#i got stuck in this christmas town but decided i wanted to stay and also lando norris was there for some reason but he was getting cancelled

[ghostellie]

What the hell was that dream

[absurdthirst]

The Thanksgiving Departure {Dieter Bravo x F!Reader}

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 14.7k

Warnings: Vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, family issues, heartbreak, alcohol, Dieter being a dick, revelations of infidelity, dishonesty, pregnancy, mentions of miscarriage, mentions of breeding kinks, oral sex (female receiving), unprotected sex

Comments: Married to Dieter Bravo, Thanksgiving turns into the worst day of the year when he abandons you to go to Hollywood for his big break. Never divorcing you and deciding to stroll back into your life on Thanksgiving again years later

Happy Thanksgiving!

Co-written with @storiesofthefandomlovers

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|| MasterList || Dieter Bravo MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

Dieter sighs as he stares at his script. Another community theater project that he took when he got rejected from his latest audition for Law & Order. He rubs his forehead as the words blur together and he doesn't know how much longer he can do this. He wants to be successful. He wants to be famous...and rich. He can't do that in the middle of fucking nowhere. His hometown is picture perfect. Pumpkin patches in the fall, Christmas parade during December, flower show during spring. Town festivals and even a fucking gazebo in the town square. It's like a movie set but it's not the movie set he wants to be on. His entire life he's dreamed of Hollywood. His dad, before he died when Dieter was ten, showed him the greats. John Wayne. Cary Grant, Marlon Brando. He wants to be like them. A leading man. But he can't do that without going to L.A. "Hey baby." You coo as you walk into the kitchen, frowning when you see his script, "you want me to run lines?" You offer, leaning over to grab the papers, and he growls, shoving the papers across the table. 

"No. No. I don't want to run fucking lines." His tone makes your eyebrows raise and you back away until he reaches for your hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I'm sorry. Shit. I- I didn't get the part. The Law & Order part." He admits, feeling sorry for himself.

“Oh baby.” You soften slightly, knowing how much Dieter hates rejection. He wants so badly to be famous and you support him, but it’s honestly not realistic for where you live. Still, you encourage him to pursue his dreams. “They are missing out.” You step closer and wrap your arms around him to give him a hug from behind. “You are the best actor and would have made the show the highest rated episode of the season.”

Dieter huffs, shaking his head, "I love you, but don't flatter me now. I just - I want to give you the damn world and I can't do that stuck here. I know your mom is sick but baby, I want to go to L.A. I can do this. I know I can. I know I can make it." He whines, shaking his head and he turns his head to press his head against yours.

You sigh softly, knowing this is a conversation that has been going on for months. “I can’t- baby- mom needs us here right now.” You’ve been taking care of your mom for months, you and Dieter moving in and providing in-home care so she didn’t have to go into a care home. “When she’s better, we can look at moving out there.” You promise again. One thing that you love about Dieter is his persistence, but he’s also impatient. He doesn’t really want to wait, every day could possibly be his big break in his mind. “Besides, you don’t want to plan a move around the holidays.” You remind him. “Thanksgiving is in two days.”

Dieter doesn't respond, knowing that his dream is slipping away. Your mom doesn't seem to be getting better and you are young but everyone is asking when you're going to have kids. You just got married six months ago. He's not ready to have kids and all it takes is one slip up on your birth control and he's stuck in this two bit town. He pats your hand, "yeah. Yeah, of course. Let's focus on the holidays." He says but his tone doesn't match the smile he offers you.

You know he’s disappointed that you aren’t immediately jumping to pack your bags, but he will have to understand. “I’m baking your favorite pie.” You hum teasingly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Right after mom’s appointment tomorrow and your mother has already said that she’s bringing the turkey.”

Dieter eyes the script and he wonders about the tape he sent off last week for the role in a new TV show about a detective. He took a chance and auditioned for the lead. It’s a pilot, but could be picked up and he doubts he will get the part. He taps his fingers against the table and turns his head to press his lips to yours. He loves you, he really does, but he feels trapped. “Come here.” He demands, wrapping his arm around you and dragging you into his lap. “Fucking love your pie.” He smiles and presses his lips to yours.

Melting into Dieter easily, you kiss him back, straddling him. Your mother is upstairs resting after a particularly rough day and she will be asleep for a few hours. “I love you.” You coo, grinding down on him with a smirk when he groans. “You want to have sex?” Dieter finds it sexy when you just bluntly ask, so you have taken to doing just that.

Dieter groans, sliding his hand down to squeeze your ass, “yes. Fuck yes.” He smacks your ass and kisses your jaw. “Here or you wanna go to our room?” He asks against our skin, wanting you to decide but he’s already hardening beneath you.

“Here.” Spontaneity has been a little lacking lately with your mother requiring a lot of your time and you know that Dieter will enjoy it. “You can think about it when we are eating dinner here with the family.” You tease.

“You’re too fucking good to me. Think about your pussy while eating your pie.” He teases as he slides his hand under your shirt, “get your damn jeans off.” He demands as he pulls your shirt over your head.

You bite your lip as you stand up, pushing away from him so you can get undressed. “Strip down baby.” You beg, wanting to see him. Dieter has an amazing body, lean and naturally athletic, every time you see him you get wet.

He doesn’t hesitate to pull his shirt over his head, tossing it on the floor, and he stands up to strip his jeans. He never wears underwear so he kicks them aside and sits back down to watch you strip while he wraps his fingers around his cock, pumping himself. “You’re so sexy.” He murmurs, dark eyes watching you with lust. You’re still in your honeymoon stage after six months of marriage and Dieter is always ready to fuck his wife.

“Me?” You snort and shoot him a playful wink. “I’m the one with a hot, actor husband.” You remind him, reaching up and cupping your tits. “You want to fuck me? Or you want me to ride that pretty cock of yours?”

He scoffs at your comment about him being an actor. He wishes. He’s a community theater actor at best. He reaches for you to drag you into his lap, “come here and ride my cock, my beautiful wife.” He demands, groaning when you straddle him and he bends down to take your nipple into his mouth after he cups your tit.

Passion is something Dieter has in spades. He never fails to make you fall deeper in love with him. It’s not like you haven’t been together since you were almost too young for love, but it just keeps growing. “Dee.” You moan, fingers sinking into his short hair. “You should grow your hair out so I can pull it.”

"Can't." He murmurs against your sternum, his face buried between your tits. "I need it short for the show." He presses a kiss to your skin before he lathes his attention on your other breast. His free hand squeezes your ass, "fuck, you're so gorgeous. Wanna eat you out later." He declares after he bites down on your nipple.

You hum, knowing that he can’t grow it out right now, but you would love it. “God, Dee.” You whimper happily, letting him do what he wants while you grind down on his hard cock and roll your hips. You are wet and getting wetter, but he will still stretch you out.

He doesn't want to hurt you if you aren't wet enough so he slides his hand down to cup your cunt, his fingers easily finding your clit to rub slow circles on it.

You moan his name again, loving how he is patient with you. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a big cock and he knows it. He’s proud of that fact, even if neither one of you has slept with too many people. “God baby, you touch me so perfectly.” You praise breathlessly. “My husband.”

He kisses up your chest until he's pressing his lips to yours while he continues to rub your bundle of nerves. "My sexy, beautiful, smart as fuck wife." He murmurs against your chin and he is throbbing with need for you. "You ready for me?" He asks, his tone a little whiny as he aches for you.

“Yessss.” You hiss, reaching down to wrap your hand around his cock. “I want to ride you, baby.” You pant, lifting your hips as he pulls his hand away and you position him at your entrance.

Dieter hisses as you start to sink down onto him. You’re so fucking perfect and he has always thought it. Ever since you were kids. You’ve always been the most beautiful woman in the room. His hands are everywhere, sliding along your body until he squeezes your ass, letting you adjust while you take him inside your tight cunt.

Dieter always feels amazing, you moan his name as you squeeze him with your muscles. “Fuck I love you.” You pant, kissing along his neck when he turns his head. “You’re my forever baby.”

He groans, helping you rock on top of him, “fucking love you too. So much.” He murmurs, squeezing your ass and his hands slide up your back to pull you even closer as you move on top of him. You’re on your tiptoes as you lift up and slowly sink back down onto his cock. No one has ever made him feel like this, like he is home, but it’s still in the back of his mind to want more from his career.

You don’t know what is rolling through Dieter’s mind as you ride him. All you know is that he feels incredible and you love the way he moans. The way he kisses you. He’s always been a passionate person but he truly makes you feel cherished when he’s touching you, praising you. “I love you. I love how you feel inside me.” You moan, grinding down on him.

Your moan makes him twitch inside you and he watches you as you ride him, taking what you want from him. “Love you too, baby. Tell me - tell me how much you love me.” He whines slightly, needing reassurance from you. He can be insecure and considering his lack of money due to his chosen profession, he feels like he can’t provide for you like he should.

You can tell that he is needy right now and you press your lips to his briefly before you caress his cheek. "To the moon and back." You promise him. "The only one I will ever be married to."

Your words have his heart racing and his stomach clenching when you look into his eyes and you stare at him like he’s the only person in the world, in your world. He loves it and he surges forward to reclaim your lips, needing to be as close as possible to you at this moment.

You love when Dieter is like this, needy and greedy for you. Holding you tight and kissing you like you are the only woman in the world. Even if he dreams big, what you have is real, it’s not an act. You kiss him back just as eagerly, pouring your feelings for him into that simple act while you bounce on his cock.

You take him so well and he groans into your mouth, his tongue sloppily sliding against yours. His hands are everywhere, greedy for you, and he knows you’ll be by his side no matter what. He loves that about you. He tries to get as much of you as possible and it’s so not enough.

Both of you dissolve into moans and grunts of pleasure, the pace picking up to where your tits are bouncing and you feel like Dieter is in your guts. Breathlessly panting praise for him and how his cock feels into his mouth as you feel yourself getting closer and closer to cumming.

He needs to feel you fall apart for him so he slides his hand between you, finding your clit to rub the sensitive bundle of nerves and he groans when you fall apart for him within a few swipes of his fingers. You clamp down on his cock and soak him, collapsing against his chest and he moves fast to wrap his arms around your body, rocking you on top of him as he seeks his own orgasm.

Dieter is frantic and greedy, bordering on desperate as he starts to shuffle his hips up. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” You cry out, gasping as he pushes it towards overstimulation. “Cum for me, baby.”

He falls apart as the command leaves your lips. His cock twitching as he paints your walls with his hot seed. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He pants as he stiffens beneath you, his face buried in your neck as he cums for you, only for you.

You whine softly, loving how you’ve stopped using condoms since you’ve gotten married. One day you will go off your birth control and start a family, but you’ve decided to wait until your mother doesn't need as much care and Dieter is better established. “I love you.” You whisper, running your fingers through his hair gently.

He pants, kissing your chin as he looks up at you, “love you too.” He murmurs, caressing your back as you embrace while the pleasure echoes through your bodies. He sighs and presses a soft kiss to your lips just as your mom calls your name from upstairs.

You sigh softly. “At least we finished this time.” You chuckle, kissing his lips again before you pull off his cock with a groan. “Coming!” You call up the stairs as you move to the sink to clean up quickly so you can redress.

Dieter sighs, shifting to grab his pants from the floor. He knows you are an incredible person to take care of your mom and moving in with her has helped you both to save up money, hopefully for a move to L.A, but his mother in law has been a cock block since he moved in. He watches you rush around and get dressed before you run upstairs and he redresses, looking down at the script on the table. The phone rings on the wall and he calls out “I’ll get it.” He answers and frowns when they say his name. It’s his agent. The one he’s scrapped money together to get some auditions booked. “You got it! You got the part!” He announces and Dieter’s eyes widen, “th-the lead?” He asks, wanting to confirm. “The lead!” His agent grins and Dieter’s heart thumps in his chest. He got the lead. He got it. He finally did it. He grabs a notepad to take down the details. “So you need to move to L.A. Read through for the pilot is the first week of December.” His agent says and after writing down the details, Dieter says goodbye. His grin makes his cheeks hurt and he shakes his head in disbelief. 

When you come downstairs, his hands are shaking. “She wants some tea.” You announce as you walk to the stove and Dieter spins you around, pressing his lips to yours. “I did it!” He announces and you frown, “did what?” He chuckles, cupping your cheeks, “I got the part.”

“The part?” You’re confused for a moment before your eyes widen. “The part! That’s great baby!” You kiss him again. 

“Yeah we have to be in L.A by December first.” He tells you excitedly, making your face fall into a frown. “In L.A?” You ask, hoping that he is joking. “Yeah, we can go out this weekend and see about getting a place.” He immediately starts rambling and you get more and more worried as he starts to plan out leaving and catching his big break before he finally takes a breath. “Baby….” You bite your lip. “I can’t move to LA. What about mom? What about our life here? My job?” You don’t want to say it out loud, but Dieter has never been the financially stable one of the two of you. You wanted him to chase his dreams and you had always thought once he got it out of his system, he would settle down.

His excitement falters and he stares at you, his brow furrowing. "I, uh, I thought this was always the plan. You know, us, moving to L.A. You working on your art. Me on acting. Our fucking dreams baby. Have you forgotten we have dreams?" He growls, stepping back from you, "or are we gonna fucking die in this goddamn town like our fathers?"

You rear back from the venom in his voice. “Of course I haven’t forgotten we have dreams.” You tell him, hating how he is looking at you. “But sometimes you have to put your dreams on hold. Mom is sick. What am I supposed to do? Leave her alone? Who would take care of her?” You demand. “How will you pay rent if the part falls through? Or the show isn’t picked up? We have stability here. I’m not saying we don’t dream, but I have responsibilities right now.”

Dieter frowns, taking in your words, and his heart breaks. He can’t follow his dream and be with you so he’s going to have to give up his dream. This is his chance, he feels it in his stomach, but he knows you won’t leave your mother. “I can’t stay here forever.” He murmurs, his dark eyes meeting yours.

“I promise it won’t be forever.” You murmur softly, relieved that he is seeing reason. You step closer and he’s not pulling away again. Reaching out and caressing his cheek gently. “Within the next couple of years, we will be chasing our dreams for real.”

Dieter nods despite the part being in the back of his mind but it’s Thanksgiving. Maybe you’ll see reason in a couple of days. He doesn’t phone his agent back to turn down the role, wanting to see how things go. You work on getting the tea ready for your mom and Dieter stands up, “I’ve got a rehearsal for the show later so I’m gonna go shower.” He leans in to kiss your cheek, heading upstairs to the bathroom with Hollywood in the back of his mind.

After taking your mother her tea, you start prepping Thanksgiving. It’s a huge relief to have your family bringing dishes so it’s not all on you. You know you will have a lot to do and taking care of things now will help. Humming to yourself as you make the pie Dieter loves, you smile to yourself. It’s going to be a wonderful holiday.

**** 

Dieter taps his fingers on the table, listening to your uncle ramble on about the election and he clenches his jaw, trying to not snap at him. "Did you vote for that piece of shit or not, Bravo?" Your uncle Frank asks and Dieter sighs, not wanting to get into an argument. "I don't really get into politics." He answers diplomatically and Frank scoffs, "if you guys value your future, you would pay more goddamn attention." Dieter picks up his glass of wine and takes a sip, glancing across the room to where you are rushing around to grab what everyone needs before you all sit down for dinner. "You need any help, babe?" He calls out and you shake your head, "no. No. I'm nearly done. Everyone sit down!" You demand and you carry the mac and cheese to the table while everyone admires the feast in front of them. Your mom wants to say grace so Dieter reluctantly takes your hand, keeping one eye open as he holds his mom's hand on the other side of him. Your mom clears her throat before she speaks, "thank you Lord for the food we are about to eat. Thank you for family, friends, and loved ones. Thank you for every day we wake up and see the sunshine. May we have many days to come." She finishes with a cough and Dieter sees a tear roll down your cheek and he lifts your hand to press a kiss to the back of it while everyone says "Amen." You clear your throat and smile, telling everyone to dig in. 

The table is soon full of food and drinks and your aunt Susan decides to sour Dieter's mood. "So when are you planning on having kids? You two have been married for six months. I was five months pregnant by that stage." She giggles and turns towards you.

You feel Dieter tense beside you and your hand quickly slides under the table to squeeze his knee in reassurance. “We’ve decided to wait.” You remind everyone, the exact same thing you said when you were getting married. “Why? You’re married now, it’s time for you to start a family.” Frankie insists and you shake your head. “We have things we want to do before we have kids. If we even have them at all.” You add.

Frankie scoffs, "don't tell me that you are putting a family on hold so Dieter can become a fucking actor?" Dieter stiffens even more, knowing your uncle wasn't impressed by his career plans and thought he should get a real job to support you and any kids that come along. "I, uh, I got a part, actually. In a pilot, in L.A. It's about a detective." Dieter tries to defend himself and his mom chimes in with "really, baby? That's amazing. Oh I'm so proud of you." She coos, knowing how much her son wants to be an actor. Ever since he was a little boy it's been his dream but your family is relentless. 

"Proud of him? What's he gonna do? Drag her to L.A and leave his mother-in-law when she's sick? She's got fucking cancer and her son in law is gonna fuck off so he can follow some dream and come crawling back here when he fails and get a damn divorce because he didn't put his goddamn family over his selfish ass. He will never be famous." Frankie shakes his head and Dieter drops his fork, shrugging off his mom when she rubs his shoulder and pushing your hand away.

“Uncle Frank, that’s enough.” You hiss, although you aren’t shouting because you want to keep the peace as much as possible. “No, it’s not nearly enough.” He snorts and you shake your head. “Your vision of our life doesn’t matter. If Dieter wants to try to make it big in Hollywood, you should be proud of that.”

"Don't." Dieter murmurs, clenching his jaw, and he shoves his napkin on the table, "I'm sorry. I - I gotta go to the bathroom." He declares and you frown, "babe" but he strides off without glancing back at you. He storms into your bathroom, leaning over the vanity to look at himself in the mirror. 

"I have a fucking role. I know I can do it. I know I can be an actor. Just need a fucking chance." He hisses through his teeth. "All I need is a chance. I'll fucking prove that asshole wrong." He growls to himself and glances at his toothbrush sitting next to yours. He will never make it in Hollywood if he stays here. He will never prove them wrong. You'll get pregnant and he will give up on his dream. He'll lose his hair, go grey, get wrinkles, and a beer gut like every other fucker in this town. He will be a loser just like them. "I'm not a fucking loser." He mutters and grabs his toothbrush.

“Why do you have to be an asshole?” You hiss to your uncle as everyone else shifts uncomfortably. “The boy has to face reality.” Frank insists, frowning heavily. “He’s not going to be an actor. He needs to get a better job to support you instead of you paying all the damn bills and running yourself ragged while he pretends to work at that stupid little community theatre.”

Dieter rushes around your bedroom, packing essentials, and he grabs a piece of paper from your nightstand, scribbling out a message to you. You'll come to find him any second so his handwriting is awful. He slings his duffel bag over his shoulder and looks at the bed you share. Hopefully you understand why he's doing this. He loves you but he needs to do this for himself. He has to prove everyone wrong. He hesitates for a second when he sees your wedding photo as he turns towards the door and he sighs, shaking his head before he makes his way downstairs quietly. "You need to dump his ass. That Grayson boy wanted to marry you and he works at his daddy's dealership. He's got a career and he's gonna be a big deal in this town. Should've married him." Frank scoffs and Dieter swallows harshly, making his way down the hall to the front door. He opens it softly and steps outside, the cold air making him shiver and he gets in his car, not hesitating as he backs out the driveway and begins his journey. "L.A here I come." He mutters, knowing he will return to his hometown a fucking Oscar winner.

You finally have to leave the table. Not even your mother chiding your uncle has helped and you are sick of his damned opinions. “Dee?” You knock on the door to your shared bedroom, wanting to give him a chance to compose himself if he’s upset. He’s a lot more sensitive than most would believe. “Baby….” You open the door and frown when you don’t see him sitting on the bed and looking miserable. “Hun?” The bathroom light is off and you sigh. Thinking that maybe he had gone outside until you spot the paper on the bed. Stomach sinking in dread, you stare at it for a moment before you reach for the slip of paper. Hand trembling, you unfold it and see that Dieter has scrawled “I can’t wait for my dreams. I’m sorry.” You choke back a sob, realizing that he’s left and you don’t even know when he’ll be home.

**** 

"Fuckkkkk yessss." Dieter groans as he watches the woman take his cock into his mouth while her boyfriend slides into her from behind. It's a naughty sight he's familiar with and he fucking loves it. "Look so fucking gorgeous." He coos and the man smirks, "says the Oscar winning actor and People's Sexiest Man of the Year 2023." Dieter smirks, chest puffing slightly as the woman giggles as she squeezes his cock. "should get best cock of the year too." She coos and Dieter caresses her cheek, "fuck. You two are gonna make me cum with words." He smirks, "you free next weekend?" He asks, wanting to spend more time with his co-stars. 

"We are going to New York. It's - fuck - Thanksgiving." The man reminds Dieter who frowns as his cock is pushed further down the woman's throat. Thanksgiving. Something he hasn't celebrated in the years since he left you during the middle of dinner. His assistant has probably booked for him to go to Hawaii again. "Guess I'll see you when you get back." He says and smirks when he shifts onto his knees to kiss his co-star. 

**** 

"What do you mean the fucking flight is canceled?" Dieter growls at the check in assistant at the first class desk. He would travel private but holidays are fucking expensive. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bravo, but the flights have been canceled to Hawaii. The fires..." She trails off and Dieter scoffs, "what a joke. So what the fuck am I gonna do?" He asks her, eyebrows raised above his aviators. "We can get you a flight somewhere else. Or a refund. If you want to go somewhere, this flight is leaving at the same time as your previous flight." She turns the screen and his jaw drops when he sees the flight is to his hometown. "No. No. Not there. Anywhere but there." He demands and she nods, "I can issue a refund but-" Dieter cuts her off, "actually. Get me a ticket. First class." He demands, remembering that he hasn't seen his mom in years and his co-stars talked about how nice it is to go home for the holidays. He will go home and show everyone in that fucking town that he's back. The Oscar Winning Actor who won Sexiest Man of the Year 2023 is fucking back. "There you go, Mr. Bravo. Enjoy your trip." She hands him the ticket and he smirks, "oh I will."

**** 

“Mom, I really don’t feel like celebrating this year.” It’s the same comment you make every year, but you are always overruled. “Don’t be ridiculous.” True to what you had told Dieter, your mother had beaten cancer and was now happily in remission. You still live with her, not because you are taking care of her, but because you didn’t want to live alone after Dieter had left you. “Don’t worry, I’ve already invited Sean.” She assures you. “And Debra won’t mind him being there.” You roll your eyes, wishing that Dieter’s mother wasn’t also your mom’s best friend and automatically invited to every family event. Even if you were technically still family since Dieter would never sign the damn divorce papers.

