#honestly shocked I haven’t seen someone else say this

[4me2knowandyou2wonder]

Look me in the eyes and tell me Gaz doesn’t have two moms. I’ll wait.



[joonsmagicshop]

Stress Relief Series Part 5- MYG

 Summary: A couple weeks ago Taehyung asked a favor. For you to have sex with his bandmates to relieve some tension and stress. How can you say no to that.

Paring: Yoongi/Reader (Namjoon, Jin and Taehyung are mentioned)

Rating: M/18+

Word Count: 5k

Tags: smut, fingering, eating pussy, soft Yoongi, dom Yoongi, hand jobs, cum eating, dirty talk.

Authors Note: My sweet Yoongi.

In case you missed it

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Yoongi knew he should have changed the code on his door ages ago.

Maybe he would actually get work done if he did.

His fingers danced across the keyboard as he pulled his headphones tighter against his ears to block out the sound of his bandmates talking.

His shoulders were starting to hurt from being so slouched over a computer desk his eyes were dry and his patience was thin

So very thin.

Yoongi knew what his strengths were, making music was one of them but lately he felt as if he had just hit a wall and could not break through it. He was stuck, musically constipated as Hobi said, which caused everyone to break out into giggles and Yoongi to shoot Hobi a very lewd gesture causing everyone to burst into laughs again

Yoongi closed his eyes for a moment and tried his best to get in a happy calm mindset but he could still hear Taehyung and Namjoon teasing each other in the background and Jin munching away on something.

Yoongi had enough and he ripped his headphones and turned the chair around.

“Alright everyone out! You all are annoying and I can’t concentrate. I’m changing the passcode tomorrow so out. Now.” He demands as Namjoon and Tae stare at him in shock and Jin just kept eating.

“We aren’t even doing anything! You had your headphones in the whole time!” Tae argues as he shoots Yoongi his signature pout which usually works, but not today.

“I could still hear you and Namjoon chatting. Out! Seriously I can’t concentrate. And Jin stop eating and getting crumbs everywhere. Honestly” Yoongi grumbles as he crosses his arms and stares them all down.

“Yoongi you spend all your time here we feel like we haven’t seen you except at dance practice. We wanted to hang out with you.” Namjoon says standing up and coming to sit in the chair next to Yoongi, concern written all over his face.

Yoongi let out a sigh, he didn’t mean to make Namjoon concerned, he had enough to worry about as their leader.

“Yeah, Yoongi I just wanted to hang out with my favorite Hyung.” Tae pouts as Yoongi shoots him a small smile.

“Rude!” Jin calls out kicking Taehyung’s shin and Namjoon puts a hand over his heart fake offended.

“Laying it on thick to stay. Nice try but no. Out all of you.” Yoongi says as Taehyung and Jin grumble but gather their things.

“I’ll stay and help you with the song,” Namjoon responds as he grabs the spare headphones out of the desk drawer and scoots closer.

“Thank you Namjoon. Finally some help.” Yoongi complains as the other two roll their eyes.

“Wow, Yoongi you seem stressed…” Taehyung starts with a smirk and Yoongi knows where he is going with this.

He hasn’t forgotten the proposition Taehyung made to them a month and a half prior. He had just been so busy he hadn’t thought about it.

Well okay, he has thought about it but it’s usually after a long studio session or dance session very late at night when it would be rude to call upon a stranger, so Yoongi would let his hand wrap around his cock and imagine it was someone else. Those were the nights he slept the best.

“Yeah, Yoongi you might want to do something about that. If only there was someone to help.” Jin teased as they both refused to leave standing by the door with matching smirks.

“Did I not tell you to get out?” Yoongi shoots back as he stares them down giving them death glares.

“Okay, guys enough. We are all stressed out let’s not make it worse.” Namjoon says diplomatically as Yoongi feels his shoulders slump again.

“You don’t have to be you know. I gave you a way out…an option.” Taehyung reminds them with a wave of his cell phone which has Jin cracking up beside him.

“Enough. Out.” Yoongi demands as he points to the door.

Taehyung giggles and opens the door to leave but Jin doesn’t leave just yet, his hand hovering on the door as he adjusts his bag on his shoulder.

“Ah, Namjoon I forgot to thank you for going to that exhibit and ditching me for dinner. I had a fantastic night. You really missed out".” He says teasingly with a wink as Namjoon’s eyes go wide.

Taeyhung is hunched over in the hallway cackling like a maniac and Yoongi is very close to standing up and slamming the door in their faces.

“Jin…seriously,” Namjoon whines with disapproval in his voice.

When Taehyung first brought the idea forward it was obvious that Namjoon disapproved. He reminded them they were idols and they needed to be careful and this was a huge risk. Taehyung reminded them he had been with Y/N for months and nothing had happened and his career was still intact, leaving it open for each of them to decide individually.

It seems not everyone shared Namjoon’s worry.

“And just so you know, my face is still handsome when I’m fucking someone against a mirror.” Jin finishes with a satisfied smirk as Yoongi finally has enough and stands up to slam the door in his so-called handsome face.

Taehyung and Jin run down the hallway cacking like hyenas before Yoongi can catch them and when he does slam the door it’s not as satisfying.

He runs a hand down his tired face and marches back to his computer where Namjoon is still seated in shock.

“You okay?” Yoongi asks as he fiddles around to pull up the song he had been stuck on for the past couple of days, sincerely hoping Namjoon could help him or he might scrap the whole thing out of frustration.

“Yeah, I just… they went against my warning? The maknaes I understand... they are horny little monsters but Jin? He is the oldest and supposed to be responsible? What if something happens?” Namjoon frets.

“I’m sure it will be okay. Taehyung said he has been with Y/N for a while and nothing has happened. I mean Jin was the one to point her out to him in the first place…responsible my ass. Either way, it already has happened and time machines don’t exist. We have enough to worry about with this tour.” Yoongi points out as Namjoon fiddles in his seat.

“I’m calling a meeting,” Namjoon says pulling out his phone.

Yoongi stops him with a hand on his arm.

“Namjoon no. What’s a meeting going to do anyway? You tell them not to they are going to want to do it more. We should just leave it.” Yoongi says as Namjoon grumbles and puts his phone in his pocket.

“Let’s just focus on the song okay? Please? Or do I have to kick you out too?” Yoongi half jokes as he grabs his discarded headphones.

“Sorry, Hyung just…stressed out,” Namjoon admits as Yoongi nods and puts the headphones over his messy hair as they both get to work.

The thing about someone warning you not to do something…

It really does make you want to do it more.

This was one of those times Yoongi hated being right.

He and Namjoon worked on the song for a total of two hours and Namjoon did help him get over his creative block.

It was a good studio session and Yoongi was grateful for his friend.

However, Namjoon had plans with some friends at his house, and even though he offered an invite to Yoongi multiple times Yoongi declined.

He wanted to stay and work on the music some more despite Namjoon telling him he needed rest and to eat something.

“I’m going to text you every hour Yoongi and if you are not out of this studio by eleven I’m dragging you out,” Namjoon warns as he throws his helmet over his head and waves as he leaves.

The problem is that Yoongi had all these ideas when Namjoon was around. He felt the creative juices flowing.

Now that Namjoon is gone and he is alone everything feels wrong.

His sweater is too hot, his hair tickles his face, his eyes burn from staring at a screen for too long, his shoulders hurt, he feels itchy and irritable and he is hard, so painfully hard in his track pants it’s annoying him further.

“Namjoon no. What’s a meeting going to do anyway? You tell them not to they are going to want to do it more.”

Yoongi hates being right.

But since Jin mentioned it Yoongi has not been able to stop thinking about it. It had been ages since he had something to satisfy him other than his right hand and the thought was tempting. How amazing it would feel to slide into a tight wet pussy, how good it would feel to have someone moaning his name, taking his cock, taking care of him.

He can hear Namjoon’s panic in the back of his mind. What if something does go wrong?

However, his skin is prickling with heat and his stomach is swooping with need and just at the thought of fucking someone his cock is twitching and leaking in his track pants making his skin itch some more.

Maybe Taehyung was onto something after all.

Fuck it.

Yoongi grabs his phone from his desk with one hand and palms the head of his cock with the other. He wants to relieve at least some tension so he doesn’t blow his load the second he gets to you.

With his free hand, he types out a message.

And lucky for him it doesn’t take long for you to respond.

By the time you hear the knocking on the door, you have just gotten the food all laid on the table.

You smirk to yourself as you smooth down your shirt and open the door to see Min Yoongi standing there.

He shoots you a shy timid smile as you lead him in and right to the kitchen.

His eyes widen and you try not to laugh.

“What’s all this?” He asks blinking slowly as he takes in the dimmed lights and the takeout containers.

“Y/N you didn’t have to do this.” He says softly as you pour him a glass of water and gesture for him to sit down at the table.

“I didn’t do this. Taehyung did. Well I mean… he texted me and gave me the heads up you might reach out. When I told him you did he ordered all this food for us and said you were stuck in the studio today and probably didn’t eat. He got all your favorites… or at least that’s what he told me” You admit as you sit across from Yoongi and his eyes soften.

“He was being a menace today and I had to kick him and Jin out of my studio he really knows how to suck up,” Yoongi explains as you start to pile his plate high and he runs a hand through his hair.

“Yup, that sounds like Taehyung.” You tease as you give him his plate and work on making your own.

You pile on a little bit of everything and push your chair closer to Yoongi as you both eat.

Conversation flows freely and you find Yoongi very easy to talk to. He tells you a little bit about his day and asks you about yours.

The whole thing is very domestic for two people who just met twenty minutes ago.

Once dinner is finished you pack everything up and leave it in the fridge reminding yourself to make Yoongi take it home with him.

You turn around to see Yoongi who is sitting in the chair, arms crossed over his stomach and trying his best to keep his eyes open.

He just looks so exhausted.

“Come on Yoongi time for sleep.” You coo as his eyes slowly flutter open and a pink blush paints his cheeks.

“But- I didn’t come here just to eat and sleep, I wanna fuck you.” He says innocently as you bite back a smile and help him out of his chair.

He loops an arm around you and buries his face into your neck as you guide him to your bedroom and help him flop down on the bed.

“How about we sleep first, baby? You look two seconds away from passing out.” You say to him.

“I’m fine I promise.” He says pouting out his lower lip looking as cute as ever.

“Yoongi how about we take a little nap at least? You can’t keep your eyes open.” You push, and much to your surprise he doesn’t argue and instead climbs up the bed.

You giggle when he throws back the smallest corner of the comforter to slip under and once he gets himself situated he makes grabby hands towards you.

You throw back the covers and climb under so you are the little spoon and immediately Yoongi wraps his arms around you and pulls you flush to his body so your back is pushed up against his chest and his nose is pressed into your hair.

“Thank you Y/N. m’ sorry this probably isn’t what you expected. And I don’t usually cuddle with people I don’t know…m’ just so tired.” Yoongi admits in a small voice as you push yourself closer to him and rub your hands up and down his arms.

“Yoongi let me take care of you, you are clearly exhausted from working so hard Let’s both get some rest okay?” You say softly as you bring his hand up to kiss the back of it causing him to push himself closer to you.

You were unsure how long you had slept for, all you knew was Yoongi’s arms were wrapped tightly around you and his cock was hard and pressing into your backside.

You craned your neck to look out your window seeing the sky dark and littered with stars. You both must have slept for at least a couple of hours.

You put your head back on the pillow and were about to doze off again when Yoongi let out a breathy whimper against your back and ground his cock harder into your butt. His hands tightened around you and you could hear the soft pants and whines that were spilling from his mouth as you smiled.

His moans were getting more high-pitched as he ground harder into you and your hand came around to cup at his bulge but you stopped yourself.

You never went over rules or anything with Yoongi because after you ate you both fell into a food coma-type sleep.

You weren’t sure if it was okay to touch him and you didn’t want to do it without his permission.

The only thing you could do was wake him up and just as you were about to do so you felt something else against your backside.

A pulsing vibration from a phone which meant someone was calling him.

You shook his arm to wake him and looked over your shoulder to see his eyes blearily opening as his phone continued to vibrate against your hip.

“Mm, what time is it?” He asked voice husky with sleep which made your stomach swoop, his sleepy voice was so sexy.

“Yoongi your-” You said as he suddenly realized and his eyes nearly popped open as he shoved his hard cock away from your backside and started apologizing profusely.

“No not that! I think someone is calling you. Your phone!” You say as he sits up still slightly disoriented as the vibrating stops.

But just as it stops it starts again and Yoongi leans back to fish his phone from his pocket frowning when he sees the screen.

“Shit, it’s Namjoon.” He says shooting you a look.

“I can leave if you need some privacy.” You say already turning to get out of bed, but Yoongi stops you with a strong hand on your thigh as he stares you down.

“Stay. This will be quick.” He says taking the call and holding the phone up to his ear as you slip back under the blankets.

“Hello?” Yoongi says as you fiddle with the blanket and try to make yourself look busy. Even though Yoongi wanted you to stay you still felt like you were intruding on something you shouldn’t have

You can faintly hear Namjoons worried voice over the phone. How he tried to text Yoongi multiple times and got no response.

You are about to stand up and leave despite Yoongi’s wishes when his long fingers circle your wrist and you gasp and stare at him in shock when he brings it to his hard cock and raises an eyebrow at you.

“Are you sure?” You whisper not wanting to be picked up by Namjoon on the other line as he nods and you slowly start to apply pressure to his hard cock through the thin material of his track pants.

“Mhmm. I know Joon. Mhmm.” Yoongi drawls as Namjoon continues to talk and you continue to stroke his cock through his pants watching as his hips rut up into your hand and how his eyes are fluttering with every pass of your palm.

Without hesitation, you dip your fingers into his waistband and boxers and circle the base of his cock, a choked groan leaving his lips as you hear Namjoon stop his talking, and you eye Yoongi.

“Yeah I’m okay Namjoon, sorry I just woke up from a nap.” Yoongi admits as he mouths the word “move” to you.

You dance your fingers along his painfully hard shaft and when you reach the head of his cock you can feel him dripping all over your fingers.

You gather as much of it as you can before taking your hand out of his pants and holding your fingers up to his face so he can see for himself.

His eyes widen when you take your fingers and pop them in your mouth, licking and sucking at the juices.

“Namjoon listen I have to-go I gotta go,” Yoongi says as you can hear the muffled noises of Namjoon protesting on the other line.

“Yoongi where did you nap?” You can hear Namjoon ask as you place your hands on his shoulders and lean in, kissing at the exposed skin of his neck as he throws his head back and you hear a small thump from when it hits the headboard.

“Nam-J-oon I have to go-seriously,” Yoongi says voice cracking as you suck on his neck letting your tongue flick over his warm flesh.

“Min Yoongi you better not be doing what I think you're doing!” You hear Namjoon warn.

You lick a bold stripe up his neck from collarbone to earlobe as Yoongi hangs up on his friend and throws his phone across the room.

His hands are tight on your hips as you position yourself so you are straddling him, pushing your wet core into his throbbing cock as he grabs you and pulls you in for a bruising kiss.

His lips are soft as they push into yours. His hands stay tight on your hips and your heart is racing in your chest when he wastes no time slipping his tongue into your mouth.

The kiss is heated and laced with heat and passion that it makes your head spin. He shifts his hips to push his hard cock into you and you whine against him as your core throbs with need.

“Need you. Fuck need you so bad. I’ve been hard all day thinking about this.” He mutters against your lips as his hands tug at the hem of your shirt pulling it over your head.

You can faintly hear his phone vibrating on the floor and you pull back to stare at him.

“Namjoon again?” You ask as Yoongi doesn’t seem too bothered, he is preoccupied with exploring your body with his tongue and taking off your bra.

“Yoongi your phone.” You cry out when he finally gets the bra off and his lips attach to your nipple sucking harshly causing moans to spill from your mouth and your eyes to close as your hands tangle in his hair.

“Don’t give a shit about Namjoon right now. Need you so fucking bad. Let him break down the door it’s not gonna stop me from fucking you.” Yoongi growls as he thrusts his cock up against you again and you whine.

You rake your hands through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he stares up at you, lips still wrapped around your nipple and a grin on his face.

“Woke up so fucking hard, wish you didn’t wear pants so I could have just slipped it right in.” He admits as you groan and grind your wet pussy down on his lap.

“Gonna soak my pants, baby. Gotta take these off.” He says as he helps you off of him and crawls down the bed so he is between your legs.

