#i have to walk in the middle of a large field for ten minutes in the dark alone

[mcheung]

im so sick of not having a phone

[stranger-fanfiction-n-things]

CHAPTER 2: THE WEIRDO ON MAPLE STREET

This is an Original Character fanfiction. All Stranger Things characters and content are owned by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers.

a/n: I accidentally deleted the original post. :( But we move! Here we have (again) another Eddie and Diana moment. Slow Burns FTW. What do you guys think about the Uptown/Downtown scene? Foreshadowing anyone?

Word Count: 3633

Masterlist

PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV || PART V

CORNWALLIS AND KERLEY 

When I told Barb I was going to walk home, I really didn’t think about how far the walk would be, especially in the cold. I tuck my chin beneath my coat bracing myself against the wind. I have been walking through the neighbourhood for what feels like an hour but is probably only 20 minutes, based on the fact I passed Barb’s car not too long ago. The neighbourhood is quiet, apart from the wind rustling through the trees in the surrounding forests. I speed walk pass the large, extravagant houses with my hands bunched into tights fists inside my pockets. 

Tonight was a nightmare. I still can’t believe the way Nancy was acting in front of Steve and his friends. In front of me and Barb…to blatantly dismiss us like we were servants done with our nightly duties is so…I don’t have the words. To top it off, Barb still stayed behind to make sure Nancy doesn’t do anything stupid, meanwhile I’m walking all the way home in the middle of the night, at god knows what time. Will is still missing and whatever is out that may have taken him— A sudden gust sends a flurry of leaves spiraling upwards off the ground. I flinch, tripping over my foot. 

This is so stupid, Diana.

I push my legs to walk faster, nearing Benny’s Burgers. There are no police officers lingering around the premises anymore, but the diner is still closed. I slow down, lingering in front of the building wishing I could use the phone to call my parents to pick me up. It would take hours for me to walk back uptown. I take a deep breath and count down from five to calm myself down. I was stranded. Frustrated tears brim my eyes. I should’ve been home or actually at the assembly on the field for Will. I wipe my tears with my cold hands and continue to walk. 

Maybe this was karma for lying. 

Ten minutes later I am approaching the intersection of Cornwallis and Kerley. My ears perk up as I hear a low rumbling sound in front of me. A jolt ripples through me. I see a large van driving and I squint, covering my eyes at the headlights. The van stops at the stop sign before driving down the street behind me. I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and continue to walk. After a few minutes I hear the same low rumbling behind me. I turn my head and realize it’s the same van that passed me not too long ago. 

A tight knot forms in my stomach, but I push it down and walk faster. The van lights grow bigger and bigger on the pavement as it draws closer. I want to run but I would be foolish to think I can out run a moving vehicle. And where would I go to hide? There are no houses between here and the train tracks. I bite my lower lip hard to stop my chin from trembling. I hear the van drive up until its beside me. I pretend not to notice and continue walking straight. Maybe if I pay this person no mind, they’ll leave me alone. The lights turn off and I hear the window roll down. 

“Diana?” A voice says from inside the van. 

I let out a high-pitched scream and quickly cover my mouth. So much was happening in town, I didn’t want to add to it. My heart is beating so fast in my chest and so loud in my ears, I feel like I might pass out. 

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” the person giggles. Giggles! “It’s me, Eddie.” Eddie? 

I press a trembling hand to my chest as if that would do anything to slow my racing heart. Bracing myself, I take a cautious step towards the van. I peer through the open window. Sure enough, it’s Eddie, from Hawkins High. The boy I bumped into in the hallway yesterday. 

“Oh, h-hi, Eddie.” I sniff, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“What are you doing out here?” he asks, brows furrowing in concern. 

“I was on my way home.” 

“Home? You live around here?” 

“N-No,” I stutter. “I live on Dearborn and Maple.” 

“Are you walking to your car?” 

“I-I don’t have a car.” 

“So, you were—” Eddie stops. He licks his lower lip and rubs his chin. “You were going to walk all the way to Dearborn and Maple from here?” 

I shrug my shoulders, crossing my arms above my chest. “It’s not that bad.” It’s actually much worse. 

“Not that bad?” He looks at me like I’ve grown another head. I notice by his tone he seems…upset. “Do you know what time it is?” 

I pout shaking my head, feeling like I’m being scolded. I never checked the time when I left Steve’s house. It must’ve been after 10pm now. Eddie looks at me, dark brown eyes roaming up and down and side to side. If my cheeks weren’t cold from the wind, it would be on fire. I shift from side to side, biting my lower lip.

“You know what, never mind.” He says, shaking his head. “Just get in.” 

“No, really. It’s okay, I can walk.” 

“I’m not going to let you walk all the way home by yourself in the middle of the night. Especially with that kid missing.” He says reaching over to open the door. “Get in. I’m taking you home.” 

I slide inside the car closing the door behind me. I quickly roll up the window savouring the heat. The van is wide and spacious from the inside and I feel extremely small. I secure my seatbelt on, pulling my hood off my head. I shiver, defrosting under the newfound heat. 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asks. I nod my head, sniffing softly. “I’m sorry about the mess.” He says, putting the car in drive.

I look around the van. It looks pretty clean to me. The trunk had an array of pillows and carpeted flooring. It felt homey and personalized. 

“It doesn’t look a mess to me.” I say, quietly. “Thank you, for doing this.” 

Eddie nods his head and I lean back in the chair playing with my fingers. The van is quiet apart from the heater blowing. I’ve seen this van around in school—well I heard it before I saw it because of how loud it was. Never did I think I’d be inside the car with a boy I met 24 hours ago. 

“Where are you coming from?” 

“A house party.” 

Eddie wrinkles his nose. “On a Tuesday?” Exactly what I said. He takes his eyes off the road for a moment to look at me. “I never took you to be the partying type.” 

I’m not sure if I should take offence to that remark or not, but nonetheless, I shake my head. 

“I’m not.” 

“Why did you go then?” 

The question weighs heavy in my chest. From the embarrassment to the shock of what happened tonight. I don’t know how to answer Eddie. 

“I went for…” I think of the right words to use. “Moral support.” 

Eddie nods his head, leaning back in his seat. One hand remained on the wheel while the other stayed perched on the centre console. I envy how relaxed he looks while driving. I had to have two hands on the steering wheel at all times and I sat so close to the dashboard, Dad asks me if I’m trying to drive or go through the windshield. 

“Where was this party? I didn’t see any cars parked on the road when I was driving down the street.” 

I rub my lips together, sinking deeper into the chair. 

“Steve Harrington’s.” I mutter. 

“Hm.” 

I don’t know what’s worse. Telling Eddie I went to Steve Harrington’s house or Eddie’s response. 

“I-I honestly wouldn’t call it a party. It was more of a hang out.” 

“Did you have fun as at least?” 

I shake my head. Eddie snorts. 

“Figures.” He says. “Why not?” 

Everything that happened tonight flashes in a blink of an eye. I take a deep breath and speak. 

“Tommy H and Carol were there. I don’t feel comfortable around that group, but my best friend, Nancy does. At least I think she does—” I frown shaking my head. “I don’t know…it was all so bizarre. I want to be there for her. We both did, Barb and I, but I couldn’t stay there any longer.”  

“They’re still at the party.” I nod my head. The weight in my chest feels heavier. “Why would they stay knowing you felt uncomfortable being there?” 

The car is quiet again as we pass over the train tracks. I turn to Eddie; he’s looking straight at the road. Again, I don’t know how to respond to him. It’s a question I honestly don’t have an answer for. I swallow down the lump forming in my throat. 

“I don’t know,” I respond. My voice sounds hoarse. “It’s complicated.” 

Eddie shakes his head. “Doesn’t sound complicated to me. You didn’t want to go to the ‘party’ but did anyway to support Nancy. I’m sure she seen how uncomfortable you looked, but still decided to stay and left you to walk across town in the middle of the night by yourself.” He sounds upset again and I’m not sure why. 

“Well, I wanted to leave and Barb wanted to leave too. I know she did.” 

“If Barbara wanted to leave, she would’ve. With you.” He was right. Barb would’ve, but I don’t need to confirm that. 

“But then Nancy would be by herself.” I answer, with the same approach as Barb. 

Eddie glances at me. “Trust me. Nancy would not be by herself.” 

I frown at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“She’s with Steve Harrington.” He said, matter-of-factly. Though I know what he’s alluding to and I go over what he asked and how I replied. Did I suggest Nancy is having sex with Steve? 

“Nancy isn’t like that.” I defend.

“You don’t sound too sure.” Eddie responds. 

I open my mouth to speak, but the words don’t come. I close my mouth and look at the road. I feel like I’ve betrayed Nancy’s trust, even though I know I didn’t say anything. This is the first time I’ve spoken to Eddie and he’s managed to read my mind in the matter of minutes. Was it written all over my face? Or was I just that easy to read? I pout, removing my hair from inside my jacket. My waves fall down my front and the faint smell of coconut and vanilla lingers in my nose. I decide to change the topic of conversation. 

“Where are you coming from?” 

“The Hideout.” I arch my brow and Eddie smiles. “It’s a bar on Mulberry and Cherry Oak.” 

“Aren’t you too young to work at a bar?” 

“If you wanna get all technical, yes. But, it’s the only place in this town that’ll let me and my band play.” 

“You have a band?” I say, smiling. “That’s cool. Really cool actually.” He looks like he’d have a band. “What’s the name of your band?” 

“Corroded Coffin.” 

“Does it mean anything?” 

Eddie approaches a stop sign and looks at me. “It’s just metal, sweetheart.” He says softly. 

My heart beat picks up speed. Sweetheart. My mom calls me sweetheart all the time, but hearing Eddie say it, makes me feel airy and light, yet heavy and fast. I don’t know. Eddie’s eyes roam my face again and I wonder if there’s something on it. The back of my neck feels hot and I break eye contact, playing with the ends of my hair. 

“What instrument do you play?” I ask, breathless. Eddie continues straight. 

“Lead guitar. I also sing a little.” 

“Oh wow! Do you write your own songs?” 

“Not really. Just sing covers. Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, KISS. All the greats.” 

“I’ve never heard of them.” 

“What kind of music are you into? Actually, let me guess. Madonna. Cyndi Lauper. Billy Joel—” 

“You name these people like they make bad music.” I interject. 

Eddie wrinkles his nose, shrugging his shoulders. My jaw drops. 

“They all make good music!” I defend, sitting up. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Holiday? Uptown Girl!” 

“Meh.” I gawk. 

“I bet your sister likes Uptown Girl.” 

“Sister?” Eddie queried. I suddenly feel cold. Eddie glances at me again and smirks. “Do you know something I don’t know? Find out I have a secret relative lurking around Hawkins.” 

“Oh, I-I thought the girl you’re always with was a relative. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.” 

“Ronnie?” Eddie makes a left turn on Cherry Oak. I nod my head. 

“You both look alike.” 

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” his eyes light up. “But no, she’s not my cousin. She’s my best friend, like a sister to me.” 

“She’s very tall.” 

Eddie laughs and my stomach feels like it’s full of butterflies fluttering all at once. “That she is.” 

“What’s wrong with Uptown Girl?” I continue. “A sweet downtown man trying to court an uptown girl. I think it’s romantic.” 

“It’s cliché. In real life, an uptown girl would never pick a downtown man.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

Eddie gives me a look. “If an uptown man was trying to court her as well, she’d pick him instead of the downtown man.” 

“You don’t know that either.” I counter. 

“Would you date a downtown man?” 

“If he was sweet and kind. Why not?” 

“Even if he couldn’t afford to buy you pearls?” He arches his brow playfully. I grin.

“So, you’ve listened to the song.” 

Eddie smiles back, his dimples appear on his cheeks. “I never said I didn’t.” 

I ignore the butterflies. “Admit it. You like the song.” 

Eddie shakes his head, but his smile remains. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sweetheart.” Sweetheart. 

“I wouldn’t discriminate a person because of how much money they don’t have. It’s not about the money. It’s about love.” 

“It’s always about the money.” I shake my head. “You’d live in a box with a downtown man, all for love?” 

I scrunch my nose, shaking my head. “No…”  

“Exactly. It’s all a cliché.” 

“If I had a house, he’d just move in with me and the house will become ours.” 

The expression on Eddie’s face makes me wonder if he’s trying not to laugh at me or not. It reminds me of Erica yesterday at breakfast forcing herself to refrain from laughing out loud when Lucas teased me about my driving. 

“What about everyone else?” 

“What about them?” 

“Assuming you’re the uptown girl, what if your uptown friends disapprove of the downtown man?” 

“If the downtown man treats me well and loves me as much as I love him, their opinions won’t matter.” 

“Hm.” 

I don’t know if hm is a good or bad.

“So, what about you?” I ask. Eddie looks at me with a slight frown. “Would you date an uptown girl?” 

The frown smoothens between his brows and Eddie’s eyes roam my face again. I don’t know if I’m overheating or not, but my cheeks feel hot and I want to ask him to turn down the heat. His dark brown eyes linger on my lips for a split second before flickering to my eyes. I rub my lips together to feel if something were on them. I feel nothing. 

“If she’ll have me.” he murmurs. 

“Maybe she can buy you pearls.” Eddie laughs and I laugh too. 

“I wouldn’t mind. Enough about me though. Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do?” 

“Um…Dance. Ballet to be specific, though sometimes I want to try jazz.” 

“Explain jazz to me. I only know it to be a music genre.” 

“Jazz is like…a mixture of ballet and modern dance. That’s the best way I can explain it.” 

“Are you going to do it? Jazz dance, I mean.” I shrug my shoulders. 

Transitioning from ballet to jazz was going to be an adjustment and a big step outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes before rehearsals, I’d watch the other classes of the girls and boys dance to funk and pop music. I am always in awe of the way they moved their bodies. It looked so…free and unrestricted. Less technical than ballet. I dance to Prince and Rick James in my room all the time and these classes immolated what I felt when I do. But telling my parents I want to switch over to jazz would be another hurdle to jump over. I will need to ease them and myself into that. 

“If you’re interested in it, I think you should.” 

“Maybe one day.” 

“What’s stopping you?” 

 “The Nutcracker season.” 

 “The Nutcracker?” 

Unlike Tommy H, Carol and Steve. Eddie didn’t make fun. He seems genuinely interested in what I had to say. And for the first time, I don’t feel…embarrassed to talk about myself. 

“Every year at my dance studio, we perform The Nutcracker. It’s a two-act play by Tchaikovsky and this year I got one of the leads in the second act.”  

“Congratulations.” He says with a smile. 

“Thank you.” I blush. “All my time and energy is put into the performance but with Will’s disappearance, classes are cancelled.” 

Just like that. All the light and life in the van disappears like blowing out a candle. I breathe deeply, sitting back into the seat. The car is quiet for a few minutes. I’m lost in my thoughts of Will, Lucas and the boys; Miss Byers and Jonathan. I need to talk to Jonathan tomorrow and check in with him. 

“Do you know Will?” Eddie speculates. 

“He’s my little brother’s best friend.” 

“I’m sorry.” I blink and glance at him. It’s the first time anyone said that to me and I realize, I never thought about how I’ve been affected by Will’s disappearance. 

“I just hope we find him.” 

“Me too.” Eddie murmurs and deep down inside me, I know he means it. 

I peer out the window just as we pass Dustin’s house. I pray I don’t see three boys on bikes riding down the street and tell Eddie to make a right on Elm Street and then another right on Gloucester. As we approach my neighbourhood, I begin to take my keys out of my pocket. 

“My house is just around the corner near the end of the cul-de-sac. Blue with white shutters.” 

Eddie eases inside my driveway. Thankfully the house lights are off which meant everyone was asleep. It would be easier to sneak in. I can’t believe I’m plotting how to get inside my own house.

“You don’t have to drive me to my door. I can walk from here.” I say, taking off my seatbelt. I don’t want to draw too much attention to the house in case my parents are awake for some reason. 

“I already drove across town to get you home, the least I can do it drive you to your front door.” 

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” I assure him with a smile. 

Eddie reluctantly puts his car in park and shuts off the car. I am surprised when he takes off his seat belt to twist his body to face me. It creates a little distance between us. 

“Why?” he asks, somewhat defensively. I don’t want him to feel like I’m using him so I tell him the truth. 

“I’m not supposed to be home,” I answer, sheepishly. “I’m supposed to be at Nancy’s house up the street but—” 

“You were at Harrington’s.” Eddie finishes. I nod my head. 

Eddie relaxes his stance, resting his arm on the steering wheel. He gestures to my front door. 

“I’ll wait here and watch you walk to your door.” 

“Thank you for driving me home.”

“Please don’t walk around at night by yourself again.” 

I tuck a loose curl behind my ear. “I won’t, I promise.” 

“I won’t leave until you’re inside. 

I open the door, stiffening at the cool wind blowing past. Closing the door, I begin to walk towards my front door. I am just passing the front of his car when I hear my name. 

“Yes?” I say, approaching Eddie. 

“Listen to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by KISS. It’s a hard rock song with disco influences. I think you’ll enjoy it.” 

I blink, not expecting him to say that. “Okay!” I answer with a smile. When he smiles back and his dimples show, I can’t help but grin and lean forward. 

“Listen to “Candy Girl” by New Edition. It’s my favourite song right now.” 

“Candy Girl,” he muses. I notice a slight flush in his cheeks and lean back. “Okay.” 

I bite my lip, tucking my hair behind my ear. I know I have to go inside, but part of me wants to stay with Eddie and talk all night in his van. I enjoyed our short conversations and how at ease I felt talking to him. 

“Thank you again, Eddie.” 

Eddie looks in my eyes this time and I force myself to keep eye contact. “You’re Welcome, Diana.” 

“See you tomorrow.” 

“See you tomorrow.” 

I feel his stare at the back of my head, as I walk to my front door. I quietly enter my house but don’t close the door all the way, peeking through the crack. As promised, Eddie pulls out of my driveway and even kept his headlights off until he was out. I close the door completely and lock my door, but instead of walking through the foyer, I linger, touching my lips. I can’t hide the smile on my face even if I wanted to. 

CHAPTER 3: HOLLY, JOLLY

[gingerlee-holds]

okay so uhm- i know nobody was really asking for this heh- but idk i hate feeling like this story is unfinished so- remember the Fernsby Journals? ,,,yeah so i wrote the final piece to that lmao- im sorry gang this is purely for my enjoyment alone and i just wanted to get this silly story finished lmao so here enjoy xD

to those unfamiliar, The Fernsby Journals is a world of my own creation, it was made as an afterthought a year ago but it turned into a story and idk heres the ending lol

March 23rd, 1745.

Read the first one here! Read the previous one here!

Words: 1766 Pairing: Ler!Clara, Lee!Eren Warnings: None! Lots of fluff though (literally hahahahahahaha-)

"Are... are you sure this is the way?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Absolutely, Eren!" She poked the middle of my spine, making me jump. For the past ten days, it seemed she couldn't get enough of my pathetic reactions to her poking and squeezing, and I had had just about enough of her... unprofessional behavior!

"Mr. Fernsby! Please, Clara, I have a degree." I rubbed my back, glaring over my shoulder the best I could.

"This is a fact of which I'm well aware, Eren! If you'll remember, I was with you as well! I have the same degree you do." Clara hummed a tune she heard a week prior. 

We had been walking for perhaps a quarter-hour by this point, and needless to say, I was a tad winded. We approached the base of a large hill covered in bright green grass, and I sat on the gentle slope to regain my breath. Clara opted to continue walking for a bit, just to peer over the crest, and then she came back down to sit by my side.

I sighed and got back on the subject. "Now, if you knew where the featherflakes were, why did it take you so thunderingly long to take me here? It's not like we spent the time productively!" 

"Ah! But don't you remember, we had that study session, Eren!" Clara wiggled a finger in my ear, causing me to jump up with a squeak. I straightened my coat and huffed.

"When we were supposed to be looking for historical sources, I seem to recall you first eating all the biscuits I had prepared for us and then spending the rest of the hour tick- ahem... distracting me from the task at hand!" I turned to walk up the hill, wanting nothing more than to be finished with this nonsense.

"It was tickly tea time! I told you!" She sent another poke to my back, and I jumped again.

I whirled around and jabbed an accosting finger into her breastbone. "Listen here, you-!" However, I could not finish my statement as Clara took me by both shoulders with an affectionate smirk and gave me a gentle push. With a yelp, I began tumbling down the other side of the hill, yelling expletives the entire descent. 

When I finally rolled to a stop, I lay on the floor of the valley for a minute, groaning as the dizzy feeling wore away. "Are you alright, Eren?" I heard Clara call down from the hill.

I extended a shaky hand to begin pushing myself up. "Yes, I'm- f-fihihihine-!" I gasped with shock as I felt a tingling feeling in my palm. My head shot up to look around me, and I beheld a vast white plain extending for kilometers out of sight. I slowly reached my knees to gaze over this veritable sea of featherflakes.

"Welcome," Clara called from behind me, "to the Field of Feathers!" She laughed at my face when I turned to her, seeing her slowly walk down the hill toward me. "First recorded in 486 when the Romans occupied this part of Britain, the native tribes used this to their great advantage, turning out an entire legion of soldiers into squealing schoolchildren!" 

"How did-?" I started to ask, but she paid me no mind as she continued teaching me about this place. 

"Then, of course, when the Normans invaded in 1066, this field was the site of what was to be the greatest battle these isles had seen until then. Neither side knew this place existed, so both armies had to call a hasty - and giggly - retreat!"

I rubbed my head, stunned. How had all of this information eluded me? "I don't-"

"You certainly must know of the War of the Roses, Eren! Studied your history at university, I know. It was here, at the Field of Feathers, where the Lancasters forced a surrender from the House of York by so shrewdly pushing their enemy back into this field, where they were quickly tickle-tickle-tickled into submission!" Clara sat on the slope in front of me, smiling at me all the while. A blush darkened my face, and I looked down to avoid her gaze. "Then, a few centuries later, an adorable little scholar named Eren Fernsby became so enraptured by the idea of being tickled by the Field of Feathers that he somehow avoided all history of them in his textbooks. His library was filled with historical mentions of this place, but it seemed like he pretended not to see all these, to give him an excuse to visit the field for himself."

My head shot up, pale as a sheet. "I- You-"

She extended her hand, keeping her pointer finger out to keep my chin up toward her. "Many things you are, Eren. A scholar, a pedant, a stubborn little boy. Regardless, you have never been an actor."