Dieter takes his glasses off his face when he rings the doorbell of his childhood home and his mom answers within a few moments. "Dieter?" She gasps, shocked to see her son, "hi mom." He smiles and she squeals, surging forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "You're home. I can't believe it." She cries and Dieter embraces her. Despite his playboy reputation in L.A, he's always been a momma's boy. "I missed you. Let me look at you." She cups his cheeks and frowns, "you don't eat enough and you pierced your ear. And got more tattoos." She tuts, "but other than that, you are my boy." She kisses his cheek and lets go of him when he flushes, "mom." She steps back and ushers him inside, "come in, come in. I'm just cooking." Dieter follows her inside the familiar home and it hasn't changed. 

"I'm just cooking for the dinner tomorrow." She explains and Dieter raises his eyebrows, "dinner?" She nods and says your mom's name, "it's Thanksgiving." She says with a giggle, "silly goose." Dieter frowns, "I, uh, I should probably stay here. I'll be fine." He promises and his mom nods, "yeah. She will be there." His mom never mentions your name on the phone when she discusses her best friend and her life. He heard about your mom beating cancer and he took a hit of coke to celebrate. "She's engaged. So it's probably best that you don't go." She says, still protective over you despite Dieter being her son. She was shocked when you came back in to announce that Dieter had left and she wanted to slap him silly for leaving the best thing to ever happen to him. Even if he was preoccupied with his dreams. "Engaged?" Dieter chokes, knowing he has no right to be shocked but his stomach twists. "She's happy." His mom says and Dieter scoffs, "happy. Still in this damn town. She can't be happy. Who's she engaged to?" He asks and Debra sighs, "Sean Grayson. He's good for her. Baby, I know...I know you left and wow, you've made me so proud seeing you as an Oscar winner and all but...it's time to let her go." She reaches for his hand and Dieter pulls his hand away before she can touch him. 

"I want to meet him. I'm going to dinner." He declares, spinning on his heel to call around, see if he can at least get some weed from someone around town. "Oh boy." Debra mutters, knowing this year will be drama filled but maybe it will be good for everyone to get closure.

Waking up on Thanksgiving is always so damn surreal for you. You dread the day, wouldn’t do anything but hide in your bed if you had your way, but you can’t do that. Your mom only let you have the first year after Dieter left to sulk. After that, she had decided Thanksgiving would go on, and so would you. So you just wake up and stare at the ceiling, knowing that this would be the last year you would sleep in this bed. The same one you shared with Dieter although you had replaced the mattress five years ago. “Fuck.” You groan, looking over at the nightstand where another copy of the divorce papers are waiting to be mailed after the holiday.

Dieter wakes up with a groan as his mom bangs on the door to his childhood bedroom. "Dieter! We are leaving in twenty minutes!" Debra shouts through the door and Dieter winces as he rubs his cheek. "Ugh, shit." He rasps as he glances at the clock. It's nearly eleven. He managed to find some weed last night. Ironically the dealer was the same kid who would sell weed in high school and he was shocked when Dieter met him. "No way man, I fucking loved you in Hunger Strike. Here, some E on me." He shoved the baggies at Dieter who offered him a polite smile and paid him before smoking in his room like he used to do when he was sixteen. He rolls out of bed and showers, groaning at his reflection. He's older, wrinkled, graying hair. Everything Frank said he would be but he's famous. He's successful. That's all that matters and today, he gets to show that to everyone who doubted him. He dresses in nicer jeans and a button down, wanting to appear successful since they cost more than someone's rent for the month. "You ready, mom?" He asks and Debra nods, "are you ready?" She emphasizes and Dieter smirks, "let's go."

Even though you would rather be anywhere else, you come downstairs dressed nicely and make sure that you put on makeup this morning. Sean likes when you dress up for him and since this is the first Thanksgiving spent with him here, you make the effort. Hours later, it is almost time for everyone to arrive and you are putting your pie in the oven.

The drive to your mom's house is quiet and Dieter looks out at the town he left in the dust. It hasn't changed and he is nervous. He knows you must hate him. You've sent him divorce papers several times throughout the years but he has never signed them. He doesn't really know why. Sometimes he's gotten high or drunk and signed them but never mailed them. Sometimes he's ripped them up and had his assistant overnight them back to you. He should give you a divorce but he can't do it. Even if he doesn't know why. Pulling up on the familiar driveway, he adjusts his sweater and follows his mom to the front door, bracing himself as she rings the doorbell.

“I’ll get it!” You just texted Sean, so you are pretty sure that it’s Debra. If you can get the talk about Dieter out of the way before he gets here, you would feel a lot better. The last thing you want to do this year is be reminded all day that your husband left you. “Hi, Deb-“ your smile freezes as you open the door to your mother in law and find not only her, but your absentee husband standing on the doorstep with a disgustingly charming smile on his handsome face. “What the fuck?”

Dieter slides his eyes down your body, taking in the sight of you after so many years apart and God, you’re just as fucking beautiful. But you are glaring at him like he just shot your dog and he guesses he deserves that. “Hi honey. I’m home.” He jokes, unable to do anything else right now.

“Are you delivering the divorce papers in person?” You demand and he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “What divorce papers?” He feigns ignorance and Debra chuckles awkwardly. “Now, now, it’s Thanksgiving!” She reminds both of you before she calls out to your mom. “Where do you want the casserole?” She slides by you into the house and leaves you staring at Dieter.

“I wanted to come home and see everyone. Is there something wrong with that?” Dieter continues to smile, loving how affected you seem to be by his appearance. “I missed my mom’s casserole.” He pouts, “and you.”

You rock your jaw, seeing how Dieter’s smile has shifted to a smirk. “Missed me?” You snort and you know that you have to let him in or risk causing a scene. “I doubt that. Where’s that fitness model you were dating? And the hotel concierge?” You watch him shift and his arms drop to his sides, telling you when he’s feeling guilty. “Guess they couldn’t make it?” You don’t invite him in, but you turn and just walk away with the door still open.

Dieter clenches his jaw, knowing his flings have been well broadcasted and his relationship with Anika fell apart because she wanted to get married and he couldn’t explain why he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t tell her he was already married. He huffs and strides into your house, one he knows well but there are differences in decor since he was last here. Shutting the door behind him, he follows you down the hall into the living room where your family is gathered. “Uncle Frank.” Dieter grins, walking over to the old man to slap him on the back, “so good to see you.”

Your uncle Frank’s eyes widen in shock when he turns to see the man he had once called a loser standing next to him. Dieter is successful, famous and rich. He chokes out a “Dieter,” without swallowing his tongue. “You’re here for Thanksgiving?”

Dieter wishes there was a camera to take a photo of the man who ridiculed him so many years ago for chasing his dream. Dieter nods, “yes. Figured I’d come home and see everyone. How you doing?” He asks and Frank chokes out “I’m the same.” Dieter tuts and shakes his head, “that’s a shame. You’ve done nothing with your life.” He mocks and your aunt Susan comes over to him, “you were amazing in Hunger Strike. You really deserved the Oscar.” She says and Dieter grins, standing straighter, “yeah. Thanks. I, uh, I worked my ass off on that role.”

You walk into the kitchen, seething in anger that Dieter just waltzes back into your life and now it could ruin everything. “Why the fuck is he here?”

Your mom sighs, “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know Deb was bringing him. Hell, I didn’t even know he was back home. What - what are you gonna do? Sean is arriving any minute.” As soon as she says that, the doorbell rings.

“Oh shit.” Your eyes close in frustration and you rush out of the room to open the door before anyone else. Luckily Dieter is letting your aunt fawn and coo over him, as if she’s not completely aware that he had broken your heart.

Dieter watches you rush past the living room down the hall and he offers your aunt a smile as she gushes over his movies. This is what he wanted. To return to adoration. To come back be someone. Not a loser. His grin is cocky as he accepts her praise until you walk into the living with Sean Grayson behind you. He hated that kid in high school. He was a jock who’d make fun of Dieter for being the weird theater kid.

“Listen, I don’t think it’s a good idea if we stay.” You murmur to Sean. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He huffs. “I’ve been looking forward to Thanksgiving with your family.”

Your family, especially Uncle Frank, all coo over Sean as he strides into the living room and your uncle reaches out to shake his hand. “So glad you could come.” He grins and Dieter rolls his eyes, he’s never been greeted like that by your asshole uncle. Sean makes the rounds to say hello until he’s facing Dieter. “Oh. Wow. Bravo. You’re back in town.” Sean says and Dieter nods, holding out his hand, digging his rings into his flesh a little harder than normal. “Yep. Back in town. Figured I’d have a small town Thanksgiving for once instead of trying to cool down in Hawaii.”

You bite your lip and watch your fiancé interact with your technical husband. He smiles that smarmy smile you’ve noticed he’s developed over the years when you’ve accidentally seen interviews and articles with him in them. The one that you can tell is fake. “I need a drink? Does anyone need a drink?” You ask. “Sean, why don’t you come help me, sweetheart?”

​​Dieter watches you walk off with Sean and Uncle Frank nudges the actor. “New man on the scene. You know, his daddy gave him the dealership. Boy is making good money and he bought her a hell of a ring. Much nicer than that tin you gave her.” Frank snorts and Dieter clenches his jaw and gives him a tight smile. “I wasn’t rich then. I could buy her a million dollar ring and still not touch the sides.”

“But why would you?” He asks. “You’re banging everything you can get your hands on. We aren’t so small town that we don’t know what you’re doing in Hollywood.” In the kitchen, you are rushing to get the wine glasses while Sean gets the wine. “I can’t believe Bravo came.” Sean snorts. “Got to be a shock to see your ex-husband here.”

Dieter snorts, wishing he had a cigarette or something to distract himself from the hell he volunteered for. He imagined you would be grateful for his return and he’s found you engaged to a fucking asshole who used to bully him. “True. You know, I was in a throuple.” Dieter smirks, “wore me out and I ended it because I needed to give my body a break, if you know what I mean.” He smirks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Frank curls his lip and turns away from Dieter, moving over towards his wife and leaning in to whisper something in her ear. “Yeah- uh, it’s kind of a shock.” You tell Sean, quickly opening the bottle he opened and pouring out drinks. “Just- um, please don’t talk about the wedding or anything?” You beg him. “I don’t want Dieter to try to bring up the past today. I don’t know if I can handle it.” Sean knows all about Dieter leaving you on the holiday and has been supportive of you so far. You can only hope that Dieter doesn’t run his fucking mouth. You’ve never actually told Sean you are still married to the actor, assuming he would get bored of whatever little game he had been playing and sign the damned papers. The judge wouldn’t grant you a divorce without Dieter present because of his fame and the wealth he has, despite you promising the old coot you just wanted the divorce. He had also been the one to marry you and Dieter forever ago and had a history of no divorces amongst the couples who had been married by him. It makes you want to tear your hair out.

Sean nods, coming over to you so he can rub your upper arms. “Don’t worry, baby. It’s gonna be okay. We won’t let him ruin this holiday again.” Sean murmurs, leaning in to kiss your forehead. “Just ignore him and if you want, I’ll kick his ass.” Sean smirks, “been wanting to do it since high school anyway.”

You frown slightly, hearing an anticipation in Sean’s voice that you didn’t like. You know they didn’t get along in high school, but that was so long ago. “No, nothing like that.”

Sean nods, "fine. Let's get a drink and ignore his ass." Sean reaches for a bottle of beer and opens it, talking a gulp. Meanwhile, Dieter is thanking your mom when she hands him a glass of white wine. He wishes it was stronger but he doesn't want to get sloppy. Today, he's here to show everyone that they were wrong.

You try not to even look at Dieter when you come back into the room, reassured by the kiss shared in the kitchen and the weight of Sean’s hand on your waist. “Dinner should be ready in fifteen.” You tell everyone, smiling but avoiding looking over towards Dieter and Debra.

Dieter's gaze drops to the hand on your waist and he shifts from one foot to the other. He knows he has no claim over you but he feels jealous. He talks to his mom who smiles at him, happy he's home, and finally, everyone is sitting down for dinner. 

"So, Bravo, why'd you come back? To this town?" Sean asks after you walk into the kitchen to grab the salt and pepper. "To see my mom. To see everyone since I've been gone for so long." Dieter answers and Sean snorts, "yeah. Years. Looks like you've been busy too. Work wise and with partners." Dieter snorts, "true. I have been very busy." He smirks, "that's why I came home. I needed rest."

You look down at your plate after sitting down, pretending not to care about the conversation but it stings. A knife to your chest just like that time….you reach for your glass and take another gulp of your wine. Dieter had moved on, obviously, and so have you. It does no good to delve into the past. “Well, our small town is the perfect place for rest.” You manage brightly, picking up your fork again.

Dieter hums, “that it is. That it is.” Sean narrows his eyes slightly when he sees the way Dieter looks at you. “So what are your plans? Just hanging around? Or you gonna go out? We don’t need the town to be disrupted.” He bites at Dieter who chuckles and nods, “I’m used to signing autographs and taking photos. I just don’t want fans to be stalking me. I’ve had some issues back home with fans following me home. I did take one to bed once but she ended up being crazy.”

You shudder, forking up a bite of your food and holding it at your mouth. “I’m sure that after tonight Dieter will go back to LA where he belongs.” You look towards your fiancé. “Our small town is boring and there’s nothing here for him.” You’ll give him the papers again when Sean leaves.

Dieter shakes his head, “I wouldn’t say that. This town has its charms.” His dark eyes focus on you, “but enough about me. What about you two? Tell me how you met.” He orders, setting his fork down to take a sip of wine.

You are about to change the subject, but Sean actually reaches over and squeezes your knee. “Well, her car was on its last leg, a rolling road hazard really, so she came in to find another vehicle.” Sean explains. “Since dad turned over the dealership to me, I find that I actually like to be on the sales floor. I sold her on the idea of that pretty little car in the driveway and a date.” He chuckles at his own joke and you smile at him when he looks over, although your appetite is gone and your stomach is in knots.

Dieter chuckles, a fake smile on his face as he looks at you. You look a little sick, definitely look like you want to floor to swallow you up. “And do you make her cum?” Dieter asks bluntly, “because she used to love it when I ate her out.”

“Dieter!” His name is not only hissed by you, but by his mother, and your own. Your aunt gasping and your uncle grumbling about degenerate behavior while you wish you could just disappear. Sean stiffens but he looks over at you and smirks. “Well, I’m the one taking care of her now.” He turns back towards Dieter. “And I’m not talking about my fiancée like that.”

Dieter falters for a second upon hearing you’re engaged to that asshole but he recovers and smirks back, “so you eat her ass? She used to love that. Would make her drip onto the bed sheets.” He continues to push the boundaries and his mother slaps his arm, “I cannot believe you. Be quiet.” She pleads but Dieter stares at Sean, silently challenging the man you’re engaged to.

Your face feels like it’s on fire, thoroughly embarrassed by Dieter’s childish behavior and the very personal questions. Sean snorts and shakes his head. “You’re something else, Bravo.” He tells him. “It’s a good damn thing she didn’t stay in LA with you. You would have mortified her in interviews.”

Dieter leans back in his chair, his brow furrowing, "what are you talking about? She didn't come to L.A." He scoffs, "she never wanted to come to L.A. She wanted to stay in this shithole town and have babies and die having never achieved anything."

Sean frowns and looks at you. “I thought you said you met up with him in LA to give him the divorce papers?” He asks and you huff out a nervous smile. “I mean- I did, but I-“ Dieter chuckles. “Nope. Never happened.” He announces. “Dieter-“ you try to stop him, but he just smirks at Sean. “We’re still married.”

Dieter watches Sean's face drop and he chuckles, "she didn't tell you? She's still Mrs. Bravo." He reveals and his mom nudges him but this moment is so satisfying. To see that smug look fall from that asshole’s face. "We don't have a pre-nup so it's not financially viable for me to divorce."

“You told me you were divorced.” Sean’s eyes narrow towards you and you know that he’s pissed. “Baby, I’ve been trying to-“ “You know how I feel about shit like that!” He hisses, his chair scraping the floor as he pushes back from his plate quickly. “You’ve been lying to me. I can’t-“ he shakes his head and stalks around the table to edge towards the door. Leaping up, you rush after him, hoping you can explain.

Dieter smirks and his mom slaps his arm again, “why would you do that?” She asks and Uncle Frank scoffs, “because he’s an asshole.” Dieter hums, feeling satisfied to make Sean angry. “Well, let’s not let the food go to waste.” He declares and digs back into his food.

Outside you are chasing after Sean. “Wait! I can explain.” You tell him, making him stop and spin around. “You can explain how you’ve been lying to me?” He demands, his face showing how hurt and upset he is. You sigh. “I’ve been trying to divorce Dieter since I went to LA. But he refuses to do anything with the papers I’ve sent his lawyer, his agent, him directly.” You wave your arm around in frustration. “And the judge will not do anything until he does sign them!”

“So you accepted my proposal knowing you are already married? What were you gonna do? Be a bigamist?” He hisses and you shake your head, tears in your eyes. “I can’t- I can’t marry someone who lies to me and I need time. I- I’ll call you later.” He shrugs off your touch when you reach for him and he stomps over to his car, getting in and speeding off down the road.

You watch the car for a moment, angry and hurt, even though you know that he is right. You lied to him, afraid of losing the first stable relationship since Dieter had left you. Walking back inside, you find Dieter calmly eating Thanksgiving dinner like he hadn’t just turned your life upside down again. “Thanks for that, you fucking selfish prick!” You yell. “Why did you even come back here now? To ruin Thanksgiving for me all over? Mission accomplished!” You turn back around and rush out of the house again, tears streaming down your face.

Dieter scoffs and stands up, following you outside because he needs to say what he’s been thinking since he arrived. You spin around when you see him, telling him to leave you alone. “Like you really wanted to marry that prick. He just wants you to be a homemaker. Pop out his babies. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about your dreams. I did, remember? But you didn’t follow your dreams. You stayed here to fucking rot in this fucking town.” Dieter growls, “you’re the one who gave up on us. Not me. I left to do what we always said we’d do. I had the balls to follow my dreams.”

“Fuck you.” You hiss, glaring at him and wanting so back to slap him. “Apparently following your dreams was also fucking other people!” You watch as his eyes widen and you laugh at the irony. “I went to LA, Dieter! A week after you mailed me your apartment key, I flew out to surprise you. Mom had just been told the cancer treatment had been successful and I wanted to tell you in person.”

Tears are streaming down your face as you tell him. “I crept into the apartment only to find your dick down some bitch’s throat while her boyfriend was fucking her. Allllllll while you moaned about how you were going to fuck them both. So I left.”

He flinches, remembering that night, and he wondered why his door was unlocked at the time but figured his guests hadn’t locked it. “I- I- what was I supposed to do? You didn’t want me. You made it clear that I didn’t matter when I got the part and you refused to follow me. Your mom could’ve come with us. I don’t - I refuse to apologize for living my damn life.” He growls back before he swallows and slumps, “I’m sorry. I- fuck - okay? I’m so goddamn sorry. I missed you. Whenever I got drunk, I’d pick up the phone and call you and you’d answer and - and I’d lose my shit and hang up. I fucked up. I shouldn’t have left but I achieved my dream. I couldn’t stay here and be called a loser by your family anymore. I had to prove myself and my chance came. I had to take it. No matter the cost.”

“No matter the cost.” You nod, feeling deflated. “That cost was our marriage. But I guess it was worth it, right?” You ask. “You get to fuck whoever you want, everyone wants to fuck an Oscar winner.” You turn around and rush off, wanting to be alone.

He lets you walk away this time, knowing how you feel and he can tell you hate him. He’s ruined everything for you because he was selfish and wanted to achieve his dreams. Your mom was sick, he should’ve stayed, but it’s too late to turn back the clock. He watches you walk off and feels a hand on his shoulder. It’s your mom. “I- I’m sorry. I ruined her life.” He murmurs and turns to look at his mother in law. 

“You know, I was so angry when you left. On Thanksgiving of all days. She fell apart. Wouldn’t speak to me. Just helped me get better and I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for her, but I feel guilty. She never got to achieve her dreams. I held her back. And to know that I could’ve stopped you from your success is equally as bad. I hate you for leaving her but I love you for accomplishing your dream. When I was sick, I had so many regrets. I had to face death and I realized I didn’t do anything that I set out to do. After you left, I decided to do all the things that I wanted to do when I was better. I did all that and it’s because of you. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be regretting all the things I didn’t do. You are a great actor, Dieter, but right now, you need to be yourself and be honest. Do you want to be married to my daughter when you are in L.A and she has found someone who can give her what she needs? She wants children. She wants to be happy. She can’t do that if she’s constantly clinging to the past. Do the right thing.” She urges and Dieter sighs, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “I’ll go talk to her.” He promises, knowing where you are. Where you used to go. It doesn’t take long to walk to the park, finding you on the swing set you’d hang out at as kids.

You sniff as you kick at the rubber that they replaced the old sand with. It’s not nearly as satisfying as you had thought when you got to tell Dieter off and him being here has stirred up emotions you had thought you had buried deep enough. Sean is a good guy, but he isn’t Dieter. He doesn’t dream with you, and he can be annoyingly practical all the time. You hate how your heart had kicked in your chest when you opened the door to see your husband standing there. As if you sense his presence, you look up to see him walking towards you. Making you sigh softly and kick off to start swinging.

Dieter approaches you cautiously, not wanting to be screamed at again, and he sits down on the swing next to you. “Your mom talked to me. She’s still the same. Like my second mom.” He chuckles and glances at you until he turns his gaze to the falling leaves. “I’m sorry I’m such an asshole. I have been selfish and I shouldn’t have left. I should’ve stayed. Talked to you. Made a plan together.” He inhales deeply, “I’ll sign the papers. No arguments. I’ll let you go so you can be happy with Sean.”

You sigh, continuing to swing as you absorb what he is saying. “It doesn’t matter now.” You finally admit. “Sean’s first wife had an affair so he hates liars and cheaters.” You snort to yourself. “And technically, I’m both.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve really fucked up your life. I’ll sign the papers and get you one of those uh, what is it the models want, a Birkin bag.” He teases and you roll your eyes. “I won’t fuck your life any more. I’ll sign the papers.” He promises softly.

“Why wouldn’t you sign them before now?” You ask. “Seriously? I asked for nothing. Not one dime. No spousal support, no alimony, nothing. But you wouldn’t sign them while you were galavanting around the world and having public relationships with models.”

