#i like taking candid pictures of cute little guitar boy

[maddie98b]

The absolute chokehold this boy has on me after this show

[kyuuppi]

Genshin men Instagram HCs

Ft. Xiao; Scaramouche; Zhongli; Childe; Alhaitham; Kaveh; Tighnari

(gender neutral reader but wears a dress in Scara & Zhongli's parts)

Xiao // @ a1atus

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

Very rarely posts

Never pictures of himself, you’ll only see his face in tagged photos

If he does post, it’s probably a new album cover of a band he likes, a particularly good plate of almond tofu from his favorite café, or—if he’s in a particularly good mood—a cute stray cat that befriended him on the street

Never edits anything but still takes pretty decent photos because he understands basic composition rules

Never tags anything but will sometimes write simple captions like “new guitar”

His pfp has not changed since he made his account and its literally just the blandest selfie you’ve ever seen—but he’s effortlessly photogenic so even when he’s just staring at the camera with a blank expression he looks hot

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

Xiao will unintentionally do his loyal boyfriend duties and like all of your posts but he never actually leaves a comment unless you specifically ask him to but you have to tell him what to say or else you’ll just get something like “your hair is nice” LOL

Maybe makes one post related to you but it doesn’t have your face—just picture of your hands holding each other or a photo he secretly took of you from behind as you admire some paintings from when he took you on an art gallery date

Still doesn’t write much in captions but if the post includes you, he always adds a little black heart emoji 🖤

Scaramouche // @ balladeer

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

Vehemently claims he’s not chronically online but he definitely is

Def has a dark / emo aesthetic profile and puts more effort into it than he’d ever admit

Uses stories pretty frequently

Usually to show off his game stats and victories or to vent about some annoying inconvenience that's just happened to him 

balladeer Jfc the train is late again I may as well just walk home everyday ffs

All his late night gaming photos are so highly saturated in his pitch black bedroom, the only source of light being his screen on max brightness and his violet RGB keyboard. If you raise the screen brightness on your phone you might be able to make out some empty Monster cans and ramen cups on his desk—he absolutely gives Discord / Reddit mod vibes 🤢

Definitely has a story archive just for Valorant 🤮

I wanna fuck him so bad it makes me look stupid—

Posts a few selfies to show a new piercing or the very rare occasion where he’s feeling really confident in his looks

unintentionally thirst traps the emo boy lovers; yes, I am talking about you and I—

Lightly edits photos or uses filters to make them look good but nothing extreme or super aesthetic, mostly just for decent contrast

Usually the first one to see any of his friends posts but never ‘likes’ them

Will leave snarky or sarcastic comments when the mood strikes tho

His pfp is a candid picture someone else took that he thinks he looks decent in—sticking his tongue out and giving double middle fingers to the camera

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

Makes a post or story for every date you guys have, even if it’s just a vague picture of your shoes together

He likes to show off that he has such an attractive s/o but also lowkey just wants to have a memory to look back on for the nights he feels lonely

Doesn’t post just you though, he’s always in frame holding you or touching you in some way—he feels the need to put some sort of claim cause he thinks people are gonna shoot their shot with you—he’s kinda paranoid and insecure, pls have patience w him

Likes and comments on all of your posts. Sometimes it's a snarky quip like if you post about you and your friends doing something funny he might comment “lmao ur so dumb” but if its a selfie or something you’re proud of, he leaves a little compliment and heart emoji.

YN0103 [bedroom mirror selfie of you shyly posing in a dress]

YN0103  Bought a new dress today…it’s not my usual style but I rlly like it 🥺

balladeer cute 💜

If anyone ever confronts him in person about his nice comments on your posts tho he’ll get flustered and claim his account was temporarily hacked LOL

His heart def flutters when you post a picture of him on your own account

He kinda can’t believe you’re proud enough of him to publicly post about him

Changes his pfp to the two of you together and, if you zoom in and squint, you can tell he’s kind of smiling <3

Zhongli // @ rex_lapis

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

I’m sorry but I have to do it…

He has Facebook grandpa vibes

Like he has no idea how to use half of the features; stories are an absolute mystery to him. What is a reel?

But he tries to be supportive of his friends and will leave way-too eloquent comments with a Wikipedia levels of supplemental information

a1atus [ photo of a shiny Fender acoustic guitar laying on what seems to be a bed]

a1atus new guitar

rex_lapis Lovely new instrument, Xiao. You seem to have quite good tastes – that particular model is popular among many professional musicians. It is well renowned for its clear sound and beautiful mahogany exterior. If you wouldn’t mind, I would love to hear you play it someday over tea.

a1atus @ rex_lapis thanks

the way I cackled writing that exchange ygweyufgwyu Xiaos just like ‘thanks for commenting dad’

His pfp is not him—it’s probably a famous painting he likes or a beautiful white flower from a garden he visited

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

If you want him to improve his Insta game, you’re going to have to teach him, I’m sorry

On the up side, Zhongli is a great student and is eager to learn anything you teach him

Will try to post pretty regularly; usually somewhat mediocre photos of beautiful scenery like sunsets and flowers

Like Scaramouche, he enjoys the idea of documentary your time together so he posts something at the end of each of your dates

Your heart lowkey melts when Zhongli, very earnestly, asks after dinner if you’ll allow him to take a selfie with you to post on his Instagram

Regularly asks for feedback on his posts to ensure he’s properly taking your advice and improving :,)

He even starts organizing and naming story archives on his profile—simple titles like “tea,” “nature,” “friends,” and “my dearest”

Likes and comments on every single one of your posts and replies to all of your stories, even if he was there with you

Usually just lathers you in compliments on your beauty or tastes but they’re so thoughtfully written that it’s obvious he’s not “just saying it” and genuinely believes all the kind things about you he writes

YN1231 [photo of you twirling in a summer dress amidst a colorful of bed of flowers in a botanical garden, take by your friend]

YN1231 It’s finally starting to feel like spring! 🌸🌼🌺

rex_lapis While the camelias are lovely, they pale in comparison to your radiance. Your yellow sundress is also quite lovely and compliments your complexion in the morning sunlight. Truly a divine sight. 

balladeer @ YN1231 @ rex_lapis ugh can you guys keep it in the DMs

- Changes his pfp to a selfie of himself smiling after you told him he should. The angle is a little odd but he’s so naturally attractive that he still manages to look good. 

Ajax // @ tartaglia_on_top 

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

Doesn’t post too often but when he does, it kinda gives stereotypical frat boy

Like, lots of parties and shirtless beach photos with his friends

The surprise is the occasional posts of his little siblings and kids he volunteers with in between

He sometimes posts championship and practice photos from his martial arts competitions with captions thanking his team and mentors

Is pretty popular—has a few thousand followers, many are people he met just once or twice at parties or genuine friends and classmates, but the vast majority are online fans who just follow cause he’s hot LOL

Is the type of person you followed once after meeting a long time ago and never talk to again but you can’t bring yourself to unfollow cause he’s nice and his updates are kinda interesting and he’s hot

Isn’t online that much so he doesn’t like/comment on his friends’ every post but usually tries to leave congratulatory messages when someone accomplishes something or graduates

His pfp is a closeup of himself with a boyish grin he cropped from a group photo

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

It is super obvious when you guys start dating cause almost every post from that point is about you in some way LOL

tartaglia_on_top [photo of Ajax, sweaty and exhausted but clearly excited as he holds a trophy in one hand with the other wrapped around your waist while he presses a kiss to your cheek]

tartaglia_on_top Officially a 3 year championship winner! Thanks to my biggest supporter @ YN0720 😘

He’s not even consciously trying to post you all the time, it just happens because you are either always together or any memorable moment he thinks are worth an Insta post involve you in some way

You’re the only person, aside from his family - that he actually likes/comments on all posts for

Is the type of boyfriend to leave those super dramatic, embarrassing comments on your selfies like “DAAAMN BABE 🥵 finna make me act UP” and, in one particularly shameless case, “god youre so hot pls step on me queen 😍” 

Please block him

He shamelessly liked all your past posts from before you too met as well—you were kinda mortified to wake up one morning to a notification that just said “what a lil cutie ❤️” on a post of yourself from seventh grade. 

Changes his pfp to a couple selfie he took of the two of you kissing on a winter vacation in the mountains

Kaveh // @ kaveh.designs

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

Obsessed with having an aesthetic profile

Like, the color palette of the background and clothing in his pfp selfie are carefully matched with the cover of each of his story archives, down to the hex code

He carefully edits every post and uses filters to make them all fit with his theme no matter how inaccurate to real life they may become

“Huh…I thought your bedroom wall was a bit more orange than this…” 

“Oh, that’s cause I use 30% Juno in all my bedroom photos for a warmer finish.”

“???”

Despite his aesthetic profile, he doesn’t come off as particularly vain or narcissistic—only posts selfies when he’s has a particularly good hair day or changed his accessories

Most of his posts are of places he travels to (museums and big cities with interesting architecture) or his own sketches and rendered design projects

Online pretty frequently, always checks insta when he wakes up, before bed, and during lunch breaks

His stories are often project updates, interesting things he encounters throughout the day, or food photos

Only likes posts he actually likes and sometimes comments with photography critiques

tighnar1 [photo of a cluster of three bright blue mushrooms clustered against vibrant green grass and patches of dark, wet soil]

tighnar1 Proof the forest is an amazing place: found this beautiful little cluster of juvenile Rakkhashava mushrooms on my hike today. Great spotting by @ colleeei. Check my story for some cool mushroom facts. 🍄

kaveh.designs great photo composition, Tigh, perfect golden ratio on the caps.

tighnar1 @ kaveh.designs Thanks I guess…

Has a decent number of followers, many of whom are also artists familiar with Kaveh’s reputation from the Kshahrewar. Others just like his OOTD stories and charming smile

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

Kaveh revamps his entire profile once you two become official

His pfp becomes a candid taken by a stranger of the two of you together at an aquarium, holding hands as you point something out to him through the glass

It was taken by a photographer working at the aquarium as part of a promotion—the photographer showed you two the photo and asked for permission to post it on their official website and Kaveh was absolutely obsessed with the photo—it’s still one of his favorite and it doesn’t even show your faces

He still matches his archived story covers to his new pfp but his actual feed had become a lot more relaxed and natural now

He still slightly edits photos so they look as good as possible, but he doesn’t like using filters on photos of you or the two of you together because he thinks it would be a disservice to your natural beauty

Like Ajax, his posts and stories naturally become mostly about you whether scenes from your dates—candid photos he takes of you where he insists you look like art even though you’re just in pajamas with an unmade face—or even photos of things he sees throughout the day that remind him of you

Sometimes he posts stories of funny reels or art pieces he knows you’d like and tags you in them with messages like “@YN0709 omg remember when we were talking abt this?” and “me & @ YN0709💕”

Similar to Childe, leaves the most downbad, dramatic comments on your posts

YN0709 [swimsuit selfie]

YN0709 happy summer! ☀️🌊

kaveh.designs Oh my god my heart– 💘 I cannot believe I get to come home to this every night 👅💦

YN0709 @ kaveh.designs omg kaveh pls 💀

al_haitham @ kaveh.designs Every time I see one of your comments I regret ever learning how to read.

Alhaitham // @ al_haitham  

★ ★ pre-relationship ★ ★

Only made an account so his friends would stop bothering him about not keeping up with things tbh

Checks his feed a few times a day but skips through stories if they’re too long/too many

Absolutely hates concert stories the most cause they’d loud, long, and filled with off-key drunken singing

Never likes or comments on anything unless it’s really interesting to him

Occasionally shares reels in his story that are like interesting history facts or official Akademiya announcements

Has a few posts (and only cause Kaveh would not shut up about it) but they’re mostly just pictures of book covers he’d just finished reading with a detailed review or literary analysis as the caption—but he’s mindful of avoiding spoilers for those who haven’t read it

However, he does have one post that stands out quite a bit

He posted an unintentional gym third trap because he just happened to be working out, as is routine, and thought it might be nice to share some tips on proper rope pushdown form 

If you’re not a gym babe and don’t know what this is, I beg of you, please look up a gif or video and imagine Alhaitham doing this, shirtless. You’re welcome.

It has become his most popular post by far

His pfp is probably taken straight from his faculty ID card: plain background, bright lighting, neutral facial expression

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

After you two have become official and are pretty comfortably established in your relationship, he’ll post a photo of the two of you—probably one you took - with a simple caption like “Late night at Puspa Café with my favorite person 💚”

Everyone who knows him freaks out in the comments with variations of “omg hathie got an s/o???” and “wow he finally posted a normal pic of himself, y/n is a good influence” but he doesn’t reply to any of them lmao

If you use Instagram a lot, he’ll naturally become more active too because he enjoys learning more about what you like through your posts and stories

He likes all of your posts but never comments—if one of your posts interests him, he’d prefer to wait until he sees you later to ask you about it in person 

He just wants an excuse to talk to you more

As he becomes more active, little bits and pieces of your relationship naturally infiltrate his feed

His latest book review post has your favorite mug in the background because the two of you had breakfast together

His informational story post of an antique Sumerian emerald he found at a street vendor is being modeled by your pretty hands because you were with him when he saw it and later given to you after the vendor insisted on Alhaitham gifting it to his “beautiful spouse”

He changes his profile picture to the two of you from one of your many reading dates, comfortably lounging on a loveseat in a quiet corner of the library—and this time, he’s softly smiling

Tighnari // @ t1ghnar1

Surprisingly active on social media

He thinks social media is a great way to share information about the importance of forest conservation and get people to appreciate the beauty of Avidya forest

Makes one post almost every day and multiple stories

Needless to say, 90% of his posts are of plants or small animals he finds on his hikes or while working

His most popular posts are those of cute squirrels and birds that are being nursed back to health after being found wounded—animals just seem to naturally love him so the pictures are usually taken by his coworkers because his arms are full with cuddly animals that refuse to move

The other 10% of his posts are from the occasional hang outs with friends or coworkers after work—snaps of iced fruit teas from Puspa café or colorful clay plates overflowing with Collei’s homemade pita pockets. 

He makes sure to reply to or at least like every comment, particularly those from people asking questions about the plants he posts or how to become a forest ranger. Even simple “wow that's so cool” comments often get at least a “thanks, glad you liked it” from Tighnari

He tends to use some cute forest or food emoji when they fit with his posts. For example, 🍄,🥙,🦊,🐦, etc.

Also tends to use “:)” when replying to his followers because he knows it can be difficult to read tone in text-based communications

Tigh is basically a social media manager at this point oops

Because he is online so much, he naturally keeps up with almost everything his friends post and will like or comment on things he finds interesting

His pfp is a selfie of himself with a small yellow bird perched on his shoulder from one of his patrols

★ ★ in a relationship ★ ★

All Tighnaris written by me WILL follow the “fennec foxes mate for life” trope regardless of AU, it is an indisputable law of the universe

If you’re in a relationship with Tighnari, you should be prepared for stability and commitment in general

While he doesn’t go out of his way to make an official announcement post or anything like that, you become a regular feature on his page

Will tag you in anything you’re related to, unless you specifically ask him not to

t1ghnar1 [photo of a small, cream-colored fox brushing itself against Tighnari’s leg and looking up at the camera with large eyes]

t1ghnar1 On a walk with @ YN1229 this morning we spotted this cute little kit without her mom. 🦊 While adorable, foxes - even kits - are wild animals and should never be approached unless by professionals. We have informed the local animal control where she will be taken care of until we can locate her family. Photo by @ YN1229

He never outright announces you as his lover but he seems to spend so much time with you and refer to you so casually that his followers who don’t know him just assume you’re his spouse LOL

He doesn’t bother to correct them either :,)

bennie_boy Wow, that mountain is so high up - wasn’t ur spouse scared to go up there?

t1ghnar1 @ bennie_boy Y/n has been on so many trips like this with me that they’re pretty used to it. :)

Likes your posts as he see them on his feed and occasionally leaves a short comment like, “beautiful <3”

[myjisung]

stray kids : little things they find endearing !

content. established relationship, gender neutral s/o — fluff.

warning. none

a/n. my first work on this account! don't hesitate to send me requests and recommend me skz writers i should check out ‹𝟹

bang chan ( 방찬 )

chan is simple and tends to cherish any moment he spends with you. if you asked him what he found endearing he would shrug and say something along the lines of “oh... whatever you do, i am endeared anyway” which is not wrong. but, the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that there are those specific things that paint the softest smiles on his face. it's both the way you scrunch up your nose when deep in thought and the fact that you love to try and spook him whenever you have the chance to but end up failing.

lee know ( 리노 )

he would never admit it to your face but minho's heart does SO many loopings whenever you speak to his cats. you always do it when he is not looking and he finds that lovely. he also really enjoys the way you'd call him out of the blue. when he asks you why you're calling and you reply with “i just wanted to talk”, he cannot help but smile. he finds it silly that you seem to enjoy his company this much but he doesn't mind.

changbin ( 창빈 )

changbin would say it's YOU he finds endearing. and it's true, it's all those things that make you you that he finds himself grow soft over. would it be the way you have to be touching him in any way when you're speaking to him or the fact that you always take silly pictures whenever he leaves his phone unattended, it makes his heart beat all the same.

hyunjin ( 현진 )

though hyunjin acts like he hates it, he finds the way you always want to show his art off to your friends (on your instagram story or through text) absolutely lovely. it makes his heart swell with not only pride but also all the love he has for you. another thing he finds absolutely stinking cute is how, whenever you go out without him, you always bring him a snack back. to hyunjin, it means that he's constantly at the back of your mind, and that's definitely something he likes.

han ( 한 )

anything you do makes him malfunction. he finds it so endearing when you pick his guitar up and strum away, trying to figure out how to play the tune he was working on earlier. he always loves it whenever you absent-mindedly twirl your hair around your fingers or play with your own hands when you read or listen to what he has to say.

felix ( 필릭스 )

this boy finds it so cute the way you still get speechless whenever he dresses up. it's not even like you just started dating! it's been a while yet you still seem to be in awe when he does his makeup or puts on his best outfits. he's guilty of the same crime though. he too, blushes slightly and is all smiles when you dress a bit fancier than usual. felix also likes how you always buy two of everything, since you want to share with him at all times. would it be snacks, or accessories, he is going to have one too.

seungmin ( 승민 )

seungmin finds it endearing the way you cling onto him in your sleep. he would never bring it up but when he feels you reach up to him and grab onto his shirt during the night, he cannot help but smile brightly. he likes it so much that he has lost sleep over it. you tend to take candid pictures of him whenever he does not seem to pay attention. he does, however, pay attention and is very aware of your every move. but the twinkle in your eye whenever you find the perfect shot is unbeatable, he just lets you have it.

i.n ( 아이엔 )

he finds it absolutely lovely the way you send him pictures of things that reminds you of him throughout the day. though he acts annoyed at times because “why the hell would that stain on the pavement remind you of me”, he still gets excited whenever he receives a new picture from you. he also finds it cute how you pretend to be bad at games to let him win whenever you play together. jeongin knows you are better than him (and that's probably because your acting is not the best) but he appreciates the gesture.

