#guess what? you're not gonna get free tickets to see her

[lucreziaces]

i'm sorry tiktok needs to die. the entire "become viral" mentality needs to fucking die. immediately. stalking taylor at work and then showing up at her house and waiting outside with phones pointed at her car as she pulls into her garage is beyond disgusting and disrespectful.

[goldsbitch]

That second flight

part 4 to That one Christmas flight

summary: What happens when people stop lying to themselves? Sometimes, you get a good night out of it.

warnings: cheesy af, swear words and alcohoI guess, cliche probably, typos most definitely

Do not fuck it up, do not fuck it up, do not fuck this up.

Hey you? What kind of a message even is that? Ugh. She ruined it. Now she will have to move away and start her life again.

The weather forecast predicted high levels of overreacting for today.

He must have liked the cool girl vibe she somehow gave of on the plane. Y/N prayed for the gods of cool vibes to bless her again.

Lando was just about to start an interview for Sky Sports when he received her message. He imagined this was how it felt to win a podium. On the top of the world. He gave an absolutely charismatic, energetic and funny interview. One that would surely create lots of gifs on the socials. PR manager even high-fived him when they finished. To be honest, he could not wait for a moment of solitude so that he could reply.

"hey" he started. "so I broke the rule, ups" Her reply came instantly.

"I've noticed. But then again, you radiate speeding tickets vibe from miles away. So no surprise."

He smiled, well aware of how efficient the Italian ticketing was running.

"paid one last week, so you got me there" "so, how's your cool student life going?"

"Trying gain some wisdom, as people just feel free to call me dumb on social media these days."

"compliments come in a variety of forms, don't discriminate"

From now on, there was no way back.

//

The next few days consisted of constant texting. Joking around, sending pictures capturing their daily life - both of them keeping in secret that lots of the information shared was nothing new. They were careful, somewhat distancing themselves from any real deep topics. But, days felt like blur, waiting for the next text to come and somehow managing to live the real life in between that. Y/N stayed in most evenings, almost making her friends concerned.

It did not take long enough for famously patient Lando to getting sick of it. They had a week between the next three week round of races. It was now or never. He missed one chance by being mr. mysterious, so mr. direct it was now.

"so, lady. what are you doing this weekend?" he asked out of the blue.

"I dunno. Probably studying, I guess."

"well, you're smart enough, you can skip that. let's meet up."

Y/N pretended to herself that she was second guessing. She headed out, to the bar where her friends were hanging out before they planned on heading to some faculty party. She felt joining them suddenly. Sat quietly, listening to their usual chit chat. Her charade lasted about seven minutes.

"Yes. Let's." she texted and threw her phone deep down to her bag. She was nervous, heart racing and mind quite not catching up yet.

"I need to tell you guys something," she interrupted them and almost demanded immediate attention. Questioning looks followed. "Uh, so I met this guy on a plane. And I'm gonna see him again this weekend."

Saying it like that, she realized that it was all kind of real and that she probably could not explain it in words how bizzare it all felt.

"Aw, that's cute! Tell us more!" Teresa clapped excitedly, the whole weird vibe surrounding her friend making more sense now.

Y/N expected her friends to be more shocked. "Um, yeah. It's just this guy. I don't really know how it's gonna happen, but yeah."

"Is he coming here? Can we meet him?"

Y/N kept the information that they already did to herself. Just in case she is left stranded alone and disappointed.

"I don't...I don't know actually. Yeah."

"We will do as we always do - sharing location and staying by if needed, honey."

Y/N missed a text notification. "great. i'll fly you out to somewhere where we can be alone, not to sound too creepy."

//

She landed an hour after him. Lando sent a picture of him waiting at the airport cafe.

He booked the best hotel room he could find. Well, technically he booked two rooms. Just in case she wanted to keep her distance or if by any chance he fucked up so royally, that she would refuse to share space with him. At least, he could walk away from this like a gentleman.

Since she last him, she forgot just how hot this guy was in person. Seeing him, sitting casually sipping coffee and glued to him phone, she took a moment to study him. It was as if he was tailored specifically to her taste. His clothes covering his godlike body, not too muscular but enough for the sight of his arms sending her to different dimension. The origin of her audacity she had to be the first one to talk to him on the plane was unknown to her. There was no more panic left in her body, as she had done nothing but panicking the whole flight.

She walked and sat opposite to him.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey yourself," she replied. There was a moment of awkward silence. Turns out there was a bit of panic left in Y/N after all. Last week she though she'd never see this guy. And now she was staring in his eyes.

"Do you want some coffee?," he asked innocently. He looked her up and down, excited to see her. All of his worries he refused to acknowledge were gone. After all, she got up and flew here just to hang out with him. The reality of this filled him with confidence.

"Yes. A small tiny espresso with no milk."

"Great. Let's grab that and hit the road."

Lando's car might have as well run on butterflies alone present in his vehicle. There was absolutely no way for him to drive some random rental car, so he called up McLaren people to provide him one for the night. It came up in the same conversation when he requested personal time off. Both things came to a certain level of surprise, as he had never done this before. Y/N knew she had to work on a group project for one of her minor classes. Just like him, she had done something she would not have dared - and completely ghosted her group for this weekend.

"You look nice, btw," he commented casually.

"Well yeah, when you're not on an overnight flight across half of the world wearing airport attire, it makes thing easier."

"Hm, I would say sweatpants have some magic to them."

It was hard for Y/N to get the image of him out of her head.

"So, where is my lovely kidnapper taking me?"

They discussed prior to this that the vibe they would like out of this was a casual dinner and then finding the shittiest club possible and have some fun, trying to remain as private as possible yet within the vicinity of the small Italian city.

"My assistant found this lovely little place in the centre. Don't get mad, but I had him completely book it out. You know, the privacy thing," he said with more insecurity than one would expect.

Y/N picked up on that and tried to lighten up the mood. It seemed a bit excessive to do that, but he probably knew what he was doing.

"Your assistant," she gagged over dramatically. "Jesus, am I not worth enough for you to google on your own? Mr. Busy man. Was he also the one who found me online them?" she joked?

"I'm sure I'd have to hire a special person to that if I planned on outsourcing it."

"Creep."

"You love it."

And she did.

He parked in front of the restaurant, without a care for the world.

"So you're telling me we're making a big deal about keeping a secret that you're here, yet you decide to park like a proper asshole?" she remarked while he opened the door for her. Jokes were making her focus on something else than the fact she was falling for him too hard.

"Oh, you're going absolutely hate my plan," he laughed as they were entering the full on empty restaurant.

"Wow, look at that. I invited all my friends!" he whispered to her ear before addressing the owner.

"Hello, you must be Dario?"

This Dario person smiled brightly at him. "Ah, mister Papaya!" Lando nodded and Y/N rolled her eyes. Dario then started speaking Italian without a care of the world. Language wise deaf Lando did not count for the fact people just did not speak English in this part of Italy. A tiny crack in his plan. What was he suppose to do, call Carlos? But, Y/N having spend a good year or two studying there was there to ease the situation. She whipped out her B1 Italian and greeted the man. Dario's happiness filled up the room.

He seated them and immediately brought local red wine and giving a long talk about where this wine was from and how his grandma used to pick up the grapes herself and how the notes did this and that. Y/N tried to translate at the beginning, but Dario looked like was ready to give a TED talk. She started to loose the grasp of the story, which Lando observed. And like good gentleman he helped her out. No, of course not, when he saw her getting lost, he put on a super interested face and asked about seven follow up questions. Y/N was super annoyed. The kind of annoyed that creates a smile on your face.

When this showdown finally ended, Y/N nearly gulped the wine down. "So rude, Dario just said, you're suppose to sit it and let it roll," said Lando and with too much affect sipped his wine. "Aah," he took a deep breath and the bit his tongue. Y/N stuck her tongue out completely like a five year old child. "Yes, I can your red tongue, that's also one of the reasons why you sip it."

They sat, talked and laughed. He seemed genuinely interested when she blabbed a little bit too long about her latest projects. And then he asked her for a feedback on his latest merch, which by sheer coincidence included lots of photos of him. It was hard to admit how much he enjoyed the idea of her looking at him.

"So, um. I'm not sure I understood Dario correctly. But it looks like he insists on getting us the local speciality," she said hesistantly.

"Well, only if his grandma would approve. But why is this strange look on your face?"

"I must have gotten it wrong. Because burnt pasta just sounds wrong. If I wanted that, I could have stayed and have my roommate cook for us."

"Hm, that is an interesting idea." Lando pretended he did not know her roommate's name.

Once Darion brought out the burnt pasta, the couple had a hard time not to laugh.

"When in Rome...well not in Rome, but you get the idea."

"Why is this good?" Y/N proclaimed with her mouth full to the limit.

Lando laughed. "Ah, we have a lady at the table, I see. I mean yeah, I am not supposed to be having pasta now, but this is so weirdly good."

They finished their strange pasta and the bottle of wine. Said goodbye to Dario, Y/N tried not to think on how much it cost to close a restaurant down.

"Wait, what are we going to do about the car? We can't drive now."

"Not to sound like a complete asshole, but I'd like we remove the WE from any sentence including driving now at the beginning, if that is ok. And like I said at the beginning, you're gonna hate this."

"Go on, Lando boy. Tell me."

"Yeah, the car was provided by my employer. And they really need me, so I'm just going to leave the car here to get towed and inform them later."

"Jesus, why!"

"Well, I figured we'll get a taxi in the morning. I want to enjoy all the time I have with you. Dealing with the car is not on the menu today."

There was nothing for Y/N to reply. She was having too much fun to be thinking.

They found what seemed to be the shittiest bar playing 80's and 90's songs, weirdly colored lights swinging out of the rhythm and with people there consisting of old papas and few probably underaged kids. They brought their own wine bottle from Dario, Lando paid 100 euro for two glasses and for the bartender leaving them alone. It did not take long for Y/N to break out to the dance floor. Lando watched her clumsy yet somehow elegant moves for a moment, before he joined her. They danced, as if they were the only people there, laughing and completely ignoring the looks they were getting. And to the tones of remix of Brother Louis, they kissed again. And this time, they kept kissing until late hours, hand roaming around each other, as if they were two teenagers making out for the first time.

part 5

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Tagged all those who like to suffer: @prudyhoo @anuksunamon @sagestack @esquerkaren @ushygushybaby @ilove-tswizzle @thehufflepuffavenger1  @superlegend216 @mehrmonga @lovely-blackinnon @mylifeihate1029 @lausdigitaldiary @tswizzleismother

[pablitogavii]

Could you write one Gavi fic where he's talking to her through social media, just as friends, but he starts to develop feelings for her, his agent finds out and gets really worried about his career if he gets in a relationship, so he "makes" Gavi's mind to get away from the reader (she has abandonment and rejection issues) without a proper explanation, he excuses saying that the reader wants his money and whatever. But some months after the reader moves to Seville and gets really close to Aurora (she knows Aurora is Gavi's sister but Aurora doesn't know her), and one day Aurora takes her to a barca match, and Gavi tries to make up to her?

I guess I'm back y'all lol! I like this idea very much!

y.n.bebe

New York, USA

I think I like this little life...happy birthday to me hehe

liked by pablogavi and others

coments:

brimccormix: happy birthday bebsss

y.n.bebe: thank you gorgeous girl💗

stacymiggs: princesaaa

y.n.bebe: nooo youuu!🥺

brianfereda: happy birthday!

y.n.bebe: thank youu!

pablogavi: pretty girl

y.n.bebe: 😳

When you saw that THE Pablo Gavi called you "pretty girl" for the whole world to see, you couldn't stop staring at that comment for the next two weeks.

Your friends went crazy calling you lucky, and pushing you to send him a message but you were obviously too shy to do that. Besides, who knows how many "pretty girls" he's talking to on the internet.

Meanwhile, Gavi spent all of his free time and training brakes going through your posts and smiling like an idiot at your cute face on his phone screen.

When you first popped up on his screen, he just had to reach out and pray you don't find it cocky on his part. You were just so pretty...

"Sempre con esa nena, cabrón! Dale! Enviale un mensaje!"Pedri hit Gavi's head making him groan and finally get the balls to slide into your DMs. He said a simple "hey pretty girl" before leaving his phone in the locker room to join his teammates.

pablogavi: hey, pretty girl

y.n.bebe: hey😊

And ever since that night, you've started texting, face timing and chatting non stop. You haven't told anyone about it, not wanting to make a drama over something so new and also not wanting him to think fame is what you're after because it's not.

"I'm so tired, nena" Pablo groaned while laying in bed and face timing you as you did your math homework diligently.

"Then go to bed, tonto!" you giggle and he just stayed quiet staring at your face until you looked back at the phone screen and blushed at how intense his gaze was.

"Me gusta cuando hablas Español conmigo, bebé" he smirked making you blush bright red and roll your eyes pretending to be annoyed.

"When do you have training in the morning?" you ask while he yawns.

"Five am" he answers and you open your eyes wide really looking up to him being so diligent about his career.

"Then you really should get some sleep, and we can talk tomorrow again hm?" you ask not really wanting to end the call but also wanting him to get his rest. He always loved how selfless you are and how much you took care of him. It really warmed his hearts.

"I hate it that you're so far! I swear I'm gonna travel to New York and kidnap you and bring you back to Barcelona with me ... and never let you go ..." he said sleepily and you felt your heart jumping thinking about the possibility.

"Hm and if you get bored of me?" you smile and he shakes his head still staring intently at you in the eyes.

"Impossible, my pretty girl..." he said and you smile remembering the very first time you read those words on the screen.

Pablo Gavi was a man of his words, and since that conversation he promised himself that he will surprise you with a travel to Barcelona really soon. He planed everything and mailed you a ticket during his two week vacation.

He still remembers the nerves while standing at the airport waiting at your gate to see your pretty face finally in person. The moment you walked out he recognized you...he couldn't forget the pretty face he stared at through the screen for past four months just now it was real.

"Hi, pretty girl..." he said again and you jumped into his eyes smiling wide and holding onto him tightly. You couldn't believe this was real yet. It just felt like a dream.

"Ready to explore Barcelona conmigo huh?" he said and you smiled and taking his hand nodding and walking to him car with your baggage.

Days passed so quickly and everything was PERFECT. Ice cream dates, walks on the beach, coffee shops and all the infamous tourist attractions...you were falling in love with this city...and you were also falling in love with this boy.

Day before your flight home, Pablo took you to a football game for the Juvenil and you were excited to watch it with him knowing it was his passion.

"So what do you think?" you show him your Barça jersey and he so badly wanted to ask you to wear one with his name on the back but how could he? He still didn't have the balls to ask you to be his official girlfriend!

y.n.bebe

Barcelona, Spain

it's so pretty here 🥺😊

liked by pablogavi, pedri, joaofelix and others

comments:

pablogavi: pretty girl in barcelona 😍

y.n.bebe: hehe😊

brimccormix: girl!!?? spill the TEA!

y.n.bebe: what tea???

lucasmith: looks like someone stole my crush!

y.n.bebe: 😂

"Next time I come, I want to watch you play..." you said while the two of you sat sadly on the airport waiting for your boarding.

"Y/n..." he said looking down as you looked up

"Hm?" you say feeling your heart beating fast from how close your lips were to each other.

"Don't go..."he said and you swore your heart broke when you saw his pleading eyes. Neither of you wanted this distance...it was so unfair but there was nothing you could do about it now.