I could feel my face heat up, red like a Lancaster rose. Whining softly, I felt my body relax into the grass beneath me. She had me all figured out.

"Now, Eren, if you please," she chuckled, reaching up to grip the back of my collar and turning me around to face the Field of Feathers. I felt my coat loosen as she undid my buttons, leaving me only my undershirt to defend myself with.

"Wait, wait, Clara, hold on," I pleaded, wriggling in her grasp a bit. 

Clara leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Study to your heart's content, little scholar~!" With that, I was unceremoniously heaved forward into the field, my disturbance causing the field to erupt in featherflakes. I didn't even get the chance to gain my composure before it was swiftly broken again, as I felt swarms of featherflakes rushing into my clothing. 

"N-NohoHoHOHOHO! CLAHAHAHARAAHAHA!!" I laughed, rolling around to stop the invading fiends, only succeeding in disrupting more featherflakes to join their companions. "MEHEHEHERCYHYHYHY!"

"Mercy?" Clara rested her chin on her palm as she watched me writhe on the grass before her. "Why are you asking me for mercy, you silly boy? I'm not doing anything to you~! You should be begging those featherflakes for mercy, and you will have to beg because you've so inconsiderately disturbed their peaceful spring day~!"

"DAHAHAHAHAHAMN YOUHUHUHUHU!" I squealed, unable to bring myself to my feet. The more I thrashed about, the more flakes I turned into the air, which only made me thrash harder! Somehow, I hadn't felt my shoes being tugged off my feet, and when I felt a few flakes finding their way into my socks, I well and truly shrieked to the heavens above. 

"Sohoho dramatic~!" Clara giggled, standing up. She cautiously approached the edge of the field, reaching her hand out for me to grab. "C'mere, cutie."

I rolled onto my stomach and began to crawl towards her, trying with every fiber of my being to ignore the hundreds of flakes filling the inside of my shirt. "IHIHI- IHIHI CAHAHAN'T REHEHEHEACH!! IT'S TOOHOOHOO MUHUHUHUHUCH!!" I cackled.

Clara rolled her eyes affectionately. "My goodness, you're ticklish. Whatever would have become of you if I weren't here to save you? Laughed yourself to death, I reckon." She reached out further. "C'mon, I'm right here. Take my hand."

I raised my hand to take hers before squealing in surprise at the feeling of featherflakes flying down my sleeve into my underarm. I shrieked and curled in on myself. "THIHIHIHIS-! IHIHIS HEHEHELLISH!" 

"Hm, then why are you enjoying yourself so much? Nobody can have a bad time when they have a big adorable smile plastered over their face~!" 

Looking up, I saw her hand, closer, within reach. I reached up to take it with a monumental effort, yet I missed it. Through my mirthful tears, I couldn't see her smile or that she had moved her hand back at the last second. "CLOHOHOHOHOSHEHEHEHERRR!!!!" I squealed.

"I'm as close as I can get, Eren! Come on, you can grab, lovebug~!" She called to me, and I tried grabbing her hand again, only to miss and end up with more flakes in my sleeve. I collapsed onto the grass and rolled onto my back, holding myself around my stomach.

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHEHEEEE!!!" I cackled at the clouds above.

I heard a fond sigh. "You really are helpless when you're being tickled. Guess I gotta do everything around here~," Clara purred. Suddenly, I felt her hand grabbing the back of my collar again, and with a single tug, I was safely back on the slope. "There, you baby, you're safe."

"BuHuhuhUhuut-!!" The feeling of the flakes hadn't gone away. The villains were still trapped in my clothing! 

"Ah, I see the problem. Here, let me help you out there~!" With that, I felt her hands diving into my shirt, picking around for flakes... and scribbling!

"NOHOHO!! CLAHAHARAAHAHAA!!!" I threw my head back onto the grass, kicking my legs as her strong arms worked around in my shirt. 

"What~? I'm helping you, Eren! Stay still. You're only going to make the tickly-tickly-tickles worse for you~!" She giggled beside me, throwing away all pretense of helpfulness as she scribbled over my belly button.

My eyes bulged out of my face, and I lunged upward. "NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE! PLEHEHEHEHEASEE, CLAHAHAHHAARAHAHA!!!" 

"Oh, good heavens, you're a mess!" Clara tittered. Her scribbling slowed to gently rubbing with one hand, using her other to pick around to get the flakes out. "Just a bit of tickling, and you're absolutely helpless. Tsk, tsk..." 

I whined as she gently took all the flakes out, continuing to rub my stomach. My laughter slowly wound down to giggling and then to a ragged breathing. I was sprawled out on the slope of the hill, and Clara beside me lay down, not stopping her belly rubs. Before us, the flakes settled back down to the valley floor, and the sunset in the distance painted the Field of Feathers in a cheery, dare I say, tickle-me-pink. The warmth was getting to me.

"You look tired, dear~," she whispered. I didn't have the energy to reply as my eyelids drooped. "I suppose I'll have to carry you back home after this..." 

She said something else, but I didn't get a chance to hear it. For the life of me, I swear it sounded something like 'I love you,' but perhaps it was simply my weary delusions. I awoke the following day in bed, spooned by my sweet Clara. I didn't mind it as much. Writing down my observations could wait. I went back to sleep, a little closer to her this time. 

[lordgrimwing]

Silly Flirtations of the Heart #02

Maedhros nudged his horse into a trot up the hill, catching up with his cousin, Fingon. The sun shone down on them as they came out from under the trees into a small, flower-speckled meadow. 

“What do you say,” Fingon asked, leaning over toward him, his loose black hair swinging between them in the breeze. “Think a boar would live here?”

Over the last several weeks, a large animal had started tearing up the land around Fingon’s home. The beast rooted up half the garden and tore into the chicken coop one night (though the birds themselves were unharmed). Despite all the upturned dirt, no one could find identifying prints, but given the damage, they all assumed the culprit was a wild pig. He and Turgon tried tracking the beast down without any luck. Yesterday, Aredhel rode across the mountain to their uncle’s homestead to see if she could recruit any cousins in the search.

Celegorm was quick to volunteer, always eager for a hunt. Maedhros agreed to come, and Fëanor let them go after checking that they had their talismans and ensuring they took two of the blankets he wove last winter with them. Two years ago, Maedhros might have grumbled to Maglor about the way their father hovered when anyone planned to travel more than a few hours from home. After the scare they had when Celegorm was twelve, he stopped complaining. With bags packed and carbines secured to their saddles, the pair left with Aredhel.

Maedhros inspected the open field with a critical eye. He tracked a few boars with his father over the years, but deer were far more plentiful on the mountain and easier to hunt than wily pigs. Still, he knew a thing or two about where they preferred to live.

 “No,” he said as Fingon brought his horse to a halt. “I don’t see anything that looks like it could be a den. We should look for thickets, places where it could pile up brush and sticks, or someplace where it might be able to dig out part of a hill.”

His cousin hopped down to the ground. “Come on then.”

He raised his eyebrows and then glanced around the meadow in case he missed something. “Aren’t we trying to find this pig?”

“Ten minutes.” Fingon started walking, leading his horse. The gelding lowered his head to graze as they moved. “Besides,” he added. “Knowing my little sister and your little brother, they’ve probably found, killed, and field-dressed that beast by now.”

Perhaps an exaggeration, but Maedhros wouldn’t be very surprised if Celegorm tracked the pig after everyone else failed to. He was becoming almost frighteningly good at stalking. “I suppose so.”

“Come on,” Fingon repeated, waving for him to join him.

Curious about where this was going, the twenty-year-old jumped down and followed him.

They hobbled the horses in the middle of a particularly lush patch of grass and then went off together to find another spot.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

my fair lady: chapter twenty

i'm just gonna say it: you gotta read these first. @romeoandjulietyouwish, this is your legacy, i guess.

She dresses quickly and silently, not wanting to draw the attention of whichever guard is at her door tonight. She picks a simple, brown dress, something she wears when she helps tend the castle gardens, and layers over it a black cloak. With her hair rolled up and tucked under the hood, she's unrecognizable.

She opens the secret door that Vax has not traversed since their return to Zephrah, making sure it closes silently behind her, and, with a single candlestick in one hand, begins to descend into the catacombs. She has only been down here but once before, many months ago, but Vax has described the path a few times, so while it takes some investigation and backtracking, she manages to make her way to the steps that lead up into the store cupboard that Vax uses to start his journey. She pushes up on the trapdoor, knocking over the old bucket that sits atop it, which clangs to one side. She lowers the trapdoor again and freezes, listening for any movement above. After a full five minutes, she determines that no one is coming to check out the commotion, and she proceeds up into the store cupboard.

She snuffs out her flame and leaves it on a shelf before poking her head out into the corridor. At this time of night, nearly all of the kitchen staff is asleep, save for a few scullery maids doing the last of the day's cleaning. It is easy enough for her to slip past them and out onto the grounds. Despite having grown up relatively sheltered, Keyleth has some experience sneaking out of the castle, usually to go visit the sprawling cherry tree that she and her father planted atop a nearby hill to commemorate her mother's passing. It takes some doing, but she manages to slink her way along the outer wall and through a little door near the stables.

From there, it's about a ten minutes walk to the actual city of Zephrah, and then the hard part: finding the cottage. She's had it pointed it out to her once or twice, in one of her many trips into the city to work with healers during the war, but that was during the day, and now, under the light of a waning moon, she must put her memory to the test to navigate the dark streets and remain unseen at the same time.

She finds the place by the large banner hanging out front: a black field with the four interlocking triangles of gold, the symbol of the Royal Guard. Keyleth knows that they display this banner to let their neighbors know that they always have a safe place to come to should they need one. Keyleth scurries up the front door, keeping her hood low around her face, and knocks.

After about twenty seconds, the door swings open, revealing a quaint interior lit by a dying fire. "Good even—Keyleth?"

Vax's jaw hangs low as Keyleth sheepishly waves. "Good evening."

He grabs her arm and yanks her unceremoniously inside, slamming the door shut behind her. "Have you lost your mind?" he snaps, fixing the lock before prying open the curtain on the front window to check the street. "You shouldn't be here!"

Keyleth lowers her hood and stands in the middle of Vax and Vex's little cottage, which somehow looks exactly and nothing like she had imagined. "I needed to speak with you."

Seemingly assured that she was not followed, Vax wheels on her, a deep frown set on his face. "My shift begins in the morning, Your Highness," he says rather coldly.

Her nostrils flare. "I needed to speak with you now."

"And what could possibly be so important that you were willing to risk your life to come here to tell me?"

Keyleth was not expecting this hostility from him, and it's beginning to make her blood boil. She tosses a glance over her shoulder. "Where is your sister?"

"She is with Lord Percival." Keyleth can hear the thinly veiled jealousy in his voice. "Why?"

"Because I'm tired!" Keyleth exclaims with a humorless laugh. "I am tired of the running and the hiding and the pretending. I'm tired of going through the motions of my life as if I am not in the most acute agony I can imagine."

Vax takes a step back. "Key—Your Highness..."

"Please," she begs, "please, just—is this to be my life? Locked away in a castle, alone in that room, remembering the way your hands feel in my hair? The way your smile eases my racing heart? Am I to be condemned to misery and solitude because you have taken my heart with you wherever you go? Is that the price of the crown? Because if so, I don't want it! I refuse it!"

"Princess, please." Vax's voice breaks with desperation. "You were right, we have to be better—"

"Better than what? All of them?" She throws her hands out to gesture all around her, toward the Ashari citizens asleep in their homes. "All of these people who wake up and love each other and create families that they can be proud of? I'm not better than them! I envy them, and I am tired of the envy."

"I'm leaving," he says abruptly, his jaw clenched tight.

Keyleth freezes, tears streaming down her face. "What?" she breathes.

"As soon as I am able to request a moment of your father's time, I will be volunteering for the manhunt for Gaben Finefirn. I am exceptionally well-suited for the task and it will take me far from Zephrah."

"You mean far from me."

Finally, Vax's harsh exterior cracks. She sees it in his eyes, the flash of pain, the cut to the quick. What is she to say to this? She could beg him not to leave—she is very much not above falling to her knees in supplication—but if freedom is what he desires, then who could she be to deny him that?

Vax begins to pace, a tight, tense line between the fireplace and the opposite wall. Keyleth watches him in silence, a treed squirrel eying the pacing dog below. "Why did you come here?" he eventually grits out, coming to a stop near the hearth and running a stressed hand through his hair. "What...what did you hope to accomplish? Nothing has changed, Your Highness. You are still to be the sovereign of a nation, and I am a common guard."

"There is nothing common about you," she argues, her voice quiet. "There is nothing common about your devotion to this country, to the service of my family. There is nothing common about how keenly you know every thought in my head before I speak it aloud. There is nothing common about your skills or your talent or the way in which you wield them to make the world safer, kinder, gentler. There is nothing common about the way my breath catches every time you look at me, like for the briefest moment, time has stopped, and we are the only two left on this earth. You, Vax'ildan, are extraordinary, and if you truly believe that you are unworthy of me because of our difference in station, then I have failed as someone who loves you with all of her heart. I only hope that someday I can be worthy of your exquisite affections, of the love that you have graced me with these past months."

Vax stares at her, eyes wide and bright, the waning fire dancing in his irises. Countless emotions play across his face—bewilderment, confusion, hope, sorrow, heartbreak, joy, frustration—but his features settle on something soft, something fragile. She knows that whatever happens next, it has the potential to shatter them both, and despite the madness of the tension, she wishes this heartbeat of possibility could go on forever.

"Keyleth—" Her name has always sounded like a symphony on his tongue. "—I adore you in more ways than the cleverest poet could ever hope to describe. It has been easy for me to tell you, as many times as I have, that I would die for you, gladly, eagerly, because it is a truth that does not scare me. But what I have never allowed myself to say aloud is how desperately I want to live for you." Tears fall afresh from Keyleth's eyes as a small gasp escapes her. "I wish to spend every single one of the days that the gods see fit for me have left by your side, in awe of your splendor, in service of your great mission here among your people. I want to worship you like the zealot reveres his god and I want to hold you until the last bricks of civilization decay into dust. I want to risk everything, because you are everything."

"Then do it!" Keyleth strides up to him and takes both of his hands in hers. "We have been trying to protect each other from the world for far too long. I think it is time to give the world a chance to prove itself better than either of us believe it to be." She looks him in the eyes, takes a deep breath, and says, "Vax'ildan Vessar, will you marry me?"

[tailoroffates]

Find the word tag game

Thank you kindly @doublegoblin for the tag! Now its time to tag some fellow creatives! @winterandwords @emelkae @lexiklecksi. The words to find are BREAK, PATIENT, SORROW, and FAITH.

I'm new to this tag game so i'll do my best to play it properly. I'll be pulling the words from my WIP, book 1 of the Garden that Burned Series - Kindling.

Time

The titan form of Geodea stood at a staggering 160-foot height, towering over our armies. Her glistening skin was speckled with flecks of gold. She had eyes that glowed a bright white, obscured only by her yellow hair as it flowed wildly in the winds of war. Lucifer on the other hand looked to be at least 20 feet taller, and his complexion was as red as the blood that flowed through a mortal’s veins. Two types of rigid horns grew from his head, one was curled slightly and protruded from his forehead, and the other grew out from his temples and curled like that of a ram.  “I cannot let them do this!” I screamed, the depth of my tone shocking me slightly. I glanced around to get a better idea of what in Sons name was going on. It was as if time was in a slowed state as the two gods prepared to fire off blasts of concentrated Tari at one another. Waves of magical power collected at each of their hands, ready to be fired off in a massive display of power. It was like I was only a spectator in this event watching on from afar, and yet here I was... Right in the middle of it. Below me was hot sand and shrapnel from the surrounding battles still taking place all around me. What do I do? How do I make this stop? How can I save them? I thought to myself as the power in each gods hands had collected enough energy to manifest visibly. Trails of red fire and darkness fumed from Lucifer’s palms as in opposition, Geodeas hands began to glow with light.

Grass

Taking a few minutes to survey the field, it occurred to me that there was no grass. Only these short yellow tubes that grew at the same length, and though there was a gentle breeze grazing across the open space, the yellow tubes remained unmoving. The ground itself was a blackish-grey color with a lumpy texture, but as I kicked at it no dirt was disturbed. Near the lake sat a large rock which upon closer inspection appeared to be breathing. It was coated in fuzzy purple moss and sitting ten feet from me. A light mist sprayed from the lake itself, as it was the only area of the entire clearing that the ocean-like sky was raining into. I walked over to the lake, inching my way around the fuzzy rock while hoping that it wasn’t some sort of sleeping creature. Leaning forward hesitantly to peer into its waters, I was surprised to see nothing but the sky. What? The sky is a flawed mirror, but the lakes are made of sky? How did this realm get this way? I wondered as I tried to figure this place out. Everything that led off the edge and into the little lake was a steep and sudden drop into an open mid-day sky.

Witness

“Yes, I packed the moment we finished speaking.” I replied as I began to take my pack off my shoulder. “But what’s going on Father? Where are my witnesses? I need a minimum of three for my rite of passage to be legal, you know this.” I asked, glancing around to look for bystanders. The smile faded from his face and his tone grew shaky. A disturbing wave of concern suddenly washed over me and I found myself more than just a little nervous.   “I know Daniel… I don’t... We don’t have much time now, I’m sorry. I thought we would have more time. I had hoped for-.” He prattled on as I cut him off, the anxiety quickly burrowing into my chest like a drill.   “Okay, what is happening Father? Just tell me! Maybe I can help you.” I stated in desperation as he shook his head.   “Help me? Danny, it’s you that will be needing help…” He whispered in a solemn tone.

Verdict

He wasn’t moving and his eyes were closed, so I used my Geomancy to pull enough dirt from the edge of the pit to create a ramp out and I dragged us both up onto dry land.   “Aiyden? Aiyden, hey! Get up! You aren’t done yet, you haven’t rescued your lady. Come on…” I said, my voice shaking.   “Move.” I heard a familiar voice demand from behind me.   “So it really was you?” I asked in surprise as Freitza dropped to her knees at my side and placed her hands on his chest. I stared at her blankly as she began to perform chest compressions. She was butt-ass naked and covered in Aquean blood, especially around her hands and mouth. She continued on for a few moments before Aiyden choked out a bunch of water and sat up quickly. He then glanced around in a dazed fashion before his eyes set on Freitza.   “Woah… Beautiful, naked, and covered in the blood of my enemies. Am I dead? Is this heaven?” He asked as Freitzas cheeks began to glow a mild red. She stood up and clenched her fists tight, using her Pyromancy to superheat her external coal and burn off the blood that was coating her skin. I hated to admit it, but the smell was oddly appetizing. I took off my shirt and handed it to Freitza. I was just tall enough for it to drape down to her thighs. She slipped it on and nodded at me in thanks.   “No. There will be no heaven for me. I plan to go to Khoum when I die.” She said in amusement.   “Ohh. That’s good then because I’m a committed man. Beautiful as you may be, I hold my torch for another.” Aiyden replied as I looked over to where the Aquean that had tried to drown us was sprawled out on the ground, clawed to pieces. I then began to look around us at the aftermath of Freitzas fury. There was blood, scorch marks, and body parts everywhere. I lifted my hand to my mouth to try and stifle the gag as my body tried its best to vomit. After a difficult struggle, I choked it down and then turned to Freitza. “Freitza… I understand wanting to help us, but you killed all of these people… And a Lycan… How long have you been a Lycan?” I said in a solemn tone. She nodded to herself for a moment before responding.   “Your Father said this might be an issue. Look, Dan-man. I have one job and I’ve had one job since your father found me alone in the woods, to protect you. Despite your verdict, they needed to die. As for how long I’ve been a Lycan? Well, as long as I can remember."

[captainsquality]

I live in northeastern Kansas, which is probably the most heavily populated region of the state. My hometown is probably what you'd call mid-sized(at least for this part of the country) and last I knew a very rough census put our local population at ~100,000.

Now my parents and I moved last year and live more toward the north part of town which quickly pitters out into more rural areas, but we previously lived further south around the central part of town. We were reasonable walking distance from both major local hospitals and one block off of one of the busiest major roads(6th avenue).

Within two minutes of driving one direction is the downtown area with all the corporate buildings etc. the other direction, the same amount of time in the car, is the western campus of one of the hospitals where the psycch ward and behavioral healthcare offices are, the Huge Local Park, like the community center type one with gardens and a huge pool and carousel. the place you go to plan a huge bday party.

just past that is a major thoroughfare with a SHIT ton of fast food places, multiple grocery stores and pharmacies- the zoo is also in this area, but it's very well contained(obviously) and taken care of.

all this to say that the park around the corner from the house we lived in at that point(and had since I was age 5, in 1996) was not a place you would or by rights SHOULD expect to encounter any kind of larger wildlife than squirrels and songbirds, the occasional rabbit or tiny lizard.

A list of Outstanding Specimens I have encountered over the years follows.

-A wholeass hawk that swooped down over the open area/field next to the tennis court to scoop up and depart with its dinner, an unfortunate squirrel

-in the 'creek'[manmade, not an Actual Creek, connected to an underpass that lets out somewhere downtown. dont ask me why i know this], a snapping turtle at least twice the size of your average house cat. it tail made it more reminiscent of a very small crocodile wearing a combat helmet as a shirt. (this instance was probably in my middle childhood over summer, while out playing with my younger brother and the neighbor kids)

-Usually in passing, I have multiple times seen red foxes in the area, and at least once a very confused coyote who apparently got off at the wrong bus stop or something

-Large waterbirds like herons. Several springs and summers there were entire GROUPS of them that seemed to nest nearby and they just chilled on the playground equipment. Those things are fucking huge do you know what it is like to be a child/teenager and sitting on the swings and suddenly like three of those bitches are landing on the framework around you. I thought I was going to die

-in most recent memory before our move: AN ENTIRE ASS HOWEVER MANY POINTS FUCKING BUCK. And it was not just In Passing from a distance. No I was ON A WALK, on the cement path from the street to the jungle gym on my usual route, there were a couple of kids from the neighborhood(sisters i think, they had brought juice pouches and books w them too) on the seesaws about ten yards away. That entireass buck BOLTED past me within a margin of ten FEET, ACROSS the span of the playground, past the terrified little girls, down into- and ACROSS- the ditch we referred to as The Creek and then off through the neighborhood to god knows where. That same deer appeared downtown later that same afternoon, apparently, and crashed through a shop window before it was contained and removed from the area.

