#group coaching model

[blognerdzone]

Have you considered stepping into group coaching but aren’t sure how to structure your sessions? Whether you’re an aspiring coach launching your first premium coach group or an experienced professional refining your approach, learning the proper structure is key to transforming your sessions into impactful client experiences.

[bapeach]

KK's "twin"

This is my longest fic so far and I'm gonna be honest, it's not great. I lowkey hate it because the ending is very rushed and I don't love the overall vibe, but I also didn't wanna just get rid of the whole thing. I promise I'll try to post a better fic soon! I'm sorry for any grammatical mistakes and as always I hope you enjoy. :) (Also, I'm sorry if the translated part is incorrect, my French isn't what it used to be 😅) Find my masterlist here :)

Pairing(s): Paige Bueckers x female!reader  Word count: 7.1k+  Summary: When the team finally gets to meet KK's beloved cousin, Paige realizes that her type has changed. ------------

Today was the day. The day you’d finally visit KK at UConn, and she couldn’t be more excited. You were KK’s 2-year-older cousin, and honestly? She thought of you as her role model. Every time she saw you, she’d beg you to transfer to UConn so you two could hang out more. You never really paid any mind to it, though. You liked your own school, had great friends, and had a starting position on your basketball team. Of course, you missed the younger girl when you didn’t see each other for months at a time, her being your favorite cousin and all, but it wasn’t enough for you to enter the transfer portal. 

KK looked as if she was about to combust, unable to sit still in her excitement. “You guys are gonna love her so much! She’s so funny. I mean, not as funny as I am, but still! She’s like my twin, for real,” KK gushed to her team as they all sat in the locker room getting ready for practice. She ignored the looks the girls gave each other, continuing to sing your praises, too enthusiastic to let them bring her mood down. 

It’s not like the team wasn’t looking forward to meeting you. Not at all! It’s just that they’d had to listen to KK’s excited rambling for days now, and it was getting a little old. Hell, they hadn’t even met you and they already knew your favorite foods, the movies you liked, the inside jokes you two had and even the name of your first pet! So, yeah, the girls were getting a little tired of the young guard’s constant yapping. They were also a bit nervous. They loved KK to bits, but they weren’t sure they’d be able to handle two of her. 

KK was no doubt the life of the party, always hyping people up and bringing smiles to everyone’s faces. Some people said she reminded them of a puppy with her endless energy and youthful joy. This was often a good thing, seeing as there was never a boring moment when she was around. The older teammates did, however, have to rein her in a bit when things got too chaotic and loud. So, yeah, the fact that there would be two of her, both constantly egging each other on, was a bit scary.

As the girls make their way to the court, KK continues talking about all the things you guys would do when you got here and how she was going to convince you to transfer. “It’s gonna work this time!” she swore. Seeing coach Geno already there waiting for them, the basketball players step up their pace, trying not to piss off the older man (Okay, and maybe to get away from KK, though they’d never admit that to the girl).

Once they’re all huddled around the coach, listening to today’s plans, Paige looks over at Nika across from her. The blonde raises her eyebrows, widening her eyes as she huffs a little, as if to say, “Finally, she’s quiet,” making Nika grin. Azzi, having seen the whole interaction, gives Paige a push and shakes her head with an eye roll and a smile. The blue-eyed guard simply sends her a playful wink, letting her know she’s just kidding. As the team scatters to start their drills, Paige walks over to KK, slinging an arm around her. While she’d rather not hear about how good of a basketball player you are or how well you pull off pranks, again, she knows it’ll make her friend happy.

Having been split up into groups, KK, Paige, Azzi, Nika, and Aaliyah walk over to one side of the gym for their exercises. “So, at what time is this legendary Y/N even coming?” the Croatian girl asks. “Uhh, she said she’d probably get here a little after practice ends,” KK replies with a beaming smile. “You guys will join us for lunch, right?” she asks, looking up at Paige with wide, hopeful eyes. The blonde catches the ball Aaliyah throws at her, bouncing it on the floor a few times as she looks at the teammates. Seeing them all nod with a shrug, she smiles at the freshman, “Sure thing, KK.”.

While you had originally planned on arriving a little after practice, letting KK shower and get ready in peace, you’d changed your plans. Your coach, an old friend of Geno’s, had let UConn’s coach know you’d be touring the university. The older man had given you a call, letting you know you could stop by practice if you wanted to “see how they do it in Connecticut”. You’d agreed, letting him know you appreciated the invitation. You had to admit, you were excited. You’d get to see your best friend in action, meet her beloved team, and scout the competition a little. 

Arriving at Gampel Pavilion, you eagerly make your way inside. You open the big double doors to the court, making sure not to slam them so as to not disturb the players. You immediately walk over to coach Auriemma, shaking his hand and telling him it’s an honor to meet him. While you loved your own coach dearly and were thankful for everything she’d done for you, part of you wishes you’d committed to UConn to learn from the Geno Auriemma. 

As you two talk about your basketball experiences, you hear a loud yell. “TWINNNN!” KK screams, sprinting over to you. You barely have enough time to turn around to catch the younger girl as she flings herself at you. You stumble back a bit before catching your footing and gripping her tightly. “Hey there, Kiddo,” you chuckle at her glee and the way she’s clinging onto you. When she finally lets you go, you take a step back, crossing your arms with a tiny smirk on your face. Her team had walked over after hearing the commotion, wanting to finally meet the amazing Y/N.

When KK had called you her twin and a slightly less cool version of herself, the athletes had not expected this. Paige gulped nervously, giving you a once-over. You stood next to KK, towering over her as you matched Jana’s height, standing at 6’5”. You were wearing a navy shirt with black Nike sweats and matching sneakers, a dog tag necklace glinting on your chest. Your arms were covered with patchwork tattoos while a nose piercing twinkled under the bright gym lights. Paige had seen you were wearing a few chunky rings when you were hugging KK, one of which looked like a snake coiling around your finger. 

Your dark eyes roam over the team, making some of the younger girls shift their weight a little, feeling slightly intimidated by your intense vibe. If you didn’t look so scary, the team would’ve laughed at the stark difference between you and KK. While the shorter girl gave off golden retriever vibes, you were like a black cat. Your sharp jaw and big muscles made sure people didn’t mess with you, and the smirk on your face made you look like you knew everyone’s secrets. You looked fearless. 

While Paige was always pretty confident and never really got nervous around anyone, she felt her throat go dry as her hands became clammy the longer she looked at you. “Hey, I’m Y/N,” you said, your voice low and steady. Paige felt a wave of emotion wash over her, but she couldn’t figure out which one. 

You see the girl you recognize as Nika open her mouth to introduce herself. Before she gets the chance to, KK starts introducing everyone, adding her usual sass. Though you were already familiar with everyone, your cousin having shown you plenty of pictures of everyone, all with funny stories attached to them, you give her your full attention with a soft grin.

“..., and that’s Azzi, she’s coach’s favorite,” she playfully frowns before finishing the introductions, “And that over there is P Boogers, she always bullies me.” You look over as KK points at each girl, hearing Paige scoff at the freshman’s description of herself. You look the blonde up and down, raising an eyebrow in amusement as she catches your eye, a blush creeping up her face. “Cute,” you think to yourself. 

“Nice to meet you guys! KK has told me all about you,” you say with a grin, slinging your arm over KK’s shoulder as you rub her head in a teasing way. You hear the girls laugh as your cousin pushes you away with a huff. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be here until after practice?” she questions, fixing her hair. “What? And miss seeing you in action?” you smirk. 

“Alright ladies, this is all very sweet, but we’ve still got 30 minutes of practice left, so let’s keep going! You need to warm up, kid, or are you good to go?” coach Geno calls out, turning to you towards the end of his sentence. “I’m ready, sir,” you grin. He sends you a nod, bouncing a basketball your way. You catch it before letting it spin on your pointer finger. “Alright huskies, split up into teams for a scrimmage. I trust you’re all old enough to choose your own team without fighting!” the coach's voice booms loudly.

KK immediately jumps on your back, yelling, “Dibs!”, right into your ear. You wince, telling her to get off as you roll your eyes. You pretend you’re annoyed, but it’s clear that you’re just kidding, finding it endearing how much the younger girl clings to you. 

During the scrimmage, you impress the athletes around you with your near-perfect shots, great form, and high basketball IQ. “No wonder she’s a starter for her team,” the girl sporting a #5 jersey thinks to herself. While she usually never really struggles to lock in and focus on the game, she finds herself getting distracted by the way you move with power yet grace. 

After you finish your game, your team having won by 2 points, you get a few pats on the shoulder from the girls. “Not too shabby,” Nika teases with a smirk. “Yeah, KK could learn a thing or two from you,” Ice says with a mischievous grin, narrowly avoiding a slap aimed at her arm by the girl in question. “See what I mean? I’m always getting bullied for no reason,” the freshman complains with a frown. “It’s okay, Kiddo… I’m sure you’ll be as good as me one day,” you say, patting her shoulder before sending her a smirk as you finish your sentence. 

“Heyyyy! You guys are so rude,” she groans before stomping off to the locker room. You only chuckle, walking over to the sidelines where you’d left your bag. You bend down to grab your bottle, squeezing some water into your mouth. Once you feel refreshed, you close the lid, wiping away the drops that missed your mouth. 

As you look up, you see Paige staring at you, swallowing harshly before looking away once you make eye contact. You grin to yourself before lifting your bag over your shoulder and following the girls towards the locker room. As you pass by Paige, who tries her best but fails to avoid looking at you, you send her a wink. This is gonna be fun.

Once everyone is ready, you decide to split up into different cars to meet up at your nearest McDonald’s. Of course, KK sprints off towards your car before anyone else has time to decide who will drive. You just chuckle, crossing your arms as you look at the other girls to see who else will join you. “Nika, Paige, and I will also come with you if that’s okay?” Azzi smiles softly at you. “Fine by me,” you return the gesture. “Alright, cool,” Nika says. You all turn towards Paige when you don’t hear a reaction from her. 

It’s not like Paige wanted to ignore the conversation happening around her. She just couldn’t stop looking at the way your muscles were flexing as you crossed your arms. It’s not like she had a crush on you or anything! She was just… appreciating your physique! Yeah, that’s it! 

You smirk a little as Azzi nudges Paige. Heat creeps up the blonde’s face as she realizes everyone is looking at her, waiting for a reply. “Uh, yeah! Yeah, that’s cool,” she stutters, hoping that she replied the right thing to whatever they’d just asked her. You chuckle softly as you turn around and start walking toward where KK is impatiently waiting. “God, took you guys long enough! Let’s gooooo, I’m hungry,” she complains. 

Once everyone gets into the car, you plug in your phone and start playing your latest playlist. Making sure everyone is wearing their seatbelt, you shift the car into gear and start driving. You spend the next 15 minutes listening to KK’s chatting, smacking her hand away from your phone whenever she tries to change a song. Feeling a pair of eyes on you, you glance into your rearview mirror, once again making eye contact with Paige. You send her a soft smile, not wanting to embarrass her. She sends you a nervous smile before turning back to Nika, who was mumbling something about her psychology class.

When you arrive at the fast food joint, you all pile through the door, moving towards the nearest free tables. The conversation flows easily between you and the team, everyone becoming more at ease in your presence. While you were definitely a lot scarier than KK, you two did share some similar traits. Both of your smiles could light up a dark room, you had the same humor (though KK’s was a bit more immature), and you had the same mannerisms. The longer you all hung out, the more everyone realized that though you looked like you could easily knock them out, you were very kind. You always gave your full attention to everyone talking to you, never interrupting them. You made sure to include the quieter girls when you thought they might feel left out. You shared your food with the ball of energy next to you without a word, simply pushing your fries closer to her…

Paige couldn’t help feeling warmth spread through her chest. It’s just… it was sweet to see you treat one of her favorite people with so much love… “Yeah, that’s it,” the UConn star thought to herself. She simply appreciates you as a person and could see herself becoming really good friends with you!

Paige gets shaken out of her thoughts as she hears Azzi speak. “So Y/N, how come you didn’t commit to UConn?”. She turns to you, seeing you lean back a bit to cross your arms before replying. “Well, I actually almost enrolled here-” you start before getting interrupted by KK’s mumbling, “You should’ve”. You grin at her pouting before continuing, “It took me a while to choose a school. I had to pick between academics and athletics. While UConn is a really good uni for academics as well, my university just had a better program.”

Paige bites her lip as she watches you talk. It was so alluring. The way you were able to keep everyone’s attention with your low, raspy voice. “While I obviously love basketball, it felt less important to me than my studies. Besides, it’s not like my school’s basketball team sucks, they’re great! Maybe not UConn great, but we can hold our own,” you grin, hearing the girls around you chuckle. 

“You know, KK has talked about you nonstop for days, but we still don’t even know what your major is,” Aaliyah says. You shake your head in amusement at the young girl’s ability to say so much while simultaneously not really saying anything at all. “I’m an English major,” you say with a small smile. “Oooh, so you know all the big words? Fancy,” Nika says with a teasing smile on her face. “She does!” KK raves, “She can also speak like 10 languages!”. 

You roll your eyes at the exaggeration, but your smile grows with her enthusiasm. “Okay, chill, it’s not that many.” “You speak other languages? Which ones?” Nika asks, leaning forward with interest. “Well, obviously I speak English,” you grin as everyone chuckles. “But besides that, I can also speak French, Spanish, and a bit of German… Oh! And I’ve been learning a bit of sign language on the side, but I’m still looking for proper classes for that,” you explain. Looking around, you see everyone’s eyes widen as their mouths drop open. “Holy shit!” you hear someone mumble. 

“Yo, you should say something in French!” you hear Ice say. “Uh, sure, what do you want me to say?” you ask. You see the girls all look at each other, trying to find something you could say. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?” you hear Azzi’s soft voice beside you as she sends you a gentle smile. “Alright, let’s see,” you clear your throat. 

“Bonjour, je m'appelle Y/N ! J'ai vingt ans et j'étudie l'anglais. Mon hobby est le basket-ball, bien sûr, mais j'aime aussi lire. Je suis fille unique, mais j'ai quelques cousins dont je suis assez proche. Mon meilleur ami est KK. Uhhh, je n'ai pas de petite amie mais j'y travaille,” you say, looking at Paige for the last sentence with a mischievous grin. (“Hello, my name is Y/N! I'm twenty years old and I'm an English major. My hobby is basketball, of course, but I also like to read. I'm an only child, but I have a few cousins I'm quite close with. My best friend is KK. Uhhh, I don't have a girlfriend, but I'm working on that.”)

Paige flushes as she looks away. She’d been staring at you the whole time, chewing her lip. The blonde was completely enthralled by your French accent. Even speaking a different language, you spoke with full confidence, which sent another wave of emotion through her stomach. 

The girls around you look at you impressed. After explaining what you just said, skillfully leaving out the last part, you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. Before you’ve even fully disappeared from everyone’s view, Azzi knocks her elbow into Paige’s arm. Quickly looking away from your retreating figure, the blue-eyed girl looks at her best friend, letting her know she’s listening. “Hm?” she hums, pretending the brunette hadn’t caught her staring again.

