#i just saw the opportunity for a joke and took it <333< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[scattered-winter]

sorry can't talk right now i'm listening to classical music. yeah no it's gonna be all night <3

[obliviouscxnt]

His Shadow pt.2 Azriel x Reader

a/n: all the feedback from the last fic is insane! I can’t even express the joy all of the comments bring me, the kind words mean so much!!! I'm so happy this concept is liked, I definitely want to explore more with it:)) I hope you enjoy!! <333

1.8k words

synopsis: azriel makes a deal with himself to get his shadows back

Warnings: angst, fluff

pt.1

He’d gotten so used to you being there, so comfortable with the shadows that always surrounded him. 

Now that they were gone—now that you were gone—he was left with an inescapable feeling. Loss. 

It felt like lead in his body. It twisted, and turned, weighing itself down on his ribs. Aching at every little thing he began to notice, the little things you did for him. The things he’d taken for granted. 

He missed the way your darkness covered him like a protective blanket. Missed the ease it brought him. Without it, he felt bare. 

He missed your voice, your whispers. If he closed his eyes and thought hard enough he could almost hear it. Almost. He’d never taken the time to memorize it. Never took the time to see beyond what was on the surface. Why hadn’t he? 

How did he disregard you?

You, the first to show him compassion, apart from his own mother. You, who suffered with him in that cold keep, locked away. Unable to grow, to learn, to live. 

You were there for him, with him. 

How could he have overlooked you?

He holds on to your words, the idea that you would answer if he called brought him only a fraction of the comfort you gave him daily. 

You weren’t really gone, he kept telling himself. He’d see you again. 

When it was necessary. 

No longer would you whisper a good morning to him when he woke, or a goodnight when he slept. No longer would you be there, just to be with him. Just to rest on his shoulders, or weave between his fingers. 

He’d used you, like a tool. Like you were just another weapon in his arsenal. 

The pain in his chest swelled, twinging as the image of misery on your breathtaking face invaded his mind. The awful things he’d said, the hateful accusation he’d made. 

You cared so greatly for him, for so long, only to receive cruelty in return. 

How had he ever thought your absence poetic? 

Being away from him was a physical struggle. The need to be there for him, to comfort him, to apologize, and to express your faith in him was undying. You were surprised you’d lasted a full day. 

No matter how he treated you, no matter how much it hurt, he’d always be everything. 

Yet you kept hearing his words. ‘Are you jealous? Is that it?’ Kept seeing that angry glare he’d aimed at you, and how it melted away when you’d taken form. ‘Because I don’t give you enough attention?’

You kept remembering the change in his eyes, in the way he looked at you. Like he’d just then realized you had a mind of your own, that he didn’t have to think for you. 

You’d thought it would make you happy. To have him really see you. 

It didn’t. 

You felt anger and sorrow. Angry you practically had to spell it out for him. Angry the most observant person in the Night Court, if not all of Prythian, had never spared you a second glance. Sad that you had to look like him to get his attention. 

You'd given him every opportunity, you'd shown him your capacity for emotions countless times. He ignored it every single time. No, ignore wasn't right.

Ignorant.

Ignorant was the better word.

Perhaps it was your fault for expecting more of him. 

In the beginning, his neglect hadn’t even mattered. You didn't realize he treated you any differently. That is until you saw him interact with Rhys and Cassian, and then eventually Mor and Amren. 

With them, he was… still distant, closed off in a way. But he smiled, he laughed, he joked. He empathized with them, got angry for them, or sad, or happy. He loved them.

With you, it was just, find me this… bring me here…  go listen to them… keep me hidden… 

He never smiled at you. 

It was your own fault for expecting him to think of you as anything other than a servant. 

That’s what you are, right?

The need to grovel at his feet came back. You felt ridiculous. You lived to serve him. Without him you wouldn’t even have a life. 

You were such a fool, living darkness throwing a fit over some hurt feelings.

He was the only reason you were able to feel anything at all. He gave you meaning. He was your purpose in life, not the other way around. He had no obligation to you, he didn't even have to call on you. The fact that he did was a gift in itself. Just like the pain you felt was a gift.

Without him, you’d just be a regular shadow. 

That should be enough for you. 

So when you heard his call, when you felt that irresistible tug on your soul, you answered. 

You answered though you knew he had no reason for it. He wasn’t in danger, he didn’t want to go anywhere, didn’t need you to spy on anyone or find anything, he was just calling you. 

You answered because no matter what you said, no matter how you felt, he would always be everything. 

Azriel waits for you. Standing in the center of his room, shifting his balance from his right leg to his left. 

He couldn’t keep his hands still, they ran through his hair, adjusted his shirt, got stuffed in his pockets only to leave them a moment later and rub at his neck. His arms cross in an effort to keep them still. 

He was anxious, and restless, and nervous about messing up, but most of all he was angry at himself. 

He wouldn’t be surprised if you ignored his call, even though you said you couldn’t. You’d probably found a way, after all he’s done he wouldn’t blame you. 

It would hurt like hell, but he’d understand. Why would you bother giving him a second chance? 

He’d never even asked you for a name. 

Did you even have one? Do shadows need names? They obviously have a language, one he was able to speak and understand. Did you have a family? A people? Were you born or did you just appear one day? 

These were all things he should’ve known already. Things he should’ve had the mind to be curious about. 

He was too focused on himself and everyone else.

The lights dim, announcing your presence. 

His arms uncross, falling at his sides. You really came. 

Swirls of darkness slip into his room, slowly inching toward him. The way they move is lethargic. It makes him sick.

He speaks when you make it within a foot of him. Pushing past the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry.” 

The shadows stop. Gone was the mighty spymaster. All that remained was the boy who cried out to you on that cold night several centuries ago.

“I’m so sorry.” He repeats. “You don’t have to accept my apology. I don't want you to. I know I haven’t earned it. I just want you to know that If I could go back and change everything I would.” The words were nothing but the truth. He wished more than anything to go back and treat you right. To erase all the hurt he put you through.

His heart jumps when you continue toward him, slithering up his body, encasing him in your energy. 

He feels you curl around his ear, and then he hears your voice. That airy tone reverberating through his head. A sound only he could hear. Only he could appreciate. One he hadn't until he knew what it was like to lose it. 

“I forgive you.”  

Azriel wanted to weep at those words. For you. For him. For what he’d done to the two of you. For what the two of you could’ve been if he’d just sacrificed a little of his time to be with you. Like you always had for him.

“No, you don’t,” He began, “I don’t deserve your forgiveness.” 

The lights flicker, once, twice, then he feels it. Your hand.

His gaze trails down to watch your smokey fingers lace with his. The feeling of your skin touching his had his heart racing for other reasons. Very different from the chill of your shadows.

He lets his hand curl around your own. Squeezing as he went on, hoping you could hear and feel every last drop of his sincerity. “I could apologize to you every day for the rest of our eternal lives and I still wouldn’t deserve it.” 

You step in front of him, meeting his stare. The emotion it held stitched something back together inside of you, something that'd gotten torn apart years ago.

“I will do everything in my power to change that. I promise.” His thumb rubs circles on your hand. “I will spend the rest of my life proving that I am worthy of you. That you chose right.”  He felt his body tingle with each word, the sensation traveling down his arms, his chest, and his back. Ink undoubtedly marking his skin with a visual reminder of the deal he’d just made with himself.

To strive to one day earn your forgiveness. Your loyalty. 

You reach out a hand resting it on his face, so faintly it barely even touched him. Afraid you were overstepping.

He leans into it, covering it with his own, holding it there.

Your mind drifts back to when you met him.

His small voice, crying out for anyone. 

The strength of the Gods couldn’t have kept you from him.  

You didn’t choose wrong. You knew that. It didn't matter if he believed it or not.

“I swear it.” He vows, bringing you back to the present. His hazel eyes so intense, so sure, burning into your own. You couldn't help yourself.  

You kissed him. 

His lips connect with yours and everything stops. Everything fades away until it’s just you and him.  

He knew he’d never stop chasing the feeling it gave him. Something so simple, so easy, like breathing or gravity. Something he couldn’t live without. Not now that he’d had a taste. 

One of his hands land on your waist, pulling you closer. The other leaves your hand to find purchase on the back of your neck, angling your head to deepen the kiss. 

It was euphoric, he wanted to get lost in it, in you. 

You pull away when his tongue brushes over your bottom lip, needing a moment to breathe.

Your eyes remain shut for a moment, stuck in that feeling. When you finally pry them open you study his face, taking in every detail, committing every single bit to memory. 

He's breathing heavily, scanning you with a hunger you’ve never seen before. Eyes darting all over your face, repeatedly drifting back to your lips as if he too was struggling with restraint. 

Then he smiles. Pure elation on his beautiful face. 

The sight was divine. 

You copied the action, smiling wide. You didn’t care if it looked or felt unnatural. You were just happy. 

Happy to be his shadow. 

taglist <33: @sidthedollface2 @mischiefmanagers @theravenphoenix26 @leeknows-wife @fxckmiup

[kairiscorner]

I want to see a fic that is basically the Sleeping Beauty once upon a dream scene except with Reader x Noir pls.

hello anon !! sure thing >:D man this song's an earworm ngl, I HOPE YOU LIKE THISSSS <333

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

we met once upon a dream — spider noir x reader (sleeping beauty inspired fic)

summary: you swore you knew him from somewhere, sometime; you felt a little weird seeing him again though, like he's a stranger, but... a familiar stranger. word count: 1,192 a/n: this was such a cute concept like owemji I WANNA MAKE ONE FOR MIGUEL NEXT of course you do hayop na kairi ka at siyempre magiging angst siya kasi oo

the clacking of heels and murmuring of hushed conversations and giggles in the ballroom was silent, yet deafening to you. you couldn't remember anymore why you agreed to attending this ball or gala or whatever fancy word your friend called it, you were honestly just here for the free liquor, everything else, you could do without. you felt so out of place there, with your most expensive apparel looking like mere rags to the attendees of this shindig; you opted to just stand at the corner and nick a few glasses of wine, champagne, or some other foreign liquors that tasted too tangy, sour, or bourgeois to you.

"i know you, i walked with you once upon a dream."

"what a slow night, huh? they promised it'd be the party of the century, but... i think they forgot to add the 'slumber' before the 'party'." a deep, husky voice joked while you were preoccupied with the bubbles in your champagne. you finally looked up as you heard that voice, your ears perking up the minute you heard him speak. you were greeted to the sight of a tall, fair complexioned young man with black, slicked back hair and round rimmed glasses. he had a noticeable smile, one that only seemed to brighten up the place more than the glass chandeliers and lamps in the ballroom. "oh, sorry, i didn't notice you there." you apologized as the man chuckled. "don't worry about it." he reassured you as he leaned next to you against the wall.

"i know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam."

there was something about this man... he felt familiar somehow, but no name came to mind, nor any place or street when you looked at him. he felt familiar, but you had no idea just who he was. you looked into his eyes, and... you saw something in those beautiful, grayish brownish eyes of his that shone under the chandelier's light; it was shining and almost speaking to you, asking you if you remember him.

"and i know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem,"

"um... care to, uh–" "dance?" you asked him in a slightly sarcastic tone with a sly smile on your face, waiting for him to chuckle it off and ask you if you wanted to get some more liquor like you hoped, but... he instead blushed. he blushed and, from the tips of his ears, down to the bit of his neck that wasn't shunned by his collar, he was covered in a bright pink and red. a charismatic, yet evidently flustered, smile was on his face when you asked that; his eyes grew larger as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "you're too good at reading people..." he muttered with a chuckle as you giggled back at him.

you set your wine glass down and gently took his hand in yours. you raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. "what're you waiting for? the night's young, seize the opportunity to dance with me, mister." you encouraged as he smiled to match your energy and set his own glass down as he followed you on the dance floor. "i'm no mister, i'm... i'm fairly young." he tried to convince you as you ignored his babbling and placed his other hand on your waist, with him shivering in your stead. you laughed a little at his skittishness. "relax, i'm only here to dance, i won't bite, just make sure not to step on my toes, or i will start biting." you teased as he chuckled again. "feisty, i love it." he complimented you as a new song started up, and you recognized it as a slow love song from a movie you loved as a child.

"is that..." "the score for sleeping beauty? i recognized it, too." he said with a slight smile. you looked at him with an impressed grin. "a hundred points, you know your stuff, mister...?" "parker, peter benjamin parker." he finally introduced himself. and you couldn't help yourself, you gasped a little louder and abrupt than you intended. "peter...? peter parker?" you repeated as peter's eyes grew bigger at your visible astonishment. "why, yes... um, is something the matter?" he asked you as your mouth was hung open slightly.

no wonder that smile seemed so familiar to you, it was the smile of the boy who stood up for you when you were being bullied in elementary school. he was the boy who kept you company at lunchtime, who helped you with your homework, who tied a bow in your hair when you felt ugly about your haircut... the boy who asked you out to prom but was too late, and you went with some other boy who was interested in you. he was the sweetest boy you ever knew, and all this time... he came back into your life, just at the most unexpected time.

"but if i know you, i know what you'll do,"

you danced along with him, accidentally stepping on his toes as opposed to him stepping on yours. he chuckled as you apologized hastily, your hands shaking as he held you, your body tensing up as he swayed you. "are you... okay?" he asked you as you seemed despondent at first. "i... i'm sorry i didn't wait for you to ask me out at prom." you muttered.

peter heard your apology and leaned closer to your face as he smiled. "so you're the one i was looking for all this time... i had my suspicions, you were the most beautiful person in this whole gala, how could i have thought you would be another person? and don't worry... life brought many more surprises our way, no?" he said with a brilliant smile as you felt more flustered and embarrassed. he was looking for you, even after all this time?

"do i classify as a stranger to you still?" he asked you in a soft voice with a sweet smile on his face. you tried to match his smile, but ended up wincing. "well... not after you pretty much re-entered my life and welcomed yourself back in, of course not, petey. i... i really missed you." you rambled to peter as an impromptu welcome back into your life, with him blushing and chuckling even more as he dipped you as the music climaxed.

he leaned closer to your face and blushed a deeper shade of crimson. "i really... missed you, too." he said as you got all sheepish and smiled back at him more genuinely and held him tighter. this felt like a dream, this whole night did–it felt like you were asleep your whole life and were living out the loveliest dream you've ever had... and to see him finally after all these years, you felt like tonight could be the start of making up for the lost time that you had wished to spend with him.

"you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream."

he had been that stranger that wasn't really a stranger; just someone you met once upon a dream.

tags !! @thecoolerdor @miguelswifey04 @sabcandoit @binibinileonara @k4tsu3 @fiannee @luvstarrstruck @maxoloqy @thee-fantastic-mrfox @maxoloqy @arachnoia @ophanimgold

[shirogane-oushirou]

OMG RO HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WAJFEKAHFEKE ;-; take this as an opportunity to gush if you want!! <333

KJNASDKJN THANK YOU NICK!!! technically i messed up yesterday, it's actually tomorrow kjsndfjkn, but i started the gif and art reblogging early bc i've collected so many lmao ;; i'm the only oushirou gif-maker and people WILL see my boy!!!!!

i was going to gush on my anniversary art post, but you've handed me a golden opportunity to do it here. you will regret this. :3c 💞

[cw quick mention of a scene where he's called a slur]

oushirou's been my most beloved, specialest, best boy since my first year in college. i was working my way through the games, and i saw his profile in some artbook scans, and i went... who the FUCK is this guy??? KAJSNKDJN. i hated his design so much; it didn't fit with the rest of the series's designs.

but he immediately won me over as a side character in the pc game, and then i was Doomed the second i booted up to play the PSP port with the added oushirou route (our 13yr anniversary is the day i started posting about playing his route lol). i became The Oushirou Guy™ in the eng fandom from that point on ;; and, of course, now i'm like "i need MORE characters who look like this guy, RIGHT NEOW" kjsnfkjn.

and then a year later -- 12 years ago tomorrow -- the last game released AND, FINALLY, he had his own karedanna cd! a fandom friend sent a rip to myself and my also-oushirou-lover friend, as we were waiting for ours to ship... and he proposes in it. my friend and i both made this day the wedding anniversary in commemoration. i even have some ancient joke art i made on the release day itself LMAO

i love him so much more than i think i let on; ren's my main right now, so that's what people know me for, but oushirou really is The Blueprint for me.

he's so self-driven. he could have lived a cushy, comfortable life following the family trade as a western fortune teller, but he would rather throw that -- and an unealthy relationship with his family -- away so he could follow his dreams of being a photographer and journalist.

and he's loyal. after his life is saved by another student (kazuki), and he realizes kazuki will be held back due to spending too many days recovering from the injuries he incurred, he makes sure he's also held back a year so he can play as kazuki's right-hand-man during the remainder of their time at seigetsu academy.

also like... ngl, him being a scorpio is like 👀 he's a freak like me LMAOOOO we can be like "every zodiac girlie hates our pussiessss" together. 💖

oh. and then of course he's the Ambiguously Queer Character of the series. he's a little fruity w it in general, he loves crossdressing, he's flirty with kazuki, homare, and shiki, he's stated outright that his love for kazuki and tsukiko are equal and he can't decide between them, and his fashion sense is just a little cherry on top ksjdnfk.

ugh. honeybee's just itching to call him a slur i s2g.... wait omg wait they actually had some one-off characters call him a slur in his first route KJASNDKDJNSDFKJN WAIT???????? I JUST REMEMBERED??????? it was one of the first scenes i translated from his route i'm lksnfkns oh my fucking god. and everything since then has been like. doubling down without actually calling him anything. crying omg ksjdnfkjns.

ANYWAY. just a year ago, he was the character everybody associated me with, only beaten out once ren appeared. even my art username is based on him (zerofoursix -> 0-4-6 -> o-shi-ro -> oushirou). he's pulled me through so many things, from shitty college experiences to my health issues... to even being part of the reason why i picked art back up after i took a 5-6yr hiatus due to art school burnout. ;;

i love him so so much, forever and ever, my beloved hentai sentai red*, my adhd king, my most skilled f/o by a LONG shot**, my scorpio twin, my misunderstood weirdo... he's Everything to me 😭💗

* think i've posted about it once before, but it's a running joke that he's a sentai hero who regularly saves tsukiko from creeps in his AW route ;;

** photographer, journalist, multilingual, fashion-forward, western fortune teller, super emotionally intelligent... i could go on. the guy hides SO MUCH of his power level around others.

[nani-nonny]

Hey! Sorry for taking long to send my reaction about your latest ch, am sick at this moment and my legs are in f**king PAIN.

But back to ch 5; lord you don't know how hyped i am to FINALLY see splinter and leo put some logic in this peepaw's head and STEP IN!

The sling part got me a bit confused until i realized they don't have baby goods... Yet.

I actually love how whenever Leonardo want to shush lou he just turn her to face his chest xD a gentl way of saying " shut up ", i ever giggled at how blue was arguing with baby lou saying " he smells like fish " XD damn never thought war will make you smell like one... Until i remembered Leonardo swam in the ocean.

The mission to find CJ is still up and the fact April is in with brain an' brawl team is making it better ❤💛💜

Seeing blue arguing with leo made me sad because leo's insecurity hit but i giggled at how Leonardo saw blue as angry kitten xD just 💙🥹👌

And when splinter came with mini blue scarf i just went " AWWWWWW " now older leo has 3 kids 🥺🥺🥺 seeing blue embarrassed is just so adorable! Wait until everyone see and hear about it.

Awww :(, you’re sick too? I’m feeling a bit under the weather so I’m a little “bleh” for lack of a better word. I hope we both feel better soon… <3

But yes!! Splinter and Lil Leo trying to ring some bells in Leonardo’s ears like hello! Get out of that damn tunnel and look around! (And this is basically the baby sling situation vvvv)

Although the way Splinter didn’t is a little less complicated than that, and a little loose because the baby keeps dancing around in there. She’s a little chaotic and uncontainable lol

Sometimes you just gotta smother your baby in your chest, no biggie /j (fyi: don’t do this??? Babies need to breathe??? Not even day 1 and Leonardo is failing babysitting) But luckily, the baby doesn’t seem to mind his smell lol maybe it’s the turtle in her that likes fish smell hehe

And I hope no one has forgotten it’s only been about… 2 days? Since Leonardo came to the present timeline? Maybe by the time they find Casey Jr it’ll be the third. I’m joking don’t take my timeline organization seriously

Yess! Next chapter we should get some insight on how the trio are doing while on their part of mission to find Casey Jr! We get some April in the mix!!

Little Leo is just dumping all his recent thoughts on the big man and Leonardo’s just looking at him like: ��oh. Why so small? Hehe, funny cat”

Leonardo. Sir. That child is hurt. Console him, talk to him, listen to him.

Splinter saw his opportunity and took it. Blue and Blue-squared. Blue and Baby Blue. Blue and Mini Blue. He just loves his kids <333

[cdyssey]

Agatha All Along (1.06) Reactions:

AW. Teen’s Bar Mitzvah…

According to the program, he’s William Kaplan…

WAIT THAT’S THE GUY FROM PRIVATE PRACTICE

THE TRANSITION TO HIM DANCING IS SO GOOD

LILIAAAAAA. Love that Teen is intersecting with her even before the coven officially begins

god I would die for Patti lupone. Have I said that yet

OOOH????)$&) SHE PUT THE SIGIL ON HIM

HEARING WANDA AND VISION’S VOICES ON THE RADIO ADDED TEN YEARS TO MY LIFE

FUCK. THIS CAR CRASH. THAT WAS VISCERAL

I HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES BECAUSE OF HIS PARENTS’ GRIEF GODDAMN

BILLY INHABITING WILLIAM’S BODY DEAR FUCKING GODDDDDDDDDDDDD

ALIIIIIICE.

OH. HE CAN READ MINDS

lol, the dog barking at Billy bit reminds me of the dog barking at Annie pretending to be Hallie in the parent trap

Something, something about Billy being trapped in a stranger’s body and agatha being trapped in her own mind—that a similarity between them is that they both know what it is to be displaced by circumstances beyond their control

Aww, Billy’s boyfriend. 🥹 This Disney+ show being so unapologetically queer is everything to me

The fact that Wanda inadvertently caused William Kaplan’s death, and in doing so, saved her son

JENNNNNNNNNNNN

“You can melt the probiotic candles.” I love a hot con artist <333

RALPH FUCKING BOHNER. BOHNNERRIFIC69.

“She stole my house, completely ruined the market value.” FJSKFJDN

Monica mention!!!!!

THE LORNA WU COVER!!!!! I’m still gagged over the reveal that it was a protection spell for her daughter. 🥹 Like, so much of this show is about a mother’s love

The implication that she’s caused so many famous disasters <333 AND THAT SHE’S THEE JOLENE

has someone edited flaming locks of auburn hair on kathryn hahn yet

agatha having whole ass wiki pages of all her cunty and evil exploits. slay

IS TEEN THE BLACK HEART

AGATHA HALLUCINATED WEARING A DYKEY FLANNEL AKAKQOWJDIWOWKAOW AND CARRYING BEERS

she really created an elaborate hallucination of herself where she was the butch lesbian ever <33

The chase scene showing Agatha being far more clumsy than she internally imagined lmao. Kathryn Hahn the actress that you ARE

MRS. HAAAAART

BOHNER FAMILY REUNION. WATER HOSE AS A GUN.

Kathryn Hahn acting all butchy with minimal makeup is my Roman Empire. Her manspreading wearing a boner joke shirt is everything 2 me

AGATHA JUST STRAIFHT UP KICKING HIM JAKSJDJS.

god I’m so gay

cursed agatha is such a rife place to explore. the way she was so locked in her own reality is fucking TERRIFYING. it was all so very real to her, and her behavior here contextualizes the delicacy that Rio showed her, the kindness that the citizens of Westview treated her with.

She was sick, and they took care of her.

her clicking the pen over and over againnnn

The fact that Agatha is talking to Billy about his mom and he doesn’t know it

Agatha’s pained shock when her reality starts falling apart is fucking brutal

“Come on, I do not wanna go back in the closet.” AKIQKWJDJDFIOWOW

BABY GIRL CRAWLING OUT OF THE MUDDDD like an evil witch coming out to devastate mankind

“It’s nice to see you again.” Agatha was there for Billy’s creation and raising. And there’s something utterly fitting about the role she’s taken on for him now, something of a distorted mother figure

ARE THERE TEARS IN AGATHA’S EYES

,JASKKDJSKSNS, agatha not being able to count how many people she’s killed

I love when agatha is a fucking shithead. This show wouldn’t work if she didn’t absolutely suck 90% of the time

“But don’t you dare feel guilty about your talent. You survived like witches have been doing for centuries. You saw an opportunity, an empty vessel, and you moved in. So you broke the rules. Big deal! That’s what kept you alive! That’s what makes you special! It’s what makes you a witch.” OH, THAT’S COMING STRAIGHT FROM AGATHA’S HEART. Because she’s clearly remembering her mother and how her powers were dismissed and discouraged from the very start. And so she’s telling Billy what she probably wanted to hear for herself when she was his age.

I love that Agatha just wants to mentor the Maximoffs haha

“How about Robo-Papa? Lord knows where he is or in how many pieces.” FOUL WOWODJIWJRJDJ.

“You’re after TOBY.” KQOQODJDJUFISOALWKFJSOAK

“Gosh, you really are a Maximoff. Otherwise, none of this would be nearly as dramatic.” JWJDIWOWDID

I would watch 300 more seasons of Kathryn Hahn chewing the scenery like no one’s business

MAKING A MUSTACHE WITH HER HAIR EIWOWJFNSJSJ

she is so fucked up. <33 I love her. I love this fucking show

[gucciwins]

Golden Sparks 

Harry is new to town and signs up his eight-year-old daughter, Josie to the soccer team where he takes an interest in the well-respected Coach Y/N.

Word count: 25,027 

A/N: Hello friends! I hope you’ve been well, honestly I had this idea for a while and it wasn’t until I stepped back from another piece and came back this one that it began to flow. im proud of what I wrote and I hope you enjoy. my longest piece to date :) I do hope you all love it. 

Warnings: sweet dad harry, slight angst, slight smut

please do let me know what you thought of the story and please reblog! <333

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

"You're going to do great."

"I know, dad." Harry's eight-year-old daughter responds.

"Hey, I'm being supportive." Harry shakes Josie's foot, causing her to laugh.

"Thank you, I'm excited. Honest." Josie puts her hand over her heart, making Harry's heart melt.

He hadn't seen his daughter smile this much since they found out about the tryout that was soon to start in fifteen minutes. He felt awful making her move from their home in Georgia, but it was time, and this new opportunity would be good for them. Josie hated to leave her friends but mostly her soccer team with whom she had been with since she started playing at the age of five, but Harry promised he would find her a team, and he did.

The team was different from back home, seeing as it was an all-girl team instead of a mixed team of boys and girls. Not that he minds; he feels this will hopefully allow Josie to branch out and make friends that would not pick on her for playing what they said was "a boy's game." Those parents pissed him off back in Georgia, but he's gone, and he prays this goes well.

