#gotta finish off the end of the press tour stuff

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[crygimethydgoode]

Just Take Me Home chapter 9 - Tia Kofi x La Grande Dame, Plane Jane x Nymphia Wind summer in Italy college abroad/tour guide AU

“I got my first email when we were driving to Amalfi. And it almost made me cry,” Tia whispered. Dada let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking high right now,” she attempted to giggle. Dada’s stomach dropped. She was way too high for this too and now all she wanted to do was cry. Weren’t they just having fun? Wasn’t this just kind of easy?

“I’m sorry,” was all she knew to whisper, giving Tia a sad smile. Even though she wasn’t sorry at all. She was comforted to know that Tia had been feeling the dread, even before she was. “Jane told me- once I realized how fast the trip was moving - she said to let go of the dread. But I just…” Dada didn’t finish her sentence, she just shrugged. Tia patted her back, Dada turned to look at her. Tia gave her a tiny smile.

“What she should’ve said is to be delusional. That’s way easier. Zip me up?”

Now Dada’s hands were shaking as she deliberately took her time to zip Tia’s dress, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder before saying, unable to help a grin;

“Well, it was better than what Nymphia told me to do…”

“She gave you that whole speech too? She’s the worst!”

“I’M LISTENING TO YOU GIRLS. FUCK YOU! WE’RE ALL DONE, HURRY UP!”

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55522132/chapters/149076604

Masterlist

Chapter nine

rose colored lenses - sardinia

let’s stay like this forever

(let’s just keep pretending)

…

“IS EVERYONE BUCKLED?! IS EVERYONE SAFE?!” Jane called way too loudly from the front of the bus. They had just arrived on the Italian island of Sardinia after the… rememberable fifteen hour ferry ride from Naples. Nobody responded. “Ho-Kay! That’s a yes; and if you die we will NOT be held accountable! Anyway first, we’ve gotta drop our stuff off and settle in! The drive will be about an hour to our… well you’ll see…”Jane had a mischievous smile that horrified Tia. She turned to see Dada’s reaction, but for the first time in ages she wasn’t looking back at her with a soft smile.

Tia swore it was easier to catch Dada’s eye when she was just a stranger at the beginning of the trip that just seemed too far away. She wished she was there again despite how exhausted she was, despite how ready she was to sleep for three days straight in her new apartment in Perugia. Every time Tia thought about having to say goodbye to Dada, about her best summer yet ending in mere days, she wanted to cry. Did Dada even care? Or was she ready to go back to hating Tia already? Now she really wanted to cry. But of course she couldn’t on the bus, where Nymphia was standing up, snatching the mic from Jane.

“Moving on!” Nymphia chirped. “After we drop off all our shit we will head back here to Cagliari to eat lunch and then start our tour that I found online! Some of the places were boring and ugly, so I replaced them with some AMAZING spots for photoshoots. You’re welcome! The tour will take us to sunset and then we’ll go back and the rest of the night is yours to SLAY!”

Tia, Crystal, Dada, and Gothy all looked at Nymphia, horrified.

“Nymphia, have you been possessed by Jane?” Crystal asked slowly.

“Maybe something like that,” she shrugged as she sat down, Jane sitting right beside her, grinning. Tia and Dada sat on either side of the aisle, trying to catch each other's gaze just so they could look away. It suddenly felt very quiet. Had then been the loud ones? The ones always filling the silence? They started the hour drive, still refusing to look at each other but noticing Nymphia’s rolling eyes. Tia didn’t even know what she wanted to say to Dada. Other than to profusely apologize and hope that she would apologize too. But for some reason Tia felt too proud, or too dramatic, to extend any sort of olive branch yet. Would Dada even want to talk about it? Why did Tia feel so lost?

“Why did we have to stay forty five minutes away from Cagliari?” Gothy groaned as she honked at a car that cut her off.

“Gothy, trust me. It’s worth it.”

_

Though the drive was only an hour, Tia swore it was way longer, the most boring hour of her life. Pretty though, the rocky coastline and turquoise ocean was beautiful. But how could Tia bring herself to care? After driving parallel to a golden sand beach for about half a mile, Gothy took a left down a long dirt road.

“Now folks,” Jane said mysteriously into the microphone. “I was indeed able to secure us a more… private- accommodation. I figured we deserved it. This will be our true last home, after all.”

“Jane…” Nymphia trailed off, standing at the front of the bus and looking out in awe. “Oh my fucking god- oh my god I’m going to CRY!!!” She was jumping up and down while holding Jane’s arm. Finally, Tia and Dada’s excited eyes met as they both stood to look out too. Wherever the hell they were staying was so secluded, they could barely see the huge gate through the thick tree vines.

“Oh my god…” They said in unison. Jane was literally bouncing.

“Girls, that’s just the gate…”

“Jane what the fuck did you do?!?”

“I RENTED US A VILLA. YES! A FUCKING VILLA! LIKE ON LOVE ISLAND! THE WHOLE THING. IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE. SOSOSO EXPENSIVE! BUT BECAUSE WE CUT SO MUCH OUT OF THE ITINERARY WE HAD ALL THIS EXTRA MONEY!!!”

“That makes no sense!” Crystal cackled.

“Who cares!? We have a PRIVATE LUXURY FUCKING VILLA!” They were all jumping together now, causing the bus to shake.

“EVERYONE SIT DOWN! JANE GO LET US IN!!!”

“You’re so right Gothy.”

After Jane opened and closed the gate and boarded the bus again, the villa started to come into view. Everyone was speechless, scrambling to the front of the bus to catch a glimpse. The villa (which was basically a mansion) was built on top of a hill overlooking the ocean, that they could just barely see from behind the large exterior itself. “EVERYONE BACK AWAY! FORM AN ORDERLY LINE-ow! Nymphia!” Jane yelped as Nymphia pushed past her as the bus doors opened. The rest of the group trampled over her, and she came out last, looking like a mess.

“OKAY EVERYONE! GOOD ORDERLY LINE! Ow. I KNOW I’M SO AMAZING FOR DOING THIS FOR YOU! BUT WE HAVE TO DO ROOM ASSIGNMENTS! Now, though we have a luxurious villa, we won't have our own rooms. In fact, all but TWO of us will get our own room, the rest of us will be matched in pairs. Gothy and Crystal, out of the kindness of their hearts offered to share…”

“No I fucking didn’t…” Gothy muttered, sharing a confused look with Crystal and Jane.

“And out of fairness, Dada and I will be sharing rooms… withNymphiaandTia- DO WE have any buddies willing to volunteer to share?” Jane looked around at the group excitedly as a few pairs began to come forward. The rest of the group quickly had a rock-paper-scissors tournament before pairing up amongst themselves, two victorious winners getting the two private rooms. “Okay! That was way easier than I thought it would be! LETS GO EXPLORE THIS VILLA! FOLLOW ME!” Jane didn’t move very far though, clearly overwhelmed as she looked at the multiple different entrance points, some had doors, some were just random archways or paneless windows. What, did it just never rain at this place? “Uhh… we’ll try this one!”

They walked towards what Jane hoped to be the front door, luckily, it was. The group gasped as they all entered, looking around in wonder. They were greeted with a wide hallway, with a long table at the end that split the open concept layout. On the right, there was a giant, professional, yet classy, chef's kitchen that included a brick-pizza oven and full bar. Every wall was painting a bright sky blue, and there were live exotic plants and beautiful Italian art pieces covering every inch of the walls. It looked like just downstairs there were two different living rooms alone.

“Oh god, the kitchen is so beautiful and we’re definitely going to ruin it. You girls don’t know the feasts I make when drunk. I never eat them,” Crystal sighed. On cue, a gorgeous, bronze, shirtless man with pink short-shorts emerged from a door at the back of the kitchen. Jane screamed.

“EVERYONE GET BEHIND ME, I’LL FIGHT HIM OFF!” She was already squared up as the man laughed.

“No need to fight. Plane, right?” The man asked, she instantly softened.

“Plane, yes. I am Plane. Yes,” She almost whispered. The man laughed again, loud and bright.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I am your personal chef, Bruno. I will be here to cook for you these next four days, but I also have local restaurant recommendations if you’d rather eat out.” Nobody could say anything, they just stood mesmerized by Bruno and his silky voice, unable to even question why he was dressed like that.

“Anything else you’ve got cooking, Bruno?” Vanjie pushed herself to the front of the group. Bruno looked away, blushing. Tia couldn’t help but chuckle, realizing it had been five minutes and so much had already happened. They didn’t even have croissants at most of the hotels they stayed at, and now they have a personal chef? “Come,” Bruno continued. “I will give you a tour of our beautiful Villa.” Jane didn’t even object, or try to say she could do it alone because she was the real tour guide, she just followed Bruno silently.

He pointed at one of the many living rooms as he led the group across the hall. He pointed with two fingers down another hallway. “Down there are some of our gorgeous bedrooms you will be staying in. Each bedroom has its own personal bathroom, each beautiful and unique, much like you, Vanessa…” Vanjie linked arms with Bruno as he led them to a side door outside. They turned right onto the patio that had a long dinner table with plants hanging above it as well as a few sun loungers. “This is one of the beautiful dining arrangements you can all use for group dinners or meetings or whatever you want to do.” He led them down a few steps where they were shown a table for two with red roses in a vase. “This is for anyone who wants some more personal and private time together.” Nymphia and Jane beamed at each other, Tia couldn’t bring herself to check if Dada was looking at her.

Bruno walked further down a series of stone steps that lead down the hill to a pool that was within twenty feet of their private beach. It was then they got the full view of the outside of the villa. The land seemed to go on forever despite Tia being able to hear the crashing waves from where she stood, the hill itself was all grass but faded into sand towards the bottom, and the wall of trees between their neighbors was so thick, she couldn’t see them if she tried.

“Are we… Are we on Love Island?” Crystal whispered as Bruno showed them a private spot for two a little further down on the beach.

“Love island would have a swinging outdoor couch but other than that, yes.”

“Oh Nymphia, please,” Bruno chuckled good naturedly. “We have an outdoor swinging bed.”

“This is the best day of my life.”

Tia was shocked as they were led back up the many steps that they took down, Nymphia didn’t complain once, or force herself in front of everyone and bitch at them to move faster, she just followed behind Bruno.

“Final stop on our tour, because you all deserve to also find the beauty of the villa by yourself… the fire pit.” He gestured to the giant circle fire pit with seats all around it.

“Oh my god… we’re on Love Island!!!” Nymphia grinned.

“Yes we are… Come, Bruno. I’m pulling you for a chat!” Vanjie said in a terrible English accent.

“Girls… Bruno… is…”

“He’s amazing.” Nymphia cut Jane off.

“I love him,” Dada nodded, Tia didn’t realize how quiet she’d been until now.

“I miss him… but Jane, what’s this about Gothy and I offering to share?!” Crystal asked, snapping all the girls out of their trance.

“Um… I’m amazing. There were actually four people who got their own rooms. But I couldn’t make it look completely rigged, those little fucks still need to tip us at the end of the week.” Dada’s stomach dipped at Jane’s casual reminder.

“Oh my god! Thank you so much Jane! C’mon, we have to find our rooms before the others catch on to your scheme!”

“Yes! Let’s go to your rooms Crystal and Gothy! I also totally rigged it so we got the cutest rooms.” Jane began to lead them to where she hoped Crystal’s room was. “We’re all like… on the same side of the villa… I think… We’re at least all on the first floor?” After checking every room on the right side of the villa, they finally found Crystal’s, the first door on the left. “Okay Crystal…”

“OH MY GOD!” Crystal squealed as she threw herself on her bed. Her room had clean white walls with ocean blue trim that matched her bedspread and windows. In fact, everything in her room was stained a rusty blue, purely august.

“You haven’t even seen your BATHROOM yet!” Jane pulled Crystal up and into the bathroom where she actually SCREAMED. Tha bathroom had a gorgeous cobblestone sink that matched the stone in her shower. The ceiling was painted in wild shades of blue, resembling the ocean.

“This is crazy. I- this is crazy! Thank you so much, Jane!” Crystal threw herself into Jane’s arms, who was crying.

“You are so welcome, sister. Gothy, your room is directly across from Crystal’s!” Gothy beamed at Jane as she took one peak in her room before saying:

“I need to film. Now. Oh my god this is beautiful.” The door shut behind her.

“Girls… I’m so happy you’re happy!” Jane giggled, wiping a tear.

“Okay cute moment whatever, let's go see OUR room, Jane!” And so the five of them all wandered around the villa until they finally found Jane and Nymphia’s room. They all gasped upon entering, Nymphia’s jaw dropped as she looked around in wonder. Their room was painted a blinding white, that matched the bed perfectly. There was a clear, round door that led outside to a private sitting zone overlooking the sea with two sun loungers. The marble tile flowed into the bathroom, which looked a little basic until you walked back further to the jacuzzi tub with a circular window with a view, and was surrounded by a mural of the ocean.

Nymphia for once, had nothing to say. She just smiled up at Jane and pulled her into a kiss. Why did Tia feel like clapping? Maybe because she’d never seen Nymphia like this… outwardly happy without a backhanded comment. She saw Dada forcing down a broad smile out of the corner of her eye, and she couldn’t help but smile too. Jane was blushing as she silently ushered them out of the room, trying to find Tia and Dada’s room.

“I won't lie, your room is the best… well- maybe not the best but definitely the coolest!” Jane said, glancing between them, who wouldn’t even glance at each other. Nymphia’s brow furrowed as she rolled her eyes again.

“Why are you both being so quiet? You seriously didn’t work things out? On the remix?” She said it so casually like everyone knew Dada and Tia were… not fighting, but not…hanging off each other as usual. Not wasting a breath of space between them… just having an awkward moment. Not speaking. At the moment. Whatever.

Dada said nothing and Tia couldn’t even close her dropped jaw, let alone think to form a sentence. That didn’t stop Nymphia. “Yeah, we all remember what you said to Tia last night, Dada. Already talked shit about it. What you said was pretty rude, especially to Tia who definitely doesn’t have a good relationship with being called annoying. BUT, Tia, you were annoying at times last night. Like, even I was a little bothered at one point, and I’m the worst out of all of us. So… so maybe you’re both in the wrong and should just call a draw, you know? We’re literally leaving in less than a week, which I know you were really torn up about the other day, Dada, like crying about it, but-”

Maybe Nymphia stopped because of Dada’s sudden coughing fit, or maybe because of Tia’s face in utter disbelief, or maybe she processed what she was actually saying. But nevertheless, she stopped. Thank god. “You know what? I’m sorry I opened my mouth in the first place. I think I see your room.”

If Tia and Dada weren’t awkward before, they sure were now; both their faces flushed red as they entered their room. But for a moment, all feelings were pushed aside as they entered, because holy shit this fucking room. All the walls were cobblestone with gold speckled limestone-green floors. They had a few aperture window cut-outs, close enough to the ground and wide enough that they could easily hop in and out. Tia spotted a small counter table with a bottle of champagne on it, and she couldn’t help but smile at Dada who was finally smiling too.

“Jane…” Dada scoffed, finally walking down the small step by the end of their bed and spotting-

“Shower. In. The. Bedroom. SHOWER. IN. THE. BED. ROOM.” Everyone couldn’t help but look at the open aperture windows. “Oh! There’s secret sliding glass, and these gorgeous, thick curtains…” Jane led them down a hallway that doubled as a closet to the actual bathroom with a huge mirror and tiling on the walls that matched the limestone floors. “Well, that’s it!” Jane said excitedly, clearly not reading the slight awkward tension that still loomed.

“Alright so… I think we’ll leave you two alone for a second…” Nymphia and Jane both slipped out of the room without another word. Tia and Dada were alone, being forced to talk about last night. They both slowly wandered over to the bed from the bathroom and plopped down, a little embarrassed. Why did it even have to come to this? Luckily, Tia didn’t have to speak first. Dada put a hand on Tia’s knee, because she still could, and gave her a sad smile.

“I am sorry. Last night… I was… I think I was just feeling sorry for myself. I don’t know, I wasn’t upset with you, just the whole… the whole way things went. The situation. I’m sorry. I wasn’t mad at you, I don’t think I could ever be… or at least stay mad.” Dada said, honestly. “I’m sorry.” And Tia’s stomach dropped again. Dada was just too good for her. Tia was being awful. And Dada still forgave her.

“No. I was being a bitch last night. I was messy, and not funny messy, stupid messy. I was a bitch to everyone, even you. Which I hate. And I do like being a bitch sometimes, it’s funny when everyone is laughing too, but they weren’t. I don’t like being a bitch to you. I’m sorry too. Really really sorry.”

And then Dada’s head was on Tia’s shoulder, wrapping arms and legs around her and pulling them back on the bed, a heap of giggles. And the world felt a little more aligned again. “Let’s never be mad at each other again.” Tia whispered. They laughed harder. “Okay but actually lets go explore outside-” but Dada pulled her back onto the bed.

“Or… we could check out the shower,” She said, teasingly holding Tia’s gaze, she missed this. Tia just gave her a wicked look, slightly shaking her head as she fought back a grin. She missed this.

“This villa will be here forever, we will not be.” Tia finally let a smile break across her face as she pulled Dada off the bed and down the few steps leading to the shower. She began to pull off her shirt but was cut off by Nymphia.

“CLOSE YOUR WINDOWS IDIOTS!” She cackled. “MAKE UP SEX! MAKE UP SEX!” Dada couldn’t help but laugh too as she ran to close the windows and draw the curtains.

“Sorry we’re desperate…” Dada blushed as she made her way back to Tia, who just kissed her through a grin. She hoped it could be this easy to fall back into each other forever.

Or at least until the trip ended.

_

“Okay let’s load in and get this party started! Gothy will be dropping us off at ANFITEATRO ROMANO DI CAGLIARI! We were going to lunch first, but who knew we had a beautiful private chef, Bruno! Thanks to him, we saved so much time. We will be there in 45 minutes!” Nymphia put the mic back and ran to join Jane at the back of the bus, who was grinning at Tia and Dada curled up in their seats.

“You girls… are so- I’m so happy you made up!” Crystal beamed from the seat in front of them. “It’s annoying for you to act heartbroken when I just got out of a four year relationship!” They all laughed, Dada nuzzled closer to Tia, pressing a quick kiss on her neck. The drive was forty-five minutes but Tia swore it only lasted fifteen, time really was flying. They parked on the side of the road.

“They can’t tow a fucking tour bus,” Gothy muttered as she opened the doors. “I’m sick of driving.”

“Okay folks! It’s only about a ten minute walk to the amphitheater, follow me!” Jane sang, walking with one hand in the air that Nymphia swatted down.

“Follow me!”

“So is this place boring and ugly or boring and kind of cute?” Tia asked Dada, who had linked arms with her the second they got off the bus, already trying to make up for lost time.

“I don’t know. We don’t usually come here on tours, usually we go to Catanzaro on tour for our last city,” Just saying it out loud made her heart drop. “Probably boring-pretty though, especially if Nymphia made edits.”

“So true.” Tia wished she could think of something else to talk about, desperate to fill their silence. Usually she adored their comfortable silence, almost proud of how at ease they both felt around each other, but now she didn’t want to waste a single second not talking to Dada. They didn’t have the time to waste. Tia felt an ache in the back of her throat as her eyes burned slightly. What the fuck was this? She couldn’t start tearing up, not now, not when her and Dada just made up and were happy again. Maybe that’s why she was tearing up, though.

“OKAY WE ARE HERE!” Nymphia cheered as they reached the entrance. Tia could see a bit of the amphitheater, which was exactly how she pictured it, old and broken like most historic landmarks they visited. Basically an even more boring version of the Colloseum in Rome. But they could see the ocean? Tia and Dada shared a look, amused and unimpressed.

“Nymphia… you chose this place?” Jane asked, a familiar tone in her voice. Nymphia gave her a weird look. “I’m just saying… I kind of expected better considering all the bitching and moaning you did about my itinerary. Didn’t you make edits?” Nymphia’s jaw was now dropped, but eyes slightly amused.

“Jane!” She gasped.

“No! No, don't get me wrong. It’s… cute… adorable even.” Dada’s jaw dropped into a grin.

“Tia, I think you’re about to meet Jane. Bitchy Jane. Shady Jane. You’re about to meet the… real Jane.”

“Okay… well let's go, I have a Tiktok I wanna make.” They all followed Nymphia in while glancing at Jane, who was glancing around unimpressed. Tia couldn’t help but laugh at the slight pout on her face. They walked down a series of steps that led them into the amphitheater. Nymphia walked backwards next to Jane as she talked to the group. “So this place is actually really cool! THOUSANDS of people would gather here to watch public executions, gladiator fights, and humans fighting animals! So remember that as you wander.” The group looked a little scared as they dispersed. “See. It’s COOL, Jane!”

“I mean… take away the history… and it’s just an ugly ruin. Is it really anything worth exploring?” Jane crossed her arms, still unimpressed.

“THOSE SQUARE DOOR THINGS RIGHT THERE. YEAH. RIGHT THERE. FUCKING GLADIATORS CAME OUT OF THERE. CRIMINALS CAME OUT OF THERE BEFORE EXECUTION, JANE. THEY KEPT FUCKING LIONS, TIGERS, OR BEARS OR WHATEVER THEY FOUGHT IN THERE!” Jane just rolled her eyes.

“Okay Judy Garland!” She exclaimed sarcastically. They all burst out laughing, even Nymphia couldn’t hide her smile.

“JANE! I didn’t know you were so…”

“Amazing, I know!” Dada beamed as she threw her arms around Jane. “I’ve missed the real Jane, I’ve missed your cunty self…” Jane laughed as she pushed Dada off.

“I’m afraid I’ve shown my true colors… and those colors bleed,” she said with an evil look in her eye. Jane continued to bitch the whole tour, sounding exactly like Nymphia in the beginning of the trip, which oddly thrilled Nymphia? Eventually Tia and Dada got bored and decided to go smoke a joint, looking out over the city they were about to explore.

“Hopefully Nymphia’s next photoshoot spot is cuter than this one… even though this view is pretty,” Tia passed the joint to Dada, resting her head on her shoulder.

“Are you talking about me?” Dada teased, blowing the smoke in Tia’s face as she coughed. What cheesy romcom were they living in?

“Shut up…” Tia wished she had a flirtier comeback, but she was too nervous, the ball in her chest was too tight, if they smoothed things out then why didn’t it feel any easier? “You know-,” Tia didn’t even know what she wanted to say, but Nymphia cut her off anyway.

“Jane is annoying me so we are cutting this stop short! Hope you’re proud Jane. You want to go somewhere pretty? Let’s go somewhere fucking pretty!”

_

It was another ten minute walk to their next location.

“JARDÍN BOTÁNICO DE CAGLIARI! Yeah, this place is actually gorgeous! Plenty of places for pictures and to stare out wistfully like you’re the main character! There’s a lot to do and see so feel free to see this as a self guided walking tour and relaxation spot! Meet back here in like- an hour I guess. SLAY!”

“SLAY!” They all cheered back, Nymphia really had become a little tour guide. The five of them explored the gardens together, walking slowly as they took in every winding branch, careful to avoid the children running and laughing around them.

“Nymphia, you really slayed this. Like… I have to tell my nerdy-millennial biology Professor about this place once I get back home. I’m going to need to buy more storage on my phone…” Crystal muttered as she gently touched one of the flowers they were walking by, snapping a quick picture. “OMG! We have to make wishes in the fountain!” She was sprinting to the fountain that was barely visible, they all followed quickly, rummaging through their tote bags for coins to throw in. As they reached the fountain that was coated in lily pads, Dada silently pressed a coin in Tia’s hand.

“Everyone think of your wish,” Crystal waited a few moments, “Okay… now toss!” Crystal tossed hers in without hesitation, closing her eyes as if that sealed the deal. Maybe it did, so Tia closed her eyes as she flipped her coin into the fountain, hearing it plop gently into the water. She caught the tail end of Dada tossing her coin in, she wore a soft smile. She turned to meet Tia’s gaze.

“What did you wish for?” She asked. Crystal let out a shard gasp before Tia could answer.

“You can’t tell anyone! It won’t come true, duh… party foul, Dada.” Tia just gave Dada a weak smile, like she could’ve said it out loud.

“We probably wished for the same thing,” She said, suddenly aware of the silence. Dada just looked at Tia, laughing lightly despite the ache in her chest.

“Cool. I have a really cool spring to show you, LETS GO!” And for once everyone was thankful for Nymphia’s bluntness. Dada grabbed Tia’s hand as they followed Nymphia, who was naming all the plants they walked by. The entire park was almost a neon green despite it being the end of August. If Tia was back home in Essex the tops of trees would just barely be turning orange, but not in Italy, not with Dada.

And though the weaving trees and blending scents of all the species of plants around were beautiful, Tia’s chest ached too. She couldn’t help it, she felt a whole new sense of pining. Every dip in her stomach was replaced with an ache in her heart, her eyes weren’t shining in awe anymore, they were glossed over with tears. This part was not on her Pinterest board… the sad part. Dada forgave her, sure, but maybe that was just until the end of the trip. Maybe it was just easier for Dada to forgive her, to make things less awkward for the last week. Maybe Dada just wanted to stretch this tour out, make her last till the end of the summer, and Tia was embarrassed to be completely fine with that. It was then Dada squeezed her hand, snapping her out of her trance. They locked eyes and Tia could only hold her gaze for a few seconds.

What was Dada thinking?

What Tia would do to take just a glimpse into her brain for a second, see if her thoughts were just as cloudy as hers. “See why I can’t wait for the tour to be over now?” The words from the night before still rang in Tia’s head, Dada probably thought she didn’t remember, and she would let her think that. Tia forced herself to look at Dada again, this time sending a smile that she hoped was bright.

“We’re here!!!” Nymphia called out, doing a little spin in front of the basin with a spring protruding from a short cliff. “It’s like a little water fall! So cute, so nature!” Everything was so bright, why did it have to be so bright? And why did Dada have to look so beautiful as she basked in it all?

“Nymphia…”

“Say it, say I’m a better tourguide than you!”

“No… it’s photoshoot time,” Jane giggled.

“OKAY! But we need to make it quick cause the underground city is next and I need to hire a real tourguide to show us around.”

“Um… I'm a real tour guide, Nymphie. Licensed or whatever. I can easily guide us through the silly tourist attraction,” Jane scoffed.

“No… like, they really recommend a trained and a professional tour guide. It’s basically a maze…”

“Shut up. I can do it. Let’s go. I’M A REAL TOUR GUIDE. But let's get some pictures first.

_

“Nymphia, I-”

“Jane, I don’t want to fucking talk to you,” Nymphia had sped in front of the rest of the group, straight into the sun that was rapidly setting.

“Oh! So you think you could do better?” Jane huffed, leaning forward to gain speed as she caught up to Nymphia.

“NO! I THINK THE PROFESSIONAL TOUR GUIDE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER AT TAKING US ON THE HOUR AND A HALF TOUR, BUT INSTEAD WE GOT LOST AND THEY SENT THE TOUR GUIDE ANYWAY TO FIND US, AFTER BEING GONE FOR THREE HOURS, JANE! SO NOW WE’RE ON SEGWAYS SO WE CAN MAKE IT TO OUR LOOKOUT POINT BEFORE SUNSET.”

Tia, Crystal, and Dada were gripping their handles to steady themselves as they wheezed. And it was okay, Dada was okay, good even. She was having fun. Thank god she smoothed things over with Tia, thank god she could still soak her up while she could. Maybe if she got enough of Tia, it could last her a lifetime, be a beautiful story to tell forever. The girl from the UK who ruled her summer. Well, it was only a month, and actually it was the end of summer. But what had Dada even done that summer before this? Drink dry wine on her terrace, smoke on the hill looking over the vineyard, staying up late with her roommates then sleeping for half the day?

All she could remember from before the tour was dreading the tour beginning. What planet was she living on, and what would it be like to go back home? Dada had never been able to live in the moment, she was scared of people who could. She wasn’t scared of Tia, did that mean she was worrying too? Dreading the inevitable future? Dada hoped she was, as terrible as it may sound. But be happy. Dada pleaded silently as she looked at Tia who was doubled over in laughter. Be happy without me if that’s what it takes. They all came to a quick halt as the city eye came into view, the Ferris wheel was lit with flashing lights, going from neon pink to orange to purple to green and blue.

“Okay, park your segways here, we’ll ride them back to the bus too, cuz they’re really fun but Jane was pissing me off so I didn’t even get to enjoy it.” Nymphia had already bought the group tickets online. They watched as she handed out the tickets before joining the rest of the girls in the line that was moving surprisingly fast. Tia and Dada stood behind the rest of the girls, and Tia couldn’t help but notice the carts only fit groups of four. She could feel Dada looking at her with pleading eyes. She had been closed off, much like Dada had been at the beginning of the trip. When was Tia ever quiet, not shameless? Why couldn’t she find the right words to say, or any words at all?

“Can we get one just for two?” She asked once Gothy, Nymphia, Jane, and Crystal had gotten into their gondola-like cart. Tia was met with a quick nod, and they watched as the girls rose in the sky. They were ushered into their cart, everything too quiet, looking at the view rather than each other. It was easier that way, Dada’s thoughts could reel faster when she let herself zone out at the beautiful view, probably one of the last ones on the trip. “Say something,” her chest begged. “Anything.” The wheel moved up.

“I don’t want the trip to end.” The words came out abruptly, as if even Dada didn’t know they would slip out. “I- I am always waiting for it to end and now- I don’t want this to end,” Dada said, finally looking at Tia, she swore her eyes looked different from when they first met. Tia didn’t even know what to say, what the fuck was she supposed to say? Of course she didn’t want things to end either, but… Did Dada really just say it out loud? Was this going to be easier than Tia had hoped?

“I mean- it doesn’t necessarily have to… like- like we can… We don’t have to end. We already have each other’s numbers. And Instagrams. You’ve got Snapchat, right?” Tia asked tentatively.

The wheel moved up further.

“I do but…I hate it, or more like I suck at answering… and I don’t do streaks… but I do occasionally post on my Private story. Sometimes I sell bud if I have extra from growing,” Tia had to laugh at that, of course she liked a Snapchat pot dealer. “We could FaceTime? I like talking to you.”

“Well- where do you live? How far is it from Perugia?” Tia felt weirdly brave.

Could this actually work out? Why couldn’t it? What was actually stopping them?

“San Martino Sul Fiora. Two hours.”

Fuck.

“Oh… that’s pretty far…” Tia trailed off, knowing she wasn’t worth that time. As if she could ever ask Dada to do that for her anyway, how pathetic would that be? Basically begging her to stay.

“Well, it’s not that far. Two hours is like… one Taylor Swift album. Not long enough, if the right song comes on,” Dada was smiling softly, and Tia’s body felt light again. She felt like she was two weeks into the trip and watching the sunset with Dada, asking why her locket was empty. Like they had all the time in the world. Like it was the real beginning.

And the Ferris wheel rose again, reaching the top. They both took a moment to look out at the gorgeous view of the port town, docks, and massive city of Cagliari, most of the roofs a dusty orange that blended so beautifully with the now purple sky. In the distance Tia could barely make out a hazy mountain range across the ocean. She looked to see Dada’s reaction, and wasn’t surprised at all when she found her looking back. Tia grabbed her hand.

“Or you could find, like, a true crime podcast, those make time fly.”

“On my way to see you?? Why? I would be so down in the dumps. A Drag Race podcast though, those are good to listen to on long drives.” Dada said like it was the most simple thing in the world, like she’d been making the drive down the long hill to see Tia for months before. And they were both grinning.

“So you can come visit? Like- if you want to?”

“Yes, of course,” Dada’s voice was so soft, she moved across, sitting next to Tia. She started to rub soft circles on the side of her thigh. “Of course. If you want me. I- Only if you want me to.”

“Of course I do. And-and if I can find a way, of course I’ll try to come see you. Because like, I’ll probably have time off. When I’m not doing homework and getting blackout drunk… the weekends– oh– well…” Tia trailed off, realizing something. By the look on Dada’s face, set in a defeated grimace, she already knew.

The Ferris wheel began to make its way down again.

“Weekends aren’t much of a thing with your program. Not for us or– for me at least. For you… it will be wonderful.”

“Are they really sending us to a different European city EVERY weekend? I swear I didn’t pay for that, I can’t afford it,” Tia was conveniently forgetting that was another reason why she chose this specific program, working overtime two summers in a row to even think about affording it.

“No, no, not every weekend. Most of them, though. Most weekends you will be gone,” Dada was doing such a bad job at keeping her voice neutral, Tia was doing a bad job at trying not to cry. She now remembered excitedly seeing pictures on the website of students at Oktoberfest in Munich, seeing the leaves change in Paris, ice skating on the canals in Amsterdam. Nearly every weekend. How convenient.

