#i took a break yesterday and had such a fun cozy day with my girlfriend 🤍

[eternallysunnyfemme]

my post-workout monster is ultra strawberry dreams today 🍓🤍🎀

[ushiwhore]

Contentment

Tendou x Reader , Oneshot!

Warnings: Fake Dating. Curse Words. Unrequited Love. Angst. 

 Word Count: 3,338

Being best friends with your crush and his best friend has its benefits, but it also has its disadvantages. Especially when feelings are at stake. 

Read the second part: click here

It was lunch and you were sitting in the library with Tendou and Ushijima, talking about how their days were going and the practice that would be held later. Everything was going swell up until now. 

“There’s someone in my class that I really like, and it’s driving me crazy because we’ve been talking but it seems like it’s going nowhere.” Tendou huffed as he shoved more rice into his mouth. 

Ushijima and you shared a look of confusion. How come he hadn't brought this person up sooner? Your mind felt hazy as you tried to remember if perhaps he’d talked about them before and you weren't paying attention. 

Impossible, you always listened to him talk about his days with such adoration. Making sure he knew you were listening and that you cared. Always. 

“Eh? Y/N? Ushi? No response? Help me out here please.” Tendou snapped you out of your thoughts, a small pout on his lips, his cheeks no longer stuffed with rice. 

“Uh- What’s this about a love interest?? How come you hadn’t told us sooner? Ushi and I could’ve been like your very own wingman and wingwoman, y’know?” You let out a small chuckle to follow your statement, wanting to seem as casual as possible. As unbothered - with your crush/ best friend having found someone they like - as humanly possible. 

“Well I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure.. Been talking for a whole month! Now I’m kinda hooked.” He admitted. Ushijima wasn’t necessarily sure what to say, but his eyes were glued to you, noticing that something was off.

Now that you thought of it, Tendou HAD been smiling at his phone more often. He was so cheerful, but that was how he usually was. It made you feel so stupid. This whole time, you thought it had been because of you. He was happier whenever you guys hung out because he’d been talking to whoever it is he liked.

“What are you going to do about it?” Ushijima asked, tilting his head curiously. All you could do was simply sit and stare as Tendou began to discuss his big plan. 

“It’s clear that she thinks I’m gonna wait around for her, so I want to show her that I’m wanted elsewhere, y’know? I wanna show her that if she doesn't get on it, somebody else will.” The whole time, there was a wide smile on his lips, his enthusiasm spilling. You and Ushijima were nodding along as he spoke, and once he was done, he looked at you expectantly. 

“... Satori? Don’t look at me like that-” 

“Y/N Pleaseeeee?? Just for a few days, a week, maybe?” 

“What exactly do you want me to do??” 

“Just the usual. Let’s hang out but instead I’ll post about you and we can be flirty whenever she’s around. I just want her to see what could’ve been. Or maybe make her see what she’s missing out. AKA me~” 

Ushijima was looking at you, giving you a look that screamed “This is not a good idea. You’re going to regret this so much.” 

Why? Because he knew about your feelings. You had even ranted to him about Tendou whenever your crush on your best friend got to be too frustrating. As perceptive as everyone knew Tendou to be, it all went to hell when it came to you. He thought he had you all figured out, so your blushing states and the flirty banter just went over his head. You were friend zoned before you even had your chance to confess or anything. Not that you would ever- it wasn't your style. Plus, you didn't want to ruin a perfectly good friendship. 

Despite the look he was giving you, and your common sense screaming at you to not be the biggest fucking idiot on this planet, you agreed to help him out. 

He let out a laugh, clapping his hands happily before wrapping an arm around you. “Well, lover of mine.. how about a date tomorrow?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked at you curiously. 

It was so hard to contain the blush that creeped onto your cheeks, you were burning up just with his gaze and arm on you. A small sigh could be heard escaping from Ushi’s lips. He knew there was tons of texts and calls coming from you in the next couple of days.

°•°•°•°•°

A few days later, it was lunch time again. Tendou was sitting beside you with his arm wrapped around your waist as you both ate. Ushijima had to stay back in a class to retake a quiz the teacher thought he could’ve done better on.

“They’re staring y’know?” he hummed softly as he offered you some of his food. You gladly ate it, a small blush on your cheeks again. “Are they now?”

“Mhm. She’s staring too.” 

Fuck. There it was. It’s not like you’d forgotten that this was all to make the girl jealous, but it had been nice to push it to the back of your mind and just enjoy his arms around you. “Ah. That’s good then.” you replied, trying to stop the lump in your throat from forming by focusing on your food.

He leaned in and placed a few kisses on your cheek and jaw. And it brought you flashbacks of last night when he had walked you to your dorm. 

“So, lover of mine, what am I allowed to do and what’s crossing the line?” 

You two had your fingers intertwined as he swung your hands back and forth gently. You were biting at your lip, eyebrows furrowed slightly in concentration. 

“Hugs. Cheek kisses are fine.. hand holding. The basics, I guess? Or what else do couples do?”

“Kiss on the lips.”

“Right- Would.. would that be necessary?” 

“Mmm I don't think so. You’re already doing so much for me, Y/N. I really do appreciate you, our friendship, and everything you’ve done for me.” 

He stopped walking, you were both standing outside your dorm now. Hearing him say all of this would typically make your heart flutter and your stomach do flips. But now.. now it made you feel like shit. Friendship was all you’d ever have with him. He appreciated you as a friend. You looked down at your shoes, them seeming much more interesting than the tall man who stood before you with the softest smile on his lips. 

You felt a small kiss against your cheek before he softly pat your head. “Love ya tons, Y/N. I’ll come pick you up in the morning so we can walk to classes together, yeah?” 

The heat easily returned to your cheeks after the small kiss was placed on your cheek. All you could do was nod, unlocking your front door. Once it was opened, you stepped inside and turned to look at him. 

“Goodnight, Satori.” 

“Goodnight, Y/N.” 

“Well, you two got cozy fast..” 

The deep voice brought you back into reality. You had been snuggling into Tendou’s side as he continued to eat, not really bothered by the silence that had taken over the table as you thought about the night before. 

“Not like we didn’t do this before.” Tendou pointed out. 

“I guess you’ve got a point. But well, I aced my quiz.” 

“Look at you, ace of Shiratorizawa’s Volleyball Club and ace of the math tests.” you smiled at him, reaching out to give him a small pat on his shoulder, slipping out of Tendou’s embrace.

Ushijima smiled softly at that, “Thanks Y/N. Apparently I missed some of the points since my work was right but I bubbled in the wrong ones.” 

“Too focused on volleyball, as always Ushi.” You hummed, offering him one of the snacks you’d bought earlier. 

“Not always. But what were you guys doing anyway?” He asked as he took the snack, throwing another small smile your way to show he appreciated it. 

“We were roleplaying as boyfriend and girlfriend and everybody was staring. Even y’know who.” Tendou said with a smile. 

You playfully cringed at that, “I’m going to break up with you if you say it like that again.” 

“Not yet, Y/N! Wait until the end of the week please.” He hummed before picking up his phone and getting distracted by a notification. 

There it was. The sinking feeling at the pit of your stomach. Wait until the end of the week. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Your gaze met Ushijima’s and he gave you that same look from yesterday.

“She texted me!” he cheered happily. 

I’ve made a mistake. That’s what your eyes screamed as you kept eye contact with Ushijima. 

I know you did, is what his eyes said back. 

°•°•°•°•°

You were sitting beside Tendou on a field, enjoying an ice cream cone. He'd already had his photoshoot moment with you. He’d taken pictures of you shyly covering your face with the ice cream cone and uploaded it with captions you two would usually make fun of. You were all over his story too. Photos and videos he had taken of you while you did stupid shit. He’d even saved some onto his memories. 

“We’ve gotten a lot of support.” He said, breaking the silence.

You two had laughed so much it made your tummy hurt. It was like whenever you hung out with him prior to the heartbreaking revelation. But now it was bittersweet since the reason behind these hangouts were to get someone else to like him. 

“Has she hit you up?” You asked, unable to hide the bitter tone that slipped along with your words. He raised an eyebrow at your tone, but nodded. “Yeah. She was pretty straight forward.. asked me if you and I were dating. I told her I might just cuff you.”  

“That’s good then, right? She's clearly interested in a relationship now.” You said, the smile on your lips not reaching your eyes. “Tendou.. is it okay if I head home? I’m feeling a bit tired. It’s been a long week.” 

He had a concerned look on his face but he nodded. “Of course. You should’ve said something earlier, Y/N.” He scolded, helping you stand up and starting to walk with you. 

“Ah, actually, is it okay if I walk back on my own? I have something to do real quick before I head to bed.”

Lie. It was a lie. You just didn't want him around right now. It hurt too much.

“Oh- Sure. I’ll see you at school then? Thanks for tonight. I had fun.”

“Me too. Goodnight Tendou.” You smiled and waved before walking off to your dorm, leaving a confused Tendou standing at the field. 

°•°•°•°•°

"You should've never agreed to it.." Ushijima said as he softly rubbed his hand up and down your back. Your hands were clutching onto his sweater, face buried into his chest as you cried your eyes out.

"I-I know.. but I can't ever say no to him.. I'm such a fucking idiot."

"You're not. You're just a very kind person, and sometimes people take advantage of that."

"I'm an idiot, Ushi.. fuck- Why did I agree to it?"

It'd been a whole two weeks since you had started that whole fake dating thing to get Tendou's crush to like him back, and it had taken a huge toll on you.

He could have his arms wrapped around you and be feeding you some snacks, when suddenly he'd pull away and say that she was gone, and there was no need for it anymore.

He'd take you out on dates and walk you home, making sure to notify you that she had texted him some flirty things, or had complimented how he looked on the pictures he had posted.

He would kiss your cheek and make you laugh, before bursting out into giggles with a "You should've seen the look on her face! She so wants me now."

She definitely did want him. She wanted him enough to reach out and ask how serious things were between you two. And if they weren't serious, how would lunch on Saturday sound? Perfect, it's a date.

He'd reached out to you over text, thanking you and praising you for even helping him through this unorthodox procedure, but that it wasn't necessary anymore. They would go on that date, and he'd planned on making it official then.

You sent a simple "Congrats, Satori! Have fun and be safe." And hid your phone away, heading to where you knew you'd be safe.

And that's how you ended up in Ushijima's arms, bawling your eyes out.

"I-I really thought Ushi.. I mean- I knew that we were doing it for horrible reasons.. but I thought maybe he'd see just how good WE would be together. Am I delusional, Ushi?"

"Not at all. I think you would've made a wonderful partner for Satori, or anyone, really."

You let out a small, bitter laugh at that. Clearly your best friend didn't see it like that. You pulled away from the embrace, wiping all the tears away and frowning at the sight of Ushijima's drenched sweatshirt.

"I'm so sorry.." you looked at his sweatshirt, "but thank you.. thank you so much for letting me in. I know it's late. Thanks for dealing with my bullshit."

"Of course, Y/N. You're just as important to me as Tendou, and I hate seeing you upset. I'm sorry he doesn't return your feelings."

You solemnly nodded, feeling sorry for yourself as well. The pain in your chest didn't seem to go away.

"What can we do, Toshi? It just wasn't meant to be. Plus. It's my fault. I knew it was strictly platonic fake dating. I let myself believe I had a chance. But it was clear I didn't."

Ushijima no longer knew how to respond, so he just gave you as much comfort as he could. With back rubs, hugs, and gently playing with your hair. All these actions allowed you to believe you'd be okay.

Even if Tendou Satori did not feel the same.

°•°•°•°•°

The date had apparently gone well, seeing as your lunch table was now occupied by Tendou, Ushijima, and the one and only. The one who had stolen your best friend's heart.

You stopped in your step as you saw her seated at the table. It seemed they were doing introductions. You knew you couldn't handle such thing right now, so you turned right around and walked to the library.

This did not go unseen by Ushijima, who excused himself by claiming that he had to print out some assignments for later.

"Have you seen Y/N? Did she come today?" Satori asked before letting the male part ways.

"Yes, she came. But she might be stuck in class or something. Enjoy the rest of your lunch." He politely excused himself before walking to the library where he knew you'd be.

Without a doubt, you were seated towards the back, face buried in your arms. He pulled a chair out and sat beside you. "Y/N."

You looked up, the pout evident on your lips. "Hey Toshi.. you didn't have to come, y'know?"

He nods, "I wanted to." You simply nod, looking down at the table before speaking again.

"She seems nice. She's really pretty. I can see why he was so set on making her his girlfriend."

"She's lovely. Very kind and charming." He admitted, much to your dismay. Of course she'd be perfect. That made it hurt even more. It made it obvious why he'd prefer someone like her over you.

"But you're also pretty, and very nice. He's missing out."

You looked up in shock at his words.

"You really mean that, Wakatoshi?"

The use of his name rather than the nicknames you usually called him was a pleasant and welcome surprise.

"Of course. There's no reason for you to be upset. You're strong, and I know you can get over this."

You couldn't help but notice how unusually talkative Ushijima had been recently. His comfort was on another level. He was saying all the right things. It was healing you, even if you didn't know it just yet.

"I-I'll get over it.." you said with little confidence, before taking a small breath. "I'll get over it."

The second time around there was definitely more faith in your words. You would be okay.

°•°•°•°•°

The next day, it wasn’t a surprise to see her at the lunch table again, yet it still caused you to freeze on the spot. As much as you wanted to turn around and run out of there, you couldn’t move. 

He was gently caressing her cheek, giving her a bunch of small, shy kisses while he held her hand. It made your stomach twist and turn, and you were sure you could taste blood. 

Blood. Red. Red hair. Waving. 

Fuck. He’d seen you, and was now ecstatically waving for you to come sit at the table. The girl had turned to see what he was making a fuss over, giving you a curious look. 

You knew you probably looked like shit. Even with Wakatoshi’s kind and supportive words, you’d still bawled your eyes out the entire day. A small sigh escaped your lips as you made your way over to the table. 

“Y/N! I want you to meet someone- or well, my girlfriend, to be more specific.”

Satori’s words had her blushing, but she still bowed politely. 

“Pleasure meeting you. I know we didn't get the chance to meet yesterday, but I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

Did you hear that your boyfriend was using me to get you to date him? Did you hear that I’ve had a crush on your boyfriend for years? 

There was so much anger and pettiness in you, but you tried not to show any of it. “Good things, I hope.” 

She quickly agreed, starting to talk about something they’d done together last night. A date, you gathered, though you kept zoning out as she talked, talked, talked, and talked. She was perfect, really. But right now you wanted nothing more than to just scream for her to Please Shut The Fuck Up. 

Halfway through lunch, you excused yourself, saying you had some things to do, but that you hoped the 3 of them had fun. 

You weren't healing just yet, you were grieving what could’ve been. You were doing and thinking stupid shit. 

As soon as you walked into the bathroom, you turned the sink water on and splashed the cold water onto your face. The fresh feeling allowed you to calm down and truly think this through. 

Anger wouldn’t solve anything. You didn’t have the right to be angry at your best friend because: 1) He didn’t even know about your feelings. 2) He had openly told you that he liked someone else. 3) You willingly put yourself in the situation you’re in now. 

A small sob escaped your lips at the new realizations. You were past denial and anger, you were now in the stage of acceptance. 

Tendou Satori, your best friend and crush, did not love you. You loved him though, no matter what. Your feelings would not interfere with the wonderful friendship you had built with him for so many years.

If you truly loved him, you would support him, and his happiness would be enough, even if you were not the provider of said happiness. You’d be content with just watching from the sidelines and cheering him on. 

You took in a small gasp for air as the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over and it was time to head to class. You rubbed at your eyes, a new feeling settling in your chest as you walked out of the bathroom.

Contentment. 

°•°•°•°•°

Avoiding gazes, friendships dwindling, it all leads to contentment. 

Sometimes, you have to sacrifice certain things in order for you to achieve your best state. To reach yours, it took avoidance and time, but now you’re beaming.

The state of contentment has finally been reached. 

A/N: Hello! I’m not sure if anyone will read this, but if anybody does: I hope you enjoyed it!! This isn’t too long, or maybe it’s something people scrolled past because holy FUCK it was too long for their preference. Anyway, I love me some Tendou content (: Even if it was quite clearly not fluff. I should write some fluff after this.. Thanks for reading!! 

[renaerys]

PPG One-Shot: Under the Stars (Brick/Blossom)

Written for the inaugural challenge prompt on PPG Challenge Hub on AO3 for the prompt “things you said under the stars,” hosted by @kiebs, @carriedreamerx, and me. Also functions as a Part 3 to the Shooketh, Not Stirred series. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here on Tumblr or on my AO3. 

