#i think i will be shot if i put all his titles lmao

[sly-fin]

GILLION

First time drawing him in almost a year so i gotta refigure out his face but hehehehe fish

[airenyah]

#THIS IS *THE* OPPORTUNITY FOR FORCED PROXIMITY WHY AREN'T YOU FORCING THE PROXIMITY

no really i MEAN these tags, like!!!! we could be getting this:

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

but instead it's like:

I SHOULDN'T REALLY BE ABLE TO SEE THROUGH THEM WHY AM I ABLE TO SEE THROUGH THEM

stand closer you cowards

[phyrestartr]

PR Stunt (Only, Right?) | Sukuna/M!Reader | Teaser!

#NSFW in full, bottom!reader, top!sukuna, Sukuna owns a body shop, reader is a performer, kinda meet cute, ABO dynamics, mpreg, yes there are always babies involved because i love dad sukuna, surprise baby, sukuna is a dickhead (what else is new), teaser not edited lmao

Note: This is just going to be a one-shot since it's already pretty much completed, just need to finish off the tail end and then go back and edit. Wanted a break from writing the other stories for a bit, so I hope you'll enjoy the full story when it's out

tags: @better-imagination-9 @better-imagination-9

“Did you sleep with (L. Name) (F. Name)?” 

The question caught Sukuna off guard; normally, Uraume didn't inquire into his personal life in regards to who he had and hadn't slept with. They were a friend, yes, but moreover they were the bookkeeper and helped with securing clients and arranging meetings–celebrities and their managers were fucks that Sukuna didn't like negotiating with. Best to leave the yapping to someone with a cooler head.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Sukuna asked as he rolled out from under the newest commissioned vehicle. 

Uraume walked to him, iPad in hand, and turned it to him, stone cold. 

Sukuna sat up straighter and squinted at the screen, annoyed. You’d probably just made up some salacious rumour and spread it throughout your friend circles; or worse, you wanted revenge on him for something he probably definitely did. In that case, Sukuna could somewhat understand. But still–

(Name) putting on weight? What’s happening to the former bombshell babe of Japan?!

Pregnant with a baby boy?! The secret's out!

(Name) returns to the stage after giving birth to a baby boy–but who is the father?

(Name) driving a Ryoumen Sukuna rescue vehicle?! Could he be the deadbeat dad we've been looking for?

Sukuna sucked his teeth after skimming over the article titles presented to him. 

“...No proof.” 

“Ah. Then please explain this,” Uraume requested, still polite as ever, as they flicked to an additional few images the scumbag paparazzi had caught of you. 

One was the car mentioned. Sukuna remembered it like it was yesterday–the joy of restoring a Porsche 911 back into its former glory was unmatched. You happily paid for all the parts and too often swung by to see the progress being made on the old thing. Obviously, Sukuna was more than happy to oblige. 

The next was of you holding a little nugget of a baby against your chest as you walked down a street in Shibuya. Nothing too damning, nothing too inspirational. 

But the last one–

“The fuck?” Sukuna mumbled as he snatched the iPad from Uraume’s hands and zoomed in on the now-toddler sitting with you in that damn Porsche, grinning brightly beside his mum while you ruffled his hair. His very, very pink hair. 

Sukuna took a breath while he thought. He didn't have to think too hard, though, not when he still dreamed about you and the short-lived fling between the two of you. 

“A Porsche 911, huh?” Sukuna grinned as he looked over the beat up, rusted beater of a car. He could still see scraps of its former glory, of the beautiful thing she used to be. Heaven knows she would've become an irreparable hunk of junk if you hadn't bought it from a scrapyard. 

“Yep.” You beamed. “So you think you can make her pretty again?” 

“You kidding? I'd pay you to let me fix this thing, baby.” Sukuna caught sight of your security stepping forward, but you waved them off without a second thought. 

Sukuna smirked. “But it’s not gonna be cheap.” 

You nodded. “Well, do what you have to. I'll pay whatever you need, handsome.” 

“Yeah?” Sukuna asked, looking your neatly-manicured appearance up and down; you were dressed like you were meeting someone of great importance (and  you were, obviously), with your hair groomed perfectly, outfit fit for a premiere, skin flawless. 

“Mhm. And I tip well.” you looked him up and down in kind, grinning as you bit at the nub of your sunglasses.

“Done.” 

Every time you came to check on his progress, genuine excitement flooding in your motormouthed Words, you'd go home with him and fuck him silly. 

And now, you were the momma to his baby. Allegedly. 

“I–so what the fuck does this have to do with anything?” Sukuna ran a frustrated hand through his hair after Uraume took the tablet back. “Bitch isn't asking for anything, he's not asking me to be his public fucking baby daddy, not asking me to pay for nothing?” 

“No,” Uraume conceded, “But he and his PR managers have reached out concerning this.” 

The man groaned and stood. “Fucking hell. Can't stand fucking PR teams. Thw fuck did they want?” 

“They want to make a statement about Touma's father.” 

Sukuna froze.

“Touma's a good name for a boy, right?” 

You asked the question so suddenly, so out of nowhere in the quiet of the afterglow. The city lights sparkled and winked at you both through the towering windows keeping you safe from the outside world. In hindsight, Sukuna would wonder if the city was excited for him. For you. 

“What, for a mutt?” Sukuna drawled, puffing on a blunt while he played with your hair and drowned in the tingles left in the wake of fingers drawing circles on his bare chest. 

“For a kid,” you chastised With a laugh. “I like Touma. Or Touka for a girl. Ayato's nice, too. Maybe Kazue.” 

“You better not be pregnant.”

“I'm not, I'm not. I'm just getting baby fever, I guess.” You hummed and left a sweet kiss against his tan skin. “I guess being around a big, bad boy like you's got me feeling domestic.” 

Sukuna laughed, dazed and happy. “You wanna ruin this pretty lil’ body for a fucking kid? Be my guest. Just don't come looking for a booty call after you've ruined yourself like that.” 

“Oh, don't worry,” you cooed. “I won't.” 

Man. Man. 

“A statement.” 

“In other words–”

“I'm not the fucking father.” 

“This might be a good way to get Yorozu off your case,” Uraume suggested, and Sukuna perked up. 

“Right. She fuckin’ hates kids.” 

“So, if you were to have a son, and it's revealed you've been quietly trying to make things work behind the scenes with (Name), then hypothetically–”

“I'll take the runt.”

[chucklingmaniacally]

POV: You're playing Hades 2 and spot an unfamiliar god boon symbol.

I'm so happy I got this done in time for Janmashtami lmao. My friend's (*cough* @randomfandomtraveller)headcanon is that Krishna would have a sweet spot for Melinoe because she almost has the same mission as teen Krishna.

I'm putting my hat in the ring to fight all the people that post AI generated images of the gods lmao. I'm not even religious but I think there's something so depressing that you want a plagiarism machine's version of your gods' iconography instead of an artist's version???

Bonus: Alt Version and WIP screenshot for all the freaks out there.

[Image Description:

Image 1: "The image is the artist's rendition of the Hindu God Krishna in the style of the videogame Hades 2. He is a dark skinned god with a slight build, and is wearing a red upper body cloth and a golden yellow _dhoti_. He is bedecked in gold ornaments on his shoulder, his upper arm, his hands and his feet.

He has long black curly hair, which leads into a cosmic gradient of dark blue and purple, dotted with stars. He is sitting casually, with his left hand on his knee and his right holding him up. In his hair, he wears a gold circlet which is dotted with a magical looking peacock feather. He's wearing a garland of red, white, and yellow flowers, and the garland seems to be flying in a breeze.

Encircling his head is a golden aura, which is lit up by divine looking light coming from the right side of the image.

The background of the image is that of the Hades 2 game, at the Erebus level. It is filled with greenery and leafless tree framinge the shot. Krishna's symbol is at the center of the image, which is a peacock feather that looks like an eye.

To the right of Krishna, there is a text box which states his name and his title, and a dialogue. The text box title says "KRISHNA, THE PROTECTOR INCARNATE"

The dialogue he says to the main character of Hades 2, Melinoë is "Something troubling you there on this fine night, Daughter of Persephone? Ah, perhaps a spot of trouble while fighting the Old Man? Well, the advice I have would take too long and I have little time, so here! Have a blessing, instead."

Image 2: The same picture as image 1 but this background is plain white with the artist signature.

Image 3: A desktop screenshot of the lineart of the artwork in Clip Studio Paint.

End Description]

[bubble-dream-inc]

i walk the line.

You had joked with Ghost before about getting married, never with a tone serious enough for it to be taken into account, even if it was something you dreamed about whenever you were alone with your thoughts. What you hadn’t expected was the question to come up at such an inopportune time. 

Pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x Sergeant Reader

rbs greatly appreciated!

WC: 2.1 K

a/n: i hate giving my fics titles so just assume the song in the title is the vibe i want the fic to have lmao. also this is unedited and not beta read so beware of typos and shit

warnings: estabilished relationship, profanity, whump, description of wound, mentions of death, badly timed marriage proposal, medical inaccuracies, fluff, happy ending

It’s cold.

No, scratch that. It’s fucking freezing.

God, you hate the cold. Considering how much you despise it, it amuses you to think you might have been a desert creature in another life. A lizard, maybe. The types to scurry really fast and eat small insects all day. What a life.

You’re lost in your musings but you think there are a few very faint voices calling for you. Where are they coming from? Above? Seems like it. First, you hear their voices getting clearer, and recognize a word. It’s your codename, meaning, it’s your teammates voices. But why do they sound so agitated? Next, you feel pain. Quickly rising, scorching hot pain in your abdomen. 

Oh, that’s right. You were shot.

A scream echoes out wherever you are and only later you’d recognize it as your own, in the same moment you recognize Ghost’s own booming voice frantically calling out for you, and the heavy weight of Soap’s large hands holding you down so you wouldn’t trash as much. It had been ironic, really, how much the mission went smoothly, 99% of it being completed without a hitch, but right as you were about to celebrate success, some fucker neither of you had seen before had decided to put a bullet in you - any of you - blindly, and it so happened it would hit you. The offender was long gone, a throw knife lodged in his skull as quick as a blink of an eye in the split second after the gunshot was heard, but the damage was already done. A few seconds before it happened, you had groaned how much you couldn’t wait for evac to come so you could take a hot shower and sleep, since your bones were aching, and Gaz had laughed and called you old-spirited. So much for that shower, you think as you take in the surroundings of what you could see of the abandoned safe house from your position on the blood stained table. It was painful to think about if that same table was used in the past for a family reunion or to gather folks around for good news, before hell broke loose and war tore apart the people, so you didn’t think about it. Ghost called your codename again and you cast your eyes downwards to look at him, the fear in his eyes sending a chill down your spine.

“Hey! Talk to me, don’t you dare close your eyes!”

You had screamed as he was removing the projectile from your flesh, you realized. Was not your first rodeo, a thought that made you want to laugh bitterly, but just the idea of laughing made you wince in pain. His hands were currently trying to stop the bleeding, and after taking one look at the wound, you suddenly felt at peace. 

It was pretty shitty you were going to die in an equally shitty safehouse, but that’s the life you chose. So, against your better judgment, you chuckle lowly and decide to follow your superior’s orders.

“Keep talking, eh? Alright.” You groaned once more when he applied more pressure to your gaping wound. “L.t, do you- do you remember when i told you…I wanted to retire early and - fuck - get to the countryside and get a big ass dog?”

He looked up at you briefly, glad you were talking but clearly wondering where you were going with this. You knew he hated when you spoke of the future as if you were going to die - which, right now, you were pretty sure it was really happening this time - but you couldn’t help yourself. Of course he remembers that conversation, it was in the beginning of your secret-not-so-secret relationship. You had asked him what he would do if he wasn’t a soldier, and he had given you a very cryptic and vague answer that resembled a lot like nothing. In turn, you told him your wishes half heartedly, as if thinking of living for 10 more years was a very distant dream. 

The relationship between the 141’s Lieutenant and one of its Sargeants was a sort of urban legend going around. People knew it was happening, but didn’t dare speak of it, and no one had ever really seen any proof of it, so, it was best to avoid prying into Ghost’s private matters as to not risk being at the receiving end of his annoyance, and, in turn, you both found solace in having something that only the two of you knew about. It never hindered your professionalism and it had been going on for a few good years now, so it became somewhat naturalized between the folks coexisting in the same space as you and Simon after a while. However, that never stopped the natural curiosity to flourish in a few people - namely, your comrades, who always knew there was something going on given the fact you’d literally look at your superior with hearts in your eyes - so you had to ignore Gaz and Soap’s expectant eyes on you as you spoke so tenderly, the intensity of witnessing the start of what seemed like a very intimate talk momentarily sharing space with the worry they were feeling over you. 

“...Yes. I remember.”

He never forgets the things you say, even if you think it’s not important at the time. You hummed, ignoring the pain that came with it.

“Big dogs were never really my thing. I just-” A cough ripped out of you, and you didn’t need to look to know there was blood in it. “ I just thought it was the kind of thing you’d want. Big dogs fit you. It felt less scary to think about retiring once I added you in the equation.”

You were slurring your words and you knew it. As you regained your breath, you briefly saw a very wide-eyed and angry looking Price curse into his comm asking where the fuck was the goddamn chopper. Your codename being barked alongside the word “WIA” to a poor fellow soldier on the other side of the line left you with a bad taste in your mouth. You hate how scared Ghost looked, your big, scary, stoic Ghost, and you can’t help but feel selfish for leaving him, even if being shot was not your fault and wasn’t really in your plans when you left the base that morning.

“Stop talking like you’re fucking d-”

“We could have done it, you know?” Your laugh is, once again, bitter, and you’re acutely aware of the tears streaming down your face. Death has never scared you, but now that you got a reason to stay, you’re terrified. “Could’ve gotten hitched somewhere nice. Can’t really imagine you in a suit, though.”

The pain doesn’t stop, but it gets duller as you feel your consciousness slipping away, and you never fought so much to stay awake in your entire life. Simon yells something to Soap among the lines of getting something from somewhere so he can continue trying to save you, but you don’t register his words. His tone softens once his eyes are back on you.

“I’d wear a suit if you asked me to, sweetheart.”

“I know. I wouldn’t ask, though.”

Not caring there are other people in the room, you smile at him, well aware it must be uncanny to see Ghost be so tender towards another person, but again, you were the lucky one who got to see it every time it was just the two of you, so you got used to it with time.

Your vision starts spinning more and more, and your eyes start to close the moment you hear the familiar, faint sound of a helicopter getting closer, Simon’s big hands suddenly on your face to try to keep you grounded, and he sounds even more exasperated than before. He calls your name - not your codename, for once.

“Stay alive, do you hear me?! You gotta stay the fuck alive so i can take you to the bloody countryside and get bloody hitched-”

“You askin’ me to marry ya’ in my deathbed, sir?” You manage to slur out, your smile growing despite the panic you don’t have the energy to express settling in your bones, and Simon’s eyes widen even more behind the mask.

“Yes, I am, so stay with me, that’s a fucking order-”

You chuckle, closing your eyes as the frantic sounds around you all blur into a garbled mess. Faintly you feel your body being moved around, a strong wind on your blood and dirt caked hair, hear some more shouting, but then,

Silence.

——————————

Feels like the thousandth time you have woken up, and the feeling of coming in and out of consciousness is unbearable at best.

The first time - or the second, you don’t remember - there was a strong light above you, but you had no energy to open your eyes, so it lasted a measly second before you were out again. Later, you heard an unfamiliar voice saying something about an induced coma for a few days for a better recovery. You wondered if they were talking about you (they probably were). This happens a few more times before you actually feel your consciousness coming back for good, and, before you open your eyes, the first thing you notice is how warm it is, and, if you could, you’d smile. The spring air smells good, and you think you catch a whiff of cleaning products while you inhale, suddenly aware of how empty your lungs felt. The third thing you notice is the weight on your hand, and once you open your eyes, you find a familiar set of skeleton gloved hands on top of your own. A few years back you had told him with a laugh the print was very 2000’s, and he had just brushed you off with a scowl, but you’ve never been so glad to see the tacky thing. His thumb caresses your skin as he patiently waits for you to become more aware of your surroundings, and you instantly smile when you finally meet his gaze, which looks extremely relieved.

“Hi.” Your throat feels parched, voice straining as if you’d swallowed a kilo of sand, but Simon thinks your voice never sounded so sweet to his ears.

“Hi.” 

It hurts to move, but you do so anyway, slowly sitting up despite Simon’s protests just so you can see him more clearly and grasp his hand a little better. While you are busy cringing at the dull pain in your stomach from the stitches, he extends a glass of water for you, to which you grab and gulp down immediately, quenching your thirst and looking over at your partner with such gratitude an onlooker would have thought he was a literal godsend. 

“How bad is it?” Your voice still felt rough from disuse, but at least it sounded a bit more familiar to your ears. 

“Pretty bad.” He doesn’t bother you with details; he knows you were never a fan of hearing about your wounds descriptively. “But you’ve always been tough.”

You flash him a grin that has him silently flabbergasted both with how beautiful you are and how quickly you seem to bounce back from a near fatal injury. Suddenly, you remember your last words before you blacked out, and your smile turns shy as you cast your gaze down to where your hands meet.

“...Did you mean it?” 

Simon has always been extremely observant and smart, he knows what you are talking about immediately, and you like to think he is smiling under the mask as he goes back to gingerly caressing the top of your smaller hand with his thumb.

“I did, sweetheart.” His voice is low, and every time he calls you a pet name it has your heart doing somersaults. “I’m sorry I don't have a ring yet and I don't know when we would have some time off to have a ceremony, but I want to marry ya’. If you’ll have me, that is.”

Feeling like your smile would grow so big it would rip your face, you beamed at him, acutely aware of how you must have been looking like a mess with a - hospital - bed head and tired eyes, but you’d hoped he could notice the hearts in your eyes as obviously as you felt them. Things always seemed to fall in place with Ghost; no need for extravagance or huge acts, and the fact that your marriage proposal was exactly that, made you fall even more in love with him. You watched lovingly as he raised your hand to press a mask covered kiss on the top of it, and shook your head, laughing gently.

“Of course i’ll marry you, Simon.”

[whorekneecentral]

Miss Me, Miss Me

Ruben Dias x Stones!Fem!Reader

Warnings: fwb!ruben, jack and reader are besties, alcohol and the consumption of, kyle is always annoying her, teasing, a strip tease according to reader, finger sucking, oral (f!receiving), overstimulation, fingering, orgasm denial, the use of 'whore' in a sexual/degrading context, penetrative sex (P in V ), big brother john is not having it.

Word Count: 2,952

Author's Note: this one is written solely for my pookie, that's also why ruben is so early on in this series lmao - all of these things are shit she'd eat up so pooks and everyone else, please enjoy :)

merry smutmas series

--

Your brother holds his annual Christmas party and you’re forced to spend the afternoon with the one person you had been avoiding all season but tis’ the season you guess. 

Will they or won't they was the tagline for your relationship - if you could even call it that- with Ruben.

You had recently moved to Manchester to be closer to your older brother and your niece and nephew. You had gone to every home game you could and over the course of the season, you fell into a bit of a pattern with the Portuguese defender.

It was innocent enough at first, you two were friends who occasionally hooked up to relieve whatever stress you were having but over the years, it turned into more. Feelings got involved and it got messy so because of that, and for your brother's sake - despite him not knowing, you pulled away from Ruben.

It was never your intention to make things messy.

You hadn't seen Ruben face to face in weeks, if not months. You had still gone to games but you simply went for your brother and then left afterwards, not hanging around too long.

Ruben had a hold over you; you knew if you hung around him too long, you'd just end up in his bed again. That was the last thing you wanted.

Today was unavoidable though.

John was hosting his annual Christmas party at his place; old friends, a few of the boys from his time at Barnsley as well as his teammates and their families from Man City filled his house.

You were somehow, always on kid duty. You were in the room with a bunch of kids; Kevin's, John's, Phil's, Ederson's and a few others that you had no idea who they belonged to.

"Settle down," you tell them, trying to get them off the sugar rush to watch a movie. You tried to rock your nephew in one arm while you switched on the tv, the kids shouting 400 different movie titles all at once.

You huffed and your nephew began to cry just as you tried to ask which one they really wanted to watch but someone opened the door. Jack smiles at you, taking the remote from you when he sees how flustered you are.

He worked a miracle, getting them to quiet down enough for you to calm the baby and to be able to put on a movie for them. You sighed, sitting on the bean bag with the baby as the kids watched Finding Nemo.

Jack sits next to you, rubbing the baby's hand. "I heard the noise, figured I'd come check before they killed you," he whispered, making you chuckle.

"You're a lifesaver, Jack, really. You're good with them too, you and Sasha ever think of.."

"No," he laughed, shaking his head. "I mean, at least not yet."

You nod, smiling. "You'd be wonderful parents.. but you should go join the party, I'm okay in here."

"You're sure?" He gets up and you nod. "Go on, I'll come out in a bit." Jack smiles, nodding before he walks out and closes the door behind him.

It was about an hour later that Finding Nemo ended and the kids went looking for their parents. Those with kids ended up heading out, saying their goodnights before the party actually picks up.

You make your way into the kitchen to find Jack looking for something. "Missing something?" You asked, picking up a glass.

"Your brother said he had shot glasses somewhere?"

"Check the bottom cabinet, it should be in there. What are we drinking?" You asked, setting your empty glass back down.

"Whatever will get us drunk fast." He laughs and you smile, "you're just like me," you nudged his shoulder, reaching for the bottle of tequila on the counter.

Jack lines the empty shot glasses on the tray you found, letting you fill them up. The man picks one up before handing another one to you. "To.. the holidays!" He shrugs, tapping his glass to yours before you two down the shots, and two more rounds after that.

You send him on his way, the man dancing his way over to his girlfriend. You on the other hand, picked up the tray and made the rounds, offering shots to all of those who wanted them. Eventually, you find your way to the living room, the music playing in the background as some people danced and the others chatted.

"Pebbles!" Kyle shouts, his hand in the air to call you over. You roll your eyes, walking over to the group of men by the couch. "How many times have I told you not to call me that, walks?" You laughed.

Kyle puts an arm around your shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You're pebbles cause Johnny is Stones and you're the little one!"

You laughed, shaking your head. "Very original, Kyle. Anyone want a shot?" You offered, holding the tray out.

John takes one, passing another one to Ruben who you've yet to look at. Kyle grabs one for himself and you go to walk away but your brother grabs your arm, bringing you back. John's arm is over your shoulder now, pulling you into his side.

"Have one with us! You're grown up now, aren't you?" He teased, nudging you to take a shot with them. You and John were only a few years apart; he was 29 and you were 24.

You nod, picking up a shot glass. "Cheers!" Kyle shouts over the music, the 4 of you tapping your glasses together before downing the contents.

Some of the tequila ended up on your fingers during the toast, your finger instinctively ended up between your lips and you don't miss the feeling of Ruben's eyes on you. Looking up, your eyes meet his and you move your hand.

"Can I go now?" You asked your brother, and he nodded before kissing your temple. "You're free to go. Go eat something before you feel sick though."

"Should take your own advice, Stones." You tell him and he tosses you a glare. "Whatever, pebbles."

Kyle and John laugh at the use of the nickname and you flip them both off, laughing as you walk away.

The night turned out to be good, you ended up hanging out with Jack and Sasha for a bit before Kyle pulled you to dance with him. He was telling John he knows how to waltz, he just needed a good partner. You were confused as to what made you qualify as a good partner but you went along with it.

At this point, everyone had left and whoever was left, was drunk as fuck and on the verge of passing out.

You slowly make your way upstairs, you have just put away the leftovers and locked the front door for the night. You walked into your room for the night, unzipping your dress as you bent over to pull some pjs out of your bag.

The knob turns and then the door unlocked, someone steps in. "Hello, what the fuck? I'm changing-" you freeze when you turn around to see who it is.

Ruben stood by the door. "It's just me."

"Okay and?" You look at him, confused as to why he's in your room. "Just because it's you, doesn't mean that gives you a right to be in here."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before, love." He smiles at you and you resist the urge to roll your eyes when he says that.

"Fuck off, will you?" You turn away from the man, your back to him as you went to get changed for bed.

Ruben doesn't take no for an answer; in life and on the pitch. He walks over to you, "don't be like that, y/n. You know I miss you," his hand rests on your hip, pulling you to him.

It was so easy for him - your mind is screaming no but your body's betraying you, giving into him before you could stop yourself.

"You don't miss me, Ruben. Shut up." You whispered, the man lowered his lips to your neck. A trail of kisses from the base of your neck up to your jaw, you're certain there's red marks all over your neck from his beard scratching on you.

Your hand instinctively reaches for his face, your palm's warm against his skin; there your body goes, betraying you again.

"I miss you, I do," he whispers against your skin, his hand sliding between the two of you, from your hip to your back. The fact that your dress was unzipped gave him free rein, his fingers running along your spine, finally resting on the curve of your spine.

"Rubes-" you breathe, feeling him suck on the sensitive spot on your neck. "We can't."

He nods, "we can."

"John could walk in."

The thought made Ruben chuckle. Yes, it'd be a mess, it would get both of you in a lot of trouble but the fact that you, at your grown age, were scared of your older brother catching you with his friend, was funny to him.

"John's passed out drunk on the couch, sweetheart. No one's coming, it's just me and you."

You turn to face the man, Ruben's chest to yours; the first few buttons of his shirt undone, the black fabric tight on his arms and the sleeve were rolled up to his elbows. Was he always such a slut or did he only recently become one?

He's already pulling the straps of your dress off your shoulders and you don't stop him, letting it fall to the floor and pool around your ankles.

Ruben's hands reach for your face, cupping your jaw. "C'mon baby, I miss you." He whispers into the quiet room, his lips ghosting over yours.

Hands wrapping around his wrists, "I miss you too." You admit, giving into him. You pull Ruben into you, kissing him.

It doesn't take long, the two of you stumbling back to the bed. Ruben ends up on top of you, your legs wrapped around him as he moves you to lay properly. He pulls away from your kiss and your wandering hands, earning him a pout.