Needless to say I froze, lIKE A DEER, and exchanged a long look with those little kids. And I simply said, calmly as I could, bc as a 20-something I was the adult in the situation and could not be panicking, "hey you two might wanna run on home for a bit k? or at least have a grownup with you in case that fella stomps through again" and they were like. nodding rapidly and grabbing up their crayons to scamper off home.

Myself, I proceeded to about-face and walk right back around the corner and to the house, entering the home like That One Candace Meme, You Know The One.

These are just a few instances from the 25+ years I spent living at that house. We're not SUPER removed from rural areas, as I mentioned, our town is more mid-sized, it's really not a metropolis, but this was still basically one of the most heavily populated parts of the city. And I have still heard PLENTY of Bigass Animal Stories from much bigger cities.

something something lawless wasteland/hellscape, or whatever. fun fact you can pass within twenty feet of a bird of pray nearly the size of a dog and as long as you are like ignoring them and calmly passing through like It's Your Job they dont giveafuck and will let u be, i know from experience necessitated by unfortunate proximity at the time

A BEAR ATE MY BEST HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER.

Rude.

[bluejay-creations]

Jack's Test

a short story written based on the following stimulus by Shaun Tan

It was an ordinary night, just like any other. Jack was laying in bed, but they couldn’t sleep. They'd been laying there for hours, tossing and turning trying to get to sleep. But no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t. They glanced over to their alarm clock to see how long they'd been in bed for. The clock read 12:01. 

 Midnight, great. 

Just as Jack prepared to return to their thus-far fruitless attempts at sleeping, they spotted a strange light out their window. They climbed out of bed and walked towards the window as low green and red light flickers on their walls and against their face. It was... nothing? Right as they got to the window and peered out, the light vanished, and the yard out their window seemed empty. That can't be right. but then again maybe the sleep deprivation was getting to them. After scanning the yard one last time to make sure there really was nothing there, Jack turned around and went back to bed. But this time as they pulled the blankets up to their chin and grabbed their teddy close, they found it easy to close their eyes and within minutes fell asleep. 

Jack awoke to a strangle rustling sound. They assumed it was some animal out their window and groaned as they pulled the blanket back up over their head to block out the light. The rustling persisted though, and seemed to be getting louder, disrupting Jack's much needed sleep after last night. It got louder and louder until it just, stopped. Finally Jack thought, curling contentedly deeper into their blankets only moments before they felt something tough them on their shoulder startling them out of their half-slumber. They reefed off the blanket and rolled over to see whoever had touched them only to see, a rabbit? 

 A large rabbit but still, a... rabbit.  

It sniffed them curiously before sitting back and tilting its head at them questioningly. Only now did jack stop and look around. This... wasn’t their bedroom. Somehow, Jack now found themselves in their bed, sure, but their bed now stood solitary in the middle of an expanse of tall, golden grass, rolling hills as far as the eye could see in one direction and what seemed to be a city nearby in the other. In the grass surrounding them there sat 3 more rabbits, all of the same large stature the first they saw had. Just as Jack started to process the strange place they seemed to have found themselves in, the first rabbit spoke. She seemed, scared. She told them how shed spotted them across the field and rushed over. She told them that this place wasn’t meant for them. And she told them how they needed to leave, now. Before any of them were spotted.  

And that’s how Jack found themselves here, in an underground shelter, surrounded by tens if not hundreds more of the same over-sized rabbits. The first rabbit that had found them, Zuri, she had told them her name was on the way, had since run off, saying something about needing to find 'The Elders'. Jack didn’t know what to do, they were in a strange new place, surrounded by strange new people. They didn't know what the rules were, they didn’t know what was expected of them. And worst of all they'd been told something vague about them not to have supposed to been there. 

Thankfully, Zuri wasn’t gone for too long. Unthankfully, when she returned she brought with her a set of 5 more, even larger rabbits.  

The Elders, they supposed. 

Their suspicions were proved right when the new rabbits introduced themselves as such. The Elders said they were the ancient protectors of the rabbits, and that Jack would have to prove themselves trust-worthy, or they would not be welcome here. Zuri was already doing them a huge favour by vouching for them to give them even this chance, so they better not blow it. 

The test to prove themselves, it turns out, would be a game of Go Fish. Seriously, Jack decided to keep their mouth shut on that, probably be better to just go along with it rather than question The Elders' methods and risk being kicked out. 

The game starts out fine, after a few small hiccups of them not knowing what their cards are called which get smoothed over quickly, and Jack is feeling pretty confident in themselves. That is, until they spot the other players cheating. Whispering this to each-other, hiding cards, all sorts. So what, they think, just because they're all going to cheat doesn’t mean I have to, I'll win fair and square, they’ll see. The game continues on, and Jack, predictably, starts losing. Just when they reach their breaking point though, the point when they know there's no hope of them winning, Zuri shows up and quietly offers to help them cheat. She knows everyone else is cheating too, she tells them, so what's the harm in them cheating a little as well? She raises a good point they have to admit, they don’t know what they’ll do If they can't stay with the rabbits, they don’t even know where they are, let alone how to get home. They almost agree but, no. Even if it means they lose they want to stick to their morals. Maybe they can confront the cheaters later or... something, they're smart they're sure they could figure out a way home,

Eventually... 

Hopefully. 

So no, Jack turns down Zuri's offer and they finish the game, losing by a landslide. They walk back to The Elders and apologise for wasting their time, and they prepare to leave. Not as if they have much to take with them anyways. But as they begin to walk away, The Elders call out to them. The real test, one starts, was not one of skill at the game, but one of morality. By refusing to cheat even when others were, and even further by accepting defeat even in such unfair conditions, Jack has proved themselves trust-worthy, and one of good character. They could stay. And maybe even they would help them find a way back. 

[omogod]

HOLDING REPORT (12/12/22)

Started holding at 6:30pm on 12/12/22.

Ended holding at 4:08am on 13/12/22.

Had needed a good amount of stress relief from everything going on lately, and wanted a more productive wetting than the most recent one I had done before, when it turned into more of a real accident! (spoiler alert: Aoife never learns her limits and they all turn into real accidents.)

Didn’t feel anything for about the first hour or so, was just casually browsing omo tumblr or reading AO3 omo stories. (6:30pm - 7:30pm)

Around hour two, I felt an ever so slight urge in my bladder, but mostly just reminder that I had one more than I needed to use it. Was still reading omo fics at this point, but also writing some omo stories, and planning some future holds. (7:30pm - 8:30pm)

Hour three, I got bored. I took a long walk around my town. Luckily, I live in a rural Irish village, so no one was going to see me, especially at night. I roamed through some of the empty fields to kill some time, sipping on bottle of water as I perused through.

Walk ended up being about three hours. I could definitely feel it getting much worse now. The cold didn’t help with aiding my need, and I definitely should have wrapped up warmer. Lost two leaks as a wave of desperation hit me when a cold wind flew my direction. (8:30pm - 11:30pm)

Got home and sat in my kitchen and watched whatever random stuff is on TV at nearly midnight.

Decided to scroll multiple NSFW art sites for pictures and comics of omorashi. Went down a dangerous rabbit hole of comics and spent about an hour scrolling through, whilst my need grew exponentially and I jiggled about. (00:30am - 01:30am)

Half 1 hit and I was at about an 8. I had my legs crossed together tightly and my bladder was screaming for some kind of pressure release.

I had to spurt some out onto a towel just to take the edge off otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to continue the hold.

As we all know, taking the ‘edge’ off of a full bladder never works, and by 1am, I felt like I was going to explode. I had drunk about 1500ml at this point.

I managed to hold on for about another 45 minutes by scrolling through omo tumblr again, and grinding a pillow to help temporarily numb my desperation. (1:30am - 2:15am)

By half 2, there was a decently sized wet patch on grey panties, and I was bursting for the loo.

I knew that I had to hold this longer because I had sworn to make the hold ten hours. This was obviously a huge mistake and a very ambitious goal. By 3am, my panties had felt atleast two more hot spurts of piss, and a third leak that I nearly couldn’t stop.

By half three, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had made a large wet patch in the bed and felt like I was holding back an inevitable river. I grabbed a towel and placed it in between my legs incase I leaked.

Begrudgingly, I shoved my legs together and went downstairs again, towel shoved tightly in between my shaking legs. I decided that the best place to wet would be my back garden so I ventured outside, but for some reason (or because I’m fucking stupid) I decided to also take a walk around the fields behind my garden before coming back to wet.

Turns out that navigating fields at nearly 4am, bursting to piss, whilst drunk, in the middle of a pitch black Irish winter might, is not the best idea.

Maybe these ideas spawned because atleast 500ml of what I had taken was alcohol. At least.

I was definitely under the influence by this point.

Rational and sober me would have just used damage control. Squat down where you are, take a piss, now you have enough concentration to try and get home.

Not drunk Aoife, she has one singular brain cell.

I continued on, clutching my crotch with the willpower of Satan himself and tried to march my way back into the general direction of my cottage.

Fair props to drunk me, I did end up at least walking in the right direction back to my garden. However..

I managed to walk about another 5 minutes through the fields before a rush of pain and desperation flooded me (haha pee joke) and I literally was bent over in pain, holding myself like I would die if I peed.

Obviously this didn’t work, and a wave of desperation turned to leaking, then to spurting, then to losing control completely and emptying nearly a 10 hour hold right onto a poor patch in my field.

I checked my watch and it was 4:08am.

I managed to hold it for 9 hours and 38 minutes!

This is the most I’ve held drunk in a while, but if wasn’t 10 hours so I was a bit annoyed. I’m hoping to do a 12 hour hold soon whilst sober though!

Walked back home soaking wet and got into the empty bath, finished up my business, and maybe got wet in more than one way..

Thank you for reading! Hoping to do these kind of stories whenever I hold, most of the time they are pretty entertaining because I have a tendency to overestimate my bladder, and not be able to hold it that long. Sober me can hold longer, be assured.

[rendevousz]

the favourite

avengers x fem!teen!reader

summary: you are the baby avenger and everyone is platonically whipped for you.

genre: fluff, crack

warnings: none, maybe just my inability to write good endings

word count: 3497

note: um second oneshot hope this one's good gaaah

"hey, doll. whatcha' reading?" you glanced up to see bucky, who then plopped down next to you on the couch in the common room. "it's called 'shadow and bone'. it's a novel that's turning into a netflix series in like a month," you smiled at the super soldier, lifting up your book a little to show him the cover. his eyebrows raised at the information, lips tugging into a knowing smirk.

"yes, bucky, i'll watch the series with you." you rolled your eyes playfully at him. ever since he officially became an avenger and moved into the tower with the rest of you, you've been helping him 'get with the times' —as sam likes to call it— just as you did steve a few years prior.

steve had told his best friend that you were the best at stuff like this. after all, you were the youngest avenger. and you had a lot of free time on your hands; having no school since you were pretty much the only one besides vision who could compete with tony's or bruce's intelligence.

so really, school wasn't mandatory for you according to tony. at least, after you had asked him if you could just not attend and he cracked ten seconds after you pulled the puppy dog eyes.

you also had significantly less trainings than the rest of the team. this one wasn't because you were an expert on the field or something —well, you were, but so were the rest of the team but they still had almost daily trainings while you had half the amount they did— this was because you had cap wrapped around your tiny little finger.

and as for the team, they couldn't even be mad about it because if they were in the captain's position, they would probably be the same. everyone just loved you too much.

"do you mind if i turned on the tv?" bucky asked, afraid that you wouldn't want background noise while you were reading but obviously you didn't mind so you shook your head as you continued to read. not long after, you closed your book with a bookmark between the pages you stopped at before shoving in into bucky's hands and running up into your room to quickly grab your blanket.

he watched you run out of the common room in confusion before chuckling when he saw you run back in looking tiny with a huge, fluffy blanket in your arms. you went back to your spot on the couch next to him, spreading the blanket over both your laps, bucky smiling fondly as he watched you fix it before turning to him. "comfy?" you asked and he nodded, giving you back your book as you cuddled up to him. he smiled down at you and wrapped an arm around you while you leaned against his chest.

"what's this? movie night without me?" you two looked up at the owner of the voice and saw sam walking in, making his way to the kitchen, probably to make himself some coffee. "what movie are you guys watching?" he asked, leaning against a pillar to look at the tv, trying to figure out what movie was playing.

"actually, only bucky's watching the movie—it's mean girls, by the way—and i'm just reading my book." you told sam without looking at him, lifting your book up high to show him before lowering it back down to continue reading it.

"barnes, what are you doing watching a movie while y/n is reading? she won't be able to focus with all that background noise, shut it off." sam told him off, now back in the kitchen to make his coffee. you shook your head at the man's antics. "sam, it's fine. i told him it was okay,"

"of course you did, you're too sweet to say no to anyone." he quipped back, now standing nearby, watching the tv too, seemingly interested in the movie playing. you only rolled your eyes playfully at him before going back to the book. after a few minutes of him just standing, bucky spoke up. "just sit down if you want to watch the whole movie, birdbrain."

and sit he did. on your other side, snuggling comfortably under your blanket after putting his now empty mug on the coffee table. this caused bucky to huff as he pulled the other end of the blanket which led to them having a tug-of-war over the blanket, you unfortunately stuck in the middle of it. deciding that it was too distracting to read while squished between two grown men who were also fighting for the blanket, you finally closed your book.

"sam, can you help me put this on the coffee table?" you handed sam your book and he immediately took it, stretching his body forward to place it on the coffee table. with the book out of the way, you could finally settle comfortably and the blanket was now shared between the three of you equally. not long after, your head was back against bucky's chest with his arm around you while your legs were over sam's lap under the blanket, one of his arms resting over it above the blanket. if it had been someone else doing that to sam, they probably would've had their legs chopped off already.

"movie night and you didn't invite me?" you chuckled at the question by the newcomer, tony, finding it funny how sam said almost the exact same prior to him. "you're welcome to join us, tony." you offered kindly, to which he replied with a small chuckle.

"i'm just kidding, cupcake. i came up for a drink and a little snack but that's it, i have stuff to finish down in the lab." you nodded understandingly, turning back to the screen in front of you.

"hey, stark, while you're there can you grab me a bottled water from the fridge?" bucky asked him. "oh yeah can you grab me chips from the snacks cabinet too?" sam added.

"you guys have legs for a reason, get them yourselves, i'm not your maid," tony sassed and you bit back a chuckle. bucky and sam then decided to rock-paper-scissors the situation to decide who had to get up and get the water and chips. bucky ended up losing and he begrudgingly got up and came back quickly with his water and sam's chips.

shortly afterwards, tony approached the three of you on the couch, with a juice box and a small bag of pretzels; your go-to movie snack. "here you go, cupcake." he handed them to you and you accepted them happily, beaming at him while he ruffled your hair.

bucky and sam shared a look of disbelief at tony's actions. "what gives, man? we asked for stuff and you didn't want to do it but y/n gets her stuff without even having to ask for it?" sam complained.

"that's because y/n's my baby. now shut up and let her watch the movie in peace." he scolds before leaving the common room, leaving the two men to huff in annoyance. it soon washed off though when you laughed out loud at a scene and they returned back to normal, loving the sound of your contagious laughter.

when the movie ended, it was already late and you had fallen asleep on an also asleep bucky. sam took a look at you and chuckled. he slowly removed the blanket from over himself and you, gently scooping you up into his arms and taking you back into your room, laying you down on your bed. he noticed the lack of blanket on your bed and remembered the blanket you brought down to the common room. he opened your closet for a spare blanket, retrieving it before covering you with it, tucking you in. "night, kiddo." he whispered, kissing your forehead before leaving the room.

-

next morning came and you groggily stretched, noticing that you were in your room. last you remembered was falling asleep mid movie. you deduced that it was most likely either bucky or sam who carried you back to bed. you went to your closet to grab work out clothes since you had training today, before realising what day today was. wanda's breakfast day. you quickly ran to the bathroom and got ready.

once you were done, you dried your hair and left your room, practically bouncing with excitement when you thought of what wanda probably made for breakfast. the week had been a bad breakfast week since everyone who had so far been tasked breakfast duty, sucked at cooking. the only good cook of the team was wanda, explaining your overexcitement.

before you could get far though, you slammed into a solid body, being caught by your wrists before you could fall. "be careful, lady y/n!" a deep voice spoke and you look up, a large smile on your face before you jumped happily, taking the man into a big hug. "thor! you're back!"

he laughed, returning the hug, you almost disappearing due to his big frame before you let go of each other. "where were you headed to so eagerly?"

"it's wanda's breakfast day, thor! i haven't had a decent breakfast all week because no one in this tower except wanda can cook to save their lives. come on, big guy!" you cheered, trying to get onto his back for him to give you a piggy back to the kitchen but he was too high for you to reach. he watched your attempt in amusement before bending down so you could get on his back. you gratefully got on, lightly patting his back and dramatically pointing ahead of you. "to the kitchen we go!"

when you two arrived in the kitchen, clint and wanda were talking as the latter made breakfast. thor's booming laughter echoed through the room as he zoomed with you on his back, laughing your heart out. "we have arrived to our destination, my lady." clint and wanda turned to you, adoring smiles on their faces when they heard you giggling uncontrollably.

"i thought you had more important things to do that you couldn't even walk 10 feet to grab me a spoon." clint raised his eyebrows at the demigod. "yes but y/n needed a ride so i provided her one." thor gave your hair a ruffle before he left the room, going to do what he initially left the kitchen for before you managed to get him to bring you back there.

"morning, kiddo." clint ruffled your hair right after you just fixed it, causing you to glare at him before fixing it again. "morning," you grumbled, sitting down next to him.

"morning, y/n!" wanda greeted, placing your plate of perfectly made blueberry pancakes with extra blueberries neatly placed on top, butter in the middle of it with maple syrup dripping down. your mouth watered. had it really been that long since you had a good breakfast or was it just because it was wanda's creation? or was it both? "here ya go, bubs. your favourite," she grinned at you, placing your glass of orange juice beside the plate.

"thanks, wands! i love you!" you thanked her, already beginning to dig into your breakfast.

"what the heck? you gave me burnt pancakes and didn't let me have extra blueberries because you said there already were some in the pancakes," clint whined to wanda from beside you, watching you eat happily.

"that's because the extra blueberries were for y/n, she loves them. and about the burnt pancakes...yea i just didn't want to give her burnt ones. look how happy she looks," the two turned to you, looking at your cheeks being filled up, making you look like an adorable squirrel.

"okay, fair point." clint slumped down on his chair, continuing to look at you fondly, like a proud father.

-

after breakfast, you made your way down to the training room where steve, nat and peter were training. when you entered, peter immediately noticed, waving and you from the treadmill with a huge smile on his face. nat, having just flipped steve over her her shoulders, smiled at you. "hey, bub." you smiled back at her and steve who struggled to give you a wave but did it anyways from his position.

"alright, y/n, you can warm up and run 2 miles first before we start." steve says once he had gotten up from his position on the ground. you mocked a salute before walking to the treadmills.

"what?! how is that fair? i'm running 5 miles!" peter exclaimed from beside you just as you started your run. "you're enhanced, peter. if anything, it's unfair for y/n/n. actually, that's right, it is unfair for her. y/n/n, you can go ahead and just do a mile."

peter's jaw dropped at this, his mouth opening and closing like fish out of water. "b–but.."

"get back to work, peter. once you're done, we'll start both your and y/n's training." the boy only huffed in annoyance, focusing back on his run while you smirked, internally cheering in victory.

-

"boy, that was tiring!" you dramatically plopped back onto the mat, limbs spread out as you tried to catch your breath. it had been a gruesome 3 hours of training and you were beat.

"y/n/n, get up. sam, bucky and clint's gotta train soon," nat tells you after steve and peter left and you were still sprawled out on the ground. "but i'm tired!" you whined childishly.

"y/n, if you don't get up, i'm gonna leave you here to be trampled on by the boys when they train." nat nagged, hands on her hips as she made a disapproving face at you.

"no you're not. you're gonna carry me to my room so i can shower and sleep soon." you tell her, eyes already closed as the fatigue washed over you. after a few seconds of silence, you heard her sigh out loud before you felt her crouching down beside you.

"get on my back in five seconds or i'll leave you." she threatened. you quickly opened your eyes, grabbing your small towel and water bottle before getting on nat's back. she mumbled something about you being lucky that she loves you or else she really was going to let sam, bucky and clint trample on you.

"what's wrong with her?" you could hear steve's concerned voice asking nat when you two reached—you assumed— the lobby. you were too tired to keep your eyes open so you left them closed while your arms were around nat's neck.

"nothing," you heard nat reply as she walked you both into the elevator. "kid's just too lazy to get up and walk on her own so she made me carry her." you internally rolled your eyes. she made it seem like she was forced to do it when everyone clearly knew she would do anything when it came to you.

you heard steve chuckle before nat started walking again, probably towards your room. you heard the door open and nat finally let you down, prompting you to open your eyes.

"do you want some food after you shower?" she questioned as you looked through your closet for comfy clothes to change to before ultimately deciding on cow print pyjama pants and an oversized tee you stole from steve.

"i'm good, nat, thanks. i just wanna take a nap." as if on cue, you yawned right after. "okay, bub. you'll have to get up later for dinner and movie night though, okay?" she reminded and left the room after you replied an 'okay' back.

-

when you were woken up a few hours later, it was by an annoying scream and a body bouncing on your bed. "y/n/n, wake up! it's dinner! mr stark ordered your favourite!"

you groaned, putting your pillow over your head to block out peter's annoying voice. "come on, y/n/n wake up! you haven't eaten since breakfast and it's movie night tonight!"

"okay, okay, i'm up. you can shut up now, pete." you grumbled crankily. it was quiet for a few seconds before peter yelled out once again. "wake u–"

he never got to finish though because you kicked him off the bed. "i said i'm up, dude." you then sat up, stretching before getting up to wash up, ignoring peter who was on the floor rubbing the side of his head which hit your lamp when he fell off your bed. he then got up, deciding to tidy your bed up a bit while he waited for you to finish washing up so that you two could go down together.

-

"is that my shirt?" was the first thing you heard when you walked in with peter. the team were all sitting, eating your food from your favourite place. "i uh, maybe?" you answered sheepishly, sitting down next to sam and peter settling down on your other side. "i've been looking for that shirt since forever."

