#i get asks occasionally and now that i joined school all im showing its actually about the class project

[leixo-demo]

Some Takabikkan? being silly at an arcade or just the mall in general if you’re cool with that

I at first did a comic but completly forgot about the -kkan in it so I did another tiny drawing as "I'm sorry I misread"

Here's them after buying something at the mall and bellow it's the mentioned comic:

And now my ideas and thoughts about them as usual! I don't share the ship at all , I mean if you like it super fine I simply don't take it because of my headcanons. Maybe they were exes at some point and Warabi just left him behind one day without response but beyond that I don't think they be in a polycule or Warabi ever returning with Taka

BTW I got a complete oposite request about Taka and Ikkan hating eachother and it's really funny to see the Taka fans spectrum, you love him or hate him

[muwur]

snapchat headcanons

✧ hc’s ✧ for using snapchat w ur boi toi ft. the pretty setter squad

❧ gn reader

✎ 3.1k words

a/n: kinda a combo of how they use sc and the kinds of snaps they send you! along w wat u send them, and uh... dating stuf n shenanigans? texting/snapping habits? my fantasies? IDEK ANYMORE EOFHEFJ

this was born from the recesses of my mind , which desired nothing mor than snapchats from suga , us sending cute selfies , others bein dumb n chaotic , no context videos , n him snapping me photos of some mangoes on sale he said he’ll buy for me DXX it’s too late for me now

doing research on hq bois and surfing thru sc features (im just now realizing theres quite a bit?? im hoping i address most of them at some point lolol) instead of real life tings aHHhhhHAHA

requests: open! will be working on a suga one i got, dw, requester!

sugawara

✧ sends good morning and good night snaps

✧ so he’s rlly good at keeping streaks, probs has the longest ones (one of them being y’alls streak)

✧ posts tidbits of volleyball practice on his story every once in a while

✧ snaps you pics of his sleeping teammates when they’re coming back to school after a long day of matches , adding a single ‘❤️’ as a caption

✧ he will also create colorful masterpieces on all of them

✧ gives daichi a santa beard, tanaka a squiggly stache (i imagine it to look like spongebob n patrick’s seaweed ones now that were mEN), n kageyama sum angry brows,,, wait he already has them lolol u good der kags

✧ posts a picture of you when you’re hanging out, captioning it: “🥰“

✧ has conversations with you purely via snaps

✧ ranges from casual chats and checking up on u to crackwhoring ( ** indicates the photo, while the “” quotes indicate the caption, all snaps are italicized, otherwise its regular dialogue)

✧ suga: *peace sign* “hey sweetheart, how r u?”

✧ you: *pics of homework* “ahh, drowning in school ;-; i cant wait for this week to be over fghjkl”

✧ suga: *close up with :o on his face* “let’s study together tmrw!”

✧ or

✧ suga: *complete darkness* “its 3 am n i cant sleep”

✧ you: *the top half of your head, laying on a pillow* “ ;( aw babe. do u want me to send something to help u sleep?”

✧ suga: *still in darkness* “y u still up?? go sleep. n 🥺 yes pls”

✧ you: *snaps pics of feet* “that’ll be 50 bucks, pay up” 

✧ suga: *darkness remains* “can we make a trade instead? i promise to make it worth ;)”

✧ ok now u BOTH cant sleep (im sry my crackheading be acting up around 2am eeryday, i stan a mischievous suga--)

✧ video chats (in the darkness lol) instead until you both pass out (im not in luv u r 😭)

✧ super down to take filtered selfies w you

✧ does all the silly ones with you (things like ’angry face’ or the frog one)

✧ but also rlly digs lookin cute with you using some heart crowns, y’all an aesthetic (n crakhead) duo fosho

✧ def subscribes to life hacks and tries them out himself, has a 50% success rate

kageyama

✧ doesn’t rlly use snapchat too much

✧ but when he does

✧ will either send you a picture to indicate he’s at volleyball practice (wow wat a sexi lookin gym floor)

✧ or some random picture of whatever he’s doing at the moment (*drinking milk*)

✧ this is mostly in order to save streaks

✧ he’s so bad at streaks

✧ “why does it matter?? what’s the point of sending just black screens or whatever’s in front of you at the moment??”

✧ can’t keep a consistent streak for more than 3 days and also doesn’t care (until hinata challenges him to see who can have the longer one)

✧ when you send him videos of him playing, he really focuses on them to try to improve his technique. asks you to send those vids to him (assuming u saved them, which u did)

✧ but when you look over his shoulder when he’s watching a video and give him some compliment (“i recorded at the perfect moment! that was a really good set, kageyama!”), he gets a bit flustered

✧ gets even more flustered but pretty happy whenever you post videos on your story showing karasuno winning some points with captions like:

✧ “footage of the legendary quick >.>” or “karasuno crows flyin high!” or “these bois make my heart 😭 im so proud”

✧ you WILL catch him off guard in photos, using filters that surrounds his head w/ emojis like 🥺💖🥰💘

✧ you also put these on your story (to his dismay)

✧ ppl comment on these mor than anything else (n for those who dont rlly kno kageyama, theyre kinda surprised to him like this)

✧ hinata snickers “hey kageyama you look pretty good here--”

✧ takes some selfies with you, mostly cuz you want them

✧ saves them after u send them over (n secretly cherishes them)

✧ occasionally watches his subscriptions, they’ll usually involve sports, mostly volleyball (who woulda guessed)

✧ you use his bitmoji to test out random facial expressions you would never see him wear

✧ you: “can you smile and wink like this? act like you’re the obnoxious charming guy in a shojo.”

✧ will actually attempt, but it looks so bad that you die inside and he never wants to try again cuz of ur laughing outburst (you: “😭😭 bb im sorry i couldnt help it”)

oikawa

✧ literally sends you anything and everything

✧ morning bathroom selfie to show off how good his hair came out that day, saying:

✧ “he has risen”

✧ or “i woke up like this”

✧ and my favorite, “you’re lucky you get this content for frEE”

✧ selfies with iwa, who just looks annoyed and exasperated at the camera

✧ sends you pics of his lunch and snacks (“bet u wish u had milk bread too”)

✧ always packs extra milk bread so he could convince you to stay at his practice after school--

✧ FILTERSS

✧ I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENUF

✧ will either use the filters that make him kayooottt (cute)

✧ loves the ones named ‘hearts,’ ‘soft,’ ‘peach,’ ‘butterfly cheeks,’ vsco filters LOL, etc

✧ uses ‘big mouth’ when he feelin a bit sASSY; also loves to use this one when he rants, it channels his inner valley girl

✧ sometimes he’ll be snacking or drinking something while he does so (“hey guys today im gonna eat these milk buns from my favorite bakery and this bomb orange juice and complain about this little kid who talked smack to me earlier and almost made me cry--”)

✧ takes cute selfies with you, is an aesthetic selfie king, puts them on his story to show off he’s hangin with you

✧ but on your story you only post the ones he looks bad in LOL

✧ has separate stories for his every need, some r private (and lucky you, ur included in all of them)

✧ titles them ‘mean things iwa said to me today,’ ‘ranting hotbox + mukbangs,’ ‘a day in the life of oikawa,’ ‘volleyball 🏐,’ ‘unpopular opinions,’ etc. 

✧ fitting room photoshoots lol

✧ “y/n, what do you think of this??” “and this?” “oOH WHAT ABOUT THIS??”

✧ ends up calling you through video chat so you can live critique his choices

✧ “oikawa, please no, i can’t be seen with you in public if you wear those--”

✧ also changes his bitmoji’s outfits from time to time, hopes you’ll notice, but you don’t LOL (oikawa: ;((((((( )

kenma

✧ uses sc usually just to reply to messages ppl send him

✧ indifferent about streaks, but keeps a few with ppl he’s closer to

✧ mindlessly plays the snapchat games with you, finds some of them kinda cute

✧ you both made his bitmoji for him, dressing his up in the orange cat suit

✧ you also helped make kuroo’s and put his in the black cat suit to match--

✧ snaps you every time he gets a new game, starts playing it, and once he finishes

✧ started to post some gameplays and reviews on his sc story (might as well add them to sc since he was already on other social platforms), and ended up amassing a large following

✧ follows the tech and gaming stories on sc

✧ as well as the ones with cute animals--

✧ open to selfies with you, usually wears a calm expression and holds up a peace sign

✧ even occasionally sticks his tongue out

✧ his story is occasionally heavily bombarded with candids of him w/ pretty sc filters, all taken by you

✧ but of all the filters, you love using the clout glasses on him

✧ especially when he’s just minding his own business

✧ “kenma, in his tru habitat” when hes cocooned in a blanket

✧ “kenma, on his way to steal yo manz” while on his way to the bathroom

✧ “kenma, next iron chef. watch out gordon” as he’s cooking instant ramen

✧ “kenma” n das it

✧ but he thinks it meme-y so he lets you do whatever you want, kinda digs it

✧ you end up dedicating your snap story to memes of kenma and the nekoma volleyball team. ppl are in it for the shits n giggles n hot bois

✧ you later discover someone else did the same thing with their volleyball team filled with hot bois from shiratorizawa, and you befriend tendou and share funni internet tings

akaashi

✧ 99% of his photos include either you or bokuto or both

✧ bokuto spams akaashi’s story and contact list with selfies and videos of himself using weird filters, often gets you to join him

✧ has several streaks, but will send something with more substance than a black screen or his bedroom window

✧ will usually involve smthng that just happened to him or smthing he saw, like:

✧ “a kind older lady offered me some apples in return for helping her”

-or:

✧ “how do i break the news to bokuto that the yaikniku place he’s been wanting to go to for the past week ,,, is closed today”

✧ o n let’s not leave out:

✧ “is it possible to conjure a ghost using a wooden spatula, ketchup, and a chalk drawn hexagram? bokuto’s been paranoid ever since he tried last night and i dont know what to tell him. seriously, help”

✧ looks through stories occasionally, comments whenever bokuto makes questionable decisions

✧ also comments on whatever you’ve posted. his words range from “you’re cute” to “why,” depending on the content

✧ ppl know when y’all are hanging out cuz he’ll post smthing to indicate he’s with you, usually it’s some candid and you’re not paying attention

✧ appreciation posts for you as well! esp if you got him something, like onigiri or his fav, Nanohana no Karashiae , for lunch! (akaashi: *snaps a pic of his food* “thank you y/n for feeding me”)

✧ prefers video calling over texting/snapping whenever possible tho

✧ occasionally reminisces thru his sc memories

✧ enjoys the flashback feature and will send them to you and bokuto (cuz they’re about y’all anyway lolol)

✧ also has secretly saved a bunch of selfies of himself, consists of him trying out a lot of the filters (he feelin himself)

✧ you, one day, looking thru his phone and discovering them: “akaashi, you’re so pretty wtf”

✧ akaashi: “...”

koganegawa

✧ sends you selfies of him before practice

✧ during breaks

✧ and after practice, usually makes a comment about how it went for him that day like:

✧  “i hit a decent toss today and futakuchi actually complimented me!”

✧ that, or:

✧ “i got yelled at 17 times today 😢😩”

✧ has quite a few streaks, his longest ones being with you and hinata

✧ def uses filters

✧ tries out every funny one he finds and sends you videos

✧ “look y/n im an aaaaAALlliiEEENnnNNN oo oo hoo hhhooOOh”

✧ “now im a chicky nuggy!!” (chicken nugget)

✧ also enjoys the doodle feature

✧ but he uses the filter with the clout glasses unironically--

✧ usually when smth good happens to him and he feels happy and/or cool about it

✧ “just beat the boss in this game on my 69th try B)”

✧ “kogane, that’s--”

✧ plays sc games with you and thinks bitmojis r cool

✧ kinda sad he cant find a hair option that matches him tho lolol rip

✧ you: “you hair’s just,,, unique,,,”

✧ subscribed to anything sports and fitness, as well as pop culture so he can stay in the loop

✧ also watches everyone else’s stories, pointing out whenever he sees smthing cool and/or interesting

✧ “woahh, karasuno’s at nationals right now! i wish we could’ve won, but next year for sure!!”

✧ you encourage him at all his games, hyping him up irl and online

✧ “koganegawa: best setter 😍!!”

✧ luckily you didnt record the parts he completely messed up LOL

semi

✧ before going out with you, snaps you a pic of his casual outfit like:

✧ semi: “does this look ok”

✧ you: “babe you look great, tendou was just messing with you”

✧ will make unwanted appearances on tendou’s snap and complains to you about them

✧ “i didnt consent to being part of his meme page” and

✧ “okay, but he didn’t only have to share all the moments i messed up--”

✧ also indifferent about streaks but will do them

✧ sometimes sends snaps/streaks indicating he’s practicing his music

✧ when you see these you usually ask him to send you vids or if you can come over n watch

✧ initially is a bit shy about it but he loves what he does and you and knows you’re genuinely interested and supportive so he agrees

✧ secretly rlly enjoys having you as his personal audience

✧ lowkey into asmr, like the soap cutting shit as well as chewing crunchy things

✧ also watches food porn and clips of mukbangs, then can’t resist going on youtube and watching the whole thing

✧  “y/n, can we try this, it looks so good--”

✧ will also often watch oikawa’s stories, especially his ‘ranting hotbox + mukbangs,’ and makes comments about him being an idiot

✧  “this kid he’s talking about is a savage”

✧ but admits they’re quite entertaining

✧ just looks serious in all the selfies you take with him

✧ you: “can you look like you’re enjoying yourself?”

✧ semi: “i look cooler like this tho”

✧ sc memories filled with shenanigans from you and the volleyball team, doodles, and mirror selfies with him experimenting diff looks (you: “tendou, you got him way too concerned about this”)

✧ also enjoys showing off he’s with you, taking a short video of you when you hang out

✧ you: “semi, i look bad right now”

✧ semi: “but you can never look bad”

✧ you: “🥺 bb”

✧ viewers: “aw”

✧ shiratorizawa: “can he be this nice with us LOL”

shirabu

✧ his main mode of communication with you is mostly through the regular messaging app, so he doesn’t use sc too much

✧ also doesn’t care for streaks and is bad at keeping them

✧ will answer to you or his senpais rather soon tho

✧ but lets all his other notifications pile up a bit before finally going thru them

✧ goes through the snaps he receives really fast, spending like 2 seconds each to look at them cuz aint nobody got time for dat

✧ doesn’t even rlly open goshiki’s LOL

✧ you have fun using filters on him and taking videos while he’s just doing his own thing peacefully like studying

✧ it takes him a second to notice and when he finally looks up, he just gives you an exasperated look

✧ cue you cracking up with laughter bc the filter finally shows up on his face

✧ his eyes and mouth are now on mike wazowski

✧ that, or his face becomes so disturbingly moRPhed like an alien

✧ caption: “ken-chan, my future medical man 😍”

✧ “y/n, please, this is like the 7th time in the last 20 minutes--”

✧ finally convinced him to take a study break and hang out with you

✧ which usually consists of snacking and light banter while you lay your head on his lap

✧ and scrolling through snapchat stories and showing him what everyone else is up to and cool things you’re subscribed to

✧ “loooook, dr. miami’s doing another butt job! is this the line of work you’re studying so hard for?”

✧ “no, it’s really not”

✧ is actually very soft with you and likes having the photos and vids for memories

atsumu

✧ sends you snaps where his brother looks bad, captioning it:

✧ “this is evidence that im the hotter twin”

✧ likewise, osamu sends you snaps where atsumu looks even worse

✧ like, the mans passed out, looking rekt and open mouthed, drool seeping into his pillow

✧ osamu: “u still have time to break up with him”

✧ also lucky for you, atsumu also loves to take unflattering photos of you and send them to you randomly at like 2 am

✧ you: “nani tf when did you even take this??”

✧ usually posts a snap while he’s out somewhere like at a match, the gym, outside on a run, a party, or just hanging out with you or his frens

✧ however, makes sure you look good if you show up on his story cuz he wants to show you off

✧ doesn’t really care for streaks, but has a lott

✧ but also has a tON of unopened snaps

✧ is the type to send just a black screen n call it a day, or maybe spice it up by sending a pic of the sexi gym floor (a comeback) w his shoe in the corner

✧ will, however, consistently respond to you and kinda looks forward to ur snaps (secretly hopes you show ur face)

✧ but when you dont:

*in class*

✧ atsumu: *a smirk on his face* “your content’s kinda dry today” 

✧ you: *your sexi desk* “my nudez ain’t free, i demand compensation”

✧ atsumu: *grasped his chin in thought, but angled the cam up bc he needa hide his phone in class lolol* “what if i... take you out on a romantic excursion”

✧ you: * your face but with ‘sausage’ filter* “🥵🥵🥵🥵 yessir, what u want”

✧ rlly only wants to have pics of your face wat a closeted sOFTIE

✧ likes to have content on his flashbacks

✧ usually has other social media sources to keep up to date with things

✧ actually rlly digs using sc filters, mostly ones that’ll make him look like a queen

✧ captions a selfie of you two like: “me >>>>>>> y/n”

✧ but nearly everyone who comments on it is like: “i think you flipped the sign, bro 🤥”

✧ judges ppl who are into soap cutting asmr (you will never hear the end of it if you also like it)

a/n: sc kinda dying for me, my use went from suga to an atsumu to like nearly nonexistent LOL

also o gawd i already have ideas here n there for a pt 2 so stay tuned fjxnwfesd hope it takes me less long cuz this one took me fkin foreva LOL

idk y i made semi like mukbangs but i feel like he’d be rlly into them--

[thelittleboyfromloveactually]

Record Store (pt 2)

Thomas Brodie Sangster x reader

Word count: 1989

Part 1

I hope y’all like this mini series! I am having fun writing it, enjoy!

“Hey Y/N!” Jane yelled

Jane was another one of your best friends. You had known her since high school but you became close when you found out you would be attending the same college. Jane is studying to be a pediatric oncologist, at least for now. You were walking across campus from your previous class headed to Anesthesiology. Jane was joining you in this class. You hadn’t really told anyone about you and Thomas because you weren’t sure if he wanted you. And who says there is anything going on, you haven’t even been on a date yet. You could go on this date and then decide he isn’t for you. So you didn’t want to make a big deal about it.

“Hey Jane! Are you ready to die of boredom?” Anesthesiology was not your strong suit nor your main interest. And if you were being honest it was very boring, but it was a requirement.

“Yup i have had so much coffee i think it's going to be impossible to fall asleep this time” she said practically bouncing up and down

You laughed “great!”

“You wanna hang out tonight there is going to be a party, or we could just chill, get some homework done” she asked

Great , now you had to explain why you couldn't hang out. “Um actually i am busy, sorry” you said

“That's fine, what are you doing?” she asked looking at you

“Um work”

“No your not”

“No im not” you both laughed, you sucked at lying “i have a date actually”

“Oh really? Who's the lucky guy?” she asked teasingly

“I met him at Royal Records, he asked Felix where i worked, he came to the cafe and asked for my number. He is taking me to dinner tonight” you said, trying to avoid saying his name

“Cool, who is he though?” she asked

“Um his name is thomas” you said

“Nice! Well you will have to introduce me, and make sure to ask if he has any friends” she said, winking at you and giggling. Oh I'm sure he has friends, you thought, famous ones. “Where is he taking you?”

“Chiltern Firehouse” you responded

“Wow, he must be rich, that's a really nice restaurant, i've never been” she rambled

You laughed nervously, before now you never thought through if you two did become a thing, how hard it would be. He is famous and probably rich, not that you cared you just figured that the public would. You shook the bad thought out of your head and walked into class taking your seat.

After your 4 classes, you went home, or to your dorm. Your roommate, Cleo, was sitting on the couch eating from a bag of chips. You greeted her and went straight to your room. You looked at the time it was 4:13 pm, you had about 2 hours before you were supposed to meet him. Your reservation was at 7:00 but Thomas had texted saying that you could go for a walk beforehand. You showered, did your hair and put on make -up. You ended up picking a champagne colored silk dress that just before your knees. You grabbed your purse and your jacket and headed out the door. Thoms had offered many times to pick you up, but because of the dorms you thought it would be too complicated. You told him you would meet him outside of your dorm building, and then he would pick you up. As you walked out the door of the building you felt a brush of cold breeze hit your face, you smiled. Then a black car pulled up and Thomas stepped out of it.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, love” he said with a smile, he took your hand and opened the passenger side car door for you.

“Thank you kind sir” you said jokingly

“Of Course my lady” he shut the door and headed onto the other side, he sat down and you were off. You loved London at night, all the lights and the people. You smiled as you looked around, you didn't know it but Thomas kept glancing over at you and admiring your beauty.

THOMAS’ POV

She looked absolutely gorgeous. It has been a while since I have been on a date so I hope she likes it. I couldn't help but admire her features as she looked so longingly at the city. She looked at me and smiled, I looked back on the road and smiled too.

“How long have you been acting?” she asked sweetly

I was genuinely surprised that she didn't know, most girls that I go on a date with know more about me than I do myself, “almost my entire life, how long have you been wanting to be a doctor?” i asked

“Since highschool. I have been exposed to a lot of medical stuff my entire life. My dad was a surgeon. And I just want to help people” she said fidgeting with her hands

“Oh nice! Would you like to play some music?” i asked handing her my phone

“I would love to” a few seconds later back in black came on and she started mumbling the lyrics. I smiled, she was adorable. Throughout the song her words became more clear and I was able to hear her voice. It was beautiful. She even made the roughness of the song sound smooth and angelic. I kept looking over at her, I couldn't help it.

About 5 minutes later I pulled into the valet parking lot. I walked to the other side, opening her door and helping her out. We walked across the street to the park that was lit by some street lights. We had about 30 minutes to kill before our reservation.

“So Y/N, tell me a little bit about yourself,” I asked her. I was honestly intrigued by her. I wanted to know everything.

“Um well what do you want to know?” she asked as we walked along

“Anything really” i responded, still looking at her

“Well as you know i am a med student at cambridge, i went there for college too, i actually graduated top of my class.” she said proudly

“Wow, that's awesome! You're pretty smart huh?”

“Ya i guess you could say that, how about you? Why did you decide to become an actor?” she asked

I looked ahead “well my parents where theater actors, i also didn't always like school so acting became a sort of escape”

“That's sweet, why didn't you like school?” she pushed, my hand was swaying net to her as we walked, our fingers brushing occasionally

“I guess I just struggled with reading especially” I gave in. I put my hand into hers slowly, her hands were cold. She looked at me and I smiled, she smiled back. The conversation continued, and we kept walking until it was time to go inside.

NORMAL POV

They escorted us to our table and we sat down. It was a very nice restaurant. There was classical music playing in the background, you could hear the sound of forks against plates and wine glasses clinking together.

“Bonjour! How can I help you today?” the waiter asked, you could hear the french accent in his voice, you decided that you would try to have a conversation.

“Bonjour, je pense que nous allons juste prendre un verre pour le moment” you told him that you were just going to order some drinks for the moment. The waiter smiled, you looked at Thomas, his mouth was opened in surprise. You giggled

“Great, what can i get for you, we have a very nice champagne that just came in if you would like?” the waiter suggested

“That sounds great, is uh that ok with you?” thomas asked

“Yup” you nodded

“Ok we will take two glasses of that please, thank you, oh and some waters” thomas said

“Of course i'll be right back” the waiter left

“Sooo,” Thomas started, “you speak french huh?”

“That's really cool, i took french in highschool but im afraid its all left me now” he said leaning closer to you

“Shame, we would have secret conversations” you said giggling

Thomas loved to laugh, it sounded so happy.

A few minutes later the waiter came back with your drinks. You both ordered your food which was brought out shortly after. The food was very fancy, and very good. After you finished Thomas paid and escorted you back outside.

“Would you like to go get some ice cream?” he asked putting his hand in the small of your back

You nodded “that sounds amazing”

The two of you walked down the street hand and hand. You both were adorably nervous. Both you and Thomas had red cheeks. The ice cream shop was adorable.

“Hi, what can I get for you today?” the girl at the counter asked

You looked at Thomas, asking permission to order, he nodded encouragingly.

“Hi! May i please have the lavender honeycomb please” you said politely

“Yes, and for you sir?” she asked

“I'll have the same” thomas said taking out his wallet

You smiled at him

The girl handed you your ice cream and the two of you left. You licked your ice cream cone happily.

“How is it?” asked thomas

“Amazing! Thank you so much” you said

“Anytime, this had been really fun” he said his eyes scanning over your face

“Yes it has” you said smiling at him

“Oh um you've uh, you have some-” he tried to show you where on your face the ice cream was but you couldn't seem to find it

“Did I get it?” you asked laughing

He laughed “uh no, here um, may i?”

You nodded, his thumb brushed under your lower lip, revoking the ice cream. You felt the butterflies return.

“There” he said

You blushed smiling, “thanks”

“Your very welcome” he said smiling back at you

You finished your ice cream and walked back over to the car. The car ride back to your dorm was filled with laughs and singing. You could seem to stop smiling, and neither could thomas. By the time you got to your dorm it was late, but you didn't want to get out of the car. Thomas opened the door for you and helped you out. He walked you to the door of the building

“I had an amazing time tonight” he said

“Me too, we should do this again” you said

“Yes, yes we should” it was quiet, he moved a piece of stray hair behind your ear

“I never told you how beautiful your voice was” he said looking into your eyes

You blushed “thank you”

“Ya” was all he said before his lips were on yours. His lips were soft and moved perfectly with yours. His hands move to your hips, pulling you closer to him. You noses brush against each other. Your heart began to race. The two of you pulled away, both in need of air.