"Why'd you stop?" You groaned, Ruben smiles at you whining as he stands, undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt before taking it off.

You propped yourself up on your elbows, looking at the man. "Mhm, all for me?" You raised your eyebrows, making him laugh.

"Everything's for you, baby. It always is." He tells you, dropping to his knees in front of you.

The words and his actions made your head spin, you were constantly swooning over the man and today was no exception.

Ruben's lips were soft, the faintest of kisses trailed up from your calf to your thigh and he let your leg hang over his shoulder as he pulled you to the edge of the bed. You’ve propped yourself up on your elbows to look at him and Ruben drags his fingers up your thigh, moving to your clothed pussy. 

"Please," you mumble, looking down at the man. Ruben smiles, "not in the mood for teasing, sweetheart?"

"Fuck you Ruben," you groaned, dropping back into the mattress when he pulls the panties to the side, his eyes fixed on your pussy but his hand reaches up, pushing two fingers in your mouth. He didn’t have to tell you, your tongue laps over his fingers. 

“Taught you well,” he smiles, pulling his fingers away from your mouth. 

He gives you no warning, pushing his fingers into you. The sound leaving your mouth was like heaven on earth to him. 

His fingers curl upwards, your back arching at the feeling. 

“Rube, please.” Your hand reaches down to wrap on his wrist but he swats your hand away, managing to pull both to rest on your stomach and his free hand over your hands, pinning them to your stomach. 

Your eyes fixed on the man between your legs, looking at him in awe. Something about Ruben fascinated you; you could never put your finger on it but he was always an object of fascination, of desire. Everything about him made you want him, you couldn't explain the attraction.

It just made sense to you.

Your hips buck when you feel his tongue against your clit, your hand gripping on his hair. 

Ruben knew you like the back of his hand, even with the time apart. Something didn't change and the way your hips buck, it's your way of saying you want more, who was Ruben not to give into you?

His fingers curl upwards once again and he glances up to see your head tossed back into the mattress, eyes fluttering shut.

Between his fingers and his tongue, your orgasm was teetering on the edge; he knew that much. 

Ruben pulls his hands away, the sticky fingers on your thighs. A whimper leaves your lips at the loss of fullness. 

"What the fuck?" You groaned, an arm over your face. If you looked at Ruben right now, you might kill him.

The clink of his belt gets your attention - maybe you'd finally get what you wanted.

Ruben scoots you back, getting on the bed, on top of you. He leans down, his lips over yours and you reach up, a hand on the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss; you can taste yourself on his lips. He lifts your leg, resting on your hip before he lines himself up with you.

The way the tip of his cock rubbed against you and the fact that you were already on the edge from before was enough to make you beg.

"Please, Ruben."

"Please what?" He looks down at you, smiling sweetly.

Your bottom lip pulled between your teeth. "Ruben," you whined, lifting your hips towards him. "Please, fuck- god just fuck me already."

Ruben smiles, "those words really shouldn't be in the same sentence, you know." He tells you, pushing into you. You moan, ignoring his words at the moment.

Your hand wraps around his bicep, your manicured nails digging into his skin. He didn't mind the pain, especially if it was your doing.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, Ruben's thrusts were slow and deep- you can feel him everywhere, his hands, his lips, his touch. Everything about Ruben was consuming; he knew that and he loved it.

In some sick way, he loved watching you fall in love with him all over again, seeing the effect he had on you.

Ruben pulls your legs back up to his hip. “Fuck,” you breathe, his thrusts faster and harder.

How you wished you could scream his name right now.

His hand drops between the two of you, rubbing your clit; matching the pace of his hips. Your head falls back into the pillows when he hits the spot he was looking for. His fingers that were previous on your clit now shoved into your mouth to muffle the sounds tumbling from your lips.

Ruben leans down, his lips next to your ear; “you have to be quiet, you don't want everyone to know what a whore you are, do you?”

You mumble something along an okay, your hips bucking, telling him you want more. He holds you, managing to flip you two over so that you're on top and his cock is still buried in you.

He lets you take over, setting the pace and using him for your own pleasure.

“Ruben, god-” you mumble, your hand tangled in his dark hair as you bounced up and down.

"Not quite," he whispers, pulling you down to kiss along your neck. Ruben's hand behind your neck to pull you down for a kiss. “Want you to cum for me.”

His arms wrap around you when you drop against him, your face buried against his shoulder, biting down to muffle the sounds. “Good girl,” he hums, rubbing your back. "Mhm I love you." He whispers into your shoulder.

You huff, "shut up, don't ruin this for me." Ruben laughs, "whatever you say, baby. I do."

"I'm so thirsty," you get off of him, yawning.

Ruben looks over at you, "you want another round?" You roll your eyes, "not what I meant, you freak."

You get up, pulling on his shirt and a pair of shorts. Ruben lays in bed, watching as you buttoned it up. "Don't look at me like that." You tell him and he laughs, "like what, love?"

"Like you want to fuck me."

"I just did," he smiles. You roll your eyes again, something you did often in his presence. "I'm going to get water," you tell him before heading down the stairs.

When your brother hears the creaking on the stairs, he sits up, rubbing his eyes before looking over in your direction. "Y/n?"

"Johnny?" You freeze, looking at him.

"Whose shirt is that?" He asks and you look down at the black button up. "Uh, mine."

John nods, dropping down onto the couch once again. You grab the bottle of water, walking back into the living room to toss the blanket over your brother. You lean down, kissing his head before turning to head back towards the stairs.

He reaches out from under the blanket, grabbing your hand to stop you. "You better get Ruben out of my house before I get up, or I'll kill him."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you tell him and your brother lets go of your hand, a sly smile on his face. "Yeah, okay. Maybe you two should shut up next time, or don't do it in my house? Perhaps don't wear a shirt that reeks of his cologne."

"Shut up, go back to sleep," you push him back into the couch before walking away.

--

taglist: @nosugarallspice  @evieepepi08 @mimithepooh @koufaxx @dannyramirezwife-simpaccount @topguncultleader @molliemoo3 @aisharmi @mamako23 @ac3may @lewislcver @miahgonzalez16  @books-and-netflix-pls  @wibi96 @bwddermilch @pedrisgatorade  @clarasenchant @sainzluvrr // @trentsfav @trentsmyfave @noturbabe22

[schrodingers-romy]

You Have Changed my Mind (And Put my Heart at Ease) [Togame Jo x Tomiyama Choji x Reader]

Pairing: Togame Jo x Tomiyama Choji x GN!Reader Word Count: ~1600 [Ao3 Link]

Summary: Post-Shishitoren fight, a moment between Choji and the two people closest to him

Warnings: gender-neutral reader, written with aged-up characters in mind, serious conversation sandwiched between cute banter, ambiguous relationship but they love each other

Notes: long-awaited (long-awaited by me lmao) sequel to for a minute in the sunlight. like that one, title is from djo's CHANGE. I just wanna snuggle them <3

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Choji’s eyes were luminous in the twilight. It seemed as if they were lit by a spark inside of them, rather than the faint reflected glow of the streetlights and scattered stars. His eyes were the first things you saw when you awoke, and they took your breath away. (They were bright in a way they hadn’t been in a long time.)

The three of you had moved in your sleep; you were lying wedged between a still slumbering Jo’s arm and his body as he snored into your hair, and Choji had migrated until he was lying on top of you like a weighted blanket. Unlike Jo, he was already awake, his chin resting on your chest as he blinked up at you with a soft expression.

“Good morning,” he said.

“It’s night.”

“Good night, then!” He took a deep breath, and let it out in a great big sigh, melting even further into you. Choji always was a tactile person; you hadn’t indulged in it fully in a long time. (It was a combined product of Choji getting ‘bored’ with you and Jo, and Jo keeping this newer, more callous Choji away in case he hurt you.)  But now, it was as if Umemiya had lifted his ‘curse’, and Choji was back to burrowing his small, warm body into yours like a clingy pet.

You’re determined to soak all of his affection in; basking in it like a cat in the sunlight. You knew your back would protest your sleeping position later, but you’re not moving until Choji does, and he seemed perfectly content to use you as a body pillow.

“You look better,” Choji said, completely out of the blue. You blinked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem happier,” he stated. He was looking at you, but it almost felt as if he was looking through you. His eyes were still bright, but they held a seriousness you never would have seen from Choji a few years ago.

You’re saved from trying to think up a response when a sleep-thick voice from behind you interjects.

“He’s right, you know,” Jo said lackadaisically, a small, self-satisfied smirk beginning to form on his face. He twisted so his face was next to yours. “You look prettier when you’re happy.”

The blatant flirting caused your brain to short-circuit. You knew things had…changed between the two of you last night, but you didn’t expect this sort of overtness, especially in front of Choji. You didn’t even know what sort of dynamic this would create between the three of you; and part of you was worried it would cause another rift when all you wanted was to pull them both close to you. Despite your worries, you still felt giddy butterflies swirling in your stomach when Jo called you pretty.

Choji let out a squawk.

Your heart shot into your throat.

“Kame!” he cried; his face was set into a pout as he glared at Jo. He pushed himself up on his hands and stuck his face even closer to yours; so close you could see the flecks of gold in his eyes and the faint white scar on his nose. You could feel your skin heating from the proximity of both of their faces. (You were suddenly overcome with a pang of sympathy for what Sakura must go through.)

“Don’t worry,” Choji stated, staring at you intensely, but earnestly. “You were always pretty! Don’t listen to Kame, he’s being silly.”

You let out a strangled squeak.

“Tsh.” Jo reached around you to flick Choji on the nose. “I said prettier, idiot. You don’t listen.”

Another squawk out of Choji. He reached over, likely to try and start play-wrestling with Jo, but you stopped him by wrapping your arms around his waist and pulling him to you in a hug.

“It’s okay, bunny,” you cooed, breaking out the old childhood nickname for Choji you hadn’t used in ages. “Thank you for trying to defend my honor from the big, mean kame.” You squeezed him as tight as you could, but he didn’t do anything other than giggle. 

“So crueeell,” Jo moaned, thunking his forehead onto your shoulder as he went limp. “Those cute faces just hide your evilness, both of you.”

You detached one arm from Choji so you could ruffle Jo’s shaggy hair. It was a frizzy, loose bedhead, but it was still soft when you ran your fingers through it. “Don’t worry Jo, we still love you, right Choji?”

“Of course!” Choji leaned forward, getting close enough to press a peck to the top of Jo’s head, making an exaggerated ‘mwah’ sound as he did so. The sight caused a burst of warm affection to shoot through you.

Jo didn’t answer, but you could feel him laughing into the crook of your neck as he nuzzled closer.

There was a moment of silence; you weren’t sure how long it lasted, but while it lasted, it was just the three of you, clinging to each other under the mixed lights of the city and the stars.

-

Choji’s voice was the one to break the peace. “I’m really sorry, y’know?”

He paused, turning so he could fix you and Jo with the full force of his wide, shining eyes. That seriousness was back, the giggling, joking Choji of a few minutes ago wiped away once more. It made him look older, and your heart briefly ached for the time you lost to Choji’s darkness. How much had he grown, while he was hidden by the shadows?

“I said sorry to Kame, but I need to tell you, too,” he said, holding your surprised gaze for a moment.

“Cho, you don’t need to—”

“Yes,” he interrupted. The force in his voice made your mouth snap shut. He sighed at this, deflating slightly, before continuing in a softer voice. “I’m so sorry. I hurt you. I didn’t mean to. Both of you look so happy now…and it made me think about how just…miserable we all were. And it was all my fault. So I’m sorry.”

He inhaled, voice shuddering. His eyes had gone glossy, and you realized that he was about to cry. “’M sorry! I mean it, I really do love you guys—” his voice cracked.

Jo reacted first, pulling Choji into a tight hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t help you.”

You could hear him sob into Jo’s shoulder, and you moved until you were plastered to Choji’s back. “And I’m sorry too, that I didn’t protect you both,” you murmured, before pressing your mouth to his temple in a firm kiss.

“We’re not mad,” Jo started.

“Well, I’m a bit mad at myself that I couldn’t help you,” you said, grimacing.

“Hush, pretty, y’know it’s not your fault,” Jo insisted.

You avoided his gaze, instead burying your face in Choji’s wild blond mane. “Either way, we don’t blame you, Choji. We just wanna be here for you.”

“And we love you too.”

“Mhmm. More than anything. Our little bunny,” you said, clutching at Jo’s shirt so you could effectively squash Choji between you both. “You’re not getting rid of us. We’re gonna right here with you. Always.”

The two of you held him until his tears stop pouring, and his breaths are even, instead of the jagged sobs of before. He pulled back from Jo’s now damp shoulder, so he could look at you both. His face was flushed and spotty, shining and slick with tears and other fluids. His eyes were puffy, but as he blinked the last of his tears away, you could see the genuine happiness reflected in them. You thought they never looked quite so beautiful.

You couldn’t resist smooching him on his cheek; it was salty, with dried tears, but just as soft as it looked. Jo, just as weak as you were, pressed a kiss to his other cheek. Not to be outdone, you gave Choji another peck, causing Jo to give one as well. It escalated until the both of you were pressing rapid-fire kisses all over Choji’s face; your antics caused him to giggle relentlessly, a sound of pure joy that made you feel giddy.

Eventually, you both slowed, kisses becoming more languid, simple brushes of both of your lips over his skin.

“What now?” you asked. The position you were slumped in was uncomfortable, but you felt secure in it.

“We take care of each other,” Jo murmured.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” said Choji, linking one of his pinkies with yours, and the other with Jo’s.

“Okay,” you breathed. “Sounds perfect.”

-

“Hey, Choji?”

“Yeah, Kame?”

“Did you know someone here got a little jealous of you and Umemiya?” he drawled.

You shot him a look, as if to say, ‘don’t you dare.’

“Why?” Choji asked, oblivious to the silent eye conversation you and Jo were having.

Jo gave you a slow, lazy smile. “It’s cause you bit him. And maybe a certain someone wanted to feel your teeth too—”

“TOGAME JO I SWEAR TO GOD!”

“—Just a little lovebite—”

Before you could try to throttle the smirking man, Choji grabbed your arm. “I’ll bite you if you want! It wasn’t a lovebite with Ume-chan, of course, but cause I love you, it would be one with you!”

You buried your face in your hands. You couldn’t take the sincere look in his eyes. Over the blood rushing in your ears, you could hear Jo laughing at you both, deep chuckles that don’t make you any less flustered.

They were lucky you loved them, you thought, as Jo gave you a gentle, apologetic kiss to the lips, and Choji, loathe to be left out, gave each of you a firm peck (with a little bit of a bite to it).

(Truly, you were lucky they loved you too.)

[99hook]

Chaotic Collaborations

Synopsis: The whirlwind of two polar opposites, a story line and unmistakable tensions in between

Warnings: pining, cursing, injury, depictions of blood, protective!hook, jealous!hook, angst, fluff eventually

A/N: welllll after who knows how long I’ve finally managed to conjure up the sunshine!reader x coldhearted hook fic! This was actually so fun to write I got carried away and it takes a drastic turn lmao I hope you love it babesss, enjoy!

(Takes place during the Hook and Jack rivalry)

(Also this shit is extremely long and I’m finishing it at 2am so bare with me if there’s grammatical errors, I’m sleepy lmao)

You were originally ecstatic over the shot at your very first story line when Tony pitched the idea to you. You’d been in AEW for a little over a year and had been hoping that you’d get a little more substantial tv time outside of your typical matches sometime soon, so when Tony called you to his office with an idea that was brought up to him, you couldn’t agree quick enough.

That was until the person you’d be doing the storyline with walked through the door.

The coldhearted handsome devil, as he frequently gets called. Someone you were somewhat familiar with due to seeing his matches in the viewing room from time to time, or him sitting alone in catering every so often, typically with a hatred look towards the whole world on his face.

A man you never considered approaching for the simple fact that he gave the impression that he was not to be fucked with, or even smiled at, for that matter. He was the last person you’d expected Tony to bring in.

“Hook, glad you’re here again. I know we’ve already been over this but now that we have your future partner here, I wanted to give you both the rundown. Have a seat.” Tony points to the chair next to you. He steps in, a hoodie over his head shadowing his eyes that glance at you before he silently takes a seat.

He brought a sudden energy to the room with his presence, one that made you feel a tad bit uneasy. Intimidated, more so.

“Y/N, Hook is who I’m pairing you with for this storyline. It’s come to my attention that the two of you are both crowd favorites and apparently a lot of fans want to see you two together. It would be great for the ratings and for both of your character developments.”

You nodded along, wanting to look over at the man next to you to see what he thought of this, though you kept your eyes on Tony. You knew that fans liked to talk about how you and some of the talent should pair up together, and there were a lot of edits on instagram of you and certain wrestlers that they shipped, but Hook was the least of your expectations.

“I’ll be putting you both in a group chat where I’ll send you segment and promo schedules and concepts, so keep your eyes out for that. Next week, during your match with Anna, Jack Perry is going to come out with the FTW title and hand it to her, and that’s when Hook will be coming out after him. The fans will think it’s all part of their feud until he comes to your aid when Anna hits you with the title while Jack and Hook are fighting on the ramp. That’s going to be the start of the entire storyline leading up to a tagteam match between the four of you.”

You listened intently, not wanting to miss a beat of the instruction. The storyline made a lot of sense since you and Anna did have some on screen animosity to begin with, and hook and jack have been at each others throats for some time now, so you could see the relevance to having Hook as your alliance.

“I’ll be sending you both a text soon on more details.” Tony said before he excused you both from his office. Hook silently got out of his chair and headed through the door without sparing you a glance. You weren’t sure if that meant that he was displeased about the storyline or if he just collected the information and went on his way.

You decided to try to talk to him when you both got into the hallway, but quickly wished you would’ve let him keep walking.

“Hey!” You jog up to him, reaching his side. He glanced over at you for a split second before he fixated his sights ahead. He didn’t greet you back, and that alone made you feel a little uneasy, but you still attempted to make conversation.

“I know we’ve never talked before, but since we’re about to do this whole storyline together, I guess I should introduce myself and all.” You managed a nervous chuckle, but he kept a straight face.

“I’m Y/N.” You continued on, feeling your nerves start to get the better of you, which is when you start rambling, usually.

“I mean, obviously you know that now since Tony said it, but, anyway, i just wanted to break the ice a little. This is all pretty new to me. I’ve never done a story line before so-“

That’s when Hook stops in his tracks, turning to face you. His stare was cold and jaw set. He showed no emotion, nothing at all, really. The way he looked straight into your eyes made you immediately shy away from that gaze. Your eyes dropped to the gold cross sitting over his chest similar to the one you had tucked underneath your shirt that you wore as a good luck charm.

You wanted to pull it out and show him that you had one too but something told you he wouldn’t care about that at all.

You glanced back up into his eyes, the ones that were strongly fixated on you, managing to push past the nervousness he made you feel until you heard him say, “Let’s save the talking for the scripts.”

He held his eyes on you for a second longer before he turned on his heel and headed down the hallway. You didn’t bother to follow. It was clear that Hook didn’t care to make conversation with you, and he wanted to make sure you understood that.

———

You were sitting in catering with Skye and Willow, oblivious to their conversation due to the thoughts that kept swirling around in your brain. It had been a week since that very first interaction with Hook and tonight you were going to be starting the whole storyline.

Skye noticed how you barely paid attention to the conversation and decided to ask you what was going on. You had yet to tell them about the storyline since talking to Hook, or attempting to, didn’t go over so well.

“What’s going on with you?” Skye’s voice reached you, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You could’ve said it was nothing to save yourself the conversation but they were going to know about the whole storyline tonight, so you decided to spill it all.

“Tony’s giving me my first storyline.” You say, watching as a smile spreads across both of their faces before the confusion sets in.

“You don’t seem too excited?” Willow commented.

“I mean, I am, but… Well, okay, so you know how Hook and Jack Perry have that whole rivalry going on right now?”

The girls nod slowly, clearly they were still a bit confused.

“And me and Anna have a match tonight, so Jack’s going to come out and hand her the FTW title so she can knock my ass out with it,-“

“So then Hook is going to come out to save you.” Skye figured. “So is it like, an on screen dating kind of thing?”

“I don’t think so. Tony said we’ll end up teaming up against them, so I’m pretty sure it’s just alliances.”

Willow’s lips spread into a smirk before she looked down.

“Are you nervous about it or something? You’re the one who said you wished you’d get your shot at a story line and now you’re talking like you don’t want to do it.” Skye said, but you hardly heard her when the man who’s been racing through your mind came walking through the catering doors.

Willow noticed your eyes immediately finding him, following him as he headed around the perimeter of the room to take his seat in the very back.

“I think she’s nervous.” Willow grinned, clearly with insinuation but that’s when you quickly tore your eyes away from the man in question and back to them.

“No, it’s the fact that I tried to talk to him after we left Tony’s office, y’know, introduce myself and break the ice since we’re going to be working together, and he literally looked me dead in my face and told me to save the talking for the scripts.”

Both of their jaw’s dropped and Willow’s eyes cut over to the man, shooting him a look he didn’t see since he was on his phone.

“That’s fucking rude.” She said.

“Yeah, and we haven’t spoke since.”

“I mean, he kind of does look like that type of guy. He’s always by himself, always looks like someone pissed in his cheerios, maybe he’s just a dick. I’d just stick to the storyline and don’t bother with him outside of that if he’s going to have that kind of an attitude.” Skye says before she grabs her phone and stands up from the table.

“Anyway, I gotta go. I’ll be watching your match from the viewing room tonight though. You’re gonna do amazing.” She smiles before she heads out, leaving you and willow at the table.

“I agree with Skye. Just try to enjoy your first storyline despite his negative attitude.”

You nodded, then your eyes adverted over to the back of the room, for some reason you felt strongly compelled to steal a glance of him, only to find his eyes locked on you.

You felt your stomach twist suddenly and looked away immediately, but you could still feel the powerful gaze he possessed burning a hole through you, and you weren’t sure if that meant you should look back again, maybe try to go talk to him, or leave the room all together.

“Oh my God, he’s staring at me. Don’t you fucking look, Willow. Don’t make it obvious.”

Willow didn’t, but it was clear she wanted to. You could practically feel his dark eyes on you from way across the room, and you couldn’t help the way it made the pace of your heart quicken, out of the sheer nervousness that his presence hasn’t failed to make you feel.

“He’s leaving now.” Willow whispered as her eyes followed him around the room before she dropped them to the table. “He’s gone.”

————

You couldn’t help but to be nervous but you attempted to put it all aside as you clutched you ribs, lying on the canvas after Anna kicked into your side, probably a little harder than she should have. You knew what was coming as soon as Jack’s music hit and he came running down the ramp with the FTW title in hand.

You grabbed Anna’s feet before she could reach him, swiftly making her fall flat against the canvas in an attempt to protect yourself from the inevitable. That’s when Hook’s music hit and a sudden pop from the crowd made your ears ring.

He didn’t run down the ramp like Jack did, but it took him only a few seconds to get his hands on the man. Hook snatched the title and threw it to the floor before he threw a series of punches to Jack’s chest, while you and Anna were throwing punches to each other’s jaws. She was hitting you with a force that felt a little more personal than just entertainment purposes. You wondered if she meant that or not.

She grabbed your wrist and slung you against the turnbuckles, hitting your back so hard you sprung foward and fell to your knees. It was all planned, but you were taking one hell of a beating.

That’s when Hook and Jack had the referee distracted enough for Anna to grab the belt. Just as you were getting on your feet, you felt the impact against the side of your head knocking you down flat, staring up at the bright lights of the arena as she pinned you.

The three count came fast and her music rang through your ears. You laid there like you were dazed and confused and thankfully she didn’t actually hit you with it too hard. You had a little pain but nothing like it would’ve been if she would’ve intended to knock you out cold.

The crowd was booing jack and Anna both, but they roared with cheers when Hook slid under the ropes. You felt a warm hand sneak beneath your shoulder before he helped you sit up. There was no script to go off of so you weren’t sure if anything should’ve been said, but nobody would’ve heard over the thousands of screams piercing your ears.

Taz was on commentary hyping the interaction up for the added affect of the viewers watching on tv.

“I don’t know when those two became friends, but I’ll tell you one thing, Y/N has a good one in her corner. If Hook has your back, you know you’re gonna be alright. Jack and Anna better watch out now boys.”

Hook leaned down and grabbed your hand, pulling you up to your feet. The crowd was absolutely wild, and it was a reaction you really didn’t expect. He silently nodded towards the ramp as he let go of your hand. You walked ahead of him, slipping out of the ropes and making your way towards the tunnels, clutching your side and your head for the added affect.

You looked over your shoulder to find hook close behind, his eyes locked on you the second you spared a glance. Just before you reached the tunnels, you heard his voice, somehow over all the commotion around the arena.

“Wait” he caused you to turn around, now inches apart from you. Your eyes widened when you realized the closeness, before you felt his hand grab yours again and hold it up in the air, turning you towards the crowd that was on the verge of losing their minds.

He pointed at you, nodding as he took in the reactions. You were trying to soak it all in but it all had you confused. Assuming he was really good at selling, you tried to ignore the fact that his harsh words had been running through your mind for the past week, but due to that, you didn’t expect all of this.

He dropped your hand and nodded towards the tunnel, letting you lead the way. As soon as you got away from the chaos in the arena, you turned around to face him. Part of you wanted to ask why he was so rude to you last week but the other part of you was screaming for you not to.

Hook’s brows knitted together when you looked up at him. The last thing you probably should’ve been thinking about was the first one that came to mind simply because your brain did that sometimes.

He was wearing a black hoodie, black pants and looked like the walking depiction of darkness with the way his hair casted over nearly half of his face. Meanwhile you had on all white ring gear coupled with white nails and the comparison must have looked nothing less than polar opposites when you stood side by side.

But then you heard him say, “Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?”

That’s when you realized you’d just been staring up at him, feeling your cheeks immediately burn beneath your skin when he called you out for it. Hook saw the way your face flushed and a rosy tint dusted over. Then he noticed a gold cross sitting against your chest much like his own. He didn’t comment on it, obviously.