"aw, let her have it, steve! she looks better in it than you do, she looks so adorable!" wanda screeched, absolutely adoring how tiny you looked in cap's enormous shirt. she continued to gush over you, even taking out her phone at one point to snap a picture of you. you chuckled at her antics, proceeding to eat your dinner while the team talked.

after dinner, everyone slowly made their way to the common room for team movie night. you guys collectively agreed to watch 'white chicks' after steve revealed that he hadn't watched it.

you sat down next to bruce, who gave you a tired smile when you smiled at him. he must've been working in the lab all day, you thought. halfway through the movie though, a bathroom break was called by tony. a few took the chance to get up and get snacks while you told bruce you were gonna sit closer to the tv since you couldn't hear properly with sam and bucky squabbling over every little thing they could. you could even hear them arguing in the kitchen at the moment over hot chocolate.

when tony came back, you told the two bickering children in the kitchen that you were starting the movie again. not long after you started, you could hear them still bickering, except now they were closer, probably back in their seats. poor bruce, you thought. you escaped the two but he was still stuck next to them.

meanwhile in the back, sam and bucky were still busy fighting over the hot chocolate. you paid them no mind as you focused on the movie, having not watched it in a hot minute.

"dude, i made this for myself! go make your own hot chocolate!" bucky whisper-yelled, moving his mug away from sam's reach when the latter tried to reach for it. "you took my snack now i'm gonna take your drink so it's fair!" sam countered.

before the two of them could stop it, the steaming hot chocolate spilt. not on the carpet, but onto the doctor whose patience had already been running thin with the two quarrelling next to him for the past hour.

his face slowly turned green, clearly a sign that he was fighting so that the other guy didn't come out. the team stared in horror, preparing for a fight to break out with the big green monster.

you, being the closest to the tv, didn't notice this all happening as you happily watched the movie that you couldn't hear properly for the past hour.

you laughed joyously when your favourite scene came on, trying to control your giggles that were starting to get louder and louder. bruce was currently hunched down, trying to even his breathing. but when he heard your laughter, he immediately looked up at you.

the team panicked, thinking that you could be a target for hulk since you just attracted attention to yourself. they were about to get up to protect you as they looked at bruce apprehensively, when the doctor smiled, the green on his neck slowly, but surely disappearing.

the team looked at each other in confusion and bruce smiled weakly at them. "sorry about that. i'm...i'm gonna move up and sit with y/n." he got up and made his way to you. you smiled when you saw him. "got tired of them too?" you joked and he nodded, making himself comfortable next to you.

you nodded and turned your attention back to the tv. it was clear you were oblivious to whatever just happened and the team couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. you really just unknowingly calmed down the hulk.

the team didn't know if you were aware of how much power you actually held over them. nevertheless, you were their little baby and they were willing to do anything for you.

[dullgecko]

It had taken Riz three hours to get to Bastion City, burning through a decent chunk of the money he'd earned this month with his detective work on a taxi straight from Elmville. He'd then spent an hour casing the hotels he knew his mom usually stayed in before finding her car, then another ten minutes to break into the reception office, snoop through their check in files (not even encrypted, he'd have to ask her not to stay here again) and find her room number. He'd be a little proud of his own detective work if he wasn't so exhausted.

Riz knocked on the door of the hotel room and waited for someone to answer, leaning with his arm on the doorframe and looking every bit as tired as he felt. He could just unlock it himself but he didn't want to startle her, plus she had a blanket ban on him picking the lock to her bedroom door... and he was pretty sure this counted.

It took his mom a couple seconds to finally open the door, Sklonda having to make herself more presentable before she could. That being said her hair was still a mess and the bathrobe the hotel provided was just a little too large for her frame.

She was shocked to see Riz there when she finally did, the goblin woman making a valiant effort to smooth out her hair a bit more and block him from seeing inside. It didn't really work though, even if Riz couldn't see behind her he could still hear that there was someone else in the room.

"Riz honey, what the hell are you doing here it's the middle of the night?"

"I know. Sorry Mom I just.... you weren't answering your crystal." Riz had physically sagged in relief when he finally saw her, glancing past her head when he spotted Gortholax peek around the corner before ducking back behind the wall in his attempt to stay hidden out of sight.

"Oh. I didn't mean to...." He scrubbed a hand over his face, taking a deep breath as he made a valiant effort to stop that particular train of thought. "Well at least someone is here with you."

"Oh gods sweetie I'm sorry. I must have left it on silent after my meeting." Sklonda glanced behind her, face blushing a much darker green when it was clear she'd been caught. "No it's-"

"It's fine mom. I just needed to see you and make sure you were okay. I'll go home now." He pushed away from the doorframe, swaying a bit now that he didn't have anything to lean on. He only made it about two steps down the hallway before she grabbed him by the wrist and tried to pull him back towards the room.

"Riz you look exhausted. How did you even get here?.... You really shouldn't be walking around like this."

"Taxi, and i'll take another one back to Elmville its fine." Riz didn't resist when he was dragged though, but he only came far enough into the room so that she could close the door. Feeling FAR too awkward to walk into the room properly and past the small closet and bathroom in the entryway blocking his view of the bed.

"You took a taxi the entire way here? Gods thats... how much did that cost?"

"It's fine I had enough, the Roxili case i did last week paid decently." He could hear shuffling around out of his field of view before the fiend finally poked his head around to look at him.

"Don't worry about taking another one home, I can at least teleport you to the lawn of the manor." Gortholax offered, waving Riz over closer and making an amused noise when he noticed the goblin trying VERY hard not to notice anything in the room. Riz very pointedly counting any cracks he could pick out in the ceiling.

"Oh... yeah, that'll work. I can just walk home from there."

"No, stay the night at Mordred sweetie. I don't want you getting hit by a car or mugged because you're too tired to defend yourself... you have a key right?"

Riz turned his head to blink at his mom, cocking his head to the side in mild confusion. "Why would I need a key?"

"Oh... right. Locks are a mild suggestion at best for you." She ruffled his hair, Riz giving a tired purr and leaning into it. "I'll send Jawbone a text so he knows you're there.. and i'll take my crystal off silent."

"Thanks mom... and um... thanks Gortholax."

Riz was standing on the front lawn of the manor no more than a few seconds later. The rogue trudging tiredly up to the front door, letting himself in and making his way to the couch in the living room. It was Fig who found him the next morning when she nearly sat on him, Riz curled up into a tight ball int he corner of the couch and passed out asleep.

Riz has, on more than one occasion, scared the shit out of every single one of his friends individually by waking them up in the middle of the night by sneaking into their house, perching on their chest and waking them up to talk about some case he was working on that he couldn't stop thinking about. Look, they didn't answer their phones when he texted them he had no choice.

IN HIS DEFENCE he's usually not thinking about how goddamn terrifying it is to wake up in a dim room with a weight on your chest and all you can see is his eyes reflecting whatever light there is making them look like two floating orbs. What he's usually thinking is 'I need to tell my friend this thing RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATLY or I'll explode' because he's gone way past exhausted straight into manic because he's been up too long and lost count of how many coffee's he's had in the last four hours.

He's lucky he has uncanny dodge.

[theunholygrails]

Foolish Games Part 2

Masterlist

A/N: Introducing new characters and some drama! Percy is still sexy as ever :'(.

Warnings: BJ

I woke up to a door slamming so hard it joined the symphony of my pounding headache. I groaned, hoisting myself over the back of the couch to investigate to intrusion. A brunette head of long sweeping hair rushed through the foyer, barreling towards the kitchen. A familiar mop of black hair hurried after.

Reyna was speaking so fast in Spanish my brain scrambled to keep up. I noted lots of curse words followed by a series of sentences too fast I was surprised she even knew what she was saying. Percy was answering in slow measured words, probably fighting a hangover of equal measure. I ducked behind the back of the couch, reaching for my phone plugged in on the coffee table.

It was noon. 2% battery and a couple messages from friends. Nothing from my ex thank gods. Five from Annabeth being nosey. I opened my uber app, squinting in the sunlight breaking through the cream curtains. I managed to get my driver secured.

A door slammed and I winced, peaking to check that they were in another room. I did not immediately spot my dress in the chaotic. I grimaced remembering the midnight swim. When I sat up I finally noticed the white tshirt I wore and the basketball shorts. And then I went rigid remembering what happened after the swim.

“Motherfucker,” I whispered.

Now I really had to get out of this house. I checked the arrival time of my driver. Three minutes away. Great. I made my way on shaky knees to the large wooden front door. My keys were still in the collection dish. I grabbed them quietly and turned the door handle a fraction of an inch before another door slammed open and Reyna came barreling back into the foyer, brown eyes landing promptly on my guilty ass. Behind her, Percy pursed his lips into a thin line and raised both of his hands to lay on top of his head. His biceps strained nicely against the thin t shirt.

“The fuck is this?” Reyna whispered.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” I babbled.

“It’s just Noa, Rey. Gods,” Percy said.

“I can see that, Percy!” She snapped. I was glad her spear was not strapped across her back this morning. “Why is she sneaking out of my house in your clothes?”

“People were swimming last night. Her clothes got wet.”

“I’m sure the fuck they did.”

“Zeus, Rey! You ended it with me. Why does it even matter?”

“Because I still fucking love you! I’m sorry, okay?” She burst out crying and Percy instantly pulled her against his chest. The memory of being in those arms drove me out the door like a nest of hornets.

~~~~

“I’m just saying. You have nothing to feel sorry for,” Annabeth paused to sip her iced coffee. “Unless they get back together and then you sleep with him. But as of right now, you’re good. Trust me. Been on the Percy train. We’re still friends. You’ll get over it. Just a harmless rebound for both of you.”

I groaned, laying my chin on the cool metal table parked outside our favorite coffee shop positioned between our New York apartments. Just two Manhattan women enjoying their Sunday afternoon. The air was cooling as fall neared. I pulled my baseball cap closer to the top of my sunglasses.

“Should I call him?”

“Maybe tomorrow. Let him deal with his relationship drama. Reyna is a lot to deal with. Still nothing from fuckface?”

“Nope and that’s fine.”

“Good for you. We will hydrate you, get you a good dinner, hit the gym before work in the morning and then get back on our bad bitch mental track. Agreed?”

~~~~

“Good Monday, yogis,” I chirped from my desk at the corner of my studio.

The third class was beginning to trickle in and I was settling into my rhythm. Hot yoga was next and hopefully I would sweat out all the negativity I’d allowed lately. I was in the middle of emailing back a potential client when someone rapped at the wood of my desk. I glanced up to a blonde male who waved gently.

“Heya, sansei Noa,” he said.

“That’s karate. Can I help you?”

“Do you do trial classes?”

I hit send on my email and closed my laptop. The guy was built like a poser with the defined muscles and chiseled jaw but his voice was soft and tempered. He was clean shaven and dressed like a basic gym bro.

“Normally you have to schedule them beforehand because of class size,” I gave my standard answer.

“Right, my bad. Sorry. I was just passing by the front and it looked like the kind of place I needed right now. Can I go ahead and pick a date then?”

I was staring too long into his pale blue eyes, honed in on the polite response. A nice change from the daily demanding consumers. “You know what? Ive got space right now if you like? Have you ever done hot yoga?”

A brilliant white smile showcasing sharp canines. “My favorite.”

“Perfect. I just need a name, number and email to get you a file started.”

He leaned large hands on my desk. “It’s Luke Castellan.”

Before he could give the contact information, I cut him off. “Wait. I know you.” His tanned skin paled significantly.

“I…”

“You’re supposed to be dead!” I blurted out.

His eyes skated around the room and he leaned in closer. “That’s not supposed to be public knowledge. I assume you’re a demigod?”

“Luke, you trained me. We took fucking sculpting together. The Apollo table was right next to the Hermes one for fuck’s sake.”

He winced. I heard a murmuring from the rest of my class I was disturbing with my volume. I collected my shock finally. “Take a seat if you want. We should talk after class. I need to start.”

“Okay. Thank you. I’m sorry Noa.”

I waved him off and walked over to my yoga mat. I sat cross legged and drew in an even breath to smooth out my emotions.

It was a slow 30 minute class. Each pose and movement dragged on. Finally, I dismissed the group and nodded Luke outside. He was waiting on the bench outside of the studio I split renting with a few other instructors. I sat next to him, wiping sweat from my face with the towel slung over my pink sports bra.

“Alright, talk,” I said.

“Not much to say. I was given a second chance at my hearing. Here I am. Starting over.” A shrug of well-defined shoulders. The muscles flexed beneath his gleaming sweat. His red tank top stuck to his chest and stomach. “I wish I remembered you, truly. That time is such a blur in my life.”

“It’s ok. You were a lot older than me and to be honest I had a massive crush on you so I probably hid most of the time.”

A surprised smile slipped across his lips. “I’m assuming the betrayal helped you get over that?”

I laughed outloud, slapping his knee. “No shit! So where are you staying these days?”

“Just around the corner actually. Got a job at the local gym.”

“Yeah I bet the fuck you did.” I squeezed his forearm between both of my hands. I wanted to roll my eyes at me falling back into my school girl giddy at him. Betrayal of the gods aside. He was even more gorgeous than ever. The scar down his face gave him a dark sexy vibe. Like a bad boy even though he claimed he was rehabbing himself now.

“So how, did you feel about the class?”

“I mean, I’d like to sign up for it a couple times a week, that’s for sure. And I’d like to take you out to dinner to make up for not remembering a beauty like you.”

I almost bit my cheek biting out the response of “Yes!”

“You’ve got my number,” he said, chuckling quietly. “I’ve got to get to work.” He shouldered his gym bag and excused himself.

The bike back to my apartment was spent reliving my tween fantasies about bad boy Luke. I opened my apartment door and screeched seeing a man sitting at my kitchen counter. Percy turned to face me.

“You know you live in New York? You should really lock that.”

“It was!” I snapped.

A quick grin. “Yeah. But it was easy to break into.”

I dropped my bag onto the floor and brushed past him to get a protein shake from the fridge. “I have to shower and get prepared for my night classes.” I told him.

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t either.”

He paused, studying my face in the shitty lighting of the single bulb hanging between us over the counter. “Are we good, Noa?”

“Of course. What’s a little head between friends?”

“Okay…I can’t read you. Can you not play tough just for a minute?”

I chugged the shake and set the bottle down between us. I leaned my arms on the chilled counter, bun knocking against the light. “Honestly, Percy. I’m fine. We are good.”

“Reyna moved back in.”

“You’re engaged again?”

I drank from the empty bottle to give myself something to do. He watched me with those green eyes. He’d known me for far too long. He was nearly impossible to deceive, but I was determined today. The fact that I had dreamt of fucking him two consecutive nights was irrelevant if he was off the table. Even if his lips did look incredibly juicy tonight. Even if they had done near illicit things to me just nights ago.

“I don’t know. She said she wanted to work on things. And it’s her dad’s house, so I can’t ask her to go and I don’t want to go to my mom’s and admit defeat.”

“You know you could stay here, Perc.”

He worked his jaw silently, then rubbed his hands over his face. “Thanks. I do know. Even if we aren’t officially back together, I think we should work on it…” he trailed off.

“And not tell her about you eating me out?” I leaned closer because I was mean to both him and myself. Because I knew this top combined with this angle gave him a simple opportunity. And he took it.

His tongue slid out between his lips as his eyes flicked down, stayed, then dragged deliberately back up. “Probably not,” he agreed.

For a long moment neither of us said anything. He had more to lose now than me. We were no longer on equal playing fields. So, I left the ball in his court. “I’m going to go shower.”

I was done washing in the first ten minutes. The second ten was giving him a little wiggle room to decide. I had my hand on the faucet to cut off the water that was beginning to go cold when I heard the door creak open. I watched through the fogged glass, catching a hold of my breath. I watched as he tugged his shirt off. My stomach flipped over itself when he reached for his jeans. What had I done?

The opening door let in a rush of cool air, perking my skin to attention. My eyes raked unapologetically over his naked, aroused body. His dark hair quickly slicked against his stubble covered jaw. His eyes were no longer the sea green but murky like the deep water of the ocean.

“Hey,” he said quietly, cautiously.

“Hey,” I giggled, reaching out to touch his rough jaw. He winced, catching my hand with his. “We probably shouldn’t kiss again.”

“Sure, whatever you want, Percy. What can I do to you?”

He groaned, turning his mouth into my palm, scraping teeth against the vulnerable skin. “Touch me,” he said.

My free hand instantly planted against his chest, scraping at the muscle. His eyes fluttered closed, head tilting back to expose his throat. I slid my other hand into his thick hair, tugging it tightly between my fingers and pulling to grant myself more access to the strong column of his neck. I bit it first, backing him into the tiled wall when he shuddered. I kissed over the reddening skin and moved my hands to his flat stomach, feeling the shuddered breaths beneath my touch.

“Like this?” I asked.

His reply was unintelligible. I kissed down his chest, moving my hand lower still as I went. When my fingers brushed over the v-line of his hips, I shifted my route away from the center and to his thighs. An annoyed grunt escaped his lips. “Hush,” I scolded, getting my knees under me. The now cold water was hitting the back of my neck and flowing down my body. I placed my hands on the inside of both his thighs, trailing them upwards and upwards until he nearly contorted when I gripped him. He let out a scandalous string of curses that quickly turned to moaning silence when I took him into my mouth.

He unraveled in minutes and I let him cum all over the breasts I had teased him with earlier. I rose in front of him, my own rosy cheeks mirroring his. “Now we’re even.”

[faridian]

The wall through the grassy fields to the institute was blessedly pleasant. The dirt path was level and straight — and most importantly, wide. The valley that served as the academy's grounds was tucked deep in the middle of a vast forest from what you'd heard from some other students while walking. Oftentimes, herd animals would gather to graze, which made it easy to keep the grass from growing too tall.

It was a decent ten minute's walk to finally reach the castle's gates in the central point of the grassy circle. Now that you were closer, you could see it in more detail. It wasn't as tall as some of the buildings in Starfell City, but something about it made it seem impressive. Glowing lichen and swirling vines grew along the neat stones of the walls, and the gates were made of cedar with winding carvings decorating the arch around them. There were two large windows on the second story, which revealed glimpses of the well-lit space inside.

Lupa, still heading the group, pulled on the ring handles attached to main doors and they swung open with surprising ease. Once everyone has filed inside, which didn't take as long as expected, you heard impatient mutterings coming from the crowd. You glanced to your left to see if Rolan was beside you, but the short boy was skirting around the gathered students as if to see something in front of it. You quickly followed, and were glad as you moved to standing beside him once more that you did.

"Welcome, new students and those returning!" A loud voice cut through the din of dull chatter, which fell silent immediately. Your eyes scanned the area before you until your gaze landed on a woman who occupied the space in front of yet another large archway. The woman looked not quite old but not quite young, with long black hair and bright aquamarine eyes, but she had a certain air of authority and confidence.

She continued. "I'm not one for speeches, so I'll keep this short. I am your headmistress, you may call me as such or refer to me as Headmistress Galloway. Welcome to or back to The Burrow Institute where you'll be learning the art of being a dragoneer. You've all read and signed the proper documents, so you know that this school is not the mythical fairytale you may have imagined as young children. Half of the first years by this time next year, as per usual, will be gone. Only the atrong survive this school."

"With that little part out of the way, seeing as how you've all made it here with no major injuries, congratulations on passing your first test of the year. You'd be shocked by the rates of casualties we had on the path in our previous ten years — yes, casualties meaning death. You did trek around the side of a mountain, if you weren't aware."

With a clap of her hands and seemingly unaware of the shocked faces of the overwhelming first year majority of the crowd of students, she ended with, "Onto the better part of your first day experience: lunch."

Then she turned around and beckoned for the rest to follow.

begin chapter two

@ilunarus

You trudged along the hard beaten path, ducking away from low hanging branches. Trekking to the institute was certainly not what you'd expected to be doing so early in the morning.

You'd been woken at dawn by a couple of older students, Lupa Burk and Soren Thatcher if you remembered correctly. They'd led you and the other Burrow students in your inn to where the rest of the student body was. Lupa took the lead of the large group along with another girl. The two made an odd pair, Lupa with her spiky black hair pulled into a ponytail and high-strung energy, the other with wavy sand-colored hair hanging loose, and she seemed to be the calmer of the two.

Soren, meanwhile, hung toward the back, motivating those who lagged behind. At one point, he actually picked one of them up and let them ride on his back until they'd regained their strengh. He seemed unencumbered by the extra weight, nor embarrassed by the situation. The muscles in his arms that were visible seemed to suggest that he was used to lifting heavy stuff. He was clearly fit enough that he must have walked this path before more than once.

As your gaze wandered what appeared to be the entirety of the Burrow's student body, you noticed the boy from the boutique lurking on the outskirts of the crowded path a little bit behind you.

You were at least familiar with three of the students visible to you. The walk was admittedly boring and tiring, perhaps some conversation would distract you?

[awesomerextyphoon]

I love your writing. May I have Loki x Reader? The reader is a sweet, delicate dreamer. Loki has come to conquer the world. He saw her and wants her to become his Queen of Midgard. He kidnapped her. She pleads with him to let her go while she is tied to the bed. He caresses her hair and says she will love him (he doesn't want to use the scepter on her).

***Can I have White Reader x Loki, please? Loki just escaped from the Helicarrier. He saw the reader who is a sweet and innocent creature. Loki doesn't want her dead when he will start battle. Loki kidnaps her and locks her up to keep her safe. When he wins, Loki tells her that she will become his queen.***

Hi! I decided to combine the prompts and make the reader plus-sized. I hope you enjoy! 

His Match

Pairing: Dark!Loki x Plus-Sized Female Reader 

Summary: You’ve tried to live by your grandmother’s rule  of being kind to others, even when the world gives you the middle finger. What if a Norse God decided reward you by becoming his Queen?

Word Count: 1,745

Rating: 18+/Mature

Warning: Kidnapping, Implied Dub/Non-Con, Angst, and some Violence

A/N: Thanks goes to the amazing @angrythingstarlight for beta reading this!

Loki was walking around New York City, scouting Stark Tower making sure the final preparations of his plan was perfect when something, or rather someone, caught his eye.

She walked out of what looked like a women’s clothing store with a forlorn smile. She was plumper than the average female Midgardian last time he frequented the realm. His eyes did not miss the enticing curves that lied beneath her clothes despite her efforts to ensconce herself into the background.

