#i have had gray hair since high school and my sister has since college but i know that’s unusual

[j-esbian]

(let’s pretend option #1 says teens or younger, because I can’t edit it once it’s live)

been talking about this lately with a few people and realizing I have no idea what the normal age is “”supposed”” to be

[mpregandproud]

Isaac II (Part 1)

Twenty years ago my life took a 180 degree turn. After separating from my ex-wife Sandra, Isaac came into my life, and with him an adventure that if someone told you about it you would not believe. In just five years I went through five pregnancies and gave birth to seventeen children, no more and no less. With my husband I had eleven of them, and we adopted the daughter I had with my ex-wife, whom I got pregnant before our separation. And we decided to be surrogates for our friends Lucas, Ray and Tom, six more children. Oh yes, I forgot, I am a man, a man who got pregnant. I know, I'm kind of a weirdo. Although Isaac prefers to say it's a “gift given to me by nature”.

While Isaac and I adore our children and thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancies, we decided to stop making babies. With twelve boys and girls per household we had more than enough. We had dreamed of having a big, happy family, especially since neither of us had grown up in large families. The dream of our lives was more complete than ever. Or so we believe at the time.

After having the sextuplets we decided to leave the city and move to the town where I grew up. There we bought a big house in the country. Isaac and I could work from home, and being close to my parents and sister would help us raise little quintuplets Dylan, Nate, Philip, Edward and Cristina, sextuplets Bruce, Ken, Patrick, Charlotte, Ivana and Jason, and Sandra, the oldest of all our children.

This change allowed me to make a major change in my life. I started to take up sports again and regain a healthier way of life. With Lucas, Gary, Samuel and Frank, my former soccer teammates when I was young, we started participating in the veterans' league. Although I never regained the shape I had before I gave birth, I lost my belly and my muscles started to show after years of being hidden under fat. My ass, two large spheres, and my hips, wide as proof of having given birth to a full soccer team with its starting and substitute players included, were living witnesses that inside me the party of life had taken place.

Isaac and I have strengthened our relationship a lot over the years. He is my soul mate. If I ever had any doubts about our marriage, seeing him day in and day out taking care of our children made me fall in love with him like I did the first day I saw him on that soccer field. Now in his 50s, he is the sugar daddy I once dreamed of as a teenager, when I was still trying to convince myself that I liked women. His athletic body and the gray hair that has slightly whitened his hair is like a dream come true. When he comes home from working in the garden, sweaty and dirty, I have to hold back my desire for him to slam me against the wall and plant his potent seed inside me again.

This is not to say that Isaac and I have stopped fucking, in fact we do it more than ever. The years have made us wilder. And now that our older kids are in college and our younger ones are in high school, we have more time to live our passionate love intensely. Maybe we have too much time, and too much passion for no good.

Yes, as you can imagine, the inevitable happened again. Sixteen years after I had last been pregnant I felt morning sickness and a general feeling of discomfort in my body again. I didn't want to believe it at first. Remember that we had decided not to have any more babies, but Mother Nature had other plans. That's why a condom broke, there was a plan to get us pregnant again. Apparently twelve children was not enough, so a new litter was about to arrive. I was pregnant again.

For the first time in all these years I saw Isaac worried. In spite of having experience in the matter, this was going to be my sixth time pregnant, it was not the same to be pregnant when I was 30 than when I was 50. And I wasn't sure that my body would work the same way either.

“What are we going to do, Isaac, do you want to become a father again?”, I asked him the night after we confirmed the pregnancy.

“Daniel, I don't know. I really don't know, it was no longer in my plans to be a father again. I adore our children and I love you madly, but I have more doubts than ever”, he said cuddling up to me on the bed. “I remember when we found out you were pregnant twenty years ago it was you who had doubts, and me who reassured you. But look at me now, I don't recognize myself, I'm scared of what this pregnancy might mean for you, especially knowing that we tend to have many children at the same time”, he was shaking as he told me, so I grabbed his hand and shook it tightly to try to calm him down.

I gave him a little kiss on the crown of his head. “I didn't expect to find myself gestating a child again either at our age and after going through this so many times. I already felt complete with what we had. But today, when the doctor confirmed that we were pregnant, something changed in me. I have doubts, lots and lots of doubts, but also the desire to be a father again with you”, I told him without being able to look at him because I was so nervous. “I think it's clear to me that I want to have this child, or children. It may be our last chance to be parents again. Who knows. And, I'm not going to lie to you, I love how much the pregnancies brought us together before. So, yes, I want to be a father”. I looked down and saw him crying emotionally, as much as I was. Both with tears in our eyes.

Isaac sat up, grabbed my face and said in a breathy voice, “I love you so much. We're in this together, let's get to it”. We kissed passionately and sealed that night by fucking like animals again.

The following week we got our children together. Taking advantage of the fact that the older ones had returned from college that week for summer vacation, it was the ideal time to tell them all the good news. Isaac prepared a barbecue in the garden. We also invited Esther and her children Svetlana and Boris, the children she had with Yevgeni, who died last year in a helicopter accident.

Our best friends, Lucas and Adam, and their children Daniel and Isaac, the first ones I had as a surrogate, also came. They are also our family, our chosen family. For little Daniel and Isaac, our sons are their cousins, and we are their uncles. Lucas and Adam wanted us to be in their lives from day one. I will be eternally grateful to them, as it helped me cope better with the strange feeling of having given birth to children that were technically not mine. I still have a very close relationship with the other children I had as a surrogate, but they live farther away, so I see them less often. And also, Daniel and Isaac were my first, it's something special, hard to explain.

When they were a little older Lucas and Adam explained to the boys that I was the one who gestated them because they could not. Far from being scared, the children became even more fond of me. They say that I am their favorite uncle. When they tell me that in front of Isaac he gets jealous. I love to see him like that. He looks so sexy in those funny moments.

Before we got to desserts I sat for a while with my sister Esther and Lucas, my childhood friend. She has always been very perceptive, so it didn't catch me by surprise that she was the one who asked me the question, “You're pregnant again, aren't you?”. Lucas was silent and staring at me with wide eyes. “The first time you got pregnant you did something similar in Isaac's apartment in the city. You will have many children, but originality is not your strong point,” she said teasing me as only a sister knows how. I sipped my soda and nodded my head. “But don't tell anyone yet, we want to announce it to all of you today”, I winked.

Both Esther and Lucas were concerned about a pregnancy in my fifties. “Are you sure? You and Isaac have sky-high fertility, so knowing your backgrounds it's possible you're expecting a whole basketball team. Isn't that dangerous at your age?” said a very concerned Lucas. “Yes, we are aware of the complications that may be involved, but we want to give it a try. It could be our last chance to be parents again. It's not a planned pregnancy, but we agree that we want to try. We take all the risks”, I told them.

They both gave me a big hug in that very moment. They are the two people who understand me best. Apart from Isaac, I can talk to Esther and Lucas about anything. Their hug felt comforting, they were giving me their approval and support. I knew that in the face of any difficulty I could count on them in this adventure.

From across the garden Isaac was looking at us. I knew that without explaining anything to him, just by seeing the three of us hugging, he was aware that Lucas and Esther knew about the pregnancy and that they were giving me strength. His smile at the sight of us made me feel even more confident in the decision we had made. It would not be a planned pregnancy, but it would be a desired pregnancy.

After desserts we gathered everyone around the table and Isaac was in charge of telling everyone. “Thank you for coming to our house today. For us it is very important to have the family close to us in all our steps as a couple and as parents. We are about to start a journey with many doubts, but that will once again fill this house with love”. He then grabbed me with his left hand and put his right hand on my belly. In case anyone did not understand his gesture, he proceeded to clarify it by shouting it from the rooftops. “We are going to be parents again. We are pregnant!”, he announced with the same joy with which twenty years ago he told that we were pregnant for the first time.

Everyone started squealing with joy and celebrating. If there were any doubts, our family cleared them all. Our children hugged both of us, some of them crying with excitement as Isaac and I were. Sandra, our oldest, gave me a huge hug, then told me that “mommy would be as excited as I am right now. I can't wait to have new siblings". I think a lot about my ex-wife Sandra, and as my daughter said, I'm sure that on a day like this she would have liked to be with us celebrating. I miss her, I hope she is proud of the family we have given our daughter.

Be that as it may, come what children may, we are on this journey together, Isaac and I. Together about to become parents again. Living the best of our lives.

Go to Part 2

[inwintersolitude]

- February 28th 2024 -

What were you doing one hour ago? Looking around online for house painting businesses. I want the crown moulding on the kitchen cabinets in the new house painted white to match the rest of the cabinets.

Where were your parents born? My mom was born in Delaware, and my dad was born in New Jersey.

Have you ever used public transportation to get to work? Yep, back when I was in college and working at the university airport, I took the bus there for the first year-ish that I worked there, until I bought my first car.

What do you miss the most from before Covid times? Not having to worry about catching it lol. Unfortunately I'm not able to get any further Covid vaccines because 2 out of the 4 boosters I've had so far gave me heart problems, and the most recent one gave me a full-on heart rhythm disorder that I need to take medication for long-term. It's been over a year since that last booster and I'm still not better. I'm very pro-vaccine, I'm just one of the very very few unlucky people to have a serious complication from it.  But thankfully I've never had Covid, I'm really hoping I simply have some sort of natural immunity to it.

What has been the best thing to happen to you in the past year? Traveling to Ireland last September/October with my husband, parents, brother, and sister-in-law.  And also my husband and I are currently buying a house which is super exciting.

Who do you have listed as emergency contacts in your phone? My husband, my brother, and my parents.

Are you prone to jealousy? Nope.

How did you get through the lowest point in your life? Loads of self-care, and the support of my husband.

Have you ever been someone's first love? Yep, my husband and I are each other's first loves.

Have you ever played frisbee golf? I played it once in gym class my freshman year of high school.  There was a huge park across the street from the school, and it had a frisbee golf course.

What is your favorite silly, feel-good movie? The Barbie movie lol.

How old were you when you got your first gaming console, and what kind was it? Around 8.  Nintendo 64.

Who in your family has the coolest job? My husband is an airline pilot, and as a former commercial pilot myself (non airline) of course I think that's cool. I also have a second cousin who's a boat captain up on Cape Cod. Oh and my brother's job is pretty neat too, he does anti-fraud investigation in the banking industry.

Is cereal technically a soup? Haha I suppose you could see it that way.

Have you found your first gray hairs yet Nope.

What is something that drains your energy really quickly? Socializing with anyone other than close family.  I'm a hardcore introvert, that shit wears me out so fast.

Did you parents teach you how to make a budget before you moved out on your own? Yep.  My parents are very financially savvy and they made sure to teach me all of that.

What is your favorite food to put gravy on? Roast turkey and stuffing.

Do you know anyone from Canada? Yep, one of my friends from flight school was from Canada. And my Great Grandy and Nana lived in Montréal for many years, but they weren't originally from there.

What's your opinion on astrology? It's unscientific rubbish.

Do you use TikTok? Nope.

What do you have going on the rest of the day? Hardly anything.  I'm going to have dinner soon, and then I need to wash my hair because I'm meeting my realtor and home inspector at the new house tomorrow and I don't want to look like a greasy hobo.

[eliaswoodt]

So this is some stuff about Ethan from my 2-7-8 AU!

Btw, 2-7-8 is an alternate universe where Ethan and Leon meet in Resident Evil 2 and become best friends! The reason why it’s called 2-7-8 is because it’s an au that focuses on the games re2, re7, and re8 and what would change if Ethan and Leon worked together during those hellish nightmares. Re2 happens in 2003, re7 happens in 2016, re8 happens in 2020.

Ethan was born in 1980, the 29th of December to a single mother in Mississippi that dies at child birth forcing him to go into foster care. He would later be adopted at a young age by Will Winters and Isobel Winters, two very loving people who couldn’t have any bio children of their own.

At the age of 12 his mom died, and since her parents wanted her body to be buried in Missouri where they live, in order to be close to her gravesite he and his dad moved.

Because of this move he would meet his first best friend, Clinton Larson who’s interest in engineering rivaled his own.

He is 5’11 with an average build, nothing to really write home about. Blonde hair, gray eyes. Surgical scars on the underside of his man-tits.

Trans masc, he/him pronouns. Bisexual leaning towards women. Had thought everyone liked both until his at-the-time best friend Clinton told him that, in fact, not everybody liked both. That many people actually liked only one. Ethan had a surprised pikachu face.

Has a big ass soft spot for animals n shit. To the point that he worked at an animal shelter part time in his teenage-hood. Had two cats when he was a baby, then an old big dog when he was a teen, as an adult -pre Mia- a very cuddly bird.

Fidgets a lot.

He becomes close to Carey Larson in High School, Clinton’s little sister, via their shared hatred of history class and how boring the teacher was. And through Carey he meets Mia. Mia and Ethan met in their collage years. During his college years he would get close to Mia, failing hard for her and eventually after a year get together with. After graduation they move to a small apartment together, but because of a job opportunity at a place her parents work at Ethan and Mia decide to move to Raccoon City in the year 2003.

Of course we know how that fucking goes so I have no need to get into that clusterfuck.

After Hell On Earth, he and Mia get married in 2004 on 29th of May! Yay!

Ethan adopted a therapy dog and called him Borktholomew Barkinson the III.

He calls Rose: Rosie, Rose, Rosebud, Rosie Posie and Rosabee. He most often calls her Rosie and Rosabee. He calls Mia: my love, and darling.

[pillow-anime-talk]

older girlfriend. {pt.1}

synopsis: You as older Karasuno’s boys girlfriend.

# tags: headcanons; current relationships; older!y/n; romance; lil bit of comedy; fluff; some kisses and hugs; sometimes reader is smol or has a babyface and because of this she doesn’t seems to be on 3rd year or studies; sfw

includes: female reader ft. daichi sawamura, koushi sugawara, asahi azumane, yuu nishinoya, ryuunosuke tanaka & chikara ennoshita {hq!!}

part two {click}

— DAICHI

↘ You looked at Google Maps again on your phone and then entered Karasuno High School, looking around carefully.

↘ You literally never were here, so you felt lost, but you decided to go into the school and ask someone for directions to the gym if it will be necessary.

↘ Thank God, you noticed three first years who were just leaving the big building. You greeted them and asked where you should go to meet the Karasuno volleyball team. You even corrected your hair, smiling sweetly.

↘ Needless to say, one of the boys got a nosebleed when he saw you and the other two blushed, pointing only to the direction of the side exit. After moving away from the three high school teenagers, you only managed to hear the quiet ‘Wasn’t she a student or something?’, but you didn’t have time to react to that apt remark.

↘ You finally got to the large gym, so you decided to go inside. You noticed that the team was in training, so the black-haired girl noticed you as first. She was a bit taller than you, but she also looked super lovely, so you smiled at her and greeted her, asking if you could wait for Daichi. The team manager nodded at you, blushing furiously as she realized you were a bit older than she was. (Kiyoko immediately recognized the school coat of arms on your jacket from the Women’s College she wanted to go too.)

↘ “OOOOH. WELCOME, WELCOME.” A low voice echoed in the gymnasium and you glanced at the boy with a shaved head who was running towards you with another a bit small teen. “ARE YOU A KIYOKO-SAN’S FRIEND?!”

↘ You didn’t know what was going on right now, so you said ‘No��� and immediately started looking for your boyfriend. Thank God, Daichi was already walking towards you, blushing as much as Kiyoko before.

↘ “Y/N? What are you doing here?” He smiled, scratching his neck and you shrugged.

↘ “I wanted to see your training. Surprise? I think.” You laughed softly as you walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “After your training we can go get some food, my treat, Captain.”

↘ The rest of the team was shocked because a) Daichi had a girlfriend; b) An older girl; c) Super cute and tiny girlfriend who dominated him in two freaking seconds.

— KOUSHI

↘ Only the third years knew about Suga’s relationship with you, so the rest of the team didn’t know who you are when you approached to them during the Spring High National Tournament, asking they were are Karasuno High School team.

↘ Tanaka and Nishinoya had a nosebleed and fell in love with you at first sight, and the first years didn't know what to say. You literally couldn't get along with them. You were lost and you missed your lovely babyboy.

↘ “Umm, so... I guess I mistook the High Schools, I’m sorry.” You muttered awkwardly and was about to leave when the libero denied it and stopped you.

↘ “You’re not wrong, angel. How can we help you?” You laughed under your breath at his words, nodding.

↘ “So, thanks. I’m looking for Koushi. He’s on this team, right?”

↘ “Are you his little sister? Aww, you can call me Ryuu-senpai. I’ll be glad.” You literally saw little hearts flying above his head.

↘ “No. Not really.” You replied amused and suddenly felt a gentle tapping on your shoulder. You turned, look up and instantaneously smiled when you saw your two years younger boyfriend. You hug him tightly. “Koushi, baby.”