Your eyes widen in shock when he pulls your pants down harshly and throws them on the floor, muffling the sound of his still-vibrating phone even more.

“You sure you don’t want to answer your phone?” You ask as Yoongi kisses up and down your legs, stealing your breath from your lungs.

“And miss the chance of eating you out to get yelled at by Namjoon. Not a fucking chance.” He growls as he slowly makes his way to your core.

He takes his sweet time kissing up your thighs as you moan and thrash on the bed. Your body is on fire with need and you feel your core throb with every swipe of his tongue on your legs and thighs.

“Yoongi… please.” You cry out as you prop yourself up on pillows to get a better view of him between your legs.

“Please what? Use your words” Yoongi demands looking smug between your legs as his fingers run along your upper thighs.

“Touch me.” You whisper holding your breath in anticipation.

“I am touching you love.” He teases.

“Min Yoongi I swear to god. Please.” You cry out as he finally dips his finger into your folds and collects your wetness bringing it up to your clit and making your head hit the pillow and your eyes roll back.

“Fuck baby your soaking my fingers. Needy little thing aren’t you? Did the other boys touch you or was it all just talk?” He hums as he rubs small slow circles on your clit causing you to arch your back.

“Needy? You were the one grinding your cock into me earlier.” You tease as he removes his fingers and gives you a hard stare.

“I can stop you know.” He teases back with a mischievous smile as you whine and push your hips up, desperate to get him back to where you need him most.

“That’s what I thought.” He muttered as he lay himself down on the bed and your eyes widened as he brought his face closer to your dipping center.

“Fuck Yoongi.” You moan as he flattens his tongue against your slit and licks it all up.

You cry out and fist the sheets desperate to hold onto something and to ground yourself as Yoongi flicks his tongue over your clit causing you to cry out.

Yoongi works you with your tongue until you are a screaming sobbing mess under him. You feel your orgasm fast approaching and he must feel it too as he shoves two fingers deep inside of you and begin to scissor them, stretching you out as he licks and sucks at your clit.

Right when he curls his fingers deep inside you your body lets go and you arch up from the bed, his name falling like a prayer from your lips as your pussy clamps around his digits and you cum all over them and all over him as his tongue is still buried between your legs and his hair is tickling your thighs.

You come down and slump on the bed breathing heavily as you desperately try to catch your breath. You watch as Yoongi gently closes your legs and crawls up the bed towards you, his eyes sparkling as he shoves his pants and boxers down to free his hard, leaking cock. He throws them somewhere in the room as you giggle.

“So much better holy shit almost came in my pants tasting you.” He admits as his hand circles his cock and he strokes it slowly, trying to ease some of the built-up tension as you watch.

Yoongi’s skilled hand strokes and tugs at his cock, he takes his time with it letting out soft whines and moans with every pass of his fingers against the aching shaft.

“Fuck Yoongi, so hot.” You whimper as you close your thighs tightly trying to ease some of the ache between them.

Yoongi’s eyes travel down your body as he smirks when he sees your thighs clenching.

“One orgasm isn’t enough?” He asks releasing his cock and letting it smack against his stomach.

He crawls on top of you and uses his hands to spread your legs.

Your breath hitches when he leans down to press a soft slow kiss to your mouth and you reach up to tangle your hands into his sweaty hair.

“Hold them open for me. Let me grab a condom.” He whispers as he shimmies down the bed to grab his pants and digs through the pile of clothes to find his discarded phone.

His mouth draws up into a smirk when he checks the screen.

“Five missed calls from Namjoon. World record I think.” He teases as he grabs a condom from his wallet and throws his phone back down on the pile.

He takes his time rolling the condom on his hard length and you roll over to flick on the bedroom lamp casting the room in a warm glow.

"Is everything okay with Namjoon?” You ask as Yoongi crawls on the bed and positions his cock at your entrance.

“Yeah, he’s just… You know he’s our leader and he is the responsible one out of us. He feels like what we are doing isn’t the most responsible thing and is just worried.” Yoongi admits as he pushes his hair back from his face and stares you down.

“Does he know I signed a NDA contract? I legally can’t say anything…at all… ever?” You ask as Yoongi slides his cock head against your entrance coating it in your juices.

“Yeah, Taehyung told us that part it’s just… Namjoon you know. He worries a lot.” Yoongi admits with a fond look on his face.

“Sounds like he’s stressed out.” You tease as Yoongi lets out a laugh and slowly pushes his cock head inside.

The stretch is delicious and you open your legs wider to welcome him. He takes his time inching inside of you until he is fully sheathed and he pushes his forehead against yours and you both breathe heavily.

“Jin and Taehyung joked about that this morning. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s why I’m here. And fuck was it a great decision. You’re so tight for me darling.” He mumbles as he presses soft kisses against your temple.

“Did you get hard in the studio? Thinking about me? Thinking about this?” You purr as Yoongi closes his eyes and shifts his hips rocking into you gently.

“You have no idea. Was fine when I was working on the song, the second Namjoon left. Fuck. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. Felt like I was in heat. Needed this soaked pussy so bad.” Yoongi growls as you feel his cock twitch inside of you and you moan.

“Please tell me I can move. Please.” Yoongi begs and when you nod he grins wickedly down at you.

Yoongi pulls his cock most of the way out and grabs your legs. Before you can process it he has your legs thrown over his shoulder and starts to pound into you harshly.

You grip the blankets for support as Yoongi’s hard cock drags against your walls. He is fucking you with so much enthusiasm you feel like you might go right through the headboard.

Yoongi is moaning above you and is hitting that spot deep inside of you that has you crying out his name and gripping the sheets harder.

“Yoongi fuck, please. F-fuck feels so good.” You cry out as he reaches down to play with your clit, his skilled fingers rubbing it in a way that has your orgasm fast approaching.

“Baby girl you feel so good around me, pussy so good I want to scream.” He growls as he shifts his hips and slams into you harder causing your pussy to clench around him.

“Gonna cum princess, gonna cream my cock and make a mess for me,” Yoongi says as you nod frantically, your whole body tensing as you feel your high fast approaching.

“Yoongi right there fuck! Please!” You beg, not even sure what you are begging for.

Your orgasm rips through your body as you arch up from the bed and cry out his name. Your pussy clamps tightly against his cock as Yoongi bends forward to kiss you and you feel his cock twitch and empty into the condom, he can hardly thrust into you as you continue to ride out your high.

“so so good baby. You did so good.” he praises as his lips find yours and he gives you soft slow kisses, his hair falls over his face to tickle your cheeks and you grab at his shoulders desperate to feel more of him

Once you both come down Yoongi pulls out and throws the condom away. He positions himself down on the bed beside you. His hands come to scrape his hair away from his face as he stares at you with a dopey grin.

You lean in and press a small kiss to his cheek as you get up to get a towel and use the washroom.

Once you get yourself cleaned up you head back to the bedroom and let out a soft giggle. Yoongi is spread out on the bed and fast asleep. One hand is resting on his stomach and his hair is a mess and his lips are parted as he softly snores.

You inch over to the bed and use your warm washcloth to wipe around his soft cock, careful not to wake him.

Once finished you throw the covers over his body and grab a big tee shirt to sleep in as you curl up next to him.

His arms wrap around you and he buries his face in your hair. You hear a content sigh leave his lips.

Right as you are about to doze off you hear a phone vibrating again and you bite back a laugh as you snuggle into the covers and fall asleep.

TAGLIST

@take-u-2-an0ther-w0r1d

@m00njinnie

@minghaosimp

@madebyjungkookie

@iammeandmeisiam

@allie-is-a-panda

[bella-goths-wife]

A moment of peace

Beverly x ballerina reader

Warnings: illusions to disordered eating, mentions of domestic and paternal abuse, smoking, mentions of bowers gang abuse

“Got a light” you ask quietly from behind Beverly as she sat behind the bleachers, unlit cigarette hanging from her mouth

Her tormented face lights up slightly as she pats the space next to her almost excitedly at the idea of spend on time with you.

You liked Beverly, she was probably your only friend and you were hers. She felt comfortable and quiet in the chaos that was your life, so your rare smoke breaks together were like sanctuary for the two of you.

You recognised the abuse in each other, you both had the dead eyed stare that haunted the mirrors you looked in. You were both broken enough that you didn’t mind the chips and cracks within each other because you both knew you couldn’t glue yourself back together. You embraced the rubble that was your connected souls.

“Haven’t seen you in forever” she comments almost bitterly beneath her excited tone while she playfully bumps your shoulder as you sit by her side “lover boys got you locked up or was it a competition this time?”

“Something like that” you say with a lacklustre shrug and a slight sigh

Beverly simply replied by grabbing another cigarette from her carton and placing it between your lips, almost apologetically for asking her question.

You grab her lighter and you watch the dancing flame as you hold it up to her mouth to light her cigarette before lighting your own. Your sleeve falling down to show a fresh bruise on your wrist

“You fall?” Beverly asks with a knowing look as she pulls up your sleeve to cover the bruise from her own prying eyes, granting you your dignity

“Must have knocked it on something” you lie with an uninspired tone, too tired to commit to your deceit fully

“Sure” Beverly says with a sigh as she holds your wrist gently and strokes it while also showing a similar bruise on her own arm, almost to reassure you that you weren’t alone

You both smoke in silence for a few moments, not awkwardly but almost like your silences could speak a hundred words

“I heard that Patrick got with another girl at Mandy’s party this weekend” Beverly says casually, but her eyes portrayed a testing look

“Huh” you say with an uninterested tone as smoke falls out your mouth “poor girl”

“Doesn’t it upset you?” Beverly asks curiously “he is meant to be with you, well sorta I guess”

“Not really, I’m kinda glad it wasn’t me” you say quietly as you smoke

“Why though?” Beverly asks with a searching tone “shouldn’t you be upset with him having sex with someone else”

You shrug half heartedly as you search for the right words, memories of Patrick’s hands creeping into your mind as you suppress a shudder

“I’ve never really been interested in it all” you answer honestly “sex in general just isn’t very interesting to me”

“But you have to at least want it sometimes” Beverly says with a small snort and a roll of her eyes “not with them in particular but just in general”

“Nope” you say with a shake of your head “never have”

“Never?” Beverly says with a bewildered expression

“Never” you confirm with a small chuckle at her shock

“Weirdo” Beverly says playfully as she reaches into her bag and pulls out a sand which before taking a bite “want some?”

“I’m good thanks” you say with a shake of your head, looking away from the food with an uncomfortable look

“Sorry I forgot, perfection means no calories” Beverly says with a playful scoff as she looks over at the ballet shoes that laid in your open bag

“Bev” you say with a scoff as you nudge her “stop”

“I’m just kidding” Beverly reassures as she takes a bite out of her food and you smoke instead

A silence hangs in the air between the two of you as you both try and ignore the painfully obvious truths between your words. About how you don’t consume food and how Beverly consumes enough to get her by before eventually ducking into the bathroom stall. it’s easier than dissecting what you both know to be true, and it’s not what your friendship was built on your mutually destructive paths.

“I went to your ballet performance the other day, the one on Saturday” Beverly admits quietly

“You did?” You say surprised as you turn to look at her fully

“Of course I did” Beverly says with a scoff “you couldn’t stop talking about it and practicing for it, had to see what the fuss was about”

“And?” You ask with a small grin “what did you think? Did I meet your high standards?”

Beverly lets out a small laugh before leaning back on her palms with a grin

“Of course” Beverly says with a smile “you were brilliant as always”

“As always?” You say with slight confusion “you’ve seen me dance before?”

“Duh, I’ve been to like almost all of your shows” she says with an obvious look and a laugh “I always sit in the back near the dance logo”

“I never knew” you say with surprise laced into your tone “why didn’t you tell me?”

“You always invite me” Bev points out with a shrug “I thought you knew”

“Yeah, well… um” your tone becomes unsure as you struggle to find the words to explain that despite inviting people to your shows it was extremely rare for anyone other than belch to turn up “I just thought you wouldn’t go, thought you’d think it was boring”

“Nah, I like it” Beverly says with a chuckle “I like it when you do the… um… what’s it called? The spinning one?”

“Pirouettes” you say with a laugh “you like them?”

“Yeah they look super cool” she says with a smile “but I bet they hurt like hell”

You let out small giggles as you lean your head on her shoulder out of amusement, cigarettes long forgotten as you stub them out

“You have no idea” you say with an amused sigh

There’s another moment of silence as the two of you just enjoy sitting in each others presence, your hair tickling Bev’s neck from where your head rested on her shoulder

“Your a really good dancer” Bev says gently with a small smile

“Thank you Bev” you say quietly with a grin full of genuine joy at your talent being acknowledged

You stay like that for a few moments before noticing the time and sighing.

“I better get going” you say as you get up and gather your things “Henry will be wondering where I am”

Beverly nods silently with a bitter look as she watches you get your stuff and begin to turn away before her hand raced out and gently grips onto your unbruised wrist

“Take care of yourself, okay?” She says with a concerned expression “don’t let them grind you down too much, okay?”

You’re slightly taken aback by the genuine concern so you just nod silently before giving her a reassuring squeeze on her hands and taking off towards the school where you could see Henry waiting with a grim expression.

You sigh internally at the sight, but at least being with Beverly offered you a few moments of peace.

Taking this time to confirm asexual ballerina reader since I’ve had a few requests for an asexual character and I think it fits her best but let me know what you guys think

Also think this could be a ship post or nah?

[roseblog-rog]

As someone on the aroace spectrum I'm always looking to hear how others, particularly aromantics who are in relationships, feel about those relationships. Still struggling to understand my feelings and understand different forms of love. If you don't feel comfy answering that's ok btw!

hi! thanks for the ask! so i am also on the aroace spectrum, and while I’m still constantly figuring myself out and dont care too much about the specifics of my attraction and orientation and stuff like that, the labels that feel most correct right now are demisexual and demiromantic. my demiromanticism is a lot simpler to explain. I’ve known my three girlfriends for a little while now, and with the three of them I’ve developed a special bond I haven’t really felt with anyone else (except my ex ohp), and I love them very much and enjoy dating them and feel what I think is romantic attraction and it just feels right. However, I do not and have never experienced those feelings with anyone else, not really. Not even a fleeting fantasy or fancy or whatever. My demisexuality, however, is a bit more difficult to explain. For the most part I am quite sex repulsed, which may seem shocking as fuck considering the nature of my account, but I really wouldn’t want to have sex or engage in sexual activity with anyone but my partners. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m completely sexually attracted to my partners either, but I do enjoy sex with them and with them only. I find them pretty and hot and trust them and enjoy doing stuff, but my demisexuality honestly feels more like asexuality as i dont really feel much attraction at all with anyone. I enjoy sex with certain people but don’t really feel what many consider “sexual attraction”. I think? Idk. I guess all this to say that everyone is different, and attraction can be really really weird and no one actually knows what’s going on and labels are only really there to make you feel more seen and more comfortable and more understood, but you do not have to completely live by them. so yes I am on the aroace spectrum, and I found love in my own unique, weird, and beautiful way. I don’t know if any of that helps, but that’s what I got (:

[cuttergauthier]

Lies

Female reader x Jack Hughes

Warning: against, wedding, Alcohol, fluff Jack

word count: 5.2k

let me know what you guys think🤍

Jack Hughes and Y/n do not get along, their families are close friends. They were neighbours growing up. What happens when Quinn, Jack’s brother gets married to his fiancé Allison and both of their families keep asking them if they are bringing a date?

I’ve been home for about a week for summer vacation and my mom won’t stop bothering me about bringing a date to Quinn’s wedding. I’ve been away at Columbia University all year, I’m also single and honestly, I wanted nothing to do with any of the boys in this town.

I have no idea what I’m going to do. I was getting so annoyed.

“Honey are you bringing a date to the wedding?” she asked for the 10th time since I’ve been home.

“Yes, I’m bringing my boyfriend!” I blurted out before even thinking. My eyes widened

“YAY!” my mom said excitedly

“who is it?” she asked

“You’ll have to wait and see” I said

“Okay, well I’m glad you’re bringing someone”

“Me to” I said before leaving the room

What the hell did I just do? I have no idea what I’m going to do, my mom won’t be to happy if she finds out I lied.

It was only 12:15 p.m. so I might as well go out for the day. I grabbed my purse and car keys and decided to go into town.

I parked my car downtown and decided to walk. I might do some shopping. I just knew I couldn’t stay home I need to figure out what I’m going to do.

