#he's on vacation in italy and is updating me on his last few days there lmao

[raptorrobot]

my dad texting me like he just came back from the torture labyrinth

[lcriedlastnight]

Enemies to lovers with Lando. Same group of friends. One day Lando accidentally texts the wrong number thinking it belongs to a girl that he met at the club the previous night but it actually belongs to reader. They continue texting agreeing to not disclose each others’ identity. Maybe a couple of months in the both fall in love with each other but both refuse to tell the other. At some point they go on vacation with their friend group somewhere at the beach in Italy and maybe during the second or third night they text each other and they realise they’re in at same location and they finally decide to meet up but as they are messaging each other one of their friends says something like “you’ve both been on your phones for so long. Are you texting each other?” And maybe that’s when Lando and reader realize they might be texting each other. And by the end of the night they finally confess their feelings

oh the details in this anon! i adore youuuuu. i actually hate how this turned out but oh well.

tw: fem!reader, stupid reader and lando, lmk if you want me to add anything!

w/c: 2.7k (oh god)

you and lando had the same friendgroup so you kind of have to be friends, for the sake of the others. it was not like you did not like him! it was just that you did not really know him. he never really made an effort with people in the friend group that he was not close with, meaning you and the people you were close with. it was a big friend group.

lando never really made an effort in any group plans at all actually, unless it was for one of his close friend's birthday, he was not coming. you knew he was busy with racing and stuff but when he was home he still did not really make an effort. so you were not friends but you were not really enemies either. he just seemed like the type of person you did not want to be friends with and he never even gave you the time of day anyway.

the whole group had planned a trip to italy during the summer break so that lando had no excuse not to attend but you would still be surprised if he did make it. he had a few months to pull out of it.

you and some of the girls had decided to go shopping for some clothes for your holiday, when an unknown number texts you.

unknown

hey, it's me from last night ;)

you smirk at your phone, it was clear that someone had gotten a fake number. you tell your friends and they laugh as you all sit in a cozy coffee house, taking a break from a hard day of shopping. you think about how to reply to number. you felt a little bad for the guy ("because let's be real, no man is giving a willing girl a fake number" you're friend had said. you rolled your eyes at that.)

you

hey 'me from last night' i think someone gave you the wrong number.

you send the text and slide your phone back into your pocket. this was something you could entertain tonight when you were in your bed, ready for work the next day. right now you were spending time with your friends.

the day seems to fly by as you all laugh and joke about the poor person who seemed to have gotten the wrong number. the girls make you promise, once you are all parting ways for the day, to keep them updated in our shared groupchat and you do promise them you will do just that when you get any updates.

you get yourself ready for bed, your mind whirling about what or who could be on the other end of your phone. your laying in your bed once your curiosity gets the best of you and you open up your messages again to see a waiting text message from that same unknown number.

unknown

ugh knew she was too good to be true

it makes you laugh a little, then you catch yourself. that was not even funny. at all.

you

sorry dude (assuming your a guy) she probably doesn't deserve you anyway she was not worth your time.

you type and retype again before you send it. you do not know why you were being so weird with this. you really needed to get a boyfriend. this was getting desperate at this point.

if you thought it was desperate texting this random guy at that point, then you should have seen yourself a month and a half down the line. you were so down bad for this man. you had never met him, you did not know his name or even what he looked like. all you knew is that he made you laugh and asked about your day. he even sent you your favourite chocolates and flowers when you had told him you had had a shitty day at work. you both had been texting back and forth non-stop, everyday at any chance you both could get. it did feel super weird that you did not even know his name but you did eventually get used to it. you did not want to ask him why he did not want to exchange names, you just went with it, desperate for some company.

he called you pretty baby or love in place of your name. the first one started as a joke but then he had found out you actually liked it. you called him bro. it made him laugh so that was good enough for you. you had told him pretty much everything about yourself, even things you had not told your close friends. you even told him about lando because of the one time lando was supposed to show to one of the last meetings before the holiday and he did not show up. your unknown friend agrees that he sounds a bit like a prick and it makes you happier that you were not the only one who thought that about the boy everyone else seemed to love.

in turn he told you a lot too but he seemed to be a lot more vague than you, which made sense you guessed. you were still a stranger to each other, even though to you he felt like a close friend. you maybe even fancied him a little bit too. that was a secret you did not tell your girlfriends. it stayed with you.

you tell him about your upcoming holiday with the dreaded driver to italy. he tells you that if you were comfortable then he would love to see some outfits you had been talking about wearing on the fortnight long trip. you do because it is literally impossible to say no to him. you make sure your face is not in the picture as you send it to him. you are so fucking nervous so you hide you facetime your friend and pack your suitcase, phone on 'do not disturb'.

bro :)

holy shit. you are so fucking pretty makes me want to see your face.

is what you are left staring at before you go to bed that night. it does take you at least ten minutes to even think of a coherent reply but once you do start to think clearly your words just seem too shy to send to him. it was times like this you longed to see his face or hear his voice. he was always so sweet to you, he called you pretty baby even though he had never seen your face before. in his own words "i can just tell you are a pretty girl". it made you melt every time.

the day of your holiday came pretty quickly. you had found out that your boy was also going on a trip for a fortnight too, which you had found pretty weird but shrugged off because what were the chances?

in the airport you had all gathered together once you were through security and almost ready to board the flight.

"heyyyy girl." ashley comes over to you with a tense smile on her face. you groan at her words, knowing you are not going to like what is coming next, that hey had far too many 'y's at the end for it to be anything positive.

"so we randomised who was sitting where and..." she trails off with a guilty look in her eyes. you look at her in a panic.

"no you're joking. please tell me you're joking?" you plead with her. she just shakes her head with this solemn look on her face which honestly made this whole thing worse.

"is there at least anyone next to us." her head shakes again and you want to cry. this was going to be the worst flight of your life. sitting next to some snobby, stuck up prick and a random stranger. you try to act unbothered in front of the rest of the group but there really is not any point because everyone knows how you feel about lando. they already know you are less than thrilled with the seating arrangements.

as you all board the plane you head towards your seat number with your carry on bag filled with all the essential things to keep you from going insane on board. your headphones, a book, some snacks and a bottle of water. let's just hope you do not lose your mind sitting next to lando.

there is already a stranger sitting on the aisle seat when you arrive at your designated seat and you hear lando's voice talking to his friend directly behind you so you know he is close.

once you have stowed your bag above your head you kindly ask the stranger if he could move so you could get to your seat, then remember lando would have to go first seeing as he was the window seat. you were so jealous of him.

"you're first in." you tell lando as you step to the side to let him in, he is typing away on his phone but he looks up from it and his words astound you. "nah you can sit at the window and i'll take the middle." you are shocked but in no way stupid so you jump at the chance. you would much rather just have to sit next to lando compared to lando and a random stranger. you both quickly settle in your new seats and buckle up. just as the flight crew are doing their demonstrations, you get a text from your boy.

bro :)

just about to take off love, just incase you thought i was ignoring you i'm not. don't know when your flight is but i hope you stay safe, i'll text you as soon as i have wifi again x

you flush at the pet name just like always and quickly type a reply before you turn your phone onto airplane mode.

you

you too! stay safe for me!

you have no clue if it sends because you are basically forced to turn your phone off. you put on your favourite reading playlist and open your book, ready to get soaked into some fictional girls love life. ready to long for it to be you.

the flight is actually much better than you had expected. lando keeps to himself and seemingly types on his phone the entire flight, which you did find weird but each to their own when you are all a flying metal can and at least he did not bother you. you all get off the plane and head towards baggage claim once you had all had your passports checked. as you are standing waiting for the carousel to start spinning around you feel your phone vibrate multiple times in your pocket. seems like you have internet again.

bro :)

i miss you

this flight without you is torture.

i don't think i can survive this long without you pretty baby :(

i hope you are having a better flight than me. my friends sat me next to this girl and all i can think about is you in that dress you sent me a few weeks ago. i made it my home screen so i can always look at you.

sorry for all the notifications ur gonna get once you get internet.

miss u

you feel your face heating up as you read and re-read the messages over and over again. he also must have landed for his message to even send. he must have had a short flight. you screenshot the messages too just so you never ever forget how cute he was. you will definitely need proof about the home screen thing. although you did not like the fact he was sitting next to some girl. you catch yourself because you have no right to feel jealous over him, you do not even know his name!

you

god you're clingy.

my flight was good. i finished my book!

also you are lying about the home screen.

he does not reply until you are already settled in the villa you had all rented and had ventured out into the city to find somewhere to eat. all of your friends were excited to try out the italian food culture, so basically everyone was eager to eat.

you eventually find somewhere that suits everyone. as you look around at the gorgeous restaurant you notice that lando is glued to his phone again. this man just had no manners at all, never mind table manners! it pissed you off but you were not going to say anything and cause a fight on the first night. you were here to enjoy yourself and you were not letting lando stop you from doing that. a few seconds later your phone goes off. you know it is from your boy because no one else really texts you anymore, much preferring phone calls.

bro :)

*attachment 1*

all he sends is a screenshot of his home screen and you have to hold back your gasp of surprise as you see the picture of you wearing that very same dress that was sitting in your suitcase as you speak. you send him back something sassy but it really melted your heart, like almost everything he sends you. even when he sends you stupid memes it makes your heart race because, he knows you well enough to know that you would find it funny and goes through the effort of screenshotting it and sending it to you. it really does warm your heart, even the thought of it is enough to do the trick.

a few days in and you were having an amazing time, it felt great to let loose with your friends and explore the lovely scenery in italy. you snapped some picture and reminded to yourself to send them to your boy once you were home. you guys did not talk as much as you usually did but you guys tried to talk as much as you could. one night you both made an amazing discovery.

you had sent him all the pictures you had taken that day with little captions explaining what you did and who the girls in the pictures were when he texts back a "shut the fuck up no way". you should be offended but you have no time because he quickly follows it up with. "i think we are both in the same place... i was just there today too!". you gasp and respond excited. you would not even know if you had seen each other because you had no clue what he looked or sounded like. the thought that you had both passed each other had made you long for him ten times more.

meanwhile, something your friends noticed is that when both of you were texting your friends, you were both on the phone at the same time. no one really says anything about it until ashley gets too drunk at dinner one night and says "you've both been on your phones for ages. are you texting each other?". and it clicks in your minds.

lando, the boy you despised for, basically forever, was your boy. this could not be happening. you both excuse yourselves to have a talk.

"oh my god." is all you can mutter.

"i'm the lando you hate?" is all lando can muster up to. he seems genuinely distraught at the thought of you not liking him. you groan lightly and cover your face with your hand.

"noo! i actually like you. it's hard not to." you mumble the last part of yourself but lando has come so close to you that he hears it loud and clear. he forces your hand away from your face so you can see the shit eating smile on his face. he says you name and you move your eyes his meet his.

he says nothing as he holds your hips tight as gives you the sweetest kiss you have ever had. it was quicker than either of you would have liked but that was only because lando knew all of your friends were watching on.

"i like you too. meet me in my room later?" he smiles cheeky. you would be a fool to pass up that offer.

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Hi, and welcome to my Robert Downey Jr. Masterlist. It is nice to welcome you to my little corner of Tumblr! 🤍

On this master list, you'll find all the one-shots and requests featuring angst, fluff, and smut, with each story including its appropriate warnings. If you'd like to explore some of my other works, feel free to check out my Main Masterlist!

I do not work with a tag list. If you want to be updated when I post new stories, you can follow @nicoline1998enilocin-library! 🤍

Tony Stark || Masterlist

All the graphics you see on this post are made by @nicoline1998enilocin

|| 🥀 - Angst || 🤍 - Fluff || 🌶️ - Smut ||

''I love you berry much!'' || 🤍 🌶️ It is a lovely summer day as you and Robert start the day together with cuddles and being wrapped up in one another, followed by a run to the local market and ending with a dinner with some of his Marvel co-stars.

Precious || 🤍 🌶️ Your girl's night turns unexpectedly when you accidentally butt-dial your boss, Robert, and he hears you confess your feelings toward him. Ever since that moment, he's trying to impress you every chance he gets, and when you finally talk about it with him, your life just turns out perfect.

Eyes on me || 🌶️ Robert comes home from an extended filming period, and you're desperate to have him fill you up again. He can barely make it inside before you're all over him, but it's the best 'welcome home' he could have dreamed of.

Passion wrapped in purple || 🤍 🌶️ Robert has taken you to a movie premiere, but you two couldn't keep your hands off one another the entire night. You two go home early, and after some more teasing, something inside Robert snaps. He's determined to pull as much pleasure from your body as possible, and you're not one to deny him that.

I do! Again! || 🤍 🌶️ Your 10th wedding anniversary with Robert is coming up, and he is planning a special vacation for you and your little family, though it'll have a twist you will know about once you arrive. He ensures every last detail is perfect, and it will become a vacation you'll never forget.

Lollipop || 🤍 🌶️ Your boyfriend has always been good at making you go crazy, but when he decides to tease you with a lollipop, your mind is officially going into overdrive. As soon as he comes home, you're all over him, and of course, you were waiting with a lollipop in hand to give him an extra sweet treat.

Bad girl || 🌶️ Your grades have been slipping, and your professor is happy to help you raise them back up. However, this comes with a price you're more than willing to pay because you've had a crush on him since you first set foot in his classroom.

Snowed in together || 🤍 🌶️ You're enjoying a ski trip with your husband, until you're snowed in at the log cabin you're staying in. It's a good thing you've gotten the perfect routine down for snowy days, and you enjoy every single second of the cuddles, kisses, and hot chocolate as you try to turn this day into an unforgettable one.

Lazy Sunday morning || 🤍 Sunday mornings with your boyfriend and two cats are always something you look forward to after a long, hard week at work. From lots of cuddles to a delicious breakfast, Robert always makes you feel special, and you happily relax and allow yourself to be pampered by all three.

Endless love || 🤍 🌶️ Your husband, Robert, has taken you on a surprise trip to Italy after seeing how stressed you've been lately. The two of you take it easy for a day as you stroll around the city during the afternoon before dinner in an authentic Italian restaurant and finish the night off in each other's arms.

Spin The Bottle || 🤍 🌶️ Robert has been your best friend for a few years, and the sexual tension between both of you has only grown stronger. When, after an innocent game of Spin The Bottle, the small, flickering fire officially bursts out into a sea of flames, you experience the most satisfying, gentle, and perfect first time together you could have wished for.

And the Oscar goes to... || 🤍 🌶️ Your husband, Robert, is on the receiving end of an Oscar, and you decide to celebrate it differently than you usually celebrate his wins. He trusts you fully as he allows you to take the lead in the bedroom, making it a celebration that neither of you will ever forget.

Dreaming Of You || 🤍 🌶️ Life with your husband, Robert, and your three-month-old son, Joseph, has been nothing short of a dream, and you are grateful you get to live this life with him. When you find out you're having another baby after almost a year and a half later, you get a surprise of a lifetime, and the love between you and your husband only grows stronger because of it.

Birthday Boy || 🤍 🌶️ Robert's birthday is coming up, so you decide to share this special moment for just a few days away from the spotlight. During your trip, you have a special surprise for him that will make it one never to forget. To top it all off, you're throwing a surprise party when you two come back, complete with his Marvel co-stars, friends, family, and two beautiful children.

Electric Love || 🤍 You've seen the 'electric love' challenge on TikTok and can't wait to try it out on the man you've been crushing on for a long time.

Breakfast is served || 🌶️ || Part 2 || 🌶️ [ Part 1 ] You decide to wake up your husband in one of the most delicious ways you can think of, and he's definitely not one when he feels your mouth wrapped around him ever so perfectly.

[ Part 2 ] After waking your husband up in a particular way a few weeks ago, he can finally return the favor when you're having a very spicy dream about him. However, he will let you finish that slowly, as he's hellbent on pulling only the strongest of finishes from your body.

Love is in the air (Part 1) || 🥀 🤍 🌶️ [ Part 1 ] Valentine's Day has been incredible since you met Robert, but this time, he plans on making it extra special because this will be the last one where it is just the two of you. From breakfast in bed to a fancy dinner cooked by a private chef and a calming bubble bath, he is pulling out all the stops to make this a very romantic and relaxing day for you both.

[ Part 2 ] Coming Soon!

[meltwonu]

46. “Were you just masturbating?”

         “U-uh..no, i was just..”

         “Want some help?”

notes;  sugar-daddy!scoups, sugar-baby!reader, softdom!scoups, dirty talk, fingering, masturbation. We’re almost done with the sugardaddy cycle of drabbles! 😭 Very excited for the last few of these and also the start of a new cycle!! 😗✨ It’s always exciting starting a new theme tbh, I always have a hard time picking which one to do next tbh… Heh. Guess we will see, huh? heheh... 🥴😈 Altho, once I finish this cycle I might take a drabble day off to update my masterlists and stuff before we start on the new one! I haven’t had the time and it’s been a while so I wanna do that before it gets out of hand lol 🥲💕 As always, thank you so much for requesting! Enjoy! 💕

*queued post.

Seungcheol leaves early in the morning for a work meeting because even on ‘vacation’, he still tends to his business.

But he leaves a stack of hundred dollar bills with a single note - ‘Sorry, I’ll be back in the afternoon, I promise. -Cheol’ sitting neatly on top, and admittedly, it only takes you an hour to blow through all of the money before you’re heading back to the hotel for a quick nap.

Seungcheol was one of the lucky few that never got jetlag with the constant traveling but you always felt yourself needing a nap by the second day whenever you’d travel with him.

And the dreams of Seungcheol you have always make everything a little sweeter, and a little stickier, when you wake up – inner thighs covered in wetness as your hazy eyes blink open.

How long was I out for? You as yourself; fingertips already sliding between your thighs as you let out a shaky moan.

He was supposed to be taking you on a trip to Italy for vacation but he’d already spent the first day and half of the second day up to his head in work and despite the luxurious room and money he’d already showered you with – you missed him the most.

“Mmnh… ‘Cheol…”

Your fingers press down onto the wet patch of your panties, eyes clamping shut at the sensitivity when you slowly start to rub soft circles over the wet fabric.

You dreamt that he’d taken you on a yacht - only the two of you on it as he’d fucked you in front of the setting sun until the moon rose into the sky.

“Fuh–fuck… Ngh…”

You crave to be filled, hastily pushing your panties to the side as you collect the wetness on your fingertips.

Mental images of Seungcheol smirking down at you making your impatience rise.

But there’s a cough behind you just as you position your wet fingertips at your entrance - a gasp escaping you as you pause.

“Were you just masturbating?”

There’s a sly smirk on Seungcheol’s face as he stands in the doorway. His tie undone and the buttons on his crisp white shirt also undone to show off his chest as you bite your bottom lip.

“U–uh… No, I was just...”

Your walls clench around emptiness the longer Seungcheol stares at you and you make no movements to stop as you watch him inch closer to the bed.

“Want some help? Or… I mean, we can just… Leave and do something else. Maybe get an early dinner? Since you weren’t just about to finger your cute ‘lil cunt.”

He laughs airily as you whine and give in – spreading your legs wider and giving him space as he eases onto the bed.

“I–I want your f-fingers, ‘Cheol… Before you give m-me your, a-ah, cock…”

“Oh? Making demands now, sweetheart?”

You lick your lips as soon as you feel Seungcheol’s fingertips gliding through your slicked folds - body tensed in anticipation when he teases your clit before his rough fingers slide down to your entrance.

“Ngh, it’s–it’s the least you, mmh, c-can do for ditching me today too...”

Seungcheol shoots you an apologetic smile before he nods - middle finger already easing into your cunt as you whine.

“Mm, you’re right there, sweetheart. Guess we can spend the rest of the night with me apologizing, hmm? The tomorrow... The yacht...”

His finger curls right into your sweet spot as you let out a breathy moan.

“I–I’ll have you, a-ah, know, I’m r-really upset, ‘Cheol... You m-might have to make it, ngh, up t-to me tomorrow too...”

He tsk’s and pumps the digit in and out - quickly positioning a second finger as soon as he feels you melting under his touch.

“I know, sweetheart. But you know I’ll take care of you for the rest of the night first, right? I’ll let you cum on my cock as many times as you want since you’re always such a good girl for me, even when you know I’m busy~”

His gentle tone makes you feel warm all over - toes curling behind his back as your back arches off of the bedsheets when the pad of his thumb meets your clit.

“But I want you to cum on my fingers and my face first, okay?”

“G–god...! Please!”

[cherrykindness]

wild tweets |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: as newlyweds, you and harry read thirsty comments for buzzfeed.

warning: it's thirsty tweets, so below there is adult humor 😳

"It's a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles, and there's nothing I want more than to be on BuzzFeed and read wild tweets alongside my husband."

"Thirsty tweets, babe." Harry corrected, laughing out loud with the producers behind the cameras.

"Thirsty Tweets." You said quickly, putting your hand over your mouth to stifle a giggle. "I'm terrible at that, I'm sorry. Can we start over?"

"Let's take a break for one to two minutes. You've given us a great introduction, Y/N."

You shook your head, smiling shyly before turning to Harry, who was already watching you with that easy smile at the corner of his lips. You liked how his hand remained firmly on yours, making those circular movements with the thumb that always served as a natural medice for your anxiety.

"You look so fucking beautiful."

The pleated dress with flounce sleeves fit you like a glove. You had made peace with the various shades of white since the wedding and knew that Harry liked to see you in that color too.

"Thank you, you're not too bad either, Styles."

You intimately suspected that Harry would always seem far beyond that "not bad" that came out as a euphemism from your mouth. He wore nothing but a pair of bell-bottom pants in a strong shade of blue and a soft vest printed with fluffy little sheep on a striped American collared shirt - in your opinion, no one could look better in farm animal clothing than Harry Styles and Princess Diana with her red "Black Sheep" sweater in the 1980s. In contrast, you knew your husband well enough to know that he was arrogant and knew exactly how hot he looked - you also made your thoughts clear enough when you kept him backstage beyond ten minutes in a rather heated kissing session.