↘ “You didn’t have to come. After all, you have a lot of exams at the university.” He muttered, though his voice was so happy and he was so relieved that you are here with him.

↘ “U-university...” Tanaka began, feeling his cheeks turn redder and redder.

↘ “Hey, guys. She’s my girlfriend. Be nice to her! And show her some respect! She’s in the second year of studies.”

↘ The whole team (except for the whole third year) was impressed.

↘ On the other hand, you hugged the gray-haired boy even closely and informed him that he had to come to your house after the game because you wanted pizza and some kisses.

— ASAHI

↘ You’ve just escorted your boyfriend to his high school and you were going to say goodbye to him.

↘ Of course, you couldn’t leave him with the usual ‘bye-bye’, on the contrary. You gave him a full, literally public make-out session right outside the school gate. Your red-wine lipstick made a little mess on the tall volleyball player’s lips. Nothing new.

↘ “... I-I didn’t know that Azumane-san has a girlfriend.” Kageyama said softly and blushed hard, looking at orange-haired friend who looked at you closely.

↘ “She attend to our school? Hmm...” Hinata asked under his breath, but the lack of a Karasuno High School uniform was misleading. “I don’t think so...”

↘ “I didn’t think that senpai liked first years.” Tsukishima laughed as he walked past the two shorter boys with Yamaguchi. “It’s almost illegal, don’t y’all think? I don’t want to believe that any girl has likes someone who looks like a criminal.”

↘ “Hey, kids.” Daichi’s voice made the four juniors turn to him and Sugawara. “Y/N-san is older than all of us and actually is in her first year of college. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” He smiled heartily as he patted them on the back. “Now go to school and better prepare yourself for a solid warm-up after your lessons thanks to this gossips.”

↘ “What? Captain, no!”

↘ At the same time, you informed your boyfriend that you would come to his training because your classes at the university that day were supposed to end sooner. (What an awkward situation for firsts years who apologized to you on knees for things who you literally don’t mind...)

— YUU

↘ It’s been a while since it became known that Nishinoya’s dating a girl. Of course, it was a shock to the whole Karasuno team, because no one suspected that... Noya would ever... have... a partner... 

↘ Anyway, yes. You’ve been with the boy for three months now, and the age difference between the two of you wasn’t a problem for you or him. Yuu thought that it’s was super hot and sexy, by the way. He also liked the fact that you are older than him and you can help him with his studies sometimes.

↘ But he loved even more the fact that you were three centimeters shorter than him anyway and your face was so sweet that he wanted to kiss you 24 hours per day. Through your babyface, the rest of the second years who first met you thought you were younger than all of them. What a surprise, you’re not.

↘ As I mentioned, you often helped Noya in math, contemporary literature and physic, especially when the sports competitions coincided with the exams. You wanted to prepare your boyfriend as much as possible so that he could continue playing with the team and be the best libero for them.

↘ Additionally, Yuu had the luxury of bringing him food or snacks often, and taking him to the roof to talk and cuddle with you.

↘ The boy literally lives his best life thanks to you.

— RYUUNOSUKE

↘ Literally your biggest and the most crazy fan.

↘ You thought he was a fanboy for Kiyoko? Girl... He could create a new religion for you, and I’m not kidding at this point.

↘ He didn’t have to hide you for a long time, because you two barely started dating, and he already told the whole team that he was date with a third year who makes the best bentos in whole school and who has the most beautiful smile in the world. #SIMP.

↘ Tanaka is by far the most protective boy you’ve ever met. The seventeen-year-old just feels the need to protect you all the time because he’s afraid of some third years will take you away from him. Spoiler: you’re not going anywhere.

↘ He loves to hold your hands and you always have to give him a ‘good luck kiss’ before training or a match.

↘ First years and Noya literally hate you two and are jealous like no one else.

↘ Nevertheless, Ryuunosuke isn’t going to calm down and he’s bragging about your photos and what you did on dates with him (leaving the spicy details to himself, of course).

— CHIKARA

↘ Your relationship with Ennoshita was very relaxed and full of love and support, especially when his tournament or your own college exams were coming.

↘ As a girl two years older, you often felt the need to spoil him and buy him various things; books, clothes, ties, new volleyball balls... Literally everything you associated with Chikara was bought and given to the boy shortly after.

↘ I don’t think I need to mention that you came to his every match, as long as it didn't interfere with your studies.

↘ The entire Karasuno team knew who you are and they literally called you the team mascot because of your pocket size, cute face and banners that you held on every game for your boyfriend.

↘ You’re a very hyped person who also feels like a seventeen-year-old’s biggest fangirl.

↘ Chikara is so beaming and thanks to you he smiles much more than normal.

↘ Anyway, brunet likes the fact that he has an older girlfriend who always attracts attention and is self-sufficient. On top of that, his biggest weak point is that he sees you in a jacket and high-heeled shoes.

[imnotcallingyouawriter]

Affluenza - lee donghyuck

Pairing: Rich!Haechan x Reader 

Genre: Rich!au, Angst, Fluff, Friends to lovers!au, College!au

Length: 4.8K

Warnings: Slight drug use, Alcohol use, Swearing

Summary:

a/n: First fic!! please tell me what you think. I’m basing this off of the song ‘Affluenza’ by Conan Gray, absolutely great song you should listen to it.

♪⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓♪

Ain’t it funny, honey

When you get what you need 

Baby, life is a breeze

Instead of having the tranquil morning that you had expected to have, you are currently having your earbuds pulled out by your old friend Donghyuck. Today you decided to walk to school instead of taking the bus, planning ahead to grab an iced coffee and get to class as early as you could. Unfortunately, Donghyuck found you after you bought your coffee and decided it was a good idea to jump on you. Now your coffee is on the sidewalk, one of your earbuds is in Donghyuck’s hand and he is smiling wildly at you. 

“What the hell Donghyuck?!” You yell at him while you snatch your earbud away from him. You look down at your now spilled iced vanilla latte on the concrete, sadness overcoming your body as you slump your shoulders so Donghyuck can realize what he’s done. 

“Ah shit I'm sorry! I didn’t see it in your hands. I’ll buy you a new one right now I promise.” 

“Don’t Donghyuck, I’ll be fine. What do you want anyway?” You begin walking again while the apologetic boy continues to follow you through the school's parking lot. Donghyuck knew what your answer was going to be even before you responded, that’s what you would always say when he tries to pay for something. 

In your four years of being his best friend, you had never agreed for him to pay for anything. And Donghyuck knows why, feeling as if you would be relying on somebody else when you don’t need to. But he wished that sometimes you would break and he could at least pay for your coffee. He feels as if you had been his rock for the past four years and you get nothing in return, but that was not the case in your eyes. Although there are some cons of being Donghyuck’s friend, it’s nothing that will make you leave him. There will always be people trying to use you to get to Donghyuck because of his reputation around the school, but it never mattered to you. Something that he was incredibly thankful for.

Donghyuck is friends with the wealthier kids of the school, all coming from their parents very successful jobs are businesses. Most of them you don’t associate yourself with, especially since they see themselves as untouchable. But there were a couple you got along well with, those two being Zhong Chenle and Na Jaemin, even though they have very heavy pockets they never let it go to their heads. Which is exactly why you are still friends with Donghyuck. He knows that the money everyone wants from him is mainly his parents' money. 

“Well, I'm having a party tonight at my house, I was wondering if you wanted to come?” He gazes at you with hopeful eyes, again already knowing your answer to his question but hoping you would finally change your mind. You look at him with an obvious expression, Donghyuck confirming his suspicions immediately.

“Donghyuck you know I’m not gonna come, as much as I love you I don’t love your friends.” you loop your arm through his and chuckle softly as the two of you walk through the school doors. It was a well-known fact that you weren’t too fond of his friends. Other than Chenle and Jaemin, Donghyuck’s friend group made sure to exclude and pick you out of the group. And as much as he hates the way his so-called friends treat you, he can’t get rid of them. All the people he surrounds himself around are the children of his parents' friends, forcing him to be around them to please his parents. 

“But Chenle and Jaemin are gonna be there! Please just this once, I’ll stop asking to pay for stuff if you come,” He tries to reason with you but your answer doesn’t change.

“As satisfying as that sounds, I’d rather spare my self-esteem for an extra day,” Donghyuck pouts at your answer, knowing that you meant what you said. The pair walk to a vending machine and you grab your money from your bag to buy a water bottle. 

“I wish I could ditch them, I really do, but you know how my parents are. I’ll save you some food if you decide to show up.” You nod, not really paying attention to the boy beside you, he says this every time you deny his pleas to come to a party. 

“I know Hyuck, do I need to remind you I don’t care? As long as we’re still friends, they can pick me apart as much as they want. Also, you don’t need to walk me to the bus stop today, I’m getting food with Jisung after school.” Donghyuck’s chest tightened at the mention of the younger boy's name. Jisung is one of your only other friends at your school. You two stuck together when he asked you for help to his class, building a younger brother older sister relationship overtime. Although Donghyuck knew that fact of yours and Jisung’s relationship, he couldn’t help but feel jealous of him.

Something that you didn’t know was that Donghyuck had a massive crush on you for the past two years. After finally finding someone that didn’t want to be his friend because of his parents' money, he fell for your carefree personality and your dependability. Donghyuck always came to you when he had a problem, mainly for his parents’ relationship. In the public eye they were the picture perfect family, but behind closed doors the love between his parents does not exist anymore. His parents became so in love with money that they fell out of love with each other, finding comfort in other people instead. Because of this, Donghyuck never had the warm love of a parent around him throughout his life. Even though they both kept in touch with him after he moved out for college, it never fulfilled his desire for love. And that’s where you came into his life, giving him the warmth and love of a genuine friend when he needed it the most.

You two met at the end of freshman orientation, while everyone started circling around Donghyuck because of his family’s reputation. You made conversation with a couple others around you. You bid goodbye to the people you were talking to and began to walk out of the classroom. That was until Donghyuck ran into your back because he tripped on his shoe. You lunged forward and quickly stopped yourself before turning around to see who bumped into you. A boy with light brown hair looking at you with panic in his eyes, you chuckle at his expression and give him a small smile to reassure him. 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bump into you, I swear.” He apologizes frantically to the gorgeous girl in front of him. Donghyuck was trying to get away from the people that tried to crowd him with questions about his money, making up a dumb excuse to leave the room as soon as possible.

“It’s alright, you can make it up to me by trying not to bump into anyone else today.” You joke with the boy in front of you and turn around to leave the classroom. Donghyuck’s face is covered in a light blush, flustered with the girl's comment as he subconsciously follows her out.

“Uh, what’s your name?” And that’s how your friendship began. Donghyuck wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk to him after he ran into you, but the conversation flowed casually as the both of you walked down the hall.

“Donghyuck, are you still there? I’m at my class. You can go now.” you laugh at his hazy state while he shakes his head of the fond memory. He looks at you and opens his arms wide, waiting for his daily hug. You walk toward him and wrap your arms around his torso, Donghyuck’s arms engulf your frame while he puts his nose in your hair. He has become accustomed to the scent of your hair putting himself in a trance, coconuts and oranges became his favorite scent after he met you.

“Tell Jisung I said I’m better than him.” He feels your head nod in his chest before he lets you go so you can enter class. You wave goodbye and disappear into the room while Donghyuck sighs helplessly at himself. He walks away from your classroom, pulling his phone out of his pocket to look at his lock screen. It’s a picture of the two of you from your birthday a couple years back, Donghyuck holding your face by your chin while the both of you smile goofily. His heart stutters at just the sight of you two together, both in disappointment and in happiness, you being the only thing in the world he feels like he can’t have.

You threw a party but you kinda

Hate all your friends

So you’re crying in a drive-way

Killing time, getting high

Can’t wait ‘til it ends

You sit across from your younger friend, both having empty servings of cup ramen from the convenience store and dalgona coffees. Jisung is telling you about his day, currently nagging about his new workload as a new sophomore in college, wishing he was a freshman again. You nod along to his dialogue while you swirl your coffee with your straw, not focusing on what he’s really saying.

“I can tell you’re not listening, a cookie for your thoughts?” Jisung asks while he slides you a couple extra bucks for the mentioned cookie. You slide his money back towards him, declining his offer but being grateful as well.

“I don’t know, Donghyuck always asks me to show up to his parties and I always say no but I think I'm starting to feel bad, you know?” You take a sip of your coffee before continuing, glad that you could get another one after this morning’s accident. “I feel like I’m not being a good enough friend to him. But he knows how badly I get along with the people he hangs out with, there’s just this weird feeling in my chest whenever he brings them and his parents up.” You finish your rant to Jisung while he takes in the rest of it. 

“In my opinion, I think it’s because you know that they’re bad for him and he knows too.” You agree with him with an affirmative hum, getting ready to leave the little coffee shop you were at. You two throw away your trash and exit the shop, the chilly breeze of fall finally getting to you.

“I just really don’t want him to get hurt Ji, I care for him way too much to lose him to a bunch of pretentious pricks.” You gently kick a rock in front of you while you two approach the bus stop. Jisung furrows his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if he should say what’s on his mind.

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but it kinda sounds like you have feelings for Donghyuck. And I get that you are very protective over your friends and that you care a lot about us. Although, if you do like him that way you should give it a shot, I’m pretty sure he likes you too.”  Jisung waves goodbye as he boards his bus to go home while you sit on his words a little longer. You will not shut down the idea of having feelings for your best friend, Donghyuck is a very attractive person. With his constant willingness to help you and his naturally funny personality, have you weak in the knees every once in a while. Getting up from your spot on the freezing cold metal of the bus stop, you start to walk in the direction of Donghyuck’s house. Remembering to pay Jisung back for being a good friend and for you to become a better one to him.

Only a streetlight away from your best friend's house, you notice a figure sitting on the driveway of the very loud house behind them. Once you’re closer to his house, you see that the figure in the driveway is actually Donghyuck himself, a beer on the right side of him and a poorly wrapped joint in his left hand.

“Hey, what’s the host doing sitting alone at his own party?” You ask in a soft voice, seeing that his eyes were cloudy and puffy, seemingly from him crying. He looks up to see you, smiling softly at him while you sit next to him, taking his beer and having a sip from it. 

“Chenle and Jaemin ended up not showing up. School got in the way so they couldn’t come. I hate everyone else in the house, so I decided to be by myself.” He looks to the side to look at his crush, fingertips a little red and smoke coming out of your mouth from the cold. You turn to lock eyes with him and smile warmly at him, your hands coming up to grab the joint from his hand to throw away later.

“When did you start smoking, Hyuck? This isn’t like you.” You frown slightly at the choice he was deciding to make when he shook his head.

“I don’t, someone gave it to me before I left. I’m glad you showed up, I could need an actual friend right about now.” He chuckles at his sadness, hands coming up to cover his face. “My mom found someone she loved more than money finally, it’s not my dad though. They’re filing for a divorce now, and I seem to be the only one that’s actually upset by this. Sometimes I feel like they only stayed married because of me, and they’re finally getting their wish now that I’m out of their way.” Donghyuck finishes his rant with a big swig of his beer, setting it in between the two of you as he feels his eyes beginning to water. You notice that his hands shook slightly from the upsetting news and the chilling air of the night. 

“Hey, they didn’t stay together because of you Hyuck, okay? They stayed together because they knew they would make more money that way. You aren’t at fault, you just so happened to be caught up in their mess, you get that?” You grab his hands and lay your head on his shoulder for comfort. He nods his head slowly, a tear quickly falling down his red cheeks. You look back up at him to wipe his tears away, holding his face in your hands. “You aren’t at fault here Hyuck, I really want you to understand that. You are so much more than them, you are an incredible person. Although you are a little bitch sometimes, you’ll always be my best friend.” Donghyuck laughs at your backhanded compliment and leans his forehead against yours. Your face flushes at his action but you don’t reject it, you guys have been close for so long that his random affection doesn’t really affect you.

At this moment in time, Donghyuck knew that he didn’t just like you, he loved you. He wanted to tell you he loved you to the moon and back, that if you asked him to run across the world to prove his love, he would take off. But he knew that the moment didn’t feel right, confessing his love right after he told you about his family’s failing relationship. Before he could lift his head up the front door opens, revealing Sooyoung -Although she adamantly wants people to call her Joy- and Sehun. Sooyoung and Sehun are the two most expensive people in the school, or at least that’s what everyone says, and are also the two that like to annoy you the most. The pair saw you guys sitting together in the driveway, heads and hands together, and started their chaos.

“Oh, look who it is, Haechan’s little fuck buddy decided to pay us a visit.” Sooyoung sneers while she approaches you two. Sehun walks towards Donghyuck, throwing his half used joint dangerously close to your friend's jeans. Donghyuck pulls the both of you up and away from Sooyoung and Sehun, the pair laughing at his protectiveness.