I was about to enter Starbucks when I bumped into someone. When I look up I see Jack, making me roll my eyes.

“Really Y/n do you never watch where you’re going” he said annoyed

“My god seriously, you ran into me” I replied angrily.

“Whatever” he scoffed. He went to walk away but I stopped him.

“How’s Quinn? Is he excited about the wedding? I haven’t talked to him in a while.” I asked him

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him more excited” he replied

I nodded and went to walk in the Starbucks, but he surprised me when he continued to talk.

“Are you and your family going to the rehearsal too? Or just the wedding?”

“Both, I think… my mom’s been annoying me about it” I said annoyed

“thought you’d be more excited? Doesn’t every girl love weddings?” he said smirking. I could tell he was just trying to annoy me even more.

“Yes, except I told my mom I was bringing my boyfriend” I blurted out. What is wrong with me, I need to stop saying that.

He looked shocked, he was about to say something else but I stopped him.

“Look I have to go, I’ll see you at the wedding” I said leaving him outside.

I ordeJack my drink and went to pay, when someone reached over paying for me.

“you don’t have to do that…” I started to say when I saw it was Jack.

“Don’t worry about it.” He said smiling at the worker.

Why would he do that?

The worker gave me my drink and I went to leave but Jack stopped me.

“not even a thank you?” he said smirking

“why’d you pay? You want me to be nice to you?” I said annoyed

“Can we sit and talk for a bit?” he asked nervously. I looked at him confused, what was he up to.

I nodded slowly and followed him to a table.

“What do you want Jack?” I asked annoyed

“We both live in New Jersey, I know you don’t have a boyfriend, so why’d you lie” he asked

“I do have a boyfriend” I said confidently, but I knew he could tell I was lying.

“So if I ask one of my brothers or Allison they’ll say it’s true?”

“… Fine I don’t. why do you care if I lied?”

“Because I may have told my mom I was bringing my girlfriend to the wedding, except I don’t have one.” He said making me laugh. He rolled his eyes at me

“Yeah laugh it up, you did the same thing”

“I’m guessing both of our parent’s wouldn’t stop bugging us about bringing a date” I said making him nod.

“Now that I know you did the same thing, maybe we could just pretend were dating, go to the wedding together and after we fake breakup” he said.

I looked at him for second before throwing my head back and laughing.

“Okay what’s so funny about that?” he asked annoyed

I finally calmed down before answering him.

“No one’s going to believe us, we don’t get along”

“both of our families haven’t seen us all year except for Quinn when the canucks playing against us in jersey and Allison who came to visit a few time, we just need to get our stories straight”

“You can’t be serious”

“I am, we both told our parent’s we were bringing date I never told my mom my supposed girlfriends name did you tell your mom a name?”

“No I didn’t”

“then we can do this, we’ll just have to pretend to be a couple at the rehearsal and wedding”

“…fine, this better work” I Said making him smile.

“it will, are you busy later around 7?” he asked

“No why?”

“Well we need to get our stories straight so, we’ll go somewhere to talk, that good with you?”

“Sure whatever, text me later where, so I can leave without my mom asking to many questions” I said and he nodded before leaving.

This is not going to end well.

……………………………………………………………

I made it back home around 5 p.m. after my coffee I thought I might as well do some shopping to pass time, since I was afraid if I went home early my mom would question me about my ‘Fake boyfriend’ so the less time home was better.

My mom made dinner so I sat with her and my dad, thankfully they didn’t ask me anything about who I was bringing to the wedding.

After dinner It was about 6 p.m, made my way to my room so I could change into comfier clothes.

I changed into a pair of black lululemon’s and my overside Columbia hoodie.

I decided to watch Netflix while I waited for Jack to text me.

I was only 10 minutes into the show when he sent me a text

Meet me at the old spot by the water.

I replied telling him I would. We would always go there when we were all in high school, it was pretty private, no one ever goes there anymore. But I remember Jack, Quinn, and some of the ntdp boys would always go there just to hang out.

It’s only about a 15-minute drive from our house so I looked outside my window to see if Jack’s car was in his driveway. When I saw it wasn’t I thought I might as well leave. I grabbed my purse and keys and made my way downstairs. My parent’s were in the living room watching tv so I couldn’t exactly leave without them seeing me.

“I’m going out for a little bit, don’t wait up, love you” I said before leaving.

They trust me so I knew they wouldn’t worry or ask where I’m going.

………………………………………………………

When I arrived at the stop it was only 6:55 but Jack was already there. I parked next to him, he rolled down his window and told me to go in his car. I nodded turning my car off before joining him.

“so, what are we going to tell them when they ask us how long we’ve been together?” I asked him. The music was playing softly in the background.

“we can say we’ve been together for about 4 months maybe” he said looking at me. I nodded.

“yeah, we can say that being away in the same City and me not really knowing to many people, we can say you ended up inviting me to hang out with some of your teammates and their girlfriends and we just realized we never really hated each other or something and decided to date” I said

“Yeah that works, I just don’t know if Quinn and Allison will believe us.” He said

“Well Quinn did pretty much force us to hang out more this year after we argued one to many times last summer, we did try and be civil with each other” I said, he nodded.

“True… we’ll have to sit by each other you know that right?”

“Yeah, I’m not to excited about that” I said

“I’m not that bad Y/n” he said cockily, making me scoff

“Yeah right” I said chuckling

“we’ll have to dance and stuff so they actually believe us” he said, making me realize we might need to kiss. My eyes widened

“Oh god, we might have to kiss won’t we” I ask

“Probably, just promise you won’t fall in love with me if we do” he said smirking

“Like I could ever fall in love with you”

“You never know”

“Yeah whatever, are we going to meet earlier tomorrow before the rehearsal? Or are we just meeting there?” I ask him

“I’m guessing you’ll be getting ready at your place?” he asked making me nod.

“Yeah, I’m supposed to go to the rehearsal with my parents”

“It might be more believable If I go pick you up, that way our parent’s would know before we actually get to the wedding and you could ride with me, we would get there together, we’d look more like a couple if we do that”

“Okay sure, just please make it believable when you come get me” I said

“I will, the rehearsal is at 5 p.m. and it’s a 30 minute drive so I could pick you up at 4 p.m? I think my mom wants me to be there a little bit earlier since I’m one of the groomsmen and you’re one of the brides maids right?”

“yeah I am so that should fine, I’ll be ready.” I said

“Perfect then it’s all figured out” he said smiling.

“yeah, let’s just hope nothing goes wrong.”

“Trust me, everything will be fine”

“I don’t trust you Jack.” I said annoyed

“well for once just trust me” he said smirking

“Fine, I’m going home now” I said before getting out of his car.

“I’ll see you tomorrow girlfriend” he said smirking, making me roll my eyes. I wave him off before getting in my car and going home.

………………………………………………

It’s the day of the rehearsal and I’m nervous. I just woke up its 10:30 a.m. so I made my way downstairs to get some breakfast, both my parents were there. My mom was making breakfast while my dad was on his phone and drinking his coffee.

When I got there my dad looked up at me and smiled.

“Good morning honey” he said.

“Good morning dad” I said before kissing his cheek and doing the same to my mom.

“Did you sleep well” my mom asked

“I did, what are we eating for breakfast?” I asked. I’m starving

“Waffles” she said smiling

“Yay” I said excitedly. Making my parents laugh

I went and poured myself some coffee in my cup. I’m going to need all the coffee I can get, to get through today.

Once the waffles were ready my mom placed them in our plates and we all started to eat.

“Is your boyfriend going to be riding in the car with us?” my mom asked

“Actually he’s going to be picking me up.” I said shyly

“Oh okay, you know you need to get there earlier since you’re a bridesmaid right?” she asked

“Yes mom” I said smiling

“So what’s his name?” my dad asked

“You’ll find out when he picks me up” I said putting my plate and coffee cup in the dishwasher.

���Oh come on, why won’t you just tell us?” he said pouting. My dad has always been pretty chill, he always told me as long as long as he makes you happy and treats you how you should be treated then he would like him.

“What’s the fun in that” I said chuckling.

“It’s 11:15 so I’m going to go take a shower before I have to get ready for the day” I told them.

“Okay, are you wearing your pink dress?” my mom asked

“yes” I said before going upstairs to take a shower.

I took a long shower hopping it would help with my stress. By the time I got out it was 12:00 p.m. so I got dressed into some sweatpants and a tank top. I went into my room and decided to watch a few episodes of Outer banks on Netflix before I start getting ready.

A few minutes later I got a text from Jack.

-       I’ll be at your place at 4 since I have a feeling your parent’s will have questions.

-       Good idea

After I answered him I went back to watching my show.

At around 2:00 p.m. I went downstairs to get a snack before getting ready. I didn’t want to starve before the rehearsal dinner since I know we’ll be eating there.

I decided to make myself a green smoothie, that way I wouldn’t be hungry for a few hours.

“Hey sweetheart, If you need me, I’ll be in my room getting ready.” My mom told me.

“Okay, I’m also going to start getting ready” I said, she nodded before going upstairs to her room.

One my smoothie was ready I went back up to my room. I sat down at my makeup desk and turned on my curling wand so I could do my hair first. I still had to finish my smoothie, so I didn’t want to risk doing my makeup first and making a mess.

I decided to do loose beach waves. I had long hair so I knew it would look good with my dress. Once I was done with my doing my hair, along with drinking my smoothie I started my makeup. I went with a natural look. I didn’t want to go all out.

Once I was done it was only 3:15 p.m. and I didn’t know which shoes I wanted to wear yet so I thought I would figure that out before I got dressed.

I had a lot of shoes, luckily, I found a pair of heals that were the same color as my dress. I went in the bathroom and changed. My dress is a silky V-neck knee length blush pink. I found this dress at urban outfitters about a month ago and I knew it would be perfect for this.

Once I was ready it was almost 4, I knew Jack would be here soon so I grabbed my heals and made my way downstairs.

My dad was already ready watching tv so was my mom, they didn’t like being late so they always made sure to get ready a little while before they had to leave.

I went and sat down next to them on the couch.

“Oh honey you are stunning” my mom said smiling

“Thanks mom, I did get my looks from you.” I replied smiling

My dad started laughing.

“it’s a good thing you don’t look like me” he said, my mom hit him on the shoulder making me laugh.

I looked at my phone to see it was 3:55 and Jack just texted me.

I’m leaving right now.

Thankfully he lives next door, so I put my shoes on. Once I got up there was a knock on the door.

“Perfect the boyfriends here” My dad said getting up to answer the door.

Once he opened the door and saw who was standing there his eyes widened.

“Jack?” he said looking at him, then me, before looking at him again.

“did you say Jack?” My mom asked not believing it.

My dad nodded before letting Jack come in.

“Jack honey, it’s so good to see you” my mom said before giving him a hug.

“It’s good to see you too, it’s been to long” He told her smiling, before looking at me.

“How long have you two been dating?” my dad asked

“4 months, we just wanted to keep it a secrets for a little while” Jack answered

“well I am definitely happy you two finally got together” my mom said surprising me.

“Mom, what?” I asked confused, making Jack chuckle.

“What? Ellen and I always knew this was going to happen” She said like it was the most obvious thing ever.

I just shook my head and looked at Jack.

“we should probably get going” I said, he nodded

“we’ll see you guys in a bit” he told my parents before we walked out.

I made my way to the passenger side door and he followed me opening the door for me, making me look at him confused.

“ what? We need to make it believable” he said making me chuckle.

Once he got in the driver seat, we made our way to the rehearsal dinner.

About 10 minutes later I could see him looking at me every few seconds.

“what?” I ask

“Nothing… you look beautiful” he said

“Thank you, you don’t look to bad yourself” I replied smiling.

The rest of the drive was quiet the only sound was the music playing softly in the background. Once he parked the car. He turned and looked at me smiling.

“You ready for this?” he asked

“No, but I don’t have a choice” I said and he laughed.

“no you don’t, come on” he said as we both got out of the car.

He waited for me in from of the car. He held up his hand.

“come on we need to make it believable” he said

I nodded grabbing his hand, and we made our way inside.

Once we got inside Jim, Ellen, Luke, Quinn, Quinn’s best man Brady, Allison, her 2 other bridesmaid and her family were already here.

Quinn saw us and his eyes widened.

“NO WAY” he screamed making everyone turn their attention to us. Allison gasped when she saw us holding hands, Before running to me and hugging me.

Quinn just laughed making me chuckle.

“When did this happen?” Quinn asked us

“4 months ago”

“What?” Allison asked looking at me.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us?” Quinn asked

“We wanted to keep it a secrets for a little while to make sure we would actually work out since both our families are friends we didn’t want to make it awkward” Jack answered and I nodded.

I didn’t except him so say that so confidently.

“Well I’m so happy for you two” Allison said hugging me again. She had a big smile.

“Thanks Alli, but today and tomorrow is about you and Quinn not us” I said chuckling.

After everyone said they were happy for us, there attention went back to Alli and Quinn.

“Can’t believe that worked” I whispered to Jack after we were alone.

“Same I didn’t expect them to believe us” he said

Thankfully for the rest of the night the attention was on the soon to be bride and groom.

I stayed with Jack the whole night when we would interact with family members.

Thankfully he was nice the whole night making me wonder why I we never got along.

“You ready to go back home?” he asked me when everyone started leaving.

I nodded.

We said our goodbyes, Allison reminding me not to be late tomorrow morning. We were meeting here at the hotel at 9:00 a.m. where the wedding would take place. They rented out a ballroom. But all the bridesmaids where meeting in a suite to get ready before the wedding.

Jack led the way to the car, we got in and made our way home.

Once we he parked in my driveway. He looked at me.

“Thanks for the drive, I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding” I said, he nodded.

I got out of the car and made my way inside and in my room.

I did my nighttime routine and got in bed.

I just laid there in bed thinking.

I think I might be falling for him. That can’t happen we’re supposed to hate each other.

…………………………………………………….

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. so I could take quick shower.

After my shower I made my way downstairs to get breakfast before I had to leave. I was glad there was someone at the wedding doing our hair and makeup, so I didn’t need to do that before leaving.

I made myself an omelette and a coffee. Once I was done eating, I went and brushed my teeth. I then grabbed my stuff and made my way to the hotel. I got there at 8:55, I went to the room we were all meeting in and knocked on the door.

Allison’s mom answered the door smiling.

“Hey Y/n, come in” she said

“Thank you” I replied making my way inside.

Allison saw me and gave me a hug

“I’m about to be Mrs. Hughes” she said happily

“I’m so happy for you” I said smiling.

“Here drink this, and you can get your hair done first” She said handing me a mimosa, before shoving me in the direction of the hairstylist, I chuckled

The hairdresser talked to me the whole time along with Jenna the other bridesmaid that was sitting next to me. She was getting her hair done by the second hairdresser. There was two hairdressers and two makeup artists.

Ellen, Jack and Quinn’s mom was sitting on the other side of me getting her makeup done.

“I guess it’s a good thing, Allison and Quinn ended putting you and Jack together to walk down the aisle. Turns out you were dating all along” Ellen said smiling

“I know right” I said chuckling

“I am so happy my son finally asked you out, I could tell he always had a crush on you” she said making me blush. There’s no way Jack had or has a crush on me, he hates me, but she couldn’t know that.

“Me too” I answered smiling.

Once I was done with hair, I got my makeup done. Allison also ended up giving me another mimosa, they were strong, if we keep drinking them I don’t think walking down the aisle will go to well.

It was finally time to put on our dresses.

Allison had chosen a long baby blue silky V-neck dress for the bridesmaids. It was a beautiful dress.

Once Allison put on her wedding dress everyone in the room ended up teering up, she was absolutely stunning.

“Alli, wow, you look stunning” I tell her smiling.

“Thanks Y/n, I can’t believe the day’s finally here” she replied smiling

“Believe it girl” Emma her Maid of honor said, making us laugh.

“Let’s get this show on the road” Her mom said

We left the room and made our way downstairs. We made sure Allison was last and you couldn’t see her until Quinn walked down the aisle. Once he did. We all got in line with Allison last.

I stood next to Jack, I smiled at him, we made our way down the aisle.

When it was time for Allison and her dad to walk down the aisle everyone in the audience stood up. When Quinn saw her, he started teering up. when she made it in front of Quinn, I looked at them and smiled. They are perfect for each other.

The ceremony went on and now it was time for their vows.