He stared into your eyes, and pecke you lips one last time

“good night Y/N” he said in a whisper, he still had a tight hold on you

“Good night” you said

He looked down and let go fo you, he turned to walk away, but he didnt he didn't even make it 3 steps before he was turning around and coming back to you

“Maybe just one more kiss” he said, bridging your lips to meet him again. You smiled into the kiss. This boy would be the end of you. Then, too soon it was over, he broke apart and smiled

“Bye” he said with a slight laugh

You giggled “bye”

He walked away looking back at you, before getting into the car. You waved him off. Then when he was out of sight, you squealed. Maybe there was hope for you two yet.

[knoxhq]

► ( rudy pankow & cis male ) according to the school’s records, knox drury is a 22-YEAR-OLD senior studying political science, and he lives over in moriarty. he is a gemini, so that must be why others describe him as dignified, humorous, cowardly and naive. when i see him, i’m reminded of walking into class an hour late with sunglasses on, the feeling of anticipation as you wait for a firework to fully blossom, the sound of party music leaking through the walls of a bathroom. ( gibby, 20, they/them, est. ) ◄

hello everyone !! so i won’t even lie to u guys, i am NERVOUS and it’s literally only bc this is the first group i’ve joined in so long like dfdhkjsfjad the last group i was in was almost a year ago but i ended up having to leave due to personal reasons and didn’t get to write so like !!! idk i’m excited !! anyways w that in mind, pls bARE with me bc i have like one (1) braincell and i forgot how to write intros. anyways enough of me rambling, lemme give you knox !!

also this is a bad intro pls dont judge me im trying 2 like. rewrite what i had b4 the storm took it out n like, i lost the braincell

basics. 

full name: knox hale drury.

nicknames: drury.

age: twenty two.

gender and pronouns: cis male and he/him

sexual & romantic orientations: bisexual, biromantic, femme leaning.

major: political science.

housing: moriarty.

backstory.

triggers: implied bullying, police and incarceration ( dw i didn’t make him jj 2.0 ).

nobody gets to pick their beginnings. it’s something that people tell knox all the time, hell, it’s plastered in every stupid coming of age movie, book, film, everything he’s ever seen. you don’t pick who your born into, you don’t pick who you get to be. and to an extent, he does think that this is true but he can’t help but wonder if maybe, if people could pick, if they’d pick differently. because he knows he certainly would pick differently.

it’s not that he even came from a bad home - hell no, he had the most loving family ever. his mother was a saint, a warm sensation bubbling up in his chest when he thinks about her warm cookies or the way she tried to still tuck him in even as a teenager. his father had his flaws, we all do, but he was a good and honest man. hardworking, he showed knox what that stupid american dream is that everyone likes to preach about. 

no, it had nothing to do with them but rather the overall opinion on him and his family. see, the drury’s weren’t well liked - they were seen as lowlives and as shady, the kind of people who you’d only go to if you wanted to get stabbed in the back. generations of drury’s fit this narrative but no, his father was determined to change that. and so was he, even if nobody around him seemed to want to give him a chance. 

knox would go throughout school with this name attached to him like a dagger to his throat - whisperings in the hallway of, “oh, my mom said the drury boy might be steal things if you let him over,” and other random, rude remarks. of course, the people that get close to him know better - they see him for who he really is.

that person is knox. he’s a golden light, often more selfless than the rich pricks who run that small town. he’d give his jacket or umbrella to people even if they didn’t ask if it just so happened to be raining outside, and despite the fact that his family didn’t have a lot, he’d still go out of his way to try to give when he could. 

he eventually graduated high school - one of the top people in his class due to his father’s encouragement, and after a lot of debate, settled on attending haddon university - miles away from that sweet, small little hometown he knew, but a fresh start where he didn’t have to work for anything. he could just go in being him, with nobody attaching a new narrative to him. it was what he wanted, what he dreamed of.

and he loved it. his first semester there was memorable as he found himself surrounded by new friends and people he even considered family. back home, however, things were slipping.

the drury family was never rich, ever by any means, but business was low. nobody wanted to go there, fearing that his father was just as shady as his grandfather. as things got worse, his father had to resort to other needs - stealing, lying about taxes, and doing everything he could to try to make it by. 

it finally caught up to him when knox came home for spring break - red and blue lights flashing outside as loud noises went on throughout the house, until finally someone swung knox’s door open and briefly blinded him with a flashlight, demanding to know where his father was. by the time knox got a grasp on the situation, his father was being rushed off in the back of a cop car. 

he plead guilty almost immediately and for the next few months, knox did school from home to stay with his mother. it was then that he switched his major from what had initially been just a vague, business degree to political science in hopes of going into law after getting that degree - a way of changing things, of helping people so they never got to that point. 

for now though, he’s gone back to haddon’s campus where he study’s away and occasionally finds himself slipping and partying, glasses always covering his eyes as he slinks back class, getting almost nO sleep every night.

study.

so i need u to know right now... knox is baby, FDSHJDFSHAJK

like he’s not by any means like he’s kinda a gross dude like, absolutely randomly burps n is like lol oops n shit, very little manners, will grab clothes off of the floor to put them on kind of man BUT LIKE as a whole ?? he means very well FDSJFAHJ he’s very gentle and will sit there and admire flowers on a bush and then get mad if u pick one bc ur hurting it like. he’s baby.

he also is very loyal to the ppl he’s friends w tbh like. damn he will never leave ur side

that also makes him kinda... super, actually, naive. you see, while knox is incredibly loyal, he often finds himself ignoring signs of toxicity for the sake of preserving a friendship - he fights for people who won’t fight for him, he lets people back in too easily, he just. he sees the good in everyone, even if there isn’t any good.

regardless, he’s not easy to just... manipulate to an extent. while he’ll fall for you being innocent, you can’t ever try to make him think he’s something he’s not - he knows his intentions and he knows they’re usually pure and he’s not gonna fold for anyone if it comes down to him or them. 

bt like again he’s baby

like i dont think he ever gets mad but damn when he does its probs scary as shit like bc he nEVER gets mad !!! hes like. a golden retriever ig

if u cannot tell im trying really hard not to make him too much like jj bc i realize that might be a big thing ppl do n i dont think jj is baby bt like. knox? knox is baby DSFHJKFDHKJ 

he’s just. idk. he’s very protective and cares about his friends a lot and will walk you home even if you went to HIS place and like is always ready to give you a jacket if it’s raining and he’s just lowkey a big, kinda dumb at times, teddy bear and i think that’s valid tyvm 

wanted connections.

friends. — please. knox will lOVE ur muses just let him be their friend tyvm plus he’s a bit of a social butterfly now and i think he’d honestly have a lot of friends.

best friend. — i’m gonna keep this to one muse bc idk i think it’d be really cute if knox got to have his own like, ride or die where they care abt him as much as he cares about them and they’re always there for each other and like !!! that’s cute !!! also found family trope bc i think that is.. again, kyoot, ty

frienemies. — so these are always like, super fun to plot out and i think there’s a lot to work w here... like give me ppl who are happy that knox is loyal and would defend them but would push knox to the side n not do the same for him... also friendships where knox fucked up ?? where knox, despite his goodness, couldn’t keep his mouth shut and revealed a secret to their friend group bc u see he can kinda be a gossip fsjfdaskj. idk there’s a lot u can do n i’d love to brainstorm!

enemies. — pls. like. we can brainstorm this too so i dont just ramble but pLEASE?? please.

flings. — honestly romantic ships are not the point of rps but romantic flings and stuff can be really fun to plot and i love getting soft about them so like ?? idk dude lets fling it up n have muses date for two weeks n then break up like thats swexi, dramatic, 10/10

exes. — i mean this is kind of like flings but i have an idea... give me an ex of knox’s who really was like. everything knox wanted. hell, the two had a really good relationship - they were in love and etc etc gushy details but they ended up breaking up bc they just. they weren’t meant to be! as sad as it is like it was as simple as that! and then the angst comes in after they break up bc god they still love each other so much but they just aren’t meant to be and they see them with other people and oh it just hurts but like, bonus points if they manage to become good friends even after this !! (sidenote, idk i wouldn’t want this to be a full ship tht gets back together bc idk i think there’s a bittersweetness in stuff like this n its just. like. its ok !!! idk !!! )

roommates. — and they were roomates- fdshjkfdsahjk

other things. — honestly these are half assed plots but i’m down for anything !!! i’m still fleshing out knox a lil too bc i really did make him on the spot so pls bare w me :)

[bookstryingtostealyourheart]

I Love You, You Dork

A/N: Hi everyone! I have quite a few requests coming in for stuff, keep it coming! I just got back from my vacation to the beach for a week and it was an exhausting trip. Hopefully you’ll get a couple imagines tonight into tomorrow. I love love love writing for Richie for some reason. He’s just so precious. So enjoy this! I am trying to do them in order, so if you aren’t seeing yours, it should be coming soon. Sending out my love <3 ALSO IM SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT I DIDN’T WANT IT TO BECOME BORING

Pairing: Richie Tozier x Reader 

Request: “I see that you write for Richie Tozier!! I was wondering I could request a richie x reader where reader also gets glasses and it makes him flustered and he loves them and maybe a member of the Bowers Gang takes them from her and Richie /tries/ to defend her. Thank you for your consideration!” @savethehoneeybees 

Pushing the unfamiliar accessory up the bridge of your nose, you enter school. Getting glasses over the summer was not the makeover you had in mind, but it was the one you received. They weren’t the big thick square ones that Richie sported and made look amazing effortlessly...Yours were thinner, more simple, yet you still hated them. There weren’t many choices, so you chose the first pair that didn’t make you gag when you tried them on...but walking into the school, you have never wanted to hide more. “y-y-y/n, like the glasses.” Bill pipes up from beside you, making you come out of your trance. He was alone, probably looking for the others. You thought you’d join him, wanting nothing more than to be in the comforts of the losers club, Richie especially. Bill was the one who was always nothing but incredibly nice to you. Richie, you had to warm up to along with Eddie and Stan. But Bill and Ben were the easiest to grow to love. They are both love bugs whole-heartedly. 

“Thanks Bill, I’m still not used to them yet-” You admit, before being cut off by none other than the goofy loud mouth you’ve been waiting to see for the past few days. Summer had been a long journey of the boys taking you to the quarry, riding around on the back of Richie’s bike, and much more of the same old same old. The past few days, you’d stayed home, wanting to get used to the change. You were honestly scared of people seeing the glasses. Now you have no choice. 

“Not used to what? By the way, welcome back to hell everybody.” Richie asks, nosy as always, taking his place by your side and cleaning his glasses before putting them back on and giving you a good look. Immediately, his dark chocolate eyes widen and a giant grin makes its way onto his face. “Well damn Y/N, when I think I’m the cool attractive one, you have to come show me what you’re made of. Lookin’ good. See guys, I can get a hot girl.” He says waving Stan and Eddie over, and successfully making you blush. He had no limits, which was not new. He said things like this all the time, always lightheartedly, but you knew Richie was the softest little teddy bear when it came to you. When his friends aren’t there, which is rare but occasional, he is very lovable. 

“Yea, Y/N, you look great. You rock dorky.” Eddie agrees, which all the compliments are making your heart feel like it is swelling in your chest. 

“Alright guys, you can stare at my girl later, we have the first day to conquer. See you guys at lunch?” Richie asks and everyone nods, splitting up and going to their classes, Richie motioning for you to follow him to his locker. The halls were crowded as usual, so you caught some strange looks from the girls in the hall. Some of the girls here are rotten, so you know you’ll get a bit of crap for the glasses later. “I didn’t know you needed glasses.” Richie thought out loud, putting his books into his locker. He wasn’t the easiest to read, but you could see curiosity in his face as he said it. He wondered what else he didn’t know about you. You shrugged, stuffing your hands into your jean pockets, shuffling your feet across the tile. 

“I didn’t either, quite honestly. I’ve always had the same vision, from what I can remember. But now I can see so clear, it’s so...nice.” You explain with a far away look. The little things make life so different. If you needed to wear these big clunky glasses, you’re happy to. The only people whose opinions matter also expressed how much they love them. What else could you ask for? 

“We’re definitely the goofiest looking couple in school now, thanks to you.” Richie pointed out, ruffling your hair slightly before he closed his locker and threw his bag over his shoulder. 

“Um excuse me, you’re definitely more goofy than me.” You shot back, raising an eyebrow at him. The deafening bell rang out through the school, and Richie pressed a kiss to your forehead. 

“I’ll let you believe that, and I will see you at lunch. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He demands jokingly and you roll your eyes, turning in the opposite direction as him, heading for the staircase. Before you could get to the stairs though, your glasses were ripped off your head. 

“Hey!-” 

“Hey is right. Guys look, Richie’s girlfriend is even trying to look like him now. Isn’t it cute? I’m gonna have to keep these.” Henry says to his friends, waving your glasses in the air above you. You sigh, reaching up to no avail. 

“Give them back! Please Henry...” You don't bother saying mean things to him, as it would result in something worse. Him and his friends are the perfect example of mob mentality. They do things without thinking, with no understanding of other peoples feelings or consequences. It made you uneasy not knowing his limits. 

“Hear her guys? awww, give em back. Should I give them back?” Henry asks his friends, and they all chuckle, shaking their heads no. You let your shoulders fall in defeat. 

“Hey! Leave her alone.” Richie screams from down the hallway, making not just you, but all the guys glance in his general vicinity. You bite your lip, hoping that this ends smoothly. You love Richie to death, but he is not one to take on Henry and all of his goons. 

“And what are you going to do if I don’t? Hit me? I’m shaking.” Henry taunts, waving your glasses around, above his head. 

“Why, you know this is not fair Henry, because it would not be me against you...it would be me against you and thing one, two and three.” Richie says rolling his eyes. Henry’s eyes light up at the actual offer of a fight. 

“Richie it is fine-” 

“No Y/N, Richie wants to be the big bad boyfriend and stand up for you. Let him. Come get her glasses big boy.” Henry says, motioning for his friends to stay where they are. Richie gives you a look and lets out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a little while. You felt your chest twist and ache. You knew that this was not a good idea. You did not want to kill Richie’s ego, but he had to do this himself now that he got into the position. He hesitates, looking over at Henry’s friends, but figures he needs to get your glasses back. He steps forward and takes a deep breath. The actions following made you gasp...Richie was so lovely to you, so seeing him act maliciously was so unlike him. He talked big, but was always the goofy/nerdy kid. Richie socked Henry right in the stomach, making him hunch over. He then peeled the glasses out of his hands and handed them to you. “Get him boys.” Henry said in a croaky voice from the floor. The three other idiots got excited, which is when you tried to get in-between Richie and the morons. But the blonde one grabbed you and held you back as the others went for Richie. “Richie! Leave him alone.” You say thrashing at the blonde kid holding you back. For a scrawny guy, he was surprisingly strong. You watched as the two guys pushed Richie onto the ground over and over and held him down as Henry got up and kicked him a few times. Richie was not reacting as much as you thought he would, as he didn’t yelp or make any noise as he was hit. You continued to yell at the boys until teachers started to exit their rooms and get in between the fight. You were finally dropped, running over to Richie who had a split lip. He gave you a sad smile, which had to sting from the blood exiting his lip. 

“I’m sorry that they took your glasses...and that I couldn’t beat their asses for you.” Richie said with a frown as the other boys were being reprimanded. You shrugged, sitting down against the locker with him and grabbing his hand. 

“You punched Henry Bowers in the stomach to get me my glasses back, Richie. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.” You giggle and he nods proudly. He never thought he would have punched Henry Bowers in the stomach, and not die minutes after. He would of course tell people he has, but he actually did...no fiction involved. 

“I did do that...didn’t I? Wow I’m a badass. If the guys ask, I won that fight.” Richie says matter-of-factly, making you grin. Of course he will tell the guys that, but it is not like they will believe him. But if that is what he wants, you’ll stand by that. He did win that fight, because he got your glasses back, and made you smile. For him that was winning. No matter if he had a split lip and a bit of a bruise starting to form on his abdominal area. You helped him up, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he let out a low groan. 

“I love you, you dork.” You say starry-eyed, pushing up his glasses back to where they’re supposed to be. He snorts, giving you that look that you know all too well from Richie. 

“You’re whipped.” Was all you needed as your ‘I love you too’. But were you the one who was really whipped? 

[mallowbees]

Honestly I forget a lot of the time that I can actually write my story fanfic things I occupy my daydream time with down- I mean, I have no itention of ever actually writing any of them but if anyone ever wants to hear them feel free to ask me occasionally cause I usually have about one a day on my mind-

Current one is a human highschool au, It’s Remy centric, no ships, could have background prinxiety if you wanted tho-

-He is kinda the loner kid

-Sorts hangs around the main group (Roman, Virgil, Patton) But doesn’t really have a set friend group

-He doesn’t really get in to trouble or anything, just kinda chills

-Is aloud to turn in school work after classes instead of staying in classes during the day, who knows how he pulled this off but hey he gets good grades let him be

-He visits a therapist every Friday and has has been for a few years now

-Spoiler it’s Picani

-Double spoiler Picani is Patton’s dad

-Also Logan is Patton’s other dad, and the chemistry teacher, he’s pretty neat

-Anyway Remy has been working out his issues with Picani and trusts him a lot

-they talk about why Remy hides his eyes with his sunglasses, it’s cause his eyes look like his mom’s and his mom disowned him (for reasons you get to decide because why not) and he really doesn’t like them

-But Picani is like ‘hey maybe try and find something good to you to associate your eye color with and try rewriting what you connect them with’

-That moment when Remy starts connecting his eyes with Emile instead because his eyes are also a warm brown

-Remy starts taking his glasses off during sessions occasionally and mentions off hand that it’s because of Emile and it’s just Wholesome tm

-Anyway at school, near end of year, the theater club is holding a talent show

-Roman keeps talking about said talent show ofc

-So Remy hears all about it ofc, and one day, hesitantly to himself he’s like hey, I should join, good way to end off the year

-He doesn’t know what to do for it though

-So he’s like 'hey picani what do’ And Picani asks him about what all talents he might have, know how to do, and what he would want to do

-Remy off handedly mentions he can play violin while listing other stuff

-Im guessing you can tell which one he picks to do huh

-Yeah so while all this jazz is happening he’s getting closer to his friends too, he is officially in the main group, good stuff

-Back on topic Remy hasn’t really played in front of anyone since his mom disowned him

-And violin had been his emotional outlet for quite awhile

-Remy came to a decision, he was gonna do it and try his best for Picani, because that dude helped him out a lot and honestly he’s really cool so yeah

-Picani is like Remy’s inspiration and he looks up to himmmm

-Anyway he’s been practicing and stuff and has not mentioned a word of this to anyone else

-Day of the preformance comes and roman finds him and is confusion like what hello hi why are you back stage

-And then they call out his name, and he goes out there, friends are supprised, I mean hey they didn’t even know he played violin

-Picani is there of because Patton was there to watch Roman

-Remy starts playing his violin after a long pause

-Oh also Virgil is on the sound crew because why not so I guess Virgil also could have known

-Anyway remy starts playing Linsey Stirling’s Shatter

-Its frikin intense and emotional because this is his outlet and for the first time ever he’s putting it out for the world to see

-Everyones stunned and clapping by the end of it

-Remy may have cried but no one needs to know that

-Honestly good stuff, he gets hugs after his preformance from his friends

-Roman is teasingly salty that he got first place yanked right out from under him, and I quote 'Could have warned me I’d need to step up my game’ It was smiles all around tho

-And way more bonding and opening up over the summer

-Remy ends up hanging out with Patton and everyone eles whole lot

-More good bonding stuff and what not, Picani please for the love of God adopt this boi

-And he does

-With Logan’s input first ofc, we stan good communication in this writing household

-Remy cries, again, also happy tears

-Patton Crofter and Remy Picani are now brothers

-Theres some wholesome brother bonding stuff

-Eventually Remy stopped wearing his sunglasses all the time

-“I used to have my mom’s eyes, but now I have my dad’s” :)

-Happy ending!!

[uswntpoet]

Love on the brain (Part 19)

Sooooo, it's been a while guys. I'm really sorry that the update took so long, but at the same time I can't ensure to be much faster for the next few months. However, the story isn't over, so don't worry and as a small compensation the chapter is a bit longer :) Also thanks for all your kind feedback and messages, it keeps me motivated to write. As always, let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

The song is 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley & The Wailers

The chapter is also up on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17576201/chapters/49460396

Kelley knows the stadium is packed. Their media team told them that the match was sold out within minutes after the tickets went on sale. Normally, it only gets her even more pumped when huge crowds are cheering for them. However, when she hears the deafening roars on her way to the player tunnel, she has to admit that her heartrate starts speeding up a bit. It’s not due to the fact that she doesn’t feel prepared, it’s more so that today something just feels different and Kelley is not so sure if she can remember the last time, she felt like this. She stops in the middle of the tunnel, turning around to look for her teammates. Instead, she sees the German team starting to line up next to her, no one with an US jersey in sight.

“Hab auf jeden Fall die Nummer fünf hier im Auge. Wenn die es einmal schafft dich zu überlaufen, kommt die Flanke definitiv in den Strafraum.“ the blonde player with the captain‘s armband says to another girl, who is nodding before eyeing Kelley closely.

Kelley doesn’t understand much German, however she is proud that she can at least count to ten and maybe say Hello and Thanks. Today she wishes she couldn’t, because it’s enough to realize that they are definitely talking about her. ‘Nummer fünf’ sounds an awful lot like ‘number five’. Kelley turns her head to look at the girls directly and gives them a death stare. They notice quickly and turn around again. Kelley does so as well, trying to get into her zone, but she frowns when she is too distracted to concentrate. That’s also when she realizes that she got even more nervous. She feels like the drums in the stands make the tunnel quake and she is not far from the point of losing her mind. Slowly but surely, she starts to understand why. It’s the first game since the Chapman incident. The last time she stepped on the pitch, she totally lost control over herself and somehow, she is afraid it might happen again if somebody comes on to Alex. It has been lingering in her mind for a few days now, distracting her, making her think that the fans are angry at her and even worse, making her think that she might disappoint Alex. For the next minute, she remains the only US player in the tunnel and all she can hear is loud German chatting. Now, she definitely doesn’t understand a word and being there all alone is starting to have an impact on her. She starts taking deep breaths while zoning out and cracking her neck nervously. After what seems like an eternity, blurry silhouettes of her teammates walk past her. Meanwhile, Kelley just remains rooted to the ground, occasionally feeling a motivational pat on her back or a slap.

“Go get ‘em, tiger.” Alex whispers in her ear while passing her and slapping her butt.

Alex lines up in the spot in front of her and turns around to look at Kelley when she is not responding. This pulls Kelley out of her trance and her head shoots up quickly. When she looks into Alex’s eyes, she realizes that it also slipped her mind to talk to somebody about her concerns. Kelley just pushed it to the back of her mind, because she thought she could handle it on her own. What she didn’t expect is that it would affect her this much when it’s actually time to play the game.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks concerned, eyeing Kelley warily.

“I-“ Kelley starts, the rest of her words stuck in the back of her throat.

Kelley clears her throat, shaking her head and Alex looks even more worried than before.

“I’m kinda nervous.” Kelley admits, looking at Alex wide eyed.

Alex opens her mouth and closes it again, looking at her perplexed, “Are you?”

Kelley nods her head and Alex grabs her hand as discreetly as possible, not wanting to attract any attention to them.

As long as she can remember, Alex has been nervous before games. It started when she was a little girl, playing with her sisters, trying to be as good as them, as fast as them, as strong as them. In high school, Alex always felt like she had to prove herself to someone, prove that she was good enough, prove that she got better, prove that she trained hard. When she finally got into college, she had somehow mastered to prove herself. Now nobody doubted her potential and just when she thought she had managed to overcome her nervousness because she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone anymore, the weight of living up to everybody’s expectations was put on her. ‘Alex will make us win the game’, ‘Alex will be a crowd pleaser’, ‘Alex will be the face of soccer’, ‘Alex will get us to the championship’, ‘Alex will become famous one day’ and Alex did all that, but never without a huge amount of nervousness, due to the pressure that has been put on her. When Alex got called up to the National Team her nervousness was at its peak. The U-20 team was the most competitive team she had ever been a part of and the pressure to stay on the team was brutal. However, Alex proved herself yet again and even after a disastrous ACL injury, she got called up again. In 2008, everything started to change. Alex was invited to yet another camp and that’s where she met a very pretty girl that couldn’t have cared less about being nervous. As long as she can remember, Kelley has never been nervous before games. Of course, there were the ones that seemed to be more exciting, where you could feel that they meant something, something more than just herself. Still, all in all, Kelley was always able to channel that kind of energy into something her teammates liked to call craziness or attitude. To Kelley it always was the desire to win, to be better than anyone else. Ever since she was young, standing on the pitch was freedom to Kelley. It was a place where she could let out all of her energy, where she could be creative, where the line between pressure and peace was so fine that it was almost indistinguishable. Something that felt like it was made for her. Kelley loved pressure, she loved showing what she was able to do, playing against the best, competing, but most of all she loved wining and that’s also why she always was such a great athlete. While the pressure of having to win made other’s crumble, it made Kelley calm and soon Alex learned that if Kelley was calm, she was going to be calm as well. Whenever she was in her proximity, Kelley somehow managed to make Alex feel serene. So one thing Alex knows for sure, if Kelley is nervous it means something else is off. Her mind drifts off to every time Kelley has made her feel at ease before a game and the pictures in her head put a soft smile on her face. She takes a step towards Kelley and pulls her in a tight embrace.