[poodlejoonas]

Just imagine the pictures the wives would post on their Instagrams…🤯🥺🤯

They would totally run their personal accounts like upgraded stan accounts! It would take some people a while to realize that, no, that random account isn’t just finding random photos that no one’s ever seen before. All of them would take turns roasting the guys’ old styles and (with their permission, of course) share their baby pictures side-by-side with their kids to see how much they look alike.

(Enlisted the help of @wow-ihateithere for this one because I was blanking on ideas, I’m barely ever on Instagram and when I am it’s on my stan account.)

(Under the read-more for length.)

Milli's would be all the cute candid shots of Joel and Enkka together and lots of posting the really good pics from Kiril that she would be thirsting over in the description. She has a good relationship with the fans, jokes around with simps that if they want Joel they'll have to fight her for him or simply agrees that Joel is indeed zaddy. She shares Joel and Enkka fanart on her Instagram stories. She's Joel and Enkka's biggest cheerleader, documenting their accomplishments and screaming about how great her boys are for the whole world to hear even if the accomplishment is winning a peewee hockey game. Her candid videos of Joel playing guitar and singing for Enkka, or playing hockey with him, have gone viral for their cuteness. She isn't immune to hopping on the roasting train though, if the other wives are sharing throw back photos for example she'll hop on the trend and find old pictures of Joel and be like "baby I love you but what the fuck were you wearing?" She's also responsible for starting the trend where all the wives posted pictures of their kids, then baby pictures of the parents and asked people to say who they looked most like. She made comments over how cute baby Joel was and embarrassed him. 

Jenna’s would be 25 percent Rommi, 5 percent her cooking, and 70 percent slice-of-life family moments. She’s the type to post basically everything. The sweet moments, candid shots of Niko asleep in the rocking chair with baby Lahja on his chest, the funny moments, Niko half dressed chasing a messy toddler who has something of Niko's, old throw backs roasting him, especially ones of him in high school and making jokes about "who is this? Can't be the same guy I married. He's kinda cute though, does he have a brother?"(Niko's brothers would be all over the comment section). But she’d also adorably reminisce on the old times and say that she made the right decision to give him a second chance, and it would leave every single one of her followers in tears from how cute they are. She’d be so proud of all of Niko and her kids’ accomplishments and literally scream about them to the whole world. She has some of the cutest pictures of her children, adorable candids of Lahja and Leevi's rare moments getting along and playing nice, pictures from piano recitals and Leevi's academic award ceremonies. She reposts Niko memes and tells simps to get in line. She shares pictures that make her thirsty with emojis that let everyone know how she feels.

Kirsten’s would be super aesthetic and cute, and she’d share photos of what she’s baking and the recipe in case anyone asks about them. She loves her man more than life itself, but she also loves to mess with him, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds style. She'll post pictures like "look at my beautiful family" and you can only see half of Joonas. She'll post unflattering pictures of him with adoring captions about how much she loves him. She'll also post gorgeous pictures of him for no reason with captions like "I guess he's cute." Whenever Joonas or BC accomplish something is the rare time she'll post a beautiful picture with a meaningful caption, along with their anniversary or his birthday. She posts things about him that she knows will make him laugh and get an even better retort from him. It’s all in good fun, because she really does adore him and appreciates everything he does for their family. Her kids get tons of sappy posts and all their accomplishments are hyped up. She's super interactive with the fans, especially showing some love to the Danish fans and sometimes posting in all three languages (even if her Finnish is still a little choppy sometimes, but they know it’s the effort that counts).

Riina has the most aesthetic on social media because she also uses it for business. She doesn't post too many pictures of Olli's face but she'll do pictures of their entwined hands with captions about soulmates and true love a lot, the rare times she'll share pictures with Olli's face is on birthdays and anniversaries. She'll always acknowledge when her husband hits a milestone and make a post about how proud she is of him. She thinks the simps are funny and humors them, will repost or retweet fanart and keeps her thirst tweets to a private twitter only the other wives have access to.

Marja interacts with the fans the least. Her instagram and twitter are VERY different. Her twitter is where the memes and thirsty content live, she's the Marja we know and love, barking on twitter about pictures of Tommi and sharing memes that she made herself. On Instagram it's very wholesome, sweet pictures of her family, showing off her loving relationship, what a good father Tommi is and how awesome her kids are.

When Hanna first dates and marries Aleksi they don't post pictures with Noah's face until he's older and they talk to him about it and decide he's old enough to decide for himself. She posts lots of pictures of herself and Aleksi, especially throw backs of when they were younger, things like a picture of Aleksi in middle school and captioning that she would have asked him to the school dance and had a crush on him, she'd post pictures of them side by side as first graders and joke about them being friends as little kids. She retweets and reposts fanart and interacts with lots of fans but mostly ignores simps and doesn't let the antis get to her for the most part. She's such a proud mom and shows off Noah's accomplishments at every opportunity and throw back pictures that he approves once he's older.

[pagingevilspawn]

Photographs

okay, so thanks to @doc-pickles and @iamtrebleclefstories i’ve been obsessed with with soulmate fanfics in this fandom and the stranger things fandom, so all idea credit goes to those two! 

its also been posted on my wattpad as part of my one shots book- to build a home. i’m not very good with links haha. 

A soulmate AU where on your 16th birthday, you receive three photos of your soulmate

____

His sixteenth birthday was honestly not something he was looking forward to. He knew his mom wouldn't be stable enough to cook him a cake like she had when he was younger, before her condition worsened to the point where nearly all her days were bad ones, unlike how it had been the previous year. He knew she wouldn't cup his face in her hands and softly speak, "Alex, my sweetest boy. My truest love." as she stroked his cheeks ever so tenderly. His dad wasn't around anymore, which he knew was a positive thing, well, he supposed it was.

But it was still the first birthday without his dad in it, and that thought made him sad. Not a lot, but a little. Just because all of his birthdays for the past nine years had been his dad telling him that he was a waste of space and a 'fucking idiot' didn't mean he didn't miss him in the smallest way shape or form. He was still his dad after all. The guy who brought him to the fair when he was younger. The guy who briefly taught him how to play guitar. And on the rare occasion when he was sober for about a week or so, would bring Alex out to fix up a pick up truck his dad planned to give him on his sixteenth birthday, but ultimately started using not long before his fifteenth.

He knew Aaron and Amber would maybe do something, but he knew there wasn't much they could do. They were only four and ten. They shouldn't do anything for their brother because he was feeling crappy about a day that didn't even mean that much to him.

Ugh. Birthdays. He thought they were really stupid. Why make a big deal out of the day you were born? Especially if nobody really seemed to care much about your existence.

That's why when he awoke on his sixteenth birthday he was surprised. He'd completely forgotten about what happened on the day everyone had told him about since, well... since he could remember. Some of the things people said to him when he was still was a small boy were nice and comforting, something that made him look forward to this special day, like "Oh, what a lucky women that boy's soulmate will be," was something he got often when he was younger, before his mom's schizophrenia and before his dad's substance abuse. He used to be a really sweet kid. He gave his lollipops to others who looked like they wanted it more, he shared his toys with people in the park. He talked and interacted with everyone from a young age. He was a cute kid too, he remembered. That's what people always said. They would pinch his chubby cheeks and ruffle his dark brown hair, which would lead to Alex giving them his signature crooked smile, which warmed the hearts of many. "What a sweet soulmate he will be.", "The special girl won't know what hit her!" , "He will treat her like a queen i'm sure." thats what daycare teachers and random moms at the park used to say to his parents, complimenting him on how well little Alex treated their daughters. While most boys his age we certain that girls had cooties, Alex just simply talked to him and played with them like they were just a normal person. Not to mention, what a little charmer he was. He was a flirt from the moment he was born. He told some girls he thought they were 'weally pwetty' and said he liked the bows in their hair or the outfit they were wearing. He had mad game. Even from the young age of four he had somehow even managed to completely charm his preschool teacher Ms. Ryan, who he thought was the most beautiful women to ever walk the face of the earth at the time (other than his mom). Ms. Ryan definitely favored Alex, always giving him extra treats at snack, or letting him out first to go to recess. Turns out, being thirty three and a four year old boy telling you on an almost daily basis that 'your dwess is supa pwetty Ms. Ryan' or 'i wike your hair vwery much' was a major confidence booster.

It all changed when he was five though, when his mom's condition was getting worse and his dad started using more and more and more. The situation just decreased as the years went on. Out were the compliments and looks of adoration and in rolled the dirty glares and not-so secret whispers. "What a poor girl to have him as her soulmate.", "I would hate for my daughter to be tied to him forever.", "Let's just hope his soulmate can put up with him." were the ones he heard instead. It used to hurt, but now he didn't mind. He didn't have any friends, any girlfriends, just some mere acquaintances. All he could really say he had were about half of the school's females tucked under his belt. Something he didn't actually care about. Sex was a defense mechanism. Sex made him feel wanted. If some girl was throwing herself at him, he took the opportunity. He felt like he was wanted, even if it was just for twenty minutes in some random parking lot.

He didn't really care for birthdays.

So, imagine his surprise when he woke up that morning to find an orange envelope on his dresser table. It was then he remembered. He remembered that the day of your sixteenth birthday you found out who your soulmate was.

He grabbed the folder so quickly it was like a flash of light. This envelope gave him hope. Hope that one day, someone would care about him. Because, that was the point of soulmates, right? A soulmate was someone who was made for you. Someone who would be okay with all the crap life had thrown at him. Some who would love you. Because, his soulmate would right? Right. She had to. He needed somebody. He really, really needed somebody. And his soulmate was his somebody. Hopefully.

With that thought he takes a deep breath and nearly rips the envelope open. He pulls out the three photos in it delicately, not wanting to even risk a crease or fold forming on the photos. He flips them over one by one.

The three photos.

Wow.

The three photos he'd been hearing about since he was a little boy.

The first one, as he had learned, is what your soulmate looked like on the day of their sixteen birthday, whether it be in the future or the past.

He feels stupid, really stupid. He was smiling like a god damn idiot.

She was hot, his soulmate. Really hot.

Her long brown hair was in gentle curls, natural he could tell. He knew what real curls were versus curling iron ones. She had bright golden eyes. He swore, they were like actual gold. They had specks of green, yellow, and honey. A little beauty mark sat by her right lip. And those lips? They were plump, full, and a bright pink. In the photo she was smiling. He really liked her smile. It was joyous, it made him feel happy, in a way he'd never felt before. He assumed she was laughing, based on the fact that her head was slightly tilted back. From what he could tell, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a flannel. He liked that about her, the fact that she wasn't wearing whatever uncomfortable shit he'd seen some girls at his school wear. She looked like she was dressed how she wanted to and wasn't gonna let society or school cliques tell her otherwise.

He let out a small sigh as he placed down the photo delicately, as if he dropped it any harsher it would break like glass. He picks up the second photo, another smile gracing his lips as he studies it.

The second photo was always of your soulmate the day you met. Well, more specifically, the first time you meet. In his, the girl looked even more beautiful. Except now, she wasn't a girl, she was a woman, and that was obvious. Her face was a bit fuller, and instead of having her hair down this time, two strands of her dark locks were framing her face. He could tell she was in the middle of saying something, but her face wasn't frozen in some awkward position. It looked natural, like a well shot candid.

Alex placed down the second photo just as delicately as the first, setting them side by side. The third and final photo he wasn't quite ready for.

The last photo was a picture of them at their worst. When they had hit absolute rock bottom, before thirty though. Again with the age. Alex didn't get it. Why should they put an age limit on knowing your soulmate? Wasn't there a saying in wedding vows, "for better or worse"? and that was for married people for god's sake. So, why shouldn't he be able to see his soulmate at her worst? It made sense right?

Alex flipped over the photograph hesitantly, his breath getting caught in his throat.

He slams the photo down on the bed as quickly as he could, not being able to look at it any longer.

He understood now.

His soulmate was beaten and bruised, almost all her marks, scars, and bruises visible due to the nightgown she wore. In the photo she was crying, silent tears, he could tell.

He understood now, why they only let you see towards a certain age. Because what if it was worse? What if something worse had happened while his soulmate was older?

A horrible thought came to his mind, shaking it off immediately.

No, he did not do that.

He knew he didn't. He wouldn't. He'd seen his dad beat his mom again and again. He would never be like his dad. He swore on it.

But still, that lingering thought in his mind.

No.

Instead of thinking further, he picked up the first photo of her, the one wheres she is sixteen too. He studies it, knowing that by tomorrow the photo would be gone. Just like the others. That was how it worked anyways. The photos only lasted a day. The next morning, the pictures would be gone. All he knew about her would be her face, which he was going to imprint into his memory as best as he could. The universe seemed to enjoy playing games with people, so again after the one day, your memory of the photo was foggy. Very foggy. It wasn't until you actually met your soulmate when you would remember the photos you saw when you were sixteen. So, her studied her. Even laugh line, every beauty mark, every freckle (she had them sprinkled in every so lightly on her nose). He would remember it all, he told himself that. So that way when he saw her, he would know. But of course, forgetting was inevitable.

He smiles at the photo, biting his lip in a failed attempt to stop his smile from growing. It all seemed surreal to him. A soulmate. He had one? He, Alexander Michael Karev, a boy who had to grow up much younger than most, had a soulmate? Someone who would be okay with his crap?

The man was far from a romantic. He gagged at chick flicks and still felt uncomfortable when he saw any form of PDA, whether it be him or anyone else, but he swore, he thinks this girl would make him okay with everything. For this girl, he could see himself do anything. He would jump in front of a bear for her. No doubt. It didn't matter that he had never even met her. He just knew.

He shrugs the sappy thoughts away, scoffing at himself, in an attempt to not lose his 'tough guy behavior'.

Get a hold of yourself Karev. She's just a girl.

But even those thoughts couldn't erase the smile from his face.

____

On the night before her sixteenth birthday, she was anxious. Really anxious. And scared. She could barely sleep that night, tossing and turning without being able to stop in the backseat of her car. But she knew the envelope wouldn't come unless she slept, since it only showed up after you fell asleep. So, she squeezed her eyes as tight as she could like a little girl wishing to see fairies and let the exhaustion of the days events take over her.

As she awoke the next morning, she temporarily forgot everything. For her, it was jut another day, trying to pry her exhausted eyes open, her mind having a battle with her body. She makes tiny noises as she drifts towards consciousness, her brain foggy with jumbled words and half made thoughts.

When she does manage to open her eyes, she sees an orange envelope tucked into the car's window from the inside. She doesn't think much of it at first, her brain still not on the cognitive thinking side of things, until she wakes up a bit more, remembering the day it was.

She sits up with a start, grabbing the envelope and opening it carefully, but still so quickly that the photos were tumbling out.

She picks up the first from the deck. A photo of her soulmate on his sixteenth birthday. And damn, she was a lucky woman.

He had a sharp jawline, no scratch that, a really freakin sharp jawline. Like you could run your finger across and you would end up with a cut. His messy-yet-styled hair was a dark brown. He had a broad build, biceps pulsing out form the white t-shirt he wore, and a really freakin sexy half smirk. His eyes were a dark brown like his hair, but his eyes, they held something familiar. They held, loneliness. Longing. Exhaustion. That was a big one. At first glance, you couldn't tell, but she could see, behind the eyes of dark brown and bits of green, he was exhausted. Exhausted of what? She didn't know. But she could tell, since she was sure she had the same in her orbs too.  Loneliness. She felt that one too. But him? Lonely? He didn't look like the lonely type. He looked like the guys she saw at her school, the ones were girls falling at their feet and at least five different men to meet him every morning by the lockers to do a 'bro hug'. But she knew to not make assumptions. Longing. What was he longing for? A better life? Better parents? Better friends, better grades? She had no idea, but the look was clear in his eyes. But there was one more thing that shone in his seas of brown. Hope. The day of the photo was of the day of his sixteenth birthday. Could the glimmer of hope be for her? Could she be the cause of someone to believe. Probably not, but still, it never hurt to dream.

The second photo was of him the day they meet. And once again, she was a lucky lady. She couldn't quite see what he was wearing, but it looked to be some type of flimsy dark blue materiel. He had a half snarl on his face, but it didn't really look awkward, like she assumed it would on others. It looked natural, like he'd done it so many times before, it just came with ease.

He had the slightest bit of a stubble on his face, looking like he'd just shaved that morning or the night before, a bit more hair visible in the mustache area. His hair was a bit shorter than the previous photo, but not by much. It was better styled, but still looked like he had run his hands through it too many times to count. She sets the photo down next the the other one, taking a deep breath before flipping over the third and final photograph.

She intakes a sharp breath upon seeing the picture, tears pooling in her eyes at the sight in her hand. It was her soumate, lyig in a pool of his own blood, the red liquid coming from his chest.

He was shot.

In the chest, she assumed. That's where the most of the blood was at. She bites her bottom lip, trying to keep it from trembling. He was what seemed to be a metal box. An elevator? That seemed most likely. His blood stained clothes were previously a light blue, his hair shorter than the previous two photos.