“Allison, if anyone would have told me 3 years ago that today I would be standing here, in front of all our family and friends about to marry my best friend, I never would have believed them. You have stood by my side for all the highs and lows, I love you so much and I can’t wait to see what the future may hold for us.” Quinn said Tearing up, same with Allison.

“Quinn, the day we met, I didn’t feel like leaving my apartment, but my friends dragged me out. I can’t thank them enough, because that’s the day I met you. I can’t imagine doing life with anyone else. I love you so much, I can’t wait for all the adventures we are going to have.” Allison said. I whipped away a tear that had rolled down my cheek. I ended up making eye contact with Jack, he smirked, probably because I was tearing up.

The wedding officiator finally told them to kiss.

We all cheered.

I was so happy for them, I hope I get that one day.

It was time to leave the room and go outside for pictures.

We took a lot.

“Y/n, Jack get in here” Allison said mentioning to us to get in the picture with her and Quinn.

We did then she told our families to join which included hers, Quinn’s and mine.

I think she did this because Jack and I are ‘dating’ I’m afraid to know what they’ll say when we fake break up tomorrow.

Once we were done with pictures. We made our way to get food. Before it was time for the party.

“You good, I saw you tearing up during the wedding” Jack said teasing me as we sat together.

“Shut up, it was a beautiful ceremony, it’s not my fault you don’t have a heart” I snapped quietly. He rolled his eyes.

I honestly don’t know what made me snap, I’m just glad no one heard me.

I made conversation with the Jenna, she was the bridesmaid sitting next to me at the main table. I was trying to ignore Jack as much as I could since when the party started I knew I’d have to dance with him.

When the wedding party started Allison and Quinn had their first dance as I stood on the side next to Jack. I was tearing up again along with the maid of honor and bridesmaids.

After their first dance, it was the Allison and her dad, then Quinn and Ellen.

Then it was time for the bridesmaids and Groomsmen, which means I have to dance with Jack.

Jack grabbed my hand and graded me on the dance floor. We started dancing I had my head on his chest and we swayed to the music.

Once the song ended we made our way to our table. I grabbed another drink and chatted with some of Jack’s family.

After a few more drinks I was feeling the alcohol, I danced a lot and I need some fresh air, I saw Jack standing outside the balcony that was connected to the ballroom.

I went and stood next to him against the railing with a Champaign glass in my hand.

“What are you doing out here?” Jack asked when he saw I was next to him

“I just needed some fresh air, what are you doing here?”

“I Just needed to think”

“about what?”

“About how we are going to tell everyone were breaking up tomorrow.”

“I was thinking about that earlier” I said nodding.

“It shouldn’t be hard right, I mean it’s all fake, we hate each other. We can finally go back to hating each other” he said

“Right” I said, that hurt, I honestly thought maybe he’d feel differently. I finished my drink before saying “I should probably go back inside” I said avoiding his eyes.

I went back inside, he came back inside a few minutes after me, but I was avoiding him as much as I could.

Until Quinn noticed and made his way to me.

“Hey, I haven’t had the chance to talk to you yet, are you having fun?” he asked me

I gave him a fake smile before answering “Yes, you guys did a good job at planning this wedding.” He smiled

“Thank you, but it was mostly Allison’s planning” making me chuckle

“Now how about you tell me what’s going on” I looked at him confused.

“what? Nothing is going on, I’m having fun” I said giving him another fake smile.

“I saw you coming back inside, your mood changed, what did my brother do?” he asked

I let out a breath

“Were not really dating, we were only pretending because both our families wanted us to bring dates, and I honestly fell for him while pretending, but turns out he still hates me, so we will be fake breaking up tomorrow” I let it all out and honestly it felt nice to finally tell someone.

Quinn gave me a small smile.

“I know about the whole fake dating thing. Jack told me this morning, he likes you Y/n he just thinks you’d never feel the same way, he’s had a crush on you since we were in high school, he’s just an idiot who can’t admit it. Go talk to him, I promise everything will work out.” Quinn told me before leaving me there thinking.

I looked around for Jack when I saw him getting another drink. I might as well get another drink, I’ll try and ask if we can talk.

I made my way over while he was still there. I grabbed another glass of champaign and looked at him, to see he was already looking at me.

“Can we talk?” I ask, he nodded and we made our way back to the balcony.

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked annoyed

“You told Quinn about us fake dating” I said looking at him, his eyes widened.

“dammit Quinn, he said he wouldn’t tell anyone” Jack said angry about to walk away, but I grabbed his arm.

“why did you? Tell him I mean” I asked

“because I needed to tell someone & I thought he could keep it a secret but apparently not”

“So it wasn’t because you might actually have feeling for me & you just didn’t know how to tell me?” I asked softly

“Dammit Quinn, just ignore him okay, he’s lying” he said

“Oh…umm okay, I’ll just leave you alone then” I said as my eyes started watering. Quinn had given me hope, but I guess I was wrong.

“why do you care?” he asked when I was about to leave.

I looked him in the eyes before saying “Because I was hoping it was true, because that’s how I feel” he looked me in the eyes before putting his hands on my cheeks and kissing me. It took me a second before I kissed him back.

We both pulled away breathing heavily.

“I thought Quinn was lying” I said making us both chuckle.

“He wasn’t, I just didn’t think you’d ever feel the same way.” He said smiling at me.

“well I do” I replied, he pulled me into another kiss.

Once we broke apart, he put his arms around me and looked at me.

“Does this mean we don’t have to break up tomorrow?” he asked smirking

“Not if you don’t want to” I said

“I’ll never want to break up with you, I’ve always loved you Y/n” he said smiling brightly at me

“I’ve always loved you to Jack” I replied smiling. We kissed again but we broke apart when we heard a knock on the balcony door followed by some cheering. We turned around to see Quinn and Allison cheering happily, making us laugh before we went and joined them.

Bonus

Jackhughes - Yourusername

Liked by QuinnHughes, TrevorZegras and more

JackHughes - Yourusername 2 years ago we wouldn’t have thought we’d be here. WE ARE GETTING MARRIED💍🤍

View all comments

_Quinnhughes ABOUT TIME!!!

AllisonHughes Here’s Comes soon to be Mrs. Hughes🤍

TrevorZegras Congrats guys🥺

Tysmith Been waiting for this🤩

Nicohichier About time he put a ring on it, congrats you two🥺🤍

Elblue06 So excited to be getting another daughter🤍

Colecaufield to think you two used to hate each other🥺

→Alexturcotte they grew up🥺

Bradytkachuk atta boy jack!!!

Lhughes_06 Finally I couldn’t keep the secret anymore!

Brendanbrisson Your relationship is straight out of a movie!

subanator they grow up so fast😢

[strniohoeee]

I’m not sure if you write for Justin butttttt like the triplets have a friend and the reader is their older sister, an Justin starts to grow a crush on her…🫣

Clouded

Pairing: Justin Carey X Female Reader

Synopsis: Back home from graduate school, Y/N runs into her old best friend, and some feelings come up to the surface. Will these feelings be mutual??🫂

Warnings⚠️: None. This one was okayyy, but like Justin has me in a chokehold like let’s stop pretending he isn’t fine asf😁

Songs for the imagine: Misty- Lesley Gore, La-La Means I Love You- The Delfonics

Look at me

I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree

And I feel like i'm clinging to a cloud

I can’t understand

Being the older sister meant being the babysitter when mom and dad weren’t home. Lucky for me most of college I avoided that, but I just graduated graduate school and moved back home while I looked for a better paying job.

It was weird having a brother 6 years younger than me because for a while we never got along, but like him and I could go drinking in a few months once he turned 21??

Anyways my parents gave me the summer off while they stood in Italy on a work trip as long as I watched my brother. I mean it was easy now that he was an adult I only set two rules: no parties and no girls over. For the most part I had a free summer back home in Boston. Oh how I missed home. I lived in Tennessee while I did the last 4 years of graduate school, and the south had nothing on up north.

The day my parents were leaving was the day my brother decided to crash his car and totaled it. The idiot was texting and driving and hit a tree. I’m honestly shocked he walked away alive considering he drove a car that was older than me. Nonetheless this made me his chauffeur which I hated.

“Y/NNNN LETS GOO I HAVE PLANS” he yelled from downstairs

“SHUT UP YOU TWERP” I yelled back putting my pants on

“YOURE TAKING FOREVERRRR” he yelled again

“STEFAN IM LITERALLY COMING DOWN, NOW SHUT UP” I yelled backed as I grabbed my phone and pursed and shut my light off walking down the stairs

“Ouuu someone’s getting all pretty for their boyfriend” he said ruffling my hair

“What boyfriend you weirdo” I said pushing him away

“Justin” he said laughing

“Justin? Your friend's older brother?” I said raising an eyebrow at him

“Yeah who else? Didn’t yall have a past anyways” he said putting his sneakers on

“Umm no we were friends, and then he got all weird on me senior year and I haven’t seen him since, that was like 9 years ago” I said grabbing a water bottle

“Ohh right weirded out by your obsession he chose to go to a different college I remember you didn’t like that” he said wiggling his brows at me

“You’re a little shit. I wasn’t obsessed with him” I said flicking him in the forehead

“Right and the sky isn’t blue” he said grabbing his overnight bag

“I’ll lock you in the house and drive away have fun getting nowhere” I said smiling at him

“Your threats don’t scare me anymore I could get to their house easily” he said smiling at me

“Yeah how? With your car? Oh yeah…that’s right you don’t have one” I said looking at him in a shocked way

“Fine you win this one” he said rolling his eyes

“Don’t I always” I said opening the door for him and letting him walk out

“I’m spending the night with the triplets, so you can just drop me off and then do as you please” he said getting in the passenger seat

“Sounds good to me” I said sitting in the driver's seat and connecting my phone to the aux

“Is Justin home?” I asked Stefan randomly

“And you say your were not obsessed” he said looking up from his phone

“Just answer the question dipshit” I said rolling my eyes

“I’m actually not sure. He never really came home during breaks or anything, so I don’t even know if he lives here again, or if he moved out of state” he replied

“Hmm nice to know” I said tilting my head a bit

“Why? Going to try and get him back?” He said looking at me

“What? No….I just haven’t seen him in so long I wonder what he’s been up to. I mean him and I were best friends that’s how you became friends with Chris Nick and Matt” I replied glancing over at my brother

“Yeah it is weird how yall just stopped talking” he said

“I never even got an explanation either. We grew up in diapers together and then one random Tuesday he just completely ghosts me” I said laughing

“Pretty pathetic” my brother said

“I know right” I replied

“Oh no not him…you…pathetic that you remember the day” he said laughing

“You’re such a dick” I said smacking his chest

“OW” he yelled grabbing his chest

“20 years old and you still haven’t changed one bit” I said shaking my head at him

“You know I love you” he said tickling me

“Stop weirdo” I said laughing

I had pulled up to the triplets driveway, and he texted them that he was outside. I got out of the car to hug my brother bye and told him to behave to which he replied he’s not a little kid.

“Y/N you’re home” Matt said

“Hey guys! Look at you you’re all grown up” I said hugging them

“It’s been forever” Nick said

“I know right, four years and now I’m back home for good, and my parents make me watch this numbnut” I said pouting at Stefan

“The same old Y/N” Chris said laughing

“You know uhh Justin’s back home too” Matt said looking at me

“Oh really? I haven’t seen him in 9 years” I said nodding at him

“Really? He just moved back too from graduate school he’s looking for a better paying job” Nick said

“Oh shit really me too” I said

“I can go grab him if you want to catch up” Chris said pointing behind him

“Oh no no don’t worry! I was just about to head out” I said

“Well alright I’ll let him know you stopped by” Matt said

“Yeah sure! Have fun guys and Stefan let me know when to pick you up” I said hugging him

“Alright” he said

They had walked into the house and I got back in my car. I went to start the car when my engine started to sputter

“What the fuck?” I said furrowing my brows, this is a brand new car???

I tried it again and sudden smoke started to come out from under the hood

“Holy shit” I said taking the key out

I got out of the car and popped the hood, coughing as the smoke clouded my senses

“Need some help?” I heard from behind me

“Uh yeah” I said turning around

Immediately my heart stopped and my eyes popped out of my head

“Justin?” I said tilting my head

“That would be me” he said laughing

“Sorry that was dumb…I’m just so shocked to see you. It’s been so long” I said laughing

“I know….you look good” he said smiling at me

“Thanks” I said

“Uhh your car” he said pointing at it

“Oh right…I mean I don’t know this cars brand new I’m not sure what’s going on” I said turning and looking at the parts

“Let me take a look” he said and walked over

Justin began to examine everything, and I slowly looked at him taking his appearance in. It’s so crazy how 9 years can change someone. He looked good and I hated myself for thinking about him in that way.

“Oh I found the problem” he said looking at me, snapping out of my trance I looked at his face

“Really? What is it?” I said

“You see that wire right there? It has a tear in it, but it’s an easy fix I can do it for you” he said

“Really? You’d do that?” I said smiling at him

“Well of course” he said nodding at me

He walked away and got some kit for cars as he began to patch the wire up

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I questioned

“What do you mean? I’ve always been nice” he said glancing over at me

“Mmm I don’t know. We grew up together and then one day senior year you just stopped talking to me, you acted like I was a ghost” I said crossing my arms over my chest

“Did I?” He said looking down at the wire

“Don’t play dumb I know you did it for a reason, and it hurt me” I said

“I guess we just grew apart” he said wiping his forehead

“Justin we made plans to go to the same college and the same graduate school, and then the same day you stop talking to me is the same day I find out you switched schools” I said blinking at him

“Well I got a better scholarship offer with the other school” he said looking at me

“Bullshit” I said scoffing

“No it’s true” he said finishing up the wire

“You got a full ride just like I did…your mom told me, so you deliberately switched schools and cut me off….why?” I asked

“I don’t know why okay” he said throwing his hands up in defense

“Yes you do Justin stop lying” I said

“Why does it even matter anyways? We're 26…..don’t you have adult things to worry about and not why we stopped being friends at 17” he said bluntly

“Asshole much?” I said shaking my head at him

“I’m not….it just doesn’t matter” he said

“Yes it does…what you did hurt me, and for 9 years my best friend of 17 years never gave me an explanation, and right now as we stand here as adults he’s pulling the most childish act of all by not telling me the truth” I stated staring him down

“Want to know the reason? Huh? You’re itching for it? That’s your issue you can never live in the unknown you have to know it all” he said looking at me and scoffing

“Yes Justin I do” I said stomping my foot down

“I cut you off and switched schools because I was so madly in love with you, and I could never have you because you never felt the same way. I sat for years watching you cry and chase over boys who didn’t care about you. I wanted to be that guy you chased so badly, and when I realized at 17 that I would never be that I put my big boy pants on and let reality sit in. I could not chase you to another school for another 8 years like a love sick puppy when you didn’t care about me that way.” He stated slamming his tool box shut

“I…I never knew that” I said my gaze softening

“I didn’t expect you to, you were so far up some other guys ass you couldn't see how much I loved you” he stated slamming my hood shut

“No Justin! I liked you too, but you felt unreal to me. You didn’t seem tangible. The cool guy that every girl liked….I let that school girl crush die a long time ago, and I shouldn’t have” I replied

“Why didn’t you say anything? I would’ve tried harder. I would’ve went to school with you like we promised” He asked in a whisper

“I tried….that day I went and walked up to you to tell you, and you walked right past me like I wasn’t even there. That day killed me. I realized I lost you forever” I said shaking my head

“I’m such an idiot….in love with you since I was 13 and I let you slip through my fingers” he said shaking my head

“It’s okay Justin” I said laughing a bit

“I feel like such a dick” he said laughing too

“I mean you were, but we were also 17, so it’s alright” I said

“Let me make it up to you” he said looking at me

“You already fixed my car that’s more than enough” I said smiling at him

“Speaking of which that tear in the wire was a perfect incision like someone did it purposely…” he said laughing again

“Stefan…” I said shaking my head

“He may be a dick, but he seems to be your wingman” Justin said

“I have to give it to him…I didn’t see that coming” I said giggling

“Smart kid” he said

“Very” I replied laughing

“You know I’ve always liked you like a lot, and I’m sure my brothers told your brother about my major crush on you” he said laughing

“Mmm he’s never told me, but I did raise my eyebrows a few times with the way they always wanted to run and get you so we could see each other” I said laughing too

“Our own little wingmen and we were so blind to it” he said

“It’s so crazy, but listen I have to head downtown and it was great seeing you and thank you so much for fixing my car I owe you” I said leaning off my car and taking my keys out

“Listen, don't even worry about it, okay! You being back in town is more than enough” he said offering me a smile

“Wow Carey you have a good way with words” I said looking back at him

“Didn’t I always” he said raising his eyebrows at me

“Mmm I suppose so” I replied opening my car door

“Well I’ll see you around then” he said nodding his head at me

“I mean would you like to come with me? I just have some errands to run for my parents it’ll be like the old days” I said

“Uhh yeah, yeah sure” he said nodding his head

“Cool hop in” I said sitting in the car

“Hop in? What are you 40” he said sitting in the car

“Shut up Justin….you're still the same” I said backing out of the driveway

“And so are you, always flustered when I tease you” he said poking me

“Back off” I said laughing at him

“I’m so glad we’ve got back together” he said looking over at me

“I agree” I replied glancing over at him

That day we spent together was amazing. We ran into town and reminisced on how we used to go out together to these shops all the time. I really enjoyed his company, and I couldn’t believe it took us so long to reconnect and talk about everything.