“What do you guys want, just go back inside, I’ll be back soon.”  Donghyuck mutters towards his guests. As much as he wants to tell them off for the comment Sooyoung made towards you, he kept his mouth shut, knowing his response would go back to his parents. 

“You don’t need to hangout with her anymore Haechan, there are better girls in your house. You know, the girls that your parents actually approve of, I wonder how they would feel if someone told them you were dating a girl like her.” Sooyoung looks you up and down in disgust and you scoff. You walk up to her in frustration, meeting each other's eyes in a rage.

“And what the hell is a girl like me, Sooyoung?” She flares her nostrils from you, saying her actual name, and she straightens up her posture to seem like the bigger person. 

“A little whore who won’t accept that she’s poor, so instead she insists that she’s fine to people that are better than her. I mean, why would you even keep Haechan around? Just to tell yourself that you don’t need him? Admit it, darling, you’re struggling.” Your eyes water and your hands shake from the mortification of her bold -and incorrect- statement. Donghyuck comes up to pull you away, but you push his arms away from you.

“Oh yeah?,  I would rather be ‘struggling’ like you think I am than living my life for other fucking people. Everything you have and do is for your damn parent’s, at least mine actually fucking care for me.” As soon as you finish your sentence, a swift slap goes across your face. Donghyuck immediately comes up to you, checking your face for any marks. You apologize to him for the things you’ve said, assuming that saying that essentially his parents don’t care for him hurt him in some way. “I have to go Hyuck, I’m sorry.” You pull his hands off of your face and begin to walk to the bus stop, leaving Donghyuck alone with the obviously pissed off girl and her stoned confused friend. 

“You’re just gonna let her talk to us like that? She insulted our families Haechan-”

“Stop calling me that, Sooyoung. My name is Donghyuck, Lee Donghyuck, and my family does not control me anymore, I do. The party’s fucking over, leave my fucking house you self-centered pricks.”  Donghyuck wipes his pants of the imaginary dust and gives the pair a farewell middle finger before taking off to the bus stop. 

Crystal liquor cups and designer drugs, oh, oh

They say, "Money can't buy you no love"

But a diamond cheers you right up

Hearing the fast footsteps of your best friend coming up to you at the poorly lit bus stop startled you, especially at such a late hour. You were waiting for Jisung to pick you up with his parents' car, him still living with his parents came with a perk, as he would say. And Jisung is kind enough to use his ‘you only get to use my car once a month’ privilege on you instead of getting late night beef flavored ramen at the 24-hour convenience store. You look up at the panting boy, him folding forward to catch his breath before catching your gaze.

“Why did you leave? You know that they were just being pricks.” Donghyuck comes to sit next to you, slightly flinching at the cold metal before settling close next to you. You look at him with sadness in your eyes, he notices this and grabs your hands as a sign to show that he’s listening.

“It doesn’t matter if I was right or not Donghyuck, I still said something that wasn’t true. I was just caught up in the moment and said stupid shit I didn’t mean. Me saying what I said meant that it applied to you too.” you look down at your shoes and softly take your hands out of Donghyuck’s numb ones. He sighs out of frustration, attempts to psych himself up and tilts your head towards his, both hands on each side of your face. You feel yourself begin to heat up in the face, hoping he didn’t notice by your face already being slightly red.

“I don’t care how people see my family anymore, okay? You were right anyway, my parents never really cared like they should’ve. But that’s alright now, because you’re with me and you’ve made me a better person than they will ever be. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Donghyuck gives you a small smile and you smile back at him. Looking at him like this, you notice something. His eyes have this beautiful sparkle to them. The sparkle you always see when he’s talking about something he’s passionate about, or a new prank he’s planning on Jisung. It’s one of your favorite things about him, when you get to see his true self come out when it’s just the two of you. That raw, child like attitude Donghyuck has always had, and you get to see it every day.

It makes you rethink your friendship, was it really just a friendship? Or have these past three years been a buildup to some huge spark of romance? Regardless of what it was, you felt that this park of romance was about to happen, and so did Donghyuck. His eyes flickered between your lips and your eyes, getting distracted by the extra light shining by your mouth.

“Donghyuck, I think I like you.” Those words confirmed the hope he has had for the entire time he’s known you. His smile grows even wider than you’ve seen before, him leaning closer to you and placing his forehead on yours just like at his house.

“I like you too, dummy. C-can I kiss you?” Donghyuck stutters and looks you in the eyes, that stunning sparkle coming back. You place your hands around his neck and whisper a small yes. The kiss wasn’t magical like in the trashy rom coms you and Donghyuck watched every Sunday night at your place, but it felt real. His cold and slightly dry lips from the air nipping at them throughout the night, and yours weren’t an exception either. They molded perfectly, like they were made for each other. The kiss would have probably escalated further, if it weren’t for Jisung and his trusty sidekick-the horn. You two jump apart at the sound of his car horn and turn around to see a very large shit-eating grin from the younger boy.

“As much as I love seeing you two being all lovey-dovey with each other, I didn’t get gas before I came, so unless you want to us to get stuck in the middle of the night I suggest you say your goodbyes right now.” You chuckle as he quickly sneaks a glance at the gas , if his parents find out that he was driving practically on ‘E’, they would revoke his car privileges. You let go of each other and begin to walk to Jisung’s car. You turn to Donghyuck quickly, running back to give him a small kiss on his cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning, maybe we can watch a movie tomorrow instead of Sunday.” and with that you open up the passenger’s side and get in, waving a goodbye to him before Jisung took off. Donghyuck stands there, smiling like a madman with a hand touching his cheek.

Give me none of your affluenza

The next day Donghyuck felt generous, so he decided to be the bigger person and let Jisung hang out with you and him. You had told him that morning when you met up that you felt bad that Jisung catered to you and you feel as if you were taking advantage of him. And knowing you, he knew you weren’t going to stop talking about it. Being the good soon-to-be boyfriend that he is, Donghyuck took you and Jisung out to eat for lunch. Jisung is eating to his heart’s content, babbling pure nonsense to your amusement, while Donghyuck looks at you like you were the sun itself. After indulging in Jisungs’ food happiness, you turn to the boy next to you to see him still gazing at you.

“What’s up, Hyuck?” you give a slight grin while a light blush spreads across your face. He doesn’t break his eye contact with you to give you a quick peck on the lips. 

“My mood is up because of you”  You snort at the terrible pick-up line and turn away from him, taking a sip of your iced vanilla latte. Donghyuck scoffs at your reaction, looking towards Jisung to see him laughing too. For the first time in a while, Donghyuck feels as if he is around people that like him for him. He sees you interact with Jisung as if he’s your brother. Although you feel like you don’t do enough for him, Donghyuck notices how much you truly care for him. You always have Jisung in your mind, thinking about his well being and how you can help him get through college. You’ve never thought of someone differently because of irrelevant things in someone’s life that they can’t control. You never saw Jaemin or Chenle better than you because of their class, and you never Jisung as inferior because of his age. And as much as Donghyuck hates to admit it, he does appreciate Jisung’s presence when he’s with you, Jisung doesn’t like to hold back when he’s around. 

Donghyuck also appreciates how genuine you and your friends are, you don’t have many but that also makes sure that the ones you have are true friends. Donghyuck never feels alone when he’s with you and Jisung. When he would be with the group of pessimistic aspiring socialites, he constantly felt as if he was in a cold empty room. Even in his own home, when his parents would be around, he didn’t feel like he could be himself around them. While you’re in the middle of your rant to Jisung about your professor assigning an essay and group project -which you are happy to announce that you snagged Donghyuck before anyone even asked- he grabs your hand and laces his fingers with yours. You turn to him again, squeezing his hand with a confused look on your face.

“Are you craving attention, Hyuck? All you need to do is ask.” You tease him, but he just buries his head into your covered collarbone. He takes in the scent of your perfume, the warm honey taking over his senses. 

“I just want you to know that I appreciate you, thank you for sticking with me even when the people I was around treated you poorly.” Jisung stops his chopsticks before his spicy tteokbokki hit his lips, looking up at the two across from him. You lay your head atop of Donghyucks, closing your eyes in contentment. 

“And I appreciate you for not losing yourself in the process Hyuck, never change, okay?” He nods slightly and kisses your sweater clad collarbone. Jisung aw’s incredibly loud, turning heads in the quiet restaurant they were in and attempts to hug the two across the table. You make him sit down -because he almost knocked over your coffee- but appreciate the kind act from the large child. Donghyuck playfully scowls at Jisung at his somewhat failed hug. 

“Get away from my girlfriend, you man child.” he jokes and wraps his arm loosely around your waist and closes his eyes. He had already realized he called you his girlfriend, he just wanted to see how you would react. You let out a hearty laugh and send a quick finger heart to Jisung.

“Yeah man child get away from Donghyuck’s girlfriend.” Jisung lets out an exasperated gasp, clutching his heart with a disgusted look on his face. You feel Donghyuck smile in your sweater, but you don’t spot his cheeks becoming a flaming red. 

“I’ve done nothing but support you idiots, and this is what I get? I’m never picking you up when you need me again.” He crosses his arms as to solidify his claim, yet you brush him off anyway. 

“I won’t need to Ji, my boyfriend has his own car, I don’t remember you owning a car Jisung Park.” You retaliate and Donghyuck laughs at your friend’s painful scoff. Now, while Jisung continues to tell the two of you off, Donghyuck realized that he didn’t actually ask you out. But he pushes that thought to the back of his head to relish in the fact that he finally has you now. And he now feels as if he can finally live the life he truly wants to, starting with you becoming his girlfriend, and finding a fresh way to annoy Jisung Park.

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 3

Percy's POV

Confession time: I ditch Grover as soon as we get to the bus terminal.

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover is kinda freaking me out, looking at me like I am a dead man, muttering, "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be the sixth grade?"

Whenever he gets upset, Grover's bladder acts up, so I'm not surprised when, as soon as we get off the bus, he makes me promise to wait for him, then makes a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I get my suitcase, slip outside, and catch the first taxi uptown.

"East One-hundred-and-forth and First," I tell the driver.

A word about my mother, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

The only good break she ever got was meeting mine and (Y/n)'s dad.

We didn't have any memories of him, just this warm sort of glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. Our mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad; she has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told us he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom had told us. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me and my twin on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along...well, when I came home is a good example.

I walk into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe is in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blares ESPN. Chips and beer cans are strewn all over the carpet.

Hardly looking, he says around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's Mom and (Y/n)?" I wonder aloud.

"Your mom's working," he says. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

"I don't have any cash," I toll him.

"Here," comes a voice, holding out a ten to the man.

Instantly, a smile sneaks its way onto my face.

"Hey, Perc," my twin sister says with a smile.

(Y/n)'s POV

I grab my brother's suitcase and carry it into his room; I set it down on the bed.

"You wanna come sit in my room?" I ask and Percy nods, a smile still on his face.

I lead the way to my room and when I open the door, Percy sinks into my desk chair.

"Percy?" comes our mom's voice.

She opens my bedroom door.

Our mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Percy or Gabe.

"Oh, Percy," she hugs her son tightly. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas.

Percy's POV

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.

We sit together on the edge of (Y/n)'s bed. While I attack the blueberry sour strings, (Y/n) stealing a few pieces of candy from the bag, Mom runs her hand through my hair and demands to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She doesn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She doesn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? The whole time, (Y/n)'s eyes were sparkling with amusement.

I tell Mom she is smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her and (Y/n).

From the other room, Gabe yells, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

I grit my teeth.

My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

For her sake, I try to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I tell her I'm not too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convince myself. I start choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

Until that trip to the museum...

"What?" my mom asks. Her and my sister's eyes tug at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"

"No, Mom."

I feel back for lying. I want to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I think it'd sound stupid.

Mom purses her lips. Both she and (Y/n) could tell I was holding back, but neither push me.

(Y/n)'s POV

"I have a surprise for both of you," Mom says. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widen. "Montauk?"

"Three nights - same cabin."

"When?" I ask excitedly.

Mom smiles. "As soon as I get changed."

I can't believe it. Mom, Percy, and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.

Gabe appears in my doorway and growls, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

"I've got it," I offer, rising from the bed and walking out into the kitchen to make the dip for Mom.

An hour later, we are ready to leave.

Gabe takes a break from his poker game long enough to watch me and Percy lug Mom's bags to the car. He keeps griping and groaning about losing her cooking - and most importantly, his '78 Camaro - for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car, you two," he warns us as I load the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

Like we'd be the ones driving. We're twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame us.

We get into the Camero, me in the passenger's seat, and Percy in the back.

Our rental cabin is on the south shore, way out at the tip of the Long Island. It is a little pastel box with faded curtains, half-sunken into the dunes. There is always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea is too cold to swim in.

Percy and I love the place.

We'd been going there since Percy and I were babies. Our mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place she'd met mine and Percy's dad.

As we get closer to Montauk, Mom seems to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turning the color of the sea.

We arrive at the cabin, open all the cabin windows, and go through our usual cleaning routine. We walk on the beach, feed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and much on jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

I guess I should explain the blue food.

See, Gabe had once told Mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a small thing at the time. But ever since, Mom had gone out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This - alone with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like Percy.

When it gets dark, we make a fire. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom tells us stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She tells us about the books she wanted to write when she gets enough money to quit the candy shop.

Finally, it seems that Percy gets the nerve to ask about what was always on our minds when we come to Montauk - our father. Mom's eyes go all misty. I figure that she was going to tell us the same things she always said, but neither Percy and I ever got tired of hearing them.

"He was kind, Percy," Mom says. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, two. You have his black hair, you know, Percy, and you both have his green eyes."

Mom fishes a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy, (Y/n). He would be so proud."

Percy's POV

I wondered how she could say that. What's so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of the school for the sixth time in six years.

"How old were we?" I ask. "I mean . . . when he left?"

Mom watches the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

"But...he knew us as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting twins, but he never saw you two. He had to leave before you were born."

I try to square that with the fact I seem to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.

(Y/n) and I had always assumed that he had known us as babies. Mom had never said it outright, but still, we'd always felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen us . . .

I realize I feel angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resent him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry Mom. He'd left us, and now we are stuck with Smelly Gable.

"Are you sending me away again?" I ask her. "To another boarding school."

She pulls a marshmallow from the fire.

"I don't know, honey." Mom's voice is heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" I regret the words as soon as they come out of my mouth. (Y/n) bows her head, looking at the ground and Mom's eyes well with tears.

Mom takes my hand and squeezes it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I - I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

Her words remind me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy.

"Because I'm not normal," I say.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe.

"Safe from what?"

She meets my eyes, and a flood of memories comes back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me and (Y/n), some of which we'd tried to forget.

During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked us on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed (Y/n) when she'd told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.

In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.

I know I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I can't make myself tell her. I have a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I don't want that.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom says. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you two. And I just...I just can't stand to do it."

(Y/n)'s POV

"Our father wanted us to go to a special school?" I ask, a little confused.

"Not a school," she says softly. "A summer camp."

My head starts spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me and Percy be born - talk about a summer camp?

"I'm sorry, (Y/n)," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you two to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good?" Percy asks. "But if it's only a summer camp.

Mom turns towards the fire, and I know from her expression that if either of us ask her any more questions, she would start to cry.

I have a weird, vivid dream. It is storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle are trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swoops down and slashes the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse rears up and kicks at the eagle's wings. As they fight, the ground rumbles and a monstrous voice chuckles somewhere and beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I run towards them, knowing I have to stop them from killing each other, but I am running in slow motion. I know I am too late. I see the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I scream, No!

I wake with a start.

Outside, it really is storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There is no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

With the next thunderclap, my mom and Percy wake. Mom sits up, eyes wide, and says, "Hurricane."

I know that's crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seems to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I hear a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that makes my hair stand on end.

Percy's POV

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother springs out of bed in her nightgown and throws open the lock.

Grover stands framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he isn't . . . he isn't exactly Grover.

"Searching all night," he gasps. "What were you thinking?"

My mother looks at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

"Percy," she says, having to shout to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

I am frozen, looking at Grover. I can't understand what I'm seeing, and I see (Y/n) looking at my friend.

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yells. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

I am too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I am too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover doesn't have pants on - and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .

Mom looks at me sternly and talks in a tone she'd never used before, and (Y/n) flinches: "Percy. Tell me now!"

I stammer something about the old ladies at the fruit stand and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stares at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

She grabs her purse, tosses me and (Y/n) our rain jackets, and says, "Get the car. All three of you. Go!"

Grover runs for the Camero - but he isn't running, exactly. He is trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs makes sense to me. I understand how he can run so fast and still limp when he walks.

Because where his feet should be, there are no feet. There are cloven hooves.

