughed.
”I spend money but I don’t spend so much at a time; like I could go weeks without buying something, then suddenly I’m a couple hundred quid down within a week?”
You continued, “I think I can go without my phone for a week; I’d like to think I’m not that addicted.” You laughed and cringed slightly.
”If anything I think I’ll miss my friends more than anything. I’m sure I’ll love the people there but it’s meeting new faces, I’d just love to walk in there now and see someone I know— My dog! That’s it, I’ll miss my dog this most!” You interrupted yourself, losing your train of thought.
The camera crew laughed at you and pushed the interest about your dog back home, “I just hope she’s being looked after. I’ve left her with George for the week so I think she’ll live?” You laughed nervously.
Upon this, the camera crew behind the device smirked and tilted their heads downwards so you couldn’t see their face. A couple of them turned around and subtly nudged each other.
It was at this point that the crew said that your interview was over and that it was time to enter the place you’ll be living in for the next week.
You nervously picked up your suitcase, clinging onto your comfort pillow in your right arm and hugging it tight to your chest. You couldn’t remember if you could take this into the house but taking no risks, you took it anyway.
You entered a white room with zero life in it; a metal detector gate stood in the centre of the room and a hole to put your luggage in.
”Oh, God.” You muttered under your breath as you realised there was no turning back now.
You paused for a second and scanned the area before realising it was just you in here, “Oh, I’m by myself… that’s embarrassing.” You laughed at yourself, knowing your friends at home were going to be making fun of you when this aired.
Walking through the metal detector, you lugged your suitcase behind you and only just recognised that you might have overpacked for a place that would not utilise your items in absolutely any way.
After putting your suitcase on the conveyor, you walked through to the main area in which you could hear some voices, none of which you could distinguish.
Walking through the empty hallway, you called out “Hello?”
Upon saying this, two heads poked out and their eyes widened at the sight of you.
The girl ran over to you and embraced you into a hug and introduced herself, “Hey, I’m Mya!” She smiled at you as you responded; she was happy there was another girl in the house with her already.
Meanwhile, the man who had seen you first turned his attention to the other male in the house as you and Mya embraced; “Yo, George, isn’t that your girlfriend?”
George furrowed his brows, a bit taken aback “My what?” He laughed a bit as his feet took him towards the hallway to peek at the new arrival; who was supposedly his girlfriend?
Pulling back from Mya’s hug, you made direct eye-contact with George, your best friend, standing a couple feet away from you. “What the fuck?” You shouted and broke out into a sprint towards him, him already on route to you.
”No way!” He shouted back and caught your figure into a tight hug, his arms wrapped comfortably around your waist and lifted you off the ground slightly as he buried his face into your neck amidst the hug.
You slung your arms around his broad shoulders and fell into the all too familiar embrace, catching his scent and subtly running your hands through the hair on the back of his head.
”Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in here?” He chuckled, his voice muffled as his head was tucked into your neck; he had settled you down onto the floor now but didn’t falter his grip by any means.
You laughed back at him, pulling your head away so you could maintain eye-contact with him, “Why didn’t you tell me?” You retorted jokingly.
PK looked confused, “So they are boyfriend and girlfriend then?” Mya laughed at him, knowing the extent that you and George got shipped on Tiktok, the occasional edit finding itself on everyone’s for you page.
You and George turned back to look at PK,“No, no! George is my best friend!” You smiled at him, still in disbelief that George was actually here; “Half my videos are just with her.” George finished for you.
PK tilted his head, pointing between you two in which at the time you realised George’s hands were still resting on your waist while yours were cradling the back of his neck.
Confused (still), PK shook his head and waved his hand in dismissal, completely convinced that he was looking at a couple in front of him.
As more people entered one by one, you and George dispersed from the group, his arm slung around your shoulders and keeping you against him the entire time.
You shook your head and looked up at him with a smile, “What are you even doing here?”
George smiled down at you as you settled themselves down on the sofa in the living room.
“Dunno, the Sidemen like me so I thought, why not?” He laughed at himself, you scooted closer to him as he picked up a cushion to set it down on yours and his lap.
He nudged you, “What about you, you little minx, how did you keep that a secret from me?”
You smirked and fiddled with the loose threads on the cushion.
”I didn’t tell anyone!” You admitted, “Not you, not Chris, not Arthur; I told no one! Not even— Wait…” You trailed off, eyes widening.
”George, who’s looking after my dog?” You said, fear flooding your features.
George laughed and threw his head back, a hand rubbing up and down your shoulder as you persisted on the whereabouts of your dog.
”She’s living with Chris and Arthur for the week.” He reassured you, an obvious relief washing over you as your shoulders fell from a hunched position.
In your own little world, you and George nattered away to each other, updating him on everything he’s missed and completely ignorant to the new members joining the house; because you were all too consumed with each other.
George just knew at that moment that when this aired, Chris was going to rip into the way he was staring at his ‘best friend’.
A shouting voice tore you out of your George-infused daze as it was directed at you two, “Wait, you’re that couple that’s always edited on my for you page?”
The blonde girl next to her snapped her head around to the pair of you sitting with George’s arm still around you, her eyes widening, “Holy shit! I love you two!”
George’s cheeks suddenly were painted a pink colour and you sported a flushed face. An awkward laugh bubbled from your chest, “What?”
Upon seeing your awkward faces and red creeping up your necks, the blonde girl covered her mouth and apologised, “Oh fuck! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—“
You stood up and left George’s touch, walking over to the girl with a comforting smile on your face.
“Don’t worry! Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N.” You said as you raised your arms out for a hug.
She met you halfway as she responded,“Ugh, you’re gorgeous. I’m Milli.” She smiled sweetly at you, peering over her shoulder to see the other girl still gawking at you.
The louder one strutted over and immediately pulled you into a hug, “I’m Farah, who is sorry about—“ “Oh, God. Don’t even worry about it!” You reassured the girl, finding it quite amusing that you and George had crept your ways onto other people’s for you page.
time skip!
The bedroom situation was the next challenge.
After introducing yourself to everyone (they acted as if they didn’t know who you were, but they had all seen the George x Y/N edits) you all made your way over to the bedrooms, some even breaking out into a sprint.
A couple people jumped onto their beds, claiming it as their own. There were two double beds and the rest were singles, but because there were only 10 people at the time, sharing a double bed wouldn’t be an issue at the moment.
George leaped onto one bed and said sarcastically, “Oh my God, guys, stop fighting over my bed!” You laughed at him and slowly sat down on the one remaining bed next to his.
You crawled onto your bed after readjusting the pillows against the headboard so you could sit up comfortably, leaning back and allowing your eyes to close momentarily.
It wasn’t until you felt a nudge on your shin that you opened your eyes and saw a George Clarke resting on his stomach, a pillow squished between his chest and the bed, his beaming smile staring at you.
You tilted your head at him and smiled softly, lightly kicking your foot back at him as his hand lingered on your leg; the rest of the room became a blur as he kept looking at you.
Sending a quick wink your way, he hoisted himself up off the bed and gestured a hand out to you. You took it as he helped you onto your feet, so the group could walk back into the living room per producers request.
The group all positioned themselves on the couch, George settling down on the end as you squeezed between him and Mandi. With little spare room on the couch, George carefully lifted your leg so it was led over his thigh and his hand rested comfortably on your knee. Opposite you, Whitney grinned at the action.
George was fiddling with his bottle as the group conversed, “So, Y/N what do you do?” Cinna asked you.
Hearing your name, you perked up. “I mainly do YouTube videos with this weirdo here.” You pointed a thumb George’s way.
The group laughed at you and took careful notice at your closeness with George. “And George, what do you do?” She continued.
George tilted his head, “I started on TikTok.” He trailed off as Whitney butted in. “Do you talk on TikTok?”
“Yeah.” George responded. Whitney persisted, “Why not in real life?” You furrowed your brows at this. George, oblivious to her, said “Should I stop?” as he pointed at himself jokingly.
“But you don’t talk in real life! I’m like “George…” Whitney said. She was then interrupted by the Sidemen walking in, smug smirks tugging on their face.
You and George smiled at the familiar faces, previously being in Sidemen videos in the past. You took notice that George’s mood had picked up more now he knew more than one person, becoming more comfortable in the odd place he was confined in.
JJ began for the group, “Welcome to the new series of Inside!” 
The group whooped and cheered at this. Everyone was excited at the prospect of winning a million pounds.
The Sidemen began listing off the rules and concept of Inside, everyone nodding along and the occasional verbal reaction. 
Harry pointed at you and the group, “You’ll be glad to know, the shop is now open!” You and Farah made eye-contact and started jumping up to run to the shop as a joke, the group laughing at the pair of you.
JJ said one last thing before everyone bid their goodbyes to the Sidemen, “Good luck, motherfuckers!”
You all clapped and half heartedly cheered, more nervous than excited at this rate because the money you could win was in the hands of everyone else.
Farah quickly asked as they were leaving, “Wait, can I ask? When is the first challenge?”
“Shut up.”
time skip!
The group all discussed that you wanted to keep the prize money at least 800K, agreeing with a ‘hands in the middle’ before you all jogged down to the shop.
As you entered, half the group were already in there and complaining about the lack of choices they could purchase, Milli however wasn’t upset about the prices at this point.
You and George lurked at the back, shoulder to shoulder and laughed at Mandi as she stood up to the camera asking about the whereabouts of her vodka.
As a quarter of the group decided on food and drinks as the first purchase before you butted in with a suggestion, “Wait, surely we should get some entertainment first, just so we don’t all want to die on the first day?”
George, Dylan and Milli pointed at you, nodding and verbalising their agreement. Milli grabbed your upper arm and took you both to the camera to confirm your order.
“I’ll say table tennis bat and you’ll say table tennis ball, right?” You asked her, she smiled as you both poked your head up to the camera and held your microphone to your mouth.
“Can I confirm the table tennis bat,” “And the table tennis ball, please?” You and Milli spoke, giggling at each other after as you made eye-contact.
You distanced yourself from the group and they began talking louder and speaking over each other, finding yourself settled next to George who had barely spoken outside of you since being in here.
Looking at the list of items, you nudged George, “What the fuck is a ‘golden straw’?” You laughed and furrowed your brows.
You saw his eyes scan the list and chuckle at the item considering its price, “That’s actually a stupid price.” He thought out loud.
“I swear if anyone buys that shit…” You closed your eyes and shook your head, sneaking your arms around him so you could link arms.
The door suddenly opened to reveal the items you and Milli had bought. She turned around and called your name to come over to her. You walked over and tugged George close along behind you.
You saw Milli’s shoulder drop and she leaned down to pick the item up, “What?” You questioned. She turned around and lifted up the one tennis bat.
“No!” You gasped and tightened your grip on George’s arm. “Is it one?” He asked, dreading the worst after your reaction.
“It’s one!” Milli confirmed your suspicions. You groaned, cursing out the Sidemen as everyone around out kept bickering. You watched as Dylan walked back to the camera.
“I’m confirming that you did scam us with that one, I’m not going to lie. So we are ordering one more bat.” He purchased the other bat.
You turned around to face George, smiling up at him as his figure towered over you. “I’m gonna kick your ass at table tennis.” You promised to him and yourself. Laughing at you, he drifted his hands down to rest on your hips, “Best out of three; guaranteed I’m gonna win all three.” He replied smuggly, looking down at you with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Not bothering to listen to everyone talk about eating arrangements, you yanked George’s arm and the pair of you ran back to the living room, table tennis bats in hands and laughing in joy. Even in a confined house with 10 other people, you found George attached to you as if it was only the pair of you; no one else mattered except for him.
George walked around the table, shoving you lightly before the game started in an attempt to throw you off. You cleared your throat, “This is a practice round, no cheating and no foul play!”
“You’re only saying it’s a practice round so you’re not embarrassed when I kick your ass.” George winked at you and threw the table tennis ball down onto the table.
You heard a playful gag next to you, “Ew, guys stop flirting!” Cinna stated sarcastically. You and George only laughed and began playing against each other.
George played against you for a couple rounds, the game going back and forth a handful of times. Eventually, after a good 15 minutes, you beat George in a tight game. George only shrugged and walked backwards to sit on the couch, leaning his body back and relaxing for the first time since walking in here.
You tilted your head and called Dylan up to play against you, still high on adrenaline. “Dylan, come play the reigning champion!”
Hearing this, George’s head popped up with furrowed brows. “What? I thought you said it was a practice round?” He asked in mock offence.
You shrugged, “Yeah it was… until I beat you.” George suppressed a laugh into a groan and rolled his head back as you shot him a sickeningly sweet smile; knowing he had been caught out by you once again (not that he did anything to stop it).
interview room!
“I mean, I think I’ve started off decently. Barely spent money so far, but I haven’t been down there since I got the table tennis stuff.”
“I mean, I don’t really care about winning now that I’ve beaten George in table tennis! I’ve known him for years, played against him thousands of times and now suddenly hours into my new home for the week and straight off the bat I’ve already taken the win”
“My main concern right now is that I’m so hungry. And I know the meals are gonna be shit, but honestly, I could take anything right now!”
After gossiping about the whole pot noodle fiasco, an alert came up on the screen: ‘Lunch is now ready to collect from the shop’.
“Oh, thank God.” You groaned, feeling the effects of a constant rumbling stomach taking a toll on you. George, who was sitting opposite you looked puzzled and partially offended, “You’re taking the piss. Lunch?”
Leading the pack down to the shop, you skipped down to the final step and came face to face with an open trap door and met some… unpleasant food. Picking up two of the pots, you inspected the food.
George creeped in behind you and peered over your shoulder. Upon seeing his presence, you passed him his meal and stiffled a laugh at his scrunched up nose and face of disgust.
Grabbing a spoon, you opened the pot and attempted not to be put off it immediately. You watched Mandi verbally express her utter hatred towards the food; placing a hand on her shoulder, you urged her to try a bit before she opted out. “Hey, Mandi. Just try a little before--”
“Can I confirm an upgrade, please?” You sighed as she ignored you. Feeling awkward now, George wrapped his arm around its usual spot on your shoulder and tugged you against him, whispering in your ear not to worry about it; unbeknownst that the cameras can see and hear everything.
The pair of you walked away from the chaos of buying upgrades, chatting to each other and sitting back down onto the couch.
Cinna watched you and walked up to you, “Come with me to get the rest?” She urged, knowing many people had left scraps of food down in the shop and was aware of your hunger earlier on.
You smiled at her and left George’s touch, him frowning slightly. You followed side by side with Cinna, strutting into the shop and splitting the weight of the spare food between the two of you.
As you began walking away, you spotted something shiny left in the shop.
“No fucking way.” You murmered, now having personal issues with this goddamned straw. Cinna turned around at your words, eyes widening and walking over to pick up the straw.
“Is there a golden straw in there? Did they leave it?” She questioned no one in particular.
You threw the straw a rude face, “That shit cost fucking £2,500?” You shook your head, already having some suspects on who bought it.
Snatching the straw off her, you stormed ahead to the living room to ask some very needed questions; Cinna laughing at you as she trailed behind, finding your beef with the straw hilarious.
“Who bought this?” You spoke loudly as you entered the room, watching George on the beanbag throw his head back in mock frustration, murmuring some swear words in the wake.
Cinna walked in and made a bee-line for Mandi, “It was you, wasn’t it?” Mandi’s lack of an answer told you the whole story.
Passing the straw to Mandi, you felt a hand brush yourself and looked down to George playing with your fingers as he remained seated, his eyes watching the conversations rather than you. You suppressed a smile at this and tried to fight back a blush from creeping onto your face.
You were snapped out of your thoughts as the voice of Tobi rang around the house, “It’s time for your first challenge.”
time skip!
Finally, it was you and George remaining; neither of you had been selected to compete in Insider Dating (a part of you felt like they set you two up on purpose, but by no means were you complaining).
“And lastly… George? Y/N?” Simon smirked, holding his card close to his chest.
The group whooped and cheered as the pair of you stood up, even JJ was jeering you on. Tobi leaned in to whisper something in his ear, and JJ let out his gawking laugh in response. You groaned, fully aware it was something revolving between you and George.
George sat down opposite you, a worried grin painted on his face as you sucked in a deep breath, picking up the menu in front of you.
“For not the first restaurant date for these two,” Simon started, smirking as he watched both of your faces grow a shade darker and keeping your heads down low. Some of the other contestants let out a wolf-whistle and slammed the table as they laughed at Simon’s joke. “On the menu for you two is Shocking Questions.”
As you inspected the menu more, confused on what was happening, George had already figured it out. He looked at the Sidemen for confirmation and said, “Oh.” You looked up at him, hoping he wouldn’t see your blush. “What’s that?”
“We’ll be getting shocked.” He said with a lack of enthusiasm. You closed your eyes and sighed, nervous about both the questions and being shocked; but remaining determined that you wouldn’t press the red buzzer.
Simon started, “Okay, George. You’ll be answering the questions first, so, Y/N, please ask the first question.”
You took a deep breath, inspecting the question before looking up at George and asking him, “What is your worst online dating experience?”
Unsure when to start, George looked around him and then at the camera, “Okay, um…”
He placed his hands on the table in front of him, “I matched with somebody on--” He cut himself off as an electric jolt sent his body forwards as he groaned in pain. You covered your mouth in shock and offered a hand out on the table for him to grip onto for comfort.
Taking your hand very quickly he continued, “That’s a lot of power. Um. I matched with somebody on Hinge, and I was speaking to them for about two days. Voice notes back and forth, it was fun. And then--”
Another jolt came through and he squeezed your hand hard, cursing out in the meantime, “Oh, God! I’m sorry, Y/N!” You shook your head and reassured him, “No, no! Keep going, you’re doing great!” The contestants laughed at you as you attempted to comfort George as more jolts came through.
“Fucking hell. Um, then I tried to meet up with them, but it turns out they weren’t real. I was there for an hour and a half.” You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his story, focusing on him and keeping eye-contact with him to try and urge him through this. Also thinking at the same time, if his questions were bad, think of the masacre for you.
“I came back home, reverse Google Image searched them--” George’s body locking up in pain from the electric, “And they weren’t real. Fucking hell, that’s a lot!” He groaned, still squeezing your hand across the table.
Simon urged you to ask the next question, “Could we please have the second question?”
Your eyes widened at the question and George felt more jolts come through, “Oh, my God, please, can we make it a quick one?” He begged, playing with your fingers and cracking your knuckles as a way to distract himself from the pain. “Oh, my God. That was actually quite bad.”
You began starting the next question, interrupted by George burying his head into his bicep and groaning out, “Fuck!”
“If you had to snog, marry and avoid three Insiders, who and why?” You stared into his eyes as a faint pink sprinkled his cheeks; you couldn’t decipher whether that was out of pain or embarrassment of the question.
George pulled a shocked yet puzzled face, “I don’t fucking know!” 
PK from the side shouted out, “Yes, you fucking do!” while pointing your way; you were unable to see this as your eyes were trained on George in front of you.
“Both genders?” George joked to try and diffuse the situation, making the Sidemen laugh as jolts of electricity came through more frequently and painfully.
George shook his head and gestured towards you, “Snog you, avoid Farah,” He turned around to face her and sent an apologetic look her way, “Sorry, you’re quite loud!” The rest of the group laughed as he turned back to you, “And marry Y/N!”
The group, including the Sidemen all screamed and pointed accusing fingers at George, while you sat with a mouth open and a surely bright red face by now. “You said Y/N twice!” Simon raised his brows and shouted at the man. “You can’t pick the same person twice!” JJ laughed.
George’s eyes widened as he realised what he did, “Shit! I meant marry Y/N, snog Y/N-- Shit!” He cursed as another jolt came through and stumbled over his words, “Fuck! No! Snog Mya!”
Everyone, including you laughed at him as Simon now approved the answer, and George’s grip on your hand faltered and he hid his face on the table, embarrassed beyond belief.
Some of the girls awed at his answer as the chaos had only just settled down, the focus turning on to you (as if it wasn’t already).
You rolled your head back in an attempt to release some nerves but failed to do so. You swallowed hard and looked in front of you to see George, now sat upright, staring at you with something in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher.
Looking down at the table, you saw George’s extended hand open for you, “Tit for tat?” He tilted his head, smiling at you as you accepted it, your palm brushing his. He took a deep breath as his heart jumped a little bit at the intimate moment shared in front of everyone and dozens of cameras.
