#i think he curses a total of two times actually in the first three movies

[yllowpages]

john can say fuck, he just chooses not to

[childesblanket]

A pearl

chp 1; Let them eat cake!

as you walk down the halls of tevyat university, three big textbooks and one overflowed binder in hand, on your way to a film class that you had randomly decided to take for the second semester. you stop by a vending machine and decide to reward yourself with one of the new snacks they had put in there. one random glass jar of coffee. unfortunately, trying to place your books down neatly, they slip out your hand. On your way down to pick it up, you hear loud stomps approaching, looking up you find your long time friend, childe, smiling up at you.

"i should've known it was your fat ass with those heavy footsteps."

"and that's why you're buying the 1000 calorie unknown tevyat coffee?"

you roll your eyes at childe's sassy replies, already used to it. you drop a couple dollars into the vending machine and watch the coffee drop from the bottom shelf.

"Where you headed? I didn't know you had classes at this time."

he picks your stuff up for you, handing the heavy textbooks and proceeding to take his long strides that you had to keep up with.

"I did, but i signed up for a film class because i felt underworked for one week. i'm totally not in the right state of mind to start another class, but we persevere!"

"Film? Ooh scara takes that class! He majors though, say hi to him for me he's really purple and hard to miss!"

is all childe says before running off, already spotting new friends like the social person he is. you take a sip of the coffee and instantly make a scowl face, choosing to close it and have it by your side the whole day.

you sit down in the class, unfortunately for you there was less than twenty-five people in the class, so everyone had already become close friends along with the teacher.

you sit down on an empty seat when a small group of people come in, along with the teacher following behind.

A few minutes later, and everyones settled in and paying attention. you had grown to learn that there's nineteen people in the film class. The teacher calls out your name, and luckily for you, all he does is welcome you instead of making you introduce yourself. The boy next to you is the one you assumed childe was talking about, so you smile at him, but he just wierdly stares back.

"Ok.." you think in your head

"Alright, class. turn to anyone next to you, and that will be your partner for this project. I'm sure most of you are familiar with cinematography, this being your second semester here," and he looks right at you "but if your not, this will be a great opportunity to learn. I want a short, no more than thirty minute film. It has to be a glimpse into you and your partners life, either separately or it could be about any relationships or friend ships you have. This is due in two and a half months, it could be filmed on anything, but you guys obviously know what gets you extra points. I give you this class period to discuss. oh, and, it needs a song."

after listening to your teacher ramble, you curse yourself for not sitting between two students and instead opting for the edge seat, you turn to the purple headed boy who's already writing ideas in his notebook.

"uh.. what do you have so far?"

he lifts his head up, showing his notebook.

"Uh, I'm writing down a few movies that would fit this project, just to see how we should combine our stories, i guess."

from his tone of speech, you could see that he was excited about this project, but definitely not to do it with you.

"Bones and all? I see how the stories would combine now. hm. Okay so.. how about we do this, your story or whatever could go first, and we could move it to any experience i share, and then me, and it would bring us both here."

"oh. that's actually, pretty good."

and just like that, the two of you spent the rest of the fourty-five minutes of that class talking about your project, you leaving with a new number in your phone and a new address in your mind.

[shimonerin]

Secret Santa w/ the Jujutsu High Students

Content: Giving Itadori, Megumi, and Nobara their favorite gifts Tags: fluff Words: 1.7k

a/n: literally my first time writing again after a year or two and also my first time actually putting myself out there and posting lol I apologize if it's messy or lengthy TvT

Itadori Yuji

I feel like Yuuji would ask for a DVD/cassette collection of his favorite movies and TV shows since he really is a “TV child” and grew up watching those. And also because DVDs/cassettes are not really a thing nowadays, it kind of gives him nostalgia to be watching the same movies he used to when he was younger. 

Another thing I think he’d like is a snack basket. Just a basket filled to the brim with sweets and snacks and sodas. Just something he can eat and share with someone while he’s watching his shows.

Yuuji doesn’t ask for much and he’d be completely fine if you only managed to buy one of them or even a completely different gift. I mean, he’s basically going out every weekend in the cinemas and he’s more than capable of buying a few snacks for himself at the store. Everything else is just a bonus.

What he didn’t expect was for you to go out of your way to buy him everything on his wishlist and even gave him a meal voucher to one of the popular ramen restaurants in Japan. You know he likes rice bowls a lot and what’s better than giving him a voucher that’s worth at least three different rice bowls.

“No way! You bought all of this for me?” He exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with stars as he looked over the rack full of DVDs, a large snack basket, and a meal voucher. He could feel the tears well up in his eyes, seeing you make an effort into giving him something special. 

You smiled fondly at him, chuckling softly at his lightly pouting face “I might as well, right?” You tell him so casually, as if you didn’t just crawl your way into this man’s heart with your gifts.

Without a second thought, he threw himself at you, wrapping you in a tight, almost suffocating embrace before burying his face at the crook of your neck “You’re so awesome, you know that? I was secretly hoping you were my secret santa.” He murmured softly, which you find extremely endearing. Nobara and Gojo snickered behind you and you knew you’d find yourself in the middle of another teasing session over the next few days.

As soon as Yuuji let go of you, he grabbed both of your hands, holding it in front of your chest “We should definitely stop by that ramen restaurant later! You’ve only been there once, right?” He suggested as he shook your hands excitedly like a child.

As much as he wanted to hang out with his friends this Christmas, he didn’t want to miss out on some one-on-one time with you. He’s basically begging the universe for it so he wouldn’t trade it for the world or for an extra day of training. That can wait.

Megumi Fushiguro

I feel like Megumi isn’t even interested in joining Secret Santa. Poor boy was just forced by Gojo and Itadori lol. As he’s not interested in receiving any material gifts anyways, at most he’d probably just ask for a book.

He didn’t even give you any specific book he’d want you to buy so you had to ask Gojo “Oh, he’s not really into fantasy books, if that’s what you’re thinking,” He tells you as he leaned back onto the sofa “He’s leaning more towards nonfiction novels. Like the classics, you know?”

Heading straight towards the bookstore after training hours, you decided to go for “In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki, simply because the title reminded you of his cursed technique. Though, the synopsis for the book isn’t too far off from his tastes.

Giving him only the book felt empty so you decided to look for mini figurines for his shikigamis at a nearby pottery shop. You wanted to give him something to symbolize his immense care for these animals, which was one of the things you loved the most about him. In the end, you had bought a total of 10 mini clay figurines. You placed it alongside the book inside a neat box with Japanese wrapping paper and a small bunny origami that resembles one of his shikigami on top to finish it off.

When it was time to give your gift to Megumi, he was quite impressed with the way it was wrapped but kept his reactions to a minimum “Ah, thanks.” He’d say, with a hand behind his neck

Only when he opens his present will you see the visible change in his expression. He pulls out the book and the mini figurines of the Divine Dogs, his gaze darting all over it in subtle fascination.

You purse your lips, tilting your head slightly “Do you like it?” You asked him, albeit a little nervously.

“Hey! Say something, won't you?” Nobara shouted, crossing her arms at the boy “Don't just sit there and stare!”

Megumi lifted his head off your bundle of gifts as he gazed back at your smiling face, a sudden feeling of happiness swelling in his chest but he kept it in.

“It’s…nice. I like it.” He spoke quietly, as if he’s only talking to you, blocking out all of the other sounds around him “You shouldn't have bought so much.”

He wanted to say more than that but his real feelings can't be summed up in a few words and he didn't want to come off so cheesy in front of his friends.

You laughed in response, waving off his words “No, no, I want to! You seem so indifferent with Christmas and I just wanted to give you something to smile about!” You lightly teased him, knowing you would have loved him either way.

At this point, Itadori and Nobara were forcing Megumi to smile for you as a joke, poking and prodding at his cheeks like they always do.

In the middle of the teasing session, you could definitely make out a small genuine smile from his otherwise stoic face, one that's easy to miss if you’re not looking closely enough. 

Later that evening, when you finally got home, you received an unexpected call from Gojo, saying “Hey, just called to tell you Megumi loved what you gave him.” He tells you “In fact, he’s arranging those figurines you bought him at his bedside table.”

Without a second thought, you could hear Gojo put his phone closer to Megumi’s room, as the faint sound of soft clashes of wood on wood fills your ears.

Gojo puts himself back on the call “Oh, and the book that you gave him? Yeah, he started reading it on the way home. Looks like you really got him this time.”

You couldn't help the smile slowly spreading across your face like a child “Really?” You say, trying not to let your voice give out what you're feeling “That’s…that’s great! Tell him to cherish it for me, Gojo-sensei!”

Unbeknownst to you, you were on speaker the whole time.

Kugisaki Nobara

Oh it was anxiety-inducing to think of what to give to Nobara. She’s a girl who knows her worth and knows exactly what she deserves. And while that was an aspect of her personality that you love and admire a lot, there’s only so much that you can do with your allowance.

Her wish list states that she wanted stylish clothing, accessories, or anything that looks good on her, given how much she loves shopping. Of course, she didn’t ask for Balenciaga or Onitsuka Tiger. She’s not that delusional.

But you can’t help as if every gift you’d think of wouldn’t be good enough for her. You only wanted to give her the best things because that’s when you’ll see her smile the brightest. And you’d probably do anything to see it on her all the time.

Over the weekend, you made a plan to go to Shibuya, going straight to the popular fashion mall, Shibuya 109. Entering one of the more affordable clothing chains in the establishment, you purchased a cute, oversized graphic tee for her. You also decided to buy her a box set of accessories like hairpins, bracelets, chains, and scrunchies.

Buying one last thing for her with the money that you have, you go to a local chocolatier and order a box of macaroons. Nobara has always been a fan of sweets, after all.

On Christmas Day, when it was your turn to give your gifts, you glanced towards Nobara who was sitting beside you before handing her a beautifully wrapped gift with a ribbon on top.

“Merry Christmas, Nobara. You’re gonna love this.” You’d sweetly say as she widened her eyes, delicately loosening the ribbon string.

As soon as her eyes landed on the top you bought for her, chic accessories, and the box of macaroons, she couldn't simply contain her excitement.

Her eyes were basically stars as she immediately tried on the shirt, twisting and turning to see how it looked “(Y/N), this is gorgeous!” She exclaimed 

Opening the box of accessories next, she quickly tried on the hairclips and wore the bracelets, hurriedly trying them on all at once “Where did you buy all this? It honestly looks so good.” She asked you, a wide smile plastered on her face

You scratched the back of your head and grinned “I…I honestly went to Shibuya this Saturday. I thought I might find you something different from the shops there.”

She immediately dropped everything she was holding and perked up in interest “And you didn't bring me with you? That would have been the best Christmas gift you could give me!” She says, her warm hands immediately wrapping around yours “Then maybe you shouldn't have spent all your money on me. I heard some stores there are so expensive.”

Your grip on her hand tightened into a gentle squeeze “You don't need to worry. I got my money's worth so it’s okay, really.” You reassured her.

You could see the tears forming on her eyes, only for her to wipe it off as she pouted “Well, at least let me share my macarons with you!” She tells you before picking one from the box and feeding you a strawberry cream-filled flavor macaron.

Nobara made a promise to be the one to take you to Shibuya next time and even go as far as to spoil you, even when you told her not to. 

How could she not? She’s so picky with everything but you’re the only one who seems to pinpoint her tastes so well. She’s never met anyone who could match her as good as you do so she’ll make sure to return the favor.

Happy holidays x

[fairygeek777]

Pinterest showing me the most wholesome and accurate representation of Aurora and Phillup.

In case you do not care to read this whole blog:

Too long not going to read: Sleeping Beauty is the standard both romantically and artistically.

I was totally about to say "they're so MamOuSa coded" but ya know what? I also just really freaking love these two so much.

Sleeping Beauty was the first Disney story I ever watched/was introduced to. My mom had a Disney classics collection story book and she also bought Sleeping Beauty Platinum edition for me and my sister. Ever since I was little it's been my favorite. Phillip is 100% the best prince there ever was. Aurora is so pretty and sweet and honestly relatable. The three good fairies are actually quite entertaining and I think they have a lot to like about them. Maleficent is the most iconic Disney villainess there ever was.

AND THE ART?!?! This movie has got to be the most esthetically and artistically pleasing animated film in history. The character designs fit the background to a tee. The first thing I ever noticed about the art as a child was the use of geometric shapes (square trees) and bright, saturated colors for the props and characters. It's just a freaking masterpiece.

The story makes me swoon in a very similar way that the first arc of Sailor Moon does (I mean duh I've said this a million times)

Prince and Princess betrothed from birth but separated before ever meeting and the first time they do meet is 16 years later as perfect strangers and fall in love as ordinary people, a boy she met in the woods as she was leaving her cottage and the first thing he does upon seeing her is sweep her off her feet and pull her into a dance. Then they are told that they must marry their betrothed but Oh no! What about that wonderful stranger I met and can't stop thinking about? And then the curse that Phillup has to wake her from; and he does not hesitate whatsoever the minute he learns that his betrothed and the girl he's falling for are the same person (thanks to a top tier villainess taunt/speech from Maleficent btw) and be rushes to her and defeats the wicked villainess and awakens her and then THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTERRRR

Ahhh it's just- ack I'm in love with this storyyyy.

I do not however think I'd be as moved by it if I were to read the original fairy tale. Just a hunch-

[lewisinho]

as the anon that asked for the race list: thank you!

now this is totally up to you if you have the time to spend on this, but this is my first year watching the races, and while I've been doing some background research to get up to speed, there is still a lot i don't know. i trust your judgment so what are some races and/or f1 adjacent things i should look into? i'm going through your McLaren list and have watched the last 4 seasons of dts and the brawn documentary. are there any other books/ documentaries/ races (especially seb's) / old youtube videos that are lost in the void that i should also check out?

again no pressure and thank you!

no problem!

(and btw welcome to f1 and the world of watching some glorified hot wheels every other sunday 😁 it’s great!)

i completely get how daunting it can be as a new fan in the sport. when i was getting back into f1 it also took me some time to get back up to speed with everything, especially all the techy stuff; i honestly learned the most through just watching the races (old and new), bc you get to see all the strategies play out, the pit-stops, the overtakes etc. and the terminology just becomes much easier to understand through sheer exposure. there are also some really cool f1 data analysis blogs you might want to follow on twt/x if you want some more detailed tech analysis and graphs if you’re into that sort of thing: (x)

as for seb, oh there’s a whole arsenal of recs i have!

monza 2008, rise of torro rosso wunderkind; i presume you already know the lore with that one but ig you can never get tired of it.

abu dhabi 2010, world championship no.1 “du bist weltmeister!”

interlagos 2012, the infamous one. this one’s a rollercoaster, chaos everywhere and the manifestation of murphy’s law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. amidst a title battle against nando, seb was fighting the weather, bruno senna’s front wing, a damaged side-pod, no radio, and somehow managed to claim p6 to win the championship

malaysia 2013, multi-21 (iconique), he was faster, deal with it. 💅

singapore 2013, domination masterclass from quali to the race. (also just all of his singapore wins...lion of singapore and all that)

india 2013, title no.3 secured, changed tyres on lap 2 and came out p17, was third by only lap 13 and then won the race by nearly 30 seconds. it was also his sixth win in a row. he went on to win three more. speaks for itself. also this:

malaysia 2015, first win with ferrari, can't forget that one, also features sewis’ gay knee-touching on the podium.

germany 2019, CHAOS, in which merc got bewitched by the special livery curse 😅, with crashes, spins, 50-second long pit stops, and also features one of seb’s best drives from p20 -> p2

i also highly recommend watching Floz's fan-made docus on youtube about 'the silver war' (there are also docus for the 2014 and 2015 seasons) as well as the merc v ferrari (lewis vs seb) 2017 fight and 'fight for five' in 2018, they're so much better than dts and actually give a full run-down of what happened during the season, with all the action on-track, with interviews and providing all the context! it's so well-edited as well (you literally feel like you're watching a movie about all of the seasons) and they are just incredibly fun to watch.

in general, i love rewatching races from 2017/18 (literally my comfort seasons), personal favs include spain 2017 (strategy galore and lewis v seb), baku 2017 (for obv reasons), austin 2017; and basically the 2018 season in its entirety...

as for books, there are many driver autobiographies e.g. jb (he’s even got two lmao), mark webbah etc. but i think the best f1 book out there is adrian newey’s memoir ‘how to build a car’ if you want lore + great insight into cars!

i’d also recommend watching some older races (i could do a separate post on which ones are my personal favs) but it’s all up to you in the end! go digging, look around on yt for some highlights and just keep exploring! 🫶💜

[girlfriendline]

15 People 15 Questions

ty for the tag @babygirlboberrey 💛

1. are you named after anyone?

no, but i was very almost named after perdita from in 101 dalmations until my dad stepped in and said absolutely not to the pregnancy hormones. ftr my mother maintains to this day it wouldn't have been a bad name. can you imagine. perdy.

2. when was the last time you cried?

within the last week for sure. it's just such a wonderful time of the year.

3. do you have kids?

nope, and that's never going to change. i neither want kids, nor would be a good mother, and i have a hard enough time looking after myself lmao.

4. what sports do you play/have you played?

i used to competitively swim through high school (although not in the way i think that equates to in the us), and i played football (soccer) on and off. the big one was show jumping, i made it all the way up to competing internationally for gbr. i used to wake up and ride at 5am before school and then again after school which, looking back, was quite frankly insane. i took being the weird horse girl Very Seriously.

5. do you use sarcasm?

more than other people probably appreciate.

6. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

i've honestly never considered this before this question but i think maybe clothes??? or colours of clothes? i'm not sure why either, i never remember them.

7. what’s your eye color?

blue ish

8. scary movies or happy endings?

if i'm alone, happy endings. if i'm with a bunch of people, scary movies. i'm a baby. i need emotional support.

9. any talents?

i'm very good at horses. i've never lost anything when i've been drunk. i can type much faster than i should physically be able to considering i use three fingers total. i can water ski (fairly useless tbh). i'm also very good at bringing animals home from the streets (my family would argue this is not a talent but a curse). i can sing, sort of.

10. where were you born?

uk

11. what are your hobbies?

watching hockey. suffering through f1. reading. running. hiking. swimming. playing guitar (badly). apparently lately building my own furniture. rewatching the same three tv shows over and over again. making gifs when the divine inspiration strikes. playing sims. baking.

12. do you have any pets?

four cats: a grumpy ginger and white old aged pensioner called spike (actually. maybe this is just claude giroux in cat form); loulou, who looks way too posh to have come from the streets; mishka, the love of my life my sweet angel baby darling who never does any wrong; and pasha, demon void cat who followed me home 3 months before i moved countries (and wasn't that a headache and a half) and who's probably going to send someone (me) to an early grave.

two dogs: indy, looks exactly like a fox, found her in the desert outside the rescue centre and they refused to take her in. she's my little mountain dog. and alfie, who we rescued 6 months ago, and who is best described as 'imagine there's a velociraptor in your home but the velociraptor is on fire and also your home is on fire and also you are on fire and also'. he's majority german shorthaired pointer. iykyk.

13. how tall are you?

between 5'8 and 5'9

14. favorite subject in school?

i used to love maths because it required a lot less brain power and subjective answers than everything else. in uni, my forensic science classes, or the only enjoyable thing from my first time round at uni, some fake ass course to build up credits called 'the universe as an art' which consisted of going outside to look at the stars and writing a poem about the moon.

15. dream job.

training horses. which sort of was my job that i had to give up when i moved here :)

i think a lot of people have already been tagged but @yabagofmilfs @amandaleveille @girldewar @tblueger @masonshaws @babygirlspurgeon

[my-moony-and-padfoot]

Get to know me :) In a very detailed manner and all of this totally unnecessary and unneeded

(I found these random questions/"get to know me" thingies from Pinterest and left out a few things) I just wanted to do this because I'm hella bored and definitely shouldn't be studying

Definitely not

First name: Guess 📚

Middle name: Maria

Nickname: My friends call me Grandma, Gran and gran-gran.

Age: young and sweet, only seventeen

Height: 165.5 cm

Birthday: 31st of July

Zodiac sign: I'm a Leo ♌

Sexuality: Pan 🍳

Fave color: light pink, light purple and dark green

Fave animal/s: dogs and cats, foxes. Red pandas are cool too and reindeers. Oh oh and turtles

Pets: three dogs and four cats (in two different places tho)

Shoe size: 38-39 EU

Hair color: orange ish

How long is your hair: down to my shoulders

Eye color: blue green brown ish something I really don't know, they're weird. They like often change colors weirdly idk what's up with them. So, I usually stick with saying they're green

Do you have glasses: I do 🤓

Any siblings: half big sister and half big brother, so technically one right?

Where are you from: That there is a mystery 🌎, unless you're fucking Sherlock, or another fictional detective, or a stalker

Last dream: A nightmare of my grandma trying to kill our whole family

Fave book/s: One of the harry potters and heart stoppers. Also I love this Norse mythology book I have

Last book you bought: Poison, and before the coffee gets cold

Favorite hobby/hobbies: writing and crochet 🧶. Also I really like DND 🎲

Favorite game: Sims 4, Minecraft

Fave song/s: We made it - Louis Tomlinson, lowlife - YUNGBLUD, Mars - YUNGBLUD Call your mom - Noah Kahan and arsonist - Alec Benjamin, Body - Mother Mother, Miserable man - David Kusher, Holding on to heartache - Louis Tomlinson, Golden - Harry Styles (I'm sorry I couldn't pick just one) Theres so many more tho

Favorite artist/s: Louis Tomlinson (he's mainly on my play list) and I also like Harry styles. YUNGBLUD, Noah Kahan, David Kusher, Jordan Suaste, cavetown, Conan Gray... I like too many artists, okay?

Last song you listened to: Polygraph eyes - YUNGBLUD

Fave movie: Harry Potter Goblet of fire, I don't really watch movies 🎥 Sweeney Todd is good too

Religion: I'm a Christian, like I belong in the church but I don't really believe into anything, but I respect everyone who does <3

Have you been to the hospital: A lot when I was a child, last time was because of my knees

Ever gotten in trouble with the law: Nope

Met any celebrities: I've met a few YouTubers, does that count?

Baths or showers: Showers. Definitely showers 🚿

What color socks are you wearing: white with light purple stripes at the top

Would you like to be famous: not really no

How many pillows do you sleep with: Two, well one the other one just is kinda there but it's never under my head, it's to prop the other one up

Do you own stuffed animals: I do 🧸

If you do, how many: Six, can't sleep without one of them (it's a bunny). I lied there's seven

What position do you sleep in: The Superman position, y'know? 🦸‍♂️

What do you eat for breakfast: I don't eat breakfast, sometimes coffee though, coffee with oat milk is the best

Ever tried archery: I actually have, was my hobby for a year or something, spoiler alert; wasn't very good at it 🏹

Ever fired a gun: Nope and won't

Favorite clean word: fluffy, it's nice to say

Favorite curse word: Fuck, I say that way too much someone help me

Longest you've been without sleep: 23 hours

Have any scars: I do, a surgery scar on my knee, one on my upper lip from my teeth going through it, small one in the corner of my eyes, a lot on my knees from falling down as a kid so much, and then some others

Are you a good liar: I think I am

Can you do any accents (besides your own): Not really and I don't have that much of an accent, I think. Though my friends tell me I have a bit of a British accent, which is bizarre, and I don't really hear it myself.