You wanted to redeem yourself but couldn’t muster words at that point and he stared down at you awaiting a response or simply for you to move out of his way, which is exactly what you did.

The second you stepped to the side, he slipped past you, brushing your shoulder on his way down the hall. You stood there with a bit of a dumbfounded look on your face as you watched him leave without sparing you another glance.

———

Another week passed by and again, you and hook hadn’t spoke, but your tagged photos on instagram were nothing but you and him from Dynamite the week prior. It was funny how many fans were going crazy for a duo that was anything but when you weren’t on cameras.

You’d looked down at your phone when it buzzed and a text from Tony came through. You were put in the group chat with a 363 area code and debated whether or not you should save him in your contacts.

The text was the instructions for a segment later on. You and hook were going to be spotted talking in the hallway. He sent the full script and with only an hour to memorize and apologized for the last minute scheduling.

You were typing back when another message popped up. It was from hook, nothing but a short and simple reply saying, “All good” meanwhile you’d typed almost a whole paragraph about how it was okay, don’t apologize and you were going to get to memorizing right now. Needless to say, you deleted that and typed back, “No problem, I’ll have them memorized.”

You then scrolled up the long message, unsure if you could actually sell this with such a short amount of study time. You didn’t want to screw up on live tv.

Your lips moved as you read over the lines. It would’ve been way easier if you could actually rehearse them with someone but clearly hook wasn’t going to be down for that and Skye and Willow both had the night off, which was the reason you were sitting alone in catering.

You tried to focus but you felt that feeling again. Eyes on you, unavailable. He was somewhere in the room and you could feel it. He was staring at you again, and you didn’t even have to find him to be able to tell that.

You couldn’t keep your mind on the script now that you knew you were being watched. You wondered why he was staring in the first place. What was his problem with you after all?

The temptations got the better of you and you finally tore your eyes from your phone, only to find him sitting directly across from you at the next table over. Like you already knew, staring.

He didn’t bother to snatch his gaze off of you. He was shameless about the way he watched you. You couldn’t help it when your nerves grabbed strong hold of you and out blurted, “Are you just gonna sit there and stare?”, loud enough for the people around to hear, earning their attention.

Hook didn’t acknowledge them. He didn’t even blink. Didn’t move a single muscle and that’s when you decided to get up and walk over to him, despite the way his dark eyes made you want to take off running.

You approached his table and took a seat directly across from him. He tilted his head back slightly and crossed his arms over his chest. His brows raised in an expectant manner and you could feel the eyes of talent all around focused on the two of you.

“Why do you keep staring at me?” You called him out the same way he did to you last week in the tunnel. He kept a stoic expression as his eyes dropped down to your phone in hand on top of the table. He decided to avoid your question to ask one of his own.

“You think you can sell that segment later?”

Caught off guard, you felt your brows knit together, looking down at your phone which served as a reminder that you needed to be studying those lines.

“I’m gonna do my best.” You answered honestly, looking back at him. “Are you not going to go over your lines?”

“I already know them.”

“The text just came in like five minutes ago.” You pointed out.

“And I already know them, and yours.” He coolly states before he grabs the bookbag from the seat next to him and stands up. “Don’t mess up.” He says before he tries to leave.

“Wait!” Your voice didn’t do you any favors when it came out a little squeakier than you intended, but it kept him there. “Can you help me go over them?”

He stared down at you, face unreadable as always. There was a pause before he said, “If I didn’t have to get ready for my match, maybe I’d consider.” Then he headed out of catering, leaving you alone at the table.

———

You headed down the hallway where you were supposed to shoot the segment. Hook was already there, leaning against the wall with his phone in hand. He had his ring gear on, a couple red marks on his chest and sweat glistening off his skin. He must have just came back from his match.

Nobody else was around yet. You slowly walked over to him and stood against the opposite wall in front of him. He finished typing something before he picked his head up and looked down at you. You did your best not to spare him a glance as you continued going over your lines.

“It’s a little late to be trying to memorize them now.” You heard him mutter.

“I think I have them memorized, actually.” You look up at him, now leaning back with arms crossed. His hair was absolutely unruly and you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh when you saw it up close. The way it was standing straight up over his head reminded you of Chicken Little.

“What?” His brows knit when he catches your reaction.

“Sorry” you shake your head and wipe the smirk off your face. “It’s your hair.”

“What about my hair?”

“It’s like, standing straight up.” You point out, watching his eyes squint at you.

“It’s hair. It does that.” He deadpanned.

“Mine never does.”

“That’s ‘cause Anna’s always pulling yours out.” He bantered back, and for the first time you thought maybe you saw his lips tip up in a smirk, but as soon as you caught it, he wiped it away.

“She is not always pulling it out. That was one time. And that was so long ago, how do you even know that?”

Silence suddenly filled the hallway. He didn’t have an answer for that and thankfully for him, the cameraman made his way around the corner just in time.

“Alright, ready?” He calls out to the both of you. You take one more quick glance at your phone before shoving it in your pocket and taking in a deep breath.

Hook pushed himself off the wall and whispered, “Don’t mess up.” Before he stood behind you, close enough that when you turned around, you had to put a little space between you.

“Action.”

“Y/N.” Hook suddenly spoke. “You can’t let anyone walk all over you in this company. It’s time for you to take control. You need to start fighting fire with fire.”

He was right when he said he had his parts memorized. It was so effortless to him. He went from one persona to the next in a matter of seconds.

You tried to hide the surprise on your face and snap into character. He eyed you skeptically, you could clearly tell he was expecting you to mess up.

“I don’t want to play dirty, Hook. That’s gonna be my karma when it comes back to bite me.” First line down, you didn’t think it was too bad.

“Or maybe Anna Jay and Jack Perry’s karma is us. Did you ever think about that?” He raised his voice and took a step foward unexpectedly, backing you against the wall. You were suddenly flustered but knew you had to force that away.

“Jack knocked me out with the same title Anna hit you with. My FTW title. They’re cornering you and you’re allowing it! What’s gonna happen when you’re in the hospital with a concussion next time and I can’t save you?”

His chest started heaving as hot breaths fanned against your skin. He was way too good at this.

“What do you want me to do, Hook? You want me to be evil like they are? That’s not me!”

A second passed and you saw the way his eyes dropped down to some other part of your face, suddenly making you self conscious about whatever caught his attention. Then, he leaned in even closer, his chest brushing against yours when he inhaled.

“If you’re gonna be with me, you have to be tougher than this. That sweet, innocent personality of yours isn’t going to get us anywhere, and I’m not gonna stand by while you let yourself get assaulted every week. It’s time to start fighting back, Y/N.”

Half of that line, you didn’t recall memorizing. It threw you off a little bit, and thanks to that, you couldn’t remember your final line. You suddenly got anxious, mouth falling open with no words coming out. Hook picked up on this, not letting too much time pass before he tried to jog your memory.

“You don’t have anything to say? You’re okay with these people tormenting us? You want them to take everything from us?”

You hoped he could hear you silently thanking him. You knew that wasn’t a line but he kept it going for the sake of embarrassing yourself.

“If you want me to fight back, then let me do it my way.” You recited, shooting him your best glare for the dramatics. “I’m not turning cold for you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat her ass so bad she’ll wish she never stepped foot in a ring with me.”

His lips turned upwards in the faintest hint of a smirk and this time you were certain on it before he quickly brought that straight face back for the camera and nodded his head saying his last line.

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“Cut”

The camera man left you and hook in the hallway. As soon as the camera wasn’t on you an enormous weight was lifted off of your shoulders, finally able to take a deep breath, but the air around quickly got suffocating all over again.

Hook didn’t move. He was still standing close enough to you that you felt pinned to the wall. He held those infamously dark eyes on you for a moment, studying you. In his mind, he didn’t see the value of having you as a partner. He couldn’t understand why he got paired with someone who looks like they’d cry the minute someone raised their voice.

You just appeared to him as a sweet, innocent person and not in the way that he intended for it to be a compliment. Sweet and innocent wasn’t his thing. He needed someone just as coldhearted and vengeful as him.

Nevertheless, he was with you now until this storyline ends and his dad told him during a conversation they had a few days prior, that he needs to look at things a little bit differently. Taz seemed to think that he needed someone like you by his side. The coldhearted handsome devil needed a conscious and in his dad’s mind, a babyface with the reputation of being a walking ray of sunshine was the angel on Hook’s shoulder.

He carefully considered his dad’s perspective, but then aroused ideas of his own. A concept that he pitched to Tony that you had no idea what was coming. Plans to take your squeaky clean image and transform it into something greater, something more complimentary to himself.

You eyed him, swallowing past a thick lump accumulating in your throat before you managed to speak in a voice almost weary.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Hook’s head tilted to the side, as if he was intrigued by the simple question. Your wide eyes reminded him of a skittish puppy ready to bolt, and he was surprised you haven’t yet.

“I thought you had your lines memorized?” He countered your question.

“I did, until you decided to improvise.” You quickly blurted, feeling like you exaggerated that defense. His brows raised slightly from beneath the thick hair against his forehead before he took a step back, putting space between you for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

“See you next week.” He muttered before he disappeared around the corner.

———

Two nights later, as you got cozy in bed, just about to doze off, your phone buzzed with a text from that same area code you recognized as Hook.

“been talking to my dad. you need to learn redrum. im in the hotel gym”

You glanced at the time, nearly baffled when you realized it was one-thirty in the morning. You texted back a quick reply.

“Right now? This can’t wait until tomorrow? And why do I need to learn your moves? I have moves of my own.”

You stared at the message until the delivered turned into read at 1:32 and locked your phone until he texted back.

“im going to bed at 2”

You stared at that simple little message and knew it was basically him not giving much of an option. You huffed as you slid out of bed, never minding to change out of your sweatpants or do anything with yourself for that matter. It was almost two in the morning. You should be asleep.

The elevators brought you down to the first floor. You headed across the lobby towards the gym. You could hear the sound of a punching bag being hit three times each even through the closed door.

You walked in, to your surprise finding Hook and Taz both. Taz was keeping the punching bag steady while Hook threw his fists into it, but that came to an abrupt halt when taz spotted you first.

“Ah, there she is.” His voice echoed through the empty room. “Didn’t think you’d actually show.” He chuckled, turning to his son. “Tyler and I have been talking about that upcoming tagteam match between you and the goofballs, we think if the crowd saw a double redrum they’d go nuts.”

You glanced at hook, now with the new knowledge that his name was actually Tyler, and for some reason that’s all that registered in that moment. He was looking at his dad, not even sparing a glance in your direction until Taz gave him a strong pat on his bare back and said, “I’ll leave you to it son. Your mother’s waiting for me.”

You held the door open to let him through, offering a faint smile. Taz stopped before he left the room, looking over his shoulder at his son, “Polite too” he commented, and you weren’t sure what that was supposed to mean but didn’t ask either. “Don’t hurt him too bad.” He muttered with an amused grin before he headed out.

You closed the door and stepped a little farther in the room. Taz seemed to have taken that lighthearted energy with him when he left because once again, the air was thick. It felt hot and heavy in your lungs and it made no sense to you why that was always the case when you were around him.

He stood at the front of the room with his hands on his hips. He looked like he’d been at it for hours what with the way his cheeks were bright red and sweat was covering every visible inch of his body, and drenching his hair.

“Do you always work out at two in the morning?” You asked as you drew a little closer, feeling like you were physically walking on eggshells.

“I go to sleep at two.” He replied, rather breathlessly. His eyes adverted down to your t-shirt and sweats, and the fuzzy slippers you put on before you left the hotel room. “Apparently you do too.”

“I was almost asleep when you texted.” You defended yourself and your cozy loungewear. “I’m not going to throw on a whole outfit just to come down to the gym.”

“Real shoes either.” He countered.

You looked down at the slippers and then back up at him. “They’re comfy. I don’t care.”

“Clearly.” He nodded. “Doesn’t matter. You familiar with any of my moves at all?”

You could’ve told him that you’d watched some of his matches in the viewing room before but something told you that he would think you were weird for that, so you simply shrugged and said, “kind of, not really.”

The way he eyed you made you think he knew you were lying.

“Never seen me do redrum?” He questioned, raising his brows.

“Maybe like one time.” You lied again, and that’s when his eyes narrowed, as if he was reading right through the bullshit.

He pushed his hair back and let his hand fall to his side with a smack to his hip before he stepped away from the punching bag and over to a bench, grabbing an almost empty water bottle and chugging the rest.

He crumbled the plastic before tossing it in the trash can halfway across the room and walking back over. He stood in front of you. It seemed to you like the man didn’t know the definition of personal space.

“Are you familiar with a half nelson at least?”

You shot him a questionable look, feeling the sarcasm dripping from his question.

“Pretty sure everyone is.” You crossed your arms, deadpanning on him in an attempt to dish it right back. His lips fold in and that’s when you couldn’t help but notice a dimple on his right cheek.

“Alright then-“ he held his arms out to his sides. “Put me in one.”

You shot him another look, wondering if that was a serious request or not. He stared at you, clearly waiting. It didn’t seem probable since the man towered over you.

“How do I do that when you’re like, six foot tall?” You asked, holding your own arms out. “I’m obviously too short to reach.”

“Size doesn’t matter. It’s the way you utilize your body. Anna’s taller than you, how do you expect to put her in a choke? Wait for her to get down?”

“I wasn’t planning to until you said I needed to learn your moves. I have a couple of my own.”

“And clearly they don’t work too well.” He counters comebacks quickly, you realize.

“If you can’t reach, use your legs first.” He instructed, suddenly having a more serious edge to his voice. “If that means you have to jump on their back, then do that. I’ve had to a time or two.” He shrugged before he waved you foward.

You dropped your arms and eyed him skeptically. An uneasy feeling was trying to take over simply because the thought of wrestling around with a man twice your size didn’t seem like the smartest idea.

“You’re not gonna sling me over your shoulder or something, are you?”

You caught the brief flash of confusion that crossed through his eyes before they returned to that cold stare he perfected.

“No, Y/N.” He huffed in annoyance. “I’m not gonna do anything but let you take me down. I’m gonna fall foward though, not back, so if you go flying off of me that’s on you.”

In his mind he was wondering why you were so apprehensive about this. Did you really think he was going to hurt you? He might not be all that friendly but he didn’t have intentions to harm you. Either way, he pushed past those thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

You nodded in understanding before you circled around him, taking a step back for more momentum when you sprung foward. Your legs wrapped tightly around his waist, knees locking in underneath his ribs and you heard a low grunt reverberate through his throat.

“Am I hurting you?” You loosened your legs but felt his hands grab them, keeping you wrapped tightly around him.

“Nope, always keep your legs tight. I’m good. Lock it in.”

You did as you were told, snaking one arm beneath his jaw and the other under his arm, bringing it up and pushing his head down until you felt him falling foward with a low, “Fuck” beneath his breath.

You held on tight as his knees hit the floor and he tapped on your arm quickly. You unwrapped yourself and stood back up, offering your hand to help him to his feet, but he ignored it.

“Was that right?” You asked, feeling somewhat prideful about the way you just brought a six foot tall, two hundred pound man down to his knees with his own finisher.

He nodded, rubbing his neck. “Yeah, that was right.” He cleared his throat. He then eyed you with a somewhat unreadable look on his face, eyes slightly narrowed.

“What?” You asked.

“You’ve never seen that before?” He resorted back to his previous question from earlier.

“I told you I have once.” You reminded him, but again, human lie detector comes out of him and it was evident.

“Most people don’t get it right the first time after seeing me do it more than once.”

“Well I did.” You shrugged, watching as he peered those eyes at you, reading straight through the bullshit once more just to hum in response.

“Not very believable but alright.” He muttered before he walked over to the bench and sat down, grabbing his hoodie and tossing it over his shoulder. You felt your clothes sticking to your body with sweat that wasn’t your own and peeled the fabric from your skin, just for it to stick right back.

Hook noticed this. “You got a little sweat on you.” He comments obviously.

“Do I? I didn’t notice.” You sarcastically replied, and another unreadable expression played on his face, one that had you wondering what he was thinking, but you didn’t ask. It returned back to that blank, emotionless look moments after.

“I have a match Wednesday.” He said as he ran his hand through his unruly hair. “You should probably be ringside.”

“Did Tony say that? I haven’t heard anything.”

“I’m saying that.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, looking up at you. Your mouth clamped shut with that response. He clearly saw the mixed reaction playing on your face and made it a point to clarify.

“The more we’re together, the more we’ll sell.”

But something told you otherwise and you weren’t sure what. Something was nagging at you about his actual motives. If you remember correctly, he didn’t seem too pleased about being paired up with you to begin with.

“I didn’t think you cared so much about this storyline.” You tested. “You seemed really unhappy about it when we were in Tony’s office. And after, especially.” You referred to the first little conversation, or lack there of, in the hallway.

He looked down at his knuckles and a few scars on them before he looked back up at you.

“If we have to do it, I want to at least make it good.” He said, ignoring basically everything you just said. “That means we need to sell it. So we need to be seen together a lot more. Nobody’s gonna believe it if we’re only shot on segments and nowhere else.”

You nodded, understanding that fact.

“So when I have a match, you be there. When you have a match, I’ll be there.” He then stood up and threw on the black hoodie you always saw him wear at work before he walked past you, muttering a low, “see you Wednesday” under his breath before the gym doors shut behind him.

———

“Sounds like he wants to fuck you.” Willow bluntly stated after you told her and Skye all about what’s been going on lately. You felt your cheeks practically burn your skin but looked away in an attempt to hide it.

“Agreed.” Skye adds in. “Looks like someone’s not so coldhearted after all.”

“No, he definitely is.” You affirm with a quick nod. “He’s just good at selling a storyline. He’s a different person on camera than he is elsewhere.”

“He looks pretty angry all the time to me. On camera and every time I pass his grumpy ass in the halls” Willow chuckled and you couldn’t help but do the same. “And if he’s trying to sell the story purely, I don’t think he’d bother getting you down to the gym at almost two in the morning.”

“Well it was to teach me his finisher for when we have that tagteam match.” You justified, but they didn’t buy it.

“That could’ve waited for a day time hour, Y/N.” Skye tried to convince you, but there was no use in that. You looked at the time and realized his match was starting soon. You got up from the seat, thankful for an excuse to leave the conversation.

“I’m needed ringside.” You tell them, noting the smirks on their face before you left.

Hook was already in the gorilla waiting for his music to hit when you finally got there. His back was turned and head hung as he pushed himself back and to against the bars.

“Hey.” You breathlessly said, due to nearly racing to be in time. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder as he kept doing what looked to you like mid air push ups, assuming it was just something he did to get amped up.

His eyes adverted down to your shirt. You didn’t have a match tonight so you didn’t bother throwing on your ring gear. He was wearing all black this time, and you were wearing a bright yellow top and black shorts.

“Hey sunshine.” He said with a condescending, mocking tone as he eyed your apparel.

“Sunshine? Why? Because of my shirt?” You asked. “Was I supposed to match you or something?”

He shook his head and dropped it, exposing that dimple again. He pushed himself off the rails to stand up straight, looking down at you rather dramatically with the way he dropped his head.

“I didn’t say anything about your clothes.”

“You insinuated by the way you looked at my yellow shirt, then called me sunshine.” You pointed out, watching an amused grin spread across his lips before he dropped his head to cover it. You know you weren’t mistaking.

It was then that his music hit and the pop of the arena was already ringing your ears. He headed through the tunnel and you followed, unsure what you were actually supposed to do now that you were here.

The crowd went crazy when hook came out, but nearly insane when you popped out right behind him. He stopped at the top of the ramp to look amongst the sea of faces, and you endured it all next to him. You turned to look at him, only to find him staring down at you.

He nodded towards the ring, signaling for you to take the lead, so you did. On commentary once again, Taz was hyping it up for the viewers at home.

“That’s hook right there folks. The coldhearted handsome devil. He’s being accompanied by one of AEW’s crowd favorites, Y/N for this match. These two have been joined at the hip ever since Anna Jay knocked her upside the head with the FTW title. They’ve got each others backs, I’ll tell you that much.”

If you could hear commentary it would probably make you laugh just how much his dad sells the storyline.

You stopped at the end of the ramp and waited for hook to walk down. He stopped next to you for a moment, the cameraman panning in on the two of you taking in the crowd reactions before he nodded towards where you would be standing, signaling for you to take your place while he rounds the ring.

When the bell rings and the match gets started, you watch on from where you stood leaning against the canvas. You’ve seen a few of his matches but never up close. It was clear exactly why he was favored in this industry. His quickness and agility was otherworldly. He was fast thinking and cleverly destructive.

He made quick work of getting his opponent down. It had only taken about three and a half minutes and the redrum was locked in, and seconds after, his music boomed through the arena.

You clapped genuinely, watching as he got to his feet and slipped out the ring on your side. He nodded towards the tunnels and by this point you already knew to take the lead while he walks behind you. No idea why he prefers it that way, but you didn’t question.

When you reached the stage, you stopped and turned to face the crowd. He got up next to you and looked at you questionably when you grabbed his wrist, even though he already knew what you were going to do.

You raised his hand in the air and listened to the crowd explode. The pop was unlike anything you’d witnessed yourself, and it was doing a pretty good job at bringing your confidence level way up.

“Probably one of AEW’s most unlikely duos. The coldhearted handsome devil and Y/N look like night and day standing next to each other.” Excalibur mentions on commentary.

“Their appearances may be complete opposites but don’t let that fool you my guy. These two are a force to be reckoned with.” Taz adds.

You get halfway through the tunnel when you look over your shoulder to find hook trailing closely behind you.

“Good job.” You smile at him, though he doesn’t return the smile back. You didn’t expect him to, anyway. He hummed in response and dropped his head, ruffling his hair.

Just then, a text came through to your phone. You pulled it out of your pocket and read the group chat message.

“It’s Tony.” You tell hook. “He said me being ringside was a nice touch for whoever’s idea that was. Want me to tell him it was yours?”

“Nah.” He shortly replied. “Did he say anything else?” He asked, seeming a little curious.

“No.” You told him, watching as he nods once. “What do you think we’ll be doing next? Another segment? When even is this tagteam match happening?”

“Ask him.” He mutters.

He wasn’t saying much all of the sudden which confused you. It was like he retreated into a shell after he decided he didn’t like the outside world for the two minutes he experienced it.

“Are you tired?” You asked, noticing the questioning glance he gave you.

“No?”

“Oh. You sound tired.” You added as you headed down the hall with him, unsure where you were actually going since you just got caught up in talking to him.

“Not tired” he sighed, giving you the impression that he didn’t want to talk at all anymore. Or maybe he never even did in the first place.

“Alright well, I’ll see you next week then.” Your voice was far weaker than his was. He slowed down but didn’t stop, muttering “alright” before he kept walking down the hallway, leaving you standing in the middle of it for what felt like the hundredth time watching him leave.

———

A text from Tony came through two days later. It was a graph with the ratings for Wednesday night’s show and apparently the interactions with you and Hook brought a lot of attention on.

You were typing a reply when another message came through. It was next weeks plans for the two of you. Reading over it, you couldn’t help but to be confused. Apparently you were supposed to interfere in one of Anna’s matches that Jack was going to be standing ringside for. This time, you were going to be the one using the belt against her after hook takes it from jack.

Sounded like heel work in your opinion.

You didn’t reply due to the fact that you weren’t sure what to say, but hook did. His message came through a few minutes after the text was sent and was nothing but a simple okay emoji.

That night, you received a text from hook. It was short and simple like all the other ones had been.

“you own any black clothes?”

You felt like you could feel the sarcasm through the screen. What kind of question was that?

“Why?” You replied, not having much time to close your phone before another one came through.

“so we can match”

You understood the reasoning but weren’t super thrilled about black of all colors.

“Do you own anything other than black clothes?” You retorted. This time there was a pause between messages.

“what color do you want to wear, y/n” if you were standing in front of him having this conversation you just knew he’d have that bored look on his face. You thought for a minute about a reasonable color. Then decided on one he probably would glare at you for.

“Got anything yellow?” You grinned to yourself knowing that he was probably going to roll his eyes at that one.

“no.”

“Fine… Blue?”

“no.”

“Red?”

“no. wear black wednesday”

You stared down at that message for a moment debating on what to say back. You looked across the room at your suitcase overflowing with clothes but you already knew the only article of clothing you brought with you that was all black was a dress you wore to go out in. Nothing reasonable for the show.

“I don’t have anything black suitable for tv.”

“how would something not be suitable? just wear it”

You sighed deeply as you walked over to your suitcase and pulled out the dress that you only wore once simply because it rode up way too high all night long. You threw it on the bed and snapped a picture, sending it to him.

“This is it and I’m not wearing it.”

There was a couple moments that passed before you received a message back.

“i don’t see the issue”

“It’s revealing.”

“so is your ring gear but you still wear it?” You stared at that message wondering why you were standing in the middle of the room arguing with that man right now. And still, you continue to do so.

“That’s ring gear. That’s different.”

This time, a good five minutes pass by before he replies. You had just tossed your phone on the bed when you figured he was done texting only to grab it almost as quickly as you tossed it when your phone buzzed again.

“ill bring one of my hoodies then”

On the other end of the phone, Tyler was sitting at a restaurant table with his dad going over the next couple of weeks.

Taz was the one who told him that the two of you should match and it would probably do good at winning over the crowd and the viewers, but he was thinking more along the lines of his son wearing something other than the typical black attire he exhausts.

“It’s funny seeing you two up on that stage” taz chuckles as he digs his fork into his pasta. “You’re like the moon and she’s the sun, for now at least”

Tyler’s eyes lifted from his phone. He was staring at the three little dots while he awaited your response. He said he’d bring you one of his hoodies and for some reason he was apprehensive about sending that message. It felt like odd territory to him to be letting you wear his clothes, but apparently all you had was a little black dress you didn’t feel comfortable wearing.

“And I’ll tell you another thing, when you two team up in that ring, the fans are gonna lose their freakin’ minds”

Just then, a text came through and for some reason a slight smile landed on tyler’s lips, until his dad called it out.

“Who’s that?” He questioned, trying to lean foward to steal a glance at his son’s phone. He was quick to lock it and stuff it in his pocket.