“She’s so into you,” she replies in a hushed voice, making sure no one overheard her. “What?” Paige questions, her eyes wide. Her tone has a certain… desperation? No. Not desperation, because Paige doesn’t like you like that… she’s just uhh intrigued by you… Yeah, that sounds right…

“Mhmmm,” the team’s princess hums, “did you notice how she left out the last part of her translation?” “What?” Paige repeats, “Of course not, I can’t speak French… But you can!”. The blonde’s voice rises at the end of her sentence, gaining the attention of her team around her. She just grins at them sheepishly before asking Azzi to tell her what you’d said, her voice urgent.

The brunette shakes her head, chuckling in amusement at how smitten Paige already seemed, only having met you a few hours prior. “Calm down, lovergirl.” “Azz, come on! She’s gonna be back soon,” the enamored girl whines, acting like a little kid. Azzi rolls her eyes, leaning even closer to her best friend, “She said she’s not dating anyone… but she’s working on that…”. Paige frowns for a second. Not because she doesn’t like the idea of you dating anyone else! Just because she’s not sure what any of that has to do with her. “God, you’re so oblivious sometimes, P. Did you not see the way she was looking at you while she said that? The way she’s been looking at you this whole time actually?”

The star athlete doesn’t get the chance to reply, seeing as you’d already returned back to your seat. It was probably for the better though, sass clear on the blonde’s face. None of it mattered anyway. The blue-eyed girl is pretty sure you were looking at her the way you were looking at everyone. “And besides, even if she did like me, it’s not like I’d care… she’s not exactly my type,” the girl thought to herself. 

And you weren’t really. Paige had had her fair share of girlfriends and flings, all more on the… well… girly side. Girls that knew nothing about basketball, loved makeup, and were scared of breaking a nail. She’d never been with anyone taller than her. Someone that was more likely to carry her around on tiresome hiking dates. Paige wasn’t used to anyone being able to make her so flustered just by a simple look, always being the one to make other girls blush with a few well-aimed flirty grins. 

Azzi knew her best friend. She could read her like an open book even when she tried to be sneaky. Because let’s be honest, if there’s one thing Paige isn’t, it’s subtle. Whenever the blonde liked a girl, she’d stare at them, holding eye contact like her life depended on it and making them feel like they were the only people in the world. She’d flirt by annoying the hell out of them, knowing they couldn’t be mad at her when she’d send them her signature smirk. And so, because Azzi knows her so well, she could clearly tell that Paige was head over heels. It was cute to see the otherwise so confident girl flush red, stumble over her words, and zone out looking at you while still trying to deny her crush. 

“We should all hang out at Pazzi’s dorm!” KK says eagerly, “We can have a sleepover!”. Paige rolls her eyes at the ship name between her and her best friend. “‘Xcuse me? Do we not get any say in that?” she replies sassily. “Hmmm, no,” KK grins. “Whatever,” the blonde responds, faking her annoyance. She was actually pretty excited at the thought of spending more time with you. Of course, she didn’t let that show. She didn’t want Azzi to give her that knowing look of hers.

After finishing your meals and a lot more laughing, you all get up to go to Paige and Azzi’s dorm. As you’re walking towards your car, you let the girls go ahead of you, hanging back a little to keep talking to KK. You look up as you hear your cousin stop mid-sentence, a frown forming on her face. Paige, Azzi, and Nika had already reached your car, the blonde leaning against the passenger seat. “What? Nuh-uh, I get to sit in front!” KK speeds over with a scowl. “You snooze, you lose, Camera,” the blue-eyed girl smirks. “Y/N! Tell her to move,” your cousin demands, swiveling her head around and looking at you with a pout. You look between the two, both blue and brown eyes staring at you with hope. 

You shrug lightly with a smile, “Sorry kid, you should’ve called shotgun.” KK huffs as she stomps her foot, making her teammates laugh. “You’re supposed to be on my sideee,” she whines as you unlock the car and get in. You only chuckle, looking in your rearview mirror to see her pouting with her arms crossed. “Play nice, Kam,” you say with a warm smile. She replies by sticking her tongue out and looking away in annoyance. You can tell she’s not actually mad though, the corners of her mouth curling up against her will. You two could never stay mad at each other anyway, always apologizing within a few hours of an argument. 

As you’re driving and asking the directions from the blonde beside you, you can’t help stealing glances at her. She looked so peaceful, nodding along to the beat of the songs on the radio as she tapped her fingers against her thighs. You weren’t afraid to admit you were attracted to the well-known player, even before getting to know her. You’d seen quite a few of her games, even played against her one time (though she probably didn’t remember, you looked quite different back then, and your last name wasn’t that uncommon). You really admired the girl if you were being honest. 

On the court she was an amazing player, the stats proved that. And she didn't win all those prizes for nothing. You liked the way she never gave up. The way she led her team, even when they felt like all was lost. You also knew she had a really high basketball IQ, the way she seemed to be able to know what was gonna happen on the court before it had even happened.

Off the court she was a great person as well. You hadn't known her for that long, but KK had told you plenty of stories about all the funny moments she'd had with the blonde. During late-night facetimes, when the vibe had calmed down, KK would tell you all about how the #5 player had helped her. It didn’t matter if your cousin needed help with certain shots she struggled with or with her schoolwork, Paige was always there when she needed it. And anyone KK spoke of that highly? Well, they were immediately good in your book. 

When you guys are about halfway to campus, Paige's phone rings. Glancing over, you see the caller ID read Ice Spice. You could only assume it was the #25 player calling. You see the blonde scrunch her face together in confusion as she taps "Accept." "Wassup, Ice? You're on speaker," she says, holding the phone in between you two. "Hey, we were thinking of stopping at the store real quick to get some snacks. Whatchu guys want?" You hear Ice's voice crackle through the phone. You wait until everyone has answered before asking them to bring your favorite snack and drink. You also ask them to bring some other candy that you know KK really likes but always seems to forget about. As you look back, you see that the young girl has already long forgotten about the phone call, being too busy playing a game on her phone. You roll your eyes fondly.

When you get to the apartments, you park the car and walk towards the trunk. You hand everyone their bags, holding onto your own as well as your cousin's as you listen to her bicker with Paige. You hear Nika butt in every once in a while to tease both girls, her Croatian accent coming out a little. Walking up to the agreed-upon dorm, you fall back a little as you make quiet conversation with Azzi.

You really vibed with Azzi. She was calm and pretty quiet, but she didn't bite her tongue when she disagreed with something. You liked how mature she was but still managed to quip back with a witty comeback to make everyone laugh. 

You liked the whole team, really. The way they all acted like older sisters to KK. While being around the same age as her, you tell they felt a sense of protectiveness over your baby cousin. You saw as they all took turns making sure she was okay, keeping an eye out for her at all times. It warmed your heart.

When you all reach the dorm, you walk in, putting down your and KK’s bags somewhere near the door. “Y/N! Sit next to me!” KK hollers from where she’s seated on the couch. You chuckle in amusement as you walk over, plopping down next to her. You sling an arm around her and pull her a little closer. You feel the freshman relax against you as you both listen to Paige and Nika’s bickering. Azzi sits down next to you, giving you a gentle smile before turning to give her best friend a disapproving look as the girl says something out of pocket to Nika.

Sitting here, totally at ease, made you realize that in the few hours you’d known the girls, they’d made you feel completely at home in their little group. You continue to listen to the chattering around you, joining the conversation whenever you need to before hearing a loud banging on the door. “Oh my godddd”, you hear Paige groan as she gets up. Opening the door, she says, “Y’all needa fucking chillll, bro,” before letting the rest of the team in. 

Everyone finds a place to settle down before handing out the snacks and drinks. When you get your stuff handed to you, you give the candy to KK. She immediately shoots up from where she was lying against your side. You grin at her as she looks at you with wide eyes before flinging herself back down against you in a hug. 

“This is why you’re my favorite cousin!” she fake cries, making the team chuckle at her dramatics. You smile down at her as you pat her head before looking up when you hear someone say, “So… what’re we gonna do?”. Everyone looks at each other, shrugging a little. “Games and a movie?” Azzi suggests softly. 

Not being able to say no to the people’s princess, everyone agrees before splitting up into groups to play different games. Ice and Aaliyah immediately get up to go play Fortnite on Paige’s Xbox while some of the other girls run off to go play Roblox on Paige and Azzi’s laptops. 

You stay seated as Azzi walks over to the cupboard to grab a deck of Uno for you, KK, Paige, Nika, and herself. Before the brunette even gets the chance to take out the cards, the blonde turns to the Croatian girl to talk shit. “You ready to lose again, Mool?” she teases, completely butchering Nika’s last name. “I hope you play better than you talk shit, Boogers,” the Croatian quips back. You feel KK sit up properly as she grins, having regained her energy, “Less talking, more playing, losers. You guys are going downnn.”

15 minutes later you think you might pass out. 

Have you ever laughed this much before? Turns out Nika is notoriously bad at Uno, somehow always forgetting to yell the word when she has one card left. Apparently Paige is strangely good at pulling +2 cards while Azzi somehow always manages to have all of her cards be the same color. You were the only normal player, seeing as KK kept trying to (and somehow succeeding to?) cheat by looking at everyone’s cards and by putting down multiple cards when no one was looking. After a while, you decide to stop playing, seeing as Nika looks like she’s about to kill Paige if she gets another +2 card. 

You spend the rest of the afternoon laughing as you play games and tell stories. When it hits dinner time, you order a few pizzas. You all decide to play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to go get them. You’re glad to see the Croatian girl is better at that than Uno, seeing as you weren’t sure it would end well if she lost again. 

Once Ashlynn and Caroline leave, you all find a spot around the tv to watch some movies. You’re still seated on the couch next to KK and Azzi, with Nika and Paige sitting beside them.

“Alright, I think it’s my turn to choose a movie,” Paige says in a matter-of-fact way. “What? No way it’s already your turn again!” Ice protests. “Uhm? Yeah, it is? Aubrey picked last time, so it’s my turn again,” she frowns offendedly. “I swear to God if you make us watch that movie again,” Aaliyah grumbles from her spot on the floor. “Hey! Love & Basketball is a really good movie!” Paige raises her voice defensively, “Right, Azzi?”. 

“Yeah, sure, ask the one person who loves the movie as much as you do,” Nika grins. The blue-eyed girl looks around the room with a frown before settling her eyes on you. Her face softens. “What do you think of the movie, Y/N?”. Her eyes are wide and innocent looking, you think you can even see a sparkle of hope swimming around in them.

You raise your eyebrows slightly as everyone turns towards you expectantly. You clear your throat a little. “I, uhh, haven’t seen it yet,” you shrug slightly. Paige’s mouth drops open. “IT’S DECIDED, WE’RE WATCHING IT!” she yells, making the girls around her groan. You grin at the girl, glad to see she’s gotten more comfortable around you, showing her more playful side instead of the nervous side you’d been seeing (though she looked cute either way). “Okay, okay, calm down, P,” Azzi chuckles at her excitement. “We’re gonna watch multiple movies anyway, so why don’t we let Y/N pick the first movie and then watch yours after?”. You see the team nod their heads eagerly at the idea of not having to watch Paige’s movie just yet.

You look over at Paige, who playfully scratches her chin in thought. “Okay, fine… But only because I’m not in the mood for it yet,” she says. “Right… not in the mood for your favorite movie… or maybe you’re head over heels for Y/N, who will tell?” Azzi thinks with a small smile on her face. 

“So, Y/N/N, what’s it gonna be?” Nika asks with her signature teasing smirk. Once you tell them your favorite movie, you start chatting about school and basketball, waiting for the food to arrive. You see Paige get up out of the corner of your eye as she mumbles something about getting everything ready. Azzi nods, getting up as well to help the blonde with the plates and cups. Your eyes follow their retreating figures until they disappear into the kitchen area. You hoped you’d be able to talk to the blue-eyed girl alone before you had to leave again, wanting to see if you were right thinking she liked you back.

When Paige and Azzi get to the kitchen, they don’t speak at first, silently moving in sync as if they were two parts of a whole. Seeing as the blonde isn’t going to say anything, Azzi opens her mouth. “So… Are you gonna make a move?” 

Paige whips her head towards the brunette so fast you’d think she got whiplash. “What? What do you mean? Make a move on who? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she rambles as her cheeks flush red. Azzi grins at her friend’s nervousness before placing her hand softly on the girl’s arm. “Relax, P, it’s just us here.”. 

“I’m chill, I just don’t like Y/N like that,” she replies, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge so she has something to do with her hands. “If you don’t like her, then how did you know who I was talking about?” Azzi looks at her with a gentleness that makes Paige freeze.

“Oh my god… I like Y/N…” the blonde thinks as her eyes go wide. Seeing her reaction, her best friend pulls her into a hug. “Ask her out,” she whispers into the panicking girl’s ear. “No! No, I can’t! I mean, she probably doesn’t even like me back… And even if she did, she’s KK’s cousin… that’d be weird, right?” the wide-eyed girl rambles. The brunette doesn’t get the chance to reply as loud knocking is heard on the front door. Paige pulls away with a certain urgency as she speeds out of the kitchen to let the girls in. Azzi shakes her head with a sigh, “Let’s hope Y/N has more balls,” she mumbles to herself.

Walking to the living room with the paper plates and cups, Azzi sees Paige already sitting back in her spot, leaving an empty spot next to you for herself. “P, swap with me,” she says, standing in front of the blonde. Paige’s eyes widen as she asks, “Why?” “Cus I said so,” the brunette rolls her eyes, “I need to talk to Caroline.” Paige gulps as she scooches closer to you.

You send her a soft smile, being able to feel nerves radiate off of her in waves. It was cute seeing how much a nervous mess she was near you. You’d seen enough edits of her on your TikTok to know she was usually extremely confident. So seeing her like this? Completely flushed, avoiding eye contact, and even sometimes stuttering over her words, she looked adorable.

As you all start watching the movie, you feel KK lean against you as she finally starts mellowing out. You knew it was coming. You’d been around the younger girl enough to know she was very high energy throughout the whole day, but the second you two sat down, in the comfort of your safe space, she’d become quiet, finally being at ease. 

You all eat your food, watching your favorite movie, and you can’t help but wish you could stay like this forever. Once the end credits play, the girls around you praise your movie choice before playfully complaining about the fact that it was now turn for Paige’s movie. You all joke around a little more before you decide to finally watch the movie, not wanting to go to bed too late. As the first lines get spoken, the blonde loudly shushes everyone with a wide grin, leaning forward a little to fully enjoy the movie. 

While you’re sure Love & Basketball is a great movie, you don’t pay attention for a second. How could you? When Paige was sitting so close to you, subconsciously having leaned in a little. Her warm thigh pressed against yours as she mouths all the words. It makes your heart flutter.

Throughout the movie, some girls get up, mumbling about going to bed before disappearing with a wave and a sleepy smile. When the movie comes to an end, only a handful of people are left. You look around, making sure not to wake KK from where she has fallen asleep against you. “Did everyone fall asleep?” you ask with a soft chuckle. “Yeah, it looks like it,” Paige grins.

The blonde gets up, grabbing the cups and plates around her. You get up as well, making sure KK is still comfortable, before helping the blue-eyed girl bring the dishes away. You work in silence until you get to the kitchen. “You were right, you know?” you say with a grin. “Hm,” Paige hums, looking at you before breaking eye contact nervously. 