And they moved closer to the ground, seeing the other people waiting in line the way they just were, so naively heartbroken about saying goodbye just seven minutes ago. Tia didn’t know she could feel so much worse in such a short Ferris wheel ride.

“I forgot about that. How could I forget about that?” Tia let herself bask in the dread for a moment, forcing the tears back into her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. Please don’t. I mean, I’m jealous. You are going to have so much fun. A lot more fun than you would have being cooped up with me. I’ll be- who knows the next time you’ll have opportunities like this. I will be busy during the week too. It’s harvest season in Tuscany, at the vineyard. I have to help my grandmother more and more these days.”

How were they supposed to be okay with this? How was this okay at all? How was Tia supposed to go from seeing Dada everyday to remembering her everyday, recognizing her in every little thing? With no promise of the weekends? How does that work out?

The Ferris wheel moved closer to the ground as the stale feeling continued to set in.

“So what… are we gonna do?” Tia felt so small, looking at Dada with tears shining in both of their eyes, neither willing to accept the inevitable. She almost wished she never brought it up, let them live in ignorance this last week.

“We’ll figure it out. We will. We’ll keep in touch,” that hurt to hear more than Tia ever thought it would. That’s what she told her high school friends she would do, and her coworkers from her first shitty job. They would keep in touch. When was the last time she talked to any of them?

They were basically at the ground now, seeing as Jane, Nymphia, Crystal, and Gothy got out of their car, Jane visibly stressed from the heights. Maybe they’d become friends Tia would swear she’d keep in touch with too.

But what could she do about it?

“Right. Keep in touch.”

Dada spoke in the saddest whisper. They had finally finished the ride, they had spent the time looking at each other, fuck the view. She ran her thumb across Tia’s hand.

“Tia. We’ll be alright.”

_

They made it back to the villa around 10pm, all feeling worn out. This seemed to be the most they’ve done in a day since… Rome? How could Tia not remember? All she knew was they all couldn’t wait to crawl into their amazing bedrooms. When they walked through the door they were greeted with the amazing smell of carbonara that all the girls ate quickly, desperate to get back to their rooms.

“Okay girls, we oughta go to bed early. Tomorrow is going to be like a movie.”

“Jane… This entire trip has been like a movie…” Crystal muttered through a full mouth that she covered with her hand. “It’s more like a TV show, actually… So what's tomorrow's episode, Jane?”

“Um, that would be a spoiler, Crystal.”

“I always read spoilers,” Crystal replied easily.

“Well- let’s just say, tomorrow we make a SPLASH!” The girls just all looked at Jane who was clearly thrilled at her disappointing answer. “You girls can trust me at least for these few last days, you think I cater to anyone in this tour group besides us, sisters? All you need to know if we’re swimming and getting drunk,” she shrugged.

“So… what we’ve been doing every beach day for the past two weeks?”

“Yeah, but like…”

“It’s Italy,” Dada said softly, pulling Tia in closer. “Everyday feels like a beach day, rain or shine.”

“OKAY! BEDTIME!” All the girls just laughed as they put their dishes in the sink, washing them off to make Bruno’s day a little easier in the morning. Nymphia and Jane seemed to have disappeared the second they had all begun moving, and Crystal wasn’t long to follow.

“C’mon, I swear we haven’t seen any of our room besides the shower,” Tia giggled as she dragged Dada to what she hoped to be the right hallway to their room, passing Bruno and Vanjie who were dressed in formal attire.

“G’night ladies! Glad you’ve made up!” Vanjie cackled, arm in arm with Bruno. They couldn’t help but laugh.

“What… What even is Vanjie? I don’t think she’s human… Why does she know everything and everyone?” Dada asked gently, as if Tia had a better answer. They had made it to the door of their room and somehow it felt like coming home. Tia didn’t answer Dada’s question, she just held up the bottle of champagne. “Ugh, yes please.” Tia laughed, walking over to join Dada on the bed, bottle and glasses in hand. “Ooo we’re using glasses? Feeling classy, miss Tia?”

“Ew no, you’re right, I don’t even know why I grabbed these,” Tia laughed. Dada watched as Tia opened their windows, the fresh air instantly filling their room. She crawled into bed, leaving the glasses abandoned dangerously balanced on the window sill. They passed the bottle back and forth as they did what they’d always do, say everything they wanted to say when they were with the group, laugh about Nymphia and;

“Bitchy Jane… I see why you miss her!” Tia giggled. Dada just took the bottle from her hands, smiling as she took a swig.

“I hope she’s here to stay. It’s weird, but when you meet bitchy Jane, I think it just means she likes you. She denies that, but admits it when drunk. So I think she really likes you guys. I think-” Dada yawned, closing her eyes as she muttered. “I think… she’ll miss you too.” And then she was asleep, leaving Tia with a deafening silence. She just laid down slowly, guiding Dada to do the same, and then weaved her arms around her. Tia fell asleep, she would tell herself in the morning that she didn't hear that, that it was just the champagne and exhaustion.

_

“Oh no fuck that. Keep in touch? That’s why I’m ending things, point blank PERIOD, with Jane after this. I’m not getting led on, strung along like that. And I won’t do that to poor Jane, either,” Nymphia exclaimed at the breakfast table, cutting into the homemade Frittata Bruno had made for the group that morning. She leaned towards the middle with Tia and Crystal so other group members didn’t hear. Dada and Jane had decided to skip breakfast and sleep in, and Gothy was hard at work in her room. Tia was feeling horrible after their talk, but committed to enjoying the last of the trip with Dada. They had wasted way too much time, truly.

“You know Jane would let you, too,” Crystal pointed out, Nymphia solemnly nodded back.

“To each their own, of course,” she added, trying not to laugh at Tia’s downcast eyes. “Aww, it’ll be alright! There were so many hot girls who were put in other groups, Perugia will be a whole other world! If you want it to be. But, if Dada’s willing to make the drive, you’re willing to wait… it could be cute!”

“See those encouraging words are coming out of your mouth but they’re not matching your bitchy tone at all,” Tia wasn’t mad at Nymphia, she was just speaking the truth, all she knew to speak. But this was still the last thing in the world Tia wanted to hear. Her and Dada were gonna make it work, at least they could try to try. At least they weren’t just giving up… Maybe Nymphia just knew better. Whatever, Tia didn’t care. She’d know soon enough, she supposed. But she definitely wasn’t just gonna give up and mope around the rest of the trip. She hoped Dada wouldn’t either.

Then Jane and Dada walked in, Jane looking excited, Dada’s eyes, as always, caught Tia’s instantly. Once everyone was done eating breakfast, Jane brought them outside.

“Okay family!” She said to the group that was gathered on the back terrace. “We will be taking a VERY short walk because we got a sickening villa on the beach! I’m amazing! And we will be splitting into two groups to go TUBING! Me, Dada, Gothy, Nymphia, Tia, and Crystal will go on one and the rest of you can squeeze! And if you don’t want to go on the boat just… I don’t know, hang out in the epic fucking villa or whatever.” Everyone moved to walk to the beach, but not before Jane could add one more thing: “OH! Remember how I called us family at the beginning of my speech. Well, family doesn’t snitch on each other. I will look away from your antics if you look away from mine. That goes for the Villa too… for the rest of the trip honestly. Just don’t be stupid. Don’t piss me off. OKAY LET’S GO!”

They all walked down the beach for a minute until they made it to where the two boats were docked. When they arrived though, one of the boats was already occupied.

“Hello ladies!” Bruno grinned, clasping his hands together. Beside him, stood Vanjie in a neon green bikini, so brat.

“Hey bitches!” Vanjie cackled, popping a bottle of Prosecco. “We better take off fast before any of these other bitches try to hop in our boats! Bruno and I are having some private time out. YOU SNOOZE ya LOSE!” Bruno just laughed as he put the boat in reverse before taking off quickly.

“I… I don’t think I will ever understand Vanjie…” Dada trailed off.

“WHO CARES! You heard her, we gotta get out of here before the other bitch-ass group members get here!” Crystal was already jumping into the boat, almost falling in the process.

“I can totally drive us again, hop in gals!” Gothy said, hopping in too and trying to find the keys to turn on the engine. Dada held out her hand while obnoxiously bowing.

“After you, m’lady.” Tia just rolled her eyes, grabbing her hand easily and also almost falling somehow. She pulled Dada in after her, both plopping onto one of the seats in the back of the boat in a heap of giggles.

“I can't believe we’re not drinking on a boat right now… who are we?” Nymphia muttered, mostly to herself.

“We’re only going out for like- two hours then we’ll go back to the villa and fucking drink. That place was so expensive and it’s so gorgeous we just HAVE to get drunk there. It would be blasphemous if we didn’t,” Jane explained. “Also Bruno is a bartender and has a full list of shots and cocktails he’s ready to make for us. All included.” The girls just gaped at Jane who grinned back at them. “SO LET’S FUCKING GO!”

“Okay this isn’t going to be a cute ride out girls, hold this fucking tube down.” Gothy threw the hot pink tube into the boat, making sure she had the rope and life jackets (safety first and also they absolutely could not let a group member get a concussion on the trip again). “Let’s roll out!” Gothy started up the boat before reversing. Thankfully, it looked like the rest of the tour group opted to stay on their beach or in the villa. Not that they would’ve cared anyway, fuck those guys. Nymphia held onto her headscarf Jane got her for dear life as Gothy sped to a good clear area, JOYRIDE blasting on loop.

“I’M GOING FIRST! I AM A MASTER ON THE TUBE!” Jane said, already throwing the tube into the water and jumping on top of it effortlessly. When did she take off her swimsuit cover up and put on a life jacket, and goggles? “Nymphia, it’s probably for the best that you let me do this by myself… you couldn’t last as long as me.”

“Mmm wasn’t planning on it. You get weird about tubing… like, it’s all you watch on YouTube… Crystal and I are going together!”

“GOOD! FILM ME! GOTHY I WANT YOU TO TRY TO KNOCK ME OFF. I CONSENT. I AM CONSENTING TO YOU TRYING TO KNOCK ME OFF THIS TUBE BECAUSE I KNOW YOU NEVER COULD!” Jane screamed as Gothy started to drag her behind slowly. “DID YOU HEAR ME? SPEED- AH!” Gothy sped up suddenly, causing Jane to laugh wildly. Nymphia was giggling as she filmed Jane bounce over the waves the boat was making behind them.

“Hold on, girls,” Gothy muttered before steering the boat sharply to the right, causing the tube to skip over the waves, but Jane didn’t budge, she pretended to check her nails.

“Oh my god, Jane!” Tia cheered, the ocean water spraying over her and Dada as Gothy suddenly jerked the boat to a crawling pace, causing Jane to almost fall off.

“DID YOU GET THAT NYMPHIE?” Jane called out, spitting out the salt water. Nymphia just nodded enthusiastically. They watched as Jane absolutely killed it on the tube, she truly was a master. Eventually though, Gothy caught the waves just right and Jane crashed into the water, hollering when her head popped out from under the water.

“YASSS JANE! CRYSTAL AND I ARE NEXT!” Nymphia finally stopped recording, and Crystal began to put on her life jacket.

“Are you going?” Tia asked Dada, a wicked smile on her face.

“Absolutely not.”

“Wottttt?” Tia trailed off. “Not even with me?” Dada scoffed at the innocent tone in Tia’s voice.

“No!”

“Oh you are so boring, Dada! We’re all going- well, not Gothy, she’s steering the boat, but everyone else is going but you, that makes you a loser,” Nymphia teased as she finally got her life jacket on.

“You are terrible! You are a literal bully!” Dada pulled Tia in closer as they both wheezed silently.

“You’re a literal LOSER!”

“LADIES! Why are we fighting?” Jane said, pulling herself up onto the boat. She walked over to join the group who all screamed when she dripped water on them. “Oh shut up, we’re all going anyway.”

“Dada isn’t! That’s why we’re fighting!”

“Oh god, don’t be a loser Dada.” Everyone laughed harder, only being cut off by a splash coming from Crystal.

“Who cares! Let’s focus on the cool people who are going tubing!” Crystal had pulled herself up onto the tube.

“You are wearing over-the-nose goggles, but okay!” Dada called back.

“Everyone shut up! Jane, make sure you do a good job filming!” Nymphia ordered before jumping in and climbing onto the tube next to Crystal.

“Do you want me to try and knock you off?” Gothy asked.

“NO!” Nymphia screamed.

“YES!” Crystal screamed louder!

“OKAY! HOLD ON!” Gothy sped up the boat only a little, Nymphia was screaming.

“Nymphia, we’re barely moving!”

“Fuck you!” Nymphia was cut off by Gothy speeding up, sending them over waves that caused the tube to skip. “I HATE THIS!”

In true Nymphia fashion, she complained and screamed the whole time but in the end, it was impossible to knock her off the tube. Crystal had given up after being knocked off three times, but for some reason Nymphia stayed on for one last round, before being dragged in. Jane was not pleased.

“That was so terrible and boring,” Nymphia scoffed as she sat down.

“Yeah, falling off is the best part, NYMPHIA!” Jane bitched.

“I DON’T CARE! TIA. DADA. TUBE. NOW.” Tia gave Dada another wicked grin as she stood.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join me?”

“Absolutely not.”

_

“DO NOT FILM THIS!” Dada yelled, barely able to see from the fogged over goggles. Tia laughed wildly from beside her on the tube.

“OH I ABSOLUTELY AM FILMING THIS. YOU’RE BOTH SO LONG THIS LOOKS HORRIFYING!” Crystal said from behind her phone. Dada screamed as Gothy sped up suddenly, gripping the tube as tight as she could with her eyes pressed shut. Tia cackled before her mouth was filled with salty water that made her gag, and then Dada was laughing too. Gothy turned the boat sharply and Tia and Dada both instantly fell off.

“Were either of you even trying?!” Nymphia cackled as the boat circled back.

“NO?! I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TUBING EITHER!” Tia cried, coughing out the salt water.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

“I’M SORRY! I TALKED A BIG GAME THEN COULDN’T BACK OUT!”

“TIA?!” They were both laughing as they dragged themselves back onto the boat.

“Whatever, let’s just go back to the villa and DRINK WITH BARTENDER BRUNO!”

_

They all entered the villa after drying off a bit and were greeted by Bruno and Vanjie in the kitchen, Bruno was shaking a cocktail, with seven other shakers lined up beside him. Vanjie was perched on the counter sensually.

“Hey ladies! You came just in time, Bruno is making rainbow shots, you want one!?” She asked.

“How could we ever turn down a Bruno rainbow shot?!” Crystal cheered as they all sat down on the bar stools. Bruno began to stack the cocktail mixers on top of each other, probably three feet high.

“Oh my god, Bruno!” Jane cheered. “You know cool bar tricks too?!”

“Of course, Plane. I live to entertain and nourish.” From beside him, Vanjie was lining up eight shot glasses in a perfect line.

“I’m actually a little scared,” Dada muttered towards Tia, who was watching in awe as Bruno masterfully held all the cocktail shakers together and slowly lined them up above the shot glasses, pouring slowly until all the shot glasses were full, each shot a different color of the rainbow. The girls clapped.

“Voila!” Bruno blushed as he bowed. “Now, we drink! I’ll film us!’ Bruno propped his phone up against one of the expensive vases as they each grabbed a random shot.

“Literally what are our lives right now?” Tia cackled as she held onto Dada. Bruno began to film.

“Ladies, a toast,” he said from behind the camera. The girls all held up their shot glasses, trying not to burst out laughing as he continued to speak. “There are big ships and little ships, and ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, like the one between you and me. Bottoms up!”

“CHEERS!” They all said in unison before doing little cheerses’, tapping their glasses on the counter, and sending back the shots that were… actually really delicious, Dada almost wanted to sip it.

“Bruno, that was the best shot I’ve ever had…” Gothy said.

“I’m honored to hear it! There is a full liquor cabinet, and it's all for you, I urge you to indulge. Another round of shots?”

“Bruno, I adore you,” Jane whispered, teary eyed.

“Hey! That’s my man, you have your banana bitch anyway!” Vanjie screamed, well, she didn’t scream, her normal speaking voice just sounded like screaming.

“Oh my god, we’re lesbians, Vanjie! Bruno, we would love another round of shots! Oh and, um- what exactly are the rules on smoking?” Nymphia asked, failing to sound innocent.

“In a way, isn’t oxygen smoke?” Bruno said mysteriously, pouring everclear into a cocktail shaker. They all went silent. “Yes, you can smoke anywhere on the property, this is a villa of bliss.” They all cheered together.

“Bruno, I LOVE YOU!” Nymphia was bouncing in her seat as the other round of shots was poured. Tia exhaled sharply, preparing herself for the strong Everclear but again, she didn't find herself wincing at all. Was Bruno a wizard?

“How did you make Everclear shots taste good?” Crystal implored.

“Your other shots were Everclear too! We’re starting you ladies out strong!” Vanjie cheered.

“You better lock in, if you need anything come find me find Vanessa and I around the fire pit.” Bruno and Vanjie waved as they left the girls in the kitchen.

“Girls… I’ve never had Everclear, I babysit my friends when they drink it…” Crystal trailed off, staring at the empty shot glass in her hand. “It’s NOT good.”

“Oh Crystal, we’ll be okay! I mean, we’ve gotten pretty good at drinking during the trip, right?”

_

“OKAY! OBSTACLE COURSE RELAY!” Nymphia cheered, standing on one of the dining chairs outside. “GROUPS OF THREE! ME, CRYSTAL, AND TIA AGAINST DADA, JANE, AND GOTHY! THE GUIDES VS. THE GROUP!”

“Nymphia, when did you even do this?” Nymphia had laid out a series of lawn chairs, loungers, and dining chairs in obstacles. Tia could barely make out what looked to be a croquet mallet?

“You see, Tia, while you all were eating the delicious shrimp cocktail that Bruno made, which won’t taste very good while coming back up, by the way. I was making a fun activity that is also going to double as a DRINKING game!”

“NYMPHIA! THAT IS SO NICE OF YOU!” Dada clapped. Though the girls had gotten… okay at drinking on the trip, they sure hadn’t learned how to pace themselves. Jane said it was okay because they started two hours late into the day, so really they were just catching up. Or at least that's what Tia thought Jane said, she found it hard to focus on anything or anyone but Dada, as always.

“THANK YOU, DADA! AT LEAST SOMEONE APPRECIATES ME! So, here’s the relay: the first person will start here, the liquor bottles will serve as our batons. You have to pour and take a shot before rolling down the hill with the bottle AND shot glass. At the bottom of the hill you have to WEAVE through the sun loungers, if you mess up, you have to start over, including taking another shot. After you weave through the sun loungers, you will pass the bottle baton and shot glass to the second person in the relay. That person must take a shot and then hop chair to chair, you’ll notice there’s a hopscotch formation, if you fuck it up you will have to start your section over, if you succeed run and meet the final person in the relay. Pass off the bottle baton and shot glass and the final person will take their shot then use the croquet mallet to hit the ball through THREE of the rings. At the end of the course you will take another shot and then do the WHOLE THING BACKWARDS! First person to make it back here WINS! Got it?” All the girls just looked blankly at Nymphia.

“Nymphia… why did you do this?” Jane whispered, even she was a little horrified.

“BECAUSE IT’S LIKE A LOVE ISLAND CHALLENGE!” Nymphia breathed heavily. The girls were still just looking at her.

“What do we win?” Gothy asked after a few moments of silence.

“Uh… my respect? Whatever, go strategize on who you want where. WE’RE DOING THIS YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!” The two groups split off, much like they used to in the very beginning of the trip.

“Okay, we actually need to win this. I know there’s no wine to win, but we need to beat them!” Crystal whispered excitedly. “Tia, you have to do the chair hop scotch, your legs are long as fuck it’ll be so easy.” Tia barked a laugh.

“Right after a shot though? I’m already so drunk.”

“DON’T BE WEAK! THIS IS ABOUT WINNING!”

“Okay! I’ll do the chairs,” Tia nodded, suddenly taking this very seriously.

“Okay, hands in… FUCK DADA, GOTHY, AND JANE!” Crystal cheered.

“FUCK DADA, GOTHY, AND JANE!” Nymphia and Tia cheered back.

“Uhhh, fuck you guys. We’re ready too. Everyone go to their spots!” Jane ordered as she began to walk down the hill beside Dada, Gothy stayed put. Her and Nymphia shared a competitive look, squaring each other up a bit. Tia wasn’t shocked that they also chose Dada for the chair hopscotch.

“You should emotionally prepare to be shamed by Nymphia, I know she’ll never drop it once we win,” Tia teased, both of them stopped in front of their chairs.

“Tia, Tia, Tia…” Dada trailed off, clearly cocky. “Jane, Gothy, and I do drunk foot races all the time back home. You don’t want to know how competitive we get. I can only imagine how good we’re going to be when we work together.” Tia kept a strong poker face, before she could respond she heard Nymphia from on top of the hill, suddenly both eased into an action stance. Tia looked behind her to see Jane and Crystal trash talking each other.

“READY… SET…”

“GO!” Vanjie cheered, holding a timer, Bruno had set up a tripod to film. When did they get here? Nymphia and Gothy basically poured and took the shots in perfect sync, but Nymphia got a lead when she opted to barrel roll down the hill instead of on her side like Gothy.

“YES NYMPHIA!” Tia cheered as Nymphia weaved between the chairs, almost slipping, but still making it to Tia before Gothy reached Dada. She pushed the bottle and shot glass into Tia’s hands.

“GO! GO! GO! HURRY! GO! GO! I’LL BE WAITING BACK HERE!” Nymphia yelled as Tia sent the shot back before climbing onto the chairs and beginning the hop scotch formation. “YOU CAN GO FASTER THAN THAT TIA, COME ON!”

“Ooh baby this is gonna be close!” Vanjie cheered. Though Tia had a strong lead, Dada hopped over the chairs with ease, passing Tia while doing so.

“WOT THE FUCK?!” Dada heard Tia cackle from behind her. She just ran to Jane who was screaming at her, voice hoarse.

“LOCK IN, TIA!”

“Oh ladies… this is going to be a photo finish…”

_

“We have reviewed the footage, and by just a millisecond…” The girls all sat around the table outside eagerly as Bruno spoke. “THE TOUR GUIDES WIN!” The girls clapped politely as Dada, Gothy, and Jane embraced in fits of laughter.

“Nymphia! Tell us! Tell us you respect us!” Gothy demanded.

“Fine. Whatever. I respect you. Bruno, Everclear shots?”

“To the kitchen!”

Bruno laid out eight glasses, effortlessly filling each straight down the line.

“Ladies, Everclear isn’t as dangerous as I thought, I just think my friends suck at drinking!”

“Crystal… please be safe tonight.”

_

Ten things happened before they all ended up falling asleep at 8pm.

First, they took more shots. NOT of Everclear, though, they switched to whatever vodka Jane had pulled out of the liquor cabinet.

Second, they walked down to the beach where they chain smoked three blunts, two joints, and ten drunk cigarettes. And Tia didn’t give a fuck about what Nymphia had said that morning.

Third, Tia didn’t give a fuck about what Nymphia had said that morning. How could she when her and Dada kept sneaking away from the group just to take a few moments alone, it pissed the girls off, but they didn’t care. They had found some good hiding spots, though.

Fourth, Crystal wanted to play hide and seek. Dada and Tia gave her the idea. They couldn’t be mad though, because it was actually really fun as they stumbled up the stairs to try and find a good hiding spot. The fun ended when Jane tried to hide in the ocean.

Fifth, they got cut off from the ocean. (yes, Bruno could do that.) He stopped Nymphia, Tia, Gothy, Dada, and Crystal just as they were about to reach Jane, who was ankle deep.

“YOU GIRLS, YOU’RE TOO IMPORTANT TO LOSE! I’M DOING THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!”

Sixth, they all cried in Bruno’s muscular arms, so grateful for his love. They apologized profusely while also thanking him, wiping their tear stained cheeks.

Seventh, while they were all crying in Bruno arms, Tia was secretly crying because she was thinking about what Nymphia had said earlier that day, and how she was probably right after all. Tia was here temporarily, not Dada. Dada wasn’t leaving Tia after a short trip, Tia was leaving her after a semester abroad. Dada wasn’t leaving the country, she was just leaving… Tia. And that was easier than a country. Way easier.

Eighth, Nymphia and Dada decided to do foot races. Stupidly, they used the patch of grass right next to the pool. They actually held up surprisingly well considering the wet grass that caused them to slip and slide.

“GO DADA! GO! GO! GO!” Tia cheered. In a last ditch attempt to beat Nymphia, Dada lept towards the finish line, sliding in the wet grass and covering herself in mud.

Ninth, Tia and Dada sat next to each other in their shower, naked and laughing as they watched the sunset through the open window. The water fell over them as the dirt washed off Dada, and Tia who was sharing her filth at this point.

Tenth, Bruno and Vanjie came around and made sure all the girls were in bed, safe, and equipped with trash cans and plenty of water. Tia and Dada fell asleep tangled together, and Tia would forget all about Nymphia’s words until she was sharing the toilet bowl with Dada at 2 a.m., puking their guts out while leaning on each other. But mostly, all Tia could think as her head pounded was:

Today was really fucking fun.

_

“Good morning ladies. You all look lovely in the morning light, your most natural state. True beauty!” Bruno stood at the breakfast bar in front of the seven girls the next morning, who couldn’t help but grin despite their horrible hangovers. They had slept in until 10am, which was late considering they were all passed out before the sun had completely set. “After having a lengthy and sensual conversation with Vanessa and Gothy last night, I’ve come to a conclusion. You deserve a treat. I’ve been up all night crafting the recipe for a perfect day,” The girls gasped, staring in awe as Bruno revealed a platter of what looked to be perfectly baked macarons. “Every homemade French macaron contains fifty milligrams of pure one hundred percent sativa homegrown indoor marijuana. Strain name- Dry Lightning, a Bruno original. Tread lightly, but bravely.” Bruno grinned as Jane squealed.

“Bruno… we would’ve been fine with brownies- you’re amazing!” She sighed. Nymphia frowned.

“Um, didn’t your roommate literally mail you so many edibles??”

“Fuck those edibles,” Jane snapped, then grinned at Bruno. “Bruno made these. With dry lightning.”

“That’s us baby.”

Nymphia rolled her eyes as Jane grinned and blushed at Bruno winking at her. The rest of the girls rolled their eyes and laughed at Jane as Vanjie stood up.

“Don’t say I’ve never done nothing for you either!” She grinned. “I’ve got you a full itinerary for the day, complete with drivers, appointments, reservations, all that shit. With Nymphia’s input, of course! Miss Vanjie got you all the hookups! You’re lucky I’ve got connections.”

“Vanjie… if I ever asked you details on your life, what would you say?” Crystal giggled, sharing a look with Nymphia.

“Read my Wikipedia page!” Vanjie said, dead serious. Nymphia immediately took out her phone. “Now breakfast! Or brunch I guess.”

“Yes, you missed the extensive breakfast buffet I prepared this morning, but using the leftovers I’ve made personalized breakfast burritos for all you ladies. No onion for Nymphia, no cheese for Crystal, extra prosciutto for Dada,” Bruno handed out individually wrapped breakfast burritos to all the girls, along with cold bottles of water before leading them outside. “Gothy, you should have to drive the least amount possible on this trip, I want this to be a haven for you as well. A shuttle will be taking you to and from town today.”

“BRUNO I COULD CRY!” Gothy exclaimed, jumping into Bruno’s arms. Tia and Dada looked at each other and burst out laughing, walking out of the villa before the other girls, Tia immediately lighting a cigarette.

“I feel like I’m… I don’t even know, rich as hell?” She whispered to Dada as they walked towards the sleek black shuttle van that would bring them into town. The driver was wearing a black tuxedo.

“I feel like we’re in a cult commune but it’s too luxurious and beautiful for me to leave,” Dada giggled.

“Sounds like the beginning of an A24 movie!”

Soon the girls were loaded up in the van, waving goodbye to Bruno and Vanjie who stood waving from the front door. In the scenic forty five minute drive into Cagliari, the same port town they’d arrived in just days before, the six girls definitely started to feel the effects of the macaron edibles as they ate their tinfoil wrapped breakfast burritos.

“Girls… I’m saying this right now… I should NOT have eaten two macar-,” Crystal was cut off by Nymphia’s screeching.

“GIRLS STOP EATING! I’M GONNA MAKE A TIKTOK!!!”

“What the fuck does that even mean.” Jane deadpanned. Nymphia just grinned and shoved her phone in Jane’s hand, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Just hit record and stop after I wink.” She ordered Jane, who obliged with a smile. Nymphia looked at the phone once Jane hit record, her voice got lower in an attempt to seem relatable or gay or something. “What I eat in a day on an island in Italy… ‘relaxed’ edition.” She winked at the camera. Jane let out a loud cackle as she stopped recording. (Of course Nymphia will keep Jane’s cackle in the final cut) “NOW!” She ordered, snatching her phone back. “Everyone hold your burritos in the middle. This is so going viral.”

Too soon they arrived in Cagliari, being dropped off in front of a modern looking consignment store on a busy street, much like the one they’d been to in Naples to get their clubbing outfits. But this one was cheaper, thank god.

“Okay wait, what’s the vibe tomorrow? Why do we need to buy completely new outfits? I bought plenty of outfits for clubbing.”

“Crystal, think less clubbing, think more…” Jane trailed off, trying to find the right words.

“Coachella.” Dada and Gothy said at the same time. Crystal, Tia, and Nymphia grinned.

“Oh… we can fucking do that.”

The girls split up, Tia and Dada going to a rack of tiny short skirts, Crystal and Nymphia were immediately digging through bins of shoes. Nymphia pulled out a pair of SICKENING platform stripper heels.

“I- this is the best day of my life girls.” She sounded genuinely choked up. Tia and Dada immediately turned to each other and silently laughed.

“She’s really about to cry!” Dada whispered with a grin.

“Nymphia girl, your day is only going up from here!” Vanjie emerged from the dressing room wearing the exact replica Vanessa Hudgens’s 2011 Coachella look, (you know the one). The girls all jumped.

“What the fuck Vanjie?!” Tia exclaimed. Dada was dying laughing into her shoulder, the edibles weren’t helping her stay composed at all. If anything they just made everything dreamier and funnier and more golden. And Tia felt so much closer, even more magnetic than usual. Dada couldn’t help but laugh into her neck, snake a hand around her waist and rise it under Tia’s shirt, rubbing circles on her bare back.

As for Tia, she jumped every time she heard a loud noise, and she was genuinely scared that Vanjie had arrived before them, when she had just waved goodbye as they were leaving. From inside the villa. But Dada constantly being by her side still felt nice. Almost too nice.

“Tia, you look scared! Bruno and I rode over on his Vespa. We took the scenic route but he’s such a speed devil we beat you anyway. NOW! Let’s pick some outfits ladies!”

“CATEGORY IS… NEON CARNIVAL!”

_

“Girls… I don’t really want a rebound right now. But in this outfit, it’s gonna be hard not to get one!” Crystal squealed as they walked out of the shop. “Bruno!!! You are absolutely insane! I feel the dry lightning!” She pulled Bruno into a hug the minute he approached the girls on the street.

“Oh Crystal how I love you,” Bruno grinned as he easily returned her hug. He was wearing a fedora like he was in the mafia. “Let me take your bags ladies. I’ll see you for dinner.”

“What about the rest of the group?”

“Their dinner just needs to be put in the oven for forty five minutes. They will cope. This is too special to miss.”

The girls looked at each other in wonder as they handed Bruno their bags.

“I’m going with Bruno too. We’re still trying to secure the perfect reservations. I’ll see you girls at dinner. Have fun now! Right on the port there’s a cute little gelato place, and across the street the bars are starting happy hour. Go have fun!”

The girls watched as Bruno and Vanjie left, walking down a random street. Crystal stared after them.

“I don’t think I can drink right now girls,” she breathed.

“…why?” Nymphia asked rudely. Crystal turned and looked at her, tears in her eyes.

“Because my body feels like an opera… the violins are warming up… it’s buzzing…”

Tia figured Crystal was having a bad trip from the edibles and immediately felt bad. She was feeling a little anxious too… But Crystal had double the macarons the other girls did. Nymphia only had a bit of Jane’s and even she was incredibly giggly, her eyes obviously bloodshot red.

“And your face is melting.” Nymphia deadpanned. “And the trees want to sacrifice you!”

Crystal’s hands flew to her face in horror.

“NYMPHIA NO!” Gothy and Jane immediately yelled.

“That’s so fucked up,” Jane whispered heatedly. Dada burst into a fit of giggles, leaning back into Tia who was already laughing into her shoulder.

“Crystal! Do not listen to her!” Dada got out through her laughter.

“Nymphia is just being a bitch,” Tia grinned, burying her face in Dada’s neck. “Your face is melting!” She whispered, and they both couldn't stop giggling. They were all so high off the edibles at this point the girls were all cackling, except Crystal, who was trying to calm herself down, looking at her face in Snapchat.