He looks down at his hands, the tattoo he got when he was eighteen of the circle you’d draw on his hand during class. He rubs the circle and sighs, “because I never stopped loving you. I know you won’t believe me and I’m not asking for anything but I thought if I signed the papers…it’s over. We are over. I didn’t want to face that when no one in Hollywood ever loved me. Not for me. Not like you did. I love you and I was selfish to keep you trapped in our marriage while I did whatever I wanted, whoever I wanted. I’ll sign the papers and I’ll talk to Sean. Tell him it was my fault. I threatened you to not sign the papers because I- I don’t know, because I didn’t want to give you any money. I’ll take the blame and you can be single and marry him, if that’s what you want.”

“You know you broke my heart, when you left?” You ask softly. “That's why I wouldn’t talk to you in the beginning. I was upset. If you had just talked to me about a plan that didn’t just include dropping everything, I would have gone along.” You continue to swing as you talk. “I wanted to be with you in LA. Wanted to help you make your dream come true, but you didn’t need me. You had everyone else.”

Dieter shakes his head, flexing his fingers, “everyone else?” He scoffs, “no one really wanted me. They wanted fame, money, connections. They didn’t give a fuck about me. The real me. I had to get lost in the haze of drugs and booze to feel something. No one has ever made me feel like you do.” He admits, “no one ever came close to you.”

“Poor Dieter.” You don’t murmur it sarcastically like you probably should have, despite everything you have to admit to yourself that you still love him. “You have everything you wanted and are more alone than ever.”

He knows he should put his walls back up and say his life is amazing but he is exhausted from pretending. “No one loves me. Not really. They only love what I can give them.” He sighs and rubs his hands.

“Your mom loves you.” You point out, even though you know that’s not what he means. Dieter huffs and you smile at his pout. “I still love you.” You admit. “It’s why I’m so fucking angry at you.”

Dieter clicks his tongue, “you still love me? Why? I’ve treated you like shit. Worse than shit. You should hate me. Fuck, I hate me.” He confesses, staring at the tarmac beneath his feet. “You deserve everything.”

“You can’t help who you love, Dieter.” You remind him, scoffing at both of you. “You broke my heart and refused to let me move on, but I watched the Oscars the night you won.” You confess. “Got drunk when I saw you making out with that model at the Vanity Fair after party.”

“I had - my PR needed me to date and make a name for myself until it became about me helping those girls make a name for themselves. I didn’t connect with anyone. Never had a relationship. Just one night stands. It was never serious. It was never you.” He closes his eyes and sighs.

“There’s no way I could compete with those women.” You scoff. “And men. They are gorgeous.”

Dieter chuckles humorlessly, "pretty but so fucking dumb. Trust me, baby. None of them had a lot of brain cells. They are beautiful but none of them wanted to talk about life. They just wanted to be seen with me and go on their way when they got what they wanted."

Some might call you stupid, but you feel bad for him. Dieter has always had this need to feel love, to be connected to someone. “I’m sorry that fame hasn’t been all you thought it would be.” You murmur. “I know that after I came back from LA, I- I just lost my passion. I couldn’t work on my art anymore. Everything was just dismal.”

“The grass ain’t always greener, huh?” He snorts and kicks his feet as he swings. “I’m sorry. I sent you that key when I was high and I always miss you when I’m high. I wanted to see you and figured that was one way to get you to L.A. I didn’t know…fuck, I wish I’d known.” He admits, “I, uh, I haven’t been with anyone for six months. Kinda lost the appeal. Casual sex. I miss how we used to be. Our sex.” He confesses, glancing at you.

“We had great sex.” You admit, never telling Sean that he didn’t quite measure up to your ex. That would have been wrong. “Maybe too good of sex.” You sigh again. “A month after you left, I found out I was pregnant. Or I thought I was.”

Dieter’s eyes widen, “you thought you were-? Did you-? I mean, I completely understand if you decided to, you know.” He finishes softly, his stomach twisting.

“No.” You quickly shake your head. “I, uh, lost the pregnancy a couple of weeks later.” You had confirmed with your doctor that it was likely you were in the early stages but it obviously wasn’t meant to be. He told you that stress could have caused it, or there was something wrong with the baby to not be viable. Either way, it had felt like the universe was telling you to let Dieter go. And then a month later you found him fucking another couple.

He hates that he wasn’t there, that he possibly caused it if you were upset by him leaving. “I’m so sorry.” He murmurs, “I know - there’s nothing I can say that will make that better or make it right.” He reaches for your hand to squeeze it, “I ruined your life. Your happiness.”

It’s the first time Dieter has touched you since he left so many Thanksgivings ago, but your heart still pounds and your skin tingles. “I wish we could have done things differently.” You squeeze his hand back gently.

Dieter nods, “me too. I wish I hadn’t fucked up. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.” He confesses and kisses the back of your hand, “even better than an Oscar, but…that time of our lives is over now. I know you can’t forgive me. I’ll sign the papers.” He promises, letting go of your hand.

You frown to yourself as you wrap your hand around the chain for the swing and push off again. “Do you remember that weekend we each told our parents we were going to stay at a friend’s house and we went to that little cabin your grandfather owned?”

Dieter frowns, the memory is one that got buried beneath the haze of drugs and booze but he remembers. “Yeah. Our first time.” He smiles, fondly reminded of the night you first slept together. “It was so fucking cold and I couldn’t get the fire started. Turns out having sex is a great way to keep warm.” He chuckles, starting to swing alongside you.

“That was the day I decided I was going to marry you.” You hum at the memory, smiling softly at the way a very young Dieter had panicked that he had ruined the moment for you. You had both been kids at the time, growing up together. “That’s a fun fact that the world doesn’t know about Dieter Bravo.” You tease. “You married the girl that took your virginity.”

Dieter chuckles, “Entertainment Tonight would have a field day.” He winks at you when you giggle, “it took me way too damn long to propose to you but I was scared you were gonna say no. Who wanted to marry a wannabe actor making his money in a community theater with no house? I was a shitshow.” He scoffs, shaking his head at himself.

“You were my shitshow.” You laugh, leaning back in the swing and kicking your feet higher. “It was us against the world back then, and I didn’t believe you would make it honestly, but I wanted you to try.”

“Hey. My improv was fucking great.” He defends himself playfully, “but I had to try. Even if I went to L.A and failed, I had to try. I couldn’t live life thinking what if. Imagine if I hadn’t gone? I’d be sat at the kitchen table with our kids wondering what could’ve been. I just wish you’d been by my side when I left.” He says as he swings.

“Hard to be by your side when you left without a word. Just a note on the bed.” There’s no heat in your tone, just irony. “It just- wasn’t meant to be.”

“And Sean is meant to be?” Dieter snorts. “Do you really want to marry that asshole?”

“He’s…..” you blow out a sigh, “safe.” You admit to him and to yourself. “I like him, he’s a good man……” you know you aren’t answering the real question and it’s ironic that Dieter is the only one to ask you that since you and Sean got engaged. “No.” You confess after a moment. “I don’t to want to marry him.”

Dieter nods, quiet for a moment as he absorbs your words, “I can’t sit here and lecture you. I have no authority in your life but you need to do what you want. Fuck everyone else. You sacrificed so much of yourself for everyone around you. Even me. I was selfish and you are still sitting here talking to me. Do what you want. Be selfish for once.” He demands, wanting you to be happy.

You want to be selfish and you drag your feet along the ground to stop yourself and hop off the swing. Turning towards Dieter, you grab the chain and pull him to a stop. His eyes widen and for a second, you both think that you’re going to slap him. He would deserve it. Instead, you lunge forward and press your lips to his.

Dieter is shocked when your lips smash against his and he reacts within seconds, wrapping his arms around you to drag you into his lap. As soon as your lips touch his, his muscle memory kicks in and he deepens the kiss. Reminded of so many kisses shared all those years ago.

You are shocked by how quickly Dieter clings to you. You’re angry at him, how could you not be? But you’ve missed him so much that it doesn’t matter right now. Your fingers sink into his longer hair and you moan, enjoying how it feels. You always wanted him to grow his hair out.

Your fingers pull on his hair and he groans into your mouth, sliding his tongue against yours and his hands slide down to squeeze your ass. He devours you, knowing this is wrong, and you’re going to push him away any second, but right now he’s greedy and he wants you.

You let yourself be taken away by the moment. Leaning into him, breathing him in. His base scent is still the same, woodsy and you swear he is still wearing the same cologne you had picked out for him years ago.

He knows you’ll pull away any second and he readies himself for that rejection as he leans back, pecking your lips until he kisses your cheeks and finally, your forehead. “I never stopped loving you.” He promises breathlessly, his hands sliding up your back. “I just wanted to make you proud but I fucked it all up.”

“You did fuck it up all up.” You won’t spare his feelings, but you reach out and caress his cheek. “But I am proud of you, Dieter. Every movie broke my heart and made me proud. Every role, even when you were on Broadway.” You sigh. “I went to your performance, the second week in.”

“You did?” He asks, eyes widening as he looks at you and his heart is pounding in his chest. He hasn’t felt like this in so many years. He hasn’t felt anything real for so long.

“I had to see it. You talked about Broadway the entire time you were at our local theatre. I honestly didn’t expect you to take the role, but when it was announced, I bought tickets.” You tell him. You cried through the entire thing, but people just thought you were moved by the performances.

He smiles softly, loving that you came to see him even if you hated him. You are kind enough to support him even when he ruined your life. “So what now? You gonna tell Sean you don’t want to marry him? I go home and we act like this never happened?” He asks quietly, worried that you’ll nod and send him away.

“I don’t know.” You bite your lip. “I don’t know what you want. You have a life in LA, a …..persona.” You add. “If you want that life, still….” You shrug. “I don’t think I can be a part of it.”

“Come with me to L.A. There’s nothing keeping you here. I want you to see my life and I want you to do something for yourself. Make your dreams come true. Paint. Do whatever you want. I’ll support you. I don’t give a fuck about my persona. I want to be with you and if you want to go home, if you get sick of me, I’ll book you a private jet straight back here.” He promises, “just give me another chance. Give us another chance.”

You lick your lips, staring at him and watching him start to shift nervously. “You want me to move to LA? Live with you?” He nods enthusiastically. “I do, baby, I want you to come be with me.” You lick your lips. “What do I have to lose?”

He nods, not allowing himself to get too excited. "And if you hate it, hate me, wanna come home...I'll sign the papers." He promises, nudging his nose against yours.

You snort. “I doubt that.” You tease, closing the gap to press your lips to his again. “I’ve never hated you, even when I hated you.” You had been so upset at him, but it’s only because you loved him so much. You still love him.

**** 

“Baby! Did you get the juice boxes?” You call out and Dieter strides into the dining room with the boxes for the kids. “Here you go.” He leans over to kiss the head of his three year old son before handing another box to your five year old daughter who opens it herself while saying “thanks daddy.” It’s so weird to hear that even now and Dieter can’t believe he’s a father. He smiles at his daughter and leans in to softly kiss you. “You need anything?” He murmurs against your lips, pulling back to look at you. “No. No. Sit down and eat.” You order and he sits down. “It looks amazing.” Debra compliments your mom who beams, so happy to be spending the holidays with her grandchildren. “Thank you.” She smiles at Dieter who is happy to be sitting here. So different from that Thanksgiving so many years ago. You had moved to L.A with him after your mom encouraged you and after that, you had decided to try and repair your relationship. It was easy to fall in love again and now, you have two kids.

You have everything you wanted back then, finding some small success as an artist, but you really prefer spending time with your kids, and your husband when he is away on location. You bring the family now and the press is marveling over the change in Dieter Bravo’s behavior. “Happy Thanksgiving everyone.” You raise your glass of wine but you don’t take a sip, smiling at Dieter mischievously. “Next year we will need to set another place at the table.” You announce. “Baby Bravo number three will be coming to a nursery near you in April.”

Your mom’s eyes widen as much as Debra’s and she grins, “that’s - that’s incredible, baby!” She cries and tears fill her eyes. “Oh my loves. Another baby.” Debra coos and reaches out to caress Dieter’s cheek before she smiles at you. “I’m so happy you both came back together.” Your mom sighs, loving how you and Dieter have worked everything out.

It hasn’t been easy, there have been times when you’ve been angry at Dieter, but he’s sober, you attend couples counseling and he has become your rock. “Thanksgiving miracles, huh?”

Dieter nods, “our miracles.” He murmurs, reaching for your hand to press a kiss to the back of it. You all dig in to the food and soon the kids are in bed after everyone is full, the house is clean, and your moms are watching tv. “You ready for bed, babe?” You ask and Dieter glances at the clock. “It’s only eight.” He frowns until you raise your eyebrows and his eyes widen, “oh yeah. I’m tired. We are going upstairs. Wifey needs all the rest she can get.” Dieter teases and your moms say goodnight while Dieter takes your hand and guides you upstairs.

You snort playfully and reach around him to slap his ass. “You almost didn’t get the drift.” You tease him. “And I thought you always knew when someone wanted sex.” Dieter huffs at you. “I didn’t think you would want it tonight.” He whines, defending himself.

You chuckle, “you know how horny I get when I’m pregnant.” You remind him and Dieter snorts, “but you’ve had turkey and pie.” He defends himself again as you make your way to the room you used to live in when you first got married. He opens the door and closes it behind you, groaning as he surges forward to press his lips to yours.

The years apart and the life that Dieter had lived in LA had just given him new skills to use on you. While it wasn’t perfect, you have to take the good with the bad. The good is that you have Dieter completely. Your arms wind around him and pull him close as you moan softly.

His hands are gentle but firm as he slides his hands down to squeeze your ass, pulling you against him as he hardens in his sweats. “Fuck. I love you.” He murmurs, kissing along your neck as he guides you backwards to the bed.

“I love you too.” You promise, trusting that he will make you feel amazing. “How do you feel about another baby?” You ask as you fall back into the bed.

“Happy as fuck.” He admits, “we have money. We have a big enough house. We can have as many babies as you want.” He teases as you lower to the bed and he shifts to kneel between your legs, “and you’re so fucking beautiful full of our babies.”

You have discovered that Dieter has kinks surrounding having kids now. Breeding, pregnancy, lactation kinks all have made for some amazing nights. You love the confidence that it gives you when he works with some of the most beautiful people in the world. He’s now the one that is showing pictures of his kids to his co-stars and inviting them to meet you, rather than asking if they want to do a line of coke with him. “You just love proving you aren’t sterile.” You tease, reminding him of The Inquisitor article that claimed all your children were born via sperm donor.

He snorts, “all conceived on my cock, baby.” He declares smugly and he reaches for the hem of your shirt, dragging it over your head. “You are gorgeous, baby.” He murmurs as he bends down to kiss your stomach, not quite a bump yet.

You hum, running your fingers through his hair again like he loves. He’s always sweet and considerate while you are pregnant and this will be your last baby, so it’s a special time for both of you. “All yours.” You promise.

He’s gonna get the snip before you have the baby, just so this is your last baby, and it’s bittersweet but he is going to enjoy every moment. He hooks his fingers in your leggings, dragging them down your legs and he groans when the scent of your arousal hits his nose. You’re so sensitive when you’re pregnant and he loves it. “All mine. And I’m yours. All of me.” He promises as he tosses your leggings aside and surges down to press his nose against your clit through your panties.

“Deeee.” You moan softly, loving the devoted look on his face as he looks up towards you. “I know I have you baby.” You promise, smiling down at him. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” He murmurs and hooks his finger in your panties, leaning in to slide his tongue through your folds. He loves the tang of your arousal when you’re pregnant. You taste sweeter somehow and he groans, reaching for your thigh to push it further away so he can slide his tongue into your cunt.

Whimpering with Dieter’s tongue inside you is as natural as breathing. Closing your eyes and letting him eat you out because he wants to. He loves doing down on you and hearing his name break from your lips. “Fuck baby, I love you.” You pant. “Deee.”

He loves hearing you moan his name. He laps at you, wanting to show you how much he loves you through his tongue. One hand caresses your stomach and the other pushes your thigh back to spread you more so he can bury his face In your pussy.

He loves hearing you moan his name. He laps at you, wanting to show you how much he loves you through his tongue. One hand caresses your stomach and the other pushes your thigh back to spread you more so he can bury his face In your pussy.

You don’t have to worry about waking the kids up, they are used to sleeping through anything although it’s usually just dinner parties and the two of you having sex. “Fuck, Dieter.” You moan. “Want to cum all over that stupidly handsome face of yours.”

He chuckles into your folds, knowing he's getting wrinkly and despite his co-stars in Hollywood investing in plastic surgery, he is surprisingly not interested in preventing aging. He is happy to be old beside you. His tongue laps at your clit, wanting you to fall apart for him.

Your hormones make you sensitive and in no time you are crying out in pleasure. Gasping out his name as your thighs cinch down around his head and your body shakes in pleasure.

He groans when you squeeze his head between your thighs, his hand reaching for yours as he works you through it. His cock is aching and he grinds against the mattress while he works you through your orgasm.

Dieter doesn’t stop until you are gasping and pushing his head away from you, clit aching from his attention and he pulls away with a playful smack to his lips. “I need you inside me.” You beg, reaching down and pulling him up. “I need my husband.”

He groans, shifting to hover above you, and he lets you pull his shirt over his head. He pushes his sweatpants down and his hard cock bounces as he kicks them aside while you throw his shirt on the floor. “Like this?” He asks, caressing your side and when you nod, he shifts to kneel between your legs, “I love you.” He murmurs as he grips his cock and positions himself at your cunt to push inside you.

The stretch of him is something that you will always love. Moaning as he fills you with a smooth, steady thrust that doesn’t stop until he is buried to the hilt and both of you are breathless. “Fuck.” You whimper, caressing his back as you squeeze him tight. “Feels so good baby.”

Dieter groans as he twitches inside you. You’re so damn hot and wet around his cock. “Fuck, I love you.” He murmurs, leaning down to kiss your lips. “Marry me again.” He murmurs, keeping still inside you.

You’re surprised when he says that. You’ve talked about it before, several times. He had always said that you should renew your vows, but you’ve never really planned anything else. “You want that?”

He nods as he stays still above you. “I want to renew our vows. Either before or after you have the baby. Whenever you want. I want a proper wedding. We got married at the courthouse when we were so young and I want to give you the wedding you deserve. A dress and a cake and - and a party like no one has seen.”

You giggle quietly. “It will have to be after the baby is born then.” You huff, knowing that while he has the money to pull off a wedding in weeks, you would rather enjoy the entire event rather than feeling rushed. “We’ll sell the pictures to People.” You tease, reaching up and caressing his face. “I love you.”

He snorts, nudging his nose with yours, “this will be for us. Our friends and family.” He promises and starts to move inside you. “I love you. So damn much.” He murmurs, sliding his hand up to squeeze your breast, shifting his weight to one arm.

He keeps his pace slow and loving, wanting you to enjoy it and sometimes the harsher thrusts aren’t what you want. Wrapping your legs around his waist, you move with him. Enjoying the way he fills you and never leaves you empty for too long. Slow lovemaking. “I love you too.”

He loves how you wrap yourself around him and he keeps his weight off your stomach while he rocks into you. It’s slow and sweet and he kisses along your jaw while he murmurs how beautiful you are. He knows how to make you moan and he grinds into your cunt, shifting his hips until he finds the angle that makes you moan his name. “That’s it, baby.” He coos, his back starting to ache but he keeps moving.

You breathlessly moan for him, finding it so sexy how he keeps the pressure up just like you need it. You know that his back is hurting and yet he keeps rocking into you at the same angle. “So good baby.”

He keeps the pace and angle as he pushes into you, wanting to feel you fall apart beneath him. He groans your name, “baby. Baby. Cum for me.” He demands, pressing his lips to your jaw, his breath puffing against your skin.

You let go of him and reach between you, pinching your nipple and making yourself fall over the edge. Crying out softly, your cunt starts to spasm around his cock and soak it with your juices.

He groans against your jaw as you cum around him, clamping down on his cock and he hisses. “Fuck baby. Feel so goddamn good. I - shit - I love you.” He murmurs, rocking you through it.

You whimper, eyes closed and your fingers dig into his shoulder. “Cum for me.” You beg softly. “I want you to fill me up.”

He grunts in response, thrusting into you at a sloppier pace than before as he feels that tingling in the base of his spine. His lips press against yours as he buries himself deep after several thrusts, muffling his groan while he paints your walls with his cum.

Even when he’s exhausted and happily riding out his high, Dieter collapses to his side so he doesn’t press too much of his weight on you. More considerate than anyone would have ever believed the selfish bad boy of Hollywood could be. “I love you.” You whisper in his ear with a smile on your face. “Happy Thanksgiving, love.” Thanksgiving had been a heavy burden for you, a reminder of your husband leaving you for years until he had come back to you on that same holiday. Now, you both give thanks for being together and more in love than ever. You accomplished both of your dreams and now all of them you still work towards are ones you want to accomplish together.

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ slashers scenarios | first meeting (part 2)

♡ fandoms; Friday the 13th, House of Wax, Black Christmas, Scream (kinda)/ Dead by Daylight, slashers (general)

♡ characters; Jason Vorhees, Bo Sinclair, Danny Johnson, Billy Lenz, Bubba Sawyer

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡ cw; Billy Lenz, mentions of violence and general slasher activity, kidnapping, stalking

♡ notes; i didn’t include Bubba last time, so i slipped him in with the pt 2 team :v

also for ghostface i went with Danny over Billy + Stu, just because i’m more comfortable writing older characters tbh. and he’s very attractive to me. maybe i can do a college au fic of them in the future?

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Jason Vorhees

> you were lost

> utterly, hopelessly lost without a map, compass, or even your backpack

> you were out camping with a couple of new friends when you wandered off to pick flowers

> well, acquaintances more like- they weren’t particularly nice to you, but you knew one from your home town

> before you knew the sun was starting to set and you had no clue which way to go

> you’re kicking yourself for being so dumb but try to make the best of it, continuing to collect flowers and pretty rocks

> soon enough you find yourself on the edge of a lake

> that couldn’t have been good- there weren’t any lakes near the campsite at all

> maybe this was that old summer camp they’d mentioned?

> either way you turn around and try your best to retrace your steps

> but even with a full moon it’s just too dark and too dense and you’re exhausted

> holding in tears, you find a small meadow and finally sit to rest

> you’re still sniffling and rubbing your eyes when someone walks up to you

> you were so oblivious that Jason was able to get a few feet in front of you before you noticed

> he seems…perplexed to find you there

> he thought he’d gotten all of the campers

> and you didn’t really look like you belonged with those fornicators

> (or at least that’s what he told himself to justify leaving you alive)

> he’s holding his machete and soaked with your companions’ blood, but you don’t seem to notice

> “…can you take me back to my friends?”