Word Count: 3041 words

[phoebehalliwell]

how would you rank the seasons from least to most favourite?

alright okay right off the bat worst season season 7. for starters i think this season has no staying power i mean like since i’ve been running this blog 4 so long now my knowledge of charmed is encyclopedic and insanely vast more than like it ever need be but for the longest time. i could not remember season 7. like wtf even happened there?? evidently leo became human??? cole returned? the avatars??? like all of it was just. it’s not even necessarily forgettable it’s just i straight up could not remember it for the longest time. and i’ve said it before the concept of utopia was way to advanced for a show like charmed to tackle i am not watching charmed for moral philosophy i am watching bc i love these girls ♥ hee hee hoo hoo magic adventure ✨ tho if i am to offer a single comment on utopia: it’s awfully rich for a show to go on about destiny and fate and then take a stand against utopia in the name of free will. but w/e. i don’t like leo in the avatars i don’t like his dynamic with piper in this season i don’t like whatever phoebe’s doing this season there’s like leslie?? maybe there’s someone else? boring & flavorless they should have been setting up her endgame instead of puttering around. and kyle. zoo wee mama. could have been a great antihero. morally gray. duplicitous. self serving. but no. they gave him all those traits and called him hero/love interest. s7 left a lot to be desired out of the characters and their relationships also gave us phat L’s such as the charmed ones are werewolves don’t worry about it and feminism peaked with naked women. shout out to zankou: demon, dilf, dub & the noir episode.

you know what? fuck it i’ll say it second worse season 5 genuinely fuck season five. this is probably a Very Specific beef 2 me But. i hate what they did to the charmed universe. this was the season that marked the transition of charmed from supernatural drama to campy soap which like. i love camp! i do! but fr. fuck this season and what it did to the worldbuilding. the early season have Such A Vibe to them man with warlocks and witches and just a couple niche monsters from assorted lore that the show took and made their own. season five opens with mermaids goes directly into fairytales then gives us superheros whatever the fuck was going on in that mummy episode the sandman leprechauns and nymphs. and i hate it for that. it takes away from this urban fantasy things that go bump in the night what lurks in the shadows of the back alleys of san francisco in favor of the ugliest cinderella dress ever put to television and an onslaught of horrible irish accents for a full episode. other issues with season five: cole’s still here? why? they don’t know and neither will you! we’re not redeeming him! phoebe’s not getting back together with him! yes he died we just refuse to let him go! the cherry on top of course being a cole-centric 100th episode. shout out to. hmm. lemme think about what i actually liked about this season. i like jason dean as a love interest i don’t remember what he did in s5 but i know he was there. the season finale i’ve talked about how stupid & shitty it was but idc i still love that episode and then shout out to bacarra the only original villain this season that was a proper serve. the crone gets second place.

next on this come on we all saw it coming season 8. it’s a bad season! and i get bts there was a whole lot happening budget cuts missing actor etc. but it goes beyond that. it was a bad season. billie and christie were bad. and i’ve said this before but billie in herself is not an inherently bad character. she was just the literal worst for the show. she was a dollar store buffy blonde confident cocky skilled and ready 2 fight evil But. we are not following her like we followed buffy we are following her mentors. it’s like if we had a show called giles that aired for seven seasons And Then buffy showed up. billie was insanely irritating to watch from our perspective and in general wasn’t like. well written. attempts to humanize her / give her more depth often fell flat. and then christy. oh nelly. oh my god. barely a character. not well acted but hey it would have been a miracle if she was. negatives include dumain who was a mess omg bringing back the triad bringing back the source billie & christy obvi and also involving homeland security. which is season 7′s fault which is why it’s the worst. dubs on the other hand include both coop and henry i really liked them the shoehorned love interests weren’t great but i like their characters i though the way the got rid of leo to save on the budget was really creative and gave us a great piper episode and of course the sugary sweet finale i love it i do what can i say.

yet another controversial choice aptly coming in fourth is season 4. i respect what season 4 set out to do. i think it was a good idea. long form narratives, keeping a darker tone, focusing on character-driven drama and growth. too bad it fucking failed miserably at all of this. cole as the source and phoebe as the queen of hell was just so so botched. they had a very unique opportunity following the death of prue to explore these characters and what it means to them to be charmed, to be witches. they saved the world but the cost is insanely high. they’ve lost an older sister. they’ve gained a new sister. how do you even begin to cope with all this? episodes such as hell hath no fury and brain drain fuck so hard because they work with exactly that. had the whole season been like those episode season four would sit at number one with flying colors absolutely no competition. but alas. we can’t have nice things. the show got so bogged down with phoebe & cole, in a way that was just so, so messy. for starters, whether you loved cole or hated him before, we can all agree source!cole sucked. he was such a strong 180 from what we had seen that the show had to make the source some type of possession to justify half the shit they were trying to pull. and then to pit phoebe and paige against one another over a man was just. disgusting. and the ending of course felt rushed because it was! they wrapped up that entire issue in a nice little bow much faster than they reasonably should have been able to. it could have been a great season. it was definitely not. shout out to the seer an iconic mastermind on barbas levels, as previously stated brain drain and hell hath no fury Specific shout out to piper’s scene at prue’s grave shout out to paige as a character i like what they did with her and um. yeah that’s it.

okay we’re exiting the shit tier in favorite of the good tier welcome to the upper half. kicking us off is season 6. season 6 did what season 4 could not in that it gave us a long form plot that still left plenty of room for like. normal demon of the week episodes. i love phoebe early in this season with her faboo haircut her brand new empathy power and her relationship with jason dean. obvious strikes against for whatever the fuck that baby crazy stint was and also the mata hari episode. yikes. i love paige’s hair color in this season nothing paige as a character necessarily stands out to me however i like how they seem to have hit the blend of work-magic with paige where she wants a life and career outside of magic however she still loves the craft and embraces is with an open heart and mind. season six also gives us chris who was a very fun male lead imo we really didn’t have many like him he’s bitchy. he whines and bitches a lot he’s got an agenda he’s a bit secretive but at the end of the day he just wants a family i like him. i like the character growth we see out of piper i like seeing her try to move on from leo i love seeing her get back together with leo i like her dynamic with chris and her fears about motherhood. i also liked richard but that one takes a lot of justification. L’s are witchstock hyde school reunion used karma off the top of my head also the paige/richard/addiction plotline was so tone deaf. also the girls were mean to darryl : ( he deserved so much better. dubs were chris as a character, tbh the episode little monsters, phoebe with empathy specifically saying i love you too to jason i could write a dissertation on that line alone also the courtship of wyatt’s father and i thought the reveals of evil wyatt and chris being piper and leo’s son were both fun and interesting plot twists.

coming in third is actually season 2 a season i really do love it’s just. it lacks structure. imo there is a lot to love about season 2 morality bites and pardon my past are both delightful time travel episodes we get jack sheridan and bane jessup two of my personal favorite prue love interests we get p3 h2o and a great prue plotline regarding the death of patty we get the super cute cupid episode it’s a great. collection of episodes. it’s not a great season. there’s just imo not a strong enough thread connecting the stories together it’s mainly held together by having the same characters in it over and over again i really liked dan personally but like. i knew we were wasting time there. he was just an obstacle. a super cute loving and caring obstacle who’s great with kids but lbr piper and leo were always endgame. wasting our time on dan was stupid. i do love the sister dynamics in season two “gotta hand it to those pesky little demons they sure have brought us closer together” but again. this season could have benefitted from a rex and hannah type or even like a cole or zankou. this season is less of a season and more of just like a handful of episodes, and while there are some fat dubs, there are also some definite swings & misses. shout out to the time travel episodes the prue centric episodes phoebe’s character growth and maturity throughout this season (e.g. her going back to college) and i also think the fashion got a lot more fun this season.

second place i’m saying season one season one was a really strong start and gave us these really compelling characters with interesting relationships between one another But. a lot of it just kinda falls flat. and credit where credit is due it was a brand new show getting its feet under it but the fourth sister feats of clay which prue is it anyway they just simply aren’t dubs imo. also i don’t like that 70′s episode bc again i am an asshole concerned about The Lore i can’t believe one bitch ass warlock caused the Charmed Ones to grow up without powers. it just really bugs me. all in all the plots as a whole like aren’t great imo they’re nothing to write home about (save for from fear to eternity) it’s really the characters that make this season so goddamn good.

first place congratulations to the one the only season three. this is just because it kinda hits all my requirements in that it has some banger one offs (e.g. all halliwell’s eve, the good, the bad, and the cursed) it has an overarching plot at the exact same time as the source becomes more prominent and obvi cole is also there with murderous intent i like the character growth we see especially from prue i like piper and leo finally get married overall i really like the aesthetic of this season that blends a darker urban fantasy tone with still some charmed fashion and whimsy. strikes against tbh phoebe and cole’s relationship i am insanely picky with my enemies to lovers and the do not come remotely close to cutting the mustard in fact they are almost immediately disqualified however from afar i can see and respect The Drama. shout out to recasting victor prue with pistols death as a character and shannen directing episodes

[xbaepsae]

the ebb and flow | part three

“You find it interesting that you both arrived here on the same day; starting your journeys at Camp Half-Blood at the same time.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 1.2k

rating: pg-13

warnings: mentions of monsters

a/n: here’s part threee. i can’t believe the amount of good feedback i’ve gotten from this series so far! i think it’s the most feedback i’ve ever gotten from any of my fics lol. you all are so nice and excited, that it makes me even more excited to write and get these drabbles out each week. so, thank you all so much! xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the first summer – in which you meet him for the first time

“Dad, where am I going?”

“Somewhere you’ll be safe.”

Safe. “And where is that? Are you coming too?”

Your dad stares at you with a melancholic expression, shaking his head. “I’m not like you, remember?”

Ah, yes, you remember all too well. Ever since you were young, you’ve been acutely aware of how different you are. Of course, the teasing in grade school made it apparent, but what made it even more so were the monsters that seemed to lurk around you. They never directly approached you, but you were still terrified. When you finally brought it up to your dad at the age of ten, he finally told you the truth.

Growing up with a single dad seemed normal to you—perfect, even. You never felt like you were missing out on anything, and you didn’t question where your mom went. So, when you found out that she was Athena, you couldn’t believe it.

“How did you guys meet?” you remember gasping, completely surprised.

“It was a while ago—I was in college, just sitting in a coffee shop. And then she walked in and—wow,” he breathed, a weird look on his face. “I thought she was beautiful with her ebony braid and book in hand—The Picture of Dorian Gray. She settled into a booth and started reading. I loved the book, so I walked up to her and we just talked for hours.

“After that, we met up some more and eventually, she revealed her true self to me. Obviously, I was taken aback. I mean, a goddess? It just seemed unreal; too crazy to be true. However, I think I was already in love with her at that point, so I believed every word of it.

“But she couldn’t stay long. I hoped she would—just so we’d have more time to read books and talk about the world—but that wasn’t realistic. Even though she left, it wasn’t the end of the world because she gave me you.”

You wish that you could stay with your dad forever, but he’s right—you’re not safe where you are right now. The monsters weren’t an issue when you were younger; but now that you’re older, they’ve started coming closer. And you can’t risk anything hurting your dad. He’s all you have.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

***

After miles of green, you finally see something interesting in the distance—a golden fleece. It sits high on a valley and practically glows in the light.

“That’s actually the real fleece.”

“Really?” You turn to face the satyr, named Don, who became your assigned protector. “It’s the actual one?”

Don nods. “Yup. It was brought here a while ago to protect the camp—keeps the monsters out.”

You shiver at the mentions of monsters. During the journey here, while things hadn’t been too bad, you and Don still came into contact with a few unsightly individuals who tested your sanity.  You’re just happy that you both managed to make all the way to Long Island relatively unscathed.

“That’s nice,” you say as you both walk closer towards the fleece.

“Doesn’t mean there aren’t monsters though,” Don grimaces, which causes your stomach to drop just a little. “You can hear them roaming these woods at night.”

“I guess we better get to Half-Blood Hill before nightfall, huh?”

And you guys do.

After trekking past more trees, you finally see the entrance. There is a massive arched sign with the words Camp Half-Blood etched into it. As you get closer to the entrance, a calming sensation seems to wash over you; it’s like, you’re finally where you’re supposed to be. Of course, you miss your dad dearly, but you know that he’ll be fine. And from what Don’s told you, you’re allowed to visit him once in a while.

“Here we are, kiddo,” Don pushes you forward, and you take your first step into your new home.

The moments that come after you walk through the arch is a blur. You get separate from Don and thrusted into the Cabin Six, where you discover that you have many half-siblings. It’s strange meeting them, because you’ve never had brothers or sisters before, but you’re able to pick up on the similarities that exist between everyone. It feels surreal to know that you share a godly parent with them.

After you meet all of your new roommates, you have dinner with them and the same feeling you felt earlier comes back—you feel at home with everyone.

“You’ll like it here,” Namjoon says, offering you a dimpled smile. You both are the same age, so you feel comfortable being around him.

“I already do,” you say with honesty. “Everyone’s really nice and our cabin is so cool!”

Namjoon takes a sip from his goblet before he nods fervently. “Right? Objectively, we definitely have the best cabin here.”

You haven’t seen the inside of any other cabin, but you already have a feeling that Namjoon is right. Though you are positive it’s definitely a subjective thought.

Once dinner is over, you attend your first campfire and the energy from everyone gets the blood pumping through your veins. You’ve never heard so much singing or seen so many dryads dancing. Eventually, the music settles when Chiron appears front and center with an announcement that there are new campers.

He introduces you to everyone, a daughter of Athena, and forces you to stand as everyone overtly stares at you. It’s a moment you never want to relive again. After you sit down again, Chiron announces the arrival of someone else and your eyes move to the source of his next introduction.

“Hail, Jeon Jeongguk, Son of the Sea God.”

Everyone begins to murmur at the mention of Poseidon—one of the big three. In the few hours you’ve been here, you’ve noticed that there aren’t as many campers from those gods. You watch as this Jeongguk kid stand up on gangly legs, dark hair in a disarray on top of his head. He murmurs a soft hey over the crackling fire before sitting down again.

Even after Chiron switches the topic, moving away from demigods and into activities, you continue to look at Jeongguk. You find it interesting that you both arrived here on the same day; starting your journeys at Camp Half-Blood at the same time.

“Is it normal for campers to arrive on the same day?” you ask Namjoon.

He seems to think over this for a moment. “Not really. I mean, unless they come here together. But otherwise, it doesn’t happen that often.”

You hum and turn back to look at Jeongguk. Unexpectedly, he’s already staring at you. The act has you scooting back in your seat, caught off by the intensity in his wide eyes. Why is he looking at you like that? Then again, you’re staring at him too, so you really aren’t one to talk. He continues to stare for another second before he turns away, suddenly engrossed in the conversation around him.

“Hmm,” you find yourself cocking your head to the side. “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens next?”

“What do you mean?” Namjoon asks.

You turn and give your half-brother a smirk. “Whether Jeongguk becomes a friend or foe.”

[buccigang-headcanons]

La Squadra Backstories!!!! Stream of consciousnesss style!

So literally I just sat down and wrote down exactly what I thought. I have not edited these at all lmaooo. But I made long drawn out backstories for our underrated assassins so enjoy!!

T/W + C/W - idk I talk about people dying in a lot of ways. Child abuse, drugs, severe illness, dead cats. This stuff is a mess I really didn’t censor it. But nothing is described in detail cuz I’m too lazy for that.

————

Prosciutto cuz he’s at the top of my mind. Mmkay he and Pesci are brothers but not by blood. Pro was an orphan, I still wanna make him Russian, and pesci’s extremely kind and gentle family adopted him when he was like 7. They were like literally a garden catalogue family. Perfection. The parents died when pro was like 15, Pesci was 13?? Idk the age difference I’m just making shit up now. And Pesci had no fucking idea what to do, they didn’t have any other family, and pro was like “I’m still basically a hardened criminal from living on the streets of russia most of my childhood, so joining the local mafia should be a piece of cake”. It was.

Risotto..... fuck it. Polpo is risottos dad. I’ve seen that so much and fuck it I’m here for it now. Idk how I feel about the whole Mariah from part 3 being his mom that seems too coincidental. But either way, he is half Spanish. I don’t think he’s ever been in touch with his Spanish roots at all, but that’s what he is. Polpo had too much fun on vacay in Spain. But it was a once night stand and polpo, a skinny king back in the mid 70s, fucked off to do mafia stuff and didn’t know about this kid. Risotto never knew his father. Time goes by, about the time he’s 10, rizzo’s mom moves to Italy to find the man she once loved. Since the 70s, she has been married and divorced 4 times, disowned by her entire family, and she speaks only of Polpo, the man who swept her off her feet and then disappeared into the night. Leaving only this child with his matching eyes. So they live in Italy, risotto is about 13 now and his mom has been searching seriously for polpo for about 3 years. One day, she gets too close, mafia takes her out. Risotto is all alone in a country he has lived in for less than 3 years. So he decides to take revenge against the mafia. He goes to hunt them down. (I’m too lazy to write out how. Gets a gun. Basically the scene in part 5 where the kid is like “you killed my father and now I’m gonna kill you!!” But he chickens out???) yeah except rizzo didn’t chicken out, he stood firm and killed 2 of them. The other 2 surrendered, and immediately asked rizzo to take polpos test. He did. And he unknowingly met his father, the man his mother had died looking for. He stared into his fathers eyes, black sclera reflecting each other, and passed his test with ease.