Summary: In which Blossom decides she is definitely girlfriend material, and so does everybody else.

***We are welcoming more submissions for this prompt for the month of July! If you want to participate, please check out the PPG Challenge Hub collection on AO3.***

xxx

Nothing short of witchcraft could have held Buttercup’s 1997 Ford F-Series pickup truck together as it ambled over rocky switchbacks and through dense, Redwood forest to the Vista Lakes campgrounds for the Townsville High Junior and Senior classes’ biannual end-of-semester party. Blossom kept a stranglehold on the passenger door and hissed her displeasure over every dip that lurched the old truck too close to the edge of the road. The drop to the bottom of the mountain was a good thousand feet, a death knell for the Normies riding along with them.

Mitch and Harry, however, did not seem to mind as much.

“Oh shit!” Mitch whooped when Buttercup went over a particularly deep crag in the road and rocked the whole truck.

“Buttercup, please slow down,” Blossom pleaded.

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” Mitch said through the sliding window that opened up onto the truck bed, where he and Harry rode with the sleeping bags, food, and extra blankets.

Harry laughed. “We’re cool Blossom, don’t worry.”

“Yeah Blossom, don’t worry,” Buttercup drawled. “Besides, it’s not like a fall from this height would kill us.”

“I’m sure Mitch and Harry feel super reassured to hear you say that,” Blossom said snidely.

“Super duper!” Mitch said. He flashed the rearview mirror a sign of the horns and winked.

Blossom forced herself to ignore his goading and kept her eyes firmly on the road ahead just in case. “I should never have agreed to this.”

“Well, tough shit, Leader Girl. You could’ve gotten a ride with Bubbles earlier if you’d left your Winter Break homework until the last day like everybody else, but noooooooo.”

“Not everybody waits until the last minute to get the homework done, for your information.”

“They totally do.”

“They totally don’t.”

“Do.”

“Don’t—ugh, no, I’m not arguing like this with you.”

Buttercup smirked like she’d won the argument (she definitely did not). “Whatever. We’re basically here and no one’s fallen to their death yet, so you can chill.”

The road emptied out onto a clearing overlooking the side of the mountain. Three deep, blue lakes sat still and tranquil, each surrounded by clusters of gnarled Redwoods and camp sites. A lot of people were already here considering the late hour, and a few campfires blazed bright along the shorelines. The gloaming crept over the horizon, casting the valley below in shadow and the skies in dusky, bleeding streaks of red like spilled wine. High above, blues deepened to blacks, but it was still early for stars.

Buttercup parked off the main campsite and the boys began unloading the truck bed. When they struggled with a cooler crammed full of ice, Blossom lifted it effortlessly and floated it over to join others that had already been packed with cheap beer and grill meat.

“Eyyyy there she is!” Boomer opened his arms and pulled Blossom into his letter jacket for a big hug. “I’m glad you decided to come.”

Blossom returned his hug with a smile. “Me too.”

“I told you she would,” said Bubbles, and she nudged Butch who was busy putting away a plate piled high with four hamburgers. He took one look at Blossom and grinned.

“Hey, Highness,” Butch drawled.

Blossom shot him a withering look. “Hi, Butch.” Ever since she’d beaten him in a not-so-friendly spar while Buttercup was out of commission, he’d mellowed out and taken to nicknaming and weirdly friendly ribbing.

“Comin’ down from that pretty throne to hang with the cool kids, huh?”

He stuffed an entire burger in his mouth, while Blossom threw up a little in hers.

“Shut up, Butch. You sound like a creepy old man.” Buttercup arrived carrying two twenty-four packs of beer that she dropped in Butch’s lap. He caught them with a grunt, and Bubbles caught his plate of uneaten burgers.

“Bitch, you love every glistening inch of this.” Butch stood up shouldering the enormous beer crates like they weighed nothing, because they did.

“I love cold beer, so move your glistening ass.” Buttercup snatched one of his uneaten burgers and stuffed it in her mouth.

Somehow, Buttercup got Butch up and helping, and when Mitch and Harry joined them, it was short work to unload everything from Buttercup’s truck. Blossom rolled out her sleeping bag on the grass amidst all the others, but no one would be sleeping tonight. It was merely a courtesy for the too high or the too passed out.

Around the campsite, Juniors and Seniors lounged with beers and blunts, enjoying their last night together before Winter Break. Among them, Wes had his arm around Kim as he flipped hot dogs on a standing grill and chatted up Mike and Robin. Blossom watched them a moment, debating whether to interrupt the conversation to say hi.

Bubbles slipped her arm around Blossom’s waist and squeezed affectionately. “You look a little lost.”

“No, just hanging out, you know.” She returned the half embrace, and they stood there a moment enjoying the cool night air.

“Hey, Blossom! You wanna sit with us?” Harry called. He and a few others had set up some lawn chairs by the shore and were passing beers.

Bubbles giggled. “You know he likes you,” she said.

“What—He does?!” Blossom sputtered.

“For sure. And, you know, since you’re totally not with anybody else, you could have some fun talking to him.”

“You mean, flirt with him.”

Bubbles was as innocent as a lamb. “I mean, be nice to him. That could be fun, right?”

Blossom had nothing to say to that. She was not, in fact, “with” anybody else. And she had every right to talk to whomever of her friends she wanted, so technically Bubbles had a point, but…

Blossom searched the faces gathered. In the encroaching darkness, it was getting harder to pick out profiles and bright colors to see who was here and who hadn’t yet arrived. “I don’t know.”

But Bubbles was already dragging her over to Harry’s circle and waving back to him. Seated in between Harry on one side and Kim on the other, Blossom was handed a burger and a beer and encouraged to participate in the conversation.

“My folks’re taking me to our cabin in Tahoe to go skiing over the break,” Harry was saying.

“That sounds fun,” Blossom said.

He shrugged. “Yeah, sure, if you count me eating snow every five feet when I can’t stop falling.”

“Come on, I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“Oh, yeah? I bet it’d be a cake walk for you, Miss Snow Queen.” Harry grinned, and the corners of his dark eyes crinkled cutely.

“Just because I have ice powers doesn’t make me a Winter sports maven. I’ve never skied in my life.”

“Psh, can’t be that hard, right? You start at the top of the mountain, and you end up at the bottom.”

Blossom bit back a smile. “I mean, I think it’s a little more involved than that.”

Harry laughed and leaned over the armrest closer to her. “Well, consider us both noobs. Anyway, most of the time’s spent hanging out at the cabin drinking hot chocolate anyway, right? Best part.”

Blossom tugged on her long, red ponytail as Harry continued to smile at her. She imagined the scene: a cozy ski lodge surrounded by snow, and a smiling boy content to ignore the blunt their friends were passing just to talk to her some more. She would like that. It would be easy, simple, and soft. Normal.

“Um, you know, I was thinking of inviting a few friends for a weekend. Just, like, a small group, and uh, well, I was wondering…” Harry stumbled in the dark looking for the question he meant to ask.

She could say yes, and she could have fun. With him, with any nice boy, it could be fun. How silly that just a few months ago, she had let herself believe she wasn’t the desirable type just because some mean girls said so. It all seemed so absurd now, and yet Blossom could not bring herself to give Harry the easy, simple, soft “yes” he wanted.

“Oh hey! You can have my seat, I’m grabbing more food,” said Kim on Blossom’s other side.

“Thanks.”

Like a hand to the stove, that voice hit her with a searing demand to be acknowledged. Old habits perhaps, or new ones. He wasn’t one to be ignored, not by her at least. Not these days.

“Brick,” Blossom said, half a question, half a sigh. She pulled back from Harry to look at him properly.

He’d taken Kim’s vacated seat directly next to her and nursed a solo cup of beer. Like her, he was dressed for the December chill in long sleeves, and his trademark red cap sat backwards over his short hair, as always. Red eyes held hers in a look that lingered.

“Blossom.” He spoke her name like a secret.

He was late. Why was he late? It wasn’t like him. She hadn’t seen him since third period yesterday. Was it only yesterday, or years ago?

“Hey, Brick,” Harry said, leaning over so he could see around Blossom. “Butch said you might not make it tonight.”

Blossom worried her lip between her teeth, and Brick took a long sip of beer as he slowly averted his gaze to Harry on her other side. “Here I am.”

“Uh, yeah, so Blossom,” Harry said. “About Tahoe…”

xxx

Blossom tugged on her ponytail as she turned back to Harry. Brick watched her twist her anxious fingers through her hair and narrowed his eyes.

“Hm? Oh, right,” she said.

“Yeah, so like I was saying, my parents’ cabin has a few extra bedrooms, so we could make a whole weekend out of it. Skiing, hot chocolate, the works. It’d be cool if you came. What do you say?”

“You throwing a rager?” Brick interrupted.

Harry leaned forward to see Brick again like he’d forgotten he was sitting there at all. “Nah man, just a couple friends for a weekend trip.”

“Cool. Who’s going?”

“Uh, I mean, I don’t have a list or anything. Sorta just came up with it now, so…”

“So you still have space. Count me in,” Brick said.

Blossom and Harry both looked at him like he’d suggested they all go jump in the lake.

“You want to go skiing in Tahoe?” Blossom asked.

Brick shrugged. “Sure, if it means a weekend away from my idiot brothers. Thanks for the invite, Harry.”

Harry gaped, and Blossom ceased pulling at her ponytail to stare at Brick.

“I mean,” Harry said, and nodded super obviously towards Blossom while she wasn’t looking.

“How many others could we invite?” Blossom asked. “If it’s okay with your parents, I mean.”

Harry looked at Blossom, and then he looked at Brick, who sipped his beer like the oblivious, teenaged simpleton he one hundred percent was not. Giving up, Harry sighed and rubbed a hand over his buzz cut. “There’s room for two more if you’re both going to be there.”

Blossom lit up. “How about Wes and Kim? Or Pablo and Hanout?”

Harry sat back in his chair and nursed his beer. “Yeah, fine, whatever you want.”

She was smiling now.

“Wes and Kim,” Brick said. “Pablo snores like a motherfucker.”

“That’s true,” Harry said forlornly.

“Well, either way,” Blossom said, clearly torn between telling them both off and the desire to finalize plans.

Brick got up. “Let us know what weekend. I’m free whenever.”

Pleasantly yet unsurprisingly, Blossom got up too. “Me too. Thanks Harry, this’ll be fun.” She smiled genuinely at him, and he returned it.

“Yeah, the best,” Harry said dejectedly.

Blossom followed Brick as he led her away from the main campsite along the shoreline in the direction of the drop-off.

“Okay, what was that?” she asked when they were away from the roar of the music and the campfires.

“What was what?” Brick asked. It was dark now, and the farther they wandered from the center of the party, the harder it was to see the shoreline as his eyes adjusted.

“You invited yourself to Harry’s. Are you even that close?”

He paused and looked at her. “Are you?”

Blossom clutched the ends of her jacket as she blinked up at him. “We’re friends,” she hedged. “He’s a nice guy.”

Brick smirked. “Uh-huh. Real nice.”

“What does that mean?”

“You tell me. Am I intruding?”

Blossom studied him through the gloom. She was close enough that he could smell her perfume, silken and subtle. “No,” she said at length. “There’s nothing to intrude on.”

He watched her walk along ahead of him, her long ponytail a bloody lash under the cover of night. He chucked his beer and went after her.

“This way,” he said, breaking from the shore and heading into the trees.

“Where are we going?” Blossom drew close. “It’s so dark tonight.”

“I think it’s a new moon. Here.” Brick found her hand so they wouldn’t get separated in the pitch black of the canopy.

Blossom’s hand was cool in his, and she slipped the other one around his arm as he walked deeper into the forest. The walk wasn’t far, and soon the trees thinned as they emerged onto the shore of the lake nearest to the precipice overlooking the valley below. Brick had set up his sleeping bag in the grass far away from the rabble where he could have the best view undisturbed.

“Wow.” Blossom approached the black waters, so still they reflected the night sky back flawlessly. Flurries of stars as far as the eye could see scattered above and below like snowflakes frozen in flight. The Milky Way ripped through the firmament, bleeding more stars clustered so closely together they glimmered ice-bright. “I feel like I just stepped into another world.”

Brick jammed his hands in his jeans pockets and drew up next to her. “Consequence of being away from all the city lights for a change.”

“Mm.”

They lapsed into silence for a bit as they watched the nightscape unfold above and upon the water. Brick’s eyes fully adjusted to the lambent starlight, but it was a cold light, and he wore only a thin, red hoodie to stave off the chill. Blossom noticed him shuffle beside her.

“Do you want my jacket?” she teased.

“Ha ha,” Brick groused. But it was fucking cold out here, now that she mentioned it. He had always been particularly sensitive to it in a way she wasn’t. “My sleeping bag should do the trick.”

They retreated to his makeshift camp, where Brick shimmied into his sleeping bag and Blossom sat on the mat next to him, perfectly at ease in the cold. She leaned back on her hands to admire the stars, content like she could watch them all night. Their gossamer light draped her like a veil, softening her edges and igniting her colors. Brick had the sudden urge to touch her, to prove she was no pearlescent dream, that the cold cornering him now was hers and not just the darkness.

“Why were you late tonight?” she asked out of the blue.

Brick lay back on the mat and looked up at the jeweled sky. “Finished the homework.”

Her laugh was as soft as the starlight, and she grinned at him over her shoulder. “Me too.”

Obviously. He wouldn’t put it past her. It didn’t matter, only, he didn’t want to have one more thing to worry about over the break while also spending way more time than usual around his brothers with nothing to keep their focus for eight hours of the day. But the knowledge seemed to please her, which was just as well.

“I told you I was coming tonight,” he said.

And yet, Boomer had blown up his phone texting him all evening wondering where the hell he was, why wasn’t he here yet, and didn’t he realize people were waiting for him? The last text was one he received when he’d touched down at the edge of the campsite and it was already dark: a candid picture of Blossom talking with Harry by a campfire, and she looked happy. Brick had not responded to it or to any of the other annoying texts. Kim had been more than happy to give him her chair the minute she saw him approaching.

“Here you are,” Blossom said, hushed and half-lidded.

Here we are.

Brick curled an arm under his head. “View’s better from down here.”

She worried her lip—did she even realize she did that? That he noticed?—but ultimately lay down next to him on the mat. “Oh, wow…”

The starscape shimmered far and above, and Brick began to pick out patterns in the cosmos. “There, Cassiopeia.” He pointed to a cluster of stars.

“You know your constellations?” she asked.

“A few.”

He could practically feel the aura of challenge she exuded like a pheromone.

“All right. Perseus,” she said.

Brick pointed to a long line of stars near Cassiopeia. “Right next to Andromeda.”

“That was a freebie to test the waters.”

Brick chuckled. “Sure.”

“Okay Star Lord, show me Gemini.”

Brick swept his hand south and west of Perseus to a pair of star lines facing each other. “A couple of gossipy bitches.”

She shoved him playfully, and he caught her with his free arm, pulling her close. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m right. Next?”

“Let’s see… How about Leo?”

With one arm anchoring her to his side, Brick traced the patterns she called out with the other. Dead heroes and their monsters rose from glittering graves with every sweep of his fingers and kept them company in the dark.

She tugged at his sleeve as he searched for the elusive Pyxis constellation. “Hey, we should probably get back to the party.”

Brick let his hand drop. “Why?”

“Because we’ll be missed, obviously.”

He chuckled. “I bet someone’s missing you.”

Blossom rolled onto her side to face him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

He’d taken her to breakfast. It wasn’t a date; he hadn’t technically asked, and she only came because she was hungry and didn’t want to go home yet. It was the first time he’d ever seen her cry—no, sob because of what some dumb girls said to her at a party. Just the normal high school bullshit, and she’d fallen apart. Breakfast was the fucking least he could do after the ignominy of seeing her like that. It just turned out that it wasn’t the last.

Too many breakfasts and long hours spent prepping for finals turned into expectation, expectation turned into anticipation, and anticipation became the new normal. They weren’t together no matter what rumors Bubbles and Robin started and stopped. They weren’t not together either, considering they usually were, in fact, together. It had only been a few months since she’d handed Butch his balls wrapped up in a pretty pink bow and left Brick speechless to behold her, a few months since he’d found her insecure and vulnerable on that rooftop and called her beautiful because she was, holy fuck she was, and so much more.

Blossom was old wounds that should have healed long ago, that he should never have opened again, but she was still so new and he didn’t know, he didn’t know.

She slipped her hand over the cover of his sleeping bag and curled her fingers in his shirt. “Brick,” she said in a voice full of galaxies and longing.

He’d always liked the sound of his own name, after all.