Simon perked up again, “George, could you please ask the first question?” 
George looked down at the question sheet, eyes widening at the second question in particular, but chose to tackle that situation when he got there.
“Y/N,” You were waiting for the first shock but it hasn't come yet, “Why did you break up with your last boyfriend?” George asked.
Your mouth dropped open in shock, “Oh, God. Alright, so basically--” You screamed as the first shock came through and your body jolted forward in a much similar fashion as George’s previously had. You gripped his hand hard, feeling bad that you could potentially be hurting him in the process.
“You’ve got it, you’ve got it.” George encouraged you, a soft smile etched across his face.
“Shit! Okay--” Another shock going up your spine, painful but quick, “He said I was in-- Fuck!” More and more shocks came through. You understood you would have to rush this answer because there was no way you could get through it at this rate.
“He said I was in love with someone else apparently, so he-- Shitting Hell!” You gripped George’s hand. “So he cheated on me and I snitched on him to his mother!” You blurted out, hearing the loud laughter from the contestants and the Sidemen around you, even George was trying and failing to suppress a laugh.
JJ’s laugh stood out from everyone elses, “Damn Y/N! We’ll take that. George, next question?”
George’s smile fell slightly, “Right, Y/N…” Your body jolted forward in pain, “Shit! George, I love you but please hurry up!” The group laughed at your reaction.
“Okay! Okay! Y/N explain the story of your first kiss.” His voice faltered towards the end, heart thumping in his chest as your face paled.
Your eyes widened and you shook your head rapidly, “No! No! I can’t say that!” Tobi butted in, “Answer or lose 10K!”
A horrendous jolt of electricity went through your body and your hand held George’s while the other bunched up the cloth of the table as you squeezed it.
“Tell us, Y/N!” You heard other contestants shout at you. Milli shouted, “Come on, Y/N! You can do it!”
You tossed your head back, “Fuck! Okay! So basically, we were younger and neither of us-- Shit!” 
“Neither of us had had our first kiss yet, so we--” You groaned, head now falling forwards as your hair covered your face slightly. George leaned over and brushed it away, tucking it behind your ears. 
“Push the button, Y/N!” JJ urged. “Fuck off!” You screamed back, some of the group crying with laughter and standing up in doing so.
“We played odds on that we had to kiss right then and there! That’s it! Please turn this fucking thing off!” You begged, feeling sweat drip from your forehead now.
However, Simon decided to alter the rules of the game.
“Y/N, we’re not accepting that until you tell us who it was with.”
Your eyes bulged out of their head as the screaming around you ensured, George falling unusually quiet compared to everyone else as his gaze remained locked on you.
“What the fuck? That’s not-- Oh, God!” You groaned, “That’s not fair!”
JJ and Tobi just laughed, “Just tell us!”
You shook your head rapidly, “No fucking way!”
“Say it!” They screamed.
“No!” You responded with the same energy.
“You’re not leaving until you tell--”
“George!”
Everyone around you jumped up in shock and amusement, smacking the table laughing and pointing fingers at you and George.
George’s mouth also dropped open in shock as he didn’t think you would actually admit to it, blush coating his neck and cheeks as everyone was looking at you two and that you had exposed your deepest secret.
Your body relaxed as the shocks stopped but you didn’t necessarily win; sure, not losing 10K is great, but now on day one of your new home, everyone would talk about you and George, definitely not helping your case that you’re not dating.
Simon removed his hand from covering his mouth in shock, “Well… I guess you passed.” He didn’t know what to say, no one did really; everyone was just screaming incoherent words in disbelief of this entire situation.
You had never wanted to hear the words of Tobi more in your entire life, “Insiders, you have completed your first challenge of the series.”
time skip!
After a long first day, you had settled yourself down onto the couch in the living room. Led down, you sported George’s hoodie as he found himself back at the table tennis court; this time battling against PK. Blocking everyone out, you drift off for your much needed nap.
As George played against PK, the new contestant DDG had some questions.
“I didn’t know the Sidemen let couples on here.” He thought out loud, catching everyone in the room's attention. They looked at him with tilted heads. “Who’s the couple?” Cinna asked.
DDG pointed a thumb in your direction as you laid unconscious on the couch, “That’s your girl, right?” He nodded towards George.
George chuckled and looked down, “Yeah, George. How’s your girl?” PK teased.
Shaking his head, George served the tennis ball nonchalantly, “She’s just my friend.” He didn’t know who he was trying to prove, himself or those around him.
Dylan butted in, “Oh yeah, I just kiss my best friends every now and then.”
Without looking at them, George continued, “Ah! I was her first kiss, that doesn’t mean we just kiss every now and then.”
“Bet you’d like that, huh?” PK laughed. In mock retaliation, George served a harsh ball his way, the mini group laughing at him.
DDG looked between you on the couch and George standing to his right, “Hold up… you’re not dating her?” George shook his head.
He raised his brows, “For real, man?”
George slowly nodded, “For real.” He sounded partially disappointed but masked it as he continued playing table tennis.
time skip!
You found yourself standing in the shop alone, inspecting the items as you were yet to purchase anything for yourself, excluding the singular tennis bat earlier. You heard someone creeping up behind you.
“What are you thinking about, beautiful?” George whispered from beind you, crouching down slightly so he could reach your height. You leaned back into him and his hands wrapped around your waist.
“Why the fuck do I want that jiggly ball so bad?” You thought out loud. George responded with a loud gawking laugh, stumbling back a bit and bringing you with him.
You turned around and slapped his chest, “No, George! It’s not funny! Why does every part of me need that jiggly ball?”
He looked down at you with a suggestive eyebrow raise, your face fell as you understood what he was insinuating. “Oh, shut up!”
Laughing, you held his hand and walked out of the shop together. You settled on the couch again after your nap, reintroducing yourself Patrice as the last time you saw him was when you were half-asleep.
A couple of minutes later, you heard your name being whispered at the door. Standing up, you followed the noise and was met with George suppressing a wild grin and something stuffed up his shirt. “Oh, God. What did you do?” You smiled.
George leaned down and dragged the pair of you into the corner of the room, “I might have suggested that Farah get something for you.” Your eyes sparkled in excitement.
“No, you didn’t…” You mumbled. 
It was then that George whipped out the bright purple and blue jiggly ball from underneath his shirt, handing it to you and bouncing it between his hands in the process, giggling in excitement. “Oh, my God!” You squealed.
You took the ball from him and played with it for a moment before looking up to see George already staring at you. You shook your head, smiling at him, “Thank you!” 
You pulled him into a crushing hug, his strong arms wrapping around your waist and lifting you off the ground, swaying the pair of you back and forth slightly. He placed you back down as you seperated from the hug, hands remaining on your waist as you stared at each other, not breaking eye-contact. 
Neither of you said anything to each other, but your eyes said so much more. The hand that wasn’t holding the ball reached up to his face and urged him to tilt his head to the side, before you leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Pulling away from your peck, you smiled at him and backed away slightly. You tossed the ball so it hit his forehead lightly and bounced back into your hands, “I’ll see you later.” You bit your lip to keep your smile from growing.
Walking away, you didn’t notice that George watched you as you went; a hand pressed up against his cheek where you had kissed him, only hoping it was closer to his lips.
As bedtime rolled around, you situated yourself in your bed next to George’s. You rested on the side facing him, finding him doing the same and could recognise his beaming smile even in the darkness.
You rolled onto your back, staring up at the ceiling as the tiredness took a toll on you. You let your hand flop off the side of your bed, not thinking too much of it.
Then, you felt a soft brush against your hand and looked down at it, seeing George’s hand lacing his fingers with yours as his hand was stretched off his own bed. Leaning off the side of his bed, George pressed a soft kiss onto the back of your hand, signaling a sweet ‘goodnight’ to you before the pair of you dozed off.
Maybe this weird, confined lifestyle where everything was overpriced and challenges determined your mood for that day wasn’t too bad. But maybe, it was rather the person holding your hand that could help you tolerate this.
taglist (ps love u all):
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hischiershoe · 2 months ago
Text
─── FLICKER AND FLAME
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─── QUINN HUGHES X FEM!READER
[ summary ] A flicker of a school girl crush turned into a much bigger flame than you had ever anticipated, but you always kept it to yourself because you’d been far too scared to get burned. Until this summer. This summer you were determined to let it shine bright, but what happens when it’s blown out by the one person you kept it alive for?
[ word count ] 6.4k
[ content warnings ] angst but w a happy ending, Quinn’s a bit of a jackass, cursing, drinking mentioned, Jack yelling, kissing with some very slight heavy petting but nothing too wild
𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 has always been your favorite time of the year, but not for the same reasons that most other people enjoy the warm, sunny season. It wasn’t because you were free from school, or because you got to spend your days doing nothing but lounging around and basking in the sun. It was because it was the one time of the year that you finally got to see the one person that was always on your mind. Quinn. Well, and a little bit of the other stuff, too.
You’d known the Hughes family ever since your younger brother joined the same club hockey team as their youngest, Luke, and they’d been a part of your life ever since. Their parents and yours clicked almost instantly, and what started out as simple invitations to barbecues and post-game dinners quickly shifted into residing in the same lake house for the duration of the summer and various other joint vacations. The Hughes family became a prominent fixture in your life, and yours became one in theirs.
When Quinn moved to Michigan for hockey, you realized that what you thought was a small and meaningless crush was much bigger than you had even imagined. You had grown so used to seeing him several times a month, where you could quietly observe him as he corralled the three younger boys, that you never realized it was something you’d looked forward to. It was a little creepy when you thought about it, but, in your defense, you were just a girl with a tiny crush on an older boy. However, when he was a few hundred miles away, the reality that it wasn't so tiny after all hit you like a freight train. Though, of course, you never let anyone find out about it.
Especially because you knew he would never feel the same.
Despite that minor detail, it still never deflated the excitement that swelled in your chest when you were finally on your way to Michigan for the summer. Every time you and your brother would pack up your things, load up on a plane, and head down to the lakehouse, it was like everything was falling back into place all over again. While there had been a few changes over the years, notably the lack of parental presence and lakehouse ownership, the one thing that never changed was the thrill and anticipation that poured out of everyone who crossed the threshold.
You weren’t entirely sure what had gotten into you this summer, or where the sudden confidence boost came from, but you were far more brazen and bold-faced when it came to Quinn. Okay, maybe not that much more, but you were actively making attempts to drop subtle hints that you found him attractive or going out of your way to talk to him. However, it wasn’t necessarily going in your favor as he would awkwardly mumble his responses or deflect your comments and shift the conversation to else. His callousness towards you was slowly chipping away at your enthusiasm, eating away at it until there was almost nothing left.
Of course, you knew that Quinn even remotely returning your sentiments towards him was almost as likely as him letting Jace drive the golf cart again, but deep down, you’d hoped. Hoped that he would’ve at least done more than treat you more than an inconvenience. He’d never been so apathetic towards you in the summers before, but then again, you’d always kept your distance when it came to him. You’d always been intimidated by him, afraid that you would say the wrong thing or do something embarrassing that you could never come back from, and you’re beginning to think you should’ve kept that tradition going. After all, it’d kept you safe from the sinking feeling in your stomach that you couldn’t shake now.
However, there was one instance that was constantly on your mind and left you more confused than anything. 
You had been lying out by the pool, eyes closed as the sun beat down on your glistening ski, when you heard the unmistakable sounds of laughter and playful bickering. You hadn’t bothered to look up to see who it was, assuming that it was just the usual group of rowdy boys, but you did get a little curious when you heard their voices come to an abrupt stop. You had propped yourself up on your elbows and scanned the backyard before you let your gaze fall on them, and what you saw made your jaw go slack and your eyes widen. 
The boys you had never seen before were not so subtly staring at you, and Quinn’s face was twisted in anger, an emotion that you rarely ever saw on his face, and Jack had to physically pull him away from the rest of them. You watched them with careful, curious eyes, but when Jace had finally glanced in your direction, all he did was shrug in response. Eventually, you decided that it wasn’t all that important and you relaxed into the lounger all over again, but then you heard a faint comment pass through the lips of a boy you’d never seen before.
“All I said was that Jace’s sister was hot.”
It was your brother’s idea to have a small get together at the house, and the others were quick to hop on board before going into full on planning mode. You offered to go to the liquor store with Quinn, but he was quick to point out that at least one responsible person needed to go to the grocery store with Luke and Jace. If they were sent by themselves, they’d grab one bag of chips, a tub of ice cream, and a box of Costco muffins for themselves. You knew he was right, everyone did, and that was how you begrudgingly ended up hauling the two of them into town.
“So,” Luke drawls out as he leans on the center console, “You really wanted to go with Quinn, huh?”
“She was almost ready to give up having actual food just to go with him,” Jace cheekily added, nudging his friend as they both looked at you with mischievous smiles.
“I just wanted to make sure he got my favorite drink,” You shrug as you slightly tighten your grip on the wheel, trying to keep your voice steady and nonchalant. 
Yeah, okay,” Luke snorts before he leans back into his seat, “He’s forgotten everyone’s drinks a dozen times, but he’s never forgotten yours. Not once. He even makes sure he gets it before you two get here.”
Luke’s words echo in your head for the duration of your food run, taking up so much space in your mind that you nearly forget to check the basket of food the boys had loaded up. You couldn’t help but let the new bit of information fan the small flame of hope you had left, and you left the store with a certain skip to your step that made both Luke and Jace roll their eyes. 
With testosterone filled hockey players, girlfriends, and anyone that everyone had befriended over the years scattered throughout the house, the quiet party was in full swing. You were tucked in the corner of the sofa with Alyssa and Izzy, a cup of your favorite drink in your hand as the three of you caught up with each other. Your focus kept drifting to Quinn as he stood in the kitchen talking with Josh and a few other people you vaguely recognized, and you caught yourself admiring him for far longer than what would be considered normal. 
Though you were a little happy to see that he was seemingly brushing off any girl who tried to talk to him. 
It was Trevor’s suggestion to gather around the small fire pit outside, and if there was one thing he was going to do, it was get his way. As everyone filed out of the house, you lingered in the kitchen for a few more minutes so that you could grab yourself another drink, but you quickly grew to regret that choice when you stepped through the door. All of the seats had been taken, no one daring to sit on the ground that was still slightly wet from the rain the previous evening, and you were standing there nervously gripping the cup as your eyes shifted from person to person. 
“Why don’t you just sit on Quinn’s lap or something,” Cole innocently suggested, the girl he’d met at the golf course perched on his knee.
“No,” Quinn hastily blurts before anyone else can even get a simple thought in, “That’s weird and a stupid idea.”
Your eyes immediately widen, your face heating up in embarrassment as you freeze in your spot. You can feel everyone’s gazes flickering between you and Quinn, watching as horrified tears well in your eyes, and he looks everywhere but at you. Though you can’t bring yourself to look away from him. You force yourself to watch as he shrinks into his seat, as he grips the beer bottle in his hand so tightly that you’re surprised it hasn’t shattered. You force yourself to watch how disgusted he is at the mere idea of you getting that close to him. You force yourself to feel the small flame of hope you had left be blown out by the very person you kept it alive for. 
An uncomfortable silence sticks itself to everyone, their gazes still darting between you and Quinn as they wait for someone to say something. For someone to pop the thick bubble of tension that had formed around you, but no one knew what to say. No one knew what to do. 
“I’m sorry,” Cole speaks up first, regret laced in his tone as he focuses on you, “It was just a joke. We can go grab the beanbag from upstairs for someone to sit on, so you can have a chair.”
Your eyes shone with unshed tears as you took a deep and shaky breath, finally forcing your gaze away from Quinn, “Don’t worry about it. I kind of wanted to go lie down, anyway. I’m tired.”
Without a second thought, you were turning on your heels and darting back into the house, hastily discarding your full cup on the kitchen counter as you ignored the few pleading shouts of your name. Your lungs feel like they’re burning, every breath you take acting as fuel to the ever growing fire in your chest, and you need to get away before you let yourself get burned entirely. 
As soon as you step into your room, you fling the door shut behind you before practically launching yourself onto your bed, burying your face in the mountain of pillows to muffle the mortified sobs that tore through you. Truthfully, you knew that what happened downstairs might not have seemed like a big deal to most, but to you? To you, it felt like Quinn had stood in front of an arena full of people and told them that he would never see you as anything other than Jace’s sister. 
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Jack’s yell filters up to your room, the anger in his voice bringing your cries to a temporary stop.
Your head perks up, and though you can’t hear who exactly is on the receiving end of Jack’s outburst, you make the obvious assumption that it’s Quinn. Whatever he said in response is too quiet for you to pick up on, but you can still hear Jack clear as day. “Do you get it? Because what you told me yesterday and what you just did isn’t adding up! Quinn, where are you going?!”
His voice is cut off by the front door slamming, and your eyes widen as you try to listen in case anything else was said, but the sound of the metal hinges slowly creaking open breaks your concentration. 
“Hey,” Jace peeks his head through the small crack in the door, his face illuminated by the small lamp on your dresser that you had left on earlier that day, “Mind if we come in?”
“Sure,” You weakly mumble, wiping at your cheeks as you sit up on your bed and move so your legs are dangling over the edge. 
He pushes the door open the rest of the way, Luke trailing behind him as they quickly rush to you and take the spot on either side of you. For a while, none of you say anything, likely all still trying to process everything that had happened. You don’t expect Luke to be the first to speak up, both because Quinn was his brother and because he’d never been all that great at comforting people anyway. Jace, despite the three year age difference, was always in your corner trying to help when he could, but you had a feeling that even he was at a loss for words right now.
“Quinn didn’t drive anywhere, did he,” You finally ask, shattering the wall of silence that had been built around you, “I know he drank a little bit tonight.”
“No. Trevor came in before them and hid everyone’s keys,” Jace’s voice was clipped, and it was then that your eyes fell to his hands that were balled into fists at his side. He was angry. No, he was livid, and it made a pit of guilt form in your stomach. You ruined his party because you let a stupid boy get to you.
“Good,” You swallow, your gaze flickering to Luke, who had a look that resembled confliction on his face with his gaze fixated on the ground beneath his feet, “That’s good.”
“Are you good,” Luke asks, his voice nearly startling you as he slightly shifts towards you, “I mean, are you okay? I don’t really know what happened down there because it all happened really fast and I’m a little drunk, but you looked sad.” 
“Yeah, Luke,” You lightly laugh as you nudge him with your shoulder, “I’m okay. Just a little upset is all, but maybe this is what I needed, you know? I’ve spent almost the entire time I’ve been here trying to get his attention, but obviously it was pointless. This is just the shock to my system I needed to move on.”
“We can go back home early if you want,” Jace softly adds on, though you can tell he doesn’t really want that, “We can pack up and go back. I can work on my breakaways and stuff with coach, and you can help me pick out stuff for my new apartment before you start your new job.”
“No. We’re not leaving,” You firmly shake your head, the sigh of relief he lets out making a small smile form on your face, “I don’t want to leave. I’ll be okay, I promise. You guys should go back outside though, liven up the party a bit.”
“Are you sure,” Jace asks, his voice tinged with hope, and his shoulders relaxing.
“I’m sure,” You teasingly roll your eyes, placing your palms in the middle of their backs before you gently shove them off your bed, “Go back out there and have fun. I’m going to try and sleep this whole thing off.”
It didn’t take much more convincing in order to get them to leave, but as soon as you were alone in your room again, you crawled under your blanket and let silent tears slide down your cheeks until you succumbed to your own emotional exhaustion. 
You weren’t entirely sure how long you had been asleep, but judging by how dark it was outside and how quiet the house was, you knew it was well into the middle of the night. You could hear Luke’s faint snores, something he only did when he had drank far too much, coming from the room next to you, and if he was asleep, it was safe to assume everyone else was, too. He’d always put up a fight to be the last person awake, not wanting to miss out on any potential action, and he would never even consider touching his bed until he knew everyone was done for the night.
Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you carefully slipped out of bed and tiptoed down to the kitchen, making sure to avoid the especially creaky parts of the stairs. The lack of bodies spread across the living room told you that a few of the others had either found ways home, or they walked the short trip down to Cole’s and stayed there for the night. Regardless, you were grateful for the emptiness because you didn’t have to worry about waking even more people when you searched the kitchen for something non-alcoholic to drink. 