"Do you think mom will visit my games more now that we're closer?" Josie's green eyes peer up at him, reminding him that she looks nothing like her mother and is his little clone.

"I hope so. She was excited to hear about the move, remember." Josie nods before glancing at the field where other girls were chatting as they laced up their cleats.

Harry despised his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child. At the age of nineteen, he became a father, and his ex, three years older than him, didn't want to raise a child to a man who wouldn't marry her. They were together for two months when he called it quits until she came back a month later, calling him an asshole for getting her pregnant. After giving birth to his beautiful girl, she gave him full custody, not wanting to worry about diapers and night cries.

All she worried about was getting her figure back. It wasn't until Josie turned one that she came back and demanded to be part of her life, leading to them going to court and getting to see Josie on the weekends, and it went well because his daughter always came back happy after a visit. When Josie turned five, Claudia moved to California because she fell in love and was going to get married. Claudia didn't care that she was leaving Josie behind. A heartbroken girl not knowing why she couldn't be part of her mother's wedding and why she moved across the country so far from her.

Josie cried for a whole week straight until the ice skates showed up on the front door with a note from Claudia for Josie to chase her dreams. Thus, having Harry sign her up for ice skating classes came to an end in two short weeks when she learned how awful the leotards looked on her.

Josie was then determined to find a sport liking the idea of being active and having the chance to make friends, which led to her seeing soccer on the TV when a commercial of Alex Morgan for Nike came on. She asked question after question until Harry told her okay, and went to call a friend to see where he could find a team for her.

The first team they found was only boys, not wanting to mix, causing both of them to get upset, but a mom took pity on them and told them of the Sunnyville team looking for players. It was perfect; seven girls and eight boys were on the team, and Josie fit in perfectly until she didn't.

At first, Josie wasn't very good; no kid is, but Harry every night took her to their large backyard and practiced with her, and within a few months, she was able to dribble a ball at her feet without looking down constantly. She wasn't the best, but she was improving.

Harry enjoyed every minute he got to help her improve because within the next few years, he saw her go from being timid to push someone away from the ball to beating someone in a sprint.

California was a significant change for Harry and Josie, but this was a big deal for the company, and Josie understood. He was happy he could do something for her now it was her turn to shine and prove why she deserved a spot on the team.

"Now go prove why you're the best, petal." Harry kisses his daughter's forehead, taking her bag over his shoulder.

She takes a step forward before stopping. "Walk with me there, daddy."

Harry's smile softens, "Of course, honey."

They march forward, their steps in sync; Harry can feel eyes on both of them as they pass parents in their chairs, some sitting on blankets spread out on the grass.

There's a woman, dressed in black Nike sweats, some fancy Nike cleats on her feet and a plain maroon tank top and over to cover from the breeze is a windbreaker; the team logo on the left side over her heart and right under is a name he can't quite make out. If Harry's being honest, she took his breath away, she's gorgeous, and she's smiling at him. Harry's sure if he kept looking into her eyes, he would fall in love.

"Hello, I'm Coach Y/N." She greets them with a big smile on their face.

"Hi, I'm Josie, and this is my dad, Harry Styles." Josie steps forward, holding her hand out that the coach is quick to shake.

"Nice to meet you." Harry finally speaks.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Styles. I've got all the paperwork that you submitted, and everything looks good."

"That's great." Harry nods, keeping his eyes on her. "Just Harry is fine, please." She nods, letting him know she heard him.

"Nice accent, you English?" Y/N asks.

"I am, Josie was born there too, but she's lived in the states all her life."

Y/N nods, "No wonder I didn't spot an accent on her." She teases.

"My dad sounds funny, so one of us is okay." Josie jokes at Harry's expense.

"Hey now," Harry pouts, causing both to laugh and his heart to flutter, wanting to make Y/N do it again.

"Now, Josie, how about we introduce you to the girls before we get started."

Josie nods and steps forward to follow Y/N.

Y/N addresses him one last time, "You're welcome to sit by the parents or welcome to stand behind our bench on the sidelines."

"Thank you." Harry watches the walk away, his daughter's bright pink socks standing out around the flash of black, green, and blue. He smiles, knowing he'll have a good eye on her, as will the coach.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

It has been a while since the team had a tryout for the Golden Sparks team. It has not been necessary because most of the young girls are already on the u-9 team.

She had heard the rumor of new people moving into town but wasn't sure, so on a whim, she added them up in places parents were bound to see them; at the grocery store, doctor's office, the school, and the local sports store.

Thanks to the flyers, they got two responses from Mr. Styles and Mrs. Clover, who wanted their girls to join. Mrs. Clover's daughter, Caitlyn, was switching over from a different team, so she knew the girls on the team well. Josie, the daughter of Mr. Styles, would be the only one who needed an introduction as she was new to the town.

After meeting Harry, she was surprised at how handsome and young he was. Most parents here are well over the age of thirty and are married or dating.

She has been coaching for four years now and only started because of her niece Juliet who is part of the team. Y/N's older sister, Clara, had Juliet at 23 a year after her wedding and when Y/N was only 18 and about to start university. It was a good thing she had decided to go to university only three hours away and not across the country as she first thought, or she would have missed so much of her niece's and goddaughter's life.

Y/N had just graduated and knew she would no longer be playing soccer and needed something to do when her sister Naomi approached her and asked her if she could watch over Juliet for the summer so they didn't need to get a babysitter. She was more than happy to accept.

At first, they would paint, color and dance, but they got bored quickly. Y/N wasn't one to spend her time inside, so instead, she decided to take her four-year-old niece to the park with a soccer ball and make the most of it.

At the local park, they both ran around each day, chasing the ball for hours. A week later, Y/N bought Juliet her first pair of cleats, letting her shoot in the nets. As the weeks went by Y/N, saw Juliet improve as well as take direction well. She was a bright young girl, and Y/N knew she was still small, and all she wanted to do was run, but Y/N knew that because Juliet had seen her play, she knew what was right and wrong. There were times when she just ran in circles picking flowers because, after all, she was a four-year-old.

A month into summer, a mom approached her, asking her if she was a coach because she saw her there every day. Y/N laughed it off and told her she was just taking care of her niece. The mom told her it was a shame because her daughter told her it looked like fun. Y/N smiled and said to her that she was welcome to join, and before she knew it, a bunch of little girls came together to kick a ball around.

Only when Y/N had over ten girls showing up every Monday and Wednesday at a designated time did she begin to look at soccer leagues for children, and to her luck, there was one in town, an all-girls league that started from age 4 to age 18. She got the paperwork required for her to be a coach and for the girl's parents to fill out. She pitched the idea, and everyone was aboard.

That is how Golden Sparks was created, and those four-year-olds are now eight. She has watched them grow in front of her eyes. She went through her master's coaching a team. It's just something she does as a hobby, and it's wonderful because she knows how vital her coaches were for her when she was growing up. Now she can do the same.

She loves these girls, which means she had to do trial runs for how well the new girls fit in with the team dynamic. That is why today is an important day for Caitlyn and Josie.

"Ladies, may I please have your attention?" Y/N calls out to all the girls trying to juggle their individual balls as they wait for her.

The girls quickly shuffle over, passing their balls to Kate, who is setting up both nets and getting out the bright pink pinnies that Emilia's parents donated to the team that the girls will be needing.

Josie is standing very close to Y/N, and Caitlyn comes to stand to her other side.

"Now, today's practice is going to be different. We have two guests today. We have Caitlyn, who comes from Ice Angels from across town, and Josie, who comes from Georgia all the way across the country. I hope you will be kind and welcoming because we would be honored to add them to the team."

Juliet raises her hand and smiles, waiting for Y/N to let her speak. "Yes, Miss Juliet," Y/N giggles.

"Can we say something interesting about ourselves when we introduce ourselves?"

"Now, that is a smart idea. I wish I would have thought about it." All the girls smile, waiting for her to share.

"I'll start, I guess." She puts her hand on her hip, exaggerating her thinking face. "My name is Y/N, and I'll be your coach, and something interesting is that I like to paint." She turns to Kate, who is standing there, arms crossed. "You're next."

"I'm Kate, the meaner coach,"

"Kate," Y/N chastise.

"Kidding," Kate laughs, capturing all of the girls' attention. "I'm the assistant coach, and I love making tamales. Next potluck, you'll know how amazing they are."

Kate volunteers Steph, standing next to her, allowing her to share, and before she knows it, all the girls have gone. It's a calm environment, and Y/N is happy she can help these girls be a part of that. There were a total of fourteen girls, sixteen now with the two new girls trying out, meaning they would have even teams of eight, just one more than in an actual game.

Y/N makes two teams by dividing her forwards, midfielders and defenders. Then the scrimmage vest were handed out to the team where the new girls were trying out.

"Four twelve-minutes quarters," Y/N shouts, and in the next second, Kate blows the whistle, and they begin.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Harry was sweating, his focus was on Josie and how well she was playing, but he also noticed how the coach was whispering to her assistant coach. They were doing a lot of talking, and he did not like it one bit. They had finished two quarters and took a more extended break before the third, where Josie shot him a thumbs up after drinking water. She was too busy talking to a girl to come see him. Harry was happy she no longer felt nervous and was making friends.

He had heard nothing but good things about Golden Sparks and their coaches, but he was nervous about what they thought of his daughter. When they blew that final whistle, Harry let out the breath he was holding. Thankful that Josie would be told her fate on the team.

The coaches rounded them up, and Harry just wanted to rush over there and have them tell him there and then, but no, they were dragging it out for him. Then again, they had more than one player to look after for.

"Golden Sparks!"

It was shouted out by all the girls, and they rushed over to their bags. Josie walked to her bag, handing her pinnie to the assistant coach while Coach Y/N made her way over to another parent. A young girl with a long french braid made her way to the coach, most likely to talk about her fate on the team. Harry moves his gaze away from them when he spots Josie chatting away to a girl about her age, wearing a black top with the team's logo on it. Usually, after practice, she rushes over to Harry, and she slips out of her cleats in the car. It makes him emotional seeing her make friends, something she didn't have many in her previous team.

Before he knows it, the coach talks with Josie and the other young girl before she nods and gets up, swinging her bag over her shoulder. The three of them make their way over to Harry, chatting softly, not allowing him to hear a word.

"Hi, petal. Did well out there." Harry tells his daughter once she's an arm's length away. He frowns when she doesn't rush into his arms to give him a hug.

"Yeah, it was fun. Everyone is so kind." Josie smiles at her father.

"Mr. Styles," Y/N begins, but Harry has to interrupt.

"Harry, please."

"Sure, Harry," she emphasizes. "Josie is a wonderful player."

"I agree."

"But," Harry frowns, knowing this is not going where he would like it to. "Josie tends to hold the ball too much. When given the opportunity to use her left, she takes that extra pass to switch to her right where it causes her to lose momentum and the opening."

"I get it, she's not perfect, but neither are those players out there."

"Dad." Josie gives him a glare to be quiet and listen.

"As I was saying," Coach Y/N, her voice just a bit less friendly. "She has flaws, but we noticed she has lots of speed; she controls the ball really well. She's stellar in the midfield."

Harry shifts his eyes to Josie, who is holding back a smile, and that is when he knows she's in. "We'd love to have her join the team and help her become an even better player."

"That's wonderful, I accept."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm glad you think it's a good idea, but it's Josie's choice to make."

"You're right. I'm sorry. Josie, honey." He steps back, a tad embarrassed.

Josie lets out a nervous laugh, "I had fun."

"How long have you played?" Y/N asks Josie.

"Three years now," Josie says, looking at Harry for confirmation and nods.

"The most important question is how you felt playing with everyone?" Y/N knows how important feeling welcomed to a team can mean to someone.

Josie looks up at her, a smile on her face. "Like I belonged."

"Does that mean you're joining?" The young girl standing behind Y/N answers.

"Yes. I would love to join." Josie says, a grin taking over her face.

"Well then, welcome. Practices are 5-7pm. Sometimes we can have a scrimmage with other teams, and it will be an hour before or after just to take that into consideration. Games are on Saturday, but when we have tournaments, they are Saturday and Sunday."

"That's great. I sometimes get out of work late." Harry confesses.

"It's why practices are later because we know parents work. So just shoot us a text the day before or early morning, and either Kate or I can pick them up as well as other parents. We're great with carpooling."

Harry smiles; he likes how organized they are. He has no worries about Josie joining the team. He's happy, and if he's honest, he is kind of glad to see more of Coach Y/N.

"It was great to meet you, and I'll see you on Monday for practice," Y/N tells both Harry and Josie.

As they are going to walk away, the young girl in two dutch braids speaks, "Auntie Y/N truly is the best. She's the reason I play so well." Juliet tells Harry.

Y/N blushes, "Knock it off. Save the sweet-talk for Kate."

"She's your aunt!" Josie explains. "That's so cool."

"Harry, this is Juliet, my niece and the reason this team exists. I introduced her to the sport at age four."

Juliet nods, "Yeah, because she didn't want to rotten my head with television."

This causes all of them to laugh. Harry and Josie walk away with a smile on both their faces.

Yeah, they would fit just right in. It was beginning to feel like home.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

It's been a month since Josie joined the team, and he's never seen her shine as much as she has since she joined the group. It's like she's a whole new little girl, he hates to admit it, but his little girl is growing right in front of his eyes.

They had recently had a team bonding; they headed to Kate's house to swim and do a little bonfire. Parents were allowed to stick around, but almost none did because they want their daughters to feel comfortable hanging out with their friends and be themselves. Also, all the parents trusted Kate and Y/N with their daughters because of the years of friendship.

Harry wanted to stay the first time, a bit fearful she wouldn't like it and also because he wanted to get to know Josie's coach better. He hadn't had many chances to chat her up, always getting a formal greeting and a goodbye. Harry can proudly say he has a crush on coach Y/N, but he wants to have a chance to take her out and maybe take it further.

Josie begged and begged him not to stay, so he just did a quick hello and then left. What did he do in the four hours his daughter was gone, nothing. He was bored without her. Harry began to watch a movie he'd been dying to see, but it was boring. He went to call his best mate, but it went straight to voicemail, then remembered it was date night for Mitch.

He couldn't drink because he wanted to pick Josie up even though he knew she could carpool, but he wanted to hear all about it right away and maybe get one more glance at Y/N because she looked lovely in her pastel pink shirt, black leggings, and a matching scrunchie. His feelings only grew each time he saw her, but he wouldn't dare pursue anything because his daughter adored Y/N, and he wouldn't do anything to wreck that.

It was Monday, and he was driving his daughter to practice. She was on a high because she spent the weekend with her mom. Claudia managed to make her soccer game and then took her home for the week. Everyone got an insight of his ex and how she was not the kindest, but sure did adore her husband by the way she kissed him the majority of that game. Harry did not want to sit next to them, but she wanted to flaunt her relationship in his face to his luck. Not that he cared one bit, he just cared about his daughter's happiness. That she happened to be a part of.

After they won the game, she sprinted over to them after Y/N congratulated them on the win, and they finished shaking the other team's hands. Josie wrapped her arms around Harry, squeezing him tight before hugging her mother, who just patted her back before letting her go congratulating on her goal.

Claudia's interactions with Josie always made Harry upset, but what was he to do? She gave him full custody and only saw her on weekends. It was easy living, but that doesn't mean he had to like it. He wanted his daughter to have a mother figure to guide her and show her the right and wrong to show her what it is like to be strong and resilient, yet Claudia was none of that for his daughter. Sarah, Josie's godmother, did more of that, and Harry was thankful.

Showing up to practice, Harry was embarrassed and hoped Y/N didn't bring up meeting his ex-girlfriend. Josie was quick to introduce them, but thankfully the conversation didn't last long as she was called over by the other team's coach.

"Can you drive any slower?" Josie pouted, looking out the window as Harry entered the parking lot at a safe speed in case any person happened to cross in front of him.

"Josie, I'm not trying to run anyone over." Harry sighs as he finally eyes an open parking space and signals left, always cautious about an accident.

"Well, I want to talk with my friends before practice." Josie has unbuckled herself and is close to throwing herself out of the car.

Harry puts the car into park, unlocking the car door. "Fly, young one."

The grin that takes over Josie makes Harry happy. "Love you, dad."

"Love you too, Josie."

Harry slides his sunglasses on, hating how bright the sun was; it'd be a few hours until the sunset. He was nervous; he was dressed in black slacks that hugged him in all the right places with a mint button-down shirt that calls attention. He didn't have time to change today; everyone saw him in his casual clothes, never his work attire. Josie said she didn't mind, but he did. Honestly, he was nervous about what Y/N might say about his look. Not that he cared what she thought. Not one bit, right?

He went to his trunk, got out his purple folding chair, and left the matching one there. Harry is a sucker for deals which is why he walked out of the store with two when he only needed one.

He strolled, making sure no eyes were on him, and he was in the clear until he heard a shout, "Dad!" He looked over at the field, and it was Josie waving at him to sit closer to the parents. Harry shot her a thumbs up; he liked the parents genuinely. They have all been so kind and welcoming, telling him the best places to go for the team's discount.

He got along well with Payton's and Stephanie's parents. They had a good sense of humor and liked asking him questions about where he was from and how Josie was growing up. His daughter had become best friends with Juliet. They were two peas in a pod, talking from the beginning of practice to staying almost ten minutes after as they slowly took off their cleats.

Y/N didn't mind seeing as she had to pick up everything, and the girls were eager to help her if it meant spending more time together. Honestly, she was begging for a sleepover, but he kept telling her no because he wanted to meet at least one of her parents first. He wasn't sure what either one did, but Juliet didn't mind if they couldn't make it to a game because her biggest supporter was already there.

Harry approaches where all the parents sit under a shaded tree, waving at everyone before taking a seat next to a man reading on his kindle. He smiled, knowing he loved reading in his downtime as well. This would be an excellent spot to sit, conversation or not he'd be comfortable, but first, an introduction was needed.

"Hello, don't mean to bother you, but I don't think I've seen you before. I'm Harry Styles. My daughter Josie joined the team last month."

"Well, Harry Styles, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard wonderful things about your daughter. I'm Xavier Torres, father of Juliet." Xavier responded with a bright smile on his face.

Harry doesn't hide his surprise. "I've been dying to meet her parents. She's a wonderful girl, glad our daughters decided to get along."

"Yeah, we come as often as we can, but Juliet always assures us she's fine. That she has the best auntie watching over her."

"Coach Y/N is great with everyone. I've never seen anyone so dedicated." Harry shares.

"She's always been like that. I met Clara in my second year of university. She was only fourteen then, but she was so caring. I wasn't introduced to the family until we've been dating for six months, and she was shy but always offered me water or cookies she had baked. I loved having conversations with her; she has always been the smartest person in the room."

Harry grins; this definitely grew his crush on Y/N.

"I hear they are begging for a sleepover," Xavier comments, breaking Harry from his thoughts.

Harry nods, "Yes, I kept saying no because I wanted to meet the parents."

Xavier smiles, agreeing they were the same. "Yeah, we had to meet the dad."

He's shocked Xavier doesn't ask him about a partner, but then again, Y/N could have easily mentioned meeting Claudia and her husband. Harry's grateful if she did not like having to explain how he's a single dad and how he wishes his daughter's mother would do better.

"Well, now that this has happened, I have no problem with a sleepover happening."

"Glad we're on the same page." Harry laughs, grateful, their daughters will be happy with them.

Harry and Xavier spend the entire two hours of practice talking. Harry has close friends, but he wouldn't be opposed to adding Xavier to his guys' nights that happen less frequently now. At the end of practice, they exchange numbers and promise to coordinate a date for the girls. It may be summer, but the girls are still keeping busy during the week instead of doing nothing.

The girls rush over to them at the end of practice, giggling at the two fathers still chatting away.

"Does this mean a sleepover can happen?" Juliet asks, squeezing Josie's hand she's holding.

Harry and Xavier share a look and nod. "Yeah, it can happen."

"Amazing!" Josie cheers jumping up and down.

"We have to plan a day that works for both of us, so it may be a while." Josie frowns but nods. Juliet does not accept it.

"Auntie Y/N can host it."

"Your auntie is going to do what?" Y/N says, sneaking up behind her tickling her sides.

Juliet lets out a loud shriek, not being able to escape her grip. Harry beams at Y/N loving how playful she is with her niece.

"You can host our sleepover. You aren't busy like daddy and Mr. Styles." Juliet says in one breath after Y/N let her go.

"I do have a job, you know," Y/n says in a sing-song voice. Xavier laughs as Juliet pouts. "But I do have more availability than your parents. I'd do it if both of you were comfortable with it." Y/N looks up at Harry and Xavier, letting them have the final say.

Xavier throws an arm over Y/N's shoulder and pulls her in a hug. "Of course, it's a yes; I'm always looking forward to a kid-free house."

"Rude, daddy." Juliet frowns, crossing her arms.

"Only joking, my little flower. How about frozen yogurt on the way home?"

"You're forgiven."

Y/N waits patiently for Harry to answer as he has a staring contest with his daughter.

He sighs, "Yes," Josie cheers, hugging Juliet. "Only if we're really not imposing on Y/N."

"Please, Harry. I'd be honored to have them over. I'm an excellent host, and my movie collection is amazing."

Juliet smiles. "She does, also the biggest backyard so we can run around and do whatever. There's also a pool." She whispers the last part.

"Enough speaking about my house. She'll get the tour soon enough."

"So it's settled," Harry tells them.

"Guess it is; send me when you guys decide. I'm free after twelve on Fridays, and I'll take them to the game on Saturday, of course, or we can do it after a game. All up to you, gents." Y/N gets it all out there, allowing Harry to breathe a little easier.

"Good," Xavier shouts.

"I'm going home, coming Julie?" As Xavier swings his chair over his shoulder. "Daddy, you have to help auntie Y/N. You just sat on your butt for two hours."

"Hey now, I watched you practice."

"I'm going to tell mommy, you know how she feels about you not helping Y/N. She'll give you an earful." Juliet sasses her dad.

"I don't know where you got all that sass from, but I know I'm going to hate it when you're a teenager," Xavier mumbles as he goes to get the goal nets put away.

Y/N laughs before turning to Harry and Josie, "I'll see you both on Wednesday. Have a good night."

Harry watches her walk away as she races Juliet over to the balls scattered around. He smiles at the ground, hoping he could one day make her laugh that much. He doesn't notice Josie watching him, and she grins, happy that maybe one day her daddy will smile as bright as Xavier does when speaking about Juliet's mom.

They walk hand in hand to the car, both comfortable walking in silence for what the future might bring them.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Y/N enjoyed morning games as opposed to the afternoon, where the sun was blazing high. She had a hat that was helping with the heat, thankful she hadn't started sweating yet. She loves coaching, but during the summer, it isn't the most enjoyable.

"Hi, Coach Y/N."

She turns her head over her shoulder and sees Harry approaching. She checks him out, thankful for her sunglasses; he's got a black short-sleeve button-down that shines in the sunlight, letting her know it's expensive; he paired it with white linen pants and the beat-up Vans he always wore. He always looks good.

"Nice to see you, Harry."

"How are you?"

"Doing good, bracing the summer heat."

"Yeah, not so enjoyable."

"Ready for the game," Harry says, pointing to the field that will soon have fourteen girls running around.

"Yes, they have been working hard. I'm excited, and you?"

"Oh, nervous," he confesses.

"The girls are going to do great. If they start dozing off, then we can start to worry."

Harry laughs, knowing that she is right. It's about the girl's focus.

"How long did you play?"

"Too long." Y/N jokes.

"Haha," he laughs.

"I started at six and played up until I finished university."

"Wow! You must have been marvelous." Harry is amazed that someone can play a sport that long then go to teaching. He was never the most athletic, but he was a beast at ping-pong that was all hand-eye coordination.

"I would like to think I was good."

"You started coaching when?"

"The year I turned four, and soon enough I was running, and by four she bought me my cleats and bam! A team was created." Juliet answered for her.

"I'm pretty sure you told Harry this already." Y/N laughs playfully, nudging Juliet.

Juliet shrugs, "Just like reminding."

Y/N grins, "Okay, lovebug."

"Plus, you're a great coach."

Harry nods. "I can attest to that. All the girls love you, including Josie."

"And I love them," she tells him truthfully. "We don't get many new players, but we're happy to have Josie. She earned the starting spot as right-wing."

Juliet nods, jumping up and down, "Yeah, she's really good."

"Go on, start the girl with four corners." Y/N pats Juliet's back to get her to go on the field.

"Yes, ma'am." Juliet takes off running, talking to Kate, who helps her get started, and Y/N knows it's her cue to walk away from Harry.

"Good luck, coach."

"Thank you, Harry. See you after."

"Sure, of course. I'll be cheering for you. I-i-i- what-" Harry stutters while she stands there holding back a smile as she can see the heat traveling up his face. "I mean you and the girls. A-all as a team."

"Well, we appreciate it."

Harry watches her walk away, letting out a short laugh, not being able to believe he made a fool of himself.

The game was tied 1-1 with only eight minutes left. Harry could see Y/N was calm, voice firm when speaking to the girls. Lola was about to take a corner kick, he saw her take a step back, and Harry was ready for her to strike it, but instead, she shocks him as she passes to a player who ran up to her.

This startles the other team before Brenda sends it to the center midfielder, who passes it to Josie, who is screaming she's open. Brenda sends a through ball, and off his daughter runs. She gets a foot on it, looking at where the goalie stands. She makes the pass strong enough that the goalie doesn't stop it and just for Andy to tip it in, but it's too strong, causing the ball to go over the net. It's a miss but, everyone didn't mind impressed with the play.

The last few minutes were slow as both teams were tired out, and there was no chance for another goal in two minutes. When the referee blows the final whistle, all the girls bring it in, jogging over to Y/N and Kate as they all round up in a group hug. Harry can't hear what she's saying, but he knows it's reasonable considering all the girls are sporting similar smiles. He is quick to pack up his chair, ready to say goodbye to his daughter, who is about to have a sleepover with her coach and best friend.

The girls come back from clapping the other team's hand and are quick to go sit on the bench and take their shoes off. The clean-up was accomplished quickly today. Harry is waiting to talk to Y/N as she speaks with other parents. Caitlyn's dad praises her for that play, but Y/N is quick to tell him it was all the girls; they are the players. Either way, he hugs her, and Y/N pats the older man back softly. She waves goodbye to most girls when he finally gets to approach her.

"Great game today."

"Yes, they played well." Y/N agrees.

"Your coaching reflects on them."

"In a good way?"

He nods, "The best way."

She thanks him, and he knows she's not one to be boastful, so he changes the conversation.

"You are still good to take them for the sleepover."

"Of course, I'm excited."

"That's great. What time should I pick her up tomorrow?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention earlier, my sister and brother-in-law are coming to have dinner if you'd like to join us. Xavier has been dying to use the grill, and you'll get to meet my sister and my nephew."

"Juliet never talks about a brother."

Y/N chuckles, "It's because he barely started walking, so he doesn't hold much of her attention."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"She loves being a big sister, but only when he sleeps or plays blocks."