"Pablo we're friends now and you can visit me in New York..." you said but before you could finish his lips were smashed onto yours to shut you up and you closed your eyes enjoying the sweet sensation of his cold minty lips on your.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend, pretty girl?" he said and in that moment all your past insecurities and abandonment issues returned yelling inside your head. What if you get attached and he disappears like other did? You were so scared but looking at him it was impossible not to agree!

"Yes! I do Pablo..." you say and he kissed you again until they called for your flight to start boarding in five minutes.

[the-kr8tor]

hi ! could you write about Hobie on his first date with Reader?

I have two scenarios in mind, you can write both of them or the one you like the most but here goes the idea: 1) Hobie ask out his crush (a fashion designer Reader) but he goes late bc of his Spidey duties 2) Reader ask Hobie out on a date and things became sort of funny and romantic romcom

pd: i love ur writing <3

Thank you for requesting, angel! I chose the latter one, hope you like it ❤️

Pairing: Hobie Brown x Shy! Reader/ Spider-Punk x Shy! Reader

Tags: No use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, spidey! Reader, FLUFF.

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

Your hands are clammy, you're holding the precious tickets in your hands with a grip, but still cautious enough not to crumple it. Good thing the gloves of your suit protects the paper from your nervous sweats, you check the tickets again for the umpteenth time. The band's name is written in bold letters, the ink still legible despite the moisture from your trembling hands.

You made sure that Hobie actually likes and listens to this band, asking his friends just to make sure you got the right concert ticket. Sure, you don't exactly know everything about him, but that's exactly why you're asking him out, get to know the man (better) you've been crushing on since you've met him.

You exhale, eyes zeroing on Hobie, heart pounding in your chest. Your friends' encouraging words pushing you to finally ask him out. Looking to the side, you see the trio giving you a thumbs up, casually leaning against the walls of the society's lobby. Gwen gestures for you to remember to breathe, Pavitr's giving you his best smile, hair bobbing up and down from his excited nodding, Miles gives you a look– you can do this, he mouths out.

You make a sound from the back of your throat, swallowing it down. Once Hobie sees you walking towards him, he smiles, eyes landing over to your slouched posture.

Nope, you turn back around, making your friends groan and gesture for you to go back. Hobie catches sight of the three, they try to act normal, pav's casually whistling (or trying to at least) instead of a whistling sound, air comes out of his pursed lips. Gwen grabs Miles by his shoulder faking a conversation, her hands dramatically move around, while Miles nervously chuckles, he can't help his eyes moving back to Hobie walking to catch up to you. Hobie puts two and two together.

You walk faster, this was a mistake. Hobie catches up to you in no time, you curse his long legs that's perfect for long strides. He taps your shoulder, you look at him with wide eyes. You two finally stop in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the spider society.

"What do you have there?" He tilts his head, trying to peek at the item clutched in your hands.

"Nothin'" you try to hide it, covering it with your hand.

"It's got you all nervous, definitely not nothing"

You bite your lip, it's now or never. "They're concert tickets" you show it to him.

"For who?" He acts oblivious, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Hobie can't help teasing you with how endearing you look right now. He's gonna say yes to you anyway. He waits for you to say it, encouraging you by looping his pinky finger with yours, you perk up at the contact, mouth agape. "Love?"

You melt when his pinky massages yours "for you" you say meekly, looking at him through your lashes. You hear a faint 'let's go!' From somewhere followed by someone shushing them. You move your head towards the distraction, Hobie brings your attention back to him by blocking your view with his smug face. You gasp, jumping a bit.

"What was that again? I didn't catch it" his smirk gets bigger, turning into a full fledged grin.

You clear your throat, pushing away your shyness "it's for you" pushing the tickets on his free hand, Hobie doesn't look at the tickets, instead he stares at you proudly.

"There's two, I'm guessing you're coming with?" His pinky unhooks from yours, exchanging it with his whole hand, fingers curling around yours, locking you in place. You squeeze his hand, your new found bravery helps you make eye contact.

"I was hoping to" you smile shyly, squeezing his hand again. Hobie hears a giggle from somewhere.

"I want you to"

"You sure?"

"Absolutely–" He finally looks at the tickets, he stops in his tracks, eyes widening.

"You okay?" Your heart races again, eyes rapidly moving towards the trio for insight. Gwen shrugs, the two are too busy jumping for joy, hands over each other's shoulders, looking like their favorite team won.

"These are–" Hobie looks at your concerned face, he doesn't have the heart to tell you, but he decides you need to know or else you both wouldn't have a lot of fun for your first date together (he really wants to make it work) so he softens the blow for you, "they're a Metal band"

This is your canon event. You shrink, wishing the go home machine would just grab you and fling you back home.

You must've looked utterly defeated, Hobie gingerly grabs the back of your neck, thumb rubbing small comforting circles over your skin.

"It's alright though, I like their music" he tries to reassure you, but you can see that he's being nice.

"I can refund it" You say softly.

"D' you want to? I thought you like this band" He fans the tickets over to your warm face.

"I thought you liked them," you sigh.

"I've got a better idea, yeah?" Hobie rubs a comforting hand over your arm. "Something we both like doing, I want you to have fun on our date too"

Our date, his words ring in your ears, heart pounding loudly in your chest "our date" you accidentally say it out loud, mouth clamping shut in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we're goin' on a date" he says, a large grin on his lips. Hobie loops his arm over your shoulder, telling you his plans. You listen, a wide smile over your lips. You walk further into hq, excitedly chatting away, faintly hearing someone clapping behind you.

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

Thank you for reading! Please consider reblogging if you enjoyed it ❤️

[fullstcp]

"HOLY FVCK" by Demi Lovato Sentence Starters

FREAK

"Get your tickets to the freak show."

"What I am is a piece of meat."

"Say what you want."

"Ain't gotta spell it out for me."

SKIN OF MY TEETH

"When is this shit gonna end?"

"I can't believe I'm not dead."

"I'm alive by the skin of my teeth."

"Go easier on me."

"I just wanna be free."

"I'm addicted to more."

"I don't need you to keep score when I'm the one who's at war."

"I'm just trying to keep my head above water."

"I'm just a product of the problem."

SUBSTANCE

"Is anybody happy with life in the backseat?"

"Is anyone grasping that nothing lasts?"

"I know we're all fucking exhausted."

"Am I in my head or have we all lost it?"

"Am I the only one looking for substance?"

"Everyone's acting like nothing is lacking."

"I can't relate at all."

"Fuck the theatrics, what happened to classic?"

"Give me the real shit, give me the magic."

EAT ME

"All I'm hearing is that you want to make the impossible possible."

"Is that what you'd all prefer?"

"Would you like me better if I was still her?"

"I know the part I've played before."

"I can't spoon-feed you anymore."

"Try to be sexy, but don't be too sexual."

"Please be presentable."

"Everyone's watching so don't be forgettable."

"Would you like me better if I didn't oppose?"

HOLY FVCK

"I am truth and I am darkness."

"I'm an angel, I'm a demon."

"I'm what your dreams are made of."

"I'll show you the light with all the lights off."

"I'l bring you to life."

"I'm a holy fuck."

29

"Thought it was a teenage dream, just a fantasy. But was it yours or was it mine?"

"I see you're quite the collector."

"You're twelve years her elder."

"Maybe now it doesn't matter, but I know fucking better."

HAPPY ENDING

"Am I gonna die trying to find my happy ending?"

"Will I ever know what it's like to be fine without pretending?"

"I miss my vices."

"I tried to be your hero."

"I was your poster child."

"It was working for a while, but it didn't fill the void."

HEAVEN

"I had a secret, it killed me to keep it."

"Crucified for the life I'm living."

"Oh, my God, hope I'm forgiven."

"I can't help it, guess I'm a heathen."

CITY OF ANGELS

"I'm bored to tears, there's nothing left to do."

"You know I skip the lines."

BONES

"My heart's pounding like there's a fucking earthquake."

"I want you so bad that I need restraints."

"No one has to know."

"I want all of you to myself."

"One day I'm gonna leave you needing nobody else."

WASTED

"I'm scared of the comedown."

"I don't think I'll know how to live without this now."

"Will my heart stop?"

"The highest high can't hold a candle to getting wasted on you."

"I can't hold back."

COME TOGETHER

"You lead, I follow."

"I knew the minute I met you that I had to have you or I'd die."

"We don't surrender."

"We could make it last forever."

"There's nothing I'd rather do."

DEAD FRIENDS

"I'm waking up right now and they never will."

"I still can't understand."

"I made it through hell and I don't know why."

"How am I different?"

"I did and they didn't and it doesn't feel right."

"I miss the hell we can't raise, I miss the time we can't waste."

"I miss my dead friends."

"We had the rest of our lives, didn't get to say goodbye."

"Sometimes, I wish that I could jump right into the blue moment with you."

"I'll see them again."

HELP ME

"What you think matters isn't up for debate."

"Suck it up."

"There's nothing I can do when I'm feeling really depressed."

"I must be feeling better now."

"Help me? You think you're helping?"

"Thank you for your useless information."

"What's with your desperate fascination?"

"I'm gonna take your opinions, shove 'em back in your face."

FEED

"I ran through fire, I did my time."

"I found my soul just to lose my mind."

"All of the sinners know my name."

"I built a bridge and burned it down."

"Wrong looks right when the tide has turned."

4 EVER 4 ME

"I fell for you smitten and hopelessly."

"I couldn't be scared if I tried."

"Nothing's ever felt this right."

"I can't hold back, I'm falling in love."

"I think this is forever for me."

"I promise your heart's safe with me."

"They say you know when you find the one."

[lostfirefly]

You’ve Got the Same Dream as Me

Hello, kiddos! The idea for this fanfic came to me from a dream (again) I had about a month ago. Тhe main characters were Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill (don't ask me why), but with a light hand they have been replaced (sorry, guys). The main action of the dream took place somewhere in the sands. Аlthough this fanfic will feature Sir Crocodile and our beloved Buggy, the action shifts to the desert. No marines, ships etc. Sorry, not sorry :) The devil fruit's abilities are preserved. Catch the Mummy and Indiana Jones vibes :) I have no idea how many chapters there will be.

Since English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :) 

And thank you to my dear @yujo-nishimura and @laurasoretta for believing in me :)

Description: Catherine, a librarian who is searching for the trail of her sister who went missing on an expedition. Notes in books and diaries lead her to Cairo. There she finds Rika, a retailer from an artifact shop who, in exchange for selling her a map and equipment, insists that Catherine take her along. They get into a little (or maybe a big) adventure.. 

Warnings: 12+, I think. As always, no smut, angst, violence. Adventures and fun only. Buggy x OC, Sir Crocodile x OC.

Words: 700

The title is taken from «You've Got the Same Dream as Me» (Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli) (One Piece, Netflix)

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Chapter 1

"I need one ticket, please! I need to get on that plane!". Catherine said pleadingly, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

That was the last flight to Cairo for today. 

Tired and laden with bags Catherine begged the girl at the check-in desk to sell her a ticket. 

"I N-E-E-D T-O G-E-T O-N T-H-I-S P-LA-N-E". She spelled it out in an irritated voice. 

'You need help?" a girl's voice came through.  

"What? Oh, yes. I need to buy a ticket. This’s the last flight to Cairo, I cannot wait until tomorrow. But she..", Catherine pointed at the girl behind the counter, "Said there are no available tickets". 

"Well, yeah. This destination is very popular now, unfortunately, it doesn't help these checkout girls learn English well. I’m Laura, by the way", the brown-haired girl, adjusting the strap of her bag, held out her hand to Catherine. 

"Oh, sorry. I’m Catherine. Catherine Mitchell". 

"Well, Cath, today is your lucky day, I think", Laura said, pulling a small envelope out of the inside pocket of her jacket.

"What? Me and happy days are clearly bypassing each other", Catherine mumbled, scratching her neck.

"Well, I was supposed to go to Cairo with my boyfriend. But he dumped me right outside the airport. Shithead. Said he was bored with me... Anyway, I've got an extra ticket if you want it. As I can see, you need it more", Laura said with a wide smile. 

"Really? You're just gonna give me a ticket? I… I'm-- I can pay for it…", Catherine reached for her wallet.

"No, please! You owe me a cup of coffee and one pizza. Furthermore, it'll be nice to talk to someone normal on the flight", Laura held out the ticket.

"But how do I get on the ticket? It's under a different name".

"Come on, the staff are rubbish, they don't really look at the details", Laura said with a teasing tone. 

"That’s… Great! I guess. You’ve saved my life!", Catherine couldn't contain her joy. "In that case… Come on! Let me buy you coffee and the biggest pizza".

"Just a minute, ok? I'm gonna give my mum a quick call and tell her it's okay and my trip's not cancelled".

"Sure".

Laura stepped behind a column and pulled out her phone. After looking around at the people around her, she dialed a number.

"Sir, everything's on schedule. She bought it". 

⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭

Dear passengers! Our plane has landed at Cairo airport. The temperature outside the window is +40 degrees.

"God, I'm going to die in this heat", Catherine groaned. 

"Well, you'll try not to die somehow. So.. I guess we'll say goodbye after baggage claim. Thank you so much for the company", Laura said, pulling a backpack off the luggage rack. 

"I can’t even express how thankful I am, Laura. Really". 

Walking out of the airport building with her suitcase, Catherine took a taxi and went to the hotel. When she finally got there, she shook out the contents of her backpack on the bed. 

"Where is... where is... ", Catherine was going through the papers and books that were all over the bed. "There it is! 15, Marineford Street. Hm.. Why does Cairo have a street with that name?"

Without wasting a second, Catherine put everything back into her backpack and ran out of the room. 

Within 30 minutes she was standing at the door of a small shop. Its entrance was decorated with a large brown door with peeling paint and a worn handle that had been probably tugged on for decades. 

"Rika's shop: your adventures begin here", Catherine whispered the name of the shop and rolled her eyes at the same second, "Oh my God, how original".

She started knocking on the door.

"Hello-o-o-o! People! Somebody? Anybody?", she put her ear to the door, hoping to hear the sound of footsteps.

"What's all the fuss? The shop's closed", said a woman passing by. 

"But I have to get to the shop!" said Catherine with hope in her voice. 

"Come back tomorrow, you lunatic. You'll get in then. The owner had already gone home. Get out of here".

"Come back tomorrow. Then you'll get in", Catherine muttered under her breath. 

There was nothing left for her to do but go back to the hotel, take a shower and burrow under the blanket. 

[hinatastinygiant]

13 | Sea Gold

Pairing: Bakugou x Fem!Reader

Pirate's Treasure Masterlist

"Hey there, cap," he says, his voice raspy and deep. "It's been a while."

"What the fuck?" I hiss. "The hell are you doing here?!"

Whatever was dragging Y/N suddenly stops. But I can hear her cry out in pain as someone else's foot lands roughly on her back. Glancing upwards I see a man with long red hair tied in a ponytail and a scruffy face, staring back at me.

"Well, well, look what the sea spit out," the man smirks. "It's a pleasure, captain,"

"Kirishima," I snarl. "Sero. Why the hell are you here?"

"Only celebrating," Kirishima grins. "You've finally graced us with your presence."

"Let go of the girl. She's got nothing to do with this," I growl, my voice low.

"Oh, but I'm pretty sure she does. You came down here to look for her, after all."

"That has nothing to do with you. She's none of your concern," I hiss, my eyes locked with his.