When he kissed her, she tasted like starlight, cold fire. He pulled her closer, kissed her deeper, a step into the unknown, but the unknown was where she was and she was everything. Her breath hitched and she opened for him, just like that day on the rooftop, but he didn’t look away this time and she kissed him back like it had been her idea all along. Chemical X crackled on their flushed skin as he rolled onto his back and brought her with him, her weight on his chest a warmth and a fantasy.

Blossom’s long bangs fanned his cheeks as she hovered above him and he held on to her. He dreamed she might fall back into the sea of stars and he would dive in after her should he let her go. He didn’t let her go.

“I don’t actually want to go to Tahoe,” Brick said.

She laughed, light as a moonbeam. “Neither do I.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulled her down again. “Good.”

She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him.

xxx

No one took much notice when Blossom and Brick popped up at the campsite after a protracted absence. No one except Bubbles, who passed Butch her perfectly roasted marshmallow, which he wolfed down right off the stick without waiting for it to cool. She discreetly got out her phone and snapped a few pictures of Blossom leading Brick by the hand to a couple empty chairs near Wes and Kim. When Brick leaned back in his chair and put his arm around the back of Blossom’s so she could lean into him, Bubbles had to work very hard not to squeal.

Clearly, Boomer sending Brick that picture of Harry chatting up Blossom had had the intended outcome.

She fired off twenty pictures to Robin.

[Bubbles: Yearbook?? 👀]

Robin, who was on the other side of the large campfire with Buttercup, Julie, Mitch, and the Floyjoydson twins, spat out her beer when she saw the pictures.

Bubbles snickered to herself.

“What’re you so happy about?” Butch said halfway through a game of Chubby Bunny.

Bubbles poked his mallow-stuffed cheek and winked. “It’s a secret.”

He rolled his eyes and stuffed another marshmallow in his mouth. “Laaaaame.”

Bubbles stole another glance at Blossom and Brick. She was laughing at something Kim had said, and he turned to whisper something to her. Bubbles bit her lip to hide her smile.

“But not for long,” she sang to herself.

Boomer came up behind Blossom and Brick and threw his arms around them both, laughing and pulling them close. Brick didn’t even try to push him off.

Not for long at all.

xxx

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my writing and are looking for more PPG/RRB content from me, please check out my ongoing multi-chapter over on AO3 called Beyond This Morning. 😊

[ubernoxa]

The Sip: A GNR Modern Day AU

Chapter 6: Just Friends

Previous Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Chapter Summary: Alanah gets a call from her manager and Duff surprises her with some help.

Warning: Fluff

I sat on the couch in Sandy’s and my apartment wishing I was anywhere else.

Declan had surprised Sandy for dinner and they were currently out eating at some fancy restaurant.

A couple hours earlier, Declan showed up at our door with a dozen roses dresses in a full suit. Apparently it was their six month anniversary, but you wouldn’t know that if you saw Sandy at the party last night. There are times I wonder if she knows what the definition of committed relationship is. I can’t judge though, my last relationships was borderline fake.

Originally we were supposed to record, but they both looked so excited to go. Before Sandy could break the news to him on how she couldn’t go, I told her we could reschedule. We had some prerecorded stuff, so we could just post that instead. She was still hesitant, so I added on that I could livestream cooking. Eventually she caved and left for her dinner with Declan. I hope she didn’t cheat on him, but the way that stranger’s arm was wrapped around her led me to believe the worst. She was supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us. She didn’t leave without making a comment on how I should invite Duff over for the stream. I swear she just wanted me to get in a relationship again, so we could go on double dates and couples vacations.

I continued to stare in the mirror as I finished applying my foundation. My heart skipped a beat as the sound of my phone ringing echoed through my apartment. Duff?

To my disappointment, it was only my media manager..well both Sandy’s and my media manager. We hired her a while back to help us with the legal side of YouTube and to help with our social presence.

“Hey Alanah, hows it going?”

“Good, Good...preparing to do the livestream I just texted you about,” I began to begin working on my eyes as I spoke.

“Okay well...you know how I hate getting into your personal life Alanah, but...” God I wish she would just spit it out. I knew she was going to ask about if I was dating Duff or not. I know we’re not, but I....I don’t know. After this morning’s bathroom event, I needed to know what that meant to him. No way that was just two friends hanging out, or maybe that’s how a rockstar hangs out with girls? Fuck.

“Are you dating Duff,” I let a fake laugh escape me once she finally got around to asking the question.

“No, just friends.” Yup, just friends would had sex multiple times in the past 24 hours and then relaxed in a jacuzzi together. Just casual friend things.

My manager went silent for a couple seconds. Was she expecting me to say yes?

“Things just ended with Mark, and I just want to enjoy being single. I won’t lie, I shed a couple tears when I heard he said Alanah who....but I’ve heard worst things. Why are you asking?” I stopped applying my makeup and focused on my manager. She went silent again, and that wasn’t ever a good sign.

“Well, you were tagged in some social media posts.....” she once again paused causing my patience to go extinct. SPIT IT OUT.

“There was a video from the paparazzi, Ill send it your way. I know Mark is a celebrity, but he wasn’t a household name like Duff. If you two do start dating you are aware that you are going to lose your sense of privacy right? You’ll be added to his list of ex’s. That’s what you will be known for,” I let out a sigh as she finished talking. Jesus Christ, we aren’t even dating and I was already getting this talk.

“Just friends,” I faked the confidence in my voice before I heard her mumble something.

“Well I’m glad you’re doing well, I’ll send you a link to the video I was referencing. If you and Duff are JUST FRIENDS you should ask him to help cook for your stream tonight,”

“Really?” I sounded like a nervous middle schooler as I spoke. Why was I nervous?

“Yeah, could be fun. Have a good one Alanah,” she hung up before I could even say goodbye...typical.

I opened up Instagram and was immediately met with a bunch of notifications. Whoever ran the Gun’s Instagram page had tagged me in a couple of photos. Most of them consisted of photos from earlier in the night of us around the BBQ. I was surprised to see that I looked decent in most of them, and in a couple...only a couple of the photos...Duff and I did look like we were dating. He had is arm wrapped around my waist or I was sitting on his lap. We aren’t dating though just friends.

I went over to his page to message him, and that’s when I froze. I immediately clicked on the most recent post and scrolled through the photos. There was one photo that caught my attention. It was from when we were eating dinner last night. It must have been cropped because it was just the two of us, but I remembered this moment. He had just made a joke that was so stupid I couldn’t help, but laugh. Yesterday I didn’t notice it, but he was smiling down at me as I giggled in the photo and he had his hand wrapped around my waist. I couldn’t read into that much more. We are just friends. We are nothing more than friends. FRIENDS.

I logged into the Instagram account specifically for Sandy’s and my YouTube channel and began to record a video.

“Hey guy! Hope you’re haveing a great Tuesday. Sandy is out celebrating an anniversary so you’re stuck with me tonight!”

“Tonight I will be live-streaming me attempting to cook something you guys comment below! So comment your ideas and hopefully I won’t burn them!”

I then when to share the video on twitter and Tumblr to try to gain traction.

I put some music on and began to scroll through the comments trying to find an idea of what to cook. The comments started out as helpful but after some scrolling a lot of the comment were about Duff....I placed my phone out and let out a sigh.

“Are you and Duff dating?”

“Wow, talk about a rebound”

“Duff + Alanah... #upgrade”

Why did I have to deal with this bull shit? Not that I wouldn’t mind being his girlfriend....but he was a rockstar and we were JUST FRIENDS.

I was pulled from my thoughts as my phone began to ring. Speaking of the devil, it was Duff.

“Hey, what’s up?” I smiled as I looked at my screen. His hair was all over the place and he looked exhausted. It must had been a long practice.

“I’m about 30 seconds away from killing my bandmates, you?”

“Well I’m currently trying to chose what to cook for my livestream,” I quickly checked what I looked like on the screen. I was thankful that I put makeup on and did my hair, I looked pretty good..not to toot my own horn or anything.

“How about Thai Salmon?” I was caught off guard by his recommendation.

“Ohhh uhhh I don’t know how to bake that.....and umm...I don’t want to look like a fool on livestream,” I was tripping over my words, unable to cease talking.

“Well if you need help, I’m actually a decent cook. I could even show you some stuff if you want,” he wanted to help me cook?

“Yeah sure!” I could feel a smile growing on my cheek from ear to ear as I spoke. I watched a smile flash on his face as I answered.

“Great! So I’ll bring the ingredients we need and we also have to soak the salmon for two hours before it’s cooked!”

My stomach was performing backflips as Duff talked. He was excited. He was excited to hang out with me. Holy shit.

Time flew by as I began to setup the two cameras. The first was on a rather large tripod allowing you to see the entire kitchen, which wasn’t much, and the second was a small camera that would be used for more close up shots.

***Buzz***

I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard my apartment’s doorbell ring. I bolted towards my intercom to the lobby, “Hello?”

“Hey Alanah, it’s Duff I got the stuff, wanna let me in or we can try to cook in the lobby?” I chuckled as I hit a button on my intercom and buzzed in. What if he thinks less of me because of my small apartment? What if he thinks I’m below him? Is my apartment too dirty? Is it too clean?

A knock at the door pulled me out of my chaotic merry-go-round of thoughts.

I took a deep breath and opened my door.

“So this is what your apartment looks like,” he had a small smile on his face as he walked around looking at the photos that hung on the wall.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” I shrugged leaning against the table for support.

“Its cozy! I got the food, shall we begin?”

“Umm...yeah..uhhh..yeah..so since the salmon needs to marinate I’m doing a little prerecording for the video to post later in the week if that’s fine,” I wanted to kick myself repeatedly for stumbling over my words. God! I felt like such a baffoon.

“How can I help?” I watched as he looked at my camera positioned to look at the entire room.

“You can do whatever you want! If you wanna help with the cameras it’s up to you. If you want to sit on the couch and be on your phone that’s fine too,” I shrugged watching his body language as I spoke. He actually wanted to help....the rockstar was looking to help..weird okay.

“So that camera there is for overall shots while this one is for like close up,” I held up the second camera showing him how to properly hold it.

“So this first part isn’t live?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to make everyone wait two hours. I usually take live-streams and create highlight videos,” I began to pull the items out of Duff’s cloth bag.

I looked over to see Duff fiddling with the second camera and eventually turning it on. Out of the corner of my eye I then watched as he turned on the second one. Maybe he wasn’t as unfamiliar with cameras as I expected him to be.

I then felt him wrap his arms around my waist.

“Hey...Duff,” I could feel my heart rate about to explode through my chest. I’ve had sex with him before, why was I nervous around him? Why the hell was him being so close to me making my stomach become an Olympic gymnast?

“Don’t mind me, I’m just turning on your mic,” and with that I hear a faint click from a small switch that turned my mic on. He then clapped once and went to pick up the second camera.

“I’m ready when you are,” I could feel my cheeks turning red as he spoke. His damn smirk never leaving his stupid face. He knew what he was doing.

“Alright, welcome to another cooking with Alanah and Sandy, but this time there is no Sandy so we will see what happens! My current goal is to not burn the food,” before I could continue Duff’s laughter echoed through my apartment.

“What? Also cameramen should be quiet!” I teased back pointing at the camera, only making his laugh harder.

“Alanah, babe, I’ve seen your previous cooking videos and I think your goal should be to not burn down your apartment,” I froze as I tried to make out what he said between laughing.

Babe?

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t get rid of the smile that had grown on my face.

“Alright so tonight we are making teriyaki salmon! The first step is to create the marinate!” I pulled out the cooking instructions I had made Duff write before he came over.

“Alright so for the sweet chili sauce we will combine water, white vinegar, cornstach, garlic clove, and.......maple syrup,” I looked over at Duff as I read the last ingredient.

“Are you messing with me Duff?” His laughter filled the room once again and I couldn’t help but join him. His laugh was contagious.

“If I was messing with you I would have either been more subtle or more outlandish,” I watched as he placed the camera on my mini tripod infornt of the bowls I had setup for mixing.

We spent the next thirty minutes preparing the sauce together, and I loved every second of it.

“And now we wait for two hours while the salmon soaks,” Duff said into the camera before smirking at me. He was good in front of a camera and he knew it.

“So now we have two hours,” I finished turning off the cameras and my mic as he spoke.

“Do you have anything in mind in how to spend the time?” This time I couldn’t help but let a smirk wander into my face.

Without hesitation, Duff pulled me in and we began to kiss as he dragged me to my bedroom.

[exgossips]

𝑒𝓍𝑔𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓅'𝓈  𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓉𝓉𝑒𝒹 & 𝓇𝓊𝓂𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓊𝓅. ιѕѕυє #1   3/3/20 

ah,  hello  and  welcome  to  our  first  weekly  roundup.  i’m  your  favorite  editor,  rose  here  to  quench  your  thirst  for  all  things  wild  in  the  lives  of los  angeles’  favorite  celebrities.  this  week’s  forecast  looks  cloudy  with  a  chance  of  what  the  actual  fuck  is  going  on  with  these  weirdos.  lets  get  crackin’  shall  we?  

first  up,  we  have  milena  walker  and  sidney  spinner   we’ve  known  for  awhile  now  that  these  two  have  been  together.  i’ll  be  the  first  to  admit  my  doubts  on  the  validity  of  their  relationship.   but,  after  yesterday  ...  i  think  we’re  all  sure  this  is  the  real  deal.  i  send  out  my  personal  well wishes  to  milena  and  her  roommates. 

spotted ! submitted by ( anonymous ), ( milena ) and ( sidney ) were seen ( leaving alfred coffee hand in hand when milena got what looked like a distressing phone call. sidney took the phone when his girlfriend seemed frozen in shock, before leading her back to his car quickly. he sped off with milena ducking her head in the front passenger seat. based on last night’s news, we can only assume that was when milena found out about the break in at her and maeve’s home. thank goodness she had her supportive boyfriend by her side! )

next  on  the  agenda ,  a  possible  engagement?  now,  if  you  know  me,  you  know  i  am  a  sucker  for  a  love  story.  let’s  just  say  this  one?  threw  me  for  a loop!  especially  how  fast  this  has  all  gone  down.  allie  and  jack  are  cute.... but ,  personally  i  always  shipped  her  with  damian.  is  it  just  me? 

rumor  has  it… allie and jack are engaged! they started dating in january so it’s been less than three months and rumor has it that jack proposed after just a few weeks. allie has been seen out and about with a ring on THAT finger several times within the last few days.

weird  huh?  well,  congratulations  to  the  lovebirds, i’ll  be  waiting  for  my  wedding  invite  in  the  mail.  

next  up,  two  possible  new  couples  on  the  rise?  it’s  march  but  it  seems  like  love  is  still  very  much  in  the  air. 

spotted ! submitted by ( a barista at melrose coffee ), ( dove ) and ( brodie ) were seen ( hand holding and laughing. on lookers say the two seemed to be happily snuggled close together – presumably as they awaited their 20 dollar lattes. could this mean… they’re an item? ).

spotted ! submitted by ( anonymous ), ( jules ) and ( valentina ) were seen ( out sharing dinner at the catch LA, laughing and looking cozy mere days after valentina left a flirty comment on his latest insta post ). 

dove  and  brodie  definitely  flew  out  of  left  field  for  me! but,  i  think  they’re  kind  of  cute  together?  who  knows,  maybe  opposites  really  do  attract...?  doubt  it. i  give  them  a  month.

and  finally,  i  tracked  down  jules  for  a  comment  on  his  recent  flirtation  with  valentina. a  man  of  few  words,  all  he  had  to  say  was  quote, "we just met but i really like hanging out with her. she's a lot of fun."  a  lot  of  fun,  aye?  well,  i  think  we  all  know  what  that  means.... jules  and  val  are  definitely  hooking  up  and ( if  you  ask  me )  things  are  looking  pretty  serious.  we  just  might  see  another  engagement  soon?  

that’s  it  for  this  week’s  round  up !! got  anything  worth  spilling ?  check  out  this  page  for  more  details.  this  one’s  a  short  one  but  you  can  expect  to  see these  weekly full  of  all  of  the  latest  news. 

[redslilstories]

Marry Me

Author: lilyme (aka. redslilstories aka. me ;)) Summary:This is how could 7x17 have played out without the catastrophic car crash and a few tweaks to the storyline Character: Arizona/Callie Rating: PG Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended!

It was a sunny Saturday in spring as a lone black car made its way along a freeway near Seattle. Its passengers were Callie and Arizona, the blonde steering the car along the street safely, while bemusedly listening to Callie talking to her best friend on the phone.

Callie sucked in an excited breath, the following giggle only temporarily distracting her girlfriend behind the wheel. "She's moving back in?!" she squealed in excitement, waiting for Mark's affirmative answer before mildly slapping Arizona's arm with the back of her hand. "She's moving back in!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard it the first time," the blonde laughed at the ecstatic brunette next to her, before raising her voice a little so that the man on the other end of the line could hear her. "Good for you, Mark!"