“Y/N.” He muttered before he dug his own fork into his food.

“Have you talked to her about the turn yet?” Taz asked, and Tyler froze for a second.

“Nah, not yet.”

“She doesn’t know?” He questioned, looking a bit taken back. “What does she think the plans for you two are? You have to tell her, son.”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll figure it out on her own.” He grumbled, leaning back in his seat and dropping the fork against his plate.

“Tyler” taz shot him a look, “It was your idea. You need to be the one to tell her straight.”

And it was his idea. He approached Tony shortly after he left you in the hallway that first time the two of you talked, and pitched the idea that you should have a heel run by his side. Tony wasn’t apprehensive at all. To him, and to Hook, the idea of an America’s Sweetheart type of personality completely doing a 180 with the coldhearted handsome devil was golden.

It was just that he told Tony that he’d talk to you about it and never did. Plans had changed from the originality of the first idea and you had no clue about it.

“What’s gonna happen when she’s supposed to go out in front of thousands of people as a heel, and she’s thinking she’s still this babyface character?” Taz reasons, making Tyler drop his eyes to the table.

“She needs time to prepare. It’s not easy going a complete 180 son. Especially not if you wait until last minute to tell her.”

He retrieved his phone from his pocket and read your message back.

“Thank you” was all you said. His thumbs hovered over the screen before he finally managed a response. It was hard to put it into words for some reason and when he realized what it sounded like, he had to send a double text for clarification.

“can you come to my room later”

“to talk. it’s kinda important”

———

Later meant way later than you expected when Hook sent you the text letting you know what room number he was in at midnight.

Regardless of how tired you were, you were way more anxious than anything to figure out what was so important. You reached room 235 and knocked on his door. You heard some shuffling around before he opened it, hair even messier than usual and eyes low, like he was on the verge of passing out himself.

He stepped back and waved you in. You walked in and eyed him as he walked around you. He didn’t sit down anywhere and you didn’t make yourself comfy either. This was awkward. Probably the most awkward encounter you’ve had with him yet.

Truth was that he was a little nervous. He didn’t know how you were going to take the fact that this entire time, you were working on a heel turn without even knowing it. And he was the one behind it all.

He looked down at you, leaning against the wall as he contemplated the best way to go about the conversation. He never really got nervous about anything so this was fairly new and rather uncomfortable for him.

“Did you get that message from Tony about Wednesday?” He started off by asking, and you slowly nodded. You eyed him, trying to read an unreadable man.

“What did you think about it?” He was doing a good job at reading you though. Wasn’t hard since you had a tendency to wear your emotions on your face. He could tell you were skeptical of him in that moment by the way you stared at him solely. He’s seen that look from you a couple dozen times already and the only other one he can recognize that easily is the look you give when he makes a smart comment to you.

“You mean about me using the title to hit Anna? It sounded like heel work to me.” You told him, watching as he nodded.

“Cause it is.”

You blinked twice. “I’m not a heel.”

“I talked to Tony about this storyline a while back. We agreed it’s a better idea if you have a heel run with me.”

You stared up at him, a bit lost. The original idea was for the babyfaces to win in the end, since jack and Anna were already heels. Now it turns out that you had a whole new character transition coming you didn’t even know about in the first place and frankly, you were unsure how to feel.

“Wait so this whole time I’ve been working on turning heel? And you knew that and didn’t tell me?” You peered your eyes at him, glaring. “Why not?”

“Never had the chance, I guess.” He shrugged.

“Never had the chance?” You felt your eyes form into small slits. “You had plenty. How come you got to decide what I do with my gimmick and I didn’t even get the chance to give my opinion?”

Just then, a voice popped into his head, belonging to his dad. Women don’t like when you lie to them, son.

He didn’t intend to lie. It just happened that way. He kind of assumed you’d catch on with the whole heel turn thing and not ask questions but now that he knows you a little better, he knows better than that.

“Your goody two shoes persona wasn’t working well for you anyway, Y/N. We knew it wouldn’t sell for a storyline like this so we came up with something better. If Tony pitched the idea you wouldn’t be getting all fired up at him”

“It’s not the fact that I’ll be turning heel, it’s the fact that nobody told me. Especially you.” You pointed out. You weren’t even mad about the new plans. You would’ve agreed to it anyway if that was the first idea Tony pitched, but you were walking around with no idea what was coming for you and that alone made you more nervous than you needed to be.

“Maybe you didn’t realize, but this is my very first storyline. The last thing I want to do is blow my chance at another one and I’ve been going around absolutely oblivious to the fact that I’m expected to do a whole heel turn in who knows how soon, and you just let me look stupid when you were the one who unrightfully came up with the idea in the first place!”

You rarely yelled at people and he rarely ever got yelled at. It was heightening the tensions between both of you and he expected as much, but didn’t foresee you chewing him out this bad.

“You’re not going around looking stupid! Tony gives you the rundown every week. You know what’s coming and if you didn’t by now you would’ve figured it out.”

You were somewhat baffled by his defensiveness. There was no true justification to what he omitted and he probably knew that full well and just didn’t want to admit he was wrong.

“Yeah, like last minute!” You shout, not meaning to be as loud as you were but you couldn’t help it. “This means something to me, Tyler!”

The use of his name took him back a little and you didn’t mean for that to slip in the first place but for some reason Hook wasn’t the first name to come out in that moment.

Just then, there was a knock on his door that caught both of your attentions.

“Go away” he shouted, but that’s when his dad’s voice reached both of you.

“Open the door, son.”

He rolled his eyes as he walked over. Opening the door and taking a step back so taz could walk in. It was strange to see him wearing pajamas but you ignored that.

“I can hear you two across the hall. What is going on in here?”

Tyler looked at you for a second before he looked back at his dad. “She’s not happy about the heel run.”

“No-“ you stepped forward, correcting him. “I’m not happy about being lied to.”

Taz gave his son a look. A stern I told you so kind of glance.

“Alright” taz held his hands up, “I get that, Y/N. I told this man that he needed to let you know what was going on and not at the very last minute. He doesn’t listen to nobody but himself and half the time that steers him wrong.”

“Clearly.” You huffed out, crossing your arms.

He turned to Tyler and shrugged. “This one’s on you bud. Make it right but keep it down. We don’t need to draw attention.”

You nodded and taz made his way back out, leaving you and Tyler alone once again. He dropped his head and ran his hands through his hair, thinking.

“I’m not happy about this.” You state.

“Couldn’t tell.” He muttered under his breath. The fact that he had the audacity to be sarcastic was mind blowing to you. It made you actually want to scream at him but the last thing you wanted was Taz to come back and give you both some sort of lecture or something.

Tyler picked his head up, tired eyes landing on you. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. It was a half ass apology but the only one he’d ever given. He never really cared to give anyone that type of respect, or what he thinks is respect in his mind.

“There was no reason why you kept it from me.” You remind him, watching him nod.

“I know.” He sighed.

“And I have a right to be mad right now because my whole entire image is about to change dramatically and I haven’t even been prepared for it.”

“Yeah, but you’re not doing it all on your own. You’re doing it with me. I’m turning too.”

“Yeah, but you had time to prepare for that.” You pointedly state. “How much time do I have? Literally I’m about to start at the next show and I didn’t even realize it.”

“It’s not something you really have to prepare for, Y/N. You just go out there and put on a show. It’s not much different than what we do right now.” He walked around you and made his way to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

“It’s different for me. I’m not mean in general. I need to practice.”

You watched a weird look cross over his face, bringing his lips up in a faint smirk. “You’re not mean?” He quirked a brow. “Not even a little bit?”

“No?” You shrugged.

You heard a low chuckle before he looked down at his phone in hand. You sighed when you realized that this conversation was probably going nowhere fast and the best thing you could do was accept the reality of the situation and work with what you’re dealing with.

“Since you seem to think it’s easy becoming a whole different person, tell me where to start.” You plopped down on the chair awkwardly positioned halfway across the room. His eyes lifted from his phone before he tossed it to the side.

“It’s just acting, Y/N. It’s not like you’re becoming a different person all together. It’s literally one day out of the week that you put on a tough face and sell a gimmick. There’s nothing complicated about it. You’re complicating it yourself.”

You glared at him and the annoyance that was so evident in his tone. He sighed and leaned back on his hands, his eyes lowering by the second.

“I guess just start acting like you hate the world. Go out there and give everyone the biggest eat shit look. Be a little more aggressive in the ring and more no fucks given outside of it.” He advised, watching you nod before you stood up from the chair.

“So basically, be more like you.” You pointed out. Before he could respond to that, you held up your hand to silence him. “Got it.” You said before you left his room.

———

“Doesn’t make sense why he didn’t tell you.” Skye says as you and her head down the hall towards catering. “It’s literally your gimmick changing.”

“I know.” You roll your eyes. You were sick and tired of thinking on it. At this point you’d decided to stop wishing you would’ve known beforehand, since clearly there was no changing that, and take the bull by the horns.

Even though Tyler told you that nothing really changes, everything was about to. Your persona, your ring gear, especially your attitude. You had a lot of winning over to do and you were determined to use this transformation to the best of your ability. No matter how bitter you might feel about the fact that he kept the whole thing from you for weeks.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna be a good heel. I’ve been thinking about all of it. I have tons of ideas and I’m starting to actually get excited about it.” You told her, rounding the corner.

“Speak of the devil.” Skye muttered. “Want me to wait up for you or are you good?”

“I’m good.” You nod as you watch him slowly approach with a black hoodie on and one draped across his shoulder.

He got a look from Skye as she passed by but he didn’t pay attention. He pulled that hoodie off of his shoulder and handed it to you wordlessly. You eyed him as you took it from his hand and threw it over your own shoulder. You hadn’t spoke since that night in his room and he’d been meaning to ask you if you were still mad but never ended up doing so.

The look you were giving him was telling him the answer is definitely yes, you’re still mad.

“I’m going out tomorrow to get some different clothes for my heel era so Ill give this back to you after we’re done tonight.”

“Alright.” He nodded, watching as you pull the hoodie off and hold it up to see it better. Clearly it was going to swallow you whole.

“This might as well be a baggy dress on me.” You pointed out as you held it against your body, showing that it falls nearly to your knees. He noticed the same thing.

“You can cut it if you need to.” He shrugged. “To make it fit decently.”

Your brows knitted together as you looked back up at him. “If I’m giving it back why would I cut it?”

He shrugged again, looking down at the large hoodie covering you whole.

“You can keep it. I don’t really care. Might need to match again sometime later.”

For some reason he was being nice and it was strange to you. You’d chalked it up to the fact that he feels guilty for lying to you. As he should. You tossed the hoodie back over your shoulder.

“I’ll deal with it. You can have it back later.” You say before you brush past him and head down to catering to meet up with Skye.

“What happened?” She asked when you took a seat. Her eyes adverted to your shoulder. “Is that his hoodie he was just wearing?!” You could see the thoughts rolling around in her mind and quickly shut them down. You slung the hoodie down on the table.

“No, not the one he was just wearing, Skye. Just one of them.”

“You’re wearing his clothes? What did I miss in the last five minutes?”

“Nothing.” You shake your head. “He texted me a few days ago telling me I needed to wear black so we could match and I told him I didn’t have anything. So he brought me his hoodie. I’m giving it back right after our interference and getting some new clothes tomorrow.”

She held a weird grin on her face before she looked down at her phone. “Mmkay.” She chuckled.

“What?” You peered your eyes at her.

“Nothing it’s just- it’s funny.” She shrugged.

“What is?”

“The fact that you pretend to be so annoyed by him but you’re willingly going to wear his hoodie.” She pointed at the clothing on the table. “It’s funny.”

“I don’t pretend to be so annoyed by him. He actually does annoy me. I tried to be his friend but he’s so hot and cold all the time. He will be a decent person one minute and an asshole the next, it’s exhausting.” You rambled, making sure she got the point but judging by the smirk on her face, she didn’t buy it.

“Right.” She nodded. “Well it’s almost nine. You should be meeting up with lover boy for your interference in a few minutes.” She teased, earning another roll of your eyes as you stood up from the table with a huff. “Don’t forget his hoodie.” She said before you snatched it up and headed out of catering.

He wasn’t there when you got to the gorilla but you knew he’d show soon. The directors were standing by, seemingly waiting for Hook so they could send you both out at the right time.

You took that time to toss the hoodie on, and it did nothing at all for your figure. It was far baggier than you expected, so much that the sleeves swallowed your hands.

You heard footsteps behind you tracking fast and turned to face the man in question. He took one look at you and his lips turned up in a smirk he was clearly trying to hide.

“This thing is huge on me.” You deadpan.

“I told you to cut it.” He reminds you. Then he reaches down to the ends of the sleeves and rolls them up so your hands are exposed. “Can’t fight if you don’t have fists.���

You stared at him while he rolled the other sleeve up. When your hands were exposed you pulled your hair out of the hood and did your best to make yourself decent before the music hit. As much as you could given the circumstances, at least.

Tyler held his gaze on you for a moment longer before he tore it away the moment your eyes connected, looking down at the floor and fluffing his hair. For once, you matched. You’d noticed his gold cross pendant he was wearing and remembered the one you had on yourself.

“Funny.” You said dryly. “I have one too.”

You pulled the necklace out from under the hoodie and laid it against your chest. He looked down and nodded. “I noticed.” He said, just as your music hit.

You turned around and got ready for your first appearance leading up to a heel turn. You didn’t want to psych yourself out about it, but you felt a little nervous.

“Never thought I’d be coming out to this type of song.” He commented from behind you.

“It’ll be changing soon, evidently.” You muttered before heading down the tunnel.

Anna was staring at the stage when you and Hook came through the tunnel. He threw on his best scowl and it made it a little easier for you to mimick him. Jack came racing up the ramp, hook moving you to the side before he lunged towards Perry.

He snatched the belt clean from jacks hands and tossed it over to you. The crowd went completely and utterly insane as the boys backed down the ramp, throwing punches everywhere they could visibly see of each other’s bodies.

You raced towards the ring as anna was sliding out of it, calling jacks name over and over in an attempt to get him away from hook, and as soon as she had noticed you getting close, she turned around and you slammed the title into the side of her head like she’d done to you weeks prior.

She fell to the floor and Jack immediately rushed to her aid, screaming and cursing you and Hook as you held up the title and shouted back, “This is gonna be his. You just wait! It was always his!”

A proud smirk from hook was caught on camera but you didn’t get to see it. He knew that there were no lines to this. You just came up with something and the fast thinking was what really got him.

Jack then got up to his feet and raced towards you both, but hook stepped in front of you and held his arm out, blocking Perry from getting any closer.

On commentary, everyone was eating the whole situation up.

“Looks like the coldhearted handsome devil has made quite an impact on Y/N!” Excalibur shouted through his headpiece. “This is wild!”

“That it is my friend. I said it from the start. Those two are an absolute force to be reckoned with. God help jack and Anna. Wouldn’t wanna be those clowns right now.” Taz chuckled.

You and hook walked back up to the stage and just before you were about to head through the face tunnel, he grabbed your wrist and nodded his head to the left.

You looked up at him, realizing it was happening this soon. You heard the commotion from thousands around the second you let him lead you through to the heel side, in your mind, you made it official. You were no longer the babyface you’d been for over a year. The transition was starting faster than you’d expected but, it felt a tad bit easier to have someone doing it with you.

“That’s not a shock to me. I could see that coming with those two. Bonnie and Clyde of AEW.” tony announced from commentary.

“Y/N and Hook have made their impression here tonight, and they’re just getting started boys.”

You couldn’t deny that you had an adrenaline rush running ramped. He turned around to let you catch up to him before you entered the hallway.

“How’d it feel?” He asked.

At that moment you almost felt thankful to him for pitching the heel turn idea to Tony in the first place but then you remembered how he kept it from you for weeks. Either way you were able to not let that bother you for the time being.

“Kind of exhilarating. Did you hear that crowd?” You say as you round the corner. There’s looks being sent your way from multiple talent. In your mind it’s judgement but in all actuality they’re wondering how long you and Hook have been hooking up on the low.

“Yeah, they loved it.” He says. He walked a little slower than usual. Usually he was ready to get to the shower but he didn’t mind talking to you a little before that today. He wouldn’t tell you that though.

“I didn’t expect it.” You say. Just then someone calls your name. You turn around and find that it’s Ricky. He reaches his hand out to dap hook up but his eyes stay on you.

“That was fucking crazy what you did out there.” He tells you, making a grin spread across your lips. “I never expected you to turn heel, especially not with my man Hook.” He throws his arm around hooks shoulders, and he stiffens them immediately.

“Next time you’re on I need a heads up so I can watch in the viewing room. Both of you.” He looks at Hook who suddenly has a stiff jaw. He picked up on a vibe Ricky was emitting and he didn’t like it. He didn’t know why but he wanted to get you away from him.

“Thanks Ricky.” You smiled before he nodded his head and gave Hook a pat on his back. “Good choice man.”

You didn’t miss the way hooks eyes followed him all the way down the hall. He suddenly looked like he reverted right back to the version of him you had an unfortunate encounter with weeks ago.

“You okay?” You asked, but he didn’t look at you until Ricky was out of his sights. Then he turned back started walking. You followed close behind, reaching for his arm when you realize you were being ignored.

“Hey” you stopped him. He turned to face you but kept his head down, staring at the floor. “Why do you suddenly look so mad? What just happened?”

“I’m not.” He picked his head up. You could see it on his face. It was clear as day whether he wanted it to be or not.

“You are though.” You attested. “Did he do something to you? I thought you were friends.”

“Can you drop it?” He quickly cut in with a sharp tone. You took a step back, almost feeling like his words forcefully pushed you away. He noticed the distance you put in and his eyes seemed to have softened, but only for a mere second.

He turned back towards the hall and muttered, “see you next week, Y/N.” Before, once again, he left you there watching him go.

———-

“Clearly jealous.” Willow nods dramatically.

“Obviously.” Skye agrees.

“That’s hard for me to believe.” You tell them as you adjust your ring gear. You had a segment to shoot tonight in the ring. It was going to be the first time you actually talked in front of the crowd and you were beyond anxious about it. Tyler was going to be in the ring with you but he wasn’t going to say anything and the fact that you hadn’t spoken to him since that last conversation made you even more nervous.

“Because he wants you.” Willow smirked. “And if you haven’t already heard, everyone is talking about it.”

“Who’s everyone?” You asked as you strapped the laces on your new shoes. It was going to be a little difficult to break in another pair but you assumed that was the price you pay when you turn heel and can’t wear bright, glorious colors anymore.

That was the whole reason you donned an all black attire tonight. Black nails to match. It was never something you expected to wear but if you were going to be a heel you were going to rock it.

“Everyone as in everyone in this building right now.” Willow says. “People keep wondering how long you’ve been secretly hooking up under everyone’s nose.”

“But we’re not.”

“Not yet.” Skye points. “I give it two more weeks and you’re going to send us a picture from his room.”

“I give it one and a half.”

You rolled your eyes and stood up from the bench. “It’s not gonna happen. It’s nothing like that.”

“Then why did he suddenly get all weird when Ricky came up to you?” Willow raised her brows. “Skye, please tell me, why would a man do that?”

“Because he’s jealous. Because he wants you.” She answered, and you shook your head back.

“Whatever. I have to go. I have a segment in the ring in about ten minutes.”

“Good luck. We’ll be watching from the viewing room.” Willow calls out as you head through the door.

To your surprise, Tyler was already waiting for you when you reached the gorilla. To his surprise, you looked like a certified heel. The new attire and dark makeup, it looked way too natural on you.

He had on that signature black hoodie which reminded you of the one you had laying across your bed that you forgot to give back to him.

“Shit, I forgot I still have your hoodie.” You blurted, watching his dark eyes linger down to your attire before they made their way back to your face.

“Told you to keep it.” He said. It was clear he was in another one of his moods again tonight. It was really starting to bother you how he switches so fast, but right now the last thing you needed was to get in an argument and forget your lines. This time you knew you had them memorized thanks to staying up until three am studying them.

“I’ll give it back next time I see you.” You mumbled before music started playing and a song he recognized, but not as your own reached his ears.

“You changed the music?” He asked as he stepped to the side to let you lead.

“I’m a heel now, remember?”

You slid past him and made your way out. It was strange knowing you could no longer interact with the fans. Usually you’d blow a kiss or tag their hands but now you practically ignored them. At least they were engaged and supportive of this new you, so it seemed. Or maybe they were just going crazy over the two of you. Either way, you weren’t the ones getting boo’d.

You plastered a scowling look on your face and tried to keep it there as you made your way to the ring. Hook followed closely behind you, trying not to bob his head to your music.

You slid under the ropes and he took the steps, but you both met back in the middle. You took a minute to take in the reactions from the crowd. It was something you had to try hard not to smile about. Which was going to take some work.

Tony Schiavone handed you a mic and you snatched it from his hand, all for the dramatics, of course.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven’t already noticed, you’re looking at two of the absolute best AEW has ever had to offer you.” You pointed at Hook who nodded his head, stepping side to side on his feet.

You weren’t being boo’d, which came as a thrill to you. If they were eating it up you just wanted to give them more.

“When Anna Jay and Jack Perry made the unfortunate decision to target us, we made the decision to fight back, and what you saw last week when I knocked that bitch out with Hook’s FTW title-“ you paused to make sure the fans were taking it all in, “It was just the beginning.”

You looked over at Hook who continued to nod, chewing on a piece of gum as his eyes scanned the crowd.

“And when Anna recovers from that blow to the head she took from me, I’ll be waiting. And as for Jack, well” you chuckled darkly as you nodded towards your partner, “Let’s just say Hook was some fun things planned for him.”

He looked over at you, and you could see a faint smile on his face before he ran his hand over his lips.

“You see, I realized something a little while ago. You know, after Anna smashed the FTW title into my head?” You reminded the crowd of weeks ago.

“It’s that being nice gets you used and abused. All the times I’ve let that bitch get away with attacking me, I regret it. I really do, but it’s alright, because it will never happen again.”

The crowd popped when you took a pause, but you had to keep that cold expression on your face.

“So Anna Jay, Jungleboy, if you’re watching from the hospital, I just want to say, get well soon. Please.” The camera panned on you and you shot a mischievous grin before you dropped the mic and heard the crowd scream their lungs out.

Your music hit and Hook walked over to the ropes, holding one up for you to slip through.

You headed towards the stage, trying not to let a smile break out. You felt his arm brush yours as he walked alongside you.

When you disappeared through the tunnel you huffed out a deep breath. “Fuck that was exciting.” You chuckled as you placed your hand over your racing heart.

“Fun isn’t it?” He asked as he squeezed into the space next to you.

“Yeah, really fun.” You said before rounding the corner to find Skye standing there. Her match was next but you’d forgotten that in the mix of everything. Her eyes lingered to the man next to you before they fell to you with a smirk plastering her face.

“That was hot.” She remarked as she walked up to you. Tyler stopped when you did, to your surprise and Skye’s.

“You think it was good?” You asked.

“It was perfect. You are doing the damn thing, isn’t she hook?”

You could see what she was doing and tried to send her a look but her eyes were on him instead.

“Yeah, she did real good.” He nodded. That’s when she looked at you again and caught the look you sent.

“You two are a good duo. Can’t wait to see what comes next.” She ran her hand over your arm before she brushed past you.

Tyler looked back down at you and you hoped he didn’t pick up on Skye’s insinuations. He did, but he didn’t mention it.

He started walking when you did, and again, you saw all the people around with their eyes on the two of you. You wondered if Skye and Willow were right. Did everyone think you and Tyler were hooking up? And if so, why? You didn’t think you gave that impression at all. It was just acting, like Tyler told you.

Truth is that Tyler had been approached quite a few times, being asked about you more often than not. He never gave anyone a straight answer, which obviously left them to make their own assumptions.

“Everyone keeps staring.” You whispered.

“They’ll do that.” He muttered back.

You were heading towards the locker room when Jeff Hardy came around a corner, a smile brought to his and Hook’s face when they saw each other.

“What’s up man.” Jeff greeted, “And ma’am.”

“What’s up” hook nodded.

Jeff’s eyes adverted between the two of you, then landed back on Hook. “When are we gonna see this duo beat some ass?” He asked, “I’m ready for it.”

“Whenever Tony calls the shot.” Hook shrugged. “I’m ready too. I think we both are.” He glanced at you. Jeff brought a full fledged smile to Hook’s face pretty easily. One you hadn’t seen from him in all the weeks you’d been around him.

“It’s highly anticipated. From a lot of people, actually.” Jeff chuckles and hook drops his head, seeming to try to hide that smile that you evidently caught.

“We can tell.” He says.

Jeff’s eyes switch back to you again before he looks back at Hook. Both men were grinning from ear to ear as if they had some sort of secret telepathy going on.

“Alright well I’ll see you around brother, and you maam.” He nodded his head and you nodded back.

“Alright bro.” Hook said before Jeff walked around the two of you.

“Best friend?” You teased, watching as he brought his hand to his mouth, physically wiping away that smile.

“Something like that, yeah.” He said as the two of you made your way towards your respected rooms.

“Kind of cool how everyone likes our heel turn. I thought we’d get hate for it.”

“We still might, but it’ll be alright.” He shrugged. You reached the end of the hall that branches off into two opposing directions and it hit you that this was the first time he hadn’t left you standing in the middle of it.

He stopped and turned to face you, adjusting the collar of his hoodie.

“You did good out there.” He tells you, surprisingly. “You should think so too.”

You were somewhat dumbfounded at the fact that he actually complimented you without underlying sarcasm. You smiled even though you didn’t mean to, assuming your lips had a mind of their own.

“Thanks.” You say as you suddenly feel the air getting thick, but not as suffocating as usual.

Hook nodded before his eyes adverted to the empty hall behind you. He didn’t have anywhere to really be, but he told you he did.

“I’m gonna go shower.” He lied for no reason. You just nodded. You felt your hands clamming up, sweat spreading across your palms and didn’t like it.

“Alright well, see you next week?” You didn’t know why you asked. Of course you’d see him next week. It’s been like that for a while now.