> well he most certainly cannot do that, not if he wants you to like him- though he’s not sure why that matters

> he’s still staring so you, exhausted, do the only thing you can think to

> “…do you want a flower? I picked a lot”

> he’s delighted and takes it before finally gesturing for you to follow him

> you can’t keep up, so eventually he picks you up

> and like that you’re nearly dozing off

> you don’t even notice he’s taking you back the way you came from

> and he’s glad- he wasn’t going to give you much of an option anyway

Bo Sinclair

> single travelers are so much easier to deal with

> so when Lester gives him the call that some college kid was stuck on the road, he’s eager for an easy catch

> you take your sweet ass time getting to the station- even though Lester drove you most of the way you let him drop you off just outside of town

> the smell of the truck was really getting to you, and you’re happy to let the dog lead you

> when he strides out you’re cooing over Jonesy and giving her a belly rub for her troubles

> he’s seen his fair share of attractive victims

> men, women, and folks that didn’t fit either category

> and he’s slept with most of them

> but you… there’s something extra special about you

> he decides right there he’s not taking care of you without at least getting a taste

> you’re not too impressed by his flirting- or at least you try and act like it

> but he catches your pink cheeks and quiet giggles as he takes you on a walk

> because of course he’s got the part down the road at his place

> by the time you get there he’s decided he’s marrying you - or maybe keeping you tied up, beggars can’t be choosers

> he’s impulsive but he’s never wanted to keep anyone before

> “hey sugar-“ god your face heats up just hearing him call you that “turns out I don’t have that part you need. It should be in by tomorrow, if you can stay the night?”

> you say yes before you can think critically- he’s good at getting folks wrapped around his finger like that

> “Good. Cause I’m just dying to show you some real southern hospitality…”

Danny Johnson

> he knows you long before you know him

> he’s a natural nosy guy- he’s a journalist after all

> and a serial killer, of course stalking is on his to do list

> originally you were going to be a victim

> you’d make a good story, a young person taken tragically early

> but you were too cute to die just yet- he had to at least meet you, just once

> if you were a dick no one would say anything nice for your article, right?

> so he just happens to bump into you outside your work one day

> literally bump

> when you spill coffee all over yourself he smoothly apologizes and offers to help clean you up

> “What a mess- I’m so sorry sweets. Let me take care of all this”

> and you fall for it, hook line and sinker

> he’s a handsome guy, he’s used to that but he’s smug anyways

> he gives you a spare shirt of his, though you still skip work

> he buys you another coffee and you sit in his car chatting

> you’re innocent enough to trust him like that- to get in a vehicle with a strange man?

> a strange man that’d been stalking you, no less

> it’s adorable- if he wasn’t so attached he could kill you right there

> but you’re just so damn sweet, and genuine

> and you’re so fascinated by these Ghost Face killings…

> maybe you’re worth keeping around for a bit

> just a bit

> that’s what he says to himself anyways

> when you meet him as Ghost Face, it’s after you’ve already got him all figured out

> and he’s lucky that you like a bad boy

Billy Lenz

> it’s a given that you first meet him over the phone

> you’re renting out a spare room from Mrs Mac, not in the sorority but a good enough tenant that she keeps you around

> you get along well with the girls and cook them meals, run study sessions and help clean

> it’s almost parental at times, even if you’re not far off in age

> Billy hates you at first, for taking such good care of ‘filthy piggy whores’

> he tells you just as much over the phone, but you’re not bothered

> you never seem to be bothered by his calls

> and that pisses him off more

> but you’re so so cute… it quickly becomes an obsession

> he’s in your walls constantly, watching you

> and the calls from the moaner start coming more and more frequently at times you’re home alone

> one day you just start giggling at him, tipsy “you know, you scare the girls,”

> “good i—“

> “but your voice is sooo nice. that’s why i pick up so much”

> you didn’t mean to confess that , and you hope he takes it as an awkward joke

> when he hangs up you think that maybe he did take it that way

> its not until late that night that you realize that he knew he was sincere

> before you can register that there’s anything wrong he’s covering your mouth and pinning you to your bed

> “hi there, baby doll,”

> his grin gets huge when your still horrified face goes bright red

> he always knew you were perfect

Bubba Sawyer

> you pick up Nubbins hitchhiking one day, and he’s just dumbfounded by you

> you’re nonplussed by his rambling and you don’t squirm at his yucky pictures. you don’t even kick him out, just drop him off at the gas station.

> you’re not really his type, but you’re fascinating

> he’s gotta get you home to meet his brothers

> so he pops your tires when you go inside- all four

> when you come back out Drayton is cursing him out and smacking him upside the head

> he makes him take you back to the house to rest up while he gets you tires

> of course he intends for Bubba to kill you

> but Nubbins doesn’t pass the message along, because he’s Nubbins

> “Here Bubba! I made us a new friend!”

> you shyly greet him, but he’s an oddly calming presence

> let’s be honest you’ve gotta be okay with a lot fast to like the Sawyers

> so maybe you’re just in denial about the material

> but you tell him you like his mask- and you do

> he obviously worked really hard on getting the makeup just right- and it compliments his suit

> he stares at you a long while before taking your hand and giving you a grand tour

> well, more a tour of his favorite spots

> the chicken coup, a patch of wildflowers out back, and his room full of trinkets collected from victims

> you’re strangely enamored by this big, quiet man

> and you don’t get the sense you’re allowed to leave

> especially when Drayton comes home and goes on and on about witnesses

> but you didn’t really even have an end goal in mind on your road trip anyways

> and now you’ve got Bubba to protect you

> maybe it’s not so bad, stuck with those weirdos

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do I plot a romance story?

Most advice and plot structures I have found seem to be focused on quest-type stories. Do you have any advice or templates that are mpre easily applicable to romance stories? Do I need to include another major plotline?

Basic Romance Structure

Like most stories, there are different theories and methods about structure, and you can find these by Googling "romance story structure." However, let me walk you through a basic romance structure to show you the differences and similarities with the kind of structure you'd use for something like a quest story or an adventure story.

Introduction/Normal World - Like most stories, romance stories usually open with a peek at the protagonist's "normal world" as a means of introducing who they are and what their life is like. And, as with other stories, this also introduces us to the both characters' internal conflicts. In romance, rather than resolving the internal conflict with growth in relation to the story events, the internal conflict will be resolved via change/growth in relation to the romance. [Example: Sandi is a florist with a four-year-old daughter, navigating single parenthood after her husband filed for divorce and ran away to chase a dream.]

The "Meet Cute" - This is essentially the inciting incident... the moment the two characters meet for the first time, or the first time in a long time. All in one moment, we see how undeniably right they are for each other, but due to their individual internal internal conflicts, they're butting heads big time.

[Example: Sandi meets Brent, the new flower supplier who is adorable, sweet to Sandi's daughter, but infuriatingly inept at doing things the way she likes them.]

Forced Proximity - After the "meet cute," something will inevitably force them to spend time together. They get partnered together on the same job, stuck together in the same place, keep coincidentally bumping into each other... whatever. All that matters is that they're forced to get to know each other despite their head butting.

[Example: they get roped into working together on the town's rose festival.]

Resistance/Rejection - Now that they're forced to interact for whatever reason, they're going to spend a lot of time resisting their mutual interest/desire for one another due to whatever obstacles exist, like being from warring factions or one being in the middle of a divorce. But despite this resistance, we can see the sparks flying between them, even if they can't or don't want to admit it.

[Example: Sandi wants to focus on running her business and raising her daughter; Brent just got out of a long relationship and isn't ready for romance.]

Waning Resistance/Giving Love a Chance - Eventually there's a breakthrough... the obstacle gives way... they have a really fun time hanging out at the Christmas market and almost kiss... they move past the misunderstanding between them... or maybe they just slowly get over their issues and start to fall in love. Either way, they decide to give the relationship a go.

[Example: as they get to know each other and bond through working on the rose festival, they can't deny how compatible they are and an unexpected first kiss gives Brent the courage to ask Sandi out on a date, to which she agrees.]

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back - This is essentially the first date, then another one, then another one... though it doesn't have to be actual dates. It just needs to be some interactive scenes when they're in relationship mode. Each of these interactions will deepen their feelings for one another while at the same time raising new obstacles or re-raising the old ones.

[Example: the first date goes well except that Sandi is preoccupied with the fact that her daughter is staying with a new sitter. The second date goes okay, except Brent is in a bad mood after his ex came to town to pick up the last of her things. Then they pull an all-nighter to make some final preparations for the upcoming rose festival, which leads to a philosophical conversation about the future, wherein Sandi says she sees herself getting remarried one day and having another kid or two, and Brent says he can't ever see himself getting married or being a father.]

This Isn't Going to Work - This is the midpoint crisis... the "all is lost" moment where one or both put on brakes and say, "I can't do this," citing whatever obstacle/s that now stand in the way of their happiness. Sometimes this follows their biggest act of intimacy yet, whether that's simply their first kiss or going all the way. It could even be the first declaration of love, being introduced to family, or some other important early relationship milestone. But then it all falls apart... maybe because one or more of the obstacles become too much, a fear-based retreat, or some other external force

[Example: the rose festival has arrived... Sandi is there with her daughter and parents, Brent is there with his mom and sister. Everyone meets, Brent continues to be great with Sandi's daughter... it's obvious Brent and Sandi belong together. But then Sandi's wayward not-yet-officially-ex-husband shows up and wants to get back together. Although she's ambivalent, seeing him interact with their daughter and her parents makes her realize giving him another chance is what's best for their daughter. Meanwhile, Brent witnesses this from far away, thinks, "I'm not good enough for a family like that," and he and Sandi go their separate ways.]

On Second Thought... - This is the moment when something happens that makes one or both characters realize they belong together... that the obstacles aren't real or don't matter... [Example: Brent finds a drawing Sandi's daughter made of the three of them together that makes him realize he really is worthy of their love. And Sandi sees that her husband hasn't changed, that he's still focused on chasing dreams that aren't what's best for their daughter... or herself, for that matter. ]

The Moment of Declaration - This is where the one character finds the other, or they find each other, and one or both declare their love and commitment to the other, despite whatever obstacles there may be. This is the run through the airport to catch the other before they fly away to a new life. It's the objection at the wedding before the other can go forward with the less-than-ideal marriage. It's the boombox on the shoulders, the kiss in the rain, the "I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on" declaration in a foggy field at sunrise. [Example: Brent hears from a friend that Sandi's husband left again. He goes to the last night of the rose festival, finds Sandi, and tells her he wants all of it... her, the daughter, her quirky parents, the flower shop, marriage, more kids... he is ready to take on the world with her, and she couldn't be happier.]

The Happily Ever After or "HEA" - This is the story's denouement, where we flash forward a few days, weeks, or more and see the happy ending. This is the jump ahead a few months to see the happy couple living their lives together, the one year leap ahead to the wedding, or a leap ahead to a moment even further down the road when the couple is firmly established in their HEA.

[Example: two years later, Sandi and Brent have been married almost a year, and are at the rose festival with the now six-year-old and their newborn twins, Sandi's parents, and Brent's mom and sister, one big happy family.]

Now... like I said, there are a variety of different structure templates for romance as there are for other genre stories. Don't feel like you have to pick one, and if you do, don't feel like you have to stick to it exactly. Story structure is just a guideline to help make sure you hit the important points to help the story unfold.

Happy writing!

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[perseephoneee]

sleigh ride [ficmas day 8] [castiel x reader]

↳ masterlist ↳ ship exchange ↳ taglist ↳ ficmas 2024

author's note: this is a day late bc my stomach has been killing me and also i was hella sleep deprived but you know what it's fine totally fine nothing to see here

playlist:

winter wonderland -- pentatonix

coffee -- tori kelly

7 o'clock news/silent night -- phoebe bridgers

You never thought about kids, not in your line of work. 

The reasons people got into hunting were varied. Most of it was personal. For you, you just couldn’t deal with the knowledge of the supernatural world and not bother actually doing something about it. Even though you knew that doing so would likely mean a young death.

This is why you stopped thinking about kids; you’d likely never have them. But being stuck in Leavenworth, WA, with Castiel gave you the same kind of glee. You imagine parents likely got excited to watch their children experience Christmas for the first time. That’s the same joy you felt watching the angel observe all the twinkling lights around you. 

The difference is that Castiel is not your child. And if he was, that’d be gross, considering you are harboring a major crush on him. 

Maybe you should’ve thought of a different analogy. 

You had been hunting with the Winchesters for a bit now. You all ran into each other on a ghost case. Your hula hoop of salt made their jaws drop, and the next thing you know, Sam is inviting you to hunt with them. You didn’t know that Castiel was a regular member of that group. 

Even in his vessel, you could sense something otherworldly about Cas. There was a sort of preternatural stillness, an ancient gleam in his eyes otherwise juxtaposed by his lack of knowledge of human nature. It was so easy to get lost in his curiosity. Sometimes, when he looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel his gaze observing every molecule you were. Like he saw you better than anyone else. 

Right now, you felt like you saw him better than anyone else, the angel so ready to give up everything for humanity. It was late, and snow was falling. You had all decided to take an extra night in Leavenworth after a Krampus case had gone wrong (don’t ask). Also, Baby was struggling to get out of the snow, and Dean was too wired up to ask for help. Fortunately, it was the Christmas season, and Leavenworth knew it. The town looked like the North Pole. You weren’t surprised it was a tourist attraction, not when there were actual reindeer and Bavarian-style buildings. The cup of hot cocoa you had earlier solidified this town as Christmas incarnate. 

“Aren’t you cold?” you asked, watching Cas catch more and more snowflakes on him. He just shook them off. 

“I don’t get cold.”

“Lucky you, I’m freezing,” you shivered, wrapping your coat tighter around yourself. Your nose was ice cold, and your breath came out in puffs. Castiel frowned, walking back over to you. He shucked off his trench coat and put it over your shoulders. You felt your cheeks heat as he made sure you were adequately cocooned. The jacket was surprisingly warm. “Thanks,” you murmured.

“I do not want you catching a cold,” Castiel said. “I am ill-equipped to handle it.”

You laughed. His lips quirked for a second before settling into their normal neutral expression. You would give the world to see him smile. 

“I’m going to go inside and get something to drink. Are you going to stay out here?”

“No, I will join you,” Castiel nodded. He paused for a second. “Is that alright? Dean often tells me people want alone time.”

You melted.

“Of course, it’s alright, c’mon,” you nudged him with your shoulder, still bundled in his jacket. You walked the short distance back to the inn. The idea of mulled wine sounded appealing at this moment. The inside was a picturesque log cabin with a roaring fire. You let out a sigh of relief from the warmth and were able to return Cas' jacket to him. You also were able to remove your hat and scarf. You probably looked like a sweaty mess, but you didn’t care. You chose a seat by the fire and tucked your legs under you as Cas came to sit across. A waitress came over a second later, and you ordered mulled wine for the both of you. 

“I don’t really drink,” Castiel added after the waitress left. 

“You can just tell me what the chemical compounds are,” you shrugged. Castiel looked out of place in his suit and tie. And yet, the light from the fire accenting his bone structure, contrasting the blue in his eyes, was enough to think that this was where he was always meant to be. 

He was frowning at the tree. 

“Why do humans put angels on their trees?” he inquired, brows furrowed. You looked up to see a stereotypical angel planted on top of the Christmas Tree. It had a little horn and everything. 

“I think people like to imagine there’s someone watching over us, that we’re not alone,” you sighed, turning back to him. “Even if it isn’t true.”

“It’s true for some,” Castiel murmured. “I watch over you.”

You felt your heart skip a beat, especially as Castiel looked at you with those intense eyes again. You had to wonder if he was really this clueless, or if he knew exactly the effect he had on you. You watched him lick a sauce off his fingers once, and it was enough to make you excuse yourself from the room. 

The mulled wine arrived a moment later. 

The spices were a perfect blend, and you felt yourself sink deeper into your chair as the alcohol invaded your system. Castiel took a sip and nodded. 

“Mostly ethanol and water,” Castiel sipped it again. You grinned as he listed off the ingredients. He would ruin anyone who wanted to keep a secret ingredient. 

“Last call for sleigh rides!” a man dressed as an elf called out, having come in from the front door. You perked up immediately. You had never been on a sleigh ride before but have always wanted to. You have a soft spot for horses. 

“We should do that,” you jumped up, grabbing Castiel’s sleeve. He spilled the wine, but you were already out the door. You barely had time to throw on your hat and scarf as you were running after the elf man. Castiel, to his credit, kept up with you. 

“One sleigh ride, please!” you said, breathless. The man just looked you up and down and then took your money as you jumped with glee. 

“What is a sleigh ride?” Castiel questioned when he caught up. He was not out of breath. 

“You get to sit in a sleigh and get pulled around by horses.”

“And this is entertainment?”

“It’s serene,” you smiled, getting good luck at the horses pulling your sleigh. They were beautiful Clydesdales, and even in their enormity, you weren’t intimidated. They were beautiful. Cas didn’t ask any further questions as you piled into the sleigh. You took one of the blankets provided and put it over your lap, bundling it up. The sleigh was going to pull you through the town, emphasizing the light installations and ice sculpting competition. The cold kissed your cheeks as the sleigh started moving. 

You both sat in companionable silence as the sleigh ride started. It was so quiet, and you welcomed that peace. When did you ever receive peace such as this?

“I understand now,” Cas nodded. “Why you were excited over this.”

“It’s beautiful,” you whispered. Someone had built an igloo, and you took your phone out to take a picture. Castiel just looked at you.

“I don’t measure beauty the same way humans do.”

“How do you measure beauty?” you inquired. Some part of you was worried that whatever he was going to say would dash your dreams. 

“By someone’s soul.”

That wasn’t the answer you were expecting, and you just blinked in response. It shouldn’t be shocking. You just never expected that maybe he would never see your face, only your soul. You wondered if your soul was beautiful. 

You didn’t say anything as you passed through a light tunnel, the brightness contrasting with the night sky. You could fall asleep out here if you let yourself. 

“What are you thinking?” Cas asked. He noticed your silence. 

“Is my soul…?” you trailed off. You barely had the guts to say anything at all. Castiel’s gaze softened as if he understood. 

“Your soul is like the North Star,” he answered simply. You kept looking at him. “It’s what one needs to follow to get themselves home.”

He was full of surprises tonight. You don’t remember anyone saying anything like that, especially not to you. How absurd was it that the first person to truly see you was not a person at all? Your heart picked up pace. 

“Cas…” you murmured. He never looked away from you, was never shy. It was unnerving and intense. He would never be too scared and proceed to look away. You couldn’t help but look at his lips. He noticed. His hand came up and brushed loose hair away from your beanie, his fingers somehow still warm as they brushed your freezing cheeks. You sucked in a breath. 

“I do not understand human courtship,” he whispered. “I would be interested in you showing me.”

You understood; how could you not? He just called you his home. You closed the distance between you two, going slow until you weren’t slow at all. Your hand cupped the back of his head, pulling him into you. You kissed him like you needed him to kiss you. Fortunately, Castiel was a quick learner. He nipped your lips and kissed your teeth like he had been doing it his whole life. You would sell your soul to kiss him for eternity, just like this. His hand was firm on your hip like he was afraid to touch anywhere else. You wished he would touch you everywhere. 

You had to pull away for air, even if he tried to chase after your lips afterward. 

“You’re a quick study,” you breathed a slight smile on your lips. Castiel grinned a true goofy smile that you had been yearning to see. You were the cause of that style. 

“Anything for you,” he responded. 

He kissed you until the sleigh ride was over, and the worker was rolling his eyes. He kissed you when you made it back to the inn, and you felt like you could feel his wings holding you closer. You would stay with him until you weren’t able to because with him, you were finally home. 

taglist: @thefutureastronaut @lover-of-books-and-tea @qardasngan @evasmlp

[mvltixcc]

Girls Like Girls - Robin Buckley X Cheerleader!Reader

Summary: Robin has a crush on the new girl in town. Y/N is also a new member of the cheer squad, which means Robin sees her all the time at games and other school events. Unfortunately, Robin is put in a tough situation. She's scared to talk to her because the cheerleaders have a reputation of being mean girls and she fears that Y/N may not feel the same. Little does Robin know that Y/N does not appear as she seems. Y/N becomes best friends with Eddie, which seems unlikely at the surface due to different social circles. This leads to rumors of course and word spreads like wildfire here at Hawkins, which then makes Robin's feelings even more confusing. After hanging out with Steve and the gang, Robin starts to see a different side to Y/N. Will they end up together or will they just remain friends?

Word Count: 3.7k

Pinterest board for inspiration

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Chapter 6

You heard the ding of the bell as someone had entered the book store. “Hey there, welcome to- oh hey you!” You say looking up to the customer but seeing Robin instead. Your mood had instantly lifted. It had been months since the Christmas party at Steve’s and things were going great between you and Robin. You guys were hanging out a lot more. You had things that turned into weekly traditions. Like going to the movies every Friday night, going to the diner every Sunday morning and getting breakfast, and now that it was getting warm out you went on walks after school everyday. You loved the time you got to spend with her. It just felt right between the two of you. You had missed her and were grateful to have her back. “What are you doing here?” You asked with a smile.

“Oh you know, just bringing you some lunch. I figured it might be a slow day so I thought I’d keep you some company.” Robin said, setting down some food to share between the two of you. 

“Well aren’t you just a peach!” You say walking from behind the counter and giving her a hug.

“You look so pretty today.” Robin complimented as she took your hand. You did a twirl while still holding her hand. You were wearing a white top with a black skirt, something simple but still so beautiful in Robin's.

You blushed at her compliment. “Thank you sweet angel!” You thanked her. 

The pair of you sat and ate the food that Robin had brought. You chatted about spring break plans as it was coming up in a few weeks. Steve of course wanted to throw a party since his parents would be gone and Eddie wanted to go on a road trip with everyone. But you and Robin just wanted to stay back and have a nice relaxing time. Sadly it was not an option as it was split in the middle and it was up to the two of you to decide what you all did. 

“I mean if we pick a party at Steve’s, maybe it won't be a big thing? You know, just make it like a few of us or something?” Robin suggested.

“Yeah that could work honestly. You don’t wanna be stuck in a van with Eddie, it can get super gross and smelly. He is a man after all! Plus all of us confined in such a tight space like that, we’d probably kill each other eventually.” You chuckled. The thought of that could make Robin spiral, she had avoided Eddie as much as she could. If she were around him, she’d just get angry and sad all over again just like that night at your house all those months ago. 