He had gotten back together with Lexie a few months ago, and naturally he was over the moon about it. The fact that the resident apparently had decided to take this next step in their newly blossomed relationship was of course the icing on the cake.

Callie was so happy him. And Arizona had to admit that she wasn't too sad about it either. He wasn't looking at her boobs anymore... as far as she knew. At least they had the bedroom to themselves again, which was a big plus.

But Arizona acknowledged that the man had helped her a lot on the last months. Their little Italian dinner date to prove Callie that she could get along with her best friend had been a turning point. They still weren't exactly on best-buddy-basis, but they were getting along pretty okay.

That took a lot of strain out of her relationship with Callie. And it had positive side effects too. After all, it had been Mark who finally had convinced Callie to let Arizona paint her bat cave. Or rather their bat cave.

So much had happened in the last year. Breaking up over disagreements about babies. Getting back together after staring into the eyes of death. Officially moving in together. Cristina and Owen moving into their own home. And Arizona... winning the Carter-Madison grant.

An event that had almost torn them apart again. Callie had been conflicted about being happy for the peds surgeon and being devastated because she knew that the original plan meant that her girlfriend, the outstanding peds surgeon would have to go to Africa for three years. To help establish a hospital in Malawi and save lives thousands of miles way from her.

But the blonde heart and soul had been equally as twisted.

This grant. She had applied for it over three years ago. Back when she had still been single. More than ready to commit to the ones who needed it most. And not ready to commit herself to a serious relationship.

It was her dream. Or... it had been. Had been for so long. Then Callie had come along and had turned her world upside down. And now suddenly faced with making a decision between Africa and Callie... she had known she would choose the latter.

She hadn't given up on Africa entirely, however. She was overseeing most things from Seattle with occasional trips to Malawi to help out.

It wasn't her original dream anymore. It wasn't three years in Africa doing what she knew she was born to do. But her vision of it all still remained.

And now she had even more. Her old dream. And her new ones. Which now even included baby showers.

… Okay, that one was a bit of a stretch. She still hated those.

But still she had organized one yesterday. With the help of Mark, who had a lot more feel when it came to that stuff, surprisingly. Scrapbook station, onesie decorating, whatever. It didn't matter to her, as long as Callie was happy.

And Callie had been happy about this. So she had been happy as well. Even though she could have lived without that balloon stuffed under her scrubs and that little tiara on her head that read "momma".

But seeing that huge smile on Callie's face had totally been worth it.

For Callie she would do anything. For Callie, and their baby.

Their baby. That thought still brought the silliest of smiles to her face.

With a couple of trips to L.A and the help of Addison, their baby was finally on the way. Neither of them had thought that it would work on the first try, but it had. And if the baby stayed on schedule, in 108 days they would finally be 'momma' and... well, okay, they had names to discuss.

Speaking of which... Arizona already knew that they were having a little girl. Doing ultrasounds often in her daily work, she could easily tell from the check-ups she's been to with Callie. But she didn't want to spoil her girlfriend's fun, since they had agreed on not wanting to know the baby's sex before birth... officially.

And Arizona had had enough fun secretly buying a few girls' clothes in the last weeks, and she could already imagine this little girl with Callie's black hair and big brown eyes one day wearing that insanely cute pink Minnie Mouse sweater.

Callie's adorable laugh at something Mark had said on the other line drew her out of that thought. "No, Mark, we don't need you to go paint shopping for our nursery yet. And we don't need either blue or pink," she chuckled at his latest effort to learn the secret kept between Arizona and the baby himself.

He had been desperate to find out. But it wasn't like he had any say in this matter – and Arizona had absolutely no intention on letting him in on her knowledge either. In the end he didn't care if in four months he'd be the godfather of a little boy or a little girl, that was pretty certain. "But I'm sure you can convince Lexie to go shopping with you for the apartment," Arizona provided as Callie readily held the phone's speaker to her. "You know how she loves to decorate".

"Hey, you wanna ask her right now?" Callie suggested with raised eyebrows. "Bet you're bored with your whacky neighbors gone already, huh?" she teased the man once more. "Yeah, we'll be fine those three days," she confirmed to an obvious question about the trip they were engaged in right now. "Okay, bye for now, Love you," she spoke before ending the call.

"Aww, you kinda choked him off there," Arizona pouted as she overtook a truck parked on the side of the road with ease.

"He'll live," the brunette chuckled. "And now...," she held up the phone ceremoniously so that her girlfriend could see out of the corner of her eye that...

"Did you just turn off your phone?" the blonde asked a little confused. Callie Torres was not someone who shut off her phone. Callie Torres was a phone addict.

"I did," the proclaimed addict smiled contently. "Or else he'd be calling again in half an hour. You know how he is".

"But you told him we'd be fine," Arizona argued, not even sure why. Not having Mark call constantly had its perks, she had to admit. "He's probably gonna worry when your phone goes straight to voice mail".

"All things taken into consideration," Callie calmed her, fully understanding this train of thought. "I left a message on my voice mail that tells every caller where we'll be and what I'll do to you over and over once we get there. Nasty, naughty things..."

"You what!?" Arizona exclaimed and nearly brought the car to a screeching halt. In panic. In arousal.

She felt the sudden need to call Callie's phone to hear her formulate what they were about to do over and over. Hot. Terrifying. Terrifyingly hot.

Her brain was really indecisive on this.

"Kidding!" Callie laughed. "It just tells everyone that we'll be gone for a few days".

"Oh," Arizona nodded in thanks for the clarification. But the thought of the nasties and naughties remained.

They hadn't done a lot of that in the last weeks. The changes of Callie's body often making her feel uncomfortable despite the effort Arizona put in showing her how desirable she was for her.

And she knew that at least some of this tension originated in the stress Callie felt herself going through. With trying to be her best at work and nurturing their unborn baby at the same time.

So, Arizona had arranged for them both to get some time off and had booked them a few days in a cozy B&B two hours away from Seattle to cool down and relax.

And obviously this had this welcome effect of Callie's libido reappearing. "So... it's just gonna be you and me?" she gave Callie her most radiant smile.

"You and me," Callie confirmed with a big smile of her own. "And, oh! And the baby," she laughed.

"Are they kicking you?" the blonde asked as she watched Callie put her hands on her growing belly.

"No, but we're definitely awake," her girlfriend returned. It had already been four weeks since the movements of the baby had become noticeable for Callie but it never once failed to amaze her.

"Good morning, baby," Arizona called out softly and put her hand on the side of Callie's tummy in greeting.

Their baby. She still had to realize that in the next days it'd be just Callie, the baby and herself. And no one to disturb them. She reached for her own phone lying on the dashboard and handed it to Callie. "You know what you have to do," she told her and Callie nodded with a happy expression before proceeding to put a message on Arizona's voice mail as well and shutting it off.

Meanwhile Arizona was on the lookout for a very specific spot on the side of the road. There was something she had planned. Something that was way bigger than a trip to a B&B. Something that was very important to her. And could change her life... their lives forever.

She slowed down the car gradually, getting them ready for what she had planned.

Callie noticed her girlfriend's actions and sent her a questioning glance sideways, which Arizona answered. "Do you, um, do you want to pull over for a bit?" she got out, glad that she had almost managed to keep that shaking out of her voice. She had practiced this scenario in her head over and over. Still it did little to calm her nervousness.

The brunette cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you need to pee?" she teased lightly, "Because I thought I was the one with the crazy bladder..."

Arizona smiled at the amused figure sitting next to her. She had learned early on during Callie's pregnancy that joking about the challenges this brought to the brunette's body was not a wise action. But laughing along the jokes Callie made herself was safe. Well, at least most of the time. "No, I just thought you'd want to relax your legs for a minute, maybe?"

"No, that's okay, and we're only thirty something minutes away. I'll be okay," she felt a warmth spread through her at Arizona's apparent concern. She had never been one to let herself be coddled; but there had been moments lately where she enjoyed the care and attention.

Arizona faltered for a moment. She hadn't anticipated a possible denial to her suggestion. Which she now realized was pretty stupid considering that Callie wasn't always predictable. Never had been. "Well, come on, honey," she cooed, "just for a few minutes... our room at the B&B won't be ready for a couple of hours anyway."

"Okay...," Callie scrunched her eyebrows at the blonde's weird behavior... and sudden need for a rest. And she was about to complain about them having hit the road so early if their room wasn't even ready for them. But...

"I have sandwiches," Arizona redirected her thoughts before that could happen.

Okay, that was a game changer. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and it was already hitting 12 pm. Now, if only...

"I packed some peanut butter ones as well," Arizona confessed and suddenly Callie was more than ready for that little break.

Arizona knew about her pregnancy cravings. And she had hoped that Callie's taste buds would eventually switch to something a little more... healthy like pickles, but Callie still stuck to her beloved peanut butter. However, they had an agreement. A peanut butter sandwich only twice a week.

Or apparently on special occasions like this one.

A couple of minutes later their picnic blanket was spread out under a tree that overlooked a beautiful valley in the Seattle area. Callie was seated on a pillow Arizona had thankfully brought along for her comfort and was leaning against the tree, for the moment content with enjoying the view. The picnic basket containing their food sat beside her still untouched.

The blonde had told her to sit tight while she went back to the car to get a thermos with tea and a bottle of water.

If she was being honest, heading back to the car to retrieve said liquids had been an excuse. They could easily have carried those with them on the first trip.

But she wanted, needed a few moments to herself. To collect herself, go over what she wanted to say.

This was going to be one of the most important moments... in their lives. And she wanted it to be perfect.

'Perfect'.

She repeated this word over and over in her head on the way back.

Until she rounded the tree and... felt the need to slap the back of her own head in good measure.

Maybe she shouldn't have left the basket in Callie's care.

Maybe she shouldn't have admitted to having packed her woman's current favorite food.

But certainly she should not have stored the tiny velvet box Callie now held between trembling fingers beneath said yummy goodness.

"Okay, okay... don't freak out. Don't freak out," she blubbered, at this moment not even sure which one of them she was trying to calm down. She deposited the bottle of water and the thermos on their blanket and dropped down in front of Callie, taking the little box from clammy hands. "I... wow... I thought you'd be sitting up higher with that pillow and all," she laughed nervously as Callie just continued to stare at her with an expression like a fish on land.

Arizona fidgeted around for a moment before dismissing the plan of getting up on one knee – the dress she had chosen to wear today making that practically impossible, anyway. One more thing she could have done differently in retrospect. So she sat back on her calves ad just looked at Callie for a moment.

Callie.

Her Callie. Her Calliope.

She was the one for her.

And now she wanted to make it official.

"Calliope... I love you more than anything," she started out slowly, this thought in her mind now clearer than it had ever been before. "You're the most amazing woman I've met in my entire life. And now you're giving me the most amazing thing in the world. You and our baby – you make me happier than I ever thought I could be." She reached out and grabbed Callie's hand with hers. Soothing Callie who still looked like she was going to hyperventilate any moment. And encouraging herself to continue. "You're... You're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. The one I want to wake up to every morning and the one I want to go to sleep with every night. And I am so grateful that I get to be with you".

She halted for a moment and took in a big, trembling breath in preparation for what would be next. "But I want more," she nodded her head with conviction. "I want to see you walking towards me in your wedding dress. I want to hear your vows. I want to be able to call you my wife. And in forty years from now, when our ten kids have finally left the house, I want to sit on our porch and hold your hand. And look back on all these wonderful moments we've had together. And I don't want to regret never having asked. So... Calliope Iphigenia Torres," she retracted her hand from Callie's to open the small black velvet box and reveal the plain white gold ring with a half carat diamond, "will you marry me?"

Seconds passed where she could hear nothing but the wind rustling through the trees and her fast beating heart.

And Callie looked... freeze-framed. Like someone had just pressed pause during the most important movie scene. Her gorgeous black dark eyes wide open in shock and her mouth still agape.

Arizona began to worry. Surely her love's neither verbal nor non-verbal response couldn't be interpreted as a good sign, right?

But why did Callie fail to give her the desired reaction?

Was it the ring? Had Callie opened the box before her return and just found the ring too appalling for words? She had known the ring would be an issue. She knew Callie didn't like anything too girly in jewelry. She had considered asking Mark for help. After all, he knew her best. But she also knew that he couldn't keep a secret. So she had confided in Teddy instead.

Had their idea been so way off?

Or did Callie simply not want to get married? Arizona had once dropped a casual comment about marrying before the baby was born. Callie had just shrugged at that. But Arizona had always thought that this would be important to her. With her catholic background and all.

Or was she just too scarred from her first marriage to take that step again? Once bitten, twice shy?

Or... did Callie want to get married... but didn't want to marry her?

Arizona's heart sank at that. It was definitely a thought worth dwelling on for a moment.

She could name reasons for an objection Callie might have to marrying her. But... no! She shook her head. "I'd... I'd be lying if I said that there weren't bumps in our road. We've had them and chances are we'll encounter some in the future. But-"

"You... You want to marry me?" the onset of a terrible babble rant was interrupted by a brunette having finally found her voice again.

"I... I do?" Arizona returned, not meaning for it to sound like a question but at this moment totally helpless.

Callie's expression slowly transformed into a smile. She had never thought she'd hear those words again. Would find someone willing to commit to her with everything they had. It was just so overwhelming. Especially since it was Arizona.

Not that she hadn't thought this would be a possibility in the future. But she had always imagined that she's be the one to ask. To catch the little butterfly that lightened up her life.

But now that it had happened this way... it was even more...

"Yes," she husked out.

… perfect.

"W-What?" Arizona inquired, not believing her ears of all a sudden.

"Yes," Callie spoke louder, her smile growing, "I'll... marry you".

And that was where Arizona's baby blues lit up again and her grin got so wide it threatened to split her face in two. She laughed incredulously as tears formed in her eyes and she leaned up to embrace Callie in the happiest of hugs she had ever given. On her cheeks she could feel the wetness of Callie's own joyous tears as her fiancee held her close.

Her fiancee.

She wanted to shout this out to the entire world. Calliope Torres was her fiancée!

Loosening the hug, she leaned back up to capture Callie's already awaiting lips in a tender kiss. "I love you," she whispered, letting their lips meet repeatedly.

"I love you too," Callie replied, softly cupping Arizona's cheeks in her hands and simply looking at her. "I love you so much, you don't even know it," she shook her head. It was true. She hadn't loved anyone this much before. Except their baby.

"I think I get the idea," Arizona chuckled and pecked her again.

Callie grinned at her soon-to-be-wife, and suddenly remembered something blatantly important, "Arizona Robbins... will you give me my ring?"

"Oh!" Arizona exclaimed, the box laying dumbly in her hand almost forgotten. She took the item and slid it onto Callie's ring finger, sighing in relief when it fit just perfectly.

"It's beautiful," Callie whispered, on the verge of crying again. "Thank you".

Arizona clasped the ring-decorated hand, at the brunette's teary expression having trouble holding her own emotions in check. "We're getting married," she whispered almost as incredulously as Callie had been before.

Her fiancèe brought their joint hands to her lips and gave Arizona's a soft, confirming kiss. "We're getting married," she confirmed with a smile and held their hands close to her chest.

Arizona laughed as her thumb caressed Callie's fingers. "Think we'll manage to get married before the baby is born?" the blonde asked. Feeling now more than before than they should address this topic.

"Hm," Callie pursed her lips. She certainly wanted to get married to Arizona as soon as possible. And that was not because she felt the need for the baby to be born into marriage. It was simply because she could hardly wait any longer.

But knowing that the due date was only a few months away, and knowing how much planning would go into creating the wedding the two of them wanted – the dresses alone – four months felt like a pretty short amount of time. "Well, we can certainly try," she chuckled as she brought their intertwined hands to lay in her lap. "Maybe the baby will come out the same day. It happens," she bemusedly.

"Oh!" Arizona laughed. "That'd be a plus. We'd never forget our anniversary," she joked. "And we'd have an amazing story to tell her- … or him," she quickly caught herself, fearing that she had just spilt that little secret of their baby being actually a baby girl.

But Callie hadn't noticed. Momentarily distracted by a sudden movement in her womb. "Hello, there," she giggled as her hand moved to her tummy. "I think they heard us talking about them". She said softly and smiled as Arizona perked up instantly and lay down to press her ear and hands to her belly. "Hi, there, my pretty baby," she cooed softly. "Did you hear? Your mamas are getting married".

Callie caressed Arizona's hair as this one continued to talk to their baby. Arizona loved this tiny, tiny person inside her so much. It was ridiculous how often they could be found in positions like this lately. Especially since the baby had started kicking. Callie loved feeling this too. Though she wasn't always a fan – especially not at night.