The water pitcher was shoved to the back of the fridge, nearly invisible behind the mostly empty boxes of beer and half-eaten take out containers. Your gaze catches sight of your cup from earlier still sitting on the counter, and it felt like the air had been sucked out of your lungs all over again. You were barely conscious enough to remember what had happened when you first got up, but the cup served as a glaring reminder of Quinn’s blatant rejection from earlier. 
The blood was pounding so loudly in your ears that you didn’t hear the sound of the front door opening as you rounded the kitchen island, and you were far too focused on frantically throwing the cup in the sink that you missed the echo of footsteps nearing you. Some of the liquid had sloshed all over the countertop, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care about it that much. You knew it would get cleaned up tomorrow when everyone was forced into the usual hangover fueled cleaning. 
You heard someone softly calling your name, forcing your focus in the direction that it had come from, and you came face to face with the one person you didn’t want to see. Quinn hovered a few feet away from you, his hair a wild mess on his head and his cheeks tinged a light pink from what you’re assuming is either the alcohol still in his system or from the wind biting at his skin. You watched as his eyes darted across your face, no doubt noticing how swollen your eyes were from crying, and you let your gaze fall to the floor as you crossed your arms against your chest, subtly shuffling away from him.
“Uh, what are you doing awake,” Quinn’s asks, his tone painfully awkward and strained as he brings his hand up to anxiously rub at the back of his neck.
“I just woke up to get some water,” You weakly admit, uncomfortably rocking on the balls of your feet, “Are you just getting back?”
“Yeah,” He clears his throat, “I walked down towards the marina and stayed there for a while.”
You don’t say anything in response, letting the silence prick at your skin as you chew on your bottom lip. You stood there for a few moments, debating on whether or not you wanted to try and talk to Quinn about what had happened, but you ultimately fought off the urge and silently turned on your feet. You had already been embarrassed enough for one night; The last thing you needed was for him to downright reject you to your face, so you chose to walk away.
Although Quinn desperately calls out your name, quickly closing the gap between you before he delicately grabs your bicep and keeps you in your spot. In all of the years you’d known Quinn, it was rare that the two of you ever got this close, and when you did, it made your head spin and goosebumps rise on your arms and legs. This was no exception. Your breath was caught in your throat as you slowly dragged your eyes to Quinn’s face, meeting his pleading and guilty stare.
“Please, wait,” He shakily begs, letting go of your arm when you slowly nod your head in response.
The air around you was so thick with tension that it was almost suffocating. You could barely breathe around him as it is, but now it felt like you were going to pass out. This time, you don’t move away from Quinn, choosing to stay inches away from him as he takes a sharp breath.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” He begins as he runs a hand through his hair, though he keeps his eyes on you, “I was an asshole, and I put you in a terrible spot in front of everyone.”
“It’s okay, Quinn,” You softly reassure, a sad smile tugging at your lips, “I’ll get over it. Besides, I think it was what I needed, you know? I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve been trying to get your attention all summer, but obviously that was never going to go anywhere, so this was good for me. I’ll take the hint and leave you alone.”
“No,” Quinn hastily rushes out, the word tumbling out of his mouth so fast that it visibly shocks you, “I don’t want that. I don’t want you to leave me alone.”
His voice trails off as his eyes search your face, trying to pick up on what was going through your mind, but all he found was a combination of disbelief, and distrust. He can’t blame you for not believing what he said, of course. After all, he had done everything but give you any sort of idea that your feelings for him were returned in any capacity. 
“What do you mean,” You choke out as frustrated tears swim in your eyes. You were confused, and you could feel the snuffed out flame of hope attempting to relight itself, but you weren’t going to let it. You couldn’t.
“I know that the way I’ve been acting this summer sucks,” He acknowledges, swallowing thickly, “I know I haven’t been the best at showing how I feel, but I do like you. A lot. I just– I don’t want you to give up on me. I want to try with you the same way you’ve been trying with me.”
Your entire body freezes, a million thoughts running through your brain at a speed that makes your head hurt. It didn’t make any sense. No matter how badly you wanted it to be true, to let yourself believe that he actually meant what you said, it just didn’t add up. What if he was only saying that because he felt like he had to? Because he felt bad?
“That isn’t fair, Quinn,” Your voice wobbles as you shake your head and step away from him, “You don’t get to brush me off all summer, embarrass me in front of our friends, and then tell me that you like me. That doesn’t make any sense!”
“I know,” He surges, his voice breaking when he watches you put even more distance between the two of you, “I know it doesn’t, but I promise I will prove it to you. I’ll spend the rest of the summer and however long after that showing you that I mean it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
The next day, or later in the day if you wanted to be technical, Quinn was adamant on following up on his promise to you. He was going out of his way to talk to you, to do things for you and only you, and he even made a point to talk to Jace about how he had been making you feel. When you saw your brother later on, you tried to ask him about it, but all he did was shrug in response and mumble something that you couldn’t hear. The only idea you had that he had even slightly forgiven Quinn came from watching the two of them get the small bonfire going, which was something Jace rarely ever let anyone help him do.
At first, Quinn’s attempts made you a little uneasy because the change was so drastic from how everything had been doing, but as the day went on, you slowly warmed up to it. He was slowly axing away at the wall of doubt you’d built, and you began to let yourself entertain the idea that maybe he wasn’t messing with you after all. It also helped that during a small talk with Ellen after dinner, she had let a few things ‘slip’ about her eldest son’s feelings for you. Though, you couldn’t help but think her two younger boys had something to do with that based on the interrogation you received from them afterwards. 
Before you had gone to bed that night, you called your mom on the phone and asked her opinion on what you should do. At first, you tried to avoid saying any names, choosing to say ‘a boy’ instead, but she was quick to cut you off and tell you that she knew you were talking about Quinn. She’d known about your crush on him since the day the two of you met. After you had broken down everything as best as you could, she told you that if your heart was truly telling you to give it a shot, then you should listen to it. She reminded you that allowing yourself the effort was much better than denying yourself the opportunity.
When you woke up the following morning, you didn’t have much time to focus on figuring out what you wanted to do because the boys immediately dragged you into town to grab food and more drinks for their self-declared pool day. Luke had a few of his college friends over for the weekend, which meant that the SUV you borrowed was packed full of rowdy boys, and there wasn’t a quiet moment the entire time. You barely had time to think about what you needed to grab, let alone about the internal battle you had going on.
“Who’s supposed to grill these stupid hotdogs,” You shouted over the various voices filling the space around you, waving the aforementioned package of hotdogs in the air.
“Quinn! He’s outside heating the grill up right now,” You heard Luke shout before he darted upstairs to change into his trunks.
You contemplated asking one of the others to take them out to Quinn, but, with your mom's advice ringing in your ears, you ultimately decided to do it yourself. You grabbed one of the larger baking sheets from the cabinet and used it to carry everything outside, where you saw Quinn sitting in one of the chairs near the grill. He doesn’t hear you coming, and you don’t announce yourself either.
Partly because you were nervous, and partly because you wanted to see if his promise was as ironclad as he made it seem. 
Quinn felt someone brush past him, and he had to do a double take when he saw that it was you who had slipped by. He was almost instantly rushing to his feet, the chair scraping against the concrete and his phone clattering on the table, discarded and forgotten now that you were near him. He watched as you placed the tray on the unlit side burner before taking a bashful peek over your shoulder.
“Luke said you were responsible for these,” You speak first, turning your body completely towards him. 
“Seems like I always am,” He lightly jokes, his focus shifting from your face to your hands that were nervously picking at the threads on your shorts. It was a habit you’d had for as long as he could remember.
“Yeah, I bet,” The corners of your mouth tug into a small smile, “Personally, I prefer your cooking over everyone else’s. Seems like you’re the only one who knows how to make things the way I like.”
Quinn’s face flushes at your subtle compliment, but he can’t help but let a sense of pride swell in his chest. Sure, a few summers ago he might have asked your dad to show him how to cook just for you, but it was the fact that you preferred his that really made him feel accomplished. It felt like it was the first thing he had actually gotten right with you. 
“I do my best,” He finally gets out through a shaky breath. 
“I think you’re great,” You affirm, placing a delicate hand on his bicep before you slip away and back into the house again before you overthink your fleeting touch a little too much.
Heat crawled up your neck and licked at your cheeks as you made a beeline for your room, nearly trampling Jace and Dylan when they filtered down the stairs with towels slung over their shoulders. You could hear your brother's loud shouts of mock displeasure, but you don’t pay him any mind as you burst through your room and let the door slam shut behind you. 
You felt silly, almost childish, letting a touch that you initiated affect you so deeply that it made your heart race in your chest and the skin of your palm tingle. You leaned against the wall for a few moments, trying to gather your thoughts enough so you were able to form some sort of plan to let Quinn know that you believed him. That you wanted to try and see how things with him could go.
Sure, you could outright tell him, but where’s the fun in that?
After a quick phone call to your best friend back home, you were slipping into the bathing suit she slightly coerced you into choosing and applying a very light layer of waterproof mascara to your eyes. While neither of those things were necessarily out of the ordinary from your usual routine, this time you were going downstairs with the knowledge that your effort was going to be noticed. This time, it wasn’t for nothing.
Quinn noticed the shift in your attitude the second you walked outside. Unlike yesterday, you returned the smile he tossed your way with one of your own, with the smile he’d seen on your face a dozen times before. Instead of avoiding his gaze when you grabbed your food, you hovered near him and talked to him about whatever came to mind until everyone had gotten theirs. When everyone decided to sit at the table before getting back into the pool, you made sure you got the seat next to him rather than forcing Jace to make space for you.
It was giving Quinn hope that maybe he hadn’t truly fucked things up as badly as he thought, and he was going to cling to that as long as he possibly could.
“I’m gonna go grab something to drink,” You mumble to no one in particular before you rise to your feet, knowing that almost none of them were paying attention anyway
You pull the door open and step into the cool air of the house, the sudden change in temperature causing goosebumps to litter your skin as your feet pad across the tile. Laughter and shouts from the others outside still find their way into the kitchen, and it makes a small smile form on your face when you’re tugging at the fridge door. It always made you happy; Seeing and hearing how much everyone was enjoying themselves. That was what summer was all about.
“Okay, I got it,” You heard Quinn yell from behind you, the sound of the door shutting following directly after.
You turn on your heels to face him, the notion of getting another drink long forgotten when you saw him standing there in nothing but his swimming trunks. You’d seen Quinn shirtless far too many times to count, but it never ceased to make heat rush to your cheeks and your heart thud in your chest. Little did you know, you had the same, if not worse, kind of effect on him.
Quinn has a hard time keeping his eyes on your face, the urge to let them wander to your chest and fixate on what your bathing suit barely covers becoming so strong that it was almost painful to hold back. He only lets his gaze linger for a few moments before he forces himself to move, to walk towards you in search of the excuse he used to come inside after you. 
You watch as Quinn rounds the kitchen island, your bottom lip pulled between your teeth as you inwardly weigh your options. Should you wait and say something to Quinn later? Wait until you had time to think about what you want to say so you don’t embarrass yourself, or should you just do it now? Ultimately, you knew your time at the lakehouse was fast approaching, and if you wanted to test the waters with him, you needed to act fast. 
After all, there’s no better time than the present, or whatever they say.
“Hey Quinn,” You softly call out as he pulls two Gatorades from the shelf.
He lets the fridge door fall shut behind him, his focus shifting back towards you where he lets his eyes drift too far south for a fleeting moment before he shamefully meets your eyes, hoping you didn’t notice. When he saw the subtle quirk of your brow, he knew he had been caught, but you don’t say anything about his wandering gaze. 
“What’s up,” He nervously clears his throat, lazily tossing the bottles on the counter before giving you his full attention. 
“So, you know Jace and I leave in like two weeks, right,” You anxiously begin, your throat growing dry and your eyes darting around the kitchen, “Well, if we’re supposed to, like, test the water or whatever, we should probably start now. Don’t you think?”
Time freezes around you, your gaze flickering back up to Quinn to watch the gears turn behind his eyes. You watch as his jaw goes slack and he slowly blinks, but the longer he stays silent, the more you want the world to swallow you whole. All of your doubts and insecurities began to bubble to the surface, and suddenly, the idea of going home early started to sound like a great idea.
“Or not,” You hastily rush out as embarrassment crawls up your spine and you step away from him, “That’s totally cool, too. I just thought–”
“I do,” His voice smothers your own, a certain urgency to his tone that forces your movements to come to a halt, “I do, I swear. I just– I can’t think because I really want to kiss you right now.”
Your eyes widen in disbelief before you find the confidence to let out a breathy, “Why don’t you then?”
In one smooth motion, Quinn is stepping towards you and tugging you into his chest by your waist, slamming his lips on yours in a kiss that nearly sends you toppling over. Luckily, his grip on you was tight enough to keep you steady, and he uses it to maneuver you so you’re pressed against the island. Your arms loop behind his neck to pull him closer, your mouths moving together in almost perfect sync in a way that made that stupid flicker of hope burst into flames and light your entire body on fire.
You can feel his hands slide down to cup the backs of your thighs, and he effortlessly lifts your body so you can feel the cool granite on your skin. His rough, calloused hands are exploring the dips and curves of your body, his touch leaving your skin hot and aching for more. With your legs wrapped around his waist, you pull Quinn even closer to you, and your fingernails leave crescent shaped divots on his shoulder blades when you slip your tongue into his mouth.
A low groan vibrates against your mouth, and Quinn’s thumb slips underneath the string of your top, his thumb delicately brushing the side of your chest. A shiver runs down your spine, and you subconsciously roll your hips against his. You can feel the effect you had on him pressed against the inside of your thigh, and it was doing wonders for your ego. Giving you the kind of motivation you needed to shove your nerves to the back of your mind.
“Dude, what is taking you so lo– Oh my god,” Jack’s voice breaks off into a horrified yell when his eyes settle on the scene before him, “Dude! We eat at that counter, what is wrong with you?!”
You and Quinn separate from each other, lips red and swollen as your necks snap towards Jack before he was turning on his heels and dashing back outside. The door slams shut when he darts back outside, the echo meshing with the sounds of your heavy breathing and Quinn’s quiet mumbles of annoyance. The pads of his fingers dig into the flesh of your hips as he lets his forehead fall to your shoulder, and you can’t help but a string of giggles escape through your lips.
“At least it was your brother and not mine,” You lightly tease.
“Yeah, well, Jack’s a good storyteller,” Quinn grumbles, “I’m sure he’ll give everyone a good enough image that they’ll feel like they were here.”
When the two of you recollect yourselves enough to head back outside, the looks that were being thrown in your direction confirmed that Jack had, in fact, done a good job at recounting his unfortunate interruption. Jace was staring at you with a look of utter repulsion, but you nonchalantly shrug your shoulders at him and let Quinn gently yank you into his lap. After the general round of teasing comments and hollers went around the backyard, everyone went back to normal and acted as if nothing had changed.
Not you, though.
For you, everything had changed in the best way possible, and you were determined to figure out if things between you and Quinn could blossom into something more. Into something that made all those years of pining and dreaming worth it.
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deercreekflorida · 2 years ago
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Improve Your Driver Distance in Golf
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sunsetmade · 2 months ago
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The Greenery
Rafe Cameron x Reader
Summary: Your the new cart girl in the country club and a certain Kook takes an interest in you.
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“—you’ll be out on the course, rolling by in the cart, asking if they want drinks or snacks—only after they’ve taken their swing, of course. Just looking after the golfers, making sure they’re good. Makes sense?” Her words tumbled out as easy as the wind off the dunes.
I just blinked at her, the early morning sun catching her sunglasses while my nerves twisted in my stomach. I gave a quick nod, even though my mind was still trying to catch up and understand all the instructions she just gave me.
“Alright, perfect! Your cart’s just over here—good luck out there!” she said with a kind of chipper energy that felt straight out of a preschool classroom. I stood frozen on the sun-warmed sidewalk, watching her disappear like sea foam back into the clubhouse.
Wait—which cart was mine?
Did she even say?
A wave of quiet panic rolled in as I scanned the line of identical golf carts, each one baking gently under the Carolina sun. I let out a slow sigh and headed toward them, hoping one would somehow just feel right.
I peeked into the first beige cart, trying to spot anything that screamed claimed—a water bottle, a towel, maybe a rogue granola bar. Nothing. Just a cup holder and the faint smell of sunscreen. I shrugged. Hopefully this wasn’t someone’s pride and joy. If it was, well… I’d apologize later.
I slid my light blue bag under the seat and took a short walk around the cart. The drinks and snacks had just been restocked—coolers full, chips lined up. Everything looked ready for the day. I made a quick mental note of what was where, then went back up front and sat down.
It was quiet, just the sound of the breeze and a few birds in the distance. I checked my watch—10:00. There had to be golfers out on the course already, maybe even finishing up their front nine.
Okay, first day. You’ve got this, I told myself as I started the cart. I eased forward, trying to follow the path that looked the most familiar. The woman who trained me yesterday had pointed out the best routes—ones that usually led to better tips. I kept that in mind and turned off onto the grass, hoping I was going the right way. Up ahead, I saw a few golfers. Time to start.
I cruised up slow, tires crunching over the sandy path near the green, squinting toward the three guys teeing off. I waited until they swung, clubs slicing the humid air, then eased the cart closer. “Hey, y’all want anything this morning?” I asked, chewing the inside of my cheek, trying to sound chill.
The first guy looked up, hand raised to block the Carolina sun. “Uh, yeah, I’ll take a beer. Kelce, you want one? Rafe?”
The other guy—Kelce, I guessed—shook his head, already gripping his driver like he had somewhere better to be.
But the third guy just looked at me—really looked at me—with this kind of quiet intensity that made my pulse hitch. “I’ll take one too,” he said, voice low but steady. I gave him a nod, trying not to stare, but it was hard not to. He was tall—like, seriously tall—and every inch of him looked like it had been carved by the sun. That golden tan that only comes from living outside, not just visiting. His hair was buzzed close, neat and clean, but something about him still felt wild, like he belonged out here, chasing waves or something worse.
I stepped out, tugging down the edge of my pink skirt— that suddenly felt too short—and walked around to the drink side of the cart. The cooler hissed as I opened it, grabbed two cold ones, and handed it over.
Just as I turned to leave, the guy stopped me. “Wait—don’t I need to pay?”
My heart skipped, cheeks flushing. I spun back around, flustered. “Right. Yeah. Sorry, it’s my first day.” I fumbled for the tablet, feeling like a total touron.
“You’re good,” he said with a smile that read annoyed, cracking the beer open and taking a swig. But the other guy—Rafe—just stood there with an amused smirk, like he was quietly entertained by the whole thing. It only made my cheeks flush deeper.
And of course I had to screw up right in front of someone like him—tall, stupidly handsome, and clearly amused by what was happening. My cheeks burned hotter, and I hated how obvious it probably was.
After he paid, I mumbled a have a good day pretending I wasn’t totally mortified, and climbed back into the cart. As I drove off, slow and steady, I muttered to myself under my breath.
Behind me, I heard Kelce laugh. “Topper, you could’ve gotten a free drink, man!”
Rafe rolled his eyes at his friends, barely paying attention now as the beige cart disappeared down the path. His thoughts were still stuck on the girl in it—flustered, short, a little too innocent for this place. Cute, in a way that caught him off guard.
His heart stuttered, just for a second, and he frowned. What the hell was that?
“Looks like Cameron’s got a crush,” Kelce laughed, nudging him with that stupid grin.
Rafe shot him a look sharp enough to kill, and Kelce immediately got quiet. “Shut up,” Rafe muttered, jaw tight.
I could still feel the heat in my cheeks as the cart bounced along the path, the salty wind tugging at my hair. I didn’t dare look back—I already embarrassed myself enough.
But my mind wandered anyway, replaying the way he had looked at me. Like he was trying to figure something out. Like he saw through me, even in those few seconds.
It made my stomach flutter, and I hated that.
Get a grip, I told myself. Guys like that don’t pay attention to girls like me. Not really.