“I want you to only focus on me.” she whispers in her ear.

Kelley can feel Alex’s chest rise and fall against hers slowly.

“Breathe with me.”

Kelley takes a deep breath with her, holding it when Alex does so as well. Alex can feel Kelley’s heart pounding against her chest. That’s when she starts singing softly in her ear and it makes Kelley close her eyes and exhale deeply. It’s very faint, almost inaudible, but Kelley can hear it loud and clear.

"Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

So baby, don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright”

Kelley smiles brightly at the gesture, her mind cleared from any thought that was roaming through it just moments ago.

FLASHBACK ON

October 6th, 2010

“Alex, you’re getting subbed in for A-Rod for the last 20 minutes of the second half.” Pia announces in the locker room, when discussing the substitutions.

Alex’s eyes go wide, a shudder running down her spine. ‘Please don’t get nervous again, you got this.’, she says to herself, trying to calm herself down. Externally, she tries to overplay it as her heartrate is starting to pick up unhealthily and apparently, it’s working since no one seems to notice. That’s until she notices Kelley’s eyes on her, observing her closely. She nervously runs her hand through her hair and Alex is glad when Abby starts talking to her.

“You okay there, baby horse?” Abby asks quietly.

Alex looks past Abby, making eye contact with Kelley, who is not averting her gaze.

“Besides the fact that I feel like throwing up, yes.” Alex attempts a joke to play it down, but it’s clear that Alex is anything but okay, at least to Kelley, who witnesses the conversation.

Abby laughs loudly at Alex’s joke.

“Been there, get it out of your system.” Abby says with a pat on her shoulder, before turning around to hype up the group.  

“Okay guys, listen up. I want to win this damn game, so I need everyone to focus from the first second of the warm up, to the last minute of the additional time, understood? Let’s do this!!” Abby yells a little bit too enthusiastic.

The team joins in on Abby’s enthusiasm and they all start making their way towards the pitch with loud cheers. Kelley starts following them, being the one who leaves the locker room last. After a few strides, her step falters and she comes to a halt. Kelley doesn’t know why, but it just feels like she forgot something. Thinking that it might jog her memory, she turns around and heads back to the empty locker room. She walks straight to her locker to go through it, but doesn’t find anything that could be missing. She turns around cluelessly, meaning to leave again when she sees Alex still sitting in front of her locker, her face buried in her hands. They’ve become good friends, knowing each other for quite some time, forming a bond over their time on the U-team and since they both are rookies on the full-on national team now, they are also rooming together. Kelley holds her breath, considering to let her have some space, but Alex looks miserable and Kelley thinks she might be crying, so she carefully walks up to her. However, Alex doesn’t move or look up. Kelley eyes her closely. Her back is moving frantically as if she was in a panic and Kelley realizes that she hasn’t even noticed that she is standing right in front of her. She squats down next to her and carefully places her hand on Alex’s back. This makes Alex jump and her head shoots up disoriented, her eyes wide in panic.

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay. It’s just me.” Kelley whispers softly.

Alex needs a moment to refocus her eyes and notice that Kelley is the person kneeling next to her, but when she does, she feels the need to explain herself.

“I-“ Alex starts, but that’s all she can utter before gasping for air. Kelley looks at her patiently, waiting for Alex to articulate what she’s trying to say.

“-nervous-“ Alex gets out before her lungs run out of oxygen again.

“Alex, look at me.” Kelley says worriedly, placing her hand on her knee, but she doesn’t make eye contact, instead her breathing is only getting faster and faster.

Kelley looks around for any sign of help, but realizes that she has to handle this on her own and she has to do it fast, because Alex looks like she is about to pass out. Kelley moves to kneel in between her legs. She grabs her face with both hands and forces her to look at her. Alex’s eyes lock with hers. She throws her a desperate look, her eyes boring into Kelley’s, as if she was trying to hold on to something, as if it’s giving her a sense of security. That’s when Kelley knows she got her attention.

“I want you to only focus on me, okay?” Kelley demands gently.

Alex nods her head frantically and Kelley makes her stop by tightening the grip on her face. When Alex stops, she gently strokes her cheekbones, looking into her eyes deeply.

“Breathe with me.” Kelley instructs, taking deep, visible breaths to demonstrate how Alex should breathe. Alex is trying her hardest to keep up, but it’s still nowhere near normal. Kelley starts to panic internally, but tries her hardest not to show it. Roaming her mind for a solution, she suddenly has an idea. She pulls Alex into a hug, pressing her chest against Alex’s tightly.

“Okay, let’s try that again. Breathe with me.” Kelley whispers in her ear, holding her close and taking long and slow breaths.

Alex’s trembling body starts to calm down slowly. She is still shaking, but Kelley can feel the change in her breathing against her chest. She places one hand on the back of Alex’s head and caresses it gently, trying to create a feeling of safety. She doesn’t know why, but she suddenly is overcome by the strong urge of comforting Alex even more.

“Rise up this morning

Smiled with the rising sun

Three little birds

Pitch by my doorstep

Singing sweet songs

Of melodies pure and true

Saying, ‘This is my message to you’

Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright

Don't worry about a thing

Cause every little thing is gonna be alright” Kelley whispers softly against Alex’s ear.

When she stops, Alex’s breathing is slow and tranquil. Her body has stopped shaking and her heartbeat, which Kelley previously felt hammering against her own chest, steadily pumps at a healthy rate. Still, Alex doesn’t let go of Kelley, now holding onto her tightly.

“You know what? Fuck everybody’s opinions. I know how you play. You’re brilliant and you’re always going to be. Don’t get in your head too much, just play. I know for sure that eventually everybody will remember how you showed them what you are able to do, but that doesn’t have to be today or anytime soon, okay?”

“Okay.” Alex says softly, breathing in Kelley’s scent that is oddly calming.

“I promise you, one day everybody will remember Alex Morgan as one of the best forwards in the world.” Kelley whispers, as if it was a secret and it makes Alex’s heart fill with an unfamiliar feeling of warmth.  

They stay in a tight embrace, the room filled with comfortable silence. That’s until they hear approaching footsteps. They break apart quickly and Kelley makes her way to her locker in sonic speed. She pulls her shin guards out of her socks while Alex is still sitting where they parted. The door bursts open and one of the staff members enters, looking quite aggravated.

“Where are-“ he starts, but gets interrupted by Kelley.

“Thanks for walking back with me, I’m so dumb.” Kelley exclaims loudly, looking at Alex, who looks at her questioningly. Before Alex can even process what Kelley is doing, she wiggles her shin guards at the guy.

“I forgot my shin guards. Alex was so nice to walk back with me.” Kelley clarifies.

“Rookies. It’s always the same. Come on now, you need to warm up.” he urges.

They both jump up and follow him. The guy and Kelley are walking so fast that Alex has to jog a little to catch up with Kelley. She reaches for her hand and pulls her back a bit, making Kelley look at her expectantly. Alex squeezes her hand tightly, making Kelley smile.

“Thank you, Kel.” Alex says with as much genuineness as possible.

“Always.” Kelley smiles as if it was nothing.        

They step out on the pitch where all the players have gathered to wait for some instructions.          

“Hey, Alex are you okay now? Or should we better place a bucket at the sidelines?” Abby laughs.

“Stage fright.” Abby clarifies jokingly, while turning around to the group and pointing at Alex, causing everyone to laugh.

Alex looks to the ground ashamed, avoiding the gazes.

“Shut the fuck up, Abby.” Kelley says firmly, taking a step towards Abby, looking like she’s ready to fight.

That’s when the whole group goes silent, looking at Kelley as if she was out of her mind. Alex looks at Kelley wide eyed, gasping along with a few other teammates, her mouth going dry. Abby looks at her surprised and Kelley knows what she just did is something like committing social suicide or could even lead to her having to pack her things and say goodbye to her dream of playing soccer forever. However, in this moment Kelley doesn’t care and it’s etched across her face. She throws Abby a disapproving, defiant look and the eyes of her teammates switch between her and Abby anxiously.

“What was that, O’Hara?” Abby asks taken aback.

Now everybody’s eyes are on Kelley again, waiting for her to back paddle.

“I said, shut the fuck up. I don’t like you making fun of her like that, you should really know better.” Kelley answers stoically, not retreating one bit.

Abby raises her eyebrows at her and everyone is preparing themselves for Kelley getting crushed. Instead, Abby looks past Kelley and directly at Alex. Alex looks at Abby anxiously, thinking that she is going to flip.

“Sorry Alex, that was totally stupid. We all are nervous from game to game and before my first few matches, I nearly wet myself.” Abby admits remorsefully.

If Alex’s mouth hadn’t already dropped from Kelley attacking Abby, now would have been the time for it. The same goes for all of her teammates.

“As for you,“ Abby says, returning her attention to Kelley, “no rookie has ever spoken to a veteran like this. I like you, O’Hara, that was fucking ballsy.” Abby compliments, patting Kelley on the shoulder with a huge smile.

“Look guys, that right here is the spirit we need in this team. Have no merci for the one’s attacking your teammates, even if it’s your own teammate.” Abby appeals, going into a full-on sermon.

Kelley turns around to Alex and is met with Alex gazing at her with something in her eyes, Kelley can’t read. She rolls her eyes at Abby still going on about team spirit behind them and starts jogging in the other direction, warming up for the game. Alex is left looking after her with a disbelieving shake of her head. Even though Alex tries hard, they don’t get the chance to talk for the rest of the game. However, as if by magic, Alex gets subbed in in the second half and scores her first goal ever, equalizing to a 1-1. After the initial shock and her celebration, she can hear Kelley screaming loudly from the sidelines.

“YEEES ALEX!! YOU SHOW EM’!”

So, before China kicks off again, she points at Kelley, as if she scored the goal for her.

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After a long day, Alex is pretty glad that they are rooming together, because she really feels the need to talk to Kelley. When the hotel door closes behind them, Alex can’t hold back any longer.  

“Oh my god, you didn’t really tell Abby fucking Wambach to shut the fuck up!” Alex exclaims.

“I guess I did.” Kelley chuckles.

“Kelley, are you insane?!” Alex gasps.

“She was being an asshole to you.” Kelley shrugs, letting herself flop on the bed.

“Yeah, but we’re rookies, we have to endure that. We can’t just walk around and tell people like Abby to shut the fuck up.” Alex rants, walking back and forth.

“Well, I don’t care. As long as I’m here she won’t treat you like that. She should have payed better attention to your conversation.”

Alex stops and looks at Kelley fascinated, “I just don’t get you sometimes.” she whispers softly.

“Why?” Kelley laughs.

“I don’t know, you sometimes do these things that just leave me speechless, I guess.” Alex says, letting herself fall onto her back next to Kelley.

“Like what?” Kelley asks, watching Alex closely.

“What do you mean like what?” Alex exclaims, turning on her side to face Kelley, “Like protecting me in front of everyone and risking to be thrown off the team or like-“ Alex rants again, but stops herself mid-sentence.

Alex bites her lip unknowingly and Kelley can tell that she’s a little embarrassed or nervous, so she reaches for her hand and gives her a reassuring look.

“-or like holding me through a panic attack and calming me down like it’s no big deal.” she whispers, her voice full of emotion.

Instead of answering, Kelley just stares at her. Alex doesn’t know why, but she somehow loses herself in her eyes. They look at each other a little bit too long and Alex quickly breaks out of her trance, clearing her throat.

“But why am I telling you this, you knew what I meant.”

“Yeah, I guess I just wanted to hear it out of your mouth again.” Kelley smirks.

“You suck.” Alex scoffs, giving her a light push.

“I think you told me otherwise just a few seconds ago.” Kelley grins, teasingly poking Alex in her ribs, who flinches in response.

“Oh my god, stop it!” Alex shrieks, causing Kelley to laugh.

“I’m never being nice to you again if you act like this.” Alex rolls her eyes.

“Impossible, I’m amazing.” Kelley smirks, poking her again.

With that statement Alex has enough, she pins Kelley’s hands to the mattress and climbs on top of her, straddling her waist.

“Stop being so full of yourself.” Alex groans.

“I’m not.” Kelley chuckles, “But do you know who should be?”

Alex shakes her head.

“You.” Kelley says genuinely.

Alex scoffs in response.

“No really, Alex. You scored your first goal today and man, what a stunner. You should be really proud.”

“That was just luck.” Alex refuses.

“Bullshit, Alex. I told you. You’re really really good and everybody is going to see it.”

Alex looks at Kelley rather skeptical, but Kelley shakes her head at that.

“I mean it.” she promises sincerely, patting her hand on her own heart after she freed it from Alex's grip.

“Thanks,” Alex whispers gently, her mouth curving into a soft smile, “for everything.”

Kelley smiles back at her, glad that Alex finally took the compliment.  

“Did you see Abby’s face though when you told her to shut up?” Alex bursts into loud laughter, causing Kelley to have a laughing fit as well.

They laugh for several minutes and at one point Alex can’t hold herself up anymore. Her head falls onto Kelley’s chest, which she can feel vibrating from laughter. At one point, they both calm down again, their breathing getting steady until there is full silence in the room. Alex can feel Kelley’s heart beating against her ear, which kind of sets her back to earlier in the day, calming her down again.

“Hey, Alex?” Kelley asks after a while.

Alex lifts her head to look at her, “Mhm?”

“You’re still on top of me.” Kelley grins.

“Oh my god, sorry.” Alex apologizes, turning bright red and quickly climbing off of Kelley.

“No, no feel free to stay there as long as you like. I don’t mind, but eventually we’ll have to switch, I’m more of a top.” Kelley smirks.

“Don’t make it awkward.” Alex warns.

“Who me? I would never.” Kelley chuckles, causing Alex to laugh as well.

FLASHBACK OFF

Ever since Kelley started it, she always sang this song to Alex when she was super nervous before a game. Over the years, it only happened every once in a while, but when it did it always had a magical effect.

“Kel, I know what this is about, but I promise you, you’ve got nothing to worry about, okay? Nobody is mad at you. The fans love you. It’s like you once told me:’ Don’t get in your head too much, just play.’”

“You’re a smart girl, Miss Morgan. Too smart for me.” Kelley winks cutely.

Alex knows that Kelley is not only referring to her reading her mind, but also to singing the song.

“I had a great teacher.” Alex bites her lip, grinning brightly, “Can I kiss you?” Alex whispers.

“What kind of question is that?”

Alex smiles, before turning around to look if the cameras are already in the tunnel, but they aren’t. The players are still forming into a line and the huge hustle in the tunnel is ensuring that everybody is concentrating on something else. When she turns around Kelley is grinning at her.

“What?” Alex chuckles.

“You’re cute.”

Kelley quickly puts her hands on both sides of Alex’s face to guard the kiss from being seen, before Alex leans in and kisses her lovingly.

“You got this, baby.”

“Score me a goal.”

“Always.” Alex smiles, turning around to move towards the end of the line that is forming, but she is stopped by Kelley still holding her hand, making her turn back around and pulling her in.

“You look perfect.” she smiles, pecking Alex’s lips quickly, but not pulling away fully.

Alex is absolutely surprised by the kiss, because Kelley doesn’t seem to care if anybody sees.

“Thank you.” Kelley continues, pressing another kiss to her lips.

Alex smiles back at her, before finally lining up behind the others.

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It’s a hard-fought game between both teams and you can tell that every single player leaves their all on the pitch. After her initial worries, Kelley finds into the match and soon is in total focus. They have more chances and keep the spaces tight in the back, but their attempts at scoring get blocked ardently by the German team, which on the other hand finds no way through their backline as well. It’s a fair, but very physical game and they know, they’re going to have to keep resilient for the whole 90 minutes. After 45 minutes, both teams make their way to the locker rooms frustratedly. The game is still goalless and both sides can use the break. Jill tries to boost their motivation in her half time speech, warning them to not cave in, followed by some tactical instructions. She tells Kelley and Crystal to move up higher and really pressure the German defense by getting into the final third with a higher number of players. On her way back to the pitch, Kelley exchanges some words with Tobin.

“The space is there. We’ll just have to be quicker. If we try you holding the ball, distracting the midfielder and the outside back, I might be able to overlap with a quick give and go. That should do the work. Their outside back is not going to be fast enough.” Kelley suggests.

“Okay, let’s try that.” Tobin nods.

5 minutes into the second half they lose possession in the final third. What follows is a counter attack by the German team and Kelley finds herself sprinting down the field to catch up with the ongoing attack. Däbritz plays a well-timed pass to Marozsán a few yards outside of the 18 and all Abby has to do, is step up to her to narrow the angle and stop her from shooting, but she doesn’t.

“HEY!! ABBY!!! PRESSURE!!” Kelley yells.

However, Abby doesn’t react and she knows that if she is not going to do it herself, they’re going to be down 0-1. She tries sprinting even faster running into Marozsán’s direction at an angle. The German midfielder takes her time to trick Abby by faking a shot to the right, before quickly changing directions, making Abby move the wrong way and breaking away past her towards goal. Marozsán finds herself in the perfect spot, she swings her leg towards the ball and strikes it firmly. The next thing that can be heard is a bang that is so loud that the whole stadium must have heard it. The ball gets blocked and is sent flying into the stands. Somehow, Kelley managed to throw herself into the shot at the very last second by jumping legs first. Loud cheers erupt in the stadium, still Kelley is anything but happy.

“Abby, you can’t do that!! When I say go for it, you have to step up!! For fuck’s sake!!” she yells aggravated, gesturing heatedly.

In their pre-game meeting, the coaches had explicitly instructed to not let Marozsán shoot anywhere near the box, which is why Abby nods at her apologetically.

“Sorry, Kel.” she mumbles.

“It’s okay, but you gotta stay focused and listen. Next time it’s a goal.” Kelley warns.

For the next minutes, they try to play their attack through the middle, however there is no getting through. At one point, Julie has to stop the attack because the space is just too tight. She plays the ball to Kelley, who starts moving up the flank, using the space that is now on the right side. When the midfielder comes up to her, she passes the ball to Tobin, who tugged in a little bit to give Kelley even more space. The trick works and both the defender and the midfielder try to stop Tobin from dribbling past them while Rose drops into Kelley’s position. When Tobin comes to a full halt, standing in front of the German players, Kelley uses the chance to start sprinting down the pitch, overlapping Tobin, who chips the ball over both players and right into Kelley’s path, causing the crowd to scream loudly. Kelley quickly moves towards the 18-yard box and tugs in a little, looking up to spot Christen or Alex. She is about to send in a cross, when Schweers comes too late into the challenge and tackles Kelley from behind, her timing completely off. From the moment the studs of the cleat hit her ankle, all she can feel is pain. She lets out a horrifying scream, the one that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Kelley rolls around on the field, holding her ankle, hitting her hand on the ground repeatedly to somehow make the pain stop, but it doesn’t help. Meanwhile, everyone is up from their seats, booing and whistling loudly. Schweers is the first to squat down next to Kelley. She is apologizing frantically and patting her back, looking quite shocked that she miscalculated the tackle that badly. Tobin is the next to arrive while Alex is running in her direction as well with nearly the whole team in tow.

“Fuck dude, are you okay???” Tobin asks concerned, but Kelley isn’t able to answer.

“Kel!” Alex gasps out of breath, immediately kneeling down next to Kelley, softly trying to hold her still.

Alex throws Tobin a horrified look that she returns. They both know that if Kelley stays down like that it must be something serious. Kelley hasn’t stopped screaming and Alex rolls her onto her back carefully. Kelley’s face is scrunched up in pain, looking like she’s getting tortured. Alex strokes her arm up and down and tries holding her waist still with her other hand. She looks around helplessly, but sees their medical staff coming towards them.

“Fuck!! Fuck, it hurts so much!!” Kelley wails.

“I know baby, I’m sorry. Steve is going to help you, okay?” Alex tries to calm her down, caressing her arm.

“Okay Kelley, right ankle again?” Steve, their head athletic trainer asks, as he is kneeling down next to her, making Tobin get out of the way and the team to give them some space.

Kelley nods shortly.

“Can you describe the pain? Was it a crushing pain?”

While the medical staff gets to work, the referee pulls a straight red and Schweers doesn’t complain one bit, leaving the pitch with a horrified look on her face, getting a few pats on her back.

“Did you have problems with your ankle the last few days?”

“She didn’t.” Alex answers quickly, while Kelley has her arm laying over her face, struggling to answer Steve’s questions due to her pain.

“I did.” Kelley answers pained.

Alex looks at her quizzical, her mouth agape. Kelley nervously makes eye contact with her, throwing her an apologetic look. She looks absolutely miserable, so Alex decides to have that conversation later, shaking her head disappointedly. Kelley tugs at her hand worriedly, looking at Alex with puppy eyes that are screaming, ‘Please don’t be mad at me’. Alex adverts her eyes quickly, knowing that if she looks at her long enough now, she is going to cry.

“What kind of problems did you have?” Steve asks carefully, having witnessed the silent conversation.

“Mostly exhaustion.” Kelley gets out through her teeth, closing her eyes and throwing her head back, the pain not getting any better.  

“Can you move your foot for me?” Steve asks, making Kelley shake her head violently.

“Alright, that’s okay, Kelley. No worries! Still, I’m going to have to move your foot just a little bit.” Steve announces.

He looks at Alex apologetically, “You might want to hold her hand for this.”

Alex nods at him uneasily and grabs Kelley’s hand with both of hers, leaning down further to whisper in her ear.

“Kel, it’s going to be okay. I’m here, I’m right here.” Alex comforts her with a soothing voice.

Kelley nods lightly, her face distorted with pain.

“Alright Kelley, on the count of three. One, two, three.” Steve says softly, before moving her foot to the right.

When he does, he is stopped by a roaring scream.

“Stop!!! Please, stop!!!!” Kelley begs, hitting her free hand on the ground violently.

Alex looks up at Steve horrified, seeing by the look on his face that this is bad.

“Tell them to get the stretcher.” he says to his assistant, who waves the medics over quickly.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to try one minor movement again.”

Kelley nods desperately, looking absolutely terrified with her eyes wide in panic and Alex’s heart breaks at the sight of it.

“Steve wait a second.” Alex intervenes.

“Hey babe, look at me, okay? Look me in the eyes.” Alex instructs.

Kelley does as she is told, looking at Alex helplessly, her forehead covered in sweat.

“Do you still remember the first time we met?” Alex whispers.

Kelley nods her head, her pained, panicked expression changing into a somewhat calmer version, her mouth forcing itself into something that at least resembles a smile.

“How could I forget?” Kelley gets out, her voice strained.

“Do you also remember when we talked about our first impressions of each other a few years later?”

Alex nods at Steve to start moving Kelley’s ankle.

Tears start streaming into Kelley’s eyes, rolling down the sides of her face. Her grip on Alex’s hand is almost crushing hers. Alex sees that Kelley is trying so hard to endure the pain just for her.  

“Fuck!” Kelley yells, closing her eyes, her forehead in ceases, Alex didn’t know it could form in.

“Baby, keep looking at me.” Alex begs.

Kelley reopens her eyes, her pupils dilated, looking into Alex’s as if begging her to make it stop. Alex gulps heavily, her throat going dry.

“Come on Kel, tell me the story.”

FLASHBACK ON

January 2008

Kelley walks out of the locker room, pulling her shirt over her head. The heavy fireproof door behind her falls into the lock with a loud bang. They finally have their first U-20 team training of the year. Kelley has been on the team since 2006. The first couple times, coming to camp in January was pretty exciting, nowadays she’s a veteran and the initial excitement turned into a serene calmness. She can’t wait to get the chance to train with the full-on National Team one day. She makes her way down the hallway, heading towards the pitch, when suddenly the door of the equipment room opens and a girl with brown hair and some blonde highlights exits from it, wearing the same jersey as her. Kelley can’t see her face and also doesn’t recognize her silhouette, which is why she guesses that she is one of the rookies. What she can tell from her silhouette though, is that she must be pretty, totally Kelley’s type. She watches the girl in front of her strut through the hallway with confidence, untypical for one of the newbies, who normally wander around the hallways shyly. Kelley is fascinated immediately, knowing that the girl has to be interesting. What captivates her even more is that she doesn’t seem to notice that someone is behind her and she still walks with determined steps, her hips swaying lightly. Kelley’s stride quickens, trying to catch up with her.

“Hey.” Kelley puts on her megawatt smile, lightly placing her hand on the girl’s back to make her presence known.

“You must be a roo-“

She turns around and Kelley’s smile falters, her voice failing her. Instead of saying something she just stares at her overwhelmed. The girl’s lips are curved into a soft smile, her blue eyes boring into Kelley’s in a way that makes her feel something, she can’t describe.

“I, uhh-“ Kelley gets out.

Just a millisecond later the girl’s expression changes into something different. This pulls Kelley out of her daze and she is met by a judging look. Kelley checks her out pretty blatantly. That’s also when she realizes who the girl must be and her face turns into a smirk again.

“You look good in that jersey.” Kelley grins.

Alex rolls her eyes at that.

“No for real. I swear it never looked better on anyone and I’ve seen countless girls in it.” Kelley says charmingly.