"She's ours now," Sero says, a sinister grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah, but if you want her so bad, come and get her," Kirishima adds, pressing his foot down harder on Y/N's back. "It's so odd hearing the sound of someone in pain. After all these years, this is the first time we're hearing it again."

"Sounds sweet," Sero hums as he bends down to get a better look at her face. "But what are we gonna do with her? Can't imagine her living on this island, too."

Kirishima sighs. "Guess we'll just have to put her out of her misery."

"Over my dead body," I snarl.

"That can be arranged," Sero grins.

"Not a chance. Let the girl go, or I'll kill you both."

"We'd love to see you try," Kirishima laughs.

I lunge forward and grab Kirishima by the collar of his shirt.

"You're making a mistake," I tell him as I force him up against the wall. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Don't be an idiot, Bakugou," he scoffs. "You ditched the rest of us survivors to live in this hell hole."

"Don't talk to me about hell," I grumble, pushing him harder into the wall. "I've been living on this damn island alone for fucking years. How the hell are you here, anyway?"

"The island brought us," Kirishima replies. "Those of us who swam to shore, that is. And I can promise you that there's no escape from this stupid fucking curse, either."

"You're full of shit."

"Am I? This doesn't even hurt," he smirks.

"Fine. Tell me what you want," I growl, my grip on Kirishima's collar tightening.

Kirishima's expression shifts, a glint of cunning flickering in his eyes. "We want what you want, captain. The treasure."

A surge of frustration and anger courses through me, realizing that they are still after the very thing I've been tirelessly seeking. "You know I won't let you have it. It's mine by right."

"Is it really?" Sero interjects, a sneer playing at the corners of his lips as he pulls Y/N to her feet. "Seems like a lot of trouble for just some shiny trinkets and gold."

"It's more than that," I reply, my voice echoing with determination. "It's my redemption, my ticket out of this cursed place."

"Then it's settled," Kirishima declares, a malicious glimmer in his eyes. "You lead us to the treasure, and maybe we'll consider letting the girl live."

Anger growing within me, I shove Kirishima away from me, returning my focus back on Y/N. She must've been able to catch a breath or two, because her face has regained some color. Her eyes meet mine, a mixture of confusion and fear in them. Then, suddenly, she steps on Sero's foot and punches him in the gut, freeing herself from his grip.

"Get away from her!" I roar, lunging at Sero, and delivering a heavy blow to his jaw.

He reels backwards, but manages to stay upright. I then grab onto Y/N's arm and toss her out of the room.

Kirishima and Sero exchange a look, their expressions morphing into ones of irritation as they realize I'm blocking their only exit. "You can't keep us here forever, Bakugou," Kirishima growls, his fists clenching in frustration.

"I can, and I will," I declare, my own fingers twitching at the thought of ending these two for good.

"Why are you being so stubborn?!" Sero groans, his teeth gritted.

But I decide not to give them an answer until I shut the metal door and lock them inside the room with no way out. They can bang on the door all they want. The room is too sturdy for them to break through. "Fucking bastards," I hiss as I make my way towards the surface of the ship, leaving Kirishima and Sero trapped below.

Y/N follows after me like a lost puppy, her footsteps loud and heavy against the floors as if she is having a hard time walking. "What was that?" She asks me, her eyes filled with tears and her face covered in dirt and blood.

"I told you, the treasure," I reply, not wanting to look at her.

"So those guys were part of your crew?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Did they get cursed too?"

"I don't know. And I don't care."

"Well, what do we do now? They obviously haven't found the treasure after all these years so how are we going to find it?"

I don't answer and instead, just let out a huff as I find a spot to sit down. I then close my eyes and sigh.

"Are you just going to ignore me now?" She coughs as if trying to catch her breath.

"Do you think I haven't been trying to find the treasure for years, Y/N? Who the fuck knows where it is? Your map probably just led us to this fucking ship and that's it," I grumble.

Y/N doesn't respond. When I look over, she seems to be having a hard time breathing.

"Y/N, are you okay?"

"No," she croaks, shaking her head.

"Shit, your feet," I curse, noticing the black on her soles.

"It's not just my feet," she chokes. "My whole body feels cold. And I think my lungs are full of water."

"How long were you under?"

"I'm not sure," she wheezes.

"Come on, you need to rest," I tell her, trying to pull her toward my old room on the ship.

"I can't," she pants. "I have to keep looking for the treasure."

"You're not going anywhere until your feet are better," I order, not giving her a choice. I then scoop her up and carry her back to my quarters.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks, her voice trembling.

"To bed."

Pirate's Treasure Masterlist

Taglist: @nemisimp @boopjuice @stevenknightmarc

[inuiiwonderland]

Chapter 3: the ruined statue

-

"You don't know the queen of hearts?"

"The queen of hearts?" Suddenly you remember where you heard that name from.

"Oh! That red head boy mentioned her too during the orientation…" You said more to yourself. You looked down at the boys and decided to ask them a question.

"Does she rule here?" The boy chuckled at your question.

"She's a queen who lived in a labyrinth of roses ages ago"

"Oh"

"She had a strict personality that valued discipline over anything else. She didn't tolerate any disorder when it came to the color of her roses or the card soldiers marching"

"They were all mad there, but everyone swore their obedience! Because if they were to break a rule, that is a one way ticket to getting beheaded!"

You cringe at the thought and watch as the other blue-haired boy just sighs. 

"Cool right?" The red head says.

"Yeah, she sounds a little terrifying though"

"Well thanks for filling me in. Are you a student here?"

"Yep! I'm Ace♡" He says with a wink.

"Nice to meet ya" you nod at his introduction.

"Hey, you're that student that was acting up at the ceremony right?" 

"Oh..uh I wasn't exactly but I did cause some trouble" You say awkwardly while rubbing your neck.

"Wow the mirror of darkness summons a person with no magic! Ha! Man I was trying so hard not to laugh" 

You rolled your eyes and glared at the boy as he continued to laugh. That was until he was interrupted by the boy who was with him.

"Don't be so rude to a person you just met!" Ace just rolls his eyes and then turns back to you.

"So, you couldn't enroll?" 

"Yeah, I was made a handyman instead" you motion to the cleaning supplies that you have been given.

"I see, so that why you're uniform is different"

"If there anything about the school you need to know, feel free to ask me" 

"Thank you uhh?"

"The name deuce spade, nice to meet you"

"Thank you deuce"

"And you? What your name?"

"Oh my name y/n l/n"

"Y/n l/n?"

"L/n??"

I guess my name is hard to pronounce here 

"You can just call me y/n"

"Okay!" You were about to go back to what you were doing but stop when you heard Ace ask you something.

"Is it hard to take care of that crazy monster? Sounds like a chore dealing with it! Haha!"

"Even after all the drama it caused, it turned out to be so lame!"

"Monster?"

Suddenly Ace let out a Yelp when something hit him on the back of the head.

"What the-"

"I ain't some measly chore!" You look up to see the very familiar cat monster you saw the other day.

"You're-"

"The great grim!"

"That cat monster from yesterday!"

"It's grim Sama to you!! You can at least get it right!!"

"Uhh sure, I thought they threw you out already…" he just smirked and shrugged.

"Sneaking in was a piece of cake!" 

"Anyway, why are YOU still here?"

"If you keep sticking around I won't be able to enroll!"

"It's not like you have a chance" Ace said which made the cat monster- er grim angry. You sigh and massage your temple.

"Look, If I could go home I would but I don't know how" He was silent for a moment before he spoke up again.

"Fine then….I'll kick you out myself!"

"Huh?"

"Is he gonna attack again?!" Deuce said while Ace stared in shock.

"I won't let you" you grabbed the broom you had with you which caused grim to laugh.

"I ain't scared of someone who can't even use magic- ow!" You hit him with the broom which made him fall down. You had him pushed against the ground with the broom.

"Let me go!"

"Woah! Nice one y/n!"

"That's some awesome strength!"

"They'll just throw you out again if you keep making a scene"

"You're making a big mistake if you think I'm gonna give up now!"

"Guards!"

"W-wait!"

"Why do you even wanna enroll here so badly?" You say while still having him pin against the ground.

"Why? That's easy! I'm a genius that was born to become a great magician!"

"Great magician?" You say confused while Ace just scoff.

"Uhh you? Great magician?" Deuce elbowed Ace to be quiet.

"I've waited a really really long time for the black carriage to come get me…and yet, the mirror of darkness won't acknowledge me!"

"So I gotta do something about it!"

"I'm never ever gonna give up! I'm going to become an amazing magician" You froze as those words reminded you of a certain someone from back home. 

Takemichi!

"I see…you got a dream you can't surrender too"

"You.."

"That's impossible!" You both looked at Ace who was now standing in front of you two.

"Only the chosen ones are able to get into this school"

"And you didn't make the cut. So just give up and admit defeat"

"Hey! All you've done since we got here was to be an asshole!" Ace rolled his eyes at him and yanked his wrist from deuce hold.

"What is this? A lecture? Stop being so annoying"

"You can't just treat people like that-"

"Yeah yeah yeah whatever. I've got class so I'm gonna split"

"Ugh" Deuce turned to you both with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry about that, I also have to go"

You just watched as he started walking in the same direction Ace left too. You got up and dust the dirt off you. 

"You…I'll show you!" You looked up and saw grim already shooting fire towards the two.

"Wait- grim!"

"Woah!!" You heard the two boys as they dodge the blue flames.

"Watch it! The hell are you trying to pull?!" Ace shouts. 

"You're trying to make a fool outta me! So I'm gonna light up that fiery lookin mop head you call hair!" 

"Mop head?"

"You got some nerve trying to fight me!" 

You then saw him take out something from his pocket. 

"I'm gonna turn you into a frizzy toy poodle!!"

"Is that wind magic?!" You say as you saw and felt the wind go crazy.

"Err! My awesome fire can't twist like that!"

You noticed students surrounding you all as the two continued to fight.

"Great…"

"Like those fireballs are gonna hit me!" 

This made grim more mad and he started shooting fireballs towards Ace. 

"Cut it out already!" You heard deuce yell out. 

"They're totally not listening" you say as you two watch them continue.

"I gotta do something…but with what??" Suddenly he thought of a perfect idea.

"I can just lock down their movements!" He also took something similar to what Ace had and started thinking for something.

"C'mon, come out with literally anything! Something heavy!" He lifted up his pen and suddenly you saw something big fall down on Ace.

"The hell?! A pot?!" 

"A cauldron of all things?...did I go to far?" Deuce said to himself while grim burst out into a fit of laughter.

"So freaking lame! Hahah!"

"Back off juice!"

"It's deuce!"

"Deuce whatever!" 

"Don't make a scene on your first day!"

"Just come to class!"

"Shut up! You go if you want!"

"Stop being so stubborn!"

As those two continued bickering, grim saw this as a chance to fire at ace.

"You're wide open!"

"What-" Ace's eyes widened when he saw grim shoot a fireball at him. He quickly pushed the cauldron off him and managed to dodge the flames on time. 

"Argh!"

You froze as you saw the flame hit the statue you were cleaning earlier. Students gasp and some quickly ran away from the scene as they saw the now ruined statue.

"Ahhhh! Holy frigging crap!" Ace yelled out as he saw the queen of hearts statue ruined.

"He…he didn't just!" Duece was too stunned to even speak.

"I don't know anything!" Grim yells as he makes a run for it.

"Hey! Stop right there!" 

"I came to see what the commotion was all about" all three of you froze as you heard the voice speak.

"Ahh headmaster…."

"Your hereeeeee" 

"What in the world are you doing?! You've scorched one of the great sevens statues!!" 

"The great sevens?" You ask curiously.

"They're exhalted entities that once existed in our world"

"The king of beasts, ruler of the savannah. The sorcerer of the desert, who saved his land from a crisis. The sea witch, who dwelled in a grotto deep beneath the sea. The fairest queen, said to be the most beautiful of them all. The lord of the underworld, to whom even monsters swear their allegiance. The witch of thorns, who resided in the mystical mountains. And lastly, the queen of hearts, residing in labyrinth of roses!" 

"This is blasphemy against a renowned figure! There's no possible way I can turn a blind eye to this!"

"All of you are expelled effective immediately!!!"

"E-expelled?!"

"After I finally made it into a famous school…what will I tell my mom?!" You saw how deuce panicked which made you feel a little bad.

"Please! Anything but that! There's something I have to do in this school!" 

"You have yourself to blame for such a foolish stunt"

"Then I'll do anything to make up for it!"

"Anything?"

"Yes!"

You suddenly had a bad feeling seeing the headmaster smile.

"Then I shall offer you a chance to make amends"

"There is an enormous fixture hanging in the cafeteria. A magic chandelier with everlasting candles that burn indefinitely. It's a masterpiece crafted by a legendary meister of magic tools"

"That very item is currently losing its power"

"It seems the source of its strength, the magic gem, is growing weaker"

"Magic gems are mined in a place called mt. Dwarf…we may be able to repair it with gems of a similar property"

"I'll go and get one! Please, you have to let me go!" 

"Very well…however you will be expelled if you don't return with the gems by tomorrow morning"

"You can travel to Mt. Dwarf through a door in the mirror chamber"

"Right! Thank you!" Deuce bowed as Crowley left. 

"Ugh fine, we'll make it back with this gem in no time"

"Let's go!" Ace whined as you just silently followed the two. What you three didn't know was that the culprit who was responsible for this was eavesdropping the whole entire time.

"Magic gem huh? Maybe I can use my awesome magic to get my paws on that" 

-

"What? Ace and deuce ruined a great seven statue?!"

"Indeed, therefore I am reporting it to you their dorm leader"

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience my dorm has caused"

"They're currently heading to Mt. Dwarf as punishment. They'll surely be back by morning"

"Certainly"

The boy then soon left the headmaster's office in anger.

"What were they thinking so shortly after enrolling?! I absolutely will not tolerate any rule breaking…they need to be punished"

"The verdict can wait…i'll see to their beheading myself!!"

-

"So this is mt. Dwarf huh…"

"People use to mine here for magic gems when they were abundant, but it's oddly quiet here"

"There's no time for complaining. Let's go!"

You three continued walking along the path as you looked around. You were looking around when you heard Ace.

"Oh. There a cottage back there"

Both you and deuce turn to look in his direction to see the cottage.

"Let's go see what they've got to say"

-

Back in Shibuya city 

"Y/n never showed up to the meeting"

"And they haven't returned home last night"

"They aren't answering anyone's calls"

"We are filling out a missing person report"

That was everything mikey heard in a span of one day. He couldn't believe what was happening. You never showed up to the meeting and now they're saying you're missing?!

"Did you call again baji?" Mitsuya asked as everyone gathered up in the musashi shrine. 

"Yeah no answer though"

"I already called multiple times but it's leaving me straight to voicemail" 

"Did you check up on y/n parents?"

"Yeah, they are currently trying to file out a missing person report"

Everyone was silent trying to think what else they should do. Mikey, who was quiet the whole time got up which grabbed everyone's attention.

"We should start searching around and asking if anyone has seen them before they went missing"

"So like a search party?"

"Mhm"

"That is not a bad idea…we should do it"

Everyone started agreeing and decided on searching for you for the whole day.

To be continued 

-

Here is chapter 3! Since I made you guys wait for chapter 3 I decided to make this chapter longer! And! The Tokyo revengers cast have finally appeared! Just know that they will show up a lot in future chapters👀

Anyway hope you enjoyed!

Also if anyone wants to be in the taglist for this story, comment or send through an ask to get put on the taglist🙃

[amariss-613]

재등장, bts | scene 09: lights, camera, action!