Wowwwwwwwww alrighty then that was something. Let’s shake out those jitters because fuck that was intense and let’s move onto some happy shit.

Melone!! Always a bottle of joy. He was a phenomenal student, a perfect child. Perfect grades, perfect attitude, perfect looks. Onlyyyy tiny thing is he murdered cats and buried their heads in the back yard. But that was his only flaw. Aaaaaaaand mayyybe trying to use his extensive knowledge of molecular biology and genetics (even at as young as 11) to asexually breed said cats.

But, apart from that, absolutely perfect specimen of a young boy. And he kept that up until college. Until the rape accusation. Melone had no interest in having sex with her, he swore under oath in open court, he only wanted to “extract her essence” in the hopes of making her amazing genetics stay pure for centuries.

Due to his previously amazing school record, he was allowed to plead not guilty by reason of insanity (because the justice system is bullshit) and was released to his parents. During this whole process, Melone’s mother had begun to grow suspicious of her son, wondering if there was something wrong with him. This led her to explore the crawl space under the garage, more commonly known as “Melone’s childhood laboratory”. The cat skulls alone were enough to set her off. They allowed him into their home long enough to fool the court, but parole officers don’t pay attention, and they kicked him to the curb a month later. Broke, alone, and with no real skills other than his genius mind and gorgeous body, he became a prostitute. It was only a few months before he wandered up to a gigantic white haired man with angry eyes and asked if he wanted a date. Instead of declining, our good ol rizzo just knocked him out cold and brought him home. The rest is history. Literally because I can’t think of what would happen between that and Melone joining the mafia. I assume he was just their house pet for a little while before he decided he wanted a stand too.

Oh good lord these are getting insane. Better keep going. Okay I have no idea what’s about to come out of my head for ghia but oh Lordy. Might as well start. Ghiaccio wasn’t always quite as angry, but it’s actually gonna be a sweet story. Kinda. He used to act perfect, even tho he always felt the anger inside. He was forced to bottle it up and put on a happy exterior always. His mother was Belgian. (From experience, Belgian mothers (Flemish in particular) will beat you until your ass is raw if you talk back). Italian father, they lived in italy. He had 4 sisters, he was the middle child of 5. Around high school, he started acting out. Of course this was due to all of his bottled up anger from the past 15 years. 4 shattered sinks, 16 holes in the drywall, and one classroom fire later, Ghiaccio was expelled from school. His parents were too busy brimming with joy about the success of all his sisters that they didn’t take much notice to him. “If you’re going to behave in such a manner you might as well leave” his mother said. She was past the point of caring enough to beat him. So he left. 16 and with no where to go, he wandered the streets. After a year or so, Ghia had gotten used to that life, and was angry at everyone, sometimes when he wasn’t even angry. Anger had become his coping mechanism. Screaming was easier than talking. Until one day, he screamed at a blonde man in an intersection. Prosciutto was driving back to the squads hang out, boxes of takeout in the back seat of the car. He had chosen to not stop at the red light, just for fun, and nearly ran into our blue haired teenager. Ghia proceeded to cuss him out for a good 4 minutes in the middle of this intersection before pro cut him off. “Get in the back. “ he said, with his own special brand of brotherly love. “I know how you can put that anger to good use”. Ghiaccio, having no real reason to object, got in the back seat. Prosciutto was silent the rest of the drive and Ghiaccio yelled about all the take out food, now splattered on the backs of the seats due to the sudden slam on the brakes.

Y’all I don’t even remember the other la squadra members. Let’s do sorbet/gelato because they have zero backstory or personality so I can just ramble. *Clears throat* let’s begin. These fuckers. Friends since birth. Grew up together, always really close. They were both dirt poor, but because the only school nearby was a decent public school, when were able to slightly experience middle class living. They liked it. They wanted to see upper class, and once they did, they wanted to be there. These two were money grubbing bffs, I’m talking josuke and okuyasu, but like waaaaay more intense and also violent. They both left home around 14, together of course. Gelatos father had left them a few years prior, and his family were on the brink of starvation. Figuring they didn’t need another mouth to feed (and completely abandoning his post as family patriarch lol) he left with sorbet, who’s family had all died in various ways over the years. Most recently, his older sister being taken by some illness that was probably easily treatable, but with no means for a doctor, she died in days. The boys left home and school, and made a living by pickpocketing tourists and occasionally launching into larger heists. They made a decent living for themselves, but eventually started spending their money on drugs. It’s was sorbet first, heroin was really good to him for awhile. Gelato was against it, knowing it was the reason sorbets family had been so poor to begin with. His father was an addict, and despite holding down a job fairly well, spent all his earnings on drugs. Eventually he became too dependent, lost his job, and OD’d. But around this same time, when the boys were 16/17, they were starting to realize their feelings for each other. Confused teenaged minds full of budding love led to Gelato giving in, and soon their days were filled with heroin fueled ecstatic sex. They lived like this for awhile, existing in half reality, until one day they chose to set their pickpocketing targets on a short man with close cropped gray hair. The plan was perfect, sorbet bumped into the man and gelato passed by to grab his wallet, and suddenly they were the size of mere ants. In an instant, they were returned to size, left to wonder if it was real or just a hallucination from long term drug use. But they didn’t run. Formaggio introduced himself, with a loose handshake and a pause to spit out some tobacco, and promptly invited them to a “party”. Although, Formaggio was honest in his promise, this party did have drugs.

Cheese boys turn!! Seriously who am I forgetting??? Illuso my mirror man! Am I forgetting someone else too?? Idk. But shut up Kel it’s cheese boys turn.

So. Formaggio. Probably the most chill childhood. Lower middle class, pretty average, but he was quite gifted with sports. Soccer was his main, and also a fantastic competitive swimmer. (Okay I have a separate hc that Bruno is really good at soccer so hol horse up a moment so I can imagine those 2 playing soccer together in friendly competition. In my lil au where Bruno is in la squadra because I say BruPro exes rights please and thanks.) but anyway, he got really good at soccer and was offered a scholarship to play at a fancy pants private high school when he was 14. Of course his parents made him go, this has been the family’s dream for years, and formaggio’s as well. So high school is amazing, he’s starting to attract attention from universities even tho he’s barely in grade 11 by this point. And it’s all really amazing until he realizes. This isn’t what he wants. And it’s just that. He doesn’t want to play soccer anymore, he doesn’t want to potentially be famous. He just wants to be a kid. So he leaves school, he leaves home, he wants to start over. And he wanders into a diner and sees this small group of weirdly dressed men. At this point, it’s rizzo, pro, Pesci, and ghia. And he’s staring at them because they’re dressed like circus clowns but their aura is so murderous. And then the one who looks like a giant pineapple starts staring back. Pesci gets up and walks over to Formaggio. “I know you! You’re that amazing kid soccer player!!” And he just goes on and on about shit he read in the news (70% of it was false) until pro comes over and yanks his idiot brother away. Pro starts asking Formaggio questions, thinking he could be a good target. Stupid little rich kid. But to prosciuttos surpise, Formaggio is just a down to earth kid with no more money to his name than he needs to pay for this meal. Prosciutto takes him home after that. He doesn’t really offer any explanation.

(The rambling at the beginning of this paragraph actually happened lol so I paused for like 4 hrs oops)

Alright we are back. Had to leave to go to therapy and then scream at my mother and cry to my boyfriend but we are ready to go! Illuso and I really hope he’s the last one and I’m not forgetting one. Illuso was raised in an orphanage from infancy. No idea who his parents could even be. Fun fact: one of the nuns at the orphanage (cuz it’s an orphanage in Italy in 1980, they’re catholic.) nicknamed him Illuso because he was always pointing at things that weren’t there. As a tiny baby and a child, he would always be looking at things no one else can see (yes illuso is a natural stand user fight me). The nuns called him illuso as an insult, hoping to shame him into stopping. He never did. When he outgrew the orphanage, he decided to join the priesthood. He was 19, a priest in training, when the mafia came to the orphanage. They were collecting, and illuso knew they didn’t have the money this month. He tried to talk the mobsters down, but that went about as well as planned. 4 bullets to the chest, 3 open heart surgeries, and half a dozen resuscitations later, Illuso was released from the hospital. The orphanage had been shut down, and no one knew what had happened to the children or the nuns. With no where to go, illuso knew of one place that could use talents like his. The talents of steadily stealing money from the starving children of the church for a decade. It was during polpos test that illuso’s stand manifested. Not due to the arrow, but to protect its user from the other stand. Illuso was able to avoid Black Sabbath by hiding in his newfound mirror world until it was time to return the lighter to polpo (kinda cowardly but whatever.) he was assigned to risottos group by chance and was the last to join excluding Melone. But they loved him as if they had found him themselves.

[subaruthegamer]

About my OCs (Randy and Deacon)

Again, bear with me here.

Randal (Randy) David

“What’s rule #2?” - me

“Never *bleep* with anyone who’s bigger than you.” - half-drunk Randy - regarding why Jack effortlessly... 18+ed him.

Randal (as I occasionally call him) is from a slightly better off family from Hidden Springs, and he was born to parents who while idealistic on the outside, were actually a little bit difficult to live with on the inside. Even though is family life left a lot to be desired, in terms of education, he was attending some of the best schools that Hidden Springs had to offer. With that, his education did leave a rather bitter taste in his mouth since he had almost quite literally, burned his mind through everything that was asked of him. As a result, he now suffers from a mild case of depression which he hides even better than myself.

After turning 17, Randy had a tutor as a result of his rather intense struggle to keep up with everyone else. But he also started to notice an attraction to him (he was pretty much devastatingly handsome) and it started to get personal in a way. That was when Randy started to suffer a headache about his situation. Because his parents were quite uptight about him staying straight as an arrow, this was probably going to be the end (to him). So on the day he turned 18 after his high school graduation, he decided to enlist in the military. But he had to tell his parents about that and his sexuality. Rather than wait until everyone was at dinner, he waited until the night he was about to be shipped out to tell him.

You can guess how it ended for his parents - the bickering was endless.

I honestly don’t know how Randy pulled through with dealing with his training, but one thing I can say for certain is that while Randy was starting to get his body toned, but the one thing that I can say for sure is that he was definitely the smart one. This got him transfered once, and then again. Until he landed into Colby’s team. 

It was a crush at first sight after all - Colby was big, bulky - but obviously, he couldn’t just say he’s in love with him. Until one night, at a barracks somewhere we will probably never know, Randy managed to sneak out of his cabin, and for some rather insane reason, decided to peep on Colby. Colby had just came in from some weight-lifting, so he was going to take a shower. So when Randy peeped, he was getting turned on by Colby’s big size and when he turned around, how large his... uh... right, keeping this safe for work...

Anyway, Randy snuck back to his cabin and needed a moment alone to himself because his heart was pounding so fast. The next morning, he was summoned to Colby’s cabin and sure enough, Colby knew he had been spied on. So inevitably, rather than give him a lesson, Colby would go with his “lesson” by clearing up his schedule come liberty day, and giving him something that was sorely needed.

When the day was free, Randy went over nervous... he had never had somebody this close to him... and when the door closed in Colby’s cabin... it didn’t take long for Colby to slowly strip him down and start his “lesson.” Sure enough, they were sweaty and layered.

This kept up for weeks on end. Working together and creating a formidable team of tactics and actual fighting with (potential enemies) they were literally climbing the ranks during the day, and being given lessons during the night. In fact it got to a point where they had been turned into the stories of legend because of Randy’s moaning.

Sadly (for Randy) it didn’t last, because Colby rather strangely quit his position after he himself spent 6 years in the military. With an address if Randy ever got himself loose, he stayed on - but while he was good over the next year with other people, they got transferred out because Randy wasn’t quite as compatible with others simply due to the dynamic that he and Colby had. So, he quit.

After that, he sort of bounced all over the country, seeing if Colby was there, hoping to hopefully continue with what he and Colby had - enter me.

Yeah, it’s a pretty good guess as to what happened when he finally found Colby. This was an awkward reunion for sure, since Colby was in love with me, and Randy was now... the ex.

Obviously with him sharing a room at his Riverview house (which I was still studying in college) this did have a few awkward moments - then it started going into a slightly strange stalker-ish vibe that was coming off. I was probably overreacting, since Randy’s questions were really sort of borderline creep~ish to the point where I had to have a conversation with Colby with regards to it. 

“I mean, in hindsight, it’s not so bad - I have a feeling we’re getting somewhere.” - me

“It’s more of... will he do everything to replace you?” - Colby

And it didn’t happen. Strange as it may seem, it just didn’t happen. Despite all of it, he was still trying (a bit too hard) to try and remain upbeat about the whole ordeal, but it left me with the impression that he was a little cold with it.

After I graduated and got a job starting my way up with being an intern, Randy got a job as a filing clerk in the office. We started hitting it off as friends, and he was starting to have this sense that he wanted Colby, but he didn’t want to fight over what Colby’s mind up was which depressed him. As I was a former sober companion then, I always notice the signs that one may possibly start to need vices. The job he got was something to live for, but it just felt like he wanted more at the end of the day.

We had our fun, of course, as friends. Walks, drinks, the occasional shameless flirt. I worked my way up but then sort of stalled, which got Randy to catch up to being an intern. By the time I was given the opportunity to be a full-blown journalist, Randy was on the heels of being one. His comparison tests were unique in a way nobody has ever seen before (why, I will never tell you!) but we both got into our moment in the spotlight - I was working on reviewing cars, he was reviewing consumer products.

Furthermore, we also both got job opportunities in Lucky Palms - hence the move.

Which did leave one question - was Randy really going to try and shoot himself past me and into Colby’s arms? The three of us decided that Randy can be friends-with-benefits with Colby. Which meant that there was no relationship with Colby - it being over as Randy came to the reality that Colby was in love with me. But the occasional hookup would be okay.

Did it mean he can also sink his claws into me as well? (hehe...)

Deacon Peaks

“Lemme get this right - you got that tattoo to hide several of scars on your arm?” - me

“It’s not something I’m proud of.” - Deacon

Deacon has been through a lot. Actually, more than even I could describe. Coming from the slightly rough side of Twinbrook, his story wasn’t as fairytale as his blond hair and tattoos suggest. Deacon and his sister (who we’ve never seen but is mentioned on occasions) were born to a rather alcoholic father, who beat everyone on several occasions. Deacon sustained a lot of the injuries through school, and until his mother finally went to his grandfather, he was still suffering a lot which the school staff at the time turned a blind eye to.

When his mother finally had enough, his grandfather (who he called Pops) had the whole family (minus his father) move into his place and chased his father away with a shotgun. After that, at 14, he was starting to put the pieces of himself back together, but it started to take a domino effect on his education, since he was also bullied through school. Until a new principal came into effect 2 years later, the pieces he had allowed him to get by, but not get better. In fact, from what I remember about the conversations Deacon and I had when we were alone was that he also started an attraction to boys - who then also got kicked around for liking them as well. So, clearly, high school wasn’t exactly something he’s enjoyed.

That gradually changed slightly as he entered college - although it was still a painful time for him - even as he turned 21. Because Deacon was at a small college party, the temptation to drink too much was just there. I mean, everyone was simply getting too drunk to get comfortable. Even in this setting, the pressure was still on. But he walked away. And good thing he did, because hazing was a thing that occurred then.

Now, Deacon entered college with loans, so unsurprisingly, he did have to work quite hard through college. It wasn’t the most enlightening difference, but it was enough to live by modestly. He still had to bike to school, but it was enough to work and live by in a way. Although with Deacon’s athletic career - he graduated alright, but there is a problem: the amount of debt wasn’t exactly something that enlightens a prospective team. So after graduating, he held a few dead-end jobs before moving to Lucky Palms.

While looking through the ads list at the supermarket in Lucky Palms, I had advertised a room for sale (this was post-Adam, pre-Jack - draw your own conclusions) and, Deacon, ever the blondie, came in and was about to text the number on the ad. Sure enough, it was me. Randy had been living in a room on his own, and with Lucky Palms property values, renting a spare room that could be used could supplement what we paid.

Sure enough, Deacon was sort of back where we started until a team mascot position at the stadium opened. So he took it - but he was facing a little bit of ridicule from not being “from the bag - and probably rusty.” Obviously, he hid this from us until I checked in on him... and where I may have introduced him to Randy.