“Yeah, are you talking about your teammates or only girls who wore it the morning after?” the girl sasses.

“Wow. You’re not only pretty, but also feisty.” Kelley smiles at her impressed, “I’m Kelley O’Hara.” she says holding out her hand with a level of confidence that is hard to match.

The girl looks down on her hand and then up at Kelley again without extending her own.

“I know who you are.” she says with a tone that sounds pretty bitchy.

“Do you?” Kelley arches an eyebrow cockily.

“Yeah and they also told me a lot about you. So, don’t waste your time, I know how people like you are.”

Kelley laughs out loud, throwing her head back, “How are people like me?”

“Well, you’re a flirt. Attractive and you know it. Smart, but you radiate this annoying kind of smart that comes with arrogance. You sweet talk everybody, charming them into liking you, making them believe that they mean something to you and when it’s most convenient for you, you cut them off because you found the next great thing. Doesn’t work on me.”

“Okay Miss Morgan, so you think I’m attractive and smart?” Kelley wiggles her eyebrows.

“Oh my god, that’s so typical for someone like you. You only listen to-“ Alex starts aggravated, blushing a little bit.

“-wait. Why do you know my name?”

“Well, you’re not the only one who heard rumors.” Kelley grins.

“Well, rumors are dumb.” Alex sulks, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“That’s something I would agree with. Yet you still base all your information on the rumors you heard. How come?” Kelley chuckles.

“Well, I know they are true.”

Kelley laughs again, making Alex a kind of nervous, she never felt before and it’s making her really insecure.

“I like you Morgan, I’m glad that the rumors I heard are true as well, but I have to say that they are only true to an extent.” Kelley winks with a smirk and walks past her.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“That’s something I’ll keep to myself, blue eyes.” Kelley calls over her shoulder, leaving Alex standing in the hallway perplexed.

Alex stares after her with a dropped jaw. A loud bang can be heard in the hallway and Kelley rounds the corner, disappearing just as fast as she appeared.

“Judging by the look on your face you already met Kelley, huh?” Tobin chuckles, stopping next to her.

“Apparently.” Alex mumbles.

“You okay?” Tobin chuckles.

“Uh yeah, totally! I just don’t think I ever met anybody like her.” Alex shakes her head, only now looking at Tobin.

“You think she’s hot.” Tobin grins.

“What!?! No!!! I think she’s super annoying.” Alex exclaims.

“And you think she’s hot.” Tobin smirks knowingly.

“I don’t! She’s full of herself and besides that I have a boyfriend, you know that.” Alex defends herself.

“Well, she may come off like this the first time you meet her, but she’s actually really cool and super nice. I played with her for two years now and she’s a really intelligent player, totally somebody I could see you bounce off with on the pitch. I think you’ll like her.”

“We’ll see.” Alex says skeptical.

Tobin smiles at that and walks around her, but stops, laying her hand on Alex’s shoulder, “And Alex?”

“What?”

“Don’t worry, everybody thinks she’s hot.” Tobin winks, before ducking form Alex’s hand coming her way.

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January 29th 2012

Alex and Kelley are making their way to their hotel room. It’s 3 am and they both feel a little bit tipsy from the drinks they had. They did it. They just won the CONCACAF final and on top of that they qualified for the Olympics in London. For the past hours they found no words to describe how it feels to be part of something so big, but right now it doesn’t matter. They are just too happy and too tired.

“Thanks for leaving with me, I don’t think I would have lasted any longer.” Alex yawns, as they enter their room.

“Of course, I feel exhausted too.” Kelley smiles softly.

Alex walks straight into the bathroom, to remove her make-up and brush their teeth, while Kelley first changes into her oversized white shirt and some shorts, she is sleeping in. After that she walks into the bathroom, cleaning her face, while Alex just starts brushing her teeth.

“Quiet the day, huh?” Kelley grins.

Alex shakes her head, wide eyed, “I know, right?” she says with the toothbrush in her mouth.

“I feel like you singlehandedly demolished Canada.” Kelley chuckles.

“I feel like you will become one of the best defenders ever.” Alex smiles.

Kelley scoffs at that, “I don’t think so, Al.” she laughs.

“No really, you were great! You should be really proud of how you played.”

“I could have done better. Proud is a strong word.”

“I am.”

Kelley smiles at that, standing up to grab her toothbrush.

“Well, you should be, you played incredible.” she says, starting to brush her teeth as well.

Alex hits her in the ribs with her elbow lightly, “Nooo, I meant that I am proud of you, you idiot.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anybody else could have done what you did, at least not that good.”

“Come on Al, that’s nonsense.” Kelley brushes off.

“Kel, you normally play as a forward and with Ali being out on such short notice, you really did fucking amazing. That was impressive.”

Kelley smiles at her, her expression still a little bit doubtful, “Thanks.”

Alex spits out the toothpaste and rinses.

“You’re too humble for the way you played.” she empathizes, her tone just as warm as the look she is giving Kelley before exiting the bathroom.

Kelley’s smile goes wider when she leaves the room. She looks into the mirror, catching the expression on her face as if she was watching somebody else. She pushes the thought that she only smiles like that when she is with Alex to the back of her mind quickly. Luckily, her thoughts are interrupted anyway.

“Damn it!” Alex groans.

“Keeel??” she calls, dragging out Kelley’s name.

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me?”

Kelley quickly finishes up and leaves the bathroom as well. When she enters the room, Alex is sitting on top of the bed in only her bra and her jeans, looking at her fed up.

“What’s wrong?” Kelley laughs cluelessly.

“My zipper is stuck.” she groans.

Kelley laughs even louder now.

“Shut up and help me!”, she throws a pillow at her.

Kelley dugs from the pillow and holds her hands up shieldingly, “Alright, calm down.”

She tries to refrain from laughing and makes her way the bed. Alex lets her upper body fall back onto the mattress with a sigh and Kelley starts trying to open her jeans.

“I never guessed the night would end with me trying to rip your clothes off.”

“Admit it, you always dreamed of that.” Alex jokes.

Kelley looks at the zipper closely, seeing that some of the fabric of Alex’s jeans got stuck in it.

“Yeah, but that’s not how I imagined taking your pants off.” she mumbles distractedly.

“Sounds like something you would have said to hit on me when we were younger.” Alex rolls her eyes, chuckling.

“I never hit on you.”

“Uhhh, yeah you did.” Alex exclaims disbelievingly.

“When?” Kelley says, looking up at Alex, who is now holding herself up on her elbows to look at Kelley.

“Excuuuse me? Are you serious right now? When did you not?” Alex gasps offended.

“Okay, okay, I did.”

“I was just going to say. Just remember the first time we met.” Alex lays down again.

“Yeah, well I hate to admit it, but I really tried to make an impression.”

“That you made.” Alex chuckles.

“Do you like those jeans?” Kelley asks, looking up at Alex concerned.

“I LOVE those jeans.” Alex empathizes, making intense eye contact.

“Got it.” Kelley nods, leaning down again.

There is a moment of silence, but Kelley speaks up again, “In the good kind of way?” Kelley asks.

“Huh?”

“Did I make an impression in the good kind of way?” Kelley smirks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Alex teases, her tone flirty.

Kelley smiles confused.

“I mean it must have worked, because right now my face is in your crotch.” Kelley jokes.

“You really are as blunt as they come.” Alex shakes her head with a grin.

“It’s a specialty.” Kelley mumbles distracted again, as she feels the zipper move slightly, “Okay, hold on.”

She firmly tugs at the fabric that is stuck in the zipper and it comes unstuck. Kelley pulls down Alex’s zipper easily.

“There you go.” she smiles.

“Oh my god, you did it, thanks!” Alex exclaims happily and Kelley lets herself fall onto the bed, while she gets up to kick off her pants and change into an oversized shirt as well.

Kelley silently watches her from where she is laying. Alex lays down next to Kelley again, turning towards her as she realizes that she is staring at her.

“What?”

“So, what was your first impression of me?” Kelley grins, turning towards Alex, popping her head up on her elbow.

“You mean, besides all the things the girls from my college told me?” Alex smirks.

“Ugh, annoying fans.” Kelley rolls her eyes jokingly, making Alex shake her head with a laugh.

“But yeah,” Kelley mumbles, suddenly looking at Alex pretty seriously, “what did you think?”

“Well, looks wise my first impression of you was that you were the most attractive person I had ever seen, which by the way was pretty intimidating, BUT you also were a little shit.”

This makes Kelley laugh out loud, making Alex join in.

“Sounds fair. So, the rumors were true, huh?”

“Oh no, not all of them, but some were spot on.” Alex smiles.

“Were they? What did your amazing teammates from college say?” Kelley says with an ironic tone, raising an eyebrow.

“As I said to you, I heard that you were a flirt, breaking hearts all around, which honestly I can still picture you doing back then. Allegedly, your whole college had a crush on you, or at least thought that you were attractive and judging by the talk on my team, you didn’t only charm Stanford students.” Alex chuckles, making Kelley laugh out loudly.

“Damn, I guess I really was the topic in your locker room.” Kelley lets out drily.

“Yeah girl, they also said that you could make people fall in love with you, just by looking at them and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you were trying to do that day, when you pulled that specific look, which by the way you totally still do quite often.”

“What look?” Kelley chuckles.

“That one!!! That’s the look right there!” Alex exclaims, pointing at Kelley’s face.

“I’m not doing anything.” she laughs.

“Yes, you so are! Your eyes look totally innocent, as if you don’t know that you are looking the way you do, but if I look closely, your eyes are staring right into my soul and you’re combining that with that light smile that is almost a smirk, but it is too friendly to be your full on asshole smirk.”

“Wow Alex, apparently you spend a lot of time analyzing my face.” Kelley grins.

“Just for your information, now you’re wearing the asshole smirk.” Alex rolls her eyes, “But anyway, that’s not my point. Funny enough, some people said you were cold-hearted and arrogant and I really have to say-“ Alex starts, but is interrupted by Kelley.

“Alright, alright enough of that. Yes, the rumors are true. That’s something I’ve heard a thousand times. Apparently, I am a giant asshole, Miss Morgan. Thanks for still rooming with me.” Kelley chuckles and Alex shakes her head.

“No…”Alex whisper, looking deep into her eyes.

“No, that’s the point. You’re not.” Alex says seriously.

The smile on Kelley’s face disappears and she just stares at Alex cluelessly.

“It’s just a mystery to me. Why do you always try to come off as this heartless person? You know, I always ask myself who made you believe that. Maybe it’s because all the rumors that I heard about you, are based off your physical appearance or your fitness. That has always been the thing when people, who didn’t know you, talked about you. These people are only judging you by the way you look and I don’t know why, but you listen to them. But Kel, did you ever think of listening to the people who know you? Who value you? You’re so much more than the way you look. You’re so intelligent and compassionate. I have never met anyone who is so protective of the things and people she values and loves. You always keep your word and you go all the way to make your family and friends proud and happy. And most of all, you have this huge, wonderful heart. Why do you always try to hide that beautiful heart of yours?” Alex asks disbelievingly.

Kelley looks at Alex speechlessly, her throat dry. Her mind is full of a thousand thoughts and things she wants to say, but she isn’t able to. Alex can see that Kelley is struggling to process what she just said, so she puts her out of her misery and asks her a question.

“So, what were the rumors you heard about me?” Alex smiles.

Kelley clears her throat, shaking out of her trance of looking in Alex’s eyes.

“Eh I, I heard that you were pretty and that you were an ‘A’ student, but to not get fooled by your looks because you were a mean player on the pitch.”

“Oh okay, but why did you say that the rumors were only true to an extent back then?” Alex mumbles quietly.

“Because first of all, by the way you spoke to me you were more than just an ‘A’ student. The moment you opened your mouth I knew you were amazing. You were really smart and you made me wonder what you were thinking of me. To be honest, something I never wondered about when talking to a girl. Normally, I could see right through, this time I couldn’t.” Kelley says deep in thought, as if she was reliving the moment.

Alex smiles softly at that statement.

“Are you telling me that you were nervous? If you’re telling me that you were nervous, you didn’t seem like it one bit.” Alex smiles brightly.

“Oh believe me, I was.” Kelley lets out a laugh, that sounds more like a nervous exhale.

Kelley plays with the watch that she is still wearing and her eyes are fixed on it.

“Mostly, because of all the rumors, one rumor wasn’t true at all.” Kelley says, now looking up into Alex’s eyes.

“Which one?” Alex whispers, hypnotized by the way Kelley is looking at her. That’s also the moment when she sees something flicker in Kelley’s eyes, but she doesn’t know what to make out of it.

“Alex, you weren’t pretty. You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and it would have been the understatement of the century to just call you pretty. You were breathtakingly gorgeous.” Kelley says honestly, making Alex blush furiously.

She looks away nervously, since she isn’t able to maintain the intense eye contact. It almost feels like Kelley’s eyes are burning a hole into hers and just when Alex thinks Kelley won’t say anything more, she speaks up again.

“You still are.” Kelley whispers, making Alex look at her again.

“See. You have a heart.” Alex whispers softly, visibly moved by Kelley’s words.

“Yeah, maybe it’s because of you.” Kelley whispers back.

They gaze in each other’s eyes silently. Now Alex is the one who is left speechless. She doesn’t know how to react to that, but somehow, she can feel herself getting closer to Kelley. She gets drawn to her impulsively, like a magnet, totally powerless. They are getting closer and closer by the second, nobody in control of the situation. Just when their lips are about to touch there is a knock on the door. Alex leans forward quickly, pressing a kiss to Kelley’s cheek like she never had the intention to place it anywhere else and jumps up to answer the door.

“Coooming!” she calls, leaving Kelley staring at the ceiling, mouthing a frustrated ‘Fuck!’, before putting her hands on her face and letting out a deep breath.

Her head starts spinning.

“You’re so stupid Kelley, what are you doing?!” she whispers to herself angrily.

Meanwhile, Alex’s thoughts are running wild. ‘I didn’t just almost kiss my best friend, did I?’ she asks herself before opening the door.  

FLASHBACK OFF

“And then Tobin was standing at the door, because she lost her key and wanted to crash on the couch.” Kelley finishes pained, but still attempts a smile and a light chuckle.

Alex nods at her, smiling with tears in her eyes. Even though they talked about this story a hundred times, Alex’s desperate attempt of trying to distract Kelley worked. Steve gives Alex a soft smile and squeezes her shoulder as the medical team hoist Kelley on the stretcher. Alex looks at her worried and she can see the wheels in Kelley’s head turning, as she is examining her closely.

“Don’t forget to score me that goal.”

Alex knows exactly what she is doing. That’s the thing about being in a relationship with your teammate, you still have to do your job, even if things like this happen. This is Kelley’s way of telling her to concentrate on the game again and stop worrying. Alex squeezes Kelley’s hand one more time, nodding at her.

“I would never.”

The paramedics lift the stretcher up and start carrying her off the field. Steve hands Alex a water bottle.

“Good job, Alex. I’ll update you after the game.”

“Thanks.” Alex nods and turns around, only to be met with worried looks by her teammates.  

“You okay?” Tobin asks concerned, as everybody is getting to their positions for the freekick.

“Yeah.” Alex nods, stopping next to Tobin, who is taking the freekick.

“Good.” she counters a little bit relieved.

“Hey Tobin?”

“Yeah?”

“Kick it to the far post, I need to score a goal.” Alex says seriously and Tobin nods determined.  

[marsbaumer]

hello !! the name is cal, pronouns they/them, and i’m in the est timezone. i’m so very excited to bring my kiddo mars to the deja brew !! listed below is going to be some information on the little mess. at the very bottom i’ve listed some possible connections as well that i think would be neat to explore. if you would like to plot feel free to like this and i’ll come to your ims or let me know if you’d prefer to plot over discord. i am very excited and look forward to writing with you all uwu

basics

name: mars baumer job: baker at deja brew & podcast host age: twenty-three gender: nonbinary pronouns: she/they sexuality: bisexual / biromantic birthday: april 2nd zodiac: aries personality type: the entertainer | esfp pinterest board: click here

regular order

large black coffee with a shot of caramel & whipped cream on top

aesthetics

listening to conspiracy podcasts in a deadbeat car in an empty parking lot in the middle of the night

the wafting smell of freshly made blueberry muffins and pockets of sunshine that warm your skin

 skinned knees covered by alien themed band-aids

theme song: boy bye by brockhampton

ring in their ears like a bark always feel left in the dark trauma the price for the patience character shift like an arc move like my shit stay in park don't feel the love or respect grip like a hand on my neck this is the year, place your bets (boy, bye)

positive & negative

brash ( adj ) : self-assertive in a rude, noisy, or overbearing way.

sagacious ( adj ) : having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; shrewd.

planetary commentary: updates every thursday @ 3:33am

planetary commentary is a podcast that focuses on all sorts of topics though they primarily tend to center around conspiracy theories, murder mysteries, missing people cases, space, lgbtqa+ subjects, and the occasional book or movie reviews. it could be seen as a bit of a messy podcast, however, it has gained quite the following over the year and a half its been available. ( first premiered may 1st, 2017 )

the chronicles of unknowing: updates every sunday @ 3:33am

a sci-fi, fantasy podcast centered around a boy as he journeys through a strange and mysterious land. he could not recall his name nor how he ended up in such an empty place. he simply woke up one day in a empty house where faceless photos presented themselves on dusty walls. how will he deal with the loneliness this empty town envokes and how will he choose to proceed when there is no clear direction? join the nameless boy as he logs his journey via tape recorder. ( first premiered october 1st, 2019 )

then

mars was born to their mother in the early hours of april second after tiring hours of labour. her mother, anastasia baumer, was over the moon to have her child in her arms after nine long months. it was a lonely celebration, though. no one was there to congratulate her or see her beautiful baby. no, instead, she welcomed mars into the world with just herself as family.

being a working single mother was tough, the money that anastasia’s parents had left her helped in mars’ younger years before they were old enough to go into daycare. things were bound to get more difficult as life went on as the finances were harder to keep up with, especially rent which only increased over the years. still, the child and mother duo were happy and lived life to its fullest. sure, mars couldn’t join any extracurricular sports, but they enjoyed writing and helping their mother with cooking/baking.

of course, life just couldn’t sort itself out for them. no matter how much anastasia gave, the world only took and took and took. it only made sense for the world’s greed to fall on mars as well. on their twelfth birthday, their mother made a choice to go out in the rain to pick up their birthday cake. she never made it home. mars waited up all night until the police came knocking to deliver the news.

( death tw ) a hit and run. she was left to die in the rain alone. that was probably the worst part. the fact that life couldn’t be gentle with her even til the end. mars wanted the hard truth. what was their mother’s last moments like? who left her to die? why would they do such a thing? there were so many questions they had and the police, with much hesitance, answered to the best of their abilities. their mother’s best friend met them at the station. she attempted to stay strong, however even in her righteous anger, tears swept her cheeks. it was a long month that followed.

left alone, mars was placed in foster care. the system was incredibly difficult to move through. they ended up being incredibly difficult to handle between poorly adjusting in school and slipping out of the houses. it took two years of swapping between three foster homes before they found the knox household. the knox’s consisted of cillian and avery knox as well as their son isak. it was a somewhat strange ensemble that mars joined. isak was cillian’s son from a previous marriage before he’d met avery and fell harder than ever before. it was...cute. they gave them space and isak was different from the other kids they ended up staying with previously. for starters, he was only a year younger than them. he complimented their vibe the first time they met and then asked what they thought about aliens. needless to say, their introduction into the knox’s dynamic and to each of them personally was a welcomed change.

fourteen years old, mars finally found a place they could settle down in and mourn their mother while attempting to settle. it was nice, living with avery- living with another person of colour, who encouraged their desire to explore different styles and, later on, pronouns when they started to question their gender. the support of cillian and isak as well encourage their unique interests and desire to learn about their self. the family helped them in ways they could never pay back. 

( cancer tw, death tw ) life never failed to come back to ruin them. they had at least six years of blissful peace before isak began to get sick. it was a terrible time and took a while to catch on to. yet, the diagnosis wasn’t promising. cancer never was. isak held out a while against the leukemia that made him sick. almost a year, in fact, before he ended up passing. the devastation they felt was an echo of the past as they lost their best friend and brother. 

now

two years later found mars living outside the knox household and in a two bedroom apartment with someone they found on craig’s list or something. they liked to introduce them and tell tales about how they ended up rooming together, even going as far as claiming they found them on the side of the road. 

mars has been working at the deja brew for about two years now. after dropping out of school for when isak was sick, they decided not to return. their fathers were disgruntled, but allowed it. after all, they were there on scholarship anyways. they had expected them to return, however, mars has yet to show any interest in continuing their program.

mars can come across as a very detached individual, however, they are in actuality very passionate. get them speaking about something they have an interest in and they seem to do a complete 180 in personality as they talk. 

they enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, whether it be baking or cooking. occasionally, they’ll have their co-workers and some customers try one of their end products to get a gauge on how it turned out. unfortunately, they’re not always good. most of the time they’re stomach-able, though, so that’s good.

they just began a new podcast titled the chronicles of unknowing. they haven’t told anyone, but the main character is based off of their brother. they wanted to remember him and transform their grief into something that could possible help others but also potentially allow for isak to still touch peoples lives.

they publish the podcasts under the pseudonym mercury as they believe it takes the whole act of them creating away from their self and focuses things on the actual content they put out.

[teenytinyapprentice]

(same headcanons anon) honestly i'd die for that kind of long post sdhfbsjhgbjfd but how about the main cast? layton, luke, flora, and emmy (and perhaps others you'd consider as part of the main cast), i'd really love to hear your thoughts!

GhKdjsfhds UH sure I’m not even sure how to go about organizing any of my thoughts so how about I just give you a whole bunch of random thoughts about the puzzle family + co  in jot note form (sorta)  and you can take from it what you will … disclaimer: Im sure some of these contradict canon and I’ll forget I even came up with them/said them in this and contradict myself but also I am just having fun here and don’t care sfdhkjfhskjglgf

Hershel has an unusually small appetite and prefers lighter dishes to anything heavy or too rich

Emmy and Desmond are both pretty artistic. Emmy mostly focuses on her photography but also enjoys drawing while Desmond actually enjoys painting (mostly water colour) although he’d loathe to let anyone but Raymond know about his hobby until he’s much older - Hershel on the other hand can’t draw For SHIT.

Desmond hair turns totally grey pretty much overnight when he hits his mid 60s while Hershel’s hair doesn’t turn white (slowly but surely) until he’s almost 80. It’s a sore spot.

Luke has his picture on walls of restaurants pretty much everywhere he goes from winning those “eat this giant meal and get it for free” competitions - he wins them on accident most of the time and has forgotten about a lot of them

The Puzzle family will spend at least one major holiday in Monte d’Or with Randall, Angela and Henry - it’s always a huge event and they all look forward to it

Emmy reunites with Layton and the rest of the puzzle family shortly after the events in Unwound Future having heard about the attack on London and realizing delaying seeing the Professor again might mean she just /never/ sees him again (considering his preoccupation for danger) - she just misses Luke leaving but does get to meet Flora and is a huge influence on her becoming more independent and standing up to the Professor

Desmond reunites with the Puzzle family partially on accident after Diabolical Box. He sort of planned to drop in on Hershel and give his little brother a heart attack but it ends up being less smooth and more awkward and difficult than expected… he drops in on occasion but doesn’t make a habit of sticking around too long until much later (influenced by rebuilding some kind of fragile relationship with Lucille and Roland)

Alfendi grew up in orphanages - he’s aware of his biological mother but has no relationship with her. He meets Layton and Flora as part of an investigation (no I haven’t put much thought into exactly what) - he and Flora strike up a funny friendship and when Layton hesitates to have Flora really join in on the investigation Alfendi and Flora do a mini-investigation of their own. They both end up proving to be formidable investigators, but mostly really befriend one another… which in turn strongly influences Hershel to ask Alfendi’s permission to foster and eventually adopt him

Flora does learn to cook later in life but excels more in baking - Katrielle helped her often in the kitchen growing up which is why she loves sweets so much

Flora has a growing interest in robotics that really kicks off when Gizmo (the robot dog from Curious Village) first breaks down when she’s home alone and she has to repair him - Desmond specifically encourages this and helps teach her, Hershel signs her up for a robotics camp upon her request realizing how much she enjoys it

Hershel thinks it’s HILARIOUS that Lucy calls Alfendi “Prof” and literally never stops giving him a hard time over it 

Flora and Alfendi learn to fence, Flora is the better of the two of them. Luke takes up karate inspired by Emmy’s fighting style (and is a terrible, terrible fencer. Just plain awful). Katrielle tried a variety of sports growing up (acrobatics, track and field teams, soccer, floor hockey, variety of dance classes etc.) but never really stuck to anything

Alfendi used to smoke but quit after Forbodium and was never able to get back into it

Emmy used to sneak Alfendi and Flora into horror movies against Hershel’s wishes before Flora was old enough to sneak Alfendi in herself

Flora hit a major growth spurt bout a year after UF and towers over Hershel (and most of the family) at 6”0 tall. Alfendi is a bastard and stole her thunder by matching her height by the time he was 15

Hershel and Flora are both autistic

Flora still visits St. Mystere on occasion - more so when Bruno passes to keep an eye on the residents of her hometown. Her and Lady Dahlia have a complicated but still loving relationship

Luke writes a LOT of letters when he first moves to America to keep up with his friends in England (and all over) - this dwindles down over time but he sends monthly letters to Hershel, Flora, Arianna and Crow until he eventually moves back

Alfendi used to dye his hair black as a teenager but had terrible upkeep and lots of roots showing so he grew out of it in a year or so

Alfendi suffers from chronic migraines and pain exacerbated by Forbodium, which is why he really hates leaving the house/office unless absolutely necessary (he also just isn’t a people person) 

The amount of people the Layton’s refer to as their aunt/uncle is confusing as hell. Lots of the Professor’s old friends get aunt/uncle status (for example Uncle Randall, Uncle Henry, Aunt Angela, Uncle Desmond, Aunt Emmy, Uncle Wright, Aunt Maya, Uncle Andrew, etc.) - specifically confusing around Luke who’s referred to as both brother and uncle

Raymond and Alfendi are actually very close

Luke moves back to London to officially work as Layton’s assistant after he graduates high school in America but also travels independently more often

Raymond has been Desmond’s primary caretaker since his pre-teens. He’s the closest thing he has to a father-figure but they’d never call it that, but it certainly a strong familial love and loyalty - and Des did end up adopting Raymond’s last name “Sycamore” and keeps it post canon when he officially hangs up his persona Descole for good

Flora works a variety of odd jobs before she follows through on her passion of robotics and electronic design

Hershel and Alfendi both have terrible fashion sense

Hershel eventually does tell all of his children (and Desmond, Emmy, Randall) about Claire. It doesn’t get much easier to talk about, but he’s always relieved when he says it

Hershel still has some kind of relationship with Dimitri and Clive. It’s… complicated. Real complicated. But present.