What is your personality type: from the 16 personalities INFJ-T 🌛

Can you curl your tongue: I can, I can also do the flower thingy

Left or right handed: right handed

Are you scared of spiders: Sort of, I don't mind them as long as they're not near me

Favorite food: lasagna and tortillas

Are you a clean or a messy person: Messy but in an organized way 📦

Most used phrase: "No shit Sherlock" "no wayyy" "just...why?"

Most used word: Probably some curse word... Or "what" "why"

Do you suck or bite lollipops: Bite 😬

Do you talk to yourself: all the freaking time

Do you sing to yourself: I do, everytime I listen to music alone 😶‍🌫️

Are you a good singer: I'd like to say that I am, but I don't actually know

Biggest fear: someone murdering me (during the night with a knife), dislocating my knee, or any other part that can be dislocated (it hurts so fucking much, cannot recommend)

Can you name all the states: Maybe probably, haven't tried

Favorite school subject: Psychology or English 📖

Least favorite school subject: MATH, and chemistry, physics is sorta alright but I don't like the math part

Extrovert or introvert: as introverted as they come lol

Have you been scuba diving: Nope, probably never will go 🤿 deep waters scare me

What makes you nervous: Literally everything, it's called anxiety ✨

Are you scared of the dark: not anymore, unless it's outside, sometimes it's scary inside too, but not too often

Do you correct people if they make mistakes: Sometimes but not to be mean to them, but not like minor mistakes, unless I wanna annoy someone

Are you ticklish: Not really 🪶

Have you been in a position of authority: I've been a scout leader for the past three years, can't do it anymore tho, does that count?

Have you ever drank underage: Once because my sister forced me to, A glass of champagne how rebellious of me

Ever done drugs: Nope

Ever smoked anything: Nope x2

How many piercings do you have: I have earrings and snake bites 🐍 I really want an industrial but idk if I have the correct anatomy

How fast can you type: Somewhat fast, I'm faster on my phone than on a computer

Are you a fast learner: Depends on the subject, but usually yes

Can you roll your R's: No I cannot 🐐

Do you keep a journal: Every now and then, I'm not very consistent. But I do do bullet journaling in the back of my calendar

Do you like your age: ✨Sweet sixteen✨ It's fine, I don't really care I'd honestly rather be older ⚰️

Do you like your name: I think it's very pretty, I used to hate it tho when I was young (still kinda do, most of the time). It's fine but I just don't like using it with people

How did you get your name: From my mom and dad lol. No it "tells a story" and it suits well for English which my mom wanted, it's somewhat rare here where I live. With the spelling I have

Dream job: I have zero clue 🔎

What was your first job: A week at a daycare. But my first actual job (something I got paid for) was in a coffee shop for a summer

What places have you worked in: In a daycare and a preschool and two summers in that cafe, never going back there it was horrible

Last show you watched: Chicago med 🩺

Last show you finished: baby reindeer

Favorite show ever: Big bang theory, Chicago med, what we do in the shadows and 911. Oh, heartstopper :)

What is your earliest memory: Sitting on a dresser and my dad telling me to wait for a bit, or being on my mum's shoulders while she was doing something outside (I'm not sure which one is first)

Happiest memory: Moving away, getting into the school I wanted with good grades

When did you start this blog: May-June 2022

When did you start writing fanfic: January 2022 (The next few ones a writing related because they were in this one list of questions I found)

What was your first fic: Fred Weasley/reader definitely not with a self insert *cough cough.

How do you come up with ideas for writing: They just come up when I try to sleep, or am doing something random, or something happens so I just write it out. I hate brain storming with all my heart because nothing good comes up when I try

What character/s do you enjoy writing the most: Sirius and Remus <3, but lately I've fallen in love with Percy and Oliver and starchaser is always fun to write. Also lily and Pandora are lovely to write, I just never really do it

What character do you not enjoy writing: Any authoritative figure because it's hard and when there's multiple characters because it's hard to keep track

Is there a fic you regret writing: Not really, I mean I'm embarrassed of some of my writings, but it just shows that I've learned and I can write better now :)

Favorite thing you've written: "When I..." A long fic about a suicide attempt and it was very comforting to write, but then I think I've written a few good hurt/comfort fics. There's like very small bits of the stories that I absolutely love, and loved to write

What do you like to write: Hurt/comfort and just sad things, I feel like I'm good at it. I like descriptive writing too and I've been trying to work on it lately

What don't you like writing: Smut, I feel a little cringe when I write it, and like longer fics, I feel I can't come up with a good enough idea for a one 🤔 Also, I don't have the patience for that

Favorite characters: Sheldon Cooper from the big bang theory. Sirius and Remus obviously, Regulus, and then I like the Weasley twins... There's honestly too many that I like. But to mention a few more: Nick, Charlie, Elle, Tara and Darcy <3 and the art teacher I can't remember the name of from heartstopper. Loki <3. Will Halsted and Sharon Goodwin are the best characters in Chicago med, fight me. Laszlo from what we do in the shadows.

Do you keep a journal: I have a few pages in the back of my calendar for bullet journaling

One bad habit: self deprecation, I apparently do that too much. Source: my friends

What did you want to be as a child: I really wanted to be a chef or a baker

Who's the last person you held hands with: My friend when dancing, if that doesn't count, then with the same friend at a school Christmas party cause I almost lost them in the hallway 'cause there were a lot of people. Before that, no clue

Are you outgoing or shy: Shy with new people. I'm shyly outgoing lol

Who are you looking forward to seeing: My bestie haven't seen her in over a year

What does your most recent text say: "Alright :)" Another one cause it was around the same time but to a different person. "It's just a little guy"

Do you have trust issues. Oh yeah

Favorite part of your daily routine: Everything cause it always goes the same way. We love structure over here. But if I have to pick one, cracking my back every morning cause it's so satisfying

What do you do when you wake up: Turn off my alarm if it's on, then I go through the notifications on my phone and just lay there doing random things before I gotta get up. Usually reading actually if I have enough time and oh, always listen to a podcast/music

Morning routine: What I just mentioned, but when I get up, I drink water and take my meds, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth. If I'm going somewhere I pack my stuff, and then dress up. If I'm not going anywhere, I usually start watching something and drink coffee in peace and then change clothes

Evening routine: I shower, wash my face, sometimes eat something and change into pyjamas. Mark stuff in my calendar, do my journaling and then I get into bed. I usually read before sleeping, a book or fanfic.

Do you like your neighbors: I don't really know our neighbors 👀 except the ones I dog sit for. Oh at least one of our neighbors thinks I'm creepy. (Literally steered their kids away from me while I was coming from school.)

Is your hair long enough for a ponytail: it is, I just often don't keep it in one. Unless it's dirty or I'm alone and need it to get it out of the way

How many languages can you speak: Two (actually three but I'm really bad at the third one) I picked french for next year tho :)

Can you cook: Yep, I'm quite good at it. I can bake too

Last time you cried: A few days ago because I was feeling like an absolutely horrible human being

How long does it take you to get ready: Like 10 minutes lol ⏱️

Favorite number: 5. Five is the Ultimate number, and everything either ends in five or is divisible by five. I've always liked the number five :3

Alright 😮‍💨

That was quite long, Sorry about that, I just like questions :)

If there is something you wanna know for some reason, feel free to ask. Like I said I like questions.

I might write more things here, if I think of something or find something fun

Feel free to use these if you want, I just want to note that most of these I did not make up myself and I don't know who did.

Enjoy this I guess I just got inspired and stopped studying for this, anyone I can blame on my English grade after this 👀

Also there's almost hundred of you following me, that's so weird....

<3

[clarktooncrossing]

Giraffe's Eye View | Princess Mononoke (1997) REVIEW

Wondering why the sudden case of Deja Vu? It's because this was posted as one long review called 'BINGE WEEK', but I've decided to shorten it for the sake of your sanity and mine. If you're interested in my previous review, click here for my thoughts on Rankin and Bass's take on The Hobbit! For now though, onwards to a grand adventure!

Let it be known throughout the land that I am not a weeb. Yes folks, surprisingly there are people out there who's lives don't revolve around anime. Nothing against the artform as a whole, it's just never been my cup of jade tea. You'd think me being born in the 90s would mean I'm totally obsessed with the medium, considering all the shows that mate it Stateside. You'd also think Pokémon would've been taken off the air by now, yet here we are. That show never kept my interest despite Nintendo's marketing making it appear everywhere, DragonBall seemed far too gratuitous both in terms of its action and sex appeal, and Sailor Moon came out at a time when the difference between boys and girls were distinguished by toy commercials. Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man were for dudes, Barbie and Sailor Moon were for not. Obviously now I know that's a load of bull, especially given my love of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but little Clark was a lot dumber back then. Still, even now I'm reluctant to try out any new animes, not that this stops my pals from trying. The recommendations they gave me were a mixed bag to say the least. Tokyo Godfathers was as beautiful as it was bittersweet, One Punch Man that used the tropes of three separate generes to its advantage, and Nagatoro was cute despite how awful its titular character could be at times. On the other hand the finale to Cowboy Bebop pissed me of and my first exposure to Cardcaptor Sakura was during the middle of its second season, my anger rising due to how confused I was. With all that said, my taste in anime outside of Avatar or RWBY has expanded, now including films produced by Studio Ghibli. Last year I watched Kiki's Delivery Service for the first time and thought it was pretty decent, so what did I end up thinking of Princess Mononoke (1977)?

For starters, I was wondering why it's called that when she's not actually the protagonist. Not to say she isn't a pivotable part of the plot, but most of our time is spent on Prince Ashitaka, voiced here by Billy Crudup. For anybody about to complain how I'm a filthy dub-lover, two things: 1) I am just learning how to speak Japanese and I am a painfully slow learner. 2) This is an animated movie, not a manga. If I wanted to read, I'll bust out one of the Komi books lining up my shelves. All I wanna do is watch the movie without having to pay attention to whatever it says on the bottom. Nothing against anybody who prefers the dub, this is just my preference. Besides, the American cast for most Ghibli films are incredible, this picture being no exception. We have Billy Bob Thorton from Bad Santa, John DiMaggio taking a break from trying to defeat Kim Possible, and Minnie freak'n Driver as Iron Town's leading lady Lady Eboshi. As someone who thinks Tarzan is one of Disney's best movies, it was a pleasure hearing Jane in this movie.

Wait, wasn't I talking about the plot? Like I was saying, Ashitaka is cursed by a demonic boar, said curse being a demonic manifestation of vengeance and hatred. Think if all the nastiness of Twitter became a collective of demon worms that oddly resembled Venom. It's a pretty fitting description too, considering the symbiote's whole ordeal is enhancing the darker side of ourselves. It's why I still like Spider-Man 3, the symbiote in that movie bringing out the worst of Peter Parker just as much as this demonic curse brings the worst out in everybody. Aunt May was right when she said revenge is like a poison, no better example of this being this picture.

The curse is slowly killing Ashitaka as he comes across two factions also consumed by these darker emotions. On one side is the aforementioned Iron Town, a civilization made of metal that sits on some of the remains of the forest. While the populous seems pleasant enough, Lady Eboshi is obsessed with expansion, making the very sound point that cities have to grow or folks will die. On the other hand we have those living in the forest, such as the apes, boars, wolves, and the titular princess San (Claire Danes), all of whom hate the humans for destroying their home. Basically this movie is the anime answer to The Lorax, a story I have always loved. Much like Dr. Seuss's tale of Truffula Trees, progress and environmentalism are never depicted as purely right or wrong. Both bring up good points while also showing the flaw of each position. Any story that depicts one side as purely in the right or wrong is pure garbage!

ESPECIALLY THAT ONE!

Unlike Illumination's idiotic butchering of a beloved classic, I always respect pro-nature stories that find this balance. After all, people gotta live somewhere and so do animals, right?

If the brilliant writing wasn't already a win, the movie has amazing animation, though really that's to be expecting from Studio Ghibli. Granted, they achieve this level of perfection from the director working his animators like dogs, but let's not open up that can of demonic worms. Regardless of how the sausage was made, it's so spam good sausage. Heck, this movie marked the first example of CGI being implemented into anime and you can hardly tell! If I had any complaints about this movie, it'd be the surprising amount of gore in this movie. Granted it never gets to RoboCop or Predator levels of exteme, but boy did I begin to question this film's PG-13 rating when Ashitaka managed to decapitate a person with an arrow! Green Arrow wishes he could be that lethal! Also, the fact that our two protagonists don't end up as a couple as the end was kinduv' a bummer to a hopeless romantic like that, but really that's small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. When all's said and done, one can easily see why this is considered one of Ghibli's finest features. Do yourself a favor and check this out if you haven't already, preferably before you're cursed by demons.

Then again, maybe what they needed was a goddess to banish all the demons. Oh! I can think of one...

GIF by redarmyscreaming

CURIOUS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? CLICK HERE TO SEE MY THOUGHTS ON MOTHRA (1962)! MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[pettyprocrastination]

Extra Whipped Cream

pairing: Porn Star!Dieter Bravo x Reader

content warning: curses, past description of smut, talking about porn

summary: A pornstar walks into a coffee shop. Havoc ensues. 

word count: 1.6k

a/n: A covid movie is dumb as shit considering were year three in the pandemic so im chanigng this character to fit MY wants and needs >:). Also lets be real, the name Deiter BRAVO belongs to either a porn star or a starfox character. 

BIG thank you to @redcrvette for making the AMAZING playlist i listened to while writing this @madhyanas for being a magnificient editor and @max--phillips and @humanransome-note for listening to my manic rambles as i wrote this last night. 

Tagging: only the people I know may have an interest in this weird ass fic/character: @scorpionsandhoney​ @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa​ @captainsamwlsn​ @max--phillips​ @humanransome-note​ @softanon​ @tuskens-mando​ @thesadvampire​ @justrunamok​ @littleferal​ @pedrostories​​

That wasn’t him. 

It couldn’t be him. 

His hair was too dark, right? It definitely wasn’t him. 

The man who definitely, totally, absolutely wasn’t him, was the fifth customer in line. Sunglasses shoved high on his nose and staring down at his phone like everybody else who walks in until they get to the front of the line and rattle off their coffee order to you. 

You were positive it wasn’t him. 

When he was the fourth customer in line, you thought the resemblance was uncanny, but there’s no way it was him. This guy looked too tan. 

As he became the third customer in line, between making orders you noticed a sliver of a scar on his cheek and your heart dropped. 

You were seeing things. That wasn’t him. It fucking couldn’t be. If it was, then God must be punishing you. That’s the only answer. 

Soon he goes from the second to the first customer in line. You hold your breath as he takes off his sunglasses to squint at the menu and-

Christ on a cross, that’s Dieter fucking Bravo. 

“Hello-” Your voice remains steady while your hands shake horribly behind the counter. “How can I help you today?” 

“Can I get a, uh-”

Be calm, you tell yourself. He’s just a customer. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t make this fucking weird. It’s a totally normal interaction you have with people everyday. This should only last, like, five minutes, tops.

You had “famous” people walk into the café before. A couple of minor actors, a pro skateboarder, even a fucking Olympian athlete, once. But every time you were calm; uninterested actually. Because it was just work. A quick five-minute interaction before they were out the door and out of your life without leaving so much as a lasting mark. 

Of course, those people weren't porn stars you watched. 

Those people weren’t porn stars you watched last fucking night. 

“A caramel macchiato? Two pumps of vanilla with extra whipped cream on the top, please.” 

But Dieter Bravo was all three of those things. And he was making it incredibly hard to focus on your job. 

“Oh!” He slaps a hand down on the counter. “Can you throw in a brownie too? The brownies here are my guilty pleasure.” He laughs like he shared a joke and you laugh in response, but it sounds more like a nervous wheeze because he said pleasure.  

Why did he have to say pleasure? Why is Dieter Bravo right in front of you talking about pleasure as if you didn’t get off last night to a video of him sucking dick. Why does God hate you this much? 

“Sure! Your total will be nine-seventy-five!” 

He fumbles for his wallet with a nervous smile. “Sorry, I should’ve had this out and ready for you.” Usually you’d think, ‘Yeah, jackass. You really should have, because now you're holding up the line.’ But you're too busy thinking about how, last night, you came to the sound of his moans and the sight of him sucking marks onto some girl’s thighs and how his voice is naturally that gravelly and low? 

Sweet Mary Joseph. 

He hands you the money and your fingers graze his.  His hands are soft, so soft you can’t help but think about how you have seen these hands do a plethora of things that makes you feel a hot wash of shame under your collar. 

“Oh! Sorry, I think I forgot to give you another quarter.” For the love of God. 

He digs around in his pocket, grumbling and cursing under his breath. 

“Sorry I’m usually more put together than this, I promise.” 

Oh, he was nervous. 

Well, that made two of you. 

He glances behind him. Luckily, there’s nobody else in line. A rare occasion on a Friday afternoon, but it must be a slow moment, or it's God’s way of dragging this interaction out even longer because he wants to know how much it will take for you to finally quit your job. 

Dieter hands you the last of his change and sweet mother of God, his hands are big. 

Hands you’ve seen wrap around somebody’s throat while he tells them how pretty they are when they cum. Hands you’ve seen stroke a throbbing cock as he runs his tongue up the length. Hands you've watched grip a pair of shaking thighs open “to see that pretty little pussy.” Late at night with your phone on the lowest brightness setting while you slip your hands down your shorts and Jesus fucking Christ. 

This was it. This was the reason you quit your job. 

You pick up an empty cup, hoping to God he can’t see your hands shake. “Name?” “Dexter,” he tells you and you almost laugh. 

Dexter. Dieter. Man, this dude doesn’t think much about it, huh? 

You scribble his name in a penmanship that you can barely recognize yourself, before scurrying off to make his order, chirping, “Your order will be ready soon, sir!” 

There. The hard part was over. Now all you had to do was make his drink, hand it to him, not say anything stupid and the man would leave. Vamoose. Poof. Gone forever, and you could forget this interaction until your brain wrenched it up at three A.M. every night for the rest of your life whenever you were trying to sleep. 

Easy peasy.  

Even as you made his drink — which hardly took any thought, you've been making it for two years — you kept taking nervous glances behind you at him. Dieter, no, Dexter, was too busy on his phone to notice. 

God, he was handsome. That wasn’t something you debated before of course, but now? In person? He was real. Not a figure on a porn site you visited at night alone, but just some guy who apparently wore the same ratty-ass sneakers and liked listening to Doja Cat. (Because you could hear him humming Need to Know to himself from across the counter.)

People always say to never meet your heroes, but what was the rule about people you jacked off to? 

The lid is clamped down on his drink that, honestly, is more sugar than caffeine at this point, but who were you to judge? All you knew is that you were almost done. All you have to do now is hand it to him with your registered retail smile, tell him to have a good day, and you are finished. This is the homestretch. You can do this. 

When you walk back over, he smiles at you with a scrunch of his nose. 

“Long day?” he asks. 

You watch him for a moment, he’s looking at you with that sympathetic smile and you can’t help but laugh a little bit. “Yeah it, uh, something like that.” You slide his drink over to him. He raises it to you in a gesture of thanks. A little salute on his way out.

“Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Your manager had it ingrained in your head. The final word, the bidding goodbye to every customer must include their name. “It’s personal.” she told you during your training. “It makes them feel welcome. Like a family. Because we're all a family at this cafe.” Which was bullshit, in your opinion. But you needed this job because it was one of the only places in the area that paid above minimum wage so you did it. For the past two years you did it with little to no issue. 

The issue was Dexter. Fucking Dexter. You meant to say Dexter. 

“Have a good day, Dieter.” But you didn’t. 

He’s halfway to the door when you say it. The moment his name, his porn name, passes your lips, he freezes. Dieter turns on his hell to face you again and your heart drops. 

You just outed yourself to the hot porn star at your job. 

He raises a finger and points to you, squinting. “Did you say-”

“Michelle, I'm gonna take my lunch break now!” It doesn’t matter that your voice was a click beneath a shriek that made everybody in the building jump, or that you weren’t actually going on a lunch break, you were going home, or that you weren’t even to the breakroom before you began to rip off your apron in a panic because you nothing mattered aside from getting anywhere but here. 

The breakroom door slams open from your force, Anna sits at the table, feet kicked up and scrolling on tiktok. She notices your heavy breathing and panicked face. 

“Hey, I thought you were working a full shift today-” “I'm sick. Vomit sick. Influenza sick.” 

Your coworker backs up, hands raised. “Never mind. Godspeed dude.” 

Keys. Bag. Apron. Phone. 

“Hey, is the back entrance still unlocked?” “Yeah, I never bother to lock it because they have me doing trash runs in the morning now. Can you believe that? I mean, what was wrong with doing it at night? Now I have to lug those heavy ass bags at seven in the fucking A.M like I’m some fucking-” “Okaycoolthanksbye!” Dieter, had been staring at the door for a solid two minutes after you scurried away. You said his name. You knew him. 

He thought of the little shake in your voice as you took his order and the smile as you handed him his drink. You were pretty. The pretty barista watched his videos and got nervous when you looked at him. 

He shakes his head. It had been a long time since he had seen somebody look at him like that, with nerves and excitement and attraction without needing character directions or a camera pointed at them. Dieter walks out of the cafe with a smile on his face. He sips his drink and hums. 

He would have to come here more often

[lovemesomeeddiemunson]

Jealous Cookie

Summary:  You appear to be spoken for, but Eddie wants you to be his. He risks telling you so. 

F! Reader Insert, 2454 Words

Warning:  Minor ST spoilers ahead. Food mentions. Mentions of drugs and drinking. Cursing. You’re a part of Hellfire club and have minimal baking skills. Smidgen of angst with a fluffy ending.

Authors Note:  Jake is actually Jake Ryan - as in 16 candles’ Jake Ryan. I am always looking for inspo, so I will absolutely take requests for one-shots, blurbs, and head canons. If you don’t have an idea and just wanna chat, that’s cool too! I promise I won't bite.

Eddie had tried unsuccessfully now to ask you out a total of three separate times.

Well, tried, was putting it generously. What really happened was that Eddie had come to you, casually inquiring about your plans for the evening - only for you to have already made them.

It was his own damn fault really. He was apprehensive about asking you out on a proper date, waiting for the last minute, always, to ask instead what your night would entail. 

The first two times had been just dumb luck - you happened to have made plans with Robin one day. The other, you had a shift at work.

But this time…Eddie’s hopes were dashed.

He’d asked what you’d be getting up to that night, as usual, only for you to shrug, saying “Nothing really. Was gonna cuddle up with Jake, maybe watch a movie.”

Eddie’s heart sank.

Jake, who the hell was Jake? In his short time knowing you, he had not heard you mention him even once.

Now here you were, hugging your binder to your chest with a smile curling around the corners of your lips, all at the thought. Unmistakable hearts in your eyes.

“Oh…cool.” Eddie forced himself to grin - just a small, tight one as he bit back the bitter jealousy. “Have fun.” He adds, the words sounding insincere but he can’t help that.

You smile - a genuine one, eyes crunching together in confusion when he suddenly turns and flees with his tail between his legs. 

After that, Eddie suddenly finds himself hearing about Jake much more often. Little snippets here and there.