The clothing, it liked familiar. Where had she seen them before? She racks her brain, trying to identify what her soulmate was wearing, purposefully ignoring the large sum of red surrounding the man.

A small smile graces her lips. Scrubs. She'd seen them on a few people when she went into town. So that meant he was doctor. Right? Or a nurse, but he didn't really look like he would be a nurse. And his scrubs were a different color than the ones in the precios picture. She assumed the clothing were scrubs in the second photo as well.

She swallowed thickly. It hurt. She felt the pain. The pain of her soulmate getting shot. It hurt like hell, and she wasn't even experiencing it first hand. But it still hurt. It felt like someone was grabbing her heart and squeezing it. It wasn't the same type of pain, but it was still pain nonetheless.

With that she sets the photo down. The fear starts to kick in then.

How would he soulmate feel about her past? He looked normal. Despite the loneliness and longing in his eyes, her looked normal.

What if she screwed it up? What if he couldn't deal with her crazy? She was Brooke. Hobo, car living, foster home, no parents Brooke.

She shoved the thoughts aside. He was her soulmate. The handsome stranger with the dark eyes that were somehow calming was her soulmate. Who knows, maybe he was just as screwed up as her.

____

Alex Karev had always been impatient. Ever since he was a little boy really.

So imagine how impatient he was when he was twenty nine years old and had still yet to meet his soulmate.

Her loved Izzie, and she had lost Denny, her soulmate. They made each other happy. They loved each other, she was probably going to die. He loved her, so they got married. He got married to someone who wasn't his soulmate. He had given up at that point. I mean, come on. Twenty nine years he'd been on this planet and he still had yet to meet his soulmate. God, he really wished he could just remember her face. He couldn't remember a single thing. Everything else from the day was clear, but the photos that held his soulmates face were a complete blur, nearly nonexistent. All he could remember were his feelings. He remembers thinking she was really hot. And he remembers feeling really happy. Too happy. He pushed the feelings aside. He loved Izzie.

And it hurt like hell when she left. They had their arguments, sure. But he loved her. He waited to kiss her because he wanted it to be special. He gave her a cupcake on her birthday because he wanted her to know she was loved. He wanted to let her know that she wasn't just another notch under his belt. He was a jerk, he knew that. He could be grumpy and he pushed people away. He guessed he pushed Izzie away.

He didn't know if he was ever going to meet his soulmate. He tried dating by and only had a list of failed relationships. And then the plane crash happened. He should've been on that plane, but Robbins boarded it instead. Maybe he would've been the one to lose a leg. Then Robbins would still be happy and making Alex gag at how in love her and Callie were. They were soulmates. It seemed like everyone had already gout their soulmate. Meredith had Derek. Callie had Arizona. Owen had Cristina, even though they had more than many disagreements. Bailey had Ben. Everybody had somebody.

Except him.

And that freakin sucked. So, he slept with the interns. Lots of them. Stacy, Tina, Irene, Brooks, Murphy. He'd pretty much given up on meeting his soulmate. At thirty-two he had still yet to meet the girl from the photographs.

So, sleeping with the interns and having non serious , inappropriate relationships with them it is.

____

She had always been impatient. When she was six she once punched a boy because one; he was being a complete ass, and two; he was taking too long to give her the crayon. he deserves it. he was making fun of her and purposefully trying to flatten the green crayon just to annoy her. he deserved the punch.

So when she met a man who treated her like a queen, who didn't beat her down for not having parents and living in her car she felt amazing. He called her beautiful and showered her with gifts and expensive foods. she didn't really care about that though, she enjoyed when he would delicately hold her like she was a porcelain doll. When he would greet her with a deep kiss after he came home from work.

She loved him so much that she agreed to marry him after only being together for eleven months. She knew Paul wasn't her soulmate, but a man who treated her so nicely, a man who was ever do handsome, wanted her? Who treated her with such love and tenderness, so what if he wasn't her soulmate. She was twenty three years old and hadn't met him yet. And if this amazing guy wanted her and loved her as much as she loved him, than it was okay, not being with her soulmate.

She held onto that love. She held onto that love for three years. Three years of beatings, begging that the man who showed her so much love and kindness would come back and stay.

Because Paul wasn't always bad. Some days he would come home and give her that breathtaking kiss as he walked through the door. Some days he still held her like she was a little porcelain doll.

Some days he did still show her that love like he used to that first year. But those days were few and far between.

She wished she had just waited. Gotten over her impatience for something real and waited. Maybe then everything would be okay.

Maybe one day she'll meet him.

....

She was no longer Brooke. No more with Brooke Stadler or the various names she took from all the different foster homes.

Now she was Jo. Josephine. Josephine Alice Wilson. It's who she felt like.

Jo. It was a bit old-timey, sure. But she liked it, the fact that she could probably confuse people who had only seen her name and think she was a boy. She didn't want to be a man, but maybe people would be surprised to see that all this well done work was actually done by a woman.

Jo was strong. Jo was powerful. Jo was the person she had always wanted to be.

She left behind Brooke. Brooke was... she was someone else. Brooke was a survivor. But Brooke was scared. Scared of everything. But Jo?

Jo knew Paul could find her. It would be hard, very hard. And he probably wouldn't, but now she wasn't scared. Brooke would've been scared. Brooke wouldn't been scared shitless. But Jo? No, Jo was far from scared. She was excited. She was eager. Because she had a new start. She got to be whoever the hell she wanted. She could go out and drink with her friends. She could go out and drink until she probably couldn't walk. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. She could wear whatever the hell she wanted. She could talk however the hell she wanted.

Because she was Jo.

But Jo did still want the one thing Brooke wanted. To find her soulmate. Sure, by now she knew that he probably didn't exist and the whole ordeal was just plain poppycock, but she wanted to find him. She really, truly, desperately wanted to find him.

She was twenty-seven years old and had a nonexistent love life. a few random hook ups from a bar were not included.

Maybe here. Maybe in Seattle she would meet her soulmate.

____

She was on Peds today, with Alex Karev. She hadn't  ever met the man before, but she had heard more about him than she cared to. Mainly from Leah Murphy with the occasional input from Heather Brooks. From what she gathered, the easiest way to label him was a man whore. So she wasn't really the most excited to be on his service for the week.

She'd been in Seattle for a month now, starting her internship as Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. She was in love. Sure, doing scut all day and running labs wasn't much, but when she gets to observe from inside the OR? She felt like she won the freakin lottery.

The girl grabbed a trauma gown form behind her attending. "Do you mind" he snarls not even meeting her gaze as he turns around and heads to the ambulance bay.

She says she was sorry, but she doesn't think he hears her.

"Why are you following me?" she doesn't know why, but for some reason his voice gives her butterflies. She hadn't gotten a look at his face yet, but she assumed it was turned into a grimace.

"I'm your intern for the day." her voice sends tingles through him, shooting down his spine. He hadn't seen her yet, but her voice was strangely comforting.

"Hello intern you got a-" he starts, stopping as soon as he looks at her.

He feels breath get caught in his throat. no, surely he was imagining things. Right?

She feels like she can't breathe. That face. It was the same one as the one she saw on her sixteenth birthday. She remembers him. His sharp jawline and tiny bit of stubble.

And those eyes. she remember those eyes.

They held the same things as before. Loneliness, longing, exhaustion. But now, the tiny glimmer of hope she once saw was bright, not like the barely there she saw once before.

He felt everything in that moment. She was just like he remembered. Her long brown hair was swept up into a low updo, two dark strands framing her face. She had that little beauty mark by lip. And her eyes, they were truly everything. They showed him what she was feeling, surprise, disbelief, a bit of fear, hope. he knew his eyes were telling her the same thing.

They're not sure how long they're standing there in the middle of the ambulance bay, oblivious to the two other people next to them.

She wasn't sure how long it was until he broke the silence, a large crooked smile making its way onto his lips.

"Hi."

he whispers so delicately, like if he were to speak any louder the world around then would shatter.

She feels he smile widen, but now grinning from ear to ear.

"Hi."

[soundofseventeen]

Snapshoot (OT13)

Hi, in case y’all didn’t know, I have declared war on Erin and Haley and this was one outcome lmao! It’s also one of my favorite songs and I’m really happy with these! Credits to the owners for the gifs!!! I couldn’t find names!!!!!

Seungcheol: (Ahh, that’s how it’s done...3,2,1 shoot) the way you had fallen on your butt when you two had decided to take an evening stroll after dinner one night. You circled the nearby park a couple of times when you noticed your shoe had become untied. You let go of Cheol’s hand and knelt down to tie it up. You’d been so focused on looping the laces, you didn’t notice the furry little creature trotting up to you until it barked to get your attention. You let out a small yelp and fell back from the scare, only to squeal in delight when the pup sniffed your face and licked your cheek. She ended up sitting next to you while you petted and cooed her. Seungcheol took out his phone and snapped a photo of you nuzzling noses, the biggest smile on both your faces, until the rightful owner came calling for the pup a moment later and she vanished, breaking your heart. Cheol did help you up eventually, shaking his head at your expression. He posted all over social media, gushing over your cuteness.

Jeonghan: (snap shoot, you) the way a bucket of paint managed to fall, spilling the orange color all over you. After agreeing to help one of your friends paint their new house while they went furniture shopping, you invited Jeonghan to help you. Okay, he wasn’t really helping, but he did occasionally dip his brush in the paint and got it on the wall, and he liked changing every song that came on because it didn’t fit the mood, but you couldn’t complain much. At one point, Jeonghan did get up on the ladder to paint the parts you missed (because his eyesight was better than yours), and when he had forgotten he had the can of paint on the top step, he buckled his knees and one of them hit the can and it spilled on the ladder and on you while you were removing the tape. He captured the perfect moment with you rubbing the paint off your clothes and hair, the laughter being heard throughout the house. And before he could do anything else, you splashed a different color of paint on him and going to hug them so the colors could blend together as well as you did.

Joshua: (the way to set the focus on you is a tutorial of love) the way you held his guitar in your hands. In the entire time you’ve known Joshua, his most prized possession had never been far behind. In the midst of his collection of rice cookers, Winnie the Pooh plushes and never ending love letters, his guitar had been his first and only love. He loved dedicating a few minutes of his day playing Encantadora, the name he had given her because he was so enchanted by her. And whenever you hung out together, he’d always ask if it was okay if he could fill the silence with her music. And it’s not like you could say no. Sometimes he sang along with her and sometimes she sang alone, but both were always beautiful. The last time he was at your place, Joshua had been called back to work for some last minute changes and Encantadora had stayed with you since then. You were always afraid of carrying his guitar, because of the things that could go wrong and you couldn’t handle him hating you if something did happen. So naturally, it stayed on your couch where you hardly moved her. But Joshua was picking Encantadora up today, so after Google searching what was safe, you cleaned her up, making sure to rid any specs of dust. Curiosity eventually got the best of you and picked her up and fixed her on your lap, strumming the chords lightly and cringing because she didn’t sound anything like when Joshua played her. Joshua had quietly let himself in during this time, just in case you were asleep, and he saw you tenderly caressing the strings, you frowning when it didn’t like the way you expected it to. He smiled, exiting the app he currently had and opened the camera. He clicked the button a couple of times before announcing his presence and taking a spot next you, showing you how the basics. 

Junhui: (capture this moment right now) the way you stopped to smell the roses, literally. One of Junhui’s favorite times of year was the rose festival. Businesses all around the Seoul area closed and gathered at the park to support the small businesses. Jun often woke up early to get a good seat for the parade that kicked off the momentous occasion; the only difference was that this was the first time that you’d be joining him. Other than being mostly sleepy and resting your head on his shoulder it was fun. The people on the floats engaged with the crowd, throwing candies and small toys and even fliers to vote. Junhui constantly disappeared and then reappeared with food, only sharing sometimes. And with the parade ending, he brought you to your feet, making you follow it (yes, walking) until you ended up at the park which had been up with various booths, the dj barely setting up his stage, and the bounce houses getting ready to go. You didn’t know how Junhui managed to fit so much food in his stomach throughout the day, and how many items he buried in his pockets and once he started getting recognized by the fans, he had to hide in one of the public bathrooms until you got him a hat and sunglasses. And once the early evening followed the humid afternoon, he pulled you onto one of the benches to let you catch your breath and once you were on your feet again waiting for your ride, you recounted the day’s events, you swearing you were gonna be full for the rest of the year when you noticed the rose bush. You stopped in the middle of the story, making a beeline for the bush and petted the flowers, adoring the color and everything and even inhaled the scent, praising their beauty and you didn’t notice Jun pulling out his phone and taking pictures of the candid moment, your nose pressed to the petals, your skin tone complementing the rose.

Soonyoung: (to me baby, you are the greatest gift) the way you ended up falling asleep on him curled up on the couch. He had just come after an exhausting practice and all he wanted was to cuddle you in his arms until his idol duties separated you again...or until his limbs fell off; whichever came first. He opened up Disney plus, telling you about the movie that he had been wanting to watch since forever just to see if he still remembered it. Soonyoung found the movie, pressed play, and let you snuggle close to him, throwing a blanket over yourselves. At one point he asked you if you wanted to order pizza for a late, late night dinner when he noticed you weren’t responding to him. He turned to you, ready to ask again, but he saw your eyes closed, breathing in and out deeply and he smiled. He kissed your head and fumbled around for his phone, wanting to capture the moment. He finally found it and after turning off the flash, took a couple of photos, even coming in for a few of them and sent them to you so you’d have something to look forward to when you woke up in the morning. 

Wonwoo: (let’s remember this happy day; let’s capture it in a picture) the way you lit up with your photocards. Wonwoo had promised you that when your albums from the other kpop group that had stolen your heart arrived at the boys’ dorms, he’d let you know (even though you got the notifications by email to track their every movement.) Sure enough on a clear Saturday afternoon, he had woken up from his second nap because of your constant knocking. He let you in, rubbing his eyes and grumbling how he could never get any peace and quiet, despite being the only one home. You saw the package on the couch addressed to you and you ran, tripping over someone’s blanket. And then the package disappeared from your sight as Wonwoo picked it up and said you weren’t opening it until you had something to eat and as if knowing you, your stomach growled so you complied grumpily slurping the ramen noodles without really tasting them and being the little shit he was, didn’t let you open the box until he finished eating. You didn’t ask for much, just that you’d be gifted with a bias card. Just one, and then you’d be happy. And with each one you opened, you could feel a little sadness at not seeing your favorite face and Wonwoo made sure to capture your reaction each time. You had given up hope at the fact you weren’t getting your bias this time, but still you opened the final album, thumbing through the photos when you saw the photocard. You flipped it over, and then you showed it Wonwoo with a big grin on your face, radiating with the same happiness and he snapped away, the smile making its way to his face.

Jihoon: (you in viewfinder, the focus is auto. Naturally following the movements, it follows you) the way you covered your face when he was singing the song he wrote for you. You had been under the guise that he had been holed in Universe Factory while everyone spent the day in the great outdoors, so he asked if you could pick up his lunch order and bring it to him. You didn’t bother changing out of your comfortable clothes so you left almost as soon as you read his message. He was surprised to see you so soon, but stammered out how you didn’t want him to be hungry when he still had so long to go. Jihoon smiled at your sweet response, otherwise not being able to form any words. You feel your face warming up, so in order to move away from the awkwardness, you asked him if you could hear what he was working on. He was slightly embarrassed but he took a collective breath and went to pick up his guitar and played. Once you realized it was about you, you looked for something to hide behind so you didn’t notice that Jihoon had stopped playing and quietly pulled out his phone and captured the moment until the sound gave it away but he set it to his lock screen to remind himself of his muse. 

Seokmin: (to me, you’re the most precious) the way the wonder etched across your face. You weren’t sure how you managed to convince Seokmin to play hooky but here you were at the sea turtle reserve you volunteered at during the season. You showed him the in and outs of the place, giving him the rundown of how you normally spent your time here. He nodded along, not really understanding a lot but he enjoyed hearing you rave about it and seeing you light up. You even got to show him the nest that you found one day while picking up trash and gave him an estimated date on when they were gonna hatch. You picked up an egg, dusting the sand off when it began to shake and move. Seokmin, not knowing what else to do, searched his phone, finding it in his back pocket, and almost dropping it while trying to unlock it so the perfect moment wouldn’t pass him by. He snapped several of them, from the way the shell cracked open to the way the baby sea turtle popped its head out, all the while you being so mesmerized with a live baby in your palms and he swore he found a new favorite animal as you gingerly placed it on the sand and said goodbye before the ocean wave took him home.

Mingyu: (I want to capture that smile, just as the way you are) the way he got you laughing again. After a long week of struggling with your work life and being dragged into unnecessary family drama, Mingyu snuck into your house and turned it into a mini photography studio, complete with stuffed animals, all your favorite foods and running up your energy bill from all the light sources. The moment he heard you unlocking your door and stepping inside, he ambushed you with his camera, throwing out every compliment that came to his mind and it took everything in you not to cry into the plush when he tossed one at you. He reassured you that you didn’t have to talk to him but he wasn’t gonna leave you alone until you smiled like you meant it. Mingyu then proceeded to poke your cheek, telling jokes, doing aegyo and impersonating his brothers until the corners of your lips turned upwards and you forgot about your hard week. He even went as far to develop the photos and telling you he was keeping them somewhere in the studio so he could always see you happy (and you bawled.) 

Minghao: (Ahh, this is how it feels like...3,2,1 shoot) the way the leaves fell around you. When Minghao’s Polaroid came in, the first thing he wanted to do was take you out on a date and capture as many moments as he could. The only problem with that was that he forgot to order extra film, so he had to wait until that arrived. The air had a crisp feeling to it, an uncommon occurrence during the hot weather, but he took advantage of that and took you hiking. The camera was a little heavier than he expected it to but he carried it around, nonetheless. The few butterflies that came out, he snapped; the names you engraved on a tree to symbolize you were together forever, he got twice. He even got the little squirrels chattering at you as if getting you in trouble for vandalizing their home. He loved your hand around his, feeling as if you were one with nature. Minghao, at times, felt as if he was looking at you for the first time, because he couldn’t speak. The light breeze that followed you around blew on the tree as you carved your favorite lyrics into a different tree and you had to stop to catch the falling leaves. Minghao, after refilling the film, raised the lens to his eye and clicked on the camera, the candid moment captured and already developing. He was almost sure he’d put the photo behind his phone case. 