Emmy doesn’t have a relationship with Bronev after the events of AL - she does try but ends up needing to cut it off for her own sake

Luke writes stories inspired by his and the Professor’s adventures - but he tries to keep it a secret while he’s writing, too self-conscious to think of letting anyone let alone Layton read them just quite yet

Desmond actually really likes working with children, finds their presence refreshingly honest (even when they’re little shits) - and really only remembers this when he’s surrounded by Layton’s children in the future

Flora calls Hershel “Dad” or “Professor”, Luke alternates between “Professor” “Hershel” (occasionally “Dad”), Alfendi calls him “Father” or “Hershel” (occasionally “Dad” as well) while Katrielle almost exclusively calls him “Papa” 

Hershel actually once genuinely almost forgot his name was Hershel because of how many people in his day to day just call him “Professor” or “Layton” and its a little jarring hearing his first name sometimes 

Flora was homeschooled while Alfendi and Katrielle attended classes at public school - Alfendi and Katrielle were both notorious trouble makers but for very different reasons

All of the Puzzle kids (Luke, Flora, Alfendi and Katrielle) are trans and are like the perfect sliding scale of The Type of Name You Choose For Yourself When You’re Trans from exceedingly normal to obscure

Luke’s full name is Lucas but literally no one calls him that 

Alfendi’s two personalities go by “Al” and “Fendi” (the latter being the post-Forbodium personality) respectively, but will respond to “Alfendi” regardless of who’s fronting 

Hershel, Emmy and Katrielle have lovely singing voices. Alfendi cannot sing at all.

Luke and Flora both learn to drive while Alfendi and Katrielle never do - Luke learns to ride motorcycles but will still scream the whole time if Emmy takes the wheel of ANY vehicle

Luke in all sincerity owns hiking heels and its the worst thing he owns probably

AND OK. thats all I feel like writing right now but sure take that hopefully some of these are at least a bit funny or interesting to read fhdskjghsd

[diningpageantry]

Drunk Text

Archive Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18215168/chapters/43179500

Chapter 4/10 of It’s A Handheld Disaster

Word Count: 2002

Chapter Summary: Baz's friends get him a little drunk, which scares Simon half to death. Cue nervous spamming, best friend's advice, and a single picture.

BAZ

(strings_n_roses): gods.mistake: i dont know i guess im just scared of losing her family's attention???

My eyes scan over his text in the drop down, thumb pressing onto the screen to keep it half-showing. It's probably not a good idea to be talking to him about this right at this second, but I don't want him to feel abandoned (especially given our topic). The tiny graphic of the Instagram logo looms in the forefront of my mind even after I close my phone, thinking of a response.

A hard lemonade bottle rolls and rests against my thigh, making me look up at Dev as he pops open another. Despite calling them a “Gay drink”, he's already gone through two of them.

“Oy, you've barely had shit,” he says, twisting off the top of his third as he eyes my one half-empty bottle.

“Yeah,” Niall adds, eyebrows narrowing as he lifts his own drink. He bought an even shittier wine cooler. “Loosen up a little, you wound up dick.”

Reluctantly, I bring my bottle to my lips and swing, maintaining eye constant with Niall. Even with a weird shiver in a response, he doesn't look away. Neither do I--not until the bottle is finished. With a pop of my lips, I lower the glass and smirk. “There--happy?”

“I… guess?” He says slowly. “You okay, mate? What's wrong?”

What's wrong? What's wrong? Snow's texting me from his bathroom, too tired from crying to get off the tile, and I can't help him in any other way than to talk to him. That's what's wrong. “It's nothing. Just shit. That's all.”

Dev's foot nudges mine, making me disconcerted with their mutual care for my emotions. Usually, they just let me sulk, but tonight… tonight's odd. They're boozing me up and getting me to talk (for once).

I turn my head head away, looking towards the long, creaking window of mine. It nearly brushes the floor, and looks out upon the broad, rise and fall of our garden. The winter season leaves it beyond chilling.

“Can you open that?” I ask, voice tired as I nod towards my cousin. He blinks at me at first before rising to his feet and drawing it open. With a hand on my bed frame, I haul myself upright and onto my feet before digging through my nightstand. In the back lies a pack of cigs and a lighter I snagged from Aunt Fi's flat.

Only Dev takes one when I offer, seating myself right on the ledge. Neither of them bat an eye, except Niall's concerned staring as I lean against the frame, striking the light.

“Fine, don't answer,” he mumbles, taking back a mouthful of his drink.

I let in a drag, feeling it burn the back of my throat as I slide out my phone. Both the boys sit silently, exchanging glances as I finally type back a semi-coherent response for Simon.

The already buzzing of my head from the nicotine doesn't fully help my thoughts as much as I hoped it would.

strings_n_roses: christmas is over now, so the holidays are gone. if she weighs heavily on you because of the break up, then it isn't healthy and definitely not a pain that you deserve

strings_n_roses: and i know she drives you home, but maybe someone on your team will drive you instead if you ask

strings_n_roses: there's options other than discomfort

I suck in, turning off my phone with the app left open. The sound of Niall's shifting is nearly enough to make me want to yell. Their collective concern is barely appreciated, given it seems to be so sparse when actually needed.

In all honesty, I shouldn't blame them. I'm not in school, and they're just trying to help when they can. still, I can't shake the emptiness of their situational devotion to my feelings.

“You've been acting odd,” Dev adds first, giving me another drink. I take it, finishing my cig first. Looking at the burning end of it, I hand it out the window and crush it against the stone of the wall, leaving the butt on the sill as I climb off.

The drink is always better when you start the second one. “Just life shit. Doesn't matter,” I say, leaning back against the wall as I exhale slowly. There it is. The odd, mostly empty stomach nausea I get whenever I get to drink. Hits me harder, and makes it stronger. And almost definitely going to fuck me over, but it's only a few drinks (and I'm a lightweight, because fuck genetics).

As my eyes fall shut, I feel the jostling buzz of my notifications. Without hesitation, I pick it up and read it through as more messages slide down.

(strings_n_roses): gods.mistake: i dont really have friends on the team to drive me

(strings_n_roses): gods.mistake: or really anyone, except penny and sort of agatha, i guess

(strings_n_roses): gods.mistake: and her dad. her dad loves me

(strings_n_roses): gods.mistake: fuck im a little lonely fucker sorry im a killjoy and you're probably doing something more interesting with your life and im just ranting like an idiot fuck sorry

I ignore both Dev and Niall's looks as I attentively swipe it open, head spinning. I barely pay attention to what I'm saying, trying to get a word in before he has a chance to belittle himself further.

strings_n_roses: don't apologise at all. im heer to yell towards

strings_n_roses: after all im judt drinking im not ewally doingmuch

SIMON

My heart nearly stops, throat catching as I reread.

He's drinking. Fuck.

Vision blurring and body weak, the process of pulling myself upright makes it a battle all in itself.

The bathroom floor is filthy, but it felt like home. One minute I was standing, washing my hands silently in the sink, then I met my eyes in the mirror and crumpled onto the old, ratty bathmat. I'd just cried, a quiet sob into my wrist as the details of the room overwhelmed me. The dripping of the sink, the burning of the lights. The fear of losing Penny because I've practically lost Agatha already.

I don't even know if I miss her. I don't know if I want to miss her. I miss her family at Christmas--this was the first year since moving here without me going to the Wellbeloves for the holidays. I know I miss the way we'd sit together in silence, shoulder to shoulder and watching Doctor Who, but I don't know if I miss us.

She'd told me today that I'm too much. It's been months since the break up, but she said she still had something to say. That something, apparently, is that my life's unnecessary overwhelming, and I don't make her happy.

I told her likewise to me, even if I didn't mean it.

Maybe I did. I don't know.

I don't know anything.

I don't know why Baz is drinking. He'd told me a month or so back that he does occasionally, but he usually refrains from drunk texting. Says he doesn't like waking up to messages he didn't mean to send. I wonder what's different tonight.

I wipe my eyes, sniffling as quietly as possible as my trembling fingers tap out a response.

gods.mistake: please drink water

gods.mistake: and limit yourself. dont drink too much fuck just slow down

gods.mistake: did you eat? make sure youre eating

gods.mistake: please dont do anything stupid just please dont hurt yourself

At first, he's silent. The read receipt pops up, then stays still. Something in me thumps, then grows in strength as I struggle to breathe evenly again.

I've seen it too often. Too fast--too soon. The spiraling, the life destruction. The kids a few years older than me stashing stolen pill bottles under beds and liquor in their pillow cases.

I don't want him to hurt like that, and I can feel it already. The biting edge of coping.

My hand slides through my hair, settling amongst tangled curls as I shake. A disappearing picture from him pops up, starling me slight before I exhale, opening it.

It's his hand, the flash on it as he holds a pint sized glass of water. I can recognize it from his pictures of violin playing, scattered throughout his damned aesthetic Instagram account. It's the only part of his body I can recognize, and I know it well. Smooth on the back, and calloused fingertips with sharp jutting angles of his joins. His skin is a midtone of soft brown, like the shade of a perfect cup of tea, and his palm fades much lighter. You can tell he's some posh arse, because his nails are always trimmed and buffed.

And there they are, holding a glass of water with a crudely drawn smiley face on the screen. The room is mostly dark around it, and I can only make out hardwood floor and a thick, red carpet.

(gods.mistake): strings_n_roses: i'm okay i promise! i'm a healthy boy

(gods.mistake): strings_n_roses: :)

(gods.mistake) strings_n_roses: i’m with friends rhey’re takint xare of me i promise i an ok!

gods.mistake: ok ok im sorry for freaking out im sorry

I chew on my nail, biting around to the cuticles as my eyes squeeze shut. I'm overreacting again. I'm blowing up.

I tap out of the app and pull of my messaging, pulling my one of few conversations--Penny.

im losing it right now penn

its so stupid and youre gonna hate me but im losing it fuck me fuck shit fuck fuck fuck

You've texted your last fuck, buddy

It's the swearing police

I've come to ask for a recount of why on Earth you're sobbing

its stupid its so stupid im sorry

its baz hes drinking

and i panicked and messaged him a ton but im worried i pissed him off and he might hate me what if he hates me

fuck shit fuck

Do you have any basis on him hating you???

Did he text you all angry???

no but i feel it im stupid and i know it i feel it

First of all, stop

Second of all, if he's not angry, he's not angry

Third, why does this matter so much? You barely know him

thats not true we talk everyday

He's online, Si

You can lose him in a snap, why care?

Why do you even trust him so much you don't know what he looks like ://

i know what his hands look like

thats something

and just idk i trust him he seems to care

and we like the same stuff and i just

idk

i trust him

why are you talking about this again now

i thought we were over this

I said I was tired of you talking about Baz at lunch, I didn't say we were over the conversation

I'm just worried, that's all

Fuck knows you don't have someone else to worry about you over this, and he could just be some arse praying on you because you're vulnerable

People do that, you know

hes not some 80 year old creep penn

he seems as young as he says

and he doesnt use me or anything we just talk

im ok im safe i swear

hes just scaring me

Just be safe, Simon.

Something makes me jump, and it takes a full moment to register that it's Davy knocking around downstairs, doing whatever he does in his study. I should be in bed. He knows I should be in bed. He'll want me to be asleep, after all.

I tiptoe out carefully, knowing where the floor doesn't creak as I slip back into my room and in bed. The blanket's shit and scratchy, but it's something.

As I plug my mobile in, I send out a quick message to Baz, letting my embarrassment ease through while I swallow my pride.

gods.mistake: im sorry for freaking out

gods.mistake: sleep tight pls

[maximvms-blog]

HEY HOW’S IT GOIN’ GUYS. it’s ya girl aura and i’m back for veritas: quarter quell edition ! i’m a 20 year old garbage can ( she / her or they / them pronouns plz ) from pst timezone. as you can clearly see, i am a mess, but i’m here to have fun and get to know all of you guys !! i can’t WAIT to unlock the mysteries of this rp, and i know for a fact its going to actually destroy me, so heads up: i’m diagnosed babey and cry over everything all the time. that being said, i also love pain so while i may be crying, i am also THRIVING !! i’m also an artist so i hope ya’ll are ready for me to occasionally draw the shenanigans that happen here. it’s gonna be a TIME !

anyway, enough about me ! click the neat little read more button to get to know my baby boy, maxi-pad. if you like what you see, also feel free to hit that ♥ and i’ll pop into your tumblr or discord ims to aggressively keysmash a plot out. sounds good ? GREAT !! can’t wait to talk to you all asfkalsdjfasfd i’m so excited !

skeleton: the ace faceclaim: froy gutierrez name: max thomas gender & pronouns: cis male ( he/him ) age: twenty-two major: zoology clubs: captain of the track & field and football team ; student government secretary living arrangement: auberlin apartments / apartment 01 employment: unemployed, but occasionally volunteers places & does odd jobs for those that need it

[ GENERAL ]

first off, some links. you can find his dossier HERE ( featuring a bio / some stats ) & his pinterest board HERE !!

his name is maximilian anthony thomas ( if he turns out to be the killer i’m gonna laugh because i really did give him 3 first names ) but honestly just max is fine ^^

he’s the child to two ABSOLUTE UNITS of women. both of them are olympic medalists in the athletics category. even his sperm donor dad ( who, yes, also helped raise him ) was a big time baseball player who now coaches one of the best international teams, so to say that he is SPORTS BOY would almost be an understatement.

his sport of choice is easily track, but he also really enjoys baseball, basketball, soccer, and, later on in life, football. if it’s got a ball or allows him to run, chances are he plays it.

he was winning medals as early as 7 years old and had enough for a full wall by the time he was 10. boy is a legacy and it SHOWS.

he doesn’t like it when people try to give him things just because of his name or who his parents are. he would much rather get things through his own hard work. at the same time, he hates losing and is willing to do not so great things in secret if it means he’ll win.

captain of the track & field team during the spring / summer and captain of the football team during fall / winter. he also might be in the student government too so rifp his schedule. boy is ALWAYS busy.

LOVES HIS TEAMMATES SO FUCKING MUCHHHHH !!!!!! they’re his family.

he also does a lot of charity events cuz his parents raised that shit in him ( they literally met at a charity triathalon ), so he goes to quite a view galas and whatnot. LITERALLY HE’S SO BUSY THIS BOY NEVER HAS FREE TIME.

is surprisingly really well versed in art & art history due to one of his moms being a HUGE art history buff. literally his family did an art tour vacation once where they just went across europe & went to a bunch of galleries. basically he may seem like a dumb jock, but if you mix up a renoir & a monet, he WILL call you out on it.

absolute sunshine boy !! loves to smile & laugh & love !! is so passionate about everything !

however, he has some really bad jealousy and pride issues, as hinted at earlier. they’re easily his greatest vices in equal measure.

he’s emotionally fragile so if he snaps, it can get pretty scary, but he’s really good at hiding that side of him. granted, bottling it all up probably isn’t the best either . . .

THAT SAID, HE’S STILL THE TOWN’S GOLDEN BOY !! his coach keeps talking about the 2020 olympics and he’s SO PSYCHED !! everyone in town knows his name bc he really out here being nice to everyone he meets & helping little old ladies cross the road on top of everything else he does. he’s just That Guy.

[ DAISEY ]

he had known her since they were wee babies, and they were definitely friends first. whenever they played house, he was always the dog looooong before he played her husband.

the two were always real & honest with each other, and it’s safe to say that he knew the true her before she got all caught up in her loneliness and secret hoarding.

SHE was the one to ask HIM out not long after starting middle school, making them each other’s first like . . . actual relationship. ( though tbh, she moreso DEMANDED he be her boyfriend, rather than properly asking him aslkfjasdf he could never say no to her though so it didn’t really matter )

they wound up having an off-&-on relationship for SIX YEARS. in late-ish high school, he could feel her drifting away so he told her his secret, thinking it would stop her from being bored of him. unfortunately she ended up breaking up w/ him the next day.

[ STALKING TW ] before long she was already seeing someone new. that triggered his jealous streak, and between that and his fear that she was going to tell someone his secret, he started stalking her. at first it was just lining up their schedules so he could always keep an eye on her, but eventually he got access to her social media logins and started keeping tabs on her private conversations. she’d shown him some of her own hacking tricks when they were still together, so even when she changed her passcodes, it was a simple crack before he was snooping through her shit again.

eventually she confronted him about the fact that she was constantly seeing him everywhere, though still unaware of the fact that he was the one that was hacking into her accounts. he played it off, and while she did tell the authorities about it, that was about the end of it. he stopped stalking her for a couple of years after following her to st ettienne, and things mellowed out between them.

he joined student council that year, and after that him and daisey started to talk a lot more again. they even kinda became friends again. one night, she was having a rough time so she called him. after a quiet night of talking and looking at the stars, she kissed him. it was really great, up until she shoved him away and said it was a mistake, going right back to ignoring his existence the very next day. this caused him to fall back into his stalking habits, finding them a comfort.

this time, she finds out that its HIM going through her social media, and she pulls him aside privately at the homecoming party to yell at him. she even says that she’s going to expose his secret for being such a creep. it’s then that he sees her for what she really is, rather than the rose-colored image he’d been seeing before.

that’s the last he ever sees of daisey rutherford, and he can’t tell if he’s grateful or heartbroken for that.

[ WANTED CONNECTIONS ]

okay listen i’m . . . honestly garbage at coming up with wanted connections because i genuinely want everything. friends, lovers, enemies, family — the whole shebang. i’m always down to brainstorm, so if you’ve got any ideas, even if they’re whacky, hit me with them and we can come up with something phenomenal and unique, yeah ? yeah !

the biggest actual idea i can think of is like . . . half siblings through his biological father. i think the dichotomy of that could be fun since his dad is still VERY MUCH in his life along w/ his 2 moms. TAKEN BY CASSIDY

rivals in sports could be fun ! as w/ rivals in general !

people he tried hooking up w/ to make daisey jealous when they weren’t together ? maybe ??

he doesn’t drink or smoke or do anything fun so like ?? a bad influence type connection mayhaps ?

HE NEEDS A TUTOR !!!! HE NEEEEEDS A TUTORRRRR !!!!!

bro squad bro squad bro squad bro squad bro squad. did i mention bro squad ?? ( ed is his best fucking friend so any mutual friends,,,,,, let’s squad it up )

maybe i’ll edit this later if more come to me, but for now that’s what i’ve got !! hmu if anything strikes your fancy or if you’ve got any other ideas !

[let-it-raines]

Second in Command (Epilogue - Part Seven)

Summary: Life as the “spare to the heir” isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be when you’re the supposed screw-up of the family, but people don’t know what really happens behind closed doors.

Rating: Mature

A/N: You guys are totally going to be annoyed with me for how I left it on a cliffhanger when I totally didn’t have to except to show some character growth and how things change...which I guess is exactly the reason I ended it that way :D

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Epilogue Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 

Tag list: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @kmomof4 @wellhellotragic @ekr032-blog-blog @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615@a-faekindagirl @mayquita @captainsjedi @captswanis4vr @kristi555 @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @alys07 @andiirivera

“Can I come in, son?”

“Yeah, of course,” Killian answers automatically, the shock of his father just showing up at his door stunning him for only a moment. It’s not like he never visits. He usually just calls or texts first. “I didn’t know you were coming over, dad. Why didn’t you call?”

“Oh, I was visiting the kids and thought I’d drop by since I knew that the two of you had returned home.” His dad steps inside, squeezing his shoulder before leaning down to pet Indy. “Hello, darling,” he then greets Emma, kissing her cheek before wrapping her up in a hug. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good, good,” Emma insists, her eyes still blown wide as if she’s actually been shocked. He knows she’s still a bit rattled from the flight and her nausea. The same thing had happened when they went out sailing the morning of their anniversary, before the disaster of the rest of that day, and even though he had been wary of it, Emma insisted she was fine. She never said she wasn’t, but the green of her face told him otherwise. “How are you?”

“Kicking pretty high for my age.”

“You are not old,” she laughs, tugging on Indy’s leash. “Do you mind if I take Indy for a quick walk? Let her run around a bit. She’s been told she’s going outside, and I’m afraid she’ll freak out if she doesn’t get to go.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll chat with Killian, and the second you two come back inside, I want to hear all about how you’ve been since you left us to go holiday in the warm sunshine. I swear it’s rained for the past week.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Emma takes a step over toward him, leaning up and kissing his cheek, whispering that she’ll be right back before taking a step outside with Indy and leaving him with his dad.

“Do you want something to drink? Eat?”

“I’m fine.” His father begins walking to the living room, settling down into the recliner he prefers when visiting all while Killian sits down on the couch next to him, only a side table between them. “So how was your holiday?”

He almost chokes on his own saliva thinking of all of the things he absolutely cannot tell his father about their holiday as well as wondering if he should bring up the privacy issue just yet. He doesn’t know, is never truly sure about these types of things. He could have a nice, normal conversation with his father or it could turn into another tense, stressful one. He’s had enough of those for a lifetime, but he also knows that he doesn’t have all of the time in the world to fix this. He’s got fewer than four months, really.

“It was wonderful,” he finally answers, his lips ticking up on one side. It really was wonderful to get away with Emma and only have each other for awhile despite the disaster that was their anniversary. It got better, though. It wasn’t completely bad. They had the sailing trip and the takeout meal that was better than anything else they’d eaten if only for how comfortable they both felt. He felt his son move for the first time, which was bloody brilliant and most definitely his new favorite thing. “It’s a gorgeous island. Emma mentioned something about asking you to make our beaches like that.”

Brennan barks out a laugh, the wrinkles on his face all gathering together while his gray hair shakes the slightest bit. If Killian was a betting man, he’d guess his dad is getting his hair cut in the next two or three days, keeping up with his lifelong schedule of haircuts. “If only I could. That would be bloody wonderful. But I like the way she thinks.”

“She’s definitely a brilliant dreamer.” He trails off toward the end of his sentence, looking down at his hand and twisting his ring around his finger, his constant physical reminder of his lifelong commitment to Emma, as if he really needs one. “Can I talk to you about something, dad?”

“Of course.”

“I know, well, I know that things were different when I was a kid, that technology wasn’t as advanced, that I was a bit of a surprise child and that you were on the older side when I was born.”

“Well, why don’t you just call me elderly then, Killian? And you have absolutely no proof that you were a surprise child.”

His dad laughs when he speaks, but Killian isn’t finding a lot of humor in it, knowing that he’s likely going to upset Brennan with his words.

“What I mean is, I know you weren’t really, truly involved in my life. And I’m not blaming you or trying to make you feel…upset, but I need a very particular kind of advice that really only you and mum or Liam and Abigail can give. And I’m honestly not even sure you can give it.”

“What’s wrong, Killian?”

He takes a moment to collect himself, hundreds of words on the tip of his tongue but none of them feeling quite right. But he has to say something, so he might as well speak the truth.

“How the hell am I supposed to be a father in a world where I can’t protect the privacy of my wife and my child? There were, um, photographers who rented out a house and used scopes to take pictures of us on the beach. And Emma and I got into a pretty nasty argument about it. She’s worried…I’m worried about Andrew’s privacy. We want him to live a life as normal as possible. We don’t want photographers following him to school or to the park, and I just – I don’t know how to fix it.”

He’s been clenching his fist all while he talks, the tenseness in his hand almost painful while hot tears form in his eyes, every fault and every insecurity he’s had long before the fight with Emma coming back and assaulting his senses, making everything a dark, cloudy blur.

Brennan looks calm, secure, the blue of his eyes not changing while his eyelids rapidly blink, his brows furrowing and the lines on his face increasing. Has he said too much? Shown too much emotion? Asked for the impossible?

“The fact that you have very obviously beaten yourself up about this proves that you are a better dad than I ever have been.”