“So it’s settled then, we’ll have a small party at Steve’s. I’d better call him and let him know, can I use the phone here?” She asked, you handed her the phone and cleaned up the trash from lunch.

“Hey Harrington, we made a decision. We’ll have the party. BUT, only if it’s just our group. No big Harrington bash. I’m serious!” She said. Robin continued the phone call with Steve as you finished cleaning up. “Yeah yeah yeah, whatever dingus. Look I gotta go okay? Bye.” Robin said, hanging up the phone shortly after. People were starting to stagger in and look around, which meant Robin had to leave. “Alright well, I guess I should head out and let you go.”

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow angel!” You said waving goodbye to her and quickly started helping people find what they needed. You liked working at the bookstore, it was usually pretty calming most days. Plus when it was super dead, you were able to read some of the books yourself. You were currently hooked on reading The Lord of The Rings series and you had just finished The Hobbit not too long ago. You wished you could buy the full set, but it had cost way too much. 

“Did you find everything all right Mrs. Gibson?” You said as you were checking out one of your usual customers. Mrs. Gibson would come in every week to find new books for her young granddaughter. It was sweet and you enjoyed the conversations you would have with her. 

“Oh yes I did! How have you been my dear?” She asked.

“I’ve been great! Just been working, going to school, and hanging out with my friends. I hope you’re doing well!” You replied. 

“I’ve been doing good! Any fun plans for spring break?” She asked, pulling her wallet out of her purse. 

“Your total is $13.45 by the way! Me and a few friends are gonna have a small get together, but that's all that I have planned. How about you, do you have anything fun planned?” You say to her.

“Well Mr. Gibson and I are planning on heading to Florida with the family, we have a little beach house there and we go a few times a year!” Mrs. Gibson replied, handing you the cash. 

“That sounds lovely, I hope you and your family have a wonderful time!” You handed her the receipt and exchanged goodbyes.

The rest of your shift went by rather quickly, you soon headed home to get dinner and ready for bed as you had school in the morning.

 You stood at your locker getting your books for the next few classes, when suddenly you see a pair of feet before you. You close your locker to see Robin standing there. “Are we still on for tonight?” She asked with a grin.

“Yes we are, but I do have to help Eddie study for exams after school. I will absolutely be there to pick you up at our usual time once I'm done!” You say as you walk with her to your next class, which you just so happened to have with her. 

“Seems a little early to be studying for exams doesn’t it?” Robin questioned.

“Well you know Eddie, he’s gotta start early if he wants to graduate with us.” You said. This was important to you which meant it was important to Eddie. He didn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially you. He cared too much about you to let you down. So if that meant he had to buckle up and study, then that's what he would do. 

“I guess that makes sense. As long as he doesn’t take you away from me for our movie night then we’ll be good, otherwise I’d probably have to beat him up.” You chuckled at her joke but Robin was only semi joking. You both took your seats as class was starting.

“Alright everyone, pop quiz time!” The teacher said which made the class groan.

Robin sat on her front steps waiting for you to pick her up for the movies. She continuously kept checking her watch, she feared that you were gonna be late or not show up at all. She knew how you got when you would hang out with Eddie. As Robin got caught up with her anxious thoughts, she heard a honk. She had checked her watch for the time. There you were right on time as you said you would. Robin let out a sigh of relief, she hated thinking the worst at times. Especially when the thing she was so anxious about ended up working out and being fine in the end.

“You ready to go?” You asked as Robin got in the car. She nodded and buckled her seatbelt. “Alright then, let's go!” You said driving off to the theater. 

You make it there and stand in line to get your tickets. As you were deciding which film to see, you heard a voice behind you. “Oh well well well, look who it is, girls?” You and Robin turn around to see who it is, but deep down you know already.

“Hello Chrissy.” You say with an unpleasant sigh. “Can we help you with something?” Robin asked.

“Yeah you can actually, why don’t you both go crawl back into whatever hole-” Robin held up her hand to Chrissy.

“Would you just give it up already and go bother someone who actually gives a shit?” Robin stated. She was a little shocked with herself. She never stood up to people like Chrissy. 

“Ugh whatever! Let’s get out of here girls” Chrissy scoffed as her and her friends walked away. 

“Next please!” The ticket holder called. It was your turn in line. You bought your tickets and made your way inside to get snacks and catch your seats. You had decided on seeing Gremlins as Robin hadn’t seen it yet and she knew how much you enjoyed horror films. Plus it had a little bit of a Christmas feel to it, which you knew how much Robin loved Christmas.

The movie was going well and you were both enjoying it. Robin was so tranced at the screen that she almost jumped at you holding her hand, but that feeling had soon faded as you started to rub your thumb against her skin. It was a simple act of affection but it meant so much to Robin. It brought her so much comfort and reminded her of the first night that you ever held her hand. She got butterflies just thinking about it. 

“So did you enjoy the movie?” You asked as you drove Robin home. 

“I actually did!” Robin exclaimed, she was rambling on about the cinematography and anything else that she could having to do with the film. “I’m rambling again aren’t I? Oh god I’m sorry, when I get excited-” 

“It’s okay, I find it cute the way you ramble. Especially when you get excited about things.” You reassured her. You turned to her and moved a piece of hair out of her face gently. “There, now I can see all of your pretty face!” You say with a giggle. Robin just sat there with her mouth open, all she could do was sit there and turn a light shade of pink. 

“I um-” She coughed trying to clear her throat. “Thank you.” Robin said, looking straight ahead. For the rest of the ride home you talked about what you both would do before the party at Steve’s. You had decided on going to the park and reading a book with her and going to the music store to check out the new records that were in stock. You were both excited to spend more time together, just the two of you doing things that you both enjoyed.

“Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on, Under cloud and under star. Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen, And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green, And trees and hills they long have known”

You read aloud as you lay your head in Robin’s lap. You were both lying in the field at the park as the sun was setting. You were finishing up reading The Hobbit to Robin as she hadn’t read it before. Eddie let you borrow his copy. As you were reading, Robin played with your hair with one hand, while you held the other. It was a perfect moment and neither of you wanted it to end. Once you had finished the book, the pair of you just stayed where you were. Enjoying the company of one another until the sun had fully set. Robin helped you clean up once it was time to go. 

“So do you know who’s gonna be at this party tomorrow?” Robin asked. She wanted to make sure Eddie wouldn’t be there to ruin her moment. She was finally going to take Steve’s advice and ask you out. She felt that things were going well with the two of you and you had been spending more time with her than with Eddie. 

“I’m honestly not sure, I know it’ll be us, Nancy and Mike, maybe Dustin, Lucas, and Max as well.” Robin let out a sigh of relief. Surely you would know if Eddie were coming and if you did then you would have told her. The both of you continued to talk more about the party as you drove Robin home. 

“So I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 8 and then we can stay at my place after the party!” You say as Robin stands outside the driver side door. 

“That sounds perfect to me, I’ll see you then! Drive safe!” Robin replied as she made her way to the front door. 

“Don’t I always?” You chuckled and drove off. 

Tomorrow was going to be a big day and Robin just hoped it would go the way she had planned it all week.

It was finally the big night of the party and Robin was a nervous wreck. She tried to hide that from you but you knew her too well. “You okay there?” You asked. 

“What oh uh yeah, yeah I’m okay.” Robin replied, fidgeting with her fingers. You grab her hand and rub your thumb like you normally do. You could tell something was eating at her, but you never pushed her to tell you anything she didn’t want to talk about. 

“Well whatever has you all anxious, just know I’m here for you, however you need me, okay angel?” You say still rubbing your thumb on her smooth skin. She nods her head and thanks you. 

You both arrive at the party and already there’s a good amount of people there. You make your rounds to say hello to everyone and suddenly the doorbell rings. 

“What’s up, party people?!” Eddie shouts over the music as he and a few of the other members of the Hellfire gang walk in, setting the pizza and soda down on the table. 

“Oh my god Eddie!” You yell in excitement as you jump into his arms. You hadn’t seen him for a while and you missed him like crazy. “I missed you so so much Eds!”

He spun around with you in his arms. “I missed you too peach!” Eddie exclaimed. 

Robin went into the kitchen to hide away, she was angry. She felt like her entire plan was ruined. Steve came into the kitchen to see what was wrong.

“Hey, what the hell is going on?” Steve asked as Robin was hunched over the counter.

“Why is he here?!” She asked, anger seeping in her voice.

“Well when I was inviting Dustin, Eddie may have overheard so I had to invite him too. I felt bad, I didn't want to leave him out.” Steve responded and gave his friend a sympathetic look. “Robin, I’m really sorry. I should have told you that he was coming. Y/N didn’t know, don’t be mad at her.” 

She let out a harsh sigh. “Whatever.” She said brushing past Steve and going back to the party. 

Everyone was watching a movie in the living room so Robin sat in the recliner and watched along to try and get her out of this sour mood. She was determined to get her moment with you, no matter what it takes. She wanted it to be perfect.

There you were sitting on the sofa with Eddie, your legs on his lap as he held onto you. She couldn’t take it anymore. She stormed out of the room and went outside and sat by the pool. You soon followed after her to see if she was okay. 

“Robin? Hey, what's the matter?” You say sitting next to her.

“Why does HE have to be here?” Robin scoffed.

“Who?” You asked.

“Eddie, that's who!” She yells.

You had never seen Robin this upset before. You tried to comfort her the best you could. ‘Had something happened between them? Why was she so mad at Eddie?’ So many thoughts were racing through your mind you didn’t know what to think.

“Did something happen with you guys?” You questioned Robin.

“Yes- well no. Not exactly.” She began to quiet down and look away from you, trying to hide the tears that were forming. You could hear her voice breaking as she spoke.

“Hey, angel. Talk to me, what’s going on?” You said trying to get her to look at you.

“It’s just- it’s not fair.” Robin began to say.

“What’s not fair?” You asked.

“That HE gets to be with you. That he gets to make you laugh the way that you do, that he gets to do the things that I should be able to do with you. It’s just so goddamn unfair!” She sobbed. 

“Robin-” She interrupted you before you could continue.

“That’s why I didn’t talk to you for that period of time, I couldn’t stand seeing you together the way that you are. I’ve been through this with Vickie. It broke me so badly and I never wanted to face that kind of rejection or humiliation ever again and now it’s happening all a second time. I had this big plan to ask you to be my girlfriend and to go to the prom with me. I love spending time with you. I love the way you twirl around in your skirts. I love the way you scrunch your nose like a bunny. I love the way that when the wind hits just right, I can smell your perfume and how sweet it is. I love the way that your eyes sparkle in the moonlight. I love the way that I feel when I’m with you. I love you. I love you so damn much. But I can’t bear to see you with Eddie anymore. I just-” You pulled her face towards yours and kissed her. She didn’t know what to think, she hadn’t done this with anyone before. It didn’t take long for her instincts to kick in. Robin began to kiss you back. Your lips began to move in sync with hers, like it was meant to be. You tasted sweet, like strawberries. She knew how she felt about you and she knew this just felt right. 

“Robin, Eddie and I are just friends. I promise you that. He’s my best friend and that’s it. Eddie is my Steve.” You began to say. “He was the first friend I ever really made. I never had any growing up, I got picked on a lot. He understood me in ways that no one ever had. We both lost our mom’s and our dad's aren't the greatest.” 

‘That would explain why she lived with her grandparents.’ Robin thought to herself. You began to wipe away her tears gently. 

“Robin, I’ve had feelings for you for so long. I tried to give as many signals as I could, I just thought that you maybe didn’t feel the same. You are so special to me and I care about you so much. You mean everything to me. I love the way you ramble when you get nervous and even about the things that you're passionate about. I love that little hair that hangs in your face. I love that I can be myself when I'm with you. I love how funny you are, I just love you Robin.” You admitted to her. 

“Really?” She asked.

“Yes really!” You giggled.

“So does this mean-” Robin started.

“Yes, I will be your girlfriend!” You said and you kissed her cheek. 

“Cool, that’s- that’s super cool.” She said getting flustered. You giggled at her and stood up from where you sat. 

“Come on, let’s go back inside and have a good time.” You suggested, holding out your hand to help her up. She took your hand and got up, following you back inside. The group ended up having fun the rest of the night, watching movies, eating junk food, and playing games. It was around midnight when everyone started to head home.

“Hey Munson, wait up!” Robin called to Eddie as he headed toward his van.

“What’s up?” He asked, turning around to face her.

“Look, I’m really sorry for the way I’ve treated you as of late. You’re a good guy and I was just-” She let out a sigh. “Just jealous of you and I thought that you were with Y/N, so I acted horribly to you and that wasn’t fair. I’m really sorry Eddie.”

He chuckled. “It’s alright Robin, really. You didn’t know and I don’t blame you for that. I appreciate the apology. Just hope that we can be friends now.”

“Definitely!” Robin proclaimed. 

The two said their goodbyes and Robin made her way back to your car. You drove off back to your house, holding onto her hand. She began to think to herself about how Steve was right all along once again. “Damn you Harrington.” She muttered to herself.

“What was that?” You asked, looking over to her.

“Oh nothing, it was nothing.” Robin replied with a huge smile on her face.

Next chapter

[greasergirlxoxo]

'Tis The Season...For Romance ‧₊˚💣⊹

Roofer!Darry x Soc!Reader

author's note ᯓᡣ𐭩 no one asked for this, but I needed this and therefore you need this too!!! Also this made me even more excited for winter break!!!

warnings ᯓᡣ𐭩 mention of Darry's parents death. They celebrate Christmas?? idk??

Oaklahoma very rarely got snow. Half the people in Tulsa haven't even seen snow, that's how little it snowed. But of course, the one winter it does decide to snow, it clogs up your gutters in the process. Technically, it was your parents' gutters, it was their house too. You had only come home from your fancy Ivy League college for winter break, you didn't really have a choice to stay at school for the holidays, your parents wouldn't allow it.

So there you were in the cold with your fancy cashmere gloves and scarf and your expensive woolen coat. You placed the tray of hot chocolate your mom had sent you out with on the porch railing, looking up to see the 20-year-old roofer on his ladder and looking at your frozen gutters.

"My mom made hot chocolate if you want some."You called out to Darry, getting his attention away from the roof and down at you. He was surprised that you were interacting with him. Usually, people just ignored him, going about their day and letting him work. He paused momentarily, his expression stoic and unreadable before plastering on a polite smile that didn't fully reach his eyes.

"Yeah? That would be great." He calls back to you before making his way over to the porch. You passed him the hot chocolate as he came into reach of you. He ripped his old leather glove off, making it easier to hold the mug in his large and calloused hand.

You stood beside him, drinking your own cup in silence. You looked out in the distance, unable to turn in Darry's direction. It was kinda awkward, you both standing there together. I mean, you both went to high school together and now Darry was roofing houses and you were in your 3rd year of college. Sure you didn't really talk to each other in high school because Darry was a greaser and you were a soc, but it was still weird knowing you started in the same place and ended up on two completely different paths.

Darry sipped his hot chocolate, watching you stare out into the distance. The wind blew strands of your hair in your face, you pushed them back and away like it was nothing. He knew that you were only like this around him and he understood why. You weren't from the same parts of town, you weren't supposed to be talking, and yet here you both were, drinking chocolate on your rich Soc porch.

"How's college going?" He suddenly asked, hoping to break the awkwardness.

You snapped your head to look up at him, a sweet smile playing on your lips, glad he had broken the uncomfortable silence.

"Good, I'm studying to become a teacher. I don't think my parents are real happy about that part. They were kinda hoping I'd just find a trust fund kid to marry."You explained with a saddened laugh. You didn't know why you were telling Darry about your parents. It was quite personal, but when you were nervous you tended to overshare. There was more awkward silence before you spoke up again, continuing your small talk."How's roofing going?"

"Roofing is hard, but it pays good. So I can't complain." He chuckled, taking another sip of his chocolate. "It's definitely keeping me and my brothers off the streets."

"Sodapop and Ponyboy, right?"You asked, tilting your head in curiosity. You knew of Darry's brothers and had seen them around, but never actually spoken to them before. After all, there was no need to.

Darry couldn't help the small smirk tugging at his lips, he hadn't expected you to know his brothers' names. You were a Soc and Socs weren't that well acquainted with greasers. Both sides didn't mix or mingle with the other.

"Yeah, Soda's the tall one with all the charm, and Pony is the quiet kind with his nose always stuck in a book." He said while taking another sip of his hot chocolate. His description was short, but he described his little brothers with a sense of pride. "You know them?"

"Well, I know OF them."You responded with a nod. You only knew of his brothers and him because of all the gossip about their parents dying a year ago, practically everyone in Tulsa knew about them and their story. You didn't bring that part up to Darry, you were sure it would bring back sad memories for him. Instead, you changed the subject to a happier one, asking,"You have any plans for the holidays?"

Darry knew exactly why you changed the subject. He wasn't stupid, he knew about all the gossip revolving around his family situation. Darry knew you were trying to lighten the mood with your question about the holidays, but the sad thing is this was going to be the Curtis' first Christmas without their parents. He quickly masked his expression of grief and nodded, hoping you hadn’t noticed. He didn't want to burden you with his family trauma.

"Same thing every year, I'm having the gang over for Christmas." He replied "What about you? Got any plans with the Soc friends?"

"I'll probably see some old friends at my parents' annual Christmas party."You mentioned, shaking your head slightly with a laugh. In all honesty, you hated your parents' Christmas party. It was always filled with a bunch of snobby Socs who were only interested in talking money and proper etiquette. You always find yourself wrapped into a boring conversation with some great uncle you swear you've never met before, waiting for a chance where you can sneak upstairs and hide in your room till it's over.

"Mmm, sounds like fun." Darry said sarcastically. He knew that Soc parties were fancy and filled with rich Socs. He would be surprised if you actually enjoyed spending time with them. A smirk formed on his lips, feeling a lot more comfortable with you than he had before as he teased, "You gonna bring home a trust fund boyfriend?"

"No. To my parents' disappointment, I don't have a boyfriend."You looked out in the distance, a smile still present on your face even as you rolled your eyes, thinking about your parents' consent nagging over the subject.

"I thought a pretty girl like you would have a line of guys swooning all over her." He teased a bit more before taking a sip of his chocolate. Darry was a little surprised by the fact that you were single. With the way you looked and acted he had assumed some trust fund kid would've tried to at least make a move on you.

"Maybe they do."You replied aloofly with a similar smile and tiny shrug, taking a sip of your own hot chocolate before continuing."That doesn't mean I swoon back."

Darry chuckled, setting his now empty cup on the porch railing. He leaned his hip against the railing as he turned to face you, arms folded over his chest.

"Oh? You're picky with your guys then?" He teased, arching an eyebrow.

"No just…..haven't found the right one yet."You answered honestly, setting your mug also on the porch railing and placing your gloved hands on it as you looked to the side at Darry.

Your nose and cheeks were getting a little red from the cold and tiny little snowflakes were sticking to your hair and eyelashes. It wasn't like you were cold or anything, but the winter weather just made you look ten times more angelic and Darry had noticed. He couldn't help but stare at you for a moment, entranced by your beauty. The falling snow highlighted your angelic features and made it look as if you just popped out of a Hallmark movie.

He cleared his throat and looked away from you, snapping himself out of the trance he was in. He couldn't be thinking like that, you were a Soc and he was a greaser. You two were from completely different sides of town.

The minute Darry looked away, you did the same, looking up at the roof he was just working on. You didn't know why Darry had looked away, but it didn't like seem a good thing. You obviously didn't have the same fear as him because, after a moment of silence, you turned back to him. You had this new nervousness about you, hesitant to speak, knowing he could very quickly turn you down. "Hey, you're gonna need our number…..for the gutters, you know…..to call us about the gutters…..not anything else."

Darry's eyebrow quirked up in confusion as he looked over at you, not understanding why you were bringing up needing your number. If he really needed it, his roofing company had a whole phone book of clients' numbers. But then it clicked, and a small smirk spread across his lips as he got an idea of what your intentions were.

"Yeah? And what number would that be?" He teased, shoving his hands into the pockets of his thick, beat-up jacket.

"Hold on."You responded, raising one finger for him to wait. You quickly went into your house and came right back out with a pen and the first piece of paper you could find which happened to be a napkin. You scribbled your home phone on the napkin and handed it to him with a smirk."Here."

Darry took the napkin in his large hands, his rough fingers grasping the delicate paper. He could see your perfectly girly cursive as he glanced down at the paper and read the number.

"Thanks, guess I'll give you a call sometime." He smiled brightly, stuffing the napkin in the pocket of his jacket.

"Thanks, guess I'll answer that call."You replied with a similar response, looking back at him with a smile. It was hard to tell if your red cheeks were from blushing or the cold.

The fact that you were looking forward to him giving you a call did something funny to Darry's heart. But he quickly brushed the feeling aside and instead gave you a small smirk as he started to walk down the steps of your front porch. For a moment, he turned back, looking at you with a happy smirk and small wave. He called over his shoulder, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket, "Happy holidays, Y/N."

"Happy Holidays, Darry."You replied, the smile not leaving your face as you walked into your fancy Soc house and closed the door.

Darry continued walking down the steps as his heart fluttered in his chest. He walked out into the cold Oklahoma winter, the first snowflakes of the season falling softly on his dark hair. He climbed into his truck and turned the heat up, ready to drive home, and put the number on the napkin in his pocket to good use. Spoiler alert, when he did call, he wasn't calling about the gutters.

[conscharacterscentralised]

Propaganda for “Team MARC or something like that…” for @group-oc-tournament

Who are they?

A group of friends since they were around 11/12. All met through school, when Mia, Xander and Ricky all moved to the same smallish town Carol lives in. Totally coincidental. But hey, you can make some great friends through moving schools.

They’ve been friends for 10 years now, even though all are on very different path trajectories. And no matter what, they’ll be friends for life. They promise. No matter what…

Richard Samuel Keyes

Also known as Ricky, he’s the oldest of the group. You’d think that would make him the de-facto leader but he’d prefer to stay in the background. He’s the most studious of the group, and the only one actively seeking further education, specifically in literature. He’s one to never mince his words, which while favourable in some circumstances is less so in others. Would do better to learn tact, but he’s not going to directly hurt your feelings. (He’d describe you being happy rather than him being displeased.) The most open book of the group, yet still somewhat unknowable. Birthday is November 3rd, and he is aroace.

Caroline Elizabeth Godliman

Also known as Carol, she’s the free-spirited creative of the group. The token “rich kid”. An only child who is always looking forward in life and never looking back, mostly because she doesn’t want to be stuck in the past and waste her life worrying. Which worries her. Very much aware of her catch-22, Carol is currently fundraising for a local band she works for with loading and transportation. Her favourite holiday is Christmas, mostly because she likes to pretend everyone is celebrating her birthday, which is December 24th. She is an asexual heteroromantic.