Seungkwan: (me by your side and you by my side) the way the fantasy life took over your life. When Wonwoo had raved about a book, your curiosity had gotten the best of you and bought the book for yourself just to see it was worth the buzz that he created and unfortunately for you, it did. Even worse was that Wonwoo failed to tell you that there wasn’t a sequel, but it was a series that just had you ordering all of them at once to save you shipping costs. In that week you read them cover to cover, Seungkwan invited you to Pledis while they worked on songs, vocals, choreos and antics of every size, especially since they stayed late to the point where they went straight home after work. One night while they were perfecting the choreography, you finished another one, and you couldn’t remember where you placed the other book to start reading it, until you found it under Chan’s hoodie and opened it straightaway, immersing yourself in the newest adventure. You missed the way Seventeen finally nailed the moves and the 15 minute break they took to enjoy their soda and burgers and just how loud they were in general. The only thing you complained about was how you couldn’t find a comfortable reading position so Seungkwan took a spot next to and draped an arm around you to bring you close to him and you decided to rest your head over his heart and resumed your reading, although you could feel yourself growing more tired now that you were finally comfortable. Seungkwan picked up his phone that had been charging by an oultet and called you softly once he opened the camera. He placed a soft kiss to your cheek and clicked on the shutter, ecstatic that you didn’t push it away.

Hansol: (a perfect subject that is more than perfect) the way you modeled an old hat you didn’t wear anymore. After your family had threatened to throw away the belongings in your old room, you asked Vernon to take a trip with you to your hometown to clean it out and take with you what you wanted to your new home and the rest could be donated or trashed. He helped you throw your posters away (although that hurt your teenage self a bit), stuffed the shirts you cringed at in a trash bag, and packed some CDs into boxes so you could ship them back. While clearing out one of the drawers on your nightstand, he pulled out a digital camera, the strap decorated in puff paint peeling in some parts. Hansol pressed the power button, unsurprised when it didn’t turn on, so he asked if you had any batteries and you pointed him in the direction of where you remembered you kept them, but you focused more on throwing everything you kept hidden from your nosy family, making sure to rip your notes into tiny pieces in case they decided to rummage through the trash, even going as far as dousing them in water just to be safe. When Hansol managed to finally turn it on, he skimmed across your photos, hardly recognizing the person you used to be but also believing it, since you never lost your smile. He came back into your room, telling you to wear the first thing you grabbed and snapped photo after photo, capturing every movement, even going as far as throwing the hat as you posed for the grand finale. Naturally, Hansol dragged you to the nearest place that developed photos, and picked out a book to keep these in. 

Chan: (I know, even if it turns to be hard somehow, but since I have you, everything is alright) the way you couldn’t stay still before getting ready to go to work. When you had quit your last job, you felt a mixture of emotions but mostly the relief of no longer taking people’s shit and the fear of not knowing how you were gonna survive without money. Chan had been more than helpful, letting you move in with him while you got back on your feet. During those days, you had grown closer and eventually started dating, and you found a short college course that could help you in achieving something close to what you wanted. And when you received the degree, you immediately looked for a job in hopes of paying Chan back as soon as possible (even if the idea did offend him. He was more than happy to help you out after all. It seemed that Chan was your good luck charm because you found it...your dream job and got it almost as quickly. You guys celebrated that night and you found yourself being unable to sleep the entire night and you were still up early the next morning. Chan, feeling more like a proud parent than a supportive boyfriend, made you breakfast while you got ready and didn’t let you leave the house until he got many, many, many pictures of you to show off to his friends when he left for Pledis. He sent the selfies to you as a way to remind you that you could conquer the day.

[ronnieandrews2020]

97

A Cuba libre appears out of nowhere in front of her, dainty manicured fingers wrapped around the glass. Lazily, Veronica looks up to see the person who's seemingly offering her the drink. "Refill is on me," grins the woman. Long brown locks, olive skin, and heavy mascara on her long eyelashes, the girl is undoubtedly pretty. And certainly a couple of years younger than her based on the girlish flock of bracelets adorning her wrist and her candid smile. Veronica eyes the glass, then the pretty girl that's grinning widely at her and decides not to go against it. Tonight is one of those nights she'd happily drown the tiredness of a long day at her firm in a glass of rum, savoring exquisite music before falling asleep in her lover's arms. But, the girl is still here, looking cute and a little hopeful. She may be a fan. "Gracias" breathes out Veronica as she takes the first sip of the drink that is burning her throat. The girl's smile gets wider as if satisfied that Veronica didn't refuse the glass.

"This one is a total hunk," She says, waving to the stage with her own drink, a hot-pink cocktail, sugar-rimmed, something Veronica would never order. She's very glad the stranger paid attention to the empty glass she abandoned on the counter. Veronica follows the girl's gaze and it lands on the handsome vocalist of the band playing tonight at Toni's luxurious bar. Guitar hanging on his hip, "the total hunk" is singing his heart out to a cover of "My Heart is always yours" by Arkells. "He is a tall glass of water I wouldn't mind drinking from..." continues the girl in a deep sensuous voice before she takes a long sip of her vibrant drink as if to back up her comment. "Or I could lick the rim of his..." she trails off and Veronica catches the girl's gaze lingering on the man's torso, the tight blue shirt truly doing wonders to his muscular frame. "Wouldn't you?" asks the girl when she's done ogling voraciously the handsome singer. "Hn." simply replies Veronica before dipping her lips in the drink. Her disdainful pout doesn't seem to perturb the girl who, on the contrary, turns on her stale to completely face her, stretching out an arm with her undefeated smile always in place. "I am Carla" After a moment of stalling, Veronica finally shakes the hand offered by the stranger with her fingertips and murmurs: "Veronica." "A pleasure, Veronica" answers the girl, lowering her voice and keeping her hand in hers a little longer than necessary. "I can easily understand that wannabe heartthrobs aren't everybody's type..." hums mockingly aforesaid Carla before leaning forward to tuck one of Veronica's raven curls behind her ear. She's definitely not a fan. Veronica doesn't move, quirking an eyebrow and smirking to herself when she understands what it was all about. "I never said he wasn't my type" points out Veronica, putting down the glass a little abruptly as she watches the girl's reaction. "You didn't say he was either" She is quick to answer, pointing her finger at her. Veronica can't help but smile, mi-amused, mi-annoyed by the girl's juvenile reaction. Does Toni allow underage girls in her bar? "So you're saying you're only into boys?" "I didn't say that either, Clara." "Carla" corrects the girl but Veronica dismisses it with a loose wave of her hand that she knows makes her haughty. "You jump way too quickly into conclusions and labels" Veronica points out before gesturing to the bartender to remove the glasses from the counter. She doesn't get to relish in Carla's confused expression that the bartender is already serving them two glasses of water. " Drink up. I am gonna save us some time" Veronica almost shoves the glass in the girl's hand. "I don't think you're allowed to drink alcohol" "I am 21!" retorts Carla with a scandalous pout that doesn't help her cause. Considering Veronica's unimpressed expression, she starts fumbling in her little sequined bag to retrieve a driver's license that effectively reads that the girl is 21. Veronica has seen enough fake identity cards in her life to know that this one is real. "You might be 21 but you're acting like a crazy hormone-driven teen. And you're being disrespectful," states Veronica, tiredness, and annoyance drawing out her sentence. "The singer you just labeled as a "wannabe heartthrob" had his face plastered on the front page of Rolling Stones this morning. Besides, it took Toni, the owner of this place and one of my very good friends, months to fit this charity gig in his schedule" Veronica pauses to takes a sip of her water while the girl's face is decomposing in front of her. "So, I don't know how you got in but if you don't appreciate good live music when you have the chance to come across it, feel free to leave" Her words hang in the air and based on the look on the girl's face, Veronica thinks she's either going to actually leave or tear up (which admittedly makes her feel a little guilty). But, against all odds, Carla burst out laughing. "Wow. Are you a lawyer or what?" she asks jokingly and Veronica can't help but smirk. "Oh my god! You're really a lawyer!" realizes the girl, still chuckling like it was the funniest twist. " On a more serious note, ' starts Carla when she's done giggling foolishly "I am sorry if I came across as disrespectful of the band or the efforts of your friend to have them here tonight," and the girl seems truly sincere, making Veronica regain some sympathy points for her. After all, she's just a young woman trying to sympathize. " You're spicy and badass. I like that" continues Carla soberly, with a little earnest smile. "Are you trying to flirt? Because you’re embarrassing yourself" teases Veronica with a playful smile ghosting her berry-painted lips and it makes the girl chuckle again. "Seriously Carla, you're cute and funny but I am married and very much in love" She reveals, waving her diamond ringed finger as Carla's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh." "But I am sure you'll find a very attractive "hunk" or "spicy girl" to drink from... or whatever it was.." trails off Veronica, gesturing to the crowd in front of them that's singing along the last verse. "Not a chance" dramatically sighs Carla, "Every woman here wants to jump his bones," she says, waving back at the fiery gorgeous singer. "Where's your hubby anyways?" asks distractedly Carla, her eyes back devouring the singer. "Working..." murmurs Veronica behind grinding teeth. Carla doesn't pick up on her tone and pursues, eyes still glued on the stage. "He's really a dreamboat..." then, she turns back to face her, a glimmer of hope in her eyes "Do you think your friend Toni can get me backstage?" Veronica scoffs in disdain as she jumps out of her stale at the same time the singer hits the last note. "Don't judge me! Everybody's not as lucky as you to be in a happy marriage and all..." Carla's words are drawn out by the stream of applause and screams that Veronica joins excitedly. Suddenly, it feels like the tiredness and laziness leave her body as the gorgeous lead singer starts speaking. "Thank you, everybody! This one was for the gorgeous girl at the counter. My beautiful wife who's always here to support me!" Mic pointed to the back of the room where a spotlight is enlightening her, Archie shouts: "My heart's always yours Veronica Andrews!"

Her heart starts beating stupidly fast when she meets his loving gaze. All fiery hair, strong jaw, and warm golden eyes. He's really a heartthrob. Her heartthrob.

She doesn't bother turning back to see the bewildered expression that she can easily picture on the girl's face and only murmurs back, so low that she could be speaking to herself.

"I am a lucky girl. I'll admit that. "

[meditatemoremedicateless]

Gold Can Stay: The First Of Many (epilogue)

Art by @nerdylazorz​

Summary: Max, Chloe, and Rachel reach the end of their journey in LA, but their lives together are just beginning.

In tribute to @raycats and @loveisstrange-vn.

Part 8 of 8 Read the full story on Ao3 or ff.net.

My first time seeing L.A. is . . . not impressive.

We arrive about half an hour before rush hour, but even so, there is traffic into and throughout the city. We drive by an untold number of small businesses and chains until the whole city sort of blurs together. It was like this for me in Seattle too, at first, but without a place to get settled, the feeling never quite fades. The plan is to sleep parked near the beach somewhere tonight, so the three of us agree to eat something and make our way to Santa Monica Pier.

The Pier has all sorts of stuff - a small amusement park and an arcade, for starters - but we don't have much time before closing. Around sunset, Rachel grabs my hand and waves at Chloe, dragging me along swiftly to the Ferris Wheel.

It is sunset by the time the ride starts, and Rachel wastes no time taking my hand and resting her head against my shoulder.

"Tired?"

She nods, nuzzling me. "All this driving's got me wiped. If there's one thing Arcadia Bay's got up on LA it's got to be the time spent cooking in a pickup truck waiting for the car ahead of you to move ten feet."

I let go of her hand so I can wrap my arm around her instead.

"Yeah, you're right. That's the only thing Arcadia Bay's got going for it."

"Yep," Rachel replies, nodding even more emphatically. "Only thing."

I stroke her hair and she leans on me even more, like a cat pressing against my leg.

I ask her, "So, what's it like being back in LA? Is your strength returning? Do you like Fallout Boy again?"

"1) Yes and 2) I never stopped."

She sits up straight, though still so close to me I can keep my arm around her. We're at the height of the wheel and her face turns wistful.

She says, "It's like . . . watching a movie trailer. Being back here on an adventure is more fun than it will really be when I move here, I know that. It's going to be really hard, even with a job to get me started. But all the same, I can't help but be excited to return. To be back home."

Even though I've never lived in L.A., I know what she means. Home is waiting for us here - both the new and different, and the intimately familiar. It's the future.

"I can't wait for a holiday to come and visit you," I say, squeezing her shoulder.

Rachel laughs, warm and sweet. "I haven't even left yet!" she giggles, waving it off. After a beat, though, she says, "By the way, I'm going to get a queen-sized bed, so when you do visit, we can sleep together comfortably. I'm looking forward to more motel-style comfort instead of fighting you for my covers."

I dodge the taunt with an, "Aww, you're sweet," and kiss her cheek. She turns to me for another kiss, long and gentle, and her giggling softens to silence.

A minute later, our foreheads resting together, I say softly, "Be my girlfriend." I had planned to ask, and ask all cute like 'Can I be your girlfriend,' but in the moment I just want to have her, to know that she's choosing me like I'm choosing her.

"Okay," she whispers back, and the instant I see her crack a smile, I kiss her again.

The kissing continues for a long time, my self-consciousness gradually fading away to press kisses to her neck and collarbone. Once we finally pull away to take a breather, I feel the need to blurt out, "Just so, um, you know - I've always wanted to have sex on a Ferris wheel. Not this one specifically, but, um -"

My sentence quickly mutates into meaningless mumbling as Rachel's hand slides from my knee along the inside of my thigh. That draws out a smirk on her face, and she leans close to me like she's going to start kissing my neck. I'm steeling myself against turning into just a puddle of a person when she whispers, strangely husky, "Oh yeah?" right against my ear.

I'm still racing to figure out how to deal with very suddenly wanting to have sex on this Ferris Wheel when the ride stops with us half-way down. The ride is over. It's time to get off go.

Rachel kisses my cheek and leans back as if we were just casually avoiding the ride. "I'll have to bring you back here sometime then, huh?"

I don't think I manage a coherent response before it's time to get off the ride.

We spend most of the next day at a tattoo parlor. Even though I promised Rachel that this is what I wanted to do to celebrate, I hadn't been all that into tattoos until I moved back to Arcadia Bay. Plus, it hasn't even been a month since it became legal for me to get a tattoo!

Despite all of that, I'm the first one to decide on a design I like. I'd been sketching out different deer over the past week, but after I do a few tweaks, I show it to the artist and she assures me it'll be easy enough to do.

I barely bleed, which I take to be a good sign, even if it hurts like hell. I get a small doe on my right shoulder blade, looking up at three stars in the sky. If Chloe and Rachel get why I added the stars, at least they don't say anything about it. Even I think it's a little cheesy.

Chloe's much faster about making up a design than Rachel, and she's in right after me. She shows three designs to the artist, but after mulling it over (and being egged on by Rachel), she decides to get all three design on her forearm - a raven, a blue jay, and a butterfly. She insists she has a good reason for each of them but refuses to explain to anyone 'who isn't her wife' so Rachel and I are just left googling them to get an idea.

Typical of Chloe, the designs are interwoven and complex, so she only gets the outline done, but even that takes long enough that Rachel is finally able to get an idea of what she wants.

Rachel had a bunch of different designs to start with, but once things got narrowed down to animal themes, she started getting creative. She didn't show us the final design (that she pulled off the internet) and insisted we'd just have to find out once it was taking shape.

I don't know why, but I kind of assumed Rachel would be stoic when getting her tattoo - the dragon wrapped around her calf was so large, I figured she must just be immune to the needle. But as it turns out, she's actually a baby about it. A few minutes after they start work on her shoulder, though, she asks me to sit next to her and hold her hand so she'll stay still. She practically crushes my hand over the next hour, but I can't say I mind being relied on for something like this. For a first date as girlfriends . . . it's pretty nice.

Chloe and I take guesses every few minutes at what the design is as soon as we see it has a wing, but since we both wouldn't stop guessing 'Sphinx' we totally missed the griffin until the head was complete.

We emerge that evening from the parlor looking like we got the shit beat out of us and with so little money I need to text my Mom to make sure we'll have food on the trip back to Arcadia Bay, but it's worth it.

I run into Victoria for the first time the day after we arrive home in the shower room before classes start. She spits toothpaste out in the sink and wipes her mouth the second she sees me, and I brace myself for whatever stinging witticism she has ready for me.

She just says, "You burn really bad, Caulfield."

That's . . . fair. I shrug. "I wasn't really born with the sun in mind, I guess."

I'm not really used to seeing her this early, before all the makeup and styled hair. She looks gaunt, but softer. Almost approachable. Almost.

"How was your trip?"

I smile as best I can this early in the morning, scratching the back of my head. I should have brought my bracelets so I'd have something to fidget with during a conversation.

"It was a great time, I think. I got a lot of really great photos and, I mean, it was my first time in California for anything but a stop in LAX. It's beautiful down there."

She shrugs. "If you like the semi-desert, I guess." If it's meant to be cutting, she doesn't put the usual amount of work into making it sound harsh. So much of her usual spite looks drained away - that, or I'm just really off-guard seeing her without makeup.

I'm waiting to go into the shower and she's waiting to leave, but neither of us actually moves to end the conversation. Instead, we stand there in awkward silence for a moment.

Finally, she says, "I actually . . . saw some of what you posted on Instagram. They were, in fact, great shots. Even the candid ones," she rolls her eyes on the word 'candid', but I think she just means 'pictures of Rachel.'

"Thanks," I reply, smile coming a little easier this time. "Have you heard back about your submission to that gallery?"