“That’s not what I meant, dad. I didn’t – ”

“I know, Killian. I’m not taking offense to anything. I was a poor excuse for a father for the majority of your life. I was focused on Liam, on my job, on the protocol and the way that my father raised Albert and me. All I knew was that fathers were not supposed to be close to their children, and as much as that hurt me as a child, I stupidly believed it. The fact that you have forgiven me is something I still can’t believe.”

He leans over and places his hand on Brennan’s knee, patting him before leaning back and wiping at his eyes. “I did it for me, but with the way you’ve worked to change, you deserve it.”

“Thank you, my boy.” His father smiles, settling back into his chair and crossing his hands together in his lap. “But this is not about me. This is about you and your family. So you don’t want Andrew in the public eye? At all? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I mean, we haven’t discussed it in serious length, but yes. I’m sure that Emma will be okay with releasing the occasional photo or having him join us when we go overseas so we don’t have to be apart from him, but I think we’re going to have to take a step back in traditions. And when he gets older, I think we may need to move somewhere much more private.”

The front door opens then, the alarm beep sounding at the same time that he hears the click of nails and the squeak of sneakers as well as Emma’s voice. He straightens up, fixing his hunched back and sitting against the couch in as much of a relaxed position as he can.

“Go find, Killian, girl, yeah,” Emma coos, her voice getting louder the closer she gets to the living room. And then she’s in view, Indy running in first and jumping up on the couch before getting down once she spots Brennan, less familiar people always more exciting than him. Emma walks toward him, sitting down in the seat Indy just vacated and reaching around him to tangle her fingers in his hair, stroking the strands. “What’s wrong? Your shoulders are tensed.”

How the hell does she always know?

“Killian and I,” his father answers for him, seemingly understanding that Killian wasn’t sure what to say, “were simply talking about how you two seem to be suffering from some privacy issues and are worried about your child’s future, that you want Andrew to lead a more private life than normal.”

“Oh,” Emma gulps, her hand stilling in his hair before beginning again, “well, yeah. I know that we all grew up differently and that my childhood isn’t really an option, but that’s what I want, what we want. We want him to be able to be a kid, you know? I don’t want him to be used to cameras everywhere he goes. I don’t know how we’d fix that, but that’s definitely my top priority right now. And forever probably.”

His hand finds Emma’s knee, thumb running back and forth over the material of her leggings while she speaks. He’s here with her, for her, consistently, and he hopes that she knows this.

“Why don’t you two give me some time to think things over? I’ll meet with security. We’ll work out some plans and ideas. You two should probably talk to Liam and Abigail. It’s not, well, it won’t be exactly the same. You have more freedom than them, and they’re not quite as private as the two of you. But they do have experience in all of this.” “Thank you, Brennan,” Emma sighs, leaning back into the couch and scratching at his neck, his eyes fluttering closed for a quick moment.

“Of course, but at the end of the day, above everything else, we’re a family. How you two feel is far more important than any sort of duty and tradition we have, even if I do ask that we stick to the important ones.”

“Actually, I have something else that I want to talk about.”

His head snaps to her, eyes searching for what she has to say, but she’s not looking at him, her gaze trained on the wag of Indy’s tail while her fingers tap over his on her leg, the hand in his hair having stilled.

“What do you want to talk about, love?”

She looks at him then, the smallest of smiles on her face that comforts him the slightest bit, before directing her gaze to Brennan. “I don’t want to walk out of the hospital all made up hours after giving birth. Kudos to Abigail. She is a badass woman for that, but that’s not what I want. Andy doesn’t need to be exposed to so many people as a newborn. I don’t need to be all dressed up when I’ve just given birth. I don’t care about tradition when it comes to this. This is what I’m doing, and I really feel like it’s the first step in taking a stand about him not being some kind of public property.”

He didn’t know she felt that way about any of that, nearly every word she said news to him, but he gets it, supports it. If that’s what Emma wants for this, that’s what they’ll do. He’s never quite understood that tradition anyways, and he likes the idea of a more private celebration with just them and their families while Emma heals and they adjust to the terrifying process of being parents for the first time.

“I’m not sure we can do that, dear.”

“What?” His head snaps over to his dad, trying to process the words. “You literally just said that how we feel is more important than any duty we have.”

“But that we need to stick to the important traditions, yes. New family members are an important tradition.”

“Brennan,” Emma grits, her voice strained as she tries to keep it friendly, “I respect our family and all of the traditions we have, but I am not some kind of human machine who’s only here to produce babies. Yes, of course this is a big deal, but it’s a big deal for us as a personal family, not as some part of the institution. You can still put the sign up, make any and all announcements you want. Hell, I’ll release a picture if we have to, but all I’m asking is that we’re allowed to leave and travel home in peace.”

“I agree, dad. I mean, really. Of all of the things we break and bend, of all of the things we change, surely you can let this one thing go? It’s not hundreds of years ago where people are faking pregnancies and paternities to keep the line intact, which was ridiculous then. I think letting family be family is the most important thing, don’t you?”

“Aye, it’s just…you’ll have to forgive me.” Brennan runs his hand over his face, visibly warring something within himself, the lines on his face stressing. “You were right earlier when you said things are different now. These are not things that I really went through with you, not as prevalent as you. Emma, dear, I’m sorry. I don’t…I shouldn’t have ever considered making you do something you’re not comfortable with. I love you dearly, and you and Killian know what’s best here, not me.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you,” Emma says, getting up from the couch and sitting down on the edge of the coffee table so that she can squeeze Brennan’s hand. “You are so brilliant, and you uphold this family so well. I know that I’m different, that it was difficult to accept me, but change can be good, you know?”

“I know.”

Brennan stays for a little while longer, hashing out a few more details with them before accepting a cup of tea and some food, finally listening to them talk about their holiday all the while scratching behind Indy’s ears, her eyes closed in bliss the entire time. It’s peaceful, relaxing, and he feels his shoulders loosen the longer the conversation goes on, Emma’s laughter and joyful voice sounding throughout the room. In the back of his mind, though, he keeps replaying the conversation, thinking of everything he said, everything they all said, and he’s amazed it all went as smoothly as it did, surprised that his father acquiesced to their private exit from the hospital so easily. He had no idea that Emma wanted that, and he wonders how long she’s been toying with the idea, how many late nights she’s spent worrying about bringing it up. He knows she didn’t just think of it now, that it wasn’t spur of the moment, and he tries to remind himself to ask her about it later, to make sure that there’s nothing else she’s hoarding inside.

She goes through enough, has gone through enough over the years, and she shouldn’t feel like she has to hold things back from him.

But he saves his thoughts for later, letting his dad leave and letting Emma take a nap, her eyes falling shut without her even laying down on the couch. He wakes her before she can get into too deep of a sleep, though, knowing that it’ll hurt her back, and helps her go upstairs to their room, ignoring the curses she’s muttering under her breath about him waking her up. While she sleeps, he goes downstairs to his office, answering emails and clearing out his inbox that he left alone while they were in Spain.

Summer is normally a slow time for them, June and July full of engagements while August is usually taken off to spend in Balmoral. Emma’s due in September, though, a few days after his birthday, and she’s not working after August begins. He is, though, doing his regular work and making a few short trips, making sure never to never travel more than three hours away in case he needs to be home.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have things to do now, organizing his files and reviewing the financials for Kidding a Goal until Indy comes walking into his office, her nails clicking against the wood until she’s staring up at him with her mouth wide open, tongue practically falling out of her mouth. He checks his watch and sees that it’s far past seven. He’s surprised she didn’t come and get him two hours ago.

“You ready to eat, my girl?”

That gets her tail wagging before she takes off, running toward the kitchen at such a pace that she’s probably there before he even gets up from his chair. Sure enough, she’s already waiting next to her bowl like the most well-behaved dog in the world, which is not something he expected when he and Emma decided to get a dog last year. But she’s done well, their training working most of the time, but Indy does have the tendency to lick his face when he’s sleeping. He’s not a fan of that.

But she’s his best bud and a constant companion on his runs, so it all evens out.

After feeding her, he hears footsteps coming down the stairs, Emma wandering into the kitchen with sleep-rumpled hair and pillow streaks on her face, her pajama top falling off of one shoulder. She immediately heads toward the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and some yogurt before settling down on a barstool.

“How’d you sleep?”

She grunts in response, opening her yogurt and eating a large spoonful. “I hate being pregnant sometimes.”

“So not well then?”

“Nope. I felt like my guts were all being squeezed out, but do you know who’s not moving now that I’m awake and out of bed?”

“Andy.”

“Yep.”

She keeps eating her yogurt, quickly finishing it up before getting another carton. He should probably fix something for dinner so she doesn’t consume the entire yogurt supply in their fridge.

“Hey, sweetheart?”

“Yeah?” she mumbles, pulling her spoon out of her mouth and looking up at him, her hair deflating the slightest bit from when she came down.

“You want to tell me what that was earlier? With my dad. When did you decide you didn’t want to do the public announcement?”

“Oh, um, I first thought about it a few weeks ago, but it was really driven home after last week. Why? You have an issue with it?”

“No,” he laughs, leaning down across from her and propping his elbows on the counter. “I think it’s bloody brilliant, that you are brilliant. I like that you want to do things your way…our way. It’s very sexy.” “Oh boy, if you’re looking to get laid right now that is not happening.”

“Well damn. Now I have no reason to compliment you.”

“Shut up,” she groans, tossing her spoon over into the sink, the metal clanking. “But seriously, you’re okay with all that, right?”

“Of course. I want you to do what makes you comfortable. I’m not the one giving birth.”

“Damn right. I think I’m going to give your dad a heart attack though.”

“Aye, definitely. I know he’s trying and he’s being accommodating, but I could practically see the fear of breaking traditions rolling off of him in anxiety-filled waves. But he’s seventy-three. Some things just aren’t going to change.”

“So basically we hit the jackpot today?”

“Yep.” He walks over to the fridge, opening it up and seeing what they have left over from before they left. “What do you want for dinner?”

-/-

“Bloody buggering hell,” he curses, bringing his thumb to his mouth and soothing where he just jammed his finger on the wood.

Building a crib should not be this difficult, but it apparently is. He’s been following the instructions exactly, making sure that each piece is doubly secure, and he’s not sure how it’s taking this long. He should be finished, this crib should be made, and he should be able to move onto the shelves or Emma’s glider that she was insistent on them getting.

He’s spent more time in this room in the past month than he has in any other room in the house, June somehow running away with itself all while he’s been hidden away within these four walls. It took a month and a half for he and Emma to decide on a simple light gray, one that he’s pretty sure is also in their bedroom, but honestly, once they both agreed on the color (likely because they have agreed on it once before), he wasn’t going to say anything else. He did pick out the gray-ish blue that’s on the wall with the shelves (or at least where they’ll go once he gets to them), so he’s pretty proud of it.

Neither he or Emma are much one for designing, though they have gotten a bit more into it since the remodel of the apartment, but he’s pretty proud of how Andy’s room is shaping up, even if the lad will stay in the bassinet in their room for awhile. It’s a simple room, clean lines and clean colors. All of the furniture are different shades of white and warm browns, woods really, with natural accents. Abigail gifted them a large wooden giraffe along with some leaf and animal prints, so those are sitting in the corner waiting to be placed after all of this furniture is built.

His favorite part, though, is definitely going to be the little sitting area by the shelves and the changing table. He’s not under any impression that this is going to be a calm room, a place to relax, but he figures there have to be times when he’s rocking Andy back to sleep in that very spot, the shelves filled with colorful children’s books that’ll become routine reading one day as well as being filled with several stuffed animals and photo frames that he can’t wait to update with pictures. Of course, the cabinets below will be filled with the essentials, the things no one likes to talk about like diapers and nipple cream (that was something Emma did not want to know about, and he honestly doesn’t blame her), but they’re definitely still in the dreamy, picture perfect nursery phase where the messiness of a child isn’t quite a factor.

Really to him, as much as he knows this is real, as much as he sees the physical proof, feels the physical proof (which holy shit is it incredible to be able to feel his son move), it’s still difficult for him to comprehend that in two months he and Emma will have a child. It’s something they’ve talked about for years, something they were planning on, but it’s difficult to put into words just how much love he has for his son.

And his wife.

She’s a rockstar in every sense of the word, and if he doesn’t mention it enough, Emma sure as hell will. He loves her fiercely, and that love is another thing that he can’t quite put into words. He honestly doesn’t understand men who moan and groan about their wives constantly. If anything, he finds it disgusting. Yes, you’re going to have disagreements with your significant other. That’s natural when you decide to spend your life with someone who has their own wants, needs, and opinions, but at the end of the day, his wife is his best friend. If there’s anyone he wants to spend time with, it’s her. No question.

If the answer to who your best friend isn’t your spouse or the person you’re marrying, he doesn’t understand why the hell you’d bother getting married. His mates are great, but they’re not Emma.

Maybe he is a bit of the cheeseball that Emma always claims him to be, but he likes it that way.

He’s definitely going to embarrass his kids. All of the time. He can’t wait. He’s got a few years, but he can’t wait.

“You know we can hire someone to do this, right?” Emma asks, a bit of laughter in her tone that makes him roll his eyes. His best friend, most definitely. The teasing is just a small part of that.

“Aye, but I’ve started it, and I intend on finishing it.” “Okay, but the crib doesn’t need to fall apart while there’s a baby inside of it, and the glider doesn’t need to fall apart while I’m sitting on it. That’s, like, a double disaster, and I know you lived by yourself for a long time, but I’m pretty sure you’re not capable of that anymore.”

“Oh, really? Because I was just going to make them as unsafe as possible so that I could live by myself again. I miss being able to stretch out in the bed.”

“You’re so funny,” she teases from the other side of the nursery where she’s putting away the washed clothes in the closet, organizing them by size. He swears they have enough clothes to last Andy for the first two years of his life, and that’s not counting the piles of things he knows David and Mary Margaret have at their house. “I think I may have bought him too much stuff. I don’t even think I own this many things.”

“You don’t mess your clothes up multiple times a day.”

“Good point.”

“I tend to make those.”

“Eh. Debatable.”

“Not at all debatable.” He turns back to the crib, looking at the instructions to see if he can remember where he left off before Emma distracted him. “Shit, this is impossible.”

“I can call my dad, babe. It won’t be a problem. He’s a bit handier than you.”

“Please, I am plenty handy.”

“Okay, well being handy with me is not the same as being handy when it comes to building things.”

“If we call your dad, he’s going to take over. I want to do some of this myself.”

“I will tell Dad just to help. Come on, babe, you love spending time with my dad.”

“Only now that he doesn’t give me the scary speeches anymore.”

“Yeah, I bet those were a lot of fun.”

“I mean, it’s been a solid half a decade since I’ve gotten one, but he still shakes me to my core.”

He hears Emma laugh, snort really, before she makes her way over to him, slowly settling down on the floor next to him and waving her hand until he gives her the instructions. She looks over them while looking at the crib, her eyes continuously darting between the two.

“You put part G in backwards. That’s why nothing after that is fitting.”

“Bloody hell,” he curses, reaching over and taking the instructions from her hand and checking to see if she really did just solve his problem, “how did you see that when I’ve been staring at it for the past hour?”

“Fresh eyes, my love. Fresh eyes.” She leans forward and kisses his cheek before falling back against the wall. “And that’s exactly why calling my dad and asking him to come over in the morning will be a great idea. I bet Mom will want to come too, and she does a mean job with a power drill.”

So Emma calls her parents who agree to come over in the morning. On top of moving, they’ve also begun to change around the hours of the pub, opening it earlier and letting Will close it out at night. And it’s because of this that they show up at eight in the morning, he and Emma both still asleep when their doorbell rings. Emma groans when she hears it, burying her face into his chest and making it impossible for him to get up without disturbing her. He can feel Andy summersaulting around in her belly, and he smiles to himself knowing that she’s going to have get up. She can’t sleep when he’s moving around like that.

He can’t sleep when Emma’s basically running marathons in bed, but that’s not something he’s going to voice out loud. He can get up and sleep in a guest room if he needs to. Emma can’t get up and walk away from the person who’s running marathons in her stomach.

There’s two human feet inside of her. That’s pretty weird if he thinks about it too much.

Okay, so really weird.

Slowly but surely he gets out of bed, letting Emma flip over into his spot, and heads downstairs to open the front door. David and Mary Margaret have a key, but they never use it, always waiting for either he or Emma to open the door for them, which he appreciates after one too many times having them walk in on he and Emma.

“Hi,” he greets, opening the door and ushering them inside. “Emma’s still asleep, but I’m sure she’ll wake up soon. Do you guys want some breakfast?”

“We ate at home, sweetie,” Mary Margaret greets, giving him a quick hug before David does the same. “So Emma said you guys were having some issues in the nursery.”

“I believe that it was more like Killian not being able to put together a crib in under three weeks.”

“So funny, Dave,” he bites, rolling his eyes and locking the door. “I did eventually figure it out. I just think this mid-July heat is obviously getting to me. Or maybe nerves. I’m not too sure.”

“Well, let’s go help then. We’ve got to be at the pub at two, but I think we should be able to get things done.”

After he fixes himself some coffee, not nearly as wide awake as David and Mary Margaret, they head upstairs and begin working in the nursery, assembling the shelves and drilling them into the walls in half the time that it would have taken he and Emma had they done this by themselves. So maybe help isn’t all bad. Before Emma even wakes up, they have the shelves installed and pictures securely nailed on the wall. There are books already being stacked, stuffed animals and knick knacks being placed, and all of the fun nipple creams and breast pumps being placed in the cabinet.

They’re working on the glider when Emma finally wanders in, her hair falling out of its band so that half of it spills down her back while the other half is piled on top of her head, and she’s got her glasses on, something she only does when her eyes feel too puffy to put her contacts in.

“Hey, sweetheart,” David greets, finishing tightening the screw he’s working on before getting up to embrace Emma. “How are you feeling?”

“Rough today. I think the little dude’s a giant or something because he crushes my lungs and my bladder at the same time. So I can’t breathe, and I have to pee. So, yeah, it’s fun.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, dad. It looks fantastic in here. You guys have done so much. I feel like we’re not going to have anything to do in the next two months if we finish all of this.”

“That’s kind of the point, love.”

“Yeah,” she yawns, covering her mouth, “I know. Mom, do you want to come and rest with me in my room? My back hurts today, and I just can’t sit on the floor in here with you guys.” “Of course, hon,” Mary Margaret answers, walking away from the closet and stepping over to Emma before she rubs up and down her back. “Are you sure you don’t want Killian to join you? David and I would be fine to work on our own.”

“No, it’s fine. I bug him all day, and I’m kind of thinking that you can paint my toes for me or we can watch movies or something. It’s been awhile since we’ve done that.”

“Text me if you need me, love,” he tells Emma, his eyes tracing over her in a bit of concern. It’s difficult watching her be uncomfortable or miserable on some days when he literally can’t do anything about it.

“Yeah, babe, I will.”

Emma and Mary Margaret walk out of the room, their voices fading away as they walk into their bedroom one room over, and he’s left with just David who promptly gets back to work finishing building the chair. Music plays in the background, an eighties’ playlist he thinks, and it doesn’t take longer before the chair is completely together and he’s sitting in it testing it out. It’s comfortable, probably one of the best seats they have in the house, and he can definitely understand why Emma insisted on this one after shopping around a bit.

“How does someone so small have so much stuff?”

“My child is twenty-eight years old, we don’t even live in her childhood home anymore, and I swear things of hers still pop up all of the time.”

“That’s likely because Emma leaves everything all over the place.”

He folds his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and rocking back and forth while Cherry Bomb plays in the background, which is definitely not a nursery appropriate song. Or maybe it is. Who needs Mozart when you can have The Runaways?

“So is Emma like that every day?”

“Like what?” he asks, popping an eye open to look at David who’s sitting against the shelves, which can’t be good for his back. God, how old is he getting if his first concern is for someone else’s back?

“Exhausted.”

“No, not every day. She’s usually got a hell of a lot of energy, even if there’s always a nap. I think she had a restless night. She’ll tell me like it is, though. If she’s having a bad day, she’ll let us know.” “What about you?”

“Well, I don’t have a baby crushing my lungs and my bladder.”

“True,” David laughs, running his hands through his short hair. Killian swears it’s gotten more gray in the past year, the blonde nearly disappearing. David is only fifty-two, so he’s not exactly older. Hell, if it weren’t for the wrinkles on his forehead and the gray hairs outnumbering the blonde, he’d look much younger. “But I remember being a dad for the first time. It’s terrifying, so you’re allowed to be scared.”

“I am. It’s…” He reaches up and scratches behind his ear, his hair getting long enough that he knows he needs to get a haircut soon. “Emma and I try to make sure that we keep up our normal routines, that we have our normal conversations without talking too much about the baby, but it’s kind of hard, you know? It’s like we’ll be talking about going out to eat and two minutes later we’re making a list of middle names or speculating if he’s going to look more like me or Emma.”

“I know. But it’s an exciting time, Killian. There will never be anything like it, and if you want to talk about the fact that you’re having a kid, you should. You and Emma have been together for so long, and I really don’t think your relationship is going to struggle if you’re not sitting around making references no one else understands for hours on end.”

“Oi,” he protests, resisting the urge to pick up the toy elephant next to him and throw it at David, “that is your daughter you’re mocking, and she can still kick your ass.”

“Trust me, I know. Who do you think raised her to be like that?”

“Mary Margaret.”

“You’re walking a thin line.”

He winks at David, his lips ticking up on the right into a smirk. “I know. You and Mary Margaret did such a good job, still do such a good job, and even with all of the times you’ve messed up – ”

“ – which is a lot more often than even Emma has probably told you.”

“I just…you’re a good dad, Dave. To Emma, to me. I hope I can do half as good as a job.”

“You’ll be great, Killian.” David smiles at him, something genuine, and Killian’s reminded of how much David really has impacted his life in all of the best ways. “I promise. And as much as I love you, I do love my little girl more, and she’s going to be amazing. She’s always…she’s never been too open to a lot of people, but the people she loves, she loves so fiercely, you know? And she’s already doing so well at being a mom. She’ll call me at nights, and I can just hear the happiness and excitement in her voice. At the end of the day, that’s all you want, you know? For your kid to be healthy and happy.”

“Yeah, I know.” He smiles to himself, thinking of how happy he is. “Also, how dare you imply that you love your own daughter more than me. I thought I meant more to you than that. I thought we had something special, man.”

“I can still give you hell. I’d watch yourself.”

He and David finish up in the nursery for the next few hours until David and Mary Margaret have to go to work, leaving after the three of them eat lunch down in the kitchen, Emma staying upstairs for a nap. When the Nolans are gone and he’s finished eating, he heads upstairs, bypassing the nursery and walking into their bedroom where Emma is sitting up on the bed watching TV.

“Your toes look nice,” he compliments, grabbing onto her big toe and moving it back and forth. “Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah,” she sighs, twisting onto her back and scooting up the bed, “it’s just one of those days, you know? I’m not usually this miserable.”

“I know, but it’s okay to have bad days, love.”

“Come here,” she tells him, crooking her fingers and motioning toward him before she turns on her side and wraps her arms around her pillow. He does as she asks, kicking off his sneakers and crawling up into the bed, the mattress moving against his weight until he’s pressed up behind her, his knee stuck between her thighs and his arm wrapped around her waist while the other rests above her head. This is how she’s been comfortable lately, and he can’t say he minds. “Did you guys get a lot done?”

“Aye, it’s almost all finished.” He moves her hair off of her neck, placing a kiss there before resting his chin on her shoulder. “It just needs your finishing touches, I think.”

“And we have to unpack all of the boxes that are in the guest room and put them away in the closet.” “That too, but we’ve got time, Emma.” She hums, and he can feel the vibrations as well as Andy moving around under his touch, the movements following how he taps his fingers. “Has he been active today?”

“Not since I woke up, but he always responds to your voice.” “Yeah, he recognizes me?”

“Of course, you talk so damn much. How could he not?”

He turns his head and presses a kiss against her jaw, biting a bit just to tease her. “You are not a very nice woman, my love.”

“Oh please, I’m, like, the seventh nicest person you know.”

“Seventh?”

“I figured it was conceited to put me at number one.”

“Possibly.” He moves his hand against her stomach again, snaking his fingers up under her pajama top so that he can feel the warmth of her skin. “So he really does get more active when I talk?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty weird to think about, but it’s true. He likes when you talk. I think it’s because you’re a much better story teller than me.” “I mean, obviously.”

“And that he’s probably just glad to hear someone else besides me. Imagine being stuck with someone for nine months. Good God.”

“Well, I’m stuck with you for forever. Good God.”

She groans and curses him under his breath before she scoots over and turns in his arms, slowly but surely moving to face him. “Don’t be an asshole. Also, so I was talking to mom today, and she wants to be called Mimi. I think Dad wants to be called Papa, which I like as long as that’s not what you want. I know that’s what some kids call their dads.”

“Aye, it’s what Lizzie calls Liam, which is weird since Alex doesn’t do that. But I’m okay with dad or daddy, so David can be called Papa.”

“Yeah, I kind of like it. Mimi and Papa. And then your parents are Gammy and Grandpa, right? That’s what Alex and Lizzie call them.”

“Aye, but I know Mom didn’t want to be Gammy. It’s just what happened. She says it makes her feel old.”

“Your mom is not old.”

“I know, but considering your parents are barely fifty while my parents are in their sixties and seventies, it doesn’t help.”

“I’ll tell my parents to get older then.”