{resurfaced, bts}

summary: the biggest group in the world has their scandal resurface as the former female member the world thought was done become the best new artist of the year at the grammys.

face claim: yeri of red velvet

original is on archive of our own: amariss_0613, and wattpad: amariss_amaryllis, just decided to publish it on here~

this story mentions non-consensual things and includes some mentions of drugs, depression, and sasaengs.

. . .

scene 09: lights, camera, action!

chapter summary: it was time to be a queen.

normal- english

bold w/italic- korean

! warning: sensitive topics are mentioned, such as sexual assault !

playing: zoom | jessi

zoom | 2022

|no one's pov|

"i guess we'll see you during the show! bye y/n, good luck!" hoseok exclaimed waving at y/n who made her way towards her dressing room with kwan following shortly behind. "yeah, i'll see you guys during the show." y/n said, waving back at the 7 guys who were also making their way to their dressing room.

"ok so that went better than I thought it would." kwan commented, staring at the backs of the boys. "oh really? so what did you think was going to happen?" y/n smirked, raising her eyebrow. "well, i just thought i was gonna need to buy you ice cream, tissues, and tickets to dpr's next concert." y/n immediately perked up, "i think i'll just need those dpr tickets this time." y/n giggled, her mood suddenly brighter than before.

"i almost felt like i was suffocating when i was near them. other than that, nothing has really changed with them." y/n sighed, walking into her dressing room as kwan walked in right after her. soo-ah immediately turned away from where she was setting up her workspace towards the two, "oh your back already?"

"yep, and i got some tea to spill unnie."

. . .

"wait, so you guys actually had a conversation?!?" soo-ah exclaimed, before continuing y/n's eye makeup. "trust me, i was not expecting them to come up and talk to me all cheerful and happy." "i guess you're not getting those dpr concert tickets anymore then." soo-ah blurted, y/n stopped all of her movements before speaking again, "wait what? who told you about those? did you and kwan make a bet again?"

soo-ah and kwan shared a glance before she cautiously spoke,

"um, well... wethoughtthatyouandtheboyzweren'tgoingtotalksomeandkwanmadeabetthatifyouguystalkedyouwouldn'tgetfreedprtickets."

(we thought that you and the boys weren't going to talk, so me and kwan made a bet that if you guys talked, you wouldn't get free dpr tickets.)

"you better be joking. i'm expecting those dpr tickets since you guys made a bet about my non-existent love life," y/n exclaimed, grabbing her shoe, throwing it, and almost hitting kwan.

"hey! she started it, i told her it was a bad idea!" kwan yelled, standing up while grabbing my shoe and holding it up in a defensive position. kwan and soo-ah were like partners in crime...

well, more like mother and son in crime since soo-ah had just turned 30 last month and kwan was barely gonna turn 23 in a few days. y/n was more of a father who witnessed everything that they did and kept her mouth shut before she could get yelled at by either one of them.

"alright, stop fighting and move out of the way. i have to do the queen's hair." joon-seo declared, lightly pushing soo-ah out of the way once she was done with the final touches of my makeup.

"yah! you're a brave one! i can't believe you guys talk to your noona like that!" soo-ah exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and herself beside kwan.

|y/n pov|

"alright, how does the dress fit? do you like it?" chaerie stressed, fixing the smallest of details on my dress. it was the first time i was wearing an outfit that reminded me of promotions on music shows in korea. it was also the first time i would be in public looking like this, besides those times i would occasionally model for chanel and gucci where the clothes were far from normal.

(i love this outfit sm, i just had to use it!)

"it fits good, and looks amazing as always, chaerie." i complimented chaerie as she stood back to get a full look at the outfit i was wearing. "t-thank you, and you look as beautiful as always, y/n." I smiled, "it's all you girly." although chaerie had only barely joined the company and my staff, she was already becoming comfortable with us and was starting to open up more.

the dressing room door opened, "10 minutes! we should start heading up to the red carpet!" one staff called, peaking his head in. "ok! let's start going then, kwan?" i called, staring at the said man who was spaced out looking at me, I smirked, "getting distracted on the job, aren't we?" he shook his head before standing up, "nah, just thinking about how aged you look." he grumbled, walking past me,

such a little shit.

"hey! your one to talk donkey kong, you look like a gorilla!" i scolded, following him out to the back entrance to walk to the front.

As we were walking to the front with foreign guards and escorts, i could already hear the crowd and paparazzi going crazy. "you think you're going to be okay? it sounds like it might be too much for you to handle." kwan spoke, getting closer to me, so as too not to draw attention to ourselves, even if the other guards and escorts didn't understand korean.

we made it to the front, and the crowd muted me before i could answer him back. i just held my pinky up before following the escort along the red carpet.

it was time to be a queen.

|no one's pov|

the crowd were going crazy, it wasn't every day to see one of the biggest boybands' former female member attending one of america's biggest music award shows after leaving the group and going dark for four years straight.

no one could stay still as she walked on top of everyone on the red carpet, looking as if she was ruling the world.

as soon as the paparazzi caught sight of her, the questions came spilling from their mouths.

"y/n, how do you feel about attending and being nominated for a grammy only a year into your career after leaving bts?"

"y/n, have you seen or spoken to bts as of lately?"

"y/n, how are you doing queen?!"

well, at least there were a few people that were nice and respectful.  in others' eyes, she looked fearless, like she didn't give a fuck about what people were asking and saying.

"well, today is a day to honor some amazing artists and their impact on music history. we have artists like lady gaga, duo silk sonic, olivia rodrigo, and are there any bts fans out there? bts are the first kpop group to be nominated twice for a grammy! and last but not least, we have y/n! she is the first female kpop artist who is nominated for best new artist of the year! actually, she's coming this way! y/n! girl, you gotta get over here!" one female TV interviewer had called, which y/n had 'recognized'.

"oh, hi! it's nice to see you too!" y/n greeted, shaking her hand while bowing. "so, i heard that it's your first time being nominated, how does it feel?" y/n was quick to respond, as if she was a natural born talent, "well, since i just released my debut album about a year ago, i was not expecting all of this attention and support, especially the nomination. the album is very special to me and holds a lot of what I felt and experienced growing up in korea and being a part of the idol scene." the interviewer continued, "i've also been hearing about a special intro/skit collab before your performance, with another artist?" "ah, yes but it's a secret, you gotta wait and watch the performance!" "we'll be sure to watch, thank you for your time, y/n. also, love that dress, it looks good on you." "thank you, i'll see you later!"

emotionless, back at it again.

once she stepped off the red carpet, kwan appeared right by her side. "ugh, thank god your back, i thought i was gonna run off." y/n sighed, as kwan bent to her height, "are you sure you're okay? we can start heading in if you want?" "no no, i'm fine, let's take our time getting there, i don't want to be early." "alright."

before kwan and y/n could turn to continue their way past other artists and interviewers, the crowd once again went wild.

and wouldn't you know, bts came in all their holy grail, out of their limo. instead of y/n turning away from them, she continued to stare and witnessed their popularity from afar.

"bts! bts, over here!"

"bts, how do you feel being the first kpop group to be nominated twice for a grammy?!"

"bts, how does it feel after 4 years of being a 7 member boy group?"

"how does it feel being in the presence of y/n?"

'you mean, how does it feel to be in the presence of bts, i'm nothing compared to what they have become without me.' y/n thoughts lingered, before making eye contact with one of them.

she smiled and turned towards her dreams.

|yoongi's pov|

"can you all just shut up! y/n seems to be okay with our relationship right now, we don't want to ruin it right when we have already just worked things out." i sighed, frustrated with all of the guys stressing about the mini skit and just seeing y/n in general. i predicted that taehyung or

hoseok would be nervous, but no, it was the maknae who was bouncing his leg and poking the inside of his mouth with his tongue since we left our dressing room.

"hey, calm down. this is the first time we're gonna be in close contact with y/n in public. of course, we're all gonna be freaking out." taehyung expressed, laying against his seat, spacing out. "well, at least you can control yourself, i'm quite literally shaking from nerves right now." jungkook exclaimed, while hoseok just patted him on the back, "you'll be fine jk, plus she used to be even closer to you then taehyung was with her at one point, you know that she doesn't hold anything against us."

"how do we know that she's just not saying that?" jimin blurted, glancing at hoseok's reflection in his window. "why do you think that?" namjoon asked, leaning his elbows on his knees. "we literally lied to her about her own safety and that the company was taking care of everything, that caused her to be sexually assaulted! if only we had told her about the situation and reported the female staff member to the police before she got too close, then maybe none of this would have happened and we would still be in a group and relationship with each other." jimin shouted before scoffing and crossing his arms.

"y/n isn't the type to lie about that stuff," i commented, feeling the atmosphere become awkward.

"yeah, and we aren't the type to just believe people so easily."

"we'll talk about this later, we're already here." jin sighed, fixing up his tie. "let's please be on our best behavior." namjoon mumbled, with hoseok nodding to him, continuing what namjoon was saying, "yes please, we know that stuff as happened between us and y/n but today, just focus on what we're here for."

the limo came to a halt and then the doors were opened by our bodyguards with our escorts shortly behind them. you couldn't even hear what they were telling us as we one by one slowly started to exit the limo. the paparazzi and fans were going crazy and we just stood their star struck by the number of people there to see us on the red carpet alone.

as a group, we stepped on the red carpet as the picture and questions came.

"bts! bts, over here!"

"bts, how do you feel being the first kpop group to be nominated twice for a grammy?!"

"bts, how does it feel after 4 years of being a 7 member boy group?"

"how does it feel being in the presence of y/n?"

they were the typical questions we were expecting, here in america, it was ruthless.

as i kept looking at the cameras, i locked eyes with someone.

it was y/n.

before i could even slightly greet her, she smiled and turned towards the entrance of the arena with kwan following shortly behind her.

maybe jimin was right.

_______

this is officially the longest chapter i have ever written! it was a little quirky but also touches on a sensitive topic aka. the situation that happened between bts, y/n, and now you know: a former female staff. although it might never be revealed in detail in this book, what happened 4 years ago, maybe in the near future, the truth will be found.

[maguro13-2]

The Dark Beginnings ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Chapter 0 Epilogue ~

[Can Still See the Light - Fumie Kumatani]

Kireek : You're hardly welcome that I helped the rookie, Rupika, to finish the job for me.

Ashley : You are...

Kireek : Kireek the Hucast, you can call me the Black Hound, cause I was created to work with the Good Guys and we were helping a rookie like Ash and Bernie who were students at the time when they were hunters. The Government sent me on a distress call to whether Rico and Flowen were dead, turns out they were demised or possessed by the hands of Dark Falz, Lore like these were very dark at the moment.

Rupika : Dark Lore you say? Well, I haven't do much of any lore there is, but did anyone know that some things are always important to that lore stuff. Something Dark, something gruesome?

Kimial Diehl : Although. We did heard that the Space Colony ARK incident ended about two years before a second explosion occured in Japan. The capital city, Tokyo, was literally damaged by an explosion caused by Shattered Resonance.

Kireek : Obviously. We know who caused the triggering Shattered Resonance and caused the second explosion in Japan that is Tokyo, you were the one that is responsible for that destruction.

Kimial Diehl : Yes, that was me. Possibly, I don't know what's gonna happen to Rico and Flowen, would they ever be reincarnated as one entity that is a child they had?

Eruka Frog : That's a weirdness in the book, might be an Age Gap thing. It could be Endu the Humar. How's that sound for a cup of tea, but I believe that Maka's Mother was a doll to set this one up.

Kimial Diehl : So you see, we would guranteed that PSO lives in the one of the other servers since the officials wanted them to shutdown in due to extreme amount of money that they cut out allowance. At least, not forget, I get a little angry when I eat some left overs from the kitchen or probably take outs from those cafe and restaurants. Deathbucks coffee and death dollars, that' a not real thing in the American economy. But I believe that Starbucks is a coffee place from Seattle and Death City got sued over with it's Kyoketsu-themed merchandise. The Soul Eater franchise that Square Enix mentioned is about to be rigged in the most foreshadowing way.

Rupika : Right. Which is why we eateries at Pioneer 2. Although, machines don't eat the food, because they're robots and they don't have a digestive system. But elves do. And you're right, I smell fishy about Soul Eater, that manga that was about foreshadowing it's rigged franchise from Bones.

Ashley : Sounds right. Soul Eater would have a rigged TV show, rigged video games and rigged merchandise. All things for Soul Eater to have is rigged. Operation Baba Yaga Castle was a no good for DWMA, since a time traveling entity used Chaos Control to warp into your world. I wonder who did it?

Rupika : You're about to find out why.

"Later..."

[The Last Scene - Fumie Kumatani]

Ashley : Well, this is out one way to ticket to out of here. I hope the chief will do something right for us in the meantime. Since the mission was interrupted by that Time Traveling entity that used Chaos Control, we don't what happened if the mission was a success.

Kimial Diehl : But I'm glad that we finally making it back to HQ in the real world. Finally Episode 1 of this game is done for, guess Rico's spirit is free and Flowen will might wait for her to see her at the monument. Guess the reincarnation do come in handy with that Isekai stuff that everyone was talking about. Speaking of which, Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre must've left this place when we defeated the big bad of PSO. But I'm sure she's out there for me, waiting for me to come home.

Ashley : Kimial, what did you forget something?

Kimial Diehl : Oh! Umm... Nothing much. It's something that I had something left in my heart. Although, I was not interested in boys or anything. But I was interested in girls that are at least the type that I've known.

*BEEPING*

Kimial Diehl : What's this? An email? Is it from Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre?

Ashley : No, but it could be something. And I believe it's from Penny. What does it say.?

Kimial Diehl : Let me see? (reads the note) "Dear, Ashley and Kimial. This is Penny Crygor and the Majo Detective's heard the whole thing. The media heard that the terrorist organization Arachnophobia was really a rigged facade all along and there were multiple reports saying that Ansem was involved with the terrorists attacks. Which means we got something for Majo Detectives like you for a special announcement. Due to your efforts on stopping the Arachnophobia faction that is a facade to the heartless, the case is now completely closed."

Ashley : So I guess the mission was a success after all, we might congratulate our selves for completing it. Operation Baba Yaga was a complete success for the detectives. Although, Ansem got away and find out what were his whereabouts on finding the Kusakabe legacy destroyed or be corrupted by the power of darkness itself. We may never know what will happen to the legacy itself.

Eruka Frog : Hmmm...I guess so. Maybe I got too carried away that I was villain that is part of the story, But I guess I wasn't on the Bad Guy side. Maybe I'll stick to good guys that are on their side, whether I will be joining the Majo Detective Force to fight against crime and villainy from dangerous threats that you detectives are the true peacekeeping forces. So, umm, I'll stick with you guys for now. But I gotta return to meet Mizune, My friends are waiting for me to come back to the Southern lands.

Ashley : Yeah, Let's all go home.

Kimial Diehl : Of course. Home to my girlhood home! Off to salem...(the portal leading to the Real World is opened(

Rupika : Hey, Kimial! (Kimial stops before leaving to the portal) Take care of yourself, hero!

Kimial Diehl : Yeah, you betcha. Best friends to the end?

Rupika : And may best wishes to be on your travels. (fist bumps) Goodbye, Kimial! Hope we meet again, soon.

Kimial Diehl : Yeah, you too!

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : Kimial!

Kimial Diehl : Jacqueline! (hugs hers romantically) Jacqueline!