We sat on a bench downtown eating our lunch and just watching the scenery.

“You know I really really like you like a lot” he blurted out

“Justin you keep saying this” I said giggling

“I know, but I never got to say it, and it’s been on my mind for 9 years” he replied looking down

“You should’ve called or texted” I replied

“I know, but I figured you hated me, so I didn’t bother” he said to me

“Hate you? Never was I upset yeah, but I could never hate you” I replied eating a piece of my food

“I’m just sorry like I was such an idiot” he said shaking his head

“Justin it’s okay we were teenagers that doesn’t define who we are now” I said to him

“Yeah you’re right” he said nodding his head

“Plus you’re hotter now than back in high school” I said leaning over to him

“What” he said blushing

“It’s the truth” I said giggling at him

“You’ve always been beautiful to me” he said looking up at me

“Heyyy way to make me look like an ass” I said laughing

“No! Never” he said winking at me

“You think I’m beautiful?” I said shocked

“I mean who doesn’t? Everything about you is beautiful inside and out” he said taking a sip of his drink

“Thank you Justin” I said

He smiled at me while we finished our food

“So I say we head back?” I asked as I tossed our trash out

“Uh yeah that’s nice” he said

“And then you can give me a room tour” I said laughing

“It hasn’t changed much. I’m never really home” he said

“No? How come you’re back now” I said as we walked back to my car

“Mmm I heard through the grapevine you were coming back home and I wanted to possibly see you again” he said

“Who told you? My brother?” I asked

“No, my mom did actually” he said

“Mmm she always thought we were more than what we actually were” I said laughing

“I know, no matter how many times I told her no. I guess she still hopes we end up together” he replied

“I agree with her” I said as we got in the car

I had driven back to their house and went up to Justin’s room. It really has not changed at all.

“Even the bed sheets are the same from High school” I said sitting on his bed

“I told you I’m never home” he said shrugging

“You really came home for me?” I said shaking my head

“Uhhh well I also have a family too” he said shrugging his shoulders

“Right right” I said laughing

Justin had sat down next to me and I began to get nervous just like I did in high school.

“You really haven’t changed one bit” he said laughing

“What do you mean?” I asked looking over at him

“You’re still nervous everytime I sit next to you” he said bumping my shoulder

“Oh shut up” I said bumping his shoulder back

We looked at each other for a moment, searching each other's eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked me

“Yes” I whispered

Justin crashed his lips to mine, and his right hand came to my cheek. Caressing it and rubbing my cheek with his thumb as our lips locked in a kiss.

I can’t believe it took me 13 years to kiss my best friend who I’ve been madly in love with since I was 13. I wouldn’t change this moment for anything.

We pulled away and looked in each other's eyes smiling, and I reconnected our lips kissing him once more.

Suddenly his door opened, and we broke apart.

“OH MY GOD” my brother yelled with Chris, Nick and Matt behind him

“STEFAN” I yelled

“spying on us?” Justin asked standing up

“Whatttt no” Chris said high pitched

“Yeah sure you weirdos” I said laughing

“Come on let’s go downstairs” Justin said

We went downstairs and spent the day with our brothers. Sitting on the couch in each other's arms as we watched movies.

His parents came home to see us in each other's arms, and were pleasantly surprised.

I guess falling in love with your best friend is a lot easier than you’d think…..

The End

Alrightttt hope you enjoyed this one. I was like mehhh about it IDKKK. But love yall 🥹🖤

-J💅🏽

[mazzystar24]

I’m respectfully about to lose my mind at some of the fandom rn with the way buddie shippers are being treated… It’s like no one understands the whole point of shipping a couple is to want them to be together, so duh if something happens that could potentially lead to that pairing they’re going to get excited and theorize? Yes it’s absolutely important for Buck to explore his sexuality outside of buddie but the way people are trying to say that buddie shippers are homophobic for wanting endgame buddie….. when buddie is literally a queer ship? it doesn’t make any sense to me as a queer person myself because it’s like- y’all do realize that buck dating eddie would in fact mean that he is still bisexual, and that people have wanted thst for years, so A) why are we shocked and appalled at buddie shippers for being happy that they are one step closer to endgame buddie, B) why are we calling people homophobic or biphobic when they are quite literally shipping two men together, C) why are we all acting as if buddie endgame hasn’t been simmering just under the surface for YEARS and that if they were going to give us buddie, then thag means buck and eddie would both have to come oit as queer…

I’ve seen so many prominent blogs in the community who have made posts like “buck’s bisexuality has nothing to do with buddie and you are a horrible human for even insinuating that” and so many people are agreeing??? And not to mention the fact that now these same people are trying to villainize and trash on Eddie when in all honesty Buck’s behavior in 7x04 was NOT okay- physically harming someone because they’re not giving you attention is never okay (and i’m saying this as someone whi ADORES Buck, he still needs to be held accountable.)

It just reads very icky to me that so many people are screaming “bi pride” but then spewing all of this vitriol over a ship that would fit within Buck’s bisexuality…

It worries me that the writers are going to see this negativity from people and they’re going to just completely back-burner Eddie’s character in favor of Buck and it disappoints me because even outside of buddie, a major tv show portraying a repressed gay poc with religious and family trauma would be EQUALLY as powerful as Bi Buck is……

but i guess that’s just people only caring about the queer storylines when it’s about a white man since these are also the people acting like Hen and Karen or Michael and David haven’t been there the whole time

but that’s just me i guess….

I’m bullet pointing not to be curt by the way just because I prefer addressing part by part🫶

1. Agreed like this fandom was relatively peaceful then BAM it fully shifted overnight like in the words of Taylor swift THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS

2. Yesss exactly like I’m very much a dont yuck someone else’s yum type of person so like even ships I don’t like I’ll be like okay respect 🫡 enjoy your fandom space love that for you AS LONG AS THEYRE RESPECTFUL TOO and I’m not gonna lie to you I see the primary source of negativity and stuff in the fandom be people who legit never watched anything other than the bucktommy related content (which I kinda have a whole other rant about but I don’t wanna give you miles and miles to read in one ask)

3. Yes to that 100% - buddie is a queer ship the cognitive dissonance it takes to call someone homophobic for shipping them is honestly fascinating atp, Buck is bi canonically now and y’all do realise that who he’s with or if he’s single even doesn’t take away from that right??? Like the rep is THERE and will always be THERE

4. You worded it a bit weird but I got what you meant (I hope) so anyone who didn’t may require a little clarification, the sentiment of bucks bisexuality being separate from buddie I think is 1000% correct and I agree wholeheartedly that a persons sexuality and their journey shouldn’t be just about their love interests but about themselves as a person, the issue people are taking is that 1. The people saying this are saying it on every buddie post even when the same blogs posting it have 177283 posts talking about buck as an individual and as a bisexual man outside of buddie and bucktommy, so it’s sort of become a weaponised statement if that makes sense 2. The buddie shippers are the ones who have been advocating so hard for the show to give us canon bi buck like that’s just fact no one can deny so to the og fans who’ve been here for YEARS (I’ve only started like 2023 ish so I’m not counting myself there) this must be such a total slap in the face to be receiving so much hate now

5. Oh yeah the Eddie bashers can personally come fight me

6. If I’m 100% honest I choose to interpret the basketball injury as being mostly accidental like I think he got too into it and forgot himself and his own force for a second rather than intentionally hurt Eddie, like it so happens in sports, I think it’s like just the after guilt that made him question himself and his motives, idk that may just be me denying canon because it just felt too out of character for me to believe

7. I think the fake bi pride stuff also irks me BAD like some of these people are looking for very surface level superficial representation and if you don’t push for more and more substantial and meaningful representation then you’re gonna get constant variations of the same exact thing and these are also the same people ignoring every other queer character in 911 which is just🙃

8. Idk how much the writers take fandom into account but I constantly say like if they were to listen to fandom they’d go the route they know people wanted for years

9. YES about Eddie’s character like I made a whole post about gay and comphet Eddie and how meaningful it would be because it’s just so so unique and unprecedented

10.HAHSKDK THE CROSSED OUT PART IS WHAT I JUST SAID BUT I DIDNT READ IT GAJSKDKFM

[whatacaitastrophe]

Everything Has Changed - Chapter 1

Previous Chapter: Prologue

Chapter Song Inspiration: "As It Was" - Harry Styles

Chapter Warnings: none

Spotify Playlist: Here

Chapter 1: Gravity's Holding You Back

“You know, when I first decided I was going to Asha, it never occurred to me that I would be camping again.” Astarion mused with a disgruntled sigh. “I really didn't think this through.” 

“At least we have horses, this time.” Fallon pointed out, patting her own horse’s neck gently after dismounting. Her feet hit the ground with a soft thud and she surveyed the clearing they’d chosen to stop in for the evening. “I think here will be fine. I feel like we haven’t seen another soul for miles.” 

“That could as equally be a bad thing as it is good, though, we all know that.” Gale added cautiously.

Astarion and Fallon look at each other in surprise when Gale speaks. “I’ll– I’ll be sure to be extra thorough when I do my rounds before dinner.” Astarion assured him, failing to mask the surprise in his tone, and Gale just nodded in response. 

Since Mystra dropped Gale on their doorstep a fortnight ago, the ordinarily overly-talkative former wizard had become the exact opposite. The first couple of days were the strangest, when Gale didn't speak to anyone at all. After that initial shock-induced mental breakdown, Gale was near catatonic to the point that there were moments Fallon was not entirely sure he was breathing. Questions were met with a nod or a shake of his head if the question could be answered by “yes” or “no,” but anything beyond that was met with a blank stare (oftentimes at the space on the wall behind Fallon or Astarion’s ears, never looking them in the eye). It was not until Tara appeared the evening before they left that either of them heard Gale’s voice again. 

“Where is he?!” Tara had shrieked at Fallon like a distraught mother. Startled by the presence of the tressym, Fallon did nothing other than point to the guest room with her mouth open. 

“Did you know Gale’s cat could talk?” Astarion asked with a chuckle. 

“She’s a tressym,” Fallon corrected automatically, following after Tara. “And yes, I did, but she never deigned to speak to me the last time I saw her.”

“Gale Dekarios! How dare you leave your mother’s house like that! You don’t say goodbye, you don’t leave a note; you just up and disappear without a word!” Tara was sitting on Gale’s chest, batting him aggressively with her paw over the exact spot where the scar from The Netherese Orb lingers.

“Well, at least he didn’t just do it to you,” Astarion whispered with amusement and Fallon swats his bicep. Astarion frowned at her. “Oh, are we not joking about this yet?”

“Not right this second, no!” Fallon hissed quietly, her eyes never leaving the scene in front of her. 

“Your mother and I were worried sick, and then, when I show up in Elysium to ask that witch where you are, she tells me you’re gone! The way she said it, too, you would have thought you died. I’m not proud of the threats, the begging, I had to resort to just to find out where she’d taken you to. Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Mr. Dekarios!”

“I didn’t want you to worry.” Gale apologized quietly. 

“Yes, because not saying goodbye or leaving a note is absolutely the correct thing to do when you don’t want someone to worry. Honestly, boy, you’re smarter than this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as you will be when your mother hears from you,” Tara scolded, turning her attention to Fallon and Astarion in the doorway. “You have a sending stone, yes? Bring it here so this idiot can call his mother.”

Tara was all tough love with Gale, but it worked. After the tressym departed, Gale began to at least verbally respond when spoken to, but it was rare he contributed to conversations Fallon and Astarion were having. Most of the time he kept to himself and just read. Fallon honestly was not sure if his silence was because he thought they didn't want him around, or something else entirely. Admittedly, she hadn't taken the time to ask. It wasn't that Gale’s presence was unwelcome, but it was certainly awkward, and that awkwardness was only punctuated by Gale’s relative unresponsiveness. 

At least Gale made up for his awkward silence by doing all the cooking. It was a task that Gale truly enjoyed, something he’d made known the last time they traveled together, so Fallon didn’t feel like they were taking advantage of him by letting him do it. Plus, she had a feeling he was fairly desperate to be of some use to them since he no longer could do magic. 

The surprises continued that evening while they all sat around the campfire, consuming the meal Gale had made for them, when Gale spoke again. “I– I wanted to thank you. Both of you,” he starts, setting his fork down on his plate. “I know I’ve been rather quiet as of late. Finding words in the wake of what happened has been shockingly difficult. On top of my grief, I suppose you could say I was embarrassed by the way Mystra just…dropped me at your doorstep– which by the way, I can assure you that I did not ask her to do– because out of all the people I hurt in doing what I did, I hurt the two of you the most.” 

Gale averted his gaze from the two of them to stare into the fire, and Fallon immediately took the opportunity to steal a look at Astarion, who looked as shocked as she felt. Before either of them can say anything, Gale spoke again. “Bringing me to the two of you, specifically, Mystra knew it would hurt me. I suspect she knew it would hurt you, too, and for that I apologize. Still, that wasn’t the part I was embarrassed by; the part that made me feel ashamed of myself: it was the way the both of you were so quick to protect me. From her. From myself. You didn’t even hesitate when considering whether or not to bring me along on this journey. After all I’ve done, it would have been all too easy for the both of you, especially you, Fallon, to throw me into the streets of Baldur’s Gate and wish me the best. Or the worst. That’s what I deserved.”

Fallon responded with a noise of disapproval and opened her mouth to interject, but Gale raised his hand to stop her from speaking. “My point is that, despite all I put you through, you’ve shown me an incredible amount of kindness and given me far more grace than I’ve even allowed myself; and for that, I’m very, very grateful. I have no illusions that all I’ve done is suddenly forgiven just because you helped me, but please know I plan to earn that forgiveness in whatever way I can.” 

Silence fell between the three of them again, but it’s already a far more comfortable silence than what they’ve experienced for the last fortnight. “Can I speak now?” Fallon asked, but she also didn’t wait for anyone to tell her yes or no before continuing. “You’re right, Gale, you fucked up. You really fucked up, and I can only speak for myself here when I say this, but you’re also right that I haven’t forgiven you yet,” The wounded look on Gale’s face tugged at Fallon’s heart, because he’d clearly been expecting this. It didn’t make Fallon feel guilty for being honest with him, but it did make her sad that even Gale had come to think so little of himself that he believed he didn’t deserve basic human decency. 

“That said, what Mystra did to you…I don’t care that you went to her and asked her to take away your immortal status, or that you chose to sever your connection to her and The Weave. The way she went about it, and the way she made you choose between immortality and magic altogether, was unnecessarily cruel. I’ve always thought Mystra’s use of the extreme to get what she wants is unnecessarily cruel; ever since she sent Elminster to tell you to detonate yourself to earn her forgiveness. Wizard or not, you never stopped being a human being, and therefore you never deserved her cruelty. You did not deserve what she did to you simply because you hurt me or because of any other mistakes you’ve made where Mystra is concerned in the past. For that alone, there was never a world where I would have left you behind.”

Astarion reached over and took Fallon’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “As someone whose fate was once tied to a different kind of cruel master, I agree. I can’t say I will ever understand what Ao was thinking when they made that one a goddess.” A weak smile appeared on Gale’s face. “Thank you, both of you. Even if I haven’t yet earned your forgiveness, hearing you say I did not deserve Mystra’s cruelty still means a great deal to me. As does your gesture of sanctuary and your company.” 