“Seriously Crystal,” Dada pulled away from Tia and threw a comforting arm around Crystal who immediately curled into her arms. “You are perfect. We will get you some food and water and you can share my drink when you’re ready.”

A part of Tia hated Dada for being so sweet. And kind. And funny. And smart. And beautiful of course, but…

How was she so perfect? Tia remembered thinking the same thing in Florence, but she didn’t know half of it. Of course Dada is gorgeous, with her perfectly styled long platinum blonde hair, her dark thick eyelashes that framed the lightest brown eyes that lit up every time she gave one of her beautiful smiles. She could be a model, especially with those long legs. Yes, she was gorgeous. Everyone knew that the moment they met her. But nothing could’ve prepared Tia for everything else about her.

How much Dada made her laugh, how much she made Tia’s chest ache, how safe she made her feel. How Tia didn't even think about this sappy stuff half the time because it all just felt too easy, too natural to be anything but absolutely ordinary. How were they supposed to say goodbye? Tia never wanted to say goodbye. She hadn’t even known this girl for a month but she wanted to know her inside out.

Tia was broken from her embarrassing train of thought as Nymphia shoved her phone in Crystal’s face with the smeagle Snapchat filter on the screen. Crystal screamed when she saw herself, but even she joined the laughter when she realized it was just a filter.

“I’M SO GLAD I RECORDED THAT!” (For some reason, Nymphia will add this to the TikTok)

The girls tried to hold back their laughter as they went into a bar that was right on the water. They all ordered drinks and snacks before finding a table on the patio that overlooked the water.

“This is so beautiful,” Crystal breathed.

“Yeah, it’s so much better than the stupid happy hour bar crawl Jane made us do in Venice. Nowhere had seats, we had to eat and drink outside. I nearly fell into a canal!”

“I should’ve pushed you in.” Crystal and Jane said at the same time. And then no one could hold back their laughter. The girls chatted for a little bit, Nymphia shushing them as she recorded segments for her TikTok.

“Why can’t we talk? You’re not gonna put music over it??” Tia asked as Nymphia filmed herself taking a bite of a cracker with cheese and salami.

“SHUT UP TIA!” Nymphia snapped with her mouth full. (This will stay in the TikTok)

The girls left soon and got gelato across the street, then Nymphia led them to the next activity.

“OKAY GIRLS!! Now I know I usually am the one who refuses to go into museums-,” she began as she led the girls up a steep hill.

“I’m not going into a museum.”

“Shut up Jane. BUT, there’s this really cool one that I’m actually SUPER excited to-,”

“Nymphia. I am NOT going to a museum,” Jane said more sternly, stopping in her tracks. The rest of the girls stopped except for Nymphia who kept chugging up the hill.

“JANE IT’S AN ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM LOADED WITH HISTORY-,”

“AND I TOOK US TO AN ISLAND. LET’S HAVE FUN PLEASE!”

“… I’m team Jane,” Tia cut in, Dada burst out laughing. “Nymphia didn’t we go to enough museums in just Rome?”

“What the FUCK Tia?!?! YOU SKIPPED MUSEUM CRAWL DAY! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT!!!”

“Nymphia. Listen to yourself yelling at us because you want to go to a MUSEUM. And turn around. Let’s do some more shopping sisters!” Jane grinned, taking back over as the tour guide. “See, last night I really wanted to check out these cute little shops, but instead we went to basically a small boring version of the Colosseum that we all saw in Rome. Let’s make up for lost time now!”

“Have fun losers, Dada and I are going to the park!” Tia called, already pulling Dada in the opposite direction of the group, who just followed her with a grin.

“You are horrible!” Dada giggled. “I can’t believe Nymphia tried to make us go to a museum,” she added. Tia hummed in agreement.

“Look, I’m sorry, the minute Jane started taking us to the beach, no WAY could we EVER go back to that awful museum lifestyle!”

“Exactly. I mean, you saw what happened in Rome, when she tried to make us go back,” Dada led Tia down a random side street, not really knowing where she was going, just hoping they’d be able to find somewhere secluded.

“Yeah you kidnapped me and then tried to seduce me, very inappropriate for a tour guide,” Dada hated that glint in Tia’s eye that made her feel like some blushing schoolgirl. “Also if you’re trying to find a smokespot, that park is empty. And there’s a really big tree to stand behind.”

“Oh good I was trying to find a smokespot.”

The two walked into a park and behind the tree to see there was actually a bench, with a no smoking sign on it. “Don’t worry Tia, they don’t mean it in Italy.”

Dada took out one of Crystal’s blunt wraps and quickly packed it with bud, handing it to Tia to light. “First hit, just for you.”

“You just don’t wanna light it…” Tia glared but took the blunt with a grin, holding it under the lighter, rotating it under the flame a couple times before bringing it to her mouth, lighting it one final time as she deeply inhaled, trying her best not to cough when she felt that ache in her throat.

“You are about to cough so hard I can tell, it’s okay, let it out,” Dada’s tone was only a little teasing as Tia burst out coughing and she burst out laughing, moving her hand from Tia’s shoulder to her back, rubbing soft circles on it. She took a few hits of her own, exhaling like a normal person. “Also I was not seducing you in Rome, I was simply trying to show you some wonderful views. And I need to keep repeating, I am NOT a tour guide. That is Jane. I just translate.”

“And hit on travelers.”

“Nah. Only you.”

Tia and Dada eventually wandered back to the shopping street, meeting the rest of the girls in a touristy gift shop like the countless ones they’d been to before. Luckily the effects of the edibles were starting to wear off, though they were still giggly, just a little subdued. And then finally it was time for dinner, the weirdest experience of Dada’s life. It started with meeting Bruno and Vanjie in front of a random bar by the beach.

“Ladies, while you all look radiant today, we do indeed need to freshen up for dinner. Thank you for packing outfits in advance. My friend owns this bar and is fine with you using their restrooms to get dressed. Please meet on the beach directly across the street when you are all finished. And then… and then it will be time,” Bruno smiled softly, opening the door to the bar for the girls. Luckily the bar had three single bathrooms. Jane and Nymphia, Crystal and Gothy, and Tia and Dada split up to get changed.

Dada was so unbelievably high after smoking that blunt, she couldn't look at Tia as they entered the bathroom.

“You’re being shy,” Tia giggled, already stripping.

“Because you are horrible!” Dada exclaimed with a grin. Tia just laughed, pulling Dada into a long kiss who of course returned it, before pushing her away with a wicked grin. “You are terrible! Go to the other side!”

So they got changed on opposite sides of the tiny bathroom, sending seductive smiles and playful glares back and forth, Tia of course attempted to do a corny striptease. Dada couldn’t help but notice how her phone buzzed five times in a row.

“You are popular? Who knew,” She smirked at Tia, who let out a breath of a laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry. Just stupid emails from the school in Perugia. All these dumb orientation documents I need to sign or whatever. I’ve been ignoring them for a week now,” she said so earnestly like it was nothing, but her eyes wouldn’t meet Dada’s. She glanced at her phone. “Oh- first trip is September 14th. Paris. Ha.”

“You will love it. It’s beautiful,” Dada breathed. “Can you lace my dress up?”

When Tia went to redo the lacing in the back of Dada’s dress, her hands were shaking.

“I got my first email when we were driving to Amalfi. And it almost made me cry,” she whispered. Dada let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking high right now,” she attempted to giggle. Dada’s stomach dropped. She was way too high for this too and now all she wanted to do was cry. Weren’t they just having fun? Wasn’t this just kind of easy?

“I’m sorry,” was all she knew to whisper, giving Tia a sad smile. Even though she wasn’t sorry at all. She was comforted to know that Tia had been feeling the dread, even before she was. “Jane told me- once I realized how fast the trip was moving - she said to let go of the dread. But I just…” Dada didn’t finish her sentence, she just shrugged. Tia patted her back, Dada turned to look at her. Tia gave her a tiny smile.

“What she should’ve said is to be delusional. That’s way easier. Zip me up?”

Now Dada’s hands were shaking as she deliberately took her time to zip Tia’s dress, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder before saying, unable to help a grin;

“Well, it was better than what Nymphia told me to do…”

“She gave you that whole speech too? She’s the worst !”

“I’M LISTENING TO YOU GIRLS. FUCK YOU! WE’RE ALL DONE, HURRY UP!”

Tia and Dada laughed, gathering up their stuff before leaving the bathroom. Jane stepped up with a smirk.

“Nymphia gave me that speech too, by the way. The one about ghosting me? Yeah. And I don’t buy it for a second. She already sent me the school’s academic calendar.” Jane smirked as she walked away. When they crossed the street to the beach, Bruno in a black tuxedo was posing in front of a blazing sunset with Vanjie by his side, who was in a golden floor length ball gown that looked straight from the bachelorette. A photographer was running back and forth, getting all the perfect angles.

“Holy shit,” Gothy breathed.

“This is the ULTIMATE sunset photoshoot!!!” Nymphia squealed, running forward, Jane’s hand clasped in hers. After a literally professional photoshoot, Bruno and Vanjie led them into a marble mansion that was guarded by two men at the door.

“Welcome to the most exclusive restaurant in all of Italy. They usually only allow seven patrons a night. But we were able to raise the number to lucky number eight. And we are in for a treat.”

Dada and Tia looked at each other, bewildered, but followed Bruno with all the trust in the world.

“I hope we don’t get murdered…” Tia whispered to Dada, who could only nod. The mansion was absolutely gorgeous, Tia felt like she was on some sort of movie set. She also sort of felt like she was in Buckingham Palace. And the White House. And Daddy Warbucks Mansion in Annie.

They were led to such a huge dining table, Tia was shocked they only allowed seven diners a night. For some reason they had eight servers, and Tia and Dada had to hold back their laughter when they realized they all got personal servers for the night.

“It’s a cult,” Dada whispered in Tia’s ear, who lightly kicked her, trying not to laugh. Why they all needed individual servers no one knew, maybe other than to clear dishes. It was an eight course meal. Two appetizers, three main dishes, one palate cleanser, and two desserts. And each meal came with a designated glass of wine, beer, or cocktail. No one had a clue what they were eating, the whole dinner was “silent service” with absolutely no explanation. But it was good enough, Tia supposed. Of course Nymphia was obsessed with filming every dish and her reaction. None of the servers would explain what she was eating so she made lame attempts at describing the dishes. Everything she said confused Tia.

At least Tia could understand the different proteins of the main course, one being some sort of exotic fish that;

“I caught it this afternoon,” Bruno said proudly. “I was just going for a free swim, and it basically swam right into my hands. Like it was made for us.”

After finishing a confusing dessert that arrived on fire, but was somehow ice cold, the girls loaded into the shuttle van for a loud ride home. Bruno and Vanjie were way too drunk to ride back on the Vespa so they squeezed in the van, a mess of laughter and Nymphia bitching that she was too cramped. An hour later they arrived back at the Villa, and all the girls were pretty tired at this point. But Bruno and Vanjie had other plans for the night.

“Oh, you thought the dinner was exclusive? You thought Dry Lightning was a Bruno original? Wait until you see this. Follow us!” Vanjie and Bruno walked ahead of the girls, arm and arm. They were walking down the beach just outside the villa.

“Are they going to kill us?” Tia muttered anxiously to Dada, who just held on tighter.

“I- I’m not sure. I don’t… I’m not sure…”

“Girls. I trust Bruno with my life! Stop panicking!” Jane defended, going silent once they met the entrance of a cave.

“Are you sure?” Nymphia asked gently.

“Don’t worry ladies, I’ve had a nightcap here before. You’ll love it,” Gothy said, walking in behind Vanjie and Bruno with no hesitation. They all followed, gasping when they saw neon lights coming from the end of the cave.

“Welcome to my bar? Lounge? Speakeasy is probably the best word to use,” Bruno said, already going behind the bar and revealing a bottle of wine. “No better way to unwind, than with a bottle of wine! I stitched that on a pillow once!” The walls were lined with velvet fabric that matched the cushions on the high top tables. There was a pool table, darts, and even slot machines in the corner.

“Bruno… this place is gorgeous…”

“Thank you, Plane-“

“Bruno… call me Jane.” Everyone gasped.

“Of course, Jane. I’ve been staying here quite awhile so I’ve been able to build up an amazing relaxation station if you will, here ladies,” Bruno had finished pouring all the glasses, pushing one towards each girl. ”Gothy, would you like some Dry Lightning?”

“Oh my god, Bruno! You’re so right! Girls, you haven’t even smoked out of my bong yet!” Gothy instantly ran to grab her bong that was left there for some reason? She returned moments later with her whole smoke set up and began packing a bowl.

“Ugh, the last bong I hit was probably a water bottle bong…” Tia scoffed, sipping at her wine as Dada admired her.

“I thought you were the first girl in your class to have a real bong?” Dada asked teasingly. Tia laughed for a moment, surprised Dada remembered the story that she didn’t even remember telling her.

“I broke that thing so fucking fast,” Tia breathed. Everyone laughed.

“The highest I’ve ever got was off a water bottle bong, don’t underestimate their power. But Gothy’s bong is gorgeous.” And Dada was right, Gothy’s bong was gorgeous, and fucking huge. It was made of a deep emerald green glass. The base looked to be hand painted, with swirls of teal blue and specks of gold making it look like some sort of:

“Gothy it’s like a mermaid bong! I love!” Nymphia exclaimed. Gothy hit the bong before passing it towards Crystal.

“Oh my god, I forgot bongs could be clean…” Crystal trailed off, passing it to Dada, who as always, exhaled in Tia’s face. The girls passed the bong around until Tia couldn’t shake the weight behind her eyes. That didn’t stop them from taking a few hits around Bruno’s hookah before going to bed. Gothy stayed back for a few more drinks. Crystal had taken the lead on the walk back to the villa, stopping to pick up seashells every so often. Jane carried Nymphia on her back as she usually did, and Dada and Tia pulled caboose with their fingers interlocked.

“How tired are you?” Dada asked Tia.

“Never enough,” She answered simply. Dada shook her head, smiling, she loved that answer.

“Then we should put on our swimsuits. The pool is calling us.” And so they wished the girls goodnight before heading to their room to change quickly. The summer air felt a little different as they hopped through the window from their room and walked towards the pool. Dada wrapped both arms around herself as they walked down the stone steps, blushing into Tia’s shoulder who was burning hot. And Tia did feel flushed, heart fluttering and giggling like an idiot, but once at the pool, she shivered. Why was she shivering? Wasn’t she boiling maybe two weeks ago in Genoa smoking outside their hotel? Had that just been the nerves? Wasn’t she nervous now? All Tia knew was goosebumps were trailing up her body.

“What? You’re going to chicken out of swimming in our heated pool?” Dada muttered, trailing her warm hands up Tia’s sides, causing her to shiver even more. Instead of answering, Tia just hopped in. She appreciated the muffled silence for a moment before popping back out from underwater.

“Your turn.” Tia pushed her hair out of her face, eyes locked with Dada’s, she was still shivering. Was it really getting that cold already?

“Should I really? You don’t seem to be enjoying it…”

“I’d enjoy it a lot more if you were with me.” Tia had swam to the edge of the pool, running her hand up Dada’s leg.

“Even your hand is cold,” She giggled, pulling away slightly.

“I don’t care! Come on!” And Dada let Tia pull her in, screaming as she did. Just as quickly as Dada crashed into the water, Tia’s lips crashed onto hers. She took a sharp breath before dragging them both underwater, lips not breaking apart for a moment.

“How pissed would Bruno be if we had sex in the pool?” Tia gasped the second the both came up from under the water. Dada threw her head back laughing before pulling Tia into another kiss. Why couldn’t they stay like this forever? Italy in a way Dada had never seen before, saturated until the sky was almost neon; in a villa that felt as much like home as the vineyard did, but Dada knew it wasn’t the villa that made her feel that way. Was there another world where things were just a little bit different? Dada shook the thought from her mind quickly, knowing the only other reason Tia would make it to Italy is if she was running away. And Dada never wanted her to have to do that. She did nothing to deserve it, and she didn’t deserve these weightless thoughts. So instead Dada began to untie Tia’s bikini top, lips trailing down her neck as she did so.

“I was joking!” Tia giggled, hand already in Dada’s hair, pulling her closer.

“Were you?”

“Well…” Tia was just off by the outdoor lights turning on. They both gasped, ducking till their heads were barely sticking out of the water. “Do you see anyone?”

“I think that they are automatic,” Dada whispered, trailing off into a giggle.

“That’s god telling us to go to our room,” Tia kissed Dada quickly before leading her out of the pool. It was even colder when they got out, the cold night air almost brought tears to Tia’s eyes. August was really slipping away. She tightly wrapped a shivering Dada in her oversized towel before they stumbled back to their room, luckily they left their one big window open, opting to just hop through it instead of navigate around the villa.

“One second!” Dada giggled, struggling to close the window as Tia continued to pull her towards the shower.

“You’re supposed to wash off chlorine, right?” Their swimsuits weren’t even fully off before Tia turned on the water, making it as hot as possible, letting it slightly sting her skin. They left their damp swimsuits beside the shower drain, and as Tia watched Dada take in her body like she’d never seen it before, she knew she would never know anyone as beautiful as Dada. And that didn’t make her ache, but it did make it harder to fall asleep.

_

Waking up the next morning was somehow easier than falling asleep, and it didn’t hurt too bad until Dada remembered the next morning they’d be waking up to leave the island. But she pushed the thought down and excitedly packed her bag for the day with Tia, braiding each other’s hair after they took a shower together so it would look perfect for the club tonight.

After having another wonderful Bruno BreakfastTM, soon the whole tour group boarded the bus. For one of the last times, Tia couldn’t help but think. What the fuck was wrong with her?

“Ladies, here’s the deal. I tried to get us a private cabana at the club. But the event was already sold out. And there’s nine other people besides us, so I was only able to get us all VIP dance floor tickets,” Vanjie explained as they sat down, her and Bruno standing at the very front. Nymphia walked down the aisle doing a headcount.

“Ugh, I understand Vanjie. We should’ve just ditched the rest of the group, though.” Jane said, pointing to the back of the bus. Tia laughed as Vanjie made a somber face.

“They’re my friends, Jane.” She said evenly. “I know how you feel about ditching the group, believe me. I’ve been ditched plenty of times on this trip. By you.” Everyone was silent for a moment, shocked at Vanjie’s serious tone.

“Vanjie, I-,” Jane began, not sure what to say. Vanjie’s face broke into a grin.

“I can’t blame you! I blame Nymphia! And I can’t blame her either! And I don’t care either way, this has been the best month of my life. Let’s get going girls! First we’re having a little lunch/exploration/enrichment moment in the sweet port town of Sassari. And then we’ll be on our way to Phi Beach, the hottest outdoor nightclub on the island! And they’re having their end of summer neon ladies night!”

As everyone got on the bus, the girls couldn’t help but notice that instead of Gothy sitting in the driver's seat, Bruno sat down. Gothy lounged in the seat behind him.

“That’s right ladies! I get another day off! Bruno is spoiling me!” she grinned.

“Um, Bruno, while I trust you with my LIFE, do you know how to drive a huge bus like this?” Jane couldn’t help but ask. Bruno let out a carefree laugh.

“Oh Jane. I used to drive Beyoncé’s tour buses all around Europe. I did just last summer, in fact. They were wider and taller than this one. You’re in very safe, gentle hands.”

In the three hour drive to Sassari, Tia couldn’t help but notice how deadly quiet Dada was. Maybe she was just hungover. Or still high from the edibles. Or carsick. Whatever, Tia was tired too so she just let Dada lay her head on her shoulder as they both watched the view of the ocean and small flat mountains whizzing past. Every now and then Dada would whisper that something was pretty. They shared a pair of earbuds, listening to Tia’s random playlist of old One Direction, Lorde, and Chappell Roan. No sad songs though.

Eventually they arrived to Sassari, grabbing a quick lunch that Nymphia bragged about choosing. Then they had an hour to kill before they had to be on their way to Phi Beach. Nymphia, who had declared her TikTok “viral” (it got one thousand likes) was insisting on making another around the city with Jane. Crystal and Gothy followed them, but Dada grabbed Tia’s hand.

“I want to show you something,” she whispered, leading her to the beach. Tia laughed at a dolphin statue in the middle of the water, taking a quick picture of it and posting it on her instagram story. To her left she could see a huge set of docks with different yachts and ferries ported there. To her right she could still hear Nymphia talking loudly into her phone, definitely trying to go “viral” again.

And in the middle of it all was Dada, who was never good at masking her sad eyes, going from staring at Tia and gazing deep into the sky above the sea, like she was waiting for a band of pirates to come upon the horizon and take them away or something. Or a cruise ship, maybe? Why not just ask?

“What’re you lookin at?” Tia’s voice was barely above a whisper, she cupped her hand over her eyes as she followed Dada’s pointed finger, straight out to the ocean.

“If you were to get on a boat, or you were Katie Ledecky, and you just kept going straight through the sea, eventually, you would hit Nice,” Tia didn’t let her head whip in Dada’s direction, no matter how surprised she was when she mentioned France. she was always surprised, even Jane said she didn’t talk about it that much.

“Can you see it? It’s pretty clear out, you might-” Tia felt a little stupid when Dada cut her off with a laugh. But of course, she didn’t mean it like that.

“No, you can’t see it. That’s how I came here, to Italy. Took a ferry from Nice to here, Sassari. Hid out for a week until my grandmother came to get me. Then we took the ferry together to Naples, and she took me home. To her vineyard in Fiora. The week I was here though, I came to this beach every day. And I thought- I thought if I stood on my tiptoes, and squinted really hard as deep in the water as I could go, I could see just the coast. Or something. But a very friendly surfer broke the news that you can only see it after boating for like… eight hours towards it. To even be able to see just the horizon, just a tip. But for a second, you know, I believed I could see it, and, God I-”

“I know.” Dada hadn’t told Tia much about Nice, but just from her silence, her tentativeness to talk about it, told Tia enough. Afterall, she hated talking about Essex and her university too. Tia had a good feeling Dada left France for a really good reason. For herself. And even though in three days Dada would be on her way back home, and Tia would be stuck in her new apartment with new strangers in Perugia, she didn’t feel the need to push. Even though she was dying to ask, Tia didn’t. She wouldn’t have to. She could ask Dada another time.

Tia lit a joint in the plain daylight, only getting an amused look from an old lady walking by. She knew they wouldn’t get caught, not that it even mattered.

“Did Jane know, when she chose the island, that this is, you know…”

“No.” Dada answered simply. “It’s okay though, I-. You know. It’s beautiful here. I’m having so much fun,” she whispered, tears shining in her eyes. Tia could feel her own.

“You’re beautiful,” she couldn’t help but whisper, giving Dada a light kiss on the empty beach. “I’m having so much fun, too. And thank you for telling me this, for… you know…”

“You are too sappy,” Dada laughed. Eventually the girls found them on the beach and they were right back on the bus, multiple windows down, everyone in high chatty spirits.

“ALRIGHT EVERYONE WE GOT TWO HOURS TO LOOK GLAM. BRUNO IS DOING HIS BEST TO AVOID POTHOLES, BUT ITS STILL GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE SO BE CAREFUL WITH THE MASCARA!” Vanjie stood in front of the bus with the microphone, hand on Bruno’s shoulder as he pulled the bus out of the parking lot. He grabbed the microphone from her hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m taking it smooth. But I’m asking you all to remember that there is one bathroom, and potentially fifteen of you are getting dressed. Please do so in a calm and orderly fashion. And enjoy the ride, it’s truly beautiful here.”

Nymphia immediately pulled out her huge makeup kit, balancing it on her legs as she dug through the bin. Tia and Dada looked at each other with a laugh before pulling makeup out of their own bags.

“Girls, I think the last time I did my makeup in a car like this was going to a Harry Styles concert,” Crystal said as she pulled out her dirty makeup brushes. “How are we gonna wet our beauty blenders??”

“Ummm… carefully using a water bottle?” Dada suggested with a shrug.

After twenty minutes of Crystal spilling the water in her lap, Tia forgetting to put on primer, Gothy poking her eye ten different times, Nymphia and Jane fighting over the tiny mirror Nymphia brought, and Dada’s liquid eyeliner going on a streak across her cheek, Vanjie deemed them “absolute messes.”

“ALRIGHT you girls are hopeless! Everyone wait your turn, I’m at least doing your eyeliner and falsies cause I know you’ll die!” She exclaimed, immediately grabbing Dada’s face to start her eyeliner.

“Thank you Vanjie,” they all muttered.

An hour before they arrived the girls had the last of Bruno’s macarons, Crystal noticeably only had one, Tia and Dada had a whole one but each gave bites to Nymphia and Gothy. Jane split one with Vanjie, who also had two to herself.

It was fun, getting ready for the night. Crystal somehow got her hands on a pour spout (Tia had a feeling she stole it from Bruno’s bar) and was pouring shots of vodka into everyone’s mouths, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift (Specifically New Romantics) blasting on the bus. Nymphia was helping Tia put her hair in space buns, smacking her shoulder every time she winced at how tightly she pulled. Tia was gonna miss this. she hoped she stayed friends with Nymphia and Crystal for the semester, no way they wouldn’t. Tia already accepted never seeing Jane or Gothy again, that was girlhood. But she would forever like and comment on every single one of their instagram posts. But one look at Dada, and…

“I NEED TO GET DRUNKER!” Dada exclaimed. “Is that a word? More drunk? Drunker? More drunk?” The words sounded funny with her French accent, something Tia already missed hearing. What the fuck? Why was she all of a sudden so sad all the time?

“I think I do too,” she breathed, grabbing the bottle out of Jane’s sweaty hands and chugging for a scarily impressive amount of time before handing it to Dada. “Remember in Venice? Lido? When we were just…”

“So bad at drinking? Yes. We had to get used to cheap vodka and wine like backpackers,” she laughed, handing the bottle back to Tia. Dada could already feel the warm liquor traveling down her throat into her stomach, burning hot. She watched Tia take another few chugs off the bottle, not caring that she was staring, knowing she must look like some kid in awe. She was though, wasn’t she? Just so in awe. Or maybe just already drunker.

“Are we there yet are we there yet are we there yet,” Nymphia whined once they were all ready. Tia looked around, what an interesting group to see at the club tonight.

Nymphia, of course, was wearing a neon yellow pleather skirt and cropped tank top set with high platform sandals that almost looked like heels. “Yes, I’m already squeaking. But it’s worth it.”

Dada had put her hair up in a high braided ponytail, it was probably for the best knowing how hot it would be at the club, even if it was outside. She wore a bright teal halter top-mini dress that matched her white heeled boots perfectly.

“Dada you literally look like Elsa!” Crystal gushed. She was wearing a short, neon pink tulle dress that had a small train in the back, her hair was in a loose bun, she was giving ethereal princess vibes.

“Do I look like Anna?” Jane piped up, wearing a fiery orange romper that her ass hung out of, she had her hair up in pigtails.

“Absolutely not!” Tia cackled, wrapping an arm around Dada. “If anything I look more like Anna somehow.” She was wearing a two piece outfit, a neon lilac mini skirt and a matching strappy bra, and she had thrown her hair up in two space buns. Dada couldn’t help but notice how the purple made Tia’s auburn highlights burn even brighter.

“Girls, shut the fuck up, Bruno is ready to go!” Gothy was already standing at the bus door, of course she had called dibs on neon green the second she could, already owning a lace up leather dress with matching knee high boots.

And Vanjie’s neon red catsuit was enough to turn any head. Accompanied by her and Jane’s screaming as they walked in, and everyone on the dance floor cheering Vanjie’s name, Tia and Dada could only hold onto each other as they laughed. How were they still shocked by Vanjie’s apparent fame of some sort? Of course servers were already flooding them with bottles of different liquor, Vanjie hadn’t been able to get them a cabana but at least she spoiled them with bottle service.

If Tia was being real, she was really going to miss the luxury of hanging out with Vanjie, even if it was a little disorienting. But what she would really miss the most about it all was all the bewildered looks she shared with Dada. How was she going to miss even that?

Of course Nymphia made Dada ask the server if they had Red Bull and lemonade in Italian.

“I love when you speak in Italian, it’s so sexy,” Tia whispered, lips brushing Dada’s ear as they waited for Nymphia to pour their shots. Dada laughed, turning so their faces were merely centimeters apart, humming in response. “Say something in Italian.”

“Faccia di culo.”

“What does that mean?”

“Assface.”

“BITCH!”

Tia couldn’t tell you much about that night, other than the lights were flashing, the floor was pounding, and Dada didn’t leave her side all night. Through Bruno going up to fill in for a DJ who got sick, Nymphia insisting on dancing behind him like she was Charli XCX, and Jane and Vanjie absolutely slaying a dance circle, it was some of the most fun she’s ever had. And maybe, just maybe, the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen. Maybe it was because Dada insisted on taking pictures of Tia, and had all of a sudden become addicted to pressing quick kisses to Tia’s shoulder, her neck, the back of her hand, basically anywhere but her face which was somehow too obvious.

But Tia swore, and this time she really meant it, she had never seen the sun so golden. She had never seen it paint such swirls of deep purple and burning red to end the night. And of course the stars were shining so bright eventually, it still blew Tia away how they looked on the island, how they hadn’t twinkled like this anywhere else in Italy. She just didn’t want the night to end, knowing the drunker she got, the crazier and longer the night would be, and she would definitely forget to be sad. She had managed to get her hands on a few shots of tequila, and tequila is the only alcohol that isn’t a depressant. Allegedly. she couldn’t even remember where she heard that from, she just really wanted to believe it.

Placebo or not, it worked. No one wanted the night to end, especially Dada, who insisted they take the long way back to the bus, taking a detour through the tiny town by the club, stumbling down the lit up cobblestone streets. All Dada could do was laugh when Vanjie texted them to hurry the fuck up, that everyone was on the bus ready to leave.

Tia and Crystal laughed the whole way back to the bus, running past the stumbling Dada and Gothy. They hadn’t seen Jane and Nymphia in a while, Tia thought she definitely saw Nymphia pulling Jane down some narrow street, up to no good. Tia didn’t know if they made it back to the bus by luck, or if Dada had actually steered them in the right direction. She saw Jane and Nymphia sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette. Tia couldn’t even think of one right now, anything in her mouth other than water would make her throw up. Definitely. Maybe another shot wouldn’t hurt but no. The night was over. She tried not to fall asleep just yet as Bruno spoke into the microphone, pulling out of the parking garage.

“And now it is time for our night drive back to the Villa. Some could say, the most beautiful drive of the trip, because of your reflection in the window.”

Tia would never remember the three hour bus ride back to the villa, her and Dada just dozed with their heads leaned against each other, trying to pretend the trip wasn’t nearly over.

They were okay. Eventually they made it back to the villa and Tia was going down the hall into her room with Dada. And she wasn’t even gonna think about the fact that this was their last real night together, that tomorrow night they’d be on a ferry, the next night on a bus, only getting to sleep a few hours in Perugia in the morning before Dada left and Tia was alone. Tia wasn’t gonna think about that. she just opened the door, going in after Dada, two giggling messes with tears in their eyes.

_

Dada woke up the next morning and refused to open her eyes. She knew. She moved her arm, stopping when she felt Tia’s shoulder brush it. Still, without opening her eyes, she curled up to Tia, pretending they were still asleep. And that she wasn’t gonna have to throw up in five minutes. Dada didn’t open her eyes until Tia spoke a few minutes later, like she’d been awake all morning.

“Okay I’m bored, stop pretending you're asleep so we can hang out.”

Dada let out a breath of laughter, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she looked up at Tia, who really could’ve been awake all morning.

“I didn’t even know you were awake, I’m sorry,” Dada pushed herself up further to press her lips against Tia’s, just wanting to stay in the moment and remember her, everything as she cupped her cheek, pulling her down closer until Dada was back to laying down, Tia leaning over her, running her hand down Dada’s shoulder, tits, waist, hips, and back up to her hair, of course, twirling the ends gently between her fingers as she moved to trailing kisses down the side of her neck, starting to leave a hickey probably on purpose. Definitely on purpose.

“That’ll give you something to dream about,” Tia muttered and Dada’s hand flung to her mouth, she immediately leapt out of bed.

“I am going to hurl.”

_

“So basically all you dumb fucks are hungover and I’m… fine?!” Tia giggled at the breakfast table, receiving glares from Nymphia, Jane, and Gothy. Dada just shook her head.

“No Tia, dipshit, you’re still drunk,” Crystal said evenly. If she put too much emotion in her voice, she’d throw up. “I was like that too this morning. You’ll see. You’ll crash,” Tia might’ve had a witty comeback but she stopped when Jane got up from the table, running to the bathroom like Dada had earlier. She came back only a minute later, pale and sweaty, her usual slicked back ponytail now a frizzy mess. Jane slumped into her chair, just looking at the glass of water in front of her.