"Not yet," she says, shaking her head. Then, settling her stare on me, "But don't get too comfortable. Even if I don't make this one, there will be another. I'm going to come out on top once all is said and done this year."

Even if she's trying to be intimidating, the whole thing feels a little too shonen for me to be cowed. "We'll see about that," I reply.

Satisfaction coats her face, and she finally grabs her shower caddy and goes to leave. Just as she reaches the door, she gives a little back-handed wave and says, "Mazel tov, by the way," and is gone before I can say anything back.

There are many firsts on Tuesday, December 24, when Rachel and I sneak off before a Christmas party with her dad and buddies from his band. It's a crisp, cold afternoon, sunset already fast approaching before it's even hit 5pm, and I hope I'll at least have a few minutes of light for photos by the time we reach the light house.

Rachel pauses when we reach the top of the path, and she drops my hand as I pull away.

"How . . . how did that get here?" She asks, pointing at the lighthouse door where my guitar case sits.

"Trickery," I offer, and she follows me cautiously.

"I thought we were here to take photos," Rachel says, eyes narrows with suspicion, arms crossed over her body. She takes a seat on one of the rocks surrounding the fire pit, and I sit across from her, pulling my guitar from the case.

"Oh, we are. I just didn't say what of."

"What of, then?" Rachel asks, even more suspicious now.

"You. But I have something for you first."

"What is it?" she asks, edging into playful hostility. "Some sort of . . . romantic trick? A sneak attack? 'Hey there Delilah?'"

"Close, and don't think I didn't consider playing that song. But no. I, uh. I wrote something for you."

Rachel's face drops into sudden horror. "You didn't."

"I did."

"Max," she whines, "that's way too good of a gift. I'll - I don't know, cry or something."

"Babe," I begin. It works like a charm, leaving her doe-eyed, if still grumpy. "Please let me play my song for you."

She pouts, pulling her legs up close to her torso so she can rest her hands and head on her knees. "Fine."

She looks nervous, and it makes me want to kiss her, but I can't give in yet. Rachel's so beautiful and sweet that it's hard to ignore, but at the very least, I can channel my frustration at not touching her this very instant into playing.

I strum the keys and tune the guitar one last time, and then begin.

Ashes to the ground Fall the wrong way round World upside down I know I know

Home a distant time Smoke ore clearer skies Everybody lies I know I know

In every way you do More than I could say you knew And life is so strange it's true But so are you

She sits eerily still, eyes trained on me. There's no smile or anything like I expected, but soon she buries her face into her legs with her eyes closed. I don't know what to make of that, but I keep playing.

I will play the game I will take the blame I will break the same I know I know

In every way you do More than I could say you knew And life is so strange it's true But so are you

Ashes to the ground Fall the wrong way round I will let you down I know I know

In every pause you knew Take my breath away, you do And life is so strange it's true But so are you

It's not until the song is over that I can finally hear what I was missing. Softly, softly Rachel cries, and as soon as I hear it, I drop the guitar along the side of a rock. She looks up as I approach, wiping the tears off her face.

"Baby - baby what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Rachel looks up at me, taking a few seconds while she struggles for words. After a second, she forfeits even that, and reaches up, cupping my face with her hands, pulling me down into a kiss.

"I - I told you I'd cry, dammit." She sniffles as we rest our heads together.

A feeling of awe fills my chest, warm and radiant. Not as energetic as electricity, but just as intense. Something new.

"I love you," she whispers.

It's the first time. And not for a second do I doubt it.

It's the first time, and I'm shaking. The cold wind from the light house makes a good excuse, but just the process of peeling off my clothes in front of her is what really makes me tremble. I haven't been topless in front of someone since I was a child, and the feeling of Rachel's hands on my sides are something totally new. She strokes my back while we kiss until the shivering stops, although it comes back in bursts every time she finds a sensitive spot on my skin with her hands or mouth.

That feeling of wonder refuses to leave, and I'm enveloped in it. I've never had what I'd call a 'religious experience,' but if I were to imagine a feeling of holiness, it would be this.

I don't know how many times I say 'I love you,' but it's too many to count.

The weeks after Rachel leaves are the loneliest I've had since I moved to Seattle, and Chloe is right there with me. We try to keep up our regular hang-outs, and when that fails, we try reverting to old habits. After about an hour of doodling on scraps of paper (and Chloe's bedroom floor) with songs autoplaying from her computer, a familiar track comes on. She sighs seconds into the song and rolls onto her back, and I follow suit a moment after.

"Rachel's alarm?"

She nods, "Yeah," patting at her vest pocket for a second. "God that makes me want a cigarette."

"Out?" I ask, reaching up towards the ceiling. The bracelet Rachel made for me isn't as brilliant in the dark of Chloe's room, but it's still pretty.

Rachel lifts her hand up as well. She's wearing a blue and white bracelet I feel like I haven't seen in a long time, or like I've only seen it in old photographs.

"I'm trying to quit, actually."

"Oh, for real?" I roll on my side, and Chloe drops her hand back onto her chest.

"Yeah. I mean, that stuff will kill ya, you know."

I place my hand on top of hers, more than a little happy and very lonely. "Proud of you."

Chloe doesn't respond; all she does is close her eyes and smile, waiting for the song to finish playing.

Anon asked: if youre cis why are you talking about trans issues on the internet. these arent about you. stop being a transphobe and shut the fuck up.

Every part of that makes my blood boil, and I'm not entirely sure why. I just know to the core of my being that they're wrong, even though I've expressed similar sentiments before. I don't particularly care what cis people have to say about trans issues online. But I've thought about this so much, I know it's not just something I made up on the spot. Is that what's really pissing me off, or is it . . .

noirangel: look, I get that you have good intentions behind being mean to me on Tumblr, but I'm going to need you to stop. I provided sources where I could, and drew from the experiences of trans people I know, including myself, wherever I couldn't. I'm not shutting up because these are my real, lived experiences, as well as those of people around me, and I don't appreciate this shit in my ask box just because you want me to be quiet. Please fuck off.

Holy shit. I said it. I really said it.

I'm not sure what to do next. I just typed it out online - can I just leave it like that? Does saying it one time make it true? How do I really know I'm trans?

This deteriorates quickly while I rapidly refresh my blog, waiting to see if there's any reaction to what I said. The first response I get is just a like, but even that feels like a breath of fresh air. The first person to see this, at least, didn't reject me. That's something. But there's someone I'm a little more concerned about than random people on the internet.

Max: hey hon, i've got kind of a weird question. Max: do you think you would still be interested in me even if I weren't a girl?

I expect a lengthy pause, maybe lots of suspicious questions.

Instead, Rachel responds after about thirty seconds with:

Rachel: yeah babe lol Rachel: ur hot and i love you Rachel: why?

God. God, I love her.

Max: haha I was just wondering. Max: I love you too ^^

I drop my phone onto my chest and let out a sigh of relief. That's not quite coming out just yet, but the security for one day is all I need right now.

Our first fight wasn't something I expected at all - I hadn't even realized at first we were having it. It clicked right around,

Me: Do you seriously think I'm cheating on you? Chloe and I are your best friends Rachel, we wouldn't just choose to blow everything up just because you're living away.

Rachel: I know, and I'm not saying that. And it's not like I think you would have chose to do anything, but things happen, you know? Maybe just one time when she was drunk or - or something.

Me: But we seriously didn't.

Rachel: I - o-okay. Fine. If you say so.

Me: Rachel.

Rachel: What, Max?

Me: Look, I get where you're coming from, but I'm seriously capable of making choices around these things. I don't just fall into romantic or sexual situations by pure accident - it doesn't really work for me that way. And if I thought something were going to happen between me and Chloe, I'd talk to you about it. Because I seriously, really wouldn't want to blow up our relationship because my relationship with Chloe has been changing.

Rachel: Has it?

Me: What?

Rachel: . . . been changing.

Me: Oh my god! No! Because I made conscious decisions against it. Please trust me.

Rachel:

Rachel: . . . you're right

Me: Hon, are you crying?

Rachel: Um . . . yeah, sorry, a little. It just, um.

Rachel: Sorry. I just realized none of this shit is about you, exactly. I'm expecting a lot of my own mistakes out of you and that's - that's not fair.

Me: What do you mean?

Rachel: I don't think I've ever been very . . . uh . . . forthcoming with you about what my and Chloe's relationship was like before you came back to Arcadia Bay.

Rachel: We, um . . . so. We were dating, I guess. We never made it super clear, but it was definitely a romantic thing.

Rachel: I loved her.

Me: I know.

Rachel: Did Chloe tell you?

Me: No. Do you remember that night in the motel in San Francisco, right before we started dating?

Rachel: No? Wait, yeah. Shit. Did you hear us talking?

Me: Yep.

Rachel: Well, fuck.

Rachel: Well, yeah. We were together. But we weren't very good at it. I know Chloe blames herself a lot for how it all fell apart, but if we're being honest, I think I was sabotaging it from the start. Chloe loved me so much and it really scared me - like I wasn't worthy of it or I'd mess it all up. Or something. So I made . . . sure of it. And I cheated on her. A lot. And I'd tell myself it was accidental, or that we weren't officially together so it didn't really count, and, just, stupid stuff like that.

Me: That's . . . pretty messed up, sweetie. But I think I get it.

Rachel: Yeah . . . you remember Frank?

Me:  Your ex?

Rachel: Yeah. I started seeing him while Chloe and I were still together. She never actually figured out who I was with, but once she realized I'd cheated on her, she blew up. And things were a total mess for a while, until I stopped seeing Frank and put things back together. And that's . . . right around when you moved back. And . . . we just never really talked out everything that happened.

Me: That . . . makes my first year back make a lot more sense.

Rachel: Yeah.

Me: And to be clear, I think you really messed up.

Rachel: I know.

Me: But I know Chloe doesn't hate you for it, and I don't hate you for it. But I know she's confused and hurt, still. She loves you.

Rachel: I know.

Me: I love you, too.

Rachel: I love you, too, hon. And . . . I. I miss you.

Me: I miss you, too.

Rachel: I miss Chloe too. Not just right now but . . . these past two years. Ever since you came back, it's felt like she's had eyes only for you, and I've been stupid jealous. It made being friends with you complicated, in the beginning. For a lot of reasons.

Me: I can definitely understand that. I'm not mad. We found our own rhythm - eventually.

Rachel: Ha! Just in time, too.

Rachel: Please don't tell Chloe that I miss her. I want to work things out, but it's still too . . .

Rachel: I'm still not ready.

Me: I won't say anything, I swear.

Rachel: You swear?

Me: I swear! I just said so.

Rachel: Okay. I love you. I'm sorry I dragged you down into all of my feelings like this. You're not me.

Me: I love you too. And you're not who you used to be either, Rachel.

Me: Let's . . . in the future, when something like this comes up, let's just talk, okay? I know things between the three of us are complicated, but I think we can make it work. I super believe in us.

Rachel: We're star-crossed, huh?

Me: Totally, actually bound by celestial forces.

Rachel: Even if we weren't, I'd still choose you, you know.

Me: You sap. I love you.

Rachel: I love you, too.

Our graduation is out on the football field across from the main school buildings, with about 100 chairs set out for students and faculty while families sit on the bleachers. It's uncomfortably hot, and most of the students are actively shading themselves with their mortarboard if they think they can get away from it.

Principal Wells clears his throat and says, "And now, we'll be hearing from our Salutatorian, Kate Marsh."

Kate graduates as our Salutatorian thanks to her taking 1 less AP class than Warren, and her speech is the one I'm really interested in hearing. Not that Warren's wasn't good exactly, it's just that he had me look it over a half-dozen times because "you're good at English" even though I scraped by the minimum GPA for college acceptance. Kate has been guarding the content of her speech carefully for months, but knowing her, she probably outlined its entire structure and theme months ahead of time before submitting a totally different speech a few weeks ago.

Kate walks slowly up to the podium, although she and the other students giving speeches are seated only a few paces back from it. She takes a few seconds to look at the paper with her speech, looks up at the audience, takes a deep breath, and smiles.

"I'd first like to say thank you - thank you to Blackwell Academy's staff and faculty, for the exceptional education and facilities you provided to us as students; thank you to my classmates for making this school the most challenging and rewarding year of my life; thank you to my family for supporting me this year and every year until now; and thank you to my friends for making Blackwell my home away from home.

I would like to speak frankly about my high school career. When I say it was challenging and rewarding, I do not mean that just intellectually, or, as those of you who have been through high school might say, socially. I've suffered from depression for many years, most acutely since I entered high school. It wasn't that I was bullied or had exceptional struggles in my life; my brain just ticks a little differently than others. When I came to Blackwell Academy, I lost the familiar things that kept me standing, and even with the excellent instruction available to me here, I couldn't imagine getting through this school year. I guess you could say it was a dark time for me.

But there was light here, and it reached me. My teachers were a light - they treated me with kindness and dignity, and helped me continue my work even when there were days I couldn't make it out of bed. My friends were a light - they stood by me, listened to me, supported me, and loved me. My faith, which had never connected closely with my school life before I came here, was a light I shared with many people, some of whom had the same background as me, but most did not. All of these lights showed me the way forward, even when it was slow and stumbling."

Kate pauses, as her voice is shaking too much to speak coherently. She takes two deep breaths, and continues.

"The kindness I was shown as a student at Blackwell was the most meaningful thing I found here. It gave me hope. Hope not necessarily that I would get better - I do not know if I will ever simply 'get better' from depression - but hope in kindness's power to shine a light, to cast out the dark. To make the world better, even on the smallest scale.

I cannot guarantee that this is what we all found here - our senior years were nothing if not messy, complicated, and different. But I know that this light is precious, and that I will take it with me from this place. It will continue to guide me forward, and I hope that I can be a light for others through kindness and compassion. I want to help make a world where there is always a light there - that if you reach out, there will be happiness waiting for you. I won't be alone for trying. I know that, at least. And a few other things, as I did manage to do pretty OK in school by the end."

Victoria is sitting two seats down from me, and I think she's the only person who doesn't laugh at that. She's made-up, flawless, and sad. We never really became close, and right now, I regret that. I think it's easy to regret the things you did or could have done at the end of the year.

I wonder what Victoria regrets.

"This really has been the most rewarding year of my life, but I think the best one is still to come. Thank you."

Kate bows her head for a moment at the audience as the class and families erupt into applause, then walks away from the podium.

It's some time still until we all throw our hats in the air to conclude the ceremony, but no sooner has mine gone flying than I'm out of the row of chairs and running straight towards her.

"KATE!"

"MAX!"

She holds her arms open and just sinks the impact as I barrel into her, doing my best to crush her with a hug. Luckily for us both, my upper body strength is pretty pathetic.

"You're amazing!"

"No, you're amazing!" she yells right back even though we're 0 inches apart. "And thank you!"

"NO, THANK YOU! That was such a good speech and-"

She shakes her head. "No, come on, weren't you listening?" She drops her hands from around me and takes my hands. "Thank you. Seriously. I love you."

I beam, and squeeze her hands. "Am I your light?"

"Yeah," she answers without hesitation, and I blush.

"Oh, shit, um, I was teasing you, I thought you would say something witty and now I'm, uh-"

She's pleased, wiggling a little bit at my discomfort. "C'mon, say you love me back; I'm like, super anxious right now."

"I love you. You're the best." It feels so good to say that, but I'm doing my best to not fall in love with her at such an inopportune moment.

"Second best, but I think that's probably good enough," she says, pulling me back into a hug. "Stay in touch, okay? No getting so distracted with LA you forget about me."

"I could never, Kate Marsh."

It's some months later that I come home from class to find Chloe sitting on the couch at our new apartment, watching How It's Made with the volume about as low as it can go while still being audible.

"Hey Chloe," I greet her, dumping my backpack near the door.

She turns and waves, only mouthing a 'hello.' Curious, I walk over to find Rachel asleep on the couch with her head in Chloe's lap, curled up so she can fit.

"Oh, there's my beautiful girl," I croon, crouching down in front of them and stroking Rachel's hair. She stirs at the touch, but does not wake up.

"She fell asleep like an hour ago; I've been too scared to move her, like a cat," Chloe whispers.

"I understand."

A minute passes while I pet Rachel and Chloe idly strokes her arm with her thumb, and even though I'm exhausted from the day, I feel light.

"I'm so fucking happy." I sit cross-legged in front of the couch, no intentions of stopping what I'm doing anytime soon.

"Good day at class?"

I shake my head. "Mediocre day. But my life is . . . well. I kind of love it."

Chloe doesn't say anything, only closes her eyes and smiles. For a second, I think I see Rachel smiling, too, but she only nuzzles my hand before falling back asleep.