“You were right, it was a good movie,” you say, stepping a bit closer to her. “Yeah?” Paige asks with a grin, “Did you also love the part where they dyed their hair in the janky gas station?” “Yeah, that was a really good part,” you say, sliding even closer to her. Your heart flutters as you hear her laugh, slapping a hand in front of her mouth to not wake up the girls. “You didn’t watch the movie at all, did you?” she says, her eyes twinkling.

You send her a smirk, standing in front of her as she’s leaning against the counter. “You caught me,” you say, not even feeling embarrassed about it. She laughs, heat rising in her cheeks at your proximity, before asking, “What did you even do for the past 2 hours?” You shrug, leaning a little closer, “I guess I was just enjoying the view.” Paige flushes a bright red. 

She clears her throat and looks everywhere but at you. “Ahem, the uhhh, the girls like you a lot,” she stammers, picking at her nails. “Oh yeah?” you grin, “That’s nice… I like them too…” “Mhm… You know, when KK told us about you, we didn’t expect you to be like this at all. I mean, she called you her twin all the time, so we envisioned an exact copy of her. She always called you the less cool version of herself. We didn’t expect you to be so badass. I mean, like, your tattoos! They’re cool! Yeah, cool….,” the blonde rambles, her sentence trailing off as she cringes at how awkward she is.

Your eyes crinkle as your smile grows. “Paige…” you say softly, making her look up at you. “Relax,” you mumble, taking another step closer as you grab her hips. You give them a light squeeze before saying, “Listen, I like you. I’ve always admired you from afar, but now that I’ve spent a day with you, I’ve realized that I want to be more than just a friend… So, I would really like to take you on a date if you’d let me?”

You look down at her, slightly nervous about what she’ll reply. When you see her tense up, you soften your grip, getting ready to take a step away. You worry you misread the situation, but before you can step back, Paige relaxes as a bright smile makes its way onto her face. “Yeah, yeah, that’d be nice,” she grins. 

You smile widely. Paige’s eyes dart all over your face, properly taking you in. Her eyes linger on your lips for a second before they return to yours. You lean a little closer, testing the waters and giving her the chance to pull away. When she doesn’t, you lean in all the way, pressing a soft kiss against her lips as she closes her eyes. When you pull back, her body follows yours, not quite ready to end the kiss just yet. 

Opening her eyes, she looks at you with a grin, biting her lip in excitement. This all felt so new and exhilarating. Completely different from her past relationships but a good different. She felt like she could explode from the giddy feeling in her stomach. 

Leaning in to kiss you again, a loud gasp can be heard. You both pull away quickly as you turn around to see KK standing there with wide eyes, her mouth dropped open. You look at her with a worried look in your eyes. While you did really like Paige, you’d never date her if KK wasn’t okay with it. 

For a moment no one says anything. You open your mouth to apologize, to explain, to say something, anything! You don’t get the chance to however as the younger girl speaks first. “So… does that mean you’re finally transferring to UConn?” she says, her shocked expression turning into a smug smirk. You feel the tension leave your body and can’t help letting out a deep belly laugh. You pull her into a tight hug, looking back at a still frozen Paige. You grin at her, sending her a wink as she finally relaxes. This is gonna be really fun.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What would the first years be like after 10 years?

What comes after Ever After?

You’ve seen Ace around on TV, but it’s the first time in a while you’ve gotten to see him in-person again. He’s become a jack-of-all-trades entertainer, host of his own variety show, stand-up comedian known for his cruel honesty, and master of magicless magic tricks. There’s not a day where you don’t see his annoyingly bright smile lighting up TV screens.

You’d think that 10 years would have made Ace a little more responsible and mature… Nope. He’s still a sunny and laidback kind of guy, but his sense of humor is still every bit as mean as it was back then, and he won’t hesitate to greet you with a familiar quip. Ace claims he’s “young at heart!” and “still a sparkling youth~!”

The fame has given him a bit of an ego and enhanced his vanity. Ace gloats about his connections in the show biz (did you know he interviewed THE Vil Schoenheit the other day?) and dresses in expensive brands.

He was bratty back then, but now he’s got carefree playboy vibes 😭 The kind of guy that laughs easily, that you feel comfortable talking to—but also the kind of guy that’s hard to pin down himself. Ace is nothing if not charmingly noncommittal in the tasks he sets out on.

When it comes down to it, Ace is loyal to the bitter end. He still has your number and regularly talks with you and Deuce, even pouting and whining if he goes a few days without a response. Ace insists he only does it because he “can’t forget the little people”, but you know it’s just a bluff.

It’s been a long journey for Deuce, but he has at long last achieved his dream of becoming a magic marshal! He’s a policeman in an elite force that tackles magical crimes (though he started off his career as a mere meter maid). He wears his badge proudly and stands a little straighter whenever it is on display.

Not much of an asset during investigations, but you bet your ass that Deuce is always up for chasing, cornering, and cuffing criminals! He's the muscle of his squadron, but also the heart of the group and the only guy willing to play good cop.

He prefers to patrol on his magical wheel as opposed to a police car. Deuce finds it so much speedier—and plus, he gets a rush of adrenaline whenever he’s revving up that engine and chasing down bad guys. If you want a ride, all you have to do is ask! Your old buddy would be more than happy to give you a lift. (He pulls over to help little old ladies cross the street.)

His earnest and hard-working nature have made him popular with the local mothers and grandmothers, who keep trying to gift him free food or trying to introduce him to their single relatives. The local delinquents also look up to him, affectionately calling Deuce their aniki. (On his days off, Deuce goes into schools to talk about his job and how he turned his life around, trying to serve as a good role model in his community.)

He carries around a photo of his mom and another photo featuring you, him, Grim, and Ace in his wallet. Deuce is in the habit so that he’s always got a piece of his beloved family and friends with him. They’re his good luck charms, and he credits them for his success in the force.

Jack is a personal trainer and coach! After his time at NRC, he was inspired by his upperclassmen and wanted to become the kind of person that’s able to support others in their growth, the very same way his own senpai did for him. Jack wants to continue that cycle for the next generation!

He has a reputation for being the “scary looking instructor with a heart of gold”. It takes his clients a while to get used to his face, but he supports them relentlessly and his results are definitely undeniable. Jack works with people of all ages—from kids to the elderly—and instills in them an eagerness to stay active. Some of the athletes Jack works with even went on the compete internationally!

His moral compass is still going strong. Jack actually tries to introduce a new value every month (like “valor”, “compassion”, “honesty”, etc.), incorporates it into training, and encourages his clients to take the time to reflect on what that value means and how they can practice it in their own lives. In this way, Jack not only strengthens their bodies but also enriches their minds and characters.

He maintains a lot of the habits formed around NRC, including going to bed at 10 pm on the dot and waking up at exactly 6 am every day for a protein-packed breakfast and a morning jog. More recently, Jack has added smiling practice and tail control to his regiment. He wants to be more approachable and to get a leash on that telltale wag that gives away his true feelings.

In spite of his best efforts, Jack visibly perks when he’s praised. The walls around his heart have relaxed a bit with time, and he has left the door open to let others in. He plays on adult team sports in his free time, or jogs and lifts weights with a partner spotting him, then they grab a bite together after. A good workout demands good company too, right? You should join him sometime!

He has settled back home in Harveston and helps out with the Felmier apple business! More specifically, Epel is the magical botanist of the family. He concocts various enchanted fertilizers and potions to help produce be at its best or to make the work easier for his village’s aging population.

Epel makes the long treks with his granny to the closest city to Harveston in order to sell his family’s products. (Travel by broomstick is faster than bike!) He hawks their goods like a real pro, his hollering reaching several blocks down. And if anyone gives his granny trouble, he’ll be there to give’m a good time whoopin’!

Thanks to Vil’s training and advice, Epel’s pretty comfortable in his own skin. He knows how to best weaponize his looks to get in an unfair blow in a fight and to make the most sales at the market. A fake smile, a little giggle, and he’s got his enemies disarmed and swooning, customers lining up for blocks, etc.

Unfortunately, he never got that growth spurt he was hoping for, and nor has he bulked up much. Epel's not exactly happy about the circumstances, but he tries to take care of himself in his own ways. For example, it may not be practical to stop and reapply sunscreen every 2 hours at the peak of apple-picking season, but he's got a wide-brimmed sunhat and gloves for the occasion!

His manners are impeccable! ... Well, given the right context. Epel knows when the common tongue is more appropriate (say, for a sale or speaking with tourists), but for friends, he'll bust out his warm and hearty hometown dialect. It's his way of letting you know he sees you as an important part of his family! Come, come! He’ll happily welcome you into his home and feed you to your heart’s content.

Meet the new Chief of Cybersecurity at S.T.Y.X.! Ortho works closely with his older brother (who has assumed the mantle of director from their father) and provides the highest levels of protection possible for their facilities. Along with overseeing security, he also vets and grants clearance to visitors to the Island of Woe.

He looks completely different thanks to his new and improved Cerberus Gear, specially designed to resemble the form of an adult! Combined with 10 years’ worth of knowledge and experience, Ortho has grown up mentally too, so he feels that he fills out this new gear quite well.

He’s accompanied wherever he goes by KB-RS01 and KB-RS02! Ortho has formally adopted them as his canine companions (humans would call them “pets”), but they also help him with surveillance as extra pairs of eyes and get paid in head pats.

He has mastered the art of imitating emotions and can now even synthesize others’ voices! Ortho uses these capabilities to play the occasional prank on the S.T.Y.X. researchers—it keeps the job interesting, and the employees love him for being a fun boss, the one spot of sunshine in the Island of Woe.

His protective functions have been upgraded! Check out this enhanced power laser beam, and all of his new gadgets and gizmos and extra attachments. He’s a one man army, so don’t cross him!

Sebek has achieved full knighthood and serves as one of Malleus’s right hand men. Along with his fellow knight, Silver, they protect Briar Valley and the noble Draconia bloodline. (Baur apparently cried at the knighting ceremony, but will deny it if you ask.)

Gone are the days where he would parade around shouting, “HUMAN!!” and belittling non-fae. Well… Okay, he still acts arrogantly, but there’s significantly less arrogance on the basis of race. Oh, he’ll still grouse, but he’ll also shout at you to aim for greater heights—he knows you’re capable of more than this.

Even though Sebek continues to respect Malleus a great deal, Sebek’s no longer so naive as to idolize his liege. Malleus is fallible and probe to straying into the darkness. Sebek sees that now. And when that happens… his loyal knight will be there with a firm hand and a thunderous voice to direct him back on his path.

He has developed a deeper appreciation for his human father, but won’t openly voice his affections out of embarrassment. Some would call this tsundere behavior— Instead, Sebek will (lovingly?) nitpick and find convenient excuses to help him out when applicable.

Still trains and reads diligently! In fact, Sebek has started a new record keeping initiative back home. That way, the people of Briar Valley can write down history, read it, learn from it, and keep from repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. He has also taken it upon himself to bring in reading materials from beyond Briar Valley to share with the youths of the nation. Sebek hopes that by spreading this knowledge, the next generation will open their hearts and minds to other cultures and races.

[strawberry-cowmilk]

the brothers when they realise mc will die one day

-> brothers x mc

a/n: it's been a good minute since I wrote actual ultimate painful angst so here you go while I wait for my hot makeup sponge soap soup to help me clean the things

mc's gender is not mentioned, not proof read

content warnings: angst, death, crying, sports injury

-----

Lucifer

he was peacefully listening to a new record he got with you next to him

lucifer was a great fan of this certain composer so he started to talk a little about the music and the meaning behind it

'the composer wrote this piece for their deceased partner-' he suddenly went quiet once he realised he will be like the composer one day

you had already fallen asleep to hear what he said, lucifer carefully pressed you close, afraid of waking you up and afraid of the day you'll leave him

Mammon

mammon was very bored since lucifer took away his card as a punishment, so he decided to watch tv

he was just browsing the channels and ended up watching the news

mammon was already upset about not having his card, and all the depressing stuff on the news made him more sad, and one certain report hit him with the reality that humans die way before demons

tears stung at his eyes as he instantly called you, asking where you are and if you're willing to cuddle him

Leviathan

he got a new game off of akuzon and you're playing it together

it just happens that you're absolutely terrible at this game so you keep dying every two minutes

it was funny at first, you and levi were laughing about it until he suddenly went quiet and started crying

before you could ask him what happened he hugged you and started begging you to not die for real

it took some while for him to calm down a little, you're his (only) friend, how will he live without you?

Satan

he was working on a group rad project with solomon, eventually he started talking about how he accidentally made himself immortal

eventually satan demanded to know how he did it, and he was pretty angrily asking too, during the conversation he realised you are not immortal (unlike solomon)

the prof literally had to separate them because satan was getting too angry

satan wasted no time, he went to look for you so he can spend time with you and forget his awful thoughts

Asmodeus

there was some fashion week event in the devildom and some high fashion brand asked asmo to model for them (he accepted)

but on the day of the event, it got cancelled

asmo was not pleased with this, but you told him it's ok and you can watch him on the catwalk next time he gets invited, but the thing is that probably won't be until another 500 years-

he realised there's a very good chance you won't be alive for the next time, he cried and clung to you, denying reality

Beelzebub

beel was playing the finals of his fangol game and things were getting very serious, there were players getting tackled left and right pretty badly

his mind started to drift away from the game for a while, and remembered that time you asked him to play with you

but if you, a human, were on this field, you'd probably get badly injured, or worse

the coach had to get a time out because the team's got beel literally crying his eyes out on the bench

the team won, but beel is not in the mood for celebrating

Belphegor

it just randomly hit him

he was looking at the stars next to you in the planetarium and something about the stars today made him think about everything, and eventually the fact that humans don't live long compared to demons

he turned to you, said something along the lines of 'don't go' and curled up against you, falling asleep

belphie needed to give himself a good dream right now otherwise he feels like he won't be able to handle it now

[theastrohub]

2024 Paris Olympics: the astrology of a gold medalist and star athlete.

disclaimer: I am not glorifying struggle or pain in any way shape or form. these are @astrobaeza's personal opinions and observations.

✦ mars in first house / mars dominant / capricorn mars : a first house mars or being mars dominant makes for someone who is openly energetic, driven, passionate, and physically vital. mars is exalted in capricorn, making for someone who naturally has a lot of drive and energy and physical strength.

✦ mars in fire sign + mars in fire house (1st, 5th, 9th) : (1st covered above) Mars in the 5th house gives someone a lot of energy and passion related to hobbies and fun, including something like sports. similar to mars in first or aries, it makes for someone who has a lot of energy. the fire houses give drive and energy, as they are good houses for your mars: mars in the 1st adds aries qualities, mars in the 5th adds Leo qualities, and mars in the 9th adds Sagittarius qualities.

✦ mutable placements, especially sun and rising (gemini, pisces, sagittarius) : makes for adaptability, agility, resilience, ease in things like training for improvement. can perform well in a variety of sports. there is an ease of embracing new techniques, training methods, and other strategies for performance enhancement. fast learning and integration of teachings. strong communication skills that builds interpersonal relationships prevalent in athletics like athlete to coach, athlete to athlete, referee to athlete and so forth. for example, both Suni Lee and Simone Biles are Pisces suns and gemini moons.