Mia Jolene Holmes

They’re not known by anything else. She’s short and to the point. Loyal with a fierce temper. The most extroverted and social of the group by far, and despite boasting that she can flirt with anyone she’s absolutely terrible at it. Doesn’t matter tho, they love corny one-liners. Used to have a different name and different life but she’s not one for over sharing. What you see isn’t always what you get but Mia tries hardest to make others solely see Mia and nobody else. If you’re in a pinch, they’re the one to call for affection and fun. Birthday is April 22nd, she is a pansexual demigirl.

Alexander Michael Stone

Alex to his family, but Xander to you. Makes an effort to go-with-the-flow and not cause a disruption. The self-nominated jokester and seemingly the easiest going… but he’s got a lot under the surface that he’s trying to hide. Everyone’s sussed out he’s not fully honest and honestly it makes them happier about their own secrets, but Xander himself isn’t generally thrilled. Still, why dwell on that when you’ve got a down-to-earth pal of the world who will teach you to drive and go on wild tangents with no meaning? Birthday is July 18th, he is a demirose bisexual (and also autistic. And dyslexic. Those aren’t the issues btw, there’s more).

Is there a story to these four outside of just friends and stuff?

Yes! I’ve gone into details on my own blog if you’re super curious but I’m planning on making it into a webcomic so I won’t go into huge amounts of detail (though the main spoilers can be seen fairly easily through the tags and art both I and others have made). But the basic gist is these four are bored one day and decide to go into a part of town they’ve never been before. Specifically to a different section easily passed through under a bridge. It’s not too long but it can leave you in darkness for a while.

Whilst walking through and joking with each other, they start seeing some odd movements in the shadows. Thinking they’re about to be attacked, they turn and leave, only to find the tunnel is a lot longer than they thought. Then one of them feels an unfamiliar hand on their shoulder… and a strange yet oddly familiar figure greets them before disappearing and the tunnel returns to normal. Slowly though, everyone feels the presence of something subtly messing with their lives, up to and including threats, violence and dragging up the past and the things they wish to remain hidden.

They call this entity Vanta. He’s almost like a fifth main character, but he’s the villain and doesn’t want to be a part of “Team MARC or something like that…”

What’s with the name? Why MARC?

Doylist reason: the forms said a name and I didn’t have one planned. I could’ve called them the Encroaching Darkness Quartet or the Vantaverse Quartet or even just The Gang, but I had to be extra.

Watsonian reason: Carol came up with it on a whim. They had to use Xander’s full first name because nobody knew how to combine together their first initial without it sounding cringe. It still sounded cringe to her, hence the trailing off… but hey! It’s nice to have a name!

Why should I vote these guys?

A vote for “Team MARC or something like that…” is a win for long lasting friendship, being queer and proud of it, autism, modern day antics and getting over your fears and being free.

Is there anything else to note?

Obviously this is all for fun, and even if my guys don’t make it past round 1, I’m happy I got to share my brain dwellers with the world. They lived for too long rent free up there, it’s time to pay tax /j

[ohifonlyx33]

see, the The Inherent Thing™ that initially makes this trope seem appealing is the Return To Roots. The idea that money and success aren't the only key factors to happiness. Something I have to at least somewhat agree with.

So to solve the problem of this love triangle thing, I prose that instead of the Small-Town Girl returning home and ditching her City Boyfriend, instead the City Boy Goes Country And Brings His Girl With Him.

You can decide why the successful, stressed-out businessman is in town (maybe he's actually the one who left or maybe he just decided to visit his girlfriend's family and SHE'S the one who left the town or maybe he just got stuck there for some reason).

But when he comes to town he meets/reunites with the Plaid Bro and gets jealous of his beautiful wife and family and how happy he is making wooden rocking horses all day long. That's when City Man realizes he used to have a Masculine Passion Hobby as well... back when he was happy and not always stressed. He realizes he's not been happy. Plaid Bro tells City Man to find his own path, to do what he needs to do to make life worth living.

So he has to call his girlfriend to tell her he's decided to quit the City Job of Dubious Moral Ethics to start a Wholesome Christmas Tree Business and so she comes to town to try talking him out of it. She either 1. leaves because she's Too Much Of A Boss-Babe To Wear Plaid That Isn't Even Designer, in which case Plaid Bro has a conventionally attractive sister or 2. She comes to town and absolutely falls in love with the new life and they get married.

I know it's still basically the same idea. But he main difference is that he's not just changing his life because he fell in love with Another Woman Who Is Better Because She's Not From The City. He's not dropping one chick for another. He's re-evaluating his desires and setting up a better life goal (ostensibly, arguably) and asking her to be a part of it. She can follow him, or she's not right for him.

Could this work with a girl returning to town and realizing she loves running the Local Pie & Scented Candles Shoppe with her besties? Sure, but if the original City Couple is going to stay together, I just think it's going to be a bit harder to sell since guys are more prone to want to lead in this kind of situation. But if she's been faithful to him and he is open-minded and also welcoming the change, then yeah.

[haruka-vii]

Normally I don't write up Anipoke comments here but since I'm avoiding other social media for pretty much a month due to the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to avoid spoilers until I'm done with the main story and post game, I'll just exceptionally write up my thoughts here concerning what's to come in these next two weeks.

Knowing how the show has been breaking the traditional formula chain we got used to witness for, perhaps 16-19 years if we count Alola or not, things might turn out differently but anything goes at this point as I can't predict with great certainty how did they write the Generation 8 disclosure. I had the theory for at least an year that Project Mew was secretly evil and this last Friday I was proved wrong so...

About what's going to happen in 9th December. I want to believe this is the scenario:

Goh is hesitant to tell Ash about his idea to go on a journey because he doesn't want to separate from him for an extended/undetermined period of time. The crying bit of the preview is either:

Not managing to tell and running away out of frustration

Admitting the idea to Ash and running away without listening to Ash's feedback

Admitting the idea to Ash, listening to his supportive feedback but Goh gets frustrated with his positive feedback and runs away

Now what I expect (I hope it's this, though), is Ash being supportive about the idea but asking Goh if he can join him in that trip as well (Paldea, everyone?). Knowing Ash I have my doubts he'll just return to Pallet Town, resting on his bedroom while polishing his WCS cup and do nothing else. Remember that dinner talk between Ash and Chairman Rose? The boy openly admitted that what he wants to do is to travel and meet lots of Pokémon and literally not staying stuck in the same place at once to have greater competitive battle notoriety and exposure. Ash will want to continue this as travelling is what made Ash grow as a Pokémon Trainer and what made him become a WCS Monarch.

Although the title of day 16th December was revealed I can't help but have two questions: together or separated? Together to Paldea? I also want to believe that Professor Cerise calls/suggests them to visit Paldea region to investigate something or to learn in first hand about the Terastal Phenomenon. Who knows! And besides I learnt yesterday that among the Pokémon that can be transferred in future to Scarlet and Violet games is Mew. And I'm still thinking about the "temporarily disbanded Project Mew" line of Professor Amaranth. Coincidence?

I'm trying to keep my spirit settled down and to be mentally prepared for any outcome in these next two weeks. I really love Ash and Goh's dynamic and the idea of separating them tears me apart, I think it would be their biggest mistake since that time they decided it was a good idea to write Unova arc as a soft reboot. It essentially thanks to them I found some mental stability during the pandemic curfew. There's a clear differentiated treatment to Goh as a travelling companion (both in and out of the screen) in the course of Journeys and it just wouldn't make sense to discard him away back to the drawer.......... would it? If Ash and Goh are confirmed to stick together then a travelling companion sticking around since the first regional meeting doesn't happen since Brock (who although had to absent for a while in the Orange Islands, he sticked around until the end of Sinnoh's arc so, 2010). It will feel like a Christmas gift for me and as a fan that lives in the Iberian Peninsula I would love to see the duo exploring Paldea! Please make it happen!! 🙏

[honeybear-yammy]

Christmas Surprise | Rafe Cameron

Warnings: none pure fluff

Pairings: Rafe Cameron x Female Pogue Reader

Summary: In which Rafe gives Y/N the Christmas she had never be lucky enough to have.

© Honeybear-Yammy, please do not steal, translate, copy, or transfer my work.

You were going for a walk with your boyfriend Rafe. The two of you were walking hand in hand down the street. It was your first Christmas with Rafe. You were excited that it was your first Christmas together as a couple. The snow was falling and you could just feel the spirit of Christmas in the air. Christmas was your favorite holiday. You always found this time of year was so magical.

And it looked so beautiful outside. The snow sparkling on the ground and the snowflakes gently falling from the sky meeting the rest of the snow down below. You also loved the snow. There was a blizzard coming soon and a lot of the town was preparing for the storm. But you were kinda excited about it. You got to be inside all day cozy with your boyfriend by the fire drinking hot coca and watching Christmas movies. Rafe looked to you and saw how happy you were. He smiled. Seeing you so happy made him happy.

It was also Christmas Eve which made it even better. Today was the perfect day. Just being with your boyfriend and getting to see your friends today and now, a lovely walk down the snowy streets. It looked beautiful, like a winter wonderland. The two of you got back to your house and you looked up and smiled as the snowflakes came down gently falling on your face and hair. Rafe looked over at you and chuckled as you stuck your tongue out trying to catch snowflakes on your tongue.

“What are you doing baby?” He laughed. “Trying to catch snowflakes.” You giggled. He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re such a goofball.” He chuckled. You giggled and walked over to him. He smiled and pulled you in for a kiss. The two of you kissed as the snowflakes were falling around you. Today felt perfect and you didn’t want it to be over.

He unlocked the door and let you go inside first then followed you in shutting the door. You got the snow off your boots on the mat then pulled them off and took your jacket off. You were about to walk into the living room when Rafe stopped you. “What is it baby?” You asked. “Can you.. maybe just stay out of the living room for a bit?” He asked. “Why?” You chuckled. “It’s just, I have a surprise for Christmas for you and I don’t want you to see it until tomorrow and I was thinking.. since it’s already the evening anyways I could bring the surprise down here and then you and I could do the hot coca and movies and stuff in our room..” He said.

“Okay.. I’ll stay out of the living room.” You chuckled. “Thank you angel.” Rafe smiled and kissed your cheek. You smiled and did it back. “Okay I can get the stuff from the kitchen then an-” “No let me do it baby, I’ll be up in a few minutes ok?” He said. “Okay.” You smiled and went upstairs. Rafe had bought a lot of presents for you. He always did spoil you but this was spoiling on a new level. He knew that you grew up on The Cut and you’re mom was never around so you were stuck with your abusive drunken father so he knew you never got a real Christmas.

So, he made sure that he was going to give you the best Christmas ever. He had got you a bunch of presents and tomorrow he had all your favorite meals for Christmas and he planned on bringing all your friends over. You walked into your room and decided to change into a pair of cute Christmas pajamas.

You sat down on the bed waiting for Rafe. You were going through Netflix looking for a good Christmas movie to watch. Rafe soon came up with the hot coca and the snacks and everything you asked for. You smiled when you saw him and helped him put everything down. “Thank you so much baby.” You smiled and pecked him.

“Your welcome angel.” He smiled and kissed your forehead. The two of you laid down together snuggling, drinking hot chocolate, and watching Christmas movies. You eventually fell asleep in his arms with a small smile on your face. Rafe smiled and kissed your head before turning off the TV and putting the blankets on the two of you. He held you close before falling asleep.

You woke up the next morning and sat up then stretched. Your rubbed your eyes then looked out the window to see the snow falling. You smiled. It looked so beautiful outside. You got up and just brushed your hair out a little so it was not super messed up. You looked around just to realize that Rafe was not in the room with you. You checked in the bathroom attached to your bedroom and he was not in there either. He must be downstairs. Yo decided to go downstairs and see where he was. You knew he was in the house somewhere, you just didn’t know where.

You figured he was most likely in the kitchen or living room. You walked into the kitchen. You could smell the scent of coffee so he had made coffee recently but, he was not in the kitchen. You looked around the kitchen to see how beautifully decorated it was. The kitchen was barely decorated last night when you were down here. He must have done this early this morning. The thought of him doing all of this for you made you smile. You decided to go look in the living room to see if he was there.

You walked into the living room and gasped. The living room was decorated before you went to bed last night but now… it looked amazing. And there was so many gifts under the tree, way more than there was last night. And you noticed that a lot of them were for you from Rafe. You smiled widely and your eyes started to tear up. No one had ever done something like this for you before. Everything looked beautiful and there was so many gifts that not all of them could fit under the tree.

You felt grateful and special that he would do all of this for you but, you also felt bad because you couldn’t get him much. When you live on The Cut you don’t have much money at all. You tried so hard to get him as much as you could but now that he got you all of this, you felt like you didn’t get him enough.

“Merry Christmas baby.” Rafe smiled and got up off the sofa. He walked over to you and kissed your head. “Are you ok?” He asked looking at you now concerned. “Yeah it’s just.. no one has ever done this for me before and this was so sweet for you to do but, I just feel bad..” You looked up at him. “Why do you feel bad angel?” He asked. “Because I was not able to get you much and you got me so much.. I just feel like I didn’t get you enough for Christmas.” You frowned.

“Baby..” He cupped your face. “The best gift I could ever get is getting to be with you. I don’t need any presents. I got all of this for you because I love you so much baby. I also did all of this for a few reasons. I did it because I love you, I did it because I love to see you happy, when you are happy it makes me happy. And I know you never got a Christmas like this when you didn’t have your mother around and you had an abusive father. And I know your friends tried to give you the best Christmas but, I wanted to give that to you.” He said.

You got tears in your eyes again and smiled. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you. You smiled and a tear ran down your cheek as you rested your forehead against his. “I love you so much Rafe Cameron.” You said with a smile. “I love you too y/n y/l/n.” He smiled. You kissed him and then he led you over to the tree to open your gifts together. You couldn’t believe all the presents that were there for you, it was insane how many he got you. You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder. “Merry Christmas.” You giggled. “Merry Christmas my little Christmas angel.” He said making you giggle more.

You and Rafe had opened all your presents. He loved all the things you got for him which made you so happy. You loved everything he gave to you too. It was unreal how much he got you though. Rafe was helping you finish making Christmas dinner.

“So I invited some people over for Christmas dinner.” He said. “Okay.” You smiled. “Who?” You asked. “Well Topper is one of them, along with Sarah.” He said. “Okay.” You smiled. “Who else?” You asked. “The other people are a surprise. I still have a few more Christmas surprises in store for you angel baby.” He said. You chuckled.

You and Rafe finished making the dinner and Topper and Sarah were already there. You were just waiting on the other unknown people coming. As you were talking with Sarah, Rafe, and Topper the door bell rang. You looked at Rafe. “Well? Go get the door.” Rafe smiled. You chuckled and walked to the door. When you opened the door to greet who was there a big smile grew on your face. It was your best friends John B, JJ, Kiara, and Pope.

“Oh my god! You guys are the mystery guest?!” You chuckled. “Guilty as charged.” John B chuckled. You smiled and the 5 of you did a group hug. You led the four of them in and Rafe was getting everyone’s plates ready. You and Rafe gave everyone there food and you sat down. Rafe stayed standing up. You looked at him confused.

“I actually have one last thing to do before we begin.” Rafe said. Everyone looked at him listening. “I told y/n today that I was going to make this the best Christmas ever for her and, I fully intend on doing that because, she deserves it.” He said. “So, I do have one last final surprise for her.” He said as he turned to you. You smiled listening to him. You were also kinda confused, you didn’t know what else Rafe could give to you. He gave you so much today. Rafe looked at you smiling as he walked away from the table a little. You got up and walked over to him.

You then gasped as you watched Rafe get down on one knee. You started to get tears in your eyes and you put your hand over your mouth smiling. “Y/n, you are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. You are beautiful, kind, funny, and you are so amazing and full of life. I have no idea what I would do with myself if I never met you. I know we have only been together for a year but, this honestly just feels right because, I know you are my soulmate. So, y/n y/l/n, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” He asked smiling.

“Yes Rafe! A million times yes!” You smiled as you started to happy cry. Rafe got up and pulled you in for a kiss as everyone else clapped for you guys. He slid the ring on your finger and you smiled. You knew that Rafe was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with and you were so happy that he wanted the same. You knew that even though you were a Pogue, and he was a Kook, the two of you were meant to be.

And you couldn’t be happier.

Author's Note: tysm for reading!

Taglist ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

@lovedetlost @luversgirl @ceceswriting @gillybear17 @adventuresinobx @drewbooooo @onmykneesforrafe @my-baexht-ls @n-kkpoly @vashappeningkevin @adventuresinobx

[uwuowotf2waslife]

and enjoy the fic , please im a slut for feedback <3

tw: alcohol cosumption, people being dicks , all platonic like bros do

Notes: English isn’t my first language; this one-shot is based on this tumblr post

Blood, guts & glory can splash on your eyes and hide the reality of living the mercenary lifestyle of Teufort.

Actually, it’s pretty damn monotonous. It’s like an office job, except you actually get to let your frustrations out in a much more healthy way than binge drinking at weekends. Sure it gets messy and quite life threatening, but Medic is always in the run to make sure your bones do in fact stay in their skeleton. It does have a fair share of paperwork, but nowadays what job doesn’t have paperwork...

This particular holiday season, by some grace of unknown ancient god, the Administrator decided that there should be an extended ceasefire, to boost morale and make sure people don’t start demand raises (they already are paid like millionaires, but Spy would like a raise for psychological damages).  Some gossips around the town claim that the Administrator got wooed by a certain Australian business & power man for a very romantic date of hunting and grilling Yetis on the barbie, but it also happened that the gossipers were found buried in shallow graves the next day, so we will never know.

Now before you ask, Christmas is the one of the guaranteed holidays the company actually provides, and quite frankly most of them barely get out of the base during the holidays.

Some exceptions are of course Heavy who will go by rafting to his mom and sisters even for 10 minutes, maybe Engie that in all fairness is pretty close to Bee Cave so he just  gets in his semi and hauls his ass a pretty chill 5 hour drive. Maybe Pyro who may or may not go to some Christmas Raves with their loops in cause rave girlies have some of the best plush game you’ll ever see. Demo prefers to get wasted and call his mom for their beloved sloshed phone call. Sniper makes sure he is very shaved, sober and pumped up before doing a zoom call with his Ma and Pa ( I refuse to accept they died, I can’t see him sad.) Soldier quite frankly is a fire hazard and he is banned from most bars and their Christmas party hour special event, he mostly chills at the Medbay with Medic who is all giggly on Gluhwein. Scout is a big boy and can handle being alone but mostly stays up all night doom scrolling pinterest ( secret Tom Jones stan account) and Spy beside being a major asshole, actually volunteers as Santa ( he can have a mean southern twang if he really wants to).

All was going great until Scout suggested they threw a New Years Eve party, after all they are all stuck in Snowycoast and somehow the power isn’t down yet.

 I mean, they usually just chill around just do a small group chant and go the fuck to sleep, but they never actually celebrated it. Pyro are already out by 9 pm, because dancing and vibing without enhancing substances is a workout worse than a triathlon preparation and in the first years Heavy suffered really bad jet lag.

 For the others New Years Eve stopped being a rager once they hit 30 and unrelenting alcohol consumption and bar crawling. All is peaches and cream, until you wake up in the middle of the dessert so unholy high on peyote without your undies or car keys, or so Sniper claims (his parents will never let it down, the sight of their adult professional unaliver son on stolen tidy whiteys is an image carved like fiery red metal on a fresh chuck of meat). 

But they can wing it; what’s more challenging? Bank heists or making mid Hawaiian punch? 8/9 mercs say the second.

A game plan was easy to be made, they are military men at heart (mainly soldier) and order is second nature to them (they did it to mainly shut up soldier). Heavy and Medic were responsible for the cooking, chicken tendies and mac’nd cheese is great but a hardy Russian stew or some extra spicy german wurst makes the game start rolling better. Spy decided he will be the decorator and Demo the florist…yes he is the barman, much creativity here. Scout and Pyro are just dicking around and pretty much everyone else pretty much acted like a goth tween being forced to go to their family gathering while wearing a bright pink Santa beanie. Except Soldier who is already ranting and raving victorious plans on how this specifically party will be worthy of the president while munching on chalk. Engie is the one tidying up the conference room and making sure the generators are ready for Showtime if the snow cuts them off from civilization.

After some bickering, especially because the wine & whiskey Demo has in his hand-made bar aren’t the cream of the crop, I know shocker, the food is fresh, ready and warm and the punch is fully loaded and ready to be ladled to thirsty sad men & nonbinary DDR destroyers.

By some stroke of luck Spy is feeling extra pezzazy and has sat his royal ass on the piano and softly plays totally classy, elegant music (he is playing wonderwall, he is the fuckboy after all). This night is really looking up. Being the macho manly men they are, Heavy and Soldier decided to play some poker, with beans of course as chips, because it’s silly to take friendly games as a competition.  The spirits got a bit heavy (pun needed here) soon though. Soldier might have the IQ of a feral cat, but he has one hell of a poker face, Heavy is a close second on that ,but he becomes livid fast after gulping down some liters worth of punch. Sooner or later you could hear loud swears in more European languages than expected, while Solly is grinning like a madman with a bed worth of cash in his side. Before even 10 pm our favorite soviet heavy weapons specialist was quintessentially skinned. He is so closed on betting his clothes and earthly possessions but Soldier will laugh at him until the day the sky turns into glue and plop down on unsuspecting souls.

Sniper joined for bit with them, but he is a sore loser when it comes to poker so he took his beans (his cash was gone faster than a deadbeat pressing the get out of state pedal while going out for some milk,) and left the room mumbling swearwords so foul, Engie started blushing. You could find him later, all saltier than a canned tuna in saltwater clutching his trusty RGB keyboard and mouse while blasting the most annoying Christmas songs known in humanities history. He got banned and kicked so many times he had to use a different account, but this is proper New Years Eve to him, finally being the public nuisance he creams to be. Scout at some point came in to pester him; after all there are extremely second hand quality movies on the TV and vomit inducing cheesy segments to watch sober.

Until he got a glimpse of a jar with a certain kid’s toy inside and the scooter-man decided he doesn’t need to fill his mind with whatever filth Sniper is doing. So he did set up camp in the rec room and softly bawled his eyes while clearly soul-empty news broadcaster showed off kitties setting up parties and babies doing barrel rolls.