"Older siblings got to love them."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you have a sibling?"

"I do. She's 35 and lives in London and runs a law firm. Total badass."

"I bet she is."

"If she ever stops and visits, please bring her around and would love to get all the dirt on young Harry Styles."

"Only if I get to do the same."

"Stop by Sunday, and you'll get the chance." She shrugs at him as she walks away.

"See you Sunday then." Harry shakes his head smiling as she grabs a bag of soccer balls and begins walking to the parking lot.

Josie runs over and gives him a big hug. "See you tomorrow, daddy."

"Bye honey, call me if you need anything."

"Sure, I love you." She yells as she runs to Y/N and Juliet, who are waiting for her at the end of the grass.

Harry knows she's in good hands, but his heart can't help but miss his little girl. He'll see her tomorrow and Y/N as well. He ignored how hard his heart was thumping at his interaction with Y/N instead of letting himself get lost in the idea of the beautiful afternoon that was to come tomorrow.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Y/N had a great time with the girls. She promised she would let them do their own thing and just supervise, but both girls wanted her involved. As soon as they arrived at her house, Juliet gave Josie a tour of her home, taking her room to room before they ended up in the backyard, both dressed in their bathing suits to go swimming.

She couldn't help but laugh, knowing how eager they were to go jump in the pool despite playing an intense game for an hour in the blazing sun.

"You little ladies must eat first before you can even think of swimming," Y/N says, arms crossed over her chest, knowing Juliet was going to try to fight her on it.

"Auntie, that's not what we want to do."

"Maybe so, but your tummy's say otherwise."

Josie steps over from behind Juliet to stand next to her. "I would like to eat. Dad says we need to regain all the energy we worked off."

"Your dad is a smart man, Jo." Y/N nods to the girl. "It's a 2-1 vote, then."

"Fine," Juliet groans dramatically.

The girls sit at the table as Y/n begins to boil pasta. She decides on pesto as she has had a craving, and both girls happily agree. In just thirty minutes, she serves the girls two even plates, and they have a flowing conversation. Mainly, Josie and Juliet do the talking, occasionally asking YN her opinion or a question they want her to answer.

After the late lunch, she sends the girls to wash up and meet her outside to lather them in sunscreen. She puts most of her dishes in the dishwasher and soaks her pans in water, wanting it to be easier to wash later when the girls give her a free moment.

"Thirty minutes we are waiting," Y/N tells them, the sun lotion bottle in hand.

"Come on, you believe in that?" Juliet asks.

"Okay, little miss rebel, since when do you always question everything I say." Juliet's eyes go wide, and she shrugs.

"Alright, listen. I adore you, Juliet, but it's not nice trying to take advantage of me because you have a friend over."

Y/N waits for her to say something, but she nods her head and moves to hug her around her waist. She hears her mutter a sorry, and when Y/N brushes her hair back, she sees Juliet move back to look up at her. "I'm sorry."

Y/N gives her a small smile. "It's alright. Now sit down so I can get your back."

Josie patiently waits her turn, and just as Y/N finishes Juliet, she speedwalks to the edge of the steps and sits on them, letting her feet get soaked. Josie sits patiently as Y/N spreads the sunscreen to her shoulders, then turns her to get her face and neck, allowing Josie to rub it into her legs.

"All done, Josie." She stays seated on Y/N's patio chairs under the shade. Y/N doesn't question her not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Is it okay if I go join Juliet?" Josie asks in a soft voice.

Y/N almost awes out loud at how polite Juliet is, "Of course, go on. I'll let you know when it's okay to go in."

Looking out at the spacious yard, Y/N frowns, getting lost in thought about how she has the perfect home, but it gets lonely. It might be time she looks into getting a pet. She'll have to go check the local shelter soon but knows she should think about it for a while longer.

The ringer of her phone tears her out of her head when she hears the splashing, "Is it, time auntie?"

"Yeah, sweetie, it is."

Quickly she swipes three pairs of goggles from the table just as she begins to hear their splashing paired with laughter.

"Are we playing mermaids, auntie?" Josie asks as Y/N steps into the water, relaxing in the cool water, not suffering from the heat.

"We sure are," Y/N raises the three goggles and hands over one to each of them.  

It's after two hours that they all emerge from the pool, deciding to head into the shower seeing as the sun has begun to set. She ushers them carefully to the shower letting Josie use the guest room and Juliet her room seeing as they are the only two rooms fully equipped with towels and shampoo.

After the three of them are clean and changed in the pj's, Y/N makes popcorn to snack on while they play a few board games. They switch from Uno to Candyland to Mancala. It goes on for a while until they decide to put on a movie deciding on Tangled.

It wasn't until a quarter to ten that Moana watched Maui sing "Your Welcome," they began to yawn and started trying to fight back to sleep. Y/N thought they would never go down to sleep because two eight-year-olds have too much energy. Y/N paused the movie and told them it was time to sleep. Neither girl put up an argument.

She guided them to the guest room that had become Juliet's over the years. The girls get tucked into bed after brushing their teeth.

"Thank you for a great day, Y/N," Josie whispers, grabbing her wrist, halting her, tucking their blanket.

Y/N smiles at the kind girl. "Of course, sweetie. It's been a joy having you here."

Y/N goes to Juliet, gives her a kiss on the forehead, whispering a quiet goodnight who already has her eyes closed, her breathing slow and steady. She goes to Josie, who's looking at her with wide eyes. "Would you be okay with a forehead kiss goodnight? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Y/N addresses the young girl.

Little does Y/N know that small comment was enough for Josie to seal Y/N in her heart forever for her kindness. "Yes, please." Bright green eyes look up at her with a small smile as she gives her a soft kiss.

"Goodnight, Y/N."

"Night, Jo."

Y/N goes to her room and does her night routine taking extra steps due to getting more sun exposure today. She loves how she feels putting on moisturizer at the end of the night. She lays in bed under her soft white covers. Her eyes shut, and she begins to count backward. She reaches all the way to one and tries again but stops halfway, sighing, knowing there's no chance she'll sleep; she heads to the kitchen to make herself a tea.

With her chamomile tea in hand, she sets it on the chrysanthemum coaster on the side table, picks up the book she left there, and sets it in her lap as she turns on her television to Netflix, deciding on The Great British Baking Show to use as white noise. She presses play on where she last left off, forgetting the book in her lap as the bakers had to make a raised game pie for their signature.

Y/N had already watched collection three, but it was one of her favorites. She loved the bakers and liked watching Nadiya improve each episode. The technical challenge was getting started, the bakers reading their vague instructions to make the tennis fruit cake when she heard small steps down the stairs.

She turns around, spotting Josie making her way down, "Hi there, you alright?"

Josie just nods but continues towards her, joining her to sit on the couch. "Can't sleep?" Y/N asks to share her lavender throw blanket with Josie.

"Not really."

"Yeah, I get restless sometimes as well."

Josie stares, tilting her head as if trying to figure out why she can't sleep, "What do you do to try to sleep?"

"Well, I usually try to read a book in bed, but I decided tea and a bit of tv would help."

Josie nods, and Y/N can tell she's working up the courage to ask her something. "Can I please try with you?"

"Of course, would you like tea as well?"

"Chamomile?"

"Sure, that's what I was drinking."

"Daddy adds a bit of honey."

Y/N smiles, "Honey, I can do that."

She goes to the kitchen alone, getting Josie her favorite mug with bees scattered all around. As soon as she's done making her tea and checking it is at a suitable temperature, she brings it out to her. Y/N sees Josie has put play on the show.

Y/N just grins, happy the girl likes the show as well. "Have you seen this season?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, me too."

"Nadiya is excellent," Josie comments as Nadiya wins first in the technical challenge.

"She is! I'm glad they picked her as the winner though she had strong competition against Ian and Tamal."

Both Y/N and Josie sit there in silence, sipping their teas, watching the bakers now try to make Charlotte Russe cakes for the showstopper. It's not until the presentation begins that Josie breaks their comfortable silence.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"Well, uhh, sometimes I can't get my brain to shut down and have lots of thoughts swirling around."

"Oh," Josie responds. "Do they ever stop?"

"Yeah, usually when I count backward or tell myself a story."

Josie looks delighted at hearing Y/N sharing this with her. "What kind of story?"

"A sweet one, one my grandparents used to tell me, or I make one up."

"And it works?"

"Almost always."

Josie continues with her questions, but Y/N doesn't mind. "Do you get bad dreams?"

"Not always, but sometimes, do you, Jo?"

Josie smiles, "I like that."

"What?" Y/N says, puzzled, aware she avoided the question.

"Jo, dad calls me honey, darling, Josie and Josephine when I do something I'm not supposed to, but no one ever has said, Jo. I like it."

"Oh, I'm glad. It's alright that I keep calling you that then."

Josie repeatedly nods, "Of course."

Y/N looks back at the TV focusing on the new episode that started during the talk.

"Sometimes I dream I'm back in Georgia with daddy." Josie is looking down at her lap, where she draws a circle on the palm of her left hand with her right index finger.

"Yeah, how does that make you feel?"

"Sad sometimes and sometimes happy."

"Why is that?" Y/N asks in a soft voice.

"Well, mommy called me more when I lived farther away. Now I don't get to see her every weekend even though that's the deal. She doesn't even like watching me play."

"That must be tough, Jo. Have you shared this with your dad?"

Josie shakes her head no. "He'd get mad at mom, and I don't want anyone fighting."

"Don't think it's fighting. Your dad just wants the best for you and wants your mom to see that as well."

"I guess."

"Did you know I've visited Georgia?"

"You have?" Josie sits up, crawling closer to her, excited at the change in conversation.

Y/N nods, "My grandparents had family there, so every summer, we'd make our way there. Spent all our time at the lake or just walking through the woods. They lived in a secluded area, so lots to roam."

"We lived in the city."

"I bet you still went to neat places."

Josie thinks about it for a minute, "We did, the weekends were for the lake, and it was easy to drive to another state for a week."

Y/N laughs, knowing how exciting it was visiting a new state in a matter of hours compared to how hard it is in California. "Yeah, I liked that as well."

"What's your favorite memory?"

Y/N stops to think about it; it has been a while since she thought back to her times there. She hasn't had the chance to go back since her grandparents passed away.

"The fireflies. I remember we were in one of my uncle's backyard, and he was showing us his peaches. When I saw a buzz of light followed by another, and soon enough, they were all around us. My uncle tells me he'll never forget the look on my face because it was true happiness and disbelief."

Y/N's smile is nostalgic. If she closes her eyes tight enough, she can picture the fireflies surrounding her. She's brought back to the present when she feels a small hand placed over her own.

"Thank you for sharing that with me," Josie says before she leans over, giving Y/N a hug.

Y/N laughs and hugs her back, happy she got to know this sweet girl better.

"I think it's time for bed."

"Okay."

As they begin walking up the stairs after making a stop in the kitchen to put their mugs in the dishwasher, Y/N stops outside the guest room.

"You're really wise for your age."

Josie nods, "My dad tells me that all the time."

Y/N can't help the smile that Josie draws out of her, "Goodnight."

"Night."

Y/N goes to bed with lots more on her mind. Her thoughts on the young girl who is caring more on her shoulder than she lets on. Josie has grown us quicker and doesn't realize it due to her experiences. Y/N goes wondering what tomorrow will bring.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

A lot was running through Harry's mind after the dinner he had on Sunday with Y/N and her family. Trust him; he enjoyed it. He adored seeing her in a different environment, but she seemed distant, and so did Josie. It's as if the two gravitated towards each other more. Always whispering to each other.

He enjoyed seeing them get along; he just didn't like not being included. This also made him second guess in pursuing Y/N. He wasn't willing to risk it not working out. Harry also knows he's not sure if he'd survive the heartbreak.

It's been a while since he's put himself out there, but as a single dad, he feared that no woman he had met was good enough to meet Josie, not after learning that he had full custody.

Y/N's sister was kind, always teasing Y/N but Y/N gave it right back. He could tell the love they had for each other was the kind he shared with Gem. They might not have been that close in age, but they appreciate each other better as adults. Harry loved Y/N's nephew, who stumbled every few steps he took, which is why Y/N took it upon herself to have him attached to her the whole night.

It warmed Harry's heart and gave him all kinds of crazy ideas, for example like a baby that was half him and half her that he'd love just as much as Josie.

Fuck, he had it bad.

Harry's thankful it's Wednesday, and he gets to see Y/N again. He didn't make practice on Monday having Sarah bring her, and today Y/n picked her up from his house where Mitch was watching her because he had a meeting that would be running long. Luckily, he made it just in time before the practice started.

He knew he was going to stand out, showing up wearing creamed flared trousers and a black silk button-down. Harry had taken off his cropped, lapel grey plaid jacket knowing the heat would eat him alive if he left it on.

Harry chuckled to himself as he walked from the parking lot; his folding hair swung on his shoulder. He waved to the parents before setting up alone under a tree, wanting to enjoy the shade today and no conversations unless it was from one specific person.

He sees her pocketing her phone in her bag and knows this is his chance to talk to her. He makes his way discreetly as possible, going behind the parents, who are all currently staring down at their phones.

"Y/N,"

She turns, she scans him head to toe quickly, not wanting Harry to catch her, but he does. He lets it boost his ego a little.

"Harry, a bit dressed up, no?"

He chuckles, doing a little spin for her. "Not at all, haven't you heard business casual is the new uniform."

She shakes her head at him, "We'll take it into consideration."

"That's all I ask."

Y/N looks over to Kate and motions for her to get the girls' warm-up started.

"Dinner was nice."

Y/N nods, "It was. My sister really likes you."

"That's good. She's really funny."

"She knows it." Y/N rolls her eyes playfully.

Harry knocks his hips into her, "Don't worry, you're still my favorite."

"Gee, I was so worried." Y/N fakes dramatically but isn't able to hide how her cheeks heat up at his compliment. "Now, you need to go sit. I have to coach. Parents are going to think I'm flirting."

Harry smirks, "I don't mind the flirting."

"Styles, you'd know if I was flirting."

"I'm just going to say that I very much am."

"Hmm, I'll take that into consideration. For our future conversations."

Y/N joins the girls as they are about to start their second lap; Harry slowly makes his way to his waiting chair, happy that Y/N might like him just as much as he likes her.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Y/N pulled Josie aside before the scrimmage wanting to speak with her noticing she wasn't connecting with the team as she had on Monday.

"Doing okay?" Y/N asks as Josie gets a drink of water.

Josie nods, "Of course."

"Well, Juliet told me you didn't want to hang out. She said you had wanted to try that donut place with us on Friday."

"Because I had plans with my mom."

"Oh, that's fun."

"No."

"Why not?"

"She said she was busy," Josie murmurs.

"Well, you're still welcome to join us on Friday. I'm going to take Juliet to get ice cream at my favorite shop after practice. You're welcome to join." Y/N offers, knowing the little girl needs something to cheer her up.

"Does my dad have to come?"

"Not if you don't want him to."

Josie shakes her head no.

"Okay then."

"I'll go ask permission now."

"You can wait," Y/N laughs at her eagerness.

"No. I tell him now, and he can think it over while I play."

"Okay, sure. Don't take long."

Josie nods about to take off, but Y/n stops her. "Josie, I'm sorry your plans changed."

"She's been doing that more." She shrugs as if she's not bothered.

"Just because she is doing that doesn't mean you aren't loved. Your dad loves you and your godparents; the team does as well. I do, also. You're amazing, Josie." Y/N tells her, knowing Josie needed to hear it from somebody other than her father.

Josie's eyes shine, but she blinks the tears away. She gives her a quick hug before turning around and running towards Harry. From the corner of her eye, she sees Josie dramatically asking for permission as she lets her father retie the laces of her boots. Y/N smiles because she loves Josie, and if given a chance, she might also get an opportunity to love Harry. Y/N looks forward to watching what the future may bring.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Kate had organized a pizza party for the girls because they had been doing so well and thought they deserved a reward. Y/N and Kate always talked about motivating and encouraging the girls for their hard work and dedication. They would do small gatherings or bring them a treat to enjoy after practice, and the occasional Monday off that happened on significant dates or when they as a coach needed a break which wasn’t often because they loved this and the girls.

A pizza party was fun, it allowed parents to interact somewhere that wasn’t crazy hot, and the girls got to eat their weight in pizza. Y/N personally loved it because she got to eat crazy good buffalo wings. Kate and Y/N always shared a basket.

Y/N had sat in a booth with Kate across from her knowing the girls would take up two of the long tables. They rather not squeeze in between when they have a good view of them here.

“Anyone I should be aware of, Thomas, was it?”

“Uhh, no. He turned out to be a jerk who couldn’t get me off.”

“Gee any louder, Katie, would you.” Y/N smiles at Cynthia’s parents, who are in line waiting to order themselves around some beers. Y/N was never one who got into drinking, but it doesn’t bother her those who do.

“Anyways, the one who is coming is Tiffany, and we have been talking for a week, and I think I may be in love.” Kate sighs, a faraway look in her eye as the waiter drops by her beer. Y/N eyes it, not liking how much foam was in the cup.

“You say you’re in love each time.”

Kate rolls her eyes at Y/N, “Well, I mean it this time.”

“Sure.”

“No, you’ll see. Tiff should be here soon. She got the most gorgeous curls and the most perfect brown eyes. Then when she talks Spanish to me, I have an idea what she’s saying, but it turns me on like crazy.”

“I can translate for you.” Kate rolls her eyes, knowing Y/N’s Spanish was perfect due to her high school and college years, not to mention she took YMCA classes at seven. “Anyways, let us move on from the conversation.”

“Okay, let’s talk about your sex life.”

Y/N chucks a piece of lettuce at Kate hitting her square on her chin. Before Kate can retaliate, Harry steps towards them, “Hello, ladies.”

“Hi, Harry,” Kate responds by making crazy eyes at Y/N.

“Mind if I join you, don’t think Josie would like me sitting with her or alone.”

Y/N nods, “Of course, but only if you don’t mind sliding in. I like the edge seats, or you can sit with Kate.”

Kate shakes her head no, “No, he cannot. My date should be here soon.”

Y/N gets up to let Harry slide in, he does a little wiggle to get to the other side, and Y/N does her best to hide her laugh. It seems to work, as he didn’t mention it. Y/N feels her body heat up because their thighs are touching. She feels ridiculous getting worked up over a simple touch.

The next hour flies by, and Tiffany arrives during that time, and Y/N loves her. She is as gorgeous as Kate described, her hair long falling down her back in thick ringlets, her brown eyes captivating, and her golden skin shines with just a hint of sunlight. She can see why Kate was smitten, but getting to know her and Y/N can happily say she’s a perfect fit for her best friend. She hopes it works out for Kate because this will be a heavy heartbreak if it doesn’t.

Y/N excuses herself, wanting to check with the girls. She approaches the table sitting by the pinball machines. The girls have question after question for her that she happily answers. She looks to see Juliet, happily leading a conversation with a quiet Jo sitting next to her staring out the window.

She excuses herself from the girls and places a hand on Juliet’s shoulder, who stops her chatter to grin up at Y/N before continuing like she never stopped. Jo just smiles at her before looking at the other girls acting as she was involved in the conversation, but Y/n knows better.

“You alright, Jo?”

“Of course, a bit full, that is all.” Y/N stares at those green eyes long and hard before nodding.

“I’m just over there if any of you need anything.”

“Yes, thank you, coach.” Most girls answer in unison.

Y/N goes back to their table, and Harry smiles, scooting over, “Saved your spot. Susan tried to nab it.”

“My hero.” She giggles.

The conversation around Y/N flows easily; she laughs and comments. There is a moment where Harry squeezes her thigh affectionately when she makes a witty comment defending him and his style. She wishes he’d rest his hand there, but he moves it back on top, also not wanting anyone to be suspicious.

As much as Y/N is having a lovely evening, her gaze drifts over to Josie, who hasn’t uttered a word since she was with her.

Harry is too busy chatting and having a nice time to notice how quiet Josie has gotten, not that she blames him; the place is loud and complete because it’s a Saturday afternoon. This worries Y/n as she has seen Josie withdrawing more and more but didn’t want to believe it. Josie hides it reasonably well.

Y/N hopes she’s wrong and that sweet Josie is only having an off day.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Harry was happy to see Josie loving California. He knew it was a risk moving across the country when the East coast is all she had ever known. Josie has shown him nothing but happiness; he can't wait to see how she does in the Fall when she goes back to school. The great thing is she will have friends due to the girls on the team. Also, he hates to admit it, but it has been good for Josie to see more of her mom. Allowing them to build a better relationship. Harry only wishes the best for his daughter and hopes he has been doing that so far in her life.

It's Wednesday, and Harry feels his weeks go by faster now that they have a structured routine. He always gets excited because he knows that he'll have a chance to chat with Y/N no matter what.

They arrive five minutes before practice starts, making Harry rush out of the car, holding Josie's hand as she pulls him along, wanting to apologize to Y/N.

Y/N approaches them as they reach the area where all the girls have just started their warm-up lap.

"We're so sorry. We got stuck in a traffic jam." Harry rushes out, hating to get his daughter punished for his tardiness.

She shakes her head at him, not bothered. "Go on join the others, Josie," she gently touched her shoulder. "I've got to chat with your dad."

Josie gives her an uncertain look, but she assures her with a smile. She runs off, joining the second lap at the back of the two lines.

Harry stands there, uncertain, not sure what she needs to tell him. By the solemn look she has, it might not be good.

She walks off to the side a distance from the parents and has an eye on the girls finishing up their warm-up laps before going into a stretch.

"Josie brought up something I think you need to know."

Harry waits, allowing her to go on, knowing he shouldn't interrupt.

Y/N takes a deep breath before looking him in his eyes, "Josie says her mom told her she needs to stop calling her and to stop with the visits. That she's pregnant, and that's her priority, not her."

Harry's jaw drops. He didn't know Claudia could be so cruel to their daughter. He wasn't even aware she was pregnant or that she wanted more children. Mostly he hates that he does not hear this from his daughter.

"She told me she was afraid of how'd you react to the news, but I told her she needed to address it, and by your reaction, I assume she didn't."

Harry shakes his head. "No, we celebrated the win and had a good weekend. Seemed happier than normal honesty."

"It's common for kids to try to block it out. As someone who had to go through her fair share of child therapy, I feel like it would be good for her to see a therapist." Y/N tells him, voice gentle, knowing this is a lot for Harry.

"Why" Harry bites back, defensive. "She's fine, happy, and laughing."

"Harry, I'm not saying she's not, but she needs to talk about it. Jo won't be with you, and it's because she trusts and loves you and doesn't want to hurt you. She thinks she is protecting you; an eight-year-old shouldn't be trying to protect her father."

Harry feels himself boiling, no longer wanting to hear any more of what she has to say.  

"The signs are there."

The signs," he scoffs.

"Quietness, sadness, isolation, anxiety." She points to the field, and he turns to see Josie stretching alone, lost in her own head. No longer sitting between Juliet like she always had the last few weeks. A frown on her face seems to be permanently placed.  

"You've got no right to say this." Harry wishes she never brought this up.

"I'm doing this for her, not for you."

Harry has had enough; he wants her to hurt her like he is right now, which is why he lets his mouth speak before he can think over what he has said, "Who do you think you are? Honestly, you're a lousy soccer coach who has nothing better to do but judge kids and their parents."

"Harry," she whispers, trying to mask her hurt.

"No, you've said enough. I think you can forget about Josie playing for this team." His voice dripping with venom. "Seems all you wanted was extra cash in your pocket with the addition of a player ."

He walks towards the field. "Josie, we're leaving," Harry doesn't care that the other parents are watching now. He throws Josie's bag over his shoulder as he watches her jog over to him,

"We just got here. I was warming up."

"Josie, we're leaving." No room for argument in his voice, but Josie stands her ground.

"I don't want to leave." Her voice falters as she stares up at him.

"Josie, don't."

"Dad, I like it here, Coach is-"

Harry cuts her off, "Enough, Josephine, you're not coming back here ever."

Those words bring tears to her eyes; she drops her head, defeated. She follows behind Harry and turns to look at Y/N one last time, shooting her an "I warned you look."

Y/N watches them walk away, and she can only hope this is the last she sees of them. She shakes all her feelings out, knowing she has all eyes on her right now. She's got a team to coach, and just like that, she brushes away Harry and his cruel words, knowing they'll resurface later in the appropriate environment.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

After leaving the practice field, Harry And Josie did not speak a word to each other or the next day. They continued in silence, not for Harry's lack of trying to get a word out of Josie; she was just that upset with him.

All he received were head shakes, and Harry was worried. He cooled down after and let everything sink in, but the damage was done; it was too late.

That same night Harry called Claudia to confront her to tell her he would be taking her to court to forget seeing Josephine. All she responded was that it was quite alright. She was giving him full custody and would be sending him the paperwork she had already signed. Then hung up the phone on him.

Harry was appalled that a mother could do this to their child, to abandon them with no care. He always knew Claudia wasn't a good person, but he wished better for his daughter, and right now, even he didn't feel good enough for his angel girl.

On the fifth day of silence between his daughter and him, he received an email he was tempted not to open due to who it read the sender was. He did so anyway; it was the name, phone number, and location of a therapist nearby. The email read professional, not a hint of the last few months of knowing each other. There was an endnote that said to give her as a reference. He knew he would think it over for now.

On the seventh day of his daughter ignoring him, he called the number that he marked down on his phone. He called and set up an appointment for the following day; he knows it could have been longer if he didn't name drop Y/N. Harry knows he needs to apologize, but he's not sure where to begin or if it would be appropriate to show up at her house, but he decided to focus on one thing at a time, and that would be Josie.

Harry would have liked to walk hand in hand into the big building with big windows overlooking a secluded private park, but Josie walked ahead and sat herself on the rainbow-colored couches for kids and picked up a Judy Blume book to read.

Harry walks to the front desk and admires all the photos pinned up behind the receptionist. He knows they must be patients with only their first name signed. His favorite is a dinosaur swimming on a floaty holding a milkshake; there was some natural talent hanging on the wall as well as a lot of imagination.

"Sir, here for?" The receptionist called him for his turn, not noticing the person in front of him was now seated.

"Styles, Harry. Well, Josephine," he corrects. "Sorry."

"No worries, all parents do that their first time."

He awkwardly laughs.

"Dr. Sylvia Hernandedz will be with you shortly." He thanks her, going to sit on the black couch. He sinks right in full of comfort.

Five minutes later, they are called to go. He reaches for Josie's hand, and she lets him take it but doesn't make any move to hold him; it's as if he's carrying dead weight. Harry sighs but follows behind the receptionist.

"Hello, Styles family, lovely to meet you." A woman in her mid-forties greets them, a nice styled bun not a hair out of sight. Glasses on the bridge of her nose. She has a dark blue pencil skirt and a white buttoned shirt tucked in. He feels not as uncomfortable as he thought he would.

"I'm Syliva Hernandez, and you must be Josephine Styles." She leans down to be eye level with Josie and sticks out for her to shake.