She was a vision.

Her eyes met his for the briefest of moments and it felt like time stopped. His heart quickened in his chest and a rush of blood surged to his groin.

He had to follow her. His Elskan.

“Barton, tell the others I’ll be out for a few more hours. Proceed as planned.”

–––––

He found you entering a rather destitute apartment complex. Its lights and foundation were a bit unsound and gave off a seedy ambience.

Loki grimaced at her living conditions. When he ruled Midgard, she would have only the best.

Casting a simple concealment spell, Loki entered her fairly small apartment. She began mixing ingredients together for what looked to be ‘chocolate chip cookies’. He smiled as he inhaled the sweet aroma knowingly; Asgard had only recently started consuming the sweet. She soon laid out a batch of thick, scrumptious cookies with a satisfied expression.

They reminded him of better times when he and Thor would sneak into the kitchens and swipe confections from under the baker’s nose. Loki chuckled at the memory; those were the days.

Not ten minutes after she placed the last cookie onto the cooling rack did her phone ring. It was her mother. Loki felt dread coming off his Elskan in waves.

Loki could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation, if you could call it that. Her mother constantly nagged her about her weight, life choices, and her ‘pathetic’ attempts to get over her ex-boyfriend. His heart broke as he saw tears begin to fall and the croaking of her voice as she bid the odious creature goodnight.

Several minutes after she cried herself to sleep, Loki entered his Elskan’s bedroom. He spied her diary on the nightstand and decided to read a few pages.

He was fuming within two minutes.

How dare that caustic pig sow treat his Elskan, her own daughter, in a such ghastly manner! Her ‘perfect’ sister always slighting and reminding her on how ‘she’ll never be good enough for anything’ and her father’s callous indifference to her cries for help and solace only added to his rage. Combined with the way her ex-boyfriend, the repugnant gnat, treated her (he cheated on her with someone who ‘wasn’t built like a blimp’ and ‘the only thing you thing you had going for you were your tits’) and he wanted to speed up the invasion just to watch the horror become engrained onto their faces.

And yet, she endeavored to treat everyone with kindness harkening back to your grandmother. She strived to be the one light in one’s otherwise miserable existence.

Well, she can be his light as his Elskan and Queen.

Loki took a deep, cleansing breath. He needed to stick to the plan. When he conquers Midgard, she will be their queen. She will grace the undeserving masses with her elegance and beauty and he will worship her every chance he got.

He just had to make her see it that way.

Gently, the light forest green glow of Loki's magic flowed from his hand to the crown of her head like a halo. He leaned in and kissed her cheek with a smile as he left.

He hated to leave her, but he had a realm to conquer. Though he hoped she’d enjoy the introductory gift.

––––––

You were in your grandmother’s living room; spacious yet comfy with all of her quirkiness and splendor included. It was odd since you haven’t been in her house since your parents sold after her death seven years ago. You tearfully smiled remembering all the good times you had with her, the only member of your family you gave you any true warmth or love.

Her piano was in the corner, barely aged a day with all the music sheets, pens, a light scratches you came to know and love. You took your seat and started to play the piano version of one of your favorite movie themes.

You were so engrossed in playing, you failed to notice someone materializing into your dreamscape.

“What a lovely tune! What is it called?” A smooth, honey-tinged voice broke your concentration.

You turned your head and saw what had to be the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen. He was tall (6’ 10” / 2.08m) easily towering over any man you’ve ever met. He had smooth alabaster skin, light rose undertones with a little blue-red just under his eyes. His cheekbones were immaculate, somehow looked sharp and soft at the same time. He had thin lips with a fair plumpness to the bottom one. His slicked-back, shoulder-length Ponzu/Shadow Purple hair kissed his lean, battle-hardened physique (if the way he’s filling out his outfit was anyway to go by). All of this deliciousness was clothed in a casual Palm Green suit with a Glossy Black tie and shoes.

It took you a full minute to stop ogling him, “Wha-What did you say?”

“I apologize for disturbing you, my lady. I asked what you were playing.” His voice had hints of mirth which was odd considering his appearance. Most people in his league would give you a thinly veiled sneer of disgust, but he seemed genuinely interested.

“Um, well, it’s called Merry-Go-Round of Life from the movie Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s a favorite of mine. I used to play it all the time until…” You trailed off, not wanting to revisit how your grandmother died.

“You do not have to tell me if it brings you such displeasure.”

“Thank you, um…”

“Loki. Please, call me Loki.”

“Loki,” he inwardly moaned at the way you said his name, “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. Please, continue playing.”

And you did for what felt like hours, all while your sexy dream companion asked about your hopes, dreams, anything he could think of really. You in turn asked him about his life and interests; you even laughed at a story of his brother having to dress like a bride to get his hammer back.

You soon became enamored with Loki. It was refreshing to be noticed with actual interest, not ridicule or pity. He seemed to taken with you as well, if his gentle caresses and not-so-subtle lustful glances he gave you were any indication.

You were glad this was just a dream. You didn’t want your heart to break like last time.

Loki was about to lean in for a kiss when everything faded to black.

–––––

You jolted up from the mattress and screamed once you realized you weren’t in your room.

No, this room was…spectacular for lack of better word. It had high ceilings, large windows, ornate chandeliers, and magnificent balcony. Luxurious dark greens, gold, and black covered the room in splendor. Extravagant pieces of furniture dripped with precious stones metal worthy of queens or royal mistresses of old.

“What is this place?”

You tried to leave but was forced back onto the bed by a force field. You tried to take calm breaths just like your therapist taught you in order to make an escape plan.

No sooner did you calm down than the door open to reveal-

“Loki!”

Only Loki was wearing radically different clothing; looked like he walked right out of a fantasy epic. And yet, his smile was enchanting.

“What am I doing here? I need to go back home.”

He tutted in response, “That would not be wise, Elskan Mín. This world is mine now and this is safest place to be.” He was right. His brother’s team of desperate souls were no match for his cunning and Chitauri Forces. Midgard’s pathetic leaders gave up in less than an hour once their beloved ‘heroes’ were defeated, broken, and laid bare before them.

“You can’t be serious, Loki. I need to leave.”

“And go where? Like I said, this realm is mine now. That rat poison of a dwelling is no more and I have dealt with your ‘family’ as needed.” Loki smirked at the memories. It gave him extreme joy squeezing the life out of that worthless pig of mother, breaking every bone in your father’s body one by one, and leaving your ‘perfect’ sister alive with partially rotten skin. Not even the scavengers or maggots would find or want the remains of the scurvy insect of an ex-boyfriend, though he was still alive..just barely.

Well, at least until he decided on how to destroy the blight of creature.

Though he did make sure to leave two of your real friend were treated well. You needed to have someone to talk to while he was away.

You gazed into his Spearmint colored eyes in one last attempt, “Please Loki! If you love me, you’ll let me go!”

For a split second, you could’ve sworn you saw hurt in his eyes and he glided across the room. You back hit the headboard in you sad efforts to get away from him.

“Elskan Mín, I promise to always love, cherish, and worship every part of your glorious body. You will become Midgard’s queen and my goddess. No. One. Will. Ever. Demean. Or. Slight. You. Again.” he punctuated each word of the last sentence with soft, open-mouthed kisses to your face, neck, shoulders, and collarbone.

You tried to fight him, but it felt so good. His touches sent shots of lightning to your core; plus his lips and fingers were cook to the touch provided excellent contrast to the spike in heat.

You started crying realizing how pathetic this was, to have the first person to profess such feelings be a kidnapper. You were actually contemplating whether or not he was telling the truth.

Loki sensed your sorrow and kissed your tears away. “I know this might be ‘difficult’ at first, but you will love me in time.” He hoped he did not have to use the scepter.

You thought about your dream and all of the effort he was putting into this. It was frightening, but it came from a place of love.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay.

–––––––

@lookiamtrying @jtargaryen18 @sapphirescrolls @jobean12-blog @sweeterthanthis @gotnofucks @mcudarklibrary@saiyanprincessswanie @golden-ariess @navegandoaciegas @stargazingfangirl18 @opheliadawnwalker3 @tilltheendwilliwritee  @imanuglywombat @bucky-the-thigh-slayer @navybrat817 @anyatheladyclown @buckysbunny @nacho-bucky @donutloverxo @stephanieromanoff @threeminutesoflife @angrybirdcr​ @angrythingstarlight @chixkencxrry @hurricanerin @marvelfansworld @the-soulofdevil @captain–barnes @drabblewithfrannybarnes @thebanprincess @winteralpine @leslie2898 @buttercandy16 @propertyofpoeandbucky @hevans-angel @thorfanficwriter @afriendlyblackhottie @avintagekiss24 @syntheticavenger @phant0m-queen @tuiccim​ @blueberrythor​ @river-soul @justthehiddleswrites @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog

[uglypastels]

Slide In // Frat!Tom

(a/n) I’ve never written this au before, in like a full fic i think, so i have no idea if this is good, but i had this idea in the middle of the night and yeah. I hope you guys enjoy. this may or may not have been inspired by a certain post @duskholland made about Tom and his mirror selfies <3 how amazing that he literally just posted one today lol

word count: 16.7k

warning: drinking, mention of drug use (weed), school, social anxiety, some smexy innuendos. i made some big last minute changes, so i hope its all coherent. 

DEEPFAVE: Liking a photo (or any post) from over a year ago.

It was a cloudy morning, and it was early. Really really early. Not even the birds felt up to it, it felt like. The campus was slowly awakening or going to sleep (depending on if you had been to last night’s Delta Kappa party, of course). 

It was cold, and the leaves fell off the branches with each huff of the morning breeze. The grass was wet from the previous night’s rain, and it soaked your ankles as you ran through the small grass field, in hopes to cut a bit off the distance to your lecture hall. 

It had not been your fault that you overslept. You had gone to bed early; your backpack was already packed for the next morning. It was supposed to be a relaxing morning, perfect for easing back into it after a week of sleeping in and celebrating the holidays. How could you have expected that your roommate would barge into your dorm at 2 am, still whoo-ing her drunk ass in the corridor with other wasted idiots? 

And it wasn’t like you were against all that partying and drinking. You would have gone yourself to the frat party, but it just didn’t sit right with you. A giant house full of intoxicated strangers- the anxiety running through you just thinking about it was making you shake. 

So, instead of “living a little”, as your older brother called it, you preferred to stay in bed most evenings, either watching Netflix or reading a book. Yet, still, you had been kept awake for so long last night that you slept through your alarm. What was supposed to be a calm morning turned out to be ten minutes of rushed panic. Eventually, you had decided to skip most of your morning routine, including breakfast, brushing your hair or even putting on a decent outfit. You ran out of your dorm, clutching on to your bag, phone and keys.

Your hair was reasonably alright. It was still in the braid you had made before going to bed, but a lot of hair had fallen out during your slumber. When you looked in the mirror though, you saw that it looked decent so you let it be. Not so much could have been said for your outfit. You kept on the same shirt in which you slept in, which was a slightly oversized grey graphic tee from a random indie concert you had been to ages ago. Unfortunately, it was so cold that you couldn’t just go outside in your shorts, so had to spend a precious minute slipping into a pair of sweatpants that were actually not as bum-looking as you had feared.

Luckily, the walk (or in this situation, run) to the lecture hall was short. So, you survived with only a thick sweater over your arms. 

And so, just like that, you were running through campus. The cold air was piercing your lungs as you inhaled deeply. Each breath started with this whistling sound, as you tried to ignore that pain, and ended in an exhale of a cloud of condensation. Maybe you weren’t in the best shape, but even this horrible experience would not make you sign up for the campus gym. No way. 

You could see the lecture hall doors, the wide wooden panelling already towering over you, and you slowed down. You were trying to catch your breath and composure. As always, the doors were heavy and to add to it, the wood could not handle the temperature, so it was even harder to open them. 

“Oh, let me,” you suddenly heard behind you, almost making you jump. The voice sounded familiar, but it wouldn’t click to a particular face just yet. 

“Thanks,” you breathed out as an arm extended from behind you, clad in a leather jacket, and pushed the door open with ease. You followed the arm up with your eyes and saw how it connected to an actual person. Yes, you definitely recognised him. But what was his name again? 

T- something starting with a T. 

He smiled at you politely, nodding the gesture for you to go inside. 

“Thanks,” you said again, before finally moving. 

“No problem,” he was walking behind you but quickly caught up to your side. You saw in his hand a Starbucks coffee, which almost made your mouth water. 

“Professor Dowling’s lecture, right?” he asked, before taking a sip. Your eyes unconsciously followed the movement as the need for caffeine was growing. 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah,” you shook your head, focusing on anything but the delicious rich smell that you could sense coming from the cup—dark roast. 

“Well, good to know I won’t be the only one late,” he chuckled. Troy? Was that his name? No. He didn’t look like a Troy. 

“We’re not that late,” you checked your phone and cursed internally, “only… nine minutes.” 

“Dowling doesn’t care if it’s nine minutes or nine hours. Late is late.” He took another sip. You had to look away before your stomach realised how empty it really was. 

“True, I guess. Well, it was nice knowing you.” You sighed as you had reached the second door leading to the lecture room. Ty raised an eyebrow. No, his name was definitely not Ty. What was it?!

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, Dowling is gonna kill us, isn’t he?” You explained, and he nodded in agreement. 

He was again the one to slowly and quietly opened the door, giving you insight into the room. You almost yelled out in excitement when you saw that the lights had been somewhat dimmed for a slideshow that the professor was giving. You have Tim (nope, not Tim) a knowing look and smile. You had been saved. Then, the two of you slipped into the room, letting the doors close themself. You saw a few people turn their heads as you walked by together, searching for a seat, but you didn’t think much of it. You would have looked too if someone dared to be late for one of Dowling’s lectures. 

Finally, you found an empty seat. Two, actually. It was in the back of the class, so you hoped that once the lights would go back on, Dowling wouldn’t immediately notice the addition of two more faces. The mystery guy, as you were too tired to think of more names and decided to give up, sat down next to you. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on, quickly putting it on the lowest setting of brightness. Just before he had opened it up, you noticed a few stickers. Between a few references from tv shows and movies, you saw the logo of Delta Kappa. You only recognised it because you had been seeing the logo on almost every notice board the last few days together with the campus-wide invitation for last night’s party. 

So he was a frat boy. 

You looked up to the side at him as you pulled out your laptop and notebook. The notebook was more for doodling than anything. But also to write down some more of the essential or just entertaining parts of the lecture, since you had come to realise that writing things down by hand helped you remember better. 

Your heart stopped beating for a second as you opened your laptop, praying that no embarrassing tabs were open or, even worse, you still had Spotify playing on full blast. But you could let yourself relax when the laptop just showed you your desktop. 

Right then, you could hear your stomach growl of hunger. 

“Here,” suddenly T, as you decided to call him for the time being, slid over his coffee to your small desk. You looked up at him in confusion. He had a cap on, so there was not much you could see in the dark shadow, but you saw his sincere smile. 

You thanked him before grabbing the cup. Since it was Starbucks, you hoped to learn his name finally. But instead, in black marker, was written “Holland”. Last name. Well, that was something.

_________________________________

“Thank you,” y/n said before grabbing the drink, taking a look at the name written on it, and taking a big sip of it, although she quickly pulled it away from her lips, her face distorted in a sour expression. 

“Sorry,” Tom apologised, “my hand had slipped when I was pouring in the sugar.” 

“Yeah, I can tell,” she whispered, still a bit disgusted, but it didn’t stop her from taking another large sip. “How can you drink this stuff?” 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Tom grinned. 

Times weren’t exactly desperate, in his case. 

The party had been a massive success. Everyone seemed to have had a great time, and this time, not even at the cost of any of the frat house furniture. Sure, some people might have thrown up in the cooking pans, but that could be easily cleaned up by one of the pledges. 

It all ended around 2 am, which was fairly early, but it was, of course, a school night. Tom remembered to drink water before going to sleep and woke up with only a mild headache. A few painkillers solved that pretty quickly. He got up, stumbled a bit over the mess around the house and was on his way to class. 

He was sure he would have made it on time if it wasn’t for his usual appetite and need for coffee. Yes, he could have made it at home, but for some reason, the coffee from that machine always tasted like piss. And Tom did not want to find out why. So, it had almost become routine for him to stop by the Starbucks that was on the way from the house to the lecture halls. 

What he had not expected was the giant line of customers inside. More people had felt the need for coffee after a wild night of partying. He recognised some girls, still wearing the same dresses they wore to the party. A few guys who looked like they were on the verge of death were sipping their drinks in the corner of the room. The two baristas were running around behind the counter, trying to make the drinks as fast as possible. As fellow students, they knew that there were a lot of people rushing to get to class, at least. 

Tom had even looked at his phone, checking the time before he decided to step into the queue. He had majorly misjudged the time it would take the baristas to make the few drinks before it was his turn to order. In the meantime, people would walk up to him, also recognising him from the party, to tell Tom what a great time they had last night. 

Finally, he got his drink and made his way over to the second station and poured in some sugar. For that extra kick of energy, but also, secretly, because he could not stand the bitterness of coffee. Then, it was really time to leave the crowd. Tom never really minded people and was definitely what you call a “social butterfly”, but there was always a limit. And the limit on a Monday morning was minimal. Even smaller, if you are still trying to get rid of a hangover. 

He had just reached the main square of campus when he saw the big clock. He was already late, so it wouldn’t do much to run. Professor Dowling did not care for excuses or how late you were, even if it was a second. So he could as well just take his time. 

Others had different ideas apparently.

Tom watched as someone ran across the grass, clutching on to their backpack. She stopped at the same door that he was heading for, so he got to have a good look first. The first thing he saw was the back of her head. Hair made up in a braid that was falling apart. A large black sweater, probably her boyfriend’s, was covering most of her frame. 

She was trying to pull open the door that had the word PUSH on them, but Tom didn’t say anything. It was early, and by the looks of her, not that he was judging, she didn’t have a great morning. 

When they had made eye contact, he recognised her from the lectures but did not think he had ever heard her name being mentioned. Professor Dowling loved interacting with the class, no matter how large, and often called out people to answer his absurd questions. She had never put her hand up to answer. Tom was sure of it; he would have remembered her name. 

It interested him to see her pull out, not only a laptop but also a notebook. Did people even use those anymore? Even the dim light he could see the words scribbled on the cover. The decorative style did kind of make it hard to miss it. 

Property of y/f/n.

So that was her name. Tom couldn’t help but smile to himself. 

Having already missed the first ten minutes, he tried his best to focus on the words of the professor, but some things just couldn’t go unnoticed. 

By the look y/n was giving his coffee cup, he could tell that she had not had any herself and the sound of her empty stomach as they sat next to each other only confirmed his suspicion. So, it only felt like the right thing to do to give her some. And the smile he got in return definitely made it worth it. 

His attention was entirely gone by that point, as he watched her open her notebook. It was filled with little drawings. Some were more distinct than others. There were the classic five-petal flowers and the single mysterious eye with no other entity attached to it—also a few little scratchy tornadoes and random filigree. Patches of just lines and different patterns filled up the corners and extended out to the middle of the pages. Tom also definitely recognised a few attempts at bringing back the Super S in there. 

But what also filled up the page were little characters. She must have drawn them during the lectures around Halloween because he recognised a little witch, stylised to the perfect amount of cuteness. There was also a cauldron of bats flying off to the side. 

Tom could have looked at it for much longer and still find some more doodles in there, but unfortunately, she flipped the page. This one was blank. She took out a pen and started to doodle mindlessly.

First, a straight line, to which she attached little ovals. Lightly, but the lines got darker, the more she went over it. Then she made some more lighter lines across it. It made him chuckle when he recognised what it finally was—a piece of wheat. The way she stopped drawing for a second, Tom thought that she had not realised what she was drawing either. It was just a random coincidence where a few lines suddenly could make up an existing object. Then she continued. 

From time to time she’d stop to make a note somewhere in the middle of the page, something that professor Dowling said that made her giggle. It was adorable to hear. 

“Now, this,” Tom could hear the professor say from his little podium, the two little words shook everybody in the room awake because those they were code for IMPORTANT. As Dowling kept on talking, y/n closed her notebook and pulled her laptop closer to type. Tom had to pull himself together to focus on the actual lecture.

Then the sound of her stomach pulled him out of that. That was followed by the whisper of an angry “fuck”. Tom looked over to y/n again. She was trying to type something out, but her shaking fingers kept pressing the wrong buttons. She was crumbling apart from hunger. 

Crumbling… 

Suddenly, Tom remembered. He leaned down to look in his bag, hoping it was still there. It was.

“Hey,” he nudged her side, making her look up at him once more, with caution. He grabbed the small pack of Oreos and slid them over to her desk. She looked perplexed. Then she pushed the, slightly flat-looking, cookies back to Tom. He frowned. 

“I thought I’m not supposed to be taking candy from strangers.” She whispered. Tom chuckled and pushed the pack of four cookies back to her. 

“Well, good it’s not candy then. Eat. I can tell you’re starving.”

Y/n looked at the Oreos, not sure whether to take them or not, but her stomach answered for her.  She opened her mouth, but then she closed it again and turned away. Tom understood it. It would have been the fourth time she would have said: “thank you”. By now, he got the message. As she opened the packet of cookies, Tom went back to listening to the lecture. 

_________________________________

You hesitated before taking the cookies. Were they some kind of prank? You knew how frat guys loved to pull jokes on everyone, even if they were no better than middle school hijinks or cheesy April fools clichés. But the silver packet, except that it looked a bit flat, seemed to be untouched. Most likely because of getting squashed by something in his backpack. 

You opened it and were immediately hit with the delicious whiff of chocolate. You took out one cookie and didn’t bother with the usual way of splitting it open to eat the filling first. You needed food. Now. Even if it were just four broken Oreo cookies. It was better than nothing.

Obviously, you were still hungry and in need of a proper breakfast, but the small snack helped you hold out for the rest of the lecture. 

But now that your stomach was sorted for, you had another problem concentrating. Your new, still unnamed, friend tended to type very loudly. At first, you looked over in a bit of annoyance, which made you actually notice his hands. There was nothing special about them. They were naturally just hands, but the way he moved his fingers across the keyboard… it made you look back in that general direction a few times more.