At some point Pyro entered the room and coaxed scout off the normie entertainment industry for some good old DDR. Although Scout is and will always be a top tier gymnast and marathon runner, Pyro is the one who knows how to dance the Rasputin as hypnotic as the animations. All was going grand until 10.30pm when a very soft but audible ‘pop’ sound broke the instrumental music trance and Pyro saw painful white stars. Medic was called and he openly cackled while he zooped them up with the Medic Gun. With Pyro still sore, they just sat down, munched on some stew and second grade questionably made Gluhwein. Medic being the sentimental gilf of the base actually enjoyed the bland TV program , whilst Scout trying to nurse his crystal fragile ego he made guy noises when something particularly cringe happened.

 Solly was left to his own devices enough that he had a panic attack and as the one man army he is, he made a stable hideout in the corner of the rec room while muttering how Santa is a code word , Christmas is a ritualistic when souls and ghosts come to life and are out on the prowl , how he failed as a soldier and his dad was right for calling him his biggest mistake. Thankfully, Engie heard the commotion and successfully sweettalked his way into Sollys secret military bunker ( three chairs on each side and a desk on top with pillows for sound proofing, and  even more successfully comforted Solly enough to stop eating chalk and drink some water.

 Demo (you bet he was wasted, you are wrong) actually had some quiet time skyping his mom and actually enjoyed hearing about how his cousins had like a bunch of kids, or how the very little ones completed their fist life achievements ( speaking, walking, detonate enough stuff to be in the terrorist registry).  He even cried when mom sent his new nieces baby pictures, she looked so cute! All wrapped up like a garlic sauce kebob fresh out of the kebob mans magic hands.

Spy who we all thought he was still moonlighting as pianist, actually drank some and some more punch and got absolutely bogged. He started having zoomies , running all animalistic up and down the base until the gods of alcohol had enough. Soon he was found vomiting inside a potted plan and was promptly locked up and tied up tight on the rails in the disabled bathroom , Scout wanted to take pictures but he actually fell pretty bad for Spy and even brought him some water and took off his balaclava (with his eyes shut, boy scouts honor). He wanted to ask Engie where the baby monitor was, ( yes they bought a baby monitor for the bread monster baby), but the countdown started and hhe completely forgot about.

Everyone who was not completely cazooted , joined Pyro & Medic while they started the countdown. Heavy was sulking but happily lifted them all up when the clock hit midnight, even throwing the scout high enough to smack his head on the ceiling. At the end of all, no matter red or blue, support or defense, they all share the same joy of living the Gravel War life surrounded with men & man-things that make their life a rainbow’s worth of color and happiness.

Even Medic got moved by the comradery and actually went off to help Spy before he vomited a kidneys worth of humanities worst and best invention.

Happy New Year simps

[iwantescapism13]

Amphibia Season 3B Predictions

There are 2 more days until the supposed last episode of 3A airs. And since we have received most of the episode titles for the season, I’ll be listing down my predictions on how all of these will go about:

Season 3 Episode 10 - Escape to Amphibia

A timeskip of about 1 month has occurred - a month (or so) to give Terri some time to figure out how to create a working portal. This is assuming that ‘If You Give A Frog A Cookie’ and ‘Froggy Little Christmas’ have a few weeks of difference.

In the context of Amphibia, this timeskip would mean that it has been over a month since Sasha has started the Wartwood resistance and over a month + 1 week since Marcy got possessed. That’s quite a long time for Anne to be away from her friends. Surely, this episode will get Anne to talk a little bit more about her feelings thus “forcing” her not to be in denial of everything anymore.

Sasha’s and Marcy’s families will be mentioned or be briefly shown, but nothing else will happen so as to give more screentime for Mr. X versus the Boonchuy family (plus the Plantars).

Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy doesn’t want Anne to go back to Amphibia, forcing Anne to confess that there’s one more thing she hasn’t mentioned - that Sasha and Marcy are still stuck in the other world.

At this rate, it’s possible that Anne would want her parents to go to Amphibia with her because if they don’t, they’d probably be the ones to rot in jail as they helped Anne escape. I also predict that Dr. Frakes will come back and might even conspire with Mr. X to capture the Plantars, so it’ll be really dangerous for Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy to stay put. Unless Frobo can remain on Earth to protect them, it’s possible that we’ll see the entire Boonchuy family in Amphibia.

Season 3 Episode 11A&B - Commander Anne / Sprivy

I’ve mentioned my predictions for this episode in another post. You can read them here.

Potential Sashanne moment: ~80%

Season 3 Episode 12A - Sasha’s Angels

"A team of Resistance fighters get captured." - I am presuming that these "Resistance fighters" are some Toad soldiers at Beatrix's hiding place.

Sasha gets into gear and asks some of the Wartwood villagers to help on her mission to get them back (#caringsashaisabonifidebadass). She'd choose Ivy, Maddie, and another frog (maybe Nelly can be a part of this?).

'Captured by what?', is a good a question. One possibility is Dark Marcy being the one who initiates this - deciding that the Resistance's soldiers must lessen in terms of strength. But they're useful, and thus the capture; not eliminate. She's being smart about it, using the strength of the Toad soldiers to her advantage (not like she needed it, though, when they have a bajilion frobots). She's unlike that pompous idiot King Andrias.

However, Sasha, Ivy, Maddie, and another frog will be able to save them before they are transported to Newtopia.

Anne is in Wartwood now, so even if it's a Sasha-centric episode, she'll be somewhere. But, 'where'? It'll be at the Plantar house, at her room, reading Marcy's journal for any clues.

Potential Marcanne moment: ~10%

Potential Sashanne moment: ~30%

Season 3 Episode 12B - Olm Town Road

"Anne and her friends search for the city of Proteus" - For the past few episodes, I'm assuming that Anne remained in Wartwood. So why would she suddenly thought of going to Proteus? My guess - Marcy's journal. She read through her journal (as mentioned previously) one more time and found a clue regarding olms.

It's interesting to me that the synopsis said "Anne and her friends". So, I'm assuming that Sasha (and probably Grime) will be joining in the adventure. Would be good too, so that they can interact with each other.

Potential Sashanne moment: ~40%

Season 3 Episode 13A - Mother of Olms

A continuation from the previous episode, Anne and “her friends” stayed in / somewhere near Proteus.

Valeriana will show up and talk more about the “secret society” she’s in.

There will be a mention of the prophecy.

At the same time, we turn to Olivia and Yunan who are most likely to be in jail because of their betrayal. They recall what happened after Marcy got possessed, when King Andrias said “What ‘destiny’, you ask? Well, I’ll just let it speak for itself.” So Valeriana and Dark Marcy will both say the prophecy in unison, albeit in different tones.

Season 3 Episode 13B - Grime’s Pupil

Many people have speculated the same thing: that it has 2 meanings; either it’s regarding Grime’s student (Sasha or someone else) or Grime’s blind eye (like, how he got that injury).

Matt Braly has mentioned in one of the interviews that Grime will be partnered with someone in 3B, so that might be for this section. He also said it’s “funny”, so I’m thinking it could either be Loggle or Wally and he’ll be teaching them how to fight properly.

Season 3 Episode 14A - The Root of Evil

Ah, now this... I had this thought that it could be about Marcy and The Core having a conversation in a mindscape. However, what if... it’s about Anne’s powers?

Anne has hinted in ‘The New Normal’ that she felt that using her powers were bad. So in this episode, that particular line will be tackled. 

It will explain the origins of the calamity box and why it’s called a “calamity”. Side note: I had a theory that the calamity box may be synonymous to the Pandora’s Box (which is a box that should not be opened, lest bad things happen) but I do not know how to phrase it correctly, so I scrapped the idea.

It will explain the responsibilities of the 3 gems’ holders (’Heart’, ‘Wit’, ‘Strength’) and Anne probably will not be very keen on it.

Season 3 Episode 14B - The Core & The King

King Andrias’ origin story as well as his reasoning for creating(?) The Core.

A paragraph that I wrote on this post regarding my thoughts on the history of King Andrias and his friends:

Season 3 Episode 15A - Newts in Tights

A “semi-filler” episode, in which Marcy will ‘take over the reigns’ of her body and be the same goofy Marcy as before by telling the newt soldiers to wear matching outfits - black, because they are the villains now.

Season 3 Episode 15B - Fight or Flight

Following the ending of ‘The Root of Evil’, Anne would have to decide whether or not she should accept the heavy responsibility of being “the hero” of Amphibia - a throwback to all the times Sprig had called her his hero.

At the same time, Olivia and Yunan has finally decided... to fight back. They escaped Newtopia and went immediately to Wartwood to look for any signs of Sasha (because at this point, they still do not know that Anne is back yet).

Meanwhile, Anne is very torn and we now see her get extremely stressed with the situation.

Olivia and Yunan manages to get to Wartwood (somehow or other) and they told Anne and Sasha the entirety of what happened to Marcy.

Anne and Sasha are furious as fuck.

Anne, particularly, gets so pissed off that she accidentally activated her powers without knowing and almost ran off for Newtopia.

Olivia/Yunan manages to capture her in time.

Anne faints because she used too much of her powers. It’s weird because it only took several seconds. The Plantars (and Sasha) got worried about this.

Yunan decides to train Anne and Sasha - she have a special treatment towards Anne particularly as she and Sasha didn’t really have a good impression of each other when she was ordered to capture Grime in ‘Toadcatcher’.

Season 3 Episode 16A(?) - The Three Armies

This is obviously the Frogs & Toads versus the Newts. 

The frogs are on Anne’s side, Sasha gathers the Toad army, and King Andrias rallies the Newts.

This episode will cover the different girls sharing their words of encouragement to boost the soldiers’ morale.

[babeydollx]

Christmas Surprise {Rafe Cameron}

Warnings: none

Pairings: Rafe Cameron x Female Pogue Reader

Summary: At Christmas, Rafe wants to give you the best Christmas ever. The Christmas you never got to have.

Word Count: 2105

a/n: here is my first Christmas story!

This was a requested story :)

This story was requested by @vintageobx

You were going for a walk with your boyfriend Rafe. The two of you were walking hand in hand down the street. It was your first Christmas with Rafe. You were excited that it was your first Christmas together as a couple. The snow was falling and you could just feel the spirit of Christmas in the air. Christmas was your favorite holiday. You always found this time of year was so magical.

And it looked so beautiful outside. The snow sparkling on the ground and the snowflakes gently falling from the sky meeting the rest of the snow down below. You also loved the snow. There was a blizzard coming soon and a lot of the town was preparing for the storm.

But you were kinda excited about it. You got to be inside all day cozy with your boyfriend by the fire drinking hot coca and watching Christmas movies. Rafe looked to you and saw how happy you were. He smiled. Seeing you so happy made him happy.

It was also Christmas Eve which made it even better. Today was the perfect day. Just being with your husband and getting to see your friends today and now, a lovely walk down the snowy streets. It looked beautiful, like a winter wonderland.

The two of you got back to your house and you looked up and smiled as the snowflakes came down gently falling on your face and hair. Rafe looked over at you and chuckled as you stuck your tongue out trying to catch snowflakes on your tongue.

"What are you doing baby?" He laughed.

"Trying to catch snowflakes." You giggled. He chuckled and shook his head.

"You're such a goofball." He chuckled. You giggled and walked over to him. He smiled and pulled you in for a kiss. The two of you kissed as the snowflakes were falling around you. Today felt perfect and you didn't want it to be over.

He unlocked the door and let you go inside first then followed you in shutting the door. You got the snow off your boots on the mat then pulled them off and took your jacket off. You were about to walk into the living room when Rafe stopped you.

"What is it baby?" You asked.

"Can you.. maybe just stay out of the living room for a bit?" He asked.

"Why?" You chuckled.

"It's just, I have a surprise for Christmas for you and I don't want you to see it until tomorrow and I was thinking.. since it's already the evening anyways I could bring the surprise down here and then you and I could do the hot coca and movies and stuff in our room.." He said.

"Okay.. I'll stay out of the living room." You chuckled.

"Thank you angel." Rafe smiled and kissed your cheek. You smiled and did it back.

"Okay I can get the stuff from the kitchen then an-"

"No let me do it baby, I'll be up in a few minutes ok?" He said.

"Okay." You smiled and went upstairs. Rafe had bought a lot of presents for you. He always did spoil you but this was spoiling on a new level. He knew that you grew up on The Cut and you're mom was never around so you were stuck with your abusive drunken father so he knew you never got a real Christmas.

So, he made sure that he was going to give you the best Christmas ever. He had got you a bunch of presents and tomorrow he had all your favorite meals for Christmas and he planned on bringing all your friends over.

You walked into your room and decided to change into a pair of cute Christmas pajamas.

(Your pajamas above)

You sat down on the bed waiting for Rafe. You were going through Netflix looking for a good Christmas movie to watch. Rafe soon came up with the hot coca and the snacks and everything you asked for. You smiled when you saw him and helped him put everything down.

"Thank you so much baby." You smiled and pecked him.

"Your welcome angel." He smiled and kissed your forehead. The two of you laid down together snuggling, drinking hot chocolate, and watching Christmas movies. You eventually fell asleep in his arms with a small smile on your face. Rafe smiled and kissed your head before turning off the TV and putting the blankets on the two of you. He held you close before falling asleep.

*.:｡ ✿*ﾟ'ﾟ･

You woke up the next morning and sat up then stretched. Your rubbed your eyes then looked out the window to see the snow falling. You smiled. It looked so beautiful outside. You got up and just brushed your hair out a little so it was not super messed up.

You looked around just to realize that Rafe was not in the room with you. You checked in the bathroom attached to your bedroom and he was not in there either. He must be downstairs. Yo decided to go downstairs and see where he was. You knew he was in the house somewhere, you just didn't know where.

You figured he was most likely in the kitchen or living room. You walked into the kitchen. You could smell the scent of coffee so he had made coffee recently but, he was not in the kitchen. You looked around the kitchen to see how beautifully decorated it was.

The kitchen was barely decorated last night when you were down here. He must have done this early this morning. The thought of him doing all of this for you made you smile. You decided to go look in the living room to see if he was there.

You walked into the living room and gasped. The living room was decorated before you went to bed last night but now... it looked amazing. And there was so many gifts under the tree, way more than there was last night.

And you noticed that a lot of them were for you from Rafe. You smiled widely and your eyes started to tear up. No one had ever done something like this for you before. Everything looked beautiful and there was so many gifts that not all of them could fit under the tree.

You felt grateful and special that he would do all of this for you but, you also felt bad because you couldn't get him much. When you live on The Cut you don't have much money at all. You tried so hard to get him as much as you could but now that he got you all of this, you felt like you didn't get him enough.

"Merry Christmas baby." Rafe smiled and got up off the sofa. He walked over to you and kissed your head. "Are you ok?" He asked looking at you now concerned.

"Yeah it's just.. no one has ever done this for me before and this was so sweet for you to do but, I just feel bad.." You looked up at him.

"Why do you feel bad angel?" He asked.

"Because I was not able to get you much and you got me so much.. I just feel like I didn't get you enough for Christmas." You frowned.

"Baby.." He cupped your face. "The best gift I could ever get is getting to be with you. I don't need any presents. I got all of this for you because I love you so much baby. I also did all of this for a few reasons. I did it because I love you, I did it because I love to see you happy, when you are happy it makes me happy. And I know you never got a Christmas like this when you didn't have your mother around and you had an abusive father. And I know your friends tried to give you the best Christmas but, I wanted to give that to you." He said.

You got tears in your eyes again and smiled. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you. You smiled and a tear ran down your cheek as you rested your forehead against his. "I love you so much Rafe Cameron." You said with a smile.

"I love you too y/n y/l/n." He smiled. You kissed him and then he led you over to the tree to open your gifts together. You couldn't believe all the presents that were there for you, it was insane how many he got you. You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder.

"Merry Christmas." You giggled.

"Merry Christmas my little Christmas angel." He said making you giggle more.

*.:｡ ✿*ﾟ'ﾟ･

You and Rafe had opened all your presents. He loved all the things you got for him which made you so happy. You loved everything he gave to you too. It was unreal how much he got you though. Rafe was helping you finish making Christmas dinner.

"So I invited some people over for Christmas dinner." He said.

"Okay." You smiled. "Who?" You asked.

"Well Topper is one of them, along with Sarah." He said.

"Okay." You smiled. "Who else?" You asked.

"The other people are a surprise. I still have a few more Christmas surprises in store for you angel baby." He said. You chuckled.

*.:｡ ✿*ﾟ'ﾟ･

You and Rafe finished making the dinner and Topper and Sarah were already there. You were just waiting on the other unknown people coming. As you were talking with Sarah, Rafe, and Topper the door bell rang. You looked at Rafe.

"Well? Go get the door." Rafe smiled. You chuckled and walked to the door. When you opened the door to greet who was there a big smile grew on your face. It was your best friends John B, JJ, Kiara, and Pope.

"Oh my god! You guys are the mystery guest?!" You chuckled.

"Guilty as charged." John B chuckled. You smiled and the 5 of you did a group hug. You led the four of them in and Rafe was getting everyone's plates ready. You and Rafe gave everyone there food and you sat down. Rafe stayed standing up. You looked at him confused.

"I actually have one last thing to do before we begin." Rafe said. Everyone looked at him listening. "I told y/n today that I was going to make this the best Christmas ever for her and, I fully intend on doing that because, she deserves it." He said.

"So, I do have one last final surprise for her." He said as he turned to you. You smiled listening to him. You were also kinda confused, you didn't know what else Rafe could give to you. He gave you so much today. Rafe looked at you smiling as he walked away from the table a little. You got up and walked over to him.

You then gasped as you watched Rafe get down on one knee. You started to get tears in your eyes and you put your hand over your mouth smiling.

"Y/n, you are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. You are beautiful, kind, funny, and you are so amazing and full of life. I have no idea what I would do with myself if I never met you. I know we have only been together for a year but, this honestly just feels right because, I know you are my soulmate. So, y/n y/l/n, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" He asked smiling.

"Yes Rafe! A million times yes!" You smiled as you started to happy cry. Rafe got up and pulled you in for a kiss as everyone else clapped for you guys. He slid the ring on your finger and you smiled.

You knew that Rafe was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with and you were so happy that he wanted the same. You knew that even though you were a Pogue, and he was a Kook, the two of you were meant to be.

And you couldn't be happier.

a/n: This is my first Christmas story for the season! I hope y'all liked it and feel free to request!

[anyotherwriter]

Skipping Town [7]

*Daryl Dixon AU*

Previous Chapter / Masterlist

credit for the gif to whomever made it. continue reading at your own risk. i only post my writing here. feedback is always welcome!  okay, love you, bye. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////

You were surprised you didn't hear the chatter this morning at breakfast. Your mom was an active part of the church group chat, and her phone was commonly pinging with a message notification. Most times it had absolutely nothing to do with church, just town gossip. You knew that's why your mom joined it. Surely she would've made a big commotion about the news over the french toast with news like this. 

You were out of town today, doing some Christmas shopping a little ways west. You liked to come out here every Christmas season to enjoy their lights and spirit and sales. You had a routine, shopping, lunch, a few more stores, and then winding down at the cafe on the corner with a hot tea. You'd sit there until the dark really set in, getting comfortable by their faux fireplace and reading a book. It was a reprieve you looked forward to every year.

This time you didn't make it to the 'few more stores' part. Instead, you tossed your bags into your trunk, and started driving back into town. You weren't sure what your plan was, or exactly where you were going, even if your fingers kept pushing and pulling at the blinker knob on your steering column. The text your mom sent you after you ignored three of her phone calls was all you could think about

"Did you hear about what happened to Spencer!!!!" 

Initially reading it had your eyes rolling so hard, you swear you saw the inside of your skull. Then it was followed up with:

"Daryl tried to shoot him!!!!"

Normally, her excessive use of exclamation points irritated you to no end, but you got stuck on that message instead. 

You weren't concerned for Spencer, not one bit. You were more concerned about Daryl. Somehow he kept falling into the center of the talk, no matter how much he tried to stay in the shadows and stay away. Besides, you knew that that definitely didn't sound right. Would it have made sense if it were Merle? Sure. But Daryl? Absolutely not. You'd put money on it.

You flipped on your blinker for the last time, pulling up into the driveway. You didn't know why you went there, or what your plan was. And when you saw Daryl's head peek out from the car that was parked inside the garage, you took a deep breath and stepped out. An excited bark echoed through the trees as Dog ran up and twisted himself through your legs, begging for your full attention. Daryl approached slowly as you had your fingers buried deep in Dog's fur, his leg kicking happily.

Daryl fiddled with a wrench in his hand and, despite the cold, was only wearing a t-shirt. The sight of him sent shivers down your spine.

"Hey." You said awkwardly, deciding that you shouldn't have come. You didn't know why you came, or what you would say to him. 

"Hey." He said back, an eyebrow lifting curiously. 

And then the two if you stayed silent. Daryl could see your struggle written plain as day across your face, so he gave you time to process your thoughts. He also didn't miss the sound of you taking deep, grounding breaths as you did so. 

"Need somethin?" He offered, hoping that maybe a simple, easy question would rattle you out of your own jumbled thoughts. 

Your eyes shot up to him quickly, feeling panicked for showing up unannounced to what? Accuse him of something? No...that wasn't it. You knew there were two sides to every story, and you already knew Spencer's side, the side that was fluttering through town carelessly threatening Daryl. You also knew that he was a compulsive liar and that you wouldn't believe another word out of Spencer's mouth so long as you lived. Now, only Daryl's truth would settle with you. He never gave you a reason to doubt him, he never lied to you, even now. 

“So,” you started with a pathetic laugh. “I wanted to ask you a question…” Daryl only hummed, waiting for you to continue. 

“Did you go to the shop in town?” You asked, your eyes trained on Dog’s wagging tail. You saw Daryl’s weight shift to his left foot as he pulled his cigarette pack from his back pocket. He brought it to his lips and it rested there as he fished for his lighter. 

He had an inkling of where this was going, a conversation about Spencer. Daryl still wasn’t sure why, but no authorities bothered to show up the evening after Spencer scurried back into town. Daryl made sure to stay extra late at the garage, occupying himself with vacuuming his truck seats of all the dog fur and cleaning out his center console of convenience store receipts that were incriminating of his candy bar problem. But no one ever came, no lights or sirens, no uniforms. It was just him in the dark, cold December evening, hanging out in a shitty garage by himself. He wasn’t prepared to talk about it with anyone, lest he incriminate himself or sound incredibly suspicious in some way, but least of all with you. 

“Nah.” He said, taking a long drag of his cigarette, the cloud of white smoke swirling around his face in a deep exhale. A small crinkle of confusion shown in your brow. “I know better than ta’go there if I don’ need ta.”

“Did you… have you talked to Spencer… recently?” You asked, anxious about asking. 