"Are you anxious?" you asked curiously, remaining with downcast eyes fixed on the strokes that remained assiduous on your warm skin. "To read about how the whole internet dreams of fucking my wife?! Of course." Harry joked, leaning over to leave a small one on your cheek. "We agree on that, don't we? Although I'm a little nervous, I'm really interested to know all the crazy things they say about you. Everyone knows you're mine at the end of the day, that's enough."

At the end of the break, you and Harry made a silent agreement that you should be the first to pick up one of the scattered papers in the red pot. There were quite a significant amount of tweets, and as much as you were used to reading rather sordid things about your husband on the Internet, the excitement was there as if you were wading into uncharted territory.

"I would be a good girl all year round if Santa guaranteed me a threesome with Harry and Y/N Styles on Christmas Eve." You laughed, Harry staring at the camera with an expression close to the meme of the surprised Pikachu. "You guys are incredibly nasty, I love it."

"If that was the first one, I'm really worried about the next ones." Harry commented with a little corner smile, picking the next tweet out of the bucket. "I have an entire folder on Pinterest dedicated to Harry Styles' hands, and let me tell you why: those hands are art, and art needs to be recognized."

"What- Guys, you promised you wouldn't post my anonymous tweets here." You quipped with false reproach, laughing at your own stupid joke while everyone else in the studio did the same. "But I can't blame her, honestly." Shaking your shoulders, you opened another piece of paper. "Harry Styles finally confessed that he wrote Watermelon Sugar for Y/N!!!! Are you guys imagining the same thing as me?!!!!!! 🥵🍆💦"

"Exhausted emoji, eggplant emoji, and water emoji?" Harry frowned, staring at the tweet you held up. "I imagine you're in need of a vacation somewhere refreshing and you're craving a fruit that everyone eats like it's really a vegetable."

"That reminded me of that story-" You laughed, hiding your face on the table as Harry continued to offer a poker face to the camera, struggling not to keep up with you laughter. "I'm sorry, lovie, I have to share this with the rest of the world." You stated, wiping a few tears from the corner of your eyes. "Harry always wears those fancy suits to concerts, right?! Right! Turns out he looks really hot in some, like his ass molds perfectly into those tight pants and everything. I was home that night because I wasn't feeling well enough to face the big crowds, but I was still following everything on twitter. It was a concert in London, not so far from where we lived at the time, so it was obvious that he would come home after it was over. I follow some portals that do really fast updates of pictures, videos, etc; everything that happened at Harry's concert was on my timeline in a matter of seconds. When one of these profiles uploaded a picture of him with his back to the camera in a heavily accentuated black and white suit, I quickly sent him the image along with a peach emoji and then wrote "looks good tonight". He didn't reply to me until a few hours later, of course, but I obviously didn't expect a "ready for a Fifth Avenue peach salad for dinner?" and numerous cutlery emojis."

Harry rolled his eyes comically, indulging in laughter as did everyone else who occupied the backstage area.

"I'm against the eroticization of emojis." He said between uncompensated breaths, shaking his head negatively. "Let's go to the next ones, please, I'm already feeling exposed enough here."

"I like your old-fashioned spirit, baby." You assured him with a smile, laying on the sturdy shoulder hidden under the fluffy fabric.

Harry chuckled low, leaving a little kiss on the top of your head before selecting the next paper. The fans would die when that video aired, everyone was sure. You two easily forgot the cameras when you were side by side, and the public display of affection had never been a problem.

"My life mission is to look at someone the way Harry looks at Y/N and be reciprocated the way Y/N looks at Harry, then I could die happy." Harry read. "That was very good and healthy, thank you!" He smiled. "But don't settle for death in that case, please. Just make sure to keep that person around forever."

"Awn, we got so sweet now." You made a pout. "Thank you for sending us something so cute! I really hope you find the right person soon." Sending a kiss to the camera, you moved on to the next tweet. "I wouldn't want to get a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka's factory, I would like to get a golden ticket to actively participate in Y/N and Harry Styles' Honeymoon.

"That was creative, so I will disregard the fact that you removed my last name from my wife's name." Harry joked.

"I will always be an Y/L/N." You flashed the tongue. "We had a great Honeymoon, but I know you guys already know all about it because there are pictures all over the internet of outings that I don't even remember existed."

"Even though we chose a rather reserved city, many paparazzi still managed to photograph some of our nights there." Harry agreed. "There was one particular day when we opted to have dinner at a restaurant near the beach. Y/N had found it even before the trip, it was pretty laid back and we could spend the evening at karaoke. I don't really remember what happened, but we woke up the next day with a terrible hangover, still wearing the clothes from the dinner and with several headlines saying that I was cheating on my wife in the middle of our Honeymoon with a blue-haired italian girl."

"That wig made me sexy, man." You blinked, laughing as you remembered the situation. "It's a shame the paparazzi only got low quality images, but I swear I looked really amazing that night. Italy, I miss you."

"We're coming to the end and I haven't had to ask production for a glass of water yet, thank you to whoever selected these tweets." Harry raised his thumb to the camera, smiling before turning his gaze back to the small paper he had chosen. "Y/N could literally punch me in the face and I would just bow down and thank them for it." He laughed. "She has heavy hands, so I would rethink that choice."

"It takes strong hands to be a superheroine." You blinked gracefully, referring to your works as a Marvel actress. "I move around a lot during the night, so I'll take this lovely opportunity to say that twitter can dismiss all the malicious theories about Harry always show up with a new bruise all over his body."

"Please stop making indecent assumptions while Y/N is aggressive with me at night only unconsciously, her father has access to social media."

You laughed, clearing your throat before reading the next obscenity aloud.

"I would sell all my possessions to have Y/N sitting on my lap for ten seconds."

"Oh my God." Harry laughed out loud, throwing his head back. "I should have said that in our wedding vows."

You shook your head, laughing low as you set the tweet aside.

"That was pretty funny and cheeky, I approve."

"Okay, looks like we finally got to the last one." Harry announced, waving the paper in the air dramatically before opening it. "Harry could literally crush me with those boots while fuc- I need that glass of water." He said dumbfounded, hiding his face between his hands after throwing the tweet over his shoulder. You laughed out loud next to the organizers, and meanwhile Harry leaned his head on your bust, staring at you still with wide eyes. "Please promise that we will be careful with our future children on the internet."

[brookefm-a]

( twenty one , cis woman , she/her )  ✉ ― hey babes, have you met BROOKE MORENO. they’re vacationing here, a few villas down from where you’re staying. you might hear COCAINE MODEL BY ZHU playing from their villa, it’s their favourite song. yes, they hear that they look like ISABELLE MATHERS alot, actually - it’s really uncanny. their friends back home in MANHATTAN, NY say that if they were on a tv show, their trope would be THE STEPFORD SNARKER , how funny is that? ✎ ley , nineteen , she/her , est.

hi besties !! it’s ley here with this extremely chaotic  &  unhinged intro ! it’s truly an absolute disaster even after i spent an hour trying to make it better :)) anyways , i’ve decided to drop venice ( rip to real one ) bc i’ve just really lost muse  &  i’ve been so busy recently that i can’t handle two muses !! this is obviously a repost ( with a few very minor updates ) so feel free to completely ignore this .... but if you don’t , proceed with caution bc this is a mess. 

𝐈  . 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬  :

FULL  NAME   :  brooklyn paige guiliana moreno  . NICKNAMES   :  just brooke .... her childhood nickname was peanut but call her that and you will receive a christian louboutin heel to the crotch . AGE  :   twenty - one   .     DATE  OF  BIRTH   :  august 4th  .     ASTROLOGY  SIGN   :  leo   .     GENDER   :  cis  woman   .     SEXUAL  ORIENTATION   :  bisexual  .   PRONOUNS   :  she  /  her  /  hers   .   OCCUPATION  :  socialite , model , influencer . HOMETOWN  :  manhattan , new york  . EYE  COLOR   :  green   .     HAIR   :  brunette , naturally wavy but she straightens or curls it every day. MOTHER  :  nadia moreno . FATHER  :  lorenzo moreno . SIBLINGS  :  caleb moreno . POSITIVE  TRAITS   :  gregarious  ,  freewheeling  ,  intuitive  ,  altruistic  ,  vehement .   NEGATIVE TRAITS  :  irascible , temerarious , capricious , covetous , flighty . AESTHETICS   :   hearts drawn on fogged glass , a golden ring on every finger , sunlight beaming through the curtains in the early morning , ruination spilling from cherry stained lips , lipstick stains on old vanity mirrors , sundays spent entangled within egyptian cotton sheets , overflowing glasses of bubbly , heels clicking against a marble floor , a honey toned voice spewing harsh words , cheeks stained a shade of natural peach , tanned skin against white sheets . CHARACTER INSP  :  idk what it is w me and always picking my childhood icons as inspo.... anyways , brooke is mainly based off of alex russo  &  paris hilton with maybe a dash of brooke davis  &  blair waldorf .

click here to take a lil trip to her pinterest !!

𝐈𝐈 .  𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝  :

tw : revenge porn ( leaking of nudes ) , stalking , ptsd  &  anxiety.

       on august fourth , 1999 , brooklyn paige guiliana moreno was born to nadia  &  lorenzo moreno . she was their second born child , the baby of the family with an older brother by two years. born in milano , italy , but they moved to manhattan before she turned one , so she has no memory of it. as a child , brooke did everything her parents asked of her. she was people pleaser , and she thrived off the attention and validation. one day after seeing toddlers & tiaras on tv , brooke begged her parents to let her do pageants. and she very quickly moved up from just beauty pageants , into the real world of fashion and modeling. she loved the glitz and glam of it , and the way people would praise her for it. by the time she was 18 and finally able to focus full time on modeling , she was one of the top high fashion models in the world.

         brooke met her first boyfriend her junior year of high school , and she fell head over heels for him. in hindsight , she knows it was more puppy love than real true love , but back then she had been so blinded by her feelings for him that she thought it would truly be something that could last. they were together for all of high school , until one party right after they graduated. they were playing spin the bottle ( bc ofc they were ) and brooke ended up having to kiss his best friend. she thought it had all been fun and games , but apparently , he was infuriated by what happened , and they got in a fight and broke up the next day. after their break up , he leaked her nudes to the media for a pretty large check to ‘ get back at her ’. thankfully , he was too much of an idiot to do it anonymously , and it was quickly found out that he was the leak. he was stripped of his college scholarships for football and expelled from princeton before his freshman year of college had even begun.

         unfortunately , brooke’s troubles didn’t end there. that same summer , her two closest friends turned on her as well. they sold lies about her to the media , twisting the story to put the blame on brooke , claiming that she had cheated on her boyfriend by sleeping with his best friend. they were also always giving tips to the paparazzi about her location. and there was one paparazzi that at first , always seemed to linger in the background whenever she was out in public. she would spot him out of the corner of her eye , but she’d hadn’t really though much about it until he started following her to first apartment ( she had been so excited to finally have a place all to herself , and was crushed when it was tainted ). the first time he did it , he just sat outside on the street , watching her enter the building but not going any further than that. things escalated very , very quickly from there. it seemed that every time she would leave the building , he would be there , snapping photos , taking videos  &  hounding her with incredibly personal questions. one night , she had arrived home from a photo shoot , wanting nothing more than to just do her skincare and pass out in bed. there had been nothing off as she had entered her apartment , nothing that could have set off an alarm in her head. but as soon as she entered her room , she found the man that had been harassing her for weeks , looking through her things just hoping to find a story he could sell to the media. she was able to get a restraining order on him after that , but since he hadn’t physically harmed her , no criminal charges stuck.

          she’d felt violated and betrayed , and so , so scared that she was no longer able to live alone. she gets really uncomfortable in large crowds or when she’s alone late at night , because she’s terrified that one day he’ll show back up. for a few months , brooke refused to go therapy because she was insistent that the events had no effect on her , even though it was obvious that she had. she wasn’t sleeping at night ( and still struggles with insomnia to this day ), she was barely leaving the house unless it was for work , and she had pushed away all of her friends. she finally agreed to go after after she had passed out from exhaustion in the middle of a photo shoot, and she’s improved a lot since then , but she does still have some lasting ptsd and anxiety. she also has a really hard time truly trusting people now , because she’s always scared she’ll let someone in just for them to sell out all her secrets.

𝐈𝐈𝐈 .  𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲  :

she can kinda be a tough nut to crack , but underneath the hardcore closed of exterior , she has a very bubbly personality , is very free spirited , she has no filter , and she’s extremely animated . she also cannot stay still for more than 5 minutes. literally the energizer bunny personified

okay .... she is lowkey a huge attention whore. there’s really has no excuse why she is either she just ... sucks lmao. but she really just thrives off of having all eyes on her , and has a naturally alluring energy. also has a major tendency to stir drama , even if it’s unintentional. she’s the type to be like “ i’m not a fan of drama i’ll just stay out of it ” but then is always the FIRST to ask for all the tea whenever shit goes down

she’s also very much a serial dater. in her pea brain attention = love so she’ll flock to wherever she gets that. she likes the validation of relationships but hates the commitment , so pretty much all of her relationships end before they ever really start. it’s something the media has caught onto , and she’s criticized quite a lot for it.

she does a pretty good job at hiding her ptsd , but please just .... don’t sneak up on her or surprise her bc she will freak out ( nd then either get irrationally angry or completely shut down bc she doesn’t know how else to handle these emotions lol )

she is a hardcore adrenaline junkie , she does so much shit just for the thrill. for her eighteenth birthday , she went cliff diving in mexico , then for her twenty first , unlike most ppl who just go to a club  &  get drunk , she went sky diving. she just holds a lot of emotion in , so anything that will release all of that or make her feel anything other than the things she’s avoiding are very much welcomed.

brooke once sent nasa a 6 page persuasive essay trying to convince them to send her to space. included in said essay were multiple images of herself because “ i’m a star and i should be documented as such ” unfortunately for her , they never responded :(

she would not be caught dead looking unpresentable .... she’ll do a full face of make up even if she’s waking up at 4am. and don’t even bother to ask her to go out after she’s done her skin care routine .... there’s no chance

god complex but sometimes it takes the day off  &  she’ll be insecure as fuck. honestly the conceitedness is pretty much just a defense mechanism to hide how much she actually hates herself lmao very “ i feel like i’m the worst so i act like i’m the best ”

[shesawriter39049]

|ROLL DEEP|M| P.1

                 *Yoongi centered fic with a shared OT7 plot*

CH.1.1   CH. 1.2

**Operation: What’s eating blue!?***

_________________________________________________________

“Stop, this stopped being a you, thing and became a us thing  the minute we chose to show up here tonight! You gave us an out and we stayed...we will always stay...”

1.2 K Sneak Peek

Pairing: Yoongi x OC

Genre: Sugar baby AU/Suspense/Smut/Angst/Roomate AU/FWB AU

WC: 7K

Nonsexual Warnings: Mentions of drug use (Molly/weed/)Strong language/ Alcohol addictions/ brief mentions/ speculations of domestic violence/abuse

Sexual Warnings: Oral (M & F receiving) power bottom Min Yoongi, cum play, breath play, spanking, dirty talk, Slight overestimation, sex toys (Cock rings....) Semi-public sex (A chill little blow job in the car) The sexual warnings are for both parts of CH.1 so the smut is split in half!

NOTE:  Just to clarify the dynamic Yoongi and the OC are roommates who hookup on the side, they are BOTH sugar babies to two separate people! So yes, that would imply that Yoongi and some of the other boys who are also sugar babies are Bi. There is no MxM but there is mentions of it occasionally….as well as some harmless ot7 flirting! Also all of the boys are introed, Tae and Joon just play a lager part here!

_______________________________________________

I guess, fuck where do we even start? Maybe, will go back to where it all technically started, which was the last time things felt...somewhat normal yeah?

So, that would be...hmm...about 2 weeks shy of you heading into Junior year at USC right? The day your boys picked you up at the airport, and the three of your treated Blue, aka TaeTae to brunch!?

Well, wait let’s back track a little it all started much eariler than that, because you weren’t even aware of your brunch plans until later in the day. So Initially the day in question kicks of with you, in oversized blacked out CHLOE shades, hungover as fuck, sat in at the airport one Sunday afternoon. Smack dab in the middle of Terminal 6, in a bar called Blu2o sipping on a Bloody Mary, scrolling aimlessly through Snapchat. While simotaniously being told for the very first time ...that you’ll be attending a “Haute Couture”  themed charity auction...on Tuesday! Yup,  the day after tomorrow! Thank god he can’t see your damn face right now, biting down on your straw to muzzle yourself!

“No, babe it’s fine, I’ll just hit Rodeo tomorrow morning, and I’m sure my nail and lash girl can fit me-Oh you...haven’t gotten... what ...your wearing either?” Parroting the words back In slow motion as if it would make the words sound better or something!

Oh for fucks sake! Bringing your forehead flush to the marble bartop already feeling a full blown migraine brewing at the nape of your neck. Giving yourself a couple moments to self compose, this man is so damn unorganized it’s unfucking real. His personal assistant better be the 2nd highest paid person within his entire company because…..This is far from new, I don’t even know why your suprised and I’d say you don’t get paid enough for this....but ya do! So you suck it up, lose the attitude and slip right into your “Yes sir” or maybe I should say ‘Yes daddy” voice.

“Don’t worry about it, I know your busy. I totally get it, your a 28 waist right? Of course, I remember...I remember everything you tell me….Ohhh your gonna let me put you in color too???” Eyes flickering up to the notification from your bank, noting a cute little 12k wire pending.

“Yeah, no, I see it, that should be good. I was thinking Versace or Cavili for you anyway...they have good prints to fit the theme, and if all else fails I have my card too…yup..just landed about..hmm... 30 minutes ago actually. Of course, stop apologizing, Sunday's are always your golf days, I get it, hey, tell the guys I said hi and enjoy your day. Text me later if you feel up to it..k....bye..”

Were you actually getting a little flustered there towards the end? It's the slight accent, isn't it? Honestly, it didn't take much for you to slip into “character” with him, even after barely being together a full month. For one he wasn’t an asshole, had a decent sense of humor, and he’s really fuckin hot...however there was one, little, well shit, not so little issue...you noticed while with him recently. Which, then sparked quite a few questions while also answering some that had been rattling through your head since the day you met. But will circle back to the fact that you spent a week on vacation with a man, while dressed in some of the sexiest pieces of 2019 couture! Yet..you barely got touched once outside of a couple chaste kisses and hand-holding while at the two fashion shows you attended together… so, yeah, yeah!

A low groan in frustration rattled from your throat as you continued scrolling through Snapchat, trying to come up with some possible outfit scenarios in your head! It’s kinda funny, how mynute all of that seems now though, how your definition of “Stress” that day was you trying to decide if your sugar daddy was gay, while also  finding time to fit in a self-care day, shopping, and getting your books for school!!  The fact that, that was what you considered migraine worthy, fuck, what you wouldn’t give to consider multitasking your only maltitude of “stress” again …..

Just in your own little world, mind swirling with a couple of stylists you’ve met along the way, considering the idea of them pulling some vintage pieces for you instead!  What you should be doing, is scrolling through your contact list and texting said stylists, instead you find yourself more and more distracted.  Getting lost in the mounds of snap updates from Jimin as he “modestly” sunbathed in a private villa in Italy. Then later sharing a glimpse into his shopping spree from Versace, no doubt a good 20k worth of Italian luxury spread out along the plush white sheets. Sending him a cheeky little “That’s my boy” with a couple of smug winky faces in response!

It’s still kinda crazy to think, things like that are considered normal within your world now, the fact that you aren’t even surprised at the number of gifts. Or, simply the fact that your barley 21-year-old best friend is sunbathing in Italy on someone else’s dime. Then again, you just got sent 12 thousand dollars to spend on an event that would last maybe all of 5 hours, while sitting next to a stack of Louis Vuittion luggage from your first class flight in from Vegas, technically. Opting to land there first after a long 15-hour flight, checking in at The Four Seasons for not even a solid 24 hours before coming home! Honestly?There was no real reason for the pit stop except it gave you an excuse to see a friend while also allowing you to unwind in one of your favorite hotels!

That sentence alone is actually absurd when you really think about it, the idea of you casually booking flights and suites in 5-star hotels as if you’re ordering off the damn dollar menu at Mcdonalds! You, the girl that was working two jobs at the Groove and mourning a piece of shit cheating ex boyfriend her freshman year of college.....is now reminiscing about catching flights to chill with friends and last minute finding dresses for Couture themed galas.Like, what the actual fuck is life.... Oh my bad, life at the moment is constantly being paranoid that you and your friends will get arrested! Life in this moment however...was a fucking perfect!

The friend you where meeting in Vegas was Hoseok by the way, the redhead was currently vacationing in Sin City for the next couple of days, typically residing in LA as well. Just Chillin’ before the semester starts, living his best life, which revolves around “OFF-WHITE'' shopping sprees, private dance lessons, and constantly taking thirst trap pics for his 10’s of thousands of followers online. He randomly texts you saying “I miss your face” you text him saying “I land at 8 tonight bring a bottle and sushi to room 605 at The Four Seasons hotel '' Simple!

Your initial flight, the one that was 15 hours, was originally from Paris, where you spent the last week or so with Jeong-su, being arm candy, sipping wine, sightseeing and of course shopping!. Barley 32 hours ago your Snapchat looked pretty damn similar, if not worse in comparison to Jimin’s but what can I say, you can’t be in the home of Givenchy and Gaulthier and not go to Givenchy and Gaultier!