✦ 12h placements : 12th house placements makes for someone with ease in the foundational things of being an athlete like recovery and healing, mental resilience, strong intuition and decision-making skills and focus. this also makes for someone that has a spiritual drive to succeed, seeing athletics as their calling in life. for example, muhammad ali, the pro-boxer, was known for his spiritual teachings and dedication towards the islamic faith. this is why you will see a lot of very spiritual and religious athletes, athletes that openly renounce "their God" when they win.

✦ mars pluto positive aspects : almost like having a scorpio mars, this makes for someone with a powerful drive to compete and win. can translate to having stores of energy ready for use at any given moment, strong intuition for quick decision-making, and a strong desire for improvement and transformation. this also makes for an athlete that can positively impact others / be a role-model through their own hard work.

✦ personal planets in aquarius and the 11th house : makes for a good team-mate and someone with a strong understanding of how groups work. someone who's well-liked by the public, could make for a strong "team captain", pointguard, QB, etc. the 11th house also indicates long-term goals and gains, and being a professional athlete takes pretty much a lifetime of dedication and practice. this could also make for someone who can be ahead of trends in the athletics-adjacent matters like team image and bonding routines.

✦ positive 6th house placements : the sixth house pertains to daily routines, work and physical health. a well-placed and aspected personal planet(s) makes for someone who excels in activities that require discipline and routine like athletics.

✦ cardinal t-squares : the integration of "tension" or "difficulties" in the natal chart through planetary aspects can make for someone with a unique skill set appropriate for athleticism: determination, ability to overcome obstacles, diligence, endurance, mental fortitude, and emotional strength.

:჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻:჻჻:჻:჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻:჻჻:

[ credits @astrobaeza ₊ PAIDSERVICES ₊ masterlist ₊ tips ₊ gif by @buffyann23 ]

[desi2go]

One photoshoot away from love

pairing: Minho x idol! reader

warnings: fluff

request: So reader is also a kpop idol but she's like only in the industry for 2-2.5 years. She's in a girl group and recently announced as global embassador of a luxury brand. This one time she would feature on magazine cover with one of stray kids' members and that member his her bias. The magazine cover is a success and their fan loving it and they get shipped together. And because she said he's her bias, that stray kids member said he gonna write her a song and he did and the internet kinda blow up.

Music. Music was alsways home. Something you could turn to when there was no way out. When everything terrified you or it seemed impossible to reach your dreams.

Music was your safe haven from a really young age. Just as a five year old toddler, you sang to all the songs in the radio even if you didn't even understood all the lyrics. You even bothered your parents to let you take lessons with a vocal coach for weeks until they finally agreed. Eventually, they seemed glad that you loved singing so much and happily supported you. You improved really fast and your angelic voice seemed to enchant everyone at every single performance at school.

Whenever someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up, the answer was clear. "I want to be a singer!" They all laughed at you, smiling and patting your head like they didn't even think that you could actually become one. For them it was just a dream, soon to be forgotten once you hit puberty and the reality, but you weren't joking. And you trained every day for it.

Around the age of ten, you started hearing some music from kpop groups and it was the first time you actually considered to audition at a company when you were old enough. They would give you training and support you when you were good enough. So, you convinced your parents to let you take some dance lessons too so that your chances for an acception would be higher.

Dancing was something you really enjoyed even though it wouldn't replace singing but it brought you even closer to the melody and the rhythm. You felt even more connected with the lyrics and the music all in all.

At the age of sixteen, you decided to give it a try. Several companies had announced auditions and you figured it would be the best time to try it. What could go wrong? You had trained for this moment your whole life and you couldn't be better prepared.

The auditions went really well and soon your held your acceptance in your hand to be a trainee at SM entertainment. Your parents were so proud of you and you loved the time as a trainee even though it was so difficult to balance school and training but you enjoyed the time. You learned so much in that tie and your singing as well as your dancing improved.

During your monthly presentations, your trainers noted your effort and improvement and after three years, you finally debuted in a girl group with four more girl you had met as a trainee. You were placed as one of the vocalists and visuals.

After debut, your group seemed to gain more and more attention from the fans and you must admit that you enjoyed to perform, the energy flowed through you carrying you like a wave.

Nearly three years after debut, it wasn't uncommon for you to have photoshootings for model magazines or other brands. But as soon as the message came that you would be the global ambassador of one of the most well-known luxury brand, you were shocked. This wasn't something that happenend all the time. And the brand was Gucci and they actually planned you to be on the magazine cover.

Just one week before the shooting, you received the message that you would model with Lee Know from Stray Kids. Since you loved Kpop since being a child, you knew pretty well who Lee Know was. I mean, how could you not? His group was really famous for their vibing songs and their chaotic behaviour.

And you were thrilled to meet him face to face. He was like a role model to you. When the other members of your group received the message, they were happy for you and urged to know who your bias in Stray Kids was, knowing damn well that you enjoyed listening to Kpop.

"Come on! You can't just keep it a secret! We won't tell anyone!" One member shouted, clapping excited with her hands.

"No. That's my secret" you claimed, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"I bet it's Lee Know" another stated and you tried to keep your face from burning up. How right she was...

The maknae noticed your shy behaviour. "HA! It is!" she laughed as you blushed and hid your face in your hands. Sometimes you hated them.

"That's so cool! You must tell us every little detail as soon as you're back" another demanded and you quickly escaped their hold to get to the location for the photoshoot.

During the whole drive, you were nervous and you bit your lip to get you to concentrate. You were an idol for god's sake, so act like one! But your hands got clammy when you stepped out of the car, following your manager inside the location.

You were already used to the turmoil with the manager and assitants running around. An assistant from Gucci greeted you with a bow and lead you to the dressing room. Precisely, she helped you change into a beautiful black dress that ended just above your knees, showing your long soft legs. It was made for you.

The soft faric hugged your body like a second skin, bringing your waist out and your chest. You felt like a queen. It exposed your shoulders and closed lowly around your neck, leaving space for a beautiful necklace.

The shoes were a dream in black, making you even taller and graceful. In Addition, your hair was styled in soft defined waves, falling over your shoulders. The makeup stylist worked on your face in the meantime. She applied foundation and a glowy highlighter as well as a brown eyeshadow that complimented your eyes and made them sparkle even more. The red lipstick brought the attention to your rounded lips, the only thing that had a colour so that it would glow in the photos.

After an hour, they had finished their work satisfied and the assistant lead you to the actual photo location. You felt the nervousness pumping through your veins as you greeted the photographer and the rest of the staff. Just moments later, Lee Know walked through the same door with a charming smile and a low bow to greet everyone.

He looked stunning in the black suit with the white chemise that exposed a bit of skin, leaving everything to your imagination. His hair was styled classy and showed off his beautiful eyes.

"Nice to meet you Y/n" he greeted you with a smile, taking your hand to shake it while he bowed deep. You replied in the same gesture. "Nice to meet you too. I'm honoured to work with you"

He smiled and patted your hand without anyone noticing. "I look forward to work with you"

Internally, you were freaking out like a teenager crushing over meeting her role model. You felt the blush on your cheeks and tried everything to keep it low.

The photographer explained to you both how you should express yourself on the photos even stating what poses he wanted to see.

You swallowed and moved yourself in front of the white background with Minho following. You started with simple things, leaning your back against each other while staring at the camera with a dashing smile. His back was warm and you felt the muscles under his clothes, soft but at the same time strong.

The other pose showed strength and intimacy. Minho was sitting tall behind you, leaning slightly forward to show more of his skin that was exposed by the open bottoms of his chemise. His right arm rested on his knee, giving him a composed and thoughtful look. His facial expression is confident with his gaze directed to the photographer.

You were seated in front of him, leaning forward as well with your body slightly angled towards the camera. Your elbow was resting on your knee, emphazising your long legs and your hand supported lazily your head.

The photographer liked those photos and during the shooting, both you and Minho laughed a lot, connecting really fast when you told him that you had a cat too.

You two shared some funny cat stories and grew more comfortable around the other.

The photographer suggested more intimacy in the photos. In this image, you two posed intimately close. He stood behind you, your faces close together as he rested his head over your shoulder. You chose a soft and serene gaze to pierce through the camera. you felt one of Minho's hand sneaking around your waist, pulling you even closer. Your physical proximity showed a subtle mixure of tenderness and resilience.

The photographer was pleased with the outcome and thanked you for working so well. Even after finishing the shooting, you couldn't stop speaking with him. He was so kind-hearted and funny, inspiring you. And soon, you were back your dorms, sad that the experience was over.

Some weeks later, the magazine was published with you and Minho on the cover. It was an understatement to say that the fans went wild. Social media was full of images of the photoshooting and nearly everyone shipped you both, making you blush.

When you went live one evening to speak to your fans, you read often the question if you and Minho were a pair. You declined and even more messages followed, asking you different things about Minho. Sadly, you couldn't give many answers and when they questioned who your bias was, you admitted shy that he was it.

The fans went wild again and you were now completely sure that Minho knew about your secret crush on him.

Chan from Stray Kids announced in one of his livestreams that Minho had been working on an own song since his photoshoot for Gucci and fans spaculated that it had something to do with you.

Weeks when the hype went down a bit, Minho released a single. At first, due to training you couldn't listen to it but when fans went wild again, claiming that he definitely wrote it for you, you needed to hear it.

It was a love ballad and you loved the melody and rhythm at the first notes. His soft voice told a story about a girl he met. In the song, he described her as beautiful, the deep red lips that attracted him like it was essential for surviving.

I saw you there, in that moment of light A vision in black, like the stars in the night Your deep red lips whispered things you didn’t say And I stood frozen, as the world slipped away

You didn’t know it, but you captured my soul Every glance you gave me made me lose control The camera was flashing, but all I could see Was the way you moved, like a shadow's melody

You're the midnight that I can't forget Wrapped in a mystery I haven't solved yet The way you move, like whispers in the air A perfect storm that I can’t help but stare In the silence, your elegance stays Draped in the night, in a world of shades

Your smile was soft, like a hidden sunrise But there was fire burning deep in your eyes You moved like a dream, as the lights hit your face And I knew I was lost, caught up in your grace

I kept my distance, but inside I screamed You walked through my life like a midnight dream I wanted to tell you, but how could I dare To let you know that I was falling right there

You're the midnight that I can't forget Wrapped in a mystery I haven't solved yet The way you move, like whispers in the air A perfect storm that I can’t help but stare In the silence, your elegance stays Draped in the night, in a world of shades

Maybe one day, you'll hear this song In the quiet of night, when the world feels wrong And maybe you’ll wonder who it was for But I’ll just stay silent, forever wanting more

You're the midnight that I can't forget Wrapped in a mystery I haven't solved yet The way you move, like whispers in the air A perfect storm that I can’t help but stare In the silence, your elegance stays Draped in the night, in a world of shades

In the shadows, I’ll keep you near A secret flame, forever clear You’ll always be a part of me This hidden love, my melody...

You coudln't stop the smile forming on your lips. "Vision in black" was definitely a metaphor for a black dress and the red lipstick hinted that this song was adressed to you. Tears formed in your eyes at the intimacy of the song.

Just seconds later, a message plopped up on your phone. A message on instagram from Minho.

<<Hoped you liked my song>> he had texted with a cat emoji and a smile formed on your lips as you answered quick.

[cosmopretty]

Finally Reunited

Caroline Harvey x Fem

Synopsis: You and Caroline both haven’t been spending any time together recently due to being in difference counties and you come surprise her.

Recently neither you or Caroline have had a break, with her long hockey practices and pre season workouts. Then with your studying and modeling gigs you have been moving around for a while for companies. Yeah you both texted and called every day but it wasn’t the same, and it showed when Caroline would mess up durning practice because her head wasn’t in the game. It’s not her fault that all she could think about was you, and she told you every detail about it.

Which is what led you to getting a plane ticket from Paris, France to Wisconsin, USA. You didn’t want to tell Caroline you were coming instead deciding to surprise her. Laila knew you were coming since she helped you plan this surprise for KK.

Boarding the Plane you see a FaceTime call from your girlfriend, not wanting to spoil the surprise you decline it and go find your seat on the plane.

“What the fuck” Caroline mumbles calling you not once but three times. Laila comes behind her and looks at her phone “She’s probably busy KK” the taller girl shrugs trying to not sound suspicious in any way.

Caroline rolls her eyes “Yeah whatever” she drops her phone on her bag and goes back on the ice to counting practice not noting Laila’s suspicious smile behind her.

Once your plane lands, you check the time and notice you have about an hour before Caroline’s practice ends at 5:30pm. You get an Uber down to the dorms, your girlfriend’s dorm to be specific, you walk in and go straight to her room leaving your suitcase there and changing into a new outfit. One of KK’s badger hoodies with her jersey number on the back and a pair of black shorts.

Leaving her apartment you walk, well more like speed walk down to the rink, where Laila told you the team would be today. Excited was an understatement to what you were feeling, your hands kept shaking. Soon enough you open the doors to the rink quietly trying not to make any noise.

The team was split into two groups versing each other, you get into the box and stand next to coach. She looks down at you and smiles “Your back? How was Paris?” she asks you looking away from you and back on the ice. Shrugging your shoulder you follow her eyesight down to the rink “It was okay, stressful. How’s the team been these past few weeks?” you ask her.

Coach laughs shaking her head “The team would be better if my star player wasn’t distracted all the time, daydreaming” she raises her brows looking down at you the pointing subtly to Caroline. You suck in a breath of air, scratching the back of your neck “My bad” you mumble laughing. She rolls her eyes at you before, you both move your eyes back onto the rink watching the girls play.

Laila stands confidently in the goal, watching as Laney skates down the ice with the puck, your girlfriend follows on the other side. Laney passes the puck to KK, who pushes through Ava and slams her stick across the ice hitting the puck into the goal.

You start clapping jumping up and down next to coach in the box. Caroline head immediately turns towards you recognizing your cheers, she takes her helmet off and drops it, a smile of shock forming on her face.

She immediately runs towards the box, forgetting she’s on ice skates. One minute she standing up straight the next she’s face down on the ice goaning. Everyone starts laughing at the poor girl while you walk up to her slowly on the ice so you don’t fall too. You let out a laugh that the sight of her lying down on the ice, looking like she gave up. You lend her your hand expecting her to take it so you can help her up. Instead her hand wraps around your wrist pulling you down on top of her so her arms can wrap around you in a bear hug.

She rolls on top of you pushing your body down on the cold ice, you squeal “KK baby I missed you too but I’m turning into a popsicle here it’s cold ” you squeal gripping onto her biceps. The girl gets off you for a second, moving to grab her helmet.

Laney comes over and grabs both your outstretched hands, pulling you up. The second your on both of your feet she pulls you into a hug “We missed you so much, KK never shuts up about you” she whispers laughing at KK who was staring at you both annoyed.

Caroline comes over and pulls you from Laney “Yeah enough y’all can see her later she’s mine again I missed her the most” she says gripping the back of your thighs signaling you to jump. You jump into her arms, your legs wrapping around her waist. She carries you off the ice as you wave to all the girls “When KK’s done acting like a baby I’ll come over” you yell to them across the ice.

She carries you all the way to the locker room dropping you onto the bench, so she can change out of her uniform. You bite your lip staring at her abs, and of course she notices “Like what you see baby?” she teases you turning around to face you fully.