The rest of their meal was punctuated by small talk, but at least they were all talking. In Fallon’s opinion, small talk was infinitely better than the awkward silence they’d all been suffering through for the past few weeks. Once they finished, Fallon dismissed herself to go wash up before bed, leaving Astarion and Gale behind, and alone together for the first time since Gale arrived. 

Astarion watched Gale closely as the former wizard moved about the campfire, cleaning up after the meal. If he’s being honest with himself, Astarion hadn't completely decided whether or not he believed Gale is as sorry as he says he is. The god version, well, demi-god version of Gale reminded Astarion a lot of Cazador. Perhaps not as evil or sadistic as Cazador had been, but that same conniving air to get what they wanted, with little care to who got hurt in the process, was certainly present. It was the same sort of manipulation Astarion once employed on victims of his own, back when he was forced to do Cazador’s bidding. “Speaking for myself, I haven’t forgiven you yet, either.” Astarion drawled once he was certain Fallon was out of earshot. 

Gale stopped moving and smirked. “I was wondering when you’d say something,” he replied with a shake of his head. “We may not be terribly close, but I’d like to think I do know you well enough to know when you’re biting your tongue.” 

“Well spotted, wizard– oh, sorry. Old habits.” Astarion wasn’t sorry, and he suspected they both knew it. 

“Whatever it is you were waiting to say until Fallon was gone, you’d better say it quickly. She hates being cold, so I can’t imagine she’ll be gone long.” 

Gale’s verbal hit lands, and Astarion’s blood boils at the subtle reminder that Gale knew Fallon as well as Astarion did, and that the man also had her once. Not only that, but that he’d had her first. “Do you remember when we found Scratch near the goblin camp? Fallon immediately invited the dog back to our camp and told him how to find us. Was having a dog around practical, given the situation we were in? Of course not. A dog was another mouth to feed, another living being to protect. Still, Scratch came back to our camp and joined our little party and we dealt with it, because Fallon said so, and helping a creature that couldn’t help itself made her happy. Though it goes without saying that if Scratch had ever harmed Fallon back then despite her kindness, none of us would have hesitated to kill the beast.”

Gale’s body went still as Astarion spoke. “When I look at you, all I see is another stray dog that Fallon insisted on bringing home. I don’t particularly want a dog, but I was never going to deny her so now I have to deal with you being here whether I like it or not,” Astarion stood up and walked over to Gale. While he does not tower over Gale like Halsin does, the height difference is certainly enough for it to be intimidating when Astarion wants it to be. He subtly bares his fangs at Gale. “And if Fallon’s new dog bites her or causes her any harm whatsoever, I will not hesitate to put it down. Do I make myself clear?” 

To his credit, if Astarion’s threats made Gale nervous, it did not show on the other man’s face. “Message received.” Gale nodded as he stepped away from Astarion and continued to clean up the remaining dishes he used to cook. Gale started to leave to take the dishes to the nearby stream for cleaning, but he stopped walking just a few feet away from the campfire. Then, of all things, the ex-wizard laughed softly. “You left out one very key part of that story in your very thinly-veiled threat, Astarion.” 

“Oh? And what part was that?” Astarion asked curiously. 

Gale turned back to look at Astarion with a smug smile on his face. “You may not have wanted Scratch in camp at first, Astarion. However if my memory serves me correctly, on the nights Scratch was not curled up at Fallon’s side, he could be found curled up beside you. Fallon may have brought him home, but you secretly adored him as much as she did.” 

With that, Gale walked out into the darkness with a torch to do the dishes. As Astarion watched him walk away, an unexpected feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. If he didn’t know better, Astarion would say Gale Dekarios had just flirted with him; but Astarion does know better. Doesn’t he?

“What the hells was that?” 

Chapter List

[lover-of-mine]

“Anon who straight up spoiled the loft scene for me last week, can you come back with your thoughts for the rest of the season? I'm curious to see your line of thought and I'm so sorry I doubted you 🩷”

i don’t know if you mean me or not but i DID send you a message recently about how the buddie loft scene could parallel the bucktommy loft scene… i’m shocked that i was sort of right honestly 😭

i know it wasn’t an exact parallel but… the dark warm lighting?? the soft discussion?? the Moment (kiss/hug) in the exact same spot between the table and island?? tommy/eddie leaving with advice to call eddie/tommy?? the final shot of buck letting out a sigh of relief??

gotta be on purpose surely??

i haven’t had the chance to think about the rest of the season yet lmao but in my opinion, last nights episode wasn’t bad for buddie i don’t think? there were lots of lines that could be revisited in the context of canon buddie if they choose to go there, like bobby’s advice, the catholic guilt, “i wish i could help” lmaooooo. and the interviews too! ryan basically saying women are all eddie knows but he thinks eddie will start exploring what he doesn’t?? lou saying it was meant to be eddie/tommy?? so queer eddie was/is on the table, the writers can see that a queer arc would lend well to his character/storyline just like we can??

slightly unrelated, but people are already saying that ryan is against kissing boys lol so that’s why it was bucktommy instead… 1. we definitely know that’s not true and 2. he’s right that a queer arc wouldn’t fit eddie right now? starting s7 he was with a woman but buck was single, so it made sense to be buck even though i wish with every fiber of my being that they had still gone with eddie haha

idk i’m always gonna be hopeful for buddie until the series finale and even then i’m still gonna ship them (save me fix it fics). but i do not understand people closing on buddie, it really feels like they’re keeping the possibility more open than they ever have before for their relationship to change in the future ❤️

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is you because I think that was the only ask I got about the loft scene paralleling the Bucktommy kiss and I legit was like "dude the anon was right" and had to race here to check kspsksoaksokas I really didn't think they were gonna be as on the nose as they were but they really were and I'm still ???? about because the whole you're not sure of your feelings thing with Maddie and everything with Tommy, Buck still not knowing what he wants but the VERY obvious parallels between both scenes are gonna drive me crazy lol please come back and tell me the thoughts once you figure them out, I'm genuinely curious to see what you think because you did get the vibe right and vibes are the thing that keep confusing me tbh

And honestly, Ryan acts like his main purpose in life is to be allowed to get paid to make out with Oliver, what do you mean he doesn't want to kiss boys? I don't think switching this arc around would work as well as it does for Eddie, I think realistically, freshly single Eddie would be a lot more freaked out if a guy he's known for a few weeks just kissed him, I don't think the progression we are seeing with Buck would work the same way because Eddie sexuality is set up differently, Buck has always been more casual about the physicality of a relationship, we literally haven't even seen Eddie kiss someone besides Shannon until last night. I know it wouldn't be a direct one on one switch, but I think letting Buck figure out with someone else's help while letting Eddie think about what it could mean for him that Buck is a guy and he's dating a guy, and he's dating a guy Eddie has a lot in common with that could get Eddie to be like "huh, maybe they do have the right idea" and look into the possibility of him being attracted to men on his own will makes a lot more sense, if that's the thing direction this is going. It was the impression I got from Eddie's contemplative *huh* upon finding out Tommy is gay, because considering how the show established how similar Eddie and Tommy are, to have Eddie be a little "oh i didn't know this was an option for us" even more since they are finally adding the religious trauma angle to canon, like, we knew, but good to know Eddie knows now too, could lead to something interesting. It's like we've all been saying, Buck's needs to figure out he's into men but Eddie needs to figure out he's into Buck. Buck is already there, and Eddie could trip into the realization whenever they want him to. Dude has been there ever since the end of season 5, Eddie knows how to soul search, he just needs the right trigger. This might be it. This feels like it could be it. It's getting too close to the point for them not to get there. All I know is I will be on the boat until the show ends and then stay on the boat because what if there's a revival and they suddenly decide it's time to make them canon yk? No one will ever take the hope away from me.

Also, thank you for coming back 🩷🩷

[neonacity]

IRIDESCENT | A LUCID SPECIAL CHAPTER [RENJUN VER.]

Iridescent - a reflection of luminous colors that changes when perceived at different angles. 

A/N: After almost a year of updating Lucid with Jaemin’s special chapter, I finally had the time and inspiration to write Renjun’s version. It has been a while since Lucid ended, but consider this a little gift from me for those who still remember the story. Note that this is is connected to my 00′ line series here so it will not make sense if this is read as a standalone. Renjun is also aged up in this chapter (27 yrs. old) since this is set in the future. I reserve all the rights to this work and I also do not claim any likenesses between the actual person and the character in this story. 

Read here for: LUCID SERIES | JENO’s VERSION | JAEMIN’s VERSION | HAECHAN's VERSION

“AND FINALLY, AFTER RUNNING FOR SO LONG, THEY FOUND A PLACE TO REST.”

“Miss? We apologize for keeping you waiting. You can meet the kids now if you are ready.”

You tore your eyes away from the painting you have been staring at to give the elderly woman by the door a kind smile. The pale glow of the winter sun bounced against the white walls of the small room you are in, illuminating the gold-framed artwork that was taking the center wall of the office. When you were first ushered into the school, you weren’t expecting to be welcomed to the principal’s office while the rest of your documents were being filed. Nevertheless, your initial nervousness was eased the moment your eyes set on the said centerpiece which was currently being kissed by the soft gentle light from the open window. You definitely needed it, especially with the usual jitters that comes with starting your first day on your new job.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t waiting for a long time,” you answered politely as you picked yourself up from your seat and reached out for your purse. The lady, who you assumed was the principal herself, gave you a kind, curious look before stepping further into the room. 

“Do you like the painting?”

You blinked at her, smile still frozen on your lips at her unexpected question. She gave you a knowing look before nodding towards the artwork.

“You were staring really hard at it,” she observed, causing your cheeks to heat up a little under her gaze. You cleared your throat softly but finally gave a small nod as you adjusted the strap of your bag on your shoulder.

“It’s very beautiful. I don’t know anything about art at all, but I think it’s amazing. It’s somehow calming to me,” you said as you glanced at the piece again. As you did, a cloud shifted outside, showering it with better light. The change in illumination seemed to make it glow and you saw details on it that you haven’t noticed before.

It was a very simple art piece—a view of a room with a wide window that opens to a snow-capped landscape outside. The main subject of it, however, was a girl overlooking the view, her gentle back on the viewer. You can't fully explain it, but her stance seemed lonely yet hopeful at the same time, like she was waiting for something... or someone. She felt familiar… almost like a dream you’ve seen before. 

“The head of the school is the artist behind it,” the woman shared behind you. The information made you look at her in mild shock.

“The Head? I thought you are…” 

“Oh, I am the Principal, but the school is owned and managed by someone else. This is his office.”

You quietly processed that. When you first saw the job post for a literature teacher here, your interest was immediately captured by the description of the place. After years of working for a larger academy, you decided to look for a job that is more peaceful to say the least. Raven Oaks is a smaller, private academy that also doubles as an orphanage housing abandoned and abused children in need. It was a fairly new school, too, and so you thought it was the perfect opportunity for you to go back to a life of teaching that is quieter but meaningful still.

Honestly, you didn’t expect you would even get a call back after taking your chances.

“I didn’t expect the school owner to be a talented painter,” you said now, mumbling more to yourself as you looked over the artwork again. “I would have thought it would be mentioned in your academy portfolio if he is this good.” 

“Ah, our founder is a very private person. I’m usually the one he asks to do all the public appearances, if you may have noticed in our profile. Sometimes, I even question it myself to be honest. What can an old woman like me do, right? But he is a very trusting man who has also saved a lot of kids, and so I thought I want to do whatever I can to help him out.”

You nodded slowly. “It is amazing. I have read some stories and I… felt inspired by them. It was honestly the reason why I decided to apply here.”

“And now you’re going to be a part of that help, too,” the woman said as she reached over to give your shoulder a squeeze. “Now, do you want to maybe meet some of the kids? They have their craft classes this morning. We have an amazing art program as part of our therapy sessions.”

At that, your smile warmed and you gave a nod. You shot one last look at the painting behind you before finally taking a step towards the door to follow the other. 

“Yes, I am. I can’t wait to learn more about everyone.” 

*******

“I think blue will look best if you use it on your drawing.”

You watched contently as the little boy took the tube of paint that you offered him from the supply box on the table. After the principal escorted you to the art room, you were tasked to observe the class which is currently in the middle of a mini painting session. The children were currently unsupervised because the teacher had to step out, so you temporarily took it upon yourself to watch over them yourself to help around. The child stared at the paint in his hands now before finally glancing at you with his big brown eyes. 

“Do we have yellow?”

“Oh, do you want yellow? Let me see if we have it here,” you said as you immediately sifted through the other tubes in the box. In your peripheral vision, you saw the kid sit on the small stool across from you to patiently wait.

“Are you a new teacher, Miss Mam?” 

You quickly looked at the boy and gave him a small smile. He looks no older than seven, with black hair that almost falls to his eyes. For some reason, the image of him looking at you so honestly with a curious gaze made a familiar but distant feeling throb fleetingly in your chest. 

“Yes, I am. I am going to teach literature here. Do you like that subject?” 

The boy’s eyes sparkled as he gave a small, shy nod. 

“Yes. I like books. They read us a lot of stories before we go to bed.”

“Oh, really? I promise we will read a lot of amazing books then. Do you have other classes here that you love?”

At that question, the child tucked his head down a little bit, like he was all of a sudden shy. You looked on curiously as he turned his head left and right to make sure that nobody is listening before he leaned over to whisper to you. 

“I really really like art class. I think Mr. Huang is super cool.” 

His words immediately made your hand freeze.  Smile dropping a little, you fought back the deluge of emotions that rushed to the surface of your consciousness at the mere sound of the name. It has been five years since you’ve last connected it with a face so hearing it now almost felt like a dream. You felt a dull throb from deep in your chest, and all of a sudden, you were brought back again to the days you’ve tried so hard to leave behind.

It felt like one of the longest winters of your life. You remember Jaehyun describing the whole thing as a nightmare, one that the pair of you tried so hard to survive. You remember waking up with no memories, and the brutal days that followed as you tried to put back the splintered pieces of yourself that your own mind was trying to shield you from. It was a long fight, one that left you with more wounds the more that you know. In the end, it wasn’t only you who was left scathed by the whole debacle, and you and Jaehyun finally decided to part ways as you tried to find yourself. 

It's been five years since then. Five years after and you’re still here, trying to do the same. 

Five years in, and the mention of a mere name still shatters what you’ve at least managed to fix. 

“Mr. Huang… Is he your teacher?”

The boy gave an excited nod. 

“Yes. He helps us a lot with our projects.”

Unconsciously, your fingers wrapped around the cold feel of the paint container in your palm. A part of you told you stop asking questions, but your lips have a mind of their own.

“Has he been teaching here for a long time?”

“Mm. I think so. He’s really nice. He also sometimes reads us stories.”

You could almost hear your blood rushing to your ears. It can’t be… After so long, it is too much of a coincidence to have the last person you’re expecting suddenly show up in your life.

“Would you… probably know what his first name is?”

“There’s no yellow in that box. Here’s a new one if you want it, Jiwon.”

The sound of a new voice from behind you immediately made your heart stop. Before you even had the chance to turn around, you saw a hand reach out to offer a paint tube to the boy. The latter took it happily, his face immediately brightening as he smiled at the person behind you. Your eyes, however, remained pasted on the gentle, long fingers in front of you… 

And the faint birth mark on his pale skin. 

When he stepped beside you, you felt your world freeze. The colors, the sound, even the air stilled. The only sound left was your own voice, saying the last name you wished Jiwon wouldn’t say in answer to your question. 

“Renjun.”

*******

It was like standing in the middle of a spiraling vacuum. 

You know the world is still spinning on its axis, but in that moment, nothing else mattered to you other than the vision of him and the space he was taking in your universe. He wasn’t looking at you, his eyes set on the boy, and yet even the lack of contact managed to take away the last breath of air in your lungs. When you saw  him smile, the stillness inside of you cracked, like a mirror finally breaking into a million pieces. 

“Sorry it took me too long to get the new supplies. Have you been working well?” 

Jiwon gave a proud nod. “Miss Teacher was helping us while you were gone. But can we have a break now, Mr. Huang? We want to eat snacks."

Renjun laughed softly as he reached out to ruffle the boy's hair. He sounded beautiful… gentle… and yet the sound made you internally flinch as it dragged you back to the rare nights years ago when he would let his walls down around you, his laughter just as soft as he kissed your skin. The memories were so stark that you actually had to take a step back from him to keep yourself from suffocating. You thought you saw him turn his head towards you at your movement, but by the time you looked at him, he was once again focused on Jiwon. 