Art by @cahlart​

[ask-svt-hearteu]

Vampire! Joshua

Genre/Warnings: fluff, historically incorrect probably, mentions of religion that are purely because of this supernatural au, cursing

Word Count: 2278

A/N: surprise :p i was kinda feeling inspired bc this is a superior concept sorry it’s not a request :( but i really hope you guys like this! it’s been a minute since i’ve written something, i hope i portrayed joshua correctly too - admin seri

1800s poster church boy

until he fell in love 

or so he thought 

he was strumming his guitar at choir practice 

sitting at the side while the nun yelled at the girls, a usual day at the church

and he looked up at the sound of the doors opening and saw her

immediately he’s fascinated by things he’s never cared about before 

it was like just the flutter of her lashes made him swoon

poor unsuspecting Joshua Hong, didn’t he know what compulsion was 

for a month after, people said he changed 

he quit choir and began chasing after this one girl 

as were many other men, as they were all too blinded by the compulsion to realize, him included 

but she liked him best, it was the only explanation, because why else would she

he remembers that night, dressed in a tux as her date to one of the many balls she was invited too

being pulled into one of the many secluded rooms by the tug of her nimble fingers on his tie 

feeling the soft touch of her lips 

feeling the pain of her teeth sinking into his bottom lip

she seemed to take great amusement in watching him pull back in horror 

she bit down on her own lip, hard

he watched, horrified as the blood dripped from her lips while she smirked

and she kissed him again in his frozen state

next thing he knew he was laying on his bed with a terribly sore neck 

left with only a short, vivid scene of her baring her fangs and wrapping her hands around his neck 

she was gone and so was the compulsion

he looked into the mirror, ran his hands over the puncture wounds on his neck, and hissed at the pain of a new set of teeth growing

it didn’t take long for him to realize he needed to escape town 

it also didn’t take long for him to meet another vampire

Choi Seungcheol offered him an understanding smile and handed him a ring 

from then on, he was with Seventeen 

becoming a vampire killed any belief Joshua had in god

he was even the ‘I've read the entire bible five’ type, but then again what else was there really to do

there wasn’t much he could say about the topic now, the evidence was clear 

however, his knowledge made him the absolute perfect candidate for his role in Seventeen

because where there’s a small, close-knit town, there’s a church

prominent members of the community reside in the church 

and they know all the dirty secrets

all he was to do was wiggle his way into the church slowly as the young, pleasant man offering to play the guitar during mass 

getting along with all the kids

become the major’s kid favorite 

shaking hands with the major as he grins ‘shyly’ when the major dotes on how much the kid loves him 

sly, sly Joshua 

his job, primarily, is to make sure none of the town leaders catch on to the recent rise in animal deaths 

and that no other vampires left any loose ends or some people suspicious

and especially make sure as hell there aren’t any vampire hunters

so he’s at choir practice with a guitar at his side, smiling softly at the nostalgic sight of the kids singing

til he smells a familiar scent in the air and turns to see Jun

“What are you going here?”

smiling brightly, Junhui points, “the kid my girl babysits gets to play this weekend” 

“she’s adorable” Joshua looks to the little girl standing next to the piano bouncing on the balls of her feet 

“yeah I am,” Jun’s girlfriend buts in cheekily, “thanks Josh” 

he hums nonchalantly, “no problem” 

while the three of them settle to watch the practice, Jun leans in and whispers, “so any updates?” 

“one lady, she’s on the council and is always asks me about our living situation whenever we talk. it’s obvious she’s skeptical. I overheard her talking about the deer Vernon forgot to bury last week too”

“are you going to compel her to stop?” 

he shakes his head, “no, she’s been so adamant, it’ll be too suspicious if she suddenly stops caring” 

“what are we going to do?” 

he shrugs and gives a reassuring smile, “I’ll figure it out” 

later that evening, he finds himself at a council member’s dinner party 

the amount of dinner parties Joshua has been to is astonishing, it really felt like they had nothing better to do with their lives 

so in his dress shirt and slacks, he greets everyone with a shake of the hand or a polite hug

secretly wanting to just down ten glasses of champagne because that’s how utterly unlikable the council members are

managing to escape, he finds himself in one of the many hallways of the mansion and spots a lone figure 

Joshua watches as you examine the picture frames in close detail, as if you were looking as to see what color shoes each person was wearing 

slowly, he takes light steps towards you, standing behind to take a look at the frames himself 

you feel a strange sensation, like that unexplainable feeling that you’re being watched

so you turn your head

“Jesus fuck!” 

you stumble a couple steps away from him

how could you not even hear his footsteps

despite your loud exclamation, he remains cool and only smirks 

“saying God’s name in vain?” he shakes his head mockingly 

you huff, gathering your composure, “I wouldn’t be if you weren’t being so creepy” 

seeing him simply shrug and turn back to the frames, you scowl

“who even cares about that anyways,” you mutter under your breath

“never said I did,” he smiles at you calmly

a very unmannerly snort rises from you, “geez you just keep getting creepier and creepier” 

he chuckles, “Joshua Hong, nice you meet you. you can call me Josh.”

how he hasn’t been the slightest put off by your unfriendliness, you don’t know

“Y/N L/N” 

for the first time, you take him in, finally noticing how insanely handsome he is

in fact, he seems perfect

seeing as you let a little bit of your guard down, Joshua asks, “so tell me about the pictures”

“if you really want to know, Joshua“ you tease, emphasizing the ‘ua’, “this is my family” 

he looks at your impassive expression, noticing the way your tone becomes lifeless when you talk about them 

“this is your house?” 

you smile bitterly, “yeah, it’s nice right?” 

shaking his head he exhales, “I don’t know seems kind of lonely” 

you eye him with a look of surprise and he laughs 

“I live with twelve other guys and I think that’s the only way you could fill a house like this” 

seeing you crack a smile, he grins triumphantly 

“twelve guys? that’s an odd arrangement” 

“it works” 

lifting his finger, Joshua points to one of the pictures, “where’s this at?” 

“the woods just outside of town, that’s my family and the major’s family camping, we go every year” 

finally getting to what he came here for, Joshua says, “you guys probably heard of all the animal deaths in the forest then huh” 

you sigh dramatically, “not you too, seems like the whole council is obsessed with it these days” 

“oh?” 

oh fuck

the chances of this town knowing about vampire seems very high

in a town where a couple families have been in control since forever, those families passed down the secrets

he’d have to ask Wonwoo for more history

“I can’t believe my parents are making me join the council, I don’t know what about turning twenty-one suddenly allows me to handle city politics” 

he makes a note of that and chuckles, “mmm yeah, seems more like a clubbing night instead of an inauguration”

you reach and nudge his arm naturally, “that’s what i’m saying!” 

“another thing also,” Joshua raises his brows amused and tilts his head towards the champagne glass in your hand

“what are you a saint,” you can’t help but smile, “okay holy one, take it from me” 

he almost bursts into laughter at the irony

simply just clinking your glass with his, his eyes sparkle with a playful gleam, “cheers” 

after getting your number, which you will never admit you happily gave him, you both start to talk

from daily conversations simply about each others day 

to both of you dying when the conversation leads somewhere completely random 

you honestly just think, like wow, when has your adult dating life ever been this successful 

but Joshua, when he first found out about you and your family, his only thought was how useful the information you had could be 

though he’s being honest with himself, you had him since that dinner party

not head over heels compulsion type of attraction

just your tough snarky demeanor, no doubt because of the way you were raised 

and the way it fell into a giggly mess meshed with sarcastic comebacks as if you weren’t just laughing your head off

and even if you pretend to be cold-hearted sometimes, you’re the first one to give someone directions or to pick up their fallen papers 

“clearly you like her” Jeonghan laughs, entertained by his close friend’s struggle

“I know that much” he chortles, “Y/n likes me too” 

“and you haven’t made a move because? there’s only so many coffee runs and choir practices you guys can use as an excuse” 

Joshua stares into the moon from his spot on the rooftop, realizing it must’ve past midnight by now 

“today is Y/n’s birthday, they’re going to tell her today” 

“well didn’t she invite you to her dinner party?” 

his lips twitch remembering you ranting about it to him, complaining about the formalities of it all, how you really didn’t want all the council members and their snotty kids, no matter how cute, at your twenty-first birthday

you had reached over and tapped his arm, letting your hand graze against him, “looks like it’s your job to make it worthwhile” 

arriving at your mansion, he’s dressed in his best suit and clutching a bouquet of flowers

he can smell your distinct perfume getting closer and closer to the door and smiles softly when you pause in front for a few moments

you’re feeling just as nervous as he is

“Josh” you greet, finally taken to calling him by his nickname

“you look lovely” he says warmly

he reaches for your hand, bringing it up his lips tenderly and presses a kiss

eyes never leaving his, you breathe deeply

“old-fashioned” you mumble, hoping your twenty-one year old self isn’t seriously blushing right now

“i prefer romantic but you’re the birthday girl” 

you glare at him playfully, “hey only i’m allowed to be cheeky today” 

he lets you lead him around the house, pointing out all the elaborate decorations your parents had set up

he really tries his best to pay attention, but the entire time all he can focus on is how he’s going to break the news of being a vampire to you

for a moment he even thought he could hear his heartbeat but stupid, his heart doesn’t beat

you ended up giving him a tour of the entire house with the pool as your last stop

grabbing his hand, successfully sending sparks up his arm, you lead him outside

he doesn’t let go 

“at least the weather is pretty today” you hum, purposely not talking about your hand in his

“looks like the guests are starting to come” 

you both can hear the sound of guests chattering and expensive cars beeping

“just let me be alone with someone a like for a moment” 

before he can show you any type of reaction you let out a tiny giggle, and use your intertwined hands to tug him closer to you

“do you like me too?” your eyes hold a teasing glint, already knowing the answer

“yes, i do like you” Joshua says firmly

you become serious at his sincere and determined expression 

“so what have we been waiting for?” 

Joshua sighs, unknowingly gripping your hand tighter

“I feel like I should tell you something first, and if it doesn’t work, I need you to forget it” 

“okay”

there were other ways where this could’ve gone smoother, but this information never is smooth anyways

“I’m a vampire”

he watches you cautiously, hoping he wouldn’t have to compel you to forget, because that would really mess with his heart

your serious expression falls into a blank one and he almost isn’t sure that it’s you gripping his hand tighter or the other way around

you let out a shaky laugh, “since when were you so dramatic” 

“what-” 

you cut him off, “that was a bit easier to process than i thought” 

 “than you thought?“ he questions incredulously

“Josh, I found out about vampires when I was 16. I was a pretty sneaky teen so do you know how funny it was for me to pretend this was new information this morning to my parents?” you grin mischievously, ignoring his dumbfounded expression

“so what about me?” 

“you Joshua Hong,” you tap him on the nose, “aren’t as subtle as you think, I’m just smarter than you I guess” 

recovering from his surprise he smirks, “all this time, I was worried about you feeling betrayed, but now I do” 

he pulls you closer, letting the hand not holding yours fall on your waist 

you roll your eyes and stare up at him, realizing how utterly smitten you are with him

“just kiss me already, and please no fangs” 

The Seventeen Vampire AU Series:

| Mingyu | Junhui | Seungcheol | Joshua |

MASTERLIST

[marvel-medigeek-fics]

Candid

This is my entry/fic/thing/whatever for @ruckystarnes’ summer of AUs challenge! I hope you enjoy and remember to check out some of the other submissions! 

Summary: Two rival studios. Two impossibly competitive photographers. Two days of a candid war. A high possibility of a candid romance. *wink wink*

Warnings: none! (except some puns)  

Pairing: T’Challa & Reader 

Word Count: 1963 

——

Friday. 8:07. Shutterfly Photography.

It was bound to be a slow day. Fridays are the slowest days, even without the lazy busy summer feel of the weekend of the 4th of July. You had a gig lined up for the Citywide Block Party that weekend, a celebration you looked forward to every year. Especially the food from the ice cream shop and the barbeque place downtown. Mmmmm.

The door opened just then, interrupting your salivating about the food. You recognized the person occupying your doorway. T’Challa from King’s Photos.

“Howdy,” he said, tipping his imaginary hat. 

“What are you doing here, T’Challa?” you replied skipping the formalities for your rival. 

“Such hostility!” he said in mock outrage, “I was checking to see how we were going to do the block party.” 

“There’s no we in this,”

“Check your email,” he replied simply. You looked for a glimpse of snark, but all you got was a shrug. So you sighed and checked your email. 

Once you had skimmed it, you looked up and narrowed your eyes at your rival. He narrowed his back. 

“So…we’re doing this together,” you said finally. 

“I’m afraid so. We all know what happens when we’re together.” He was no doubt referring to the fact that the last time you two had done anything together, you’d seriously bruised each other. With baseballs. On accident. 

“Let’s just wing it.” You knew this phrase would irk T’Challa, which is why you said it, hoping to annoy him enough to make him quit the gig. But you also knew it was futile because T’Challa is not a quitter. 

“Yes, let’s. Just wing it.” He replied, fighting to keep the scowl off of his face. 

“Just messing with you, how about we just make our way around the park, photographing as we walk?”

“Much better than winging it. Adding to that, why don’t we try and take candid photos. The 4th of July is a pretty casual holiday.”

“Surprisingly, I really like that idea.” 

—-

Friday. 13:38. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

Armed with your trusty Nikon and it’s case filled with extra batteries, you made your way to the far end of the park. It was a perfect summer day, breezy and just barely hot enough to melt your popsicle. You snapped a few pictures of the people milling around and a few more of the band that was set up to play in about 20 minutes. 

After walking around yourself for those 20 minutes, buying an ICEE from the stand, capturing the worker serving a little girl her ICEE, you finally found T’Challa. 

“What is that?” he pointed at the cup in your hand. 

“A strawberry ICEE.” you replied, taking a sip of the slushy drink. 

He still looked confused, so you elaborated, “It’s a slushie. Come on, you should get one.” 

You dragged him to the stand, stopping every few feet to snap another candid photo of people doing people things. A couple kissing at the end of a country song. A little boy presenting his mom with a fistful of dandelions. A braid train of three girls and a very talented boy. You were so busy with admiring the little moments you had captured that you didn’t notice T’Challa come up behind you, ICEE in hand. 

“What flavor did you get?” you said, trying to distract him from looking at your photos. 

“Orange,” he said, smugly looking over your shoulder. But you looked smugger. 

In one fell swoop, you turned around, smeared the uncovered ICEE into his face and snapped a picture. But T’Challa was nothing if not graceful, and he simply wiped off the orange mess off of his face. And onto your bare arm. 

He grinned, aiming his viewfinder and you and snapping, capturing your look of indignation and your hands blocking the camera in reflex. 

“Payback,” he said grinning. 

“Haha. This is a war now, Udaku.” 

“Game on, Y/L/N.” 

—-

Friday. 17:06. Jackson Event Center Parks Grandstand. 

You had taken a lot of pictures over the course of the day, most of them not simple candids, but of the actual band you’d been hired to photograph. The band was the Decade Hoppers, a new band that you’d never heard of before. They were really getting into their music, so they were prime real estate for unposed, casual pictures. Their music was pretty good and without realizing, you’d begun bopping and grooving to the beat. T’Challa took advantage of the loss of stiff uptightness and snapped a bunch of pictures of your moves. 

“Nice moves, Y/N,” He said, coming up to you, snapping a few pictures of his own of the band. 

“Not my best moves, I’m a better slow dancer,” you replied. 

“Oh, I bet, just like the slow dance in 8th grade where you smashed my toes so bad I couldn’t walk for two months.” 

“I’ve gotten better,” you sniped back. 

“Oh, I bet, so you’ll only break two of my toes this time?”

“Only one, if you buy me a milkshake first.” 

“How about zero if I buy you dinner?” 

“It’s a deal, T’Challa. There’s a dance tomorrow under the stars and the fireworks.” 

“Sounds sparkly.”

“You love glitter.” 

“Yeah, I’ll even wear a glitter tuxedo,” he said, walking toward another angle of the stage. 

“You’d better!” you called after him, shaking your head at how quickly that had gone from insulting to taking you out to dinner.

—

Saturday. 9:43. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

The second day of the 4th of July Block Party was always really slow in the morning, most people sleeping in or lazily eating pancakes from the cafes and coffee shops in town. You got a coffee from one of the food trucks serving breakfast. Very appreciated for everyone working at the celebration. 

The coffee was warm, the air was still and there were no sounds except for the occasional banter of the food truck workers and the gleeful screams of the neighborhood kids. It was perfect and with the mere thought of that dance tonight with T’Challa, your heart was making little kicks of joy. 

After finishing your coffee, you snapped a few pictures of the food truck workers sneaking kisses, a few of a volleyball game going on across the street and another few of the sun shining over the buildings. T’Challa appeared after you had snapped a terrible picture of the styrofoam coffee cup sitting empty on the table. 

“Having fun?” he asked, trying to hold back his laughter. 

“I am, actually,” you replied. 

“Want to go have more fun and go to Grace’s?” he replied, subtly begging you to go with him to a place he hated to go in alone. Especially because his ex ran the front counter. He was justifiably scared of her. 

“I would be happy to,” you said, standing up and taking his outstretched hand. In a second he would snap a picture. 

“Still a war going on, you know,” he smirked. 

“Oh, I know.” 

—

Saturday. 10:25. Grace’s Coffee. 

The bell rang as you came into the tiny coffee shop. You had vaguely registered T’Challa taking more candid pictures on the 10-minute walk over her, but you didn’t say anything. It was kind of cute. 

You walked up to the counter, confidently and casually holding T’Challa’s hand just to tick Grace off. “Your usual?” you asked him, knowing full well you had no idea what that was. 

“No, I’ll have french toast and a venti coffee,” he replied, a sudden boost of confidence coming over him as he relayed his order to Grace. “And she’ll have hashbrowns with another venti coffee.” 

“$10.94, sir, it’ll be right out,” Grace said, looking like someone gave her buttermilk in her cereal. 

When you had safely gotten out of Grace’s earshot and were sitting at one of those old fashioned diner tables, you whispered, “How did you know my order?” 

He shrugged, “Lucky guess?” 

You narrowed your eyes but seized the chance to take a picture of his sheepish grin and shrug. And then swiftly took another as the plates of your food slid into their places. 

“Really getting out there in the cultures this week, T’Challa. Yesterday ICEEs, today french toast, what’ll it be tomorrow?” you remarked, trying to get a rise out of him. 

“I’m more traveled than the president, woman, watch your mouth!” he said, waving a fork around your face. 

—

Saturday. 20:13. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

The night was beginning to wind down for the kids, but for the adults, it was just getting started. The snow cone stand was replaced with an alcohol truck and the music was relaxing back into sounds of the 70s, a stark change from the rapid pulse of the 90s. 

The sun wasn’t even close to going down, but the dance floor was getting fired up. T’Challa had come up behind you and whisked you off to one of the still left food trucks. Barbeque. 

“MMmmmmmm.” your mouth watered at the smell. 

“Ready for my part of the deal?” T’Challa quipped. 

“I’ll try not to stomp on your toes on the dance floor. I make no promises for getting barbeque, though,” you replied.

You ordered your usual, short ribs with extra sauce, very salty fries and an extra helping of mac and cheese. When you got back to the table T’Challa had told you to meet him at, he was waiting with an Oreo milkshake. “I thought dinner was the only part of your deal?” you questioned, digging into your food. 