“Yeah I do. I really did miss you Caroline more than anything, it was like it physically hurt to be away from you. That’s how much I love you.” You admit to her looking up at her through your lashes standing up, from the bench.

Her eyes drop down to your lips before going back up to your eyes “I know what you mean, it hurt so much to not be able to hold you in my arms. I love you more than anything so- uh why don’t we move in together? You know get our own apartment.”

Caroline’s hands fidget with each other as she looks down at your waiting for your reaction. Your mother opens in shock for a moment “Yes of course let’s move in together KK” you squeal wrapping your arms around her shoulders pulling her down into a kiss. Her lips touch yours for the first time in weeks, your stomach fills with butterflies. You open your mouth giving her room to slide her tongue in, her big hands grin your waist pulling your impossible closer to her.

The locker door flies open and you pull away from each other fast as you hear her tempests yelling. Laney shakes her head “OooO spicy maybe try it in your own room next time” she says walking in and holding the door open for everyone else.

Caroline rolls her eyes “You jealous?” she asks grabbing her hockey bag and putting it in the locker along with her stick. Laney sticks her tongue out at her teammates and grabs your waist “You know I could steal her in a heartbeat” Laney says giggling. You nod your head “Laney your the love of my life let’s runaway together” you gasp falling in her arms.

Laila snorts “You guys are so dumb” she laughs looking over at KK who was laughing at you and Laney. You wrap your arm around Caroline’s waist and wave to everyone “We’re leaving see you guys” you tell everyone dragging her out of the locker room down to her car.

Opening the passenger door for you like always you smile at KK in thanks before getting in and letting her close the door. The drive between the both of you was quiet, just enjoying each other’s presence, fingers interlinked on your lap. Your thumb rubs back and forth on her knuckles “So where are we going baby?” you ask her looking up from your lap to her. She turns away from the road for a moment, making eye contact with you “It’s a surprise just wait ma, you’ll like it I promise” she tells you bringing your interlinked hands to her lips, kissing your hand then bringing it down to your lap.

Trusting her words you relax in the seat of her car, you watch her drive the two of you. Soon enough she parks the car on the side of the road and gets out opening the door for you. She wraps her arm around your shoulders and you follow her moving your arm so it’s around her waist. Looking around at all the stores and diners you gasp “Are we going to that cute cafe that just opened please say we are” you beg her looking at her.

She smirks “Yeah it’s the one I told you about on FaceTime the other day” she informs you pulling you impossibly closer to you. You squeal moving in front of her and hugger her your arms around her neck “I love you so much” you whisper as her arms shake their way around your waist.

“I love you more and your sweet tooth” she teases you her words muffled by the way her head was in your neck. She pulls away “Come on let’s go before they close at eight” she grabs your arm pulling you inside the cafe.

You’re in awe at all the assortments of baked goods, you smile at KK “I have never loved you more than this moment” you tell her putting your hand on your chest. She laughs at you “They have those marble cakes you love so much” she tells you.

“I was wrong” you grab her hand going to sit down outside so you both can wait for a waitress to come serve you both. KK pulls out your chair for you then sits right in front of you. She pulls your hand into her holding it “I missed you so much I hated knowing that you wouldn’t be home with me. But how was Paris and all your jobs?” She asks you wanting to know how everything went for you.

You smile opening your mouth to speak before the waitress comes over “What can I get you both tonight?” she smiles sweetly at the two of you. Caroline nods at you to go first “Can I have hot chocolate with a slice of marble cake please” you tell her nicely your parents taught you to always have good manners.

The waitress nods writing down your order “And you?” she asks looking at your girlfriend. Caroline looks at you then back at the worker “I’ll have vanilla iced coffee and the brownie Sunday thank you” she says. The waitress nods and walks away from both of you back inside.

Caroline looks at you waiting for you to tell her about your time away from her. “Paris was beautiful and the girls I worked with were so sweet I made a few new friends who live in New York, so I’ll probably go meet them soon. I told them all about you I could never stop talking about you, you know” you blush a bit at your own words.

She awes “That’s cute baby how was work everything went well right?” she asks you always checking up on you and wanting to make sure your okay. You nod “It was stressful with all the companies I had to work for some were kind of rude but I met the Dior ambassador and she gave me her number. She’s gonna call me because she said she loved my look and wants me to model for Dior some more so that’s really exciting” you tell her your words filled with excitement and raw emotion.

That’s what KK loved about you, how passionate you were with the things you loved. The waitress comes back handing you both your orders before walking away. You take a bite and moan causing Caroline to choke on her drink “Baby if you’re gonna make the sound it’s gonna be from me not some cake” you shrug at her words smiling. The two of you ate your desserts together talking about anything and everything before leaving the cafe to go back to her dorm, KK eager to get you all alone.

[annieqattheperipheral]

So strange when the goalie gets a penalty like what? the straight A student? that quiet nice nerd? he bothers nobody just makes every group project better

and the coach has to assign someone to serve it like obviously we can't take him away from the mathlete nationals and who's gonna be uzbekistan at the model un meet

[fourmoony]

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐓: Chapter Two

After breaking your ankle in the wake of a break up, you're determined to get through your senior year without any interference from James Potter. That is, until his loyalty to loose cannon Sirius Black lands him straight in your lap. Or, rather, your kiddie-skate group.

CW: Language, mentions of violence, sour sibling relationships, overbearing parents, mention of car crash and scars.

ITN: The Masterlist

James

One of James’ earliest memories is of the rink, back home. It’s not exactly a clear memory. There was lots of falling, a plastic penguin almost the size of him, and Sirius Black. His first day at kiddie-skate. Even though he’d spent more time on his ass than skating, it’s a memory James will always cherish. Even if it blurs, slightly, as time goes on. Because it’s the day he met Sirius. At five years old, James had no idea that the lanky, smart as a whip kid who somehow managed to both stumble across the ice and act like he owned it at the same time, was going to be one of the most important people in his life. Sirius is James’ soulmate. His best friend. There isn’t a day where James isn’t grateful for Sirius Black stumbling into his life; wild and untamed.

Except, maybe, today.

The rink at Hogwarts is a place James always feels at home. The smell of Zamboni fuel and the rubber mats meant to protect skate blades. The banging of lockers and the whir of the air conditioning that keeps the ice cool. It’s a small area of campus where James can go when he feels too much. Too overwhelmed, too sad, too anxious. A safe place. Even training is a relief to James. A time in which he’s allocated to turn his brain off, become captain and lead his team. He focusses on plays and makes mental notes on what to work on with the guys. During games he’s focussed on one thing: winning.

But today. Today, Hogwarts Arena is the very source of James’ anxiety, of the weight in his chest that just keeps pressing. It’s not that he’s scared of the rink. Or even of you. But the idea of being in charge of twelve miniature humans whilst knowing in the back of his mind that you’d rather be literally anywhere else is a pretty decent source of anxiety. The last thing James wants to do is make you uncomfortable in an environment that you love so much. You’ve coached mini skate since you were a sophomore. You once told James that it felt like your purpose. To fill the world with as many accomplished skaters as possible. Be a role-model. A guiding light. Someone they could look back at and think I’m glad I had a coach like her. A motivator. A kind soul.

You’re setting cones out on the ice when James takes a seat on the team bench to put his skates on. The kids are down by the tunnel, if the noise that flows from it is anything to go by. James finds himself staring as you skate. You do it with such ease that it reminds him hockey isn’t the only on-ice sport. You’ve trained your entire life to get to the level you’re at, today. He knows you’re going for Nationals again, this year, refuses to allow himself to think about last year. You deserve better of him than to have him distracted by that whilst co-coaching. He knows how that spiral goes. Spent all of his summer thinking about you, about the physical therapy you’d be enduring, the anger you’d have been feeling. Shame washes over him, hot and fast.

He ties his skates tighter than they probably need to be and joins you on the ice. Your head turns at the sound of his blades against the ice, fresh pressed by the Zamboni, after your training session with Pince, probably. You’re still wearing your training clothes, likely haven’t left the rink to get food between practice and mini skate. James makes a mental note to bring you something, next week.

“You’re late.” You call across the ice. You set another cone down, skate towards the next location.

James weaves in and out of the cones you’ve set out with ease, gaining on you without trying. “My Econ class ran long. Flitwick sent you an email.”

Your ponytail swishes when you turn to drop the next cone, feet crossing in a way James imagines is only capable because of your toe picks. If he tried a move like that in his blunt rounded hockey skates, he’d land on his face. With the final cone in your hand, you skate backwards, eyes on James. “Literally the last thing I said to you was ‘be on time’, James.” You sigh.

James smiles, “Actually, I believe the last thing you said to me was ‘You’re sorry that you feel like shit’.”

Your eyebrows hook in the middle when they furrow. James knows he has no right to chide you or try to joke with you, but he wants this to be painless. He hurt you, he knows that. He done a lot of stupid shit, things he can’t take back, even if he wishes he could. But he never thought you’d want to act like strangers, like two people who can’t hold a civil conversation. In his opinion, there’s too much history there, for that.

“The kids will be out any minute. We’re going over control. You take half, I take half.” You nod your head to the pile of cones on the other side of the rink.

James nods. “Sure thing.” He gets to work on setting up his cones before the kids come out of the tunnel.

The majority of kiddie-skate passes in a flurry of tiny skates torpedoing around James. He tries to keep up, tries not to come across as stern, even when all six of the kids under his leadership would rather race each other across the span of the ice. They remind him of he and Sirius, at that age. Causing trouble everywhere they went, consequences be damned. It’s exhausting, but nowhere near as awkward as he thought it might be. You dutifully keep your kids to your side of the ice, well behaved and skating in neat circles around their cones. James finds himself wondering if you gave him the wild bunch as a punishment. By the end of the session, James finds himself giving in and racing seven-year-old Michael from one net to the other. He considers letting him win but decides against it when he sees the determination on Michael’s face, the sure-fire way he glides on his skates. He’s fast; has potential. That shouldn’t be coddled. It should be nurtured, turned into motivation to try harder, next time. Because, next time, when he does try harder, he might just win. Until he’s playing at division one level.

James is sure that’ll be true, one day.

The parents mill around by the exit doors at the far end of the ice, ten minutes before the session ends. James can’t quite believe how fast the time has gone. You call him and his group of kids over to the middle of the ice, skidding to a stop on the edge of your skates. Dutifully, James directs his kids towards you. “Let’s go, team. The boss wants us over here.”

If you hear him, you don’t say anything. Instead, you direct James to stand next to you, arms crossed over your chest. “What did we learn, today?” You ask.

“Control.”

You nod, smile kind and patient. “That control is a key part in skating. Whether it be hockey or figure skating. If you can’t control your weight, your speed, your skates? Pshh,” You scoff, dramatically, “Game over, guys. You’re out.”

There’s amusement in your voice, despite the importance of what you’re saying. James finds it admirable, your ability to connect with the kids. You could connect with anyone, anywhere, though. It’s the kind of person you are. Patient, kind. Undeserving of all the bullshit James has brought into your life since you met him.

“Did you lose control when you broke your ankle?” One of the kids asks. A younger girl, a sparkly pink helmet sitting squint on her head. There’s no malice, just that childlike innocence that brings about curiosity.

The question shocks you, regardless. Your lips press into a thin line, eyes a little distant. James wonders if he should step in, cover for you. Change the subject, somehow.

“No, Kayla,” You fix your face, a sort of wistful look that James can’t figure out. “No, I lost focus.”

James feels his heart sink. Two nights before you left for Nationals, James dropped an irreversible bomb on you. It broke your heart, tore your relationship apart. Then, he sent you off to Nationals with a head full of his bullshit and watched you break your ankle in front of the entire country. Because he distracted you. He broke your focus. Took away the gold medal that had your name written on it.

The guilt keeps him awake at night. More so than the ache of missing you. Because he does. He misses everything about you. Your smile, your laugh, the way your nose scrunches when you’re focussing. He even misses your grumpiness when trying, and failing, to nail a new routine. He misses holding you, kissing you, telling you that he loves you.

But the guilt, the shame. The reality of what he did. It plays on a loop in his head, eats him alive. He’s trying not to drown in it as he watches you dismiss the kids, waving to parents as you skate them to the door. James just stands there, in the middle of the ice. Unsure of how to act. Unsure of what to do, if he should go, if he should stay and try to talk to you. He settles for skating to the team bench, a carved-out box halfway up the side boards. He sits down on the bench, bends down to untie his skates.

The door clicks shut behind you a moment later, a whoosh of cold air and the scent of your perfume as your skates skid to a stop outside the box, beforehand. James looks up as you cross past him, sitting on the opposite end of the bench. You follow his lead, untying your skates in silence. He puts his guards on, places them in his bag. Puts his shoes on. All the while suffocating in the silence.

“It wasn’t your fault.” You tell James. Your voice is quiet, so soft, like maybe you’re not sure you want him to hear you. Your eyes don’t leave your socked feet, hands folded in your lap.

James focusses on putting his shoes on. Doesn’t look at you. “You were right, you know.”

He catches the way your face scrunches, the sadness there. You won’t appreciate his comfort, so he doesn’t give you it. Instead, he stands, slings his bag over his shoulder. His hand itches to reach out and touch you, to tell you that he’s sorry. He wishes he could change everything, could take it all back. “I do feel like shit. But that’s not why I’m sorry.”

Your head tilts up. Your eyes are filled with tears and James can’t stomach it. He hates himself. You look so sad and tired. “See you on Sunday.” He nods and books it out of the team box, along the corridor, the foyer, and into the carpark.

He climbs into his truck, lets the shame swallow him whole, lets the pain burn him. And there, in private, alone, he breaks. He loathes himself for it. He has no right, no reason to be so sad, so solemn. He took everything from you. Yet he still breaks, anyway.

James doesn’t know how much more he can take before he can’t put himself back together, anymore.

Sirius

The Hogwarts Library is Sirius’ least likely haunt. He, honestly, avoids it at all costs. Unless he’s trying to find Lily. Even then, he tends to only stay for ten minutes, or so. It’s not that he hates studying. He actually enjoys his classes, finds the work stimulating for his overactive brain. He’s smart. That’s not to be doubted, even if he acts like an idiot ninety-nine percent of the time. The reason he hates the library so much is because it reminds him of the one at Grimmauld Place.

Hogwarts library is brighter, in fairness. But the high ceilings, regal architecture, the smell of old books and the eerie quiet. It’s all too similar to the library in his childhood home. It makes his skin crawl, the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. He’s guarded, like he always was at home. A place where it was do or die, fight to survive. Libraries are supposed to be a peaceful place. A place of childlike wonderment, a place where you can get lost in stories of knights in shining armour, passionate love. His opinion of libraries is that it’s a place one would go to get the shit kicked out of them at a dinner party for being too smart tongued. He remembers that all too well. Hates that particular story.

The girl at the front desk smiles kindly at him, but all he sees is a vulture waiting to pick him off, trap him here and make him relive his worst memories over and over. He grimaces, places his hands on the cold wood of the desk and begs it to ground him. Sirius forces a breath as he rolls his shoulders.

“I’m here for community service? There’s a kid writing a paper or something.” His words are breathy, unsure, gritted out through unwilling teeth. He hates this. Hates it with his entire being.