The two went on a night on the town at a bar, and Deacon (according to Randy) did have some degree of fun, but there was something missing. Now, when they got home with Randy (on the gray line of tipsy and drunk), Deacon decided that rather than carry Randy to his room (which factually was closer to the stairs than Deacon’s was) he would take him to his.

What happened during the night would be anyone’s guess (relax, nothing of a rather criminal nature happened), but when Randy woke up (unsurprisingly slightly hungover) Randy had been giving Deacon a cute smile while waiting for him to wake up. When Deacon turned around, his heart was beating quickly. Randy was still staring into his eyes with this cooling effect that apparently gradually got them to cuddle even closer in bed.

They spent the whole day cuddling until... Deacon made the first move with a kiss in bed. With Randy slightly shocked (and hungry) that Deacon wasn’t sure if he blew it. But Randy responded by kissing him back :)

This was a gradual secret until I accidentally got him and Deacon making out because Randy accidentally took my phone and I was going to give it back.

What was interesting about this was that they moment they started dating was also the same moment Colby proposed to me.

Randy was the catalyst in Deacon’s life, and soon enough, Deacon started flying up the ladder from being a mascot, to being one of the most sought after players. And before you ask - they’ve decided to be boyfriend and boyfriend.

[thejudgingtrash]

Virgin Percy and chad Annabeth omg

Here you go, love! :D Also kids feel free to stay away. It’s sfw/nothing explicit is going on, everyone is an adult but obviously there are small references about sex.

Let me swing that cliched trope, anon! :D also thank you again Torie @percyheartsannabeth ^^

Red Solo Cup (WC: 2.4k)

It didn’t come as a surprise to Percy that Annabeth rushed past him into his apartment and threw herself onto the sofa. She basically was at home at the Jackson’s and a more than welcome guest. “What happened?” Percy asked.

“Broke off with Ethan,” the blonde shrugged and grabbed his cherry coke. Another boyfriend that the college freshman dumped, another nonchalant reaction from his 19-year-old friend. Percy had learned early on not to ask Annabeth why her relationships didn’t work out. His best friend would rage into a monologue for hours and talk about every little detail. Every single one.

From the small size of a penis, to the number of warts her ex’s grandma had. Every detail. Percy had been burned more than once before.

“Well another one bites the dust,” the young woman said and turned her favorite show on. Percy had to admit. He was jealous. Whereas Annabeth was living her fullest and free as a bird with relationships and flings, he didn’t. Instead of hanging out with new friends, he stayed in and babysat his sister. His interactions were mostly limited to group chats. The Dominican rarely got out. Percy didn’t know whether it was social anxiety speaking or just an extreme case of introversion.

He looked okay, passable. According to some of Annabeth’s girlfriends he was cute and looked exotic, although he didn’t like that word. Having light eyes and a deep complexion shouldn’t count as looking exotic. Percy wasn’t built like his cousin Charles Beckendorf and he also didn’t have the charm of Annabeth’s ex Luke Castellan. Or the coolness of Annabeth’s latest fallen boyfriend Ethan Nakamura. But he was passable. More than fine. Not a huge slob, a great listener, an amazing cook and a great friend. So how come he never had a real relationship. How come that he never had been kissed, that he still remained a virgin to that day? Was his quietness that off putting? Percy just hoped that he wouldn’t join the crazy ranks of 40-year-old incels spewing their bullshit online and potentially harming people. He just wanted to find his soulmate he could cover in his baking goods.

“What’s going on?” asked Annabeth who was confused at his silence. Percy was usually way more talkative and would fight for the remote control because he hated watching her dramas.

“I don’t know. I’d really like to meet someone to talk to,” he confessed and didn’t dare to look her in the eyes.

“Huh? What do you mean? We’re talking right now.” She took another sip from his drink.

Percy rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I’d like to have a relationship. Explore crushes and love and all of that.”

Annabeth was surprised. She didn’t know that being single annoyed him that much. “Oh please. Relationships are overrated. Trust me.”

“It’s not just that. I haven’t got any experience.” Percy was a terrible flirter. Sweaty palms, accelerated heartbeat, and stuttering. Middle school and high school had been hell. “I haven’t even kissed someone and I’m nearly twenty!”

“So what? You’re making a deal out of this. It’s so weird and just not like you. That literally doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. Don’t force it. When you’re ready, you’re ready.” His friend shrugged. “Also, if I remember correctly, we have kissed before.”

A sloppy wet kiss that Percy buried deep into the darkest pits of his mind.

“Come on, Annabeth.” Percy rolled his eyes. He almost would have been offended if he hadn’t been so tired. “That was in ninth grade and part of truth or dare.”

Annabeth crossed her arms. “I still think that counts!” she disagreed.

Percy just sunk into the sofa and sighed. “Alright. How many people have I kissed that haven’t been you?”

Annabeth remained quiet. Percy had a point. He really didn’t go out to meet new people. Meet new friends or acquaintances. Meet someone who he could see as a date. The blonde felt uneasy and licked her lips. Her gaze rested on the young man next to her who had a sour expression on her face and continued watching Grey’s Anatomy against his wishes.

“Okay, Mr. I’d like a relationship. There’s a party next week at Reyna’s,” Annabeth started and caught his attention.

“You want to have some experiences? That’ll be the place to be and see what you’ve got. You’re in?”

Percy had to admit. He felt uneasy and nervous. But then he sealed his fate and nodded.

“Okay, let’s go to bed, I’m tired.” Annabeth and he sleeping in the same bed was a habit they had ever since they were nine and it never stopped.

The week passed. Seminars and classes had been attended and assignments were half way done. Friday evening was the time where everyone was finally letting loose. Percy was getting ready in his room.

Annabeth’s advice was a text she had sent an hour earlier which only said don’t show up naked, wear something comfortable. Not particularly helpful. He settled for a white dress shirt and dark jeans. Perhaps too much, perhaps too little. He wasn’t a party person so he wouldn’t know. It wasn’t much until he saw Annabeth in front of Reyna’s house where people were already drinking and laughing in front of it. She was speaking to a little group of people and seemingly cracked a joke as they began to laugh.

“Percy!” She waved him over. She looked good in her jeans and the dark crop top. Lose golden curls that rested on her shoulders. The group dissolved and entered the house.

Annabeth examined him. “You look good,” she smiled.

“Likewise.”

Annabeth’s mouth was agape. Then she laughed. “You really need a lesson in flirting. Let me be your teacher.” He’d rather not. Annabeth in hunting mode was something you only wanted to witness once.

As soon as they stepped into the house, they were greeted by clouds of weed, sweat and cheap alcohol. A brunette shadow walked up to them.

“Perseus! You made it!” Reyna hugged him and he stiffly hugged her back. Yes, he was that bad with people. Even people he had known for years.

“Hi Reyna,” he laughed. Reyna raised an eyebrow and looked at Annabeth. The native Puerto Rican thought that Percy would bounce like he always did.

“Reyna!” Thalia, Reyna’s girlfriend called for her.

“Okay, see you guys around.” Reyna excused herself.

Annabeth turned to Percy. “Alright. Let’s scout and watch out for some prey for you.”

“You’re making it sound like you’re Bear Grylls ready to fight for some survival shit.” Percy was weirded out. Party Annabeth was scary.

Annabeth laughed and slapped his shoulder. “That’s basically the spirit.”

He followed her into the living room which was full of drunkards shouting and grinding over the worst DJ Khaled remix that he has ever heard. Before Annabeth could talk about the plans she had in her mind for Percy, the fates had other intentions for them.

“Oh hey! Annabeth, right?” Some blond schmuck approached them. He looked like a trust fund baby that has never heard the word no in his life before.

“Octavian! Oh my god, it’s been a while!” They hugged and Percy felt incredibly awkward. Being the third wheel was not fun.

“Who’s that?” Octavian eyes the tall young man behind her.

“Oh, that’s just Percy, don’t mind him.” Ouch. That hurt.

“I’m going to get myself something to drink. You two have fun,” Percy decided. Annabeth waved and promptly forgot about him.

Percy fought his way to the kitchen. He had forgotten how rude drunk and high people could be, especially when they loved to block paths. As he entered the kitchen, he ran into someone. A young woman with auburn hair and a frown on her face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He asked and helped her stand up right.

“Oh yeah. I’m just tired of this place. Why did I agree to come to this party?” she sighed and was glad that the cute stranger wasn’t part of the annoying drunk crowd.

“I feel you. I hate this,” he sighed. They both shared a smile and a laugh.

“Why did we agree to this?” she giggled.

“I guess we like to torture ourselves,” Percy chuckled. She was nice. Found an instant liking to her. “Percy,” he introduced himself.

“Call me Calypso,” she smiled. An instant connection had been made.

“Want to drink something? Non-alcoholic that is?” Percy proposed and hoped that his voice didn’t crack.

“Gladly,” she left and took his hand.

It dawned Annabeth slowly. She had forgotten something. Didn’t she come to this party with an intention? Not just drinking and dancing. But something else. The college student had been talking to Octavian, danced with him, talked a bit with his friends and now they were alone again. It was abundantly clear that he was interested in a short fling.

“Oh fuck,” she remembered what she had forgotten. Or more who she had forgotten. Percy. Where was he?

“Huh?” Octavian asked.

“I’ve got to check in on a friend, don’t move, I’ll be right back,” the blonde smiled and winked.

“Oh, alright.” Octavian said. He was trapped in Annabeth’s web. Just the way she liked it.

Annabeth looked out for Percy. She had seen her friends Piper, Clarisse, Hazel and Reyna again but none of them had seen him. Annabeth checked her phone. Apart from Instagram stories that had been shared frantically, no new messages. Percy was the type to text her immediately should he leave. Hell, he would have told her in person.

She reentered the living room with a frown on her face. Her gray eyes scanned the area and actually found his messy black haircut on the dancefloor fairly easy. Percy and dancing. A smile slipped onto Annabeth’s face. Then it dropped. Percy wasn’t working it in the middle of the room alone. He had his hands around the waist of a curvy small brunette. Percy had gotten his wish. The entire purpose of this operation was to meet someone new. And the way he threw his head back to laugh proved that he fairly enjoyed himself.

Annabeth felt a thing and that one thing only: boiling rage. Her feet acted immediately. She marched to the dancefloor and pushed everyone aside that had been in her way until she got to Percy and the mysterious girl at his side.

“Percy! There you are!” Annabeth said and threw herself onto him in a hug and broke his embrace with the stranger. Then she grabbed him and pulled him out of the crowd. Confused, the mystery girl followed them.

Percy was perplexed and looked down at Annabeth, who was behaving very oddly. That was not the usual chill Annabeth he knew. Percy looked to Calypso and saw the hurt in her eyes. Oh no, she must think we’re together, he thought.

“Uh, Calypso this is Annabeth, a friend of mine,” Percy explained and saw how the brunette visibly relaxed.

“Best friend you meant to say,” Annabeth corrected and stole his red solo cup. She had to admit that being reduced to a friend hurt her way too much. Her smile cracked at the taste of soda instead of a delicious liquor. She had forgotten that Percy was a non-drinker in the heat of the moment. She needed something that would wash her annoyance away. Annabeth shook hands with that Calypso girl.

“Calypso, like the dance?” she asked with a slightly condescending tone.

“Uh yeah, exactly. Like the dance.” Calypso said and raised an eyebrow as Annabeth got a hold of Percy’s arm.

Percy looked back to Annabeth and gently tried to pry her off. Her grip only tightened, and her fingernails dug into his skin.

“And what is this supposed to be?” Calypso asked and pointed at Annabeth who claimed Percy’s complete right side. She sounded annoyed.

“Nothing,” Annabeth innocently smiled. The cold harsh look in her eyes said something else.

“Um, Annabeth, weren’t you talking with that Octavian guy? Or what was his name?” Percy’s discomfort was clear, and Annabeth ignored the hint.

“Oh yes, but I’d rather spend my time with you!” she grinned and didn’t let go of him.

“Sorry girlie but it’s clear that you’re ruining our moment.” Calypso’s hand waved between her and Percy.

“What moment? Am I not allowed to hang out with my best friend?” The irritation in Annabeth’s voice rose. Percy and Calypso looked at her in shock.

“If he’s your best friend, then I’m pretty sure that you’ll see enough of him? Just leave.” Calypso rolled her eyes.

“What if I don’t want to?” Annabeth innocently pouted and tilted her head. “Percy’s always there for me which is what I want right now. Sorry Calypso. We’re having a moment right now.”

Calypso’s mouth pressed into a thin line. Annabeth enjoyed seeing her frustration rise up.

“Alright, listen Annabeth normally I wouldn’t say this but you-” Calypso’s eyes widened. Annabeth had turned Percy’s head to herself and pressed a kiss onto his lips.

Percy’s eyes widened before they automatically shut down. Annabeth was an excellent kisser and her soft lips felt like a dream. Percy had to admit that he enjoyed the kiss. He enjoyed it way too much. Then he broke it off. Shock was written on his face and his eyes wandered from the all too pleased Annabeth to a speechless and hurt Calypso.

“I can’t believe it.” Calypso shook her head, turned around and left.

Annabeth smiled a victorious grin. Then she looked up to Percy and saw him for the first time. Not as a friend, but as a handsome guy that she happened to know all too well. His sea green eyes scanned her face and his lips were slightly parted.

“Annabeth, what in the fuck was that-” Annabeth cut him off with yet another kiss that she deepened. This time Percy didn’t break the kiss off. He held her tight and touched her warm back. He felt her grinning between the kisses.

“Come with me.” Annabeth said. She didn’t give him a choice. She took his hand and dragged him out of the building. Party be damned, they could celebrate at home amongst other activities. Alone.

“What are you doing? Where are we going?” Percy asked.

“Oh,” she said and turned around to look him in the eyes. “I’m just making sure that no one else is bothering you.”

The End

Tbh, I don’t mind me some hot girl Annabeth... Thanks again for the suggestion, anon!

All Cookout Fics

Cute/Cursed Cookout Writing Prompts

[divinion1990]

Family Law

Summary: Fourteen years ago, Sherry Blendy and Lyon Vastia shared one fateful night together. Now, the conflicted fourteen-year-old Chelia discovers that her father is not the man that she believed all these years. Their journeys are destined to intertwine, but will the truth destroy their family bonds, or pave a strong future together? Collection: Fairy Tail Dad’s AU Main Characters: Chelia Blendy, Lyon Vastia, Sherry Blendy, Gray Fullbuster

----

May 12, 2020

The sounds of singing and pop music played by an overworked speaker resonated throughout the community centre. To some it was sweet, to others it was a nail through the forehead. Bouncing around the wooden floorboards and the pale teal walls, escaping through to the small reception room at the front.

“I’m sorry, the halls have ended up double booked due to the holidays,” the receptionist apologised to the two men. “The girls will be finished up in the next five minutes or so, I promise. Then the day-care centre will be free again!”

Lyon nodded, a polite smile written across his face. “That’s quite alright. We can wait.”

“Or we could not,” Gray rolled his eyes.

The older male scoffed. “Nonsense! This meeting is the best thing for you. See, they’re stopping already!” Lyon told him.

It was true. The sounds of the singing were replaced quickly with childish giggling and running around the room. Bags, coats and all other belongings were quickly gathered by the gossiping teenagers, little care for what was around them as they discussed their latest rehearsal successes.

“Did you hear that high note? And the dance routine… That last step was so hard!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it!”

“I’m sure we’ll do much better next time.”

“We’re already getting much better!”

Gray tucked himself into the corner of the room as the small collection of young women raced out in front of him. They bounced around with an excited air, chattering and wishing each other the best of luck. It only gave Gray reason to give Lyon a long, flat stare.

“I promise you; it’ll be worth it,” Lyon reassured him, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ve recommended similar groups to many, many others in your exact position. They’re a great way to assist you in getting over your issues.”

Gray’s frown turned into a glare. “Issues?”

“See, Aki agrees with me,” Lyon offered, leaning down to the child by Gray’s side. He in no way seemed to be in an agreeing mood, too busy staring at the small crowd from behind Gray’s legs and holding onto his father’s hand tightly. Lyon didn’t seem to notice this. “We’re going to help daddy get over his issues. Aren’t we Aki?”

“Please don’t talk to my son about issues…” Gray hissed at him, grabbing onto Aki’s hand even tighter.

“The room should be free now,” the woman behind the desk called out to them both. “Second door on the right.”

“Thanks,” Gray huffed, quickly moving away and towards the door.

Lyon grinned proudly, watching his friend disappear with his son. Without a shadow of doubt, he knew that Gray would take great things from this experience. It had been an excellent idea - after all, Lyon had tried and tested this many times with other clients.

“Mom! We got through the second verse!”

“Excellent work, both of you! Oh Wendy, I love what you’ve done with your hair!”