*:・゚✧*:・゚
I exhaled sharply as the blast of cool air hit me walking into the country club—finally a break from the heat. The place was nicer than I expected, all polished wood floors and white linen vibes, like money had been casually spilled everywhere. The only people lounging around were the kind with trust funds and last names that carried weight. I was a Kook, yeah—but not this kind of Kook.
I drifted toward the bar, eyes landing on the small “employees only” sign near the back. Just as I stepped forward, a girl I’d talked to earlier—cheerful, way too energetic for the heat—popped out of nowhere.
“Hey girl! Can you please do me a massive favor?” she started, eyes wide with that desperate sparkle. “There’s this party, and I have to go, but I can’t just leave the bar, like, totally unmanned. So could you maybe…?”
She trailed off, hanging on the question like it was already answered.
I blinked. “Uh, I’m actually on my break, sorry—”
Before I could finish, her hand was already on my shoulder.
“Perfect! You're the best, thank you so much! I owe you!”
And with that, she vanished, leaving me standing there, stunned, with her note pad to take orders. My stomach dropped when I finally caught up to the situation. How the hell was I suppose to do this?
After totally humiliating myself on the course, I knew I had to redeem the day somehow. No way I was walking out of here with just a sunburn and a bruised ego. I let out a breath and tried to shake it off, thinking back to when I used to help my mom at her restaurant. Long nights, sticky menus, endless refills—but I knew how to survive. This couldn’t be that bad.
I squared my shoulders and headed for the deck, the salty breeze catching the edge of my shirt as I pushed through the doors.
Outside, the scene was peak Outer Banks chaos. Golfers fresh off the green looked sun-tired and salty—either from their scores or the humidity. Rich moms clinked glasses while one-upping each other over SAT scores and college tours. And then there were the ones my age—tanned, tipsy, and desperate to prove they belonged. Designer sunglasses, backwards hats, practiced laughs. The summer elite.
I took a breath, rolled my shoulders back, and walked up to the first table—a well-dressed older man and a woman I assumed was his wife. They looked like they’d stepped right out of a luxury yacht.
“Hi there, can I get you anything to drink?” I asked, putting on my best smile.
The woman glanced up, her pearl earrings catching the light as she gave me a perfect, practiced grin. “I’ll have a martini, please, dear,” she said, voice smooth like she’d never been told no in her life.
Her husband barely looked up from his phone. “Beer,” he grunted.
Classy.
I nodded, keeping the smile on my face as I turned and made my way back to the bar. I slid their order over to the real bartender—wherever they were—and leaned against the counter for a second, trying not to look as out of place as I felt.
One table down. A whole sea of golf bros and country club queens to go.
I took a deep breath and slid another order onto the counter, mentally checking off another task. But just as I was about to rush off, a voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Are you the bartender?”
I turned, heart skipping—and then stalling—when I saw him. The same guy from earlier. Handsome in that effortless, probably-drives-a-Jeep-and-surfs-before-brunch kind of way. Now standing way too close beside me.
The smirk that spread across his face made my stomach do something weird. “I thought you were a cart girl,” he said smoothly.
“I—I am,” I stammered, suddenly forgetting how to use words. “But I was asked to cover…”
Why was I nervous? No clue. Maybe it was the way he looked at me, like I was some sort of prey.
His brow quirked. “You must be new around here.”
I glanced up, straight into his blue eyes, and instantly regretted my next question. “How’d you know?”
Obvious. The golf course disaster practically screamed it.
But instead of calling me out, he let out a quiet chuckle. “Lucky guess,” he teased, flashing a smile that was entirely too easygoing.
I exhaled, thankful. At least he wasn’t reporting me to someone in khakis and a clipboard.
He stared down at me, and I found myself locked in, unable to look away from his eyes—blue and piercing like they saw right through the act I was barely holding together.
“What’s your name?” he asked, leaning casually against the bar like he had all the time in the world. All the time just to talk to me.
I hesitated, just for a second, before giving it to him. And I could’ve sworn—sworn—I heard him mutter “cute” under his breath, but it was so quick I couldn’t be sure if I imagined it.
“I’m Rafe,” he said simply.
I repeated the name in my head.
A small smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it. “Nice to meet you, Rafe,” I replied, somehow managing to sound calm despite the full-blown gymnastics routine happening in my stomach.
Rafe knew he was a goner the second she opened her mouth to talk to Topper on the course. There was something about the way she carried herself—like she didn’t know the effect she had, and that only made it worse. Or better. He hadn’t decided yet.
But after seeing her smile? Yeah, that sealed the deal.
The way she nervously fiddled with her fingers when she spoke to him—it wasn’t fake. She wasn’t putting on some country club act. Her eyes held this softness, this kind of innocence he wasn’t used to. It didn’t match the crowd around them, and that contrast made her even more interesting.
And the crazy part? He just wanted to keep talking to her. Hear her voice. Figure her out.
And this was after one day.
Rafe’s phone buzzed in his pocket, cutting through the moment and snapping his focus away from the girl standing in front of him. He cursed under his breath, jaw tightening as he pulled it out.
Dad.
Of course.
He glanced at the screen, then back at her—still standing there, still looking up at him with those wide eyes like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
For a second, he considered ignoring it. Just letting it ring out. But he knew better. His dad didn’t call without a reason, and ignoring him only made things worse.
“I gotta go,” he said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow—on the cart this time?” he added, a teasing smile tugging at his lips.
I smiled without meaning to, nodding. “Yeah… I hope,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
As soon as I heard myself, my cheeks burned. Seriously? I hope?
His smirk deepened, like he’d caught it—but thankfully, he didn’t say anything. He just gave me one last look, then turned and walked off, leaving me standing there replaying the whole conversation in my head.
And for a moment, I forgot I was supposed to be working.
*:・゚✧*:・゚
I pulled into my employee parking spot and let out a sigh, gripping the steering wheel for a second longer than necessary. Okay, I told myself. Let’s just stay as a cart girl today. No mistakes, no surprises.
My first day might’ve been a total disaster, but I couldn’t get Rafe out of my head. As much as I didn’t to admit it— mainly because I just met him, the thought of running into him again was the only thing that made coming back this morning feel… kind of exciting.
I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and made my way across the lot, the air already warm with that early summer heat. I climbed into my cart, settling in behind the wheel like I belonged there, like yesterday hadn’t been a disaster.
I glanced down at the pink and gold watch on my wrist, checked the time, and gave myself a small nod.
Time to start.
I cruised slowly around the course, starting to get the hang of the layout. Each turn felt a little more familiar, each group of golfers a little less intimidating. The Outer Banks air was crisp that morning, cooler than usual. The sky hung low and gray, the sun barely pushing through the clouds like it was trying to make up its mind.
I silently cursed my outfit choice—my skirt offered zero protection from the wind, and my thin tee wasn’t much better. Not exactly built for gloomy weather.
As I pulled around another bend, I spotted two golfers near their clubs. I eased the cart toward them, and my heart skipped the second I realized who it was—Rafe and his friend from the other day.
I bit back a smile and drove a little closer. “Would you guys like anything?” I asked, suddenly unsure of where to put my hands.
“A beer, a really cold—” Topper started, but Rafe cut him off, stepping forward with that same grin that had been stuck in my head since day one.
He leaned against the front of the cart, looking way too comfortable. “Where were you yesterday?”
I swallowed, trying not to overthink my every move as I stepped out to grab a beer from the cooler. “It wasn’t my day to work,” I said, forcing casual into my voice even though my pulse betrayed me.
He hummed, eyes drifting away for a second, a small frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. “What days do you work?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual, like it was just another question.
But it wasn’t.
Truth was, he'd spent more time scanning the course for her yesterday than actually playing the damn game. Every cart that passed, every flash of movement, he hoped it was her. And when it wasn’t—he noticed.
He glanced back at her, trying not to let it show. He just wanted to know when to look.
“U-uh, normally every day,” I said, my voice quieter than I meant it to be. “They only gave me yesterday off because they found out I worked another shift.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized I’d probably given way more detail than necessary. I bit the inside of my cheek, suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was, how casual he looked leaning against the cart—while I stood there feeling like my heartbeat was on full display.
Rafe chewed the inside of his lip as he watched her pull out a beer for Topper. Her skirt shifted slightly when she reached into the cooler, riding up just enough to make his gaze flick there—then snap away just as fast.
He silently cursed under his breath, dragging a hand through his hair like that would help shake it off.
When he glanced back, Topper was staring at him with that familiar irritated look. Rafe waved him off, not in the mood for whatever passive-aggressive comment was loading in his head. Topper huffed, turned, and grabbed his club, muttering something under his breath.
Rafe rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to her—because, yeah, she was the reason he was even out here this early.
“This is for your friend,” I said softly, offering the beer with a small smile.
Rafe took it from me, and his fingers brushed mine for just a second—but it was enough. Enough to send butterflies into full flight in my stomach.
“How much?” he asked, his eyes locked on mine with that same smirk from the other day, clearly still enjoying the memory.
I let out a quiet huff, trying my best not to blush as I looked up at him. He towered over me, jacket unzipped, shorts on despite the chill. Of course he wasn’t cold. Of course he looked good.
“Twelve dollars,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “And don’t worry—I’m not letting you get away without paying this time.”
A spark of amusement flickered in his eyes. A little feisty. He liked that.
Without missing a beat, he pulled out his wallet and handed me a fifty. “Keep the change.”
My eyes widened as I looked at the bill. “Rafe, I can’t take this—that’s way too much,” I said quickly, trying to give it back.
But he just shook his head, gently pushing my hand away. “No. I want you to take it,” he said, voice low. “You deserve it.”
The words hit harder than I expected, warming something in my chest. I hesitated, then slowly slid the bill into my pocket.
A breeze swept past, and I shivered, rubbing my hands along my arms. Rafe’s expression shifted—he noticed and he didn’t like it.
“I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rafe,” I said, turning away to close the cooler and lock the protective door over it.
When I turned back around, he was still there. His expression was unreadable, but there was something lingering in it—something close to disappointment.
“I’ll be looking for you,” he finally said. The usual smirk was on his face, but his words carried a sincerity that made my knees feel just a little weaker.
I let out a quiet chuckle, feeling more confident than I expected. “Bye Rafe,” I said as I climbed into the cart.
Rafe stepped back as I pulled away, making sure he didn’t get clipped. I threw him a little wave over my shoulder, and he laughed, shaking his head before returning it.
The smile didn’t leave my face.
But as I drove off, shivering again from the cool breeze, something caught my eye in the passenger seat. I blinked, then felt my heart leap.
Rafe’s jacket.
He must’ve left it without realizing. I slowed down near the bathrooms, reaching over and picking it up. It was still warm, thick and worn in, and when I brought it closer, his scent filled the air around me—clean, woodsy, and something undeniably him.
I hesitated for half a second before slipping it on.
Instant comfort. Instant butterflies.
I could only hope he didn’t mind.
Topper let out an exaggerated sigh of relief as Rafe returned, beer in hand. “Finally, man. Thought you were never gonna stop flirting with her.”
Rafe rolled his eyes, choosing not to take the bait. Typical Topper.
As Topper took a long swig, his brow furrowed. “Hey… where’s your jacket?”
Rafe glanced down at his arms, like he was just now realizing it wasn’t there. But he knew. He’d known the second she pulled away in that cart.
“Ah, shit,” he muttered, dragging a hand over his face in fake frustration. “Must’ve left it on her seat.”
He didn’t bother to hide the small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
*:・゚✧*:・゚
It had been a week and a few days since the jacket incident, and Rafe hadn’t stopped thinking about it—or her.
Every time he caught sight of that golf cart in the distance, he found himself straightening up, scanning for her face, hoping she’d glance his way. She’d been wearing the jacket the day after he left it—he’d spotted it from across the green. He didn’t say anything, just watched her tug it a little tighter when the wind kicked up.
He liked that she kept it. Liked that she didn’t give it back.
Of course, they’d talked nearly every day when she stopped by his hole on the course—but the jacket? Never mentioned. Not once.
She was half-terrified that if she brought it up, he’d ask for it back. And honestly, she wasn’t ready to give it up. What she didn’t know was that Rafe had no intention of asking. He liked seeing her wear it. Liked the idea that a part of him was keeping her warm out there.
I drove around the course feeling more at ease than I had on my first day. Country music played softly from the cart speakers, mixing with the wind that cut across my bare legs—I’d forgotten to dress for the weather again. Rafe’s jacket rested on my lap, a comfort. I tugged it a little tighter.
As I rounded a curve, my eyes scanned the fairway like they always did. And there—tall, lean, standing alone—it had to be him.
I’d never admit it to him, but every time I approached a group of golfers, I secretly hoped it would be Rafe.
I drove my cart up closer to the golfer and smiled when I could confirm it was him. “Hi, Rafe!” I called out cheerily, the words rolling off my tongue with way more ease than they had that first day. I’d definitely gotten more comfortable around him—too comfortable, maybe.
Rafe turned at the sound of my voice, that familiar grin already tugging at his lips. It was like he’d been waiting for me.
“Hey, pretty girl. Whatcha up to?” he asked, voice low and cool as ever.
The nickname hit me —warm and unexpected—and I felt the blush creep up my neck before I could stop it.
Rafe had gotten bolder with his flirting over the past few days—it wasn’t subtle anymore. His compliments, the way he looked at her, lingered just a little too long to be casual.
Still, she played it off. Told herself that was just how he was—charming, smooth, flirty with everyone. But deep down, she couldn’t help but hope... that maybe it wasn’t just his personality. Maybe it was just for her.
“Just driving around, listening to some music,” I said with a shrug, the faint twang of country still playing in the background. “You’re alone today?”
I tilted my head, genuinely surprised. It was rare to see him without the other two guys trailing behind.
Rafe nodded, walking up to the cart and resting his hands on the roof, leaning in slightly. The move brought him closer—close enough to steal my breath a little.
“Yeah,” he said, casually. “Decided to come alone today.”
His eyes flicked over the inside of the cart, lingering for a beat too long. Then they landed on his jacket still draped over my lap—and something shifted in his expression. A small, barely-there smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he seemed... almost proud.
“Want company?” he asked, voice a little lower now, a spark of confidence threading through his words.
I looked up at him, wide-eyed, lips tugging into a smile before I could stop myself.
“Would you really want to come along?” she asked, the doubt in her voice betraying the slight nervousness she felt. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd get bored—it seemed unlikely, but still, it felt too casual.
But Rafe was anything but bored when it came to her. He nodded slowly, a low hum escaping his chest. "Yeah," he said, his tone confident but soft. "I’d like that."
She let out a light laugh, the sound warm and easy. "I guess you could join me. If I get fired, it’s your fault."
Rafe smirked, stepping closer. Without warning, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, the gesture light but meaningful. “Don’t worry, pretty girl. They won’t fire you,” he reassured her, his voice low and steady.
And even if they tried, he thought—he wouldn’t let that happen. Not on his watch
Rafe stood there, waiting with that confident look on his face, as if he expected me to do something.
I raised an eyebrow, confused. “Are you going to get in?”
He stared at me for a beat, eyes narrowing slightly, before the smirk spread across his face, as if he were offended by the suggestion that he might not.
“Yes. Scoot over, I’m driving,” he said, his voice firm with an edge of playfulness.
Before I could even protest, he was already sliding into the cart, practically nudging me to the side. His leg brushed against mine, and I immediately felt the heat crawl up my skin. It was a simple touch, nothing overly intimate—but it felt like a spark.
The warmth between us was suddenly so palpable, I almost forgot how to breathe for a second.
I could feel the heat from his leg radiating against mine, and despite myself, I shifted slightly, trying to keep the space between us. But Rafe didn’t seem to mind. He leaned back in the seat, stretching his arms above his head, completely at ease as if he owned the place. His confidence was infectious, and I found myself getting more comfortable with every inch he moved closer.
“Comfortable?” he asked, glancing at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
I smiled, trying to act like I wasn’t completely aware of every inch of him next to me. But deep down, I liked it—more than I cared to admit. “Yeah, totally,” I said, though the way my heart was racing told a different story.
Rafe’s smirk widened, sensing my nervousness—or maybe enjoying it. He nudged my leg with his casually, as if to remind me of how close we really were. “Good,” he said, his voice low, his eyes flicking down to my lap where his jacket still lay. “You know, I like seeing you in my jacket.”
I chuckled, my heart fluttering a little. “I guess it’s better than being cold,” I said, my voice betraying the flutter of warmth spreading through me.
“Mm-hmm,” Rafe hummed, his gaze lingering on me, that same playful smirk tugging at his lips. “That’s one way to put it.” He knew I was covering up the real reason.
Rafe started the cart, the engine humming softly as we cruised along the course. The country music played in the background, its soothing rhythm filling the space between us. The wind had calmed down a bit, and the cool air felt refreshing as we made our way down the winding path. It was peaceful—more so than I had expected—and I found myself relaxing in a way I hadn’t realized I needed.
After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Rafe’s eyes drifted toward me. His gaze wasn’t intrusive, but it was intense—calm yet purposeful, like he was taking in everything about me.
I glanced over at him, and for a split second, our eyes locked. I could feel the subtle tension between us, the way his presence seemed to fill every corner of the cart. His gaze softened, but the intensity remained, making my heart beat just a little faster.
“Y’know,” Rafe started, his voice casual but his fingers tightening ever so slightly on the steering wheel, “there’s this event coming up at the club. Some really formal, over-the-top thing my family always drags me to.” He glanced over at me, a flicker of something uncertain in his eyes. “I was wondering if… you’d want to go with me?”
His usual confidence was there, sure—but underneath, I could hear it. That slight edge of nervousness he was trying to hide.
I froze, eyes wide. Was this real? Was he seriously asking me to a fancy club event? As his date?
“L-like a date?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper. My heart was pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.
Rafe looked down at me, his playful smirk fading into something more serious. His gaze held mine, steady and unwavering. “Yeah,” he said, voice low and sure. “Like a date.”
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
Then I quickly cleared my throat, trying to play it cool even though my face was probably on fire. “I—uh—I would love to. That sounds... fun,” I said, my voice steady enough, but the grin spreading across my face totally gave me away.
Rafe let out a soft laugh and shook his head like I was the funniest thing he’d seen all day. His hand moved without warning, resting gently on my thigh, his touch warm and grounding and gave it a squeeze.
“You don’t understand the effect you have on me,” he murmured, his tone more serious now, more honest than I’d ever heard it.
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Not with the way my whole body was buzzing at the feeling of his hand, his words, him.
But inside, I was screaming.
His face was so close to mine—closer than it had ever been. I could feel his breath on my skin, warm and intoxicating. My gaze was locked on his eyes, but his flickered downward, landing on my lips. The world seemed to still around us.
He leaned in slowly, like he was giving me a chance to pull away. But I didn’t want to. I was frozen, heart racing, anticipation buzzing through every inch of me.
I’m about to kiss him, I thought giddily, my lips parting just slightly as my eyes fluttered shut. I felt his lips ghost over mine, a whisper of a touch that sent goosebumps up my arms.
And then—
Thunk!
“Watch out!” someone called from across the course.
Both our eyes snapped open just as something hit the roof of the cart with a loud clunk. Rafe let out a groan, dropping his forehead gently against mine in defeat.
His hand, still resting against my cheek, caressed it softly, his thumb brushing back and forth as if trying to soothe the moment we’d just lost.
I giggled, unable to help myself.
He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, one brow raised as a smirk tugged at his lips. “Funny?”
I nodded, biting back another laugh. “Kinda.”
That teasing spark lit up in his eyes again. “I was so close,” he mumbled under his breath.
I smiled, leaning into his touch just a little more. “Yeah,” I whispered, “you were.”
But the moment wasn’t really gone. If anything, it left us wanting more.
“You drive me insane,” Rafe murmured, his voice low and laced with a kind of frustration that only made me smile wider.
“Good,” I teased, my eyes gleaming with mischief.
He chuckled, that deep, effortless sound that always made my stomach flip. Before I could say anything else, he dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss to the side of my neck. Then another. And another. Each one slower, more deliberate than the last.
I giggled, warmth rushing up my face as I squirmed slightly in my seat. “Rafe!” I laughed, playfully pushing at his head. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
He pulled back just enough to look at me, that smug grin on his face, eyes full of trouble. “Worth it.”