Jacqueline O'lantern Dupre : Kimial. Come on, love. Let's go home. Together.

Kimial Diehl : (nods) Right. (two hold hands together and starts walking to the portal as Rupika and the main characters)

Rupika : Yeah. Hope we meet again soon. I'm sure there will be a better tomorrow for their world, and their world might be their key to what the future holds. No matter what happens to them, we'll keep on winning.

"Meanwhile..."

Crona : I'm all alone. There's no one who could take care for me. My own mother was a heartless and I'm still a human. Why was I created to carry out death and destruction? Why should I do everything what these heartlesses told me destroy what? A world created by the devil named Shinra. I wouldn't think that I have no love for a human that I feel so alone. (door opens)

Crona (?) : Hello, twin. Nice to see you being imprisoned by those heartless. The Gorgon Witch Trio wouldn't suspect Sammy Lawerence's intentions. But it's good that we got her out of the way and she was never really your mother, all those lies were used by Heartless to manipulate others and orders them to destroy the whole planet and would easily open the door to darkness. I'm sure you promised that it would never hurt a fly or the fly that will be squashed like you. Tortured by the heartless, creatures of the darkness.

Crona : So you knew everything about that, Brother? Are the Gorgon Sisters really ever going to be brought back to Justice? Will it ever set me free from the dangers of what I become, Lawrence?

Crona Lawrence : Correct, and Sammy is your father. Don't expect any mercy from the reaches of Heartless like her. No will ever destroy the legacy of the Ink Demon, not even the Kusakabe's will that anyone will break free from it's chains. Hope and Despair, Light and Darkness, conflicts from the same universe as Fire and Soul shall cease from it's existence, and we are the ones that really wanted to wake up to reality. Everything for the Ink Demon's power. Come, my twin. We will teach Ansem and those heartless a lesson that will never forget. You have much to learn to show your full potential. With the Ink Demon's blood in our hands, we will destroy the Kusakabe Legacy from it's very foundation. We Ink Demons are alive and immortalize, We are the creations and they are the traitors. There will never be a vaccine to cure for the dirty needs. And when they will build our machine...

Crona : They die tonight. (shows an evil grin)

"Bendy...We will await for your return!"

" THE INK DEMON'S ORGINS CONTINUES! "

Kimial Diehl : Wait! Something's not right! Chapter 0 isn't over yet! There's still one mystery to be solved! Let's go to the Final Prologue!

Me : Oh, right! Sorry about that! Off to the Final Prologue! So here you go!

[EXTRA ZONE - Hideki Naganuma]

"THE FINAL PROLOGUE BEGINS!"

[empatheticagent]

Okay, he may have messed up. Again. He'd just really wanted to see some penguins, what was so wrong with that? And twenty bucks was pretty steep, come on. He'd only had ten in pocket. What were they gonna do? Kick him out?

Seemed like it. Rockland made eye contact with a worker as they'd held a walkie talkie, and they'd started off towards him. Haha, oh boy. What now? Pulling his gaze away, the teen's eyes darted about. Come on. Blend in with the crowds. Don't fit in with whatever description they'd have gotten. He spotted a dude with a kid in the distance. The guy had a similar hair colour to him. He could try to blend in like they were a family or something.

Hurrying up alongside the pair, to his knee's chagrin, the teen looked to the kid, because that felt less intimidating than talking to the guy directly.

"Hey, those uh-" What was around? "Snow leopards are pretty cool, right? D'you think they like the weather here? You'd think they'd wanna be in an actual like, arctic environment, given the name and all."

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and the teen's stomach clenched. Sure enough, the lady with the walkie talkie was standing there.

"Hi there. Would I be able to see your ticket, by chance?"

An anthem of swear words scattered about in his brain. What was he supposed to say to that? Offer a distraction?

"Oh yo, so I was just asking about these snow leopards. Do they do alright in the New York summers? D'you guys have to like, give them-give 'em haircuts or put a snow machine in there or something?"

"Sir-" She clearly wasn't falling for it.

"D'you go around checking everyone's tickets?" Oh great, he'd sounded more defensive than he'd intended. He was going to get kicked out, wasn't he? What if they called Akela? He was gonna be in so much trouble. He was supposed to keep his head down. What had he been thinking? He'd just-... He hadn't wanted to think for a minute. He'd just wanted to chill out and- And he hadn't even seen the penguins yet.

Even if Hailey hadn't gently nudged his arm when the older boy tried talking to her, Ray would have realised something was up, sensing the agitation and the irritation of the staff.

He looked over at Hailey with a slight raise of an eyebrow as if he was silently asking what she wanted him to do about the situation. She gave no visible response, but Ray seemed to have gotten one he understood as he turned then to face the worker and the teen.

He could guess what the problem was, having heard the staff asking about a ticket.

"Hey, surely you have bigger things to worry about than a kid wanting to see some animals?" Ray asked, reaching into his shorts pocket for his wallet. "Look, here; I'll cover it and then you're free to go worry about other stuff, yeah?"

[starter-library]

GAME CHANGER THE OFFICIAL CAST RECORDING/ WELCOME TO MOUNTPORT LYRIC STARTERS

FEEL FREE TO CHANGE PRONOUNS/NAMED/PHRASING AS YOU SEE FIT

“And your host, me. I've been here the whole time.”

“Have you ever had that dream where you've been on stage and

you haven't known your lines?”

“It's spring, but winter has left a hint of dew upon the air.”

“The fish are gone. Where'd they go? I don't know, but it's not my job, because I don't write the paper, I just distribute it.”

“That is so funny given what I have next.”

“Ugh, I got a whole batch of nothin’!”

“Fish are all gone! It's just water out there!”

“Did you hear about the fish?”

“Did you hear about [name]? Sorry, your things sounds bigger.”

“Welcome to the mountain slash seaside town of Mountport.”

“Hey, [name]! You're not allowed on the street anymore and you know why.”

“Okay, I guess I'll go back indoors.”

“The mountain’s over there next to the sea. How can that be?”

“What you do is a magic trick.”

“I'm gonna cut this part because it doesn't make me look cool.”

“They said I couldn't play baseball where I come from”

“It's called [town name], you loser!”

“This is my chance, I'll never give up, I'll never yield”

“Extra, extra, midday news! Fish still gone.”

“Oh, haven't seen you around here.”

“You gotta be careful. If you call it something else, everyone in the town's gonna

rag on you immediately.”

“Well, that's not a problem once you see what I can do.”

“Well, there's nothing classic about me except for my spunk.”

“The tuna fish here is beyond belief”

“It tastes real good, but don't eat too much it'll make you throw right up”

“Don't climb up that big ol' tree, a woman lives in there and she is not okay”

“Not like “not okay” like there's something wrong with her she's totally fine, she's just mean maybe evil”

“Don't talk to the woman in the tree”

“Hey, you get outta here!”

“Why do they call me a busker? I don't even know that word”

“You know the legend of the traveling, baseball-playing kid who can change the world?”

“A very, very long time ago a legend was foretold”

“This is when I was younger, but now, now I'm old”

“I said my destiny is to be a woman who is mean”

“I'll be writing this down because I'm a professional”

“I'll be writing these down, Every evil plan that you have said, Tell me about the evil plan that's in your head”

“You're gonna tear her down because you're a professional”

“Tear down a hero is what professional villains do”

“That’s legitimately better than anything I've seen on Broadway in the last 10 years.”

“I do musical theater for the points.”

“I'm so glad we're finally getting out.”

“I had to get away, and honestly, Palm Springs is 110 this time of year and I could not be more thrilled.”

“I need a swim-up bar. I need cards that could catch fire from the sun at any moment.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. They said this car still had an opening, but your luggage appears

to be in every seat.”

“I have a second question for you, pop quiz.”

“I'm here to tell you, the time is now. I'm turning off the lights”

“Ah, looky-here, In old timey speak they say hark”

“I’m showing you the dark”

“It's a ticket to nowhere, your playing days are done”

“Wow, being mean is fun”

“Your dreams are done, I'm sorry, gal, It's the end for you”

“Suddenly a feeling I can guess is destiny- A feeling of fate is bubbling up inside of me”

“There's something about you, I glimpsed it in a tree”

“No one can stop me, not even you, you'll see”

“Getting in my way would be the worst thing you could do”

“Take my guitar”

“Take your guitar?”

“I’m going to business school because business is cool”

“This is really compelling.”

“And everyone says you'll acclimate, I never acclimate to anything in my life.”

“We got to send a card to Ethel, or a fruit basket or something.”

“Would you go half and half on a fruit basket with me?”

“She doesn't like building regulations, so she actively builds it in a way that is not earthquake-safe.”

“Money can buy anything I want.”

“You're really good at getting the word out.”

“We can take it apart beam by beam as a team”

“We'll show her what money can't buy”

“This is nice, it's the most activity I've had in a while.”

“Whoa, well if you're doing something, I'm gonna try and do it better, because that is our relationship.”

“You keep me sharp, bud.”

“I told you this was a ticket to nowhere look what you had to do”

“It's a place where you can follow your dreams. And then think, well maybe I should go to business school, and then realize I could go to business school and follow my dreams”

“Well, if I'm being honest, I never wanted to be mean.”

“You could buy your own ticket to something new, If that's something you want to do”

“I guess money can buy a giant tower, but it can't buy a vocation and a passion”

“Thank you so much for welcoming in a scrappy kid from not here”

“No home run is worth it If you can't run home to a home you love”

“The world is your musical. It's just that your cast is bad at taking direction.”

[amoretsh]

facetime with tom | tom holland

summary:

warnings: none, fluff i guess??

a/n: enjoy!! wrote this back when tom was still filming spiderman, if you have any requests please feel free to send them to me :) also check me out on insta, my user is also amoretsh

-.-.-.-.-

"hey darling, i miss you"

"hi tommy, i miss you too, i wanna cuddle"

"i wanna cuddle too, i miss the feeling of your lips on mine, they long for your touch"

< it was tough doing long-distance, especially during a global pandemic. she would normally go with tom but he didn't want her to get sick. the boy loved her too much. >

"awe baby, i love you, you're too cute"

"i am cute but i'm your cutie"

"i wish i could hug you right now"

"don't worry love, you'll be able to hug me very soon"

"i hope so, well i gotta go babes, my next lecture starts soon"

"okay, i'll talk to you later sweetie, love you"

"love you too *blows him a kiss*"

< y/n looks in the mirror and frowns. she misses her boyfriend. they've been together for two years. she knows that being in this relationship means there will be times where tom has to be away for long periods but it's all worth it. >

~ about a week later ~

< y/n lay sprawled across the couch. the remote in her hand as she decided what to watch on netflix. as she clicked through the different titles she thought about wanting to cuddle her boyfriend. she missed his touch. this made her a little sad. y/n decided to call tom. he answered the phone and she waited for it to connect.  his face appeared on the screen making y/n smile. >

"hi y/n *he smiled, running a hand through his hair*"

"hey tommy, i called you cause i was missing you"

"i'm sorry babe i wish i was there to hug you"

"*she pouted* it's not fair"

"i know baby, but you know i don't want you getting sick"

"yeah i understand love"

"okay so y/n, i have a surprise for you"

"what is it? *y/n asked confused*"

"check the mailbox"

< y/n walked outside and opened the mailbox. inside was an envelope. she opened it and inside was a plane ticket to atlanta, georgia. >

"no, you did not tom. no way! thomas!"

"surprise! hope you enjoy it darling"

"i love it. this is the best surprise ever, i'm gonna go pack now"

"okay love, well i have to get back now anyway so i'll talk to you later, love you"

"love you more"

"love you most"

< y/n hung up the call and plopped onto the couch. she couldn't contain her excitement. "oh my god, i have to go pack" she happily screamed.  >

< about two days later y/n woke up. it was currently six in the morning. her flight was at nine o'clock. she excitedly looked in her closet for a cute outfit to wear. y/n decided on this cute white turtleneck with a somewhat reddish plaid skirt. after getting dressed she walked downstairs and made herself breakfast. her luggage was already downstairs. after eating she finished getting ready and walked over to the door. she grabbed her bags and walked outside to her car. >

< after loading up the car she started to drive to the airport. y/n paid for parking so that her car can stay at the airport while she's away. she put her mask on and grabbed her suitcase before entering. the anticipation building up inside her.  walked over to security and got her bags checked. once that was done she walked over to her gate. it was so much different than normal since the pandemic began. >

< the plane ride was about two hours and forty-five minutes but to her it felt like it was the longest trip of her life. when the plane finally landed a huge smile appeared on her face. she immediately texted tom that she was here. when she got off the plane she looked around for tom. the exhilaration eating at her. when their eyes finally locked y/n felt happy. tom opened his arms wide as she ran to him. she jumped into his arms like it was the last time she'd see him. >

< he inhaled the smell of her. the warm vanilla smell she always had, it warmed his heart. "i missed you so much babygirl" he softly said in her ear. he placed her down and pulled her in for a kiss. there lips lingered for a moment. they've missed the feeling of their lips on one another. "i've missed you too tommy" y/n responded, nuzzling her head into the side of his neck. he wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked out of the airport. she was so happy to finally be with her boyfriend. >

< they got to the hotel and tom helped bring her suitcases up to his room. once they got in the room, tom pushed her onto the bed and y/n giggled. "thomas!" she laughed. she finally felt content and secure. there was no other place in the world y/n would rather be right now then in her boyfriends arms. >

[atinysunbaby]

Meant to be | Choi San 🖤

Warnings : Cursing, violence, mention of rape.

Words count : 2.2 k

Previous 《 Prologue

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Present

My cheeks are burning from the salty tears escaping my eyes. A tightening feeling in my chest growing by the minute. The sobs keep escaping me, making my body move uncontrollably. Chocking from the sharp inhales and shaking from the cold temperature. This moment, forever will be imprinted in my mind. Those images I wish I could forget, unfortunately will hunt me till my last breath.

I suppose it's what most people feel too when they lose their parents. I wanted to deny it, but I saw their bodies. They were cold, bruised, bloody and no longer held any signs of life.

The last time a saw them, I didn't bother much to say goodbye to them. Only telling them to enjoy their little vacation in the woods. I was more exited about being alone then making them know how much I loved them. Now it's too late, I'll never be able to see their faces again, hear their voices, feel their arms around me when I need them the most.

I woke up to my cellphone ringing this morning, answering grumpily, thinking it was my mom who disturbed me from my sleep. It was actually the cops telling me to come to the hospital, but I wish it would've been her instead. I wish she could annoy me every morning now, but it's over. She isn't here anymore and neither is my dad.

I'm in my room, at this moment, crying my heart out. I ran out of the hospital immediately after seeing their corpses. They wanted me to identifie them, but I left with people screaming for me to comeback. I guess they probably know from my reaction, that it was indeed my mom and dad.

People keep calling me on my phone, but I don't answer. I'm laying on the floor, looking at the ceiling, waiting for my sadness to subside. I know that won't happen anytime soon, but it's the only way for me to calm down. Being surrounded by people telling me how sorry they are for my loss. A bunch of fake assholes making me feel even worse about the situation definitely won't make anything better.

Slowly my eyes get heavy, I try to fight the exhaustion but fail miserably. I fall asleep on the cold floor of my room, my window open and the sound of rain filling my ears. All of this crying definitely used up a lot of my energy.