"Yes, Dr. Hernandez. A pleasure to meet you." Josie responds politely.

Dr. Hernandez smiles. "Now, how'd you know I was a doctor?"

"The frame behind your desk shows your credentials." She points to the USC doctorate hanging behind a desk full of framed photos.

"Well, aren't you an observant girl?"

"Thank you."

"Would you like to accompany me to this playroom while I chat with your father? I can have my friend Alycia join you if you don't want to be alone."

Josie shakes her head no, "I'll be fine. I like being alone sometimes. I had a very wise person tell me it's okay to want to be alone sometimes, but it doesn't mean you're alone."  

"Did your dad tell you that?" Dr. Hernandez asks.

"No."

"Very, well off you go. We'll have an eye on you but feel free to use all the items in there."

"Thank you." Josie slips right in, grabbing paper and colored pencils, carefully pulling out her desired colors.

"Have a seat, please, Mr. Styles."

"Thank you."

He sits in the mahogany chair; he can't say he likes it much.

"These chairs are awful. My office is better furnished, I assure you."

Harry tears his eyes from Josie to look at the therapist.

They are silent, and Harry isn't sure what to do.

"Uhh...Y/N Y/LN recommend us to you. I'm not sure if they informed you or I had to let you know."

"Yes, I'm aware. She's a great person." Shutting down conversation.

"Your daughter's birthday."  

"December 13th, she's eight".

"How long have you been separated from her mother?"

"Since before her birth. We have a court agreement that I get weekly, and she gets her weekends, but that has recently changed. I have full custody of her.

"How does that make you feel?"

"Not okay; I grew up with divorced parents. My mother never remarried. I have an older sister, but we live in different countries."

"Do you fear the same for her?"

"Think it's worse for her. Josie's mother told her she didn't want her anymore because she would be having a baby. She didn't even tell me. She told--," he cuts himself off.

"Who did she tell?"

"Her soccer coach."

"A female?

"Yes. They are close. Have a real bond, an understanding of sorts."

"Do you think she is looking for a female to look up to?"

"It would make sense. My mother lives in London, and we only see her on holidays, same with my sister. She gets on well with my best mate's girlfriend, Sarah. She taught Josie to play the drums a bit. Also, Glenne, a dear friend."

"Male figures in life?"

"Too many. Mitch, Jeff, Adam, and his kids. Tyler, a family friend."

"It seems she has paternal figures, but she's searching for maternal figures." She states before continuing, "What's the reason you brought her in?"

"The coach addressed to me that she was worried that she was withdrawing herself, becoming anxious and lonely. Less happy. I didn't see it, but we've gone a week without speaking, and I've seen her mope and stare off a lot."

"Is she still seeing her coach?

"No, that's part of our not talking. I got upset over the suggestion of therapy and took that away from her."

"It led to a negative response."

"Yes, and I feel awful about it."

"It seems that the sport and coach are important to her and who she is. It's what you call a safe place."

"But she was beginning to withdraw from there as well," Harry states, not knowing it couldn't be so safe if she was isolating herself.  

"Well, we'll have to talk with her. Are you comfortable with me speaking with her alone? I do have to let you know what I speak with her is confidential. She can tell you about it, but you cannot ask me."

"Yes, of course. It's fine, I understand." Harry knows therapy can be scary, but it can also be the start of something better.

"Well, let me call her back."

Dr. Hernandez stands and opens the door, "Josephine, come with me, please." Josie nods her head, putting the colored pencils away and bringing her picture with her.

"I apologize if we took too long."

"Not long. Enough to finish my drawing." She shares, giving the doctor a small smile.

"Can I have a look?"

Josie hands it over, Dr. Hernandez turns it so they can both see what she drew. It's a photo of a goal net and who he assumes to be himself in the net. A little girl with two pigtails standing there, hands raised, and another female is to the side cheering with a megaphone.

"It's beautiful."

"Thank you," Josie says proudly.

"Do you think I can keep it? Have you sign your name and add it to the front desk."

"Would you?" Josie's eyes go wide at someone other than her dad hanging up her art.

"Of course."

"That'd be wonderful." And for the first time in a week, she turns looking up at Harry. "Did you hear that daddy, Dr. Hernandez wants to keep it?

"I would too; it's beautiful, darling."

"I can make another."

Harry smiles, grateful, his daughter is her vibrant self, "Thank you, honey."

"Josephine, are you okay with your dad stepping out and you talking with me privately one on one?

"Yes, I like you. Also, you can call me Josie."

Dr. Hernandez nods in acknowledgment before turning to address Harry.

"You can wait in the waiting room. Alycia will bring you back to discuss in my office when we are done."  

Harry mutters okay and walks out, closing the door behind him. He walks a few steps before laying his head to rest on the wall. This has felt like a lot, but he also feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulder.

Maybe I need to see a therapist. Harry thinks to himself, liking that he got a lot off his shoulders in just a short amount of time.

He's walking down the hallway when he hears a familiar voice, one he didn't think he'd have the pleasure of ever hearing again.

It stops him in his tracks.

He hears her voice once more and follows it out to the waiting room he's supposed to be waiting for his daughter.

Harry sees that she is talking with Alycia, and as he steps closer, he feels like it is harder to breathe.

"I have three more clients before I'm done for the day, but I have a thirty-minute gap, so maybe we can order smoothies, my treat." She tells the secretary handing her two twenty bills so that she can get everyone a drink.

"Y/N," he gasps out.

His eyes roam her body; he's never seen her dressed, so office official always used to see her in shorts, sweats, leggings, and a t-shirt. She's wearing this blue satin silk blouse tucked into high-waisted black trousers and low heels.

She is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

Y/N turns, not at all trying to hide the surprised look on her face.

"You're here." She nods; he's not sure why she's here.

"Here's your next client's file. They are doing an intake. You have over half an hour."

"Great."

Harry is now standing in front of her. "You work here?"

Y/N nods.

"You're a therapist." He states.

Y/N can clearly see he wants to talk and knows a better place to do it than their waiting room filled with waiting people.

"Why don't we talk in my office?" Harry nods, ready to follow her, but before he can, she turns to the desk once more, "Hold my calls, please, Alycia."

"Of course."

"Follow me, Harry."

They walk in silence as they pass Dr. Hernandez's door. She opens her door, allowing him to enter first. It feels bright and full of color; the wall's painting is pale green and hanging on the walls; she has lots of scenic photos and drawings. The chairs are nice, a red velvet couch pushed against a wall, her desk is not that big, he notices. It lacks pictures compared to Dr. Hernandez. Her degrees are placed on a bookshelf. She has it color-coded in colors of the rainbow, which is quite impressive.

"Have a seat." She offers all the open space.

Y/N takes a seat on the couch, and he follows.

Harry feels underdressed next to Y/N, and that has never happened before; he is always the one showing up in extravagant and overpriced suits.

"You work here." He waits for her to confirm.

"Yes, I'm a therapist here. Dr. Hernandez was my advisor during my undergrad. She knew what I wanted to accomplish for my career. They offered me a job, and I accepted. They have been supportive of obtaining my doctorate."

Harry is very impressed, "Congrats, that's wonderful."

"Thank you."

They both quiet down, not sure who should go first. Harry is about to start when Y/N begins to speak.

"Listen, Harry, I'm sorry. I went about addressing it wrong, and I never meant to upset you. I apologize." Y/N keeps her eyes on his wanting him to see how sincere she was.

"No need, I've taken a week to reflect on what a jerk I was. Having Josie give me the silent treatment for a week was torture." Harry confesses, scratching his neck to avoid reaching for her hand.

"Is she okay? Harry, that's a long time." Y/N's voice laced with concern.

"I'm sure she's chatting Dr. Hernandez ear off as we speak."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I brought it on myself by taking her away from one thing she truly loves."

Y/N nods, not able to disagree with Harry. "Yeah, I understand."

"Is that how you know she needed therapy because you're a therapist?"

"Yes. I saw the signs, but I mostly observe and never address it, but from the conversations I've had with Josie and the relationship we built, I felt like I owed it to her to get her help." Y/N pauses, debating if she was ready to share more of herself with Harry. "It was also that I saw myself in her, it felt familiar, and I wanted to help."

"I'm going to tell you a story."

Harry can tell it's not going to be an easy one as she's not staring at her hand, focused on the lone ring she has on her index finger. "You don't have to."

She reaches over and squeezes his hand once to let him know it's alright. "I was nine years old when I walked in on my dad cheating on my mom with his secretary. I told her as soon as she came home and she didn't believe me. She went as far as calling me an attention seeker. By the end of the week, we were living with my grandparents. I didn't see my parents again after that day. At age ten, I started visiting the counselor because I blamed myself for my sister no longer having parents. I wouldn't even allow myself to talk to her; I was just consumed by guilt taking all the blame when I shouldn't have."

Y/N knows Harry's gaze is on her, but she doesn't dare look up, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes. "Don't think I've stopped since then. A big reason I'm doing the job I am now is for those who helped me along the way.

"Y/N,"

"Harry, no pity comments. I've made my peace, sure the trauma never truly leaves, but you overcome it."

"Thank you for sharing that with me, I know I don't deserve it, but I'm grateful."

Harry needs to apologize; he wants to leave here today knowing he didn't lose a friend.

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Harry, you-"

"No, I really am; I didn't mean a word I said. I know you're more than a coach, and you're not lousy; you're brilliant. You're my daughter's favorite person. I didn't mean it, and I hope you'll forgive me."

"I accept your apology, that was a bad day for all of us, but I can move past it if you can?"

"Yes, I would love that. I feel awful you're someone I trust, a friend. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

"Thank you, Harry."

"One more thing."

"Yes, go on."

"Can you recommend a therapist for me? Talking with Dr. Hernandez was amazing, and I think I would benefit from it."

Y/N doesn't make any comment, just nods. "I'll send you a list of therapists but do know you'll always find a friend in me if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or someone to watch over you as you get drunk."

Harry chuckles; he'll keep that in mind for future references.  

"There's a knock on the door. "Yes, come in."

"Sylvia is ready for Mr. Styles."

"Thank you, Alycia. I'll walk him to her office."

Y/N stands, and Harry follows close behind as they make their way out to reunite him with his daughter.

"Y/N, can I hug you?"

She bits back the smile threatening to overtake her face at how small he looks asking. "Yes, that's fine."

Harry doesn't wait for another second; he throws his arms around her holding her tight. He hadn't been lucky enough to hug her before, but now doing it, he doesn't think he ever wants to go a day without one.

They walk out, both having heated faces due to enjoying being the embrace of one another. She walks them a few doors down and knocks, waiting for the go-ahead to go in.

"One last thing," She says, pointing a hand to his chest."

"Name it." He'd give her anything.

"Jo comes back to the team. You bring her to the game this weekend."

"Yes, of course."

She beams at his response, "Great."

Y/N peeks her head in, locking eyes with Sylvia. "Alright, to come in, Doc?"

"Of course, Josephine, this is my good friend and coworker Y/N."

Josie turns and smiles wide, jumping up when she sees her walk in with Harry right behind her.

"Hiya, champ. Seems to have found your dad lost out here."

Josie giggles and runs into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"I've missed you."

"As have I little miss sunshine. I missed my fastest midfielder at the game. All the girls missed you."

"Awe, I'll be back," she looks up at Harry with a look of worry on her face. "Right, daddy?"

"Yes, darling. Got a game at ten am on Saturday."

Josie lets out a loud shriek.

"So this is Coach." Dr. Hernandez says with a knowing smile.

"Yes, she's great," Josie responds, holding tight to Y/N's hand.  

Y/N chuckles. "How about you and I go draw a picture to add to my office while Dr. Hernandez and your dad tie up some little things."

"Okay."

They walk out hand in hand as Josie catches up with Y/N on everything she did on her week away. Not shying away from how she handled the now resolved issue with her father.

"You don't look as blue," Dr. Hernandez comments."

"Sorry," Harry blushes, having been lost in thought on the two girls who just walked out.

"Mr. Styles, your aura is soft, kinder."

"Yeah, I think she has that effect on people."

"You might be right."

Things are finally looking up, and Harry looks forward to rebuilding his relationship with Josie and hopefully creating one with Y/N besides their parent and coach relationship.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

It's been two weeks since Josie came back to play, and thing's have been going smoothly. Harry begins helping out with cleaning up at the end of practice to talk to Y/N more. He asks more about her job and how the doctorate is going. He worries she might be juggling too much, but she assures him she has a smooth dynamic of handling everything.

It's a cold Saturday morning, it's the quarter-finals, and the nerves are high for everyone. The girls finished on top of the leaderboard, but the league likes doing a championship game to honor all the hard-working teams.

Y/N is quieter this morning, and all the parents have picked up on it. They are used to her light and kind nature, wishing everyone a good day and accepting treats. Cynthia's mom is in charge of snacks for today and offered her a muffin one she never says no to except today.

It immediately puts everyone in a skittish mood.

Truthfully, Y/N isn't here for the parents, but the girls and the team they are against is the dirtiest. Most girls are nine and will be moving up a division, but Coach Roman teaches them that dirty plays will make them win. Her girls are strong players, but she reminds them of the importance of sportsmanship and playing with heart.

Y/N even makes sure she cannot be approached by anyone, only the girls and Kate, as they start to warm up on the field. The girls do their drills as Kate stands quietly by your side.

"Someone can't take their eye off of you."

"Stop."

"It's true though, he was pouting when he saw you on the field clipboard in hand," Kate says with a giggle.

"Shush."

"Going to ask him on a date?"

"Only if we win."

That shuts Kate up, "You're joking."

Y/N slowly shakes her no, "Girls, two lines, run through side net shots."

Kate and Y/n stand back to back as the girls pass, and they kick it-bag, giving them only a second to angle themselves. This is one of their favorite warm-ups, and she's glad she can still talk with Kate during it.

"What made you finally decide?"

"I realized he's not going to make a move because one he fears I'm going to reject him and two it goes horribly wrong, then he might never show his face around here again. I'm positive he likes me."

Kate nods, "he likes you, adores you. He's got it bad." She's quiet for a moment before starting up again, "I know we're going to win, so how are you going to ask him? I'm going to need all the details."

"I'm going to go up to him and ask him out to dinner, simple as that."

Y/N changes the drill marking the end of their conversation; she leads the girl into two groups of keep away while Kate takes Dawson, their goalie, to keep warming up.

Before they know it, captains and coaches are called. Coach Roman is smug and annoying as he shakes her hand. The girls pick heads and win the coin toss. They choose to have kickoff; Roman's girls decide to stay on their side, meaning everything to their advantage as they have the slight uphill to battle through for the first half, and the second will use it to their advantage.

The starting lineup is quick to attack, and in a matter of minutes, Juliet scored a goal from a pass from Imelda. The girls' cheer, happy to be leading the game. They know better than getting cocky; if anything, this intensifies their speed at playing. The next twelve minutes of the second quarter are stressful as Josie makes it a two-zero lead from a corner kick. Just as half-time is to be called, a midfield slips through the defense from the back and gets it over Dawson's head, and just like that, the referee calls it.

Y/N can't remember the last time she was this anxious. It's foul after foul, and she's had enough of it.

Kate is quick to round up the girl, not wanting to monopolize all their time, wanting them to relax mostly to stay in a positive mindset. Kate leads the talk letting them know they are doing well and that the left-wing is getting beat, but having the downhill in favor should help her out now. Y/N went around making sure each girl was safe and had no injuries, only grass stains on their knees.

"Be aggressive, but don't stoop to their level."

"Yes, coach" is heard in unison as a response.

Each girl goes to their bags and starts to stretch, knowing they can't approach their parents because it's easy for them to influence them on how they are playing. Everyone respects it, but there are a few times a parent comes by.

She decides to take a walk, getting away from the girls. She just wants to relax and not be as tense for the end of the half.

She nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears someone call her name.

"Fuck, Harry. You scared me."

He raises his hands up in defense. "Sorry, I was just checking if you are okay?"

Y/N doesn't hesitate to rush into his arms, tucking her head into his neck. Harry, without hesitation, wraps his arms around her. He runs his hand down her back softly, hoping she finds it comforting.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." She holds him tighter, so he goes on. "You're okay, yeah, doing a good job. Girls are playing well. Taking care of each other, just like you taught them."

She slowly nods her head, she's calmed down, and Y/n thinks it might have to do with his soothing heartbeat.

"Deep breaths, love, Come on with me."

Harry breathes in and out until she does it with him. He feels her relax and tries to pull her back, but her grip is tight.

"It's okay, not going anywhere."

"Sorry," she whispers.

"No need to apologize, love."

"I just don't like when coaches teach their girls to play dirty; I hate injuries. They're just kids." She whispers, looking up at him now.

"They'll be okay."

"You don't know that. We have two quarters left."

Harry knows he won't be able to comfort her like he wants when he hears the ref blow the whistle. "Look, the girls are about to start, and they need a coach."

She nods, knowing she has to go back to her coaching mentality. The girls are her main priority; she can do this.

"Thank you, Harry."

"I'm here for you, whenever you need."

Y/N jogs over, nudging Kate playfully, who is shooting her suggestive eyes. They let the captain lead the huddle and listen intently before wishing them luck. The parents clap as the team cheer echoes out.

Only twenty-four minutes left, they can do this. She knows they can. The referees assured them he'd get a better eye on them, not wanting anyone to be carried off injured. Y/N refuses to take her eyes off of her girls. Constantly reminding them to keep communicating with each other when she hears them go quiet.

The last two quarters pass much quicker than the first; the girls play with more fleeting touches, not allowing the other team to put pressure on them.

Just when number eleven is close to getting the ball, Leslie switches the ball over to the other side; Y/N is shocked at how well Josie brings it down, she constantly struggles with this at practice, but she knows that Josie has been putting in the extra work.

She can hear Harry clapping and cheering on Josie; Y/N shouts her praise, letting her know she's doing well. Andie gets a breakaway, and it's a one-be-one versus the goalie. She fakes right as it goes left, touching it in softly, and in it goes. Y/N can't stop cheering, feeling the buzz all over her body. She's incredibly proud of the hard work they have all put in. Just as they reset and the ball is passed back, the whistle is blown and signifies they have won.

Golden Sparks are moving on to the semi-finals.

The girls are quick to jog in and tackle Y/N and Kate in a massive group hug. Y/N is going to be basking in this happiness for the entire weekend.

Y/N sends all the girls to their parents, letting them know she was okay doing the clean-up on her own. Kate stuck around, as did Juliet, because she wanted to have breakfast with Y/N telling her parents they were not welcome to come even though the invitation was extended to them. Clara and Xavier did not take any offense, happy to go back home and nap the morning away if their young toddler would let them.

Y/N approaches Harry after she gets everything settled in her trunk. He smiles at her, walking over helping her close her trunk as they wave by to Kate together. Josie and Juliet hang out in Harry's car, going through his Spotify playlist as they skip song after song, not being a fan of his taste.

Y/N lets out a deep breath, "I've been working up the courage to do this."

"Do what lovely? Harry asks curiously.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" Y/N feels her stomach tense up as she waits for a response; by his wide eyes, she can tell he wasn't expecting her to say that, but he plays it off well.

"Asking me on a date?"

"I am."

Harry agrees, "I'd like that."

"Does Friday work for you?"

"Yes, great."

"I'll uh, pick you up."

"Proper wine and dine, love." She chuckles because, yeah, she wants to swoop Harry off his feet just like he did to her without even trying.

Y/N gives him a hug holding him tight for a few seconds, smiling up at Harry feeling giddy that they had a date planned after two months of flirting that they weren't sure would go anywhere.

"Juliet, we got to go."

"Okay, auntie." Juliet slams the door just a tad bit too hard, making Y/N mutter an apology.

"Bye, Harry."

"Bye, love."

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Friday had arrived quicker than Harry expected. He got to see Y/N during the week because of the practices, and he was texting her every chance he got. He wanted to let her know he liked her and he was serious about pursuing her. It's been a long time since his last relationship, but call him cliche with Y/N; it all feels right. That everything is falling into place like it should.

Now here he sat on his couch waiting for Y/N to arrive; he had changed his outfit three times because she told him casually, and he couldn't settle on a look. It wasn't until he put on a plain black tee that hugged her arms just right and white linen cropped pleated trousers that he felt ready. He even broke out his new white Vans for the evening.

Harry was about to check the time when there was a knock on his door. He couldn't tame the butterflies in his stomach if he tried. As he opened the door, Harry let out a laugh because there stood the most beautiful woman holding up a bouquet of red lilies. He's falling in love, and there's no stopping him; he just hopes she's there to catch him.

"Hi Harry, these are for you."

Harry laughs, not knowing how to react to receiving flowers, "I'm speechless." He accepts them and gently cradles them in his arms. "I'll put them in water, and we can go."

"Sure, no rush." Y/N admires his living room, never having stepped foot in his house until today, and it's small but cozy. There are photos of all his family framed on the wall to her right. He has a small bookshelf that holds more vinyl than books.

Harry comes back and sees her staring at a photo of Josie on her first birthday covered in cake from head to toe. "I'd give you a tour, but I'm actually really excited to start our date."

"I'm sure they'll be another time."

She walks down his driveway to her parked car allowing Harry to have a moment to look her over. She's dressed casually; she has high-waisted jeans that show off all her beautiful assets. Her lavender cardigan looks warm; she left it open to expose a white plain top. It is genuinely a casual look, but she makes it look over the top.

"You look beautiful," Harry tells her as she stands by her car door.

Y/N does a small twirl before jokingly curtsying for him. "Glad you think so. Those trousers are doing your thighs justice if I do say so myself."

Harry giggles loving how easy she compliments him.

"Right, I wanted to take you mini golfing but considering it's a Friday and summer, it's going to be packed with teenagers."

"Oh, you definitely saved us."

"Yeah, I thought we could take Josie during the middle of the week as a date. I bet she'd enjoy it. Although, I never keep track of points because I'm too competitive."

The date has barely started, and she's left him speechless twice.

"You want Josie to join us on dates." Harry states.

She looks over at him quickly as they are stopped at a red light, "Of course, Harry. She's your daughter; I don't expect you to find a sitter every time we want to go out together. Isn't it like if you're dating me, you're dating my daughter."

He chuckles, "but not on our first date."

"Honestly, I think we were long overdue for a date."

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you out all summer long," He confesses.

Y/N gasps in shock as she signals a right turn, briefly checking her blind spot before making the turn. "Yet, it only happened with a few weeks left in summer."

"Yeah, but we got here, didn't we?"

Y/N leans over and places her hand on his thigh, squeezing him twice, "Yes, we did."

Harry sees her turn into a diner that looks a bit run down; he doesn't dare question her because she seems so excited as she gets out of the car and waits for him by the trunk. Y/N extends her hand for him to take, and he does without a hint of hesitation.

Y/n leads the way, but he hurries to open the door for her. She thanks him with a squeeze of the hand. Walking in, he was startled at how Harry felt he was transported to a seventies diner. The booths were red and looked sparklingly new. To the left was a jukebox that he was desperate to have a look at, maybe dedicate a song to Y/N. The floor's black and white pattern shined at him as the waiter wore a nice button-up with a black bow tie, a red and white striped apron thrown over, his name tag said James.

"After you," Y/N said, wanting Harry to pick a booth side; he knew better than to fight her and slid in on the left side. Harry is surprised when Y/N slides in right next to him. "This alright, Harry?"

Harry grins at her, dimples on display just for her. "Yeah, just caught me by surprise."

She opens up the menu sliding the other one away so they could share. Y/N points to some of her favorite items on the menu and cringing at ones she disliked.

"You know the menu well." Harry states before deciding on the turkey burger she had raved about.

Y/N chuckles, closing the menu. "My grandparents brought Clara and me here every other weekend, never letting us eat out. My grandmother was against the food industry, and she knew the owner here prided themselves on giving back to the community. Always holding fundraisers or donating to local teams."

"Fast food industry isn't the best, but I thank them because I can get Thai food delivered to my house."

Y/N doesn't have time to respond, as their waiter comes back with two glasses of water. "I'll have the turkey burger, no onions, and fries instead of the salad."

Harry didn't know she didn't like onions but made a mental note on it, "I'll also have the turkey burger and the side salad. Oh, and the couple milkshake, we agreed on strawberry, right?"

Y/N nods her head, "I had forgotten about that, but yeah, two straws, please."

"I'll have that out shortly," James tells them, walking away.

"The shake is too hard to die for; it has whipped cream on the top and bottom. It's freshly made, nothing like the canned kind. It's large! Made to be shared, thank goodness you remembered."

Harry shrugs, "That's what I'm here for."

Harry loves how easy conversation flows with Y/N. He doesn't have to force himself to say try to think of a topic or question to ask her. She's very open in sharing herself with him, he's never had someone drop down all his walls this quick, yet again, he might have dropped back ages ago.

Y/N talks to him about his grandparents and how adoring they were. That they supported all of her dreams, even the ones that we're crazy, like wanting to become a witch because she wanted to make flowers grow from her palm. Harry shared how the first year of Josie being born, he felt like he never slept, always nervous something would happen. He also tells her how living in Georgia is something he didn't enjoy, but he also didn't want to bounce Josie around from school to school. It was only date one, but Harry was excited for what the future had in store for them.

When James came back to drop off their burgers and shake. Y/N didn't even hear him too busy laughing at a dumb joke Harry had told her; he can't even remember the joke he made because her laugh is music to his ears.

Y/N waits for Harry to take his first bite, and he decides to tease her just a bit. He slowly raises the burgers stopping an inch from his lips; Y/N sits there, chin perched on her hand as if she has all the time in the world to wait for him.

"I'm in no rush, casanova." She smirks, not falling for his game.

Harry knows eating burgers is nothing sexual, so he decides to go all in. He moans at the first taste he gets, it's juicy, and the pepper jack cheese is perfectly melted, adding an excellent combination.

"Love, that is an amazing burger."

"I know." She's already gotten a bite in. She eyes his salad plate for a moment before looking back over to her fries.

"You want some, sweetheart?"

Y/N giggles at his comment, "God no. I eat healthy enough already, thanks to Juliet, but can I have some of your ranch?"

Harry understands eating healthy, he does it for Josie, and since Y/N is constantly around Juliet, it makes sense she would change her eating habits but does know as an aunt she's easier to give in to desserts. Not that he minds; he needs more sweetness in his life.

"Sure, you eat it with your fries. That's interesting."

She shrugs, "I don't think it is. Everyone in my family eats fries with ranch, including Josie."

"If Josie starts eating fries like that, I will know who to blame."

Y/N bumps her shoulder with Harry, "Haha."

They eat most of their meal in silence. Occasionally, Harry steals a few fries causing Y/N to chuckle before turning her plate, so Harry didn't have to reach over her. She doesn't chastise him about not ordering fries if he wanted some. Harry likes how much he enjoys spending time with Y/N.

"What's one thing you hope to accomplish within the next five years?" Harry asks as Y/N passes the shake back to him and takes a generous drink. They had finished eating, and now we're trying to finish the shake that Harry thought was smaller than what had arrived at their table.