"Sure. But only for a few minutes, okay? Why don't you bring your friends outside? You can play in the courtyard for a little bit."

The suggestion made the boy’s smile almost split his cheeks. 

"Yey! Thank you, Sir!"

The child gave a quick whoop of excitement before skipping towards his classmates. Numbly, you watched as the rest of the kids scrambled out of their seats as soon as he shared the news of playtime. It was the sound of the door closing that finally pinned you back to the present moment, your heartbeat picking up again as you realized the spot you were left in. 

The silence was so heavy you could almost feel the pressure on your head. All of a sudden, the spacious airy room became too small and you were fighting once again for your breath. You didn't realize that one of your hands resting on the edge of the table had started slightly shaking as you tried to keep yourself from losing your balance.

"Sit down... You need to relax or you'll black out." 

The gentleness of his voice pulled your eyes towards him again before you even had the mind to stop yourself. It was a bad move, because the moment you did, you felt something unravel inside of you. He still wasn't looking at you, but this time, you could see him much better, as if he was the only one you could focus on. 

He had definitely changed. The years have let him grow so much more into his features, the once boyish curves of his face now sharper and more defined. Even the set of his shoulders and the way he stood is different now, his stance steady and sure against the light streaming from the window. Despite that, there was still a gentleness that still remains on the way he carries himself and his eyes still hold the softness that he used to only reserve for you back in the days. 

Honestly, you wished they didn’t anymore.

"What are you doing here?"

Your voice came off so weak that it was surprising he still heard you. He briefly stopped from fixing the paints in front of him before he slowly, finally lifted his gaze to meet yours. When your eyes finally met, you felt torn between running towards him and running away from him. From the way the emotions in his face flickered, you could tell he feels the same. 

"I teach here."

It was the most sensible answer to your question, but for some reason, it was not enough to calm all the emotions consuming you piece by piece at the moment. You wanted to ask a million things, but you didn't know where to start.

Where have you been? 

What happened on the days after I lost my memory?

Where did you and your brothers go? 

Why... did you leave me? 

Renjun looked at you quietly, his eyes shadowed by a look that seemed so familiar yet so distant at the same time. For some reason, you knew that he could see right through you without you needing to say a single word. It has always been like that between the two of you. He has always kept to himself, but his answers are always clearly heard in his silence. 

"What… are you doing here?" You asked again, slowly this time. Renjun tightened his jaw before shifting his gaze, knowing full well the difference in your question despite using the same words.

"I wanted to see you." 

"Why now? Why just now?" 

The tightness in your voice was so raw that for a second, his mask almost broke down. You pushed on, not wanting to give him a chance to try and run away again. 

"I looked for you. For all of you. I looked everywhere and couldn't find a single trace of your family," you said, feeling the words start to bubble up from your chest. "I thought—I thought I was going crazy. It was so painful when I couldn't remember anything, and when I did," you paused, finding the need to compose yourself. 

"When I did, all of you were already gone." 

He kept quiet, though you can already see the strain that he was trying so hard to hold back beneath his front. You wished he would reach out to you, or that you could have the courage to do it yourself, but you felt so breakable at the moment and you doubt he is any different. 

"Renjun—"

"You weren't supposed to see any of us again," he finally said before you could let out another word. "None of us were good for you so we had to disappear from your life. I—," he paused, his Adam's apple bobbing. 

"I had to go before I can hurt you even more."

You looked at him silently, torn between the emotions that were pulling you into different directions all at the same time. You would be lying if you say you haven't wished for this moment to come or how you've rehashed again and again in your head what you've wanted to say to any of them in years. You were angry. Hurt. Lonely. He and his family ruined your life and stole your peace, then left you hanging. You hate how things turned out to be... but most of all you loathe yourself for not being to hate them. Him. 

"If I can, I would have let you go if that's what's really going to make you happy…" 

You internally flinched as the last words he said that day came rushing to your memories. It sounded so clear in your head that it felt like it only happened yesterday. 

"Then why?" You asked in a whisper. "Why did you have to come back now… After so long?"

The look of pain and guilt that crossed his face was undeniable. When he glanced away, you were sure that it was a question he was also fighting with himself. 

"I wanted to just… See you," his voice, though strained, was honest and raw. "It was wrong of me, I know that. It has been so long and I just wanted to have you close again, even for just a bit." 

You let his answer sink in. Oddly, the erratic beating of your heart has started to slow down just as soon as it started, as if his admission has taken off a weight in your chest that you have been carrying for years. There was one question resting on the tip of your tongue that you needed to say, or else, you feel like he’ll slip through your fingers again. 

"Do you like me?"

Renjun paused before slowly raising his eyes to meet yours again. For a second he looked scared, but the expression slowly morphed into that of resolution as he saw the look on your face. At that moment, it truly hit you just how much he’s changed in the years that have passed. This was no longer the boy you once knew, but the man he was always meant to be. 

"No. I don't. I love you.” 

“Even after all these years."

"Even from a distance." 

The way your heart jumped to your throat left you at a loss for words. It was like the ground beneath you and everything else around you dissolved, leaving you and him pinned in a slice of time that none of you really wanted to escape. 

“It took me years to try and see you again because I know how much I've hurt you. But it's not just that," he continued, his eyes telling of the words he can't phrase. "I was broken. I thought for a time that I must only want you because of how I am, but I was wrong. If there's one thing I realized, it's that I love you… Both in my brokenness and wholeness."

"If you do, then why did you run away from me?"

"I didn't want to mess up your life anymore."

"You didn't really make it better by not being beside me for the last five years."

This time, it was him who looked taken aback. Slowly, his eyes lowered, only to rest for the first time on your vacant ring finger. 

"You were wrong… for what you and your brothers did to me…" you said, your gaze still on him as he seemed to process things. "All of you messed up my life. I did try to go back to living it, but I couldn't anymore no matter how much I tried. I didn't deserve any of it, even if none of you knew better back then. I hate what you did to me."

"But I also hate how you're not with me." 

Renjun's face was pale as his eyes remained plastered on your hand. You could almost hear the gears working in his head, but you didn't wait for him to say anything. He didn’t have to. Silently, you took a step back to put more distance between the two of you. 

"You are right. Maybe it is better for us to not cross paths again," you said as you reached out for your bag. "I'll talk to the owner of the school and the principal to retract my application. I… don't want to be in the way. It was nice seeing you again, Renjun."

You have already started walking towards the door when you suddenly felt a warm, strong hand grab yours. Turning around, you looked at him, surprised by the unexpected contact.

"You're not married?"

You had to process his question again before finally replying.

"No. My fiance and I went our separate ways years ago."

The way his eyes glazed over before darkening a little left you feeling increasingly more torn. When you tried to pull your hand away, his fingers only gently tightened around yours.

"Don't go."

"What?" 

"Don't go. The school head won't just cut your signed contract." 

"You don't know that—"

"I do. Because I won't let you." 

Your eyes widened. Slowly, the pieces started fitting in your head. The orphanage… the kids…

The painting in his office.

"You… own Raven Oaks…"

Renjun's gaze dropped to your hand that he was still holding. 

"I started it because I wanted to save other kids from what me and my brothers suffered from before. It was my way of repenting for what our family did to everyone… and to you," he said, his eyes moving upwards to roam your face. You felt your throat start to close up as you listened. 

"When I saw your file in my office, I thought I was dreaming. I was supposed to let you go… but I couldn't stop myself. I just wanted to see you again quickly before letting you live your life again free of me."

Your heart had started thundering in your chest once more. You wanted to look away from the intensity of his gaze but couldn't find it in yourself to do it. No. This time, you want to match his fire with yours. 

"And now? Did you change your mind?"

Instead of answering, Renjun fixed you with a look that made you feel like he was looking through your soul. Slowly, he pulled you in, his hold on you gentle but firm as his other hand moved to wrap around your waist. You were surprised by the fact that instead of freezing in his arms, you melted against him immediately, like you've always been meant to be there.

"Do you like me?" He asked in a low voice as he looked down on you. The way his gaze touched your face made you feel so vulnerable in front of him that you knew lies have no place in this moment. You felt open... bare... 

You were iridescent in his eyes. 

And so was he in yours. 

"I don't know…"

"Do you want to be with me?" He asked a different question, his voice softer this time. You knew he was trying to help you figure out your answer, his hand cupping your cheek gently. You didn’t even need to think twice before giving an answer.

"Yes." 

Your voice, steady and clear, made him finally smile. Renjun had changed so much, but in that moment, you can still see the boy who had loved you in the past in the only way he knew how. Your feelings for him are complicated—changing from different angles—but as he held you now, lips only a few inches from yours, there was one thing you can be sure of. 

You finally being here with him makes all the sense in the world. 

"That's fine. We have time to figure it out…” he said, giving you a smile that you’ve dreamt so many times before. You returned it, slowly and full of hope.

"Together?" 

You asked. 

"Together." 

He promised. 

*******

Taglist [CLOSED]: @negincho, @jhornytrash, @jaeminhyuckiii, @jungwoosswhore, @jsturkey, @aj-7, @pukupukupawpau, @tomiesgirlfren, @vsszn, @those-winternights, @xsnelly, @lihyuck, @haoshitt, @mindofthescattered, @huangberryyy, @d1nne, @choppedupcactus, @neokat, @yutasnabi, @mirathe2002, @artemisblues, @ryu-naa, @aaasteroidsky, @strawbunnyjaem , @floweronacloud, @cottonniebunnie, @sknyuz, @furryllamas, @grandmasterslickfox​, @dreamisfelix

[brendathedoodler]

I’ve mentioned once that everyone found out about Twilight’s transformation much sooner in the adventure swap au, but I haven’t elaborated much on who started figuring things out first, or what others might’ve had as misconceptions before he properly revealed it.

So let’s start with the first person to figure it out: Legend. As someone with several other forms, seeing Twilight disappear and a strange wolf reappear with a similar magic signature to his sword? Yup, he figured it out immediately. Didn’t say a word about it to anyone, though. Twi has his right to secrets as much as Legend does. Later, they’d have a spiderman meme moment when Legend catches Twi transforming into a Hylian while Legend is in his mermaid form. Neither says a word about the other’s secret, though.

The second person to figure it out is Wind, if only because he can see Midna. Twilight vanishes and then a wolf appears later with the same minish that hangs out on his shoulder? Yeah, it’s Twi. No doubt about it. Wind does admit that he figured it out to Twi privately though, so it’s pretty calm between them.

Hyrule had a suspicion that Twi might’ve been Wolfie, but he also couldn’t rule out the possibility that Twi just summoned Wolfie or something else like that. He was extremely curious, but didn’t want to pry into his secrets. He respects his companions too much, and would prefer they come to him in their own time.

Proxi figured it out before Warriors did (thanks to both Midna and the magic she sensed from him), but didn’t tell him. Back when the two were traveling together alone, she’d tell him everything she saw, to the point where in rumors about the hero she’d be referred to as his third eye. Proxi doesn’t tattle to Wars about the others’ secrets, though; it was something the two agreed on when they started traveling with the group. Warriors wants to know everything so he can account for it, but he also doesn’t want them to be wary around him and Proxi if they felt she’d go to him for everything. He did find out after doing his own investigations, since he didn’t quite trust this strange wolf showing up randomly. Twilight admitted it to him to ease his nerves and build trust between them once again.

Time was completely and utterly convinced that not only did Twi summon Wolfie, but he used something similar to the command melody to control him, which is why the two were never in the same place. Why did he come to this conclusion? Well, it just made sense to him honestly. He made no effort to correct his misconception and never brought up it up when Twilight admitted it to the group.

Four figured out Legend’s rabbit form well before he figured out Twi’s wolf form. After all, he’s a little pink rabbit with a missing foot, and Legend has the same shade of pink hair and obviously has some secrets about one of his hands. He wasn’t at all surprised when Twilight admitted he was Wolfie, but he hadn’t quite put the pieces together on his own yet.

Wild honestly didn’t make the connection. He hasn’t really seen a wolf before, but he looooves animals. It was kinda weird that Twilight would vanish, but he didn’t entirely notice or realize. He wasn’t incredibly shocked to discover they were the same person, but he was pretty embarrassed because he’d done and said some dumb shit in front of Wolfie. Whoops.

Sky had absolutely no fucking idea. He was completely and utterly oblivious to the fact that Twilight and Wolfie had much (if any) connection, and was the only person genuinely surprised by it when he admitted it to the group.

[taylorhawkins]

I haven't been active on anything lately so I don't know, what kind of hate are the foos getting? also just why? how can anyone give them hate after what they're going through

Hi love ❤️ Ugh, so I haven’t seen it on tumblr, mainly just Instagram & Facebook & YouTube, but there’s been a lot of hate comments towards Josh, and to the band for continuing on without Taylor, calling them greedy and money hungry and saying they don’t care about him. Like??? It’s fucking ridiculous. I did think some of the new music is a little forced sounding - not that they’re trying to rush it or anything but just that they’re struggling to continue without him, which I think is a natural part of the healing process and I’ve seen it in other bands I love that lost a member. It’s not like they just went oh here’s the new guy we’re resuming as normal, they’re honoring him at every show and they made a record dedicated to him, I haven’t seen Dave get through one FF performance without tears since then, and Josh is an amazing guy AND he has the hawk logo all over his drums. And he was friends with Taylor. 🙄

It kinda reminds me of how many people just brushed over the rest of the band when Taylor died and singled out Dave as the only one that could be grieving. Like yes, maybe he took it the hardest since they were the closest, but I seldom heard how Pat must feel despite the fact that he’s lost 3 bandmates now, or how Nate must feel despite the fact that he knew Taylor and loved Taylor for 25 years too, or how Chris and Rami felt despite the fact they were best friends with Taylor too and were just as impacted by him. Like they are very open about how they’re all best friends, and the fact that Josh has stepped in to act as the glue to prevent them from drifting apart and to stick together during such a painful time makes me incredibly happy… I have no idea why other people see it as a bad thing. And the whole “greed” thing is probably coming from Karens who can’t wrap their head around the fact that most musicians make music because they love it, not because of the money, and that’s why they’re containing on as a band lmfao

I hate to give it attention but it was a lot of comments and it honestly shocked me, I was thinking the same thing. How can anybody be that fucking cruel and senseless after all they’ve been through is beyond me. I guess maybe it’s coming from a perspective of not wanting the band to be different or to see someone else behind the kit, but they have to move on and heal, and it’s selfish for people to not want them to do that. But then again there’s a lot of loonies out there that believe in wild conspiracies or that Dave worked him to death or forced him to do things against his will so who fucking knows 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thank you for the ask 💓💓 sorry I ranted a little there LOL

[kinetic-elaboration]

December 12: Work Shit

Today was such a shitty day. And for the most dumb-fuck reasons too. There was work drama in the morning so incredibly inane I am embarrassed to post about it in a pubic space but the tl;dr of it is that I had no opinions about the thing, but was still the brunt of others’ (an other’s really) annoyance about it. We kept saying ‘it’s not personal’ as we spoke harshly to each but it felt SO personal, and I just couldn’t get over it for pretty much the rest of the day. I am quite sure it wounded me more and affected me for longer than anyone else. I want to be like ‘please don’t do this to me, I am a sensitive flower, I am easily emotionally decimated’ but also like ‘I am not bothered at all (lying), I am strong and fine, I am above this, I am not engaging because there is nothing to engage with.’

Again, there was nothing to engage with. But it just made me feel so shitty. I still feel kind of sad even now, to be honest. I was so bummed out and tired that I took a nap as soon as I got home (after a bus ride sitting in front of someone who was yelling into their phone and kept saying ‘no one can hear me! It’s the bus!’—um? We can all hear you because it’s the bus?). There was probably nothing else for me to do but of course now I am up late because it takes a while to wake up again from a nap, then I am all riled up and easily distracted. So I will go to sleep at a stupid hour again, and also have accomplished nothing with my paltry post-work hours.

Fuck I’m so depressed. This is such a depressing train of thought.

Anyway, yesterday I mentioned at work that I had never seen a single episode of Doctor Who (this is the truth: I think I saw a partial episode on TV, but not even the whole thing) and this shocked my co-worker considerably. She said it was incredibly surprising of me or something of that nature. And I do not know how to take this. I mean, probably what she means is ‘you are known as someone who likes science fiction and is rather nerdy’ and these are true things and also positive reputations to have. But I have literally never given the slightest fuck about Doctor Who lmao. I can’t tell you why, but it obviously doesn’t feel weird to me that I don’t because I never have! Obviously I’ve been in a lot of spaces that are sort of Who-adjacent (fandom, tumblr, nerd-dom, crossover appeal with other stuff I like) but it’s never been tempting or intriguing at all. It’s not on my list.