What your life is, what you and your friends do, I mean, I think it’s safe to say it’s pretty self-explanatory yeah? The average 20 something-year-old in college isn't flying themselves out of the country or going luxury shopping without a little help. In your case, it’s typically thanks to a person you commonly refer to as “Daddy” now, the context behind the word however….is where you and your friends may differ from others…..

But that’s your business, your concern and more importantly your choice, and honestly for a while life seemed too damn good to be true...I guess looking back on it now, I guess that’s because it kinda was!

Sat at the predominantly empty bar alone, more than content by the silence, twirling your straw between your lips, as you scanned back over the shit show that was your schedule for the semester! Getting more of a migraine from that, then shopping or even the fact that you're still hungover and drinking on an empty stomach at half-past 12. Shooting a quick text to your redheaded best friend cursing him out for getting you drunk off your ass on a bottle of Yamazaki 12.

“Can I get anything else for you beautiful? Another drink or maybe an appetizer? We have damn good loaded queso fries if I do say so myself!” Waving the menu in your face playfully, the warm, inviting voice in front of you was the bartender, who’s had his eye on you since you swayed in. Even if you looked like crap for your standards you knew to most you were the farthest thing from it as you swayed into the bar like you owned the place. In your heels, and tiny little black dress, while an airport assistant trolied in your luggage behind you! Ohhh Blair  Waldorf would without a doubt be proud!

“Mmmm…” Lips pursed in a slight pout as you raked over the menu, honestly, you were hungry and they have bomb ass fried pickles…..”Actually, yeah, I’ll get-”

“ 3 tall shots of whatever top-shelf Tequila you have, also add whatever she’s been drinking to my tab, along with an order of fried pickles with extra ranch…please and thank you!” Smoothly sliding his black card, and ID across the marble bartop for review.

Oh.

The look on the bartender’s face was fucking priceless, torn between shitting himself and maybe….nah, just straight shitting himself! Skin flushed, the sense of panic was clear as day,  wondering if he’d overstepped that fine line between customer service and filtration. Considering whoever the person behind you is, clearly knows you well enough to know your food order. A forced bashful smile playing along his lips as he bowed out in acknowledgment, sliding the gentelmen back is ID and whispering out a faint “Yes sir, coming right up…”

The base vibrating through your ears instantly had you readjusting your posture, a strong tingle running down your spine, back arching ever so slightly. A playful smirk playing along your lips as you slowly laced your tongue back around your staw, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

“You sure you wanna do that? My tastes are pretty expensive..” Tone blatantly flirtatious, yet you still hadn’t bothered to even turn around, that’s when suddenly you hear a deep arrogant chuckle rumbling low in his chest. Only...this sounds a little brighter? And like it’s coming from your left instead of behind you…

“Mmm, I’m sure we can handle it baby….”

You could feel the air shift behind you, it felt warmer, and there was a strong mix of scents flooding through your nose. Leaning back in your seat, pleasantly finding your shoulders, the back of your neck, and your head, cradled against a lean wall of silk. Sighing contently, naturally letting your body melt into his frame, nose running into your face as you smiled so hard your cheeks hurt. That’s when a gangle of veiny, porcelain limbs wrapped around your shoulders pulling you even tighter against him, only to find brown, sharp, cat-like eyes staring down at you, though a pair of translucent designer shades. Seemingly a little bit amused at how excited you are to see him. Long dark wavy locks falling messily into his face, a tiny silver hoop dawning his button nose. Tongue playing at the corner of his mouth, letting the tiny silver ball slip between his lips. This angle lets you really appreciate how sharp, yet soft his features were, an oxymoron that honestly makes no damn sense unless you see him in person….jawline sharp enough to cut glass yet he has the cutest cheeks ever when he smiles. It honestly makes no sense whatsoever and he’s one of the many reasons you have trust issues. Well, that and your line of work, considering the number of men you find out are married and still try and sneak around with you.

Then, as if to just make his presence known, there’s another pair of hands making their home along your body, gently squeezing your thigh. Except, he’s polar opposite to the person I just described, the man behind you is your roommate Yoongi, the man who just took a seat to your left, is your other roommate Namjoon! First off, he’s tall as all hell, and an offensively perfect shade of brown, he can’t even go into the burbs without being asked what self-tanner he uses. In which he smugly replies “Genetics” letting them sit there and try and google said company that makes that brand of self-tan. Streams of meticulously placed colored neo-traditional tattoos paint his skin, accompanied by deep dimples, and bleach blonde hair styled into an undercut, sides buzzed into the perfect fade.

“So you gonna get up and give me a real hug or what???”  Placing a kiss in your hair as he pulled back, giving you room to hop out of your seat and right into his arms.

The Full thing is coming soon, this is from summer 2019, I just have to edit, and reread the full thing again! I also wrote the first 3 parts all at once..sooo if your exicted show this some love anddddddddd come let me know!

Love you as always,

Rocki

[hockeynascarfan91258]

A/N: Okay guys thanks for bearing with me!   Here is the much anticipated update of Lips of an Angel.   Enjoy Chapter 2!  Please leave me feedback PLEASE :) 

Lips of an Angel

Chapter 2: 

The girls head out to wait for the guys. "So how long have you and Sid been an item?" Allison asks. "We started dating in late 2002.   I worked for Rimouski and then followed him here to Pittsburgh where I was able to land a job doing PR as well.   The day that he was drafted here is also the day that Sid asked me to marry him." Aurora replies. "Awww that is so sweet.   You two look so cute together." Allison says. "Thanks, so how long have you and Kris been together?"  Aurora asks. "Well we met through his best friend Luc.   I am Luc's girlfriends best friend.   They set us up on blind date.   Kris and I hit it off and bam that is how we ended up dating.   The day he got drafted to the Pens is also the day that we became engaged." Allison replies. "That is awesome.   I am happy for you guys.   Kris is a good guy." Aurora says. "Yes he is one of the best.   I am glad he came into my life." Allison says. The girls banter back and forth while they wait for the guys.  

Sid and Kris had media to do.    After they each finished they showered. "So where should we go for dinner?" Kris asks Sid. "May Olive Garden?   Aurora loves Italian food." Sid replies. "That actually sounds good." Kris says. Sid nods his head.  They finish up and head out to meet the girls.     "Your girls ready to go?" Sid asks as they reach Aurora and Allison. "Yes I am starving." Aurora replies. "I am starving as well." Allison says. "Well then lets go." Kris says. "Okay we will meet you there." Sid says. "Sounds like a plan." Kris replies. Sid and Aurora link hands and head to Sid's truck.   Kris and Allison follow heading to Kris's.   They both get in and head out.     A few minutes later they arrive at the Olive Garde and park. "Are you okay?" Sid asks Aurora. "Yes I am fine.  I am hungry but I am tired too." Aurora replies. "Well we won't be late okay baby." Sid says kissing her hand. "Okay." Aurora replies. They get out of the truck and head inside.   Kris and Allison follow suit.    They were seated at booth.    Sid and Aurora sit on one side and Kris and Allison sit on the other. "Thanks for doing this guys.   I am glad to get to know Aurora and become friends.   It will be nice to have a friendly face in town when I am here." Allison replies. "When you are here?" Aurora asks. "Oh yeah I am a model so I have to travel a lot for work." Allison says. "Oh wow that is awesome.    I bet you have seen some pretty amazing places." Aurora says. "I have.   Milan, Paris, London, Monte Carlo among others." Allison says. "That is pretty cool.   I am planning a trip during the break to somewhere awesome for me and Aurora." Sid says. "Oh you have to take her to Paris.   Its the city of love and is so beautiful.   Aurora will love it too since she is from Montreal." Allison says. "Actually going there is on my bucket list." Aurora says. "Well that is where we will go baby." Sid says. "That will be fun." Kris says. "Why don't we make it a double date vacation." Allison offers. "Well you can show us all the stops." Kris says kissing her head. "Sounds okay with me.   As long as Aurora is on board." Sid says. "I am okay with it." Aurora replies. The guys were excited.     They started planning different things.   Aurora looked over the menu.      They ordered soups first.   Aurora and Kris both got the Chicken and Gnocchi, and Sid got the Zopa Toscana and Allison got the Minestrone.    They also got the Fried Mozzarella, Stuffed Ziti Frita and Lasagna Frita as appetizers to split.     Aurora got the tour of Italy, Sid got the giant Chicken Parmesan, Kris got the Shrimp Scampi and Allison got the lasagna.     They also got a bottle of wine to share. "This was a good idea baby I am glad you thought of it." Allison says. "Thanks I am glad too.   I figured since Sid and are become really good friends it would make sense for our fiancée’s  to be friends too." Kris says. "Yes it does make sense and I am glad you girls hit it off." Sid says. They sip their wine and eat their food and chat.   When they finished eating their food they got Tiramisu and chocolate brownie lasagna to split for desert.   When they finished Aurora grabbed the bill before anyone of them could. "Baby girl let me pay." Sid says. "I got it guys." Aurora says. "Are you sure?   I can give you money for ours." Kris says. "Yes I can treat you guys." Allison says. "Nope I got it." Aurora says. "Thanks Aurora." Allison replies. "Yes thanks Ro." Kris says. "Thank you baby." Sid says kissing her head. "Welcome guys." Aurora says. She pays the bill.    They then linger a bit.    Aurora and Allison exchange numbers and Aurora gets Kris's updated number.    They then all head out.    Kris and Allison head out to Kris's truck and Aurora and Sid heats out to theirs.    Sid and Aurora get in the truck and Sid drives them to Aurora's apartment.   They arrive and park and head up.   Aurora let's them in. "I am glad that you have this place." Sid says. "I know baby.   I feel awkward staying at my bosses house and even more awkward if we would ever have sex there." Aurora replies. "I know.   But soon I will build my own house here." Sid says. "I know I will keep the apartment until it is done.   And you know you are more then welcome to move in here until that happens." Aurora says. "I know baby." Sid says pulling her to him. "Sid." Aurora says. "What?" Sid asks pinning her to the wall. "I am tired." Aurora says. "Baby don't act like you aren't in the mood.   I can feel your juices coating my suit pants." Sid says nibbling her ear as he wedged his thigh between her thighs. "God Sid." Aurora moans as he nibbles her sweet spot. "What baby?" Sid asks as his hands wander all over her body. "God please." Aurora moans begging him. "Please what?" Sid asks. "Don't tease." Aurora whines as she starts to grind her hips against his thigh. She needed release and he just wasn't moving fast enough. "Damn baby." Sid moans. "Sorry but you were taken so long." Aurora whimpers as she moves harder. "That's it baby make yourself cum." Sid begs her. He runs rips open her shirt sending buttons and material flying.   Next was her bra.    He runs his thumb over her nipple. "Sid." Aurora hisses. "Yes baby girl?" Sid asks. Aurora was really grinding his thigh.   Sid runs his hand down her body, down her panties seeking out that little bundle of nerves he knew would send her flying.   He found it hard and throbbing for him.   He applies just the right amount of pressure. "Sid." Aurora calls out as she cums orgasm rushing through her. Sid lets her calm down.    He then picks her up and they shed clothes as they head towards the bed.   Sid throws her down on top of it.   He then hovers over her. "Sid what are you waiting for?" Aurora whines.

"I don't have any protection." Sid  says.

"I don't care I just need you inside me now."  Aurora  replies.

"Are you sure?" Sid asks

"God yes please Sid I need to feel you inside me stretching me." Aurora begs.

"Okay baby your wish is my command." Sid says.

He slams into her stilling a bit to let her adjust before pulling out and slamming into her once again.

"Sid  fuck me hard." Aurora moans as she moves with him.

"That is the plan baby." Sid moans as he goes a little harder. "God that is it baby." Aurora moans digging her nails into his back. "Fuck Aurora." Sid moans loudly as he went as hard as he could. "So close god." Aurora  moans. "Me too baby girl me too." Sid moans. "Fuck Sid fuck." Aurora moans as she cums hard. "Aurora baby that's it milk my cock baby." Sid  moans cumming with her filling her up with all he had. They lay there riding it out. They make love multiple times before falling asleep in each others arms. "God that was freaking amazing." Sid says kissing her head as she took her spot laying on his chest. "I know baby but it always is with you." Aurora says. "Yes it is.   So glad you were my first and I am happy you will be my last." Sid says. "Aww me too baby." Aurora says. "Get some sleep baby." Sid says. "You too my love." Aurora says. "Goodnight baby, I love you." Sid says kissing her head once again. "Goodnight baby, I love you too." Aurora says. They snuggle together falling into a much needed sleep.

[paradisobound]

World’s Greatest First Love: Chapter 10

Summary: Dan Howell wanted a clean break from his father’s publishing company. It was why he applied for a different company in London: to stop the ridicule of his coworkers for riding on his ‘daddy’s coat tails’. But he wasn’t expecting to suddenly be going from a literature editor, to a graphic novel editor. And he certainly wasn’t expecting to come face first with his first love who broke his heart from when he was a teenager: who just happens to be his new editor-in-chief.

Based on the Anime and Manga “The World’s Greatest First Love: The Case of Ritsu Onodera” aka Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.9k (this chapter)

Warnings: None

Beta Read by: @phanandpenguins

Updates Every Tuesday 12pm EST and Saturday at 1pm EST

READ ON AO3

Returning back from the Isle of Man almost felt as if the entire trip never happened. Dan didn’t figure that it would warrant such a dramatic change in his life but he really felt like sleeping with Phil might have been a turning point. Except, it definitely wasn’t.

He goes back to Onyx for his shift the following day and naturally, he’s not shocked to see a mound of paperwork at his desk that was either faxed to him or given to him from the printers or sales department.

Dan finds two new manuscripts, both for different authors, a form for the second printing of his book, and a few other miscellaneous forms and papers that he has no idea what they are from first glance. He lets out a sigh and plops down in his seat, rubbing his hands in his hair.

They always say going back to work after a vacation was difficult, and Dan is definitely not in disagreement with that at all.

He fishes his laptop out of his bag and opens it up to begin working on unread emails and other various things now that he has a ton of work to do. He buckles down and focuses in, trying to get as much done as possible.

It’s only an hour into his shift when his cell phone begins to ring out of his coat that’s draped over his chair. He reaches behind him and goes to grab it to see who it is. Maybe it’s an author of his? That’s got to be it.

But when he pulls his phone out of his pocket, the name “Annie” appears on his screen with a picture of her and he feels a bit sick.

Should he answer it or should he leave it? He looks around the room quickly as if he’s looking for an out for the situation. But the sound of his ringtone is annoying him and surely everyone else so he quickly hits answer and puts the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“You didn’t answer my call the other day.”

The airiness of her voice still catches Dan off guard.

He quickly stands up from his chair and rushes out of the office towards the breakroom. He steps inside and is glad to see no one else is in there. He takes a seat on one of the couches.

“I wasn’t expecting you to ever call again,” Dan says truthfully.

“I’m back from Italy,” Annie says. “I want to see you again.”

There is a pause because Dan doesn’t know what to tell her anymore. Back when they were together, he could have any conversation with her without an issue. But she left for Italy when they were on bad terms and Dan considered the relationship ended at that point, he figured she did too.

But something is nagging in the back of his head that she was still thinking otherwise.

“I stopped by your dad’s company but they said that you left and were working somewhere else,” Annie says, her voice cutting through his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah. I switched companies a few months ago,” Dan says, his words a bit clipped, a bit short.

“Where do you work now?” Annie says, a bit out of breath and that’s when Dan can hear the sound of the busy London streets in the background.

“Are...are you walking?” Dan asks.

“Yeah, I’m going to come and see you, is that an issue?”

“Yes!” Dan cries out. “You can’t come and visit me at my job, Annie.”

He can almost hear her stop in her tracks as she processes what he just said. She huffs and then lets out a sigh.

“Do you still live in the same flat at least?” She asks, sounding exasperated.

“No.”

“So you’ve literally like...left everything behind then.”

Dan leans back on the couch and rubs his hand over his face.

“So you’re not even going to give me your new address then?” Annie asks. “Dan, you’re my fiance, I need to know where you are.”

“Annie…”

“Look, okay. I know the details got a bit stretched as time passed between us but we can meet up later and talk about this all.”

Dan sighs because he knows that she is right. He agrees eventually and then ends the call just as the door to the breakroom opens and Phil walks inside, a couple pound coins in his hand. He walks over to the vending machine and without making eye-contact with Dan, says, “There is a strict company policy that we use our cell phones for work related conversations when we’re on the clock. So no more private calls during your shift or else we’re both going to get into trouble.”

“How did you know it wasn’t work related?” Dan asks, because he doesn’t particularly like the idea of Phil eavesdropping on his conversation. No matter how many lines or boundaries they may have crossed.

“If it was work related, you wouldn’t have rushed out of the office so no one else could hear you,” Phil says, grabbing whatever he got out of the machine and walking back out of the room.

Dan has no idea what any of that was, but it leaves a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

***

Phil gets on the tube right after Dan has a seat on one of the empty benches. He rushes on and Dan sees the sigh of relief that comes out of Phil’s chest when the doors close narrowly behind him and the train starts and barrels forward. He walks forward and takes the empty seat next to Dan.

“Didn’t think I was going to make the last train,” Phil says, completely out of breath.

“They normally hold the final train for a bit longer.”

Phil stares at him and laughs and shakes his head. Dan’s not sure why.

Then he sees the bag Phil is holding in his hands and notices there is something in it. Phil picks it up and holds it up to Dan, “Come over to mine for a few drinks to unwind after the long day.”

“I can’t tonight,” Dan says, because he knows Annie is waiting for him at his flat. Even though he told her not to wait for him, he knows that she is.

“Why not?” Phil asks.

“I...I’m tired.”

“Exactly why we should unwind,” Phil presses, scooting closer to Dan.

The train suddenly slows to a hard stop and the passengers get thrown around as the lights flicker off and murmurs begin to be whispered between everyone. Dan feels his heartbeat pick up speed and he turns to Phil.

Phil looks at him and just as Dan opens his mouth to ask what Phil thinks happened, but Phil leans forward and presses their lips together. Dan has half a mind to protest and push back because they’re on a public train but Phil pulls away not long after initiating it.

Dan just stares at him and then the lights flicker back on and Dan feels a sense of comfort in his chest. He finds himself leaning over and resting his head on Phil’s shoulder, taking a deep breath and letting it go through his nose.

It’s just a few more stops until their own and when they get off, they walk together down the street. It’s so late that most of the area is void of people except for a few stragglers. Their shoulders are bumping against each other and Dan doesn’t think Phil’s ever walked this close to him before. There is something cozy about it.

Just as he thinks that, Phil’s hand comes into contact with his own and they connect, palm to palm. Dan can feel how warm Phil’s hand is against his own and he blushes as he looks down and sees their hands swinging, intertwined.

He knows that they shouldn’t be holding hands in public, but it’s night and no one is around so he figures that it really can’t hurt them.

They walk all the way to their apartment building like that, and just as soon as they reach the door, Dan sees her, standing outside with a cigarette in between her fingers, the smoke coiling through the night air.

He drops Phil’s hand like it just hurt him and he stops in his tracks, “Annie?”

He knows that she was supposed to be meeting up with him here but the shock still sets in seeing her. It’s been nearly a year since they last saw each other. He hates to admit it, but he actually had forgotten mostly what she looked like.

So to see her standing there, her shoulder length hair sitting behind her ears and her button down shirt tucked into her black jeans with a long peacoat covering her arms, Dan feels like he’s seeing a stranger in his view.

“Where have you been? Thought you said you got out of work around 9?” She says.

Dan is well aware that it’s past nine, but he couldn’t help that. Some days he has to stay later to get his work done and today is definitely one of those days since it was the day back from holiday.

“I do but I had to stay later,” He says, walking up to her, leaving Phil standing behind him.

Phil follows him and is suddenly standing behind him. Annie motions to Phil and Dan turns and quickly introduces him, “Oh, Annie, this is Phil. Phil, this is Annie.”

Phil reaches his hand out to shake it and says a quick nice to meet you before he turns to Dan and says that he’s heading inside.

Dan doesn’t say anything else, he just smiles and nods and watches as Phil walks away. He turns back to Annie and she’s staring at him, tapping off the ash from the end of her cigarette.

“Who is that?” She asks.

“I already introduced you,” Dan says, rolling his eyes.

She lifts the cigarette to her mouth and Dan notices that she’s wearing the thin band that he gave her. His heart sinks a bit further down into his stomach.

She rolls her eyes, “Don’t get cheeky with me, Howell. That’s not what I asked. Why were you holding hands with him?”

Dan doesn’t know what to say to her because he doesn’t fully have an answer. He and Phil haven’t spoken to each other about what their relationship actually was.

Annie shakes her head, “Nevermind. I brought you a gift.”

“A gift?”

Annie nods and then throws her cigarette on the ground and stomps it out with her foot. She digs into the bag on her shoulder and pulls out a small box and hands it to him.

“New Year's gift,” She says with a smile.

Dan thanks her and then it goes silent between them again. He’s not sure what else he can say. He honestly thought he was never going to see her again.

“You know,” Dan says, deciding to rip the plaster off. “We’re not engaged anymore.”

Annie looks at him and gives him a sad smile, “I know, Howell. But a girl can dream that she didn’t fuck everything up, right?” She lets out a cough and straightens herself up a bit. “I know you’re in love with someone else,” She says. “It’s okay, mate. Didn’t expect you to take me back after all of this...just...kind of hoped maybe you would.”

“It’s not...I’m sorry, Annie.”

She nods her head and flashes him another smile before she says, “I need to go. I’ve called a cab and they’re probably wondering where I am.”

She barreled past him and he watched as she walked away. He felt a weight lift from his chest, but then another one settled. He looked up towards the top of the building and saw the light of Phil’s flat glow through the curtains. He takes a deep breath and steps into the building, making his way up.