“Yeah.” He nodded before he brushed past you, heading one way while you headed the other.

————

A text from Tony at eleven in the morning got your attention that following Saturday.

“This is it. Big match Wednesday.” Was all it said.

It felt like you’d anticipated this whole thing for so long and now that it was coming you weren’t sure how to feel. You stared down at the message until another one came through, but not on the group chat.

“you ready?” He asked, clearly referring to Tony’s previous message.

“No lol” you replied back, but you were being honest.

“you’re ready” he quickly responded, and all you did was stare at those words for a minute to long.

Why it was making you nervous, you weren’t sure. Probably because it was your biggest match to date and held a lot of value to your current heel run but, what happens next? What happens when you and Hook beat Jack and Anna? Is there even going to be a you and Hook anymore?

Lots of questions were left unanswered because you were too hesitant to ask them. You just decided to play it by ear, but the thought of a heel run all on your own wasn’t very appealing to you. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, having Hook alongside you, sort of paving the way for all your antics made things less worrisome and a lot more fun for you.

You truly couldn’t picture doing it without him and that alone was something you never expected.

Another text came through and you were surprised to find that it was Skye. She sent you the picture from AEW’s instagram account when they announced the tagteam match on Wednesday.

“This is your biggest match yet girl. I’m so proud of you. You’re gonna kill it!”

You smiled down at your phone and typed a couple hearts back. The support you had made things a little easier but your nerves were still trying to get the best of you, and you assumed it was going to be that way until the match was over.

————

It was anticipated and highly talked about all over the internet. You were constantly being tagged on twitter, instagram and TikTok. It seemed like the whole world was awaiting this match and the time had finally come.

You were heading towards the gorilla with a racing heart. You kept trying to tell yourself that this was just like any other match, any other opponent but it wasn’t. It was your first match as a heel, first match as a tagteam and longest tv time to date. You had a couple moves you were expected to pull that you never had before and there was very little familiarity around the entire situation.

“Hey” you heard a deep voice from behind you. You turned around to find Ricky standing there.

“Hey” you smiled, adjusting your black wristbands.

“Good luck on your match tonight. Just wanted to say that.” He grinned, and it was then that you picked up on a vibe that you weren’t all that into. You took a small step back but kept your politeness.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” You say. Before you can turn back, he asks another question. One that catches you off guard.

“Hey, are you and hook like, a thing?”

Your brows knitted together but you wiped that look away quickly. You were about to respond when you felt eyes on you, and just like all the times before, you knew Hook was around.

Ricky’s eyes adverted above your head and that’s when you felt warmth radiating against your back.

“Y/N, you ready?” His deep voice reached you, making your heart flutter for some reason.

He held his eyes on Ricky as you turned around to face him. You could see that familiar expression like before. Jaw set and teeth clenched. It was then that you realized Skye and Willow were right. Hook was jealous. He didn’t get that way at all when Jeff approached the two of you. It was just Ricky.

You spared the man a glance over your shoulder and caught the disappointment on his face, but you couldn’t take enough time to think about it when you had a match in a few minutes.

“What was he talking to you about?” Hook muttered next to you.

You felt a little nervous to say it, but when his eyes landed on you, it urged you to tell him.

“He wished me luck on the match and… he asked if we were a thing.”

His jaw throbbed and you caught it, but by the time that happened you were already reaching the gorilla.

What you didn’t know was that Ricky had been coming up to him asking the same thing, and at one point he expressed that he wanted to ask you to go out with him. He thought he made it clear when he glared the man down but evidently he didn’t make it clear enough. Either that or Ricky just didn’t care, which was what Hook was now figuring on.

He knew he couldn’t get distracted. A lot was riding on this match for you and he didn’t want to ruin that. He pushed the thoughts out of his head and turned to face you instead.

“Ready?” He asked, but he could tell that you were anxious. You still had those wide, round eyes that reminded him of a puppy and as much as you might be good at playing a heel, you just weren’t that person on the inside.

“Ready as I can be.” You nodded, attempting to collect yourself.

Jack’s music was almost finished and you knew that meant it was time for you and Hook to come out. You took in a deep breath and he noticed that it was shaky.

“Something that helps me when I feel under pressure is thinking about the look on the faces of all the people who ever doubted me when they have to watch me prove them wrong.” He blurted, shrugging a shoulder.

You thought on that. Remembering back when you first came to AEW and had no foothold in the industry. All the mean, offensive things you’d heard about yourself start replaying over and over again in your mind and to your surprise, you felt a little bit of adrenaline surge.

“That’s helpful, actually” you tell him, noticing the right side of his mouth tipping upwards.

Just then, the intro of Chairman’s Intent boomed through the speakers and Hook nodded. “Remember that if you get nervous.”

You nodded back before he stepped to the side, as he usually did, to let you lead the way.

You headed out with him trailing right behind you and held your eyes on both Anna and Jack standing in the ring, amping each other up.

The glares being shared between the four of you was making for great tensions arising in the arena and the crowd was intensely engaged in all of it, which made you happy, of course, but you couldn’t show that.

You headed in one direction and he headed in the other, you both circling the ring with eyes on your opponents.

When you passed each other, he held his hand out. You tagged it as you walked past and that simple interaction had the crowd bursting with cheers.

You met up at the steel steps and he stepped back, waving you to go first. You stepped up onto the canvas and slipped between the ropes, Hook following. He didn’t lean against the turnbuckles like he usually did but you assumed that was because this wasn’t one of his typical matches. He stayed at your side and shot daggers to jack and Anna.

You and Anna were going first. You walked up to her, showing no signs of intimidation as you stood toe to toe. She smirked down at you before forcefully pushing you a foot back, making you stumble before you caught your footing.

You wiped that grin off of her face when you delivered a harsh slap to her cheek and from that point on, the two of you were rolling around the ring, throwing fists and kneeing ribs until Paul said it was enough.

You put some separation between you two and that’s when she tagged Jack, so you went to your corner where hook was waiting with an extended hand, eyeing you as you approached.

“You good?”

“I’m good” you slapped his hand and he hopped over the top rope, lunging towards back with a force that knocked him off his feet.

The crowd went wild at his explosiveness and the energy in the arena was absolutely riveting. It could’ve given you a high at that point.

You watched as Hook clotheslined jack right over the ropes, and when he hit the floor, Anna hopped off of the canvas. Hook jumped down and grabbed jack by his hair, but that’s when Anna came behind him and jabbed her elbow into the side of his neck, bringing him down to his knees.

You hopped down and raced over, grabbing her from behind and spinning her until she slammed into the barricades. Hook watched for a moment before he returned his attention to jack.

The two of them were back in the ring while you and Anna threw punches on the outside.

She was way more aggressive than you were, making you feel the urge to hit a little harder. You heard Hook shouting and you both looked up, finding that Jack had used Hook’s redrum against him, but Hook was trying to fight it, and failing.

You kicked Anna back and created enough space to slide under the ropes and break the hold. Hook fell to his knees and jack rose to his feet, walking you back towards the turnbuckles before you felt annas hands around your ankles and your face crashed into the canvas.

You lifted your head to see blood stains dripping from your mouth. Your tongue slid over your teeth to see if one was broken but all you tasted was metallic.

You glanced up to see Hook’s eyes on you. He was in the middle of getting jack ready for a German Suplex when he got distracted by the blood pouring from your busted lip.

He snapped back into it and slung jack over, then got back to his feet like he didn’t take a harsh landing himself and walked over to you.

Kneeling down, he scanned every inch of your face. This wasn’t planned and you both knew that. There was concern in his eyes that quickly turned into undoubted rage when jack grabbed Hook’s shoulders from behind and slammed him down to the canvas.

It was only then that he realized you were bleeding but by that time, it was too late for him.

Hook rose up quickly and threw his fists into jacks jaw. He stumbled back, falling against the turnbuckles and hook just didn’t stop.

Paul had to separate the two, and you when he did, Jack shouted out, “I didn’t know she was bleeding man!”

You got back up and saw the look on Anna’s face when she noticed all the blood leaving a trail from your lip to your chin. She didn’t mean it, and you weren’t mad. Accidents happened all the time, it’s a part of the business.

Hook’s eyes followed you as you walked around the ring back over to your corner, and tensions seemed to have died down when he saw that you were okay.

You held your hand out for him, knowing you and Anna were the ones finishing the match and he hesitated a little bit before he tagged you in.

“You alright?” He asked, and you nodded before you hopped over the top rope.

Anna lunged foward and you stepped to the side, letting her slam into the turnbuckle. Hook smirked at this, it was a classic move.

You grabbed her by the back of her head and slammed her down on her back, watching as she clutched her neck and rolled around, before you pulled her back up.

You knew what was next and had to remember what Hook said that night that you learned you’d be using his finisher to end this match.

Anna was a good bit taller but since you brought a six foot man to his knees, you knew size wasn’t an obstacle.

She turned her back in an attempt to create some distance and you quickly sprung forward and hopped on her. Jack immediately slid under the ropes but that’s when hook raced in and wrapped his arm under his jaw, immediately making him wobbly at the knees.

“Lock it in!” Hook shouted at you as he hopped up and wrapped his legs around jacks waist, effectively bringing him down to the canvas.

You dug your knees into Anna’s sides and reared back, holding on tight when your back hit the canvas and within only seconds, they both tapped out and Hook’s music bursted through the arena, though it wasn’t too easy to hear over the eruption of the crowd.

You kicked Anna’s limp body off of you and looked up to see Hook’s extended hand. You took it, helping you to your feet before he held both your hands in the air.

His eyes would’ve been scanning the arena but they were focused on the blood smearing your skin instead. He nodded towards the tunnels and you lead the way, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, and feeling the sting of an open wound.

“That was a hell of a match right there boys” taz exclaimed from commentary.

“That it was, taz, those two know how to bring the energy to an arena” tony chipped in.

“I’ll tell you what, I wasn’t too thrilled about the new attitude from Y/N at first, but she’s toughened up a lot since her and Hook teamed up.” Excalibur adds.

“He’s coldhearted and she’s following in his footsteps I guess” tony chuckled

“No, I’ll tell you this much. I’ve had many, many conversations with the coldhearted handsome devil and with Y/N myself and those two simply have like minds, like-personalities and like-spirits. We should’ve seen this one coming boys, it was bound to happen.”

As soon as the arena was behind you, you felt his hand on your shoulder, turning you to face him. His eyes were trained on the laceration but you quickly covered it with your hand.

“It’s fine” you tell him. You wanted to continue feeling the rush that the big win gave you, wondering why he didn’t seem excited at all.

“I don’t care about the cut, I’m too pumped up right now” you tell him as you head through the tunnel with a little pep in your step.

“It’s deep.” He says as he catches up. “I think you should go make sure you don’t need stitches”

“It’s just a cut, it’s fine Tyler.”

Accidentally once again, you said his real name. Once again, he felt a little taken back by it, but tried not to show it.

“It’s bleeding a lot.” He keeps on, like it hasn’t stopped at all.

You wiped the blood with the back of your hand and he grabbed your wrist to show you the crimson covering your skin. “That is a lot.”

“I’ve had worse, seriously. I’ll just go wash my face and hold a gauze to it for a couple minutes and it’ll stop.”

Before he could object again, Skye and Willow were both racing up to you. Their arms engulfed you and you felt the giddiness arising within you again. You glanced over at Tyler who was watching the whole group hug with an evident, proud looking smile.

“You are the baddest fucking bitch” Skye says when they unwrap their arms. “That shit was so good I would watch it a hundred times!”

You couldn’t contain the smile breaking out, and that’s when Willow asks, “Does your mouth hurt? That was a nasty fall.”

“Yeah but she got up and kept fighting cause she’s a bad fucking bitch” Skye grins.

“It’s fine, I don’t even feel it I’m too happy right now” you say as you glance back over to see that Tyler was no longer there. Your eyes adverted all around but he had disappeared elsewhere.

“C’mon, we’re gonna get you cleaned up.” Willow grabs your hand and pulls you along. “Oh, and we’re going out tonight to celebrate you.”

————

You stumbled through the hotel doors at one in the morning, wobbly on your feet with willow and Skye by your side. You’d went out to a bar on the north side of town and downed way too many drinks that you could actually remember but you were still on a high from your match that you didn’t even realize how drunk you actually were.

You were all three laughing amongst yourselves about nothing in particular when you caught sight of Taz coming out of the hotel gym.

He had an amused smirk on his face when he approached the three of you.

“Ladies, looks like you had a good time tonight.” He said as he eyed all three of you before focusing on you specifically.

“You took a nasty fall, Y/N, my son was just telling me about how you were too stubborn to get it checked out.” He chucked. That’s when your eyes lingered over to the gym doors.

“Yeah but it’s fine” you slurred. “I was so pumped I didn’t even feel a thing.”

“Be careful about that adrenaline rush, it can sneak up on you sometimes” he said.

“Okay. Is he in there?” You pointed to the gym, stumbling a little bit.

“Tyler? Yeah, he always does his workouts at this ungodly hour.”

When you heard that, that’s all your attention was focused on. You looked over and Skye and Willow who already knew what you were thinking, but they didn’t say anything except, “Well see you tomorrow girl”

Taz eyed you before a smirk came to his face and he shook his head with a low laugh. “Alright, I’m off to my room. Tell my son he needs to stop calling me down to the gym at anytime past midnight and call his tagteam partner from now on instead.”

You nodded, a smile willingly spreading across your lips before you headed towards the gym. You opened the door to find him sitting on the weight bench staring down at his phone, and right as you saw that, your phone buzzed in your pocket.

He looked up at you, brows knitted but with amusement in his eyes.

“That’s weird, I just texted you. Do you teleport now?” He asked, then cringed to himself. That was stupid, why did he say that?

You chuckle nonetheless as you stumbled in, thinking you weren’t noticeably drunk but it was way more obvious than you thought.

“Have fun?” He asked as he watched you head over to the bench across from his and sit down.

“I did” you grinned sheepishly. “It’s been such a good day, actually.”

He nodded back, eyes lingering to the laceration on your bottom lip that was already healing.

“I just ran into your dad” you tell him, swaying side to side.

“Did you?” He smirks, and you wished your vision wasn’t so blurry.

“Yeah, said to tell you stop calling him down here so late and call your tag team partner instead” you hiccuped.

He dropped his head. “Of course he did” he said as he shook it. You watched as he ran his hand through his hair and fluffed it out.

“Hey” you catch his attention.

“Hey” he says back.

“What’s coming next?” You asked the question that’s been running through your mind for a couple of days leading up to the match. “You know, we won tonight. The rivalry doesn’t really have anywhere else to go. So what does that mean for us? Are we done being partners now that we’ve beat them? I mean I know you still have the FTW title to win back, and I can be there ringside for it… if you wanted”

His eyes dropped to your fingers fidgeting over your lap.

“I don’t really know. What do you want to happen?” He asked, knowing already that he has thought about this same exact thing and the idea of the two of you no longer being a duo didn’t sit right with him, but he hadn’t mentioned anything to Tony and Tony hasn’t said anything else either.

“I want things to stay like they are” you admitted with another hiccup. “We have fun, don’t we?”

He had to keep in mind that you were drunk and now probably wasn’t the best time to take anything you said to heart, but it was hard for him not to.

“Yeah, we do.” He nods.

“So let’s call Tony and tell him we’re going to keep doing this heel run together” you pulled out your phone and read the text that was floating on your screen from Tyler earlier.

“can you come to the gym, i want to talk to you about something”

“Wait, what did want to talk about?” You asked. He shifted around and straightened his posture as he rubbed his palms over his sweats.

Before he texted you that, he was having a talk with his dad about you. It wasn’t often that Tyler came to him for advice on women but he didn’t really know who else he could trust.

He admitted that even though he tried to fight against it, he’d fallen pretty hard for you and it was starting to eat away at him. He didn’t have the impression that you would feel the same way, even though Taz completely disagreed with him on that.

He told his son that he would bet a million bucks that the feeling was mutual, claiming that a connection like the two of you have is undeniable and if he’s ever listened to anything taz told him, it needed to be that.

“You two remind me of myself and your mother when we were young” he recalls his dad saying. “We were too stubborn to admit we had feelings until we got drunk one night and it all spilled out”

“Tyler?” Your voice broke him out of his own thoughts. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

He never had to have a conversation like this before. He never really wanted anyone for more than just a fun night before. His adams apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly and tried to keep his nerves under control.

“I- uh-“ he rubbed the back of his neck as he inhaled deeply. Letting it all out in a quick huff.

“I been thinking a lot about me and you, and I don’t want to stop what we’ve been doing, but I do want to start doing more” he danced around the confession and you couldn’t quite piece it together.

“Like… how?” You asked, a little lost.

“I want to be with you.” He blurted, feeling his cheeks burn the minute the words flew from his mouth. His eyes scanned your face, studying it, searching for a reaction but you were blank faced and for once he couldn’t read you.

“You want to be with me? Like, be with me?” You were sure you weren’t hearing him right. Maybe everyone else thought you and Tyler were a thing but you never thought it was actually going to be an option.

“Yes, I do” he boldly stated, holding his eyes on you, watching as all the conversations you, Willow and Skye had over the last couple of weeks flashed through your mind and you couldn’t believe they were right the entire time.

“But if you don’t feel the same way, it’s okay, I’ll still do the heel run with you and we can forget I ever said anything.” He lowly muttered, waiting for what felt like an eternity for you to say anything back.

“Or if you’re already into someone else, like Ricky or something-“

“I’m not” you blurted out. “I’m not into anyone else.”

You couldn’t ignore the way your heart was beginning to race and your skin felt like it was engulfed in a million small fires. You stared back at him, your eyes lingering to his lips when his tongue slid over them.

A bunch of feelings you’d suppressed out of sheer denial suddenly came rushing in and it was now impossible to force them back again. All the tensions between the two of you, the anger and the confusion over the last few weeks was quickly diminished by an even stronger feeling of pure anticipation and desire.

The space between the two of you was too much and it was if Tyler had that same thought when he stood up from the weight bench and extended his hand. You took it, and he helped you to your feet.

You were unsure what to do with your hands when he let go but it became easy to find a place for them to rest on his waist when his finger curled beneath your chin, angling your head up, lips would’ve been brushing against each other if you were just a little taller.

His eyes were soft and a sprinkle of hazel appeared against the dark brown, and you realized you never noticed that before now.

He took in every inch of your face with a slow and meaningful gaze before an easy smile spread across his lips and a dimple soon followed.

You felt butterflies erupt in your stomach and spread through your whole body when he leaned in. You rose to you tip toes and your lips met gently, slowly, and tenderly. The way they fit like two pieces of a puzzle, moving in sync and pure harmony had your head spinning.

The taste of mint lingered on your tongue long after his lips were no longer on yours and you didn’t want it to vanish anytime soon.

He looked at you with eyes of adoration, his fingers slipping from your chin and pulling you into his chest. You buried your face into the fabric of his t-shirt, taking in the scent of cologne that you recognized from his hoodie you never gave back to him, and that’s when you remembered it.

“I still have your hoodie.” You chuckled, feeling his chest rise and fall with a low chuckle of his own.

“Keep it. It’s yours. It’s been yours since I gave it to you.”

———-

From that night in the hotel room gym on, you and Tyler were always together at the arena and outside of it. Your heel run was going strong. You were an undefeated tagteam that nobody wanted to step in the ring with.

After two weeks of keeping your love life on the low, he decided he wanted everyone to know. You were walking back from another successful match, standing on the stage when he grabbed your hand and spun you to him, placing a kiss to your lips that made the whole arena erupt in screams and chants of your conjoined names the fans came up with.

“Bet nobody saw that coming” Tony sarcastically remarked from commentary. “AEW’s modern day Bonnie and Clyde”

“Looks like you need to set an extra plate at the table when the holidays roll around, Taz.”

“I’ll gladly do that my friend.” Taz grinned as he watched you and hook exit through the tunnel.

“We’ve never seen the coldhearted handsome devil show any sort of emotion whatsoever… except with her!” Excalibur exclaims.

“Guess he’s not so coldhearted after all” Tony chips in.

“Oh no, he’s coldhearted son, but not towards her. Everyone else including myself gets the cold shoulder from my man, but she’s something special to him.”

Tyler walked you to the locker room and leaned against the wall. A soft smile stays on his face whenever the cameras aren’t around now.

“You looked gorgeous slamming Britt’s head into the canvas.” He taunts, earning a laugh from you.

“Thanks, I didn’t really try” you bantered back.

“Never have to.” He grins as he leans in and brushes his lips against yours before they fully connect.

“Everyone knows now” he says when you pull apart.

“They probably already did. We’ve been caught making out a lot” you remind him, earning that dimple you love so much to appear.

“True. I’m glad we don’t have to hide it anymore. I can officially call you mine.” He grins.

You place another gentle kiss to his lips before you whisper against them, “I’ve been yours this whole time”

[psychewritesbs]

Chapter 236: Go South—JJK is generational

Gosh. Can we pleeeease just like... have a moment of silence for the one and only...THE Man, Gojo Satoru.

Ok, time's up.

Moving on.

Word vomit under the cut.

The process of reading this chapter was a very interesting one this week because the fandom got really noisy as soon as the leaks dropped.

Between allegations of bad writing and the utter sense of grief Gojo fans were expressing, it was quite the 💩 storm.

And then the actual scanlations started dropping, and little by little they replaced most of the noise with the utter sense of calm and peace and satisfaction that Gojo felt in his last moments in this plane of existence.

I gotta say that I just absolutely loved how Gege depicted those emotions (outside of Gojo's "dream") through shots of the devastated Shinjuku district.

The remnants of the battle of The Strongest, as if the landscape and the buildings themselves represented the end of an era, the devastation of the structure of Jujutsu society itself.

After all, as The Strongest sorcerer in the modern era, Gojo represented the very system he was trying to destroy.

Gege loves his irony.

Now, I would normally say that the words in the speech bubbles are superfluous because Gege creates such a beautiful atmosphere through the setting alone. But it is the words themselves that re-contextualize not just the battle, but also shed more light on Sukuna's interest in Megumi, which I feel we haven't seen the extent of what he had in mind.

Now I'm hoping this isn't a dream

Listen, I must admit I've never cared for Gojo.

I don't hate him, I don't love him, I simply never really cared for him.

That, of course, changed with this chapter.

And it is perhaps Gojo's death that really solidified in my mind the idea that one of the underlying themes in jjk is... dun dun dun... DEATH.

Yeah, I know. Sue me, I'm late to the party lmao.

But it's not just death itself that is a theme, but rather the face we put on when death comes knocking at the door.

There aren't many things that we can be certain of in this life, but death is one of them. So how we confront death and our mortality shapes the sense of self.

I know a lot of people were dissatisfied with the transition from 235 to 236 and Gege not showing how/when Gojo got slashed in half, but I find the abrupt transition makes sense, and I even dare say was... quite poetic.

For one, now knowing that Gojo knew Sukuna was holding back, a lot of incidents throughout the battle are given new meaning. Like that look of confidence on Gojo's face as he "thinks" he's finally managed to "get through" to Sukuna.

So I have to say that I loved that Gege starts the chapter with Gojo becoming aware that he has died or is dying.

In other words, Sukuna's attack was so sudden that Gojo's next moment of awareness as "Gojo Satoru" is in what we would normally think of as "the light at the end of the tunnel" where he is greeted by people who were of significance to him in his youth.

And can we please just talk about how Geto is the first person he sees when he becomes aware that he is dying?

Please. This is fucking poetry!

Insert keyboard smash.

Screaming in jjk.

Go South

I literally lack the words to explain why I love this whole chapter so much. Which is a lot to say because I am about to word vomit about it. But like...

Again, hindsight is 20/20.

I always thought of the panel above as Geto being jealous of Gojo surpassing him in strength but, in retrospect, I think Geto's disappointment had more to do with Gojo's sense of self over-identifying with the title "the strongest" and how that made him harder to relate to, which is one of the main themes in this chapter. I'll come back to this in a sec.

But first...

Quick depth psych segway. I think I've said this before, but it bears repeating again that an overwhelming sense of self is all ego. There's nothing wrong with ego per se.

The problem is that an over-identification with ego means inherent separateness because, as an organ of the psyche, the ego sense of self is what gives us a separate identity from the collective.

On the other hand, soul/heart (another organ in the psyche) is the principle of relatedness--love, the single energy that can bring us all together as a collective.

But as we already know, the stronger the sorcerer, the more overwhelming the sense of self.

Unfortunately, because an overwhelming sense of self = separateness, this also means the person in question can't relate to others.

And is this not thematically perfect for a sorcerer whose perfected cursed technique was meant to render others unable to "reach him"?

In other words, Gojo saw himself as separate (because he was "The Strongest") and that made it harder for him to relate to others, but only because he self-identified as "The Strongest".

Infinity ∞, in this sense, is also about the self-fulfilling prophecy Gojo was stuck playing out in his life in regards to seeing himself as "The Strongest".

But like a serpent eating its own tail, Gojo came back full circle, and in the moments before his death, learned that what really mattered to him was not strength for the sake of strength, but rather the connections he had fostered with others.

PLEASE. GEGE. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!!!!!!!!!!!

To bring it back to "Satoru became 'The Strongest'"...

I just loved so much that seeing Geto as soon as he becomes aware he's died felt like an encounter that meant Gojo had returned to the person he was before he self-identified as "The Strongest".

But more importantly, Gojo's imagination of himself as back when he was young also speaks both to how much he cherished that period of his life, and to how he was emotionally frozen in time due to his encounter with Toji.

It makes me wonder whether Gojo was afraid of dying alone when Toji almost killed him. So it's almost like what he took away from that battle was that he was always alone, and so he sought to push others away.

The kicker is that he simultaneously feared his existential isolation and yet craved the very source of his fear--human relations.

But in choosing self-preservation, he was a selfish to the very end.

What an idiot (tragically affectionate).

Anyways. How much of this is hc? Someone tell me please 😂. I feel like I went off the deep end in the last few paragraphs.

Like everyone else in this fandom I've lost all objectivity when it comes to Gojo because his departure from the story was truly one of the most heartbreaking moments in jjk.