468 notes · View notes
ectocreature · 9 months ago
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something I find interesting is that Jack is called an incompetent ghost hunter because of his aim, but when we see him go into physical hand-to-hand and abandon anything that requires aiming, he's really good at it.
Million Dollar Ghost is where Jack really gets to shine. He absolutely kicks Vlad's ass, and Vlad is an extremely powerful ghost.
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Vlad is powerful enough that he gives Danny a massive run for his money, and Danny is an extremely powerful ghost. In Kindred Spirits he fucking vaporizes part of a golf course.
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Jack, meanwhile, is throwing Vlad around like it's nothing.
Not to mention how, in Masters of All Time, Danny is able to "fight" his father's alternate half ghost self relatively unscathed until Jack starts using fists instead.
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His aim is to be expected, but he throws Danny through the floor into the basement lab, a basement lab which is likely reinforced.
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He then punches Danny so hard he launches him through the basement ceiling again and the other two floors of the house.
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Granted, Danny is very much not fighting back at all, but he straight up got launched, to the point where he slams into a billboard with what seems to be very little lost velocity.
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This is around the midpoint of season 2. The last time Danny got thrown around like this by some random ghost that wasn't Vlad (not counting Pariah Dark) (that I can recall on short notice w/out the opportunity to rewatch every episode) was in season 1. Even though this is with ghost powers of some kind, I highly doubt Jack was training himself the way Vlad must have been. To be that strong without honing the abilities at all? Jack is terrifying.
It makes me wonder how much of a force of nature he would have been if the Ecto-Skeleton had worked out. We see him kick the shit out of the Fright Knight with just the pants, imagine him in the full armor!
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gabbytvclarke · 4 months ago
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The dog and the postwoman PART THREE: I don't want you, I crave you
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Part one here! ♥ Part two here! ♥ Part four here! ♥ Part five here!
• Summary: Arthur Hill invites y/n to join himself, George, and of course Arthur TV on a platform roulette video. Arthur gets a little braver. • Pairing: Arthur TV x female!reader (Also friend!George Clarke and friend!Arthur Hill) • Fluff with VERY SLIGHT smut, friends to something more... I thought I'd splice in some slight jealous!Arthur too for fun • Warnings: alcohol, swearing, innuendoes, brief vomit mention, slight cheekiness/NSFW mentions • Word count: 12,889 words Note 1: Arthur Hill will be either referred to by his full name or just ‘Hill’ again Note 2: I picked the place at random and researched a few pub names and places, I'm sorry if some details are inaccurate!
♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥
It had been almost three weeks since Chris uploaded the pub golf video, three weeks since the shipping between y/n and Arthur begun, three weeks since #y/nTV began circulating on social media amongst the UK YouTube commentary fans. Y/n and Arthur continued to speak as ‘just friends’, or at least that’s what they told anyone who asked, but felt themselves getting closer and closer. They hadn’t seen each other in person since the morning after they met as their schedules were busy, but they played a couple of Minecraft sessions off camera together and began texting daily.
------
Y/n is only about four minutes away from the station where Arthur Hill, George Clarke, and cameraman James are waiting. She's running late, but late is never quite as perfected as Arthur TV himself.
In comparison to Chris’s shoot, y/n feels more at ease for today. She’s not quite sure whether it’s because there are fewer people and a lack of an uncomfortable uniform, or if her nerves are just deafened by the thrill of seeing Arthur again. Her mind buzzes with intrigue on where the adventure will take her today.
From a more predictable 27 minutes away, Arthur’s mind is also racing. Not just because he’s rushing, weaving around commuters like a chased gazelle, but because he is also just as excited to see y/n. Beautiful, hilarious y/n. The girl he’s missed since day two of officially knowing her. Her sweet soft voice plays on loop in his head from their Minecraft sessions, which had lasted late into the night and when hushed voices were a must. He too has enjoyed reading the viewers’ speculations and support.
His favourite recurring comments are oddly from the ‘y/nTV deniers’; who claim that he couldn’t possibly be into y/n as he touches her and jokes with her a lot like he does with his other friends. ‘If he really was into her, he’d be shy’ is their so-called proof. He finds it amusing how they think that that’s evidence, when in fact physical touch is his love language. Sure, he loves his friends and touches them a lot and sure, y/n is his friend, but his love for her is different. Love. He hasn’t said it out loud to anyone yet, not even to himself, but he’ll very soon realise that what he feels for her definitely love.
“There she is!” A beaming George calls as y/n scurries to the boys. He gives her a quick gentle hug before she scoots to Hill to give him one too.
“Hey bestie,” Hill grins, “We haven’t started filming yet. We usually start rolling when we see Arthur making his grand entrance through the crowd.” She pictures his wide eyed expression and athletic body gliding through her fellow train riders, finding the image hilarious. She introduces herself to James and vice versa in the meantime. “Do you know where we’re going yet?” She then asks the group.
“Nah, we wait until we start filming before we find out.” George replies, as Hill’s head dances around while he looks for the disorganised creator. “Ah, he’s just texted. He’ll be here in just a few minutes,” George confirms. Just a few minutes, y/n tells herself in her head. Those minutes feel like hours, that is until a wavy fringe can be seen bouncing amongst the flocks of people in his way. The recording officially begins.
“Fashionably late as usual, we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Hill starts. He turns to the camera and introduces the video as well as his ‘co-stars’, leaving y/n for last as the new guest. While he goes in depth about the concept of the series, Arthur greets the other two. He and George dap and bicker about the agreed meeting time. Arthur then turns to y/n and pulls her into a gentle hug. She can smell his aftershave again and he can smell her familiar perfume. “Hey you,” he utters quietly, a smile evident in his velvet voice.
“We meet again,” y/n replies as they move away from their short embrace, his stubble softly grazing past her cheek as he stands straight. They share a sweet gaze before both realising they are in fact not the only two people in existence. The rouletters learn their destination is Aylesford, Kent. With a dangerous 6 minutes before departure, they rush to grab their travel drinks and make their way to their first train.
Y/n enters the carriage first and nabs herself a window seat. The boys are still making their way down the aisle when Arthur calls shotgun for the other window seat, despite being behind Hill, making sure he sits opposite y/n. Hill instead sits to y/n’s left, George situates himself next to Arthur. They all crack open their drinks of choice as James sits beside the four, filming away. Y/n made sure she had a bigger breakfast before she left, knowing full well how hammered the boys get in these videos. They drink and chatter amongst themselves, which mostly means that George and Hill gang up on Arthur, while y/n laughs but looks at him with empathy.
The train passes a field full of sheep and the group begin telling as many sheep related jokes and puns as possible. “I’m woolly looking forward to exploring today,” Hill attempts.
"Really? I'm feeling a little sheepish" George adds, pulling a smug face towards the camera.
"Sheers everyone!" Arthur joins in, holding up his drink. George and y/n join in the cheersing with a 'waaaay'.
"I don't get it." Hill mutters quietly. George acts out using a razor, doing an impression of the motorised noise, giving Hill intense eye contact.
"Sheeps get sheered," Arthur says, accompanying George's actions, his eyebrows low as he too looks at Hill, almost with disappointment.
"I'm baaaaaffled that you didn't get that Hilly," y/n chimes in with a smirk. Arthur smiles proudly, a swift bounce in his eyebrows in amusement as he cheerses her again.
They approach their first changeover stop and follow Hill, who holds out his phone like it's physically dragging them to their next platform. They have plenty of time before this train leaves, so they don't rush this time around. James points the camera to George as he walks ahead with Hill, they mostly discuss Hill's already slightly tipsy state as the camera also catches 'y/nTV' behind them through their shoulders.
"I was wondering if you'd like to play a horror game with me on my second channel," Arthur asks, "everyone's begging me to have you on something of mine." Of course y/n accepts. They still have plans for y/n to guest star on the Bach and Arthur podcast, but they're still working through their current pre-planned episode schedule and Bach is on vacation. Arthur leans into y/n's ear, “I’m so glad you’re here by the way,” he whispers.
“Me too,” she replies with a genuine smile, internally bracing herself, “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out for that coffee!”
“You’ve… what?” Arthur forgets to walk for a moment, before his wide eyes dart to her.
“This way you two!” Hill calls out, the pair not realising that they’re walking the wrong way. They awkwardly laugh and scurry closer to George, Hill, and James.
Before the pair can continue their conversation, James points the camera to them. Arthur thinks quick on his feet and pretends that they were discussing something else. “Personally I think Arthur’s going to throw up first.” He states about Hill.
“It’s definitely one of you two,” George replies with a grin peering over his shoulder at the pair, “y/n in particular was wobbly as fuck at the pub golf!”
“If I remember correctly, your team came last Clarkey.” Y/n quips, sneering. George pretends he's fainting in response, letting out a high pitched sigh.
“This one guys!” Hill interjects, pointing his phone towards their next train. James moves to the back of them to film the group boarding the carriage from behind. Y/n kindly offers the window seat to the others, which Hill takes. George just shrugs and sits next to him. Arthur gestures to let y/n take a window seat again and then plops down next to her.
“Right then,” Hill starts, plonking the carrier bag on the table, still containing beverages and passing a can to each contender, “Drink up darlings!”
Y/n examines the contents, “God, I didn’t realise the alcohol count is 5%, we’ll be dead before we get there.” She states with a nervous laugh.
“Turns out y/n is the one who’s sheepish,” George points out, with a wink to the camera before his eyes go wide, “editor, keep all the sheep jokes in so that makes sense!”
As Hill and George are in deep conversation with the camera solely pointed at them both, y/n gestures to the arm rest between her and Arthur. “Mind if I move this?” She asks him quietly.
“Oh, sure!” He responds with an equally low, but enthusiastic voice as he lifts the arm rest out of the way. She shoots him over a faint thank you as they both turn their attention to the boys. Y/n rests her hands on the seat, either side of her thighs. While they listen to the Elvis impersonations George and Hill make back and forth for some reason, Arthur too drops his hand down by his side. Placing his hand fanned out on the chair, his pinky finger gently touched y/n’s. She looks down at the small connection for a brief moment, then shifts her gaze up to Arthur’s face only to see his chocolate eyes are already on her. His loving smile confirms it, it was a deliberate move. She shoots him a small grin back but immediately looks away so he can’t see the redness burning on her cheeks.
“How far are we now lads?” She asks kindly, as if her mind wasn't racing. Hill narrows his eyes at the digital notice from across the carriage, his lips moving slightly as he reads.
“Two more stops,” he confirms, “then we’re at lovely… where are we going again?” he lets out an awkward giggle before George chokes on his drink.
“Aylesford,” he answers between a mix of chuckling and coughing, wiping the spill off his lips. Arthur just grins and shakes his head as y/n laughs from behind her hand.
Arthur goes to grab his drink to take a sip, being right handed, but he places his hand back down so he’s in contact with y/n again and reaches instead with his left hand. Luckily it goes unnoticed, except for y/n of course. She glances to Arthur and can see a red tint in his cheeks. It could well be the alcohol, but it’s most likely the touching. It’s barely a pinky-promise and already the two are melting in their seats.
As the train slows down for the gang’s last changeover stop, they can’t help but notice the large amount of people waiting on the platform. “I think that’s the platform we need for the next train.” Hill murmurs with dread.
“Is there an event on or something?” Arthur asks.
“Hell yeah! They’re waiting to see us four legends, and y/n.” George jokes with a smirk. Y/n turns to him with a sad face, poking out her bottom lip for extra effect.
“Might be a bit packed.” Hill worries out loud. As the train slows to a halt, they all collect their empty cans and bin them on the way off the carriage. They head over to the other platform and join the herd. “The next train’s in half an hour if you’d all prefer to wait.” Hill offers.
“I’m pretty hungry, not gonna lie, so I’d rather stand for a couple of minutes and get there sooner and grab food.” George complains. James puts the camera in his bag, as they all figure it’s too crowded to film yet.
“I didn’t realise you guys ate proper meals on these videos, I thought it was drink drink drink.” Y/n points out.
“We usually eat shortly after arriving,” Arthur gently explains, “that’s why we seemingly go from zero to a hundred drunk towards the end, because after a while our lunches wears off.” Y/n nods, genuinely interested.
Arthur places his hand on the small of her back, his lips right up to her ear. “It’s because George gets really pissy when he’s hungry.” George doesn’t hear as he’s too busy frowning at his phone, googling the nearest restaurant from the Aylesford station. Even though Arthur whispers to her a lot, y/n still feels flustered over his warm breath blowing down her neck.
Their next train pulls up and the hoards of people clamber on. The gang all manage to squeeze themselves on but are have no choice but to stand by the doors. No one else is stood with them there, thanks to other passengers using the space for a couple of suitcases and a bike. Arthur reaches his hand behind y/n to hold one of the stanchion poles, standing close to her to keep her steady as the train moves.
James whips a smaller camera out, filming the four as they awkwardly stand in silence. Hill jokingly shifts his wide eyes around, all of them purposefully not speaking or engaging in eye contact for comedic effect. The train jerks around at one point and y/n instinctively grabs onto Arthur’s T shirt to ground herself, one by on his belly and the other by his back. She can’t help but feel Arthur’s firm torso against her knuckles as she grips the fabric. She immediately apologises and re-steadies herself, letting go. “You’re all good,” he chuckles shyly, secretly wishing she’d grab him again. His grin shrinks into a small side smile as he leans down. “You can hold me anytime you need.” He whispers cheekily, his lips grazing her ear. Thankfully the camera was put away again by this point. She can’t believe her ears. Those drinks must be getting to his head already, he drank more cans than the others did on the last train, after all. He stands straight again, still smiling. She tries looking nonchalantly out the window, as if what he said isn't driving her crazy.
“We’re stopping here,” George grumbles as the train slows down. The camera is back out and filming as the four step off and make their way to the exit.
“Right, so,” Hill speaks to the camera casually.
“Riiiiiight soooo!” George interjects immediately, mocking Arthur’s YouTube intro. Hill then starts doing it too.
“Riiiight soooo, um, we’re here in Aylesford, um-”
“OK, I do not go ‘um’ THAT much!” Arthur calls out as they all follow Hill’s lead.
“You do sometimes” y/n replies while cackling. George nods in agreement.
“Oh, shush you!” Arthur huffs with a grin, poking her side while Hill tells the audience which pub they’re heading to first.
However before they actually go there, they first stop off at a fish and chips shop just 15 minutes from the station, to shut George up. George gets himself a large portion of chips, Hill and James get mediums, and Arthur shares a large portion with y/n. They all walk an eat off camera as they slowly make their way to the first pub: The Chequered Inn. The walk is mostly silent while they feast, until they're all finished and the camera instinctively comes back on.
"Watch this," George giggles to the camera, evil written all over his face. He rushes quietly behind Hill and steps on the heal of his shoe, making his foot pop out and his clean white sock stamping on the concrete floor. "Oh fucking hell!" He yells with his head thrown back, the camera zooming in on Hill's now stained sock, before zooming back out and capturing the other three laughing. "Come here!" Hill shouts as George immediately runs away, almost getting them both ran over as they sprint across the road.
"They're like children," y/n chuckles, her eyebrows raised in surprise at the display. The camera is on them now, as they stand like embarrassed parents watching their sons fight.
"Yeah, children with weird shaped and sized heads." Arthur adds with a closed mouth smile.
"What?" Hill calls out as the boys walk back to the adults, both out of breath.
"Nothing!" Arthur replies angelically.
They all enter the first pub, Hill ordering a Guinness for each of the four of them, as y/n and George find them a table. They spot a booth and slide in. James stands with the two Arthurs up at the bar, hoping to capture any awkward interactions with the barmen.
"Giving the people what they want, are we?" George whispers to y/n with a smirk.
"What d'you mean?" Y/n asks, genuinely confused.
"Don't tell me you haven't seen the swarm of 'y/n and Arthur' posts sweeping the nation!" He responds.
Y/n slowly nods and begins to giggle. "I honestly didn't realise we were being weird, I'll try and make things less awkward between us." As they sit in their booth whispering to each other, they're very unaware of how close they're sitting. George with his arm draped over the back of y/n's part of the rounded booth chair, leaning over and face close to hers, only so they can hear each other over the general clatter of the pub.
Arthur glances over from the bar as Hill pays for their drinks. He sees the close proximity between the girl he has feelings for and his best friend and he begins to doubt whether or not she actually likes him, or whether she's close with all her guy friends. "Ready?" Hill asks him, slightly firmly due to how long he's been waiting for Arthur to grab the other two pints. Arthur unclenches his jaw, mutters a quick apology and joins Hill in bringing the drinks over.
George moves himself around to the end of the booth, allowing y/n to follow suit as the Arthurs slide in, and James sits on the other end. As Hill explains what 'splitting the G' is, George moves his arm so it's on his lap and no longer behind y/n. They all watch as Hill is first to drink, the foam landing almost perfectly as they cheer. Arthur is next, but he just over drinks it. He tries protesting but the other boys won't allow it.
"So close Arth!" y/n sighs teasingly, patting him on the back gently. Arthur snaps his head round to narrow his eyes at her playfully as he pushes her pint closer as if to challenge her. She gives it a go but massively undershoots it, not drinking near enough.
"Sooo close [nickname]!" Arthur mocks, purposefully quivering his lower lip as he looks at her with exaggerated pity. He rubs small circles on her lower back, pretending it's part of the sympathy act when really he just wants the closeness. Y/n laughs as she buries her head in her hands, also overplaying her reaction. She's secretly enjoying the contact though, it feels natural and almost domestic.
As the attention is on George and his split attempt, Arthur is unaware of the slight frown in his face. Hill leans to Arthur's ear, "You can probably stop rubbing her back now," he whispers with a cheeky grin. Arthur, who didn’t realise he's still doing it, casually drops his hand down from y/n's back, resting on the seat instead. He keeps his composure the whole time however, as to not draw attention. George perfectly splits the G and raises his glass as the gang applaud him, Arthur only donning a small smile.
George gets a phone call and attempts to have the conversation inside, but he can’t hear very well and so excuses himself and heads outside. Now he’s out the way, y/n sees an opportunity to go to the toilet. “I promise it’s not to vomit!” She giggles.
“It’s not pub golf, feel free to spew as much as you need.” Hill explains with a sneer, a sentence that’s oddly comforting. Once she’s out of sight, Hill examines James as his full attention’s on his phone, after having recorded enough clips in this pub. Knowing the coast is clear, he then turns to his fellow Arthur. “What was up with you earlier then?” He asks, a worried tone with a hint of accusation.
“What?” Arthur responds, his gaze darting away from where he last saw y/n and snapping to Hill.
“You, earlier. Staring at y/n and George,” Hill continues, looking around to ensure neither of the two return, “there’s no way you think THAT'S happening. Come on man.”
Exhaling slowly, Arthur’s shoulders relax. “Fine, they looked a little cozy and I didn’t like it.” He murmurs, feeling embarrassed at his own insecurities. “Y/n is absolutely George’s type too and it would kill me if it turns out she likes him.”
“Arthur mate, you’re so smart most of the time, but hear me out on this. You’re being dumb.” Hill puts his arm around him and jostles him a little, staring at him sternly in his eyes. “She is so into you.”
Arthur looks to Hill, surprised to hear someone say those words in a serious tone. Usually he didn't believe others when they told him before, because it seemed like they were just teasing him.
“You’re probably just anxious because you have a crush on her, and he’s one of your best friends. Our thoughts can be cruel to us sometimes.” Hill adds as he squeezes Arthur’s shoulder.
Arthur looks down to the table, slowly nodding as he feels almost ashamed for his worries before. He feels guilty for mistrusting y/n and George, and was definitely letting his worries get to him. “Thanks, you’re right, I think.” He chuckles sheepishly. Deep down though, he won't believe it truly unless she tells him or makes a bold move to show him.
Y/n returns to the table with her usual sweet smile. “You two look very serious,” she starts, “everything OK?”
Hill sees an opportunity to be a pain in the ass, “Arthur’s just worrying over silly things.” He responds with a smirk. Arthur burns his eyes into Hill.
“Worried? What’re you worrying about Arth?” Her happy expression sours as she dons a concerned look. Hill excuses himself and goes to the toilet, patting Arthur on the back as he leaves.
“I’m fine, Arthur’s just being a dick as usual.” Arthur shyly explains. Y/n’s smile creeps back.