“…We weren’t at lover’s lake for an hour before Jake was dragging me out to skull rock.” You laugh at the audacity, a knowing smile on Steve’s lips as he restocks videos, making a joke about how you at least had someone to go to skull rock with. It made you giggle hysterically. Made Eddie sick.

“…Jake’s birthday is coming up, I was thinking about baking him some pumpkin cookies. What do you think?” You asked Gareth, who thought that Jake might like peanut butter better. You ultimately decided to try your hand at both and Eddie wanted to bang his head against his locker. You had brought him cookies before, but you’d never had to stress about what kind - you knew the kind of cookies he liked. They were your favorites too.

“…My parents are out of town, so Jake and I will have the house to ourselves.” He couldn’t even tell you who you were talking to at that time. It didn’t matter. That one fucking hurt. Eddie lost sleep that night, thinking about all the things you two could possibly get up to in an empty house. He had to stop himself - hide his keys from himself and get stoned and drunk out of his mind to keep from driving over to your place.

It leaves him bitter and miserable. Here you were, his literal dream girl, just out of reach.

And you were doing things for Jake, with Jake, that he wanted to do with you.

Still, he tells himself that as long as you're happy…repeating the thought like a mantra as he starts to withdraw from you in the coming days and weeks. A fact which does not go unnoticed, and frustrates you to no end.

You’re close to a confrontation when you join him at the Hellfire club table as usual. He isn’t looking at you - he’s engrossed in some Newsweek, reading from it aloud in a deep theatrical voice.

"The Devil has come to America." He thunders, voice taking on a much more teasing lilt as he continues. 

"Dungeons and Dragons…at first regarded as a harmless game of make-believe, now has both parents and psychologists concerned…Studies have linked violent behavior to the game, saying it promotes satanic worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy, suicide, and even,” he smacks the magazine down on the table, his tongue sticking out, lowering his voice into a mocking rasp. “Murder.”

The group at the table laugh, trays clattering as Dustin and Mike join you all.

“You know that’s all bullshit.” You tell Eddie, who crosses his arms over his chest.

“Society has to blame something. We're an easy target.” One of your fellow club members laments.

Eddie frowns deeper. “Exactly. W-We're the freaks because we like to play a fantasy game.” He looks at him, head tilting to the side as he adds, “But!” Smacking his hand against the table as he swung a leg up onto it, walking with deliberate theatrical steps.

“As long as you're into band…or science…or parties.” He sneers, ignoring the finger it gets him, cupping his hands around his mouth to yell. “Or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets!” 

“Loser!” Someone calls as Jason Carver stands up, shouting back. “You want something, freak?”

Eddie throws up devil horns atop his head, spluttering with his tongue in demonic fashion. You giggle along with the others at the sight, as Jason stared uncomfortably.

Eddie slowly lowered his hands as Jason muttered  “Prick.” Sitting back down without a confrontation. 

That was too bad. Eddie wouldn’t mind starting a fight right now. It would be a nice physical outlet for all his pent up frustrations.

But he wouldn’t goad the jocks any further - instead he plastered a small smile to his face, and turned back around, slowly walking the table back towards his seat.

“It's forced conforming.” He declares. “That's what's…” charged, launching himself to the ground. “…killing the kids!” Nearly giving a teacher a heart attack, his arms bent behind his back.

Most of the people your age are ignoring his small show, especially the cheerleaders that he gives a faux bow for as they pass. Forever the gentleman, even all worked up like this.

“That's the real monster.” He continues, dropping back down into his seat and popping a pretzel in his mouth.

“So, uh, speaking of monsters,” Dustin has a way with timing. “Uh, Lucas has to do his, uh, balls-in-laundry-baskets game. So…” Dustin laughs nervously, “He’s not gonna be able to make it to Hellfire tonight.”

Eddie glares at Dustin as he continues. “And I know there's no way we can beat your sadistic campaign without him. So, me and Mike, we were talking, shooting the shit, and we were thinking that maybe we might…”

Eddie pops another one of the pretzels, waiting impatiently.

“Postpone.” Mike finishes for Dustin. Protests quickly ring out, to which Eddie silences them all.

“Shut up!” He yells, waving his hand erratically. “You saying Sinclair's been taken in by the dark side?”

“Uh, something like that.” Mike admits.

Eddie harshly throws the pretzel currently in his hand. “Something like that?” He mocks.

“Jesus Christ.” Dustin balked.

Eddie makes sure he’s hearing this correctly. “And rather than find a sub for him, you want… you want to postpone "The Cult of Vecna"?”

“I…I don't want to postpone it. We don't want to postpone it.” Mike flounders as Eddie pushes back his chair with a scrape, standing up.

“It's just that, you know, most of the subs will be at the championship game.” Mike tried.

Eddie’s hair flies as he whips around. “Oh, it's the championship game?”

Mike is confused. “Yeah.”

“Can I level with you?” Eddie’s eyes narrow. “Jeff and Y/N graduate this year. Gareth's got, what? A year and a half?” He points you all out, hands pointing to himself as he goes on.

“Me, I am army-crawling my way toward a D in Ms. O'Donnell's.” His hips jut forward, legs shaking with anticipation. “If I don't blow her final, I'm gonna walk that stage next month,” the guys chuckle. “I'm gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye,” he turns slowly. “I'm gonna flip him the bird,” thrusts his middle finger in the air slowly and deliberately. “I'm gonna snatch that diploma and I'm gonna run like hell outta here.” He makes a small loop to the laughter of his devotees.

“Didn't you say that last year?” Gareth questions.

“And the year before that?” Jeff snickers.

He comes bounding back. “Yeah, yeah, and I was full of shit. This year's different. This year is my year. I can feel it. '86, baby.” He grins wildly, winking at you.

“You know what that means?” He saunters over and lays his hands on Dustin and Mike as they shake their heads. “It means you boys are the future of Hellfire. I knew it the moment I saw you. You sat on that table right over there, looking like…looking like two little lost sheep.”

He looks at Dustin. “You were wearing a Weird Al T-shirt, which I thought was brave.”

“Thank you?” Dustin mumbles.

“Mike, you were wearing whatever shit your mommy bought you from goddamn Gap.” The table bursts into laughter, the loudest bray coming from Dustin.

Eddie yanks the boys to their feet. “And we showed you that school didn't have to be the worst years of your lives, right?” He asks them. 

They shake their heads. “No.”

“Well, I'm here to tell you that there are other little lost sheepies out there who need help.” He surveys the cafeteria. “Who need you. And all you guys gotta do is get your Bo-Peeps on and go and find one.” He shoved them roughly before sauntering back to his seat.

The two scramble off, off to complete their mission. 

Then Eddie addresses you as he takes his seat once again. “You-” he jerks his head at you over the crunch of a pretzel. “You’ve been surprisingly quiet, Y/N.”

“Just taking in the show.” You smile at him. He could live off that damn smile. But then the bell rings, and both of your smiles fall. You sigh. “Kinda missed seeing your performances lately.” You tell him as you walk away.

Eddie feels bad. He struggles all day with how to fix things between you. He even bounces ideas off of Chrissy Cunningham when the two - surprisingly - bond over a drug deal.

Chrissy insists that he tell you everything. Saying you deserve to have all the facts rather than some bullshit excuse. 

He leaves her with the weed and a promise to repay her somehow for being so kind. She promises she’ll take him up on it - ideas already as she looks at the marijuana she hopes will be strong enough to last until she can cash in his promise.

That night after Hellfire Eddie asks you to hang back, the kids whooping and cheering as they leave, Erica Sinclair in tow.

You stay, confusion evident on your face as Eddie hides his nervous smile behind a piece of hair bashfully. “I…feel like I owe you an explanation about why I’ve been so…dodgy.”

That peaks your interest, and you settle down in the seat you had occupied earlier in the night. Gesturing for him to continue. “I’m all ears.”

Eddie opens his mouth, the speech he has rehearsed in his head beforehand completely forgotten. Instead of all that, he tells you simply, “I was…jealous.”

“Jealous?” You don’t understand.

“Yeah you see uh, the thing is…I really like spending time with you. Like a lot. And it…even just the thought of someone else getting to…to…I don’t know. To cuddle up with movies…spend the day at the lake…be at your place while your parents are gone, it…it drives me crazy to even think about.”

Why did that sound like…your eyes narrowed. Eddie winces “I mean I was really struggling Y/N, thinking that you had someone else to do all that for you. Especially with you being just so sweet, and you - for Christ’s sake you’re so thoughtful, and you were worried about what cookies to bake him.”

“You got jealous of cookies?” You repeat.

“Yeah.” He admits. “Here you were going out of your way, and worrying because you didn’t know what kind of cookies he would even like!”

“Well I - it’s not like we’ve talked about it.” You say incredulously.

“You and I talk about everything.” He pointed out.

“What…what’s your point, Eddie?” You press.

“I-I don’t know. I’m a…jealous mess and I…I guess I just, I want to be the one to spend all this time with you and be on the receiving end of your affections and just…we know each other…so I felt like we would be the perfect match and…”

“Eddie?” You’re dumbfounded.

“Shit. I…I’m not explaining this very well.” He sighed. “I just…you should be with me.”

Your jaw drops. You can’t help it. “I…Am I dreaming?” You ask.

Eddie is confused. “Do you normally dream about me embarrassing myself in front of you?”

You shake your head. “No, you’re right…if this was a dream we probably already would have gotten to the good part.”

“The good part?” Eddie asks incredulously. You flush. You hadn’t meant to come out with all that.

“So,” you change the subject. “Let me get this straight you…you think I should be with you?”

“I do…I…I really like you, Y/N and I…I know I could treat you right.”

“Oh, Eddie,” you sigh. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” You're ecstatic, but Eddie pouts. He thinks he’s too late.

“I was nervous at first. And then there was everything with Jake and I just-”

“Jake?” You gasp incredulously. He’d been hinting around it earlier, but now he’d said it outright. Everything becomes much clearer.

He nods. “I tried to tell myself to leave it alone, so you two could be happy, but it was eating me alive-”

“Eddie!” You gasp. “You’ve got it all wrong. Jake and I aren’t dating! 

His eyebrows draw together in confusion. “You’re not?”

“No!” You laugh at the thought. “Oh, Eddie…is that what all this was about? You thought I was dating Jake?” You press your lips together. “I guess I shouldn’t laugh. I could see…where you would have been confused but…Eddie…Jake’s my dog.” You admit cheekily.

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Jake…is a dog.”

You nod. “Yes. My dog.”

Eddie is…relieved. “So…you…”

You nod again.

Eddie can’t help himself, he takes your face in his hands and he kisses you.

His heart feels like it’s going to nearly hammer out of his chest when he pulls away, his eyes wide at his own sudden bold move.

He wants to apologize immediately but you’re smiling. He had kissed you and it made you smile.

“So um, my parents are out of town again, do you wanna come over?” You question, and Eddie feels a massive relief that you are asking him.

“I get to meet Jake?” He smiles teasingly.

You let out a short laugh. “Oh no, Jake gets to meet you. He’s heard all about the man who jumps on cafeteria tables.” 

[theveryworstthing]

So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class.  I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got  natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace.  I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.  

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway.  This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.

[cjsinkythoughts]

The Conversation

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 7661 (Don’t come at me - you guys asked for it)

Warnings: !FATWS Spoilers!, Cursing, Fluff, Feelings, I Dunno What Else, This One’s Pretty Chill, Except The Ending, But You’ll See When You Get There

A/N: Here it is! I was hesitant about posting it because that means we’re getting closer to the end and I’m such a nostalgic bitch! I’m definitely gonna cry next week when the last episode comes out! Anyways, I’ve got a few things to talk about:

I think this is one of the most important chapters I’ve written and I’m excited to see your reactions to it. It is longer, but you guys asked for that, so you got it! Also, I’m loving the Asks, Comments, and Reblogs. I try to respond to all of them. I have work in a little bit, so I won’t be able to until after, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Ask me anything; about my series, the show, any of the movies, personal stuff, I really don’t care. If you’re not comfortable, that’s totally fine! Every like means so much to me!

I know it’s not the end yet - we’ve got one more episode and a list of One Shots to get through - but there’s a definite feeling of this series coming to an end, and I just want to thank you all for the support and love you’ve been giving it! I’ve really enjoyed writing these characters and this story! It’s very, very special to me and I’m glad I’ve been able to share it with you lovely people!

On that note, be kind to yourselves and others! Thank you again for reading! Excuse any mistakes - this isn’t beta’d! Enjoy and stay tuned!

FATWS Masterlist

cjsinkythoughts Masterlist

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT! (Sorry for the gifs I just love them so much and he’s so pretty and this part is technically two parts so...you get four!)

“Louisiana.” Bucky hummed, looking around the airport.

You rolled your eyes. “You’re not gonna find anything interesting about Louisiana in here, doofus. Let’s call an Uber.”

“An Ooper? What the hell is an Ooper?”

You giggled, shaking your head and grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the luggage carousel. “Uber. It’s like…a taxi service. But there’s an app on your phone to get a driver instead of waiting for one on the street.”

“Oh.” He blinked, tilting his head. “That’s…helpful.”

You laughed again, stopping in front of Carousel 3, where your flight from New York was assigned. You went back to New York to grab a bag with clean clothes and other necessities, along with taking a real shower for once. It was nice to be back in the States, as much as you loved traveling. It’d been a crazy few weeks and you were ready to just relax.

“Do you think there were any problems with Sammy’s present?”

Bucky shook his head. “Nah. Especially considering they know who we are.”

You snickered at his slight grumble. They had had…problems at the other two airports - first the one in Sokovia then JFK in New York - considering Bucky’s entire arm was metal. It’d taken a full hour before they actually let you go, and by that time they had to give you a new plane because yours had left.

“Seriously. Who else has a fucking metal arm and has 1917 listed as their birth year on their Driver’s License?” You giggled again. That was also true. They thought he was messing with them. It wasn’t until you stepped in a few minutes after they asked Bucky to step to the side, seeing Bucky get frustrated, that they realized Bucky wasn’t pulling their legs.

“Well, we’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

He nodded in agreement, watching for your bags, his hand finding yours when he realized how many people there were. “Do you know where he lives? I didn’t even think about it.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. He invited me over once. I declined, but I saved the address.”

“He…invited you over?” Bucky frowned.

You gave him a look. “I’m sure he invited you, too. You just never checked his texts.”

He licked his lips, tilting his head. “Yeah, no, I know, but I mean…why didn’t you go? Weren’t you two just talking about how you wanted to meet his nephews the other day?”

“Yeah, but I had gotten a tip on Wanda at the time and I didn’t want to miss the chance that she was there. He told me it was fine. I still felt really bad. I could tell he was a bit disappointed. I think it was one of the boys’ birthdays. Or something. I don’t remember. Is that bad? Yeah, probably. I really should remember. Maybe I should keep track of birthdays on my calendar or something.”

“Doll.” You looked up to find him giving you a magnificent smile, teeth and all. “You’re rambling.”

“Oh. Am I? Sorry. I didn’t realize.”

He shook his head quickly, squeezing your hand. “Don’t apologize. It’s cute. I’m just not used to you talking so much. You kinda did on the phone sometimes.”

You shrugged, pushing down the heat crawling up your neck at his words. “I rambled a lot to Steve.”

“Oh.”

His face fell, making you scrunch your eyebrows up in confusion, nudging him slightly to grin at him. “It’s nice to have someone to ramble to again, though.” There was that smile again. You were stopped from saying anything more when you noticed some kids pointing and chattering excitedly at a gleaming silver box coming around the corner on the conveyor belt. “There it is.”

He looked over his shoulder, dropping your hand and stepping over to grab it, lifting it effortlessly. You didn’t know what was in it or how heavy it was, but you were sure it felt like a feather to him.

“Alright. Got our bag, sweetheart?” You lifted up the duffle in answer and he jerked his head towards the doors. “Let’s get outta here, then. Call that Booper or whatever.”

“U-B-E-R! Ub-er!” You threw your hands up, following him as he started walking towards the exit. “What’s so hard about it?!”

He just gave you a little smirk over his shoulder.

***************

Bucky kept asking the Uber driver questions about his job. The guy was super nice and patient the whole time, a thick southern accent lacing his answers. Southern hospitality was no joke and apparently had no limit as Bucky asked about his experiences, listening intently and telling him his own stories of taxi drivers in NYC.

When you got to Sam’s sister’s house, Bucky, being Bucky, tipped the driver half of what you paid for the ride, thanking him for his time and energy, before getting out.

“You’re so adorable, you know that?” You teased him as you stepped up the porch stairs and knocked on the door.

He rolled his eyes, a tint of pink dusting across his cheeks. “He was nice.”

You hummed at his defense, the smile never leaving your features. After a moment, Bucky raised his fist to knock again. “Jesus Christ! Don’t fucking knock their door down!” You grabbed his wrist and lowered it.

“Sorry. I forget sometimes.” Bucky informed you absentmindedly,  tilting his head to peek in the window. “I don’t think anyone’s home.”

“They’re probably at the docks, then.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “The docks?”

You nodded, gesturing for him to follow you. “Yeah. They have a boat, remember? He talked about it last week.”

“Oh right. The one he’s trying to convince his sister not to sell.”

“Yeah.” You confirmed. “I’m pretty sure it’s that way. I don’t know how far, but we can call the Uber back-”

Bucky scrunched up his face and shook his head. “Nah. I don’t wanna bother him again. We can walk.”

You gave him an incredulous look. “It’s literally his job to drive people around.”

“Well, yeah, but what if he’s got other people to drive?”

You lifted his metal knuckles to your lips. “Trust me, Buck, I’m sure he’d rather drive you than anyone else.”

“Thank you?”

Swinging your now linked hands, you gave a firm nod, letting him know it was, in fact, a compliment. “You are so very welcome.”

The walk was a lot longer than you thought it was, and you ended up on Bucky’s back after he kept complaining about how you “shouldn’t be walking this long” and you were “injured” and you “needed rest’”. You’re not sure how a shoulder wound affected your ability to walk, but you relented and let him carry you the rest of the way to stop his whining.

“You forget, you did pull your thigh.”

“That was, like, three weeks ago! Yeesh!”

You finally got to the docks, which were bustling with people. Bucky set you down and raised an eyebrow which you shrugged in reply to, before heading over to where you spotted Sam with a few other older men.

“How do we get it off the truck?” You heard Sam ask, pointing to a large boat engine part in the bed of a beaten up truck. Scoffing as Bucky lifted it up without breaking a sweat, you leaned against the truck. Bucky grunted and set it down, looking at Sam.

“You’re welcome.” What a punk. “Just dropping this off.” Bucky lifted the case and set it where the engine was previously, Sam coming to stand on the opposite side of the truck as you. “You can sign for it and I’ll go.” You snorted, shaking your head, making Bucky shove your shoulder - the uninjured one - playfully. “I called in a favor from the Wakandans.”

Sam looked at you curiously. You shrugged and shook your head. “Don’t look at me, Sammy. He wouldn’t tell me what it is. He’s all hushy hushy about it until you say so.”

Before Sam could reply, there was a squeak and hissing over at the boat where steam was coming from a few pipes.

“Sam!” You knew that was Sarah from pictures Sam showed you. You stayed up by the truck, pulling yourself onto the bed while Sam tried fixing the pipe, Bucky butting in to show him how to do it properly.

“Why didn’t you use the metal arm?”

You saw Bucky lift up said metallic limb. “Well…I don’t always think of it immediately. I’m-I’m right handed.” Letting out a laugh, Bucky turned around and scowled teasingly at you. “And what’re you laughing at?!”

“Nothing!”

“Well then get your ass over here!”

You rolled your eyes, hopping down from the truck as Bucky asked if Sam wanted help with the boat. You leaned against a wooden post, grinning when Sam looked at you.

“I don’t have any plans.”

Sam gave a small smile, jerking his head back. “Yeah.”

You jumped down onto the boat to follow him, looking over your shoulder and stopping with an amused eyebrow raised as Bucky introduced himself to Sarah. “I’m Bucky.”

“Ah…Sarah.”

“Sarah.” Bucky repeated her name, before walking towards you, a grin still on his lips.

“Careful, Barnes. That playboy Steve warned me about is coming out.” You nudged him with a smirk, ignoring the feeling of your stomach dropping.

He rolled his eyes, kissing your head as he passed you and Sam to go where Sam was gesturing. “Don’t worry, Y/N. You’re still my doll.”

Sam raised an eyebrow, falling into step besides you and lowering his voice. “Conversation?”

“Hasn’t happened.” You informed him through clenched teeth as he groaned.

Sam gave you a list of chores that needed to be done to clean up the boat, giving you a quick tour and letting you know where all the tools needed where. You set to work immediately.

Sanding down, replacing old parts, cleaning, polishing and painting over the things that didn’t need replacing. They didn’t let you do any heavy lifting because of your stupid shoulder, but you were still able to help.

Sam had turned on some music for you to listen to, so you danced around the boat while cleaning. Turning your head when you felt a pair of eyes on you, you smiled when Bucky snapped his head back down to the wood he was sanding down.

“Gonna dance, Barnes?”

He looked back over, shaking his head. “Nah. I’m good watching you.”

Rolling your eyes, you got back to work, continuing to bop to the music, fully aware that he was watching you now.

A little while later, you were repainting the edges of the boat orange, when you looked over and noticed Bucky playing around with a paint scraper…sitting right on the edge that you had just finished repainting a few minutes ago.

“Buck!”

He looked over, eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”

You bit your lip, trying to hold back your mischievous grin. Shaking your head, you waved dismissively. “Never mind!”

He gave you a confused sort of pout, before shrugging and continuing to fidget with the tool. It wasn’t until later when he got up to help Sam tear the metal plating off the edge that it came to light with Sam chuckling and raising an eyebrow.

“Sit in something there, Barnes?”

“What?”

Bucky craned his neck back, eyes widening when he saw the orange paint on his ass, contrasting with his jeans. You let out a cackle and he whipped towards you, pointing at you accusingly, although the small uptick of his lips let you know he wasn’t really mad.

“Y/N!”

“No, no, no!” You laughed, sprinting across the deck, shrieking when he grabbed your waist and spun you around. You gasped when he grabbed a paint brush and painted an orange stripe right down the front of your shirt. “James!”

“Justice, sweetheart.” He breathed in your ear with a chuckle.

You shook your head, wiggling out of his hold. “This is a nice shirt!”

“You should’ve thought about that before.” He smirked, crossing his arms. Your eyes caught sight of Sam behind him, who raised an eyebrow and the bucket of paint he was holding. You nodded with a little giggle, making Bucky’s eyes narrow. “What’s so funny over there, do - holy shit!

You guffawed as orange paint dripped down his head, Sam standing innocently behind him with the now empty bucket behind his back. “Samuel!”

“Oops?”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

“Try me old man!”

“Fuck!

“Doll!”

“Oh my God!”

Paint, orange and white since those were the only cans they had out, flew across the deck, paint brushes being used like fencing swords.

You found out too late that wet paint was a little bit slippery and you slid on a huge puddle, sending you, not onto the ground below, but over the side of the edge into the water. 

“Doll!”

“Cher, you good?!” 

The three of you looked at each other, stunned for a moment, before bursting into fits of laughter and you nodded. “I’m good!”