The blonde girl smiles, likely a little awe struck at the sight of a hockey player in the library. As far as Sirius knows, none of them use the library. Half of the team prefer to study at home, and half of them could give less of a shit about their degrees. “Uh, sure, Sirius, right?” She asks, prucking around the desk for a sheet of paper. 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Astrology is on the third floor. He’ll be waiting at the main desk for you.”

Sirius nods, thanks the girl and heads towards the stairs. He climbs them two at a time, skin itching with anticipation. He really hopes whoever he’s stuck with for the foreseeable future isn’t an overachieving dick. The signs for the astrology section of Hogwarts library point to the right, Sirius follows them all the way to the main desk in the centre of the floor. All of the shelves surround it in a circle, little stars and flecks of paint on the edge of each bookcase. In the centre of the circle sits a circle table, scattered with open books, papers, drawings of constellations.

Sirius tries not to think too hard about the irony of being landed with an astronomy student. He might hate everything about his family, but he loves the stars. Loves his namesake.

There’s no one at the desk, their things left abandoned. Sirius tries not to be nosey but fails. The closest thing to him are drawings, mappings of planets and stars. Hand drawn; with such painstaking detail he finds himself in awe of it. He sets it down, moves on to the next piece of paper, covered in barely legible ramblings about the importance of planet distance, star mapping, it’s barely congeable.

“Did no one ever teach you not to touch what’s not yours?”

Sirius freezes, blood draining from his entire body. The ice cold, baritone voice. Sirius hears it in his nightmares. It claws at the darkest parts of him. His hands shake as he turns; face to face with a more polished carbon copy of himself. Regulus Black is two years younger than Sirius, and yet he looks almost a decade older. He looks positively regal in his ironed clothes, with his perfectly tamed hair and clean-shaven face. Even his shoes don’t have a single scuff on them. It’s not lost on Sirius, the idea that this could have been him. He was supposed to be the heir, the brother with his shit together.

Regulus scowls at Sirius, reaches forwards to rip the paper from his trembling hands. His brain refuses to work, bile rises in his throat. He’s going to kill Moody.

There are memories, there. Playing somewhere in the back of his head. Childlike voices talking in hushed tones, screaming, fighting, hateful words, laughing, crying. He and Regulus were once as close as brothers could be. He hates that Regulus now looks at him with disgust. But refuses to let him win.

“Only thing my parents taught me was to hit fast and hard, watch your enemies wither and die.” Sirius scoffs, hands stuffed in his pockets. He will not allow Regulus to see him rattled. “Of course, they treated their own children like enemies.”

It’s Regulus’ turn to scoff. Even his scoff is prim and proper. He rounds the table and takes a seat, like a king in his throne. Sirius supposes he is. Everything in the Black family dynasty will be his in a few years. Everything Sirius didn’t want. Everything Regulus didn’t want. Not until he didn’t have a choice. “You wanted for nothing.” Regulus quips.

Sirius’ blood burns with the statement. He sounds exactly like their mother. Cruel, evil. Willing to overlook the darkness of her own soul because it got her what she wanted. Money and power. “Spoken like a true Black, Reggie. Congratulations.”

Regulus’ smile is nothing short of bitter. He knows the insult that lies in there, but he shrugs it off as easy as picking a piece of lint from his pure cotton shirt.

“I need all of the books from section A to B noted. Titles, author, date of publication. Alphabetised.” Regulus levels Sirius with a bored look and he balks.

His younger brother, acting like Sirius is beneath him. He shrugs, “Better get to work then, Reggie. Might take you a while.”

“You’re the one on community service for acting like a rabid animal.” Regulus shrugs.

“Yeah, I’ll take the suspension. This shit isn’t gonna happen.”

Regulus chuckles and Sirius can already picture it. His younger brother, sweet, kind, sensitive Reggie. Turned into a fortune five hundred shark, belittling his staff because he can. Just like their father. “Sure. Throw away your hockey career, Sirius. But the Black family won’t be there to welcome you back when you blow your trust fund.”

Sirius’ jaw ticks. Hockey is his life. The Cannon’s won’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, draft or no draft, if he doesn’t touch the ice this season.

“You’re just like him, you know.” Sirius spits. He doesn’t miss the way Regulus’ face hardens; a little shame mixed in there somewhere. They’re too similar, in some ways. Sirius knows exactly where to press where it hurts. 

Regulus hands him a notepad. “A to B.”

“Better get out before you end up like her, too, Reggie. That shit’s irreversible.” Sirius tells him, disappointed in himself for even saying it. It feels like acid on his tongue. He turns and goes to find section A. Doesn’t look back to see the fear on his younger brother’s face.

Remus

Thursday evenings are Remus’ least favourite. There’s no practice to keep his mind occupied, the gym is closed for deep cleaning, there’s nothing for him to occupy himself with, except his weekly call with his parents. He’s longed for an excuse to cancel a million times over. It never comes. A punishment, Remus thinks, for something he did in a past life. He loves his parents. They can be overbearing, intense, but they care. That’s a lot more than some people have.

But they don’t get him. His father, more so, than his mother. Hope Lupin is kind and understanding. If Remus told her he wanted to sack it all in and become a shark wrestler, tomorrow, she’d buy him a shark keyring and do as much research as it took to help him on his way. But Lyall Lupin? Five-time Stanley Cup Winner, top player in the NHL for years, retired, hardass hockey player? He’d strangle his only son with his bare hands. All he ever does is push. He pushes and pushes and refuses to see Remus’ health as an issue.

It’s exhausting. Sometimes, Remus just wants to be told to slow down. As much as he’d hate to (he has goals, things he wants to do, his illness won’t stop him). It would still be nice to not have so much pressure on him all of the time.

The call connects with a heavy sense of dread. Hope and Lyall are in their living room, a large canvass of Remus with his first ever hockey trophy hung proudly behind him. That was before the crash, before the scars and brittle bones. Back when the world was his for the taking. Remus hates that photo.

“Hi, love.” Hope beams, cheeks appled out in a smile.

Remus looks most like his mum. Right down to the sandy brown hair, fluffy and unruly. Except he has his father’s nose. The nose that his least favourite scar slashes jaggedly across. He avoids looking at the square with his face on it. Instead, he focusses on the look on his father’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Remus asks, nerves on edge.

Lyall Lupin, to the media, to people who don’t know him, is an unreadable man. Remus can read him like a book. His face might portray as impassive, but he’s furious. About what, Remus has no fucking idea. It’s always something.

“Nothing, love.” Hope tries to shake it off.

“You were a little heavy on your left skate last game, no?” Lyall grits out.

Remus almost laughs. Like, full on belly laughs. Disbelief washes over him, hot and furious, his blood burning. “I played first and second line because Kennedy bust his shoulder over the summer. You remember I have a bad knee, right?” Remus scoffs, eyebrows raised.

He sees the way his mother eyes his scars, the way they pale with the stretch. She looks sad, remorseful. He relaxes his face, shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“Of course, we do, Rem.”

“You think the Wasps will be impressed with that performance? So early in the season, too.” Lyall scoffs, waving a dismissive hand at Remus.

Sometimes Remus thinks his parents see right through him. Sometimes, he wants to scream that he’s right there. That they almost lost him altogether and anything he does now should be a fucking bonus. That he’s sick of never being good enough. That his father should be grateful Remus is even still physically able to get on the ice.

Instead, he swallows the anger and sighs. “Holme gave me some new physio exercises. It’ll be better next time.”

His father nods. “Good.”

“Is that all, then?” Remus asks shortly.

“How was your week?” Hope asks, at the same time Lyall lets out a stern, cold, “Yes.”

She frowns at her husband, who blatantly ignores her. It raises a feral beast in Remus. A wolf howling. He wants to tell his father to respect his wife, to appreciate all she does for him. But he knows Hope hates when he does that. So, he scoffs, hangs up, and slams his laptop closed. He’s exhausted after a mere five-minute phone call, wants nothing more than to crawl into bed with a book and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

But Sirius stands in his doorway, a sympathetic look on his face. Remus hates it. Hates when Sirius treats him like something fragile, something that can be easily broken. While it may be physically accurate, it will take a lot more effort from Lyall Lupin to break Remus mentally.

“He was in top form.” Sirius murmurs.

Remus nods, runs his hands across his face. The raised bumps of his scars irritates him, so he drops his hands to his lap. “How was community service?”

Sirius shrugs. “The kid writing the paper?”

Remus hums.

“Regulus.”

“Shit. Sorry, Pads.” Remus offers, hand itching to reach out and intertwine with Sirius’. A comforting touch for both of them. He doesn’t.

Just follows Sirius across the room with his eyes as he approaches Remus’ neatly made bed and climbs in. Remus sighs. He’s not sure he has the energy for whatever game Sirius is playing. He can barely keep up anymore. They’re toeing the line between best friends and something else, and while Remus enjoys it, sometimes, he doesn’t think he can stomach it tonight.

But Sirius pushes the display pillows off the side, pulls back the covers for Remus and he finds he can’t resist.

Sirius smells like old books with a touch of cinnamon. He curls into Remus’ side with ease, muscles relaxing until he’s lax in his arms. He feels himself relaxing, too.

“I miss him.” Sirius whispers, voice broken.

Remus presses his lips to Sirius’ hair. “I know.”

“He hates me.”

His chest constricts. Remus knows how much Sirius regrets leaving Regulus. It weighs on him, is probably a large part of why he refuses to take responsibility for anything, ever. He wishes he could make it better for Sirius. “He hates that you got out.”

“I hate myself for not dragging him with me.” Sirius says.

His grip tightens on Remus, his head pushing further into Remus’ neck.

“He’ll forgive you. If you tell him.”

Sirius doesn’t say anything. His breathing slows, Remus feels his eyelashes flutter against his neck. Asleep. Out cold.

He presses one last kiss to Sirius’ hair, pushes all of the thoughts out of his head, and follows suit.

[bballlvr8]

this is kind of long sorry lol.

Azzi Media Day Availability 

Feeling Really Good and Strong.  Close to being back at full practices. 

Doing most at practice, still on “load management”. Doing most stuff. 

Learned that Sarah is really good. 

Feeling great about the squad, very young, so many new pieces, working on chemistry. Every week is looking better than the last. Kaitlyn is smart, adjusting getting use to the program. Makes the right reads and decisions 

Having Allie on the team: Great Shooter, Great scorer, reads the floor really well, will help open up the floor. 

How is Paige different or better this year? Taking her leadership role very very seriously, because she does not have the other seniors (Nika and Aaliyah to rely on). Try to fill in that void. being a strong voval leader. Doing really good she’s been able to see that shift in Paige. More aggressive (offensively and defensively) said that she’s really been taking charge which she loves to see

The team is working on nipping the bad habits now and not letting them linger. Having discipline and holding eachother accountable is going to help them go a long way. 

Seeing KK and Ashlynn more comfortable, KK trying to be more vocal, Ashlynn being more confident, says its nice to see them settling in a little more. 

Her Goals on being back: Hasn’t really had that conversation, but they are taking it step by step. She’s feeling good on where shes at in practice and adding more makaing sure her knee responds well. 

Asked if she could see the light at the end of the tunnel on her rehab: She said “oh forsure” shes never been so happy to practice in her life, its a great feeling. 

Thoughts on Champion Classic and game against USC: Thinks its going to be incredible you see the energy that barclays can have, and being one of the first groups that get to play there is going to be special. 

Says that she was surprised to be back at Media Day (if you are selceted for a preseason award you get to come). Says that shes been here every year and that she has not made it through a year yet to get an award lol. Nice to see but you still have to prove it. 

Still in the phase of getting her feet back under her, getting use to the pace, playing with other people!!, spacing and the flow of offense. said her shot is alright right now lol.. she has her days, working on giving herself grace because she knows she is not going to come back  and be 100% right away after being out for 10 months. 

Said giving herself grace has been very important because she does have high standards for herself and she does want to see that ball go in everytime she shoots it lol.

She’s doing 5x5 with contact, and say yeah its been fun lol. 

Her time away has forced her to see the game from a different prespective, slows it down for you. Thinks it going to help her going into this year. 

Questioned on whether paige gave her any advice on coming back from an acl injury at the collegiate level: She said not really lmao. Said she’s a great hype woman, and if she needs anything she knows paige is there for her as is all her teammates. 

Excited for any game she gets to play. 

Talked about being sidelined and watching how the game has taken off (viewership wise) said that she felt it was really special because they weren’t just fans of basketball but were fans of them as well, said getting see the little kids that come up is so heartwarming. Said its crazy to think that they are role models to them. 

Said that Paige was crazy; they asked if she could go to a football game and be in class the next morning, she said not for football but for another sporting event most definitely 

Talked about Paiges World and Work Tour 

Talked about being an upperclassman and understanding what the coaches want, and how everything works.. feels that will be able to help her coming back to the game. 

Talked about books and listening to Rod Wave. Said she hasn’t really read recently because shes been reading so much for class. 

[richarlotte]

New in the life?

One of my older friends is currently in some sort of flirtation with a major player, and I’ve been living for the gossip. None of it is particularly groundbreaking, but it is interesting, and I do think it’s worth reading. 

1. No OnlyFans, no Fansly, no FanFix, and no private Snapchat. The better the player, the more scrutiny is on the girlfriend, especially if he’s a good player at a good school. It’s the same with (most popular) players to an extent as well; your social media needs to be clean with nothing more than modeling photos, nothing that could be considered more than soft (bikini pics are okay, full lingerie shoots are not), and no other links. If you’re with someone who’s pulling in NIL, has sponsorships, or is going to go into the league, you can’t be a liability, and if you are, the team will shut it down immediately and make sure you get dumped.

2. These guys aren’t necessarily looking to get married, but they’re also more religious and a lot more controlling than you’d think. We have a friend who went from playing college basketball at a state school to the NBA; he makes just under $10 million (before taxes) every year, and we’ve always known him to be religious. It should be obvious by now what I’m going to say, but I’ll say it anyway: he and most of his younger teammates are players on the road, but they want to control the image of the girls they’re with publicly and use God and their potential to do that.

3. The bigger and better the team, the more they have to lose. These are players with millions of dollars attached to their names; these are men who sell merch and have fan groups, and there are people who have quite a bit of money tied up in the future of these men. The second you become a real issue, you’re going to be on your way out. You don’t mess with the money; you never mess with the money, and the only people who don’t understand that are people who know what it’s like to have money. You don’t mess with the contract, you don’t mess with the outcomes of games, and you do your best to fly under the radar of watchful eyes.

4. There are 100% handlers. Whenever she goes out on dates with him, they have to go to specific places, they have to be seen at certain events together, and they can’t do a lot of the activities you’d think they’d be able to do. He also has private accounts, he’s not allowed to post normally on his public social media, he’s not allowed to post with her, and he has to be careful about seeming devoted to the game. He’s under the impression (and probably has been told) that the big leagues will only want him if he’s unattached and completely devoted, so the man he makes himself out to be on social media and in interviews is very different than the man we’ve all met. He’s being told what to do by his coaches, their assistants, and by NCAA lawyers.

Again, nothing groundbreaking, but it’s interesting. I love seeing what goes on behind the scenes, and I think it’s fascinating to see the rules that the girls who are with the more popular players abide by in order to have a chance at any sort of situationship/relationship.