“Th-thank you, Mrs Blendy…”

“Oh Wendy, how many times? You can call me-“

“Lyon!”

Lyon blinked suddenly, looking back to the man calling his name. “S-Sorry?”

Gray frowned back at him. “Are you coming or what?” he asked him impatiently. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just… thought I recognised someone,” Lyon explained, quickly ignoring his instincts and following Gray into the room.

 -----

 “I saw him today.”

Ren turned to his wife, pausing. It wasn’t her words that made him concerned, but the way that she held her arms over her body, the awkward glance away, the pauses between each breath. It was all enough to make him stop and listen.

“Oh?”

She hesitated. The words caught on her tongue. It held an almost ominous presence in the build up to her admission. “Her father.”

He paused again. He turned away, putting another item back into the cupboard. “I see,” he said simply.

She bit her lip. Squeezed her arms tight. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him around. I’d assumed he’d moved away again. But he was at the community centre at the same time as Chelia. If I’d been a few minutes late…” she gave a heavy, defeated sigh. “Not that I suppose that would be a bad thing…”

Ren just listened, continuing to put away the groceries in a solemn silence. Hearing that his silence was being returned, his hand stilled. “I don’t think this is my problem…” he said slowly.

She sighed again, this time more dramatically. No matter how sharp and uncaring that might have sounded to the untrained ear, Chelia understood. “No, you’re right. I need to decide what to do with this. We’ll stay a family no matter what happens. She isn’t going to stop loving you, you know,” she told him with a twinkle in her eye.

He turned away, taking an excruciatingly long time to put away just one can of peas.

She giggled. Ren was being as proud as always, but she could always see the love there, even when he didn’t like to admit it. “Thank you,” she told him, walking back to his side and placing a kiss on his cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

——

“And then she started going on about love and how we are all still a family,” Chelia finished explaining before ducking her head into yet another dusty box.

“I see…” Wendy told her softly, brushing the dust from another label. ‘Chelia’s Toys, 2006’. She pushed the box aside. “I can’t imagine what it must feel like finding out your father isn’t-I mean, he is-but-“

“It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret,” Chelia admitted, pulling out random items and inspecting them. “I always suspected. I don’t look anything like him.”

“That’s true… but even so…” Wendy whispered quietly.

“Nothing’s changed,” Chelia told her seriously. “Even though he isn’t related to me by blood, he’s still my dad. All I’m looking for now is my father.”

Wendy nodded. It really was admirable watching the way that Chelia had dealt with the news that would have shattered her own world. To the point where she was concerned that denial was burning strong inside her, no matter how well she seemed to have rationalised the information. The only thing left for Wendy now was to be a support, a close friend, and a sister to prove not all family relied on blood.

“Um… Chelia…” Wendy paused, trying to get the words right that she’d already thought through a hundred times. “If your mother had this conversation with you… why didn’t she tell you who your father was? Why are we having to look in boxes?”

Chelia paused. It was a question she’d both expected and still struggled to find an answer for. “I didn’t want to ask her...” she admitted, looking down. “I didn’t want her to feel like I was-like I was turning my back on Dad,” she said.

Wendy nodded slowly. There seemed to be a lot more emotions going on there than what Chelia was willing to say, but that at least seemed healthy. She reached over and put a hand over her friend’s.

“We’ll find him together,” she promised her.

Chelia’s smile lit up. She jumped on Wendy, grabbing her into a tight, tight hug. “Thank you, Wendy.”

Wendy gasped at the sudden affection but smiled back warmly. She held on tight, knowing that it wasn’t for her own sake that they’d share this moment. “Any time,” she promised, giving another squeeze before letting go. As she did, her eyes drifted to another box in the far corner, and a name that filled with promise. “Look,” she gestured.

It was everything Chelia had both anticipated and feared. The cardboard box with the words scribbled along the side; ‘Sherry High School/College’. She slid across the floor to the box, pushing away the thick coatings of dust. A line of Sellotape that had long since lost all adhesive properties came away easily in her hands, as she opened the flaps. Everything seemed painfully slow to reveal. An oversized school sweatshirt, with gold embroidery of a snaked creature emblem. Old schoolbooks that were filled with notes, love-hearts and scribbles that could have one day been considered ‘important’. Dusty shot glasses that had been packed and forgotten about, tainted with memories of exciting nights.

Usually, Chelia would have found it all fascinating. A different side to the loving mother she had always known, one that had her whole life ahead of her and – from the contents of this box – seemed content to spent it chasing dreams, scribbling love-hearts and enjoying life. She began to pull out pictures, so many frozen images of long nights ago. She had been a popular woman, wearing a wide smile and more often than not with her hands cupped into a heart shape.

“Your mother was beautiful,” Wendy commented, glancing at the pictures that Chelia was putting onto the ground. “She-she still is beautiful! She was very beautiful in these pictures, though…”

Chelia nodded. “She was,” she agreed, starting to see the patterns. Though it often seemed she would be with a different person every night, she finally saw the friendship groups emerging, until she confidently could pick out a picture with four young people. “I think… I think this is it…”

Wendy glanced over, a serious look on her face. “… You’re sure?”

A small pause from the young woman before another nod. “The way that mother talked about him… I’ve only heard her talk that way about me and my father. It was someone that meant a lot to her. One of her closest friends. It has to be someone from these pictures, one of these… one of these men is my real father.”

----

Sometimes it felt like Lyon was a dark mark upon the world of children.

He was the monster that forced parents to fight and separate. He was the demon that turned lives upside down. He was the villain who asked the painful questions: Who do you want to live with? Did they hurt you? Who do you feel safe with? How often would you like to spend time with these people? They were no questions that any child should have had to answer, and it was not an easy question to ask. Sometimes Lyon had to play the bad guy, for the most important reasons.

There was always a secret sense of dread when he saw a child in distress. There were the background thoughts running through his head, the guilt of separating a child from comfort, the terror that if he made one wrong step someone could get seriously hurt, and then there was that look. The one that cut him right to his core. Even if he forced himself into that polite smile, tried to offer a peace offering of candy, and pray the child was not traumatised for life.

Lyon’s eyes stayed pinned to the small child, watching him even as he took continual sips from his coffee mug. Waiting for him to make a sign, some kind of indication of the trauma he’d caused. Or perhaps the salvation he’d brought.

Instead, Aki just brought him a small block. Lyon looked at him quizzically… and turned back to Gray.

Gray nodded with a small smile. “He’s giving it to you,” he said with a small smirk, relishing perhaps a little too much in how uncomfortable Lyon looked.

Lyon looked back at the ‘gift’, reaching over and taking it. “Oh… thank you very much.”

The child beamed and walked off again to search for more toys.

“For someone who works with kids all day, you sure are awkward around them,” Gray commented.

It was hard for Lyon to understand what Gray’s tone meant, even after all his years of training in other’s true motives. “I usually don’t talk to children as young as Aki…” he admitted, looking even more surprised as another wooden block was passed to him by a very proud looking Aki. “And when I do, they’re usually not social visits… Does that bother you?” he asked.

Gray paused for a few seconds, before shaking his head. “You’re a natural,” he said.

Lyon didn’t feel like a natural. He put down his mug to take yet another block, as Aki disappeared into his toybox and produced five more. He giggled as he was racing back and forth across the room now, trying to drop them into his father’s friend’s lap, a fun new game to explore.

“If you say so…” Lyon said, muttering yet another ‘thank you’ and looking more perplexed by the second. “Is he usually so, uh, generous?”

“No,” Gray smiled faintly. “It means he likes you. And trusts you.”

Lyon swallowed hard. That innocence. He was clearly far too young to understand. Either that, or he had been through too much and resorted to taking kindness in the most unlikely ways. “Well… I like him too,” he admitted, smiling back.

When Aki came running back over, instead Lyon held out one of the building blocks back in his direction. The child’s eyes widened, taking it in his hands and inspecting it intently. He smiled and made a happy little sound, running off again to repeat the game again.

“I’m surprised you don’t have a kid yourself…”

Lyon paused. There it was again, an edge of sadness he’d been expecting whenever around children. No matter how much joy or love it filled him with. “I… got distracted,” he excused himself, looking away. He didn’t want to talk about the years he’d wasted. On work, on some girl, on paths taken that left him much older and much less wise than he’d hoped to be by now. It wasn’t a choice he’d made, but many smaller choices which had left him alone.

It became clear he wasn’t going to say any more. In the spirit of distraction, Lyon quickly became caught into the new games with Aki. He poured the blocks onto the coffee table and within a few seconds had been showing the young boy how to rearrange them. Or Aki had been showing Lyon. It was hard to tell, Gray noticed, finding a very small hint of a smile on his face as he watched them both.

At least this, this small protected bubble, felt safe.

[savanaclawserval]