“That I can believe, but you didn’t seem yourself earlier,” she replies, turning her body to face him more and leaning closer, “are you sure you’re OK?” Her voice low and laced with care.
Arthur thinks about being honest, about explaining that he got himself worked up over nothing, but he spots George returning from outside out the corner of his eye.
“I’m OK, thanks though y/n. Just a little tired I think, I’ll be fine after a few more drinks though.” He squints his eyes shut as he shoots her a smile, a weight further lifting from his shoulders.
“You alright Clarkey?” Y/n asks as he scoots back in next to her.
"Yeah, just my mum." He replies with a friendly smile. Arthur looks at George, then to y/n, and is internally slapping himself for seeing anything other than a brother-sister dynamic between the two. He finds a new found confidence, although that could be also due to the Guinness from earlier taking effect.
"Oh, was she telling you how great I was last night?" Hill quips with a wink as he rejoins them too.
"You disgust me." George retorts with a low grumbly voice, pretending to be disappointed.
As they exit the pub one by one, Hill addresses the group; "Hope you guys are wearing comfy shoes, as this'll be quite a trek." They all nod, not minding a long walk. However, the next pub, Little Gem, is only a one minute walk away. In fact, it was caught on camera in the background while Hill made the joke. They all burst out laughing 56 seconds later when the adorable little sign is spotted, and they all enter.
The downstairs area is quite busy, so Arthur and y/n head to find a table upstairs while George volunteers to help Hill bring the drinks over this time. They spot a cozy corner and Arthur pulls a chair out for y/n, then taking a seat next to her. "This place is cute." Y/n remarks, her voice beginning to wobble, wearing a smile as she looks around the place.
"You'll fit right in then." Arthur states, beaming with rosy cheeks. Y/n turns to him in surprise, not expecting another bold statement from him already.
"Hmm?" She hums, her eyebrows high, the corners of her mouth slightly curving up as she slowly realises what he said.
"'Little Gem'. That could even be your nickname," Arthur adds. Y/n stares into his eyes, which are adoringly heavy as he leans in closer and continues, "because you're a rare find and your e/c eyes are beautiful, like gems."
Her mouth falling open slightly, her stomach flipping, all she can utter is: "Arthur..." under her breath. He chuckles in response, turning redder.
"So beautiful." He repeats quietly as he pecks a kiss to her cheek, right by her ear. His eyes still on her, watching her nervously stutter as she finds herself in a fit of small giggles. He figures that if he had misread the situation, she’ll shut him down nicely, but she hadn't and that’s why he can’t stop smiling.
“This is a quaint little corner.” George declares, snapping them out of their intimate peace. He sets their pints down as Hill follows, James filming from behind them. The guys take their seats. "Little Gem is the smallest pub in Aylesford." Hill informs his friends.
“To the Little Gem!” Arthur cheers, raising his glass, the others clinking theirs together as they echo him. “The most beautiful thing in existence!” He continues, shooting y/n a very sly wink before taking a few swigs. George and Hill figure it’s just Arthur being his odd self and don’t think too much about it. Y/n on the other hand can’t handle it, her face heating up.
“God y/n you’re bright red, you struggling already again?” George jabs, causing her to get the giggles again.
“Yeah, this is worse than your pub golf tolerance!” Arthur chimes in, making her cheeks burn more.
“I’m fine! There must be something in the Aylesford air or something!” She retorts, all flustered.
“Didn’t help that the first lot of drinks on the train had such high alcohol levels to be fair.” Arthur chuckles.
“And it’s very warm and romantic in this snug little corner.” Hill adds, wiggling his eyebrows.
After drinking their beers and engaging in general chitchat, Hill excuses himself and hurries off. The three speculate that he's soiled himself or wet himself, or both. George looks over the railings to see Hill has ordered a large tray of shots and watches him carrying it up the stairs. "Oh god, what's he planning?" George mutters to the pair as they watch Hill approach the table.
Once he's sat down, he announces: "I thought seeing as we're the only ones up here, we can play a cheeky game of 'never have I ever'!"
"Yaaaay." Arthur cheers quietly, the other two looking excited.
"OK I'll start," Hill begins, with a smirk, "Never have I ever... shagged a surfboard." George and Hill dart their eyes to Arthur.
"Y-You can't do ones that are only aimed at one person!" Arthur whines, half laughing, half surprised. Y/n stares at Arthur with a mix of shock and amusement, annoyed that she somehow hadn't heard this story yet.
"Oh yes we can!" George interjects with a cheeky giggle.
"Arthur, your turn." Hill directs.
"OK," Arthur pauses for thought, "OK, never have I ever filmed a video with someone I didn't like." A couple of 'oooh's murmur across the table and everyone takes a shot.
"Y/n! Really!" Arthur yells, the drinks already ramping up his volume, "I can't imagine you hating anyone!"
"I don't! I don't hate them, we just didn't gel!" Y/n cries in defense.
"You'll have to spill the tea later" George chuckles, giving her a gentle nudge with his elbow.
"OK, never have I ever..." Y/n starts, "... Gave a girl the ick because I was IDed on a date." She grins at Arthur.
"Oi! We said no obviously targeted ones!" Arthur shouts, pointing his finger at her as he watches her laugh.
"Who's we?" Hill asks mischievously.
"Yeah, you're the only one bitchin'." George teases in a condescending tone, his arms crossed.
"How did you know about that?" Arthur whispers to y/n, a playful smile across his face.
"I saw you talk about it, I think in a video with Cam." She explains, still amused.
"Anyway!" George calls, eager to take his turn. He looks at the other three players, a certain glint in his eye. "Never have I ever really liked someone I filmed a video with."
Y/n takes a shot without hesitation. The two Arthurs both ask if he means having a crush on someone, which George nods before downing a shot himself. Arthur hesitates, then also takes one.
"Really?" Hill enquires, clasping his hands together like a movie villain. "Anyone want to fess up?" The three all yell 'no', almost in unison.
The game continues for a while, turning into a game of 'who can get the others drunk the quickest', all picking specific declarations to target the others, but none of them taking the game too far or revealing actual secrets. Once the shots are all gone, the recording stops while the four give the alcohol a chance to sit in their systems, before heading off to the next pub.
As they head out, all but George are slightly beyond tipsy. "OK guys, this pub is actually quite a long walk away." Hill warns, before winking at the camera. He leads the group, George right behind him scrolling through his phone. Y/n and Arthur walk side by side. "I can't believe how many weird experiences you've had," Arthur chuckles as he looks at her, more interested in her than ever. The game revealed some truths that Arthur hadn't learned yet.
"I guess I'm a wild one!" She chuckles as she shrugs.
Arthur wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer to him as they walk, he leans down with his lips right by her ear. "I'd love to see your wild side" He whispers, then easing his grasp.
Before she can react, Hill makes a sudden turn to The Bush, the third pub, which is only a two minute walk from Little Gem. "Where are you- oh my god." George groans. Hill laughs, holding his arms outwards as if he'll get an applause.
"'The Bush'?" Arthur asks with a hint of immaturity.
"Please don't use this pub as another nickname for me." Y/n quips, just loud enough for Arthur to hear, making him throw his head back with an unapologetically loud laugh.
The noise of the pub paired with the copyrighted music leads the group to head out to the pub garden. They take their seats at one of the tables under a large parasol, out of the English sun, just a few hours before it begins setting.
Hill asks y/n this time to help him carry out the drinks, some fruity ciders. They head back inside where there's already a small queue.
"So, you enjoying your platform roulette debut so far?" Hill asks.
"I'm loving it so much, thanks again for the invite."
"Good good, though I doubt you're enjoying it as much as Arthur," He teases.
She narrows her eyes, confused. "What?"
"You and Arthur, the flirting. It's cute honestly," Hill explains, y/n looks down embarrassed, completely unaware of how obvious they were being, "I don't think I've ever seen him this chirpy."
"Really?" She asks, a smile growing.
"Well, apart from your pub golf video and its unseen bits," he continues as y/n shyly picks at her fingers, "Arthur's the happiest person I've ever met, and you managed to make him even happier. Wow."
Meanwhile outside, George taps Arthur on the back while he scrolls through emails on his phone. "Mate, you need to ask her out." George states, point blank.
"Who?" Arthur attempts, even trying to look confused by frowning. George rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
"You know exactly who I mean," George snaps back, Arthur exhales and drops his shoulders, "what are you waiting for?"
"I don't know, I'm just nervous that she's not into me. I don't want to ask her out and she says no and doesn't want to even be my friend-"
"You really think she doesn't like you back?" George scoffs, smirking as he looks into Arthur's eyes through furrowed brows. "You don't see the way her eyes sparkle when she looks at you, or the way she blushes when she laughs at your jokes. She didn't tell you off when you kissed her cheek even-"
"You saw that?" Arthur yells, his voice breaking. He clasps a hand to his mouth as George shushes him.
"Yes and I've known y/n longer than you. Trust me, if she didn't like you, she certainly wouldn't let you do that." He pinches Arthur's cheek and lightly jiggles him. Arthur swats his hand away. "I've never seen her with a crush before, until she met you."
As they spot y/n and Hill slowly walking to their table with the drinks, George and Arthur sit up straight in an attempt to look like they weren't just discussing anyone.
Y/n sits opposite Arthur. For the first time, she notices how Arthur's gorgeous chocolate eyes light up when they share a gaze. Arthur spots the flush on her cheeks that George had mentioned just earlier.
With the camera rolling, George decides to make the others play a game of 'name that tune'. He starts by humming the instrumental part of 'Late for the Reservation', kindly giving Hill some free advertising.
"Oh! Late for the Reservation!" Y/n guesses excitedly. George nods while Hill bows his head with a shy smile. He turns to the camera.
"This sounds planned but it wasn't, but you can listen to Late for the Reservation now!"
The group carries on the game for a little while, Hill surprisingly being awful at guessing despite his field of expertise. Arthur downs the rest of his drink and suddenly clears his throat.
"Sorry guys, I've just got to make a quick phone call. I'll be right back." He explains, before rushing through the pub to get to the front door.
The other three continue their game. Y/n begins humming 'Lily'. She can see in George's eyes that he gets the song right away, but he pretends not to to see how long it takes Hill to guess it.
After a further 10 seconds, George bursts out laughing. "There's no way you're not getting this!" He snorts, while y/n continues humming with a grin.
"I genuinely don't know!" Hill cries while laughing awkwardly, causing the other two to chortle.
"It's YOUR song!" They both yell.
"Oh, Lily..." Hill mutters as he slowly puts his head in his hands, chuckling with shame.
Suddenly, y/n's phone buzzes. "Oh, it's Arthur," she states to the guys, "it says: 'Come to the front, you NEED to see this!'" She takes the last couple of sips of her cider before standing up, her head rushing.
George's phone also buzzes, he reads the text in his head and elbows Hill to show him. He reads it too and nods. "You guys coming?" Y/n asks the pair kindly.
"I would but my head's swirling." Hill lies.
"And I'd better stay in case he falls into a cider-induced coma." George adds. James puts is camera down and enjoys his drink as y/n shrugs and heads to the front of the pub.
"Hey Arth!" Y/n says joyfully, startling Arthur as he puts his phone away quickly.
"There you are!" He beams, putting his hands in his pockets. She steps fully outside and leans against the wall, next to him.
"What are we looking at?" She asks sweetly, looking around the street for a cute dog or something.
"Oh, um actually, I wanted you to come out here to have some alone time away from the guys and the camera." He explains, struggling to maintain eye contact.
"Ah, OK," y/n responds, a little confused but not judging, "is everything alright?"
A smile creeps up on Arthur's lips. Even when he's being weird and awkward, y/n isn't fazed and just shows care for him.
"Everything is great, absolutely fine," he replies, his eyes soften as he looks at her, "in fact, my life has greatly improved ever since I-"
"OH MY GOD IS THAT ARTHUR TV?" A random voice screeches from across the road. The pair snap their heads to the source of the noise and see a small group of teenagers. The girls giggle as they shove each other before running up to them. The boys of the group stay back and watch. "Oh my god I watch your videos all the time!" One of them calls out. Amongst the girls' excitement, one of them pushes y/n out the way as they ask Arthur for a selfie. Y/n stumbles a little but steadies herself against the wall.
"Woah, careful!" Arthur chuckles, trying to keep a peaceful vibe whilst secretly being annoyed that y/n got shoved. The pushy girl takes a selfie with Arthur, just the two of them. "Hey, um, can you take a picture of us with him?" One of the other girls asks y/n.
"Of course I can," y/n kindly obliges, taking the phone off the girl and snapping multiple photos. One of the girls posing with Arthur suddenly goes wide eyed.
"It's y/n from yt/n! Oh my gosh!" She calls out. Her and another girl who’s standing with Arthur suddenly rushes to y/n's side for a photo. "I loved you in pub golf, you and Arthur had such funny moments!"
Y/n gets flustered, as she's not as big as the other guys and still isn't quite used to being 'spotted'. Arthur offers to take a photo for the girls, beaming at y/n's humble reaction.
"Wait, is George inside? George Clarke?" One of them asks, looking at herself in her phone's front facing camera and adjusting her hair. Y/n and Arthur nod.
"And Arthur Hill," Y/n adds with a grin, "they're in the pub garden." They girls squeal and all rush inside. Y/n and Arthur look at each other and exhale at the same time. They then hear the excited screams from the other side of the pub.
“What were you saying?” Y/n asks politely. Arthur prepares to answer but spots the teenage boys coming over, presumably to fetch the girls. They send y/n and Arthur some awkward and apologetic looks as they enter the pub too. Shortly after the teenagers are all seen again exiting the pub, with Hill, George and James emerging from behind them. The girls all call out their good byes and wave as they head the opposite direction to the gang’s next destination.
“OK, this time the pub is quite a while away.” Hill explains to the group.
“Is it the Village Club? Because I can literally see it from here.” Arthur chortles, spitting a little.
“Oh fuck sake, you ruined my joke!” Hill yells halfheartedly, but loud enough to echo.
As they all walk, George murmurs to the camera: “Y’know one of these days it’ll really be a long walk but no one will believe him,” in a false serious tone.
Y/n, hearing this, jogs to join George and James. “Yeah, like the boy who cried walk.” She adds with a grin, and she hears Arthur laughing from behind her.
However when they get there, they soon realise that it’s a social club and was full of members. Although they’re all tipsy, they’re sober enough to decide to give it a miss as to not ruin the members’ fun.
“Well then, let’s have a look at what else we can do while we’re here.” Hill announces as he scrolls through his phone. “Aha! OK, so there’s an Aylesford Friars just 14 minutes away from here and it’s like a historical landmark.”
“14 minutes away or 14 seconds?” George mutters.
“It’s… thatta way!” Hill exclaims enthusiastically and directs the gang to walk back on themselves.
Arthur and George walk side by side while the camera is on them, y/n joins Hill at the front to help with directions.
“How’d things go with Arthur just now, outside the pub?” He asks her, keeping his voice low, then chuckles to himself at the name ‘The Bush’.
“Well, he seemed kind of nervous or something, but then those fans came over, so I never found out." She replies quietly, “Why?”
Worried he’ll reveal too much, he tries to think fast but no thoughts were coming, just ‘The Bush’ or the truth. Luckily for him (and Arthur) James joins them with the camera.
“Uhh, I need a woman’s touch with directions,” he explains, passing y/n his phone while making direct eye contact with the lens.
“The Chequers Inn is just here,” she calculates, gesturing to the pub beside them, “so if we head straight for about 9 minutes we’ll be there.”
“See? Aren’t those eyes amazing?” Hill asks the camera, like a quiz show host trying to flatter his guest.
Y/n suddenly feels a buzz in her own phone. She hands Hill’s back to him and checks her notifications. It’s a text from Arthur:
'Yes 👀✨'
She immediately looks over her shoulder and locks eyes with him, to see he’s already looking at her with a dorky smile. He nods at her to confirm it, she does have amazing eyes. She then watches as he types another message on his phone, a couple of seconds later it comes through:
'Beautiful little gems 😍'
Fighting a blush, she decides to respond, completely ignoring the camera while Hill talks nonsense to it. She sends:
'Mr Frederick, are you flirting with me?'
She turns her head again to watch him read it. He frowns as he concentrates, the words a little blurry to him from all the drinks, but a cheeky smile soon creeps up on his face. Quickly facing forwards again as to not look too needy, she hears George moan: “You’re not seriously texting each other are you?”
“No.” Arthur lies with a half smile, not convincing anyone. He’s not even trying.
George whispers, but y/n still overhears: “Oh please, who else do you smile like THAT for?”
She beams to herself, before her phone vibrating catches her attention. From Arthur:
“Let’s be real, when am I not flirting with you”
Wow, this man is filled with liquid confidence. Or regular confidence, it’s hard for her to tell.
The Friars Aylesford Priory is a beautiful place. Surrounded by gorgeous gardens and holding a cute tea room and gift shop inside, the group slowly potter around. James captures scenic shots and clips of the four, Hill making a mental note to pair the montage with one of his songs.
Arthur takes his time to read a lot of the information dotted around, having to lean in closer and furrow his brows as he struggles to read with is beer goggles. This however, makes for a perfect photo opportunity and y/n snaps one without his knowledge. She can send it to him later for his Instagram. She takes a few more pictures of the place in general.
While they’re in the outdoor gardens, she walks alongside Arthur in a peaceful silence. Unbeknownst to them, George takes a photo of the two of them walking side by side and immediately sends it to them both. Y/n is first to check her phone. “George took our photo,” she says, smiling up at Arthur. He decides to check his phone too, figuring it’s the same message.
“Aw yeah, that’s a lovely photo of us,” he replies with glee, his voice raising in pitch.
“We have a collection now, the first being our cuddle on Chris’s sofa.” Y/n jokes as she saves pic to her photos.
Arthur giggles, feeling his face burn. “That reminds me actually, did Chris show you his pictures from the pub golf?” He then asks. Y/n shakes her head.
They both stop walking as Arthur holds a finger up, signifying to hold on for a moment while he scrolls through his photo album. “They’re the rejected ones of the group pictures he made us take halfway through,” he explains, “look at this one then scroll to the next. Notice anything?” He hands y/n his phone and smiles from ear to ear as he watches her look.
In the group photos, Arthur was on the far left but at the front, whereas y/n is on the far right and stood further back. In the first photo, Arthur is looking over his shoulder and smiling across at y/n as her eyes are on the camera. When she swipes across, the next photo shows her looking sweetly at Arthur while he smiled at the camera. Arthur chuckles quietly as y/n bites her lips between her teeth.
“We can’t keep our eyes off each other, what do you suppose that means?” He asks genuinely, tilting his head. He reaches for his phone and takes a long inhaled breath as he brushes over her fingers with his.
Her heart skips a beat as his hand lingers on hers for a couple of seconds. “I… I don’t know,” she replies, now struggling to keep eye contact. “I can’t speak for you, but for me personally I-”
“Sorry to interrupt baes,” Hill interjects awkwardly, “but George is hangry again and I thought we could head to a bakery and chill for a bit before checking out the night life.” Arthur’s eyes were wide, but soften into a more polite look, trying to hide his disappointment. Y/n on the other hand is relieved because she isn’t sober enough to find the right words yet.
They all head to a cake shop nearby, Hill talking Arthur and James’s heads off while George keeps y/n company.
“I’m sorry if my greed ruined any hashtag y/nTV moments back there,” George whispers, “it was looking quite serious, but my stomach is literally rumbling.” He isn't kidding.
“It’s OK really, I suck at serious conversations,” she mumbles back. She goes on to tell him what happened.
“Arthur gives hints really well, but he sucks at taking them,” George explains with a shrug, “if you can’t find the words, maybe you can show him with actions?” This gives y/n food for thought. Her mind starts racing with what she can do rather than what she can say.
“Thank you Clarkey.” She quickly gives his forearm a grateful squeeze.
George is the only one who orders at the bakery, the others not feeling up to eating anything sweet at that moment. It becomes pretty clear how George can throw back so many drinks but remain relatively sober compared to the others. It’s a smart tactic.
While George munches away, Arthur plays a game of chess on his phone. Y/n watches over his shoulder, both of them in total silence. Meanwhile, Hill scrolls through his phone, looking for karaoke bars and nightclubs, feeling in the mood to sing and dance.