I understand people's complaints about the "execution," but I think the world-wide phenomena that Gojo's death has spurred speaks to Gege's ability to elicit deeply archetypal emotional responses as a story teller.

With Gojo's death, a part of our own psyche too has died. And what's most significant about this death is that it was, true to Gojo's character, "something that needed to die because it represented the very thing it sought to destroy."

And this would be why I love Gege's writing.

A fitting way for Gojo to go out

I know not everyone agrees, but I really appreciated that he was satisfied and at peace in the very end.

He got his cake (battle to death with Sukuna) and got to eat it too (reconnected with his loved ones).

Sukuna

But we can't talk about Gojo without talking about Sukuna as the one who liberated Gojo from the burden of his existential isolation.

Sukuna gave Gojo a fun battle, but if it weren't because Sukuna figured out how to cut through Gojo's metaphorical defenses by learning to cut through space-time itself--the very fabric of reality, Gojo might not have found his humanity once again.

The outcome of this battle spells out in no uncertain terms how dire the situation is as Sukuna has proven himself to be the uncontested "Strongest".

But in a sense, the end is a new beginning, and this time, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

JJK is generational

I get the feeling that everyone will remember where they were when this panel dropped.

I was in bed. It was 6 am and Tasokare, my miniature panther, was demanding attention.

A moot was on the way to the gym. They never made it out of the house after seeing the panel.

Another moot was completely avoiding Twitter to avoid leaks, but her brother, who does not even read jjk, saw the panel on Facebook and showed it to her.

Yet another moot was on vacation at the beach.

JJK is generational like that and there's just so much more I can say about this chapter and its implications (like the idea that Sukuna can now cut through space-time, why?! what does he want to get out of this ability?), but I just don't even know what more I can say right now.

Anyways, thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to any thoughts you might have. Just a heads up, I'm very, very slow at replying.

[supermaks]

Omg this verstappie rewatch is literally gonna be the whole season lmao

Part 1 2016-2018 > Part 2 2019-2022

In 2013, after becoming the World and European KZ class Champion, European OF class Champion, Continental KF class champion, and 3rd place laureate in the World KF class, 15 year old Max Verstappen had turned that years karting scene into a 'one man show' according to Vroomkart International. The title of the piece wasted no time posing what was, admittedly, a very bold question:

Gentlemen, a short view into the 2023 season

Baku, 2023. Ik what ur thinking. 19 wins and ur gonna start wid fucking Baku? And yes 🙂I will, and so shud u 🫵🏽Max lost Baku. The pole, the sprint and the race. Lingered about 3 secs behind checo after the SC, never closed the gap. And guess what, Baku was actually one of the most important races of this season, Maxs own words. Because that inconsistent pace? Those choppy lap times, killing his tires? Max was learning how to setup his car. Rb19 was clearly rb18s big brother, a real sunday beast, faster, more reliable, but a lil sensitive, demanded some hands on attention from his boy. So Max turned Baku into their fp4. U can c it on his onboard, hear him asking for different settings, toggling wid the balance. Those of us who know Max, we kinda suspected what he was up to. But it seemed others didnt. And whatvr max was about to do to these people in Miami bro, it wud be the type of reckoning u read about in the bible.

Miami, 2023. When max qualified p9 cheers echoed across both Americas. After the Baku loss, the slow start to the season, there was hope. Max Verstappen was about to lose the championship lead. People bought into the fairytale and they were loud about it too. They taunted him, booed him and his mechanics in parc ferme. And then Max was p2 by lap 15. Cut thru the field like butter and the whole stint he kept setting purples. Fastest lap after fastest lap. By lap 40 his hards were outpacing fresh mediums on a track u cud fry an egg on. Red bulls strategy for Max required the impossible and that's exactly what Max delivered. Before Miami, Checo was a title contender. After Miami, he was barely a competitor. Max took the 'tire whisperers' ambitions and grinded them into dust in 45 laps or less. It was the race that marked the beginning of the most dominant individual season in Formula 1 history but at its core, in classic Verstappen style, it was a lesson. A very simple one.

Shot by Brook Ward.

Monaco, 2023

- Qualifying Yk who doesn’t give a FUCK about lessons tho, Monaco. Monaco wont be taught by no man. But it’s 2023. This classic immovable object about to meet the most unstoppable force in modern sport history. Max's very first pole in Monaco, and fittingly so, it came out of an all-timer session. One of those saturdays that make u understand why the tax dodging diva of f1 is going absolutely nowhere. Pole switched between Ocon, Yuki, Sharl and Alonso right up until Max did his thing. 2 mins to the checkered flag, it looked like Nando had it locked. 2 untouchable purples, textbook. It wud have been a beautiful moment, a deserved reward for an old dawg who’d kept at it and had a capable car again. Unfortunately for Nando, though, Sennas illegitimate child clocked in that Saturday. He had a bit of a history wid third sectors that once fucked him. But it's 2023, so this wud be the one that made him. Max put 3 tenths on Alonso's head in one of the shortest, most technical corners of the entire calendar. F1's 'sunday' driver by excellence, the one stop pacemaker, the metronome, the endurance machine, proved that he was all that and also, in fact, the type of elite qualifier who can write his signature on the walls of Monte Carlo.

- Race Monaco is all about Saturday obvi but imo this years race is also worth watching because its actually kind of a banger wid mixed conditions, insane strategies and because this is a verstappie rewatch, u get to c Max at his best: in a chaotic packed field under the rain.

Canada, 2023. Speaking of rain masters. Senna's legend has been clinging to Max from the very first time he traumatized wet cat Rosberg in Brazil in 2016 but it was this year, in Canada, wid Nando and Lewis by his side, the guys who were also there, who saw it happen too, that Max finally matched Senna's win tally. 41. It was a perfect weekend, a testament to the talent that allowed a 26 year old to overtake Ayrton Senna in the record book, and it began, as if in tribute, wid a soaking wet qualifying. Max's pole lap was one second faster than the rest of the grid. One full second. If ur a Nando or a Lewis fan, I wud definitely give it sunday a watch as well because old gays were definitely out there. Also we got this. What yall know about this .

Shot from Nurphoto.

Lemme tell u something rn: Ur looking at 12 world championships, 189 wins, and a 14 year old gap from youngest to oldest. You're looking at statistically, the most successful driver of all time, the guy whose racecraft still seen by many as the finest this sport has ever seen, and a kid who's been sitting between them since he was 17 years old. The same kid who, a few racers later, broke records that existed long before the other two were even born. Yk, Lewis said it better than I ever cud, 'this is quite an iconic top 3'.

Austria, 2023. Why are u a Verstappen fan? U ever been asked that question. Ik i have. ��� Lots of possible answers. To me Austria has all of them. In Canada, Checo barely made the finish line while Max pushed rbr to their 100th team victory and ((unofficially)) began his chase of the Vettel record. Mind u the mf wont admit that’s what he’s doing, but it is. Him, GP, the whole team. They want it. But we'll get to that. Max is a hunter, and his boy car is the best hound of his career so far. Together, they’d caught the scent. Races like Australia, Spain, Monaco, Canada, they showed it was possible. His management was getting Schumacher shouts, his qualifying was getting Senna's. Clarks proficiency. 2023 can be understood as the result of Max's life long pursuit of perfection, the crowning point of his hard work, the realization of all his potential, that prodigal nature that had been so obvious for so long, finally, entering its prime wid a car that can make history. And yet. AND YET. max has something that all those other legendary mfs lack. Something that is deeply, deeply Max’s. Free practice 1 in Austria and that talented, beautiful creature of God was ready to send it all to hell to make a POINT. Austria was a sprint this year, so already you've pissed him off. During fp1, Lewis impeded Max like once.

((And listen

Lewis saw that boy enter the paddock and immediately called security and along wid seb vettel and raikkonen launched a class action lawsuit against him on the grounds of a) fuck b) them kids. Then 6 years later Lewis and that now grown ass man spent a whole legendary season trying to kill each other. U c how this relationship may have some residue of . lets say. conflict.))

So Lewis impeded Max in fp1 and Max's raytheon hamilton-calibrated sensors activated and he did nothing less but the exact same thing in sprint qualifying. Blocked old mans flying lap. Lewis is limping thru this weekend, mind u, like it’s almost sad. It’s kinda elderly abuse. THEN, the actual sprint. Again, Austria is red bull's home turf. packed wid red bull fans. The car is a rocket, they're on a streak, lots of good photo ops for the team. It started raining. Even better. Lights out, and Checo took the lead first and in the process like . squeezed Max a lil bit. Pushed him on the grass. U can guess what happened next. 😐😐😐😐To answer that first question and to quote somebody who knows him, Max is Max. No matter where, how, against who. Wid a rocketship, wid a hole in his car, winning, losing, fighting for the lead against Lewis Hamilton, fighting for sixth against baby schumi, refusing to comply wid team orders against sainz, scolding danny ric about discipline, waiting 7 months to deliver his justice in brazil, calling russell a dickhead in Baku, whether in front of 300 000 haters in Silverstone of half a million fans in Spielberg, he'll do what he thinks is right. Thats the kind of mf that wins constructors all by himself. 575 points, on his own. Over 1000 laps lead. Max Verstappen has not succeeded in f1 despite his character, but because of it. Because when Checo squeezed him at the start of a stupid fucking sprint that wont make a dent in his records or his lead, Max collected his car and lunged thru the inside line like the title wud be decided in the next turn. He was willing to send himself, checo, and a goddamn haas to hell to remain at the front. And that’s why I'm a fan.

Zandvoort, 2023. 9 consecutive wins. A race that u feel in ur stomach because you know what it means. The sheer size of the accomplishment. That word ringing in everybodys ears since Miami. Inevitable. inevitable. Up until it happened, and then obvi Monza wid the perfect 10, nobody really wanted to believe it. seb's 9 was one of those things held sacred and hallowed by the sport. Like Schumachers points in a season, Ascaris win percentage, Clarks laps lead, and Hamiltons consecutive podiums. Sacred things. And in 2023, the nonbeliever broke them all. Grasped and squeezed wid his very cynical hands. They’re his now. No one else’s. What he did, no one else can do. Max is always outstanding in Zandvoort tbh, thats his track, his fans, his weather. But this years quali was particularly emblematic of the gap to the rest of the grid , and his teammate especially. 1.7s faster than checo. The race was just as impressive. Rain hit early on, complete chaos, and while everybody scrambled to choose the right tires, GP was in Max’s ear, calm as ever, 'it’s up to you'. It really was. It always was.

Zandvoort, 2023. > Monza, 2023.

Japan, 2023. Red Bulls factory crowning weekend. Coming out a disaster Singapore, yet another statement win. Singapore had showed what it took to slow down Verstappen in 2023: not just the wrong setup, but the wrong strategy too. As we'll c in Texas, like we've seen in 2016, 2019, 2020, a machine off the pace alone wont stop Max from winning races. In Suzuka, rocky was back into his operational window, and Max proved exactly who was it that singlehandedly delivered the constructors championship. One of those classic Max weekends. 20 drivers on track but 2 different leagues and he's on his own. Wid a 177 point lead over his teammate, yet another record broken, biggest point gap between 1st and 2nd. ((In the end, the margin was 290)). Max names Suzuka as his most satisfying pole lap of the season. Bro put half a second on the grid in one go.

COTA, 2023. just something in the Americas ((me)) that unlocks the extra prodigal gene in this mf. Talent of the century? Put his ass in North America we can stretch that shit to the millennium idc idc . Miami, Texas, Brazil, Mexico, and now Vegas, to me these are cornerstones of Verstappen excellence. Max holds the record for most wins in a single geographical location over one season. ((Of course he does)) 10 consecutive wins in NA, across state lines, country borders, wid different conditions, tracks, circuits, tires, formats, setups. This years’ Austin GAG? Apparently they didn’t set the tarmac right. track was a bumpy mess. Max struggled from the start wid braking issues and tire wear, but he kept his head cool because he knew he had the basics. There was once a time before the rb19 , when all he had was a cap and 1 year of open wheel experience, and his 18 year old self put on a clinic against a 30 year old world champion on how to defend on old faulty rubber. That’s exactly what Max did in Cota. Bro was able to make up for aerodynamic loss wid nothing but pedal and wheel work. Do not talk to him during braking. Do not fucking talk to him during braking. That’s all Max asked. 50th win. Offically 3rd OAT, behind Vettel, Hamilton and Schumacher. ((He’s now alone in 3rd OAT, wid 53 wins.)). He’s 26. After Merc and Ferrari were proclaimed ‘illegal’ what truly shocked me wasn’t that they tried to cheat, but that they wud try to pull that shit against this Verstappen, in this car, in 2023. They lowered their floors for smoother suspensions to fight Adrian Neweys Frankenstein monster but the real machine was sitting right behind the wheel. And he won. Actually, he mollywhooped those bitches. Not the floor, not the wings, just a damn good racing driver. Good luck next time.

Qatar gp, 2023. Dutch man allergic to winning world championships in a normal way, millions left emotionally berated every year begging for the sweet release of ted kravitzs voice. No I’m jk but actually tell me why this fool cud not have waited for the race to clinch it. Bro had the title confirmed by a sprint where he finished SECOND. As a verstappie, imma tell u to watch this because it’s like. get out of my face rn I love you so much I’m so happy for u also that helmet is so pretty. In Qatar, Max became 1 of 5 drivers who won back to back to back world championships. After the year 2000, 1 of 3. Along wid the biggest championship margin in the most successful season of all time, well. 1 of 1.

Las Vegas, 2023. ummm ok ik this may SHOCK u but he wasn’t a fan. Max spent the whole season bitching about Vegas and breaking records and threatening retirement like that’s literally a fair description of events. Just very verstappen and migraine inducing type of shit. But yes, Vegas. Vegas held no old school appeal whatsoever. And he was right about some things. He never berated the circuit itself, the quality of the racing, just the show around it. U shud build for the track, not around it. It’s not that difficult to understand, or even that unpopular. But Max forgot about one important thing that wud prolly hurt his cause. He has never landed on US soil and not served. The plot armor wud simply never let my baddie have her AHA!!!!moment in Nevada. So I want u to open that cringe FUCKING compilation Sunday stream of the Vegas gp and c what happens when a sleep deprived verstappen and his so called ‘dominant’ ‘untouchable’ ‘unbeatable’ ‘rocket ship’ are released on a frozen track wid barely any data because one of the potholes burst and cut practices into 10 mins. Bitch what happens is good fucking f1 😭😭😭 Some real formula uno cabron 😭😭 Max retakes the lead at the start, overcooks his frozen tires, pushes sharl off, gets a penalty, serves his penalty, comes back wid gods wrath emanating from his fugly white helmet, obliterates the gap to first and Russell along wid it ((🫡)) passes both cars in front in one slick veteran move and sinks his teeth into p1 for the remaining 13 laps. And wins. Maybe not his most characteristic win, but def the funniest one. Stupid ass even sang Elvis. That’s an f1 driver bitch. He can’t trick me.

Here we are. Abu Dhabi. Breathe out. Red Bull won constructors in Japan, Max won the drivers championship in Qatar. It all started wid a lesson, remember? Max was a good teacher. He spent 8 months making sure we learned. Did you?

By Abu Dhabi, 2023, Max had officially set 20 new records, including the record for most records broken in a season by a single driver. 5 of those achievements had already been set in 2022, just upgraded in 2023: most wins in a season, most podiums in a season, most consecutive wins from pole, most hat tricks in a season, and most consecutive top two finishes in history. 3 of his achievements, however, kept him on the hunt until the very last lap: 3rd most wins of all time, over a 1000 laps lead, and the highest percentage of wins in the sports history. Max got them all. He’s now, statistically, the sole protagonist of the most dominant season in f1, and f1’s 3rd most successful driver, behind Schumacher and Hamilton. Max won 19 out of 22 races. 10 of those wins were consecutive. Right now, he’s already on another streak. 3 more wins and he matches his own record. 4 and he resets the book forever. What Max did wid the rb19 needs to be watched again and again and again, because it’ll be years. YEARS .Until we begin to learn how to truly appreciate it. This is just my humble attempt.

In Abu Dhabi, the job was done wid a series of incredible defensive moves that completely shut the door on sharl. No flashy overtakes, no heroics on the inside line. Just strong classic defending. Sharls attack was dealt wid, nullified, the gap was built, set and managed, and Max saw the fireworks 17 seconds earlier than the rest. In 2023, Max was untouchable by all but one. The car he called ‘rocky’. The only car, to this day, according to the man himself, that ever saw him smile before he crossed the finish line. That ever made him happy before it made him a winner.

You tell me.

[theyluvlyss]

𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬

because I'm still sick, which means reader has to suffer and be sick, too. sorry not sorry😆🩷.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫-𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤 (what a corny title💀✋🏽)

《 ♡ 》 imagine

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 :

regardless of a boosted immune system, an increased recovery time, and the convenience of being indestructible, even superheroes get sick from time to time. unfortunately, you're stubborn and would much rather aid your boyfriend and his family with the day's super-tasks than rest up.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 :

fem!girlfriend!reader x billy batson - she/her/hers pronouns! - reader has the powers of shazam as well!

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞 :

post shazam!: fury of the gods

𝐓𝐖/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 :

reader being sick :/ - cough/cold&flu medicine side effects - lots of fluff/billy looking after you - reader wanting to play hero so, so bad bro lmao - cussing (not a lot at all) (honestly, just start assuming all of my writing will have curse words in it💀)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

Billy Batson had been in the middle of stuffing your pillow with a freshly frozen icepack before both of your attentions had been pulled towards your TV, watching in alarm as some beastly creature continued to mutilate downtown Philadelphia. You couldn't quite make out its features, nor what it was exactly the reporter was saying, her newscaster-like tone and the picture on the screen all just a blur to you.

Too ill feeling to put some clarity on it, all you knew was that it was certainly dangerous and was definitely a call for superhero duty. Mildly delirious or not.

"Let me come with you...!" You boasted rather confidently for someone with flem still stuck in your nose, throat, and chest, and your head pounding so hard you regretted the act of shooting up in bed.

"Absolutely not." Billy rejected your demand immediately, turning back just to shake his head at you while you attempted at more protests.

"*cough* - But I can- I could help-"

Your voice strained terribly while more coughs interrupted, proving Billy's unspoken point more than enough. And even then, he'd still use the perfect timing of your sickly hacks to double down on it.

"And that's exactly why you're not coming. You need to rest so you can get better."

"Oh my god, it's just a cough. I'll be okay, I can do this."

Again, you were shot another shake of the head, along with a deadpanned look of disbelief as he made his way closer in order to stop you from pushing your blankets and sheets away.

"You can barely get up fast without feeling dizzy, but you think you can stop that?"

He pointed back at the TV, the monster actively knocking into buildings and wreaking havoc amongst crowds of running citizens.

You nodded as though you were an eager puppy, wide eyes staring back into his along with a lazy smile as if to fake like you were all better.

Unfortunately for you, Billy wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, no, lay down..."

"But-"

"And with luck, we'll have it all handled before dinner. I'll come back to check on you, 'kay?"

He hardly acknowledged your pleas, informing you that with help from his siblings, things would go smoothly. Without you.

Pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead before replacing it with a cool, damp rag, you tried a final attempt at convincing him to let you come along, fight the good fight rather than wallow in bad health.

"Billy..."

The simple call of his name and a pouty look during his urge into laying you down.

Pushing at your shoulders, he succeeded, smiling above you while you gave in to the warmth of your bed once more. He tucked you in and then backed away towards your window, opening it with the intention to jump while you watched, fighting sleep.

"I love you, (Y/N). Rest. Please."

With a pained sigh, both of disappointment and from the literal ache of your body, you did as told and heeded his words.

"Fine. I love you, too."

He smiled, and then, he was gone. A crack of thunder after a loud, "Shazam!!" the last thing you heard before forcing yourself not to worry any longer.

You'd trust your boyfriend and his siblings. Like he said, they'd surely have everything done and cleaned up by the time you finished your nap. No need for your appearance, taking some much needed recovery from the cold that ravaged your normal body.

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

"Look, ma'am, that's real sweet of you, but I-... You should really get outta' here!"

"But if I could just have you answer a few more questions, I mean...! I'm sure the public would love to know!"

"Who are you, Lois Lane? You've gotta be the most persistent reporter ever, lady...!"

It was the muffled shouts of adults that brought you back from your sleep some thirty minutes later. If you could even call it that. It was more like a delirious limbo, a point between consciousness and dreamland, all while a fever brewed and festered regardless of the now warm rag that coated over your forehead.

Hell, your pajamas could easily pass as the small towel on your head, drenched in your sweat while you groaned and pushed yourself up weakly. Your body continued to ache, nose stuffy and running at the same time, and god, did you want nothing more than to drink a gallon of water to soothe your sore throat.

Instead, you forced your eyes to open, squinting at the TV in hopes of gauging the situation that Billy assured you would be solved by now.

"bAcK tO cHecK oN y0u bEfOre dInNeR!" He had said, or something like that, which left you rolling your eyes now in the present. Half an hour later, he and his siblings were still struggling to clear out civilians from the scene! Had they even begun to tackle the beast that still roamed free on top of your beloved city? You figured not, considering you could quite literally feel the ground shaking due to its thunderous steps and loud roars.

You had to go. You couldn't not. It's very obvious they needed your help, at least with crowd control or as distraction, something! Whatever you could do to help, to save lives, you'd be more than happy to do it. Even while sick, even if it meant giving up some of your resting time to help those in need. It was what being a superhero was all about, wasn't it?

All of this power... there was no way you could just sit here and do nothing with it! Besides, it's not like anyone would really even notice that you were sick. Sure, you did get dizzy when you rose from the bed, standing on your own two feet. And yeah, your head pounded, and your nose caused your voice to dawn a nasal tone. But you could still fight, couldn't you?

You had to, with only one way to find out...

You went to your bathroom, scanning your medicine cabinet for the bottle of Cold & Flu medicine, and recklessly drank a few swallows straight from the bottle. You did so in hopes it'd hold you over for the next couple of hours, at the very least, curing your symptoms just enough to where your sickness wouldn't affect your performance.

With haste, you were back in your room, preparing yourself for the transformation from your regular self to your super-self, all with the use of the simple, magic word...

"Sha-...ahchoo...!"

Okay, that was gross.

Wiping your nose from the snot and clearing your throat with several "ahem"s and rough coughs, you tried again, moving yourself towards your window just as Billy had and checking to make sure there were no bystanders or any members of your family around to see you.

"Shazam!!"

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

"What about the monster?!" Darla shouted amongst the sea of endless screaming people and loud roars of the beast ahead, floating towards her brothers nearby with a look of concern dawning her adult features.

Billy's face mimicked hers, looking up at the beast and then back towards helpless people running in fear in all sorts of scattered directions. It was confusing, to say the least, but he'd do his best to make up for it as long as no one got injured on his watch.

"Uhh... I think we should keep clearing out people! They'll get hurt if we don't protect them!"

"But-!" Eugene started, though Billy clearly wasn't having it. One could even say the stress had gotten to him, this event definitely taking longer than anticipated with more public property being destroyed by the minute. Which meant longer clean-up duty. Which meant late dinner, which meant no time to check up on you, and-

"We'll get there when we get there!" Was his final (and pretty lax) answer, only for Freddy to swoop down and point out the next impending tragedy.

"Well, if we're gonna get there, we should get there now because it's gonna destroy the town hall!"

And it was true, the grotesque being merrily on its way towards arguably one of the most important landscapes in the city. Of course the townhall, of all buildings ever...

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious...!" Billy huffed, Freddy merely giving a two-finger salute in order to further solidify his frivolous behavior.

"You're welcome, Captain You-Obviously-Don't-Know-What-You're- Doing...!"

Pedro was next to return to the scene, his face twisted in oncoming question as his eyes shifted between the monster, the building, and back again.

"I mean... Do we really need the town hall? 'Cause it's super white and boring-"

"Pedro...!"

"I- What?!"

And finally, Mary. The wisest of the siblings, surely, and growing increasingly harrowed by the current events and the fact that her brothers and sister were not aiding in the fight whatsoever.

"Yes, we do need the town hall, and us standing around talking about it is not helping anything...!"

"What're we thinking?" Freddy murmured, having leaned over to Billy in hopes of their older sister not being able to hear them.

"Captain Bossy."

"Definitely."

A sudden battle cry caused their heads to snap up away from the monster and towards an incoming ball of lightning and fury. Your eyes glowed the same color as your supersuit, fist cocked back with the intention to slam every last bit of force and power you've accumulated onto your enemy. With a loud, cracking sound, it was safe to assume your hit had connected, your entire body colliding with the beast with so much force that the both of you went toppling over onto-

Oh...

"See? Told you we didn't need it." Pedro smiled and nodded, admiring your bravery and the fact you had managed to subdue the monster with one nearly fatal blow.

Mary, though unamused, marveled at the scene just the same before Billy gave a harsh sigh and a shake of the head.

"I told her to stay in bed..."

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

A mere moment had passed where you were in and out of consciousness (for the second time today, might I add), the only thing filling your vision being clouds upon clouds of smoke? Steam? Whichever the case, it caused an eerie, foggy atmosphere that didn't really seem to help your already mildly delirious state. Although, you had to admit, you were quite proud of yourself for taking down the threat in one go, having been pretty unsure of the amount of damage you'd be able to deal in your current state.

You slowly brought yourself to your feet, trying your best to squint through the "fog" in order to make out your whereabouts until you had looked down, taking notice of the weirdly textured road you stood on. It was a deep, deep maroon color. Rough and scaly, almost like a raisin and... moving?

You could've sworn that it - whatever you were standing on - was rising and sinking just the slightest. But, then again, you couldn't exactly trust your vision right now, the effects of your medicine kicking in with a weird, head-spinning affect that caused you to almost miss the loud shout of your name.

"(Y/N)!!" Billy called into the clearing mist, hands cupped over his mouth and very grateful in the moment that his adult voice was loud and deep. He was sure his calls could be heard from miles away, let alone a few feet, his worry growing when he still didn't receive a response despite that fact.

"Baby, where are you...?!"