He smiles at her before closing his eyes and settling into his pillow, letting his head sink down into the softness. It’s calming in here, the lights turned off and curtains closed while the ceiling fan hums a steady rhythm above them. He could fall asleep like this even if he’s not the biggest fan of naps, always somehow ending up groggy when he wakes up, and it doesn’t help with the way that Emma is playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, her fingers scratching into his scalp.

“Are you working tomorrow?”

He pops an eye open, looking at Emma and smiling when her nail hits a particularly sensitive spot on his neck. “Aye, I’ve got the Investiture ceremony at ten. Why?”

“Just wondering. I was thinking we could go somewhere. Just us. Maybe take Indy to Berkshire and let her run around, spend some time outside.” “We can do it in the afternoon, if you want. I think the weather is supposed to be nice.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, leaning forward and sliding her lips over his for a brief moment, “I think that would be nice.”

The next day after he’s finished with the ceremony, he hurries home, changing out of his suit and into shorts and a t-shirt, slipping a baseball cap onto his head and grabbing something to eat for lunch while Emma does the same, her hair falling out of the back of her hat in a long ponytail. They’ve got all day, but the afternoon’s weather is pleasant enough that he’d like to go now so they can stop by a café for dinner, even if that’s the absolute last thing that Thomas will want them to do.

They want their privacy, but they should be able to go out to dinner.

So he and Emma load up into his car, letting Indy sit in the backseat with the window rolled down so she can feel the mid-July breeze blow through her fur. It doesn’t take long to get to Windsor, pulling into their parking garage less than thirty minutes later, and instead of going inside like they’d usually do, he hooks Indy up to her leash while Emma grabs some water bottles and they head to the private gardens, avoiding the visitors wandering around on tours.

As much as he prefers the spring, mild July days are near the top of his list of favorite things. Everything is brighter, more pleasant. The grass is actually greener, the flowers contrasting against their background to create a landscape of whites and shades of purple, while everything is covered in a clear blue sky, only a few white clouds scattered throughout. New life blooms, and he gets to be the one to appreciate it, to revel in it. England can be so dreary sometimes, the weather somehow reflecting the moods of most people on their morning commute to work, so he appreciates when it’s not. He’s always loved the outdoors, and if there’s any complaint he has about his home, it’s the small private garden that they have to themselves. He’d like something larger, more space to run around, and sometime in the future, he and Emma plan to spend more time in Bucklebury so that they have the privacy.

That’s what they’ve decided on since returning from Spain last month. There’s been more lengthy, draining discussions with his parents and their security team than he’s ever wanted, and as much as he feels like they haven’t really accomplished anything, he knows it’s a slow process. Of course, there are drawbacks to every positive. They’re still going to have to spend most of their time at Kensington. It’s closer to their work, to their families. Hell, Emma’s parents just bought a house so that they could have the ability to spend time with their grandchild, and now they’re going to move away from them. It’s less than an hour drive, but it’s not nearly as close as they currently are.

But everyone understands, and they don’t plan on moving any time soon, not until Andy’s a bit older. They want to be near all of their loved ones when he’s younger, and they’ve spent so much time working on their home, making it exactly how they want. It’d be difficult to leave full time, so it’ll be nice to have the option of both.

It’ll be even nicer to give Andy the most normal life that they can possibly give him.

Emma whistles next to him, her fingers between her lips, while Indy runs back to them from where they let her loose. She was about five seconds away from jumping into a pond full of fish, and as much as they’d usually let her swim, they don’t need to have a wet dog with them for the rest of the day. So she runs back to them as quickly as she can, her legs leaping in the air with her black and white fur bouncing the slightest bit. He’s convinced that she shouldn’t be able to be that quick, but she’s still just a young dog, less than a year old, and though her legs will get longer, he doesn’t think she’ll ever be full of this much energy again.

If she is, he and Emma are definitely in over their heads.

With the dog.

He’s going to choose to not think of what it’ll be like with a toddler than can run and a dog that he can run after.

After she calms from her almost pond dive, Indy walks along in front of the two of them, occasionally wandering off the stone path to sniff around in the plants, nearly tearing up several flowers until they call her back to keep walking. They stay wandering for a little over two hours, not caring where exactly they’re going or if they’re circling back around in the same spots. Indy and Emma get tired around the same time, so they settle down onto a stone bench with a patio cover that’s next to another small pond.

In the distance, he can see the Chapel where they were married, the steeple rising up above the other buildings and stone walls, and he smiles to himself thinking of that day. In the grand scheme of things, he knows that when it comes to he and Emma, as important as it was, they had so many smaller, inconsequential days that he holds just as fondly in his heart.

But that was a pretty damn good day.

He stretches his arm out over the back of the bench, wrapping it around Emma’s shoulder and tangling his fingers into the ends of her ponytail while she leans her head on his shoulder, the bill of her hat hitting him in the chin for a brief moment. He’s glad she suggested them getting away from London for a little bit, for suggesting that they change up the routine and spend a day enjoying summer, especially since they’re missing out on Scotland with the rest of the family.

A month in the same place as everyone is likely a bit long, anyways. He loves his family, but that’s a lot for anyone.

“I love you, you know?” Emma asks out of nowhere, her gaze never falling away from the rippling of the water in front of them, a fish leaping up out of the water while the lily pads float around.

He squeezes her shoulder, rubbing up and down her arm and kissing her head even if she can’t feel it through the hat. “I know. I love you too.”

[eldritchsurveys]

420 (ayyyy).

Hello :) Do you like to use a lot of smiley faces online? >> Not a lot, but I do use some.

Which instant messaging service do you use, if any? >> Discord. Tumblr also has an IM feature, but it’s not very good IMO. I hate that tiny little window.

What are your opinions on Justin Bieber? >> I don’t have any opinions on him. He rarely crosses my radar.

On December 21st 2012, if the world starts to go down, what will you do? >> I don’t remember what I was doing. I was in Colorado at that time, and that’s really all I remember.

Do you Facebook creep / Myspace stalk? >> No.

Is there a celebrity you're obsessed with? Who? >> Not really. There are celebrities I like looking at and ones I like watching in movies and such, but I’m not obsessed, just interested.

Do you look at yourself in any reflective surface you pass? >> Usually.

What theme is your calendar? >> I don’t use calendars. 

Is there anyone famous born on your birthday? Who? >> Most certainly, but I don’t know who.

Do you have a background on your cell phone? Of what? >> My lock screen is this Gunship album cover because it looks so fucking cool, and my home screen is a shot of Quentin Oliver Lee as the Phantom of the Opera.

Have you ever watched the clock tick a full minute? >> Yeah.

Is there anyone you know who kind of looks like you? >> No.

Do you wish you had a twin? If you do, do you wish you didn't? >> No.

Which lollipop flavor is your favorite? >> ---

Do you still enjoy coloring with crayons? >> I never enjoyed colouring with crayons.

If someone came up and randomly hugged you, what would you do? >> Flip my shit and probably hurt them.

Are we really getting lazier with all the technology advances these days? >> Possibly. But I can’t be bothered to care about that.

What was the last movie you saw in 3D? >> Probably a Marvel movie, I don’t remember now.

1-ply 2-ply or 3-ply bathroom tissue? Or does it matter? >> 2-ply seems sufficient. I hate the really soft stuff (it leaves particles behind, for one, and it’s bad for the plumbing, for another) but 1-ply is a little too spartan.

Have you ever tried out products at a kiosk at the mall when they ask you? >> No. I avoid those kiosks with the ruthlessness of someone who’s lived in a big city and knows how to avoid canvassers and panhandlers and everyone else who wants my attention (and money).

Do you ever wish you got more actual letters in the mail? >> I don’t really care. If I wanted to get letters that badly, I’d find a penpal and start sending some.

Have you ever knocked/rang the doorbell, then ran? >> No.

Do you take the bus often? >> Not often, because I don’t go out often, but I usually take it whenever I go out by myself.

Do you like serious people or ones with a sense of humor? >> I like people who can do both.

When you read a happy scene in a book, do you find yourself smiling? >> I mean, sometimes, probably.

Have you ever went to the movie theatres by yourself? >> I often do.

Is one of your main reasons for going to the beach to check people out? >> No.

What food do you absolutely despise? >> Bananas.

What is your favorite genre of music? >> I don’t have one.

Do you shave? >> No. I trim occasionally, but that’s all.

What is your opinion on the Twilight saga? >> I think people should feel free to enjoy it without being ridiculed by people with superiority complexes. Also, lay off the fucking author already.

Which celebrity will you always think is good looking? >> I don’t know, tastes are always liable to change.

Do you use twitter? Do you twitstalk a lot of celebrities? >> No.

Have you ever taped your fingers together? Doesn't it feel weird? >> No.

Do you like the squishy feeling of clay or mud beneath your feet? >> No.

What is one habit you wish you could cut? >> Picking at my lips. I’ve tried so hard to stop but nothing works.

When was the last time you used the bathroom? >> About an hour ago.

Do you have an accent? >> To someone, I’m sure.

Do you clean your house? >> I clean part of it.

How many tabs do you have open right now? >> Four.

Is wearing a lot of makeup being pretty or cakefaced? >> ...

Do you care about the Olympics? >> I don’t.

Do you ever wear headphones but then don't listen to anything? >> Yeah, when I’m using them to block out environmental noise.

Do you have a Youtube account? >> I have a Google account, which automatically is a Youtube account.

Do you know anyone who collects pins? >> No.

Do you enjoy taking pictures? >> Not as a hobby.

Do you ever video chat with people? >> No.

Have you ever tried Chatroulette or Omegle? >> I think I tried them once, but it didn’t interest me.

Are you a sports fan? If so, what sport(s)? >> No.

When did you stop trick-or-treating? Or do you still go? >> I’ve never done it.

Can you bake a good cake from scratch? >> I’ve never tried.

Can you bowl? Good? >> No.

Do you wish your life was like a movie sometimes? >> No, because that really wouldn’t make any sense.

Do you just smile or make silly faces/poses in pictures? >> Most of the time I don’t do anything, unless I specifically feel like making some sort of pose.

Do/did you ever like the books you have/had to read in high school? >> I only liked one -- Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Do you live in a small town or a big city? >> I’m not sure what Grand Rapids qualifies as. It definitely ain’t a big city, though.

What is your cell phone carrier? >> Boost Mobile.

Do you have any stuffed toys? >> Yeah, a lot of them.

What was your favorite childhood toy? Do you still have it? >> I don’t think I had one.

What song fits your mood right now? >> I don’t know.

Have you ever had a pet fish? >> No.

What internet browser are you using? >> Chrome.

Do you have a lot of bookmarks (internet)? >> Not a lot, but I have a good number.

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? >> I don’t know yet. Probably not.

Do you have any big plans for the upcoming summer? >> Winter is what’s upcoming, and no.

What did you do last New Years Eve? >> I don’t remember.

Plaid, stripes, checkers, or polka dots? >> Plaid.

Do you join a lot of fanpages on Facebook? >> No.

Can you curl your tongue? How about in a clover shape? >> No.

Is there any TV show that you get extremely excited about? >> Yeah, a few. I’m excited about The Good Place and Superstore coming back for their fall seasons.

What kind of lotion do you use? >> Aveeno.

Have you ever squeezed a zit and popped its nastiness everywhere? >> No, I hate the very idea of zit-popping.

Have you ever bit your cheek, and then bit it again in the same place? >> Yes, and god it’s awful.

Have you ever had a bath with a sibling/cousin when you were little? >> ---

Would you rather not eat or not sleep for 24 hours? >> Not sleep.

Do you ever actually take cold showers during the summer? >> No.

When was the last time you played on a playground? >> I don’t remember. At least a few years ago.

Do you like the really spinny rides at amusement parks? >> Not really.

What's your opinion on facial hair? >> I don’t have an opinion about that.

Have you ever gambled at a casino? >> No. I’m pretty sure just stepping inside a casino would send me into instant sensory overload.

What's your favorite thing to shop for? >> ---

Duz it bothar U wen Pplz tYPe Lyyk th!s ?!!one?!!?? >> People don’t really type like that anymore, so.

Do you know someone really thin who eats a lot (and doesn't puke it up)? >> No...?

Do you make a wish at 11:11? >> No.

What was the last present you bought for someone? >> I bought a couple of small things at Vault of Midnight (a comics/games store) that I thought would be good as stocking stuffers. I have a hard time with stocking stuffers so I figured I’d start early and collect things over time.

Aren't pad and tampon commercials just ridiculous? >> Most commercials are ridiculous, honestly.

Do you use a wallet or just put money in your pockets? >> I use a little zip pouch as a wallet.

Do you like your ID picture (whichever ID you have)? >> Not really, but it’s not a big deal.

Do you do online gaming? >> Yeah.

What was the last thing you put in your mouth? >> A toothbrush.

Who were the last people you hung out with? >> Some people from the West Michigan Geeks meetup group.

On a scale of 1-10, how attractive do you think you are? Honestly? >> No.

Do you think you have a good sense of humor? >> I mean, it works great for me.

Lmfao, Lmao, Rofl, Rotfl, Lol, Haha, Hehe, other? >> I use lmao a lot.

Have you ever tried to count grains of sand in your hand? >> No.

What does your ideal partner look like? >> ---

Do you ever have to write your name on food to keep it from getting eaten? >> No.

Do you have a friend you still hang with even though they're annoying? >> No.

What is one thing you've always wanted to do? >> *shrug*

[shurisneakers]

espresso [4]

Summary: In which your best friend’s brother begins to set you up on dates when you mention that you haven’t been in a relationship in years, but things don’t go as expected.

Warning: swearing, dating, anger issues

A/N: this is my entry for the beautiful @bithors writing challenge!

hey hey big shoutout to @samingtonwilson because every time she betas this and sends me the revised copy im like!!!! a QUEEN!!!! holy shit!!!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous part- Part 3 || Espresso Masterlist

“No. Fucking. Way.”

“Yes fucking way! Ain’t she beautiful?” Bucky beamed, running his hands gingerly over the door of his new ride. An old muscle car, a sleek black with a few scratches and dents, but proudly glinting in the moonlight.

You let out a low whistle, glancing up at Bucky as you crouched beside the car for a better look. “Gorgeous. She got a name?”

“I was debatin’ Grace, but now I’m thinkin’ she’s more of an April. What do you think?”

You would have teased him, but this was genuinely the happiest you’d seen him in a long time. Alight eyes were crinkled at the corners and his grin was one of the largest you’d ever seen, and heck, you wondered why he couldn’t be like this more often.

“Shits, that’s perfect.”

You sent him a pair of finger-guns when he opened the door for you and he rolled his eyes in feigned exasperation, smile still stretched over his lips.

In an empty threat, he replied, “Say shit one more time in plural and you’re walking there on your own.”

“Well, God forbid a girl has funs,” you joked only to be met with a groan of annoyance. “Oh, calm down.”

Once in the car, you immediately went to set your feet on the dashboard, legs crossed at the ankle, but received a deadly glare. You slowly lowered your feet, never breaking eye contact with him even as your features twisted in playful fear.

As you tugged your seatbelt on, you asked, “When’d you get her?”

“Two days ago. Couldn’t afford the payments on the other one. Sold it to some frat guys ages ago and took whatever was left after payin’ off the bank to get this one.” He sighed contentedly as he turned the key in the ignition so the engine roared to life. “DMV shit got delayed. She’s probably, like, a third-hand vehicle and needs the upholstery totally ripped up and replaced– but I think she’s pretty great.”

With a soft sound of disagreement, you shook your head. “She’s a ten out of ten, no need for anything. I’m happy for you.”

You tucked your hands behind your head, leaning back into the worn out leather seats which had turned soft over years of use, and a soft sigh of comfort left your lips to prove your point.

“How are your classes going?” he asked after a moment, still smiling softly at your previous statement.

“Getting fingered by Wolverine would be less painful,” you replied casually so Bucky choked and coughed on an inhale. You laughed quietly. “How’s engineering going?”

The indicator made a clicking noise you thought must have sounded less out of tune years ago as he took a left turn. “Shitty. Fuckin’ hate it.”

Eyebrows furrowed, you tilted your head with an agape mouth. “Shitty? Two days ago it was the shit, you said you loved it, that you elected to major in it.”

He gave you a tight-lipped smile and half a shrug and, immediately, you knew something was wrong. While you and Bucky didn’t often discuss your respective career choices and plans for the future, each time you did manage a conversation adjacent, he’d mentioned it was something he’d wanted to do– hell, had he not mentioned it, the number of shitty jokes and puns he made in its reference would have convinced you alone.

“Didn’t want to at first. But Becca advertised wanting to go into journalism all throughout high school and it’s not– it’s not a traditionally lucrative job, at least for the first few years.” He shrugged again, this time in a bit of insecurity, nervousness, but his eyes remained trained on the road. “Figured one of us should be able to embrace that nontraditional job so I picked up something more secure. Something secure because things at home are, you know…”

He had trailed off, but you knew what he meant. Money was a sensitive topic for both, Rebecca and Bucky and, although they could never be ashamed of their family, their pride kept them from asking for help from you despite your continued offering.

“Anyway, she ended up choosing poli-sci for law school for the same reason, so that was pretty ironic,” he grinned and you could see it didn’t reach his eyes, maybe hurting his cheeks as much as it hurt you just to see it.

You remained silent and your teeth wreaked havoc on your lower lip as he continued, “Can’t do anything about it now, though. But, if I could, I’d change my choices in an instant.”

Toying with your fingers in your lap, you asked, “What would you major in instead?”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of stupid really–“

“Didn’t you wanna write?” you added softly, eliciting a look of surprise from him.

He glanced at you quickly. “How’d you know?”

“You were always writing in high school. I saw you with your little notebook every lunch, Bucky,” you laughed, images of an acne-covered Bucky with shoulder-length hair bent over a tiny journal, scribbling for the life of him.

He groaned in embarrassment, a light pink dusting over his cheeks. “I can’t believe you noticed that, Christ. The emo phase was strong.”

“Well, if it helps, I think you’d be a kick-ass writer. I’d be first in line to buy your book. Wouldn’t even sell it on eBay after getting you to sign it.”

He fell silent at that, choosing to bite his lip in place of a response. You’d begun to wonder if you’d said something wrong when he whispered, “Thanks, Mario.”

You didn’t say much more, only turning to look out the window. It wasn’t too long before you heard him chuckle to himself but before you could ask him what he was laughing about, he spoke up, “This is so sad. Alexa, play Despacito.”

You snorted. Fuckin’ dork.

Bucky was leaned against the door of his car as he waited with you until your date for the evening arrived, keeping you engrossed in the utterly ridiculous nonsense you both spoke about.

“I’m just saying, if you made coffee with Gatorade and injected it into your bloodstream, you’re basically God. Like, who the fuck would need heroin then?” you tried explaining for the fifth time, unable to keep the smile off your face. You had your arms crossed over your chest in an effort to keep yourself warm whilst Bucky’s hands were shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants.

“Gatorade is for cowards, we use only Red Bull in this holy house– it actually does something. How about if you mixed vodka, ground espresso beans, and protein powder, then snorted it–”

You clicked your tongue. “Intravenous is more effective–”

“Didn’t realize the offer of a date included you, James.”

In a bit of a laborious task, you looked away from Bucky to the guy who came to a stop before you. Dark hair gelled back and darkness which wasn’t hidden by his glasses surrounding deep hazel eyes, he wore a simple black sweater over a pale blue t-shirt. “But I’m not complaining. Love me some three-way action.”

“Tony,” Bucky sighed, smiling nonetheless. “This is–“

“Mario? I figured.” Tony flashed a quick smile at you.

Immediately you could hear loud sniggering from beside you, making you spin to face him in annoyance. “You have got to stop doing that! What the fuck?” you exclaimed, punching a laughing Bucky on the shoulder as he feebly tried to defend himself.

“My name’s Y/N, not Mario,” you stated to clear the confusion, rolling your eyes at Bucky who burst out laughing again, clearly showing no remorse.

He looked from his watch to you, not fazed by your exchange with Bucky. “Ah, I see. Well, shall we get going? Game’s about to start.”

“See ya later, Mario. Have a good time, guys.” Bucky ruffled your hair as you tried to swat his hand away, taking a step towards Tony as he looked at you with a small smile on his face. “I’ll be on the other side of the court if you need me.”

“D’you want to get some food during halftime or before the first quarter?” Tony asked once Bucky waved a goodbye and jogged to join his friends.

“Halftime sounds good, I think the game’s about to start,” you answered, sending him a half smile.

He only nodded and adjusted his glasses, beckoning for you to join him.

You both made small talk and it turned out he wasn’t nearly half as bad as Peter. He rarely spoke of himself and only mentioned he would be looking for a sustainable source of energy in the future, something about wanting to lessen the environmental burden of current energy dependencies.

It started out well enough, the both of you commenting on the players who you knew. You waved at Sam from your place on the bleachers and he shot you a wink in response

“Sam’s starting tonight and it’s against the Gotham Jokers. S’why Bucky and everyone else is here,” you explained, leaning forward to rest your elbows on your knees.

“Wilson? Number seven? He’s your friend?” Tony asked, squinting at the ball as it was tossed into the air, soon taken by one of the Jokers.

You didn’t bother sparing him a glance as you watched Sam quickly steal the ball back and passing it to Rhodey. “Yeah. Why d’you sound so surprised?”

“Think he’s a bit overrated, that’s all,” Tony mumbled, making you reel back and stare at him disbelievingly. “Got the whole school worshipping the ground he walks on.”

“Captain of the team, MVP last season. He got scholarships to three different prestigious universities, too,” you recited, jumping to your feet as Sam made a shot from the three point line, the ball going in effortlessly with a swish. You looked over your shoulder to raise an eyebrow at Tony, “Still think he’s overrated?”

He only shrugged. “Guess not.”

The next few minutes flew by quickly, Tony progressively getting more invested in the game as it went on. He occasionally let out a cheer when you did, but other than that, he was more observant than anything.

But just as the Jokers were about to pass the ball, Tony jumped to his feet with a scowl, “Double dribble! Double fucking dribble! He stopped! What the fuck, why isn’t anyone calling that out?”

“Tony, he didn’t hold it. There was no double dribble,” you urged as the people surrounding you turned to glare at you both.

“Jesus fuck, this entire crowd is ignorant. Uneducated,” he stated angrily, sitting down in a huff.

You patted him on the back in attempted consolation, but he only ignored you, continuing to glower ahead.

Everything was fine and dandy until the Jokers’ defense pushed one of your team’s players when the referee wasn’t watching. In Tony’s defense, everybody reacted loudly to that. But no one had the passion Tony had when he leapt up like a fucking Jack in the Box, fists thrown in the air. “What the fuck!?” he screamed to no one in particular.

“Yeah, what the fuck!?” you echoed, cupping your hands around your mouth.

“You fucking blind ass, stupid piece of shit, punkass bitch!” he raged, pupils dilated and eyebrows furrowed.

“Okay, never mind.” You promptly sat down, trying to pull Tony with you but he shook you off fervently. You thought he resembled the fucking Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toons.

“That was a foul! Why don’t you use your fucking whistle, you trick ass little bitch?! Try blowing something other than your own dick for once!” he screamed at the referee, shaking his arms around wildly.

“Jesus Christ,” you whispered, putting your head in your hands as he ranted on and on for another ten seconds before finally sitting down, cursing steadily to himself.

When your team made an effortless basket, you prayed it would calm Tony down. And to some extent it did work and he kept quiet until the first quarter was up, only rolling his eyes when people turned to look at him.

Ignoring them from that moment on, he tilted his head as he watched Sam send a wink to a girl who only rolled her eyes playfully in response. “Who’s that?”

“Sam.”

“I know that’s Sam, I’m asking who the girl is.”

“Sam’s girlfriend, Sam,” you replied as you laughed at his expression of confusion.

“Sam has a girlfriend… named Sam?” You nodded as he sighed, smiling despite himself. “Fuck, what would their couple name be?”

“Well, they’re Sam and Sam. Or as I like to call them,” you dropped your voice as he raised an amused eyebrow, “Sam.”

“That’s so fucking creative, how did you ever think of that name?” he asked, a smile on his face that made him look ten times less stressed than he’d been mere moments ago.

You actually didn’t mind Tony at that moment. You might have even considered him to be fun.

That was until the next quarter started and the referee called a foul on Sam for apparently no reason and Tony was back on his feet, face red like one of those ugly Angry Birds. He then started in a shrieking voice, “Oh, so now you want to blow that whistle, you piece of utter shi–“

Tony gave you a ride back to your apartment after the game which had ended much later than you thought it would. You knew Bucky had left after the third quarter when he sent you a text saying he needed to get up early for his shift, but he asked you to call him when you got home safe.

You wondered if he was still awake but, as you’d promised, you called him the moment you crossed the building threshold.

“Hello?” his rasped in an infinitely exhausted voice– you instantly regretted calling him.

“Hey, fuck, sorry. I didn’t think you’d be asleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, get some rest,” you said hurriedly, guilt seeping through your words.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he paused and you could hear him yawn despite the muffling over the line. “Is everything fine, baby?”

“Yeah everything’s– wait, what did you just call me?” you asked as you bit your tongue and your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

The silence you were met with was quickly followed by a string of curses, presumably since he perceived what he’d said. His voice was clearer as he replied, “Shit. Sorry, Mario. It just slipped out. I’m, like, half dead. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Just called to talk about the king of anger paralysis, clone of Charlie Sheen, Tasmanian Devil embodiment–”

Bucky cut you off with a sigh. “Tony?”