The boys helped you get back up onto the dock, Sarah appearing with towels she conjured up out of thin air. “Let’s get you into dry clothes. Do you have-?”

“We’ve got some. We got a bag.” You told her with a grin, facing the guys. “You two should clean up some, too. Sammy, you’ve got a little something right there.” You pointed to your cheek, his own having a giant white splotch from his temple to his jaw. “And Buck?” You sniggered, gesturing to the whole of him. “You’ve got a lotta something right there.” 

“Ha. Ha.” He looked down. His top was practically tiger print, drenched in orange with white here and there, and his ass still orange as well. His hair, which had been plastered to his forehead, was starting to dry now, and it only made you laugh some more thinking about what a pain it’d be to get it out. For him, at least.

“God. Can’t even have a relaxing day on the boat with you two.” Sam jested once you finished up and joined him and Bucky, who had just finished dumping out some water buckets. Bucky had changed his shirt and it looked like they tried wiping their faces, but Sam still had small lines of white down his face. “How ‘bout a couple of drinks? Surely you can’t ruin that too.”

“Ruin?” You gasped in mock offence. “Sammy! I just made the day more…interesting.”

Sam chuckled, ruffling Bucky’s hair, which still had orange streaks in it. “Let’s go get some beers.”

************

You chatted for a bit, mainly you and Sam with you asking how Sarah and the boys were while Bucky with your legs in his lap, just listening to you two and sipping at his bottle. You had his hand in your own lap, wiping it down with a rag due to the paint that got on it.

“You’re lucky this is vibranium, you know.” You commented off handedly. “If it was your other one, it’d definitely get stained.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Bucky shot back with a teasing grin.

“Sammy’s.”

Sam spluttered. “Wh-what?! You started it!” You laughed, shaking your head.

Falling into a comfortable silence with just the water and birds chirping as your soundtrack, you downed the rest of your drink, which Bucky took as finished. “Well,” you moved your legs to let him stand up. He leaned forwards to clink his bottle against Sam’s and you stood up and stretched. “Gotta catch our flight tomorrow. Get a hotel room for the night.” Sam gave you a look to which you rolled your eyes at as Bucky set down his bottle and grabbed his jacket. “Crash, you know?”

“So you’re just gonna set me up like that, huh?”

“Well I don’t wanna make it weird for your family.”

“Just stay here.” You laughed as Sam babbled on about how nice the people were here, grabbing the jacket Bucky handed to you. It was getting a bit chilly from the breeze on the water and the sun going down. Plus, that water was cold.

“But don’t flirt with my sister.”

You cackled at Bucky’s face, that turned serious, his head shaking. “No.”

“‘Cause if you do I’ll have Carlos cut you up and feed you to the fish.”

“Can’t hold back the dog, Wilson. It’s been stuck in a kennel too long.”

Bucky turned to you, grabbing your jaw and squishing your cheeks together. “You know what? You need to shush. You’ve been snippy all day.”

You just smiled as innocently as you could with your lips being held by his metal fingers. “You’re too fun to mess with.”

He pecked your nose. “As long as I’m the only one you’re messing with. I’ll be right back.” He let you go and spun around, maneuvering around the boat in a way only a trained assassin could do.

“Oh my God, please! Please just put me out of my fucking misery! You’re killing me, cher.”

“What?” You gaped at him.

“Don’t act innocent!” Sam huffed, giving you a pointed look. “If I have to watch you two make googly eyes at you one more fucking day with neither of you doing anything about it-”

You rolled your eyes. “Oh come on, Sammy-”

“Don’t ‘come on, Sammy’ me! And don’t come at me with that ‘he doesn’t like me back’ bullshit. If you think for a second that boy wouldn’t follow you to the depths of the fucking ocean, you’re blind as a bat, woman.”

You shrugged, pushing up the sleeves of Bucky’s too big jacket. “It just…hasn’t come up.”

He deadpanned, shaking his head and standing up. “That’s it. I’m done. You two are driving me insane. I’m gonna lock you in a room until you have the conversation that needs to be had the next time either of you does something stupid.”

“Yikes. That’s gonna be quick.” At his look, your smile dropped and you nodded. “Okay, okay. I’ll…I’ll bring it up later.”

“Tomorrow or nothing.”

“Sam-”

Sam tilted his head, brow creasing. “Is it still Steve? Is that what this is still about? Because he’s gone, and he’s been gone and you need to get over it-”

“No. It’s not…” You sighed. “It clicked the other day. When we were hanging out. Steve left and, yeah, I might always love him, but Bucky…God…I love Bucky, Sam.”

The man grinned proudly. “I’m glad to finally hear you admit it. So what’s the problem?”

“It’s still complicated, right? I mean…he’s his best friend and I’ve never dealt with stuff like this before and-”

Sam’s smile dropped and he groaned again. “Imma head out. I can’t take this. Dumbass and dumberass. I swear to God.” You sniggered a bit as he grumbled, walking towards the ramp to climb off the boat, just as Bucky reappeared.

“Hey-”

“Nope! Not right now, Barnes! I can’t handle it! I can’t!”

Bucky gave you a weird look. “What’d you do?”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Nothing.”

“Well, c’mon, doll. Sarah said she’s gonna make gumbo for us, whatever that is.” He held out his hand as you walked over. 

“You’re such a city boy.” You teased lightly, taking his hand and letting him help you pull you onto the dock. You shoved the sleeves of his jackets up again since they slipped from the first time. “Let’s go get some dinner. I’m starving.”

******************

“We have the couch and a mattress we can pull out, I just have to make Sam get it from the attic-”

“That’s alright. The couch is fine.” Bucky waved dismissively while you nodded in agreement.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at you two. “For both of you?”

You blinked, exchanging a look with Bucky, before shrugging and turning back to her. “Yeah.”

“Don’t fight it, Sarah.” Sam peeked out from the hall. “They’ve got a weird relationship.” You stuck your tongue out at the man while Bucky rolled his eyes, dropping your duffle bag by the couch. “How mature, Y/N.” Sam mimicked your action.

“Uhm…okay. Let me set up the couch for you then.”

Once everything was set up, you and Bucky thanking her for dinner - delicious and you’d never seen Bucky smile so much, the boys having kept him highly entertained throughout the meal - and for letting you crash, Sam and Sarah headed to their rooms, the boys already having been tucked in for the night.

“Are you gonna sleep on the floor?” You asked quietly, sitting down on the couch and doing the things for your night routine you didn’t already do in the bathroom.

“I think I’ll be okay.” He sat besides you. “I’ve been doing fine the past week or so.”

You smiled at him. “That’s good. Alright.” You stood up and stretched. “Let me just make sure everything’s in the bag and ready-”

You yelped when his arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his chest, shifting down to lay against the couch’s arm. “Do it in the morning.” He yawned, looking up at you tiredly. “I wanna go to sleep.”

“Then go to sleep, Buck. I’ll be right back.” He shook his head, his hold tightening as he sunk deeper into the couch.

“No. I fall asleep better with you.”

You rolled your eyes but grinned, settling down with your legs between his, your chin resting on his sternum so you could still look at him. He beamed, but you could see the exhaustion settling in, and he grabbed the blanket Sarah left over the back of the couch and draped it across your back, over both of your legs, before his arms crossed snugly under the covers at the small of your back.

“Dinner was nice tonight. I haven’t had a meal cooked like that in ages.” You hummed.

He nodded in agreement. “I think that’s the first time I’ve sat around a table with a family since the 40′s.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Did you like it?”

“Yeah...kinda makes me wish I had my own.”

“Your own what?”

“Family.”

You bit your lip, shyly avoiding his gaze. “You’re my family, Buck.”

A light kiss was pressed to your forehead, his fingers bringing your gaze back to his. “There’s no one else I’d rather have.” The room lapsed into silence again, the clock ticking on the wall, the low sound of crickets outside.

“You have really pretty eyes.” You mumbled, tilting your head slightly as you studied them. They always held so much emotion in them, especially in contrast to when you first met him as Soldat. They matched the water you fell in, and you wouldn’t mind falling over and over into them.

“Yeah, well, you’re just really pretty inside and out, so I think you’ve got me beat, doll.” He whispered back.

“You know who else is pretty? Sarah.”

He nodded with a hum. “That’s true. But I meant what I said. You’ll always be my doll.”

“So you’re not gonna ask her out?”

He gave you a weird look as you traced his sharp jawline absentmindedly. “Nah, sweetheart. It’s just…some harmless flirting. Except on Sam’s part.”

You gave a soft huff of laughter. “Yeah…he’s gonna strangle you. It is nice to see you like that, though. Flirty. Relaxed. Happy.”

“You make me happy, sweetheart.” He hummed, nosing your temple. “The road trip helped. I’m learning everything from you. Maybe not the flirting, but the carefree part.”

You blinked at him, finger stopping for a moment as you thought. “Oh…”

You felt his fingers dance up your spine, making you shiver slightly. “What I would give to know what’s goin’ on inside that pretty lil’ head’a yours, doll.”

“I just think it’s funny you’re learning how to be carefree from me…when I just started learning how to do it myself.”

“Oh yeah?”

You nodded, your finger continuing its path down his jaw. “I think it started with the goats.”

“The goats?”

You nodded again, resting your cheek on his chest, watching your finger move up from his chin. Once you got to the end of his jaw, you lightly scratched his scruff. “In Wakanda. Our goats.” You weren’t looking at him, so you didn’t see the way he physically melted at your words, his eyes going soft, his lips turning up slightly.

“Our goats, huh?”

But your tired brain wasn’t really processing what he said, instead focusing on the features your finger was now tracing - over his lips, up his nose. “You’re pretty too, Buck. Did you know that? Inside and out.”

He craned his neck to kiss your forehead. “Go to sleep, cuddle bug.”

Nodding, you nuzzled into his chest, finger feeling over the bumps and indents on the dog tags resting near your head. You tried going to sleep, but you kept shifting, your mind not shutting off.

“Hey, sleepyhead, I’m trying to, you know, sleep.”

“Sorry.” You apologized meekly. “I just…I dunno. I can’t.”

“Are you comfortable?” He peeked open and eye to look at you questioningly. You nodded. “Is it too hot? We can take the blanket off. I know I’m a walking furnace-”

You shook your head. “No. I don’t know why. I just can’t sleep.”

He licked his lips thoughtfully, before cradling your head and guiding you back down to his chest. “Lay down, sweetheart. Relax.” He stroked your hair, moving his head down to rub circles in your back muscles, pressing down harder when he felt knots. 

You hummed, your eyes closing. “That feels good.”

“Shshsh. Just go to sleep.” His lips pressed against your head once more, lingering a bit longer than they usually do, as you felt yourself drift off. You cuddled his side, throwing a leg over his waist, before nodding off, only barely hearing his words. “Attagirl. There we are.”

******************

“Doll?” You felt a shift underneath you and groaned, your eyes barely cracking open. “Hey, sleepyhead…it’s okay. I’m just gonna slip out from under ya, alright? Gonna go help Sammy with somethin’.”

You raised an eyebrow, letting him move you against the cushions as he sat up on the edge of the couch. “Sammy?”

“Yeah.” He bent over and kissed your cheek. You stretched out your limbs, about to rub your eyes, when he stopped you, kissing the inside of your wrists. “No. Not you, doll. Go back to sleep.” 

“Bu’...’m gonna help.” You slurred out, looking at him with confused, squinty eyes.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s okay. Rest. You can help when you wake up again. Okay?” You mumbled out an “okay”, bringing the covers up to your chin and snuggling deeper into the cushions. “There ya go, cuddle bug. Good girl.” There was another kiss, one to your temple this time, before you slipped back into unconsciousness.

******************

The next time you woke up was because of a clatter in the kitchen. You yawned and sat up, stretching, eyebrows furrowing when you realized Bucky wasn’t with you. It took you a moment to remember your conversation, which you half thought you dreamt.

“Boys!”

“Sorry!”

You chuckled at the shouts, rubbing your eyes. “I am so sorry!” Sarah apologized, looking over at you from the stove. Trying to make the boys breakfast before school. Do you want anything? Eggs? Cereal? Toast?”

“Uh, cereal’s fine.” You stretched out your back again, before throwing back the covers and standing up, a little shakily.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where Sam went, would you?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I think him and Bucky went to fix something on the boat. I don’t for sure, though.”

Sarah groaned. “He probably went to fix the stupid water pump which doens’t need fixing. Dumbass.”

You chuckled, padding over into the kitchen. “Yeah. I just work with him. I can’t imagine growing up with him.”

“Trust me; some days you want to throw him in a box and send him out to sea. Bowls are in that cupboard.”

You snickered, moving over to grab a bowl from the cupboard she pointed to. “That’s how I feel with Bucky. Sam is less often, but when those two get together…it’s a full zoo.”

She laughed at that, nodding as she got out the milk and a few boxes of cereal for you to choose from, handing you a spoon. “That I believe.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

You started pouring your cereal, watching in slight amusement as she got the boys ready for school. “Bus is here! Get out the door! Bye! Love you! Make sure you take those extra lunches to-!”

“Yeah, mom! We know! Love you too!”

You gave a slight smirk as she huffed, looking around the kitchen at the pans and dishes left out. “Kids, huh?”

She gave you a smile. “Yeah. They’re a handful, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. How about you? Any thoughts of kids?”

“Me?” Your eyes widened, nearly choking on your food. “Oh God no. Not right now, at least. I don’t even have a solid house right now. My life’s too off the walls for that.”

“And Bucky?”

You raised an eyebrow as she leaned on the counter. “Bucky? What about Bucky?”

“Does he want kids?”

“Uh…I dunno.” You shrugged, clearing your throat as you remembered your talk last night. “Kinda makes me wish I had my own.” You quickly pushed his words aside. “He hasn’t told me.”

“Wait, wait. You two…aren’t together then?”

You blinked, your eyes widening again. “Together? Me and Bucky? No…why? Did Sam say something?”

Her expression morphed into one of disbelief, crossing her arms. “Sam didn’t say anything. You guys did. Are you seriously expecting me to believe you aren’t together?”

“We’re not! I mean - he was flirting with you yesterday-”

“Right, okay. Honey, that’s flirting. And it’s harmless. The way he follows you like a puppy and you look at him like he hung the stars? That’s feelings. And that’s a lot more impactful than flirting.”

You frowned in contemplation. It was really that obvious? You were really that blind? This whole time? You knew Sam knew - but you just figured that’s because he’s been there since it started. And Sharon knew for the same reason. But Sarah? The woman you just met the day prior and had barely had a conversation with?

“It’s, uh…” You chewed on your cheek, swirling your cereal around. “It’s complicated.”

Sarah didn’t look impressed. “Do you like him?”

“I’m kinda in love with him-”

She shrugged, not letting you finish your bashful statement. “Then I don’t see what’s complicated about it.”

And that was that. She turned to clean up breakfast, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

You thought it was more complicated than that. I mean…you were in love with your best friend. Who left you. With the guy you had feelings for who just so happened to be your best friend/crush’s best friend. And now you were completely in love with your best friend’s best friend, but your best friend still had a piece of your heart.

But…you loved Bucky. And he was here. And Steve was not. And when you put it that way…you guess it wasn’t so complicated after all.

******************

You snickered as you walked up behind Sarah, the woman berating the men for not leaving the water pump along like she asked.

“Hi, Sarah.”

Sam shot Bucky a warning look, who grinned, but you were surprised to see Sarah ignore him, sending you a knowing glance instead, before turning back to Sam. “I told you specifically that the water pump was not the problem, and yet, here you are.”

“Yep, Samuel.”

You chuckled, Bucky shooting you a wink. “Yeah, Samuel.”

Sam narrowed his eyes at you, turning to Sarah. “In our defense, you were supposed to be done long before you woke up.”

You nearly facepalmed at his “defensive” and you were trying so hard to hold back laughing as she told Sam off, sending them away.

“I don’t wanna hear a peep from you.” Sam pointed at you, but that only made your chortles come out, and you didn’t even bother hiding them. “She’s a very mean person.”

“It’s tough love.”

You giggled as they started arguing, slipping an arm around their waists, their arms instinctually coming up to your shoulders.

“Oh my God. A prowess?”

“Yes, Y/N. A prowess.”

“You know, maybe if you someone let me help-”

“Hey, woah! You were tired! I let you sleep! I was being nice!”

“Too late now. I’ll be lucky if Sarah lets me within a hundred feet of it!”

“She got you so good, Sammy!”

“I agree with Buck for once! You’re too snippy right now! And c’mon man! Stop flirting with my sister!”

“It’s my natural charm.”

“Charm? What charm?”

“Ouch, doll! That one hurt!”

****************

“Okay.” You stepped out of the bathroom, walking over to the couch and setting the bag down on it. “I’ve got everything packed. We’ve got a little over an hour until we need to head out which gives you two time to go set something up for Sammy and maybe even a bit or training before we leave.” 

Bucky frowned. “You’re not gonna come out?”

“I will in a bit. I just got a phone call I need to take.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “Government call?”

You gave a mocking smile. “Can you guess what they want to talk about? It’s okay. I’ll survive. It’s only a phone call, so I can always hang up. Pretend I didn’t have good service. I do it all the time.”

“I’m sure you do.” Sam chuckled. “In that case, I’m gonna go grab some stuff and get the shield.” As he walked out, he made sure to mouth at you behind Bucky’s back ‘conversation’ making you swallow thickly. You were planning on talking to Bucky anyways, and with Sam’s insistence…

“Okay, so, I was thinking when we get back-”

“Can I talk to you?”

Bucky stopped digging through the bag, blinking at you in surprise at your sudden burst. “Uh…well, we already are, so yes.” He chuckled, straightening and crossing his arms.

“I wanna have the conversation.”

He was left stunned, once again, his mouth opening and closing and his weight shifting form one foot to the other. “Like…that conversation? R-right now? Are you sure?”

You winced at her nervousness. “Sorry, sorry. I know it’s kinda…I just…I need to talk about it. Now.”

“Okay, okay. No, that’s fine. Don’t apologize. I just wasn’t expecting it.” Bucky cleared his throat. “That’s all.”

“Okay…” You breathed with a small nod. You opened your mouth, but Bucky shook his head.

“I hafta say this first; I didn’t mean to hurt you by telling you about Steve. I-I dunno what I thought. That it’d give you closure or something. I dunno. But it hurt you and I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Buck-”

“I was jealous. And guilty. And mad. And upset. I still am. Kinda. I guess. I dunno.” Bucky shook his head, running his hand through his hair and all you could do was gape at him as he started confessing to you. “Remember when we danced? In Madripoor? Doll…I don’t wanna dance ever again if it’s not with you. I fucking love you, Y/N. And not in the way we’ve said it before. I’m in love with you. I have been for-for a while now. I just - you were Steve’s. Steve loved you and you loved Steve and that was that and I was just the broken childhood best friend. But Steve left and he told me to take care of you and I didn’t know what to do with that, because you still love Steve. I think. I dunno. And I didn’t want to break what we have because you’re all I have left of him. You and that stupid shield. You’re my family. My home. I really meant it when I told you that. And that’s why I couldn’t tell you. Because it means too much for me to break what we have because I fell in love with my best friend’s girl. You know?”

He looked at you with pleading eyes, begging you to understand, but your brain was still trying to process what he was telling you.

“Oh God…” He groaned. “And now I just told you everything and you’re looking at me like that wasn’t what you wanted to hear and now I’m thinking this wasn’t the conversation you were thinking it was going to be-”

You were moving across the room before you could stop yourself, pulling him by the teal Henley you knew was comfortable having worn it to bed before when you visited him in New York, and slanting your lips over his.

His breathing hitched and he froze, and for a hot second you thought you made everything worse, but then he was kissing you back and his hands were on your hips and he was pulling you closer and it felt so fucking good you didn’t want to pull back for air.

“Shut up.” You muttered when you finally did pull back, your forehead against his, your eyes clenched shut. “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.” You pulled back to look up at him, chests heaving against each other, your eyes prickling. “I’m not good at this. I’m not good at opening up. I only ever was good at it with Steve but Bucky…I’ve been doing it with you. This whole time and I didn’t even realize it until the conversation in the car.”

He reached up to cup your cheeks, wiping away the relieved tears that were falling from the weight you were finally getting off your chest.

“I love you. I’m in love with you. How could I not be? After all that time in Wakanda? I was never Steve’s girl, Bucky. I wanted to be. Dammit, did I wanna be, but I wasn’t. Not really. And he’s gone. But you’re not. And I don’t know why it took me so long to see that. That you’re the one in front of me. You’re the one who held me when I needed it once he left. You’re the one that would listen to my rambles that I’m just realizing was most of our phone calls. You’re not just the broken childhood friend. Don’t ever think that. I don’t pick up the phone at five in the morning after searching for a friend until two for just anyone. Even Steve’s best friend. And I’m such an idiot because I’ve been pushing away my feelings all these years for Steve and then I let them out with you at the wrong time, because I love Steve, Bucky, but I’m not in love with him. Not since I fell in love with you. And I know it doesn’t make sense, but Steve was the first one I cared about and that’s just how I feel and I can try to explain, but-”

His lips crashed onto yours again and you could taste the salty tears that were pouring down your cheeks, but you didn’t care. He was holding you and he was kissing you and it was even more perfect than you thought it’d be.

“You’re adorable when you ramble, but Jesus Christ, shuddup, doll.” He breathed. “Just tell me you love me. Tell me you love me just a fraction of how much I love you.”

You looked up into those ocean eyes, your own shining with earnest affection. “James Buchanan Barnes. I love you.”

“That’s all I need to know.” He murmured against your lips, holding your head against his, still wiping away your tears. It felt like with each one that fell, you felt lighter and lighter. Like they were taking away every fear and anxiety you held within you for the past six months.

“Alright! I was thinking we could just set up in these trees out here - holy shit! Is it done? Did you do it? Did I miss it? Has the conversation been had?”

Bucky chuckled as you giggled. “He has the worst timing.” The last two words were loud enough so Sam could hear, although the man heard the whole sentence. 

“I’m gonna take that as a yes!” Sam cheered. “Halle-fucking-lujah! Finally! I was that close to locking you two in the attic.”

You shook your head at Sam’s personal celebration, drowning the rest of his words out as you looked at Bucky, who swept his thumb over your cheek catching one last tear, before pecking your lips.

“I finally get to kiss where I really want to.” He spoke softly, kissing your lips again. “Are you mine, doll?”

“I thought you said I’d always be your doll.” You answered cheekily. He grinned, kissing you again, pulling you against him by the hips.

“Okay, okay! That’s enough! We get it! You’re in love, finally, but I don’t wanna see it anymore! Now will you come help me with this shit?”

Bucky left one more lingering kiss on your lips, before you pushed him away reluctantly. “I’ll be right out.”

He nodded, moving over to help Sam carry the things he’d gathered.

You watched them put it all up from the window, gnawing on your cheek as you spun your phone in your hands. Coming to a decision, you tossed your phone in the duffle bag and walked out with it just as the boys finished.

“That was a quick phone call.” Sam raised an eyebrow.

You shrugged. “Didn’t call them. If they really need me, they’ll find me.”

Bucky grinned as you set the bag down under a tree, pecking your lips when you got close enough for him to grab by the waist to hold you against him. You rolled your eyes, shoving him playfully away and giggling as Sam let out a groan.

“Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got, Sammy.”

~

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Bucky knew he needed the tough love talk Sam was giving him. He needed to hear it. Because, deep down, he had known it all along, he just refused to believe it. He tried doing it. Making amends. He knew he wasn’t though. And of course he knew immediately who that one person would be.

“And hey.” Bucky looked at him. “Let me tell you what. Telling my girl all that you told her? That’s a good start. I’m proud of you. Both of you. You’re already happier. I can see it in your eyes.”

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head as he thought of the gorgeous woman he nearly let slip through his fingers. He looked over to the house, where she was inside somewhere getting ready after suddenly deciding she needed to shower before they left. “I was stupid.”

“Yeah you were. You both were. I’m so relieved it’s over.” Sam nudged him. “Treat her right, Buck. She deserves it.”

“I know…I just hope I can.”

Sam shook his head. “Uh-uh. Don’t do that. You were just starting to use that cyborg brain of yours! She chose you. And before you say anything,” Sam cut Bucky off from speaking as he opened his mouth to object. “She chose you before Steve left. It just took her dumbass this long to realize it.”

Bucky nodded, a small smile on his face. “Yeah…okay…” Before he could say anything, the goddess herself stepped out, jogging over, looking absolutely amazing in her jeans and his t-shirt. “Good talk.”

Sam laughed at his quick ending of the conversation as she came up besides them. “Talking about me?” She asked cheekily, eyes shining. Bucky couldn’t help but take her under his arm, pecking her lips. Now that he could, he didn’t think he could stop. He was addicted to say the least.

Throwing Bucky a wink, Sam shrugged. “Just all the things that get on our nerves.”

“Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes. “We better get going.”

Bucky and Sam clapped hands. “You know Karli won’t quit.”

Bucky smiled. “Ah. You call us when you have a lead and we’ll be there.”

Y/N stepped forwards to give Sam a hug. “Anytime, Sammy.”

“Eh. Anytime between noon and midnight.” Bucky corrected. “Or noon and ten. Noon and five…you better just call at noon to be safe.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Sure, sure.”

“Not necessarily as a team.” Bucky continued, grabbing the bag, getting Y/N back in her spot at his side under his arm.

“Nope!”

“We’re not that good.”

“Definitely not.”

“We’re professionals.”

“Definitely.”

“And, uh, we’re partners.”

Sam snapped, pointing at him. “Coworkers.”

“But we’re also a couple of guys with a couple mutual friends.”

“Ones now gone and you’re dating the other.”

“So we’re a couple of guys…with a badass to help out.”

“I can live with that.”

“Perfect.”

“Oh my God.” Y/N let out that laugh Bucky could never get enough of, shaking her head at the two of them. “You forgot dumbasses.”

Sam shook his head. “Nuh-uh. That’s your couple name.”

“Dumbasses?”

“Oh yeah.” The three of them came to a stop, Bucky and his girl - God he loved confirming it now - facing Sam. “Thanks for the help, guys. Meant a lot.”

Bucky patted his shoulder. “Of course.”

Y/N shot him a wink. “Until we meet again, Sammy.”

“Until then, cher.”

Bucky couldn’t stop his grin as she wrapped her arms around his waist, the two of them starting to walk to the main road where she already ordered an Uber. He looked down at her, kissing her lips for the nth time in the past hour.

“I wish I didn’t wait so long,” he told her seriously. “But I’d wait a thousands more centuries if it meant I get to call you mine.”

She giggled, shaking her head. “You’re such a sap! But…” she moved up to kiss him and his heart stuttered. He knew he had a goofy grin on when she pulled back, but he couldn’t help it. Especially when she laughed again. “I have to agree with you on that, Buckaroo.”

[princecharmingwinks]

Sterek Fic Rec - May 2022. Hello hello! New list of fics for you all to enjoy.

Hot for Teacher('s Aide) by linksofmemories_archive (1/1 | 8K | Teen)

“He invited you to his apartment.”

“To do a lesson plan.”

“Yeah and to probably lesson your plan while you’re there,” Scott said, waggling his eyebrows.

“That made no sense, but you still managed to make it sound dirty,” Stiles said. “I’m impressed.”

Lucky Day by SassyStarboard (1/1 | 3K | Teen)

“Good afternoon, my name is Deputy Stilinski.” Stiles managed. The stare he received in return was so intense it burned. Stiles bit his lip, looking between the three werewolves. “Um, I’m here because I’d like to ask the residents of this home about a recent string of break-ins that have been occurring in this neighborhood. We—we being the Beacon Hills Police Department—we’ve received reports of four burglaries over the past three months, all four took place in this area and also you guys were lowkey resisting the law because you kept slamming the door in my face so, uh, free advice, don’t do that because some of the people I work with are major assholes.”

soulmate au + cop stiles + derek’s overeager sisters = YES

If I should stumble, catch my fall by Gorgeousgreymatter (1/1 | 4K | Mature)

Well, friendship is canceled. That's all Stiles can think when he walks into the locker room and finds it empty, with Scott's dumb werewolf ass completely AWOL despite the text message he'd received assuring him otherwise. Which wouldn't be that bad, if not for the fact that now Stiles is face to face with a very wet, very naked Derek Hale.

pretty in tents by kellifer_fic (1/1 | 7K | Mature)

Even though he’s making fun of it, Stiles thinks the whole thing sounds awesome and, like most stuff these days, the experience is going to be totally wasted on Scott.

He's Just Knot That Into You by aggybird (1/1 | 3K | Mature)

Stiles doesn't have much luck finding Mr. Right, and Derek the bartender hears all about it. (Sort of movie-fusion AU.)

Hot Nerd Alert by alisvolatpropiis (1/1 | 4K | Not Rated)

Derek can't believe he's actually doing this: taking a selfie snap of the guy he’s been crushing on for weeks to prove to Danny that one, yes, he really does exist, and two, he really is that hot and thus he is totally justified in being too scared to make a move.

Or you know, even talk to the guy outside of the class they share.

In his defense, this isn’t just any guy. This THE guy. Hot Nerd. The utterly adorable but still somehow insanely sexy freshman in his twentieth century American Lit class who he’s been lusting over since the first day of the semester. If there were ever a time for him to be that person who tries to be subtle while taking snaps of other people, this is it.

I'm tired and I'm wasted, irrational by LunaCanisLupus_22 (1/1 | 8K | Explicit)

Derek reads the message twice just to be sure that he isn’t dreaming.

Help, it reads, accidntly kidnpd somr dudew

He takes a moment to compose his reply. What the hell Laura?

Or the one where Laura wakes him up in the middle of the night because she's kidnapped some random guy from the club and it turns out he's Derek's mate.

Long Standing Devotion by whenwordsmakesense (1/1 | 3K | Teen)

The Alpha turns his gaze on him. And—stops. He says, “Stiles?” And Stiles panics.

It’s totally not his fault that he has his bat at the ever-ready, and it’s totally not his fault that he bats at the Alpha with it, knocking him out.

Maybe that was a harsh thing to do but the last time he’d had to deal with an Alpha it was not pleasant. The dude wanted him as his mate. Which was creepy as fuck even without the knowledge that the Alpha was about twenty years older than him.

“Fuck my life,” he groans, and kicks at the still fallen magic book. It’s the fault of this book. It must be a cursed book, so that every spell done from it has the opposite effect. He asked for someone to love, but he got a creep. His goddamn life.

He doesn’t even live in Beacon Hills anymore!

how to unsend an embarrassing text (hint: you can't) by bibliosexual (1/1 | 1K | General)

Laura tells him it’s cowardly and unromantic to confess feelings over text, but too bad. Derek can’t think of anything more terrifying than showing up on Stiles’ doorstep (conveniently, the apartment right below Derek’s) to tell him to his face. And Derek wants to know, okay? Has to know. He needs closure. He can’t keep second-guessing every microsecond of every interaction with Stiles, trying to guess how he’s feeling, and he can’t keep hoping like this. He’ll go insane. Stiles has been his neighbor/friend/hopeless crush for almost six months already, and Derek definitely can’t take another six.

It's Always Been You, Dumbass by stilinskisparkles (1/1 | 11K | Teen)

“Alright, cool, we should go,” Stiles says breezily, dusting off his hands as he stands.

“We should?”

“Yeah!”

“But… Do you even care about photography?”

“Not as much as I should,” Stiles plants both his hands on the table, bracketing Derek in, “You’ll have to correct my miscreant ways.”

princecharmingwinks special mention (this fic is so soft and wholesome! I love domestic sterek and this fic nails it !)

I like shiny things but I'd marry you with paper rings by Tails89 (1/1 | 5K | Teen)

“I swear the universe is out to get me,” Stiles whines, flinging his hands up at the ceiling. “Derek’s days off don’t line up with mine until next week.” He fidgets with the ring box, opening and closing it. “I can’t keep it at our place, Derek will sniff it out. I just need to hide it for a few days.”

He sits up and gives Scott his best pleading eyes.

“Yeah, no worries, man,” Scott says, clapping Stiles on the shoulder. “I’m really happy for you guys. This is going to be so amazing, just you wait!”

Scott just had to go and jinx it.

Woohooo another month wrapped. Hope you find some gems that suit your taste! :) See you next time.

[httpdabi]

The perfect neighborhood

Genre: Smut, romance

Summary: Your parents and Todoroki’s never got along and everyone knew that. It was a hate on the first sight. So, what else to expect from their children than to hate on each other too, right ?

Word count: 7.6k

Warnings: 18+ (Minors please back off), unprotected sex, public sex, creampie, vaginal fingering, a little bit of praising, dom!Dabi, multiple orgasms.

Imagine,

Warm summer night with a little bit of a warm wind touching your skin. Dark and almost clear sky, fully painted with starts, millions, billions of it, only few of a bit lighter coloured clouds covering some of them. Glass of a nice and expensive wine in you hand as you are concentrated on the small meteor shower they talked about in the news. You saw already three shootings stars, how many will you see till you go to sleep ? How could you possibly miss that ? It’s quiet, the only thing you can hear are the sounds of field crickets.

Yeah, imagine.

Now, let’s go to back to the reality.

It is summer, yeah, but the night ain’t warm, it’s fucking freezing. The wine in your hand is probably the cheapest one from the store. The meteor shower everyone talked about ain’t shit. You expected to see at least one shooting star, but the only thing you saw was a damn airplane, maybe two.. and lastly, instead of calming crickets, all you could hear was loud music and the bass hitting, coming form no one else than Todoroki’s oldest son.

So much about the night you were looking forward to. Maybe you would enjoy it, at least a little bit, but if you were being honest, the music was way too loud. It’s not like Touya did that often, but when he did, he made it sure that the whole neighbourhood has to share the small experience with him.

What you didn’t understand was, why didn’t Enji ever tell him to lower the volume down a bit ? Didn’t it bother him ? Or Rei? She didn’t look like someone who would enjoy the loud music.

Well, that wasn’t really surprising to you. If you think about it, they aren’t much better than he is. As they say. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The Todoroki family moved in to the house next to yours, shortly after you and your parents did. You will always remember the day when your mother knocked on their door, giving them the cookies she made as a little welcoming gesture, only for Rei to give them back, saying how her husband doesn’t like sweets. You will always remember the look on your mothers face, not understanding if she’s for real.

Well, you could understand your mom, it wouldn’t hurt her if she just accepted them. If you think about it, you would probably accept it, and later on throw it away or whatever, just not to hurt the person who gave them. After all, she has kids, not like they couldn’t eat them. But yeah, it already happened, and the two families never talked after that.

In fact, if they did end up exchanging few words, it wasn’t anything good.

It wasn’t really all about the cookies tho, that was just the beginning. One time your father accidentally knocked their trashcan down, but it was really just an accident, which of course, didn’t look so to Enji, who was screaming and cursing around. The same day, your mother saw Rei throwing some old food over the small fence that was keeping your houses apart.

With that gesture, they declared a war.

Touya in the other hand wasn’t really like them, he actually did try to start a conversation with you few times at the beginning, but the two of you couldn’t even exchange two words and one of your parents would already peek thru the door and call one of you, putting the both of you in your places.

After few tries, both of you gave up, giving each other a small nod as a greeting and nothing more.

You almost smiled to yourself as you heard one of your favourite songs coming from your neighbours home. Sometimes you wished you could actually meet him and have a nice conversation with him. He didn’t really seem like someone who was starving for a good fight.

,, Sweetie, can you please go buy some chicken breasts ?’’ Your mother asked, as you were trying to ignore her, focused on the television screen, sadly the focus long gone as she was repeating her question until you stood up. That woman really knew how to piss you of.

,, Do this, do that.. I can’t sit down.. This ass, i don’t know why i have it’’ you complained loudly, pitying yourself for a moment, before you made your way out to the nearest shop. Well, you tried to look positively e at it, maybe it’s better if you watch the movie sometime later, since your mother was way too loud as always.

Ever since her friend told her about some weird ass local stereo site, she’s been walking around with her bluetooth speaker, annoying the shit out of you with some terrible folks music. Damn the person who got her the speaker.

The moment you got into the store, you thought how it’s not that bad that you got there, in fact, you needed some snacks for yourself, since your brother never heard of the word ‘’sharing’’, eating all the snacks that exist in your house.

Firstly, you made your way toward the meat section, taking your mother off the list and making sure you wont forget chicken breast, well better said, making sure you won’t end up dead at the end of the night. If you forget what she sent you for, she would most likely end up using you as the main ingredient.

Once you found it, you made your way toward the section with snacks and sweets, carrying yourself with it and putting more and more in your basket. Well truth to be told, buying all those snacks was almost useless, since you knew that Keigo will end up eating more than half of it. The only way to hide those sweets from him was putting them in your pillowcase, even tho that dog would be probably able to sniff his way to them.

Noticing that there was only two packs of Cheetos, you hurried toward them as you noticed that someone made their way to probably grab them. Sadly the moment you were about to grab at least one pack, both of them were gone, making your blood boil and once the person that took them turned around, your blood boiled even more.

Touya fucking Todoroki, that hungry piece of shit.

Nodding his head slowly, as you were about to curse him out, he just moved out of your way, walking to the way where the cashier is.

,, Do you really need both of the packs ?’’ You hissed, loud enough for him to hear you, making him stop his movements and turn around to face you once again.

,, Yes.’’ He simply answered, raising his brow.

,, Well, that’s really greedy of you’’ adding, you tried to keep your voice down and calm as possible. That was your favourite snack, and that hungry piece of shit had to get both of the last packs.

,, Yeah, says the one who bought half of the store’’ He said eying your basket. Well, he’s not wrong, but in your Defense the main reason for buying so much was your always hungry brother.

Instead of continuing the discussion, you simply tried to be the bigger and better person, and ignore him. Passing by him and making sure you are the fist one to get to the cashier.

,, Hey, wait’’ you heard your neighbours voice, as you got outside the shop. Pushing your wallet inside your backpack, you turned around to see what the fuck he wants.

,, Here, you can have one’’ Touya said, giving you one of the package. You were both shocked and confused by his sudden change of behaviour, not sure if you should take the small package or not. What if he’s trying to prank you ? What if he’ll take the pack back the moment you try to reach it and make it awkward for you?

Your overthinking came to an end as he pushed the Cheetos bag into your backpack, totally ignoring the conversation you had with your inner self.

,, Thanks I guess?’’ You mumbled, still pretty unsure of the whole situation.

,, Yeah, i thought, if our parents fight, it doesn’t mean we have to. Especially not because of a bag of chips.’’ He smiled, as both of you walked lazily toward your homes.

,, That’s true. But honestly, i was already thinking about ways to sabotage you on your way home, to get that bag’’ you joked, realising that both of you are walking way too slow.

You took your time to take a better look of him, since you weren’t really sure if that will be the last chance to do it. He always looked handsome to you, and now that you could see all of him up close, you knew instantly that he is someone you would definitely thirst over.

The usually seven minutes long walk turned into twenty minutes long one, and with every step you were getting closer to your home, you wished you could spend some time more to talk to him and get lost in his beautiful blue eyes.

,, You know Tomura, don’t you?’’ He asked, as you two stopped one block away from your homes.

,, Yes, why ?’’ You asked him back confused, not sure why he’s mentioning him all of sudden.

,, Well, he kinda has crush on your friend Nejire. So, tomorrow maybe, you two could grab a lunch with us at the break ?’’ He suggested almost excitedly.

,, Sure, but I am honestly not sure if he’s her cup of tea.’’ You said, playing with your fingers, not wanting for his friend to get his hopes up, only to end up heartbroken at the end. But hey, it was a win win situation, for him and for you. His friend could talk to Nejire, and you could talk with your neighbour.

At the end, you and Touya exchanged your numbers before you walked away from him, as he waited till you get home, trying not to make it obvious that the two of you had a nice conversation just few minutes ago.

,, What took you so long ?’’ Your mother asked, as she heard you opening the door. Trying to hide the happiness on your face to avoid the questioning, you explained how you took your time finding the right snacks for yourself.

At the end of the day, you turned on the tv in your bedroom, and decided that it’s time for you to finish the movie you started before your mother interrupted you. The focus you had before was long gone and all that was on your mind was your neighbour.

The two of you didn’t talk much or enough for your taste, but it was something you really wanted to do for a long time, so you were really on cloud nine. That same night you had trouble falling asleep, as you repeated the small conversation you had with him all over again in your head and the fact that you will spend more time with him the next day was making you even happier.

And the first time in in a while, you found yourself excited for the upcoming day on your boring university.

,, I swear to god, if that bitch looks our direction one more time, imma throw hands’’ Nejire complained, as some girls from the class, were clearly gossiping about the two of you, not making it a secret at all.

,, Ah fuck them, they ain’t worth our attention girl’’ You pointed out, making Nejire gasp surprisingly. Usually you were the one always ready for one good discussion, arguing with everyone who looked at you wrongly. But you couldn’t waste your time thinking about them, all you could think of was Touya and the upcoming break.

,, And why are we suddenly spending our time with Shigaraki and Todoroki ? Also, aren’t you in bad terms with him ?’’ Nejire started questioning you, as you opened the message you got from Touya, which was nothing more than his current location.

,, Well, long story short, we had a small chat, and he simply invited us. Don’t know why’’ you said, not being able to find a good enough reason to tell her.

Once the class was done, the two of you packed your things and made your way toward the location he sent you. It was the small cafe two minutes away from your uni. Usually, you and Nejire would spend your time at the lunch room, or library, but you had one and half hour till the next one, so the cafe wasn’t really a bed idea.

After you introduced yourself to Tormua, you sat beside Touya, making Nejire sit beside his friend.

,, What’s up?’’ Shigaraki asked casually, after the two of you ordered your drinks.

,, I wanna go home, that’s up. Not in the mood for the next class’’ Nejire said rolling her eyes playfully.

At the beginning all of you talked, but after short time as you realised that Nejire and Shigaraki are getting their own topic slowly, you decided that it was the best time to find a topic with Touya too.

,, So, how’s Fuyumi? What is she doing ? ‘’ You asked casually, like you were friends since forever with her. Probably a bit stupid of you, since you never exchanged a single word with her.

,, Ah, she found a job not long time ago, in some bakery’’ He answered, probably playing along not wanting to make things awkward.

,, That’s nice’’ nodding your head, you took a sip of your coffee.

,, Yeah, but she quit the next day, with excuse how too many guys are flirting with her and her boyfriend doesn’t like that’’ he added.

,, Well, I didn’t expect that’’ you said honestly, laughing a bit. She didn’t look like someone who’s not taking working seriously in your opinion, but again, you don’t know that girl at all.

,, Apparently the bread is not the only thing that’s hot, when she’s there’’ he laughed, making fun of his sister. Once you heard him say that you almost choked on your drink, as you started laughing loudly.

If you think about it, for some reason you really wanted to meet Touya better. Maybe it’s because your parents were so against it, or maybe because he was always so mysterious ? Before he approached you in the store, never once did he really try to make a conversation with you. Now that you were face to face with him, it really felt weird, if you could say so.

But still, you were more than grateful that you had a chance like that. You were always attracted to him, and you never tried to lie to yourself that you aren’t. Sure, you didn’t talk about him, maybe complain about loud music to your friend or brother, but there was no need for you to mention how handsome you think he is or anything.

,, Imagine how our parents would react if they saw us here ‘’ Touya said, as he placed a cigarette between his lips, smirking lightly at you.

,, Yeah, i don’t even wanna think about that’’ You smiled, as you played with the spoon that was in your cup. It’s not like your parents could do much about it, both of you are adults, but you were pretty sure that they would pretty much try to manipulate you into hating him. You could honestly already imagine them saying how you’re living under their roof, and how you have to listed to what they say.

One and half hour never passed faster in your entire life. The two of you talked like you knew each other your whole life, and not like there was a barrier between you. You already knew what kind of music he likes, but you found out what his favourite games are, what does he do in his free time. Surprisingly you found out that he doesn’t really have such a good relationship with his parents, which you didn’t expect at all. The Todoroki’s family always looked like those from television.

Also at your surprise, Nejire was really chatty with Shigaraki. Usually she’s pretty quiet when she’s around people she doesn’t know, but the conversation they had was never ending, and at the end they even exchanged their numbers.

Second day, and Touya Todoroki was all you could really think about.

Sitting with your family and watching some Disney movie was something you really loved, but that day all you could think of was the small amount of time you spent with Touya in the cafe.

,, Can you bring me the cheese balls please ?’’ Keigo screamed when he noticed that you are going to kitchen. There it goes, the snacks you bought just yesterday were already half way gone.

,, I think i lost sense of smell ‘’ Keigo added when you gave him the pack. The cheese balls usually had the really strong smell, but either way the ones you bought were a bit weaker or he simply caught a cold.

,,well, we didn’t. We can still smell you and the fact that you didn’t take a shower for ages’’ you joked, as you scrolled thru your instagram, not showing much attention to the movie your mother chose.

,, Shut up, i shower daily’’ Keigo pointed, defending himself.

As usual, your parents were the first one to go sleep, saying how work got them tired and leaving you and Keigo on your own.

,, Hey sis, do you know any cute activity for couple? Or places to go ?’’ Keigo asked, focused more on his phone now that your parents went to sleep. You knew that your brother was seeing some girl, but you could never be sure if he’s serious about it or not.

,, Oh yes, yes of course, go to hell’’ you answered with a big smile on your face. ,, ehh, i don’t know, maybe the botanical garden ?’’ You added once you realised that he’s totally serious.

The next few days you didn’t have much contact with Touya. He did greet you at uni, he even sat with you on small smoking breaks. But that was nothing much, and you were thinking about sending him a message few times, but at the end you didn’t want to force yourself on him. If he wanted to reach out, he could, he has your number, so ..

On Thursday you didn’t have any contact with him, and that day you really thought that you should keep your shit together, and not overreact. If you talked it doesn’t mean that he had to befriend you, after all he told you that it was about his friend and Nejire. But all those thoughts flied away on late Friday night when you got a text from him.

From [Dabi]: ,, You awake ? ‘’

It was such a simple message, yet your heart skipped a beat immediately.

To Dabi: ,,Yes, what’s up?’’

You replied not closing the Chatroom. At your surprise he obviously didn’t close it either since the message you sent immediately had the blue sing telling you that he read it, and not even a second after you sent it, the ‘’typing…’’ sign was under his name.