“More like he talked a’me.” Daryl grumbled and flicked away the ash. “Showed up ‘ere to give me shit.”

“Give you shit about what?” You asked, finally standing up. You stuffed your hands into your coat pockets, much to Dog’s dismay where he was laid down at your feet.

“‘Bout you.” Daryl exhaled and tossed the cigarette butt to the ground, pulverizing it beneath his boot. His hair fell in his eyes as he concentrated hard on making sure the butt was out and trying to avoid your eyes. He didn’t want to talk about Spencer’s weak threats, because they involved you. It may bring up questions on why Spencer would see him as a threat to begin with. Daryl always thought he flew under the radar; that no one noticed that he favored your company the most. Clearly he was wrong. He wondered if you ever noticed, too. That would make it even harder for Daryl to talk about, because he wouldn’t be able to deny it- he’d never lied to you before and didn’t plan to start now. The only thing he could hope for was that you wouldn’t ask. 

Because back then he had it bad for you, even if he knew he was bad for you. 

And now, he was sure it wouldn’t take much longer for him to get right back to that place if you kept casually hopping into his truck, loving on his dog, and bringing him coffee. 

“Me?” You squeaked out. Daryl nodded.

“Told me t’stay away from ya,” he shrugged. “That yer his girl.”

And the way you scoffed and reeled back at the same time seemed so comical, he almost laughed. By the reaction, Daryl knew it wasn’t true, but he would hold onto his sigh of relief until he was in the privacy of his own company. 

“The fuck I am!” You yelled, the sound bouncing off the trees and disturbing the birds. Daryl looked at you and waited for you to continue, but you didn’t know how. There were too many thoughts running around your head now. You brought your hands up to massage your temples and clenched your eyes tight. The rumor that your mom spread onto you earlier now seemed null with the new load of shit floating around the atmosphere. 

“Look, I… I’m not…He isn’-”

“I didn’ think so.” Daryl said easily. He knew you too well, even now. You let out a large breath, the air turning it into a white plume around your face, imitating the cloud of smoke Daryl had emitted earlier.

 “Did you threaten to shoot him?” You asked suddenly, shocking Daryl a bit. And when he fully processed your question, he laughed. It was an odd, almost-boisterous laugh; one you don’t remember hearing before. It caused a flutter in your chest. 

“Tha’s what he said?” You shrugged, just knowing it was what was said through the grapevine. “He interrupted some business, the other guy wasn’ too welcomin’.” Daryl shrugged as if it were a normal occurrence. Although, considering you didn't know exactly what kind of business, it may just be.

“He deserved it.” You muttered, watching Daryl's head tilt curiously. "He's a… he's not a nice person."

You looked at the ground when the memories started to flood to the forefront of your mind. They weren't something you talked about often. The last time you tried, the day you broke up with Spencer, you tried to talk to Rick first. Not because he was the sheriff, but because he's your brother. But he spent more time that day trying to convince you that you were just being dramatic, and that your accusations were only being made in heartbreak. And when you tried to talk to your mom about it, she brushed it off as you being "too independent" for the relationship and that it wasn't "nice" for you to try and make accusations that weren't true. The problem was that they were true, and two people you thought would believe you, didn't. 

You hoped you could blame the welling tears in your eyes on the wind, even if the air was calm and stagnant. 

Daryl's hand twitched when he noticed. He could only assume what you meant by that, but when he saw your face twist in sadness, confirmed it for him. Even without details, he still felt himself getting unreasonably angry.

He closed the space between you and placed a cold hand on your elbow. He wasn't sure what to say, how to begin, so he planned to let you continue processing in silence. It was a familiar dance, just this time a mirror image. It used to be you offering him comfort this way, waiting patiently- sometimes hours- for him to tell you what happened. Most times, he just felt his feelings instead of talking. He'd cry, or smash through the area in the woods in rage, or sit on that downed tree silently, his face empty, while peeling bark from the tree to distract him. You were the one that was there to hold your hands out for him, to collect the small pieces of bark he'd rip off, counting each individual one out loud until you heard him take a massive deep breath and his hands would still. You were the one to stop him from punching trees, and from digging his nails into his arm when he'd have a full, teary meltdown on the ground, too.

You provided him comfort and safety while still letting him feel what he had to, let out what he had to. Now it was his turn to be that for you, a few years too late.

"I'm sorry." You laughed a little, wiping at your eyes. 

"Don' be." Daryl said, his fingers squeezing your arms lightly. You offered him a small smile and covered his hand on your arm with your own. 

The feel of his hand was a foreign feeling now, a feeling that became a fleeting memory to you over time, but it also felt exactly the same. The last time you’d snuck into the field together, you’d laid side by side and talked about what your plans were, where you wanted to go, what kinds of jobs you’d be interested in… and Daryl didn’t say much in response. He only made small noises to encourage you to keep talking, because the sound of your voice was distracting him from what the voice was saying. 

And then you both heard the farmer, the old bastard he was, screaming from across the way at you both. Somehow he’d noticed you this time and was yelling at you to “get!” Daryl was quick to bolt up, simultaneously grabbing your hand and the blanket and starting to run. The farmer racked a shotgun behind you, making your insides shake, while Daryl just picked up the pace. It was an empty threat, everyone in town knew that the old man’s bark was far worse than his bite. You imagined that if you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t want a couple of kids doing…whatever in your fields, either. 

Daryl led you into the tree line quickly, pulling you about a hundred feet in before he tucked you behind a large tree. He was breathing heavily, his arms resting on your upper arms, the blanket forgotten carelessly on the ground at your feet. And when he looked at you that night, something shifted. He was closer than normal, his hands didn't immediately drop away, and you were close enough that you caught the quick movement of his eyes looking down at your lips and then back up at your eyes. It was small and fleeting, but you saw it, even during the new moon darkness. But it didn’t last long, with his hands falling away from you and worrying themselves into the folds of the blanket instead. Everything was quiet, maybe a bit awkward, as he walked you home that night.

His hand was just as warm as it was then, the softness in his eyes the same, too. You wanted to blurt out everything, let it all out into the universe so the memories would stop taunting you in moments of quiet and thought. 

“You hungry?” Daryl asked softly, still worried that the tears that were welled up in your eyes would start to fall. They still did, but only due to you shaking your head quickly, knowing that you would be more than grateful to sink yourself into a hot meal and forget about the bad things right now.

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Next Chapter

[evak-fic-rec-turtleanon]

Evak Fics - Pining

I’m posting half of this list first because I started it a long time ago and it’s taking me a while to go through all the fics. So I will update with more later. 

*** Mutual Pining *** Pining - I might put mutual pining under pining if we don't see much of the other person pining. *** Bonus - The pining is not between Evak 

For the anon from this ask.

I will try my best to separate out the mutual pining fics but I think it will be tricky if it's not tagged as that. So bear with me and let me know of any mistakes or fics I missed out on.

. First Posting : 11 July 2021. Under 15k fics.  .

******* Mutual Pining *******

Even the Illustrator by eavk (SERIES, 3 fics) - An AU where Even’s an illustrator who draws what kids describe to him for YouTube, and Isak is the smitten father of a six year old with a wild imagination.

Postcards by HedwigsTalons (1k words) - Isak's wall is covered in postcards. Isak is supportive of Even's career and he cherishes every postcard but the long distance relationship hurts.

Feelings Come and Go, But Not With You by ultimatelawrence (1.9k words) - It was meant to just be a holiday romance. A fling. Nothing like love. But now it was six months later and Even was still pining over the angel he had met in Paris.

let's pretend into forever by Bellakitse (2.3k words) - “Let me get this straight,” Even starts. “You lied to your boss about having a boyfriend, told her it was me, and now you need me to go with you to your science nerd dinner?”

i will love you until the very, very end (and you were my best friend) by traumatic (2.4k words) - Isak and Even share something in the cool waters of a spring fed pool that no one, not even their fiancées, could ever understand.

Breathe Me by photographer_of_thoughts (4.5k words) - A high school reunion brings Isak and Even together after ten years, and neither of them can forget what happened when they were both seventeen.

Everything comes back to you by MermaidsandMermen (4.8k words) - Light pining. A dribble oneshot for Halloween, full of fluff and Even and Isak and a tiny pinch of angst. Because we need some Halloween fluff. That's all.

Fuck Tha Police by MacksDramaticShenanigans (5.2k words) - “This,” Eskild said, spinning the photograph around so everyone could see it, “is a picture of the latest piece of vandalism from our favorite little street punk.” he finished with a heavy sigh. They are both cops.

i tried to be strong but i lost it (i knew it was wrong, i’m beyond it) (6.3k words) - Even has a thing for his intern, Isak has a thing for his boss, they're both a bit clueless and their friends just want them to get their shit together.

all I see is you by littlemovie (Lejla) (7.4k words) - “Aren’t you gonna ask me why I’m a bad person?” Isak somehow whined and demanded at the same time. Jonas blew out a breath in amusement, which made the dark curls on his forehead move with his breath. “I’m guessing it has something to do with that guy, Even, from the coffeeshop?”

Addicted by endlessandinfinite (8k words) - They’re both completely, overwhelmingly, and incredibly...addicted. Best friends to lovers.

Calleth You, Cometh I by Kollakolan (8.4k words) - “Isak!” Mikaels pipes up. “Didn´t you two have a thing?” he turns to Even. A thing, Even thinks to himself. Yes, Isak and him definitely had a thing. They actually had a low-key thing going for years, but it never really turned into something more. The timing was never right.

In Vino Veritas by Sabeley (9.9k words) - After seven years apart, Isak wakes up to find Even in his bed and a wedding ring on his finger.

Let Me by GayaIsANerd (10.6k words) - Summer brings a lot of things. The smell of sunscreen. The sound of children playing in the shallow part of the lake. The taste of cold beer. The sweet tang of weed. But most importantly, summer brings Isak.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue by BluebeardsWife (10.8k words) - Fake dating AU, you know the drill. Even hires Isak to pretend to be his boyfriend at his ex's wedding. This Means Nothing to Me by cuteandtwisted (10.8k words) - Isak and Even are friends and roommates who don't believe in love anymore (after they both get dumped by other people) until they do. Aka the Friends/Roommates-To-Lovers Don't you let me go by solarpower21 (12.2k words) - In this universe, Isak and Even are roomates and nothing more. Except that there is something more between them and they both know that but are too stubborn to admit it. Too bad it takes a very unfortunate event for them to face the truth. Burn Down The Disco by TheGirlNoOneKnows5 (12.2k words) - A 'Black Mirror: Hang The DJ' AU in which Isak and Even decide to rebel against a futuristic dating system that pairs users up with various people in order to find their perfect match.

La Petite Mort by EvenbechNeiheim (13.4k words) - Even Bech Næsheim is one of those cool and very hot media students at Uni who might just got the task to make a film project. Eskild is the best wingman and things like accidently falling in love with an asshole media student happen. Based on the FIRST KISS YouTube video that gave the internet an entire meltdown. 

when your heart is bleeding, i'm coming to get you by orphan_account (13.5k words) - Isak doesn't exactly expect his hookup from last week to be the love advice columnist at the school newspaper he's working at. He also doesn't expect to fall even harder for him than he already has, which is a shame, really, since Even's crushing on someone else. 

Heal My Heart for Christmas by iwritetropesnottragedies (recklesslee) (13.5k words) - It’s been ten years since Isak left his small town for the big city of Oslo with his father. He hardly even thought of his time there anymore. Until he received a letter from his mother asking him to come home for Christmas for the first time since he had left. 

Love in the Time of COVID: Battlestar Edition by sweetasmaple (14k words) - Isak and Even find each other again during the COVID-19 lockdown, one Battlestar Galactica episode at a time. 

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******* Pining *******

never seemed so alive by retts (1k words) - Nothing special, just four letters strung together to spell out E V E N but they made Isak's heart race and his face blush and his hands tremble.

Hopeless by waitineedaname (1k words) - Light pining. There was no way in hell Isak would be able to talk to Even. He was tall and cool and handsome, and Isak was pretty sure talking to him would make him spontaneously combust.

i could probably just curl up in you. by milominderbinder (1.3k words) - Isak is away at a cabin with the guys when he gets a text from Even. 'hey, babe, did you take my favourite hoodie?' He is, of course, outraged that Even would accuse him of such treachery. The fact that Isak is wearing the hoodie at that very moment has nothing to do with it.

stuck on you (what did i do?) by itjustkindahappened (1.8k words) - It’s not that Even doesn’t try to be friendly with him—Isak just makes it so hard. Whenever Even approaches, Isak either makes up a fumbling excuse to leave, or just becomes really stiff and refuses to acknowledge Even’s existence.

now and forever (i will be your man) by thekardemomme (2.2k words) -Warning for pain. 3 times isak kisses even +1

i be up in the gym just working on my fitness by orphan_account (2.3k words) - Even knows that he's quite literally going to die when he finds his crush sweating on an elliptical, reading a book with his glasses slipping down his nose.

You know where I stay by nofeartina (2.4k words) - Warning for pain. Isak is so beautiful first thing in the morning. When he still has creases in his face from the pillow, when his face is red and puffy from sleep, his hair all messed up and curly. Even prefers this Isak. This is his Isak, this is only for him.

won't you be my livewire by itjustkindahappened (3.2k words) - "i've been tryin to grab your attention in class for over half an hour by poking you and throwing things onto your desk and you're refusing to acknowledge me and gdi all i wanted to do was tell you that you look cute and now it's gone too far and i can't go back"

Cookies and Cream by GayaIsANerd (3.5k words) - Isak has a crush on the barista. He's too scared to do anything about it, but luckily there's a blizzard coming up.

i can feel the weather in my bones by EvenbechNeiheim (3.7k words) - Isak and Even are childhood friends. There’s a boyfriend sweater and Isak is just desperate to wear it.

On the silver screen by Lokkanel (4k words) - Isak was really not in the mood for this. He had a long week at work, and all he wanted was to relax with his friend, drink a few beers, maybe even smoke some weed and just chill. But no. When Jonas called him to say that he won tickets to the coolest indie film festival in Oslo, Isak knew he could forget his plans for a quiet and simple weekend.

I want to love you (in my own language) by fauu_stine (4k words) - “Okay. Maybe I’m not happy,” he admits in a resigned whisper. “Do you need a shrink discussion or a best friend discussion?” "I think- I think it’s more of a friend with benefits kind of talk."

Don't be an ass by Julieseven (4.1k words) - Even really tried to forget about him. It started out as a harmless little crush, really. He saw him at the karaoke bar SYNG one night, singing "I don't want to miss a thing" at the top of his lungs, clearly drunk out of his mind, but looking like an angel with his messy dark blond locks and crooked smile.

Little Black Book by Laika (4.3k words) - Isak Valtersen is studying his third year at the University of Oslo and having the time of his life. Enter Evy Bech Næsheim, straight out of Nissen, in his stockings, mini skirts and bubblegum scented lip gloss.

cracks in our foundation by towonderland72 (4.8k words) - “You know, like a thousand years ago, men used to wear makeup?” Even asks, as Isak gapes at himself.

Safest With You (Green Curtains) by eavk (5.3k words) - Isak keeps staying up too late studying at the library, but luckily there's an escort service that gives students a buddy to walk with to keep safe at night.

the one with the prom video by thekardemomme (5.5k words) - Even has been in love with Isak since they were younger, but he never intended for Isak to find out this way.

Senses by Lokkanel (5.5k words) - Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste… Or Even falling in love with Isak, one sense at a time.

you're the one i wanna grey with (5.6k words) - They've only been dating a month, so Isak shouldn't be pathetic enough to miss Even this much when he's only gone for a weekend.

Orion's Nebula by thekardemomme (5.6k words) - Light pining I think. Even Bech Næsheim was enrolled in an astronomy class for one reason and one reason only: the cute ass boy he saw standing in the registration line.

with the taste of a poison paradise by chasingflower (6k words) - It’s routine by now. Isak hangs out with his friends during the day and at night he kisses the Dream-Even that lives on the other side of the door in his living room, and basks in the warm fuzzy feelings he gets as a result of the attention. Coraline Au.

How to Get Your Man - A Plan By Even Bech Naesheim by Evakkk (6.1k words) - When Magnus drops a big secret in front of Even... Even comes up with a brilliant plan to get Isak to reveal his true feelings. All it takes is one little lie, and one crazy family reunion.

To Burn With Desire by photographer_of_thoughts (6.1k words) - AU in which Isak and Even are neighbours and Isak's father has a secret job that unintentionally helps Isak realize he's in love with his best friend.

Watermelon Sugar by MermaidsandMermen (6.6k words) - A little tribute to fruit and touching. To sex, and friendships and finding what you were looking for all along. And of course inspired by Harry Styles latest video offering, just because.

The Fake Boyfriend App by Crazyheart (7.2k words) - AU where Isak is desperately pining for his flatmate Even, and downloads a fake boyfriend app to get over him. When he discovers that the Fake boyfriend is a human, and not a bot, he is sceptical.

That look you give that guy by Lokkanel (7.4k words) - Isak and Even love each other in secret. It is almost thrilling at first, but when hiding and lying to their friends begin to take a toll on Even, Isak decides to end it all. He thinks he has taken the right decision, until Even eventually moves on with someone else.

my longing drives me crazy for you (7.7k words) - Isak's mum worries, Isak makes bad life decisions and Even loves Isak. It's a fake dating au.

I'm Always Here by nofeartina (9.3k words) - “Did you know that Even is working this summer? At that pool at the Plaza?” Jonas says. Isak actually sits up in excitement at this. “Fuck yeah!” Oh, a pool. Actual water they could go swimming in and cool down. And also, Even.

a garden for your love by eggsntoast (9.3k words) - He’s learning to breathe with them, even if he ends up with a floor full of violets by the end of it all. They remind Isak of him, and that’s all that matters. That’s what makes it worse. or: a Hanahaki au ft. Isak heavily pining after Even. Lots of angst.

I wrote an angry letter to the void, and the void responded (9.5k words) - Monday comes, and the book is still there. Isak looks around, content to find the floor practically empty, before giving the book the finger. Fuck that book. - a book finds it's way to Isak's sacred study spot. this proves to be a major distraction.

a constant state of closeness by chevythunder (9.7k words) - “What is it about this dude, anyway?” Elias asks. “You’ve barely even talked to him, right?” “I don’t know,” Even says. “I just got this feeling, you know? Just- I want to make sure he’s okay and safe and… stuff.” - It starts with a hug.

Is This Our Time? by Evakkk (9.9k words) - This is a world where everyone is born with an indistinguishable soulmate mark... it only changes into something recognizable, once you have physical contact with your soulmate, and it's always something meaningful to the relationship. Both partners will bear the same mark. Isak is about to turn 18... and he's the only one in his friend group who still hasn't found their soulmate. But what happens when he goes out one night, gets drunk... and wakes up with his soulmate mark?

Is This What You Wanted? by cuteandtwisted (9.9k words) - Isak is filthy rich and Even is a hardworking male model who just got signed to his father's agency. Even gets an awful offer from Isak: one night with him in exchange for money, and begins to despise him. Little does he know that everything he thinks he knows about Isak is wrong.

Just like in the movies by Lokkanel (10.5k words) - As he began taking in his surroundings, Isak realized he was in one of those small theaters that programmed independent and artsy movies, even old black and white films. He was ready to turn around and walk away when he heard a deep voice say, “Halla.”

my tiny heartbeat in his ear by riyku (11k words) - Now, about a week after the longest day of the year, the empty house across the street has stopped being empty. most beautiful things by scarletbluebird (12.7k words) - This fic is a whole ass journey. Warning for pain. This isn’t a fairytale, Isak tells himself. Even is standing at the bend in the road. He looks like a metaphor for immortal life: the youth a god would kill for. Ambrosia eyes, the universe trapped in the curve of his mouth. He looks like every warning from his mother about strangers you run into after dark. 

One week by Lokkanel (12.8k words) - This thing going on between Isak and Even, whatever they called it - fuckbuddies, friends with benefits - was simple, fun, nothing more. They were friends, they were both free to do whatever they wanted with other people. They’d just meet and have sex whenever they felt like it. Simple. Until what was bound to happen eventually did and Even fell for Isak. 

Plum by Jamz24 (13.2k words) - Femme!teacher!Even asks masculine! plumber!Isak to fix a broken shower on a scorching hot summer day...And if you think it sounds like the start of a porn film you're absolutely right! There's LOADS of smut but ... with LOTS of feelings 

Never be the same by nofeartina (14.2k words) - It starts with a bet - one of those really stupid ones: can they last an entire month without any kind of sex?It’s been 22 days – and Even is dying. 

Somewhere I’ve never been by MinilocIsland (14.6k words) - The first time Even meets Jonas' best friend, nothing goes according to plan. 

If I Should Fall Behind by MinilocIsland (14.7k words) - The plan for tonight had been crystal clear. Stay close to his best friend, and steal her away if needed. Hold her hand through the ordeal of meeting Noora again for the first time in years. Then Even shows up – and suddenly, nothing goes the way it was supposed to. 

All I Ever Wanted by MinilocIsland (14.8k words) - Isak is such a good friend. Probably the best there is. How else could he explain that he's agreed to join Magnus to this place deep in the woods for six full days of silence, meditation, and utter boredom? One thing, he knows. There's nothing exciting for him there. Right? Or: the silent retreat AU. 

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******* Bonus *******

Season 3: Jonas by Laika_the_husband (WIP, SBB 2021 fic) - There is a scene in the end of the script for season 1, where Jonas and Isak kiss each other on a dare. This story is a retelling of season 3 in a universe, where that kiss happened and completely changed the way Jonas sees Isak. Written in Jonas' POV, the story examines sexuality, love, friendship and coming to terms with never getting the boy you shouldn't have fallen for in the first place.

What the fuck is wrong with me? by notanugget (11.6k words) - The five times isak felt guilty for being in love and the one time he didn’t 

thanks for the weed, thanks for everything by evak1isak (13.1k words) - Jokael. Jonas' dealer has moved to Denmark, and Even recommends his friend's weed. What Jonas didn't expect, though, was to develop a crush on a boy, on Mikael. 

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******* WIP *******

Baby, why do you have to shine so bright? by Lilacpotter - Even knew he was radiant, and he was used to people always wanting to be around him, enchanted by his captivating words and glowing smiles, as if he was the tantalising sun. But then one day, he comes across someone who shines much brighter than the sun itself in Even’s eyes.

Lonely Hearts Club by EndingsNotTheStory - The Hearts Club. A show run by Isak and his 3 friends. He's kind of had enough with hearing about people's relationship issues and giving advice. Until the guy from his theatre class and Isak's totally not crush Even calls, dealing with relationship issues. pining