The car crash, I wasn't there and I have no idea of what happened. But I see it, something is in the middle of the road and dad just told mom a joke. They're laughing.. until they hit that thing, an animal maybe. It goes right through the window and kill my dad instantly, but as for my mom. The car rolls off the road and fall down a small cliff. Mom's still alive, she's in pain, blood everywhere, she's crying for her husband to open his eyes and answer her. She keeps screaming that she can't feel him anymore? His presence? Her breathing is getting worse the more she panics. Suddenly the door on her side opens and something stabs her in the chest, putting a end to her desperate cries. Blood is streaming down her chin, her eyes looking directly through mine while she takes her last breath.

I open my eyes to see nothing but darkness. I frantically search for a sign of light, I reach around with my hands. My eyes are open wide and my breath shaky, until my fingers brush against an object. I stop every movement, slowly gripping it and letting a breath of relieve when I realise it's my phone.

I turn it on to see a ton of messages and missed calls. One standing out, my aunts name, my mom's sister. I never talked to her, but mom insisted on giving me her number. I look around my room and stand up to look outside the window, only to notice that it's night time. The reason of the darkness and freezing temperature. I close it and turn the lights on in my room. Then I sit on the corner of my bed and hesitate a few minutes while looking at the screen in front of me. My fingers finaly press on call. A few rings later, Aunt Kath's voice is heard. "Y/N! Y/N is it you?"

"Yes it's me.. why did you cal-" I'm cut off by a loud sob. My eyes widen in confusion, but I soon remember that my mom, her sister is no longer a part of this world. I sigh and wait for her to stop crying on the other side of the line. "S-sweetie- where are you? Are you safe? You're not alone ar-"

"Kath, my parents just died. I'm obviously not partying right now, but I'm okay.. I guess.." She stays silent for the next few seconds, my blunt answer probably wasn't expected, but it's understandable. "Sweetheart-I uhh.. you have no one to stay with right? So.. your mom made me your godmother, i-in case anything happened to her.. will you come live w-with me, here in Korea?"

It takes some time to process what just came out of her mouth, my eyebrows are furrowed. Many feelings are fighting to take control of my body, but the one that wins is frustration. "W-what?.."

"She told me to take care of you if she wasn't there anymore... It was just a precaution, but I guess it really happened." She says with a small voice, trying not to upset me further. Judging from my lack of response, she can tell I'm not that excited about this new information. "I asked you, but it ins't really a choice that you have. It's an obligation, you can't stay alone out ther-"

I hang up, not wanting to listen even for one more second. I need some time to think about it. She's right, I don't have much of a choice. I turned seventeen not too long ago and I don't have any family member here. At least none that I know of. I sigh defeated, once again pressing on my godmother's contact.

She picks up not even a second later, as if she knew I was gonna call her back. She doesn't say a word, waiting for me to start talking. I clear my throat after freeing my lower lip from my teeth. "How will I get there? How about my clothes and everything else in the house? My parents' funera-"

"I'll take care of everything you don't have to worry, just bring the necessary and I'll transfer some money on your account so you can pay for your plane ticket. As for the ride to my house, my boyfriend will pick you up" She spend a whole hour explaining to me how everything will go and I agree after hesitating for a while. If my mom gave Kath the role of godmother, she must trust her. So I will trust her too, anyways I don't really have a reason not to. She's been nice till now and she'll even welcome me in her house, she's taking me in. "Thank you Kath, I really appreciate it. I don't know what I would've done if I was all alone."

Days later

I prepared all my stuff, ready to fly to Korea. It took me a while to accept, but eventually I warmed up to it. It's an opportunity for me, to start over. A new life full of adventure, new environment and culture. I want to explore the world so why not start there.

Unfortunately though, I had to say goodbye to all my friends. We cried and spend the last few days together. We promised to text each other everyday and not to forget about one another. Sad thing is, my friends aren't the only ones I need to leave behind. It's hard to leave the place I grew up in, my house, my neighbourhood, my city, everything.

In a few hours, everything I ever knew will all be in the past. Only the memories will stay, the rest, all gone. So the day my parents died, I didn't only lose them, but my life too. The life they gave me. Now, I have to make a new one, by myself.

Landing in Korea

The flight was boring and quite annoying, I didn't know what to do. A baby cried for what felt like years and a couple had an argument at some point. Then the person next to me started to snore so loudly I thought the plane was crashing. I'm glad to finaly be on the ground, the loud voices of people speaking indistinctly seeming to sooth me from what I went through previously.

I sit on one of the chairs in the airport waiting for James, my godmother's boyfriend. He'll drive me to their house, apparently Kath arranged a room for me already. She doesn't have any kid, so she's looking forward to having me over.

"Y/N!!" I jump from the chair almost falling on my ass. I luckily manage to stay on my two feet and not make a fool of myself. Upon hearing a chuckle, I turn around and see an old looking dude smirking at me, maybe in his late forties. "Umm.. Hi can I help you?"

"James, I came to pick you up remember?" He asks while pointing at himself. I'm still unsure, he's looking at me weirdly. I can feel an odd vibe from him. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but I push it aside and nod before following him.

We enter his rusty jeep, the doors creaking when moving. Despite the outside looking a bit ugly, the inside is clean. The only negative point would be the smell, cigarette and..alcohol? Paying a bit more attention to the smell though, it doesn't only come from the jeep. The man next to me is even worst, it seems that he might shower rarely. Subtly, I bring my sweater paws to my nose, looking outside to distract myself.

"So, Y/N! How you holding up?" His loud and deep raspy voice makes me jump for the second time. I turn a bit a towards him not to be impolite and think before answering him. "I guess it's a bit easier then I expected. I didn't think that I'd feel any better, but after a few days it prove me wrong. But I feel bad, to already move on.."

He hums next to me, nodding his head lazily. I wait for him to add something, but the car is filled with silence. I'm relieved he doesn't speak further, not really being in the mood to have a whole conversation, especially with someone I don't know. So, slowly I turn back around towards the window. My mind drifting to the events that happened in just a few weeks, everything is so fucked up. Fortunately, Kath and James decided to help me.

About an hour past since we came out of the airport. We just entered a forrest, James informed me that it'll take a while still. He insisted that I should go to sleep and when I'll wake up, we'll be home. I ponder for some time, but eventually agree. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep due to not being able to get much sleep in the plane.

I wake up when the car come to an halt, a man's voice coming from next to me. Curses escaping his mouth, confused I open my eyes. The events from the previous hours coming back to me, tears threatening to escape my eyes. My body shaking slightly from fear, uncontrollably.

The ride was a lot longer then what James had told me it would be and I slept, only to be woken up by a hand covering my mouth. Horrible things happened in that car and it wasn't a nightmare, no mather how much I wish it was one. He said he would tell Kath it took us some time because of the traffic and the airport. Then he threatened to kill me if I open my mouth.

I can't let him see me crying, I don't want him to have another reason to hurt me. Despite being terrified and completely drained from energy, I swallow the bill in my throat and wipe the tears from my eyes. While I'm breaking down, next to me James is whistling and turning the car off. Announcing with a loud scream to Kath that we arrived.

"Omg! Y/N! Sweetie you really are here." Kath comes out of the house shouting happily, her arms open, waiting for me to give her a hug. I rush to open the door, but a hand grabs my arm. His nails dig in my skin and I whimper, both from fear and pain. "Remember. You talk, you die."

He puts my bag in my hand, pretending to be helping me. Finally I escape the horrible vehicle and run into my godmother's arms with a heavy heart. The second she engulfs me in her warmth, sobs spill from deep within me. She cries with me but not for the same reason. She cries because she lost her sister and now I'm here. I, cry because I've lost my parents, I lost my house, my friends. Because I've been raped less then an hour ago. Because I feel completely broken and hopeless. The new life I wanted for myself, only starts with even more problems then I had before.

Next 》 Chapter 2

[ladydorian]

It's the annual Spring Carnival at Tanya's school, and she and her friends are buzzing around excitedly:

Delia: "What do you guys wanna do first? Ooh, I know! Let's go sodomize the cornhole board!"

Cassie: "The ring toss game has knockoff Pokémon plushies. You could win a Squartle for just three tickets."

Erik: "No way, the only thing my tickets are good for is dropping Callahan in the dunk tank. Make him calculate the Sine of my knuckleball."

Tanya: "Cool, I'm gonna go grab a snack. Meet you at the tank in ten."

--at the sweets table, Roger is talking to one of the bake sale volunteers--

Roger: "Are the cupcakes any good?"

Girl: (cheerfully) "You betcha! They're gluten-free and topped with a delicious vegan cream cheese frosting."

Tanya: (stepping in beside him) "I hear the brownies are made with extra gluten in a sweatshop full of dairy cows."

Roger: "That so? Are the cows unionized?"

Tanya: "It's a sweatshop."

Roger: "Duly noted." (to the girl) "We'll take two brownies, please."

Tanya: "Thanks, Mr. Berkman. I promise I'll pay you back."

Roger: "You could keep me company for a few minutes while I try not to get chocolate all over my face."

Tanya: "Good thing I keep a pack of tissues in my pocket."

--as they stand off to the side eating their brownies--

Roger: (mouth full) "Not bad for cow labor."

Tanya: "I dunno, it's a little dry. I think I could do a better job."

Roger: "If you're hoping it'll get you an A-plus on the next test, you're probably right. But don't tell anyone I said that."

Tanya: (giggles) "How come you didn't sign up for the dunk tank?"

Roger: "Because my students look like they all have good aim. Why? Did you want to dunk me?"

Tanya: (blushing) "N-No. I wouldn't wanna get your sweater all wet. And then you might catch a cold, and Miss Starkey would have to sub, and she'll just make us watch more boring episodes of Downton Abbey."

Roger: "You know, I voiced my displeasure with her the first time that happened. See if I ever get food poisoning again."

Tanya: "I mean, I guess it could've been worse. She could've had us watch Pocahontas."

Roger: "Or Caligula."

Tanya: "What's that?"

Roger: "Nothing. How was your spring break?"

Tanya: "Good. We ran a week-long campaign in Delia's basement. My character learned how to tame a six-headed manticore. But I'm sure you're not interested in that."

Roger: "I sure am. If you ever wrote a book, you can bet I'd be the first in line to buy it. Would you sign it for me?"

Tanya: "Would you sell it on eBay?"

Roger: "Not in a million years."

Tanya: (smiles) "Maybe someday. But right now I gotta go watch Erik blow his allowance on the dunk tank."

Roger: "Have fun, kiddo. Take a shot at Principal Voores for me."

Tanya: "OK, but if I get detention you gotta promise to bust me out."

Roger: "I'll get my lockpick ready."

[love-fireflysong]

yIt's done. It took me waaaay to long to write this piece out but between June and my computer apparently deciding to kick me in the teeth this month, the fact I made it to 5 full squares completed anyways I will gladly take as a victory! And, just fyi, this WILL be the last piece for this month. I know that there is still another four days left of June, but I am sick and tired of dealing with my keyboard so this is the last fic you're gonna see from me until I get a new laptop hopefully fairly soon. (Unless I decide that I'm desperate enough to try and write things out on my tablet of course...)

Anyways, the First Date trope was specifically requested by @jesus-hotsauce-christmas-cake when I let her know that the one she did guess (road trip) was going to be a second chapter of a twoshot. Which you still might get because I'm very likely going to be sharing the short little summary blurbs I had written down for each trope so people can very easily bully me into writing them anyways if people still wanted to read them. And even though it would be like months and months late, still post them under this bingo board because I can and I had a cool idea for what I was doing with the colours and layout before life decided to say 'NO!' in a very firm voice. (Unless of course the three lovely ladies that came up with this idea in the first place say no obviously)

Rambling over though now I promise. Chocolate Covered Confessions can be read over and AO3 of course, with the full fic also under the readmore as well.

Chocolate Covered Confessions

Trope: First Date Fandom: Until Dawn Characters: Ashley Brown, Chris Hartley Words: 8214 Rating: General (though reader beware there is some almost scandalous hand holding and a couple of scandalously public kisses. You have been warned...) Authors Notes: Oh look, more chrashley fluff. Who da thunk it? Pride month? What pride month? This is just me apparently figuring out how many different ways I can get Chris and Ash to confess their feelings. Because you only read like three of them, I still have another two waiting in the wings. Plus at least three others if you count climbing chrash lol.

Something was...weird. It wasn't something that Ashley could put her finger on just yet, but something was definitely off that was for sure. The problem of course was that she didn't even know where to start looking in the first place, because for the most part her day had been extraordinarily ordinary.

She, Chris, and Josh had planned to go and see a movie Saturday morning a few days back and then hang out the rest of the day. But seeing as they were, you know, best friends that certainly wasn't the issue. Not even close. They always made plans to do stuff like that together. And yeah, okay, so maybe Josh had 'coincidentally' texted them just before the movie started to let them know that something unavoidable had come up and he wasn't going to be able to meet up with them. And when her and Chris had brought up just waiting until a later showing when he was free, he had immediately been quick to affirm that nope, he was going to be busy the whole rest of the day actually. So the two of them could continue with their original plans and they could make it up to him another time.

While certainly suspicious, that wasn't what was wrong though. Josh had been flaking out on their plans more and more, especially when it was plans that took up an entire day. Ashley Brown wasn't stupid. No siree Bob she was not! She knew exactly what Josh was trying to do by leaving her to spend the day with Chris. Alone . And she appreciated it (she really did!), but if Chris was going to make a move then he would have done it ages and ages ago, because she sure as hell wasn't going to do it! Ashley Brown wasn't stupid, but she also wasn't exactly what you would call brave either.

Not that Chris had seemed to notice what Josh was pulling though, he had just sighed and rolled his eyes with a grumbled "fucking typical", and then the two of them had entered the theater to watch the movie. And as per their usual shtick when Josh wasn't there with them, Chris paid for the tickets while she paid for the food and drinks. Or, at least, that was how it normally went. Instead, when she had decided to take a run to the bathroom while he held their spot in the long concession line, she had come back to Chris waiting for her with the pop and popcorn already in hand. After brushing off her flustered apologies, he had explained that shortly after she had left, another cashier had popped on till so the line had gone down in half the time either had expected. And it seemed like a dick move to just wait there until she came back so he had just decided to get the food instead.

She still felt a little guilty about it honestly, even after swearing that she would get both the tickets and food next time.

And, to be completely fair to Josh, he hadn't exactly been missing out on a lot by skipping out on the movie. It wasn't a horror flick (he would never even think of skipping out on that after all) so it wasn't one that he would feel the need to make the two of them watch again with him. Which was more than fine honestly, because if she was to describe the movie in a single word, well, that word would definitely have been 'dreadful'. If she was given a few more words, then she would have easily elaborated and stated that it was 'a boring, plot-hole driven mess, with only extremely over-the-top action scenes and explosions every five minutes to carry any semblance of the extremely loosely written plot'. In other words, she had lost interest in the movie barely half an hour in, and considering that Chris had started scrolling through his phone bored, she wasn't alone in this boat either.

Still, Ashley had resolved herself to sit through this over-budgeted explosion fest if only because movie tickets were horribly expensive. Not to mention the fact that Chris had shelled out money for both the movie and the food. But then he had turned to her, asked if she was as bored to tears as he was, and once he got that confirmation, asked if she wanted to just ditch the movie entirely. And she did—she really, really did—but didn't want Chris to waste the money he had spent more. And then yet another explosion...exploded on screen, and she realized that she was wasting precious hours of her life that could be used to do something more fun and less mind-numbingly boring.

Like watching paint dry. That at least had a semi-cohesive plot.