[blognerdzone]

How to Structure a Group Coaching Session  

Have you considered stepping into group coaching but aren’t sure how to structure your sessions? Whether you’re an aspiring coach launching your first premium coach group or an experienced professional refining your approach, learning the proper structure is key to transforming your sessions into impactful client experiences.

  Group coaching is not a one-size-fits-all experience; it is a dynamic approach that requires preparation, engagement, and clarity to ensure that every participant finds value. This guide will walk you through the practical structure of a group coaching session—from start to finish—enabling you to coach and build meaningful connections with your clients confidently.

Why is Structure Important in Group Coaching?  

Before delving into the "how," it's essential to grasp the "why." Structured group coaching sessions provide a clear direction for you and your participants. They ensure everyone's time is respected while keeping the sessions engaging and impactful. Participants can concentrate on their growth and transformation with a defined framework rather than feeling lost or uncertain.

Whether structuring a premium coaching group or facilitating a more casual gathering, having a transparent group coaching model can make all the difference.

Key Benefits of a Well-Structured Coaching Session:

Builds trust and fosters participation by clarifying objectives.  

Improves time management, ensuring all participants receive attention.  

Encourages richer discussions and deeper engagement.  

Creates consistent outcomes across sessions while being flexible.  

Now, how do you begin crafting a structure that works?  

 Best Practices for Structuring a Group Coaching Session  

1. Begin with a Warm Welcome  

First impressions matter, even in coaching. Begin your session with a friendly and inviting tone to put everyone at ease. Thank participants for joining and acknowledge their effort in participating in this experience.  

Example Welcome Script:  

“Welcome, everyone! I’m so glad you’re here today. Joining a coaching session is an incredible step in your growth, and I want to acknowledge the time and energy you’re dedicating to this.”  

Here’s what you can include in the opening:

Introductions (especially for first sessions): Allow each participant to share their name and what they hope to gain from the session.  

Quick overview of the session’s agenda or purpose.  

Ground rules to foster respect and smooth participation (e.g., “one person speaks at a time,” “confidentiality is critical,” etc.).  

This warm-up phase should last 5-10 minutes to build rapport and set the tone.  

2. Set Clear Objectives  

Once the group is engaged, share the specific goals for the session. By setting expectations upfront, you’ll ensure everyone is aligned and knows what to focus on.  

For example:

“Today’s session is about overcoming imposter syndrome. By the end of our time together, you’ll walk away with three actionable strategies to boost your confidence.”  

Clarity like this empowers participants to listen actively and participate with the end goal in mind.  

 3. Start with a Brief Teaching Segment  

Even though group coaching is typically collaborative, a short teaching segment can anchor the session. Share a concept, framework, or insight related to the session’s focus.  

Make this segment interactive to keep participants engaged. For example:

Use compelling visuals or slides if you're coaching virtually.  

Pose questions to encourage discussion (e.g., “What’s coming up for you as you hear this?”).  

Share stories or examples to illustrate your point.  

Keep this portion succinct—aim for 10–15 minutes to ensure enough time for the following interactive activities.  

 4. Facilitate Group Discussion  

Group discussions are at the heart of most group coaching models. This is the time to encourage open sharing, facilitate collaboration, and support participants in learning from you and each other.  

How to run a practical discussion:  

Pose a thought-provoking question or statement based on your teaching point. Example: “What’s one limiting belief holding you back this week—and how have you tried to address it?”  

Use exercises like peer coaching or partner breakouts to promote interaction.  

Practice active listening during participant responses. Reflect on their input by summarizing key points or asking follow-up questions.  

It’s helpful to have a plan for managing the timing of this part, as discussions can run longer than expected. Consider dedicating 20-25 minutes to this section.  

5. Guide Clients through Actionable Takeaways  

It’s one thing to spark conversations—it’s another to help participants apply what they’ve learned. After the discussion, transition into a section where participants commit to action steps aligned with their goals.  

Here’s how you can do it effectively:

Encourage participants to identify one actionable next step before the next session.  

Guide: Help them create a SMART goal. The acronym "SMART" stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Consider group accountability by pairing participants to check in with each other between sessions.  

This step transforms your session from theory into practice, empowering clients to create meaningful results.  

6. Wrap Up with Connection  

Always end with a closing that brings the group together, celebrates progress, and previews upcoming sessions or opportunities.  

Key Components of Closing a Session:  

Recap the objectives and highlight key takeaways.  

Thank participants for their energy and contributions (e.g., “This session wouldn’t have been the same without your insights!”).  

Offer a quick preview of the next session topic to build excitement.  

Conclude with a reflective or motivational note (e.g., “I encourage you to take one step today, no matter how small, and trust that progress is being made.”).  

Bonus Tip: Invite feedback! After the session, send out a quick survey to gather input on what participants loved and what can be improved.  

 Things to Remember for Effective Group Coaching  

Keep your sessions flexible enough to accommodate the organic flow of conversation but structured enough to ensure efficiency.  

Respect everyone’s time by sticking to the planned duration of the group coaching model. Typically, sessions last 60–90 minutes.  

Foster inclusivity—ensure quieter members feel encouraged to participate without being pressured.  

To increase engagement, use tools like breakout rooms (for virtual coaching) or physical props (for in-person coaching).  

 Level Up Your Group Coaching Today  

Your ability to structure a group coaching session can distinguish you as a leader in the premium coaching space. By combining thoughtful preparation, active facilitation, and meaningful takeaways, you will create transformative experiences for your clients time and again.  

Still, feeling uncertain about how to establish your group coaching model? Don’t hesitate to reach out for guidance. Stress—you don’t have to do it alone. With our personalized coaching tools, you can develop a style that feels authentic and impactful.  

Start crafting your ideal coaching experience today!  

[mydaddywiki]

Robert Kraft

Physique: Average Build Height: 5’ 7" (1.7 m)

Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development, and a private equity portfolio. He is internationally recognized as the owner of the six-time Super Bowl winning NFL franchise, the New England Patriots. He also owns the New England Revolution of MLS, which he founded in 1996, and the esport-based Boston Uprising, which Kraft founded in 2017. As of July 2024, he has an estimated net worth of US$11.1 billion according to Forbes.

Born in Brookline, MA, after earning a bachelor’s degree (1963) at Columbia University and an M.B.A. (1965) at Harvard Business School, Kraft went to work at Rand-Whitney, a manufacturer of paper packaging that was controlled by his father-in-law, Jacob Hiatt. Kraft bought out half of Hiatt’s interest in 1968 and took complete control in 1972. In 1972 he founded International Forest Products to trade in wood, pulp, and paper products. He created the Kraft Group in 1998 as a holding company for Rand-Whitney, International Forest Products, and his family’s other interests, most notably in the field of sports.

Kraft’s first sports-related venture was the Boston Lobsters, a team in Billie Jean King’s World Team Tennis (WTT) league. He acquired the New England Patriots in January 1994, paying $172 million, the highest price for an NFL team up to that time. In 2000 Kraft hired Bill Belichick as head coach, and the move helped transform the Patriots into one of the NFL’s dominant teams, winning six Super Bowls (2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019). In 1996 Kraft and his family also founded the New England Revolution, which played in the Major League Soccer league.

Lets see… twice married, Kraft married Myra Nathalie Hiatt in 1963 and together the couple had four sons: Jonathan A. Kraft, Daniel A. Kraft, Joshua M. Kraft, and David H. Kraft. She died on July 20, 2011, of ovarian cancer, at the age of 68. In June 2012, Kraft began dating actress Ricki Noel Lander, who was 38 years his junior, later breaking up in 2018. In 2019, Kraft was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution, but the charges were dropped the following year. In 2022, Kraft married his partner, Dana Blumberg.

Kraft proves two theories of mine. First: He as more than two children, so my loves to fuck theory applies. Second: If a man who was married for a long time (over 45 years) and loses his wife by divorce or in this case, death. Would go CRAZY for some new strange. He’s fucking a twenty something model/wanna be actress, getting blow jobs at cheap massage parlors and hanging around rappers. Strippers/groupies anyone. And included in all that, experimenting in man on man sex. Allegedly. Allegedly. But you can’t tell me he hasn’t had his dick sucked by a man.

Career Highlights and Awards 6× Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, LIII) George Halas Award (2012) Theodore Roosevelt Award (2006) U.S. Open Cup (2007)

[octodrawn]

Tangier, Delilah, and Madame Pom, or as I like to call them, the model trio. I like to think that they're friends :-)

read more due to length of some hcs/backstory stuff

Delilah is a model for a specific designer brand (whose name I might come up with later but probs not lol), Tangier is a model for Tres Blasé magazine specifically, and Madame Pom is primarily a pageant girl and an actress who does some freelance modeling on the side.

I feel like they'd meet individually at photo shoots and runways, but not become more than acquaintances until they all meet each other again at a New Years Eve party.

Delilah is burnt out with modeling. She's been doing it since she was a kid and dropped out of school when she was a teen to pursue it further. Even though she has lost all interest in modeling, she really has no other choice than to continue since she never finished high school and wouldn't be hired anywhere else. When she begins mentoring Pom and Tangier (even though they are around the same age, Delilah has at least a decade more experience than them), Delilah regains a bit of her passion.

Tangier is less intimidated by female models compared to other male models, so Delilah and Pom are two of the first friends he made in the business. Both of them are very perceptive and can see through when he's acting like a kiss-ass to higher-ups or sabotaging the careers of newbies. He believes his hard work and sacrifices he made for his modeling are what makes him more worthy than anyone else to be the Tres Blasé model. However, deep down, he knows he is not the best model, which is why he nips any competition in the bud. Delilah's coaching helps him improve his craft and gives him less of a need to be jealous of other male models. Old habits are slow to die, however...

Pom is the newest model of the three. She never thought much of modeling until she won the prize of a modeling contract for half a year from a beauty pageant. She enjoyed her time as a model, but preferred acting much more. After a dry spell of auditions, Pom began looking into modeling as a career option. That's when she met Delilah and Tangier. Tangier is annoyed with her amateur modeling at first, but as they both improve they form a genuine connection. Pom, while being not the smartest person in the world, is definitely the group's moral compass and tries to keep the others from causing interpersonal issues.

[jessicaslittlelovesickmess]

Too much history

Pairing: Rebecca Welton x Reader

Warnings: angst? Hurtfic? Rushed on my work break and I hate it

Your dad was the coach for Richmond the team owned by your girlfriend- ex girlfriend how you never saw it coming. Never the ending of two years with the older blonde, she said it was age but maybe it was because she wasn’t used to women like this.

When you first moved with your dad he joked to everybody that you were off limits these boys became your family. A group of older brothers always willing to jump to your aide but what happens when it’s their boss causing your woes?

Rebecca stood at her front door her shoes in hand while her hair remains tussled like she’d only just arrived home which she did. The blonde couldn’t face to see the look of hurt in your darks eyes as stared sadly the tears having welled already.

“I came here to see if we could fix things” your voice cracked with emotion “but I see that’s not possible anymore” you swallowed turning to leave. “I’m sorry” Rebecca breathed out “I really am, he meant nothing” she admitted “I think that’s the problem” your accent peaking through.

“Pardon?” The blonde scrunched her face in confusion “you always run to a he, as if you’re trying to cure the impossible you like women Rebecca just admit it”. Rebecca looked down at her feet “and if I told your father I was dating his daughter?” She asked softly “he would understand, he’s a cool dad” You smiled sadly.

“The best dad and he would be supportive” your shoulders sagged slightly “I’m too old for you” too old? “Is that you or Rupert because you weren’t too old when we were dating so why now?”. Rebecca blew a stray hair from her face “I bumped into him a week before I broke up with you he said something about how everybody likes things new. I’m not new Y/n/n I’m old my boobs are sagging”

Your heart broke “you’re not old Rebs, I don’t want anyone my own age okay? So what if one day I wake up and you don’t look the same as the day we met? It’s life and your boobs are perfect”. Rebecca dropped the shoes in her hand slowly “I love you, only you and hopefully only you for the rest of my days. I don’t want some professional model when I already have one in front of me, Rebecca you are my home”

She went to speak but stopped herself before opening the door wider to let you in, everything was still the same as when you left. Closing the door softly behind you she followed until you both reached the kitchen, yep still the same you smiled.

She poured you both a drink “and children?” She whispered “I could always carry them or we could adopt nothing is impossible Rebs”. She nodded taking a sip out of your glass before handing it over “I want a life with you in it. I don’t look the same anymore does that bother you?”.

“No, I don’t think about it because you’re gorgeous” green eyes met your brown ones “exactly my point” a hand inching towards hers. “Are you sure about this?” Her voice small as she blinked rapidly “I’m sure” you smiled sadly “are you?” Rebecca nodded.

“We have too much history to just throw away, I love you Rebecca. I love you” You chuckled waterily “i love you to Y/n/n. I’m sorry” she apologised.

[sh4wty18]

girl of your dreams - chapter five. [complete]

one. | two. | three. | four. | five.

pairing: hockeyplayer!chris x figureskater!reader

summary: chris gets injured at practice which leads to some unexpected alone time in the men's locker room. then you go to his house after practice to finally work on the teambuilding exercises. what could possibly happen?!

cw: rivals to lovers, angst, first person POV, language

word count: 3.7k + not proofread sorry (but y'all are getting fed sooo)

tags: @joeshiestyslover @chrissbluehat @h3arts4harry @wompwomp-1 @cassluvsturn @cl1tlover3000 @amelia-sturniolo3

dividers from @plutism

!! chapter warning: this chapter contains smoking 🍃 & getting high!! keep in mind that this is a fictional story, and i am not claiming that chris does this irl. i know he is sober, this is just for fun and nothing about it is accurate to irl !!

---

Y/n POV:

The next day at practice I can hardly focus on anything. I’m stumbling as I run my drills, barely sticking my landings when I jump. Usually my moves are clean, crisp–perfect. But I can’t seem to do anything right after last night. 

Luckily, no one else was in the rink when it happened. We were alone. Maybe that’s why he’d done it in the first place. No risk, no consequences. Just pure, desperate lust. I wanted it to happen, of course I did. His lips were soft, but the roughness of his stubble gave the kiss an edge–a bite–and it had me craving more. I had to wear a turtleneck to practice today, to cover the bruises he’d left on my neck and collarbone. Playing it off like I was just “getting a cold” when Coach Beck asked why I was breaking the uniform felt wrong. I don’t like lying to people, especially not my role models. But a part of me also liked it. It felt good to live on the edge for once, to have a secret. Something that made me more than just the goody-two-shoes straight A student everyone knew me as. 

Coach Beck blew her whistle as I fell out of time with the other girls yet again, stumbling over my feet as she shook her head in disappointment. “Alright, take five!” she shouts with an eyeroll. I look over at the hockey team and see Chris staring at me. He looks away quickly, and then back at me again when we make eye contact. 

I turn my attention back to Beck, who struts over to me with a look of concern lining her face. “Are you alright? You’re my star skater, but today… things have been off. Not even just today, this entire season. Something feels different. Is everything okay?” 

“Yes!” I snap, a little more defensively than I’d intended to. “I mean, yeah. Everything’s fine. I’m just busy with MCAT studying and you know, it’s my senior year. Graduation’s only seven months away. It’s just a lot. I’m sorry, that I… you know, seem out of it.” 