Probably because of all these distractions, the usual hour and 45 minutes felt much shorter. Before you knew it, professor Dowling was saying his goodbyes and everyone around you started packing up their things.

Needing to get some food ASAP, you packed up your things and practically ran out of the room. Only as you were nearing the cafeteria did you realise that you had never said goodbye to your snack provider. 

Shit.

_________________________________

“Hey, so I was thinking-” Tom was going to suggest grabbing a bite for breakfast together, being somewhat hungry himself, but when he looked up y/n had already packed her things and was on her way to the stairs, following the other students out the door. 

Tom sank back down into his seat. 

“Any problems, Mr Holland?” Tom’s head shot forward to see professor Dowling looking up at him. When he looked around, he saw he was the only one who had not started packing up. 

“No, everything’s alright, sir,” Tom said before getting up with his laptop. “Great lecture. Learned a lot... and stuff.” 

“Good, good,” Dowling said. His glasses were slipping off his nose slightly, so he pushed them back up with his middle finger. “I did not expect you to have heard anything, by the way you and miss y/n were chatting.”

The professor’s words made Tom’s cheek burn up as he pushed the laptop back into its place in his bag. That man saw everything.Suddenly he felt as if he was in middle school again.

“Try to not make it a habit.” 

“No, sir,” Tom said.

Dowling just nodded, meaning the conversation had ended and giving Tom permission to sprint out of the room. 

He wasn’t sure why he was in such a hurry. Maybe he was hoping to find y/n waiting outside the doors. He didn’t even know why he wanted to see her there. He just did. He had this urge just to watch her doodle in that notebook of hers. There was something so endearing about it. 

Alas, no one was waiting for him outside that door. Or even in the proximity of it. There was no one but groups of students making their way from and to class. 

Then, Tom realised that she must have run off to the cafeteria. Still, he decided against going there. As much as he wanted to talk to y/n again, he didn’t want to come off stalkerish. Besides, they’d have another class tomorrow. He could speak to her then. 

“Ayo! Holland!” Tom looked over to a group of people he recognised to be his friends. They were gathered around one of the large windows that was open in the hallway. He waved to them before making his way over. 

“What’s up, man? You looked like a lost puppy.” Jacob said. 

“No nothing, I just zoned out a little, I guess.” Tom shook his head, clearing it off thoughts of y/n. 

“Well, we were thinking,” his best friend and fellow Delta Kappa resident, Harrison joined in on the conversation, “There is this new bar opening next week. The… something- shit, what’s it called again?” He looked over at the rest of the group. 

“The Sterling,” it was Zendaya that answered. She was sitting on the window sill with both legs in front of her, not living much space for anyone else to sit. She had something between her fingers, and Tom could not make out if it were a regular cigarette or a joint. (The smell insinuated at nicotine, so that answered for itself.) The fact that they were on campus did not make much difference to them. She took a drag and blew the smoke out, before handing it to Harrison. 

“So, Holland, you’re in?” 

“Yeah of course.” There’s nothing like the hysteria of drinking yourself sick in some new dingy place across campus. A new one would open up every few months because its predecessor would get shut down after too many accounts of selling alcohol to minors. It had almost become a game for younger students to see how quickly they can destroy a business. Tom and Harrison had been record holders for a while. Five weeks. Tom wasn’t exactly sure how anyone could tell they were the reason for The Six-Ball to close, but it didn’t matter. (“With a name like that, they deserve to shut down,” Harrison had joked before ordering two Long Island Iced Teas.)

Now that they were of the legal drinking age, of course, maybe it wasn’t as fun to go to those shitty holes in the wall, but with the right people, they made it a party every time. 

“Nice! So-” Jacob started talking about how he thought the night had to go, but Tom was already zoned out again. Between Zendaya and Harrison, he had the perfect view of the small grass field. Some people had sat down there with their friends to enjoy the midday, but most people still considered it too cold to sit outside. But what Tom was looking at was behind the grass field. It was the cafeteria doors. He saw that large sweater again. y/n walked out, holding something that looked like a sandwich. Tom smiled to himself. 

“What are you smiling about?” He got nudged in the ribs by someone. 

“Oh, you know, the uhm-” he had no idea what the rest of his friends had been talking about to include in his lie.

“I know,” Harrison said, lounging his arm across Tom’s shoulder to point in the same direction that Tom had been looking at. Tom froze up when he pointed straight at y/n with his finger. 

“Angela Pikowski.” 

“What?” It took Tom a second, but indeed, right in front of y/n, stood Angela with her own group of friends. She laughed at something, whipping her bottle bleached blonde hair across her shoulder. He understood too, how Harrison had caught her so quickly in his vision, for she had her jacket open and her shirt was pretty tight and low cut. How did that girl not catch pneumonia or some shit? 

“You ain't slick, bro.” Harrison patted him on the back. Tom, not wanting to get into it more than he needed, just grinned awkwardly. When he looked out into the square, Angela still stood there, but y/n was gone. 

_________________________________

The campus food was never that good, but it didn’t matter. The feelings of having actual food in your body felt so good that it might as well have been a five-course meal from a three-star Michelin restaurant. While, in reality, it was just a little bacon, egg and salad sub on stale bread. 

It did not matter. 

You enjoyed your breakfast as you walked down the path, back to your dorm. After that horrendous morning, and the pretty… interesting lecture, you were ready to lock yourself up in a room and do nothing but watch Netflix. And thankfully, due to having only one morning class, you could actually do it too.  

You said your polite “Hi”s and “Hello”s as you passed some other people you recognised from other classes. A bit hopefully, you were on the lookout for your (still nameless!) friend from the lecture. You really had to figure out what his name was. 

By the time you had reached your dorm building, your sandwich was gone. A part of you was still hungry, but you ignored that. You were probably just bored anyway. 

The dorm hall was basic in every way, from the carpeted grey floor to the plainly painted walls. But the inhabitants, of course, did try to give it some life. They hung up posters and banners, flags and lights. You reached the door that was decorated with a collage of different 80s glam rock artists and walked into your room. That college had been a little bonding experience with your roommate, Marie, during the very first week of Freshman year.

When you walked in, your eyes were immediately drawn to the lump on one of the beds. A groan erupted from underneath it when you switched on the light. 

“Ruuuude,” Marie yelled out. She came out from beneath the sheets. Her hair was bigger than ever, and you could see the mascara and eyeshadow stains under her eyes, and there was still some glitter on her. 

“You know, you should take off your make-up before going to sleep,” You said as you took off your sweater. 

“You know, you should put some on before leaving the house,” she said before diving back underneath her sheets. 

“Ouch,” you both laughed. But you couldn’t help but take a look in the mirror as you passed it. Maybe you could have used some concealer under your eyes, but it wasn’t that bad. Right? 

The room the two of you lived in maybe wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. You were definitely one of the luckier people in the building. Your room, after all, had just enough space for the two beds, desks and closets to mirror each other on each side of the room. You also went the extra way to put up some extra shelving on your side above the bed, since one closet was not enough. 

“Didn’t you have class this morning as well?” you asked as you sat down on. You could hear something coming from Marie that resembled an “Mhm”. Not in the talking mood, got it. 

So, in quiet, you pulled out your laptop and searched for something that did not look mind-numbingly dumb to watch, eventually settling for a show you had probably watched five times out of pure overwhelming of choice. After a while of moving around in your bed, you found a comfortable position at last and turned the show on, ready for a day of uninterrupted laziness. 

_________________________________

Tom got home a bit later than he had hoped. After making plans for the next night, his friends were determined to go out for lunch as well. What he thought would be just a quick grab-and-go, turned out to be a full two-hour lunch where they talked about anything and nothing. 

He loved the company of people, but not on Mondays. Mondays were his day to do nothing except for going to class, and Tom felt like he had already done too much. 

When he did get back, people were still busy cleaning the aftermath of the party. It had gone a bit wilder than Tom remembered. Some jackass had decided to spray paint one of the upstairs hallways, and the colour was not easy to get off. Luckily, it had become almost a custom for all the house members to lock their doors during a party. For privacy sake firstly, but like anything at Delta Kappa, it turned a bit into a game. 

The first two unlock their door, either if the person was too tired to stay at the party or wanted to bring a guest into their room, was obliged to do something horrible. It was up to the rest of the house to decide what. Fortunately for Tom, he had not been the first to unlock his door that night. That luck fell on poor Billy.

Even if it came to be so, the rule didn’t make sense because no one could check who the first one was to open their door and even if- it was not an official Delta Kappa rule. That meant that, even if the person got caught to be the first, they could simply deny the dare. They would be known as Head Chicken, of course, but there were worse things in life. 

Tom moved up the stairs, saying hi to a few of his roommates, feeling very lucky as one of the senior members of the house, he did not have cleaning duty. Most of that was up to the pledges anyway. 

He remembered when he had to do all those tasks and shit to get into the house. It was so stupid; he didn’t even understand why he chose to be in a fraternity, in the first place. 

He did think the other guys had gone a bit softer on himself and Harrison since at the beginning of it all, they had been chosen by the sorority of Alpha Zeta Zeta as the favourites. Still, some unspeakable things had been done that year. 

But now that he lived in a giant house with some of his best friends, it all felt like it was a bit worth it. He had a great time at Delta Kappa. 

One of the best pros, by far, was that he had his own bedroom. Spacious for everything he needed plus a bit more. A large, unmade, bed waited for him when he opened the door. That, and the happy barks of Tessa. 

“Hello, darling,” he bent down to pet her as she jumped to his knees. Tessa was the official mascot of the fraternity, but she had very early on found a great liking to Tom. It only took her a few days to get settled in his room, and from then on, she wouldn’t sleep anywhere else. 

Tom moved up to his bed, and Tessa gladly joined him. She patted down a circle before lying down with her head on his chest, letting out a satisfied huff of air. Even if he wasn’t comfortable, Tom had no way out anymore. He was stuck. With nothing else to do, he took out his phone and went through his notifications.

Some texts from Harrison and Jacob, a missed call from that girl he made the mistake of giving her his number. People were getting Wi-fi again because he got at least twenty different Snapchat pictures and videos from the party. 

What else there was plenty of, were Instagram mentions and tags. He went through the photos, smiling. It really had been a great party. Then, something popped up in his mind. 

Property of: y/f/n 

y/f/n

Could it be that easy? He could just search for her and hope to find her account. He typed it in. Her first name was already enough to get plenty of results. As always the profile pictures were too small to really make out a true identity, so he made his way through the accounts. 

He only needed three tries, though. The picture already resembled her, so with hope, he clicked on the account. 

This account is private. Follow this account to see their photos and videos. 

Tom sighed. Not so easy after all. Then he saw the bio. It was a bit vague, just a few random emojis. But what interested him was the Followed by and the fifteen mutual followers that she had. It couldn’t be anyone else. 

For some unknown reason, his heart was beating in his throat as he clicked on the blue Follow button and watched it turn grey. Now it was just a matter of waiting until his request got accepted. Or maybe denied. Who knows. 

_________________________________

Watching a show for the fifth time got a bit boring. You could still laugh at the jokes, but at the same time, you could also almost flawlessly quote it as the scene went along. So, a few episodes in you took out your phone and started scrolling through various app feeds.

Marie had fallen back to sleep since you could hear her snore in her bed. And you were falling asleep slowly too. It was so warm in your room, and your bed was so soft and comfortable. Your eyes were getting heavier by the second. 

Then a notification popped up, brightening up the screen in your hand. Half-awake, you tried to read it. 

(your account): Tom Holland (@tomholland2013) has requested to follow you. 

Tom? Your mind took a moment to process. Then the face finally clicked to the name. Tom! His name was Tom! 

Without much further thought you accepted the request and before you even put your phone down, you fell asleep. 

_________________________________

Not to sound desperate, Tom waited for a good half hour before rechecking his phone. He clicked on the Instagram app and the search icon. Her account was still the last one from the recent searches he made. Tom clicked on the account and, to his unexplained surprise, he was greeted with a gallery of pictures. 

He had noticed earlier that the count on top of the page said 53 Posts. Interested, he clicked on the first one. It was a picture of a coffee cup. It wasn’t tagged, but Tom recognised it to be from that café Le Moulin. He saw the distinctive black windmill on the napkin that could not be missed. 

He scrolled down. 

It was a selfie from last summer. The filter slightly enhanced her bright smile on the picture, but Tom could tell it was more to show off the warm atmosphere of her holiday destination. The next photo was from the same holiday, he assumed, of her and a group of friends. He recognised the girls from campus. When he tapped the picture for the tags, he saw their names. @tiffani.btx @bonne_marie @lucywithnodiamonds 

He thought to have spotted that Marie chick at the party. She was French if he remembered correctly. She was definitely a wild one. Might have even grinded up against him during one of the better songs that were played. 

There were some more selfies, solo and with friends, sunsets and landscapes. The picture quality got worse as he scrolled down. It matched with the timeline. People should not be keeping up their pictures from seven years ago, especially not with all those fucked up filters they used back then. Tom was, of course, one of those people. 

He scrolled to the last picture; it was of a dog—one of the cutest little labrador puppies. 

Out of nowhere, Tessa barked in her sleep, making Tom jump up. This sudden movement, in its turn, woke the dog up completely. Tessa kept barking. 

“Right, I think it’s time for a walk, what do you think?” He patted Tessa on the head as she tried to lick his arm. Tom got up and was about to leave his room when he realised he almost forgot his phone. The screen hadn’t turned off yet, so he looked at the puppy again. But something was off this time. Something had changed. 

The little blank heart under the image- it was now pink. 

He accidentally liked her oldest picture. 

_________________________________

There were two types of naps. Those that made you feel amazing and refreshed by the time you got up. And those that made you feel like you had fallen asleep on a bed of rocks. You felt even worse than before when you woke up. Your head was throbbing, and your bra had pushed itself into every possible part of your chest, making it that much more uncomfortable. 

“What time is it?” you asked Marie, but she was still asleep. 

The light of your phone almost blinded you, so you quickly put down the brightness. It was around four o’clock. Meaning you had slept for a good three hours. 

Besides the time, you checked your notifications. There were not a lot of them. A few spam emails, a few texts in a group chat you never responded too and… a like on Instagram? 

tomholland2013 liked your photo. 1 h 

You had to think back to the moment before your nap to remember that he had in fact requested to follow you. And you had accepted it. 

You clicked on the notification, and it sent you to the liked picture. To your surprise, it was the picture of your family dog, Spot. Your family had picked the name even though he was a completely yellow labrador, loving the irony. 

It was your first-ever picture, from over seven years ago. Had he been stalking your account? Why the fuck would he do that? 

Well, you thought, it was only fair if I do it too. So, through the like, you made your way over to his account. 

First thing you noticed was the number of followers he had. 15.7k How the fuck do people even get those numbers? Well, it’s easier if you’re a hot frat guy, of course. 

His profile picture was a mirror selfie, and clearly, it was his favourite composition, for at least five out of the first nine pictures in the gallery were the same style. All full-body reflections, with him holding the phone in his right hand, leaning his head a bit to look at the screen as he took the picture. His lips weren’t exactly in a smirk, but there was that cockiness in there. He really was feeling it, that was obvious. 

The first picture was a classic mirror pose- A black jacket and a black hat: the same outfit he had been wearing in class. You looked at the timestamp and saw that he only posted it an hour ago. Already it had dozens of comments and a low thousand amount of likes.

You scrolled down. A denim jacket and beanie in the mirror; a grey t-shirt and sweats in the mirror; a black suit in the mirror, the list could go on. There were other pictures, mostly from the frat house parties and other events where alcohol played a significant role. There were also the occasional front camera selfies. 

You couldn’t help but look at those a little bit longer. There was something about that small tight smile that he made that was so cute. In one of the more saturated pictures, with a deeper shadow, you noticed that his nose actually had a little bump in it, most likely from breaking it in the past. 

But just from likes alone, you could tell that the mirror was a public favourite. 

There was something about the confidence that the pictures portrayed that spoke to you.. He knew he looked good, and no one could deny it. Except, he looked so much better than good. 

It was interesting to be scrolling down his posts because it was like a trip back in time. At first, it didn’t wasn’t that obvious, just maybe a change in temperature during the year that was referenced through his clothing. Then it showed a bit more as his hair started to get shorter by each picture taken. It got shorter and shorter until his hair was not much more than a buzz. The reason for the drastic hair change was explained in the next picture. 

You had already scrolled down four years worth of pictures, and this one was of him (taken by someone else). Tom was standing in a victory stance on a grass field, which you recognised to be the campus square. He was only wearing boxer shorts and on his chest was painted, in bright blue paint, 𝜟K. Underneath the post, read the caption: Delta Kappa babyyy! with a bunch of other hashtags. One that was included was #deltakappapledge #initiated. Of course, it was during his pledge period. 

You kind of hoped that he had to do more than just shave off his hair because he didn’t even look half that bad. It even suited him actually. Hoping to find some more evidence of that embarrassing period, you scrolled on. 

The sound that came out of your mouth as you scrolled to the next picture was inhumane. Keeping to tradition, it was a mirror selfie. Behind him seemed to be some workout equipment, possibly from the campus gym, but no one would look at that. Everyone would be too focused on what was in the foreground. 

It was Tom standing in front of a mirror, chest glistening with sweat as his hair draped in front of his eyes. Instead of the usual pose, he stood sideways, showing off not only his flexed bicep as he took the picture, but also the outline of all his other muscles.

Completely forgetting what you were doing, you double-tapped the post. How could you not? Only a second later, did your monkey brain realise what you had done. You had made that exact same mistake as Tom. Except while he had liked a picture of a cute dog, you had made your mark on a shirtless selfie.

As the pure humiliation flooded over you, you threw your phone to the other end of the bed with a squeak. 

What’s done was done. 

_________________________________

Tom came back from the walk with Tessa after an hour. They both enjoyed a long walk around the park neighbouring the campus, just to then pretend like they were too exhausted and lay in bed the rest of the day. Well, Tom pretended. Tessa seemed legitimately tired. 

They went back to their position on the bed. Not sure what else to do, Tom got back to Instagram. There was no reaction to his accidental like yet. Not even a follow back from y/n. A bit rude but okay, maybe she hadn’t seen it yet? 

He shook his head. He didn’t like this weird side of him. Where had it even come from? Since when did he wait for anyone to respond to him? And they weren’t even having a conversation! 

Having nothing else to do, he searched through his phone gallery for a good picture to post. He chose one he had taken during lunch, on his way from the bathroom. It was still crazy that his friends wanted to go to a place where you needed to take an elevator to go to the toilet. 

He didn’t care for editing, so he went through the usual Instagram process of making a post, thought of some dumb caption and send it out into the internet. Soon enough, as if they had a notification on for his activities, the likes streamed in.  For the first few minutes, he tried to look through them, again hoping that y/n would be one of the likes or the heart eyes emojis in the comments, but quickly it became too much, and Tom couldn’t keep up. He still enjoyed reading the comments.

Of course, it was all one big ego boost. The praise and compliments, even if it was for something as shallow as his looks, definitely gave him a good kick of dopamine and all those other happy chemicals during the day. 

Tessa was snoring and drooling on his belly as Tom went through his timeline and explore page. There was not much exciting happening in peoples’ lives, but it made the time flow by faster. An hour had gone by probably when he decided to recheck his activities. His new picture already had a few thousand likes and was close to reaching a hundred comments.  He went through some of them and either liked them or responded with a matching emoji. 

But as he scrolled through the activity, he saw a like that was to a different picture. A rather old one too, just from the beginning of college. And who might have liked this picture? y/n 

She liked a workout selfie, huh?

With the confidence that the like gave him, Tom clicked on her account and the message button. He thought about what to send for a moment but decided against overthinking it and went with a simple- 

_________________________________

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Hi 

You looked at the notification for a while. He definitely saw you had liked his old picture. Was he going to make fun of you? Tease you how you had outed yourself for thirsting over him? 

But maybe he just wants to talk? You tried to sound optimistic to yourself. After all, he did like an old picture of yours too. You were kind of in the same boat.   

Putting all worries aside, you clicked on that damn nerve-wracking notification, and without much more thought send out the reply. 

(y/n)

Hey :) 

Before you could even send out the smiley, the message rose to reveal “SEEN” beneath it. Was this happening? Was it? You could see he was typing. 

(tomholland2013)

After stalking me you could have at least followed me back lol 

(y/n)

Right sorry just a lot of mirror selfies. Thought i’d seen everything there is to see 😂

(tomholland2013)

Rude Seen anything you like though? ;)

Uhhh, of course, you have. You liked it. A lot. But you weren’t going to give him that satisfaction. 

(y/n) 

No not really 

Quickly change the subject. 

So what are you up to? 

Good enough subject? 

(tomholland2013) 

Just lying in bed with Tess

Tess? Who was Tess? Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, he would have posted something on his Instagram, right? That’s what couples did? Unless it was just a one time fling. You couldn’t even call it a one-night stand since it wasn’t even night. 

Wait, why did you even care about that? You had literally only said hello to each other and shared a coffee during class. 

But the curiosity was gnawing at you.

(y/n) 

Tess? 

(tomholland2013)

Yeah, she’s falling asleep on my chest. Kinda tired her out lol

You looked at the text, unsure how to respond, or even if to do it. Was he telling you about his hookup?  It didn’t sound like the nice guy you had met in front of the lecture hall, and that gave you his leftover coffee and Oreos. Your face wrenched into a grimace, not sure anymore what to make of this conversation or of what had happened during class.

He was typing again. 

Wanna see? 

Jesus Christ, this was a mistake. You didn’t respond, but he still sent you a picture anyway. It was a timer, unfortunately, meaning you had to click on it to see what he had sent. But he could see you got the message and that you were online. The longer you took, the more prominent you would make it that something was wrong, and you didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had given you his coffee. 

The curiosity got the better of you once again, though, and you clicked on the little bomb. What popped up was almost what you expected- but at the same time, so not. Before your brain properly processed what you were looking at, you were scared that he had sent you an unsolicited dick pic, but it was the furthest thing from that. 

What you saw was a POV shot of his chest and legs. He was indeed lying on his bed. On his chest, however, was the head of a grey silver dog. “Tess” had her eyes closed peacefully as she slept on. 

Of course, it was a dog. 

You decided to be honest. For the benefit of the conversation, if anything. 

(y/n) 

Omg 💀 

(tomholland2013)

We just came back from a long walk, so she’s pretty knackered  What?  Did you think I meant something else? 