“This is part of dinner.”

“Then I promise to not step on your toes for the entire night.”

“That’ll be a hard one for you, Y/N, but good luck,” 

—

Saturday. 22:19. Jackson Event Center Parks. 

“I’ll take my dance now, Y/N,” T’Challa said, just as the very beginnings of the firework show had erupted across the sky. 

You set your camera down next to his and made your way over to him. The sky was dark, but the fireworks gave off the perfect amount of light. Your hands fit perfectly together and from T’Challa’s smile, you could tell this was a positive revelation. 

The song changed from The Cupid Shuffle to a slow song with very soulful guitar chords and you made your way across the dance floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t wear my glitter tux,” he said, swaying along to the music. 

“You look great in what you’re wearing. I’m not even mad about the lack of glitter tux,” you replied, swaying back, making a conscious effort not to step on his toes. 

The fireworks kept going off in the background, but all you could hear was his breathing, calm, poised and peaceful. And your brain telling you to kiss your rival. You wouldn’t, no matter how cute he was and how sweet he had been today. 

“You look great too, Y/N,” he replied, his voice sending your brain back into kiss him, kiss him, kiss him rapid fire. “Happy 4th of July,” 

 And then he kissed you. Oh, holy macaroni. It felt so nice, you almost gave him a kiss back as soon as he pulled away. “Been waiting for this since the last time we danced and you broke my toes.”

“There’ll be none of that tonight. Just dancing in jeans and kissing under the fireworks,” you replied, smiling contentedly. 

—

 In the background of your first kiss together, the fireworks were still going off and the night was still young. Neither of you noticed the crowd behind you, cheering to the end of the fireworks. You both stood there, looking peaceful, beautiful and best of all, happy. 

It looked perfect, from the memories and from the photos someone took on your Nikons, still sitting side by side.

[fivesaucekisses]

RARE || Awsten Knight Fanfic 1

Chapter Two:

I introduced Waterparks effortlessly and quietly walked off the stage as the curtain drew showing the three men behind me.  They apparently just released an album two days before the show and from the response of the crowd at least a good handful knew about it already.  The crowd roared excitedly as the sound of guitars filled my ears.  The beat made my head bob, but the voice that came out of lilac man was something I was prepared for.  It was rare, you could tell he meant every word he was singing.

I stood behind the curtains, not taking my eyes off of the stage just as infixed as the audience.  My foot started tapping to the beat as I reached for my phone and quickly typed a note to myself: "Waterparks."  I'd have to check them out later.

"Sophia, let's get you back to your seat," Isabel states, coming up from behind me.

"Actually," I smiled, turning around to face her.  "Could I maybe stick around back stage just for a little while?"

She gave me a look that made it seem like I had just inconvenienced her plans, but she sighed giving in.  "I mean I guess you could hang out back here for just a few more minutes, but please be back to your seat after the next commercial break," she pleaded.

I tried to hide my excitement as I eagerly clapped my hands, turning back to the performance just in time to see both guitar players bouncing around the stage.  A few moments later, Otto, the drummer finished with an impressive solo before the lights went out and the crowd erupted yet again.  The curtain fell and the three men came jogging off stage, goofing off as they did so.

"Good job guys!" a man yelled as he met up with the three of them a few feet from me.  He had a camera around his neck and a head of bright red hair.  A colorful bunch, I note.

"I got so nervous just as the curtains came up," lilac guy admits, letting out a breath it seemed like he had been holding.  "I can't believe we just did that," he's suddenly beaming, jumping up and down some.

A smile spreads across my face as I finally take the opportunity to approach them.  "Hey, I just wanted to say that you guys were really great out there," I say as nonchalantly as possible.

"Really?" lilac man questions, shooting me a wide grin.  The other two say 'thank you' in unison before turning to their friend with the red hair who seems intent on not speaking at all as he blatantly stares in my direction.

I give him a smile, trying to hold in my laughter before responding to his question.  "Honestly, I put your bands name into my phone halfway through the song because I wanted to hear more later," I admitted, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"Do you want to hear more right now?" he asks tilting his head to the side just slightly, reminding me of a very cute dog.

"Definitely," I grin, knowing full well I was going to get in trouble with Isabel when I wasn't back in a few minutes.

"I'm Awsten by the way," he says, holding his hand out to me for a simple handshake.  "That's spelled with a 'w'," he clarifies as I nod.

"Noted."

"That's Geoff, and Otto," he says pointing out the other two members of his band as we walk back towards the dressing room I had first noticed him.  "Oh and Jawn, he's our photographer.  He spells his name with a 'w' too, in case you were curious."

Forty minutes later I was sitting cross legged in my Versace dress on the floor in their green room, listening to demo's off of Awsten's lap top he just happened to have on him.  We'd gotten past the star struck phase and gone straight into Awsten's universe and I was so okay with it.

"And right here, I was thinking I could add in some cool harmonies and it would add this dope effect to the sound, so I decided to throw something together and, well just listen," he's talking quickly, quieting down when he wants me to hear something specific.  His music is good, better than good, it's fantastic and his passion speaks for itself.

"Hey Sophia," his friend Jawn says, pulling me out of my trance.

"Hmm?" I hum, looking up at him from the ground where Awsten and I were crouched.

"Is it weird if I ask for a picture?" he asks, clearly trying to tread lightly.  I appreciate his asking and not just doing.

"Oh yeah, totally," I say, running a hand through my hair some in preparation as I began to stand.

"No no, you can stay down there, I just-" he pauses, looking down at Awsten and over to me.  "you two looked really candid, and it'll make the band look pretty cool," he stated as Awsten's face began to get a red tint.

I look over at Awsten who's just a few feet away from me and smile some.  I guess I didn't always have to have the exact right angle for a photo.  Falling back down beside him, I gesture towards his lap top.  "Alright, what's next."

We stay that way for a while, all five of us talking as the music continues to play in the background.  The longer I'm there, the more they seem to relax around me.  They begin kidding with each other, talking about anything and everything, laughing loudly and occasionally embarrassing themselves or each other.  These are the moments I missed the most when I was working 24/7.  Every person I spoke to was normally older, my boss, or a coworker who acted like they liked me for the sake of a film.  A content sigh leaves my lips as my head bobs to the music.

A knock on the door causes us all to quiet down.  It opens seconds later and I see a familiar face come into view.  "Sophia are you kidding me right now?"  Isabel says in a very similar tone to that of my own mother.

"Isabel," I say, standing up quickly, flattening out the ripples in my dress, "Hey."  The four guys stand up, trying to clear out as fast as possible, causing me to frown some.  "Way to ditch," I mutter as Awsten waves at me, a playful smile on his lips as he runs for the door.

"Do you even know what time it is?" She's now shrieking as she grabs my wrist and begins pulling me out the door.  "You have to be at Andy Cohen's after party in less than 30 minutes.  The award show is over and you dipped literally half way into the show.  Not a good come back for you, Sophia."  Her lecture seems to have ceased for now as we walked in silence towards the exit.  I look around in hopes of spotting Awsten or Jawn's bright colored hair but they're nowhere in sight.

A few minutes and a lot more lecture later, I had finally made it to the overly crowded club.  It's now becoming clear to me that I missed the memo of free booze at the event making me one of the only sober people in the room.  As soon as we're through the door's Isabel is gone, probably already beginning to network.  More power to her if she wants to spend every waking moment of her life working.

"Sophia, so good to see you!" I hear a slurred voice say as a clearly drunk Andy Cohen makes his way over to me.

"Hey Andy, this party is amazing.  Thank you for the invite," I say giving him a hug and a smile.

"Oh stop it, you know you're always invited to my parties babe, you're one of America's favorite faces, who by the way has to make an appearance on my show now that you're back in the spotlight" he laughs, shooting me a wink.  I had to hold back the urge to roll my eyes.

"You're too sweet, but I'm only back for the night." I wave off his statement as best I can, patting his arm.

"That's a real shame Sophia.  Don't let that dumb boy stop you from being the true star I know you are," he coos, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.  "I've got to go make my rounds sweetie and you've got to get a drink in that hand of yours," he states, turning me towards the bar before letting go of me.  My eyes can't help but notice a familiar head of purple hair.  No way.  "Go have some fun," he mutters into my ear before disappearing into the sea of people.

Third time's a charm right? I wonder to myself before taking a deep breath and walking over to him.  He's leaning against the bar, staring at the bar tender who keeps blatantly ignoring him and taking other's people's orders.  "Need some help?" I ask, squeezing in beside him.

He glances over to me briefly, smiling some when he does.  "Hey Sophia, are you stalking me?"

I laugh at his comment, trying to hide the redness in my cheeks.  "Actually, I was going to ask you that."  I look back over at the bartender and catch his attention with a quick wave and a smile.  "Hey, could I get a glass of champagne? And whatever he wants," I say gesturing over to Awsten who's just staring at me incredulously.

"Water please," he says, breaking eye contact with me to look at the bar tender who just scoffs at him.

"Water?" I question, furrowing my eyebrows together.  "Bold choice," I grin.

He lets out a slight chuckle, looking down at his hands in front of him.  "I'm a risk taker, what can I say?"

The bartender hands us our drinks and I take a small sip, looking over at Awsten.  He was attractive and his purple hair looked good against his lighter skin tone.  He peers up at me from his glass, noticing that I'm staring.  "Do you have two different colored eyes?" I ask, flicking my eyes back and forth between his.

He lets out a laugh at my bluntness and nods, "yeah, look!" he says excitedly, opening his eyes a little wider and leaning into me some.

I giggle more than okay with him closing the gap between us.  I stare at his eyes intently, noticing the slightly darker hue of his right eye.  "Your eyes sort of remind me of the ocean," I smile some as I see pupils dilate.

He leans back a little, a smile spread across his lips.  "You're very smooth," he admits honestly, laughing some as his cheeks slightly redden.  He grabs his glass off the counter and takes a quick drink.  "For the record, your eyes are a much prettier blue," he says with a nod.

I lean on the bar some, taking another sip of my drink as I bat my eyes at him playfully.  "You think so?"

"You got something in your eye?" he quips back, causing me to drop my act and begin giggling.  He smiles wide again as the silence falls between us, "you're pretty cool," he states matter of factly, seemingly happy with his discovery.

"Do you not think I was cool before this?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"No, I've always thought you were cool," he clarifies, "it's just been that most actresses are fake these days," he winces some at how that came off.  "Wow, uh I'm sorry, that was the worst way I could have said that.  You're great, I swear I think you're the coolest, you're talented, you're beautiful, I mean you're you, you know?" Awsten is full on rambling, trying to dig himself out of a hole and I can't help but smile.

My face is starting to hurt from smiling so much in one sitting.  I cover my mouth with my hand to try and hide my amusement as he continues.  He doesn't stop until he's completely out of breath.  "Can we pretend I stopped talking after I said you were cool?" he asks, red in the face from talking so fast.

"And ignore the fact that you said I was beautiful?" I grin as he scratches his head, now avoiding eye contact with me. "Absolutely not."

"Awsten!" I hear someone shout as we both jump apart.  Jawn comes plowing through the crowded bar and over to the two of us, camera still hanging from his neck.  "We thought you'd gotten lost," Jawn states, shaking his head at Awsten before turning to see me.  "Oh hey Sophia," he smiles and gives me a quick wave.

Awsten shakes his head some rolling his eyes at his friend.  "I've literally been gone ten minutes."

"I can let you get back to your party," I interject, "I've got to make my rounds anyways."

"Hey before you go," Jawn says, turning towards me.  "Can I actually get a picture of you and the band?"

"What he's asking is for you to give us free promo," Awsten says, nudging my side with his elbow.  "Which I think is a fantastically generous thing to do with your social media power," he states holding his hand over his heart.

Jawn laughs as he leads us away from the crowded bar to the tables near the edge of the club.  "Otto, Geoff, come here for a sec," he beckons.  The two are sitting at a booth talking back and forth with drinks in their hands.  They look up to see the three of us and walk over.  "Hey Sophia!" Geoff waves happily as he approaches.  I wave back with just as much excitement.

"Group photo," Jawn states, the four of us come together, Awsten's on one knee in front of me, his elbow resting on his knee and his chin resting on his hand.  God.  Otto and Geoff are on either side of me, smiling wide.  The camera goes off and we all relax before Awsten stops us.

"Wait wait, I need one on my phone, Travis will never believe this if I don't text him immediately," he insists handing the phone over to Jawn before hopping up and standing directly in front of me.  "This is the perfect picture," he says through laughter, his entire frame blocking me from view.  What a nerd.

"Funny," I fake laugh, pushing him to the side a little to pose for the camera a beaming smile on my face as Awsten looks down at me still laughing at his own joke.  Jawn takes the picture amid the chaos and nods with approval at his job well done.

He hands the phone back to Awsten and starts looking through his camera at his other photos.  "This is great!" Awsten shouts, laughing at his phone before turning it to face me.  It was a pretty great picture.  The two of us are in the center, both smiling extremely wide, while Geoff and Otto are on the outsides, with looks between a smile and confusion.  "Please tag me in this if you post it."

"I'll tag you in it, but you can't get a follow from me," he states seriously.  I stop smiling for a second and furrow my eyebrows.

"What? Why?"

"I don't just follow anybody," he says as if I should somehow know this.  Meanwhile I'm literally following thousands of people.

"How many people do you follow?" I ask, now completely curious about this.

"Like 350 maybe?" he says, thinking for a moment.

I stare at him for a moment, in awe.  "You're pretty cool," I laugh, quoting his statement from earlier.

He takes the compliment with an eye roll and a scoff, "I'm posting it right now."  With that he unlocks his phone and opens Instagram instantly.

I try not to stare at his phone too intently as he begins editing the photo, looking up at me briefly.  "What's your handle?" he chuckles before adding.  "God what a millennial thing to ask."

"It's 'thesophiamontgomery'," I say leaning in some to take another glance at the picture.

"Hey hey, look away, you'll see it soon enough," he says, shooing me away, turning his back to me.

"Sophia!" I hear Isabel shout over the noise.  "Sophia, we've got to get going.  There's another party I want to hit before we're done for the night," she says as she approaches me.

The smile I had been sporting almost all night slowly fell from my face.  "Another party?" I ask, trying my hardest not to sound like I was whining, even if I was.

Isabel looks behind me at Awsten who's turned around now, phone slid away.  "Again?" she whispers to me as if he couldn't tell she was talking about him.  Shaking her head some she sighs, "say goodbye to your friends, we have to go," and just like that she's gone again, holding her hand in the air wiggling her fingers around to indicate I had exactly 5 minutes to say my goodbyes.

I turn around to face Awsten who's giving me an understanding look.  "If I follow you on twitter, will you at least consider giving me a follow back?" I ask, as his eyes light up.

He nods, "Absolutely."

Before I know what's come over me, I wrap my arms around him and give him a quick hug.  "It was really great meeting you," I smile as I pull away.

"You too," his cheeks are still flushed pink and I can't help but smile.

I give a small wave to his bandmates and Jawn who wave back.  "Goodnight Awsten," I say, tucking some hair behind my ear as I turn and walk back into the crowd of people, towards the exit.

Chapter Three X

-------

This was a long one, but it was also super Awsten heavy so you’re welcome.  This story can also be found on wattpad if that’s more your scene for fic.  Also I’m picturing Sophia as Barbara Palvin, but you’re welcome to picture her however you please.  This story will eventually have some social media stuff and I needed someone, you know?  Anyways, I hope you enjoy and I’ll see you with another chapter in a week.

[hime-hana]

DATING!JUNG SEWOON

How would dating Jung Sewoon be like: 

first of all, he is truly a sweetheart

he will be the perfect gentleman: pays for dates, opens the door for you, holds your back, lends you his jacket 

very thoughtful about basically everything 

always remembers your favorite things: how you like your coffee, your favorite ice-cream, favorite movie

and giving the fact that this boy is so passionate about music and composing and writing lyrics

the moment you become his girlfriend, you would also become his muse 

expect to have lots of songs written about you 

but he would be so shy when he sings them for you; because I think that just like every artist, he is very critical of his work 

so he would be anxious that you may not like it 

imagine his voice trembling a little whenever he asks you if you liked the song he wrote 

and afterwards the huge smile he has on his face when you tell him you loved it and it was amazing 

will compliment you a lot and not expect you to say anything back, but would be really happy if you do

the relationship will be really cute and I think he is quite a romantic person

so you could expect lots of surprise events from him 

not too big on pda, but will enjoy holding your hand and kissing the back of your palm while telling you how pretty you look when you smile 

I think he would also really love taking pictures of you 

he would have a stack of candid photos of you in his phone and look at it whenever he is away

good morning and good night texts 

“rise and shine, y/n! the sun is up and so should you. i hope you have a good day and i will meet you later for lunch.”

like literally, there won’t pass a day without you receiving a cute good morning text from him 

I think he won’t call you any pet names, but if he has, he chooses: “baby”, “darling”, “sweetheart” 

the reason why he doesn’t call you by a cute nickname? because for Sewoon your name is the prettiest and doesn’t want to spoil it with a nickname

movie marathons weekends 

since one of his hobbies is cooking, expect for him to feed you a lot 

he would want to take you everywhere with him and probably turns sad if you can’t come to his schedules

midnight dates in the park when is just the two of you and his guitar

he will sing you favorite song for you and then you would spend the rest of the time stargazing 

cherishes every single moment spent together with you and always wants to show you how much you mean to him and how much he loves you

NOT ONTO THE JUICY STUFF FOR PONYO

ok now, he is a very private person and loves intimacy a lot

so anything that happens in the bedroom, stays there 

as I mentioned before, a very thoughtful person and this is when you’re having sex as well 

a vanilla lover who will always treat you like the most precious thing in the world

loves worshipping you and your body

he seriously thinks of you as perfection 

slow, sensual sex to some old-school love songs 

would love seeing you in white lingerie because it makes you look so innocent and so beautiful 

he is not a man of many kinks and is a pleaser in bed

would always put your needs before his and hates teasing you; so you’re always getting to the good stuff real fast

wants a communicative lover, so you would have to tell him how good it feels and how much you enjoy it

would be open to any requests you have and try to fulfill all your needs and dreams and fantasies 

although I feel like he likes discussing things before putting them in practice just to see if you comfortable enough with everything

I don’t think he would go into BDSM to be honest, anything that has even the slightest possiblity of you getting hurt is a huge no for him

very big on aftercare and extremely sweet and kind before, during and aftwerwards

[heyhihelloidontusethisanymo-blog]

deh cell phone/social media headcanons (?)

ok so I like rarely post on this blog but I couldn’t stop thinking about like what they’d all be like using their phones and stuff?? idk im tired this is gonna be shitty but less go

jared:

ok but he would def have an ifunny and have like 1834384 followers (or whatever idk how it works but he’d be popular ya know)

and like brag about it  constantly

like “guys I’m like,,, ,, kind of famous not to brag”

(but he would be bragging)

(110%)

ok hear me out,, but he would SO be one of those people who have an android phone and believe that apple products are Spawned From Satan™

like if anyone would be like “haha lol why do u have that crappy phone” he would launch into a fULL ON RANT about how much apple sucks and all the cool stuff on his phone and how much better it is

he would probs have a meme account on insta too tbh

he would have a voicemail that goes “hello?” and trick the person to start talking ya know

and like ten seconds in he would be like “SiKe i’m not here rn hahAAA leave a message”

he would text in all lowercase for sURE

lots of crytyping and excessive commas obvi

uh he would have the highest snapscore (or whatever it’ ever it’s called)

his story would always be sooo long 

all just vids of his day and people doing funny things

he would have 23859320495803 snapchat memories ok

he would just be v funny idk i love him

connor:

connor frekaing murphy okay

just hear me out pls

,he would probably have a tumblr that’s like surprisingly aesthetic?