But the thought of the baby brought her back to something Arizona had said minutes ago. "So, do you still want those ten kids? Despite my hormone waves and all?"

"Yes!" Arizona said enthusiastically. "And more!"

"Oookay," Callie laughed amused but a teeny bit overwhelmed at the same time. "Let me get this one out first, then we can talk about having more kids, okay?"

"Okay," Arizona nodded as her hand was met with a tiny movement from inside Callie. "And maybe you won't have to do it all by yourself. Our ten plus kids..."

An audible gasp escaped Callie as her hand grasped the blonde's shoulder in wonder. Was she... "Arizona Robbins, are you suggesting that..."

"Shush...," the other woman interrupted, "... before I change my mind".

A new bout of tears made its way down Callie's cheek as she held her fiancee in her arms who in her turn held their baby as best as she could.

Arizona could see their future years shaping out in front of her eyes. Married. With tons of kids. And a house. And dogs. And chicken.

It was looking pretty perfect.

END

[storiesnobodyreads]

Hard To Be Loved 5

PART FIVE

Characters: Tom Holland x Reader

Story: You are Tom Holland’s girlfriend, afraid of being in the spotlight. Your concerns are proven right when a crazy fan starts stalking and threatening you. Will your relationship with Tom stand, and are you in real danger?

A/N: this is part 5, as promised, on sunday! let me know what you think!! lots of lovee

Warning: curses

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

“Can I say it?” Chris asked, voice higher pitched than usual.

The ones who understood, so mainly the founding Avengers, all sighed in desperation. Clearly, Chris had attempted to do this before. The rest looked around a little confused. Jeremy Renner answered for the sake of the group, “God, Evans, Just get it over with!”

“Alright,” Chris cleared his throat. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he was Captain America. “Avengers…” he spoke, voice low and deep and serious. “Assemble!”

*****

The meeting with the Avengers passed by awfully quickly. Even though you had in fact met all the wonderful actors plenty of times before and even considered them as more than just acquaintances, it took your breath away to see them all in the same room. Tom was looking around wide-eyed and in awe, seeing his childhood heroes every way he turned. Unfortunately, the atmosphere had been serious and tense.

Because yours and Tom’s reputation was on the line here.

Every one of them had agreed to post something on social media, a picture with either Tom or you or both, making a statement about privacy and respect to this couple.

It triggered you that you didn’t know anything about Rebecca except her first name. You wished that the actors could have tagged her in their posts, unleashing the storm of rage from the fans upon her. Or perhaps it would be the other way around, and you would be burned to the ground for exposing an innocent person to the world of paparazzi. No matter what, it pissed you off that Rebecca was ruining your life and you didn’t even know her last name. She knew everything about you and Tom.

Hours passed and eventually it was actually quite fun. After a while, however, it became time to go back home and have dinner. Lots of hugs and manly embraces were exchanged.

Sebastian Stan held you a little longer as he was hugging you. “Stay strong, kid,” he murmured.

“Man, I’m like the fucking Hulk,” you grumbled in his chest.

Seb’s low laughter made you shake. “Good.” He held you at a distance, rubbing your arms. Suddenly, the smile vanished from his face and his blue eyes sparkled sadly. “I really hope you don’t get your heart broken.”

His words stung.

“Well, I’ll let you know if I do,” you commented, trying to laugh light-heartedly, but truthfully you felt as if you chest was as heavy as the entire fucking world. “I do expect you to bring my chocolate if something goes wrong.”

“Of course,” Seb nodded firmly. “For now, though, let’s believe that everything will be okay. You do have the Avengers on your side, you know.”

You made a face. “I guess that’s kind of cool.”

After that, more encouraging phrases were thrown at you and all your heroes told you to stay strong. It should make you feel more prepared, less frightened, however, the fact they all so seriously cared so much made you only the more concerned that this was massively messed up.

Tom found you when most of the cast was leaving. “Love,” he smiled, smoothly taking your hand. “Everything’s going to be okay. Right?”

“Right.” You couldn’t quite tell whether he was comforting you or you were comforting him.

Robert Downey Junior joined you by your side, wrapping a supportive arm around you. “Well, kids, I’d say this was a success. Now I suggest you two go out for dinner. Or order pizza and watch movie. Have a nice night together. Sound like a plan? Then I can start debating which picture I’m going to post.”

Tom stared at his mentor. “Please don’t post an embarrassing picture of me.”

Robert’s eyes shone mischievously. “I’d never do that, Tom.”

“You’re going to do it, I can tell,” Tom sighed.

“I would never!” Robert exclaimed, hitting his hand against his chest as if he was truly insulted that Tom would dare think such a thing. His face broke into a smile, clapping Tom on the back. “Now get out of here. I’ve seen enough of you two. We’ll all see each other at the Superhero Party in tomorrow, right? Not everyone is going, but I am confident that the youngest members of our team will be there.” He expectantly lifted one eyebrow eyeing you and Tom.  

Tom grinned, “Absolutely.”

*****

That evening, everything finally felt kind of fine. Tom had ordered New York pizzas and and had opened up a bottle of red wine. You and Tom were lying on the couch, eating pizza, drinking wine, watching the new Sandra Bullock movie Bird Box. It was a good, cozy night. Tired as you both were, you curled up in each other and enjoyed each other’s warmth. Tom had his arm around you, drawing patterns on your back.

You period had begun the second you had returned from Robert Downey Junior’s house, and although you knew timing couldn’t be worse, you were also infinitely relieved you hadn’t leaked through your pants in front of all the Avengers. Having your period, emotions were at your all-time high and cramps soon became your enemy. Therefore, having Tom softly massage your lower-back and every now and then pressing a loving kiss into your hair, was the best thing you could wish for.

The two of you went to bed early. Tom had filled a special pillow with hot water to keep your uterus heated and lessen the pain. It wasn’t a night of many words. His actions spoke louder than his words anyway. Even though Tom regularly told you he loved you and how beautiful you looked, the main way he showed you how much he truly loved you was by his actions. He knew your period pain was intense the first day and did everything he could to make it easier.

In bed, you curled up into his side. He was cold, perhaps because you were practically a living furnace right now. Softly, you whispered, “Thank you for taking care of me. I know that’s probably not where your mind is at right now. Sorry.”

Tom kissed your temple. “Are you kidding? You’re the most important person in my life. And it’s not your fault that periods exist.”

“That’s true, I guess,” you murmured, appreciating the gentle way Tom was stroking your hair, fingers tracing over your sensitive skin. “I love you, Thomas. Very much so.”

You cradled your head on his chest, listening to his breathing. His steady rhythm slowly carried you to sleep, forgetting the pain in your back and belly.

Very much so: that was your thing. The first time Tom had told you he loved you, he’d said it rather fast and hesitantly, too scared of your reaction. Um-I-um-love-you-Y/N, he’d brought out. You’d apologised: sorry, didn’t catch that, babe. He’d taken a deep breath, fixing his sleeves nervously. I. Love. You. You’d kind of heard him the first time around, but didn’t mean to be the idiot who misunderstood such an important sentence. Your cheeks were redder than tomatoes, heart racing in your chest. Really? Tom had nodded. Very much so.

Tom’s chuckle rumbled underneath you. “I love you too,” he yawned. “Very much so.”

*****

The next morning, you didn’t feel much better. Cramps and nightmares about Rebecca had kept you awake. You remembered how Rebecca had texted you to break up with Tom and it would all be over--especially after how sweet he had been to you, this simply wasn’t an option. You should have broken up with him, of course. For the sake of his career. For the sake of Spider-Man and the millions of people who loved the character.

Tom was no longer in bed, which surprised you for a second, before you spotted the time and saw it was literally one o’clock in the afternoon. You’d woken up multiple times, but since your day had no agenda, you had decided to continue sleeping.

You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and scanned Rebeca’s last text message from yesterday: I saw the police in your home. Don’t think it’ll be easy to catch me. You know nothing about me except my first name, and I’ll destroy this phone immediately. You keep underestimating me, you whore. Stop thinking you’re so much better than me, or this will end very badly for you. Break up with Tom now, and I might leave you alone.

Letting out a deep sigh, you rolled over to take up the entire bed. It hardly felt real to you anymore. You’d experienced too many emotions the past couple of days; you were exhausted. You considered going back to sleep despite knowing it was 1 P.M., when the delicious smell of bacon and eggs hit you. Tom must be cooking breakfast, or lunch, for the two of you.

Cute.

Tom was fucking cute.

The bubble that exploded in your chest drove you to get out of bed, pull on a sweater from Tom and your sweatpants and Tom’s happy socks. Sauntering into the kitchen, you found Tom was wearing a similar outfit. He was busy with the bacon and didn’t hear you come in. You stood leaning against the wall for a bit, admiring him for who he was.

Finally, he did turn around. Seeing you, his face lit up. “Hey lo--”

You attacked his with a hug, firmly wrapping your arms around his neck. “Good morning, you wonderful human being. I’m super hungry.”

Tom was laughing. “Yeah, you probably should be after sleeping fourteen hours.”

You shrugged, letting go of him. “I expected to be going into hibernation, so really this is not so bad.”

Tom studied you. “You look like you could use more sleep, actually.”

“Gee, thanks, babe.”

“I’m sure you’re still just as beautiful on the inside,” Tom smirked teasingly, pulling you closer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you hummed, “I’m looking so flawless right now. Like damn, even I would date me.”

“Can’t think of a single reason why anyone wouldn’t want to date you,” Tom agreed with a smile.

The two of you had lunch together. The bacon was perfect and the scrambled eggs were just how you liked them. After eating, despite it being perfect, you were struck with an after dinner dip. You found yourself reluctantly yawning.

Tom eyed you suspiciously. “How can you still be tired? I swear if you’re going back to bed, I’m going to punch myself in the face.”

“Don’t do that,” you smirked, “Not in that face. I like that face.” You changed the subject, aware that you most definitely were going back to bed within a couple of minutes. “What are your plans for this afternoon?”

“I’m meeting Haz to go to the gym,” Tom told you excitedly. “And then I’ll go to the supermarket ‘cause we don’t have any food for tonight. So I’ll be back at like five.”

You nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Your plans?”

You shrugged and flashed a mischievous smile. “I’m going to sleep,” you answered truthfully. “I’m tired as hell. But then I’ll have enough energy for the Superhero Party tonight.”

Tom tilted his head. “Okay, fair enough. I do need you to be awake tonight.” The unsaid meaning of that sentence lingered in the air: because what if Rebecca might do something?

“I’ll be so awake, you won’t even know what’s happening to you,” you promised. “But for now, I’m going to bed.” You wiggled your brows. “Join me?”

Tom was on his feet faster than you could say please.

*****

Tom was gone when you woke up. You guessed he’d gone to the gym after you had fallen asleep in his arms. A fluffy blanket was wrapped around you burrito-style, and by your head you found your favourite book and hot chocolate with marshmallows that had unfortunately cooled, but the idea was sweet. You wanted to see if he’d sent you a message, but your phone was out of your reach and you didn’t want to ruin his carefully crafted burrito. Therefore, you stayed in your position for quite some time, warm and comfy, thinking about how adorable Tom really was.

Tom came back home a little later than he had promised, around 5:30 P.M., carrying three bags filled with food. Face white. Eyes empty.

You tried to kiss him hello but he sort of dodged your gesture with a swirl and ended up patting you on the shoulder politely.

Huh?

Something was wrong. You felt it immediately. What had happened? Had you done something wrong? This morning he’d been warm and fluffy, and now it was the complete polar opposite.

You cooked together, and you attempted to quip back and forth, joking around like the two of you usually did, but Tom was unusually quiet. His responses were dialled back to: “Uh-huh.” and “Yeah.” Which made it hard to have a conversation.

“How is Haz?” you asked.

“Fine.”

“How was the gym?” you asked.

“Fine.”

“Yeah, what’d you train?” you asked.

“Just the regular.”

“Is everything okay?” you asked.

“Ya.”

“Sure?” you asked.

“Ya.”

Dinner was made and smelt pretty good. You set the table and was thinking so hard your brain was whirring, spinning, until anxiety was crippling you. Anxiety was always quick to come to you when you were on your period, and also when you were being threatened by a psychopath named Rebecca. You and Tom sat down at the kitchen table, and you got nervous simply by the fact Tom refused to look you in the eye.

You watched Tom take a deep breath. “Y/N,” Tom said.

Oh, god. Just from the way he said your name, the light quiver in his undertone, you could tell this was going to be a serious conversation. You looked at him, cocking up one brow.

He swallowed thickly. “I was thinking...”

“That’s never a good sign,” you murmured sarcastically.

Tom blurted out his thoughts before he could change his mind. “Maybe you shouldn’t come to the Superhero Party. I mean, it’s going to be lots of people, from Marvel and DC and really anyone who has anything to do with superheroes. There’s going to be so much media attention and interviewers and paparazzi. I just... with everything that’s been going on, I don’t want you to be a victim to that. It might trigger you, you know?”

You frowned. You didn’t know whether to feel heartbroken that Tom didn’t want you by his side, or to deem it sort of sweet that he intended to protect you. “Tom, that’s very... thoughtful of you,” you brought out, blinking heavily, still unsure of how to respond. “But I... I want to support you. We can’t really let Rebecca have that kind of impact on our lives. She’s just one girl. She can’t keep us away from the things we’d usually do.”

You didn’t understand the look on tom’s face: the glimpses of panic in his brown eyes, combined with misplaced determination. “Well, love, that’s true for our personal lives,” he argued with a growl. “But this is just too public. Too much media. I don’t think it’d be a good idea.”

Something in his eyes made you straighten your back, an uncomfortably chill running down your spine. “Is this a discussion, Tom, or have you already made your decision?”

A hard glare passed over Tom’s expression. “I think it’s the best decision for you not to come, yeah.”

You could feel yourself shrink under Tom’s gaze. It was highly unlike him to portray this dominant character and act as if you were his subordinate, his obedient wife. He was never like this. He was always kind and happy and bubbly and ready to communicate and converse to find the best solution for both of you. It was so badly out of character that a piece of your soul crumbled. Just for a bit, you couldn’t recognise the man sitting opposite you.

You tried to swallow your tears away, feeling them burn dangerously close to the surface. Goddamn, you hadn’t been able to stop crying since Rebecca entered your lives. “Oh. Okay. Whatever you want, I guess.”

Tom’s jaw tensed. “Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Tom didn’t say anything else. He reached out as if he intended to hold you, comfort you, but halfway through the gesture he seemed to change his mind and pulled back.

What a lack of love.

You felt painfully empty, gaping hole in your chest, making every heartbeat ache through your whole body. This was the end then. This was the end of your healthy, loving relationship, wasn’t it?

The two of you finished your plates in silence. Despite having lost your appetite, you shoved the food down your throat to leave the table as soon as possible. As soon as your plate was empty, you rose to your feet. “You should get dressed, then. I’ll clean this.”

Tom offered, “I can help--”

“You should get dressed, Tom,” you repeated.

Tom moved up, now matching your height. You refused to cry. You weren’t going to show him that you were stupidly girly enough to start crying over the fact he didn’t want you to come to the Superhero Party. Any other day, you wouldn’t have cared and wished him all the fun in the world. But now, it felt like a statement. “Y/N,” he tried to say.

“No, I think you’ve made your point,” you interrupted. “Look, Tom, I totally get it. I understand you. But I was looking forward to going to this party together. It just hurts a little, is all.”

Tom stared at you, shoulders hanging, eyes glistening. His cold determination vanished like snow in the sun. “I’m sorry,” he brought out.

“It’s fine,” you dismissed your own pain like it was nothing. “You should get dressed for real. I need a little time to myself right now.” You knew very well that if this conversation was going to last any longer, you wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears.

“I’m sorry,” said Tom again.

But actions speak louder than words.

*****

Tom got dressed. Suit and tie, just like the Infinity War premiere though slightly less formal. Whelms of perfume coming of him, he smelt fresh and ready to conquer the universe.

From the couch, you gave him a small smile. “You look handsome,” you commented flatly.

“Thanks,” he murmured unenthusiastically. “Have a good night, love.” He didn’t look you in the eye. Didn’t kiss you good night.

What the fuck was wrong?

“You too,” you whispered quietly, watching as he swirled around and marched out the door of your apartment that now suddenly felt chilly and abandoned. The front door slammed shut loudly. You flinched. And then Tom was gone. Just like that.

*****

You had ordered pizza and was drinking red wine, lying on the couch, watching Brooklyn 99 on Netflix. Any other day, it would have been a perfect night. Last night it had been a perfect night--but that had been with Tom. Everything was better with Tom.