He knocks on Phil’s door, waiting for Phil to open it up. But no one comes. Dan stands puzzled on the other side, waiting longer for someone to come but it’s clear no one is. Did Phil fall asleep?

He knocks again and this time, he hears footsteps coming and the door opens. Phil stands on the other side, staring at him.

“Hi,” Dan says. “Still open for some drinking?”

Phil lets out a small breath and then says, “I don’t know, Dan…”

Dan swallows down the lump in his throat and bites his lip, “Then let me at least explain who she is.”

“She’s your girlfriend,” Phil says with no hesitation. “I get why you were so hesitant about doing anything with me now.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Dan says. “Please, let me explain.”

Phil steps aside and opens the door wider and Dan walks in, leaving his shoes behind next to Phil’s on the rug beside the door. They make their way into Phil’s living room and they sit down.

“She was my fiance,” Dan says, needing to just get everything all out into the open now. “We met when we were in America. She was in the same class as me and we hit it off. When I moved back to the UK, she moved here too to go to university in Scotland. We decided to date because I thought why not. I was still getting over you and everyone told me that I needed to get myself out there again, so I went for it.”

Dan looks up from his hands to see Phil staring at him, stone faced. Dan can’t read how he’s feeling but he can see that he’s listening and that’s enough for him to continue.

“We were never the most compatible couple. She was way more outgoing than me and so we found the balance to be really hard and we separated for a long time,” He pauses to gather his thoughts. “We reconnected a few years later and got back together and for some reason, my mind told me that she was going to be the only person I could potentially love again...after you. So I proposed and she accepted.”

“Why did you propose to someone if you didn’t want to be with them?” Phil asks and Dan looks at him.

“I don’t know,” Dan says. “Truthfully, I really do not know.”

“That’s a bit daft, don’t you think?”

Dan shakes his head and ignores Phil to get the rest of his story out.

“One day, we got into an argument and I called off the engagement. But she didn’t think I was actually calling it off but I was. We argued more and then I woke up one morning and she was gone. All I had was a text telling me she was leaving to go and find herself. I found out two weeks later she was in Capri...in Italy.”

Phil crosses his arms over his chest and sits quiet for a moment and so Dan adds, “This was the first time I’ve seen her since she’s left.”

Phil lets out a scoff and Dan feels his cheeks heat up in anger.

“Wha--”

“You’re so dense you don’t even see the irony in this entire situation,” Phil says. “Who does she sound like, Dan?”

Dan sits in silence, collecting his thoughts as he realizes...Annie was exactly like him. He did the exact same thing...but to Phil. He looks up and opens and closes his mouth a few times.

Phil just shakes his head and stands up, walking away from the couch. Dan finds himself going after him, he pushes off, and bounds forward, grabbing Phil’s arm, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Damien.”

The color drains from Dan’s face as he lets go of Phil’s arm, “Why?”

“Because Damien asked me to come over for drinks and I am.”

Phil walks further towards the door and Dan chases after him again. When Phil begins to slip his foot into his shoe, Dan reaches for his arm again, “Don’t…” Phil spins around and comes face to face with Dan and Dan finds himself pleading, “Don’t go to Damien. Please, Phil…”

“Dan...you had a fiance and I never even knew about it.”

“I didn’t love her,” Dan says, and he knows the words hurt. He shouldn’t be saying them but they slip out. “I didn’t love her because I’ve only loved one person in my life.”

Their eyes meet and Dan feels his eyesight blur as tears come to the waterline and he struggles to hold them back. Phil reaches up and puts his hand on Dan’s cheek, stroking the skin with his thumb.

Phil leans in and connects their lips and Dan reaches up, putting his arms around Phil’s neck for stability. He melts into the kiss, letting himself cling to Phil as he struggles to hold back his emotions.

Phil pulls back and looks Dan in the eyes as Dan sinks into seas of blue, “I want to know everything about you from the last ten years,” He says, his voice soft. “Don’t leave anything out. I want to know everything.”

Dan nods and connects their lips again as he whispers, “okay.”

As they make their way into the bedroom, and fall onto Phil’s bed, Dan lays beneath him. He keeps his hands as steady as they can be on Phil’s jaw, holding them both grounded. Their kisses are fevered and Dan can feel Phil undoing the button of his pants, opening them up to the cool air of the room.

Phil breaks the kiss, leaning down to kiss and suck at Dan’s neck. Dan closes his eyes and lets out a moan. No one will ever have this effect on him, only Phil.

And one day, he might even admit that to Phil.

[momtemplative]

Nine Days. (COVID-19)

To say day-to-day life has changed since I last posted (March 9)  feels like a gross understatement. Nine days feels like the gestation period of some unknown force that continues to grow.  

I’m writing, but my words feel like sheets of paper in a cyclone. Nothing cohesive. Self-judgment says, does anyone really want to hear what you have to say in the midst of this barrage of COVID-19 thoughts/opinions/posts/news? Then I shut up and write, even if it’s just something, even if it’s not pristine.

Nine Days, in list form:

1. Thursday, March 12, 2020—THE OUTSIDE TURNS DOWN. 

We get the news that schools are going to be shut down for many weeks, probably more. When that happens, the lighting in our house shifts. It’s as if the outside turns down, like half-drawn curtains. And those who live inside the walls of our little house—Jesse, Opal, Ruth, myself, and the pets— take on a fresh-rinsed potency, as if we know we are on the brink of something big and we are in it together.

2.  Friday, March 13, 2020—TARGET

We take a trip to Target. Ruth begs to wear her tap shoes, which I reluctantly agree to. The people at Target are amiable; nobody is concerned about keeping a distance yet. We are pushing carts as two-way traffic down aisles, brushing elbows, as we would on any large-crowd shopping day. Moms exchange nods of camaraderie, like fellow Harley drivers on the highway. The overall feeling is generous and very much we-are-in-this-together. What is different, what is startling, is the very, very low inventory. Some of the shelves are completely empty, (toilet paper, cleaning agents) which, in spite of the music, crowds and fluorescent lighting, feels eerie. 

The lines are 10-12 people long, cards filled to the brim, and even though I don’t hear one short-tempered word, most of the people in the lines are wrapped comfortably in the tiny glare of their smart phones. It’s amazing how deeply grownups crawl into those little screens, even in public. Ruth walks by them with her tap-tap-tap shoes, duct taped at the buckle and two sizes too big. They make a startling, gloriously sharp sound against the linoleum. 

Imagine a line of adults raising their gaze with each step of her foot, like a face-only version of the wave, a beautiful cascade of heads that rise to meet the sound. Each face spreads into a smile when they see where it originates: tiny girl, impervious to her impact, shiny-star tank top and tutu, like a Disney+ version of Madonna’s Like a Virgin.

Back at home, emails flood our inboxes with some variation of ‘COVD-19 closure’ in the subject line. The library. The Rec center. Stores dropping from Main Street like birds shot from a wire. Restaurants and coffee shops are sweating hard, offering discounts on gift cards for later and curbside take-out.

We are getting wind of the fact that we need to slow the spread of this virus so as not to overwhelm the healthcare systems—to ‘flatten the curve.’ We need to stay in as much as possible. Not be in big groups. Probably not see the grandparents for a while. Wash our hands like crazy, scrubbing while singing the ABCs from start to finish.

It sure looks as if we won’t be going to Target (where Ruth who touches every surface with all ten fingers then promptly rubs her eyes and picks her lip) for a while.

3.  Saturday, March 14, 2020—SHOULD WE??

Every out-of-house action feels strange and other-worldly. Even the most benign of outings suddenly beg the question, wait—should we?? Do we really need to?? Going to the kid-gym and kid-yoga just two days earlier suddenly seems outlandish. A planned gathering with friends that felt wonderful yesterday feels out of the question today. 

4.  Sunday, March 15, 2020—COMMUNITY.

There is an amazing video going around of a community in Italy who are quarantined, but still singing from their balconies as an etherial chorus. 

A family-walk around the block feels potent and perennially safe. Our next-door neighbor joins us with her dog. We wave at another family of neighbors who are perched on their porch in the sun, their toddler wearing the hilarious mirrored sunglasses of a studly lifeguard. Then we cross and take the bike path behind the houses that are on the other side of our street. Another neighbor exits from her sliding back door, her dog lurching out from behind her. Yet another neighbor steps out into the light wearing pajamas and with his small dog under his arm. Everyone feels hungry for sunshine and familiar connection, but we all keep our distance.

When I was 13, I took a spring break vacation with friends to Arizona, where we visited the “Biosphere2.” The headlines read: “Eight explorers join together in a daring, high-profile study of sustainability and the new science of biospherics—the study of closed systems that mimic Earth’s environment.” Essentially, eight people lived in a sealed-up dome, a mini-earth, for two years to study sustainability. We could see them all through the glass. I remember waving, though I don’t know how accurate that is. I think of that right now, as I wave to my friends through their windows. 

Even Opal is weighing her options. Just after lunch, she says to me, “I’m going to try and make Ruth my friend. We may be together for a long long time and I want to have fun with her.”

The girls laugh so hard at dinner tonight, we wind up calling a moratorium when they are unable to take a drink without spraying it across the table. This is very unusual.

5.  Monday, March 16, 2020—RAGE

The media is rich with photos of college kids whooping it up over the weekend for St. Patrick’s Day. Seeing photos of hundreds of young bodies smashed together in a bar makes my blood curdle. I can practically see the virus spreading. 

Let’s talk about neuroscience for a minute. The brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25. Therefore, to leave hundreds of thousands of 18-24 year olds to their own devices to make good choices around self-quarantining is like requesting the same from a litter of wild animals. Is there a psychiatrist out there observing this with some sense of concern? Where are the leaders in this? I don’t just mean parents. I’m also wondering about teachers, staff, the adults who own the bars, ANYONE who has some sense of perspective and enough maturity to help float those who aren’t as evolved.

Concurrently, parents are home from work, doing their human duty of staying home/keeping kids home to slow the growth of this thing. Healthcare workers are AT WORK so we can stay home and everyone can get a handle on this thing. Grr. It really is infuriating.

6. Tuesday, March 17, 2020—WHAT IF IT WERE MY IDEA?

Today I have a random memory of having insomnia for close to a year when I first moved to Colorado fifteen years ago. It was agonizing: the mealy brain that would wake me up with an indifferent shrug and leave me unsettled and restless for hours—a fate far worse than jolting into a leap of wide-awake!—left me feeling dead-brained and disconnected for weeks at a time. The only thing that helped me to recover was to pretend it was all my idea. I have no recollection of how that notion ever came to me but there it was. I’d wake up at 3am and force myself to say, well, super! I was hoping to be up tonight! I have so much to do, after all! Filing, for example, was a big one. Before going to sleep at night, I’d actually pile things by my bed to do when I’d wake up during the night. It positively worked. In under a week, I was sleeping like a mouse.

I got to wondering if that hypothesis could be applied to this COVID reality. Perhaps, I could say to myself, now is as good a time as any to face down some mortal fears and learn about what it’s like to live in quarantine with a four and a ten-year-old. I’m not talking about Pollyanna-Sizing in the least. Just talking about broader perspectives to keep sanity in check.

7. Wednesday, March 18, 2020—A FEW GOOD THINGS

Some parts of this feel tenable, dare I say nurturing. The first few days of this have felt like a combination of a snow day and a meditation retreat. It is part family love-fest, part novel bio-spheric experiment. The weather is warm and inviting so we triple our number of family walks and clock in hours in the backyard. (Backyard, oh how I love thee.) Time feels abundant and luxurious. The slow-drip news of this international trauma infuses the ordinary moments with a sense of urgency, of faintly (or not) facing our individual mortality. Each choice is whittled away by the updated COVID rules du jour. Gratitude lists brim with things that may have previously been taken for granted: health, family, running water. 

I clean the hell out of the bathtub today and enjoy every moment of it. I cannot for the life of me remember an instance when I took my time cleaning the bathtub like this, doing small circles on the tile like Mr. Miyagi. I typically rush through my cleaning with some sense of discontent, feeling that it’s taking up space that could be used for something worth relishing.

I typically feel paycheck-to-paycheck with regards to time. But now, time is one thing we have more of than we could possibly use. Usually, my brain has the feeling of being pulled down the road by pack of strong wolves. A lurching feeling. Now—not the case. I feel a shit load of feelings, but rushed and overwhelmed are not on the list.

While I clean? The girls are content reading books in their individual ways. Jesse is in the living room in the rocking chair he continues to scoff at, feet up on the rocking foot-stool, MacBook in his lap as if he’s rocking it to sleep. In that moment, there is a settled feeling inside the places where rushing and overwhelm are usually expected. This is one part I do not mind about the new norm.

8.  Thursday , March 19, 2020—SNOW / CREATIVITY IS REQUIRED FOR SUSTAINABILITY 

There is at least ten inches of snow on the ground—an abrupt change in weather—and I want to start drinking well before lunch. Cozy as it is, all I can think of is our lack of ability to escape into the out-of-doors. 

Yesterday I felt heavy and blue, like the adrenaline was wearing off and the novelty of our situation was waning. My face felt leaden and I was short-fused with everyone, making audible sighs of exasperation that drive me bonkers when done by someone else. I miss my friends. I miss my routine and my work and Sunday morning writing-then-yoga. I know everyone does, but I do too. I want my Big child to continue to enjoy being with my Little child without constant management. I want to know HOW THIS IS ALL GOING TO UNFOLD. 

Then, moments later, I am telling Opal how we need to try and be patient with each other. We can get what we need with kind words. We are a team. 

I am struggling to find balance. One moment, I am a parent who remembers that Opal feels the same feelings as I do around all of this, yet with less perspective and practice on how to be with those scary inner-bits. The next moment, I am fed up with her vague grumpiness and I just want everyone to work together dammit!

The koan is how to feel spacious in a scenario where there is very little limited space.

Today I awoke feeling brighter. Opal has a Girl Scout meeting over Zoom at 2pm. Something for the schedule that did not originate from a member of Grimes Home Base! Yay! We are both as excited as eager peaches. Facetimes, Skype, Zoom calls are going to be the wiring the keeps us tethered to our relationships. Such irony, when, not long ago, the internet felt like the very thing that perpetuated our universal disconnection. 

People are starting to get innovative with their use of the Web, and it’s inspiring as hell. Creativity will save us. Some of my favorite local musicians are doing “QuaranTours”—live shows on line. A famous kids’ book author is teaching the art of doodling. Late night Talk Show hosts are doing shows from their living room, with kids climbing on their shoulders and cheeks shiny without the help of a make-up crew.

9.  Friday, March 20, 2020—WE NEED A BROCHURE.

Last weekend, we invited our dear next-door neighbor over to watch Frozen 2 with us. She ate our Pirate Booty, sat on our furniture. The things you do with a friend on any given, normal day. This weekend, she texted to see if we wanted to watch another movie, this time with her fiancé who had been traveling last weekend. I felt the need to explain that so much has changed since last Sunday, at least for us. Had it for them? Our tactics had been distilled down to the essence. At this point, we have decided not to let anyone else in the house right now. They totally understood.

Then I ran into them while on a walk today. They were walking towards Elvis and I on the sidewalk and I crossed the street away from them, not at all realizing who they were. I was just doing my usual COVID-cross-the-street-to-give-room move. I was also absorbed in a Podcast. 

I crossed-back to see them. I was genuinely giddy with the prospect of their company. I realized I hadn’t been with any adult other than Jesse during the past week. I must've oozed with fervor! But, quickly I felt awkward because I was standing only a few feet away from them! I stepped back but that also felt wrong. Then I was aware of them being aware of me, and I thought, what is happening to us? These are my friends! But because we are not all on the same page, it can feel a bit clunky. Even still, our interaction was supremely satisfying. I wanted them to stay with me for the rest of my walk, but they had plans to go play Scrabble.

Oh how hungry I was for diverse conversation! Those few minutes on the sidewalk together were rich with talk-points and humor. Memorable. I’m still finding my way with enjoyable FaceTimes, but long-distance sidewalk chats are thus far my jam. I had a fantastic chat with a neighbor a few doors down while we were shoveling, and with another neighbor from my porch to her on the sidewalk. Both were far enough away to comfortably toss a softball. Both lasted only a few moments. Both were lavish with depth and hilarity, but concise, as if there were no time to waste.

March 20, 2020

Photos—Top: gel print by Opal. Middle: quick portrait by Ruth. Bottom: me rainbow-organizing markers (who has time for that on an average day??)

[emotionsofthesoul]

Chapter 33 _ Abre Los Ojos

A month had passed since their New York adventure. Midterms were in full swing and both girls had been busy completing their different projects. It had become a bit more difficult to spend time together as due dates were approaching but they always found a way. Sometimes it was the simple act of meeting for a quick lunch break at their halfway point or Valentina stopping by Juliana’s work to bring her a quick dessert.

Juliana’s birthday was approaching quickly. She had told her girlfriend she didn’t want to do anything but to sleep in and enjoy the evening together — something Valentina was very much on board with after all the time and effort they’d put into their school work. Nonetheless she had a surprise for Juliana on the day of her birthday.

When her birthday finally arrived they did as Juliana had asked, they got to sleep in. The girls went to their afternoon classes and met back up at Juliana’s in the evening. Valentina commented that they should make Juliana a cake to celebrate properly and Juliana decided to pick up the cake supplies on her way home.

By the time the cake was ready the girls had listened to Hozier’s newest album in its entirety. As the first track began to play again they paused it so Juliana could cut the cake.

“Babe, make a wish!” Valentina said as she lit the candles.

Juliana laughed at the idea of blowing out candles when it was just the two of them. Nonetheless she did as instructed and made her wish. She was never big on birthdays but she knew Valentina was and she genuinely enjoyed spending hers with Valentina. It suddenly dawned on her that this was her second birthday with Valentina in her life.

When the candles were blown out Valentina clapped and hugged her girlfriend. She leaned in to whisper. “I have something for you, chiquita.” As she spoke she reached into her purse pulling out a thin rectangular box and hid it behind her. “Close your eyes, Juls.”

Juliana did as Valentina asked and Valentina took her hand placing the box into it. “Open them.”

Following instructions, Juliana opened her eyes to find a beautifully decorated box. She had no idea what could be in there but she knew whatever it was, was a gift she’d love. She removed the perfectly tied bow and opened the box.

Inside the box was a small red leather bracelet with an engraving on it and a card underneath it. Upon further inspection Juliana realized the bracelet said her name in a beautiful cursive with the word Firenze to the left of the name and Italia on the right. Her eyes lit up knowing Valentina put a lot of thought into her gift. She looked up at Valentina and before she could say anything Valentina motioned towards the card that was still in the box.

She lifted the card with a curious look on her face as she read it: Italy over Thanksgiving break?

While Juliana read the card Valentina observed her every reaction. They had talked about Florence being Juliana’s dream vacation and it was something Valentina always kept in mind.

“Are you serious?” Juliana asked already knowing the answer.

“Only if you want to.” Valentina responded placing a loose strand of hair behind Juliana’s ear.

Juliana leaned in and gave Valentina a thankful kiss. “I’d love to go but I can’t afford Italy right now and I don’t want you paying for the entire thing…”

“Juls, it’s not a problem. Travel expenses would be covered, private jet remember? Plus Hope and I have an apartment there so no hotel expenses either, all you have to do is say yes. We can even invite the girls and make it a girls trip if you want.” Valentina said.

Juliana shook her head and chuckled. “Of course you have an apartment in the city of my dreams. You really thought this out didn’t you?”

Valentina nodded her head in a childish way causing another laugh to erupt from her girlfriend’s lips.

“God, why are you so cute! Okay, I just have to talk to my parents and Renata about it. Ask the girls and see what they say. If I get the days, I’m down.” Juliana said not putting up a fight because she really wanted to go, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity she felt she couldn’t turn down.

The rest of the evening the couple relaxed and took turns playing music. They eventually agreed on bachata and danced the night away.

“Feliz cumpleaños, Juls.” Valentina said as the clock read 11:15pm, indicating Juliana’s birth time. They closed the distance and began slow dancing, ignoring the fast beat of the song that was playing. “I’m grateful to have you in my life and I love you. From you head to your tiny toes.”

The following weeks were filled with trip preparations. Juliana had talked to her boss, who gladly agreed to give her the week. Andrea, had no problem covering her shifts. Juliana spoke to her parents, telling them she wouldn’t be in town for thanksgiving but they were more excited for their daughter having one of her biggest and oldest dreams come true than they were sad. They knew this was her dream trip and they wouldn’t be the ones to stop her by making her feel bad about missing a holiday.

When the day finally arrived, they hopped on the jet with the rest of the girls and two body guards Leon always required to be on the plane when Valentina traveled out of town. Penelope had never been to Italy so she too was very excited to take this trip. Her moms didn’t want to let her go at first but Josie convinced them saying she’d take full responsibility of their daughter and making sure she kept them updated throughout the trip. She promised them to the cheesiest of pictures, something Penelope wasn’t too happy about.

“Lizzie, you dad said to send your mom the itinerary and your location.” Hope said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Why did he tell you and not us?” Josie asked curiously.

Hope simply shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know but Ric just told me to give Lizzie his message so I did. I guess they wanna keep an eye on us.”

“I guess my parents went much easier on me than yours. Who knew Dr. Saltzman would be more paranoid than my moms.” Penelope said grabbing Josie’s hand as they settled into their seats.

Juliana saw the interaction of the other two couples and she smiled before adding, “And here I grew up thinking my parents were intense.”

The twins turned and said simultaneously, “Your parents trust Val though, they know you’re safe with her.”

Hope and Penelope gasped. After the gasp Hope was the one to speak up, “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Our parents trust you, but they clearly don’t trust us.” Lizzie said pointing at herself and Josie.