"My usual answer is a doctor, but what's happening next year, so, give me a moment," Harry waits for her, watching as she plays with the rings on his right hand. They went front sitting thigh to thigh to Y/N, hooking her leg to Harry's, causing her to lean more on him. Harry liked it, and if he wasn't somewhere public or their first date, he would have pulled her into his lap. He took a chance and set his hand on top of her thigh; to his surprise, she placed her hand on top of his, intertwining their fingers together.

Every little thing she did made him fall deeper and deeper.

"I want to run a marathon."

"A marathon? I didn't know you were a runner."

"Oh yeah, last December I ran a half marathon, and it was hell, but once the runner high hits, it's the most wonderful thing."

"Why not do it now?"

Y/N frowns, taking off the rose ring from his finger and slipping it on one of hers. "The training is rigorous. You have to work up the miles constantly and eat better. I would rather enjoy the upcoming year."

"Well, when it happens, I can't wait to be there cheering you on." He tells her with a hopeful look.

"I'll hold you to that, Styles."

Harry smiles, hoping she does, hoping he gets to spend many more years to come with her in his life.

Y/N excuses herself to the restroom, and Harry decides it's a good time to pick a song. He approached it grateful to half a quarter hanging in his pocket. The jukebox looked old but well kept. Harry saw over 100 songs but searched for a specific one in mind; he was thrilled to see it was on there. Just as it started to play, he saw Y/N walking back towards him, so he hurried over to slide into their seat.

"You know, you're kind of clumsy."

"Am not," he denies.

"Oh, sorry, so it wasn't you who bumped into the table as you made your way to sit down."

Harry decides not to respond, knowing she saw him embarrass himself, and instead starts singing along to the song. The smile on her face widens as she hears how good he is.

"I'm not surprised you picked Fleetwood Mac, "songbird" is a sweet song."

"Am I that predictable?"

She nods, "Jo always sings one of their songs; at the sleepover, she said that's what you played most, so I taught her my favorites."

"Is it you I have to thank for the ABBA and Selena obsession?" He playfully glares.

"Guilty. She needed to brighten her horizon."

"Josie doesn't even know Spanish."

"Ah, but she will now."

"You're weird." Y/N shrugs in acceptance, knowing he meant it as a compliment.

As Harry's song comes to an end, she jumps up and rushes over to pick her song. She doesn't shy away about dancing her way back over to him. She mouths along to "The Name of the Game," moving her body to the beat.

"The name of the game?"

"You know it, darling."

Harry feels the heat in his cheek and hopes Y/N won't bring it up. She gets him flustered in just a few words.

"You know this is about falling in love with your therapist," he states

"Harry!" She exclaims. "No, the song is open to interpretation."

"What do you think?"

"I think it's about the early days of your relationship and wondering if it'll be something more or not. Also, that bridge, I mean come on."

Harry loves how passionate she is about the song. He loves that she's not afraid to share her thoughts with him, and he realizes he's doing the same. He can't help himself and leans in to press a kiss to her temple, throwing an arm over her shoulder to pull her close as they sit there listening to the song to the end.

"Ready to go, angel?" He feels her mutter a small okay, as she gets up, offering her hand to him as he's at the edge. "Let's go take care of the bill."

Y/N chuckles, "Already did, Harry."

Harry pulls her back, turning her to face him, "When?"

"The restroom, oldest trick in the book."

"Sneaky, sneaky."

Y/N, let's Harry lead the way out this time; they say goodnight to the staff and hurry over to the car. He didn't bring a coat, and he still wasn't used to how cold California got at night. He thought summer meant warm nights with a gentle breeze, not chilly air. Y/N seemed to not mind it, not hurrying after Harry as he jumped into the passenger seat.

"Afraid of the cold, H."

"Yes, why is it so bad?"

"Didn't you get snow in December up in the peach state? Also, aren't you from where the sun never shines?" Y/N teases him as she settles in her seat, turning on the heater for Harry.

"We visit occasionally; I can handle the weather with the appropriate clothing." He pouts at her, rubbing his arms.

Y/N turns around, reaching for something in the backseat before settling in again and settling it in Harry's lap. She doesn't say anything besides dazzling him with a smile and pulling out of the parking lot.

Harry slips it on over his head and finds it fits him loose, "I hope you know you might not be getting this back."

Y/N turns to look at him as he drags the collar up to his cheek to feel the softness it still holds, "That's my coach sweater. Kate got me a few, all in different sizes; I wear this one because I like baggy hoodies."

Harry smiles at her, he knows everything they have done has been in reverse, but he loves how confident she is. He knows she's been hurt before in the past from what she's shared but not once has he felt her trying to hide or push him away. He wants to tell her everything he's kept locked inside, he's never felt like this before, and he hopes the feeling never goes away.

"You know, if people see you wearing the sweater, they'll start talking."

Harry turns in his seat, facing her as the street lights shine on her face. "Let them. I've got no shame in people thinking you're my girlfriend. If I'm lucky enough, it might come true."

Y/N shakes her head, thankful for the darkness because he won't be able to see how her face heated up. The drive to his house was short, he wished for the night to never end, but even he knows he's not that lucky. Harry lets her know it's okay to pull into his driveway as he had his car parked on the curb right.

"I'll walk you to your door." Harry holds her hand the short way to where they will soon have to say goodnight.

Harry doesn't try getting his keys out; instead, he turns her to look at him, wanting to remember her in this moment forever. His last first date. Call him crazy, but there was no one else for him. It was always Y/N; he just had to find her.

"I had the best night with you," Harry whispers, pulling her close by her waist. She rests her hands on his shoulders and nods. "We're doing this again, Y/N."

"I got a second date." She cheers.

Harry leans his forehead against hers, smirking as he hears her breath hitch. "You get a second, a third, a fifth, a one hundred. You name it, you got it."

He's so close to closing the gap between them, feeling their breaths mix together.

"That means you'd be stuck with me for a long time."

"I want to say forever, but that might be too soon."

"Our secret." She whispers, her eyes dancing from his lips to his eyes. "Please kiss me, H."

Harry knows he won't ever be able to deny anything she wishes in life, mainly because he was close to losing her once before.

His lips moved slowly, savoring the feel of her against him as he pulled her close, letting himself rest against the door. He felt the butterflies in his stomach going crazy as she moved her hands to his hair, tugging on the small curls. Harry pulled back in fear of letting out a moan at the intense pleasure she made him feel.

Y/N pulls back breathless but presses her lips to his cheek, not wanting him to touch to go far. "Will you give me another, darlin'," Y/N nods a starry look in her eye as she lets Harry swoop in and take control of the kiss. This second kiss is faster and more passionate. Harry was holding back before, but now he wants her to feel everything he makes her feel. Harry wants her to know he gives her goosebumps and fireworks.

"I could kiss you all night." Harry trails kisses on her cheeks, loving how lost in his touch she is.

"Too bad, I need to rest. I've got to coach a game tomorrow."

That statement is enough to bring Harry back to reality, where he has to wake up extra earlier to pick up his daughter then drive her to the game. They have to say goodnight, even though neither one of them wants to.

Harry pulls away, dropping his hands from her waist; Y/N follows by letting her hands slide down from his hair.

"See you tomorrow?" He winks at Y/N as she walks backward, creating distance between them.

"Of course, we got a semi-final to win."

Y/N walks to her car, touches her lips feeling the lingering heat on when he kisses her breathless. She is turning on her car, making sure her headlights are on, when she sees Harry rushing down the steps toward her, the smile on his face contagious.

"What is it?" She asks as she rolls down her window, knowing she wouldn't leave soon if she got out.

"A kiss for the road."

Y/N couldn't dare deny him a kiss, especially when she was craving more already.

Harry slipped a hand the back of her neck, fearing she'd pull back sooner than he wanted. Her lips tasted like cherry; he figures she put on chapstick. This was only their third kiss, but it had only gotten better. Harry swiped his tongue against her bottom lip, begging for entrance, but she pulled back, letting out a breathless laugh at the pout he made, no longer able to feel her against him. She leans and pecks at the corner of his mouth, whispering a goodnight as he steps back, letting her drive away.

It may be too soon, but he might just love her.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

The semi-final had to be one of the most intense games she had seen the young girls play. It was goal after goal from each team, neither one backing down on the pressure.

In the second half, she told them she was proud that if they kept playing how they were, this game was theirs. Going in a 3-2 lead, the girls stood shocked when, in a corner kick, the other team had been able to get it into the back of the net and over Dawson.

Kate thought this might knock them down, but it sparked something in all of them. All the parents stood up from their seats when they saw them dance around the opposing team switching the ball side to side. Honestly, it was something far advanced than they've ever presented.

Y/N was in awe; their communication was at a new level. There wasn't much time left, and Kate feared penalty kicks even if they were prepared for it.

Lani had control of the middle field; she just needed to get it past their defense. Juliet had defenders marking her tight, no way able to make a run towards the goal. If they played it right, Juliet would draw them out, leaving a gap allowing them to make a run for it. That's all they needed for a foot race.

Kate was sitting on the bench holding tightly onto Sarah Beth's hand, not able to take the pressure; then again, no one could take it. It all happened so fast; one moment, Juliet ran towards the midfield, two defenses following close behind when she got a touch on the ball, letting her send it back where it came from, then straight down the line. Jo and Franny ran down both sides too far ahead to be stopped; Jo was able to get a touch on it, crossing it straight to Franny, who shot at goal but was stopped by the opposing goalie. Jo was there for the rebound striking it in.

Goal!

She did it. She made the final goal.

Jo was quick to be bombarded by the rest of her teammates hugging her as they ushered back for the kick-off. Y/N wished she could run in there and hug her, telling her how proud she was, but for now, shouting 'great job' and 'stay focused' would be enough. Y/N looked over at Harry, who was wiping his tears still yelling proudly for his daughter, and like he knew she was staring, he looked over at her giving her the cheesiest grin she had ever seen on him.

The game finished, and the Golden Sparks won another game, taking them to the final the following week. Y/N congratulated the girls telling how proud she was of them and the hard work they put in each game. She told them she can't wait to see them on Monday and to have a wonderful weekend. Then told their parents to spoil them a little extra this weekend that earned a cheer from all the girls.

As Y/N was packing up her things, Kate and a few other parents already helped carry everything over to Kate's car. She felt arms around her waist.

"Hey, quickster," Y/N says, turning, allowing her niece to hug her properly.

"The girls are going to get ice cream if you want to go with them; Emilia's mom will text you the address," Juliet asks, but Y/N has spent enough time with them and wants to let them be.

"Thanks for the offer, but you have a good time. I'll let your mom know Emilia's mom is dropping you off." Juliet nods, giving her one more hug before hurrying over to Emilia's car, where Jo also happens to get in. She sends them away; she notices Harry a few vehicles over putting a bag away when she reaches her car.

Something comes over her because the next thing she knows, she's calling his name and standing next to him.

"Hiya, love. Doing alright?"

Y/N tucks her hair behind her ear and nods, "Yes, all good. That was an exciting game."

"Good to hear."

"You doing anything now?" She asks, peeking over her shoulder, seeing Kate has her eye on her, but she just rolls her eyes before looking back at Harry.

"Going home, my munchkin left me."

"Well, there's a great Mexican restaurant here if you'd like to join me for lunch."

Harry smirks, "Asking me on another date, are you?"

"I have to when I know you're still a bit nervous about making a move," she confesses bashfully.

Harry's not surprised she can so easily read him; all the walls he had left are gone.

"Then I'd be honored."

"Great, uh good. Just follow me then."

Arriving, they were seated quickly. A plate of chips and salsa were delivered shortly, Harry asked for guacamole. Y/N didn't argue, knowing for many people that was one of their favorite dips. Personally, she wasn't a fan. She didn't like the texture. Most people were shocked at the revelation, and no doubt Harry would as well.

"What's good here, love?" Harry says, leaning into her side to peek at her menu instead of opening his.

"Hmmm...honestly everything. I always get something different when I come, but you can never go wrong with tacos."

"Alright, you want to share?"

Y/N shrugs, "We can. I'm not picky, but I am starving."

"Have some guacamole; you haven't gotten any."

"No thanks, I'm not a fan."

"You serious?"

"Yes, Harry."

"That's strange."

"What is?" She sets the menu down to look over at him.

"I mean, it's fine. At least you'll never buy avocado toast for like six dollars." He chuckles, and Y/N can't help but join in.

Their waiter comes over, "Estan listos para ordenar?"

Y/N nods, "Hola, si. Dos tacos de asada, y dos de al pastor. Por favor."

Harry is staring intently at his menu, not speaking a word as they wait for his order. "You alright, darling?"

He leans close to whisper in her ear, not able to focus on the term of endearment, "Can you order for me?"

She doesn't tease him, just smiles, "Y una orden de enchiladas rojas."

Their waiter smiles and walks away, promising to be back shortly.

"Have we discussed you speaking a second language?"

"I thought we had." She brushes it off like it's no big deal.

"I don't think so."

"Okay, I took YMCA classes from age seven and did so all the way until college. Even have a minor in Spanish."

"Impressive."

"Sorry if you felt uncomfortable. They speak English as well but primarily speak Spanish."

Harry shakes his head, not wanting her to feel bad, "No, I was just caught by surprise. Hearing you speak Spanish was a turn-on."

"I'll keep that in mind." She winks at him, glad to see the blush spread on his cheeks.

Lunch went great, just as she had expected. They shared food, Y/N enjoying Harry's enchiladas much more than the tacos. Harry happily ate the three tacos she left after eating most of his plate, not that he minded. Y/N appreciated how open he was in sharing food. She had always done it growing up, so Harry allowing her to do the same made her find more profound comfort in their already growing relationship.

Harry beat her to the bill, and she let him take it not without letting him know she'd get it the next time. They stood outside together, allowing the nice breeze to brush over then neither one was eager to say goodbye. They knew they would see each other soon, but with the growing affection, they just craved more time together, more time getting to know each other.

Harry had her pressed against her car door, hidden from the view of others. "We should do this again."

"We should," she agrees.

"My house Thursday night, Josie is going out with Sarah and Mitch to watch a movie, most likely do a sleepover as well."

"I'd like that. We'll see if you can maybe have a sleepover yourself."

Harry smirks, liking the idea of her spending the night with him, not caring that they both had work the following day.

"Are you going to kiss me?"

"I want to."

"You have my full permission," she teases.

Y/N met him halfway and pressed, letting him press his lips against hers. As she kissed him back, she wanted him to feel how much she liked him, how fast she was falling for him. His hands wrapped around her waist tight; it gave her comfort. She knew he wouldn't let go until she asked.

She felt her beat just a little fast as she left out a soft moan; she shifted closer as his mouth opened over hers and his tongue slid between her lips.

He was in control of her. She did not mind one bit.

With a sigh, she tilted her so he could kiss her more deeply; he didn't need any encouragement to do as she wished. His kiss became more intense, she could feel the burn between her thighs, wanting more, needing more, and that's when she knew she had to pull back, but he beat her to it.

Harry pulls back, staying close enough that he could steal another kiss, "God, I can't get enough of you."

He surprised her, how open he became with her feelings, she hadn't asked how his therapy was going, but god, it must have been doing wonders if she could feel every emotion that was going through him as she gazed into his loving emerald eyes.

"I'll see you soon, darling." Harry took that as his cue to let his hold of her go.

"Not soon enough," he whispers.

"You'll see me Monday," she reminds him.

"Can I steal a kiss then?"

"If you're lucky."

Y/N knew it wouldn't be long until she could say she was in love with Harry.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

Harry never thought he'd be the type of guy to be excited over a simple call or text reading: 'I'm thinking of you." She's made him feel good and confident in their relationship. He sent flowers to her work that led to her sending him a selfie with her face buried in the flowers.

At practice, he knew she couldn't pay attention to him, but that didn't mean he couldn't. He saw how fast she moved with the ball showing the girls a new drill, then doing it again slowed down, making sure they all understood. He admired how she never got frustrated. He knew how hard it was to handle one eight-year-old, but sixteen was impressive. He'd sit there for hours just admiring her if he could.

On Tuesday, he called Alycia, the receptionist at Y/N's office, asking for her lunch schedule, wanting to drop by and leave her lunch. She let him know she was taking it later that day at 2 since she was so busy. He decided that a BLT sandwich from two blocks away would do as she had once expressed to him how well done they were, promising to take him one day.

He walked in, noting how few people were in the waiting room, but eagerly stepped up to the counter. Alycia greeted him kindly, now seeing him more than once when he took Josie to her first session. Josie showed improvement, and each time he brought her, he made sure to leave a note behind for Y/N.

As he told Alycia to give you the food, there Y/N came walking down the hall. He was surprised at how casual, yet professional her look was; she had a silky oversized button shirt tucked into her linen pants, wearing her brown loafers he knew she didn't use often.

"Alycia, can you update this- Harry!" Y/N looks shocked to see him standing in front of her, not at all expecting to see him; she just planned on calling him later at night like they had been doing the past few days.

"Hi, love. Brought you lunch." He smiled sheepishly, holding up the bag.

She laughs, handing over the file to Alycia then stepping towards Harry to wrap him in a hug she has been wanting to do since she laid eyes on him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight against him, taking in her sweet honey scent. Before pulling back, remembering, after all, she was at work.

"I'm starving, thank you, darling. I was about to head out." Y/N rubs her stomach jokingly.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. See you tomorrow."

Y/N pouts, "You're not staying?"

"Well, I didn't want to assume."

"Assume, please." She laughs at the smile she gets Harry to give her.

They excuse themselves from Alycia and walk towards her office. They take a seat on her couch as Harry hands her the sandwich. They ate together, and for the forty-five minutes they had together, it was perfect; they shared stories of how their week was going at how Josie was anxious for the game and just promising to see each other soon. Harry got a kiss goodbye and was glad he would be seeing her the following day.

It's Thursday night, and Harry will finally get her for more than half an hour. Josie left a few hours ago to watch the movie with Sarah and Mitch, her sleepover bag on her shoulder not at all a surprise for Harry. He glanced around his house and knew it wasn't the cleanest. Josie always had some stuff scattered around the house, but he knew it just gave the house character.

"Hey, I'm outside," Y/N tells him on the phone before hanging up.

He rushes to the door, swinging it open to see her shut the door with her hip before making her way to him, a grin on her face as she carries a pink box in one hand and what he assumes to be food in another.

"You said you don't always like having to cook, and I know you said you love Thai." She giggles as he reaches to take the bag out of her hand, letting the smell take over.

"This is sweet, love. I appreciate it."

"Well, of course," she shrugs off his compliment. "I wanted to do something nice."

"I feel like I should be the one doing sweet things for you," he confesses as he guides her to his kitchen.

Y/N frowns, "Darling, we can move past that."

"Can we?"

"Of course, I feel like we've grown in the last few weeks. There's a different type of trust, don't you think?" She turns to face him, knowing the conversation was serious.

"Do you know how sorry I am?"

She nods, slowly stepping towards him, stopping right in front of him. She lifts her hand under his chin to have him look at her. "I do, and I forgive you. Sometimes we let our emotions win."

"I hope you know I'd never do that again." His voice is soft.

"I know."

She leans in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to his lips.

"Dinner?" She beams.

"Yes, of course."

The meal is good, probably one of the best foods he's had in a long time. She didn't pick this up from his usual place but wouldn't tell him where she went. Told him she needed to keep some things to herself to keep surprising him. Harry finished most of the meal and then opened the pink box she left on the table that held a mixture of donut holes.

"You've still got room," she exclaims.

"They smell so good." He defends. Y/N laughs but rejects the offer to have one.

After cleaning up, he leads them to the living room, deciding to watch a movie. The scroll endlessly for a few minutes before settling on Life As We Know It. Harry shared that it was one he enjoyed watching back, and she agreed.

They had only gotten thirty minutes in before they began chatting. Y/N went on about how she was planning a trip to take two up north wanting to visit June Lake and hike some trails. Y/N's sister was going to see Xavier's family in San Diego, so they couldn't go up with her. Harry, without thinking, said if she'd have them, they could go. She didn't respond, making him assume she didn't want them to join, but she surprised him by hugging him.

"Best idea you've had tonight. I'll make all the reservations. Just let me know when you're free." She told him before settling back down next to him, her hand on his thigh going back to the movie. She was grinning at the montage of Holly and Eric and how they were learning how to co-parent Sophie. Harry had not taken his eyes off of her; she laughed as Sophie pooped in Eric's old hat.

"You're staring." She narrows her eyes at him, suspicious.

"It's because you're beautiful."

"Thank you," she answers timidly. "Very sweet of you."

"Of course, I'm going to spend the rest of my life telling you how beautiful you are if you let me."

"God, you're smooth."

Harry smirks, "Smooth enough for a kiss."

She didn't answer him; she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him forward so that he could meet her halfway, and pressed her lips against his. Harry was quick to take control, slipping his hands around her waist and placing her on his lap, "this okay," he asked, quickly pulling back making sure she said yes. Once he had a go-ahead, he went back to her lips; she shifted closer, now touching chest to chest, not a single space in between as his tongue slipped into her mouth, prideful of the moan she released against his mouth.

Harry smoothed his hands from down her waist to rest on her ass, then cupped her and held her to him as he thrust against her. He pulled back for a second fearful he went too far; Y/N frowned, slowly opening her eyes whispering "again" against his lips, and who was he to deny her.

She could feel his hesitation, slid her hands up, and cupped his jaw, "You're okay, we're okay. You're taking care of me. I want this."

Harry swallowed hard, noting she never stopped rocking herself on top of him. His mouth curved in a slight grin, pushing up to meet her, he felt her go soft in his arms, and that's when he really realized the effect he has on her.

He needed her lips on him, it had only been a few moments, but he was craving her. He laid a string of kisses up her neck until he reached her mouth, lips swollen, but he knew she was eager for more.

"Harry, please." She had a hand tangled in his curls, needing to close the distance.

"I got you, love."

He tilted her head, allowing him to kiss her deeply, the kiss only more intense than before. If he didn't need to breathe, he would kiss her forever, never stopping.

"So pretty, all those moans just for me,"

"All for you," she breathes out.

Harry smirked, moving her up and down over his pants at a steady rhythm, but she was fighting for control.

"Harry."

"It's alright, love, let yourself go. Show me how pretty you look when you come."

Y/N was so close, tensed her thighs around him about to reach her release when they heard a phone ringing, halting their movements. Harry groans, pressing one more lingering kiss to her puckered lips, before reaching over to the side table to his right for his phone, "not me."

She holds back a whine, getting up for her phone inside her jacket. "Whoever it is, don't answer," he half-jokes.

Y/N giggles and looks at the caller as she swipes right to answer, "it's my niece."

Harry watches as she nods, telling her to relax and that she'd be right over.

"Has our night been cut short?"

"It has. Juliet got in an argument with her dad and is now threatening to move out."

"What," he laughs, standing up as he watches her shrug her jacket on.

"Yeah, to the backyard or with me."

"She really made you a mediator."

Y/N laughs, shrugging.

As Harry is walking her to the car, he can't believe how the night turned or would have. "You know I thought it would have been my child who interrupted us."

"Well, your daughter is an angel next to Juliet."

"You really think so,"

"I know so."

"You make it so easy to fall for you," he confesses, wrapping her in a hug before she leaves him for the night.

"Harry."

"What, I mean it."

She leans up to kiss his cheek, "I'm sorry we didn't get to finish."

"Me too."

"I hope you know once I'm in bed tonight, I'll be thinking of you."

"That's not fair."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to be the one taking care of you, making a mess of you."

"We'll get there," she promises.

Harry leans in and kisses her; it's short and sweet.

"Night, Harry. See you Saturday."

"See you then. Goodnight, love."

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

It's bittersweet honestly, it's the final game of the season. The girls have worked very hard to get where they are now: at the championship game. After this game, win or lose, they'll have a month off. No one will call her asking for an extra jersey, asking her for a ride, or texting her what time the game was, even with them owning the schedule. They'd all get a break until mid-September.

Harry and Josie were the first to arrive, while Kate and Y/N were setting up the warm-up drill.

"Loverboy is here." Kate teases as they walk to the bench.

"Stop." Y/N looks over at them, seeing them heading this way. "Styles family, good to see you."

"Hiya, Coach."

"Hello, Jo. You're going to go get ready?" Y/N says, looking down at the girl's black crocs with Avengers pins.

"Yup," she skips away, sitting on the grass next to Kate, who's pumping air in a few balls.

"Harry, hi."

"No darling," he teases."

She narrows her eyes at him, "I'll have you sit with the other parents if you keep teasing."

Harry looks appalled; she'd suggest such a thing, "Now that hurts."

"You know I thought you'd be sweeter, especially about that wonderful night we had Thursday."

A smile tugs up Harry's face at the memories, "My apologies, didn't want to upset my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Y/n doesn't hide her surprise.

"Yeah, uh, we've gone out enough. I like you, and I'm going out on a limb here that you like me," she nods, allowing him to continue. "You're marvelous and love, Josie; god, you even gave her a nickname. I want this; I really want to hold your hand and keep going on dates with you and kiss you. I never want to stop.

She smiles, stepping into his embrace, "I'll be your girlfriend, boyfriend."

"Enough to risk a kiss?"

She doesn't reply; instead, she leans in, giving him a chaste kiss.

"Now go be a good parent and take a seat."

Harry does so. The smile on his face mirrors her own.

The game passed in a blur; the four quarters finished quickly. Y/N had thought they lost to the other team carrying a two-one win over them. The girls didn't look defeated, but each girl she subbed came out with a sigh but cheered as the minutes counted down.

Everyone hated losing, including herself.

Then out of nowhere, Priscilla, a usually shy player, gets a touch on the ball and sends it towards the goal. The goalie lets it slip under her, and what do you know they scored. The cheers seem endless; Y/N isn't bothered with the time, knowing there isn't much left in the final quarter.

This gives the girls a new motivation like a spark has been lit. It's a game of keep-away, Blue Devils not giving up easily. Abby gets the ball at her feet, and she freezes; the goalie is running right towards her, the defense kept away by the others; it's not until someone shouts, "Shoot!" that the young girl lifts her left foot shooting it through the goalies' legs and hitting the back of the next. Then just like that, the referees blow the whistle and call the game.

The Golden Sparks had won the championship. Y/N felt the tears in her eyes, thankful for the sunglasses hiding her overflowing emotions.

Y/N laughs as she feels Kate hug her and begin jumping up and down.

"We did it!!"

"They did it!"

Y/N is swept through the motions as she shakes hands with the coaches and claps the opposing team's hands. It's not until Juliet runs towards her with full force, knocking her onto the grass, wrapping her arms around her waist, that she's brought back to the moment. Then before she knows it, there are fifteen more girls joining in on the group hug. She's not sure when Kate was dragged into it, but she feels their joy.

They have a lifetime of wins and losses coming ahead in their young lives, but she's happy to be part of one that brings them so much happiness.

The young girls help her get up before hurrying over to their waiting parents. Juliet is being smothered in kisses by her parents. Josie is passed around by Harry's friends and her godparents, congratulating her on the win. Each girl showing off their small first place trophies, indeed to be displayed for all to see somewhere in their home.