“Today…” She grumbled weakly. “We will spend it here on our private…” She looked like she was going to throw up again, but just took a deep breath. “Beach. Make sure you pack up your stuff we’re leaving at-,” Jane gagged, running off again towards the bathroom.

“We’re leaving here at five pm, and remember to pack only what you’ll need for the next two nights in a backpack, the rest of our luggage will be packed below the bus and delivered to your apartments in Perugia. It is noon, so we have five hours…” Dada finished, looking sadly at Tia. Her stomach dropped as tears already began rising to her eyes.

“Yup…” Tia nodded. “I’m gonna go throw up now.”

_

Tia and Dada sat tangled together on one of the sun loungers. The bubbles Crystal was blowing a few feet away were drifting past them. Tia hoped her sunglasses were hiding the tears threatening to fall as Dada ran her hand up and down her arm. She looked out at the view, she would never see it again after today. It’ll be there, but Tia never will be again, maybe Dada will be on next year's tour. If she did, she bet Dada would stay out tanning and smoking all day, that’s what she always did before Tia came along, right? Relax? Tia couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Truth is, Dada didn’t know where she would be next year. They only made it to this villa because Jane and her liked two girls enough to ditch everything else, which was a little embarrassing. They’d probably be in Catanzaro next year, or fired for cutting out half the itinerary while also changing it daily without telling the company at all. And Tia- Well, either way Dada would be in Italy.

“Girls! Can we please actually play in this pool!” Crystal begged, already at the edge. “Rate my cannonball.” Dada and Tia laughed, slowly stretching before joining Crystal in the pool. It wasn’t over yet. They still had three hours. They still had to pack, sure. But it wasn’t over. It wasn’t over. Yet. No matter what the emails Tia had been deleting said, no matter how much it was casually mentioned, Tia held on to the “almost” of it all. It wasn’t over. It was almost over. Almost. And almost could be enough for these next… did they really only have barely 48 hours left?

“Ten!” Tia called once Crystal’s head popped out from under the water.

“Yes! Ten!” Dada pressed a kiss onto Tia's burning skin, and she wished she would wake up from this dream already.

_

Like always, the girls underestimated just how much of a mess they had made, and were running late to leave the villa. But packing up after living in a villa for five days was a lot harder than packing up in a hotel room. Nymphia insisted they only needed an hour to get ready to leave. They didn’t expect to run around the house for forty five minutes just trying to find all the missing articles of clothing and shoes they’d left lying around. Needless to say, if they didn’t hurry up, the group was going to miss their ferry.

“NYMPHIA, HURRY THE FUCK UP!” Tia called through a cracked voice, rapidly choosing two sets of pajamas, a swimsuit, a pair of shorts and a shirt, and a dress to wear to meet her professors. Oh god, she was going to meet her professors the day after tomorrow? She was already starting her long list of goodbyes and even longer list of hellos.

“We’re already late!” Dada called from their bathroom, kneeling on her suitcase to zip it shut.

“This is the fourth clip I have of you girls all YELLING at me!” Nymphia had decided to wait until everyone was packing at the last minute to film a villa tour, much to everyone’s annoyance. Tia was going to cry. No, she actually was already crying, but had gotten good at hiding it. Maybe. Her hands were shaking as she put her toiletries bag in her backpack and zipped it up. She was ready to go. She was packed up, she made sure she had everything she had, and that she wasn’t leaving anything behind, even though she liked the thought of even a little part of her staying at the villa for more than these five days. But she hadn’t. She was ready to go. But was she?

The answer was obvious.

They all ran onto the bus with absolutely no time to spare, Bruno along with them. They didn’t have time to question it, they didn’t even get a moment to give the villa a little goodbye, the engine was just being started and Jane was opening the gate before they all drove out. Tia, Dada, Nymphia, Jane, and Crystal sat in the seats directly behind Gothy, all already reminiscing on their time spent. It wasn’t over, it’s almost over. It’s almost…- but it didn’t feel that way. Not at all. Dada didn’t know what possessed Nymphia to put on Phoebe Bridgers, but no one could object without their voice breaking out into a light sob.

Tia could hear Dada’s heart pounding in her chest, almost in tempo with the song. She hated how the sky was already sinking into a darker blue, soon to be replaced with a blinding orange far too quickly, and far too early in the night. Tia refused to keep on counting the hours, instead she just curled up closer to Dada, feeling sicker than she did that morning. All the girls watched out the window as the coast came in and out of view, they were all laughing as Gothy gagged when finding out about Jane and Nymphia on the bus in Genoa.

“You both are awful!” Gothy cackled, flipping them off in the rear view mirror, and Dada was happy they were all still laughing though the entire summer was about to come crashing down. They didn’t even have forty-eight hours left, and most of them would be spent sleeping, rushing, and probably crying. At least they had one more beach day, at least they had that.

“Okay folks, we are very behind schedule so we gotta be QUICK while boarding this ferry. We’ve done it once, and a lot of you did it drunk, so let's lock in and go!” The group all hustled out of the bus, following Dada who led them to the ticket terminal, hand in the air. They group had just made it in time, as usual, the staff were visibly annoyed with them.

“You know, to them it must just look like sixteen kids all running around Italy together… Well, I guess that is what we are,” Tia said just to Dada.

“Well, they’ll probably forget us in a few weeks. We’ll blend to the back of their mind,” Dada said, almost like it was a comfort to know. “Or we can be one of their horror stories.” Tia laughed harder.

“I bet I already am!”

“… I cannot confirm nor deny that.”

“OKAY! SAME SETUP AS LAST TIME!” Nymphia announced before Tia could respond. Why were they always getting just cut short. They all followed Nymphia to their room, she told Crystal she could leave her mattress in her room, that she would share with Jane tonight. Good. Tia was glad Nymphia had started to miss Jane already too, though she never said it out loud, she didn’t have to. Once they were settled the room fell eerily silent.

Fifteen hours.

How do you make fifteen hours feel like a lifetime? Like an endless summer vacation that neither would ever have to pay for?

“Do we… wanna get some wine?” Gothy offered helplessly.

“Yeah,” They all sighed in unison. And so they walked to the deck’s bar and each ordered a glass of wine. Dada spotted a few of the group members she didn't know the names of laughing in a big group together. They were all sad but making the best of it despite everything too, weren’t they? She forgot they also could and were making friend groups and memories, also laughing wildly and having fun recreating the iconic Titanic pose. Dada wasn’t annoyed with them at all, last year she would’ve been, but now she was just glad that they had made amazing memories too.

“Come on, I don’t think we ever even made it to the top of the ship last time!” She called, already heading towards the stairs.

“Woah, wait up!” Tia spilled her wine a bit when running, but didn’t bother to stop.

“Come on! You know you all want to see the view anyway.” Dada was right, they did want to see the view, and what a view it was. The smallest sliver of sun was still in the sky, the lights on the deck had already been turned on, but Dada was sure the sun would’ve been bright enough to light them up for a few minutes longer. “We should get pictures.”

“Dada, you sound like me, I love it. It’s our second to last sunset ladies! Picture time!” Nymphia was already shoving her phone in Jane’s hands. Tia couldn’t help but notice the flickering smile on Dada’s face, she didn’t ask if she was okay, as if Dada would tell her the truth anyway.

“Tia, I want pictures with you,” Dada pulled her toward the edge of the deck, Tia handed Gothy her phone.

“We all know Gothy gets the perfect angles,” she joked, hands finding Dada’s waist as they began to pose. Gothy even took a few of them kissing in the stupid old-Hollywood pose, how was Tia going to explain those ones? Even worse, how bad were they going to feel when she got them in her Snapchat memories in one year?

“You need to send those all to me,” Dada said once Tia got her phone back from Gothy. “We’ll have to make a giant shared album tonight.”

“Oh god, my phone storage isn’t going to survive the semester.” There it was again, the all too familiar reminder that Tia couldn’t help but let slip from her mouth, or maybe she was trying to remind Dada. Why did she feel embarrassed for asking for the photos now?

“Oh, you girls don’t even want to know how many candids I have of you two from this trip…” Nymphia actually gave a sweet smile. “I would get a scrapbook if I were you, honestly.” They couldn’t help but smile too.

“C’mon, let’s get some Polaroids.”

_

“I miss Bruno’s food…” Crystal muttered as they sat in the small dining hall. The sun was long gone by now, a lot of people had already gone to their rooms for the night. Why had the night winded down so much faster than the day did? The girls only got two glasses of wine each, none of them really felt like drinking, there was just too much to forget in these last few hours. Tia would remember how terribly her chest ached every time someone yawned, or subtly checked the time on their phone. She would remember how Nymphia and Jane would be the first to turn in, and all the other girls would laugh as they agreed to give them some time before joining them. Tia will remember being thankful for that.

“Forty-five has to be enough, right? I have to drive tomorrow…” Gothy yawned. She’d remember how quickly the ache returned. Crystal went to bed just thirty minutes after Gothy, only staying to share a few cigarettes with Tia and Dada.

“Remember when I was the worst cock block in Milan?” They got shushed from a worker for laughing so loudly. And after a weak goodnight, Tia and Dada were alone and unable to look at each other. Tia turned to the stars. The sky never failed her. It was cold, and knowing it would only get colder made her boil. She shook her head slightly, did the stars really always look like this when clear? Tia didn’t know, she swore they looked different in the U.K. At least they felt different. Everything here felt different, everything felt too good to be true, because it was. And here was Tia, the living proof. Venice… was it then she looped her arm with Dada’s? Milan, that was when all the girls got sloppy drunk, Tia liked to think that was the night they all really became friends. Real ones. She turned to look at Dada, they were friends too, right? She had told her things that no one else knew, when no one else could hear them. Could anyone hear them now?

“I-“ Tia jumped at the volume of her voice, or maybe it was just how it clashed with the stale silence. “I romanticize shit, a lot…”

“Really?” Dada let herself sound amused, because she was, she had to be while she could.

“I romanticized everything. Every new year of school was just a reset, a new Tia, I doubt anyone noticed but I did. Each year I had friends I knew since I was eight, I had friends I had made just that year, and I had something to grow out of. And I did. I think I just kept growing out of people, or they grew out of me. I don’t know. But I really thought that Uni, Uni would be my real reset, re-start. No one knew me there, I really could be anyone I wanted. I found a good group of girls, we became close, like, really quick. I wouldn’t have survived freshman year without them, and when you go through all of your first year together, it was hard to break apart from them. I love them, really, I do. But… they don’t get it… me. They’re all boy crazy and I’m so… gay. I nod along and support them, and comfort them when their hearts gets broken, kiss them when we’re drunk but- I wanted Uni to be my final reset. Find my people who I’d stick with and run with them for the rest of my life, until they felt like old friends from home but…” Tia realized she had barely taken a breath throughout all that. Dada silently lit a cigarette and passed it to Tia before wrapping her arm around her. “I hate that I don’t love them the way I do my three friends from my hometown. I romanticized everything like it was a chore. And it has become one. But I didn’t romanticize this,” She let out a wet laugh. “I didn’t have to.” Dada held onto Tia tighter, like she was the only thing holding her pieces together in the moment. “I haven’t even talked to the friends from home that my college friends couldn’t compete with since the trip started, so that says something. I wonder what they’re doing…”

“They sound like bitches…” Dada said quietly. And Tia burst out laughing, loud and bright how she hadn’t been able to in what felt like ages. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not the best answer-,”

”No! No, that’s the perfect answer! That’s why I like you, if I said that to my friends in college they’d look at me like I was nuts. They just don’t get… I don’t get them. I think that’s it. Or they don’t get me. Or I don’t even know.”

“Well… it seems like Crystal and Nymphia get you,” Dada offered, smiling fondly thinking about the girls.

“They do. Not like you do, though,” Tia couldn’t help but whisper, looking out at nothing in particular. Dada tried to think of anything to say, so she lit another cigarette and let her eyes return to the stars.

“When Jane said we were even going to Sardinia, my heart dropped. I didn’t want to… have memories of you in a place that I don’t have great memories of. But I’m glad we went, I… saw it in a new way. You painted it golden. You made the city fall for you, the way you swore you would. And I’m glad we took this stupid ferry,” She chuckled into Tia’s hair.

“About that, wouldn’t a train or bus leaving Nice have been faster? You’re the one who always complains about the long bus rides.”

“I was feeling very dramatic and-” Dada almost pulled back. “And I don’t like taking trains. I always cried the whole way back home after summers in Italy because I didn’t want to leave. And, uh- It’s stupid to say out loud but… on a ferry I could be outside in the Nice air as long as possible, and I hoped maybe it would make me want to turn around. Needless to say…” and Dada smiled when Tia laughed lightly. “You’ll find your people, or your people will find you. That’s what Jane and Gothy did, and my other roommates. I’m glad their annoying asses forced their ways into my life. Leaving home wasn’t ideal, it’s not what I dreamed of, but it’s for the better.”

Dada was sixteen last time she took this ride back from Sardinia, but she felt older then than she did now. Though confused and dreadfully young, she felt more secure and brave at sixteen than she did now, holding the girl from Essex in her arms and letting stories spill out of her. Telling her deepest secrets to the group member who thirty days ago Dada was complaining about, not even knowing she existed yet. “If people don’t understand you, they don’t deserve to even know you, Miss Tia. Oddly enough, Jane taught me that one,” Dada muttered into Tia’s hair.

And despite herself, Tia smiled, somehow holding Dada tighter. Could either of them breathe at this point? Did either of them want to? All they knew is that eventually it got too cold to stay out and they hobbled back to their shared room, accidentally stepping on Crystal who stayed asleep.

Tia’s chest still felt heavy despite getting some words off it, and her mind was still racing though she had soaked up some of Dada’s thoughts, and she wondered if things would ever feel easy again, or if Dada would strain her heart for who knows how long. Either way, they held on tight, not annoyed with each other like the last time they were on the ferry, but this time just… sad. Tia’s tired head was racing, she wondered if she would be able to sleep at all, if the slight rocking of the boat would lull her in, or if the rising and falling of Dada’s chest would be enough to get her to close her eyes. But how could Tia sleep when she knew?

When she knew this was almost her last time falling asleep next to Dada.

_

For some reason when Tia woke up the next morning, the first thing she remembered was the fact that she was meeting her professors tomorrow, and moving into a new apartment. And here she was crammed on a tiny cot with Dada in the middle of the sea.

At 10am the ferry arrived in Naples, and then the trip wasn’t almost over anymore, it was over. No more itineraries (not that there had been many lately), no more old churches or ruins, no more plaques to pretend to read. Just one last beach day. Welcome back to Naples. Thank god it was just a beach day. Their final beach day.

From the beach Tia could barely see the tour bus, she couldn’t help but think the next, and last time they’d board the bus it would be to head to Perugia. Their luggage had been locked underneath it for a day now, and soon enough they would be unpacking them in their apartments. What the fuck? None of this felt real. Maybe because the past week felt too real.

The rest of the tour group all played in the waves, music blaring from one of their speakers. Funny to think that was them just two weeks ago, when time was moving perfectly still. Time just moved differently now. Almost too slow, too painstakingly slow. Like torture. Tia was forced to stand with her feet in the sand with Dada one last time, shielding her hands from the sun to watch Jane and Crystal taking turns drowning each other as Nymphia sat on the water’s edge reffing, screaming when the waves came up and covered her whole lap, not just her ankles. How was this the same beach they’d gone to when Crystal got dumped? How was this the same beach Tia and Crystal got ungodly drunk on before the ferry ride to Sardinia just SIX days before?

The sun was too painfully bright, forcing Tia and Dada to mark every hour passed with every layer of sunscreen, the most boring, tedious time tracker. Tia couldn’t even get drunk, too hungover and not willing to leave Dada sober and in the dust again.

There was nothing worse than this. Tia tried to be peppy as Nymphia and Crystal forced them to take so many pictures, both in and out of the water, all the different group/pair combos possible, and of course, a golden hour photoshoot.

“Well, it's our last photoshoot of the trip,” Nymphia defended after Jane begged to be done laying in the sand getting the perfect angle of Nymphia’s ass for her instagram. Tia wished she wasn’t reminded. After the photoshoot they began to walk off in different directions, but Nymphia grabbed Crystal and Tia before they could. She didn’t look at them as she started speaking, steering them away from Dada, Nymphia, and Gothy.

“Listen,” She sighed. “Um… you guys, have like-” Tia and Crystal shared a confused look. “Are we going to have to say goodbye tomorrow?” Nymphia asked weakly. “This summer, Jane’s been great and… but I don’t know, I would’ve been miserable without you two. And I’m gonna be miserable if I don’t have you for the rest of the semester.” Tia forgot that she could be saying goodbye to Crystal and Nymphia tomorrow. Weren’t they inseparable? Was that even allowed? Was everything really that up in the air?

“No… No, right? We’re not…” Crystal trailed off. “Girls?” And now Tia was crying, not even bothering to hide her tears as she pulled them into a hug that also served as a huddle.

“No. No. Us three, we are not a summer fling. We’re friends. We’re-” Tia let out a wet laugh. “We won that fucking wine.” They all burst out laughing. “They can never take that from us!”

“That’s right! Perugia is a walking city, or it can be, I’ll make it one. Our apartments can’t be that far from each other! Aren’t all the exchange students in one building? We’ll be fine.” Nymphia said firmly. “You girls are like… my best friends or whatever. I love you.”

“Nymphie…” Crystal and Tia cried together, pulling their hug in tighter.

“We love you too, and we have absolutely no need to cry because we are going to see each other! We will!” Tia said, jumping with the two other girls.

“Hey! Get your asses over here!”

The six girls laughed wildly in the ocean like the rest of the tour group had been, feeling the drunkest they had been on the trip despite not a drop of alcohol in them. Tia was now happy about how slowly the time had been moving until she realized the golden hue around Dada standing beside her was because the sun was really beginning to set. She wasn’t just imagining it, trying to admire her, trying to have one last golden picture in her head. It was really just over. Just like that, ankle deep in the water, laughing about something Nymphia had bitched about to Gothy. Now it just hurt even to look at her. Funny how quickly the laughter in Tia’s chest could be replaced by an unshakable weight so quickly.

She had to tear her eyes away from Dada, preferring to stare straight into the setting sun and pretending the harsh beams were sending tears to her eyes. Dada’s eyes followed Tia’s and she felt just as blinded by the setting sun, like she hadn’t been dreading it all day. All she could do was come up behind Tia, looping an arm around her waist like she had been all summer, burying her face in her neck. Dada didn’t even want to speak, Tia didn’t either.

Just one week ago Jane was telling Dada to let go of her dread. That didn’t feel half as bad as this. And then Jane said the dreaded words that no one was prepared for, it seemed even she wasn’t.

“Alright guys… we should start packing up so we can go get changed. In twenty minutes we’ve gotta walk to the bus,” she said half heartedly to the group. Tia stole a glance at Dada, still pressed into her side, and instantly regretted it, seeing how she was so obviously trying to be okay. But no one was okay, from Nymphia refusing to help, instead blasting Ribs (Lorde) and staring into the water, to Vanjie actually crying in Gothy’s arms. Tia felt that.

Too soon they were walking away from the beach, arms loaded and heads full of sun, everyone rinsing off in the shower house, just getting dressed in pajamas and big hoodies, most people planning to sleep on the bus. They’d be arriving in Perugia at midnight, but Tia had no plans of sleeping, immediately bolting down the aisle to snag the three seats in the back with Dada, where they could actually lounge and fit somewhat comfortably. A lame part of Tia couldn’t help but want to cry because she knew that while she’d definitely see Dada again and they’d make new memories, they’d never be crammed on a stale crowded tour bus like this ever again. What an odd thing to already miss. Once Jane did a final headcount, she nodded to Gothy, and she pulled out of the garage without a word. It was really over, just like that.

“Alright my friends.” Jane said into her microphone, standing right in front of Nymphia. “I guess… I guess this concludes our trip. Um…” God please don’t let Jane cry, it’ll make Tia cry. “I don’t know. Try to catch some Za’s while Gothy drives to beautiful Perugia, where our story began just 29 days ago. We’ll get there around midnight, we all have hotel rooms for one last night. Then tomorrow I guess a professor from the University will be over to explain your next steps as students at the university. Thank you. Thank you for being the best tour group yet, this month has been… I don’t know, a slay, I guess. Dada, Gothy, and I love you all so much, truly. And we hope you have the best semester ever. THANK YOU. NOW. Nymphia has three baggies for tips, one for me, one for Dada, and one for Gothy to be passed around. We accept all forms of currency, scratch tickets, gift cards, and illegal substances. Nothing crazy hard though. Thank you!”

Nymphia brought the bags to the back, handing them to Tia first. Tia put a few bills in Jane and Gothy’s, that was enough for them. She didn’t know how much to put in Dada’s, who was making a point to look away with a smirk. There was no way to repay her for everything that summer. Tia had rationed her money pretty well, only really spending it on weed, cigarettes, and food. And wine. So she had a considerable chunk left of her summer allowance for the trip. Whatever. She figured she could get Italian money somewhere in Perugia as she dumped her wallet in Dada’s bag. If she couldn’t promise her anything after the trip, the least she could do was get the girl an 1/8th. Even though she grew her own weed. Whatever. Tia looked up at Dada after she passed the bag up, wondering what she was thinking as she looked out the window, catching just the last rays of the setting sun. Tia couldn’t help but remember the drive from Genoa to Rome, when she sat in the back of the bus spilling everything to Crystal and Nymphia. She still wondered what Dada was thinking.

Dada used to believe the summers ran away from her. The absolute worst part of the tour was coming home and realizing she only had about a week and a half left of summer before it was time to begin her next seasonal job. Or even when she was leaving a summer in Italy with her nana and cousins, Dada remembered her knees shaking as she waited for her mother at the train platform in Nice with red, wet cheeks; when she once wished summers never ended.

She never thought she would dread a summer ending again, not until now.

They pulled onto the highway just as the sun left the sky, waiting till the very last second to leave. Being so late, most of the tour members slept on the way back. In fact, everyone but Tia, Dada, Jane, and Nymphia decided to fall asleep. And Gothy, of course. Even then, Jane and Nymphia sat pressed tightly together sharing a pair of wired earbuds as they whispered to each other, Nymphia laying on Jane ’s chest. Tia’s head rested in the crook of Dada’s neck, feeling her pulse as they watched the black night sky out the window. Dada could just make out their reflections in the mirror, she couldn’t help but stare at Tia’s sad smile.

This… this is what everyone warned them about. Here they were staring out the window at nothing they hadn’t seen before, their final hours ticking away. Dada felt like she could puke, she felt like everything had already been said. Selfishly, Dada just wished she could say goodbye to Tia and go home, let herself cry in a bed that’s her own.

But the thought of saying goodbye this instant did nothing more than bring sharp tears to the back of her eyes. The worst part is Dada knew better. She knew she was dumb for falling so clumsily, spilling over completely. She found her mind and mouth blank but dying to speak. Tia scooted forward slightly, craning her neck to look at the crescent moon, and Dada could tell she felt a little lost too.

“In Nice, we lived right on the beach. I only had to go down a steep rocky hill to be right in the sand. Of course the beach was so popular. In the day it is crowded by tourists but at night, old friends and I would go smoke there. The moon would peek over the mountains to the west. So beautiful,” Dada tried to say like this was the first time she had even thought about that beach in months. Tia shifted so her chin was on Dada’s shoulder, eyes gazing up at her. “Yes… yes and there is a looong stretch of restaurants, bars, and shops if you walking on the beach. That’s where I got my first job. There was this one bartender who believed we were 18! She rarely worked though, so we would take turns checking every night. When she worked, we drank. No matter what,” Dada chuckled, Tia laughed too.

“So the beach was the big tourist attraction?” She asked, pressing for more information gently, denying these were last-ditch confessions.

“No. The whole town was. Celebrities, the richest of the rich, the poor backpackers with stars in their eyes. Everyone came to Nice if they could afford it. I hated how crowded it got, but when I was a waitress the money was so good. Especially with stupid tourist tips. There was always something to do, something to see, a new friend to make, a stranger to help. A tourist to roll your eyes at,” Words slipped out of Dada’s mouth, almost like she was trying to give one last bit of herself to Tia. “I loved my house, I loved my room. I wonder if they ever found all the pictures I drew on the wall behind my bed,” Dada wondered out loud. “I swear I’ve never seen springs so green, Tia. I’ve never breathed salty air like that anywhere else.”

“You loved it there?” Tia said for Dada.

“Yes. I loved it. But love wasn’t enough. The good didn’t outweigh the bad and I… I don’t know…I don’t know…” Dada trailed off. Tia played with the sleeve of Dada’s hoodie. “So. Why Italy?”

Tia giggled, knowing she had heard Dada say those words before. When, she didn’t even know. All she knew is her chest ached for it anyways. Dada spoke again. “Not even Italy, though. Why a semester abroad? Why leave?”

Tia sighed. Dada couldn’t help but turn and press a long kiss to her neck. Tia let herself speak without regret.

“My family is okay but… I don’t know they can be the biggest assholes,” she whispered. “I don’t think they mean it? I hope they don't but… but they just always had something to say, always. And I was always me, and I was always there. It wasn’t really my parents or siblings. I love them, I really have the best parents ever. But it’s everyone else. It’s the aunts and uncles and insane grannies and their sisters who can’t keep their mouths shut. They never- I never thought they… I just didn’t fit in there,” Tia looked up at Dada, whose only response was a very quiet:

“Family. That’s why I left too.” She slowly began to tell her tale. “My mother was sixteen when she met my father. he was nineteen. She was very beautiful, back in the day I’m told. My sister was born only one year after they got married, a week after my she turned eighteen. I was born five years later. It didn’t take them very long to realize their marriage was… loveless. But they stayed together. I don’t think they ever even wanted kids, they just rushed into everything, all passion, all fights, no brains. No care. They gave up raising me once I turned ten, I feel like. I would make basically every dinner for myself, I have no clue what they were up to. But I liked being alone better than being around them fighting, and taking it out on us. I miss my sister, more than anything. She’s the one who told me to go, to breathe some fresh Italian air for a couple years. I need to visit, just for her. And my cousins. But my parents, and the whole rest of my family… I could never bring you home to them. They would hate me forever. So I left. And here I am.” Dada finished. Tia could only look at her. Dada laughed a little. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked that much in my life. God. I need to shut up. My throat hurts. Tell me about you.”

“My grandmother hates my clothes. So much. Basically calls me a slut without calling me a slut. And because I’ve never brought a boyfriend to meet the family, she accuses me of being a lesbian every time I see her. And I haven’t had the heart to tell her she’s correct, since she gags every time she sees a gay person on TV. But she’s still my best friend.”

“You’re a good person,” Dada muttered, raising one of Tia’s hands to her mouth to kiss it. Without thinking, her eyes drifted to the clock letting her know they only had two hours until they arrived in Perugia. she felt sick again; she caught Tia’s eyes in the dark window. Tia, who had also just realized they only had two hours until Perugia, couldn’t fight the tears in her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek, causing the tears that had been stinging Dada’s eyes to finally begin to well. She blinked them away quickly.

“Don’t cry… just keep talking. Come on, what about the good parts of Essex?” And so Tia began talking about all the parts of Essex she hadn’t painted with dark strokes of gray. And they talked the entire two hours back to Perugia, not wasting a breath of air between them. And god, Tia had dreaded so many four hour bus rides only to wish this one was a little bit longer. But of course, eventually Gothy pulled off an exit and eventually pulled up to the same hotel they’d stayed in at the beginning of the trip. And all of a sudden, it was really the last night.

Like clockwork Tia and Nymphia didn’t bother going to their assigned hotel rooms, Nymphia just slinked into Jane’s and Tia into Dada’s. As soon as the door was shut they were kicking off their shoes, before exhaustedly plopping onto the bed. Dada buried her head in Tia’s chest hoping it would hide the tears in her eyes, Tia pretended it did.

“Please don’t fall asleep…” Dada muttered after a moment, voice shaking.

“I won't,” Tia responded instantly, softly. “I won't. I’m up.” But she could feel a yawn in her throat, and a shaky exhale was all it took to make the tears come rolling. They laid in that hotel bed, basked in the dingey gold lighting, holding onto each other as they silently sobbed in one another’s arms. No one would hear about this. Not a soul. Tia would leave this out of the stories she told once she got back home, Dada would not think about it for so long that when she finally remembers, she’ll be sure she’s just imagining it. Tia winced when Dada let out a choked sob into her shoulder, she hated this part.

At some point, they both fell asleep with not another word said.

…

Sunrise got us up early

So we put on our shade

Somehow the bedsheets are dirty

Like sticky sweet lemonade

Never wanna leave this room

Daydream, déjà vu

If I had control over you

We could stay like this forever, lost in wonderland

With our head above the clouds, fallin' stupid like we're kids

Wearin' rose colored lenses, let's just play pretend

Wearin' rose colored lenses, pretend we'll never end

Naked in conversation

Drown me in your delight

Endless summer vacation

Make it last 'til we die

My baby got looks that kill

Make a mess of a nice hotel

If I had control over you

We could stay like this forever, lost in wonderland

With our head above the clouds, fallin' stupid like we're kids

Wearin' rose colored lenses, let's just play pretend

Wearin' rose colored lenses, pretend we'll never end

Let's stay like this forever

Let's stay like this forever

Let's stay like this forever

Let's stay like this forever

We could stay like this forever, lost in wonderland

With our head above the clouds, fallin' stupid like we're kids

Wearin' rose colored lenses, let's just play pretend

Wearin' rose colored lenses, pretend we'll never end

Let's stay like this forever (let's just keep pretending)

Let's stay like this forever

[angryschnauzer]

He’s A Keeper

Summary: Working as an artist hired by Durrell Zoo, you spend your days sketching the day to day life of the animals and the keepers. One keeper in particular catches your eye.

Pairing: AU Zookeeper Henry Cavill x Female Reader (no race or size mentioned)

Fandom: Henry Cavill

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Friends to Lovers, Oral Sex (Female Receiving), Fingering, Safe Sex/Use of Condoms, Realistic Sex/Relationship discussion, Vaginal Sex.

Typo’s are allowed to run wild and free, only the finest organic free range fuck ups for me.

I do not operate a tag list, but if you follow @angryschnauzerwrites​ and hit ‘notifications’, you’ll get an alert every time i post something new. Back catalogue/masterlist can be found there and also on AO3

He’s A Keeper

Working the pencils over the sketchpad you quietly captured the beauty of the animals the zookeepers had nursed back to full health, the Ruffed Lemur currently hanging off the keepers arm as he spoke through the headset to the group of excited school children watching through the glass. 

You’d been hired by the zoo to capture day to day life at the zoo throughout the summer season, drawing the animals and the humans, however there was one particular human you had found yourself drawn to numerous times, and that was the rather tasty zookeeper by the name of Henry. He also had one of the sexiest voices you’d ever had the pleasure to listen to, so as he explained about the Lemur’s your mind wandered, as did your gaze;

“... originally from Madagascar, and have been part of Durrell zoo since 1982 where they have been essential to the breeding program…”

Your mind fell even further into the gutter at the word ‘breeding’, your eyes raking down Henry’s body, taking in how the branded t-shirt clung to his chest before tapering down to a narrow waist where it was neatly tucked into cargo pants that did little to hide how thick his thighs were and a pert arse you could bounce a satsuma off of. Biting the end of the pencil you had all but given up drawing, only realising that the talk was over when the group of school children were being herded onto the next exhibit by their tour guide and teachers.

When the kids had disappeared you finally got back to drawing, watching as Henry finished up feeding the Lemur’s before he met your gaze and smiled at you. Tapping your pencil on the glass he frowned and shook his head, before smiling and pointing to the sign in the corner of the window that said ‘do not tap the glass’, getting closer you tried to mouth your words to him, but was surprised when his eyes went wide in almost shock, before looking down and realising you had pressed your chest to the glass, your low cut cami top helping to accentuate your cleavage. When you looked up again he was gone and you let out a sigh of disappointment, before he appeared through a door to the side of the viewing area;

“Hi” he had a smile that could charm the panties off a nun; “Did you want me?”

“God yes…” Oh fuck, did you say that out loud?; “Sorry, i mean, you’ve dropped the foam bit off your headset...”

He glanced into the enclosure just at the moment one of the larger Lemur’s picked up the small round piece of foam and staring straight at Henry, proceeded to rip it into tiny pieces.

“Furry little fucker…” he cursed under his breath before turning back to you, but before he could say anything a group of other keepers came walking in and soon you were hanging onto the periphery of their conversation where they were discussing going for drinks after work. Moving to pack your stuff up as you presumed they weren’t including you, but a call of your nickname drew your attention;

“Hey Da Vinci, you up for a few beers after work?”

You hesitated to answer, glancing at Henry who had a smile across his face and a hopeful look in his eye;

“We’re all going…”

“Ok, yeah sure, that’d be great” you agreed. 