From [Dabi]: ,, Wanna take a walk ?’’

That night, when you got out of the house to meet the guy your parents always told you to stay away from, you realised how down are you for him. Just one message and you found yourself ready to piss your whole family off, as you went against their wishes.

Since the night was kinda warm, you decided to go out in your pyjamas, wearing only an oversized hoodie in case it’s a bit windy outside. Once you got out, Touya was already waiting for you on the street, looking only a bit better than you when it comes to his outfit. At your surprise he greeted you with a hug, locking you between his arms for few seconds.

That same night the two of you were on sitting in the nearest playground until the sun slowly started showing up, giving you a sign that it’s time to part your ways.

,, Are you planning to move out after uni ?’’ He asked. There was so much space on the wooden bench you were sitting on, yet he was sitting so close to you, not even an inch was between your body’s. Since it was getting later, the weather was getting a bit colder, and the feeling of his body being so close to you was helping you warm up a bit.

,, Probably, I wanted to move out this summer, but honestly, I don’t think I would be able to pay the rent even if i find a mini job. You know how high the prices are these days’’ You said, hugging your legs closer to your body as you tried to warm yourself a bit more. Having him so close to you, you almost found yourself lost in the nice smell of his cologne. It wasn’t so strong like some guys like to wear it, but it was so nice.

,, We should move in together. I think we would get along pretty well’’ Touya said, placing his arm around you casually. You weren’t sure what surprised you more, his statement or the arm around your shoulders.

,, That’s easier said as it’s done’’ you simply said, not taking it too serious in the first place.

,, Why ? We can pay the rent half-half and it would be fun. Imagine all the drama with our parents if they find out’’ he said laughing a bit. His talk and everything was so casual, you weren’t really sure if he is joking around or not.

As the two of you were talking, he was pulling you closer and closer into his embrace, and at the end the two of you were sitting on the bench like a couple. He took the excuse of the cold weather to hug you so close to himself and who were you to refuse him ? After all what could you wish for more ? The two of you looked like a couple in love that jumped out of some teenage movie, and you were sure you would spend the upcoming days thinking about it.

You did think about the fact that he might be playing around with you, but you decided just to enjoy in the moment and worry about it later. But if you only knew how much he actually liked being out with you in the middle of the night, and having you in his arms on a fresh summer night, the suspicious thought would probably go always faster than it got in your head.

What you didn’t know is, that Tomura didn’t really have some huge crush on Nejire. It was only Touya’s made up story to spend some time with you.

When he was younger he wanted to talk to you just to piss of his parents, but after short time, thinking about it, he didn’t want tot cause you any trouble. He understood that your parents were like his, if not even worse. As he was growing up, the urge to talk to you was also getting bigger and bigger. Not only because of his parents, it was more because you were getting more beautiful every day. He was 95% sure that you never noticed him lurking around on the uni. Not that he was stalking you or anything, he could form it in better words, he was admiring you. Yes, he was admiring your beauty.

He would visit your instagram from time to time, just checking up if you’ve posted some new selfies, or stories. There were some time’s when he wanted to send you a message, but he was always thinking about how would you take it?!

Once the two of you made your way home, instead of being sleepy, you were all wide awake, focused of the quiet walk and him. The whole way home, you were walking shoulder by shoulder, as he held your hand, hidden inside the pocket of his hoodie.

You didn’t have much inside of your head when you told him that you’re going inside, but he did. He couldn’t just let you go, he couldn’t let a chance like that slip thru his hands. Before you could move away, he placed both of his palms on your cheeks, as he connected his lips with your own. At that moment, he didn’t give a shit if Enji or your father could walk out and see the two of you kissing. Heck, if they did, he wouldn’t break the kiss even if his life depended on it.

Even tho you fall asleep only in the morning, you’ve never slept better. Falling asleep as you repeated everything that happened, and waking up thinking about the same thing.

,, Someone decided to finally wake up’’ your mother pointed out, once she noticed you getting inside the living room wrapped up with your favourite blanket.

,,Morning’’ you greeted your mother, as you put the water to boil, preparing the cup for your coffee.

,, Well, it’s 12:34 pm, not really morning anymore’’ she laughed. Unusually, your mother seemed to be in a really good mood for some reason. Not sure if she realised, but you were too.

That day you were motivated to do everything she asked you, hoping you’ll get a glance of Touya. You even agreed to water the flowers on the balcony. And good thing you agreed to do it, since you got a message from Touya saying how someone is hard working, and asking if you slept well. At the end of the message was a small red heart, which almost made you melt in the moment you saw it.

You weren’t sure where all of that lead to, you weren’t sure if he saw the night the same way you did or not. You were pretty much unsure about everything, but still, you didn’t want to think about it much, deciding it’s the best thing to simply wait and see what will happen.

And good thing you didn’t worry your little head about it, because before you could even tell Nejire about it, Touya had better plans, greeting you with a kiss in front of everyone in the uni. You wished you could see Nejire’s face at that moment, full of questions and shock, trying to understand what is going on. Trying to remember if you ever mentioned to her that you liked him even a bit.

,, What was that about ?’’ Nejire whispered once Touya was greeting Shiggy.

,, I’ll tell you later’’ you whispered back, trying to hide the smile that was way too visible on your face.

After the night at the playground, you were falling for Touya more and more, and even if you tried, you couldn’t hide that. Your behaviour changed drastically, wich made even your brother realise that something is going on.

Every night the two of you would meet, sometimes spending so much time on the small playground, and sometimes going out just for a bit, to see each other if the both of you had to wake up early in the morning. Even going to uni wasn’t so bad anymore, he would come to you on the breaks, bring you a cup of coffee to go, or wait for you after the uni. He didn’t tell you that, but he wanted to show everyone who you belong to, and he did it slowly yet effectively. But hey, there was no need to tell you that, you aren’t stupid, you could notice that and in fact you liked it, a lot.

One day after you were done buying some groceries, Touya saw you in your garden, spraying you with the water as he was washing his car. The smile that was on your face, got lost immediately as both of you saw your mother getting out of your house.

,, What’s up you waste of oxygen?’’ You said sarcastically, hoping your mother would buy it, deciding to ignore you, Touya just continued to wash the car, as your mother took the paper bags from you, giving him an evil side eye. That moment you understood how hard it will be to keep your relationship with Touya a secret, and what will happen when your parents find out. Not even a minute later, you’ve got a message from Touya, telling you how he got the goosebumps from the look on your mother’s face and instead of talking about it, or try to find a solution for it, the two of you laughed it out and decided at what time you should meet that night.

Around 12AM when you thought everyone in the house is sleeping, before you even got out, you were caught in the act, by no one else than your brother.

,, And where are you going ?’’ Keigo asked, biting the apple he just got from the kitchen.

,, Just on a walk, to clear my thoughts’’ You laughed it out, hoping he won’t question you much more.

,, Oh, a walk with Touya ?’’ Your brother wiggled his brows, as he laughed once he saw the shocked look on your face. ,, Don’t worry, i won’t tell mom or dad’’ Keigo added when he noticed how the shocked expression turned into terrified one.

,, You won’t ?’’ You asked surprised. You didn’t really expect of him to be the mature one, and you were pretty sure he was about to blackmail you, yet there he was, acting all grown up.

,, Nope, but you should really tell them yourself and avoid the drama,you know’’ he said, acting all smart. Little did he know that all you felt in that moment, hearing those words, was pure cringe and you didn’t really try to hide it, making a disgusted face as you walked out of the house, leaving your brother on his own. The fuck he feeling like the main character, giving you some wisdom tips, you thought to yourself as you walked to the playground.

Of course, Touya was already there, welcoming you with a warm hug and a kiss. He didn’t need much time to notice the weird look on your face, immediately questioning you, making sure everything is alright.

Sitting on his lap, you told him about Keigo and what happened, as he wrapped his arms around you, caressing you slowly. At one point, you couldn’t even keep your concentration on the conversation you were having with him, since his warm hands were slowly going under your hoodie.

,, Why are you stuttering ?’’ Touya asked, smirking at you widely. He knew very well why you were getting lost, and why you were repeating the same stuff all over again. He found it so adorable, how just a little touch made you so confused, and he had to tease you a bit about it, moving his hands up and down your waist, as he placed gentle kisses around your neck.

,, Am not.. I’m sure.. I’m pretty sure he’ll blackmail me at some point’’ you mumbled, trying to keep focused on your little speech.

,, Doll, you already said that’’ Touya laughed, nuzzling his nose into your neck. Closing your eyes, you smiled, embarrassed since he knew what effect he has on you. Feeling his hot breath brushing your neck made you feel some weird way.

,,Sorry’’ you apologised awkwardly. Touya threw his head back a bit, laughing lightly at your small apology.

,, Ahh, why you gotta be so cute tonight’’ He asked, connecting his lips with yours, not giving you any chance to answer.

He kept kissing you, and honestly, at that point you didn’t even want to talk anymore, all you wanted to do was feel the softness of his lips on yours. Usually you would be careful, and think about anything that could sell you and Touya out, but that night you couldn’t think about it at all. Even if you tried, you couldn’t force yourself to tell him to be careful, you couldn’t tell him to go easy and make sure there are no hickeys left on your neck. In fact, you didn’t give a single shit about hickeys, it was a problem you’ll think about some other time.

His touch was getting steamier, and if you were being honest, you wanted more than just kissing and few touches. He was turning you on, and there was no need to hide that. Placing your hand on the nape of his neck, and the other one over his clothed dick. You weren’t the one to do anything so directly, but being horny like that, there was no need for some subtle touches.

The groan that escaped his mouth was telling you that he liked it, which encouraged you into doing more of it. You couldn’t help but smirk while kissing him, as you started rubbing his clothed dick, not giving a shit if someone might see you or not.

,, Doll, you don’t wanna do this’’ He said in between the kisses. ,, At least not here’’ Touya added, moan escaping his lips as you rubbed his now fully erected dick.

,, I do’’ You answered. Touya didn’t need to hear more from you, in fact, he was almost praying you would giving him that simple and short answer, because he couldn’t hold himself, at all. He didn’t give a single shit about the possibility that someone might catch you. After all, he was pretty sure that no one was awake in your quiet neighbourhood, at fucking 3AM.

His kiss got more aggressive, as he pulled your shorts and panties to the side. Not wasting any time, he started rubbing your clit in circles slowly, as he sucked on your neck, leaving wet love bites all over it. Touya’s fingers pace with your moans, increasing in speed, as you played with his hard cock.

Your breathing gets heavier once two fingers enter your core, going in and out slowly. You catch Touya licking his lips, his eyes getting a darker shade, as he tried to hold himself together. Looking down at your private parts, Touya couldn’t help but to let a deep growl out, his dick almost twitched at the sight of your irritated clit, and your pussy swallowing his fingers.

You nuzzled your head into his neck, squeezing your eyes shut as you released a throaty moan when he started moving his fingers faster, hitting your spot just perfectly. Touya’s blood was boiling as he felt your tight and wet walls squeezing his fingers. He didn’t care that you stopped rubbing his dick, all he wanted was to make you cum all over his fingers. Touya curled his fingers, pumping them into you, as you planted, moaning louder and louder.

He was supposed to tell you to keep quiet, but how could he ? Your moans were like melody to his ears, and at that point he wouldn’t stop even if the whole neighbourhood got out to see what’s happening. He couldn’t help but to thrust his fingers even harder, stretching and preparing you for his dick. You bit his neck as you tried to keep your moans low, orgasm hitting you harder than ever. It felt so good, more amazing than any pleasure you bought yourself. It felt like he knew your body his whole life, like he knew how to move his fingers, and where to touch and kiss you.

A blush was spreading over your cheeks when he moved his fingers that were just a second ago to his mouth, giving them one short lick just to taste you, before he placed his left hand over your jaw, giving you a sign to open your mouth. When you did exactly what he wanted, he placed those two fingers into your mouth.

,, Suck’’ he said, moving his other hand down to your throat once you did what he demanded. He wished he could take a picture of you in that moment, eyes closed with his fingers in your mouth. If he did, he would definitely put it for his wallpaper.

Once he was satisfied, he placed his hands on your ass, giving you a sign to move yourself up a bit, just enough to pull his sweatpants and boxers down.

,, I’ll be gentle’’ he said, positioning his dick right under your core, before he started lowering you down. Touya wanted to simply rip into you so bad, but he gave his best to fight the beast that was trying to take control over him. After all, he knew that there is enough of time for that.

Nodding your head, you hid your face into his neck. A burning sensation took over your cunt, causing the faintest amount of pain. Every inch you took, was getting thicker and thicker, and once the pain was getting bigger you felt like he won’t be able to fit in. Was he so big ? Or was it just because of the pain that you were going thru ? It must have been both.

Looking down, you realised that he’s not even halfway in. He didn’t want to hurt you, pausing every other second letting you adjust to his size .

,, You’re doing so good’’ Touya prised you, placing soft kisses along your jaw. You wanted to get over it, and that’s exactly what you told him, nodding your head when he asked you if you are sure.

You weren’t really mentally prepared for the pain you felt in the moment he pulled you down his length with one move. Kissing you immediately, as he tried to calm you down.

After a minute, when the pain was almost gone, you gave him a nod, giving him a sign to move. Holding you up, Touya started sliding in and out of you. Enjoying the feeling of your walls hugging his dick. He almost closed his eyes, as pleasure took over him, but he forced himself to not do so, finding it more pleasurable to watch your face as you were turning into a moaning mess.

His dick was getting deeper and deeper with every thrust he made. The way he moved made you feel his dick fully inside you, the shape, the veins, the tip, everything, rubbing your walls slowly and hitting your g spot your fingers were never able to reach.

It wasn’t your first time, but the sex you had before was never this intense. It was slow, yet so good, and the fact that someone could catch you was making it even better. You didn’t understand how did he manage it hold your ass up the whole time, moving you exactly how you want.

Placing both of your hands on his shoulders, you started moving on your own, deciding to go a bit faster and he gladly accepted that. Placing his hands on your ass, and meeting your hips with his own, hitting you just perfectly with every move. Closing your eyes shut, you moaned loudly when he started moving his hips much faster than before. You couldn’t really manage to say that you were about to cum, but he felt that. Your walls were getting tighter and tighter, and with just few moves you were left breathless, as orgasm hit you harder than ever before.

Touya gave you a minute to calm down and catch your breath, telling you what a good girl you are and how you did so well for him, but he was not done with you. Not yet. Flipping you over, he made sure you were comfortable enough on the old bench before he entered you again.

,,Tell me if you want me to stop’’ Touya said, placing soft kisses all over your face. Usually if you had sex, you would simply have one round and that’s all, and in that round it was rarely about you, it was all about the guy pleasuring himself, cuming and leaving you without orgasm, or you faking one for his sake.

You weren’t sure if you could take it, but you wanted Touya to cum. So, you gave him a small nod, before he started to roam into you, the slow pace long forgotten as he moved his hips like in one animalistic pace. Pulling his hoodie up, you placed your hands on his back, digging your nails just a little bit with every move he made.

And with every move he made, you felt your body moving a bit. Touya loved the feeling of your walls hugging his dick so nicely, and now that you had your orgasm, they were even wetter than before, letting him slide in and out of you much easier.

Touya’s strong hands kept you steady, as his fingers were digging into the flesh of your hips. He knew that he was rough, but he also knew that you would tell him if it’s too much. He was thrusting into you deep and hard, hammering your cervix with every thrust, hitting your g spot all over again.

,, You are so tight’’ Touya groaned, as you whined, lost in the pleasure he was giving you. The feeling you felt at the moment was telling you that you were so close again, and you couldn’t really bear it. Digging your nails into his back so deep that you almost felt blood beads around the tips of your fingers. But maybe you just imagined it from all the pleasure, you’ll find out later.

,, Don’t close your eyes’’ Touya commands, gripping your jaw hardly as he fucked you harder. You tried to keep your eyes opened, you really did, and every time you would close them, his grip around your jaw would only get stronger. Your view got blurry and your moans got louder as you felt your second orgasm approaching you. Touya also feels it coming, and in that moment all he wants to do is to dump his load deep inside of you, wanting to claim you as his own.

The moment you wrapped your legs around him and moaned his name loudly was when he lost it, fucking you harder if it was even possible. ,, Fuck.. Fuck, you’re mine’’ Touya growled between his teeth, lots in the feeling of your walls getting tighter around his dick once again. After few hard and intense thrusts, he spilled his seed inside of you.

Your whole body started shaking from the orgasm that just hit you, and from the feeling of his seed that was painting your walls white. If it was someone else, you would probably tell them to cum anywhere else, but for some reason, you wanted him to cum inside you. You wanted to feel all of him.

The both of you were panting so hard, trying to catch your breath as he fucked his seed deeper into you. He hoped it won’t leek out of you, since the view might turn him on again, and he was pretty much sure that you weren’t ready for a third round.

,, You ok?’’ He asked you, still buried deep inside you. Nodding your head, you kissed him, closing your eyes as you enjoyed the last moments of the passionate sex the two of you just had. In public, where anyone could see you.

The two of you spend the rest of the night on the old bench, cuddling, talking and laughing about small things. Instead of being embarrassed that you even did it in such a place, all you felt in that moment was the warmth of his hug, and happiness, no regret or shame at all. That night you decided that it would be the best if you somehow tell your parents that the two of you are in relationship. Not sure how to do it, but both of you agreed it was for the best.

,, Anyway, i want to say something’’ You said, as you placed the knife and fork on your plate, done with the food. You could almost feel the cold sweat as the moment was getting closer and closer.

,, Ohhh, don’t wanna miss this’’ Keigo laughed, sitting back when he realised what’s about to happen.

Your parents gave you one confused look, still eating. Your father nodded his head, giving you a sign to continue as he placed the food in his mouth.

,, I have a boyfirend’’ You said, playing with your fingers nervously.

,, Oh sweetie, we know. We noticed’’ your mother said, giving you one sweet smile.

,, Yeah, it’s Touya’’ You said fast, and the smile she had, was replaced with confused look written all over her face.

,, Which Touya exactly ? ‘’ Your dad asked, forgetting to chew the food in his mouth. Before you could even give them a proper answer, a loud knock on the door took all the attention.

Your mother jumped fast, like she was expecting someone, ready to kill anyone on that damn door at the moment. Keigo couldn’t hide the excitement on his face, and you were giving him a begging look, hoping he’ll stand up for you.

,, Hey, just wanted to bring some cupcakes to our ‘’in laws’’ you heard Rei’s voice. Both you and Keigo jumped once you heard your mother screaming ,, YOU WITCH’’. The moment you saw confused Touya, standing between his and your mother, trying to calm the situation, both of you and Keigo laughed loudly.

Laughing long gone once the two women’s started pulling each other’s hair. Holding your mother back, both you and Touya realised that it will be one crazy and fun ride with your parents accepting your relationship.

But you knew very well that none of them could ruin it.

The moment Rei grabbed your mothers hair a bit too hard, pulling the fake extension you spent so much time putting on her head, Keigo started laughing hysterically.

,, Wig, snatched’’ Keigo laughed loudly, holding his stomach instead of his mother.

,, KEIGO’’ both you and Touya screamed, trying to hold your laugh, as your mothers continued to fight like two preteen girlies.

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

how to fake date your best friend | jake sim

✰ summary: the rules were simple -

pretend to be the boyfriend of you, his best friend who wants the attention of their crush, for a week and a week only

no kissing (bc gross cooties amirite) allowed, unless needed in times of desperate measure 

and no matter what, absolutely, most definitely, do not fall in love. 

simple, right?

well apparently not. because news flash––jake's already broken one of the rules. 

and to give you a hint, it's neither rule 1 or 2.

✰ pairing: jake sim x y/n [ft. members of enha!] 

✰ genre: fluff, comedy | fakingdating!au, highschool!au, bestfriend!au, friends to lovers

✰ warnings: cursing, high-schoolers doing dumb highschool things, underage drinking (pls don’t actually do any of this irl), jake being a certified simp, it’s LONG (i’m so sorry), cheesy kithes bc im a sucker for kithes ( ˘ ³˘)♥

✰ wc: a whopping 9.5k

✰ a/n: it’s finally finished :’)))))) it ended up being much longer than i wanted but i had so much fun writing the characters that i got carried away lolol anywaysss i hope you guys enjoy it,,,i got a little unmotivated during the process bc i didn’t know if it was good or not but here it is heh (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡ 

Tuesday, December 8th

Jake Sim lives a simple life. 

He likes to think he leads the normal, stereotypical life of a teenage boy. Has decent grades, plays soccer after school, skateboards around the neighborhood, has a best friend who he’s desperately in love with, and has a stable group of friends. 

Okay, maybe not so simple, because this boy would physically launch himself to the moon and drill at its surface to collect moon dust for you if you asked him to––despite his deadly fear of combusting in outer space. 

But that fear doesn’t even compare to his worst one yet: not having you in his life. 

And so, he decided to just repress any and all feelings he’s had for you ever since he discovered them in middle school, when he realized he hated seeing you go to the eighth grade dance with a date––that wasn’t him. 

He decided that he wasn’t going to risk losing a life-long friendship over some dumb, teenage boy feelings. 

They were probably powered by his testosterone anyways. Yeah, that’s totally it.

He’s totally not in love with you. 

So yes, he lives a pretty normal life. Every day is the same as the last, and tomorrow will be the same as today. But he likes it like that––he doesn’t want anything to change. 

Especially not now, when he finds himself content with every aspect of his life (okay maybe except for his history grade, god, does he hate history). 

So, it catches him off guard when you arrive at the group’s usual lunch table, located outside in your school’s courtyard, looking as excited as ever. 

Jake’s the only one at the table so far. The remaining usually showed up late––Heeseung spends his first half of lunch tutoring freshmen for community service hours (but the poor boy has no idea what he’s doing), Sunghoon is probably stuck in line in the cafeteria again (he always forgets to pack his own lunch), and Jay is...well actually, no one ever knows where Jay comes from. He’s a special one. 

It catches Jake even more off guard when you skip over any greeting a normal person would give, and start speaking at one hundred words per second. 

And that catches us up to the present.

“Y-You want me to what?” Jake’s stuttering as you stare at him with your hopeful eyes from across the lunch table. 

Despite the expression planted on your face, which screams your excitement for your “brilliant, amazing, genius, Einstein-could-never” idea (or whatever other words you used to describe it––Jake can’t exactly recall the specific terms you used, they all came out of your mouth too fast), you don’t respond to his question of bafflement. You continue to stare at him, awaiting his response. Jake could compare the look on your face right now to a puppy looking up at its owner, eagerly waiting for a treat. You know, tongue out and all. 

He swallows the lump that’s lodged in this throat (is that the sandwich he’s having, or his nerves?) and continues to give you his look of confusion laced with a nervous smile because surely, you’re joking. 

You grab what’s left of your sandwich from his hands and take your own bite. Somewhere in between you arriving at the table and now, Jake’s managed to steal the sandwich you brought today. You did make the best chicken sandwiches, in his defense. 

“Well? It’s only for the week! And I promise you, after one week, if nothing happens––if he doesn’t make a move or anything––I’ll move on from him like you’ve been telling me to.” Your words are muffled from you savoring your sandwich, or what’s left of it anyways. (Mental note to self: don’t share your lunch with Jake ever again.) 