Y/N has waved almost everyone off, telling them she would see them for pizza and drinks at their usual location. She took one look around the emptying field and felt she did well this season, but there was also room for her to grow as a coach.

"Looks like you're a champion, love."

Y/N turns around to find Harry smiling at her, Josie a few feet behind, waving to a couple with a baby. "Think she's the champ; she played the game. You did wonderful out there, Jo." She grins as Jo looks at her proudly.

"I still think you should be congratulated; you led these girls. Taught them and helped them grow into becoming better little humans." he shares, grabbing her hand pulling her into his chest.

"Well, thank you." Y/N looks down at Josie, who's crouched down trying to pick up what's likely to be a worm, "Ready for some pizza, Jo?"

Josie nods, not looking up too entranced on the creature in her hands now.

"Can I give you a gift, you know for uh...winning?"

"Course, I like presents." She grins at him, eager for what it could be.

His fingers curled into her nape and pulled her head into his as he kissed her softly. She felt his full lips move over hers; she felt how much he felt for her. As Harry brought their kiss to an end, he pulled back and looked into Y/N's eyes. "Was it a good gift?"

"The best," she answers before they are interrupted by a giggling Josie, who is staring up at them.

"Does this mean you're together?" Jo asks.

Y/N and Harry share a look before looking back at Josie, who's patiently waiting, "yes."

"Oh my! Dreams come true!" She shouts, running circles around them.

"Isn't meeting dad's girlfriend too soon a bad thing?" Y/N asks Harry.

"Not when you know you're never letting go."

"Oh, I like the sound of that." She lets pull her towards him, his arm resting comfortably over her shoulder.

"Plus, you're meeting all my friends at the pizza place, they all came to cheer on Josie, and you did say everyone was invited."

"I might just regret saying that."

"It'll be fine. Not a chance you don't win them all over."

Y/N brings them to a halt, Harry smiling down at her. This is happiness; she never wants to forget it. Harry leans in, letting their mouths meet in a kiss, soft and passionate as they both spill their feelings for another, hoping that with each passing second, the emotions only get stronger and stronger.

Harry pulls back, resting his forehead against hers, "I don't know what the future will bring, but I'm glad we'll be able to see it together."

Josie walks a few steps in front of them, leading the conversation. Harry and Y/N listen intently, holding each other tightly because this is what their future will consist of; more soccer games, more smiles, more laughs but most importantly, more love.

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

thank you so much for reading <3333

I adore you. take care xx

[its-deputy-caleb]

Hey, hey! I've been following you for a while and have just worked up the nerves to send in a request. So, how would Dutch, Arthur, and John react to a... reader? An s/o?? Who is the typical outlaw, but the radiation of crack-head energy increases when their running on little to no sleep.

I hope this makes sense, and I hope you have a great day/night 😊

heyyy, i'm so glad you requested this!! it was so fun, seriously you don't need to be nervous, i like to think i'm friendly and writing requests are what i love to do! they make me so happy <333

i hope i understood this, i kinda went with like wild and reckless outlaw running on no sleep so i hope its not terrible! I wrote all of it in under an hour since i've sick so i'll edit it later but for now enjoy :))

------------------------

Dutch

Its a lazy afternoon in Rhodes where you and Dutch had spent the better half of the day sweet-talking Sheriff Gray until he well and truly passed out over his desk from too much moonshine.

It wasn’t often that you got to spend a quiet moment with the gang’s leader and so the two of were enjoying the short ride back to camp together, laughing about the perfect opportunity to rob two families of all they had right under their noses.

Of course, all good things must come to an end as you were quickly ambushed by a large group of raiders.

Maybe it was your apparent lack of sleep or maybe you just had more of a crazier side than you thought but while Dutch began to negotiate with the leader of the group, you didn’t hesitate to whip your revolver from its holster and fire, bringing two down instantly.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

By now, Dutch had no choice to start shooting along with you as the shock of your sudden outburst wore off. From his view he saw you laughing like a maniac as another three raiders fell from their horses.

After working together, you both finally brought down the raiders until only one remained. He was smaller than the others and was attempting to run off into the tree line.

You stood your ground, lining up your revolver to extend from your shoulder and took aim. That was until a hand on your arm brought it back down and you looked over to see Dutch staring at you amused.

“Come now my dear, I think you’ve had your fun. We wouldn’t want to get too carried away so close to camp, would we?”

That afternoon, as the sun was setting over the red dirt, you and Dutch walked back to camp. Your arm was linked with his, resting your body on his side as the exhausting day finally caught up to you.

When you finally returned to camp with your horses trailing behind you, Dutch kissed the back of your hand before wishing you a goodnight.

Arthur

Homestead robberies were one of your favourite things to do with Arthur. You always seemed more excited then him, being more than eager to break down the front door and get to the gold but you knew that deep down grumpy old Arthur enjoyed it too.

You’d already secured your horses well away from the homestead, prepared your weapons and hopped over the fence. Technically Arthur had the lead on this one but you’d never been great at devising a plan.

Both of you have your backs plastered to the wall of the house. You were loading your rifle while Arthur was peering through the window to count the men sitting around the makeshift poker table.

“Now, I’m thinking we go around the back, take em’ by surprise. You take the back window while I — oh where the hell are ya going now?”

Arthur pulled away from the window to see an empty spot besides him. Before he could finish his sentence you’d busted through the front door and fired upon the three men sitting at the poker table.

Arthur had only just managed to come in after you fast enough, firing over your shoulder to the other two armed men.

“How’s that for taking em by surprise huh?”

Your grin is filled with over confidence at your spontaneous approach to the robbery and it only grows as you see Arthur roll his eyes at you.

“Well ya damn took me by surprise. At least warn me next time before you throw yourself in front of danger.”

Whatever comeback you had is cut off by a yawn as your body slowly catches up to the fact you’ve been running on almost no sleep the past three days.

“Common lets just find the stash and go set up camp somewhere to lie low— besides I could use a nap.”

With the tent pitched and your bellies filled with a warmed can of corned beef, you finally allowed yourself to drift off to sleep with your head on Arthur’s chest. If there was one good thing to come out of your crazy and reckless behaviour during robberies, it was that you always got to cuddle up to Arthur afterwards.

John

“Hey John! I gotta tip about some doctors office just up in valentine. Some drunk fella said they were holding a side business for O’Driscoll’s boys. What do ya say?”

Being a close companion to John meant you could always go to him for robberies and potential leads. Together, the two of you weren’t a bad team and always enjoyed getting to spend the extra time with each other so you couldn’t help but jump for joy when he accepted your offer.

The two of you made small talk and shared inside jokes until you hitched your horse at the entrance to the Doctor’s office. John followed behind you but stopped to see you fiddle with your bandana and load your revolver inconspicuously.

John stared at you in shock, knowing you well enough to know exactly what you were thinking. He eyed the Sheriff standing, not three feet in front of you and quickly went to grab your shirt before you could open the door.

“Now wait a damn minute! You can’t just waltz into the front of the store and rob it— how do you even know its a real lead?”

John’s words are as hushed as they can be for someone who’s internally panicking at your apparent lack of planning. His panicking was only worsened when he saw you shrug like it was nothing.

“Live a little Johnny!”

To say that it was a mess was an understatement. The sheriff and the deputies, heard the gunfire immediately and the two of you only managed to barely escape with your lives.

John was half way out the door, whistling for your horses when he saw you run back to grab the pile of cash between two dead O’Driscolls before narrowly escaping the gunfire of the Sheriff’s department.

It wasn’t until hours later when the two of you were hiding in some shack in the middle of nowhere did John finally decide to even bring up just how reckless and wild you’d been.

“Jesus, you’re insane sometimes ya’know that right?”

“Yeah, but you love me!”

[saffron-nova21]

Cuddling...

Jokes on You! Masterlist

< Previous • Next >

Warnings: Strong language,

A/N: The dates do matter in this one. To make it easier, though, the grey ones were basically just Tendō stalking your account. The light mode are Tendō.

Tendō stretches as he stands next to the bed, slipping his phone away and letting you crawl to him. You stand on the bed in front of him, grinning at Tendō, who just grins right back at you as you place your hands on his shoulders. He places his hands on your hips, letting you jump and hook your legs around his waist, your arms moving around his neck to hold you up.

Tendō saw the opportunity, before you even realized, a sneaky hand playfully slapping your ass, before his hands clasp together underneath your butt to hold you up.

“This isn’t fair, I can’t slap you back in this position,” you huff, before leaning back to look at him. “Just you wait.” You warn, before resting your head against his chest once again.

He hums with an amused expression, before adjusting your body a bit so you’re better situated against him, hiking your legs up higher around his waist before he begins to walk, with you nonchalantly clinging to him like a koala. You’re content to just rest against him, though when you hear the sound of Lev mocking someone, you look over to see Yaku, standing in your kitchen, looking about ready to smack the shit out of his tall, condescending boyfriend.

Tendō is still convinced that you sprouted wings with how quickly you were across the living room and flinging yourself over the countertop to greet your old upperclassman. Kuroo sighs beside him, rolling his eyes. “Good luck, Tendō. You’ll need it.”

With that, Tendō just chuckles and walks towards the kitchen so you can all retrieve food, listening as you argue with Lev and speak to Yaku simultaneously. “Yaku, he’s pretty, I’ll give you that. But you could do so much — Lev Haiba, don’t give me that look, you started a kitchen fire while trying to make cereal.”

It took a few moments to get you both to stop arguing. And even longer for you to get a moment alone with Yaku, when Lev went off to the bathroom. You smile at Yaku. “You make him really happy. He deserves to be happy,” you nod. “But if I hear that you hurt him, it’s on sight.” You take another bite of your breakfast. “Seriously though. Thank you. He’s been through the ringer. He’s a little bruised and a lot of an ass. But it’s nice to see someone care about him as much as he cares about them. Even if he won’t admit it, the stupid giant has a big heart.”

You didn’t notice your best friend had come back from the bathroom, the tall male grinning like an idiot. Though, he doesn’t say anything about your words, just walking back over to sling an arm around his boyfriend.

Tendō knows you are out of his league... But he still adores the shit out of you and wants to make you his... Eventually.

Everyone is convinced you both are dating... Like, would bet their lives on it.

Lev is smug as shit about his height. And while yes, Yaku has grown and reaches about 5’9” now, he still teases his boyfriend with the height difference relentlessly.

I was supposed to finish ans post this like two hours ago, but I got distracted looking at dragon stuff 😅 I hope you all enjoyed, though!

You guys better be getting something to eat, drinking some water, and taking care of yourselves mentally and physically! But remember, no matter what, I’m proud of you! I love you all and I’m always here, if you need me! You’re doing great, love! Keep it up! 🤍

Taglist:

@kookie-doughs @missalienqueen @kodzuklutz @halesandy @pelicanpizza @pandauniverse @sevenlol @mixed-bag-of-tricks @satoriluver @uniquepickle @gellysticks @babyshoyo @ilauvcoldpizza @ghoulgirlradio @maer-333 @tobi--o @ermahgerd-larry-and-ziam @ashtounding @rogueofbullshit @tendousfingertape5 @rintarawr @a-little-pebbl @420-uwu @tendousshawtybae

[ssscentral]

Starry Eyes | For Kas

Summary: A movie night is nothing compared to what Namjoon has actually planned for your birthday.

pairing: Namjoon x reader

rating: GA

genre: tooth-rotting fluff !! some crack too

warnings: kissing. kim namjoon’s existence, namjoon is very cheesy

wc: 2.8k

member: Rid & Melody || @taegularities & @hoebii 

a/n: this was written for our beautiful, amazing, intelligent, gorgeous friend @voiceswithoutlips !!! happy, happy birthday - we love you so so much, baby, and not even this fic can express how much you mean to us. here’s to many more years of annoying each other !! <333 also, thank you so much @oftenderweapons​ for beta’ing this, precious !! :-*

The growling of the clouds woke you up.

A storm this early in the morning? That was surely unexpected and unusual. Not that you minded though — not only was it your favourite weather due to its aesthetics, but it calmed you in some odd way as well. However, while you were thoroughly enjoying the sound of the rain, something in the back of your mind reminded you that you were missing something important; something you’d even thought of before falling asleep.

And when you sat up, your eyes automatically shifted to the open window, a small curse escaping your lips as you pulled the blanket away and half sprinted to close it. Yes, rain was cool and all, but it had no business wetting your whole bedroom floor, and you had no wish of mopping the floor right after waking up.

You couldn’t help but cringe as you felt water on the floor while shutting the window, cursing at whoever had opened it last night in the first place. Thankfully, however, the amount of water that the wind had brought wasn’t much. It would dry in a moment, you thought, no need to clean it up. Nope. 

With that, you slunk back towards the bed, ready to return to the land of dreams.

As you were getting cosy again, your phone started vibrating incessantly. Mentally cursing at whatever the reason was for your phone to be buzzing so much, you laid there contemplating if you should just grab the device and chuck it out the window into the ongoing storm. No, control yourself. You don’t have the money to do that.

Grabbing the phone, you didn’t even bother checking what was on it, rather just switching it off in sheer spite. Laying there for a moment after that, you tried going back to sleep but soon realised that you weren’t sleepy anymore.

Grumbling, you decided to wake up the sleeping man beside you. Why? Because if you had to be up so early, then he had to as well.

His eyebrows furrowed as you shook his body, his hand coming up to rub his eyes until he let out an annoyed “What?”

But when he saw your mischievous grin and face so close to his, a smile appeared on his lips, the perfect dimples so deep you wanted to hide in them. The grin of a clown had nothing on the pretty man next to you.

“What?” you asked him with a tilt of your head, eyebrows raising as he pulled you down.

“What do you mean ‘what?’”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” 

The brightness in his expression disappeared slowly as confusion took over, blinking a few times in disbelief until he inquired, “Don’t you remember?”

Remember what?

The cogs in your brain started to rotate again as you thought about his question — and although you soon realised what he was hinting at, you acted oblivious, the need to annoy him too strong to ignore.

“Ah, is it Wednesday already? My assignment is due today,” you groaned, rolling your eyes.

Shaking his head, Namjoon gave you a questioning look. “Babe, I’ve been looking forward to this since this year started and managed to remember it, but you didn’t?”

It was your turn to give him a confused look, brows furrowing. “Why would you be looking forward to the due date of my assignment,” you asked, “actually, how did you look forward to it? We were given the work last week.” 

Before he could reply, you gasped - trying desperately to not burst out in laughter at his face. “Oh my god. Are you psychic?” you fake whispered, acting as if you were asking for the recipe to eternal life.

Namjoon contemplated his life choices as he looked at you baffled, eyes nearly hollow as he shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Are you sure, because-”

“Babe, just…” he placed a hand on his face, fingers massaging his temples for a second, “Happy Birthday.”

You looked at him with a playful, devilish grin, brushing your chin with your fingers before you exclaimed, “Oh! It’s my birthday!... What’s a birthday again?”

Namjoon tried to suppress the smile that threatened to surface, tongue running along the inside of his cheek before he pulled you into his chest tightly. “Okay, now you’re just fucking with me.”

“What? Me? No,” you said, laughing into his shirt as he squeezed you lovingly, “Why fuck with you when I can fuck you?”

You felt the arms around you loosen before he threw you next to him, the sight too endearing to hold your laughter in. “I hate you.”

“I love you, too, baby. But if you keep pouting, I will bring mint-choco.”

“You hate that, too?” He looked offended but curious as well, one eyebrow cocked at you as he waited for your answer.

You barely shrugged, strands of hair wrapping around your finger. “I wouldn’t be eating it, you would.”

“Why do you hate me?”

You lifted your body, giving him a kiss with a clearly audible muah-sound as you said, “I don’t, baby.”

“My doubt increases the more you threaten me.”

You clicked your tongue, booping his nose. “Then stop giving me reasons to threaten you, sweetheart.”

And when he calmed down, you yawned, listening to the storm as it slowly died down until you finally asked, “So, cooking risotto, baking cake and watching lame movies - that’s the plan for today, right?”

“If we finish all of it, yes,” Namjoon agreed, smiling sweetly - a gesture you found harmless enough to suspect anything behind it.

Jumping from the bed, you tilted your head, stretching out your hand as if you were talking to a child, “Up, up, then.”

Without further annoyance and teasing, the day had passed exactly as you’d expected: with endless giggles, flour on your face (and ass), bad jokes and a near death experience with Namjoon somehow tripping over nothing and barely avoiding a concussion. Finally, he’d managed to serve something somewhat edible while you’d handled the beautiful cake, it was already late, dusk passed and stars twinkled in the clear night sky.

The storm had long vanished and made way to a crystal clear sight - perfect for you to cuddle up and laugh about flopped movies all night long. Stuffing more of the icing and toppings of the cake into your mouth, you barely noticed when he shifted, assuming that he was only going to the bathroom when he pulled you up with him.

Surprised by his sudden move, you looked into his dark, shiny eyes, a questioning look making him speak up, “Do you trust me?”

Scary. One would think a sentence like this meant doom, but the way he looked at you, the fondness and affection so apparent in his gaze, made you simply nod.

“What if I told you there’s something I want to show you that’s a lot better than these movies?”

Then, you broke, eyes rolling as you asked, “Better than badly dubbed Jurassic Park? You have to convince me, Mister Kim.” 

He laughed as he brought his nose to yours, rubbing against it for a second before he pressed a gentle kiss against your lips. When he backed away, he mumbled a “Stay right here” before disappearing into your room. You remained standing at your spot, craning your neck.

“Huh?” was the only sound that left you when he came back with two thin jackets, handing you yours before he took your hand, grabbing the keys and gently urging you out of the apartment.

“Where are we going?” you asked, clutching his hand as he led you to god knew where.

“To the magical lands of Narnia,” he replied, snorting at his own words. He saw an opportunity to tease you and he would be damned if he didn’t take it.

Not one to back down, however, you replied, “Wouldn’t that be through our closet then, Mr. Smartass?”

Rolling his eyes, Namjoon chose to ignore your words, pushing open the door to the roof - making you raise an eyebrow.

“Did you bring me here to push me off for all the comments I’ve made today?” you asked, “‘Cause not only is that illegal, it’s also my birthday so that would be quite rude of you.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he answered. “If I wanted you dead, I’d much rather poison you.”

Putting a hand on your chest, you gasped. “How scandalous! Though the food you let me taste did make me suspicious,” you said as if deep in thought. 

Namjoon gave you a flat look, not impressed with your jab at his cooking skills. “Do you not want your gifts? Is that it?”

You perked up at the mention of gifts — plural —, looking at him innocently, “Nooo, I do. Gimme, gimme!”

Approaching the edge of the roof further, you noticed a small table, surprisingly dry and decorated with two little flowers and two weird looking glasses. You looked at him in question, pointing at the objects silently until you’d gathered enough words on your tongue to ask, “When did you do this?”

“I mean, this table is always here, but the rest… uh - remember when I told you that I had to take out the trash but took too long to come back?” When you nodded, he moved his head with you as if to indicate Yes, back then.

“And the glasses?” you inquired as you picked one up, faintly recognising them as those one uses to wear at nights when-

“Wait. Wait. I think I remember reading something about an eclipse somewhere.” You watched his expression change, the nervosity fleeing until he gave you a knowing look. “Oh, wait, really now?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” He grinned at you, his pretty dyed silver hair floating in the wind as he gestured for you to take a seat. “We’ve looked at the stars before.”

You did as he asked, scanning the table for all its content before landing on a card. Picking it up, you couldn’t help but coo at how cute it was. The card had a cake on it’s center with what seemed to be balloons beside it, Namjoon’s beautiful handwritten ‘Happy Birthday’ on top as a banner. 

“Aww Joonie, you weren’t joking when you said you’d let your niece draw for my next birthday!” you gushed, failing to notice how he gave you an offended look. 

He cleared his throat to get your attention away from the card, “Actually, I made that myself.” 

Your eyes widened at that, lips pressing together so hard that it hurt as you tried not to burst out in laughter. You coughed, trying to mask the chuckles that still left your lips, “Oh babe. That’s um.. I love the card! The attention to all the details on the little cake is so cute!”

He would’ve remarked something snarky, you knew it. But instead, he pointed to the glasses, both of you placing them on your noses before you looked up just in time. Any laughter and giggle left you when you lost yourself in the view above you, mesmerised by the simple natural phenomenon that had you awestruck.

Floating in the eternal void called space, the Earth finally aligned with the sun and moon perfectly, shifting in between and colouring the latter a faint red. It was almost as if your planet’s natural satellite had become angered at the interruption of the sun’s illumination, separated from its lover and showing it in the furious hues of red and orange.

You laughed a little at the thought, sighing right after as your hand moved to find the one of your own lover, clutching it until he moved closer. His fingers left yours soon though, his arm instead wrapping around your shoulder as he pulled you in, your head resting on his chest comfortably as you watched the beauty in the sky silently. With how the colours of the moon changed slowly, the stars were momentarily forgotten, the soft breeze of the spring day grazing your cheeks pleasantly.

And as soon as everything had started, it had ended as well, the Earth finally reconciling the couple in your solar system and you stretched your legs, looking at him in awe. He was folding the glasses in his hands, teeth nibbling at his lower lip nervously without looking at you.

“Joonie,” you called before his stare met yours, eyes so big and confused at his own name that you knew something was off.

But he softened soon, gaze shifting from yours to your nose and settling on your lips. Without a warning, his hand cupped your face softly, mouths colliding and moving tenderly. When he backed away, you smiled, asking, “You’re distracting yourself from the pretty view because of kisses.”

“You’re the prettiest view though.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” you sang-song, wiping the hair away from his eyes.

He pressed you closer, still looking at your lips longingly, his expression nearly melancholic as he whispered, “The eclipse is over.”

“Still.”

“You’re here in my arms. The stars, sun and moon? They aren’t.” Despite loving you more than he’d ever considered possible, his lips on yours were the only thing that could distract him from his nervousness, his pounding heart and his shaking limbs.

Your smile melted his insides entirely, your features so soft and inviting that he couldn’t help but let out an overwhelmed sigh, fingers only pressing into you harder as you said, “I’d totally forgotten about the eclipse today.”

“Well, I’d been planning this for quite some while. Wanted to show you something that’s almost as fascinating as you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, it is.” The chairs were uncomfortable, but with him, things always felt peaceful and calming, no space to complain ever.

“Okay then,” you started, kissing his cheek just once, “then show the birthday girl how fascinating she is for you.”

“Are you sure I should?”

And here was the nervous nibbling and distressed gaze again, by now worrying you a little as he took a deep breath. “Are you okay?” you asked, eyebrows furrowed. “Did I say something wrong?”

Namjoon was quick to shake his head, waving his hand to dismiss your worries, “You could never, baby.”

“Then what’s up, why do you look so nervous?”

He fidgeted on his spot for a second, trying to come up with the right words to say. “Well, you see, Y/N,” he started, slowly going down on one knee as he pulled out a velvet box from his pocket.

Your breath hitched as you looked at him in shock. Was he going to do what you thought he was?

“You know, I was always a happy, optimistic person and didn’t think life could get better, more wholesome with everything I already had,” he started, taking the glistening in your eyes as a good signal as he continued, “But that was until I met you.”

You could feel the warm tears run down your cheeks and onto the ground, your nails digging into your palms, twitching to reach out for him and hug him as close to you as possible.

“The way you just got me, how you understood me and how we can spend all the nights under this damn sky, look at all the stars and eclipses and shooting stars, and their beauty will still never compare to you. We talk about nothing and everything without any judgement, bicker about the stupidest things but also delve into such deep talks the next second, that’s the happiness you make me feel.” 

There was a clear pause, still something his heart carried, a few words he wanted to say that were the sole reason you didn’t drop to your knees and pressed your lips against his.

“And frankly, I want to keep feeling like this forever,” he said, his voice shaking at the end as the nerves took over yet again. Opening the box in his hand, he presented a beautiful ring that glinted under the moonlight as he finally asked, “So, what do you say, Y/N? Want to make me the happiest man alive and spend the rest of our lives together?”

And finally, your knees gave out, cheeks aching from how hard you were smiling as you pulled him in for a passionate kiss, whispering ‘yes’ over and over again.

Pulling back from you, he looked into your eyes, his own looking as if they were shining. “Are you sure?” he asked, his wide anticipation filled eyes reminding you of a puppy.

“Of course I am! Of course, Joon, I love you so much,” you replied, pulling him back into another kiss, smiling as you felt him put the ring on your finger. 

You broke the kiss, looking down to inspect the ring that sat on your finger. “It’s beautiful.”

Namjoon smiled, pulling you into his embrace and placing a kiss on top of your head. “Not as beautiful as you.”

if you liked the story, don’t forget to like/reblog or send us an ask !! <3

[justjuiceyboy]

drunk words are sober thoughts

In which juice looks after you when you’ve had one, or five too many but are too proud to admit it

word count: 1,382

————————

“Ye know what we’d call ye back in Ireland? A fuc-“

“Okay! Let’s go talk to Tig and Chibs instead, yeah?” Juice cut you off before you made a further embarrassment of yourself by picking a fight with the crow-eater you were about to curse out. Hauling your arm and practically dragging you, you end up in front of Tig, almost falling into him as he caught you with his free arm, the other nursing a bottle.

“Has someone had a little too much?” He laughs, whilst nudging Chibs to turn in your direction, earning a glare from you and wide eyes from Juice. You ripped your arm away, as forcefully as possible, however it was only a tiny pull to Tig so he let you go. Juice knew that you tried to keep up the reputation of the Irish being the best drinkers in the world, but when it came to the club boys, you were plainly outnumbered and outdrank. But of course, Juice wasn’t going to be the one to tell you that. He didn't have a death wish.

“Obviously not Trager, who do you think I am? I’m not some little” your words were too slurred at this point for anyone to distinguish what the rest of the sentence was, but they could guess. Tig let out a chuckle. You started mumbling a song that the boys didn't recognise, an Irish drinking song called the Rattlin Bog.

You got on well with everyone, which you didn't expect to. You were from the Republic of Ireland, not the north. You knew the club had dealings with the north that they weren't the most fond of but that seemed to be put aside when it came to you. The most they made fun of you for was your accent. If Tig asked you to say the number 333 one more time, you'd kill him. But you knew it was all in good fun. You got along well with Chibs, able to make playful banter back and forth about how his family were from the north.

“Ay, lass, I think you might want to slow down a little. Wouldn’t want you to get sick” Chibs said, his voice half full with concern but he definitely also found it funny. He knew that Juice would take care of you so he wasn’t overly worried. Everyone in the club knew of Juice’s undying affection for you, hell, his flat out love for you. Everyone knew it, except you. He had never told you that he had loved you since you had arrived in Charming just over a year and a half ago. It was painfully obvious to everyone else that he went out of his way to make you laugh and do small gestures that he definitely wouldn’t do for anyone else.