-

An hour later you were sitting on the wall outside the main entrance waiting for the rest of the keepers to finish their shifts, smiling as you saw them coming out of the doors, and the ensuing 10 minutes that followed as people sorted out who was driving and how many people could fit into just a couple of small cars. As spaces were allocated Henry laughed and shook his head;

“I am NOT riding five up in a Renault Clio, i’m too tall, i’ll have to fold myself in half! Where are we going anyway, i can take my bike and just walk home after”

Waiting as everyone discussed location and finished off seat allocation, they’d finally decided when Henry turned to you;

“Hey, i think the last seats are in the stoner wagon…”

“Oh…” you didn’t have anything against anyone smoking pot, but didn’t fancy being in a car you could barely see out of the windows of.

“But you can ride with me on my bike?”

Looking to where Henry was pointing, you saw a fairly large trails bike, the kind that could go 50mph over rough land and through forests;

“I… I don’t have a helmet…”

“Wait here, let me run into the locker room and grab the spare i keep here”

Everyone else pulled away as Henry ran into the zoo, and you glanced at the bike. You’d never been on a motorbike before, so this would be a first. Stowing everything loose in your backpack, you hooked it over both shoulders just as Henry reemerged from the building, swinging his keys from one finger as he came to stand in front of you;

“Hey, thanks for waiting”

“No worries! So, where are we going again?”

“The pub in Rozel does good food and pulls a great pint” he nodded to his left and you saw a row of motorbikes; “You ever ridden?”

Shaking your head you laughed; “No, never”

He carefully helped you put the helmet on, his nimble fingers helping to secure the strap beneath your chin before putting his own on and climbing onto the bike, pushing it off the kick stand and nodding for you to climb on. You tried to sit back, but he wrapped his arm behind his back and pulled you flush to his body;

“Gotta hold on tight, otherwise you’ll throw the balance off. Lean when i lean and just squeeze a bit harder if you’re scared, the ride won’t take long” he shouted over the thrum of the noisy engine idling.

The ride down to the small village of Rozel had been exhilarating, from the vibration of the motorbike between your legs to the way you were able to wrap your arms around Henry’s waist and cling to him as he hurtled around the country roads at what seemed like warp speed, when in fact it was little more than 30mph. By the time you arrived in the small fishing cove your heart was racing and you actually let out a reluctant moan at the thought of removing your arms from around Henry’s waist.

“C’mon” he grinned as he helped you off the bike; “I’ll buy you a vodka and coke to calm your nerves”

“It wasn’t nerves” you muttered to yourself, smirking as you know he heard you.

-

The group had managed to find a cluster of small tables chairs and benches in the corner of the pub beer garden, and as the sun had set behind the hills to the rear of the pub, the cold Atlantic sea had glowed in pale blues and pinks. You were squashed into a bench with Henry on one side and another enormous hulk of a keeper on the other, and as the temperature had dropped you’d found yourself thankful that Henry had casually rested his arm behind you so you could leech some of his warmth, but it didn’t stop a violent shiver involuntarily running up your spine.

“Cold?” Henry asked quietly, before gently wrapping his arm around your shoulder and pulling you close; “Any better?”

You nodded and let out a very quiet whine as you smiled at him, completely surrounded by his scent and warmth. It made your stomach do a flip and you clenched your thighs together, something that didn’t get past Henry as your leg twitched against his thigh. Before either of you could say anything an enormous bowl of cheesy fries was set down between you, your stomach growling at the aroma’s that wafted around you as it turned out someone had ordered sharing bowls for the whole table.

With the meal mostly devoured as you’d sat side by side on a small wooden bench in the pub garden, laughing as you fed each other and strings of cheese hung from your fingers. As the giggles of a joke faded away you glanced at Henry’s almost finished pint;

“Hey, you aren’t planning on riding that bike home are you?”

“Nah, i’d never drive after a pint, let alone three… my place is just behind The Navigator restaurant…” he paused; “Oh god, where are you staying, do i need to call you a taxi?”

“No no, i’m renting a studio up the hill, on the hairpin bend”

“Oh…” 

It wasn’t a bad ‘oh’ and there was definitely something loaded in the subtext, so when people had started to leave and arrange ride’s back to St Helier and St Johns it felt natural for Henry to stand with his arm around your shoulders as you both waved everyone off.

“Can i walk you home?” he asked, his voice low and full of promise, and you nodded as he slid his hand into yours, leading you along the low coast road that skirted the harbour.

-

You hadn’t gotten far before the evening turned even better, a brief suggestion of a walk along the beach as the tide was out soon had your feet in soft sand as you were pressed to the weathered stone of the sea wall, Henry’s lips on your neck as your fingers dug into his back, his teeth nipping and biting at whatever exposed flesh he could find. You hadn’t even realised he was going lower until he was on his knees in front of you, those sea blue irises staring up at you as he pressed kisses to your legs where your shorts ended. His fingers softly rested on the button and he finally spoke, his voice low and thick with lust;

“May i?”

Nodding fervently you bit your lip as you watched him slowly unbutton you, pulling the garment down your legs until you were able to step out. Never breaking eye contact he lifted your leg and gently rested it on his shoulder, pressing open mouthed kisses up your inner thigh until his face was pressed against your panties and his wide tongue worked against the soaked cotton and lace. His finger crooked beneath them and tugged the scrap of fabric to the side, seeking out your clit before tracing down to your cunt and tenderly teasing the entrance.

“Henry… please…” you whined, desperate for more

“Don’t you worry, i’m gonna make you see stars…”

Pushing his head forwards his lips caught your clit as he slowly slid two fingers into your soaked channel. You let out a long groan at the feel of his lips and fingers finding the right spot immediately, his other hand cupping the back of your thigh before he ran it around your hip and caught your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours as he quickly drove you closer and closer to the edge with that added touch of intimacy. Suddenly he hummed against your clit and the world exploded, making you cum so hard you truly did see stars as a white heat bloomed in your belly and you rode Henry’s fingers until you were spent.

As you rested against the wall behind you he carefully withdrew his fingers, licking them clean as he tugged your shorts up your legs. You couldn’t help but to notice the obscene bulge in the front of his cargo pants, your hand rubbing over the smooth curve of it;

“You keep doing that and i’ll cum in my boxers… “ he panted out, his lips inches from yours; “What’s your room like?”

“Its a little summer cabin studio right at the end of the garden, away from the other holiday rentals and the main house… what about you…”

“Shared flat with two other guys from the zoo. They’re probably drinking in the lounge right now… so, your place?”

-

Unlocking the door you stepped inside and turned on a small lamp, standing aside so Henry could come into your small summer living space.

“Mmm nice” he nodded and looked around; “Wanna give me the tour?”

You snorted out a laugh at the formality, and held your arm out;

“Well this is the kitchen area, right next door we have the smallest shower room in Jersey, and here’s the bed” you didn’t need to take a single step for the ‘tour’, the room seeming even smaller as Henry took a single stride and wrapped his arm around your back, pulling you flush with his chest. Never breaking eye contact he gently trailed a single finger over your cheek, his thumb brushing your plump bottom lip;

“Are you going to be good for me?”

Your legs almost buckled at the deep baritone of his voice, igniting something within you that you hadn’t even known existed, eagerly nodding;

“Yes Sir”

Lowering his lips to yours he kissed you, his tongue pushing past your lips as he took control, walking the pair of you back until your legs hit the bed and you fell back onto the soft unmade covers. Covering your body with his, he quickly stripped you of your clothing, his mouth trailing behind his hands so every inch of you was gifted with a kiss. 

Standing between your legs he pulled his t-shirt over his head and you couldn’t help but to moan at the sight of his body; toned and just the right amount of hair on his chest and a treasure trail on his abdomen that surely led to untold riches. Quickly sitting up your hands joined his on his button to his cargo pants;

“May i?”

Henry released his hands and nodded, watching as you carefully plucked the button before lowering the zipper painfully slowly, his boxers tented obscenely and you couldn’t help but to cup him in your palm, the searing heat of his engorged cock a welcome feel in your hands, the wide mushroom head clearly visible through the stretched fabric. Unceremoniously tugging the rest of his clothing down, you felt yourself getting wetter as his beautiful cock was finally revealed; big, thick and uncut, you had to taste him and quickly ducked your head forwards, swallowing his head between your lips as his hands flew to your hair to steady himself.

Now it was your turn to drive him crazy with your mouth, taking him as deep as you could even though it was barely half of his length, you wrapped both hands around what was left, the thick root of his shaft filling both palms. A few more pumps and he pulled his hips back with a gasp, a trail of spittle hanging from your lips to his bulbous tip;

“If you keep doing that i’m gonna cum far too soon…” he said, his voice shaking; “Lay back and let me treat you right…”

Scooting up the bed you settled against the pillows as you watched Henry shed himself of the rest of his clothing, his boots and socks hooked off, cargo pants and underwear all left in a messy pile at the side of the bed, before he crawled up the mattress like a Panther stalking its prey.

Capturing your lips for another searing kiss, you felt his hot shaft against your belly, burning against your skin and you so desperately wanted to feel him inside you. Pulling away just slightly you were already breathless;

“Just a second…” reaching for the small drawer at side of the bed you pulled out an unopened box of condoms, Henry sitting back on his knees as you ripped the box’s cellophane open with your teeth and pulled out a small foil packet, tearing it open before smoothing the latex over Henry’s shaft. Looking up to his face he wore a rather sheepish smile;

“Sorry, shoulda’ thought of that”

“S’ok, a girl’s gotta keep sharp these days…”

“Right…” he met your gaze; “But you know, if you had gotten pregnant, i would have stood by you”

“Umm thanks? But its for STD’s. I’m on the pill”

“Oh… good thinking…”

A tense pause hung over the pair of you, before you reached up and rested your hand on his chest;

“Shall we continue?”

At your words the tension in the room suddenly dissipated, Henry kissing you as he slid a hand between your bodies so he could position himself at your entrance, groaning as he pushed in slowly breaching your body. Your tight channel hugged him tight, unfamiliar with such a size splitting your walls so he paused, pressing light kisses to your face as your body grew accustomed with his size and the heavy weight of his dick in your pillowy soft embrace. Finally you moaned out his name;

“Henry… please…”

“What do you need?”

“Move… please move. Fuck me, please”

Pushing up on his forearms he started to fluidly move his hips, slow and steady, each thrust was gentle but firm, your body yielding to him as he started to increase the pace, the sound of hot bodies meeting filling the small wooden cabin as the gentle sounds of the sea not far away filled the rest of the night. Soft moans spilled from your lips at the feel of his body playing yours like a delicate instrument, waiting for the chorus and the inevitable crescendo. But he was going to play the entire symphony first, knowing how to get you to sing the high notes as the thrum of your bodies were in tune with each other completely.

With the stretch of his girth and the way the curve of it meant he was able to find your g-spot with every thrust you were fast approaching your orgasm, your body trembling as your lips found a life of their own;

“Henry… please, so good… keep doing that… oh god, i’m gonna cum…”

“That’s it, my good girl, cum on my cock, let me feel you squeezing me so tight… feel so amazing right now… that’s it, you can do it…”

With a cry you came, your legs wrapped around his waist as you pulled him deep whilst your body shook with a fierce orgasm, triggering his own as he pumped a heavy load into the condom.

Finally spent, Henry settled on top of you, his weight a heavy comfort as your sweaty bodies lay skin to skin, the gentle roughness of his chest hair against your naked breasts a tender reminder of his virility. When he started to soften he finally shifted, holding the condom at the base as he pulled out and staggered the few steps to your small bathroom;

“I’ll be back in a second, gotta sort this out…”

The door closed and you shifted on the bed, pulling the duvet back and sliding between the sheets, listening as you heard the tell tale sound of a man urinating and the high pitched, double barrelled squeak of a fart. The flush of the toilet and water running soon after meant you knew the second he would reappear, a flannel in his hand and he stopped dead, his cheeks suddenly bright crimson;

“You heard that didn’t you?”

“It's a small wooden cabin… yes i did”

“Sorry” he approached the bed and with a warm flannel he carefully cleaned between your thighs, pressing a kiss to your lips as he did. When finished he sat on the side of the bed; “Can i stay the night, or did you want me to go?”

“Have you got work tomorrow?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nope. Please, stay”

He quickly threw the flannel into the sink in the bathroom, before with a giggle climbed under the duvet and pulled you into his arms;

“So, how many more condom’s you got?”

-

The morning light broke softly through the trees that surrounded your cabin, your body sore but sated, knowing every bruise and ache came from soft lips, sharp teeth, or skilled fingers, apart from that one ache deep inside that you knew exactly what had caused that delicious soreness, and the owner and cause of all of it still softly slept in your bed. Climbing out you quickly used the bathroom, and as you came back into the room the artist in you couldn’t help but to admire how the dappled morning light cascaded over Henry’s body. Slipping his work t-shirt over your head you pulled your sketchbook from your backpack and settled onto the only chair in the room, quietly working carbon to paper.

Henry woke 45 minutes later, the gentle scratching of your art making him squint at the bright daylight, before laying back on the pillows with his arms spread;

“Still life class?”

Setting your sketchbook down you padded across the room and climbed onto the bed;

“Sorry, i couldn’t help myself… the way the sun was hitting the muscles of your back and shoulders, you were like an anatomy masterpiece”

With a laugh and moving much quicker than you thought he was possible of, he grabbed you by the waist and turned you, his body atop of yours;

“Well that’s enough of that, i would like to become better acquainted with your anatomy… and as we’ve both got the day off i suggest we make the most of it”

Laughing you fell into his embrace, sighing with happiness. Henry really was a keeper, as you were for sure not going to let him go. 

[teddy06writes]

Can I request a Karl x Alex x Nick x Reader fic in which the reader is a teacher and they bring their boyfriends in for career day? I just thought it’d be so cute to see them interact with little kids.

sapnap x karl x quackity x reader

trigger warnings: none

premise: pretty much everything from the ask, although I know nothing about children so..., sorry lol

requested by the person above as well as @eliasxxk who asked for more karlnapity x reader

(y/n/n)- your nickname

(y/l/n)- your last name

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Career day?” Nick asked.

You nodded, quickly packing up the last of the assignments you had finished grading and tucking them into your bag, “Yeah, remember how I was planning the different stations and stuff for the kids?”

“Oh yeah, I thought you had all that stuff sorted?” Karl handed you your laptop from across the table.

“We did,” You sighed, “But someone backed out and now we have a slot to fill. So, one of you, all of you, I don’t care, we still need someone to do it.”

Alex frowned, “What would we have to do for that?”

You ran a hand through your hair, “Make a presentation on what you do? We were looking for a broad spectrum and the guy who backed out was someone’s cousin who did like, animation or something.”

As you gathered the rest of your things you explained that one group or person would be set up in each classroom, and that kids would rotate through, not just the fifth graders you taught, but the whole of the elementary school.

Karl grinned, “What time would we have to be there?”

“The welcome thing for the speakers is it 9 ish on Friday, so I can bring back the forms you’d need to fill out today to get them in on time.”

Your boyfriends agreed, and with a smile you pecked them all on the lips, “Alright, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

“Love you!” Karl called as you started out the door.

“Love you too!”

~~

After practically zooming through your first three units, ELA, Math and History, and sending your kids off to PE, you headed down to the admin offices to make copies and grab the forms.

“Hey Sadie!” You greeted cheerfully.

The secretary smiled, “Hey mx. (y/l/n).”

You moved over to the copier, starting your copies, “Do you have any of those forms? For the people giving the presentations on career day?”

“You found someone?” Adam, the sixth grade teacher who had been organizing the career day asked as he entered the office.

“Three someones actually,” You smiled, “Alex, Karl and Nick said they could.”

“Oh, that’ll be interesting.”  Sadie laughed.

“Minecraft youtubers,” Adam mused unenthusiastically, “I’m sure the kids will love to hear about people without real jobs.”

You rolled your eyes, “They pull just as much if not more than me every year, plus Nicky and Alex are still in college.”

Adam cocked an eyebrow as you grabbed your copies, and then the forms from Sadie, “Well at least I can’t complain, your saving my ass.”

“Damn right I am,” You scoffed starting out of the office, “You owe me.”

Heading back down the hall and then up the stairs to the fifth grade hallway you pulled out your phone, sending a text to the ‘loves <3′ group chat, ‘the files have been secured’

Back in your classroom you began to set out the Novels your class had been reading, and set up the last of the things you would need for the mini science lab that would happen later in the after noon.

~~ The next few days passed quickly, and soon you were pointing your boyfriends in the direction of the library, where the volunteers were supposed to be meeting before heading up to your classroom, greeting the kids who were already inside.

“Hey guys! Are you excited for today?”

A few kids nodded.

“Which presentation are you most excited to see?”

“Probably the actor!” Damien exclaimed.

“The actor? Any reason why or you just think they’d be cool?”

“I wanna be an actor.” He said.

“Yeah?” You chuckled, “What about you Sam?”

The girl through for a moment, tapping at her desk absently, “Probably the firefighter, I want to save people like them some day.”

You nodded, “Calum? Any your excited for?”

“Well I was excited to Ricky, he’s my cousin and an animator but he couldn’t come.” The boy pouted.

“Aw, well I’m sorry about that, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of interesting people for you to see.” You looked over the schedule again, answering a messege from Adam, willingly surrendering yourself to running around and helping wherever needed during the day, instead of watching the presentations with your kids.

The morning announcements came and went, and the teaching aid who would be taking your place, touring the kids around came in, “Alright guys! We’r~~e going down to the auditorium so that the principal and Mr. Alderton can explain the plan for today, and so that the people who are going to be in these rooms have time to set up!”

She herded the kids out of the room, smiling at you as you grabbed your phone, following them out, but turning down a different hall to the library.

Adam breathed a sigh of relief as soon as you got inside, “Oh thank god! Okay, I need you to get these lovely people to there rooms, Adda is already going around to set up projectors.”

You nodded, taking the papers from him, “Okay people! If you’d follow me, we’ll get you into these classrooms on time!”

The group of various adults followed you out of the library as you started calling out names at each floor, in between the intersection of grade level hallways, pointing out room numbers.

By the time you had made it to the cross roads between the fifth and sixth grade, Adam was already frantically messaging you about being late so quickly you called out the last of the room numbers, pointing various directions and telling the people to let themselves in.

You turned to your boyfriends, “Right you guys are in my room, it’s at the end of the hall, my computer should be unlocked.”

“You’re not like, staying to hang out or anything?” Karl asked.

“I’ve been roped into over seeing this thing. I might be in and out at various times through out the day,” You pressed a kiss to each of there cheeks before starting back towards the stairs, “Have fun!”

~~

You spent your day running around, delivering different things to various classrooms and basically doing Adam’s bidding.

A little way into the last rotation of kids around the building you finally got the chance to take a break and head back up to your room, slipping in and sitting in the back as Karl tried his best to explain streaming to a group of kindergarteners.

They may not have fully understood what he was talking about, but they sure did find him funny.

You watched quietly as your boyfriends interacted with the kids, opening up for questions sooner than they had with the older kids, and patently answering each one.

“What are you going to college to learn how to do?” A young girl asked.

Alex smiled, “Well I’m going to get real smart to be a lawyer, and Mr. Sapnap here is learning about computers.”

“What’s a lawyer?” Another kid asked.

“My uncle’s a lawyer,” someone two desks away offered, “My mom says it’s someone who works in a court!”

Alex chuckled, “You are absolutely right Big Man, lawyers defend people who go to court.”

“If you and you are goin to college,” A boy near the front pointed at Nick and then Alex, “Then what’s he learning at college?” He pointed at Karl.

“Karl isn’t in college anymore.” Nick said simply.

“Not honking smart enough.” Karl grinned as kids laughed at his use of the word honk.

They continued to joke around for a while, until the pa crackled that it was time for everyone to head back to there normal classrooms, and you moved back to the front of the room, “That was entertaining.”

“(y/n/n)! This was awesome!” Karl exclaimed.

You nodded, glancing at the clock as you began to re arrange your desk, “Theres like, maybe ten minutes to the bell, you guys want to hang out in here?”

“Sure.” Your class began to file back in as Alex spoke.

“Mx. (y/l/n)! Why didn’t you tell us you were dating famous youtubers?” Damien asked.

You groaned, looking at a shrugging Nick, “Why have you done this?”

You class laughed at your displeasure, and you were about to start asking everyone how there days had gone when Karl beat you too it.

“Who was your favorite?”

“It better have been us!” Alex stage whispered.

The kids laughed, and you sat back, content to watch your boyfriends entertain the class.

[copias-thrall]

The Boy Is Back In Town

It used to be he owned one worn fender strat that his mom got from a pawn shop for his 16th birthday. Once a gleaming white, it came to him dull with scuff and scratches he could never polish out.

Now, he owns pristine, limited release guitars that he never plays.

He’d used to shred in his free time until the strings broke. He would practice for hours until his callouses rivaled any grandma’s sewing finger.

Now, he rubs icy-hot into his fingers to relive his joint pain.

He used to live on a diet of ramen or rice with beans, washed down with shitty beer.

Now he shops organic fair trade and buys local brews.

After the cult success of his band’s debut album, he enjoyed a resurgence after they headlined a festival. A label reached out and contracted him for 2 more albums—the first of which enjoyed a moderate success off nostalgia; the second…didn’t flop…it just failed to meet expectations despite 2 years of rigorous touring.

There were no more albums after that, and when the label had offered him contract songwriting and/or producing roles, he’d accepted. 

But mostly, he—the two of you—live off the interest from his initial payday and royalties you’d insisted he invest on pain of walking out of him. It’s not a glamorous life, but you live comfortably—way better than two punks who used to squat in a co-op ever dreamed of.

When you can’t find him immediately, you know exactly where he’ll be.

Your bare feet slap against the wood floor as you make your way down the hallway, your fingers trailing along the mounted guitars. At the end of the hall, you turn the knob to the reenforced, soundproofed door.

Mary’s puttering away in his home studio, back crunched over the soundboard and one giant headphone up to his ear. He’s been working on his solo, “comeback” album for years. Decades. And maybe he’ll finish it; maybe he won’t. Maybe it’ll hit the zeitgeist just right; or maybe it’ll be completely tone deaf. However, the hope keeps him occupied, so when he’s at it, you generally let him be.

But dinner’s on the table—steak, rare—and you don’t feel like eating alone tonight.

When you slip into his lap, Mary’s whole body uncurls; he leans back, spreading his legs, and the headphones drop around his neck.

“Hey, babe.”

You wrap an arm around his shoulders and press a kiss to his temple (his roots are showing, and these days they’re more grey than blonde).

“You in it, or can you come eat?”

His arms wrap around your middle, and he presses his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply.

“Gimme 10min. Just wanna wrap this up.”

You quirk an eyebrow with your tone. “I’ve heard that tune before, mister.”

He chuckles and pulls back to look into your eyes. “Yeah, but I was almost finished, anyway.”

You smooth one of his eyebrows. “Whatcha working on? Stuff for the album?”

But Mary grins at you, flashing his full set of snaggle teeth, and the dark circles (that aren’t the product of makeup) brighten.

“New project. Something legit. ”

You perk up for him. “Oh?”

It must be good—he never gets this into projects solely for other artists.

“It’s just a song collab—” he shrugs his shoulders, but you can tell it’s with contained excitement “—but I’d be on the record. Not just in the fine print—in the byline.”

“That’s excellent! Have I heard of them?”

When Mary tells you who, all you can do is gape. He’s only collaborating with one of his idols and well-known name in the genre.

Way to bury the fucking lede, Goore.

You take his face in your hands.

“Oh my god, Mare—really?” He nods. “That’s gangbusters!” 

You kiss him full on the mouth, and it’s just supposed to be a quick affirmation, but Mary’s arms tighten around you, pulling you into the warm line of his body. His hot mouth devours yours, and you reciprocate eagerly. When your back protests at the awkward twist, you shift carefully until you’re straddling him in the pliable chair.

It’s been ages since you fucked in his studio—since you couldn’t keep your hands off each other—and if he asked, you wouldn’t say no. But the heat recedes (and honestly, you knees aren’t what they used to be), and Mary presses his forehead into your collarbone.

“I don’t know if this is a second—fuck—third chance. But even if it’s a one-off, just getting out there again…”

You pet your hands down his head.

“You know I’m happy, right? Even if this is a one off, I’m happy with us.”

He tilts his head up to look at you, his eyes all at once tired but wide.

“Fuck. I promised you everything. And then I didn’t deliver.”

You press a hand to his heart.

“Hey. I always had everything. You’re my everything. I’m excited because I just want you to be happy, Mare. I know what this means to you.”

He clasps your wrist so he can bring your hand up to kiss your palm.

“Fuck. You were always too good for me. This—” he gestures around his tiny studio “—is for you too. So you never have to hustle again.”

You give him a lopsided grin. “Mare, you realize I’ve spent more years here in the home we built together than I ever did on the street. You doing this for you? That will make me happy.”

He sighs before grasping you close…

…and then spinning the chair around.

You squeal in delight even as you grouse at him.

“OH MY GOD, MARY! If I ralph, then I’m doing it on you!”

(Your stomach isn’t as iron as it used to be.)

The two of you swivel to a stop, but Mary’s adoring gaze never fades. 

He reaches up to tuck a lock of errant hair behind your ear.

“It could be a few appearances…or another tour if this means I can get my solo album out.”

“Well, then there’e only one thing to do.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” You tug on his shortened bangs. “You gotta grow these out again, and I’ll break out the airplane glue.…”

“Mary Goore’s back in town.”

[captain-jensen]

Big Fan pt.2

Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: A couple of weeks after your initial interview turned date turned kiss, your interviews with the cast come out and people can’t get enough of yours and Toms’ chemistry. Also, for this fic Y/Y/N is Your Youtube Name. 

Warnings: Slight angst, fluff.

(I just thought this GIF was adorable)

   Your life has felt like a whirlwind for the past couple of weeks. Even though Tom was away doing the rest of his press-tour, you guys kept with each-other all day. He was always sending you funny texts about his recent junket, or sending you cute selfies whenever he could and you always returned the sentiment. Since that first night you had found it very hard to concentrate. Even though you were in the middle of filming a new review for another movie you couldn’t help but let your mind wander to the first kiss you two shared... and the following make-out sessions that happened over the course of that weekend. When Tom had to leave town you were devastated, but you knew it was necessary, just like it was necessary for you to finish your own work. While reviewing some footage for your newest video you got a text from your manager that was handling the publication of the interviews you did with the Spider-Man cast saying that the video was going live tomorrow. You were really excited for these junkets to come out. All of them went so well and you were really proud of yourself. Elated about the news you decide to share it with Tom. I can’t wait to watch xx, he responded. 

   When you wake up the next morning you shoot out of bed remembering what was happening today. You immediately check Youtube to see that your junket was trending. After watching the video you were even more happy with yourself, feeling like you might be able to properly pursue this press career. Completely forgetting to even check the comments, you move on with your day. As your coffee is brewing you check your phone to see a bunch of texts from a mix of your manager, your best-friend, and Tom. Responding to Tom’s sweet ‘good morning’ texts first you move down the line. Getting to your manager next it’s a flurry of exclamation points and praises. Finally, getting to your best-friend the first text you see is Why didn’t you tell me???!!!!!. Responding with confusion, you ask them what they’re talking about. All they do is tell you to read the comments on the junket. 

Omg, Tom was flirting with the interviewer so bad!!!!!

New ship: Tom Holland and Y/Y/N 

Y/Y/N’s new video is definitely gonna be the boyfriend tag!!!!!

I cannot handle the chemistry between Tom and Y/Y/N

That was singlehandedly the cutest interview I’ve ever seen. 

    You stand in shock in the middle of your kitchen. Even though no-one was around you could feel your face heating up. Not only did people think you and Tom were flirting back and forth, but they actually shipped you guys! You had to talk to Tom about your possible next move. You text him asking if he’s available to talk. You didn’t know it but that text caused fear to spike in Tom’s heart. He immediately responded saying he has the next half an hour free. Awaiting your call Tom tries to stop his speeding heart and convince himself that you’re not trying to end things already. He’s taken out of his mind when his phone starts ringing and your picture comes up on the screen. He rapidly answers it “Hey darling, how are things?” he tries to sound calm. 

“I’m good, did you see our interview together today?”

“No not yet, I’ll pull it up right now” Opening Youtube he sees the video is trending. “No way! It’s on the front page! Congratulations sweetheart, that’s awesome!” 

“Well I can’t exactly take all the credit for that Tom. I mean, your face is the thumbnail. But besides that, you have to see the comments” 

   Scrolling through the comments Tom feels a blush creeping up his own face. “Wow, that is quite the response” is all he can say. He’s worried that you’ll be annoyed with the fact that instead of people focusing on your interview skills they’re solely concentrating on the fact that he was smitten with you. 

“Yeah. What do you make of it?” you decide to ask, not being able to gauge his facial reaction. 

“I mean. I was caught red-handed I guess. What about you?” he asks equally as nervous as you are.

“I’m not sure yet. I think it’s sweet but at the same time something about it feels weird” You respond. In truth you were ecstatic that people thought you’d make such a cute couple. At the same time however, you didn’t want it to possibly scare Tom off. He deals with this stuff all the time, and it probably got annoying after a while. 

“Look, I’m not bothered by it if you aren’t” Tom says, breaking your thoughtful silence. 

“I’m not really bothered by it either.” You reassure him. 

“Ok, good. Maybe we shouldn’t respond though, until we’re both equally comfortable” 

“I agree” Even though you were happy with the interaction you were having with Tom, you couldn’t deny that neither of you had any idea what was going on between you two. “Well I’ve gotta go. I just wanted to call and talk about that with you. Also, I miss you.” You blurt out the last part. 

“I miss you too Y/N. Thanks for calling, I’ll talk to you later” With that you both say bye and hang up the phone. With your head reeling, you see another text from your friend asking you to explain what was happening. You tell them to meet you for lunch that day and you’ll explain everything. 

    At lunch that day you had to explain why you didn’t tell them about everything when it first happened. Explaining that you didn’t even know what it was yet and that you both wanted to keep it as low-key as possible. “Oh yeah, and you guys flirting almost shamelessly in your professional and serious interview is low-key” is all they say to you. You told them honestly though that at the time it didn’t feel like you were flirting. It just felt like a really good conversation. They just rolled their eyes at you, being able to clearly see what was going to happen. 

    A couple days later you upload your newest video. After checking the stats on the video you find yourself in the comments once again. 

When is Tom gonna be on your channel?!

Do the boyfriend tag with Tom!!!!!

   You notice that almost every comment runs along the same lines. All talking about Tom, asking about you guys, saying how much they ship you. Even though the intention was sweet you grew increasingly frustrated when you realised that no-one was talking about the actual video or what you had to say. As though he could read your mind you see that Tom is calling you. As soon as you pick up the call he’s singing you praises in your ear for your newest video. “That was such a good breakdown Y/N. It honestly made me see the movie in a whole new way”

“Thank you. I’m glad someone noticed” It slips out before you even have time to think.

“Are you ok? That didn’t sound too good”

“Yeah I’m sorry, I’m fine. I just read through all the comments and it seems like all anyone cares about is the fact that they want me to date Tom Holland”

“Yeah but just think about all the people who watched and loved it and just didn’t comment. I promise it’s not all everyone cares about” he says reassuringly.

“You’re probably right. There is a large gap between views and comments” 

“See! Exactly!” A small silence breaks the conversation before Tom perks up. “Guess what” he says through a smirk you can practically hear. 

“I don’t know, what?”

“I’m gonna be back in town next week!” He says excitedly. 

“That’s good to hear. I get to see you again right?” You ask only half joking. The other half was scared to hear him say he wouldn’t be able to see you. 

“I’ve actually got the whole week off, so we’re gonna spend as much time as we can together” he proposes.

“Well I look forward to it” You both say goodnight and hang up. 

    For the past week you’ve been increasingly more nervous to see Tom again. Even though you guys talk constantly, the thought of seeing him in person again had you feeling like the first time you met. While you were on your way to the coffee shop where you were meeting up with Tom, you went over how you wanted to bring up the conversation about what you guys were. You didn’t want to scare him by asking so quickly, but you had to know. You had to figure out if you should confirm or deny the rumours so that people would actually pay attention to your content again instead of your dating life. 

    “Hey gorgeous” You’re greeted by a smiling Thomas who pulls you into a gentle but affectionate hug. Clearly you were both feeling a bit awkward seeing each-other in person for the first time in a while. The first time, you guys had all the momentum of your first meeting, but now things have slowed down a bit between you and you’re trying to find your footing again. Even just 5 minutes into the date though it was like you were never apart. Conversation flowed openly and happily. Tom couldn’t get enough of the way your face scrunched up when you laughed at something he said. You couldn’t get enough of his laugh in general, it was contagious. After a bit, you decide that it’s time to bite the bullet and bring up the elephant in the room, which just so happened to seem like the biggest, scariest elephant in existence. “Can we talk about something?” you finally ask.