“Oh, yes. Wanna hear all about my super great time with dear Squidward or should I save it for tomorrow?” you asked as you jogged up the stairs to your apartment.

You could hear rustling on the other end before he yawned once again, saying lightly, “I’m ready. Go on for as long as you want.”

“It all started when he called the referee a ‘fucking blind ass, stupid piece of shit, punkass bitch.’”

Bucky sighed. “Oh, shits.”

PART 5

TAGLISTS ARE CLOSED

[minatodilf]

i was tagged by @teojida thank u king 🙌🏽

What was your last

Drink: vanilla coke 🙌🏽

Last phone call: work....

Last text: to my older sister, asking her to pick up food on her way home but she hasn’t responded so looks bleak kings

Last song you listened to: my brothers watching nge out in the family room and I’ve been hearing the theme song play a lot longer than it should be so i guess cruel angels thesis

Last time you cried: hmmm maybe a month ago? i don’t remember these things lol

Have you ever dated someone: unfortunately! i never listened to my friends when they told me he was shitty and creepy, wish I had!

Been cheated on: el em aye oh yeah!

Kissed someone and regretted it: big time, my dude

Lost someone special: not really

Been drunk and thrown up: yes

List three fave colors: yellow, red, orange! (Ok me too king)

In the last year have you…

Made a new friend: yeah!

Fallen out of love: yes!

Laughed until you cried: yeah

Met someone that changed you: yeah I guess u grow from ur mistakes so yeah?

Found out who your true friends are: idk maybe?

Found out someone was talking about you: lmaoo yeah

Kissed someone on your FB friends list: yeah I don’t have facebook

General

How many people on your FB friends list do you know irl: don’t have fb

Do you have any pets: we have two cats! Salem is a black cat and yeah he’s named after the one from Sabrina, my older sisters named him. and the other is bean, idk cat breeds but he’s pretty 😔 my brother had a blue budgie, his name was sasuke. yeah I know...it was embarrassing for a while ahdjshsj he got old and passed away recently tho

Do you want to change your name: i do, probably not to ash though. ill keep that as a nickname, idk what I’d change my name to

What did you do for your last birthday: euheheh my birthday was January, i went out clubbing with a group of friends for my 18th

What time did you wake up today: a little after 8:30am. Bc its school break rn it’s just me and my brother at home, our parents leave early for work and come home late so he woke me up to go get breakfast from McDonald’s. i had a sausage and egg mcmuffin with the hash brown and juice and it was soooooo good.

What were you doing at midnight last night: playing Final Fantasy X on the switch

Name something you CANNOT wait for: OHHH DUDE NEW ANIMAL CROSSING!!

Last time you saw your mother: uhh last night I think, i was still asleep when she left for work this morning

What is one thing you wish you could change about life: i wish my family was well off. i wish I could afford to pay next semesters uni fee to continue my degree, and my parents didn’t have to worry about it so much.

What are you listening to right now: the sound of nge from the other room and my brother occasionally yelling at the tv

Have you ever talked to a person with the name Tom: you know what, i don’t think I ever have

What’s getting on your nerves: thinking about money and the lack thereof lol

Most visited website: tumblr + youtube

Nickname: ash! my parents call me shortened versions of my actual name sometimes, but ash really click with everyone. Even my parents use it sometimes.

Relationship status: single 🤟🏽 recently broke up with my shit hole ex and whew who knew i was so blind and stupid!

Zodiac sign: aquarius

Pronouns: he/him

Fave tv shows: I don’t really watch tv but I like naruto so.

Hair color: it’s naturally black, i tried dying it blonde a while ago but it looked fucked so I dyed it back to black omg

Long or short: on myself I prefer short I guess? but just long enough for me to still look like a sasuke kinnie

Height: hnnhghgh 5’0

Do you have a crush on someone: mr minato the dilf supreme

What do you like about yourself: oh yeah being gay and trans is Super Sexy of me

Tattoos: oof yeah I got some but my parents still don’t know about them, the adrenaline keeps me going. I’d like a few more tho 👀

Righty or Lefty: righty!

First surgery: im pretty hardy i haven’t been to the hospital

First piercing: first was my ear lobes, i now have a lot more all in my ears tho. I’d like a couple more.

First best friend: we aren’t friends anymore. I used my sisters Facebook to look her up recently and she’s very openly homophobic so glad I dodged that bullet lmao

First sport you joined: yeah i was a ballet child, then i moved on to volleyball and then track briefly in high school

First pair of trainers: huh? What?

Right now

Eating: nongshim onion ring snacks, I’m a frequent at the asian market bc im always buying my onion flavoured ring snacks

Drinking: I had a bottle of water on my bed but I can’t locate it atm...

Listening to: bts’s idol and I’ve run out of skips on my free version of Spotify so I guess that

Want kids: not at the moment

Career: i would love to be an artist or a writer, something creative but like that’ll never happen lmao

Which is better:

Lips or eyes: hmm idk lips ig

Hugs or kissed: hugs

Shorter or taller: i kinda...like...being smaller so..

Romantic or spontaneous: spontaneous

Nice stomach or nice arms: yeah tummy is the best!

Sensitive or loud: hmmm I’m already very loud so maybe sensitive, we need a balance

Hook up or relationship: hook up bro I’m over relationships

Troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker

Have you ever:

Kissed a stranger: yes

Drank hard liquor: yes

Lost glasses/contacts: yes

Sex on a first date: yea

Broke someone’s heart: not that I’m aware of lol

Had your own heart broken: man idk.

Been arrested: very close call but ultimately no

Turned someone down: yep

Cried when someone died: ye

Fallen for a friend: oh briefly back in high school but he was straight and made some homophobic jokes so like. I had no taste.

Do you believe in:

Yourself: hhhh he’s trying!

Miracles: mmmmmm no

Love at first sight: ehhhh yeah ok

Santa Claus: nope. My sister ruined it all for me early so.

Kiss on the first date: yea

Angels: ehhhhh idk...

i tag: @nbsoras @bosstheme @cishethiruzen @bayonettamutual @ochaiko @thelegendoftwink @dykexion

i know this is VERY long so of course u don’t have to do it if u don’t wanna ✌🏽

[incorrectchoniberonicaswangs]

hey baby won't you look my way (i can be your new addiction)

Chapter 7: gays you ever just ahsnfdjsl?? part 1

Chapter Summary: Holiday parties are planned, Cheryl and Toni are Kevin's sapphic moms, an intervention is held, Alice and Hermione are adorable and everyone loves them, Kangs has some news, and Sweet Pea runs away from his problems.

Notes: theMANtle: reggie

ao3

Friday, 3:17 PM

gays united

hbicheryl: its winter break!! finally a respite from the chaos!!

jugheadalones: im so excited!

hbicheryl: hold up, hobo is excited about something??

hisshissmotherfucker: ^^ jones are you sick

jugheadalones: okay, first of all fuck you

jugheadalones: second of all im excited to return to the near-comatose state i maintain every time we have a long period of time off from school

nopeaz: that makes more sense

veroffica: as enjoyable as that likely is to you, holden caulfield, it won't be happening this break. i'm hosting a christmas eve party at the pembrooke starting at 8:00 pm and you are all invited.

veroffica: and you'd better all show up, or else i'll sic my new bodyguard on you.

goingtoheller: i assume you mean betty.

wannabett: guilty :/

spillthefogarTEA: ill be there. and NOT because of your threats

spillthefogarTEA: even though betty is kind of intimidating

goingtoheller: i'll come as well.

nopeaz: cher and ill come too

hisshissmotherfucker: i love parties im there

jugheadalones: i dont suppose i really have a choice do i?

wannabett: not really. sorry jug

jugheadalones: fine.

hbicheryl: speaking of holiday parties

hbicheryl: new years eve party, thistlehouse, time tbd, if you arent there youre dead to me

veroffica: b and i will be there.

spillthefogarTEA: me too

goingtoheller: i'll be there.

hisshissmotherfucker: i hear cheryls parties are infamously dramatic

hisshissmotherfucker: so im definitely coming

hisshissmotherfucker: as long as i dont end up doing seven minutes in heaven with archie like veronica

veroffica: will nobody ever let me forget that??

hisshissmotherfucker: nope

jugheadalones: why do all these party invites come with threats of retribution if you dont attend?

hbicheryl: bc if there wasnt then youd never come

jugheadalones: ill come. begrudgingly.

nopeaz: and ofc ill be there obviously

jugheadalones: wait am i missing something? why is that obvious?

hbicheryl: oh right we didnt tell you lol

hbicheryl: tt moved in with me

goingtoheller: WHAT??

goingtoheller: my sapphic moms moved in together aND I HAD NO FUCKING IDEA??

hisshissmotherfucker: why is keller suddenly chonis kid when did this happen??

hbicheryl: please kevin is basically toni and i's love child

hbicheryl: he has my sass (well not as good as mine but hes trying), my gayness, and my strange desire for dumbass serpents

nopeaz: and my propensity for saying 'this is riveting i cant breathe'

goingtoheller: aw, thanks, moms! mostly! :)

nopeaz: no problem son

hbicheryl: yes we are very proud of you kev (mostly)

jugheadalones: huh i never actually thought about it but that... works?

wannabett: okay cheryl and toni are like the least qualified people here to be anyones lesbian moms?? theyre literally gang members??

hbicheryl: stfu nightmare smurfette do not EVER criticize my parenting skills

hbicheryl: toni and i have slaved for weeks, even MONTHS to make sure that kevin turns into a proper young gay man

hbicheryl: and you have the AUDACITY to suggest that just because my gf and i are deeply flawed people we would corrupt poor kevin??

wannabett: uh... no?

hbicheryl: thats what i thought

nopeaz: wow angry cheryl is scary but hot

spillthefogarTEA: topaz, you are so whipped

spillthefogarTEA: and REALLY fucking gay

nopeaz: yeah ik

jugheadalones: moving on

jugheadalones: speaking of people taking a big step and deciding to live with each other... betty and veronica, we need to talk.

veroffica: um... what?

veroffica: is this some sort of intervention?

hisshissmotherfucker: yes

spillthefogarTEA: moving in together might be considered friendly if, say, betty didnt already have a house that she lives in

nopeaz: but this decision is beyond simple friendship

hbicheryl: and its certainly anything but heterosexual

wannabett: why are you guys finishing each others sentences?? did you plan this??

hisshissmotherfucker: no shit sherlock

veroffica: how do you guys even have this information??

goingtoheller: we have our ways.

wannabett: archie somehow saw our texts through my window

wannabett: jughead told me last night, sorry i didnt tell you v, i didnt know that this was going to happen

nopeaz: dammit jones why do you have to ruin all our fun!!

jugheadalones: i didnt realize that this was a rule?

jugheadalones: so anyway

jugheadalones: b&v, now that you have been confronted with cold hard proof of your undying love for each other, what do you have to say for yourselves?

wannabett: guys im straight!!

goingtoheller: ooh, betty's pulling the straight card.

hbicheryl: i called it! tt, sp, fangs, and jughead, you all owe me $10

hbicheryl: cousin betty is nothing if not predictable in the face of her sexuality being questioned

veroffica: hey, you made bets on this?? not cool!

wannabett: ^^^^

wannabett: and i am NOT predictable!!

hbicheryl: i predicted she was going to say that

hbicheryl: thats another $10 guys

hisshissmotherfucker: for once i trusted in someones willingness to admit when they were wrong and now because of that cheryl is robbing us blind! smh never again

spillthefogarTEA: veronica? you never answered the question

veroffica: uh...

veroffica: i mean, um...

veroffica: we've never even kissed! i'm pretty sure we aren't dating!

nopeaz: to be fair though i wouldnt be surprised if you two were dating without knowing it

veroffica: guys, now really isn't a good time.

jugheadalones: mmmhmm

wannabett: no seriously v and i are getting ready for the christmas eve party

wannabett: its in three days remember

hbicheryl: ugh fine i suppose thats a reasonable explanation

veroffica: and since i know that you won't let this go, at the party you can ask us whatever you want about this.

goingtoheller: wait... for real?

wannabett: uh yeah really v??

veroffica: within reason, of course.

spillthefogarTEA: wow this is more than i expected to come from this

veroffica: one condition, though. you can't pester b and i about it before the party.

veroffica: deal?

hisshissmotherfucker: deal

wannabett: now that thats settled v and i are going to get to work

veroffica: we'll probably be off the grid until maybe a few hours before the party.

[wannabett is offline]

[veroffica is offline]

hbicheryl: toni and i are already headed over to pops, anyone want to join us?

jugheadalones: wont we just be three-wheeling?

hbicheryl: not if we are in a large group

hisshissmotherfucker: ill come if you come jones

jugheadalones: sure.

hisshissmotherfucker: ill be there in five

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

jugheadalones: kevin, fangs?

spillthefogarTEA: im good

goingtoheller: ^^

nopeaz: okay otw

[nopeaz is offline]

[hbicheryl is offline]

jugheadalones: leaving now

[jugheadalones is offline]

6:35 PM

nopeaz: GUYS YOULL NEVER BELIEVE WHO JUST WALKED IN

spillthefogarTEA: who is it??

spillthefogarTEA: tell me you know im not good with suspense!!

jugheadalones: its alice cooper and hermione lodge!

hisshissmotherfucker: it seems as though archies intel was correct again

hisshissmotherfucker: damn that omniscient fucking northsider

hbicheryl: now i really wish that betty and veronica werent offline so they could hear about this

goingtoheller: why? do you hate them?

hbicheryl: hate is a strong word

hbicheryl: id say that i just occasionally want them to suffer

goingtoheller: that isn't much better...

hbicheryl: i guess ill just have to wait until the party to tell them

nopeaz: okay so they just got a booth and its basically diagonal from ours

jugheadalones: but theyre so enamoured with each other i dont think they even noticed that were here

hbicheryl: wow i dont think ive ever seen aunt alice this happy before

spillthefogarTEA: ugh this sounds so adorable i wish i was there

hisshissmotherfucker: dont worry well narrate their every movement so well itll be like you are

nopeaz: oh shit they keep reaching for each other like every five seconds

spillthefogarTEA: im WEAK

jugheadalones: its so hard to believe that they ever hated each other with the way theyre acting now

jugheadalones: homophobia can really fuck shit up huh

goingtoheller: this is the couple i never knew i needed, but now that i have seen that it's possible, i'm in love.

hisshissmotherfucker: im in shock i cant believe that the same alice cooper that grounded her daughter from any and all contact with the outside world is now just essentially the personification of heart eyes

hbicheryl: this town is so small were all basically inbred

hbicheryl: next thing you know fp and fred are going to be fucking too

jugheadalones: okay i did NOT need that image

nopeaz: AHHHH THEY WENT IN FOR A KISS MAYDAY MAYDAY THIS IS NOT A DRILL

spillthefogarTEA: AHHHHH

goingtoheller: AHHHHHHH

nopeaz: AHHHHHHH

jugheadalones: even i, being asexual and aromantic, have to admit that im loving living vicariously through these two

hisshissmotherfucker: k so they stopped

hisshissmotherfucker: wait no theyre kissing again!

hisshissmotherfucker: and again!

hisshissmotherfucker: and again!

hisshissmotherfucker: okay now theyre just making out

nopeaz: get it girl(s)

hbicheryl: its getting pretty heated

hbicheryl: it feels like the windows are going to start fogging up

jugheadalones: oh damn they stopped

jugheadalones: ms cooper is waving pop over now

goingtoheller: is it creepy that we're so invested in their date?

spillthefogarTEA: probably not

hisshissmotherfucker: nah

jugheadalones: lets go with no

nopeaz: nope

hbicheryl: its only creepy if we get turned on

goingtoheller: moving on... what's happening now??

nopeaz: they got the check and now theyre paying

nopeaz: they can barely keep their hands off of each other

nopeaz: now theyre leaving

nopeaz: should i follow them to keep narrating?

goingtoheller: won't they notice??

jugheadalones: no theyve only got eyes for each other

jugheadalones: follow them SUBTLY while we hold down the table

nopeaz: roger that

hbicheryl: youre such a nerd

nopeaz: you love it

hbicheryl: duh

hbicheryl: now follow them!!

nopeaz: already doing it

nopeaz: so they made it to their car

nopeaz: okay wow wasnt expecting that but im not complaining

spillthefogarTEA: whats happening???

nopeaz: alice just shoved hermione up against the car door and now theyre hardcore making out

nopeaz: damn i wonder if theyre even going to get home or if theyre just going to do it in the parking lot

hisshissmotherfucker: i cant believe alice cooper and mayor lodge BOTH have better sex lives than i do wtf

goingtoheller: who knew that hermione lodge was such a bottom??

hbicheryl: well you know what they say about people in positions of power

hbicheryl: top in the streets bottom in the sheets

jugheadalones: wait cheryl that could apply to you as well

spillthefogarTEA: ooh is the class president getting the strap from the vice president

nopeaz: fuck off fangs

nopeaz: okay so they finally managed to regain some semblance of control

nopeaz: aaaaand theyre driving away

nopeaz: shows over folks

hbicheryl: lets clear out men

nopeaz: meet me by the bike cher

hbicheryl: be there in a sec babe xx

jugheadalones: wait are you telling me that cheryl blossom rode a motorcycle??

hisshissmotherfucker: yeah red i thought you said they were death traps

hbicheryl: well yeah but that was before i got on it

hbicheryl: its like a giant vibrator

hbicheryl: and riding it with toni is basically just the most acceptable type of public sex

goingtoheller: gross.

hisshissmotherfucker: never thought id agree with keller but yeah tmi

nopeaz: whatever

nopeaz: bye fuckers see you all at veronicas party

[nopeaz is offline]

[hbicheryl is offline]

jugheadalones: im headed out too

[jugheadalones is offline]

hisshissmotherfucker: me too

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

Monday, 6:43 PM

wannabett: b&v are back bitches!!

veroffica: and, looking through the chat from the past few days... i'm glad i was gone.

wannabett: although now i know what 'hot date' my mom was talking about :/

wannabett: even though i never wanted to know

wannabett: some things are best kept secret especially when your mom goes out on a date with your best friends mom!!

hbicheryl: youre welcome :)

veroffica: cheryl, at this very moment, i simultaneously respect, despise, and fear you.

hbicheryl: aw thanks thats what im always going for!

veroffica: anyway, the party will be starting in an hour or so, but some of my relatives will be over in the meantime. if you've got anything to say that doesn't involve the date my mom and betty's mom have, feel free. if you don't, go to hell.

hisshissmotherfucker: hey im in the neighborhood and i dont have anything else to do would you mind if i came over now

veroffica: sure thing!

hisshissmotherfucker: are you sure your relatives will be fine with me being there?

veroffica: yeah. i mean, betty's here too anyway!

hisshissmotherfucker: k

6:48 PM

goingtoheller + veroffica

goingtoheller: hey, would you happen to have some time you could set away during the party? fangs and i have an announcement we'd like to make.

veroffica: sure thing, kev. how does around 10 sound?

goingtoheller: perfect. thanks, v!

veroffica: no problem.

7:22 PM

gays united

hisshissmotherfucker: rn betty looks like she cant decide whether to be a guard dog or an excited puppy lmao

jugheadalones: context?

hisshissmotherfucker: veronicas greeting her relatives and bettys following her so closely shes practically stepping on her heels

goingtoheller: well, v is definitely holding betty's leash.

nopeaz: yeah veronicas got her by the collar

spillthefogarTEA: if betty doesnt watch her step then shes really going to be in the doghouse

wannabett: stop with the dog puns!! i am not a dog!!

hbicheryl: okay but you have to admit those were pretty good

wannabett: i will admit no such thing! now if youll excuse me im going to go back to talking to ronnies relatives with her

[wannabett is offline]

hisshissmotherfucker: i guess ill keep you all informed on their gay shenanigans

nopeaz: who even says shenanigans anymore??

hisshissmotherfucker: uh i do fight me

nopeaz: square up bitch

hbicheryl: if i had a dollar for every time tt and sp said that they were going to fight i would have enough money to rebuild thornhill

goingtoheller: cheryl, you're the one who burned it down in the first place.

hbicheryl: yes and??

goingtoheller: ...nevermind.

hisshissmotherfucker: im snoRTING

jugheadalones: what happened?

hisshissmotherfucker: so veronica was talking to one of her relatives right

hisshissmotherfucker: and the relative asks her if she has a boyfriend

hisshissmotherfucker: veronica laughs a little and says no so her relative looks at betty whos still trailing behind her like a shadow

hisshissmotherfucker: and knowingly says "oh i see, a girlfriend"

spillthefogarTEA: ajklfshagak i cant even

hisshissmotherfucker: both of them are sputtering uncontrollably unable to formulate a response im dying

hbicheryl: ahahah it was only a matter of time before something like this happened but im really glad it did

nopeaz: i mean relatives are supposed to know you better than anyone else right?

jugheadalones: oh b&v you oblivious wlw

goingtoheller: we're never letting them let this down, are we?

spillthefogarTEA: not a chance

hisshissmotherfucker: IT GOT BETTER

hisshissmotherfucker: veronica finally managed to speak and she (unconvincingly) insisted that she and betty were just friends etc etc and her relative just raised her eyebrows and went "mmhm"

nopeaz: drag themmmmm

hbicheryl: omg we stan

hisshissmotherfucker: im trying to stifle my laughter bc betty and veronica look like they want to murder me

hisshissmotherfucker: but you know what screw it its worth it

hisshissmotherfucker: oh shit bettys coming over here and she looks pissed

hisshissmotherfucker: hello punks, this is betty. i hope youve had your fun listening to sweet pea narrate everything but now im taking his phone and wont be giving it back until the party starts

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

jugheadalones: awww

goingtoheller: at least the party starts soon anyway. then, i'm sure we'll get even more beronica fodder.

jugheadalones: true

hbicheryl: see you then losers

spillthefogarTEA: back at ya cheryl

7:48 PM

nopeaz: cher and i are on our way

goingtoheller: fangs and i are leaving now.

jugheadalones: and im at your door at this very moment

jugheadalones: let me in

jugheadalones: okay great im in

hisshissmotherfucker: and i just got my phone back

hisshissmotherfucker: i will not stand for this tyranny! this is a republic not a monarchy!

wannabett: keep it up and im taking your phone back

hisshissmotherfucker: the oppression continues...

wannabett: sweet pea...

hisshissmotherfucker: fine

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

veroffica: now, let's get this party started!

10:03 PM

spillthefogarTEA: hey guys i know this is fun and exciting and all but would you mind congregating out in the living room? ive got some news

hisshissmotherfucker: anything for my best bro

jugheadalones: sure thing

10:07 PM

hisshissmotherfucker + theMANtle

hisshissmotherfucker: hey mantle are you free rn

theMANtle: yeah, you want me to come over to your trailer?

hisshissmotherfucker: yep im on my way there too

hisshissmotherfucker: see you in ten?

theMANtle: none of your friends will be there, right?

hisshissmotherfucker: nah theyre all still at veronicas party they wont even notice that im gone

theMANtle: not that im complaining, but why arent you?

hisshissmotherfucker: i needed a break

theMANtle: so you were hoping that i could help you blow off some steam? ;)

hisshissmotherfucker: that was the general idea

theMANtle: youre in luck, then. i currently have a lot of free time and what many call an impressive amount of stamina.

hisshissmotherfucker: perfect

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

10:15 PM

gays united

spillthefogarTEA: hey has anyone seen sweet pea? i could have sworn that i saw him before kevin and i made our announcement but now i cant find him anywhere

nopeaz: hes probably just in the bathroom or brooding in the corner somewhere

hbicheryl: dont worry about him just celebrate! youve officially got a new boyfriend!

spillthefogarTEA: "dont worry about him" have you MET me??

goingtoheller: babe, he probably just got bored and bailed.

goingtoheller: i know that he's your best friend, but he isn't who you're dating--i am. can't you forget about sweet pea for a little while and just relax?

spillthefogarTEA: i guess so

goingtoheller: great!

spillthefogarTEA: ill just text sp real quick and attempt to verify that hes still alive first

goingtoheller: whatever you need to do, fangs. i'll see you afterward.

10:19 PM

spillthefogarTEA + hisshissmotherfucker

spillthefogarTEA: hey sweets, i just wanted to make sure you didnt do anything stupid

spillthefogarTEA: i know that you arent kevins biggest fan, but youre my best friend and i dont want to lose you over him

spillthefogarTEA: i wish you were here to celebrate with me but i get it if you cant

spillthefogarTEA: please, just text me back whenever you see this to let me know that youre okay.

[spillthefogarTEA is offline]

10:41 PM

hisshissmotherfucker: thanks for being so understanding fangs but ngl i dont know if i can handle you dating keller

hisshissmotherfucker: i mean like you said

hisshissmotherfucker: we're best friends

hisshissmotherfucker: so i shouldnt have a problem with you going out with whoever you want

hisshissmotherfucker: but something about him just rubs me the wrong way

hisshissmotherfucker: sorry if that wasnt what you wanted to hear

[hisshissmotherfucker is offline]

Notes: Sorry, this was supposed to just be a long holiday chapter, but I had so many ideas I had to split it into two. Bear with me, please! Also, happy new year, gays! As 20gayteen comes to a close, I hope you find even more peace, prosperity, and (of course) bisexuality in 20biteen!!