The girls continued to bicker for a few more minutes. Once the pilot prepared them for take off the girls began eating snacks they packed and decided to take a nap to not get hit with jet lag too hard. Something that wasn’t too easy for Juliana the first few hours but eventually she too fell asleep, letting her head rest on top of Valentina’s who had been fast asleep an hour into the flight. 

Upon arrival in Florence they were picked up by a driver and taken to Hope and Valentina’s apartment. The entire 20 minute ride Juliana eyes were stuck out the window, taking everything in. She gave Valentina’s hand a squeeze as the car came to stop. Once in the apartment they all took turns showering and getting ready for the day. They arrived in the morning so they had the entire day ahead to do whatever Juliana wanted.

“This is your birthday trip after all, Juliana. You decide what we do, especially today since it’s day one.” Penelope said as she laid on Josie’s lap while the other four girls sat across from them on another couch.

“Well first of all, we can’t come to Italy and not have spaghetti or pizza so those are a must this week. I want to visit Il Duomo for sure, then Ponte Vecchio which I noticed is just around the corner, then we have to visit the real Statue of David and other Michelangelo work, and last but not least take a tour of the town.” Juliana said as she played with Valentina’s hair who was cuddled into her.

Hope turned to Juliana with a confused look on her face, “Wait that’s it? You just wanna go to church? Why is this city your dream city again? There’s so much more to see.”

“It’s not the just the church, Hope. I want to explore and submerge myself into the culture, enjoy the city to the fullest. This is gonna sound dumb but when I was 10 I heard the song That’s Amore by Dean Martin and that song got me really interested in Italy so I began doing my research and one of the cities I fell in love with was this one. There’s no specific reason, it’s just the one I wanted to see the most out of any in the world. A close second is Rome but Firenze has been in my heart for 9 years.” Juliana said trying to not sound defensive.

Hearing those words Valentina sat up straight saying, “Wait really?” As she turned to look at Juliana. “I didn’t know that was what made you fall in love with Italy!” She said with a huge smile on her face.

“There’s only one thing left to do then!” Josie said as she took her phone out, “Let’s play your song!”

The girls sang along to That’s Amore waiting for Juliana to join in. After the second “tippy-tippy-tay” they all stayed silent looking to Juliana with expectant eyes.

“Fine fine fine!” Juliana said throwing her hands up in the air getting up from the couch pulling Valentina up with her. They began to dance as Juliana sang dramatically, “When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet, you’re in love.”

The rest of the girls joined in on the dramatic dancing and singing. When they reached the second “gay tarantella” Penelope stopped and made finger guns at Josie as she sang, “lucky fella!” Causing the entire group to burst into fits of laughter.

Once the song came to a close the girls decided to go find a pizza place. On the way to the pizzeria the girls walked across Ponte Vecchio and Valentina made sure to take pictures of Juliana, this was a trip she refused to let Juliana forget.

“I can’t believe I just crossed that bridge. I still can’t believe I’m here, Val. This is insane.” Juliana said loud enough so that only Valentina could hear.

“You’re adorable you know that? Let’s go get you your pizza, mi niña bonita.” Valentina said as she wrapped her arm around Juliana’s shoulders.

They each ordered a personal pizza. Penelope and Juliana were confused when the server brought the silverware to the table along with their pizzas.

“What are the forks and knives for?” Penelope whispered to the group as she observed the other tables.

“I think they’re optional… that table over there is eating the pizza in pieces with the utensils while that other table is just going ham on that pizza like we do back in the states.” Juliana said  still not sure.

“Well, at this particular pizzeria you can do either or. They already precut them so the client can choose but there are some other pizza shops that require utensils. When we were kids, Vale went to eat a slice like we do back home and her mother nodded disapprovingly and explained that the pizza was whole because here we needed to cut it up and eat it like a piece of cake and we wouldn’t eat cake with our hands.” Hope said matterafactly.

Penelope looked from her pizza to Hope and back to her pizza, “Okay… I guess we’re cutting it then.” She said shrugging her shoulders and began to dig in.

After they each finished their pizza the majority of the girls sat back in their chairs, completely full.

“Who’s up for some gelato?” Lizzie asked.

“You have room for more?!” Juliana asked dumbfounded.

Lizzie let out a laugh, “it’s Italy, Juliana! There’s authentic gelato!”

Valentina nodded her head in agreement. She was too full to speak though.

“Let’s go for a walk and then we can think about it, okay Lizzie?” Josie said getting up from the table.

As the girls walked around the city, they walked towards Piazzale Degli Uffizi wanting to see the art and the view of the Ponte Vecchio. After each getting pictures of the bridge they walked towards the big building with the clock tower. There they stood admiring the different statues and Juliana admired the replica Statue of David that just stood outside of the Palazzo Vecchio.

They continued to walk around the area until they reach a glove store. Lizzie was the first to enter, as the other girls followed. Juliana had promised her mom she’d bring her back some leather gloves so she decided to get some for her mom and after feeling them she decided to grab a pair for herself. She had never felt anything as smooth and beautiful as those gloves and she couldn’t believe they were as affordable as they were. After paying she mentally checked off her mom’s gift from her gift list.

Once they finished shopping at the glove store they headed towards a vender a few streets down. He sold scarves and leather trinkets.

“Do you think Ric would like this?” Hope said as she held up a red leather bracelet.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Why do you keep calling my dad Ric? Why can’t you be like Penelope and call him Dr. Saltzman?”

“Maybe because I grew up with him as a second father figure and I’ve been calling him that since I was 10? Why don’t you like that I get along with your dad? Every significant other would love for their parents to approve of their partner but you hate it.” Hope said putting the bracelet back.

“She’s just jealous of your relationship with my dad. That’s why she didn’t like you when we were kids.” Josie said shrugging her shoulders knowing Hope already knew that.

“Liz, Alaric will never be my dad, I have one. We have to work passed this. You know it wasn’t my decision to move in with you guys. I wanted nothing more than to move in with Val but at the time it wasn’t an option and your parents opened their doors.” Hope said getting irritated that Lizzie was still bringing this up.

“I don’t want to do this right now, can we just enjoy our trip.” Lizzie said looking away at something on the cart.

Meanwhile Juliana felt awkward hearing their discussion. She felt like she was intruding by simply being there. 

Sensing Juliana get a bit tense Valentina leaned in to whisper, “Don’t worry about them, it’s fine. That’s always the thing that causes trouble for those two. Lizzie doesn’t really like knowing that her dad and Hope are close because it brings up bad memories for her. He focused on Hope a lot as a kid and Lizzie has always resented that. There was misunderstanding with the twins and Hope was suddenly the focus of Lizzie’s rage because it was easier to hate Hope than it was to hate Josie.” Valentina explained, loud enough for only Juliana to hear, as they looked through the scarves.

Picking out a light pink one and trying it on, Juliana nodded in understanding. “The dad thing makes sense then. But then how did those two fall for each other then?” Juliana asked Valentina quietly.

“I’ll never understand how that happened to be honest. As they say, between love and hate is a very thin line and those two draw their own lines on the daily.” Valentina said with a chuckle.

Penelope kissed Josie on the cheek before speaking up, “Okay you can discuss your daddy issues later girls, we have a church to get to!”

Lizzie threw daggers with her eyes at Penelope but didn’t respond.

“Why do you wanna go to church Juliana! I don’t get it!” Hope said as she paid for the red bracelet ignoring Lizzie’s eye roll.

Juliana laughed before answering. “I’ll pull a Hozier and start singing Take Me To Church, if I need to.” Juliana said smiling. “I just need to see it okay, we don’t even have to go in if you guys don’t want to I just want to see it up close.”

“Let the girl dream, sheesh!” Penelope said wrapping her arm around Josie’s shoulder.

Valentina interlocked her fingers with Juliana’s as they made their way to the church. “Why do you wanna see it so bad, baby? It’s just a church, I know you’re catholic but this isn’t event the Vatican.” She said without looking at Juliana.

Juliana brought Valentina to a complete stop and blinked multiple times before speaking, “Valentina, that’s the thing, it’s not just a church. It’s a cathedral! Do you know how long these take to build? This one took 140 years. Years, Valentina. Not months, years!” She said as she spoke animatedly with her hands. “When I was little I decided I was gonna get married here, obviously things have changed and that’s not possible but I’ve studied this church for so long. I know so many useless facts about it, I’m in its city, I need to see it. Okay? Just let me have this moment please. I know the girls don’t care but I do and this is my favorite church in the entire world Val.” She said disappointed that Valentina didn’t get it.

“Okay.” Valentina said softly while nodding her head.

They walked another block before the church came into full view. Penelope held her breathe. She’d been quiet the entire way because coming from a middle class family she understood this being a dream come true for Juliana but she had no idea how beautiful this church could be.

“Oh my god… that’s 400,000 tons of beauty. I… I…” Juliana said just above a whisper as she took it all in with a deep sigh.

They stayed there observing the cathedral for a while before Valentina noticed a rogue tear streaming down Juliana’s face. She didn’t say anything she simply brought her into a side hug and kissed the top of her head. This only caused Juliana break into tears.

At the sight of that Valentina handed Hope her camera in order to have both hands free and brought Juliana in for a tight embrace. “It’s okay, baby, shh, you’re okay.” Valentina whispered continuously as she rubbed Juliana’s back in a comforting circular motion.

“I never actually believed I’d ever get to see it in person. Thank you for this Val, you don’t know what this means to me but it’s definitely a dream come true.” Juliana said after crying for a few minutes with her face buried into Valentina’s chest. “This is magical and it’s something I’ll never forget.” She said, still in a soft low voice.

“Let’s go inside, yeah?” Valentina said drying Juliana’s tears.

“We don’t have to, it’s fine.” Juliana said as her body shook from the aftermath of all of those emotions pouring out.

“We’re already here might as well enjoy the complete experience.” Lizzie said rolling her eyes playfully. “Plus you can tell us all about your random church facts.” She said adding a wink.

“Okay well then before we enter, if you turn around and you see those bronze doors over there?” Juliana said pointing that two beautifully crafted doors, “those are considered the ‘The Gate to Paradise’ and Michelangelo was actually the one who dubbed them that. They were created in a contest by a 23 year old in 1401”

Valentina smiled at the fact that Juliana just spouted out. She felt that with Juliana they most likely didn’t need a tour guide because she would know and be able to tell them anything there was to know about the city but nonetheless if she wanted a tour, who was Valentina to keep her from getting one.

Once inside the cathedral Juliana did the sign of the cross and the girls told her to explore around a bit and take it all in but she insisted they go together. Every now and then they’d stop to see something and Juliana would tell them facts here and there about different pieces of the church. They spent around 2 hours in the cathedral before finally heading out. 

Lizzie insisted it was time for gelato. Hope walked them to her favorite gelato place in the city where she introduced the group to the owner in a perfect Italian accent. As a child Hope and her parents spent many vacations in Florence. It was her father’s favorite city. The Mikaelson’s own a beautiful family home in Asisi but Hope and her father loved Florence. When her parents passed she was the only heir so once she turned 18 she and Valentina went half and half on an apartment in the city.

“So for your first time being in Italy how are you liking it so far, Pen?” Juliana asked Penelope as they waited for their girlfriends to join them at their table.

Penelope turned to look at Juliana and simply smiled. “You know, I never expected I’d get to travel like this.” She paused. “I think you and I have been dealt the same cards. We met these beautiful girls and fell in love and we didn’t care that they have money, we just cared that their hearts were kind and were offered to us on a silver platter. All of this,” she gestured with her free hand, “wasn’t in my plans. I could never truly afford trip like this right now. You and I, we get each other because we come from similar economic backgrounds. They don’t really get it when it comes to us being amazed of a city like this, they’re used to this lifestyle, they’re used to traveling. I don’t even know how many countries Josie’s been to, if I’m honest. So I feel just as overwhelmed as you to see such wonders like the Duomo because never in a million years did I think I’d step foot in this beautiful country.” Penelope finished just at the rest of the group began to approach them.

“What are you two chatting about?” Valentina asked wrapping her arms around Juliana and giving her a kiss on the left cheek before resting her chin on the girl’s shoulder.

Penelope shrugged and Juliana took that as her cue to keep their conversation between them. “We were talking about how beautiful the cathedral was and how we were so amazed with all the beautiful details.”

“Yeah it truly was something special. I never knew all those facts. I’m really intrigued to know what other fun facts you know about this city.” Valentina said as she grabbed a seat across from Juliana.

“I still can’t believe they hired a guy with no experience and a secret plan to build the dome and it actually worked. That was ballsy of him.” Josie said as she sat down across from Penelope.

As Hope and Lizzie joined them they all discussed the little tidbits of the cathedral and Juliana was happy they ended up liking it after all.

The rest of the week was enjoyed exploring the city and eating as much pasta, pizza, and gelato as they could. The night before their departure they found a club and decided to enter and dance the night away as their final act of celebration.

Lizzie got each of the girls a shot to kick off the night. Juliana declined so Penelope took it for her.

“Damn, P. I don’t know how you can drink that. I can smell how strong that is from here.” Juliana said cringing in her seat.

Josie placed her hand on Penelope’s thigh, “we have a drinking game called Shot Jenga and Penny here sucks at it so she’s used to it.”

Raising an eyebrow and cracking a smirk Juliana took a sip from her lemonade.

“Care to dance?” Hope said offering a hand to Juliana, while Lizzie offered Penelope a hand leaving Josie and Valentina with no choice but themselves.

Juliana turned to Valentina almost asking for permission to which Valentina simply nodded. “Okay.” She said as she accepted.

As all the girls reached the dance floor the song California Girls came on causing them all to burst into laughter and taking it as a sign that it’d be a good night. After the first song they each went back to dancing with their own partners. Valentina wrapped her arms around Juliana’s neck while the other girl wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s waist.

“Thank you for this week. It’s been the most beautiful and memorable week of my entire life.” Juliana said as the girls leaned their heads against each other.

“There’s no need to thank me, hermosa. I’m glad I was able to witness this week. I’d been here far too many times to count but I’d never seen it in the way you showed it to us. I think even the tour guide was amazed with your knowledge.” Valentina said with a slight giggle.

Bringing her in for a tender kiss, Juliana closed her eyes smiling into the kiss. Juliana knew in that moment she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the girl she held tightly.

[purpleheatherdream]

Fics Inspired By, Based On, or Crossed-over with Movies

[For @thelallybrochlibrary Scavenger Hunt: Collate and post a list of Outlander fan fiction based on a chosen event, theme, category or specific AU.]

[updated April 21st, 2019]

Strangers Like Me by @theministerskat

Claire Beauchamp tries to capture that final detail of the man who has swung into her life. (Tarzan)

The Ridge by @abbydebeaupreposts and @whiskynottea

Claire wasn’t looking for a hero but there he stood, resplendent in his cape and mask. “I’m Batman,” he said in a soft Scottish burr. “I’m Dr. Beauchamp,” she told him, “I’d like to help you for a change.”

The Time Traveler's Family by @abbydebeaupreposts​

Strange the things you remember, the people, the places, the moments in time burned into the heart forever. Jamie Fraser has lived a life different from other men, for most men don’t have wives and children with temporal displacement disorder.  (The Time Traveler’s Wife 2009) 

Til Death Do Us Part by @sassenachwriter

Jamie and Claire spend time in Lallybroch after surprising everyone-including themselves- with their engagement. The Proposal inspired. (The Proposal 2009)

To All The Boys I Loved Before by emm273

Claire Beauchamp has her own way of dealing with love. She writes love letters, pouring her heart out, saying the words she can't say out loud. She never sends them though. She keeps them tucked away, only keeping them to remind her of the way she felt at the time. Well, until her secret letters ended up in the hands of her former crushes: Jamie, Frank, John, and Joe. A modern Outlander/To All the Boys I've Loved Before AU (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before 2018)

SIRUN ‘AJNABIUN// THE FOREIGNER’S SECRET by kkruml  @kkruml

1920s- Claire and Uncle Lamb are on an archeological dig in Egypt alongside a competing camp- led by a mysterious red-headed Scot- in hopes of uncovering a long hidden secret treasure. Originally posted on Tumblr as a response to a prompt: ‘What’s a lass like you doing out here on a night like this?’ (The Mummy 1999)

Outlander / Sound of Music AU by AnOutlandishFanfic @anoutlandishfanfic

The plot of Sound of Music with Claire as Maria and Jamie as the Captain von Trapp... and a few more outlandish changes woven in. (The Sound of Music 1965)

His Name is Home by KalendraAshtar  @kalendraashtar

Ficlet inspired by the movie “If I Stay” and Claire’s illness during ABOSAA. (If I Stay 2014)

The Road To The Heart by @julesbeauchamp

When photographer Claire Beauchamp get lost on the road in the Scottish Highlands and drives down a road to a recluse farm to ask her way, her life is changed forever. (The Bridges of Madison County 1995)

City Of Angels by  @julesbeauchamp

Pretty Woman Au, where Claire is a hooker in Los Angeles and is hired by businessman Jamie Fraser for the week. (Pretty Woman 1990)

Eilean Mo Chridhe by thewhitelady (Sileas)  @thewhitelady

Love in a time of war. Two loners find each other in the most unlikely places in 1916 Belgium while war rages around them. (Written for @akb723 for Tumblr's Outlander Secret Santa 2017) (A Farewell to Arms 1957 and Journey’s End 2017)

Friendship of Stone by trashofalltrades @trash0falltrades

While stationed at a French hospital in WWII, Claire runs into Captain America who in turn introduces her to Peggy Carter. A lasting friendship ensues that spans not only decades, but centuries. (Captain America 2011)

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by LadyVioletHummingbird @ladyviolethummingbird

Jamie Fraser is a successful news anchor in London and is none-too-pleased at being sent on assignment to his home town in Scotland. Having not been back in over a decade Jamie can’t wait to leave, a plan delayed when he is forced to relive the same day over and over and over...(An Outlander/Groundhog Day inspired work) (Groundhog Day 1993)

The Parent Trap AU by @sassenachwaffles @kkruml  @missclairebelle

Part 1    

Part 2    

Part 3

 Barks and Glances (101 Dalmatians) by  @whiskeynottea  @kkruml @sassenachwaffles of the @outlanderfandomproject

Part 1     

Part 2     

Part 3   

Part 4   

Part 5

Once Upon a Time | Cinderella AU by MClairefras  @curlsgetdemgurls

Once Upon a Time there was a beautiful girl named Claire Beauchamp, she was strong, independent and kind. She lives in the Kingdom of Lallybroch, ruled by King Brian Fraser, his son James Fraser is a young, sharp and handsome lad, unsure of his responsibilities. Claire's world shifts when her Uncle Lamb announces he is to be married. This is a tale of family, strength, kindness.... and love.

The Choice by  @bonniebird17

This story is inspired of the book and movie The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, combined with Gotham’s workshop week 19 prompt; not yet. (The Choice 2016)

Simply Irresistable (Dirty Dancing/Outlander AU) by LadyVioletHummingbird  @ladyviolethummingbird

It was the summer of 1987. I was 19 and 6’4” but still called ‘wee Jamie’ by my family and it didn’t occur to me to mind. It was before the internet and before the death of Princess Di. When I couldna wait to get to university in France and I never thought I’d find a lass as kind as my mam. That was the summer we went to Dunsany’s. (Dirty Dancing 1987)

The Holiday by MClairefras  @curlsgetdemgurls

It’s Christmas and Claire doesn’t want to sit and wallow in self-pity. Going online she finds a travel company that looks intriguing. It’s called Home-Exchange. The idea is that you find a place you want to go and then swap houses with someone, you stay in their home and they stay in yours. Fed up with the way her life has turned out, Claire decides on a quaint house in Inverness, one belonging to a Jenny Fraser. Based on the movie, “The Holiday” (2006), this follows the lives of Claire Beauchamp and Jenny Fraser as they swap homes for the Christmas season.

Our Last Summer by @julesbeauchamp

Outlander meets Mamma Mia! Julia Beauchamp is about to get married and wants the father she never met to attend the ceremony. After finding her mother's diary, she invited the three possible men...and they all showed up. (Mamma Mia 2008)

Part 1     

Part 2

Call Me By Your Name by MClairefras @curlsgetdemgurls

During the summer of 1983, somewhere in Northern Italy, the Grey family hosts a student named Jamie Fraser for six weeks. In this time, John Grey falls in love with the well read Scot, but can they be together or will other forces tear them apart? Based on the movie "Call Me By Your Name" (2017)

The Sassenach Bride by @sassenachwaffles

A Princess Bride AU, Outlander style. (The Princess Bride 1987)

ON A SHIP HARBORED AT THE DOCKS IN TORTUGA by @bonnie-wee-swordsman

A one-shot crossover. Because COME ON, you know Claire Fraser+Jack Sparrow is a hateful, non-sexual match made in snark heaven. (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Trick of the Eye by Nokomis

Young Ian sees something frightful. (Pirates of the Caribbean)

You Are The Music In Me by @thetranquilteal and @jewelsbrooke

Whilst on vacation, 17-year-old Claire Beauchamp finds herself singing karaoke onstage with none other than North High School’s all-star athlete Jamie Fraser. After a night filled with fun and laughter, the two make plans to meet at their shared school when the holidays are over. But life has a way of changing things when you least expect it. Due to circumstances beyond her control, Claire never returns to North High School, or to Scotland. Until now. Inspired by the Disney Channel movie High School Musical (2006).

Dirt in the Skirts by @notameeksassenach

What happens when Claire Beauchamp-Randall joins the All American Girls' Professional Baseball League. An A League of Their Own (1992) / Outlander Crossover. 

Titanic AU by MagnoliasInBloom @magnoliasinbloom

One-shot. (Titanic 1997)

(Some additions to this post come from @thelallybrochlibrary ‘s post of Crossover Themes.)

Feel free to add any other Outlander fics that are based on or related to movies!