“What’s on your mind?” 

“Something that I think is on both of our minds” 

“Y/N, before you go any further, I just want to say that these past few weeks have been amazing. Even though we haven’t been able to spend time the way we’ve wanted, it’s made me realise that even just knowing that I get to talk to you on a daily basis makes me happy” Your heart skips a beat as he pours his out to you. 

“Tom I’ve really enjoyed our time together as well. That’s what makes me curious as to what exactly it means for both of us. Especially in regards to all of the rumours online. I want to know what you want me to say to them. I just want to put it all to rest so that people focus on my content again” you admit without stopping for breath.

“What do you want to say to them?” he asks suspiciously. 

“I mean, I don’t know” You start to feel sheepish. Not wanting to say it out loud in fear of rejection.

“Tell them it’s true” Tom spills out.

“What?” You ask, shooting your eyes up to meet his from the cup of coffee that was up to this point, very interesting. 

“Unless you don’t want it to be true!” Tom tries to backtrack to make you feel comfortable.

“No, I’d like to tell them it’s true. Only if you’re sure though” You say hopefully.

“I am very sure Y/N. I’ve even been thinking that the boyfriend tag sounds like fun” He says with sly smile spreading across his joyful face. 

“I don’t know Tom, I don’t really do those sorts of videos” You respond menacingly.

“Yeah but maybe you can make an exception” He says lowly, leaning in for sweet and tender kiss. In that moment you forget completely about what you were just talking about. It almost worried you how intoxicating his lips were. 

    You guys spend the rest of the week planning and executing the boyfriend tag video. Then all the comments turn from I ship it so hard to THEY’RE SO CUTE TOGETHER and IT’S REAL. And real it was. 

[because-of-a-friend]

Boyfriend!Jun Fluff

MASTERLIST

Coups | Jeonghan | Joshua | Jun | Hoshi | Wonwoo | Woozi | DK | Mingyu | Minghao | Seungkwan | Vernon | Dino

I’m back!!!!The boyfriend series is finally finished!!! How exciting is that guys??? I had a lot of fun doing this series and I’m glad all of you enjoyed it so much! I’m always happy to share my writing with you guys! I have two more requests after this and after that I’ll probably go back to my series if no other requests come in! Again, sorry requests have been taking so long, but my new laptop is up and running so hopefully no more delays! Thanks guys! And thanks for the request anon, I hope this one is a good ending to the series!!!!

Warnings: Mentions blood very briefly (just a little nosebleed, nothing too serious)

(I know I’ve used this gif before, mind your own business lol)

You had thought about how you were going to meet The One™

You had honestly thought about it a lot

Would it be by a chance run in at university where you both knocked each others’ books to the ground and brushed hands as you picked up your belongings?

Would it be at sunset by a lake where the world is glowing gold?

Would you meet as unsuspecting coworkers that have a cute office romance?

Would it be love at first sight with a stranger when you make eye contact as you walk in opposite directions across a bridge?

You had imagined it happening in every way possible

Any scenario that exists about meeting a romantic partner is one that you’ve spent an evening mulling over in your head

What you couldn’t have possibly predicted, though

Is how it actually happened

By accidentally smacking Jun in the face

On a street corner

On a cold and rainy day

“Oh my god are you ok?”

“Uh yeah, I’m fine,” he’s bent over and holding his nose so his voice is coming out all strange. “Sorry if my face was in the way of your hand”

You laugh a little at his joke before your face falls

“Oh my god, you’re bleeding!”

You pull him into a nearby shop and ask them for any sort of tissues

You sit across from him and help him hold the tissues up to his nose until it stops bleeding

You feel awful for smacking a stranger in the face so you’re nervously rambling on and on and trying to make him feel better

And he’s making jokes in hopes of easing you’re guilt 

“It’s really ok! I was honestly hoping to get a nosebleed today!”

He makes you laugh easily and soon your heart has stopped pounding from the guilt

It doesn’t take too long for the bleeding to stop, but by the time it has, a huge thunderstorm has rolled in

“You were on your way to the bus stop, right? I mean, it looked like you were heading that way. Do you mind if I walk you there?”

You can’t believe how nice he’s being to you and you try to decline

“Oh, I didn’t bring an umbrella with me today, I’m going to wait until the storm passes before I head out”

“Well you’re in luck, I brought my large umbrella today. We can share! I was on my way to the bus stop too anyways! And it’s the least I can do to thank you!”

“Thank me for what??? Smacking you in the face?!”

“No, of course not! I want to thank you for keeping me company afterwards!”

So you walk to the bus stop with Jun

And you’re starting to wonder if he’s flirting or just being overly polite like you had been

But you can’t not notice how his hand brushes over yours as you both insist on holding the umbrella for the other

Or the way his arm flies up around your shoulder to keep you under the safety of the umbrella when another pedestrian bumps into you

Or how nervous he looks when you ask for his number so you can buy him coffee to make up for... y’know... accidentally smacking him in the face

Jun jokes a lot on your first date

He’s always trying to make you laugh 

He makes dating him unbelievably easy

The beginning of your relationship is just cute dates with a Jun that makes you feel peaceful and content

But there’s a bit of a hitch at the beginning

Dating is easy

You both like each other

You can see yourself in a relationship with Jun for a long time

But 

It feels like you lack a spark

And you’re wondering if Jun notices

And then you’re worried he’ll get bored of you without it 

So you try all this crazy romantic stuff to try and just make the spark happen

But you’re not sure it’s working

Jun notices

He sees that you’re doing all the stuff for him and wondering why on earth you think you have to try so hard

He attempts to assure you that you don’t have to do all this for him, he’s happy with the way things are 

But you’re just worried that it’s not enough

And then one day, Jun comes home from practice

And you already have dinner ready

You see that he looks stressed so you immediately start suggesting things you two can do to take his mind off of whatever is bothering him

But 

Jun just grabs you and pulls you into him 

“Can we just sit here for awhile?”

You’re confused and more worried for a second since he’s never really reacted like this 

But then he just wraps his arms tightly around you

There’s a kiss pressed to your forehead before he buries his face in your neck

His arms pull you in even closer

You start to stroke the back of his head

“Do you need anything?”

Your voice is so quiet that for a moment you doubt he even heard you

Then after a pause he finally speaks 

“You”

Your heart gives one, big THUMP

“I just need to be with you right now”

That day you see a side of Jun you never had before

One that isn’t joking or energetic 

He’s just tender and soft and gentle 

You let him rant about what’s stressing him out

Then you cuddle on the couch in silence for a long time

His hands run mindlessly up and down different parts of your body

“[Y/N]”

He whispers, one hand sliding up your shirt to trace circles on your stomach

“Yeah, Junnie?”

“I’m really lucky to have you, I just... I don’t even know what I’d do without you”

He shifts both of you over so he’s hovering above you

You look up at him silently, waiting for him to speak his mind

But instead he silently smiles, looking over the features of your face

You can feel his fingers ever so gently running over your cheeks, across your lips, down the bridge of your nose

Then there’s another kiss on your forehead

Then on your nose

Your cheeks 

Your chin 

Every single one makes your heart beat just a little bit harder

“You know that you’re more than enough for me, right?” 

You nod shyly 

A kiss to your left cheek

“Then do you wanna tell me why you feel like you’re not?”

A gentle kiss to your right cheek

You feel a wave of embarrassment and then your eyes begin to fill with tears

Jun takes silent note of it, wiping the ones that fall onto your face and waiting patiently for you to respond 

“I don’t know, I was just scared that you’d get bored of me”

To your surprise, Jun giggles a little

“Bored? Of you?”

He suddenly attacks your face with kisses

“Jun! What are you doing???”

You can’t help but laugh with him as you sit up and push him back playfully

“How could I get bored of the person that smacked me in the face the first time we met?”

You start laughing again

“I’ve gotta stay on my toes around you, you never know when your hand will go flying up again!”

Your laugh gets louder 

Once your laughter dies down, Jun takes your hands in his 

“But seriously, [Y/N]” he looks in your eyes “anything that’s happening with us, I want to figure out, I want to be with you, no matter what it takes”

Your heart bursts 

And after that day

Everything just sort of clicks into place

You never doubt your worth to Jun because he never lets you

Dating Jun is wonderful

He loves you so so much

And he always finds the sweetest ways to show it

Intimate, gentle affection

Like it’s crazy how gentle he is because his energy level is always so high and you can see it in the way he moves 

But with you he’s just so tender 

Stroking your hand when he holds it

Softest kisses down your skin

Tight hugs that feel like home

Matching jewelry that is actually super personalized to you both

Always wants to tell you about everything that happens in his day and wants to tell you first

Getting overly excited to share all of his interests with you

He constantly brags about you to the boys

Like

Constantly

“Hey [Y/N]! How are you? How’d that presentation go?”

“It went great, Cheol! Thanks for asking! But I don’t remember even telling you about it”

“Oh you didn’t have to”

Jun literally never shuts up about you

So all the boys just know like everything about you

Honestly they’re always relieved when you come to hang out because that means they get a break from Jun talking about how he loves to watch you watching your favorite tv shows because your reactions are just so cute

“Jihoon? Is everything ok? You never call me”

“[Y/N], please come see your boyfriend, he can’t stop talking about you... I might duct tape his mouth shut”

Obviously you come to save poor Jihoon

But only for a moment before inviting him to come with you and Jun to a café so he’ll be stuck with the two of you for a good while

And sure he gave you the silent treatment for awhile

But it was worth it after seeing his facial expression when Jun reached across the table to wipe your face with a napkin

But seriously Jun just loves you so much 

Is also the type to want to do cheesy cliché couples stuff

Dancing around your house at 3am is one of his favorite things

It’s a way to get out his endless energy 

And after you’re done, you get to slow dance as he pulls you closer and closer and speaks gently about how much he cares for you

Jun is definitely not scared or ashamed to share how he feels 

So actual speaking is his main love language

But he also occasionally enjoys other forms of showing love

Obviously tons of affection

Ready to drop everything at any time to come when you need him

He also writes you a lot of love letters

Especially when he leaves for tour

He’ll hide them all over your place so you find them randomly while he’s gone

And some of them are humorous to make you laugh

And others are so sweet that they make you cry 

Jun doesn’t care as much about what you think of his talents specifically

But he will want you to have a good time whenever you attend their concerts

Of course you do

If your relationship is public he might announce that you’re there just to dote on you

If it’s not, then he’ll create some sort of signal that he always sends your way when you’re there

He doesn’t always like when you come to watch him practice because he doesn’t want to feel like he’s just making you wait around for him to finish

But you honestly love coming in to his his face when he realizes you’re there

He usually forgets that he’s all sweaty and will run up to hug you and attack your face with little kisses 

Because he’s honestly just always so happy to see you!!!!!

You’re his whole world for crying out loud

Jun is super duper energetic so he’s always at 100%

He’s down for anything at any time

He manages to be respectful of the times when you just want to sit at home and not do anything 

Because he knows not everyone feels like running around all the time

Occasionally, though 

When you’re having a night in

He’ll lay his chin on your chest and just 

Stare at you 

With giant puppy dog eyes

“[Y/N]”

“What Jun?”

“Let’s do something fun!”

“We were running around all day! How could you still have any energy left?”

“Please baby?”

If you think you can say no to him

Jokes on you

You’re definitely going out again lol

But it’s because you’d do anything to keep him happy 

And he’s going to do the same for you

No moment with Jun is boring 

Every moment is filled with love

So maybe your original fantasies of meeting your soulmate didn’t come true

 But you could not be happier than being with the boy you met by accidentally smacking his face 

[arctickat2400]

Birthday With 1D <> Harry Styles

You walked out of your last class of the day, making your way to the school’s exit. You feel your phone buzz in your back pocket and as you take it out, you see a text from your boyfriend, Harry.

You didn’t get to see him this morning like you usually do. You were running late for school and Harry had to leave early for work. You had gotten a note this morning from him, telling you Happy Birthday and that he’d see you later. Yes, it was your birthday, and, of course, you had to go to school.

The text read:

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. See you soon XO

I smile, replying back with a winking emoji.

Just then, you look up to find where you parked, just to see a familiar red convertible sitting in the spot right in front of yours. You smile, seeing your boyfriend, Harry, and the boys, Louis, Niall, Liam, and Zayn hanging around in the red vehicle, waiting for you.

Liam was sitting in the back with Niall sitting up on the back beside him, Louis sat in the front passengers seat and Zayn stood on the other side of the car.

“SURPRISE!” The boys yelled. “Happy Birthday, Y/N!” The boys shout with smiles on their faces as they spot you walking towards them.

You smile and laugh, knowing they love it when you do that, and say, “Okay, okay, thank you guys. But my birthday isn’t really something I’d like everyone to know about.” They all just shrug still with smiles on their cute faces.

Lastly, you see Harry getting out of the driver’s seat and walking towards you as you make it to the convertible. He has a smile on his face and open arms, inviting you in.

“Your birthday is definitely something that should be celebrated. Happy Birthday, Gorgeous.” Harry greets you, quiet enough so just you would hear.

“Thank you, Harry.” You smile as you walk into his arms, wrapping them around you. Y’all stare into each other’s eyes as you both lean in and meet in a passionate kiss.

Kissing your forehead and wrapping his arm around your shoulders, Harry leads you to the car and you see Louis jumping out from the front seat, opening the door for you.

“Thanks, Lou. You didn’t have to do that.” You smiled to Louis as you hop into the front seat.

“It’s a special day. You deserve it.” Louis answers with a grin as he closes your door for you. You just kiss his cheek once he comes back after putting your backpack in the trunk. He climbs into the back seat, squeezing in with Niall, Liam, and Zayn.

Harry jumps back into the driver’s seat and sets off to some unknown destination.

“So, where to boys?” You questions your best friends.

“We were thinking about bringing you to your favorite restaurant. And then going back to the flat for a movie night.” Harry told you, looking over at you with a smile then back at the road again.

“Wait, we’re going to Nando’s?” You question in excitement. You see Harry nodding, the smile never leaving his lips.

“You and me both, Kitty.” Niall says to you, leaning in between you and Harry and kissed your cheek.

“Niall, really?!” Harry yells back to Niall in annoyance as you just burst into laughter. You could see Harry’s smile in the corner of your eye.

Y’all arrived to Nando’s, everyone filing out of the car and towards the restaurant, you and Harry hand in hand.

You were able to get right in and to a table. You sat next to Harry, Niall on your other side, Louis next to Harry, Zayn beside Niall and Liam in between Zayn and Louis. After ordering your food and drinks, everyone getting the ½ Chicken, it all was made and delivered pretty quickly.

The whole time, y’all talked about funny moments on tour and all the memorable moments y’all have had since you and the boys met. There were a lot of laughs, and some of the time, you’d laugh so much you started crying.

At one point during dinner, you were joking around and you took one of Niall’s fries when he wasn’t looking. Everyone started laughing because everyone who knew Niall knew that he hated sharing food. When Niall noticed you had stolen a single fry, he looked at you with wide eyes, a smile being put on your face. Niall, then, stole one of your fries for revenge and, in the end, he forgave you because it was your birthday.

After eating and paying the check, y’all made your way back to the car, piling back in. Harry started the engine and began back to yours and Harry’s flat.

“So, Y/N, what movies are we watching?” Liam asked.

“Um… I don’t know. Maybe a little rom-com, The Notebook,” You suggested with a smile, looking over at Harry and tapping his nose with your finger. He just smiled cutely back at you. “And then probably a scary movie, though we don’t have many. Probably Red Riding Hood.” You added as y’all pulled up into your driveway.

“Are y’all staying over tonight?” You questioned the boys as you all got out of the car.

“Sadly, Liam and I can't stay the night.” Zayn started. “We have some stuff to do early tomorrow morning, so we’ll only be able to stay for the movies.” Zayn finished as everyone walked into the flat.

“Well, at least everyone can stay for movies and popcorn.” I mention.

“This means we’re all yours, Kitten. And your all mine in bed.” Harry tells you, whispering the last part so everyone else wouldn’t hear as he pulled you against him at your waist.

“Did I hear popcorn?” You hear Niall say as you look to the side and see him walking from the hall, probably from the bathroom. You just giggled at Niall’s neediness for food.

You and Harry walk into the living room to find the movies as Niall, Zayn and Liam go into the kitchen to make popcorn, Louis just relaxing himself onto one of the chairs.

The rest of the boys came in after a few minutes with five bowls of popcorn in their hands. You and Harry always shared food like popcorn, so you two shared a bowl.

The movie The Notebook was set up as everyone got situated in their spots. Louis stayed where he was before, Liam and Niall on either side of the couch and Zayn in the middle of them. It was quite a large couch, sectional, so there was a lot of room for the three of them. Then, there was you and Harry on the red chase, Harry sitting behind you with you in between his legs, his arms wrapped around your waist.

“Y/N, why do we have to watch a cheesy romantic movie?” Niall questioned, already digging into his popcorn, as you pressed play on the remote for the Notebook to start.

“Because it’s a good movie. And I think you’d like it if you’d just try it.” You told him. You looked at Niall along with the rest of the boys, except for Harry cause this is his favorite movie, and you could tell that the other boys weren’t too excited about this movie either. “Now, be quiet and eat your popcorn.” You added with a bit of sass. You were always that way with the boys, and they still loved it.

As we got further into the movie, you kept looking at the boys, Harry doing the same with you. You spotted Niall and you could tell he was getting more and more into it. A few sad moments came and you saw a few tears come from Louis, maybe one or two from Liam, and Zayn was never one to cry at the movies, but he was still very into it. But, Niall, it looked like he was bawling as he watched the sad parts and ate his popcorn continuously.

It was quite funny as you looked up at Harry and he was laughing silently too. He looked down at you and pressed his lips against yours. You knew the boys weren’t watching, though you wouldn’t care if they were watching. You both looked back to the movie as you snuggled against your boyfriend, his warm arms holding you close.

The Notebook ended and Niall’s face was still tear stained.

“You doing okay, Niall? You look a little…” You started, but Niall interrupted you.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever Y/N. I gotta say it was a good movie, just not my kind of movie.” Niall said as he got up along with everyone else so they can get ready for the next movie.

“Not your kind of movie? You were crying the entire time.” Harry said with a little laughter as you and the rest of the boys started laughing with him.

“Oh, be quiet.” Niall brushed it off as he left into the kitchen for more popcorn along with Liam and Louis.

You looked over at Harry who sat on the edge of the chase. He was already looking at you as you smiled at him. He winked at you and you blushed, as always when he did something like that to you. You put Red Riding Hood (Amanda Seyfried) into the DVD player as the boys came back in and settled back into their spots.

Harry went back to his spot as you climbed onto his lap, his arms snaking around you.

Throughout the movie, there were a few scary parts, maybe a few parts that jumped out at you, but overall it wasn't that bad. Though, you could tell the other boys thought differently. You could see the fear in all their faces. They're guys and they get scared. My goodness…

The movie was almost over as you were starting to doze off on top of Harry, your head laying on his chest. You could feel his lips against the top of you head and you smiled, loving it when he did that.

“Well, we had a lot of fun with you tonight, Y/N. Happy Birthday.” Liam said, kissing your cheek as you guys stood by your front door.

“Happy Birthday, Kitty.” Zayn added as he kissed your cheek and gave you a hug. Everyone said goodbye to Liam and Zayn as they left for their homes.

You and Harry turned toward Louis and Niall, Harry’s arm around your waist and his other hand in his pocket. You both had humorous smiles on your faces as you looked at the boys in front of you, fear stricken.

“Well, I’m gonna have nightmares tonight.” Louis mentioned as they unsettled themselves from the movie watching.

“Seriously, guys, the movie wasn’t even that scary.” I told them, heading into the living room to grab all the popcorn bowls as the three boys followed.

“Says you. Did you see how that wolf was eating everyone? That’s just not right.” Niall responded as they followed you into the kitchen. YOu passed Niall and slapped him lightly and playfully on the cheek twice as you set the bowls in the sink.

“Well, now you can go to bed to take your mind off of it. Y’all know where to go. Come on, Harry.” You said, grabbing Harry’s hand and leading him upstairs behind you. Harry just had the most turned on face and you loved it. “Goodnight boys.” You yelled down to Louis and Niall.

You and Harry got into your pj’s, Harry going shirtless, just the way you like it. You turn off all the lights and close the curtains, meeting Harry at the bed.

“Thank you Harry for today. I had a really nice time.” You told Harry as you and him settled into bed.

“Anything for my kitten. I just wish we could’ve done something more.” Harry said, tracing his fingers around your face, over your nose and caressing your cheek with his thumb. He brushed the hair away from your eyes as you both faced each other.

“Harry, I would’ve been fine with anything you did for me. I wasn’t expecting anything, to be honest. But, tonight was great, all thanks to you.” You told Harry with a smile. He smiled back at you, leaning in with his hand on your cheek, his lips pressing softly against your own. You weren’t planning on pulling away anytime soon, until you hear a knock at the door.

“Come in,” You shouted with a smile, knowing who it was and why. You stared at Harry as he stared at you, and you could see annoyance in his eyes, but you just found that funny.

You turned around to see Louis and Niall in the doorway, blankets wrapped around them as they looked at you.

“Y/N, can we sleep with you?” Niall asked sweetly, innocence filling his voice. You wanted to laugh so bad, but you just kept a calm smile.

“Fine. Come on,” You giggled, gesturing for them to come to the bed as Niall shut the door behind them.

“There goes our romantic night together.” Harry whispers almost inaudible, though you could hear him. You turned as you pressed your lips against his forehead, and a smile rose to his lips once again. Niall and Louis ran and jumped into bed with you and Harry.

You lay in bed with Harry’s arms around your waist, holding you close, Niall’s head laid on your shoulder and Louis’ head laid on your stomach. You had the weight of all three boys on you, but honestly, you didn’t care. You loved these boys.

As Louis and Niall fell asleep, you turned your head towards Harry beside you.

“I love you, Harry.” You told him, smiling as you noticed he was already staring at you.

He leaned down and gave you one last kiss on your lips, his hand on your cheek and his thumb caressing your cheek. “I love you, too, Kitten. Happy birthday, baby girl.” He said to you. You sweetly rubbed your nose with his as you dozed off in his arms.

[makowo]

Forever Deep Below Creation

This is still a work in progress, but due to my lack of posted writing in the past 3 months, I thought I'd give a sneak peek at the beginning of the fic.

Warnings: None

Characters: Naegi Makoto, Kirigiri Kyoko

Relationships: Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto

Words: 3k

It’s another warm night in the woods. Cicadas cast their calls to the air, and while some creatures tuck into their nests and dens, others rise to greet the darkened sky. Wing and hooves and fingers and claws grazing the sky, Brushing against the stars and cupping the face of the moon.

And here Makoto is, prepping dinner in the cottage he calls a home. His home. Their home.

He pulls out a knife from the block by the counter just as he hears the front door’s lock click. He can almost feel the burst of warm night air flooding their living room, though it is little to the warmth of the stove as it works to bring water to a boil.

He blinks, dropping his focus to turn towards his wife with a grin. “Welcome home honey!”

“Honey?” Kyoko echos, placing her bag on the coffee table. She leaves her holstered gun beside it, walking into the kitchen to check on him. “It’s unusual for you to use pet names.”

“Only if I wanna tease you.” He chuckles, and she does it right back. “Unless you prefer stuff like “babe” or “sweetheart”?”

Arms wrap around his waist, Kyoko resting her chin on his shoulder. “What’s for dinner tonight?”

She avoids the question, and he saves that tidbit of info for later. Avoidance is not a no, after all. “Yakisoba.” He nudges the noodles around with a spoon, half-focused on it as he leans back against his wife. “Thought it might be good to have something quick tonight, y’know?”

Kyoko merely hums, burying her face into the crook of his neck. “Shouldn’t you turn up the AC? You’re cold.”

“Means I can cuddle up to you to stay warm tonight though.”

“As if I’ll let you do that.” She scoffs. He can feel her smile against his skin.

“Ohh?” He goes through the motions of prepping their dinner, Kyoko stumbling along with his hasty steps with a steadfast grip. “And how are you gonna stop it?” Even if they’re on opposite ends of the bed, they always wake up with one clinging to the other. Hard not to cuddle.

She takes a minute to ruminate on it, before managing an answer. “Heater. Right between us.”

Makoto laughs. “Won’t that burn?”

“If it keeps your ice hands from touching me at 2 in the morning, then ‘m fine.”

His whine of objection couldn’t be more fake. “That’s mean.” He quickly nabs the pair of bowls set aside early on, tracing the grooves of their rims with his thumbs as he sets them out side by side. “You’re mean.”

Finally, he’s released from his lavender-scented prison as Kyoko reaches for one of the bowls, unsubtly nudging him in an attempt to get him out of the way. He stays still however, nudging her right back. “It’s still hot, Kiri-san! Gotta let it sit for a bit.” He warns with a frown.

“It can sit for a bit in my bowl.” She replies deadpan, still urging him away. And he relents, because it isn’t that big of a deal anyway but he doesn’t want to watch Kyoko burn her mouth while trying to eat again. Or just forget about it while she works.

“Then eat with me in the living room.” Makoto grabs his own bowl, getting what yakisoba she leaves behind in the pan. “And after it, we go straight to bed.” He’s not risking his work going to waste, after all.

Even with these tough terms he’s set up, Kyoko lazily nods, most likely due to still suffering from sleep deprivation. Maybe she’ll decline when she’s woken up a bit, maybe she won’t. Makoto decides to settle down on the couch and put on a movie that might distract her from it anyway.

It’s more background noise than anything, though; something about an escape room? Pretty sure he put on a sequel movie too, which turns their interest only to one another. Not that he minds.

“Would you like to go on a trip sometime in the next month?”

“Mmh, yeah?” He replies through a mouthful of food, quickly swallowing it before continuing. “What case has you going out of the country this time?” It’s not odd for Kyoko to ask if he wants to travel with her if she knows it’ll take too long for Makoto to bear.

She shakes her head, taking a bite of her food before answering. “I mean as a vacation, actually?” She replies with a tone implying that she’s questioning her own words already.

“Vacation?” He can’t help but echo, because… well, Kyoko never takes vacations! He can imagine she has a lot of days saved up because of that, but it never seems like she plans to put them to use other than for emergencies. Guess he read her wrong on that part, even if this is the first time she’s planning a legitimate vacation herself in the four years she’s been working as a detective again.

“Is it a bad time?”

“No, no!” Makoto shakes his head, not daring to let this slip by. “I’d love a vacation! It’d be nice to get out of the house.” He doesn’t really have much going on anyway, since the whole school idea didn’t really pan out. He’s just a stay at home husband now, and since Kyoko still makes enough money to support them both, he’s not actively seeking a job right now. Thus, he’s perfectly free.

Kyoko smiles. “Good. I’ve made sure to go ahead and clear up a week for ourselves, but I need to know what you might want to do.” She glances at him curiously, before quickly adding on. “Preferably not something that’s outside of Japan, I’d have trouble paying for that right now.”

Well that’s a no brainer for him, but it does narrow down his options significantly, which he happens to be thankful for. “Do you have anything in mind?” For a fleeting moment, Makoto recalls his dinner, taking a bite of it before he looks away from it and thus forgets it even exists. “I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really have anything in mind…” Never been one to aspire for once-in-a-lifetime thrills, like skydiving or something. He’d be happy just lounging at home the whole week, despite his earlier comment.

“I thought we could go to a nearby city then, and go sight-seeing.” Kyoko spares a glance towards the movie playing, before interest in it is once again immediately lost “Maybe in Seoul? There’s a large cave system there as well, and they’re open to caving this time of year.”

“Hm?” Makoto tries to recall what exactly that is, but he’s drawing blanks. “What’s that?”

“Well, Seoul is-”

“I know what Seoul is.” Makoto deadpans, though completely understands why she thought that was what he was talking about. He’s not the most educated person, what with the whole memory loss thing. “”I mean caving! I’ve never, uh, heard of that.”

“Ah.” Kyoko nods, setting down her bowl on the coffee table. “Apologies. It is rather self-explanatory however; we just go and explore a cave system with a small group.” She shrugs, stifling a yawn. “I thought it might be fun to do something like that together. It’s rare for a person to do, wouldn’t be too dangerous, and we’d be together the whole time.”

That does sound pretty cool, he’ll admit. He’s never really gone into a cave before, if he excludes the ones that they’d have to hide in during… ah, well, it’d just be nice. Doing something kind of thrilling. He imagines it’s thrilling, at least.

“I think it’d be fun!” He finally chirps, leaning over to rest his head on Kyoko’s shoulder. “It’s been a while since we’ve done something together, I’m sure it’d be a good time for us both.” And he’s pretty sure they don’t have any trauma tied to caves, which is a definite plus! Unless they count claustrophobia? Neither of them have shown signs of that though, so they’ll hopefully be fine. Hopefully.

As if she were able to sense his worry (which he doesn’t doubt that she can), Kyoko places a hand on his leg, stopping its worried bouncing. He hadn’t even noticed it doing that. “Are you sure?” She asks lightly, brow furrowed with worry. “”It can be dangerous, you know. There’s only so much a tour guide can do to make naturally made caves safe to enter.”

Makoto frowns, now actually worried. “Then why would you recommend it?” He asks, very quietly.

Kyoko takes a while to respond. In fact, she doesn’t respond until she’s actually finished her dinner, as well as his. It was getting cold so he may as well let her have it. “Do some looking, and if you have a better idea, tell me.” And then she heads to bed, because that’s just. A perfectly fine way of ending a conversation.

Makoto trudges on after her after about an hour of thinking (mostly lack thereof, with the television being such a terribly convenient and easy distraction) on the couch. Unlike most nights though, where the room is pitch black, her back turned from the door so as to not catch the stray rays of lights that he’s forgotten to turn off, it’s… actually still pitch black in there. But after a moment of letting his eyes adjust, he catches Kyoko’s alarmingly bright gaze cutting through the gloom.

“Can’t sleep?” He mutters as he stumbles through the dark, going off of his recollection of the room’s layout, reduced to something of barely any use through the haze of sleepiness tugging at his being.

“I can.” She replies slowly, watching him not unlike how a cat would watch their owner. Not that she or their relationship in general compares to that; she just has that… “look”. Like she knows everything. “Was just waiting for you to come to bed.”

If he’s being honest, it’s kind of exciting. It’s the look she gives when her interest is upon him entirely, something that earns a flattered blush every time. “Thank you then.” He chirps, before crawling into bed like a lizard wriggling beneath the warm sands of a desert, except much less gracefully.

He almost expects nothing to happen, oddly enough. He should have known Kyoko was waiting for a reason.

A warmth presses up against his back, and a hum against his ear. “Don’t have to go in until noon tomorrow.” Kyoko huffs. He can just sense her smile when he shivers. “So… we could…” something presses between his legs, and teases just the right spot, “have some time to ourselves, maybe…?”

Makoto is a weak man, and especially weak for his wife. And thus, all he can do is scrounge up what remains of his energy, roll over, and let the franticness of their motions do the rest. ------------------------------------

It’s quite a hike to get to the cave they’ve been looking at. The route is safe, spacious, and short for the most part; it’s apparently a tour “good for beginners”, and while Makoto believes their caving adventures will begin and end with this one, it’s nice to know that this place doesn’t have any curveballs. Or spike-filled areas. Or tunnels one can only crawl through. Or maybe even fractures.

“Stop worrying.” Kyoko demands, his thoughts coming to a harsh stop. He manages not to be totally thrown off, following hastily after his wife as they trudge along a pebble-filled path.

He sighs when he catches up, glancing around. Just west there’s Tokyo, bustling with life, but it’s far enough only to serve as a backdrop to the hill-covered fields they’re in. They follow a path lined by thin ropes tied to sticks in the ground every other step, as despite the lack of actually dangerous areas nearby, there’s a lot of… well, area. The Tragedy changed a lot of the landscape, more so than most would believe.

Stopping his mind from wandering too far again, Makoto directs his attention ahead. They have a few other people with them, much more diverse in their body type than he assumes the average would be for much more difficult to traverse caves. They talk amongst themselves, all of them clearly going with someone they know for the trip. Ahead of them, the tour guides walk, though he can’t tell what they’re doing. He doubts it to be much at all, really.

“Are you excited?” He finally asks, careful not to speak loudly. He doesn’t want to draw much attention from their peers here, they’re lucky enough to have only garnered a few curious looks.

“Of course.” Kyoko replies, just as quiet. “I’m sorry it had to be delayed so much, cases just kept piling up.”

Makoto scoffs. “Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you’re able to help people.” Adjusting to keep a good hold on his backpack, he reaches over to grasp Kyoko’s hand. She’s changed her gloves today. Much rougher. “Even if it’s not another year until we get a chance like this again, I’m satisfied.”