(idk how to word that but you now what i’m trying to say)

but it would be a Major Secret™ like if someone asked him he would be like “lol tumblr who is that”

his screen on his phone would always be shattered

he wouldn’t really care tho tbh

his insta would probably be like empty except for one picture he posted when he was really young

but after he meets evan he posts a lot more

like really really random candids that most people would just delete

that would be his entire account okay

(also pictures of evan being Cute)

he would most likely always have the second newest iphone

like when everyone had an iphone 7 he would have a 6 know what i mean

ok but 

cmon

he would DEF take so many selfies

and like keep them in his my eyes only on snapchat

he would never post them anywhere but one day he decided to post one on insta and everyone was s h o o k 

and freaked out

im talking like 200 comments

anyway

I just don’t picture him using snapchat that much

i think he would like have a streak with evan and maybe like a 3 day one with jared every once in a while but other than that nothin

his voicemail would be like “u can leave a message but ill probably not listen to it so just text me instead bye”

yeah that’s connor

zoe:

zoe i love her omg

ok 

so she would have an insta and it would have The Best Theme Ever™

it would be v pastel i feel

and there would be a lot of pictures of flowers

and of alana

obvi

she would also post vids of her like playing the guitar and other instruments and they would be so good and get like so many likes

her bio would be something really deep but in french?

like she would probably go on google translate and type in a cool quote and just copy and paste it into her bio tbh 

but it would be so cute and cool

she would have a rose gold iphone

no matter what

it would always be the newest kind

and she would like n e v e r wear a case on her phone 

(except for those clear ones, in which case she would like draw on them or put stickers on)

but her phone would never crack or get scratched

ever

and everyone would be like “????? how???”

she would DEF have a tumblr

she would have a personal blog and then an aesthetic one and like 39483 extra sideblogs

her voicemail would be the typical “hey, it’s zoe! can’t get to the phone right now, pls leave a message!”

she would have had it as one like jared’s before but it probably somehow screwed her over

so she changed it

she would text in all caps a lot i feel

i just love her?? ok??

alana:

guys.

GUYS

i have so many for this girl

she would have a tumblr too

and she would follow every single one of zoe’s blogs

she would SO have a studyblr okay

like she would for sure have a bullet journal 

and have such pretty and high quality pens and highlighters

it would be everyone’s goals

her insta probably doesn’t have a theme tho

I feel like she wouldn’t post often?? ?

but when she would it would either be a long political thing or just a cute pic of zoe

she would have like mostly perfect grammar when she texts

except she would just use like SO MANY question marks

not like?? this??

but it would be like Wow?????????

like that

that made no sense

ok moving on

her voicemail. her voicemail

would be so extra okay

like she would have definetly (that’s not how u spell that ok) have found a way to make it so u have to press the numbers when u call her

like “for work calls, press 1. for family calls, press 2. zoe murphy, press 3.” that type thing

and she would have SO MANY different categories for everyone

people would get annoyed with it and give passive agressive messages sometimes but she wouldn’t care reallu

she loves her organized voicemail

she would def save her own money to buy her phone

but she would like mostly buy the iphone 6

idk why

she just would

SHE WOULD HAVE A SNAPCHAT STREAK WITH EVERYONE. dont fight me on this i know it

i love alana too 

evan:

okay okay okay guys

i saved the best for last

i like,,,, love evan so much ok

what a little bean

anyways

so first of all 

he would probably have the iphone 5s

and it would run out of battery in about .2 seconds

he wouldn’t really care but he feels bad missing his mom’s calls so he’s always asking for a car charger 

his background would be of trees on his lock screen (obvi okay)

but his homescreen would be a pic of connor 

4 sure

of course

and once they’re like “official” his lockscreen would be a pic of them

just bein cute

aw 

ok this is for a different time but id like to mention that i feel like he would have a dog?

moving on

his voicemail would probably be the standard “your call has been transfered to an automated voice messaging system. blah blah blah.”

but jared would be like “dude. u gotta change that.”

so after like 203857 tries he finally just goes

“hithisisevanimnothererightnowpleaseleaveamessage”

(connor would think it’s adorable btw)

his instagram would be adorable

he would probably post every two seconds

he would post a lot of pics of trees

but when becomes closer with alana and zoe and connor he starts posting pics of all them together and like cute blurry selfies

his bio would be like “HI, this is evan! Here are my pictures.”

he would have a snap but not post on it much

like maybe every once in a while

but he would of course have a streak with connor

(probably alana too tbh)

oh i forgot to mention this but he would be terrified to crack his phone

he would have a big clunky case 

(like an off brand otter box but worse)

he would text with perfect grammar

it would be so cute

like “Hello, how are you?”

aaaaa

but when he would get really anxious he would pull up like one of those soothing sounds apps

and put use the apple headphones that you get with the phone in

(he would still have those and never loose them btw)

and he’d just try to breathe and listen

i love this boy so much. so so much. yeah. 

wow this was longer than i expected lol hope u enjoyed that crappy headcanon!

(ps i ended up actually making the pets headcanon so if u wanna see it lmk and i can post it lol)

[everythng-is-blue]

Can you do a "ugh it's crazy how much I love you" with luke please

ah yay a luke one! lol here it is i hope you like it (:

 Luke and I sat on the swing on the back porch, looking around as his family chatted with one another while Andy was grilling and Liz was taking pictures of everyone. It was time for the Hemmings’ annual family get together, and the backyard was full of people. On the other side of the back porch were the older people of Luke’s family, sitting in chairs in the shade of the awning. Though they talked about other things, they always ended up coming back to the subject of Luke and I. We just laughed whenever they talked about us, because most of them were a couple beers in already.

“You two remind me of my husband and I, you know.” Luke’s great aunt said. “We got together when we were only a bit younger than you are.”

“And they’re still together, how nice.” Her sister added.

“Yeah, still gettin’ on each other’s last nerve.” His great uncle muttered, earning laughs from us all.

“Your grandfather and I got together when we were young, too.” Luke’s grandma said. “So, what do you guys do for fun usually?”

“Uh, we both play guitar and sing, so we write songs together or just jam out. Especially with my bandmates. That or we watch movies, go get food, play video games, stuff like that.” Luke told them. They all nodded.

“I was going to say I’m sure we all know what they probably do for fun, and it’s not playing guitar.” His great uncle joked.

Everyone burst out in laughter, and Luke and I’s faces turned red. I hid my face in his neck while he nervously laughed along.

“Are you lot giving these two a hard time?” Liz put her hand on her hip. “I can tell how flustered (y/n) is, and Luke’s about as red as a tomato.”

“Just a bit of fun, is all.” Luke’s great uncle shrugged.

Liz gave them a look then turned to me. “Whatever they said, don’t listen to it. They like to pick on people.”

“It’s okay, Liz. It’s kind of funny, to be honest.” I told her.

“Hey Mum, get any good pictures?” Luke changed the subject, and I mentally thanked him for it.

“Psh, do you know who you’re talking to?” Liz joked, then shook her head as she laughed. “Just joking, I think I got some good shots. I need some of you two, though.”

“By all means, do your thing.” I said, gesturing for her to come in front of us.

“Polite, and she can rhyme without trying. See, this is why we like her so much.” Liz said, and everyone chuckled.

She walked over to us and started taking pictures. “I want some candids, so talk to each other or something.”

I looked and Luke and he made a dumb face, causing me to laugh at him. The adults that were on the back porch decided to go inside for a while, the heat getting to be too much for them. After Liz got a few shots of us just sitting there, one of Luke’s little cousins tugged on Luke’s shorts a bit, which meant she wanted Luke to pick her up. He obliged, placing her on his lap.

“Hello, cutie,” He cooed. His cousin held on to his arm and laid on his chest as she rubbed her eye and then sucked her thumb.

“Looks like someone’s ready for a nap.” I smiled, and she nodded.

Liz continued to take pictures of us as Luke and I sang twinkle twinkle little star to her until she fell asleep.

“This is the cutest thing ever,” Liz said quietly, looking over the pictures she had taken of us. She stopped on one picture and smiled, then showed it to us.

“I love that one, Mum.” Luke grinned.

“Aw, so do I.” I agreed.

“I’m going to go in and switch out my SD card and upload these to my computer, I’ll be back.” Liz said, leaving to go inside.

Luke sighed contently, intertwining his fingers with mine as we looked out at the backyard. I put my head on his shoulder, sighing too.

“It made me happy when my great aunt said we reminded her of her and my great uncle.” Luke admitted.

“Yeah, me too.” I jibed. “It also makes me happy knowing that your family likes me.”

Luke chuckled lightly. “How could they not? You’re amazing, and smart, and funny… not to mention how talented and beautiful you are.”

“Remind me to hire you to write my biography one day.” I joked.

“It would be an honor.” Luke joked too. “But seriously, it still surprises me to this day how out of everyone, you picked me.”

I scoffed. “Of course I picked you. You’re perfect for me, no question about it. You know how to get me out of a bad mood, which we both know is a quite the feat. And you care about me more than anyone else, and you make me so happy… There’s no doubt in my mind we’re meant for each other.”

Luke sat there, almost bewildered by what I said, then turned to looked into my eyes with a big grin on his face. “Ugh, it’s crazy how much I love you.”

I giggled as Luke let go of my hand and tickled underneath my chin. “Well, lucky for you, I love you a lot too.”

“You keep rhyming like you have and we’ll have another song written by the end of the day.” Luke chuckled, then leaned over and kissed me.

  this one was so cute omg lol but anyways feel free to requests things, requests are always open x

send me prompts from this list and a boy from 5sos or one direction

[ronnieandrews2020]

126

A Cuba libre appears out of nowhere in front of her, dainty manicured fingers wrapped around the glass. Lazily, Veronica looks up to see the person who's seemingly offering her the drink. "Refill is on me," grins the woman. Long brown locks, olive skin, and heavy mascara on her long eyelashes, the girl is undoubtedly pretty. And certainly a couple of years younger than her based on the girlish flock of bracelets adorning her wrist and her candid smile.   Veronica eyes the glass, then the pretty girl that's grinning widely at her and decides not to go against it. Tonight is one of those nights she'd happily drown the tiredness of a long day at her firm in a glass of rum, savoring exquisite music before falling asleep in her lover's arms. But, the girl is still here, looking cute and a little hopeful. She may be a fan. "Gracias" breathes out Veronica as she takes the first sip of the drink that is burning her throat. The girl's smile gets wider as if satisfied that Veronica didn't refuse the glass.

"This one is a total hunk,"  She says, waving to the stage with her own drink, a hot-pink cocktail, sugar-rimmed, something Veronica would never order.  She's very glad the stranger paid attention to the empty glass she abandoned on the counter.  Veronica follows the girl's gaze and it lands on the handsome vocalist of the band playing tonight at Toni's luxurious bar. Guitar hanging on his hip, "the total hunk" is singing his heart out to a cover of "My Heart is always yours" by Arkells. "He is a tall glass of water I wouldn't mind drinking from..." continues the girl in a deep sensuous voice before she takes a long sip of her vibrant drink as if to back up her comment. "Or I could lick the rim of his..." she trails off and Veronica catches the girl's gaze lingering on the man's torso, the tight blue shirt truly doing wonders to his muscular frame. "Wouldn't you?" asks the girl when she's done ogling voraciously the handsome singer. "Hn." simply replies Veronica before dipping her lips in the drink. Her disdainful pout doesn't seem to perturb the girl who, on the contrary, turns on her stale to completely face her, stretching out an arm with her undefeated smile always in place.   "I am Carla" After a moment of stalling, Veronica finally shakes the hand offered by the stranger with her fingertips and murmurs: "Veronica." "A pleasure, Veronica" answers the girl, lowering her voice and keeping her hand in hers a little longer than necessary. "I can easily understand that wannabe heartthrobs aren't everybody's type..." hums mockingly aforesaid Carla before leaning forward to tuck one of Veronica's raven curls behind her ear.  She's definitely not a fan. Veronica doesn't move, quirking an eyebrow and smirking to herself when she understands what it was all about. "I never said he wasn't my type" points out Veronica, putting down the glass a little abruptly as she watches the girl's reaction. "You didn't say he was either" She is quick to answer, pointing her finger at her. Veronica can't help but smile, mi-amused, mi-annoyed by the girl's juvenile reaction. Does Toni allow underage girls in her bar? "So you're saying you're only into boys?" "I didn't say that either, Clara." "Carla" corrects the girl but Veronica dismisses it with a loose wave of her hand that she knows makes her haughty. "You jump way too quickly into conclusions and labels"  Veronica points out before gesturing to the bartender to remove the glasses from the counter. She doesn't get to relish in Carla's confused expression that the bartender is already serving them two glasses of water. " Drink up. I am gonna save us some time" Veronica almost shoves the glass in the girl's hand. "I don't think you're allowed to drink alcohol" "I am 21!" retorts Carla with a scandalous pout that doesn't help her cause. Considering Veronica's unimpressed expression, she starts fumbling in her little sequined bag to retrieve a driver's license that effectively reads that the girl is 21.  Veronica has seen enough fake identity cards in her life to know that this one is real. "You might be 21 but you're acting like a crazy hormone-driven teen. And you're being disrespectful," states Veronica, tiredness, and annoyance drawing out her sentence. "The singer you just labeled as a "wannabe heartthrob" had his face plastered on the front page of Rolling Stones this morning. Besides, it took Toni, the owner of this place and one of my very good friends, months to fit this charity gig in his schedule" Veronica pauses to takes a sip of her water while the girl's face is decomposing in front of her. "So, I don't know how you got in but if you don't appreciate good live music when you have the chance to come across it, feel free to leave" Her words hang in the air and based on the look on the girl's face, Veronica thinks she's either going to actually leave or tear up (which admittedly makes her feel a little guilty). But, against all odds, Carla burst out laughing. "Wow. Are you a lawyer or what?" she asks jokingly and Veronica can't help but smirk. "Oh my god! You're really a lawyer!" realizes the girl, still chuckling like it was the funniest twist. " On a more serious note, ' starts Carla when she's done giggling foolishly "I am sorry if I came across as disrespectful of the band or the efforts of your friend to have them here tonight," and the girl seems truly sincere, making Veronica regain some sympathy points for her. After all, she's just a young woman trying to sympathize. " You're spicy and badass. I like that" continues Carla soberly, with a little earnest smile. "Are you trying to flirt? Because you’re embarrassing yourself" teases Veronica with a playful smile ghosting her berry-painted lips and it makes the girl chuckle again. "Seriously Carla, you're cute and funny but I am married and very much in love"  She reveals, waving her diamond ringed finger as Carla's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh." "But I am sure you'll find a very attractive "hunk" or "spicy girl" to drink from... or whatever it was.." trails off Veronica, gesturing to the crowd in front of them that's singing along the last verse. "Not a chance" dramatically sighs Carla, "Every woman here wants to jump his bones," she says, waving back at the fiery gorgeous singer. "Where's your hubby anyways?" asks distractedly Carla, her eyes back devouring the singer. "Working..." murmurs Veronica behind grinding teeth.  Carla doesn't pick up on her tone and pursues, eyes still glued on the stage. "He's really a dreamboat..." then, she turns back to face her, a glimmer of hope in her eyes "Do you think your friend Toni can get me backstage?" Veronica scoffs in disdain as she jumps out of her stale at the same time the singer hits the last note. "Don't judge me! Everybody's not as lucky as you to be in a happy marriage and all..." Carla's words are drawn out by the stream of applause and screams that Veronica joins excitedly. Suddenly, it feels like the tiredness and laziness leave her body as the gorgeous lead singer starts speaking. "Thank you, everybody! This one was for the gorgeous girl at the counter. My beautiful wife who's always here to support me!" Mic pointed to the back of the room where a spotlight is enlightening her, Archie shouts:   "My heart's always yours Veronica Andrews!"

Her heart starts beating stupidly fast when she meets his loving gaze. All fiery hair, strong jaw, and warm golden eyes. He's really a heartthrob. Her heartthrob.

She doesn't bother turning back to see the bewildered expression that she can easily picture on the girl's face and only murmurs back, so low that she could be speaking to herself.

"I am a lucky girl. I'll admit that. "