[mx-bebe31-blog]

Soulmate!Wonho

Soulmate!Wonho

Warnings? None

Wonho can see many strings of fate, but can’t change them in any way. Though the one he is most worried about, is the tell tale one of the cherry red string that stems from his left ring finger

Wonho was known as a sweetheart

The guy who seemed like the whole package in high school

Popular, athletic, handsome, nice - the list could go on

From the elementary kids he volunteered for

To the Principal and Dean of the school

Wonho was well loved by everybody in between

But somehow, he still felt lonely, and a little heavy hearted throughout his high school years

He knew he had a soulmate

He could see the strings all around him, like a beautiful painting in motion

And around his delicate left ring finger was a faithful red string that told him his soulmate was just as eager and happy to find him

But still, the only thing he could do was tug and pull at it, wondering if he should just get it over with and follow the string until the end

His string seemed to be a lot longer than others, which made his heart sink in the slightest

Around his other fingers were different colored strings, and he contemplated on them every day as well

Pink strings sprouted from his right thumb in the hallways, connecting him with girls he didn’t know - pink strings were little crushes people had on him.

Yellow strings thronged from his index fingers, basically pointing him towards all of his many friends throughout life

Blue strings were familial ties. Strings that would cover the room in a sea of blue at family reunions and holidays

Orange strings were for the  closest and bestest of friends Wonho could ever ask for. He currently only had one, and he was glad it was Hyunwoo at this point

He saw a couple of foul green strings in his life on the fingers of passing strangers. He’s never had one appear on his hands yet, but he’s sure it’s only a matter of time before he had to make an enemy

And black strings would forever remind him that his beautiful red string could turn that exact horrible shade at any time

If his soulmate died before he could even meet them,,, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself

He just couldn’t imagine it. He didn’t think there was a more horrible fate

Even worse when he could see the strings that no one else could see

Other people could go about life blissfully without knowing, without ever finding out that their soulmate had passed. Sure, they would never find them, but never finding them in this big world is better than knowing they’re six feet under

Unbeknownst to him, you could see the strings as well

You figured it must have something to do with your soulmate, or the fates of other soulmates

Maybe you were born just to help others find each other. Or notify people that the friends they had would stay forever or turn against them within time

You liked the ability, though. You liked being able to see the strings

It’s not like you could ever do anything to them. You couldn’t touch any others but your own, and even if you tried, you couldn’t rip them, cut them, or make them vanish

You were always an observer, and this was the perfect kind of thing to observe throughout your life

You were giddy as your friend found her soulmate in fourth grade, but didn’t realize it until senior year of high school

You glared at the girl who had taken your boyfriend from you sophomore year, a putrid, sick green line you couldn’t stand to look at connecting you two

Your first black line that was on an old woman’s shaking finger at your job

It gave you insight on life, and you were only grateful that you still had great colors on your fingers

Blues, an orange one, and a red one. You found the single pink one cute as you sat in biology class, trying not to stare at the boy trying to hide his eyes in his textbook while sitting next to you

You liked to stretch your red string and tease the person on the other side a bit, wondering if they could feel how you got impatient, wanting to just drag them over by you in that moment

But you let life do it’s thing. As long as it was nice to you, of course

It’s when Wonho is 25 and he grows too impatient

He’s graduated college as a vet tech, and he’s sure you have graduated, too, unless his soulmate is going for an impressive PhD or medical school

He’s pouting, having seen strings fade and disappear in the past few recent years

He doesn’t want to lose his soulmate, too

Not counting his blue family strings, he only has one orange one, two yellow ones, and one red one

And he’s sick of just waiting around in the same places he usually is at, waiting for you to just magically show up

Wonho realizes that he needs to travel. He needs to take a break and explore as many places as his heart yearns for

He goes to the first place his heart thinks of

You are going to Italy for two weeks on summer break

You know that you shouldn’t be on vacation at all - you should be working to save up money for rent and groceries and school

But currently you are feeling the sensation called wanderlust

And you wonder if it meant something. So you took a deep breath and thought about where you would like to go most

You thought of Japan, Spain, and even Iceland before you thought of Italy

But for some reason, you are drawn to the flights going to Florence

So you end up jet lagged, waiting for your suitcase to come into your arms down the painfully slow and crowded conveyor belt

You knew that the cutesy suitcase was a good choice. You could spot it a mile away in the sea of black’s, navy’s, and maroon’s

You sigh as you reach out your hand to drag your first suitcase off the belt. You have one more coming and a carry on that is over your shoulder

On the other end of the conveyor belt is Wonho, who had been waiting forever for his last suitcase. He had missed it last time and had to wait for the whole round of suitcases before he could have another chance to nab it

But as his red string strangely flickers and pulls he can’t help but wonder if it was fate’s doing

He looks up, following the red string to see if he could see it shoot out of the airport building

But instead of passing through a wall or ceiling,,,

He finds you

The one

Wonho is frozen in his spot as his whole abdomen tightens

His heart is stuck in his throat, making it constrict as his brain spins

He feels like it’s a dream. For his whole life he’s seen the string float across the horizon and stretch through his school building

He always knew it would happen one day

But now that it happened, he can’t believe that soulmates are actually real

Even if he couldn’t see the string, he knew it would be you. You just looked,,, stunning, even in your jet lagged, tired appearance

He desperately wants to sprint to you, but he knows that it will happen naturally either way

Both of you will feel an unmistakable spark and feel a knot wrap around your ring fingers, squeezing the veins with comfort and security

He’s holding his breath as he tries to continue on a ‘normal’ routine. He grabs his suitcase and tries not to rush his steps as he goes to leave the terminal

But Wonho is afraid. There’s a slight fear that this isn’t the moment you two will meet and brush hands

What if this is a passing, fleeting moment? A moment where you two are in the same place, but it isn’t time for you to meet yet? Those stories of soulmates being in the same picture as kids, but not meeting for ten years later?

Wonho can’t wait ten years. I mean,,, for you, he would, but…

His heart jumps and so does he as he sees you fall when someone bumps past you rather rudely

The person keeps going, rushing off without a care as Wonho leaps into action

He forgets about the string for a moment - he just wants to help you up and see if you’re okay

He has to catch you before you fall again at the sudden electric spark that courses through your entire body

Your eyes are wide as you look at the stranger who offered to help you up

You don’t know what that feeling was, but you’re sure of it… When you both stand, hands still loosely woven together, you feel a small, yet reassuring, pressure on your left ring finger

This is your soulmate.

You are both looking at your hands. Due to Wonho’s shocked state, you gently tighten your grip on his hand, admiring his beautiful skin tone

“You..You’re...m-my soulmate?” Wonho feels like he has cotton mouth, yet he smiles

You nod, in disbelief as well, and you finally both get a good look at each other

“I’m Wonho. I came here on a whim, and...I guess this is where fate brought me.”

His smile is contagious, and you find yourself suddenly aware of how you must look. Sleep ridden hair and makeup, jogging pants and a loose t-shirt with a set of sky blue suitcases with yellow moons on them

“H-Hi, sorry, I...I’m (Y/n).” You admit with a radiant smile. You can’t help it, this is what it feels like to meet someone so special. Someone you’ve been waiting you’re whole life for.

“Pretty.” He breathes the compliment and he strengthens his hold on your hand before he points to the small food place inside the airport. “Want to talk for awhile before we go? I’d love to end up exploring Italy with you. What a great first memory together.”

You laugh, completely breathless yourself as you just stare at him in wonder. If this works out you’ll be together for a very long time. Maybe even forever.

“Yeah..What an amazing way to meet each other. In Florence…”

Wonho is already leading you towards the little shop as he rubs his thumb over your hand

It fits perfectly with yours, and you are so glad that you will get to spend two weeks with him before you part ways with only phone numbers

But you know you have all the time in the world to meet again

And again

For as long as the red string connects you two

_______________

Hope you enjoyed!! Gosh, I can’t believe it’s only a few more days until I move out into my first apartment. I will have five whole days off before I start my job up there! All the more time for a bundle of random updates!

Requests are open (and usually get me more motivated in the process), so feel free to drop one in! Tysm I hope everyone is doing lovely this week!

<3

-S

[smolfangirl]

Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

A sound so sweet of you and me - 14 - First goodbye

Word count: 2.2k

Since Tumblr mobile is messing around since the update, I tried to fix this but as long as support doesn’t help, I decided to not give a duck and post this anyway. I’m sorry to clog your dashboards, but welp, I tried to avoid it. And I’m really sorry for the new, non-matching structure of the chapter...

///

“How many minutes until we definitely have to get up?”

Her hand rested on his chest, drew traces and lines that formed letters confessing her love. Matteo reached out for his phone, half smirking at the groan Luna produced as he shifted.

“One hour won’t hurt.”

“That’s a lot of time…” Her voice trailed off. The sun already sneaked through his curtains, it hit her eyes and painted them into an emerald sea.

“You say that like you already have an idea on how to spend it”, he echoed, smiling at the kiss she planted to his cheek. Luna chuckled, even more at his surprised moan when she lifted herself up to settle down on his lap. “I might.”

One kiss. A second. Third.

“A very good idea”, he said after she broke away for a moment. Nodding, her fingers followed the trails of his cheekbones down to his collarbones. “I think I’ll give you a small gift before you go.”

Matteo frowned, not sure what she meant – she’d already given him a little photo album of their time together on the goodbye party two days ago.

It’d been a surprise for him, and his first goodbye party at that, which provoked tears all too easily. Luna sniffed too at some point into the evening, while Gastón outright looked like he attended a funeral. Matteo enjoyed the party though. It warmed his heart to know he’d be missed. And after midnight, they sneaked away from their friends to watch the night sky and kiss the last breaths out of their lungs. He had tried not to cry, not to think of where he’d be in barely three days and where he wanted to stay.

He almost had succeeded.

Now, he still wondered what Luna could get him. “What do you have in… oh.”

He closed his eyes.

///

One hour and a quick shower later, Matteo stared at the purple masterpiece spreading on his neck. “You really gave your all, huh?” he asked a smug Luna entering the bathroom.

“Of course. Only the best for my astronaut.” Wrapping her arms around his waist, she watched him doing his hair. “Hey, can I have that t-shirt you wore before we went to bed yesterday?”

“What if I need it in Italy?”

“You said it’s winter there, you won’t need t-shirts.”

He shook his head, simultaneously checking the mirror to see if his hair stayed in place. “But you do?” She loosened her grip while he grabbed the remaining toiletries and threw them into his opened suitcase. “Can you give me that towel?”

With a pout, she handed it over. “Of course I need t-shirts. Especially the ones that smell like my boyfriend and are way too big.” He trailed behind her as she walked back into his bedroom, hips swinging and reminding him she only wore one of his shirts and underwear, and he really, really wanted to dread going to the airport.

But they were out of time, although they pretended the opposite with their banter.

“And why don’t you just buy them?”

“Oh, right, okay, I will get them right when I go shopping for a new boyfriend”, she said, laughing. If he listened closely, it sounded different, not half as joyful as usual.

A knot appeared in his throat, or what felt like a stone wearing his voice down. This sorrow clouding her mind wore a name, his name when he had claimed to never cause her any harm.

Matteo cleared his throat.

It wasn’t his fault, he told himself, it was a matter out of his hands. So, instead of apologizing, he pulled her close to let her get a taste of where he’d go to keep her by his side. “On second thought, you can have the shirt.”

“Awesome.” Her voice sounded like she almost meant it.

///

His legs got heavier with every step further down the stairs. Every step could be a last one, and the echo from Luna’s feet told him she said goodbye too. Just in case.

With a few hours left till take-off, his parents still kept them in the dark about a possible return to Buenos Aires. Whether it’d be the worst case or only a few weeks of vacations, Matteo had grown eager to know. Saying his farewells to his friends – and Luna especially – without knowing how long it’d take him to come back damn near killed him.

Not that his parents seemed to care.

When Matteo and Luna walked into the living room, his suitcase neatly stored in the hallway, the swing their mood completed could have won an Olympic gold medal.

Everything about his parents screamed stress. His mom hurried through the house, packing their last belongings and throwing angry glares at whoever stood in her way. Meanwhile, his dad began one phone call after another, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in Italian. Once an angry mix of both.

A silent sigh on his lips, Matteo waved Luna over to the couch. From his experience, there was nothing left for him to be done, so they might as well get the most out of the mere two hours remaining on the clock.

Luna curled up next to him. Buried her head in his shoulders, hand stroking his stomach. With closed eyes, he saved the sensation in his heart. Who knew how long it had to last him…

“Are you coming to the airport too?” His dad threw them an impatient look, finger tapping on the back of his phone. As he spotted Matteo’s hickey, his eyebrows raised too.

“Yes, I’d love to bring”, Luna began but he cut her off. “Okay.”

Then he yelled at another poor person at the end of the line.

Matteo slightly shrugged at his little moon before he gently kissed her forehead. She smiled. Soon his parents faded into a minor detail in his perception, meaningless over the sweet encouragements and love confessions she whispered into his ear. He replied with more kisses. Her hands, neck, face… wherever he could reach her. Not one part of her body should be left without knowing how much he adored her.

“Matteo! Stop being glued to her for one second and help me!” his mom shouted out of the kitchen. Before he got up, Luna threw him an apologetic look. Matteo shrugged once more. To be honest, just her presence eased this loaded atmosphere his parents radiated.

///

As soon as they sat in the car, a sickness moved into his stomach pit, one that couldn’t be fought with one of his mom’s pills. Not with being close to Luna either.

She chose the middle seat, so she was closer to him, and their hands intertwined the very second they put the seatbelts on. Yet it didn’t feel like enough, he craved to be buried by everything her one last time, like a junkie searching for one last hit before going into rehab.

But Matteo knew he had to be satisfied with what he had now, despite the desperation in his heart that ran as deep as the ocean.

Every attempt to not think about leaving her only caused him to think about it more. Before he met her, his grudge about moving steamed from a general frustration. Over having no say in his life, over having to adapt to yet another city, another language, another life without any other options.

Now it was so much more pain than just being fed up with changes.

Now he wished he could chain himself to his little moon, so his parents had no choice but to leave him with her.

Instead, Matteo had no choice but to leave her.

///

“Come back, okay?”

Two meters till they hit the queue for the security check. Luna clung to his side like she counted as a handbag if she just pressed herself close enough to him. Matteo knew he needed to let her go, his dad already warned him with his gaze.

Yet he lacked the strength to.

“There isn’t a world where I wouldn’t”, he promised. Stealing a kiss from her mouth, he couldn’t stop dreading the inevitable. “I love you. We’ll make this work.”

She stood on her toes, reached for his lips, a bittersweet peck, before she tousled through his curls. The smirk she attempted nearly worked out. “I love you more.”

“Doubt it”, he countered while he repaid her the messy hair favor.

His mom cleared her throat, an impatient click of the tongue ensued. Luna glimpsed at his parents. Looked back at him. The shimmering teardrops in her eyes stole his breath, crushed his heart.

“Don’t make me fight you”, she mumbled, a weak try of a smile on her lips. Sadness leaked into her tone in the same pace it spread all through Matteo’s chest.

“You wouldn’t. Not today.”

“Matteo”, his dad snapped. But he focused on Luna, his moon and stars, the fixpoint his life revolved around. One last time, he traced the soft skin on her cheek with his thumb, watched her eyes flutter shut at his touch.

“Chico fresa?”

“Yeah?”

A green sea in which he discovered himself, just to get lost again.

“I think you should go now.” The end of her sentence faded into the last breaths of air they shared.

“You’re right”, he admitted as much as he hated to. A hug, another kiss. The last one.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

///

While Matteo waited in line, Luna never left her place in the terminal, as close to him as the glass walls separating them allowed. She wiped her tears away whenever his gaze strayed from her for a moment, but in the endless stream of her grief, she drowned again before her hand even sank to her side.

When he disappeared out of her vision, a pained smile on his face, she wondered how she had grown so attached to what used to be a stranger twelve months ago. And how her heart could hurt so much without ever being broken.

///

Novia delivery: Have a safe flight! And text me when you landed

To novia delivery: Thank you, solare, you’ll be the first to hear from me

             And thanks for coming with us

Novia delivery: Always ♥ Is your dad mad at you? Bc of our goodbye?

To novia delivery: Not more than usual, don’t worry solare

Novia delivery: I miss you

To novia delivery: I miss you too

///

Gastón called ten minutes before boarding started. Matteo was standing by the windows, staring at the incoming flights and wishing he sat in one of them.

As he picked up, he hoped his voice wouldn’t reflect exactly how miserable he felt.

“Hey.”

At the sigh that followed, he must’ve sound as if he walked the edge to a mental breakdown. “You’re already at the gate?”

“Yeah.”

“Have a good flight, okay? And message me when you’re there, I wanna know you got there safely. And try to sleep on the plane or watch some movies and tell me if I should get any of them on DVD. Where do you sit? Nina said in the front is safer in case something happens. Not that I hope anything will happen, I’m counting on you to be back for the last school year, okay?”

His best friend’s ramble finally elicited a chuckle from him. When they moved to Buenos Aires, Matteo never thought he’d find a friend who worried enough to call him before take-off. Or a soulmate, and most definitely not two of them. Still, here he stood, heart swollen from all this love and bittersweet homesickness.

“Take a breath”, he told Gastón (and himself), chuckling, “will you? You’re worse than Luna.”

“Good. That is my job as your soulmate.”

“She is too, remember?”

His best friend snorted, not a surprise as this was a nerve Matteo could always hit if he wanted to get some payback for a particularly stupid pun. “Details. I am your better soulmate either way and you can bet your cute little ass I won’t let you forget that.”

Before the comeback sitting on the tip of his tongue could slip out, his mom motioned him to walk back to her. Matteo sighed. “I have to go, but don’t think this means I agree with you. Except for my cute ass.”

Something along like “Buzzkill” reached him from the other side of the phone. “Whatever. Have a nice flight, love you.”

“Love you too”, Matteo replied. Then the line went dead.

///

Underneath him, the houses shrunk to the size of Lego pieces. Cars first resembled the toy ones from his childhood before they transformed into moving pinpoints on blurred lines.

Somewhere down there, Luna walked the streets, perhaps staring at the sky, perhaps spotting this very plane, thinking of him. Somewhere down there, a piece of his heart remained, tied to the people and places he loved.

Somewhere on the other side of the ocean, there was a place his parents called home. But it wasn’t Matteo’s home no more, no matter whether he returned to Argentina for the new school year or not. Whether his parents accepted it or not.

Home was in Buenos Aires now, and with the sight of it vanishing, homesickness hit him. And he knew it would stay by his side until he came back.

[nightmareduringxmas]

Can I ask for some 80S, XS, and 8059? Xanxus and Gokudera jealous of how close Yamamoto and Squalo are getting along?

I’m sorry for the delay, but… It kind grew… Like a lot? And it wasn’t even everything you wanted (80S, Gokudera jealous of Squalo), but I couldn’t help myself:

you’re a criminal as long as you’re mine

People used to tell Hayato he worked too much.

He never really believed them, not when he had to take care of Jyuudaime’s security and agenda, take him clothes to and from the laundry, have meetings, make sure that Hibari was still alive, make sure that Lambo was still in school (he was seventeen after all) and not skipping to go on a date with Reborn (“assassination attempts” he said and Lambo was the only one who did not notice Reborn was casually leading him to parks or picnic’s or on an expensive restaurant and so Lambo shouldn’t make a scene and should just eat the food Reborn just ordered - his favorite, purely a coincidence), make sure that Reborn knew the age of consent in Italy and which foods were Lambo’s favorites, make sure that Ryohei’s apartment was clean enough to Kyoko to visit and if not clean it himself, make sure that Yamamoto wasn’t lost all the time through the city, make sure Mukuro wasn’t trying to kill all of them again, mark Jyuudaime and the others’ doctor’s appointments, their vacation times, buy their airplanes tickets, check the accountant’s financial statements just in case there is something wrong, negotiate a few things, make the groceries’ list because only he knows which thing each one of them eat… It was just normal, boring, not too much work at all.

Now, though, he thinks that maybe his sister or Shamal was right about that. Overworking is stressful and stress leads to hallucinations. Like going home to read some important documents before sleeping for two hours before he had to catch a plane to Canada and find Xanxus drunkenly sleeping on his porch as if waiting for him.

Hayato looks at his phone, but in his agenda there was nothing about drinking with the leader of the Varia or letting him go near his house. Hayato frowns. He is pretty sure he never told Xanxus his address. The only person of the Varia who knew his personal cell phone (but not his home address) was Belphegor, but that was after Fran stole it from Chrome.

Change houses, he writes on his agenda before he closes his cell phone and approaches the drunk man. Just in case.

“Xanxus?” He whispers, suddenly aware that if the man is a hallucination, he will be seen as crazy by his neighbors. “Yo, Xanxus.”

The man’s eyes fly open and Hayato tries his best not to jump or step away. He is stronger than this and though Xanxus is very powerful and volatile, he is the Jyuudaime’s right-hand man!

Still, he fears for his life when those eyes fill with rage as Xanxus gets up. He only stumbles a little, which is formidable. “Trash.” He snarls and Hayato rolls his eyes.

“What do you want, Xanxus. I’m busy.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Yes, you— what?” Hayato is surprised by this statement and does take a step back, just in case. “Oh, ok. Then you know why I can’t entertain you… I have no idea what you’re doing here.”

“Take him back.”

Hayato blinks.

“Take him back.” Xanxus says again, threatening. He fists his hand on Hayato’s perfect suit and he flinches at that. It was very expensive. “Take you fuck trash back and leave me alone.”

“You’re the one who’s pestering me! And I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You’ve been warned.”

Xanxus lets go of Hayato and he stumbles in the street. When he manages to find his feet, he sees Xanxus’s back as he angrily walked away. “What the fuck, man?” He screams.