He hopes for a smile, or the most likely quirk of the lips she gives when beyond the walls of their home. He earns neither.

“I’m not.” She tightens her grip, tugging him forwards. “Come on. We’re falling behind.”

Makoto nods, silent as he follows her up the steep incline, and silent still until they come to the entrance to the cave.

He can only think of an open maw when he sees the entrance. It sits neatly above the ground, embedded into the side of the hill’s peak, moss creeping over the exposed rock. Various plants and flowers bloom from cracks in the walls he can see, reaching out towards the sunlight beyond. But as he looks upon the entrance, the teasing glimpse it shows of its surely vast depths, he can’t help but think they’re trying to escape the dark rather than gain any sunlight.

The heat must be getting to him.

“Alright everyone!” One of the guides chirps, clapping their hands to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s do a quick check to make sure everyone has what they need!”

Makoto remembers all their supplies, and part of him knows that he has everything, but anxiety urges him to check once more. Plus, he needs to actually put some of it on now. That too.

He crouches down and pulls his backpack around, trying not to focus on the cave. Instead, he mentally lists off each item as he finds it; helmet, gloves, boots, first aid kit, and a flashlight. Not much really, and he’s more than happy about that fact.

Makoto sighs, putting on each item he needs and putting away the rest. He’s careful about the gloves in particular as he puts them on; the helmet may have a light that could break if he’s not cautious, but Kyoko picked these out for him specifically before this trip. She has very strong opinions about them, and apparently these are the best pair for this sort of task that she could find. And they must be, they’re very comfortable! A perfect fit even, despite the fact that she gave them to him on the way here without any warning. He can’t imagine what they must have cost.

After checking for his caving suit and quickly realizing that he already put it on before making this trek, Makoto shoves his old shoes and socks into the back, hopping back up just as everyone else seems to be handed something.

“Now, before we head in, I want you all to get a good look at this map.” The guide says as they hand a sheet of paper to each group. “Even if this is a short trip, and we know this place like the backs of our hands, there’s a few turns here and there!”

Kyoko takes the map they’re given, Makoto peering at it from over her shoulder, having to crane his neck to get a good look. It doesn’t seem like too much, thankfully; there’s a meander or two, but none on the main path, thank the gods. He’d prefer not to have to do any crawling during this!

“It’s a straight shot, huh?” He comments absentmindedly, resting his chin on his wife’s shoulder.

She merely huffs, reaching back to thread her fingers through his hair. Despite the unsatisfying feeling of the gloves she’s wearing right now, he eagerly leans into the touch. “Yes. I’ve seen pictures of the cave as well, and it appears to not be very dangerous, unless one was actually being reckless. Should take about twenty minutes, at most.”

Makoto grins, wrapping his arms around Kyoko’s waist. She makes another sound, something like a noncommittal grunt, but doesn’t nudge him away as he expects. It’s nice. “And after this we go eat at Stellar Cafe.”

“We ate there last week.” She quickly reminds him, paying only a partial bit of attention to what those in front of them are saying. Something about the first aid kits, nothing very important.

“Too bad.” He gives her a quick peck on the cheek. “I like their food, and the service is nice.”

He can hear her stifle a laugh as she pulls away. “You like their curry. There’s perfectly good curry elsewhere.” She reaches into her own backpack, pulling out a walkie talkie. “Now get your radio out.”

“Don’t you think this is kind of overboard?” He pulls it out anyway of course, making sure his is connected to hers. “They never recommended these for caving, at least not on the sites I looked at.” Seems that most of the time people are expected to stay together anyway, if there’s more than one person at all. He’s surprised Kyoko decided to do this.

“Can’t ever be too safe.” Is all she says, before looking to the cave. “It’s time to go.”

Makoto follows her gaze, and sees the rest of the group already clambering over rocks as they enter the hole. “Ah.” He pauses, choking on nothing for a moment so fleeting he can’t even react. “Yeah.”

If he showed any hesitation, Kyoko does not acknowledge it. Instead, she walks ahead, and with heavy steps he pretends are eager, Makoto follows her into the dark.

------------------------------------

and that's it! quite a bit, and definitely not the best writing in the world, but im very proud of it so far! if you can then please rb this and give your thoughts, i do this for free but there's a reason i post my fics at all, which is validation <3 basically what keeps me going and able to continue writing at all, actually.

[pbandjesse]

I had a very productive and good day. But this morning stressed me out! I am going to try to not focus to much on the stress. Because it was a good day.

I had trouble falling asleep last night. But I slept good in the end. I woke up around 9. And felt nice. I got up and washed and dressed and had time to have a little breakfast and start my knitting for the day.

But then James calls and texts me. I missed the call but apparently Del was stressing about me bringing back the roller coaster materials. But I hadn't taken all of them so I was really confused by this and felt like it was a little obnoxious when you know I'm coming in at 1030?

But I felt bad. So I got my stuff and headed out. James also asked me to bring the bike rack in case of a storm. But like that was fine I was just stressed about feeling rushed now.

But I had a nice drive in. But was very surprised when I got there and the parking lot was super full! There was an event in the pavilion and they actually had their own parking attendant and I was like hey I work here! And she was like. Um there are no spots left! And I was like. Ugh oh.

So I just said I would pull up to the front and talk to my manager. Because I was most just stressed about getting Del the materials. But I would luck out and find the very last spot.

It was really hot and there is no shade in the lot so I was a little frustrated. But Jessica came and helped bring things in. And it turned out Del thought I had the new tubes he cut. But I didn't. So it was fine but like. Why you gotta stress me out!?

I got everything out of the car and out away and chilled in the back with a snack.

I had a tour with a disabled highschool today. And there ended up being some timing issues but they were super lovely and the tour went well even if it was a shortened version. They had good questions and we had nice conversations.

I took them to lunch and went to find James to give them a lunch break.

But Mike had beat me to it. And made me go take my own lunch break. I would go hang out in the break room until 1 when I would take over for Mike and wait for James to return.

I had to answer the phone which was scary!! But I did that. And James came to help me find the right person to transfer to. And then there were some lovely ladies from The Walters and we talked about programing and outreach and it was really cool.

I would head out soon after finishing cleaning up a few things. Me and James still weren't sure about the storm. So I would wait for them to make the call about it before I would head home.

But while I waited I went to value village. I had a lot of fun and got a few very cool things!! A little mini dresser and a modcloth dress that I would have take some hand done stitches out of but is so sweet. And some fun fabric and a cake carrier. And a tiny little French press. And some fabric. And some sandals. I got some of it on discount off the discount. It was a good haul.

James texted me that I could head home. And I did just that.

When I got back here I struggled in the house. But I had a package when I got here. My Tony Tutor personal computer from 1984 came. And it's great and so silly. I'm going to keep it on the fish screen for now I think. I was going to keep it on clown but James said it's to scary.

I did the rest of my knitting. And had a snack. And soon James was home.

We would have a dinner of leftovers. And play video games for a few minutes but I mostly felt like it was a day for art.

So James came and helped me stuff a bunch of bears from last year and when they went to play DND I would sew them all closed. I also cut out 12 new bears! We'll see how long it takes me to actually sew them. But progress is progress.

I was in a making mood so I also started an embroidery for Jess for her birthday. And I was in a role and ended up finishing it. It took over an hour but it's done and I'm really happy with it. I have to see if I have a good frame. I don't want to post pictures until I give it to her but I am very excited with how it looks.

Me and James are both showered and clean and in bed now. My skin doesn't hurt nearly as much. But I am very much ready to sleep.

Tomorrow I have three canneries in a row! And then after work me and James have that facial appointment we won the raffle for. It's a Mary Kay thing so I'm expecting she's going to try to sell is stuff. But we'll see what happens.

I hope you all sleep good tonight. And that it's not so hot tomorrow.

Take care of each other!

[xnever-fade-awayx]

kerry/v

"you know I'll do anything you ask me to"-prompt (sofia by clairo)

just an idea, no pressure^^

AN: Quick note, this is unedited, also this is with default Male V! Enjoy~ 

V groaned as he rubbed at his eyes and slowly opened them. His head was pounding and he felt like he was hit by a truck. He tried to piece together the night before but all he can remember  is Kerry fucking him senseless into the mattress. Which he did enjoy. As V sat up in the bed, he glanced to his side to see Kerry passed out on his stomach, completely naked. 

V got out of bed quickly and he began searching for his clothes to at least put something on. He wasn’t trying to leave before Kerry left per say, he was just trying to make sure he was covered from the paparazzi this time. They ended up using a drone that went undetected by Kerry’s security last time to take pictures of both men completely naked, asses all out. 

The paparazzi called V Kerry’s “current JoyToy” which pissed him off more than it should have. Maybe it was because he was developing feelings for Kerry and wanted to be more than fuck buddies. V shook his head at the thought and ignored it as he threw his jeans on and made his way down to Kerry’s kitchen to try to find some food, some real food. 

V managed to find some bread that wasn’t molding, at least from what he saw, and ate a few slices of that before he was going to dip. He heard the groans of Kerry echoing through the large villa as he woke up, walking down the stairs, still completely naked. 

“Mornin’.” Kerry mumbled out gruffly as he went to the table that had all types of food and began to pick at the stuff on it. 

“Morning. I don’t think it’s safe to eat any of that.” V said as Kerry turned and shot him a small glare. “And I think you should put some pants on before the paparazzi caught you, again.” V tried to tell Kerry as he threw another grape into his mouth. 

“Fuck ‘em. Won’t be the first or last time they’ve seen my gorgeous ass.” Kerry laughed as he walked over to V and looked him over. 

“I was just heading out. Gotta see Vik for a tune up.” V heard Kerry hum in response to what he said. 

“You comin’ tonight? Playing another show tonight with the girls.” Kerry said as he walked over to V and looked into his eyes. V shrugged and placed his hands on Kerry’s hips and pulled him close. Kerry chuckled and moved his arms to wrap loosely around V’s neck. 

“I’ll try to drop by. I think I’m gonna check up on Wakako to see if she has something for me today. Need a few extra eddies for rent this month.” V admitted which caused Kerry to frown at the taller man. 

“You know I can send you some money. You can always ask.” Kerry tried telling his friend as V pulled away and began walking towards the door. 

“It’s fine, Ker. I can make my own money. You don’t gotta act like my sugar daddy. Now, I gotta get going. Vik’s gonna be pissed if I’m late.” V said as he opened the front door and was followed by V. 

“Seven tonight if you come by! Talk to Tasha and she’ll get you backstage!” Kerry shouted as he watched V walking down towards his car. 

“Put on some god damn pants!”

                             « ----------------------------------------------- » 

 Vik had done his check up on V as normal, giving him an upgrade or two but was happy that V wasn’t pushing himself too far. Wakako was happy to see V had assigned him a job that shouldn’t take too long. She had him go to a Tyger Claw hideout and find a person, making sure they were unharmed and alive. There was a shootout, which V tried to avoid, but it was okay. The person he was transporting wasn’t hurt which was a plus but V was a mess and covered in blood. 

Wakako thanked V for the person and quickly transferred the money to V before he drove home to shower and change. His entire shower he thought about Kerry, and about them. He had fallen for the rockerboy about the second time they fucked. It was just a casual friends with benefits thing that would happen once every few weeks then turned into almost everyday. Every concert in the city, V would show up, drink too much with Kerry and then they would end up at his place. 

V wanted to change it and he decided tonight was the night before Kerry and Us Cracks left Night City for their tour across the world. He shut the water off in the shower and quickly dried off before throwing on some jeans and a random shirt, which happened to be one of Kerry’s shirts he stole. Funny story behind the shirt: Kerry was trying to rush V out since Johnny was coming over and Kerry didn’t want Johnny knowing V and him were fucking. So, V grabbed the first shirt he saw and threw it on as Kerry kicked him out. 

V double checked to make sure he had everything before leaving his apartment and heading to get to his car. The entire drive to the venue, V thought of what to say to Kerry and honestly, how the fuck does someone say, ‘hey I love you’ without making it weird or awkward? V shook his head at the thought and said he was just going to do it, fuck it. 

He parked on the side of the building, weaving between the fans trying to get backstage and smiled at Tasha. She had learned who V was quickly and smiled at him and allowed him in. She was telling him how he could chill backstage or on the side during the concert before leading him towards where Kerry was. The moment V spotted Kerry, his heart dropped. He was standing extremely close to another guy, smiling at him and giving him those fuck me eyes he always gave V. 

“Oh, hey V! Glad to see you!” Red Menace smiled at the man and hugged him tightly. Over the last few months, he got close to Us Cracks just like Kerry did. Kerry turned towards the two and smiled as he walked over to V. 

“Decided to show up, I see. Well, I’ll have to give you a special thank you after the show.” Kerry smirked as he made his way to V and closed the gap between them. 

“I don’t know if I’m staying. I, uh, have things I need to do.” V avoided eye contact with Kerry. He picked up the change in V almost instantly as he started walking.

“Let’s go somewhere private, V. Just chat a bit before the show.” Kerry said as he walked towards what was currently his little dressing room. V didn’t want to follow him but did it anyway, so he didn’t anger him. Once the two were in the room, Kerry closed the door behind him and locked it. V stood in the middle of the room as Kerry went to lean against a counter where all the mirrors were.

“Why did you bring me in here?” V finally asked as Kerry turned and looked over the other male.

“What the hell is going on, V?” Kerry asked, his arms crossed over his chest. V just watched Kerry as he sighed out. It was now or never.

“Look, Ker… I-we… well, you know how last week we were in that magazine? And they called me a Joy Toy?” V asked as Kerry nodded.

“Yeah. Those mother fuckers got a bad picture of me!” Kerry said, slightly angry as V shot a glare at him.

“Not the point, Ker. I don’t wanna be known as a Joy Toy, okay? I don’t want to be known as your latest fling or your fuck buddy. I wanna be known as… as…” V couldn’t seem to say it outloud. He felt stupid and embarassed. 

“As.. my boyfriend?” Kerry finished the sentence. V felt embarassed as fuck at that. Kerry walked over to V and grabbed his face in his hands. “You know, V, I’ll do anything you ask me to. And if that is to be your boyfriend, then I’m fine with that.” Kerry said as he pressed his lips harshly against V’s lip. V melted into the kiss before Kerry slowly pulled away.

“I’ve wanted that for a while…” V whispered, causing the rockerboy to chuckle.

“I was waitin’ for you to say something. If this was just meaningless sex, then I was fine with it. I was hopin’ it would turn into something more.” Kerry said before leaning in and placing another kiss to V’s lips.

“So, does this mean Kerry Eruodyne is no longer going to be a slut? No more man whoring?” V teased which rewarded him a quick slap to the chest.

“Shut the fuck up or else I might take back talkin’ about being your boyfriend.” Kerry glared at V as the other male rolled his eyes.

“Mr Eurodyne? Concert starts in 2 minutes.” A voice called from the other side of the door. Kerry and V both looked at the door before looking at each other.

“Stayin’ to watch?” Kerry said as the two walked out of the door. Kerry followed behind V as they began walking towards the stage.

“Of course. For my boyfriend? Anything.” V said as they got to the side of the stage. Kerry smiled and placed a small kiss to V’s cheek.

“I promise after we will go get dinner, something nice, then back to my place.” Kerry said as he got himself pumped for the show.

“Don’t hurt yourself up there. Gonna need you all good and in one piece later.” V teases as Kerry and him share a rough kiss before Kerry rushed up to the stage to start the concert.

[blxxdyvalentine19xx]

What happens in vegas stays in vegas 🎲

lil huddy x MGK x Mod Sun

Warnings:

Song: Free Love - Mod Sun

Colson's mouth dropped; he shot up into a sitting position when the words left Chase's mouth. "Did you just suggest a threesome with one of my best friends?" He wasn't sure he heard  Chase right and he was shocked by what he thought he heard.

"Maybe..." Chase startled when Colson sat up quickly. "...yes" he picked at the sorry state of the chipped polish on his nails. "You don't have t-" Chase was cut off by Colson kissing him softly and looking at him with a curious expression.

Hearing the 'yes' Colson cracked a smile and took Chase's hands in his. "I'll have to catch him in the right mood" He said as he outstretched one of his legs. "So don't bank on it or anything." Colson admitted that Mod was good looking.

Looking away; Chaae covered his eyes; he was sure his face was red and he attempted to hide it in his hoodie when he was pulled into a cuddle..

♡ ♡ ♡

Chase had just walked into the living room when he heard Mod make a dig at Colson about the age difference between Kells and Chase. "Oh hell no" he mumbled under his breath and was about to walk back out when Colson answered.

"It ain't me we gotta worry about here" Colson looked up from the blunt he was rolling and grinned at Mod. “he’s the one with a thing for older men" He waved his hand in Chase's direction and winked at the boy.  "You wouldn’t belive what he suggested in bed the other day”

"I find it hard to believe you aren't the one to worry about" Mod shrugged, wide eyed when Colson said it was Chase who was into older men. "Jesus...always the pretty ones" his eyes drew up to Chase who looked like a deer in the headlights.

Sealing the blunt; he looked at his friend and shook his head. "He casually  dropped the words 'threesome and 'Mod Sun' in the same confession" 

"Yo-" Chase froze on the spot when Mod's attention snapped back to him. "Uhmm..." he hadn't intended to be around when Colson mentioned it so he lacked a decent explanation.

Wondering why Colson brought it up; Mod looked from Chase back to Colson and caught the look Colson usually had when he was about to suggest something insane. "Oh n- Kells, you don't..." he managed a breath and sat up in the chair.

"I do ..." Colson leaned backwards and snapped his fingers a couple times to get Chase's attention. "I don't joke about that stuff and you know it Mod" He pulled Chase onto the couch when his boyfriend came over.

"I-" He looked at Chase again and chose his words carefully. "Is he ... serious?" Mod was more interested in hearing it from Chase, there was a more significant age gap between him and Chase than there was Chase and Kells.

Chase nodded and focused on the feel of Colson's hand on his shoulder. "It was ne who mentioned it" he said, his ears warm, a sign he was nervous. "Colson didn't know until then."

Couple days later

Mod typed out a message to Colson and ran a hand through his damp hair. 'As insane is it is, I'm saying yes' he bit his lip and jumped onto the counter and finished the message 'Vegas, the three of us, let's make it a weekend thing, Mod sent it and took a breath. "I might be crazy for saying yes but they're both cute"

Colson picked up his phone having just gotten out of the shower; reading Mods message; he grinned shaking his head. "Hey! Baby" He walked into his bedroom and crawled up the bed to Chase "Vegas? This weekend, Mod's idea, what happens in vegas stays in vegas" Colson kissed his boyfriend and hummed as Chase slipped an arm around his neck.

"Mmm" slipping an arm around Colson's neck; Chase pulled the man into a makeshift cuddle. "Yeah, sure that's fine" he mumbled and buried his head into Colson's neck.

♡ ♡ ♡ Vegas

Being his idea; Chase was a touch off put as he deffenitly wanted the threesome they'd planned but compared to both Mod and Kells, he was mostly inexperienced and feeling the 'pressure to perform.' It wouldn't have been a problem of it weren't for the fact that he was apparently struggling to get hard even with Kells's usual praise. "Got to do this a little differently, the usuals not doing it."

"That's not something to worry about" Colson's mind flitted through some of his past threesomes and had a lightbulb moment. "I might have an effective solution" He pressed a kiss to Chase's forehead before getting up. Colson dropped down between Mod's legs and looked up when one of his friends hands laced on his blonde locks. "Hey"

His eyes flicked downwards to Colson; a long ago familiar scene with Colson between his legs. "It's been a while" Mod's smile turned up as Colson's eyes crinkled at the corners. "Lets see if you still know what you're doing" He nudged Colson's cheek with his knee and sucked in a sharp breath when Colson kissed up the inside of his left thigh.

"The first time was a dare and I was bold enough to do it to spite Rook." He mumbled; kissing along Mod's thigh, mouthing at the base of his friends still clothed dick. "The brat really thought I was straight." Colson fliked his attention to Chase, grinning as the boys lip disappeared between his teeth. "You ain't the only one here who can suck dick, baby"

Something about Colson teasing the idea of sucking Mod's dick came off as hot to Chase and he hummed out a weak breath. "That's not news" Chase mumbled out;  his breath catching as Mod's fingers tugged at Colson's hair as if telling him to get to it.

Mod rolled his eyes as Colson took his time; pulling him forward he locked his fingers against the back of Colson's head. "Less talking, Kells" he looked towards Chase and bit back a moan when Colson palmed him. "He always talks this much?"

Pulling Mod forward in the hotel room chair; he tugged the man's boxers down, Colson's lip grazed over his lips as Mod looked back to him again. Colson obliged Mods hand cupped his head; stroking his friends dick; he took the tip between his lips and sucked at it.

Seeing Colson submit to Mods will played with his mind and he ended up squeaking out a gentle moan as his boyfriend looked at him. "Not always"

Sighing out a relived moan; Mod looked down at Colson, fighting the urge to thrust into the man's mouth. "A little more, baby" he hummed; grinning as he heard a moan pass Chase's lips. Lightly pushing at the blondes head.

Colson wrapped a hand around the base of Mods dick and took some of it into his mouth. Humming around it; he sucked his cheeks inwards around his friend. His back straightened as Mod's fingers pulled him forward again.

Mod moaned out as Colson's checks moulded to his dick as the man sucked at it, a hand grabbed at his thigh as Colson's mouth relaxed a little. "Kerp going Kells" Sliding his dick inwards a little more, he bit his lip as Colson gestured for Chase to come over.

Even with his mouth housing Mods dick; Chase was happy to oblige to what Kells suggested as his boyfriend flicked his attention between his friend and himself. "Ohh..." letting himself be pulled into a kiss by Mod; he whined into it as Colson's free hand palmed him.

Seeing his boyfriend and his bestfriend kiss eachother sent a shiver through him and Colson removed his hand from  mods dick. Pushing against mods hand; a heavy moan was halted as mod pushed him all the way down.

OOO

Both their attention turned to Chsse as they kissed up the boys thighs. Meeting in a kiss just below his boyfriend's dick; Colson sucked at Mod's lip and half giggled when mods tongue slipped past his own lips.

Mod pushed his tongue between Colson's lips and pulled him into a kiss; a hans gripping the man's ass. "Always my favorite fuck." He mumbled and winked as Chase easily invaded the kiss. "Hey there" mod chuckled as the boy pushed them off eachother.

Something in that kiss made Chase jealous and he took to his knees pushing Colson and Mod apart. "Kells might be a whore but he's mine." He said and kissed Mod; his hips arching forward against the older man as Colson's lips kissed up his neck.

"Yeah, he is" Mod shifted; his hands cupping the boys ass while they kissed. Nipping at the boy's lip, he moaned as Chase's obviously hard dick pressed against his thigh. "I'm not gonna steal him from you, Chsse" Mod carded his fingers through Chase's feather soft hair.

"No, cause you're fucking him and he's gonna suck my dick, well sort of." Colson grinned as an eager moan left Chase's lips. Biting at his boyfriend's neck; he ground his dick against Chase's ass and moaned as Mod's hand stroked it

Mod broke the kiss and pulled Colson's head up. "Sort of being you using his mouth." He kissed Colson happily and squeezed Chase's hip. "You okay with me being the one who fucks you?" He brushed a finger over Chase's blush red cheeks.

Chase heard Colson say it was going to be Mod fucking him and his breath caught. "Mm, mhmm" he nodded excitedly, he'd imagined being fucked by Mod before and couldn't believe it would actually happen.

Colson laughed into a kiss with Mod when Chase was a touch over eager. "Why am I not surprised by you" he kissed Chase's cheek and let his hand shake around to his boyfriend's dick. "Your my boyfriend and yet I'm letting my best friend fuck you."

"Because you know me too well" he gripped the back of Colson's neck and kissed him deeply before the two men switched places.

Later in the evening

Stepping out of the hotel shower; Colson wrapped a rather fluffy towel around Chase's shoulders and stopped a laugh as his boyfriend's arms came around his torso in an iron class grip. "Oh kay" he was nearly knocked backwards and caught the edge of the vanity to catch himself. "How are you not exhausted baby?" He kissed the boys head and smiled.

"He's basically a spring chicken, kells, you were at that age." Mod chimed and slipped into a shirt may have been one of Colson's he'd copped off the rapper Donna recent tour.

"Mmphhh" Chase shrugged his shoulders and grinned up at Colson as he huffed his overly tattooed boyfriend.  "Just hungry, kells" he smiled despite the dull tightness to the muscles in his jaw. "Pizza?" He asked; pulling Colson's head downwards into a kiss.

"Yeah, I guess so, best to eat now and down liquid tomorrow." He ruffled a hand through Chase's wet hair and walked them both back into the living space. "Mod, pizza" Colson smiled as Chaee snapped to attention and pulled a shirt over his head. "I- Mod, are you wearing my shirt?"

Mod looked down at the shirt and kept a straight face. "Maybe...its one of them." He ordered a pizza and was about to collapse onto the other bed when he was pulled onto the one Colson and Chase had claimed.

"You definitely aren't a groupie" Colson pursed his lips as he looked at the shirt and shook his head. "You're the little shit who stole a few of my shirts aren't you?" He pulled Chase back onto the bed and slipped his hands below both the man's shirts.

[slowly-writing]

Break a Leg

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word count: 1.2K

Part two

Requested by anon: Hey could I request a Wanda maximoff dating a famous actress x fem reader who's her girlfriend for three years and Wanda watches her movies and shows and absolutely loves it even tho at first she didn't get her love for acting but now she does as she sees how happy you are with it? And maybe y/n is in an interview and the entire avengers are watching and they ask abt Wanda and what's it like being her girlfriend and if she misses her when she's on missions and y/n is flustered a lot,just fluff!

“Tony did what?” you’re gasping for breath, trying to contain your laughter as Wanda tells you about her day.

“He lit his sleeve on fire. He didn’t even notice until one of his robots was spraying him with a fire extinguisher.” You’re wiping tears from your eyes as someone knocks on the door, entering before you can respond.

“Miss y/l/n, we’re ready for you in makeup,” a young guy with a clipboard tells you and you nod.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” you wait for him to leave before picking up your phone from the couch next to you and taking it off speaker. “Alright my love, I gotta go.”

“Noooooo, I don’t want you to go yet,” Wanda whines and you can’t help but share her feelings.

“I know. I miss you too, but I just have a few more interviews to finish up and then I’m flying home tomorrow night,” you promise and she sighs.

“Fine. I really can’t wait until you come home. The team is having a viewing party for your interview tonight,” you laugh at the thought of the avengers taking time out of their day to watch you talk about a movie they’ve all heard you talking about since you auditioned.

“Way to make me nervous,” she laughs and you can almost hear her eye roll through the phone. “Okay, I really have to go now. I love you so much, I’ll call you in the morning.”

“I love you too. Break a leg tonight.”

xxxxx

“For my next guest I have two time Oscar nominee and leading lady of the upcoming movie, Phantom Zone. Please welcome, y/n y/l/n!” you hear the crowd applauding and you take a deep breath before walking out onto the stage. The lights are bright and the only thing going through your head as you wave to the audience is “Please don’t trip. Please don’t trip. Please don’t trip.” You really don’t need to take Wanda’s wish of good luck literally and end up on crutches. Luckily you make it across the floor in one piece and greet the host before sitting down.

“So y/n, you’ve come a long way for such a young actress. Why don’t you tell us a bit about your new movie,” the host starts and you go back and forth with the normal questions. With this being the second to last day of your press tour you’ve lost count of how many interviews you’ve had. You could answer these questions in your sleep, so you go through the motions until the host throws you for a loop with a more personal question.

“So y/n, you’ve been seen spending quite a bit of time in New York with a certain witch. Care to comment on that?” the host asks and you chuckle. You can feel your cheeks heating up and the knowledge that your face is bright red on live television only makes you blush more.

“What do you want to know?” you shoot back and he laughs, glad that you didn’t refuse to answer.

“Why don’t we start with how you two met,” he suggests and you nod. You’ve never commented much on your relationship but after three years you and Wanda decided you’re alright with the world knowing a bit more about you.

“It was a bit over three years ago now, I was staying in New York between filming seasons of Walking Dead. I was in central park enjoying the weather and Wanda just walked right up to me, I freaked out a bit. I was meeting my favorite superhero, it was quite a shock. She had no idea who I was at that time which was a nice change of pace. She was beyond lost so I helped her find her way out of the park and the rest is history.”

“She didn’t know who you were? You’re kidding, right?” he asks and you laugh with him before responding.

“Trust me, I was a little shocked too. I try to stay humble, but I was also a cocky nineteen year old. It was a week before the Oscars and I was nominated for best supporting actress. I thought everyone knew who I was. Don’t tell her I told you this, but her having never heard of any of my movies was probably a really good ego check for me,” you lean in as if it's a secret and he pretends to zip his lips.

“Your secret is safe with me. Though if she’s watching this, I am not responsible.”

“Oh she definitely is. I talked to her earlier, they’re having a viewing party at the Avenger’s compound,” you say and his eyes widen.

“The avengers are watching my show,” you can’t tell if his shock is real or not, so you try to hold back your laughter as you nod. “Does that not intimidate you even a little?”

“I mean no, not really. Trust me, when Wanda introduced me to the team I thought I was gonna pass out, but after you’ve seen them scream at each other over a 2am monopoly game in their pajamas the intimidation wears off,” you say with a smile.

“That would definitely make them seem less scary. Has Wanda seen your movies now?” he asks and you groan.

“Yes. She made me watch them all with her. Don’t get me wrong, I love the stuff I was in. If I wasn’t in them I’d probably binge them on repeat, but something about sitting in a living room watching yourself on a screen is just awkward. I love premiers even watching it in theaters can be fun, but I don’t enjoy watching them alone. That one scene in walking dead made her cry though. I was pretty proud of that acting, plus the zombie makeup was fun,” you’re referring to when your character was killed off a few seasons back. The fact that you were able to make her cry over “your” death while sitting right next to her was pretty cool. “She goes to all the premieres and viewing parties with me now, so she sees it all.”

“I can see how that could be uncomfortable, but I’m glad you made it through. Now you better not break her heart, that team of her’s will come after you,” he says and you roll your eyes.

“Oh please, I would never. I’m gonna marry that girl one day,” you say and the audience  let’s out a collective “awwwwww.”

“On that note we are unfortunately out of time. Thank you so much for being here tonight, Phantom Zone is in theaters October 18th!” The host calls. You wave at the camera until a crew member yells clear, then you say goodbye to the host and make your way back to your dressing room. Little do you know as that’s happening Wanda is sitting on the couch back in New York, cheeks bright red and a smile on her face. At your final words she makes a decision. It’s time for the ring in her nightstand to leave the drawer and go onto your finger.

tag list: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @prizmix-and-friends @worlds-in-words @im-salt-but-not-salty @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

[todokanai-suishou]

April 7th

Pairing Hoseok x Reader

Genre: Fluff

WC: 2,5k

Quality: Not yet golden Raspberry, but definitely rotten Tomato worthy

A/N: "April 7th, but it's longer now" finally managed to post the full thing TT_TT. It's still my first ff and I still apologize for the outcome of this, since I usually do music reviews and (bad) poetry:

Inspiration for it & pt2 were Sticky & April 7th by a Band called The Maine

__________________________________________________________

When you first saw him, he was dancing like nobody was watching

when in fact, everybody was.

You were no exception to the other people staring at him while they were shouting names, singing along to the lyrics sung by the 7 people dancing on stage, so stable and well.

And this man? This man didn’t seem to miss a beat. He moved so effortlessly through every song, having the time of his life, dancing and singing and rapping his heart out

- until he first spotted you in the crowd, watched in awe as you got lost in stereo, eyes shut to enjoy the music

- until you opened your eyes to look back at him.

And suddenly the man who was just dancing along to a fun song that luckily had no choreography, froze just like someone who’d be busted dancing with a mob.

He didn’t know what had hit him when your eyes made contact with his, but he just stood there, unable to move until the eldest came and hit him on the head jokingly, followed by the youngest jumping on both of them.

The Dancer snapped out of it at this point and you didn’t have a single ounce of understanding for what just happened. Usually it was Jungkook lagging, but not during performances and out of all the people you’d suspect to stop moving, Hobi would be the last one to.

Until he was. And he looked baffled when he came back down to earth, whispering to both of his friends as they were finishing the song before leaving to change clothes. He couldn’t help from looking back and subtly pointing at your part of the crowd a few times though

and as he kept on, you started to sense something. From the way he looked back. From the way he pointed in this direction..your brain meanwhile got the bizarre idea that it was you who got him that stunned. Maybe he saw someone else in you? Maybe a fansite? “Oh god please not a fansite.” you whispered, barely audible but turning the heads of the girls in front of you as you started shaking...or maybe an ex? You couldn’t pinpoint it but you also couldn’t stop thinking of the possibility that it was indeed you he reacted this way to.

and you were right about him freezing because of you, but dead wrong about him recognizing his ex, or a fansite, or anyone for that reason.