And so the two of them had walked out, continuing to share the extra buttered popcorn between them (the movie may have been awful, but the popcorn certainly wasn't) as they left the movie theater behind and wandered into the nearby mall. That wasn't the strange thing either. The mall and subsequent window shopping had absolutely been part of their day plans after, even if those had been unexpectedly pushed forward a couple of hours.

Admittedly the art show that the mall was running in one of the empty storefronts was unexpected, but  it had been simply a nice surprise and a great way to kill time. So after paying the $2 entrance fee, the two of them had continued to share the popcorn as they looked at some of the paintings and sculptures that had been on display, giggling childishly at most of them. And okay, so one of the curators had been glaring at them( or rather, at their greasy, butter-covered fingers) the whole time, but that had just been a little rude and insulting. Not strange. And that had stopped almost the moment they had run out of popcorn, Ashley nudging him in the stomach with her elbow as she licked her fingers clean, and the two of them laughing under their breaths at the curator who had looked exceptionally much more at ease once Chris had crumpled the empty bag into a ball.

The rest of their day in the mall had just been spent following the rest of their day's plan, wandering from shop to shop and browsing at all the things that caught their eyes, and then taking a break after a few hours to have a late lunch in the food court. The two of them checked out another couple of stores, these ones to try and get some ideas for Josh's birthday in another month, before moving onto the small arcade on the top floor. As part of their deal and agreement since it had just been Josh and Chris (Ashey not joining the duo until five years later), Chris bought the tokens needed while she scouted out the various games for an empty console and claimed it until he could join her in another couple of minutes.

They spent the next hour in there, trying to beat each other or work together depending on the game in question. They almost never played a game twice before moving onto the next one, in hopes to both try as many games as possible before their self imposed hour ended and to see if they could beat their previous high scores or make it onto the leaderboard in only a single try. But as the hour came to a close, they both made their way over to their final game: one of the racing simulators scattered around the arcade. And as had been done for ten years now, played to determine which of them would be paying for the tokens next time they came.

And once the race ended, with Ashley winning by photo finish for the third time in a row (and celebrating her winning streak by maturely sticking out her tongue and doing an awkward little shimmy dance in the seat while Chris jokingly sulked and pouted), they had finally left the mall altogether and got into Chris's truck. There, he had surprised Ashley with the novel she had been eyeing in the bookstore (or at least, eyeing closer than all the rest she had picked up) and that he had somehow been able to buy without her noticing. And that certainly hadn't been weird, because it had been so exceptionally sweet of him, sweet enough that Ashley had so badly wished that she could thank him properly. But as mentioned before, Ashley Brown was a coward pure and simple, so she had just clutched the book to her chest and beamed at Chris in heartfelt thanks instead.

He may have said something in reply, but Ashley had already settled into the passenger seat and opened to the first page of the book, so she was already long gone. A fact that Chris had anticipated, if the light chuckle he had let out before starting the truck meant anything. And no, Ashley reading a book while Chris drove them to their usual game store across town was not the strange thing either. If Chris hadn't wanted her to read on the drive over and talk to him, then he never would have given her the book now of all times. He would have waited until he had dropped her off home, or not even bought the book in the first place. After over a half a decade of friendship, if anyone knew what would happen after giving Ashley Brown a new book, it was Chris Hartley.

The drive over is done quicker then she had expected, and even then Chris still hadn't let her know that they had arrived until she had finished her chapter. Yes he had certainly teased her about it the entire time, joking about how she would never find someone as understanding of her reading habits then him (he didn't know how right he was, that she didn't want to find anyone else), but the fact that he had just continued to let the music play in the truck and distracted himself on his phone was so unbearably sweet that she decided to let it lie.

The fact that Ashley and Chris hung around in the game shop comparing dice and looking at new books while wincing over the prices for nearly two hours wasn't what was off either. Hell, if anything the fact that they only spent a couple of hours there before leaving was weird! Her, Chris, and Josh could easily spend almost half a day in there flipping through comics and rolling dice to test them out, only leaving because a tired employee was forced to ask them to leave for making too much noise and taking up a table when they weren't playing anything, especially when there was a group that had been waiting for a table for close to an hour now.

Which brought Ashley to where she was right now, sitting at a sticky plastic table under the shade of a cheap umbrella while Chris had run off to get them some ice cream before dropping her off at home. Her new book was open in front of her, the pages crisp white even in the umbrella's shade, but her mind wasn't on the book anymore. A random line had a character mentioning that something had been feeling off all day ever since they woke up ('like everything had been moved three centimeters to the left, so while it all looked normal, nothing felt right anymore'), and Ashley had also realized that hey, wait a second, her day was also feeling just a little wonky too! But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. Today had just been a normal day hanging out with Chris after all. They went to see (and bailed) a movie, spent hours hanging out in the mall and at the game store, and now they were each going back home. Nothing unusual had happened, so why did it feel like something hugely monumental had been going on all day?

"Oi. Earth to Ash, you okay in there?"

A light flick to the center of Ashley's forehead has her blink in surprise, and she finds herself back into the present once again. Chris is standing next to her, carefully balancing the two cones in his right hand and his left ready to flick again if needed, and a bemused smile on his face.

"Oh, uh, sorry Chris. Got a little too into the book I think." She closes the book, not wanting to get melting ice cream all over its crisp white pages (and she really hasn't absorbed a single word for nearly ten minutes now), but Chris doesn't hand her the cone just yet.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that," Chris says as he snorts in disbelief. "I know your 'praise be to books' look, and that was not it. That was your 'head full, too many thoughts' look."

"Excuse me? What? I do not have a reading look! Or a thinking look for that matter!"

"Oh you do. You really, really do. Trust me. You may have been staring at that book but there was no way that you were reading, I would bet my own ice cream here on it." Chris brandishes his double chocolate cone at her, then seems to reconsider and switches to show off her own dipped soft serve that he still has yet to actually let her eat. "Actually, you know what? I would eat your dipped monstrosity if I'm wrong."

Ashley sighs, but she can't keep the smile from her face. "It's not that bad this time, oh my god. It's chocolate ice cream dipped in blueberry syrup. This is actually a normal combination for people who go out of their way to order more exciting cones then two scoops of chocolate." She leans forward and places her elbows on the table to support her head in her hands. "But I wanna see you do it anyway, so tell me exactly why you're so convinced that I wasn't reading."

Chris opens his mouth, but immediately closes it a second later, as though he didn't realize exactly what he had signed himself up for here until now. Ashley of course takes it as a sign of victory. "I knew it. So let's see this Chris, I wanna see you eat something that isn't—"

"When you read you get, like, super attentive." Chris's face is pink, and not looking at her but at the book on the table as he bashfully continues. "You become so drawn in to whatever you're reading that you ignore everything going on around you, because all of your attention is now on that book. Pretty sure a bomb could go off right next to you and you wouldn't even notice sometimes. And it's always so easy to tell what's happening in the book when you're reading too, cause your face is always so expressive. Like your eyes get big when something exciting or surprising happens, and when you're really enjoying whatever it is you're reading, you start giggling like a loon."

Ashley is too stunned and, quite frankly, her heart is beating too fast for her to even think of a proper response to that . She manages to squeak out a quiet little "oh, um" but Chris doesn't notice. Not when he's still babbling and not looking at her at all.

"But when you get deep in thought, you're not like that at all. All of your attention goes inward, and everything around you disappears cause all the important stuff is going on inside your head right now. Your mouth falls open just a little, sort of like you're gaping at all the information in front of you. And-and sometimes you'll mouth out what's going on inside your head as you try to fit the pieces of everything together so it's neat and tidy like a puzzle. And even though you have the, like, blankest stare imaginable, it's not empty at all if that makes any sense. Cause your eyes narrow and your forehead scrunches just the tiniest amount so you have a small little wrinkle form like right here—" with his unoccupied hand Chris points at the bridge of his nose right between his eyes "—and it's weirdly, insanely cute? But when you finally figure out the puzzle in your head, your face lights up like a kid on christmas morning and...and..." He lets his words trail off and stops awkwardly there, as though finally realizing exactly what he's been saying this entire time.

His face is almost beet red now, and Ashley is pretty sure hers is too. "Oh, uh, wow. I-I didn't realize you paid any attention to me when I was like that..."

Somehow his face only gets redder, and though he mumbles the words under his breath, Ashley can still make them out. "I'm always paying attention to you."

But not close enough attention it seems, she thinks sadly. If you did then you would have noticed something way more obvious than that. But she doesn't want to embarrass him anymore than he already is (then she already is), and she isn't sure what else she could possibly say that wouldn't be her blurting out that she likes him, so instead she pretends that she hadn't heard a single thing and wordlessly accepts the ice cream that he hands to her, accepting her defeat as she takes a small bite of the blueberry covered chocolate soft serve.

...The blueberry covered chocolate soft serve that he had bought for her. Or, you know, the ice cream he had paid for himself. Just like he had paid for everything today. Kind of like it was almost a, uh, date. Like he had taken her on a date.

Oh .

"Oh boy, let me guess: I was right and your ice cream really is a crime against taste buds?"

Ashley comes crashing back down to reality to see Chris, his face still a little red but the playful smile back on his face as he teased her. And yet, that only makes it worse as she can't help but feel the usual gymnastics routine the butterflies in her stomach perform at that particular smile, only they're a thousand times worse now that's she's realized exactly why today had felt so strange. And she can't help thinking how much everyone else would classify what was just a day hanging out with her best friend as a date. And how much she really, really wished it was one.

"Nope," she unfortunately squeaks out, and clears her throat so she can continue in a more normal tone of voice. "Nope, sorry to disappoint Chris, but the ice cream tastes fine." She takes another bite for proof (and to her credit she's not lying, it tastes more than fine). "Just, uh, realized something funny that's all." And the moment the words leave her mouth she realizes just how badly she's screwed everything up, because there is no way in any world that Chris Hartley is just going to let that comment lie.

"Funny? Oho, well now I'm interested. You mind sharing your glorious epiphany with the rest of the class Miss Brown?"

Taking another small taste of her ice cream, Ashley averts her gaze as she gives what she is kicking herself for is obviously an extremely forced laugh. "Did I say funny? I meant boring, just super boring actually."

"Well now I just want to hear it more."

"No, you don't. Trust me, you really, really don't."

Chris's brows furrow in concern. "Ash? You okay?"

She isn't, of course she isn't. She's now realized exactly what a date with Chris would be like, and it would be exactly like this. With them going to all the same place and doing the same things but she's allowed to hold his hand and kiss him when he does stupid sweet things like buying her the book she's been eyeing and talking about all day. She's never wanted something to be so true so badly in her life. And it's likely this thought in her mind that causes her to blurt out "A date." before she even realizes what she's said.

That only makes the confusion on Chris's face go deeper, which is appropriate considering she's sinking deeper and deeper into her chair in a futile effort to hide or escape as well. "What? Are you saying that you just remember what date it is today? Or that you had something you were supposed to do today instead? I'm not really following you right now Ash..."

This is perfect. It's the perfect excuse, she could laugh and say that she totally forgot what day it was and that she had an essay due pretty soon, or that she was supposed to babysit for a neighbour tonight. Anything really, the sky was quite literally the limit. And instead she just bit her lip and stared at the ice cream melting in her hand before weakly admitting "No, a, uh, date. As in, the romantic kind. I realized that today probably looks like a date to anyone else. Funny, huh?"

She's not sure how Chris would react to that. Maybe a startled laugh, and hand wave as he brushes her off. A scoff as he assures her that this definitely isn't a date, cause they're just friends and that's all they'll ever be. Whatever the reaction she expected, it was certainly not the fumbling for his ice cream as he nearly drops it in his shock, and how absolutely flustered he sounds as he trips over his own tongue. "W-what? I-I-I, uh—I mean, th-this obviously isn't—Who would even—? Wh-what would even give you the idea that we could um, possibly be on a date?"

Ashley shrugs weakly. "Isn't it obvious Chris?" She ignores his even more flustered babbling that no, he absolutely did not see what was so obvious as she continued on, still too nervous to look him in the eyes. "You've kind of paid for everything today."

"I wha—? I mean, no I haven't!"

"You kind of have, Chris. The theater?"

"You know I always pay for the tickets, and it would have just been really rude to make the line even longer!"

"The art show?"

"It was just a couple of toonies! And you saw the face of the worker there, they would have kicked us right out if they'd had to break a twenty. It was just easier."

"Lunch?"

"They-they'd had a special on for a two-person meal at that stall in the food court, and they wouldn't let each of us pay half..." he neglected to point out that Ashley could have easily paid for their lunch, and probably should have, but before she had been able to offer he'd already been swiping his debit card.

"The arcade?"

"Okay, that was my turn to buy the tokens, you know that. That one doesn't even count."

Ashley lifted her eyes from the ice cream to the book that sat menacingly and innocently all at one at the center of the table, it's pristine cover mocking her. "The book?"

"T-that was just a gift! You seemed really into it at the store and friends buy each other gifts all the time—"

There was no describing how soft and nervous her voice got as she asked the question that would put the final nail in the coffin. "The ice cream?"

"I, uh, it was just—um..." Chris let out a breath in a weak chuckle. "Shit, I guess I kind of did, huh?"

Ashley doesn't say anything, and neither does Chris, as the table goes silent. She's bracing herself  for when Chris inevitably shoots her down and confirms that it doesn't matter. That the two of them will never be anything more then friends and that she never should have hoped for anything more and by revealing this she's ruined their friendship for good—

"Hey, uh, Ash?" He sounds so nervous that it immediately takes Ashley out of her anxiety driven thoughts of doom and gloom, but she can't do anything more than just shakily nod to let him continue. "It's, uh, probably like a really, really, really stupid question but—" he takes a nervous breath "—did you want this to be a date?"

Her head immediately shoots up as she stares at him with wide eyes, her breath caught somewhere in her throat where her heart is currently lodged. She frantically rakes her eyes over Chris's face looking for any hint that he's mocking her, or playing some cruel joke on her and her feelings, but all she sees is just nervousness all over a pale, shaking face with what she thinks ( prays ) is a glimmer of undisguised hope. But it's still too much uncertainty, and she's too scared to risk it all on a mere glimmer that she is likely only imagining because she wants it so badly to be real, so she throws the question back at him instead.

"...would you have been opposed if this was actually a date?"

"Nuh uh, I asked you first."

Ashley realizes that he's just as scared at what the answer might be as she is. She wants to tell him, has wanted to tell him for years and years and years. And maybe this is the chance she's been waiting for her whole life. The two of them sitting at a sticky plastic table under the early evening sun, long forgotten ice cream melting in their hands, and she can finally tell him that she's had such a huge crush on him since she was twelve.

"Yeah." The word is less choked out than it is released. Like it's a breath of fresh air and she feels simultaneously lighter and heavier for it. "I-I think I would have liked that. I would have liked that alot."

Chris snaps his gaze up to meet hers, and the glimmer of hope that she had seen earlier has now nearly taken over his face at the disbelieving smile that's threatening to crack his face in two. "Really? I-I mean, uh, I would have been alright with the idea too. More than alright actually."