“Scotts, thinking they’re better than us,” you joked, rolling your eyes, which is when you noticed how fuzzy your head was. You had tried to keep up with Happy earlier but by the time he had finished one bottle of beer, you had only taken a few sips of yours. Not wanting to feel the defeat, you then chugged the entire bottle to keep up. This happened at least six times. Of course Happy didn’t feel the hit of six bottles, he was conditioned to drink much more, but you were a much smaller build than he was so all at once the beer hit you like a bus. It didn’t help that you continued drinking so now you had pretty much lost count of how many you had consumed.

You felt an arm wrap around your waist which stabilised you because you didn’t even realise you were slightly swaying. Looking up, you realised it was Juice and you felt more at ease. The boys started talking amongst themselves, you couldn’t even process what their conversation was about so you decided to stay out of it and hope no one asked you any questions. Looking down, you ran you thumb along the tattoos on Juices’s arm, your stomach feeling less queasy when you focused on one point. You didn’t notice Chibs glancing down to see you smiling and still tracing the lines of Juice’s ink. He nudged Tig and both of them smirked slightly. As much as they wanted to make fun of Juice, they couldn’t help but find it sweet. They liked you, you were always up for a joke, you had brought happiness and comfort to Juice, even though you both weren’t officially together.

You were so focused on the lines of the reaper tattoo, you didn’t notice that Chibs had whispered to Juice “might be best to bring the lass to bed, she’s not going ta miss much, most will be leaving soon anyways”. Tig nodded, leaving Juice to agree. 

Juice kept his arm firmly on your waist but this time began to move away from the other two sons. You followed, being led away from the party and down the hallway to the dorms. This was the first time you looked up, mumbling “Juicey where are we going?”

Opening the door, he led you to sit down on the bed. This is when you realised the world was spinning right before your eyes. “Back in a sec” he chuckled when he saw you moving your head round in circles, to follow how your eyes perceived the world, “don’t go anywhere”. He knew that you wouldn’t be moving anytime soon without assistance so he ventured back into the party to find a glass that wasn’t full of spirits or cigarette butts. Finding one tall glass, he emptied a bottle of water from the fridge and came back to his dorm to find you in the very same position, head swaying.

“Here, drink up” 

“At least someone here still knows that I’m the superior drinking partner” you muttered angrily. He laughed again as you hadn’t figure out it was water.

You took a big gulp and handed the glass back to him. He left it on the edge of his bedside table, knowing that you’d need it in the morning when you would definitely feel like death. He retrieved one of his SAMCRO t-shirts and helped you out of your own shirt, which smelt like booze. He desperately tried not to look anywhere other than your face, slightly failing but you didn’t notice. Putting the shirt on it reached to your mid thighs, so was able to take off your jeans. You jumped slightly as he fingers brushed against your thighs.

“Don’t worry, darling. Just getting these ridiculously tight things off you” referring to your jeans.

“Stupid yokes, don’t even know why I wear ‘em. Well no actually I do. I wanted to look good for you tonight so you might finally notice me but obviously that’s never going to happen, ugh I just want-“ your drunken ramble was all Juice needed to hear to make his breath hitch but he couldn’t seize the opportunity he had waited for so long for. Not when you were like this and wouldn’t remember anything tomorrow morning. He was happy to know that you finally felt the same way about him that he felt about you.

When he had successfully taken off your skinny jeans, he leaned you over into the bed so that you were now on your side. He pulled the covers up and gave you a light kiss on the forehead. “Stay with me?” You asked sweetly. “Of course” he replied. 

He nestled in beside you, you beneath the covers, him on top. There was silence for a few minutes and he thought you had already drifted off.

“I’m not drunk. I could still outdrink all of you” you mumbled, dazed with sleep.

Letting out a breathy laugh, “of course you could sweetheart, but we don’t want to upset Tig and his ego” he replied back to your statement as you drifted off to sleep.

Juice lay content, with your head on his chest, you finally asleep. He knew he’d have to talk to you in the morning about what had happened but he was fine to stay where he was for right now, replaying your words over and over in his head. 

Because hey, drunk words are sober thoughts.

________________________________

(Authors note: this isn't in any way making fun of Irish people, I am one! Also tried to stay out of the past politics between the north and the republic, don't want to get political at all. Just thought it'd be a funny prompt for the story)

[doyouevenshipbr0]

gruvia drabble

author's note: im SORRY im really not over the last chapter. i fr never will be. but yea this one is based on the last chapter a lot more strictly. ALSO the very end issss ooc for gray but it was a cute ending soooo yea hehe. ok enjoy cutiessss<333

*

After a long, grueling train ride, the team had finally made it to the city of Draseel, ready to search for the wood god dragon and take the next step in their mission.

Happy let out a long, obnoxious yawn. "I'm sleepy."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, too." Wendy admitted.

"I suppose it is late." Erza agreed. The team sorted out the nonsense with Erza and Erkis, got them switched back, and scolded Erza for being careless. That alone put them back another three hours.

"On the map it says there's a hotel right next to this station." Lucy looked up from the map.

"Alright, snoozing it is!" Natsu cheered. He was happy enough to be off the train, and now he got to rest on top of it.

The group got two rooms for the night, one for the boys and one for the girls. They quickly departed into their two rooms, ready to get some sleep and take on the next day.

Gray barely got a chance to breathe before Natsu and Happy were completely knocked out on their beds. They didn't bother to get under covers or anything, they were just out like a light.

"Why am I not surprised?" Gray sighed. He followed their lead and got ready for bed.

Gray flicked off his bedside light and turned over. After a few moments, he tossed over to the other side. Then onto his back. When a few slow minutes passed, he finally realized he wouldn't fall asleep right then. There was something that was picking at his mind, something he couldn't just easily sleep off.

He let out an exhale and turned his bedside table back on. He made sure not to wake up Natsu, as he didn't feel like dealing with his teasing. He carefully brought the lamp over to a desk that was in their room and quietly sat down. He rummaged through the drawers and to his luck he found just what he was looking for, a pencil and paper.

For awhile, he just stared at the blank paper. He even said "forget it" and tried to go back to bed, but he soon knew that wouldn't happen. So at the table he sat, head in his hands, thinking of how to put words from the pencil onto the paper.

Finally, he thought of something.

"Dear Juvia," He wrote at the top. Then, he hit another block. He was out of ideas once again.

"Ok, Gray, just chill out." He thought to himself. "Just write what's in your head." But that was just that--he didn't know how to translate his feelings into words.

To put it in the simplest words possible, he missed Juvia.

He didn't realize how much he did until he saw her doppelgänger and contemplated love, but he most certainly did. He wondered what she was doing, he thought about what he would be doing with her if they were together, he imagined their reunion when he got back to Fairy Tail, and actually thought fondly about how he would be showered with her love.

He couldn't seem to get her off his mind.

"Gah, this is so embarrassing." Gray thought and scratched the back of his head, his cheeks turning pink.

Again, another deep breath, and he brought the pencil back to the paper.

"Dear Juvia,

The mission is going well. I know you're probably worried sick, and you wish you could be fighting with me right now, but don't worry, I'm fine. The first dragon god on our quest was a water dragon god. Of course, I naturally thought of you." He paused. He went back and erased "thought of you" and wrote "thought of your magic." After a few moments of back and forth, he ultimately decided on "thought of you."

"He was crazy powerful. It made me wonder how your magic would've matched up against him. You're almost as scary as he is, so I'm sure you would've given him a run for his money." Gray smirked at his joke, and he began to think of all the times Juvia's magic had gotten scary strong when she was in a serious fight.

"But no worries, we beat him even though your water magic would've made it a hell of a lot easier. And actually, he's a really nice guy. His magic was thrown all out of whack by this wizard that can steal people's magic. We'll definitely have to take care of them eventually, but for now, we moved onto the wood dragon god in Draseel.

Before we got on the train today we ran into a guild of celebrities that look just like us. The whole thing was super bizarre. Your doppelgänger's name was Juvina, and she was a topless dancer. Hopefully that doesn't give you any ideas for a hobby, because I'll tell you right now, it ain't happening." Gray paused and smirked once again.

"But what really got me thinking was" Gray paused. He wasn't sure how to word all of this without exploding with embarrassment, but he tried his best.

"when we met this girl Ervis; she's an actress. Her next role focuses on love, so we kind of got to talking about that. I can't lie, you're the first person that popped in my head. From there, I couldn't get you off my mind, so I figured I'd write you a letter. It's not like it'll go unwanted. I'm sure you're gonna' eat all this up.

Basically, I just wanted to say" He paused. His hand began to shake a bit, and he took a deep breath.

"I miss you, and I'm excited to see you when we get back to Fairy Tail. Make sure you have your best hug and cheery 'Gray-sama' ready for me when I get back. Honestly, I'm going through withdrawal." Gray finally let go of his breath after he wrote that. Almost everything in him was telling him to go back and erase that bit, but after reading it over for the 30th time, he knew it felt right. It was pretty much exactly what he was thinking, and he knew he had to work on his way of expressing his feelings lately, and this seemed like a good step.

"So I hope all is well at Fairy Tail. I'm sure you're taking lots of missions with Gajeel, and I'm sure you're both kicking ass. I'd expect nothing less. Oh and make some of those Juvi-buns for me. They're pretty damn good.

Sincerely, Gray."

He looked the letter over and over and over. He went back to make little changes, but ended up changing them back. After he finally wore his eraser down to nothing, he decided it was good.

"Ooo is this a love letter?" Gray jumped at the sound of Happy hovering over his shoulder.

"Hey! I thought you were sleepin'!" Gray snatched the letter from the desk and held it close to him.

"I was sleeping. Now I'm awake. Just needed a little catnap." He said.

"Ok, well let's not wake up Natsu." Gray whispered.

"Why don't we wanna' wake up Natsu?" Gray jumped again, hearing Natsu talking over his other shoulder.

"Shit! Since when are you two ninjas?!" Gray held onto the letter tighter, catching his breath from two scares.

"Since when are you a writer?" Happy grilled, notioning towards the paper in his hand.

"I-I'm not!" Gray stood up. "I'm goin' to bed!"

"Is it a looove letter?" Happy teased.

"N-no! Don't be stupid!" Gray was focused on defending himself to Happy and he lost his grip on the paper. Natsu took the opportunity and snatched the letter out of his hand.

"Dear Juvia," Natsu began to read.

"Hey! Give that back!" Gray reached for it, and Natsu pulled away.

"So it is a love letter!" Happy giggled. "What else does it say, Natsu?"

Natsu began skimming the words to which Gray began chasing him around the room.

"Does this say what I think it says?" Natsu's voice boomed. "'I miss you'?!"

"Just give it back, ya' creep!"

"Ah, ah, ah," Natsu paused, and in his free hand he lit a flame, hovering the paper over it. Gray froze.

"One more move, and it goes up in flames." Natsu raised a brow. Gray said nothing. He stood promptly, but on edge.

Natsu continued skimming over the letter. "Juvi-buns?!" He bursted "I thought you thought they were weird?!" He cackled.

Gray folded his arms and looked to the side. "Yeah. They were tasty, alright?" He murmured.

Happy and Natsu exchanged looks and began rolling with laughter.

"What else Natsu?!" Happy said through laughter.

Gray took the opening and grabbed the letter out of Natsu's hand. "I think that's enough story time for tonight."

"We're just teasing, Gray!" Natsu said, still laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, well I'm goin' to bed." Gray practically stomped his way to bed and threw the letter into a random drawer before flopping onto the mattress.

"Hey man," The laughing finally stopped. Gray turned over and saw Natsu and Happy finally collected themselves. "In all seriousness, it's pretty cool that you wrote that."

"Aye!" Happy chimed in.

"Juvia deserves to hear that kinda' stuff. You better mail it out before we leave tomorrow." Natsu smiled at Gray and got back into bed.

"...Thanks." Gray reluctantly said and turned back over.

Once he heard Natsu and Happy snoring again, Gray sat up a bit. He carefully pulled the paper and pencil back out from the drawer. He decided there was one more change he needed to make.

He erased the "Sincerely, Gray." and replaced it with "Love, Gray."

He decided the letter was perfect, and finally rolled over to get a good night's sleep.

[asterinjapan]

Dressed in style

Hi everyone!

A little late today again, but that’s because of a short side trip in the evening, haha. Anyway, today we stayed in Tokyo, but we sure did some nice things!

After breakfast, we made our way to the station to go to Tokyo station – that’s no joke, that’s just one of the stops on the Yamanote line. I know we’re already in Tokyo, tsk.

We were on a mission today, to the JNTO TIC, the Tourist Information Center that also offers some typical Japanese activities. One of those is fitting kimono, which I think is a great initiative (because more often than not, you pay quite a bit to rent them and to walk around in the city, the latter of which not being something we really wanted to do).  So I took my friend over here and we picked out some colorful ones, because it’s summer after all!

We got wrapped in tight with nice bows on our obi belts, and after getting our picture together taken, we were free to take as many pictures as we wanted inside and outside the office. We had a lot of fun posing with the parasols and getting as many pictures as possible, until we were sure we were absolutely satisfied.

All you have to do in exchange is fill in a questionnaire, so we did just that and then wrote our names on the Polaroid picture they took for the TIC. Also, surprisingly, the sweet lady who helped us get dressed up actually remembered me from when I was here in 2015? She asked if it was me who went to a concert last time I was here, you don’t just make that up. Wow. I was very impressed she remembered that.

Anyway, we went back to the station to go a couple of stops further into the Yamanote line: Hamamatsucho, the closest JR station to the Tokyo Tower. We were almost confused which way to go once we got outside the station, until we looked up and saw that yeah, the tower was pretty close, haha.

After lunch, we walked our way to the Zojoji temple, which is a temple just in front of the tower. We didn’t go in, but it’s a nice place to take pictures and have the old Japan and the new next to each other. Behind the temple is the Tokugawa mausoleum and a whole lot of rows of Jizo statues with red hats. Jizo is the Buddhist guardian of travelers and by extension, also the guardian of stillborn or unborn children to guide them to the afterlife. Jizo statues therefore tend to get dressed up in red slabs or hats by parents who lost their child. It’s a colourful, but very sobering sight.

There was more red ahead of us, but this was a more cheerful red: Tokyo Tower, the symbol of a post-war reborn Japan. It also looks like the Eiffel Tower which it was indeed modeled after, but at 333 meters, it’s 13 meters taller than its model, haha.

We tried to take some pictures, although in this case, the sun being out didn’t really help. (I must say though, the temperatures have dropped to something almost comfortable. It’s still like 29 C, but that’s almost cold these days.) So we moved on and went inside. We didn’t necessarily mean to make it to the observation decks, but we did want to do some souvenir shopping, and they sure provide you with enough opportunities here!

After a good haul, we had some drinks before we slowly made our way back to Ikebukuro. With Hamamatsucho station being the furthest you can get from Ikebukuro by Yamanote line, we went back the opposite way from which we came, effectively having traveled the entire Yamanote line in one day, haha.

After a quick break at the hotel, we went out for dinner. I knew a nice place somewhere in Ikebukuro station, but alas, my amazing talent of getting lost decided to rear its ugly head again. We did find it, just not in the 7 minutes Google Maps told us it would take. (In all fairness, my GPS wasn’t working inside the station.) For future reference, self: 8F, Parco. Near Cherry Road. (Ikebukuro station has a lot of roads called after fruit.)

It was time to part ways, as I had a museum to visit about one of my favourite shows. Hey, I’m in Tokyo at the time of the museum, of course I’m going! (Those who are interested in that review know where to find me, haha.)

So now I’m back at the hotel a little late, considering we decided very last-minute to make tomorrow an early day, namely to pay Hakone a visit. So we’ll see how that goes!

I’m a bit tired, but not as exhausted as I was fearing, so it should be alright.

Definitely time for bed now, see you tomorrow!

[yeoldontknow]

Dragonfly

Author’s Note: sorry to keep you waiting, cutie anon! i hope this is everything you wanted and more <333

Pairing: Kyungsoo x Reader (oc; female)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: angst; infidelity; strong language

Word Count: 3,671

You wish you could blame it on gin.

You wish that sentiment, feeling, and action could be explained away with a casual smile and the dismissive tilt of a glass. In a perfect world, you’d call it silliness, you’d call it friendship. You’d call it amicable coupling - inventing a phrase and a concept with a laugh that tumbles freely from your open mouth.

But how do you explain years of longing? Years of sober pining and tired yearning, hours of an ache in the center of your chest when you’re alone and empty and far too desperate for his touch to sleep?

Truthfully, you wish he saw you. You wish he would look at you and see you, bore straight through to you, and admire all the tiny, intricate parts of you like they were flakes of gold. You wish he would touch you, touch you and mean it - you want his hands to sting with implication. You want him to hold you so close and so hard that the pores of your skin start to leak with the love you have for him, spilling over and out to drench his skin, his clothes, his mouth, his heart. 

You wish the kiss never happened. You wish it lived in your imagination like all the rest. You wish his girlfriend never saw it. You wish you could call trust yours again, that it had never slipped between your fingers the minute you let yourself go. 

The party was meant to be for you, even though you didn’t want it. Too loud, too noisy, too crowded, an apartment filled with some people you knew and many you were meeting for the first time. You’d wanted something small, something quiet - something that would make it easier for you to crawl into bed at night with the hole in your heart; a night where you wouldn’t have to pretend. 

It was easier, though, to settle into the routine of complacent longing after the first drink was passed into your hands. You smiled brighter, laughed louder, and your eyes eventually forgot they were looking for him. Arms held and hugged you, lips grazed your cheeks and yelled Happy Birthday into your ear over the dull roar of the music. These things made you feel wanted and loved in a different way, a way you needed but didn’t crave, and for several hours it was enough. 

But when he walked in with her, when they both made a beeline for you carrying presents, gin, and snacks, with words apology for their tardiness already falling from their tongues, the familiar tightness in your chest returned. When his arms wrapped around you with the genuine affect of companionship, you suddenly found yourself unable to hold back the deluge of desire you’ve been keeping locked tightly away from him. And when his girlfriend, your best friend, pushed him away with a laugh and eyes brimming with delight, and told you I think I’m going to tell him I love him tonight, you suddenly just weren’t sober enough to care. Not anymore.

So you took to kissing men, nearly all of them throughout the night because surely someone would make you feel needed. Surely, one of them would make you feel wanted enough to calm the itch along your skin, wanted in the ways that were important enough to make you forget. You think it was possibly the third drink that made your lips feel warm and hungry, the fourth that made your hands bold and pining for strong hip bones and soft cheeks beneath their palms.

But it was the fifth drink, the last of the night, the last time you think you’d ever enjoy a gin and tonic again, that sent you tumbling recklessly into his arms. 

The longer you think on it, the more you realize that it was he who started it. You realize that you were perfectly fine without his full lips in your view, without the romantic curve of his nose and cupid’s bow tantalizingly hovering inches from your mouth. But you also realize that, maybe, if you had just stayed sober, everything would still be fine. Maybe, if you hadn’t been so warm that you’d stripped to your camisole, everything would be normal. 

Instead, his voice distantly reached your ears just as your tongue had slipped into someone’s mouth. You tried hard to remember their name, even when they were kissing you, but you didn’t really need to know, didn’t really even care, because you were only concerned with if his mouth tasted right and felt good.

It didn’t, and, because it didn’t, you were already seeking the sound of someone else’s breath. 

You pulled away with a cocked eyebrow, and you saw him, smirking with a heated yet playful gaze. Normally, you would have laughed, but all you could manage was a moan that mixed halfheartedly with a tired, hungry sigh.

‘I’m a little busy, Soo.’ You turned back to your current partner, though in the aftermath of Kyungsoo’s voice you no longer wanted his hands on your hips. You wanted to get off him. You wanted someone new, someone perfect. 

‘Are you equal opportunity tonight?’ 

There was a darkness, an edge, to this voice that made you quake, made your thighs clench just right, and you turned back to face him with your tongue stroking over your teeth.

Pushing off your conquest, you slowly approached Kyungsoo with a sway to your hips. You needed to make sure he really wanted this, needed to make sure he knew what he was asking for. Because even if he thought it was a joke, even if all it ever equated to for him was a sloppy, alcohol tinged mess, to you it would feel like holding the moon in your arms. To you, it would be ascendance. And once you started, you would never be able to stop.

‘Are you saying you want to give me a taste?’ you asked, trying to sound flirtatious and seductive, but already the threads of you were starting to be pulled apart. You were withering, and you were glad you could blame the hitches in your voice on the alcohol. 

‘Promise shit won’t get weird?’

You smiled at him, cocking your head to the side and clicking your tongue. ‘Ah, so you are.’

You wanted him to taste. You wanted him to taste and take and keep and have every part of you until your remains were reduced to ash.

‘Call me curious,’ he whispered, eyes focused wholly on your lips, drinking and staring and wondering.

You walked into his hold, and he was careful with you. His hands were gentle against your hips, like he was giving you time and space to run and back out at the last minute, but his breathing was shallow and you’d never seen his tongue look so wet as he licked his bottom lip.

‘Alright, Curious, show me what you got.’ 

The gentleness in his hands disappeared the moment your lips connected, a rumble spawning in his chest and vibrating through you as he pressed you tightly against him. Immediately your hands fisted in his hair, and you felt his tongue, hot and warm and sweet, idly sweeping across your bottom lip for access. For years, you’d been generous with him. For years, no was a word excluded from your language only when it came to him, and when he held you like that, when he sucked on your bottom lip so eagerly, you were simply unable to refuse. 

Tongue in your mouth and his hands splayed over your back like he’d thought about it, like he’d practiced the right way to cradle you over and over since he met you, you found yourself starting to melt. You felt him grow hard against you, felt your pulse start to race, felt his moan cascade into your mouth and down into your chest making you slowly become wet in anticipation of more.

You thought it was perfect. You thought it was perfect. It could have been sweet.

You heard her come into the living room, first with the sound of her laugh and then with the sound of her footsteps. You heard her grow quiet, you heard the entire room go silent. 

You felt him pull away from you. You felt yourself, your blood and skin in unison, go cold. 

You felt the world get ripped out from under your feet.

And now, now with a hangover so strong you think you could forget your own name, you realize your doorbell is ringing. Truthfully, you don’t want to know who’s on the other side. Truthfully, you wish you could disappear altogether and fade into a memory. You think you’re worthless. You think you’re cruel. This isn’t what friends do. This isn’t what good, kind people do.

The doorbell rings again at your non-action, and it almost sounds anxious or frustrated in its urgency. You know who it is now, and you’re even less inclined to see them. But you move anyway, keeping your footsteps quiet because you want to catch him off guard. You want to interrupt his internal monologue and get the truth out of him, the raw, unappealing truth you deserve. 

You pull the door open abruptly, and Kyungsoo stands before you with puffy, red eyes and lines drooping over his face from lack of sleep. The sight of him breaks your heart. It makes you want to reach for him and hold him, but you keep your arms still and you release a shaking breath.

‘Hi.’

‘Hey, Dragonfly.’

He thinks he’s being kind and supportive, thinks he’s helping things feel normal and casual and real, but all he’s really done is be heartless. The nickname seems too intimate now, changing overnight to become a flame that licks at your skin, a flicker of loss. It makes you shiver and it also makes you sad. 

‘I don’t think you should call me that anymore.’

He falters slightly. ‘I’ve called you that for four years.’

You nod but you still frown, looking away from him. ‘I know.’ 

There’s an awkward pause, a silence unlike any other that’s loomed between you and it nearly kills you. He was your best friend first, he was your everything and now your relationship has been reduced to nothing but a mistake. 

‘Can I come in?’ he finally asks, softly. 

As usual, you can’t refuse him.

He settles on your couch, hanging right on the edge of the cushion, and you bring him a cup of tea as you cling to a mug of your own. Dragging his fingers around the rim, you can see him toying with words in his mind, trying to form the right thing to say.

‘About last night...’ His voice is reticent, fading into the air like a dissipating fog, and it hurts. It hurts you in a way that makes your chest constrict and your fingers dig into the ceramic handle of your mug.

It hurts, but you still finish the sentence for him.

‘It was a mistake,’ you say simply, and you’re surprised by how calm you sound. The truth is that you’re shattering on the inside, fully realizing just how much you’ve lost because it isn’t just him you know you’re losing, it’s her too, and that actually hurts the most. ‘We fucked up so badly.’

‘No,’ is his quick, stern response. ‘No, you were drunk and -’

‘That’s not an excuse,’ you say, firmly and shaking your head. ‘Being drunk is never an excuse. It just escalated.’ 

‘You wouldn’t have kissed me if you were sober,’ he says, flatly. ‘I don’t think you would have done anything if you were sober.’

You don’t know what makes you so brave. It starts somewhere in your fingers and grows, reaching into your chest until you find that you are tired of lying and hiding, and that kissing him last night has made you learn who you really are. Sometimes you are reckless. Sometimes you are loud with your feelings. And it feels refreshing.

‘Just because I wouldn’t have doesn’t meant I didn’t want to.’

His eyes widen and this, and he tears his gaze from the tea to look at you in shock. ‘W-what?’

‘I’m not blaming it on the alcohol,’ you say, taking a long inhale of breath in preparation. ‘I always wanted to kiss you, I still want to kiss you. The alcohol just made me lose control.’

It’s clear he doesn’t know what to do with this information, so instead he reverts to what he knows. ‘I instigated it.’ 

‘I wanted you to instigate it.’ 

‘Listen,’ he begins, at a loss for what to really say, and you can see him preparing to deflect and change the topic. You’re glad for it, really. You don’t want to bother with what could have been right now.

‘You’re her best friend and I completely fucked up, we fucked up. It’s over between us, but...please, just punch me or punish me or do something to me because she just...cried.’ The words are spilling quickly from his lips now, falling a rush like he’s at a confessional and you’re the only one who can absolve him of his guilt. ‘She wasn’t even angry, she was just so sad - please, be angry with me. Give me what I deserve.’

You want to absolve him, you want to give him everything he wants and say yes, and yes, and yes until it’s the only word you have for him. But this, now, is the first time you have to tell him no. He wants to blame himself for everything but you’re to blame too. He wants you to hate him, but really you hate yourself more because you did this to him. You did this to yourself. 

‘What do you want me to say, Kyungsoo?’ you murmur. ‘I got the same response. I called her this morning and she didn’t even speak, she just wept and hung up on me. I’ve lost someone important, too.’

‘How could I have been so stupid!’ he exclaims, punching himself in the leg in an effort to stop the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

‘Stop blaming yourself! We literally just went over this. I’m also to blame!’

‘You were drunk,’ he says again, gritting his teeth.

He’s talking himself in circles now, and you simply don’t have the patience.

‘Fuck’s sake,’ you sigh, ‘so you were you if you want to go there.’

He turns to look at you and he looks frustrated, either with you or himself you can’t be sure. Part of you thinks it’s both. ‘I wasn’t drunk.’ 

‘I wanted to kiss you!’

‘And I wanted to kiss you, too!’ he admits in a rush. ‘Don’t you get it? I was sober and I fucking wanted to kiss you.’