It didn’t help that you were on your period and in pain and tired and stressed and emotions were cruel.

Your phone was buzzing continuously but you weren’t very interested, convinced that it was Tom texting you. Or perhaps you were only hoping it was Tom, and you didn’t want to be disappointed again.

After a solid hour, and three Brooklyn 99 episodes later, you finally decided to check your phone.

Well, it wasn’t Tom.

Hundreds of messages from friends and family and, strangely enough, Tom’s colleagues. The amount of attention you got was weird. You were used to seeing Tom’s phone blow up like this but not yours. “If this is because of Rebecca, I swear to god...” you whispered to yourself, panic clouding your judgement.

What if something was wrong with Tom? What if she’d hurt him as punishment for you not responding to her text message?

Harrison, Zendaya, Laura, Jacob, your good friends from high school, even Sam, Harry and Paddy, Robert Downey Junior, Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans and so many more had called you and texted you. You were confused, because at least half of those people should be at the Superhero Party and shouldn’t be focused on you.

First, you opened Harrison’s messages.

Harrison: Y/N, where r u?

Harrison: Tom didn’t say where you wereeee so text back plz

Harrison: Lol don’t think you’re here, why not??

Harrison: Ummmm I don’t mean to mess up your relationship and all, but I’m your friend too, and Tom is here with another girl?

Harrison: PleASe don’t say you broke up

Harrison: REPLY TO ME Y/N PLEASE

Harrison: Who is this girl????? Tom is ignoring me what the fuck

Harrison had sent a photograph, secretly taken from the back of the room and dramatically zoomed in to show Tom in his suit, side by side with a red-headed girl. Rebecca. It was actual fucking Rebecca. You couldn’t quite see Tom’s face, but Rebecca’s face was clearly visible: widely laughing, having the time of her life.

“What the fuck, Tom?” you brought out. Your heart skipped a beat, the earth tilting as you looked at the picture, its meaning boring through your chest like a sword. The end of the world would have hurt less than this.

So this was how Tom Holland betrayed you.

*****

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[geewithluv]

◁ becoming a couple ▷

Ｐａｉｒｉｎｇ：OT7 x Female OC’s

Ｗａｒｎｉｎｇｓ：mentions of sex

Ｗｏｒｄ Ｃｏｕｎｔ：2.5k

Ａ／Ｎ： « this belongs in my headcanon universe and you can read the other parts in the masterlist, the description of the characters is [here] so you get a summary of who they are. »

ｍａｓｔｅｒｌｉｓｔ

ｓｅｏｋｊｉｎ

 Jin had only known Penelope for a couple of weeks when he decided he was going to officially ask her out on a date. The guys worried that it might be too soon and maybe he should wait longer. Yoongi, the only one dating at the time, had waited about 6 weeks before asking Arabella out and they spent almost every day together in the studio. Jin didn’t care. He had spent enough time with Penelope and had texted her every chance he could.

 BigHit took kindly to Jin getting close with Penelope, her parents were well known in the business which is how she got so successful so quickly. But she could hold her own and knew that ‘all publicity is good publicity’ is bullshit. So they weren’t very worried.

 Jin invited Penelope over one night to cook after arguing over who would be a better cook. Both deciding the other would win that competition. Jin cited the fact that Penelope owned restaurants but she insisted that it didn’t mean she was anywhere near the level of the chefs she hired and answered that Jin cooks for fun not for work meaning he’s got a little more passion. 

 This was a date idea he was not going to pass up.

 After dinner the two sit on his sofa, sipping some wine. “I told you, you’re the better cook.” Penelope said.

 “Nope, it’s definitely you. You sauteed those vegetables so good I’d sue you if you never made them again.”

 “The vegetables? Did you try your sauce? I’m gonna steal that recipe from you, Ocean’s Eleven style.” She laughed, setting her wine glass down.

 “I can give it to you… on one condition.”

 “Playing hard to get with a barbeque sauce, I see.” She teased. “What’s your condition, Kim Seokjin?” She used her best ‘negotiation’ voice, making Jin laugh.

 “You’ve gotta be my girlfriend.”

 “Well, this is, by far, the easiest business deal I’ve ever made. I can agree to your condition.” 

 Jin responded by leaning over and kissing her which then turned into ‘consummating the relationship’

ｙｏｏｎｇｉ

 Yoongi dabbled with the idea of writing Arabella a song. It’d be a little cliche but maybe she’d like a bit of cliche. But the more Yoongi thought about it, the worse the idea seemed.

 She’s a producer and songwriter. That’s a whole different level of pressure for a good confession song. What if she analyzes it and thinks he should’ve changed things. It can’t be anything short of perfect, and she knew perfect songs. Yoongi wasn’t even sure she could chill enough to just listen to a song without thinking so much about the lyrics and the beat.

 It wouldn’t work. Not for her.

 So he toyed with some other ideas. He wasn’t one for big gestures and she didn’t care much either. But then, Yoongi thought, is it even a big deal? Like he was just asking her to date him. It wasn’t a marriage proposal. If he went too far he’d have to outdo himself for a proposal… that’s when he knew he was in deep. Already thinking about having to have a better marriage proposal. He cursed Bang PD for hiring that perfect woman and also thanked him for hiring that perfect woman.

 As he sat in thought, Arabella came into the studio. He had given her the passcode one day when she had forgotten her jacket in there and he decided that he couldn’t be bothered to let her in when he was focused. That was his excuse, it was really cause he wanted her to just walk in and help and have that level of trust.

 “Hey, I brought sandwiches from that place down the street. Turns out that pizza place is closed on Wednesdays for like 3 hours. Crazy, right?” She sat down a bag. Yoongi looked over at her, her curly hair was pulled into a bun with a bandana around her head. She was wearing a sweatshirt and leggings. Cozy and ready to work.

 This was them. Cozy, ‘lazy clothes’, eating food, complaining about the pizza place’s weird hours. 

 “Earth to Yoongi.” She snapped her fingers. He looked up. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

 “Will you be my girlfriend?” He answered her with a question. She blinked at him a couple of times.

 “What? I mean sure, yeah, totally. Yes. I mean yes.” She stammered. Yoongi smiled and gave a simple nod, grabbing the bag of food, leaving her with a slight blush on her cheeks trying not to giggle in happiness.

ｈｏｓｅｏｋ

 Charlotte walked into her studio to see a vase full of flowers sitting on her receptionist’s desk. “Who are these for?” She asked. No one really sent flowers to her studio after a competition and they didn’t even win. Charlotte sighed, reading the card. Charlotte, your groups did amazing yesterday. I hope you’re so proud of yourself and not just them. Let me treat you tonight?

-Hobi

 “He’s in the studio, by the way.” Her receptionist, Jeni, came in from the back room.

 “He’s what?” Charlotte wasn’t quite sure Jeni was okay in the head. The woman nodded over toward the room. Charlotte, quick on her feet, made her way into the room where Hoseok was dancing along to a song.

 “Thought you were busy promoting?” She said, breaking him from the song. He smiled and wrapped her up in a hug.

 “I’ll never too busy to come and see you.” He promised. “Did you like the album?”

 “I told you I did.” She reminded him. “It’s great. Not surprised though.” She said with a smirk.

 “Wanted to see you when you said it.” He explained, lowering his head to kiss her lips softly.

 “This is why Jeni thinks you’re my boyfriend.” Charlotte laughed softly, shaking her head in bashfulness, her thick curls moving with her.

 “Would that be bad?” He asked, she met his eyes, confused about what he meant. “Would it be bad if I was your boyfriend?”

 “Do you… want… to be my boyfriend?” She asked hesitantly. She felt a little silly for asking, sure they kissed and talked as often as they could. But maybe they’re just casual… that’s what she convinced herself anyway.

 “Yeah.” He stated as if it was obvious. “So, what do you say?”

 “I say… you’re my boyfriend now.” She giggled, making Hobi respond by pulling her up off the floor in a hug.

 “Hobi!” She screams in delight as he laughed. “Put me down!” He obliged, kissing her the second her feet hit the ground again.

ｎａｍｊｏｏｎ

 “Splatter paint.” Was the first thing Namjoon said when he walked into Joanna’s studio but it was really a bedroom in her two-bedroom apartment that had been converted. 

 “Oh, you’re here!” She turned to look at him. Wiping her hands off on her ‘painting pants’ that she claimed she’d hand down to future kids or put in a museum if she got famous. “I must’ve gotten carried away.” She glanced at the time.

 “It’s fine. I like watching you work.” He assured her as she walked out citing the fumes not being good to chill in.

 “I like to splatter paint when I’m upset. Do you want something to eat?” Namjoon found the way she moved topic to topic both endearing and slightly exasperating to keep up with.

 “No, I’m fine. Why are you upset? Did something happen?”

 “Remember my friend, Sooyi, the one who lost her mind when she found you came to my exhibit?” Joanna asked, Namjoon nodded. He remembered Joanna complaining that someone took photos of Namjoon at her exhibit because her social media notifications were going insane and her friends were also going insane. She didn’t complain for very long before asking if he was okay with his privacy being breached like that. That’s a key moment when he knew he’d be around her for a while. “Okay, so she’s really pissed off that I haven’t done something about the fact that I see you occasionally.”

 “Something like what?” He was almost a little concerned.

 “No idea. Marry you, murder you, scam you, tell fans your shoe size. I dunno.” Joanna pulled out a granola bar and unwrapped it.

 “Well, I would rather you not murder or scam me and I’m not sure my shoe size would make for an interesting tabloid story. Also not sure about marriage but I’m open to dating.”

 “Good, because I wasn’t planning on murdering or -- what?”

 “I take it that wasn’t the best way to ask you out.” Namjoon internally cringed.

 “You want to date me?” She asked, dropping her granola bar on the counter.

 “Yeah.” He shrugged, he wasn’t quite sure if this was rejection or not.

 “Me?”

 “Yes.”

 “Are you sick?” She walked over, placing her hands on his cheeks and forehead, checking for a fever.

 “Lovesick?” He suggested with a smile.

 “Are you insane? Why would you want to date me knowing full and well I’d agree and you’d be stuck with me!” She crossed her arms.

 “Because I want to be stuck with you.”

 “Fine. Now you’re stuck with me.” She teased, trying not to laugh.

 “Wonderful.” He pulled her close to him, laughing.

ｊｉｍｉｎ

 It’s been 3 months since Jimin met Harlow. They’ve spent the 3 months talking, texting, going out on dates, and having sex. And if anyone ever asked them out they’d say they were taken but that wasn’t completely true. They hadn’t actually discussed it despite acting so much like a couple that Jimin’s management gave him some tips on navigating a dating life as an idol.

 After yet another long, passionate round of sex, too passionate for two people who aren’t in a relationship, Harlow asked as Jimin’s hands lazily trailed her curves. “What are we?”

 “What do you mean?” Jimin propped himself up on his elbow.

 “I mean,” she sighed, “we go out a lot, and we talk a lot,” Jimin nodded in agreement, “we end up in each other’s beds a lot,” Jimin laughed lightly as she said it, “but are we… dating?”

 “What do you want, babe?” He asked, moving a hand from her hip to hold her freckled cheek.

 “I wanna be yours. Yours and only yours.” She said, a slight pout on her lips that were puffy from rough kisses. “And I want you to be mine and only mine.”

 “Then that’s what you’ll get.” He smiled, kissing her. “I’ll be yours, you’ll be mine. We’ll belong to each other.”

“Do you want that?” She asked, slightly unsure.

 “Of course.” He looked into her eyes as if she could feel how serious he was. “I want nothing more than to call you my girl.” He confessed, she wrapped an arm around his neck to pull him back into a long kiss.

ｔａｅｈｙｕｎｇ

 “I cannot believe all of you have girlfriends for Christmas except Jungkook and me.” Taehyung complained as they sat in the dorms talking about upcoming schedules. 

 “We can have our own Christmas date, hyung.” Jungkook joked. Taehyung, not amused, threw a pillow at him.

 “We’re not all having romantic Christmas’ anyway.” Yoongi shrugged. “Arabella’s going home for a bit so I won’t see her.”

 “Why aren’t you going?” Jin asked, Penelope’s family had invited he and his family for a dinner.

 “Her parents don’t like me.” He stated simply.

 “Why?” Hoseok nearly jumped off the sofa.

 “Cause they don’t like her. Anyway, that’s not the point. What about that girl, Tae, you guys aren’t dating yet?” Yoongi continued.

 “No, I haven’t asked her out. I mean we met a couple of weeks ago, what if she thinks it’s too early?”

 “It’s not like you’re going public with her. If it doesn’t work, oh well. Besides, you talk to her a lot considering how busy you are and you talk about her whenever you aren’t talking to her.” Namjoon reasoned, having just gone through something similar a couple of months ago.

 “Just ask her. The worst-case scenario is she says no and you spend Christmas with Jungkook and Yoongi. The best-case scenario is she says yes and you have your first Christmas with a girlfriend.” Jin added on. Taehyung nodded, standing up, already prepared to go and ask Claire to date him.

 It wasn’t even a full half-hour before he was at her door. “Hey! What’s going on?” She asked, letting him inside.

 “I needed to ask you something.” He slid his coat off.

 “Is it about the photos of Tannie? I can re-edit them if you want.”

 “No, no.” He answered quickly. “They’re perfect. I, um,” he scratched the back of his neck, “wanted to know if you wanted to be my girlfriend. I guess this isn’t really romantic. But Christmas is coming up and it’s a couple’s holiday and I’d like to spend it with you.”

 “I don’t need romantic.” She giggled. “This is perfect. Unplanned, seems impulsive, heart-felt, not cliche. It’s perfect. The answer is yes, by the way.” She explained and Taehyung rushed to hold her in his arms for the first time as his girlfriend.

ｊｕｎｇｋｏｏｋ

 “I brought you coffee.” Jungkook says as soon as he enters Emmie’s office where fabric is thrown around every possible surface. He’s become used to the mess but it seems a little more hectic.

 “You are a lifesaver.” She sighs happily, grabbing the warm cup from him.

 “So I’ve been told.” He said, earning a soft punch in the shoulder. “What’s going on? You seem more flustered than usual.” Emmie groans loudly, setting the drink down on the floor, the only empty space.

 “This client has been pissing me off, Jungkook.” She started sifting through some papers. “The guy insists that I fucked my way to this position and it’s really getting on my nerves.”

 “Why are you still working with him?” Jungkook asked, genuinely confused.

 “It’s a good gig. I can’t really afford to turn down big companies.”

 “Okay…” Jungkook started to understand. “Why’d he hire you then? If he doesn’t think you’re capable?” Emmie didn’t respond for a moment. Then she looks up at him with her glittering hazel eyes and pointed at him.

 “He’s convinced we’re dating. I tried to tell him we aren’t.” She sighed, sitting down in her chair as she found the paper she was looking for. “He didn’t believe me, said I’m ‘really committed to that NDA’ and I guess he thinks he can get to you through me or something. I don’t really know. All I know is he pays really well.”

 “Why’d you tell him we aren’t dating?” Jungkook walked over to Emmie, standing behind her.

 “Because we aren’t? I wasn’t going to lie to the guy.” Jungkook started massaging her neck and shoulders and a soft groan leaves her body.

 “We could be.”

 “We could be, but, we aren’t.” She stated.

 “Do you want to?” He asked just as he pressed on a point that made Emmie’s body relax immensely.

 “Is that your way of asking me to date you?” She chuckled. Jungkook hummed an affirmative. “It took you long enough.” She laughed, leaning back to look at him.

 “Is that a yes?” He asked, his bunny smile very prominent.

 “Mhm.” She spun the chair around to face him.

 “Well now if that guy gives you any trouble again, tell him your boyfriend will personally come in to set the record clear on how deserving you are of your success.” Emmie agreed with a kiss.

[girlafraidinacoma]

In The Lap of the Gods: Chapter Six - Fanta-seas and Denial

Summary: What do you get when you mix a tight-knit art community, young, hot-blooded twenty-something university students and good old-fashioned British Rock & Roll? Probably the next best hope for art and music that generation has to offer. With her friends’ band skyrocketing to fame, what exactly does a girl do when she suddenly finds herself sitting in the lap of the gods? The answer: do the only thing she can do, rise to the occasion of course!

Pairing: Gwilym Lee!Brian May x Original Female Character

Author’s Note: Sorry, not sorry for the incredibly late update dudes. Was super uninspired for months, had a break down, got over it, bon appetit.

( gif credit goes to @queenmercurys.)

Kind of AU, contains both elements from real life and the Bo Rhap universe, so imagine whoever you prefer whether they be the real thing or the Bo Rhap Boys–be free.

[Link to Ao3 fic!]