It was cliché but all the thought at that moment was that, even in this dimly lit room - you were the most beautiful thing he’s ever come across.

The way you danced like nobody was watching, because there probably really was no one watching you, all the while lip-syncing to boyz with fun, you were glowing and the way you suddenly stared at him, with adoration in your eyes, that had him overwhelmed.

“You really fell in love at first sight, huh?” Jin laughed in between changes as the younger one told him about what just happened. “I might” Hoseok fell into a stare at the realisation,. “This is crazy,” he whispered to himself. “You might never see them again though.” Namjoon exclaimed drily from across the room. “I’ll try...I guess?” - “What are you going to do, hunt that person down?” The leader raised an eyebrow and Hoseok sighed. “I don’t know.” It wasn’t until Yoongi - who currently fought with his leather pants - spoke up from the corner “just tell the staff to keep them here. Say Hi, see where it goes afterwards.” and while the leader and Hoseok agreed that this could come across as kind of creepy - the dancer gave it a try. He pointed to you, with the glowing green bracelet on your arm, gave them info of where you approximately were or could possibly come out. He did all he could do for them to keep you there and although you were confused, and quite frankly a little scared of what was happening, you stayed.

And god were you ready to fall on your knees and beg not to be sued with every second that passed, making up critical scenarios and what ifs in your head.

All of them were dead wrong.. You didn’t know how exactly he came to be there, but you remember him coming out in baggy pants, a loose shirt, hair that was still somewhat sweaty but at least brushed properly and he had the biggest smile as he came closer while you and a staff member were still jokingly debating whether ketchup was a smoothie or not. With a breathless “Hi.” he almost scared the living shit out of you.

“Hi” you replied, just as breathless and quite frankly confused. Both your Anxiety levels flew through the roof with each awkward second the two of you didn’t speak. It’s ironic how he wanted to tell you so much, but eventually when you were in front of him, sweat still somewhat glistening on your face and exhaustion written on it in tiny letters, he lost all his words.

It was you who, while still holding eye contact, spoke up. “So...you froze before...are you okay?” You nervously rubbed your arm, but he saw his chance. “Yeah, I’m sorry, it was kind of your fault” an awkward laugh followed from his side, making you nervously rub your arm and look down before he followed up “I got mesmerized by looking at you.” and boom, he had all your attention again. Eyes growing big at his comment. “Wait what?” - “I saw you vibe along and somehow, I don’t know. You just amazed me.” Everything after that was rambling as he tried to explain in a way that didn’t seem too forward or make you uncomfortable and apparently it worked when you let out a chuckle “You’re cute, you know that?” - “Cute enough to go on a date with me?” His sudden question left you as surprised as it did him. He didn’t think he’d do it like that, but judging from you freezing like a deer in the headlights, it was too straight forward and pointless. “Ah you kn-” - “Okay.” This time around he was the deer. And your answer? Just hit him like a car. “okay?” he replied in disbelief. “Yes, unless you don’t want to anymore?” you raised an eyebrow and he shook his head. “no, I’d still love to! How does tomorrow sound?” he asked so cheerfully the change of Aura almost threw you off. “Tomorrow sounds great, I think. Afternoon or evening?” - “Brunch?” - “Could work, might not. I usually sleep in on weekends. My body just naturally ignores every alarm clock I have until 13:00…but... I could get my roommate to wake me up with water I guess.” You said sheepishly.

“So...in case your roommate DOES wake you, how does 11:30 sound?” he smiled, screaming on the inside, hoping, praying, putting all of his trust in your roommate. “Sounds great.” You smiled back and at this moment he was a goner. Almost literally, since Jungkook called for the living, breathing sun to come back, because he wanted to go already. “Wait, give me your number so we can figure more details out.” a phone was pressed into your hands. You didn’t take long to type in your number and call yourself, his smile only growing as you handed it back to him. He had your number. He did it. You gave him his number and if tomorrow was going well, he was convinced that he could die happily.

When JK called for a second time he went away though “Well, I guess I really gotta go. I’ll see ya.” he waved at you and you just copied the action, smiling widely at him. “BY THE WAY” he called out after you “YES?”- “Y/N.... The Name fits you.” - “How?” - “A BEAUTIFUL NAME FOR A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN” and with that he was out of the room, and you and the staff member went out in the other direction, with her clearly laughing as you turned as red as a tomato. A warm feeling spread all throughout you, as you walked into the cold air, excited for what was to come, while the man who just asked a total stranger out just ended up happy dancing the entire night, leaving Jimin internally screaming for deciding to room with the manic squirrel and in serious conflict of whether he was just gonna head into Taehyung's room instead. In Hindsight, he probably should have.

Back then, on that first April 7 in the Arena, you met the man who lights up even the darkest days of your life. You learnt pretty fast that it wasn’t all fun and games, and relationships with Idols are hard. Big Hit bought out dispatch when it came to you, but still, not being able to see each other properly..sometimes was difficult, when all you wanted was to cuddle.

So he left sweaters at your place, and you saw each other whenever the other was near, you two made the, partially rough, two years worth the wait and god does he love you for holding on like that.

But exactly you, or the lack of your presence, made it hard for him to concentrate on rehearsal today. Knowing it’s the same day, the same arena, but someone else in your place. You usually took the time for important dates, 100 day anniversaries and birthdays were shared. Hell, the first anniversary you took leave to visit him on tour, but the second one, you informed him you couldn’t watch from the stage like you did so many times before. “Important family stuff.” you told him and the boys knew he wasn’t his usual self. Still whooped the professional part - except for the facial expressions and while the younger ones tried to coax the sun into shining again after the first Rehearsal, it wasn’t until Yoongi snuck up behind Hoseok with a phone in hand.

While the younger ones were still occupying Hoseok, Yoongi facetimed you and held the phone close to Hobis ear and before he could register anything, he heard “HOBI!” from the other line. Resulting in the dancer getting half a heart attack before turning around, resulting in Yoongi just handing him his phone and leaving. “Baby..” you pouted as you looked at his face. “Jagi, I miss you” a pout leaving him too. “You’ll see me soon, baby. I’m sorry I can’t watch like we planned.” - “ I know, I know” he sighed on the other line and you could feel your heart break. Dying to see your man already.

“I’ll see you soon, baby, don’t worry. We can celebrate after the concert tonight. Just give your best today, and if you won’t, you know I’m gonna find out from Jimin, right?” he chuckled at that comment, giving you a bright smile afterwards. “I know, I know. I’ll try.” - “You don’t need to, you were born to do what you’re doing baby. You’ll do great as always. Just picture me in the crowd, I’m always with you in spirit when I can’t be there - and you’ll get endless cuddles and everything else in the world when we’re home so cheer up.” Needless to say, you weren’t the best in cheering people up but weirdly enough it worked as he sighed out “will do.” giving you a smile afterwards. “Good, now go practice and then - go get 'em. I’ll be off too.” - Wait. Jagi?” You raised an eyebrow. “I love you.” He grinned and you could barely get out “I love you too” before he hung up and brought Yoongi back the phone. Somehow falling into a happy dance again.

“What’s with him?” Namjoon cut in, seeing Hoseok dance between doors “Talked to Y/N” Yoongi just replied and the Leader just nodded. This was normal by now. If he wasn’t everyone else's vitamin e - on days like these you were his and while he was still bummed, the sadness was pushed back by him deciding to just do as you told and picture you there. You’d be off work or family duties or whatever emergency came in between by the time he was done. You’d still see each other. It wasn’t what he had planned and you knew it wouldn’t be, but he’d be happy either way. He was happy with everything as long as the end result was you.

So the rehearsals continued. You headed out the house shortly after facetiming him and he put on clothes, got makeup done and set on a smile, all the while still texting you “I love you” being reciprocated with “I love you too, have fun out there.” It was the last text you sent him before you shut your phone off for now. It was also the last thing he read before he got onto that stage.

And while he loved the crowd, he thought the only thing he wanted to happen tonight was for the concert to end. For now.

Until, suddenly, two years after that last April 7th, he froze up during the choreography when he saw a big green heart during Boys With Fun. He couldn’t help but giggle as he read “Hey, sorry I just got kind of mesmerized by you.”

You, ass, stood there, waving that big heart, with that same green bracelet from years ago. Leaving him as amazed and defenseless as you did exactly two years ago and the grin he had on his face as he came to his senses again was second to none. Neither was your surprised reaction as he suddenly came close to your end, jumping over the barricade and pulling you, who stood just close enough to touch, in his direction. Placing his hands on your cheeks, greeting you with a kiss as the people beside you gasped, awed and the Maknae who saw the whole thing just wiped away a fake tear whispering “they grow up so fast.”

That was definitely not how you planned on your relationship being outed, but then again, he didn’t plan to see you here tonight and you, you had a way of melting his brain and making him do things. “Hey” he then said, almost breathless, still entranced and only looking at you. “Hey” you replied smiling. “So, you kinda mesmerized me and..would you wanna..you know, date?” he whispered in your ear, ignoring the music.. “I’m sorry, I kind of have a boyfriend.” you whispered back, laughing afterwards. It was only seconds until your face was in his hands again. “Then what do you say about moving in with him?” Deer in the headlights hobi? More like deer in the headlights Y/N - and this time the truck hit you. You didn’t know much to say, just frantically nodded and he took the time to kiss you again, softly, with all these people still around, and yet, for him you were the only one.

You’ve been the only one for the last two years. You’ll stay the only one for this little eternity he gets to stay with you..

[fangirl-writes]

Home Sick

70s!Roger x Reader x Ben

Warning(s): Swearing, mentions of sex, Roger being a little shit

Notes: How does this universe work, you ask. Shhhh, I tell you, just let us live in fantasy land. Aka I watched BoRhap again and I'm a sucker for Rog and Ben. Also very inspired by @strangeandwonderfulconcepts​ ‘s versions of this couple. I feel like it’s kind of all over the place, though.

Summary: Ben's away for filming and you're left at home with Roger who's working on Queen's new album and annoying you.

“Roger Taylor, I swear to God!”

Ben bit his lip as a smile spread across his lips, trying not to laugh at your outburst. He was sat in his hotel room, phone pressed to his ear, enjoying the small amount of downtime he had before filming resumed the next day. “What’s he done now?”

“He keeps poking me in the ass with his drumsticks. Oh!” You (who was back at Roger’s mansion in Surrey) cried out again. “Roger I will throw this lamp at you!”

Ben heard Roger’s muffled reply in the background. He could picture the mischievous grin on his face.

“Oh, so the lamp’s important but that TV you threw out the window- it is not different!”

Ben couldn’t stop smiling. The bickering was a little childish and silly, but it warmed Ben’s heart to hear the two people he loved the most bicker about nothing.

“And put that damn cigarette out! You’ll burn the house down with that nasty habit.” 

Ben could tell Roger was right next to you now as he said. “Ben thinks it’s sexy. Don’t you, Ben?”

“Yeah, well, Ben also thinks you look sexy in leopard print.”

“Hey!”

Ben couldn’t hold back his laughter now.

Both you and Roger were smiling at his laugh on the other end, playfully shoving each other to get closer to the phone so you could hear him.

You let out a squeal suddenly and Ben heard the crash of something that he assumed to be the lamp mentioned earlier. “Honestly!”

He could hear Roger laughing as he ran away. You’d obviously missed him with the lamp.

“God, Ben, I’ve got to go. Our boyfriend is being a pain in the ass and I’ve gotta kiss the brains outta him. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“’Course. Tell Rog, I love him.”

"Of course,”

“G’night, Y/N,” Ben said. “Love you.”

“We love you, too, Ben. Goodnight.”

You hung up and Ben sat there quietly for a moment, the phone still pressed to his ear as he remembered the sound of the laughter. God he missed them.

He’d worked on projects this long before but they’d always been right there in London where he could grab a taxi or have Roger come and pick him up at the end of the day. Now he was out of the country and he realized how much he took for granted the time he got to spend at home.

He assumed Y/N and Roger were accustomed to the situation. Roger was always gone on tour for months after they released a new album and Y/N sometimes had to travel for work, but Ben was always at home with one of them. Now he was the one branching off. 

He set the phone on the nightstand and laid down in the white sheets of the hotel bed.

It felt odd, almost foreign to him; laying alone in a bed. Roger wasn’t there to snuggle his face into his neck or play with the hair at the nape of his neck. Y/N wasn’t there to spoon him or tangled their legs together. No playful fighting over the covers, no cold feet or wandering hands, no drumming of Roger’s fingers against his arm, no Y/N drawing shapes on his back. It was funny to think how much he’d grown accustomed to the feeling of not just one but two people (his two people) laying in bed with him.

He fell asleep with those thoughts and a longing ache in his chest. 

Meanwhile, you were chasing Roger through the house, trying to take his drumsticks from him after he’d poked you in the ass one too many times. The two of you had just finished up doing...things and were enjoying a sweet moment until the drumsticks made a return.

Roger was laughing hysterically and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t grinning from ear to ear.

You were clad in only Roger’s white button up, your underwear, and socks while Roger had opted to only return to his boxers.

Suddenly he was cornered in the kitchen and you jumped onto his back, reaching an arm over his shoulder for the sticks still clutched in his hand, but he’d stuck his own arm out over the countertop so you couldn’t reach them.

“Roger, give them here!”

“Over my dead body!”

“That can be arranged!”

Roger burst into another fit of laughter and you giggled into his ear, still straining for the drumsticks.

You eventually gave up, dropping your hand and laying your head on Roger’s shoulder, breathing heavily as the laughter died down. He dropped the drumsticks on the counter and hooked his arms under your legs to help hold you up; a smile still on his lips and his cheeks sore from laughter.

You closed your eyes and it was silent for a few moments.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, lovie?” He asked softly.

“Thinking that Ben would’ve been filming or taking pictures of us if he’d have been here...”

Roger hummed in agreement, walking from the kitchen towards the lounge. “I miss him, too,”

You still had your eyes closed, trusting Roger to set you down gently wherever he was taking you. “I wish you weren’t working on the album so we could go see him.”

“Me too. The boys’ve been exhausting lately. I love ‘em, but there’s only so much you can take sometimes.”

“Well, three explosive personalities plus Deacy-”

“Hey, you haven’t seen Deaks mad. It’s scary.”

“Yeah, well, I try to stay on his good side unlike somebody I know who likes to push buttons.”

Roger rolled his eyes as he deposited you onto the couch. You laughed as you bounced off the cushons before laying down, Roger crawling on top of you and laying on your chest.

“We would not fit nearly as well on this couch with Ben,” You commented with a grin.

“Yeah, we’ve tried, though. One of us always ends up on the floor.”

“Or squooshed,”

“Or both,”

You both smile, an ache running through your chests.

“He’s been gone far too long.”

“Yeah, when’s his film ‘sposed to wrap anyway?”

“Not sure. Should ask him when he calls tomorrow.”

Roger groaned. “Tomorrow is so far away.”

You ran your fingers through his hair. “Indeed it is,”

You fell into a comfortable silence after that. You putting Roger to sleep as you massaged his scalp and you lost in thought, staring at the ceiling.

“You think the boys might give you a few days off if I promise them you’ll be less grumpy when we get back?”

Roger looked up at you with a pout. “I am not grumpy.”

“You are too,” You said, a smile spreading across your face. “You miss Ben and when you miss one of us you get grumpy. Like that time on tour when you snapped a drumstick when you weren’t able to call us one night? Or when you busted a tambourine after we weren’t able to make it to the nearest show? Or when-”

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m destructive.”

You laughed and Roger laid his head back down on your chest. “I suppose they might give that a go.”

“Then I’m calling Freddie,”

*** Ben woke up the next morning reaching out across the bed; searching for warmth that wouldn’t be there. He groaned, heart slightly heavy, as he shut off his alarm.

A shiver ran up his spine as he sat up and he cursed himself for not turning up the temperature before heading to bed. That had been the one advice Roger had given him before he departed. “When waking up alone in your hotel room, the temperature will always be colder than you want it. Check it before bed.”

He didn’t have time to dwell on his heartache before he had to gather his bearing and head to the set for his early shoots, but he missed Y/N’s good luck kisses and, oddly, Roger’s smack to his bottom before he would head out the door for a day of filming.

He shut the door to his hotel room and shook his head, trying to shake the homesick thoughts from his mind.

They wouldn’t do him any good anyway. It’s not like he’d be able to satisfy the ache.

Or so he thought.

***

You and Roger were currently sat on a plane, headed for Ben’s filming location.

Roger’s blonde hair was stuffed inside a cap and he had on a dark pair of sunglasses in an attempt to hide his identity. You’d asked him if he’d dye his hair black but he outright refused the offer.

“Love, I know you want this to be a surprise, but even if any paps or fans see us Ben hardly checks that stuff when he’s not filming. I doubt he’d bother while he is.”

You sat next to him, asleep, eyes closed with your sunglasses on, hair loose around your face, and the hood of your jumper pulled up on your head. Your earbuds playing your favorite music.

It was an early flight and you’d been up most of the night preparing for this spur of the moment trip. You wanted everything to be perfect.

“I can sleep on the plane,” You’d told Roger.

And you did. 

Roger laid his head on top of yours as you dozed on his shoulder, a book held between his fingers to pass the time, but, truthfully, he couldn’t focus on it. For some reason he had a lot on his mind.

The three of you hadn’t gone public with your relationship, but the paps had taken notice of Roger’s “mysterious lovers” and Ben and Roger had been seen talking at a party a few times, heaven forbid, but Roger had never dwelled on it before. You didn’t go to events together, never went on vacations together, Ben and you still had your own apartments away from Roger’s house so when he was gone on tour you wouldn’t be questioned coming out of his house while he wasn’t there; you’d taken practically every precaution to make sure the press wouldn’t find out before the three of you were ready.

Roger dug into his jacket pocket for his phone, discarding the book onto the table in front of him.

He opened social media with good intentions.

#rogertaylorxy/n-l/n

OMG did you see the way Roger looked at Y/N during the interview? #hearteyes

Roger is so in love with Y/N. They should just get together already. #(your-ship-name)

(you-ship-name) is real ❤

Roger resisted the urge to like any of them before moving on.

#rogertaylorxbenhardy

Ben said he wasn’t looking for a relationship rn but he looks at Roger says otherwise 👀

Roger and Ben spend an awfully large amount of time together for two people who claim to be ‘just friends’.

Forget Maylor have you seen the way Hardylor look at each other?

Roger snickered quietly. Okay, maybe he and Ben weren’t doing the greatest job either.

He stroked his chin for a moment before taking to the keyboard again.

#benhardyxy/n-l/n

Y/N and Ben seemed awfully friendly during her interview with him #(your-ship-name)

Have you seen the pictures of Ben and Y/N at that coffee shop together??? I bet it was a date 💘

Y/N brought Ben a flower at the BAFTAs to put in his suit pocket and he never took it out! I bet he still has it.

Observant, Roger thought, Ben definitely still has the fake flower.

He hummed in thought. What if...

#benhardyxy/n-l/nxrogertaylor

Y/N spends a lot of time with Roger Taylor and Ben Hardy outside of a professional setting. Who’s she dating though??? What if it’s both???

OMG BEN AND Y/N WERE SEEN LEAVING ROGER’S HOUSE! IN THE MORNING!!!

I bet Y/N Ben and Roger are all dating and just keeping it on the down low. We’ve all seen the heart eyes they give each other.

Y/N and Roger just got on a plane heading to the place Ben’s filming in as seen by his Instagram story. Coincidence?

Roger’s eyes went wide. He checked the timestamp: 20m ago.

Well, Y/N was right. Maybe he should’ve died his hair.

“Looking for something in particular?” Y/N asked, eyes now opened sleepily and looking at phone screen from his shoulder.

“Not really,” Roger replied. “Just curious. Seems the fans are supportive...and onto us.”

He handed you the phone and you squinted at the screen.

“Queenskiller, huh? Clever person.”

“I can see why you were paranoid now,”

You laughed. “We’re almost there. As long as it’s not obvious where we’re going, we’ll be fine.”

***

“And CUT! Good work today everyone, let’s wrap up for lunch.”

Ben sat up from his position where his character had just been beaten to near death and went to get the fake blood cleaned off of him by the makeup designer.

The radio in the trailer was fading out a Beatles song and fading in Bohemian Rhapsody.

It made Ben’s heart ache.

“Hey, did you see Y/N L/N’s new interview with Harry Styles and Elton John?”

The makeup artist removing the makeup shook their head. “Not yet, is it good?”

“Of course. She asks them about their collaboration, similar tastes in style, and she doesn’t mention their sexualities like every other interviewer does.”

“Thank god for her, she’s a blessing. All those other nosy interviewers don’t ever ask anything interesting. The celebrities always do all the work to make the interview enjoyable. At least Y/N is interesting.”

Ben couldn’t help but smile softly to himself. He was proud.

“Have you heard she might be dating Roger Taylor?”

“The Queen drummer? Yeah. I heard they were getting on a plane together this morning.”

“Secret honeymoon?”

“Maybe,”

Ben’s eyebrows furrowed. They got on a plane? They didn’t mention they were going anywhere on the phone.

“Ben, you okay there, dear?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, sorry. Just lost in thought.”

Ben exited the trailer with a clean face and a wandering mind.

It wasn’t unlike Y/N and Roger to be spontaneous but Roger was working on the album and he thought Y/N had another interview today.

Ben shook his head and pulled out his phone. Whatever. He’d just call them and get things cleared up. He was done on set for the remainder of the evening anyway.

He hit the home phone number and waited as it rang.

And rang. And rang.

“Thank you for calling Roger Taylor’s home phone, but I am currently out at the moment. Leave a message and I might call you back.”

Ben hung up.

Okay, so they weren’t home. No big deal, he could still call your cells.

He hit your contact and waited as it rang.

***

You were rolling your luggage out of the airport with Roger when I Saw Her Standing There blasted from your phone.

Recognizing Ben’s personal ringtone, you picked up the phone. “Hey, Benny, what’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just got done filming. Hey, did you and Roger go somewhere? Makeup artists were gossiping about it.”

You gave Roger a panicked look before quickly answering. “Oh, no. Must’ve been wrong. We’re just out for a walk.”

Roger rolled his eyes at your terrible lying skills.

But Ben seemed relieved. “Oh. I thought you might’ve gone somewhere and forgotten to tell me.”

“Oh no, not at all we just-”

Roger pulled you cellphone from your fingers and pressed it against his ear.

“Ben, you don’t need to worry about us. We’re doing fine.”

The rental car you and Roger had gotten pulled up and you quickly tossed you suitcase in the back and jumped in the passenger. Roger took the keys and got in the driver’s seat.

“I know, but I just wanted to make sure. Kept eating at me.”

“Ben, baby, where are you at, right now?”

“Uh, outside the set just about to head back to my hotel, why?”

“Oh, no reason. What hotel’s that again?”

“Lotus Hotel, why?”

“Just curious. Are they treating you right or do I need to make a phone call.”

“Christ, Rog, it’s find. Don’t freak. Are you driving? I thought Y/N said you were on a walk.”

“Oh, we just got back to the house and need to head to the store. Nothing too interesting.”

“A trip to the store with you is always interesting.”

“He’s not wrong,” you chirped from your seat and Roger sent you a playful glare, making you laugh.

Ben smiled. “Gosh I wish I could speed up the production. I’ve been gone from you two way too long.”

“Believe us, Benny, we agree. Hold on, gonna give you back to Y/N,”

He handed you your phone back as you handed him his for directions to the hotel.

“How was filming?” You asked, trying to change the subject.

“All right. Filmed the fight scene today, that was interesting.”

You hummed in response.

“Hold on, Y/N, I just got in a taxi- yes, take me to the Lotus Hotel on thirteenth please.”

“Thirteenth?” Roger cursed. “Stupid phone says twelfth.”

“It’s on the corner of the two. He’s coming from the other direction, remember?” You replied, hand covering the receiver.

“What was that, love?” Ben asked.

“Oh, nothing, Roger just missed the turn, again.” You quickly replied. “You said you filmed a fight scene today?”

“Yeah, my character, Jack, got the piss beat out of him in a fight. Gets pretty bloodied up.”

“Well, you know nothing can make that pretty face of yours prettier than blood.”

“Is that a reference to my bloody nose? ‘Cause I keep tellin’ you it was a one time thing.”

You laughed. “Just teasing you, baby,”

Ben let out a laugh of his own, leaning back against the leather seat. “I really miss you guys.”

“We miss you, too. I hope that- Roger it was right there! Oh, jesus, Ben, I gotta go, Roger’s missing turns again. See you soon.”

The line cut off before Ben could question you. See you soon?

***

“’See you soon.’?! Bloody hell, Y/N, why don’t you just give away your own surprise.” Roger said.

“Well, if you hadn’t missed the turn I wouldn’t have had to hang up!” You retorted. “We need to get there before him, remember?”

Roger stuck his tongue out at you as he turned the car around.

You stuck yours out as well and it turned into a fit of giggles throughout the car.

Finally, Roger pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and parked the car in a spot.

“Your turn to call him, Mr. Taylor,” You said, getting out of the directions and handing him his phone.

Roger put the phone to his ear and waited for Ben to pick up.

“Roger?”

“Benny! Made it to the hotel, yet?”

“Uh, no, close though. You not driving anymore?”

“Nah, Y/N is in the store. She wouldn’t let me go in with her. Thought I might get a little more chat outta you before she comes back.”

Ben laughed. “I guess I’ll allow that.”

“Popular boy, ain’t ya?” The driver asked as he turned the corner into the hotel lot.

Ben grinned. “Yeah, I ‘spose I am.” He handed the driver the money for the trip. “Keep the change.”

The driver tipped his cap at Ben and Ben got out of the taxi.

“Sorry, Rog, what were you saying?”

“Oh, not much, just wondering who let you walk off set in those joggers. They look hideous.”

Ben looked down at the old green joggers he was wearing with a laugh. “Yeah, I need to get a new pair- wait, how’d you know I was wearing joggers?”

Ben heard a whistle and turned around.

Y/N was waving and smiling from where she was sat on the trunk of a car and Roger was stood next to her, phone still pressed to his ear, with a big ol’ grin on his face.

Ben dropped the phone from his ear, ending the call, and ran over to them.

Roger intercepted his boyfriend, who practically jumped into his arms, and Y/N hoped off the car to join them in the hug. Ben wrapped an arm around her, squeezing the two of them tightly, tears beginning to pool in his eyes.

“Oh, I can’t believe you’re here!” He said, pulling back finally.

You and Roger laughed.

“Y/N’s a bad liar,” Roger quipped, nudging your side.

“Hey! I’m not the one who got lost!”

“I missed one turn!”

Ben kissed them on the cheek. “Shut up, the both of you, please.”

You and Roger melted, forgetting your bickering and appreciating his presence.

***

Ben went to sleep that night with both of you in his bed.

Roger had immediately turned down the thermostat and Y/N rubbed Ben’s shoulders to relax him. They fought over the covers, had a pillow fight, and made sure that Ben was in the middle.

It felt right. It felt like home.

“You two are amazing to me,” Ben said as his partners snuggled into him.

“You deserve it,” Y/N mumbled, laying against Ben’s chest, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep.

“Don’t ever leave us this long again,” Roger said, pressing a kiss to Ben’s neck.

Ben smiled. “Guess you two will just have to come see me, again,”

[storiesforallfandoms]

getting caught ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 1204

request?: no

description: getting caught being intimate with your partner is always embarrassing, but it’s extra embarrassing when the person catching you is your partner’s child

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing, smut

i couldn’t find a good gif to go with this imagine so here’s shirtless mgk lookin fine a fuck

masterlist

Trying to be intimate with Colson was a lot harder than either of you had expected.

He had been on the road a lot recently, leaving you both part for months on end. Sometimes you’d go with him on tour, but trying to get some alone time on the bus was hard when you were constantly travelling with like a dozen other guys. When Colson got home, he was usually still working. When he wasn’t, he always wanted to spend time with Casie, which you understood since he spent so much time away from her, but with her always over to his house it made it impossible for you to have sex.

On one particular day, you and Casie were sat watching TV when Colson came home from the studio early.

“We finished up the album so we decided to call it a day early,” he explained the minute he got in through the door. “I’m gonna run and grab a shower, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Neither you nor Casie thought much of it, until your phone buzzed and you saw it was a text from Colson. It read, “come upstairs in about 5 minutes, i’m in my bathroom, I need you”.

Your eyes widened, but you tried to play it off so Casie didn’t notice. Those 5 minutes seemed to tick by so slowly. You tried not to seem so excited when the fifth minute finally ticked away and you stood.

“I’ll be right back,” you told her. You prepared some sort of explanation in your head as to where you were going and why you’d be gone for so long, but you didn’t need to as Casie merely shrugged and replied, “Okay.”

You tried not to excitedly run up the stairs, but once you were out of Casie’s site you quickly walked into Colson’s room and into his bathroom. The minute the door closed behind you, Colson shoved you against the door and started hungrily kissing you. He roughly stripped you of your clothes, although you weren’t really complaining.

How have neither of us thought of this earlier? you thought to yourself. There were three bathrooms in Colson’s house, his bathroom and one on each floor. Casie was downstairs watching TV, so she was more likely to go to the downstairs bathroom. If any of Colson’s friends came over they wouldn’t just barge into Colson’s room, and certainly not into his bathroom. It was the safest place for the two of you to fuck without getting interrupted!

Before you knew it, you were bent over in the shower, your hands laid flat against the wall to brace yourself and the hot water cascading over yours and Colson’s bodies as he thrusted into you. It was your first time having sex in a while, so it was hard to keep quiet. You had to bite your lip to keep your whimpers from growing any more than that. You were almost shocked that either of you had lasted that long, but you also didn’t want it to ever end.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Colson almost groaned in response before calling, “Yeah?!”

“Dad, I gotta pee!” came Casie’s voice.

“Go to one of the other bathrooms princess!” Colson called back. You smirked to yourself and started backing yourself up against him, causing him to let out a loud groans, and quickly clap his hand over his mouth.

“The downstairs one is clogged and there’s something wrong with the door of the upstairs one, remember? It keeps jamming, I’ll get locked in there.”

Colson lowered his head and suppressed a moan as he felt you slowly back yourself up against him again, letting him feel every inch of himself going into you.

“I’ll be out in a few minutes, okay Cas?!” Colson called out, grabbing hold of your hips and beginning to roughly thrust into you again. You put a hand over your mouth to stop any stray moans that you knew were going to slip out.

“Alright, I’ll wait out here.”

You both sighed in slight frustration. There was really no way around this problem now. You couldn’t let Casie come in because Colson’s shower curtain was slightly see through, so she’d definitely see the position you both were in, but if she sat and waited in Colson’s room she’d see you both come out of the bathroom together, and then you’d have to explain why you had joined Colson in the shower for so long.

You pulled away from Colson, almost whimpering at the loss of contact between you, and turned to face him.

“We just have to swallow the pill on this one,” you told him. “It’s a compromising situation either way, and she’s almost 12 she should know about this stuff by now.”

“Of course she does,” Colson said. “And I don’t care about that, it’s just her catching us in this position. No parent wants to be caught fucking, and no kid wants to catch their parent fucking.”

“Trust me, I don’t like this any more than you do,” you assured him. “But we sort of have no other choice in the matter now. It’s either go out there and face her or let her come in here and actually catch us. I’d definitely prefer the former.”

Colson sighed and nodded. “Yeah, me too. At least if she catches us after the fact it won’t be as embarrassing.”

You leaned forward and caught Colson’s lips in a kiss. The desire you had felt moments ago returned when he pressed you up against the wall and took you in his arms, lifting you up then lowering you back onto his still hard dick.

A few moments later, you were finally turning off the shower and towel drying yourselves. You exchanged a look, regretting what was to come, but decided to rip it off like a band aid.

When you opened the bathroom door you both found Casie sat on your and Colson’s shared bed looking at something on her phone. When she looked up, you both expected some sort of disgusted reaction from her, but instead she just stood from her seat.

“Took you long enough,” she commented. “I don’t care if the bathroom is still steamy, I have to pee.”

As she stood and went to walk past you both, Colson put an arm out to stop her. “Wait, Cas. Is that all you have to say about this?”

“About what?” Casie asked. “I don’t care what’s going on behind closed doors with the two of you. I’ve already learned about sex in school, I know that’s what you guys do. I just gotta pee!”

When she closed the door behind her, you and Colson looked between you, shocked at the reaction. Then you both started to laugh, realizing how stupid you were both being. Of course Casie wasn’t going to have a big reaction on it. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was nearly a teenager!

Colson turned to you and wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close to him. “Round two when she leaves the room?”

You giggled and kissed him deeply. “You’re lucky if I can wait that long.”

I feel like this wasn’t great but I had this random idea and I wanted to write it XD