“Shut up!” Someone answers. Not Xanxus.

“Come here and shut me, asshole!”

“I will!”

“I’m waiting!”

.

“Someone bombed your neighborhood?” Jyuudaime gasps as he reads the news on the other day, flipping the pages until he finds the whole story.

“Uh… Yeah. So I’m moving out.” He says. “I’ll send you the address today still.”

“Take your time, Gokudera.”

“Thank you.”

“Nowhere is safe anymore, huh.”

“Nope.”

.

It’s only two days later that Hayato understands what Xanxus meant. Precisely when Yamamoto updated his status to him. Near the Varia’s headquarters.

Xanxus answers his call on the first ring. “What.”

“I figure Yamamoto is my trash?” Hayato asks, sighing. He feels a headache blossoming as he takes his glasses off and puts them on his table.

“Are you taking him back?”

“Well, the idiot gets lost a lot but I’m sure he is able to leave the town without me having to get him. I can call him an Uber.”

“That. is. not. what. I. meant.” Xanxus says, pausing at every word and Hayato can hear him grind his teeth together.

“I don’t know what you’re talking them.”

“TAKE HIM BACK!” He roars and both Hayato and the bird on the window jump at that scream.

The line goes dead and Hayato sighs as he finds Yamamoto’s contact to send him a message. Where are you, I’m calling an Uber.

Why, Yamamoto writes back.

Xanxus is screaming at me to get you. I think he doesn’t like idiots who get lost all the time.

.

Squalo huffs as he reads the messages. “Vooooi, Xanxus? Why is he talking about Xanxus? He should be missing you! VOOOI!”

“I don’t know.” Takeshi mutters unhappily. “Maybe I should go—”

“NO!” Squalo screams and throws the phone on the wall. Takeshi whines at that. “The point is to make him miss you. MISS YOUR SORRY IN LOVE ASS. AND HE IS GOING TO MISS YOUR SORRY ASS! YOU’RE STAYING!”

“What about Xanxus?”

“HE BETTER NOT GET NEAR XANXUS, OR I’LL KILL HIM!”

“I don’t think he’s his type, I mean—”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE’S NOT HIS TYPE. HE IS EVERYONE’S TYPE. I’LL KILL HIM IF HE DOESN’T WANT XANXUS.”

“He shouldn’t want Xanxus, Squalo. He should want me!”

“YES, BUT. VOOOOI, LET’S TRAIN!”

.

A new night, a new apartment, an old Xanxus on his steps. He is smoking a cigar and that is an unusual, disturbing sign, but Hayato decides to not comment on that. Just by looking at him his mouth waters for a cigarette.

“He didn’t answer his location.” Is all Hayato says as he lights his cigarette. “Just send me a new phone number.”

“It’s all your fault.” Xanxus mutters and Hayato frowns.

“I’m busy. I can’t just go and get him just because he can’t read a goddamned map!” Hayato vents. “I can do it if he is in town, but he’s not. What is he even doing there?”

“RUINING MY LIFE!” Xanxus screams and, okay, that made sense.

“I’ll ask Jyuudaime—”

“It’s you who are the problem. YOU. You and your—” He points his cigar at Hayato as if he is making a point, but there is nothing there.

Nothing.

And then there is light. “It’s my fault Yamamoto is there?” Hayato asks.

“YES. IT IS.”

“What did I do? We haven’t been in touch for months!” And Hayato doesn’t care. He doesn’t. He is fine with that, has been ever since Yamamoto entered his office smelling of cheap perfume for his new mission and—”

“I don’t care, trash. You were the one who broke up with him.”

“No, I didn’t—” Silence. “Wait, what?”

“Take him back.” Xanxus says, threatening. “Or I’ll send him in pieces.”

“What?”

Xanxus finishes his cigar and stands. However, instead of leaving like he did the last time, he turns towards Hayato’s door and kicks it open. Then, he enters.

“What the fuck, Xanxus.” Is all Hayato can say.

“My plane only leaves tomorrow.” Xanxus answers in lieu of a justification.

“I COULD’VE OPENED THE DOOR!”

.

Hayato watches as Xanxus, once enemy, now less than an ally, sleeps on his bed, cuddling a pillow. It has to be the most bizarre thing he has seen in this life, and he lived with Bianchi — who saw Reborn and Lambo on a picnic and said they were just good friends have a meal together (Hayato is pretty sure her brain could not make the connection). He breathes through his mouth a few times before he leaves the bedroom and goes to the kitchen.

There he calls Yamamoto.

“Hello?”

“What the fuck have you been spreading, you asshole.”

“What?”

“We ‘broke up’? We ‘BROKE UP’? SINCE WHEN DID WE DATE?”

“What are you talking about—”

“Why is Xanxus sleeping on my bed, Yamamoto. Why is Xanxus sleeping on my fucking bed.”

There is silence.

“You’re not—”

“OF COURSE I’M FUCKING NOT! DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!”

“I didn’t! You—”

“He is in my bed because, apparently, I broke up with you.” Hayato sighs, angrily. “Now, that does sound like something I would do because you piss me off so much, but we never dated”

“He got it wrong.” Yamamoto answers, hurriedly. “I swear, I never told anyone we were together because I know better than anyone that we’re—”

“Solve it.”

Five minutes later, Xanxus’s phone rings.

.

This is what Hayato hears:

“TRASH, YOU FUCKING TRASH, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WAKING ME UP! ME! ME? YOU KNOW WHY I’M HERE, TRASH. YES, EXACTLY.” A pause. “I DON’T CARE! YOU DECIDED TO— YOU— DON’T SCREAM AT ME WHEN I’M SCREAMING AT YOU!”

Squalo, then, Hayato concludes.

“I’M SOLVING WHAT YOU’RE NOT. BECAUSE APPARENTLY I’M YOUR SECOND CHOICE AND I’M XANXUS. I’M NOBODY’S SECOND CHOICE, EVEN MORE FROM YOU, TRASH. YOU TRASH.”

What did you do, you idiot? I’m going to kill you when I see you, Yamamoto.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT I’M GOING TO DO WITH YOU WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN? I’LL KEEP YOU IN MY CHAMBERS, TRASH. YOU WON’T LEAVE THERE UNTIL I’M DONE WITH YOU! I’LL FUCK YOU UNTIL YOU BLEED, I’LL DESTROY THIS BODY OF YOURS I’LL—”

Hayato starts looking at new houses. Perhaps an apartment? What about a farm? And when the threats start to sound like dirty talk, he decides to crash on his office.

.

The Varia is loud.

Louder than Takeshi would expect, when they all seem to hate each other so much. Yet, Lussuria and Leviathan are having a conversation about who should’ve won the last season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Fran is teasing Belphegor over something. Upstairs, in Xanxus’s office, Squalo keeps screaming.

“STOP GETTING IN THE WAY!”

“I’M OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO HELP.”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT! VOOOOOI, WHY CAN’T YOU LET ME DEAL WITH THIS?”

“BECAUSE YOU SUCK AT IT!”

Takeshi sighs and stares at his oatmeal. Maybe he should have asked Ryohei and Tsuna’s help, after all.

.

This is what happened: Squalo and Takeshi met by accident in a city while they carried out different missions. Squalo told them to get a drink and Takeshi may drink sake like it’s no big deal, but he doesn’t have so much control over wine. He drinks and he drinks and he drinks and suddenly the grape juice is pure alcohol and—”

Well, he started to talk. About Gokudera. About how much he wants to call him Hayato and have him on his bed and wake up next to him because he loves him he loves him so much he could die and maybe he is dying I mean I know I’m dying I’m not immortal and then he passed out.

Next thing he knows, Belphegor is drawing mustaches on his face with permanent marker and Squalo and Xanxus are shouting something about their sex life.

“What’s going on?” Takeshi asked Fran, who always seemed the sanest and collected of them, as soon as he shoos Belphegor away to start drawing frogs on Takeshi’s chest.

The permanent marker did tickle as he drew. “Squalo wants to play cupid and the boss doesn’t like when he stops being the center of attention.”

“Oh.”

“Please lie down, my frogs are all weird.”

“Sorry.”

And that’s how Hayato’s hell begun.

.

Hayato stares at his phone, almost afraid to pick up. He now has Xanxus’s phone number memorized on his screen and on his mind, just in case. The problem with Xanxus is that he is an ally and thus every call could be an important one. Hayato fights himself over this, arguing that if it was important he would call Reborn or Jyuudaime himself, but—

He picks up the phone. “Yes?”

His assistant, Ana, immediately stops talking and starts writing down something. She is so efficient Hayato sometimes wonders why he hasn’t married her already, except he knows why very well. Not only because it wouldn’t work.

“You have to surprise him.” Xanxus starts. “He is on a mission and you’re horny? Just go to his hotel room and—”

Hayato sends his phone flying towards the closest window. The sound of it crashing against the glass and then falling towards its death startles Ana only a little. She jumps in her chair, yes, and then stares at the scene before she hands him a new phone from her purse. “May we continue?”

“OH MY GOD, WHAT WAS THAT?!” Jyuudaime screams.

I love you, Hayato thinks. “Yes.” He says.

.

Hayato is reviewing Lambo’s homework while said cow is whining about too much homework when there is a knock on the door. “Come in.” He says.

Ana enters holding a beautiful bouquet of white flowers and both Hayato and Lambo stare at it in awe. She places it in the center of his desk and Lambo gets up to investigate. “Who send it?”

There is a small note with Yamamoto’s ridiculously bad calligraphy about seeing this in a flower shop and thinking of him. And this is why Hayato doesn’t marry, would never marry, would stay forever busy and forever enthralled with Yamamoto Takeshi’s ridiculously charming affection towards him.

It hurts, yes, but the pain cannot compare with the happiness that it gives him, so he doesn’t let go.

“There is another gift for you.” Ana tells him and when he glances, he knows who it is from.

“Throw it out.” Hayato says and she just leaves.

Neither of them sees the note that falls from the book about sexual positions that Xanxus send it to him. However, Lambo does.

.

“Did you know Xanxus is trying to seduce Gokudera?” He asks one day to Reborn. He should’ve been trying to kill him, but Reborn was out for ice cream on Lambo’s favorite ice cream parlor, so—

Reborn snorts. Snorts. “What?”

.

Reborn tells Bianchi who tells Shamal who laughs out loud and then tells Tsuna when he comes for a check-in who leaves terrified and soon the whole mafia knows and the families that have nothing to do with the Vongola. It’s not gossip, you see. Gossip is for housewives and women in general, not a bunch of powerful men who want to dominate the world through its shadows.

It’s very important information.

.

“Gossipers.” Hayato mumbles. “All of them. The whole mafia! Even my father, my father, asked me this.”

“It would explain why you never entered relationships.” Ana says. Her eyes never leave her agenda. “You never showed interest towards anyone and Xanxus did sleep in your house the other day.”

“How do you know that?”

“One of your neighbors is a small time henchman to one of the families who work for us.”

“Oh God.”

“Fyi, everyone knows this too.”

.

Takeshi spends more time training with the Varia then actually creating a plan to seduce Gokudera once and for all. Mostly because they don’t know what they are doing and every time they hit a wall they think it would do great to just train to clear their heads. These days, however, he has been avoiding the Varia’s headquarters together with half of the members of the group because of a gossip that reached Xanxus and Squalo’s bedroom.

“How long do you think it will clear it out?” He asks Lussuria.

They wonder for a moment before they say: “A few days. But I bet it will be used as a weapon when they start arguing with each other.”

Takeshi laughs at this. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from either of them.”

In his head, he wonders that if he made a break towards the door, how far would he go before Squalo brought him back.

.

Tsuna doesn’t really care about his friends (subordinates) lovers and partners. As long as they are happy, they can date whoever they wanted. Saying this, he is actually worried about Gokudera’s well being when Xanxus — who Tsuna swore were was with Squalo — invaded his headquarters screaming for Gokudera.

His assistant, Ana, always so helpful and utterly fearless, led him to where Hayato was. Not his office, or his bedroom in the mansion, but to a dining room they barely used. It was secluded and was good enough to have a conversation about their relationship, Tsuna guessed, but, still, it felt wrong to leave Hayato to scream at Xanxus without backup.

That is why he is here, sitting in the hallway, text messaging Ryohei who wants to know what is happening and if he should go back to the HQ to help out. Don’t worry, Tsuna wrote, I have backup.

He’s not talking about Lambo, who is sitting next to him with his ten-year bazooka and trembling a little, but refusing to let his Nii-chan alone with that madman. He is talking about Chrome and her determined eyes and, surprisingly, Hibari.

“Are they really together?” Hibari asks after a moment.

Tsuna stops describing what is happening to Ryohei to listen to them: “MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T SEND ME BOOKS ABOUT PERVERTED THINGS!”

“HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM THEM?”

“WHAT PROBLEM, THERE IS NO PROBLEM!”

“YES, THERE IS. SAID PROBLEM IS TAKING UP SPACE IN MY HOUSE AND MY SUBORDINATES!”

“OH, WHY DON’T YOU ADMIT YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS OF—”

“I AM XANXUS, I DON’T GET JEALOUS.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“BECAUSE YOU TOLD EVERYONE WE’RE TOGETHER!”

“I DIDN’T TELL ANYONE THIS, IT ALL STARTED WITH YOU SENDING ME PERVERT SHIT—”

“I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL TRASH!”

They both kept going in circles and never seemed to agree on something. “I’m not sure.” Tsuna admitted. “I think it may be a misunderstanding.”

Hibari mutters. “Idiots.”

“Yeah.”

.

When they got tired of arguing about the same thing over and over again — two hours after Tsuna and his guardians left because they had other things to do and it obvious Xanxus and Hayato weren’t going to kill each other (unfortunately, reminded Hibari and Lambo did ask what was he doing there anyway, just to run away when Hibari glared at him) — they actually sat together to drink something.

“I don’t understand why things can’t be simple.” Xanxus says as if his life was actually simple, but Hayato isn’t going to point that out now. “Just take him back.”

“There is no taking anyone back!” Hayato says slowly. “Listen to me: Yamamoto and I are never getting back together because we were never together.”

“What.”

“I don’t know where you got this information from, but we never, ever, dated.” Hayato explains and becomes sullen. “We are just friends. We are only just friends ever since we met. He dated a lot. I didn’t. But never with each other.”

“Oh, I see.” Xanxus says and he drinks more of his wine. “You’re both idiots.”

“Yes! That’s it, we are— No. Wait, no.”

“There is only one thing to be done.”

“Kill Yamamoto?” Hayato tries, not liking Xanxus’s tone. “Because Jyuudaime might agree after I explain what he did—”

“Get that man of yours and fuck him senseless until he agrees to be with you only.”

“What.”

“It worked for me.” And that’s something Hayato didn’t need to know (though now Ryohei owned him one hundred bucks). “Now, show me what you can do.”

“Oh God.”

.

“I think—” Takeshi starts as he stares at his glass of wine, watching the drink’s color as if it was a beautiful painting. “—you are ruining my life and relationship with Gokudera.”

“Voooi, this makes no sense!” Squalo says and finishes his bottle of wine in almost one go. “I bet he never thought of you so much as in this moment.”

“Yeah. On killing me.”

“Same thing, same thing.”

“Sometimes I worry about you, Squalo.”

.

After this, Hayato asks Ana to fend his calls, but after the first try, she simply hands him his phone back and tells he is not paid to listen to pornography. He feels himself blush and she smiles a little, softly, which is payback for whatever she heard Xanxus say. “When will this end?” He wonders to her, who answers without even thinking about it: “Maybe if you do something about Yamamoto Takeshi.”

So it’s late, really late, and Hayato is looking at old pictures of Yamamoto and he and wondering if it would be considered treason to the Vongola if he put a hit on him.

Not that he will, of course not. Just. It’s a nice thought.

(it’s not what Ana meant and he knows this, but his heart clenches and flutters at the same time and he doesn’t know if the knot in his stomach are butterflies or anxiety and killing people who bothered him was always the choice)

Yamamoto’s smile blinds him a little.

.

Once upon a time, Hayato considered kissing Yamamoto.

Once upon all the time, in fact, but in this particular day Yamamoto and he were graduating and Hayato would be moving to Italy with Jyuudaime and Yamamoto would stay behind to go to college and become a baseball player until he graduated.

It was night and people were laughing and Yamamoto stopped smiling as he stared at Hayato for a moment too long. And it would be easy, so easy, too easy, and that’s why he stopped himself. “See ya, Yamamoto.” He said instead and his lips trembled in loneliness.

Hayato was an idiot then for many things, but not on this. It would be too long until they met and he couldn’t deal with the idea of finally having Yamamoto in the family and finding out he moved on. After he kissed him all these years ago and waited for him, just to not have him then. It would be more painful than to harbor these feelings without reciprocation.

They would have time, when Yamamoto was finally part of the family and baseball and college was far away. They would have time in Hayato’s mind, because he still was Bianchi’s sister and though he felt it was pathetic to keep on loving this one man who she would never have (and that became true), he knew he would be the same (and that also became true) with that stupid, baseball-loving idiot who smiled too much and let everyone in, everyone near him.

Years passed and when Yamamoto came back, taller and smiling too much still, he talked about a girl he left behind together with all the rest of his dreams.

.

His cell phone rings and Hayato is busy reading something. He feels like shit, tired and done with the world, but still working because that is his job. Still, he is fragile enough to not think of the consequences when he puts the call on speaker. “Yes?”

“Trash, you’ve got to fuck him well and hard so he can stop distracting my trash. Gokudera Hayato, I will tell you how to fuck a man—”

Hayato ends the call. He stares at his cell phone for a few seconds, unblinking, before he looks back at Ryuuhei and Hibari, who are wearing matching frowns on their faces. “It was a mistake.”

“He said your name.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ryohei.”

.

After three months, Lambo asks over lunch: “Where is Yamamoto? I haven’t seen him in a while”

Reborn snorts. “You just noticed now? Stupid cow.”

“Well, no, but I just thought he was having lots of missions and I wasn’t here when he was—”

“Avoiding you? Sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Lambo flinches and Hayato only narrows his eyes at Reborn, who just smirks. “Nah, he has been away. He is training or something.”

“Yes!” Jyuudaime says and smiles at Lambo, who smiles back. Both Hayato and Reborn roll their eyes at this. “He said if we need him, he is ready to go.”

“Oh, where is Yamamoto training? Not too far away, then?”

“He’s with Squalo.” Hayato says and there is some silence around the table.

“Oh.” Lambo says after a moment. “Everything makes sense now.”

He is staring at Hayato and he feels himself blush at that. Reborn hides a smirk by pretending to wipe his mouth. Tsuna changes the subject.

.

“I already told you to stop calling me. If you have so much free time, I can find some missions for you.”

“I’m just very good at managing my time.”

“If you want more time with Squalo, maybe you shouldn’t delegate everything to him.” Hayato says, and he can feel Xanxus getting angry over the phone. “This way you wouldn’t have to be so jealous of Yamamoto just because he gets to spend Squalo’s training time with him.”

“Shut your mouth, trash.” Xanxus threatens. His voice is so full of anger it trembles.

“Why? You can comment on my sexual life but I can’t say anything on yours?”

“I have one, at least.”

“Do you? Because it’s two am and here we are—”

The line goes dead. Hayato smirks at himself and is actually capable of finishing his job, going to bed and waking up without phone calls from anyone from Varia.

.

For all his complaining, Xanxus still has Squalo on his bed most of the times. Like here, riding him and moaning in a way that says how much this trash likes his cock, begging for it — for more —, his hair a mess all around him. And Xanxus likes this, likes this very much, but when he is getting closer, he just flips them and thrusts into Squalo and hears him say “Asshole” and—

Oh.

Oh.

He stops moving and Squalo screams. “Vooooi! What are you doing! Move, boss!”

“He’s a bottom.”

“What?”

.

“Boss asked me to give you some advice,” Fran’s apathetic voice tells him and Hayato is suddenly very afraid.

“What happened to Xanxus?”

“He finally understood what everyone did.”

Hayato blinks. “That Yamamoto and I aren’t a thing?”

“That you’re a bottom.”

Hayato explodes his office.

.

Jyuudaime sighs as he massages his forehead. “You can’t destroy your office every time someone pisses you off, Gokudera.”

“I’m aware, Jyuudaime, but—”

“I mean, I understand what it is to want to destroy everything, but we suffer enough with Hibari—”

“Yes, I know, Jyuudaime, but Xanxus—”

“I just don’t understand. What did he tell you to make you lose control now? I mean, you seemed to deal well with his sudden interest in your life and even with the rumors, so I don’t—”

“He told Fran I’m a bottom.” Hayato spills and feels himself blush.

Jyuudaime blinks. “Is this some slur? Or is it—”

“Think,” Reborn says suddenly and they both jump. Neither of them noticed he had entered the room “gay sex.”

There is a moment of silence.

“Oh.” Jyuudaime says and thinks for a few seconds. Then, his face blanches considerably. “Oh. Well, in this case—”

Jyuudaime doesn’t know what to say. Hayato understands. He doesn’t know either.

.

“But of who?” Tsuna asks suddenly. Reborn stares at him for a moment and Tsuna blushes a little bit, not noticing he said that out loud. “Gokudera. As a— Bottom.”

“Everyone.” Reborn answers.

“That can’t be! I mean, Gokudera is— Gokudera is—”

“He’s a power bottom.”

“I don’t even know what that is and I DON’T WANT TO” Tsuna warns Reborn, whose mouth was already open to answer.

Reborn closes and smirks.

.

Fran drinks tea instead of coffee. He’s apathetic eyes don’t even blink when the hot beverage touch his lips. Hayato must say, he is impressed.

“What are you doing here?” Hayato asks. “It’s better to be business related or—”

“It’s not. You know this.”

Hayato sighs. “Can’t Xanxus just let it go?”