Chapter Playlist:

Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

Chapter Six - Fanta-seas and Denial

Ealing, December 1969.

“You’re incorrigible. I’ll never finish at this rate!” Wyn cried, throwing her arms up.

“Nobody told you to leave it until the last minute to work on your project.” He grumbled. It seemed like only yesterday that she began her first day at the Ealing Technical College and School of Art, but December had finally crept in, summoning the looming toll of due dates and unfinished critical projects.

“I honestly didn’t mean to forget, I thought I’d still have a week, not three bloody days.” Wyn whimpered a little pathetically, feeling the mounting panic bubble inside at the thought of not submitting her work on time. Currently, they were seated on the floor at the centre of Wyn’s dorm room, the space her easel usually occupied, cutting out various images and words out of several dozen stacks of magazines, newspapers, catalogues and a charitable helping of Woman’s Weekly – courtesy of Jer Bulsara.

Wyn’s dorm was a site Freddie had quickly grown accustomed to during their past few months of friendship. He liked her place. Sure, there were several others that lived on her floor and there’s only the bare modicum of privacy, but it was a decently sized space for a dorm, generous even, were it not cramped with half-finished canvases and art materials at various stages of use. Despite this fact, Wyn had tried her very best to make it up as nice as she could without having to open a Better Homes magazine. It was a place of barely organized but brightly coloured chaos.

The room itself was divided into two halves, one half where she slept and lounged, and the other half reserved for her work. The narrow bed which she slept in had been pushed up flush against the far corner of the room for the spatial economy. There was an olive-green loveseat with faded upholstery situated opposite the bed, and next to it was her bookshelf (definitely someone’s previously discarded woodworking project), keeping her collection of vinyls, novels and art journals. The side of Wyn’s room that served as her work area had a very large window that provided her place with natural light from about six or seven in the morning to four in the afternoon. Beside the window was a small desk, perpetually cluttered with paper, and a heavy wooden trunk packed to the brim with art supplies. One would think she’d been living there forever with all the stuff she’d accumulated in the past four months; the result of which was an assemblage of mismatched furniture that on its own were rather forgettable or borderline hideous, but somehow miraculously worked together, grudgingly made ‘cool’ by the person inhabiting it.

“Now who’s incorrigible?” As much as Freddie teased, it only took about five minutes of begging and a promise to cover one of his shifts at the Kensington stall for Freddie to generously acquiesce his time to help her out with one of her class assessments, to her supreme relief.

“Besides, they only want proof of concept. The whole thing’s not due until the end of Christmas hols.” Wyn said, flipping to the next page.

“Sure, sure.” The man rolled his eyes, waving a large pair of shears around. “What’s the focus for this piece anyway?”

“Oh, you know, just a bit of social commentary about defining identity through materialism and the like.” She told him, picking up a scrap he’d just finished cutting out, “These little bits here, will eventually be put together and build up a face or whatever, then I think I’d slather some paint on it, use some charcoal and call it a day, probably.”

“Is it still Granger and Warton assessing?”

“Warton is on leave, taking the airs in Bournemouth. Connelly is subbing in.”

“Even better, Connelly likes anything that’s remotely opinionated. He’ll be eating this all up with his Sunday roast.” He laughed. It gave her that smidge more comfort to hear his approval and she told him just as much.

She and Freddie were both dutifully attending to their work when out of the blue, Freddie sniffs the air, saying: “Have I told you how much your room smells?”

“Oops,” The girl said sheepishly, “Sorry. Let me just open a window. Afraid I’ve gotten quite used to it.” Briefly, she pattered away from him to do just that, lighting a rosemary and orange-scented candle, a gift from an aunt who had taken up chandlery upon retirement.

“Yes, the smell of varnish does tend to make the uninitiated rather queasy.” He nodded. “Lucky for you, I know the smell intimately. Unlucky for you, it still makes me queasy. Unless… you’ve become a junkie, in which case there are better highs than paint fumes, my dear.” A hand rose to Freddie’s chest, playfully aghast.

Wyn shook her head with a laugh. “I don’t even realise sometimes, too stuck in my work.”

“Still, you should always remember to take care of yourself. What good is your art if you’re not there to appreciate it? I’d rather have you, than a painting.”

Wyn dropped the page she was holding and looked at him. “Always so sweet. Where would I be without you, my dearest Freddie?”

“Probably still glued to a wall in that function room with the horrible punch.” Fred snarked, letting out an inelegant snort in the magazine his face was buried in.

So far, they were amassing a pretty sizeable pile of clippings and Wyn wordlessly congratulated herself and Freddie for making progress, but the good feeling didn’t last long. The two had been quiet for a while, with only the sound of snipping and paper tearing to fill the silence when reluctantly Fred releases the lip he had been gnawing on for a solid two minutes and clears his throat. “I’ve got something to tell you,” He says, putting down the pair of scissors he was using. “Actually, I could use your opinion.”

Still focused on an area she was clipping, Wyn nodded. “Spill, it’s not like we’re going anywhere soon.”

He exhaled deeply and gave what could be likened to a formal announcement. “I’m thinking of seeing Mary. Scratch that, I’ve seen Mary and had a cup of coffee with her, and I’ve been thinking about doing that more.”

There was sudden a hush that came about the room and settled in like a third guest. It took her several moments to process and Wyn gently reminded herself to lower her pair of scissors, lest she accidentally hurt a friend. “Wait, Mary, as in 'the coat's BIBA', Mary? As in Brian’s Mary? That Mary?” She gauged him with a puzzled look.

“As in Brian’s ex-girlfriend, Mary Austin, Yes.” Freddie confirmed, not blinking.

“So, you want to go see Brian’s ex, that is what you’re saying?”

“Ex, being the operative word, but yes.”

“You don’t think that’ll put a wrench into things?” She asked with a furrowed brow. “Smile hasn’t even begun performing again yet with you as the lead. Do you understand where I’m coming from, how precarious your situation is?”

“I don’t know,” It was his turn to shrug, eyes large and expressive. “I think she’s sweet and gorgeous and she doesn’t mind my teeth. Wait, where did you hear about Brian and Mary anyway?”

Wyn shrugged, “Roger told me.”

“That gossiping cow.” Freddie scowled.

“Well, no, we were just talking and the subject came up,” Wyn said levelly, grabbing a new catalogue from the stack.

“Oh, it came up naturally, did it?” He asked, picking up his scissors and cutting the page he was on a tad aggressively. “Not that you were asking after a certain boy with a guitar, needling poor Roger until he revealed whether said boy was single or not?”

“No,” She denies, “Roger and I were just talking about that night at the bar, and he just happened to mention that until recently Brian had been seeing Mary and hinted that maybe Brian was still interested in seeing her.”

Freddie had narrowed his eyes. “And Roger told you that, did he? Are you sure this isn’t about you and Roger?”

Her head quirked. “Why would this be about me and Roger?”

Freddie laughed. “Maybe because Roger thinks you’re fit and he’s trying to eliminate the competition by hinting that one of his friends might be keen to reconnect with an ex so that you won’t consider that friend as a potential romantic partner?”

“Or, you’re spinning this intricate web because you’re in denial that Mary wants to be with Brian and continuing to see her might ruin your chances with the band?” She offered sweetly.

“Or, this is about you and Roger.” Wyn had to roll her eyes at that.

“This is so not about Roger.”

“Brian, then.”

“It’s not like that.” She shakes her head, eyes trailing to the ground.

Freddie was not convinced, “I saw you and Brian looking cozy together. In that booth, on the way home, going for a little shopping trip…”

“We went shopping to feed you!”

“It’s probably what set off Rog in the first place.” He said in sing-song.

“N-no, the man doesn’t even flirt with me--” She was growing exasperated quickly.

“So, you admit that you flirt with Roger all the time.” Freddie was a dog with a bone.

“That’s just the way we talk to each other! He just thinks it’s a bit of fun, and I’m not about to let him think he can get a rise out of me.” Freddie could have sworn her voice rose an octave.

"I think you have a crush on him."

"I do not have a crush on Brian."

"Who said anything about Brian?" Freddie cracked a devilish grin at having caught her out. He batted his eyes at her.

The girl, on the other hand, was at a loss for words, opening her mouth and closing it again a couple of times, before scoffing. “Oh, shut up. You haven’t proven anything. Go see Mary then if you’ve already made up your mind.” She resigned, covering her discomfort with a laugh. Wyn looked down and busied herself by neatening the growing pile of magazine and newspaper trimmings she was collecting, forcing her hair to fall and obscuring her face. She absolutely was not going to let her friend see the burning flush she was newly sporting.

Fred chuckled beside her, examining his manicured hand. "I honestly wonder what fantasy world you're living in, darling. You're so caught up in it."

Instead of answering him directly she chose to switch to diversionary tactics. "You say that like it's a bad thing, or like you're not right there with me. You're just as mad as me." She poked his cheek.

"True, darling." He conceded, "I definitely see the appeal; I mean who wouldn’t want to escape this old tedious business for one in a fantasy book?” Freddie sighed dreamily, “I say, human ingenuity peaked when we learned we could just imagine ourselves far away from here.”

The girl hummed, gladdened to finally be talking about something else again. “Where everything is weird and wonderful, and you finally belong…”

“You can be anyone you want to be.”

“And bugger the rules because there are none.” She supplied without missing a beat.

“Get out of my head, Wyn Clemens.” He chided her. “You know, this reminds me of when Kashmira and I used to spend all our time in the afternoons together lying on a dusty floor, making up crazy stories.”

A fond smile came over Wyn’s face. “Oh? What about?”

“Well, tis a tale of a long and arduous quest to save the magical Kingdom of Rhye,” He said indulgently, “Your usual fight between the forces of good and evil, brave knights, lavish castles, rival queens, and a sprinkling of anthropomorphic animals.”

“Ah, but of course! I wouldn’t expect anything less.” She leaned back and drew her legs under her chin. “Pray tell then, merry minstrel, regale me with the story of Rhye.”

Freddie sat a little more upright in his spot, his teeth showing in a big smile. “Alright, so, it all began when the White Queen was abducted from her castle. Now in hopes to rescue her, her brother, the handsome Prince, scours all the land gathering knights…”

Wyn had already forgotten they had been arguing not two minutes ago. It was like that with her and Freddie, they never could stay cross with one another for long, always managing to read what the other was thinking. It was shocking how close the two had gotten in such a short span of time. Suddenly the prospect of Freddie graduating brought a sinking feeling to Wyn’s chest. She silently hoped he’d still have time for her, or would deign to remain her friend. The future always seemed so unsteady. Standing on its precipice, Wyn supposed that if she’d have to drink some horrible punch at some mediocre party, she’d rather be suffering through it with him than without him.

[silaslibraryclub]

Discord Diamonds ep10

Again, as part of #WisdomWednesdays our host @mymindwandersonbrokenfeet also took up the Backspace Challenge. Earlier yesterday, a prompt dropped into the Discord based on real life events: Girl has broken up with her girlfriend but now needs a date to her parent’s wedding this weekend! Who could possibly step in...

Prompt Response : “Five More Minutes” The lives of Sherman and Laura have been a bit upside down as of late. There’s the intricacies of finding DJ’s and perfect songs. There’s the bore of finding the right minister. There’s the joy of cake samples brought home by the dozen. Sherman asked his long-time boyfriend, Bob to marry him not that long ago, and Laura is thrilled that the day is upon them. Only, she’s got three days to find a date, and nothing is looking promising. She’s considered taking a friend, as her father advised. But she always gets so caught up in weddings, in holding someone’s hand, in dancing. Things she used to enjoy with her ex, she now has to enjoy in her dreams. Laura thinks for a moment, laying in bed, lost in dreams of kisses and wedding gowns, then picks up her phone. A few texts go out to friends and acquaintances; and Laura hopes she won’t have to watch everyone else be in love alone. Her phone vibrates and she scoops it up immediately. LaFontaine [6:09] : I might know somebody. Laura [6:10] : Who? I’ll send you the wedding details. LaFontaine [6:11] : Just a friend from college. She’s a little prickly, but she’s got quite a sense of humor. Laura [6:12] : At this point I’ll take a mannequin in a dress, just tell her to pick me up at home. LaFontaine [6:14] : You got it, Frosh. Laura leaps from her bed, jumping up and down in her room, celebrating the simple concept of companionship. - Laura texted LaFontaine half an hour ago wondering where her ride was. Now she’s late for being early and that simply won’t do. She’s sitting on her front stoop, legs awkwardly to the side under her dress. Finally, a beaten black Camaro rides up the road. It stops in front of Laura’s house, double parked, of course. Laura stands up and waves as a tall figure gets out of the car. The woman waves back as she walks up to the house. “You Laura?” she asks. “Uh, yeah,” Laura stutters. Her mind is going in a thousand directions. First of all, she’s late, second of all, she’s casual about being late, third of all she’s gorgeous. She looks as though she could be featured in a sculpture gallery. A master must have crafted her, chiseled jawline, cutting eyes, sleek brows. Her hair flows around her, a river of stars twinkling under the sun. She’s wearing a leather jacket with a dark red button-up underneath. A black tie nearly matches leather pants. There’s no way she isn’t overheating in the summer sun. “I’m Carmilla,” she says. “I-I uh, I’m Laura.” “We went over that,” Carmilla laughs. “You feeling okay?” “Yeah,” Laura clears her throat. “Just a little frazzled because we should have left half an hour ago.” “I got a little caught up in some things,” Carmilla says with a nod. “Well, no point in waiting around here.” Carmilla waves for Laura to follow her, and she does. Carmilla opens the passenger side door with a powerful pull. “It’s a little tricky,” she says as she nearly rips the handle off. Laura slides into a seat that she swears makes a squish sound. There’s gum stuck to the floor and cans of energy drink everywhere. “I was gonna clean but I figured we weren’t going far,” Carmilla says, noticing Laura’s disgusted face. “It’s fine,” Laura replies, really wondering whether or not this entire thing is a mistake. “The A/C doesn’t work, you might want to roll your window down.” “Of course it doesn’t,” Laura sighs. She spends the rest of the car ride in a disgruntled, blushing silence. - The harbor is even more beautiful than when Laura first saw it with her father. The street lights shine over the calm waters below. String lights lead the path to the chapel where the wedding is being held. Laura walks with Carmilla down the dusk dusted street, quiet at first, then pushing herself to say something. “Thank you for coming with me,” Laura says at last. “You’re welcome,” Carmilla says, aloof. She’s got her hands in her pockets and her eyes up at the stars. “How did LaFontaine convince you to come?” “Oh,” Carmilla coughs. She looks down. “They just showed me your picture, told me a bit about you.” “I hope they said good things.” “Apparently you’re a little uptight, but overall you’re a joy to be around.” “I am not uptight!” Laura yelps. “Not really making a good case for yourself there, sweetheart.” “Hmph.” They make their way down the street, making much lighter conversation. Favorite movies, where they have a few guilty pleasures in common. Music, where they have relatively nothing in common. And art, where they both share a passion, be it a passion from two different worlds. They arrive at the chapel, just in time to find seats, just in time for the ceremony to begin. - The ceremony was everything Laura, her father, and her new step-dad could ever dream of. The flower petals that littered the floor made them feel as though they were walking on clouds. The vows shared so intimately and boldly. The kindness and love all around them. Well, except to Laura’s right. Carmilla had fallen asleep once, though luckily she didn’t snore. Laura was half tempted to leave her be, as she didn’t know anyone here. Now Carmilla is awake, thumbs dancing with one another, tapping her foot and looking all too ready to leave. Laura nudges her with her elbow and gives an apologetic glance. Carmilla gives a weak smile but looks back down at the floor. The grooms exit the cozy chapel first, hand in hand, bouquets flourishing against their smiles. Laura watches them go, then looks back at her plus one. “Wanna get out of here?” Laura whispers. “More than anything.” Laura scans the chapel hall and finds a side entrance. She points to it and Carmilla nods. They make a hurried escape, Laura promising her father in her mind that she’ll be there for part of the reception. She leads Carmilla down an alley full of catering workers on their break. Carmilla seems to hate the crowd, but she decides to part the sea of bowties anyhow. They make their way out onto the street, back the way they came. Laura notices a certain quiet about the street. The kind that lingers in your ears and relaxes your soul. She leads Carmilla to an open bench, far from any others viewing the harbor on this beautiful night. Laura sits first, then Carmilla, as far apart as possible. “So are you, uh, are you okay?” “Yeah,” Carmilla says, aloof again, but lying. “Look, I know you don’t know anyone here, and maybe a wedding is a bad place for a first date, but I’m sure that if we try we can have fun together. I mean, if you want to, you can go home if you’re really uncomfortable. Not that I want you to go home!” “Cupcake, breathe,” Carmilla says. “I have some...mild anxiety. Big social events aren’t always my deal.” “Then why’d you come?” “A spitfire cutie who might be easy to tease? Worth it in my opinion.” “I see.” “Not the answer you were expecting.” “Not really,” Laura says. She sighs and frowns. “I was kind of hoping for a smidge of romance.” “Who said we couldn’t be romantic?” “Uh- what?” Laura blushes. “I never said I wasn’t interested. If you want to have fun, we can, I’d just maybe like to stay at least ten feet from any crowds. Twenty feet if the crowd is drunk dancing.” Laura thinks for a moment then snaps her fingers. “How about a dance?” “What? Here?” “Yeah,” Laura says. “Out on the side of the street, with no music.” “You don’t sound like you’re trying to have fun,” Laura says. She pulls out her phone, thumbing through her music before landing on a selection. “Here we go.” “Is this...Iron and Wine?” “Yeah, you said you like to listen to them while you read right?” “You remembered that?” “It’s only been three hours.” “I just didn’t expect you to...nevermind.” “So? Care to dance?” And Carmilla hesitates at first; but when Laura offers her a hand, Carmilla takes it. They sway together at first, like high schoolers sticking to the arm’s length rule. But they slowly move closer, Laura resting her head on Carmilla’s chest. “Romantic enough for you, sweetheart?” Carmilla asks. “Very much so,” Laura replies. “Should we head inside and get something to eat?” Carmilla asks as the song ends. “Five more minutes,” Laura says, never letting go. Five more minutes.