He looks breathless now, brow furrowed and chest heaving. He’s overcome with everything, overcome and overwhelmed and, as usual, he’s looking for you to help him. You want to feel happy. You think this is a moment that should make you feel happy. You’ve loved him since you met him and you kissed him and now he’s telling you that he touched you like he did because he needed it as badly as you.

But you aren’t. Happiness has no room here.

This was supposed to make you feel good and whole, and instead all you can think about is how wrong this moment is. You should feel ecstatic but everything is already tainted. 

‘Jesus, Soo, what am I supposed to do with that? Do you want me to be glad about it? Like I’m glad we destroyed our best friend - your girlfriend? How fucking selfish are we?’

‘Just be angry with me!’ he shouts, slapping has hand against his chest.

‘I can’t be angry with you!’ you shout back.

‘Why the hell not?’ 

‘Because I love you!’ you proclaim, voice cracking. ‘I’m in love with you, and no matter what’s happened I loved kissing you. And I hate myself for enjoying it because this is the consequence.’ 

The words hang in the air, moving through the atmosphere to settle on his skin like dust. You think for a moment it looks as though he’s being burned by wildfire, how it makes him spring to action and reach for you in one quick motion. You’re burned by the heat in the palms of his hands as his palms cup your cheeks, and you know he’s ready to kiss you. He’s ready to make you his, and you want to let him. 

But you stop yourself. You realize, only now, you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. 

‘Don’t.’ you say sharply, moving away from his hands. ‘Don’t. Not now. Not like this.’ It’s too much too soon, and you know he’s only acting out of a need for comfort. This isn’t how you want him. You deserve more than this.  ‘I know you don’t reciprocate it.’

‘I know that I could.’

‘But I’m already there,’ you sigh, and you pull away from him moving to press yourself against the arm of the couch. ‘And I don’t want to hurt anymore than I already do.’

For a long moment, you regard each other. Even when he’s tearing himself apart, even when there’s a chasm of longing growing between you, he’s still beautiful. You both have torn a relationship in half, and regret is threatening to consume you from the inside out, but the way he looks at you - the way his head tilts to the side, bottom lip in a slight pout and eyes soft, soft in a way that was always reserved for you, you find yourself falling for him all over again.

And so you hate that you do it. You hate that you say it because you’ve come to discover that being selfish is easy and it feels seductive and delicious, but you say it anyway because you have to. You want to feel, for at least one moment in the past twenty-four hours, that you can be kind again.

‘You can still fix things with her,’ you say, gently. ‘I know you love her in some way.’

Shaking his head, he looks away from you. He looks defeated and sad, and you want to reach out to stroke his hair. ‘I don’t know what I want anymore.’

‘Then you should go,’ you mutter, mostly to yourself. But he hears you and he looks back at you crestfallen.

‘What?’

‘Go, because the longer you’re here, the harder it is to say no and I can’t...I just can’t risk the feeling of hope. Not until you’re sure.’

This seems to appease him, just enough to get him from the couch and to your door. He moves slowly, almost as though he’s memorizing details of your apartment in fear he will never see them again. When he turns to you, he looks at you like he wants to do the same again, but he stops himself and smiles. It makes you feel warm, almost too warm in your oversized sweater, and it gives you the thinnest threads of faith to cling to.

‘I’ll call you, Dragonfly.’ He leans against the doorframe briefly, drinking everything about your face in and you do the same to him. You know he means what he says. He will call you, but you’re forced to swallow your anxiety knowing that the things he has to say may not entirely be in your favor.

Shutting the door, you look back at his tea, untouched and cool, and remember.

‘I’m gonna call you Dragonfly,’ Kyungsoo laughed as you danced around him, mixing cake batter for his birthday cake while humming loudly and off key.

The sound of his voice caught you off guard, and you turned to face him. He looked almost too charming in his hoodie, face bright and jovial, and you felt yourself starting to swoon once more. You don’t know why it always surprised you. It was normal for your heart to flutter in his presence.

‘Why?’ you chuckled. ‘That doesn’t have anything to do with my name.’

‘Dragonflies are symbols of change or spirits coming to visit.’ He moved behind you to get to the sink, trying and failing to clean the mess you’d made of his kitchen.

‘Oh, so I’m a dead girl here to haunt you?’ you teased. Bumping your hip into his, he stumbled slightly to the side and rolled his eyes.

‘You’re too fucking loud to be dead.’ 

Narrowing your eyes at him, you placed the bowl gently on the counter and began to lick batter off the whisk. ‘I thought you were supposed to be saying nice things about me.’

Crossing his arms, he leaned against the sink and regarded you, suddenly very serious. This usually would have made you nervous, but he’d been playful in recent days, laughing easier and touching you more gently, with careful, loving hands. It made your heart constrict just a little bit harder. It made you love him more.

‘I think you’re changing me,’ he said, quietly.

‘That sounds horrible,’ you said with a pout, trying to lighten the sudden shift in mood. ‘I like you the way you are.’

You took some batter onto your index finger and reached out to him. He bent forward to to take your finger into his mouth and you avoided his lips altogether to smear it on his nose. He squinted at you, feigning irritation as you offered him an innocent smile.

‘Who said it wasn’t for the better?’

‘You’re already perfect,’ you admitted, willing him to understand, to hear you and to know.

 ‘Only because you’re here.’

[kurosarium]

Okay, honey, not as kinky as I thought I might be but: Shittykawa, Bedhead, Sugar Baby and Blueberry taking their girl with them to volleyball training and teaching them after the lesson how to hit the ball correctly etc. How would they use the opportunity to get a bit closerrrr to her :333 ? (Like "let me guide your hand") Scenario or hc, I don't care, you're still kami to me.

Alright Lizzard, I actually planned on doing more than just the Oikawa one, but this has already gotten very long so i’ll just leave it be like this? Pls don’t be mad at me! This is the first real scenario I’ve written in years OTL

I’m glad we could settle the girlfirend/crush thing though, or else this would have turned out differently, I guess ?

Oikawa Tooru

Another 10 minutes had passed since you had taken a look at thewatch that hung above the school entrance the last time . Waiting wasdefinitely not a strength of yours. And as you grew more and moreimpatient by the minute you began to regret having agreed to meet upwith Hanamaki and Matsukawa after their volleyball practice. Afteranother five minutes you’ve had enough and grumpily stood up fromthe bench you’ve been sitting on and only then realized that yourbutt had fallen asleep due to the odd position you had been sittingin. With a sigh you adjusted your uniform and headed for the boysgym.

Even from afar you could hear the noise their shoes made on thegym floor. A small smile crept up onto your face as you reached forthe door, opening it in a swift movement. Their coach eyes you for amoment, but says nothing as you walk along the side lines approachingthe bench. He had seen you joking around with Hanamaki quite a fewtimes and thus thought nothing of it if you came to watch thempractice. He didn’t assume that you were one of his overlyobsessed fan girls.

Hanamaki spots you from the corner of his eye and shoots you aquick wave before getting back in the game, most of the others hadnoticed you as well and if they didn’t wave at you they cast you asmile. Your previous grumpiness was ceasing while you were watchingthe team play harmonically.

Unintentionally your eyes fall onto the teams setter and eventhough you had no special attraction to him your eyes were glued tohis figure the entire time. His body language, his facial expression,everything about him was fascinating to you in that moment. The firstfew minutes your staring goes unnoticed, except for the brunet malehimself, and as your eyes lock for a moment he shoots you the mostamazing, if a little cocky, smile. And suddenly all air is knockedout of your lungs and your heart pace radically increases. Youquickly avert your gaze and lower your head, the floor suddenly muchmore interesting than the game that was happening right in front ofyou. ‘why am I so flustered he just smiled at me. Get your shittogether______’ you thought as you felt the heat rising to yourcheeks. It took you a moment to cool down before you felt braveenough to rise your head again, and when your gaze fell upon thefield anew nothing had changed and nobody seemed to have noticed. Thevolleyball team was still in the midst of their practice match andeverybody was evidently giving their best, their teamwork on pointlike it always was. They truly were an admirably team.

As the clock strikes 5pm the practice slowly comes to an end andeverybody gathers to put the equipment back into it’s place. Youlook around and watch as everyone contributes to getting the gym inshape as your eyes fall onto Hanamaki who jogs up to you with anapologetic smile on his face.

“Hey ______. I’m sorry that we have kept you waiting thislong. The wait is almost over though, just hold on a little longer.”He exclaimed rather cheerfully before walking back to Matsukawahelping him carry a post into the tool shed. After everything was putin place the majority of the boys disappeared into the changing room,but one individual stayed back and you only noticed when you saw himapproaching you with long strides, a satisfied grin lingering on hislips.

“What’s good _______? Couldn’t stop staring because of myskills or my looks, huh?” he asks mischievously while sending awink in your direction. His question takes you by surprise and for afew seconds you just blankly stare at him processing what he just hadsaid. For the second time that day you feel the heat soaring up yourcheeks, but try to concentrate on thinking of a clever responseinstead. “Both. It’s both Oikawa.” you announceconfidently. Said confidence falters momentarily as you realize whatyou just had said. ‘oh shit this must have sounded like aconfession. What is he going to think now.’ But there was nopoint in denying it, the fellow 3rd year sure was a handsome youngman, so why not be honest. To your surprise the setter seemsgenuinely astonished by your response, so it takes him a few secondsto react appropriately. Yet, the smirk lingering on his lips remainsunaltered, and it grows instead, until he’s grinning from ear toear like the cheshire cat himself. The next moment a rich laugh fillsthe air, leaving you dumbfounded and flustered all together. “Iappreciate your straightforwardness ______. I really do! You’re socute… Anyway, the others aren’t back yet, would you like me toshow you how to toss a ball in the meantime ? Hanamaki and Matsukawaalways take the longest to finish up anyway.” he proposes, stillsmiling at you. Slowly but surely you grew a little uncomfortable,his smile was pretty fur sure, but you couldn’t tell if it wasgenuine or not. Your thoughts wander to the offer he made you, andknowing that you still had to wait plenty of minutes for your friendsto return it was worth to give it a try. “Alright, sounds goodto me.” you beam gleefully at the team captain. He nodsapprovingly, but his features become a little more serious as heturns his back to you, making his way towards the tool shed where theballs were stored. He takes a few moments and looks at every ballindividually before he decides on one, turning back around you noticethat his smile has changed, it seemed gentler and more genuine now.Approaching your figure, he motions with a nod of his head for you toget into the middle of the field. “Here take the ball, I’ll showyou how to toss.” You nod, seeing a faint blush appearing on hischeeks as your hands touched when handed you over the ball. Stillstruggling with his crumbling confidence he places himself behind youand gets a hold of your arms, raising them slightly above your head. “Splendid. Now bend your knees a little and lean a tiny bitforward….. There you go, like a real pro!” In the process ofguiding your every move you feel his chest press against your backand all of a sudden his face was much closer, his breath lightlygrazing your neck. With your cheeks growing hotter by the second youavert your gaze to the ground and try to get a hold of yourself,internally screaming. ‘Oh my god why am I getting thisflustered’ Slightly tilting your head back to get a glimpse ofthe brunet male, you abruptly stop in your tracks due to your faceonly millimeters away from his. And in this very moment your mouthgoes dry and you feel the heat skyrocketing into your face just asyou thought you had overcome your previous awkwardness. Staring amorously at him you take in each and every of his beautiful features. His breathtaking chocolate eyes, his slightly parted, pliant looking lips, his fragrant dark locks, everything about him was amazing to say the least. You felt like you were under a witch’s spell. Your facialexpression must have looked hilarious to him, because Oikawa broke out intoa fit of giggles, despite the lasting closeness, which only caused the color of your face to deepen.“Don’t laugh at m….” it only came out instutters, but you tried your best to keep a serious facenevertheless. Still not moving an inch away from you, yet anothergrin appears on the setters handsome face as he finally lets go ofyour hands and rises into an upright position, causing you to dropthe ball. He places both of his hands on your shoulders and gives youa delighted look. “You are just so freaking adorable, you knowthat? All the more when you’re flustered. Why don’t we-” “Oi,Oikawa what are you doing with the innocent girl!?” declaresHanamaki in a loud and humored tone. He and Matsukawa try to hold intheir snickering as they approach the two of you standing in themiddle of the court.

A relieved sigh escapes your lips, hoping that the arrival of yourfriends would lessen the embarrassment you were experiencing. Oikawashands retract from your shoulders as he turns his whole body to facehis team mates, a distressed expression playing on his face. “Areyou guys for real? Can’t you see that we had something going onhere? Hanamaki? Matsukawa? Why you gotta cockblock me like that?!”he whines in a high pitched voice. “What? cockblocking? Us? Oh comeon as if anything would have happened!” counters Matsukawa whilebreaking out in a fit of laughter. In the meantime you were observing their comical conversation, you sneakily scurry towardsyour two friends, halfheartedly hiding behind Hanamaki stillstruggling to fully calm your nerves. ‘maybe, just maybe I mayhave a teeny-weeny crush on him.’

Oikawa lifts his hands in defeat “Okay okay, you got me there.Next time I’ll be more subtle about getting closer to my crush.”he exclaims, placing emphasis on the last bit of his sentence. “IAM YOUR WHAT!?” you squawk in sheer astonishment. Matsukawa andHanamaki exchange smug looks before bumping fists and cracking uponce again. “You owe me 50 bucks Hanamaki! “ declares Matsukawain the midst of his laughter. The light haired wing spiker’slaughter died down as he shot his companion a playful glare. You onthe other hand were speechless to what has been revealed to you.Completely ignoring Oikawa you turn to your friends with bewildermentwritten all over your face. “So you not only didn’t tell me,but bet on it?! WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS ARE YOU!”

“Good one’s? I mean, we weren’t entirely sure if he actuallyhad thing for you so we wanted him to tell you personally, isn’tthat pretty sweet of us _____ ?” responds the smaller male with asly grin placed on his lips.

“AEHEM! I’m still here too you doofuses! So ______ how aboutwe go on a date this evening ? It’s my treat.” suggests theOikawa, now looking more innocent than ever while smiling gently atyou.

Cheeks still warm and red you ponder. A date with Aoba Johsai’svolleyball club captain didn’t sound so bad after all. You took adeep breath to reply in a sickly-sweet voice. “Sure why-”“ No. No no no. Not today Oikawa. ______  has alreadysomething planned with us, her best friends. Try itanother time mate.” jeers the dark haired middle blocker at hiscaptain. That being said, the both of them place a hand on your backand nudge you in the direction of the exit, making you unwillinglyfollow them. You turn your head back to a dumbfounded Oikawa who juststood in the middle of the gym watching you being kidnapped by hisown teammates, not believing how cruel they were being. “I’mso sorry Oikawa, I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” youannounce apologetically getting one last brief glimpse on the sulkingmale before exiting the gym.

With his head hanging low, Oikawa lingers a little longer on thefield, a mischievous grin creeping up onto his lips.

“You’re so gonna pay for this, Hanamaki, Matsukawa. Just youwait….”

[nickireadstfc]

The Raven King, Chapter 9 – Spooky Scary Bonding Times Send Shivers Down Your Spine

In which the monsters go costume shopping, Neil forces everyone to have Fun Squad Hangs, we learn Things™ about Matt and I start to realize Andrew cares about 24601% more than he’s trying to show.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.

Finally, the much needed breather chapter is here – it’s Halloween!

Our monster squad takes this as an opportunity to go hang out at everyone’s favourite Fun Drugs Party joint, commonly known as Eden’s Twilight. Before they can go, though, Nicky makes me relate to him yet again by doing something I’ve been doing for years – pressuring all my friends into Halloween costumes.

(And carnival, and cosplay, in my case.)

           “You wouldn’t trust me to pick out your costume, would you? I’d probably make you a French maid or something.”

Except you’ve kind of picked out outfits for him in the past, for y’all’s club adventures, and you always picked clothes you thought he looked super hot in?

So basically, what this is trying to tell us is that Nicky has a drag kink.

Nice.

           An animatronics raven flapped its wings and cawed at Neil as he approached. He pushed it to the back of the shelf and moved a glittery Styrofoam skull in front of it.

Bahahaha. This is such a tiny detail, but I love it.

You can never escape the ravens, Neil. N E V E R.

           “People don’t really wear these, do they?” Neil asked and (…) pulled the next one off the rack. It was a milk carton with a cutout for the wearer’s face and a bold “Have you seen me?” printed beneath it.

           “Oh, that’s perfect, Neil,” Andrew said. Neil sent him a dirty look.

PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS FANART OF THIS. I am in tears.

And next: Neil, my boy, my dude, my son – does this.

           “We should invite the others to come with us,��� Neil said.

FUCK. YEAH.

Neil starting to bring the team together!!! Everyone slowly bonding and becoming friends!!!!!! It’s the fuck happening!!!!!

I am so, so beyond here for this, have I mentioned that already?

           “We need them,” Neil said, keeping his eyes on Andrew. “Talent alone won’t get us to semifinals. (…) You have to stop breaking this team in half.”

YOU TELL EM, MA BOY.

           “I’m not asking you to be their friend,” Neil said. “I’m asking you to give an inch.”

           “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile,” Aaron said.

           “You really think they’re strong enough to take a mile from Andrew? You think he’d let them?”

My dude has a point.

My dude has all the points, in fact.

GET YOUR ASSES TOGETHER EVERYONE, ALRIGHT.

Nicky, however, raises the fair argument of how they treated Matt last year, yet when Neil asks how exactly they treated Matt last year, Andrew tells him to ask the dude in question – and also agrees to let the rest of the Foxes join their Halloween extravaganza, which surprises everyone so much it ends the conversation.

Well. Best to tell Dan and the squad the good news immediately, no?

           Dan stepped out into the hall with [Neil] and pulled the door closed behind her. (…) “We’ve got a visitor. He came by a little while ago looking for Andrew.

          (…) This is Officer Higgins of the Oakland PD.”

Weeeeeeell shit. I knew that dubios phonecall thing was going to come around again.

           Neil heard the doorknob creak in warning as Andrew twisted it further than it was meant to go. It was a startling giveaway considering Andrew’s wide smile and the breezy tone of his voice.

           “Oh, I must be imagining things. Pig Higgins, you are a very, very long way from home.”

I knew it. That whole affair stinks. Andrew is not nearly as cool and chill about this whole situation as he pretends to be.

What is happening, I’m so intrigued by this.

           “We were looking at the wrong person, weren’t we? (…) The other kids won’t speak up. They don’t trust me that much. You’re all I’ve got.”

           That got Andrew’s attention. “Kids? Kids, plural. You only mentioned one last time, Pig. How many has she had?”

She? We were talking about one of his foster fathers last time – but Higgins said they looked in the wrong place.

A foster mother, then? And a fair amount of child abuse, as it seems. Once a-fucking-gain.

           “How many kids, Pig?”

           “Six, since you,” Higgins said.

Six instances of child abuse, then, probably seven including Andrew.

Hell to the fucking no. Andrew, you stubborn shit, help those kids.

Also, apparently the foster mom’s name is Drake. Probably a family name. Will keep that in mind.

After that conversation, Higgins leaves again before we can get any more interesting information. Ughhhh. Why must there be suspense, I need to know now.

           “Why are the police looking for you?”

           Andrew tilted his body towards her and smiled into her face. “I’m in no trouble, oh captain my captain.”

Alright, first he references Les Misérables and now Dead Poets’ Society – Andrew, stop being a goddamn nerd. <3

Neil then goes to do what he came to do in the first place, which is informing the squad of their incredibly luck of getting to hang out with the monsters on Halloween.

It goes about as expected – meaning, everyone’s mind as blown.

           “How the hell did you talk Andrew into this?” Dan asked, staring at Neil.

           “I asked,” Neil said.

Genius. Amazing. How has nobody had this idea before.

           “He implied you were the harder party to convince,” Neil said.

Oh, yeah.

MATT BACKSTORY TIME, BABES.

Let me sum this up for you. Matt’s dad – asshole extraordinaire – got him into drugs, as he wanted his son to fit in with the rich kid party scene in New York. Matt tried getting clean, but was a wreck when he arrived at PSU, hiding from any party people who might tempt him again by camping out on the girls’ couch – which, might I add, is an adorable picture, no matter how angsty.

Andrew ‘King of Unorthodox Helping Methods’ Minyard saw how fucked up Matt was and promptly gave him speedballs INSERT WIKIPEDIA HERE, which are about one of the most fucked-up drugs you can have (it’s cocaine and heroin together and it kills people on the regular. Fun!). But plot twist! Turns out Andrew had done everything with Mommy Boyd’s permission and his plan succeeded in bringing Matt into rehab and back into a normal life.

I have………… so many questions. Also, respect for Andrew. Also, what the fuck??

Also, MATT MY SON LET ME PROTECT YOU WHAT THE HELL. <333

           “I don’t know if they’ve talked to you about Aaron’s history, but you understand Andrew’s, don’t you? He’s not allowed to fight his addiction. Watching Matt struggle was very hard on them both.” (…)

          Andrew said they’d picked up the [cracker dust] habit for Aaron’s sake. (…) Chances were cracker dust was a paltry substitute. Watch Matt crumble under temptation would have wrecked hell on Aaron’s own sobriety.

          Neil was starting to rethink how apathetic Andrew was about Aaron’s life.

Are you telling me Andrew got them all into cracker dust just to protect Aaron while he worked on getting Matt clean?

And you’re telling me Andrew doesn’t care about anyone or anything?

Bull-fucking-shit.

Andrew, you seriously have so many problems and you are so problematic like 80% of the time but dude – I love you.

           “What’d you guys get [for costumes], so we don’t double up on anything?”

           “I’ll ask. I’m hoping Nicky was joking,” Neil said, getting to his feet. (…)

           It turned out Nicky wasn’t joking, but at least a zombie cowboy was better than a milk carton or a cow.

NEIL THE ZOMBIE COWBOY.

Again, please tell me there is fanart of this. I NEED IT.

And before you know it – it’s Fun Bonding Party time!

Apparently, ‘party’ means a few hours of the most awkward social interaction ever – Aaron refusing to talk to anyone except his family, Andrew being annoyingly energetic and rude, and Nicky trying to make up for his asshole cousins by talking So Damn Much – but you know, it’s a start.

           Kevin shifted in his seat enough to pull his hand in his pocket. The rattle of pills against plastic was so soft Neil might not have noticed it if not for Andrew’s reaction. (…)

           “Don’t make me hurt you,” Andrew said. “I don’t want blood in my ice cream.”

Ah yes, thanks, I had momentarily forgotten how EXTRA Andrew is.

Kevin also finally solves the question of why he has Andrew’s pills when Andrew off his meds – it ensures Andrew won’t take them in the first flash of withdrawal. Alright. I would have expected some bigger explanation for some reason? Idk. Maybe there’s more here, maybe I’m just seeing things.

Onwards to more fun things – Betsy makes a surprise reappearance via text!

           “Just Bee!” Andrew said. “Bee being stupid. Bee being, ha. Look.”

           Andrew tossed Nicky his phone. Nicky took one look at the screen, laughed, and reached across Aaron to show Neil the phone. (…) It was a grainy picture of Betsy Dobson wearing a bee costume.

What level of PRECIOUS. I love this woman.

It turns out Andrew and Betsy are texting BFFs, which is something I absolutely did not see coming.

Apparently, Andrew likes her considerably more than Neil does.

           “Andrew goes through shrinks like he’s trying to break a world record only he knows about. She’s his eighth one at least.”

           “Thirteenth,” Andrew said. “She made sure to ask me if I was superstitious.”

Uhmmm precious.

           “Some insane number. But when Andrew waltzed ut of her office at the end of his first session with her she was right on his heels and completely unfazed. Pretty impressive, right?”

           “No,” Neil said.

           Nicky sighed. “Eat your ice cream, jerk.”

Eat your ice cream and learn to start appreciating Bee Dobson for the gift to Foxkind that she is, jerk.

Time for a change in scenery – from Fun Ice Cream Times to Fun Club Times!

Seriously, this club does not get any less suspicious to me. I resent every time they go there. That first night has me pretty much scarred for life and I wasn’t even the one who was drugged and kiss-raped. How Neil is so ‘meh’ about going there again all the time is beyond me.

Then again, ‘meh’ just about describes Neil’s attitude towards most things that aren’t Exy or survival. So there’s that.

When they arrive, Dan – understandably – raises the question of whether or not it’s safe to let Andrew be clean for a night, to which Nicky has to say some things.

           “Trust me, you’d know if he was clean. It’s, uh… (…) it’s unmistakable. You’ll see next summer whether you want to or not. He’s off his program in May and should finish rehab by the time we start June practices.”

This is the point where I wonder how long the AFTG books will stretch, time-wise. The first book started in May and ended in August, the second started in August and we’re now – halfway through the book – in November. If we keep up this pace, TRK should be finished around January/February and TKM should end just in June – meaning we will see Andrew off his meds probably?

HECK YES.

10 bucks says Andrew has to come off them for some reason earlier anyways. Don’t ask why. It just feels like it should happen, for suspense reasons or something.

And once everyone is settled in the club, most of them go dancing, having fun, doing normal people stuff – except for our favourite antisocial ‘Help I don’t know how to human’ dudes, who once more engage in an unexpected heart-to-heart.

           “I’ve never been in a position where I could get to know people,” [Neil said.] “I know I have to let them in if we’re going to make it through the season, but it’d be easier if they were just names and faces. How have you stayed disconnected for so long?”

           “They’re not interesting enough to keep my attention.”

Yeah, hi, this is Nicki speaking, is FUCKING BULLSHIT there, I’d like to call them?

Seriously. As if.

           “What about Renee?”

           “What about her?”

           “She’s not interesting?”

           “She’s useful.”

           “That’s it?”

           “You expected a different answer?”

Is Neil trying to slowly find out whether Andrew like-likes Renee or not because that may be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Also, “she’s useful” for fuck’s sake, stop blowing holes in my platonic goalie BFFs ship.

           “Yes? No? It should be – it is – irrelevant, but…” (…)

           “Sometimes you’re interesting enough to keep around. Other times you’re so astoundingly stupid I can barely stand the sight of you.”

I’m interpreting that statement as either:

1) I’m gay, you fuckwit (most likely)

2) I’m interested in you, you fuckwit (probably not likely at this point in the story, not yet)

3) I’m ace and could really give less fucks about this whole dating shit, you fuckwit (an enjoyable headcanon, but unlikely as we know that Andreil is #endgame)

           Neil scowled at him. “Forget it. I’ll ask Renee.”

           “You’ll have to stop avoiding her first.”

Yes, please do.  Preferably immediately, next chapter, get on it, chop chop.

I need more Renee content always.

           [Neil] went alone to the railing overlooking the dance floor. (…) He had to trust that they were all there, safe and having fun. He was content to watch and imagine.

           Lonely, too, but there was nothing he could do about that.

Except for, y’know……… Making friends…….. Having them teach you healthy social relationships…….. A wild concept, I know, but just consider it………….

Deep sigh.

If you like what I do here and you want to help me continue writing, please consider buying me a coffee! Thank you so much <3