A smile creeped onto your face at the pet name, turning and looking towards the sound of his voice. It was when the golden glow of his lightning emblem came into view that you allowed excitement to swell in your chest, calling back out to him with a squeal laced in your raspy voice.

"I'm down here, I'm okay! Did you see what I did?! I literally took it out with one punch!"

When Billy was finally able to catch sight of you, another breath of relief left his throat, hurrying towards your wobbly figure and steadying you once he felt your grip on his biceps.

"Yes, I saw, and I'm concerned because I thought I told you to stay in bed."

"Aww, c'mon, dude...!" You practically whined. "I'm totally fine, I literally feel fine! Plus, it was obvious you needed my help, so-"

"We had it handled, (Y/N)."

"Oh, is that why I-..." Harsh coughs cut into whatever attitude you were about to dunk on your boyfriend, stepping away to cover your mouth as he nodded knowingly.

"It doesn't matter when you're still sick and should be resting."

"It's *cough* fine, I'm *cough-cough* I'm fine."

He didn't have time to offer up more lectures with his deadpanned look, his siblings swift to join you two with gracious smiles of their own at your appearance and quick take down.

"That was sick, you know how sick that was?! If I could do an instant replay, I would because that was awesome!" Freddy gushed, blowing your ego higher than need be as Pedro offered up a fist bump. You returned it eagerly, only to pout again when Billy didn't hesitate to inform them all of your unfortunate status.

"You wanna know what else is sick? Her. She is. She's sick and really should not be here-"

"-But I am, and I did my part, and now everything's fine and you're just mad 'cause you're a hater...!" You huffed, being exaggerative with your arms and hands that caused Billy to give you a weird look.

"What are you, drunk?"

You took offense to the half-joking question, unsure as to why he'd ask such a thing when you felt perfectly fine and dandy. Like, cloud nine, hazy eyes, and the weird urge to run a marathon yet so, so sleepy at the same time.

"Am I drunk or am I sick, Batson, which is it?"

A pause, attitude dwindling.

"'Cause...'cause I dunno', either..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head once more in what could only be a mixture of dissatisfaction and worry.

"You took too much medicine before you got here, didn't you..."

Barely even a question, the obvious answer being yes, you could only scoff and toss your head to the side.

"No, just half the bottle..."

"That's way too much." Mary commented, nodding her head solemnly.

Before anyone could continue the odd conversation, the ground they stood on began to rise and fall a lot heavier than before.

"I knew it!" You shouted alarmingly loud, startling the siblings as they struggled to keep balance on the surface that was now beginning to rumble.

"Knew what?!" Freddy exclaimed. "What do you know?!"

"I thought I was hallucinating, but I'm not! We're not on the ground!" You informed, the shaking growing more violent by the second.

"What?!"

"(Y/N), please explain...!" Mary further urged, and before you could, a coughing fit stopped you from doing so and left everyone else in the dark, Billy trying his best to come to your side for comfort only for everyone to lose their balance the higher the "ground" rose.

Without second thought, Eugene flew upwards to get a better look at the entire scene, the rest of you quickly following in suit until you were all high enough in the sky to see that the monster was not yet finished with its rampage.

"(Y/N), hit it with another falcon punch!!" Freddy urged, Billy already shaking his head while giving an answer before you could.

"No, no, do not do that, she doesn't even feel well enough to be flying, look at her...!"

And it was true, your flying abilities suffering majorly from lack of health and increase of the medicine taking full affect making you drowsy and unfocused. You struggled to stay steady in the air, using Billy's arm as a crutch in case you were to suddenly drop from the sky. Hell, even the lightning emblem on your chest was dimming in and out as if you were literally on the verge from powering down while you spoke nasaly.

"He's...he's right, I feel- I'm pretty sure all of my power went into that one attack."

Freddy, dramatically, tossed his arms up into the air before dropping them at his sides.

"Oh, great, so we're screwed."

Protests from his siblings swiftly followed, all of them coming forth at the same time that left Freddy lifting his open palms up into the air in surrender.

"Oh, real nice, bro..." - "We're right here, y'know." - "Don't say that, we can do this...!" - "Okay, (Y/N)'s not the only one who can throw a punch, man!" - "Maybe if we spent less time talking and letting the sick girl do all of the work..."

"Sorry-sorry, my bad, I didn't realize you guys were so sensitive about this...!"

Fortunately, amongst the chaos of their words and the beast slowly rising from the ruins of Philadelphia's town hall for round two, your brain managed to fumble through half of a thought. An idea that could possibly work if executed correctly. A real plan, something that would help, which is what you came here to do, after all.

And sure, maybe you were too weak to carry it out alone, but the entire reason Billy had shared his power with you in the first place was because he trusted you. The same goes for all of his siblings. Because all of you together made a great team.

Besides, a half-assed plan was better than none at all.

So, without further ado...

"What-...What if y'all just... what if we stayed on the monster and then we just used our hands and then...boom. Right?"

You gained looks of concern and confusion at your nonsensical murmurs, the group making it known that whatever had just left your lips made zero sense to them even though you had been pretty confident in the fact that you came across perfectly clear.

Freddy was the first to prove otherwise, though, a barely audible, "...what?" leaving his throat as Billy gave you a look of sympathy and care.

"You're delirious, babe..."

"No, stop, I'm being serious...!" You croaked while pushing him away, which in hindsight, wasn't in your best interest when you were doing good just to stay afloat as well as dealing with an oncoming migrane. You fought to ignore that as well.

"Sounds like someone needs a nap." Eugene quipped, leaving Freddy and Darla to snicker to themselves while you gave what should've been a scoff, but what ended up coming out was more of a weak cough.

"Shut up, Eugene, I'm-!" Taking a second to gather your words, you tried again, doing your best to convey your plan once more.

"We all have lightning powers, don't we? We could land on the monster... and-and boom! Y'know?"

With the movements of your hands and fingers, you nodded as if to confirm that they understood this time around. Unfortunately, no one seemed to catch on, Mary the only one staring ahead rather than at you in confusion until something in her brain seemed to click, and she was suddenly coming towards you with a smile.

"Wait... Wait, I think I understand!"

"You do?!" You jinxed with your boyfriend, your words laced with a tone of relief and excitement while Billy's held more of a shock and surprise.

Mary nodded briskly, taking your hands in hers upon delivering her praise.

"Yes, (Y/N), you're a genius, oh my gosh! Why didn't I think of that?!"

With the two of you giving relieved laughs in understanding of one another, Darla was the first the point out the obvious for the rest of the group, leaving room for Mary to explain your plan much better than you had twice before.

"Am I the only one really confused right now?"

"Guys, we have to electrocute the monster, that's the only way it's going down. And I think, what (Y/N) means is, if we all use our powers together as much as we can like she did when she knocked it out, we'll generate enough electricity to do so."

"Yes!!" You confirmed with a mix of exasperation and relief in your hoarse voice, leaning your head against Billy's shoulder as if just the act of talking about your plan tired you out.

It made you wonder if you'd be strong enough to participate in executing, the feeling of letting down those around you much worse than any monster attacking the city or illness attacking your body.

Billy could sense this, raising and dropping the shoulder your head rested upon to grab your attention before delivering playful encouragement.

"Huh. Remind me never to doubt your sick-brain."

Sniffling, you nodded, appreciating his efforts and gaining back some of that lost confidence.

"Damn right."

It wasn't long before your plan had been put into action, one sibling distracting the monster long enough for another to land on it unsuspectingly until, one by one, all of you had your hands firmly planted on a part of its body. Counting down the seconds, you guys generated any and all electricity your bodies had stored into your hands and finally, found yourselves practically frying the beast to ash.

For the last time today, it fell. And thankfully, not on top of any more buildings. You were happy to witness it all, let alone be a part of it, nodding as if to pat yourself on the back for doing good. You certainly deserved it, you felt, seeing as all of your power went drained, and you were even too sick to stand. You convinced yourself to sit, leaning up against a large wall of rubble in attempts to recuperate.

"Just need to catch my breath..." You reasoned with yourself as though your eyes weren't half a blink away from fully closing.

"Need a second..." You coughed, head spinning with the urge to succumb to the cold that left even super-you ill-advantaged.

. . .

"(Y/N)...!!" Mary called into the debris, only having run into her own siblings rather than you. This worried her, especially once it had been revealed that you were fighting while sick. It also made her wonder why such mystical and magical abilities couldn't cancel out such a common flu or virus. She'd definitely be found reading up on the matter later, that's for sure...

But, until then, the search continued, Billy joining his older sister's side with a familiar concern he always harbored for you.

"(N/N)...!! Where you at, babe?!"

"You don't think she got crushed, do you?"

Mary rolled her eyes before lightly slapping the arm of her other brother, Freddy never one to learn to keep his badly timed jokes to himself.

"Don't say that, we're already worried enough...!"

"Agh-! I didn't mean it...!"

"There she is...!" Darla cheered, pointing up ahead to where you had peacefully laid yourself to rest.

Okay, that sounded a little morbid, but it's meant in the literal sense, not to worry.

Although it's not like they could tell the same, the view to them more of an alarming take on what should've been a more joyous reunion.

With super-speed Billy had almost forgotten he possessed, he was by your side in an instant, crouching down and allowing a giant wave of relief to wash over him when he was granted a clear look of your rising and falling chest. You were still breathing (thank god), and pretty heavily, he noticed, his gaze trailing upwards to inspect your face for any marks or bruises.

He found none, only the beads of sweat on your forehead and your eyes sunken in while you lightly snored, unable to breathe through your nose even in slumber.

"She's okay..." He had spoken to himself at first, a final act of reassurance he hadn't realized he needed before pulling himself together and turning back to shout.

"She's okay...!!"

Naturally, this woke you, your eyes fluttering open and a smile gracing your features at the sound of his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." You apologized, fighting back a yawn as you placed a cold hand into Billy's warm one. "I was just...sleepin'. Tired."

"That's what you get for pushing yourself." He half-joked, granting you a smile of his own that brought some heat back to your cheeks.

"You should've stayed home." He reiterated for what seemed like the millionth time this late afternoon.

"Sorry. Just really needed to help you guys..."

"You did. By a lot." He admitted, gently urging you to your feet. "You did good, really."

You laughed weakly, thankfully using Billy for support as the rest of the siblings approached, glad you were okay, up, and even trying to walk.

"That's all I wanted."

"Say the word." Billy coaxed, and for once, you heeded his advice and muttered it with the hopes that you'd suddenly return home. Safe, sound, and in your warm, cozy bed.

Alas, that was wishful thinking. Instead, you were transformed back to your regular self, gently held in Billy's adult arms with the warmth exuding from his lightning emblem lulling you back to sleep much faster than expelling large quantities of magical power ever could.

"I'm taking her home." He announced, sure of himself this time around before swiftly adding, "And she's gonna stay there...!"

As if you could actually hear him and his directive attitude, he looked down at your figure cuddled against him before going on.

"And hopefully, she'll be better soon enough for people to thank her."

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

"Hey, I think my sinuses are finally staring to clear up...!" You sniffled, basking in the glory that was a full, clear breath of air. Oh, how you missed air. How you missed breathing without issue, and-

"ah-cHOO!!"

"Bless you."

And... back to square one.

"Thanks..."

Normally, you'd apologize for spreading your germs, possibly passing on your sickness to your boyfriend. But, right now, cuddled up against him and finding solace in his care was all you concerned yourself with, having already thanked him a million times as he let the news channel run on your TV.

You got lucky, able to see that your selfless acts hadn't been in vain and that it really was for the best that you had gone out and helped when you felt needed.

"Feeling better?" Billy inquired, placing quick chaste kisses along your temple and forehead upon seeing the tiny smile that graced your features. You nodded against him; though not in regards to your sickness, you certainly did feel better about yourself, drifting off to sleeping knowing your city was safe and to the sound of your boyfriend's heartbeat.

𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞!!!

squealing like the little girl I am, lemme stop omg😭✋🏽-

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 :

me😆

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 :

4,467

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 :

none :(

[valeriianz]

For the fic writer asks:

4. Obviously you did research for BitB. I'd love you to ramble about it if you like I'm sure you've got STORIES

5. Did you outline it?

7. How'd you decide it would be Hob's pov?

25-27 I'd love to know a/some favorite lines, details, and any lore you might want to share

omg TJ what wonderful questions! thank you!! this is going to get LONG!

4: Rambling about research!

do you wanna see a screen shot of my bookmarks under my "band au" folder?

man, and that's only what could fit on the screen.

there is... SO MUCH i chose to ignore for this fic. ideas that i had to drop, lines or extra details about the other band members equipment. more logistics, what Lucienne actually does, what Mervyn has to put up with as the new touring stage manager... i realized very early on that i couldn't possibly cram all this (super cool and eye opening) information into the fic and still keep reader's interest and, most importantly, to not stray away from the fact that this is a dreamling fic. whenever i felt myself getting carried away with a side character or job or even social media numbers, gossip, outside POVs, i had to reign myself in and get back on track. there will be time for exploring everything i missed in side stories after BitB is finished. i just hope i still have the energy to write it all.

once, i was so deep into research that after publishing chapter 2, i went into work and when my chef asked what "GA" meant on my prep list, i answered with full confidence, "general admission."

(it means "get ahead.")

the worst part of this entire writing process is im still learning new shit. i havent rewatched or read a lot of what i've saved because, to be very honest, i was feeling a little burnt out. it's why we're kinda full steam dreamling now. it's why ive been glossing over a lot of technical stuff and being vague about conversations amongst the crew/not including it at all. i don't prefer ignoring my research, but at the end of the day i want to still enjoy writing this fic and finish it. even if i can't be as descriptive and detailed and nuanced as i used to be.

5: Did you outline the fic?

(also asked by @hardly-an-escape!)

i wouldn't call what i have a proper "outline," it's more like a 20k word document filled to the brim with notes that i skim at least a dozen times while i'm writing a new chapter (being in my brain is literally hell). i live multichapter life very dangerously. i copy and paste lines or sections (always scattered, never together! augh!) that are meant to go together and plop them in a new document titled "band au ch.#" and then i structure the chapter around what i want to happen.

but to answer this question in the plainest of terms: yeah. i know exactly what's going to happen up until the very end. even if its all in my head and the only concrete shit that's written down are beats/plot points. i'll figure out the rest later!

7: How'd you decide it would be Hob's POV?

i actually never even considered writing it from Dream's POV. this was my first fic in the fandom (which is so nuts to think about lol) and writing in Dream's POV sounded so scary lol. i also just thought Hob's would be easier because i have worked a few backstage shows, back in my college years. i figured eh, i can make this work. and i loved exploring how weird and mysterious musicians can be, from a normie's POV. making Hob a fan first and having him worry about developing a parasocial relationship... it was fun to explore.

25: Share your favorite line

oh god, i have so many haha.

“What are you thinking about?” starting in ch.2 and onward lmao

“It’s–” Dream laughs quietly, bitterly. “I don’t like change.” He says each word with emphasis, eyes trailing down to fixate somewhere past Hob. “And I still hold onto the things I can control, like my instruments–” his eyes swing up to regard Hob apologetically. “Or my clothes or my–” he brings a hand up and wiggles his fingers around his head. “My hair.” ch.4

"His majesty is pleased." ch.5

“You are obsessive,” he states, slow and cool and with a quiet smile cracking through his composure. “Just like me.” ch.7

“You look good.” Hob has to lean in to say so, unwilling to raise his voice amongst the roar of the fans. ch.11

“Del looks like porcelain, but she’s actually made of steel.” Desire swirls the contents of their glass before pushing their shoulders back with a deep breath. “She's tougher than all of us.” ch.11

“Everything. I want…” his fingers tighten in Hob’s hair, pulling him closer, speaking against his lips. “…Everything.” ch.14

26: Share your favorite detail

how intentionally coy Dream behaves. i love keeping him a mystery and deciding when and how much to allow his intentions to peek through has been so fun lol.

Despair is in fact covered in tattoos and piercings! i say this because i feel like sometimes i forget lmao. (but also her and Hob don't interact much so. my bad haha).

Delirium's constant explosion of color in the way she dresses <3

Hob's dedication to his job, Dream, and the people he cares about the most. i don't care if people think i'm making him too soft and good, im gonna project on that man and make him a sweet, sweet simp lmao

and ah, this doesn't matter anymore, and i kinda regret doing it but. i originally had Dream's favorite bass all black but the pickguard was white. so it actually looked like Jessamy. not gonna lie when @designtheendless drew it all black i decided i liked it better that way. and truly i do. that's when i went back to ch.1 and changed it haha. to actually see the guitar with Dream, all done up sparkling black and purple flecks... gosh it's just so him. but then i got up to the reveal that the guitar's name was Jessamy and i was like, "oh, right." lmao. no one seems to care so i'll leave it be.

27: Share a piece of lore you made up for the story

i have a lot lmao. and this post is already so long... im hoping i can get to some if not all of it in side fics in the future. but for now, here's some that's more like headcanons but:

Dream hates flying. he can full on go into panic attacks on the plane if he allows himself to get into his own head.

this was mentioned briefly in ch.4, while Dream was discussing the formation of the band, but Despair was in another band before joining Endless. she is the only character in the fic who gets to keep her English roots (lol sorry) and is the oldest in the band (30).

all of the band members ages: Dream, Desire, and Death are all 28 and Delirium is 22.

Dream can experience subdrop after going too hard during a performance.

Dream paints his own nails, it's very therapeutic.

as an exercise, i explored my own headcanons for Dream in this verse in a word doc, and one thing i will share from it that you might find interesting: If I were to ever give Dream a theological values, I would describe him as a satanist. He is a physical and pragmatic person, nonconforming, and although he is introverted, he enjoys being a part of a community (he loves his band).

also found this in my notes: How Desire and Dream got along was Death making them fight it out. Hob raises an eyebrow “like in a brawl?” He couldn't imagine Desire throwing hands. “No, in a pillow fight that escalated in hair pulling and verbal taunts.”

fic writer asks

[whatthefishh]

bloom for me

Series Masterlist

Regency Santiago Garcia x f!reader

A/N: Reader has a nickname (Wis) because I thought it flowed better with a title considering the regency times. Forgive me for historical inaccuracies it’s all fun and games here 😭🩷

Warnings: this chapter will have mentions of sex, pining, probably cringe writing, idk I just need to put this out there, be gentle pls. This has a real plot I promise lmao.

Words: 3k

He’s brooding again. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if he wasn’t so outwardly affected by his inner thoughts, whatever they may be. So now, you’re stuck standing next to the most disagreeable man at this week’s ball, patiently awaiting someone amiable to come and rescue you with a dance or two.

“Stand taller, you look like you want to leave.”

“Funny, coming from a man who needs a cane to walk before the sun starts to set.”

Sharply turning his head to cast you a withering look before anyone was the wiser, you started fanning yourself to hide the smirk you were sporting. You knew exactly how to rile him up and he hated you for it. He looked ridiculously handsome even while angrily grumbling to himself about your manners. Unfortunately for you, his outward appearance had more than fooled you into believing he was quite possibly the prettiest man you’d ever seen. His black curls slightly greying, and the tanned skin of his neck defining the muscles you were sure spread far over his whole body, the very same muscles you tried not to eye in his fitted pantaloons. Not even his desirability could make up for how he got under your skin, however, how quickly he could make your blood boil with just a few words. Besides, he was such a disagreeable man that it would be such a misfortune to be liked by him. To think, you have to spend the whole season with him for company.

Santiago Garcia was a well respected, strong willed and overall charming man of the military - well, he was an ex-lieutenant, to your father actually. A shot in the leg worsened into such a state that he could not sustain another call to fight, leaving him walking with a cane on particularly bad days. Injury in the field will bring a soldier home quicker than a woman in waiting. Not that he had one of those either. A charming man, Santiago was highly favoured by the women of the town due to his roguish good looks and silver tongue. The man could easily sway a crowd of people to follow him into the river if he so pleased.

His brave acts during his time in the British Army, although risky, yielded him high praise amongst the upper levels of society upon his return. So much so, that your newly widowed father, the Colonel, had apparently taken quite a liking to him in the times they’ve interacted. Your father had taken this liking one step further than most would, inviting Santiago into your spacious home upon his arrival. Not only does the man standing next to you sleep under the same roof as you, but has also been tasked as your personal chaperone for the marriage season. How they came to this agreement over post-dinner brandy is lost on you but regardless, you couldn’t bring yourself to be honest with your father, bile rising in your throat at the thought of crushing any friendship he found comfort in after the passing of your mother.

Your mother.

Your father spent a lot of time overseas, giving space for the love you had for your mother to grow beyond measure. He was quick to spoil you, however, finding it easier to show his affection with the latest fashion, shoes, jewellery, ribbons for your hair, chocolates from overseas, and chocolates from in town; he would give it all if only you looked at him. Your mother, however, was basically your best friend. The two of you spent hours in the family greenhouse, teaching you all about her love of botany until you were old enough to start growing your favourite flowers without her help. She tragically passed during the winter, the harsh cold taking hold of her lungs until she couldn’t bear it anymore. The nickname she gave you stuck, however, and in the months following her passing, you refused to be acknowledged by another title.

“May I request the lady’s presence to have the honour of the next dance?” a new voice pulled you out of your stupor, looking up to see a decently handsome young man extending his hand towards you.

“No, you may not, I’m afraid her dance card is already full.” Santiago answered for you, not only shutting down your new suitor, but fixing him with a stare so intense he was shaking as he quickly nodded and turned to leave. You could see him return to his support group, the other boys clapping him on the back for trying regardless of the intimidating gargoyle meant to guard you. Ironically, your dance card was not full, unless you counted Santiago’s own name on every line. Not that he ever danced with you.

You sighed heavily. Another wasted night, getting dressed up for a party in which you were just going to be rejecting any poor man who had the gall to approach and ask for a dance. This isn’t the first time he spoke for you, harshly turning someone down before you could get the words out on your own.

You suppose that’s what he thinks is his job, as your chaperone of the season. Your father trusted Santiago’s judgement of character to filter out potential suitors but as of now, it seemed, that he was just saying no for the heck of it.

“Don’t look so put out, Miss Wisteria,” Santiago murmured next to you, the nickname falling off his tongue smoothly. “This way, you leave them all wanting. Besides, I looked into most of these men. That one has debts at the racing club that he has yet to pay out.”

Even though he had a point, you couldn’t help but be envious of the girls whose mothers were at the party with them, encouraging dancing and interaction. You had gotten yourself ready with the help of your best handmaidens, taking their opinions for your outfit with zeal. You grew up without siblings, thus enjoying the friendly conversation you had with the house staff. Not that anyone outside the household knew how close you were with them, the notion of a lonesome girl without a mother, so desperate for human interaction that she reach beneath her status.

Coming downstairs in a soft lilac dress, the tulip sleeves and neckline lined with tiny sparkling beads, matching the delicate crystal necklace you donned to bring the look together. Your maid had also added some shimmering hair pins to your updo, only visible from the back of your head, which was your favourite part of your outfit. You felt rather pretty, and by the way Santiago had stared, slightly slack-jawed at you descending the staircase before collecting himself, you thought maybe he thought so, too. That was before he opened his mouth to complain about being on time and reminded you why you disliked him so.

“I was not aware of his debts. Thank you, I suppose.”

“Yes, well… that is why I am here, is it not? Your father asked me to—”

“My father asked you what exactly? Because I still don’t recall ever being told why he had to go and ask someone with the likes of you for help in this matter!” You whispered back vehemently.

“Do you truly esteem me so little?”

His soft voice betrayed his hurt, causing you to stop and look up at him in shock. This wasn’t so far off from your usual tone towards him, the two of you often bickering under your breath in the presence of others. Trying to gauge his true feelings by gazing into his espresso eyes, you concluded that maybe you were being too harsh on him. Maybe this wasn’t the ideal way he’d rather spend his time at a ball, supervising a girl’s courting experience and vetting the bachelors. No, he would probably be with the other gentlemen his age, swatting away the interested women like fleas in monsoon season.

You took a second to look at him for any tell of a lie, any sign he wasn’t as offended as you initially had thought, but the longer you looked at him the more distracted you got. Taking in the stoic man’s face, the crinkles around his eyes, the darkening shadow across his jaw as his hair was growing in, it all suited him so well that it almost had you even more angry at him for his beauty. Santiago was not that much older than you when you thought about it, probably somewhere under a decade of difference, which was not uncommon in some marriages.

Marriages? You thought with a slight panic, whipping your head to look back at the crowd, fanning yourself a little faster now. The moment had slipped from your glove-covered hands, whatever pull there was keeping your eyes trained on him you had snapped free from. In good timing, it seems, as another pathetic attempt at asking for a turn around the room was making his way towards you both. You could almost hear Santiago’s groan before the gentleman stopped in front of you, offering you a charming smile.

“Mr. Garcia,” the gentleman bowed his head to both of you after addressing you as well. “Might I have this dance?”

“Are you asking Mr. Garcia, or myself?” you ask with a short laugh, seeing as he had posed the question to your companion.

The man gave a genteel smile. “I was trying to be respectful of the present company. I know Mr. Garcia hasn’t danced all evening so this might be a chance to find him a partner.”

Your eyes flit to your companion, silently pleading with him to let at least one attempt slide past his defences.

Santiago looked at you for a moment, clearly seeing the hopefulness in your eyes before turning his eyes back on the gentleman in front of you, seemingly having come to a decision.

“Lord Miller, you make a fair judgement. I do not usually partake in such diversions, although I have been complimented on my light footedness. Miss Wisteria, if you wish to dance with Lord Miller, we shall take our leave soon after.”

The way your mother called you Wisteria oftentimes was much different to the way Santiago has been calling you that, and you tried not to think about it for too long.

Although Santiago’s words were light and jovial, you could tell from the set of his brow that he still was not entirely comfortable with the arrangement. That didn’t stop you from nearly jumping at the opportunity to dance with the handsome Lord, smiling graciously as you accepted his still-extended hand.

Making your way to the dance floor, you noticed more than a few pairs of eyes on you, probably wondering how Lord Miller made it past your sleeping dragon keeping you locked away in your proverbial tower. Keeping your chin up and not letting their eyes make you stumble, you took position for the dance.