What I said was just like… a non-answer that sounded like an answer based on my tone of voice. Like, ‘Hmmm, well I’ve seen a partial episode on TV and I’ve seen Torchwood.’ This is all true but does not at all address the surprise or the reasons of my not being interested. I was surprised by her surprise, I don’t have good reasons, and also all I could say would probably read as insulting to Who fans, one of whom was in the room.

I think part of it is, honestly, that my mom isn’t into Doctor Who, and so I did not have anyone getting me into it at a formative time. Not that people can’t get into Who independently and not that I haven’t gotten into things independently but I just… I really think that in this particular instance, if she had been into it, I would have been. My mom being into Torchwood is the reason I watched it (well… 2-ish seasons). She thinks Who is a kids’ show and while it’s probably more a family show, that opinion really influenced my non-desire to watch it.

Another part is that I’m sort of a sci-fi poser in a way. I hate to admit it but it’s true. I love that people think of me as a sci fi fan and I think of myself that way too but I am NOT well read. I’m more like an ST:TOS fan with aspirations to sci fi fandom. This isn’t to say I want to pick up Who (or Dune, the other piece of science fiction I was strangely assumed to be familiar with), but I do want to be more well-read in some classic sci fi literature, as well as be more aware of like modern sci fi stuff. Especially books. There are very few sci fi TV series that interest me. A couple but not a ton.

I also have a weird definition of science fiction which is, it’s science fiction if it FEELS like science fiction to me, personally, the arbiter of all things. Some media are in the sense that they can’t be anything else, I guess, but they don’t feel like science fiction to me and so I’m not interested, which is a weird and irrational and unreasonable thing for me to say, but it’s the middle of the night and I’m sad so there it is.

[theangryjikooker]

https://www.tumblr.com/theangryjikooker/731993396101726208/i-also-felt-the-live-to-be-a-bit-awkward-it

Why do people always go “it seems like they hadn’t seen each other in a while” when Jimin and Jk say certain things? You honestly don’t even have to ship Jikook to know that they probably see alot of each other atleast at the company if u don’t think they see each other outside of work. We know that Jk is extremely busy and with his album preps so he is at the company alot, and Jimin too is at the company alot. So why do u think they haven’t seen each other in while? Jimin commenting on Jk’s weight is absolutely normal cuz sometimes some pieces of clothing make u look slimer, or sometimes we all just comment on the same things over and over cuz it could be shocking while u are immediately looking at the thing you are commenting on. For example, u could tell someone they smell good once, but then later on u get a whiff of them again and comment on it again, not because u hadn’t gotten the smell before but because u just got it again. Same way u could comment on someone loosing weight once and then you see them again and u are still kinda shocked at how much they lost weight and u comment on it again.

Also, Jimin never asked Jk to stay and he said no. Why do y’all spread stuff without fact checking knowing how much hate Jimin constantly gets from taekookers and solos? Jimin was the one who asked Jk to go rest cuz he was tired and sweaty from practice. And you too admin, please try to fact check some information before agreeing with anons who are misinformed themselves. Jimin already gets alot of hate from taekookers and solos who have a boner for twisting his words to fit their own agenda, if we have to discuss stuff, lets discuss things that actually happened and not misinformation or lies cuz u cannot even come to an accurate conclusion with misinformation can u? Here u are thinking Jk said no to Jimin again after the rehearsal thing when nothing of the sort happened.

Lastly, Jk wasn’t trying to be standoffish with Jimin. That is how Jk copes with situations that are kinda uncomfortable for him especially when it concerns Jimin. This alone should show people that Jimin and Jungkook clearly don’t have the same relationship with each other that they have with the other members. We can speculate about the true nature of their relationship but we can all see that the way they act around each other is obviously different from how they act around the other members. Jk has always been the kind of person who would say a no even if he means a yes when he us flustered or shy. He could come off standoffish or cold around Jimin when he is trying not to give too much away. Jk literally told us years ago that he was usually cold to Jimin on camera and ignored him cuz he was shy. This statement alone should make us understand that he “acts” cold towards Jimin when he is shy and that is kinda his defense mechanism when he doesn’t know how else to handle situations or circumstances that fluster him or make him uneasy. Ofcourse this is only a suspicion based on the things he has said and done in the past but i think it makes perfect sense.

We have to try to stop over analyzing these guys actions and words sometimes people. Sometimes they are literally goofing around or making small talk just to keep things interesting and we take those things so seriously. Just like how Jk was obviously teasing Jimin when Jimin asked him to come back and watch him practice and he said no. Jk teases like that sometimes with all the members but pple only wanna make a big deal outta it when it comes to teasing. Before Hobi left for the military Jk told him he wasn’t going to miss him (he was obviously kidding) but no one batted an eye over it. But all hell would have broke loose and all analyzers would have crawled outta their holes if he said that to Jimin. Don’t y’all goof around with your friends sometimes? Don’t y’all tease each other? Isn’t it possible for your friend to ask u to do something and u tell them u don’t feel like doing it? Why are all these things normal in our everyday lives but y’all have to analyze the hell outta these things when it comes to Jikook. Why is it a big deal if Jk didn’t feel like going back to watch Jimin’s rehearsals? Why does that automatically mean he doesn’t care about Jimin? Do u always say yes to everything your partner wants? Do u go with them wherever they want you to go? Does saying no to your partner or friend mean u hate them? Why don’t we apply this examples from our own lives before judging jikook? Some of y’all are coming on here to say alot when u just literally denied your partner sex or something cuz u didn’t feel like it. Did u say no cuz u don’t care for them? What makes some of y’all thing to show that u care for someone, the only word that have to say to them is Yes? Don’t y’all realize how unrealistic this is? Jimin and Jungkook are idols and famous people yes, but they are normal human beings just like u and me so stop thinking there are certain things they shouldn’t do. Real life doesn’t work like that.

Oh my god. Literally woosh.

I’m not even sure where you got half of what you’re complaining about here or how it’s relevant.

If it’s not PJMs and other solos, it’s shippers. Please get the fuck away from me.

[d1nnerd0g]

Hey it's that anon again. y'know that one from like a day ago. or a few days ago I don't have a good sense of time. it could be 2030 for all I know

I think my most major like, post-canon take is that I'd probably sorta hate it if I were treating it as a real completely serious canon continuation of Homestuck. Instead I read it more like fanfic than anything, just slightly more Creator Approved than most fics.

Not to say I lack standards of quality for fanfic, but I am more open to certain character alterations and interpretations (there are still more than a handful I don't like in post-canon) because I am more cool with seeing it as someone else's vision of a character rather than them being "utterly ruined" in canon or whatever.

I think it also helps that I read all of Homestuck a couple years after HS^2 paused so I wasn't in the active fandom during all of that (I almost was! I originally tried reading back in 2011 but I fell off of it within 500 pages because I had bad taste) so I didn't actually have my opinion particularly swayed by outside influences and was just more willing to give it a fair reading.

My next most major post-canon take is that, as an epilogues and HS^2 liker, the most recent upd8 is quite literally the best I've actually felt about the writing in ANY post-canon content. I think even if I DISLIKED HS^2, I'd still be interested in seeing where it goes from here, after that.

Hi! I waited til I read all of HS2 to reply so I actually know what I’m talking about. I get you on the benefits of backreading, reading this thing in one go I cannot imagine waiting month-long pauses in between scenes, boy can you really feel them in the text (in a way that wasn’t true in the original comic.)

I don’t find that either the AH-lessness or the divisiveness of the postcanon stuff changes the fact that this is the de facto continuation of the canon storyline - it is the reason any of us are reading it. Them framing the epilogues as an AO3 fic doesn’t make them any less on homestuck.com, rejecting this continuation is an active choice you have to make as a HS reader.

Anyway reading HS2 I was surprised both by how little plot occurred (except in Candy, ironically -- oh my GOD I cannot believe Meat decided to do 3 more years of The Yard/Meteorstuck) and how overall unobjectionable it was? This comic’s just been a lot of really nice art and decently written character banter, and that’s essentially it. Then both took a shocking nosedive in ch15/16, the worst writing I’ve seen in all of HS/postcanon, which was so egregious that I think… if the New Team honestly cares about this project shouldn’t they at the very least go back and revise some of that? At least fix the numerous typos?? Instead we get Terezi offering wry meta commentary that this time she’ll “do it right”, which already communicates a dismissive attitude I’m not impressed by. But hey all we've seen so far is two new conversations, everybody loves Sollux, let’s see if JR can fanfic his way into a compelling story.

…Seriously tho anon, thanks for sharing your thoughts and I absolutely just used your ask as an excuse to bitch some opinions out. It remains true there’s nothing in HS2 that I like that hasn’t already been done or done better in fanworks, except drawing Jane looking extremely bangin I guess, but I haven’t sought that out, as a fan, so it’s like the gift I didn’t even know I wanted, and didn't want

[chenziee]

Like the sun...

First of my pieces for the amazing @opluffyzine :D First time writing Reiju but I quite like how she turned out (she's a Luffy fan like the rest of us now #canon)

The zine's aftersale's are open right now so go check it out and give yourself a Christmas present (or you know... just treat yourself, you deserve it) <3

[ Read on AO3 | Ko-Fi | Zine Store ]

----------

Reiju couldn’t believe it. When she had seen Sanji arrive at Whole Cake Island, she had thought it was all over for him, that his hard-earned years of freedom were finished. All because of their father’s ridiculous ambition. But what neither she, nor their father and brothers—and obviously not even Sanji—had expected, were people chasing after him.

She was honestly surprised when she and Yonji ran into the Straw Hat crew out at sea on the outskirts of Totto Land, and even more surprised at the state their captain was in. She had to wonder how he even managed to ingest that much armored stone fish poison, nevermind surviving it. She could only silently marvel at this boy’s luck in meeting the one person who could save him at that point.

However, she was sure that if the Straw Hats didn’t turn back, their luck would run out very soon. There was a limit to such fancies of fate and they would need nothing short of a miracle to get as deep into Totto Land’s territory as they had intended.

Even while they were riding the carriage taking all the Vinsmokes over to Big Mom’s castle, everything still seemed hopeless. No way out, no means of escape, no room to hide; not even a will to run. Not until their coachman pointed out the large figure charging at them from the direction of the forest.

“Your majesty, something is approaching!”

Reiju frowned slightly, leaning forward to see past her father. Was that… a tree? And someone waving from the top of it?

“Hey! Sanji!” the person shouted right then. “Haven’t seen ya in a while!” 

Reiju could barely believe her ears. It definitely sounded like Straw Hat Luffy, Sanji’s cute little captain. It seemed like the man’s luck and determination ran deeper than Reiju had given him credit for and she felt a smile pull on her lips. It was quite refreshing.

But then Sanji spoke up behind her, his voice weak and shaky, “What are they doing here?”

With that simple sentence, it was obvious what Sanji’s answer was going to be. Still, that knowledge didn’t make hearing Sanji speak like a Vinsmoke any easier, any less devastating, and Reiju only hoped Straw Hat wouldn’t blame Sanji.

Unfortunately, it would probably take yet another miracle for that. Reiju didn’t want to watch the following fight; she could see Sanji’s heart breaking with every kick he threw Straw Hat's way, yet, for some reason, she couldn’t look away either. The way Straw Hat took every hit, not even trying to block a single one, the way he refused to back down, saying he wasn’t going to fight Sanji… It was something Reiju had never seen in her life.

She had witnessed countless fights, fought countless people herself, and she had met countless pirates. But this boy was simply something else entirely.

And, as shocking and painful as this scene was to witness, her smile widened the slightest bit.

"You can kick me all you want but you're the one feeling the pain!" Straw Hat screamed after the retreating carriage.

Reiju couldn't even say she was surprised by Straw Hat's words in the end. Yet, she was still incredibly happy to hear them—happy Sanji got to hear them. Happy her little brother had found people who loved him this much and had the power and will needed to act on it.

And even with the gates of Whole Cake Chateau closed tightly shut behind them, Straw Hat's words still echoed around them. "Come back, Sanji! Without your help I can't become the King of the Pirates!"

They were inside the castle now, but Reiju still felt the dark skies above part just a little bit. 

There was yet a small ray of light above.

----------

Listening to Sanji retell what he had seen and heard in Pudding's room, Reiju was surprised by the feeling of relief that washed over her. For one, Sanji finally had no reason to stay. There would be no wedding, no alliance, and no threat to the hostages come tomorrow. There weren’t even any bombs on his wrists.

And two, Germa 66 was as good as dead.

The only problem was Sanji’s kindness. How do you convince someone selfless like Sanji to let people die? Reiju didn’t know. She had tried and tried but she knew it was hopeless. For her, anyway.

She had to leave it to the person who appeared to have the power to sway the tides of fate itself.

As if on cue, there was a loud crash outside the medical room, followed by shouts that got louder and louder with every passing second. What did she say about luck and fate? It was honestly so incredible that it was absurd.

It didn’t take Straw Hat very long to speed past the door Reiju was hiding behind. Quickly dragging him inside, Reiju took in the state he was in; ragged clothes, wounds and dirt all over, a missing tooth, cheeks hollow as if he hadn’t eaten for days. A complete mess, yet so desperate to reach Sanji—and not even being quiet about it even though he was running all over the Chateau, Big Mom’s very own castle.

“We’ve been tricked, Pudding lied to us! The very girl Sanji’s getting married to said she’s going to kill him—” Straw Hat stopped suddenly, blinking at Reiju with a slight frown on his face. “Are you okay? You got hurt?” he asked then, gesturing to her thigh.

Reiju chuckled at the concern. “I’m fine,” she said, dismissing him. You really should worry more about yourself right now, she added to herself as she shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “And don’t worry, my brother knows about Pudding.”

“What?! He knew?” Straw Hat cried.

The genuine shock on his face got quickly replaced by rage, however, when Reiju explained the situation Sanji was in—or the situation he thought he was in.

“Hostages? You mean the Baratie?! I know them!” Straw Hat said, nearly shaking in anger. “If they’re really in danger, I’ll go back to the East Blue to fight if I have to!”

Reiju blinked, taken completely aback by the declaration. But before she could so much as ask if he was serious, a loud growl came from Straw Hat’s stomach. 

“Do you… need something to eat?” she asked uncertainly.

“N-No, I’m fine!” the boy replied immediately, a bit too loud and a bit too forceful. Like he was trying to convince both Reiju and himself that he wasn’t hungry after all.

His words from the day before echoed in Reiju’s mind. ‘I won’t eat anyone’s food but yours anymore!’ When he had said it, Reiju had thought he was exaggerating but looking at him now, weak and tired and with stomach empty, she could tell he had been dead serious. And she found she couldn’t say anything in that moment; not about his hunger and not about Sanji. Both of those were now fully in Straw Hat’s hands. And so, she only watched silently while the pirate gathered himself, breathing heavily as he tried to calm his complaining stomach.

Finally, after a few moments, he got up to his feet. And whatever it was that Reiju expected to see, to hear, it certainly wasn’t this wide, happy smile or the relieved tone of his next words.

“But at least now I know Sanji’s aware what Pudding’s up to! As long as he’s not being tricked, I’ve done everything else I can!” he announced, looking perfectly satisfied with everything.

“Wha—” Reiju only managed to say before getting interrupted.

“Thanks, Sanji’s sister!” Straw Hat called, his hand raised in a wave even while he turned on his heel and started running towards the window.

Reiju’s eyes widened at the suddenness of the situation. And why the window?! “Where are you going?! That’s not—”

She was cut off again, this time by the loud crash of glass breaking, and she could only stare with an open mouth after the man. Did he seriously just jump out of the window, at this height?!

“I made him a promise, but it’s not here!” 

His last words repeated themselves in her head over and over while she tried to process what just happened. It was only when people started screaming all the way down at the foot of the Chateau that she finally broke out of her stupor.

And Reiju… laughed.

Laughed, because of the absurdity. Laughed, because she didn’t know what else to do. Laughed, because of the relief. This man, this pirate, was certainly something; a raw force of nature, maybe. Sanji truly was in good hands now.

Letting her head fall back, Reiju stared at the ceiling above, wondering when exactly the dark clouds disappeared.