When Jake still doesn’t respond (you’ve truly gotten this poor boy paralyzed), you find it as a sign to continue. 

“I think it’s the perfect plan. Plus, if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be like the universe is telling me to finally move on, right?” 

Wrong. 

Jake has been encouraging you to move on from your crush because well, if we’re being honest here, he selfishly wants you to himself. Even if it wasn’t romantically.

Preferably, he would kill to get to be the one who holds your hand in the hall, call you cheesy pet names, post disgustingly cute couple pics for the ‘gram––but for the sake of potentially ruining his relationship with you, he’ll just have to settle with the role of being your best friend. 

(And he’s totally fine with that! Totally. Yup.) 

But he didn’t think that you moving on would only be a mere possible outcome (that may not even happen!) from whatever this stunt is you wanna pull. 

Said stunt: Pretend to date one another and hope it catches the eye of a certain someone you have your eye on: Park Sunghoon. 

Ah yes, Park Sunghoon. The previously mentioned one who’s probably still in line waiting to get his lunch as we speak. 

Park Sunghoon, the tall, kind, intelligent, charming young boy that everyone knows. And if anyone didn’t know him, they most definitely knew of him. He wasn’t hard to miss in the halls; everything about him just radiates perfection. 

If you plucked a random high-schooler from the halls of this school and interviewed them on the Park Sunghoon, they’d say you’d be lucky enough if the quiet boy so much as sparked a conversation with you, even if it was about what last night’s chemistry homework was. 

Well if that were true, then you and the rest of the boys would be considered lottery winners. 

How that happened, how the four of you dysfunctional beings earned his friendship, the world may never know. However, Jake is fully convinced that this was the universe’s way of playing a cruel joke on him. 

For as long as Jake could remember, it’s always been just the two of you. You and Jake. Jake and you. (With the exception of Heeseung and Jay, of course, who came along in middle school) 

In fact, your earliest memory of Jake was when he peed his pants in the kindergarten during nap time. You would know, you had the privilege of sharing a sleeping mat with him that one fateful day and in result...let’s just say the smell didn’t wear off from your clothes until a week later. Five-year-old you didn’t forgive five-year-old Jake for the longest time. 

And since then, you’ve been attached by the hip. And Jake liked it like that. Jake didn’t need anyone else in his life (with the exception of Leila) if he had you. He had found his home within you, and he didn’t plan on sharing his space anytime soon. 

Nevertheless, the universe had a completely different idea for the two of you. 

Sunghoon came into the picture last year, towards the end of the school year. Despite being the new kid, he found his way into your cherished friend group and naturally, the five of you grew as close as friends could be. 

That was the problem. Jake wanted to hate Sunghoon, to despise him for being the one that you had heart eyes for, but he couldn’t. 

Not only was Sunghoon one of Jake’s closest friends, but he didn’t want to ruin the dynamic of the friend group. After you, the three chaotic boys were the next most important people in Jake’s life. 

And so, we have the typical love triangle plot that every coming-of-age movie follows. Of course, this is all unbeknownst to you––you may be intelligent and a people-person, but oh boy can you not see the heart eyes your very own best friend has for you. 

“It’ll be easier than you think, really! Look, we can even set boundaries or rules or whatever,” you propose, as if you’re trying to get him to sign a contract. 

Rules to a fake relationship? We’re not living in a Netflix romcom, are we? 

“Okay rule number 1: it’ll only be for a week and a week only, rule number 2: we don’t have to do anything too couple-ly like...” you pause to wonder for a second. 

“Like PDA or anything! You know, unless we really need to convince him,” you casually add. When he responds with radio silence and stares at you with absolute concern painted all over his face, you cough. “Jake, I’m joking.” 

Right. Of course. Obviously. 

“And of course, just try not to fall in love with me, it’ll be hard, I know,” you send a playful wink his way. 

Too late. Turns out it’s not that hard. Jake would know. 

Jake continues to stare at you in hesitation. Yeah, you’ve had your fair share of crazy ideas (that Jake always find himself agreeing to––the poor boy just can’t seem to say no to you), but fake dating you?

Jake is sure he wouldn’t be able to pull it off without slowly destroying himself. He’d just have to say no, he’s sure you can find someone else to do it for you. 

Yes, that’s it, just say no. 

Jake has to keep some of his pride in tact. 

Jake does not say no. 

He doesn’t know what went wrong. His mind said one thing, but his words said another. 

To be fair, Jake’s actions have always been influenced by his heart, not his brain, anyways. And when it comes to you, you bet it’ll be coming from his heart. 

So here he was now, under the stare of three equally shocked and confused guys across from you and him at the lunch table, your fingers intertwined with his.

Just a few seconds ago, you had spotted the rest of the lunch bunch approaching the table, and you quickly grabbed Jake’s hand and scooted in closer to him.  

Now here you were, explaining to your friends of your sudden relationship.  

Jake is too zoned out to even physically pick up your explanation. Something along the lines of "we’ve been dating for a while but didn’t want to tell you guys yet." From the feeling of your hand clutched tightly into his and your body right up next to him, his mind was short-circuiting. 

How is he supposed to last an entire week of this if he couldn't handle innocent hand holding? Hand holding? God, what are we, back in the fifth grade?  

Two minutes into this scheme and Jake's mind has already downgraded itself to a fifth grader's.  

Jake mentally scolds himself for giving in, this was not a good idea. 

It takes Jake approximately 12 hours to conclude that this stunt of yours may, actually, be a good idea. He knows this because approximately 12 hours after the events surrounding lunch, he receives a text from you: 

y/n [12:03AM]: thanks again for doing this for me jake

y/n [12:03AM]: ur actually the best

y/n [12:04AM]: ew ok that was cheesy but really i owe u a big one <333

Following your thread of texts is a really close up photo of you widely smiling into the camera. A smile so big, Jake’s convinced your face was probably in pain after taking that picture. 

Anyone else might’ve thought the photo looked borderline insane but because Jake’s Jake, aka a simpᵗᵐ for you, he comes to the conclusion that it’s singlehandedly the cutest thing he’s ever seen in the entire world. 

After quickly saving the selfie into his phone, Jake tells himself that maybe this won’t be a bad thing after all. I mean, anything that makes you smile like that meant it has to be a good idea, right? 

Spoken like a true simp. 

Plus, dating you––fake dating you––is pretty much the same as it was before. He already spends most of his days with you to begin with. Now, it’s just with added displays of affection. For show, obviously. Obviously. 

And look, if Jake will never get to actually be with you, then he’ll take what he can get. And if that meant fake dating you, well, he reasons that it’s better than nothing at all. 

Wednesday, December 9th 

Jake’s playing with the rings on your right hand and you’re in the middle of dramatically telling the lunch table about the infuriating Karen you had to deal with at work the other day when Jay comes up with a grin you all know a little too well. 

“Okay that grin means one of two things: you finally grew the balls to ask out that poor girl you’ve been teasing all year or you have something planned that we won’t like,” you interrupt your story when you catch Jay’s sly expression, evoking a chuckle from Jake, who’s now found a new distraction with the bracelets perches on your wrist. 

“Excuse you, I’ll have you know that I did ask her out. It just so happens that she’s currently ‘in between boyfriends’ whatever that means. Ouch, by the way,” Jay feigns hurt from your comment by clutching the area above his heart through his shirt. Ever the drama queen. “But yes, I do have something planned. And no, it’s not a bad idea.” 

Jay squeezes his way in between Sunghoon and Heeseung from across you and begins to pull out his own lunch. Everyone’s eyes follow him as he settles in because as bad as his unknown idea may be, you’re all still curious on what this boy has to say. 

“Well are you going to elaborate or...” Heeseung speaks up for everyone after you all mentally debate one another through darting eyes on who’s going to have to bite Jay’s silent bait.

Jay then forcefully sets both hands on his table, which elicits a little jump from you as you go for a bite of your sandwich. Adorable, Jake tells himself. 

“My parents are out of town this weekend. We all know what that means...” 

Yes. We do know what that means. The four of you have seen this scenario play out many times, a little too many times for your own good. 

This meant one of Jay’s infamous house parties that he always throws whenever his parents go out of town. And because his parents are hot-shot CEOs of an important company whose name you don’t remember (it’s nothing personal, your brain can only handle so much information and this physics exam you were studying for took up 90% of your brain capacity at the moment), they’re out of town often. 

And along with Jay’s parties comes chaos. Lots of it. And that’s because...well, it’s safe to say that despite the many school-wide presentations the police officers of your school have held in the auditorium on why you shouldn’t drink underage, Jay’s parents’ liquor cabinet always seems to find itself missing many a few bottles after each party. But we don’t talk about that. Shush. 

Almost simultaneously, everyone at the table lets out a groan, much to Jay’s disappointment. 

“C’mon guys! It’s been a while since anything’s fun happened to this school, think of all the sad students in that building right now,” he extends a finger whole-ass arm and points at your school, “who are in dire need of fun and a little...” he punctuates his sentence with the hand motion of chugging down a drink, followed with a gulping sound elicited from his tongue clicking. 

You roll your eyes along with everyone else. Don’t be like Jay, kids. Listen to those police officers. 

“Jay, it’s midterm season! I have an exam on Monday and I definitely do not want to spend the nights before wasted,” you give him an apologetic look. As crazy as Jay is, you do feel bad nonetheless. The boy just wants to have fun. 

Your response is followed up with similar comments from around the table. 

“I’m helping y/n study” 

“I have an important skating performance on Sunday” 

“Uh...my hamster died?” (ok Heeseung panicked, don’t blame the guy)

Ignoring that last excuse of an excuse, Jay continues his debate nonetheless. “Just come for the sake of it! No one’s saying you have to get wasted. Pleaseeee for me?” 

Jay throws these parties so often, you’re not sure why he’s so set on making sure you’re all going to be there. Well, I guess who wouldn’t want their closest friends to be at their own party? 

That and, Jay needs to make sure his friends are there to stop him from doing anything stupid. We all know this boy has had enough embarrassing moments to last him a lifetime. 

Everyone at the table gives each other the same hesitant look. Heeseung is the first to give in, “Oh fuck it. Sure, count me in.” 

Jay’s fist pumping the air before turning to Sunghoon with the most hopeful eyes. 

Sunghoon simply sighs in return. “Alright okay, I’ll bite. But if you vomit on my shoes again, I’m out the door.” Jay’s finger is automatically drawing a cross over his heart as a promise to not ruin Sunghoon’s Nikes again. 

He then looks to you with puppy eyes. 

You, who's already staring back at Jay with a stoic look in your eyes, are stubborn and (unlike the previous weaklings) are not as easy to convince. And somehow, this began an unannounced staring contest between the two of you, a contest to see who would budge first. This isn't an uncommon occurrence between you and Jay, but the rest of the boys are still on the edges of their seats watching this duel.

Jake casually wraps an arm around your shoulder and you’re brought in close, but still undeterred from your death-stare match with the boy across from you. 

If it’s not obvious enough, Jake’s really gotten into his role of being your boyfriend, despite it only being 24 hours since he last froze at your touch. Character development, you’ll give him that. 

You almost forget he’s faking it for a quick second. And for an even quicker second, you imagine he wasn’t faking it. And you swear you feel butterflies in your stomach at that thought. 

Weird. 

You mentally shake the thought out of your head. Priorities first, aka, beating Jay in this staring contest. 

“Fuck,” you stutter when you finally blink, admitting defeat to a grinning Jay. “Okay, okay, I’ll THINK about it. I’ll let you know.” 

Not exactly the answer Jay was looking for, but he’ll take it. Better than a no. 

He turns to Jake next, knowing there’s no way Jake will turn down a party. Just like Jay, the boy loves himself a good party. 

But–

But because Jake would take your physics exam this Monday for you if you asked, because Jake would bungee jump in the Grand Canyon without a safety net below him if you asked, because Jake would fake date you to make your crush jealous for you if you asked, he doesn’t hesitate in his answer this time around: “Same as y/n, I’ll let you know.” 

Jay looks at Jake. Then back at you, who he’s still clinging onto like a koala to a tree. Then back at Jake. “You two are gross. Admittedly cute. But gross.” 

You look up at the boy next to you to see him already grinning at you. 

For the first time today, you find yourself agreeing with Jay. 

Admittedly cute. 

Thursday, December 10th 

You are having a bad day. 

You’re having the mother of bad days. 

Not only is it midterm season, but you still have all your regular weekly assignments to finish before Friday hits. So as a natural-born procrastinator does, you stayed up all last night trying to get a good amount of work done because what’s better than cramming all your work the night before it’s due? Doing it two nights before it’s due. 

Well apparently it wasn’t such a good idea. Because now, here you were, frantically throwing on whatever articles of clothing you find nearest to you because you slept through all your alarms. 

You’re lucky enough to make it through your school’s doors right as the second bell rings, even if you did look like you just walked straight out of a zombie apocalypse. 

You’re not so lucky when you find out your first class of the day, calculus, had a pop quiz. A pop quiz on the only unit you just happened to know absolutely nothing about. 

To top things off, you forgot to pack your lunch during this morning’s frenzy, meaning you’re automatically stuck sharing with Jake.

And because his mother started making him pack his own food out of a lesson of responsibility (she said something along the lines of: “Jake, you’re about to be in college and you don’t know how to pack a decent meal”), he only has a plain PB&J sandwich and a pack of Scooby-Doo gummies in his bag today (because newsflash, he still doesn’t know how to pack a decent meal). 

Not that you could care less at the moment, you were too preoccupied with catching up on your assignments to even eat. And if any of the boys noticed your zombie-like state during lunch, they did a good job of not mentioning it. They knew better than to bother an irritated y/n. 

Somehow, you make it through the entire school day and your after-school meeting for environmental club (save the trees!) in one piece. As you finally walk out of the school building, you exhale, automatically feeling lighter. At least the hard part of your day was done. 

Now you just had to wait for Jake to finish soccer practice, which usually ended around the same time as your club, and he can drive you home, where you can continue being irritated with your day in the privacy of your own space. 

You wait on the steps of the school’s entrance, waiting for a smiley Jake to come around the corner as he usually does at 5:30pm every Thursdays. 

Yes, a smiling Jake is exactly what you needed to make your day ten times better, you conclude. 

As if on cue, you hear a ding from your phone. 

Jake [5:30PM]: ugh coach is extending practice for “team bonding” 

Jake [5:30PM]: idek what team bonding is 

Jake [5:31PM]: you ok if i cant drive you today? :// 

It’s as if the universe decided to use you as its punching bag today. 

You physically let out a distorted groan, not caring if anyone who happened to hear you thought you were a creature from out of this world, as you send him a text back.

y/n [5:32PM]: it’s all good lol have fun with tEaM bOnDiNg

Things were not all good. But no matter how upset you may be, you weren’t going to project your negative vibes onto Jake’s naturally positive ones. So you get up from the stone steps and begin your dreaded walk back home. 

It’s freezing out. You should’ve known better to just throw on a hoodie and call it a day when it’s the middle of December. But then again, you figured by now you’d be in the comfort and warmth of Jake’s car and presence...not walking home in these freezing temperatures. 

You think about Jake and how he’s probably currently suffering from not only his team bonding exercises (but really though, what are team bonding exercises?), but doing them in this weather as well. The poor boy. 

You’re quickly broken out of your thoughts by the sound of a car engine from behind you. When you don’t see it pass by you and instead hear it pull over and park next to the curb of the sidewalk you’re currently on, you automatically deduce that this is it, this is my time, I’m about to get kidnapped by whoever it is behind me but y/n, you should probably turn around and check first before you drive yourself insane in this inner dialogue. 

You turn around and squint into the front window of the car. If it were a kidnapper, this is exactly what your mother told you not to do. Her exact words were: “Run, don’t look back, and scream bloody murder.” 

Good thing it wasn’t. Just an innocent Sunghoon waving his hand at you, motioning you to get in. 

“Sunghoon?” You approach his car and stop at the passenger side’s open window. 

“y/n! It’s freezing out, I’ll drive you home c’mon,” he nods his head towards the passenger side door. 

Well, how could you say no? Sunghoon owns a nice car. Like a nice car. Like car-seat-heaters-that-make-you-feel-like-you’re-physically-melting nice. Beats getting hypothermia outside, right? 

“Why are you going home from school so late?” You ask as you settle into his car, instantly melting at the touch of the aforementioned heated seats. 

“Debate club, actually. Decided I needed another personality trait other than ice skating,” he starts the engine and begins driving towards the direction of your neighborhood. 

You laugh at his comment, you didn’t peg him as a debate kind of student. Quiet Sunghoon? Debate club? If 2 plus 2 is four...

“Hey, I don’t call you the Ice Prince for nothing! Also, don’t forget your other personality trait: forgetting your lunch every day.” 

Sunghoon quickly glances over at you to send you a dirty look (because eyes on the road, kids!), which you return with a cheeky grin. “Need I remind you that was you today?” 

“Touché,” you click your tongue. 

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, the faint sound of Sunghoon's music in the background filling in the quietness.  

You’re humming along until Sunghoon breaks the silence, “Did Jake get stuck at practice again?” 

You don’t know why, but you swear you feel your heart beat faster at the mention of Jake’s name. No, that was always there right? Because you were with Sunghoon...your crush..obviously. Obviously. 

Ignoring the feeling, you turn your attention towards the boy driving you. 

“Oh yeah, something about team bonding. How’d you know?” 

“Eh, I just figured since he wasn’t driving you home like he always does.” He turns into your neighborhood. 

You nod at his answer. 

“You two make a good couple.” 

You whip your head at him. Did you hear him correctly?

“It was about time, really. You two have been ogling at one another for so long, Heeseung, Jay, and I almost placed bets on who would be the first to make a move.” 

He keeps his eyes on the road, casually going on about how you and Jake make the cutest couple he’s ever seen. 

You're frozen, unsure of what to think, let alone say. 

You think to two days ago, when you started this entire fake relationship because of the very boy driving you home right now. The same boy who's complimenting you on your fake relationship. The same boy who's supposed to be jealous over that said relationship. The same boy you’re supposed to be crushing over.

But now...only a mere 48 hours later, you were finding yourself okay with the fact that he was happy for you. And for the life of you, you couldn’t remember why you liked Sunghoon in the first place. Not saying he isn’t one to be crushed on, I mean, look at the guy. 

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that you didn't feel nervous or giddy or..anything at all when you got into the car with Sunghoon. At least, not until Jake's name was mentioned. That's when you felt the butterflies. At the mention of Jake.  

Jake. 

Weird. 

But before you can come to a conclusion on why you're feeling the way you do, Sunghoon interrupts your thoughts.  

"Well, we're here! Say hi to your parents for me," he pulls into your driveway as you're still collecting your thoughts.  

You give him a quick thanks and one last wave as you enter the front doors of your house.  

Seeing that your only solution towards confusing feelings meant distracting yourself, distract yourself you did.  

Even if it meant distracting yourself with your piling assignments.  

The next time you look up from your work, it's suddenly way past sundown and a heavy storm has taken over. You’re surprised it hasn’t started flooding yet with the amount of rainfall you were hearing. 

You check the time on your phone, the bright 8:16PM on the screen illuminating your dimly lit room. Seeing that neither of your parents have yet to be home from work, it looks like you were going to have to settle with some instant ramen for dinner tonight.  

As you trudge down the stairs of your home, the sound of light knocking against the front door catches your attention. It's been a long day y/n, you're probably hearing things, it's definitely just the rain.

Nope. There it is again, but much louder. Much more urgent.  

You contemplate any and all potential disasters that could happen from answering the door. Only a crazy person would be willing to go out in this hurricane-like weather to be frantically knocking on your door.  

And so, you assume it has to be some psychopath trying to get into your house. Yes, there’s definitely no other logical explanation. 

You scramble around your living room, looking for the next best weapon to defend you. Resorting to the flower vase your mother keeps on the table next to the front door, you hold it out in front of you, as if you're waiting for the door to burst open.  

The knocking continues, gradually getting louder. You mentally curse at yourself for dropping out of the taekwondo class your dad signed you up for when you were younger.  

Vase in hand, you swing open the door and brace for–

"Jake? What the fuck? Get in here, you're gonna get sick!"  

You’re suddenly aware of how stupid you look, holding a light pink vase with a couple of orchids as your only form of self-defense...for it to only be your own best friend. You immediately put it back on the table as Jake quickly rushes past you and into your humble abode.  

You close the door behind you and turn to face the soaked boy.  

“I come bearing gifts, also known as take-out and hot chocolate from that one cafe you love. Also my company, if you’ll take it. I had a feeling you weren’t having the best day today,” he’s simply standing there, holding up a large brown paper bag in one hand, and a deliciously smelling cup of hot chocolate in the other, but you’re looking at him as if he bought you the Moon. 

You stare in awe at the angel of a boy in front of you, silently thanking the stars for gifting you this amazing human being as your best friend. You don’t know what you did to deserve him. 

You give him a soft smile. “Jake, you didn’t have to. It’s practically a shitstorm out there,” you cock your head towards the window, showcasing the downpour of cats and dogs outside. Jake stays by the entrance as you go down the hall and through your house’s linen closet to find a spare towel for the drenched boy.

“Nah it’s no big deal, really. Just fulfilling my duties as your loyal boyfriend,” he grins, even though you can’t see him. He likes calling himself that. Your boyfriend.

Jake continues to shake his messy hair to get the excess rain off, giving a mental apology to whoever is going to have to mop up the puddle forming on the floor due to his unannounced visit. Probably you. 

Jake hears you laugh down the hall. “You’re really invested in your role, huh? Keep this up and you might actually trick me into believing you’re my actual boyfriend.” 

Actual boyfriend? Jake likes the sound of that. Maybe he will keep this up then.

Jake doesn’t have much experience in acting, unless you count that time he played the role of Town Villager #3 in the third grade play, so he never found it as one of his interests. But playing the role of your boyfriend was one he was willing to fulfill for the rest of life, even if it was just for show. 

Jake doesn’t respond to your comment, he’s instead self-aware of his blushing cheeks, thankful that you’re too busy rummaging through your linen closet to take notice. 

“Plus, you didn’t have lunch today and I had feeling you were going to be too caught up in your work to feed yourself anything other than instant ramen,” he sets down his gifts to you on your living room’s coffee table as you come around the corner, fresh towel and new set of clothes in hand. 

His eyes fall on the familiar looking pair of sweatpants and hoodie resting on the palms of your hands. 

Hm. A little too familiar. 

Then, it clicks in his head. 

His eyes narrow at you as you giggle at his reaction, “Oh, so it takes me getting drenched in the rain for you to finally return my clothes that I’ve been missing!?” 

“Hey! I’m not returning them, simply loaning them out to a friend who’s in dire need. You basically gifted them to me the second you left them here months ago.” 

“You’re annoying.” 

“Love you too,” you toss the clothes at him and take a seat on the floor around your coffee table, prepping the table with the boxes of Chinese food Jake supplied. 

After Jake changes into the stolen dry clothes, he takes a seat next to an already-eating you at the coffee table. 

“You. are. my lord and savior Sim Jaeyun,” you’re saying with your mouth full of fried rice. You sigh from satisfaction and rest your head against Jake’s shoulder as you continue chewing. He grins as he helps himself to his own serving of fried rice and orange chicken. 