“I will admit, Miss Wisteria, I find myself in raptures over your acceptance of this dance.”

“You flatter me, Lord Miller.”

“I cannot help it. You look exceptionally beautiful tonight. Also, if I may be so bold, I have seen how you’ve longed to dance, and thus, I took it upon myself to brave the glower of your guardian and rescue you.”

You laughed heartily at that. The conversation continued with Lord Miller discussing your shared interests in literature and past travels, and how many balls you both attended in the past two weeks alone. Lord Miller was an excellent dancer, making you feel as though you barely had to put in any effort to be gliding around the dance floor.

—

Santiago tried his best not to stare, he really did, but the way you let your head fall back in a carefree laugh at something the Lord had said to you had captured his attention unwillingly.

The thing was, you see, he was not supposed to be wanting after his ward, temporary or not. He was not supposed to watch longingly after you, walking away from him, whisked away by another more suitable potential partner, or at any other time when you weren’t watching him. He was also not supposed to jerk himself off to the thought of you in his bed, under your father’s roof, imagining how tight and wet you would be for him, how loud you would moan his name. Would you let him worship you with his hands and mouth? Would you still fight with him during the act or would you go pliant under his devoted attention?

You were a constant thorn in his side, reminding him at every chance of the magnitude of your dislike for him, your eyes meeting his angrily during your daily spats. You never gave him a chance to earn your friendship, immediately jumping to hostility once the news of him chaperoning you for the season had reached your ears. How was he to refuse your father, the generous man who offered him access to his estate as if he were a long lost son and not an old colleague? Besides, he didn’t think much of it at the time, assuming it would be an easy feat, the world of courting running its own gears for longer than he has been in the game.

Frankly, he assumed there would be at least one meddling old croon trying to pair everyone up for the season based on her predictions but she had yet to turn up to help him along.

Santiago didn’t see his attraction to you getting in the way of finding you a suitable match, but unfortunately for him, he was wading through a pool of pathetic potentials, finding a reason to reject them at every turn. It was becoming increasingly difficult to give reason for their inadequacy, not wanting to hand you off to a lesser man.

Every ball you attended together, every promenade you walked with him trailing behind you, he was doomed to watch the men flirt with you, make you laugh, share lingering glances with, and every day felt more tortuous than the last. He learned a lot about you this way, but it never felt enough. He was stuck as an observer, watching from the outside.

Was this his destiny? To fall hopelessly for his friend’s daughter and not only watch her dance with other men but be the one to hand her off to them, lying through his teeth about his feelings on the matter?

It especially did not help his case with how ethereal you looked tonight, or any night for that matter. He could not count the number of times he has thought back to that first night he stayed in your home, running into you on your way to the greenhouse at night with your white nightgown. It was basically see through, the candle you were holding sinfully illuminating your figure, nipples pebbled in the cool air. He had been on his way to the kitchen for a glass of water, being unable to sleep properly in his new chambers. You nearly dropped it when you bumped into him around the corner, his hand steadying you before you could, saving you from waking up the whole house. Santi wanted to kiss you silly every day since then.

Bringing his focus back to the present, he heard the quartet queuing up for the next song and soon saw Miller escort you back to him with your hand tucked into his arm. You were positively beaming, shifting your eyes to his with a question posed on your lips.

“Lord Miller was just telling me how he and his brother often go for boat rides on the lake near town. He has invited us to accompany him on an outing tomorrow afternoon if it is agreeable with you?”

You were blinking at him meaningfully, alerting him to the fact that they were waiting for his response on the matter. The longer he took to answer, the more stilted the silence between the three of them and the worse chance it was for you to leave the season with a suitable partner. A throat cleared, snapping Santiago out of his stupor.

“A turn about the lake sounds splendid for tomorrow! We would be delighted.” Santiago tried not to sound like he was bursting from happiness at this turn of events but he also knew that on paper, Lord Miller was of good stock and well in stature, making him a fine potential suitor for you.

“Wonderful, thank you, Mr. Garcia,” Miller bowed his head to him first before turning to you to bid you goodnight. “I am dearly looking forward to tomorrow.” He said the necessary pleasantries before leaving you two to stew in the silent aftermath.

The rest of the night passed rather normally, Santiago fetching you refreshments when your hands emptied, and before you knew it, you were finding yourself in the carriage on your way home. If you didn’t know any better, you would think he was encouraging you to drink more so as to be able to get you to use the ladies’ room more, effectively removing you from wandering eyes.

The two of you didn’t speak much out of obligatory words, you were too excited about the prospect of a turn on the lake, and he was worried with a stone in his stomach about the same idea. Escaping to your respectful chambers, you were so wrapped up in your daydreams you barely said goodnight, leaving Santiago deeply unsettled and barely able to catch a wink of sleep.

Whether he was ready for it or not, tomorrow was arriving sooner than he wanted.

[chiskz]

▶️ moments when skz almost put chichi up for adoption (stray kids funny moments)

♡𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @alyszaen , @smh-anon , @neohyxn , @stealanity , @alixnsuperstxr , @kimcheon-sa , @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs , @qtnoaly

《 ♡ 》

intro from author: i have long ago concluded that chichi being the lost child of the rest of the members deserves her own video, so here it is! the working title was "chichi making stray kids rethink their life decisions" lmao

🎬🎬🎬

skz-talker. Han and Seungmin are eating ordered pizza together in a hotel room and talking into the camera. The room door then opens without knocking, and Chichi walks in. All three stare at each other in silence, and Ichi, without breaking eye contact, slowly reaches for a slice of pizza.... And another. And another one after which she runs off, slamming her foot on the cabinet. Han lowers his eyebrows slowly.

HAN: She is impossible. Sometimes she doesn't eat for a few days and then steals whatever she can find.

🎬🎬🎬

skz-talker. some members talk into the camera. chichi stands in the background with Jeongin, who is drinking his coffee. Ichi, meanwhile, is drinking up whatever coffee the members have left on the table. Jeongin looks at her appraisingly, with one eyebrow raised, but doesn't react. When everyone returns to the table and sees the empty cups, Chichi is already gone, but Minho rolls up his sleeves and walks toward the exit to find her.

🎬🎬🎬

skz-talker. footage from behind the stage of one of the awards show. Han speaks into the camera and Chichi stands next to him, listening. after a while she gets a little bored and wants to sit on the table behind her. this table, however, turns out to be made of cheap plastic and cracks underneath her, causing her butt to get stuck in the table. Han immediately turns around and Ichi bursts out laughing, covering her face. Jisung tries to say something to her, but he himself starts laughing for so long that the editors made the cut.

In the next shot, Chan and Changbin try to take her out, but they succeed moderately, because they are also laughing.

HAN: Han reporter on the scene... Well, the rescue operation will take... much longer than expected. Over.

Minho enters the frame for a moment.

Lee Know: As of today, Stray Kids will be promoting with an eight-members lineup.

He smiles like :] emoji and makes a peace sign with his fingers.

CHICHI: I heard that! [editors' note: after all, it was the staff who helped her... you're welcome!]

🎬🎬🎬

variety show. stray kids play a word-guessing game with headphones on their ears. Hyunjin sits opposite Ichi and tries to tell her the words, Chichi doesn't guess a single one (those were the days when she wasn't that good at Korean yet), so she finally shouts:

CHICHI: TRY ENGLISH!

Hyunjin looks at her confused.

Hyunjin: I DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!

CHICHI: AND I APPARENTLY DON'T SPEAK KOREAN!

Hyunjin: I CAN'T WORK WITH HER!

Hyunjin laughs loudly and pulls off his headphones, pretending to want to throw them away, and Chichi rolls out of her chair laughing.

🎬🎬🎬

VLIVE - Hyunjin, Seungmin, Chichi. Hyunjin reads the comments.

Hyunjin: Have you seen Chichi's photos on Instagram? That t-shirt looks familiar.

Hyunjin immediately looks at Chichi, and she hides behind Seungmin. He goes on Instagram.

Hyunjin: This is my t-shirt...

CHICHI: Do you have any proof?

Hyunjin: I should have a receipt somewhere...

CHICHI: For this particular t-shirt?

Hyunjin: I think so.

CHICHI: Until you find it you have no proof.

She sips her bubble tea. Hyunjin looks slowly into the camera. [author's note: he's so done with her]

🎬🎬🎬

YFNChichi! episode. Chichi holds the phone for a moment then puts it down.

CHICHI: So... recently we were abroad again, at a concert. I was doing some sightseeing, but got lost in the crowd.

She laughed briefly.

CHICHI: There wasn't much left before we left the hotel, but by some miracle I got back there alone with the GPS. But I didn't find anyone else... I thought I was going to cry. It turned out that for my tardiness they wanted to play a prank on me and everyone was waiting in cars a street away... I guess they really got fed up with me!

🎬🎬🎬

Jeongin solo vlive. Jeongin reads the comments for a while.

I.N: I.N, when will you post new photos on social media? Actually, I was supposed to upload something today. Chichi took pictures of me, Seungmin and Han in the city, but most of them came out so blurry.

He laughs, covering his face with hand for a moment.

I.N: Sometimes Chichi really makes me question all my life decisions...

🎬🎬🎬

STAY's video from one of the concerts. Chichi is standing next to Bang Chan, confetti is falling on the stage. Ichi catches it and every so often puts it behind his shirt. When she gets tired of this, she starts putting it in his hair. Chan turns his head slowly toward her, and she runs away with laughter.

🎬🎬🎬

Stray Kids Pajama Party Video. Chichi lies next to Seungmin while his eyes are closed.

CHICHI: Do penguins have knees?

Seungmin: I don't know, sleep.

CHICHI: Because overall, I don't think they need them... They do small clack clack and somehow walk, right?

Seungmin: I don't know, sleep.

CHICHI: Or they slide on their bellies, that's cool too.

Seungmin: I don't know. Sleep.

CHICHI: But if they don't have knees then maybe they don't have legs but just feet?

Seungmin: I don't know. Go to sleep.

CHICHI: And if Pinocchio says "my nose will grow now" will his nose grow or not? Well, because if he lied, his nose will grow, but if it grows it means he told the truth, and if he told the truth it shouldn't grow, right?

Seungmin: Park Ichi, for God's sake...

🎬🎬🎬

Stray Kids MV Behind The Stage. Chan is explaining something to the camera when Chichi appears in the background wearing a much too large Changbin's jacket. She trotts over to him and stares at him until he pays attention to her.

Bang Chan: Hm?

CHICHI: Mama Lino said it's my turn to have the camera.

Bang Chan: Mama Lino?

CHICHI: Yes.

Bang Chan: Is that what she said?

CHICHI: Yes.

Chan raises one eyebrow slowly and hands her the camera carefully, but Ichi drops it 0.0001 seconds after she catches it in her hands.

🎬🎬🎬

one of the group vlives. Felix is talking to the camera, and Chichi sitting between Jeongin and Han is dancing with her hands (as it turned out later, this was a spoiler for the Maniac choreography). When she realized this she opened her mouth wide and stopped, but Jeongin and Jisung had already figured it out. Innie covered her up, and Han pushed her behind the couch, pretending nothing had happened.

🎬🎬🎬

awards ceremony. Chan finishes his speech and now it's Chichi's turn to thank the fans in Japanese. She, however, instead of stepping up to the microphone she grabs the stand and tilts it and the microphone all the way toward her. Jeongin, Seungmin and Felix look at her confused, Hyunjin sends her a side eye, Chan is speechless, Changbin listens to her attentively, and Han and Minho turn their heads for a moment to contain their laughter.

《 ♡ 》

[eerna]

I hope you don't mind but I have a dilemma and since you watched bridgerton and you actually give critical thinking I hope you can help me.I didn't watch the show and I don't even plan since it gives acotar regency era but recent I saw a post where most fans hated Kate sister now while I didn't watched I kinda know some of s2 plot and I was curious why people hated her bc from what I knew she was the one done dirty and they reasoning as an outsider surprised me

1.She should have guessed her sis had feelings for her fiance and she's stupid for it?????

2.She only wanted the ml for the title(I'm sorry but given the era that's a smart move and wasn't he the one who was picking his wife like he was picking a pair of shoes)

3.She called her step sister step sister(I understand what they are saying with this but that happened after her sister was ready to let her marry a man she knew has feelings for her like she had all the Rights to be angry people who are mad for this are the same that are mad that Jude didn't murder Taryn for the betrayal) also she was the one who stopped the wedding bc the main couple was too much of a coward to do it themselves

This gives misogyny to me

S2 is unwatchable to me because of the suffering Edwina goes through lmao. The wedding episode is genuinely one of the worst things ever put on screen in my opinion and if I were Edwina I would have murdered both Kate and Anthony instead of just yelling at them and calling the wedding off. Like sure, she was stupid for not realizing her sister and her fiancee were having a thing, but 1) everyone in this show is stupid bc that's the only way the paper thin plot could have any stakes, and 2) she trusted them when they promised her everything was fine, why would she ever imagine the person she loves and trusts most in the world was lying to her?? And saying she wanted Anthony for the title is stupid, she is clearly characterized as a young, naiive romantic who got swept off her feet by his bold, mature flirting. I don't know enough about Bridgerton discourse to judge if the hate is there because of misogyny, but I am sure part of the reason is because the fans don't want to admit Kate did a horrible thing to her little sister and Anthony deserves to be shot.

[chelseachilly]

king of my heart - pt 1

i’m perfectly fine, i live on my own  i made up my mind, i’m better off being alone

pairing: reader x ben chilwell summary: Of all the men in London, Ben Chilwell would’ve been extremely low on the list of who you would expect to meet at a random party your friend dragged you to. You know who he is, obviously - your younger brother is a massive Chelsea fan, as was your dad before he passed away unexpectedly a couple years ago - but you hardly run in the same circles as professional footballers. Until now. warnings: mentions of death of a parent, takes place in a fantasy world in which chelsea will plausibly beat arsenal this season word count: 2.5k

author’s note: hi! i’m very new to the tumblr football world but needed a distraction from chelsea’s current situation, so here we are! i’ve noticed there aren’t enough fics for ben and this is my first time writing for him, pls let me know what you think and feel free to hmu about all things chelsea :) title from king of my heart by taylor obv

*faceclaims for y/n and your best friend are camila morrone and suki waterhouse bc i am obsessed with daisy jones and the six lmao

Of all the men in London, Ben Chilwell would’ve been extremely low on the list of who you would expect to meet at a random party your friend dragged you to.

You know who he is, obviously - your younger brother is a massive Chelsea fan, as was your dad before he passed away unexpectedly a couple years ago - but you hardly run in the same circles as professional footballers.

Until now.

A few months ago, your flatmate and best friend Charlotte got an amazing new job in PR. Since then, she’s been invited to a million fancy events and met a lot of famous (and semi-famous) people. Just last week, she went to the opening of a new club and apparently met some incredible, funny, super attractive guy who invited her to a party at his house tonight.

Although you’ve been really trying to push yourself to go out more lately and enjoy being young in the city, your idea of a perfect Friday night is often just staying in and reading or watching Netflix, so you still take some convincing.

“Charlotte, do you even know anything about this Mason guy?” You ask as Charlotte begins to put her makeup on in the bathroom of your shared flat, a tiny but cute two-bed in North London. “Like, his last name, his job, anything?”

“Nope,” Charlotte shrugs. “But I know he’s fit, and probably posh because the address he gave me is in South Kensington.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Didn’t know you were a gold digger now?”

“I’m not, but posh means open bar,” Charlotte grins. “Now hurry up and get ready.”

You reluctantly drag yourself up off the floor and go to your closet to put on your favourite little black dress - a safe bet for any party, regardless of how casual or fancy it might be.

After doing your hair and makeup and taking a couple shots to ease any social anxiety brewing in your stomach, Charlotte calls an Uber and you’re on your way. You quickly post a photo of the two of you before you leave.

yourusername

liked by charlottewright, yourmum, & 102 others

yourusername by the way, we’re going out tonight ✨

tagged: charlottewright

view all comments

charlottewright hell yeahhhh

yourmum Beautiful girls! xx

yourusername thanks mum x

When you reach the address this Mason guy gave Charlotte, there’s music blaring from the house. Several very expensive-looking sports cars are parked outside, and there are a few people sitting on the front steps, drinking and laughing.

“Don’t worry, Y/N,” Charlotte says as your car pulls up. She can obviously tell that you’re worried about socializing with all these strangers, especially ones way above your tax bracket. “We’ll get some drinks and have fun. Hey, maybe Mason has some cute friends he can introduce you to?”

You roll your eyes. Dating is far from a priority for you at the moment, having just begun the career in publishing that you’ve wanted since you were a little girl. Work is your focus, but you know Charlotte is right. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

Before you can even fully get out of the car, still straightening out your dress and making sure you have your phone and purse, you hear Charlotte yell “Mason!” and run over to the group of people on the steps.

As you follow her and finally get a good look at the guy Charlotte won’t shut up about, you nearly trip over your own feet.

You recognize him instantly - Mason Mount, Chelsea midfielder. You may not follow the club the way you used to before your dad died two years ago, but you remember watching Mount score a hat trick during one of the last games you went to.

Charlotte doesn’t follow football at all, so you figure she also has no idea that standing next to Mason are his England national teammates Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.

You, however, can’t help but be a little starstruck. Football was a big part of your life growing up, and it’s a bit surreal to see all these athletic superstars right in front of you.

Thankfully, they’re all occupied with Charlotte and don’t seem to notice you until you regain your bearings and walk over to Charlotte’s side.

“Y/N, this is Mason and Declan,” Charlotte grins. “And what was your name again, sorry?”

“Jude,” Bellingham answers, smiling at you and shaking your hand. “What’s your name, love?”

“Y/N,” you answer, trying not to blush at the attention as Mason and Declan greet you.

“Well, come on in, ladies,” Mason smiles, gesturing to the front door. “Bar’s in the back, and there’s loads of food in the kitchen.”

As Mason leads the way into the house, which is just as massive and stunning as its exterior, you hang back a bit and grip Charlotte’s arm tightly.

“What is it?” Charlotte asks, furrowing her eyebrow.

“Charlotte, they’re not just posh, they’re footballers,” you explain, gesturing to the literal Champions League trophy casually sitting on a shelf. “Like, some of the best in the country.”

“Footballers?” Charlotte’s eyes widen for a moment. “Oh my god, so you know who they are?”

“Yeah, babes,” you chuckle. “Mason plays for Chelsea. I’ve watched him play for Chelsea.”

Charlotte’s face falls a bit, and she lowers her voice. “Oh, shit, do you want to leave? I know Chelsea was your thing with your dad-“

“No, no,” you wave her off with a small smile. “It’s alright, let’s have fun. He is super fit, and he probably finds it endearing that you clearly have no idea who he is.”

“Now that I think about it, he did mention having training in the morning last weekend. I think I asked what he was training for.” Charlotte laughs. “Shit, that’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Nah, he seems into you,” you comment, noting the way Mason’s eyes are glued to Charlotte as the two of you continue to speak privately. “Now go talk to him, I’m gonna go get a drink.”

Charlotte nods and returns to Mason’s side. God, it feels strange to see your best friend chatting up a guy you watched play in the World Cup on TV a few months ago.

You make your way to the back garden, weaving your way through lots of guys - some of whom you recognize as other footballers - and lots of very pretty girls. As promised, there is a full-service bar outside, and you order a vodka coke for yourself.

Thanking the bartender, you decide to stay out here for a few minutes. You’ll return to the party eventually, but you want to give Charlotte some alone time with Mason and despite your assurances that everything is fine, it’s a lot to digest being in the home of an actual Chelsea player.

Most of the partygoers are inside, with only a few people out back having a smoke or going to the bar. You find yourself a quiet spot in the back of the garden and sit on a patio chair, crossing your legs and leaning back as you enjoy your drink.

You pull out your phone and can’t resist pulling up and old photo of you and your dad at a Chelsea match when you were six years old, both of you smiling in blue. Although it’s difficult to look at, it makes you smile, too - you remember how Chelsea beat Liverpool 3-0 that day and how happy your dad was on the drive home. You’ll always treasure those memories.

“Hey, mind if I sit?”

A male voice prompts you to glance up from your phone. It really shouldn’t surprise you to see yet another familiar face at this point, but the man in front of you nearly takes your breath away.

You recognize him right away - the shiny dark hair, the piercing eyes - he’s unmistakable. He’s even more handsome in person than on TV, if that’s possible. Ben fucking Chilwell.

“Yeah, go for it,” you say, gesturing to the other chair and trying very hard not to stare at him too much.

Ben, who is holding a beer and wearing a hoodie and jeans with a pair of Air Force Ones, looks fascinatingly normal to you for someone who you know for a fact scored a Premier League goal just this afternoon - your sixteen year-old brother Max mentioned it when you spoke earlier, still as big of a Chelsea fan as your dad was. Luckily, losing your dad didn’t poison the game for him the way it did you.

“I’m Y/N,” you blurt out, feeling the need to explain yourself and your presence here for some reason. “I came with my flatmate Charlotte, she met Mason at some club last week.”

“I’m Ben,” he says with a small smile. “Mase and I…uh, work together.”

“Yeah, I know,” you chuckle. When he raises an eyebrow, you continue - there’s really no point in sitting here pretending you don’t know who he is. “My brother’s a massive Chelsea fan.”

“Ah,” Ben smiles, taking a swig of his beer. “Charlotte didn’t seem to have any idea who we were last weekend.” He seems to realize he may have come off a bit arrogant there, as he quickly shakes his head. “Not that she should. I was just-“

“All good,” you interject. “And for the record, I love her to death, but Charlotte thought Man City was a gay bar a couple weeks ago. She’s not much of a football fan.”

Ben laughs so hard he nearly spits out some of his beer, and you can’t help but laugh along with him - his smile is completely contagious. It also seems to be the first genuine one you’ve seen since he sat down.

“Fair enough,” he laughs, setting down his beer and turning his chair to face you properly. “So, Y/N, what brings you to this secluded corner of the garden? Not enjoying yourself?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Chilwell,” you smirk, taking a sip of your cocktail.

Frankly, you’re impressed with how cool you’re being given the situation. It’s not even the fact that he’s famous. Sure, you were starstruck at first, but now you just can’t stop looking at him. At those hands clutching the cold beer bottle, that fluffy hair that you’re dying to reach out and touch, those damn eyes…

“Well, I’m a bit knackered, to be honest,” he admits. “But I wanted to come out and celebrate the win. Honestly, I’m waiting til it’s late enough that I can leave without the lads calling me an old man at training on Monday.”

You laugh and nod sympathetically.

“I get what you mean. I kinda got dragged out tonight as well,” you say. “I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to a bunch of strangers after a long work day, but Charlotte wanted me here and she’s my best friend, so-“

“I’m happy to leave you alone if you’d prefer it,” Ben says quickly. “Well, not happy, but I can. If that’s what you want.”

You shake your head, maybe a bit too quickly.

“No, please,” you smile. “I was in budget meetings all day, but you scored a goal against Arsenal. I think that earns you a spot to sit.”

Ben raises an eyebrow and grins. “Sounds like you’re a fan as well, no?”

“I’m…not not a fan.” He looks confused, so you decide to elaborate a bit. “My dad was a massive supporter. We were season tickets holders at Stamford Bridge until he died a couple years ago. My brother, he’s sixteen, still follows the team, and he keeps me updated, but I haven’t really…well, it hasn’t been quite the same for me since then.”

Though you still miss your dad dearly, time has healed the pain enough for you to be able to talk about him like this. Although, you did have to stare at your shoes the whole time to get through it, and when you look up, Ben’s eyes are wide and full of concern.

You immediately worry that you just majorly overshared with this complete stranger.

“Sorry, you didn’t need to know all that,” you murmur, fiddling with the material of your dress. “I don’t even know you-“

“No, please don’t apologize,” Ben says in a much softer tone than he was using before. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Y/N.”

“Thanks,” you say with a sad smile. He holds your gaze, and you can’t help but feel comforted by his warm expression. Then, all of a sudden, a laugh escapes your lips, surprising Ben. “Sorry, I just…I was thinking about what my dad would say if he knew I was talking to the man he once described as ‘the best left-back in the country’ at a party.”

“Wow, that’s high praise,” Ben smiles. “Your dad sounds pretty great.”

“He was, but I love that your reason for thinking that is him praising you as a footballer,” you laugh softly. “To be fair, he was a big fan of Mount and Havertz as well.”

“Oh, well, never mind then,” Ben jokes, making you laugh even harder.

Probably harder than you’ve laughed in years.

The conversation continues as you each finish your drinks, and after Ben gets you a couple more rounds. You talk about everything - your job in publishing, his life growing up, both of your favourite films and music.

You don’t even realize how late it is until you see a much drunker Charlotte come outside with Mason keeping her upright. Despite her protests that she’s fine, you and Mason both agree you’d better get her home and to bed. After giving her some water, Mason calls an Uber for both of you, and in all the commotion, you barely get the chance to say goodbye to Ben.

It’s not until you get home and take care of Charlotte that you realize you didn’t even get his number. You could get Charlotte to ask Mason for it tomorrow, you suppose, but you don’t want to come across as desperate.

You aren’t even looking for a relationship. You just happened to meet a cute, funny, smart guy at a party who probably has girls lining up around the block just to sleep with him. It’s not like this is going to turn into anything.

Right?

-

You wake the next morning in Charlotte’s bed - you passed out next to her after making sure she had water and a bin next to her in case she got sick - to a loud buzzing sound.

“Too early,” Charlotte grumbles, feeling the beginnings of a bad hangover. “Turn it off.”

You reach over to the bedside table to silence your phone, but you quickly glance at the Instagram notification before you turn it off.

benchilwell

Hey, I found your insta through Charlotte’s, sorry if that’s stalkery lol

benchilwell

I had a lot of fun last night. Any chance you want to hang out again sometime?

“Oh my god,” you mumble groggily. “Ben Chilwell just slid into my DMs.”

Charlotte, still half-asleep, rubs her eyes and turns to face you. “Who the fuck is Ben Chilwell?”

next chapter 💙