Embarrassment kicked in anyway. 

(y/n) 

No... lol 

(tomholland2013)

You sooo did lmao Jealous much ;)

(y/n) 

Of the dog maybe

(tomholland2013) 

Cause she gets to be here with me? 

(y/n)

No I meant it like  She’s so cute  I want one

(tomholland2013)

Relax  I was just messing with you  But if you ever wanna come over

(y/n) 

Maybe another time 

The response came out in a panic. Had he invited you for what you thought he did? No, there was no way he did. Besides, you couldn’t go to his house. You barely knew the guy- your mind kept on whirring about it. But the conversation continued.

Soon the sun had gone down, and it got dark outside, but the messages kept coming in. At one point Marie finally woke up from her hangover slumber. Drowsily she got up and headed for the shower with a towel and toiletries bag in her hand. Before she left, though. She asked you if you could prepare something to eat for dinner since she was starving. You being you, agreed.

(y/n)

Hey, I think I gotta go for a bit. Gotta make dinner for my roommate

(tomholland2013) 

What’s on the menu? 

(y/n) 

Probably spicy ramen? 

(tomholland2013) 

Damn. sounds good But can’t she make it herself? 

_________________________________

A part of Tom wanted to send another message. I want to keep talking to you. But that felt like a bit much. She was typing again anyway. 

(y/n) 

Because she’s still hungover from your party lol Thank for that btw 

(tomholland2013) 

You make it sound like i am personally responsible 

(y/n) 

Well your the only guy from DK i know so  you’re**  💀fml. There go my chances of an english degree 

(tomholland2013) 

Nah babe YOU’RE good ;)

 _________________________________

Your heart fluttered at the little word, for no reason. It was just a text message. He probably called every girl he texted that. Still, the sentiment was there. Also that winky face of his. Could he stop? 

He started to type again. 

(tomholland2013) 

But if you ever wanna meet the other guys, you really are welcome to come over. 

(y/n) 

I’m good thanks. 

Going to a frat house alone? You felt like that could easily be the start of your personal horror movie. It would absolutely crash at the box office, but that didn’t matter. And it was the second time he invited you to come over. If it was a hint, it wasn’t a subtle one. It didn’t stop you from doubting it.

(tomholland2013)

No need to be scared. They’re pretty chill dudes. 

It was cute how he could read your mind because you were undoubtedly scared, but what he probably did not think was that you weren’t interested in meeting any other frat guy because there was only one on your mind at the moment. 

(y/n) 

Maybe another time  ttyl? 

You had sent the last message in the hopes that he had as much fun talking to you as you did with him. You watched eagerly as the three dots danced around on the screen while he typed out his answer. 

(tomholland2013)

 Absolutely

_________________________________

Tom turned his phone off with a smile covering his face. He had just spent talking a good two hours to y/n, and he had to admit, he hadn’t had that pleasant of a conversation with anyone in a long time. It was just so easy to talk to her. It might be partly because it was only texts. But still, she was funny, sweet, and so pretty...

Unbeknown to himself, he was falling a little bit for y/n. Although, maybe he did feel it coming. The idea of getting another text from her made his face heat up. The idea of seeing her in class the next day almost made him… giddy. And it’s only been a day. 

“Hey, man,” there came a knock on his door. “Better hide anything that would make it awkward between us cause I’m coming inside in 3-2-1-” 

“‘S all good,” Tom said right as Harrison walked through the door. 

“We’re gonna order pizza, what do you want?”

“Just the usual, I guess,’ Tom shrugged. Honestly, he didn’t really feel like eating pizza but to be the only one that wasn’t having any wasn’t a good strategy either. 

“Alright, then.” As quickly as he walked in, Harrison was also leaving the room. But he peeked his head through the door once more before actually walking away. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re good?” Harrison looked at him through narrow eyes.

“Yeah,” Tom answered as he prodded himself to sit up. “Why?” 

“I don’t know… Nevermind.” And with that, Harrison left to share Tom’s order. 

It was a rare occasion that all the house members would be at home on a night that wasn’t reserved for a party. That night, when it came to dinner, it was around 8 of them. Everyone was already sitting on the couches when Tom came downstairs to grab his pizza. He grabbed a chair and his box and sat down. A football game was playing on tv, and it made Tom roll his eyes. He still had no real idea of how football was supposed to work. He always preferred golf or basketball, or even baseball. 

The guys cheered at a touchdown or whatever but all Tom could focus on was his phone. He kept checking if there were any notifications from y/n. So far, there was nothing. She was probably busy, he told himself, not wanting to feel too disappointed. 

 _________________________________

“So who were you texting back then?” Marie said as she slurped on her noodles. You were playing around with your own portion a bit, not really in the eating mindset.

“Huh? No one.” you shook your head.  

“So it is someone. C’mon. Who is it?” She extended her leg to poke yours. She kept going until you finally gave in. 

“Just this guy from Dowling’s class.” you finally took a bite of ramen. 

“Aaand does this guy have a name?” Marie kept on asking. 

You looked up from your cup of noodles. “Tom… Holland.” 

Marie gasped, almost dropping her food onto her lap. “Tom Holland? As in Delta Kappa Tom Holland?’ you nodded your head yes. “No fucking way.” 

“What?” Not the most nuanced reaction, but it would do. 

“No way you have a crush on Tom fucking Holland.” You always noticed that when Marie cursed her French accent would show up again. Just the slightest bit. This time, however, what you stayed on was her statement. 

“I do not!” you said as your cheeks were heating up. 

“Ohhh, you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said ‘nobody’. Everybody knows that ‘nobody’ is code for either crush, boyfriend, or drug dealer. And I think we can exclude the last option.” you were going to protest, but you would have only been fooling yourself. 

“So, hypothetically, let’s say I do have a crush on him. Why did you scream out ‘No way’?” You bit your lip, a bit scared for an answer. 

“No, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that.” Marie put down her ramen on her desk and came to sit down next to you on your bed. “I didn’t mean that you, like, don’t have a chance with him. Please, if anything, you’re too good for him.’ you both chuckled. “I just didn’t think he’d be your type.” 

“What, hot?” You raised an eyebrow to which she slapped your shoulder. 

“You’re being difficult. I mean, so… out there. You know, he’s basically the leader of that frat house, he always parties, always has stuff to go to. And you’re… well, pretty much the exact opposite. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Completely not. I just don’t want you to put yourself in any positions that you’re uncomfortable with to impress him or anything. Remember, you are too good for him.” 

“Thanks.” you hugged her from the side. “But don’t you think that it would be good for me to go out once in a while? Out of my comfort zone?”

“Sure, if you’re actually doing it for you. Not some guy.” 

“He is really nice, you know.” you smiled, remembering what had happened that morning. You went on telling Marie about it. 

“Oh, so he’s got a crush on you too, huh? That works out perfectly. ” She finally said when you were done telling your story. You looked at her with wide eyes. 

“What? Noooo,” you said, letting an awkward laugh escape through the no. 

“Fine, whatever,” Marie moved back to her own bed and grabbed her cup of ramen. “But I bet you that if you check your phone now, you’ll have at least one message from him.” 

You rolled your eyes again but grabbed your phone either way. And, fair enough, you had two notifications from ten minutes ago. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: Heyy

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: I hope the ramens good

Holding in your smile, and ignoring the smart ass comments of Marie, you replied quickly. 

(y/n)

It was :)

_________________________________ 

The speed at which Tom checked his phone when he felt the vibration in his pocket could have caused someone severe whiplash. He responded to the text and got up. Ultimately, he had hoped that he could slip out the room unnoticed, but he never got what he wanted, did he? 

“Where are you going?” It was Dave that saw him get up. Tom stopped in his tracks like a little kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

“Just up to my room. Feelin’ a bit tired.’ He explained. This answer received several strange and confused looks, but Tom ignored those and just walked upstairs without saying another word. He plopped down onto his bed. Tessa was still downstairs under the table chewing on some pizza crusts, so he was finally alone. 

The texting continued through the whole night, and Tom had wholly lost the sense of time. He didn’t even feel tired. If it wasn’t for y/n saying that she was about to fall asleep, he wouldn’t at least. Like that, the windshield crashed, and he felt the fatigue from the hours of messaging and staring at a screen overwhelm him. He just about managed to send out goodnight before his eyelids were too heavy to open up again. 

_________________________________

The next morning you woke up feeling much better than either time the day before. Fresh and energised, with plenty of time to get ready before class started. Not that you really put much effort into how you looked for the morning lectures. It was more mental preparation. With enough time to eat breakfast, shower and brush your teeth, you felt excellent walking out the door. Dressed in a sweater that was warmer than two jackets and some loose jeans. With your bag over your shoulder. 

You always thought the walk from your dorm to the lecture halls was delightful. The path leading toward it was enveloped in a tunnel of trees, and during the end of the year, when the leaves were turning into their auburn and golden shades, it almost felt warmer than in summer. Because the harsh wind still kept up with its schedule. It blew in your face as you walked, rubbing against your cheeks. 

When you got there, the lecture hall was still relatively empty. Only a few other people had taken their seats. This was the crucial moment of choosing your seat. Against all your own instincts, you walked down to the bottom of the auditorium, into the fourth row. You had never sat that closer to professor Dowling’s podium, too scared you would be too easy to notice and called to answer a question. But something in you told you to be brave. 

Besides, you had the idea that Tom wasn’t eager to sit there either.

As much as those butterflies in your stomach fluttered at his mention, you didn’t want to talk to him now, not during class. You needed to pass this class badly and to do that, you needed to focus. Something you could not do with him sitting next to you. 

That’s what you told yourself. It was, of course, true, but the bigger problem was that you were scared. Tom sounded like a nice guy, a very good looking nice guy, but Marie’s words played in your head. He was from a completely different world. And it was a scary one. Why not keep a bit of a safe distance at first?

So, you kept your head buried in your notebook as people started to stream into the room. One by one, the seats around you were getting occupied—none of them by Tom, for better or for worse. 

_________________________________

It had taken Tom a while to find y/n. He walked into the room, thinking he had come in with plenty of time to spare, but as he was making his way down the steps, the professor was already making his way to the podium. Tom tried to look around the room as quickly as he could, but he could not see her. Where was she? 

Professor Dowling coughed loudly, indicating for everyone to shut up and sit down, so he could start the lecture. Tom took the first empty seat he saw. An aisle seat somewhere around the 8th row. The course started, but Tom’s eyes stayed on the seats, looking for that braid. 

It wasn’t a brilliant plan, because he had no idea if she had actually kept that braid in for another day. And she had not, in fact. He noticed her, sitting somewhere at the bottom of the class, as she grabbed her hair and was pulling it up into a bun. She did it so quickly, so smoothly, without ever letting her attention get away from her. Focused on the class. He could really learn something from her. 

And he tried to take a page from her book as he finally looked ahead of him to see Dowling write an entire essay on the blackboard. He cursed himself and quickly started to type everything over. His fingers went in fully automatic mode, and he had no more idea what the words he was typing actually meant. 

His mind had wandered off once again. He couldn’t stop feeling that disappointing pull at his heartstrings. He had hoped they could have had a repeat of yesterday. She apparently thought differently. Or maybe she had hoped he would sit next to her, but he was just too slow? 

The lecture went on forever, felt like. Tom’s fingers were cramping up from typing so much, and he could feel his back beginning to hurt in the uncomfortable chair. He kept stealing quick glances at y/n, hoping to catch her in doing the same, but she had not moved once. 

He had to get a grip. They had known each other for one day, spoken maybe ten sentences to each other in person. The rest was all through text. And nothing was the same via messages. Maybe all his feelings were coming from the entirely wrong place? Perhaps she was just polite, and he had misinterpreted it for casual flirting? Besides, there was that sweater of hers yesterday- what if she had a boyfriend? 

But a part of him still wanted to ignore all those signs and go for it. So, when the bell rang, and professor Dowling finally dismissed the class, Tom made sure he was one of the first ones outside. The large hall had two exits, so he stood against a wall, somewhere in the middle between both doors, hoping to catch y/n as she was walking out. 

The loud rumbling of thunder caught his attention momentarily. 

It was just a second, he swore to himself. But the second was enough to miss her. Somehow she had escaped him, nowhere to be found.

_________________________________

You had seen Tom waiting out in front of the room, and you felt horrible for walking the exact opposite direction. For the sake of your own feelings, you didn’t look back at any point on your way to your second lecture. 

As Professor Phillips spoke, you felt your phone vibrate. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: where are you? :) 

The little smiley made heat up in the cheeks, but you tried to ignore that as you typed out a response. You didn’t even click the notification to go to the app, just responded through the shortcut. 

(y/n): had another class

Another notification popped up not long after. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: wanna meet up later? 

(y/n): ngl I don’t feel well, will probably head back home right after

(y/n): but i’d love to chat

You shut off your phone, too scared to see the reply. Maybe it wasn’t the best move since you could not think about anything else for the remainder of the class. When you checked your phone again on your way back to the dorms your heart was lifted. 

(tomholland2013): Tom Holland: of course. hope you feel better <3

_________________________________

Tom tried to think that she wasn’t avoiding him. After all, they texted almost every possible second that they had the time for the past week

They had talked about pretty much anything and everything. And it felt great. The way they spoke to each other, or at least Tom to her, was as if they had known each other for ages. 

Tom only wished he could do that with her from across a table, or a on a bench. Where ever, he didn’t care. He wanted to be able to look into her eyes as they talked and see her smile. Hear that lol and not just imagine it. 

Unfortunately, y/n was kind of giving him the cold shoulder in the real life. She ignored him during classes, and was gone before he could get the chance to talk to her. Whenever he asked if they could meet, she’d give him some reason she couldn’t. If it wasn’t for the fact that they had actually already met in real life, he had vary valid reasons to think he was being catfished. 

Another reason could have been that she sounded too perfect.

It was the next Tuesday already, and Tom was waiting eagerly for the lecture to end. It had been a full week and he had decided, while copying some of Dowling’s notes, that he would talk to y/n today. After class. 

Tomorrow would be the opening of the Sterling and he wanted to ask her if she wanted to come.Or at least to know if she wanted to hang out ever. If the truth came to be no, he would be fine with that. He respected that. He just needed to know. It wouldn’t take away from the fact how great it was to have someone to talk to, even if it was only through text bubbles.

The bell rang and Tom sprinted out. He kept his eyes on both doors as best as possible and finally saw her. 

_________________________________

“Hey, y/n!” you heard your name being called from behind you. It was from Tom. He waved to you so would come over. Taking a deep breath, you decided to wave back, but your legs were frozen in place.

You felt absolutely terrible for ignoring him and denying his various invitations to hang out or to go anywhere, but it was just too terrifying. You were scared of fucking it up. Of it to turn out to be one big joke. You had heard of frat guys using dates and hookups as dares and shit. You didn’t want that. You couldn’t let that happen.

But when you saw Tom smile at you, those worries suddenly disappeared and your legs moved without connecting to your brain. Suddenly, you found your spot next to him.

He had been leaning against the wall with one foot, his arms crossed. You decided to lean against it with your shoulder. Even though you had your sweater, you could feel the grizzly texture of the bare red brick. He smiled and mirrored your movement, so you were only a few inches apart. ,

“Hey,” he said, still with the smile on his face. 

“Hey,” you replied. 

Tom uncrossed his arms to brush his fingers through his hair. As you watched him do so, you couldn’t help imagine how it would feel to play with his hair. It looked so soft. 

“I just wanted to say,” he licked his lips. You were so close to each other that you could see how pink and chapped they were. Focus. “How much fun I had the past week. It’s bee really great talking to you.” 

“I had fun too,” you said. It really was nice talking to Tom. Especially now, standing so close to him, you could smell the coffee he had consumed that morning. Was it pumpkin spice? You felt stupid for not letting it happen sooner.

“Great, that’s- that’s really great to hear. I said great already, didn’t I?” He laughed, shaking his head, “Anyway, I was thinking: a couple of friends of mine are going to the opening of this new bar, the Sterling, it’s probably going to be a bit boring, but I thought, maybe you’d like to come? With me?” He looked at you with those big brown eyes. Your mind started racing a million miles an hour at his words. The fuzzy warm feeling that you got from looking at his smile was dispersing and setting in for anxiety.

He wanted you to go to a bar with him and his friends? Would that be considered a date? For the sake of your dignity, you decided against asking for clarification. It didn’t matter. You couldn’t go to some dingy bar with strangers, even if one of them was Tom. You could already feel your body heating up in anxiety as all the horrible scenarios played out in your head. 

You realised you had been quiet for a while and Tom was still looking at you hopefully. 

“No,” you blurted out. “I mean, I can’t. Sorry.” 

“Oh, that’s fine. Totally. Maybe another time? Or if you don’t wanna go there, we could go somewhere else?” 

“Uhh,” you couldn’t breath. All his suggestions were so sweet, but it felt too overwhelming to answer. Thankfully, the clock tower at the other end of campus rang and indicated the quarter of an hour. Your next class would soon start, and it was about a five-minute walk to get to. 

“I have to go.” you pointed back and started walking, but Tom grabbed your hand gently, just enough by your fingertips. 

“Sorry, I just- if you don’t want to hang out with me, that’s totally fine. You don’t have to pretend to like me, no hurt feelings. I don’t want you to-” 

“I do, Tom,” you told him with a compassionate smile. Then you looked back at the clock. “But I really got to go.” 

“Right, sorry.” he let go of your hand, and you ran off to your next course. 

 _________________________________

“Who was that?” 

As soon as y/n ran off, Tom heard the voice coming from next to him. Zendaya popped up out of nowhere, an unlit cigarette hanging between her lips as she leaned in the same spot y/n had. 

“Just a friend,” Tom shrugged. That’s what they were, after all. If even. He hoped he could describe someone he had mainly only spoken through texts with as a friend. 

“You sure about that?” Zendaya smirked. “Cause by the looks of it, she’s got you pretty hooked. You were basically begging her to go out with you, bro.” 

“Yeah, well, forcefulness isn’t exactly an aphrodisiac, is it?” he sighed then almost turned pale at the words he had said. Zendaya didn’t say anything, just nodded and took out her glittery lighter. 

“Could you not?” Tom pulled the cigarette out of her mouth before she could light it and put it in his pocket. “We’re inside, for fucks sake.” 

“Fine, but tell me who this friend of yours is.” She nodded her head back into the direction that y/n ran in. 

“I don’t really know. I mean I do, but- Basically we met last week before class. Then I found her on Instagram and DM’d her-” 

“You slid into her DMs? Bro,” she laughed. 

“Call it what you want, it was the only way of reaching her I had.” 

“Fine, so you like her, yeah?” 

“I guess.” Tom didn’t like sharing his feelings. It put him in this vulnerable position that he was not used to. Zendaya knew that, yet still she pushed him to do it almost every time they talked. 

“For what it’s worth, I think she likes you too,” she said. 

“How so?” he questioned hesitantly. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Zendaya had pulled that trick on him to date someone. And it had not ended well. 

“Well, body language for one, she felt comfortable enough around you to stand close to you, facing you; she smiled at your rants which, props to her, is hard to do.” 

“How long had you been watching us, exactly?” Tom asked a bit freaked out. Zendaya ignored the question.

“Believe me, she likes you. She’s just scared.” she pulled out another cigarette from her pocket, “also, taking a girl to a shithole like the Sterling for your first date? I’m glad she said no. Set some standards, man.” And with that lovely comment, she walked away. She didn’t have to see Tom flipping her off, she knew he would do it, and she replied lovingly in the same way. 

That’s what you got for being friends with psychology majors. 

 _________________________________

The first thing you did after walking out of your second class was to check your phone if you had received any messages from Tom. There was nothing. So you decided to message him yourself. 

(your account) 

Hey  Sorry I ran away like that  And basically anytime after class and making those dumb excuses not to meet up Just so you know I do really wanna hang out with you I’m just not really great with crowds or with places like bars and stuff And ive also never really been asked to go anywhere with anyone, like personally  Idk why im telling you this. I’m definitely rambling Texting is definitely easier than talking huh Sorry for all this 

It took Tom two minutes to see your messages and to respond.

(tomholland2013)

It’s totally okay. I get it And sorry if i made you uncomfortable with all that.  Can i come to your place tonight? Or how about we go to Le Moulin?

Le Moulin. You had been there before. You could do that. With trembling fingers of excitement, you replied

(your account) 

Deal. Around 7?

(tomholland2013)

Sounds perfect. See u then 

 _________________________________

Tommo: Hey guys, sorry but im gonna have to skip on tonight 

This short message was seen and very much not appreciated by his friends. None of the replies could be seen as appropriate for day-time television. Except for the one Zendaya had sent him through their personal chat. It was simple, 

Z: 👍

With the entire afternoon off, Tom made sure he looked somewhat decent for the night. He took a shower. Washed his hair and made sure it was extra soft. He wasn’t sure what y/n thought of it, but from past experiences, he knew that usually, girls loved his hair. Thinking about other girls was probably not the best mindset, though. Still, his hair did look really good. He brushed his fingers through it. 

It had not yet stopped raining, which was a bit of a problem, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind getting a bit wet. For the sake of it, he took an umbrella with him. Luckily it wasn’t very windy, so it actually came to good use. The walk from the frat house to the dorm that y/n said she lived in wasn’t too far away, and fortunately on the way to the place he had in mind to take her to. 

On his way over, he thought about what Zendaya had told him. 

Was y/n scared? Of what? 

They had talked about that kind of stuff briefly, during the weekend, and she and said that she suffered from anxiety. Tom just thought it was stuff like giving a presentation in class. He hadn’t even thought about the more social aspect of it. And here he was pushing all those things at her like going to some bar with strangers. Jesus, why did he have to be such a dumbass? 

The dorm complex had a buzzer system like a regular apartment complex, so he searched for her name on the long list, and pressed the button next to it. 

“Hello?” It was her roommate, Marie, that answered. 

“Hey, it’s Tom. I’m here to pick up y/n.” He could hear some indistinct giggling coming from the other side of the line. 

“Of course, c’mon up. But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit.” Next followed the buzzer, and the doors opened for him. The number on the button said 54, so he assumed it had to be on the fifth floor. When he walked up to the door with that number, he was greeted with a colourful collage of rock bands whose hair was probably more impressive than their vocal range, which said a lot considering Queen was on it. 

He knocked and waited for someone to open. y/n was the one to do it. She stood frozen in the door, only a towel wrapped around her body. 