Coach Beck stares at me and her face softens at my words. “I know there’s a lot going on. If you ever need someone to talk to, just know I’m here for you. We have our first competition next week, you think you’re gonna have your head in the game by then?” 

I smile, “Yeah. Definitely.”

She pats me on the shoulder, “Good.” 

Suddenly I hear a loud crack and a scream, and my attention is pulled back to the hockey team, where one player is laying on his back on the ice with a group of players circling around him. 

“Sturniolo!” I hear Coach Carter shout, “The fuck are you doing?! This is what having your head up your ass all practice’ll get you.” He walks over to where Chris is laying and lugs him off the ground, “Come on, let’s get you into the locker room.” Chris cradles his cheek, that’s been split open and is gushing blood, the skin around his eye already darkening with a bruise. “Clean yourself up and call it a day. Get back in the rink tomorrow ready to play, got it?”

“Got it, Coach. I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I-”

“Save your apologies. I don’t wanna hear ‘em. Just get focused, and get ready to be a team player. I need my star center. 

Chris hobbles off the ice and into the men’s locker room. And I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but before I can think better of it, I’m making my way off the ice, too. I’m untying my skates and throwing them down on the ground next to my bag, and I hear Coach Beck shout, “Y/n/LN, where are you going?!” as I run into the men’s locker room. 

“Chris?” I call out as the locker room door closes behind me. I find him leaning over the sink, touching the cut below his left eye with a wince. He jumps when he catches my reflection behind him in the mirror. 

“The fuck are you doing in here, kid?” he asks. 

“Helping you,” I reply. For once, my voice isn’t filled with annoyance when I talk to him, even though he was already being a prick, and he’s only said one sentence to me. I couldn’t find it in me to be mad at him though, not in this state. “Sit on the sink, you still have your skates on.” 

“Where are you going?” he asks as I walk away from him. I grab the first aid kit off the wall above the fire extinguisher and bring it back to the sinks, where Chris is now sitting on the vanity. I smile to myself a little, finding it endearing that he listened to my instruction despite everything. 

“Grabbing this,” I answered his question, shaking the kit in front of his face. 

“How’d you know where that was?” he asks, confusion written all over his face.

“Chris, it’s a first aid kit. They’re above the fire extinguishers in both locker rooms.” His face still spells out confusion, even after my explanation. “You never noticed the fire extinguishers before, have you?” 

“Maybe…” he trails off, biting back a smile. “Ow.” 

“Don’t laugh,” I say with a giggle. “It’s just going to make your face hurt more.”

“How do you expect me not to laugh when…” he stops himself.

“When what?” I ask with a grin.

“When you literally left your practice to help me. You know how bad that looks, right?” He grins back at me.

“Yeah, well. Maybe I just don’t care how bad I look anymore.” I look down at my feet. 

“Nice turtleneck,” he says, and I can almost hear the smirk in his voice. I feel my face flush red, and I keep looking at my feet. There’s no way I’m letting him see me blush for him.

“Fuck off, Chris.” I step between his legs, which dangle off the edge of the sink, and open the first aid kit. I grab the alcohol wipe to clean the cut, “This is gonna hurt.” 

I lean against the sink with one hand, and bring my other hand up to his cut, gently dabbing the cut with the wipe to clean off any leftover blood. He winces in pain, and grabs my hand as a reflex. “Shit,” he hisses. 

“I know, I’m sorry,” I whisper, not pulling away from his grip. “How did this even happen? I heard the noise but didn’t see anything.” 

I throw the wipe in the trash, finally letting go of his hand to grab the anti-bacterial ointment from the kit to rub around the perimeter of the cut. I lean closer as I do, careful not to get any of the ointment into the open wound. Our faces are inches apart. It’s taking everything in me not to close the gap between our mouths right now. 

“Nate hit the puck and it flew up and fuckin’ hit me in the face. I fell on my ass. Couldn’t see for a second. It hurt like hell, but I guess I’m lucky it didn’t get me right in the eye.” He looks down at my face, his eyes passing over my lips. 

“Why weren’t you paying attention?” I ask, stopping my movement for a second to hold his gaze. 

“You know why,” he replies, nodding toward me before looking past my eyes at the wall. 

“Hold still.” I grab some butterfly bandages from the kit and unwrap one, holding his chin steady with one hand and bringing the bandage up to his face with the other. I can feel his gaze burning into my skin, but I stare at his cheek with laser focus. I press one side of the butterfly bandage into the skin under his eye as gently as I can.

“Fuck,” he hisses again, and his hand flies up on instinct to pull my hand away from his cheek. 

“Chris, I didn’t say it was gonna be painless.” I give him a little laugh in a bleak attempt to lighten his mood. When in reality, I hated seeing him in pain. I wanted to reach out and kiss his bruises. Make all his pain disappear and make him forget about the injury in the first place. Damn. Maybe I care for him more than I thought I did.

“I know, I know. Just… shit, um, keep going,” he winces. I pull the butterfly bandage until the cut is semi-closed, and press the other sticky end down on the other side of the wound. I repeat the process a couple more times, until he has a perfect, straight row of bandages holding his cut together. 

He looks into my eyes, and my fingers graze against his black eye. He leans into my touch, never taking his eyes off of me. 

“Thanks,” he whispers.

“Mhm,” is all I can muster up the confidence to say. He leans in, so slowly that at first I can barely tell he’s moving at all. But then his mouth is only centimeters away from mine, and his eyes are closing, and his lips are parting, and then mine are too. 

“Sturniolo! Y/n/LN! What the hell are you two doing in here?!” I hear Coach Carter bark as the door to the locker room slams open. I honestly don’t understand how the hockey team deals with him, he’s so mean. Chris’s head snaps upward and I back up enough that he can hop down from the sink. “Get back on the ice, Y/n/LN. Your practice isn’t done yet. Sturniolo, go the hell home and rest. Your face looks awful.”

“Gee, thanks Coach!” Chris says sarcastically, and I can’t help but let out a snort. 

Coach Carter shoots me an angry look, a warning. I clear my throat and straighten my posture. “Sorry, sir.” I give Chris one last onceover, and he nods, his mouth in a small half-smile. 

For the rest of practice, all I can think about is that Chris almost kissed me again. We almost kissed again. It must not have been a mistake for him, I realize. If he was willing to do it again. Maybe he felt the same as me after all. When practice finally lets out, I immediately run straight to my bag and grab my phone, eager to text Gracie about my encounter with Chris. When I came home last night and showed her my neck, she nearly passed out from excitement, and I heard so many “I told you so”s that the phrase started to lose meaning. But before I can even text Gracie, my eyes are met with a text from Chris:

still coming to my place tn?

I type out a reply quickly:

I can. Do you feel up to it?

His text bubble appears, then disappears. Then it appears again. And I bite my lower lip with nerves at what he could possibly be taking so long to type out.

yea

we gotta do this team building bullshit either way

lol

Three texts. Was the Chris Sturniolo… nervous? I decide to be a little bitchy in my reply. I can’t have him thinking our rivalry is over, just because we made out once… And then almost kissed again. 

It’s not bullshit, Christopher 🙄 You’d think after this afternoon you’d be a little nicer to me…

He responds quicker to this one, eager to return the banter.

okay y/n… whatever u need to tell urself

just get over here quick and maybe i’ll be nice to u 😁

I smile at my phone, throwing it back into my bag and rushing into the locker room to take a quick shower and get dressed again before walking over to Chris’s place. 

—

I knock on the ADPhi house front door, looking down at my body to make sure my outfit looks good too. 

A man who isn’t Chris opens the door and immediately stares me down. “Who you lookin’ for?” he asks with disinterest. 

“Chris. We have to work on something for our sports–”

“Don’t care,” the man says and rolls his eyes. “Come in.” He moves out of the way so I can cross the threshold. “You know where his room is?” 

I think back to the last time I was in Chris’s room, and have to look away before my face goes red. “Yeah, I got it,” I reply, but he’s already walking back to the living room to watch basketball with his frat bros. Asshole, I think to myself as I walk up the stairs and to the first door on the right. 

I pause at the door, exhaling deeply to prepare myself for the inevitable. I don’t know why, but for some reason I was more nervous than ever to be alone with Chris. I’d never been nervous around him before, usually just annoyed. Maybe that was because before his party, I hadn’t had a reason to be nervous. Now our mutual attraction to each other is out in the open, and that’s scary. 

I finally knock on his bedroom door, and he opens it in a few seconds. He smirks at me, “Look who learned how to knock,” he says with a chuckle. I can feel my cheeks burning up, so I shove past him and into his room. I hear the lock click behind me as he closes the door. It could’ve just been muscle memory, but part of me hopes that he locked it on purpose, to give us privacy. 

He sits down on his bed and grabs his phone from off his nightstand, scrolling mindlessly as he leans against the pillows. 

“Um, hello?” I say, clearly annoyed. “We have a job to do.”

He looks up from his phone to give me a half-hearted scowl. “But…I’m so weak and injured.” He throws a hand across his forehead to feign illness. “I need to rest.”

“If you needed to rest so badly, then why did you ask if I was still coming over?” I ask, giving him my best ‘I just caught you in a lie’ look. 

He swallows hard, and for once, I think Chris Sturniolo is at a loss for words. “Let’s just get this over with.” 

“Okay so I was thinking we could start with classic ice breakers, like names, majors, hobbies, you know the drill. But then, maybe we could do an activity where we each try to teach the other team something from our sport. So, like, the figure skaters can teach the hockey team how to do a basic turn or jump, and then the hockey team can teach us how to pass the puck back and forth or something.” Chris stares at me the entire time I speak, never breaking eye contact, and it gives me goosebumps. I clear my throat once I catch myself staring at his lips for a second too long, “So, um, what do you think?”

He tilts his head, rubbing his chin in thought. “I don’t think it’s terrible. To be honest, I’m good with doing whatever you want.” 

“Really?” I ask, “You don’t have any ideas?” 

“No, Y/n,” he laughs. “And even if I did, there wouldn’t be any point in telling you, because no matter what I say, you’d find a way to rebuttal it.”

I pull a disgusted face, “No I wouldn’t!”

He laughs even louder at that, “Yes you would, Y/n. It’s okay… that’s just how you are with me. I like it.” He pulls a pre-roll and a lighter out of his nightstand and lights the joint, bringing it to his lips and taking a long drag. 

I cross my arms, not giving in so easily. “Well, maybe if you didn’t say stupid shit all the time, I wouldn’t have to rebuttal you.” I tilt my head in his direction, leaning closer to him as he finally exhales the smoke over his shoulder toward his open window. 

He runs his tongue over his top teeth, smiling at me. “You want some?” he nods toward the joint before bringing it back up to his own mouth and taking another hit. 

I think about it. Usually, I would say no in an instant. But… It's Chris. And for some reason, my inhibitions fall away when I’m around him. “I mean, I’ve never…” I trail off.

“I can teach you,” he says. Then quieter, mumbles, “If you want.”  

“Okay,” I affirm.

He looks up at me with a look of surprise. “No way, I got the Y/n to agree to smoke a joint with me! Ladies and gentlemen, are we seeing this?!” He questions the imaginary audience.

“Don’t make me change my mind,” I say with an eyeroll, but I can’t hide the grin that’s creeping onto my face. 

“Okay, okay,” Chris says excitedly as he brings the joint to my mouth, waiting eagerly for me to latch on. I reach out and rest my hand on his wrist, guiding the joint between my lips. “So you’re just gonna inhale, hold it for a second, inhale again so it goes into your lungs, and then let it all out.” I inhale for a couple seconds, immediately feeling the heat enter my mouth. I let go of the joint and held my breath for a second, feeling my eyes start to water a little. “Okay, now inhale again,” Chris instructs. I do, and in an attempt to gracefully exhale, I end up coughing all over him. I let go of his wrist to cover my mouth, the relentless burn in my throat making it hard to stop. “Woah! You good?” he asks, grabbing a half-drank plastic water bottle from his nightstand and handing it to me, which I gratefully accept. He rubs my back in small, gentle circles as my coughing fit ends. “Yeah, that can happen,” he giggles.

“Thanks for the warning,” I say sarcastically, but I can’t even pretend to be annoyed with him. I can already feel the weed taking its effect. I feel heavy, yet light at the same time. And I feel calm, and like I could laugh at anything. I also feel like I could reach out and pull Chris in and kiss him right now, and it’s getting harder to stop myself. 

Chris takes another hit and passes me the joint, I inhale again. This time on the exhale, I don’t cough. I look up at him proudly, and he cheers. “Woo! The student becomes the master.” He gives me a nod of approval, and I pass the joint back to him. 

He looks at the joint, then up at me, and it’s like a lightbulb goes off in his mind. “Do you trust me?” he asks with a smirk.

I give him a questioning look, one eyebrow raised, “Yes?”

“Good. Open your mouth.” I don’t know why I do it. Maybe the weed is making me less tense, but I open my mouth without a second thought. He inhales again, but this time he reaches out and grabs my chin with his thumb and index finger, pulling me in. Before I know it, his lips are grazing against mine, and he’s exhaling the smoke directly into my mouth. And before I can even register what’s happening, he’s closing the gap between our mouths. 

And then I’m caught up once again in the feeling of his soft lips against mine. I waste no time wrapping my arms around his neck, and his hands find my lower waist. He yanks me into his lap so I’m straddling him, never once breaking the kiss. His hands roam my back until he settles on my ass, holding me with both hands and grinding me against his lap. I break away for a second and let out a sigh. He reaches up and tugs my turtleneck down to analyze the bruises he left yesterday. “Wanna leave more all over you,” he says, leaning in to kiss my collarbone over my shirt. 

I hold his face in my hands again and pull him in to continue kissing him. When his stubble brushes against my chin, it makes my heart race. After a few minutes, he pulls away from me, staring up at me with bloodshot, droopy, puppy eyes. “Can I ask you a question?” he asks.

I giggle, “You just did, but yes.” 

He smiles up at me, “Why did you help me today?”

“Um…” I hesitate, trying to figure out what I want to say. I brush my fingers over his black eye, and this time he doesn’t wince or pull away. “Because I don’t hate you. At all. And I think I finally realized that, and now I just think about you all the time.” I feel myself blushing, and immediately try to cover my face with my hands, but this time, there’s nowhere to hide. 

Chris pulls my hands away from my face and smiles at me, “You blushin’ for me, ma?” 

“Shut up,” I say, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. 

He turns and his mouth is right by my ear, “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that. Or how long I waited to kiss you.” I sit up and stare at him, shocked at his words. He continues, “No matter how insufferable you are, you’re still, like, my dream girl.” 

All my confidence is restored then, and I’m smirking down at him, “Oh yeah? I’m the girl of your dreams, Chris?” 

He scoffs, giving me his classic eyeroll, “Yeah. Somethin’ like that.” He pulls me tighter against his chest, his strong arms wrapping around my back. I drape my arms over his shoulders, ready to turn my attention back to his mouth. His gaze passes between my eyes and my lips, and a small grin forms on his face. He leans in so close I can feel the breath pass between us. “You’re mine,” he whispers.

Those two little words are all I need to hear. My mouth is back on his just as rough and desperately as it was after practice yesterday. 

I never want this feeling to end.

---

this marks the end of the girl of your dreams series. i hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think! it honestly could've been more chapters but i was getting bored of it. so i decided to write one loooonnnggg chapter to wrap it up <33