Leona x Terra: Citrine

Author’s Note: This is my first time writing something completely from Leona’s perspective so I hope it’s not too out of character u_u This shortfic is actually more on the domestic side than romantic but anyway, enjoy! 

~~~

Slipping out into the cool evening air, Leona tugged the hood of the cloak he was wearing over his head before looking down at the glowing screen of his smartphone. Spending winter break with his family had been… draining, to say the least. He also had the misfortune of overhearing his brother and sister-in-law talking about potential marriage candidates, most likely for him. Leona wasn’t interested in knowing more, and never will be. For now, he just wanted to get away from it all. He typed out a text message and hit send. 

Leona: I’m coming over. 

Terra: Right now?? Um...

Terra: Let me send you my address then.

After he received the address, Leona started making his way towards his destination, refusing to look back towards the royal palace and the looming shadow it casted upon him. 

Leona didn’t keep track of how long he had been walking, only paying attention to his surroundings in case somebody recognized him, but he eventually made it to the Knightsbanes’ household. By the time he had arrived, the silver moon was starting to rise from the depths of the inky night sky. He took in his surroundings. From what he could see, their home wasn’t anything impressive, at least not to a prince, yet there was a feeling of welcoming warmth to it. He stood at the front door for a while, briefly contemplating if this was even a good idea in the first place, before raising his fist to knock. It didn’t take long for someone to open the door, and he was greeted by someone with a mischievous lilt in their smooth voice. 

“Why, good evening, your highness. What brings you here?” 

Leona was a bit taken aback by the appearance of the woman before him. She was almost a carbon copy of Terra, with the same large ears, the same jet black hair, and the same yellow eyes… but, of course, he knew it couldn’t be her. Her voice and her hairstyle didn’t match Terra’s, and the way she held herself was quite different too. In fact, Leona felt… a little intimidated by her presence, similar to how he felt whenever his sister-in-law got upset with him. As expected though, none of these emotions reflected on the languid expression on his face. 

“Just call me Leona, Mrs. Knightsbane.” He paused, “I’m here to visit Terra.” 

“Ah, I see~” She had a knowing smile on her lips, as if she knew a secret that he didn’t. “Well, come in then! We were just about to have dinner.”

Leona followed her inside into their living room, removing his cloak and keeping it tucked under the crook of his arm. The interior of the house, he noted, was just as cozy as the exterior suggested, and the scent of food lingered on his nose. He continued examining the room until his eyes landed on a lovingly framed photograph hanging on the wall of Terra as a child, smiling at the camera with innocent glee and rounded cheeks. Her hair was tied up into two, small pigtails. 

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he thought that picture was cute. 

Right when they walked into the dining room, an older man with short, sandy blond hair and spotted serval ears emerged from what Leona presumed was the kitchen, carrying a steaming pot of beef stew in his hands. 

“Honey, do we have a guest tonig…” His sentence died on his lips the moment his eyes landed on Leona. Leona looked back at Terra’s father, wondering if he was going to drop the food. With trembling, clammy hands, he managed to place the pot onto the table before approaching the prince, nervous energy radiating from him like beams of light. 

“Y-your highness, is there anything we can do for you?” 

“Just Leona is fine. I’m here to see your daughter.” 

“Terra? She… she didn’t offend you in any way, did she?” 

Leona didn’t know how to answer him. Perhaps a simple “no” would have sufficed, but he did find it mildly offensive that she had, against all odds, wormed her way into his mind. Maybe he was just worried about her, as he should be, since Terra was a girl foolish enough to attend an all-boys school, but there were other emotions deep in his heart that he didn’t want to confront just yet. He was about to open his mouth to respond when his ears picked up on footsteps rushing down a flight of stairs. Leona turned his attention away from Mr. Knightsbane and towards Terra as she moved towards him. 

“Leona! I’m sorry for the wait! I hope my parents didn’t give you a hard time.” She said, an apologetic tone in her voice. 

He blinked in surprise, not used to seeing her outside of the usual uniform at Night Raven College. Terra wore a slightly oversized yellow T-shirt with a pair of dark gray shorts, and her long hair pulled back into a neat braid. Her bright eyes, glimmering gold like citrine, looked at him with a hint of happiness, of adoration… and Leona took comfort in that. 

“No, your parents didn’t give me a hard time.” His expression visibly softened. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Mrs. Knightsbane threw a quick glance at her husband, and a smirk, before settling down into one of the chairs at the dining table. “Come join us, Leona. Let’s eat together.” Mr. Knightsbane continued to look discomforted at the presence of royalty in his household, but remained quiet as he sat down besides his wife, who gave him a playful nudge. Terra and Leona took their places in the chairs across from them. The food on the table, although not extravagant or made of luxurious ingredients, was obviously made with love, and Leona couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy in his stomach. 

“Um, I know this isn’t much in comparison to what they serve you at the palace but… I hope you’ll like it anyway.” Terra gave him a shy smile. “My parents are pretty good at cooking.” 

“Yes!” Terra’s mother interjected, “and while we’re all enjoying the food, why don’t you and Leona tell us everything that’s been happening at school, hmm?”

Leona leaned back in his chair, feeling more relaxed than he was earlier and letting an easygoing grin form on his lips. “Huh, well, if I’m being honest, I think it would take all night for us to tell you everything.” 

Mrs. Knightsbane leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of her slender hand as she looked at Leona impishly, “The night is young, my dear. However~ I’m sure Terra’s room has enough space to accommodate you if you’d like to stay overni--” 

“Absolutely not!” Mr. Knightsbane spoke up, giving her a look of warning mixed with mild panic. 

“M-mom! What are you saying?!” Terra yelped. 

Leona watched Terra with amusement as her expression shifted to one of embarrassment, her ears going flat against her head and the color of her cheeks becoming a dusty pink. He chuckled to himself. For the longest time, Leona had only known power… but perhaps, if he could experience this feeling of warmth for the rest of life, maybe he’d be willing to give it all up.

[dibidibifiction]

Criminal In My Mind: Chapter 4

Warning: foul language

Pairing: Choi Minho x Reader Word count: 1.6k

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction made for personal entertainment of readers. The writer does not ever intend to offend her readers nor does she aim to spread false information about anyone as to pay any disrespect to the real-life persons whom the characters are based on. She also does not claim ownership to any of the images that are being used.

masterlist Chapter 3

MINHO

I tend to check up on Taemin every time I see him on campus ever since he got beaten up a week ago. So far, nobody has been following him anymore. My shift at the café has just ended and now, I’m cleaning myself up a little bit for our Landscape Photography class at three, which is in twenty minutes. 

So I hurry up, grab my backpack, bow to Manager Jinki goodbye, and head out the glass doors.

I’ve been studying at this school for over a year now and no one has attempted to befriend me but Taemin. He’s the only one who bothers to ask me to hang out with him and his friends, yet I always ignored him. This may sound cheesy but I kind of appreciate him that way. I don’t know why I’m just realizing this now.

I’m just walking to class when suddenly, I feel a cold breeze touch my skin, chills down my spine follows. A man from afar reveals himself right before my eyes, wearing the hood of his jacket over his head. 

I stop abruptly. Why is he staring at me? I’m starting to sweat and my heart decides to beat faster than it should, as if telling me to panic. 

I attempt to run the other way but I bump into Taemin. He seems frightened. Was he walking behind me all this time?

“Minho Hyung,” his eyes widen. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” I lie.

“Let’s go to class together.”

I fake a smile and glance back at the spot where I saw the familiar presence, but he’s gone.

. . .

I managed to come through during class since I have a growing passion for photography. It kind of distracted me from what I encountered earlier. 

What I love most about photography is that it’s instantly still with just a click of a button on the camera. You can edit things the way you want it and create something else out of them. But something about its steadiness gets to me and calms me down. I hadn’t known that I had this love for it until I finished high school since I lived my life unhappy and meaningless. I always thought it was too late to find my passion but if it wasn’t for my mother, I’d be wanting to kill myself today.

Now that class is over, I’m back to my fear. I swear I saw him die. Was that really him? How did he find me? How long has he been following me?

I step out of the building when Taemin calls out to me, running.

“Hyung!” He catches up. “Do you have class after this?”

“Yeah, Art History in about half an hour,” I answer him, trying to hide my sinking soul at the moment.

“Oh, okay. Do you have some time later to work on our assignment? I picked you as my partner,” he informs me, smiling.

I stare at him blankly. I must have missed something since I have no idea what he’s talking about. My thoughts are running in circles right now.

“Hyung?” 

“Oh,” I come to my senses. “Yes, sure. Come by my apartment tonight at eight. I’ll text you the address.”

“Great. I’ll buy us dinner,” he says, then runs towards his friends gathered around by the grass. 

. . . 

It’s all coming back to me at the same time. The huge dark room full of barrels, the echoing cries, all the drilling, guns firing. 

And the girl. I don’t remember her face, but what I do remember is her eyes. Her wide brown eyes always twinkled with tears. Her left iris had a distinct but subtle little white spot. I tried to look for her days after I lost her that night but she’s nowhere to be found. I just hope she’s alive and well to this day. It's a shame I didn’t get her name.

I jump awake from my deep thoughts when something thuds to the floor. It’s a book that was in Taemin’s hands. He's already fallen asleep on the couch. 

I turn to my wall clock and it’s already one in the morning. How long have we been working?

I decided to go out and buy drinks from the convenience store nearby. When I’m about to reach for my jacket on the armrest, Taemin shakes awake.

“What time is it?” he asks as he yawns, wiping drool off his chin.

“Ten past one. I’m going to the store. Do you want anything?”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t know what I want but I’m kinda hungry,” he says as he gets up and puts on his college hoodie.

So we go down from the apartment and walk to the nearest little grocery store which is just two minutes away. 

“How long have you known Y/n?” I ask Taemin, hoping to sound casual.

“She started working at my dad’s flower shop about three years ago. I was still in high school then and she was about to graduate college. My dad and I never met anyone before who is as passionate about flowers as she is. She reminds me a lot of my mom. The shop was originally hers, but then she died of ovarian cancer when I was eleven.”

“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry,” I sympathize.

“It’s okay. We’re lucky to have found Y/n Noona. Aside from handling the shop for us, she has been the big sister I never ha- Holy shit, speak of the devil!” His jaw drops as soon as he sees something ahead.

I follow his eye direction and to my surprise, there is Y/n walking wobbly toward our way, the high heels of her shoes almost twist her ankles. Is she drunk? Where did she come from? And why is she alone at this hour?

Taemin runs to her and grabs her when she almost falls forward. “Noona, you’re drunk again. Are you with someone?” he says, trying not to laugh.

“Oh, there’s my little Taemin!” she shouts despite their close distance. “When did you get so strong and handsome and all grown up?”

Taemin can’t contain his laughter now. He looks my way and mouths, Watch this. “Noona, wanna come home with me?” he says to her with a matching wink.

“Fuck no! Are you out of your mind?” She pulls him away. “I’m saving myself for someone special now. Someone worth my time. Do you have any idea how many guys I’ve dated? None of them came through for me and I’m sick of it! None of them even cared about how I felt,” she starts weeping.

I can’t help but chortle at the cute sound of her cry.

Taemin frowns. “That’s weird, she usually answers that question differently.”

“Hey, Y/n!” a charming guy with short-to-the-roots bleach blonde hair rushes toward her and hits her at the back of the head. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You got me fucking worried!” He looks out of breath.

“Kibum Hyung!” Taemin exclaims. They all seem to know each other. We’re currently in my neighborhood but I feel like the outsider.

Y/n flinches as she scratches her head at the spot where she got hit. 

“Are you okay?” I ask her in concern. 

She catches my eye and giggles. She slowly draws nearer toward me, then wraps her tiny arms around my neck so she can stand straight. 

“I might be dreaming but I think I finally found you,” she whispers as her face gets an inch closer to mine.

I swallow as my heart begins to skip a beat. I’d stare back into her eyes but they’re almost shut. Something about her scent mixed in with soju is pleasurably intoxicating. 

Before I know it, she leans in and softly touches her lips onto mine. Without a thought, I’m kissing her back after two seconds when she starts to open her mouth slightly as her tongue reaches out to mine. I suddenly feel goosebumps throughout my arms. My knees weaken and sweat starts to form on my scalp. My hands turn into fists for getting this urge to hold onto her waist but, for some reason, I can’t. I'm frozen.

At some point, she falls sideways to the ground but I come to my senses and somehow catch her.

I did not expect this at all.

. . .

I went to work at six this morning to open the café for the day. I usually almost never have a smile on my face when I wake up because I don’t really like waking up so early. But today, I can’t help but find myself jumpy and smiley. 

It is now half-past nine and customers have come in and left, minding their own perspective moments under the sun. 

The chime of the entrance catches my attention as I watch Kibum walk in. Even though he is still in his home wear and hungover, he still manages to look good. Maybe he has a natural talent for staying a gorgeous man no matter what state he’s in. With his gray shorts, plain white hoodie, and a pair of gold aviator glasses. 

He approaches the counter and sees me, “Oh, hey, it’s you. I didn’t know you work here.”

“Yeah, I do. I just started last week,” I smile back. “So what can I get you?”

“Hot low-fat latté and iced black coffee. Y/n’s coming in later. She’s still in bed moaning like a grandma,” he chuckles.

“Oh, right,” I nod. “How is she doing?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s always been like that when she drinks too much.”

“Good to know,” I am relieved to know. “Go on, have a seat and I’ll get your drinks ready.”

Chapter 5

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #308

“you don’t need treats, and you don’t need tricks, and you don’t need me.”

Middle name? Marie. Or Marie Catherine, if we're technical, but as someone who loooong left Catholicism and never even agreed with many aspects of it in the first place, I don't like to include it. If you're confused, there's a ceremony called Confirmation, and while I honestly don't even remember the details of it, you adopt the name of a saint you want to stand for, kinda. I chose Catherine just because I liked the name outta my other options. Democrat/republican/other? I classify myself as Independent because I really don't relate well enough to either, but I do know I'm becoming more and more liberal with time. Do you dress according to your mood? My mood? No. I dress with what I feel like wearing at that time, but my actual mood has nothing to do with it. Are you good at doing hair/make up? No. Are you always worried or stressed about something? 24/7, my friend. Can you swim? Yeah. Are you afraid of needles? I don't like them, but I'm not afraid of them. How many kids do you want? Zero. Long/short nails? I keep mine short. Do you like wearing hats? No. Does mall Santa Clauses or Easter bunnies freak you out? Nah, I loved seeing Santa as a kid. :') Would you consider yourself clumsy? I am RIDICULOUSLY clumsy. Do you like when a guy picks you up in his arms? In concept, but I ain't easy to pick up anymore lmao. Do you like hairless cats? I do!! Females, anyway, for... obvious reasons lol. Not having fur makes some things waaay too ~obvious~ otherwise. I would love a sphynx. Do you like the color yellow? No; it's actually one of my most disliked colors. Have you ever seen a cat have a hairball? Yeah. Have you ever had a tooth pulled? Not by a dentist, no, just by myself as a kid when I was losing my baby teeth. When someone says don’t look do you look? It depends on why they're telling me to not look. Have you ever played spin the bottle? No. If you had to name three important details about you, what would you say? I'm a very emotional person, I need a lot of "me" time, and to be aware of my social anxiety so not every interaction I have is perceived as just a dumpster fire. What are your three biggest insecurities? My creativity, my goddamn body, and my lack of social skills. If you could write anonymous letters to three people, who would you send it to and what would you say? Ummm. I can only think of people I miss and don't WANT to be anonymous... Favorite photo of yourself? A senior prom picture I don't have anymore. I looked so, so happy and fuck my low self-esteem, gorgeous. Who are you disappointed with right now? I'm like, permanently disappointed in myself lol. Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now? No. My minimum is 21. What question do you hate to answer? "Are you a virgin?" because it's just a confusing answer. It doesn't sound like one at all, but trust me on this. The subject of sex just makes me uncomfortable anyway, so even if I was confident in the answer, I wouldn't want to talk about it. What’s your most listened to song? I don't have a way of actually finding that out, but I'd say I've been listening to "ULTRAnumb" by Blue Stahli quite a lot lately. If you were a performing artist, what would you title your first album? I mean, I don't know. It would depend on what was going on in my life and head at the time. If someone told you you could give one person a present and your budget was unlimited–what present would you get and for whom? A nice car for Mom. She's had the same shitty car for yeeeeeaaaaarrrrrssssss now because she just can't afford a new one; hell, this one was free. A dance friend hit a deer, so the front of the car is messed up, and she bought a new one, but because the car itself was still functional, she gave it to my mom. Mom is so loved at the studio. The car just has various issues by this point, like trouble starting, accelerating, it's bumpy, etc., so it's way past time for a new one. Do you like licorice? NOOOOOOOOOO that's a big 'ole "ew." Have you ever visited your country’s capital city? No, but I've seen it from a distance when riding up to NY. When was the last time you were outdoors for over an hour? WOW. I couldn't even try to guess. What is the shortest amount of time you’ve lived somewhere? The house I was born into. I actually don't know how long Mom and Dad lived there, but I was only in that house as a very little baby. I have zero memories of it. What’s your favorite kind of mint? (Peppermint/wintergreen/spearmint/etc.) ... There's a difference? lol I guess peppermint? What was the last thing to frustrate you? I wanted to draw yesterday, but I didn't know what to draw to even get started. Have you ever been to a bachelor or bachelorette party? No. Did any of your family members serve in WWII? I don't believe so? Well... maybe my grampa did? I don't remember. What’s your favorite kind of salad? Gimme an Olive Garden salad and I will deadass eat the whole bowl. Are you more realistic or idealistic? I'd say I'm more realistic with most things. Are you currently borrowing something from someone? No. Is anyone currently borrowing anything from you? No. What is your last name’s heritage/country of origin? Ireland. When did you last buy a new pair of shoes? What kind? I got new flipflops a year or so back because my old Rainbows were so worn out and blackened my feet. Have you ever experienced culture shock while traveling? If so, where? No. Are you able to see the stars at night where you live? I actually haven't checked since moving here. We're in the suburbs though, so it's questionable. Do you include your middle initial in your signature? Not unless it's required, usually. I think. When's the last time I physically signed anything, anyway? What brand of computer do you have? It's an Acer Nitro. What operating system does that computer run? Windows 10. What’s the oldest piece of clothing that you still own and wear? I don't really know, given how much my weight has fluctuated. Went drastically up, went down, now it's back up. .-. I still own a handful of shirts I want to "shrink back into" from late HS and early college times, but yeah, I don't know if I'll actually achieve that. Is the area in which you live flat, hilly, or mountainous? Flat as my ass. What is your significant other or best friend’s ring tone? No one on my phone has a "special" ringtone. Where do you keep your hair brush? There's a comb I use in a drawer in the bathroom. Which pair of shoes have you owned the longest? Multiple pairs of Converse, also from high school. When’s the last time you were sick at the same time as someone else? I'm very happy to say I don't even recall the last time I was sick. My immune system is the fuckin GOAT. What did you have for breakfast this morning? A pb&j. We've got very little rn, but thankfully Mom's picking up our Wal-Mart order today. Last time you were in pain? If I'm standing, you can bet my legs hurt, so. What color is your mom’s hair? It's growing back totally gray now. Is that also your hair color? Well, no, I'm only 25. Do you watch any daily vloggers on YouTube? Who? No. I watch people who vlog occasionally, but not regularly. It's gotta be people I'm very into to really be interested in vlogs. What room of your house do you usually do your surveys in? Sigh, I'm always in my bedroom. Really hoping Mom and I muster up the motivation to clean up the extra room soon to turn it into my "dayroom" or "office," if you will. What do you put on your tacos? I hate tacos. What is your favorite stuffed animal and where did you get it? I have a bittersweet connection to the adorable plush meerkat Jason gave me for Valentine's our first year together; I always slept with it when we were together by apart, and for a year or so after the breakup. It was a source of comfort for me, so I'm really fond of it. Fella's fur is so worn out and matted down with age and lots of love. He's on my dresser now, towards the front of all my plushies. Last thing you hung up on your wall? My Illidan poster, I believe. Do you have a full length mirror? Yeah, on the back of my door. Is it currently raining? No, finally. It's been raining for like a fuckin week, it seems like. It's finally a clear day. It's nice to hear birds outside. Does anyone you live with talk in their sleep? Does this happen often? I'M the one doing the talking/screaming in my sleep. Thanks, nightmares. When was the last time you cried, or felt tearful? I'm not positive, but I know I had a pretty rough PTSD night not too long ago where I teared up. Did you wake up with a song stuck in your head today? What was it? Ohhh yes; I've been listening to Mother Mother's "Ghosting" on repeat because it's jammed up there. When was the last time you used moisturiser or lotion of some kind? Not too long ago on my hands. They get dry this time of year, and besides, I wash my hands a lot nowadays especially. What was the last thing you owned, that was accidentally broken or damaged? Were you able to get it fixed? My laptop, and yes. Tell me about the last dream you recall having. Was it weird, amusing, etc. So this is pretty wild. I know I had a nightmare last night, but I don't remember it; the night before, however, I had a nightmare about a possibly rabid and ginormous rat (I mean like, smaller dog sized) in the house and trying to bite me. It was SUPER weird, because I was actually afraid of it, yet I absolutely adore rats in real life. What was the last video you watched on YouTube? I've really gotten into John Wolfe (a let's player) lately, and I'm going through his The Evil Within playthrough. Do your parents use any social media at all? My mom has a Facebook, and hilariously, Dad has a Snapchat to talk with my sister Nicole. He has no clue what he's doing with it and it's adorable, haha. Mom also has a Twitter, but she doesn't use it. Is there anyone in your life who regularly asks how your day has been? Regularly, no. I've always been that person, especially in the WoW guild I'm in. I'm very close and comfortable with them and ask how everyone's doing any time I log on. Lovely people who give me some social interaction every day. Tell me something positive about the day you've had. It's still early, but once again, it's pretty and bright outside. Why do you prefer Facebook over MySpace, because I know you do? Ha, you'd be incorrect. MySpace was more personal, so I actually preferred it. But it's obviously long-dead, so I just settle with Facebook. Have you read the Pretty Little Liars series? No. My sister looooves it, though. What product do you use to moisturize your lips? I don't remember, actually... It's in my purse somewhere. When did you start using Xanga? I never have. Be honest, do you judge people on their appearance? Judge, I don't think so. I can make assumptions like everyone else, but I'm not gonna think someone is beneath me just by their attire. Do you know anyone who does not like The Beatles? Me. At least, most songs. "Hey Jude" is good, but everyone agrees with that, haha. Did you have a friend in middle school that you’re now enemies with in high school? I'm long since out of HS. I had a middle school friend who I disconnected with following a fight in high school, but we weren't "enemies," and we reunited our senior year anyway. Aaaaand we're not friends anymore once again lmao. What is one thing you hope your children don’t inherit from you? If I hypothetically wanted kids, God knows I'd hope they wouldn't have my psychological issues. Do you think you’ll be married in 10 years? It'd be nice, anyway. What type of foundation do you wear? None. Who’s the most controlling person you know? Someone I'm no longer friends with, partially because of this. Do males look good in skinny jeans? Yep. Are you for or against guyliner? Ugggghhhhh guyliner makes me weak in the knees. How many jobs have you had? Where do you currently work? Three; nowhere. Who did you last hit? Um, nobody??? What way of self-care do you enjoy the most and what feels more like an obligation? I enjoy my alone time on the computer as the best self-care, especially after being social all day; I don't, however, enjoy the act of performing hygiene care. I still do it, it's just not fun. The feeling afterwards is great, though. Have you ever tried specific diet plans or fads? What made you do it and how did it turn out for you? I was briefly using NutriSystem, which didn't work for me. I hated too much of the food. More recently I stuck with flexible dieting and calorie counting for a while, but I drifted from it when I still lost no fucking weight in like a month. I want to get back to it, though... oh, and intermittent fasting. I don't think it really worked for me yet again, even though I did it correctly, but that and the aforementioned flexible dieting is all I feel like I can handle. I guess I just have to give it longer. Do you know anyone who has been directly affected by COVID-19 e.g. testing positive, losing a loved one, or their job due to the pandemic? Too many people I know have had it or had someone they loved die because of it. Take this shit seriously. Is there a kind of music you only prefer listening to during specific type of activities that you otherwise wouldn’t enjoy under normal circumstances (e.g. EDM while doing sports or instrumental music while studying, etc.)? No; I have to actually enjoy the music. If you had to start a YouTube channel and motivations/skills/resources/any other inhibiting factors weren’t an issue, what would it be about? Either animal (preferrably reptiles) education or let's plays, ig. Has anything ever happened to you that if you told someone about, they would think you’re making it up? I don't believe so. What travel destination or popular spot have you been to that you found overrated? What about a lesser known place that you thought was a hidden gem? I really don't know; I haven't traveled nearly enough for this.