“I thought we said seven?” she said, her voice a bit higher than usual.

“It’s quarter past seven!” Marie shouted out from inside the dorm. y/n cursed. 

“Shit, sorry, I lost complete track of time. Give me ten minutes, okay?” she held up a finger so he would wait here. Tom nodded and let her close the door again. He could still hear her yell at Marie as to why she had not told her she was running late, to which Marie only responded with hysterical laughter. 

“Holland?” someone in the hallway asked a few minutes later. Tom turned in the direction to see a guy with a head full of bed hair poke out of his doorway (which was covered in pictures of death metal posters and my little ponies). He stepped out in the hallway to reveal he was wearing nothing but a pair of tiny and tight briefs, leaving little to the imagination. 

“Oh hey… Crocker,” he called the guy by his preferred nickname. 

“Hey man, what are you doing here?” Crocker asked. The way his eyes were almost ruby red and the stench coming from his room, Tom presumed that the guy was higher than a kite. 

“Oh you know, waiting for a date, heh.” He said a bit awkwardly, pointing back to door 54. 

“Ah, getting some of that French jay nehsuh gwaa.” 

Tom looked confused. He wasn’t sure he had ever heard someone butcher a language that badly. Well, probably, but he didn’t remember it. He kind of understood what Crocker meant, though.

“No, I’m here for y/n. Not Marie.”

“Damn? Really.” Crocker started to giggle, which might as well just have been a side effect from whatever he had smoked up in his room. 

“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure how else to react. Crocker just shrugged and walked back into his room, smashing the door closed. Tom turned slowly, not sure what exactly had happened just then. And he turned right on time too, because the door of dorm 54 opened and y/n walked out. Wearing a raincoat over a sweater and jeans. She also had a pair of black ankle boots on. Tom could not help but smile at the sight of her. 

“Sorry about that,” she said, the nervousness in her voice was unmistakable. 

“First,” Tom spoke, remembering one of his earlier worries from days ago, “you don’t have a boyfriend, do you?” The question made her laugh.

“I very much do not. Why did you think that?” 

“The sweater you wore when we met. It had that whole stole-it-from-my-boyfriend vibe.” 

“No, I haven’t had anyone to steal clothes from in a long time.” she shook her head. Tom extended his hand for her to take, which she gladly did. It felt amazing.

“So what will you be ordering?” 

“Ice cream,” Tom answered, almost matter-of-factly. 

 _________________________________

“Ice cream?” you asked to make sure you had heard him correctly. He nodded in agreement. “Don’t you think it’s a bit cold for that?” 

“No.” He said bluntly, which really sold the case for you. You were on your way again.

You could hear the rain pound against the main door before you even reached the ground floor, and it only got harder and louder the nearer you got. Tom, being a true gentleman, opened the door for you, but you were a bit hesitant to walk outside. 

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” he let you hold the door so he could step through the threshold and push open the umbrella. You noticed it was a Delta Kappa umbrella. They really made merch of everything. As he put the umbrella up, he extended his arm for you to intertwine yours through. Then, you walked. 

Though it was relatively early, the sky was pitch black because of how early the sun set those days and the dark clouds that had been pestering the sky that entire day. Not a star was to be seen. The rain tapped heavily against the umbrella, and you tried to stay as close to Tom as possible. The excuse, of course, was to not get wet but really you wanted to enjoy the warmth that he was giving off. At one point you had changed position from just having your arm over his, to him wrapping his arm over your shoulder. 

You walked down a brightly lit path, so you could see everything around you. The trees, the cars passing by, the building. So, when you saw the little café at the end of the street, you squealed. 

While there were plenty of bars, pubs and clubs to go to around town, so there were restaurants and cafés. And while restaurants really weren’t your thing, you loved to sit in one of the cosy coffee shops with a cup of tea or coffee and read a good book. Another fun thing about all those places was that they were very internationally orientated, speaking to the wide variety of students that the university had. Le Moulin was of course based on a Parisian café. You had actually found it together with Marie, in hopes she could have something that felt a bit closer to home. Though it didn’t come close to the real magic of the French capital, it still had plenty of its charm in it. Not to mention, the pain du chocolats were to die for! 

Yet, you had never actually had ice cream from their menu. 

You still weren’t sure if today would be the day for it. By the time you wear under the little entrance roof, you were freezing, and so was Tom, visibly. 

“Are you still sure about the ice cream?” you asked him as he closed the umbrella.

“Hot chocolate?” he suggested, suddenly fluent in your love language: chocolate and hot drinks (it was a very simplified version of said love language). 

This time Tom got to be the real gentleman as he let you walk inside first. He dropped the umbrella in the stand, together with a few others. When you looked around the café, you saw that a few more couples were enjoying the cosiness. A sweet melody was playing from the speakers. The rain had also softened outside, and together with the vintage sounds of guitar and vocals, it gave the perfect atmosphere for the night.

You had barely stepped inside when one of the waiters walked up. He smiled and said: “Your table is ready,” which surprised you, but Tom took you by the hand, and you both followed the waiter to one of the tables next to the wall, where one side had a couch instead of the usual chairs. You sat down first, taking off your jacket. Tom was going to sit opposite you, but now it was your turn to grab his hand. 

“Slide in.”

He smiled and sat down. He probably didn’t need any convincing and just wanted to hear you say that you wanted him to sit next to you. You didn’t mind that. 

“Should I prepare the order?” the waiter asked as you made yourself comfortable, again confusing the hell out of you. 

“Actually, scrap that. We’ll have two large hot chocolates.” Tom said. 

“With cinnamon!” you added. 

“One with cinnamon.” Tom corrected. The waiter nodded and walked off. 

“Don’t like cinnamon?” you quizzed, to which Tom shrugged. 

“It’s alright, just not a big fan.” Both of you looked around the room. You had never been in the café at night, so you hadn’t even realised that the walls were covered in soft gold lights, giving it all that much more the feeling as if you had stepped into a fairytale. 

“I didn’t know this place took reservations.” 

“I’m not sure either,” Tom replied, you noticed he had his arm draped around you again, “I just called to be sure.”  

“Really?” That split you up into two. Your heart skipped a beat at the thought that he had made a special call to the café to get, probably, the best seat in the house. On the other side, you were freaking out for a few reasons. He had put in quite the effort in an almost last minute notice of plans, while you were fifteen minutes late. That was embarrassing enough. And this reservation basically put you in a spotlight for the entire business, which was really not ideal. You didn’t want to be noticed. 

“Hey,” he whispered and squeezed his grip around you lightly, “everything okay?” 

“Huh? Mhm,” you nodded your head and smiled, trying not to think about how the waiters might be judging you. 

“I saw you had posted a picture from this place on your Instagram, and I used to come here a while back, so I thought it would be cool, but if you don’t like it-” 

“It’s perfect,” you made up your mind. In the end, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. You felt safe, sitting on the little couch, next to Tom. 

Soon after, the waiter came back with two mugs of hot chocolate. When Tom ordered large ones, they delivered. The mugs might as well have been cereal bowls, topped with a peak of whipped cream and cocoa powder, and a cinnamon stick in your cup to distinguish the two drinks. 

“Et voila!” the waiter put the cups down. You thanked him, and he was gone again.

There were spoons, but you decided to stir your chocolate with the cinnamon stick. 

Still with his arm around you, Tom took his mug up to his lips. With the feeling of having him so close to you, you wondered what this really was. What if he just wanted to be friends and spend some time with you? Had he noticed how sad and lonely you were, and did he want to take his pity out on you? Were you a charity act for him? God, you hoped not. You really really hoped not.

“Tom?” You looked at him, to see his eyes dart in your direction. His top lip was covered in whipped cream. You gestured it to him, slightly giggling, and he wiped it off with the back of his hand. How was someone that hot, so adorable? 

“You were saying?” he said, putting the mug down on the table in front of you.

“I was just wondering,” Be quick, get it over with, you’ll feel better when you say it. “is this a date?” 

“Do you want it to be? It doesn’t have to.” He added the second part quickly after.

“I- I think I do,” I smiled. Though he had just put his mug down, he picked it right back up, you did the same.

“Then a date it is.” You clinked cups. Still, something felt off. You were holding the cup up to your lips, but just far enough not to be able to drink from it. Your eyes glazed over as you focused them on the mural in front of you. It was of the Paris skyline. With the Eiffel tower in the middle, the Arc de Triomphe a bit to the left, on the other side stood the two symmetrical towers of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was probably geographically inaccurate, just good enough to keep everyone who had never been to the City of Love satisfied. 

“Okay, something’s up.” Tom brought you back to the date. “What’s wrong? And, please, be honest.” 

“I don’t know,” you huffed out a laugh. “But before you start to freak out, it’s nothing to do with you, I swear.”

“So, you kind of know what it is about.” he raised an eyebrow. He had a point. If you knew what it was not, it meant you knew what it was, indeed. 

“I, uhm,” suddenly you felt very much aware of everything and everyone around you. Were they listening? “Well, I really want to apologise for being so distant outside of Instagram.” 

“There’s really no need for that, darling,” he said. “I understand it, and should have been a bit more considerate. I should have realised sooner that bars and shit aren’t your cup of tea.. or hot chocolate.” 

You both laughed. 

“Yeah,” you were smiling, but the word came out a bit as a sigh, conveying your all the troubling thoughts that were going on in your brain.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Tom saw through it. You bit your lip, not sure how to say it. You didn’t want to say it. He would probably think you were a joke. Besides, all those people around. Some of them from your school. They could probably hear every word you were saying.

“Do you maybe want to text it to me?” he suggested with a kind smile. You hadn’t realised when he had moved, but he had let go of your shoulders, and his hand was now on top of yours. His thumb moved slowly over your skin, reassuring you that, whatever it was, it was okay. 

How you hoped it was. 

You grabbed your phone and started to type out your message, taking a deep breath before sending it to him. You heard the vibration in his pocket, and with it, your heart skipped with anxiety. Tom kept holding on to your hand as he took out his phone and read the text. His eyes shot wide open. 

“Wait, really?” 

 _________________________________

“Never?” he asked, to which she bit her lip and shook her head. 

No, it wasn’t possible. 

“How has no one- nooo,” 

“It just… never got far enough- No, I mean, ugh,” she finally took a sip of her hot chocolate. Tom had to admit that it was cute how that was her go-to frustration action. She wiped off the whipped cream from her lip. Tom couldn’t stop looking at them, they were just so perfect. He wanted to feel her, to taste her. He wouldn’t even mind the taste of cinnamon that would have remained on them. 

“There was just never a guy that made me think, oh yeah, I want to kiss him,” she said after another sip of the hot chocolate. 

“So, you’d want to kiss me?” 

“Shut up,” she said glaring, but just to hide the big smile on her face. 

“Sorry, I just can’t believe you’ve never been kissed.” She flinched a bit at his words. “I don’t mean it in that way. You shouldn’t be ashamed of never being kissed. Sometimes it happens early on, sometimes it doesn’t. If it wasn’t for my pledge, I don’t think I would have had my first kiss till last year.” He confessed. y/n looked at him with eyebrows that had a twist of disbelief in them. 

“Yeah, right.”

“I swear,” Tom laughed, putting his hands up. “So really, no judgement here.” Then he leaned in to whisper into her ear, “and I definitely won’t mind breaking you in,” He couldn’t keep a straight face saying it, and neither could she. He had thought it would make her nervous or flushed, but she just slapped him on his arms teasingly. 

“In your dreams, Holland.” 

“Fuck, I hope so.” That made her freeze, just for a second though. “Shit, too much?” He asked, afraid he had finally taken it too far with his inappropriate humour. 

“No, you’re good.” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, allowing Tom to do so as well. 

“See, just because I’ve never been kissed, it immediately puts me under this label of being a prude or something, but I’m really not. I’ve just- had a really shitty love life.” Or just a complete lack of it.

“Well, I hope to change that.” He leaned in again and pecked her cheek. That finally got him the flushed reaction he had hoped for. 

“You already did.” 

 _________________________________

Your hand moved up to your cheek, hovering above the area that he had kissed. You felt like an idiot, but with Tom, it didn’t even feel like a bad thing. 

“We’ve known each other for less than two days, and I can already tell you, you’re way up there in the list of good dates.” 

“Way up there? Give me stats.” He nudged on. You thought for a second. 

“At least… top ten.” 

“Top five? Oh C’mon, babe, I think I’m a bit better than that. Not to toot my own horn, of course.” 

“Top five.” You said, ignoring the butterflies that had escaped in your stomach. He glared at you. You glared back, keeping your eyes on each other for another moment until he had dipped his finger in his hot chocolate and pressed it against your nose. You blinked in confusion. 

“That just moved you down to number six.” 

“Well, shit.” Tom leaned in and licked the whipped cream off your nose. As disgusting as it should have been, you burst into a fit of giggles, hiding your face in his chest to not disturb the rest of the restaurant. While you were trying to calm down, you felt Tom kiss the top of your head a few times. 

Finally, you sat up again. 

“Top three,” you stated. It was good enough for Tom. For now. 

You drank the rest of your drinks in the best silence possible that could be kept as both of you kept laughing at each other. Finally, the mugs were empty. Tom paid for everything and let you take the lead to walk outside with the umbrella. When you opened the door, however, you saw that the storm had now passed over into a light drizzle. You kept the umbrella closed. 

You were already letting yourself get taken up by the rain when Tom was outside. You thought he would come to join you, but he stayed under the little roof, watching you with a big smile. 

“Not afraid of the rain, are you?” you asked. “Or are you made of sugar?” 

“All I can say is, come and find out for yourself.” You were already a few steps away, so you hopped over to him, took his hand and took the final step, so you were touching chest to chest. His other hand found its way on your hip. You saw his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips. You smiled and pulled him in closer, making you take a step back and exposing him to the weather. 

“Mutherfucker!” He gasped, not having expected that. “Ohh, you’re good.” 

Before you knew what was happening, he had picked you up by the waist and spun you around. You squealed from surprise before the both of you started laughing again. Eventually, he had to put you back down again, and your eyes widened in horror when you saw him walk to a large puddle. 

“No, Tom! No, no, no.!” He put you down right next to it. Probably an inch from the water edge. 

“C’mon, I’m not that mean.” he pouted. 

“Nah, you’re a softy,” you poked his cheek. He grabbed your hand. 

“Oi, I wouldn’t go that far.” then kissed the tip of your index finger, which you had poked him with a second before.

“Too late, I guess.” 

“You sure about that? You’re still really close to that puddle babe. We wouldn’t want any… accidents!” He gripped you by the waist again, and the sudden movement made you feel like he was gonna throw you down into the puddle. You shrieked but soon felt his arms still around you and no parts of your body were soaked (only moderately wet from the light rain) or on the ground. He was still holding you. 

“You never answered me,” he said, his sweet laughter was gone, and his eyes were on your lips again. 

“Answer what?” you kept looking at his face as a whole, taking in every detail. The way his nose scrunched when droplets of rain well on it. How one of his eyebrows was more bushy and irregular than the other. The dimple in his chin, his freckles- everything. 

“If you wanted to kiss me.” 

His golden-brown eyes were so warm, even in the dim street lights at night. His wet hair was sticking to his face, but framing it so nicely. His jaw was sharp, it didn’t seem like it should be real. 

“I do.”

His lips. Though thin and a bit chapped, they still felt so soft. The sweet taste of chocolate, mixed in with the rain that had fallen in the few moments that you stood outside. His hands cupped your cheeks, pulling you in closer to him. It felt so good. So right. 

You pulled away but with no idea how much time had gone by. His stands stayed in their position, his eyes searched yours for a reaction. Nothing came from it since you were still in an emotional daze. 

Tom chuckled. 

“Fuck, I should have slid into your DMs sooner.” 

“Way to ruin the mood, Holland.”

“Oh, you love it.” He said before pulling you into another kiss. 

The END

> song played in Le Moulin: Rendez-vous sous la pluie (Jean Sablon)

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed

> please leave a comment or ask with your thoughts. i love reading them and let me know if you want to see more of this au cause i really enjoyed writing it :)

> if anyone has a comment about how it had only been a day since they met etc. i wrote this 15k story in the span of 24 hours. i wish i could have added more to it but at this point, i am physically and emotionally exhausted and do not want to make it even longer. 

>masterlist and link to taglist in bio

tagging:

@definitely-not-black-cat @artemisiaarm @nerdyhockeygirl @miraclesoflove @justasmisunderstoodasloki @thefridgeismybestie @m19friend @creative-happenings @parker-holland-osterfield @fanficparker @fanficscuziranout @peterparkoure @xxtomxo @happywolves81 @captainbuckyy @tra-gicx @qxeen-of-hearts @varshavisuu @kangaroobunny @petersunderoos96  @the-lost-fairy-tale @nerd-domland @sleepybesson @rissa067 @the-queen-procrastinator @scarletteclipze @screeching-student-unknown  @spiderrrling​ @captainpeggy40 @tomhollanders2013 @miraclesoflove @playinonaloop @queenoflostspirits @roses-hxlland @hereiamhereigo @sunnydays0803 @averyfosterthoughts @moorehollandplz @beiroviski @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @peterparkerbabyyy @multifandomlover21 @lmaotshollandd @badbitchydecisions @tikapollak @awesomehritz​ @madzleigh01​ @oh-what a beautiful-parker @taciturnspidey​ @quaksonhehe​ @mountainsforwords​ @harryfobter @peepeeparkerr @viagracex​ @ethereal-beauty-p​ @slytherin-chaser​ @worldoftom​ @moonysoftt​ @peeterparkr​ @wazzupmrstark​ @saintlavrents​ @peachybloomss​ @blissfulparker​ @chloecreatesfictions-archive​  @fallinfortom​ @bitchydecisions​ @okokimfreakingoutahh @cicicantblog​ @musicalkeys​ @joyleenl​ @multifandomdoodles121 @awkwardfangirl2014​ @marvelouspeterparker​

[anime6723]

The stars aline

Starla was a young woman who had left home at 17 years old. Starla and her family had never really gotten along because her grandma had always been the person who would control and run everything in her very large family. About a year before she left, her grandma started talking about getting her married. Starla always planned on getting married for love, and her whole life, her grandma had always favored her little sister over everyone else because they all lived together. A fight that happened between the whole family left Starla feeling like a burden. So in the middle of the night, she left the house and bought herself a train ticket to anywhere. She wanted to get away. What she didn't know was that her mom and dad had realized she was gone the next day, and started to search for her everywhere.

Ten years later, Starla now 27 years old. She had changed her last name and ended up in a town called Rose Field. She had a 5 year-old,whose dad left early on wanting nothing to do with his daughter. Her daughter was named Moon because she loved her to the moon and back. One day, she and Moon were playing in the garden, when the house phone started to ring. She had told Moon to stay and play outside, and that she would be right back. " Yearwood residence. This is Starla," she said. What came from the otherside of the phone was a voice she never thought she would hear again. "-Starla, honey, is that you?" came the voice of her dad. Surprised, and not knowing what to say, she stared at the wall blankley. " Hello, Hello, Starla, you there ?" her dad asked frantically.

"Yeah, dad, it's me," she replied.

"Oh my god, sweetheart, we have been looking everywhere for you!" He cried.

"I didn't think you cared."

"What? Baby, no! We woke up that day and went to get you up, and I apologize ,but I freaked out when we couldn't find you anywhere. Grandma has been blaming herself for all these years. Please come home, we all want to see you." He exclaimed.

"Ok, Dad, if I come home, you guys don't fight with me, you don't yell at me and you listen to me with anything I have to say, OK!"

"Yes, Baby, anything you want."

"Ok, I'll see you in a couple days," she said.

" A couple days?"

" Yes, Dad, I live in Rosefield now. It's gonna take a while."

"Ok, Baby, see you then, Love you, bye."

"Love you too, Dad, bye." They hung up.

Starla went back outside to talk to Moon. Moon ran up to her mom. "Hi, Mama. Who was on the phone?" she asked.

"Hi, baby girl, Well, that was someone from mama's past. How would you like to go see where mom is from?"

"Ok, Mama, I would love to," Moon said.

The next day, both Starla and Moon were on a train back to her hometown of East Reeds Ridge. When they got there, it was the middle of the night, and Starla carried a sleeping Moon into a hotel room and laid her down on the bed. Starla then went and got ready for bed, crawled into bed and kissed her daughter on the head then went to sleep.

The next morning, Starla was awoken by her daughter snuggling into her like she did every morning. "Good morning sweet girl, how are you," she asked. " I'm good, Mommy, Did you sleep well?"

"I slept pretty good, baby, did you sleep well?" she asked back.

"I slept well, mama."

"I'm glad, Baby. You want to get up and see what we came here for?"

"Of course, Mommy." After they got ready, they went and had breakfast. Then they walked to Starla's old childhood home. Starla knocked on the door and her little sister answered.

"Hello, can I help you?" her little sister asked.

"Hi, are Alice and Jackson home?"

"Yes, let me get them," she said. A couple minutes later, Starla's mom and dad showed up and stepped outside with Starla and Moon.

"Is that you?" her dad asked. "Hi, Daddy, I missed you." Starla said. They hugged and then her mom came up and hugged her.

"My baby is Home." she cried.

"Hi, Mom, I missed you." She looked down to where the Moon was standing.

"Well, who is this little one?" her mom asked. Moon looked up at her mom unsure of what to do. "This is Moon, my daughter." Starla answered for her.

"You had a baby?" her dad asked.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Oh my god, we have a grandbaby!" Her mom screamed which startled Moon and caused her to want to be picked up by her mom. Starla gladly picked her up.

"Can you tell them how old you are baby?" Starla asked. Moon held up five fingers still shy.

"What's her name?" Starla's dad asked. "What's your name[,] baby girl?"

"M-Moon," she said shyley.

"That's right baby," Starla said smiling.

" It's so cute," her mom said.

"Thank you, Mommy said she picked it because she loves me to the moon and back," Moon said shyley.

"Oh that's beautiful," her dad said.

"She was my reason to keep going during one o the darkest times in my life, her birth father had just left us and so I was left to raise her on my own, and it was one of the best choices I have ever made," Starla said.

"Well I am glad to meet you Moon, and we are glad you are home Starla," her dad said. They all went inside and Starla was immediately tackled into a hug by her sister and grandma. After a few hours and weeks of talking and getting to know each other again Starla and Moon were home and not going anywhere