She can feel her own smile start to nervously match his, and then the first giggle breaks out. His own ecstatic laughter quickly follows her own until the two of them are both giddily laughing at the table, but too embarrassed and bashful to even look at each other now. The giggling abruptly cuts off when Chris lets out a yelp of surprise when he realizes how much of his ice cream has melted onto his hand and Ashley joins him in trying to finish off their ice cream before it's melted entirely. But there's definitely a change in the atmosphere around them now. The contentness and laid back ease that always formed between them whenever they hung out was still there, but there is a charge that hadn't been there before either. An excited anticipation that only surges higher and higher whenever Ashley shyly glances in Chris's direction to find he's looking at her with the same disbelieving smile beaming on his face.

They never say anything more about it as they both finish off the ice cream, but Ashley knows. With that little agreement, the entire day had changed. This wasn't just them hanging out as friends anymore, this was an actual, factual date now, pure and simple. So when Chris hands her a couple of extra napkins to clean herself off, she may have let her fingers brush against his for just a moment. The resulting blush and dumbstruck smile on his face when he cautiously took his hand back so he could clean up the rest of the mess on the table was oh so worth it. And when he returned from his trip to the garbage can and held out his hand as an offer to help her up from the chair, she accepted it readily.

Once she's back on her feet, the two of them drop their eyes to stare at their still clasped hands, realizing that they could easily hold hands the entire short walk back to Chris's truck if they wanted. And she does want that—horribly in fact—but it seems it's still a little too early for either of them to make that teeny tiny but monumental jump to hand holding so they let go awkwardly and slowly, letting their fingers linger against the others before letting go completely. As though giving themselves a taste of what may yet actually come to pass in the (hopefully) very near future.

The short walk back to the truck is filled with both anticipation and dread alike, but unusually silent. Ashley knows it's because she's now a buzzing ball of nervous energy, terrified that saying anything at all will shatter this dream that's apparently coming true before her eyes, but Chris is different. He looks more like he's trying to work up the courage to say or ask something, and is spending all his energy on that alone. So when he reaches out to open up the passenger side door for her, Ashley can feel her heart pick up speed when he stops with his hand on the door handle and looks at her nervously. His mouth opens and shuts a couple of times as he tries to work up the courage to say whatever it is he wants to say, and all she can do is stare at him expectantly as she struggles to hold back an excited smile.

"Hey, Ash, ca—nevermind. It's, it's stupid. Don't worry about it." A second later, he has the door opened for her and the moment she can't see his face, she lets her smile fall crestfallen. But only for a second before a polite one replaces it as thanks when he closes the door for her and continues to his side of the truck. It's fine, she supposes as she buckles herself in, while the two of them have been hanging out all day, it's only been an actual date now for barely ten minutes. And once he drops her off home in just another few short minutes it's going to be over. The fact that she even managed to get this far is franky mind blowing, so expecting anything more from her dreams would just be extremely selfish. She can't have everything she wants all at once, no matter how long she's been waiting for it.

The drive back to her place is also quiet, filled with only the droning of the radio playing in the background. Ashley's returned back to her book, but she knows that Chris knows that she's not absorbing a single word, hasn't turned a single page even. She keeps glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he nervously taps at the steering wheel, and then tightening his grasp when it looks like he's going to say something, only to return to the nervous tapping when he inevitably backs out at the last second and returns to the frantic pep talk he's likely giving himself. The air that fills the vehicle is heavy and thick with anticipation and it's taking almost everything in Ashley to not start shaking the question out of Chris at every red light they stop at.

But, eventually, they pull up in front of her place and Chris stops the truck. There's a moment where the two of them just sit there, not wanting to leave because leaving means the end, and Ashley schools her face into a cheery smile in an effort to hide as much of the disappointment as she can when she turns to face him and bid him farewell, only to have it fall to confusion when he starts fumbling at his own seatbelt.

"Chris? What are you doing?"

He struggles further at it, frustrated that the buckle's apparently decided that now is the perfect time for it to stick once again. "Trying to get this fucking thing off."

"Yeah, I figured that much. But why are you trying to take it off, you're just gonna leave right away again anyway."

He slows his fumbling as cheeks start darkening in embarrassment. "I, uh, I just thought that was something you were supposed to do after a date, walk them to their door to stay goodnight. I mean, at least I think this is a date now? And, and only if you're okay with it! I can stay in here instead if you don't want me to. I was just hoping..."

The once forced cheery smile on her face is certainly not being forced any longer, if anything she's trying not to show how much the idea of Chris walking her to her door thrills her. "N-no!" Well, so much for trying not to show how desperately she wants that. The startled look he gives her at the unexpected outburst had her trying to control her voice into something less desperate, but considering she doesn't think she's ever going tame the frantic butterflies that have been flapping around non-stop in her stomach ever since the ice cream realization, she's probably doing a terrible job of it. "I-I mean if you want to, it's completely up to you after all..."

"Cool. Cool cool cool. Just, just give me a second." He continues to struggle with his seatbelt buckle, letting out more and more agitated curses escape the longer the thing continues to stick, and Ashley is getting the feeling that if he was able, Chris would have ripped the entire thing straight out of the seat by now. Broken safety laws and ensuing repair costs be damned. The moment he finally manages to unstick the traitorous buckle it's with a cry of victory and relief so exuberant that Ashley finds herself laughing in disbelief and awe that he had wanted to walk her the short ten or so feet to her front door that badly. Thankfully, for both of them, her seatbelt unclicks easily and much more quickly in comparison, only taking another couple of seconds to grab her bag from the footwell and joining him.

The far too short walk up to her door is over before either of them realize it. One second the two of them had been standing awkwardly and nervously by the truck as she fought the urge to reach out and grab his hand, and the next they're standing just as awkwardly and nervously (if not moreso) in front of the front door. Both of them waiting for the other to say or do something to break the tension, but cleanly aware that doing so would signal the very final end of the day, and the date. In fact, just knowing that Chris doesn't want this to end just as badly as her, is what gives her the courage to look at him with a surprisingly heartfelt and soft smile.

"Today was fun."

Chris lifts his eyes from where they had been staring at the dried leaves on the doorstep to match her smile. "Yeah. It was."

"And thanks. For the movie, and everything else." Ashley raises her hand to give the new and still shiny paperback a small wave. "And, you know, the book too. Of course."

"Yeah, it was no problem. Anytime." There's something with how he says the last bit—not really emphasizing it but making it clear all the same that he means 'anytime'—that causes her face to flush giddily as she pulls her lower lip in between her teeth in a weak effort to fight back against the ecstatic smile that forms anyway. And when she sees his eyes lower just a smidge to follow the motion and the way his shoulders stiffen in reaction, Ashley very quickly also finds she's trying (much more successfully) to hold herself  back from just saying 'to hell with it' and throwing her arms around Chris so she can finally kiss him silly and until they're both breathless. But considering that she's too much of a coward to initiate something as innocent as hand holding apparently, there is absolutely no way that something as...as scandalous as kissing him on her doorstep is ever going to happen. Clearly.

And yet, she gives Chris another few seconds to try and work past that blockade in his throat, but when he still can't muster a single word, she decides to just put the both of them out of their misery. Or further into it. It's probably just the same thing really. "I guess I'll see you next time. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She turns away and puts her hand on the doorknob, and tucks the book under her arm so she can dig into her bag for keys, but is stopped when Chris's hand abruptly snakes out and wraps itself firmly around her wrist before she can reach into the bag. And it works—boy does it ever —turning back to him and the hand wrapped around her wrist as excitement just starts to bubble up inside of her.

A second later though, his brain has apparently caught up with the movement he clearly hadn't intended to make, because his face goes beet-red and he's dropped her hand so he can shove both into the pockets of his jeans. He averts his eyes so he's back to staring at the loose gravel and dried leaves under their feet.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine, Chris." Ashley tries to smile softly at him in reassurance, but it's considering she's gripping the doorknob in an almost vice-like grip in anticipation, it's likely far more eager than she would like. "What is it?"

Somehow, his face goes even redder and he blurts out the question so fast that it may as well have been one word. "CanIkissyou?!"

Immediately, Ashley's gaping at him wide-eyed and her mouth open in shock as her heart's beating so fast that she's pretty sure it's ready to burst out of her chest at any moment. "Wha—"

"I-I mean goodnight. Can I kiss you goodnight? That's what people are supposed to do on dates, right? A-a-a-and I think we agreed that this is a date now, or at least I really, really hope we did. Cause I've wanted to go on a date with you for the longest time and-and-and I didn't want Saundra or-or-or any of your neighbours to see cause I know that would just really embarrass you and me but I've been trying to ask you for the past thirty minutes now cause I've wanted to kiss you since forever but I was scared about how you would react cause I really, really, really like you Ash and I just wanna to kiss you so fucking bad right now you have no idea and—"

Ashley would like to believe that she's brave enough to throw her arms around Chris and drag him down into that searing kiss she's been dreaming about forever and ever, but she doesn't. Even with a confession that is everything she's ever wanted to hear and more. That's not to say that she doesn't want to do it—god does she want to do it—but she's so frozen in place from shock that she physically can't. So instead she just continues to gape at him as he (adorably) rambles on and on, and giggles out an elated little "okay".

His nervous rambling stops dead in its tracks, and he finally looks back up at her, nervous relief evident all over his face. "Really? I mean, are you sure? I'd understand if you didn't want to—"

" Chris ."

That immediately shifts the relief to a different kind of nervousness entirely, one of excited disbelief, but even then neither move to actually initiate this promised kiss for several seconds. Instead just staring at each other waiting for the other to be the first to move, Chris with his hands still in his jeans pockets and Ashley glued to the doorknob with her other hand frozen as it hovers over her bag. Finally, Chris is the first to slowly bend down to meet her awkwardly half turned body, and she unsteadily tries to rock herself onto the tips of her toes without losing her balance completely and falling over. And still, they both pause about an inch away from each other's faces, though whether to give the other an out if needed or just to work through the logistics of how to do this exactly without their foreheads or noses smashing into each other or Chris's glasses getting in the way is anyone's guess.

But finally, mainly due to the fact that Ashley can't lean forward anymore without falling completely on her face, Chris closes that final bit of distance and kisses her. It's a nervous brush of the lips really—a quick peck at best —but they jolt back from each other so quickly that the single action may as well have activated some hidden magnetic repel function that neither had been aware of until this moment. Both of them are staring at each other wide-eyed and breathless as the magnitude of what they had both finally managed to accomplish hit them. The kinda-sort confession and the almost hand holding meant absolutely nothing in comparison to this. Those she could have (and would most likely have) brushed off as her reading too much into innocent statements and gestures when she thought over everything that had happened today in the safety of her room later tonight. But this? This was physical proof .

Looking back, Ashley's not sure which of them moved first. One second they had been staring at each other in disbelief, stuck in the same awkward bent and leaning stature from before, and the next it's as if the magnetic attraction between them reverses its flow entirely. Chris is cupping her cheek with one hand as he kisses her in the way she always dreamed he would, his other hand slowly skating across the back of her neck so he can pull her up closer to him. The book that had once been clutched protectively under her arm was completely forgotten about—fallen to the ground with a sharp crunch as it crushed the dried leaves beneath their feet—as her arms wrapped possessively around his shoulders as she props herself as high as the tips her toes will allow her. She can still taste a hint of the chocolate from earlier on his lips, and the small part of her that isn't being blown away by all of this is wondering if he can taste the blueberry and chocolate on hers as well.

She's not sure how long the two of them stood there on her doorstep, kissing for all the world to see, but she does know that they still separate much, much too soon for her liking. Not that they fully separate of course. She may be back on the soles of her feet, but neither of them have removed themselves from the embrace itself. And with the way that Chris is lightly brushing his thumb over her cheekbone as he just stares at her with the same stupidly giddy grin she's got, Ashley would be perfectly fine if they could just stay standing like this forever.

"So..." she starts, and stops to take a moment to giggle when Chris bumps his nose into hers. "I think that was a perfectly acceptable first date if you ask me."

Chris doesn't let go of her when he leans back to consider her, the comically raised eyebrows in shock doing nothing to take away from the absolutely thrilled beam of his smile. " First date? Why Miss Brown, are you perhaps asking me out for a second one already?"

"I mean, if it's not too presumptuous of me, I suppose I am. I-if you're not opposed to it of course." She can't help the way her nervousness starts to bleed through with that last sentence, already panicking that she's somehow completely misread everything that's just happened and that maybe that kiss didn't mean as much to him as it did to her after all.

His next words completely derail those fears entirely. "Of course I'm not, I would love nothing more than to go on a second date with you. Followed by a third and fourth and even a fifth if you have the time for it."

"I mean, I'm a pretty busy girl but I think I can open up as many days in my schedule as it takes if I need to."

Before she knows it, the two of them are leaning in for another kiss when the sound of pot being dropped in the nearby kitchen through the open window jarringly brings them back to reality and the two of them let go of each other red faced and embarrassed. Oh no, how much of this had her mother heard? Or worse, saw? She wants to leave the doorstep (which is rapidly becoming her favourite place in the whole entire world) even less now, but the longer she takes the worse the excited interrogation from Saundra will be so she starts digging back into her bag to try and find her keys once again.

"I'll text you later, okay? And, maybe, we can talk some more about that second date...?"

The reply from Chris is flustered but eager. "Yeah, totally. I-I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Cool. And um, the next one's one me. The date that is. It's only fair after all."

"Yeah, right. Only fair. Totally. And, uh, your book..."

She finally finds her keys from where they had sunk to the bottom of her bag, and looks up at him and the paperback book that had fallen during their, uh, intimate embrace. "Oh! Uh, right. Thanks." She could easily leave it at that, but the last few minutes have made her bold so when she reaches out to take the book back from him, Ashley curls her fingers over his and bounces onto the balls of her feet so she can give him one last kiss on his cheek—almost the corner of his mouth really—before finally stepping back with the book and keys in her hand. "I mean it. Thanks . For everything."

"Yeah. No problem. It was my pleasure."

She lets herself have one last glimpse of the stupefied grin on his face just as he turns to walk just a little unsteadily down the path back to his truck. The only sounds being the leaves crushing underfoot and the jangle of metal as she sticks her keys into the door to finally unlock it. A sound that it quickly interrupted by not only the click of the door unlocking, but a muffled shout.

Alarmed, she turns quickly expecting to see Chris having accidentally shut his coat into the door as he is sometimes known to do when the weather gets colder, but instead watches in elated shock as he continues to keep energetically flapping his arms and fist pumping into the air and screaming what she can vaguely make out as 'yesyesyesyesYESYESYES' over and over again.

Suddenly it hits her. Despite the shy confession over ice cream, and then the much more rushed and rambled one only minutes ago, and followed by the kiss(es) that are still sending her heart into rapid fire, Ashley still hadn't believed what all the evidence had been saying. Chris liked her. He really, really liked her. Possibly as much as she liked him even! This wasn't just a one-off event that would now make things awkward between them for the rest of their lives. This was happening. They'd just had a first(!!!!) date and after Chris had kissed her goodbye, she had asked him out for a second one.

And he had accepted .

Ashley fumbled with the door and the moment she was in the house, slammed the door behind her, not even bothering to lock it. She let her bag fall from her shoulder to the floor with a soft thump and slowly slid down the door until she was sitting against it with her eyes wide and breathless. She ignored the surprised clatter coming from the kitchen as Saundra immediately dropped whatever it was she had been doing in and held up the book so she could stare at the once innocuous cover in amazement.

He had bought her this book and the ice cream because he liked her and he had gladly and excitedly accepted to go out on another date with her. And even more if he had been serious about that third date and beyond line.

And not that either would ever know it, Ashley mirrored Chris at that exact moment by placing her head into her hands and screaming as the built up joy and bliss finally exploded out of her.