[whimzea-blog]

Day to Night 1/2

Title: Day to Night

Author: whimzea

Pairing: Zane/Heath

Summary: Heath and Zane's Valentine's Day is very different than last year's.

Also up on AO3 here. (I needed a break from Better than Sex, so...yeah. Here dis.)

***

February 10

Zane and Heath were at Todd's house. They had just filmed a bit with Scotty, who had kicked them out of his room as soon as they had finished so he could edit.

It's not you, it's content, he had said before slamming the door in their face.

Youtubers.

"Hey, remember last year, on Valentine's Day, when we hung out at the apartment? That was fun, right?"

Heath was sitting on the counter now, eating an apple. Zane was in perfect range to get sprayed with Red Delicious as he asked the question. He grimaced.

"You guys gonna do that again this year?" Todd asked, wiping his face with a towel. He had just come back from a run, had stripped his t-shirt off, and was drinking a protein shake while sweat clung to his perfect body. Zane hated him.

"I mean, yeah? We don't have any girls to spend it with," Heath answered. He didn't look at Zane.

Technically, Heath was right. Neither he nor Zane had a girlfriend this year. He didn't mention that he and Zane happened to be dating each other, but they were still very on the down-low. Only one person in the whole world knew, and only because he had walked in on them fooling around in Heath's bedroom.

Poor Kam.

And guys didn't go out for Valentine's Day with each other, anyways...did they? Zane didn't know very many gay guys to ask.

Valentine's Day had always seemed like it was meant for girls, with the flowers and whatnot. What the fuck did he care about roses and candles?

He could fuck with chocolates, though.

"Aw, well, I'm sure you guys will have fun," Todd said, polishing off his shake.

"What about you? You want in? Boys' night?" Heath asked, his voice hopeful.

"I have a girlfriend, bro."

"Oh yeah." None of them had ever seen Todd's girlfriend, but he assured them that she was very real. Zane and Heath had theories to the contrary, but that was for another time.

Heath chewed thoughtfully. "What about Jay?"

"Girlfriend," Zane and Todd answered in unison.

"Joe?"

"Girlfriend."

"Dommy D?"

"Girlfriend."

Heath thought harder. Scott, David, Kam, Jason, fuck, even Alex Ernst all had girlfriends now. Gabbie, Carly, and Erin were all seeing someone. Elijah and Christine were in London.

"Durte Dom?" Heath said hesitantly.

"Fuck no," Zane said immediately. He hated that kid. If there was one way to make your subscriber count go down...plus, he was fucking gross.

Heath opened his mouth to speak a couple more times, but closed it each time. Zane couldn't think of anyone else, either.

"Well, looks like it's going to be Coffee Talk: Valentine's Day Edition," Todd said, shrugging. "Could be worse."

He saluted them and walked off to his room. Heath sighed.

"You don't have to sound so fuckin' disappointed," Zane said, punching Heath lightly in the arm. "We'll have a good time."

Heath rolled his eyes and grabbed the keys to his new truck, jumping off the counter. "Have to spend every other day with your scraggly ass, and now Valentine's Day too."

Zane watched Heath walk to the front door. He didn't know whether or not his feelings should be hurt.

Heath turned when he realized Zane wasn't following him. "Let's go get coffee, bitch."

Zane grinned. He guessed not.

******

February 14

Zane's eyes blinked open.

Sun was streaming through his bedroom window, a cool California breeze following it in. Game of Thrones was still playing on the TV from their marathon last night. It was unlike them to fall asleep during their favorite show, but yesterday had been brutal. Zane guessed they had probably filmed twelve hours total.

He looked down. Heath was curled against his side, one of his arms thrown over his chest, his head tucked almost into his armpit. He was snoring.

Zane looked at his watch. 9:30am. Thirty more minutes, and then he'd get up. Get Heath up. But for now, he was cozy as fuck.

He wrapped his arm around Heath and pulled him closer to his side. He let his hand settle on the small of Heath's back, under his shirt.

BANG BANG BANG.

Heath was startled awake, sitting up fast and looking wildly around him.

Zane sighed. So much for thirty more minutes.

"You homos decent?" Kam shouted through the door, banging on it a few more times.

"Yeah," Zane called after a few seconds, sitting up. Heath rubbed his eyes violently with his fists, trying to become conscious.

Kam barged in, a bag thrown over his shoulder. "So Meghan and I are going to Palm Springs last minute. Won't be back until tomorrow night. Make sure you water my plants- it's Saturday."

Zane managed to nod. Heath was staring at Kam, unable to figure out how someone could have that much energy.

Ten seconds later Kam slammed the front door behind him, leaving Zane and Heath alone in an empty apartment for the next 36 hours.

This occurred to Zane as Heath flopped back down on the bed, groaning.

"Fuckin' asshole, coulda just texted us that instead of waking us up." Heath grabbed the fleece blanket at the edge of the bed and wrapped it around himself, rolling over a few times to make himself into a blanket burrito.

Zane knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He was energized, all of a sudden. The whole apartment, all to themselves. Complete privacy. For once.

Zane padded out to the kitchen and put on the coffee before heading to the bathroom. He showered quickly, avoiding the itching feeling he had to put a hand on his dick. Not yet.

It wasn't until he was dressed, swiping through the notifications on his phone waiting for his toast to be ready when he remembered that it was Valentine's Day.

It was why they had spent twelve hours filming yesterday, trying to get everyone's vlogs shot so they didn't have to work today. But Zane and Heath hadn't talked about after that time in Todd's kitchen, and it wasn't truly on his radar.

Except now, seeing everyone's cute posts, it sort of was. He wondered if Heath remembered.

He poured a cup of coffee for Heath, fixing it all up, before bringing it into his bedroom. Heath was snoring again, still wrapped up in his blanket.

Zane shook Heath's shoulder until the other man woke. Heath whined.

"Coffee," Zane offered, holding it under Heath's nose.

Heath reluctantly opened one eye, then the other, and set up, wrestling with the blanket to free his arms. He accepted the coffee and took a sip.

"Mmmm." That was about as articulate Zane expected him to be, so he turned to leave to go water the plants while Heath became a real person. But Heath grabbed on to his hand before he could go, tugging on it.

"Yes?"

Heath didn't respond, but after glancing out the open bedroom door into the very empty apartment, turned back to Zane and gave him what Zane had come to know as Heath's "I want you to kiss me" face. It strangely did not really involve his lips, but was all in his eyes.

Zane obliged, leaning down to place a soft kiss on Heath's lips. Zane knew better than to attempt to give Heath a proper kiss, as his morning breath was absolutely atrocious (even covered up by coffee) but it seemed to do the trick. Heath smiled and continued to sip.

*****

Two hours later Zane was sitting on the couch editing when Heath, freshly showered and dressed, joined him.

For a Saturday, it had already been productive as fuck. Zane had eaten breakfast, watered the plants, had clean clothes spinning in the dryer, and had made significant progress on editing Monday's vlog. So when Heath sat beside him and nuzzled into his neck, he didn't feel bad about shutting the computer, setting it aside, and pulling Heath into his arms.

Heath was considerably lighter since finally getting on board with Kam's healthy eating suggestions, and it was much easier to get him settled comfortably facing Zane, straddling Zane's lap, his arms wrapped around Zane's neck.

Now that Heath's breath smelled like Colgate and not ass, Zane kissed him with gusto. He ran his hands along Heath's flanks and back under his shirt, letting Heath explore his mouth with his tongue. Zane marveled at the emptiness of their apartment, how the only thing he could hear was the sound of their lips meeting and Heath's soft moans of pleasure.

For once, their kisses weren’t frantic. They were long and deep and left Zane totally breathless, and Heath’s lips swollen and bruised. He could take his time to suck on the spot below Heath’s ear (and Todd could be damned, because his neck kissed gave Heath way more than the heebie jeebies) his collarbone, his throat.

Heath leaned back, sliding his hands under Zane’s t-shirt and lifting it up past his pecs. He whined, tugging on it, and Zane followed orders, lifting his arms so Heath could pull the shirt over Zane’s head and fling it on the other side of the couch. Heath tugged off his own shirt and pressed his chest into Zane’s, kissing him and rubbing against him like a cat.

Zane had been amused to learn that Heath was obsessed with his body hair. The way he had found out, though, had been something out of a sitcom.

About a month ago, they had been fooling around in Heath’s bed, and Heath had rubbed against him, much like he was doing now. Zane had been too busy to do any sort of manscaping that month, so he had been approaching Tom Selleck levels of chest hair.

This was not really an issue, usually. Except a month ago, Heath had nipple rings. And nipple rings and long chest hair definitely do not mix.

It wasn’t until Zane had felt a sharp pain near his left nipple that he looked down. Heath tried to pull away, and Zane gasped as he felt the pain again. Heath flopped on top of Zane.

“I think...my nipple ring...is caught in your chest hair.”

“Christ,” Zane said. Then he laughed.

Heath couldn’t help but join, and soon they were a breathless and still giggling, semi-hard and still stuck together.

“Fuck, can we vlog this? This is quality content,” Zane choked out, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Not on your life.” Heath slid a hand between them, and after a few moments and one chest hair ripped out later, they were unstuck.

“Maybe it’s time for me to actually wax...like, everything, not just a strip or two for clickbait,” Zane mused, looking down at his torso.

“No,” Heath said quickly. So quickly that Zane raised an eyebrow, and Heath blushed.

Hmm. Zane filed this information away for future use.

“I mean, that would really hurt, right?” Heath tried, but his argument seemed sort of weak, especially considering that he had already started to play with Zane’s chest hair again.

“Not as much as getting one of our nipples ripped out,” Zane reasoned.

“I’ll just take the rings out. I’m getting tired of them anyway,” Heath offered, still unable to look Zane in the eye.

Zane considered this. While he liked to play with Heath’s rings, and Heath liked to have them play with, it seemed like the hair was the more valuable commodity.

Plus, it would hurt like hell to get waxed.

Now, a month later, with Heath pressed impossibly close, Zane appreciated Heath’s sacrifice even more.

Zane slid his hands down the back of Heath’s shorts and into his Hanes, grabbing two handfuls of ass. Zane could feel Heath’s cock jump at the touch, and his own hard cock was pleased to feel Heath’s hands at his fly, trying to undo his zipper.

Zane had a mind to pick Heath up and haul him to the bedroom…

...when his phone rang.

“Ignore it,” Heath breathed into his ear as he finally pulled out Zane’s dick from his pants, giving it a nice hard stroke.

“Nnghhh,” Zane responded articulately.

Heath was in full-on sex kitten mode now, slipping off Zane’s lap so he could kneel in front of him. Heath licked his lips before pulling Zane forward, settling in between his legs so he could get his mouth on Zane’s cock.

“Fuck,” Zane groaned. He looked down. The visual was extraordinary. Zane’s cock was an average length, but it was thick, and Heath’s lips stretched perfectly over it, taking it all, tasting it all, wrecking Zane with his tongue.

Zane again thought about moving this into the bedroom, but there was no way he was gonna interrupt this for one fucking second. It was too good. When did Heath get so good at sucking cock?

Thirty seconds later, his phone rang again.

“Come on,” Zane whined, frustrated.

Heath pulled off Zane’s cock with a pop. “Ignore it.”

“I can’t. It might be my mom. She usually won’t stop if it’s something important.”

Heath sighed and sat back on his haunches while Zane dug in his pocket to retrieve his phone.

“It’s David.”

Heath rolled his eyes. “Typical. Ignore it.”

Zane hesitated. “Baby, we don’t make enough money on our own to ignore a call from David Dobrik.”

Heath couldn’t argue with that. Zane answered the phone. “Yeah?”

Heath looked longingly at Zane’s cock. Well, he didn’t have to talk, right?

“I mean, yeah, I guess we can but I thought - oh fuck-” Zane gasped. Heath grinned around his cock.

“Oh, I just, stubbed my toe, walking around. You know how I am,” Zane said, laughing awkwardly. Zane gave Heath a “you fucking bitch” look, but Heath just shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah, um, we’ll be there. Sure. Gotta go. Bye.” Zane hung up and exhaled, tangling his fingers in Heath’s hair.

“You’re gonna kill me,” Zane groaned. Heath hummed, sending lovely vibrations through his dick. He shuddered.

Ten minutes later, and he was in nirvana. This was by far the best head he had ever gotten, and from a man who had only sucked a cock three times in his life.

He guessed this was just one of Heath’s many hidden talents.

Or he just really liked Heath. And Heath’s mouth. But mostly Heath.

“Gonna come,” he breathed, but Heath continued on as he was. His orgasm hit him like a ton of bricks, and he pumped into Heath’s mouth for what seemed like an eternity.

“Jesus fuck,” he sighed, collapsing back onto the sofa. Heath smiled smugly and wiped his mouth.

“So, what did David want?”

[male-emporium]

A Cozy Sweater + Leather Pants

Outfit Details:

Demylee Sweater (up to 25% off), Helmut Lang Pants (up to 25% off), Sezane Boots (last seen here, similar here), Mulberry Bag (similar here)

  We had a great time in Quebec City but the main attraction for our trip was getting out into the countryside to explore and find fall foliage. We knew we’d be a little too early for peak foliage, so when researching the trip we identified the spots in North America with the earliest season. That’s how we stumbled upon Eastern Townships, Quebec and then added on Quebec City. It wasn’t until we discovered Manoir Hovey that we made the booking official. The Clintons, actually stayed there the week before! Located in North Hatley, Quebec, Manoir Hovey sits on Lake Massawippi, which is a fun word to say and an even more beautiful lake to look at. On any exploratory mission, the best part isn’t just the destination but the journey, so we set off on a scenic route that estimated 3.5 hours (the most direct route would take 2.5 hours). Long story short, thanks to slow driving (Grandpa Tom behind the wheel) and a few too many photo stops along the way it took us 5.5 hours. Even with our longer than expected drive, we still arrived before check in time, so we strolled the property before settling in for a welcome drink. Afterwards, we couldn’t hold out for our room any longer so we grabbed a quick lunch before their kitchen closed.

    When we arrived to Manoir Hovey we were blown away, it was even more beautiful than their impressive website led us to believe. That’s always a wonderful surprise as we find it’s often the opposite with a lot of hotels. The garden and lounging areas are exactly what you want for a relaxing couple of days break. It was bit warmer on the lake than what we left in Quebec City, so leather pants weren’t the best option, but I was committed to my Fall look! I actually ripped my favorite pair of leather pants last winter, when trying to have a dance off with my girlfriend when we was visiting us (I tried to do an epic on-the-kee-slide-across-the-room move, which ended in me not slide, but instead ripped the knee of my pants). Anyways, I was excited to find this pair in a beautiful caramel color this season and love the way they pair with my Sezane boots.

    Demylee makes the best sweaters around. I told you guys yesterday that I have a cream sweater addiction and this post just proves it. I recently bought this one from Shopbop and last year I bought this red Demylee one. Shopbop also just started their Event Of The Season Sale, so you can get up to 25% off your order- the perfect time to snag a sweater or two. This cream one also comes in this grey version that I love (the neckline is so pretty) and I love the color of this light blue one.

  The post A Cozy Sweater + Leather Pants appeared first on Gal Meets Glam.

First found here: A Cozy Sweater + Leather Pants