"There isn't much available in terms of night time fun..." Hill murmurs, "But we could catch an 8 minute train to Maidstone, which seems to have more to offer for us youngsters."
George wipes his lips, "Yeah I'm down for that mate."
"Same here," y/n chimes in with a smile. They all look to Arthur, but he's too engrossed in his match. Sensing the silence, he peers up to see everyone's eyes on him. He blinks for a couple of seconds before nodding too, although he's not entirely sure what he just signed up for.
They make their short walk to the station, the train arriving at the perfect time. Sitting in a six-seater area, Hill explains to the camera: "We are heading to Maidstone now, they seem to have more things for us to do there."
Arthur, who is sat next to Hill and opposite y/n, whips his phone back out to play more online chess. George and y/n try tallying up their drinks so far and talk about the best part of Aylesford.
"I liked Little Gem, it was really cozy and cute." Y/n stated with a smile. It's the only moment on the short train ride that makes Arthur look away from his phone. George crosses his arms with a smug look on his face.
"I enjoyed that place too," he adds, "yeah, I saw a really cute couple share an intimate moment there. It was nice to see." His grin grows wider. It's the kind of statement that's only innocent to those who aren't aware of the context, the clever prat. Arthur, back to staring at his phone at this point, widens his eyes for a brief moment. Until now, he didn't know that George saw him peck y/n's cheek.
"I liked scoping out the MILFs at the social club." Hill adds, smiling playfully.
"Oh my goodness..." Arthur mutters, shaking his head.
They arrive at Maidstone and head straight for the Wetherspoons nearby, being only a two minute walk away.
"Ah, another one of your famous hikes ey Arthur?" George quips to Hill as they all walk, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Yep, I'm thinking of renaming this series to 'long-walk roulette'." He replies, matching George's tone.
Meanwhile, James captures shots of the four walking together, with y/n and Arthur closer to the camera. "Did you win your match?" Y/n asks him.
"Yeah, although I think it'll be my last game of the day now we're drinking even more." He chuckles in response.
Reaching the pub, named The Society Rooms, Hill heads to the bar with James as the other three find a quieter spot outside. Hill orders a bunch of shots on a tray again, and carries them out to the group.
Donning a mischievous smirk, he declares: "Who's up for a game of 'say it or shot it'?" George pinches his nose bridge.
"We basically played this in Aylesford." He grumbles.
"No Georgie baby, that was 'never have I ever'." Hill scolds in a soft motherly tone. "You can go first then." Passing a shot to George.
"Fine by me, sugar tits." He mumbles back, holding the shot ready.
"George," Hill begins, "who, out of the women you've collaborated with, do you think is the most attractive?" George thinks for a second, before taking his shot.
"Y/n," Hill turns his attention to her and hands her a shot, "what's the name of the creator you collaborated with that you HATED?"
Sighing, she shakes her head. "I didn't hate them." She mumbles, but takes her shot anyway, her eyes getting heavy.
"Right then, Mr Television... Would you give up chess for sex?" Hill asks, the sudden randomness catching the others off guard.
"Oh my god!" Arthur yells in shock. He looks at his shot and pauses, "I do love chess, but yes. I would." His face begins to burn up again as he avoids looking at y/n.
"OK then Hill," George says, having a think of an annoying question to ask, "what's the name of the last girl whose DMs you have a'slid?"
"Fuck that." Hill immediately replies, downing his shot.
The game lasts quite a while, almost getting enough footage for an entire separate video, the sky now dark. George slides one of the last remaining shots to y/n, he stares at her through narrowed eyes, "Y/n."
"Yes George."
"Out of everyone here, who would you rather bang?"
Arthur's mouth falls open as Hill lets out an "Ooooooooo"
Y/n laughs and miraculously thinks fast. "Out of you three or everyone on the premises?"
George lets out a chuckle. "This table." He doubles down.
Y/n exhales slowly, looking around at the three men as if she doesn't already know. Arthur watches her intently, he swallows when she locks eyes on him. She teases them. "I think..." She starts, taking a long pause before downing the shot and smiling smugly. The boys all react disappointedly, just as she hoped.
Hill picks up the remaining shot and places it in front of Arthur. "Arthur, is there anyone you've collaborated with that you would love to make sweet love with"? He leans back in his chair, proud of his question.
Arthur folds his arms, wearing a casual smile. "Yes." He simply answers. The other three go wide eyed.
"Who?" Hill asks.
"I've already answered my question, it's someone else's turn now." Arthur states, moving the shot away, pleased with himself. The disappointment nearly smacks Hill across the face.
Hill, slightly annoyed he didn't get a funnier reaction our of Arthur, passes the shot to George. "Clarkey, how big is your willy?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." he replies with a wink.
They head to a nearby cocktail bar name Social Chill Bar, to get 'white girl wasted' as Hill puts it, although it's safe to say they are all already quite drunk at this point. Within the 4 minute walk, George manages to walk into a lamppost, Arthur attempts to climb up a different lamppost, and y/n trips over her own feet. All of which is caught on camera.
Spotting the bar up ahead, George tells the others to look sharp, so they don't get turned away for being too drunk already. It works, although Arthur gets IDed again, another fantastic moment for the video. George immediately heads for the toilets, whereas Hill heads to the bar with James to buy a couple of pitchers. Y/n and Arthur pick a table that's tucked more away from the others.
"IDed again Arthur, now I've got the ick." Y/n jokes. Arthur rests his arm on the table, twisting his upper body to face her.
"Hmm," he taps her arm playfully, "that would mean you were into me beforehand." He quips before hiccupping. The pair start giggling.
"Touché," is all y/n can muster as the laughter dies down. Hill and James join the table.
"Where's Clarkey?" Hill asks, "Having his famous Clarkey shit?"
"Probably, he is in the toilets." Y/n replies, amused. However as if on cue, George emerges.
The group all giggle and make jokes as they share two pitches between them. Due to a loud hen party that also enter the bar, they don't spend too long or record too much.
"There's a karaoke bar like a minute walk away from here." Hill informs the table. They're all keen and work on their 'sober' look to ensure they get in that pub too.
Standing out side the Royal Albion pub, Hill decides to do his outro there as the bar is blaring copyrighted music. The four say good bye to the camera, followed by a good bye and thank you to James, who kindly declines the offer to join them and gets an Uber home.
They successfully enter the pub, which is quite lively as they four nab themselves a table near the karaoke area. Y/n and Hill go to the bar to order drinks, y/n ordering her go-to and a Southern Comfort for Arthur.
Meanwhile at the table, Arthur is sat next to George and can't contain it anymore. "I'm in love with y/n," he blurts out.
George laughs at the sudden statement. "Steady on Arthur, you've only met her once before."
"Yes," Arthur holds his finger up in a 'well actually' way, "but we've been texting nearly everyday since we first met, and even played games online together."
"Fair enough mate," George shrugs, happy for him, "but what are you gonna do about it?" Arthur curls his finger and dabs it against his mouth while he ponders.
While waiting for their drinks to be made, Hill turns to y/n with a snigger. "You ready to watch Arthur dance? It'll be make or break for you."
"I've seen plenty of clips online already, he sure can throw that ass back." Y/n replies as they both chuckle. The bartender hands them their drinks as they search for their table.
A drunk woman approaches the mic and sings a very original rendition of Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On'. The four sway at their table, while random couples slow dance. "I'm gonna put some songs and names down, who's up for singing?" Hill asks. Arthur is quick to put his hand up, whereas George and y/n shake their heads.
"I'd need to be at least thrice as pissed." Y/n explains apologetically, "But I'm up for dancing." The two Arthurs go up to the table where they write down their songs, Hill explains to the karaoke host that one of the songs he wants to sing is his own and he'll use the instrumental saved on his phone and hold it near the microphone. The host is intrigued and allows it.
When they rejoin the table, y/n asks what they're going to sing. "It's a surprise." Hill grins before Arthur can answer. They spend the next few minutes being entertained by the mixture of singers, some good, some bad. George takes a fancy to a cute girl who sang 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift and after some encouragement from the three, he approaches her when she's at the bar.
"Next up with have Arthur Hill with 'You're Beautiful'!" The host calls out. Y/n and Arthur cheer him as he approaches the microphone. As the instrumental plays, Arthur stands up, adjusts his shirt, then extends a hand to y/n. "Wanna dance?" He asks, his face donning a sweet smile.
Of course, y/n accepts the invitation. She takes his hand, the contact still feeling as electric as it does sober, as they join the other pairs that are already dancing. Arthur's not quite sure where to put his hands, so y/n gently takes them and places them at her waist, she then rests her hands on his broad shoulders. He chuckles shyly at her and begins swaying with her, copying what the other couples are doing.
'She smiled at me on the subway She was with another man'
Spending a lot of time looking at their feet so he doesn't tread on her, Arthur's cheeks begin to ache from smiling. As they slowly rotate, y/n locks eyes with Hill. He winks at her while still singing effortlessly.
'But I won't lose no sleep on that 'Cause I've got a plan'
Arthur looks back up to y/n as he quietly sings along, his glossy eyes peering lovingly into hers. "You're beautiful" the sweetness causing y/n to giggle as she starts singing along too.
'I saw your face in a crowded place And I don't know what to do'
Arthur not wanting to sing the next lyric, pulls y/n flush against him as they continue to slow dance. A little winded, she instinctively hugs her arms around his waist. He then readjusts so his arms are wrapped on top of hers and lowers his chin onto her shoulder.
As the song continues, Arthur clasps his hand around y/n's wrist and gently pulls her arm out so he can hold her hand, still holding each other with the other arms. They sway like this for the rest of the song, Arthur singing along to "You're beautiful" again into y/n's ear in a low, soothing voice. She can feel his heart thud against her as he draws small circles against the side of her hand with his thumb, and she's certain he can hear her heartbeat over the speakers. They dance like this for the rest of the song, both with their eyes closed contently.
George, while still sitting up at the bar with the swiftie, records Hill as he sings, then records a separate video of the lovebirds dancing together. He uploads the clip of Hill to his story, captioning it with 'never heard him sing this before', but sends the other video to y/n and Arthur privately. "They're in love, but they haven't confessed to each other yet." He whispers to the sweet girl, while casually leaning on the bar top. She likes this hopeless romantic side to him and gives him her Instagram handle.
When the song ends, y/n and Arthur pull away from each other, gazing into each others eyes as the rest of the pub guests applaud Hill. Arthur puts his hand to his chest and makes an exaggerated 'phew', his dorky way of joking with her about how nervous he was. Her left hand still clasped onto his right, she giggles at his wholesomeness.
The host congratulates Hill on his rendition of the song. "And next up we have... Arthur... TV, with 'She's So Lovely'!''
Arthur is snapped out of his daze, "Oh! It's my turn!" He shrieks, his voice far too loud now the song is over. He gives y/n's hand a squeeze and jogs to the 'stage' area.
He clasps the microphone and clears his throat. "Hi, this song is dedicated to someone amazing I met a few months-" he's cut off by the song starting, he shrugs and laughs. The girl George was talking to joins her friends to dance, so he jogs to y/n to dance with her, as does Hill. Arthur's eyes switch between looking shyly at the floor and peering over at y/n as she dances with two of his best friends. A smile evident in his voice every time he watches her laugh as they twirl her around and sing along. Y/n can't believe how good he sings, his voice soft as ever and hitting every key, except for the odd occasion where his voice breaks.
George steps away to record Arthur singing, to put this on his story too. No caption this time, just tagging Arthur and the pub. Hill grabs y/n's hands and swings their arms side to side. Before the song is even finished, George shows y/n the number of replies to his story with speculations about she's there and if Arthur's singing about her. In the video, it's obvious he had his eyes on someone, except for when he looked at George's phone, but y/n was out of view the whole time.
When the song is over the pub give him a round of applause, with y/n, George, and Hill cheering him extra loud. Arthur takes an awkward little bow and rejoins his friends. "That was amazing!" Y/n screams, the clapping dying down.
"I'm glad you enjoyed, really." He gently pats her on the back, unable to draw his eyes away from her. Another person begins singing another Taylor Swift song, so George quickly peers around for his 'pub girl'. He spots her running back to the dance floor with her friends and she waves him over. He's gone in a flash. "Ohh I span too much," Hill groans as he sits back down at their table, his face turning pale.
"Do you want some water Hilly?" Y/n asks him caringly. He exhales out a risky burp and nods his head.
"I'll grab it, you keep an eye on him. D'you want another drink?" Arthur kindly offers. Y/n wobbles a little as she takes a seat next to Hill and rests her hand on his shoulder.
"I think I've had enough for tonight, maybe a water for me too please?" Y/n replies, patting her stomach with her free hand.
"Good point, three waters it is then." Arthur grins as he weaves around the dancers to get to the bar.
Y/n checks her phone to see the notification from George. She opens the video of her and Arthur slow dancing. As his face pivoted into view, her heart melts at how happy he looked. His head tilted and rested against hers, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly upturned at the corners. She then watches how safe and secure she looked as her face came in view. "He's a really good guy," Hill slurs, peering over at her screen, "if you don't date him, I will." Y/n laughs as she hearts George's message.
"Oh Arthur," Y/n replies, sighing.
"Seriously though, girls have screwed him over in the past. And these are girls he only liked a little bit." He hiccups then clears his throat, taking y/n's hand and gently swinging it around. "With you, he's just... different. In a good way."
"I really like him." Y/n mumbles, chuckling as she watches Hill continue to pull her hand around. "But I need to hear it from him, and soberly preferably. I mean, I might just seem good through the beer goggles." She sniggers.
Hill shakes his head. "No, no, no. He talks about you all the fucking time y/n, drink or no drink. Trust me, he really likes you."
They spot Arthur awkwardly juggling three glasses of water towards their table. "Speaking of the devil!" Hill croaks, immediately downing half the glass.
"Oh no, what were you guys saying?" Arthur asks, his voice riddled with a nervous laugh as his eyes dart between the two of them. Y/n gestures as if it was nothing, but Hill has other ideas.
"Just about how much you like y/n." He bluntly states with a shrug. Arthur and y/n's eyes go wide.
"W-what? What d'you mean?" Arthur stutters, spraying a little water.
"Yeah," Hill smirks, shrugging again, "you know, you think she's a great content creator. That's all." He then gulps down the rest of this water and exhales loudly. "Thanks guys, I feel much better." Sliding his glass to the far end of the table, he then gets up and excuses himself.
“That was weird,” Arthur says, raising an eyebrow. He takes a seat next to y/n as another singer takes the stage. “How come you want to stop drinking? Are you not having fun anymore?”
“Actually it’s the opposite,” y/n giggles, “I don’t want to forget how fun today’s been and if I drink any more, I’ll probably black out.”
“That’s fair enough.” Arthur relaxes and a smile grows back on his face.
George returns to the table. “Hey you two, on the water already?”
“Yep, I was just telling Arthur that I’m having too much fun and don’t want to forget the day.” Y/n replies.
“Oh yeah, I remember you told me once, that alcohol doesn’t wipe your memory but stops you creating them, right?” George queries.
Y/n nods, “that’s right.”
“You are aware that most of today was caught on camera though.” George replies, to which y/n starts laughing into her hand.
George peers to the empty seat next to y/n. “Where’s Hill?”
“The other Arthur has gone to the toilet I think.” Y/n replies.
“Shit. I better make sure he hasn’t passed out or something, I think it’ll be his turn to sing again soon.” George hurries to the toilets. Arthur shifts his chair closer to y/n.
“So, if he’s the ‘other Arthur’, does that make me ‘Arthur number one’?” He asks, wearing a cheeky smile as he drums her arm with his fingers.
“Of course, you’re always number one.” Y/n wholeheartedly replies. Arthur’s eyebrows arch upwards as he lets out a quiet ‘aww’. He squeezes her hand.
“I know I’ve said this already but I’m so glad you came today. I was worried all the comments and posts about us would put you off, honestly.” Arthur explains, his words still slightly slurring.
“Oh no, not at all! I get shipped with everyone.” Y/n awkwardly chuckles in response. “Although not as much as with you.”
“Indeed.” Arthur slowly nods, his heavy eyes focusing on her lips. “It’s because you’re so good to everyone.”
George rejoins the pair. “The karaoke host is kindly letting Arthur plug his phone into their laptop, so his backing track will play on the speakers properly.” He explains.
“That’s really generous!” Arthur replies enthusiastically.
George nods as he takes his seat. “That’s where he’s been, not dead on the bathroom floor like I thought.”
The host reintroduces Hill to the stage, explaining that he’ll be singing his own song, which greatly interests the crowd. “I’m gonna find my sweet swiftie.” George shouts as he darts off.
“Shall we dance again?” Arthur asks y/n, standing to his feet and offering his arm.
She stands too, looping her arm with his. “I thought you’d never ask!” She yells in a jokey tone. Arthur leads her to a secluded corner by one of the speakers, hoping to have a little privacy.
‘I started learning piano Just so I could write songs about you’
They arrange themselves into another slow dance position. Arthur’s left hand on her waist and with the other, gently holding her left hand up and out to their side, y/n rests her free hand on his shoulder again. They sway in total bliss to Hill’s beautiful love song. Arthur mouths the words to y/n, gazing deeply into her eyes with a soft look. She feels a warm swirly feeling in her chest, which both surprises her and soothes her at the same time.
Never would y/n have ever pictured her adult self bar hopping and getting drunk with friends, only to end the night with slow dancing, especially with someone like Arthur. But she’s never met anyone like him before, and neither has he with her.
Y/n spots George with the cute girl he’s been chatting to throughout the night, they look really sweet together as he peers down at her with rosy cheeks, them in a similar dance position. Y/n gestures towards them with her head, and Arthur looks over his shoulder. The pair slow to a halt and watch for a while, although they still have an arm around each other.
“He looks so smitten and happy!” Y/n calls out over the music, her eyes still locked on them proudly. Arthur turns his head to look down at his dance partner.
“Yeah.” He whispers with a soft smile, although y/n can’t hear him over the speakers. He hesitates before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, his lips buried in her hair. She beams, her pulse quickening.
They resume their dancing as the second chorus comes on.
‘I don’t want you, I crave you I fucking need you’
Arthur stares at y/n through hooded eyelids, the ‘need you’ part really hitting home for him. Y/n returns his gaze, noticing a slight change in his facial expression, but isn’t entirely sure what to make of it.
‘Your face is at the forefront Your name grips onto my tongue’
His eyes a little glossy, he looks deeply into both her eyes, darting between the two. His face drops slightly, donning a nervous expression as the next words are sung:
‘But I’m too scared to ask If I’m buried at the back’
Sensing his hesitation, y/n lurches up and plants quick a kiss to Arthur’s lips. He reciprocates, and when she stands flat again, he stares at her for a couple of seconds, a half smile fading onto his face. It felt exactly how he dreamt it would.
‘I don’t want you, I crave you'
He lets go of her briefly only to cup her cheeks as he crashes his lips down into hers.
'I fucking need you’
Their lips slowly but passionately work in rhythm as y/n wraps her arms around his torso. One of his hands slides up to grip the hair at the back of her head, the other wraps around her shoulders, holding her tighter. He turns his head slightly so he can pull her even closer as he deepens this kiss, his nose digs into her cheek and his stubble tickles her skin, but she welcomes the feelings. She tastes his Southern Comfort and he tastes her drink, creating a cocktail of their own. The flashing colourful lights of the pub reflect the fireworks in her head.
The song finishes, as does their kiss. They pull away from each other, breathless, still in each others embrace. There’s a shared look of adoration in each others eyes, mixed with something else. Want. Arthur’s eyes appear darker than usual, peering down as his mouth is still slightly open. Y/n looks up at him through her eyelashes.
The applause from the other pub folk snaps them back to reality, a soft shy smile creeping on Arthur’s lips as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind y/n’s ear. Y/n can’t help but giggle, goosebumps lining her skin.
They make their way back to the small crowd. George’s babe says good bye to him as she leaves with her friends, not before she gestures at her phone to him.
Once they’re gone, George turns back to y/n and Arthur as Hill rejoins them.
“Finally!” George bellows, a grin on his face.
“Aw George, did you get a kiss?” Y/n asks sweetly, heart still racing as Arthur puts an arm around her waist.
“No,” George smirks, “but I know who did.” He holds his phone up to show a photo of y/n and Arthur. The picture looks so romantic, like it was from a romcom.