You look up at him from your spot, “How was team bonding today?” 

Jake groans in response, clearly annoyed. “Stupid. I don’t get how doing trust falls and pyramid building is going to get us any closer. If anything, I almost FELL off that pyramid today!” 

You don’t know why, but you find yourself admiring him and his soft features as he continues to rant about one of his teammates, specifically, the one who almost dropped him. 

The way his messy hair, unkept from the rain ruining it, almost covers his eyes (but you tell yourself you like it this way, it looks more natural on him), the way the corners of his lips are always perked upwards (even when he’s ranting), the way his eyes sparkle whenever he’s truly passionate about whatever he’s talking about, the way his eyes look at you like–

“Stare much? Look, I get you can’t resist my good looks but at least be subtle about it,” he smirks at you as he takes another spoon of rice. 

You break out of his trance and scoff at him. 

“You’re cute when you rant,” you nonchalantly say as you move from your spot to mirror his actions and add more rice to your plate as well.  Jake’s stills at your sudden comment, unsure of how to respond. Lucky for him, you’re distracted by the mountain of food on your plate to even notice the blushing mess of a boy next to you. 

“You know, you’re lucky you’re cute. Or else I’d deck you right here and now for ditching me after school today.” 

Anddd there goes the moment. Leave it to you to follow up a compliment with a threat of violence. 

Jake finds it cute anyways. He always finds you cute. 

Jake narrows his eyes and lightly shoves you before an apology is written all over his face. “Sorry about that by the way. I feel awful about making you walk home when it was freezing out.” 

“Nah, it’s okay. Sunghoon gave me a ride, actually. Did you know he does debate? I guess you learn something new everyday,” you ramble, unaware of the boy next to you getting tense at the sudden mention of the other’s name. 

Up until now, Jake’s completely forgotten about Sunghoon's involvement in this entire scheme. In fact, the past 48 hours with you have felt so normal, so comfortable, he almost forgot about the deal in the first place.   “You think he has any clue?” Jake suddenly asks, referring to the plan. 

You immediately know what he’s referring to, as Jake practically worded out your very own thoughts. 

You shrug. “Not a single one. We’re practically William and Kate in his eyes. But honestly, that’s the least of my worries right now. I’m too distracted by my exams right now to care.” 

Jake feels guilty for being satisfied with your answer. He’s 100% sure that if convincing Sunghoon took you two an entire lifetime of fake dating, he’d be all too willing to do it. 

“Go to Jay’s party with me tomorrow,” he abruptly says, catching your attention as your mouth is stuffed. Cute. 

He pokes your cheek. “It’ll get your mind off of work and plus, what’s more convincing than showing up to a party with your amazing boyfriend?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you. Jake doesn’t know where he gets his sudden surge of confidence. But he does know he loves calling himself your boyfriend...even if it’s for the time being. 

Rolling your eyes and swatting his poking fingers away from your face, you ponder on his suggestion. 

“You mean my annoying boyfriend,” you stick your tongue out at him. Jake takes a mental picture and hopes it never leaves his mind. 

“But I guess you could be right. Maybe I can clear my head for the night before I study my ass off all weekend.” 

Friday, December 11th 

The party does not clear your mind. 

If anything, it gives you enough headaches to last you at least until the end of high-school. 

You come to this revelation as you and Jake approach Jay’s home, a luxurious mansion sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac, lined with similarly luxurious palaces, located in an equally luxurious neighborhood. 

You come to this revelation when you can already feel the pounding bass of music as you walk up Jay’s driveway. 

You come to this revelation when, not even two seconds after entering Jay’s front doors––

“You’re here!” A buzzed Jay shouts at the two of you, causing the both of you to contemplate your past choices that brought you here today. Jay definitely isn’t straight up drunk yet, but Jake still makes a mental note to keep an eye on him tonight. Just in case. 

The blonde-haired boy is quick to hand over two red solo cups of god knows what, to which you and Jake immediately put down on the nearest table after Jay walks away to greet the next incoming guests (you know, to not hurt his feelings). 

You and Jake are lucky enough to have been around Jay and his parties long enough to know that going all out at these parties will not be pretty the next morning.

You cringe at the memory of last year, when you had to suffer from possibly the worst hangover of all hangovers after one of Jay’s parties. Jake will never let you forget how miserable you looked the next morning. His camera roll’s album titled “y/n blackmail pics” can vouch for that.

“Remind me again to never listen to you,” you almost have to shout at Jake over the thumping music. Jake laughs at your comment and tugs at your hand as he begins entering the house.

The two of you do your rounds of greetings to the people you know...and random underclassmen who you swear you have never seen before but somehow made it to this party. You’ve always questioned how Jay’s invite list worked. Maybe there isn’t one. That would explain how it looked like someone announced Jay was giving out free Teslas and the entire school got hold of the news. 

“Thank god you guys are here,” you hear a voice come from behind the two of you as you guys leave the main room to enter the house’s smaller, but just as luxurious looking, den. You turn to see Heeseung with Sunghoon following closely behind, trying his best not to get swept away in the crowd of people. 

The den is where you usually stayed during these parties. It’s not like there are rules of where people are allowed to party, by any means, but it’s like how a high-school’s cafeteria worked. There’s a mutual silent agreement of where everyone goes, and the den is where the party host and his friends went.  

“Okay, is it just me, or is tonight’s party just a little...too..much?” Sunghoon asks as the four of you take your seats on the main couch of the room. Jake’s quick to make space for you next to him as you go to sit, but to his surprise, you find your home right on his lap. 

“You said be convincing right?” you say into his ear as you settle yourself. Right. That’s totally why. Because you had to go along with the ruse. Obviously. 

You shift a bit so you’re more facing sideways, not blocking off Jake’s line of vision as the boy himself is..well, calling him a rag doll might be excessive. 

But he’s sure he looks like one right now, having lost all senses in his limbs, leaving him frozen underneath you. 

Jake Sim is the epitome of politeness. He was raised in a family that taught him how to respectfully greet others, how to always offer food to others before eating it himself, how to properly treat a significant other. As a result, Jake grew up to be one of the sweetest, kindest, purest people to ever walk this earth. 

(Relatively speaking, the earth is large, but so is Jake’s heart.) 

But human-beings aren’t perfect, they must have a balance. A balance of pros and cons. 

Sure, he can’t pack his own lunch and sometimes forgets to water the little succulent you gifted him that’s currently seated on his window sill. Sure, sometimes he’s too sweet for his own good, you know, like willing-to-be-your-fake-boyfriend too sweet. But aside from the minor details, Jake Sim doesn’t have many cons, no. 

But he sure can be awkward. 

And so because Jake Sim is sweet, kind, pure, and awkward, he is unsure of what to do with himself when you’re seated right on top of him. 

As if you could read his befuddled mind, you take his arm that’s resting behind you to wrap around your waist as your support as you throw one of your arms around his shoulder. And throughout this entire adjustment, his widened eyes are staring right at you. 

Bless this pure, pure boy. 

Also bless the position you’re in, blocking the two other boys from directly seeing Jake’s face. Because if they were to catch glimpse of Jake’s expression right now, your cover might be blown, just like that. You’re lucky Heeseung and Sunghoon are distracted by another classmate who came up to them. 

“Relax,” you sweetly laugh, cupping his chin with your free hand and lightly squeezing his cheeks. “You’re so adorably awkward.” 

Jake pouts at you. “I am not awkward!” 

“Right, and I’m totally dating you for real,” you playfully whisper at him, eliciting a poke at your waist in response. 

Twenty minutes of people-watching-aka-“who do you think is gonna pass out first?”-from-your-spot-on-the-couch later, the four of you draw your attention to the rowdy party host you all have the honor of calling your friend––aka Jay––dancing (that is, if you call wildly swinging your limbs in all four directions dancing) in the middle of the den. 

"Oh god, look at him," Sunghoon voices from besides you.

Heeseung's already filming the moment on his phone. Ah yes, technology. The best thing to ever happen to drunk teens' friends.  

"He's so wasted," you throw your head back as you let out a laugh. “We should help the kid out.” 

Poor Jay. He's not gonna hear the end of it after tonight.

"I don't know why he thinks these parties are such a good idea when he knows how trashed he's gonna be when he wakes up," Jake says, his hand naturally squeezing your waist as you giggle at his comment. "And how trashed the house will be."  

Jay slumbers over to where the four of you are seated, and abruptly stops right in front of the couch.

"My best friends!" Jay happily cheers. “Having fun?” 

“Watching you? Always,” you say to the boy who’s squeezing into a seat between you and Sunghoon, as if the small couch wasn’t already suffocating enough (and that’s with you on Jake’s lap). 

“But for real though, you should probably lay off the drinks for now,” Heeseung insists. “For all our sakes.” 

Sunghoon nods along and grabs the cup Jay’s currently nursing and sets it down where it’s out of Jay’s reach, much to his dismay. But the disappointment quickly leaves the dazed boy’s head, as his attention is now directed towards you and Jake. 

“Well if it isn’t mom and dad,” Jay turns to face you and Jake, certainly amused by your seating arrangement. 

“You know–” Jay points a finger at the two of you. “For a couple that’s certainly close, I haven’t seen you two kiss.” 

Jake is immediately coughing, certainly not expecting that to come out of his friend’s mouth. 

“Okay and your point is?” Jake frowns at Jay. If Jay wasn’t tipsy, Jake would’ve smacked the back of his head by now. 

“I’m just saying...” the blonde responds, both hands up in the air as if Jake is accusing him of something, when in was, in fact, the opposite. “But nevermind, Jakey boy here is probably too innocent for such nonsense anyways.” 

Yes, it’s confirmed. Once Jay sobers up tomorrow, Jake is driving over to his house (even though it’s a good ten minute drive from his own) just to smack him. 

“What do you mean I’m too–” 

Jake doesn’t finish his sentence. In fact, Jake doesn’t even remember what he was going to say. 

Jake doesn’t think nor feel anything else other than your lips planted on his. 

You’re pulling him in close, your hands cupping his face as his own are twitching on your waist, his mind flustered. You move your hands from his face to his neck, to which Jake immediately relaxes at. 

Sure, you two are in the middle of a dumb high-school party, one filled with pounding music and shouting teenagers, but right now, in this moment, Jake can only feel you. And he doesn’t want the feeling to ever stop. 

When you part, Jake’s eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips, his own parted in shock. He thinks he might pass out right here and now. He thinks his heart might explode right here and now. He thinks he might lov-

“Happy?” you turn to a satisfied Jay, ignoring the looks of amusement from Heesung and Sunghoon besides him. 

“Well,” you pat Jake’s leg as you get up from your spot. “I’m gonna get us some drinks. Punch only, of course.” 

Jake’s eyes are on you as you walk away, his face tinted pink from the adrenaline of it all, his heart racing. 

Jake thinks back to three days ago, when he told himself that this idea of yours was going to be all fine. After all, it was only going to be for one week. Afterwards, he can move on with his life as if nothing happened. 

But fast forward 72 hours later, 72 hours after you and Jake started this act, 72 hours after Jake told himself it’ll be all fine, Jake knows he was poorly mistaken.

Because 72 hours later, in the middle of a party that reeked of the combined smell of alcohol and sweat, Jake knows one thing and one thing for sure.

He never wants to move on from the feeling of being with you. He never wants to move on from this.

From you. 

He’s screwed. 

Saturday, December 12th 

When Jake wakes up, much later than he intended to, on Saturday morning, the first sensation he feels are his tingling lips, still in disbelief that they graced your own last night. 

The second sensation being his pounding mind––it’s running through ten million thoughts at a time, telling him no last night wasn’t a dream. 

Third: his heart beating so fast at the thought of you, he thinks he might beat out of his chest.

And fourth, a buzzing noise. 

Jake blindly flounders his arm to the table beside him in hopes of finding the origin of the annoying sound, aka, his phone. 

After knocking down multiple miscellaneous items on his nightstand (he makes a mental note to clean his room later), he successfully retrieves the item of search. 

Jake squints at the bright screen, mind still cloudy from a mix of 1) being half-asleep, and 2) still processing what happened the night before. 

y/n [11:10AM]: r u awake yet? 

y/n [11:22AM]: imma take that as a no

y/n [11:35AM]: lemme know when ur up 

jake [11:44AM]: just woke up sorry 

jake [11:44AM]: are you okay? what’s up

y/n [11:45AM]: r u busy? 

y/n [11:45AM]: kinda wanted to talk abt smth

jake [11:45AM]: uh well no im still in bed lmao

y/n [11:46AM]: cool im outside your door 

Jake’s eyes widen as he processes your last few texts. 

Talk? Outside his door? 

Jake’s heart is nervously pounding as jumps out of bed and quickly puts on the first plaid flannel he finds. He scrambles to his mirror and gives his reflection a quick run-down. 

He’s sporting your his favorite hoodie underneath the flannel that’s long overdue a wash and his tousled hair has seen better days, but he couldn't care less. 

Before his mind can catch up to his actions, he’s rushing down the stairs, skipping two at a time and to this front door. Because he didn’t want to keep you waiting? Because he was too excited to see you? Maybe a mix of both. Definitely more of the latter, however. 

He quickly runs a hand through his hair to try to fix it up as much as he can, to no avail, before opening the door to reveal you, sitting on the steps of his front porch. 

“y/n,” he’s breathing heavily as you turn to greet him with your sweet smile he didn’t even realize he was missing. Is it possible to miss someone overnight? Jake concludes yes, it definitely is. 

“Did you run down here or something?,” you question his out-of-breath state, a teasing tone laces the tip of your tongue. 

“Or something,” Jake mutters as he closes the front door behind him to join you on the steps when you make no sign of moving. “Have you been out here all morning?” 

“Not allll morning. I had a feeling you’d sleep in so I came around the time I first texted you. Would’ve knocked but didn’t wanna bother your family,” you hum, keeping your eyes trained on the peaceful scenery around you. 

You’ve always loved Jake’s neighborhood, it brought you a sense of peace, a sense of home. 

Or was that because it reminded you of Jake? 

“You could never be a bother,” he quickly rebuttals as he takes his seat next to you on the steps. 

You respond with a soft smile before turning your attention back to anything other than the boy next to you. Your mind seems to be lost in its own thoughts, Jake can tell by the distant look in your eyes. 

The sound of birds chirping in the distance fills the silence that falls between the two of you. 

Any other day, Jake would love this. He savors every second he’s with you, even if it’s just pure silence. 

But this silence was different. It wasn’t the usual comforting, warm silence that the two of you share on a typical day. This one held tension, tension so thick that Jake doesn’t know where to begin thinking. 

But here’s the thing. Jake doesn’t think. 

Not when it comes to you. 

He takes a deep breath. Rubs his hands together. Pats them on his lap. Turns towards you. 

“Look, I-” 

“I think I might like you.” The words come out of your mouth so fast, Jake’s positive he heard you wrong the first time around. 

He whips his head to meet your eyes, your own already staring back at him, your bottom lip nervously tucked under your teeth. 

“No, I––I do. I know I do. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you and I don’t think I’m doing a very good job right now,” the words are all of the sudden tumbling out of your mouth as if your brain flipped a switch and isn’t able to turn it off. “In hindsight, I should’ve known better to fake date my own best friend. But these past few days made me realize how much I love being with you. And not like how I’m always with you 24/7 before this entire thing started, but being with you. I even started getting that weird, bubbly feeling in my stomach every time I so much as heard your name. And then last night at the party, I realized afterwards that I wouldn’t have kissed you if some part of me didn’t see you in that way. Even if it meant Jay would’ve been on our asses all night if I didn’t. So yeah.” 

You finish with a deep breath and look up at him to meet his widened eyes. Silence.

Jake thought he was braindead during last week’s history quiz. Jake thought he was braindead when he had to cram a semester’s worth of chemistry content the night before his exam. Heck, Jake thought he was braindead when you first told him about your idea of a fake dating him. But no, this is braindead.

He’s finally hearing what he’s been dreaming of for so long, and of all times, now his brain decides to shut off.  

“Are you..uh..are you gonna say anything?” You’re nervously fumbling with your hands, desperate to distract yourself with anything else apart from his silent stare. 

"Why are you sorry?" Jake says before his mind can think of anything else. He doesn't pay attention to his thumping heart that's one look-from-you away from exploding right then and there. "You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you took the words right out of my mouth.” 

Now you're staring at him with the wide eyes, the words processing in your mind.

Jake realizes he's waited too long to do this. A few years too long. He also realizes he shouldn't have put on that extra layer of a flannel. The nervous tension created by the two of you was suffocating enough, and being outside under the bright sun didn’t help. 

"I like you too. God y/n, I like you too so much," Jake doesn't even care if his words are all sorts of messed up right now. He just needs you to get the idea. "I have for a while now.” 

You let out a relieved sigh, ecstasy rushing through your blood. “Really? I think I have for a while too. I’m so stupid, it took me so long to realize it. It didn’t hit me until I realized how I felt around you, compared to the guy I’m supposed to actually have a crush on.” 

Jake lets out a laugh, the tension immediately dissolving. “Hey, if it wasn’t for Sunghoon, I don’t think we’d be here right now.” 

“You’re right, I’m too oblivious and you’re too awkward to actually make a move,” you wink at him. If his heart wasn’t fluttering at the sight of you, on his porch on a Saturday morning, confessing your feelings to him, Jake probably would’ve lightly shoved you away. 

Instead, he’s turning to you with the most endeared look on his face, and you’re blushing underneath his gaze.

“What? Stare much?” You giggle, quoting the boy himself as you shyly duck your head to avoid his stare. 

Jake gently grabs your chin to tilt your face towards his, and before you can process what’s happening, he suddenly meets your lips with his own, closing the gap between you two. 

Jake thinks if the ground underneath him right now decided to open up and swallow him whole, he’d die happily. 

Jake smiles against you, feeling comfort in ways he’ll never be able to achieve without you. 

Your hands instinctively find their way into his hair, as one of his rests below your ear, thumb softly caressing your cheek, the other pulling you in by the waist. He’s naturally leaning into you, gravitating towards your warmth, unable to stop the giddy feeling bubbling in his stomach. 

He doesn’t think the feeling will ever go away. 

When you pull away to catch your breath, you rest your head against the nook of his neck, basking in his presence as his arms both find their way around your waist. You sigh in pleasure. 

“Remember at the beginning of all of this, when you told me ‘Just try not to fall in love with me?’” Jake gently says. Jake feels the slight nod you give against his shoulder as you hum in response. 

Jake whispers two more words into your ear, filling you with happiness and warmth you know you won’t be able to find through anyone––or anything––else. 

“Too late.” 

✰ if you made it ‘til the end, ily :’))))) 

[poisonouswritings]

HI OKAY 3 THINGS

1- lmao it was me I just happen to be a massive idiot and complete forgot

2- OKAY SO FOR THE SICK MC FIC let's say mc has dyed hair and tattoos, both being temporary.

The main 4 notice that mc is starting to lose colour like a goldfish and convince themselves that they're dying. They think that mc hasn't noticed their condition so it's all just internal panic.

3- THE CHAOS GRIEFER BOYS TSKING CARE OF SICK MC.

Balsam is the old man sailor 'this ain't my first rodeo' kinda guy and he just gives mc some beer and tells them to lay off while Lucan is the old grandma that tries his hand at cooking and fails miserably and he's all just 'oh you poor thing!!!! Lemme getchu some food :)' *pans back to sage sitting at the end of MC's bed* he's so sad,,,,little worried cat boy,,,,,literally will sleep at the foot of your bed if you're okay with it.....he's so scared you're gunna die regardless of your symptoms.

ALSO YOUR FIC HEADCANON THINGY WAS REALLY GOOD >:D

-dumb bitch anon

What is a dumb bitch if not a massive idiot [affectionate] ? 

LISTEN OKAY I WROTE THAT SAME IDEA FOR A ONESHOT FOR MY OC LIKE TWO WEEKS AGO THAT WAS BASICALLY SHE MANAGES TO SUMMON WEED FROM EARTH, GETS REALLY HIGH TO THE POINT THAT HER EYES ARE RED AND SHE CAN BARELY FUNCTION, AND EVERYONE THINKS SHE'S DYING AND ARE FRANTICALLY TRYING TO HEAL HER AND THEN EVENTUALLY RESIGN THEMSELVES TO THE FACT THAT SHE’S GONNA DIE AND THEN THEY ALL GET REALLY DRUNK AND ARE CRYING WHILE SHE'S JUST IN THE CORNER NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT TF THEY'RE SO UPSET ABOUT BECAUSE NO ONE WILL ACTUALLY TELL HER THEY THINK SHE'S DYING ANON GET OUT OF MY HEAD

Also you're right. You're totally right. You dyed your hair and got fake tattoos to help with your cosplay and it's all that these guys have ever seen you in. You're in bed for two, three days,, you're not really eating, you're not really drinking, just writhing around in discomfort and sweating and trying not to choke on your coughs. You're. Dying. You're dying but you're not really dying and you're aware of that. You've gotten sick like this before. But the Starsworn,, they don't know that and they're freaking out because oh gods you're from a different realm you've never had this disease what tf is your bitch ass immune system gonna do??? And then the color literally drains out of you?? You're turning into a zombie?? Felix comes to the conclusion that it's a curse that you've been afflicted with, Sage thinks it's some kind of monster or whatever sucking out your soul while Anisa is trying to keep them calm because it's an illness but oh gods what if it's basically the plague to you? And Rime is just trying to focus on healing spells but the fuckin the ink is literally running in washed-out streaks down your skin and he doesn't know how the hell to fix it and how are they gonna tell you that you're dying?? How are they gonna look their friend, the person who sacrificed themself for a world that isn't even theirs, in the eye and say that they're dying and there's nothing anyone can do about it? You must be so delirious that you don't even feel it...... and you're just thinking about how the last time you were this sick you watched like,,,, the entirety of the Kirby: Right Back At Ya! anime and wasn't there a movie that went with that series? and Felix and Sage and Anisa are both crying because you're gonna perish

3. YEEEES I LOVE GIVING THE GRIEFERS THE LOVE THEY DESERVE

For some reason I imagine this like,, you guys are in a coastal house where there's like one bed in the living room that's also the kitchen so everyone is in the same room and Sage is curled up at the foot of the bed, his tail draped atop your lower legs. He shifts between that and checking your temperature and considering blowing cool air on your face but also he's worried his breath is gonna smell weird. Balsam makes you a hot toddy,, which is probably his solution to everything,,, and Lucan has a raggedy and stained apron on and he's humming as he cooks cause he's Totally Gonna Fix This and Elowen is just hovering in the shadows of the room (any time she tries to go near the bed Sage starts growling at her) thinking about how the last time Lucan cooked something the person who ate it like,,, lost their sense of taste for five days but when she offered to help him Lucan was like no!! >:( my heart and soul has to be in it so it'll work faster!! >:( he's worried and just wants to protect his lil friend and he's gonna fight the virus with the power of his soup >:( and Elowen just kinda throws her hands up because what the fuck is she gonna do about it?? Meanwhile Balsam is speaking in his usual Loud And Boisterous Voice and Sage is swatting at him because Damnit Bas You're So Loud They're Sick And Probably Have A Headache Shut Your Ass Up And Let Them Rest >:'(((((