“No. He just wants to help.”

“He. Isn’t.”

“I know.” Fran sips his tea. “I don’t want to be here, truth be told.”

“I gathered. I’m surprised he didn’t send Squalo.”

There is a tiny smile on Fran’s face. Very small, Hayato almost misses it. In a blink of an eye, it’s gone. “That would beat the purpose. The only reason he is doing this is because of that stupid shark is wasting his time holding your ex’s—”

“—HE’S NOT MY EX—”

“—hand and not staring at the boss as if he was the center of the universe.”

Hayato blinks. “He’s jealous.”

“Yes.”

“Of Yamamoto.”

“Yes.”

Hayato sighs again. Fran drinks more of his tea.

.

Reborn wakes up to the sound of his cell phone filling the room. His eyes fly open and one of his hand meet the gun underneath his pillow as the other takes the call. “What is it?” He asks.

“Ok, but what about me.” Tsuna says and Reborn frowns.

“What?”

“Gokudera and me.” Tsuna answers. “Hypothetically. I’d be the bottom, right?”

“I’m going to shoot you, brat.”

.

Fran drinks vodka like he drinks tea: unblinking, not nearly as affected as he should be. Deep inside his mind, Hayato wonders if he can drink anyway. What’s his age?, he thinks.

Hayato opens his mouth to ask that, but instead says: “I just don’t get it. Why is everyone so obsessed with me and Yamamoto anyway.”

“Because you two are idiots.” Fran answers.

“We’re not—”

“Twelve years and this. It’s no wonder that shark took pity on him.”

“Pity? On him?” Hayato says and then snorts. “He dated other people.”

Fran blinks a few times. Then, he makes a movement with his hand and suddenly there are so many tequila shots in front of them Hayato doesn’t even know how they got there. Maybe he is a little drunk. “Tell me more.”

Hayato opens his mouth to say 'Fuck off, that’s private' but what comes out is: “Sure.”

.

“So he really is the bottom.” Squalo says, admired. “Vooooi, that makes so much sense.”

“I don’t know.” Takeshi answers and then hides his face between his hands. He ought to stop drinking wine. “I don’t know but I want to. So much.”

Squalo pats his shoulder. “Drink.”

“No, I drank too much already, I—”

“No sense. It’s just wine. You can’t get drunk from wine.”

.

“He dated around. Girls and boys and women and men and I— I was busy. I had too much to do and couldn’t just stop my work to pursue a relationship with an idiot obsessed with soccer. It seemed we were never on the same page. So I just let go and Yamamoto never mentioned, so—”

“But you want to.”

“Well, yeah—”

“And you’re not that busy now.”

“Hm, no, I—”

“And he’s not dating.”

“I don’t think so—”

“Then why not right now?”

.

“Brat.” Reborn warns as Tsuna keeps giggling. He sounds a little drunk.

“Okay, you’re crazy. Crazy. Me. Topping Gokudera. This is ridiculous. Like, he’s taller than me.”

Reborn frowns. “What this has to do with anything?”

“It just doesn’t make any sense! And look, the bottom is always smaller, I mean, have you read a yaoi manga?”

“Have you?”

“…This isn’t important, Reborn. What is important is that—”

Reborn ends the call. He sighs, tiredly, and lays down on his bed. Closes his eyes and—

He gets up and calls Tsuna.

“He would never have the courage to fuck you, Tsuna.”

“You don’t know that!”

.

“Of course I fooled around. With some guys. Never was into women anyway. But I never dated then, because dating means compromise and I would never—”

“But Yamamoto did.”

“Yes! Which means he felt something for them and he is always so friendly and gets attached so quickly I can’t trust him to not get tired of me and suddenly want to date someone else. What if he does that?”

“So you’re protecting himself.”

“Yes. This is why I’ve never had anything to do with Yamamoto but Xanxus doesn’t listen to me! He send me an email telling in detail what he did with Squalo the same day—”

“Ew.”

“—Yes, ew. He said ‘It will work with everyone’ and that’s not something I need to know or think about. I mean. It’s Xanxus and Squalo. I don’t know how you live with them and don’t get crazy.”

“Me neither.”

“And anyway, how does Xanxus know you like to get fucked, you talk about this?”

“He assumed.”

“From what?”

“From my relationship with Belphegor.”

“Oh. I didn’t know you two—”

“We’re not.”

“Then why—”

“At this point, I’m afraid to ask.”

.

Hibari’s eyes take the view in front of him with some amusement and more concern than he ought to have. Sawada Tsunayoshi has bags under his eyes and he has missed his cup of coffee three times when he went to put sugar in it. He flinches every time the light glistens on the silverware. It’s so bad that the herbivore that Reborn is so infatuated with has decided to intervene and the grateful smile he received from Sawada made him cry a little bit.

Hibari almost lost his appetite.

Reborn, on the other hand, looks pensive and angry, which means he didn’t sleep well. Gokudera Hayato is wearing sunglasses and avoiding eating anything greasy and Hibari can’t think of how pathetic is that. By his side, a kid wearing a giant frog in his head — Varia, he is almost sure — eats in silence, though he is heavily drinking tea, which means he did partake on Gokudera’s pathetic activities.

What is going on?, he wonders as he eats. He doesn’t care enough to ask, but he is curious enough to demand an answer. So, after breakfast, he follows Sawada to his office and asks, tonfas in hand, what is going on in this place.

“Do you think I’d top Gokudera if we had sex?” Is his answer.

Hibari gets up and leaves, no intentions of coming back.

.

Jyuudaime receives a report and soon all his guardians are clawing each other to have a mission related. Nothing much, but it sounds dangerous for someone of lesser level within the family and, okay, maybe it was just Hayato and Hibari screaming about needing to kill someone because of this madness.

“You should suffer, herbivore.” Hibari spits. “You’re the one that caused this.”

“Me?” Hayato screams and stares at Jyuudaime, opening his arms as if to say ‘can you believe this guy?’. Tsuna, who is working out the courage to ask Gokudera if, if they had sex, he would top Tsuna or not, just looks away, embarrassed. “It’s all Yamamoto’s fault!”

“How?”

Hayato opens his mouth many times and promptly closes it. He doesn’t know where to start.

“Yamamoto is actually going.” Jyuudaime says suddenly. “Since he is near and all. I just need one more guardian to back him up because—”

Hibari and Hayato stare at him. “In this case.” Hibari starts. “You can have it.”

“What? No! No. No.” Hayato says. “You wanted more. You do it.”

“You must suffer. You go.”

“But you—”

“I don’t want it anymore.”

“What, you can’t withdraw from this now.”

“I can and I am.” Hibari says and walks away.

Hayato stares at Jyuudaime, who gives him the file. He looks at the folder on his hand and then smiles weakly. “What about Lambo?”

“Spending the weekend with Reborn.” Or, in Lambo’s words, Reborn will go to France for a small vacation and that is the total opportunity to kill him. And eat some grapes, because it’s a vineyard and they have the best grapes in all Europe, can you believe his luck?

Hayato leaves with an indignant cry and as he takes the file and the mission, he warns Reborn to stay the hell away from that stupid cow.

Now he is here, under fire, and Yamamoto is nowhere to be seen. Last time he got word on him — through Belphegor, who asked more about Fran and he and of course he wasn’t jealous, why would he be jealous of Fran, he was just a stupid frog, his frog, but not that attractive also if you touch him I’ll kill you —, he was going straight inside.

There is blood everywhere and heavy fire and Hayato is not worried. Of course not. The idiot will be fine, because Yamamoto is good besides being slow and too friendly, but he will be fine. He will. The blood is not his. Can’t be.

(not now, not when Hayato had to dig up all his feelings and put them out there, to people he doesn’t even know. Again. They were buried, nice and tidy underneath his work and his duty and Jyuudaime and now it’s all out and he can’t stop thinking of what could be done this time, twelve years later it first blossomed and if Yamamoto dies Hayato will die too, he knows this. Can’t survive another heartbreak over the same baseball idiot who he once almost kissed and then left because he was a coward)

Hayato opens his eyes and opens his automatic lighter.

.

Later, Hayato is sure he will be chided on by Jyuudaime, because the point was to secure the building that once belonged to the Vongola, not to destroy it with a powerful explosion.

Not with Yamamoto inside, at least.

He coughs as he walks with some difficulty through the debris, Shigure Kintoki in hands. Hayato waits for him near a tree, smoking his third cigarette since he threw the dynamites inside the place, trying to not look as anxious as he feels.

“Hey.” Yamamoto says, smiling. He scratches his neck with one hand, that stupid thing he always does when he is sorry and Hayato hates himself for loving him this much. “So, I figure you’re mad at me.”

Hayato snorts and chokes on the smoke from his own cigarette. It hasn’t happened in a while. It makes him chuckle, even while choking. He covers his mouth with his hand as he chokes as a way to hide his smile. In front of him, Yamamoto looks more and more concerned.

“Gokudera—” He says and approaches him, just like Hayato wanted. He lights the dynamite in his hand and throws.

It’s sweet to see the alarmed face on Yamamoto when he sees what is coming to him.

Mad doesn’t even compute.

.

Takeshi’s back hits the ground and he groans. Shigure Kintoki rolls away from him, and he stretches his arm to get it, but a pair of shoes covered in dust appear and stays between his sword and his hand. So this is how I die, Takeshi thinks for a moment, before he looks up and stares at Hayato’s cold eyes.

And the thing is: Hayato is so pretty, even when he is so mad, but so mad that he becomes a stone statue. It reminds Yamamoto of those Italian sculptures that imitated Greek ones. He becomes more like his father’s lineage (Italian, mafioso) than his mother’s (Japanese, friend) and it’s no wonder he is Tsuna’s right hand. It takes his breath away, the same way it did that first day when he sat with Tsuna and he and he smirked at him. It was a morning and the light entered and Takeshi is not a poet, but. At that moment he thought he could write eulogies about him.

And with everything related to Gokudera Hayato, he tried, later that night. And failed.

(this is why you tried to forget him, through girlfriends and boyfriends. You wanted him so much, but he was never available and would never be. You asked your father and Reborn and Colonello and Dino and each person told you, at different times of your life, forget him. Squalo was the first to say fight him. Fight for him. If you didn’t forget him now, then he is worthy of your feelings and he said while looking at Xanxus and Xanxus smiled when he noticed and you wanted this, you still do)

“I screwed up everything, huh?” Takeshi asks as Hayato bends down. His knees hit the ground, his perfect suit ruined by the dirt.

Gokudera touches his chin. His rings are warm against his skin and Takeshi wonders if Gokudera kept turning them again and again, in ways that mean he is so nervous not even cigarettes can help him.

“No.” Gokudera says, finally. He smiles softly and bends down.

Takeshi meets him halfway, already clinging to him, desperate, drowning, in love.

.

Squalo was hungry and so he went for food. He went into the kitchen and got milk and was thinking of a sandwich and then he was attacked.

This is what he’ll say if Lussuria or Belphegor ask why is the boss between his legs, kissing him fervently on his neck, forcing him to bend down against the counter, ripping his clothes to show his bruised torso, nipples hard the moment that solid chest crashed against his back.

“Xanxus.” He whispers. Calls him like this only when they are in bed. Surprisingly, he doesn’t like to be called boss while they fuck. Squalo likes this more than he thought he would, when he found out.

(not here, Xanxus said after Squalo tried. Not here)

He still doesn’t get why.

Xanxus fingers are full of intent and a tingle of anger. He means to be harsh and slow. “Xanxus.” Squalo says again, smiling a little before kissing him on his mouth, while opening his pants. He is so hard underneath his boxers Squalo wants to taste it. Wants to lick it. He moans at the thought, licks his lips and shudders. Xanxus’s eyes become darker and darker.

“Filth.” He whispers, lovingly, before he backhands Squalo. He bites his tongue at this and the taste of blood makes Squalo groan. He parts his lips, needing to breathe through his mouth. His body is so hot.

“Xanxus,” a pause and Squalo knows he shouldn’t tease, but he likes the consequences, anyway. Besides, he isn’t on the Varia because of his wits. “were you jealous?”

His answer comes with Xanxus holding his body, slamming him against his chest. Squalo laughs, delighted, as Xanxus spin them and he never rode Xanxus on the kitchen counter, he never—

Squalo is thrown on the floor.

“VOOOOIII” He screams as he recovers from the fall. His wrist hurt. His elbow too. “What the fuck?”

Xanxus answers him by climbing on top of him and yanking his pants, not bothering with taking his boots off.

Totally is, Squalo thinks, proud of himself.

.

“Lambo!” Tsuna says and Reborn frowns. He doesn’t want to, but his eyes search for the stupid cow.

“What?”

“Lambo! He would totally be the bottom if he and Gokudera were together!”

Reborn’s expression darkens, Tsuna doesn’t notice. “He wouldn’t even think of topping Gokudera, and there is the difference of age and how he looks up to Gokudera more than anyone else. This proves my point, Gokudera would— Reborn, why are you pointing your gun at— AUGH”

In hindsight, he had it coming.

N/A.: I totally wish I could have written about Yamamoto getting lost in Rome so he would go on dates with Gokudera, who had to get him all the time. Maybe one day!

P.S.: No, of course Tsuna didn’t ask Gokudera directly.

[covid19updater]

COVID19 UPDATES 04/02/2020

MORNING:

New Jersey: NEW: Bergen County Jail has FIVE ICE detainees with suspected cases of COVID-19 who are awaiting test results, per a declaration from the jail warden in federal court. As of Monday, ICE reported that 4 ICE detainees had tested positive -- all in New Jersey jails

RUMINT (Illinois): Checking in from central Illinois -My wife runs her own tax and accounting business. About five minutes ago one of her clients, an over-the-road trucker called her to go over some banking info. He told her he is finishing up his last delivery this evening and “making a bee-line home” Reason being, he has been informed that several grocery distribution centers around the country are about to shut down and he wants to get back here to make sure he and his wife are suitably stocked up on food and supplies. She has epilepsy and does not venture far from the house, and we sometimes check up on her as they live just a few miles away.

Texas: NEW: Texas Health Officials Say 9-Year-Old Has Contracted COVID-19

Nevada:  Gov. Sisolak activates Nevada National Guard in response to pandemic [link to fox5vegas.com (secure)] via @fox5vegas

Michigan: Henry Ford Hospital: COVID-19 patient developed nervous system infection LINK

Tennessee: Tennessee tells nurses to try diapers if they run out of surgical masks

NYC: New York City as of Wednesday Apri 1. Nearly one-quarter of the city’s paramedics are out because of illness or injury amid the deadly pandemic. About 23 percent of all EMS members — about 950 — were out on medical leave as of Sunday, the most recent data available, according to an FDNY spokesman. A total of 282 FDNY members — EMS, firefighters and civilian workers — have tested positive for COVID-19.

US: Over the past 24 hours, ...the U.S. reported 26,885 new cases And 1,029 new deaths, Raising the total to 215 429 cases and 5 068 dead. This is the first time any country has reported more than 1,000 new deaths in one day

Florida: Franklin County Sheriff: Infected Georgia Senator says he's leaving St. George Island vacation home LINK

World: "One Of The Worst Coverups In Human History": MSM Attention Turns To Chinese Biolab Near COVID-19 Ground Zero LINK

NYC: (New York City) EMTs have stopped taking people in cardiac arrest to coronavirus-strained hospitals. LINK

Italy: Three more doctors have died of Covid-19 in Italy since Tuesday – bringing the total number to 69, the Italian Doctors’ Association says.

Italy: Italy is undercounting thousands of deaths caused by the coronavirus in the areas worst hit by the pandemic, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows 

US: Trump is weighing whether to restrict flights from New York and Miami over virus.

Portugal: PORTUGAL CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES RISE 9.5% IN DAY TO 9,034

US: BREAKING: 6.6. million Americans filed for unemployment last week, by far the biggest surge in U.S. history amid coronavirus shutdown

World: New study shows that "coughs can project liquid up to 6m (20 ft) away and that sneezes, which involve much higher speeds, can reach up to 8m (26 ft) away."

Germany: Only in four hours today (fromn 11:15 till 15:11) 3100 new cases, 45 new deaths

World: The Neuroinvasive Potential of SARS-CoV2 May Play a Role in the Respiratory Failure of COVID-19 Patients   LINK   

US: GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC CEO DAVID SOLOMON SAYS 'THERE'S NO QUESTION' THE U.S. CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE WAS 'LATE'

World: Postal services of 22 countries are no longer able to process or deliver international mail or services originating from the United States due to service disruptions related to the #COVID19 pandemic, according to @USPS.

Italy: A “healthy and strong” family of four all died of COVID-19 in the same Italian hospital within the same week, according to reports.LINK

AFTERNOON:

World: “Health experts say they now believe nearly one in three patients who are infected are nevertheless getting a negative test result” -WSJ

UK: An NHS worker has died from coronavirus after treating patients with only gloves for protection, leaving his family feeling "let down". Thomas Harvey collapsed on Sunday after falling ill having helped a patient who later tested positive for Covid-19. The 57-year-old healthcare assistant's family claim with the "right" personal protective equipment (PPE) at Goodmayes Hospital, London, he may not have died. The hospital said there were "no symptomatic patients on the ward".

Italy: #BREAKING: Italy has confirmed 4,668 new #coronavirus cases and 760 new deaths, raising the country's total to 115.242 with 13.915 confirmed deaths

New York: BREAKING: New York state reports 8,669 new cases of coronavirus and 197 new deaths in morning update, raising total to 92,381 cases and 2,373 dead

US: More young people in the South seem to be dying from COVID-19. Why?   LINK

NYC: A frontline doctor at a major NYC hospital told me he lost his first patient this morning to rationing of care — not enough ventilators to go around. The lack of supplies and testing is real — and costing lives — no matter what the daily reality show tries to sell you.

Washington: A Washington state nursing home tied to at least 37 covid-19 deaths faces a fine of more than $611,000, federal inspectors said, and could also lose Medicare and Medicaid funding if it does not correct a slew of deficiencies that led to the country’s first major outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

World: If You Have Coronavirus Symptoms, Assume You Have the Illness, Even if You Test Negative LINK

Florida: Melissa Barton-Schmitt was arrested in Stuart, Florida. Police say she took a walk through Downtown Stuart and was live on Facebook discussing the fact she was recently tested for COVID-19 and didn't have the results yet. She is charged with violation of the executive order.

Louisiana: Louisiana confirmed a massive number of new covid cases Thursday--2,726, bringing the total statewide above 9,100--but officials said the figures don’t accurately show the growth rate of the virus because of a backlog in testing. #lalege #lagov

Texas: #BREAKING: Texas announced an additional 674 positive tests for #COVIDー19, bringing the total to 4,667. (2,822 additional tests were reported.) An additional 12 people died, bringing the total to 70. 143 counties have reported positive tests, eight more than yesterday.

US: The US recorded another major surge in its confirmed cases. The country added 21033 new #COVID19 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 236036. There are also 675 new deaths, increasing the total number of deaths to 5777.

World: BREAKING: More than 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide

New Jersey: Healthy 30-Year old New Jersey Baseball Coach dies of COVID LINK

Ohio:  #BREAKING The #Ohio Department of Health is reporting 2,902 confirmed cases of COVID-19 #coronavirus with 802 hospitalized and 81 deaths

World: #COVID19 cases worldwide 000k - 100k - 110 days 100k - 200k - 12 days 200k - 300k - 4 days 300k - 400k - 3 days 400k - 500k - 2 days 500k - 600k - 39 hours 600k - 700k - 34 hours 700k - 800k - 38 hours 800k - 900k - 29 hours 900k -1000k - 24 hours

France: France reports 2,116 new cases of coronavirus and 1,355 additional deaths, including 884 people who died at nursing homes and had previously not been counted

Georgia: @drsanjaygupta on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp saying that he just learned coronavirus can be transmitted by asymptomatic people: "This is inexcusable. I mean, it's just inexcusable...My kids who go to school in Georgia knew that a month ago."

Thailand: Man with coronavirus spits in man’s face before boarding train and apparently dropping dead. LINK

Massachusetts: BOSTON (WHDH) - More than 230 employees across the Beth Israel Lahey Health system have tested positive for coronavirus, officials confirmed Thursday. A total of 232 workers at 13 Beth Israel Lahey Health facilities have contracted the virus, a spokesperson for the healthcare system said. Ninety of the cases originated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and 54 cases are from Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington.

EVENING:

Ohio: An Ohio woman says the coronavirus has “destroyed” her family — killing her parents and brother as her husband remains hospitalized on life support, according to reports.LINK

Louisiana:  NEW: Coronavirus cases in Louisiana jumped 42% in one day, climbing from 6,424 reported cases statewide yesterday to 9,150 today. The death toll in Louisiana has risen to 310.

World: AFTER THREE MONTHS OF THIS PANDEMIC LESS THAN 4% OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INFECTED HAVE RECOVERED

World: Experts tell White House coronavirus can spread through talking or even just breathing LINK

NYC: New York City is now advising residents to cover their nose and mouth with a scarf, bandana, or a piece of clothing while out in public to limit the spread of coronavirus

RUMINT NYC: Footage of bodies being loaded onto refrigerated truck in NYC. LINK

Florida: Florida Coronavirus numbers just released: -9008 total cases (up from 8010 this morning) -144 deaths (up from 128) -1167 hospitalizations (up from 1058) -2886 in Dade (up from 2448) -1481 in Broward (1346 yesterday) -737 in Palm Beach (up from 630)

NYC: UPDATE: New York City reports 165 coronavirus deaths since morning update, raising city's total to 1,562

World: Coronavirus may cause brain damage by triggering dangerous inflammation that can cause bleeds and cell death LINK

UK: Mother, 48, of six-year-old twin boys dies of coronavirus three days after first showing symptoms despite having no underlying health conditions LINK