“Oh my!” Hill shrieks, his eyes wide but accompanied with a smirk.
Y/n and Arthur look at him with a mix of surprise and embarrassment, and a small hint of pride.
“Don’t worry guys, I took it. I spotted you making out when my girl went to grab her drink.” He says as he forwards the picture to them both. “Just remember to give me photo cred when you hard launch to the world.”
Arthur and y/n look to each other and share a laugh, the tension seeping out.
“Proud of you mate,” Hill says as he slaps Arthur’s back. “Wish you’d done it during recording so my video could go viral, but whatever.’
The group decide to head back to the station soon after, with Hill’s queasiness creeping back up on him. The train rides are pretty quiet, most of creators exhausted from the day, except Arthur. He talks the majority of the time, with y/n listening intently and nodding, all the while scanning through the photos she’d taken throughout the day. George is scrolling through his story replies, Hill has fallen asleep with his head gently rattling against the window.
Sitting beside her, Arthur leans across. “When did you take that?” He asks, pointing at a photo of y/n from outside the Aylesford Friars.
“George took that, I think while you were learning Aylesford trivia.” She giggles in response.
“It’s beautiful.” Arthur replies with a smile. He then watches her scroll through the rest of the day’s photos and videos, landing on the pic she’d saved of their sweet kiss.
“Wow.” He mutters, leaning even closer to her. “That was amazing.” He then whispers, almost seductively.
“Get a room.” Hill groans, his eyes fluttering open.
“Yeah, or at least a different carriage.” George mumbles.
Arthur huffs and sits up straight, a sheepish smile spreading across his face.
“Saw you dancing away with your pub girl.” He says to George.
“Yeah, tell us all about her.” Y/n chimes in, leaning forward on the small plastic table and resting her chin on her hands. Hill grumbles and seemingly dozes off again, as George tells what sounds like the beginning of a modern love story.
When they arrive back home, George and Hill say their good byes to the pair, after Arthur kindly offers y/n a walk back to hers.
Y/n, seemingly a little more sobered up, feels the cold of the British night hit her fast. She tried to hide it, but Arthur can tell. “Oh, here.” Before she even looks at him, his hoodie is off and he hands it to her.
“What? Won’t you be cold?” She asks bashfully.
“Absolutely not,” Arthur kindly replies, looking at the floor as they walk, “I have enough alcohol in my system to keep me warm.”
Y/n stops for a moment while she slips it over her head, that familiar aftershave once again embracing her senses. “And besides, I’m still a little heated from earlier.” He chuckles, wiggling his eyebrows as they continue.
She swats at his arm playfully as she laughs. “I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.” She states.
“What’s not to enjoy?” He looks at her, “the hottest girl in the world giving you the best kiss in the world?” The evening just gets better and better.
“You’re too kind. It was really good though.” She hugs herself a little tighter, butterflies fill her stomach as she remember this kiss vividly.
They continue walking in a comfortable silence, Arthur reaches for her hand and squeezes it. “We’re quite close to my place actually,” he starts, his voice low and pensive, “if you’d like to come over?”
Y/n hums as she thinks about it. “I don’t see why not, I kept my schedule clear over the next few days in case I needed to crash at someone’s. Or recover.”
“My… my roommates are out of town too, so it would be just us.” He shyly adds, peering down at her with darkened eyes. Interesting.
♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥
[PART FOUR]
A/n: Thank you for the support and for reading again hehe, I'm sorry this took so long but I've been so swamped with work recently If you're from Aylesford or Maidstone, I apologise in advance if I butchered your town... part 4? 👀 ♥ Tag list: @ooostarwarsfandom501st @themdera @rougetv @essieswurld - Gabby xo
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livvymd · 2 months ago
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Everyone Thinks They’re Dating—They’re Not. (Yet)
Chapter Two — Not a Date (But Maybe It Is.) george clarke x reader.
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Y/N groaned as her ringtone buzzed sharply through the stillness of her room.
She blindly reached for her phone on the bedside table, knocking over a nearly empty glass of water in the process. “Shit,” she muttered, dragging the phone toward her.
Her eyes barely adjusted to the light when she saw the name flashing across the screen.
Incoming FaceTime Call — George Clarke 🍻
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
Was this a mistake? Maybe he butt-dialled her?
She stared at the screen like it might give her an answer—but it just kept buzzing, insistent and cheerful, like of course George Clarke would FaceTime her before 10am after a night out.
Her heart thumped in a weirdly alert way, completely mismatched with how dead she felt physically.
She let it ring once more. Twice. Then sighed and hit “accept.”
The screen flipped to reveal George, all annoyingly handsome with sleepy curls and a smug half-grin, holding a mug of tea like he’d just walked off the cover of a Sunday morning lifestyle shoot.
“Good morning, poppet,” he said, far too cheery.
Y/N winced at the brightness behind him, rubbing her face. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Why are you awake?” she groaned, flopping back against the pillows. “And more importantly, why are you FaceTiming me at—” she glanced at the time, “—9:47am like an unhinged person?”
George took a sip of his tea. “Woke up early. Didn’t feel like texting. Wanted to see how rough you looked after pub golf.”
“Well,” she muttered, dragging her blanket over half her face, “mission accomplished.”
He chuckled. “You actually look better than I expected.”
“You’re a menace.”
“You answered though.”
She hesitated, then shrugged. “Curiosity. Or delusion. Could be either.”
“You were definitely snoring when I called.”
“I don’t snore,” she said quickly, pointing a finger at the screen. “Take that back.”
“Alright, alright,” he smirked. “Probably just heavy breathing. Dramatic stuff.”
She narrowed her eyes but couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips. “You’re unreal.”
George raised an eyebrow. “You said that like it’s a bad thing.”
She exhaled slowly, dragging herself upright and pushing her hair out of her face. “I need tea if I’m gonna tolerate this conversation.”
“You’re on a FaceTime hangover call with me, and tea is your concern?”
“I’m British, George. There are rules.”
He grinned and leaned his phone against something, giving her a view of his kitchen while he pottered about. She did the same, propping up her phone on a cereal box as she shuffled to boil the kettle. Somehow, the call didn’t drop. Neither of them made a move to end it.
“So,” she said while dunking a tea bag lazily, “how do you feel? Post-pub golf?”
“Surprisingly okay,” George replied. “Although Chip owes me £20 because he swore I’d tap out after hole seven.”
She laughed. “You were suspiciously good at it. I feel like this isn’t your first time.”
“I’m not saying I’ve trained, but I’m not not saying that either.”
“Dangerous,” she grinned, wrapping her hands around her mug. “You’re the dark horse of the group.”
“Don’t tell Chris. He’ll make it a bit.”
They fell into easy conversation after that, swapping blurry memories from the night before, laughing about Arthur Hill getting heckled by a passing hen party, and rewatching part of Chris’s Instagram story where Y/N and George could be seen fake-flirting across a beer pong table.
“Oh my god,” she groaned, watching it again, “I look like I was in love with you.”
“You were,” George teased. “I was irresistible. You said I had ‘surprisingly kind eyes.’”
“I what?” she choked on her tea.
“Don’t worry,” he said, grinning wickedly. “I’ve got witnesses.”
“Oh, piss off—”
“Nah, sorry. Too late. I’ve written it down. Gonna frame it.”
Y/N hid her face behind her mug, laughing. “God, I’m never drinking with you lot again.”
“You say that,” he murmured, softer now. “But you didn’t seem like you hated it.”
She glanced back at the screen, heart giving a traitorous skip. “No,” she admitted. “Didn’t hate it.”
They paused. Just long enough for the silence to feel meaningful.
Then George cleared his throat, scratching his neck. “You know, if you ever wanted to hang out... not during filming or in a pub full of forfeits and camera angles...”
Her eyebrows raised slightly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Like, just us. No games. No chaos. I think we’d get on alright.”
Y/N tilted her head, teasing, “Are you asking me out, George Clarke?”
He raised both hands. “Not officially. Not yet. I’m asking if you’d want to get coffee or something. I mean, we’ve technically had breakfast together now, so it’s only fair.”
She bit her lip, then nodded slowly. “Alright. Coffee sounds nice.”
A smile flickered across his face, warm and boyish and just a little bit smug. “Cool. I’ll text you about it.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“You better.”
They ended up staying on the call for nearly three hours.
It wasn’t on purpose—there was just always another tangent, another laugh, another “Wait, before we hang up—” excuse to stay. By the time Y/N finally ended the call, her cheeks were sore from smiling and her heart felt oddly light.
As soon as the screen went black, her phone lit up again.
George Clarke 🍻 You still look good with bed hair, by the way.
She stared at the text, grinning like an idiot, and typed back:
Y/N: You’re full of shit.
George Clarke 🍻 You love it.
And maybe... she did.
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TAGLIST @sundarksposts @tyna-19 @wherethezoes-at
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theminecraftbee · 3 months ago
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The problem, Grian thinks as he forelornly fills out paperwork, is that the Higher Ups have gone with a punishment that any reasonable person would find excessive and terrifying.
A rookie mistake. It doesn't help that they'd decided Cub would be the middle manager in charge of Hermitcraft, Grian thinks. Cub, of course, loves the excessive and terrifying, but he also loves the retribution of the excessive and terrifying. Grian has known this since he met Cub and visited the man's golf course. Sure, before then Concorp's truly terrifying business dominance had suggested a powerful man, but it had been the golf course that made Grian realize he was also excessive and terrifying.
(The pyramid did not change this impression. Nor did his red sand biome. Nor did Total Chaos. Nor did—well, Grian doesn't feel like he has to list them at this point.)
Scar as a voice of reason had been right out. The problem with Scar is that he doesn't know how to be reasonable. He acts like he does. In some regards, he fakes it better than Grian does. It's his face, Grian thinks. It's attractive and difficult to say no to. It's the kind of face that makes people keep assuming HotGuy was ever actually a superhero and not just an excuse to hunt people through the server with murderous intent while posing for shirtless pictures.
Scar is... a little less of the type of excessive and terrifying exile is, if it weren't for the hunting for sport bit.
So he'd been no backup as Grian, reluctantly, did his duty as an employee and tried to speak up to explain the roadblocks with the plan. The problem was that any reasonable person, he tried to explain, would both never want to be in exile and never be able to escape. The problem, he tried, is that exile isn't even all that related to permits in the first place; it will seem like an excuse to exercise outsized and overbearing authority over the other hermits.
He'd hoped Skizz would agree. He's the new guy. New guys normally agree.
Skizz had said it sounded like fun. They'd get someone to teleport everyone back after they were sad enough.
Grian threw his hands up then (although only after he'd turned off his camera; he thinks the Higher Ups can see even after he flips the plastic lid down, but he'd like to at least pretend he's being professional on their Teams calls by claiming he's had sudden, impossible-to-overcome internet problems). He doesn't care enough to explain the problem to the Higher Ups.
The problem, he thinks, is this:
Exile is a terrifying punishment to any reasonable person.
Unfortunately, Grian does not think he knows any reasonable people.
He squints at the tiny lettering on the form the Higher Ups have given him to fill out about unauthorized nether travel while simultaneously trying to explain how their highly-trained team of people skilled in being truly batshit insane have failed to hold down a single puppet.
It's not that he didn't try to warn them. He doesn't understand why this has to be his problem.
He ignores the niggling voice in his head reminding him that he'd made most of this up and was not reasonable himself. That, in fact, making up an organizational job he hates entirely for his own amusement is not what anyone would call 'reasonable' at any time of day. That doesn't matter now. What matters now is how much he doesn't want to be doing his job.
They'd better crush this exile thing quick.
...that, or it's time to resign himself to the paperwork. Maybe he should just get a new office chair instead.
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shiftgolf · 8 months ago
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Mastering Lag in Your Golf Swing: Unlock Effortless Power and Precision
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Introduction: Why Lag Matters in Golf:
In golf, the concept of "lag" refers to the angle between your lead arm and the golf club shaft during your downswing. While it may sound like a small technical detail, lag is crucial to unlocking speed, power, and precision in your swing. The best professional golfers seem to effortlessly launch the ball down the fairway, and a major factor behind this ease is their ability to generate and maintain lag. But for many amateur golfers, lag is a misunderstood and underutilized element of their game.
So, what exactly is lag, and why should it be part of your swing? the importance of lag, how it works, and how you can incorporate it into your game to see significant improvements in both distance and accuracy.
1. The Basics of Lag: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Lag in the golf swing refers to the angle between your lead arm (typically the left arm for right-handed players) and the shaft of the club. As you transition from your backswing into your downswing, the lag is the point where the club trails behind your hands, storing potential energy. The more efficiently you can maintain this angle during the downswing and release it at impact, the more clubhead speed you can generate without additional effort.
Think of it like a whip: the lag is the tension in the whip, and the release of that tension generates the snap. In a golf swing, lag creates this "snap" right as the club strikes the ball, resulting in greater speed and power.
They create speed with their arms, or body, or some combination of both.
Are those good enough ways to play high level golf? Are those ways going to protect your body from injury, forcing you to miss next week’s tee time?
All golf professionals worth their salt have a simple answer to that. No.
Creating lag is the most efficient way to create speed and distance during your golf swing. And every other method isn’t close.
2. Lag Creates Effortless Speed and Distance:
Amateur golfers often believe that more distance can only be achieved by swinging harder. However, this isn’t entirely true. The pros don’t rely on brute force to drive the ball 300 yards. Instead, they use lag to generate clubhead speed, which is the key to distance.
When you maintain lag during your downswing and release it at just the right moment—right before impact—you create a burst of speed at the perfect time. This allows you to hit the ball farther without forcing your arms or body to work harder. Without lag, players often resort to pulling their arms down or excessively rotating their bodies to create speed, both of which are inefficient and can lead to injuries.
For example, golfers without lag might struggle to hit drives beyond 200 yards. However, with proper lag, they could easily add 20-30 yards to their drives without swinging any harder.
3. Lag and Its Impact on Swing Plane and Mechanics:
One of the hidden benefits of lag is how it naturally improves your swing plane. When you maintain the angle between your lead arm and the club during the downswing, the club tends to shallow out, meaning it drops into a more optimal position to attack the ball from the inside. This is a crucial element of good ball-striking, as it leads to better contact and more consistent shots.
Lag also ensures that your body and arms are working in sync, which helps avoid common swing flaws like "casting." Casting is when a golfer releases the angle between the lead arm and club too early in the downswing, losing both power and control.
When a player learns to keep lag until the last possible moment, their casting issues disappear, and the swing becomes more efficient and consistent.
Symptoms of Casting:
Weak, short shots
Difficulty getting the ball in the air
A tendency to push or pull the ball
Fixing Casting with Lag:
Maintain a strong wrist hinge
Focus on a smooth transition from backswing to downswing
Let the angle "hold" until right before impact
4. Lag Improves Tempo and Swing Rhythm:
Many amateur golfers struggle with the tempo of their swings. The common mistake is rushing from the top of the backswing into the downswing, often by yanking the arms down too quickly. This leads to poor rhythm and timing, which results in inconsistent ball-striking.
Lag forces you to slow down the transition between your backswing and downswing, creating a more fluid and rhythmic swing. By holding onto that angle, you naturally develop better tempo, which helps to synchronize your body and arms, leading to more controlled and accurate shots.
As a result, incorporating lag into your swing can improve both your consistency and the quality of your ball-striking.
Lag also has a huge added benefit, as it is a way to protect your body from injury. Lag is, in simple terms, the storing of power in your swing represented by the angle between your lead arm and club shaft. The release of this stored energy at the bottom of your swing/impact is how PGA TOUR players hit the ball so far seemingly effortlessly.
Throughout this article, we are going to cover several different benefits that lag possesses, and why you need to learn how to create it in your own golf swing.
Lag creates speed. When an amatuer golfer is able to store their lag during their downswing, they are then able to release this energy at the bottom, creating serious speed. When a player has no lag, they need to create this speed another way, whether it’s pulling the arms down or rotating your body at an unhealthy speed. Lag, and the release of it, allows a player to create effortless speed.
Lag creates a better swing plane. Lag is created by having loose wrist pressure throughout the swing, but most importantly, at the top and during transition. When done correctly, the clubhead and shaft will naturally shallow out, making it easier for the player to attack the ball from the inside. This is the obvious sign of a great swing plane.
Lag represents the complete opposite of one of the most common swing faults in amatuer golf. Casting. Casting is when the player loses the angle between their lead arm and golf club early in the downswing, making it very hard to create speed. If a player is able to maintain that angle early, and create lag, their casting swing fault will go away immediately.
Lag creates better tempo. Most amateur golfers create speed by pulling their arms down as hard as possible as soon as they reach the top of their swing. This action creates terrible tempo, and makes it very difficult to time up the arms with the rest of the body which is needed to hit quality golf shots. Because the speed created by efficient lag is effortless, the player won’t need to pull their arms anymore. This creates a better tempo in the swing.
Lag needs to better ball striking. Lag allows the player to hit down on the golf ball more consistently, meaning better shots. If a player is able to do this more often, their overall ball-striking will improve dramatically. Without lag, hitting down on the ball is very hard to do, without getting your entire body sliding to the lead side. Lag allows the player to stay centered over the ball, with better balance, and still hit down on the golf ball.
5. Lag Prevents Injuries and Prolongs Your Golfing Career:
One of the most overlooked benefits of maintaining lag is its potential to protect your body from injury. Many amateur golfers try to create power by using their muscles to force the club through the ball, putting unnecessary strain on their joints—especially the shoulders, elbows, and lower back. This "power through effort" approach can lead to injuries, particularly as golfers age.
Lag, on the other hand, allows you to generate speed through efficient mechanics, reducing the stress on your body. By maintaining proper angles and releasing energy at the right time, you can create powerful swings with less physical strain. This is especially important for golfers who want to stay healthy and continue playing the game for years to come.
6. Lag Leads to Better Ball-Striking and More Consistent Shots:
Good ball-striking is all about making solid, consistent contact with the golf ball. Lag helps with this by allowing the golfer to hit down on the ball more naturally, which compresses the ball and produces a more penetrating ball flight. This is particularly important for iron shots, where hitting down on the ball creates that crisp, clean strike that golfers strive for.
When you lose lag, it's much harder to make solid contact, as you’re more likely to "scoop" the ball or hit it with a glancing blow. Lag keeps you centered over the ball, ensuring better balance and more consistent strikes.
Without lag, golfers tend to struggle with fat shots (hitting the ground before the ball) or thin shots (hitting the top of the ball). By maintaining lag, you’ll find it easier to deliver the club with the correct downward strike, leading to better contact and more control.
7. How to Develop Lag in Your Golf Swing:
Now that you understand the benefits of lag, the question is: How do you develop it? Here are some practical tips to help you incorporate lag into your swing:
Relax Your Grip: A tight grip can prevent you from maintaining lag. Keep your grip pressure light, especially at the top of your backswing.
Focus on Wrist Hinge: Allow your wrists to hinge naturally as you complete your backswing. This sets up the angle for lag during the downswing.
Practice the Right Transition: The transition from your backswing to downswing is where lag is created. Avoid rushing this movement—allow your body to lead the downswing while your arms follow, maintaining the angle between your lead arm and the club.
Use Swing Aids: Training aids like the Lag Shot Swing Trainer can help you develop the feel for lag. These tools are designed to exaggerate the lag in your swing, teaching you how to maintain it consistently.
Drills for Lag: One effective drill is to practice swinging slowly, focusing on holding the angle between your lead arm and the club until the last possible moment. By slowing down, you can better control and feel the lag in your swing.
Conclusion: Mastering Lag to Unlock Your Golf Potential:
Lag is not just a technique reserved for professional golfers—it’s a fundamental aspect of an efficient, powerful golf swing. Whether you’re looking to add distance, improve accuracy, or protect your body from injury, learning to maintain lag is essential.
By understanding the role of lag and incorporating it into your swing, you’ll unlock new levels of speed and precision without having to force your shots. With practice and the right approach, you’ll soon find yourself hitting longer, straighter shots with more consistency and control. So the next time you’re on the course or driving range, focus on mastering lag—and watch as your game transforms for the better. Golf Swing Training Aid Lag Shot Driver Lag Shot Golf Driver Golf Swing Trainer.
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